"Focus on the Ghost energy," Alexis instructed Eevee as they walked down a winding path through the forest. "You need to be able to keep it up effortlessly."
He was currently trying to teach Eevee how to manipulate Ghost energy without using Curse. In his mind, that was a good first step to learning Shadow Ball. Eevee could only learn Curse and Shadow Ball as Ghost type moves, so it was limited to those and could only jump straight from the basics to total mastery. While he could try to teach it more moves, it would probably be a fruitless endeavour. Besides, just teaching it Shadow Ball would already make it a strong contender against Ghost and Psychic types.
"Sewaddle, keep walking bud, you need to grow strong legs." Alexis encouraged the small Sewaddle who was walking by their side. In spite of being young, Sewaddle did not complain and continued to walk until it was tired. According to Alexis, it was building endurance and strong 'legs'.
"Vee-eevee!"
"Sewaddle-se!"
His two Pokémon exclaimed in determination. By the end of their training, they were both exhausted.
"Ok, let's take a short rest everyone," Alexis said with a small smile, happy they were trying their best to grow stronger.
It had been three days since Alexis and Eevee entered the forest, two since Sewaddle had joined them. In those two days Alexis had started training his Pokémon in what he thought was necessary, taking into account the recommendations of the Expert Trainer System. Ghost energy for Eevee, focusing on Speed, and Speed and Attack for Sewaddle. While not by much, their Stats had seen improvement. Besides, they had gone through a few battles against wild Pokémon that approached to challenge. Looking at the two small creatures, Alexis viewed their stats.
[Eevee]
[Type: Normal Gender: Female
Nature: Timid Ability: Anticipation]
[HP: 55 – IVs: 21 – EVs: 1 – Total: 40
Attack: 55 – IVs: 18 – EVs: 0 – Total: 18
Defence: 50 – IVs: 30 – EVs: 0 – Total: 21
Sp. Attack: 45 – IVs: 31 – EVs: 45 – Total: 22
Sp: Defence: 65 – IVs: 30 – EVs: 0 – Total: 25
Speed: 55 – IVs: 31 – EVs: 52 – Total: 27
BST: 325 – CST: 153]
[Moves: Curse, Covet, Growl, Helping Hand, Tackle, Tail Whip, Sand Attack, Quick Attack.-]
———————————————————————————————
[Sewaddle]
[Type: Bug/Grass Gender: Female
Nature: Adamant Ability: Overcoat]
[HP: 45 – IVs: 31 – EVs: 0 – Total: 23
Attack: 53 – IVs: 31 – EVs: 28 – Total: 14
Defence: 70 – IVs: 30 – EVs: 0 – Total: 15
Sp. Attack: 40 – IVs: 20 – EVs: 0 – Total: 9
Sp: Defence: 60 – IVs: 30 – EVs: 0 – Total: 14
Speed: 42 – IVs: 31 – EVs: 30 – Total: 12
BST: 310 – CST: 87]
[Moves: Synthesis, String Shot, Tackle.-]
'Solid progress,' Alexis thought while glancing at their EVs, seeing the numbers increase in a short time. The little ones had been putting in the effort, and he appreciated it. 'Eevee is a fast attacker, and Sewaddle has decent speed but hits heavy.'
Fortunately for the trio, they would soon reach San Martín de los Andes, which was barely two hours away from their current location. They had already spent one more day than expected in the wilderness, and Alexis had to resupply and buy some things his Pokémon would certainly appreciate.
"Come on you two, we're about to reach the next town," he told his Pokémon before offering them his arms to climb up.
*
Walking through the forest, the sunlight fading as the sun hid in the horizon, Alexis enjoyed the quiet ambience of the forest for the last time. The soft breeze rising, rustling the leaves of the overarching canopy, the sound of Kricketot and Kricketune coming out as night fell, the chirp of Fletchlings and the cooing of Pidoves. It was all inviting, and he felt at most ease then and there.
And then he saw it, the first sign of civilisation. Wooden houses, pavement, and people walking through streets. The street lights of San Martín de los Andes had already turned on, covering the city in a blanket of warm light, making the touristic town look even more beautiful.
