Evolution and Another Monster

[•—•{James Morgan}•—•]

After Growlie's first ever battle, my life went back into a training frenzy. It took Growlie a little over six weeks to get almost all the TMs down and "mastered".

In between this six week gap I went to a few noble gatherings and played with Bill a lot with his new partner Rhyhorn.

The noble gatherings were actually useless with no one of note to really mention. Most of the time I just stood there by myself or stayed next to my mother.

So my focus at these gatherings were to just look at new Pokemon out and about.

The only Pokemon that peaked my interest was a Rockruff which was from the Alolan region.

Speaking about Pokemon though, Beldum's progress has been slow but will be rapidly improving soon. He is currently at level 19 and needs just a little bit of stimulation to evolve.

"Your really lucky to have such a simple Rhyhorn." I grumble seeing Billy patting the Rhyhorn's head. Bill grinning at the fact he easily tamed his Pokemon with food, flexed his knowledge about which I gladly noted down.

"My dad didn't really care too much about me getting a partner. But he made sure that Rhyhorn would at least be friendly." Bill remarks.

"Have you checked Rhyhorn's talent yet?" I question.

"I got extremely lucky with Rhyhorn being a silver talent Pokemon." Bill says with a sheepish look.

"Silver is pretty good for the start of a team. It's just all those those who have a connection to a Pokemon breeder or the underworld get really good Pokemon."

While saying this I remember the Riolu egg on my desk in wonder of what talent it possesses. It must at least be a gold talent for knowing [Aura Sphere] as a pre evolution.

"80% of of a trainers team in the indigo league are 1-2 stars anyways if they catch wild Pokemon. The most common gold talent or higher Pokemon is the person's starter." Bill says after a while of thinking.

From what I'm making out from the information at hand is that talents don't matter too much. If you're able to train up a strong team and show your worth, you could get a sponsor.

A low talent Pokemon might take a while to level up, but a trainers potential gets shown during the indigo league.

Because a person only needs four official gym badges and another four of any kind which could be either official or unofficial badges to make it into the indigo league.

This ends up making the level range around 25-40 which isn't even close to the elite four.

And from what Bill said, Star Pieces are a common prize in high profile tournaments. Like the last prize for the last years Indigo League was three star pieces, money, free lodging at Poke Center for a few years and a Pokemon with high potential.

The alliance must be rich a shit to be able to drop Star Pieces like they're candy as prizes. But to be fair my dad didn't know any black markets or have any connections.

So his only method to finding a star piece is the auction house which isn't the preferred method to sell something so valuable.

Though this is from a high profile tournament which obviously has some and funding.

There were also smaller beginner tournaments for starting trainers with the same prizes but less exaggerated.

Like the prize only being one star piece sometimes some money and maybe a less talented Pokemon new born.

I'm probably gonna hoard all the beginner tournament prizes for myself to gather them star pieces. I'll need to do more research on the league format and smaller events but this will only happen towards the start of my journey.

No point finding out now if I will forget it later on.

"Let's get this show on the road!" I say excited. Taking out Beldum's Pokeball, I send him out on the battlefield. Bill seeing this walks to the other side and sends his Rhyhorn out which still hasn't trained at all since being caught.

Can't say I blame the guy too much. He's still a kid and probably won't be interested in grinding non-stop to only see a single stat increases

"Rhyhorn!"

"Bel-beldum!"

Seeing that both of us were ready, I waited until Bill made the first move.

"Rhyhorn use [Horn Attack]."

"Use [Tackle] Beldum."

Rhyhorn immediately started to charge at Beldum with its horn glowing. Beldum not one to let itself get hit, floats up in the air dodging the attack.

Beldum finding the Rhyhorn confused, quickly tackled the poor things front leg.

"Rhy!" Rhyhorn wincing as it takes some damage. Seeing that Beldum is purposely hitting weak and critical spots I grin.

"One more [Tackle]! I shout.

'Beldum is getting good at picking his opponent apart.'

Because of the limited move set Beldum can learn, I taught him to attack the weak point of Pokemon using his calculations to point out weak spots.

This is a good habit to have before he starts to just spam out strong moves in the future. With Beldum also getting some wild Pokemon battle experience, it's been going pretty well with it being resistant to Nidoran and grass types he battles.

Beldum after getting the first hit off, goes for another [Tackle] but gets met with Rhyhorn's [Tackle]. The impact was a neutral back to back which created some distance.

"Great job!" Bill shouts seeing that his Pokemon returned the favour. With Rhyhorn quickly recovering Bill made his next move. "Okay Rhyhorn use [Rock Tomb]!"

'He taught Rhyhorn a TM?'

Rhyhorn stomped the ground and started to hurl decently big rocks at Beldum. But unfortunately for Rhyhorn, Beldum's training with Growlie wasn't for naught as he dodged all of the incoming attacks.

"Get closer and when you can attack Rhyhorn's eyes or other front leg!" I command. Bill seeing that Beldum dodged all of the rocks had a flabbergasted look.

