7 It's Raining Training...

Asmond knew that the Draconids were very cautious when going outside the cave and he knew that caution was warranted but at the same time he also knew that the area immediately surrounding the Meteor Falls was actually safer than outside that area. The Draconids had powerful Dragon Type Pokemon at their disposal thus that mountain and the area around it was their territory.

     Many Pokemon were territorial in nature and would naturally establish their own domains of resources that they would draw from. The stronger a Pokemon was the more territory it would be able to defend. Weaker Pokemon would naturally avoid the territories of their stronger adversaries, invade and conquer territories of their weaker adversaries, and assess the territories of adversaries with similar strength to determine if they were vulnerable.

     This wasn't a rule of the Pokemon world, as some Pokemon weren't territorial in the least and, some who were, didn't always start out that way. It was simply a very stable way of life that offered more consistency than just wandering around all of the time.

     This, of course, led to a situation where the area surrounding Meteor Falls was usually devoid of any strong or evolved Pokemon. The further he traveled away from the Meteor Falls the more dangerous it would become. 

     However, the moment he heard his Father tell him of the elders order that they would hunt down his family, if they helped him, he knew that staying close to this place would be courting death, not from the Pokemon but from those damned Draconids. They probably set this whole thing up and planned to kill me the moment my parents are safely back inside the Falls.

     'During that elder's entire speech he never once said that people from the village couldn't hunt me down nor did he say that there would be any consequences for killing me outside of their territory. He only said that if I was inside of it they would have to. Yes, I suspect that the longer I stay here the more likely I am to run into those Draco-nincompoops with a thirst for my blood.'

     With these thoughts in mind, he arrived at the place where his poke-acquaintances were gathered and addressed them in person for the first time.

     "Well, even though it isn't under the most ideal circumstances, I'm glad I'm finally able to see you all in person and I'm certain I'll be able to train you all more effectively, without having to wait days or weeks in between check ups on your progress. Speaking of progress, are you guys satisfied with the progress you've made with my training methods?" Asmond asked them, before hearing Torchic sounding off. "Torchic"

     Espiria translates Torchic's meaning for Asmond. *He says that he has increased his speed, strength, and fire potency further and faster, under the year and a half of your instruction, than he had the previous five years. He's very happy with his progress and hopes you will teach him more. Eevee, Seedot, and Happiny are agreeing with Torchic and wish to join your team.*

     Asmond decided to speak directly into their minds so that they would understand that he has his own abilities. *I'm glad you are all eager to join me and I'm more than happy to share with you my ideas for your future training. At the moment, however, It's not safe for me to be in this area and we need to get closer to the beach. 

     *Somewhere close to the forest's edge we'll scout out a suitable area and build ourselves a base of operations here in Forina. We'll stay and train here for maybe a year, before seeing if we can make our way into the jungles to the east and set up another base there. We'll need multiple safe spaces for us to fall back to, if we're going to survive potential threats from territorial Pokemon and human trainers. If you guys are ready to go, let me know and we'll head out.*

     They all sounded off, letting him know that they were ready, and so they organized themselves according to Asmond's instructions and set off towards the forest's edge in the south. With Espiria asleep on the back of his neck and Happiny asleep on his backpack, he trudged through the forest with Torchic twenty meters ahead of him and to his right and Seedot the same distance on his left. Eevee trailed behind him at the same twenty meters.

     With a wide spread, they were able to detect threats early and, with Eevee occasionally climbing a tree for the birds eye view, they were able to avoid most of the dangerous territories they came across. 

     They hadn't really met any Pokemon that were willing to stand against the strange sight of their procession but that was mostly due to their location and Asmond suspected that tomorrow's trek would be much more dangerous. 

     Waking up Espiria and Happiny, he and all of his Pokemon spread out to find a suitable campsite, before it got too dark to see. Once they settled on a location they thought would be the safest, Espiria and Happiny were set to patrolling the perimeter of the campsite, while Asmond trained with the others.

