The morning after James' loss to Bugsy, the young trainer was up early and on the battlefield with his Pokémon, ready to work on a strategy to take down the Azalea Gym Leader. Jen wasn't even up yet, and James decided to let her sleep; she didn't have a rematch to train for, and James wanted to devote the whole day to working with his team. All four of his Pokémon were up for the challenge, and James talked to them before they started.
“Alright, guys, we've got a lot of work to do. Bugsy's Scyther really gave us problems in that last battle, and if we're going to win the rematch, we'll have to work on countering his Pokémon's speed.” Cyndaquil squeaked at him, and James nodded. “Yeah, it's not gonna be easy, but it has to be done. That's where you come in, Gastly.” He looked at the Ghost-type, which looked like it was about to doze off, and shouted its name again. “Gastly! As a Ghost-type, you can evade attacks better than the others, so you're going to be our target.” Gastly stared apprehensively; being used for target practice wasn't its idea of a good day.
“So, are we all ready?” The team cheered, prepared and motivated to work hard. “Alright, let's get going!”
----------------------------------------
James saw his team working as hard as they ever had before, and he was pleased with their improvement. Gastly proved an excellent moving target, disappearing frequently and popping up in unexpected places. Pidgey in particular proved best at anticipating its movements, her sharp eyes tracking even the slightest disturbance. Geodude and Cyndaquil also improved their movement, although Geodude's preferred method of waiting and countering was proving a strong option as well. Jen came out to see the group taking a rest, and smiled.
“Looks like you've got these guys up and going. How's their speed training?”
“Getting better!” James answered, giving her a thumbs-up. “Gastly's proving to be a real master of deception; I've been using it as a stand-in for Scyther, although its tendency to be unpredictable is actually better. That way, my Pokémon can anticipate a movement quickly, and know what to look for.”
“Awesome. So, do you mind if my Pokémon come out and help? They could use a workout, too.”
“Bring 'em out! We need all the help we can get, and the more the merrier!”
“Alright, then. Let's go, everybody!” Out came Magby, Togepi and Zubat, all ready to train. “Okay, guys, we're going to help James train for his rematch, so I want you all to pitch in!” All three Pokémon indicated their agreement, and the training continued.
----------------------------------------
A few hours later, James and Jen signalled for a break in the training session.
“We'll come back this afternoon and train some more,” James explained, “but now it's time for a rest.” They recalled their Pokémon and headed into the Pokémon Centre, where they handed them to Nurse Joy to heal and eat some lunch. The two youngsters headed into the cafeteria to eat themselves, and discussed their next plans.
“So, after we finish off the Azalea Gym, where to next?” Jen asked. She was curious about how the region was laid out, and what they could expect as they moved on.
“Well, Goldenrod City is the next town, but to get there we have to go through the Ilex Forest. It's kinda long, so it might take us a while to get through there.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Alright, a forest's not bad,” Jen said, drinking some of her water. “They tend to have mainly Grass- and Bug-types, and we have a lot of Pokémon that can counter them and keep us safe.”
“Yeah, but you never know what might come out at you. Anyway, after that the route is kinda long, but there's a few good places we can camp. Plus, the Daycare is along the way, so we could check that out too.”
“Sounds like a plan.” At that moment, Jen looked up and her eyes widened.
“What's up?” James asked her. She pointed and James turned to see Hunter standing right behind them. “Hey, Hunter, when did you get here?”
“A while ago. I battled the Azalea Gym this morning and got the badge. It wasn't easy though, Bugsy's Scyther is something else. How about you guys?”
“Well, Jen has the badge,” James answered sheepishly, “but I lost yesterday. We've been training for a rematch for hours.”
“Sorry to hear that. But then, these things happen.”
“It's worse than that. Scyther's not the only Pokémon we've lost to.” James went on to explain the skirmish at the Ruins of Alph, and Cyndaquil's defeat at the blades of the Admin's Kabutops.
“Yikes, so we've got a rogue gang of trainers with a Kabutops running around? We'd better hope they keep away from us. So, why don't we finish up here and then head out back? I'd be happy to help you train for your rematch, James. Nurse Joy should be done with my Pokémon soon.”
“Thanks, Hunter. It'll be good to have another set of Pokémon to train against.” And so they finished and headed back upstairs to collect their Pokémon and resume training.
----------------------------------------
When the trio released their Pokémon, James was surprised to see an Onix in Hunter's team.
“Did you catch that Onix in Union Cave, Hunter?” Jen asked him. It fit with his professed emphasis on defense, after all.
“You know it. I needed three Pokémon to challenge the Violet Gym, so I backtracked once I caught it. Then I moved on and got down here. It's a good thing its endurance is so high, otherwise I'd have even more trouble with that Scyther than I did.”
“Guess that shows that not all Rock-types are automatic wins against bugs.” James muttered, thinking of Geodude. “Alright, so let's move. We're going to use Gastly...”
“James, how about we use Zubat instead? Gastly's probably had enough of the others taking shots at it, and Zubat needs a workout anyway.”
“Alright, we'll use Zubat. Gastly, you're off the hook for now.” Gastly yawned and closed its eyes, clearly happy not to have to dodge everything now. “Everybody ready to get back to it?” The whole gang answered affirmatively, and the training continued.
----------------------------------------
As the hours went by, James was feeling great about the prospect of another battle with Bugsy. His Pokémon had improved tremendously, and they looked like they were relishing the challenge themselves. Hunter's Onix allowed them to work on the strength of their attacks, putting more force in than they had done. This, Hunter reasoned, would allow their strikes to do more damage per hit, making it easier to take their opponents down.
“And since you're a natural attacker, it's important to deal as much damage as you can per hit. Some Pokémon take a lot more to go down than others, so you need to be able to use that extra bit of power to your advantage.” James took his rival's words to heart, and was confident that his team would get even stronger going forward.
----------------------------------------
Evening came, and James called a halt. The Pokémon ceased their attacks, with a few stray fire bolts and rocks flying away, and turned to their trainers.
“Guys, we've really improved today. I think we're ready to take on the Azalea Gym again. Let's rest up and head over there tomorrow, and we'll take him down this time.” Jen and Hunter watched as he talked to his Pokémon, the former smiling while the latter simply stood by.
“He's really confident now.” Jen remarked. “This training session was just what he needed to bounce back from those two big defeats.”
“Yeah, but he's got to be careful. He knows that Scyther's a piece of work, and so we'd better hope he didn't overcompensate.” Hunter smiled wryly. “But then, he doesn't care who he's fighting, he's going to be gung-ho all the way. Not exactly my style, but that's the way things go.”
“He'll be fine. I'm sure he's ready to take Bugsy down.” As James joined the other two, they recalled their Pokémon and went into the Pokémon Centre to heal and rest for the next day's action.