Grey's POV
After Exeggcute had evolved, a lot of what I wanted to achieve during this week's stay had been completed. While most of my Pokémon hadn't perfected the moves they were practicing, they had at least reached a beginner level where daily practice and actual battle experience would gradually improve their efficiency and mastery over those moves.
The biggest benefit of this entire week was that my Pokémon got to train with partners much stronger than themselves, except in Exeggcute's case. That alone had pushed their battle IQ up quite a bit. This was especially true for Persian, at least from what I could see.
A lot would be settled today and tomorrow, as I would be leaving the day after tomorrow.
Firstly, tomorrow morning Bill would be giving me both the TM for Solarbeam and all the Pokéfood I had ordered and paid for at the start of the week. I would only be carrying a limited amount of it during my travels. Well, technically I wouldn't be carrying it.
Exeggutor would.
Either through Psychic or Confusion, it would lift the bag and walk alongside me on the road.
This was something Bill, Exeggutor, and I had discussed after I told Bill that while Nurse Joy had given me permission to leave Vermilion City, I couldn't immediately start carrying a heavy backpack. Doing so might strain or even tear the healing tissue on my back.
The wound itself had barely closed through natural healing, assisted by platelets and a small amount of Ditto-cell treatment. While the injury was now closed, it still didn't look normal. There would probably be a circular scar on my back, and even after a month, when the healing process finished and the tissue fully recovered, there would likely still be some evidence of it.
I could walk now, but there was still a faint pain in my back, almost like an itch that wouldn't go away.
Taking all of that into account, Exeggutor volunteered to carry the bag either on its head or through Confusion.
According to it, walking alongside me was training in itself.
Evolution had suddenly given it two proper legs, and it needed time to adjust to using them. Walking with me would help it get used to its new body, while using Confusion in small controlled amounts would further improve its psychic control.
Apparently, just like with Cloyster, evolution had brought a lot of changes that Exeggutor now needed to adapt to.
Firstly, I gave it my own analysis of its situation.
Before evolving, it could simply levitate away from danger whenever it wanted. While it could still technically do that now, it also had legs. Learning proper footwork and movement would make it far more versatile in battle.
Secondly, unlike before, where Exeggcute could split its heads apart and use that signature dodging style of its species, Exeggutor could no longer do that.
Because of this, it would have to figure out alternative defensive options.
It could take attacks while protecting itself with Reflect and Confusion, or it could simply learn proper evasive movement and dodge left or right using its legs.
Personally, I was fine with either approach.
Exeggutor, however, was a training maniac and one of the most ambitious Pokémon I had ever met.
Naturally, it wanted to learn both.
It wanted better movement and better psychic control.
Honestly, I wasn't surprised.
The rest of the day followed a similar routine.
After the evolution and the discussions surrounding it, I continued my own recovery training while my Pokémon resumed their respective training programs.
Exeggutor, however, was paired with a new Pokémon that Surge had recently introduced.
The two of them were taken outside the main gym area to a separate open space.
Both Surge and I agreed on this after seeing Exeggutor's evolution and hearing it outright state that its Psychic had become ridiculously powerful.
The last thing either of us wanted was for Exeggutor to accidentally demolish part of Surge's gym after he had been such a generous host.
Kind enough to let me train here, anyway.
The guy was still a douchebag.
The new Pokémon Surge introduced was also part of his eighth-badge-level team, though according to him, it had the potential to eventually reach his main team. Apparently, it had climbed the ranks among his Gym Pokémon extremely quickly.
The Pokémon turned out to be an Eelektross.
I was honestly surprised to see a Pokémon from Unova.
I immediately asked Surge what the deal was.
Even Erika had a Servine she was currently training, and now Surge had an Eelektross.
What was with Gym Leaders suddenly collecting Pokémon from entirely different regions?
Surge told me that, over the past few years, international relations between the regions had started to improve. Because of that, Gym Leaders now traveled to other regions during their vacations, both to relax and to catch new Pokémon they felt would make good additions to their teams.
Surge had been to Alola and Unova on vacation, while Erika had gone to Unova and Hoenn to catch Pokémon for herself and for her clan. Besides, Surge told me that while Gym Leaders were Badge holders and mentors of sorts who tested trainers to foster their growth, the Gym Leaders themselves also strived to become stronger. Whether it was improving their main teams or raising new Pokémon to that level, they were constantly working to grow.
After all, they were technically the guardians of their cities, at least when it came to military or Pokémon-related matters. On top of that, there were a few Gym Leaders who aspired to reach the Elite Four, so they actively sought out rare Pokémon or individuals with exceptional potential among their species.
Personally, Surge wasn't particularly interested in becoming a member of the Elite Four, but he still wanted to make his team stronger simply for the sake of growth.
With that explanation out of the way, both Exeggutor and Eelektross began their battle. There wasn't really going to be any training involved. I only had one more day left in Vermilion, so we had decided to simply let them battle it out.
For Exeggutor, it was a chance to explore its new capabilities and growth after evolution. For Eelektross, it was another strong opponent to fight, alongside whatever Surge was throwing at it through Gym battles, training exercises, and matches against members of his main and eight-badge teams to foster its growth.
Surge told me this Pokémon had been a fantastic addition to his roster. Not only did it have Levitate, allowing it to ignore Ground-type attacks entirely, but its personality was incredibly stubborn. No matter what challenge Surge threw at it, Eelektross would stubbornly stand its ground and keep fighting.
