The Prodigies have been scanning the forest and it was now 5:30. They encountered a bunch more Spinarak but were able to defeat them comfortably. Getting used to the odd style of the Spinarack only took a few battles and then they learned patterns and took them out easier.
No serious problems arose and they were able to cover about 1/8 of the forest and were making good time. They retreated out of the forest when it started to get dark and set up camp about 600 meters away from the forest in a short grass clearing. 15 tents were set up around a large fire and most of the Prodigies were sitting on chairs around the fire.
Most of them chatted idly while some of them cooked dinner. Jasper, Grace and Aurora were prepping and cooking the meal. The meat seemed to belong to some of the more common Pokémon in the area and smelled delicious. All of the people in the camp stomaches growled and they all gathered around with ready plates.
Not too long later everyone had finished their meals and everyone chilled and let their food digest. They assigned watch times where two people would make sure that the camp was safe for a couple hours. Ash kept his word and had Misty and Percy in the last watch of the night.
Percy made sure to keep a very natural face and his heart shook. Misty didn't seem to react in a particular way and Percy was slightly discouraged. Some of the Prodigies started to slowly trickle into their tents for the night and only a few were left.
Percy, Jasper, Ash, Marcus and Kushida sat around the fire and chatted about random things. "You remember the Prodigy clan thing I was talking about before Jasper and Percy." Ash said. "Not this shit again. That idea is still stupid. Where would we even find the resources to do something like that.
Not to mention that we don't even know where to start for something like that." Jasper said exasperated. Kushidas ears perked up. "What are you guys talking about?" Jasper nodded toward Ash who started explaining. "We met some trainers the other day." He gestured to Jasper and Percy. "And I thought that it might be a good idea to make some sort of Clan to help people in need. We can help people and form a group of trainers to make money or something." When Ash said it out loud he thought that it actually sounded a little dumb.
Jasper shook his head back and forth. "Like I said that is the dumbest shit ever. Where do we even start." Kushida thought for a second before getting an idea. "That sounds like a great idea. We can found a Clan while using the Prodigy name and we'll gain popularity quickly!" Jasper looked at her in fear and said, "Not you too." "Wait, think of it less as something to help poor trainers and more of a way to establish a clan and make a lot of money and gain a lot of power.
We can recruit random trainers and train them and provide resources. Although finding the money to do that is another thing." Ash became excited that somebody wanted to do it too, and that person being the most socially influential person in the Prodigies. "What do you think Percy?" Kushida asked. Percy didn't expect to be brought in the conversation. He thought for a second and said, "I think there's a lot of stuff we should confirm before saying if it's a good idea or not.
There's all kinds of things that should be considered. A few examples would be the licenses for everything." In order to establish a clan a group of people would have to apply for all kinds of licenses with fees. "The license for owning a large plot of land with Pokémon in it, the official ability to advertise the clan, being able to distribute the Pokémon to clan members. Those are probably only a few of many.
There's bound to be sky high fees as there aren't just clans popping up everywhere." Percy analyzed. "Even being able to distribute Pokémon to people without going through the government takes a lot more than just money. I've done a little research on it as I was curious and learned that it takes connections and more to get the license. Otherwise everybody would be selling Pokémon for money." Marcus chipped in.
Percy nodded and turned toward Kushida. "If you wanna do something like this it will take a lot of effort. I do believe however, that this can be very profitable, and in Ash's case, helpful to people in need. There's plenty of poor people that can shine with a better financial situation. It's also probably important to talk to Professor Oak about it before thinking about anything.
He might be angry that he sponsored the Prodigies just for them to turn around and establish their own organization." Percy suggested. Kushida nodded and messaged Professor Oak. "I just asked Professor Oak if we can talk tomorrow morning. I'll talk to him about it before we get too ahead of ourselves." Jasper shook his head and stood up. "I'm going to bed now. Ash make sure you don't fall asleep on watch." He pointed to Ash accusingly. Ash put his hands up and said, "I'm sure Kushida will wake me up." Ash and Kushida had first watch so they would be up for a couple more hours.
Percy and Marcus stood up and said their goodbyes and left to sleep. Percy fell asleep with Crash sleeping on him. About 6 hours later Jason woke Percy up for his watch. He changed quickly and left his tent with Crash in tow. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness and he looked around for Misty.
Misty stood in the middle of all the tents with her arms crossed and tapping her foot impatiently. "What took you so long! It's scary waiting in the dark when I know there's bugs around." She complained. The fire was still going and a little bit of light lit up the camp. "My fault. I'm not good at waking up." Percy apologized and sat on one of the chairs around the fire.
Misty sat on a chair across from him and let out all of her Pokémon. Percy let out Fúria and kept a watchful eye over his surroundings specifically toward the direction of the forest. He spread his aura out and covered the camp and it's surroundings. He closed his eyes and felt through the aura looking for any alive being that's not supposed to be. After a couple of minutes of looking Percy didn't find anything until a small thing darted away when his aura came into contact with it.
Percys head turned sharply to see a small yellow bug out of the corner of his eye. He almost immediately lost it and looked around carefully. He couldn't find it and even if he did there would be no way for him to catch it. It was just too fast. Eventually he gave up and returned his gaze to the fire. It wouldn't start to get light for an hour and a half so Percy had to get a little more firewood to last into the morning. "I've got to go get firewood to last for a couple more hours. I should probably get extra for breakfast too.
