Thursday, June 8th, 1978, 0600
I breathed in deeply, enjoying the cool air as I worked through the first of many exercises comprising my morning routine. It smelled of crisp morning dew, paired with the faintly lingering scent of our fire from the previous evening.
My feet squelched on the loamy ground as I cycled methodically through the exercises my body had long become accustomed to. The forest floor was saturated with remnants of last night's heavy rainstorm, which had filled the ordinarily quiet night with a rhythmic pitter-patter—a natural lullaby of sorts.
Sleep is just better when it rains, I decided.
While flowing seamlessly through the various movements, I took advantage of the tranquil atmosphere to sort through how my mission was proceeding thus far.
Nothing had fundamentally changed in the few days since Larvitar had hatched, but I could tell something was different.
I felt good. Lighter, even.
The heaviness I had assumed that life was supposed to feel like had lifted somewhat. I felt like I could genuinely just breathe and enjoy my life for the first time in what felt like years.
The transformation within me could've been caused by many things—and it was, to some extent.
Leaving on my journey, striking out alone.
Escaping the suffocating presence of my family that stifled me at every turn.
Those things were all important, and I was grateful for them, to be certain.
Arceus, was I grateful.
Meeting Larvitar, my newfound partner. The very thought of my determined charge, and the relentless intensity he brought to training brought a smile to my face even as I dripped with sweat from the strenuous exercise.
However, I struggled with putting my finger on what precisely had instilled the fundamental shift in my feelings. It seemed obvious that it had to have been any of those pivotal changes, but that wasn't entirely correct. It was something more subtle.
I continued in silence for another few moments of self-reflection, letting my body almost meditatively move through the ingrained forms.
Ah, I thought in satisfaction as I finally realized the true source of the peace I was now feeling.
I told someone I wanted Sula to fail. I told someone that I couldn't stand my fucking family. I finally told someone that I, too, wanted to be seen.
Frankly, it was terrifying. I could still feel the sharp claws of shame ripping and tearing their way through my insides. But, at the same time, I couldn't help but feel a growing excitement for the possibilities that now seemed to blossom before me. I don't think I had realized just how hopeless and stifled I had become back at home in the compound.
I wrapped up my routine shortly after the epiphany. It might not be much in the grand scheme of things, but I had been suppressing so many feelings that I couldn't help but be proud of myself for the burgeoning self-awareness.
As I made my way back to the tent, I smiled at the sight of Nana and Eon wrapped comfortingly around a still-sleeping Larvitar.
The adorable sight tugged at my heartstrings.
They've really taken to him better than I anticipated. I knew they would do their duty, but I expected more difficulties integrating a new member.
Nana grunted in acknowledgment as I tip-toed into my tent to find a fresh set of clothes. Eon was adorably snoring, letting out a soft whistling noise with every exhale.
I was surprised to hear the snoring, frankly. From my experience, the foxlike pokemon only snored if utterly and completely exhausted, which for the most part solely resulted from consistent battles to failure, which she hadn't been participating in, at least to my knowledge.
Being a mother must be harder work than I realized, if Eon's current state was a result of assisting in raising Larvitar. Either way, I was proud of how well she had taken to the unfamiliar situation.
The last few days had been stormy and overcast, resulting in a noticeable drop in temperature as we made our way closer to the southeastern tip of the continent.
Ellie, Dani, and I had been ecstatic at the pleasant reprieve from the scorching heat, but Larvitar hadn't managed so well. As a non-mammalian species, he unfortunately couldn't regulate his temperature well, mainly relying on the sun for warmth. If he wasn't moving or bundled up, his temperature plummeted, leaving him a shivering and miserable mess.
The guidebook detailed that his line would eventually be able to channel fire moves, so I ardently hoped this would only be a temporary issue. For the time being, however, Eon and Nana had taken to wrapping him up between them at nighttime when the temperature dropped to its lowest point, leading to the sight before me.
Not that I was complaining; I loved seeing my team so close. All my worries about bringing in a third member seemed pointless in retrospect.
True to the guidebook's word, Larvitar had not disappointed in any regard; he was as naturally aggressive as any pokemon I had ever seen. He threw himself into the training program I had designed with seemingly no regard for personal safety, exhaustion, or limits.
