(Grey's POV)
Before leaving the quiet, fog-stained streets of Lavender Town, I made one final stop at the local Poké Mart. I had a specific tactical need: a high-output, heavy-duty flashlight.
I'd asked the clerk if he had a TM for Flash, but he'd shaken his head, explaining that the move was becoming increasingly rare in disc form lately. It didn't matter; my next destination was Route 10 and the dreaded Rock Tunnel. I needed to cut through the mountain to reach the outskirts of Cerulean City, from where I'd trek down to Vermilion for my third official badge.
The plan was clear in my head, a roadmap for growth. Once I handled the electric powerhouse in Vermilion, I'd circle back to Cerulean for my fourth. While Route 10 was barren of sanctioned facilities, I'd heard rumors of a minor gym operating near the Vermilion docks.
If my upcoming matches went as planned, I could have five badges by the time I left Cerulean. Mr. Fuji being taken for interrogation had cost me the Spook Badge for now, but the realization that I could bypass the high-level Viridian Gym entirely by hunting down minor circuits was a massive relief.
I hit the road, the rhythmic crunch of my boots on the dirt of Route 10 providing a steady beat for my thoughts.
After a few hours of travel, I found a secluded clearing near a stream and signaled for a break. My Pokémon emerged from their balls, sensing the shift from travel to training. I prepared their specialized high-protein meals, watching them eat as I brainstormed our next steps.
Meowth was the most straightforward project. I pulled out the TMs for Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball. My goal was to turn him into a nightmare for the Ghost and Psychic types that seemed to be becoming a recurring theme in my life. By layering these spectral moves with his existing Night Slash, and perhaps Pursuit in the future, he'd become a dedicated anti-meta assassin.
Shellder was a different story. He needed more elemental coverage. I wanted to help him learn Aurora Beam, a move naturally occurring in his evolutionary line but one he hadn't grasped yet. I didn't have a TM for it, so I'd have to figure out how to bridge the gap from Icy Wind. I pulled out my Pokégear to see if the Pokenet forums had any creative training regimes for it.
Axew, honestly, was a victim of his own genius. He had learned so many high-tier moves at such a terrifying pace that I was actually running out of things to teach him without a Swords Dance or Dragon Claw TM. Instead of forcing a new move, I decided to focus on stabilization and synergy. I wanted him to pair Strength with Rock Smash—using the raw physical power of the former to set up the armor-crushing impact of the latter.
Exeggcute was the wild card. I'd drafted a message to Erika asking for advice on teaching it Sunny Day and Synthesis, but I hadn't received a reply yet. She was likely swamped with gym challengers. In the meantime, I told Exeggcute to focus entirely on its psychic output. The goal was to refine Confusion into a more pressurized, surgical strike—eventually forcing its brain to unlock the move Psychic through sheer mental repetition.
As they finished their meals, I noticed something. Axew and Meowth were changing. Their fur and scales were taking on a sharper luster, and they both looked an inch or two taller than they had been in Celadon. They were outgrowing their "infant" stages fast. Meowth in particular was moving with a sleekness that suggested his evolution into Persian was only a few weeks away. Axew had a longer road ahead of him, but the draconic aura around him was becoming more palpable by the day.
I set them to work. Meowth took to the TMs with a focused intensity, practicing the channeling of ghostly energy into his claws. I told Axew to act as a sparring partner, testing out move combinations like Cross Slash paired with Strength to see what felt natural.
I sat back and scrolled through a Pokenet thread titled: [GUIDE] Forcing Elemental Shifts: Shellder Edition.
User: IceQueen92: If your Shellder is stuck on Icy Wind, try having it hold a chilled Never-Melt Ice while focusing its breath through a narrow aperture. It's about refracting the cold into a beam rather than a gust.
User: LoreleiFan: RT.If you dont have said item making it imagine aurora's from images and then trying to replicate it in a form of a beam by concentrating the cold energy
I took the advice, setting Shellder up with a refractive crystal I'd found in my loot bag and telling him to focus its cold energy in a beam form I also should it the move from the internet and showed it aurora's in colder places as a reference. Then, I checked my messages. Still nothing from Erika. I sighed, pocketing the device, and watched my team work.
The rest of the journey along Route 10 was a gauntlet of low-level trainers. Most of them were locals with Zubats and Glooms—easy pickings for my team. Meowth was in his element, using the battles to test his new "ghostly" grip and snatching loose items from the tall grass as we walked.
Third Person POV
The sun was beginning to dip behind the peaks of the Rock Tunnel when Grey encountered a trainer who stood out from the usual crop of hikers and bird keepers. The young man was wearing a lab coat over a tactical vest, his eyes shielded by thick, high-tech goggles. He was busy recording the movement patterns of a wild Machop when Grey approached.
