Saffron City is, quite frankly, massive. It has the highest population, but is not the largest city. Celadon is the largest based on pure landmass. Saffron, as opposed to the beautiful urban sprawl, is a city of steel highrises and skyscrapers. They have more apartment buildings and offices over 10 stories than I think is reasonable.
It's a city made to be as efficient and effective per square inch as it can be. It's very impressive. It is also home to two gyms, and I think I can do both. The fighting Gym is a common place to go for people who are terrified of Sabrina, and Sabrina is better for people aiming to be the best.
And I guess eleven badges hurt nothing, really.
The fighting Gym is known to be weaker than the other main-line gyms, and Erika had said even a 10 badge battle with any minor Gym would be equal to a 9 badge battle with any of the major 8.
So I'm going to use this to refine my technique. Maybe Gible and Dragonair will evolve. They are physically primed and ready, with suitable control over their power to handle the evolution. Waiting more may actually do more harm than good, but a Pokemon needs to be pushed to evolve. They need to feel like they require the power to win or progress. Neither of my Dragons has felt that yet. Not truly.
So I'll tell them to go all out on the Fighting Gym and let them figure out how to win while encouraging them, but not offering direct orders unless they get in danger. This is a test for them - and their growth. Not a test for my skill. If they both fall, I'll send out Pidgeot and Charizard, followed by whomever else counters the fighting types best.
As I land in front of the Fighting Gym, I recall my call to Professor Oak last night, and issue my challenge in short order, sending out Gible.
"You know, Greg, you're causing a lot of waves. You're a rookie who's setting the record for all-time first year trainers collecting all 8 badges. You're on track to be one of the very few who collects every badge in the first year. You really just need to sweep up the rest of the minor gyms, only three are out of your way, and hardly even at that. I think you should do it." Oak says, leaning into the screen. "It'll get your name out there. It'll also set you and my lab up to have a lot more funding. Lance is looking to have you put on one of the roving Elite Squads, depending on your performance in the Conference. You'd be one step from Elite Four at that rank, working directly under them or the Champion, depending on what you do. Further, you'll have a lot of benefits. The Roving team was set up after the League needed an answer to the machinations of the various terrorist organizations. You could do a lot worse than them, but you'll need to really break the glass ceiling like only the greatest have ever done for true freedom." Oak concludes, earning a nod and smile from me.
"I assume the roving Elites are the people who win most conferences and keep operations of Terrorists in check when they stumble across them?" I asked, getting a nod. Then Oak looks pleased, seeing I am considering it.
"Of course, that's the future. I thought I should set your goals, for now. All that aside, I think you'd do best to catch more Pokemon. I have a preliminary training system set up, and will happily help you rotate your team so they can go through your more advanced stuff, and what I have. Still, I know you're going to be asking for the three Lance had sent over, since you can carry all of them. He said that the breeder he's having join you is freshly graduated from the ACE Support company. They're a former conference top 8, and they chose to be support instead of a combatant. He thinks you'll get along with this…" Oak paused as he shuffled some papers, then nodded at the name on the page he found. "Reginald Ordon. He's from Sinnoh and has collected eight badges there and here, in Kanto. Very skilled, and excited to get experience with someone using advanced and experimental training. He is twenty-two, and should meet you somewhere in Saffron." He looked up from the papers, a big smile on his face.
Reginald? Never heard of him. Still, if he's an official ACE trained breeder with sixteen total badges, he's not a slouch. "It'll be good to work with him. I hope we can work well together. He'll make sure everyone is in top shape while I make sure they get as strong as they can be. I was thinking of taking a day off between gyms to explore the City with my team. No battling, just go around and eat the food, enjoy the sights." I explain, and Oak nods.
I'm snapped out of my thoughts as I cheer Gible a bit belatedly as I see him standing over an unconscious Hitmonlee. The Hitmontop which comes out after glows blue for a second before blurring towards Gible.
Gible absentmindedly throws a rock, and extends the spin from the throw to meet the Ice-infused fighting type with an Iron Head. Gible is blasted backwards, but so is the Hitmontop. Gible stands and roars cutely, then dives into the ground. Hitmontop merely jumps and then glows blue as it spins around the arena at a breakneck speed.
Then, the Hitmontop is tossed into the air by an explosion of green fire as Gible erupts from under it, and advances slowly, keeping the Dragon Breath held on the Fighting type who is slammed into the Ceiling, before it begins to drill through the energy with a spinning Ice Punch, making almost a drill with its arms as the ice-type energy grows denser around it. I hear the call for "Ice Drill" as it comes down, and Gible starts to roar louder and then explodes in white light before growing massively, and settling into the form of a very large Gabite, with the Draconic Flames not growing in size, but instead narrowing and almost folding in as Gabite focuses it's energy down into the Hitmontop who is still very slowly closing in.
Then Gabite cuts the Dragon Breath, and swings his arm in an Iron Claw while flying up in a cloak of green, displaying Dragon Rush.
Hitmontop and Gabite explode on contact, and the clash results in a clean double knockout.
I recall Gabite, and send out Dragonair to meet Hitmonchan, and zone back out to my prior conversation as I see Dragonair landing Thunder Wave and Twister.
That thing is already doomed.
"Breaks are good. Saffron is a city of real masters. The masters of mind and body. The duology of man. You can learn a lot by walking the city, seeing the people and experiencing the culture. Maybe even visit the Silph Company! There are a lot of missions you might find there for trainers, such as yourself. They need a lot of Pokemon for making and supplying their TMs, the better trained and more versatile of a Pokemon you can supply, the more they're willing to pay. A shame Smeargle are endangered, if you caught a pair and trained them up to a high level then you'd be able to sell them for a lot to Silph." He hints, and I give him a look.
"How much are they worth? Smeargle are not very hard to find in run down abandoned towns and cities. You just need to be able to sneak up on them, because like a truant child, they run when they hear anything - even if it is merely another Smeargle." I explain, and he gives me a devious smile.
"Your choice of five TMs or fifty thousand pokedollars, for a freshly caught baby Smeargle. I saw a retired trainer who trained - but had issues with a Smeargle meshing with his tem - sell one for Five Million, and he got his choice of ten TMs. That, of course, was a one time thing. But if you had some trick to get Smeargle to their physical peak in only a few months… well, you could make a lot! And it surely proved useful in making sure you had everything you needed for a journey. The other options for high-sellers, if you're curious, are any Pokemon with the Trace Ability and Ditto. Considering Ditto is only very rarely found in Cinnabar and a few other very heavily restricted areas, I'll wish you luck on those options." Oak chuckles, and I frankly want to have the last laugh.
Because think about it like this - Ditto was made by Team Rocket. They operated in the edges where no one would find them and near Vermillion the most. The game corroborates this with where Ditto is. Between Lavender and Fuschia, the least populated part of Kanto.
"I'll keep an eye out, so, how are the newest members of my team?" I ask.
