Author's Notes:
Last chapter seemed a little chaotic with the catching of all of these new Pokémon.
Jet's Team:
Charmeleon/Thorn – Male- Lvl.22
Pidgey/Sora – Female – Lvl.17
Pichu/Spark – Male – Lvl.17
Magikarp/Hydra – Female – Lvl.13
Geodude/Boulder – Male – Lvl.15
Both eggs aren't technically part of Jet's party until after they hatch. They were both born by the same parent around the same time, so they will both hatch together.
Amy's Team:
Ivysaur – Male – Lvl.19
Hoot-hoot – Female – Lvl.14
Poliwag – Male – Lvl.13
Paras – Male – Lvl.12
Clefairy – Female – Lvl.12
Sink or Swim
Hydra repeated the steps together in her head, Move my head in the opposite direction of my tail. Flap my fins at the same time to push forward. Do the same thing in the opposite direction.
While the other Pokémon were to help set up camp, Jet gave Hydra the task of swimming laps around the pool at the base of the waterfall.
"Your current swimming style is highly inefficient in terms of both speed and technique," Jet had informed her, "Instead of swimming by using Splash to propel yourself forward, try this technique."
And so Hydra was ordered to do laps while trying this new form of swimming. Hydra found it extremely annoying. At first she was having trouble moving forward at all. Once she did get moving, the progress was slow and jerky.
She wanted to give up and just swim her way, but her master had given her an order. Orders from the master were absolute! Besides, everything else he had tried with her seemed unconventional at first. But now, she was able to use an attack that she was positive no other Magikarp knew.
Still, this brace was holding her back, making it hurt to keep going forward. She couldn't half ass it though; her master was counting on her. He hasn't let her down so far, so why should she let him down? And turn, and thrust! And turn, and thrust!
Outside of the pool, Jet laid the two eggs in a small dug out made by Boulder. It was near enough to the campfire to provide the desired hatching temperature, but far enough not to overdo it. Jet felt the eggs and said, "If I keep them outside of the pokeballs, they should hatch within the next week. There's already movement inside of them."
"That sounds good," said Amy as she set up her tent.
Sora and Thorn got back with the day's bounty; catfish and oran berries. Amy got a pot ready to make a stew. Jet called Hydra out of the water so she could rest before they all ate.
"I figure after lunch we could do some technique training for a few hours," said Jet to his Pokémon, "Thorn will lead the training for the day. Hydra, you're going to be with me; you and I are doing strength training."
Amy asked, "When you guys are done, want to do some sparring with us? I have to break the newbies in, but I'd like to get some battle practice in later."
"Oh, yeah! I just remembered!" Jet went into his bag and pulled out his moon stone, "Do you want to try it out on your Clefairy?"
Amy's eyes widened, "Where did you get that? I though this place has been picked clean years ago!"
"It was with the eggs," Jet grinned, "The Pokémon must have been hiding it for years."
The main part of Mt. Moon was a tourist attraction. It had a giant moon stone which was completely off limits to the public. Besides that moon stone, all other fragments were believed to be gone from the caves. The fact that Jet found one was nothing short of sheer luck.
"Let me see it? I want to see if it will work on Clefairy."
Jet handed Amy the moon stone, which she in turn took over to Clefairy. She placed it on Clefairy's brow, much the same way Jet did with his TM's, and waited.
The stone started to hum and light up a little. The light got brighter and brighter until Clefairy began to light up. All the other Pokémon watched in interest as Clefairy evolved into a Clefable. Amy squealed and hugged Jet. "Thank you! I can't believe I own a Clefable!"
Jet took the moon stone and put it away, "No problem. I have a TM for Hidden Power you can use on her too."
After lunch, everyone got to training. Thorn was paired up with Boulder, whom was to learn the basics of Jet's fighting style. Sora was set to spar with Hoot-hoot, while Spark wanted to face Ivysaur. Jet, meanwhile, got in the water with Hydra.
"Ok, girl," Jet said, "While you swim laps practicing your swimming technique, I'll swim with you. We'll do our strength training together. We sink or swim as a team."
And so they were off. Instead of swimming in circles, Jet and Hydra swam from one end of the pool to the other, with Hydra easily overlapping Jet. Her awkward swimming style was getting more and more refined as they swam on.
