Pokemon: Way Of Life Chapter 22

Hi all,

This wraps up the first arc of the story. There will be one final time skip at the end of the chapter. Thanks for being patient as I rambled on for so long about story and world-building.

Luca kneeled next to the Charmander. “Hello, there. I can tell that you are an amazing Pokemon."

“Oh, well spotted,” Oak said from behind Lucas. “Imara is an exceptional girl.”

“Imara,” Lucas echoed. “That’s a beautiful name.”

Imara tilted her head, unsure of what the humans were saying. Her mother had explained that she would be chosen by a trainer today to initiate a bond. Was this going to be her partner?

The more Lucas observed Idara, the more excited he became. Her parameters were impressive.

=====

Pokemon: Charmander | Age: 0 | Gender: F | Type: Fire | Potential: S

Description: The flame on its tail shows the strength of its life force. If it is weak, the flame also burns weakly.

Affection: --  Favourite Foods:?

Stats

Level: 4 | Next: 43% | AP: 15 | HP: 78 | Aura: 100 |

Attack: 57 | Defence: 46 | Sp Att: 65 | Sp Def: 52 | Speed: 70 |

Special Ability: Solar Power - During harsh sunlight, Solar Power raises the ability-bearer’s Special Attack by 50%, but it loses some HP with every Move used.

=====

Moves

Growl  | Normal/Status   | Power: --  | 5 Aura

Scratch  | Normal/Physical  | Power: 40 | 6 Aura

Ember | Fire/Special   | Power: 40 | 6 Aura

Bite  | Dark/Physical   | Power: 60 | 9 Aura

Belly Drum | Normal/Status   | Power: -- | 10 Aura

Dragon Tail | Dragon/Physical  | Power: 60 | 10 Aura

=====

Affinities

Attack type-energy (Trainable)

Fire ~ 50% | Dragon ~ 20% | Dark ~ 15%

Type Defence (cannot be changed}

Water: -100% | Ground: -100%| Rock: -100% | Fire: +50% | Grass: +50% | Ice: +50% | Bug: +50% | Steel: +50% | Fairy: +50% |

=====

Professor Oak certainly knew his stuff. Idara had three Egg Moves, and he was happy to see that she already had unlocked her dragon-type energy. That was the biggest hurdle when teaching dragon-type Moves to the Charmander and his evolutions. Belly Drum was also excellent, raising the Attack Stat by six stages. As long you were okay with you’re Pokemon losing half their HP. In the right situations, it would be very effective.

"Imara is the daughter of my Charizard, Scarlett," Oak explained. "It is not often that she chooses to produce an egg, so you should consider yourself fortunate."

No wonder Imara was such a little monster. Although there was no guarantee that the child would inherit the parent's potential, it definitely increased the odds of it happening. Professor Oak's Charizard was an absolute monster that helped him dominate the Pokemon League when he was younger.

Solar Power was an overpowered ability and could end battles quickly. He should spend AP to raise her HP if he was going to utilise Solar Power as a tactic in battle.

Imara had already trained her Stats quite a bit. He could have her focus on mastering her current Moves. She had enough variety for the moment, although he should consider teaching her the Sunny Day TM. It was a vital addition to any Fire Pokemon’s arsenal and would mesh well with Solar Power. After that, she needed to learn some better Fire-Type Moves.

Lucas looked at his watch and noted there were still twenty minutes left to noon. He returned to the plateau’s edge to see his team's progress. They had less than a third left to climb, but they had slowed down.

“Twenty minutes left,” Lucas called. “You got this.”

It seemed to give them a boost as they sped up a little. Lucas watched them as they finished the climb. He should push the two to get  some more physical training, but they were still in pretty good shape.

They made it to the goal, with Faith edging out Jason by a few seconds, and they collapsed on the ground, panting with exhaustion. Five minutes left. He could give them a moment to rest.

“You were amazing,” Lucas praised his girlfriend. Even hot and sweaty, she looked amazing. He took his water bottle out of his pack and gave it to her. She gulped down the water, then poured some onto her face. Sighing in relief, she lifted her face to take advantage of the slight breeze up on the mountain. A bead of water ran down her throat and into the valley between her breasts. Lucas almost swallowed his tongue, watching its journey.

“Hey, what about me.” Jason protested. “Where is the love for your bro?”

