Chapter 11:
It had been a day since we left AJ's gym. We didn't talk much during yesterday's morning, choosing instead to appreciate our surroundings and the views. Although after a while Brock and I started a discussion on herbs and Pokemon well care, leaving our two companions mostly lost, not understanding most of what we were talking about.
But all of this didn't stop me from training, which helped as a stress release. Everything is going really well, Milo is getting the hang of Work Up. Kayda is lacking diversity in her moves, so we are working on using Twister to help her learn Dragon Rage. I'm curious if she will be able to learn the move as her species could only learn it in earlier generations of the game, but as the training is going, I have great expectations. With Zion, I'm trying to increase his mental and psychic powers by making him lift rocks with only his mind to create a weaker non-damaging bastard version of Confusion. Also, Zion shattered my dreams of a battle strategy of him teleporting around while spamming moves for now, when he told me that using Teleport is very energy consuming for the reserves he has at the moment. I guess that is to be expected, but it still saddens me, but it is only one more reason to train more.
Sadly, even after meeting AJ and my outburst, Ash didn't seem to try to train his Pokemon at all. It irks me a little, but I guess, if he doesn't want to make an effort, then there's nothing I can do. It was already proven that training the Pokemon gives results, but if he wants to ignore AJ and my example, then so be it.
"...so you mix slowly until it starts to boil, that is when you add the cut Charti Berries," Brock explained to me with his book in hand.
"But if you mix slowly wouldn't the result end up becoming too sponge-like?" I asked, confused.
"Normally yes, but the Charti Berries will interact with the berries used earlier and make the final result have just the right consistency," I nodded in understanding at Brock's explanation. "But if you mix too quickly, the food won't be cooked very well."
"Hey, you two, can you stop talking about complicated stuff and stop for a while. There is a lot of fog forming and we can't see where we are going. Also I'm exhausted." Ash complained with his hands hanging to his sides. At the ground, Pikachu also utters his agreement.
"A little break?" Brock asks as he crouches and opens his bag, and promptly starts taking out much more out of it than it should be possible. Bless these magical spaced bags. "Why don't I throw a little something together." He said, as he prepared a cleanly organized table at an impressive speed.
"Wow Brock, and I considered myself prepared," I chuckle. True, Brock seemed to always have the necessary tools for any situation.
He laughs at my comment, before taking out a small brown package, "there is nothing more satisfying than a cup of 100% Cerulean coffee," he explains out loud, while taking out a coffee bean grinder. "You kids are too young for this stuff, but it's really quite good." That's fine for me, I never was a fan of coffee, I myself prefer tea. "How about some prune juice!"
"I think I'll pass," Ash says hesitantly, as he looks closely at the prune juice container.
"How about some herbal tea?" Misty suggested.
I perched up excited, "now you're talking my language."
"You two must be kidding," Ash said, as if drinking and liking tea was something strange. "Tea is for grannies."
I glared at him, but Brock quickly changed my mood, "not so fast Ash, I brought my oficial tea set! And when we were in Cerulean, Aaron mentioned liking tea as we shopped, so I decided to buy this special herbal tea from there." Mine and Misty's eyes lit up at the sight of the tea leaves.
"And for a special snack, I have some French crepes, directly from Kalos." He announced with a proud smile. He had sweets the entire time? And here I was, suffering from having already finished my stock.
Misty claps her hands together, "Oh, I love Kalos things, they are so romantic!" She exclaims while drooling as her mind seemed to wander off in a daydream.
"By the way, I can't make anything, if I don't have firewood," Brock mentioned, snapping Misty back to reality. "So one of you will have to go into the woods and gather some."
"I'm going to help Brock make the food so…" they easily understood what I'm implying.
"But what a great idea Brock, and I'm willing to sacrifice the excitement of searching for firewood in the forest, to stay here and keep company to you and Aaron," Misty exclaimed cheerfully as if she was doing us a favor.
"But that means, I have to go." Ash sighed depressed, hanging his head low.
Before long, with his arms behind his head, Ash and Pikachu wander out into the fog in search of firewood. Milo, seemingly had fun laughing at their unfortunate circumstances, earning him a glare from the duo. Shaking my head in amusement at their antics, I started helping Brock to prepare the French crepes' dough.
