Third Person POV
The next day arrived, and it was time for Grey to leave Pewter City and continue his journey toward Heart Village.
After getting everything ready in the morning, Grey checked the map he had with him once more. The traditional route toward the next major destination would take him through Mt. Moon, but that wasn't the only option available. According to the map, there were several lesser-known paths branching off from Route 3 that could eventually lead toward Heart Village.
Grey decided to take one of those paths.
There wasn't any particular reason for him to go through Mt. Moon again when there was another route available, especially since he had already spent enough time in the area during his previous journey. If anything, taking the alternate route would let him see another part of Kanto that he hadn't explored before.
So, early in the morning, Grey made his way toward Route 3.
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Grey's POV
The walk toward the off-route path was already starting to get tiring.
Not unbearably so, but it was definitely a long walk.
Thankfully, I had gotten pretty used to travelling on foot by now. After spending so much time moving from one city to another, walking for several hours a day had become a normal part of my routine. According to the map, reaching Heart Village from this route would take roughly two days on foot, assuming I didn't run into any major problems along the way.
Two days wasn't really that bad.
I had travelled for longer stretches before.
As I continued along Route 3, I occasionally encountered trainers who wanted to battle me. Since I wasn't in any particular hurry, I decided to humour most of them.
The majority of the trainers around this area weren't particularly strong. Charmeleon had an especially easy time dealing with many of them, which wasn't surprising considering the level difference between my Pokémon and most of the trainers here.
The hikers were a different story, though.
Most of them carried Rock-type Pokémon, and while they weren't exactly dangerous opponents, they at least provided some useful training for my team. Whenever I came across one of those trainers, I usually brought out either Exeggutor or Heracross and let them have some fun.
Exeggutor, in particular, had been getting some interesting training recently.
Most of its battles nowadays weren't about whether it could overpower the opponent. It was more about how well it could control itself.
After evolving, Exeggutor had suddenly gone from having a single body with relatively normal movement to having multiple heads and extra set of legs. It had taken some time for it to get completely comfortable with the change, but now it had gotten surprisingly good at moving around.
During battles, it would deliberately focus on avoiding attacks instead of simply overpowering everything in front of it.
It had become quite good at it too.
Exeggutor would move away from incoming attacks, sometimes walking or quickly shifting its entire body out of the way in ways that still amused me whenever I watched it. It had clearly become much more comfortable with its new body.
Its Psychic and Grass-type attacks were as strong as ever.
If I wanted to, Exeggutor could probably overwhelm most of these trainers almost immediately with Psychic.
But I didn't want that.
There was no point in crushing weaker trainers so badly that they couldn't even understand what happened.
Instead, Exeggutor had been learning to control the strength of its attacks. It could weaken its Psychic enough to defeat an opponent cleanly without completely overwhelming them, which was another result of the training it had been doing over the last few days.
It was a useful skill.
Exeggutor hadn't gotten many opportunities to battle recently, mostly because it was simply too strong for the regular trainers around this level.
That was going to change soon enough, though.
My next major targets were Saffron City and Cinnabar Island.
Sabrina and Blaine were both extremely capable trainers, and unlike most of the trainers I had been facing on the road, they could actually push Exeggutor.
Saffron would be my seventh badge.
Cinnabar would be my eighth.
Whether I would even use Exeggutor for the Cinnabar Gym was another question entirely, though.
Blaine's Fire-types weren't exactly the best matchup for it.
Still, having Exeggutor ready for both of those battles gave me another option, and I was going to need every option I could get if I wanted to finish the Indigo League circuit.
Heracross, meanwhile, had been having a much more straightforward time.
The hikers' Rock-type Pokémon had practically become its personal training partners.
At this point, Heracross was becoming something of a bane for Rock-types.
Every time someone sent out a Graveler or another Rock-type Pokémon, Heracross would immediately charge forward with Brick Break, smashing through rock formations and cracking apart whatever defensive moves the opponent tried to put up.
