Rookidee moved with incredible speed, its wings forming two sharp air blades that sliced toward Scorbunny from both sides.
"Dodge it!" Bryan commanded with a wave of his hand.
With Scorbunny's speed, a mere Air Cutter couldn't hit it.
"Scor!"
Scorbunny leaped just in time, evading one of the air blades, but the other grazed its ear.
Hone Claws didn't only boost attack power. It also increased accuracy, enhancing Rookidee's dynamic vision and reaction speed.
These two air blades were precise, and one of them shaved off the red fur at the tip of Scorbunny's left ear.
"Don't stop! Quick Attack!" Shiro ordered without missing a beat, pressing forward with relentless aggression to take down Scorbunny.
"Tch, Fire Kick!" Bryan knew he'd miscalculated with the Air Cutter and, seeing Shiro's continuous attacks, he decided to counter with a direct clash.
Fire Kick was a move that combined Ember and Double Kick. At the current Beginner level, it could deal devastating damage, enough to leave an opponent of the same level badly injured.
Experienced trainers always trained their Pokémon to master move combinations, maximizing their attack potential.
On the battlefield, Scorbunny saw Rookidee charging forward, its body glowing with a gray-white energy. Without hesitation, it jumped and ignited its legs in flames.
But its Fire Kick hit nothing but air.
Rookidee hadn't used Quick Attack to rush in. Instead, it remained airborne, using Hone Claws once more.
"Damn it!" Bryan cursed. He had reminded himself before the match to watch out for Shiro's deceptive commands, yet he still fell for it.
This wasn't about the Pokémon's strength. The real gap was in their trainers' tactics.
By now, Rookidee had completed its Hone Claws, and without hesitation, Shiro issued the next command.
"Air Cutter!"
"Damn… Protect!" Bryan couldn't risk Scorbunny dodging this time. With Rookidee's accuracy boosted twice, it had a high chance of landing a hit.
For a Beginner-level Pokémon, Scorbunny was quite fragile. It lacked the endurance to take a direct hit from the Air Cutter. If it got struck, its movements would be restricted, leading to an inevitable loss.
Bang, bang, bang....
A few soft impacts echoed as the Air Cutter struck the green protective barrier, sending ripples across its surface.
At the same level, Protect was nearly unbeatable, easily blocking Rookidee's attack. But it couldn't be used in quick succession.
"Keep using Air Cutter!" Shiro commanded.
Rookidee remained airborne, staying just out of reach of Scorbunny. With its ranged attacks, it could wear the opponent down freely.
Bryan understood this all too well. His expression changed, but he couldn't think of a way to turn the situation around.
Before the next Air Cutter could land, he recalled Scorbunny into its Poké Ball. "I give up!"
Bryan conceded without hesitation, pulling his ID card from the metal pillar.
"Thanks for the match." Shiro retrieved Rookidee and removed his own ID card.
"Ugh…" Bryan scratched his head repeatedly, his gray hair now resembling a half-formed bird's nest.
He sighed, "I didn't expect to lose so quickly. Your commanding ability is truly impressive, much more than someone your age would have."
"Heh, I just have a lot of ideas," Shiro casually replied, accepting the money Bryan handed him.
It was 5000 Pokédollars. Shiro quickly glanced at it before looking back at Bryan.
"A small gesture, consider it a greeting gift." Bryan waved his hand dismissively and left. He had only booked the one-hour package, and one battle was enough.
Shiro stood there for a moment, wondering if he had seen this guy before during his travels from Spikemuth to Hammerlocke. After recalling and dismissing the thought, he pocketed the money and prepared to leave the place.
It was still early, and he had to make the most of his time to train. Not only for Rookidee and Gastly, but also for himself.
Shiro could feel his physical fitness improving from the intense daily training.
In the Pokémon world, food is often tied to the Pokémon, providing unimaginable nutrition. As a result, his body recovered very quickly.
After exiting the passage, Shiro asked Pym for an intermediate level training room and got straight to work.
Before he knew it, it was already afternoon.
During the training, Shiro noticed that after two victories, Rookidee's strength had not only stabilized, but was now close to evolving.
Rookidee was now at level 17, almost on the brink of evolution. It seemed ready to reach level 18 at any moment.
At level 18, Rookidee would evolve into Corvisquire, but now was not the time for evolution.
"Rooki-dee!"
Inside the training room, Rookidee flapped its wings and landed on Shiro's shoulder.
Its chest muscles were now more developed, and its wings had grown slightly longer due to continuous training and flying-type resources. However, its beak still remained the same.
Shiro planned to buy a Metal Coat from the black market to strengthen its beak. Once its beak's strength was improved, he'd let it evolve.
The accumulation during a Pokémon's early stages is beneficial for their evolution. Many Corviknights lose their potential right after evolving and remain stuck at the Advanced-level for the rest of their lives, often because they weren't properly trained during their Rookidee stage.
Shiro gently stroked the feathers on Rookidee's head. Rookidee nuzzled its yellow belly fur against Shiro's shoulder, shaking its head and flapping its wings to show Shiro that it could always feel a strange energy and impulse inside its body.
But it held back that impulse, feeling like its training wasn't enough, like its body wasn't fully developed yet.
"Your feeling is right…" Shiro recalled the advice from Grant.
He said that Flying was in the wings, and Steel was in the beak. This meant the two attributes of Corviknight needed to be trained in these areas. Right now, Rookidee's beak isn't fully trained, and its body lacks steel-type energy. That's why it feels incomplete.
Corviknights that became stagnant were often affected by this. They didn't train their beaks with Metal Coat when they were Rookidee, causing them to lack steel-type energy in their bodies and making them weak after evolution.
"Looks like I need to buy not only Metal Coat but also some Steel-type Pokéblocks," Shiro muttered to himself, holding Rookidee in front of him and massaging its body.
Whether for Shiro's current job as a sparring partner or for Rookidee itself, evolution isn't the best choice right now.
"Gass!"
Gastly, who had been silently watching them, shook its head and looked at Shiro with wide, pitiful eyes, its mouth open as if begging for a massage too.
"Alright, alright. One at a time…" Shiro said calmly.
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