Chapter 28: New Sparring Partner
Daikon brought Typhlosion back to camp where the other pokemon surrounded him, interested that Typhlosion had evolved.
Gerald walked up and looked at Typhlosion before saying, "Well about time. Now that he has evolved you should help it learn Crush Claw. It will come in handy during battles."
Daikon nodded his head in agreement, knowing that Typhlosion was able to learn that move.
"You should up his gravity as well now that he is stronger." Gerald said.
Daikon felt bad for Typhlosion, knowing that his training was only going to get harder after evolving. All of his pokemon were wearing the gravity bracelets and most of them were set at 2x gravity. Daikon, himself was set at 3x gravity. At first he could barely walk, causing him to curse his grandfather with all his heart but he slowly adjusted.
"Come, I found you a new sparring partner." Gerald said with a evil smile that cause Daikon to shudder. Gerald had been his sparring partner since they came to the valley and he was by no means gentle with his teachings, causing Daikon to go to sleep sore and covered in bruises.
Following his grandfather, Daikon found himself in front a large black and white pokemon.
[Pangoro the daunting pokemon. Although it possesses a violent temperament, it won't put up with bullying. It uses the leaf in it's mouth to sense the movements of its enemies.]
"Pangoro, meet my grandson, Daikon. Daikon meet, Pangoro, your new sparring partner." Gerald said, grinning sadistically.
Pangoro, standing well over 2m tall, looked down at Daikon and gave a short grunt. Daikon's mouth was agape in disbelief. He was supposed to fight this monster of a pokemon. Daikon knew that Pangoro fought with their fists and were skill in hand to hand.
Daikon looked over at his grandfather, hoping for him to say 'just kidding' but luck wasn't on his side.
"From now on, Pangoro will be your sparring partner. You also need to battle with your pokemon more and push them. This valley is filled with powerful pokemon so get to it." Gerald said walking away from him.
Daikon let out a sigh before steeling himself. He faced the Pangoro and gave a small bow, "Please teach me." he said before taking a stance.
Pangoro let out a light roar before sending a punch toward Daikon. Slightly panicking, he took a step back and twisted his body, avoiding the punch. The punch was faster than he was use to causing him to panic.
Daikon quickly calmed himself and sent a punch himself, connecting with Pangoro's chest. The attack didn't seem to affect Pangoro who sent a quick jab at Daikon, knocking him to the ground.
This continued for an hour until Daikon was unable to get up. Pangoro put his fist down and walked over to Daikon, lifting him off the ground and setting him down on his feet.
"Thanks." Daikon managed to get out between his ragged breathing.
After a few minutes, he was able to gather himself and cycle his draconic energy, giving him some energy. "Dratini!" he called.
Dratini slithered his way over to Daikon, looking at him with questioning eyes.
"Milotic will you have a battle with us?" Daikon turned and asked calm water.
Nothing happened at first but after a few moments, Milotic emerged from the water. She then slithered onto shore before nodding her head.
"You ready Dratini?"Daikon asked his young dragon.
Not one to shy away from a challenge, Dratini turned and faced the much larger Milotic.
'You won't win in a physical fight so let's use your special attacks and keep our distance.' Daikon said to Dratini through their connection. Dratini agreed and attacked first, sending Dragon Rage at Milotic.
Milotic calmly responded with an Water Pulse, cancelling the attack but was surprised to find that Dratini had sent a Dragon Breath quickly after. Though she was startled, she still stayed calm and used her tail that glowed to swat away the attack.
'Dragon Tail?' Daikon was surprised.
"Use Dragon Dance and then Aqua Jet. We will need to get closer to inflict any real damage." Daikon said out loud, abandoning their original plan.
Milotic was too powerful to sit back and launch attacks at. They would need to get in close to have any chance at beating her.
After Dratini finished Dragon Dance, it used Aqua Jet and shot towards Milotic. Not perturbed by Dratini's attack, Milotic fins on her tail started to spin, creating a twister. The Twister attack stopped Dratini in his tracks and cancelled his Aqua Jet, sending him flying back towards Daikon.
Daikon sighed and shook his head, Milotic was just too powerful to face at the moment. He recalled Dratini and thanked Milotic for her time, giving her a treat. Eating the treat, Milotic gave a happy cry before jumping back into the water.
Daikon took his pokemon around the valley and challenged different pokemon to battles. He lost almost all of them, causing his pokemon to feel depressed. They had become much stronger in the last couple of months but were still losing. What Daikon didn't tell them was that they were all still wearing a gravity bracelet, impeding their performances.
Gerald wanted this, he wanted them to battle at a handicap so when they finally do take off the bracelets they would feel as light as feathers. Same with Daikon, who sparred with Pangoro and Gerald wearing his bracelets. Though it seemed like an unfair advantage at the moment, it would be off in the long run.
Daikon continued to spar, cultivate and battle for the rest of the week. Whenever he thought he was getting the upper hand against Pangoro, the pokemon would knock Daikon down viciously, causing Gerald to laugh from the sidelines.
What shocked Daikon was that Gerald had told him that the next two days he and his pokemon were to relax and do whatever they wanted to.
"We aren't going to train?" Daikon asked confused. He knew that he a limited amount of time before he had to leave the valley and head back to Kanto.
"Your body needs to relax once in a while during training or else it will have negative effects. Plus if all you do is train, you and your pokemon's bond won't grow deeper. Enjoying life and enjoying each other makes that bond stronger." Gerald said as he rubbed his Tyrantrum's leg, causing the pokemon to let out a loving roar.
Daikon nodded his head, understanding.
The next two days Daikon went swimming with his pokemon. He also explored more of the valley, picking fruits and berries in the forest and feeding them to his pokemon. He also got a better understanding of his pokemon's personalities.
Togekiss was a mother figure that took care of the pokemon. Her and Espeon were kind of like the protective parents of the group. She was still tough though, once dangling Quilava above the lake when he gave her some attitude.
Vibrava was more restrained and like to be alone, only really opening up towards Daikon. He contributed this to Vibrava's past and hoped that in time he would bond with the other pokemon.
Since evolving, Typhlosion became arrogant and haughty. He even was a little bit of a bully but when it came to other pokemon bullying or insulting anyone on Daikon's team, he would be the first one to defend them.
Dratini was the lazy one of the group, always wanting to sleep and eat causing headaches for Daikon when training him. Dratini seemed to fear Gerald and listened to him without question.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone