Scizor clenched its two pincers; the difference was significant. It was a Steel-type Pokémon, most proficient in offense. However, even with the aid of the momentum from its flight, it only reached 1500. Beedrill, without using momentum, was 1500 points higher than it.
Scizor was nearing despair. It seems I can never catch up to my older brother.
Heracross, nearby, clearly wasn't focused on the results. All it could think about was what it would eat for dinner. Meanwhile, Eichi was thinking about other things: For a Pokémon like Heracross, a base attack power of 1300 without using a move, is that high or low? Forget it, there's no point dwelling on this. Let's start training.
***
In another Training Room, Tetsu was also training his Pokémon. He had opened the Move-Testing Machine. Four massive transparent barriers formed a square one meter above the ground. Tetsu released Ampharos and stepped out of the barrier himself.
"Ampharos, use Thunderbolt," Tetsu commanded.
Ampharos, inside the barrier, nodded and then unleashed the Thunderbolt with great resolve. Electric currents continuously surged from its body, wildly striking the surrounding barriers. The entire enclosed area was instantly dyed yellow, and the sound of crackling electricity was deafening. A few seconds later, the electronic screen above the machine displayed a series of numbers: 3250.
Seeing the figure, Tetsu cheered, "Excellent, Ampharos, you've improved again! A few days ago, it was only 3200, and now it's 3250." Ampharos rubbed its head, looking a little shy after being praised.
Snorunt, watching from the side, had eyes full of envy. When will I be as strong as Ampharos? Thinking this, Snorunt quickly clamored to Tetsu, asking to be tested again.
Tetsu smiled. "Didn't you just get tested yesterday? Why do you want to test again now? You want to know if you've improved, too? Fine, go ahead."
***
Coincidentally, in a Training Room not far from Eichi's, Sato was also using the Move-Testing Machine. Sato's loud command could be heard: "Charizard, use Flamethrower!"
Inside the transparent square barrier, Charizard's presence was stunning. It stomped its right foot heavily on the ground, then gathered Fire-type energy in its mouth.
A violent pillar of fire shot out, impacting the barrier directly in front of it. After a "boom," followed by a "drip," the electronic screen above displayed a series of numbers: 3800.
Sato secretly nodded to himself. Charizard's Flamethrower move had reached Mastery several months ago, but it still hadn't broken through to the Peak level. Although the mastery level hadn't advanced, its level was still increasing. The last time it was tested, it was 3700; now it was 3800. Charizard was nearing the peak of the Experienced Rank. It wouldn't be long before it broke through to the Elite Rank. I wonder how strong Eichi is now? His Beedrill had left a deep impression on Sato.
***
After a simple test, Eichi had Heracross, Scizor, and Beedrill test all of their attacking moves. Eichi took out a notebook and wrote down the power values of every move. Furthermore, he also had the three of them use Swords Dance before using other moves to see how much the power increased.
After testing, the first use could increase the attack power by twenty-five percent, but the second use only provided a twenty percent increase. Thus, each subsequent use would decrease the increase by five percent from the previous one. Currently, Beedrill's physical strength allowed it to use Swords Dance four times, which was its limit. Therefore, after Beedrill used Swords Dance four times, its base attack power could reach 170 percent of its original strength. Scizor and Heracross could only manage three uses at most.
Finally, by comparing the power values of all the attacking moves of the three Pokémon, it was clear that Beedrill was the strongest; there was no doubt about that. Scizor came next, followed by Heracross. Scizor wasn't significantly stronger than Heracross, but Heracross had no reaction to knowing it was the weakest. It didn't value this kind of measurement anyway.
After the tests were complete, Eichi began to arrange their training. Beedrill, as always, trained its attack speed. Scizor continued to train its speed. After this period of recuperation training, its speed had finally recovered to its original level and even improved further. Heracross trained its move execution speed. Eichi had designed a set of joint-flexing movements specifically for Heracross based on its body structure. Since Heracross had neglected joint movement during the move releases earlier, they would compensate for it now.
After the three Pokémon finished their warm-up and movements, Eichi allowed them to train on their own. Beedrill and Scizor conscientiously began their training, while Eichi kept a close eye on Heracross.
If he didn't watch that guy, it would start slacking off again. Seeing Eichi staring at it, Heracross stopped playing tricks and honestly started to practice.
However, Eichi devised a different method. He went to a corner and had Heracross come over before activating the Robot Mannequin.
There were four Robot Mannequins, forming a square. The space inside was small. This machine was also used to train the battle awareness of Fighting-type Pokémon.
Once the Robot Mannequin was activated, the four machines would continuously launch attacks, and the Pokémon needed to dodge to avoid being hit. Each machine had a weakness. As soon as the Pokémon found it and pressed it, the Robot Mannequin would stop. However, this button was constantly changing positions. Naturally, the Pokémon had to figure out how often it changed.
Eichi had Heracross enter the setup, explained the specific process to it, and then, without waiting for Heracross to speak, he immediately activated the Robot Mannequin, setting the vital spot to change once every three seconds. As soon as he pressed the activation button, the Robot Mannequin instantly sprang to life, with a rumbling sound coming from its body.
The Robot Mannequin began to swing its arms. It wasn't as sluggish and clumsy as one might imagine, but like a real person, moving very quickly. Heracross didn't have time to complain and quickly dodged the attack from one of the Robot Mannequins. Then, the other three also struck. Heracross was caught off guard and became panicked for a moment.
"Heracross, remember, you can't fly!" Eichi warned from outside. "If you fly out, I'll count it as giving up, and you'll be punished!"
Seeing that Heracross couldn't slack off, Eichi stopped watching it and turned to check on Scizor's training.
Scizor was currently in the air, training its dodging ability. A small steel ball was rapidly flying towards it.