"...You're too reckless Misty! What if he'd been hurt?!"
"I'm sorry! It's been so long since I had a fun battle, I got carried away!"
I slowly regained consciousness to find myself lying on a mat by the side of the pool, surrounded by Misty, Chee and Misty's sister Violet. Judging from the fact that they were still arguing, I figured that it couldn't have been too long since I passed out.
Hovering above my head was a window from the system.
[Log:
Water Proficiency +1.67%]
...Because I almost drowned?
I involuntarily coughed up some extra pool water as I attempted to sit up, which caught the attention of the trio around me. I took a good look at Chee's face, but although there was a hint of concern in her gaze, it seemed like she hadn't lost her cool when I passed out. Are you alright...?
"I'll live." I answered with a cough.
"Ah! See, he's fine!" Misty chirped. I wasn't sure that coughing up water after almost drowning was 'fine' per se, but it didn't really matter.
"Well, if there's no problems here I'll head back to my quarter." Violet sighed, standing up.
A closer examination of my surroundings revealed that Yeller was also healthy. He was curled up next to me with the end of his tail under his chin, acting as a cushion, but his breathing was regular. After a sigh of relief, I turned my attention to the orange-haired tomboy who had nearly drowned me.
"...We can't leave the pool, that was one of the rules of the battle." I mumbled aloud, almost talking to myself. "That was all set up to drag me underwater, wasn't it?"
Misty looked away, pushing the tips of her pointer fingers together quietly. After a moment, she answered. "...Yeah. That's why my course is super hard, you have to be able to handle the switch from over water battle to underwater battle. You never know what could happen out there after all."
I nodded thoughtfully. "That's a pretty harsh condition."
"...Are you going to swap to one of the other courses?"
I shook my head. "I took the hardest course for a reason. I'll see it through."
Misty's eyes turned back to me, glimmering with excitement. "Great! Hey, hey, what were those weird techniques your Rattata was using? I've never seen anything like that before!"
I spent the next few minutes broadly explaining the techniques Chee and I had come up with using Yeller's moves. The ideas seemed to fascinate Misty, who had never heard of the concept before. I wasn't too surprised by that, I was pretty sure Red had pioneered the technique, and he was still a child at this point in time.
And to be honest, Red had never been particularly talkative with anyone. Not when I'd known him, at least.
"That's fascinating... I'd never considered that you could dissect Pokemon moves like that." Misty murmured. "No wonder you were able to beat Brock. Still..." She frowned at me, her eyes becoming thoughtful.
"Is something wrong?" I asked, confused.
"...In our battle, I learnt a bit about you. There's no denying that you've got a lot of skill as a trainer, but... If you want to reach the next level, you're going to need to catch another Pokemon." She answered finally.
I didn't respond, glancing over to my yellow partner who sat by my side.
"Oh, I know!" Misty clapped her hands together gleefully. "I'll lend you my good fishing rod, and we can go catch a Poliwhirl off Nugget Bridge! They're a nice friendly water type who will be good both underwater and on land..."
I raised a hand and she slowed to a stop. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't think I'll do that."
"...Alright." Misty answered with a sigh. "At any rate, meet me at the Gym Tomorrow at 8 AM, I'll teach you a whole bunch of tricks to fighting in water!"
...
Chee and I walked from the Gym back to the Pokemon Centre in silence. Chee didn't try to bother me, and I was lost in thoughts of my own. By the time we got back, the sun was already setting in the sky, and we went to my room without even exchanging glances.
I dropped back-first onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. I couldn't help but think about the words Misty had said to me.
You're going to need to catch another Pokemon.
I shook my head and shed the thought from my mind. I felt a quake in the bed, and tilted my head to see Chee lying on the bed next to me, her silver eyes shining brightly behind the locks of black hair that tried to obscure them.
...What Pokemon are you going to try and catch? They asked with an innocent curiosity. If it had been anybody else asking, I might have gotten annoyed, but I knew that Chee meant no ill will by it.
"I'm not going to catch another Pokemon." I sighed in response.
Chee's eyes remained open and vulnerable, although they did scan me searching for more information. After a moment, she reached an arm into her skirt Pocket and withdrew a Pokeball, holding it towards me. Do you want to borrow Bulbasaur?
I frowned at this, turning my whole body to face the preteen girl. At first I thought she might have been joking, but her eyes were almost blindingly pure right now. I gently pushed the hand holding the Pokeball back towards her.
"I borrowed Bulbasaur in Mt. Moon because it was an emergency, and it was wrong of me to do so there anyway." I scolded her softly. "You shouldn't hand other people your Pokemon like that. Especially not your partner. The bond of trust between the two of you is important."
She looked to be particularly bitten by that comment, and pulled the ball to her chest with a sad expression on her face. After a moment she nodded and tucked the ball back away into her pockets. But, why aren't you going to catch another Pokemon? Her eyes persisted.
I let the question hang for a moment. "...There's a few reasons. First of all, Yeller is my partner. I want to get as far as I can by only relying on him."
Chee closed her eyes in thought, but reopened them with more burning questions. But... He's missing a leg. Wouldn't it be easier if you had a Pokemon that was fully healthy?