I'm shaken out of my thoughts by a big explosion which I'd half noted was from the collision of Dragonair's Aqua Tail having met a Machamps Dynamic Punch. The water would have hidden the fact that Dragon Tail was also used, and Wrap was also going to go off if the attack didn't knock Dragonair away. Truly, Sparring with Erika's team until she deemed us ready to fight the other Gym Leaders for the rest of my badges had been… the right choice.
Machamp is revealed, unconscious after a moment. I cheer for Dragonair's close win. "Just two more Pokemon to go. You can take them - I believe in you." I say in a normal voice as a Primeape screams its challenge. Dragonair smirks, and the world explodes with a Twister expanding rapidly from his body. Twister is his favorite move. It's controlled the best, too. The winds come within inches of - but do not touch - any of the barriers. It's a perfect cylinder of destructive winds, with nearly no gaps except those Dragonair is weaving around himself.
This is his way of taking something out quickly. High energy expenditure, but worth it if the Pokemon he's fighting has to close in. The only weakness?
He can't hold this forever. He can hold it for a while, and is getting more efficient with it every day we train it further. But right now it's still what amounts to a proto-draco meteor in cost and effectiveness.
The Twister slowly fades to reveal a massively beaten Primeape, glaring dead on Dragonair, who is breathing deeply and evenly. Clearly forcing his breath to remain even so as to keep control. It was a useful trick.
"Disrupt it and then Crush!" The Master of the gym yells, and Dragonair's body begins to crackle with green and red power, before he explodes outwards to meet the Primeape, wrapping first around the arm, then its whole body before delivering it to the ground with a Slam, receiving a parting Ice punch, resulting in Dragonair crying in pain, then diving down after the grounded Primape, who is pulling itself out of the crater it has made of the floor. As they get closer, Dragonair explodes in light, and then just before they meet, an arm comes from the light and meets the punch of the Primeape in a massive clawed hand, then the other with the other, before a massive, grinning Dragonite opens it's mouth and lets a casual Hyper Beam drop the large Fighting Type by throwing it into the barrier, then exploding violently to the sound of the barrier shattering.
The smoke clears after a moment, and it's revealed this gym has at least double layered barriers, since Primeape is only a few feet out of the ring. Dragonite crosses his arms leisurely as he flaps his wings lazily. Still looking beaten to hell, but proud and ready to destroy all comers.
"Good job, you've exceeded my expectations. Now, you need to get used to your new limbs quickly, so your objective is to win the fistfight incoming, or force a tie. If you lose, I will double your training before we fight Sabrina." I say, and Dragonite gives a very relaxed smile as he begins to throw lightning, then fire punches. In a stance I'd shown Scizor and, more recently, Jangmo-o. The speed increases as Dragonite works in kicks and then tail slams and other maneuvers from his time as a Dragonair. In all of ten seconds I've seen Dragonite go through a full Kata in increasingly high speeds, with the end of it just being a blur so fast I can hardly tell Dragonite moved, as the final opponent comes out.
A Sawk.
Dragonite holds nothing back, a red and black glow pulsing as green lightning pulses in the full activation of Dragon Dance and Outrage, before entering a purely one-sided beatdown.
Dragonite with all of his enhancements is so much faster and stronger than the fighting type that it's almost unfair. It's clearly a skill based fighter, but is not as fast as a Dragonite on Dragon Dance with Outrage and elemental punches. Even if the skill level is low, the speed and power makes up for it, and in under a minute, the Sawk is unconscious on the floor, steaming from the last fire-infused blow.
"You're a real monster. That Sawk has been the best fighter of this gym for over ten years. It's skill and power are unmatched by any fighting type who has come through. Your Dragonite made it look like a common Machop. You earned the badge, so take it. Good job, and I hope you make Sabrina weep." The leader - known as Master Anthony, says shaking his head. Then he tosses me the badge and continues. "If you want, I can show your Dragonite there how to use Ice-Punch and a few anti-psychic moves. It has a good basic form, and could use some of the tricks." He offers, and I offer a smile, but shake my head.
"We have a strict schedule. Tomorrow is our rest day, then we fight Sabrina. If you want to take a crack after that, I may be willing. I was planning to ask Sabrina for help getting prepared for Koga and Blaine as 10th badge level. She's the most recent person to beat their ninth badge level, and I think it'd be for the best to see what she has on offer, for training at least. Dragonite here is a physical fighter primarily, and could use some time to learn from a master. Splitting the team up for specialized training of either physical or special moves is actually something I should do in general." I say, shrugging, then offer a smile. "After all, if I'm going to win the conference in my first year, I've got to really take advantage of everything." I conclude, and he gives me the most serious look anyone has given me since I got in this world. Actually assessing me, and not my Pokemon.
"Yea, you're tough enough to handle it. I think you'd want to do my training in the morning. Then, you can go get breakfast, do your training, and whatever else. If you want to train with that Witch, Sabrina, then you can do that at night. Everyone knows she doesn't wake up before ten-AM anyways." He says, waving me off while muttering something about how Sabrina is a heretic most foul against the most Holy Grind.
I shrug, and head out of the gym, back to the Center to smash some more trainers after we heal up.
I'm not going to let TM central just walk past me without scooping up some of the best. Along with some of the harder-to-get pokeballs.
Because Dagonite's Movepool is a monstrous thing, and if I can get training from the Psychic and Fighting masters - of gyms at least - in Kanto, then I'm going to take that. And push my team's movepool to the limit while I do so.
*** Scene Change ***
"Reginald - at your service, sir." A large man - almost seven feet tall and built like a Mamoswine greets me cheerily. I look at him across from my dinner in mild shock, before gesturing for him to take a seat.
"Pleasure to meet you, Reginald. I was told you were coming but seeing you in person is different than I thought it would be." I comment lightly, getting a chuckle as he sits in the seat offered. "But no need for the Sir stuff, just call me Greg." I tell him, then offer my hand with a grin.
"Sure thing, Greg. Some of the people being scouted for the wandering Elite are real uptight assholes. You'd never believe it." He says with a snort, shaking my hand. I am impressed to find his grip is actually a match for my own, even with cheating as Gravity Training. He grins at my expression. "I was briefed on the fact you, like me, train with your pokemon. Good idea, but cuts into the time needed to cook, hence why they sent my sorry ass to look after the chores." He shakes his head with a self deprecating grin, then cuts into his food. "What you did for the league, though, well. I'm not complaining, I get to do some chores and hang out for my first assignment." He concludes, then pops his bite of steak into his mouth. I nod.
"This'll be a pretty fast paced journey. I want to get all the badges from everywhere but Fuschia and Cinnabar before the St. Anne goes out of port in Vermillion. So, tomorrow is my day off. I'll show you my team and introduce you and any Pokemon you have, then we'll go around and get shopping and relaxation done. I've heard of Pokemon massage parlors, parks and other goodies in this city. I'm going to hit as many as I can." I explain with a grin, getting one in return.
"You know how to work, take and give jokes, and you understand the need for rest days? This'll be my job for the rest of my career, I can only hope." He says, shaking his head.
