Pokemon: QATM Chapter 10
Pokémon:
Quest of a True Master
Chapter 10
-42 days remain-
The valley was in sight. As described by Brock, after six hours of flying over the mountains of Kanto -the divider between the borders of Kanto and Johto, beyond the Indigo Plateau, far from the sight of anyone who did not fly. It made Mark wonder how Brock knew of this valley, but his gratitude for being given the chance to train somewhere in solitude outweighed his curiosity, and he directed Palm Tree towards the valley, holding tightly onto the back and neck of the Tropius as he veered towards the ground.
Already, Mark was going over a plan in his mind about how to go about training his Pokémon, and getting them back into shape. He had forty-two days to whip his Pokémon into shape, challenge Lance, the Dragon Master, at the Pokémon League, and get back to Pewter City in time to re-challenge Red. Only then could he continue his journey -especially now that he knew the Johto Champion, Ethan, was just as skilled as Red if not more so, since he had actually beaten Red in battle. If Ethan and his Pokemon were that strong, then Mark had to assume the other Champions and Elite Trainers he wanted to battle would be just as good...
Maybe even stronger. Only time would tell.
Palm Tree reared back as the ground closed in, and hissed curiously as he surveyed the area around them, scanning the valley with his eyes. Mark saw interest in the gaze of the Tropius as he slid off of Palm Tree's back and removed the bags slung over his back, taking some weight off of his back. Palm Tree seemed to approve of the area, and was already smelling the ground as he paced, getting to know the area.
"Alright; time to get down to business," stated Mark, removing his vest and shirt, stretching his arms. "If my Pokemon are going to work, I'm going to work," he muttered as he reached into his vest, locating his Poké Balls containing all of his Pokemon, and then one at a time, he began to let them out. Vitesse, Siren, Tanker, Coal and Fang all emerged from their confines, crying out in greeting and joy as they took in their first breathes of fresh air of the day, taking in their surroundings, all of them approving of the area before turning to Mark and awaiting his instructions.
Before he got started, Mark approached Vitesse first, looking her over and making sure all of her bruises had been successfully healed by the trip to the Pokemon Center. "You doing alright girl?" He asked.
"_Chak-ak,"_she replied, nodding to him.
Mark patted her shoulder. "Glad to hear it," he said, and then began to address his other Pokemon. "Alright guys... it seems that most of us are a little out of shape here," he began as he paced back and forth in front of his team, explaining to them the situation. "As we are now, we cannot continue our new journey to challenge the best trainers of the six regions. Yesterday, Vitesse battled the best trainer in Kanto; it was her against his legendary Charizard, and she lost."
All of the Pokemon except Vitesse and Tanker seemed more alert upon hearing this, and continued to pay attention as Mark continued. "Then, Tanker took on the Onix of the Pewter Gym Leader, Brock, in a battle that opened my eyes; he did well, but still, not even Tanker could defeat that Onix. That said, among all of us Tanker seems to be the only one who has kept in shape." He sighed. "However... that is not on any one of you, that is on me; I let all of us grow complacent, and now we've become weak."
"If we're going to continue on this journey, then we need to get ourselves back into shape. We have six weeks before we miss our chance to re-challenge Red, but before him we're going to take on a Dragon-type trainer named Lance. When we can beat him, we'll know we're ready to try against Red again." He cracked his knuckles. "So... you guys ready to get back into shape?"
Fang and Coal growled in acknowledgement, Siren let out a gentle squeal, Palm Tree hiss and flapped his palm leaf wings, and Tanker elicited a low growl; to Mark, all of these were confirmations that they were ready, willing and able. He nodded gratefully to them, and carried on. "Now. I've figured that, with our time frame of forty-two days, divided between the six of you, I will train each one of you one at a time, six days at a time for each of you; I can't train all of you simultaneously, but that doesn't mean this is a vacation.
