...
"Woooo."
Weedle lay on Natsu's shoulders, a little aggrieved and distressed, staring at him. He seemed to feel that Natsu had spent too much money on him, only buying cheap clothes for himself, and he felt a pang of sympathy for his human.
The little bug knew exactly how hard it was to earn money; how many times had Natsu been ridiculed and rejected just trying to get a job? For his Weedle, it was like Natsu had "paid everything he could."
"Don't feel bad for me, you little shit. You just have to work hard and grow stronger. That's the biggest reward for me," Natsu said, smiling, as he pulled a crystal-clear Pokéblock from its exquisitely packaged box.
"Woo!!" Weedle nodded firmly, his eyes fixed on the Pokéblock in Natsu's palm, swallowing quietly.
Feeling the Weedle's unbridled greed, Natsu chuckled even more. He deliberately held the Pokéblock up to the sun. The light shone through the transparent, dark green Pokéblock, revealing no visible impurities.
The Intermediate Rank Pokéblock exuded a faint, sweet fragrance mixed with a subtle, earthy stench.
"Tsk, is this the Pokéblock of Bug-type energy combined with Poison-type energy?" Natsu deliberately elongated his words, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the Weedle.
He saw the Weedle staring straight at the Pokéblock, practically vibrating with impatience but not daring to say a word. 'He's actually kind of cute when he's like this', Natsu thought. Only the shadow of the Pokéblock remained in the Weedle's tiny, mung-bean eyes.
"Alright, alright, stop teasing you. Here, eat up." He chuckled and handed the Pokéblock to the Weedle.
"Woo!"
Weedle exclaimed. His tail twitched, and he hastily took the Pokéblock, immediately nibbling at it in small bites on Natsu's shoulder. After a few bites, he couldn't help but let out a few contented moans.
Seeing his Weedle so satisfied, Natsu felt relieved, but he still couldn't resist dropping a reminder: "Since you've eaten this Pokéblock, you must digest and absorb all the energy you've consumed so as not to waste it. So starting today, our training tasks are going to increase in intensity. Be mentally prepared, you little bug!" He had been holding back in previous training sessions, worried that excessive training would overtax the Weedle's frail body. Now, with the proper fuel, he could ramp things up.
"Woooo!" the Weedle hastily answered, head bowed, not entirely sure if he'd even processed what Natsu had just said.
Natsu shook his head helplessly.
Back at the club, Anna, who was polishing her nails at the front desk, saw him with his big bag and small bag and laughed. "Natsu, you took so much in advance yesterday, and you went on a spending spree today?"
"Yeah," Natsu replied with a nod of greeting.
"Then you have to restrain yourself, after all…" She glanced at the Weedle on his shoulder.
"Hmm." Natsu understood her insinuation, but he didn't care.
A lot of things weren't necessarily correct from others' understanding and perception. Only by ignoring other people's judgment and upholding inner perseverance and determination could you truly achieve what others couldn't.
Back in his room, he put his new things in order, then loaded a few Pokéblocks into a pouch and took his Weedle to the training room. They ran a few laps to warm up, and then it was time for the real training to begin.
Suddenly, Anna found him again.
She was with Kenji, the middle school kid from yesterday who had demanded to book Natsu for hours on end.
Seeing Natsu diligently training even when there was no sparring mission, sweat beading on his forehead, Anna felt a grudging admiration.
A hardworking person always made a good impression, even on her.
"0451 is right here; I won't bother you anymore," Anna said, then closed the door and left.
"Natsu, I'm here again! Are you guys preparing for training?" Kenji chirped, his tone already overly familiar.
"Yeah," Natsu replied softly. "What sparring do you need today? battle or training?"
"Hey, we're here to train together!" Following Natsu's words, Kenji summoned his Bulbasaur, looking eager to try.
"Da Na~~" As soon as Bulbasaur appeared, he spotted Weedle, immediately wiggled his fat little ass, and ran over, letting out soft, welcoming cries.
"Wow!" Weedle greeted him too.
After yesterday's battle and training, Weedle and Bulbasaur had actually become friendly. Just as Kenji admired Natsu for his dedication and leadership by example, Bulbasaur admired Weedle, who trained several times harder than him.
"Then we're going to start. You can try to follow along, or just do what I taught you yesterday." Having said that, Natsu ignored Kenji and continued Weedle's training.
"Okay, okay, you can do whatever you want," Kenji said, surprisingly without his usual member-like pretense, casually waving his hand. His eyes were rolling, clearly deep in thought.
Natsu didn't care. After the running warm-up, the first part of the first round of training was still focused on move accuracy. Improving mastery of existing abilities was always Natsu's top priority.
Pokémon could learn many moves: some were learned automatically as they grew, some required special training, and some were inherited.
Regardless, understanding a move was hard. Mastering an already learned move was even harder.
But the most difficult thing was to develop existing moves to their absolute limit.
In a limited time, Natsu didn't care how many moves a Pokémon had mastered.
Too many moves were often pointless; one move, well-integrated and suited to a Pokémon's fighting style and condition, could often outperform two, three, or even more unskillfully learned moves.
Weedle didn't have this problem with the sheer number of moves, so his focus was entirely on mastering the moves he had. This was a cumulative process, not something that happened overnight. Training was the necessary process of accumulation.
The second part of the training was the development of moves that could be learned, and Natsu set his first target on "Bug Bite," which Weedle could potentially learn.
As a Bug-type and Poison-type Pokémon, Bug-type was still his main Attribute. Without a Bug-type move, it would be difficult for Weedle to reach his full potential.
Now that Weedle was eating those expensive Pokéblocks, in theory, he should be able to sense Bug-type energy faster and learn the move quicker.
The first round of training ended. Natsu and Kenji, both panting, leaned against the training room wall, watching Weedle and Bulbasaur, still full of energy, frolicking on the field.
"Natsu, why do you train with your Pokémon? Isn't the Trainer just supposed to command the battle?" Kenji asked, voicing his confusion.
Whoosh--
Natsu let out a long breath, wiped the sweat from his forehead, glanced at his lively Weedle, and nodded to himself in satisfaction. The effect of the Pokéblock had begun to manifest; Weedle had more energy and could adapt to higher-intensity training.
At the same time, he replied to Kenji: "The reason Trainers are called Trainers is because they are a group of people who have Pokémon and can command Pokémon. The term 'Trainer' doesn't refer to just a person, but to a person with a Pokémon. Pokémon and people are one. If you separate Pokémon from people, then the term 'Trainer' is somewhat inappropriate."
"Training with your Pokémon isn't just about making the Pokémon better. It also gives the Trainer a deeper sense of identity with their Pokémon, and a better understanding of their Pokémon's status, habits, and personality. Only when a Trainer fully considers a Pokémon's various situations can they make correct and timely judgments and decisions from the Pokémon's point of view when commanding operations. So, do you understand, you ignorant kid?"
Kenji nodded thoughtfully. "Isn't it something that teachers often say: 'put it into Pokémon's point of view'? Thinking and solving problems makes Pokémon a better fit with a Trainer."
"Great summary," Natsu agreed.
See? This is the benefit of actual experience.
People like Kenji had actually acquired a lot of theoretical knowledge. But acquiring knowledge and being able to use that knowledge were two completely different concepts. It was like studying sains, mathematics, and english in his previous life; knowing it didn't mean you could apply it worth a damn.
Kenji had an expression of being genuinely taught, his eyes rolling again, just about to say something, but suddenly he heard...
"Da Na!!"
The sound of Bulbasaur crying out in pain.
...
(End of this chapter)