CH31 (92), The Other Side

"Mommy, do you know what Mika told me just now?" Rose asked her mother. "No, honey I don't, but I'm sure you're going to tell me about." Her mother answered her. "Un, he said Mothra evolved, and that she looks cooler than other Butterfree too. Can we go to them, I want to see Mothra?" She asked.

"Oh, it's about time that happened, but sorry, honey. Your father and I are too busy at the moment for a visit. Maybe sometime next month." Her mother answered her, and she was a bit bummed out at that but still nodded.

"Okay, mom. Say, mommy, Mika keeps telling me about all the training he's doing with his Pokemon. Should I start training mine too?" She asked her mother, after shelving the idea of visiting Mikail. She had been simply playing around and relaxing with her Pokemon since she got them.

Yet, constantly hearing from Mikail about how he was training his Pokemon, how they were getting stronger, and how they were kicking the ass of older people, she got a bit curious and unsure if she should start training her Pokemon as well.

The most they had done was trying out a few moves of Princess. Ember had looked nice, like a little firework, but they had not done any training, which was why she asked her mother if she should train her Pokemon. "Oh, sweetheart, you don't have to do train your Pokemon yet or ever, if you don't want to." Her mother told her, and she tilted her head a bit, looking at her mother questioningly.

"Rose, honey. You're only starting secondary school after next year. You still have more than enough time to decide what you want to do in the future, or if you want to train your Pokemon." Her mother began, and she seriously listened to her.

"You only have to decide if you want a Pokemon-focused education or not at the end of secondary school, and even then you can still change your mind during the first year of tertiary school. Even if you want to do something with Pokemon in the future, that does not mean you need to become a strong trainer." Her mother said, and she was a bit puzzled.

"But aren't you and daddy trainers? Mika's parents too, and now Mika as well. I always thought I was going to become one too." Rose said confused as if she had been thinking that she would definitely become a trainer in the future as well. Her mother released a sigh after hearing her.

"Rose, you don't have to become a trainer just because your father and I are trainers. There are many other things you could become even if you decide to work with Pokemon. You could become a performer or an actor. Even if you decide to be a trainer, you could become a coordinator instead of a standard one. What I am trying to say is that you still have time to decide what you want to do and that you don't have to rush into things. Mikail is just a special case, a really special one." Her mother said.

Rose, who had listened to her mother attentively, thought for a bit before she said, "so, should I start to train Princess or the others or not?" Her mother rubbed her face and sighed. "If you want to we could slowly ease you into training. I am sure Tamamo and the others can help Princess and the other two with their moves and everything." She began, and Rose smiled at that.

"We will start easy and see how it goes from there, not like it could hurt no matter what you decide in the future. We just thought you would like to relax and play around for a while longer." Her mother finished, and Rose went up to her to hug her.

"Thank you, mommy." She said, and her mother just stroked her hair. After a while, her mother addressed her once more. "Since we decided to do this, we will visit the park every 2 days for 2 hours. We will do the same once your break is over, just after you come back from school." She said and Rose nodded.

Rose thanked her mother once more before she skipped to her room and rushed up to Princess. "Ne, Ne, Princess, you know what?" She asked excitedly. Vulpix only tilted her head at Rose's behavior. "We are going to start training with Tamamo and the others from now on. Isn't that great?" Rose said and Vulpix tipped in agreement.

She could already see herself becoming like the Ninetales in the future, unleashing firestorms while looking good doing it. Rose broke Princess out of her fantasy when she started talking about all the things they were going to do in the future.

".....and then you're going to release flames like *woosh*, and we will win. We're going to be awesome." Rose finished her description on how they were going to become super strong and be the best while looking great doing so.

After that Rose shifted her attention to Ivy and Boom to talk to them about their future awesome training as well. After Rose went to sleep that evening her parents talked about Rose's new wish to train her Pokemon.

"Well, as you've heard from her during dinner Rose wants to start training her Pokemon." Lily began while chuckling a bit remembering her daughter's enthusiastic explanation on how super strong they were going to get through that training.

Thorn had to laugh as well when she said that. "Yeah, I did. How come she suddenly wants to start training? Until now she was content with simply playing around with them." He asked before his face suddenly got shadowed. "Or is there someone that has bullied her, making her want to get stronger?" He inquired in a low tone.

Lily had to chuckle at her husband's behavior. "No, nothing like that. She had her weekly call with Mikail, and he told her how his Metapod had evolved." She explained, and Thorn quipped in. "About damn time. That thing was much stronger than any Metapod had the right to be. I was starting to think he was never going to let her evolve with how long he had been delaying it."

