After sending Hongbin away, Master Tyron arranged a new round of training for Yozora.
This time—
Master Tyron assigned every one of Yozora's Pokémon, except Dratini, to face opponents of equal level.
Even Beedrill had a sparring partner, and its opponent was of Elite Four level!The Pokémon under Master Tyron's command all possessed overwhelming stamina, strength, speed, and an abundance of battle experience.
What's more, they all had their Mind's Eye opened.
The Mind's Eye represented absolute focus.
Against such opponents, Yozora's Pokémon struggled greatly, but their combat experience skyrocketed as a result.
After about two hours, Master Tyron ordered Yozora and his team to rest for a while before resuming the baseball training from the day before.
Fortunately, this time it only lasted two hours...
That night, after a full day of hardship, Yozora and his Pokémon once again soaked in the hot spring to heal their injuries.
Three days passed like this, and Yozora made tremendous progress in the baseball training.
He had mastered the ability to locate a target by sound. With this skill, combined with his gradually sharpened reflexes, he could dodge most of the incoming baseballs.
Don't underestimate the ability to locate by sound. It was the fruit of intense focus.
Without sufficient concentration, such an ability could never be honed.
While this level of focus was still far from truly opening the Mind's Eye, it was undeniable proof of growth.
Once one pushed focus to the extreme, the Mind's Eye would open on its own.
From then on, without needing Master Tyron's guidance, Yozora actively blocked out sound and, just like before, the baseballs struck him one after another.
In just three days, Yozora had achieved this much progress. But his Pokémon had advanced even further—Charmeleon and the others had already reached the state of sound-based focus.
Humans are easily distracted—hearts restless, spirits swayed, the world overflowing with temptations.
Pokémon, however, were far more pure. They found it easier to concentrate and heighten their focus.
Some of them took two days, others only one, before reaching this level.
Unfortunately, opening the Mind's Eye was still far out of reach.
Still, Yozora firmly believed that someday Beedrill, Charmeleon, and the rest would achieve it before he did.
It wasn't that Yozora lacked talent—it was simply the difference between species.
Human infants were born pure. Their Mind's Eye opened naturally, allowing them to perceive things beyond the ordinary. Like blank paper, they learned swiftly.
But as they grew, as their awareness of the world expanded and their hearts became clouded with desire, the Mind's Eye would close.
Time flew by, and fifteen days soon passed.
During this half month, Yozora's Pokémon made remarkable progress.
Beedrill, after countless grueling battles, finally broke through its bottleneck and ascended to the Elite Four tier.
Charmeleon and the others also grew significantly stronger.
[Beedrill]: Elite Four tier, pseudo-legendary potential*
[Charmeleon]: Lord-tier (early stage), Tier-3 Legendary potential*
[Pidgeot]: Commander-tier (mid stage), Champion potential
[Gengar]: Commander-tier (early stage), Elite Four potential
[Machop]: Senior-tier (high stage), Elite Four potential
[Graveler]: Senior-tier (peak), Champion potential...
[Miltank]: Senior-tier (early stage), Gym Leader potential
[Dratini]: Infant stage, Champion potential...
Charmeleon's improvement was especially striking. It had now stepped firmly into the Lord-tier, its presence sharp and unstoppable.
Many Charizard never reached such heights, and yet Yozora's Charmeleon had already achieved it.
But what made Yozora happiest was Miltank's growth.
Mei had finally reached the Senior level. This was rare indeed—once a Miltank reached this stage, the quality of its milk skyrocketed. Not only did it taste better, but it brimmed with powerful nutrients.
That abundant nourishment, paired with relentless training, explained his team's immense progress.
"The improvement in their physical endurance is the greatest. Relentless training combined with full nutrition has given them stamina far beyond their current levels. Each of them can now fight continuously without collapsing easily," Master Tyron commented with satisfaction.
To Master Tyron, Yozora's Pokémon levels had seemed ordinary at first, not worth much thought.
But through his recent observations, he realized that each one possessed extraordinary potential, and each could exert power well above their actual rank.
That was frightening enough. And if they added moves like Power-Up Punch or Swords Dance to boost themselves further, they would be near unstoppable.
The day of Taige Town's annual Fighting Tournament finally arrived. It drew countless fighting enthusiasts, some bringing Pokémon to compete, others simply to spectate.
There were as many as 452 contestants!
To speed up the preliminaries, the organizers prepared thirty battle arenas, all operating simultaneously. Spectators could freely choose which match to watch.
Yozora entered Charmeleon into the tournament and encountered a slew of bizarre opponents along the way. Geodude and Sandshrew were fine, but he even faced Ekans and Arbok—
And those could only rely on Bind...
Yozora swept through round after round. Soon, the top four emerged.
Besides Yozora and Momiji, the other two semifinalists were a trainer with a Machamp and another with a Gengar.
In the semifinals, Yozora defeated Momiji, while Machamp brought down Gengar.
That Machamp knew Foresight, allowing it to see through Gengar's form. Every strike landed true, and within moments, Gengar was knocked out.
"Yozora, your Charmeleon is incredible! It fights like a born martial artist!" Momiji ran over before the finals began, praising Charmeleon's skill.
Yozora only smiled.
There was no such thing as a born martial artist. Every bit of that strength came from grueling practice.
After half a month of brutal training, Charmeleon had not yet opened its Mind's Eye, but its concentration had improved countless times over.
Its strength had grown at breakneck speed, its fighting techniques honed to a high level, its movements agile and precise.
And with its sharpened focus, it could now read an opponent's actions more clearly, reacting accordingly.
"Yozora, that Machamp is extremely strong. It specializes in chokeholds—if it gets a grip, it'll end the battle quickly," Momiji warned, analyzing the opponent.
"Yes, but it lacks agility. As long as my Charmeleon avoids the hold, victory is ours." Yozora spoke with confidence.
That Machamp was powerful, at the high stage of Lord-tier.
In raw strength, Charmeleon was outmatched. In fact, it was at a disadvantage.
But in speed, Charmeleon had the upper hand.
At last, the final battle of the tournament began. With the host's enthusiastic introduction, Yozora and the middle-aged trainer with Machamp took the stage.
Charmeleon and Machamp faced each other across the arena.
(End of Chapter)