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Around 6 a.m. the next morning, at the Pokémon Center in the heart of Saffron City, a number of trainers—each dressed differently—were coming and going with their Pokémon through the front entrance.

Suddenly, the automatic doors, which had just closed, opened once more. A young trainer in a red and black elite trainer uniform strode confidently out of the Pokémon Center.

This young trainer exuded a unique aura—mysterious, powerful, and unmistakably individualistic. Combined with the unusual Pokémon on him, he stood out sharply from the crowd, drawing the gaze of many passersby.

At this moment, the young trainer wore a strange red-and-black cap. What startled many of those watching him was that a pair of eyes occasionally opened beneath the brim and on the back of the cap itself.

Perched on the trainer's right shoulder was a Natu, flapping its small wings energetically while curiously scanning the area. At the same time, it was using Telekinesis to levitate a bottle of Moomoo Milk nearly as large as itself, slowly sipping from it midair.

On his left shoulder stood a Kecleon, blending in and out of visibility. Its long tongue would occasionally dart out with lightning speed to snatch away mosquitoes and other insects that tried to get near the trainer.

And lastly, lounging on the cap itself, was a yawning Pichu. Its soft golden fur sparkled faintly, and a shiny silver bell hung around its neck. A single tuft of messy hair and a black lightning-shaped mark on its forehead made it very eye-catching.

This trainer carrying at least four Pokémon on his person was none other than Sato. Around 2 a.m. that night, he had arrived in Saffron City via high-speed train and had spent the night at the central Pokémon Center.

Now, most of the Pokémon on Sato's team had been replaced. Except for Swampert, all the others had been transferred to Professor Oak. Even his Arbok and Meowth—originally stored in Cinnabar Town—had been sent to Prof. Oak.

Currently, Sato had eight Pokémon with him: Swampert, Pichu, Natu, Kecleon, Ditto, Shiny Pelipper, Nidorino, and Miltank.

Although eight Pokémon might seem like a lot, Natu, Kecleon, Ditto, and Miltank were all considered non-combat Pokémon for now. The ones Sato needed to focus on training were Swampert, Pichu, the Shiny Pelipper, and Nidorino.

Since returning from the mysterious island, Swampert and the others who had adventured alongside Sato had far outpaced the Pokémon who had remained in storage—such as Shiny Pelipper—in terms of strength.

As such, Sato had to shift his training focus to Pichu, Shiny Pelipper, and Nidorino—three Pokémon in urgent need of development.

After over a month of growth, Pichu had fully emerged from its infant stage. Under Elsa's meticulous care, it was thriving—its body had nearly doubled in size. What was once the size of half a palm was now larger than a full palm.

Also, Pichu had grown accustomed to using Magnet Rise for movement. After practicing it for more than a month, it had become highly proficient—now able to fly freely through the air at considerable speed.

Moreover, it had mastered a trick: using Electric Terrain to boost its Magnet Rise speed. Within an electric field, Pichu could fly at roughly 1.5 times its usual speed.

Now, all Sato had to do was continue building his friendship with Pichu until it evolved into Pikachu—after which he could begin full-scale training.

As for Shiny Pelipper, it hadn't improved much in the past month due to being left to roam freely. It was still only level 39.

Since Shiny Pelipper was intended to be the main weather setter on Sato's Rain Team, that level was clearly not acceptable. Sato needed to raise its level as quickly as possible.

To help with this, he gave Shiny Pelipper a special item—a rare mutated Supreme Sky Splitting Stone necklace originally worn by his Shiny Beautifly. This compensated for Pelipper's naturally slower movement speed.

Still, it wasn't like the past month had been wasted.

Elsa, a Gym Leader specializing in Water-type Pokémon—and also a Pelipper trainer—had poured considerable effort into training Shiny Pelipper.

True to its golden-tier potential, the Shiny Pelipper had exceptional learning ability. Under Elsa's guidance, it had successfully learned two powerful Water-type moves: Surf and Scald.

Nidorino's situation was similar to Shiny Pelipper's. Since Sato hadn't brought it along to the mysterious island for intensive training, its level now lagged far behind Swampert and the others.

On top of that, a major headache for Sato was that he didn't have time to go searching for the mysterious, oversized Moon Stone used by the Clefairy clan on Mt. Moon. He had to prioritize solving his own condition by visiting the Slowpoke Temple in Johto.

As a result, Nidorino's evolution plan would have to be postponed once again.

Fortunately, there was good news: Nidorino had worked extremely hard over the past month. Following Sato's advice, it focused diligently on perfecting moves it wasn't yet good at.

Now, Nidorino could unleash the full power of both Thunderbolt and Ice Beam with 100% effectiveness.

As for its other moves—like Double Kick, Poison Jab, and Water Pulse—Nidorino had already mastered them and taken them to an elite level.

So even though Nidorino hadn't leveled up much, its overall strength had increased significantly.

Physically, Nidorino's development was also progressing nicely. Likely due to being in a growth spurt, undergoing rigorous training, and receiving ample nutrition, the once palm-sized baby Nidoran had grown strong—almost like a little bull.

And then came the biggest surprise: Sato discovered that Nidorino might possess a remarkable talent for psychic power.

Using a rosary-like tool to measure Nidorino's mental strength, Sato was shocked to find that despite being barely a few months old and only casually meditating in his free time, Nidorino already had a psychic stat of 178.

Even Natu—usually so proud of its psychic heritage—was stunned and stopped boasting once it learned about Nidorino's raw mental power.

While Confusion was the only Psychic-type attack Nidorino could currently learn, Sato believed that if its psychic power continued to grow, even just that one move could be used in a wide variety of creative ways.

Maybe—just maybe—Nidorino might even break free from the limits of its species and go on to learn more advanced Psychic-type techniques in the future.