"We'll see if your sorry ass can keep up. If you do well, then we'll see. We have high standards here." I say, injecting as snobbish of a tone as I can into my voice, turning my nose up as I take a bite of my… unseasoned chicken.
"I tremble before the monumental expectations before the masterfully unseasoned chicken!" He wails, getting some glances before we burst out laughing, and start trading stories.
He's a master of the Ground Type, inspired by Bertha of the Elite Four and having loved his cousin - Candice's Mamoswine since he saw it the first time.
Yes, Candice of Snowpoint City is this guy's cousin. His Mamoswine is even one of the things children.
Other than that, he seems to have had a pretty good early couple of years, like Ash but generally doing worse. His first year was a knockout in the preliminaries, then a knockout in the top 32, then he made top 8 barely two years ago, and got into ACE. Now, he's a support member for the league, and is 'getting experience with high mobility teams who have a wide range of needs.' AKA - he's here to do everything I can't be arsed to do, and he's going to do them before I even know they need to be done. Including cooking, cleaning, setting up and taking down camp and making sure anything Chansey can't take care of is taken care of as effectively as possible.
His specialty?
Making buildings with his ground types. He trained their control over various Ground and Rock Type moves to the point they can make and destroy buildings of raw stone and dirt in minutes. Well, if you're in rocky terrain.
He can still do it in a half hour if you only want a simple bunker in a forest. More for actual buildings with walls and stuff.
He apparently is going to be on the lookout for certain grass types to grow wood for proper flooring and to assist in growing required herbs and berries for his medicines.
Because his end goal, it turns out, is to be disaster relief, rebuilding homes and making the world safer and to remove the impact of the dangers ACE and the Elite cannot fully remove.
I tell him my goal is to be the strongest trainer in the world.
After he meets my team, after dinner, he fully believes me.
*** Scene Change ***
The rest day was an extraordinary hit, in more ways than I'd expected.
The massages were first, and my Pokemon liked them so much I bribed them with us staying in town for two weeks, with them getting massages daily after lunch if we smashed Sabrina's team and managed to get her to train us in the evenings.
I'd never seen them so determined to beat anyone. My team loves battling, but they love getting something they love as a result of battling. I put getting a Pokemon Masseuse on my list of 'things to do with the obscene amounts of money I have' list.
Then we'd taken a walk in the park. Nice and leisurely. Except the other trainers in the park were also battling, and me and my team watched the impromptu tournament which happened for most of the time we were there. Watching people who had eight badges from previous seasons and would go to the conference duke it out was inspiring for me - a lot of techniques and quirks I could steal. My team was more enthused, having picked up on the way some of the Pokemon had refined their attacks, and eager to steal those ideas. Refine them, make them their own.
I noted all of this down, grinning like a loon.
Then, we'd gone to what I thought to be the highlight but turned into the cool-down and tempering of their excitement into cold, hard determination.
While Reginald watched on in shock at how exuberant my team was to learn, grow, and fight. How they talked - all thirteen of them - among each other and pointed out refinements they noticed in detail between battles with their own moves at a very low power.
How everyone picked up on what they were being told and then shared if they noted any weaknesses and how to buffer those out, and so forth. My team had used every fifteen minute interval to almost the last second possible to discuss and refine. Meanwhile I watched and noted what they were using, who said something about the thing and if it seemed positive or negative, along with my own observations.
Reginald asked me endless questions all the while.
Then, dinner at a very high class restaurant for Pokemon, and my Pokemon didn't seem to give a crap about the food. I got the feeling they liked the flavor of my protein infused meals, and found this average to low protein food rather weak in comparison. Like it was missing their favorite spice which goes with every meal. They liked it much more than normal food, but less than the super muscle building mix I gave them.
Curious.
So, when I went to challenge Sabrina at exactly nine forty five in the morning 'before she wakes up' according to the Fighting Gym guy, fully expecting a bit of a wait, I was only very slightly surprised to find her ready for me in the battle room, nursing a cup of coffee and watching what amounted to Pokemon Youtube on a phone. She is not wearing that Anime Outfit. That double-buttoned jacket. Red with gold and long enough to go to mid thigh. Nope.
Not even a doll.
She's wearing a red and black body-suit looking thing. The Gen 3 Outfit. Except she's wearing normal person shoes. Well, normalish. They're black heels. As I finish looking her over I hear the clack-clack of her flexing her foot and letting the heels rise off then hit the ground again. Over and over the clack-clacking of the heels sound. I step into the challenger box as she looks up from the phone.
"I knew you were coming. Your mental energy is very… loud most of the time. But you also knew a lot of the city, and some of your mind was hidden. So, I decided to meet you when you came for the badge. See if I could figure out why you're so quiet sometimes and so loud others. But, alas, I cannot. So, what do you say? A full six-on-six battle, where I use my true team and you use yours? It should be a good fight." She offers in a chilly monotone. I offer no facial expression in response, as I nod coldly.
"Your self control is impressive. I sense no emotions from you - which is very good." She continues, sending out a Mr. Mime. I nod again, sending out Scizor.
Sabrina smiles, and emotion enters her voice. "It's been a very long time since I didn't ruffle a trainer - a new one at that - with this facade! This will be fun!" She says cheerily, and waves a hand, and Mr. Mime begins erecting Screens.
"One-Three." I command. We'd come up with comprehensive anti-psychic strategies. Gen 1 Alakazam was the best Pokemon. There are few good counters to Psychics in those games except for Gengar.
So Brick Break and Fury Cutter building from there is for the best. As Scizor appears in front of Mr. Mime, he shatters no less than three barriers, then hits a fourth, and the second claw descends, shattering four. Then Scizor is impacted by two barriers slamming into him as Mr. Mime claps, and Scizor throws his arms out, shattering the screens, before bringing them both down in a Brick Break and X Scissor Combo. The Mr. Mime is cleanly hit, and Scizor chases, punting the Mr. Mime around for thirty seconds with a Swords Dance and Fury Cutter combo. Dancing around hastily erected barriers and smashing Mr. Mime relentlessly. Plowing through Psychic attacks.
Mr. Mime is not a battler, he's a controller who sets the field of battle before the rest of the team comes in to crush you from his fortress. I'd made sure Scizor had the ability to break the Fortress. He may be technically weaker than Mr. Mime, but he's a Pokemon made for combat, not a support to a team like Mr. Mime is.
He falls unconscious and Sabrina's smile turns from predatory glee to a real, graceful thing. She's loving every second of this.
I can almost feel her mind whirling as she thinks of counters to someone who came with counters made for her team and preferred team order in mind. Her fingers dance over her balls, and then she tosses one out.
Wobbuffet. A trade, then.
Acceptable. "2-3." I order, and Sabrina smiles as Scizor appears in front of the Blue Blob, and swings, only to dance around as a mirror coat pops up, then fades just as Scizor twirling Fury Cutter lands. He knows he's sacrificing himself here, but that's fine.
He and Wobbofet go down. Double knockout.
