Vibrant, colourful flowers decorated the lush grass of the meadow. Blues, yellows, reds and purples all coming together to create a wondrous natural collage. Dancing amongst them was a Butterfree, moving pollen back and forth as he suckled nectar from their bulbs. As he suckled the nectar through a long, straw-like tongue Butterfree buzzed a happy tune. His sweet melodies rung out around the meadow, joining up with the songs of other Butterfrees to create a gorgeous chorus of song. While the Butterfrees sang and ate happily, beneath the grass other pokémon moved silently and unnoticed. A group of Rattatta slunk beneath the grass, their movements careful and calculated. Their eyes pierced through the thick grass, watching patiently. The largest of the Rattatta bared her two large front teeth. A white glow encompassed the teeth, shining intensely. The light caught Butterfrees attention, his large bulbous red eyes catching its shimmer through the grass. Suddenly his song stopped and in a panic he abandoned his flower, taking off for the sky. Rattatta leapt after him, flying up out of the grass after him. Her glowing teeth gnashed as she reached the apex of her jump, narrowly missing Butterfree's wing. She fell back into the grass with a thud and annoyed grunt. The smaller Rattatta rushed up to her side, nuzzling her as she rolled off her back. She shook the dirt from her purple fur and glared angrily at Butterfree as he danced mockingly above her.
"Butt-Butt Free! Butt-Butt Free!" He sang victoriously, swooping back and forth above.
Suddenly the grass behind Butterfree began to shake violently. Stunned, Butterfree watched in horror as a Raticate erupted from the grass. Two enormous teeth, each one coming together from either jaw, were coated in a dark black flame. They clamped down onto Butterfree, dragging him down beneath the grass. Butterfree struggled and writhed in Raticate's jaws, fighting desperately to break free. Raticate thrashed him back and forth, grinning with him still in his mouth as she shook him into submission. Rattled by the violent shaking, Butterfree hung limp in Raticate's jaws. Unhappy that her prey had gone quiet, Raticate bit down further into Butterfree. Green and yellow blood spurted out from where her teeth sunk in, followed by a horrific high pitch squealing from Butterfree. Much happier now, Raticate continued, thrashing and biting Butterfree over and over until no more blood flowed and no more screams could be heard. Nervously, the large Rattatta and her brood approached Raticate. They approached with their heads hung and tails flat to the ground. Raticate flicked her long, naked tail at them as she turned her back and began eating Butterfree. The Rattatta waited patiently, keeping their heads down obediently. All except one young Rattatta. He stuck his head up and looked at the meat hungrily. Foolishly, he scampered away from the others and tried to steal a small chunk of the body. Raticate screeched furiously and whipped out her tail, coiling it around the Rattatta's throat as he tried to scamper away. He dropped the chunk of flesh and began squirming, squealing in terror. With an annoyed grunt, Raticate flung him away, tossing him into the grass before returning to her meal. When she was done, all the remained were a few small chunks of flesh soaked in green and yellow blood. The Rattattas scurried over and began devouring all the remained, rejoined shortly by the other Rattatta who got an angry slap across the head from his mother's tail. A line of his fur had been cut off when he landed, leaving a bald line across his back.
"Alright, line up!" Surge shouted.
He swung off his jacket, tossing it to the side and leaving behind his camo tank top. Graveler, Mankey and Machoke all lined up with Green standing before them, excitedly waiting for Surges instructions.
"Let's make one thing clear Green," Surge began, his voice stern and serious, "I'm not here to hold your and through this. All I'm going to do is point you in the right direction, it's up to you to get your team there. Am I clear?" He asked, raising his voice to a shout.
A sharp twang of excitement shot through her, making Green stand up as straight as she could. She almost felt like saluting but thankfully stopped herself.
"Yes, Lieutenant Surge!" She responded, shouting herself now.
Surge's face softened and he awkwardly clutched the back of his head.
"Oh, actually just Surge is fine or Matis, either one. I don't like being called Lieutenant these days." He corrected gingerly.
Green laughed awkwardly, clutching the back of her head too.
"Oh sorry," She apologised, "Yes Surge then!" She exclaimed.
Surge smiled happily before clearing his throat and putting a stern expression back on.
"Anyway, let's go over what these three need to improve on!" Surge declared.
