‘Woo’ Heath thought while wiping his sweat off with a hand towel. After a mishap the first day where Heath couldn’t move. Birch insisted on getting a tutor for him. Heath originally declined thinking he could do it himself but after the second day of doing that, Mr. Cooper came and showed Heath some exercises that wouldn’t leave him dead. Though for the third day, since he had been killing himself with the amount training prior, his body was already used to this kind of thing. He looked over towards Piplup as Guts was already working on his second Minor Master Move.

‘Guts’

Guts (Farfetch’d)

Age: 10 (M)

Lv. 10 (Copper)

Exp: 0/182

Moves: Peck, Focus Energy [Minor Mastery], Leer, Fury Cutter, Brick Break, Counter

Ability: Scrappy, Steadfast

‘Piplup is taking a while.’ Heath thought based on the text, articles and theoretical essays Piplup’s Aqua ring should’ve hit Minor Mastery a while ago. ‘I wonder what I can do to get it there.’ While Heath was thinking. Piplup stood in the same spot he had still been for every training session practicing the same move. Piplup felt the pressure of trying to succeed and he’s been trying hard since in the beginning.

‘What is wrong with me. Why can’t I do it, even Guts is faster than me. I even got Aqua Ring to be put up almost instantly. Why can’t it just be better’ Piplup felted terrible as he couldn’t preform the move like he could. Piplup, practicing Aqua Ring could now get it set up in 2 seconds unlike the first day where the fastest was 30 seconds. He felt stunted in his approach to the move but he continued.

“Farfetch’d” Guts seeing this immediately uses Brick Break through his Leek and smashed the butt the vegetable into Piplup’s face. This unadulterated, full powered hit sent Piplup flying across the field.

‘What the fuck you stupid duck’ Piplup thought as he crashed into the tree.

‘..’ The Galarian Farfetch’d stood as cool as cucumber in the middle of the clearing.

“Guts what are you doing?” Heath asked. Guts didn’t say anything and went back to his task. Heath was about to say something but Heath heard a ding.

[Piplup has achieved Minor Mastery with Aqua Ring.]

[For having starter achieve Minor Mastery in a move.]

[User is gifted 1x Rare Candy]

[Guts has used a new move, Joust]

[Newly Created Moves instantly become Minor Mastery]

[User is gifted 1x Rare Candy]

‘What isn’t it just Brick Break? What is the description of Joust’

Joust:

Type: Fighting

Description: Pokémon using this move rams their Weapon forward

In-game stats:

PP:10

Power: 110

Accuracy: 75%

‘Damn that’s powerful. I guess I was right in my theory in Pokémon moves but this is far better than expected plus it’s already at Minor Mastery.’ Heath whistled into the air while making a thumbs up towards the bird.

“Good Job Guts, thanks to that little stunt Piplup finally achieve his Minor Mastery for Aqua Ring and you have achieved the same but for Joust and Brick Break” Heath cheered. Piplup had an aqua ring active and so two water rings in the form an X wrapped around Piplup circling him. This was the main reason Piplup didn’t sustain a lot of damage even though Guts had used most of his power but unlike his looks Piplup was still visibly pissed.

“What’s your problem?” Piplup chirped angrily

“You needed to have some stimulation to achieve the Move. You should know about that but I guess being coddle from birth has affected you. Typical” Guts spat.

He continued using his new move Joust which every time he hit the tree a loud thump was heard and with each thump leaves spiraled to the ground in a mystical way. The sight Heath saw gave him the memory of watching a boxing anime protagonist perfect his jab. This is what caused the blue penguin to just talk nonsense and spit petty words rather than do anything. Piplup knew that even if he wanted to do something the fact that Guts was able to do that much damage to the tree without trying petrified him from trying anything.

Heath, seeing this interaction between his pokémon from could only sigh before checking up on Piplup.

‘I wish they got along more’ Heath thought.

“You okay?” Heath whispered to the grumbling Pokémon while rubbing his head on Piplup who had deactivated aqua ring as soon he sat down.

“Yeah” Piplup chirped aggressively but softened at the gentle touch of his trainer.

“So since that is over. What should I let you work on now?”

‘Honestly, I’m tired of being in this clearing 24/7. Training can be fun but this fucking mind numbing… I want to go out!!!’ Heath changed his position choosing to sit in between both of his Pokémon. ‘Should I try resuming the Beedrill quest? We should be fine. I think?’ looking at the both of them and seeing them be passively petty, Heath decided that would probably be for the best to do something that will build chemistry.

“Guys let’s stop for today.” Heath groaned as he got up before finishing with.

“We’ll have a rest day and early tomorrow morning we’ll clear out the Beedrill for the mission.” Heath decided.

‘Yes!’ Guts shouted as he hit the creaking tree one more time causing a thump, louder than the other to be heard. Both Piplup and Heath went to look at the tree which was creaking. The tree looked mangled and pummeled like a Pecha berry that was in a mortar and muddle with a pestle. Cracking was heard from the distorted tree and not even a second later the locust buckled under its weight, falling to the ground from the will of gravity. Guts didn’t even bat an eyelash at the commotion, deciding once again to enter inside it’s Pokéball while Piplup tapped on Heath absentmindedly. Heath thought that it was in order to be placed on his head,which was now Piplup’s favorite spot. After packing up for the day, the both of them made their way back to the lab. He walked through the depressed foliage and bushes that seemed to be depressed from the amount of time they’ve travelled through that particular path over the last couple of days. While walking towards the lab, Heath thought about all of the things he would need on his next expedition.

