It seems like I've lucked out on my Mankey's move set, with him having two [egg moves].
The main one is [NighSlash] with the other [Meditate].
For the former move, it's an excellent offensive attack that could be his go-to attack, kind of like what [Earthquake]/[Liquidation] will be to Mudkip in the future.
The more variety I can add to my Pokemon, the more spread out their advantage goes.
On the other hand, the latter move is alright.
While not as good compared to [BulkUp], it's interesting because of its Psychic typing. There are different concepts I could push for, such as helping Mankey "calm down".
This is crucial to keeping Mankey's composure as his species are naturally quick to anger.
Plus it could be used to gain resistance to his weakness, and psychic moves because of getting used to the energy itself.
For example, maybe it could cancel out psychic attacks by using [Meditate].
'I need to battle with Mankey to write down some notes.' I thought squinting my eyes at a newly flipped page.
Mudkip for as much I'd like to keep him training there's no point.
It's like a skinny guy trying to build muscle and I can't provide protein. The training technique is probably gonna be my way to go until I start to spend more money on my journey.
Taking my eyes away from my notepad, I see Mudkip and Mankey playing with each other.
"Key key!" Mankey giggles out running around a lamp pole.
"Kip!!" The Mudkip roared in glee chasing after.
A soft smile graced my face as I stood up, stopping their little chase.
"Alright guys it's time to head home, let's race back!" I shout creating some competition. Taking the two's personalities into account, this way would probably be the best motivator to help them improve themselves.
Running forward so Mankey would know which direction to go, the three of us soon set out.
Taking half an hour to arrive at my parent's lodge, I spotted the small garden that had yet to fully grow, unlike when Ash visited. A peaceful place where multiple small bug Pokemon and flying types could be seen roaming, while not harming the environment.
My eyes shine spotting my mum sitting by the stairs just cutting up some sitrus berries and another berry that I'm unfamiliar with.
"Mum I'm back!" I shout in glee with an obvious excitement visible to anyone.
"Kipp!"
"Man Man!"
Both my Pokemon mimic me.
Sue who heard the voice, looked up to see her dear son, Mudkip and a new addition. Showing a wide smile she spotted the obvious reason for the excitement.
A new addition to the team.Walking up to her with my rag-tag of boys.
Mankey stared at Sue with his eyes popping out, a little confused I looked at him. The fighting Pokemon looking back and forth between my mother and I, proceeded to point at our hair.
Seeing this I facepalm with my mum giggling."Who's this little cutie? Is he perhaps the Mankey you played with a lot when we visited this lodge?" She questions.
Hearing this I excitedly nod.
The reason I knew Manky would be around is because the original Sunny played with this Mankey every time he visited the lodge.
Entering the house with my team of two, trouble already occurs. With Mudkip casually walking beside me, Mankey runs forward which carelessly makes him hit a vase.
*Shatter!*
Looking in mild shock I immediately look at my mother. Mum looking at the Mankey just sighed in resignation.
"This is why your father liked your Mudkip's manners and personality so much. Sunny please put Mankey in his Pokeball." Nodding in guilt I get his Pokeball as the little ball of energy stared back with watery eyes.
Practically screaming (I'M SORRY!)
"We will start training tomorrow alright." I gently say trying to console him, as a red beam connects....
[The Next Day]
Squinting my eyes, bring out my phone and search up a few places.
"Battle Club or the Battle Arena." I murmur looking at my phone.
In front of me was the official website of the Battle Club as I sorted the benefits and the fees to join. Knowing that their technology was actually pretty useful with rooms that threw projectiles, a gym and a swimming area.
---
[}-----Official.BattleClub.com/Home_Page/-----{]
Rating: 4.9/5
Requirements: Trainer ID, Has a Pokemon
Fees:
- Bronze Tier ₱150 Joining Fee, ₱55 Monthly
Access to gym rooms, swimming pool with controlled currents, and ability to challenge people on the Battle Net to rank up for prizes.
