Time ticked by as she waited. Lilith had nothing better to do while taking a break, so she decided to pull out her Pokedex and use its stopwatch to chart how long it would take for their instructor to appear. Absol sat in her lap as the two watched the seconds tick by. She would occasionally lick her hand as Lilith rubbed her belly.
Their time was peaceful but short. The door clicked open as a young woman walked in. She wore baggy gray sweatpants and a white cloth around her chest, barely hiding anything. She had long brown hair that hung down unimpeded. The strangest thing about her was her face. On the bridge of her nose sat a pair of glasses. The whole outfit looked as if it had been thrown together at random. Her whole vibe was off.
“Oh… she’s beautiful.” the comment slipped from her mouth.
She turned her attention away from Absol and addressed Lilith.
“Hello, are you Lilith?” she asked in a professional manner.
“Yes.” She got up and greeted the woman.
Absol flanked Lilith’s rear and peeked her head out from behind her.
“I’m Sandy, nice to meet you. My notes say you chose the Early Normal Types Advisory course, how can I help you?” she asked.
“Absol and I were unsure how to unlock her normal type moves. We are unsure what they are because nothing comes up on the Pokedex, but the types are most assuredly Normal. Almost all starting status moves are, so I asked for help.” Lilith said.
Her words put the instructor into a trance. Sandy stared off into the distance as if off in thought. Lilith grew concerned after about a minute went by as Sandy still contemplated her question. She waved her hand in front of the young woman's face before finally snapping back to reality.
“Yes, an interesting problem. Absol isn't native so you would have to ask for movesets from other Regions but they like to keep stuff like that close to the vest.” Sandy tapped her chin and acted like she hadn’t just zoned out.
“If we knew the moves Absol were able to learn then we could just have one of my Pokemon use them and have Absol mimic what they do… But that has problems. It would be more than I could do in just one hour and I’m sure you don’t want to see me again like this, so the only other option is to have Absol become more accustomed to the flow of Normal energy. Once she has a good grasp on feeling it, the moves should come naturally. Honestly, it's just a matter of time before she learns them, this just speeds things along.” She finished.
Sandy definitely had a strong understanding of moves, much more than her. It had been a good idea to choose her inquiry through the Gym.
“So how do we start?” Lilith asked.
“By battling of course!” Sandy practically cheered.
She pulled out her own Pokeball before unleashing her Partner. A large white humanoid cat appeared next to her. Jagged red lines covered his body and face, while his arms ended with razor sharp claws. Zangoose was raring to go.
“Umm…” Lilith had concerns.
“That’s it? Just battling?” She asked
“Yup! My Partner and I here will use only Normal moves against you while constantly releasing even more out into the air around her. The goal is to overwhelm the senses so you can’t help but look at the goal.” she paused.
“Rule number one when learning new moves, they almost always click during battle.” Sandy then scrutinized Absol.
“How old is she?” she wondered.
“About a week old, why?” Lilith asked.
“You are one of the new Trainers at the school right? It's just that the League starters handed out there are months old by the time they are paired up and people who come in with their own Pokemon are usually at least a few years old. By that age they are naturally pushing the first Star and have already acquired all the moves available to them. Nothing wrong with that, most of this is common knowledge.” she stated.
“You definitely have some catching up to do. Remember that sometimes the best thing to do is to wait.” Sandy offered in a serious tone.
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“Not that it applies to this case!” Her mood kept changing so abruptly that Lilith was having a hard time pinning her down.
“The early Stars come easy! Now let's fight” she cheered.
This would be her first Pokemon battle and she was unsure what to do. Lilith held a small team meeting before they started.
“Stay out of range and attack through their openings. Bite is the only option in our arsenal right now so we are looking for experience rather than a victory. You can’t hurt your opponent, so try your best out there ok?” She said.
Absol took to the field as a shot of adrenaline rushed in. This would be nothing like the battles with Pansage. This time it was her very own Pokemon in the ring.
“She’s a newbie, so take it easy!” Sand called out to Zangoose.
The fight started with a lunge from Absol. She let her natural instincts as a Pokemon take over. At their core, they were monsters built for battle. She might have been friendly with Lilith, but she had an underlying viciousness that came with being a Dark type.
Absol lunged straight for her opponent's throat. She was told that her opponent outclassed her, so there was no reason to hold back. Zangoose held his ground as a silver coating covered his arm. He intercepted the attack with Protect and was left unscathed.
“A vicious one ain't she.” Sandy called out with a laugh.
Lilith had never seen this side of her. It was exhilarating watching her go at it with another Pokemon. Absol lunged and scratched as she tried different attacks. She even tried bashing him with her tail. None of her movements were backed up by moves, so the weight behind them was minimal. The damage was so small that Zangoose barely felt them.
