Weathering The Storm... (A Pokemon OC Story)

Chapter 46: Strong Pokemon, Weak Pokemon...

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POP!

"Alright!", Harry exclaimed as he picked up the Pokeball, raising the Pokeball high into the air and shouting, "Numel, you're finally mine."

Lucas smiled from behind, then knelt down to Shroomish, who had helped with the fight to get the job done. Shroomish returned quietly to the Pokeball, and Lucas stood back up, watching and then walking up to Harry, saying,

"So, you finally ready to head back to camp? We spent quite a while chasing that Numel around, Seijo and Ellie are going to be wondering where we are."

"Couldn't last two seconds separated from them?", Harry asked with an eyebrow raised, and Lucas looked at him severely and said back,

"You know I can handle myself without them. It's just, that we've been chasing it for about two hours."

"Alright then, if you say so. Let's get back to camp.", Harry said as he released his new Numel and let it walk with him as they made their way back to camp. The strange appearance of the Pokemon kept Lucas' interest, however, its appearance of that of a camel, yet it looked to be encased by a mix of earth and magma. The Pokedex spouted out with information as Lucas ran the camera over the creature.

Numel, The Numb Pokemon.

Numel stores magma of almost 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit within its body. If it gets wet, the magma cools and hardens. In that event, the Pokémon's body grows heavy and its movements become sluggish.

Lucas looked at the Pokedex entry again, then looked to Numel.

"How does it manage to store magma of 2000 degrees in its body?", Lucas thought as he touched the Pokemon on the head, finding it to be hot to the touch, but nothing more than a simple burn on his finger. Then, he read on, finding another entry that was slightly more scathing to the creature.

Numel is extremely dull-witted—it doesn't notice being hit. However, it can't stand hunger for even a second. This Pokémon's body is a seething cauldron of boiling magma.

Lucas found the entry a bit mean-spirited, although it did make him interested in the part where it doesn't notice being hit. However, Lucas did not want to test it out in the slightest. Especially against a Pokemon that is supposed to be almost entirely made of magma. Then, before he could find another Pokedex entry, he found the camp sitting in front of them. Seijo was on cooking them some food, with Jigglypuff by his side practising its singing, with Seijo adopting earbuds to prevent him from falling into slumber. Then, on the opposite side of the camp, would be Taillow and Ellie.

Despite their cooperation during the events of the sandstorm, it seemed that Taillow and Ellie were back to square one when it came to their cooperation together. Taillow mostly just sat on the ground, closing its eyes and seemingly ignoring any attempts that Ellie made to balance their relationship.

"Listen, as much as I understand that you liked Seijo as a trainer, I think that we can be even greater. You just have to trust in me to get there.", Ellie said, kneeling down to Taillow's level and extending a hand. Taillow looked at Ellie's hand, then spat in the opposite direction as a show of defiance, before settling back down in the grass. Ellie sighed, and said,

"Well, at least you aren't spitting in my face."

Ellie returned Taillow to its Pokeball and then found Lucas coming toward her.

"No luck?", Lucas asked. Ellie gave a solemn shake of her head while venting her frustrations.

"I'm really trying to make a connection over here. But, Taillow just throws whatever attempts I make away."

"Well, just give it some more time. Taillow will come around eventually.", Lucas comforted Ellie, while Harry tapped his finger against the Pokeball he had in his hand while waiting for them to be done. He looked over to Seijo and decided that, since Lucas wasn't going to be done with his conversation with Ellie anytime soon, he might as well make himself useful by helping Seijo. The fire cooking the food began to go out as Harry approached, yet Numel quickly returned the fire by using a Flamethrower.

"Thanks.", Seijo said to Harry, while he took a seat next to Numel, patting his Pokemon on the head lightly before returning eye contact with Seijo. Seijo went back to cooking the food, and it dawned on Harry the absurdity of the situation he was in. He was stood next to a gym leader, one of the most elite trainers in the entirety of the Hoenn region. Surely, he needed to make the best of the situation, for his sake and for his team to get even stronger. Harry pulled out a small, tattered notebook from his pocket, clicked his pen and asked,

"So, can I get some tips for how to make my team stronger, with you being a gym leader and all?"

Seijo looked at Harry and laid back in the grass, saying to Harry,

"Unfortunately, you came to the wrong gym leader for questions like that. I'm the newest gym leader, and I'm definitely the weakest, without a doubt."

"Well, I bet you still have a few tips. You're still a gym leader, regardless of your ranking among them."

"Alright then.", said Seijo, cracking a smile and trying to think of a few tips to give Harry, "You've probably already heard a lot of these before."

"I'm sure there's something that you've got to say."

"Ok then. Firstly, try to find meals that your Pokemon like, and fit their type of diet for what role they fit. If they are a more defensive or offensive type, make their diet revolve around that, while still making it true for their nature. Secondly, try to fight a diverse amount of trainers. There are plenty of great tools that you can use to find battles. I'm sure there is a VS Seeker app on your phone, you can use that to find people who want to fight in the area. Of course, fighting one person will allow you to improve against that person's Pokemon, but it's not gonna help if another person pulls out a Pokemon you've never seen. And, most importantly, trust in your Pokemon."

"Well, that seems different from all the advice you've given before.", Harry said, stopping the scribbling down on his notebook. Seijo smiled and looked from Harry up to the sky.

"But, it's true though. Connecting with your Pokemon is crucial when composing a team. Spending time together, battling together through all the troubles that life throws at you. It doesn't just make your team better, it makes you both feel better mentally."

"But, does that really matter as much as the other stuff? Having a good team with a good type spread, strong Pokemon, surely that's more important."

'Strong Pokemon. Weak Pokemon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled trainers should try to win with the Pokemon they love most.' When I was told that, I didn't believe it. 'Of course, there are stronger Pokemon', I thought. But, once I saw more people, and went through more battles, I saw the value in a bond with a Pokemon, rather than a Pokemon's physical attributes."

Harry looked once again at his notebook, to his detailed written notes of what was there beforehand. The notes on the diet, the variety in the people that they fight, making a note of whatever Seijo had suggested to him. He went to write down what Seijo had said finally, when Seijo raised his head, then suddenly jolted as he realised the meal he was cooking begin to burn. He took the food off of the fire quickly. While Seijo was busy with the food, Harry once again looked at the notebook, the thought of the quote has not left his mind. He brought his pen to paper, then stopped.

He flipped the notebook shut abruptly, and then placed it in his back pocket. He then helped Seijo with the meal, as Ellie and Lucas broke free from their conversation to help the two.

Notes:

Hello, thanks for reading. And, finally, we have a kinda Harry-centred chapter! It's incredible! Can't believe its been almost fifty chapters and Harry has not got a chapter yet which is focused on him (definitely my fault lol). And, when I get to write his character, I always have fun ngl. I didn't originally have this chapter planned but upon realising that I've kinda just ignored him mostly, I decided to just have some fun writing this chapter to build a little more character rather than him just kinda sitting on the sidelines. (Although, he still might do that a bit lol). But, yeah, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next week. Bye!