Teach me..

"The donphan line is a pure ground type Pokémon that's usually found in the middle of the johto region but can also be found around MT silver, but like most Pokémon found in the MT silver region the donphan of that area are larger and more aggressive with some herd alphas exceeding 7 feet on fall fours"

Laying belly down while kicking my feet behind me in front of the wood heater on my new massive Ursaring skin rug that's become a bit of a hit with all my Pokémon to lay on. I'm currently reading out loud parts of one of the Pokémon encyclopaedias I picked up from guy

"While the donphan line can be considered fairly popular in both the kanto region and johto region it's exceedingly rare to seeing anyone but a veteran trainer owning one due to the herd mentality of the Pokémon in general"

A small blue trunk with orange rocky ridge strip across the front reached over my shoulder to touch the page before I gently slapped it away…well tried to, the trunk felt like slapping a steel beam

"You wanted me to read it to you, so I'm reading it to you…so either keep listening or go to bed"

Phanpy just made a soft sad trumpeting noise before falling sideways to lean into me, still not really realising just how heavy he is as he continues to stare at the pictures of big Donphan herds in the book while I struggle to breath and wiggle out from under him

"Ok…so….the reason the Donphan line is mostly only seen with veteran trainers is due to their pack mentality combined with their respect for strength which require a trainer wishing to capture one having to defeat an entire herd of the beasts to get their hands on one which is no easy feat, unless the trainer in question manages to find a young phanpy separated from the herd for one reason or another, which is extremely rare due to the Donphans line being fiercely protective of their young"

Which is exactly what happened, about 3 days after our near death encounter with the Ursaring trio we went back to see what else was in that area in a very cautious manner…we practically had to with it being so close to our home, we had to know if there was a threat that could take us unprepared.

What we found was ruined buildings….well more ruined, like a recent battle had taken place…and among those ruins we found 2 corpses…one of an Ursaring that looked like it was flattened and crushed by a steam roller and one of a nearly unrecognisable Donphan that was clearly shredded and half eaten, and boy was it a biggen….if it wasn't currently in pieces and half eaten it would tower over even the newly evolved Persian if it was standing.

Turned out it was this Donphan that beat Miltank and Skiddo black and blue and kicked them out of its area, it would have only just migrated here from somewhere because of the snow storms, no way I wouldn't have run into it otherwise.

And from the looks of the fight there were 4 ursaring who attacked that Donphan and while it fell in the end it managed to take one of them with it, which is pretty fucking boss if you ask me..

We looked around and couldn't find anything more so we loaded up the sled we brought along with more firewood and had machop carry the crushed Ursaring corpse back home and left it buried in the snow along with the other 3 just outside of our base until I made a trip into town to have someone do something with em..

I wanted to skin the things but I had no idea how and I didn't want to fuck it up so I had to wait to get someone who knew what they were doing..

But as we were about to teleport upstairs we heard what sounded like an elephant trumpeting behind us, which caused everyone to assume battle positions ready for whatever it was we missed only to find a barely 2 foot tall blue elephant looking at us with tired eyes and shivering from the cold..

It was a standoff for a minute while I thought things through, I figured it was the calf of that dead Donphan and somehow followed us…and personally I loved Donphan as a Pokémon and it's a great bruiser so I extended an offer to join and same as Zigzagoon before it didn't hesitate and ran to cling to me….almost breaking my leg with its insanely strong trunk, luckily Slowpoke stopped it in time…

That was roughly a month and a half ago and phanpy fit straight into the crew like he was here from the beginning, after a long and tedious game of charades with Persian after Persian had a heart to heart with the little elephant I got it's story..

I was right about phanpy being that Donphans calf, but the calf wasn't born until maybe a few weeks ago…turns out the "mother" got lost from the herd during a snowstorm when the ice bird first decided it wanted kanto get go get fucked for whatever reason..

