Unconcerned

Exhaling, Deimos climbed up the final step to stare at the plateau in front of him. The entire team had set off early to search for whatever it was they needed to find. As different routes appeared in their path, the team eventually split up and went their separate ways. Tamora said they were only supposed to meet up if they needed help or found something unusual.

While the others might be searching for the objective of their mission, personally, Deimos didn't give a fuck about what it was. Deimos had only one goal during the mission when he discovered that the Sacred Four were considered a holy site for Pokemon.

To find an isolated area where he and Roggenrola could begin training. If Pokemon weren't going to try and attack him due to it being a holy site, then he wouldn't say no to being allowed a training montage. He'd be surprised if they found their goal early on; they had to search four mountains for clues.

The siblings, Leka and Neldon, had taken one mountain, Gideon the second, Tamora the third, and Deimos the last. Unless they encountered something unusual by pure luck, Deimos assumed it'd take them a few weeks to several months before they found anything.

Now that Deimos had reached the base of the mountain he was supposed to search around, he released Roggenrola and started searching for a place to set up camp for the next few weeks. He didn't plan on doing shit until Roggenrola had mastered some basic moves.

It had been a while since he and Roggenrola could rest and train. Opening his notebook, Deimos flipped to the last entry to update himself on where Roggenrola was at. The revised notes were:

Tackle - 1.1 Seconds

Stealth Rock - 27 Seconds

Harden - .45 Seconds

Sand Attack - 2 Seconds, Wrong technique

Smack Down - 3.8 seconds

For only having Roggenrola for around a month, it wasn't bad. Tackle would take about 20-21 more days to master, Harden around nine days, and Smack Down about 37. Deimos didn't think training more than three moves at a time would be effective.

It would most likely slow down Roggenrola's learning and training. Thinking about it, Roggenrola could train for around three weeks and master one offensive move, Tackle, and one defensive move, Harden.

They could then search around the mountain for a bit, fulfilling their obligation to Tamora before stopping for another two weeks to wrap up learning Smack Down, covering Roggenrola's weakness of being attacked from long-range.

Sitting down on a log, Deimos called Roggenrola over,

"Roggenrola lets begin. We have around three weeks until we need to search the mountains for a bit. During this time, you will completely master Harden and Tackle."

"Rola," Roggenrola said in agreement with Deimos.

Pointing at a rock across the clearing, Deimos said, "Start with Tackle; we'll transition to Harden after you've decreased the time it takes you to charge it up.

Bobbing its spherical body, Roggenrola began to slam into the rock repeatedly to increase its mastery of Tackle. On the other hand, Deimos pulled out a timer and began the tedious chore of clicking the start, stop, and reset buttons.

Sure, it was a tedious task, but when Roggenrola mastered these two basic moves, they would move that were similar, so much stronger. Moves such as Headbutt and Iron Defense have the same principles as Harden and Tackle.

If Roggenrola knows the basics of Headbutt and Iron Defense before training them, then the time to master them will be much shorter than usual. At least, that is what Deimos theorized.

Deimos called Roggenrola to a stop once it improved Tackle from 1.1 seconds to 1 second.

"You've improved by a second again. Let's do Harden now. You'll have to feel your improvement since the timing is too quick for me."

"Rola," Roggenrola again agreed with Deimos before returning to its repetitive training.

-- March 18th, 0AT --

As the sun dipped behind the Sacred Four mountains, Deimos could be seen watching Roggenrola with a wide grin. They had finally mastered Roggenrola's first move. It had taken them a while to perfect it, but they had done it.

The Sacred Four mountains had proven to be a perfect training place in the wilderness for Deimos and Roggenrola. With them not having to worry about wild Pokemon attacks, they could rest all night and wake up ready to grind out moves the following day.

Now that Roggenrola could use Harden immediately, Deimos could train Roggenrola to learn Iron Defense. Iron Defense took the characteristics of Harden and used a different energy to apply it similarly. The only thing Roggenrola would have to focus on and learn was steel-type energy.

However, this would come after Roggenrola mastered both Smack Down and Tackle. Deimos wanted Roggenrola to master the first three moves he had laid out in its plan before moving on to more advanced moves.

