Walking Grass Squad

Walking Grass lived comfortably in this meadow.

They could sense that this meadow was brimming with far more vitality than the forest.

And since this was a human farm, they no longer had to worry about being attacked by Monsters for no reason.

As they hid beneath the soil, lazily enjoying the vitality it contained, they suddenly felt something land on them and in the earth around them.

The next moment, they felt an energy unlike anything they had ever absorbed surging through the ground. Drawn to it, they instinctively began to absorb it.

What was this energy? It felt so good! After absorbing the energy in the Growth Fertilizer, the Walking Grass were all hooked.

Then they poked their heads out of the soil one after another and looked toward Aiven, who was spreading fertilizer nearby.

Without hesitation, they climbed out of the ground and ran toward him.

In no time, a whole group of Walking Grass had gathered in front of Aiven, like chicks pecking at grain. They all looked up at him as if to say, "We want more! We want more!"

Aiven smiled. Their reaction to the Growth Fertilizer meant his plan to raise Walking Grass was already halfway to success.

Uncle Darby watched quietly. Looking at the Walking Grass they had driven away because they kept competing for the berries' nutrients, he sighed. There was enough fertilizer here to last the orchard a long time. It seemed like such a waste.

Even if the Walking Grass were somewhat useful, the berries they managed to protect might not be worth as much as all that fertilizer.

Soon, Aiven had used up all the fertilizer, and the Walking Grass had buried themselves in a cluster beneath the soil, happily absorbing the energy it contained.

Looking at the empty wooden bucket, Aiven's mouth twitched. This is a necessary investment, he told himself.

But at this rate, he would soon run out of Growth Fertilizer. He had to find a way to get more Rotten Tree Fruit.

Time flew by.

Over the next two days, Aiven trained his Pokémon as usual.

The Sleep Powder Flower Dew Potion worked very well. It had produced noticeable results in just two days.

Petilil and Walking Grass could now gather Grass Attribute energy into powder laced with a sleep-inducing effect.

Meanwhile, thanks to the supplements from the potions, Ironclad Rhinoceros had fully recovered its depleted potential and was ready to begin the next stage of training.

Ironclad Rhinoceros had a fine aptitude for the Ground attribute. Aiven planned to start there, having it work on the Earth Potion and begin learning the Earth Power move.

Earth Power was a special Ground-type move. Although Ironclad Rhinoceros had poor aptitude for special attacks, Earth Power could help it better control Ground-type energy.

It was a move that every Ground-type Pokémon needed to learn. It was also the foundation for many Ground-type moves, with plenty of room for further development.

In his previous life, whenever Aiven raised Ground-type Pokémon, he always started with Earth Power. Training Ironclad Rhinoceros now felt second nature.

Cherrim's training was much simpler. Until it learned Sunny Day, Aiven had it do no other training. After all this time, Cherrim had made great progress.

As for the other two Cherubi, the fruit on them had grown plumper under the nourishment of the Growth Fertilizer. If this continued, they had a good chance of evolving.

Of course, the biggest change had been in the Walking Grass.

Nourished by the Growth Fertilizer, they had come to think of the farm as their home. Over this time, another five Walking Grass had joined them, bringing their numbers to thirty.

But Aiven had paid a steep price: the Walking Grass had used up a whole large barrel of Growth Fertilizer. Only three large barrels remained in the orchard.

Since that fertilizer also had to be diluted for the berry trees, Aiven had only one barrel of Growth Fertilizer he could use freely.

Still, after he had spent so much on them, the Walking Grass had come to accept him completely. He could now direct them through the most basic training.

"Aiven, how are you going to raise these Walking Grass?"

Uncle Darby watched the Walking Grass running back and forth across the meadow and couldn't help asking.

Although Walking Grass were Monsters, they were very weak. Even an unarmed human could easily handle one.

Aiven glanced at Uncle Darby and gave a small, wry smile. "They aren't ready for proper training yet. First, they need to learn discipline."

Thinking back on the past few days, Walking Grass No. 7 felt as if it had been dreaming.

Ever since it was little, it had lived in the Black Forest, constantly having to deal with other Monsters chasing it.

