Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

”Poliwhirl, come here,” Reiji sat on his folding cot and waved toward the Poliwhirl that was jogging laps around the pool.

”Poli? Poli?” Poliwhirl stopped running and stood in front of him, unsure why it was being called over.

”Poliwhirl, it’s the afternoon now—time for your next round of training.” Reiji glanced at the training plan in his hands. Poliwhirl’s afternoon session was for Moisture Sense training.

The air was particularly dry this afternoon—perfect conditions for practicing its humidity perception. Reiji had two goals for this training: improve Poliwhirl’s instant detection ability, and lower the sensitivity threshold needed to detect moisture.

Dry air was ideal for working on both. It helped train instant responses to detect enemies, even in low-moisture environments.

As for the sensitivity threshold, it had to be lowered gradually. That wasn’t something that could change instantly—it would require an adjustment period.

But all the other Pokémon were tied up in their own training and couldn’t help with this. So Reiji had to create an environment that could attack Poliwhirl without being dangerous, so it could focus on dodging and increasing its evasion rate.

He quickly came up with an idea. He went inside and brought out six drying racks, then found some string and hung a bunch of empty MooMoo Milk bottles from them.

When he ran out of empty ones, he just used full bottles for now—they’d be drunk over the next couple days anyway. Each rack had six bottles hanging from it.

He placed one end of the racks on the wall, and the other end on the second-floor balcony, forming a suspended obstacle course. With six racks aligned, it became a training ground for moisture sensing and evasion.

All the Pokémon gathered around curiously, wondering what Reiji was doing with all these bottles. Was this some new drill for Poliwhirl? They were about to find out.

”Poliwhirl, see these bottles?” Reiji tapped one of them with a stick—clunk clunk clunk. He then knocked one bottle into another, which bumped into the next, and so on.

The bottles clinked and clattered into each other, creating a chaotic chain reaction with no clear pattern.

”Poli, poli...” Poliwhirl nodded, staring at the bottles. It still didn’t understand what this was for. Was this the new training?

”Poliwhirl, use Water Gun on the bottles. I want the air around them saturated with moisture,” Reiji instructed. Then he turned to the rest of the Water-types. ”You all, help out—hit the bottles with Water Gun too!”

All six Water-types blasted Water Gun at the bottles, making them sway and swing unpredictably. Once Reiji sensed the air was sufficiently humid, he raised a hand.

”Okay, stop! That’s enough!” He patted Poliwhirl on the shoulder and explained, ”Poliwhirl, this afternoon’s training is all about moisture detection. You’ll be moving through the hanging bottles. Don’t get hit. You’ll need full concentration—use Mind Reader and your moisture sense together, understand?”

”Poli, poli!” Poliwhirl nodded seriously and was just about to step into the training zone when Reiji called out again.

”Poliwhirl, you don’t have to close your eyes right away. Get used to the layout first. Once you’ve got a feel for it, then you can try it blindfolded.”

”Poli!” Poliwhirl stepped into the setup and acknowledged the plan.

Almost immediately, it got smacked by one of the swinging bottles. The spacing between bottles was about half a meter—six per rack meant five half-meter gaps per rack. With six racks, that made a two-and-a-half-meter cube-shaped training space, just big enough for Poliwhirl to squeeze through laterally.

Once it got better at dodging, he’d tighten the gaps and increase the difficulty.

”Poliwhirl, no need to rush. Take your time. Use both your eyes and your moisture sense to track the bottles’ movement. It’s just like reading a bobber’s drift. Get used to the motion before we ramp it up.”

As Poliwhirl focused in the damp air, Reiji turned to the poolside and spoke to Magikarp and Wishiwashi, who were splashing about.

”Magikarp, Wishiwashi—when the bottles stop moving, use Water Gun to shake them again, got it?”

”Karrrp karp!” Magikarp glanced at Poliwhirl, then nodded at Reiji.

