Author's Note: I will try to finish the one week in this one chapter no point of dragging the training for 5 chapters I will cram in what happens in this chapter only.
Third POV
The continued week of training had been difficult, especially for Heracross, Charmeleon, and Persian. All three Pokémon had struggled more than the others during the intensive training sessions, with Heracross having to adapt to a completely new level of discipline, Charmeleon trying to keep up with its stronger teammates after evolving, and Persian having to deal with the fact that its newly developed moves were still far from being battle ready.
But the fruits of their labour were equally impressive.
Grey used multiple training grounds around Route 2 and Route 3 throughout the week, changing locations whenever possible so his Pokémon wouldn't become too accustomed to fighting in one environment. He also battled several Rock-type trainers to get a better understanding of what worked against Rock-type Pokémon and, more importantly, to test Persian's newly developed moves in actual combat rather than simply relying on training sessions.
By the end of the week, almost every Pokémon on his team had made noticeable progress.
Heracross, however, had probably experienced the biggest glow-up.
When Grey first caught it, Heracross was already a strong Pokémon with plenty of natural talent. Its physical strength was impressive, its instincts were sharp, and it had a naturally aggressive fighting style that suited its personality perfectly. The problem was that it had spent too much time fighting in the Viridian Forest without anyone properly guiding it. It had learned how to survive and fight, but it had never really been trained.
There was a difference between the two.
A wild Pokémon could become strong through countless battles, but a trained Pokémon could refine those strengths and remove the weaknesses that came with them.
Grey and Fraxure had spent the week trying to unlock that potential.
Heracross had mastered Brick Break to an absurd degree. Its Megahorn had also become significantly more powerful, while its training with Fraxure had allowed it to pick up Rock Smash and incorporate it into its close-range fighting style. Fraxure had also constantly pointed out the moments when Heracross was unnecessarily exposing itself while attacking, forcing the Bug-type to think about its movements instead of simply relying on its superior physical strength to overwhelm everything in front of it.
Its Pin Missile had also improved after working with Cloyster.
Cloyster had plenty of experience with multi-hit attacks thanks to Icicle Spear, and Grey had used that knowledge to help Heracross understand how to better control the individual projectiles of Pin Missile. Instead of simply firing the needles in a straight line and hoping they landed, Heracross began experimenting with their spread, angles, and timing.
It was still nowhere near Cloyster's mastery of Icicle Spear, but it had become far more difficult to avoid.
Heracross's speed and striking power had improved as well.
Grey had spent a considerable amount of time explaining the principles behind Brave Bird to Heracross. He wasn't teaching it the move itself, since Heracross couldn't simply learn the technique just because Grey wanted it to. Instead, Grey wanted it to understand the concept behind the move.
Build momentum.
Accelerate.
Use that momentum to increase the impact of the attack.
Heracross already had a naturally reckless fighting style, so Grey knew trying to turn it into a defensive fighter would be counterproductive. He wasn't interested in taking away the aggressive nature that made Heracross so dangerous. Instead, he wanted to refine it.
If Heracross was going to charge headfirst into an opponent, then it needed to make sure that charge actually meant something.
Fraxure was responsible for teaching Heracross not to blindly throw itself into every attack and how to defend itself without unnecessarily injuring its own body. It was a difficult lesson for Heracross, especially since Fraxure itself was hardly a defensive Pokémon, but the Dragon-type had enough battle experience to understand the difference between fighting recklessly and fighting aggressively.
Grey's goal was simple.
He wanted Heracross to become a proper wall breaker.
A Pokémon that could smash through an opponent's defenses before they had the opportunity to properly respond.
And Heracross was proving to be an excellent candidate for that role.
The special Pokémon food Bill had prepared for Bug and Fighting types also arrived during the week.
Heracross absolutely loved it.
Grey was beginning to suspect that if he ever wanted to motivate Heracross, he only needed to mention that another batch of its special food was arriving soon.
Bill had also managed to get the Flame Orb Grey had requested.
Grey wasn't planning on having Heracross permanently carry it around yet. The purpose of getting it was to test his theory about Heracross's ability.
He attached the Flame Orb to a small necklace-like holder, allowing Heracross to carry it without having to physically hold the orb.
The moment the Flame Orb activated, Heracross's body was engulfed in flames.
Heracross immediately reacted to the pain, looking down at its burning body before glancing at Grey.
Grey watched carefully.
The burn wasn't simply a status condition for Heracross. It was actively weakening its body, but at the same time, something else was happening.