“No time for that,” Lucas grinned, tapping his watch. “Technically, you haven’t completed the challenge. We need to get to the finish line.”

“What?! You said nothing about that,” Jason groaned, sitting up with an effort.

Lucas helped his team onto the stage, and they stood in front of the group.

“Congratulations,” Armstrong said, stepping forward. “You are the first team to finish the exam. It is safe to say that combined with the theoretical exam; you have earned your Pokemon Licenses .”

“Well done, brats,” Surge rumbled. “It’s no surprise that your team came first.”

Erica was startled awake when Armstrong kicked her, and the girl slowly stood. She blinked before seeming to gain focus. “Oh, a team is already here. Well done.”

Professor Oak cleared his throat. “I don’t think they are paying much attention.”

Indeed, Faith and Jason were staring at the Pokemon with sparkling eyes, and their tiredness seemingly disappeared.

“Well, I don’t see any reason to delay,” Oak said. “You may choose your Pokemon.”

Lucas grabbed his teammates before they could rush the Pokemon. He manoeuvred them away from the group so they could have some privacy.

“Listen, guys,” Lucas said. “Before you choose your Pokemon, I want to give you a heads-up. I have an ability that allows me to see the potential of low-level Pokemon, so if you care about that, then let me point out the best choices for you.”

“A special ability?" Faith asked sceptically. “Is this Aura utilisation?”

“I don’t know,” Lucas lied. “It’s something I have had since I woke up from my coma.”

“Well, point me in the right direction,” Jason said. “I trust you.”

Faith nodded. “I feel the same.”

Lucas showed them the Squirtle and Bulbasaur, then chose Imara for himself.

Professor Oak handed them Pokeballs. “Go ahead and bond them.”

Lucas pressed the Pokeball against Imara and initiated the bond. He summoned Imara back and crouched down to hug the Pokemon.

‘Welcome to the team.’

‘{Imara} Thank you. I hope we can become stronger together.’

‘Dante, Maximus, do you hear me?’

‘Yes.’ They chorused.

‘Say hello to your new team member, Imara.’

‘Hello. I am Dante, the leader.’

‘I’m Maximus. I like hugs.’

Imara narrowed her eyes into slits. ‘You’re the team leader? Who made this decision?’

{Dante} ‘I’m Lucas’s first Pokemon and the best. Naturally, I’m the leader.’

‘We shall see about that.’ Imara promised, her tail flame flaring up in anticipation.

Lucas facepalmed. There was going to be some conflict in the immediate future. He turned and watched as his teammates interacted with their new Pokemon.

Jason said something to Squirtle, only to receive a face full of water, sending him sprawling. Lucas smirked.

Faith was having more success as she crouched down and petted the Bulbasaur. It used its vines to tickle her face., and she giggled. Erica walked over and sat next to Faith, and the girl's eyes lit up. Faith began rapidly asking questions, which reminded him that he had not tapped into the Electric Gym Leader’s knowledge.

Lucas looked around and didn’t see the man anywhere. He turned to Professor Oak. “Where did Lieutenant Surge go?”

Oak pointed down the cliff. “The man was getting antsy, standing around. He decided to climb down the mountain for some exercise.”

Lucas shook his head. The man reminded him of a certain man from his martial arts class, obsessed with training and always shouting ‘Youth’.

“Why is everyone here? Are you going to stand around on top of the mountain the entire day?” Lucas asked.

“The Government insisted that we make a song and dance of the event,” Oak rolled his eyes, before pointing at a cameraman off to the side. “They will show it on television to try and garner some good press.”

“Wait a minute.” Jason overheard the conversation. “We are being recorded? Do you have our parent's permission? Have you been recording all this time?”

Jason turned and pointed at the cameraman. “Hey, I demand you edit the part of me getting sprayed with water.”

“Not a chance, kid. It is good footage.” the cameraman grinned. “And we already have your parent's permission.”

Jason gave him the finger. “I will show you good footage.”

“You little brat,” the cameraman yelled.

While waiting for Lieutenant Surge, Lucas decided to check out the notifications waiting for his perusal.

=====

Climbing has increased to Level 2.

Climbing has increased to Level 3.

Observation has levelled to Level 20.

Observation has reached the maximum level.