She gave birth somewhere random and the egg hatched quickly but the place was bare of food for them so she wandered around looking for shelter before coming upon the abandoned zone only to come across a pack of ursaring who ended up killing her while trying to defend her little phanpy…

The still baby phanpy watched it's mother being killed and eaten while hidden before the bears caught sight of us and the battle ensued, phanpy watching me accidentally avenging his mother decided to try and join up with my crew out of fear, desperation and a sense of gratitude but not before getting lost in the snow for a few days first..

"While the Donphan line is a powerful Pokémon in general with its array of offensive and defensive capabilities what really makes the mighty Donphan is it's borderline tyrannical use of the "move" rollout. Almost like Mew itself designed this Pokémon to be the flagship species of the normally average move, the Donphan lines use of rollout is so many more times effective and deadly while being used that it's almost a seperate skill in of itself… in the year 1978 goldenrod city suffered a devastating attack from an until that time peaceful herd of the elephant pokemon"

Phanpy listened in rapture trying his hardest to stay awake, but seeing how it's still pretty much a baby even at over just 3 months old it's hard to blame it. Especially after the training it's been throwing itself into with the crew after their run in with the goldy locks gang…while nowhere near as heavy, the training it's going through still tuckers it out… and todays training was especially brutal with the snowstorm, oh and I checked with guy that training baby Pokémon is fine, even if it's a little harsh…

"It's claimed that a criminal kidnapped a young phanpy to try and sell on the black market and thought once he was back in the city he was safe from the herd…but the following sequence of events cemented into the history books proved that wildly untrue"

I'm actually reading this for the first time at phanpy insistence after he heard me reading out a few pages about Persian

But this is kind of intense, not many pages on Pokémon knowledge have more than just the facts and info but this is going into a full story?

"The alpha Donphan of the herd, the biggest Donphan on record to date at just over 8 feet standing on all four legs, with strange red fur around the cuffs of its hooves, tusks far larger than an average Donphan and red spikes dorsal fin like protrusions jotting out along its armour plating, rampaged into the city from out of the National Park where the herd lived for generations with a rollout so powerful that it brought 4 skyscrapers crumbling down only rushing in a straight line before it in even looked like slowing down, and the only reason it slowed was due to smelling the missing calf close by"

Holy fuck….Alpha doesn't even begin to describe that Donphan….

"It was followed by the majority of its herd with a whopping 56 recorded Donphan rolling through the then devastated city of goldenrod. In a fortunate coincidence the head of the Wataru family at the time was in town on business and heard the devastation, but not before casualties were absurdly high. So he summoned his team to battle the monstrous Donphan and its herd mates in a battle that saw 1/8 of the city turned to rubble and two of his main team dead including a dragonite at the trunk of the Alpha Donphan"

Bruhhhh, what the actual fuck….

"In the chaos of battle and devastation a small group of theorised female Donphan rampaged into where the calf was being held at the time and rescued it but not before leaving every pokemon and human dead in their trail of vengeance…out of all those Donphan that attacked goldenrod in a fit of fury and rage only 7 made it back out and disappeared back into the National Forest. And since that day every Donphan herd spotted is given a very wide birth and Pokémon rangers keep constant tabs on them to ensure something like that never happens again….it is stated that a few criminals have tried to steal a phanpy calf since the incident but none have been successful due to either the rangers diligent watch or the Donphan themselves seeing to it the culprit never made it home again"

I turn to look at the baby blue elephant that's sleeping on its side with a peanut half hanging out of its mouth as it seemed to have fallen asleep mid snack…

Donphan we're not that badass in the anime or games? Hell they were like 3'5 tall little dirt elephants….I always like them though…dunno why? They weren't the best choice but they just stuck with me I guess..

I'm pretty sure all Pokémon have potential to do what that alpha Donphan did but don't because of various reasons…I just gotta draw strength like that outa them…

That story did nothing to dull my imagine of this being a death world, Christ….a guy steals a baby elephant and it's dad brings down skyscrapers and causes casualties in the thousands just to get him back, the fucking Liam Neeson of Donphans, because one bozo got ahead of himself…just goes to show you that you're never safe unless you have the power to protect yourself..

