"Do Ash and Brock wake up this early every day?" Zoey asked, sitting on the folding chair Brock had prepared for breakfast. She watched Ash hurrying back from the distance.
Sensing a kindred spirit, Zoey looked at Dawn and saw the girl staring intently at the boy, looking every bit like someone in love.
"Hey, hey!" Zoey called out a couple of times. Dawn finally snapped back to reality and asked, "What is it?"
"Sheesh!" Zoey gave a look of exasperation before repeating her question.
"Oh, yes!" Dawn became instantly energetic now that the topic was Ash. "To train his Pokémon, Ash wakes up before the sky is completely bright to start his morning practice. And Brock, as the team's chef, prepares breakfast for the three of us and all the Pokémon after Ash wakes up!"
"That's so dedicated!" Zoey felt her impression of Ash deepen. No wonder every one of his Pokémon looked so well-trained. She also noted that Brock, though looking a bit strange, was an unexpectedly reliable companion.
"Right? Aren't you jealous that we have such an excellent chef on the team?" Dawn looked smugly as she saw Zoey watching the busy Brock.
"I am! I truly envy your life!"
"Hmph, well, who am I to—"
...
Just as the two girls were engrossed in their discussion, Ash suddenly turned back, looking toward Eterna Forest. In his Aura sense, a powerful energy was rapidly approaching. Combined with the cessation of the gold coin notification sound in his mind, the source was undoubtedly Sceptile, returning from its grinding session.
"Chaa!"
After a moment's thought, a green blur stopped abruptly in front of him, followed by Sceptile, still chewing its twig.
"That's hard work, Sceptile! Looks like you had a good haul!" Sceptile had a few lingering scratches, but its expression was completely satisfied, a slight grin playing at its mouth.
"Chaa!" Sceptile crossed its arms, giving Ash and Pikachu a proud thumbs-up.
"Pika!" The yellow rodent climbed onto Sceptile to chat about the secrets of grinding.
"Chaa! (It's divided into finding, fighting, grouping, and instantly defeating...)" Sceptile didn't hesitate to share its experience, detailing how to find high-quality colonies like Ursaring.
"Pika! (I see!)" Pikachu on his shoulder constantly squeaked with realization.
Ash stood before them, listening to the Pokémon, but he had already opened Sceptile's status panel in his mind.
He noted with satisfaction that Sceptile's IVs were maxed out (6V) and its Ability was Overgrow. Crucially, its Power had achieved a breakthrough since the Suicune battle, reaching the Elite Four level (10%). The system now displayed a percentage, essentially a hidden experience bar, confirming that the grinding method was working perfectly. Sceptile knew a wide range of powerful moves, including Dragon Pulse, Earthquake, and Focus Blast, and it still carried the Mega Stone. Sceptile's first grinding session had been immensely successful, and its power had increased by nearly 4 percentage points.
"Ash, come and eat breakfast! Brock's already finished preparing!" Dawn suddenly ran up to him, grabbed his arm, and prepared to start the meal.
Ash could only call the rest of his Pokémon, and they all grabbed their lunch boxes to enjoy breakfast.
While eating, Ash mentally reviewed his other team members:
"Hmm, Aipom has already learned Quick Attack. Looks like Double Hit won't be long now!" he mused. Learning Double Hit was the prerequisite for its evolution. "Perfect! Since Grotle has evolved, I'll have these two continue training together!"
Grotle's training focus would change to the essential tank skill: soaking pressure. It needed to practice taking a beating to raise its defenses. This meant Aipom's throwing training could continue, starting with pebbles and advancing to stones.
Ash then reviewed Snorlax. Its defensive suite was near perfect, having learned Amnesia and Defense Curl to boost both Special and Physical Defense. With Rest for healing and Yawn for control, it was a perfect front-line tank. It only lacked Darkest Lariat for Ghost-types. The major hurdle was still Belly Drum, which maximizes its offensive output. Snorlax's training time was strictly limited to two hours a day; any more, and the giant Pokémon would demand extra Pokéblocks.