She giggled at his reaction. "Right? We were all starting to wonder when it's finally going to happen." Thorn looked was still a bit puzzled. "That shouldn't have been the reason for her sudden interest in training, right?" He asked, and Lily shook her head.

"Apparently, Mikail's constant tales of his Pokemon training have made her curious if she should start training as well." She began, and Thorn had an enlightened look on his face. "So it's still Mikail's fault." Lily indicated a so-so with her hands while replying to him.

"Not fully. Rose said since we are trainers, her best friend's parents are trainers, and now her best friend is also on the fast lane to become a trainer, she should obviously become one as well." She said while shaking her head at the logic of it.

"I naturally told her that she had way more options available, and talked a bit about them, but I ultimately decided that it would not hurt to ease them into training," Lily added, and Thorn nodded at that. "Well done, honey! You've made the right choice. No matter what she decides to do in the future, being strong can only help her, and since we are starting this early, she can take it as slow as she, we, want." He agreed with her.

"That's what I said as well," Lily told him. "I'm going to have Tamamo and Kojin train them, and I want to borrow Amp, mainly to help train Boom." She informed him, and it made sense. Having a Ninetales teach a Vulpix, a Flareon teach an Eevee, and an Exploud teach a Whismur, was the simplest way for them to do it.

"Good idea, darling." Thorn praised his wife. "I'll have Lu occasionally go with you. I'm sure there is much that he can do to help with the training," he added.

At the time Rose had been talking with her mother about her future training, Aaron had just ended his call with Mikail. "Hmm, interesting young guy that one. I felt some pure aura on him, and he seemed nice enough, even if he is a bit too curious. Still, I felt no ill-intent so that's okay." He mused to himself.

"Seeing that he keeps checking up on me, it seems he wants to become friends. That's good, I can keep an eye on him and see if I should recommend him to the folks at home if he really has some talent in aura." He thought out loud before he shook his head.

"Anyway, I've been here for a week already, and I haven't seen a Heracross yet. Maybe it's time I go a bit further into the forest. Otherwise, I feel as if I'm going to be here for a long time." He pondered and decided to that just that.

He tidied up his camp and recalled everyone except for Lucario and Shroomish, whom he put on his head. She lived inside the forest for her whole life, so she could give him some tips or warnings from up there. "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, let's head a bit deeper and find us some Heracross." He said, addressing Shroomish and Lucario.

Lucario just shook his head at Aaron's antics, but Shroomish warbled in agreement. Aaron started walking at a brisk tempo deeper into the Viridian Forest. He slowed down about 3 hours later since the average strength of the wild Pokemon he encountered was rising.

He had only covered about 90 km, but since he had slowly made his way deeper into the forest during the last week, he was not far from the boundary of Viridian Forest's outer area. He had yet to reach the inner area, yet the average strength of the Pokemon was equal to that of his Mankey.

So, he stopped advancing and started to search for a good place to set up his new camp. It took him another hour, but he found the ideal place for his camp. The place was near a water source, a little creak, and was relatively hidden as well. After he was done clearing up the area around his new base camp, he called out all his Pokemon.

He put down Shroomish before he addressed all of them. "Alright, folks. This is our new base." He said motioning to the area they stood in. "We are going to perform our search with this place as the center. Hopefully, it won't take us too long to find a Heracross, because I don't think we can go much further without risking our lives." He said and his Pokemon started murmuring.

"Nonetheless, I think we'll get lucky soon enough, so you don't have to worry. I plan to stay here for at least a week, which gives us enough time to find a Heracross." He added before he returned everyone except Lucario and Ralts.

He then motioned for him to get on his head before he addressed him. "Remember this place." He began, "if I give you the signal, I want you to Teleport us to this place, alright?" He finished, and Ralts gave an affirmative "Ralts" in return.

Around an hour later they came upon an area with a pond, and he discovered traces that looked to be from a Farfetch'd. Those were relatively rare Pokemon, but not his current target, so he ignored them and kept looking for any traces left behind by a Heracross.

It took another hour, but Ralts suddenly patted his head and pointed at one of the trees in from of them, where Aaron saw traces left behind by a Heracross. He praised Ralts for his keen observation and released a sigh of relief.

The traces were relatively fresh, which meant that there were definitely Heracross coming through this area or even living around this place. Since he had found a trace, he started following the traces with renewed vigor, in hopes of finding a Heracross that clicked with him.

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