His jogging, at first, is laps-based rather than minute-based in the first month of his training; however, since the third month of Zubat's training, in the second month of his jogging, he has started to disregard laps and count by the minute. He was now in 30 minutes and was always going at a moderate pace. This will not only allow Anthony to push himself to the limit but will also allow him to think about matters that would otherwise be too bothersome to think about when he's training with Zubat.
_If father really retires and returns home, there would surely be a period of time where he would bond with me before being busy with the establishment of the day care. And from what the original Anthony remembers, my father is more hands-on than my mom and better at more surgical strategies and tactics._
_And even though my mom is also good at tactics like how she was able to utilize a Bulbasaur despite not bonding with it for a long time, but I would rather have a more sophisticated way of battling while also being able to 'hit them harder' if everything didn't work... who the hell let's a Pokemon eat up an attack in its first battle?_
_I hope the amendment will come soon..._
As Anthony jogged, he couldn't help but anticipate the day when two highly acclaimed trainers would be together to give him their knowledge from their years of experience as Pokémon trainers.
Well, one can say that Anthony has long since gotten out of the phase where being a trainer is nothing but a vanity; slowly, such a profession and the adventures that await it have become his pursuit.
______________
After 30 minutes, Anthony, who was circling his house, finally stopped at the back of the mini farm, panting quite hard as he rested his tired body, however, all of his tiredness faded away when she saw his mother, Hana grip Zubat like a baseball whilst twisting her body alongside her hand to the right before throwing the Pokemon at fast speed.
"ZUUUUUEEEEEEE!"
As Zubat was thrown right at the edge of the forested area of the mini-farm, it released a high-pitched squeal. Anthony's face, which is red because of the exercise, lost all of the blood flowing to it.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, MOM!?"
_Is this your 'something amazing' you want to show me earlier!?_
Anthony's face paled as he saw his Zubat get flung for 90 and probably more miles per hour by the abnormally strong swing of his mom, and what's more worrying is that, Zubat seem to enjoy such treatment from the cries of joy it emits, Zubat even started to use its newfound agility to sustain such high speeds in the middle of the small forest of the mini farm. And even though the latter is something to be proud of as the trainer of Zubat, Anthony still won't approve of such baseball throws.
One wrong shift of direction and Zubat will get injured again!
This would not only undo all of Zubat and Anthony's training but would also put the life of the Pokémon at risk if worse comes to worst!
Without hesitation, Anthony jumped over the mini farm's fence and ran towards his mom.
"Stop it, Mom!"
He shouted whilst Hana caught Zubat, which flew back at fast speeds with one hand, Anthony's mother then laughed.
"HAHAHAHA! I'm just playing with Zubat!"
Hana put Zubat in her right palm as if to demonstrate the willingness of Anthony's Pokémon, who already arrived in front of her, arms spread wide, while his otherwise unemotional face furled as if to ask Hana to stop what she was doing. However, as Anthony said, Zubat showed willingness and even enjoyment in being thrown like a baseball, making a high-pitched and anticipative "Zuu! Zuu zuu!" sounds as it jumped repeatedly in the palm of Hana.
This made Anthony even angrier.
"Don't ask for more!"
This is the first time Anthony ever shouted to Zubat, which made the Pokemon flinch whilst stopping its jumping motion, Zubat then circled to face its trainer and as Anthony saw his Pokemon's ears droop low while it made a low pitched, almost inaudible "Zuuu..." sound as if to reluctantly agree, Anthony felt a sting in his heart, making his outstretched hands drop little by little.
"Look at what you did! Will you really let your Pokémon go to training while being sad like this?"
As Anthony's heart was filled with guilt, Hana chimed in, making Anthony gulp. Even though Anthony right now has an adult as the owner of his body, it's still his first time handling Pokemons, and obviously can't resist the sight of his very first partner, so sad because of him. Plus, as Hana has implied, Anthony can't just let Zubat train with such a downhearted attitude.
In the end, the experienced adult yet rookie trainer gritted his teeth.
"10 throws... 10... 10 and no one will be throwing you around again, okay?"
Upon hearing such a yielding tone from its trainer, Zubat's ears perked up, making a "Zuu...!" sound as if to tell its joy that its trainer agreed with its newfound enjoyments. After nodding, Zubat immediately flipped around Hana and once again made throwing motions using its wings while jumping on her palm happily.
"Alright!"
Hana didn't stand in ceremony and ignored her son that's in front of her, Anthony, his whole body trembling, moved to the side which immediately prompted Hana to make another fastball using Anthony's Pokemon as the baseball while the said Pokemon made a high-pitched cry of enjoyment before sustaining the high speeds of the throw while using its newly acquired agility to twist and turn around the trees and Pokemons in the small forest of the mini farm, even playing with the vines of Venusaur who chased Zubat with it playfully. Soon, after traversing the whole forest without much of a change of speed, Zubat returned to Hana's palm and again asked for more.
This wish, Hana provided, and again, swung with all her might. Everytime such a scene happened, Anthony would gulp in nervousness, afraid that a wrong turn, or miscalculation in distances will cause some serious damage to his Pokemon, undoing Zubat's hard work and with how Anthony was able to see how the Pokemon worked hard, so hard in fact that it has to be almost chained just to rest, the trainer is afraid afraid that the Pokemon might fall into depression and stop eating anything until it perished.