"During the time of individualized training, the rest of you will be doing your own training regiments I'll lay out for you each day," Mark continued. "By the end of the thirty-sixth day, we'll all be trained up. Randy will be arriving, and he will be the test for you all. When we battle him, we'll know we can go take on Lance, and only after being him will we go to re-challenge Red. What becomes of our journey from there will depend on how that battle proceeds; not by whether we win or not, but by how we perform." Mark's expression was even, but he spoke with a hidden desire in his voice. "I'm depending on all of you, and I believe you all will make me proud."
A silence fell over the group for a moment, until Mark spoke again, clearing his throat. "Now... since Palm Tree and I basically already started his training on the way here, I'll be starting with him. But not right away; I want all of you to take an hour or two to get settled in to this new place where we'll be staying. I'll need to pitch up the tent; the rest of you can do as you like in the meantime."
Acknowledging their trainer's instructions, the Pokemon spread out, and began to explore while Mark walked over to where he piled his gear, and got to work unpacking. The only one who didn't wander off was Palm Tree, staying by his trainer's side and watching him curiously as he worked. It was only a short while later Mark noticed Palm Tree was still there, and eyed him in question. "Something wrong, boy?" He asked.
Palm Tree simply tilted his head in response, as he couldn't exactly say 'yes' or 'no'. Mark shrugged and said. "Actually, you could probably help me here."
Palm Tree, eager to help, stepped forward and waited to see what he could do. Mark produced a tent-cover from his knapsack, retrieving the tent poles -which were currently in multiple pieces for easy transport, and assembled them carefully, making sure each piece was firmly attached to the other as he slipped each short, metal rode into hollow tubes that tipped each pole, the bottom piece ending in a little spike.
Mark stabbed the pole into the ground, pushing it as deep as he could into the dirt before he picked up the tent cover, looking at Palm Tree. "Angle your head forward to about the same level as this pole," Mark instructed.
Palm Tree leaned his long neck forward, positioning his head as close to the heat of the staked pole as he could. Mark only had to adjust him once, and then asked him to remain still as he threw the tent cover over the tip of the pole and Palm Tree's head. The Tropius diligently stood where he was, despite being blinded by the tent cover over his head. Seconds later, he saw Mark lifting up the other end of the cover, draping it around the pole and pulling at it until the back of the cover reached the grass.
"Hold on there for just two minutes, okay boy?" Mark instructed.
_"Hsst,"_the Tropius returned, remaining perfectly still as Mark carefully crawled out from under the tent, and walked behind it.
Finding the corners, Mark grabbed the stakes from his bag, and cursed as he realized he forgot a hammer. Finding a big rock, he pulled the string of the corner tight, holding it down with his foot and using his hands, one holding the stake and the other the rock, anchored it down, pounding the stake into the soil with the rock. It was a crude method, but it worked; he hammered it until only the flat top of the spike remained visible. He repeated this for the other corner, and finally went back to the tent front.
Palm Tree backed up at Mark's instruction, and with that, Mark pitched the rest of the tent on his own, propping up the other end before staking the corners into the ground. He walked over to stand by Palm Tree for a moment, examining the tent before nodding in satisfaction of his work. He turned to the Tropius and gently scratched the back of his neck, bringing a pleased hiss out of him.
"Thanks boy," Mark said with gratitude, and chuckled as Palm Tree leaned over and licked him affectionately. With that, Mark retrieved his sleeping bag and rolled it out inside of the tent before he stepped back from the humble, temporary home, turning to the Tropius again. "I guess we better get started on that training." He said. "Alright, Palm; while I fill in the others on what they'll be doing today, I want you to fly three laps around the valley. When you finish those laps, land at the lake, get a drink, and then run back over here. Run, don't fly; you need some strength in your legs too, not just your wings. Understand?"
Palm Tree nodded in confirmation, and with Mark's word, he took off into the air, starting his laps. Mark produced a whistle from his pocket and blew into it, alerting the rest of his Pokemon that he was ready to see them, and they started to rush back to meet him; Vitesse and Fang were the first ones there, followed shortly after by Coal, while Siren and Tanker arrived at the same time.
