Five days of classes went by in a flash. After another week of training and battling, the three friends and their five Pokémon had all completely left their "newborn" phase behind—their strength now leagues ahead of where they started.
Pokémon: Zubat
Gender: Female
Type: Poison, Flying
Ability: Infiltrator (Ignores barriers and substitutes when attacking)
Potential: Orange
Basic Moves: Absorb, Supersonic, Astonish, Mean Look, Poison Fang
Egg Moves: Cross Poison, Air Slash, Pursuit
Pokémon: Munchlax
Gender: Male
Type: Normal
Ability: Thick Fat (Takes half damage from Fire and Ice moves due to thick fat insulation)
Potential: Gold
Basic Moves: Lick, Tackle, Defense Curl, Covet, Bite, Thunder Punch
Egg Moves: Belch, Curse, Fissure, Counter
Pokémon: Torkoal
Gender: Male
Type: Fire
Ability: Drought (Summons sunny weather when entering battle)
Potential: Purple
Basic Moves: Ember, Withdraw, Rapid Spin, Smokescreen
Egg Moves: Haze, Flamethrower, Fissure
Pokémon: Growlithe
Gender: Female
Type: Fire
Ability: Flash Fire (Powers up own Fire-type moves when hit by one)
Potential: Purple
Basic Moves: Bite, Leer, Howl, Crunch, Agility
Egg Moves: Flame Wheel, Reversal, Just Pretending (Bide)
Pokémon: Feebas
Gender: Female
Type: Water
Ability: Adaptability (Boosts STAB moves' power)
Potential: Red
Basic Moves: Tackle, Water Gun
Egg Moves: Confuse Ray, Dragon Breath, Hypnosis, Ice Beam
Everyone's Pokémon had picked up new moves. For Feebas, though, not much could change—without TM disks, all she really had was Tackle, Water Gun, and a few inherited techniques. Auron told Serena there was no rush—if Beauty just mastered those egg moves, it would be more than enough.
On the second day after classes started, Auron asked his dad's Kommo-o to mentor Munchlax, teaching him the "Farmer's Three Punches" combo. Kommo-o proved to be a patient teacher, while Munchlax, never shy about eating or working, picked up Thunder Punch as the first of the three.
Every afternoon after school, Auron would collect Munchlax from the daycare, then the trio would head to the Love Pokémon Store's battle center for training and sparring.
Early on, Auron had Serena and Jace battle each other. Thanks to the field, Torkoal's Ember and Haze couldn't reach underwater. Feebas simply dove beneath the surface, leaving Torkoal helpless. A couple rounds of Confuse Ray and Water Gun later, Torkoal had lost by pure attrition. Jace, once again, came in last.
That Friday, after school, the three met up to collect Munchlax, then went to the battle center. By the main doors, a fresh notice caught their eyes:
Professor "Little Champs" Vantora Tournament Announcement
The organizers of Professor Little Champs Cup will hold a tournament in Vantora on April 15th, open to all high school seniors.
Only one Pokémon per participant, and it must be officially registered as your own. Using an unregistered Pokémon leads to disqualification and an automatic loss.
Prizes:
1st place: TM—Toxic
2nd place: TM—Gyro Ball
3rd place: TM—Water Pulse
4th place: Box of B-grade Nutritional PokéBlocks
5th place: Box of B-grade Physical Enhancement PokéBlocks
6th-10th: Premium Berries or 2,000 Dracocoins
11th-20th: One random C-grade Berry
"Hey, Auron, what do you think? Should we join? I've got my eye on that Toxic TM—if my Torkoal learns Toxic, he might finally beat her Feebas!" Jace's voice was electric. No wonder—TMs for Toxic, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, and the like were classed as A-rank. Even Gyro Ball and Water Pulse, B-rank, were worth ten grand each. The really rare S-rank TMs—like Protect, Substitute, Hyper Beam, or Outrage—cost upwards of 800,000 Dracocoins. A defensive TM like Protect could change the entire outcome of a match, and that made them absurdly expensive.
