Hana and Anthony talked more about the analysis of Anthony, Anthony being the one talking, and his mom just giving a few sentences if she heard something that needed some tweaking. All in all, Anthony is satisfied of the progress of Zubat, specially its flying ability as it was able to use the air currents read practice and the obstacle course in the battle, even for just a glimpse, besides that, he also applauded the mastery of Wing Attack, Leech Life and Supersonic even though these 3, as always been reiterated, are innate abilities of the Zubat-line and Flying types, specially so the last move as it will be the main status inflictor move in the Strategy of Anthony in the long run.
In the end, Anthony and Hana agreed on one thing: Leech Life is a very bad sustain-type move and needed to be phased out as soon as possible. Not only did it not stack up to the flinch chance of Bite, the energy it sucks from the target is so abysmally low that it didn't even account for a percent of the total reason why Pidgey was defeated.
_Zubat needs to learn Absorb now..._
Such is the main priority of Anthony; he was also advised by Hana, and a reminder that, in the end, all of these trainings are just foundational training, so that in the future, Zubat would be able to learn serendipitous moves more easily, and also to give it a better starting point and potential once it became a Golbat.
_For now, I have to make it learn this move... I wonder when Zubat will be able to have an epiphanous encounter and learn a move..._
Anthony sighed. After resting and studying for a bit alongside Zubat, who immediately perched itself into Anthony's head, he finally decided on how to train Zubat. Anthony looked at the window of his room and realized that it was still just about afternoon, which is normal, as Pokémon battles don't go for too long, as the moment the Pokémon passes out, the battle will end.
"I think you will really like your new training plan."
As Anthony halted his train of thoughts, he can't help but smirk, which made Zubat 'stare' at him for quite a long while before gulping hard, it's one thing if Zubat knew that the training method will be beneficial for it and its trainer's growth, but the smirk of the otherwise rather blank face of its trainer made the Pokemon shiver.
"Z-zuuu..."
Zubat made a nervous sound, as if cautiously inquiring what the new training is all about. However, its trainer didn't answer and just silently went outside, to the minifarm, and into the dense trees of berries and other fruits.
"Zuu? Zuu?"
Zubat was becoming worried that its trainer was not responding to its inquiries. Anthony just continued to traverse the small forest of fruits before arriving in front of the place of Venusaur. Hana, Anthony's mother's Venusaur, is always gentle despite having the ability to apparently compete with Charizard as the strongest Pokémon of Hana. During her active time as a Pokémon trainer, Venusaur would always request going to open fields to bask in the sun, sleeping while letting other grass-type Pokemons huddle around it as a self-defense for predators. Even in its retirement, Venusaur maintained such hobbies, letting Oddishes, Caterpies, and Weedles walk around it and even use the leaves of the flower in its back as a swing and slide, depending on the Pokémon.
_Such a languid Pokémon can go pound per pound with a Pokémon it's super weak against?_
Anthony can't help but marvel at the possibilities of Pokemons. In his previous life, if one wanted to go head-to-head against someone with an innate advantage in any given field, they would need natural talent, self-neglecting effort, and, most of the time, a great backer who could give them opportunities. In the world of Pokémon, the backer part is mostly omitted; as long as you caught a particularly talented Pokémon and you're willing to actually work hard, there's no backer needed to be a champion.
Though Anthony has two.
Anthony shook his head at this, and as he did, the sleeping Venusaur slowly opened its eyes and, upon seeing the child of its master, Venusaur flashed its dopey smile before extending a vine whip towards Anthony and Zubat. Because of the Pokémon's habit of always sleeping, it's the Pokémon that's not able to interact and watch Anthony the most. This is actually the first time Anthony and Venusaur interacted inside the mini farm.
Zubat and Anthony enjoyed the head pats; one was genuine, and one was awestruck by the magical appearance of the vines.
"Veee...?"
As Venusaur inquired about the purpose of the young master's visit, it glanced towards the playing Pokemons. Being the unofficial leader of all the Grass and bug-type Pokemons, it made the child-like Pokemons stop their respective plays. They then sat neatly on both sides of the still lying down Pokémon. Anthony, amazed by such control over the Pokemons around the forest of Venusaur, replied.
"Have you seen the parents of Zubat?"
At that moment, Zubat's whole body, that's perched on the head of Anthony, froze; it didn't cry out any sounds but directly used its improved wing strength to leap up, covering one-fourth of a meter in one flap of its wings. However, how could Zubat's trainer not know how Zubat repulses its parents by training it? In one swoop of Anthony's right hand, the escaping Pokémon was caught.
"ZUUU! ZUUU! ZUUUBAAAAT!"
The Pokémon that was grabbed by the back used its twin tails in its lower area and wings to flail with all its might. Venusaur, who was about to answer, paused as it watched the scene of the two kids seemingly playing around in front of it. Even the Oddishes and other Pokemons looked at the two with odd (pun intended) expressions and made murmurs as if talking to themselves.
"Please tell me where they are, Venusaur."
Venusaur chuckled at the futile struggle of Zubat, who continued to flail violently within the grip of Anthony's hand before using its vine whip to point to the left. As expected, Venusaur does know the location of everyone in its forest, ignoring the struggles of its Pokémon. Anthony thanked Venusaur and went towards the left.
"ZUUUAAAABAAAAHHHH! BAAAAH! BAAAH!"
Zubat's shriek became louder and louder, which made Anthony quite annoyed. After a few meters of walking away from Venusaur's sleeping spot, he once again stopped walking and then looked at Zubat, that's still in his palm.
"Do you really hate your parents that much?"
