Megan's POV

It was the morning after my contest. We were still in Slateport City and would be there for a few more days. This morning, we would be training my Pokemon for my contest battles. We had just finished breakfast and we made our way to the battlefield behind the Pokemon Center.

"The contest was just yesterday. You didn't wait long to begin training your Pokemon for the battles." Adam commented.

"I've watched you and Jason train and you don't usually wait around when something needs to be improved in your Pokemons' battling, so neither should I!" I replied. I was feeling determined.

I stepped to one side of the field while Adam and Jason remained on the other side.

"I'll train with you." Adam volunteered.

"I'm more observant in identifying a Pokemon's strengths and weaknesses, so I'll watch and offer you advice." Jason added.

"Sounds like a plan." I replied.

Jason went to the side of the field while Adam remained on the opposing side in front of me.

I released my other Pokemon and Eevee ran over to join them. I then told my Pokemon the reason for this training and laid it all out.

"We're going to be training today, but it's going to be different. Adam and his Pokemon will help us. We have to improve in strength, accuracy, and endurance. You are all fantastic performers, but you also need to improve your battling skills if we want to get to the Grand Festival. You'll all be going one at a time against Adam and his Pokemon and working on the skills that need to be improved. We can do this!

"Eevee, we need to improve your accuracy when launching long range attacks."

In Eevee's battle against Skye's Taillow, it was able to gracefully dodge Eevee's Shadow Ball by swooping through the air. Plus, Eevee's Swift attacks were equaled by Taillow's Aerial Ace, since both attacks are very fast.

"Torchic, we need to increase your speed and you need to be quicker with dodging. Your attacks also have to have more power behind launching them, since that'll deal more damage.

"Beautifly, you're the newest member of the team and you have yet to be in a battle, so this is your time to learn how it's done.

"And Kirlia, you're the best battler on the team, going by how you performed in the tag team contest with Amber's Pokemon, but you need to build up the endurance to last for all battles on your own, as well as not waste too much energy on one attack or you'll run out of power too soon."

My Pokemon all nodded, understanding.

"Eevee, you'll be up first. Everyone else, watch and just be patient." I said.

"I'll use Pikachu. He's my fastest Pokemon. If Eevee can hit a fast-moving target like Pikachu, she can hit any opponent!" said Adam.

I nodded my head and said, "Okay, we're ready, Adam!"

"Pikachu, we're gonna use Agility to increase our speed."

He was going to make it even more of a challenge now, but I understood.

"Okay, Eevee. We can do this. Use Shadow Ball!"

"Dodge it!"

Pikachu ran to the side and dodged the attack.

"Okay, keep firing Shadow Balls!" Eevee fired multiple Shadow Balls one after another towards Pikachu, who was able to avoid them all. Eevee eventually stopped, seeing that this method wasn't working.

Jason then spoke up and said, "I have an idea. What Eevee should do is learn different ways to direct the Shadow Ball instead of just firing it straight at her opponent, kinda like how Pikachu sometimes uses Thunderbolt and spins. It'll send the Shadow Balls in different directions and some even skyward."

"Okay, Eevee. Let's try that." I instructed.

So we tried that and after a few attempts, it was improving and Pikachu wasn't able to dodge as easily. Eevee's accuracy was improving too, and even without doing the spinning style with Shadow Ball, she could get it. She was focused and learning what she needed to do.

"Okay, now let's work on your speed, Eevee. Pikachu can use Agility, which isn't a move that you can use. But you can use Quick Attack. Let's work on you dodging some oncoming attacks."

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt rapidly."

"Eevee, dodge!"

Eevee cried out as she got hit by one of the bolts after moving at the wrong time.

"Try using Quick Attack to increase the speed of the dodge. Pikachu has Agility still active, so that makes his speed even faster." Jason said.

"That's true, and I've seen you guys use attack moves to dodge before"

"Pikachu, go again." said Adam.

"Eevee, use Quick Attack and dodge!"

This time, Eevee was able to avoid it successfully.

"Way to go, Eevee! Take a break for now. Torchic, you're next."

Torchic walked over.

"I'm still going to use Pikachu." Adam said.

"We need to improve your speed, just like Eevee had to." I instructed.

"So it'll help to do the same thing that Eevee did. Use Quick Attack to your advantage. It speeds up your Pokemon while also doing damage once it hits the mark." Jason instructed.

"Okay, Torchic. Use Quick Attack."

"Pikachu, dodge it."

Torchic missed.

"Watch how Pikachu uses his Quick Attack. Then have Torchic copy it." said Jason.

So Pikachu demonstrated how it was done and Torchic soon had his speed improved a lot more than before.

"Great job!" I cried.

"His attacks also need to be stronger and faster." Jason said.

Jason rattled off some advice and Torchic soon became faster with shooting his Fire attacks and they did much more damage.

"Use Quick Attack while using Peck!" I yelled, trying a new attack combination.

"Dodge it!"

"Focus and follow Pikachu!"

Torchic was finally able to hit his mark!

"How about we take a break and let them get some rest while we get some lunch for all of us?" Adam suggested.

"Sounds like a plan. Too much training isn't always a good thing." I said.

Jason nodded his head in agreement.

Once we finished lunch, we headed back outside to the battlefield to continue practicing.

"Okay, Beautifly. You're up next. Let's show off all of your moves that you've learned so far, so that Adam and Jason know what you know." I instructed. "That way, they can see what we have to work with."

Beautifly used Silver Wind, Gust, Air Cutter, and Mega Drain.

"Okay, so how about we work on all of her areas? She needs them all improved, since she's never battled before. We can work on her accuracy, speed, and strength." Jason suggested.

I nodded my head and said, "That makes sense."

"So for Silver Wind and Gust, it would help for Beautifly to fly higher in the air afterwards. It's an easy way to evade any oncoming attacks, since it's a long range one. That's what I taught my Butterfree to do when it was still on my team."

"Okay. You hear that, Beautifly? We're going to use Silver Wind and Gust and then you fly higher after you use them. Otherwise you'll leave yourself open to any counterattacks."

After a little more training, it was time for Kirlia to practice.

"You need to work on pacing yourself and building up your endurance to last for entire battles." I told her.

Kirlia nodded her head.

"I think that in order to teach her how to pace it, it would be good to instruct her exactly when to attack for right now." Jason said.

"Okay,"

After practicing like that for a while, we let Kirlia judge when to attack and I could see improvement.

"Great job, Kirlia." I said.

"I would suggest having Kirlia take some time each day to meditate, in order to strengthen her mind, which controls her Psychic powers. In order to stay at peak performance, Psychic Pokemon need to train their minds as well as their attacks."

"Okay, we'll be sure to take some time to meditate each day." I said.

I told Kirlia to go ahead and meditate for today and we kept quiet for her to focus on the first meditation of many. By the end, it was nearly sunset.

"Well, I think that'll do it for today. Thank you guys so much for your help!"

My Pokemon happily tackled me to the ground in a hug and I laughed, and everyone else did, too.

We decided to go back into the Pokemon Center and get some supper and go to bed early. We needed rest after a long day of training. Tomorrow, we would be leaving the city and getting back on the road.

Author's Note: With help from her friends, Megan is able to get her Pokemon trained for battle, which will pay off in the future in all contests that she competes in.

Where is the group going next? What does the next contest have in store for Megan?

Find out in the next chapter of Pokemon NG!