"Okay, everyone, listen up," Mark started. "Each of you will start off today with some cardio workouts. Vitesse, Coal, Fang, I want you guys to run five laps around the valley; stay within sight of the lake, and when you're done those laps, take a breather and then do five more, then you'll be good for the day. I'll leave some food out for you for after you do the laps since I might be busy with Palm Tree for a while, but don't go for it before you're done; I'll know if you did."
"Tanker, Siren; you two are roughly doing the same, but under different conditions," Mark continued. "Tanker, you're going up into the hills, find a secluded area and practice your Dig attack for a while; do a few laps around the area you find but make sure there aren't any hikers or wild Pokemon out there that might get hurt. Siren, you'll be doing your laps in the Lake; since it's not as big around as the valley, you'll do seven laps around the lake shore, rest up and then do another seven. Practice your water acrobatics and maneuvers as you please but don't exhaust yourself too much before completing the laps. Like with the others, I'll leave some food out for you and Tanker.
"Alright guys, you have your instructions for the day. Go for it!" Mark commanded, ordering the group to spread out. Tanker tunneled into the ground and headed off to carry out his instruction, while Siren made a beeline for the lake. Vitesse, Fang and Coal formed a line before they took off in a sprint, starting their laps. With the other Pokemon gone, Mark quickly prepared the food dishes for them when they finished got to work on what he had planned for training Palm Tree.
A short while passed; Palm Tree completed his rounds around the valley. Doing as Mark had instructed, he stopped for a drink at the lake, getting splashed playfully by Siren as she torpedoed past. With that, he ran on his four short, but muscular legs, back to where Mark waited for him.
The trainer had spent that time setting up an unusual-looking course. He had gathered up numerous dead sticks from the nearby copse of trees, and used them to create a circle rimmed by rocks, with several inner circles as it drew closer to the center, like a dart board. Mark was just putting the finishing touches on his project when Palm Tree arrived back, panting a little from the run. Mark let him get his second wind, and waited until he'd gathered his breath before he gave him his new directions.
"Okay boy," Mark started. "It's time to get to the real deal." He pointed at the circle he'd created. "This is your target, and the move we're going to practice today is your Seed Bomb attack. You're going to take to the air, and perform strafing runs over this target. When I tell you to use Seed Bomb, you're going to deploy; this will train me just as much as it does you, as it will measure both my timing, and your accuracy. We're going to only take three shots each day, and each shot you take is to be higher than the last, so we've got to make this count. Got it?"
Palm Tree nodded his large head. Mark ordered him to take flight; with a whoosh of air as Palm Tree beat his wings to carrying himself skyward, Mark stood a safe distance from the circle and watched Palm Tree carefully as he began to circle back around to make his first pass over the target. Mark's gaze switched between Palm Tree and the target, calculating in his mind how many more seconds before, compensating for wind speed and waiting until the precise moment before he gave the order.
"Seed Bomb!" Mark called.
Palm Tree spat the seed from his mouth, dropping the combustible object towards the target area. Mark watched with keen eyes as the Seed Bomb fell from above, falling towards the circle... and hitting inside the outer-most ring. He grit his teeth, before looking up at Palm Tree started to circle around for his next pass, ascending an additional ten feet into the air. Mark gave the signal, calling out the attack as Palm Tree neared the target, this time ordering him to drop the Seed Bomb from a further distance outside of the ring. The momentum of Palm Tree's flight combined with the moving air sent it plummeting at somewhat at an angle.
This time the attack missed the ring completely, landing outside of it. Mark grunted with dissatisfaction, and this time re-did all of the calculations in his mind, assessing things differently as Palm Tree made his third and final pass over the target. This time, when Mark gave Palm Tree the command, the Seed Bomb fell towards the ring and seemed to be on target. From where Mark was standing, the attack appeared to hit the bullseye of the target, but when he strode up to it for a closer look, he was disappointed to find the attack had landed outside the ring second from the outside.