I find it quite interesting that French crepes still have this name, even though there is no France in the Pokemon universe, at least not that I know of. Does this mean our worlds are more 'connected' than I thought? Well, there is always the possibility that the actual Pokemon anime is some kind of influence the Pokemon universe had on my old world, intentional or not. This kinda points to the theory of the multiverse, that explains that multiple realities originated at one point from the same origin, by creating a new one at every possibility/choice. Maybe they can sometimes influence one another resulting in books or games that are actually happening in another reality. Is something in my old world influenced by other universes as well? Are there more video games that exist in their reality?
And now that I'm thinking if I was brought to this world via an Ultra Wormhole, what is preventing the chance that more people happen to have been sucked into this universe as well? I didn't notice anything, but it is always a possibility. It happened once, then it can happen again. If I do want to look for them, I think the easiest way would be to keep an eye on Ash, as if someone happens to be brought here then there is a great chance they would want at least to see Ash, since he is the main character and all that. And also, if they happen to join him on his journey, I could easily point them out, but that also applies to me.
I'm broken out of my train of thoughts when Brock shakes me, as he needs some help with the eggs. Pushing these theories to the back of my mind for later, I concentrate on the current task of baking crepes.
"Hey, don't you think Ash is taking too long?" Misty asks with a little bit of concern in her voice, "what if he got lost?"
"If it's him, I don't doubt it." I comment without looking up from what I'm doing, "do you want to go looking for him?"
She seems to ponder before answering, "I guess I'll go find him, he's such an idiot." I finally glance up, with the mixing bowl in my hand, to see Misty turnaround and head towards where we last saw Ash. Giving Brock a look, we both pack everything, minus the drought, into our bags, and follow Misty into the fog.
We find them discussing with a group of kids wearing matching uniforms. These are probably the Pokemon Tech students, judging by my memory and the smugness and arrogance in their faces. I personally don't like them, but I don't think there is actually anyone who does. By what I picked up in the anime their teaching system is flawed. The school is really just interested in money, and worst of all, they don't care about the bullying that happens inside the school.
"We don't battle, kid," one of the students says with a smug smirk, "battling is for cavemen, this isn't the stone age you know."
"As if we would waste our time having a fight with a little insect like you. It would just make Pokemon Tech look really bad," another one added.
"We'll see you back at Tech Joe." They turn around and walk away, completely ignoring Ash's complains.
"So these are the infamous Tech students," Brock comments thoughtfully at my side, drawing everyone's attention.
"Tech students?" Ash asked, confused.
"Pokemon Tech is a private school for rich snobby kids to study about Pokemon," I said with a frown. "They have a system that lets students that graduate go directly to the Pokemon League without having to gather the gym badges."
"What!" Ash yelled surprised.
"I think I have a flyer of it somewhere," Misty says as she looks through her shorts pockets. "Here it is." She takes out a wrinkled piece of paper from her left pocket.
"Let me see," Brock snatches the paper out of her hand and opens it up, reading its contents.
"Entering the Pokemon League without having to collect badges?" Ash exclaimed furiously, "that really makes me furious."
"It's not that the idea is bad, Ash." I take the flyer giving it a quick scan, "it is actually a plausible idea and could work. The only problem is that Pokemon Tech only cares about the money that the students pay, and not about the students themselves. The teaching there has a lot of problems and flaws, not to mention the bullying, for which the teachers don't do anything to stop."
"What, it isn't that bad." The one I assume is Joe, from overhearing the other students' talk earlier, exclaimed exasperated.
I give him a skeptical look, "what your colleagues were doing to you before more than proves my affirmation."
"But my friends were only trying to help me," Joe persists.
Brock frowned at his words, "with friends like that, who needs enemies."
"But they help me to learn a lot about Pokemon, like-" I interrupt him before he starts to explain everything he knows about Pidgey.
"But all that you could learn by going to a library. Not to mention that this is just the theory, it will help, but you still won't have any practical experience." He was about to open his mouth, but I continued giving him no time to speak, "and, yes, I know about the battle simulations, but those are just that, simulations. Fighting an actual trainer is very different." He stands shocked, seemingly thinking on what to say against my claims.