Its muscles were tensing.
Its aura was becoming more aggressive.
Its movements were becoming sharper.
"Yep."
Grey nodded.
"Guts."
The ability worked exactly as he had suspected.
Grey then decided to test just how much of a difference the ability actually made in an actual battle.
He paired Heracross against Cloyster.
Initially, Grey expected Cloyster to have a relatively easy time.
After all, Heracross was already suffering from a burn, which meant it was on a timer, while Cloyster had the type advantage with its Ice attacks. Normally, this would have been a terrible matchup for a Bug and Fighting-type.
That assumption lasted about thirty seconds.
"Begin!"
Heracross immediately charged forward.
Cloyster responded with Icicle Spear.
The first barrage of icy projectiles flew through the air.
"Rock Smash!"
Heracross's fist slammed into the incoming Icicle Spears.
Crack!
The first spear shattered.
Crack!
Then another.
Heracross didn't even slow down.
More Icicle Spears came flying toward it, but Heracross continued smashing them apart, using Rock Smash to destroy the attacks while closing the distance.
Grey's eyes widened slightly.
"Again!"
Cloyster launched another barrage.
Heracross smashed through it.
The next attack came from a different angle, forcing Heracross to twist its body in midair before smashing another Icicle Spear apart.
It was getting closer.
Then came the real test.
Cloyster activated its Counter Shield.
The spinning shell became surrounded by the defensive technique Grey had seen it develop over time. The moment Heracross got close, the rotating shell launched a storm of icy projectiles in every direction.
Normally, getting through the Counter Shield was extremely difficult.
Heracross didn't care.
It accelerated.
"Megahorn!"
The massive horn on Heracross's head began glowing with Bug-type energy as it charged directly toward the spinning Cloyster.
The impact was tremendous.
The force of Megahorn caused the Counter Shield to distort.
For a moment, it looked as though Heracross was going to be repelled.
But Heracross pushed harder.
Its feet dug into the ground.
Its muscles strained.
The Bug-type refused to back down.
Then, with a tremendous burst of force, it broke through the Counter Shield.
Megahorn slammed directly into Cloyster.
The shell Pokémon was sent skidding backward.
Grey stared.
"...Okay."
That was not what he had expected.
The battle continued.
Even with its Guts-boosted strength, Heracross wasn't able to completely overwhelm Cloyster. The burn was already beginning to take its toll, and Cloyster was still a very experienced fighter.
Then Cloyster used Shell Smash.
The entire dynamic of the battle changed.
The increase in speed allowed Cloyster to launch its attacks far faster than before. The Icicle Spears were now coming at a much greater pace, forcing Heracross to spend more time defending itself rather than attacking.
Heracross still smashed through several of them.
But it couldn't destroy every single one.
Eventually, Cloyster managed to win.
Heracross was exhausted from the battle, its body still burning from the Flame Orb, while Cloyster was also breathing heavily after having been pushed far harder than Grey had expected.
Grey looked between the two Pokémon thoughtfully.
There were several things to take away from this battle.
First, Heracross was naturally a terrible matchup for Cloyster.
Its Fighting-type moves could hit extremely hard, while its physical strength allowed it to break through the defensive techniques that Cloyster relied on. Even Cloyster's Counter Shield, which had been extremely difficult for Fraxure to break through when they had first developed it, had been brute-forced by Heracross.
Second...
Guts was absurd.
The ability had pushed Heracross's offensive power to another level.
The problem was that Heracross was also burning itself to activate it.
That meant it was effectively fighting on a timer.
The longer the battle continued, the more dangerous the burn became. Heracross could potentially overwhelm an opponent quickly, but if it failed to do so, its own condition would eventually become a major problem.
It reminded Grey somewhat of Charmeleon's situation.
Both Pokémon could reach extremely high levels of offensive output, but neither could maintain that level indefinitely.
Grey decided to conduct one final test.
Fraxure versus Heracross.
This time, the result was different.
Fraxure won.
But it wasn't an easy victory.
Heracross pushed Fraxure considerably harder than Grey had expected, forcing the Dragon-type to take the battle seriously. The two Pokémon clashed at close range multiple times, with Heracross using its speed and superior mobility to get around Fraxure's attacks while Fraxure relied on its superior reactions and experience to counter.
Heracross even managed to land several clean hits.
But eventually, Fraxure took control of the battle.
