After the clash against the Nosepass, I pushed my partners to train as much as possible. The constraints were time and how much food I had for my partners, as just being outside their Pokéballs meant they needed more food, but luckily, none of my partners was a particularly heavy eater. Trying to do the same with a Snorlax would quickly break the bank.

The biggest beneficiary of that additional training was little Vio, partially because she needed the least food of my three partners, but also because I was the most protective of her. Charm was big and strong, giving me a comfortable and confident feeling, but little Vio? I worried about her and wanted to see her protected and safe, but in order for her to be safe, she needed to be strong.

“Come on, try again,” I called out to her, gently lobbing yet another hand of gravel into her general direction. We didn’t train to make her hit rocks with ever-narrowing beams of Psychic energy, instead, her task was to create a shield to protect herself, and possibly team members from attacks. For now, the attacks were merely rocks I threw near her, but once she got the hang of it, I planned to have one of the others help out.

The rocks I had thrown sailed through the air, and as they were about to fly past Vio, they bounced off a shimmering barrier, while Vio’s horns glowed with psychic power. The display brought a smile to my face, as she had made great strides within a short time. In just one day, she had started to get the hang of the new attack, making me wonder if she’d have learned it eventually even without focused training. Compared to Charm, and his previous and ongoing attempts to learn a Fighting-type move, the difference was almost disheartening.

“Well done,” I praised her, picking her up in my arms and cuddling her a little. She happily returned the cuddle, wiggling around a little, before resting against my chest.

Nearby, Claire was working with Yo, her recently caught Meditite, the two of them still working on their basic coordination. So far, Yo had proven to be a quite volatile combatant, with a preference for Fighting-type moves, mostly brutal kicks that came swift and with enough force to shatter rocks. Amusingly, Yo was quite similar to Vio in some ways, especially the way their whole demeanour shifted when they got into battle.

Normally, Vio was a shy and cuddly little thing, enjoying nothing more than cuddling in my arms and hiding behind my leg, if something surprised her or people she didn’t know appeared. But once a battle started, she had an aggressive style, happily messing with the minds of her foes, striking with almost sadistic glee and a smile on her face.

Similarly, Yo was incredibly calm, collected and quiet, peacefully sitting or walking next to Claire as they were forming their bond and got to know each other. But earlier, when a Geodude had hidden between the rocks and surprised the two of them, Claire had barely managed to give Yo the command to attack, before the Geodude had already been sent flying a couple of metres back by a brutally swift kick from Yo. There had been no hesitation, no mercy, only a swift and destructive attack.

Compared to her previous partners, especially Twiggy and his calm and steady battle style, it was quite the departure, making me wonder what Yo saw in Claire, to be interested in teaming up with her. Either way, the two of them were meshing together quite well.

Sadly, as easy as the cooperation came between the two of them, as difficult it was for Cliff to bond with his new partner. Not that Iris, the Feebas Cliff had caught, was particularly resistant to him or tried to make trouble, it was more a problem of the terrain, or rather lack of it. While Feebas were able to survive outside the water and their fins were strong enough to allow them reasonable mobility, to the point that they could tackle enemies with surprising force, they were fish and as such, they needed to be in the water to actually perform well. It wasn’t as bad as it would be with a Magikarp, but so far, Cliff hadn’t been able to really work with his new partner. For better or worse, the two of them would have to invest some time if we managed to find another large body of water, or they wouldn’t be happy together.

Vio was still happily snuggling with me when Cliff and Lucas, who had drawn the short straw and been the ones to clean the dishes after lunch, came back to our provisional camp. We had set up on a sunny plateau, allowing us to relax in the warm sun, with a wonderfully cool breeze stirring the air around us. If there had been some grass or some sort of soft cushioning, I could easily have taken a real nap.

“We should get going again,” Lucas reminded us, stirring me out of the sleepy state I had fallen into.

“Come on, little one. Want to walk with me, or go back into your Pokéball?” I asked Vio, gently shaking her awake. For a moment, she simply snuggled deeper into my embrace, her nuzzling breath tickling me but with a bit of prodding from me, she relented and hopped up, clearly planning to walk alongside me. Since she had evolved, Vio was able to keep up with us, as long as we didn’t hurry too much.

“Who gets to lead the way?” I asked, looking at the other three. Cliff had been in the lead during the morning, though he had been unlucky and only one Pokémon had shown up to make trouble, leaving him a little bummed out.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to give Snuggles some extra training,” Lucas asked, getting the nod from Claire and me. While I could use the time, Vio and Charm had been knocked around just the day before and yet to fully recover. They had earned a day of rest.

With Lucas in the lead, we continued on our travel and some time during the afternoon, he raised his hand in warning. The three of us had given him a bit of space, walking maybe fifteen metres behind him, so he would be the initial contact with any wild Pokémon. My immediate instinct was to look for a hostile Pokémon, just in case it was one that aimed for humans to force a battle but I was unable to spot anything.

After a few seconds, Lucas called out, “Come over, this is trouble,” he told us and the three of us walked forward, curious about what was going on.

From his position, the problem was immediately obvious, the previously relatively smooth and level path along the mountain was completely cut off and covered in a wide swathe of dirt. It made me think of the Nosepass I had fought the day before and the landslide it had ridden down the mountain. The Nosepass had only carried a bit of earth, rock and gravel along, but this was larger by orders of magnitude. Instead of a few metres of difficult terrain, it was almost thirty metres of loose soil and gravel covering the path.

Walking across wasn’t impossible, but a single wrong step, a single rock that decided to head into the valley, and one might join that rock in a downward slide. There was nothing you could use to catch yourself on unless precautions were taken.

“Do you think Gem could clear a path?” I asked, looking at Lucas. Maybe his Onyx had the ability to shift the loose soil or use her heavy body to compress it and make it safe.

“Could work,” he frowned as he stopped to take out the rope he was carrying. “Gem, what do you think?” he asked after calling out his partner in a flash of red light.

It was a little amusing to watch the giant, rocky snake look at the path before us with a measuring gaze. The rocky face barely shifted its expression and yet, I had the impression that she was frowning and if she had a beard she would be stroking it if she had arms to do so.

After a few moments of consideration, Gem started to slither forward, using her body and weight to compress the soil. There was a bit of movement beneath her and a few rocks escapes and sought their destiny in the valley, but not enough to shift her large body. She made a single pass across the area, before Cliff added his own commands, directing her to use her tail to slam the ground, compressing it even further. Apparently, that was a technique he had read about to stabilise roads and from the looks of it, it worked. The previously loose and uneven ground was rapidly transformed into a smooth and, quite literally, beaten path. Gem made quite a bit of noise in the process but even by the time she was finished and Cliff was happy with the effort, no Pokémon came to disturb us.

“This should work, right?” he asked, sounding quite proud of himself.

“Well done, Gem,” Claire complimented his partner, while I wondered if any of my partners could accomplish the same. Sadly, the conclusion I had to draw was that no, none of my partners could create a road.

Maybe something to consider for future training, but luckily, I could rely on my companions for now.