Six hours of wandering finally paid off. His aching muscles and sheer exhaustion became an afterthought upon seeing a faint glimmer of light in the distance.
There was no mistaking what he was seeing. Daylight and fresh air were no more than a few hundred yards away and with it an end to navigating the maze of tunnels that was Mt. Moon.
As much as he wanted to rush towards the exit at full speed, his mind prevailed over impulse. He may have been tired, but he wasn't tired enough yet to lose all common sense. Just because they were approaching an exit didn't necessarily mean they could leave. For all he knew, an entire squad of Pokemon Rangers could be standing outside.
Ash subconsciously lowered his right hand to his belt and graced the top of Titan's Poke Ball. He briefly considered releasing the rock type for scouting purposes, but decided against it. His team deserved a little rest after traveling alongside him five in a half hours of the six hour journey northward to this exit. They had been downright exhausted when Ash decided to let them rest in stasis instead of having them roam the caverns with him.
Ash shimmied towards the exit with his back against the cold stone of the cavern wall. He hoped that if he stuck to the shadows he wouldn't be seen if there were league trainers on patrol near the exit.
He winced and raised his hand up to shield his eyes from the bright light of the outside world. His eyes were not ready for any sort of bright light after traveling through Mt. Moon's endless network of cave tunnels. He gradually lowered his hand to let his eyes adjust to the light before peeking his head out from the cave. Ash swiveled his head to the left and back to the right. While he saw many things ranging from winding paths to a steep slope in the distance to wispy stratus clouds in the sky, he saw absolutely no signs of other people or Pokemon.
The coast appeared to be clear.
"Here goes nothing." he muttered to himself, tentatively taking a leap of faith by taking his first steps out of the cave.
He took a deep breath. The cool, crisp air of the outside world was a welcome change from the often stagnant and stuffy air of Mt. Moon. He felt the warmth of the sun's rays on his face, prompting him to grin from ear to ear. It was good to be free and alive again.
He quickly unclipped the Poke Balls attached to his belt. He couldn't be the only one to enjoy the wonderful weather and their return to the outdoors. His team had gone through the nightmare of Mt. Moon with him and it was only fair that they got to experience the refreshment of leaving it behind.
Besides, the company would help keep him awake until they made it to a decent spot to set up camp.
Ash groaned. The only thing worse than aching muscles and exhaustion had to be the filth accumulated from days of travel.
Sweat from endless walking and running and toil were beginning to take a toll. Even he was starting to notice his hair getting greasy and the dust and dirt lingering on both his body and clothing.
He chuckled inwardly at the very fact he noticed himself getting dirty. He always loathed his mother instructing him to bathe or throw his clothes in the wash; but now he would have done anything for a hot shower and the ability to do laundry.
It was amazing how people seemed to take the simple things of life for granted.
He was a bit surprised by how dirty he had gotten. For the most part he limited the team's training to long walks and target practice using Titan's Rock Tomb boulders as airborne targets. While the walks weren't an issue, apparently the team's target practice was. He never realized how much dust and dirt using Rock Tomb could kick up. Then again, it hadn't necessarily been Titan using Rock Tomb that caused sediment to be kicked up. Aurora and Orion simultaneously cooling and warming with their ice and fire had caused the boulders to split from the rapid weathering and sudden expansion and contraction of the rock.
At least it wouldn't matter soon, he checked his PokeNav routinely since leaving the caverns of Mt. Moon. His journey north and the road he was traveling led back to civilization – Rota loomed on the horizon.
It was rather fortunate he would be stopping in a town soon. Not only did he desperately need to be able to clean himself up, but he needed provisions. He was down to two meals for himself and a quarter of a bag of Pokemon food for his team. He burned through his supplies faster than he anticipated, partly because he miscalculated how long his supplies would last and partly because he and his team consumed more.
Rota and the roads leading to the city resided in higher elevations, more specifically the Guardian Mountain Range (some of the northernmost mountains in Kanto). Miles upon miles of winding gravel paths through the mountains were exhausting and the amount of energy they expended made it necessary for them to eat more. It also didn't help that they tended to stop more because of the thinner air, making them fatigue easier and snack during the recovery periods.
He desperately needed to stop in a town and restock on supplies. He just hoped that they had decent stores in Rota and that everything wasn't overpriced.
The closer he got to Rota, the more defined the city became. What had once been distant silhouettes now had detail and what he saw took his breath away.
Rota was beautiful and looked like something from the pages of a storybook. The entire city was paved with cobblestone, setting it apart from the modern cities with asphalt roads. Several massive buildings – with strong resemblance to castles in fairy tales – towered above the rest of the city.
Not that the rest of the city was to be outdone, even the shops and homes of Rota were built a bit taller and larger than what was standard for other smaller Kanto cities like Rota.
The use of white stone and brown tile roof showed off the distinctive Kalosian and Galarian influences in Rota architecture. It made him wonder about why Rota copied those regions considering that the city was located in Kanto.
Colonization? Explorers? Settlements? There had to be some logical explanation.
He'd definitely look into it once he got to the Pokemon Center. He certainly had a lot of things to research once he got to the Pokemon Center. The water on the edge of the city, the building in the distance, and more than anything he had to research the massive tree dwarfing even the mountains themselves.
He hadn't ever seen anything like it. The tree grew out of the mountains and its highest branches spanned clear up to the wispy clouds touching the sky itself. The tree's emerald leaves glowed with radiance and gave off an aura of livelihood he had never seen before.
He picked up the pace, finding a surge of adrenaline fueled by the building anticipation of the research and exploration ahead. The faster he reached his destination, the sooner he could explore.
Ash squinted and raised a hand to his eyes to shield his eyes. Sunlight reflected off the glass windows of a massive cathedral due to the sun's position overhead. He couldn't help but stare at the massive spires at the top of the building that pointed skyward.
His eyes quickly darted away from the cathedral to the rest of the town.
Many of the homes were large manors reminiscent of something owned by nobility in ancient times. All the stores practically lined up with each other in large swaths of storefront. Large display windows allowed travelers to look into the store and view the goods at the store. An occasional awning hung above several of the store entrances and store facades.
The loud beep and shutter of cameras along with the clang of the cathedral's bell snapped him out of his thoughts.
Ash clearly wasn't the only one taking in the sights if the crowd gathered in the street was any indication. Looked like Rota was a fairly popular tourist attraction, judging by the amateur photographers taking pictures of the buildings and stores.
For as small as it was Rota was lively and busy. The tap of footsteps on cobblestone, the giggles of the crowds, and endless chatter of the people brought a smile to his face. It was nice to be back in civilization and see and hear people again.
Ash zigzagged his way through the growing crowd of people. The amount of people flooding out into the streets seemed to be increasing and the space between them narrowed substantially.
Ash shuddered. The limited space gave him uncomfortable memories of Mt. Moon's narrow tunnels and the incident in Pewter. He couldn't help but feel stifled to some degree.
He quickly shook off those thoughts as he caught an elbow to the ribs from a quick passerby aiming his camera at every building and landmark he saw. He leered at the man for bumping into him, but his glare was ignored since the photographer was clearly fixated more on his camera than where he was going.
One bump from an oblivious traveler quickly became two and then three which soon became four and five. He found it hard not to catch an elbow or get shoved aside by overzealous shoppers and excited tourists.
He pushed his way through the crowd, even earning a few glares from people. He rolled his eyes. If the other people in the streets had no qualms about pushing and shoving, neither would he. Besides, he could see the Pokemon Center in the distance. He wasn't about to get swept up by the crowd and end up somewhere else other than the Pokemon Center.
His enjoyment of the crowds was short lived and he was beginning to tire of all the tourists. He would definitely enjoy Rota more when he wasn't getting shoved by overzealous tourists and a rest at the Pokemon Center meant he could explore Rota at a more opportune time.
Unfortunately, the Pokemon Center appeared to be more of the same – there would be no escaping the tourists.
A stumbling man stood in front of the doorway, blocking entry to the Pokemon Center. He ran his hand through his disheveled hair as he staggered toward Ash. The trainer grimaced at the scent of alcohol on his breath.
"Jus wai and see, they laughs as ma nows but theys all see!" the man slurred, staggering back and accidentally sloshing alcohol on his sweatshirt and sweatpants.
A second guy in sweatpants and a tank top shook his head as he dragged the man away from the entry and away from Ash, giving the trainer an apologetic look. "Tch, that will be the day. As if anyone is fearing that pink flobberworm."
"Screw you, you backwards villager. Audino is a god...and it'll live forever!" the drunk man spat.
Ash quickly stepped past them to enter the Pokemon Center. He glanced over his shoulder wondering if he should get involved, but thought better of it. Some things in this world were best not to get involved in.
He shuffled up to the front counter of the Pokemon Center and waited in line to drop off his team for a routine checkup. Ash tapped the touchscreen of his Pokenav and opened the web browser app. Now was just as good a time as any to start his research on Rota because judging by the length of the line, he was in for a long wait.
Ash slurped down one last spoonful of tempura soba and grinned. The hot soup was a refreshing change from the prepackaged sandwiches and pizzas he had been eating while on the road.
Judging by the empty bowls, his team had finished their meals as that his team had been cleared by Nurse Joy and they all had full stomachs, he could create and discuss something resembling a schedule for them to follow while in Rota.
They still had an entire afternoon to burn before the sun set. As tired as he still was, Ash wasn't capable of sleeping when there was still daylight.
He glanced around the room at his team scattered across the room. Orion curled up on a rug resting – a rare sight for the Ponyta – with his burning mane dimmed to a very weak flicker to prevent setting fire to anything around him. Aurora plopped down on the bed, snuggling down in the sea of pillows by the head of the bed. Titan nibbled on the edge of his food dish and snapped off a piece of the dish only to immediately spit it back out in disgust.