Unlike Cloyster, Fraxure didn't have a type disadvantage against Heracross's Fighting-type moves, and unlike Heracross, it wasn't fighting under the effects of a burn.
Fraxure still had the advantage in experience and overall development, and while Heracross had improved tremendously in just one week, Fraxure had been training for much longer.
Still, the result gave Grey another interesting piece of information.
Guts wasn't some kind of ridiculous transformation that suddenly made Heracross several times stronger.
It was more like a massive amplification of what was already there.
Which meant...
If Grey could improve Heracross's natural strength and offensive capabilities even further, the boost from Guts would become even more frightening.
And Heracross already knew Bulk Up.
Grey's mind immediately started working.
If Heracross could find an opportunity to safely use Bulk Up during a battle...
Then activate Guts...
The combination of increased physical strength, Guts, and its already powerful Fighting and Bug-type attacks could potentially produce a truly ridiculous amount of damage.
The problem, of course, was finding the opportunity.
Heracross couldn't simply stand in front of an opponent and use Bulk Up repeatedly while waiting for its Flame Orb to burn it or allow opponents a free chance to hit it . That would be asking to get knocked out.
It needed to develop the battle instincts to recognize when it could afford to use Bulk Up.
That was something Grey would have to work on with it.
Grey looked toward Heracross.
The Bug-type was exhausted, its body covered in dirt and scratches from the week's training, but it was still standing proudly.
It hadn't complained once.
In fact, Grey was almost certain that if he told Heracross to fight another battle right now, it would probably immediately agree.
Grey couldn't help but smile.
He had originally wanted a Fighting-type Pokémon.
He hadn't specifically been looking for Heracross.
But now?
He was starting to think that this happy coincidence might turn out to be one of the best catches he had ever made.
——
Persian was the next one on Grey's list to evaluate, and over the course of the week, it had managed to make quite a lot of progress as well.
Its training with Cloyster had finally started to pay off. Persian had developed a very good proficiency with Iron Tail and Dig, to the point where it could now use Dig effectively to avoid incoming attacks and then reappear from an unexpected angle. It had also learned to use Iron Tail to swat away long-range attacks like Cloyster's Icicle Spears, something that had been extremely difficult for it at the beginning of the week.
It wasn't simply relying on its speed and agility anymore.
That was something Grey had been trying to drill into Persian from the start. Its speed was one of its greatest strengths, but if it became too dependent on simply running around and dodging everything, an opponent would eventually figure out how to restrict its movements. Having Dig gave Persian another way to disappear from an opponent's sight, while Iron Tail allowed it to actively defend itself against attacks rather than simply avoiding them.
Water Pulse had also reached a level where Grey considered it usable in an actual battle.
It wasn't perfect yet, but Persian could now reliably produce the attack and maintain enough control over it to use it against an opponent. The additional rotation Grey had been asking it to add was still a work in progress, however.
The idea was essentially Grey's attempt at creating something resembling a water-based Rasengan.
He wasn't expecting Persian to suddenly create something exactly like the technique from his previous life, but the basic principle of increasing the rotation and compression of the water inside the attack could potentially make Water Pulse much more powerful.
Unfortunately, getting Persian to add that kind of rotation while simultaneously maintaining control of the attack was proving to be difficult.
It would probably take some more time.
Still, Grey wasn't complaining.
Persian now had three moves that could be used effectively against Rock-type Pokémon. Iron Tail could deal with them directly, Dig gave it a way to evade attacks and strike from underground, while Water Pulse gave it a super effective ranged option.
That alone was enough to make Persian a serious threat for the upcoming Pewter Gym battle.
The biggest improvement wasn't even in the individual moves.
It was in how Persian could now combine them.
Grey could already imagine Persian using Dig to disappear underground, forcing an opponent to watch the ground carefully while it waited for the right moment to emerge. If the opponent tried to attack the location it expected Persian to appear from, Persian could instead come out somewhere else and strike with Water Pulse or Iron Tail.
There was still a lot of room for improvement, but Persian had come a long way in just one week.
Grey was satisfied with its progress.
Lastly, there was Charmeleon.
Her week had also been surprisingly fruitful.
The evolution had given her a noticeable increase in strength, but Grey wasn't satisfied with simply relying on the power she had gained from evolving. He wanted her to properly adjust to her new body and make sure that the increase in power translated into actual battle ability.
Her Metal Claw had improved considerably.
