CH44 (274), A Nice Vacation

Like so many times before I decided to use the month-long vacation as just that, a vacation, so I determined that we would be relaxing and only doing some really mild training just to prevent the body from rusting. Everyone enjoyed vacations like these since I pampered them more than normal during vacations.

When I said pampering I was talking about grooming and massage sessions, along with more frequent open-air cinema nights. I mean everyone was always willing to do their best, so occasionally slowing down and relaxing was something they more than deserved.

In fact, rest phases like these were vital, since they gave their physique and mind time to relax and recover from the stress they are under due to our training and other activities.

So, in that vein, I enjoyed simply spending time with my parents and my/our Pokemon during the first 5 days of the break. On Kyoday morning, we made our way to Orchid City to visit the Fields over the weekend. Rose and her parents were expecting us, and we made it in time for a slightly late breakfast if you could call breakfast at 10:10 a.m slightly late.

After breakfast, Rose and I retreated to her room, leaving our parents to catch up by themselves, while we did the same. I got jumped by Princess/Vulpix, Ivy/Eevee, and Boom/Whismur a moment after I stepped into Rose's room.

The trio greeted me happily and enthusiastically and I returned their warm welcome by giving them a warm hug. Rose laughed happily seeing our interaction and teased her Pokemon that they were doing that because they were trying to get a massage from me.

The trio protested and acted all cute, which made me laugh because it made me remember Nyx/Umbreon and her usual accomplices acting like that as well. I told them that I did not mind giving them a massage sometime during our stay.

They cried out in jubilation before they stopped crowding me. Still, I checked their status before they left my embrace and I was happy to see that the recipes, as well as massage techniques I taught Rose, had turned out helpful.

At least I assumed they did, since Rose's Pokemon had shown some progress since I last saw them, or at least Princess and Ivy did. Princess actually went from the (low) bronze stage to (mid). Furthermore, her potential rose from green to deep green.

Besides her, Ivy also advanced from the (low) bronze stage to the (mid) bronze stage. However, her potential did not change and was still green. Boom also had no visible change, but seeing how her other two Pokemon had both advanced, I was sure he would do so pretty soon as well.

Anyway, after that little episode, Rose and I began talking. She told me about how her second year was going so far, and about the training she had her Pokemon undergo. She also happily told me how good she had gotten with all the massage techniques I taught her, and how she was now preparing the Pokefood for her Pokemon completely by herself.

I told her about the two missions I completed, and I did not mince my words or hide details because they were not vanilla enough, since she would be going through her practical year in two years and start her official journey after that.

Rose would encounter similar things at those times, so I saw no reason to shelter her now. Especially, since she was, in my opinion, mature enough to listen to my recounting without showing adverse reactions.

I knew that she knew that these things happened, and I had already mentioned a short version during our telephone calls, but I went into detail during our face-to-face conversation so that she could hear these details from someone close to her age who experienced them first hand.

While it was not as good as experiencing it by oneself, it was still better than hearing it on the news, online, or even from her parents or teachers. It made it more, well not true since she knew that those situations were real, but more relatable I guess.

She listened to me intently and congratulated me on doing a good job. She did not show any aversion even when I told her about taking care of all Zubat. No, she said I had done the right thing instead.

She told me they had gone over a similar case in one of their history lessons where a bloodthirsty Zubat/Crobat swarm dried up a large area in the outskirts of Rota before they got noticed 260ish years ago.

They eradicated 5 villages along with tens of thousands of Pokemon before they were eliminated, and she said that according to my description the swarm I took care of could have done something similar if left alone.

I smiled warmly at her seeing how she was trying to justify my actions, and she shyly returned my smile having noticed that I noticed what she was trying to do.

Still, I had two Zubat eggs inside Utopia that would hatch pretty soon, whose future I had still not decided on, so after hesitating for a bit, I asked her if she wanted to have one of the Zubat after they hatched. I assured her that I believed that their potential would not be bad and that I would only give her one if it had a good enough potential.

The reason I hesitated for a bit was that I knew that Zubat was not the best-looking Pokemon, even if I personally thought that its final evolution Crobat was pretty cool. I told her as much before I switched to quietly watching her as she pondered over my offer.

"Hmm, I'll take one if that's okay with you. I don't mind Zubat's look, I like Moka, and Zubat's eventually going to turn into Crobat as well. Besides, Crobat is a pretty strong Pokemon even if Zubat is not that strong, so it wouldn't be smart to deny such a generous offer," was Rose's reply and I couldn't have been prouder at that moment.