Ash seems to decide that there was enough silence, "where is this school, anyway?"
Joe points, distracted, towards the direction where the other students went, "it is right over there."
"Today's special class: fog battle techniques, is now ended. Tomorrow's class will be: snow competition secrets" a robotic female voice announces at the same time a bell sound resonated around and the fog started to dissipate revealing that we were right in front of the school. How did we not notice this enormous building at all?
"You don't seem like some snobby millionaire kid, what are you even doing here, if they treat you like that?" Misty asks as she walks to his side.
"I have to stay here at Pokemon Tech. My mother and father worked very hard to get the money to send me here, so I have to give it my all to make them proud," Joe explains as he clenches his fists.
I shake my head, "well, as I said before the school doesn't really care about its students, it is only after your parent's money. You will probably have a better chance with self-study and experiencing what you learn yourself in the real world."
"I for one think this whole thing is stupid, who's in charge of this school anyway," Ash angrily declares.
I turn out the conversation, in favor of watching Milo laugh at Pikachu, as the latter kicked the running machine before letting out a pained cry and grabbing his feet. Shaking my head at their antics, I walk behind Milo and scoope him up to my arms.
"Milo, please leave Pikachu alone. I'm sure you wouldn't like to be laughed at if it were you in his place." He regaines his breath, before looking up at me with big wide eyes, making his best to look innocent.
"What do you mean, Aaron?" I sigh before petting his head and shifting my attention back to the others, just in time to see Misty screaming at Ash and Brock.
"While you two are slobbering over this dopey picture, I'm gonna find this little witch and straighten her right now!" She yelled to their faces before stomping off towards the school grounds.
"Hey Misty, wait," Ash called, before running after her.
I sigh, "You all have fun, I'm gonna stay here to train. During the last days, I felt like I didn't have enough time to train like I used to." Brock nodded, before following after the other two together with Joe.
It would be a waste of time following them, and I'm not lying about feeling like we've been training much less in the last days. It's best if I spend this time with something more productive like getting stronger and preparing to fight Lt. Surge. Not only that but while walking in the last days, I had a lot of time to think about ideas to train my Pokemon, as walking gets boring very fast after a while.
Getting relatively far from the school to not attract much attention, I stand on a nice clear space. Unclipping all Pokeballs from my belt, I throw them, releasing all of my Pokemon from inside.
Smiling excitedly, I put down Milo from my arms and settle Rapier securely together with my bag at the foot of a tree a little distance away, so he wouldn't get hit by a stray attack. Clapping my hands to get my Pokemons attention, I crouch in front of them.
"Ok, everybody. The others went on some little school adventure and now we have some time to train," I explain to them.
Milo jumps excited, "yeah, I can't wait to get stronger."
"But be careful to not overexert yourself, little mister." Kayda said with authority to him, "or training will do more bad than good."
"Yeah, yeah, grandma." He waves off dismissively, before looking up at me with his enthusiasm back, "when can we start?!"
I smile, "we are starting right now. I already thought about what everybody is going to train." I take out my laptop from my bag, where I wrote all my notes and ideas. Another pro of being without the others is that I can talk to both Pokemons freely, without being afraid of them finding out, and that I can use my electronics while training as well.
"Milo, you just got the hang of Work Up, and now I would like for you to try staking them up and getting used to the boost it gives you." He nods his head with enthusiasm. With this exercise, I'm hoping Milo can learn to stack Work Up various times, and maybe even keep it active for a long time, if not keeping it always active. It will also help him to get used to the added strength and help him avoid causing any accidents.
I turn to Kayda, "you can continue working on transforming your Twister into another dragon type moves. Remember to feel the 'dragon type energy', and get used to how it feels in your body and how it changes shape and form, when expelled." Last time this theory worked really well in teaching new moves, so I'm trying to see if Kayda can replicate it with her dragon type attacks.
