บท 68: The Great Mountain Race
As I woke with the beginnings of the rising sun shining right in my eyes, I found my throat feeling marginally better than I did yesterday. Thank you Joy.
But speaking of my little nurse, I also awoke with the usual warmth of May and Dawn's bare skin on either side of me, as well as a marginally smaller figure sound asleep on top of me. I didn't even need to see the pink hair to know it was Joy, which I found amusing since she'd slept in the other bed last night.
Normally I would try to slip out of bed without waking anyone up, so that I could get my workout in before they got up as well. But, things were a bit different after we encountered Mewtwo.
"Wakey wakey." I said to the two girls while also gently shaking them awake, making them stir after a moment or two.
"This is nice." Dawn said when she opened her eyes, and found me staring back at her. She then planted a tame kiss on my lips as a way to say good morning, right as May groaned on the other side of me.
"Nnn.... Ten more minutes." She groaned as she rolled over so that her back was facing me, and promptly tried to go back to sleep.
"Hm? Did we get a visitor last night?" Dawn asked as she noticed the lump laying on top of me.
"It appears so." I answered with a smirk, before gently poking her cheek.
"Joy."
"..."
"Joy."
"Mmm..."
"Good morning Joy."
"!!!"
Though groggy and unresponsive at first, the moment Joy registered what was going on she became wide awake, and her entire head turned bright red.
"Enjoy molesting me in my sleep again?" I asked with a smirk, making her even more embarrassed to the point where she leapt up suddenly.
That made me cock my brow questioningly, as all Joy had been wearing was a pair of panties. But even she didn't seem to be registering this as she instead became embarrassed about falling asleep on top of me.
"Kyaaaaaaa!" Joy cried out as se fled into the bathroom.
"So noisy..." May groaned as she covered her head with a pillow, trying to drown out the noise around her.
...
"That's it! Keep it up!" I shouted to my team as they all strained to complete the training regimen I gave them.
Unlike yesterday, where I mainly wanted to see what they were capable of and set them on certain courses, now all of my new Pokemon were participating in the same basic morning workout as the rest of my Pokemon.
I had Houndour and Poochyena running laps with Lucario's old weights on their ankles. Magikarp and Feebas were swimming laps in the channels around the arena, even as Sharpedo and her school lapped them several times. Even Zubat and my three Magnemite were straining as Happiny put her move Gravity to use for the first time.
Off to the side I could even spy May and Dawn training themselves, both of them learning how to fight from Lucario after their morning yoga sessions. I certainly was not perving on them in their skin-tight spats and sports bras. No sir.
I continued everyone's training session for a little bit longer, until an alarm chimed on my watch. According to it, I had ten more minutes until the professor reinstated my carry limit.
"Alright everyone! Gather up!" I cried out, alerting my Pokemon as they all approached me.
"Now then, in a few more minutes the professor will reinstate my carry limit, meaning I'll have to send almost all of you back to him."
The moment those words left my mouth there was an uproar of protest from my Pokemon, and none of them even knew the move.
"ENOUGH!" Lucario roared to silence them.
"Thank you Lucario." I said to him, before turning back to the rest of my Pokemon.
"As I was saying, though I plan to keep three certain Pokemon with me at all times, along with my Breeder Pokemon, I'll still have seven slots to rotate you all through as I need. While I plan to let Sharpedo take care of the training of her school, I'll still try to rotate you all as often as I can for training and to battle.
"That being said, please continue your training even while you're at the professor's. I've already gone over the basic idea of what I want from each of you, so continue working towards that goal unless I decide otherwise."
As I said that I looked over my Pokemon, who all looked back at me with fierce determination in their eyes. For the most part I had outlined specific moves and regimens I wanted them all to work on, like the swimming for Magikarp, but the main goal for those who were able to was to evolve once they got their strength back.
As everyone thought on what I specifically wanted from them now, I then started the other thing I needed to talk to them about before sending them back.
"Also, as I'm sure you all know by now, I'm going to be challenging the Cerulean city Gym Leader in six days." I told them, making everyone more alert as they looked at me.
"I thought that'd get your attention. Well all I wanted to say is that they're a water type Gym, and that at most I can use six Pokemon in the battle, three of which I've already decided on."
The tension amongst my Pokemon grew as I pointed over to one of the channels of water, and said,
"Sharpedo of course, since her jets and teeth would make her a formidable opponent for even other water type Pokemon, along with her Rough Skin."
"Sharrrrrr." Sharpedo growled while flashing a toothy grin.
"Second is going to be one of our newer additions, Parasect!"
