Pokémon: Above the Top

Weavile was forcefully knocked back by Night Daze, but after flipping a few times in the air, it managed to dissipate the impact and landed steadily on the ground, looking at Zoroark with a hint of astonishment.

Night Daze. Weavile had never seen this move before!

However, the next moment, Weavile once again dashed toward Zoroark. At least ninety percent of its strength was reflected in close combat!

"Focus Blast!"

Zoroark clasped its hands together, and when they parted, a white energy sphere rapidly expanded. Then, with a swift motion, it launched the Focus Blast toward Weavile!

Focus Blast was a newly learned technique for Zoroark and a rare Fighting-type special attack move!

More importantly, it had quadruple effectiveness against Ice and Dark-type Pokémon like Weavile!

Forget a direct hit, just grazing it would leave Weavile severely injured!

Feeling the immense threat from the incoming white energy ball, Weavile instinctively dodged to the side!

"Detonate!" Sato's voice was low, almost as if he wasn't giving a direct command to Zoroark.

But in that exact moment, the Focus Blast suddenly exploded!

The explosion of Focus Blast caused a shockwave, greatly reducing its damage when spread out. But even at just a tenth of its full power, the residual impact was enough to seriously injure Weavile, who had thought it had completely dodged the attack!

Focus Blast was an incredible Fighting-type move, but its accuracy was notoriously unreliable. Against an agile opponent like Weavile, landing a direct hit was almost impossible.

That's why neither Sato nor Zoroark had ever planned on hitting Weavile directly.

The explosion was the real strategy!

"Zoroark, Flamethrower!"

Weavile was now half-kneeling on the ground, clearly still reeling from the Focus Blast explosion. It could only watch as Flamethrower surged toward it!

For a moment, it was as if Weavile saw that scene again, the moment when Houndoom had used Fire Blast to completely overpower it.

A sense of helplessness, a sense of despair.

However, the anticipated flames never reached Weavile.

Just before Flamethrower could make contact, the fire veered off course, brushing past Weavile and dissipating into the air!

As the flames faded, Zoroark stepped forward and extended its right hand toward Weavile.

"Weavile!"

Weavile hesitated, its pride preventing it from taking Zoroark's hand. Instead, it pushed itself up, standing on its own two feet, staring intently at Zoroark for a long moment.

Then, it turned to look at Sato, the unwillingness in its eyes gradually fading, the arrogance in its expression softening.

Finally, it nodded lightly.

"Oh!"

A wave of cheers erupted from the team.

They cheered for the incredible battle.

They cheered for Zoroark's victory.

And most importantly, they cheered for their new companion, Weavile's official acceptance!

With the matter of Weavile finally resolved, Sato could now focus on establishing a solid training schedule for his time in Joy Town.

Apart from the fixed class hours that couldn't be changed, Sato had also set aside two hours daily specifically for studying and reviewing his coursework.

As for the rest of his time?

All of it would be dedicated to training his Pokémon.

Since the overall strength gap among his Pokémon varied significantly, and he needed to train all eight of them simultaneously, it was going to be a serious challenge!

----

When writing about Eevee's training plan, Sato paused slightly, feeling a bit hesitant. However, he quickly made his decision. Training was necessary!

Although Sato had always dedicated himself to training each of his Pokémon with full effort, in his heart, the four that had accompanied him through countless life-and-death battles in his previous life held a special place.

Because of that, after capturing Eevee, Sato subconsciously avoided pushing it too hard with a strict training regimen.

At the beginning, when Sato had no power to resist the major organizations and factions, Zoroark was his only path forward, and rigorous training was essential.

But now, Sato had built a solid foundation of strength. Whether Eevee became powerful or not was no longer a critical issue.

So, if Eevee wanted to spend more time happily playing, Sato wouldn't refuse.

However, the desire for strength burned in Eevee's eyes. It had long been eager to grow stronger!

Then, there was Cacnea, the only Pokémon Sato had captured in the Hoenn region, and its talent was exceptionally rare.

After just ten days of enhanced nutrition, it had expanded like a balloon, returning to the normal size of a Cacnea.

During this time, Sato had also taken the opportunity to study it, and he had discovered something truly remarkable about its abilities.

Water Absorb!

However, this was not the typical Water Absorb Ability. Instead, it was a far more terrifying passive ability!

A Pokémon with the Water Absorb Ability could nullify Water-type attacks and even recover stamina when hit by them.

But Cacnea's Water Absorb went beyond that, it could directly drain moisture from an opponent upon contact, absorbing it into its body to recover stamina.

Of course, this had limitations.

Pokémon like Misdreavus or Magnemite, which lacked a "tangible body", would be immune. However, even Aggron, despite its solid form, could still be affected, though only minimally.

Even with such restrictions, the ability was already immensely powerful, not to mention that Cacnea also possessed Sand Veil Ability!

Because of this, fully developing Cacnea's unique abilities would require careful planning.

Finally, there was Weavile.

Its major flaw was obvious. Due to years of surviving in the wild, it had developed an instinct of either finishing battles in a single decisive blow or immediately retreating if outmatched.

Its offensive power was undoubtedly formidable, but its defensive capability was fragile to the extreme.

That said, having low defense did not mean it couldn't defend itself. Moves like Protect, Substitute, and Double Team could provide alternative solutions.

However, changing Weavile's deeply ingrained battle instincts wouldn't be an easy task!