CHAPTER 9: Training Montage #2!

"Alrighty guys! I'm going down the left path! If you guys want to come, i wont stop you, but this is some quality training time for us, so use it wisely!" We all put our hands in the middle, and set a return time, then we all head off in separate directions, excepting Hilary, who insists on following me.

We got up just before sunrise, to try and get to Viridian Forest before any of the other Trainers wake up.

I picked Viridian Forest, because there is LOTS AND LOTS of Bug types around, which Misty seemed upset about, but she grudgingly agreed to come.

"Why are you so intent on watching me train, Hills?" I ask as we wade through the tall grass.

"Because! I've never actually SEEN you train, i've only ever heard of it! And i'm excited to let some of my guys out to run around!" She smiles, releasing her only three pokemon.

First comes K.O, her Machamp. He lands hard, flexing his muscles on all four arms and grinning wildly.

Next is Sunshine, her Cherrim. She lands softly, and immediately books it to the nearest spot of sun, thats filtering through the foliage. As soon as she reaches it, her petals spread wide, and i can see her huge, lazy grin, as she settles down to sunbathe.

And last but certainly not least, Spritzer, her Skuntank. He quickly latches onto Hilary's leg, and follows closely.

"Hey, Spritzie! Hows it going babe?" She leans down, and kisses his head, and he purrs quietly, now waddling along the path in front of us.

"Dont get lost guys!" She smiles and waves them off, and they all toddle along their own ways.

I release both the Hoothoot chicks and Ace. Alto is perched upon my shoulder.

All three birds land gracefully, and turn to look at me expectantly.

"Alrighty guys! Today, we are ACTUALLY training!" I laugh as they all jump around, squawking in excitement.

"Ace and Alto, i'm trusting you two to do your own training today with Hilary while i focus on the chicks, okay?" They both nod seriously, and Alto flaps over to Hilary's shoulder.

She leans in quickly before she takes off, "You didnt name the chicks yet?"

Giving me a confused look, she takes my birds and walks into the brush.

Turning to the two chicks, they look at me, almost... expectantly.

"Boy... Girl..." I point at one, then the other, and they nod respectively.

I've found that the easiest way to distinguish them is by their facial features.

The girl has bright orange eyes, and only two black stripes under her eyes, while the boy has the Hoothoot signature red and three.

I sit down in front of them, and think.

And think.

Aaaaand think.

...

Finally, they come to me!

I point at the girl.

"Belle!" She chirps and cooes happily.

I turn to the boy.

"Bane!" He smiles widely, and starts rubbing and cooing against my leg.

Grinning in triumph, I stand up, and start heading into the brush.

It doesn't take to long, before i find my first victims, a small gathering of Caterpie.

Now, two things that i about happened when i found them.

1- The Hoothoot chicks have never fought before, let alone trained.

AND

2- Both Bane and Belle were hatchlings when i found them, meaning they were both EXTREMELY weak.

So, as soon as we found the group, both chicks flew into battle.

And by battle, i mean they flew into the group of around 4-5 Caterpie, and just started swinging their claws and headbutting everything in sight.

It took a couple minutes, but they eventually succeeded in knocking all of the Caterpie out, and nearly themselves in the process.

I healed them with a couple potions, and on to the next group we found; Weedle.

Thank ARCEUS that Bane and Belle didnt get poisoned, but in the end, it all worked out, and both chicks learned Hypnosis.

We kept on going.

HILARY

"Alto, Round! Ace, Peck!" Both birds flew into battle, the other trainer looking terrified as his Metapod and Kakuna both shivered in fear.

Alto struck first, and the Kakuna was blasted into the air, where a waiting Ace struck it soundly on the bodice with a Peck, and slammed it back into the ground, knocking it out instantly.

Both birds landed quietly back in their battle positions.

Hilary crosses her arms, awaiting the trainers next move.

"H-h-harden...?" The small Bug Catcher squeaks, and the Metapod glows white for a couple seconds, and another layer of hard skin appears around it.

Alto looks at Hilary, then points to Ace.

