Chapter 3: People, Pokemon, and Energy

"Haha, I can see you all are brimming with energy! Let's get started with the usual warmups for now, then you'll move onto endurance training. Mienfoo, you rest for now, you have 15 minutes before you join the rest. Michael and Machamp, follow me outside to the yard." My father was quick to delegate the morning curriculum to everyone in the room.

While it may seem like my father is obsessed with training, he understands the value of proper rest and moderation. He quickly earned my respect as a Martial Artist ever since I first saw how he instructed those under his tutelage.

Following my father outside to the yard, the sight of nature could be seen all around us. My mother, father and I all live in a secluded area of what my parents simply called the Heartfield Estate.

According to my mother, my father is given special privileges thanks to his title. When the Pokemon League asked him what he wanted as a reward when he first received the title, all he asked for was an area with no distractions, and thus the Heartfield Estate was created.

After following my father into a clearing in a section of the woods, he stopped in place for a moment. As if answering my initial confusion regarding his actions, I watched carefully as a cluster of faint energies seemed to converge into one area: that area being my father.

I continued to watch this fascinating display with curiosity clear in my expression, until finally my father sprung into a fighting stance and charged at Machamp. As if it knew this was going to happen, Machamp readily raised its two upper arms to meet my father's as they engaged in what can only be described as a competition of pure power.

At first, it seemed as if Machamp easily held the advantage with its superior physique. What fascinated me even more was the visible orange glow that cloaked Machamp's body.

"Haaaaa!" Letting out a challenging roar, my father seemed to muster up even more strength, not faltering for a second under the overwhelming might that is a Machamp's power.

As soon as the clash of strength started, it came to an end as both my father and Machamp separated, lowering their hands in a way that seemed to calm the turbulent energy that surrounded them.

"How was it? Are you impressed by your dad's incredible power?!" My father flexed his arms, showing off the perfectly sculpted muscles that were the results of endless training.

"Father, how in the world did you match Machamp in strength?! I remember you telling me that the bodies of Pokemon held power that humans couldn't hope to contest against!" I let my curiosity get the better of me as I excitedly questioned what I just witnessed.

While it wasn't unusual to see these displays in my past life, I had believed for a long time that the people of this world were incapable of achieving such feats. Even the natural toughness of mine and my father's bodies were still within the realm of possibility for super-genius level talents, or at least that's what I had concluded.

"That, my son, is what we call Energy Enhancement! It's a technique that was developed and honed by those before us that allows humans to grow to a level that can rival pokemon themselves!" My father explained with a smirk on his face, one that made me think he was proud to get such a reaction from me.

"As I've explained to you already in the past, pokemon are creatures with inherent energy signatures that we humans have come to call 'typings'. These typings are a sort of predisposition for the body of these pokemon to grow and develop a certain way.

There are numerous exceptions to this, but as a rule of thumb pokemon will naturally grow along the inherent strengths granted to them by their typing." He paused for a moment, appearing to consider how he should continue his explanation.

"Tell me, son, have you perhaps ever felt a foreign energy inside of you? It wouldn't be very obvious at first, but it's almost like a force that's constantly a part of you, yet unused." My father's words made me consider for a moment the 'sapling' that grew within me.

"Actually, father, I think I know what you mean." I closed my eyes after speaking, attempting to 'pull' some of the energy that was emitted by the orange fruit outwards.

After a small moment, I could feel the energy flow through my body as if it were water naturally flowing to fill in the gaps. Soon, the energy reached its final destination, my heart. A feeling of enhanced strength seemed to fill my body at this.

'Interesting, this feeling is very similar to how it felt when I entered the Nascent Soul stage…'

I opened my eyes soon after, only to see the mouths of my father and Machamp opened wide enough to eat an entire melon in a single bite.

"M-Michael!! Do you have any idea how difficult what you just did is???" My father's shock showed now signs of settling.

"I just tried to copy what you did, father. Did I do something wrong?" I replied with worry on my face as I hoped that I did not perform some sort of taboo.

"It usually takes talented people 10 years of training just to even feel their Typing Affinity, and yet you just performed Energy Manipulation without a single flaw!! Some people can't even manage to do it after decades! It even took me 5 years of constant practice and dedication to successfully do the same thing!" The shocked face of my father soon morphed into serious contemplation.

"Michael, I need you to promise me that you won't show that to another person until you become an adult. Do you understand me?" My father's tone was serious as his gaze contained clear signs of worry.

"I understand, Father. I'm sorry." I apologized to my father as it was clear that my fast development made him uneasy for many reasons.

"There's no need to be sorry, Michael. The only reason I'm asking you to do this is to protect you. There are people out there in the world that will see your talent and wish to control it, or perhaps even worse…" Once again, my father's face contorted with worry.

"Champ!" Machamp seemed to know just how to quell my father's worries as it powerfully patted his back with its two left arms, sending my father slightly tripping forward as a result.

"Hahhh, you're right, buddy. There's no use in standing around and constantly being worried. Now is the time to prepare Michael for any challenges that lay ahead! And with the two of us as his teachers, there's no doubt he'll grow into an even bigger monster than that 'guy' could ever hope to deal with!" My father quickly recovered his emotions and calmed himself with the aid of his life-long pokemon friend.

"Well, seeing as we can skip all of the energy manifestation training, I think we can instead focus on determining exactly what your typing affinities are. Come over here so we can do just that!"

*Bruno POV*

'My kid really is a monster talent. I mean, performing Energy Extraction at barely 5 years old?? That has to be a world record… He'll have to be careful in the future or else those Rocket Bastards are gonna try and take advantage of him…

Ahh, whatever! Monster talent or not, I never planned to skimp out on training him into a proud Martial Artist and Pokemon Trainer after he so firmly requested I do so a few years ago. Prepare yourself, son, because I'm gonna turn you into an unstoppable force to be reckoned with!'

"Alright, son. I need you to get into a meditation position with your back facing me. I want you to focus on the energy you feel and tell me whether or not it feels familiar to you, okay?" Michael simply responded to my words with a nod.

'Who said raising a kid was hard? My Michael here is the most well behaved and attentive!'

"Alright, here we go."

*General POV*

And so a few hours went by as Bruno channeled various types of energies through Michael's body, testing to see if Michael felt a reaction to any of them. The process finally concluded as sweat covered the body of Bruno who had been consistently using his energy to perform the test.

"You really are a monster, kid… To think that you'd have 9 major affinities and 9 minor… I feel like I'm losing my mind. Hey, Machamp, come smack me on the head so I know if I'm dreaming or not." Bruno seemed too exhausted to show any more shock at the situation he was presented with.

"Um, father? What exactly do you mean by major and minor affinities?" Michael turned around from his previous meditative position to ask his father a question.