Diglett Cave (1/3)

[Words: 1425]

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"Huh? I don't get it." Robin said for the umpteenth time as Lora and even Joe facepalmed in the background.

Izan sighed. Again. This girl was a pain in the ass.

The information she gave was surprisingly thorough though. Go to this place, try to avoid doing this or that- things like that. All he'd expected was the location, not general advice or rules about the market. She even gave him information about how to dress to seem inconspicuous and as if he belonged.

That wasn't the issue. The issue stemmed from the fact she learned as fast as a brick could walk.

He knew she was trying to understand, but it was like things went in one ear and out the other. If it weren't for her sometimes astute comments, he would've thought Joe was smarter than her.

She was… weird. Teaching her something was a new level of difficulty. But once she got it, she understood on a level he hadn't intended to teach her.

Scoffing, she kicked a rock. "Look, if you don't want to teach me, you could try teaching me a secret technique or something. I don't know, something to power my Pokemon up, ya know?"

And then there was that.

That was the fourteenth time she'd 'subtly' hinted that she saw him use his power yesterday. Otherwise, why would she ask about techniques to empower attacks again and again?

It was such a left-field topic that not realizing she was spying on him would've made him idiotic.

When he got back, Izan planned to call the cops on her. Snitches got stitches, but she was so annoying.

And on top of that, she was always rude unless Joe was talking or he was teaching her something. And even then, she was still carelessly disrespectful.

Besides, it would be better for everyone if she got put away.

She had illegal items that were taboo even amongst gods. Her attitude was sure to get her into tons of trouble if she wasn't already in some. And she pulled a knife on him. And probably others beside him.

A knife! In the Pokemon world! A world with tameable fifty feet dragons!

If she didn't get put away now and suffer the consequences, she was sure to offend the wrong person. And that person wouldn't hesitate to introduce her to a face full of Hyper Beam.

Being locked up would be a good thing in her case.

But if, after being investigated, she happened to get charges to last her a few decades? Well, that sounded like a personal problem.

He was not being petty. Izan was just a good Samaritan.

"So what part of what I said did you not 'get'?" He asked, ignoring her suggestion completely.

She pouted, pausing to stop and think. That was a first for the day. They were already walking, so it'd been a few hours since everyone woke up and they started talking.

"Well, you said Pokemon level up from a mix of a strong body and a higher amount of energy. But how could that be true? Any typical Abra hasn't moved a finger its whole life and yet they level up fine."

Huh. That was a halfway decent question.

He'd already explained that energy amount increased by constant use, just like muscles. Mastery was a completely different thing, and she kept getting them mixed up.

Though her question was a bit more than just basic information, if it got her to stop saying she didn't 'get it', he'd gladly answer.

"That's because Pokemon have a certain physical-to-energy ratio depending on the species. Some are mostly one side, like Abra, while others are both." He explained.

Her nose scrunched up. He could already hear the 'I don't get it' that was about to come out of her mouth.

Hastily, he elaborated. "For example, your Tyrogue needs an equal balance of a strong body and a good amount of energy. Yet, when it evolves it will rely more on a strong body to level up than a surplus of energy."

Meanwhile, someone like Natu over there needs to constantly use moves every day to train instead of working out. He relies more on energy in that case."

Joe almost teleported in front of them, apparently listening to their conversation. "Ooh, ooh! What about Meowth?!"

Izan snorted, amused. "Both Meowth and their evolution Persian need an almost equal balance of the two. And avoid fattening them up, if you can. A slow Meowth is as useless as a physical Alakazam."

"So you guys evolve into something called a Persian, huh? Well, I guess you guys will just have to be the fastest set of Persians around." Joe declared softly, staring at the three Pokeballs that hung off his backpack.

"Right, right. I think I'm starting to get it now. But I think a cool technique to get Tyrogue to punch through mountains would be helpful. It would let the lesson stick, ya know?" Robin commented, convincing no one.

Izan sighed. "Robin, if you want a cool technique, why don't you ask Joe? He's got a super cool secret technique, doesn't he?"

Perking back up, Joe spoke loudly. "You want to use my super secret technique my family has been developing for thousands of generations? I refuse! It's secret, after all."

Suddenly, Lora joined the conversation by groaning loudly.

"Oh my Arceus, please don't enable him. It's not even an actual secret technique. He's just an idiot and thinks that you can-"

Joe, once again, almost teleported over as he put a hand on Lora's mouth.

"Woah there! Don't be blabbing out my secret technique just because you're jealous." Despite his own words, he had a beaming smile. He was enjoying the attention.

"Wait, you've seen it? He wouldn't even show it to me and he's been talking about his stupid secret technique since we were kids." Robin asked incredulously.

They knew each other since childhood? That explains the infatuation.

Dryly, Lora pointed her finger and Joe's hand was psychically forced off of her face. "Calm down, I won't spill. And yes, I saw it. I was curious so I teleported in during one of his 'training sessions'" She added with air quotes.

"C'mon, you've gotta tell me! This idiot won't even…"

While they all talked, Izan quietly walked from behind, smirking at his successful distraction.

Truth be told, his mind was still racing about the discoveries he'd made the day before. The word 'discovery' being used loosely, as he only followed the instructions laid out in his dreams.

He didn't have a name for his odd power, and it was not Aura, so he just decided to call it Kyouka. A Japanese word that stood for 'strengthen'.

But after trying out a bunch of things with it, he scrapped the name. It was a bit cringy and didn't match what his ability could do.

Thinking that it perhaps worked like Reinforcement from Fate, he activated it again and again on different items. If his assumption was correct, he'd be able to reinforce a stick to the durability of metal.

Yet no matter what he tried, that yielded no results.

When he tried to push the energy outward, it stubbornly refused to move. Instead, there was a vague sense that he could strengthen something attaching himself to Sandshrew.

And after quite a bit of activating and deactivating it, he realized there was something there. He didn't know how long ago it was there, but he could sense the bonds between him and his Pokemon.

He could even sense the bond between him and Nidorino all the way in Vermillion. Except there wasn't one between him and Nidoran.

His conclusion? It must've formed when Nidorino gained sapience. Whatever technology the league used to force sapience through Pokeballs, it also linked the person to their Pokemon.

A power to strengthen both himself and anything that he's abstractly linked to.

Did he have the power of friendship? …Hopefully not.

His thoughts suddenly were interrupted by Joe's loud exclamation.

"Guys! Stop talking about my super awesome once in a million years secret technique already! We're finally here!"

Izan looked around the corner, the road forking into a huge mound of dirt that just sat there in an inconspicuous clearing. Almost the entire mound was just a huge hole, and it didn't look stable at all.

It was completely out of place with the rest of the forest, but it was no doubt.

They finally made it to Diglett's Cave.

A/N:

Don't have a lot of time for editing, so sorry if it's a bit messed up in places.

Random Question: Does anyone have a go-to favorite move? Mine is Aeroblast because back in the day (gen 2), it looked absolutely monstrous.