It was early morning when Brendan came knocking on Arthur's door, the young man in question was currently brushing Zangoose's fur. The Pokemon, who had never experienced the touch of a brush, had been hesitant at first. But with calming words and some encouragement from Nuzleaf, it had relented. After a tense few strokes, the cat pokemon at melted into the brush, purring like a newborn kitten. Arthur didn't even know Zangoose could purr, no subject on their species had ever mentioned it. That is how Brendan found them.

"Huh, I never knew Zangoose could purr." The young Pokemon researcher said as he made a note on his Pokedex.

"I had no clue either, I just noticed that Zangoose had a lot of little knots in its fur. From a distance, it looked fairly well taken care of but it was just its top layer. Its undercoat was a mess." Arthur replied, the knots had been taken care of a while ago, now he was just taking comfort in listening to his Zangoose purr.

"So, that's on the agenda for today? I'm headed up to route 115 to do a preliminary scout of the area for any dangers to either myself or the local pokemon, locate the Tympole colony, and if I have time, introduce myself to them so they don't get startled if they stumble upon me watching them." Brendan said, easily listing off his objectives for today.

Arthur thought for a moment. He knew that he wanted to train up on Route 116 and catch an Abra. "Well, first I've got to get Zangoose a medical checkup and properly register them. Same with Nuzleaf, they need a checkup to make sure their evolution went smoothly. Then it's over to Route 116 to see if I can catch an Abra. I heard it's hard, since they teleport away the moment they sense a human, but if I can find one sleeping then I may have a chance."

Brendan shook his head. "That's not how it works. Wild Abra actually spend most of their time sleeping. They have a psychic field around them, the moment something or someone enters the field, they teleport away. It's not a far distance, and you may be able to exaughts an Abra's psychic powers by using Zagoose's nose to chase it down, but it would be very difficult."

Arthur furrowed his eyebrows, his brush hand stopping, much to Zangoose's displeasure. "Well, I have to give it a shot. A psychic pokemon like the Abra line would be a powerful addition to my team, and exactly what I would need to beat Norman."

Brendan looked surprised at the words of Arthur. "Is that the only reason you want to catch an Abra? To beat my- to beat Norman? If you are so set on a psychic type, Ralts are native to the Petalburg area."

Arthur found himself flushed red at the mention of the Ralts line. In truth, the line had been his first idea. In fact, he was going to catch one the moment he started his journey. That was until "I don't like that line. It's nothing against them, they are really powerful, and the male line having a more physical evolution option is really cool. But uhh, well, some people catch them and well, you know, for perverted reasons. I don't want anyone to look at me like I'm one of those people, ya know?" Arthur muttered, feeling himself turn even redder. The boy across from him also started to turn red as it clicked in his mind.

"Oh, yeah. I can see that. I mean, yeah, makes sense. Abra it is." Brendan coughed into his hand after speaking, turning around and going to leave, the conversation now too awkward for either of the teens to continue. "Well, good luck on your hunt. Make sure to focus training on Zangoose until it masters Metal Claw. Seeya."

With that, Arthur was now alone with his pokemon, who he quickly recalled and started composing himself. It took a few moments as the image of a Gardevoir he had seen online during his research into the species popped into his mind. He hadn't meant to click the link, but he had around twenty tabs open on the Ralts line, he wasn't paying that much attention. At least now he knew to avoid Poke-H in the future when looking up things about his Pokemon. Though what he saw was now permanently seared into his mind, and he would unconsciously judge anyone who had that particular line of Pokemon.

Finally, returning to mostly normal, the young Trainer left his room and went downstairs. It was early enough that most of the trainers were still asleep, only those serious about their ambitions were up. Trainers had a tendency to sleep in, often being young with no parental supervision, time management was not their forte.

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Giving his two Pokemon to the Nurse Joy on duty for a checkup, Arthur realized he didn't actually know what gender Zangoose was. He knew Seedot was a male, they had visited the Pokecenter plenty back in Petalburg, so he made sure to ask the Nurse to check for him. Ten minutes later, Arthur was called over to the desk.