As I said that I pointed at the small mountain amongst my Pokemon, who shuddered in anticipation as he groaned, "seeeeeeect..."
"And then finally, of course, is Lucario as our anchor in case everyone else is defeated." I said gesturing to my partner, who just smirked as if it were natural that I'd pick him. Well, technically it was.
"Tor! Exeggutor!"
"..."
Exeggutor and Grovyle both demanded an explanation from me in their own ways since I didn't name them, both irritated that I picked Parasect over them.
"It's because Parasect has the Dry Skin ability, which basically renders him completely immune to water type attacks, as well as being very powerful. I mean, the guy uses the move Seed Cannon instead of Bullet Seed for Mew's sake."
Though annoyed, neither Exeggutor nor Grovyle could protest my reasoning since they had helped in the battle against Parasect to begin with. But I wasn't finished yet.
"Besides, just because I didn't name you doesn't mean you're not going to get to participate."
As I said that I looked out over the rest of my team as I stated firmly, "there are still three more slots available when I challenge the Gym Leader, meaning any one of you can earn the right to it. You just have to prove yourself between now and then to do so."
Both Exeggutor and Grovyle calmed down at that since they were amongst my strongest Pokemon, and were both strong against water types on top of that. It was almost a given that I'd give them a chance at the Gym.
In the other hand, the last spot available would be fought over by all my new Pokemon instead, particularly Flaaffy, Turtwig, Tangela, or my three Magnemite since they were all either grass or electric types that were strong against water. But, I could also potentially use Lickitung or any of my three Magikarp if they managed to evolve before then.
"Just remember." I stated in a stern voice, drawing their gazes once more. "I don't mind you all being competitive with one another, but we are ALL on the same team at the end of the day. I don't want unnecessary issues just because some of you want to be better than the others. Ok?"
There was a collective nod and grunt of affirmation at my statement, which reassured me somewhat that my Pokemon might not get overly competitive with one another.
And with that another alarm went off from my Pokedex, indicating that I was over my carry limit and needed to send some Pokemon back to the professor. Which I did after returning them to their Pokeballs.
As I told them before, there were three Pokemon I planned to keep with me permanently unless something happens that I'll NEED to send them back for. Lucario of course, as my partner. Pidgeot, since he'd probably cause more problems than not if I tried to send him back to the professor. And then finally Charmeleon, as my official starter Pokemon.
Aside from them I also kept out Sneasel, Cranidos, Poochyena, Houndour, Zubat, Geodude, and Grovyle for the moment. That was the amazing thing about my Pokedex, I could always switch out my Pokemon on a moments notice as long as I had service.
Of course I still had all my breeder Pokemon with me, Miltank, Vespiquen, Happiny, and Tauros.
Looking out over everyone still present, I was about to announce what our next training was going to be when the doors opened, and Joy appeared yet again with a cart piled high with dishes.
"Who's ready for breakfast?" She cried out, before accidentally making eye contact with me and looking away bashfully.
I suppose we can wait until after breakfast.
...
"Take this!" Lucario roared as he delivered a punch at me, which was powerful enough that I heard a crunch from the tree he actually hit, despite him not using any moves or aura as he punched.
After avoiding the punch I continued making my way downhill through the mountainous forests outside Cerulean, where both Houndour and Poochyena appeared to cut me off.
"Pooch!"
"Dour!"
They both growled while flashing their teeth at me, only for me to leap high up over their heads so that I was out of their reach.
"Tauros!" I cried out, before my bull charged through the underbrush right at me.
Instead of trying to attack me like the others though, I grabbed onto his fur as he passed before I hit the ground, and swung myself up onto his back.
"Go!" I ordered as we continued our charge down the mountain.
Currently I had split my Pokemon up into two teams, one led by myself, and the other by Lucario. My goal was to reach the river at the base of this mountain within a certain time limit, while Lucario's was to try and stop me, or hold me back long enough that I failed.
On my side I had Tauros, Grovyle, Cranidos, and Zubat.
Lucario meanwhile had Houndour, Poochyena, Geodude, Sneasel, and Miltank.
Pidgeot was flying above us with Charmeleon as they acted as our referees, making sure the rules I laid down were being followed. The only real rule being a limit on the use of actual moves, with only a few being allowed by either side for specific reasons.
One such exception was Geodude with the move Rollout, which he was using now to come up behind Tauros and I at top speed.
"Keep steady Tauros!"
"Taur!"
Though he lowed in affirmation, it was still very unstable on his back as I hopped up so that I was crouching on him instead of sitting. I then turned around to face the incoming Geodude right as he hit a rock just right, and launched himself into the air while maintaining his Rollout.
