After some negotiation, Zorua reluctantly began demonstrating the moves it had already mastered.
"Yow~"
Zorua let out a pitiful whimper, instantly showing a pathetic look as those teary eyes squeezed out two drops of tears.
?
"Good grief, you're using Fake Tears like second nature." Sieg's tone carried a hint of resignation.
After all, this move's practicality was far too limited, barely useful whether in daily life or battle.
"Do you have any offensive moves?"
Hearing Sieg's question, Zorua tilted its head. Those fox ears trembled again, and its bright eyes kept rolling around, seemingly thinking.
"Yow~"
Zorua seemed to have thought of something.
Its two fluffy little paws quickly extended their claws and scratched at the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.
"Uh, that's Scratch... right?"
Sieg's tone carried some uncertainty, but at least he could tell this time. However, the power seemed even less than if he'd scraped the ground himself.
Practically zero lethality.
Next, Zorua held its breath, then spewed a thin black beam from its mouth.
"Crack!"
A wooden target directly shattered.
This time Sieg's face lit up with joy. Just as the Pokédex predicted, Zorua's talent in close combat was rather mediocre, but in ranged attacks, especially special attacks involving energy control, it was undoubtedly exceptionally gifted.
Following that, Zorua demonstrated Leer, Torment, Pursuit, Hone Claws, and other moves in succession.
However, used at only level 5, their power was pitifully small. Still, it made Sieg's eyes brighten.
"Zorua, your goal today is to use Dark Pulse to shatter these ten targets!"
Sieg quickly issued a training task, mainly targeting the non-retaliating dummies to practice move accuracy and mastery. Of course, a deeper purpose was to cultivate Zorua's enthusiasm for training.
After all, the desire to grow stronger was ingrained in every Pokémon's bones. Once sparked, it would be unstoppable.
When that time came, there'd be no need for food bribes or trainer reprimands, the Pokémon would train themselves to get stronger.
After settling Zorua, Sieg released his other five Pokémon. The training ground he occupied was a premium facility specially rented from the Team Rocket base, so there was no worry about not having enough space.
Unlike Zorua, who needed careful instruction, the five Pokémon were all very self-disciplined, independently conducting various training routines, a habit formed over many days.
Sieg only needed to guide them in the overall direction.
"Sandile, the Dragon-type's strength lies in its dominance and subtle suppression of all other types. This is called Dragon's Aura..."
Seeing Sandile training its Hidden Power, Sieg went over to provide some guidance. When opening blind boxes earlier, Sandile had been lucky enough to obtain Dragon-type Hidden Power.
Dragon-type was considered the most dominant among all types, synonymous with "rare," "noble," and "powerful."
Dragon-type moves were also among the most difficult to train, especially for Pokémon without Dragon-type bloodlines.
But Sandile had to overcome these challenges because upon its final evolution into Krookodile, it would learn the Dragon-type signature move Outrage!
Therefore, during the Sandile stage, it was essential to build a solid foundation early. Comprehension of Dragon-type energy had to be prioritized.
To this end, Sieg naturally provided assistance. Besides collecting videos of Dragon-type Pokémon teaching moves, he also created Pokéblocks that could help with understanding Dragon-type energy.
But as the saying goes, the teacher opens the door, but cultivation depends on the individual.
So in this regard, Sandile still needed to put in the hard work itself. Fortunately, the Pokémon was quite diligent and trained with great dedication.
Sieg was very satisfied.
Besides Sandile requiring attention, another was Crawdaunt, and their "symptoms" were almost identical.
Both had hit bottlenecks in move training.
The reason Crawdaunt was such a popular Pokémon among common trainers was its reasonable base stat distribution, 120 Physical Attack base stat combined with the Adaptability ability forcibly elevated its strength.
But paired with that was another signature move, "Crabhammer."
Crawdaunt continuously swung its pincers in the center of the field, water occasionally splashing up.
Unfortunately, despite repeating this motion thousands upon thousands of times, it still couldn't find that certain feeling, couldn't execute that perfect Crabhammer strike.
Just as Crawdaunt was troubled, it suddenly recalled Sieg's careful instruction in its mind.
"Crawdaunt, remember, the key to this move is in the word 'hammer'! You need to imagine you're holding a hammer and smashing down hard..."
Hammer... smash!
In a trance, Crawdaunt seemed to grasp something. It suddenly looked at the wooden post before it, those fierce eyes flashing sharply. Raising its massive pincer, streams of water gathered, then it hammered down violently.
BOOM!
The solid wooden post shattered.
Crawdaunt had officially learned its signature move, Crabhammer.
"Crawdaunt, now you're finally complete!" Sieg, watching from the side, couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
100 base power Crabhammer, with a built-in increased critical hit ratio.
Combined with one Swords Dance, rain weather boost, Adaptability boost, STAB boost, and Mystic Water boost.
Tsk tsk tsk, the power was almost unimaginable.
After everyone completed their training, Sieg looked toward Zorua in the corner. The crafty little fox was lying next to a wooden post, sound asleep, clutching a chocolate bar tightly in its fluffy embrace.
Drip~
Drool from the little fox's mouth dribbled onto the ground.
That it could sleep so soundly in such a noisy environment, Sieg was almost impressed.
After all, this had to count as some kind of special talent, right?
"But regardless, slacking off is wrong, especially after taking my chocolate bar without properly completing training~"
Sieg once again grabbed Zorua by the scruff from behind. The fluffy feeling was quite comfortable, no wonder so many wealthy people liked fox fur.
The startled Zorua instantly covered its eyes with its paws, curling its entire body up, leaving only the fox ears on top of its head trembling slightly. But it still didn't release the little paw clutching the chocolate bar.
"Wait... are you seriously trying to deceive yourself right now?"
Sieg was amused by this adorable display.
Normally he was quite stern, but in this dark and oppressive Team Rocket base, having such a cute little thing to lighten the mood was actually a nice experience.
"Zorua..."
"Yow?"
"Nothing, just remember to wipe the drool from your mouth next time!"
"Yow yow~"