PS256

/ or The Final Training (Japanese: VS バネブー II VS II or 最後の大特訓 The Final Training) is the 256th round of the Pokémon Adventures manga.

Plot
On, and  continue their training with the Gym Leaders, Tate, Liza, and Juan. On Mirage Island, time moves differently than the outside, and because of it, when Ruby and Sapphire slept for three days on the island, 21 days passed outside. However, although time works differently on Mirage Island, it is never always the same.

Although when Ruby and Sapphire first arrived on the island, one day meant seven days outside, it has now changed to the opposite effect. Only when the passage of time of both Mirage Island and the outside are the same is when people can move freely about the two areas. While Ruby and Sapphire were shocked to learn about this, another surprise awaits the two Trainers.

Ruby and Sapphire continue training with Tate and Liza. With the teamwork of and, they manage to defeat Tate and Liza's two. Although defeated, Tate and Liza praise the excellent strategy that Ruby and Sapphire used. Sapphire, happy to be praised by Gym Leaders, thanks Plusle and Minun for their help and for meeting each other again. Tate and Liza state that in order to beat and, they will need to master Double Battles. Assuming that Ruby and Sapphire are exhausted, Tate and Liza leave to take a break.

Sapphire looks around to see Ruby coming up with battle strategies for Pokémon other than Plusle and Minun. Sapphire quickly remembers what is happening in the outside world and decides that there is no time to rest. Elsewhere, Juan asks Tate and Liza about the results of their training. The twins state that their students are showing promise, and the training has caused their Pokémon to become much stronger. As they point this out, Rono evolves into his final form,.

Juan is pleased to hear this, but states that he is not surprised as the two were recommended by Wallace. He states that it is Ruby and Sapphire's destiny to fight Groudon and Kyogre. Although pleased at Ruby and Sapphire's progress, the point where time moves faster outside is soon approaching. Back at Ruby and Sapphire's location, Sapphire has Chic master to help in their Double Battle training.

Juan approaches the two and states that it is time for their next lesson. He takes them to a spring and has them both look into it along with their Pokémon. Juan puts a coin in his hand and has Ruby and Sapphire guess which hand the coin is in. Ruby gets only a few correct, while Sapphire gets all correct, signifying that she has a better intuition than Ruby. Juan reveals that in heated battles, there are times where one has to come up with a plan on the spot, but this can be hindered by swaying emotions. Juan states that the next challenge will involve training their hearts.

Sapphire begins falling asleep due to the effects of the spring, so Juan decides to hold off on training until later. Later, while Sapphire sleeps, Ruby decides to talk to Juan alone. Ruby reveals that he knows that Juan is hiding something from his students, which angers Ruby. Ruby takes off his glove, which has the pattern on Groudon's body on it. Ruby states that Juan has been hiding the fact that the Red and Blue Orbs have been absorbed into Ruby and Sapphire's bodies.

Major events

 * obtains a and  obtains a.
 * Ruby and Sapphire continue their training with Tate and Liza.
 * Sapphire's Rono evolves into an.
 * Ruby reveals that he and Sapphire have the Red and Blue Orbs inside them.

Humans

 * Tate and Liza
 * Juan
 * Tate and Liza
 * Juan

Pokémon

 * (Nana; 's)
 * (Kiki/; 's)
 * (Mumu/; 's)
 * (Fofo/; 's)
 * (new)
 * (Rono; 's; evolves)
 * (Rono; 's; newly evolved)
 * (Chic/; 's)
 * (Troppy/; 's)
 * (Phado/; 's)
 * (new)
 * (Tate and Liza's; ×2)
 * (Juan's; ×2)
 * (multiple)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Trivia

 * This round's VIZ Media name comes from the phrase A spring in your step.

Errors

 * In the Chuang Yi version, Juan states that was wrong when he guessed that the coin was in his left hand. However, due to the flipped artwork, Ruby is actually right.

In other languages
Kapitel 256 (Pocket Monsters SPECIAL) PMS256 LGA256 PS256