Chapter no.8

Regret

How the World Works

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.

Anyone who keeps learning stays young.

The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. ~ Henry Ford

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"Learning about psychic abilities and actually being able to use them are two very different things. When the mind is not prepared to use the abilities, the traumatic experience that follows is frequently fatal."

- Sabrina Maxime, pioneer of the psychic-type training facility in Saffron City. (July 17, 3013)

After I had caught the Pokémon, I quickly realised that it would be much more difficult than I had initially anticipated to train them. Initially, I was under the impression that all you needed to do was issue a few commands, and the Pokémon would immediately comply without question. It appeared that I had made a significant error in my assumptions. Not only would I have to instruct each Pokémon I captured on the meaning of each command, but I would also have to teach them to respond when I called their own names.

In addition to this, the damned Lotad hardly ever responded when he was called by his new name.

I persisted in my efforts to get him to acknowledge my name for nearly an hour in a row without success. Whenever I would bring it up, I would hardly ever get anything that could be considered a response from anyone. The creature only gave me a brief, uninterested blink as a response to my question. I was extremely tempted to kick some sense into it, despite the fact that some people may have thought it sounded extremely barbaric.

On the other hand, it's possible that it didn't really have much of an impact at all. It took me the better part of the day to teach the creature his name, and then it took me another hour to get him to respond to it when I said it. Nevertheless, by the end of the day, whenever I mentioned his name, Xander would look up in curiosity before returning to whatever activity he had been engaged in previously.

Which typically consisted of dozing off in the sun, dozing off in the water, or dozing off while eating a few insects.

How did I find myself in possession of such a slothful being? There had to be someone, somewhere, making fun of me. I was aware that eventually Lotad would evolve into the feisty creatures that are known as Ludicolo, but I was concerned about how I would deal with a Pokémon that was unresponsive to my commands and would become more powerful whenever it heard a musical tune.

I thought of Xander and went back inside the house, even though I was aware that I would have to leave the sanctuary of Jennifer's land of luxury in the not too distant future. I found the woman patiently waiting for everyone to arrive at the table with her Pokémon, who were also patiently waiting at the table. The food was prepared and ready. I found that I had a newfound level of respect for the woman; here I was only managing to get Xander to understand his name after a day, and she had a Glameow that managed to resist the temptation to dive headfirst into a plate of food. I found that I had a newfound level of respect for the woman.

When I walked into the room, the lady gave me a friendly smile and then pretended to make me wash my hands before I could sit down. I obeyed her command and let Xander out, and then I was confronted with the sight of a sudden blue blur tearing into the food that she had prepared especially for him.

I swore to myself that it was the quickest I had ever seen him move.

Jennifer couldn't help but crack a smile and laugh to herself. "It's okay, you haven't properly trained him yet so don't worry about it. After some time has passed, you will be able to teach him various attack commands and strategies, and eventually, you might even be able to have a full conversation with him."

I couldn't help but gape at her in mute shock as the realisation dawned on me. "Pokémon... can talk?" I sputtered as I fumbled my way through the complicated subject matter.

She let out a quiet laugh while gently moving her head in time with the rhythm of her laugh. "No dear. Some people have been known to do it, but that is only because they dedicated a significant amount of time to learning it. Telepathy is a form of communication that can be used by Psychic Pokémon, but other Pokémon won't be able to do much more than their natural grunts and growls. However, as your relationship with your Pokémon grows stronger, you will be able to understand them better. For example, if your Pokémon makes a single eye movement, you will know that it is either thirsty or hungry."

Once more, I discovered that I had an increased level of respect for trainers. I never really gave how much thought into how they domesticated the creatures; I simply thought they were nothing more than tools of attack, that you could simply point and yell a command, and they'd follow through. I never really put much thought into how they domesticated the creatures. The thought made me frown, and then I realised that the majority of my experiences would be independent of anyone else's. I had my doubts that Jennifer would accompany me on my journey; the majority of people travelled alone or in small groups, and I didn't think anyone would travel with someone who was old enough to be their mother. I was hoping that Jennifer would change her mind about travelling with me.

She smiled once more before indicating that I should start eating. Whiskers sat still and quietly while she observed me, and she did not start eating her own food until I had already begun my own meal. I have the utmost respect for Jennifer; whoever trained that cat did a fantastic job. She observed that I was observing the impeccable table manners exhibited by her Pokémon, and she let out another small giggle. In the pauses between bites of her own food, she shared with me, "There are possibly a few additional things I should clarify for when you journey." I gave her a slight nod to let her know that I was paying attention while I savoured every mouthful of food. My time spent in the military taught me to value each and every meal and to always show the person who took the time to prepare food for you the highest level of respect possible. Even though I was being paid to kill, I maintained my good manners and common decency at all times.

She explained while lightly pressing her hands together, "Obviously, you're not going to be able to have a permanent source of food with you." "Obviously, you're not going to be able to have a permanent source of food with you." "As a result, it is highly likely that you will find yourself having to hunt and consume wild Pokémon during the course of your journey. I have faith that you do not disagree with this."

I rolled my eyes and waited until my mouth was completely dry before responding to her. "That doesn't bother me in the least if it happens. When food was scarce in the world I lived in, we would eat our own dead if we needed to survive. I have no problem taking care of business like killing some Pidgey and preparing them in the appropriate manner."

She nodded again. "Very well. Nevertheless, regardless of how confident you are in your cooking skills, I'm going to hand you a cookbook that you can take with you." I showed my appreciation by smiling and nodding at her as she continued to watch Whiskers eat her meal. I had never before considered the possibility that Pokémon would enjoy eating vegetables, but I could see that these Pokémon were enjoying their servings of peas and broccoli. Despite everything, I couldn't help but crack a smile at it. My attention was brought to Xander when he made a sudden gurgling sound, which caused me to jump out of my own skin. I looked at him while holding a fork in my hand as a potential weapon, only to see him let out a small burp, roll over onto his back, and fall asleep almost immediately.