"Not a single one near the bullseye," Mark said, looking up at Palm Tree descended from above and landed at his side, seeing the result of their training for that day in the shallow craters left by the seeds. Palm Tree lowered his head sadly, giving Mark an apologetic look. Mark smiled and scratched his neck at that spot he liked. "It's okay boy. This is what training is for; we're all just a little rusty. But if we keep at it, then we'll have this mastered before the end of this week. Sound good?"
Mark's words seemed to lift Palm Tree's spirits a little. Mark added that Palm Tree could practice later on if he wanted, after they met the others for supper; it surprised Mark how much time had already passed since they'd arrived in the valley. The sun was already starting to set, casting the whole area in a shadowy gloom and stealing visibility all around. Knowing Palm Tree didn't exactly have the best eyesight in the dark, he decided it was best to call it there; the Tropius probably had enough training for one day.
The two headed back to the campsite, sprinting over to where the tent rested. They arrived to see Vitesse, Fang and Coal had already arrived before the rest, seated outside the tent to gather their breath after the long run around the valley. They looked up at Mark and Palm Tree arrived, greeting their trainer as he stepped into the camp. "Hey, guys; you all finish your rounds?" He asked. Each Pokemon piped up in confirmation, earning a nod of approval from Mark. "Alright; good work for a first day, everybody. Time for some supper."
Having originally laid out bowls of food for the Pokemon, in the event he wasn't back first, Mark didn't take long retrieving the meals for his team of friends, handing them out one-by-one. "Okay, for Palm Tree..." He slid the bowl over to the Tropius. "Calcium and Zinc-enriched kibbles with dried fruit and almonds," he stated, before carrying on. "For Vitesse and Fang, Protein-rich kibbles, mixed in with some corn for Vitesse, and iron-rich meat for Fang. Then we have Coal; special dish for our growing boy." Mark teased the Charmeleon a little before passing him his food; Coal snapped at Mark's legs a couple of times, trying to make him drop the bowl, before he settled down as it was placed at his feet. "Soft kibbles rich with calcium and carbs, with lots of meat." Mark dusted his hands as his Pokemon began to dig into their food. "Enjoy."
Mark had lots of experience in giving his Pokemon proper diets to keep themselves fit where they most excelled; Vitesse had been raised on Protein and Carbos-rich foods since she had been a Torchic, and had resulted in a natural sprinter and powerful kick-boxer when she evolved into a Blaziken. Carefully studying every Pokemon in his party Mark had learned the best foods for feeding them, and now they were back on those diets. He had also found he could not only save on food but also more efficiently give his Pokemon the nutrients they needed by giving them large breakfasts and small dinners. Eating too much for dinner actually made it harder for them to get to sleep when night fell, which could result in them not getting the bare minimum they required, so it was better to make their biggest meal the first one of the day.
As the others ate, Siren arrived back at the camp as well, her smooth, scaly body soaked and shiny from the water, dragging along a little grass and dirt as she slithered into view. Mark quickly retrieved her food, and placed it down for her. "There you go, girl, but make sure you eat those kibbles; they're filled with the calcium and zinc you need." Siren whined a little, looking at Mark with reluctance. "I know, I know; you don't like the taste of them. That's why I put in lots of salmon; that should help drown out the flavor of the kibbles, but you got to eat 'em, girl."
Siren whined again, but brought her tail around to pull her bowl closer and dipped her head in to take the first bite. She made no further protests about her meal as Mark reached for the last bowl and the absurdly large spoon he needed to use to feed the one it was intended for. 'On that note, where is_Tanker, anyway?'_ He thought.
