Chapter 141: Return to the grind

Chapter 141: Return to the grind

The blare of my alarm had me up and about like normal. I was halfway through listing off what I needed to do for the morning before I remembered how things had gone for the last few days. I stopped cleaning my face and braced myself against the sink.

Right, a whole lot had happened.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance. Right, it had happened; I needed to move on.

Which was turning out harder than I expected it to be. It was like a thorn in my side that niggled and irritated me.

I shouldnt have drawn against Will.

I shook my head and splashed water into my face to give myself a shock with the cold water. I hadnt lost through any skill or strength difference. Rather, Id lost match ups due to technicalities. Some of which I was going to make sure never happened again.

I donned my clothes for the day and marched out to find Yolanda standing with Terra in a carrier. M-morning training? she said with a yawn.

I shot her a grin and ruffled her loosely tied-up hair. You know it. Are you going to look to start up some of the training I had Forrest doing?

She nodded, a resolute expression taking over, while Terra waved from the baby carrier that Yolanda had her in. Yolanda peered around me and into my room. Sabrina didnt stay over?

I huffed at her and pushed her down the hallway lightly before shooting Terra a look over. Dont worry about that. Also with regards to your training, youre already lifting heavier items than we had Forrest at thanks to Terra. Shes starting to get heavier with her meals, yeah?

Yolanda coughed. Yeah, she has been putting on weight.

Thats a good thing, the average for her species is considered around seventy-two kilograms so dont be surprised if you find yourself tiring out a bit. Shes probably only half that right now as a baby, but shes getting her height, bones, and organs to grow properly. If shes anything like Titan, then shell be in the eighty to ninety-kilogram margin.

Oh dear, Yolanda said. What about when she evolves?

Pupitar will see her doubling in weight easily due to the cocoon. Thats when youll be carrying her the most, as she otherwise will only be able to use her jets to propel herself. This is not a very precise form of movement. In the wild, Pupitar wreck their surroundings so much that it looks like something has been running around breaking trees. They usually go down into the subterranean tunnels of the Silver Ranges, which are a lot more sturdy to continue to grow.

Double?! Yolanda said with an audible gulp. That means around two hundred kilograms, right? If she gets to eighty or ninety?

I nodded stoically. Yeah, train up. Its one of the most important points of her life, but also the point that will pay the biggest dividends.

How so? she asked.

Terra will be used to moving around and investigating things. During her time as a Pupitar that can become a lot harder for her as she wont have as much ease of movement. You being able to carry her will just be another way of showing that you care. Best advice? Never complain about it.

I raised a finger to make a point, However, if youre exhausted, then just say as much. Terra should be able to understand that you have limits. Youll be able to deepen your bond a lot when one of you has to rely on the other. For the majority of the time, it might seem like youre leaning on her for her strength when she gets strong, but she wont get that way unless you put in the early work.

Huh, Yolanda said thoughtfully as we walked around to the reserve proper. I nodded to Dennis, who shot me a salute. I was glad to see him back at work. Id suggested a longer break, but it seemed he was more than happy to return. He turned back to working with Greta and Missy on some finer points of care for the Aron they were working with.

Hey Brock? asked Yolanda as we reached the area where I trained my Elite team.

Yeah? I said as I queued up the Sonata of Awakening once more to let my pokemon know I was up and ready for them.

How long did you carry Titan around? I remember he evolved just before you left didnt he?

I considered that for a while. Around a year or so? I said. I rubbed my arms and shoulders, remembering the pain from back then. Yolanda made a considering noise as my pokemon started to appear.

She glanced around the reserve and frowned. Whats with the new plateau being set up further back there? she said, indicating the build up of earth and stone that was now a small hill. I could see a number of Slugma idling around it.

Ah, thats where were setting up a volcano; were hoping to create a variant on another pokemon for us.

Woah! Really?! Which pokemon? she said, perking up.

Growlithe hopefully. It will take a while, though. Remember, I spent roughly three years before I got a hit with Sanchez.

But Bianca might speed that up, no? she said with a thoughtful look on her face.

I considered her and smirked. That might be true. Thinking of taking one with you when you set off? I said knowingly.

They would make a powerful combination. She smiled at me and ticked off her fingers. A Larvitar, a variant Geodude, an Aron, and a variant Growlithe would be a strong start. Wouldnt you say?

I raised an eyebrow at her. Thats a little ambitious. Think Im going to give you those for your start?

She smiled widely at me, and her eyes started to glimmer hopefully.

I coughed and looked away. I really hoped she didnt teach Suzie her Baby Doll Eyes. They were powerful.

Titan yawned as he walked out of the cavern beneath the plateau. He shook himself and accidentally destroyed part of the cave wall when his tail swept around. Yolanda stopped being so smug and eyed him.

