4 Days of Drilling(1)

It was now evening on the transporter ship, which was named after the Unova League reigning Champion, Theodore was currently inside of his quarters with Khepri sleeping soundlessly on the end of the bed.

Theo himself was currently curled up on the rest of the bed going over the first day of his 'journey'. He thought it would be a simple affair before he even got his starter, but he definitely did not expect to get this strange ability gifted to him. He felt that the word 'gifted' was the wrong term for the ability. This ability he decided had been a part of him since birth, yet he hadn't known of it or even had sensed it until now.

Shaking his head, he continued to go over the unique ability that had presented to himself. Starting from the top, the ability seemingly allowed him to grasp the basics of [ POKESPEECH ]The basics mostly were the [ CONCEPTS ] themselves; [ CONCEPTS ] like [ Types ], [ The Swarm ], [ The Hive ], and [ The Leader ]. For individual species of pokemon there were nuances he would have to assume or guess.

Theodore could only be compared to the masters of understanding [ POKESPEECH ] like the Dragon Tamers of Blackthorn, the Dragon Clan of Hoenn and Unova, and Aura Users(Guardians?). The strange thing is that he was able to put these [ CONCEPTS ] into his own speech to give them meaning in [ POKESPEECH ]. From his own limited knowledge and previous research of his own region's Dragon Clan, Theodore understood that those who could [ POKESPEECH ] could only listen onto some of the [ CONCEPTS ] but not talk in it themselves.

Silently groaning to himself in the complexities of his ability, he wished that he could do more research on his new, special skill. Theodore decided that he would learn about it more by practicing his own understanding of [ POKESPEECH ] by looking into the small nuances of his own [ BUG ] [ TINY BEE ]. He felt that he could learn specifically what Khepri was saying which was an interesting nugget of information.

With that in mind, Theo felt comfortable enough to slowly drift off to sleep the rocking ship. The low waves crashing against the hull was soothing enough for him to be acceptable.

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Theo woke up to the sound of his alarm clock and his own pokemon's agitated buzzing. Moodily glaring at his pokemon to stay quiet, he turned off the alarm on his alarm clock and shifted out of bed while grabbing his backpack. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he attempted to follow what his pokemon was attempting to communicate with him.

> " The alarm! The noise! The agony! Why in the Arceus' damned name are we waking up at this hour! The sky isn't even up or even the sun itself." < [ Agony ] [ Tiredness ] [ Anger ] [ Agitation ]

Theodore frowning at his pokemon complaining, on what he could assume the time, before replying in a rather sluggish tone, "We are waking up so Arceus damned early because I'd rather be less moody in the morning when we finally make landfall in Johto." He yawned slightly as he rolled his neck and did some small stretches.

> " Haaah? That's your excuse for me? I need my beauty sleep, y'know!? It's not like we're going to be doing anything. . Right? I didn't set off a flag mother goes on and on about? Right!? Please no . ." < [ Exasperation ] [ Still Agitated ]

Raising his eyebrow at his starter's continued complaints in the form of buzzing and clicking, he spoke in a rather demanding tone with hints of [ The Leader ] subtly put against some words, "Still complaining? I do think I have a warm up training regiment." His face darkened in an evil manner as he continued, "Maybe it'll even include some [ Water ]."

Briefly eying his now shivering partner, he turned his face away from Khepri and smirked in satisfaction. He started to giggle evilly at the thoughts of the 'torture' he would put his partnert through. Khepri would survive it of course, but it would be one of the most mentally and physically draining regimens.

At Theodore's giggling, Khepri was buzzing and chittering in pure fear.

> " Please! Please no! Not water! I'll behave! I promise! I promise! You're not serious, right? Wait a moment- Hey! You ARE serious. Oh noo. . Wait-" < [ Pleading ] [ Fear ] [ Groaning ]

Tittering at his starter's dramatics, Theodore scooped up the adorable Combee in his arms and made his way up to the deck.

> "Let me go you heathen! I will not accept this! I will not accept thiiiiiisss! Oooh~ That's the spot."< [ Internal Screaming ]

At his [ BUG ]'s internal screaming, he scratched at the spots he knew that would get a good, positive reaction from Khepri. The [ Agitated ] and [ Fear ] in the buzzing soon turned into [ Satisfaction ] and [ Melting ]. Theodore was unsure what [ Melting ] was, but he could only assume it was something soon.

With Khepri snuggled into his arms like a Purrloin, he made it out of his quarters and onto the top deck where he could see the horizon turn into a multitude of colors. Taking in the sight while keeping his starter entertained, he breathed in the fresh, ocean air.

"Khepri. Today we are going to start doing drills." [ The Leader ] Catching Khepri's attention with his sudden outburst, he continued his explanation, "These drills will include testing your ability to keep up strenuous activities like flight endurance, dodging incoming projectiles or pokemon, and other battle related skills."

