Chapter 75: Training
While they were headed to Violet City, Death was also in no great hurry, as their was lots of time left before the Silver League Tournament and Ash, Brock and Misty were quite slow and easy-going in their travels. The next morning, Death had led Valerie, Serena, and Mukuro all the way to the Heracross Forest, where Ash was supposed to catch his Heracross, and things were actually quite peaceful there.
Team Rocket was not around to chase the Pinsir across the river into the Heracross' territory, so he soon got another reward for 'foiling' Team Rocket, which ended up being a Sitrus Berry, which he'd seen a few times already, but at least it was rarer then another Everstone or an Oran Berry.
It was still useless to him but at least it felt a bit better to get something a tiny bit less common then Oran Berries and Everstones, though it was a purely in a manner where a bad gambler might be happy about breaking even for once.
While they camped out a few days until Ash and the gang could catch up with them, they trained their Pokémon and also trained themselves. After their down time for a month and a half training, Valerie became the first among the ladies that followed him from beyond Remnant to awaken her semblance, and it was an interesting one, allowing her to negate gravity's influence over her and screw around with friction for others.
As soon as Valerie discovered she could essentially swim through the air, and that in the future she might be able to outright fly, every other girl in his life became more determined to train and figure out their semblances.
Now that they were so motivated to physically train, their condition was increasing rapidly, with them becoming stronger, faster, and more agile, and easily surpassing the realm of ordinary humans.
Mukuro, of course, was the first to break through to superhuman levels, and was well ahead of the other girls, which made sense given that she started with a physique that was already at the absolute pinnacle of what a human could achieve. She had also started training seriously well before Valerie and Serena, so that was another factor for her dominance over the other two.
As such, Death had them training now with Valerie and Serena going against Mukuro as a team. Valerie, with her gravity manipulation semblance, could just about slow Mukuro down enough to let her and Serena pose a very slight challenge to her.
(ooc - Mukuro trained first, but did not train aura with the intent of discerning her semblance. She just focused towards passively enhancing her speed, agility, and strength with it)
Death was holding Zarya in his arms and was overseeing the training of the three ladies when another familiar trio appeared in the clearing with them. This was none other then Ash, Brock, and Misty.
Spotting Pikachu as well, Death took the opportunity to check his status,
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Pikachu
Type : Electric
Sex : Male
Potential : Bronze
Level : 101
Ability : Static, Lightning Rod, Surge Surfer
Moves : Thunderbolt, Agility, Quick Attack, Tackle, Slam, Discharge, Thunder, Electro Ball, Iron Tail, Draining Kiss, Swift, Detect, Grass Knot (97%), Light Screen, Dig, Thunder Punch, Electric Terrain, Calm Mind, and Uproar.
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'Is Ash a hacker?' Death couldn't help but think that. Pikachu was not a legendary or mythical Pokémon, so if his system was right then it should not have been possible for the little electric mouse to break through white potential and into the upper realms that began with Bronze.
Pikachu's level had only increased by 2 since they battled during the Indigo League, but the significance of leveling up from level 100 to level 101 was a major achievement, though Bronze potential was an even bigger deal since it meant that Pikachu could still level up even more.
This, Death could only conclude. was a protagonists cheat. Pikachu even had an ability that Death was not familiar with, so he quickly checked it out through his system.
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Surge Surfer : When the area is under the effects of Electric Terrain, Surge Surfer greatly increases the Speed of Pokémon with this Ability.
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"It looks like Pikachu is a lot stronger since the Indigo League." Death commented and grinned as he saw Misty holding on to Brock's ear so that he couldn't go after Mukuro.
"What are they doing?" Ash asked, impressed by the agility and skill of the three girls.
"While you went off to challenge the Orange League, I started training them in fighting. After all, why should only our Pokémon be competent in a pinch?" Death insisted.
"I didn't know people could move like that" Misty acknowledged "It seems superhuman."
Death just chuckled "Ash, your Pikachu has broken through the limits of it's species. It also gained new ability that I am unfamiliar with."
"You can tell?" Ash asked with genuine surprise.
"Level 101 and an ability called Surge Surfer, which greatly increases it's speed when within the area of an electric terrain effect. Which is also a move he mysteriously learned." Death explained. He withheld the knowledge of 'potential' levels since that was not widely known the way that regular levels were in this world.
"You can tell that at a glance?" Misty asked with surprise.
"Pika-piii?" Pikachu seemed to look confused as well.
Death chuckled "I can tell that Pikachu mastered nearly all of the Pokémon moves I shared with you, but hasn't completely mastered Grass Knot. It is 97% mastered, so still a bit of room for growth there." he wasn't going to clarify how he could tell, though.
Death looked back at Misty and saw her blushing when his gaze fell upon her again.
"Mana..." Zarya said while nuzzling with Death.
Misty only then noticed Zarya more clearly "A Manaphy?" she was genuinely surprised, having beforehand misidentified it as a similar-looking Phione.
"Indeed Misty. Her name is Zarya." Death verified.
Misty couldn't resist anymore and glanced at Brock "Behave yourself" she ordered before releasing his ear and jogging over to Death and Zarya "Oh my, you are so beautiful." she said to Zarya "Her color is a bit different then the ones I've seen pictures of, but still so precious."
"-Pheee?" Zarya tilted her head cutely as she regarded Misty, but did not leave Death's arms.
If he were watching an anime, Death knew that Misty would have hearts in her eyes. Even in the real world, the love an adoration she felt towards the little water-type Pokémon was still obvious, even if the pulsating hearts were absent from her eyes.
"My name is Misty. I love you little Zarya." she blurted without thinking.