I look back at persian laying on his WAY to small lounge/bed looking both incredibly comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time as his whole form is packed into and over it…but he won't let me get a bigger one for him, I guess it's just a cat thing

The first evolution was a big step for my future in this world and a promise to myself.

I'm not exactly running out of money any time soon but i never want to be in a situation where I'm desperate for it, so I need to stay ahead of the curve. Especially lately with home much I've had to spend on everything just to keep warm and power running, I didn't even want to think about food and maintenance costs..

When my Pokémon are evolved and are still training and battling, even with only the 8 I have now I count it at over $1000 a day to keep them fed and watered with the best available supplements and food….

Which mid, maybe higher ranked trainers who take take specific league jobs could afford and live easily enough without much stress but I won't be there for awhile. Unless you have tippy top connections and a big family's backing you have to serve your time before you can advance to take better jobs, or just win the indigo conference….which maybe I can but I'm not counting my chickens before that hatch.

But I have just over 5 years left before I can even go for my basic trainer license and I have mouths to feed and this storm is fucking with my zen, both my mons training time and wallet are taking hits that aren't sustainable so it needs to end soon so I can get back into burglary and hopefully machop evolves also so my promise to myself to wait is cleared and I can try my hand in the black market…

"Hey, Gideon?…."

I'm brought out of my spiraling thoughts by becky who looks dressed ready for bed in her butterfree PJs.

It's pretty late and dinner is already done with everyone scattered around doing what they do for fun or just in bed sleeping.

"Yeah?"

I push myself off the Ursaring skin rug as my stomach was starting to ache from laying on it so long, I step over phanpy who's kicking his feet in what looks like a dream

" I was wondering if you could…you know….teach me?"

I walk over to the fridge and grab a bottle of water and take a big gulp, reading is thirsty work.

I turn around to look at Becky who's now sitting on the edge of the coffee table in front of Persians tiny lounge.

The atmosphere was solemn but not unwelcoming with the low vault lamp in the corner and the fire light from the wood heater creating a peaceful ambiance in combination with the rhythm a my pokemons sleeping breaths quietly filling the room.

"Teach you…..what?"

" whatever it is you do that helps you afford to keep us all fed, warm and safe….I'm not an idiot Gideon, I know you're either stealing or doing something with the gangs because I can't think of anything else that would pay enough to do all of this unless you were some millionaire's secret son that's being funded or something…"

She gestures around to everything

"In under 3 years I'm going to be going on my "journey" and honestly….I don't think I'm going to make it…"

She wasn't looking sulky or fishing for compliments that she knew I would probably never give her. She seemed very serious at this moment…being as dramatic as a 13-14 year old girl could…which is a fair bit actually..

"I'm just some slum brat who should have died last winter after the orphanage fire, but it's sheer luck I'm alive and that's thanks to you….but that "luck" won't help me when I'm out there alone…"

She points toward the staircase door

"I'm not asking for how you train your Pokémon, I know you want to keep that a secret and that's ok I can respect that….but however you're supporting us…I need skills that can help me do the same for when I'm out of your hair and on the road…"

"And why would I teach you anything?"

"….because we're friends…..or I'd like to think we are…..I don't mind doing everything you ask as it's better than anything that waits for me out there right now and I don't mind paying any price you ask but please…..teach me how to survive…."

Hmmm….

"…..half…."

"Half?"

"Half of what you make with what I teach you and if you in some miracle make it as a half decent trainer before I start my journey I can call in favours anytime, anywhere no matter what it is…no limits…"

"Deal!"

" you heard the no limit on favours you owe me right?"

"Yeah I heard it but I'd be dead without you so as far as I'm concerned it's a fair deal if it gives me what I need to live my life the way I want"

"Alright the I guess….I'll start teaching you tomorrow after training…"

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