Pokemon: Way of Life Chapter 60

Hi all,

Here’s the next chapter. The team does a live stream, and Faith and Misty have a Pokemon battle.

The group set up camp quickly as the sunlight disappeared and the temperature dropped. He chose a location just outside the orchard to camp for the night. They had no time to find somewhere else before nightfall because he wasted time in the orchard picking berries.

After trading the essence with the Espeon, he asked permission to harvest the berries. The Pokemon had no issue with it, as the wild Pokemon were not eating them, so they were just hanging there and going to waste. The thing about berry trees is that the berries never over-ripen if they are not picked, but always stay in perfect condition. They were not affected by the seasons and produced berries all year round, so they were a great natural resource. However, there was no room for more to grow until the previous ones were harvested.

Lucas couldn't pick all of them, as he didn't have the time to harvest over a hundred trees. However, he picked quite a few of them before it got too dark. He earned seven levels in the Harvest skill, which was a nice increase. It seemed like a waste to leave the rest behind, but he planned to return here soon to harvest the rest. Up until now, he had neglected the skill, as he didn't see a use for it when he could just purchase the ingredients instead of heading out to look for them himself. It was shortsighted of him.

Lucas had not considered the skill's effect. The further he levelled it, the better chance it would improve by at least one grade when harvested. It wasn't that great at lower levels when it upgraded to uncommon. However, it would increase further at higher levels to grades above it, such as rare and special. The majority of ingredients found in stores are common or uncommon, and the price increases as the grade increases. Having access to rare ingredients would only benefit him in the long run as he sought to create more original incense recipes. He could also improve upon the products he had already created, and sell them as premium products.

He didn't use Oran berries for anything, but they were the main ingredient in potions. So he handed them off to Faith, who was surprised by how many uncommon berries there were. Usually, she only used common ingredients, as it was cheaper.

After dinner, Jason set up the live stream equipment. Misty helped by marking out an area that would be the stage for their Pokemon battle. Following a suggestion from one of the moderators, they expanded the scope of their live stream. Their goal was to make the experience more interactive, and they had an idea of where to start.

Misty took some lanterns and placed them strategically so the entire stage was brightly illuminated. They took advantage of the fact that it was free of wild Pokemon, or they may not have done it in such an open area. Giru would alert them to any approaching Pokemon, and Lucas would keep an eye out as well. They could have streamed during the day, but that would cut into the time they spent travelling on the road. To keep on schedule, Lucas set a minimum number of kilometres they would travel per day.

Lucas and Faith tidied up after dinner while waiting for Jason, discussing the Pokemon in the orchard.

"Do you think the Espeon and Vapereon will ever move on from this place?" Faith asked softly, clearly upset by their plight.

"Maybe," Lucas said. The two seem perfectly content with where they are at the moment. At least they have each other. Moreover, they may have baby Pokemon to look after in the future."

"Yes, that's true," Faith agreed. "I hope they are not bothered by anyone."

Lucas sighed. "It's inevitable. Eventually, the Rangers will reach the centre of the orchard and find out that it's the tree causing the problem. They will not allow the problem to persist, especially when it is so close to the main road. By the way, how did you reach the centre without being confused?"

Faith replied, "I was at first, but Duke snapped me out of it by spraying me with water."

"Really?" Lucas smirked, looking over at the Pokemon in question, who was playing with Misty's Pokemon. "And that worked?"

"Only for a moment. But it gave me time to think of another solution. I raised my aura shield, to see if it lessened the effects, and to my surprise, it did. I still felt it, but I was coherent enough to continue forward. The effects disappeared when I reached the centre."

"Hmm," Lucas said with a nod. "It is possible that Espeon manipulates the scent dispersal in some way, so the centre remains unaffected."

"Hey, we are ready to start," Jason called.

"I'll be there in a minute," Lucas yelled back, heading to his tent. To advertise his merch store to his fans, he needed to wear one of the new shirts recently added to it.

After Lucas changed his shirt, Faith took up position behind the camera with Misty. Jason fidgeted beside him. He looked nervous, unused to being in front of a camera. He was not helped by Bane's heckling from beside him. Sandee seemed completely uninterested in what was going on, curled up into a ball and dozing off at his feet.