Her words cut deep. Deeper than they would if any other person had said them. It was an insensitive question to ask, and only someone like Chee-A kid who didn't know better- could ask the question without malice.
"I..." I hesitated, wondering how much I really wanted to confide in this young girl. Granted, she was pretty sharp for someone her age, and I wanted to stay friends with her as she grew up. I was pretty sure that in a few years, she would be one of the strongest trainers in the region alongside Blue and Red... I didn't want to risk losing her interest.
But somehow, when I stared into her eyes right now, all I saw was my friend.
"I tried to abandon him once already." I answered before I even finished thinking about it. "I thought that even a Magikarp would be better, and I tried to capture anything else. Even though Yeller stuck by my side no matter what, I tried to throw him out and use something else." My voice began to shake ever so slightly. "I regret it, but that doesn't change what I've done."
I turned away from Chee, not wanting to know what she thought in response. "I know that one day I will have to capture and train more Pokemon, otherwise I'll never be able to... Achieve my goals. But after I realised what a mistake I made, I decided that I was going to go as far as possible with Yeller before I even try to catch another Pokemon."
I stared up at the ceiling, clenching my teeth together as I caught a breath and calmed my nerves before continuing. "Yeller is a really kind Pokemon. He's probably already forgiven me, but I haven't forgiven myself. If I can't even beat the second Gym with Yeller, there's no point in catching anyone else."
"I'll catch another Pokemon when we both decide I'm ready. Not when I do." Finally, I ended my impromptu speech, and I continued to stare at the roof without letting myself reach Chee's gaze. Truth be told, there was another reason why I didn't want to catch another Pokemon. I'd seen it back in Mt. Moon on Chee's Bulbasaur.
The 'Absolute Loyalty' skill.
I didn't know for sure what the skill did, but once I knew that it existed I could only ask myself... Why doesn't Yeller have it?
At first I thought he might just not have any skills, but he was able to earn 'Human Communication' through his own efforts.
Yeller had always been exceptionally loyal to me, both in this life and my last. For him to not have that skill, I could only assume that somewhere deep inside he still hadn't forgiven me-That I'd damaged his trust by refusing to capture him when I came back to life.
I let out a startled wheeze as two small feminine fists slammed into my chest. I reflexively rolled over in pain, grasping my chest, and I finally met the determined gaze of the girl who was sitting next to me. I understand. Even though he has his flaws, you refuse to abandon him... She place a hand on her chest. Just like you refuse to abandon me.
I blinked a few times. "Uh, I think you might be reading more into-
A gloved finger asserted itself against my lips, cutting my rebuttal short. Chee's eyes burned with a bright burning passion. I'll help both of you get strong however I can. Any way I can help, just let me know! Her lips bent into a proud smile, the bottom eyelids of her eyes raising slightly.
"Pfft." I couldn't help but crack up with a laugh. "What was I even worried about..."
My sudden laughter caught her off guard, causing her to be slightly flustered. H-huh? Did I say something funny?
"No, I'm just glad." I answered as I sat up, no longer feeling drained. "Thank you Chee."
...
Day 63:
The water surrounded me on all sides as I floated slightly below the surface of the pool. I took slow measured breaths through the snorkel leading to the air above as I counted the seconds, but even after resting her for a full minute there was no response from the system.
Frustrated, I took a deep breath and removed the snorkel, counting one more time. As I reached 30 seconds, a message appeared in front of me.
[Log:
Your water proficiency has increased by 1.67%!]
My lungs burning in my chest, I broke back through the surface of the pool at the Cerulean Gym, gulping down delicious mouthfuls oxygen. Sure enough, you can't cheese the system.
I'd theorised that the reason my water proficiency had increased was probably the same as when my Dark proficiency had increased while I was in Mt. Moon. And it seemed that, just like Mt. Moon, it had to be absolute submersion.
It's good to know that it's possible to raise my water proficiency like this, but holding my breath underwater 30 seconds at a time is just unreasonable... I won't be able to passively increase it like I did with Dark proficiency.
"Well, are you done getting a feel for the water yet?" A feminine voice called from the side of the pool. I glanced over to see the orange-haired owner of the voice kicking her feet back and forth in the shallows. "You've already been 'trying stuff out' for 10 minutes."
"Yeah, I'm done." I answered as I swam over and climbed out next to her. "Thanks for giving me a few minutes."
It was still early in the morning and just as I'd promised, I was here to train with Misty. Chee had decided to stay behind at the Pokemon Centre, so it was just Misty, Yeller and me.
"Alright! So, I'm mostly going to be teaching you about water-based combat, but I will be offering some general battling advice as well." She smiled as she spoke, keeping a friendly demeanour even though she was teaching now. "First of all, we need to talk about Movesets."
In the same ridiculously smooth motion I'd seen yesterday, Misty slid into the pool without it even noticing, and gestured for me to hop back in as well. I did so with a cannonball dive, splashing water all over her.