Observation has transformed into the skill: Observation Plus.

=====

[Observation Plus] (Active) [Max] (Next; --) [Cost: Variable]

Description: Observation Plus works differently from Observation in that it allows the player to observe any Pokemon at any level as long as the player has the required Aura. It also lets the player get a more in-depth analysis of Pokemon Moves.

Reveals all information on objects.

Reveals all information on owned Pokemon/Moves

Reveals all information on Pokemon/Moves [Dependant on available Aura]

Observation Range: 10.16 metres [Sight Modifier].

=====

{Edit: content added}.

Number One Team in Camp Quest Complete!

Reward: Exp Share, 5 AP points.

Bonus Reward: Fishing Rod, Lure Ball x 2.

=====

Exp Share | Equipment | Unique | Grade: 3 |

Description: The Experience Share is a Hold Item that is unique to the player alone. It cannot be seen or utilised by anyone other than the player’s Pokemon. When given to a Pokemon to hold, they gain twenty percent of the experience, even when not participating in the battle.

Old Fishing Rod | Equipment | Unique/Upgradable | Grade: 2 |

Description: The Old Fishing Rod is a piece of unique equipment that looks like a normal fishing rod. It can fish in shallow waters down to a depth of ten meters. Furthermore, this rod has some amazing benefits and can even be upgraded when specific achievements are met.

- 20%  less time to hook a Pokemon

-20% chance to avoid hooking a Pokemon above the players Pokemon level.

+ 5% chance to hook a Pokemon with a high potential

+ 5% chance to hook a migratory pokemon from nearby regions.

Consecutive Chain Capture -  Reeling in the same Pokemon in the same area repeatedly increases the chances of hooking a Shiny Pokemon, reaching a maximum chance of 1% with a streak of ten or more.

{Edit: Content end}.

=====

Congratulations!

You have bonded your third Pokemon!

10 Aura is permanently restricted due to Pokemon Bond.

Physique has increased due to Pokemon Bond

=====

Lucas dismissed the notifications, looked around, and decided to try his new skill on Max.

10 Aura spent.

Max was only level one still, so did that mean it would cost ten Aura per level? With his current Aura, he could observe any Pokemon under level thirty-nine. It would cost him all his Aura, though. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the new skill. It would be more useful at later stages. But in the short term, it seemed he was getting the short end of the stick. At least he got to analyse Moves, which would be helpful when training his Pokemon. Also, the Observation Range had increased by a fair amount.

Twenty minutes later, Lieutenant Surge came clambering up the rope with the team's Pokemon hanging off his body.

“Why did you leave them on the ground?” Surge complained. “Never leave a soldier behind.”

“We’re not in a war, Surge,” Erica scoffed.

“I don’t care,” Surge huffed.

The Pokemon joined their partners, and Dante and Maximus met Imara in person for the first time.

{Imara} ‘This is the leader?’

{Dante} ‘What it’s to you?’

{Imara} Let’s have a battle. The winner gets to be the leader.’

‘Enough. We are all teammates here. If it is so important to you, then both of you are leaders.’

{Maximus} ‘I want to be the leader.’

{Dante & Imara} ‘Denied.’

{Maximus} ‘Meanies.’

Lucas left them to their own devices and sidled up to Lieutenant Surge. “Hey, you got any tips for my Elekid?’

“I wondered when you were going to ask,” Surge beamed, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “Come, let Uncle Surge give you some advice on Electric Pokemon.”

{0(((..)))0}

August 5th

“That was fast,” Lucas looked down at the Trainer License and Pokedex that had just been delivered.

“The government is very efficient regarding trainers,” David explained. “It is the lifeblood of the region, after all.”

Lucas hummed. He stored the Trainer License in his inventory and inspected the Pokedex.

=====

Pokedex 3.0 | Equipment | Special | Grade: 3 |

Description: The Pokedex is an electronic device created and designed to catalogue and provide information regarding the various species of Pokemon. It has several other functions, such a rudimentry Artificial Intelligence, a video camera, a satellite map and radio. It is also used as a trainer identification.

3.0 version - the latest Pokedex yet to be released on the market, with several new features over the old model.

=====

Lucas scrunched his eyebrows, wondering why he would get the newest version. Was it his grandfather that pulled some strings? Usually, trainers only received the 1.0 version for free and had to pay for the latest versions. This one wasn’t even out on the market as well.