"If you're nervous, don't look directly at the camera," Lucas suggested. "Imagine someone you don’t like in their underwear.”

“Your grandfather comes to mind,” Jason said before freezing in shock.”Wait, I can’t believe I chose a dude to imagine. You tricked me!”

“Should I tell Grandad that you picture him in his underwear?”

“Don’t you dare!”

The live stream began, and Lucas focused his attention on the camera.

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you are all doing well. As you can see, this stream is later than our usual time. However, with us travelling during the day, it is easier to do them after setting camp up for the night. It is winter now, the days are shorter, and we are on a tight schedule to get to Mulberry City for Christmas. So most of our live streams will happen at night."

Lucas looked at his phone and responded to some of the comments his moderators sent him. Overall, most of his followers were happy to get some streams at night, as most were busy with jobs or school during the day.

"First of all, I would like to make a couple of announcements. My moderators have been hard at work making this channel more engaging, so give them a big round of applause. First, I have added some new emotes for those who subscribe to my channel, and they look pretty sweet, so check them out. I have some new merchandise in the store, thanks to my official fan club. There are some awesome Pokemon-themed shirts that feature some of our team members who recently joined.

"I will remind you that all of the Pokedollars earned on this channel, besides paying my employees, are donated to charity. Please show your support if you are able to.

As you can see, Jason is now standing beside me, who is usually behind the camera when we take pictures. He will be the first to feature in a new segment that we will do from now on, which is going to be a part of a series. Lucas Training Sessions is where I show tips and tricks for training your Pokemon in a fun and engaging way. Before you complain, yes, I am only an Advanced Student trainer. However, my father owns several gyms in Kanto and has taught me a lot about Pokemon training.

"After the training session, we will feature a Pokemon battle. But there is a twist. It will be up to the chat to decide who is battling, and what Pokemon will be involved, regardless of type advantages or differences in strength. It makes battles more exciting and forces us to be more creative with our strategies to overcome opponents. The moderators will post the first poll shortly to decide on the matchup. We will do a Pokemon battle every stream, so don't be disappointed if you don't get the matchup you want at first."

Not only would it increase engagement with his followers, but Lucas got to see the strength of the group's Pokemon. He already knew how strong Misty was, so it was more about testing Jason and Faith. The latter had started getting more serious about her training lately, but he wanted to find out her current strength in a Pokemon battle. Jason had done some rudimentary training, but he wasn't really dedicated like the rest of the group. It didn't matter as much, since he wasn't participating in the Pokemon League, but he needed strong Pokemon regardless. The world was too dangerous and unpredictable to rely on others for protection.

"Now, Jason has two Pokemon, so we will choose one to focus on tonight," Lucas said.

"Squirtle!"

"And it looks like Bane has volunteered," Jason said, overcoming his nerves and speaking for the first time. "It seems like Sandee is more interested in sleeping, so she will get a turn next time."

Sandee was moved to the side and placed with the other Pokemon, and Lucas and Jason started the segment. In order to know what he was working with, Lucas scanned Bane.

=====

Pokemon: Squirtle | Name: Bane | Age: 0 | Gender: M | Type: Water | Potential: A | Affection: 40 | Favourite Food: Smoked Salmon.

Description: After birth, its back swells and hardens into a shell. It sprays powerful foam from its mouth.

Stats

Level: 8 | HP: 180 | Aura: 170 |

Attack: 44 | Defence: 75 | Sp Atk: 45 | Sp Def: 69 | Speed: 46 |

Special Ability

Torrent - It increases the power of Water-type moves by 50% when the ability-bearer's HP falls below a third of its maximum

=====

Moves/Mastery

Physical

Tackle: (Normal) [Power: 40] (Cost: 7) [Mastery: 70%]

Rapid Spin: (Normal) [Power: 50] (Cost: 10) [Mastery: 70%]

Special

Water Gun: (Water) [Power: 50] (Cost: 6) [Mastery: Max]

Status

Withdraw: (Water) [Power: --] (Cost: 8) [Mastery: 65%]

Life Dew: (Water) [Power: --] (Cost: 14) [Mastery: 78%]

Mist: (Ice) [Power: --] (Cost: 10) [Mastery: 24%]

=====

Affinities

Type Attack

Water ~ 53% | Ice ~ 17%

Type Defence

Electric: -100% | Grass: -100% |

Fire: +50% | Water: +50% | Ice: +50% | Steel +50% |

=====

His potential was very high, but that was no surprise. Lucas had specifically pointed out Bane to Jason so that he could choose him. Reaching 'S' potential was not an issue. He would share the rare candies that he finds with the others after his own Pokemon had reached their maximum potential.