"His Turn! His Turn!" He squawks, and Hilary laughs.

"Alright! Ace, Peck again!"

The small brown bird takes off into flight again, careening towards the terrified cocoon pokemon.

"Dodge!" But its too late.

Ace slams beak-first into Metapod, knocking it out instantly, and throwing it into the arms of the now-crying trainer.

Hilary walks up, and hugs the trainer, giving him 4 revives and some potions.

"What..." But she shushes him.

"Your pokemon are beautiful. They fought their very best, and you should be proud." She pats his head, but he looks around her, eyes as wide as saucers.

"What?" She hisses, whipping around, expecting the worse, and sees Ace, enveloped in a bright white light.

"Oh!" She runs up, and squats beside the now growing bird.

After a couple more seconds, Ace stops glowing... and looks completely different.

"Ace!" Hilary laughs, embracing the Pidgeotto.

MISTY

"Ash, hurry up! We haven't got all day!" Misty groans for the 100th time in the past hour.

They had been training for what felt like days, but was only, in fact, a couple hours.

"I'm COOOOOOOMING!" He replied, with a loud "CHUUUU!" following right after.

Suddenly, a VERY BIG CATERPIE flies out of the brush, smack into Misty.

"EEEEEEEEEEEKKK!" Misty screeches, but it wastes no time dusting itself off, and continues running away.

Then, Ash and Pikachu fly by as well, in a blur, with Thuder Shocks raining everywhere, trying to catch the GROSS CATERPIE.

"Be right back!" Ash shouts as he passes.

Misty grabs her hand sanitizer, fills her hand, and starts wiping herself off, sighing.

She releases Horsea and Goldeen, and lets them trail her.

"Just knock out any bugs when you see them." She shivers at the thought of touching another one.

Walking along the well worn path, they come across many small bug pokemon, but the seahorse and fish pokemon have no issues knocking them out as they go.

There are Water Guns and Water Pulses flying every which way, and its getting the job done either way.

Misty smiles, realizing that this is the first time shes been alone for a little while, and sits down beside a nearby tree-stump.

Leaning against the stump, she closes her eyes, enjoying the filtered sunlight and wildlife noises...

ASH

"We can get it, Pikachu!" Ash shouts as they bolt after one of the largest Caterpie he had ever seen in his ENTIRE LIFE.

"CHUUU!" His partner shouts back, smiling wildly, sending Thunder Shocks at random towards the target.

"AAAAAASH?!" Mistys voice rings out ahead of them.

"Uh OH!"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

Ash and Pikachu fly out of the bush, running straight past and narrowly missing Misty, who looks extremely violated.

"Be right back!" Ash shouts, flying back into the brush after the Caterpie.

Suddenly, from ahead, a large String Shot flies out of the bush, hitting Ash right in the face.

"Ahggh!" But instead of recoiling, Ash uses his momentum to grab the string, and tug as he falls, lurching the large Caterpie into the open.

"Chu!" Pikachu slams head first into the flailing Caterpie, sending it flying, but before it can land, it hits it with a rather strong Thunder Shock.

The Caterpie falls to the ground, fried and sore, and Pikachu high fives Ash, before continuing his run.

But Pikachu forgot one thing...

"... PIKAACHU?! IM KINDA STUCK HERE?"

SERENA

"Belle, Hypnosis! Bane, Peck!"

Me and the chicks have been training for quite a few hours now, and we are getting closer to the rendezvous time, but i want to squeeze as much training in as i can.

The chicks are bone-tired, but they are as determined as i am to make the most out of the time we have.

Belle sends a small pink, rippling wave at the Beedril, and it hits square-on, sending it flying into a tree, fast asleep.

Bane then glides over, and dive-bombs beak first into the bug pokemons abdomen, knocking it out instantly.

All the bug pokemon in Viridian Forest have been no match for the chicks, since they both learned Peck, their first official offensive flying type move.

"Good job, guys! Belle, your accuracy is impeccable! Bane, you just one-hit-K.O'd a THIRD evolution!" I grab them and swing them around, laughing.

