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Jacob felt truly distressed when he saw the injured Noibat, but he had no other choice. Only those who endure the most hardships can become the strongest Dragon.
If Jacob were soft-hearted, Noibat would be eliminated from his team and placed in the breeding house as a ruthless dragon breeder would do. Of course, that was just a hypothetical scenario, but if Noibat really didn't work hard and was eliminated, it would likely end up serving as a mere flying pet in the future.
Noibat's potential was the weakest in Jacob's current team. If it was indulged and not strictly trained, Noibat would definitely become a burden. The early bird catches the worm, and hard work can make up for shortcomings. The worse the aptitude, the harder one must work. Just look at Grovyle—that kind of Pokémon wouldn't give other Pokémon a chance to compete.
Grovyle was highly talented and worked the hardest. Any trainer would love a Pokémon like that no matter what. Even if Paul were here, he would embrace and appreciate such dedication.
Another reason why Jacob trained Noibat this way was that Noibat's position in his team was to harass and provide support, which often made it the enemy's priority target in battle.
The current training was designed to improve dodging in extreme situations and to simulate future battles. The injuries incurred during training now were to prevent more serious injuries in future battles.
As the saying goes, a sword is sharpened by grinding and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold. If you want to become stronger, you must work twice as hard. There are no shortcuts to success!
The system Jacob had obtained wasn't as impressive as those found in stories of time travelers, which always started with Legendary Pokémon and super powerful functions. His system was only auxiliary from beginning to end.
There was no such thing as ten times the experience, no starting at the maximum level, and no beginning with a Legendary Pokémon. This system was about equal exchange. What kind of tasks you completed would determine what kind of rewards you received. It could only play a supporting role, but it couldn't directly make Jacob stronger.
"Keep going." Jacob looked at the wounded Noibat, and with a steeled heart, he grabbed another handful of stones and encouraged Noibat. "This is the last time. We'll rest as soon as we're done."
"Noi!" After spending considerable time with Jacob, Noibat actually understood his trainer's character very well. They were usually casual and relaxed with each other, but during training sessions, Jacob was absolutely firm in his words and would never fail to complete the assigned tasks.
Noibat also knew that acting like a spoiled child would be useless, and that only by working hard to complete the training could it make Jacob happy.
"Noibat, remember what Teacher Nina said. Learn to feel with your heart and use echolocation to identify the enemy's attacks. Then think about the trajectory of these attacks and make predictions in advance. How can you avoid the attacks? If you can't avoid them, how can you minimize the damage to yourself?"
Jacob spoke earnestly, helping Noibat recall what Teacher Nina had taught. These techniques were passed on to Jacob by Nina. She had noticed that Jacob's Noibat's grasp of echolocation was still too shallow and it hadn't mastered the essence.
Nina had told Jacob that sound-based Pokémon with telepathic abilities are actually very special and powerful, especially when they have mastered the ability of ultrasonic echolocation. The combined ability of telepathy and ultrasonic positioning becomes incredibly powerful, and the evasion ability reaches almost maximum potential, making it difficult for enemy attacks to hit sound-based Pokémon.
These were also the three stages of a sound-based Pokémon's growth. The first stage was to rely on feelings, using eyes and intuition to fight. This type of Pokémon was the weakest and least effective. The second stage was to use ultrasound for echolocation combined with vision and intuition. Almost all sound-based Pokémon stayed at this stage and fought in this way. The third stage was to fight with the heart, using telepathy and ultrasound together. At the third stage, a Pokémon like Noibat could clearly perceive its surroundings without even using its eyes. It essentially became a living radar.
Of course, most sound-based Pokémon remained at the second stage, and only those with telepathic characteristics had a small chance of reaching the third stage. Not only did they need to develop ultrasonic response and positioning capabilities, but they also needed targeted development and training of their telepathic abilities.
"Get ready, Noibat. Remember to feel with your heart, use ultrasound to sense the surrounding environment, and feel the surge of the wind." Jacob's voice encouraged the Flying-type constantly as he began to count down: "It's about to begin. Three, two, one!"
As Jacob's voice fell, he threw the pebbles in his hand. Dozens of pebbles were instantly blown toward Noibat by the giant blower like bullets.
Facing the flying stones, Noibat recalled Jacob's words and emitted ultrasonic waves to locate the stones.
"Noi!"
With the feedback from ultrasound, the surrounding environment formed a clear map in its mind. At this moment, ultrasound became its real eyes and was far more useful than vision.
Ultrasonic positioning successful!
But ultrasonic positioning was only the first step; the second and third steps were truly difficult.
The second step was to predict the flight trajectory of the stones, which tested predictive ability—that is, intuition—which was also key to the strength of sound-based Pokémon with telepathic characteristics. Those with telepathic abilities could do this easily after training, while those with other characteristics found it difficult.
The third step was to adjust the body's balance in extremely harsh conditions, dealing with strong winds while dodging stones. This step tested physical strength.
After all, if your eyes and brain could keep up, but your body couldn't respond in time, there was no point in practicing. Therefore, physical strength was also crucial for sound-based Pokémon.
Faced with dozens of flying stones, Noibat remembered Jacob's words and thought about how to dodge these projectiles. Then it suddenly stopped flapping its wings, and its body abruptly lowered forward, parallel to the horizontal plane, forming a streamlined shape that looked like a thin piece of paper when viewed from the front.
It performed difficult maneuvers such as 360-degree turns in the air, like a fighter jet, and while spinning, successfully avoided the first dozen stones flying through the air. But before Noibat could celebrate, it was soon struck by stones coming from behind.
When hit by a stone, Noibat instantly lost balance, flew backward, fell to the ground, and rolled several times.
"Noibat!" Seeing that Noibat was injured, Jacob immediately turned off the blower, ran to Noibat, and quickly picked it up.
"Noi!" Noibat's eyes were filled with tears. The pain in its body made it unable to hold back its tears. It stretched out its wings and asked Jacob to hold it.
Seeing this scene, Jacob couldn't help but feel warmth in his heart, and hurriedly took Noibat to the infirmary, comforting it as they walked: "It's okay, Noibat, you did a great job just now, and you'll definitely succeed next time. You just weren't focused enough."
"You dodged the stones in front at the beginning, which proves that you've learned how to evade. But you were hit by the stones in the second wave because you weren't prepared to dodge the latter ones. Next time, as long as you stay absolutely focused and dodge continuously, you definitely won't be hit. But you've done very well this time, and I'm proud of you." Jacob kept praising Noibat while gently stroking its head.
Currently, Noibat was still like a child. When hurt, it wanted Jacob to comfort it. When feeling wronged, it sought Jacob's reassurance. When happy, it wanted to share its joy with Jacob. To Noibat, Jacob was everything.
In fact, sometimes the relationship between a Pokémon and its trainer is very special. A trainer can have countless Pokémon, but a Pokémon has only one trainer, and the trainer becomes its entire world.
Looking at the young Noibat, Jacob was actually looking forward to its evolution. When Noibat eventually evolved into Noivern, he imagined its majestic appearance and the scene of it flying in the sky with Jacob on its back. What would it be like when it became the ruler of the skies?
After all, Noivern is the overlord of the night sky. At night, even pseudo-legendary Pokémon like Hydreigon will be wary of it and will avoid confrontation after dark. Jacob looked forward to Noibat becoming an invincible Pokémon in darkness in the future!