"Damnit how is that possible, one more [Rock Tomb] Rhyhorn!"

With Rhyhorn hurling more rocks, Beldum dodged a few more but wasn't able to keep this up as the range was shortened.

Beldum did end up using [Protect] last second to save itself and got up to Rhyhorn. But with it still recovering, Rhyhorn runs up to it and uses [Horn Attack] sending it flying back hitting the floor.

Beldum not wanting to lose because of its pride, tries to get up. But it was struggling to for a little bit before its body started to glow.

"So this is evolution." Both Bill and I murmur seeing the sight before us. The glow only lasted for around 8-11 seconds before the light dimmed and showed the newly evolved Metang.

"Metang use [Bullet Punch]!"

"Rhyhorn [Horn Attack]!"

Both Pokemon ran up to each other and clashes with the duel only lasting a few seconds. The victor quickly shown as Metang overpowered Rhyhorn. But Metang still seeing that Rhyhorn wasn't down, went for a move I recognise as [Metal Claw].

"That's enough!"

Before Rhydon could get hit I thankfully stopped the shiny robot. I was surprised Metang won after being so weakened. It's no exaggeration to say Rhyhorn was strong.

I mean it best Growlie a couple of times prior to this battle before Growlie fully integrated all of his TM moves.

"That was a great battle man." Bill comments with a grin. Returning the compliment I suddenly see Bill get a confused look. "When did you get a Riolu James?"

Hearing Bill's words I get a surprised look and turn around. And to my shock and absolute joy, I spot a Riolu looking over at Metang in awe.

"He just hatched." I squeak out. Slowly making my way over to Riolu, I greet the little guy.

"Hey Riolu, I'm James your new family"

Riolu taking his attention towards me, tilts its head in confusion but soon after has its eyes widen.

"Rio rioo!" Riolu says as he gives me a hug. It seems that a Riolu has recognised who I was. Because in the anime it has been proven that a hatched Pokemon can recognise its "mother". And in this case it's who is closest to it for the most time before hatching.

I took the time to always be holding the incubator or "talking" to the egg which was just me monologues might to myself at night.

"I'll need to find your talent out later, but first you need to be fed." I mutter. Returning Metang to its Pokeball, I say my goodbyes to Bill and book another time for us to visit each other.

[}•———•{]

"A Riolu, that's quite the rare Pokemon you got there young man." Nurse Joy comments seeing me holding the little guy.

Hopkins having gone through this process before was quickly able to book us a talent check which only needed us to wait a couple of minutes.

"Hopkins I hope Riolu is a three star." I tell my butler. Hopkins who was busy playing with Riolu and giving it some food, smiled.

"It wouldn't matter what talent it has, a Riolu is a good addition no matter what." He says while stroking his imaginary beard. Laughing at his words the time went by before we got called to the machine room again.

Riolu being a good boy didn't leave the scanner thankfully and sat down as Hopkins made funny faces at it from the window.

"Rio riolu!" The baby Riolu laughed seeing Hopkin's ridiculous faces. This ended up entertaining the little guy until the scan was successful.

"Here's your results." Nurse Joy says after taking the papers and not giving them a look. Seeing this I grab the document immediately and take a peek at it.

(:{Full Info Results}:)

Pokemon: Riolu

Level: 1

Talent: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Age: 16 hours old

Height: 0.7m (2'04)

Moves: [Endure], [Quick Attack], [Bullet Punch], [Detect], [High Jump Kick], [Aura Sphere], [Copy Cat].

(:{End}:)

'No wonder the writters didn't let Ash keep the darn thing. What the fuck is this broken Pokemon doing out and about.'

Silently staring at the paper without much of a reaction. I grab Growlie's Pokeball and send him out. With this Hopkins and I left the Pokemon Center while Hopkins gave me some worried looks.

"Graw!"

Riolu seeing the unfamiliar Pokemon, panicks a little before I take him into my embrace.

"It's fine Riolu, he's part of our family." I say cheerfully. While the two Pokemon converse, I crumbled up the paper to as small as it could be and walk up to Growlie. "Put this in your mouth and burn it."

With Growlie quickly getting rid of the paper, I sigh in relief.

'Keeping around a paper like that is extremely dangerous man. It's basically a ticking time bomb.'

Making my way back home with a lot of things on my mind, I still fell a sleep all the same with a wide smile at how the day went.

[}•———•{]

"Riolu use [Aura Sphere]."

"Lu!" Riolu getting fired up, created a blue sphere in its hands and runs up to Growlie with its full speed.

Growlie seeing Riolu running up to it, uses [Protect].

*Boom!*

Riolu finally making impact, gets sent up in the air while screaming as Metang quickly catches him.

"Go back to physical training you two, I don't think Riolu can keep using his signature move. Also Metang learn the TM I gave you and when your done keep on going." With these words my Pokemon went back to training. It's honestly what they do most of the time.