Thorn was trying to help Boulder with his defense. You have no legs, said Thorn, so it's harder for you shift your weight with your movements than it is for me. What I suggest, is rolling back when your opponent strikes and grabbing their arm, like so.
Sora and Hoot-hoot were practicing their close combat skills on the ground. It was awkward for them to scratch and tackle while not in the air, but they were able to manage.
Spark was having trouble against Ivysaur, who was much stronger than the former. Spark was a lot quicker, though, and was able to dodge Ivysaur's physical attacks fairly easily. He only used light electric attacks on his opponent as they were only sparring.
By the time dinner came, everyone was exhausted. No one more so than Hydra and Jet. Her binding brace was taking a hard toll on her muscles. Jet simply was at the end of his strength; every muscle in his body ached from swimming so much. He shook every time he went to move.
Thorn and the others seemed to find this highly amusing, as if they were relishing in seeing Jet more exhausted then they were. After dinner, the Pokémon all started sparring again. The two exceptions were Boulder and Hydra. Hydra was stuck with the task of swimming more laps while Jet and Boulder worked on Rock Tomb.
Once they were ready to call it a night, Jet and Amy set up a night watch schedule with two hour shifts in between. Jet and Hydra took the first watch. While everyone else was getting sleep, Jet had Hydra practice using Slam on a moss covered rock.
"Remember, take your time. Speed and power will come later, just focus on technique and accuracy for now."
While Hydra practiced her attack, Jet decided to spend his time shadow boxing. Just as he told Hydra, he moved a lot slower than he normally would. He focused on refining his own technique, which had become very rusty over the years.
The next morning saw Jet and Hydra doing waterfall training. "Some members of your species swim up waterfalls as a rite of passage. I know it's hard with that brace of yours on, but try to get to the top. If you fall, then just get up and try again."
While she tried to swim up the waterfall, Jet tried to climb beside her. Neither got farther than a few feet, nor did either one give up. Not only was the force of the falls too much for Jet to handle, but all of his stepping stones were slippery. Still, Jet was not doing this particular training for his benefit; it was so that Hydra would be motivated to keep going.
And motivated she was. For she didn't stop trying, no matter how many times they both fell. They kept at it again, and again, and again. After a while, Jet was so exhausted that he found himself unable to tread after falling.
He attempted to get his head above the water, but sank down farther from exhaustion. He held his breath and kicked his feet, but to no avail. Hydra dove under the water after him. Hydra had rescued him by swimming him to the banks while he held on to her.
"Thank you girl!" Jet said hugging his Magikarp, "I'm really impressed by how much you've grown. I think we're ready to take this off now."
Jet removed her binding brace and said, "I need to rest, so should you. We'll start technique training with the others after breakfast."
For breakfast, everyone had berries. It was safe to say that the entire group was becoming sick of them at this point. Amy asked, "Were you drowning earlier? Because I saw your Magikarp swimming you to land."
Jet nodded and said, "Yeah, Hydra really saved me back there. I would have drowned had it not been for her."
Thorn looked at Hydra and said, You have my gratitude. Thank you for protecting the master.
Hydra, for her part, felt proud that she had saved Jet's life. She felt proud that she was able to training that he himself was unable to do. And finally, she felt relieved that she finally got a chance to take off that binding brace.
Jet looked over to the eggs, which he thought saw move a moment ago. He put his hand on each egg in turn and said, "They're moving around inside. I think they'll hatch in a couple of days!."
Amy smiled, "That's good, are you going to train them or what?"
Jet looked at Amy and said, "I've got something special planned for both of them."
Once breakfast was done, everybody got ready to start technique training. Jet gave his Pokémon their assignments, "Thorn, you're to find a boulder and use Ember on it until it's completely melted. Spark, do the same with your Thundershock.
"Boulder, your Hidden Power can use a lot of work, pair up with Sora and she'll help you through it. Hydra, we're going to work on your Tackle today."
Hydra felt elated as now she too got to participate in technique training with the others. She hopped over to Jet who took her over to one of the trees and said, "This will be your target. What you want to do is propel yourself forward with your tail, the same way you do with Slam. This time, however, you're hitting with your front end."
Hydra nodded affirmative and Jet smiled, "Now show me what you can do; use Tackle!"
Author's Notes:
The next chapter will see more training. After that, the action begins as trouble starts brewing in Mt. Moon. Stay tuned to find out what happens!
