Chapter 11- Training!

“So you guys will have a dual battle against the gym leader. Do you think you will win?” Mathew asked when we exited the gym.

“Yeah, we agreed after discussing briefly…but now I wonder if we made a mistake” Seraphina murmured.

“Okey first, let me say that I am not sure, but I am 95% sure that I know which pokemon she will use. At least one of them.” To their surprised I simply answered that I would explain after we rested a bit.

Seraphina will go to her home while Mathew and I will go for the Pokemon center. Unfortunately, due to her younger siblings, she did not have the space needed to take us in and she continued to apologize for that.

“Don’t mind it. Our stay is free anyway.” Mathew dismissed it with a wave.

I got the free boarding for the stay due to challenging the gym circuit and Mathew had perks due to working with the league as a ranger. Meaning that no matter what we will not have to pay for our stay but will have to move around if we all want to meet. That also meant that I would have my own room since Mathew’s room is one prepared for league officials.

We went our separate ways, with Seraphina meeting with us later in the afternoon. Once again, I was made aware that Virbank’s gym was not particularly popular since there were still some empty rooms despite being the beginning of the circuit. And I was also reminded of why that was. Just by waiting around to get my pokemon checked, three trainers came in with their pokemons heavily poisoned. It seemed Roxie was just as ruthless as people said.

If only I was able to teach Nike Misty Terrain to negate status effect, But I don’t think that’s reasonable given the one-week period. Well, I have to at least add it in case we end up in similar situations in the future.

Thankfully we already started training Psybeam which will be useful when dealing with the poison type so that was one less thing to worry about. My base strategy for this gym was to rely on Nike psychic type to bombard them from a distance. Of course, I would need more than that given that the pokemons she would use will be stronger.

I continued to think about what to do for match while also discussing with Pokemons in a broad fashion. We decided that any in depth strategizing will need to be done when Seraphina joined us. For now, rest was the order I gave them despite Skoll’s protestations.

I was about to doze off when a knock came from the door. Standing in front of it was Mathew, still in his alolan outfit.

“Wanna grab lunch before losing yourself in the training?” he asked.

I was about to refuse to go to sleep instead but my stomach made its disagreement with my plans know. While it was embarrassing, I decided to that I was not tired enough and instead wanted to eat. We shot Seraphina a quick text to let her know that we will go and grab lunch, so she had more time.

In the end we settled on a pizzeria that Mathew heard about from one his colleague and the food was so good that I had to write the name down. Skoll and Nike also enjoyed their food of real ingredient rather than the pellet or the berries that they usually have on the road. The meals on the road are okey-ish but real food will always be different, doesn’t matter if you are human or pokemon.

When we got to the Center, Seraphina was waiting for us in the lobby.

“Finally, you guys took forever!” she complained.

“Sorry, the food was just too good. Anyway, let’s go to my room I’ll explain what I have in mind.”

When I led them to my room, I quickly plugged my laptop to the TV in the room to share what I thought of on the bigger screen. Thankfully I already gathered what I needed before going out. By the way, Mathew decided to tag along because he was curious about what I wanted to show.

“Huh, what are those pokemon?” Seraphina asked when the screen turned on.

What she saw on the screen were images for three different pokemons, although two of them were similar.

“These are the pokemon that I think Roxie will use. Honestly, I think she mentioned it was from Galar to give us a hint but anyway let me explain.” I said while expanding the pictures with two similar pokemons.

“This is a species that is found only in Galar as far as I know, and the one I am almost certain will be one of our opponents during the challenge. It’s actually the same species of pokemon, just variant. This is Troxicity an Electric and Poison type. That alone will not be enough to guarantee that Roxie caught one, but when you take into account what its known for it makes sense.” I pointed at the upright lizard on the screen.

Both of them had skin that was mostly purple, long lanky arms, short legs and spikes coming from various part of their body such as their back, waist and wrist. Yet they also have distinctive features.

The one on the left had a yellow accent to supplement the purple skin, especially noticeable on the chest. It also had what seemed to be pure yellow lightning going from the tip of its snout to its back, reminiscing of a mohawk hairstyle.