One day, by accident, it got separated from its group and wandered into human territory.

Timid as it was, it crept along, hiding wherever it could, until it accidentally came upon a human farm.

The vitality here was so abundant that Walking Grass thought it had found paradise. It wished it could stay here forever.

But the humans carrying wooden sticks were no kinder than the Monsters. They drove the Walking Grass away with sticks, fire, and every method they could think of.

As it fled, Walking Grass saw many of its companions fall into human hands. Some were beaten to death with sticks, others burned alive. It filled the little Pokémon with fear of humans.

Though it had luckily escaped the humans' attacks time and again, it was eventually caught and shut inside an iron cage.

It had thought it would be beaten or burned to death, but who would have guessed it would be brought to this farm and meet its current owner?

Oh, this place really was like paradise. Ever since arriving, it had never wanted to leave.

Its owner was different from other humans. He was so gentle. Besides giving them a place to live, he let them absorb something called Growth Fertilizer. It swore it had never absorbed anything more delicious.

Nourished by the energy in the Growth Fertilizer, it felt itself growing stronger and stronger. If it met the human who had caught it again, it would surely be able to run faster and leave its enemy far behind.

At first, Walking Grass thought it could live peacefully like this.

But winter was coming soon. The Monsters in the forest would come into human territory and destroy the home they had worked so hard to find.

It knew its owner was right. It had lived through the previous winter itself. Those awful creatures had invaded the human orchard, and it had nearly become their food.

What could it do then? Should it give up the home it had struggled so hard to find and go back to wandering?

Just then, it saw one of the Walking Grass learn a move called Sleep Powder under its owner's training!

Oh, this was the first time it had seen one of its kind use such powerful abilities, aside from its group's leader, Gloom!

Then it heard something incredible.

It could learn such a powerful move too?

When it heard its owner say that, it honestly thought it had misheard.

But if its owner said so, it had to be true. Now that it had the chance to learn, of course it wouldn't refuse!

It would learn the move called Sleep Powder, then join its companions in driving back the Monsters that invaded their home!

Hey, you awful creatures! This time, it wouldn't run away!

Today was already the third day of their training with their owner,

but they still hadn't started learning Sleep Powder. Their owner only had them follow orders: stand, turn left together, turn right together, turn around together, and walk together.

Oh, its owner really was a devil.

One annoying fellow had taken a wrong step, and they hadn't gotten any of that delicious fertilizer today.

Oh, it was just awful. Didn't that fellow know which way the sun rose? Because of it, Walking Grass couldn't enjoy any fertilizer.

Luckily, over the next few days, they got good at following their owner's orders. The delicious fertilizer really was wonderful.

But when would they finally learn Sleep Powder? It had been looking forward to it for so long.

"Training energetic Walking Grass really is difficult."

Standing on the grass, Aiven looked at the Walking Grass, who were at least moving in decent formation, and let out a slow breath.

Discipline was one of the most important parts of training Pokémon.

Only when Pokémon followed their Trainer's orders and worked together with them could they show their full fighting strength.

So a Trainer had to tame their Pokémon and teach them to follow instructions. It was a fundamental part of being a Trainer.

And since Aiven was putting together a Pokémon squad, discipline mattered even more.

Training this group of Walking Grass felt like putting elementary schoolers through military drills. It really was difficult.

Luckily, the temptation of learning Sleep Powder, the incentive of Growth Fertilizer, and the threat of winter Monsters had made the Walking Grass very cooperative. They had just barely met his requirements.

"Next, we can start training them in Sleep Powder." Aiven exhaled slowly and decided to begin the next stage of training tomorrow.

The next day, the Walking Grass stood in neat rows on the grass, anticipation on their faces. Starting today, they could finally learn Sleep Powder.

Training them in Sleep Powder was much easier than teaching them discipline.

All Aiven had to do was smear Sleep Powder Flower Dew Potion on them and let them absorb the energy it contained.

Petilil had now fully mastered Sleep Powder. The little one had taken the initiative to teach the Walking Grass how to use the move.

Petilil had also made all the Sleep Powder Flower Dew Potion. Aiven felt he could hand over the task of training the Walking Grass in Sleep Powder to Petilil entirely!