"You actually understood and played around the Mirror Coat. How impressive!" Sabrina comments, and sends out Pokemon number three.
Jinx. Perish Trap. I'm sure.
Gabite will prove that choice… unwise. Ice type, Jinx may be but…
"3-2-1.." I trail off, and Gabite vanishes, and Jinx starts to sing.
When the song Finishes, a glowing purple and green Gabite erupts from the grounds and begins furiously ping-ponging the Jinx. Hurling Stone Edge out of Dig was just the start. It quickly turns into a blur of movement as Gabite crunches down, throws Jinx in the hole, and then stomps, starting an Earthquake. Then Gabite jumps in, punts Jinx out of the hole, and lands in front of me.
Jinx is out like a light. I recall Gabite as Sabrina recalls Jinx, and then sends out the first real big-time threat.
Gallade.
I sent out Charizard in response. Knight vs Dragon. A classic, really. Damn, do I want a Raltz of my own…
"4-10." I called. This is the fastest way to let him know screens are down, and he needs to blast hard and fast. Also, he only gets one fight. Charizard roars and then stomps, and begins to coat the field in fire as Gallade appears behind Charizard, only to be grabbed by his tail.
I know this is Gallade's Standard Opener, and had told Charizard to lash out with the tail behind 1 second after using a frontal attack move. Then…
Dragon Tail. Into the floor. Use the momentum to go up and Fire Blast down as you go up, while preparing to grab the Gallade as soon as the Blast leaves your mouth. The only way out is to appear on his back. The Blast is going to turn the floor to literal lava.
Gallade does exactly as expected. Charizard grips Gallade and Seismic Tosses him into his crater of Lava, taking a number of slashes from no less than two Aqua Cutters and two Psyblades. The cut scales bleed pretty heavily as Gallade slams into the puddle of Lava with a Fireblast following it down.
Gallade does not stand up, and Charizard lands, staggers and then gives me a look of absolute triumph as I recall him.
An Espeon is sent out, and before it's done materializing, has a full on box of Psychic energy holding it out of the Lava. I grin, and send out Dragonite.
"5-5" I tell Dragonite, who screams a challenge, then with a crack, vanishes in Extreme Speed, before cutting the Light Screen like paper, and smashing the Espeon into the Lava, before getting blasted into the barrier next to me by a Future Sight.
Dragonite peels himself off the Barrier and then dodges an Ice Beam as he sends up a blue orb, and it starts a torrential downpour. Then, Dragonite flies into the clouds of the arena, and they start to light up with brighter flashes of lightning, before a true bolt slams out of the sky and into Espeon, and I watch no less than three attacks hit Dragonite. One sends him out of the sky, then the second bounces him away from the ground, to Sabrina, and the third bounces him back to me, pile-driving him at an angle so he drags through the destroyed floor, and winds up at my feet.
Knocked out cold.
Just like the Espeon, who has already been replaced by Sabrina's Arceus Forsaken Alakazam.
This thing is just raw power and speed. I tap-tap my pokeballs as I consider. I have Scizor and Dragonite down. Charizard injured and Gabite a bit tired from his fight. So…
Ninetails hits the field, and the rain instantly turns to snow.
"V6-2" I call, and get an omnidirectional bark of acknowledgement, before the world goes white.
Veil and then Blizzard for as long as you can. Drain the things energy defending itself or knock it out. Veil and Dig should make Ninetails basically undetectable for Alakazam in a full on Blizzard like this. But, I'd seen it crush teams with three, four, even five members left.
It lived up to the hype, as the Blizzard died down, and the snow kept falling, but it looked only a little tired. Then it ripped Ninetails out of the ground and began slamming her off of every wall it could.
I recalled her, surrendering her before she was knocked out.
Pidgeot was next.
"M6-2" I call, and Pidgeot erupts in blue, and vanishes.
Then breaks through no less than ten Screens in a row with Brave Bird, before slamming into Alakazam at a visible speed before getting gripped and given the Ninetails Treatment with Psychic. I surrender Pidgeot as well.
"Burn." I say, as Charizard materializes, and he roars. The ball of fire he spits out looking like a prideful action before the temperature rises, the snow begins to evaporate, and Charizard stomps as a series of rumbles shake the earth, before everything starts exploding.
Charizard is in Blaze, which means fire attacks are stronger. Charizard is also under the sun, so again the power goes up.
Then Charizard used Inferno and Earthquake. This is our attempt at making a better Eruption, and well…
Alakazam looked panicked for a moment as the fire engulfed him, then the rock and fire was blasted away, and the rocks controlled into a very controlled and sharp set of makeshift knives as they were hurled into Charizard over the pain of the fire collapsing back onto the Alakazam.
Charizard, it turns out, goes down first in those contests. Alakazam just used Psychic to make Stone Edge, but it's better because its also Psychic!
What the fuck man.
At least it looks absolutely drained, at this point.
So I send out Gabite.
"You're all. Win Con 3." I say. Gabite grins, and then rips into the ground with abandon, vanishing. Alakazam - slower than before but still fast - begins dumping the piping hot Magma into the Hole behind Gabite. But Gabite, in the middle of this, slams into Alakazam from below and then chucks him bodily into the hole - and what I suspect is a pool of Magma at the bottom, before gleefully stomping, and causing an Earthquake.
Or he would have, if not blasted by a Future Sight, and slamming into the Barrier.
Gabite, looking like he should be 100% unconscious, gives me the biggest stupidest smile ever, then proceeds to slam into the ground and roar defiance. The Alakazam, half burned black and looking like it needs a nap, teleports out of the hole and falls to its knees instantly as the Earthquake starts. Gabite, seeing the Alakazam raise it's spoon, which glows blue roars, and then explodes in white light.
I begin laughing as the previous speed and power of Gabite seems to double as it vanishes from where it stood, and then in an explosion of light behind the Alakazam, Garchomp delivers a final Crunch to Alakazam, who finally goes limp. Garchomp throws it towards Sabrina who recalls it, and I see what can only be described as glee on her face as she almost skips over, out of her booth, then mid skip, lands in front of me. Beaming.
"You have earned this gyms badge! Most valiantly, I might add! You're not Koga and Blaine level, but the others?" She says, pressing the badge into my palm, letting out a 'Psh' and waving a hand. "You've got them all clocked. Still, I know you were thinking about training with me, and I'm happy to accept! My whole team other than Alakazam needs to get working harder, because they've all gotten lazy since Alakazam carried us to a conference win. Having you around to kick them around and prove they need to be stronger, while Alakazam does the same for your team will be great! Then, we can work on their internal energy flows, and you can do the muscle training with the Fighting Master. He's kinda weak for a leader, but he does know how to train moves to a good level. He just doesn't understand how to bring out the real peak potential of his type. He'd have done better as a Steel Type trainer, I think. Oh, I'm rambling. Sorry." She rumbles to a stop suddenly and I blink in sheer astonishment.
Sabrina is not supposed to be peppy, energetic or like this at all. She's always that cold lady who everyone cowers before. Was she like that as a test? Like how normal women are "If you can't handle me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best?"