Anthony looked straight at Zubat's 'eyes', who, upon hearing such a question, suddenly froze, abruptly stopped flailing, and looked at its trainer as if its head was nailed to a wall just to do so. Its face, despite not having eyes, expressed Zubat's answer. The Pokémon shook its head, quite vigorously, as if denying a grave accusation.
"Zuu. Zuu, bat."
Anthony didn't stop looking at Zubat; he continued his questioning.
"Then why are you so afraid of them watching you train?"
In the middle of the small berry forest, Zubat went silent. Its perked-up ears drooped down slowly before it basically covered the entirety of its face. Obviously, the partner Pokémon of Anthony is feeling guilty, which is the main goal of Anthony in asking such a question, so that the training can finally start. Upon learning the philosophy of his mother and also being cautious of himself getting too soft in Zubat's training, Anthony has finally accepted the fact that sometimes, adults should use guilt-tripping to nudge children into the right direction, and Zubat, being a child in its rebellious phase, is the best target of such gaslighting.
"Zu... Zuu..."
Zubat answered meekly; however, the connection between it and its trainer made Anthony know that Zubat made a cry that shows or tells its love to its parents, though in an embarrassed way. Anthony didn't speak but just watched Zubat try to explain itself. Soon, the silence of its trainer made Zubat even more guilty as it remembered its attitude towards its parents lately.
"Zuu..."
With its wide ears draping beyond its mouth, Zubat cried out, its voice shaky as if on the verge of tears. Anthony sighed, and even though his heart was being bombarded by the stabs of his conscience, he gently flipped the hand where Zubat was in and freed it from his clutches. The Pokémon, not having the energy to escape anymore, silently made itself flip over to the palm of Anthony.
"Zuu..."
Zubat cried out silently, guilt evident in its tone.
_Man, guilt-tripping a Pokémon to have its training efficiency grow several-fold is not something I'd expect I do..._
Anthony again sighed, before suppressing his conscience, everything that he's doing is for the sake of Zubat. As Anthony thought of such, he smiled lightly and stroked the little head of Zubat.
"Don't be sad, you can always say to them that you love them if you let them train you, after all."
Zubat 'looked' at its trainer for a moment before nodding. Seeing that Zubat finally agreed, Anthony smiled at a mission success. After a while of shuttling through the small forest, Anthony and Zubat were finally able to see the tree by which the two Golbat parents of Zubat. The couple, upon seeing the two children, immediately made a happy cry before flying out of their upside-down position and circling them. However, soon, they noticed the crestfallen attitude of their child, causing the two parents to be worried about their well-being; thus, they stopped their jolliness and went to the palm of Anthony, who had Zubat in. The palm of Anthony is still small, so the trio ended up floating using their wings.
Anthony watched the family cry 'Zuu, Bat' or 'Gol, bat' repeatedly while circling each other. Over time in the conversation, Zubat's attitude, which had been damped because of being gaslighted, lifted up once more; it didn't take long for it to happily fly towards Anthony again.
_That's really fast..._
Anthony smiled a little and patted Zubat with his fingers again before looking at the two Pokemons in front of him.
"Did Zubat already tell you two why we are here?"
The two Golbats nodded, which made the job of Anthony easier. He skipped the request for permission part as he knew that no parents could reject their children, except his.
"I see, then that would be convenient for me, I want you, Mr. and Mrs. Golbats to train Zubat for the way of non-grass types to learn Absorb, I would cramp all its training in the morning and put the Absorb move in the afternoon, anyway, the other moves being trained just needed polishing and will be honed further only during epiphanies of Zubat during battles."
Now, one might ask, why did Anthony opt not for the help of the true Absorb move master of the Dover household, Venusaur? After all, it's intuitive that to learn something, one should learn it from the best.
Anthony's logic is quite different. The reason why Venusaur or Grass-types in general are good at learning such a move is because they can use their chlorophyll like a plant, as indicated by their type; they use it for photosynthesis and either the pigments of their whole body or a leafy or other parts of their body that indicate their typing.
This means that grass-types are biologically wired to use such a move alongside Mega and Giga Drain; of course, this includes the Solar Beam too.
If Anthony made Zubat train with a natural, it can potentially be detrimental in terms of self-esteem, as Venusaur might only be able to advise like: 'Just suck it,' or other similar, nonsensical advice, that's like saying to a baby to just stand up and change their diaper when they can't even control their bowel movements.
Thus, in the end, Anthony opted for the parents of Zubat, who, as expected, happily agreed. And while conversing with his Pokémon's parents, Anthony suddenly remembered something.
_That's right, Treecko is a Grass-type and the Pokemon in the house of Glen besides Treecko is a Persian... maybe he will get a recommendation from his dad to visit the minifarm of ours to talk and train with Venusaur... I'll give it a week at most, that 'assistant' in training is not as effective compared to expert help, after all._
As Anthony thought about what might be the next move of his friend on his journey to train its very first Pokémon, he coordinated with the mom and dad of Zubat on how to train the latter. Obviously, it was less mechanical and more on the way of training relative to the species of Zubat.
It was full of cries, sounds, and gestures that Anthony seemed to be unable to decipher. At the end of the day, Zubat, having only learned the foundations of Absorb and wasn't able to produce any of that green, energy-syphoning aurora. But in any case, Anthony, despite having a revamped philosophy, still knew how to be patient, so he didn't press the Pokémon that hard.
Anthony also revised the training plan, making him and Zubat wake up at 6, finish their respective stamina training at 7, and then the rest will follow up until 12 for lunch, in the afternoon, Absorb training will take up 4 hours, or more, depending on the family bonding portion.
It was seen by Anthony that Mama and Papa Golbats are quite the dorks, after all.