"Congratulations, both your Pokemon are in perfect health. I also registered your Female Zangoose with the league, since it was not yet done." The Nurse said, handing back the two red and white Pokeballs. While both still shone brightly, as newer Pokeballs tended to do, the young Trainer couldn't help but notice how Zangoose's was brighter and less scratched. None had any deep marks that showed an experienced Pokemon and Trainer, but the luster was starting to go from Nuzleaf's ball. He could polish it back up, but Arthur felt that the condition of the ball showed how much they had been through as partners.

With the checkup done, Arthur headed off to Route 116 to begin the training montage. Though it was mostly just Zangoose beating the shit out of Poochyena, Zigzagoon Skitty, Nincada, and the occasional Whismur. The Taillow in the area could fly, so they kept clear. There have yet to be any outside Pokemon added to this area, with the construction going on in the Rusturf Tunnel. The Leauge had decided that it was too dangerous to try and add foreign species with the noise made by Pokemon digging, afraid that the noise would push them off into the wilderness or other routes, potentially spelling either doom for the introduced Pokemon, or disrupting a potentially fragile local ecosystem.

Throughout the day, Arthur encountered only a single Abra. Knowing that it would teleport away if it sensed any danger, he threw a Pokeball with all his might at the creature. However, right as it was about to hit, the Pokemon disappeared into thin air. The Pokeball sailed through the air, landing in the grass and rolling for a short while before coming to a stop. From then on, an Abra could not be found. Not even Zangoose's nose could pick anything up, teleport not leaving a scent for the cat Pokemon to follow.

Arthur also noticed a severe lack of Trainers on this route. It made sense since the tunnel was finished it was a dead end, but there were Pokemon aplenty here, and while they may not be the strongest, they were more than happy for a fight when you entered their territory. It was great training for Zangoose, who quickly figured out Metal Claw on a poor Poochyena. It was a little rough, taking a few moments to channel the unfamiliar Steel Type energy, but with some battle experience, it was figured out.

A handful of Pokemon showed interest in joining his team too, A Skitty and a Nincada both seemed to want to join, however, Arthur had to decline their offer. He didn't want to get too many Pokemon too quickly, in case he ended up neglecting one of them. The Whismur that wanted to join them was particularly strong and didn't like taking no for an answer. It tried to follow the team and force its way into the party until Arthur send out Nuzleaf to send it packing. A quick Fakeout stunned the Pokemon, followed up by an Air Cutter chasing it off. Nuzleaf sent a Razor Leaf after it to make sure it didn't come back. Arthur felt bad about treating the Pokemon in such a way, but he wouldn't be forced into accepting a Pokemon he didn't want, no matter how strong it was.

That is how the next few days went, exploring the route and a little of the wilderness around it. The moment you stepped off the trail, the Pokemon became much stronger. A Loudred had challenged them at one point, and it took both Zangoose and Nuzleaf working together to fend it off. After that incident, the party decided to stay a lot closer to the route proper. Though it was a very good experience in fighting both as a team, and against a stronger opponent.

While wandering aimlessly, the group of Mon and man came across a clearing filled to the brim with berry trees. They were a mix of different kinds of berries with Oran being the most numerous. However, when they stepped out to collect some, a massive flock of Taillow began screeching at them, and a particularly large Swellow flew down to confront them. While the Pokemon were happy to try and fight for the berries, Arthur used his executive decision as the Trainer to get out of there. If it was just the Swellow, he would be happy to try and tag team it like they did the Loudred, but with the flock behind it, he didn't like their chances.

Four days the team spent on and around the route training. Zangoose easily caught up to Nuzleaf, and even surpassed him in strength, Zangoose's species simply being stronger than the middle evolution of the Seedot line, though that would change once Nuzleaf evolved again. Zangoose even learned Hone Claws towards the end of their last day, while Nuzleaf mastered their new moves from evolution.

With that, the group was now ready to face the Gym challenge.