It was evident that Jason had not trained Squirtle as hard as he ought to be. While he had a pretty reasonable level because he battled wild Pokemon, it was still far below what the rest of the group had, which was a disappointment. Lucas could have done a better job paying attention to this matter, but he was too busy training his own Pokemon. Jason had no interest in competing, hence he was not motivated to make his Pokemon stronger.

His Pokemon needed to be trained every day, and it didn't help that he was stuck sitting in the trailer all day. Maybe it was time to send him to Poliwraith with the others or hire a personal trainer for his habitat.

"All right, let's get started," Lucas said. "We have Bane, a Squirtle. They are primarily known for their defence, but they can also be very powerful attackers, depending on how you raise them."

Jason took out a notepad and began writing down notes. Lucas was stunned by his friend's actions. He seemed to be playing the role of the student a bit too much, or was he really trying to learn something? Bane was also paying attention. He probably didn't trust his trainer to do the job correctly. He noticed that the Pokemon's affection only reached forty. Considering it started at twenty, and some time had passed, this wasn't that high. By comparison, Lucas' Pokemon affection was much higher. Although, the system did provide assistance to him.

"Bane has the special ability, Torrent, which increases water attack damage when his health is below a certain threshold. This pairs well with a defensive strategy because he can stay at low health for longer and cause significant damage."

It was important not to discuss Pokemon's parameters in gaming terms. This is because, with the exception of levels, people didn't really have a way to measure them and it was more by observation. There were devices that could measure a Pokemon's aura, which is how they got a general idea of a Pokemon's level, but that was about it.

"Since his primary role is a tank," Lucas said. "I suggest Bane learns the TM, Endure. It will ensure that he survives any attack that usually causes him to faint. Furthermore, he already has the egg move, Life Dew, so he can heal himself in a pinch. Any questions?"

Jason raised his hand like he was in class. "When you were in Viridian City, did you purchase the TM, by chance?"

"As a matter of fact, I did," Lucas grinned. “But it is not free. I will be generous and only charge what I paid for it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jason muttered. “I was planning to buy some new camera equipment as well.”

"Squirtle!"

"Relax, I will buy it," Jason told his partner.

"Babe, could you get my bag with the TM's in it please?"

Faith nodded and walked towards the tent.

Lucas continued speaking. "Now, Squirtle and its evolution, Wartortle have access to Withdraw, a move only a handful of Pokemon can use naturally. But the move acts differently for the Squirtle line and only loses it when he evolves into a Blastoise. He can physically withdraw into his shell. Not only does this raise his defence, but certain moves, like Life Dew, can be activated while he hides in his shell. The only other Pokemon I know that can do the same is Shellder and its evolution, Cloister. I don't think I have to point out how amazing this is, right?" Lucas said.

Jason nodded rapidly, scribbling notes like his life depended on them. Bane said something to Jason, making him scowl. "You can't switch trainers, you bloody menace.”

Lucas smirked, looking down at his phone to reply to more comments.

Blank_Head: Jason is funny. Why isn't he on more streams?

"I shall endeavour to have him on more streams in the future," Lucas said.

Pokemaniac Bree: I feel like I am back in Pokeschool. Can you scold me, teacher? I have been a bad girl.

"I am not willing to participate in your weird fantasies."

Sophia_That is not your Mother: Everybody better keep the stream kid friendly. My little girl is watching.

Lucas blinked. This couldn't possibly be his mother, could it? He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. Was Abigail watching also?

“I got it. Moderators, be extra vigilant and remove any comments not appropriate for children.”

Empress_Waterflower: I want to see my sister on the stream. Everybody better vote for her to battle, or everyone will have to fight me!