Ash yanked the dish away from Titan, eliciting a glare from Titan. "That's not something to eat!"
Orion let out an amused whinny, prompting a death glare from Ash that caused the Ponyta to go quiet – if only for a moment. "It's not funny! Who knows what plastic does to Larvitar! Can't be good for them! It could stunt his growth or something!"
Titan stamped the ground and grunted impatiently, throwing a tiny tantrum over having the dish taken from him and tried to pull the dish away from Ash.
"Can you help me, Orion?"
Orion snorted, seemingly ignoring Ash's appeal for help in favor of watching the showdown unfold.
"Great to know you're laughing at me instead of backing me up, some leader you are." Ash whined. He quickly whipped his head around and glanced at Aurora. "Tell him this isn't funny. Help me restore order here!"
Aurora peeked her head up to see what was happening only to plop her head down on a pillow. She was far too tired and too full from her meal to get involved in something trivial like this.
Ash groaned. Looks like he was on his own for this. The trainer loosened his grip and tugged on the food bowl less to lull Titan into a false sense of complacency before wrestling the plastic bowl away so he couldn't try to eat anymore of it. There was always a chance plastic bowl could be an acquired taste.
Ash stuffed the chipped food dish in his backpack along with the other bowls and zipped up the bag.
He glanced at his team again, focusing specifically on his eldest teammates. "Shame on you, ignoring me while I needed your help." he playfully pouted.
"Seriously though, guys, I still want to talk about what our plans are while we're in Rota. I did quite a bit of research earlier and compiled a list of places to explore in Rota. I was curious if you guys had any preferences on places to check out."
Ash lay his list of Rota tourist attractions on the floor and pointed to it, prompting Aurora to perk up due to not being able to see the list. The Alolan Vulpix whined, sprung up from her spot, and leapt from the bed.
She wasn't going to miss this.
Ash snorted as Aurora scurried over to the group and sat beside him. "Guess we're all here?" he laughed before focusing on the topic at hand. "There's actually quite a bit of stuff to see here. Rota has a very large library. There's also the Cameran Lake that surrounds the Cameran Palace and lies at the outskirts of town. And for the adventurous the Tree of Beginning lies far beyond the outskirts of Rota and far past Cameran Palace."
Ash partially crossed off the Tree of Beginnings from the list of places. Orion huffed and tilted his head.
"I know I put it on the list, but I don't think we can explore it fully. You need a permit from Rota's officials to visit. But as long as we don't head for the tree itself, we can probably train up in the mountains and forests on the route to the tree. I was thinking we should go over strategy and train to prepare for the Cerulean gym while we're here. I think that's the most important thing right now, but I don't want this to just be all business. We should enjoy stuff while we're here. What do you guys think?"
Titan glanced back and forth at his older teammates deferring to them and waiting for their responses. Aurora nodded in agreement and Orion stamped his hooves on the floor excitedly, prompting an enthusiastic grunt from Titan.
"Anything in particular you think you guys want to visit first?"
Aurora turned to the others, prompting an impromptu huddle between them to deliberate. A short exchange of grumbles, snorts and huffs, and soft barks quickly resulted in Aurora stepping out from the group and standing over the list of events and destinations Ash made.
Aurora nudged the paper with a paw, pointing to the library. Ash raised an eyebrow at their choice. He didn't expect the group to choose to visit the library first; although his oldest teammates did seem to enjoy history and liked learning. And Titan would go along with whatever the other two had in mind.
He frowned a bit at that thought. Titan needed to make his own decisions for himself, although he supposed that would come with time. The entire group could probably use the history lesson anyway. Learning more about Rota couldn't be a bad thing and what better way than through the treasure trove of knowledge that was books.
"Alright, then the library it is! Give me about thirty minutes to get cleaned up and we'll go over to check out the library."
Ash gasped, his mouth agape from the sight of the library. It was just another sight that pictures didn't do justice.
Shades of Kalosian architecture were evident due to the terra-cotta peaks unique to Kalosian gothic style along with the massive and numerous frosted stained glass windows. Sandstone arches hung above the entrance.
The library looked less like a library and more like a cathedral or monument.
He supposed it was just that. The Aaron Memorial Library was meant to be a monument and relic to honor the guardian that once protected Rota. They certainly spared no expense in building it.
And if you somehow forgot who the library was dedicated to, the massive statues in front of the building served as a reminder.
A tall man crafted from silver towered over the steps with a scepter crafted of bronze lifted high in his right hand akin to a ruler. The cape on his back was sculpted like it fluttered in the wind and the Guardian of Rota offered a pleasant smile to passersby.
Ash turned to look at the bipedal canine statue molded of silver across from the man. The Pokemon stared at visitors with a cautious glare and stood with a steadfast stance. A ball of sapphire representative of the aura he wielded in life sat in his palm.
Ash's right eye twitched subconsciously and his stomach churned. Sir Aaron and Lucario reminded him a bit too much of Haruko and his team, or more specifically their statues.
A cold nose nudged his leg, urging him to continue as she scampered up and down the steps. He smiled at Aurora and tentatively shuffled up the steps and entered the library itself.
It was a little strange not having the others around but just because the library allowed Pokemon didn't mean he was going to test the boundaries of the rule. Orion's flames and Titan probably wouldn't enjoy being around other people especially if it was crowded. He'd make sure to take plenty of pictures for the rest of the group.
He held the door open for Aurora once he reached the entrance and she pranced into the lobby with him.
The library was just as opulent inside as it was outside. He couldn't help but stare at his surroundings.
Glimmers of quartz embedded in the granite tile flooring caught his attention. Ash knelt down to take a closer look. He hadn't seen anything quite like it before. Tiny specks of quartz sparkled from the light reflecting off the speckled granite tile.
Aurora nudged his leg with her icy nose and stared at the ceiling.
He glanced upward at the dome vaulted ceiling above him. His eyes widened at the sight of murals depicting a great army of men with weapons drawn marching alongside indistinguishable Pokemon contrasted by a defiant Sir Aaron and his Lucario standing in front of a castle.
A last stand of some sort? It was the only conclusion he could draw from the scene, especially if the steadfast posture and unwavering determination of both Aaron and Lucario was any indication.
Now he really needed to look into what happened. He only knew the absolute bare bones of the Sir Aaron story from his school days. Something to the effect of Sir Aaron being a guardian that gave his life for Rota against a massive army.
They never elaborated much in school on the guardian's role in history aside from his sacrifice. That was part of the reason he was here – to learn more about Rota – after all.
"You know, all these depictions of Sir Aaron and his Lucario are making me curious about the actual events. How about you?" Ash asked, glancing down at his library companion.
Aurora nodded. Ash motioned for his starter to follow him and continued through the lobby.
He passed a few glass display cases with miniaturized models representing Rota and gave them a once over. He certainly had to give credit to the staff for their accuracy and attention to detail. Every store, cathedral, and landmark were in the spot he had found them when he arrived. Even a tiny Cameran Palace and Tree of Beginning loomed in the distance.
He paused a moment to glance at the service desk, briefly considering asking a librarian about where to find books on Sir Aaron and Rota history.
The long lines of people at the information desk nearly stretching across the entire room made him rethink that idea. Aurora was attracting attention from gawkers and he wasn't keen on waiting in yet another long line. Lines consumed time he could be reading. He could always find books himself by looking them up on a library computer.
He slipped past the lines at the information desk towards the stack and an seemingly endless room of books.
Aurora tilted her head and whined in anticipation. Ash took a deep breath. He hadn't seen this many shelves of books in one place before since visiting the library in Celadon. The entire room was practically a sea of bookshelves. It certainly explained why the library building was so big.
He was practically salivating over the amount of material to explore and quickly found himself distracted by a shelf of recent releases in front of him.
He skimmed over the books for interesting new releases, ignoring the endless romance and mystery novels in search of the nonfiction and biographical. He grinned as he found what he was looking for. There were rumors prior to him leaving on his journey that Professor Birch and Professor Elm wrote new books.
He reached out and scooped up a book – The Diversity of Nature – and skimmed over its contents. If he was at home and had time to kill, he definitely would have spent the rest of the day reading Birch's book; but information on Pokemon habitats wouldn't likely be of much use to him currently.
He set the book down and reached for the book next to it – Storm Taming.
Ash leafed through the book after checking the table of contents and stopped on the chapter about Snow Warning. He would definitely take a look at this one. The information would come in handy in the future since he and Aurora had yet to master Snow Warning.
A soft whimper and cold touch from Aurora's nose pulled his attention away from the book. The Alolan Vulpix growled at him and glanced towards the other shelves.
"I know, I know, I'm sidetracking!" he groaned.
Aurora yipped at him and sprinted off in search of the computer terminals.
"Hold on, I'm coming!" Ash grumbled, chasing after the ice type. "This is supposed to be a way to unwind and kill time, not a frantic rush."
Aurora ignored the comment and ran even faster to the point he couldn't even dream of keeping up. Ash shook his head. He had never seen her as keyed up as this. Enthusiasm of this nature was generally Orion's thing.
She must really have been looking forward to their library research.
Ash wobbled back and forth as he made his way towards the reading room with a massive stack of books cradled in his arms.
It hadn't taken them long to find lots of material to read but getting to a place to read them was an issue. A little bit of scouting made them settle on a reading room on the second floor of the library.
"Are we there yet? I can't see over these." he all but whined.
The staircase had been much more exhausting than he thought it would be.
Aurora whined at him – clearly a no. She barked again, prompting him to follow the sound of the shrill bark into another room. A soft yip caused him to set the books down and give the room around him a once over.
They finally reached the reading room. Not only was the room secluded, but there were soft chairs to sit in and plenty of light due to the golden chandeliers around the room and the sunlight from the windows.
Ash plopped down into one of the brown chairs and crossed his right leg over his left leg. He grabbed the first book off the tower of books beside him and opened it up to the table of contents.