How heavy do Tyranitar get?

I smirked. Two fifty on average, I said, knowing that she would understand that Titan was heavier. She glanced from me to him, and I chuckled and nodded at the unasked question.

No way, she said, waving her hand back and forth in disbelief.

Terra tilted her head, having caught the gesture. She tilted her head before putting a small hand to her nose as though to ward off a smell.

Yolanda giggled. No sorry, that doesnt just mean theres a bad smell but that I

I left Yolanda with her explanations, instead striding towards my team. I released two pokeballs and a pair of Lileep appeared.

Team, Im not going to waste time spending any more time on what happened on the weekend. Its time to go to work. I clapped my hands and then nodded my head to the distant marker. I plucked up the Lileep.

Youre joining my team, Lileep, I said to the one on my right. This was the pokemon that I had used in a few matches already, and it had shown that it was a powerful addition. Its natural Storm-drain ability made it a strong candidate for my Elite team but it had some serious potential beyond that. With both Lileep on my shoulders, I had a decent amount of weight on me as I ran.

What should I do? cried out Yolanda.

I paused and doubled back. Sorry! I forgot that you wouldnt know the complete routine. Seeing as this is your first day, jog out and back to the stone the others are running to right now. Do that three times. If you need to stop, then slow to a walk.

Ill run it! she said, taking off. I noted that she had a fire in her eyes that mirrored my smallest and fluffiest pokemon, Clefairy, which was hopping furiously after Bertha in front of us. The giant swinging mace of her tail served as a target for him to chase with his hops. Behind him, Teddiursa ran along with a growl after Clefairy.

Yolanda lasted two laps before having to slow to a walk. I jogged on the spot next to her. Youre carrying heavier than Forrest did on his first day. Dont be down on yourself; youre doing great, I said, making her brighten up. The Lileep waved their fronds, and she grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes. I know, I look ridiculous, I said easily.

When we were done with the warm up, I started pointing to my pokemon and assigning them tasks to focus on. Tide, Knight, Hypnotoad, I want you in a three-way battle; nothing worse than a Water Gun or Rock Throw on each other. Knight, youre going to be working for it; keep your head up. If you get the chance, use Iron Tail, Steel Head, or Dark Pulse to absorb any hits that might threaten you.

Knight considered that in his own slow manner before nodding and moving off with Tide and Hypnotoad.

Shrek, youre with Shin, I said, starting to rattle off the rest of the training plans.

As I did so, I started to notice a gleam in my pokemons eyes. Each of them were focused and working with intent. Their minds were on the training in front of them as they worked. I had Bertha and Titan running through fast feet drills while others fired occasional zaps or light attacks, which they had to dodge.

I tapped Yolanda on the shoulder and set her to the side to meditate on Terra while Terra performed some simple moves such as Rock Throw. Also, make sure to work on other moves just to see if you can feel a difference. It might be a good idea to work on normal type moves.

Why Normal type? she asked with a furrowed brow.

I sighed. It will come up later for you and will make things easier for a certain power-up that pokemon like Tyranitar possess.

Yolanda nodded slowly, and I chuckled before whistling for Jormungandr to work with me. While I wasnt going to get the chance against Will, in truth, it seemed I had never had enough time unless I had focused solely on this, since I got the Mega Stone.

I could feel Yolanda staring at me, and I shot her a look before flicking my eyes to Terra in silent reprimand.

For the next hour, I worked with Jormungandr to build on the link that wed been forming now. It was slow, steady progress, and there might have been a degree of degradation since Id last worked on this with him, but we certainly made more progress since last time, with the vessel of energy coming easier and building up until it was almost half complete on my end.

Titan only needed to warn me of slipping into dark-aligned energy once, which I considered significant progress. Hopefully, with my warning, Yolanda wouldnt slip into my bad habits. Not that I could imagine someone like Yolanda gaining a dark alignment with her aura.

Then again, she wasnt a teenager yet Maybe shed become sassy in her teenage years?

I considered her with narrowed eyes as we worked through our cooldown. She tilted her head at me, and I shook my head, not willing to voice my thoughts. Yolanda wasnt like Forrest, she was much more mature and might decide to have a goth phase or some such just to mess with me, whereas Forrest would have just scoffed.

My eyes then alighted on Titan. I clicked my tongue, and he perked up. I clapped my hands together in a quick one-two pattern and then held them up at shoulder width.

Titans eyes widened before he shot Yolanda and Terra a look.

Then he smirked at me. He barked once and a hush fell over the group.

I braced my muscles and flooded my body with rock energy as he ran towards me. Then, like wed practised and played with years ago, only to not repeat it for years, Titan leapt.

I caught him mid-leap and held him aloft. He kept his arms and legs spread wide like a star as I slowly twirled about like we were a pair of cheerleaders.

