At one point, the Kanto Region only had eight gyms and 25 Routes. But as the region developed with many more settlements, new gyms were formed, and different routes were created with them.
If one kept travelling at Route 2 from Viridian City, they would eventually reach Pewter City. However, a slight detour would take them to Route 26, which led to Diglett Cave and a little further from it was Greenwich Town.
"Good morning."
After his daily training, Aeron greeted the two girls preparing breakfast as he walked out of the forest.
"How was your run?" Misty asked as she prepared the table while Nessa helped her friend.
"Pretty good!" He replied with a smile before calling out his Pokémon and the two girls followed after him. "Axe, Growlithe, Larvesta, come out!"
"Horsea, Pidgey, time to eat."
"Wartortle, come out." Misty called her Indigo Turtle and then the sea serpent. "Nayla, you can go hunt."
"Dos." The sea serpent nudged its head with Misty's and then nodded to Nessa before its eyes landed on Aeron.
"Here." He knew what it wanted and gave it a few head pats as the Gyarados lowered its head. "Good girl."
"Dos..."
The sea serpent enjoyed the head pats before it shot into the nearby forest to hunt for food while the other Pokémon came together to eat.
"I see you are not surprised by Nayla going for a hunt." Misty looked at Aeron, who seemed fine with her Gyarados killing and eating Pokémon.
"The food we are eating is Pokémon as well." Aeron pointed at the Pidgey meat that the girls had prepared. "And it is a known fact that most Pokémon like to eat other Pokémon, especially those with Draconic genes." He looked at his Dragon, who happily enjoyed food with other Pokémon. It would occasionally steal Horsea's food, confusing the water horse with where it had gone. "Axe will do the same when he grows up..."
"Majority of Grass-type eat plants while Fighting-type prefers foods that increase their muscle strength." Nessa took a bite of her food and added her views. "But the rest of the Pokémon eat other Pokémon they hunt...the sooner a trainer comes to terms with it, the better it is."
"There are cases where Trainers give up on their Pokémon when their cute partners are munching on dead Pokémon." Aeron had read a lot of reports on this. "Pokémon are our friends, but we should not forget that they can breathe out fire and destroy cities."
"Enough of that; tell me your future plans." Misty changed the subject to something else.
"I have registered for Indigo League."
"Hmm?" She frowned and then looked at Nessa, who nodded her head. "Why? No trainer can win in their first year...even that freak genius from Sinnoh did it in her third year."
"I know, and I am not aiming for the win." Aeron knew who this 'freak genius' she was talking about but cared little about it for the moment. "If I have no goal, I will end up aimlessly going around Kanto Region; but being registered in Indigo League gives me a goal to aim for. I might not win, but I will train my hardest and give the best I can."
"It's good as long as you know." Misty smiled at his words, knowing the boy was not a fool. She was not against him participating in the League, but if the boy thought he could win with only one year of training...she would call him crazy. Pokémon Conference was no joke, and most trainers had come with years of experience. "But even if you want to make it a goal, going through the Gym Circuit would be hard."
"I never said it was not." Aeron knew what he was getting into. "That is why I am planning to train my Pokémon before I challenge the first Gym rather than thinking my power of friendship will help me win."
The girls chuckled at his words as they had seen many TV shows where the main character would win a fight because of the power of friendship or extreme luck.
"All of your Pokémon are very young and have a limited moveset." The orange-haired girl pointed out the apparent weakness in his team. "If you want to challenge a Gym, you would need a good number of moves at Beginner-stage."
"My Pokémon have the same issue; our moveset is very limited. Even though they have good TMs and Innate Moves, they are not useable yet." Nessa spoke her thoughts as well. "Even though I am not going to fight in Kanto Gyms, I need to start working on those [Moves]."
"I was thinking the same; instead of teaching them something new, I should learn what we know and then move forward." Aeron looked at Misty as he asked. "I might need some help from your Gyarados."
"No worries." Misty waved it off. "Since we travel together, we can help each other get stronger. Don't shy away from asking for help; not like I won't be doing the same."
Aeron smiled at her words and gave a slight nod. Although Misty had her flaws, she was a great human who cared about Pokémon...except Bug-types. She was also a talented trainer who was training to be the next Elite Four of Kanto, continuing the legacy of her now-retired father.
The trio talked more about the subject before they finished breakfast and got ready to train. They all called their Pokémon and started training a little further from each other.
Misty was going to work on her Wartortle's [Brick Break] while Nessa was going to train her Pidgey and Horsea in their Innate Moves.
"Alright, guys, gather up." Aeron sat down and called his Pokémon, who immediately surrounded him.
"Woof!" The orange puppy looked at Aeron with its puppy eyes and tongue out while wagging its tail. The boy knew what it wanted and gave it a few head pats.
"Woof!" The orange puppy smiled happily as it licked Aeron's face before Axew puffed its cheeks in jealousy while Larvesta was busy eating a spicy berry. But the little bug still threw sidewise glances at the trainer.
Aeron shook his head and spoiled his Pokémon with head pats and hugs. Once done, everyone got serious with the training.
"Look." Aeron took out his dex and showed them their [Innate Moves]. "We don't need to learn anything new yet and master these first."
"Larvesta, you will focus on [Quiver Dance] and [Flamethrower]." He instructed the Torch Pokémon. "Since they are your [Innate Moves], you should have everything about them in your head already."
"Lar." The Bug-type nodded its little head hidden in white hair.
"Use that rock to train your [Flamethrower], and if you need help, let me know."
"Sta!" It immediately ran off to train the [Moves], and Aeron looked at the orange puppy.
