"Iron Tail, Metal Claw, Gyro Ball..." murmured Ethan Black as he thought about the moves Sandshrew could learn.
Among them, the move Gyro Ball was one that Sandshrew should be able to learn simply by leveling up.
According to his observations, those moves that in the games were learned by level seemed to be much easier to master in reality. It was as if they were engraved in the Pokémon's genes; they only needed a bit of guidance to learn them with ease.
On the other hand, the moves that required TMs or a tutor were much harder to learn. Even in the Pokémon Professional League, most Pokémon used moves learned by level.
"It's best if Sandshrew learns Gyro Ball first. It's another move that also uses fast rotation to attack. He already mastered Rollout and Rapid Spin, so as long as he can sense Steel-type energy, it shouldn't be difficult."
Ethan Black took his notebook and quickly laid out the next training plan for Sandshrew.
But to learn Gyro Ball, he first had to feel Steel-type energy. Since he already had a foundation with Rapid Spin, there was no need to train in the club's training room.
"In that case, the only thing Sandshrew can work on here is his physical condition, right?"
"Hmm, wait... Maybe I could start by strengthening his claws and tail."
"That way, once he manages to master Gyro Ball, he can immediately train the moves Metal Claw and Iron Tail!"
"Besides, the training for Iron Tail was shown in the anime... though I'm not sure if it works the same way in real life."
Ethan Black pressed his lips together, scribbling in his notebook while adjusting the training plan to make the best use of the room.
In his mind, everything was taking shape. Training the claws was simple: he just needed to repeatedly use the move Scratch, a move Sandshrew had already mastered.
Although he might not be able to learn Metal Claw yet, once he evolved into Sandslash, his claws would grow thicker and stronger, and he could learn moves like Crush Claw or Fury Cutter, which rely on sharp claws.
That's why building a good foundation now was crucial for developing powerful claws.
As for tail training, Ethan Black decided to follow the routine Pikachu used in the anime to learn Iron Tail.
Basically, it consisted of improving the tail's resistance to weight and its striking power.
In this, Sandshrew had a huge advantage: his tail was much stronger than Pikachu's. Even without training, a swing of his tail already had considerable power... enough to make you see stars if it hit you!
Once the plan for that night in the training room was set, he took Sandshrew to a rocky wall specially designed for claw training, and had him use Scratch again and again, leaving deep marks on the rock.
Thus passed intense days for Ethan Black.
From 8 a.m. he would leave the training room to go to the construction site, where he trained Rollout, Rapid Spin, and Sand Attack.
After giving Sandshrew a big meal, he went to the club to face Alex Baxter's daily challenge.
And indeed, the number of Pokémon Alex Baxter had surprised Ethan Black: in just ten days, he had used more than ten different Pokémon!
Moreover, Alex Baxter was very stubborn: he refused to use Pokémon with a type advantage over Sandshrew. He always chose fair matchups.
But Sandshrew progressed so much during those days, that Alex Baxter didn't win a single time.
Even his strongest Pokémon, one of his trump cards —Rhydon— was defeated by Sandshrew's max-powered Rollout.
After ten days of battles, Ethan Black and Alex Baxter became good friends. After every fight, Alex Baxter invited them to dinner.
Sandshrew grew very fond of him. Sometimes, Ethan Black feared that if Alex Baxter made an offer, Sandshrew would leave with him without hesitation.
After each delicious dinner, Ethan Black returned with Sandshrew to sleep in the club's training room. While Sandshrew practiced, he perfected the next day's training plan. And so on, until 8 a.m.
...
Half a month later.
"Sandshrew, use Rollout with Sand Attack!"
In an abandoned construction site, Ethan Black was directing the day's training.
Hearing the order, Sandshrew began to roll skillfully, and sand began to swirl around him, eventually becoming a wave of dust that surged forward violently.
"Well done! Now Rapid Spin with Sand Attack!"
A new order. Sandshrew's rolling body suddenly stopped and began spinning on the spot at high speed, creating a strong gust of wind.
Amid that wind, tiny grains of sand were lifted and carried upward, forming a great sand whirlpool.
"It's time! Launch Sandstorm!"
With a serious look, Ethan Black gave the final command.
"Shaaa!" roared Sandshrew, stopping his spin, standing tall at the center of the sand whirlpool. He opened his arms, and his eyes shone with light.
Then, the whirlpool paused for an instant, and suddenly exploded, unleashing a violent blast of wind and sand that spread in all directions.
A real Sandstorm!
"He did it! A weakened version of Sandstorm, evolved from Sand Attack!"
Ethan Black's eyes sparkled with joy as he saw Sandshrew pull off the move.
Rollout + Sand Attack, Rapid Spin + Sand Attack, and now Sandstorm. This was the result of a whole month of training.
The first two combos had been part of the initial plan, and they developed successfully.
During the process, Ethan Black noticed that Sandshrew had a great talent for manipulating sand, which sped up his progress.
The move Sandstorm, however, had been a completely unexpected discovery.
It happened during training half a month ago. While Sandshrew was refining Rapid Spin + Sand Attack, a failed execution caused the whirlpool to explode in the air. Sand flew everywhere.
Ethan Black, who was too close, almost got injured by the rain of sand and stones. But at that moment, Sandshrew awakened the move Sandstorm and managed to control the explosion, creating a contained storm that protected Ethan Black.
Since then, even though Sandshrew could use Sandstorm, he could only achieve it that way: building up wind and sand with Rapid Spin + Sand Attack, and then releasing it all at once.
And even so, the success rate was low: once out of ten attempts, if lucky.
Ethan Black had no solution for that. Weather moves were too abstract. Unless Sandshrew understood it on his own, there was no clear way to train it.
After about 30 seconds, drops of sweat began to run down Sandshrew's forehead, and the storm slowly began to fade.
With his current level, that was the limit of Sandstorm.
(End of Chapter)