”Wuuu...” Wishiwashi nodded as well. If there was food involved, doing a bit of work wasn’t so bad.

This was resource efficiency at its finest. Not only could these two goofballs practice Water Gun, but they were also helping Poliwhirl train. That saved Reiji a ton of effort. Win-win.

This was also the only way he could think of to make these two actually do something. As far as serious training went, they weren’t cut out for much. Unless one of them evolved, they’d forever be featherweights.

With Poliwhirl’s new training plan in motion, Reiji called out to Krabby next.

”Krabby, your turn!”

”Kraaak kraak! I get to train too?!” Krabby scuttled over excitedly and raised its massive claw. It was clearly pumped.

”You’re still doing claw-lifting drills,” Reiji said, but then quickly added, noticing Krabby’s disappointed expression, ”...But we’re adding some difficulty this time. You’ll be running laps around the pool while lifting your claw.”

”Kraak?” Krabby looked back at the pool. Was... running laps its new training?

”Remember how you struggled with Agility back on the deserted island?” Reiji patted Krabby on the back.

”Kraak,” Krabby nodded. How could it forget?

”Good.” Reiji nodded in return. ”You can already lift your claw for two or three hours straight. Now it’s time to build speed. Train your leg strength while carrying that weight. Once you’re fast enough even with the claw up, you’ll have mastered Agility.”

”Krabby, this move is crucial for you. It’ll decide whether you’re the one getting hit or doing the hitting. So you have to learn it, understand?”

”Kraak-kraak!” Krabby nodded vigorously. It had no interest in being the punching bag. It had suffered enough back on that island. From now on, it was going to be the one doing the punching!

With a couple of self-hyping growls, Krabby began jogging with its claw raised. It was determined to master Agility.

Watching it go, Reiji reminded, ”If you get tired, take a break, okay?”

Poliwhirl and Krabby were both highly disciplined Pokémon. He didn’t need to worry about them slacking. The problem child was someone else...

”Rhyhorn, your turn.”

”Huff... huff...” Rhyhorn bounded over excitedly, tongue flopping out as it tried to lick Reiji’s hand.

”Whoa—stop that.” Reiji shoved the slobbery tongue away. ”You’re starting your training now too.”

”Woo-hoo!” Rhyhoen stopped licking, perking up. It had watched Poliwhirl and Krabby train and was itching to try it too. Eat, sleep, repeat was getting boring.

”You know Rock Polish, right? Use that while running laps,” Reiji instructed, pointing to the outer lane of the pool. Krabby had the inner lane, and Poliwhirl was at the corner with its bottle maze. The three wouldn’t interfere with each other.

”Woo!” Rhyhorn looked at the pool, followed Reiji’s pointing finger toward Krabby, and got the message. It trotted over and started running, even faster than Krabby.

”Rhyhorn! Don’t just run—use Rock Polish!” Reiji shouted from the side.

”Huff!” Rhyhorn responded. As it ran, its rocky body began to shine—it had activated Rock Polish.

It had taken the order seriously. With Rock Polish boosting its speed, Rhyhorn was flying. While Krabby did one lap, Rhyhorn did two, then three, then four...

And then it collapsed in front of Reiji, completely wiped out. Tongue lolling, legs limp, expression hopeless—it had no strength left to even look up.

Reiji was half amused, half exasperated. But he held back a chuckle and dumped out a dozen pounds of ore from his bag, placing a Mineral Lure near Rhyhorn’s snout.

The instant it caught the scent, Rhyhorn sprang up, eyes shining, circling Reiji and begging for the treat. That earlier ”dying cow” routine? Total act.

Reiji didn’t call it out. Instead, he coaxed, ”You want this?”

”Woo!” Rhyhorn nodded frantically. Yes! Very much so!

”Then run more laps. You can’t eat until you’re done.” Reiji pointed to Krabby, who was still doing its laps. ”Look at him. He’s still running. You think you get to eat first?”

