Theros had an enchantment theme (which could have been more prominent and powerful, but thats a different article) and it also had the Heroic keyword, which triggered when you cast a spell targeting a creature
Once a creature's training ability has triggered, destroying the other attacking creature or reducing its power won't stop the creature with training from getting a +1/+1 counter
I especially love how Gyardos is a Fire Horse Pokmon, and that these are rare 2nd Edition cards
Even then, I don't think this would see much tournament play without that complicated specialize ability
There's not much more to say about it, other than noting that if you're playing one, you're probably playing the other, at least as far as Doc AurlockDoc Aurlock is concerned
And the upside's actually pretty good for a dinky little common like this