Chapter 4: Training Begins

[General POV]

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Ok, now that we're done eating, let's get on with the training," Eli urged his Pokémon to get ready to train. They heeded their trainer's command. "Ok, we don't have a lot of equipment to work with, so we will be training your Innate Talent moves to expert rank. As you both have good potential, you can probably get them to expert rank in give or take 2 weeks. That's my estimation for Kubfu, at the very least. For you, Rookidee, I think you will enter the Expert rank with Drill Peck soon if you have trained before joining the team, so we will give it the priority over Tailwind until it does reach expert rank." Rookidee nodded as if to tell Eli that he had trained his moves.

"Ok, that's good. Kubfu, go and train Brick Break and Bulk Up, and then train with the Scroll of Waters." Kubfu nodded as he went away to a densely packed area with trees. As he finished using Bulk Up, he prepared a Brick Break and aimed at the tree. With a swift chop, the tree had a big dent in it, yet Kubfu looked dissatisfied. "Don't be dissatisfied, Kubfu. We still have a long way to go. After we really start getting in the zone, destroying a few trees won't be a problem. Just remain cool, calm, and collected at all times. It is the way of the water," Eli tried encouraging the downtrodden Kubfu. Kubfu nodded and with renewed vigor started training his moves again.

"I'll be back, okay Kubfu? I'm going to give some advice to Rookidee too." Kubfu nodded as Eli went in the direction Rookidee was in. "So, about the last battle, I'm very impressed by your use of momentum while using Drill Peck. I was thinking, what if you incorporated Tailwind into it too? Then you'd be a force to be reckoned with, and if you got Drill Peck to expert rank, then without your opponent knowing, you could just gain a bout of speed last second using Tailwind and surprise the enemy. What do you think?" Rookidee mulled over what his trainer had just said and he nodded and began to try it.

Just as Eli had said, the Drill Peck became stronger with the speed he got from Tailwind along with the momentum. "Good job, Rookidee. Now just get the general feeling of using the move in quick succession." Rookidee nodded as he flew up again and started preparing Tailwind. It did take time, time that he wouldn't have in a real battle. 'Hence why he needs to train it too, but from what he has said, it seems like he trained Drill Peck a lot rather than Tailwind. If my estimations are correct, he should get Drill Peck to expert by 3-4 days, but Tailwind might take around a week or more.'

Eli started observing the little avian, correcting the little mistakes he made, giving out some advice, trying to help him in general. In about half an hour, he felt like Rookidee had the basics down, so he made his way to check on Kubfu and left Rookidee to train on his own. As he arrived near where Kubfu was, he found him meditating with the scroll laid out in front of him. Eli just quietly observed him as Kubfu slowly opened his eyes and laid still.

From what he had extracted from the contents of the scroll, Kubfu's progression could be divided into 5 steps before evolution:

• The Body combining with the Mind

: The first level is kinetic awareness, learning to move the body through space with precision and control. As the movements are perfected, they can be directed by the mind at a very direct and pure level.

• The Mind combining with the Intent

: Here the form becomes an exercise of intent and will. Every movement has purpose and focus that stimulates one's inner strength mentally and physically.

• The Intent combining with the Spirit

: At this level, the practitioner combines their intent with spirit, and harnessing it as the force inside the movements and throughout the body.

• The Spirit combining with the Movements

: Here the practitioner's spirit begins to be truly expressed through the physical movements. Every different Kubfu flavors the teachings of the Scroll of Waters movements with their own spirit, and the form becomes an expression of their true self.

• The Movements combining with Emptiness

: When the movements combine with emptiness, there is no longer a separation between the practitioner and the present moment – the practitioner is in the moment where a duality of stimulus-response does not exist. One can relive the perfect natural state, and only then will the miracle of evolution happen in Kubfu.

As Kubfu slowly opened his eyes, he felt one in body and mind. Every action he took felt like it took no time at all. He started doing the Katas as instructed by the scroll. They were fluid, breathtakingly beautiful even. He felt like he was one with his body. Any move he made felt fluid, like the water flowing in rivers. He didn't need to rely on instinct anymore, for every action was controlled by his mind alone. As he was done, he heard slight clapping to his side.

There stood Eli, proudly clapping for the performance his little fighter had just put out. "Marvelous, Kubfu. You seem to have understood the first step. Now, be sure to train in it until you can enter that state by will." Kubfu nodded with pride. "Well then, continue on. I'll just be here to observe you." Kubfu, with a shout of agreement, started training again, but he didn't have as much luck as the first time and was getting more and more frustrated.

Eli had to intervene, and in a soft voice, he chided Kubfu. "Kubfu, this training is meant to take time. Don't be frustrated. The reason you could do it before was probably because you had entered a state of emotional equilibrium. Don't be overjoyed at success, nor be disheartened by failure. They are just states of mind. Continue to improve yourself."

