Chapter 13 - Iron-Blooded Orphans

"The Steel type, as a name, has always been something of a misnomer. Many Pokémon bearing the type possess a generally metallic appearance, true enough, but put any of them under a microscope and you'll find their physical composition to be very different from the kind of steel used to make your refrigerator, or to reinforce the foundations of your home. Then there are examples such as Mawile; who demonstrate very few outward aspects of their Type. They have sharp teeth, fine, but so do many other Pokémon, and we don't call them all the bone type! So what does it really mean, to be a Mon of Steel?"

Koffing paused in his monologue as Hilda returned with a steak knife, presenting her palm as instructed.

"Steel is quite possibly the least understood Type, competing with the Fairy for that dubious distinction. A large part of this is due to the relative brevity of its existence; whilst the previous sixteen are evidenced in fragmented records that long predate the written word, Steel only arrived a few centuries ago, and even then only became truly commonplace during the modern era, their presence growing alongside humanity's technological prowess. Fundamentally, Steel is the embrace of logic, rationality, and innovation. Humans of such alignment tend to be driven and innovative, resilient yet unafraid of overturning the status quo. Ah, but enough rambling from me. Place the knife against your palm and close your eyes. Hear the ring of clashing blades, a distant echo of battles won and lost. Feel the cold, unyielding strength and sharpness, take it into yourself and be reborn. Think upon all you hope to become, all you wish to accomplish in defiance of the world. A thousand horizons call to you today, but no matter where they may ultimately lead, the path starts here."

"So, how does this work?" Audino prompted, staring at Slowpoke intently. "We have to fall asleep, then continue to channel our power to be able to fight, right?"

Slowpoke stared blankly back at her, sitting upright in order to meet her eyes without uttering a single word.

"Maybe a demonstration would help?" Audino tried again, a few minutes of staring later.

Slowpoke nodded slowly at that, beginning to glow softly as he gathered power around himself. Rearing back on his haunches, he proceeded to let out a mighty Yawn.

"That's not what I meant!" Audino groaned, toppling over as she tried and failed to resist the surprisingly powerful Move.

"We really need to get you a Shellder…" She slurred before slumping as her struggles waned and sleep inevitably claimed her.

As he stared at the screen, scrolling endlessly down, Absol found himself confronted with an insidious and familiar foe: decision paralysis. It was something he'd experienced at many a lunchtime rush; staring at the hundreds of takeaways available on Uber Eats to sate his hunger yet unable to make his mind up, until half an hour was wasted and he ran for the nearest sandwich shop. The Silph Co Technical Machine catalog was a similar story; listing every device ever sold on Silph Co's extensive shopfront and online marketplace, along with many more that had never seen the light of day.

To begin with, any TMs easily purchasable for mere Pokédollars were ruled out; along with those not for sale but made freely available for the use of the Unova League, as they could be requisitioned. This was followed by a large number of TMs no longer available for sale due to various harmful side-effects; such as the migraine-inducing TM 68 (ironically containing the move Nasty Plot), or the production run of TM 42 (Self-Destruct) that was missing key instructions on regulating the Move's power, landing trainer and Pokémon alike in the hospital and leading to a historically expensive lawsuit for the manufacturer at the time.

Finally, Absol had narrowed his choices down to half-a-dozen candidates, and therein lay the problem. They were all good options for him; each providing clear benefits immediately and down the line assuming he put the time in to achieve true mastery. Because of this, his precognition remained silent, which meant he had to decide entirely on his own. Tilting his head, Absol expanded the web of possibilities to include the impact on the rest of the team, and was finally provided an answer, being drawn to one choice in particular.

"Doom Desire? Well, I'm sure there's a good story behind this one. Maybe they'll even be willing to tell it, if the price is right."

Satisfied with his choice, Absol congratulated himself by making a few miscellaneous impulse purchases before eventually pivoting to tackle his next challenge: getting through a call with Silph Co's customer service desk to arrange the redemption of the blank card, as such transactions were rare enough not to have a preset category on their website. Some days, it really felt like the work just never ended.

As he took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the radiant power of the Sun, Joseph couldn't help but feel that things were finally looking up for him. Gone were the days of calculating every expense down to the last dollar; all his material needs were met, his health had significantly improved and he even had clear duties and goals to work towards and occupy his time. It brought to mind memories from Joseph's childhood, of a small child asking why his father joined the military and spent such long periods away from home and family. The answer was always the same; that the military had given him him a sense of purpose, discipline and belonging he'd never found in a career as an independent trainer. It had been a painful reality back then, but now, years later, Joseph thought he could finally understand.