"Finally... a warm bath after only having cold streams," Alexis muttered as he walked into the city, heading straight for the Pokémon Center. One inside, he immediately got to working on what needed to be done. "Good evening, Nurse Joy."
"Hello there! Do your Pokémon need a checkup? Or maybe you do~?" Nurse Joy teased, her personality clearly different from the others he had met. Yet another piece of evidence showing that the real world was much different than the media he had consumed before the merging.
"My Pokémon need a checkup," Alexis answered, ignoring her teasing masterfully. "I need a room to spend the night and a bath."
"So boring~," she answered as she took Eevee and Sewaddle—which had been temporarily returned to their Pokéballs by Alexis—and took them to a machine to check their status. She was quick to drop her teasing when working. "Everything seems fine, they just need a good night of rest to be back on top condition."
"Good to know," Alexis answered as he took back the Pokéballs, releasing his Pokémon and allowing them to climb up to his shoulders again.
"There is a shared room available, and the bathroom is at the end of the hall." Nurse Joy informed Alexis, pointing him towards the lodging area. "Fourth room on the left."
Muttering a soft 'thank you', Alexis walked off into the lodging area, where he entered the room Nurse Joy had mentioned and left his backpack on top of an empty bed. Seeing there were no other belongings in the room, he took off his shirt and grabbed a change of clothes, walking out and towards the bathroom, taking Eevee and Sewaddle with him—Pokémon also needed showers, after all.
"Eevee! Stay put! No, EEVEE!!"
*
Later that night, while getting ready to sleep, Eevee could be seen extremely quiet, trying to move as little as possible as it lay in the bed. It looked like a dog when you are scolding it and it knows it did something wrong.
"I still can't believe I had to buy a bottle of conditioner," Alexis muttered, making Eevee's ears twitch when it heard the word 'conditioner'. Sighing, Alexis relaxed and got into bed. "I already scolded you enough, now I just want to sleep."
"Eevee..." It softly whimpered, snuggling up to Alexis.
"Calm down, I'm not that mad," Alexis reassured the little guy. "Next time you know not to play with it."
"Sewa?" Sewaddle snuggled close to them, already having developed a sibling-like bond with Eevee. Alas, Sewaddle was much more docile than Eevee, so it had stayed still the entire bath.
"Yeah, you behaved just fine... now let's sleep," Alexis said, resting his tired body against he soft mattress, his body engulfed by the soft cloth of the blanket. "Good night guys..."
*
The following morning, Alexis woke up to Eevee tugging at his sleep, sunlight already shining through the window of their room. groggily waking up, Alexis stood up from the bed and scratched his belly, scratching at his eye with his other hand.
"Why did my Pokémon have to be such early risers..." he complained as he looked at the time in his phone, which showed it was 7AM. "Come on... let's go get breakfast..."
He said as he wore his clothes once again. After brushing his teeth and freshening up, he left the Pokémon Center, waving an early goodbye to Nurse Joy and letting her know he would probably be back by night—he intended to spend two nights in town before departing towards Neuquén City.
With a full day ahead of himself, he first headed towards the one place anyone who visited San Martín de los Andes had to visit. Walking west of town, a small beach appeared in front of his eyes, beyond which lay a seemingly endless expanse of crystalline, deep blue waters. That was Lake Lácar. Surrounded my high hills and small mountains covered in forestry, the view was absolutely magical.
Having lived close to Bariloche in a town surrounded by forest and lakes, he was used to the views of nature, but something about the ancient fjord still drew awe from him. Similarly, Sewaddle and Eevee's eyes shone with awe at the magical sight.
"I am glad I chose to go on a journey," Alexis said, sitting down in the sand after laying a towel. "I get to meet awesome Pokémon like you guys, I get to see and experience things like this with my friends and companions..."
"Eev!" "Sewa!" Were the short answers he got, both in agreement.
"This is what life is meant to be like, isn't it?" Alexis reflected as he enjoyed the morning sun shining on his skin, its reflection on the blue waters of Lake Lácar making it even more magical than it already was.
If one looked closely, they would see a trio of one Trainer and two Pokémon peacefully seating by the water, peacefully eating some berries.