I mentally willed the bowl in front of me to float up; made of metal, unsurprisingly, given that Alakazam thought it would be best to use the material to practice Telekinetic wielding. But even with it being considered the best for my current practice, I was still having a hard time doing anything to the bowl to the point that it hasn't moved from its spot ever since it had been placed there a month ago. And it isn't just the bowl either, overall, I couldn't do anything remotely psychic other than "calculate" or whatever it is.

I dropped trying to exert my psychic control and sighed, "this is pointless," I looked at Alakazam and he looked back, his face stoic and the complete opposite of mine, "we should really just stick with the entire calculation bit, we could make better progress that way," I voiced out my opinion honestly, and it was the truth too, I've been streaming along my ability to calculate odds just fine.

Telekinesis and by extension, every other psychic exertion was the main problem when it came down to it so why not just cut it some slack? Feels like it's better that way...

'Lionel, if I knew you couldn't exert your psychic control and that this was all pointless, I wouldn't make you do it' Alakazam's smooth voice entered my head, creating a weird echo effect that permeated for a while before eventually dissipating, his psychic connection along with it. He floated towards me and teleported a flat log meters away from my feet, he sat there, looked at me, and then at the metal bowl, 'exerting it isn't supposed to be hard' he added firmly.

"you're a Pokemon and I'm a human," I met his dull gaze with the same look, my expression growing irritated, "what makes you think that we're even remotely close when it comes exerting psychic powers?"

I looked at the bowl and tried to make it move to emphasize my point.

'have you heard how an Abra forms?..' I heard him say and I shook my head, I could barely remember anything related to the wider world of Pokemon that I knew back in my old life, let alone this niche little topic. He stayed silent and I gestured for him to continue, 'it is said that...' oddly enough, he paused, 'when a human child becomes disobedient, the world would curse them and turn them into a Pokemon,' his expression was serious when he said that.

"naughty?" I said with a grin, "what does that have to do with anything?"

he shrugged, 'I do not know, but, Lionel, some of it may have some truth to it you know?..'

Alakazam didn't say anything and let his words linger for a moment and two of us sat there, clearly thinking. Alakazam was probably busy thinking about whatever and I, couldn't help but find his words suspicious. I mean, we are talking about one of the smartest Pokemon here after all, and for all of the memory loss, I knew for a fact that Alakazam's were only what? Second to a Metagross? And that's essentially saying something since those things were basically supercomputers.

So, why would something like that say those words? I stood there, for a while, staring at the passing clouds in the sky, small white dots in the entirety of the blue expanse above us.

"what are you trying to say exactly?" I gave up and looked at Alakazam, was he saying that I was a Pokemon? That humans and Pokemons aren't that different in that we can... turn into one like how an Eevee turns into other forms under the right condition? I that what he was putting up?

'hmm... I guess, if I were to say something then this brief explanation should suffice; you see, Lionel, despite your complaints, we are all under the same laws no? And Pokemon or not, we, creatures, seemingly of the same intelligence throughout the world are able to exert power in one way or another,'

"what?" was all I could say in reply, "what does that even mean?"

In response, he stayed silent and let me think, either that or he was waiting for me to walk away and in our lesson for today, something unlikely in my opinion. The possibility that he wants me to come to some conclusion and start practicing to properly exert my psychic might sound way more appealing and I guess, that's what my mind considered as a goal as my thoughts went completely blank so that I could properly think.

After a while, like some sort of eureka, it hit me and I thought that maybe I should've realized it sooner, "are you saying that there isn't an actual difference between humans and Pokemon?" his eye moved to look at me but his face remained forward, I continued, "I mean, I get what you're saying and all but just because we live in the same planet doesn't mean we're the same creatures right?"

I couldn't be a Pokemon that looks like a human, could I? I mean, just because I'm in the Pokemon world?

'what... makes you think that's the case?' he asked after a short lull in the conversation, 'if you are implying that perhaps, you believe you are different from me, could you tell me why that is?'