"No [Move] training for you yet." He removed the gravity device he used for training, set them on max and clipped them to Growlithe's legs. "You need physical training more than learning your [Moves]. They will create a gravity field around you; usually, these devices are only usable on humans since the gravity increase isn't much. However, you are still young and will benefit a lot from this. Your task is to run from that rock to that tree and keep doing it till you are tired. And when you turn around, do it in one fluid motion."
"Woof!" The orange puppy thoughtfully nodded its head and went off. Aeron smiled at its efforts to look serious, but it just made the doggo look cuter.
"As for you." Aeron turned towards his starter, who was ready to train. He patted its head, making the Dragon nuzzle its head in his legs. "It's time you learned to use your greatest weapons. [Dragon Dance] and [Swords Dance]." With two of the best stat-raising moves coupled with Axew's strength, it had the potential to be unstoppable. "Ready?"
"Axew!
-0-
"Woof!"
The orange puppy tiredly sat down after an intense training session.
"You did great, Growlithe." Aeron praised his Pokémon. "You have worked hard for the month."
"Lar?"
"Yes, you as well."
Aeron sat on the ground, and Growlithe jumped in his lap while Larvesta climbed to his shoulder.
"Done with your training?" He asked without turning back. Nessa and Misty were walking toward him with their Pokemon following behind, and he could feel their presence.
"Yes." Nessa plopped down beside Aeron, and Misty did the same. "Last few weeks were so worth it."
"True." The orange-haired girl nodded. "I never got much training done while travelling with Ash since he kept bringing trouble our way." Her sad smile reflected all the hardships she had faced while travelling with the boy from Pallet Town. "Thankfully, you guys train hard as well."
"Do you even need training?" Nessa rolled her eyes at Misty, whose both Pokémon were stacked.
"Nayla is strong because I had her since I was four." A soft smile appeared on the face of the youngest waterflower. "I have trained it with my father for little over ten years; of course, it will be strong. As for Wartortle, I got him last year but could not leave for my journey because I was helping my sisters while Dad was busy with other work. I was able to train it a lot along with my sister's Pokémon."
"Why not with your fathers?" Aeron curiously asked. Misty's father was a former Water-type Elite Four who didn't become the Champion because he didn't feel like it. He stepped down when Lorelei, the Ice-type Elite Four, took over.
"Dad helped me train Nayla because I was a little kid. After we got our Trainer License, He stopped helping us sisters other than occasional pointers so we could learn how to train Pokémon and develop our own fighting style." Misty explained before looking at Nessa. "You should have had your own Pokemon when you were young, right?"
The figure of a cute Feebas appeared before Nessa's eyes as she remembered her first Pokémon. She told them about her meeting with Feebas and how she let it go after.
"Once I return to Galar, I will find her and reunite!" She took out a Pokeball registered under her name with a Pokémon, but it was empty. "We both promised, and I will see through it." Then, a mischievous smile appeared on her face as she looked at her friends. "I have another Pokémon; I did not bring it to Kanto, but I think it's about time I tell Bea to send that troublemaker back to me."
"Was it to learn Fighting-type Moves?" Aeron asked in confusion. He knew who Bea was and how close Nessa was to that friend.
"Yup!" Nessa nodded her head. "There were three moves I wanted it to learn, and Bea helped me with them. They should be done by now, so I will call it back once we reach Greenwich Town."
"Let's have a battle!" Misty pumped her fists at the thought, and Nessa readily agreed.
"I never knew children of A-class Trainers are allowed to have a Pokémon even before getting a Trainer License." Aeron had learned the fact from the two girls. There were people who had Pokémon before they turned fifteen, but it was considered illegal, and if caught, the consequences were dire.
"Call it the privilege of the strong," Nessa said before adding. "It is unfair, but that's how most things in life are.." She looked at Aeron before saying. "You have a freaking Shiny, so stop being jealous!"
"I would die for one," Misty added from the side.
Aeron shrugged before he decided to change the topic. "How were your gains?"
They had camped near the Diglett cave and then decided to stay near it for a month after parting from Ash and Samurai. It was a perfect decision since their Pokemon could go through holistic growth. Especially Aeron and Nessa's, whose Pokémon were still very young.
And the growth was evident.
Nessa's Horsea had managed to bring [Leer], [Aurora Beam], [Dragon Breath] and [Octazooka] to Beginner-stage while Pidgey had done the same for [Gust], [Agility], [Tailwind] and [Air Cutter]. The bird learnt [Wing Attack] soon after. Horsea also learnt [Rain Dance] from Misty's Wartortle, which would help in battles since the Sea Horse Pokémon became faster when it rained.
Since [Steel Wings] was kind of similar to [Wing Attack], the bird Pokémon had picked it up, but it still had trouble harnessing the Steel-type Energy. Horsea, too, learnt another [Move] - a [Dragon Dance] courtesy of the sea serpent who decided to teach it but refused to do it for a certain dragon who always picked up fight with it for no reason. However, the water horse Pokémon hadn't mastered it yet.
On the other hand, Aeron's Pokémon went through a similar growth. Previously, Growlithe, who had no moves it could use except [Tackle], now had a lot of [Moves] it could use.
At first, the main focus of the Pokémon was to increase its physical strength since it was young, but it ended up learning [Flame Charge] when Aeron removed the Gravity Device and asked it to run at full speed. Next, Aeron helped it bring its Innate Move [Crunch] and [Morning Sun] to the beginner stage while the orange doggo picked up [Agility] from Nessa's Pidgey and [Ember] from Larvesta.
Larvesta brought all of his Innate Moves: [Quiver Dance], [Fiery Dance], [Flamethrower] and [Heat Wave] to the Beginner stage, making it possible for the Bug-type to use them without any hiccups while also adding [Protect] to its moveset, it learned the [Move] from Axew who had it as a TM.
Along with all the harsh physical training Aeron made his Pokémon go through, they were no longer as weak as they once were.
ROAR
BOOM