The one on the right had a blue accent similarly placed to its counterpart. However, it possessed a fin like horn on its head that was absent on the other form, with two rows of blue lightning given physical for going from the base of said horn to its back.

“See these protrusions on their chests?” I asked and zoomed on to the picture. “By clawing at them, they are able to produce sound that is strikingly similar to guitar sound. And as you can guess they love to play rock with it. Sounds familiar?

The two of them looked at me with wide eyes. It seemed their mind connected the dots just like I did. The combination seemed almost too perfect.

“Wait then are there any differences between these two forms? Or is it similar to Jellicent where it’s gender based?” Seraphina asked while taking notes surprisingly.

I shook my head. “They have the same pre-evolution but as far as I know what differentiates them is their temper. Keep in mind I don’t have access to their Dex entries so I can’t tell if there are any other differences but there shouldn’t be.”

“There are none.” Mathew stated before he continued after seeing the surprised look on our face. “Rangers need to know their stuff. Electric and Poison is a rather rare combination.” He stated.

We looked at him mystified before continuing. “You know, maybe he is actually a good one..” Seraphina said.

“What do you mean maybe?” he arched an eyebrow.

“Moving on, I was saying that it is almost guarantee that one of her two pokemon will be a Toxtricity. Maybe even both but it is doubtful the league will let her use two pokemon of a different region in a 2nd gym badge.”

That is what I hoped for. Because if I remember correctly these two could have the Plus and Minus ability which would boost each other’s attack. Next was what I really hoped would not happen.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“For the second option, we may have this one here.” I pulled the third image. “This is a Galarian Weezing, a regional evolution of Weezing. We know that she has a Koffing, but it is doubtful she evolved it, much less use it for a 2nd gym. Unless she caught another one, but that brings us back to the likely limitation of the league again. By the way, it’s a Poison and Fairy type.”

“You know a lot of things about pokemons from another region.” she remarked.

Thankfully I was already prepared for that. “Well miss Opal taught me a bit about Fairies and their main weaknesses so of course she used example from Galar.” I shrugged.

That was a half-truth so I will give it a pass. I simply remember it from the games honestly.

“Now the next question is, now that we have that information, what is the next step?” Seraphina asked.

I answered immediately. “Training of course. And I don’t mean just our pokemon but us as well. We’ll need to be able to have at least an understanding of each other. If you have moves that you want to train with your pokemon as well, we’ll need to take it into account.”

“Hum Luxio apparently got a instinctual understanding of Spark after the evolution and Lilteo is still working on Fire Fang.” She thought out loud.

I nodded. We’ll need to make time for personal training as well as training together.

“You guys seemed to have figured it out, but can I suggest something?” Mathew interrupted and we nodded. “Training is good but nothing beats actual battle experience. You should challenge other trainers and most importantly Gym trainers.”

That actually slipped my mind. Gym trainers were trainers that were either done traveling, taking a break from it or saving for it. And it was not only financial, working under gym leader presented a lot of opportunities to learn from them. Every gym had gym trainers that help with the gym pokemon, or sometime even acted as temporary replacement among other duties.

“Thank you that completely skipped my mind.” I added. “now for the program. What do you say if we split the day in two. Morning for individual and afternoon for joint training. It is also the time we will look for battle. It will make so your have the morning with your family a well.”

“Sounds like a plan speaking of which, my parents insist on inviting you guys to dinner before the we leave town so keep your ears opened for that.”

After that statement we simply moved onto putting our plan into practice. Since it was the afternoon, we decided to go ahead with a battle. For that we simply mode to the reception area of the Center and posted a Request.

Requests are simply put a system where civilian can post well…request for trainers to undertake and help. It could range from transporting a message to chasing away pokemon bothering the locals. Trainers can also use it to request help if needed such as advice from more experienced trainers. Of course, there is a monetary reward for the one taking the quest.

