Pokemon Regression

Chapter 42: A Simple Necklace

Day 71:

My muscles tensed with pain as I pushed my chest away from the ground, holding for a moment before bending my arms and letting my chest fall again.

"27..."

The sun was up, and I'd left my room before everyone else to get in some extra training with Yeller. I was happy to assist Blue with his preparations for the Vermillion Gym, but the time I'd been able to spend training with Yeller had been reduced as a result.

The golden Rattata was busily assaulting a tree, training to increase his attack power. From Tackles to Quick Attacks, he slammed his body into the tree as hard as he could. Each time he bounced off without dealing significant damage, he'd recoil back to his starting position and try again.

Yeller was already deceptively fast. Even with his missing foreleg, the Rattata was very acrobatic and surprisingly well balanced-particularly in woodlands environments such as this battlefield behind the inn. Sometimes his ability to turn or stop was hindered, but Quick Mode largely made up for that fault.

But it would only take one nasty blow to his other foreleg, and his mobility would be ruined.

Keeping that in mind, it was unwise to train Yeller to be a defensive fighter, trading and receiving blows was a losing battle for him. Yeller worked best as an aggressive fighter who got out the moment things got dangerous. His agility was already great for that, but he needed to be able to hit harder for it to be as effective as I hoped.

The less attacks you need to defeat your opponent, the less time you have to spend dodging.

"Cyan!"

A voice called out from the inn, a woman in her thirties waved at me. She wore one of the same red and white ceremonial robes as the elderly woman who'd rented us our rooms, and her dark hair was tied up in a ponytail. Her name was Polly, and she was the actual owner of the inn.

'Pat' was her grandmother, apparently.

"The breakfast you paid for is ready, your friends are waiting for you!"

She called out to me, and I hopped back to my feet.

"Alright! I'll just be a moment!" I called back.

An exhausted Rattata turned his gaze to me, then leapt up onto my shoulder. I gazed back at the tree he'd been attacking, and saw that the bark had been beaten off in a few places.

"Good job, Yeller."

...

The table was quiet when I arrived, as neither Blue nor Chee seemed willing to meet the eyes of the other. Three plates were set out, loaded with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages and a healthy serving of baked beans. I took a curious bite.

The beans exploded with a beautiful mixture of flavours, which caused me to smile. The bacon and sausages were similarly delightful.

"It's delicious, thank you Polly."

She nodded and, with a smile, left back to her desk at the reception. Apparently her grandmother only manned the reception during the afternoon.

Blue stirred his food about for a moment, taking a few bites before speaking.

"We'll leave for Vermillion not long after we eat. Make sure you're ready."

I nodded, considering for a moment as I shovelled food down my throat.

"I'll need to go restock at the local market first, is it alright if I meet up with you two later on?"

"Whatever. Just don't be too long.