Other than this they are kind of just a luxurious pet. But in reality they will be protecting me in the future so I don't mind spending a lot of them.

Especially Growlie, I will make him a Diamond talent Pokemon and I will make him a Champion level Pokemon.

It's just that I don't know how to do that yet.

A few more months have passed since Riolu has hatched and I've been really busy. First of all I made a complete little profile on all three of my Pokemon so I can keep track of their talents.

And second I started to work on a little side project.

'Cerulean Gym owns the largest Squirtle breeding center huh.'

Writing down the last details of Riolu's part of the notes. I take a good look at all of the little details I've added and get a proud look.

(]}~~<Riolu's Notes>~~{[)

Pokemon: Riolu

Level: 7 (Updated)

Talent: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (This is fake)

Ability: Inner Focus (Riolu doesn't flinch)

Nature: Naughty (+Atk, -Sp Def)

Attack: 16

Defence: 12

Special Attack: 16

Special Defence: 10

Speed: 15

Moves: [Endure], [Quick Attack], [Bullet Punch], [Detect], [High Jump Kick], [Aura Sphere], [Copy Cat], [Protect], [Feint], [Metal Claw], [Vacuum Wave], [Work Up].

(]}~~<End>~~{[)

This whole page just makes me speechless every-time I see it. I mean there's nothing else this Riolu could fucking need besides some TM moves and more levels.

I had to decrease his talent for obvious reasons like someone stealing my note pad. This will also be done to my other Pokemon to keep them safe.

Riolu is doing well so far with his stamina and moves training. It mostly consistent of weight training and honing his moves.

I'm gonna give him TMs like [Ice Punch] in the future to increase his level a bit more, but I'm gonna hold off till he gets into the double digits.

Also I found out he had the ability [Inner Focus]. The guy just didn't flinch at all and was at all times focused. When in battle Riolu wouldn't pause and would kept on going till told to stop.

(]}~~<Metang Notes>~~{[)

Pokemon: Metang ✨

Level: 24 (Updated)

Talent: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (This is fake)

Ability: ???

Nature: Serious (Neutral)

Attack: 47

Defence: 60

Special Attack: 36

Special Defence: 48

Speed: 35

Moves: [Tackle], [Bullet Punch],[Confusion],[Metal Claw],[Zen Headbutt],[Magnet Rise],[Flash Canon], [Psychic], [Aerial Ace], [Protect], [Light Screen], [Reflect],

(]}~~<End>~~{[)

Metang made the most noticeable progress out of the three obviously with the evolution and is now my strongest Pokemon.

Especially with his defence now hitting 60.

Growlie is now statistically weaker than Metang but even with my bias I doubt Growlie can beat Metang. He's simply too calculating and smart.

Metang might not know the type chart but he can still target weak points and make up his own strategies. I'm just here to make sure he uses the right moves.

Metang paired with his survival knowledge is more than capable to crush a spoilt Growlithe who has minimal fighting experiences as valuable as Metang.

I mean the dude hunted Magnetons which were second stage steel and electric type Pokemon.

(]}~~<Growlie Notes>~~{[)

Pokemon: Growlithe

Level: 22 (Updated)

Talent: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Ability: ???

Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Sp Atk)

Attack: 40

Defence: 31

Special Attack: 40

Special Defence: 32

Speed: 38

Moves: [Ember], [Leer],[Howl],[Crunch],[Flame Wheel],[Helping Hand],[Fire Fang],[Agility],[Psychic Fangs],[Thunder Fang],[Protect],[Swift],[Facade],[Flame Charge],

(]}~~<End>~~{[)

While Beldum is the strongest statistically. The Pokemon that improved the most is Growlithe with the help of TMs.

The six TMs I've given him has helped him reach level 22. Growlie's still got [Flare Blitz] and [Outrage] TMs to use before I'm satisfied with his current moves.

Yeah he has variety but he needs that killer move if you get me. Bill told me to hold off on using the "extremely strong" TMs till last to get the best effects.

While my Pokemon were improving I worked on a side project called Pock. It's a social media app similar to the ones on earth.

I'm going to be releasing it soon and will start to advertise it with my parents help. It will take a few years to take off but after a while it will dominate and make loads of revenue off adds and partnerships.

"Young James, we are going to be visiting the dojo you've requested to join. It will take a few teleports to get there." Hopkins informs me as I fall down from the treadmill.

"Fuck." I groan out as I could feel my muscles dying from the weights. Taking off the weights I look over to Hopkins who had are you serious expression. "What?"

"Are you sure you wanna go to this dojo young James? You wont see us for over two years." Hopkins said with a sad face. Riolu feeling Hopkins sadness walks up to him and gives him a hug.

"I'll miss you guys a lot and I'm willing to admit it. But getting personally trained by a former Champion is too much to pass on."

Saying this I heal up all my Pokemon and then return them to their Pokeballs. Heading over to the dining room, I spot my parents.

"Let's get to business James. What's this about an Adventurers Guild and buying the Cerulean City Gym?"