If so, she took that to a whole new level.
"Well, I don't mind. I like high energy people, though I will admit to being more of an introvert. At least you scare people off for me. I always preferred one-on-one." I comment idly as I watch Reginald look on in what can only be described as complete and utter confusion.
"Oh, me too. I think I figured it out, by the way! You block psychics with your inherent Aura when you think about things like strategy, or the psychics around you. It's an interesting thing to be able to do. Like I can hear you thinking that's absurd - and it is - but I also can't hear your internal dialogue about me. Or what moves you're going to use. It really makes countering you haaaard. Is this what it's like for normal trainers? No wonder they all seem like they suck!" She eventually concludes happily. I just give her the flattest look I can imagine. She seems to understand. "I'm not introverted, I just don't like people trying to gold-dig on me because I'm the last of my clan and a powerful Psychic and a top-level trainer. So I have to be all spooky! And yea, you have Aura. That's not crazy. You just need like, three years with Lucario and you'll be chucking Aura Spheres. Your inherent Aura is really strong! About as strong as my Psychic ability is, which is how it keeps me out! Which is CRAZY!" She yells, and I wince, and she instantly goes from exuberant to apologetic.
"I get all of that, I guess. But how do I know you don't look at me, and what I've considered offering you for training, decided you want that and all the other stuff you get if we marry and are just gold-digging me?" I challenge, and she gives me a calculating look.
"I could do that. But it'd be super stupid. Also, it's not in my future to marry you, silly. It's some brown-haired monster of a girl. Well, usually it is. Sometimes it's a girl with black hair, sometimes a girl with blonde hair. It changes sometimes but like 70% is the brunette!" She explains cheerily. Which tells me less than nothing. At least it's not unnatural colors?
"So, anything else you want to tell me?" I ask, beginning to feel tired.
"Yes! I think, genuinely, we should date so I can tease Erika about how you kissed me and not her. It'll be great! And help me figure out what I do and do not like in a date, cuz most guys just run the instant the Ice-Queen turns off." She explains, looking very sad.
"It's the mixed signals. Most people who like quiet, dominating ice-queens do not like loud, peppy girls who have more energy than a Vigoroth with 10 cups of coffee. You need to be more personable, and happy. Well, except for this Ash kid I know. I want you to prank him for me, if you could." I explain, having a very evil idea.
Anime Sabrina isn't a thing? I'll make it a thing!
She likes this idea of a prank, and gleefully informs me every single person from Pallet will get this experience from here on out. Everyone else - starting next season - will get a more 'relaxed' Sabrina. More friendly and outgoing, but also with much higher standards.
Because she has already determined several things with Future Sight, like the fact that we're going to have a lot of very good dates.
In her opinion.
*** Scene Change ***
I looked at the Eevee I'd been traveling with for weeks now, as it reached what I was considering the 'normal Pokemon's peak level.' Because, just like the others, Eevee was starting to stop seeing improvement no matter the level of Gravity applied. Which means he just needs to get older and keep training physically.
Not even under gravity!
But also, Eevee isn't evolving. Not for lack of trying, I just think this Eevee does not want to be a Sylveon, Espeon or Umbreon. Which means I have no idea what to do with it. I don't need another special attacker or physical attacker. I'd hoped for a fairy type to shore up my defenses and give me the best advantage I could get in battle.
Fairy type? Busted.
So, seeing as what I want and what Eevee want are clearly different and this Eevee is worth millions, easy, due to it being absolutely peak physical condition with outstanding Pedigree (which Oak had confirmed through Bill.) and a massive move-pool… I'm not just going to sell this Eevee or trade it to some random loser.
Because this Eevee? It wants to be a Glaceon. Which I do not need, but I know one lady who has one in at least one iteration of her team. And she is not a chump.
Yep, time to call Cynthia. I wonder if I can set up a rendition of her theme to go off? I remember it pretty well, and I could set it as some kind of background music as a sort of "pre workout amp up music" for my pokemon.
I smirk. I'm going to Hijack Cynthia's theme, and make her as terrified of it as all those kids were back in 2007 when her game came out, and she creamed them for weeks.
Best part? It'll take all of ten minutes. Sabrina literally has a machine for this, which I'd figured out only a week into my training with her. She started playing music I'm sure did not exist, and she said she was playing it for her Pokemon who couldn't read my thoughts when I was imagining music.
Because why wouldn't she have a thought-to-noise machine.
Now, I just take that, get a direct copy of the whole sound track - the extended version - and then I have it loop while I get in contact with her.
After I'd checked, and she was in fact looking for an Eevee or Glaceon, and she'd "Pay any price as long as they're coming from a good home."
I'm 95% sure she's going to train this thing up to defend her house or something.
I cackle internally, before focusing on the song engraved in my soul for all of three minutes, before I get a copy, and run off with glee to the video phones in our training room, where I set the music to play in a low loop while my Pokemon loosen up for training with Sabrina for the day, doing light practice.
I confirm Cynthia's listing is still there, and seeing it is, I put in a request to call. It is currently… six-thirty PM in Sinnoh, and there is an extremely good chance…
She picked up. Cynthia of pre-champion time is wearing much more casual clothing than Champion her does. She's wearing jeans (black jeans, but that is not slacks) and the blue blouse she wore on vacation in Unova. She is also eating an ice-cream while she looks at the screen with casual interest. I slightly raise the Eevee at the camera, and he lets out a happy wave and excited wag of the tail. Cynthia, of course, drops her Ice Cream.
"Wait." She says staring dead at me, not noticing the Ice Cream yet. "You can't be serious. That Eevee looks like a monster. The muscle definition, sheen of the coat and the fact that it is clearly larger than average all speak to immense and high quality training. I said any cost - but this?" She shakes her head.
"I'm not here asking for anything, Cynthia. I'm making sure my Eevee, who wants to become a Glaceon - which does not fit with my team sadly - will find a good home. I will want to visit if I'm nearby, and I'll want to see him regularly on calls if we're in cities, to make sure he's doing well and is happy, but I don't ask for money. Instead, if you happen to know where I can get a Riolu or Togepi for my team, that'd be ideal. Even baby Pokemon are fine. My team." I gesture behind me, watching as her eyes shift from disbelief, to hope, to nearly crying in joy, to understanding, and back to shock as she sees my team. All massive, destructive monsters prepping for nightly training. "Would love someone to train up. It helps them get a grip on their control and powers when they train someone up from scratch." I conclude, smiling gently as she goes back to looking at Eevee in stunned disbelief, as the shock of my team has worn off.
"You're him, aren't you?" Cynthia finally asks. I raise a brow in question. "My great-auntie said she met you. And I quote 'The Brat Oak chose an interesting champion. I think he has a good shot at taking the crown. Greg. Be careful if you meet a Greg. In a year, he'll be able to crush almost anyone you meet flat. In two?' then she started laughing, and when asked why, she just walked off to Arceus knows where." Cynthia complains, rolling her eyes before meeting mine.