On that topic, that is also why I got the reward for capturing Skoll. As long as you have proof of completion you were usually able to receive the reward. It was not rare for a trainer to catch a pokemon on a way to a town just to see that there was a request on said pokemon.

Battle request also populated the board but after checking, none of them was for a Multi Battle request so we had to post it. As for the payment, we left it to standard agreement between trainer and went to sit in a visible spot to wait. We also specified that we each had our 1st badge.

Unsurprisingly many looked at the request and left because they were alone. If it was a higher-level battle someone might have tried to take onto the two of us but with only the 1st badge unless they were raising a second team that was unlikely.

Despite the unpopularity of the Virbank gym in the beginning of the season there were still numerous trainers so less than half an hour went by before we found our challenger. A pair of twins by the look of things came to us as soon as they saw the request.

“Hello, we are here for the battle request.” Said a young man with chestnut hair and eyes.

“My name is Cara, and this is my brother Craig.” The young woman with similar features as her brother said.

“Hi, nice to meet you! I’m Seraphina and this is Nexon. Should we move to the field?”

And that was literally that. We walked together toward the field. After asking Cara and Craig, Mathew acted as a referee. This time there was no period for strategizing. As for the payment we agreed on 500 per trainer, meaning the winning team will earn a thousand poke dollar.

“This is a multi-battle with Cara and Craig against Seraphina and Nexon. Each trainer will use one pokemon and the battle will end when both pokemon on one side are unable to battle. Are you ready? Send out your pokemon!”

As soon as the signal was given, four balls flew at around the sane time. My Premier ball released my first part next to Seraphina’s Litleo. These were the ones we agreed might help the most for the gym due to the gym propensity to use the Scolopede line. On the opposite side, Cara released a Gothita and Craig sent out a Timburr.

When they hit the field, the Timburr immediately raised its wooden log in a ready stance while Litleo ability similarly activated. The Gothita for her part looked around the arena and locked eyes with me for an instant before shifting to Nike. Then something surprising happened.

“Tch!”

It was a small thing, but I think everyone heard it. The other two seemed to not think anything of this, but both my companions and I lowered our gaze to the source of the sound. Nike. Yet the small pokemon turned its head and cocked it to the side as if nothing happened.

No no, no matter what I will need to ask later.

Regardless of the uncharacteristic sound, we had to begin the fight.

“Begin!”

“Use Confusion!”

“Ember!”

“Rock Throw”

And so absolute chaos descended. Nike used Confusion on the Timburr. Litleo spat a cloud of Embers toward Gothita. Gothita used Confusion on Litleo. Timburr also threw a rock made of type energy toward Litleo as well. Before Seraphina even had time to give out an order to avoid, the attacks were already on him.

The exchange was not entirely one sided, but it was nonetheless extremely disadvantageous, in particular that Rock Throw. The battles had just begun that Litleo was on its last leg. On their side, Gothita was brushing off some of the impact marks present while Timburr took considerable damage.

“Finish Litleo with Psybeam!” Cara shouted.

“Interrupt it with your own!” I shouted hurriedly.

Despite lacking the proficiency that Gothita obviously had, Nike was able to for a Psybeam and fire it at the opposing one. Unfortunately, it barely lasted a second before it was overpowered and the beam continued toward Litleo. By now he was back to his sense and managed to avoid by jumping to the side.

“Litleo use Ember once more. Focus on Timburr.”

“Nike support him with Disarming Voice!”

Following their orders, both pokemon got to work. Then I realized how dumb I was for ordering that specific move. The pink oscillation from Nike voice unfortunately interfered with how the embers flew sending most of them of course from the Timburr. Thankfully the fairy energy infused in the attack managed to hit both our opponent.

“Sorry it was a wrong call” I apologized but Seraphina dismissed it.

“Focus on the battle.” She said.

That was surprising for the one who freezes during battle, but I smartly kept my thought to myself.

“Now!” Craig finally moved after a while.

His Timburr did not waste anytime and dashed toward Litleo.

“Low Sweep!”