He supposed the colonization of Rota was a good place to start for understanding the place. Aurora swiped at his foot with her paw to get his attention and whined at him.
He snickered at the ice type staring at him intently. Ash ruffled the fur on her head. "Yes, I'll read you the good bits." he assured her. "If you want we can even read it together."
Aurora accepted the invitation and flung herself onto the armrest of the chair before climbing up onto the back of the chair. The Alolan Vulpix's front legs slipped trying to maintain her balance. Ash winced as sharp claws latched onto his shoulder as she used him to keep her balance. "Good viewing place, huh?" Ash groaned..
Aurora shifted her weight to balance herself by using the back of the chair to support the back of her body and his right shoulder to support the front of her body before nodding.
Ash rolled his eyes. "Just no claws, okay?" he sighed.
Aurora nodded and swiped at the page of the book with her front paw.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm starting!" he grumbled. "A Tale of Three Civilizations, chapter one," Ash began, taking a moment to clear his throat. "Rota is one of the oldest civilizations in history, with some historians believing it was established before even the Indigo Plateau. Its cultural influences are some of the most unique in the world due to it not only featuring traditions from its own heritage but that of Galar and Kalos which colonized it and settled the city."
Aurora tilted her head, eliciting a laugh from Ash.
"Yeah, I know, I wouldn't have guessed that either but it explains the architecture style."
Aurora nodded and Ash picked up where he left off. They had a lot of material to cover.
Ash rubbed his temples in hopes of relieving some of the pressure from his ever intensifying throbbing headache. He closed the book in his lap and added it to the growing pile of works that he had skimmed for information.
Judging by Aurora's drooping eyes, the Alolan Vulpix was just as fatigued as he was. They had covered countless pages of history and their research sent bounced them around from book to book for additional details.
He and Aurora read everything from Galarian and Kalosian colonization of Rota to merchants discovering rich mineral deposits and the rise of an export supported economy. They read about attempts by pre-Indigo territories to invade Rota for its resources and due to seeking to find Mew that the legendary could be used as a tool of war against enemies. He read about how the aura guardians served as protectors of Rota and devoted themselves as guardians of Mew. He covered the peace between Rota and the First Champion and the demise of the last champion of the great aura guardians when the factions against Haruko waged war on Rota for not joining them.
He was fairly impressed with their reading speed. They covered around one hundred years worth of history in a matter of hours, even if they didn't read most of the books in full and only covered the most relevant bits of information about Rota.
All the studying reminded him a bit of school and its endless lectures. He hadn't studied that much since Professor Oak was his teacher.
He stopped his trip down memory lane and refocused on the last two remaining books he hadn't touched yet. There were still two more things he needed to know.
He opened another book about aura guardians and skimmed through the pages in search of additional information about their training. Multiple sources on aura guardians contained in other books stated that the guardians honed their physical abilities and the physical abilities of their Pokemon beyond what was thought possible.
While he doubted that he would ever fully implement the entire training regimen of aura guardians since much of it seemed to go hand in hand with tapping into aura abilities, he imagined that studying more about their customs and training would give him some insight on advanced strength training, speed training, and refining technique. To get the most out of Orion and Titan he would need to know ways to work on their physical abilities and to do that he needed more than just the basics provided in strength training videos provided online and in the Pokedex.
He smirked a bit as he stumbled upon just the information he was looking for and began to take notes on his PokeNav, prompting a glance from Aurora.
The ice type leaned forward for a better look as Ash switched between peeking at the pages of the book and tapping away on the touchscreen of his Pokenav
"Aurora, I'm trying to take notes and you're not making it easy." he complained, grimacing slightly. Not only had the ice type been restricting blood flow in his arm and shoulder but her cold body temperature had practically left his arm numb.
Aurora shifted her weight to alleviate the weight on him and her claws inadvertently needled his arm from moving around. He was thankful for the numbness of the cold keeping him from feeling her claws dig into him.
Aurora whined and pointed at the book with her paw.
"It's battle stuff, lots of training stuff. I think it will be helpful for Orion and Titan."
Aurora tilted her head.
"Yeah, there's all sorts of insight on the training of aura guardians. Figured all that training of theirs had to be halfway decent if their ranks could hold off invasion army forces. Means they were strong, right?"
Aurora nodded before turning her attention to the last book he had left from the pile of study material.
"That one will be more your speed as I think it can help further your training. It's about weather and weather related Pokemon techniques. The sooner you let me finish my notes on this one, the sooner I can get started on the research by Professor Elm."
Aurora sprung down from her perch onto the floor, making entirely sure his arm was restricted in the slightest way. Whatever helped him complete his notes faster and allowed them to focus on the research sooner.
Ash raised an eyebrow only for Aurora to growl at him impatiently and stare at his Pokenav.
"I'm working on it!" he complained.
Aurora smirked and sat up with satisfaction over a job well down. Ash shook his head.
And he thought Orion was the most impatient of their group.
Playtime was over. He had the information he needed from the library and the team was well rested after a good night of sleep in a Pokemon Center. Aching muscles and sweat were what waited for them in the days and weeks ahead. It was time to put in hard work and lots of it.
The team had a long way to improve before they were ready to take on the Cerulean Gym. His battle against Gary revealed that despite his book knowledge he still had a lot to learn.
Gary's team was more polished than his own. They could act independently from their trainer in battles and had worked on fine tuned specialized techniques. In a way, Ash was grateful for the loss because it motivated him and revealed to him what they needed to work on..
They would be ready for their next opponent.
"Too slow, Aurora, Titan! You don't see Orion lagging behind!" he chided, pointing to the Ponyta far ahead of the group.
Not a fair comparison since Ponyta were built for running, but it wasn't meant to be one. The purpose was purely motivational.
"You gotta be faster if you want to keep up!"
Titan glared at him and grunted in frustration. He hated running. If the irritated look on Aurora's face was any indication, the ice type wasn't fond of it very much either; but she pushed past her exhaustion and picked up her pace to pull far ahead of Ash and Titan. Ash clapped his hands together enthusiastically and sprinted faster to keep up with Aurora.
"Don't quit on me! We just have a little further to go and we're going to give it our best!" Ash shouted, rounding a corner and leaping over a few tree roots jutting from the ground.
Titan grumbled and grunted, but obeyed regardless and picked up his pace. He wasn't a sprinter by any means, although he evidently had a second gear.
He glanced over his shoulder to gauge the distance they had traveled. Rota, let alone Cameran Palace which was closer to their location, was a speck on the horizon.
He looked at his PokeNav. It looked like they would finish at a time of seven and a half hours. He felt his heart surge with pride. They were not anywhere near the target time he had hoped for, but he was still proud of his team. His team was giving their all and that was what mattered.
They would gain speed with time and practice. It was what this drill was for. His team needed to be faster and improve on their stamina. Long distance running could help with both.
A large clearing in the forest was visible on the horizon. They were just about at their destination. Technically, Orion was already there and galloping around in the clearing in a long looping oval; but it was less a matter of passing Orion than arriving at their destination as a group.
Aurora found one last gear she had been saving throughout the long run and sprinted towards the clearing leaving both Ash and Titan in the dust.
He looked back to Titan. "Looks like it's just you and me now."
Titan stumbled over a root and hit the ground with a loud thud. Ash whipped around to check on the rock type. "Are you okay?"
Titan let out a strained grunt and struggled to get up. The long marathon run had taken everything out of him.
"I know you're tired. I'm tired too, but we're almost there. Don't quit on me!" Ash exclaimed, turning back to help the Larvitar back onto his feet.
Titan looked ahead at his teammates waiting for him in the forest clearing and cheering him on. He grunted and willed himself back onto his feet.
Ash couldn't help but feel proud of the youngest member of the group. For as timid and shy as he could be at times, Titan showed off a stubborn streak and determination reminiscent of Orion's.
He refused to be left behind by his teammates. The Larvitar took one step and then another and then another before finding himself in a sprint – at least one by his species' standards.
Ash jogged alongside Titan. "Just a little bit more!"
Aurora barked enthusiastically, calling out to Titan not to give up.
Despite the aching in his body and sheer exhaustion, the rock type barreled ahead until he reached the forest clearing. Titan groaned and fell forward with a thud, relishing that he was finished with the run.
He barely had two seconds to relax before he mobbed by Orion. The fire type lunged at Titan playfully and landed on him.
Titan cloaked himself in Iron Defense in a panic, caught off guard by Orion lunging at him. Aurora growled at Orion, causing him to scatter before she pushed Titan to help him back onto his feet.
Orion whinnied and paced around in frustration from the scolding from Aurora. Ash glared at him for startling Titan, reinforcing Aurora's lead, only frustrating the fire type more. He ignored the tantrum.
"Great job guys, that was a long trip. Almost twelve and a half miles to the forest clearing here. We're going to be repeating this run everyday for the next two weeks. I want us to be ready and in peak shape for the Cerulean Gym."
Aurora and Orion nodded while Titan stared at Ash with dread in his eyes. He clearly didn't like running – not that Ash really could blame him. He was fighting the urge to vomit from overexertion, but he had much longer goals in mind. A little pain and exhaustion were worth every bit of strength gained from them.
They needed to get stronger. They needed to get faster. They needed to be able to outlast an opponent in a war of attrition. Whether it was Orion, Aurora, or Titan, his teammates would be physically ready to take on whatever Gary sent out to fight them.
Ash tossed his backpack on the ground and opened it up to grab his team's food bowls.
"We're going to eat lunch and rest up a bit, but after lunch it's back to work! We've got a lot of work to do."
Ash took a deep breath. There was a lot that they needed to work on before they were ready for any real challenges whether they be the gym ahead or Gary Oak, but those things could wait for a moment. For now they needed to take a breather.
