12 Knowledge and Strength

"Nggggg..." I groaned into the couch in frustration, both sexual and internal, at the unreasonably erotic bath I just had.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed every single moment of it. But that was exactly the problem to me.

Even in Daisy's case, who was three years older than May, Dawn and I, we were too young for such things like what had taken place in the bath earlier. We were so young that I had been wondering who taught May and Dawn to use their hands and mouths in such a way, but I had gotten my answer soon after we got out of the bath.

"So what did he do?"

"How did he like it?"

"How many times?"

While I was crashed on the couch fighting an internal battle, I could hear mom, Johanna, and Caroline interrogating Daisy, May and Dawn about how the bath went.

Thankfully they had prohibited the girls from going all the way, but they taught them plenty of OTHER things that had been tried out in the bath. Things that severely strained my intention to wait until we were older....

And naturally all three were completely and utterly embarrassed at the things they did to me, to the point where they wouldn't look me in the eye afterwards. And unfortunately for them, the three moms wanted to know EVERYTHING.

"Ri?" A chirp from Riolu made me turn to look at him, having arrived from his exploration when he presumably sensed my frustration.

"Hey buddy. Find anything interesting?"

"Ri?"

"Yeah I'm fine, just a little frustrated. Tell you what, when you're older I'll find you a bunch of female Lucario to make your own harem, and you'll understand." The confused look Riolu showed made me crack a small smile as I awkwardly turned over on the couch, before sitting up with a groan.

Alright, let's have dinner then!" I declared before hobbling into the dining room, where I had the most awkward meal of my life.

...

Even without my alarm clock going off I was the first one to wake in my house in the morning, years of routine working as my eyes shot open before the first rays of light could enter my window.

Riolu similarly woke upon sensing that I was awake, and began to stretch as he too got up.

"Aren't we eager?" I said with a teasing tone, to which he gave a quick jerk of his head while his aura flared up in excitement.

"Let me get dressed first." I said with a smirk before I struggled to change my shirt and pants, which I would admit was a fair bit easier to do when I had three other sets of hands helping me.

Despite my frustrations and restraint, I found myself smiling as I recalled the events of the night before.

Riolu however didn't care for my reminiscence as he pushed me to finish getting ready. So, calling my outfit good with a t-shirt and shorts, I grabbed my notes and drawing utensils before slowly making my way to the backyard.

Sitting in the middle of the yard with my left leg crossed while my right leg stuck out due to the cast, I pointed to the spot in front of me so Riolu would sit as well. I then turned my notebook to a fresh page before beginning,

"Alright then! Before we begin seriously training we need to determine a proper routine and outline of what it is you want to achieve." I then created five columns on the paper before labeling them at the top, and showing it to him as I explained,

"The five main categories to consider is strength(attack), inner strength(special attack), defense, special defense, and speed.

"Strength is basic physical attack power, like punching and kicking. Inner strength refers to attacks that aren't made with your body, like the Ember and Incinerate the Houndoom used before(Riolu clenched his little paws when I reminded him of that). Defense of course refers to how well you can take a hit like punches and kicks, while special defense means how well you can takes attacks using inner strength, like the Incinerate. And finally, speed refers to how swiftly you can move, as well as attack. Any questions so far?"

"Ri lu Riolu?"

"Well it's simple, these are the different branches we need to train to cover your basics. Once we establish a good enough foundation in each of these different attributes, then we can work on actual combat and attacks." As I said that I highlighted strength and speed before continuing,

"In your case we should focus a bit more on these two since the majority of your attacks will rely on strength, while your size as well as the size of your evolved form, Lucario, means you can be agile enough to try to avoid attacks entirely. Inner strength is also important since it includes our aura, but we can train that one together by meditating at night before we go to bed."

"Riolu?"

"We can wait until you grow and develop more muscle before training defense and special defense, and there's also several moves that can be learned that will increase each of these temporarily, so we need to focus on learning them as well." I then wrote the names of some of the moves I had in mind, Agility, Swords Dance, Iron Defense, and Bulk Up, as well as the stats they affected when used.