Grey had specifically emphasized the move because of the upcoming Pewter Gym battle. A Steel-type attack would give Charmeleon a reliable way to damage Rock-type Pokémon, and unlike Flamethrower, she wouldn't have to worry about the usual resistance that Rock types had against Fire attacks.
Her Dragon Claw had also improved significantly.
The move was becoming more natural for her to use, and she was getting better at combining it with her physical movements rather than treating it as a simple attack that she fired whenever she got close to an opponent.
Sunny Day had also improved.
Charmeleon could now set up the sunlight faster than before, which was important for Grey's strategy. The faster she could establish the weather, the sooner she could start taking advantage of her Solar Power ability and boost the power of her Fire-type attacks.
Grey still wasn't entirely comfortable with the fact that Charmeleon had to fight under a timer whenever Solar Power was activated.
But that was precisely why he wanted her to become more efficient.
If she could quickly establish Sunny Day, immediately gain the benefits of Solar Power, and then overwhelm her opponent before the damage accumulated too much, she could become incredibly dangerous.
Her training against Exeguttor had also produced some results.
At the beginning of the week, Charmeleon's Flamethrower had struggled to even reach Exeguttor. The moment she tried to fire, Exeguttor would simply use Psychic to redirect the flames or stop her movement altogether.
Now, Charmeleon had finally started landing some hits.
Not many.
But enough.
She had learned to change the timing of her attacks, use the terrain better, and take advantage of the brief moments when Exeguttor was occupied with something else.
Of course, Grey knew Exeguttor wasn't exactly giving her everything.
The moment Charmeleon started getting too confident, Exeguttor would remind her of the difference between them and put her back in her place.
Grey suspected that was intentional.
Exeguttor was probably holding back just enough to allow Charmeleon to feel that she was making progress while still keeping the difficulty high enough that she couldn't become complacent.
It seemed to be working.
Charmeleon was becoming increasingly frustrated with Exeguttor, but that frustration was also pushing her to think more carefully during battles.
For Grey, that was a win.
Overall, the three Pokémon he was planning to use for the Pewter Gym challenge had been trained thoroughly throughout the week.
Heracross had developed into a powerful physical wall breaker, Persian had gained several tools specifically suited to fighting Rock-type Pokémon, and Charmeleon had improved her offensive power, Steel-type coverage, and ability to set up Sunny Day.
They were ready.
At least, as ready as they could be without actually facing Flint.
Grey's other three Pokémon had also continued improving during the week, even though they weren't his primary choices for the upcoming gym battle.
Cloyster had managed to learn Water Pulse and was already considerably better at using it than Persian. Its experience with controlling multi-hit attacks and its already impressive understanding of water-based techniques had allowed it to grasp the move much faster.
Exeguttor had also continued working on Solar Beam.
Its progress wasn't as dramatic as Charmeleon's, but Grey had been pushing it to improve the speed at which it could gather energy and fire the attack. Since Exeguttor was already an extremely powerful special attacker, increasing the efficiency of Solar Beam could give it another devastating option in battle.
Then there was Fraxure.
After spending so much time training Heracross, Fraxure had managed to learn Brick Break from the Bug-type.
That was an interesting development.
Fraxure already possessed tremendous physical power, and adding a Fighting-type move to its arsenal gave it another option against opponents that might otherwise resist its Dragon-type attacks.
It also meant that Fraxure could now potentially be considered as another option against Flint's team.
Grey wasn't sure if he would actually use it.
The three Pokémon he had selected for the main challenge had been specifically trained for this gym, and he wanted to give them the opportunity to prove themselves.
Still, having Fraxure as a backup option was never a bad thing.
Especially when Flint was expected to use a much stronger team than the average Pewter Gym challenger would face.
Grey looked at his six Pokémon.
A week ago, Heracross had barely been a part of the team.
Now, it had already become one of the most dangerous physical attackers he possessed.
Persian had developed multiple tools to exploit the weaknesses of Rock-type Pokémon.
Charmeleon had evolved and was learning to control the tremendous power that came with her new form.
Cloyster had improved its Water Pulse.
Exeguttor had strengthened its Solar Beam.
And Fraxure had gained Brick Break.
It had been a very productive week.
Grey had entered Pewter City with one gym battle in mind.
Now, after spending the week preparing for it, he was finally beginning to feel that his team was ready to face whatever Flint had prepared for them.
Author's Note: I know its been a while work and me also being less enthusiastic are some of the reasons, nevertheless I will keep uploading every week at least 2 chapters to keep the fic going.