“I paid for the upgrade,” David said. “While it is technically not on the market yet, it will be released soon, so I was able to get my hands on one.”

“I don’t understand,” Lucas placed his hand on dads forehead. “Are you sick? Weren’t you dramatically opposed to me going on the Pokemon Circuit just a week ago? Now, you're encouraging me?”

David scowled, swatting his son’s hand away. “I am still not happy you are going, but I am working on some things behind the scenes to ensure you will be safe.”

Lucas eyed him curiously. “It better not be an entourage of bodyguards because that would be a serious downer.”

“You just have to wait and see,” David smirked, walking away.

Lucas shook his head. There was no way that he would allow anyone to watch over his back while he travelled with his friends.

There were plenty of things in the works, but he had finally reached a point where he could concentrate fully on training his Pokemon and working on stuff like creating new incense and food recipes for his partner's needs.

He took out his phone to check his messages, but there was none from Faith. She was currently busy with the orphans, training her Pokemon, and creating a batch of the new incense he had invented. The investigation was also kicking into gear, and since she was a key witness, she would have to provide testimony. It meant less time with her, although he would see her at the market on weekends to continue selling his product.

He had just over twenty-five thousand dollars left with all his expenses and impulse spending. That was okay, though, as he was close to receiving a lot more Pokedollars in the future.

His mother had been in contact with the CEO of her company, and it looked like they were writing up a contract. He trusted his mum would get him a good deal. Lucas would rather work with her company. It would only help it grow, and family came first.

Next month he would go into the recording studio to produce the instrumental version of the Pokemon song. Once it was distributed, he would have royalties coming in that would provide a steady income.

Lucas would also need the money, with many projects in the beginning stages of planning. He still needed to supply Nora with the building materials for his habitat, and there were plans beyond that for the island. Buying Technical Machines and other supplies for his journey was important as well.

He could probably produce another song and look at getting an agent. A few record label companies were already sniffing around, looking to sign him on as a client. Of course, he had zero interest in signing with anyone, but he could start accumulating songs for an album while he was on the Pokemon Circuit. There was no rush to complete it, though, as it wasn’t his top priority.

Regarding the Pokedollars from his influencer career, he was already shopping around for charities to support. Thirty per cent of the money went to Jason because with all the work he put into it, he deserved the paycheck.

There were only two months left until he started his journey. Besides his live-streaming, he would continue working on his skills and training his Pokemon. Speaking off, it was time to get his partners together and begin today’s session.

{0(((..)))0}

‘All right, gentleman, gather around. It’s time to discuss your training schedule for the next two months.’

Imara snorted, releasing a small bout of flame. ‘Don’t forget this lady.’

‘Forgive me: gentlemen and lady. Now, I have written up individual plans for each one of you. Dante, I’m going to start teaching you some new moves, as you have already mastered the ones you have and need more variety.

Dante nodded. ‘Okay.’

Dante didn’t mention anything about the changes to the Moves mechanics, which meant there was some subtle mind-fuckery involved from the ‘System.’ His partners were not aware of its existence as far as he was aware.

‘Max, since you are still in the Baby Stage, you will still work on increasing your parameters, especially your Aura. But I need to teach you an Electric Move, so that will be our first priority.’

{Maximus} ‘Yes! Teach me to beat up those other two meanies.’

‘Eh, alright.’

Suppose he was judging Max's height correctly, then he was close to his first growth period and leaving the Baby Stage. Things would really get going then.

‘Imara, you are a bit different from the other two. You come to me with a good range of Moves and have already trained your parameters well. What you will do is concentrate on mastering the moves you have already got.

{Imara} ‘Of course. It will be a piece of cake.’

‘Love your confidence, girl.’

One thing that would help was the Aura Regen Incense that Dante utilised before. Now that his crafting skill had levelled so much and he had access to better quality ingredients, he had crafted the superior version he had received from Daisy.

=====

Aura Regen Incense | Uncommon | Grade: 2 |

Description:  An incense that regenerates a Pokemon's Aura over time. An intermediate incense master crafted this with quality ingredients, resulting in an incense that restores a Pokemon’s Aura by a fair amount.