In fact, I had to be quite strict in monitoring his energy output; otherwise, he had proven prone to working himself to the point of passing out. As admirable as that might be in certain circumstances, it wasn't conducive to efficient training on a day-to-day basis, as he would then need more time to restore his type-energy stores before he could resume working on whatever I had assigned him for the day.
I still hadn't quite figured out why he was so intense, but he was gradually getting better at knowing his own limits, much to my relief.
Leaving the camp behind, I silently made my way outside the ring of tents we had set up around a small fire pit, heading south towards the ocean, which lay less than a kilometer away.
On the way there, I noticed a few species watching me warily. There were several Pidgeys, a Spearow, and even a Weepinbell with a small clutch of Bellsprouts that scattered as I passed. I ignored them, recognizing that they were likely just curious about the interloper passing through their territory.
As long as I didn't make any aggressive moves, I doubted they would do much. Even without my pokemon on hand, I felt relatively safe walking through the jungle alone. It also didn't hurt that most of the more dangerous pokemon only came out to hunt at night.
In the worst-case scenario, I knew that Nana could come to my aid in seconds if I screamed loud enough. It wouldn't be the first time; I was fortunate his keen ears could pick up sound from great distances.
The first part of Route 15 was further inland, but as we moved steadily closer to Kanto's eastern edge, the trail ran nearly directly adjacent to the water, allowing us to enjoy the comforting roar of the ocean in the background as we traveled.
As I arrived at the beach, I sighed contentedly; the water was a glassy blue, and there wasn't a wave to be seen. Knowing the others would be up soon, I quickly stripped and waded out until the water was nearly up to my chest.
With the decreased temperature, the water nearly felt warmer than the air outside, making the early morning bathing a much more pleasant experience than I had expected. Not that it wasn't cold; I was still shivering after a few minutes in the chilly water.
I chuckled ruefully as I recalled when Sula had 'accidentally' pushed me into a stream of freezing water in the Seafoam Islands, when we snuck out after I first got my pokemon. She had laughed momentarily before panicking as I was swept away by the powerful current, choosing to jump in after me in a show of camaraderie.
Misery loves company, after all. I had been irate at the time but now looked for the most part fondly back at the experience. Well, as long as I don't think about what happened afterward.
Thinking of Sula brought up pangs of guilt, so I shoved the memory away and focused on what I was doing.
Get it together, Mare. Don't think about her right now. She's not your problem.
After carefully rinsing out and styling my hair, I dressed in my standard outfit of leather boots, canvas pants, and a dark tunic. The trip back to camp was uneventful, and I managed to make it back to camp before Dani or Ellie had stirred.
"Nana, would you please start a fire for us," I whispered to my lethargic fire dog, who was still enmeshed in a pile of fur and scales with the other two pokemon.
Nana grumbled but cautiously disentangled himself from Eon and Larvitar before padding towards the fire pit, taking a deep breath and delicately emitting a narrow line of white flame on the small bundle of sticks we had gathered the previous evening.
They were predominantly green, and acrid smoke wafted upwards under his efforts as the fire struggled to catch. Fortunately, the line of fire was dense enough to push through the resistant wood, and we soon had a small but potent fire on our hands.
I nodded in approval, holding my hands over the fire. "Thanks, Nana. Your control has improved dramatically, even in the last few days. Seems like teaching the young ones is suiting you well, eh?"
Nana's shoulders rippled in what could only be the Growlithe equivalent of a shrug, as if he was saying, "Who knows?"
Having known the serious pokemon since he was a puppy, I could tell he was bashful about how much he had taken to the younger pokemon he was now leading.
I sat down across from him, enjoying the warmth and company.
"You know," I started hesitantly, "There's no shame in being a good teacher. Sula always tells me that teaching is the best way to learn. Maybe this will be the jumpstart you need to catch up to Kuro? Either way, the little ones are lucky to have you. Thank you for your hard work, Nana," I said in earnest gratitude. Kuro was Nana's father. I hoped he could catch up someday, but it was a big ask.
Rather than saying anything, Nana simply lumbered over and licked my hand once before plopping down beside me and laying his head on my lap. I lovingly stroked his fur as we enjoyed one of our few moments alone, devoid of the many distractions intrinsic to traveling with a troupe of rambunctious young pokemon.
What a great day, I thought with a deep sense of contentment.