I tapped my chin, "well if I were to give my two cents then I guess I can say that..." I frowned, what was different between him and me actually? He's humanoid, smart enough to talk, and from what I've seen, even capable of using technology. Alakazam just deems it redundant since he already has a perfect, crystal clear memory as well as the ability to travel long distances- all of the features of a working Telephone really.

"because of power?" I looked at him and he shook his head in exasperation,

'then, I am afraid that we have circled back to the start of the argument young Lionel, and as a reply, then I shall tell you that exerting your own isn't that hard, so I suggest you move the bowl while I meditate,' and just like that, his mind went silent.

I cursed under my breath and looked at the metal bowl in front of me, then, with a deep breath, I threw all of my concentrated efforts into trying to move it as best as I could and miserably failing.

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...

I went into a harsh stare down with the trainer in front of me, Whitney hadn't been able to meet with me as often these past few weeks and after she came back, she just barreled through the battling students in the back of the school and went straight for me, and after grabbing my arm, she dragged me to an empty court and asked me for a battle. Seeing that I had no reason to refuse, I agreed with her and went on one side of the arena, she went on the other and since we didn't have a referee, she told me beforehand that the battle would start the moment that both our Pokemons are on the field.

I released Magby and he looked around, his eyes eventually settling on the other trainer on the battlefield. He steeled himself and waited for his opponent to come out, and so did I.

"Ember!" / "Fake Out!" - both trainers called out simultaneously as our Pokemon entered the field,

Just as quickly, our Pokemon had reacted and Magby showed off the fruits of his training quite well, taking Meowth's hit in stride before giving up a follow-up Mega Punch that I issued after he flinched.

"Meowth! Dodge then use Hypnosis!" Whitney retorted quickly and her Pokemon followed with the same speed, leaping away from Magby's point-blank punch before stabilizing himself and looking at him with blue eyes that possessed an eerie glow.

"Magby! left! now! dodge it!" I yelled as loudly as I could, hoping that would somehow make a difference in helping Magby fight off the creeping sleep. And it did, somewhat, as Magby got away before the Hypnosis could truly take place.

"now Meowth! Bite!" Whitney said in reply,

"Mag!" my pokemon said as Meowth's bite struck his shoulders, holding himself there for a small moment before letting go. I told Magby to use Ember, he did, and Whitney told Meowth to dodge in reply, he did.

My eyes narrowed, "Smokescreen, then Smog," I calmly said, trying to get a feel of the battle. Whitney's Meowth was stronger than my Magby, that much was obvious. I looked at the Meowth's ready-to-pounce form as he stared at Magby's smokescreen, completely obscuring the middle area between both Pokemon, I met Magby's eyes, he nodded and sent out a cloud of toxic gas towards the smoke, blending them together.

He wasn't immune to poison so making him hide inside of it was obviously a no go but Grimer could. I doubt that I needed to use him in this match though.

"Ember," I said, "hold it," I looked at the battlefield, smoke had covered a small part of it and I assume, with Whitney knowing my tricks, she would tell her Pokemon to go around the smoke, fully aware that I meant to use Smog in the Smokescreen instead of Meowth.

The two of us waited, until eventually- now!" - Magby fired off his Ember, striking the small feline point blank, the hit made him stumble and he lost balance, falling to the ground in a heap of ash and dust. "Leer!" I quickly followed up,

"Meowth! Screech!" Whitney's voice came from the other side of the smoke, "then Fury Swipes again!"

A loud, ear-piercing screech erupted out of Meowth's mouth, causing both me and Magby to take a step back from him, both hands covering our ears. Then, without waiting for any of us to recover, Meowth's hands glowed and two, white scythes erupted from his fingers-

He jumped towards Magby and struck.

Again.

Again.

And Again.

By the last strike, my pokemon lay on the ground, scratch marks visible on his body. I recalled him and gave a swift thank you before taking out Grimer's Pokeball, "never thought I'd have to use him," I said to Whitney, "I'm not sure about this, he has a super-effective move against him you know?"