     "So, Torchic, I'm assuming Espiria told you about pushing your flame to its absolute limit every day and as often as you can to increase its potency?"

     "Torchic"

     "Well, before you start to produce your flame, I want you to think about what fire is and how it works. Do you see the campfire now, how the wood on the bottom isn't burnt yet and the part that's on fire is reddish orange? The fire itself is intangible. You can't grasp it. Then the smoke rising up is black and grey like the ashes and the wood that's already been burnt. 

     "From this we can see that fire deconstructs whatever it touches into its smallest parts and then those tiny parts, having very little weight are then easily blown about by the wind. The hot air rises and the cold air sinks and so once the fire burns the solid into air it wafts upwards. 

     "On top of your regular training, I want you to focus all of your efforts on trying to amplify the attributes of your fire, using a technique called Mental Visualization. 

     "Form an image of your flames in your mind and make it spread quickly, make it breakdown its target into air more vigorously, and make it take in the surrounding air to fuel itself, since we know that most fire can't exist without air. Take all of the knowledge you have about fire and cause those mental images to reflect that knowledge. 

     "Doing this should help you do the same thing more proficiently, whenever you attempt it with your real flames. Do these things and also try to control your flames direction. Try to control its shape and whether it's a fast, long, or thick stream of flame. 

     "If you train in all of these areas, you should see even more improvements. As for your physical training, you obviously need to keep that up as well, especially in regards to your stamina. Stamina will be even more critical now that we're on the move. Do you understand everything, Torchic?"

     Torchic wrapped his little arms around Asmond's leg and gave it a squeeze, before saying, "Torchic!" and walked off to a safe distance so he could train.

     "Now, Seedot, I'm certain Espiria told you something similar to Torchic in regards to pushing your abilities to the limit?"

     "Seedot"

     "Good, in that case, you also need to focus on understanding your powers in order to increase them. You should consider everything you know about plant life in general and try to incorporate that into your abilities to increase their potency and versatility.

     "Consider that plants feed off of sunlight and despite not having lungs they also need air to live. They are green because of a certain element in their bodies that transforms sunlight into energy. That element is called Chlorophyll and if you focus on increasing the efficiency of your own Chlorophyll I believe this will help you generate your powers more easily and may even increase their potency. Also, as I told Torchic, stamina will be even more important to us now that we are on the move so don't neglect that aspect of your training. Do you understand everything?"

     "Seedot" Seedot said, as he used the movement method Espiria had relayed to him, whereby he manipulates his center of gravity to roll around assisted by his nearly useless feet, and went a safe distance away to train.

     In this world, having an unfortunate biological makeup like Seedot's feet with no legs basically made one a sitting Farfetched. 'While his later evolutions will afford him greater mobility, without rolling around like this he would be completely vulnerable to most any attack that came his way. Not to mention that, even if he had to readjust after his evolution, increasing his control over his center of gravity should help to make his movements more refined in the long run.'

     Asmond couldn't help but chuckle a bit watching him roll away, it was quite the sight, although it was necessary to make him strong. He then walked over to Eevee and sat down in front of her.

     "So how has your training been going Eevee? I assume you've been practicing all of your normal moves the way that Espiria told you?"

     "Eevee"

     "Good, good, because even though you don't currently have any elemental power it's important that you train those abilities up so that they're not just rusty tools whenever you need to use them. Once you evolve, you'll be spending most of your time on increasing the potency of your element, so now is the time to use those abilities to build a strong foundation.

     "With that being said, we need to get you evolved as soon as possible. After witnessing Espiria's unique birth, I have an idea about how to purposefully evolve you into a Jolteon. However, this method of mine will probably be quite painful for you and, if you're not willing to go through with it, then we won't do it. Also, you should know that this may take several months or even a year or longer. 

     "As of now, this method is pure speculation on my part but am very confident that it will work. It basically involves using my power to generate an electrical current and applying it to your body. It won't be anything that could fatally injure you but, like I said, it will probably be painful. So would you like to give it a shot?"