I clenched my jaw and bent my knees before straightening. At the same time, I shot my arms up higher and launched Titan up and away from me to land on his feet. He made a crater when he landed.

Ta dah! I said, performing jazz hands towards Titan, who bowed like a professional gymnast. Yolanda and Terra applauded with what looked like stars in their eyes. I shot Titan a subtle thumbs-up.

Rhy! Rhyperior! cried out Bertha as she snorted and pointed at herself.

Bertha wants to go next! Yolanda translated somewhat unnecessarily, in my opinion.

Bertha didnt wait for me to potentially deny her; she lumbered forward and leapt, making me brace and catch her. I held her aloft and spun her gently around.

Bugsy nodded. I wanted to bring my best against you!

I grinned and released my first pokemon for this match. Go Shelly! I said tossing out my Omastar.

She popped out and waved merrily to the crowd before settling down. The flags rose and fell.

Surf! I declared, causing Bugsy to click his tongue.

Shuckle! Hold until the wave is right on top of you! Bugsy said, clenching his fists and eyeing the approaching super-effective move. He held his nerve well, and just as it threatened to crash onto Shuckle he punched his fist forward. Shell Smash!

Around his pokemon, red energy built up and then exploded outwards like a bomb going off. The blast blew apart the wave and caused Shelly to falter and crash out.

Go! Close in! Use Gyroball! His pokemon leapt forward and rolled into a glowing ball of Steel energy that descended atop my pokemon.

Protect! I barked just in time to stop the attack from knocking Shelly out of the match.

Bugsys Shuckle reappeared, and I grinned as the Protect dropped away. Ancient Power! I felt that it was an apt move in this instance. It slammed into Shuckle, but the beast of a Shuckle shrugged it off despite having taken a debuff from the Shell Smash.

Bug Bite! he barked hurriedly, causing his pokemon to lunge forward and snap its thin jaw around Shelly. I breathed a sigh of relief at his choice. When Shelly shook off the hit and remained standing, Bugsy hissed at his mistake.

Stone Edge, I said, deciding to punish Bugsys slip-up. A bug type move, such as Bug Bite, while empowered, was actually rather weak against Omastar thanks to its rock typing.

The powerful rock move slammed home and dropped the Shuckle after the impressive showing.

Bugsy knocked his fist on his head in frustration. Stupid, stupid, urgh, you had better moves to use, he said to himself.

I hummed. He was being hard on himself, but he wasnt wrong; a different move there might have seen me having to return Shelly rather than him returning his Shuckle. He might have fallen into a predictable issue of favouring bug type moves over others. For all that he was a good trainer, he still had some slip-ups and rough edges to work out, it seemed.

Lets go Pinsir! shouted Bugsy, releasing yet another rare bug type. He released it right on top of Shelly.

I heard the crowd gasp in surprise, and the section dominated by the scout-like boys practically rioted with how much noise they started to make.

Bugsy didnt give me time to appreciate the rare bug, however, and instead punched his fist forward.

Earthquake! he said, causing Shelly to be thrown upward. She landed roughly but still struggled to her legs to keep fighting, making Bugsy blink in surprise.

Stealth Rock, I said to her before he could react. She sent out the move, and I raised her pokeball and withdrew her, signalling I wouldnt use her again.

Bugsy eyed the rocks hovering around the battlefield before deciding to ignore them. Pinsir! Were not going to let those bother us! Were going all the way from here!

Bold words, I said as I selected another pokeball before revealing my choice. Go Sudowoodo! Lets take the fight to them!

Sudowoodo, my ever-fearless pokemon, appeared with a grin as he flexed his twiggy arms. Pinsir snapped his pincers together threateningly.

Superpower! Bugsy shouted.

Rock Tomb, I replied with a smirk. Sudowoodo grinned and kicked at the ground, causing a line of rocks to shoot up and snap around Pinsirs leg before he could close his glowing pincers onto Sudowoodo.

The pinchers clacked together loudly, and I eyed the speed before deciding to risk it. Head Smash!

Protect! Bugsy said quickly, causing my pokemons attack to slam ineffectively against the shell. Both pokemon glowered at each other and I grinned as they stepped closer together.

Ready for it Sudo? I asked, causing him to twitch a limb. Backflip and use Stone Edge! I shouted, giving Sudowoodo space away from Pinsir, before unleashing a large boulder.

"Superpower, break that rock apart! Bugsy said, causing his Pinsir to catch and crush the boulder. Both pokemon eyed each other once again as Bugsy and I grinned.

Rock Tomb!

Hyper Beam! Bugsy said, catching me and my pokemon by surprise as his pokemon lined up and fired off a powerful beam of energy.