He pointed at Graveler. Graveler's eyes widened and he shrunk back nervously.
"Graveler, not much to improve on! Work on your ground attacks, they're too slow and too inconsistent. Some are like 2 out of 10s and others are like 8 out of 10s, I want every single attack to be a 10 out of 10 every time!" Surge instructed.
Graveler's fearful expression disappeared and he grinned excitedly.
"Graveler!" He declared enthusiastically.
Surge nodded approvingly before moving his finger to Machoke.
"Big guy, love the power and resolve nothing to complain about there! But, you need a more diverse attack pool! You need type diversity and more importantly, you need a ranged option!" Surge instructed, a wild smirk plastered on his face.
Machoke followed along and nodded thoughtfully.
"Machoke…" He considered, clutching his jaw as he pondered the instructions.
Finally, Surge turned his attention to Mankey. Mankey wasn't paying attention however, instead he was stalking a Rattatta through the grass. He was ducked down, his eyes narrowed as he watched Rattatta. As the Rattatta turned away from him, Mankey leapt with a scream. The Rattatta dashed away from the attack immediately, sending Mankey sliding across the ground. He slammed his fists into the ground unhappily, tearing up the grass during his tantrum.
"Mankey!" Surge yelled, getting Mankey to look up defiantly.
He hopped to his feet and began sizing up to Surge, walking back and forth slowly with his narrowed eyes.
"You have the most to work on of everyone, you lack discipline! So get some!" Surge shouted.
Mankey screeched unhappily and leapt at Surge only for Machoke to reach out his arm and catch him, still pondering Surge's instructions. He dropped Mankey who then began to kick at Machoke's ankles furiously, to no result. Machoke kicked him away gently, knocking him over onto his back. Mankey sat up with his arms crossed, sulking in the grass.
"These are all the areas your team needs to improve Green, consistency, diversity and discipline. So, what's your plan to achieve that?" Surge asked, lowering his finger.
Green looked back at her pokémon, thinking carefully about where to start.
"Well, you said I needed to cross-type right?" She asked, glancing back at him.
Surge crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her.
"I did, but is that what you want to do?" He asked back.
Green gave a confident nod.
"Yeah, it is!" She replied.
She then paused and smiled sheepishly at Surge.
"Um, how exactly do I do that?" She asked quietly.
Surge laughed and waved her over. He sat down on the grass and patted the spot in front of him. Green obliged and joined him on the grass, sitting across from him eagerly. Machoke made his way over too, sitting down beside Green with a thud.
"The world around us, as you probably know, is constantly making elemental energies. Everything," Surge gestured around him, "from the sky to the forest produces these energies which pokémon can tune their spirits too and manipulate these energies. While pokémon are naturally in tune with certain energies, every pokémon has the potential to tune themselves to any type of energy. It's just a matter of exposure and persistence." He explained passionately.
Green nodded along thoughtfully. She glanced over at Machoke and considered him for a moment.
"So, to cross-type into rock-type attacks, I need to expose Machoke to rock type energy?" Green asked, beginning to understand.
Surge nodded and gestured to one of the boulders scattered about the meadow.
"Exactly, if you do it properly Machoke should be able to lift one of those without touching them." Surge explained.
Surge lay back on the grass, resting his head on his hands.
"That's all I'll tell you for now, so go on, get started." He instructed casually, keeping his eyes fixated on the clouds.
Green nodded and rose to her feet determined. She faced her pokémon again, ideas swarming around her mind wildly.
"Alright guys, listen up!" She shouted as she walked towards Graveler and Mankey, with Machoke following behind her.
She scooped up Mankey off the ground and held him to her chest. He sat on top of her breasts still pouting, looking away with a scrunched up angry face.
"Graveler, I want you to practice your ground attacks on the trees. Focus on controlling your energy output so that it's consistent. Start slow, really focus on that output. Once you can do it consistently slowly, try it faster." She instructed Graveler, pointing to the tree line beside them.
Graveler grinned and slammed both pairs of fists together.
"Graveler!" He exclaimed.
He curled up and rolled away towards the tree line of tall, sturdy trees. Green turned to Machoke and patted his arm, smiling gently up at him.
"You, on the other hand, I want you to take it easy. Go sit in that boulder shelter you made, try to feel the energy they give off okay?" Green instructed, pointing to the boulder hut Machoke had made previously.