Almost as if on cue, Mark heard a sound coming from the hole in the ground near the camp -the same one made by Tanker earlier when he had headed off to carry out Mark's instructions. Seconds after the strange, grinding noise began, the Steelix emerged from the hole, bringing dirt and rock out in his wake as he appeared, creating a cloud of dust. Thankfully, he had the consideration to make sure the hole was far enough away from the camp that nobody was showered with any debris.
"Ah, there he is," Mark stated as the iron snake dragged his massive body over to the camp, holding up Tanker's bowl of food. "Hungry, big guy?" The steelix growled low in response, lowering his head and opening his mouth for his food. "Alrighty; your favorite treat and a Steel-type's best friend. Iron-rich minerals from Mt. Pyre, which I brought with us specially for you," Mark said as he took a spoonful of the food and held it in Tanker's mouth, dropping it onto his... tongue? If you could call it that, considering the inside of his mouth was as metal as the rest of his body...
Tanker waited until the bowl was emptied into his mouth before he closed his jaws, chewing the minerals to fine granules before he 'swallowed' them, and nodded with satisfaction at his trainer. "Nothing better than Mt. Pyre minerals, eh big fella?" Mark asked, stroking the nubs on the sides of Tanker's head, getting that locomotive-sounding growl of approval from the Steelix.
With all of the Pokemon fed, Mark turned to his own meal; a simple plate of beef jerky and a can of beans that he opened and ate from it by using a fork. He finished the beans quickly and silently nibbled on the beef jerky as he stared at the sky, slipping into thought.
A short while later, nibbling on the last of his dinner, Mark checked on his team, seeing that they were done eating as well. Fang and Coal were playing over by the tent, working off the calories with a game of tag. Tanker returned to his hole and tunnelled back underground again, retiring for the evening. Siren lay coiled up, staring at the moon above, with Vitesse propped up against her, joining the Milotic in her stargazing.
Mark looked up at the sky, wondering what it was they were staring at, and found himself awestruck by how clearly he could see all of the stars and constellations in the sky. It had been so long since he'd taken time to stargaze, he'd actually forgotten how beautiful the stars were, and how clear the sky was away from the lights of the city, not to mention how one could feel lost in their infinity.
True, he lived outside of the city back in Hoenn, but Mark was usually inside by the time the sun set, and so didn't often see the stars; what few times he actually went out at night was usually because he heard one of his Pokémon calling out for him -usually Siren or Tanker, as Palm Tree slept through the night until the sun was up.
Soon, Mark finished the last of his dinner, gathering up the dishes and heading down to the lake to wash them. Soon as he was up and trotting off, he heard Fang bark and the Mightyena was swiftly at his side, leaving his game with Coal to head over to join his trainer. Mark patted Fang's head as he trotted at his side, glancing back to see Coal joining Vitesse and Siren since his playmate had just left.
At the lake shore, Mark went to work washing the dishes, with Fang watching him from the side, occassionally wandering around to sniff the grass. When Mark was finished, he began to make his way back to the tent with the Mightyena, and checked the sky again. "Looks like a clear night; think I'll sleep outside," he muttered to himself. The tent was up if he needed it, but that didn't look like it would be an issue that evening. Mark pulled his sleeping bag out of the tent, bringing it out and lying down, making himself as comfortable as possible. It had been a while since he'd slept outside; the rugged ground and grass blades under his back felt familiar but slightly irritating, making him shift about until he managed to find a position that didn't feel so rugged, sighing contently.
As he lay there, he saw Fang trot over and lay down at his side, crossing his front legs before laying his head down on his forepaws and yawning gently. Mark reached over and patted his side, making the Mightyena growl with pleasure. As he pet Fang, he felt something slid over him, prompting him to look down towards his feet to see Coal joining the two of them, curling up against Mark's front and keeping his tail where it wouldn't set anything ablaze. Seeing him lying like that reminded Mark of back when he was a Charmander, and even now in his middle-stage, he still looked cute lying that way.