He sucked in a breath tasting the salty tinge of oceanic air, "Today we will be focusing on flight endurance while the ship remains still so you don't fly off the deck." [ The Leader ]. He finished as he stared directly at his partner's eyes with seriousness that she hadn't seen before today. His [ Determination ] and [ Strength of Will ] could not be ignored, but it could be contested if she so wished to.

Khepri clicked her [ AGREEMENT ] to her trainer. She knew that if she wanted to progress in [ STRENGTH ] and [ UNDERSTANDING ] like her previous [ Swarm Leader ] she needed to listen to her trainer. Smiling brilliantly at her answer, Theodore continued to carry her in his arms as he went onto the specifics of the drill,

"The basics of the drill is simple. I set up a beginning of a track and you have to move the dedicated end of said track. The part which most matters is that you have to push yourself. Meaning you move as fast as possible until you can't anymore." He paused, clearing his throat as it cracked near the end and continued, "I expect you to set the example to other [ Swarm Members ] or teammates. That means you have to always perform your best even if you don't want to. I encourage you to blow my expectations out of the water, understand?"

Khepri averted her many eyes from her trainer's unchanging stare. Sweat drops of nervousness started to form across her foreheads as she buzzed her [ UNSURENESS ]. Theo frowned at his unsure partner and breathed in,

"I need you to do this Khepri. How could THE Warmaiden Khepri not have the heart; Nay the determination to do something so. ." He paused trying to find the word, "So extraordinary? Something so amazing that many other pokemon don't have the bravery to do so. Do you not have the pride to do so? A Vespiquen would lead in example, so why not you?"

Khepri flickered her gaze at her trainer as she felt [ ACCEPTANCE ] welling deep inside of her. Giving a huff, she chittered her answer to her trainer as the last bits of [ UNWILLINGNESS ] leave her being.

Theodore smiled greatly at [ HIS ] [ KHEPRI ]'s answer. Licking his lips of the saltiness, he set up a small drill/track area on the deck with Combee still in his hands.

"That doesn't mean you aren't going to like it at first. It will be grueling at first like any training regimen. I, Theo!, shall enjoy your progress and . . pain." Snickering at his sweat dropping partner, he patted Khepri to start flying.

Khepri started to fly from her position in Theo's arms. A gleam of determination entered her eyes as she began to buzz excitedly. With a cry of determination, Khepri began the first drill of a lifetime of knowing the woes of training.

"Oh. I almost forgot to tell you that using [ FLYING ] energy is fine in small boosts. Got to start expanding your reserves." Khepri sweat dropped even harder at her trainer's [ FORGETFULNESS ].

Theodore continued to smile as he watched his starter try her hardest to push her limits. While he watched Khepri go through the same drill over and over again, he made notes on what she could improve on for the next time she did the drill. At first he noticed that she was attempting to 'push' herself with [ FLYING ] energy.

A smart move if one had the [ POWER ] in order to send thunderous gusts of wind at enemies, yet he could only note that Khepri did not have the [ RESERVES ] in order to pull something like that off. He could see her doing something like that in a few months but not now.

He narrowed his eyes in criticism as he watched. His eyes could see the slight differences of decreasing speed of wingbeats of his starter. He could haphazardly guess that in a good thirty minutes that Khepri would be exhausted.

With all of that in mind, he waited until Khepri was exhausted enough that she was dropping in speed considerably. Walking towards Khepri, Theo held his arms out to catch his starter. Catching his starter, Theo began to articulate his mental notes,

"While using [ FLYING ] type energy in a gust manner to push yourself is an interesting take on increasing your speed. Most other [ FLYING ] moves to increase your speed by filling said limb with [ FLYING ] energy." Theodore breathed in and licked his lips once more, "This, theoretically, should allow you to flap, or whatever other term should be used, faster. So instead of releasing your energy haphazardly to 'push' yourself. Instead allow the energy to consume your wings."

Khepri buzzed tiredly as she tried to [ UNDERSTAND ] what her trainer was poke-babbling about,

> "So- I should use [ FLYING ] energy in my wings to increase speed? Uh-huh." < [ Understanding? ]

Theodore nodded at Khepri's assessment or the general [ FEELING ] of [ CONCEPT ] of it anyways.

"Anywho. The other thing is that you should attempt to 'flap' your wings faster without the use of [ FLYING ] energy. This should stack upon your flying energy to make you move even faster. Pushing yourself like this allows one to build up the muscle needed and get up endurance at slower speeds."

Khepri continued to buzz exhaustedly and [ UNDERSTOOD ] what her trainer had just said,

> " So fly faster without [ FLYING ] energy? I can do that, yeah! " < [ UNDERSTOOD! ]

Theodore smiled at Khepri with a dangerous glint in his eyes. Pulling a box of oran berries, he peered down at his partner deviously,

"I know you are tired, so I made . . . Preparations. You shall be energized for that is Theo's Will! Kukukuku!~" And so the first morning of training truly began with Khepri's sorrowful cries filling the deck as Theodore force-fed her oran berries to get her energy up.