The following day, Ash got up early, Misty still being asleep, and began to train his Pokémon. It was still dark out when he sneaked a mile away from where they were staying.
He called them all out. There standing in front of him were Pikachu, Sparrow, Pidgeotto, Rattata, and Caterpie, all whom were ready for action. "Okay guys, a bit of morning exercise for everyone. Pidgeotto and Sparrow, a mile flight at your top speed. I want to record how long it takes for you guys to fly. Here's a Pokemeter," he said, attaching it to their feathers. "It tracks the number of steps, flight, etc taken. It'll tell me also how long it takes." he explained.
"Pikachu and Rattata, I want you guys to run a mile as well. No special moves." he quickly placed on a Pokemeter. "Caterpie, you will be training with me. I want you to learn to aim your string-shot at me, a moving target. It will heighten your accuracy. Then you will be using tackle-attack and we'll see how strong you really are." he said as he whistled, ordering them to start.
Pikachu, Rattata, Pidgeotto and Sparrow went off to do what they were ordered to do and Caterpie immediately started to attack his trainer with String-shot. Ash dodged easily, and ran up to Caterpie, giving it a light kick.
It cried out in pain and was flung to a tree. Before hitting it, it let out a string-shot, one he caught and used it to wrap Caterpie around a tree.
Ash sighed as Caterpie struggled to get out. He helped. He then knelt down to his little bug companion. "Okay Cat, when you attack, use the wind to your advantage. Feel the wind and know what direction your string will go because of it. That's really important and will help you through battles. And remember, just because you are smaller and slower, doesn't mean you can't dodge. Use the string again to attach it to trees, like a Spinarak and swing." he advised as Caterpie nodded his head, catching everything its master said. It wanted to please Ash and would do all it could.
For the next hour, Caterpie took Ash's advice, improving immensely. Half an hour before, the rest had come. Ash gave them a break as he continued with Caterpie.
"Okay, it'll be half an hour before Misty wakes up." he said, staring at the arising sun. "We'll have a mock battle. Caterpie vs. Pidgeotto, Pikachu vs. Sparrow and Rattata you vs. Me." he said. "We'll start with me and Rat." he said, getting into a fighting stance.
"Rat, I want you to use any move you want, I'll do the same." he said. "Begin!"
Rattata ran up to him in full speed of a quick-attack, jumping 5 feet away from him. Ash ducked and then gripped the tail. He began swinging when Rattata latched onto his arm before biting his fangs into him. Ash gritted his teeth at the pain before hitting the head of Rat with his hand and unlatching it before throwing it away from him. He placed pressure on the now soon to be scar and glared.
Rattata used double team, running in circles around him. Ash used his sensing of aura and detected the real one. He stuck out his foot, making Rattata trip.
It used sand attack before using tackle again. Ash closed his eyes from the sand and used his arms to block his chest from the impact. It made him move a bit.
The dust cleared as a very tired Pokémon was wheezing. Ash smirked and clapped slowly. "Nice job Rat at the combo of the sand-attack and tackle. But I suggest next time use double team, then sand-attack and tackle. It will confuse your opponent more then." he said as he let Rat take a nice rest under the trees.
"Next!" he called.
Pikachu and Sparrow came up. Ever since their first battle, Sparrow had wanted to improve as much as it could. Of course, Sparrow didn't know that Pikachu had nearly 15 years of training already.
"I want you to use any move you can. At the end of the battle I'll give feedback." he stated, sitting down to watch.
Pikachu then ran at sparrow with a quick attack, dashing in a zig-zag formation. Sparrow flew to the sky to avoid contact but as it did, Pikachu used a move called 'bounce' that he learned from Bunnary, Dawn's Pokémon, using his tail to bounce him towards the sky. He then became a flash of lightning, a volt tackle hitting Sparrow.
It cried out in pain as it fell, spiraling, it came back up, determined not to lose.
Looks like Chu's going easy. He thought, raising his eyebrows.
Sparrow got back up and used quick attack close to the ground, his wing leaning towards it as it created dust storm attacks. Pikachu dodged but wasn't able to dodge the wings.
"Good job, both of you. Sparrow, I'll help you learn how to use wing attack soon. And Pikachu, make sure that you know how to dodge simultaneous attacks." he said. "And now, we have ten minutes before Mist wakes up. Cat, Pidgeotto." he gestured them to the battle field.
Pidgeotto started its first attack with a quick attack, similar to Sparrow's attack. Caterpie used the moves it learned from Ash, using string-shot to a tree and had it pull him up. It then swung, using tackle at the surprised bird Pokémon.
Pidgeotto got back up, using gust. Caterpie used the string-shot move but realized that it was a diversion to Pidgeotto's real attack, quick attack. It collided as Caterpie was sent to a tree. It used string-shot once more, connecting to Pidgeotto's beak. It used it to climb upon its back and ride it like a Ponyta.
Pidgeotto tried to shake it off but it stuck on strong. Finally after minutes, it stopped struggling.
"Great moves, the both of you." he congratulated.
Suddenly, Caterpie glowed as it shape began to change. Faster than last time. He noted. A Metapod came from the evolution.
"Great job Metapod." he added once more. "Okay, Misty is going to be awake any minute. Let's get some food. Pidgeotto and Sparrow, try to see if there are any berries in trees, or a river nearby for water or fish. Pikachu and Rattata, go hunt for some fire wood. Metapod...well, relax." he said, not knowing what much it could do.
Ash returned it for a well deserved rest as he headed back to find Misty getting up.
"Morning." he said cheerfully.
She yawned, stretching. "M-morning." she greeted, rubbing her eyes of sand. "How long were you up for?"
"Two hours." he stated. "The others will be back soon. Their getting food." he said as he pulled out a lighter.
Fifteen minutes later they returned bring wood, berries, and fish. Ash cooked food for them.
He had decided that for now on, his Pokémon would eat food from a forest. A man five years from now discovered that feeding Pokémon food from nature did better in growth and development because all of it was natural, not concentrated.
"Well, dig in." he said as he served Misty some food.
"Thanks Ash." she said.
"Hey Misty, I'm going to let a Pokémon come out, but try not to screech." he warned. He could hear her gulp. "Met, come out and eat." he said as a cocoon Pokémon came out.
"Metapod!" it cried its name as Ash held it in his lap, feeding it a berry.
Misty blinked. "When did you get a Metapod?" she asked.
"Yesterday, it was a Caterpie and just evolved during early morning training." he said. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you." he added.
She nodded. "I know you wouldn't let it."
'Wow, she trusted me.' He thought as they continued the meal.
The next few hours were spent traveling through the forest. Suddenly, a noise could be heard from afar.
"BEEDRILL!" A lone Beedrill attacked without warning as Ash took out the closet Pokémon.
"Metapod, harden!" Metapod did, its stingers not even giving it a scratch. "Now, string shot and hurtle your hardened form at the Bee!"
Metapod shot a string shot to a tree and then swung its form into the Beedrill. It cried out in pain.
"Pokeball, go!" he caught it easily.
"Nice job." Misty commented. "Good job Metapod-" it glowed once more, evolving to a beautiful Butterfree. "Wow." she gazed, amazed at what she witnessed.
This was definitely different from the first time around.
And he loved it.