However, Salamence, who was assisted by the divine authority of a Legendary Pokémon, was different.
Now, he could see the movement of the wind, feel the speed of the wind, and even shape it into whatever form he needed at will!
"Wake up!"
Roy's sharp command snapped Salamence back to reality, and the Dragon-type's eyes became clear in an instant.
Then came a wave of frustration and disappointment.
He had gotten lost in that euphoric feeling again.
"Roar..."
Roy understood Salamence's feelings perfectly. He had also touched the Silver Wing before and naturally felt that sense of complete control over air currents.
No matter what kind of power it was, it would inevitably make people linger in its intoxicating embrace.
Roy patted Salamence's neck comfortingly.
"It's okay. I'll watch over you and keep you grounded."
"You only need to focus on learning the method of controlling air currents. Leave everything else to me."
Then he took out some energy cubes specially made for Salamence from his pocket.
They had to eat and drink well to prepare for this long battle ahead.
Salamence raised his head excitedly and rubbed affectionately against Roy's head.
"Roar!"
That's wonderful!
Roy was pushed back by Salamence's enthusiastic force and nearly fell to the ground, but he showed a genuinely happy smile.
Roy climbed onto Salamence's back and wrapped his arms securely around Salamence's neck to make sure he wouldn't fall off.
In truth, Salamence's back was quite broad—even if he carried several people Roy's size, it wouldn't be a problem at all.
Salamence spread his massive blood-red wings dramatically, flapped them twice gently, and slowly ascended into the sky.
The crimson wings had a crystalline texture under the sunlight—no wonder this species was called 'Salamence.'
Roy held the Silver Wing in his hand, and after Salamence rose to a certain height, he carefully handed the Silver Wing to Salamence's mouth.
In an instant, countless air currents appeared intricately before Salamence's eyes.
It looked like tangled silk threads that a cat had played with, yet they still flowed restlessly through the air.
The air currents varied dramatically in speed. The slowest ones appeared almost stationary, but if one measured carefully with some kind of attack, they would discover that these currents were flowing at an extremely slow pace.
Perhaps this was the original, natural air flow belonging to Alola's spirit realm?
The fastest air current came rushing at Salamence from behind in the blink of an eye.
It was the geyser!
Roy had sensed it long ago through his power of Aura, but he didn't say anything.
The goal now was to see whether Salamence could use his awareness of air currents to react, avoid, or even control them the moment they arrived!
Salamence's reaction speed wasn't particularly fast, but he compensated for it with his exceptional physical speed.
You see, in terms of base statistics, Salamence's Speed stat was 10 points higher than Lucario's.
For those 10 points, Lucario had now completely made up the difference through his usual dedicated training.
There was even a surplus now.
However, due to various unfortunate circumstances, Salamence had been neglected for such a long time, and these natural advantages had already been worn away by the passage of time.
But even so, Salamence's powerful willpower still forced him to reach his absolute limit in an instant.
Roy had already closed his eyes, gripping Salamence's neck with slightly more force.
He was prepared for the possibility of being knocked out of the sky and thrown into the sea along with Salamence.
But in reality, Salamence gave Roy a tremendous surprise!
Roy only felt everything blur before his eyes, and when his vision cleared, he realized that the scenery around them had changed completely.
Yet they were still flying parallel to the horizon.
They hadn't fallen.
Salamence had dodged the geyser's eruption!
Roy stood up excitedly on Salamence's back. "You did it, Salamence!"
This successful evasion also made Salamence feel something he hadn't touched in many years—and now there was a faint sign of breakthrough!
"Roar!"
I can go even faster!
Hearing what Salamence declared, Roy was naturally delighted as well.
But seeing that Salamence was panting heavily and his breathing was somewhat unsteady, Roy knew that the evasion just now had probably utilized everything Salamence had practiced and developed during this recent training period.
Time for an energy cube—instant energy restoration!
"If you can manage it, you could try to manipulate the air current instead of just avoiding it."
This "it" naturally referred to the sudden air current produced by the geyser.
Salamence nodded, and the Silver Wing in his mouth slowly emitted a faint, shimmering light.
Then, Salamence carefully placed Roy back on the shore.
"Roar."
I'll handle the rest by myself.
Roy understood that Salamence was probably worried that he might accidentally make a mistake during training, and Roy would end up getting injured as well.
Roy silently patted the massive dragon's head in appreciation.
"Then please be careful and stay safe. Don't try to conserve your energy cubes—just come get more from me whenever you need them."
Salamence nodded gratefully, flapped his wings, and flew back to the sky above the geyser field.
All things considered, Salamence's training was now on the right track.
Relying on Salamence's perseverance and the determination hidden deep in his heart, all of these factors served as driving forces propelling Salamence further and further along the path of growth.
Ninetales sensed that the presence nearby belonged to Roy and opened her eyes for a moment.
"Tale~"
You're here. You can see that my training is going very smoothly.
Ninetales stretched languidly, uncomfortable from remaining still for so long.
Roy took the opportunity to pet her fluffy tails enthusiastically and narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.
Wonderful~
As expected, fluffy fur was the absolute best!
"That's great! How is your Aura inheritance study progressing?"
Hearing this question, Ninetales whimpered and flopped back down on the large rock.
The weather is terrible today. I don't feel like practicing~
Roy raised one hand to shield his eyes and looked at the cloudless sky. Occasionally, he could spot Salamence in a certain direction, either succeeding or struggling with his training.
After holding up his hand for quite a while, Roy even felt that the sun was rather dazzling.
What kind of bad weather was Ninetales talking about?
Ninetales buried her head in her fluffy tails and remained silent, as if refusing to cooperate or accept any criticism.
Roy couldn't help but laugh.
The mood of his Ninetales wasn't difficult to understand at all.
She had just experienced the pleasure of deep Calm Mind meditation, so naturally she was reluctant to go back to relearning techniques that she didn't quite understand yet.
Roy felt like a parent watching their child study, and now he had to persuade Ninetales to continue.
What's that?
Do you think parents would resort to harsh disciplinary tactics?
No, no, no—facing such an adorable Ninetales, who would be willing to use such methods?
However, Roy didn't need to persuade her too much. Ninetales was just taking a short break, after all.
How could she slack off when it came to maintaining her beauty and elegance!
After Ninetales promised that she would resume learning the Aura inheritance technique shortly, Roy stopped his gentle teasing.