Effective Range: 4 metres

Duration: One-hour

Potency: Restores 25 Aura

=====

‘Besides those things, you will be working on increasing your type-energy affinities. I need to work on fire-type, and psychic-type insight incenses as well, but even without them, you should make progress.

Maybe that wasn’t completely truth. Dante’s and Imara’s natural attack affinities were already high, but that was an inherent trait. He had read up on affinities and discovered that the higher they climbed, the harder they were to increase. The more powerful Moves were locked behind high attack affinity, so it was necessary, but it would take a long time to master, even with incense to help.

‘You will also have daily training sessions with Poliwraith in martial arts to increase your battle efficiency.’

Imara’s eyes lit up at that, and her tail flame flared for a second.

'Alright, I will get Max started with his training first before we get the two of you sorted.’

He led Maximus over to the resistance training area. ‘For now, work on your Defence Stat, and I will return later and start teaching you an Electric Move.’

The mechanism to raise the Defence Stat was relatively crude. It was merely a simple machine with an arm that swung and hit the Pokemon, who blocked the attack with their arms crossed. The speed and power of the arm could be increased once it was no longer effective.

Lucas returned to his other partners and checked out Imara’s Moves progression.

=====

Move Progression

Imara

Growl  | Normal/Status   | Power: --  | 5 Aura | 70%

Scratch  | Normal/Physical  | Power: 40 | 6 Aura | 48%

Ember | Fire/Special   | Power: 40 | 6 Aura | 45%

Bite  | Dark/Physical   | Power: 60 | 9 Aura | 33%

Belly Drum | Normal/Status   | Power: -- | 10 Aura | 21%

Dragon Tail | Dragon/Physical  | Power: 60 | 10 Aura | 14%

=====

It was impressive progress for a Pokemon with so many Moves. It was likely that Charizard had been teaching her, so it was no surprise. Lucas considered what Moves she should work on first, but it didn’t matter. He planned to have all the Moves mastered in the next two months, so he may well work down the list in order.

‘Imara, I will have you work with my Dad’s Machop. You are both similar in strength, so you will benefit from training together. Do you need help increasing your proficiency with your skills?

Imara shook her head. ‘Mama gave me a solid foundation for all my current Moves. I just need to work on increasing their effectiveness.

Lucas motioned for Machop, who was waiting nearby. He came running over eagerly. He handed them both a bunch of Aura Regen Incense.

‘Imara, when your Aura gets low, I want you to light an incense and meditate just like I showed you.’

Machop had already been using them for a while, so he did not need to be shown how they work.

'Use the battle stage in the training area. Some of my parent's Pokemon will be overseeing your battles to ensure your safety. Go on then.’

Imara and Machop ran off, and Lucas turned to Dante.

‘Alright, buddy. It’s just the two off now, just like old times.’

‘If only that were true every day.’ Dante rolled his eyes.

‘You know you love them. Alright, I have been thinking of the Moves that we could start with, and it struck me that you don’t even have any Psychic Moves, which is a huge oversight on my part, considering it is your main energy type.’

‘It's not like I have been involved in many battles.’

‘That’s true. So, the first Move I’m going to teach you is Confusion, a powerful Psychic attack that will take advantage of your Special Attack. I’m going to see if I can borrow Mr Mime to help teach you the Move.’

‘Okay.’

Lucas called his mother on his cell phone. “Hey, I need a favour.”

“What is it, dear?”

“Can I borrow Mr Mime? I’m going to be teaching Ralts a Psychic move.”

“Sure, ask her yourself. She’s usually around the house somewhere.”

“Thanks, mum. Oh, can you give her permission to communicate with me telepathically? I want to see if my mind is affected by Red Energy. I suspect I might have a resistance to it since I have Balanced Aura.”

“Okay,” Sophia replied reluctantly. “But I will tell Mr Mime to stop immediately if you are showing any signs of distress. Why do you want to communicate with her?”

“Eh, it will be more efficient. I know she can read and write like Dante, but that will take too long.”

Lucas hung up and searched for Mr Mime, who was vacuuming in the living room. His parents had tried hiring maids to look after the mansion and cook the meals, but Mr Mime had chosen to do the job herself. She liked to keep busy, and with her enhanced stamina, it didn’t take much effort to clean the entire mansion and feed the family.

