Cerulean City — Silph Co. Heavy Industries Branch Plant.
"Teacher, is what I asked for ready?"
Sitting in the spacious workshop and idly playing with a model cruise ship on the table, Kael smiled as he looked toward the middle-aged man striding over.
The man's hair was flecked with gray, a thick beard covering his chin, and his arms were so thick they were nearly as big as Kael's thighs.
Bang!
The man dropped a small case onto the marble tabletop. Despite its modest size, it landed with the heavy thud of something far from light.
He flipped the case open and said with a grin,
"There you go—everything you wanted is in here. Kid, what you asked for wasn't easy to make. If I didn't have thirty years of machining experience, there's no way an ordinary craftsman could've handled parts this precise."
Inside the open case were four silver-white circular metal rings, each lined along the edge with evenly sized semicircular grooves.
"These are gravity beads, refined from super-heavy stone," the craftsman continued, spreading his hands as a black stone bead appeared in his palm.
"Each bead weighs ten kilograms. I added magnetic properties so they can lock perfectly into the grooves on the rings. Ten slots per ring—you can adjust the weight however you like."
These four metal rings were the custom training equipment Kael had commissioned.
The load-bearing mechanical rings could freely adjust both size and weight, used to train a Pokémon's muscular strength and explosive speed.
One ring fully loaded with ten gravity beads weighed 100 kilograms.
Four fully loaded rings totaled 400 kilograms, and when distributed across all four limbs, that meant a terrifying 800 kg of resistance.
If a Pokémon could fully adapt to that weight and still move freely… then the moment those rings were removed, the result would be nothing short of horrifying.
...
Endless blue ocean.
Snow-white, gleaming sand.
Wingulls wheeling freely through the distant sky.
Standing before a fully wooden seaside villa, Kael spread his arms wide and took a deep breath of the faintly salty air.
This was the vacation spot he had chosen.
A private beach north of Cerulean City, rented for a full week. Kael wasn't one for crowds, so instead of the developed public beaches, he spent good money securing a secluded stretch of coastline all to himself.
From afar, at the northeastern edge of the beach, a tall cliff rose sharply—and atop it stood a lighthouse casting a brilliant beam across the sea.
"That should be Bill's Lighthouse, right?"
Kael stroked his chin thoughtfully, then shrugged.
Whatever. I'm here on vacation—training Pokémon on the side. Everything else is none of my business.
If there was no benefit in it, Kael never got involved.
After giving the villa a quick tidy, he changed into black swim trunks, slipped on a pair of flip-flops, put on dark sunglasses, and walked shirtless onto the beach.
"Come out—Lulu, Sneasel!"
With a flick of his wrist, two Poké Balls flew out, and the two Pokémon appeared in front of him.
Kael crouched down and gently rubbed Kirlia's smooth, green hair, smiling.
"Hehe, Lulu, why don't you go make dinner first, okay?"
Lulu silently took a step back, avoiding her trainer's annoying hand, then shot an annoyed glance at Sneasel, who had been staring at her the whole time. After that, she trotted toward the villa with small, measured steps.
Once Lulu disappeared through the doorway, Kael turned his attention to Sneasel.
"Listen," he said seriously.
"For the next week, I'm going to put you through special training. Not the normal stuff from a month ago—this is the kind of training you'll have to give everything you've got to survive. We must master Throat Chop within one week. That's my requirement. Got it?"
"Snea!"
Sneasel nodded hard, clenching her claws, her whole body brimming with readiness.
Seeing her serious expression, Kael couldn't help but laugh. He ruffled her head and said,
"But today doesn't count. Today, we forget everything and just enjoy ourselves. Training starts tomorrow."
"Snea—!"
Sneasel angrily slapped his hand away, her face full of adorable indignation. She felt completely tricked—her freshly stirred fighting spirit had gone to waste.
"Haha! Let's see who can swim to the other side first. Whoever wins gets an extra serving from Lulu tonight!"
Kael dashed straight toward the sea, while Sneasel let out a sharp cry and chased after him.
...
"So? Still won't respond to you?"
In the bathtub filled with water, Feebas floated quietly at the bottom as always—eyes dull, occasionally blowing a bubble or two. Nearby, Kirlia had her eyes closed, concentrating as she tried to communicate using telepathy.
"No… it won't talk to me at all."
Lulu shook her head in frustration. Ever since they obtained Feebas three days ago, Kael had asked her to try communicating with it through psychic sensing—but no matter how hard she tried, the infuriating little thing simply ignored her.
Kael was certain this Pokémon had intelligence and emotions.
Pokémon were Pokémon—no matter how dull, none of them could truly be like ordinary fish with a five-second memory.
So how do I stir Feebas's heart…?
Kael pondered endlessly. Mocking it for being ugly would probably provoke some kind of reaction—but he neither wanted to nor dared to try.
After all, that would seriously damage their bond.