After explaining a few more details regarding this topic to Riolu, as well as deciding some exercises he was going to do to work on them, I moved on to the next topic as I told him,

"Now then, from now on mornings will be dedicated towards either training your body or helping me at professor Oak's, and then you'll join us when we attend our lessons at noon."

"Ri!"

"Yes you will, knowledge is just as important as strength when it comes to fighting, especially against different types of Pokemon. Each line of Pokemon has different ways in which they fight, and on top of that they each have different styles they use to ensure victory."

I then pulled out a couple drawings I had done in the past, one depicting what appeared to be a humanoid chicken, while the other was a monkey with a crown of flames.

"These are drawings I did of Pokemon known as Blaziken, and Infernape. They're both fire and fighting types, so they use the same style of fighting, right?" Riolu readily nodded at my assumption in affirmation, before I surprised him by shouting,

"Wrong! Blaziken are primarily kickers, so they rely heavily on their legs to attack while their claws can also be used for slashing and delivering fiery punches. Infernape however are wild and unpredictable, using a fighting style unique to them that involves their entire body as they move in a way similar to dancing.

"Even if they share the same typing, the way move and battle is completely different. Plus they would also have the type advantage over you, since Lucario have a steel typing that is weak to fire and fighting. If you ever fought either of them, you would be at a disadvantage and would need to know HOW they fight to defeat them."

I then leaned forward and lightly tapped Riolu's forehead with my pencil, and stated firmly, "remember, for any warrior knowledge is just as important as strength. If you know your opponent, then you know how to defeat them."

Riolu was silent as he digested what I told him, which was a harsh lesson I had learned in my previous life from experience. Every fighter has his own style, and by knowing their style I was able to learn how to counter them in the ring.

After drilling the importance of knowledge into my partner's head, we then started going over which exercises were better for the categories I highlighted for training. Naturally we stuck to a few of the basics due to the lack of equipment we could use, which would change in another week or two when the stuff I ordered from the catalogs arrived. Thank you Giovanni.

As for the second briefcase of money that Giana had 'gifted' me, it was currently in my closet as I tried to decide what to do with it. I didn't want to accept a bribe from Team Rocket, but the practical part of me was saying it was money I could put to use since they already gave it to me.

Riolu and I spent so long deciding on an outline for his regimen, that when he was about to start the actual training the backdoor to the house opened, and mom appeared with a couple plates.

"Good morning! How about some breakfast?" Mom asked as she brought Riolu and I the plates, to which I said awkwardly,

"We can eat at the table mom..." Delia however shook her head as she stated,

"You need to rest so your arm and leg can heal. So I'll make an exception this time." Saying so, mom then turned around and left Riolu and I to our breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes.

"Ri?" Riolu asked as he warily examined the pancakes, while I just started digging in. Seeing me eat them, Riolu hesitantly took a bite of his own pancakes, before his eyes lit up.

"Ri!" Riolu cried out before he began to scarf down the chocolate filled pan bread.

I watched in amazement as the little Pokemon ate ravenously and messily, getting melted chocolate all over his paws and face as he ate, and even licking the plate clean when he had finished. And then amazingly, he directed a sharp look at the pancakes on my plate, making me protect them as I stated,

"My pancakes! Go ask mom if you want more!"

"Ri!" Crying out indignantly, Riolu hurriedly rushed into the house to get more pancakes, where I then heard mom chastising him for being so messy.

When both of us had eaten our fill, and Riolu was laying on the grass with a slightly bulging belly, it was finally time to begin his training.

With next to no encouragement, Riolu rolled to his feet and began his first exercise, which was a run around town to warm up and help burn off the food he'd just ate. Naturally I didn't go with him due to my leg, but I trusted my partner to not slack off in his training in the slightest.

