Grey's POV
Bill then filled me in on a bunch of other stuff. Apparently, I didn't have to worry much about training, as my mons seemed to be doing it on their own, and Axew seemed to have taken Charmander under its wing.
Speaking of my journey, the doctors told me I had to rest for another week here. While my back was injured, there were no bone fractures, which was nice. It was just that the ghost energy had put me into a shock-like state and caused bleeding from the impact of the hit, which sucked as it derailed my journey by quite a bit.
So I looked up maps and talked to Bill as well about it. As my sponsor, he knew I had to get 8 Gym Badges to qualify at the very least. We looked over some things on the map I had gotten at Lavender and found out a few things.
With so much time on my hands from not traveling and being forced to relax, I organized my thoughts and plans. But first, I called my parents, who were worried after hearing the news about the Anne incident. They were so concerned that they wanted me to come home, but I told them I was getting better and that everything was fine.
I also told them I had gotten a sponsor who would help me out and that I had won second place at the Anne, which they were happy to hear about. They were worried for me, and I could understand why. Incidents like these generally traumatize trainers for life and make them quit. But I wanted to grow stronger with my team, and I had a selfish desire to continue being a trainer. Eventually, my parents relented but told me to stay out of trouble.
To be fair, I do stay out of trouble, unlike certain guys like Red or Ash. It's just that sometimes trouble seems to find me when I don't want it to.
I then visited my mons, who were training in the backyard of the Pokémon Center, and all of them stopped training and rushed to hug me.
Axew was serious as always. Exeggcute was stoic but happy to see me fine. Charmander was glad its new trainer was okay and kept snuggling me. Persian didn't exactly join the hug, but it was glad to see me. And then there was Cloyster.
Man, Shellder evolved.
Bill had filled me in on the details of Persian's impromptu decision to find a Water Stone and evolve Shellder, but he didn't do justice to describing Cloyster. It was huge, almost the size of a small Snorlax. It also seemed glad I was alive but couldn't join the group hug because it was simply too big. I petted its shell, though, and told it I was glad it was fine.
Bill told me that, from what he saw, that Water Stone should have been a high-quality one, and based on his research on Cloyster during the time I was knocked out, it was probably the largest Cloyster in the world. Its King's Gene, combined with the fact that a high-quality stone was used to evolve it, had made Cloyster the size it was.
They were a bit sad to see me using a pogo stick to walk. While my legs were fine, walking still put a bit of strain on me. The doctors had told me I would heal quickly, though, so it was good.
I sat near a tree and allowed my Pokémon to continue whatever training they were doing. I would begin interfering in their training from tomorrow. While I had to wait in Vermilion for another week, I could get in some great training during that time, as I had a bunch of ideas and weaknesses to work on since the SS Anne.
I had some sheets in my hand given by Bill, who had gotten the information from Joy. They contained a list of moves my Pokémon had learned.
Right off the bat, two Pokémon stood out to me: Charmander and Cloyster. The rest were mostly refining the moves they already knew, though a few had picked up some new ones.
Charmander could use Scratch, Leer, Metal Claw, Dragon Dance, Flamethrower, and Dragon Pulse. (Both the Dragon moves I am damn sure were Lance's doing.) It could also use Dragon Claw, but that was still a work in progress, as Axew was busy teaching the young lizard the move during the week.
Cloyster had learned two moves: Surf and Shell Smash.
The former was great for coverage and as a spread attack, but the latter...
Ho ho.
This changed things.
Shell Smash would shift Cloyster from a defensive tank to an offensive menace in an instant, and the fact that it was already so good at Icicle Spear meant I genuinely doubted many Pokémon could beat this Cloyster. Within a single day, it had gone from a mon that would struggle against a 5th Badge Pokémon to one that could fight an 8th Badge Pokémon.
I guess evolution does that, but more than that, this move was simply too good.
Bill had also asked permission to do research on Cloyster while he was here in Vermilion, and I agreed, as he was taking notes while observing the mon. It was one of a kind.
Axew had also learned Dragon Pulse from Charmander, though it still wasn't very good at it and needed work. Exeggcute was training its psychic abilities, and Persian was working on perfecting its moves. I had rushed the cat into learning some moves for the tournament that weren't fully mastered yet, so it was focusing on refining them. I thanked it for its quick decision thinking in saving its life and gave it a treat which it nibbled and purred while rubbing my leg .
All in all, the team seemed fine for now, which was good. I was worried that the things that happened there would negatively affect them, but it seemed I had unconsciously developed a tendency to catch mons that were hard-working, could think for themselves, and were self-sufficient enough to work around problems.
I watched most of my mons train their moves. Bill had handled their food and care until now, and at some point I would discuss buying some new breeder food for my mons. He himself had told me he had better contacts than the PokéMart and could get me supplies at a discount as well. The supply of my current stock was expiring, and I had to buy food for Charmander now too.
I also noted that I was well off financially. Even without Bill wiring me any money, I currently had a lot, both from the SS Anne prize money and from before that. Heck, I didn't have to buy those expensive stones now, as Shellder had evolved, and I already had a Leaf Stone for Exeggcute, which I would use whenever it felt ready to evolve.
But I knew custom food from Bill's contacts would cost quite a lot. Not my entire savings, but a significant portion of what I currently had. Unlike the basic versions I was giving my mons, Bill had contacts for more intermediate or advanced breeder food, so I would have to splurge a bit.
Still, I had seen the growth in my Pokémon from better food, and I couldn't deny the results. So I was willing to spend the money, as it would come back to me threefold if it helped my team grow stronger.
Guess I would have to think through a lot of my plans and discuss them with Bill. For now, though, I would relax and rest, as I had to stay here for another week anyway.
With that thought, Grey fell asleep near the tree.
Author's Note: We are back to slice of life chapters and today was a double release so enjoy also updated chapter 0 with abilities of each mon so check that out as well.
As usual power stone , collections reviews and comments for engagement is encouraged.