We sat like that for a long while until I finally heard a familiar groan, one that immediately brought a smile to my face. Nana scrambled off of me, bolting over to the edge of camp like he had been keeping watch all night.
I shook my head at his reaction, although it was hardly unexpected. What a ridiculous pokemon. I was certain Nana thought it greatly shameful to be seen in such an undignified position.
"Ughh, it's so cold out here, Mare! Did you make tea yet?" asked a groggy Ellie as she ambled her way over to warm her hands over the fire.
"Ha! I knew you'd see reason," I replied smugly, happy about her interest in the delicious green tea treat. "I'll have it ready in just a few moments. I'm so glad you've converted."
Ellie rolled her eyes. "Look, I told you I'm adaptable. Green tea will totally never top coffee, but I can still feel the buzz, at least a little bit. It's better than nothing!"
"Tini, dratini-tin," parroted Willow as she nodded her tiny head in steadfast agreement from her position around Ellie's neck.
I doubted the newly hatched pokemon knew what tea even was, but it had become clear she would back Ellie up on whatever she did. It was a nice contrast to her other pokemon. River was scared of everything, and Petal was just as likely to do the opposite of what her trainer wanted.
Ellie nodded sagely, as if the snake-like pokemon had just dropped some piece of wisdom. "See, Mare! Even Willow agrees coffee is better than tea; you just don't get it!"
"Yeah, yeah, I don't speak dragon," I said with a dismissive wave at the assertive serpent as I filled a kettle to prepare the beverage.
Ellie's egg had hatched two days ago while we were at the second camp checkpoint, and the two had since become nigh on inseparable. Willow's size and shape made her a perfect scarf, and she rarely left her post around Ellie's shoulders other than to battle.
The little dragon was more confident than her capabilities warranted, but at least her progress was rapid, especially considering she somehow already knew Dragon Breath as a newly hatched pokemon. I could already tell she would get Ellie into trouble soon enough, although I suspected she would have the power to scrape through most fights by virtue of her species' natural attributes.
"What are you two arguing about now?" asked Dani with a yawn as she joined us around the fire, already dressed and ready for the day in one of the trademark dress shirts she seemed to rotate through. She stretched her shoulders overhead; the satisfying popping noises could be heard from across the fire. I suppressed the urge to loudly pop my knuckles in comradery.
"Oh, nothing serious, just the age-old battle between tea and coffee," I joked with a grin. "I think the victor should be obvious."
Dani returned the smile, gracefully settling down on a rock next to me. "Is that so? I wasn't aware there was such a war going on behind the scenes."
Her dark blue hair had yet to be braided and hung heavily down her back, serving as an attractive contrast to her normal image of prim professionalism. Arceus, she's so damn pretty, I thought before frowning as I recalled the dreaded 'buds' that plagued my dreams. I can still recover.
Geralt, her father's aging Rapidash, trailed elegantly behind her. The fire-horse settled down next to his trainer with as much poise as could possibly be expected from such a large pokémon, neighing appreciatively at the fire.
I waved at the pokemon, who gave a nod back in greeting. I thought of Geralt as something of Dani's guardian, meaning he filled much the same role as Nana and Eon did for me. He wasn't like Ellie's pokemon, who were more akin to children she watched over in the hopes they would eventually be able to protect her.
Geralt's serious personality had endeared himself immediately to Nana, and the two pokemon had become the group's cornerstone since we began traveling together. Most of the younger pokemon glommed onto them, like Pidgey to Caterpie. It was a big relief considering that fire types tended to have a love-hate relationship with each other; either they immediately clicked, or they butted heads constantly.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"It's a shadow war, with no winner in sight," I explained gravely, hoping I didn't have another coffee deviant in my party. "Which camp do you find yourself in, Dani?"
"Definitely team tea. I love a good black tea in the morning," Dani replied decisively. "Although it's too bad we don't have cream and sugar out here."
"Black tea!?" I shouted in mock horror, "That's hardly better than coffee!"
My theatrics were apparently too loud, for Eon sprang to her feet in alarm, casting Larvitar unceremoniously to the ground with a dull thump.
"Vee? Eevee-vee?" Eon whirled about in confusion before quickly realizing she was overreacting and there was no threat.
Trotting over to me, she gave me a verbal tongue lashing, "Vee, ve-ve, Eevveeeeee," she said as if to say, "What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you wake me up like that!? Stupid."