The man looked up, his eyes widening as they landed on the green-scaled dragon hatchling walking beside Grey.
"Hey! Friend, stay right there!" the stranger shouted, scrambling for his camera. "That is an incredibly rare specimen you've got there."
Grey's shoulders tensed immediately, his hand hovering near his belt. "Which one?" he asked, his voice low and guarded.
The stranger gestured frantically toward Axew. "You know which one! The Haxorus line... in Kanto? That's unheard of!"
Grey didn't relax. "What do you want with him?"
"Whoa, easy!" The man held up his hands, revealing a digital clipboard. "No need to be hostile. I'm Shion—I'm a Pokémaniac, but not the 'creepy stalker' kind. I'm an intern at a research institute. I record data on rare species and behavior. I don't steal, and frankly, I doubt I could even get a dragon like that under control if I tried. I just want to observe."
Grey eyed the man for a long moment before nodding. "Fine. As long as you don't irritate him."
For the next ten minutes, Shion was a whirlwind of activity. He circled Axew from various angles, taking high-resolution photos and muttering notes about scale density and horn development. Axew was patient at first, but eventually, he let out a sharp, guttural growl, flashing his tusks at the lens.
"Alright, alright! I get it," Shion laughed, stepping back.
"Don't send those photos anywhere public," Grey warned. "I'm not interested in being poached by every 'collector' in the region."
Shion reached into his vest and pulled out an official ID card. "I work for an institute focused on habitats and psychology. My thesis is on how environment dictates aggression. I won't leak your location, I promise. But... since I'm here, would you be open to a 2v2 match? I'd love to see how your team handles a non-standard matchup."
Grey gave a sharp nod. "Let's do it."
The first round pitted Meowth against Shion's Lickitung. It was an agonizing battle of attrition. The Lickitung was surprisingly agile, using its long, prehensile tongue to keep Meowth at a distance. Every time Meowth tried to close in, a Lick attack threatened to paralyze him. The pink Pokémon then tried to transition into a Rollout, gaining momentum as it bounced across the clearing.
Meowth struggled, his usual hit-and-run tactics being countered by the Lickitung's sheer bulk and reach. In the end, it was a creative use of Pay Day that turned the tide. Meowth pelted the Lickitung with a concentrated barrage of coins, forcing it to break its Rollout to shield its face. In that split second of distraction, Meowth dove in for a series of high-speed Night Slashes, wearing the heavy Pokémon down until it finally collapsed. Grey withdrew Meowth immediately; the cat was panting heavily, his stamina nearly depleted from the constant maneuvering.
"Impressive speed," Shion noted, clicking a button on his belt. "But let's see how you handle this. Absol, go!"
Grey froze for a second as the sleek, white-furred disaster Pokémon materialized. "An Absol? In Kanto?"
"Caught him during an internship under Professor Birch in Hoenn," Shion explained with a grin. "His psychology fascinated me—how people perceive him as a bringer of doom when he's actually trying to warn them. He's my partner."
The battle was a masterclass in dark-type technicality. Axew and Absol clashed in the center of the field, their Night Slashes sparking as they met. Axew was stronger, but Absol was a veteran of Hoenn's harsh terrain. The white wolf-like Pokémon used Psycho Cut to fire blades of psychic energy from its horn, keeping Axew from getting into his preferred close-quarters range.
Axew was getting frustrated, his attacks whistling through empty air as Absol danced away. Sensing the shift, Grey called for a tactical distraction. "Axew, Dragon Rage! Full power!"
A blue-hot burst of draconic fire erupted from Axew's mouth, blinding the Absol for a heartbeat. Axew didn't wait. He lunged through the smoke, his body glowing with the white light of Strength. He caught the Absol mid-leap, slamming into it with a dual Rock Smash—one hit from each hand. The Absol, despite its power, was fragile. The combined force of the empowered smash sent it skidding across the dirt, unconscious before it hit the ground.
Shion sighed, recalling his partner. "Man, that dragon hits like a truck. You've done some incredible work with him."
Grey and Shion exchanged numbers, the Pokémaniac promising to send Grey any interesting research papers on dragon-type synergy he came across. As the sun finally disappeared, Grey looked toward the massive, dark Maw of the Rock Tunnel. He checked his flashlight, felt the weight of his team's Pokéballs on his belt, and began to walk. The darkness of the tunnel awaited, and for the first time, he felt ready for it.
Author's Note: Continuing with the third person POV as it is working a bit and the battles look like the trainers are commanding it