With all the food packed up from lunch, they were finally free to start training. Ash looked around the forest clearing. The place was as excellent a training ground as he anticipated when he saw it on the map.
The clearing had flat ground and plenty of room to practice attacks without having to worry about the damage.
He glanced down at his PokeNav and skimmed over his notes on his Pokenav one last time to memorize the details before motioning for the team.
Aurora noticed the subtle hand wave and barked at the group, calling them over.
Titan finished off some rock he had picked up to eat and shuffled over to join her. Orion spewed one last weak wisp of flame into the air before turning his attention from his fire breath to the group.
"Alright, I know I discussed a little bit about what we're going to be doing last night but I want to go over everything again."
He pointed at Orion and Titan.
"You guys will be with me, we're going to start with a few strength and conditioning exercises."
Titan gave a reluctant grumble while Orion voiced his excitement with an elated whinny. Ash quickly turned to Aurora and pointed to the Alolan Vulpix.
"Aurora," Ash began. "You remember what I read to you from Elm's book about Snow Warning? We're going to start on that. You might not be anywhere near ready for the large scale temperature shifting aspect of cooling the air around you to change weather and freeze moisture in the air, but you should be able to lower your body temperature to freeze the ground underneath you."
Ash paused momentarily to catch his breath from the nonstop flurry of words.
"The Cerulean Gym has a pool. If you can lower your body temperature enough that the water freezes underneath you, we can create a terrain advantage." he continued.
Aurora perked up at the idea.
"Focus on cooling your body and the air around you. If you cool your body enough and the air is cold enough, water and moisture around you should freeze. Here, how about an example?" Ash reached into his pocket for his water bottle and unscrewed the cap from the bottle, pouring water on the ground until it was completely saturated.
Aurora tilted her head out of curiosity.
"If you're doing it correctly, the water on the ground will freeze." he explained.
Aurora yipped in acknowledgment and scampered over to the puddle of water to get started.
He turned back to Titan and Orion and motioned for them to follow him, leading them away from Aurora's training spot.
"Titan, I need two of the largest chunks of earth you can make." he said, pointing to the ground.
Titan grunted in affirmation and sunk his jaws into the ground to grab hold of as much of the earth as he could. He quickly repeated the process again and in a matter of seconds two massive boulders stood before Titan.
Orion huffed and gave Ash an incredulous look.
"There's a purpose for this, Orion. We're going to work on your strength. You and Titan have skill sets tailored for a lot of physical close quarters combat. Strength training will help you make the most out of it." he explained. "As I read to you last night, the aura guardians used to run with weights around their arms and legs to build up physical endurance and build muscle. They used to lift massive rocks to strengthen themselves. They imparted these strength drills to their Pokemon as well to make them stronger. We might not have the equipment to do exactly what they did but this is the next best thing. I want you both to push these boulders across the clearing three times."
Titan grumbled at Ash and even Orion seemed perturbed by the thought of rolling the heavy rock across the clearing. So much for enthusiasm.
Ash took off his red jacket and tossed it aside. "Titan, we need a third boulder – maybe just a tiny bit smaller than the other two though." he said.
Titan gave him a perplexed look but obeyed nevertheless, pulling another chunk of rock from the earth and dropping it on the ground.
"You know I don't ask you guys to do anything I wouldn't do myself. That's why, I'm willing to do this if you'll do it."
Orion flinched and Titan's eyes widened in shock by his offer. Trainers did not simply offer to move boulders.
"We can do this, you guys in?"
Orion huffed and bobbed his head in agreement. How could he refuse when Ash was willing to do the work himself?
Orion charged directly into the rock and pushed against it, budging the rock forward. Ash followed suit and threw all his body weight into pushing the chunk of earth forward.
Titan grumbled a string of complaints under his breath and charged into his boulder, spurred on by the effort of the rest of his team.
Ash smirked. His plan was working. How could they not take up the challenge if he was willing to take up the challenge and put in the work?
His heart swelled with pride. He appreciated Orion and Titan's effort. They probably didn't know it now, but this would pay off. Next time they faced off against physical foes like Gary's Jangmo-o and Rhyhorn they wouldn't be the ones getting pushed around.
"Keep moving, keep driving!" Ash exclaimed as they all pushed the rocks further and further.
Ash groaned as he dropped to the ground and looked up at the bright blue sky. Moving a boulder was far more exhausting than he anticipated, much less moving it as far as they had.
He would never take back the decision to lead his team by example, but he realized it was going to cost him. He would definitely be hurting later in the evening. Even now all his muscles throbbed with a weak ache.
Orion nudged his side and Titan grumbled at him. "Let me languish and die in peace here!" he lamented.
Orion pushed him with his head and rolled him over onto his stomach.
"Fine, fine, I'm getting up," he laughed.
Orion puffed a wisp of smoke in Ash's face just as he managed to stand up. Ash sputtered from the unexpected fumes and staggered backwards.
"This is trainer abuse, you know that right?" he muttered.
Orion snorted at the remark.
"You laugh now, but you won't be laughing if I make you guys roll the boulders across the clearing again."
Titan's eyes widened in fear and the familiar light of Iron Defense shrouded him momentarily. He leered at Orion and grunted at him, chiding him for provoking Ash if only for self-preservation.
Ash laughed even more. "Don't worry, Titan, I'm not going to have you guys do anymore strength training. I have something else in mind for you and Orion. Titan, I'll be back in a second and we'll work on your training. I'm going to get Orion started on stuff he needs to work on, I want you to work on your accuracy with Rock Tomb until I get back."
Titan grumbled in acknowledgment.
Ash turned his attention to Orion and motioned for the Ponyta to follow him. Orion galloped far ahead of Ash and snorted at him. Ash waved him off as he jogged over to the Ponyta.
"Patience, give me a second will you?" he scolded, rolling his eyes.
Orion slumped his head in disappointment and let out a dejected whinny that sounded like a squeal.
"Do you have to be so overdramatic?" Ash muttered, giving him an incredulous look. "You and Aurora can be such drama queens sometimes."
Orion stamped his hooves on the ground and glared daggers at him, clearly insulted by the accusation.
"Don't give me that look, you know I'm absolutely right."
Orion huffed, far louder than before, and spewed a plume of oily smoke into the air in protest.
"It's not that big a deal and I'm not going to argue about it. It was just an observation. Besides, we were supposed to focus on what I want you to work on and Titan is waiting for me for his own instruction."
Orion whinnied at him with an air of impatience in his cry, rushing him to get to the point.
"Alright, so I noticed Gary's Jangmo-o," Ash began, only to be interrupted by an irritated grunt.
Orion's eyes narrowed at the mention of the dragon and scraped at the ground with one of his front hooves. Ash frowned. He hadn't realized how little the Ponyta liked that name, but it certainly made sense given Orion's pride. It wasn't often that Orion was outclassed and it apparently made him a bit resentful of the dragon type.
Ash raised his hands defensively. "Okay, so you don't like him. Can you let me finish at least?"
Orion huffed, reluctantly allowing Ash to continue talking.
"Gary trained his Pokemon to use multiple techniques in conjunction with each other. I know some of the veteran trainers do this with advanced techniques, but it never quite occurred to me that you could do that with basic techniques and pair them together. Had I thought of pairing basic techniques together to make more advanced techniques, I would have incorporated combos into the team's training sooner."
Orion whinnied impatiently again, once again hurrying Ash to get to the point.
"That's why we're going to work on something a little different. I know that you've struggled in the past to generate the energy cloak used in Skull Bash since it requires a heavy focus on tapping into mental abilities, but I think I have a way that we can compensate for that. Instead of generating a full energy cloak, I want you to generate an intense cloak of fire with a full power Flame Charge instead. Even if the energy cloak is weaker, the fire will make up for it and we can use it this way until you can learn to master techniques that rely on mental arts and energy control. We'll call it Blaze Rush."
Orion whinnied enthusiastically.
Ash grinned. "Ready to get started?"
Orion bobbed his head and charged forward, cloaking himself in an awkward combination of fire mingled with a mockery of the energy cloak used with Skull Bash.
"I'll take that as a yes."
With Orion's instruction out of the way, Ash quickly turned his attention back to Titan. Orion could handle himself and he could always check on the Ponyta's progress later. Titan was younger than both Aurora and Orion and needed hands on instruction.
Titan especially would need instruction for his next assignment. Ash figured it was about time to see what the Larvitar could do with Stealth Rock and work on teaching him Screech.
"Titan," Ash called out as he approached the rock type.
The Larvitar flinched as he swung his arm forward to strike the chunk of earth in front of him, causing the punch not to hit the center of the mass of dirt and rock and veer wildly off course into one of the trees. Ash's eyes widened at the sight of a swaying oak and the massive divot made in the bark from the rock crashing into it.
Titan grumbled apologetically, rather dismayed by the fact his attack had veered off course and even more horrified by what he had accidentally done to the tree.
"It's not your fault, I distracted you. Besides, you only hit a tree. It's not like you hit one of the team."
Titan's eyes widened in horror at the thought and instinctively cloaked himself with Iron Defense in panic.
Ash frowned. Maybe not the best approach. Putting that thought in his mind only seemed to make things worse. Last thing he needed was for Titan to view himself as a threat to others.
"Alright, Titan, there are two things I'm interested in doing – I want to see your skill with Stealth Rock and I want to start having you use Screech since it will give you another mid-range technique. Stealth Rock should help us control the battlefield and Screech has several offensive and defensive uses." Ash began. "Let's start with a Stealth Rock."
Titan grumbled reluctantly and stomped on the ground sending weak vibrations through the earth around him. Ash's eyes widened as the ground shifted and several mounds started to jut from the earth only to stop once they were sticking a few inches out of the ground.
Ash resisted the urge to facepalm. Disappointment – it was Rock Tomb all over again. Titan still wasn't heavy enough to properly shift earth using his weight.