"You're him. Greg. The monster my Great Aunt told me about. You're giving me an Eevee for maybe a bit of information and regular check-ins?" She asks disbelievingly.
"Yes." I nod. She has the strongest Lucario and Togekiss in the whole series. I want some of that pie.
"That's all acceptable. I'll see what I can do about sharing some information I know. It's not mine to share, but I'll ask if the people who know what you want to know would be willing to tell you. If not, I'll see if I can find another option. Do you know if you want one more than the other?" She asks, and I nod.
"Lucario. I was told my Aura is extremely powerful by a Psychic, and that I should train it because my talent matches her talent in Psychic arts." I scoff. "I think she was just buttering me up to share my training with her." I say, having heard the door open softly to the side as the music enters the third repeat.
"Of course I was buttering you up! How else was I going to wring your secrets out of you? Or get that kiss?" Sabrina exclaims, then drapes herself over me and, kissing my cheek, snaps a quick selfie, then sends it to Erika with the caption 'you wish it was you'. And gets an instant angry-emote back.
Cynthia just watches in mild disbelief, before cursing under her breath and pulling her shoe out of the melted neapolitan ice cream on the floor.
"Lucario or Riolu it is then. I'll be in touch. Thanks for contacting me so soon. When you want to transfer, my Trainer ID number is -" and thus followed a long list of us trading contact, trade and personal information. We ended all of it pretty quickly, before Cynthia seemed to rush off, and I looked over to Sabrina who was giving the computer screen an unimpressed look as the music had shifted - after the fifth soft repeat to something else intense and Piano based.
"She was afraid of me, interested in you, and very confused about the trade. Also, she was seemingly alarmed by your choice of music. She seemed to know the song, and was terrified at its implications." Sabrina concludes. It turns out, she can read micro expressions really well. So she doesn't need to read your mind if she's close enough.
She can guess what you're thinking without all of that.
"You're scary, I'm interesting, the trade is good for all parties. The music should be alarming. I'm pretty sure it's a slightly varied take on a piece of music one of her ancestors had made for formal gatherings and is only known by people in her family who study ancient history." How else do you explain her Ancestor having some stupidly similar theme to her?
"Another of your secrets. You know entirely too much about some clans and families." She comments, and I nod.
"I looked into the oldest clans of each region quite a bit. Her family, along with a couple of others, are very, very old." I say, getting a nod. "They also tend to have patterns in how they fight, which indicates a technique which is something which I will try to reverse engineer and then improve by picking apart each piece of the final product as I figure it out and find what can be exploited." Then I pause and give her the evil smirk I know she secretly loves. How? After I did it the first time, she demanded a kiss. Then she taught me some 'cool stuff' like how to detect and refine control to the maximum possible for general Pokemon Power, before you got into their specialized energy control, which she herself was working on.
But the Dojo Master was a bit more proficient in. Though his general control was trash compared to hers. So leading to my next statement. "Which is why I'm hunting down you old clan people. You have all the best techniques for me to acquire. How better than by fighting you for weeks?!" Then I did my evil cackle, and she shook her head in exasperation. Very pleased exasperation.
I'd literally called her one of three clans worth stealing from. That's a big boost when there are at least forty-eight clans in Kanto right now. Especially since it's me making a her fear into a joke, since we both know I don't really care about her legendary clan stuff, but the general every-mon tricks she has. If you collect 1-million basic skills which everyone in a town will give you for free, you'll have a skill for every situation.
The fighting master had impressed upon me this.
Sabrina had impressed upon me the importance of picking one thing and mastering it fully first. The Fighting Gym had practiced 1000 kicks 1 time, and was strong for breadth of technique. Sabrina had practiced 1 kick 1000 times and was considered the strongest Psychic type trainer on the continent.
So yes, having a breadth of skills to work on, with the tips the Fighting Gym had for specifically advancing those was good, it was better to reach a somewhat high level of mastery in energy control first. Say, of a level to beat Koga, then I'd move on to refining my fine control for specific elements of battling, and elemental control.
Because Pokemon have what I call 'Aura' in types. Charizard, for example, was 40% Fire, 40% flying and 20% Dragon. You had to train it to the apex in each type to make it a truly apex-of the species. Then, the fighting master alluded to more steps he had never found - nor any of his ancestors, due to not having the skill to fully master all the powers a Pokemon has.
Something tells me that's where Champions reside, and the more powerful Elite 4, even. Maybe it's even a requirement to be an Elite Four in truth, being on that stage… whatever it is, and however you train it. Still. It's a lot of room for me to grow. For anyone. It'll be more than a year's work with every trick and getting the next step at the best time.
Because training is just that, taking your growth. One step at a time.
*** Scene Change ***
"This notebook will prove helpful in getting you to the next level of training. It has all the notes I can think of for how to train and refine control over the energy all pokemon possess. I hope it serves you well!" Sabrina chirps, handing me a thick journal, and I offer her a smile. This was her trade for the full pages I had on the Abra line, Espeon and Gallade. She didn't want the line notes, but the specific pokemon notes, because according to her, having a spread of those three would be most beneficial.
"Are you sure you don't want any other notes? I can always part with more, and I have a good idea of what you'll be needing after this." I offer for what feels like the millionth time. Sabrina just gives me a smile, and shakes her head.
"As I've said, it would be my taking advantage of you. You're too generous. Maybe in the future I could trade for more information, but teaching your Pokemon how to more effectively use Agility and what few Psychic moves they can learn to the utmost level attainable, with notes on things to work on after is barely comparable to all of the notes a family has on a whole species. While you're getting something generally useful for all pokemon, I'm getting a resource to take my Pokemon - with a bit of research and work - to the level of the Elite Four. Yes, it takes work from me where yours takes none, but the amount and quality of information you're giving me is more than half of the work. You'll still have to figure out how to do specialized training for your pokemon on your own, or finding masters who have already figured it out for your specific Pokemon. It's no easy feat. So I will not accept more information, at this time at least." She concludes, and I just give her a tired, but accepting, look.
"Alright. I guess this is where we're going to part ways, for now?" I ask, getting a sad smile, and a nod. "It was really great hanging out with you, and those dates really were enjoyable. I hope you can find the one who is right for you, down the road." I offer, and she gives me a more genuine smile.
"I'm sure I will. Divining my own future is harder than others, but I think we'll both be quite lucky in finding our match." Sabrina says, going to full on beaming over the course of her sentence.
"Well, I guess I'm going to head out, then. Early morning tomorrow, since I only have a couple weeks before the St. Anne goes out on the voyage to Fuschia. I need to break those minor gyms and show them the power of your teachings." I conclude, getting a definite nod. "After all, I'm not the only rookie this year who's taking their conference by storm." Indeed I'm not. Leon had acquired his final badge just yesterday, and Cynthia was already battling for badge seven only a bit over a month into her official first journey. I'd discovered all three of us have rather large fan-pages who analyzed our gym battles and the recordings of our other battles from Pokemon Centers, when they were public.