Sudowoodo was caught off guard and was hurled backwards before collapsing against the back wall. I hissed in surprise. That had been quite the sly move. I shot Bugsy a nod. Clever boy.

I returned Sudowoodo and grinned as I selected my third pokemon. Quirrina! Lets go!

Solrock! cried one of the few pokemon Id gained during my short trip to the Hoenn desert.

Bugsy laughed. Youre really not going to let me have this easy, are you? he said.

I shook my head and punched straight ahead. Flamethrower, I said, unleashing a torrent of flame on the still-exhausted Pinsir.

Hang in there, Pinsir! Hang in there! Bugsy shouted, imploring his pokemon to endure the super-effective move. Pinsir screeched in pain but when the flames died away, it was still standing tall. I whistled in appreciation; Bugsy had some strong pokemon, raising my opinion of him another notch.

Bugsy opened his mouth before shutting it, as a thought seemed to occur to him. He returned his pokemon and tossed out a Scyther.

Oh come on! screamed a young voice from the crowd. Evidently, someone wasnt pleased by Bugsys depth of bug pokemon.

Scyther brandished his scythes, only to shriek in surprise when Stealth Rock slammed into it.

Get it together, Scyther! I need you! Bugsy said causing Scyther to catch itself.

Flamethrower! I said again.

Double Team! ordered Bugsy, causing his pokemon to vanish into a blur with afterimages left in place. Now use X-scissor! I grinned, pleased that Bugsy knew that this pokemon Id sent out was weak against bug-type moves and was moving to capitalise on it.

Fire Spin, I intoned, causing both pokemon to take hits they didnt want. Scyther landed poorly and staggered, whereas Quirrina struggled but remained in the air.

Scyther fell, and Bugsy groaned.

The group of boys all wailed in sadness. Bugsy gained a determined expression and selected his next pokeball. Go Butterfree! he cried, releasing a Butterfree that flapped its wings and caused a torrent to break out.

I held up a hand in front of my face to shield my eyes from the wind; that was a strong Butterfree.

Butterfree use Bug Buzz! he shouted, causing his pokemon to stiffen up and vibrate. A powerful wave of green energy blasted out and slammed into Quirinna, causing him to stagger again but remain in the air.

Rock Throw!

Weave around it! Bugsy growled, slashing his hand and making his Butterfree tuck a wing and dive out of danger.

Flamethrower! I ordered.

Confusion! Toss it back! shouted Bugsy, causing his pokemon to hurl back the fire.

Psychic, blast it back, I said, happy with Bugsys performance.

Bug Buzz again! shouted Bugsy once the flame broke apart. The psychic waves impacted with the green Bug Type energy to slam into Quirrina and see my pokemon finally fall.

I toyed with my last pokemon and eyed Bugsy. He lifted his chin and kept his eyes locked on me. I grinned and tossed out the last pokemon, Id already determined that Bugsy was going to get my badge, but damn if I didnt want to keep fighting with him. He was good, and I wanted to see how good he was.

Go Onix! I said.

Bugsy deflated slightly, only for me to grin and his expression to falter.

Sandstorm! I said, causing my pokemon to sweep its tail about like a whip and call forth a giant gout of sand that swept the entire battlefield.

Butterfree opened his wings and prepared to deny it. Bugsy didnt disappoint. Whirlwind! he shouted. With a powerful flap of his wings, the Sandstorm was dispersed, but in doing so, his pokemon became a sitting target.

Stone Edge, I said, causing a pillar of stone to slam into the flying-bug type, crumpling it and ending the contest.

Bugsy hissed, and I grinned. Four to three, no? I said pointedly.

Pinsirs still able to fight! Bugsy said fiercely. And so can this guy! Go Heracross! He released his first bug pokemon, and I grinned.

Dragonsbreath! I ordered

Close Combat! ordered Bugsy, causing his pokemon to surge through the flames, ignoring much of the damage that I knew would be accruing, to slam home and devastate Onix.

I returned him and raised my hand to another pokeball causing Bugsy to lean forward in anticipation.

I chuckled and waved him down. Im just playing, as much as Id love to keep this match going, I think youve more than proven yourself, Bugsy from Azalea Town.

Bugsy leapt upwards. Yatta! he said before leaping down to start celebrating with his Heracross.

I chuckled and started lowering the podiums. Id have to offer him the badge, he was too skilled for me to ignore as a trainer. A glance up to the stands revealed that his group of friends were all exuberantly calling out his name.

I presented him with his badge, and he waved at the group. You guys! Come join me for my photo! He then shot me a look. If thats alright?

The more the merrier, I said. I then smirked at him and said, Did you also want to have a look at Gawain?

Yes! he and the others cheered. I merely laughed.

It looks like I know what Id be doing for the rest of the afternoon.