The next day, in a forest outside Sandgem Town.
The forest was sizable. Reaching Oreburgh City would take ten days to half a month of travel, and they would not be getting out of it anytime soon.
Camping was an essential part of traveling, so Xiaoyun and Dawn planned to take a short rest here.
"Dawn, let's camp here today!"
"Sure. No problem," Dawn replied sweetly.
Xiaoyun prepared a simple lunch for the two of them: a plate of vegetable salad, two egg sandwiches, and some miso soup.
Beside it was food specially made for Pokémon.
"Come on out!" Xiaoyun opened Sceptile's and Turtwig's Poké Balls to let them have lunch.
"Scep!" "Turt!"
"Piplup, pip!"
Since Piplup did not like going into his Poké Ball at first either, Dawn had been carrying him all along.
After lunch, Xiaoyun cleaned the dishes by a nearby stream while Dawn stayed where she was, watching him quietly.
Sceptile found a fairly sturdy tree trunk to lean against, while Piplup and Turtwig lay quietly basking in the sun, making for a peaceful scene.
A while later.
"Turtwig, before we train, let's take a look at the moves you know."
After their rest, Xiaoyun took Turtwig for some basic training, opening his Pokédex to check the little turtle's moves.
(The Pokédex can do this. In the original story, Paul's favorite thing to do was use his Pokédex to assess potential and see whether a Pokémon met his expectations.)
"Turtwig: Tiny Leaf Pokémon" "Type: Grass" "Ability: Overgrow" "Known moves: Tackle, Withdraw, Absorb, Bite, Razor Leaf, Worry Seed." "Overall strength: novice."
"Not bad. You actually inherited Worry Seed. This move can change an opponent's Ability to Insomnia. Used well, it can catch them off guard."
As Xiaoyun examined Turtwig's move pool, one move made his eyes light up, and he spoke happily.
"Turtwig, your training today is fairly simple. Use every move you know on that big tree until you run out of strength. Understood?"
Since Turtwig was still young, Xiaoyun did not plan to give him specialized training in any particular area. He would practice his proficiency with his moves first; building a solid foundation was most important.
"Turt." The little turtle was fairly obedient. Once Xiaoyun gave the order, he dutifully went over to the tree to practice on his own.
"Sceptile: Forest Pokémon" "Ability: Overgrow" "Type: Grass" "Known moves: Quick Attack, Leech Seed, Synthesis, Work Up, Bullet Seed, Sunny Day, Swords Dance, Energy Ball, Night Slash, Leaf Blade, Dragon Claw, Dragon Pulse, Dual Chop, Frenzy Plant, Leaf Storm, Solar Beam, Grassy Terrain, Forest of Thorns, Blade Storm."
(The last two moves will be introduced later.)
"Overall strength: peak quasi-Elite Four."
Compared to Turtwig's, Sceptile's Pokédex entry was much more extensive. He was, after all, the Starter Pokémon Xiaoyun had raised for four years.
Xiaoyun nodded in satisfaction and said to Sceptile, "Sceptile, your strength has reached a bottleneck, but you still can't neglect your daily training. Carry that big rock on your back and do a weighted cross-country run through the forest!"
"Scep!" Training was already part of Sceptile's daily life. He answered Xiaoyun and began his weighted workout.
"That'll do for now."
Watching the two Pokémon train, Xiaoyun considered their future development. Turtwig's future role would be a tank, able to take hits and outlast opponents. Paired with Curse, Mega Drain, and Synthesis, he would be a solid damage sponge.
As for Sceptile, Xiaoyun had always followed the assassin route with a mixed attacking build. If he underwent Mega Evolution in the future, his speed and Special Attack would rise even further.
Sceptile's strength was already infinitely close to the Elite Four level, but he had too little experience battling top trainers. It always felt as though he was still a little short.
Hopefully, they would encounter trainers at the Elite Four level or above, such as Cynthia or Lucian, along the way, and battling them would give Sceptile a helping hand.
Pokémon strength levels were roughly novice, ordinary, elite, Gym, quasi-Elite Four, Elite Four, and Champion.
Below the Elite Four level, winning battles against higher-level opponents was fairly common when Pokémon had a trainer directing them.
(Strength is only roughly assessed. It's a vague concept, and the author doesn't plan to divide the levels too finely. Just enjoy reading.)
"Speaking of which, where did Dawn go...?"
Seeing no sign of Dawn or Piplup around him, Xiaoyun felt a little puzzled.
"Piplup, Xiaoyun's training over there, so we need to work hard too. Hopefully, we can catch our first Pokémon."
Meanwhile, Dawn had taken Piplup into the forest to look for a suitable Pokémon to try catching.
"Pip, Piplup!"
Piplup excitedly pointed at a Burmy ahead, wrapped in leaves with only a pair of yellow eyes showing and sporting Lazy Goat's signature hairstyle on its head.
"All right, I choose you!"
"Go, Piplup! Use Bubble Beam!"
Dawn looked at the Burmy in front of her. It seemed easy enough to deal with, and she felt she could catch it, so she directed Piplup to begin the capture battle.
"Piplup!" At her command, Piplup spat out a mass of blue bubbles, bombarding Burmy wildly.
"Burmy~" This Burmy was clearly low-level indeed. Just a few glancing hits from Bubble Beam left it unable to battle.
"I hit it! I caught my first Pokémon!" Seeing her opponent unable to battle, Dawn danced with excitement.
"Pip! Piplup!!" The little blue chubby fellow did have some common sense. Knowing it was too early to celebrate, he kept tugging at his trainer's trouser leg to remind her to throw a ball first.
"Oh, right, right! I need to throw a Poké Ball, don't I? Watch this!"
"Huh? Where did it go?"
Only after the little penguin reminded her did Dawn remember that she still had to throw a Poké Ball. She rummaged through her bag for ages and finally found one, but just as she was about to throw it... Burmy was gone.
"Piplup!"
"Sorry, Piplup. Next time... I'll definitely throw it next time!" Dawn held Piplup's little flipper and apologized sheepishly.
"Pip, Piplup." The little penguin was not angry either. He patted his chest to indicate it was no big deal and that he could take on ten more like that.
And so, the trainer and her Pokémon began searching the forest for another suitable Pokémon.
"Piplup, look at that Pokémon up ahead!"
After walking for a while, the energetic Dawn discovered another choice.
Up ahead, an adorable little bunny was hopping around picking flowers. At the sight, Dawn immediately checked her Pokédex.
Buneary, the Rabbit Pokémon. Buneary primarily expresses its emotions through the way it curls its ears. When frightened, it curls up both ears.
(The setting is that only general information is available for Pokémon that haven't been caught. In the story, Paul could only view more information after catching them too.)
"Buneary, huh? Battle me!"
"I choose you! Go, Piplup, use Peck!" Dawn began her second capture battle.
"Piplup!" At her command, Piplup charged forward, his beak glowing white!
"Bun?"
Seeing the big, chubby penguin running toward it, Buneary was a little puzzled, but still dodged the attack with a light hop.
"Ah~ It missed? Then use Peck on it again!" Seeing the first strike fail, Dawn continued giving orders.
"Pip, Piplup!"
The little penguin kept his beak glowing white and attacked Buneary.
"Bun~"
This Buneary's level seemed fairly high. This time, not only did it dodge again, but its ear also shone with white light as it prepared to counterattack.
Dizzy Punch!
"Pip." Dizzy Punch struck Piplup square in the face, leaving him confused.
"Bun!"
Finally, Buneary easily ended the battle with a Jump Kick and hopped away.
And with that, Dawn's second capture battle ended in failure as well.