Kubfu nodded, and for another 2 hours, he alternated between training his moves and practicing the Scroll of Waters Martial Arts. In that time, Eli went back to check on Rookidee as well, happy to see he had made progress as well in trying to incorporate tailwind into Drill Peck. "Rookidee, come here. We are going to find you and Kubfu some Pokémon to fight. Be careful, though. I do not have any Potions left." Rookidee chirped in agreement as he landed on Eli's shoulder. As they went to collect Kubfu, they found him training Brick Break, and the trees were decimated in the area. "Good work, Kubfu. You will get Brick Break down in no time. Now, come here. We are going to find some Pokémon for you two to spar with." Kubfu nodded as he walked to Eli's side.

"Ok, then let's head out," with a chirp and a shout of agreement from his Pokémon, Eli and his Pokémon entered deeper into the woods. There were many Pokémon in the woods, from Rattatas and Pidgeys to some commonly seen bugs like Caterpie and Weedle. While Eli didn't remember there being any other Pokémon than Pidgey and Rattata in Route 1 in the games, he was going on a path not in the map, so it was a given.

On the way deeper into the woods, they encountered a Mankey at a distance, which he scanned right away.

Pokémon: Mankey

Lvl: 15

Type: Fighting

Ability: Defiant (Hidden Ability)

Gender: Male

Potential: Deep Silver

Moves: Karate Chop, Leer, Focus Energy

(Innate Talent) Low Kick [E]

"He will be a strong adversary for my Pokémon. If they were fighting one on one, at least. But who said I'd let the fight alone?" Eli had a cunning plan in mind. "Rookidee, set up Tailwind. Kubfu, Bulk Up, then Focus Energy." Heeding his instructions, the Pokémon did as they were asked. "Now, Rookidee, stay in the air while Kubfu fights it in close range, and if you see an opening or on my shout, dive down with Drill Peck. Got it?" Both the Pokémon nodded as they got into position. "Now!" Eli shouted.

As soon as he gave the signal, Kubfu made a dash for the Mankey with Brick Break ready in hand. The Mankey was caught off guard but managed to find its footing and prepared a Low Kick. Although the Mankey started later than Kubfu because of his move being on the Expert rank, it finished faster and landed a powerful kick on Kubfu's side.

Although Mankey got a clean hit in, thanks to Kubfu using so many Bulk Ups, he took minimal damage and hit right back with Brick Break. While a 4 level gap was a huge one, it didn't stop Mankey from getting injured quite badly. As they prepared for another round of close quarters combat, Rookidee looked ready to dive in, but Eli signaled him to hold on, so the avian remained patient, looking at the fight with its sharp, blood-red eyes. While the two onlookers were observing, the Mankey and Kubfu were locked in close quarters combat, neither side willing to give an inch. While on paper, Mankey should have won with its overwhelming advantage, Kubfu, aided by his buffs as well as the Tailwind, could match up with the Mankey. While it looked like the fight wouldn't end anytime soon, Eli did notice Mankey had let its guard significantly down, and as soon as his Kubfu and Mankey tangled again in their fight, he gave Rookidee the go-ahead.

Rookidee, being ever the opportunist, dive-bombed the Mankey out of nowhere and landed a devastating Drill Peck, taking the Mankey down. Without wasting any time, he threw a Poké Ball at the now defeated Mankey. While he did not plan to use it, it doesn't mean he can't sell it for good money. "Good job, both of you," he praised his two Pokémon. As he scanned their stats.

Pokémon: Kubfu

Lvl: 13

Type: Fighting

Ability: Inner Focus

Gender: Male

Potential: Gold

Moves: Rock Smash, Leer, Endure, Focus Energy

(Innate Talent) Brick Break (Innate Talent) Bulk Up

Pokémon: Rookidee

Lvl: 12

Type: Flying

Ability: Keen Eye

Gender: Male

Potential: Shallow Gold

Moves: Peck, Leer, Power Trip, Hone Claws, Taunt

(Innate Talent) Drill Peck (Innate Talent) Tailwind

"Good work, Kubfu. For now, relax a bit. We still have some daylight left. We will make it out of these woods and make camp on the other side. Return to your Poké Ball for now." Kubfu, tired and battered, nodded as a flash of red light took him into his Poké Ball. "Now, let's get going, Rookidee. If you don't mind, could you fly above me to keep a lookout?" Rookidee nodded as he flapped his wings and took flight. After a 30-minute walk, Rookidee came back down to him. "What is it? Two chirps for Pokémon, one for human," he asked his little avian, who in turn chirped once to indicate human.

As they slowly approached a clearing in the woods, there he saw a boy with a Spearow wearing the classic youngster outfit. Out of curiosity, he scanned the Spearow and what he found disappointed him.