Finally, I turn to Zion, who seems to be still half asleep, "and you are going to learn a new move." I want to use Zion to battle Lt. Surge, but as he is right now, with only one damaging move, there is still a long way to go. After looking the Abra species up in my laptop, I think the most useful and easiest move to learn right now would be Swift, as he can get help with Milo and it is a special attack which is better against Lt. Surge's Raichu, as direct attacks would make Zion an easy target to Body Slam, Mega Punch, and Mega Kick that Raichu showed to know. The most useful attack Zion could learn in my opinion would be Grass Knot, as it would make Raichu fall and lose concentration, but I don't have any Pokemon that know grass moves, or the faintest idea on how to teach a grass type move. I was able to teach Iron Tail, because I saw how it was done, and replicated it with my Pokemon, but with Grass Knot, I don't have any idea how to do it at all. And I can't ask Professor Oak, as I'm currently too far from a city for my Pokedex to be able to make a call. I wonder how the Pokemon transport system works everywhere.
"Hey, Zion," I say, as I lightly shake him awake, "how does Teleport work exactly?" I know the basics, but who would be better to ask than the one that uses the move?
He mumbles some incoherent things under his breath, before looking up at me, his eyes half-closed as he yawnes, "it is a mildly energy-expensive move that lets me instantly move around, why?"
"I'm thinking if it is possible to use it in battle and if it could be useful for other things as well," I explaine. "What I want to know is, how far away you can move, if you can bring others with you, if you have to wait before teleporting away, and if it is possible to get better at it?"
He looks a little overwhelmed at my wave of questions and seems to think them through before answering, "My limit is about 500 meters, if I'm not wrong. I think I can bring others with me, but it would be much more energy taxing, I have to wait 2,5 seconds before teleporting again and I don't really know, if I can get better at it, but I was worse at it at some time,so I guess yes. Also, if I want to go to some specific place, I need to have a good image of the location," he says slowly before closing his eyes.
This has a lot of potential. Imagine not needing to travel, and just teleporting to the towns. I snicker at the thought of beating all the gyms in another region in one day. But it would probably be taxing on Zion and where is the fun in that? The adventure is one of the biggest part of the journey, skipping it all, would be stupid. But it would be useful to come back to places I've already been to, if needed.
Back to the topic of moves, I think all Pokemon can get 'better' at a move, if they train or use it a lot. Like muscle memory, the Pokemon would get used to using the move and better at it, making their effects stronger and less taxing.
"Ok, thanks for the explanation, Zion. But for now, we'll focus on you learning Swift. You shouldn't have much trouble, as it is a normal type move. And, according to books normal type moves are easier to learn, as normal type is the lack of a specific element, and you have Milo as an example." I pet him softly on the head, "and I promise to brush you later, alright?" He nods to me, before turning to look at Milo.
Sitting under the tree next to Rapier, who appears to be taking a nap, I take out my laptop to look up some stuff that I couldn't before, because of the presence of my three travel companions that are absent at the moment. I have a lot of thoughts and ideas to organize and until now I have been very careful about when I use my laptop, resulting in me writing only very short summaries of my ideas. I'm a bit paranoid, so I barely opened it, even when they were already sleeping. If they happen to find out, it would lead to some very awkward questions that I don't feel like answering at all.
Sighing, I look up from the screen to observe the training. Kayda is doing well, already being able to relatively change the shape of Twister making it more concentrated, Zion is slowly but steadily making progress, and Milo is trying to maintain staked Work Ups. I have to be careful that the Work Ups don't put too much strain on Milo's body. I'll never forgive myself, if something happens to him because of my training ideas.
I have yet to test, if Milo can learn any of the moves exclusive to Pokemon Lets Go Eevee. Something that has left me excited, but fearful as well. I have high expectations and it would be a great disappointment, if it ended up in a failure. Well, I guess Milo is going to evolve someday, so even, if he can't learn those overpowered moves, it won't affect that much his potential.
I also need to think of where I will get a 'Dragon Scale' to help Kayda to evolve to Kingdra when I think she's ready. Although there isn't the need for trading, which is a relief, because it would be completely and utterly stupid. How would those Pokemon evolve in nature otherwise? But that can wait for later, it isn't something that I will need for quite a while.
Getting into a more comfortable position, I look back to my laptop screen. Those are problems for later, right now I have other things to concern myself with. If my calculations are right, Rapier should be somewhat close to evolving. He'll finally be able to do something other than sleeping and staying still, which is getting a bit boring. I'll also have to train him to catch up with the others, as currently he only knows four moves that aren't very strong.