It was only a moment later before Mark felt the rest of his Pokemon join him as well. First it was Siren, curling herself around the three of them in an almost protective manner, even bringing her upper neck under Mark so he could use her like a pillow. Vitesse soon followed, lying down at Mark's other side and nuzzling the back of his head affectionately, making him smile.
The ground shook, and Mark knew Tanker had come out of his hole. He felt through the soil and heard the Steelix dragging himself over, curling around the ground much like Siren had, making sure his spikes didn't poke any of them. He lay his head down next to Vitesse, going completely still. And finally came Palm Tree, who lay down next to Fang and draped one of his palm frond wings over him, Coal and Mark, along with part of Siren's tail.
With all of his Pokemon so near, Mark didn't even need his sleeping bag to be warm; Vitesse alone had enough warmth for both of them, but with everyone lying together like this, he felt both safe and comfortable, hearing the steady breathing of his friends as they slowly went to sleep. Suddenly, he saw memories of his original Pokemon journey from Littleroot Town all the way to the Pokemon League; every night that he didn't stay in a motel or a Pokemon Center, this was how his group had slept; together, not just as friends on a journey, but as a family.
And Mark knew, then and there, that his quest would be a success... because he had his family.
A few days passed, with each morning starting out roughly the same; the group would wake up, start their cardio exercises around the valley, and then in the afternoon, they would spar. Mark would spend that sparring time with Palm Tree, each day going over the exercise he'd created on the first day, and every time, the Tropius' aim was getting better. On the fourth day he even scored a bulls eye on the second pass! And then, on the fifth day, he had an excellent grouping of shots, all of them very close to the center of the target.
The sixth day was when it happened. Palm Tree scored three direct hits to the center from all three heights, the impact hole created by three Seed Bomb attacks as deep as half of Mark's arm. When Palm Tree descended from above and landed, Mark hugged him tightly, proud of the Tropius. "Good job boy," he said. "These six days really paid off."
"_Hssot!"_The Tropius replied.
"I've got just one more test for you," said Mark.
"Sst?"
_ _ "Look over there," Mark directed, pointing off to the side. Palm Tree followed his finger, spotting a boulder lying in the middle of the grass; it had not been there earlier, Mark had asked Tanker to roll it down from the hills while Palm Tree was doing his flying exercises. "I want you to blast that boulder, not with Seed Bomb, but with Solarbeam. It's a test of how powerful you are." Mark patted the Tropius on the side. "Let 'er rip, fella."
The Tropius' expression became hard and steadyfast as he turned to face the boulder, letting Mark step back to a safe distance as he readied himself, feeling the afternoon sun on his back and letting his leaves absorb its energy. He dug at the dirt with his left foreleg a little, splaying his wings out widely for maximum sun absorption, feeling the power coursing through his body. He hissed again, opening his mouth widely as a white sphere of energy formed in between his jaws, becoming brighter and larger until it filled almost his entire mouth.
And then, Mark called out. "Fire away!"
Palm Tree let loose the Solarbeam, exhaling the powerful white sphere, which transformed into -for lack of a better comparison, a big white laser, lancing through the air, over the grass and towards the boulder. In a mere second, the beam struck home, hitting the boulder dead-center.
Two-thirds of the boulder were utterly obliterated by the attack, and the beam kept going until it hit the nearby hill, sending up a pillar of dust higher than the hill itself, the explosion rocking the ground with an impressive display of power.
"Ka-BOOM!" Mark exclaimed, pumping his fist. "Way to go, Palm Tree!" The Tropius reared back on his hind legs and splayed out his wings wide and proud, feeling confident and strong. "Keep up your practice and your daily exercises. I've given you the steps, and you've got the skills."
Palm Tree nodded to him, and with that, Mark dismissed him, sending him off to spar with the others. Now Mark had to pick who among his Pokemon to train next, and how best to do it. He had a few things in mind...
"I think Fang will be the next one I train," he decided. "I know how much he wants to, and he could use a workout." Already the gears were turning on how best to train Fang...