Early morning.
At the foot of Mt.
Chimney.
Swablu perched on top of Wally’s head as he stood there in casual clothes, curiously observing everything around it.
For a newly hatched Pokémon, everything in the outside world was so new and fascinating.
As the first person to accompany Swablu after its birth, Wally had already become its only family, even though there was no Poké Ball binding them together.
The moment Wally had gently placed the newly hatched Swablu on his head, the two of them had been destined to form a bond.
When a Trainer first caught a new Pokémon, that Pokémon would generally display an expression of confusion and docility.
But the way Swablu looked at Wally was different.
Its eyes were filled with affection and dependence.
Looking at what was, in theory, his first caught Pokémon, Swablu, Wally wore a smile that never left his face.
This exceptionally talented little Pokémon would become closely intertwined with Wally’s future.
“Cheep~~~~~~~”
Welcoming the newly risen sun, Wally gently stroked Swablu.
Swablu seemed to enjoy the attention as well.
It comfortably lay on Wally’s hair, looking somewhat lazy and content.
“This won’t do.”
Wally smiled faintly as he spoke.
The one-month trial period was still looming over them.
What awaited him and Swablu wasn’t a vacation or some leisurely retreat.
For the next month, the two of them would spend their days fighting, training, and tempering themselves through hardship.
Only through this process could Swablu’s potential and foundation be pushed to their limits!
It had been only a little over ten days since Wally left Fallarbor Town, yet in that short time, he had met Professor Birch, become a Junior Pokémon Breeder, and even gained a second Pokémon whose potential had initially given him immense satisfaction and even pleasant surprise.
All of this filled Wally with hope for the future.
To avoid disappointing Professor Birch’s expectations, and to legitimately become Swablu’s Trainer, he had to make full use of the remaining month.
No matter how difficult or exhausting it became, every bit of effort during this month would be worth it if it meant obtaining Swablu and entering Pokémon Academy.
Besides, if he couldn’t even endure this amount of hardship, how could he hope to make a name for himself and provide a better life for everyone at Verdanturf House?
On his way here, Wally had marked the locations he had confirmed to be safe.
Because of that, the areas he and Swablu traveled through weren’t particularly dangerous.
“Rustle, rustle~~”
As Wally and Swablu continued forward, the sound of grass moving reached their ears.
Wally quickly glanced toward it, and his eyes lit up.
“Found one!”
A small worm with a red-and-white body slowly crawled out of the grass.
Sharp spines protruded from its red back, and its eyes stared directly at them.
Wally naturally hadn’t come here to wander around aimlessly.
If he wanted to understand Swablu’s condition as quickly as possible, he needed to find an opponent for it.
However, that opponent couldn’t be too strong.
Swablu had only just been born.
No matter how great its potential was, its current strength was still extremely weak.
In an environment like this, Wurmple—a Pokémon near the bottom of the food chain—was naturally the ideal choice.
There weren’t many Wurmple around Mt.
Chimney, either.
After spending quite some time searching, Wally and Swablu had finally encountered one.
Unfortunately for this particular Wurmple, it had no idea that it had already become Wally’s “training partner.”
Wally had once raised a Wurmple all the way to Beautifly, so he naturally knew the characteristics of this common Pokémon.
Overall, Wurmple wasn’t particularly strong.
However, when its life was threatened, it could release poison from the spines on its rear and desperately fight back.
Therefore, as long as Wurmple wasn’t provoked too much, it could make a very suitable opponent for training.
After all, Wurmple only knew a handful of moves, such as Tackle, String Shot, and Poison Sting.
As long as they were careful, Swablu shouldn’t have much trouble dealing with it.
Although Wurmple couldn’t exactly be considered Swablu’s natural enemy, Swablu was still a bird-like Pokémon and therefore possessed a natural advantage against a small Bug-type Pokémon like Wurmple.
Wally had also made thorough preparations.
He had brought basic supplies of Potions and Antidotes with him.
“Good.
This will be our first battle on the road to becoming strong!”
Wally encouraged Swablu.
As a Trainer, although there were times when he could suppress certain Pokémon through his own physical strength, the most important thing was still commanding his Pokémon in battle.
A Trainer was the one who controlled the flow of the battle.
He was a participant, but he wasn’t supposed to personally fight in his Pokémon’s place.
After a night of adapting and growing, Swablu could already fly through the air on its own.
Although its movements were still somewhat clumsy, Wally was already very satisfied with this progress.
After a few more days of practice, once its wings developed more fully, Swablu should be able to fly much more gracefully.
As for battling, Swablu had only just been born and was somewhat reluctant at first.
However, there was still a certain fighting instinct flowing through its bloodline.
So the novel concept of “battle” naturally aroused its curiosity.
It could also sense the energy contained within its own body.
Some basic moves seemed almost as though they had been engraved into a Pokémon’s memory from birth.
Following Wally’s command, Swablu flew toward Wurmple as though eager to show off its strength.
Wurmple also realized that the newcomer meant trouble.
Fortunately, the little Pokémon didn’t immediately turn around and flee, which made Wally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Whoosh…”
A strand of silk shot from Wurmple’s mouth.
The sudden String Shot startled Swablu, and because Wally hadn’t given it any instructions beforehand, Swablu was caught off guard and hit immediately.
“Find a way to deal with it.”
Wally watched calmly from the side.
Although Pokémon relied heavily on their Trainers’ commands, certain basic things—such as dodging moves, finding opportunities to attack, and capitalizing on an opponent’s mistakes—also required a Pokémon to possess a certain degree of instinct.
It could also be called “battle awareness.”
These things needed to be instilled in a Pokémon from the very beginning.
Once a Pokémon developed its own combat style, changing it later could be much more difficult.
Wrapped in white silk and knocked to the ground, Swablu cried out in pain.
But after hearing Wally’s words, it immediately adjusted its posture and used its sharp beak to peck at the strands of silk wrapped around its body.
“First move: Peck.”
Wally silently noted it in his mind.
Peck was one of Swablu’s most basic moves, so there was nothing particularly surprising about it.
However, at that moment, a faint white glow was clearly flashing around the tip of Swablu’s beak.
That indicated that Swablu’s execution of Peck had already reached a slightly higher level.
When it could concentrate most of its energy into its beak while using Peck, that would be considered a truly perfect execution.
Swablu still had a long way to go before reaching that level.
“Peck…
Looks like I’ll need to develop a training regimen specifically for this move.”
Having systematically studied the knowledge of raising Pokémon, Wally knew that most Trainers had fallen into a certain misconception.
They tended to overlook moves that seemed “weak” or “impractical” for their Pokémon.
But they failed to realize that although such moves might not offer much tactical value in battle, they were still important tools for stimulating a Pokémon’s growth and influencing its overall development through seemingly insignificant details.