Deimos also wasn't concerned that anything or anyone would interrupt him and Roggenrola. The other team members were no doubt still searching their mountains for whatever they were looking for. That was fine with Deimos; however, they could waste their time while he and Roggenrola strengthened.

Deimos hadn't been sitting back and only timing in the past two weeks. He had also been practicing with the knife to improve his self-defense. Sure, he had Roggenrola, and eventually, he would have more Pokemon, but he didn't want to rely on only Pokemon for self-defense.

Eventually, Deimos intended to buy a sword and learn to use one. That would hopefully boost his survivability in the wild. From the schooling the prior Deimos had received, the warriors of Pugilis honed their entire bodies to be a weapon.

Similarly, the warriors of Yaksha were trained ninjas, and Illusio was rumored to have several psychics among its ranks. While Deimos wasn't sure if he'd ever beat a psychic, a ninja, he definitely could with enough training.

Clearing his head of his thoughts while letting out a small sigh, Deimos looked to the west and watched the sunset. Letting out a small smile, he realized how peaceful the world was. It was almost like he wasn't part of a Kingdom at war.

Just Roggenrola, himself, and the sunset. The beauty of the Sacred Four mountains basking in the tangerine color that the sun was radiating was something Deimos wanted to remember forever.

Again, letting out a sigh, Deimos steeled his face and will. As much as he wanted to continue watching the sunset and relax, every moment was precious. Until he had the strength to ward off all his enemies, he couldn't relax. Not until he felt secure with his power.

-- Break --

"Hell yeah Roggenrola! I knew you could do it, buddy!" Deimos called out with an ear-splitting grin. They had mastered Tackle two days ago, and Deimos had decided to begin training Headbutt due to their shared immense similarities.

His choice was correct, as Roggenrola had taken two days to master Headbutt. Tackle and Headbutt used the same energy and had nearly the same principle of attack. Still grinning, Deimos knew that either he was a genius trainer with a talent for teaching Pokemon new moves or Roggenrola was a genius at learning.

Either way, he wasn't complaining about the rate they had learned it at. Forget Tackle; Headbutt was practically the upgraded version of it. Headbutt with its strength, would make Roggenrola a force to be reckoned with, especially for Pokemon with weaker bodies.

Pokemon would typically have their specific type of energy coating their bodies. Once they ran out of power, it was practically a toss-up on whether they were injured, mutilated, or killed when attacks hit them.

If Roggenrola could apply Harden before Headbutting another Pokemon, then the normal type of energy it attacked with would be amplified. Thus leading Deimos to believe that Roggenrola would make a very effective brawler or tank at the moment.

Hearing Roggenrola reply with the classic, "Rola!"

Deimos returned from his internal musing.

He was immensely proud of the tiny Pokemon and how far they had come in the past two months. Their rate of improvement was pretty fast, and hopefully, nothing would come up before they could master Smack Down.

Unfortunately, they would not be able to continue practicing. To learn Headbutt, Deimos had stayed an extra two days at the campsite he had made. He and Roggenrola urgently needed to check the mountain for anything unusual to make it seem like they were looking.

Deimos didn't fancy a stray team member coming across them solely training and not searching. They needed to make some progress toward the mission, or else they'd be moved back to a team on the frontlines of the war.

Deimos had no disillusion that with a Roggenrola as a partner, there was no way he'd be in the long-range element. He would be placed in the close-range element and expected to get close and personal with enemy soldiers and Pokemon.

Quickly packing up the campsite, Deimos called out to Roggenrola,

"Come over here, Roggenrola; we'll first search this side of the mountain. Let's try to get two sides of the mountain cleared as fast as possible so that we can return to your training. Ok?"

"Rola!" The training addict known as Roggenrola cried out enthusiastically, clearly psyched and ready to complete the search as fast as possible.

Together, with the sun high in the air, Deimos and his partner Roggenrola started to hike up the side of their assigned mountain. Both partners were motivated to clear two sides as fast as humanly and inhumanly possible.

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

Boldore Company, Squad 9, Team 6

Knight Tamora - Solrock

Squire Gideon - Lairon

Page Leka - Sandile

Page Neldo - Shieldon

Page Deimos - Roggenrola