Or at least that's how I interpreted it. It helped to give human words to my pokemon's outbursts even if it was only in my head.
"Sorry, Eon," I apologized, feeling sheepish. "I was just having some fun; I didn't mean to disrupt your beauty sleep. Although…”
I paused for a moment before deciding to poke a bit of fun at her. "It's a relief that you finally woke up so that we don't have to be subjected to your loud and disruptive SNORING."
"EEE. VEE," Eon pouted in outrage; she looked appalled at the severe accusation, holding one paw to her mouth in horror.
"Mare, don't tease her like that," admonished Ellie, but it was clear that she was struggling to hold back laughter. "Eon is a lady, and ladies clearly don't snore."
Nana chuffed in amusement from the edge of the camp, and Dani's chiming laughter sounded from next to me. Eon sniffed loudly, turning back to pamper Larvitar, who was upset at the rude awakening.
I internally pumped a fist at the small victory. Yes! I made her laugh; Eon's pride is a small price to pay. She's a big girl, after all. Arceus, she's practically a mother now, I concluded as I watched her brush dirt off Larvitar with tender sweeps of her paws.
What a lovely day.
----------------------------------------
After breakfast, we spent several hours training. We had settled into a routine in the few days since we had split off from Dani's previous companions. We tried traveling as a large group for two days, but it became immediately apparent why Dani had wanted out in the first place.
The boys were rude, cocky, and unwilling to take constructive feedback. It had only taken a few matches before the boys wanted nothing to do with me. I didn't understand their rationale in the slightest. Didn't they understand getting thrashed was the best way to improve? Instead of learning from their losses, they simply pouted and made excuses.
I personally didn't mind since I wasn't thrilled with the idea of adding more inexperienced trainers to my load in the first place, so we split, with the boys leaving ahead of us. The change so far seemed for the best, as the girls seemed to be enjoying things as far as I could tell with my admittedly limited understanding of women my age.
Our process so far was simple in the extreme: First, we ate. Second, we trained. Third, we traveled. Fourth, we ate as much as we could, and finally, we battled before preparing for bed, rotating between pokemon each night.
Considering the different training needs of our troupe, we had broken it down by their primary natural strengths. I was a firm believer in the idea that it was better to maximize a pokemon's advantages rather than try to overcomplicate things or spread out your focus.
Our pokemon were divided into two groups for today, which was an offensively oriented one, and I was making my rounds between the two to ensure things were going smoothly. Nana and Geralt were responsible for the elemental attack group, which consisted of Venonat, Petal, Willow, and Larvitar, although Willow and Petal alternated between both groups due to having high aptitude for both varieties of attacks.
We had Petal and Venonat working on increasing the number of spores they could put out by having them spam Poison Powder, Sleep Powder, and Stun spore repeatedly until they were too tired to move, then repeating the process. The exhausting training had already dramatically expanded their abilities, and Venonat could now emit a cloud with a roughly five-meter radius around her, making it difficult for any physical attackers to approach her without risking debilitating conditions.
Venonat were fairly weak as a species until they evolved, so Dani and I had concluded it would be best to simply make it very difficult for other pokemon to approach her before shifting gears when she gained enhanced mobility. Now that she was well on the way to flooding the field with a mass of different toxins, her lack of mobility or defenses hardly mattered. An immobile target was perfect prey for a well-practiced onslaught of psychic energy. I also suspected she was fairly close to evolving in general, considering she was one of Dani's pokemon from early on in the previous circuit.
Petal wasn't quite there yet, but I had high hopes for her to be able to one day flood an arena with spores, then use her vines to keep space, all the while draining energy from her opponent from the various types of draining attacks grass types were known for. It would be hell for pokemon without powerful elemental attacks to manage.
Willow was largely focused on maximizing the power and endurance of her Dragon Breath, although she was also working on improving the speed of her Thunder Wave, too. The current plan was for her to use Thunder Wave to slow or paralyze her opponents, and then simply slam them with draconic energy until they passed out. Simple, but effective.
As for my own pokemon, I had put a lot of thought into where I wanted Larvitar to focus his efforts. After watching how damn slow he was, I decided that it would be best to focus on developing his type-energy control and reserves, considering that his final evolutionary stage could learn to harness nearly every energy type. No use having the biggest muscles if you can't even make it to the fight, I thought wisely, envisioning the destruction he would eventually be able to cause. Fields of ravaged earth, devastating sandstorms, and even frozen tundra would be well within his grasp.
In a perhaps counterintuitive contrast, Eon was responsible for training the more physical attackers: Scyther, River, and Beedrill. It was slightly comical to watch my relatively small pokemon boss the other three around. They had been resistant at first, but after losing decisively to her several times, they were more than happy to listen.
I had recently learned that Dani refused to name her bug pokemon due to their notoriously short lifespans. Most pokemon species could live nearly as long as their human counterparts, but bug pokemon were different. In exchange for a significantly faster growth rate, few bug species lived longer than just a handful of years. Names inherently bonded trainer to pokemon uniquely, making it much more challenging to cope with their pokémon's ephemeral lives.
From my position in the nearby forest, I observed Eon bossing around the juvenile pokemon, feeling grateful that I could expect our partnership to continue for decades.
Eon was currently walking the pokemon through a series of drills designed to help strengthen their physical power. Well, drills was a strong word for it considering they were simply carrying progressively heavier rocks up and down a nearby hill until their bodies gave out. Eon took the opportunity to constantly cast Wish, using the healing energy to soothe her charge's aching bodies.
Not all training had to be complicated. If anything, it was the opposite.
My trainers at the compound had taught me that to strengthen physically inclined pokemon, the most important thing was to establish a strong foundation of strength and stamina. Pokemon were naturally resilient, often much tougher than they looked on the outside. Attacks that could easily kill a human only left scratches on them that could heal within a day with the simple application of a potion or a trip to a pokemon center.
Larvitar, even at only a few days old, already outweighed me. The little saurian could handily beat me in a tug-of-war match, although I could still easily outrun him. Pokemon were, quite literally, built different.
Obviously, there were more advanced techniques and tactics needed to support the most powerful pokemon moves, but they relied solidly on mastery over the basics to use them consistently.
"Vee, Eevee-vee," Eon encouraged Scyther, who struggled to hoist his chosen rock up the hill. Although Scythers were widely known as vicious and lethal pokemon, they were less physically strong, instead relying on their speed and sharp blades for damage.
If Dani's Scyther put on a bit more muscle, he would be a force to be reckoned with. As it stood, he would struggle to cut through pokemon with natural armor without more force to back up his strikes. He was still quite lethal for pokemon without much natural armor, however. Those scythes were no joke with their curving blades and razor edges.
Whatever Eon had said, it worked. Scyther hissed with effort and managed to half sprint half fly up the remainder of the steep hill, chitinous chest heaving all the while, before crashing to the ground in an exhausted heap. I nodded in approval at the sight; the rock he was carrying looked like it weighed several times more than the pokemon carrying it.
Dani's Scyther was strong, but currently lacked the discipline to calculate his attacks, preferring to fight with brute strength in a frenzied rage. In all honesty, he would probably benefit more from working in direct battles, but I didn't want to make exceptions to certain pokemon this early on in the process. We had all season to work on it.
River and Beedrill looked green with envy. Beedrill, in particular, seemed especially pathetic. He was fast but lacked strength, carrying a rock that looked like it didn't weigh more than a few kilograms. Seeing the huge murder hornet with such a tiny rock was inexplicably humorous, and I couldn't entirely suppress a few chuckles at the sight.
After reviewing the battle with Eon, Dani and I had concluded he needed to work on guerilla tactics, using his superior speed to deliver a rapid strike and retreat as his opponent steadily exhausted itself chasing him. The strategy would work well, I was certain, but it required the pokemon to focus heavily on improving his stamina. His current tactics were similar to Scyther's in the sense that he tended to charge in, hoping he could overwhelm his opponent with sheer offense. Great against weaker opponents, but inevitably fatal against an opponent that could stand the initial charge and keep him pinned, like Eon had demonstrated in their battle.
After observing the physical group's training for a few moments, I deemed it satisfactory and made my way to the jungle's edge, where the special attack group had made camp. I moved stealthily since Larvitar tended to show off if he knew I was watching. It was an ongoing issue, and I was uncertain how to curb the behavior.
The reason they were set up near the forest was so that they could work on improving their aim. As Ellie had realized on the first night of the journey, simply being an elemental type didn't guarantee that they could hit a damn thing without training.