I shake my thoughts away, as I close my laptop and put it back inside my bag. Looking at my Pokemon I get up, while cleaning the dirt stuck on my legs, before going towards them to try to help them personally. Kayda is getting very close to getting her move right, I think she only needs a small push.
The day passes as I spent all my time with my Pokemon practicing moves, before having them spar together. We all had some snacks after some physical exercise, and we enjoyed some delicious French crepes that I couldn't let get wasted, as my travel companions seemed to have completely forgotten about them. Not that I mind, more sweets for me! Although, I might have ended up eating a bit too much, given the bellyache I had after the meal.
Getting a small rest after our bellies were full, we spent some time just playing and sitting around, which in my case, I spent reading. But we didn't want to waste this opportunity and quickly started training again, with me trying to give advice, as I watched them.
Our efforts weren't in vain as Kayda successfully learned Dragon Rage, despite it being a move her species could only learn in 'older generations'. I think that now she is getting the hang of finding and manipulating her 'dragon type energy' ,the other moves will probably be much easier to learn, or not, as they are much more complex and powerful.
By what I gathered, all 'energies' have different natures in a way, being an example the steel type is strong, firm, heavy, sharp, but also determined and protective. Looking at the steel type moves, it almost always coats a part of the body of the Pokemon in steel/iron, like Iron Head, Steel Wing, and Metal Claw, for example. Of course, there are exceptions such as Magnet Bomb, but they still kinda have those characteristics as well. Or at least that is my theory after studying the Iron Tail training method. I think that if I can find exactly what every element symbolizes and how it behaves, I will be able to not just train my Pokemon more easily on that type and combine different elements and attacks better, but maybe even create my own moves.
Anyway, Milo also made progress. He is now capable of maintaining two Work Ups without feeling bad or putting too much strain on his body. Of course, it takes energy from him, so it isn't something, he maintains all the time. But during a short while, he can stack them up to 4 times, although it takes some time to set all the boosts up. It seems that there is no limit to how much boost a Pokemon can stack. It only depends on the Pokemon themselves.
Zion is now capable of using Swift, although the attack only releases three stars at most, but it still is progress. He also spent some time training his psychic abilities before we rested and promptly fell asleep, not waking up again to train more.
Crouched and with my hand on my knees, I look up at the sky that has turned orange, with the sun setting on the horizon. My Pokemon, securely resting inside their pokeball had given it all, and I couldn't be more proud of them. Sweat drips from my chin, as I slide my arm across my forehead to wipe it away. How I wish for a warm bath right now. Washing in rivers is an uncomfortable experience, for the lack of a better word. But with my days on the road, I am getting sufficiently accustomed to taking a bath in cold water with swimming trunks on, not that I find it any bit enjoyable. I draw shallow breaths trying to calm my rapidly beating heart, as I have just finished doing some physical exercises to maintain myself in shape.
"Hey, Aaron!" Someone calls out from behind, startling me. Sluggishly turning around, I see my three journey companions walking towards me. It seems they are finally ready to continue our way, although it is a little late, considering the sun is already setting.
"Hey, guys. How was the school?" I ask with mild interest. It seems a good idea to have someone else's opinion of the school and to verify, if anything changed.
"You were right, Aaron," Misty answered. "Pokemon Tech is a joke."
"Yeah, I and Pikachu together beat the strongest trainer there." Ash crosses his arms on his chest and holds his chin high.
Misty snorts, "Giselle was only the best of her class, may I remind you, was the first one. So you technically won against the strongest of the weakest."
"I don't see you doing any better since you weren't even able to win against her." Ash retaliated with a scowl.
I watch as the two start bickering with each other, shouting loud insults at each other's faces. Shaking my head in amusement, I turn to Brock who was watching the show in silence, probably not wanting to get involved, something I understand completely.
"Hey, Brock," I call out. "It's getting late, don't you think? Maybe we should find someplace to camp for the night."
He agrees, walking by my side, "you're right, better ask Ash to send Pidgeotto to look for some good place."
"Also, remember to look for a river or lake. I really need to clean off this sweat and dirt." I say while grimacing as I give myself a look over.
He chuckles good-naturedly and we turn back towards the other two trainers of our group, who are still arguing. Stepping between them, I hold them off.