While I would have to keep an eye on Ash when I tried to get him to train with me, I had no such concerns with Riolu since he was fighting type. Most fighting type Pokemon lived solely for the grind, to the point that one of their greatest threats could be damaging themselves in their endless quest for strength.

While he was doing that, I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing as I channeled my aura.

While I believed I had a pretty good grasp on controlling my aura until now, Riolu hatching had apparently fully awakened my latent powers. Blasting the door down at the hospital, my outburst on the reporters, and the hand imprint I left on the door when threatening Giana were all indications of how powerful my aura was now, and how little control I had over it.

With my leg and arm still encased in casts, I planned to use the next week to train and refine my aura in place of my usual training.

Emptying my mind, I focused on the well of energy I could sense within my body before allowing it to spread throughout myself. Though there was a bit of pain in my arm and leg when I did this, I could feel strength filling my muscles that I hadn't possessed before, while my senses multiplied drastically.

I could hear people moving about and getting ready in their homes, mom making Ash get up to get ready to go to professor Oak's, and even Riolu panting as he ran on his circuit.

I could smell and taste foods that were being prepared in the different homes, as well as the numerous flowers and berries that were being grown around town and in the forests.

And when I opened my eyes, I could count individual blades of grass on the other side of the yard, and even see the individual grains of wood on the side of the house.

Closing my eyes again, I went back to focusing on channeling and controlling my aura, so that I could control the output instead of letting it run wild.

...

Hours passed as I meditated and Riolu trained on his own, having already learned how to do the exercises from me beforehand. I was temporarily excused from spending my morning working at the professor's, so I spent that time meditating instead until it was almost time for our classes to begin.

When I decided to stop meditating and opened my eyes though, I was surprised to find May and Dawn laying on the ground next to me, with their heads on my thighs to use them as a pillow.

Feeling me stir after staying still for so long, both girls similarly began to get up as I joked,

"Back for more huh?" Though they cocked their heads in confusion, I looked at my lap pointedly, helping them understand my meaning as they both turned red.

"Pervert..." May uttered in embarrassment, even before she planted a kiss on my cheek.

Though I wanted to make a joke about knowing where those lips of hers had been, I decided to refrain from teasing the two of them further, as it looked like Dawn was about to pass out as she too gave me a kiss.

Instead I grabbed them both by the shoulders and pulled them down with me as I laid down backwards, surprising them as they suddenly found themselves laying partially on me. Both girls soon got comfortable snuggling against me as we laid together in the grass, watching the clouds pass overhead as I flexed the muscles in my legs to get the feeling back in them after sitting for so long.

"Daisy said that your guy's lesson is going to begin soon." Dawn eventually uttered, making the three of us reluctantly get up as we prepared to go.

First I collected my notes and drawings from earlier and went to put them away, which Dawn and May both said were really good. After that the three of us began making our way down the road to professor Oak's lab, while I sent Riolu my intent through our link.

Though reluctantly, the little Pokemon quickly caught up with us on the way to the lab while the girls were telling me about their morning before coming to my house, which mostly consisted of them helping Daisy and Ash perform our usual tasks.

When we arrived at the lab though, I was surprised to only find professors Rowen and Birch waiting for us, with professor Oak nowhere to be seen.

"Where's professor Oak?" I asked the two, to which the latter explained,

"Oak had something he needed to go take care of, so the two of us will be in charge of your lessons today!"

Saying that, the two professors led us out the backdoor of the lab and into an open area, before Birch took out a few Pokeballs.

"Today you guys will be meeting some Pokemon found only in the Hoenn and Sinnoh regions." Saying so, he activated the Pokeballs and a group of Pokemon we had never seen in person before appeared before us, Camerupt, Tropius, Absol, Manetric, Walrein, and Altaria.

Professor Rowen meanwhile similarly activated his Pokeballs, revealing a Luxray, Vespiquen, Gastrodon, Drifblim, Bronzong, and Abomasnow.

Needless to say it was very interesting lesson.