It was honestly becoming a little ridiculous.
Most of the trainers I encountered had Pokémon like Graveler, Sandslash, Zubat, and Golbat. Some of the weaker trainers didn't even have the fully evolved forms, instead relying on their pre-evolutions.
None of them were particularly challenging for my team anymore, but they still provided useful practice.
For Charmeleon, it was mostly another opportunity to sharpen her battle instincts.
For Exeggutor, it was a chance to practise movement and attack control.
For Heracross, it was apparently another opportunity to beat up Rock-types.
So, all things considered, the battles were still worthwhile.
By the time afternoon arrived, I finally reached the point where the route split.
I checked my map once again.
The main path continued toward Mt. Moon, while the smaller path branched away toward Heart Village.
I turned toward the smaller path.
"This should be it."
The difference was noticeable almost immediately.
The road wasn't nearly as smooth as the one I had been travelling on before.
Actually...
Calling it a road might have been generous.
The path was uneven and poorly maintained, with sections of dirt, exposed rocks, and patches where vegetation had started growing back over what was supposed to be a proper walking route.
I looked around.
It almost felt as though nobody bothered maintaining this place.
Then again...
I guess that made sense.
Most of the people living around here were probably from smaller villages, and there wasn't exactly a huge incentive for the government to spend resources maintaining every single road in remote areas.
I wasn't exactly an expert on Kanto's political system, but even I could figure out how things worked.
The villages probably didn't have enough political influence to matter much during elections, assuming elections were even relevant for the position being discussed. A lot of the major positions in Kanto weren't simply decided through elections anyway. Merit, especially in Pokémon battles, seemed to play a ridiculous role in determining who held important positions.
And considering how much the average trainer understood about things like tenders and government contracts...
Yeah.
Maybe roads like this simply weren't considered a priority.
I sighed.
Well, whatever.
It wasn't like standing here and thinking about the government's infrastructure policies was going to magically repair the road.
I had somewhere to be.
I needed to reach Heart Village.
Besides, if my legs really started hurting from walking over this ridiculous path, I could always just release Exeggutor and let it carry me for a while.
I looked at the tall Grass-type walking nearby.
"Don't think I won't make you walk me there if this gets any worse."
Exeggutor simply stared at me with all three of its heads.
I wasn't entirely sure whether it understood what I had said.
But judging from the expression on its faces...
It probably did.
With a small sigh, I adjusted my bag and continued walking down the poorly maintained road toward Heart Village.
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Third Person POV
Grey continued walking for some time before eventually deciding to take a break. He found a suitable spot beside the path and released all six of his Pokémon from their Poké Balls. The moment they came out, the group naturally began mingling with one another, talking and moving around as they usually did whenever they were given some time outside their Poké Balls.
Exeguttor and Cloyster, as usual, somehow managed to get into an argument within minutes. Whatever the argument was about, neither seemed particularly interested in backing down, forcing Fraxure to step between them before things could escalate any further. Persian, meanwhile, was doing what Persian did best and simply minded its own business, completely uninterested in whatever nonsense the others were getting involved in.
Surprisingly, Heracross had approached Charmeleon and appeared to be giving her some sort of advice. Grey watched the two for a moment before narrowing his eyes slightly.
"I just hope you're actually teaching her something useful and haven't given her some kind of brainrot."
He wasn't entirely convinced.
Once everyone had settled down, Grey gathered the group and distributed their daily meals. Each Pokémon had a diet specifically prepared for its needs, with the food adjusted according to its species, training requirements, and overall development. Most of them still enjoyed their meals despite eating the same general food every day, although Grey suspected that some of them had started finding the routine somewhat monotonous.
Still, he made sure to give them something different whenever he could. Whenever they won a Gym badge, he would usually take the team to a restaurant and let them enjoy a proper meal as a reward for their hard work. It wasn't something he could do every day, but having something special to look forward to after a major victory seemed to keep everyone motivated.
After they finished eating, Grey decided it was time for their daily training.
