EPISODE 21: Decision and Abandonment!*

Words! Mere words! How terrible they were! How clear, and vivid and cruel! One could not escape from them. And yet what subtle magic there was in them! They seemed to be able to give a plastic form to formless things, and to have a music of their own as sweet as that of viola or of lute.

How dare Saturn insult my Shelgon with all his "opinions" about how feeble and brittle she is. His words are a mockery to Shelgon. Though one can agree with him, I do not. Pokemon are good in their own ways, each has their own capabilities and weaknesses for what is a Pokemon when not a single weakness ravels in its power?

Shelgon's weakness is her stamina; thus her capability to dodge a move and to launch an attack is crippled. Am I to give up on her? Well, I cannot always rely on my mere "talent" when it comes to slaughtering my foes. For once, I want to depend on my true capabilities as a real Elite Operative who knows how to fight greatly. Indeed, I was not born with the blood of a trainer but Cliff said, I can have the skills of one.

Though one can get mad and force me to be who I am and stick to killing and relying on my inhumane nature of being ruthless at times, I also want my Pokemon to learn, to flourish and not merely learn the ways of a serial killer. They barely learn any new moves. Some may call that reason unreasonable, well I can't blame them, they treat know Pokemon as monsters only like Saturn.

I just don't understand how the physics work, unlike Logan who clearly memorizes all formulas and equations. Using a tail as a ground wire? Using a fist to cause an earthquake? Some of those are quite hard to understand despite all my time exerting effort on learning those kinds of techniques.

Now in my room when midnight came, I sat upon my bed, thinking of what to do next. Despite the title, I'm not going to abandon my Shelgon as proposed by Saturn. I see her from a different angle. Then, the idea came up. The only way to learn is through training. Violinists train forty-hours a day, and maybe doing so will help me but of course, it's midnight, I'm only going to try to spend one more hour.

And so, while everyone was sleeping in their beds, I escaped our headquarters and went to the city. The doors of the buildings and houses were locked. The people were asleep and most Pokemon were resting, the perfect time to train Shelgon in one of the alleyways.

"Shelgon, you can do this, run!" The time is the tenth of midnight and in a particular alleyway at the west of the city, I instructed Shelgon to run from one end to another. The gyms intended for training are currently close so I guess that means I have to improvise instead.

<Shel! Shel!>Shelgon ran as fast as she could but she wasn't halfway and she was already tired. According to my Rotom-phone, Shelgon runs for ten meters per hour which is lower than satisfactory.

"We're not giving up, run again!" I instructed. A little bit of force would probably make her determined to stand but it only made her confidence reduce. After standing, she ran again, falling on her feet once more and her rate only got lower.

"Shelgon, I believe in you. I know you can run faster than this!" I encouraged, lowering my tone a bit as I petted her. She gave me a smile and stood up, there I learned it was better to encourage rather than force Pokemon to work. She tried to run again, for the third time and yet the results were always the same if not, her speed would sometimes reach eight and nine or eleven and twelve.

I can see how tired she looks by her eyes but the fiery passion was still lingering inside her. She forced herself, I didn't even encourage her anymore. Her legs were already sore and I believe it was time to call it a day.

"Let's rest for now," I uttered with a smile, trying to lift her up when suddenly she tackled me to the ground.

<Shel! Shel!> Shelgon yelled.

"What do you mean you still want to train? It's almost one in the morning!"

<Shelgon! Shelgon!>

"You want to prove Saturn wrong? If you're determined, then let's go for it!" her passion for training also made me determined to train with her. We both stood up from the ground. She ran, tried eight times in a row without resting even if I encouraged her to do so, she can drop dead any minute now, and that makes me worried.

"Shelgon, that's enough. You need to rest." I now forced her to stop but she wouldn't listen.

"At least drink some water, I brought a tumbler with me!" I told her again yet again she ignored me.

She persistently ran but it was doing not much of a thing. Her stamina won't increase and that will gravely affect her performance. I needed to something and when she ran for another round, I grabbed her quickly despite how heavy she was.

"You're scared aren't you? You keep on training, trying to impress me only so you can show how powerful you are? Are you frightened that I might abandon you? Leave you here in the alleyways of Snowpoint to suffer from the snow?" I looked into her eyes, snuggling her fervently.

<Shelgon> Shelgon nodded her body.

"Well then, if you want to continue, then at least drink water. Your dehydrated and your shell? Is that what you call it? Hmm, perhaps. Your shell is getting pale."

<Shelgon! Shel!>Shelgon agreed. We sat down for a moment and rested together. We were staring at the bounty of the night sky, the stars. While doing so, I thought of a way to increase her speed. Well come to think of it, I have some medications and vitamins that will help her but they don't seem to increase the stamina that much.

"So, should we train again?" I asked Shelgon but apparently, she has fallen asleep on my lap. I gave her a pat in the hat and sent her back to her Pokeball. I was planning to return but then I heard a noise coming towards the alley I'm in. One had a masculine voice, the other had a feminine. They seemed to be talking about what they did the whole day. There was laughing and chuckling, perhaps it was a young couple who came to visit.

I immediately stood up from the ground and alerted myself.