CH17 (40), Choosing A Name And Battle Preparations

The first thing Mikail did after waking up the next day was to speak with his female Caterpie.

He told her that he planned to go through a preparation week with her before they would start holding mock fights, just as he did with Natu before.

He knew that Natu chatted with her because he had seen them talking quite often when Natu entered his space, which he still did semi-regularly. After all, the environment there was better than the one outside.

Since he was intending to focus on her training for the next week he was not planning to do it inside his space, because that would mean that he would disappear for many hours every day and something like that was simply comparable to tickling Murphy.

The probability of something going wrong was too high, because of this he was going to repeat with her what he did with Natu.

Mikail was going to go towards the northern area near their house and let her out somewhere near him.

Since he had been approaching all the Pokemon he could, with Caterpie and Rattata being the frequent candidates, it would not look suspicious if he approached her as well.

The rest was simple, at least he thought so.

He was going to talk to her and then take her home.

When his parents asked why he wanted her, he would say that they had met multiple times while he was exploring after which they started to like each other, so he asked if she wanted to go with him and she had agreed.

"That's the plan.

Are you okay with it?"

Mikail asked the female Caterpie after he was done with his explanation.

Caterpie seemed pretty happy with what she had heard and rapidly nodded, which looked really cute especially her big glistening eyes that were shining because of her excitement.

"Great.

Either my parents are going to ask their Butterfrees to talk to you or they will do it themselves.

In that case, you only have to tell them that we met a few times and that I fed you some berries.

You will use that as the reason for your interest in coming with me, food, and liking my gentle behavior.

That should convince them and prevent any further digging."

Caterpie nodded once more and Mikail satisfied with her response proceeded with his plan.

After breakfast, he left their house towards the northern area.

Once there, he released Caterpie as soon as he saw a good opportunity to do so.

He then walked towards her and started a conversation.

"Caterpie after this bit is over you can finally live with me in my house in an open manner and I won't have to hide you."

Caterpie nodded happily while she agreed with him.

"Pii. Caterpie."

He chuckled a bit, seeing her reaction and continued.

"Caterpie how do you feel about me giving you a name?

I already talked with Natu about this topic but he refused my offer saying that he was not interested for now.

A name would help distinguish you from all other Caterpie and show that you are special.

How about it, do you agree or do you want to think about it?"

He asked her while pointing at Natu who was sitting on his head.

Caterpie seemed to ponder about it for a bit before she agreed.

Mikail himself was thinking about Caterpies startling intelligence, while she was not sapient yet she was much more intelligent than any Caterpie should be during her age or strength.

'There are three reasons I can think of that could explain her advanced intelligence.

First is her psionic affinity.

No matter how small it is it could explain why she progressed faster than others of her species.

The second one is the bond between us.

Either the bond itself or my psychic energy could be influencing her.

The third one could be her high potential.

This is the one I am the most uncertain of, but personally, I think that one of the reasons alone is not enough to justify such a huge difference.

Bug-types generally attain sapience between the (high) silver and (mid) gold stage.

Caterpie and Metapod normally reach that point when they are at the (high) silver stage, while Butterfree does so at the (low) silver stage, despite this she shows such intelligence already.

From her behavior, I can guess that she will probably attain full sapience in a few months at the latest and her strength will most likely be either at the (high) iron stage or (low) bronze stage at that time.

It is most likely all the above reasons that lead to such a drastic shift.'

"Alright, since you agreed I will cite some names and you will tell me what you think.

Ready?"

"Piii!"

Caterpie expressed her readiness.

"Ok, then I'll begin.

How about Liberty?"

She shook her head.

"Jade?"

She shook her head once more.

"Belle, Lily, Mitsu?"

They all got rejected as well.

"What about Mothra?"

"Piiiiii!"

The newly dubbed Mothra was rapidly nodding her head.

"Mothra it is.

Well, now that we have chosen your name it's time to go home."

He bend down and took Mothra into his arms, hugging her.

Afterward, he walked back home.

Mikail saw how one of the two Butterfree that kept an eye on him this time around flew ahead most likely to warn his parents about Mothra while the other Butterfree simply kept following him from a distance.

"My lovely little boy.

I was going to give you a surprise after you returned but it looks like you wanted to surprise me as well.

Mikail, honey, can you please tell me why you brought a Caterpie home?"

His mother was already waiting for him at the entrance when he reached their home and addressed him before he could speak.

"Hello, mommy.

This is Mothra.

I met her a few times when I was exploring.

I kept feeding her and petting her.

I met her today again and asked her to come with me.

And she agreed.

We even found a name for her before coming home.

Isn't she awesome?"

Mikail explained while holding up Mothra.

"Yes, she is beautiful but my sweet boy shouldn't you ask us for permission first before bringing anyone home.

The last time we reprimand you, or say anything about it, but you shouldn't promise others that they can stay with us without asking for our permission first.

What happens if we don't allow you to keep them at home but you already promised them that they could?

That would turn you into a liar."

Arya answered him with a stern tone while stroking Mothra a bit.

Mikail hearing his mother's reprimand and tone looked down before he replied to her.

"I understand and I am sorry.

I should have asked you first.

