Chapter 10

"Bebe.."

The little fairy tiredly nestled itself in her Trainer's hair.

"You did well, Fiona." Leaf praised the little fairy. "You finally perfected Magical Leaf!" She was proud of her Pokemon.

The group had unanimously decided to stay near the Diglett Cave for a week. The aim was to focus completely on training their Pokemon, and it worked out well for all of them.

Bellsprout managed to learn Acid, and with its help, Flabebe learned Razor Leaf. Anira had then suggested teaching Flabebe the move called Magical Leaf.

Fairies were closer to their inner energies, and Flabebe had got the gist of it on the second day of the training, but it took her four more days to finally perfect it.

Unlike Razor Leaf, Magical Leaf manifested transparent leaves of energy which were hurled at the target. The move consumed a little more energy than Razor Leaf, but the damage was higher as well.

"Bellsprout could evolve any day now." Anira reminded her again. She seemed quite excited to see a Pokemon evolving, and since she had helped a lot in training both Bellsprout and Flabebe, she had grown quite close to them.

"Thanks, Anira." Leaf gratefully smiled at the younger girl.

The Orayen smiled brightly at her and nodded.

"Let's go check on Aizen." She grabbed Leaf's hand and dragged her along to the clearing not far away from their campsite.

They found Starmie and Scyther in a mock duel, both practicing their Double-Team over and over again.

Aizen nodded in satisfaction at the perfection Scyther achieved in his speed. He had not gone easy on the green mantis. He had pushed it to its limits, and Scyther never once complained.

The last six days were spent training Scyther in improving its Agility, teaching him Double-Team with the help of Misty's Starmie, and then the one attack that he knew would take a lot of time to master. It was the Steel-Wing attack. And Scyther rose to all his expectations.

The green mantis Pokemon managed to learn Double-Team in no time at all. It only took him less than two hours before he was doing it with ease. But it took all of the Six days of gruelling training sessions, performing thousands of Wing Attacks, to finally tap into the hidden Steel energy inside of him to coat his wings. Now, Aizen was helping him get used to fighting Pokemon that could rival him in speed.

"Alright, let's call it the day."

"Scy Scyther!"

"No, Scyther." Aizen denied the request.

Scyther unwillingly stopped and approached Aizen before standing by his side.

"We have trained tirelessly these last few days, it is time to take it easy." He patted the mantis on the head and gently smiled.

"Scy."

"I promise that the next attack I am going to teach you will be a fun one."

"Scyther!" The green mantis looked at Aizen with determined eyes, saying that it will learn it and perfect it as well.

"Of course, you will!" Aizen nodded with complete confidence in his Pokemon.

"You two have the same personalities." Misty giggled as she approached them.

"Hardly." Aizen smiled at her. "I am not really battle-hungry like him."

"Scy!"

"Yeah, right." She snorted. "But thanks to you two, Starmie has gotten stronger and I am still shocked at how fast it is now."

"Speed is their speciality." Aizen smiled at her. "Though not as fast on the ground as they are in the water, it still isn't something to scoff at."

"Brother!" Anira approached him and lunged in his embrace.

"Yes, my Princess?" He gently asked.

"Fiona has perfected Magical Leaf now, we are done with Bellsprout learning Acid as well."

"That's great!" He planted a kiss on her forehead, earning giggles from her.

"So... can we take the next two days off?" She cutely asked.

Aizen chuckled inwardly at her words. He knew that it was not her but Leaf's request.

"Sure." He nodded to her.

"Yay!" She kissed him on the cheek and ran back to Leaf.

The hazel-eyed girl was smiling brightly now.

"She seems happy." Aizen smiled as he looked at the young Trainer.

"Of course, she's happy!" Misty smirked at him. "She's not wrong to call you a slave driver. You really push her hard."

"You seem happy as well."

Aizen was amused at seeing her scoff and walk off to the little girls.

Misty joined in on Leaf's training despite all of the warnings she was given. And unlike Leaf, who only complained behind his back, she was more vocal. But surprisingly, she always completed her training sessions on time.

He could already see a rivalry budding between Leaf and her, and he was glad he allowed Misty to accompany them on their journey.

After calling back Scyther, he stayed gazing at the sky for a while before walking to the campsite.

"Aww... he's adorable!"

He heard Misty comment and saw the three girls huddled together in a circle.

There was a little Pichu nestling in Leaf's hand, munching on a berry.

"Where did this little guy come from?" He looked around and found no Pikachu.

The wild Pikachu never left their Pichu alone. And for its parent to not be around meant that they were either captured by a Trainer or died in a battle, likely becoming food for a predator.

"We just found him inside Leaf's backpack. And he was munching on these citrus berries." Anira smiled at him and then turned her attention back to the little electric Pokemon.

"Have you tried communicating with it?" He smiled and sat down by Anira's side.

"Yup. He is not part of a colony." Anira nodded to him. "I asked him if there were any Pikachu around and he says he doesn't know."

This proved his hunch. Its parent was no longer around.

"I am gonna keep him!" Leaf smiled at him and informed him.

"Sure." He looked at the ears of the little Pichu again and sighed. "He is too young to train for now. Needs a couple of weeks before you can start training him."

"Mhm.." She nodded and took a Pokeball from her belt. "I am gonna take care of you from now on, okay?"

Pichu only looked at her with its soulful eyes. And Leaf took that as a 'yes' and activated the Ball before tapping it lightly.

There was no struggle as the Pokeball only blinked once before they heard the ping.

She immediately called out the Pichu, and the little Pokémon jumped at her and climbed her arm before settling down on her shoulder. It played with her hair before yawning and falling asleep.

"That was easier than I expected." Misty smiled as she watched the little Pokemon rest.

"He is too young and probably hasn't felt the affection he needs in the last few days. Young ones are naive. Leaf showed him the affection and he liked it." Aizen informed her. "You should be careful in raising him." He looked at Leaf. "Pichu tend to be mischievous. He will give you a hard time. And if you manage to strengthen your bond, his evolution will come sooner."

"I will raise him to be the best!" Leaf spoke with determination.

"Good!" He patted her head and then started packing his stuff. "Let's hurry up. We will spend the night in Pewter City Pokemon Center."

"About time!" Misty sighed and nodded her head. "I am tired of camping."

"Yay! We don't have to cook dinner tonight!" Anira congratulated Leaf and quickly got to packing her stuff.

"If we reach the city by Dusk, we can dine in a restaurant and also check out the Museum."

His words added to the glee of the girls and they were ready to depart within a few minutes.

"Let's go!" Anira called out happily and skipped ahead on the path to Pewter City.