He might not have seen Stealth Rock all that much, but he definitely knew that wasn't what it was supposed to look like. Jagged columns of rock were supposed to protrude from the ground around the opponent.
Ash reached for his Pokedex to access the Movedex application. Looked like they were going to have to do some tinkering. So much for working on Screech today.
Ash frowned. He was starting to wonder if this was going to work at all. All their own versions of Stealth Rock weren't remotely viable for battle and they certainly didn't resemble a true Stealth Rock whatsoever.
"Titan, one more try with Stealth Rock. You're going to need a bigger boulder and you need to cause the rock to fragment into larger pieces." Ash instructed.
Titan grunted in acknowledgment as he pulled a massive chunk of rock from the ground and dropped it in front of him. He drew his right arm back to punch it like he often did with Rock Tomb but drove his fist into the center to split it into dozens of shards of razor-sharp shrapnel that rained down onto the ground in front of Titan.
Ash cocked his head. He supposed it was a start, but he would have preferred the shards sink into the ground to remain an obstacle on the battlefield. Sharp rock shards raining down for a few short seconds didn't make the battlefield difficult to navigate long term like a true Stealth Rock.
Titan needed more bulk and more weight which he could accomplish by upping his food intake. He had already encouraged him to eat more rock and dirt to pack on pounds, but apparently it wasn't having any effect yet.
Ash yawned as he looked up at the sky. They would need to set up camp soon with the sun beginning to set, but he still needed to take care of one last thing.
"Titan, a couple more reps on the improvised Stealth Rock and we'll call it a night. Think you can handle it while I check on Aurora?"
Titan grumbled in affirmation before repeating the technique.
Ash made his way back to Aurora to check on her progress with controlling her body temperature.
Goosebumps formed on his arms and a shiver traveled down his spine. Judging by the cooler air temperature near Aurora, she had at least figured out the first step of the process.
"Aurora, how's your training progress…" he began only to cut his question short as he slipped and landed on his back with a loud thud.
Aurora darted over to his side in a panic and nudged his side with her nose. Ash waved her off.
"I'm fine," he groaned, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head bashfully. "So have you figured out how to freeze water using your body temperature?"
Aurora nodded and sprung forward skidding across the ice to move closer to Ash. The trainer from Pallet grinned and scratched her neck, ignoring the stinging cold radiating from the Alolan Vulpix's body.
"And you're not blowing cold air to freeze the water, right?"
Aurora glared at him insulted by the insinuation that she would cut corners and cheat.
Ash raised his hands defensively. "I had to make sure!" he exclaimed.
Aurora eyed the water bottle over in Ash's backpack and trotted over to the backpack to grab it, taking it back to Ash in her mouth. Ash snickered. She was definitely adamant about the fact she could freeze things. While he had little reason to doubt her a test, perhaps a demonstration was exactly what they needed.
Ash took the water bottle from Aurora and poured a large amount of water on the ground to create a massive puddle.
"Alright, let's see what you can do," Ash muttered.
Aurora scampered out to the middle of the puddle. Just the cold air emanating from her body caused much of the areas she walked through to freeze in her wake. The Alolan Vulpix took a deep breath and closed her eyes to focus for a split second.
Ash shivered a bit more as he felt the temperature grow colder around him. In a matter of seconds, the puddle froze and created a thin layer of ice that coated the ground.
Ash couldn't help but grin. "Excellent work, Aurora!" he beamed. "Looks good so far. We'll keep working on it and see if we can extend the area it covers."
Aurora nodded. Ash poured more water out onto the ground to creating another puddle of water even bigger than the last.
"Try it again," he instructed, prompting Aurora to trot to the center of the puddle.
Ash folded his arms. His team was off to a good start, but had so much room to improve and so much left to work on.
Titan had yet to even start on Screech, he had yet to scratch the surface of their endurance training, he wasn't sure if Aurora could walk on water using her technique yet, and he wanted to work on drills to work on making his team less dependent on his instruction in battles.
Fortunately, they still had plenty of time to work on their weaknesses.
Ash panted, struggling to catch his breath. Judging by Titan keeling over on the ground after stumbling his way into the forest clearing and Aurora slumped over and gasping for breath, he wasn't the only one exhausted from the long distance run. Orion seemed to be the only one of the group not to be exhausted and winded from the trek.
In fact, he was galloping around the clearing like he could continue running. It made him a bit envious of the hyper Ponyta's stamina and endurance.
Ash glanced down at his PokeNav. He had to know their time. They had put in an extra effort for this particular run because Ash determined it would be their last.
Six hours and forty-five minutes. He smiled at the result. They had worked a week and half to improve their speed and it looked like it had paid off.
Twelve miles was not an easy running distance by any stretch of the imagination. They had run two laps around Cameran Lake and taken the path back to their training area.
He would have liked to get the team time down to around six hours but between him and Titan it certainly made reaching that goal difficult. He was in decent shape, but twelve miles was a bit much for him. It didn't help either that he had to take a few breaks for Titan. Larvitar weren't exactly runners, much less long distance runners.
Still, six hours and forty-five minutes was a fairly good time considering what they started at.
Ash tossed his backpack on the ground and pulled his team's bowls out of the bag.
"Alright, you know the drill, we'll take a short break for lunch and start on the rest of our drills shortly afterwards."
Ash tossed his backpack aside. He wouldn't be needing it now that they finished lunch and he had put the food bowls away.
He poured water onto the ground, creating a puddle far larger than any Aurora had dealt with before.
Once again, Aurora trotted out to the center of the water and focused on cooling her body. Ash's teeth began to chatter from the sudden drop in air temperature. A soft crackling caught his attention as ice crystals formed on the surface of the puddle, stretching out across the water until the water was nothing but a glassy sheet of ice.
"Excellent work, Aurora!" Ash exclaimed. "I think you've got the hang of this, we'll have to try it out on the water to see if it's battle ready yet."
Aurora glared at Ash and puffed her chest out with pride, almost offended that he could insinuate it was anything but ready. Ash snorted. If nothing else, she felt she was ready and he admired the confidence.
"I want you to work on your ranged attacks while I work with the others. After Orion and Titan finish up their strength training and I evaluate their progress with their techniques, we'll work on team drills again."
Aurora nodded and turned her focus to a tree at the edge of the clearing to use for target practice.
Ash turned his attention to Orion and Titan as they each pushed a Boulder through the clearing. He rushed over to a third boulder set up for him and followed suit.
"What lap are you guys on?" Ash asked, throwing his weight against the rock in front of him to roll it forward. "First?"
Orion shook his head.
"Second?"
Titan grunted in affirmation.
"Let's try for eight laps today."
Titan gave Ash an incredulous look and even Orion balked at the suggestion with an amused whinny.
"I think all our training this week has pushed our limits. I think we're a bit stronger than you guys think we are. I think – no, I know – we can do eight reps on this." Ash encouraged. "I'm game for it if you guys are."
Orion and Titan gave each other a look for a second as if to discuss the suggestion amongst themselves before voicing their reluctant agreement.
Ash grinned as he reached the edge of the clearing alongside his team. He got on the other side of the boulder and began the long path back to the other side of the clearing with them.
"Besides, you guys are ahead of me on the rep count," Ash chuckled. "If anyone is going to suffer in this situation, it's me."
Orion snorted at the remark and Titan gave an amused grunt.
Ash shook his head. "Again, great to know my suffering amuses you." he teased, prompting more jeers and snorts from Orion and Titan.
Not that he really minded them laughing and poking fun at him. He knew keeping the tone light would help make the workout feel less tedious.
He leaned over briefly to get a gauge on his progress. His eyes widened a bit. He wasn't even near the halfway point, judging by the length from the trees behind him and the other side of the clearing in front of him.
Ash took a deep breath and threw all his body weight against the boulder, driving it forward through the clearing inch by inch.
He certainly had no illusions about the bar he had set. Eight reps was incredibly difficult and a big jump from their usual of three, but so was the road ahead of them. The gyms only got harder from here. Cerulean, Vermilion, Celadon, Fuchsia – each progressively more difficult.
Their strength training was a test of mental fortitude as much as it was a test of their physical abilities. Could they push past fatigue? Could they find it in themselves to give a little extra and push their limits? It was the main reason he had upped the amount of reps.
Ten minutes passed and they reached the halfway point, another ten minutes went by and they reached the end of the clearing.
One down, seven reps to go; although his team had only five reps remaining. He started towards the other end of the clearing again.
Another ten minutes elapsed with the team reaching the halfway point of the clearing once more.
Ash couldn't help but notice the pace that he and his team were moving at. Every day the boulder felt just a little bit lighter and moving it got a little easier. All their hard work was paying off and they were getting stronger. Reaching the halfway point had previously taken them twenty to twenty-five minutes, but now only took them ten minutes.
He had his answer to whether they would be able to push through their fatigue and push past their limits. The answer was a resounding yes. They had done it once and they would do it again. Three reps, eight reps, thirty-eight reps – it was irrelevant the number because no matter what they would rise to the occasion.
Ash frowned as he glanced at his PokeNav. He couldn't help but be a little disappointed at how much time got away from him. The strength training and his individual training with Orion and Titan ate up more time than he expected.
He hoped that would have started the team drills earlier in the day, but he supposed it wasn't too much of an issue. It was only two in the afternoon so they still had time for the expedition he wanted to take.
Ash looked up from his watch at Aurora as she fired a ball of ice at Orion, prompting the Ponyta to sidestep the Ice Shard. He immediately turned his attention to Titan and opened his mouth to spew fire mingled with glowing ash at the Larvitar. Titan cloaked himself in the bright energy cloak of Iron Defense, shielding him from the brunt of the flames and hot ash. Titan immediately turned his attention to Aurora and ripped a chunk of earth up from the ground with his jaws. Titan set the boulder in front of him and slammed his fist into it, sending dozens upon dozens of sharp fragments of rock raining down upon Aurora.
