Chapter 35 : Estimating the Talents

With a new member joining the team, the trips to the wild stopped temporarily. They instead spent time getting Abra back to full health and testing his moves. To Orion's relief, Abra knew more moves than just teleport.

The move that he was most glad to see was Confusion. It gave Abra a solid attacking option. More importantly, it was an excellent move to have in the wild. Orion had himself used Telekinesis several times to allow Rhyhorn to win several battles easily. With Abra's help, it would become even more efficient.

Another move that Abra had was a move Orion rarely used in games in his previous life but was thrilled to see. It was Magic Coat. There was no need to mention how useful it was. And Abra's last move was Guard Split. As a Pokemon with low defences, it was another great utility move to have.

Orion analyzed, 'Abra's movepool is far better than I expected. I can use him to defend against any status moves in the wild while Rhyhorn defends against actual attacks. His Confusion could also be used to stop Water and Grass attacks against Rhyhorn though it'll still be better to catch a good Grass type Pokemon. Anyway, Abra is properly healed. It's time to go back to the wild.'

Orion began walking out of the Gym while still in thought, 'It's a shame that there is still more than a month left for the next batch of Pokemon Trainers to receive their Pokemon. Otherwise, I could have used them to rapidly level up Abra.

I can't fight Emma either. Cedric introduced her to a few other kids in the city who got their first Pokemon early. Her Meditite was at level 20 the last time I saw her.

Though my Machop has levelled up faster, my Machop has likely fought several times the amount of Pokemons as compared to her Meditite. It looks like her Meditite's talent is higher than my Machop. In fact, it most likely is higher than even my Rhyhorn as even Rhyhorn didn't level up that quickly. Does that mean that Rhyhorn and Machop's talents are…'

Though Orion hadn't checked the talents of his Pokemons, he could infer what their talents were by comparing them with Pokemons whose talent he knew.

He analyzed, 'The Meditite's talent is Silver. So, it might seem that my Rhyhorn has Bronze talent while Machop has Iron talent. However, that will be wrong or, at the very least, not something I can say with certainty.

Even at the same talent level, there can be a big difference. So, it will depend on how good Meditite's talent is at the Silver level. If she is at the peak of Silver level, then my Rhyhorn will likely be low Silver level while Machop will be Bronze level. However, if her Meditite is low Silver level, then Rhyhorn will be Bronze level and Machop will be low Bronze or Iron level.

Oh well, no point in speculating too much. I'll know the real answer eventually. Besides, even if they have low talent, both will be extremely helpful in the initial phase of my journey. And, I can always improve their talents with resources in the future.'

Orion stopped thinking about talents. He first visited the Poké Mart as he was running out of money. He sold the Celestial Pearl and bought a Macho Brace for his Machop. In addition, he also got 60 Thousand Pokecoins as the Celestial Pearl was more expensive. He had talked with Cedric and confirmed that the pearl didn't have any uses.

Some collectors might have paid him a few hundred thousand Pokecoins extra. Unfortunately, there weren't any such collectors in Saffron City. So, Orion didn't bother waiting. After all, he needed the money right then. In the future, he could always earn more when his Pokemon Team became even stronger.

He gave the Macho Brace to his Machop and went to train in the wild. Rhyhorn and Machop were only a few levels away from their respective evolution. And, Abra also evolved at a relatively low level. So, Orion was looking forward to their evolutions.

In the next month, Rhyhorn levelled up to 39 and he reached Master level move mastery in Bulldoze, Machop levelled up to 26 while Abra levelled up 11 times and went from Level 3 to Level 14!

Orion had a feeling that his Abra had a higher talent than his other Pokemons. However, he wasn't too sure as he analyzed, 'At low levels, every Pokemon can grow quickly. Even though he grew faster than Rhyhorn and Machop had grown in a month, he also fought a lot more Pokemons as he could stay at a distance and defeat the enemy while hiding behind Rhyhorn.

So comparing their growth speeds wouldn't be fair. I'll need to see whether he can sustain a similar growth speed up to level 20 and beyond. If he does, then he is definitely at least at Silver talent!'

Though Orion decided to not think much about the fact that his Rhyhorn and Machop might not even have Silver Talent level, it did stay at the back of his mind. After all, who wouldn't want high Talent Pokemons? That said, he was still mature enough to not let it affect his actions or make Rhyhorn and Machop realize it.

However, seeing that Abra might have Silver Talent made him relax slightly. When he decided to catch Pokemon without testing Talents, Orion knew that the chances of getting a high Talent Pokemon would be very low. Even if just one out of his three Pokemons were at Silver level, he could be considered extremely lucky! Some unfortunate Trainers might need to catch a hundred Pokemons before they could catch their first Silver Talent Pokemon!

One day, Orion was meditating as usual in one of the Training rooms in the Gym. The only difference was that Abra had begun meditating with him in the Gym.

After two hours of meditating, Orion's eyes snapped open. A blue glow appeared in his eyes as he focused on the weights in front of him. In an instant, two 10 kg blocks and four 1 kg blocks began levitating in the air! In the last year, Orion's Psychic prowess had progressed rapidly.

He had gone from being able to levitate just under 1 kg to being able to levitate 24 kg! With Emma having to divide her time between meditating, training her body and training Meditite, Orion had reclaimed his spot as the top Psychic student in the Gym.

Orion slowly put the blocks on the ground. As he did, he heard, "Good work, Orion."

He turned around to see Instructor Koda walking towards him. Koda said, "You are almost a quarter way to the stage 4 of Psychic Training. Continue training hard and you might reach it before you start your journey."

Orion nodded and said, "Yes, Instruc…"

Orion's words were cut short as another person entered the room! Both he and Koda looked at her and became serious. It was Gym Leader Sabrina!