"Choop" yelled Machop as it leapt over the obstacle and tacked the transit dummy on the other side.
"Good job Machop. You are much stronger and more skilled and than before" said Alex.
This was not without reason. Alex ordered a top quality Macho Brace, a device that exerts equal pressure on all muscles in the body of. a Pokemon, and Machop was training under intense gravity wearing it. He had also fed it the best energy materials a Machop could digest, and then some more. He had spent more on Machop today than he had on Nidoran and Abra combined up to this point.
This was because he wasn't lacking any money, and he wanted a Fighting type Pokemon that was from the original Kanto 150, and he fancied a Machamp. Also, Nidoran and Abra were way too young to go some lits of energy materials, unlike Machop which was completely mature. It would have broken the bottleneck, and evolved soon after in the wild, if it didn't come into the city. And even if it didn't want to come with him later, the money he spent was nothing to him, the super rich Researcher Burns.
He has slotted an Everstone, the only item that would take effect when a Pokemon is given it as a secondary item, into the Macho Brace to prevent Machop from evolving.
Machop had broken the bottleneck it was at, and had reached level 22. It was levelling up rapidly due to the many energy rich materials it was fed, and Alex fully expected it to rapidly power level to level 29 during the Machop tournament. It would be stuck in the bottleneck far longer than usual due to this rapid levelling, but Alex considered it a reasonable trade off.
Nidoran had just broken the Baby Stage bottleneck, and was at level 11.
Alex checked out Nidoran's stats.
Nidoran
Gender - Male
Lvl - 11
Type - Poison
Held item - Macho Brace
Ability - Hustle
Moves - Confusion, Sucker Punch, Leer, Poison Sting, Peck, Focus Energy
Nature - Brave
Training - 20%
Potential - Indigo
On the other hand, Abra was still at the baby stage. He had it practice its Psychic powers by levitating metal balls under intense gravity for a while. After it did it for a while though, it grew drained and fell asleep.
Alex also checked its stats.
Abra
Gender - Make
Lvl - 9
Type - Psychic
Held item - Anchor Necklace
Ability - Magic Guard
Moves - Teleport, Confusion, Magic Coat, Guard Split
Nature - Modest
Training - 15%
Potential - Indigo
"Machop! Use Bulk Up, and then parry the rocks launched by the machine, said Alex as he faced Machop, standing behind the machine that launched rocks at fast speed.
"Machop" yelled Machop as it suddenly inhaled a lot of air, and appeared much more menacing than before.
"Start" said Alexas he switches on the machine. Dozens of medium sized launched towards Machop. Machop steadied its posture, and started swatting at the rocks with its hands.
The rock launching machine was typically used to train Pokemon to dodge attacks, but since Machop would be facing only its kind in the tournament tomorrow, the capacity to parry blows was more important than the capacity to dish projectiles. This was because Machop hardly knew any ranged moves, and the two in battle would be mostly in very close proximity while attacking.
After a few minutes parrying rocks, Machop began to tire, and got hit by a few of the flying projectiles. Alex stopped the machine, and walked up to the exhausted Machop and fed it some energy rich food.
"I know you are tired, but you are going to have to continue if you want to have a chance for a good ranking this year. I checked out some information, and learnt that there are a few Machop at the peak of the Novice stage competing. You don't stand a chance against them in your current state. The only way you can match up to them is if you digest the majority of the ridiculous amount of energy in your body, and that too fast, before it dissipates. If you can't do it, you can only try again next year, either as a strong Machop or weak Machoke" said Alex to Machop.
Machop shook its head, scrambled back to its feet, and cried out to Alex, saying that it could still go on.
"Very good. But gravity training and the use of these machines will be halted temporarily. You now need some combat experience" said Alex. "And I have arranged someone to guide you through that, and he should be here in a while" said Alex
"Machop?" questioned Machop.
"Take a break for now. He will arrive soon, and then you will train under him. This guy is a powerful Fighting type expert, who had trained multiple Fighting Pokemon to the Elite stage, and even some to the Heavenly stage. I hired him and his Pokemon to teach you some fighting experience, some new moves, and training methods" said Alex.
Alex had found this guy through a contact in Correlation. Apparently, he was in the same martial arts stream as the Elite Four member Bruno once. While he was actually retired, he couldn't say no to the large paycheck promised by Alex to train Machop for 6 hours, so he accepted the job.
There was a knock on the door. Alex opened it to see a super ripped man in a white gi, with a red belt around his waist.
"Welcome master Fumamito. Please do take care of Machop!" said Alex as he or the man in.
"Good evening. I will try to train Machop best I can, but if you are aiming for the top few spots in the Machop Tournament at the Machamp Festival, I can tell you straight away that your Pokemon is under levelled. My training can dramatically improve its skills and moveset, but it can't make your Pokemon reach the Novice peak in 6 hours" said master Fumamito.
"It's doesn't matter master. Please do train Machop" said Alex.
Master Fumamito nodded, and walked towards Machop.