"Hahaha!"
After everyone's laughter and joking died down, they finally turned their attention to watching Jace and Lena's battle.
On the field, Arcanine performed as steadily as ever, completely dominating Mismagius.
The Ghost type's proudest trick—its ability to vanish—lost all its usual effectiveness in the face of Arcanine's keen sense of smell. With no choice, Mismagius had to fight him straight on.
Arcanine's body wreathed in flames, he found his opening and landed Crunch twice on Mismagius. Mismagius had no choice but to collapse.
Victorious, Arcanine happily pounced on Jace, tackling him to the ground beneath him. Jace laughed and praised Arcanine warmly before recalling him into his Poké Ball, then stepped off the field together with Lena.
"Alright, it's your turn now."
After watching the two come off, Auron turned to Simon and Peter.
"OK!"
Peter grinned confidently, then gave Simon a push toward the field.
Peter's Pokémon was still Drilbur—no way around it. His Vibrava still hadn't evolved into Flygon. Evolution cycles really were the eternal wound of pseudo-legendaries.
On the field, Peter commanded Drilbur to immediately activate Sandstorm. The weather shifted accordingly.
Simon made no move of his own. He'd already predicted Drilbur's opening play.
After all, Peter could currently only send out Drilbur, and Drilbur's ability required sandstorm weather to activate. It wasn't difficult to anticipate at all.
And since he'd predicted it, naturally he'd counter it. Haunter could learn Skill Swap, after all.
Right after Drilbur activated Sandstorm, Haunter on the field immediately used Skill Swap, exchanging Drilbur's Sand Rush ability with his own Cursed Body. Haunter successfully obtained Sand Rush, doubling his speed.
Haunter's speed had already been fairly quick to begin with. With it now doubled, Drilbur couldn't catch even a glimpse of him.
In the end, there was nothing to be done. Unable to hold out until Sandstorm wore off, Drilbur was swept aside by Haunter's relentless Shadow Balls.
"That was quick."
Tim, who'd stayed waiting in the post-field corridor, smiled warmly and slung his arm around Peter's shoulder as the two walked back.
Peter looked dejected. "It's not my fault! Who could have predicted he taught Haunter Skill Swap?"
"Haha, you really are pitiful."
The two chatted as they walked toward the training room. Simon and Lena followed behind, both wearing easy smiles.
Auron had already smiled and shaken his head the moment he saw Simon command Haunter to use Skill Swap. He'd returned to the training room at that point and sent Tim a message, telling him to wait for Simon so they could head back together.
"So, how was it? What do you think?"
Auron smiled at Peter, who walked in wearing his miserable expression.
"Master, I don't think I can beat any of them," Peter said dejectedly the moment he arrived.
"Oh—except for Master's brother. Me and him can at least fight to a draw."
"Pfft, hahahahaha!"
Peter's words sent everyone into stitches. Only Jace stood there with a darkened expression.
"Nonsense. Last time, if I hadn't been caught off guard, how could I have ended up on the losing side?"
Peter curled his lip and didn't dignify him with a response, turning back to Auron instead. "Master, I want to get stronger!"
"Master! We want to get stronger too!"
Jace, Tim, and the others exchanged glances, then spoke up to Auron in unison.
Auron's face fell into a line of exasperation. "What are you all piling on for?"
Tim scratched the back of his head. "Well, the mood kind of built up to it... if we didn't say something, it just wouldn't feel right."
Auron laughed and shooed them off. "Get lost. First, everyone release your Pokémon, then come with me."
"Sure thing~"
Everyone laughed, released their Pokémon, listened as Auron briefly outlined the training plan, then cheerfully walked over to him.
Auron released all his own Pokémon as well. He set Elekid to train alongside Snorlax on fundamental combat drills.
He had Charizard and Crobat work on flying effectively through the air, learning to properly command and navigate airflow.
Clawitzer had always been the type to put his head down and grind away. After Auron's earlier pointers, he'd already figured out where his strengths lay, and so now he was diligently practicing the core attack techniques in his repertoire.
As for Dratini, she was still wrapped around Auron and refused to come off. Fortunately, the scales on her body seemed to regulate their own temperature. Her contact against his skin was cool and refreshing, giving Auron the luxury of a built-in air conditioner.
After seeing everyone gathered together, Auron continued, "Getting stronger—I can't really guide you on that myself. After all, I'm not exactly strong either."
"But what I can do is help you identify your Pokémon's weaknesses and strengths, then focus training on those. Getting stronger isn't something that happens overnight."
"Mm, mm, mm." Everyone nodded earnestly, their eyes still fixed on Auron, waiting for him to go on.
"Serena, your Milotic's strengths lie in stamina—high Special Defense, strong recovery, and her Special Attack moves are solid too. My recommendation is to work on strengthening Milotic's tail."
"After all, Milotic can learn Dragon Tail, Iron Tail, and Aqua Tail. Frenzy Whip and Sweeping Destruction also make use of the tail. You can focus on practicing these moves regularly. That way, even if an opponent closes in on you, you won't be caught flat-footed—and it can also trigger Milotic's Enchanting Body ability."
Serena's face lit up after hearing all that. "Mm, mm! Got it."
Auron smiled, then turned to Jace. "Arcanine doesn't really need much comment. Speed, stamina, and bite force—it's mainly those three areas. As for the rest, if you want to win, it comes down to your own ability as a trainer."
Jace nodded. "Got it. So it's me who really needs to be training, right?"
Auron nodded back, smiling and giving Jace a thumbs up. "Mm, a promising student indeed."
"Get lost."
Jace laughed and swore at him.
"Alright, next—Tim. Your problem lies in your Pokémon's typing, and in yourself as well. Everything else is manageable. Dragon types are naturally powerful; you just need to train steadily and methodically."
Tim looked somewhat helpless, but it was the truth. Right now, whenever he ran into an Ice type or a Fairy type, he was at a serious disadvantage. His win rate was only around twenty or thirty percent. How was he supposed to compete like that?
Jace threw his arm around Tim's shoulders and grinned. "Bro, let's properly study up together."
"Go away. You buy books, I'll find videos."
Tim pushed Jace off with a look of disdain, but he didn't actually refuse the idea of studying together.
"Hehe, sure, sure."
Auron smiled watching the two sort things out between themselves, then turned his attention to Simon and Lena.
"For you two—hmm, how to put this. Whether it's something inherited or something else entirely, your battle instinct is genuinely impressive."
"However, you two might be too close together during battle, which is why I can't see things as clearly as I can from the outside. The way you fight right now seems a bit too reliant on Ghost types' vanishing ability."
"Of course, you two come from a Ghost-type specialist family, so I'm honestly not sure whether what I'm saying is entirely accurate."
Simon and Lena dropped their smiles, falling into quiet thought for a moment. Then they looked up at Auron.