"Come out, my partners!"
Ann Chovy swung her arm and tossed out her two slightly worn red-and-white Poké Balls.
Pop! Pop!
With the distinctive snap of Poké Balls opening, two beams of white light took shape on the training field.
The first to appear hovered in midair—a Pokémon about a meter tall, with four transparent wings etched in intricate patterns.
Its insect wings beat rapidly, producing a sharp buzzing hum.
Its forearms were shaped like twin lances, and the yellow-and-black striped abdomen ended in a massive, menacing stinger.
This large venomous bee Pokémon was Beedrill.
Beedrill is the final evolution of Weedle. In the forests of the Kanto region, it is an extremely common Bug-type Pokémon. They excel at fighting in groups, and trainers traveling through woodland fear nothing more than accidentally provoking a Beedrill swarm.
These giant stingers are notoriously vengeful. Once you trespass into their territory, they will pursue relentlessly. Either defeat the swarm with overwhelming strength—or dive into water and pray for survival.
If neither option is available… well.
Every year, among the Kanto League's published lists of trainers who die in travel-related accidents, quite a few fall victim to Beedrill swarms.
"Neigh!"
A crisp, ringing whinny followed.
This time, the Pokémon that appeared made Kael's eyes brighten slightly.
It was a horse-like Pokémon, its mane and tail blazing with living fire.
Ponyta.
A relatively rare species. Ponyta typically inhabit plains, canyons, and grasslands. Since the Kanto region is dominated by forests and wetlands, Ponyta are not particularly common here.
With its sleek build and fiery mane, Ponyta cuts a striking figure. Like Beedrill, it stood roughly one meter tall. Much like Growlithe, Ponyta are fiercely loyal to their trainers, recognizing only one master in their lifetime. They are strong-willed and full of perseverance.
Its evolution, Rapidash, boasts formidable strength. In ancient times, Rapidash were often used as mounts by Kanto's noble knights, which once made them highly sought after by trainers who favored Fire-type Pokémon.
"Be careful!"
When Ann saw Kael reaching toward Ponyta's head, she couldn't help but cry out.
Ponyta are highly wary of strangers. Recklessly touching them can easily result in burns from the flames of their mane.
But Kael did not reach directly for its head.
Instead, he extended his hand to Ponyta's muzzle and opened his palm. Resting there were several small black cube-like pieces.
They were scraps left over from crafting pokeblocks—mixed with spare medicinal supplements and reprocessed into bite-sized treats. Kael usually gave them to his Pokémon as snacks.
Ponyta leaned forward and sniffed. A fragrance unlike anything it had ever smelled before drifted into its nostrils.
It let out a pleased little snort, eyes narrowing contentedly, and began nibbling at the treats from Kael's open palm.
When feeding horse-like creatures, one must always keep the palm flat. Their molars are long, and when they chew, their teeth draw inward—holding food in your fingers risks getting bitten.
Both Ann and Kael had grown up in orphanages. But unlike Kael, Ann had never applied herself to learning. She barely remembered any of the specialized knowledge taught by the instructors, spending most of her time running around outside.
When she finally obtained her own Pokémon, she couldn't afford quality Pokémon feed. To save money, she frequently gathered wild berries in the forest.
Beedrill were easy enough to maintain—just buy some honey and mash flower petals together with berries.
But for a Pokémon like Ponyta, without the money for specialized Fire-type feed or pokeblocks, she could only cut fresh pasture grass from the plains.
Such food was enough to keep them alive—but expecting real growth or strong development was wishful thinking.
This was the first time Ponyta had ever eaten something so delicious. Even when Kael began gently stroking its body, aside from an initial snort, it showed no aggression.
His palm slid lightly across the blazing mane. When Ponyta harbors no hostility, those flames feel like warm silk—smooth and surprisingly pleasant to the touch.
Ann's jaw practically dropped.
When she had first captured Ponyta, she had been burned countless times by those very flames. Yet this stranger—meeting it for the first time—could touch it without injury.
The muscles along Ponyta's back were somewhat loose. A clear sign of insufficient protein intake.
Kael's eye was sharp.
The Ponyta's spirit seemed decent, but it was clearly mildly malnourished.
Horses cannot live on grass alone. If she couldn't afford proper Fire-type rations, she could at least be more strategic—crush eggs together with soybeans and mix them into fresh pasture grass. This old method would sufficiently replenish the nutrients Ponyta required after intense running.
...
On the training ground, Rhydon supported himself with one hand on the bluestone floor, performing one-handed push-ups.
Pressed across his back was a barbell plate nearly half a person's height, clearly marked: 400 kg.
Meanwhile, Weavile stood inside the multifunctional evasion-and-strike chamber—an open-air large-scale training apparatus capable of automatically adjusting attack intensity. The surrounding walls were magnetized.
Kael pressed the switch in his hand.
Instantly, discs shot out from every direction toward Weavile.
Weavile lowered her stance slightly, her eyes flicking rapidly left and right at high frequency.
One disc sliced through the air and struck toward her left shoulder—
Her pointed ears twitched.
Whoosh!
Her right hand shot out like lightning, reaching across her body to seize the incoming disc mid-flight.
Three more discs fired straight toward her from the front.
She flung away the captured disc, flipped backward into the air, and at the same time slashed sideways with her left hand, cleaving through a disc approaching from her flank.
In moments, the naked eye could barely follow her movements.
All that remained visible was a dark blur darting at extreme speed within the chamber, as discs rained down relentlessly from every direction—while the magnetized walls pulled in the rebounding discs, only to launch them back into the fray once more.