Just a Time, Skip, and a Jump Away

Because of all the running around he had to do to get his temporary team together, Asmond was over five and half years old by the time they were all gathered and started training together. His Geodude had been born around the same time as the new Jolteon, whom he had named Volteon just to eliminate confusion.

     Because the team's completion was closer to his sixth birthday than he had planned, he decided to wait until he was seven, before traveling east. This, of course, would allow him to gain a few more inches as well. 

     During this time, he had spent a lot of time, at what he had taken to calling the Eon's place, training Volteon and Geodude. 

     Seedot had recently managed to get some kind of grasp on his dark side but he couldn't yet control it. Asmond suspected that, with a few more months of exposure sessions he would probably get there. Seedot's control over his vines had grown substantially although he still couldn't compare to Leafeon. As a result he could now add an extra sphere around his Vine Drive and break away from it should it be penetrated. 

     Asmond had also managed to teach him how to create a rudimentary Vine Golem around himself for defense. It wasn't yet usable because Seedot's understanding of arm and leg movements was quite lacking. Like his Dark Type powers, however, Asmond had hopes that it would only be a matter of time.

     Torchic had managed to gain a new proficiency in summoning his flames from any part of his body and his hottest flames were now quite formidable. You didn't want to be around when he got fired up. He could even take on Geodudes solo, as he had done several times when they had ventured into the western mountains.

     His Geodude, like a lot of Rock and Ground Type Pokemon, needed to eat rocks as well as Pokemon. He could eat Pokemon but it would be kind of like a Normal Type only eating fruits and berries. The nourishment they needed just couldn't be obtained from these things alone. His Geodude had also started doing the same training that the others did and was coming along nicely. One of the best things about having a Geodude was that Espiria could resume her Rock Orbiting Training again. While Asmond wasn't completely proficient in handling Death Metal yet, he also resumed his Rock Orbiting to push himself further.

     Happiny had reached a new level in her understanding of the light energy she used for healing and attacks. Asmond had spent quite a few nights worth of his magic to create a small prism for her that could either condense or disperse her Light Beams, depending on how she used it. Her masochist's training method had actually managed to raise her defense quite a bit as well. It was much harder for the others to damage her with physical attacks, whenever they would spar.

     Espiria managed to work her way up to Orbiting Rocks twice the size of basketballs. She could only handle it for one rotation currently but Asmond was still impressed with this level of progress. She could also handle twelve of the smaller rocks in Simultaneous Orbiting. 

     She had also made progress with her Psychic Shooting ability. She had needed more than just her Psychic Limbs to make this work without activating Quick Attack. Asmond had to coach her through shaping her psychic powers correctly in order to achieve sufficient levels of velocity. She had to create a sufficiently large thin skinned sphere of hollow psychic energy. 

     After shrinking that sphere and there by compressing the air inside of it, she had to make sure it was the exact shape and size of the back of the projectiles. She would then construct a long barrel like barrier around both the condensed air and the projectile. After that it was simply a matter of maintaining all of this, until she could aim at her target and release the condensed air sending the projectile flying at amazing speeds.

     This all, of course, was much harder than it sounded and, even with the progress she had made, she still could only barely compress the air correctly. The rest was still beyond her at the moment. So she continued to practice this ability, while also training to increase her speed, accuracy, and reflexes. 

     Squirtle had been attempting to use the same principles of compression and condensation in order to make his Water Gun attacks more effective. Asmond had shown him an effective way of maneuvering himself, similar to Seedot's method. Instead of rolling, he would tuck himself into his shell and propel himself in the desired direction using his water abilities.

     This, like Espiria's Psychic Shooting, was much harder in practice and as Squirtle saw it was damn near impossible. Asmond told him, if he continued to practice, he would be able to determine the appropriate angle and pressure required to propel himself the way he desired. 

     He wasn't so sure about it but Asmond hadn't led him astray so far and he had long ago settled in as part of the team. As such he continued to practice this method and had managed to pull off an ineffective precursor to this movement style. It wasn't very practical at the moment but he could now see the path ahead and so he strode forward earnestly.

