Anthony, Hana, and Zubat soon arrived at the living room Pc.
"Zuu?"
Zubat looked at the vibrating PC curiously, tilting its head and shooting obvious supersonic sounds on it as if to observe its insides before settling just in front of the space bar of the PC, tilting its head from side to side while shooting soft sounds to scan the gadget further. Hana and Anthony ignored the child's antiques as they positioned themselves in the Pc Hana sat down on the seat while Anthony went beside her.
Anthony looked at Zubat while Hana turned on the wireless mouse and fiddled with the Pc to answer the call.
"We're showing you to dad, don't do that."
Zubat looked at its trainer, tilting its head again. Anthony is not sure if Zubat really understood, but in any case, the moment the video call feature of the PC lit up, Zubat snapped its head back in front and made a "Zuu..." sound, fascinated. Looking at this, Anthony realized just how advanced and more magical the supersonic sounds of Zubat were than the supersonic waves he knew as an otherworlder.
One must remember that Zubat doesn't have eyes and uses sounds in order to see. Scientifically, it can only detect things that bounce off the sound it emits, and light is massless, so it can't bounce off something like sound out of its body. Yet the moment the screen lit up, making the face of Ben Anthony's dad appear, Zubat gasped and jumped in excitement.
_I wonder how this echolocation works... that's unscientific._
Anthony thought, and because of this delay, Zubat was able to beat him in greeting his father.
"Zuu!! Zuu! Zuubaat!"
The Zubat made a happy cry as if mesmerized by the miracle in front of it. Anthony snapped out of his stupor and curiosity as Hana said.
"Good morning, dear, it seems like the surprise has beat your son to it, but Anthony has a surprise for you."
Ben smiled immediately at this. The couple has already talked about Anthony's not-so-long journey in catching his first Pokémon; however, it's also apparent that the father wanted to hear the exploits from Anthony himself. Sometimes, Anthony finds it hard to act like a kid when he's already so experienced as an adult in his previous life.
"Oh, what is it!? I wanna see! I wanna see!"
Ben Dover exclaimed excitedly, causing Anthony to cringe hard; however, he was able to somehow successfully not make it visible in his face as he nodded with 'excitement'.
"Yes, this is my partner. Zubat, come here."
Anthony stretched out his palm, and Zubat immediately nodded at his command and flew towards his master. It then made a "Zuu! Zuu!" sound, waving its wings towards Ben, who looked at it with curiosity.
"How did you catch it?"
Anthony then tried to match the enthusiasm that his parents expected him to have and gave a very detailed account of what did Baby Kangaskhan did to Zubat, what did his mother and himself do to give him first aid and how did Anthony nursed it back to health as well as how did he asked Zubat to be his pokemon and how it agreed.
The two parents with 'tough love philosophy' immediately showered him with praises, so much so that it was already around 9 when the video call was finished, and all the pokemons, as well as the two humans in the house, still hadn't eaten anything for breakfast.
The mother and son immediately and and gave foods to the pokemons and also adjusted the diet of Zubat into what Anthony have prescribed, protein powder, complex carbohydrates from the fructose of berries as well as other nutrition, this is so that the nutrition aspect of the training can be started as much as possible even though the real training will have to proceed after they visited professor Oak's lab. Of course, a more compact intake is required.
After giving the Pokemons their food, the two also made their breakfast, and after washing the dishes, they went to the living room with Zubat perched in Anthony's head. They are here to discuss the rough blueprint Ben has given Anthony about the agility part of Zubat's training, the obstacle course.
"Do you have any requests for this course?"
Anthony and Hana sat on the long sofa, looking at the blueprint together. Anthony then said.
"I would like it if I could modify it as Zubat gets comfortable with it; this way, it will never stick to a certain level of agility as we don't have access to wind tunnels that can be manipulated more easily."
Hana nodded slowly at this and smiled. It seems like her son wanted to become a field researcher, as he's being diligent in his studies. Remember that an associate field researcher is a Pokémon trainer; thus, one of the unwritten requirements of becoming one is that they should know how certain Pokémon types should be trained.
Like Hana said, a field researcher might need to go atop a volcano to count how many Slugmas and Magcargos are crawling above it. How can someone do that if they can't produce a quality flying type?
"I see that's a good idea, so we will incorporate string adjustments to make every course steeper once Zubat gets better at navigating them, also, maybe we can have a dialogue with a fairly strong Pidgey or Spearow that's been freeloading in our mini farm for Zubat to be able to apply its trainings when its already strong enough."
Anthony nodded, not confused as to why Hana didn't propose for him to catch a Pidgey, after all, it's rare for an overlapping typing, much more two physically oriented Pokémon to be complementary.
And one more thing is that favors with wild pokemons will surely yield to unexpected, often positive encounters or even help from their family.
"This should be fine for now, anyway, its just foundational training and you even plan the speed, endurance and stamina to be done in the morning and agility training in the afternoon until Zubat was able to handle the load of physical training all in the morning before making skill training the main focus in the afternoon, right?"
Anthony nodded, and Hana continued.
"Well, you don't have to worry about hardness of the agility test for now, as long as it gained proper nutrition, strengthened its wings and grew to master its echolocation and agility, if you become a trainer, you can go to Hoenn and make Zubat fight against the sandstorms of the Hoenn Desert, or better yet, if you're lucky, catch a Tyranitar and use its Sand Stream ability to train regularly."
