Inside the Secret Realm.
Absol swiftly dashed forward using Quick Attack, its scythe-like horn glowing with a faint purple light—Night Slash!
Not far ahead stood its target—Charmeleon!
Charmeleon opened its mouth wide, unleashing a powerful Flamethrower, but before the flames could even reach Absol, the nimble Dark-type Pokémon dodged with incredible speed, making it nearly impossible to track its movements after using Quick Attack.
With its Flamethrower missing, Charmeleon had no choice but to raise its fist, countering with Thunder Punch. However, there was no real suspense in the clash between Thunder Punch and Night Slash—Charmeleon was swiftly overpowered.
Yet, just as it was about to be sent flying backward, Charmeleon opened its mouth again, releasing an even more intense burst of flames that instantly engulfed Absol's surroundings. This time, dodging the Flamethrower wouldn't be so easy.
The strength of Charmeleon's Flamethrower was well-known among the team. Even without Whimsicott's Sunny Day boosting its Solar Power ability, the attack's sheer force was formidable—something even Absol preferred not to take head-on.
"Alright, that's enough for now."
Seeing the battle progress to this point, Maki called for a halt. It was clear that in this round, Absol and Charmeleon were evenly matched.
"Sa~"
However, Absol didn't seem satisfied with the outcome. It knew that Charmeleon had not yet shown its full power. Right now, they were on equal footing, but once Charmeleon teamed up with Whimsicott to fully harness Solar Power, Absol would have almost no chance of winning.
The Florges watching from the sidelines had been observing the battle for some time. Now that the fight had ended, they floated over and used Floral Healing to treat Absol and Charmeleon's wounds.
After returning to Mohn, Maki simply greeted him, explaining that he would be leaving again for a while and telling Mohn not to worry. After stocking up on a large batch of Pokéblocks, Maki led his Pokémon back into the Secret Realm.
The environment of the Secret Realm was actually perfect for Charmeleon and Whimsicott's training. After a brief period of adaptation, Charmeleon had even begun to tap into its Solar Power ability without relying on Whimsicott's support.
The upper limit of Solar Power's amplification depended on three factors: Charmeleon's own strength, its mastery of the ability, and the intensity of the sunlight.
In other words, even though it was somewhat weaker without Whimsicott's help, Charmeleon could still train its Solar Power ability here.
Of course, in its recent sparring match with Absol, Charmeleon had deliberately refrained from using Solar Power. This was just their first bout, and Charmeleon was more interested in testing its new companion's strength.
As for Whimsicott, Maki had assigned it to train alongside Mawile, following Mawile's suggestion.
Naturally, Whimsicott strongly protested this arrangement—but unfortunately, Maki "persuaded" it otherwise.
Technically speaking, if Whimsicott were to activate its "unlimited firepower" mode alongside its current Ultra Ball-tier strength, Mawile wouldn't stand a chance.
However, Maki had set a special rule for Whimsicott: it was forbidden from using any offensive moves, including Nature Power. Instead, it was to focus solely on training Tailwind.
This meant that Whimsicott could only use Tailwind to boost its own speed and suppress Mawile's movements—it could only dodge.
This restriction left Whimsicott utterly miserable. Otherwise, it would have simply kept its distance and spammed moves until Mawile was exhausted.
But Whimsicott's Nature Power was simply too overwhelming. If it were allowed to attack freely, the training would be pointless. Maki might as well let it battle the air.
Once Mawile realized that Whimsicott's attacks were restricted, it wasted no time. Charging forward with its tiny fists, it was eager to finally teach the annoying cotton Pokémon a lesson.
Yet, Whimsicott was far too agile. With naturally high speed and the added boost from Tailwind, Mawile—whose strength lay in power rather than speed—had no chance of catching up. On top of that, Whimsicott even applied a "Headwind" debuff to Mawile.
As an improvised use of Tailwind, Whimsicott wasn't yet proficient in "Headwind," but it was enough to hinder Mawile slightly.
Soon enough, Maki noticed the problem—Whimsicott was too fast, and Mawile couldn't catch it. The training was ineffective.
So, Maki set a smaller battle area and height limit—neither Pokémon was allowed to step outside these boundaries, and Whimsicott couldn't fly away.
"Whim~!" Whimsicott protested again, but sadly, its complaint was ignored.
However, remaining on the defensive for so long, Whimsicott was bound to make a mistake. Eventually, Mawile tricked it with a feint, trapping it in a corner. If Whimsicott took one more step backward, it would be out of bounds.
Ultimately, Whimsicott couldn't escape Mawile's grasp. It was caught and… received two firm smacks on the rear.
Without its moves, Whimsicott had no chance of winning a pure strength contest against Mawile.
After getting bullied by Mawile, the indignant Whimsicott pitter-pattered over to Maki, rubbing its eyes and shedding a few tears as it tearfully complained about Mawile's "atrocities."
Even though Maki knew full well that Whimsicott's tears were fake, for some reason, he was still momentarily moved and stood there in a daze.
"Fake Tears?"
Whimsicott froze for a moment, then let even more tears flow as it protested to Maki.
"Whim~!"
What do you mean fake? These are real tears!!
Of course, even Whimsicott probably didn't believe its own words.
"No, I mean… did you just learn the move Fake Tears?"
Upon hearing this, Whimsicott froze again, its tear about to fall—but in its surprise, it accidentally pulled it back in. For a moment, it didn't know how to respond to Maki.
"Whimsi…"
Just moments ago, while trying to force out some tears, Whimsicott had felt something unusual—but it hadn't paid much attention until Maki pointed it out.
"Wait, let's run a little experiment."
Maki suddenly recalled that he had a few Malamar in his Poké Balls, and an idea struck him.
If he wanted to confirm whether Whimsicott had truly learned Fake Tears, he just needed to test it out on a Malamar!
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