Unlike ordinary animals, Pokémon have remarkably short juvenile periods.
In just ten days, Vulpix had emerged from infancy and was ready to begin training.
This aligned with common understanding of battle-oriented species. Their childhood was brief, their youth extraordinarily extended, and they wouldn't begin aging until shortly before death...
Much like the Saiyans from other legends.
Nearly a month had passed since Roy arrived in this spiritual realm.
His goal was to participate in the National College League, earn recognition, and strengthen his Pokémon. Given the opportunity, Roy also hoped to compete for the championship and claim Trevor's invitation to the Crown Snowfield.
To participate in the National College League, he first needed to qualify for the university team through its selection battles.
The university team selection required 3v3 battles.
Three battle-ready Pokémon were mandatory.
According to Serena's information, each selected member of the university team had Pokémon with an average comprehensive evaluation of around B+.
As for Roy's three Pokémon, currently only Riolu had reached a B-level comprehensive evaluation. Squirtle's comprehensive evaluation remained at C-level, having just begun serious training.
Roy wasn't certain how much Riolu's evolution into Lucario would improve its strength, given his limited experience.
"Time is running out..."
Roy realized the tremendous challenge of becoming an official university team member after only two months of enrollment.
In just over two months, he needed to match others' progress of three or four years.
Despite being a skilled trainer, Roy felt the immense pressure of this experience gap.
"Vul..."
Little Vulpix, highly sensitive to others' emotions, sensed Roy's urgency. She jumped onto his shoulder, extended her tiny tongue, and licked his cheek to comfort him.
Roy reached out and tickled Vulpix's belly, laughing:
"Little one, the training will be difficult. Don't give up halfway through."
"Vul, vulpix!"
Vulpix imitated Roy's typical gesture, patting her chest to indicate she was perfectly capable.
"Good, very spirited!"
Roy had formulated a rough training strategy for Vulpix.
The charm approach represented one potential development path.
Enhance beauty, use Calm Mind to strengthen spiritual power, practice Fairy-type moves...
But that wouldn't suffice.
Charm functioned as a control mechanism, a form of interference.
Using charm alone to make opponents surrender without fighting required the opponent's spiritual power to be significantly weaker than Vulpix's, with minimal willpower.
It would only work against considerably weaker opponents.
Against similarly powerful rivals, Charm could only play a supporting role.
Vulpix also lacked offensive capabilities.
Roy didn't want Vulpix to become like other fox Pokémon—beautiful but lacking substance.
Accompanied by Riolu, who had trained alongside Roy from the beginning, they took Vulpix to the wilderness outside town.
This area, not far from town, was considered a safe zone.
No need to worry about ambushes from wild Pokémon.
Upon reaching the wilderness, Roy issued his first command.
"Vulpix, try to make it snow here."
"Vul?"
Vulpix tilted her head in confusion.
"Your ability is Snow Cloak," Roy explained. "It's an innate ability to affect climate conditions. Feel for it carefully—it's as much a part of you as your paws or tail."
Abilities were special powers inherent to every Pokémon.
Most abilities provided enhancements. For instance, Squirtle's Torrent ability increased Water-type move power when its health dropped below a certain threshold.
But some abilities weakened Pokémon, creating fatal flaws.
Like Slaking, which caused countless trainers to lament...
Slaking's potential exceeded even some Legendary Pokémon, but its "Truant" ability made it unable to move every other turn.
Training? Battling? Eating? Mating?
None matched its desire to rest.
If Slaking's ability were replaced with "Huge Power," it could likely tear opponents apart barehanded.
"Vul!"
Following Roy's guidance, Vulpix closed her eyes, striving to access an ability hidden within her body.
Strong mental power translated to stronger control.
Within seconds, Vulpix's entire body glowed with ice-blue light.
Snowflakes began falling from the sky.
Roy caught some snow in his palms—cold, but completely harmless.
Seeing this, Vulpix lowered her head in disappointment, her fluffy ears drooping.
She had intended to create a hailstorm...
"Successfully summoning snow on your first attempt is already impressive," Roy encouraged with a smile.
Another training approach involved developing ice and snow powers with the "Snow Cloak" ability as the foundation.
As a Trainer, studying competition videos and learning others' tactical concepts was essential.
Could a Trainer's adoption of others' strategies be called stealing? No—it was called "research"!
Roy's inspiration for training Vulpix came from an Ice-type Elite Trainer's qualifying match he'd once watched from a European tournament.
That Elite's trump card was Abomasnow.
Its ability: Snow Warning.
Unlike Vulpix, Abomasnow summoned violently harsh blizzards mixed with countless hailstones.
The ability alone created effects similar to having two Pokémon simultaneously using "Blizzard" and "Hail" moves. Combined with the freezing temperature that immobilized muscles and joints, opponents couldn't move an inch within Abomasnow's winter domain.
Throughout the entire battle, the European Elite's opponent couldn't inflict even minimal damage on Abomasnow.
Roy decided to develop Vulpix along similar lines.
Once the snow and ice domain formed, opponents would struggle to even reach Vulpix. Add the interference of charm abilities, and opponents would be completely frustrated.
This strategy also perfectly compensated for Vulpix's physical limitations.
Roy checked the system:
[Hail (Proficient level): Ice-type weather move, summons hailstorm weather, causing damage to all Pokémon except Ice-types. Price: 100,000]
[Blizzard (Entry level): Directs fierce blizzard toward opponent, with chance to freeze target. Price: 500,000]
To strengthen Vulpix's "Snow Cloak" ability as quickly as possible, Roy purchased both weather-related moves.
Hail seemed reasonably priced, but Blizzard's cost made him wince.
"Even for a powerful advanced Ice-type move, that price is outrageous. Half a million for just an entry-level TM..."
Seeing his balance reduced to less than 900,000 , Roy sighed.
Like Dragon Pulse, nicknamed the "Dragon Ultimate," Blizzard was considered an "Ice Ultimate."
Higher-level versions of such moves weren't available on the market—they were national strategic resources that couldn't be purchased at any price.
With Vulpix's current capabilities, using Blizzard once would likely deplete all her energy reserves.
And that was just the entry level.
The proficient-level Blizzard, priced at 5 million PokéDollars, remained far beyond Roy's means.
Taking the TM, Roy placed it before Vulpix.
Soon, her eyes went blank as she entered a trance-like state.
Roy had asked Riolu about the TM learning process previously.
It resembled consciousness being pulled into a mental space, observing another version of oneself repeatedly using the move while receiving instruction on energy circulation principles and execution techniques in the most comprehensible manner—until mastery was achieved.
After learning "Hail" and "Blizzard," Vulpix activated her Snow Cloak power again.
This time, not only did the temperature drop more significantly, but the hailstones falling from the sky were substantial enough to cause damage.
"Excellent."
Roy nodded, confirming his theory: as Vulpix deepened her understanding of ice and snow moves and integrated them with her Snow Cloak ability, the weather effects grew more potent.
Exhaling a visible breath in the cold air, Roy donned the heavy jacket he'd prepared and continued training with Vulpix.
"Vulpix, let's try again."
"This time, lower the temperature even more!"
"Vul!"
Vulpix responded enthusiastically, her body repeatedly glowing with ice-blue light.
Roy remained uncertain whether he could pass the university team's selection competition—his remaining preparation time was so limited!
His goal was undeniably ambitious, perhaps even presumptuous.
For a first-year student to aim for the Capital University team seemed outrageous.
All Roy could do was maximize his Pokémon's potential. Whether Riolu, Squirtle, or Vulpix, they all dedicated themselves to training, striving to meet their Trainer's expectations.
Success or failure would be determined within the next month.