Honestly, I wasn't surprised. That sounded exactly like the kind of Pokémon Surge would like.
Both Pokémon entered the field, and the battle began almost immediately. Neither I nor Surge gave any commands. The entire point was to identify any weaknesses Exeggutor might have after evolving, beyond the obvious ones we already knew about, similar to what we had done with Cloyster earlier in the week.
Eelektross opened with Thunderbolt.
The sheer size, power, and speed of the attack were intimidating. As the electric beam raced toward Exeggutor, I realized just how far Persian still had to go. It had made progress with Thunderbolt, sure, but it might never reach this level of raw power. Then again, Persian wasn't an Electric-type. Surge must have trained this Pokémon relentlessly for its electric attacks to become this strong.
I was curious about how Exeggutor would respond, and then I saw it.
Exeggutor raised its heads, and a wave of psychic energy erupted from its body.
The Thunderbolt froze in midair.
Not slowed.
Not weakened.
Stopped.
The newly learned Psychic not only halted the Thunderbolt dead in its tracks, but the pressure released by the clash tore up the ground beneath them. Dirt, rocks, and chunks of earth were ripped apart from the sheer force of the collision.
It was a good thing we had moved this battle outside.
Eelektross immediately realized this wasn't going to be another routine sparring session or endurance exercise against weaker Pokémon.
No.
This opponent was actually going to be fun.
The battle continued, and both Pokémon began ramping up their strategies.
Exeggutor used Sunny Day, bathing the battlefield in bright sunlight. Suddenly, despite having only recently evolved and gained legs, it was sprinting around far faster than I expected. The sunlight seemed to energize it immensely.
Eelektross responded by creating Electric Terrain, flooding the battlefield with crackling electricity that boosted the power of its Electric-type attacks.
As the fight dragged on, both Pokémon accumulated injuries.
Exeggutor was using Synthesis whenever it found an opening, while Eelektross continued firing powerful Electric-type attacks from every angle.
Then came the turning point.
Still getting used to its new body, Exeggutor rushed forward a little too quickly and lost its balance.
For a brief moment, it stumbled.
That single mistake was all Eelektross needed.
The electric eel immediately capitalized on the opening, unleashing a barrage of Electric-type attacks before Exeggutor could recover its footing.
Despite its newly learned Psychic, the combination of Electric Terrain and Eelektross's naturally powerful attacks was simply overwhelming. Exeggutor found itself on the defensive almost instantly.
To make matters worse, Eelektross knew Flamethrower.
Under the sunlight created by Exeggutor itself, the move became even stronger.
A torrent of fire engulfed the battlefield, and Exeggutor suddenly found itself fighting against both boosted Electric attacks and sun-enhanced Flamethrowers at the same time.
This led to its loss, but that was fine. This was only a practice battle, and Exeggutor had intentionally fought a much tougher opponent to improve itself.
I withdrew Exeggutor and took it to the Pokémon Center to heal.
The rest of the day continued in the same monotonous routine of training, breaks, and relaxation.
Eventually, the final day arrived.
Bill handed me the TM for Solarbeam and told me that he had actually managed to find a deal regarding both Protect and Teleport. The catch was that he could get reusable versions of both TMs, but I would only receive them at the end of the month.
That was perfectly fine with me. Getting both moves immediately wasn't a priority, and having a reusable TM for Protect would be incredibly useful in the long run.
Bill also told me that the Cloyster line could learn Teleport, which was interesting to note since I hadn't known that before. Apparently, it was even worse at using the move than the Exeggcute line since it wasn't a Psychic-type. Still, I appreciated the fact that the TMs would be reusable. Even if their delivery was delayed, both Pokémon eventually learning the move would be useful.
Besides, I wouldn't really need Teleport until much later. After clearing the Pewter Gym, I planned to return to Celadon and then head toward Saffron from there, so there was still plenty of time before the move became important.
Bill also gave me the food I had ordered: custom-made Pokémon food tailored to each of my Pokémon's typings. I mixed it with their regular Pokéfood today, and they seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.
Today, I had decided not to train. Even Surge told me to take it easy since I would be leaving tomorrow.
Instead, I spent the day roaming around Vermilion City and exploring it properly.
I found a great seafood restaurant and even dragged Bill along to try some local street food. The guy was rich enough that he had probably never eaten from a street vendor before, but to his credit, he enjoyed it a lot once he tried it and immediately wanted more.
I also visited the Pokémon Fan Club just to look around and ended up meeting the president there. He was delighted to see my Pokémon and spent quite a bit of time talking about them.
Unfortunately, I also ran into that one scammer who was trying to sell Magikarp. The moment I recognized him, I steered away in the opposite direction.
All in all, it was an interesting day. I visited quite a few places, enjoyed the city one last time, and spent time with my Pokémon before returning to the Pokémon Center.
Tomorrow, I would finally begin my journey toward Cerulean City.
With that thought in mind, I went to sleep.
Author's Note: Hello all, this note is to request anyone that wants to be featured in a reaction chapter to comment to this note , the chapter after the next one will be a reaction chapter. That said we are back to the travelling aspect after a long time hope you guys enjoy such parts as well.Also I am thinking of giving the poll after the 75th chapter as a celebration of sorts. The poll can be of anything ranging from choice of pokemon to direction of fic to even love interest i will think which one I want to put but the other things will come into picture later as future polls .