‘I need to get a couple of potions, maybe restock on some antidotes from the shop and hopefully more pokéballs from Professor Birch.’

‘Oh, and I probably some nets to isolate the runners and get them stuck. So, I can have them all trapped in a contained area’ Heath strategized before bringing out a piece of paper, noting the previous things listed.

‘Oh, some pokémon food and some Bedrolls and tents.’

As he was thinking about what he needed, He accidentally bumped into someone.

“Owww” A feminine voice was heard and when Heath looked down It was May.

“Sorry May, I was in my head and didn’t notice you, what are you doing in this part of the woods?” Heath politely asked

“I came to tell you that Birch has some of the sandwiches that my mom made for you. She knows that you like her cooking the best and yet you’ll hurt me? If she finds out you’ve been a bad friend to me, she might not cook for you anymore” May snickered deviously while Heath ignored the threat and reluctantly helped her up.

The three of them continued walking to the lab which was visibly a decent distance away and after a minute of walking quietly May decided to interrupt the forest’s serene music.

“So are you mad that I am going to be feeding the Pokémon from now on?” May peeped.

“No actually I’m grateful” Heath paused, poking Piplup before continuing.

“Thanks to you I can now stay in the forest for days on end and get paid more. It’s what I was planning to do most of the time anyways and now that I don’t have to feed them every morning I can stay for a longer periods.” Heath explained.

“I see….”

“When are we going to have a rematch.” Heath stopped and turned to May who looked slightly annoyed whenever that question was asked.

‘Why is she so annoyed with doing that, it’s not like I’m going to kill Torchic. I just want Piplup and me to claim our rightful win. But at this rate I might as well not ask anymore’ Heath thought.

“Well maybe soon Heath.” May lied causing her voice to crack. Heath chuckled and May started walking faster leading them to reaching the lab after sooner than he expected. Heath opened the door, letting May go in before himself. They saw Vanessa relaxing on the couch that was placed next to the kitchen. She seemed to be waiting for someone while looking at her PokéGear and occasionally humming to a song.

“We’re back!!” May happily announced quickly sitting down next to Vanessa who continued to look at the device. Heath tried to make his way upstairs but somehow Vanessa stopped him.

“Where are you going?”

“Uhhh to my room?” Heath replied.

“Why don’t you hang out with us. May doesn’t hate you now, at least not a lot and c’mon be social you Cloyster” Vanessa bantered.

Heath wanted to go and prepare but seeing the two girls not taking no for an answer he reluctantly joined them, pulling a chair from the other side of the room.

“So, how’s life in Little Root Heath? Enjoying it so far?” Vanessa probed as she sat up and snatched Piplup who was still on his head, nuzzling the Penguin into her breast which Piplup stayed unusually quiet and even looking happy with the situation.

‘Lucky Bastard’

Heath then answered

“It’s good but I’m itching to start my journey. I can’t wait for us to get a move on!”

“Us? You mean you and May are goi-”

“Vanessa no, there is no way I would go on a journey with Heath.” May interrupted. Heath nodded as he was thinking along similar lines.

“Okay, though are you opposed to having companions along the way?” Vanessa asked the both of them.

“Sure, though Max would probably have to come with me. You know how it is having a younger sibling.” May sighed. Vanessa chuckled and then looked at Heath for his response.

‘I mean, I wouldn’t mind but there’s no way in hell am I joining Ash, I don’t want that in my life plus I don’t want to explain every little thing to that guy but I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to traveling with others.’ Heath thought.

“Heath!” Vanessa repeated, snapping Heath out of his head.

“It depends...” Heath immediately blurted out causing Vanessa to chuckle holding her stomach.

“No shit it depends. What does it depend on?” Vanessa readjusted the question.

“Uhm if I had to pick one thing in particular it would be how well we get along. I guess?” Heath answered. Causing the two girls to nod in agreement. They continued the banter talking about famous Pokémon Trainers and the likes. This led to Heath finding out that May was a big fan of Cynthia while Vanessa really liked Whitney and her devastating Miltank.

‘Ugh Miltank. I still remember fighting against that monster. Seriously, who puts that as a second gym.’ Heath shuddered thinking about all of the reset attempts on that particular battle.

“So, Heath I’m sure you’re in the groups that are in the favor of the strongest being our Regional Champion Steven or Maybe Johto’s Lance right?” May asked.

‘Weird change in subject but okay’

“Well Steven is cool but I wouldn’t say he is the strongest though. I’m not sure if I’m right but I think Cynthia or Leon would be the top 2.” Heath explained.

“Wouldn’t Blue be top 2 though? People have rumored that Pokémon Master Red and Kanto Champion Blue were rivals from childhood it was also rumored after some interviews came out that Blue was the one who got promoted to the rank of Gym Leader, before later in his career becoming the Champion of Kanto” May countered.

“I’m not sure. I would have to see them all fight” Heath relented.

“Well, you haven’t answered my question yet.” May Retorted.