“Godammit,” Misty cursed from behind the camera.

“So, everyone can just ignore that lunatic in chat,” Lucas commented. It looked like one of Misty’s sisters had joined the stream. Although it could also be a fan pretending to be her.

Faith returned with the bag and handed it to him. Lucas took out the TM and handed it to Bane, who sat down and began to absorb the knowledge. He continued the lesson and got his followers more involved in the discussion as time passed went on, and they offered plenty of suggestions. There were a few experienced older trainers in the chat who had raised their own Squirtle, so it was very beneficial.

"Okay, the polls have finished and we have the results," Lucas announced. "It will be Misty vs Faith. The Pokemon chosen to battle is Iroh versus Terra."

"You just want to see a couple of hot girls battle each other," Jason said to the chat, an accusation that got them riled up and hurling insults back at him. Now that Jason had overcome his nervousness, he was doing what he did best. Offending people.

"Let's get this battle started," Lucas said hurriedly. Goddamn it, Jason had no filter.

Faith and Misty faced each other across from the stage. Their Pokemon stepped inside the square in preparation for their match. As Phantump was a ghost-grass type Pokemon, Terra had the type advantage over Iroh. Since Slowpoke was a water-psychic type, Iroh was weak to both. Although Iroh had an ice-type attack, which Terra was weak to, so it wasn’t completely one-sided. Besides, Terra had no attacking grass-type moves.

They were the most recent Pokemon the two girls had acquired, so it would be interesting to see who trained them the most effectively in the intervening time.

He acted as the referee for the match and asked the girls if they were ready. Watching the fight from this perspective would certainly be interesting. When he wasn't competing himself, he didn't have access to the user interface, so he couldn't see the match broken down into numbers. He predicted Faith would win, but it wouldn't be easy. Misty had more experience in Pokemon battles.

"Match....start!" Lucas announced.

The first to act was Iroh, who executed Curse. The move was peculiar because it had a different effect if a non-ghost type used it. The Pokemon's Attack and Defence were raised by one stage, while their Speed was lowered. With a mere twenty Speed, Iroh was one of the slowest Pokemon around. This wasn't going to matter to him much since he wouldn’t move around much during the match. To compensate for his lack of Speed, his Attack and Defence were high, so it managed to land a physical attack, it was going to do a lot of damage.

A surge of poison-type energy erupted from Terra, and it was sent forward in a concentrated beam to attack Iroh. Lucas unearthed the TM from a crystal when Faith received Terra. The move synergized well with one of Terra's egg moves, so learning it was a no-brainer. The only reason Terra hadn’t used it before was that it required a certain level of poison-type affinity to use.

Misty was surprised by the choice of attack, Toxic, as her response was delayed. In response, Iroh tried to use Protect, but he was struck before he could execute it. Iroh was now poisoned, and he would lose HP in ever-increasing amounts. The time between another poison attack depended on how strenuously Iroh fought in battle. It was a nasty move, as it could end the match very quickly if it wasn’t dealt with promptly.

Terra followed up with Venom Drench, a move that lowers the opponent's Attack, Special Attack, and Speed by one stage if it was already poisoned. Iroh, however, managed to cast a Protect in front of him, and the move failed. But he lost a chunk of his health as the poison took effect.

Terra flew closer to Iroh, hoping to shorten the time it would take for his attacks to reach his opponent. It would be possible to defeat Protect if he was quick and the opponent reacted slowly.

It was a mistake, as Iroh released a Thunder Wave, and it was Faith’s turn to be surprised. She had not been aware that a Slowpoke could learn that move. Lucas nodded in admiration. That was one way to eliminate Iroh's weakness.

Terra was paralysed and fell to the ground. Iroh approached slowly, wasting precious time, and executed a Zen Headbutt. A bubble of psychic-type energy enveloped Iroh’s forehead before he slammed his head into Terra.

It did a lot of damage, as Terra cried out as he was flung backwards. It was fortunate that Iroh had a physical move like that, as Terra was immune to his normal-type attacks. Iroh grunted as he took more damage from Toxic, even more than last time. If he was damaged by the status effect a few more times, he would faint.

