Haunter's fwless terattack left the three Pokémon momentarily dumbfouhey had all agreed to be simple-minded fools together—so when did Haunter secretly level up its intelligence?

  "Zoro!"

  Zoroark took this seriously. It wasn't about di was about its pride as the leader! It refused to be outpyed.

  Taunt!

  "Kehehehehehehe!"

  Affected by Taunt, Haunter, usually carefree and mischievous, now found itself seething with frustration.

  When it instinctively tried to use Protect again to block the ining Poison Sting and Rock Slide, it suddenly realized something was interfering with its as!

  fuse Ray!

  Forced to ge tactics, Haunter hastily used the unfamiliar Psychic move to deflect the attacks, narrowly dodging.

  "Smack!"

  "Kehe?!"

  Just as Haunter was about to gloat about its clever evasion, Zoroark's Dark Pulse smmed into it, shutting it up instantly.

  Sato watched with great i from the sidelines, while even the hard-w Carvanha had been distracted from its training, eyes glimmering with excitement and anticipation.

  "Train well," Sato chuckled. "Soon, you'll be able to join in."

  "Shah~"

  Five mier, Haunter y sprawled on the ground, tongue hanging out, pletely wiped.

  It had mao outpy the others at first, but once Zot serious, the trio had quickly turhe tables on it.

  The result… was obvious.

  "A bet's a bet. Haunter, half portions for dinner."

  "Zizi!"

  Spinarak scuttled over to Haunter, chirping loudly in mockery.

  Larvitar patted its belly—at least its dinner was safe. But it still hadn't he most hits… If only it could get ara portion!

  "Zoroark had the most successful hits," Sato decred. "Dinner bonus!"

  "Zoro zor~"

  Zoroark shook its head and poi Spinarak and Larvitar, making its iion clear—it didn't he extra meal. Let the two little ones have it.

  Sato uood immediately. Zoroark was far strohan the rest, and as the leader, how could it take advantage of its underlings?

  Spinarak felt like today was its lucky day—it had "beaten up" Haunter, and now it was gettira food. This was the best!

  "Lar…"

  Larvitar hesitated. Should it accept? A pseudo-legendary couldn't just accept handouts, could it? But… eating more would help it evolve faster!

  Yes. Eat!

  Sato poked at Haunter, who was still lying dramatically on the ground, pying dead. "Dead already? Then I guess you don't need dinner."

  "Kehehehe!"

  Haunter immediately floated back up, full of energy, ready to fight ahree hundred rounds.

  "Alright, back to training," Sato instructed. "And stop bullying Spinarak. I taught you all those moves for a reason—not so you could use fuse Ray like it's Leer or Thunderbolt like it's Thundershock."

  "Khe~"

  Haunter drooped its hands. Why couldn't it just get strohe easy way?

  In truth, Haunter didn't mind training. It kraining made it stronger. But this was just its nature—Sato had yet to find a way to ge that.

  Heading towards Ecruteak City might be necessary—Sato made a mental note, pnning to let Haunter evolve along the way. However, for now, his focus remained on phase-based training.

  Larvitar's training was as diligent as ever. Unlike Carvanha's obedient nature, Larvitar had grown up uhe shadow of Tyranitar, giving it a clearer perception of strength than even Zoroark.

  It k was weak. It also khat if it wao grow stronger, it had to put in effort—relentless, self-driven training.

  Additionally, Sato's deliberate restraint in showg Larvitar's potential had stirred something within the perceptive Pokémoher it would remain weak and dormant, or it would grow strong aaliate.

  As for Spinarak, Sato still felt like he was navigating blindly when it came to its training. Bug-types were the easiest to raise… but also the hardest to raise well.

  While their lifespans weren't as long as Grass-types on-types, the actual differeween Bug-types and Pokémon like Water, Fire, or Flying-types wasn't as drastic as most believed.

  The reason Bug-types were often sidered short-lived was due to their i weakness.

  To survive and propagate their species, they would forcibly accelerate their maturity—sacrifig both lifespan and potential in exge for rapid growth.

  The most obvious example was the Butterfree line. Within a single week, a Caterpie could evolve into a Butterfree—but such Butterfree were usually weak, barely capable of holding their own in battle.

  In trast, Beedrill ies lived four to five times lohan Butterfree.

  Their advantage? Unity. Even if an individual wasn't strong, the y could create a retively safer enviro for their young, allowing them to mature without as many sacrifices to lifespan and potential.

  For a while, Sato had been puzzled over why Spinarak hadn't evolved quickly. But after acquiring a wealth of data from Team Rocket's Pokémon researd bining it with the Pokémon League's Pokédex, he finally uood.

  With that realization, he adjusted Spinarak's training regimen—there was o rush its growth anymore.

  Team Rocket had an undeniable preference for Poison-types. Koffing and Ekans had the most exteraining dotation in the files.

  Of course, Zubat, Spinarak, and the Nidoran lines were also highly favored by them. Among these, Sato had fouly what he needed—Spinarak's optimized trainihods.

  Seven distinct training approaches for Spinarak were listed. After thhly reviewing them, Sato articurly drawn to two:

  Toxic Elimination! Sniper Precision!

  The Toxic Elimination strategy revolved around Toxic, Toxic Spikes, Venoshock, and Poison Trap as its oves. It specialized iing a poisoned battlefield—on enemy oisohey wouldn't st long.

  The key prerequisite? Spinarak o have ied Toxic Spikes.

  The files also detailed different venom types Spinarak could develop based on various attack mediums: i venom, pnt-based poison, blood toxins, and eveoxins.

  The subtle differences in these venoms—and their bined effects—made Sato's skin crawl, but at the same time, he was intrigued.

  There was serious potential here.

  And fortunately, his Spinarak had ied Toxic Spikes.

  The Sniper Precision approach described how one in every hundred Spinarak exhibited an exceptional ability to traent, naturally adept at targeting oints and striking vital areas.

  With Swords Dance, Poison Jab, Night Ssh, and X-Scissor, this method specialized in exploiting oints for lethal strikes.

  Sato knew what this meant. The so-called natural ability to find ots was really just the Sniper hidden ability.

  And his Spinarak had it.

  The remaining five strategies included an Overp Striker method based on Swords Dand Megahorn, a Support Rey strategy fog on Swords Dand Baton Pass, a Trap Setter build utilizing Sticky Web, Electroweb, and Poison Spikes, among others.

  Sato had never realized how diverse Bug-type training could be until now.

  But sidering Spinarak's Pseudo-Elite Four-level Poison potential and its Sniper ability, he ultimately decided on a hybrid approach—Toxic Elimination + Sniper Precision.

  As for Zoroark…

  Sato didn't o impose any trainiris.

  Because it didn't hem.