None of us have lost even a single battle, yet. Leon has been dragged close to the brink against Raihan and a few gym Leaders, but Cynthia has made the Sinnoh League look like children, with the only exception being Byron and Fantina, who are the only two gym leaders who are the same from when the games and Ash went through.
Even then they'd only got one of her Pokemon. The fact she'd only shown a Garchomp and a Lucario so far had the whole community in a tizzy.
Meanwhile, my fanbase, which I'm rather embarrassed over, won't shut up about how I have 8 extremely high-level battlers who seem to be uncontested in all of Kanto right now. The closest to me statistically is a veteran trainer in their fourth season, who has competed in the conference twice. First time through he finished in the round of 128, last year he finished in the top 8, and is the favorite to win the thing this year.
Michael Corvin, the Steel and Ground type specialist of Vermillion has already acquired his 8 badges, and is currently fighting Koga for his 10th badge. He's had 3 attempts, with marked improvements in each.
People assume he'll win in the next month or so and move on. Whereas I already defeated 9 gyms in my rookie split, and the 9th badge was Sabrina's real team. They didn't know she'd told me after that Koga and Blaine were just on a whole other level.
So people are comparing us, and pound-for-pound his team is currently better than mine - and it's not by a little. The guy has an Aggron, Steelix, Mawile, Metagross, Goodra (Hisuian form, at that!), Scizor, Lucario, Excadrill, Rhyperior, Gabite and Nidoking. His issue, it seems, is his lack of anything other than frontal attacks. Koga, in the battles I've seen, has loaded his team up with Poison and then just played keep away. For the Pokemon that just does not work with, he opts for burns, paralyzation or sleep. Then he just kicks them to pieces with his pokemons high mastery over various fighting moves.
Koga is what I'd call an inflicter, someone who uses statuses and spikes and stealth rocks to make your entry and maneuverability as horrible as they can be. Then he saps your strength over time.
My team will suffer from the same issues that Michael's team is suffering from. So I need to teach someone Rapid Spin, and I need to get my own entry hazards, along with Pecha Berries.
Because it's obvious some things still hold true. If you can set screens, you should. If you can set entry hazards, you should. If you can prep an item counter to a favored tactic, you should.
The minor gyms? They're all pretty weak. I have the Normal, Bug and Ghost gyms left. Lavender Town, Silver town and Hutber port have gyms. I'm going to sweep them up, since they're all kind of on the way back to Vermillion, if I go to Lavender town first.
I don't expect much.
With another set of farewells, Sabrina and I part ways at last, and I retire to the Center to read over her journal of sorts. I find it to be long and rambling, talking a lot about what she's already taught me with some small tricks she did not teach me because they proved to be unneeded for my Pokemon, but could be good for future team members.
Then what we're working on now.
Mastering control of basic energy comes down to five basic parts. Being able to move it internally, then externally, then controlling multiple flows of the energy without losing any efficiency, then being able to expel more energy than required to empower attacks without exploding your attack on yourself, then being able to control which parts of your attack do damage and which parts do not, even when they're loosed.
My team is on the second to last of these, with the exception of the more powerful attacks, like Hyper Beam. Some Pokemon can hold a Hyper beam for seconds, while most just do a short blast. The ones who can hold it have mastered the sending more energy in the move. If you mess that up, and it explodes in your face, you're going to be pretty hurt from your own failed attempt.
Still, they can do a bit more than just toss one version of an attack, and with Sabrina's help, a lot of my team had completely mastered the first stage of ability enhancing moves, like Agility. They literally do not expend any energy while holding a very minor speed boost. The energy is still in use, but they can pull it out in a last ditch effort to empower an attack minutely. Now, they just need to increase that over time until they're running under the constant effects of a full on agility.
Then they'll have mastered the move. Sabrina has some notes about compounding the effect, at higher levels of control, but needing a type corresponding to the moves type to be able to do that effectively.
Like, yea, Pidgeot can learn Agility and master it to make Agility twice as effective when empowering it with extra energy. Or, Pidgeot can learn Tailwind, and compound the effects of the move over and over again with the mastery of Agility to make Pidgeot ungodly fast while being capable of riding gale-force winds.
No one had ever gone that far with a Pidgeot, but it was known to be a thing people had done in the past with Dragonite, as an example. There was a limit - of course. Which I knew from the games to be 3-times their normal level as mastery and then you can empower it for the four-times boost in the stat it's covering.
Which is why Dragon types are damn scary. Imagine if in the games you could train a Haxorus or Dragonite or Salamence to come out with 6 Dragon Dances in the bag? That's what you can do here. It's why if you have two people with theoretically identical Dragonite it will result in one crushing the other like it's nothing.
One is just three times faster, stronger and overall more capable.
Sabrina makes this clear over and over again in her notes, while relaying that the reason most trainers never reach this level is because how can you explain about energy flows if you can't sense them? You'd have to teach a pokemon meditation, or have exceptional senses like Aura or Psychics. Or, you can spend a decade learning how to read the minute fluctuations in power a single pokemon gives off when it uses moves and explain what you've determined.
Hence why my pokemon seem to learn faster. I am passively sensitive and can say with some degree of confidence when something is smoother or when something seems sharper or when I detect less waste.
Because my senses are so bad, I can only sense when there's some waste, around 10% total of the power. And I have to focus hard, but Sabrina had helped me narrow in on the feeling, at least.
It required her literally holding my hand and connecting to my mind deeply to point out the minute fluctuations I'd always felt, and thought normal, as things she couldn't feel from anything but Psychic types using Psychic energy.
Which brings me to typed energy. If the general Pokemon Power is Aura, then each species has evolved to use special typed versions of Aura. These are reflected in the the Pokemon Types to an extent, with minor specialties expressing themselves through movepools.
Charizard is, for example, a flying and fire type, but it also has a pretty good strain of Dragon Energy in its body, with a few other types mixed in to a lesser degree. I can't feel those special energies almost at all unless they're wasting a ton of the energy, or I am in physical contact and all but meditating on the feeling, where I can feel about as well as I can for general energy.
Which means the more dangerous moves, or the moves needing large movement are all but lost on me to refine, until Cynthia gets back to me on that Riolu.
It's only been a couple days, so I'm not so worried. Cynthia had called me every other day to show me Eevee and give me updates. Eevee seemed very happy with Cynthia, overall.
I fell asleep, and woke up thinking only of my next steps, and upon waking, I chose to head down right away, get my breakfast, and then head out quickly. It took all of thirty minutes from waking to be out, and heading to the Dojo. I arrived in minutes with the help of Pidgeot.
"I've been waiting!" Boomed Anthony, looking very pleased I'd remembered to stop by. "We've brought your team to the apex of their power, refined their physical moves to the best of our abilities, and I have but one last thing to teach you, but alas! You are leaving today! So, for the pupil who I am sure will make Kanto a respected and feared region once more, I offer you this - a few of the tricks you may find useful, and I've yet to teach." He declares, bowing and offering me a notebook - much thinner than Sabrina's, but still.
