章節 9: Self Training

In terms of auras, everyone had one, regardless of the individual, and even most pokemon possessed some sort of field around them that. However, only those with a substantial amount of psychic ability or semblance thereof could see the aura field that surrounded the common masses. The color of the aura represented moods/emotions while the size of it indicated the persons latent ability to tap into their psychic powers.

For the most part, everyone Caitlin had come into contact with had had small to medium sized auras with a few exceptions scattered around. Those with larger then normal auras were almost always either top class trainers with connections to pokemon and able to utilize something akin to psychic ability such as connecting with others on an emotional level or they were psychic users with varying degrees of power and had access to the "mind realm", the place where other psychic users would meet up and chat in their dreams.

In all of her travels, the young 18 year old had never met someone with an aura as large as herself. She was already an anomaly, someone with abundant access to powers people could only dream of having, and she could connect with her own pokemon on a level that others couldn't even fathom.

At the mere age of 5 years old, she had already unlocked her psychic abilities such as telekinesis and gazing at the auras of others, something only most adult psychics could do. Her powers were so extreme that whenever she felt angry and threw a tantrum, most inanimate objects would get blasted, shattered, or destroyed. She could hurt people without difficulty either intentionally or unintentionally, having little to no control over her abilities.

Aside from the obvious downsides of such a strong psychic resonance, Caitlin excelled in forming connections with psychic type pokemon and could form strong bonds with them at the drop of a hat. With this, Caitlin became a trainer at the mere age of 7, to the point where she became an unrivalled force and taking over the Unova regions Battle Castle, becoming its rightful owner.

As a kid and owner of the castle, Caitlin was treated as a princess, served hand and foot by her butler and valet Darach. She was a spoiled, entitled brat who was easily angered when she didn't get her way, similar to an actual domineering princess. It was only after she hurt someone dear to her that she sought to change her ways and finally set out on a journey herself.

Travelling around the world for the next four years definitely helped her personality as she got control over her anger and learned to treat others with respect, albeit differing from person to person. Along the way she met so many friends and had her own adventures before finally returning home at the age of 15, much wiser and far more emotionally stable then when she had departed.

During her travels, when she had come into contact with group after group of people, she had taken notice of something. No one had the same overwhelming aura that she possessed, not a single one having the same degree of powers she had. From other viewpoints, she was already a freak, an oddity that stood out even by psychic standards. This was why she had not only felt both amazed and confused when she met Vex, but also why she had nearly crushed him when she first met the young man.

After talking with Arceus, something she could naturally do thanks to her overwhelmingly strong psychic powers, she had been on edge and a bit suspicious of everyone around her. One of the many reasons that she didn't take her newly gained knowledge to her fellow Elite Four members was because she wasn't sure who to trust. The god of pokemon had made it abundantly clear that the spies of Team Rocket had already seeped their way into the government, which included the Elite Four, a solid line of defense for any criminal organization. People she could've sworn she once knew now seemed like complete strangers as she followed Arceus's orders and flew down to the Kanto region to wait for the one who would supposedly change the destiny of everyone.

(("To think I almost killed the one guy who is meant to alter fate,")) Caitlin slowly opened her light blue eyes, the sunlight pouring from the treetops momentarily blinding her. (("I guess even after all this time I still don't have proper control over my emotions, do I Darach?"))

Before she had went to sleep last night, she had vowed to do her best in making the white haired youth into the best trainer he could be. If it was true that only he could change the horrific future that she had been shown then she would put as much effort as she could in making sure that the kid grew as fast as possible. A full scale war between Team Rocket and the rest of the world was arguably the worst fate that could ever happen.

As Caitlin lay there, her brilliant hues focused on the scenery above her, a faint yet sharp crackling sound filled the air. If it hadn't been as quiet as it was, there would've been almost no chance of her hearing it. At first she just passed it off as a passing pokemon and just went back to her own thoughts. At least until the buzzing sound filled her ears a dozen more times in the next few seconds, leading her to feel immensely irritated.

Unzipping her sleeping bag, Caitlin rose to her feet and took a quick look around. Vex's large bag was sitting near the center of camp, situated near the dead fire and positioned a few feet away from Brocks blanket with the owner nowhere in sight. Serena was the only one present, still asleep without a care in the world, unaffected by the noise or absence of the boys.

"Well great. I guess that means that noise is coming from them." Caitlin attempted to smooth out her fluffy blonde hair which was now all tangled up. Normally she would either bathe the moment she woke up or brush it, but with the disappearance of her soom to be student and Brock, she didn't have the time. "How irritating. They could've at least informed me that they were going somewhere."

Reaching into her sleeping bag, Caitlin pulled out a small belt with six small pokeballs attached to them, each one reflecting sunlight at various angles. Taking off the second to last one, Caitlin pressed the button once, enlarging the ball to original size before pressing the button once more, summoning the pokemon from inside. A Gothitelle, a humanoid psychic type pokemon, appeared before her, ready and waiting for orders with an expression of determination.

