C024 - Creating a future ground type gym leader

Solosis was very excited during dinner. Pete blended out everything else for a while and widened his psychic link with the happy psychic pokemon to learn everything it wanted to share.

Apparently, with a few pointers from Exeggutor, Solosis had learned Teleport and used it for the first time today. The walk from pokecenter to the mansion of the Feelgoods was around 25 minutes, while the other way around was roughly 20 minutes because of the elevation.

With all her concentration, it took Solosis two teleports to appear at their camp at the forest edge. So it was very much the difference between night and day between her and the old Exeggutor, but knowing the move enabled Solosis to train it constantly and expand her reach.

And that wasn't all because Solosis had managed to learn Heal Pulse in a single lesson from the old Joy clan Blissey. Apparently, the Blissey was so pleased with Solosis aptitude and attitude that she taught Solosis in a similar fashion compared to a TM. She used the move non-stop at differing outputs while making Solosis feel how her psychic energy moved.

To show off, a tired Solosis even used the move twice on Growlithe. The little fire dog pokemon was still a little on edge but had warmed up to Rapidash and the two foal. Her tensed up form eased up a little when the Heal Pulse ran its course a second time.

Pete didn't know what to say. Learning two moves in such a short time wasn't unheard of, but Solosis was still very young, not even three weeks old. The gains she got from the Reflect TM must have been pretty big if Solosis used the momentum to learn two other psychic moves shortly after.

After praising his Solosis a few times, some of his other pokemon promised themselves they would train tonight to earn their rest.

"So you're moving on to Goldenrod tomorrow? What time?" Isabelle inquired at the end of dinner.

"I was thinking after lunch. I really want to experience the city before moving east and looking for a few Miltank for my farm. I looked up lodging, and I really want to experience the Luvdisc Seaside hotel there, so that's where I'll stay for the night. I booked two rooms earlier, one for me, one for the girls," Pete explained.

"Ohhh, I always wanted to stay there!" Sophie happily added.

"Isn't that a hotel for couples?" Jasmine shily mumbled with rosy cheeks.

"Well, it is a nice choice for couples. I think one of your siblings might have been conceived ther-"

"Herbert! No girls, it's mostly a hotel for those who enjoy a spa experience and a nice sea breeze. They even have a small private beach where they get the name from. It's a feeding ground for Luvdiscs," Isabelle explained as she reprimanded her husband.

"Yeah, I even ordered a massage for me and my pokemon. So put your hands and paws up if you want one tomorrow," Pete said, addressing all his pokemon. If they all wanted one, he'd likely have to pay quite the pretty penny despite the small stature of some of his pokemon.

A while later, Pete was moving through the forest with all his pokemon except for Growlithe and Zorua, who had volunteered to keep the wounded pokemon company. Jasmine had asked to come along with her Onix, so their group was much more noticeable than the last two nights.

Pete had already explained his plan with the Scarlet Moss, so Jasmine helped pry some of it off the trees during their trip. Handling plants wasn't new to the future gym leader. She even brought along her own bag of holding to help out Pete.

They didn't come across a gruesome sight like last night this time. However, they didn't leave the forest without a fight. A group of three Forretress took offense to Onix crossing their territory, which resulted in a bunch of Pineco launching themselves off their trees at the group with what looked to be either Rapid Spin or Rollout, it was hard to make out in the dark.

The Forretress seemed to have missed the Rapidash, however, and seemed to have thought themselves invincible with their sky-high defense. A folly they paid dearly for, as a Flash Fire empored towering unicorn made quick work of them with a few well placed Fire Spin, followed by what looked to be Fire Blasts. Pete had taught the TM to Rapidash and Ponyta two days ago.

You needed to space out the teaching of TMs, but the older the pokemon, the shorter the time you would need to wait. Rapidash had digested the move Hyper Beam relatively fast, so Pete taught her another TM shortly after. And, with her experience with fire type energy, Rapidash learned the move very fast.

Pineco, once interrupted in their spin, were very immobile pokemon. So that was what Solosis did all fight. She used cleverly placed rocks to disrupt their movement or even crash into other Pineco. Like a strategist, Solosis had a great grasp over the fight where, for the first time, Pete and his group were truly outnumbered.