"Alright, alright. Can you two stop fighting now? We need to find someplace to sleep for the night, and you two keep bickering like children." They both exclaim indignantly, but stop arguing and start helping nonetheless. We are all already accustomed to this scenario, with the number of times Misty and Ash argue.
With the help of our bird friend, it doesn't take us long to find a good spot for spending the night and a river to clean ourselves. Although Milo was most uncooperative in the latter, we didn't find any major difficulties and were able to go to sleep in our sleeping bags without much struggle.
Morning came with sore muscles and a headache. Not that I'm surprised, since it is quite understandable, after my extensive workout and training yesterday. Although, understanding why I have it, doesn't make it any more desirable. Yawning and stretching myself, I fight off the strong desire to stay right where I am and go back to sleep. I get up, while putting everything back inside my bag and slowly make my way towards Brock, who appears to be starting to make breakfast.
"Do you need any help, Brock?" I ask, alerting him of my presence.
Turning around, Brock nods, "yes, if you could put the table, it would be much appreciated." He gestures to an empty table.
It didn't take much time and I wake the others, after doing some simple exercises to warm up. After eating breakfast, we pack everything up and set out back on the path. Yesterday I made a quick recap of the episodes that I'll probably live in, but as all my notes are inside my laptop, I'm not able to verify it often. Maybe I should get a notepad or something.
We have already walked for about three hours before we decided to take a break for lunch. Brock and I make a quick work of the food together, and we all enjoy having our bellies full.
Stretching my arms, I put a hand on Milo's head, as I had released him together with all my other Pokemon to eat. Yesterday we worked really hard, but right now I think what my Pokemon need is some real battle experience. They did have some spars between themselves, but they already know each other's style of fighting and moves, resulting in repetition, something that I want to avoid.
Looking up to my three journey companions, I narrow my eyes. Asking them for a spar doesn't seem a bad idea. Especially for Zion, as he doesn't have any battle experience against trainers, and, if I want him to have a chance of taking on, the gym battle experience is very important.
"Hey, Ash." I call out to him, making him and Pikachu turn to me, "what do you think about having a battle? I need to get some training, before I challenge the gym."
He jumps up determined, "alright, but prepare to be crushed!" He points his finger at me.
We both make our way to an open space, facing each other, and grab our respective Pokeballs on our belts.
I turn my head to Brock, "Brock, would you mind being our referee?"
He nods his head, before standing at the side of our field. "This is a match between Aaron and Ash. Each will be able to use three Pokemon, and the battle will end when the Pokemon is unable to fight," he states, "ready? Start!"
We both throw our Pokeballs, releasing our first Pokemon. The field lighted with a red glow, from the Pokeballs, before the light vanished, revealing a Pidgeotto and Horsea. I chose Horsea leaving Zion for later, as it would be a good experience for her, not that I'm very worried about the battle, Ash is, with no better words to describe, lacking right now. He doesn't train his Pokemon and doesn't try to teach them new moves, letting them learn them by themselves.
I smirk, Kayda and Pidgeotto would be an interesting matchup, "Kayda, start things with Twister." The small seahorse Pokemon draws air, before breathing out a small hurricane of wind and dragon type energy.
"Pidgeotto, take to the skies!" Ash commands quickly.
Pidgeotto opens her wings, before launching himself upwards. The strong winds generated by Twister, make Pidgeotto fight to stay in the sky.
"Kayda, continuous Water Gun. Now!" Kayda takes a deep breath after releasing her previous attack before she starts shooting various spays of pressurized water against Pidgeotto, although only a handful of the attacks were able to hit as the still dispersing winds of Twister hinder her accuracy.
"Pidgeotto, use Gust." Flapping her wings, Pidgeotto release strong winds that protected her against the Water Guns aimed at her.
I'm actually surprised that Ash gave some thought to his moves, and didn't just recklessly charge in. Anyway, this shouldn't be too hard, even with our current distance and speed disadvantage.
"Kayda, Twister again. We have to bring her down!" Normally, I would use Bubblebeam mines as it would hinder Pidgeotto's greatest advantage, her speed. But Ash already saw me using this move, and will know to use Gust to blow the bubbles away.