Machoke nodded and smiled back at her. He cupped the lower half of her back with his hand and pulled her to him, planting a gentle kiss on her head before walking across the meadow to his hut. Green had to fight off the tingles of excitement bubbling in her stomach as she turned her attention to Mankey.
"And you," She began in a low stern voice, "come with me," She commanded, letting him back onto the ground.
She turned on her heel and made her way across the meadow. Mankey followed after her reluctantly, dragging his feet behind him as he walked. Together, they made their way up the large hill in the middle of the meadow. Green stopped at the top and held out her arm to Mankey.
"Check this out buddy," She offered.
Mankey considered her arm sceptically, sniffing the air with his snout. Cautiously, he climbed up her arm and perched himself on her shoulder. Before they were a field full of patches of wildflowers nestled among the luscious grass. Green knew Mankey well enough at this point to know that regular training was not going to work with him. If she was going to get his impulsive nature under control she would need to take a less conventional approach.
"Out in that field, there a whole bunch of Rattatta," Green told him.
Mankey immediately became interested, pricking up his ears and leaning forward to get a better look. Green laughed and continued.
"I want you to go out there and use your fighting type attacks to beat as many as you can!" She instructed him.
Mankey's eyes lit up excitedly. Immediately he hopped off her shoulder and scurried down the hill into the field. Green found a comfortable spot on the hill and sat down, keeping a close eye on him. She readied both his pokéball and a few potions, setting them down next to her.
"Mankey!" He cried fiercely.
Mankey scampered into the grass on all fours, charging blindly through the brush. He came across a small clearing. A Rattatta with a white, bald line across his back was eating from a small pile of berries. Mankey screeched and charged out from the brush, leaping at the Rattatta. Rattatta's ears pricked up and he hopped to the side, dodging Mankey's attack. Mankey landed on all fours, skidding to a halt. The pile of berries lay between them in the centre of the small clearing. Rattatta bared his teeth daringly, smirking at Mankey cockily. Mankey scowled and raised his fists, narrowing his eyes at him. He leapt at the Rattatta again and threw a punch at him. Rattatta dodged to the side again. Mankey's fist hit the ground where Rattatta had been. Rattatta whipped around and sunk his teeth into Mankey's hand, biting him quickly before jumping back and dodging Mankey's attempt counterattack. Mankey cried out angrily, clutching his bleeding hand. In a blind rage, Mankey sent a flurry of attacks at Rattatta, punching and kicking at him frantically. Rattatta nimbly hopped out of the way of each attack. He jumped up and whipped his body around, slapping Mankey with his tail. While doing no damage, it was enough to throw Mankey off. He tripped over and fell onto his face, which Rattatta used to bite him again. This time on the arm. Mankey's eyes blazed with anger and he began flailing frantically in Rattatta's general direction.
"Calm down buddy! Concentrate!" Green's voice called out from the hill.
Her voice cut through Mankey's haze of blind anger. He turned looked back and saw Green looking down at him from the hill, now on her feet as she watched with an intense investment. Mankey stopped and clenched his fists by his side. He closed his eyes and began challenging fighting energy. Orange sparks flew from his arms, legs, feet and hand. They began to concentrate around his hands and feet, shifting from a thin spray of sparks to a thick eruption. Mankey cried out angrily, screaming up at the sky. He opened his eyes and stared at Rattatta, the sight of him causing an intense wave of hatred to flow through him. His fists and feet erupted into orange flames. Again, he leapt at Rattatta and again, Rattatta waited for his first punch to fly, dodging to the side. However, during Rattatta's jump Mankey pulled back his fist and spun around, slamming his foot into Rattatta's side. Rattatta crumpled into the impact as he was sent flying through the air with a shower of orange sparks. Mankey didn't relent though, rushing forward and leaping up above Rattatta. He brought his foot down onto Rattatta, slamming him directly down into the ground. Rattatta landed with a small puff of dirt, getting knocked out on impact. Mankey hopped from foot to foot triumphantly.
"Nice work buddy!" Green called out.
