Danger

|- Flashback to Yesterday. -|

Egg moves, are a special move that a pokemon were able to inherit through breeding. Since it is inherited and was not within the development of their species as a whole from the time their species existed, a pokemon's learning experience was the core factor which developed and had made their offspring perform certain moves they passed down to them. An inherited move, or egg moves, has an inherited tendency for a pokemon to unlock and use them, usually in reaction to its environment and for the purpose of fulfilling a specific need.

Storm has already unlocked one of his two egg moves, Electrical Terrain. How he managed to unlock it, Cinder had absolutely no idea. Maybe the constant use of Thunder Shock had Storm use the egg move by instinct: This was his best guess. Like a stimulus, while Storm was training perhaps his electrical urge had, by instinct, stirred him to do the action of using Electrical Terrain.

Cinder's guess wasn't far off when he learned it from the Pokedex.

"In each of the foregoing cases, researchers like Professor Elm who specialize in the topic of pokemon breeding, and in one of his particular research, broke a few science behind the mysteries of pokemon eggs. He explained that every pokemon has a peculiar example of the possession of an extraordinary congenital aptitude for certain mental activity, which showed itself at such an early period as to include the notion that it could have been acquired by the experience of the pokemon's parents. To such congenital gifts we gave it the name of Egg Moves: it can scarcely be found as most pokemon didn't possessed even a single egg move, either their parents are not powerful enough to pass one of their moves to their offspring or the pokemon had a problem occurred to it when it was an egg. it was like the instincts of we humans and the pokemons, they are the expressions of constitutional tendencies embodied in the organism of the parent who manifest them." He read through the article with great interest. So to say, from what he learned, he should have Storm tap on the energy of psychic energy?

Cinder thought for a few minutes. Before, eventually he had an idea. Cinder was aware Storm could be able to learn Light Screen, a psychic-type move, with the help of a TM, with Light Screen as Storm's foundation on getting used to channeling Psychic-type energy, then in due course the sheep pokemon would then be able to start training Agility, right?

Despite the fact that this was his own deduction, Cinder wanted to give it a shot, after all, it may be worth the try.

He listed that one on his to-do list in the Pokedex as he and his team continued to trudge the uneven ground of the dirt tracks of Viridian Forest.

...

|-Flashback End-|

"Alright you two, we will begin training now."

Storm and Poliwag stood in front of their trainer while Fafnir was playing by himself in the background where Cinder could see him.

He then began to fill in both his pokemon on the training regime they are going to do for the morning.

"Poliwag, I noticed that your accuracy with Mud Slap and Bubble Beam isn't up to par with your Water Gun. It may be because both former moves needed you to fire at an individual pace compared to a continuous stream of jet for the latter." He paused before continuing as he moved his gaze towards his starter. "You will be training with Storm for the regards of both your move's accuracy. Storm would be using his Double Team and evade as much as possible, getting used to using the move would further enhance your mastery over it. Storm, you're doing great so far with your progress on Double Team, however, there are still much ways to go before perfecting it, so evading Poliwag's attacks is not the only thing you would be doing, we're going to add one more element to your training. Transversing the battlefield while simultaneously avoiding attacks."

"I figured that, since the Pewter City's battlefield is going to be full of rocks, it would be a good idea to get both of you used to uneven terrains, all the while training both of the moves in your arsenal."

Storm still had some work to do in the mobility department. Poliwag was a wild pokemon that had some experience living in the forest, but having no hands puts the tadpole at a disadvantage in regards to balancing.

Storm and Poliwag seemed to be surprised by this as they glanced at each other, despite being caught off guard, both nodded at their trainer.

Cinder had thought of this issue regarding the terrain when he watched a video between a trainer battling against the former Gym Leader of Pewter. Even though that video had been two years ago, he bet that the stadium where challengers battle against Brock would still be the same as of today. Additionally, one had to remember that while in battle, a pokemon was going to be attacked constantly. This kind of training that would get them used to transverse rocky terrain would help them one way or another.

Not to mention, Storm's locked egg move, Agility, would also be a good addition to how fast he could evade and strike an opponent with his close combat move, Iron Tail. But that's for the future when they would arrive at the Poke Mart found in Pewter City. He also has some ideas with how to train his Poliwag.