Of course, if you couldn't get a TM, you could try finding a Pokémon to teach the move instead—just like Auron got Kommo-o to show Munchlax the Farmer's Combo. If you didn't know anyone with the right Pokémon, well… time to bring out your wallet. It's no wonder being a pro trainer burns through money—but it also pays fast. One deep-dive into a Pokémon Secret Realm could bring in 100,000 Dracocoins or more.
But there weren't many Secret Realms, and tons of trainers vying for them. With supply and demand the way it was, trainers made their money flipping goods from these places. The stronger you were, the more you could earn. If you weren't so talented, you'd probably just get a regular job and look after a Pokémon or two for fun. And for those with no money or talent? Just visiting the local daycare and watching was enough, until the day you could afford to raise a Pokémon yourself.
"Hmph! Once I win Water Pulse, you're both toast anyway," Serena shot back, lifting her chin in mock arrogance.
"Whoa, so you two are already calling first and third. Where does that leave me?" Auron grinned as he led them inside. Since they were training so often, Auron had just booked the room for the entire month.
"Please. With your Munchlax, you'll probably take first," Jace groaned. "It's insane. He tanks all our hits, then knocks us out in one punch. What are we supposed to do?"
Ever since Munchlax learned Thunder Punch, not even Torkoal's Haze could wear him down. Even if he got poisoned, Munchlax could endure it long enough to KO Torkoal with two Thunder Punches. Growlithe and Feebas didn't even stand a chance. As for Zubat, it was the opposite—before Munchlax had a ranged attack, she was untouchable. And even with all Feebas's ranged moves, she still couldn't beat Zubat.
Auron had focused on Zubat's speed and mastery of Supersonic. As soon as an opponent tried to attack, Zubat could pick up the signal with sonar and dodge it. With her agility, most ranged attacks simply missed. Even Jace once grumbled, "Her evasion's maxed out—how's anyone supposed to land a hit?"
"Hey, don't blame me! Have you noticed your Torkoal's already way stronger than anyone else's? I've been helping you—shouldn't you thank me instead of complaining?" Auron's exaggerated acting made Serena wrinkle her nose.
"But seriously, your Zubat and Munchlax are so tough to beat," she sighed.
"It's just a matter of type matchups. Zubat can't be hit, and Munchlax shrugs off Fire and Ice moves. Once we all get stronger, it'll even out," Auron shrugged.
The other two just rolled their eyes and decided to ignore him for now.
"Alright, let's get started. Just train like we've been doing."
They released their Pokémon and Auron, assuming his role as "head coach," started barking orders.
"Good!"
Feebas practiced her moves at the pool's edge, Growlithe circled the arena at a sprint, and Torkoal worked on his technique with the targets. Everyone was working hard in their own way.
"Munchlax, you need to work on your move precision. If you do well, I'll give you a new flavor of PokéBlock."
Munchlax's eyes shone, both fists crackling with Thunder Punch at once, as if to say: "Look, two at once—do I get the treat now?"
Auron laughed and shook his head. "Not like that, Munchlax. You still haven't mastered Belch or Fissure. Today, we focus on those two."
Munchlax looked a little deflated, his hands going limp as the sparks faded. He slumped in disappointment, making Auron grin despite himself.
"Don't worry. Work hard today, and I'll give you a bonus treat at dinner."
^_^
Munchlax perked up immediately, trotting off to practice. Auron turned to Zubat.
"Alright, Zubat, we're back to Supersonic and dodge training. I'll control the BB Ball launcher—let's aim for an A-rank dodge rate, okay?"
Zubat couldn't talk, but she flew up and down twice to show she was ready.
To sharpen her reaction and dodging skills, Auron had bought ten BB Ball launchers for a special training room. The launchers fired randomly under computer control; it was all about reaction time. The goal? Eighty balls a minute—dodging sixty or more for A-rank, seventy-five for S-rank. Zubat's personal best so far was fifty-seven.
This is why everyone talked about Zubat's insane evasion rate—hard work made her nearly impossible to hit.
"Let's do our best today, Zubat."
Auron bumped fists with her wing, and together, trainer and Pokémon headed into the training room.
(End of Chapter)
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