The greyish pokemon log immediately started to glow with a orange-ish energy that he swung low, catching Litleo four legs and sending him to the ground. The confusion I ordered knock the fighting type unconscious but Litleo himself did not stand up either.

“Litleo and Timburr are unable to battle. Please recall your pokemon.” Mathew announced.

“Damn it. Nexon it’s on you now.”

I nodded. Unfortunately, it defied the point of a double battle but it’s also part of the game, I guess.

With both psychic type on the field and Nike being unharmed and Gothita being almost untouched this was going to be interesting.

“Nike, keep going with Disarming voice!”

Once again the pink soundwaves came out of Nike and Gothita was kept on the spot while covering her ears with her tiny arms.

“Gothita!” Cara cried but, in the end, the small pokemon kept plugging her ears.

Then she did something unexpected. The small panic from earlier disappeared as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Simultaneously her pokemon’ s bow like feelers seem to twitch and she imitated her trainer.

When Nike let go of her attack to take a breath of air, the big eyes of Gothita shot open. Without any order from Cara, a ball made of pure shadow materialized itself in from of the pokemon and shot toward Nike at a surprising speed.

“Move!” I shouted but my winded pokemon reacted too late.

The Shadow Ball flew straight into her and blasted her off her feet. I was expecting Nike to get up but surprisingly she was knocked unconscious by the single move.

“Nike is unable to battle. The victory goes to Cara and Craig!”

“Yes, we did it!” Cara ran onto the field and picked her pokemon up while laughing.

My brain booted back up at that. Nike lost with a single hit? Just how? I was just stunned.

“Thank you.” I murmured when I got to retrieve her.

We walked to the center of the arena and transferred the agreed upon sum to the winners. With 500 poke dollars less in my wallet, I had to ask a question.

“Hum mind telling me how you managed to knock her out in one move?” I scratched my head a bit embarrassed.

She looked younger than me so asking that was a bit embarrassing,

She was puzzled before she seemed to understand what I meant. “Ah well it’s nothing complicated. Really. It’s a common trick used when training psychic type. You know how there seemed to always be a connection between you right?” I nodded. “We used it to create a signal. While your pokemon was attacking she used Calm Mind before launching the Shadow Ball.”

Ah! Well, that makes sense. But to use calm mind while being attacked is…

“Anyway, thank you for the battle but we have to go!” Craig interrupted.

We watched the two of them walk out of the field. We had a lot of work to do.

Unwilling to lose more money, we asked Mathew for his help until he relented. Amphaross made for a gentle yet powerful opponent. Skoll and Luxio also had their chance of course.

Progress was made but realistically speaking one afternoon would bring us nothing on the grand scheme of things. The sun dropped and Seraphina left leaving me with Mathew and my pokemons.

I had to keep them awake until at least dinner so needless to say that we were early in the bed and early out of it.

In the morning, I stood in the field with my pokemons facing me with serious expressions.

“Alright guys. I want to divide our training into two parts. First, we will work with me and silent orders then you will each work on the move you are interested in. wear this.”

I carefully covered their eyes with a cloth. The aim was simple, both of them were able to sense shift in emotions so for now I will try to change my emotions to give them order.

“If I am scared you do not attack. If I am happy, you attack in front. Understood?”

I could feel their puzzlement at the aim of the exercise but in the end both of them acquiesced.

At first, we kept failing whether it was from me or them, they kept standing still even when I tried to project more positive emotions. After a while I decided to change tactics.

I focused on the happy moment I had since I met them, like the time I woke up to see them in a bundle of limbs. As I did, both of them use a move straight ahead even if Nike was a bit faster.

Well, this might actually be easier than I thought,

Remembering the empty gaze of Skoll, when I first caught him, they were still standing. But I realized that they might simply not have picked up anything.

I take that back I need to find a better way to test it.

Nevertheless, we continued with this format for now. After about an hour and a half, we took a break to let them rest before they moved to their move training. In the coming days, we will stop training with random trainers or Mathew and start using the Gym trainers to deal with Poison type.

It was time for a training montage!