Unable to stand hold it in any longer, Joseph exhaled, a thick cloud of glittering golden spores filling the air. Most drifted to the ground in short order whilst a small subset danced around Impostor, held aloft upon invisible winds as the latter examined each particle with a discerning eye.

"Good," Was the verdict, in their typical brusque fashion.. "You're finally able to generate spores sufficient to paralyze in the heat of battle. Not every time and not everyone, but enough for our purposes. Next, we focus on speed."

The steak knife crumbled, a faint cloud of filament dusting the floor in her wake. Hilda stared at her hands in wonder; outwardly no different yet brimming with hidden power that far belied her small frame.

"Marvelous!" Koffing exclaimed, unrestrained in his praise. "I've never seen any human learn a Move so quickly; a mere day of practice and you've already unlocked Iron Defense. Are you sure none of your ancestors had any Lucario blood in them?"

"Maybe a really really long time ago?" Hilda giggled. "Definitely nobody I knew for sure; they're all so incredibly into 'traditional values' that just the idea would make them faint."

Raising her hand, Hilda wiped a faint sheen of sweat from her brow.

"Oh wow. Is this supposed to be so tiring? I'm just standing around doing nothing, but still…"

"Nothing physical, perhaps, but your aura is constantly being drained to power the Move, which brings us nicely to the next stage of your training. Endurance. I want you to maintain your Iron Defense for as long as you can manage, and then some. Practice until it becomes instinctual, until you're able to keep yourself protected in every waking moment and every sleeping one too. Once you've reached that stage, not only will you have become immensely durable, but your reserves of Aura will also have grown massively from the strain."

"I can do that," Hilda grinned, pumping her fists. "Soon everyone will call me the Iron Lady!"

"As some additional incentive to work hard at it; because you'll be burning so much energy, you can eat a lot more without worrying about pointless things like your health and life expectancy." Koffing added, sparking faintly for a moment.

As the room service tablet processed his binary commands, tubs of ice cream began to appear, every common flavor in Unova and many others besides. They were joined by boxes of chocolate, bags of candied corn and an entire barrel of jelly beans alongside multiple six-packs of energy drinks.

"You'll need at least thirty thousand calories a day while we train, to offset the energy drain, so eat up. There's plenty more where this came from!"

Hilda's delighted squeal, in the end, proved more than loud enough to wake both Slowpoke and Audino from their impromptu twenty-hour nap.

"You again?" Vaporeon exclaimed, the most incredulous a cup of water has ever been. "Please tell me you haven't gotten yourselves kicked out of your foster family already. It's been less than a month!"

"Not at all," Absol laughed. "Hilda is an excellent Pokémon… trainer. But Slowpoke and I already got to fight last gym, and the rest of the team need to have their turn. The first gym battle is an important milestone, even if only symbolically, and a good performance will be essential to build their confidence going forward. So, whilst the others head to Nimbasa, we were wondering if we could stay here for a few days and spar with the regulars. There aren't exactly many Pokémon we can challenge unaccompanied by a trainer, at least not without incurring awkward questions such as 'Where is your trainer?', 'Why are you attacking my team?' or 'How much money do I get if I win?'"

"Well…" Vaporeon prevaricated. "We do have training fields here, as an essential part of maintaining the physical and mental health of the residents. But they're not supposed to be open to guests, you know?"

Absol did in fact know, and promptly tapped the obsidian collar around his neck, custom-made courtesy of Silph Co. A dozen bags of Pineapple Candy emerged from hammer space - fresh from the factories of Kanto - and were immediately swept away by emergent watery tendrils, vanishing into a storage room in parts unknown.

"You can use the training fields, but you'll still have to go home to sleep so the humans don't get confused."

"Deal."

"Do you really know someone who lives down here?" Hilda asked dubiously, straining her eyes as she looked down into the crater and the castle at its heart, Joseph sat on her head doing the same.

"Well, it's been a few decades since my last visit," Koffing admitted. "But I'm sure Volcarona is still here. They aren't the kind of Pokémon to die of something as mundane as old age. Regardless, even if she's not present, this would still be worth the trip. The Sun Stones around here have soaked in her power for centuries, and are far stronger and purer than anything you'll find for sale online."

AN: If you're interested, my Discord server can be found here!

tPuDnakghj