I gave her a big smile and a pat on the head, which she playfully slapped away. I told her I would let Luna/Clefable use Sing to lull Zubat to sleep as soon as it hatched so that the first face that she saw would be hers.

I promised her to bring the ball over to her as soon as that happened and I added that I would be using a special ball, like the ones I gave her for her current trio, that would be helpful to Zubat's development.

Still, I told her that she should avoid blood registering the ball until she became an official trainer to avoid breaking the alliance's civilian-owned Pokemon limit. If she did not register the ball with her blood, her parents could act as if they were raising the Zubat as a backup in case an inspection happened.

Another thing of note would be that she would have to make sure that no one blood registered the ownerless ball or she would have a slight problem regarding the official ownership.

She could and most likely would be able to get Zubat from whoever did that despicable move, as long as the thief did not manage to run away, but it would lead to a lot of unnecessary

drama.

Moreover, Rose would have to bond the regular way with Zubat instead, without the help of the artificial bond, but the fact that hers would be the first face Zubat would see would help her with bonding with Zubat. As long as she did her best with raising the hatchling until Zubat reached the iron stage, she should be able to establish a genuine bond.

That or she could simply register the ball, but then she would have to avoid carrying four Pokeballs while she was outside, and she could not bring Zubat's ball to any PokeCenter or other alliance facilities that registered the balls to her alliance file.

Anyway, a few minutes after Rose told me her decision our parents called out to us, informing us that we were going out. We spent the rest of the day strolling through the city. The next day, after breakfast, I kept my promise and gave Rose's trio a massage.

I did not hold back and used my aura for the maximal effect to let them relax and help loosen their muscles. It turns out that my massage was so good that it helped Boom jump past the hurdle and reach the (mid) bronze stage.

We were all surprised, and since Rose and Boom had only been waiting for him to reach the (mid) bronze stage, they decided that he would be evolving as well. I did the duo a favor and gave Boom a potion made with normal-type materials that I had prepared for Mars/Ursaring while he was going through his limit-breaking training.

It would have been too potent for Boom any other time, but during his evolution, it would be helpful to him. Uncle Thorn and Aunt Lily did not interfere since they trusted me, and Rose, well, Rose trusted me the most out of everyone present.

Boom began his evolution and after the light show settled down Rose ran up to him to hug him. After she had her moment I went up to Boom, now a Loudred, to check him out as well. His evolution was a complete success as far as I was concerned since his potential had increased from light green to green.

We all congratulated both Boom and Rose, and the time until dinner was spent at a park close to their home. Boom got to get used to his new body, and we got to enjoy being outside. We went to the local Aldini's branch and I certainly enjoyed my Goldeen filet with boiled broccoli as well as potatoes on the side.

After dinner, we said our goodbyes to the Field family, and once Rose let me out of her hug we made our way home. The two weeks following our visit to Orchid City were calm, with me just spending time with my parent and our Pokemon.

The only extra activity I did during that time was meeting up with Erza on Dialday of the second week since I had last seen her more than three months ago. We had fun walking around Rota and talked about how we were doing, and some other random stuff. Nothing fancy really, just friends catching up.

The last week of my vacation was calm as well until Dialday. That day Aaron chose to come by for a surprise visit. We did not go out since we were too lazy to walk around, so after he greeted my parents, we moved to our patio to talk.

We caught up on what we did since our last face-to-face meeting up, since as I kept mentioning real meetings were much better than phone calls. Aaron told me that his Sirfetch'd actually broke through to the gold stage two days ago.

That was his 7th Pokemon that had reached the gold stage, and only his Poliwrath, Primeape, and Breloom were still at the (high) silver stage. Well, five of his seven gold stage Pokemon were at the (low) gold stage, with only Lucario and his latest addition Toxicroak being at the (mid) gold stage, but at 22 years old that was pretty darn impressive.

Everyone, me included, was sure that Aaron had a bright future ahead of him, and once my parents heard that his Sirfetch'd had broken through, they congratulated him as well. The reason they heard about it so fast might have been due to my slightly too boisterous congratulation to Aaron.

My parents obviously insisted that Aaron stayed for dinner, and mom made a slightly more demanding dinner to celebrate Aaron's success as a trainer so far. While Aaron said that mom did not need to go out of her way because of that, I knew that he was happy that we cared for him and that we showed him that we cared.

-----------------------------

Advertising plug-in:

The first goal has been completed, so for the duration of July the lowest number of advanced chapters available is 4, while the highest number of advanced chapters is 8. Those want access to them can find them on my patre*on.

If the second goal gets fulfilled, the lowest number of advanced chapters available will be 6, while the highest number of advanced chapters will be 10.

Help me stay motivated.

patreo*n/Azrail93