Death chuckled and placed a hand on top of Misty's head and started patting it.
Misty froze up and slowly raised her eyes until she met Death's and became beat red with embarrassment.
Straining his ears, Death was able to hear Misty's heart begin beating rapidly. Originally Death wasn't planning to pursue a relationship with her, but since it was pretty clear that she was developing feelings for him, he had second thoughts and was developing a soft spot for the ginger tomboy. He had decided to hint to her about being receptive to her affection for now, but to not rush it or her.
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Hidden Quest Complete : For the love of head pats. A girl realizes she loves you because of head pats.
Reward : True Phoenix egg, Head Pat Skill Tree, +3 levels
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Death was amused by the notification. It had been clear to him for a while that she was in love with him, but it appeared that she had been in denial about it before this moment. He was a bit terrified about what a skill tree for Head Pats might entail, but decided that he should figure that out.
Looking in his inventory discretely, Death found that the 'True Phoenix Egg' looked like a gigantic and gorgeous ruby, similar in size to a wine cask, which was not something that he could just take out of his inventory in front of Ash and Brock.
After a quick examination of the egg, he looked at the the new skill tree, since Misty was still in a daze.
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Prince of Head Pats - Patting the heads of children encourages them to trust you and have a better impression of you.
King of Head Pats - Patting the heads of the opposite sex encourages them to trust you and have a better impression of you.
Emperor of Head Pats - Patting the heads of the opposite sex encourages them to love you and practically worship you.
God of Head Pats - Patting the heads of the anyone encourages them to worship you and can cause them to regard you as practically a god in their eyes.
Notice : Only works on those that are at least a little okay with the idea of having their head patted
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Emperor of Head Pats and God of Head Pats were just scary with those effects. Granted the effects shouldn't be instantaneous and would probably be applied gradually over time, but 'Prince of Head Pats' and 'King of Head Pats' seemed relatively okay, so he decided to spend two skill points to pick up those.
The effect on Misty was instantaneous. Her eyes closed and she seemed to go into a bit of a trance as the head pats continued. It appeared that there was a quantifiable difference in the quality of his Head Patting skills after he spent those two skill points.
Out of nowhere, Misty took the initiative to suddenly hug Death.
"Didn't you tell me to behave?" Brock asked Misty teasingly.
"Death is actually fine with me hugging him" Misty insisted, then looked down towards Zarya, who she had been careful not to squish while she went in to hug Death. Death, meanwhile, relocated his hand that her been giving Misty head pats and put it around her slender waist.
"Yep, I have no complaints" Death verified and chuckled before looking at Ash "So, you caught a Heracross?" he asked.
Ash nodded "I did." he smiled and called out his Heracross, which Death went ahead and scanned it.
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Heracross
Type : Bug/Fighting
Sex : Male
Potential : Purple
Level : 26
Ability : Swarm, Guts, and Moxie
Moves : Harden, Tackle, Endure, Aerial Ace, Slash and Night Slash
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"Nice. Lots of room for growth still, but good quality still." Death complimented Ash on the heracross, but inwardly mentally cursed his insane luck. Finding purple potential Pokémon in the wild just wasn't that easy without the protagonist halo that Ash seemed to enjoy. He was literally someone that had based his success on his protagonist luck in the anime, but in this world he was actually competent under Death's influence.
With Ash's insane luck and legitimate skill, he had a good chance of actually becoming a Pokémon Champion eventually, provided that he could find team that actually beat Death in a League Tournament.
Oh, Death had no intention of just letting him win. He would certainly make Ash earn it, but at the same time he wouldn't be surprised if it happened eventually.
With a bit of reluctance, Misty finally parted from the hug but remained beside Death "It's nice to finally see you again." she insisted, managing a smile.
While Death had an avatar following their group in the Orange Isles, he hadn't approached them, so from Misty's perspective she hadn't seen him since the Indigo League, and it was obvious that she had missed him. He guessed that is was true that absence made the heart grow fonder.
It was fascinating, though, that even in the absence of Team Rocket causing trouble, Ash still caught a Heracross. It seemed that fate still brought Ash to the Pokémon that were destined to be caught by him.
Death then invited the trio to stay for dinner and he started unpacking equipment to start working on it, and Death allowed Misty to assist him. Brock probably would have volunteered, but he could tell that Misty wanted to talk to him alone, so he had Ash come with him and give them a little room.
Death set Zarya down in a tiny prepared bed while they worked, and Misty kept glancing towards him while doing her best to slice up some potatoes.
"So what do you think of me?" Misty asked after finally building up the nerve to speak.
Death, who was preparing some salmon that he had made using the law of nihility, faced her way and smiled "Well, you are a beautiful woman, Misty, you have a good heart and I have grown extremely fond of you. I can tell that you've fallen in love with me, so I can only say that I'll accept you as you are if you will do the same. I have others that I love equally, and I'm not someone that can abandon those I love."
"I admit, the idea of sharing you is....difficult...but I am willing to give it a shot." Misty insisted, her cheeks puffed out cutely.
Death chuckled and reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul and by my shoulder protect thee."
Misty was surprised when Death started speaking the Aura Awakening incantation. She recognized it, of course, from the series RWBY, but she wasn't 'in the know' so she had no idea that the series she watched was an actual real world and that the incantation was legitimate until the aura around her activated.
"I suppose I should let you in on some of my secrets, then." Death commented to her, finding her shocked expression to be adorable.
The exhausted trio of Valerie, Serena, and Mukuro finally finished their afternoon training and approached to join in helping Death and Misty while Death started telling Misty about his past.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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stone