"it's gonna be fine!" she glared, her back arching so that she can lean towards me, "Meowth's pretty strong!"

"fine then," and Grimer was out of his Pokeball, "Power-Up Punch!"

"oh, so you're not gonna combine it with Shadow Sneak?" Whitney mocked, "fine then, Hypnosis!"

Meowth's eyes glowed once more, he faced Grimer and the sludge swerved to the right, well aware what kind of move that is from all the training he had gotten from Dad's Pokemon. It was only second to Persian's most annoying move, and that was only because of its bad accuracy.

The hypnosis missed and Grimer was almost able to land a clean Power-up Punch before Meowth hopped away, his eyes wary.

"Scary Face," I said, feeling that slowing Meowth down felt like a priority that I should have gotten over with from the get go,

In a similar manner to Meowth using Hypnosis, Grimer's eyes glowed golden as darkness enveloped his form, he looked at his opponent and struck, the move causing Meowth to slightly falter before regaining his balance just as Quickly.

"Screech!"

I smirked, "Disable!" was my last command before my hearing went blank from the sudden burst of sound. It wasn't as bad as before, thankfully.

With Meowth's ability to lower Grimer's defense gone and his speed slowed, I had slightly better chances in winning against him. I would've probably won a lot easier if Screech wasn't actually fired and if Magby landed just another attack. I looked at Meowth,- 'well, I guess it wouldn't matter in the end,'

"Harden," at my command, Grimer's body solidified after he used Harden, a completely opposite reaction when Meowth used Screech against him earlier, which caused his slime-like body to droop and liquefy even further.

"Fury Swipes!"

"take it, retaliate with Power-up Punch!"

Despite his face contorting in pain, Grimer took the following hits well and he managed to hit the perplexed Meowth with a Power-up Punch that sent him a foot back.

I followed it up, "Power-up Punch again!"

"Meowth! Hypnosis!"

"DODGE!"

The sudden shifting commands got Grimer confused for a small moment before he recovered and opted to dodge, getting away from Meowth's Hypnosis before going back to hit him with my prior command. Unfortunately, Meowth had been ready for it this time around and reacted, effectively making Grimer miss with a single backward jump.

"Scary Face," I needed to slow that thing down,

Meowth slowed down even further after the second hit of Scary Face and I think, it would've been enough for my Pokemon to hit him again, "Power-up Punch!" I said, which was followed by Whitney's command to dodge.

"Bite! Follow him!" Grimer followed, Meowth dodged again.

I frowned, "Poison Gas!"

"Hypnosis!"

And both status moves struck, with Grimer falling asleep and Meowth suddenly turning purple. Whitney seemed ecstatic, "good job! now Fury Swipes!"

I yelled out a command, telling my Pokemon to use Power-up Punch but he didn't wake up and I had to watch the Meowth strike him 3 times with the elongated claws on his fingers. The process repeated, with Grimer still not waking up, Meowth struck him only two times this time around before the power for his move ran out.

I told him to use Power-up Punch for what I think would be the last time because I was sure that one more wave of Fury Swipes would caused him to finally faint. Defensive or not, he can only take up so much punishment.

Meowth's claws grew, and he struck, again, and again, and again,- up until Grimer finally fell down, fainting.

I recalled him and took out Zubat's Pokeball, I waved it in front of Whitney, "this guy isn't ready for battles yet," I started walking towards the middle of the arena, forcing her to recall Meowth, she frowned but followed my lead regardless.

She took the money from my hands, "why isn't he ready yet?"

"I don't know, he just seems like he doesn't feel like fighting," was the only sensible reply I could say. Zubat has been... acting weird after his rescue and when it only got worse when he overheard the fact that I had no clue how I even got his Pokeball to begin with. I rubbed the Pokeball, "and honestly? he's pretty strong so I sort of hope he'd be in a fighting mentality soon."

Whitney hummed as we both started walking towards the benches, "so what? it's not physical but mental?" I nodded, "weird, haven't seen that sort of thing before,"