Days of Drilling(5)

It was only one day left from Johto as the ship was currently anchored into the sea, preventing the ship from moving. Theo and his pokemon were once again on top of the cargo ship; Khepri specifically was ready to do some heavy-handed drilling as Theodore went over the general idea of drills with Wimpod.

"Apam." Theodore caught the Wimpod's attention, "This morning I will go over what I plan on doing with you today. After Khepri gets going of course." Theodore glared at his starter whose face drooped as she hung her head slow. A loud drawn-off buzz came from her as she flew up into the air slightly.

Determination marred her drooped face as pure grit tugged at her lips. Sighing at his starter's lackadaisical nature in the mornings, Theo returned to tending his other pokemon with a sharp, silver tongue,

"Today, we are going to start the long process that will make you the best Child of the Waters there ever was." Theodore's face shone with a smile that promised greatness. Apam narrowed its eyes at that promise and let Theodore continue uninterrupted, "But to become that; You, little mon', need to train to the best of your capabilities."

Theodore paused and snuck in some air through his nose. His smile distorted in a feral grin and his eyes turned a scrap sharper; Theodore's face made Apam shiver in anticipation,

"You get to decide those capabilities of yours, Child of the Waters."

Apam gurgled a strong note of spirit as its eyes sharpened far more ferally than Theodore ever could. If it was possible, Theodore's feral grin went increasingly wilder as the atmosphere he had created with just his words heightened to a new length.

Having Apams pure, concentrated attention, Theodore dramatically raised his hands and puffed out his chest, "Tell me, Apam. Are you ready? Are you going to the best?" Theodore rolled his eyes down at the Wimpod. Communicating his own [ SERIOUSNESS ] and [ STRENGTH ] with just his eyes, Theodore's stance took on a different meaning all together.

"Or are you weak?" An arrow pierced through Wimpod's soul, "Are you sufficiently unwilling to stand up against the rising tides?" Another arrow was shot into Apam's heart, "And is your mettle so weak- That. You. Break?" A final arrow was shot into Napat's very mind.

Theodore sucked in a breath that assumed finality, "Tell me, Gallant Apam Napat? Do you wish to be strong? Do you wish to have the strongest will to surf the rising tides? Do you wish to have a mettle that is impossible to break?"

A grim smile surfaced beneath his feral grin as his eyes donned a mask of potent resolve. Theodore thunderously roared, "Tell me! Tell me with a scream; a shout!; A cry of utter resoluteness! That. You. Have. What. It. Takes."

Apam shivered as chills ran down its back at the [ RESOLVE ] in his new trainer's eyes. Wimpod felt particularly unnerved by the [ STERNNESS ] that was staring straight into his very soul, heart, and mind.

The deck was now silent with only the faint sound of buzzing coming from Lady Khepri as his trainer continued to unblinkingly stare at him. Allowing himself to relax, Apam gurgled as loud as he could.

"Good. Good." Theodore gave an approving nod towards the sufficiently off-balanced Wimpod who could only shallow thickly at his trainer's approval with a pounding heart. Theodore lowered his hands and lowered his near-omniscient gaze.

Theodore turned around from the small bug as he kept up the heat, "Your grit will be tested at this exact moment because I will only say what I have to say once." Apam scurried after his trainer who was heading towards Khepri's drilling area.

"Listen well, Gallant." Theodore paused as he approvingly stared at Khepri's focused drilling. "You see Warmaiden Khepri here? She's been doing this every morning as you've seen with that exact face of determination crossing her eyes."

Theodore kept riling up the Wimpod who could only drop his jaw at his Lady's refined persistence. "Say, would you like to go under the same intensity of training, Apam? To put your mind towards grueling training? It is your choice, Apam. Choose well."

Silence once again met its way onto the boat. Wimpod's face set into a thin line of steadfastness as he stared unflinchingly at the man who had just caught him. Theodore simply smiled at whatever mental choice was and relaxed his all-consuming posture.

"Great. That means I can start telling you what to do, yes?" Theodore kept his gaze forwards as if unwilling to look at the bug that trailed behind him. His back acted as a milestone that one had to pass before being accepted to this specialized type of training.

With that in mind, Wimpod scurried in front of his trainer and glared at his trainer who looked happily satisfied with himself. The thirteen-year old trainer had gained the willingness of a pokemon that was naturally scared of everything around it.

"Let's start today with your first lesson; Gallant Napat." An amused grin surfaced across Theodore's face as he finally looked down at the Wimpod.

"Lesson One: Drilling!" The bug sweat-dropped at the simplicity after all that legendary build-up of a speech.

"Drilling is the very basic idea that practice makes perfect! If you suck at doing something, drill it until it becomes perfect. If you don't know how? Ask from someone else; I'm sure they know how to do it." Theodore gave a wry grin that showed that he may or may not give the information willingly.

"Drills that I'm going to show to you today are the basics of basics. It focuses on increasing your stamina and mental fortitude. Do not take these two lightly for they are the foundations which your techniques are refined, your moves gain traction, and your willingness to fight."

Theodore finally took a breath as he looked at the Wimpod. A deeper look into Apam's eyes showed him a growing need for the wealth of knowledge and a deeper well for Apam's more personal need for strength and power.

"Firstly, One will be doing a similar drill to what Lady Khepri is doing with her wings but with ground-based movement. Also instead of stopping and slowing at each end; I want you to rotate in a turning motion. This specifically focuses on your ability to make quick, sharp turns on a moment's notice."

Tasting the salty breeze on his lips, Theodore wistfully looked up at the sky as he recollected the plethora of drills he had built up over the last couple of years.

"Secondly, you will be doing long distance sprints across the open deck area. This will increase your err- Body strength? Let's go with muscle strength. It will also increase your speed in a good amount of time training,"

Apat blinked and shrugged at the training-babble which his trainer was going on and on about. He just knew that he needed to do some long distance 'sprints' and that lap training thing that Lady Khepri was accustomed to by now.

"And lastly, I want you to exhaust every fiber of your reserves. Whether it be [ Water ] or [ Bug ], I only care that you squeeze every last drop of it, so that those reserves may grow faster than ever."

Theodore paused and sucked in a final breath, "So- What are you waiting on? Hip hop! Get to it, Gallant! You know what order to do things in, I will call you for breaks!"

Napat quickly scurried to where Khepri was doing her drills and joined in. Theodore smiled at Napat's willingness to train even if he had to be a hype man in order to do so. His mind was certainly exhausted after that speech, though.

Theo muttered to himself, "Forever an introvert, never an extrovert, huh?"