Dani had used a knife to mark several trees with deep slashes in the shape of a target. The circles ranged from small to large, and the pokemon had a wide array of difficulties to practice with. The smallest targets were no larger than my fist.
I watched proudly as Larvitar grunted with effort, sending a boulder nearly his size screaming into a tree twenty meters away. It exploded into a cloud of shrapnel that brutally smashed through the first few layers of the tree's tough bark. The target was nowhere to be seen, and the raw flesh of the tree was laid bare to the cool morning air.
Excellent progress, I noted. Just a week ago he had barely been able to send a rock the size of my fist before tiring. He clearly had a strong grasp over his rock typing.
Without pause, Larvitar sucked in a deep breath of air and launched a globe of turbulent water toward a closer tree. The water splashed across it with a loud crack, but without doing any significant damage. He had channeled an impressive volume of water, but it lacked the force I wanted. I suspected he would figure it out in the heat of battle.
For many pokemon, it was difficult to progress without the threat of violence hanging over them.
He groaned in disappointment, kicking a small rock out into the forest.
"You'll get the hang out of it soon, buddy," said Dani optimistically from her position in the midst of the crowd of pokemon participating in what effectively amounted to target practice.
She scratched her head thoughtfully, adding, "I don't think you're even supposed to be able to do that. Quit your sulking." She bopped him on the head with a fist gently, smiling as he glared up at her. "It doesn't suit you. Remember when Nana dunked you in the water a few days ago? You nearly drowned before you realized you could breathe underwater, and now you can summon a globe of water out of nowhere. You're doing great!"
"Lar," he said sulkily, pouting.
"Bulba, bulb-bulb," agreed Petal with a knowing nod.
"Lithe, grow-ow-lithe," Nana grunted, putting an end to any comments the peanut gallery might have wanted to add.
I wish I could understand him, I thought wistfully, as I did most days. Things would be much simpler if I could talk to them openly.
Dani turned to the small dragon. "It's your turn now, Willow. Let's see what you can do!"
Willow roared cutely as she spewed a stream of crackling purple energy towards the nearest tree, easily shredding through the outer layers of the bark and even digging further before she ran out of steam. Chest rising and falling rapidly, the dragon pokemon chittered excitedly at the damage before Geralt bonked her lightly on the top of her head with one of his heavy hooves.
He neighed loudly, admonishing her with a curt gesture towards the tree, at which point Willow realized she had completely missed the target on the tree by a good three meters.
"Tini," she apologized bashfully as Geralt began what I suspected was a lecture of some kind. Willow listened attentively, nodding occasionally at what I assumed must be helpful advice.
I jumped in surprise when Dani placed her hand on my shoulder; I had been so focused on the training that I hadn't even noticed her sneak up on me. I thought my location behind them had been inconspicuous enough to avoid notice. Clearly, I was wrong.
"Sorry!" she apologized when she saw my reaction, although her satisfied grin told me she was anything but. "I figured you would have noticed me."
I shrugged, mentally reprimanding myself for the lack of focus, something that seemed to be happening more frequently as of late. "I guess I was just focused? I thought I had avoided drawing attention to myself."
"You were plenty stealthy; I just have a good eye. Besides, you were watching the little ones intently." She laughed, shaking her head. "Besides, I could practically feel your mind whirring behind us. But there's nothing wrong with being caught off guard by a friend, Mare," she chided gently. "So, what's up?"
"You're right, old habits die hard," I said with an apologetic shrug. "How is the training going?" Although I was sure my words sounded normal enough, I couldn't help but feel awkward around Dani. Even after nearly a week of traveling with her, I felt distinctly uneasy. It was hard for me not to think about the fact she had watched my breakdown with Ellie. But if she judged me for it, she had yet to give any indication.
"It's good, I think? This training style is different than what I'm used to. It feels overly simple, if I’m being honest," she replied. "Last year, I had focused mostly on battling other trainers and didn't spend much time doing stuff like this. I can't help but think I might've done better if I had focused more on the foundations."
I nodded in understanding. "That's a completely viable tactic, especially if you’re in a hurry to make progress rapidly. Once Larvitar has mastered the basics, that's probably what I'll spend most of my time focusing on, anyway. It's not like there's any one correct strategy; this is just the approach recommended by the Seiichi. I'm sure you did the best you could."