But mommy, *sniff* does that mean Mothra can't stay with us?"

Mikail looked up with a disappointed face, his eyes enlarged and slightly wet.

Caterpie cleverly cooperated with him and looked sadly towards his mother as well, when she heard his question.

Arya could not withstand their double mental assault, and gave in, but she still issued another warning.

*sigh*

"No, she can stay.

But! From now on you have to ask for permission first before you go around promising others anything, okay?"

"Thank you, mommy.

I promise I will ask first next time."

Mikail, who heard his mother's answer put Mothra down, rushed to his mother, and hugged her while repeatedly saying thank you.

Caterpie joined their hug by climbing up Mikail's legs.

Arya chuckled when she heard him.

"You already seem to be sure that there is going to be a next time.

Just don't forget your promise, ok."

"I won't."

Mikail assured her, before asking.

"Mommy you said you had a surprise for me.

What is it?"

Arya who remembered that she had not told him anything yet answered him.

"Two friends, your father and I met during our journey are going to visit us this weekend.

They are Pokemon trainers as well and they are married just like us.

They have a daughter that is only one year older than you, so you can play with her when they visit."

Mikail focused on the first part of his mother's sentence.

"They are trainers too.

Will they bring their Pokemon?

Can I see them when they come?"

Arya softly laughed at his enthusiasm.

"Yes, they will most likely bring some of their Pokemon with them.

I don't know if they would be willing to show you their Pokemon.

You will have to ask them yourself.

I am sure their daughter would be willing to help you persuade her parents if you ask nice enough."

Mikail's eyes gleamed for a bit before he raised a question.

"What are their names?"

His mother chuckled a bit before she replied to his question.

"The father and mother are called Thorn and Lily respectively.

The name of their daughter is Rose."

Mikail had to laugh a bit as well when he heard their names and said.

"That's funny."

To which his mother replied.

"Yes, it is, my smart boy."

She talked to him some more before she went back inside after telling him that his father was probably going to talk to him about Caterpie as well.

After his mother left, Mikail went to the same place he had trained Natu.

Once there he focused on Mothra.

"Mothra we're going to have to stay a bit low-key today, so we won't do any active practice but I will tell you what I want you to do during a fight, okay?"

Mothra nodded to his question and Mikail continued.

"I already said this to Natu and the same applies to you as well.

Our strategies are limited by the moves you currently know however there are still things we can do with what you have.

You are not the most mobile Pokemon and while I do have an idea how to solve that, this fact stays true so your battle plan is going to be quite different from Natu's.

Until you manage a proper confusion your best damaging move is Bug Bite, but that does not mean that it is the focus of our strategy.

The focuses of our strategy are String Shot and Electroweb, because the plan is to immobilize the opponent, and once he is unable to resist taking him out.

Electroweb is to paralyze the foe as well as hinder his movements and inflict some damage.

String Shot has multiple uses.

It can be used to help you dodge attacks as well as increase your mobility by pulling yourself towards something your string is stuck to, like a tree or a boulder, and by swinging around.

This is much faster than your regular speed but you still have to dodge the normal way if you have no other choice.

Besides that, it can be used to trap your foe, hinder its movements, slow it down, and to tie it up.

For that to happen we have to focus on 4 of the aspects of your String Shot.

Its durability, elasticity, stickiness, and capacity.

The durability is to ensure the string does not tear while in use.

The elasticity is necessary if you want to pull yourself towards something or to swing around.

The stickiness will hinder the movements of the foe as well as trap it in place.

The capacity is very important because it determines how often you can use your move.

So, in short use String Shot to dodge and move around fast.

Use String Shot and Electroweb to immobilize the foe and lastly use Electroweb and mostly Bug Bite to damage and beat the foe.

Did you get all that?

Do you need me to repeat it?"

Mothra, who had been seriously listening to everything Mikail had said expressed her understanding.

"Pii. Cater. Pi."

Mikail understood that she said something along the line of no problem, leave it to me.

He was once more marveling at her high intelligence, having expected to have to explain it a few times before she understood it.

"That's amazing.

We are naturally going to go over each maneuver and each scenario that I can imagine, and what you have to do in those cases, but those are going to be your main tools.

We are going to polish those moves while going over their use.

You're going to be awesome, Mothra.

The strongest Caterpie ever."

Caterpie looked fired up to the limit and enthusiastically nodded to his words.

Meanwhile, Mikail focused on Natu who had been quietly listening on the side.

"Don't think you get to slack off during that time.

I want you to focus on your physical training exercises while I am training Mothra."

*sigh*

'Alright'

Natu reluctantly agreed, a bit sad that he did not get to laze around, while they were training.

After that Mikail stood up took Mothra and went inside their house.

He spent the time until his father came home in the living room, doing his writing exercise and playing with his Pokemon and mother.

Once his father came home and his mother told him about the situation with Caterpie, Mikail had to endure another short lecture from his father about getting permission first.

After he was done with his lecture he congratulated him for his new partner and they ate dinner.

During the rest of the day, they watched a movie and his parents told him some of the things they experienced with their flower-themed friends that were going to visit in 3 days.

Mikail went to bed that night with Caterpie right next to him.

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