Unlike Storm's arsenal that is mostly dependent on status moves, the tadpole had an arsenal that is mostly composed of attack moves except Hypnosis, which was a status move that could help the Tadpole in various scenarios so he could land a clean hit right after.

Poliwag's egg move was Ice Beam, a powerful ice-type attack that would certainly come in handy in future battles, not just in the beginner-level, but also towards the future advanced competitive battling. Although right now, Cinder still planned to have Poliwag's accuracy on his Mud Slap and Bubble Beam move up to a satisfactory level before working on a much advanced move. This training would not just fundamentally help him get used to his accuracy, but also build up a foundation for when they would work on Ice Beam, and future attacks that the tadpole pokemon could learn through the help of the TM.

Turning over to both of them. Cinder spoke to his pokemon. "Since it has been a good amount of time since we finished eating. Then start off Poliwag on firing Mad Slap at Storm while he runs around and uses the move double team. It should be a pretty good practice for your aim."

At both his Pokemon's nod, Cinder gave both of them each a thumbs up. "Good! Now go and get it started." As the two pokemon made their way towards the center of the clearing Cinder suddenly thought of something. "Oh wait!"

Both pokemon turned to stare at Cinder in confusion. The trainer glanced at Poliwag while saying. "Poliwag, I'm sorry I haven't asked about this earlier. But, would you like a nickname of your own like Storm and Fafnir?"

"Poli!" It did not take a second before the tadpole squeaked excitedly as he nodded his head.

"I think I already found a perfect one for you. What do you think about, Hercule? It means battling through all odds." Cinder suggested.

"Poliwag!" The tadpole pokemon didn't need the time to think as he cried gleefully as he liked his new name.

"Hercule it is then." Cinder chuckled as he mentally scrolled to the top of potential names he'd taken note of last night. "Alright, I won't bother both of you in your training any longer. Get at it."

Hercule and Storm then continued to make their way for some training.

Cinder caught sight of Fafnir crouching down on the ground and seemed to be doing something. Not suspecting anything, he approached the baby pokemon, saying. "Fafnir! Do you wanna play, bud? Or do you want to accompany me to watch your big bros train?"

Fafnir, who had his back facing Cinder's face flinched at the sudden call. He turned around slowly, with something moving on his mouth. "Gib."

Cinder looked at Fafnir's mouth curiously as he made his way over, then it changed into a sprint as he yelled in panic. "Fafnir, drop that Weedle this instant! That's poisonous!"

Fafnir only stared at him approaching before realizing he must have done something wrong, he turned towards the opposite direction and began to run, trying to escape from his trainer's clutches. Sadly for the pokemon, he had just been hatched, so he tripped and fell after his attempt of running away.

Cinder, with all his strength, scooped the heavy dragon off the ground. Within his arms, with one hand he began yanking the squirming Weedle off with his gloves, which Fafnir refused to let go.

The young boy and the baby dragon began to play tag of war with each other, over a pitiful and eventually deceased Weedle.

...

Training for that morning resumed for a few hours until early afternoon. The incident of the Weedle had left Cinder giving an eye out on Fafnir's actions. Fortunately, he had antidotes on him in case something like this happened, he had sprayed the vial all over Fafnir's mouth to stop the pokemon from whimpering and crying from the pain.

On the road towards Pewter, Cinder and his team were lucky enough to run into a decent amount of fellow trainers to battle. Not only did this give Storm and Hercule the perfect chance to gain experience and get used to the results of their training, but it also supplied them with a fair amount of monetary prize money as well. The battles were fun, but at the same time intense when his team was up against trainers who knew what they were doing, unlike a certain Ossas. They won most of their battles, more than making up for their losses, eventually, Cinder decided they had enough after running out of healing potions. Fafnir was a good cheerleader for the squad, Cinder even was tempted to buy the dragon some pompoms for it to use, which would be hilarious.

Storm saw the most action on the road thus far, easily winning almost all of the battle that he fought. Hercule had won all of his as well, apart from a two on two battle against a decently strong trainer who had a Seadra which defeated the tadpole. The creature had a much better handling of its own water abilities than the stage-one Hercule did. Thankfully, Storm had pulled off a comeback.