After all, it's Zubat's hard work that was undone.
However, when Anthony continued to watch the baseball swings of his mother, his fear was slowly replaced by confusion for even through the 30th or even 40th swing (obviously, the limit won't be adhered upon) with his mom seemingly not knowing what muscle soreness and fatigue is, making her able to swing at practically the same speed, Zubat was able to sustain the speed 100% of the time as evident of it's head not cracking despite the swings' strength.
_What is this...?_
Anthony looked at the continued play, swing, shift around at a fast speed, go back, and repeat. Not only him, but even Charizard, Venusaur, Mama and Baby Kangaskhan, and Scizor looked at Zubat with approving expressions; evidently, they are impressed by the Pokémon's improvement. At this moment, Anthony, the rookie trainer, remembered his mother's request to him.
"Go to the mini farm immediately after jogging."
Anthony, having the 'brash' lady impression towards his mom, never expected such a sublime lesson from his mother, but maybe, brash or not, a parent is a parent for a reason. After the 60th swing, Zubat finally wasn't able to continue, panting, it looked at Hana's inquisitive gaze before shaking its head.
"Zubat... is really amazing..."
Hana nodded, however, knowing the increase in maturity of her son in the past few months, something that she never knew to manifest so early in his life, yet still so proud to see, she didn't reply. Anthony, realizing the intent of his mother, squinted his eyes.
"I... I think I know what your 'big surprise' for me is in the mini-farm."
Hana's eyes smiled, and without giving back Zubat, she finally looked at her son.
"Oh? Then explain."
Anthony is not startled at this demand, after all, he knew that his mother fostered him to be a child with maturity while also being a person who doesn't leave out his childishness.
For her, a child should be able to be mature enough to act on their own and be childish enough not to mind asking for help or recognizing a mistake they made. So it's normal for the former Anthony to be given such indirect life lessons.
And what do you say, Anthony, even though already not childish, is already numb to shame enough to not admit his mistakes, especially since he was working in a relatively non-toxic firm that encourages asking questions; thus, after organizing his thoughts, Anthony replied.
"I... When I first caught Zubat... I feel like I should not bring it to harm and will cherish it no matter how strong it has become after the years of our training. However, all this while, I have forgotten one thing."
Anthony paused, looking at his Pokémon with warmth before continuing.
"I don't trust Zubat, or its strength yet, and only measures its 'not so fast or aptly fast progress' as 'it can't be helped, it's just foundational training, after all'. Maybe... Maybe you were saying that I should really look at Zubat and trust it and its own hard work."
Anthony smiled genuinely a little.
"Maybe... That's how you become a trainer..."
Hana scoffed at this, a little while looking at Zubat.
"Ha... I'm glad my child was able to know the reason for my motives... Do you know the most iconic line when in Pokémon battles?"
Anthony nodded before speaking.
"Zubat, I choose you! Or something similar."
Again, Hana chuckled and nodded.
"Right, in battles, the Pokémon you sent is not randomly selected; it's chosen. And if you made a choice, you have to have full trust in it. I actually have a pinhole camera all over this place, as at one point in time, Scizor and Venusaur had to injure humans who stole berries from it, so I leveraged them and watched you train Zubat, and upon watching your clips, I realized something about you that needs correction."
For a moment, Hana paused before stroking the head of Zubat.
"The moment you choose Zubat, you choose to train it, you choose to battle with it, to win with it, to suffer defeat with it, you choose Zubat to do things together. You didn't choose Zubat to babysit it to make it a strong baby that's always confined in an obstacle course, you didn't choose it for you to blame yourself in every defeat and hype it up in every victory, you choose it to make it the strongest Crobat it can ever be, and the only way to do that..."
As Hana said as such, she gently tossed Zubat into the air, making it fly towards the head of Anthony.
"Is to let it go."
Anthony's eyes widened at this. One can say that it was because of the existence of the pinhole camera, but also to such a profound way of thinking, and how such a simple franchise catchphrase becomes so deep if applied in the real world. Anthony again admired his mother and couldn't help but wait for the arrival of his father.
Just when Anthony was thinking of Ben, Hana smiled.
"When training Pokémon, the first mentality to have is not how you can be a researcher for a steady salary, it's to let go."
Anthony's eyes widened as he finally realized his mistake, or perhaps, the true meaning of his mother's philosophy in parenting. For indeed, the moment he started to train Zubat, he subconsciously felt like it was okay if Zubat took a lot of time to develop itself, after all, it was just a child and needed time to increase its strength.
This might be right normally, but only for mediocre trainers who have just travelled as a hobby and use the gyms and the leagues as a side quest. If Anthony wanted to make his Pokémon to truly become the best in its game, he needed to impose his demands on Zubat and to trust the Pokémon that his demands would be met.
Of course, such was how Anthony interpreted such rare lessons from his mother.
To let go is to trust, such is what they said.
_This lesson... might also be a demonstration, the original Anthony was given the unconscious imposition that all things that come out of my mom's mouth can be understood by me..._
This caused Anthony to have such an analytical brain relative to his peers
Anthony can't help but smile.
_What a great parent..._
As Anthony praised his mother as he realized the reason behind her hands-off parenting philosophy, Hana put her hand on his head.
"It's a good thing you understood