Aurora zigzagged back and forth to evade the falling rock and fragments that had embedded themselves in the ground as she charged towards Titan. Titan opened his mouth and screamed at the top of his lungs in addition to scraping his arm against his chest to create as much unpleasant sound as possible. Aurora staggered and fell to the ground before she could even think about getting close. Her sensitive hearing made her vulnerable to Titan's Screech – even as rudimentary and unconventional as his form of the technique was.
Titan quickly turned his focus to Orion speeding towards him in a cloak of flames reinforced by a very weak energy cloak. Titan instinctively ripped two chunks of earth from the ground with his mouth and hurled them into the air. The Larvitar slammed his fists into the falling rocks, launching them towards his charging opponent. Orion barreled through the boulders, reducing the massive rocks to pebbles and dust.
Titan's eyes widened as he cloaked himself with Iron Defense as one last measure of defense before Orion rammed into him at full force – much of the flames of his body cascading off him and around Titan upon impact. Ash winced as a somewhat singed Titan flipped through the air and landed on the ground with a loud thud.
Orion forced his burning cloak to dissipate and galloped over to his fallen teammate with a horrified look on his face. Ash followed suit, running over to Titan to check on him. "You okay, Titan?"
Orion nudged the downed rock type with one of his hooves to check if he was still capable of moving.
The Larvitar grunted in acknowledgment and dusted himself off as he stood up. Titan gave them a curious look and shrunk down, almost unnerved that both Ash and Orion were staring at him. Orion let out a relieved grunt and his posture relaxed slightly.
Ash let out a sigh of relief. The last thing they needed was an injury.
"Okay, I know you guys are having fun; but let's not do that again. Pull your punches a bit. Run everything at somewhere around sixty percent of your full ability like we did earlier in the week. I mean, we don't want this sort of thing," Ash said, pointing to a discombobulated Aurora stumbling around as she tried to get up. "The point of this isn't to pummel each other into the ground, it's to rely on your instincts instead of constant instruction from me and predict what your opponent will do so you can react to it."
He approached Aurora and helped her back onto her feet. The Alolan Vulpix gave him an appreciative look.
"You good?"
Aurora nodded.
"Let's start from the top, but let's try not to kill each other, okay? We run melee style sparring instead of around the horn this time."
He liked the structure that the more organized around the horn spars created, but they certainly were no substitute for the actual flow of battle. While it did teach the team quick thinking and creativity, it still had elements of reliance on structure instead of true improv and reaction like a true melee provided.
All three of his teammates nodded, returned to their positions for the drill, and assumed their fighting stances. Icy gusts and flurries of snow, wisps of fire and plumes of smoke, and grains of dust and chunks of earth whizzed the air.
Rock Tombs launched high into the air were evaded by a zigzagging Orion, causing them to practically explode upon hitting the ground with a loud thunk. Debris from the broken boulders and dust kicked up by the falling earth hitting the ground flew everywhere.
Orion retaliated with a few plumes of oily smoke and clouds of burning ash to distract Titan. An Ice Shard whizzed over his head turning his focus to Aurora. He breathed fire at Aurora who intercepted the flames and burning ash with a blast of cold air from her mouth. The colliding techniques sizzled and crackled before shrouding the area in a curtain of steam.
Aurora used the cover of the steam to create Double Team illusionary copies to bait her opponents into revealing their location with their attacks. Bright orange flickers of fire mingled with glowing coals set her up to fire off a tiny Moonblast that caught her opponent off guard and knocked him backwards.
The loud cries and grinding rock sounds of Titan's Screech allowed her to locate her foe inside the haze. Aurora took a deep breath and exhaled, unleashing potent icy winds upon Titan. A thick coat of ice formed on Titan's chest and arms along with a layer of ice around his legs to restrain him – at least it would have had he not bitten through the ice with his powerful jaws. The crushing force of his mouth shattered the ice binding his movement.
Ash smirked. It looked like the training was paying off. A few days ago, Titan wouldn't have improvised like that but he was learning quickly.
In fact, his whole team was learning the value of thinking on their feet. The melee drills were helping them learn to fight independently and predict their opponent's attack so they could react accordingly.
He hadn't ever been more thankful for a library, the research on aura guardians' training had given him quite a few training ideas to incorporate into his team's training regimens. Long distance running, the use of boulders for strength training, around the horn quick turn-based reaction training, and melees would likely become a regular part of their training.
If he had anything resembling blindfolds, he would even have started the sensory training he read about. He imagined having his team use their other senses instead of relying on their vision to predict their opponent's next move would come in handy some time in the future, especially in light of Aurora giving an excellent demonstration on how useful the skill could be.
Although it would have to be training for another day. He didn't have the things he needed for training the peripheral senses and he still needed to test Aurora's air temperature cooling abilities on water to see if their plan was actually viable.
However, even that could wait. Right now his team needed to improve their reaction times and learn to rely on instinct.
Ash took a deep breath. He was a bit conflicted. It was a refreshing change of pace to be exploring with his team instead of focusing solely on training. Even if this trip was technically to continue training, it was good to have a short breather. His team had earned it since they had been working hard all day.
The forest just on the very outskirts of the Tree of Beginning was amazing and was a wonderful place to explore.
The trees were some of the tallest that he had seen and the forest was teeming with life. Birds, both native to Kanto and foreign, flew in and out of the canopies of the trees. The melodious chirps of Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Taillow, and Swellow were like a song for him and his team to enjoy while they explored the forest. The occasional Caterpie clung to the side of the trees and the occasionally Rattata scampered through the clearing. A group of Ledyba passed over them, their beating wings humming above them.
Yet for all the beauty and wildlife, he still couldn't help but loathe traversing the forest. The path they were on was especially troublesome.
Ash yelped as one of the tree branches he pushed out of his way came back and smacked him in the forehead, staggering him for a moment. He rubbed the sore spot and groaned.
Orion whinnied out of amusement, prompting a glare from Aurora. Titan gave Ash a sympathetic look and grumbled apologetically. Aurora nudged his leg and whimpered.
"I'm fine, just gotta be careful about that whiplash from some of those larger branches." he muttered.
He glanced down at his PokeNav and sighed. He was starting to wonder if he made a wrong turn. The forest was a lot denser than he anticipated and he had yet to find anything even resembling a body of water.
Orion snorted impatiently.
"Give me a second, I'm checking things."
Orion meandered into the forest to explore while Ash checked the map. Titan grunted at Orion, almost irritated with him leaving.
Aurora stared at Ash's PokeNav with curiosity and whined softly, pawing at his leg. "You want to see the map too?" Ash chuckled. "I suppose it won't hurt."
He knelt down beside her to show her the screen. Aurora leaned forward to get a better view and tilted her head.
"See this map? The red dot is our current location based on satellite positioning showing our location. We use it and the map to tell if we're headed in the right direction." Ash explained, pointing to the touchscreen.
Aurora nodded.
Ash did a quick look over the map, scrolling around on the map to check if they were headed in the right direction. The lake he found on his map that he wanted to visit was only about a little over a mile away from their current position. It only seemed like they were off course because of the path to get there taking longer than expected due to the dense undergrowth and forest between them and their destination.
In reality, the lake was only about five miles from their training grounds which was still closer than the lake at Cameran Palace.
"We're almost there, just gotta keep going." he said, motioning for the group to follow him again.
Orion galloped ahead of the group, leading the charge while Aurora and Titan stayed with Ash far more content with enjoying the peaceful stroll.
Another thirty minutes and a large clearing in the forest became visible along with a small body of water – at least compared to the much larger Cameran Lake – in the distance. They had reached their destination.
"Alright, looks like we found it." Ash said, pointing to the water.
Titan grumbled, barreling ahead to take a look at the water once he noticed Orion doing the same thing. The Larvitar flinched and cloaked himself with Iron Defense at the sight of his reflection on the surface of the water. Titan grumbled at the mirror image and reluctantly reached his arm out to touch the reflection, sending a ripple through the water. Titan grunted in confusion at the sight of his distorted reflection.
Orion snorted, amused by the fact Titan apparently had no understanding of the concept of reflections. He stood at the edge of the water and breathed wisps of flame aimed at the surface. The flames sizzled as they touched the lake and were snuffed out, creating plumes of steams.
Ash rolled his eyes. He was starting to Orion was a pyromaniac – the Ponyta would hit anything with fire at least once to see what it would do.
"Orion, can you please find something more productive to do instead of spitting flames at the lake?"
He pointed to a large patch of meadow adjacent to the lake.
"Take Titan over there with you and spar with him while Aurora and I work on our technique."
Orion huffed at the order and whinnied to Titan for him to follow him. Titan turned to the Ponyta and shuffled towards him, trailing behind him. Orion leered at Ash as he led Titan out to their new training ground, clearly irritated that his fun had been interrupted.
Ash quickly turned his attention to Aurora and glanced at the Alolan Vulpix sitting at his feet. "Alright, ready to get started on your training?"
Aurora barked and trotted towards the edge of the water, eager to begin. Ash grinned. "You know the plan, right?"
Aurora nodded and waded out into the shallows of the lake. She lowered her body temperature, lowering the air temperature around her in the process to try to freeze the water so she could walk on it.
The cold air began to form a thin layer of ice on the surface of the water around her, only for the ice to freeze around Aurora's legs and trap her in the ice.
Ash facepalmed. Definitely not how he envisioned the first attempt going, but at least they now knew not to have her wade out into the water before freezing it.
"Orion!" he called out. "Need a quick warm up!"
The Ponyta turned his attention from his training with Titan and trotted over to see what was going on. He snorted at the sight of Aurora trapped by her own ice and shot the Alolan Vulpix a smug look. Aurora glared daggers at Orion for the look.