With a healing spray ready in one hand, Green readied Mankey's pokéball and aimed it at him. However, just before she went to recall him another larger Rattatta emerged from the brush. The Rattatta rushed forward, standing in between Mankey and the unconscious Rattatta. She bared her teeth, gnashing them fiercely, causing white sparks to fly from them. Mankey refused to back down and charged at new Rattatta, readying a punch as he leapt. Rattatta's whole began to glow white, growing increasingly brighter. Then, in an instance Rattatta blinked forward and struck Mankey, headbutting his chest. A ring of white essence erupted from the impact and Mankey was sent flying backwards. The orange flames around his hands and feet extinguished immediately. He hit the ground hard, landing on his back and skidding across the dirt back into the brush. Rattatta scampered back to her fellow Rattatta, covering his unconscious body with her tail protectively and baring her glowing teeth.
"That attack has a windup? Interesting," Green noted out loud before hitting Mankey with the beam of his pokéball and returning him.
She released him back out onto the grass in front of her. He promptly jumped to his feet and was about to rush back into the field before Green caught him with both hands.
"Whoa there buddy, hold on," She laughed as she placed him in her lap.
Mankey struggled unhappily but Green persisted, keeping a firm grip on his wrist as she sprayed his wounded hand with healing liquid. The bleeding cuts clotted immediately and began closing up right before their eyes. Mankey stopped struggling and watched the process in awe. Once they had closed completely Green let go of Mankey's wrist. He held out his hand in front of him, admiring the spotless place where the cuts had been. Green giggled at his innocent wonder and held out her arm to him. Mankey gladly accepted and climbed up onto her shoulder. He beamed excitedly and showed off his healed hand to her.
"Mankey!" He exclaimed gleefully, turning his hand back and forth.
"Yeah I know, cool isn't it?" Green agreed.
Green gave him a scratch behind the ears, getting another gleeful cry from him.
"Alright listen up buddy, you need to stop charging in like that. When you get back out there, take a moment to think about what your opponent is going to do. Got that?" She instructed, pointing back at the Rattatta in the field.
If Mankey understood that advice or not was a mystery to Green because as soon as she pointed at Rattatta, Mankey had leapt from her shoulder and was charging back into battle. She sighed and readied a healing potion again. Off in the distance, the sounds of Graveler tearing up the ground and knocking over trees echoed through the meadow. Green hopped to her feet and ran to the top of the hill to get a view. Where Graveler was training the earth had been cut up by tears, small and large, each directed at a tree in the treeline. A few trees lay toppled, others were crooked and some seemed to be just fine.
"Keep at it Graveler! You'll get there eventually!" She yelled, waving to him.
Graveler looked over at her and grinned, pumping his two upper fists into the air in response. He then turned around and stomped the ground, sending out an enormous shock wave the created a huge tear through the ground. The shock wave hit the base of a tree and ripped it from the ground, toppling it over. While she was up at the top of the hill Green decided to check on Machoke. He was sat cross-legged in his hut concentrating as hard as he could. Still, despite that Green couldn't see any signs of rock type energy. There were no brown sparks or even wisps of brown essence around any of the rocks. She decided to not call out to him, leaving him to remain focused. Suddenly, something that sounded like a whip cracking caught her attention. Green turned around to see an enormous Raticate in the small clearing with the two Rattatta. He whipped at the larger one with his tail, sadistically flogging her as she covered the still unconscious Rattatta with her body. Mankey abruptly charged out of the brush, igniting his fists with orange flames as he cried out angrily. Raticate turned and gnashed at him without hesitation, his large teeth glowing bright white. Mankey narrowly dodged the attack, hopping to the side just in time. This dodge created a small opening for Mankey which he used to leap up and punch Raticate upside the head, creating a shower of orange sparks on impact. The force whipped Raticate's head to the side, making him stagger in a stunned daze. However, as Mankey threw another punch with his other hand Raticate's tail flicked up and coiled around Mankey's wrist. Raticate flung Mankey up above his head before swiftly and brutally slamming him back down into the dirt.
"Key!" Mankey squealed, struggling to rise back to his feet.
Raticate watched Mankey struggle for a moment, grinning gleefully before jumping up into the air. He slammed his body down onto Mankey, crushing him with his relative enormous weight. Mankey cried out pitifully before passing out. During the commotion, the large Rattatta picked up the smaller Rattatta by the scruff of his neck with her teeth and carried him away into the brush. When Raticate hopped off of Mankey's limp body to find them gone he cried out angrily, turning his scornful gaze back to Mankey. He opened his jaws and went to bite at Mankey but Green hit Mankey with the beam of his pokéball just in time. Raticate bit at nothing, taking a chuck out of the ground as his glowing white teeth sliced through the tightly packed dirt. Green breathed a sigh of relief, holding Mankey's ball to her chest.