"Id like you to walk with me for bit Gothitelle," Caitlin said as she let out a yawn, briefly stretching her arms over her head. "I'm not sure if I'll need you just yet though."

Gothitelle nodded her head, her determined look still in place as she followed after Caitlin. The two of them left the clearing and began making their way towards the buzzing noise which, after walking a distance, was closely followed by splashing of water. This in tandem with the buzzing sound that could only be described as something akin to electricity led Caitlin to connect the dots.

(("The pokemon Vex threw out last night. Squirtle and Pikachu.")) Caitlin increased her pace, pushing branches and logs out of her way with her psychic powers. Her curiosity had reached its peak as she eventually pushed her way into another clearing that was smaller then the one she and the others had set up camp in.

It took her a few seconds but after glancing around, she still had absolutely no clue as to what was happening.

"Oh, so you finally woke up then Caitlin?" Brock asked as he stood off to the side wearing an overly large backpack. "How was your sleep?"

Caitlin glanced at the spiky haired young man before shifting her gaze back onto Vex. "Just fine. Now...can you please explain to me what the hell he's doing?"

"He's training. Although it may look odd, the theory he proposed was actually quite smart."

Caitlin merely shook her head as she watched Squirtle and Pikachu fire continuous shots at a tree while Vex stood off to the side, practically almost next to the tree itself. If even one of the shots were to miss even a little, he would be hit dead in the chest. However, even despite this risk, Vex looked as calm as ever as he observed each shot carefully, a yellow pencil in one hand and a small pocket notebook in the other. This went beyond odd and into the realm of insanity as even she herself wouldn't stand that close unless it was an actual pokemon battle.

"He's gonna get himself killed." Cailin muttered as she walked forward with Gothitelle. "What the hell is he thinking?!"

"He wanted to test out a theory of his as well as gather information," Brock responded, his tone dead serious. "He wanted to know the limits of each moveset that Pikachu and Squirtle currently know. He also wanted to know the average timespan each attack could last."

"Okay, thats pretty smart but what about standing near the attacks?!!"

"He wanted them to focus their aim ans figured the best way to do that was to force them to focus by raising the stakes. He's been hit by the water gun only once so it seems to be working. Though I dont agree with the method."

Caitlin didn't agree with it either, not even a little. The only reason Vex wasn't as injured as he should be was the fact that his pokemon were still rather weak, not having any taste for battle or any experience to speak of. They couldn't do much damage at such a low level so the risk of permanent damage was greatly reduced. However the risk of breaking bones and severe injuries still remained leaving Caitlin to question the youths sanity. It was one thing to do what he was doing and it was another to do it so calmly.

"How long has he been standing out here?" Caitlin asked as she slowly got over her initial shock. "Has he been training for a long time?"

"Well, I got here around four hours ago and we all fell asleep around eight hours ago according to my pocket watch. I'd say he's been out here for about six hours or so." Brock smiled a little as he watched Pikachu and Squirtle stop firing their attacks. "He has them take a break every thirty minutes and then works himself out while conversing with me about battle tactics and ways to improve as a trainer. He's quick to pick up on things and has great theories on how to get better despite never being taught anything. You sure he's a beginner?"

I'm beginning to wonder that myself," Caitlin muttered as Vex knelt down to converse with Pikachu and Squirtle. He seemed so happy during his talk that she almost didn't want to interrupt him, but she had some burning questions she wanted to ask.

As Caitlin walked forward, she noticed more details that she had missed previously. The dirt and bruises covering his naked upper torso, no doubt from the insane way he had trained, the dripping water and sweat dripping from his shaggy white hair, and the hidden muscles that only appeared whenever he made a pronounced movement. She took in everything as she stopped in front of him, eventually garnering his attention.

"Oh, you're finally awake Miss Sleepyhead." Vex gave her a small smile which looked goofy yet charming. He was definitely cute, but she wasn't into young.men who couldn't even put up a decent challenge in a pokemon battle. Perhaps if he had been older and more experienced-

(("The hell am I even thinking?")) Caitlin forced herself back onto the topic at hand. "I slept just fine. More importantly, how did YOU sleep?"

Vex looked away, clearly thinking about her question. "Maybe an hour or two? I'm not really sure as I couldn't sleep very well so I came out here to get started on some training. One thing lead to another and I ended up testing some theories I had."

"And what theories would those be?" Caitlin asked, her curiosity taking over.

"Knowing the limits and timespan of each moveset could increase the chances of victory in battle was my first one. Of course calling it a theory isn't really accurate." Vex laughed as he sat down on the grass, crossing his legs. "If I'm gonna change the future then I gotta be as ready as possible."

Caitlin tilted her head, her blue eyes gazing carefully at Vex's nearly overwhelming aura which was now showing a mixture of amber and blue, colors which was usually attributed to exhaustion and content. She still couldn't figure out this youth as she turned around and walked away.

"For now, follow me. I want to lay out the future plans to all of you." Caitlin reached out and tapped the pokeball against Gothitelle, summoning her back. "Thanks friend but I don't need you just yet."

She didn't bother to look behind her to see if Vex would follow because she knew he would come back to camp eventually.