- Silver ₱500 Joining Fee, ₱125 Monthly
Able to join the fortnightly training sessions with a Veteran Trainer, can buy a limited amount of personally crafted poke blocks and everything in the lower tiers.
- Gold Tier ₱5000 Joining Fee, ₱1500 monthly
Monthly one-on-one training with an Ace Trainer, can buy a higher limit of poke blocks, private training rooms, access to the battle club archives to train specific moves and Pokemon (Information scales with battle club ranking), and everything in the lower tiers.
[}-----Official.BattleClub.com/Home_Page/-----{]
---
Overall pretty expansive with lots of pros and a good rating.
I'll have to check the leaving fee though because I experienced that in my last life, and felt pressured to sign it.
In all honestly a great pick for the first two tiers. The gold tier is more debatable though as either stronger trainers or rich brats have that privilege. To be fair though apparently the information given is scaled with the rank, which is sort of weird but gatekeeps people who just want to join for a little bit and then leave.
One thing that makes me want to go for this the most is the swimming pools and the aiming and projectile rooms.
On the other hand.
---
[}-----Official.BattleArena.com/Home_Page/-----{]
Rating: 4.3/5
Requirements: Trainer ID
Fees: ₱10k Joining Fee, ₱1200 monthly
Will receive a starting fighting type to train with, access to multiple training fields and gyms, personally taught by the Frontier Brain Greta, accommodation, poke blocks for the given Pokemon and access to tournaments to win prizes.
[}-----Official.BattleFrontier.com/Home_Page/-----{]
---
Brother that joining fee can't actually be real...
To be fair it's probably the Pokemon itself but I already got everything needed.
'Battle Club it is.' With some sweat going down my face, it was now time to head towards the place.
"Mud mud!" My mudfish friend hums as we walk past some interesting Pokemon. The most prevalent were starter Pokemon as they have become more common throughout the years. They were mass-bred and given out to help out more poor trainers.
But discussions online beg to differ as people say it's to reduce terrorist gangs' influences on the more unfortunate.
Either way, I don't have to pay hundreds of thousands for a starter.
Who am I to complain?
Midway through my walk, I started to hear a lot of hushed whispers and people staring. Not specifically at me but a person casually walking down the street. With an intimidating-looking Sandslash next to him, he looked very familiar.
"He looks so young!"
"That Pokemon is scary..."
Some more loud kids would say out loud which I heard.
Squinting my eyes a little I realised this guy who looked around 18 was wearing the typical ace trainer clothes. The style of his clothes suggested he was from the Hoenn region as he carried himself with a soft smile.
Unlike the trainers in the game though, he had brown hair and blue eyes. Which makes more sense as this isn't a game.
'The whole fit is just a flex.' I thought a little jealous.
I should search up the benefits of being an Ace Trainer later...
Ignoring the guy, it took a bit to walk all the way over to the battle club.
"Damn," I mutter seeing the size of the club.
Just in front of me was a huge mansion but without the usual-looking luxury of one. It had a light green exterior with blue-tinted windows and a dark strawberry colour roof. Sort of a weird design but hey, who am I to judge.
There were tens of people constantly going in and out of the gym and it seemed to be very popular. The doors were over three meters tall and looked pretty intimidating.
In all fairness, it's probably to fit all the large ahh Pokemon.
Carrying Mudkip so he doesn't get lost, we head inside and immediately spot the counter.
With six people there and four busy, I spotted a man who looked like the owner guy from the anime just sitting there.
The guy had a muscular build with broad shoulders. He had a naturally scary resting face with a thick black moustache, short dark hair and blue eyes. With brown skin, it went well with his sleeveless black tunic with a red trim.
He looked the part of a battle club leader.
'I'll register there.'
Walking up to him, we quickly introduced each other as my reason for being there was quite obvious.
After some fun chats about how I'm gonna grind here until my journey. On top of that, he was here to check up on the club, as it was a new and only branch in Kanto.
The man I now know as Don George nods his head.
"I'll get you signed up buddy haha! So what tier were you thinking of?" He asks.