Mr Mime shut off the vacuum and turned to Lucas.

{Mr Mime} ‘Hello, Lucas.’

Lucas waited to see if he was affected, but relaxed when nothing happened. Was this because he had Balanced Aura? Another reason could be due to his  high mental resistance. Or maybe both.

‘Hi, Mr Mime. It seems that I’m not affected by Telepathy. Are you okay to help with Dante’s training?’

{Mr Mime} ‘Sure. I am up to date with the housework.’

Mr Mime put away the vacuum, and they returned to where Dante was waiting. Lucas retrieved the camera and set it up to record the training session. Thankfully, the battle stage also had cameras so that he could watch Imara’s training later.

Mr Mime stood in front of the training target, with Dante standing next to her. Lucas watched carefully as Mr Mime performed Confusion. He planned to observe the Move as soon as it was released.

‘Observation Plus’

20 Aura consumed.

=====

Confusion | Psychic | Power: 50 | Accuracy: Variable | Aura: 10

Description: Confusion deals Special Attack damage and has a 10% chance of inflicting the Confusion status effect. Pokemon with the ability 'Own Tempo' and 'Substitute' cannot be confused.

Appearance/Attack Conditions: A Spiral of purple energy forms above the user's head before delivering the attack almost instantly on the target. At lower level mastery, it takes longer to form and so gives the target more time to avoid.

Mastery: Power: 60 ~ Aura Cost: 8 ~ 20% chance of causing confusion

=====

The attack hit the target and exploded with purple energy. Thankfully, the targets were solidly built or else, with Mr Mime’s power, the Move would have destroyed them instantly.

Psychic Moves had a one hundred per cent accuracy, as it locked onto the target's mind and delivered the attack almost instantly. However, there was a caveat to the accuracy that would turn that one hundred per cent to zero.

There were two weaknesses with psychic-type moves from what he had read. The Move always took a certain amount of time to charge, depending on the power and mastery. Also, once the Move was initiated, the target location was fixed and couldn’t be changed. So if a Pokemon moved, it would completely miss. It seemed like a strange detriment considering the Pokemon could lock onto the target's mind, but maybe it was designed to be balanced that way.

It was better to utilise Psychic Moves when the opponent was hindered or affected in some way that prevented them from avoiding the attack.

Lucas scribbled down the information in his notebook while watching Dante trying to manifest psychic-type energy into a form. He imagined learning would take some time, even though he had a high affinity for psychic moves. There was a difference between being able to manifest the energy and moulding the attack into the correct form.

He watched the playback from Mr Mime’s attack and calculated the time it took to form and the attack landing on the target. It was about half a second, which was incredible. That was the target he set for Dante to reach, although he was sure that wasn’t the limit. Even if a Move was mastered, Pokemon could go beyond that if they learned a new way of utilising it. He imagined that when high-level Pokemon battled, it was a matter of milliseconds, not seconds, that determined the outcome.

Lucas continued to watch for a while before going to see how Maximus was doing. The Pokemon was still happily taking some punishment like a champ. Although the arm was moving faster, as obviously, Maximus had increased the speed. He frowned, wondering if he should say anything, but decided to leave it alone. The Pokemon didn’t seem to struggle with the increased power.

He decided to check out his Parameters while waiting.

=====

Pokemon: Elekid | Age: 0 | Gender: M | Type: Electric | Potential: C

Description: Even in the most vicious storm, this Pokemon plays happily if thunder rumbles in the sky.

Affection: 40  Favourite Foods:?

Baby Stage: All stats halved. Prone to injuries.

Stats

Level: 1 | Next: 0% | AP: 0 | HP: 30 | Aura: 15 |

Attack: 25 | Defence: 14 | Sp Att: 20 | Sp Def: 26 | Speed: 31 |

Special Ability

Static - If a Pokémon with Static is hit by a move making contact, there is a 20% chance the foe will become paralysed.

Balance - Increases Aura by 25%.

=====

Moves

Leer   | Normal/Status  | Power: -- | 5 Aura

Quick Attack | Normal/Physical | Power: 40 | 6 Aura

=====

Affinities

Attack type-energy (Trainable)

Electric ~ 45% | Fighting ~ 10% |

Defence Effectiveness (cannot be changed}

Ground: -100%| Electric: +50% | Flying: +50%| Steel: +50%

=====

Maximus’s Stats had increased a bit in the short time he had been training, but it would still be some time before he hit the limit for his current growth stage. His lack of Moves was an obvious problem, but with enough hard work, he would change that in the next two months.