Orion forced himself to focus on the task at hand to avoid further escalation with his teammate and spewed a weak plume of fire towards the water Aurora was standing in to melt the ice that had immobilized her.
"Thanks!" Ash exclaimed, eliciting a prideful whinny from Orion before the Ponytail made a turn back for his training grounds.
He turned back to Aurora.
The fox trotted back to the shore and shook to dry herself, freezing the water in her fur and turning it into snow flurries that fluttered to the ground.
Aurora whined at Ash and swiped at the water in frustration.
"Don't get upset, you're not going to get everything on your first try. This is a tricky technique." Ash assured her. "For future reference though, you're going to want to lower your body temperature before you step out on the water."
Aurora took a deep breath to compose herself before lowering her body temperature. Ice crystals danced along the surface of the water with a faint crackle, forming a sheet of ice. Aurora stepped out onto the ice hesitantly and felt her legs give way underneath her. The Alolan Vulpix growled as she slipped and slid while trying to get back on her feet.
Ash covered his face, covering up his grin. It was taking just about every ounce of self-control in him to hold back his laughter.
She barked at the ice in frustration. The ice on the lake was slipperier than what she was used to due to the water on the surface and the ice sinking a bit from her weight.
Aurora dug into the ice with her claws and managed to right herself. She took a step forward and then another, only for her front left paw to break through the ice and cause her to fall again.
Ash snorted, suppressing a snicker at Aurora's expense. "Are you okay?"
Aurora yipped in affirmation as she pulled her leg from the hole in the ice and stood up again. Ash frowned at their predicament. Their plan wasn't running as smoothly as he hoped. The sheets of ice didn't stretch very far and were much thinner than he expected. He was positive that Aurora changing her body temperature would be enough.
Ash subconsciously rubbed his chin in thought. Was the water temperature an issue? Orion had spewed fire at it before they started their training. He hadn't checked the water temperature before Aurora tried the exercise either. It was very possible that her body temperature, regardless of how cold the air she radiated from her body, wasn't enough to cool the water.
It didn't help either that the ice sunk under Aurora's weight. The water made the surface slippery and difficult to move on. Both of those issues were directly connected to the first issue which left them with the task of fixing the first issue.
"Aurora, come back to the shore, I want to see something real quick," Ash said.
Aurora yipped and stumbled across the ice before leaping back to solid ground.
Ash knelt down and reluctantly plunged his hand into the water near the ice. Aurora gave Ash a perplexed look.
"I want to check the water temperature," he explained. "Air temperature and water temperature can be vastly different."
Ash shook his head and frowned. The water wasn't very cold, especially considering Aurora had been standing there moments before. He skimmed the surface of the water further away from the ice.
It was warm and it was enough of a difference in temperature that the temperature difference was noticeable between the two spots. Aurora's body temperature could lower air temperatures rapidly, but cooling water temperatures rapidly was another story.
Aurora glanced up at him and tilted her head.
"It's as I thought, we'll need to lower the water temperature further in order to do this. Looks like body temperature and air temperature isn't enough to cool warm water. This means we're going to have to change tactics." Ash said. "Fortunately, we do have other options and can adapt how the water is frozen for the situation."
Aurora nodded and blew a stream of chilled air towards the water, adding an extra layer to the ice.
Ash flashed Aurora a thumbs-up. "That's exactly how we have to approach it. Freeze-Dry is likely your best bet."
Aurora inhaled to gather air into her lungs before unleashing a powerful gale of cold air from her mouth that created a wider and thicker sheet of ice on the water.
Ash nodded approvingly, prompting Aurora to cautiously trot out onto the ice. She slid and wobbled, struggling to keep her balance. The slick surface still caused her problems because despite being a larger platform the ice still tended to sink a bit under her weight. Walking on partially melted ice or ice with water on the surface was even more treacherous than walking on regular ice. It also wasn't helping that the ice shifted with her weight.
She would definitely have to adapt to moving on ice, but that would be the easy part. She just had to apply sliding to battles and evasion. If anything, the bigger issue was the output. How long could she keep going and how exhausting would cooling things down be for her?
"Aurora, lower your body temperature," Ash instructed.
Aurora barked in acknowledgement. Ash felt a tingling sensation travel up his arms for a moment and goosebumps formed on his skin from the sudden cold snap.
A faint audible crackle announced that the cold air was working. The small amount of excess water on the surface of the ice floe froze from the cold and formed an extra layer of ice.
Judging by the fact Aurora wasn't slipping, the idea worked. Without the water on the surface of the ice to make it slick – or in this case slicker, it was far easier to navigate.
Or at least, it was supposed to. The shifts of the ice floe from Aurora's weight once again had knocked her down.
Ash groaned. This seemed so much easier when it was just a thought in his mind.
"It is impossible to run on ice. Aurora, think back to when you were sliding across ice patches you made. You have to slide on it and use the shift of the ice floe to your advantage."
Ash frowned, glancing up at the sunset before checking the time on his Pokenav.
"One more, we'll try one more."
Aurora nodded and lunged forward to build some momentum so she could glide across the ice floe underneath her.
Ash clapped in celebration. "See, told you you'd get the hang of it."
She definitely had figured out straight-line speed.
Aurora shifted her weight to prepare for a U-turn, causing the ice to lean slightly to the right. The Alolan Vulpix dug her into the ice to try to slow her momentum only to find herself unable to stop. She blew past the point she was supposed to turn at and instead careened off the sheet of ice entirely, sliding in the water with a splash.
Aurora barked furiously, venting her frustration while swimming back to the ice. She growled as she pulled herself up out of the water and shook herself off.
Two hours worth of practice and having Aurora freeze water was yielding improvements, but her improvement was coming at a pace far slower than she would have liked. She wasn't used to having this much difficulty learning something and she seemed to be more frustrated by the exercise than anything else.
Beyond that, if her heavy breathing was any indication, she was pretty drained. He doubted she had much left in her even if they continued.
"Alright, we'll call it a day," Ash said, motioning for Aurora to come back to the shore.
Aurora slid across the ice and scampered back onto the shore. Ash turned his attention back to the rest of his team only to find trouble awaiting him.
Titan lay flat on his stomach, shielding himself with Iron Defense in a panic while Orion stomped on patches of grass to try to extinguish the flames with very limited success.
"What happened here?" he all but shouted.
Orion fired a small wisp of fire into the air and pointed to the grass with his nose. Ash facepalmed. Maybe having Orion spar in a meadow wasn't his best idea.
He turned to Aurora. "We need to put out those flames."
Aurora beat him to the punch by unleashing a series of weak gusts of frigid air aimed at the burning patches of grass. Clouds of steam billowed into the air from Freeze-Dry extinguishing a portion of the flames.
Unfortunately, the fire was spreading and Aurora was still gassed from her training. Judging by her posture and the weak ice attacks, she didn't have much left to lend a hand.
He quickly turned to Titan and Orion.
"Titan, Orion, it's up to you guys."
Titan grumbled softly, peeking up at the spreading flames and at the exhausted Aurora. The Larvitar trembled at the sight of the brush fires, but glanced at Orion and steeled himself upon seeing the Ponyta spring into action by charging towards the flames.
Before Ash could finish his thoughts and shout out instructions, Titan ripped up a chunk of earth and pulled it from the ground with his jaws. He launched the chunk of earth into the air and propelled the boulder forward with consecutive punches. The massive boulder split apart into smaller fragments of rock, landing on top of burning grass to snuff out some of the flames.
Orion flared up and cloaked himself with a blazing inferno far larger than that of the grass fire. The grass fires began to die out, deprived of oxygen partially due to Orion's flames drawing in much of the brush fire's oxygen supply. In fact, it looked as if the fire itself was drawn to Orion with the tips of the flames flickering towards him.
Ash breathed a sigh of relief now that the issue had been resolved.
Their training had paid off more than he thought. His team managed to react fast enough to put together a plan even before he did, but more importantly Aurora wasn't the only capable member of the team anymore.
Orion and Titan were emerging as forces in their own right.
Titan's training with Rock Tomb and Stealth Rock gave him versatility. He had the ability to break ground into whatever size he needed for the situation. He also showed that he was starting to grow beyond the timid Larvitar he first met. He still had his moments but it was clear he was more than willing to rise to the occasion.
On the other hand, Orion showed he could lead and more importantly that he could think. He charged ahead and led the way, handling the situation and displaying his quick thinking by coming up with a way to snuff out the fire. Orion's Blaze Rush was a strong technique judging by the amount of fire it generated, especially considering the inferno was enough to kill a fire. It would be even more of a force to be reckoned with once Orion fully incorporated Skull Bash's energy into the cloak. It also showed Ash still had a lot to look into with Orion. Flames being drawn towards Orion meant that he had either inadvertently used or intentionally drew upon Flash Fire. If that was to ever be used in battle reliably, Orion would have to do more than just pull them towards him but actually absorb the fire and its latent heat to further power up his fire.
He smirked a bit at that last thought. He could only imagine what an amped Orion using Blaze Rush would look like.
He shook off the thought and turned his attention back to his team. He hadn't exactly thanked them yet.
Ash flashed a thumbs up to his team. "Good work guys putting a lid on that!" he exclaimed.
Aurora yipped, Orion brayed, and Titan grunted in approval all at the same time.
He looked to his Pokenav and then to the sky. The sun was barely at treetop level which meant they had very little daylight left.
Would they try to make it back to their original camp and set up there for the night before it got dark or set up camp where they were at?
Ash examined the lake, the tree line, and the charred grass of the meadow. He supposed there was enough open space to camp out at the lake. There was enough space between the woods and the meadow so he didn't have to worry too much about getting ambushed by Pokemon living in the forest.