Anthony again nodded at the veteran trainer's advice; obviously, Charizard was trained in the harsh desert of the Hoenn region, thus the suggestion.
"Zuu?"
Zubat made an inquiring sound as if wondering who it would fight. Anthony smiled a little at this and nudged the Pokémon a little using his fingers before reminding his mom.
"Mom, but aren't we visiting Professor Oak's lab in Pallet Town tomorrow?"
Hana, of course, remembers such things, so she smiled and said.
"Yes, don't worry, I already made Professor Oak give me Electivire and the Machamp and Machokes of your dad to help with the construction. We just have to go to the hardware store to start the construction, the Pokemons are efficient workers and the obstacle course is just a clearing's worth, so I say two days starting now will complete all of the necessary building."
Anthony nodded, relishing the convenience of Pokemons as he went to the bathroom to take a bath in preparation for their visit to the hardware store. While he's doing so, Hana went to the PC that again pinged with a message.
"Remember, your breeding license needs renewal tomorrow."
It came from Professor Oak, the reason why does license renewal needed to be far away is because Hana doesn't want a lot of requirements to renew her license that's honestly just a random credential in her younger days just so that she can receive annual salary, going to one of the Pokemon Professors that give out pokedexes and starter Pokemons, someone close to her and her husband will make things go smoother.
Such is one of the merits of being a strong retired trainer; some bigwigs of the league will make it so that you have an easy life as long as you don't do something that goes against the law.
As Hana thought of that, she grabbed the three Poké Balls in the Poké Ball compartment of the PC and then waited for the other 3 Poke balls of the remaining Machokes of her husband. She then released Electivire in the living room, who greeted its trainer promptly. Hana then said as he handed the Pokémon the 4 pokeballs of the Machamp and Machokes.
"Release them outside and make them start measuring the area for this blueprint. The tools are in the usual place."
Electivire nodded, and as it went to the place where the construction tools were being hidden. Anthony emerged from the room and looked at his mother, who had yet to take a bath.
"Mom, your turn."
Hana nodded, took a bath, changed clothes, and took her child's arm for them to go to the Hardware store.
________________
The day passed for Anthony, Hana, his mother, and Zubat yesterday, because the Hardware store is not that far, plus they have quite a few loading trucks. The planks, metals, and ropes needed for the obstacle course of Zubat have been delivered quickly, so they have to bear with the noise of the hammering.
The next day, around 8 o'clock in the morning, when Electivire, Machamps, and the Machokes had just started their work, Hana recalled all of her pokemons except the ones who were working and placed their Poké Balls into a backpack, while Anthony also recalled Zubat and placed its Poké Balls into the backpack of his mother.
The mother and son duo are in front of their home, looking at Charizard's back, the Vehicle they will be using for fast travel. Pallet Town is not that far from Fuchsia, with a singular sea and the Seafoam and Cinnabar Islands as the main stops for the ships that dock there. Because the Town serves as the sanctuary base of all the Pokemons inside Prof. Oak's lab, no shipyard was built between Cinnabar Island and Pallet to not disturb the natural ecosystem.
"Chaaa!"
Charizard pointed at Anthony, remembering the incident that made it run away for a while. It reminded its master's son to be extra careful, which Anthony acknowledged. Hana watched this scene before asking.
"Didn't you invite Glen?"
Hearing this question, Anthony nodded before replying.
"Yes, I did; however, it seems like his mom is skeptical about making him fly from Fuchsia City to Pallet Town, plus he's also reluctant because he said that he has to train his Treecko, so in the end, he refused."
Hana nodded at this, while Anthony thought it was a waste, considering that Glen seemed to be unable to bury himself even for just a second in books, it might be a good thing to learn hands-on from the Pokémon Professor himself.
"I see, that's too bad."
Hana sighed before making Charizard bow its back and mounting it. She then looked at Anthony, who gulped, obviously, he's excited about experiencing something that only exists on his screen.
As Anthony felt tumultuous excitement, his mother reached out her right hand.
"Let's go?"
Anthony nodded with eagerness and then put his hand to his mother's, who immediately pulled him up, sitting him in front of Charizard. She then instructed.
"When you're flying with a Pokémon, lean on its back as much as possible so that you can use its aerodynamics and not get swept by the raging winds, okay?"
Anthony nodded, and because of his nervousness, he immediately did what he was told and leaned his chest towards Charizard's back, who was carefully lifting itself upwards. Hana smiled at such a cute gesture and patted the head of her son as she did such a motion to herself, she then said.
"Alright, Charizard, take off to the skies!"
Charizard roared loudly and flapped its wings, causing the dust around the three to get disturbed and fly around everywhere. It was a good thing that Hana and Anthony made sure that no one was passing by, or else they would have been berated. As the two humans thought of such, Charizard continued to flap its magnificent wings, soon making itself, its master, and her son lift up from the ground.
Slowly, but surely, Charizard increased its altitude until they were practically able to see the entire Fuchsia. Anthony can even see Glen and Treecko looking at the sky, as well as his mom.
"Char?"
Charizard looked at the two, inquiring if both of them were ready for high-speed travel.
"Blast off, Charizard."
Hana, who wanted to show off to her son, smirked and nodded.