Jasper won't be happy if he wakes up with a dead fire." Percy said aloud. Mistys eyes went wide and she said, "Don't leave me alone. There's so many spiders close to us." Percy sent Fúria and Crash to Mistys side and started leaving the circle of tents. "But what Pokémon will go with you to get firewood?" Misty asked. "It's no big deal. I can handle myself. Just hold down the fort and I'll be right back." Percy left and headed toward the Spinarack forest as that was the only place he could find wood.
When he got far enough from camp he let out Pharaoh and warned him to be careful. He strengthened his eyes and ears with aura and crept through the plain towards the forest. Soon enough he arrived at the forest where he found a fallen tree. Pharaoh used Metal Claw on the large tree trunk and it was made into smaller logs. He stored the logs in his Pokédex and started making his way back to camp.
After some consideration he decided not to go straight back to the camp and take the long way around. Percy didn't want the Spinarack to follow him back to the camp so he took the proper considerations. He would practice anti tracking on his property back home. Most of the Pokémon were peaceful around the house. Professor Oak made sure to keep it safe and healthy for his old friend.
Percy would use his left over dinner to convince some of the Pokémon to try and search for him. At first he was found quickly and had to give up a lot of dinner. But eventually he got better and after about 4 years of practice he could prevent himself from being tracked. At least by amateur trackers. Most of the Pokémon around the property were low level but there was one Butterfree that Percy estimated to be about level 37.
He asked it to track him and eventually got good with it too. Although something like a dog Pokémon would still be able to find him, he was confident enough to escape from Spinarack and Ariados. They were predators that wait for their prey to come to them so Percy doubted they had any decent ability to track. He went about 5 minutes south before he noticed something following him.
He turned around suddenly and saw another yellow flash out of the corner of his eye. He frowned before turning around and continuing on his way. He covered his trail and made steady progress on the way back to the camp. Soon enough he got close to the camp and recalled Pharaoh. He walked into the camp and looked around the fire for his Pokémon. He saw Misty huddled under her Psyduck, Staryu, and Poliwag.
Fúria and Crash watched to the side concernedly before they noticed Percy. They ran to his side and started speaking Pokémon talk. Percy could only make out the feeling of disappointment in their speech. "What took you so long." Misty complained. "I had to be careful." Percy sat down and split the large logs that he had brought back. He refueled the fire and sat across from Misty. Crash put his head in Percys lap and Percy scratched Crash's head causing Crash to growl and slowly close his eyes.
Misty looked into the fire with her Psyduck in her arms and tapped her foot anxiously. Percy thought that maybe he could take some of her attention away from the watch. It's not like she would be actively keeping an eye out for anything. Percy was covering the area in his aura anyway so he would notice anything if it couldn't hide its own aura. "What are you trying to do as a trainer Misty?" He asked.
She glanced up slightly and said, "I'm going to become a water Pokémon master." "I know that. But why? There must be a reason you want to be a water Pokémon master." Misty looked at Percy. "What do you want to do?" "I want to cure my fathers disease. There's no other reason for me to become a trainer. I have to become strong enough to get a full blood legendary item to create the cure." Percy said.
He shook his head and thought to himself. 'That's not true. If I really only became a trainer for that reason I wouldn't be making friends or pursuing useless relationships. I wouldn't have saved people. What am I doing.' "Why do you want to cure your fathers disease." Misty asked. "I love him. And I guess I love him because he raised me. If I didn't put everything I got into saving him I wouldn't be able to live with myself." He answered. Percy didn't know why he was being so personal or deep about a simple conversation.
The pressure he had been feeling had built up and having no one to confide to he felt vulnerable and confused. His actions contradicted with his goal and he felt like a hypocrite. It all seemed so simple when he first started his journey. Make money, get strong, and cure his father. But the more he experienced new things the more he became uncertain.
He's already brushed shoulders with death several times and saved the lives of several people. The value of life has made him much more sensitive to dreams or goals. Is there a new goal to his life, a new purpose. "So why do you want to become a water Pokémon master." Percy shook his head of useless thoughts.
Misty looked into the fire and responded. "My parents always ignored me because of my sisters. Even now they couldn't care less about what I'm doing. My sisters were always the talented ones, being able to work together so well and being great trainers. My parents cast me aside and so did my sisters.
Eventually I was lucky enough to meet Professor Oak and he got the gym to give Psyduck and Staryu to me. Now I'll become strong and destroy my family and take the gym back from them. The people leading a large city should be kind, and my sisters, are NOT kind." Misty pet her Staryu and Psyduck and looked back at Percy. "Do you like the Sensational Sisters?" She asked him. Fortunately Ash had told Percy that the Sensational Sisters were Mistys sisters or otherwise Percy would have said that they are kind and beautiful. "No". Was all Percy could think of.
She seemed satisfied with the answer. They chatted idly and enjoyed each other's company until morning. Percy had succeeded at distracting Misty from the proximity of the Spinarack and lifted her mood too. She had the same problem of being unable to talk to anybody about her feelings. Maybe she could've talked to Grace or Kushida but she wanted to impress them.
It's not like they've shown any special interest in her past like Percy did. By the time the sun was rising they were laughing at each others jokes. Soon enough the rest of the Prodigies woke up. Jasper, Grace and Aurora made breakfast and the prodiges started the search at 8 in the morning. Pretty much the same formation was used except Ishigamis and Mistys position was switched.
Ash had noticed that things went well last night and decided to switch their positions. Percy sent a grateful look at Ash and assumed his position in the formation. Soon enough they had started searching the forest once more.