"I would like to train you, Axel.", said Red.
The entire room turned silent. There was silence before but this silence was eerie and scary. Axel felt that even the clock had stopped ticking. He was looking at a tall muscular man with red hair and eyebrows staring at his soul looking for an answer.
What did it mean to be trained by a trainer like Red?
First of all, it was an honor to be trained by a person like him. The man was already a half-Pokemon master.
Secondly, Axel would have a massive improvement if he would train with Red. All the known and unknown mistakes made by him would be easily detected and corrected.
"Red, are you sure about this?", asked Axel.
"Why, you don't want to train with me?", asked Red.
"No, No, No, I didn't mean it like that. It is just cause it would be a huge waste of time for you. You would not gain anything training a youngster like me. You are the most powerful trainer in the whole world after Oak.
So, I am just surprised that you want to train me."
"I have no problem training you. In fact, I would like to train you. There are some reasons for it.", said Red.
"I don't want to be an ass cause you are the one helping me out but what are the reasons?", asked Axel.
"Sigh… I think I would have to explain everything thing to you. I didn't want to remember it again but I would have to face my fears."
Axel didn't know what Red was talking about but it must be a secret that he didn't want to remember, like a bad memory.
"Can we talk alone?", asked Red.
"Yes, of course. Let's go to the garden.", said Axel and started to move towards the door. Red followed him.
###
Axel took out 2 cigarettes and gave 1 to Red. He had also taught Red and Blue about the mystic effects of smoking.
Both of them lit cigarettes staring at the entrance of the forest next to them. They were not talking to each other. They were just concentrating on their cigarettes and the forest next to them.
When the cigarette's wrapping paper was half lit, Red took the cigarette away from him and spoke, "I never thanked you for not asking why I gave up being a Pokemon master. Since you are the next successor of Oak and dreaming to become the next Pokemon master, you must be dying to know the reason.
But you understood that it is a sensitive topic for me and didn't interfere. Axel, you may be a kid but in a way, you might be the wisest of us all."
Red took a puff of the cigarette and spoke again, "There are some reasons for me to train you.
First is guilt. Oak may not have berated me or showed any such expression but I know that he was disappointed in me. Even then, he respected my decision and didn't even try to persuade me. I feel that, since I cannot fulfill his dream, it is my duty to train you till you become one.
Second is the very reason that I gave up becoming a Pokemon master. You see, winning 8 champion titles, facing numerous tides, and then fighting against the previous Pokemon master is not something everyone could do.
I am not saying that I am the type of person to give up but even after training my Pokemons to such a limit, I still can't win against Oak. Oak is still growing, his Pokemons are getting powerful and his progress rate is higher than mine. It is that thought of never being able to win against him ever, made me step down.
And I am not the type of person that would wait till his death and then take the position of Pokemon master. If I were to do that, I would have never forgiven myself and would never felt that I have achieved anything."
Red took another puff and spoke again, "And the final reason why I gave up was the disappearance of my innocence. When you start to win these champion titles, you would be eligible to get some of the secret information on the history and future of this world.
Oak would start to tell you some of these things. The things that I learned after I started to gain power, it was just….. I don't know how could I even describe you.
I am not authorized to tell you but all I can say is that the future is bleak for us humans. Very bleak. At this time, after Oak, we would need a strong leader that would never give up no matter how bad the situation is and I felt frightened after thinking about it cause I know I am not that guy.
I had to accept it. I cannot lie to myself forever. I started my journey to become the Pokemon master cause I wanted freedom and power. I wanted people to recognize me for my hardship. So, I am not the person that should be sitting there."
Red took the last puff, threw the cigarette to the ground, and started to step on and then he spoke, "I don't know if you are that person Axel, but I would make sure that I would get that answer when I am training you. This training is not only to make you and your Pokemon stronger but also for me to see if you are the guy that Oak is looking for.
So, are you ready?"
Axel took a deep breath and said, "I am READY."
"Good, now do you have a training ground? We would start our training right away."
###
They had a training ground at the back of the house. It was not as big as normal training ground but it was okay for now.
"First tell me all the things you are doing to train your Pokemons and yourself. Also, tell me all the adventures you have had. I need to know the full information.", said Red.
Axel started it story. He didn't leave out anything except for the existence of the system. He also told his talents of 'Move capture', 'Overgrowth', 'Creator', and his talent to acquire lands and their effects.
He told how he was training each of his Pokemon and also his plans to participate in a league battle. He told Red about going to the Johto region after the league battle.
The talk went on for 3 hours. Axel made sure that he didn't miss anything. He had fully trusted Red now. Red's story of his failures moved him and made him even more determined to become the next Pokemon master.
Red started to take notes when Axel was telling his story. He didn't want to miss out on anything. Axel also told his recent plan on making the training grounds. He also told his theories on other evolutions, mega evolutions, the effect of 'Ancient power', and the possible effect that 'Hidden power' would have.