His potential was much lower than the other two Pokemon, but he had plenty of time to rectify that problem later. He still had the Rare Candy he received from a quest, and initially, he would give it to Dante. However, there was no rush, as he was far from reaching level twenty. It was possible that Dante would increase his potential naturally, although it would be pretty hard to achieve.

Lucas judged when Maximus had enough and turned the machine off.

‘Why did you turn it off? I was having fun.’ Maximus pouted.

Was he having fun getting hit by a machine that had to hurt quite a bit? Could it be that Max was one of those? Lucas shook his head to clear the deviant thoughts from his mind. He had to remember that Pokemon didn’t have any sexual desires.

‘It’s time to teach you, Thundershock. I have some videos to watch to see how it works in action, as well as some other materials that will show you how electricity behaves in nature.

It wasn’t the same as teaching with a Pokemon, but Lucas wanted to find out if he could teach new Moves to his partners by himself. After talking with Lieutenant Surge, he gave plenty of ideas on the approach to Max’s training. In return, Lucas had shown him the Electric Type Insight Incense as a thank-you, and the man had been impressed. He ordered five hundred of them to give to his apprentices, and Lucas was happy to oblige. It meant more exposure for his products in the end.

Lucas took out his laptop from his inventory, and the two started to watch the videos together.

Teaching his Pokemon new Moves; watching them progress and become stronger was his favourite part of being a Pokemon Trainer. Even more than Pokemon battles themselves. Watching Max as he concentrated hard on the videos, he felt incredible joy. It was almost like being a parent, which was the wonderful feeling the bond gave humans. After hearing stories about how some trainers deliberately mistreated their Pokemon to break the bond, he could not fathom their reasons. He guessed that just like some parents did not deserve to have kids, some trainers did not deserve the privilege of having Pokemon.

The beginning of his journey was so close, and his anticipation was rising. There was still so much left to do, but he would be better prepared than most trainers before taking a step outside town. He was in two minds, wanting the next two months to pass quickly, but at that same time, he wanted to savour the process.

{0(((..)))0}

October 9th

Two months later.

“Happy Birthday,” everyone shouted as Lucas stepped through the door into the living room.

“For me,” Lucas pointed to himself in mock surprise. “Wow, you guys are awesome. I’m glad to see so many people show up to my birthday party.”

Lucas walked around the room, greeting everyone and chatting with them. There were people he hadn’t seen in a while, like Amy, his nurse, who embarrassed him by telling others about his sponge baths. Daisy was there also, and Lucas told her about the new incense that he had been developing. She almost dragged him off right then and there to show them to her.

Faith’s little posse of orphans was there as well. Haley and Abigail had become fast friends, and they could be seen in the corner, giggling about something. Most of the other orphans stood at the catering table, competing with Jason for how much food they coils shove in their mouths.

His grandfather and the Three Enforcers were there, and he monopolised their time by asking them questions and taking advantage of their expertise. He asked Sonya about Nora, who had declined to come. He was disappointed, but he could understand her reasons.

His godfather was there, with his fiancee Sarah. They had announced that she was pregnant a week ago. Lucas teased the man about working fast. Jason was conflicted, unable to decide if he was happy that he would have a sibling or angry that Victor had knocked up his mother.

Lucas approached his girlfriend and kissed her. Their relationship had progressed some, but they were still taking their time. They enjoyed getting to know each other without jumping into the nearest bed. Although Lucas was eager for more, he had consciously decided to go at her pace. She didn’t have the experience he had, and he wasn’t going to get frustrated by the slow progression of their relationship. They had plenty of time.

Lucas put his arm around her waist and leaned his head against hers. “Tomorrow is when it starts. Are you excited?”

“Of course,” Faith looked at him. “I have been waiting for this for a long time. The only thing holding me back was the orphans. I can leave without worrying now that they are getting taken care of."

Lucas hummed. “The day can’t come soon enough.”

So what do you think? It was time to kick things into gear; Next chapter will summarise the last two months, and they will finally leave Pallet Town.

Thanks for reading.