The First-Generation Trainers

" Aiven, Aiven!"

Just then, Aiven suddenly heard someone calling him.

He looked over and saw Peter, Tessi's son. Peter was holding a rope, with the other end tied around the leaves on top of a Walking Grass's head.

Talk about perfect timing. Aiven's heart lifted, and he hurried over.

"Here, this is the Walking Grass you wanted." Peter handed it to Aiven, then asked in confusion, "Aiven, are you really going to use Walking Grass to make potions?"

In Peter's mind, a Monster like Walking Grass that absorbed nutrients from the soil was nothing but a pest that needed to be cleared out of the orchard.

Hearing that, Aiven smiled helplessly. "Not exactly. I'm collecting Walking Grass because I want to raise them and have them protect the farm."

"Raise them?"

Little Andy had seen someone arrive and come running over. Hearing their conversation, his eyes immediately lit up.

By now, he knew that Aiven had been raising Petilil and Cherubi all this time, and he was incredibly envious.

"Mm. It's an experiment," Aiven said with a smile.

Little Andy immediately looked eager. "Then can I raise a Walking Grass too?"

Aiven was silent for a moment. Thinking that Walking Grass probably wouldn't hurt Little Andy, he nodded, then added, "But you have to earn its recognition on your own."

The little boy cheered and immediately turned to run toward the Walking Grass in the grass. He thought the timid little thing would be a great target. They'd met several times already.

As for the Walking Grass Peter was holding, he didn't think it belonged to their farm, so he couldn't bring himself to approach it.

"How about you? Want to give it a try too?" Aiven asked, watching the boy in front of him fall into thought. Peter was one of the few young people in the village. Aiven thought he could help him develop his skills; perhaps he could become one of the first-generation trainers.

After hesitating, Peter shook his head. It wasn't that he had no interest in becoming a Monster Trainer; he just wasn't sure the Walking Grass in front of him really counted as a Monster.

In his imagination, his Monster had to be tall and powerful, like Uncle Daby's Luxray.

As he thought about it, he spotted the Ironclad Rhinoceros in the field and couldn't take his eyes off it. Now that was the perfect Monster in his mind!

Aiven took the Walking Grass from Peter without pressing him. After thanking him, he handed Peter a bottle of Healing Potion and said with a smile, "Thanks."

Peter stared at the Healing Potion in his hand, then hurriedly tried to refuse it. He had seen all the contributions Aiven had made to the village lately. How could he accept Aiven's Healing Potion just for catching one Walking Grass?

"It's fine. Take it."

"If you find any more Walking Grass, please catch them for me too."

Aiven smiled as he spoke. One Walking Grass was worth far more than a Healing Potion.

After some back-and-forth, Peter finally accepted the Healing Potion reluctantly. He also promised that if he spotted any Walking Grass, he would find a way to catch it.

After Peter left, Aiven fell into thought. He wondered if he could put out a bounty for reports of Walking Grass sightings. That way, he could gather a large number of them quickly.

"Nya!"

As Aiven pondered, the Walking Grass in his hands began struggling violently.

The little thing looked exhausted. It must have struggled plenty while Peter was holding it.

"All right, stop struggling. I'm letting you go now."

As he spoke, Aiven set the Walking Grass down. At the same time, he saw another Walking Grass run over from the grass to check on it.

Little Andy ran over behind it, panting. He looked disappointed. The Walking Grass had completely ignored his request.

"All right, Walking Grass. You're free now."

"You can leave if you want. Or you can stay here in the Fruit Grove. No one will drive you away again."

Repeating the words he had said to his own Walking Grass, Aiven untied the rope around its body.

Hearing Aiven say this, the Walking Grass that had joined the farm began persuading its companion too.

Before long, the two Walking Grass were walking together toward the grass.

The Walking Grass that had just been freed still seemed doubtful, but once it entered the grass and felt the thick vitality there, it was won over at once.

That made two Walking Grass. Aiven was pleased. It looked like he'd need to move up his plan to train them in the Triple Powder Move.

Nearby, Little Andy had his eye on the other Walking Grass now. With a friendly smile, he went over, planning to get on good terms with it and convince it to become his partner willingly.

After playing for a while, Petilil returned to Aiven's side. It might enjoy playing, but the little one hadn't forgotten its goal of growing stronger.

Aiven was very pleased with Petilil's self-discipline. Hard training was essential if it wanted to grow stronger, and it needed enough power to protect everything around it!

It was still morning. Petilil began by training its Deadly Poison Technique, then moved on to its Absorb Technique and Leech Seed.

After all this training, Petilil's Absorb Technique could now be released as a beam to attack its opponent and absorb the opponent's stamina.

As for Leech Seed, the little one had gained some insight after watching Aiven prepare potions last time. Guided by the principle that concentration brought out the essence, it had successfully compressed Grass Attribute energy into a seed.

Next, Petilil needed to control the seed, making it take root and sprout until it became a real Leech Seed.

With the vitality in the cultivated field and the boost it gave to Grass Attribute Pokémon's special attacks, Petilil could control Leech Seed with greater ease. It wouldn't be long before it mastered the move completely.

"Next, it needs to work on using the move in battle."

"Mukkuru would make a great sparring partner."

"And while they train, I can give that stubborn one some extra coaching. With a training method that only involves crashing into trees, how could it ever learn the Ramming Attack?"

Aiven planned Petilil's next training steps. As someone from the modern world, he knew exactly what a Pokémon's strength could mean.