Before training, Eichi used to warm up his joints in his previous life.
He had once asked Sister Amelie what kind of joint exercises a Beedrill needed before training.
But her answer surprised him; there were none.
Amelie told him that most trainers simply gave their Pokémon massages after training.
That helped prevent hidden injuries, but it still reduced training efficiency.
Didn't they realize that?
Since there was no proper warm-up routine, Eichi decided to design one himself.
Based on Beedrill's body structure and known massage techniques, he created a full set of joint-mobility exercises.
First came arm stretches.
Both stingers extended straight forward again and again, then spread outward to the sides.
Next came rotations of the legs and ankles, moving in circular motions.
Finally, Beedrill twisted its neck left and right, followed by waist rotations.
After completing the set, Beedrill's entire body loosened, its movements smoother and lighter.
The effect was obvious.
Its progress improved, and the exercises also promoted its growth.
After warming up, Eichi began skill training.
The first one was Twineedle.
Eichi instructed Beedrill to swing its twin stingers repeatedly; thrusting forward, pulling back, thrusting again, pulling back.
This built up arm muscles to make the use of Twineedle faster and stronger.
He tied a small iron ring to a thin string and hung it from a tree branch.
Then he told Beedrill to strike through the ring with each thrust.
Beedrill flew up to the ring, its eyes locked on it.
Its twin stingers alternated rapidly in attack.
Gradually, Beedrill's speed grew faster and faster until only after-images of its arms could be seen.
The air even gave off faint whistling sounds as its stingers cut through it.
Still, the accuracy training was already becoming inefficient.
Once the weighted device arrived tomorrow, Beedrill would be able to improve even faster.
Besides the weight device, Eichi had also ordered a pair of special stinger guards.
They could be attached to Beedrill's stingers, with adjustable weights to train control and precision.
After about ten minutes, Eichi decided it was enough and told Beedrill to rest.
After a short break, he began the next phase: striking a tree repeatedly with Twineedle so that Beedrill could feel real impact.
Beedrill swung its stingers and stabbed them deep into the trunk.
Soon, the tree bark was full of small, dense holes, all Beedrill's work.
From the size and depth of the punctures, Eichi could tell that the power of Twineedle was steadily increasing.
A sharp "crack" echoed each time the stingers pierced the wood.
Eichi realized he couldn't keep letting it hit trees like that.
Tomorrow, he would buy a proper target board.
Otherwise, the trees in this little grove might not survive Beedrill's training for long.
When the planned time came, Eichi let Beedrill rest again and fed it a Pokéblock.
Beedrill quietly rested on the side while Eichi prepared the second exercise.
This time, it was training for Toxic Spikes.
Beedrill needed to channel the Poison-type energy inside its body and scatter toxic spikes around.
Purple, triangular spikes spread across the ground within a ten-meter radius.
The coverage was good, and the power looked decent too.
Now, there were three goals to work on:
First, expand the area;
Second, shorten the release time;
Third, increase the power of the spikes.
Speaking of Poison-type energy, Eichi thought about his Bug Force.
Bug Force was a special energy produced when his body absorbed Bug-type energy particles from nature.
This energy had many effects, and one of them was enhancing the potential of Bug-type Pokémon.
Originally, his Beedrill had only Ordinary-grade talent.
But after being nourished by the Bug Force, it had already reached the Excellent grade.
The green flame inside Beedrill's body was still growing at a visible rate.
Bug Force not only strengthened Bug-type attributes, but also improved other attributes within a Bug-type Pokémon's body.
Beedrill continued channeling Poison energy, releasing Toxic Spikes again and again.
Countless spikes appeared and covered the ground, though they would eventually fade with time.
Each set lasted for about an hour, which was more than enough for a full 6-on-6 battle.
The third move to train was Fury Attack.
It used Beedrill's tail stinger, filled with toxins, to stab at the opponent multiple times.
This move required high accuracy, so Eichi focused entirely on that.
He first told Beedrill to repeatedly strike at one fixed point.
Then, after Beedrill memorized the spot, he blindfolded it with a black cloth.
Beedrill continued using Fury Attack toward the same point, again and again.
If it missed once, it tried again.
Training stopped only when Beedrill could hit the point precisely.
At first, it missed every time.
Eichi couldn't let it keep going endlessly, but as long as there was clear progress, that was enough.
Now, Beedrill could almost always land the hit.
This training improved not only accuracy but also hearing and combat instinct.
By this time, Beedrill was already exhausted.
Eichi had calculated the workload; one more move would be the limit.
The fourth move was Pin Missile.
Normally, this move produced two to five sharp spikes, depending on luck.
However, with enough training, it was possible to always produce five.
Eichi's Beedrill could already control it so that every time, it formed exactly five spikes.
It was said that once Pin Missile reached the Mastery stage, it would always produce five spikes, and once it reached the Peak stage, it could create as many as the user could handle.
But so far, no Beedrill was known to have broken the five-spike limit.
Right now, Beedrill's spikes still varied in power: some strong, some weak.
So Eichi trained it to hit accurately while keeping each spike's power consistent.
He told Beedrill to use Pin Missile on a tree.
Five sharp spikes condensed around it and shot forward at high speed.
They struck the trunk simultaneously, embedding themselves in the wood.
Eichi stepped closer and checked.
The depth of the five holes was nearly the same, though a few were slightly shallower.
He had Beedrill do it again.
This time, it was perfect.
Then again, and it wasn't.
Still, that was training. Progress came with patience.