After finishing the talk, Red started to summarize all the details. His brain was working at a light speed. He was thinking about how to train Axel and his Pokemons.
"Ok, I have got all the details and now I will start your training.
There are somethings that I want you to learn in the future by yourself. Doing this would not hinder your growth but improve it. That would make you a better trainer. That is one of the reasons why Oak didn't train you in all these things.
However, there are some things that you need to improve now and me telling you about it would help you in the future.
First is about your Pokemons. For a trainer who didn't have any teachings or support from others, you have done remarkably well. I am even surprised by your growth. I also feel that these unknown powers that you have, have made you stronger and given you a competitive advantage.
However, there are some things that you have not touched while training your Pokemons. Like the desires and instincts of a Pokemon. You told me that you had recently realized about it. It is not your fault cause such things are not written anywhere. I would first advise you to train your Pokemon on this.
Secondly, some of your Pokemon's move pools are too versatile and too many. While some of them lack a lot of defensive and offensive moves. You did train them but you have not planned it for the future.
Now, coming to yourself, I must say that I am very disappointed. You participated in the tide and recovered from it in a very short time. That is commendable but you have not been serious in training your body.
When your Pokemon ranks up to king rank, you may not even be able to be near them. A trainer may not be as powerful as his Pokemons but he must have better mental stability than his Pokemon."
Axel knew all of this but hearing it from Red made him realize the urgency to solve these problems. He was ready to train as hard as he could.
"Relating to your training ground plan, I feel that it is a very good idea. However, you don't have time to look after the completion of training ground right now so I would take care of it.
The training ground should be completed in 1 month. This would give your Pokemon 6 months time to train in the training ground. I think that would be enough for the league battles.
Most of your Pokemons are now in pseudo-king ranks which is very fast and you have not compromised on their foundation. You have quite a talent for training Pokemons.
Your decision to go to the Johto region after the league battle is the right decision. Johto region has the most restriction among other regions. I did the mistake of selecting the Galar region. Galar region had just formed at that time and the restriction of Galar region was very less.
I literally took my Pokemons who were with me in the Kanto region and battled gyms in the Galar region. I did catch a few Pokemons in the Galar region but I concentrated on training my original team. I was able to win the champion title in the Galar region but then I realized the mistake that I had made.
Since I only trained my original Pokemons, I now had to catch new Pokemon and train them to the peak for regions like Johto and Hoenn. This increased my time on the journey.
I can only say that after you reach the Johto region, don't forget to train your original Pokemons too. Getting your first Champion rank Pokemon is the hardest part.
There is a huge difference between a king-rank Pokemon and a champion-rank Pokemon. It would take a huge amount of time for you to reach there but don't feel disheartened. You will reach there one way or the other.
After getting your first champion-rank Pokemon, most of your other Pokemons would also be on the verge of reaching champion rank. Then most of your original Pokemons would reach that stage and your other Pokemons from other regions would also be in King rank or pseudo-champion rank by that time."
Axel was writing some of the important points cause he didn't want to miss it. Red was talking about his experience and Axel lacked experience right now.
"Being the Pokemon master doesn't mean you should only have 6 master rank Pokemons. It means that you are connected to almost all of the species of Pokemon.
It is not practical to catch all Pokemons and train them to such a level but after you get your first 3 champion title, take a break. Start to catch all the Pokemon species from the past 3 regions that you have missed.
You don't have to train all of them to the limit but you should consider them a part of your team. I can't tell you the reason, why you should do this but it is very important.
Also, when you reach a stage where you have won 5 champion titles, you must have 1 Pokemon of every type of core mastery. These Pokemon should at least be pseudo-champion rank. Having these Pokemons would let you have the experience of training all types of Pokemons and that is a huge thing to accomplish."
"Now, first I and you would look at each and every one of your Pokemon and make a training plan for them. These are your Pokemons so you know more about them than me. I would just give you pointers and point out your mistakes.", said Red.
Axel opened the system and started to look at each and every Pokemon. He had per-planned further training sessions for his Pokemon. After getting more information from Elizabeth and Red, Axel was going to change some of the training plans.
The planning went on for an entire day and they were still talking about it with his Pokemons till the middle of the night. Axel and Red now had to make training plans for 11 Pokemons.
That was a lot of Pokemons. Red interfered in every 2 sentences of Axel and Axel was starting to realize how many mistakes he was making. The improvements made by Red were simple to understand. It may not have a big effect on the Pokemons at first but it would have a long-lasting impression.
It was already 3 a.m. when they finished all the training plans for his Pokemons.
"Let's sleep for 7 hours. We will wake up tomorrow at 10 a.m. and then revise all the training plans. I think we should make sure that we have not missed anything.", said Red.
"Yes, you are right. Are you hungry?", asked Axel.
"Damn! I just realized that we have not eaten anything since breakfast. Now I am starting to get hungry."
"Let's go to the kitchen. Mom must have prepared something for us."