Pokémon: Spearow

Lvl: 14

Type: Normal Flying

Ability: Keen Eye

Gender: Male

Potential: Shallow Bronze

Moves: Growl, Leer, Assurance, Fury Attack

(Innate Talent) Peck

The Spearow had barely escaped the clutches of being a Normal rank Pokémon. Even so, it had a terrible Innate Talent move in Peck. He expected Rookidee and Kubfu to overtake the Spearow in one day of training in the wilderness. The youngster noticed Eli and shouted in a rude tone, "Hey! What are you doing looking at my Spearow like that? You ain't getting him!" To that, Eli just gave the kid a deadpan expression. 'Is this kid serious?' "What's with the look? You wanna fight? Let's go!" The Spearow squawked behind him, to which Rookidee just gave a menacing glare with his red eyes, making the bird shut up rather quickly.

Eli decided that maybe his Pokémon do need to experience real battles, no matter how dumb the opposition is, agreed as he commanded Rookidee to take the field. "My name is Tristan from Viridian City, and you are going down!" The kid shouted as Eli was close to blowing a fuse from how annoying the brat was acting. "Tailwind," ignoring the kid now identified as Tristan's obnoxious shouting, Eli instructed his Pokémon, wanting to get this farce over with. "Spearow, use Peck!" Tristan shouted, but in the time it took the Spearow to close the distance, Rookidee had already set up Tailwind and managed to dodge the Peck. "Grrrr, use le-" "Taunt" "er," mid-way through his command, Tristan was cut off by Eli as Rookidee finished Taunt faster. Spearow was unable to use its move. "Curse you! Fight like a man!" the now annoyed Tristan started shouting at Eli.

While Eli did what he had been doing since the start, completely ignoring the youngster, he instructed his Rookidee once more. "Hone claws, try to maintain your distance." Rookidee, heeding Eli's instructions, kept quite a considerable distance while buffing up using Hone Claws. "Spearow, Fury Attack, GO!" Spearow again lunged at Rookidee, who had just finished using Hone Claws, once again dodged effortlessly due to the Tailwind boosting his speed. "End this, Drill Peck," as Eli spoke with finality in his voice, Rookidee began starting a corkscrewing motion with his beak as a drill. Tristan's shouts for his Spearow to dodge drowned out by the squawks of pain let out by the bird.

"Good work, Rookidee," he praised his little avian, who preened at the praise. "You just got lucky! If you didn't run, my Spearow would have had you there," Tristan, after having healed his Pokémon, started whining. "Just shut up and pay me," Eli told Tristan with an annoyed tone, to which the kid grudgingly gave a wad of bills to Eli.

"Hope to never see you again, Tristan. Bye-bye," as he walked off, he decided to taunt Tristan a little. "Just you wait! If I see you at the Rookie tournament in Viridian City next week, you're toast!" Tristan shouted as he scurried off to god knows where.

Eli paid little heed to his threat as he made his way outside the forest. Kubfu, who had healed to a reasonable point, came out of his Poké Ball and resumed his journey on foot with the rest of the team. While on the way out of the woods, they encountered many Pokémon, some rare, some common, but one thing most of them shared was the lack of good potential. He did find some good Pokémon, though, which he caught to sell. He would have caught more, but with only 3 Poké Balls remaining, he decided to just use the others as sparring partners for his Pokémon.

Pokémon Eli caught:

• Shallow Silver Spinarak Lvl 12

• Silver Weedle Lvl 9 [Hidden ability Run Away so Sniper Beedril in the future]

• Deep Silver Mankey lvl 15 [Hidden ability Defiant + Low Kick on Expert Rank]

• Silver Rattata lvl 13

All in all, he not only did he 4 good Potential Pokémon in this excursion to sell for money, his Pokémon also leveled up quickly, most probably due to their high potential.

Pokémon: Kubfu

Lvl: 15

Type: Fighting

Ability: Inner Focus

Gender: Male

Potential: Gold

Moves: Rock Smash, Leer, Endure, Focus Energy, Aerial Ace

(Innate Talent) Brick Break (Innate Talent) Bulk Up

Pokémon: Rookidee

Lvl: 14

Type: Flying

Ability: Keen Eye

Gender: Male

Potential: Shallow Gold

Moves: Peck, Leer, Power Trip, Hone Claws, Taunt, Fury Attack

(Innate Talent) Drill Peck (Innate Talent) Tailwind

Both his Pokémon had leveled up a lot, and not only that, both of them had learned new moves. Kubfu learned Aerial Ace, while Rookidee learned Fury Attack. By the time they got out of the forest, night had started to fall, and all of them were exhausted. Nevertheless, Eli set up camp and prepared their food. Dinner was a peaceful affair. As Eli crashed into his sleeping bag in the tent, he did a recap of all that had happened today. 'While I am slowly making my way to Viridian, I might have to fasten my pace a bit, as I wish to train my Pokémon in body as well, not only in stats. Hmmm, maybe rather than in a week, I should get to Viridian in 2 days. Yes, that could work.' Before Eli started feeling sleepy, he also decided to make a mental note to check up on what the Rookie Tournament was that brat Tristan was talking about. With those last thoughts, he went to sleep, determined to accomplish more tomorrow.