At my command, Kayda releases another Twister making the winds pick up and twist forming a small hurricane. Pidgeotto beat her wings strongly, fighting to maintain herself in the air.
"Pidgeotto!" Ash exclaimed, "quick, use Gust to fight back."
Piddgeoto releases a challenging cry, before beating her wings furiously making powerful gusts of wind hit against the Twister attack. I squirt my eyes as dust from the ground is sent flying with the collision of the two wind moves.
"Now Kayda, use Dragon Rage." I take advantage that Pidgeotto was currently fighting to push away Kayda's last attack.
Pausing, Kayda gathers dragon type energy inside her mouth before releasing the energy in the form of a flaming blue purplish ball of flames. The attack sails in the sky, passing through Pidgeotto's Gust and without giving her time to dodge or protect herself, hitting her directly in the chest.
"Pidgeotto!" Ash cries in shock as Pidgeotto falls into the ground after receiving the powerful move. Gritting his teeth, Ash raises his fist and shouts in encouragement to Pidgeotto together with Pikachu.
Slowly, Pidgeotto forces herself up while slightly trembling. Dragon Rage is a move that always does 40 damage to the opposing foe in the games, and, although, I'm certain my current reality is different from the one in the games, I still expect Dragon Rage to be a powerful move nonetheless (Theory that was proven when Kayda shot it against a tree, leaving behind a big dent in the wood). I don't know if the move acts similar to the one in the game, or if it will get stronger as Kayda improves herself, but all I know, is that according to our previous tests Dragon Rage is a powerful move compared to her other moves.
"Yeah, let's show them Pidgeotto." Ash exclaimes loudly, "attack with Quick Attack!"
There is the Ash I know, attacking recklessly. Sighing, I wait for the right moment for Kayda to attack, "now! Use Water Gun, full power."
Kayda releases the pressured water just as Pidgeotto is about to hit her, making her take a lot of damage while throwing her away from Kayda. Stopping the current of water, we are greeted with the sight of Pidgeotto with swirls for eyes.
Frowning in frustration, Ash aims his pokeball at Pidgeotto, and in a flash of red, the downed bird is sucked back into the small ball, as Brock proclaims me to be the winner.
I also aim the pokeball at my Pokemon, "you did great Kayda, get some well-deserved rest." I say before returning her with a small smile on my lips.
I turn back to Ash, who is picking his next Pokemon, "you were just lucky this time. Don't expect to win against me again." He says before throwing his pokeball.
Also throwing my pokeball, I release Zion on the field against Ash's Butterfree. Right now I think the biggest threat is Butterfree's status attacks, like Sleep Powder and Stun Spore. If I can avoid those, I could take advantage of Butterfree low defense and end it with Swift and Iron Tail. Sadly, Zion doesn't know any moves to blow the spores away, so I'll be very dependent on Teleport.
"Butterfree, start with Gust." Ash gives the first command. Beating his delicate wings Butterfree sends a gust of wind against Zion.
"Zion, teleport yourself away and use Swift." I know Zion can't use Teleport too many times, because of the energy the move consumes, but right now it is the best way to evade Ash's attacks. I'll have to end this battle as fast as I can.
Teleporting himself seven feet away from his last spot, Zion evades Butterfree's Gust attack, before swinging his tail and sending three spinning stars in Butterfree's direction.
"Butterfree, fly to the side. Don't let yourself get hit." Leave it to Ash to not know the special characteristics of Swift. I watch as the stars change directions, following Butterfree, and hitting him.
Ignoring Ash's disbelieving yells, I take advantage that Butterfree is on the ground after the last attack, "Zion, quick, use Iron Tail."
Without giving a moment for Ash to give Butterfree an order, Zion teleports himself above Butterfree and hits him with his steel coated tail.
"Butterfree!" Ash shouts in worry.
"Give up, Ash," I say, "Butterfree will not hold against the next Iron Tail."
He looks conflicted, knowing him personality, he doesn't want to give up, but also doesn't want to hurt Butterfree anymore. But he seems to favor the latter, as he returns his Pokemon to his pokeball.
Also aiming my own pokeball, I return Zion, "you did great, Zion. Get a good rest." I know that after this battle he will probably sleep for the rest of the day.