And incidentally the accident had done him the favor of clearing a spot they could even pitch a tent without having to clear the thick grass.
He made his decision. They were setting up camp by the lake. Navigating the forest, especially one as dense as the one they traveled through, in the dark wasn't worth the risk when they had a good area to set up camp.
"Alright, time to get moving, we got a lot to do before nightfall."
Ash glanced over his shoulder to see if Titan was still with him. Last thing he wanted was to get separated from the rock type in the forest and have to find him.
"Still with me?" he called out.
Titan grunted his acknowledgment. The Larvitar shuffled ahead, glancing around occasionally to examine his surroundings. His eyes were practically bulging out of his head and his body was tenser than Ash had ever seen him.
He definitely did not like the dark, much less forest in the dark. Not that Ash could blame him. He wasn't fond of navigating the forest in the dark either, especially without Orion's flaming mane to light the way; but someone had to guard their campsite which left Aurora and Orion as the only options.
With Aurora having fallen asleep early while he set up the tent, both he and Orion agreed that it was best to let the Alolan Vulpix rest.
Ash wouldn't be wandering off far. He just needed to grab some kindling and wood for a fire. Between his Pokenav and the faint glow of light produced by Titan's Iron Defense, he could find his way around without Orion's fire.
Ash bent over and grabbed a few loose twigs and some fallen branches, adding to the massive bundle of firewood in his arms. Titan grumbled at him and stared at the path back to the clearing longingly.
"Just need a little bit more, Titan." he said. "Besides, I think us having some one on one time is pretty cool. Plus, you get to help. It'll be a learning experience."
Titan gave him a skeptical look.
"What? It's not like there's much out here anyway, everything is sleeping for the most part. We'd be sleeping too if we weren't looking for firewood." Ash assured, almost stumbling over a massive fallen tree branch.
Ash smirked at the sight of the branch. Perfect firewood if he ever saw some. He pointed to the branch. "Titan think you can chop that up into smaller pieces so I can carry it?" he asked.
Titan gave him a confused look.
"Use your mouth, break it with Bite."
Titan's eyes widened at the idea and he looked up at Ash with admiration like he had just solved an eternal mystery. He opened his mouth and snapped the branch with his powerful jaws – twice.
"Thanks," Ash whispered, bending over and scooping up the now far more manageable fragments.
Titan grumbled, looking back at the trail they had taken.
"Yes, we can go back now." Ash groaned, rolling his eyes.
Titan practically bounded for the clearing at a pace Ash didn't even know the rock type had. Ash snorted in amusement. Perhaps the speed drills had worked for Titan.
"Wait up!" Ash exclaimed, chasing after the rock type and following him down the trail.
He skidded to a halt upon noticing Titan stopped in his tracks at the edge of the forest. Ash frowned. What had he stopped for?
"Something wrong, Titan?" he asked.
Ash flinched at the sound of an audible hiss. Quick movement caught his eye. Ash squinted, trying to make out the angular silhouette better to no avail aside from the obvious fact that something was charging towards them.
He cursed under his breath, inwardly wishing he had one of his other team members with him. Whatever they were up against looked fairly big and was fast.
Then again, Titan wasn't exactly the same Pokemon he was before either. He was stronger, sturdier, and a couple steps faster.
Titan grumbled anxiously and cloaked himself with Iron Defense. He glowed faintly from channeling a very weak current of energy through his armor to give it additional reinforcement.
Ash smirked. The light from Titan elicited a loud hiss from the creature and staggered him. More importantly, it illuminated the darkness to give Ash a closer look at what they were dealing with.
His eyes narrowed. Blue scaly skin? Angular face? He would have guessed Poliwag until a second glance when the creature hissed revealed its sharp fangs.
The aggressive Pokemon lunged at Titan, baring its fangs. Big mistake – Titan wasn't backing down and met his lunge with a boulder pulled up from the ground. Instead of clamping down on Titan, the Pokémon's sharp fangs clamped down on a massive chunk.
The jaw Pokemon hesitated for a moment, caught off guard by biting into the boulder; but clamped down harder to split the boulder in two.
Ash's eyes widened. Just what exactly was he looking at? That wasn't any Pokemon he was used to seeing. Very few things had jaws strong enough to snap boulders in half.
He reached for his Pokedex in his pocket and aimed the infrared sensors at the mysterious Pokemon. The jaw Pokemon darted forward again, preventing the sensor from picking up on it, and lunged at Titan.
Titan grunted and stretched out his stubby arms to intercept the would-be attacker. The jaw Pokemon hissed and snapped at Titan. Ash grimaced at the sight of its massive jaws and razor-sharp teeth.
He didn't even want to imagine what would happen if those jaws clamped down on him or Titan.
He raised his Pokedex again in hopes of identifying just what he was looking at only for it to thrash more and more. Titan's eyes widened in panic. His grip on the vicious opponent was slipping which only emboldened the wild Pokemon more.
The jaw Pokemon shoved Titan aside and rushed at Ash, baring its fangs. Titan grumbled in frustration, kicking himself for failing to keep his opponent restrained.
He barreled ahead in hopes of catching up to his opponent to no avail. The jaw Pokemon lunged at Ash and opened its mouth to try to bite him.
Ash leapt out of the way at the last second. His attacker flew past him and face planted.
Ash reached down to his belt and unclipped an empty Poke Ball. He whipped the Poke Ball at the jaw Pokemon while it was distracted and motioned for Titan. "That should buy us some time, let's get out of here!"
Titan and Ash turned back towards camp only for a bright flash to stop them momentarily. The jaw Pokemon hissed and fired a pressurized jet of water aimed at Ash's head.
He yelped and dropped to the ground just in time to narrowly avoid being blasted with the powerful jet of water.
Titan grunted with a hint of anger seeping into his voice. Seeing the jaw Pokemon attack Ash sent the rock type into a righteous indignation – an emotion Ash had never seen from the rock type. Titan tore multiple fragments of earth from the ground in rapid succession and launched the boulders at his enemy with a series of quick punches from his fists, forcing the jaw Pokemon on the defensive.
The Pokemon spewed rapid fire blasts of water at the incoming boulders that tore through the center of the rocks and caused them to fall harmlessly to the ground.
Ash raised an eyebrow. The jaw Pokemon's reliance on water for its ranged attack simply confirmed what he suspected after the first jet of water – their opponent was a water type which substantially shrunk the list of Pokemon that the creature could be.
He was starting to have his suspicions of what the creature was but he wouldn't be able to know exactly what they were dealing with unless he got a good read of the jaw Pokemon with his Pokedex.
Their enemy charged again and hissed at Titan, but this time the rock type would have none of it. He let out an ear-splitting shriek and scraped the armor on his chest, creating a horrific noise that staggered the jaw Pokemon.
Just the opening he needed.
Ash raised his Pokedex and pointed the sensors at the aggressive Pokemon. Now he really had to know what they were fighting.
He pumped his fist as the screen flashed to life and displayed a picture for identification.
Totodile – the big jaw Pokemon. Its powerful, well-developed jaws are capable of crushing anything. Even its Trainer must be careful.
Totodile? Totodile weren't exactly common in the wild. Like most of the other starters, their habitats weren't publicly disclosed information. He raised an eyebrow. It made him wonder what exactly lived around and in the Tree of Beginnings.
He didn't have time to dwell on the thought before another jet of water spurted from Totodile's mouth and whizzed past his head, missing him by the narrowest of margins.
Ash clutched another empty Poke Ball. Their attacker was relentless. It was like the Totodile had no other instinct or emotion aside from blind rage. The entire situation needed to end and he was going to put an end to it before either he or Titan got seriously hurt. If he couldn't drive the jaw Pokemon away, then he had no other choice but to catch it to restrain it.
"Titan, Screech, again!" he commanded.
The Larvitar obeyed his trainer's command and opened his mouth to let out a shriek combined with the grating sound of his arm scraping against his armor.
Totodile stumbled backwards, once again overwhelmed by the horrific sound. Ash took advantage of it being disoriented and whipped a Poke Ball at the Totodile.
The red and white orb pulled Totodile into it and landed on the ground with a soft tap. The Poke Ball shook and wobbled violently repeatedly before a loud click announced the successful capture of the Totodile.
Titan leered at the Poke Ball warily and grunted at the Poke Ball. Even restrained, he didn't trust the aggressive water type.
Ash couldn't blame him. Totodile had given them quite a bit of trouble and attacked them multiple times. He wasn't even sure what to do with it.
If he released it, it would likely just attack him again; and if he tried to talk with it, the Totodile would likely attack again. His only real options were trading it to let someone else deal with it or keeping it and raising it himself.
He winced, reluctantly picking up the Poke Ball containing Totodile – taking care not to even get his fingers near the release button – before picking up the other Poke Ball he had thrown that was lying on the ground a few feet away.
He gave Totodile's Poke Ball a once over as he gave the situation more thought. He doubted many people wanted to deal with an overly aggressive Totodile either and the last thing he needed to do was pass on the buck to someone else.
He trusted his team and trusted them to have his back just like he had their back. If Titan handling Totodile was any indication, his teammates weren't to be underestimated. They could handle things should the water type get out of hand.
It would be a better situation than giving the water type to someone less prepared than he was. Worst case scenario Totodile gave them a moving target to hit which would keep his team in shape.
Author's Note: Guess who's back internet? Took me a little while but finally logged another chapter and am happy to be back with an update. It's been an uphill struggle writing this one, but I'm very happy to have it done. Really enjoy Rota and wanted to explore it and really give the team some time to prep for the challenges ahead so I got to kill two birds with one stone!
I want to thank the many people whose encouragement and advice have helped me put this out. Without you guys being the awesome folks you are, I would never have gotten this update out. Your ideas and writing expertise have been invaluable to me and I appreciate all you do.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed reading the chapter. God bless, StandingMan, signing off!