I watched patiently as Geodude flew at me in what seemed like slow motion, before raising my fist as I channeled my aura.
I recalled what I had learned from Lucario when he was still a Riolu under Mt. Moon, how exactly I was supposed to channel my aura and swing my fist.
Rock Smash!
My first impacted the rotating Geodude with enough force that I was able to send him flying up and over us while disrupting his Rollout, confusing him greatly from the fact that I'd just used a Pokemon move to attack him.
"YES!" I cried out victoriously from succeeding in using Rock Smash, while I could also feel a brief flash of pride from Lucario before he focused once more on the matter at hand.
*Crash!*
I turned back towards the front just in time to see a tree fall right in front of Tauros and I, with Sneasel standing on it after she'd used her Cut attack to cut it down.
"Jump over them Tauros!" I ordered him.
"Taur!" He bellowed back as he did just that, making me cling to his fur for dear life as he sailed through the air over the tree and Sneasel.
"TAUROS!"
Tauros roared as he came back down to the ground on the other side, far more nimbly than I thought possible I might add.
I looked back to see that Sneasel had grabbed onto all three of Tauros' tails as we jumped over her, and was hanging onto them as she tried to climb up alongside me. Before she could though...
"SCREEEEEEEA!" Zubat Screeched as she suddenly flew out in front of Sneasel, startling her before a green figure appeared as Grovyle tackled her from the side. I watched as the duo disappeared into the bushes behind us, with Zubat going after them, before turning my attention back to the front.
"!!!"
I didn't have time to shout as Miltank appeared out of nowhere, planting both of her back hooves into the side of Tauros' face to send him tumbling head over heels as I flew off of his back uncontrollably.
My arms flailed as I tried to right myself midair, but before I was secure enough to create a stepping point with my aura...
"!!!"
I hit a branch.
All of the air in my body left it at that moment as I hit the thick branch with my stomach, knocking the wind out of me as I fell backwards to land on my back and butt on the ground beneath me. HARD.
For a moment I sat there, gaping like a fish out of water as I desperately tried to breathe.
When I could breathe again, I slowly got to my feet as I closed my eyes to try and focus my senses.
Lucario was watching and waiting, knowing that it wouldn't mean much if he took me down himself right now. That wasn't the purpose of this exercise.
Sneasel was still battling Grovyle, Miltank was preoccupied with Tauros, Geodude was using Rollout to move around the mountain as quickly as he could to find us, and I could sense Poochyena and Houndour coming up behind me as quick as they could.
As I was checking the area, the bushes beside me rustled as a blue and grey head popped out of them suddenly.
"Dos?"
"Hey Cranidos... Just catching my breath..." I told him before getting to my feet, right as I heard the sound of paws rapidly approaching us.
"Come on. Poochyena and Houndour are almost here."
"Cran!"
With a cry of affirmation, Cranidos and I took off down the hill as we hurried towards the river. Even as we ran though I could sense the two Pokemon behind us catching up.
It would be easy for me to channel my aura to make my body faster, but I didn't. I needed the training as well.
Soon Cranidos and I broke out from the tree line to find ourselves running towards the edge of a sharp and rocky slope. But there was also a dead tree growing at the edge of the slope, which I headed directly towards.
"Cranidos, Headbutt that tree!" I ordered him.
"Dos!"
With a cry, Cranidos put on a burst of speed as he shot right at the old tree, before ramming his head right into the base so that it made an awful groaning and cracking noise.
As Houndour and Poochyena started snapping at my heels threateningly, I put power to my legs and jumped as hard as I could without a full aura burst.
For a moment I was weightless as I flew through the air, before my feet slammed into the same tree trunk I'd had Cranidos hit.
*CRUNCH!*
Giving way after the hit it received earlier, the entire tree toppled over the ledge with me on it, before it began to slide down the rocky terrain.
"WOOHOO!" I cried out as I surfed down the mountain on the tree trunk, being careful to mind the rocks and few branches that were left.
"Pooch!"
"Hound!"
With a cry, both Poochyena and Houndour leapt down the slope after me, ignoring Cranidos as they did so. And right after them came a brown and rocky ball that was rapidly spinning as Geodude similarly followed me down the slope.
"Dos!" I heard Cranidos cry with indignation as I turned my attention back to the front, before the entire mountainside began to shift just ever so slightly.
"Oh fuck." I swore, before rocks began to roll and tumble down the mountain indiscriminately.