     Eevee looked apprehensive for a moment and then turned to look at Torchic training at the edge of the camp. He then turned to look at Seedot training in another corner of the camp. After sitting there in contemplation for a moment, he looked back up at Asmond and said "Eevee, Eevee, Eevee," while jumping up into Asmond's lap.

     Asmond smiled and then quickly banished that smile as he looked at Eevee. "Alright, brace yourself and let me know if it's too much for you to handle. We can stop anytime you want."

     Summoning his magic, Asmond petted Eevee's fur all along his back starting from his head. He then used his magic to cause sparks to be emitted from his palm as he continued to pet Eevee. Eevee let out a small whimper but quickly suppressed it and hardened himself against the pain.

     While Asmond was trying to coax Eevee's unstable genetics into evolution, Torchic and Seedot continued their own training for a couple of hours. Before they went to sleep, Asmond told them that tomorrow Torchic and Seedot should spend some time meditating on their elements and try to increase their understanding of them. He told Eevee to do similar meditations for his natural energy. After that quick little speech, everyone except Espiria and Happiny went eagerly to sleep.

     The following morning Espiria and Happiny woke everyone up and then started on their own training, while the others kept watch. Happiny had overheard much of what was said to the others the night before and so Asmond's advice for her was short and sweet. 

     He told her a bit about the nature of light and gave her the masochist's handbook on training healing abilities. This was basically injuring one's self repeatedly and then healing and then rinse, wash, and repeat. This would be a painful path, like Eevee's, but it was the fastest way to improve her abilities and so, after some hesitation, she agreed.

     Once Espiria and Happiny's training was completed, Espiria returned to Asmond's shoulders and Happiny returned to his backpack. The four Trekkers then set off to gain more ground on their journey to the beach.

     After walking for several miles, Torchic came running over to Asmond. "Tor, Torchic" He beckoned for Asmond to follow him. "Torchic," he said in a much softer voice.

     Asmond assumed this meant he should stay quiet. He followed Torchic, as he crept stealthily along for about thirty meters. Torchic then gestured towards a small clearing where two Pokemon could be seen fighting against one another. 

     Asmond was initially confused, because the two Pokemon were Plusle and Minun. He knew that these two were supposed to be kind of like partners or friends. It's odd to see them fighting each other, unless of course, they're training. That would make sense of them fighting but why would they be training out in the open like this? It really isn't a smart move and could easily get them killed.

     There was a reason why wild Pokemon would rarely ever be seen training. It was because, in order to be effective, it required focus and to expend precious energy. Most of the time, when you're focused on your training, you typically aren't focused on your surroundings. This was especially true in a fight and many hungry Pokemon would hope for the chance to come across some other Pokemon fighting, so that they could swoop in and take advantage of the weakened victor, thus claiming two meals with one battle.

     As much as Asmond adored those cute little electric Pokemon he already had five that needed feeding, training, and attention. He wasn't about to burden himself with these two but he was about to teach his team a lesson. One that most of them probably already knew but could use reinforcing and one he knew Espiria needed more than the others.

     Asmond woke up a grumpy Espiria and Happiny and told them to watch what was about to happen, in the clearing. Asmond told Eevee that those two were his breakfast and that he should try and take out Plusle first.

     Asmond was hoping that eating Electric Type Pokemon would be another accelerating factor in Eevee's evolution. Like most of his knowledge about this world, he really couldn't be certain but, as long as it was a possibility, he wasn't going to let this opportunity slip.

     The location of the battle was well within the reach of Asmond's telepathy and so he could still give Eevee commands, while remaining hidden. He wanted Eevee to do this on his own but he wasn't about to take chances with his life either. 

     He had all of his Pokemon on high alert. Espiria and Happiny were watching the fight ready to intervene if things started looking bad for Eevee. Torchic and Seedot were keeping a lookout to make sure they didn't end up tasting their own Pokemedicine.