As Iroh opened his mouth, he released a small cloud of normal-type energy towards his opponent's direction. Misty anticipated Terra would be released from paralysis at any moment, so she tried to get ahead and incapacitate Terra as soon as he moved again. Fortunately, normal-type status moves still work on ghost-type Pokemon.

Terra recovered just as the bubble was about to hit him. Faith had another trick up her sleeve, however. Terra executed Worry Seed. It was a move that changed the user’s ability to Insomnia, which prevented the user from falling asleep.

"I should have used another Thunder Wave,” Misty said in frustration.

Faith played it smart from this point on and told Teera to stay away from Iroh. Toxic would finish the job for her, so she didn't have to do anything else to win. After all, Iroh had no move to heal the poison. Iroh released several Water Guns, but Terra dodged them easily. Iroh fainted soon after, and Terra spun around cheerfully before rushing back into Faith’s arms.

“Iroh is unable to fight. Terra and Faith are the winners of this match.”

Misty and Faith walked forward and hugged each other.

“That was an awesome match,” Faith said enthusiastically.

“Yep, you got one up on me, but look out for next time,” Misty replied.

“Why didn’t you use Thunder Wave again?” Faith asked curiously. “It probably would have connected with your impeccable sense of timing.”

“I was being too cute,” Misty grumbled. “I was trying to set up the move, Dream Eater, as that would have ended the match then and there. I didn’t anticipate you would have a move like Worry Seed.”

“It’s your most recent Pokemon, so you still have to get used to battling with him,” Lucas said, walking forward to join them. “I will be interested to see how you use him in battle going forward. Developing a strategy for a Pokemon with such slow speed is challenging.”

“Eh, it’s worth it,” Misty shrugged. “I already have enough fast Pokemon."

"Faith, Terra is doing fine," Lucas patted the Pokemon on his stumpy head. "But he needs some more attacking moves that can cause some real damage and end the fight sooner. The combination of Toxic and Venom Drench is cool, but its use is limited. There are too many ways to defend against the poison status ailment.”

“I need to raise Terra’s grass-type affinity higher,” Faith said. “He does not have any inherent grass attack moves that are moderate in power.”

“I think he can learn Grass Root. I will get Dante to teach him,” Lucas promised. “Also, I will keep an eye out for more grass-type TMs.”

Lucas turned and spoke to the camera. “Well, I hope you enjoyed yourselves tonight. We will be back tomorrow around the same time for another episode of Lucas Training Sessions, so make sure to tune in. Goodnight.”

Jason cut the stream, and everyone headed for their tents. It was getting late, and they were tired from the long day, so they decided to turn in for the night. After speaking with Giru to make sure the surroundings were secure, he settled down in Faith’s arms and drifted off to sleep.

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10th December

The next day, they continued heading north along the main road to the mining town. Since Max was now in his pre-evolution stage, Lucas had him running alongside him to get his potential training kicked into gear. The energy requirements would be challenging, however. While Max already had a Thunderstone that was almost at full capacity it would only help with a third of the energy requirements. He needed another Thunderstone. That wasn’t the main issue, however. Max being able to absorb the energy from the stones in a month would be the real challenge.

Bane joined Lucas after lunch when Max was too tired to continue. As a result of the lesson last night, Jason started paying more attention to his Pokemon. Bane would be sent off to Poliwrath with Max and Katara to get some intensive training.

In the evening, they found a large boulder off the road that had an overhanging ceiling that provided some shelter from the wind. They did another livestream after dinner and this time Sandee got the training session. Lucas didn't have as much advice for Jason regarding her progression, as she was further along than Bane. Since she would be primarily a tank, like her teammate, he made some suggestions for moves he thought would boost her defensive abilities. The main thing he pointed out was that she needed to be pushed harder, so she could enter the pre-evolution stage. It worked for Max.

The stream didn’t go on for as long as last night's, since he wanted to pay attention to his own Pokemon's training. Lucas wanted to make sure he achieved the goals they set for themselves over the next few weeks. The chat chose Lucas to face Jason in the Pokemon battle. It was Max against Bane, which wasn't fair, and he made short work of the fight. It seems that his followers were getting revenge on Jason for his outrageous comment last night. Why did Bane have to suffer for his trainer's idiocy?