"Hey guys!" Hilary stumbles through the bush with Alto on her shoulder.

"Hey Hills! Hey Alto! Wheres Ace?" i look around her, but i cant see him.

"Well... hes..."

"HILARY!" i growl, but she laughs and points behind me, and i whip around...

To be thrown back in a whirlwind of feathers.

"Ace!?" I hold the ecstatic bird in front of me... and see that hes evolved!

"ACE!" I hug him, dancing around, and he squawks happily, nuzzling my cheek.

Finally letting him go, i launch onto Hilary.

"HILLS THANKYOUSOMUCH!" I sob, happy tears cascading freely down my face.

"Its no big deal sis! Ace and Alto did all of the hard work, not me!" Laughing, she kisses my hair, detaching my arms from around her.

"How are the chicks?" She asks, and i smile even wider.

"Bane and Belle are doing great! But i think its about time to head back, we are all tired." I smile at her reaction to hearing their names for the first time.

"Bane... and Belle?" She puts on a thinking face, and finally laughs and nods.

"Amazing. Amazing names for amazing pokemon!" She scoops them up, kissing their cheeks.

Alto flies to my shoulder, and i scratch his head, causing him to purr.

"Hey hun! How was today?" I ask, and get a bird kiss on the cheek for an answer.

"Good, good! Anyways, we should start heading back guys, what do you think?" Both Bane and Belle nod enthusiastically, and we laugh as we make our way back.

ASH

"Pikachu! Its time to head back!" Ash calls, but there still isnt an answer.

He'd lost sight of Pikachu a little while ago, and couldnt seem to find him anymore.

"PIKACHUU!" Ash shouts, and finally gets a response.

"PIKA!" It's faint, but Ash heads in the direction it came from.

He soon finds Pikachu... and Misty.

"Misty?" He walks into the small clearing, and sees that shes sleeping against a large tree-stump.

"Oh..." His face a shade of scarlet, he walks up, and gently pokes her arm.

"Misty?" He whispers, but she doesnt budge.

He pokes a bit harder, and she still doesnt move.

Snoring, she slips and falls to the ground, sliding off the stump.

Ash holds his breath, but she just starts and rolls over.

Sighing, he gently lifts her, and carries her down the path, Pikachu, Goldeen, and Horsea in tow.

SERENA

"They should be here soon, i would think?" Me and Hilary are propped up against Spritzer, who is napping against a tree.

Sunshine and the chicks are dozing in a patch of sun, while Alto, Ace, and K.O are running around.

Alto suddenly lands in front of me, squawking.

"HELP! HELP!" He screeches, and takes off down the path.

I shoot up, and see... Ash.

And hes carrying Misty.

"Oh my god!" Me and Hilary book it over to them, and take misty out of Ash's arms, who then collapses into a tired pile.

"Is she okay? What happened? Why are her pokemon out?" Hilary is shooting questions, but Ash just waves them off.

"Shes... sleeping... had... to carry her..." He heaves, trying to catch his breath.

Setting Misty down, Hilary turns to K.O.

"K.O, please use a gentle Wake-Up Slap."

He lumbers over, and slaps Misty across the face, none to gently.

"WHAT THE F-"

"MISTY! THERE ARE CHILDREN HERE!"

After explaining to her what had happened, she apologized, rubbing her cheek.

"It was just so peaceful, and Gold & Horsea had it under control, so i thought i'd sit down for a while. I must have dozed off." She sighs.

"Thats okay, hun. You just scared us." Hilary laughs, and Ash snores behind us.

"Oh, GREAT."

We end up getting K.O to carry Ash back, because not even a Wake-Up Slap was enough to awaken this child from his slumber.

Misty keeps apologizing, but Hilary tells her its no big deal, that it almost happened to us to.

And thats how our second official training day came to a close;

A sleeping, black haired kid with an ugly white hat.

An apologetic orange haired girl, with sleep in her eyes.

A newly-evolved Pidgeotto, gliding happily above us.

And finally, a quick dinner, before bed.

I couldn't be happier.