He still had no idea what type of Pokémon the Gym Leader in Heart Village specialized in, so there wasn't much point in designing specialized training for the upcoming battle. Until he knew what he would be facing, the best thing he could do was strengthen his Pokémon in general and continue improving the moves and techniques they already possessed.
For Heracross, Grey decided to focus on Pin Missile. Cloyster had been helping it refine the move for some time, but Grey wanted Heracross to become more comfortable with using ranged attacks. Heracross's greatest strength was its physical power, but relying entirely on close-range combat could become a problem against an opponent who understood that weakness. A smart trainer could create traps, maintain distance, or force Heracross to constantly chase after their Pokémon. Having a reliable ranged option would give it another way to fight when closing the distance wasn't possible.
Charmeleon's training was more straightforward. She continued working on her Fire-type moves as usual, but Grey decided to pair her with Fraxure this time so she could work on her physical skills as well. He had spent quite a while focusing on improving her special attacks, so it was probably time to give that side of her training a change. Grey wanted Charmeleon to be capable of attacking from both sides rather than becoming too dependent on one particular style.
Persian didn't have any new move that Grey specifically wanted to teach her at the moment. Instead, he decided that she should simply continue training everything she already knew. Persian had a ridiculous toolkit by this point, and there was no point constantly chasing after new moves if she wasn't going to refine the ones she already possessed. Her existing attacks could still become faster, stronger, and more efficient with enough practice.
For Cloyster and Exeguttor, Grey decided to pair them together for the first time and simply told them to go all out. Neither Pokémon particularly needed a completely new training routine at the moment. Ever since evolving, both had spent a considerable amount of time identifying and covering their weaknesses while refining their individual strengths. A serious battle against each other could give them a chance to test just how much progress they had actually made.
Fraxure, meanwhile, would train with Charmeleon. Grey wanted to check how much of Fraxure's physical conditioning had returned after everything that had happened recently while also allowing him to continue refining his attacks. Fighting against Charmeleon would also force both Pokémon to deal with an opponent who could attack in a different way from what they were accustomed to.
Overall, Grey thought it was a decent training plan for the moment.
There were still several moves he had in mind for the future. Thunder Punch was one of them, particularly for Charmeleon and Fraxure. However, both Pokémon were far outside their usual comfort zones when it came to learning a punching-based move, so Grey would probably need either the appropriate TM or someone capable of properly teaching the technique.
For Heracross, Grey had Aerial Ace in mind. It would give Heracross another useful coverage option while also allowing it to rapidly close the distance against opponents. The move could fit its aggressive fighting style quite well, but Grey would need to research the best way to teach it.
Exeguttor was another Pokémon he wanted to expand. Wood Hammer would give it a powerful physical attack and another option for situations where relying on its special attacks wasn't ideal.
As for Cloyster, Grey had two possible moves in mind.
Ice Beam or Blizzard.
Both could significantly improve its Ice-type offensive capabilities, although learning either would be something he would have to work toward over time.
Most of those plans were long-term goals, though. There was no reason to rush everything at once.
After his recent call with Bill, Grey was also reminded of something else he had been waiting for.
There was a chance that once he reached Heart Village, Bill's Kadabra might finally deliver the TMs for Protect and Teleport that he had requested some time ago. Both were reusable TMs, which made them particularly valuable. Being able to teach those moves to multiple Pokémon would give Grey considerably more options in both battles and training.
And if he actually received them soon...
Those two moves would take priority over most of the other techniques he had planned.
Author's Note : OK next chapter is Exeguttor vs Cloyster and it wont be grey giving commands or something rather me having some fun with the pokemon POV , second I am not sure if the roads thing was conveyed well or not for this chapter .
If possible do give some good reviews if you can as some of the negative reviews done on purpose have brought down the overall rating , again I dont believe i am some very good writer I am not as I do this as a hobby but at least a decent rating should be there for my fanfic.
PS: Powerstones and collections as usual