"Maybe, maybe not," replied Dani with a crooked smile. "I still feel like my pokemon aren't as strong as they could be if I had done things better."
"I doubt it," I said, amused at her misplaced doubt considering how strong her pokemon were. "It's not like they're weak by any means. As it stands, Larvitar would still handily lose to any of the other pokemon besides Willow, and that's just because she's even younger than him."
"He's just a baby, Mare. You need to have more realistic expectations," critiqued Dani with a raise of her eyebrows.
I shook my head with frustration, my voice taking on a note of frustration. "That’s not the point. It’s not like a gym leader will care how old he is. I still don't know what to do with the fact that he is giving every indication of having adopted a water typing. It completely ruins my plans to use him for Kuon."
Dani rolled her eyes. "I still think you're overreacting. You don't know that he will be vulnerable to electric moves; we have no way to test it with any of our pokemon."
"Oh yeah? If he gets nicked with the tiniest filament of grass type-energy, he'll most likely faint right on the spot!" I shot back incredulously. "In fact, we should probably have him begin working on resistance training with Petal as soon as possible. We can get Eon to heal him after each attack."
"Mare, that's awful." She shuddered. "I can't believe you would suggest something like that for the little guy."
"Maybe it is, but I don't have much choice," I replied with a shrug, turning back to observe the training pokemon, my mind turning negative at the thought of Larvitar's 'new' typing.
To my great surprise, I had realized that Larvitar could channel water type-energy a few days ago when he had blown a stream of hardened bubbles at Nana in anger. Nana had then logically thrown him into a nearby stream to punish him and determine if his gills worked.
They did.
We had since run him through a series of tests to determine the extent of it. The results were startling, to say the least. Larvitar could breathe underwater and swam better than his species had any right to. Furthermore, his paddle-like hands were widening and developing a thin layer of webbing.
The evidence seemed clear, but the findings had prompted an ongoing debate between the three of us that had yet to be resolved.
Dani believed the additional versatility would be advantageous since water-type moves were notoriously adaptable.
Ellie thought that it was great no matter what happened and that I was being an idiot for overthinking it.
My thoughts were some hybrid of the two; there was no doubt that Larvitar had gained versatility, but it came at the cost of significant weaknesses to the Vermillion and Celadon gyms. In the long term, I felt like it was probably an advantage, but given that he was supposed to make a splash, getting pummeled at the first two gyms was hardly a way to promote the strength of Johtan pokemon.
I concluded resignedly that he would get beat up a lot more than I anticipated. It wasn't all bad; resistance training was a time-honored tradition in my clan. However, it was certainly not enjoyable for the pokemon on the receiving end of it, and my heart ached at the thought of watching Larvitar get pummeled over and over by grass energy despite my cold words to Dani.
"Hmm…" Dani said thoughtfully, interrupting my thoughts. "We can probably get him checked out at the Eevee Lab in Vermilion. Have you heard of the facility, Mare?"
"I think my dad mentioned it once before, but I don't know much about it. Don't they just study Eevee?"
Dani snorted before expanding on her suggestion. "You say that like it's a simple thing. They're one of the only known pokemon that have multiple evolutionary paths. The researchers there focus on the effects of elemental energy on pokemon. They offer free tours. It was really cool! They have an entire collection of elemental stones, too. I bet they could tell you more about what Larvitar is going through."
"That's an excellent idea!" I replied, latching onto her suggestion immediately. I felt incredibly anxious at the unforeseen alterations in Larvitar's biology; I didn't like not knowing what was happening. The guidebook Kiriel had provided was practically useless now, so any helpful information would do wonders for the degree of uncertainty I was experiencing.
Dani smiled, seeming pleased at my acceptance of the idea. "We still have quite a bit of traveling to do before we get there, though. Think we should get going? It's already almost noon anyway. I'm sure the pokemon are hitting their limits for the time being."
"Probably a good call. It looks like it's going to storm, too," I said with disgust as I looked up at the steadily darkening sky. "Let's go grab Ellie and get on the road."
Dani's nose crinkled in distaste; I knew she was sick of the constant rain barrages. The roads were muddy, and the moisture gave us nasty blisters.
"What do you mean, go grab Ellie? I thought she was supposed to be with you?" asked Dani in bewilderment.
Right as I began to explain that Ellie was washing her laundry, a blood-curdling scream rang out from the direction of the ocean.