It didn't matter much, though. Rapidash's fire moves made quick work of every Pineco who made the mistake of standing still a little ways away from flammable trees. Jasmine's Onix had a typing advantage as well and peppered the Pineco not only with Stealth Rocks and Rock Throw. It also swatted rolling Pinecos away with Iron Tail.

The biggest surprise in this fight to Pete however weren't even the two Minccino who had somehow both learned Double Hit and used their amazing teamwork with Helping Hand to inflict a lot of damage. No, Pete's biggest surprise was his three new militant duck pokemon.

The three Farfetch'd ran the Pinecos through like agile tanks. They actually were using the spring onions he had handed them earlier as swords and apparently coated them in flying type energy. He had never seen the move in this life, but Pete was sure this was some form of vegetable-sword-Air Cutter variant.

Two Farfetch'd clearly glowed pink, too, and moved faster than the male one who didn't seem to know the move. Suggesting they knew Agility and had a talent for psychic type energy.

"Alright, good job, everyone! Don't beat them while their down. Let's retreat from here. Blitzle, Minccino, I know you two got a little hurt. Please let Solosis use Heal Pulse on you, and if you're still uncomfortable, let me know. I'll help you as best I can," Pete said as he prepared an after battle report while retreating, giving his pokemon pointers on what they could improve on.

Jasmine to the side looked on with stars in her eyes. She, too, wanted to tell her pokemon how they could have done better, but Pete seemed to have some unique insights on battling strategy that she had never thought off. Also, Jasmine now wanted to quickly catch and train more pokemon because she was mesmerized by the way Pete's pokemon fought together.

Her Corsola barely had any presence in the fight, and Onix and the water/rock pokemon had no synergy in their battle.

"Hey Pete, what pokemon do you think would suit my team most? If I wanted to bolster my ranks?" Jasmine asked a few minutes away from the mansion.

Pete thought about Jasmine's future as an expert steel type gym leader, which was not yet in her stars. But he could ask if she would want to consider it at least.

"You're planning to become a rock-type gym leader in Olivine City, right?"

"Yep! A little over two months until Roger steps down and holds the selection," Jasmine answered immediately with fire in her eyes. How she was so excited when it was so far away really made Pete wonder. But it would take a while for her to train new pokemon, too.

"Well, have you considered what happens when your Onix evolves? His body is already plenty rounded out, and his little cave in the garden has ore deposits. You could get a few minerals that are known to help Onix evolve and even fasten the process. However, when Onix evolves, he will lose his rock typing. Sure, he'll still know plenty of rock type moves, but he won't be part of your planned theme," Pete questioned, which got Jasmine thinking.

"So... you're saying I should concentrate on steel or ground pokemon?"

"Well, you could just ignore it since Onix will still be a rock type powerhouse even without the typing as Steelix... but you know what? I'm just suggesting. If you can't decide, there's the Aron line in the neighboring region Hoenn that has steel/rock typing. In Sinnoh, you'll find Nosepass and Probopass with Probopass having rock/steel typing. Excadrill and the alolan Diglett line variant would share Steelix' typing," Pete patiently explained.

"So... I could become a steel or ground type gym leader, too... you did tell me about some very powerful ground type pokemon earlier. Including the third evolution stage of Rhyhorn that I have never heard off before. And who could forget the ancient evolution of Piloswine. I'll need to think this through, but I think you made me want to become a ground type gym leader," Jasmine said with a pondering expression.

Pete heard Jasmine's thoughts on the matter and inwardly chuckled. Jasmine's decision to change to a steel-type gym seemed to have been a spur of the moment decision, and she was plenty strong as a trainer.

But if a short talk about evolutions could change her opinion, it looked like Jasmine wouldn't have minded either way.

"In that case, Gligar and its evolved form Gliscor are powerful choices for a gym leader. The Rhyhorn line is obviously very powerful, too. I mean, I was really lucky with finding the Trapinch egg, but its line, while rare, is very powerful if you find a counter to the ice type energy. Maybe through doubles fight when paired with a Camerupt? Maybe you could even find some amazing synergy having a Nidoqueen fight with a Nidoking as her doubles partner. Donphan with a Golem as a doubles partner also sounds very scary. The unstoppable Rollout combo."

Jasmine's eyes began to shine more and more with every sentence Pete added. A future with her as an unrivaled ground type gym leader and Elite Four member seemed to take form in her mind... with Pete supporting her from the shadows, she noticed with rosy cheeks.