After the events of the day, the mother and son duo went and created dinner for themselves and for their pokemons, after which Anthony, Hana and Mama Kangaskhan made great efforts to separate the children namely Zubat and Baby Kangaskhan, after that, Hana wanted to make a call to her husband, however, when Ben told her and Anthony to tune in the TV to watch him compete in a Devon Corp. funded Hoenn-wide tournament that seem to happen live at night for a more pay-per-view and cable exclusive telecast, the two opted to just show off Anthony's new pokemon tomorrow and just watch the whole live of Ben.
Hana, as if not wanting to make Anthony sad explained that his dad wanted to surprise him by appearing on TV, however, Anthony knew that it was a part of the independent parenting tactic of theirs, though the only part of Ben in the tactic is going away from his son so that he won't spoil him with all the pokemons that will hatch up the ass of Ben's lab dwelling Pokemons.
Anthony doesn't hate Ben, though, after all, he's doing his best to provide while still doing what he loves alongside his mother, Hana. The Dover duo watched the tournament while eating their dinner in the living room with Zubat and Baby Kangaskhan cheering them on. Anthony's dad won in the one-on-one tournament with his Blastoise, which made the household burst into shouts and cheers.
Hana is most specifically enthusiastic of the three; it was a wonder how much her energy would be amplified if she were there in real life. Just like that, after washing the dishes, the somehow long night of Anthony and Hana finally ended, and right now, the small man of the Dover house is with his partner Pokémon, Zubat, both of them staring at the ceiling, though Zubat is silently humming to be able to see anything.
Anthony actually is thinking deeply right now, specifically about the course of events that will transpire from today on.
_Two days later, we would visit the Lab of Prof. Oak, and apparently, I would be given a tour around the lab, learn analytical chemistry processes, and also, the Pokémon Professor would apparently explain to me the intricacies of being a field researcher._
In his first days in this world, Anthony thought that being an associate field researcher would be just a way to garner funds and also to have an ample experience so that he will have ways to evolve his pokemons outside of a gym or any battle in general, however, upon his perusal of the books about Pokemons, Anthony was able to understand the true charm of the Researcher industry, specially evolutionary theories and training methods that was researched by lots of generations.
Anthony thought that maybe he would take this future job of his more seriously.
_The problem is, I'm a salary man and didn't study any science or analytical chemistry, or at least I didn't specialize in it, and the only thing I and science majors have studied is the conversion of SI units, the maths I know is more on business management..._
Anthony sighed. It seems like he again needed to study things beyond his specialization, especially so that he needed to pass the breeder's exam at 10, so that he would have the proper qualifications to become a true field researcher.
_This way, I can have lots of advantages over my future peers._
The advantages of having the clouts of a breeder and a Field Researcher are already obvious, being able to concoct proper food for a Pokémon's growth, knowing a wild Pokémon's potential, being able to personally heal your Pokémon if a Pokémon Center is not yet a city away, among others.
Anthony believed that all champions have at least a Breeder 1 license, especially the arguably most formidable champion of the games, Cynthia, after all, making a Gible turn into a Garchomp that's exceptionally strong even among its same species is hard.
Remember that even pseudo-legendaries have a bell curve of strength; it's just that the peak of that curve is so high people just ignore it most of the time.
_Oh, speaking of making Pokemons stronger than their average species, should I create a training plan for Zubat right now?_
Anthony slowly looked at Zubat, who, at some point in time, had already started snoring. The Pokemon is on his chest, making him have easy access to his head, so he pats it with his finger a few times before sighing and closing his eyes.
_I'll just do it tomorrow; this past week didn't let me sleep that long, after all._
______________
The next day, a day before the visit to Professor Oak's Pokémon lab, Anthony and Zubat are sitting at the entrance of their mini-farm, in front of them are sleeping Pokemons and Pidgeys, and Spearows competing on who will be the early bird who will get the first worm. Of course, they're doing this in the sky as the most menacing bug in the backyard, Scizor is sleeping with Caterpies and Weedles.
In the deeper parts of the mini farm is a Venusaur with its lax, dopey smile, already awake and nudging the handful of Oddishes as if to tuck them in their sleep. Kangaskhan and Charizard are also sleeping, particularly Anthony can see the flaming tail of Charizard, who's asleep on the roof hanging down below, while the mama and baby Kangaskhan are hugging each other in their sleep.
_It's too bad our house can't house these enormous Pokemons..._
Anthony sighed, drinking his mildly sweetened black coffee and the Zubat who's slowly creeping towards the coffee, Anthony ignored the pokemon and drank the still hot drink in one gulp, something that the original was able to do for some reason, such a strange talent.
"Zuu..."
Zubat hung its head low, obviously crestfallen for yet another failed attempt at sneaking a drink or two to its master's cup, and went back to its much smaller cup of tea, the unsweetened one.
"Well, we have to pass the time before starting the skills analysis so that we won't disturb their sleep, so take your time with your delicious tea."
Anthony smiled and patted the head of Zubat with his finger before pulling out a book about a detailed description of Pokemons. Zubat looked at its trainer, not knowing whether or not he was jeering at it or was just unaware that a sweetened coffee is sweeter than an unsweetened tea.