"Nice! Again Dratini!" Abby exclaimed.
She tossed a handful of small rocks into the air. Dratini sat perched on her shoulder, he opened his mouth and quickly charged a ball of purple energy. He fired it at the rocks, hitting one and completely disintegrating it. Rapidly, he fired more, hitting each of the rocks before they hit the ground again.
"Whoa, he's good at that," Darcy noted with intrigue.
They were sat on the grass near the empty fire pit in the make-shift campsite. Abby beamed proudly at them as she bent over to collect another handful of rocks.
"That's nothing, watch this!" Abby yelled, "Use thunderbolt Dratini!"
Abby tossed the rocks into the air again. Yellow sparks began fizzing from Dratini's mouth as his eyes followed them through the air. A powerful bolt of electricity erupted from Dratini's mouth, cracking and popping the air as he maintained it in a continuous stream. In one motion, Dratini swung the bolt of electricity through the rocks and disintegrated them all. He snapped his jaws shut, cutting off the bolt.
"Dratini…" He muttered, appearing nauseous.
Abby stroked his back and smiled at him gently.
"Take a break, you did a great job," She assured him.
Dratini nodded weakly and slithered down onto the ground. He made his way over to a boulder nearby and basked in the midday sun. Darcy pulled out a pokéball from the pocket of their yellow shorts, holding it out in front of them with a sigh.
"I wish my pokémon was like yours," They mumbled unhappily.
Abby sat down beside them and looked at the pokéball curiously.
"Get him out, maybe seeing all the other pokémon training will inspire him!" Abby suggested optimistically.
Darcy shrugged and moved their thumb onto the pokéball's button.
"Worth a shot I guess," They relented and pressed the button.
The ball snapped open and with a flash of red light, Elekid appeared before. He was small, stood on two legs and his round yellow body had two black stripes that wrapped around him, coming together around the black lightning bolt symbol on his chest. His arms were round like cylinders, with three claws on the end and two black stripes wrapping around them. They were long enough to nearly touch the ground, reaching down to his flat yellow feet. On the top of his round body, above his face, were two rectangular ears that stuck straight up. Each one had a hole at the top which electricity would arch between. Dratini raised his head as Elekid was released, immediately furrowing his brow unhappily at him.
"Hi, Elekid! My name's Abby," Abby introduced herself cheerfully.
Elekid scowled at her and looked her up and down sceptically. The electricity arching between his ears intensified, buzzing intensely. He looked around, taking in this new environment.
"Elekid, you see all the other pokémon training? Don't you want to do that too?" Darcy asked, gesturing to Graveler behind them.
The ground shook slightly at that very moment as Graveler sent out a powerful ground attack. Elekid took only a moment to consider Darcy and Graveler before folding his arms and turning away from them.
"Elekid!" He declared defiantly.
Abby reached out a hand to him.
"Don't you want to get stronger?" She asked him.
Elekid looked at her hand angrily and shot a small bolt at her, singing her fingers. Abby whipped back her hand with a shocked cry, grasping the burn. Darcy gasped and reached for his pokéball. Dratini shot a small bolt of electricity at the back of Elekid's head in response. The jolt surprised him but was harmless, being absorbed by his body. He spun around angrily and was about to fire back at Dratini when the beam of his pokéball hit his back and returned him.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry are you okay?" Darcy asked frantically, grasping Abby's hand to check the small burn.
Abby laughed and placed her good hand on Darcy's shoulder.
"You're all good, I'm fine! Dratini gave me away worse one when we first met," Abby assured her.
Dratini smirked sheepishly and snickered. Darcy let go of Abby's hand, relieved. They sighed and rested their head on Abby's shoulder.
"See what I mean, he's impossible," They complained.
Abby put her arm around them comfortingly, keeping her optimistic smile.
"There's good in every pokémon, I'm sure you'll get through to him eventually," Abby promised.
Darcy smiled happily and clung to Abby's arm, looking down at Elekid's pokéball.
"Hopefully," They whispered.