Now, they had almost reached Pewter City. According to the map in his Pokedex, Cinder was able to depict where they are with the terrains and landmarks. According to his rough estimate, they are approximately six miles away from Pewter City. Which would take them around two hours to take by walking.

It was already close to evening at this point, the sun was almost setting down as the moon was ready to replace it for the night to once again engulf the region of Kanto.

"Let's give it a final push guys. If we walk faster we can arrive much sooner. I don't want to sleep in the wild tonight, didn't both you Storm and Fafnir want to sleep on a cozy bed in the pokemon center?"

Both of said pokemon gave Cinder a determined smile and nodded. While Hercule was confused about both his pokemon companion's desire for the 'bed' their trainer mentioned, he was looking forward to what it was, who knows, maybe it's a snack humans made that pokemon loved.

One thing Cinder noticed when he tried camping for the first time and sleeping in his sleeping bag was that, he was much more sore than yesterday and every move brought aches and pains.

Another thing was that he and his team noticed there were a lot more trainers he encountered, which he judged to be due to their proximity to Pewter City.

Suddenly, Fafnir, who was looking around the forest with curiosity shifted a bit, stopping his tubby legs as his grip on Cinder's pants tightened. Unusually, the baby dragon was constantly twitching nervously.

Cinder was given a little confusion when he saw his baby pokemon act like this. He called out towards Storm and Hercule who was having a conversation at the front. Both pokemons approached them at the call, wondering why they were stopping.

Sitting down and crouching at eye level with his dragon pokemon, Cinder curiously asked. "Hey buddy, you okay?"

Fafnir once again shifted from his place, but didn't move his gaze from Cinder. The Gible's free hand slowly found their way towards his head, and Cinder frowned as Fafnir tensed a bit while gripping his jet-like horns.

"Do you have a headache, Fafnir?" Cinder asked as softly as he could.

A shake of the head. So that wasn't the problem.

Cinder glanced at Fafnir pointing at his horns like ears. "Did you... Hear something, buddy?"

At his slow but steady nod. Cinder stood up, feeling something was quite not right, he asked his two other pokemons. "Storm, Hercule, focus and listen. Do you hear something?"

The two pokemon knew from the serious tone of their trainer that this wasn't a game. So they quickly complied and looked around the dense, darkening forest that surrounded them. Strangely, the various chatter they heard all the time from the pokemon residing within the forest weren't there.

Storm and Hercule seemed to pick up something, they took a step back as they stood guard in front of their trainer while growling in intimidation. Cinder knew they had sensed something, something that he had no clue of because he hadn't had a pokemon's acute senses.

He crouched down low, feeling very nervous. At the same time, looking around and focusing to perceive what made his pokemon act this way.

"Answer me with a nod, alright? Is it dangerous?"

Both Storm and Hercule nodded their heads at the same time. Cinder got apprehensive seeing their confirmation.

"Do you know what it is?"

A shake of their heads made Cinder question more.

"Pokemon?"

Hercule nodded, while Storm thought for a moment before tilting his head towards Cinder's way.

Cinder contemplated for a second before hesitantly asking. "Pokemon and... Humans? Is there someone in trouble?"

With that, both the pokemon nodded twice.

"Guys..." He said slowly, gently, trying not to stress his pokemon out any further. "Where is it coming from? That way?" He pointed in a direction, that's where Storm and Hercule were growling apprehensively. At their slow, but steady nod, Cinder stood up, but kept his gaze on his pokemon. "We... Should check it out. Just in case, somebody might need our help."

Giving everyone of his pokemon a tap on their heads, he said. "Fafnir, you should go back to your pokeball, just in case." Fafnir cried out softly at that, but seeing the authority in Cinder's gaze, he nodded, albeit reluctantly.

After returning the newborn dragon, he nodded at both his pokemon. "Lead the way, but take it easy."

Both pokemon stopped their growling, nevertheless, were glaring and were feeling quite nervous as the wool of Storm was slightly standing up.

"Let's go."