Chapter 50: Training Plan

The special training for Forest Lizard was the least worrisome for Xia Yu, as among the three Pokémon, Forest Lizard was the most obedient and diligent. Its determination to grow stronger was exceptionally firm, which also meant it progressed the fastest. Although Xia Yu had not yet assigned specific training tasks, Forest Lizard had already begun training on its own initiative.

Watching Forest Lizard, Xia Yu pondered how best to conduct its special training. Forest Lizard’s final evolution is Sceptile, which, like Noivern, excels in special attack. In fact, Xia Yu’s three Pokémon—Noivern, Sceptile, and Charizard—all leaned toward special attack. The only one potentially suited for physical attack was Charizard, because after Mega Evolving into Mega Charizard X, its physical attack was greatly enhanced, nearly matching its special attack. At that point, Mega Charizard X could be built either as a special attacker or a physical attacker.

However, Charmander’s ability, Solar Power, actually favored a special attack build, which meant Xia Yu’s team was overall skewed toward special attack. This posed a challenge when facing Pokémon with strong special defense, such as Florges, who boasts a formidable special defense of 154 and is only weak to Steel and Poison, or Blissey, with a special defense of 135 and HP as high as 255. Such Pokémon would be difficult for Xia Yu’s team to overcome.

Therefore, supplementing the team with a physical attacker became essential. Xia Yu could either choose a physical attacker as his fourth Pokémon, with strong Dragon-type options like Garchomp, Haxorus, Salamence, or Dragonite—or he could try to develop some physical attack potential in his existing three Pokémon.

The first option—three pseudo-legendary Pokémon plus a powerful Dragon-type physical attacker like Haxorus—would be quite challenging to accomplish. So, the second option seemed more practical. Returning to Forest Lizard’s training: although it specialized in special attack, it also performed well physically and had the potential to take a physical attack path. It could learn enhancement moves like Swords Dance and powerful physical moves such as Leaf Blade, Earthquake, Outrage, Dragon Claw, Drain Punch, Rock Slide, Knock Off, and Acrobatics. Its diverse moveset made a physical attack build feasible, though not as strong as its special attack.

Currently, the physical training for Forest Lizard focused on three aspects. First was speed—its greatest strength and the core of its training. Therefore, Xia Yu used weighted training to enhance Forest Lizard’s speed. Unlike Noivern, which resisted carrying extra weight, Forest Lizard actively requested more weight. Watching the ever-increasing load, Xia Yu grew anxious: “Forest Lizard, maybe that’s enough, stop now.” “Sceptile,” it replied obediently.

The weight on Forest Lizard’s legs was gradually increased to nearly 20 kilograms before stopping. Though this seemed light, it was important to note the weight was added to its legs, not on its back, meaning each step consumed tremendous energy. For comparison, while Noivern could fly with a 15-kilogram load, even adding just 5 kilograms to its wings would prevent it from flying.

The leg training was for speed, while the other two focuses were on Forest Lizard’s arms and tail, especially its arms, since nearly all its attack moves involved its hands—moves like Brick Break, Throw, Drain Punch, Leaf Blade, Outrage, and Dragon Claw. Xia Yu concentrated on strengthening Forest Lizard’s wrists, with the tail trained last.

“Forest Lizard, you need to focus on building strength and flexibility in your hands. That will help you master powerful moves.” “Sceptile,” it obediently replied, throwing itself into training.

Next was Charmander’s training, which was simpler and similar to Noivern’s, but with a key difference. Noivern’s main focus was flight training, but Charmander, not yet evolved into Charizard and lacking wings, did not require this. Instead, its training focused on strengthening its forearms, because Mega Charizard X’s ability, Tough Claws, increases the power of contact moves. Training this area would yield the greatest benefit.

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After assigning training to the three Pokémon, Xia Yu himself was not idle. He picked up the nearby equipment and worked out alongside his Pokémon, strengthening his own physique while deepening their bond.

The morning passed quickly. There was no denying that intense training could be addictive—exhausting yet joyous. After half a day of physical training, Xia Yu and his three Pokémon were drenched in sweat, utterly exhausted. This was when the unique advantages of the Dragon Realm became apparent.

Within the Dragon Realm, there was a special hot spring therapy room designed for trainers and their Pokémon. Soaking in the hot springs effectively relieved fatigue accumulated throughout the day, preventing muscle injuries from overexertion.

After an hour’s soak, Xia Yu’s stomach growled loudly. He headed straight to the dining hall to eat, also feeding energy cubes to his three Pokémon. Noivern’s energy cube had a reduced proportion of Dragon-type energy, because the Dragon Realm was rich in Dragon energy. To maintain a balance between Flying and Dragon energies, the cube’s Dragon energy content was lowered and Flying energy increased.

The same adjustment applied to Forest Lizard and Charmander’s energy cubes.

Following a brief midday rest, the afternoon brought energy training with a different instructor, a middle-aged man. Compared to the morning’s physical training, energy training was simpler. There was no shortcut; to improve mastery over Dragon energy required repeated practice. Fortunately, within the Dragon Realm, the concentration of Dragon energy accelerated training speed to twice that of the outside world—an undeniable advantage of the realm.

Besides energy control training, the afternoon also included energy resistance training, essentially special defense training. Xia Yu seized the opportunity to have all three Pokémon undergo weakness training.

Before long, the day passed. As night fell, some classmates chose to go home, others rested in their rooms, and a few pressed on with nighttime training.

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Xia Yu could have returned to the Lin family, but a sense of urgency drove him. His three Pokémon were still too weak, so he had to seize every moment to train them. The gap he had fallen behind could only be made up through their innate talent and hard work.

Bright incandescent lights illuminated the entire training field. Xia Yu and his Pokémon sweated profusely as the evening deepened. By around nine o’clock, nearly everyone had left, leaving only two or three people behind. The vast training ground felt particularly empty, a stark contrast to the crowded bustle of daytime.

“Rest for fifteen minutes, then we’ll train for another hour before heading back,” Xia Yu told his Pokémon. At his command, Noivern immediately stopped, flying over to nuzzle his palm.

Forest Lizard, however, ignored Xia Yu’s words and continued training. Charmander gritted its teeth and persisted as well, revealing a fierce determination at its core.

From a distance, Long Yanning watched Xia Yu’s relentless training with slightly changed impressions. Though Xia Yu’s strength was weak, at least he understood the value of effort. Whether he could endure remained to be seen.

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Regarding guest appearances, ordinary Elite Four trainers or Elite Four from other countries could apply, but slots for China’s Elite Four were currently limited.

The story is set with China divided into seven regions: East China, North China, South China, Central China, Southwest, Northwest, and Northeast. Each region has only four Elite Four members and one Champion, totaling 28 Elite Four members and seven Champions.

Those who have appeared so far include:

Li Yunyao, Southwest region, Flying-type Elite Four, Aerodactyl.

Alikun, Northwest region, Fire-type Elite Four, Magcargo.

Tan Yongseng, Southwest region, Water-type Elite Four, Water Z-Crystal specialist.

Long Fan, North China region, Dragon-type Elite Four.