     Volteon's training, of course, included getting him started on everything the others had been working on. On top of that, both his and Jolteon's training involved learning to anticipate the moment of impact of an enemy's attack and discharging their electricity into the enemy at that moment. Asmond didn't teach them to rely on getting hit but to be prepared for it and turn it into an opportunity to counter.

     An enemy is much less likely to attack, if they know that every time they attack you they'll have to receive an attack. So they focused on this fighting method alongside increasing their speed, accuracy, and reflexes.

     Magikarp, despite being a silverish blue shiny, was still a Magikarp and so wasn't really good for much, when they had first found him. Under Asmond's strict training regime, however, Magikarp was actually quite impressive, if only when compared to other Magikarps. He could safely and consistently defeat other Magikarps without any direction, which Asmond thought was pretty damned good. 

     As such, Magikarp had become their official Pokefisher. Whenever they needed some extra Pokeflesh Espiria would take Magikarp back to the ocean where he would kill a bunch of other Magikarps and then return on Espiria's order. If any Pokemon other than Magikarp approached the area he was fishing, Espiria would order him back immediately.

     Shinx's training was coming along quite nicely, as well. Asmond made sure that he not only did all of Volteon and Jolteon's training but that he also did serious strength training. He wanted Shinx to increase his speed as well but his strength took priority, in the physical department, since Jolteon and Volteon were already on the road to becoming speed demons.

     It was now the day after his seventh birthday and Asmond himself had become much more proficient in handling Death Metal, which now had three new links. His magic reserves had been expanded by about half and, on top of having grown nearly a foot and a half, he had started his own physical training routine now that his body was filling out. He was moderately muscular for his body size and had much more speed, strength, and stamina than when he first started his journey.

     He obviously wasn't a powerhouse by any means but he felt much more confident in being able to deal with threats, than his shorter self. At five feet two inches tall, he could much more easily carry the Night Guard around when they traveled and he felt more and more comfortable in his body every day.

     Today was the day that he and his team were going to leave for the jungles in the east. The Eon's had already agreed to let Volteon go with him and he was currently staying with Asmond and his team. Asmond had agreed to stop by their territory, which was now one large territory after they had expanded and merged their separate ones, and so they set off in that direction to wish them farewell.

     Jolteon accompanied them, even though he would be returning after discussing the future management of the three territories with the Eon's. They said their goodbyes to the Eon's, exited their territory in the north, and continued northeast towards the edge of the western mountains. 

     They had needed to defend their territory several times during this past year and half. However, they had been lucky that nothing too strong had threatened them. Asmond suspected that it might have simply been that the place they had chosen to settle down wasn't particularly rich in resources and, for any Pokemon who couldn't reliably fish in the ocean, they might have become seriously malnourished living there.

     This journey might take them a few weeks, maybe even a month, to complete but he was confident in his team's abilities. While they had trained individually and even sparred with each other, they also had been put through team building exercises and practiced synergistic combinations.

     His team might be composed of mostly unevolved Pokemon but they were no slouches and wouldn't hesitate in the face of danger. Nor would they hesitate to retreat in the face of overwhelming danger.

     Four days after leaving the Eon's territory, they had reached the eastern side of eastern mountains. As they were preparing, to continue forward, leaving the mountains behind them, Eevee alerted them to the presence of a large flying Pokemon coming their way.

     Asmond immediately stopped and turned around. Looking up at the sky, he could see it closing in fast. 'Dammit! We're completely exposed right now! There's no way we could make it to the forest fast enough and...Holy Shit! Is that a Dragonite?! Dammit! They finally did it! Those damned would be killers of mine, they have finally caught me with my pants down! Fuck! What am I gonna do?'

     As he was panicking and making a mental note to find ways to escape a Dragonite while in the open if he survived this, the Dragonite slowed its descent and eventually landed on the ground nearly a hundred meters away.