"Really Cranidos? NOW you learn Rock Slide?" I grumbled while grabbing onto a root that was sticking up beside me for support, and reaching for two of my Pokeballs.
"Houndour and Poochyena, return!"
The duo yelped defiantly as I returned them both to their Pokeballs, neither one wanting to be taken out of the game already. But this was just that, a game. And I wasn't going to let the two of them get hurt because of it.
Geodude and Cranidos meanwhile were fine for the moment, as both were rock types so they shouldn't take too much damage from getting hit by a couple of rocks.
That only left me.
I saw a large rock rolling down the hill as it came right at me, so I tightened my grip on the root and, hoping it wouldn't break, leaned back while pulling it with me.
Incredulously, the log I was riding did as I wanted and drifted slightly to the left, allowing the boulder to rumble right by me without incident.
"HA HA!" I laughed out loud as my insane plan worked, before I leaned forward to try and turn the log again to avoid a rock sticking up from the ground.
"I can't believe I'm ACTUALLY land surfing!" I exclaimed as I somehow managed to dodge moving boulders and any other obstacle that appeared in my way.
"That does look fun!" Declared Lucario as I sensed him above me.
I looked up to see a massive Boulder coming down right at me, only for Lucario to completely shatter it with a Meteo Mash. He then kicked off one of the fragments from the Boulder, and shot himself down towards me and the log.
"Wait-!" I cried before he landed, only to be launched into the air myself from the force.
I flipped head over heels while flying through the air uncontrollably, flailing my arms and legs all the while in an attempt to stabilize myself. And as I did so I noticed that I was starting to come down right over the river that was my goal.
So, instead of trying to stop myself, I tucked my arms and legs in with my head, and splashed down into the freezing river in a cannonball.
I felt the current trying to push me downstream relentlessly, but thankfully it was having a difficult time carrying me away with all of weights I was wearing. Unfortunately, those weights also made it a pain trying to surface for air.
Who'd have thought?
Thankfully the river wasn't too deep, as a pair of talons wrapped a round my arms that pulled me from the river before dropping me on the bank that was covered in rounded rocks.
"HAAA! Thank you Pidgeot." I told my bird gratefully after taking in a breath of air.
"Geo!" Pidgeot stated while saluting me with his wing, and Charmeleon leapt off of his back.
"Char?"
"Yeah, I'm ok." I told him reassuringly.
As we spoke the rest of my Pokemon joined as they crossed the river in one way or another, with Lucario carrying Geodude and Cranidos, while Tauros and Miltank simply swam across.
"Sorry..." Lucario said Mareepishly.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I needed to cool off anyways!" I told him even as Charmeleon waved his tail around me, rapidly drying my clothes with the multicolored flame at the end as steam rose up from them.
By the time that was done Grovyle joined us with Sneasel and Zubat, and I also let Houndour and Poochyena out of their Pokeballs.
"Alright everyone! First of all, good job!" I told them all, making everyone happy from my praise.
"The main point of this game was to encourage all of you to think outside the box in order to respond to certain or unexpected situations, as well as to work on certain skills without having to always rely on moves. Some of you did use them, but that was ok since they weren't in direct combat."
As I said that several of them shuffled in place bashfully, while others commented on their skills and such. Sneasel received numerous compliments for cutting the tree down, while there were some mixed reactions from Cranidos using Rock Slide.
After a minute or so I clapped my hands to get thee attention yet again, before saying, "alright then! Now as the winner, I believe it's me and Charmeleon next?"
"Char char!" Charmeleon happily growled, excited for his turn.
"Alright then. Ready? Water, fire, grass, SHOOT!"
With a cry I threw my hand out along with Charmeleon as we played this world's version of rock, paper, scissors.
"And again!" I cried as we both threw out fire.
"Again!"
"Again!"
"Again!"
"Partner."
"Again!" I cried after our sixth tie, before realizing Lucario was calling to me.
"What's up?"
"I hear something." He told me while looking into the woods away from the river.
I turned my attention in the direction he was looking while focusing my aura to my hearing, and realized he was right.
"Let's go check it out." I said.
"We'll go again later guys." I told the rest of my team before returning them to their Pokeballs, and taking off into the brush with Lucario while Pidgeot took flight.
As we tore through the brush I could hear whatever was making the noise growing louder, before realizing it was actually shouting. And as we got closer I could make out what they were yelling at one another.
"Punching is the superior martial art!"
"No! Kicking is!"
"Punching!"
"Kicking!"
"Punching!"
"Kicking!"
Lucario and I pushed aside one last group of branches to reveal an interesting scene, of two martial artists arguing alongside what appeared to be their Pokemon.
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