I let out a sigh of amusement at my thoughts, before looking back at Ash, who is stomping towards me with an angry look on his face.
"You cheated," he exclaims angrily. Seeing my confused face he elaborates. "Butterfree definitely evaded your attack before, but it followed him!"
Ah, so this is what this is about. I sigh, "Ash, Swift is a guided attack."
Ash looks at me confused, but thankfully Brock appears at our side and explains, "a guided attack is when an attack will lock with its target and follow it. The only way to avoid these types of attacks is by destroying it." Well, there are a lot more ways, but I doubt Ash's brain would be able to understand any more than the basics.
"So he didn't cheat?" Ash asked. Brock simply nods in response, "But still, your Abra should never be able to win against my Butterfree! You might have been lucky until now, but I'll show you. Pikachu, let's show him!" Pikachu lazily looks to Ash before making his way in front of him,
"Then it is you and me, Milo," I say to my partner, who excitedly makes his way and gets ready.
"Pikachu, show them your Thunder Shock." Ash starts the match again, commanding the first move.
"Milo, quickly evade. Then use Swift." Milo jumps to the side, barely avoiding the electrifying attack, before swinging his tail, sending a group of yellow stars against Pikachu.
"Pikachu, use Thunder Shock, again." Taking advantage that Pikachu was occupied dealing with his last attack, Milo starts using Work Up, a tactic I had taught to him earlier in the day. Calling the move myself would attract too much attention to what we were doing, not to mention that I might be focusing on something else at the moment, so I ordered Milo to do it, if he is in no immediate danger or without a specific order he is to start trying to start boosting his stats.
At the contact of the two opposing moves, a cloud of smoke and dust covers the middle of the battlefield. For some reason Ash decides to wait out for the smoke to disperse, but who am I to complain, it only gives more time for Milo to stack Work Up. At the moment it takes a considerable amount of time to use the move, about 8 seconds, and while it might seem nothing, in a battle a couple of seconds can mean everything.
"Pikachu, Quick Attack," Ash commands as soon as his vision is cleared.
Having stacked two Work Ups, I'm not worried about Milo losing in pure physical strength, "Milo, use Quick Attack as well."
The two Pokemon collide in the middle of the arena, and like my predictions, Pikachu loses in the contest of strength and is sent flying back at Ash's feet. Milo is already stronger than Pikachu after all the training I put him through, but together with two Work Ups? Pikachu didn't stand a chance.
"Pikachu!" Ash shouts surprised. Kneeling he picks up the small yellow Pokemon that had been knocked out by Milo's attack.
"Pikachu is unable to battle. Ash is out of Pokemon, the winner of this match is Aaron." Brock announces, when he noticed that Pikachu was unconscious.
"You did it, Milo!" I open my arms as the brown ball of fluff speeds up and throws himself at me. Only for me to feel as if a cannonball had hit my chest and all of the air left my lungs, as I fell on my back.
"M-Milo, d-don't throw yourself at me while using Work Up, O-Ok?" I let out weakly, as I try to recover from the sudden impact.
Sadly, I see a mischievous glint pass into his eyes, as he smiles slyly making shivers run on my back. I fear for my life and pity for the future me. Whatever Milo is planning, it isn't good for my health.
"Ok, Aaron," Milo replies, much too happy for my tastes.
I groan, as I sit up. Looking up, I see Ash glaring daggers at me, maybe he didn't take his loss very well. Who am I kidding, Ash never took any loss well at the start of his journey.
I put Milo on my side, before getting up and shaking the dirt off my clothes. Seeing as Ash apparently wants to stay away from me and mop alone, I go talk to Misty about water-type Pokemon, a topic she is most proficient in, and has been a great help in training Kayda.
It doesn't take long before we hit the road again. Milo walking by my side, looking at the tree on the side of the road with the same excitement as at the start of our journey. I don't know how he isn't bored of the monotonous same trees, but looking at him, I see a big smile on his face. I shake my head softly, well who cares, as long as he is happy. I continue the dirt path feeling the slight pull upwards on my lips.
Yeah, it's been awhile, hasn't it? I've been occupied in the last weeks, so I ended up not posting anything. Hopefully, I'll be able to post normally from now on. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, thanks for all the reviews and (hopefully) see you all next week!