    'What the…? Why would it land? It can fly and breathe Dragon Breath, why wouldn't it just fly over us, while breathing destruction down on us? Well, whatever it's thinking, if we're going to go down, we might as well go down with a fight.'

     The Dragonite was slowly walking towards them, as Asmond ordered his Pokemon to assume formation six. The Night Guards had already woken up and they all quickly got into position. As the Dragonite continued to slowly close the distance, Espiria looked closely at him and then spoke to Asmond.

     *Ummm...I think that's your father's Dragonite, Asmond.*

     After hearing this Asmond relaxed slightly. *Are you sure? Did it say something to you?*

     *No but I recognize it. Here, I'll ask for you.*

     After questioning the Dragonite, she reported to Asmond. *It's him. See I told you. I'd recognize him anywhere.*

     The Dragonite was now less than thirty meters away and had stopped its approach. Asmond decided to take the initiative. 

     "Are you really my father's Dragonite? If so, then what did I do the first time I saw you?"

     "Dragonite"

     *He says you reached out towards him and Charizard and almost immediately fell asleep.*

     "Good! Well, I'm certain that it's you now but what did you want? I thought the Clan had prohibited you or father from helping me?"

     *He says that he had a long talk with Gunder about your situation and, as much as it pained the both of them to do so, they both agreed that the only way around the Clan's new law was for Dragonite to leave Gunder's team. Apparently the new law makes the entire area south of Forina Forest a forbidden zone to everyone in the clan. 

     *This, of course, severely weakened Gunder and Mira's status within the clan but officially there was nothing the elders could do about it. Even so, if anyone else from the Clan witnessed Dragonite directly interfering with you, it could still spell trouble as they would have grounds to accuse him of planning this before his release.

     *With Dragonite now living in the wilds, the only ways the Clan could monitor him would be entirely too wasteful. They still sent people to check up on him but they couldn't watch him all the time. During this time, Dragonite had been monitoring our progress from the peaks just behind us and had planned to intercept you, if you ever left the forbidden zone. Your father wasn't able to help you, whenever you were banished, but, with the clan's new law, he saw a loophole that he could exploit and he sent out Dragonite to conceive an egg, monitor yoreur situation, and deliver the egg to you at the first opportunity.

     *However, since you stayed in the forbidden zone for so long, the egg has already hatched but the Dratini is meant for you, if you'll take it.*

     'Damn! Dad did all that for me?! I was never really that attached to those two but after this...how can I not pay them back? He banished his own teammate, Dragonite, just to monitor me from afar and deliver a Dratini? There's also the fact that Dragonite agreed to all this, which suggests that they were clearly very close.' Asmond thought, as the Dratini that had been slithering around on Dragonite's shoulders slid off and made it's way over to him.

     'Yep, that's it! My mind's made up!' 

     Dratini made his way up Asmond's legs, his torso, and onto his shoulders.

     "Dragonite, I swear I'll take the absolute best care of Dratini and I want you to deliver a message to my father, when you get the chance. Make sure to tell him that I'm much more powerful and capable than I was when he last saw me and I'm only going to become even more so, from now on. Tell him that one day I'll completely outstrip those experts of the Draconid Clan and I'll return to make them submit and put them in their place. Will you do that for me, Dragonite?"

     Dragonite hesitated and had a complicated look in his eyes for a moment but eventually he nodded and said, "Dragonite"

     After agreeing to deliver Asmond's message, Dragonite turned towards the north and flew off back to his mountain home.

     Asmond looked at the Dratini, that was now wrapped around his right forearm, and assessed it for a moment. 

     "I'm assuming that Dragonite discussed this with you at length, before you arrived?"

     "Dratini"

     "I suspected as much. Well, don't you worry. You're in good hands and we won't let any harm come to you. On top of that, we'll also train you up to be even stronger than your father someday."

     "Dratini" Dratini said happily.

     After welcoming his new teammate and confirming his resolve to make those damned Draconids pay for this whole mess, he and his team set off once more towards the eastern jungle.