"Did you notice at the end of our battle? When you got taken underwater, you completely lost the ability to fight with Starmie." She asked as Yeller gingerly dipped into the water himself, practicing paddling back and forth despite his missing limb.
I nodded. "We were helpless, all we could do was swim for the surface. It really put us at a disadvantage compared to you."
"Right." Misty nodded at me. "But I was in the same situation as you, you know?"
I couldn't help but frown at this. "What do you mean? Starmie had the edge underwater."
Misty shook her head. "Starmie did, but I didn't. I went under the water at the same time you did, but I was still able to command Starmie." She held a hand up in front of her chest with four fingers extended. "That was because I assigned Starmie a 'Moveset' beforehand."
A Moveset... It wasn't the first time I'd heard of such an idea. In fact, I used a modified version of the Moveset theory in my own tactics for move fakeouts. The idea of a Moveset, as Misty went on to re-explain, was to teach your Pokemon to associate four of it's moves with a number from 1 to 4. Then you didn't need to tell it the move, and could just refer to the Moveset number instead.
But there was a big problem with Movesets.
Being too reliant on this technique would severely limit your flexibility in battle. Once you got used to it, you'd start only using the four moves in your Moveset. I'd seen a lot of good soldiers die on the battlefield because they'd gotten too used to their Movesets, and faced an enemy that it wasn't suited for. It was the same kind of mindset that those disgraceful Ghost type trainers fell into.
Red had always spoken disparagingly about Movesets as well.
It made me uneasy to think about using a Moveset myself, but Misty's justification was compelling. By assigning the moves to numbers, I could then hold up fingers on my left hand to tell Yeller which move to use, and gesture with my right hand to tell him what to use it on. Misty insisted it was practically a necessity for underwater combat, and I was inclined to agree.
She also taught me to stay calm underwater, and how to tell up from down, where to find air pockets and so forth. Even though it was only a half day of training, I was able to learn a lot.
"I think we'll leave it there for today." She sighed, lifting Yeller out of the water as he wheezed with exhaustion. I looked down at my own skin which had turned wrinkly and soft from how long I'd been in the water.
"Alright. Thank you for your time." I huffed as I clambered out of the pool, shaking off some of the water. We remained in silence for a minute as I gathered my belongings and made to leave.
"The way you fight... I thought about it when we fought before, and I pretty much confirmed it today." She broke the silence, meeting me with a sympathetic gaze. "You rely on your tricks too much."
I didn't respond. I wasn't really sure how to. So we just remained in silence until I left the building.
...
With the afternoon free to use as I saw fit, I collected Chee from the Pokemon Centre and we both battled Trainers until the evening. Yeller very quickly reached level 12, but I noticed that the trainers I fought here were a lot stronger than the ones I'd fought near Pewter City, and there were a lot less of them. While I had some struggles, Chee still defeated all of her opponents almost effortlessly.
The whole evening, I couldn't get the final words Misty had spoken to me out of my head. It was obvious that I would rely on tricks, since I was so weak. That was just natural, wasn't it? These tricks were the reason why I'd lived for as long as I did in the war. They were why I injured Cynthia. They were why I managed to get away from Bronze...
...Right?
Even though I tried not to let it bother me, I had just a little bit of trouble sleeping that night.
Day 64:
It was bright and early the next morning when I started to get ready for my next training session with Misty. I'd managed to squeeze my morning workout and a shower in before heading over to Cerulean Gym, but while I was putting my socks on there was a knock on the door to our room.
"Erm... Cyan?" A muffled voice called through the door. "There's someone here looking for you. Could you and your mute friend come down to the foyer?"
I glanced over at Chee, who gave me a puzzled look in return. "...Sure. We'll be right down."
We made our way down the stairs to the Pokemon Centre foyer, and I began to hear quarrelling voices from ahead. There appeared to be some sort of commotion by the front desk, but I couldn't quite make out the parties involved from this distance.
"L-like I said, we don't give out personal information on-Eeehk!" The nurse at the desk apologetically answered, before being cut off by a fist slamming into a desk.
"And like I said, I don't give a damn about your personal information policy! I just need to know if those losers skipped town or not! The hospital told me Cyan was discharged. Is he still staying here, or is he not?" A young boy retorted, and as I came a bit closer I was able to see his appearance in more detail.
His hair was a chestnut brown, and he stood just ever so slightly taller than me. His expression was foul and contorted, highlighting his eyes which were shimmering a brilliant silver. His outfit consisted of a black t-shirt and purple jeans, with a pair of sunglasses hanging from his neck by a small string.
"...Blue?" I asked, almost in shock. The young boy's eyes twitched, and he pulled away from the threatening lean he was performing on the poor nurse-Who seemed to breathe a sigh of relief in response.
...Miss Nurse, were you really being bullied by a child?
"Oh, if it isn't just the pair of losers I was looking for." Blue smirked, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Grandpa sent me to come look after you two, since apparently you can't look after yourselves."
He waltzed right over to us as he berated us, and in doing so he drew the attention of nearly every person in the foyer onto us, leaving me very uncomfortable.
"Well whatever." He grumbled. "Be thankful to gramps. There's no way I would've come back for you otherwise."