This guy is all about the honor of Kanto. In the Anime, he'd taken Ash's Primeape and trained it to be conference worthy, and Ash did very well with it, even though he probably was only scratching the surface with a Pokemon he'd not trained personally or used almost at all when he brought it out.
This guy really does live up to his title as a master of the fighting type, even if he's not Elite 4 level, he trained a Primeape, not his own, and even withholding his best techniques which would be saved for his own Pokemon, made it a real force in a conference.
I accepted the book with a bow in return.
"Do not open that until you have left the city. It has some personal notes I think you will find useful. You have been a wonderful student, and have been mixing your time between mine and Sabrina's training wonderfully. I look forward to your conquest of the Conference!" Anthony concludes, before bowing and walking right back into the dojo before I even stand fully from my returning bow.
"You're either the luckiest motherfucker I've ever met, or the most monstrous talent I've ever seen. I'm undecided." Reginald opines from where he's sitting on a Pidgeot of his own. League lent to him to help him keep up with my method of travel, apparently.
"I think it's a bit of both. You have to have something to offer, and the right mindset. These people - they've been out and had a journey and want to raise the next generation of talent to keep the region strong. That's why they're Gym Leaders. They are required to hand out a reward in the form of a TM, but if you show yourself ready, willing and able to comprehend their teachings…" I trail, putting the Notebook in a pocket of my jacket.
"Then they train you. It makes sense. People are all about getting stronger trainers, and getting those stronger trainers settled and married to get more kids who have a chip of the talent. We have, what, a third of the world properly explored, settled and properly mapped? We need more trainers, but we also need strong trainers. I see you getting more than a bit of attention from the gold-diggers, soon." Reginald can't help but remind me. I'd already ran into a few of those in both Celadon and here in Saffron. I'd managed to get in and out of Vermillion fast enough to dodge them, but…
"You know my test for dating me, right?" I ask, to the snort of amusement from Reginald.
"Pushing you in a battle? You may well end up single for life." He responds, and I smirk. I know the monsters rising from depths. In a few years, all the champions will be deposed, and the new generation will take over.
"We'll see." Is my only comment, and I can feel the curious gaze of Reginald boring into my side as we take off, Pidgeot offering a tailwind to speed us on to Lavender town. I make sure to let Dragonite out to fly with us, and keep an eye out for any of the Kanto native Vulpix or Growlithe which are generally only found in central Kanto. We'll be going past a few locations in the next couple days where they're known to roam.
Dragonite, knowing his task, banks when released, and with a sonic boom, vanishes to begin his hunt.
If he finds some Vulpix or Growlithe, and they have talent, want to train, and he likes their personality, then he'll bring the to Lavender town.
Because he knows I'll be there overnight. I'm just going to try to use more of my less-used battlers against the minor gyms, while we get practice with setting and controlling the battlefield.
*** Scene Change ***
The minor Gym of Lavender town is… sad. I get away with beating them with only my Milotic and Leafeon. Leafeon is one of my strongest, sure, but it's like after training with Sabrina to what she considered a good level for confident wins against the weakest gym leaders 10 badge teams, the minor Gyms are the step down from those gyms. Sure. The minor gyms are known to be weaker, and they're gym leaders in general are weaker than other very recent league winners because when you travel and fight a wider range of high-level people every day, you get to a higher level. When you don't, you lose your edge. Sabrina admitted to feeling a bit weaker than she was at her peak. These leaders who haven't seen the conference in twenty or more years for the most part are surely weaker for it. I've fought people with 8 badges who are stronger than these 10 badge gym leaders. I'd looked them up, and most of them peaked at top 16 in whatever conference they'd been in last, and were training a new team by flying to a city, swapping out half the team for more advanced team members and then having them learn what was needed to beat the gym from the older members, before swapping back.
The half they sent away getting general training from the older members of their team while they were gone.
Then they go in, crush the gym without accepting the higher level battle, and move on.
Their new or old 8 badge teams are stronger than these guys. Like, my team is usually a little stronger than their new teams and on-par with their 16th placing teams. I have a little more refined strategy and tactics, along with move combinations from watching the whole Anime and having an idea how it all works. So, yea. I win. They comment, often, that I fight like a strong top 8 or top 4 placer from their last conference, and they look forward to seeing me at the conference.
None of them think I'm a first year trainer. The general consensus from those I've talked to who avoid the message boards is that I got my license and trained for a year, then did my journey. The year head-start explains why I have such a leap on the game. My very powerful team going from 0 to now 10 badges in a bit under three months is too much otherwise.
Still, the cash flow is very good. I'm getting what amounts to a few thousand a battle on the higher end. I've been avoiding the very best trainers when I see them wandering. There's a guy I've seen in a center who dominated for a few hours. He was the runner up in Unova last year, and I have odds on him - Corey of Nacrene - and the other guy from the forms, Michael, doing about equal damage, with Corey being the likely winner of the fight.
It really comes down to the matchup. Corey has my number, and I don't need to fight him to be able to see that. It's just obvious. Instead, I'd watched his battles on that night, and watched how he commanded his pokemon, how they moved and what weaknesses and tells I could pick up on them.
Because it's not often I'll get free scouting like that on a contender for the title.
The Ghost Gym? Disappointing. Less disappointing is coming back to the Center to find my big Dragonite smiling like a goofball as he holds an also grinning Growlithe in his arms. I raise an eyebrow, and get a nod, and so I scan the thing.
Best to get what level it is out of the way. Enough people in this 'small town' are staring at my Dragonite lounging outside the center, taking pictures, than I'd like already.
Male, Intimidate.
Moveset; Ember, Leer, Howl, Bite, Flame Wheel, Helping Hand, Agility, Retaliate, Crunch, Take Down, Raging Fury, Morning Sun.
In short, a powerful wild Growlithe. Looking to be stronger. "So, you want to be the strongest Growlithe or Arcanine you can be?" I ask rhetorically, getting a bark of agreement. "Well, I can help with that. You'll need to master Ember, Flame Wheel and Howl to unlock your full potential with your fire, then we'll work on the rest with my team, alright? If you want to join, that is. Training will be long and hard, and we only take off-days about once a month. You'll be strong, but you'll be working for it." I caution, getting an almost evil grin out of the Growlithe, who howls his excitement and glee. I take out a Pokeball, then show him. "I'll catch you with this, and we'll start training tomorrow. Sounds good?" I ask, getting a nod.
So I catch Growlithe, and turn to Dragonite. He gives me a big goofy grin. "No Vulpix?" He shakes his head, holding up his paw and waving it in front of his face like there's a bad smell. "Ah, no talent?" He nods. "Don't worry, we'll find a good option. I think having a few different teams who rely on the field being lava or the field being ice will be good. We can even make one for the sand for Garchomp if we have the time and space to bring a team up for it." I comment idly, ignoring the stares from the people around us as we go into the Pokemon center to rest.
I have no interest in getting bogged down in useless politicking. I have some gyms to smash, Ditto to find, and hopefully a Vulpix. Hopefully.