"Krookodile, Sand Tomb."
"Krooo!"
The red Krookodile stood in place, only the strong tail behind it swaying slightly, eight Sand Tombs erupted forward in an instant.
The key was, these Sand Tombs were moving rapidly in crisscrossing patterns, turning the ground into shifting sand wherever they passed.
The transformation wasn't over yet. When two of the Sand Tombs collided, they didn't cancel each other out but instead fused effortlessly into one, becoming larger and deeper.
By the time all eight Sand Tombs had converged, they covered over half of the entire training field.
"Stop! 12.88 seconds. Hm, that's a solid improvement compared to before. Looks like you're looking forward to the battle too."
"Krooo!"
Krookodile ended its Sand Tomb move technique and waved its sharp claws at Sato excitedly, its pitch-black eyes gleaming brightly.
"Then let's continue. Next… sand sliding."
"Krooo!"
Krookodile immediately switched back into training mode. Its two short legs may have moved slowly, but they allowed it to glide across the arena with surprising speed.
'It was almost like… roller skating?'
Meanwhile, beside the training field, a dull gray metallic lump stood silently as if it had been there for ages.
Suddenly, several white Pin Missiles shot toward the metal lump from all directions.
Shoo~ Shoo~ Shoo~
A flurry of small explosions rang out. When the dust cleared, the metal lump hadn't moved an inch. Not even the scars on its surface had changed.
It wasn't over yet. The newly caught red Skorupi raised its tail claw high, charging fiercely toward the lump before stabbing down with force.
Crack!
"RUUUUPI~"
Skorupi let out a sharp, miserable cry. Its small pincers clutched the broken tail claw, its eyes tearing up from the pain.
At that moment, the unmoving lump seemed to finally notice Skorupi's presence. It slowly turned around, its small eyes giving Skorupi a blank stare.
"SKO!"
Skorupi had no fur, but still jumped up in fright and bolted straight to Sato's feet, peeking out tearfully with one eye at the lump.
"Your tail claw broke again? Sure, it can grow back stronger, but how many times has this happened already? You're one fierce scorpion."
Sato squatted down to inspect the damage as he spoke.
"Skoskoskosko!"
Skorupi fully trusted Sato by now, so it began tattling without hesitation, pointing its tiny claw at the lump, eyes on the verge of crying again.
"What's wrong with Pupitar? This is when its defense is at its lowest, don't go bothering it."
"…Sko?" 'Lowest defense? Boss, are you kidding me?'
Skorupi gave one pitiful cry… and burst into tears.
"Enough already. You're a male scorpion after all. Don't cry over a little injury. Go find Meganium or Chansey to help you heal. Then get back to training."
Sato showed no sympathy, stood up, and focused again on Krookodile. He was planning to lead the match with it.
Skorupi tugged at Sato's pants once more but saw that he wasn't even squatting down for him anymore.
Feeling wronged, it turned and met eyes again with that big lump: Pupitar.
Dark… quiet… unreadable.
"Sko?"
"…"
Skorupi tried to greet Pupitar, but silence was all that came back.
"Sko?"
"…"
"Skoskosko?"
"…"
"SKO SKO SKO?"
"Pupi…"
"RUPI!"
After all that silence, Pupitar suddenly opened its mouth(?), startling Skorupi so badly it turned and bolted toward Joseph in panic.
"…"
Pupitar blinked and swallowed the greeting it had nearly spoken.
---
Half an hour later, Sato brought out Houndoom to spar with Krookodile, then walked over to Pupitar's side.
"The sun's nice today. Feels good to warm up a bit, huh~?" Sato said with a smile as he rubbed Pupitar's rough outer shell.
"Pupi~"
Pupitar narrowed its eyes with a gentle smile-eyes. Its body shifted slightly, and fine sand poured out through the gaps in its armor.
"About to molt again, huh? And this time with evolution coming too… you ready for it?"
"TAAAR!"
Pupitar let out a firm cry, full of anticipation, though it carried a hint of nervousness.
"When the time comes, just focus on breaking through. I'll handle everything else." Sato looked at the nearly 1.7-meter-tall Pupitar, sighing inwardly.
All things considered, Pupitar had been in this form for almost five years. Without the Advanced Mimicry Space, it might've taken twice as long.
Now Pupitar was fully prepared for its final molt. If it made it through this one, it would become a true pseudo-legendary…
Tyranitar!
Not only Pupitar, even Zoroark and the others were eagerly anticipating its transformation.
They all wanted a glimpse of that "as a future pseudo-legendary"¹ might!
"Houuuu!"
Behind them, the battle between Houndoom and Krookodile had reached its climax. Fire filled the field, and Krookodile could only retreat to a corner, using sand to barely defend.
Compared to seasoned fighters like Houndoom, Krookodile -the rising star- still lacked experience.
Even with a type advantage, it was eventually overwhelmed by the relentless flames.
"Alright, that's enough!" Sato clapped his hands. Houndoom and Krookodile stopped simultaneously, the lingering heat in the air the only sign of Houndoom's rampage.
"Next time I'll try to find you a more suitable opponent to break through with. You're clearly all pent up," Sato said, glancing at Houndoom, who gave him a look that said: that's your problem.
"Held out two more minutes this time. Not bad at all." Sato turned back to Krookodile, offering a rare bit of praise.
Krookodile puffed out its chest with pride, clearly in a great mood, already convinced of its own improvement.
That confidence was thanks in part to its ongoing development of the Moxie ability.
'Win? Arrogant! Lose? Even more arrogant!'
Especially after Sato taught it a "wise saying" …Krookodile's confidence and bravado had skyrocketed among its teammates.
And that so-called "wise saying"? Sato had only ever managed to say it once, cringing as he did:
"Every dog has its day… never underestimate a poor young man."
Krookodile believed it instantly, and its Moxie ability was activated to the max.
After that, Sato called over Umbreon and Murkrow, who had been resting under the tree, and began tailored supplemental training for each.
Among the team, only Skorupi still benefited from basic training. The others had reached a point where their growth relied more on tuning their own combat systems.
Each Pokémon could learn tons of moves, but only a few would become core "techniques". The real test was integrating and mastering those into a cohesive style, and even fewer managed that.
That's what set apart Elite level and even Ace level Pokémon. It was something they had to study and develop on their own.
.
.
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¹. Larvitar's quote, for the og's