Zangoose dodged left and right. He didn’t initiate any attacks all the while expanding his normal Energy towards Absol.
Lilith found Sandy’s vibe explosive. She enjoyed the lack of scary looks towards her partner and truly did her best to help.
***
Trainer School Fields - Next Day
Lilith hadn’t even bothered to sleep; the duo trained long into the night. They stayed long after Sandy had left, maximizing their familiarity with her newfound powers. Their time together was brief but incredibly informative. Periodic trips to the Gym’s PokeHealer had to be made, but it was well worth it. Being inside a Pokemon Gym had its perks. They could use their moves an unlimited amount of times and not worry about regathering energy to use them.
Lilith felt much safer using the machine there, rather than the one in the Pokemon Center. They had no PokeReader, which left a Trainer's Pokeballs out of reach, and instead only offered the Healer. The Trainer could stand right next to it as the machine did its job, and they could reach out and grab their Balls with no one to get in their way. It helped with Lilith’s paranoia knowing that no one could take Absol away from her.
Lilith was pleasantly surprised with their progress thus far. She walked out into the yard where the classes training would commence. Instead of a large crowd at the entrance, the students were directed to head to their own training fields independently.
Lilith walked the gravel path as she watched the other classes gather on their respective fields. She watched their Pokemon and counted the starters she could see. It was more an idle curiosity to pass the time than anything else.
Absol walked with her. She was less outgoing and stuck close to her Partner's side. None of the kids seemed to recognized her. Some watched purely for the fact that she was a Pokemon unknown to them. She was the kid who had no Pokemon and then arrived with a mystery. Many eyes followed her as she walked by.
Lilith found the field her class was assigned and joined the other kids in attendance. No one approached her as she identified everyone present. Shirley was the obvious one. She was much taller than everyone around her, and Sawsbuck equalled her in height. The other kids all looked the same to her. She never bothered learning their names, but did recognise some through their Pokemon.
Sam and Levy waved at her as they reported for class.
“Lilith! How are you? Ready for some battles?!” Sam called out.
He was the most easy going of the three. Levy mimicked her as they both rolled their eyes at him.
“Yes Sam.” she responded. “How strong are your Pokemon anyway?” she wondered.
“Darumaka here is close to becoming an official one Star! She’s been working so hard!” Sam said, gushing about his Partner.
He loved talking about Darumaka and took any chance offered to him.
“Axew is the same.” Levy pushed the obnoxious boy aside. “Are you getting enough sleep?” She asked concerned.
Black rings hung around her eyes.
“Hmm.” she mumbled while inspecting the two.
“Is everyone here?!” a voice brought her out of contemplation.
Shirley and Sawsbuck stood in front of the class. It was time to begin.
“It looks like it! Alright we start out with reps again like last time!” she started barking orders.
Lilith and Absol took their own space alone as they already knew the move they wanted to practice. Shirley called out for them to begin as Absol grew fangs from her mouth. Only two upper and lower teeth were affected, so their goal was to increase the number.
Absol chomped down on thin air as the move activated and released. Each time her activation was just a little faster. The previous night, it had taken about three seconds for the energy to solidify around her mouth, but the next morning it was closer to two seconds. The pair pushed for one second as 10 reps went by.
“How do you feel?” Lilith asked.
It was important for Absol to not over-stress her system.
“Sol!” She called out.
She had become so much smarter since her hatching. She still acted a little immature sometimes, but could now understand Lilith perfectly.
“How about 5 more then?” she asked.
It appeared that she was running low. As a compromise she wanted to squeeze out just a little more hard work for her Partner. Absol gave in and did 5 more reps before lying on the ground. They called Audino over as she rested. Everyone was still in the middle of training. Her endurance was not as strong as the others.
Audino looked at Absol before shaking her head. She knew Heal Pulse would have no effect. Lilith was confused by the action as Shirley came and joined them.
“15 attacks in one sitting is good considering her age! Good work you too!” she encouraged them.
“But Audino won’t heal her.” Lilith frowned at the Pokemon.
“Absol is a Dark type honey, Psychic type attacks are nullified. Pokemon with little control over their Status moves are unable to reach them. Absol would have to let the healing take effect but she’s not skilled enough to do that yet.” Shirley explained.
“Oh…” Lilith scrunched her brows.
She knew that Dark was immune to Psychic, but didn’t remember anything about that applying to status moves.
“So what do we do now then?” She asked.
“Unfortunately you would either have to wait or return to a PokeHealer.” Shirley gave her a sad smile.
With a new nugget of information known, Lilith and Absol decided to forego the rest of training and wait for the battle sections. They would have to stock up on energy and then conserve while fighting the actual battles. Strategy would play a large role, and Lilith looked at it as more training rather than a hindrance.