After a while, the Pokemons started to wake up one by one, now going about their own thing. Scizor started to look around, apparently being the surveillance in the land for Anthony's house, while Charizard poked its head out of the roof to greet Anthony before continuing its basking in the sun.
Anthony also put down his book and then said.
"Alright, we can start our analysis of your abilities, Zubat. Use all the moves you know in front of me."
Zubat who's still jerking about because of its unsweetened tea nodded and flew in front of Anthony, it then heaved its lungs up before releasing a blue, pulse-like small stream of supersonic waves, after which, it went to Anthony and then bit his arm for a moment before sucking out some blood on it, causing Anthony to feel a little bit of numbness in the skin where Zubat has bitten.
However, that was it.
"It's really a child and relies on group strength rather than individualized, huh..."
Supersonic and Leech life, these two moves are favored by the Zubat line that goes about in group, if used with even just 5 Zubats, these two moves can cause serious annoyance or worst, casualties to humans who ever wants to show aggression to them, however, if used individually, these moves, unless of course trained are not as potent.
_According to the books, Supersonic causes confusion to anyone directly hit by it, however, normal Zubat just uses the echoes of caves to amplify its effects, so I have to make Zubat able to amplify it on its own, maybe it would be even useful if Zubat can use Supersonic to mimic sounds of other pokemons by making it practice using Guitar or Piano notes, as for Leech Life, maybe I'll have to make it a precursor of the Absorb move, which is a better version and not a point blank range attack._
Zubat jumped around in front of Anthony as if wanting to hear what its trainer had to say about its prided moves. Anthony, however, who started to jot down the training plan for Zubat, just patted its head with his fingers, continuing his thoughts.
_One of what I want to develop the most is Zubat's early speed as its final evolution is known for its fast physical attacks, actually, I can still remember the fight against Koga when he became an elite 4 with his Crobat that's unnecessarily long because of Double Team and its attacks that is almost always guaranteed to hit first. And like I said, proteins for poison-type moves will do, of course, proteins will also strengthen its muscles and will make it develop faster._
Anthony continued to scribble down the plan he had while quietly tucking the quite annoying Zubat into his arms and letting it watch what he was doing. After finalizing his draft, he looked at it one more time.
The training plan is a very simple one; it's composed of protein-rich snacks, supplements, as well as weighted stamina training in the morning and then agility and velocity enhancement through an obstacle course in the afternoon. The skill-based training will have to wait until Zubat can do all of these things in the morning alone.
This training plan emphasizes the desire of Anthony to develop the speed of the Zubat line early on while also capitalizing on its Poison and Flying types. In the games, because of how weak early levelled Zubats are and how honestly annoying they are in caves, and also the fact that you have to use the literal power of friendship to evolve it, makes it a rather unpopular choice for players.
_Fortunately, stats do not exist in this world, so I can most definitely make this Pokémon fast from the Zubat stage..._
Anthony smiled a little at Zubat, who made a "Zuu?" sound as it tilted its head.
"Let's make Mom take a look at your training plan before we start, after we visit the Pokémon Professor."
Anthony said before walking inside their house, upon saying Zubat, who apparently is looking forward to being trained to be a strong Crobat, made a happy sound before flying out of Anthony's hand and perched itself on his head. Seeing this, Anthony wondered if Mama Golbat cheated with a male Altaria, causing Zubat to slowly develop the habit of being a hat in humans' heads.
Soon, the human and the Pokémon saw Hana in the kitchen, sipping her coffee, though unlike Anthony, hers was evidently bitter.
"Zuu!"
As Zubat made its wings sway as a way to wave its "hand" at Hana, Anthony couldn't help but look at the coffee on the kitchen counter.
_It's as black as the depths of the ocean..._
Hana greeted Zubat before snapping her son's thoughts as she said.
"Oh, is the training plan already finished? Let me see."
Anthony didn't linger on his thoughts about his mother's coffee and just gave her the paper and pen that he had been using to Hana, who immediately read the contents. Soon, she scribbled out some writings and replaced them with new words before smiling.
"I see, so you want to make Zubat have a glimpse of what it will be capable of if it became a Crobat, huh... that's a good approach, also, don't forget to train it further in using Supersonic in reconnaissance, as Golbats lose their proficiency in this field because of their eyes."
Anthony received the pen and paper back before nodding seriously. Of course, he won't forget such a thing, after all, in real life, Supersonic's main use for bats is for navigation and hunting of prey. It's only natural for him to continue using such a convenient move in battles and his adventures in the future.
Just as Anthony was thinking of that, Hana's phone, that's in her pocket all this while, rang out, making her pick it up. On the screen is a notification that says: Ben Dover is making a video call on the PC.
Seeing this, Hana smiled and looked at Anthony before saying.
"Let's go to the PC in the living room and show your dad your first caught Pokémon."
Hearing this, Anthony and Zubat's eyes lit up.
"Zuu!"
"Alright."
Such was the two children's response, though the other one is technically not a kid anymore.