“Dante, I want you to focus on learning the move, Draining Kiss,” Lucas said. “It is very useful because it can both cause damage and heal you at the same time. Since you will evolve into Gallade in the future, it shouldn’t be an issue that it is an attack that requires you to be at close range.”

‘I will learn it in one night.’ Dante declared confidently.

“Good luck with that. Do some research online to get some inspiration on how to learn it. I will be moving around the whole team to ensure everyone gets some guidance, so I will help you at some point."

‘Help the others. I will learn it on my own.’

‘Arrogant toe-rag.’ Imara snorted, inadvertently releasing a flame that almost nailed Duke in the face.

‘I am confident, not arrogant.’ Dante countered.

“Enough,” Lucas sighed. “Before we finish for the night, I want your help to teach me how to use Teleport in my Mewtwo state. It would help tremendously if I could return to other places instantaneously.”

‘So, I get to teach you for once?’ Dante asked eagerly.

"Don't sound too excited,” Lucas snorted. “Imara, I want you to focus on learning Dragonbreath next. You are starting to have too many moves, so it will be the last one you learn for a while until we can look at pruning some you don’t need. I can’t recall the last time you used Growl.”

He really wanted Imara to learn Flamethrower next, but she didn’t meet the affinity requirement. It needed to be eighty, so it would take a while before she learns it.

‘It doesn’t matter if I have a hundred moves. I can manage them all.’ Imara said.

‘Who is arrogant now?’ Dante muttered.

“Okay, you can go off and find an area to train,” Lucas interrupted, forestalling an argument. “Just be aware of your surroundings.”

Dante and Imara wandered off and Lucas turned to look at Max. “I believe you have another hidden egg move up your sleeve, called Ice Punch. It will shore up your offence against ground-type Pokemon, as well as continue to build you into a fighting machine. You don’t need an affinity requirement for egg moves, so you only need to discover how to use it. Take the same approach as Dante and research the move first."

Lucas spent some of his Tutor Points to unlock the egg move for Max. He really should have him learn some more powerful Electric attacks as well, but the move caught his interest. and he had the Tutor Points to spare. It wasn't urgent for him to learn some stronger electric attacks since his main battle strategy was speed, physical attacks, and paralyzing his opponents.

Max left and Lucas turned to Duke. Now that Max had finally entered the pre-evolution stage, he was interested in doing the same for his last two team members. Duke would feature heavily in some trainer battles soon. He may be able to find some Trainer battles in the upcoming town.

“Duke, I want you to learn Focus Energy,” Lucas said. “It will increase your chance of dealing critical hits. There are no affinity requirements since it is a normal-type move, so learning it should be easy."

‘Okay, the Duke of Carnage is off to learn a new move.’ Duke zoomed away, leaving Lucas there speechless.

“Do you think he will ever get rid of that name?” Lucas asked Freya. “His obsession with heroes is getting old fast.”

‘It sounds more like a villain's name.’ Freya observed.

“You are right,” Lucas laughed. In order to increase your attack further, I would like you to learn Swords Dance, which greatly increases your attack. Furthermore, it synergises well with Baton Pass, so you can pass the benefits onto one of your team members.”

‘Very well.’

Once his team was well organised and working on learning their new moves, he spent some time with each one. However, they were doing fine on their own, so he let them be. He was lucky to have talented Pokemon.

Since he had time for himself, Lucas sat himself down next to the fire and started working on his aura manipulation. This was so he could create an aura healing ability he could pass on to Faith. He had not spent much time on the skill lately, which was a shame. The sky was the limit with this skill, and he may be able to create some interesting aura abilities if he worked at it.

In addition, Lucas also needed to learn a new barrier skill since he could only use it in his Mewtwo state. Wouldn’t it be a shame if he didn’t fulfil his potential as an Aura User with no actual aura skills under his belt?

So what do you think? This chapter didn’t have much story progression, but I wanted to put some focus on some of the other's Pokemon, as they have been neglected up to this point. Next chapter, we get a POV from Giovanni as he reacts to Mewtwo’s appearance.

Thanks for the support, everyone.

Shoutout to my Pro and Hardcore Gamers for the extra support.