Thinking back to the limited amount of Pokeblocks sold, I asked a question before confirming my thoughts.
"I'm thinking about getting the Silver tier, but unsure of how Pokeblocks work," I say a bit uneasy. Don George hearing this got an understanding look and quickly explained the basics of its uses for a trainer.
It was basically a compressed piece of food for Pokemon that want to get stronger or who eat a lot. Obviously feeding something like a Snorlax with normal food wouldn't suffice financially, so buying around the same equivalent in Pokeblocks saves a lot of money.
With the nutrients inside the blocks themselves, they can also help with natural recovery after training.
Other than that, it can improve the mood of Pokemon depending on the flavour.
"Yeah not too bad, the Pokeblocks we sell here are low and mid-tier. High-tier Pokeblock makers are too expensive to hire. The Pokeblocks would be at a 20% discount towards the standard price with limited stock.
Depending on the size of the Pokemon. There are small, medium and large Pokeblocks."
He went on to explain that a Pokemon like Mudkip would eat at least three small Pokeblocks a day. When he evolves, then medium Pokeblocks.
Then finally at his final evolution, large. Obviously for other Pokemon, it depended on their size but those were the basics.
Listening to this I nod my head.
"How long do they last if kept sealed and stored?" I ask curiously.
Hearing this the bulky man rubs his chin.
"Maybe around eight months to a year? Not too bad if your idea is to stock up for your journey." Nodding at his words my mind was made up after this short chat.
These Pokeblocks would last me if bought right now, towards the end of my first conference.
So it isn't too bad of a decision.
Silver was the way to go.
"I'll choose Silver, sir, thank you for the explanation!" I sincerely exclaim doing a quick bow.
The man just laughing happily with his hands on his hips, shortly after gives me a thumbs up and some encouraging words to train hard and to not waste my opportunity before leaving. Mudkip who was still in my hands, was suddenly patted.
"Kip kippp!!!!" The poor mudfish, randomly getting petted tried to struggle but failed.
The man was too strong.
...
[POV ??? (Timeskip 2 weeks)]
Inside the battle club in one of the battle arenas, were two trainers battling.
It was currently towards the end of the battle as one of the Pokemon fainted.
"Winner, Mudkip!" The referee announces.
On the battlefield was a Mudkip who was able to finish off his opponent in the most efficient way possible. No wasted movement as it kept a distance and successfully chipped away at the Tyrogue after a bit.
A glint could be seen in my eyes spotting this specimen.
Such... SUBLIME talent from the trainer.
Not only did he not needlessly waste away Mudkips chances, but his timing and the discipline of his Pokemon matched his fighting style. A sort of passive defense that when set up, is prone to strike back tenfold.
He had dark blue hair, sky blue eyes with a calculated stare.
As soon as the battle finished though, his cold look immediately broke as the kid went to hug his companion. The kid with a white with a white short-sleeved button-up shirt and black jeans
'Such... REFINED AND SUBLIME AURA!'
"YOHOHOHO! Butler get me his profile." I instructed to which he left.
Continuing to watch the kid he suddenly left the arena.
How unfortunate...
Maybe I should personally request a one-on-one with his magnificently trained Mudkip!
"Here sir, his name is Sunny Haruto."
[Battle-Club-Profile/1924234]
Name: Sunny Haruto
Age: 10
Club Tier: Classified
Participated Tournaments/Leagues: None
Battle Club Score: 24 Wins - 0 Losses
Pokemon: Classified
[Battle-Club-Profile/1924234]
'I knew it!'
Even as a Gold Tier patron, natural information such as Pokemon and some other things were off-limits to see. Such as if they weren't registered in some public or official battles.
The kid hasn't even gone on his first journey yet and his battle prowess was far beyond the norm. Considering he has a first stage starter he must be a rookie trainer and is trainer before actually setting out.
I'm so smart!
Getting my butler to do a background check, the giddy feeling that I spotted a talented trainer couldn't help but make me laugh.
My eye for such things was always excellent!
"YOHOHO!"