”Huff...” Rhyhorn drooped its head, realizing the point. But it couldn’t help it—it just really wanted to eat.

Then it spotted the pile of regular ore on the ground. That could tide it over for now.

”Rhyhorn, while you eat, try using Ice Fang on the ore,” Reiji suggested. He wanted to see how frozen ore tasted.

”Huff!” Rhyhorn obeyed. It activated Ice Fang—its fangs turned blue, with frosty mist curling from its mouth.

Reiji felt the chill even from where he stood and shivered. Under the blazing sun, no less. Was he that out of shape?

Crunch—crunch—crunch!

Rhyhorn bit into the frozen ore and munched happily, loudly, like it had found a new delicacy. Frozen ore on a hot day? Absolutely perfect.

Seeing this, Reiji let it be. Once Rhyhorn finished the pile, he laid down the next rule.

”Go run laps. Remember to use Rock Polish. A hundred laps, and you can have the Mineral Lure.”

”Woo? For real?” Rhyhorn sniffed the pellet again—so fragrant, more tempting than honey! It was the best-smelling thing it had ever encountered.

Too bad it wasn’t getting it yet. Reiji was serious. So Rhyhorn trotted off to run.

Just a hundred laps—easy.

With Rock Polish active, Rhyhorn blazed through the hundred laps in half an hour. It came to a stop before Reiji, still full of energy—not a trace of exhaustion.

Reiji kept his promise and tossed the pellet over. Rhyhorn caught it in its mouth.

But instead of chewing it right away, Rhyhorn gently set it on the ground, froze it into a sphere with Ice Fang, and then crunched it up and swallowed it.

A chill spread from its mouth to its belly. In the heat of midday, it was absolute bliss.

So blissful, in fact, that Rhyhorn waddled over to the pool and plop—fell right in. It floated there, soaking in contentment.

Reiji smiled helplessly. He let it be. Rhyhorn was just starting to get used to training. Pushing too hard too fast could make it rebel. It was better to take things slow—mixing food, fun, and training into a gradual routine.

With that, Reiji turned toward Pelipper again. The training plans for the big three were set. Time to focus on his Rain Team’s core support unit.

”Pelipper, your turn. Come here.” He waved from the poolside, calling over the soaked Pelipper that Rhyhorn had just splashed.

”Peliii~” Pelipper landed beside him, waiting for instructions.

”Pelipper, can you use Rain Dance?” Reiji gently patted its head. He didn’t expect a downpour—he’d be happy with just a light drizzle.

”Peliii~” Pelipper tilted its head, then flapped up into the sky. Under the blazing sun, it circled above the house, calling out repeatedly.

”Peli! Peli! Peli...!”

As Pelipper cried out, the sky above them began to darken with clouds. It was a small patch, only enough to cover the house—not nearly as big as the area it had covered on the deserted island.

But still—it worked. It could use Rain Dance.

That was good enough for now. He didn’t need much. As long as Pelipper could trigger it, they could work on increasing strength and range later.

As the light rain began to fall, all the Pokémon paused to enjoy the cool drizzle.

It only lasted a few minutes before the clouds dispersed and the rain stopped.

Reiji waved Pelipper down again. ”Pelipper, come here.”

”Peliii~” Pelipper landed on Reiji’s folding cot and shook off its wet feathers.

”This’ll be your training from now on. You need to learn to summon Rain Dance anytime, anywhere—and also to control the strength of the rainfall.”

Reiji didn’t mention the Drizzle ability. It probably wouldn’t understand. For now, Rain Dance training would do.

Once its Rain Dance mastery improved, it would naturally feed back into its Drizzle proficiency. At that point, he could start teaching it to consciously control the weather trigger.

With experience using Rain Dance, learning to manage Drizzle should be easy.

That way, it could rain when needed—and not rain when unnecessary.

Otherwise, it’d be super awkward if every time Pelipper hit the field, it started raining.

(End of Chapter)

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