Everyone starts somewhere

It's been three weeks since Max received Bellsprout, getting to know him, his moves, his favorite food, everything. Of course Max has also tried to train Bellsprout, running, cartwheeling, jumping.

Only two of those things happened, but you get the picture. The results of this training.... absolutely nothing. Well not nothing, Bellsprout defeated his first pokemon, a Metapod, but spending 4 hours watching your pokemon use vine whip on a Metapod that could only use harden was painful to watch

One afternoon, after another day of useless training, Max fell onto his favorite pie e of furniture, the couch. Professor Oak entered the room with some tea, which Max accepted readily.

"How was your training today, Max?" Oak face showed that he expected nothing different then the last dozen times he asked Max.

"The same, always the same. At first I thought that Bellsprout wasn't motivated enough, but I now know that he tries his best every day, yet motivation doesn't seem enough for any real progress. I even tried to get Bellsprout some real experience, but with the exception of that Metapod, he was always beaten. I dont know what to do now." Max was ready to give up, maybe he wasn't cut out to become a pokemon trainer, if he couldn't help his first pokemon become stronger, how was he supposed to do it with his future ones then.

" Training a pokemon is never easy, they all have their own pace, just like all of us. You just have to be patient." Max knew that Oak was trying to lift his spirit, but nevertheless, he just couldn't let his failure go. He never told Oak, but in his mind there was a mess of worries, fears, and borderline paranoia.

'Is it my fault? Am I holding Bellsprout back? Am I forcing Bellsprout down a path that isn't for him?...'

All these thoughts and more riddled Max's conscious, frankly, it was quite depressing to see. The frustration was completely understandable, but Max was making it worse for himself.

"Hmm..." Oak suddenly had a thoughtful look on his face.

" What is it professor?"

"Well, maybe, and this is just a thought. But perhaps the way your training isn't the right way?"

Max looked at Oak like 'obviously something is wrong with the training, otherwise we wouldnt have a problem then'

" Well, that's... thats a revolutionary thought! Now all we have to do is join the circus so that we can find our true selves, its PERFECT!" Max 's voice was oozing with sarcasm.

" Sarcasm is unbecoming of you." Oak was deadpanned, "Seriously though, what I said about everyone having their own pace can also be applied to how someone trains. Next time you two train, just try a bunch of things, even if it seems silly, anything could work."

"I.. I guess we can try that." Max obviously still not convinced it was going to do anything, agreed. After several weeks living with Professor Oak, Max had come to greatly respect the (old) man, he truly cared for pokemon, and had studied them for many years.

The next day. after finishing his chores around the lab and feeding the pokemon who's trainers left them with Oak to care for, Max and Bellsprout headed to their usual spot.

" Ok Bellsprout, the professor told me that we might need to change up our training, so let's do our best."

Bellsprout had a similar look to what Max had when Oak had told him about it, " Bell bell bellsprout bellsprout bell" Even without being able to understand what Bellsprout was saying, the sarcasm was clear

'When did we become so alike' Max had an ironic smile on his face, in only three weeks Bellsprout and Max's relationship had transformed from unwillingness, to copying each other. (good chemistry I guess¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

" I know, it sounds obvious, and a bit condescending to be honest, but he may have a point, motivation is not the issue at least, you always do your best, and I'm so proud of you for that alone" Bellsprout tried to puff its chest out, of course, not having a chest, it looked quite silly, but for Max he wouldnt have Bellsprout act any different. " Alright let's do this!" "BELLSPROUT!!"

... 7 hours later...

Both Max and Bellsprout were on the ground, breathing heavily exhausted. NOTHING WORKED!!! Martial arts style training, training montages with inspirational music, even dancing. Dancing! But nothing seemed to work. They had gotten so into it that the sun was already setting, usually they would have stopped before the sun started to set. Very tired, and frustrated, Max and Bellsprout caught their breath, got up, and started heading back. On the way, the two entered a small hill in a clearing, and the beautiful sunset caught both of their attentions.

" So pretty"

" Bellsprout"

" I kinda wish I had my camera on me right now, a sunset like this deserves to be preserved." The sight had calmed Max down, as such things usually did, it was one of the reasons he lived taking pictures a lot, as they held a memory just as much as an image.

"Bell?" Bellsprout seemed intrigued with what Max was talking about, he often heard Max talk about this 'cam-ur-a', but he never really showed it off to Bellsprout before.

"Interested? Well, I guess that a break from this training wouldnt be to bad. How about this, tomorrow, when we're done with our chores, we'll go out and take some pictures, how does that sound buddy?" Max smiled at his partner, as Bellsprout hopped around happy, looking forward to tomorrow.

'maybe I've been too much lately. A break would do both of us some good. Yeah, that sounds good.'

So, with a smile on his face, Max and Bellsprout returned home, both waiting for tomorrow to come quicker.

The sun finishes setting, this day has ended, the next is just around the corner.