Chapter 36: Teaching the Pokémon Breathing Method (Patreon)

Taking Elite-grade psychic powers and three Pokémon who hadn't even reached Veteran-grade to storm the Saffron Gym.

That wasn't a challenge. That was suicide!

So when the man finished speaking, the smile on Renan's face vanished.

His tone stayed mild, but anyone could hear the distance behind his words. "I think I'll pass. I probably can't afford your lessons in other psychic moves."

The man's mouth moved, plainly wanting to keep coaxing him.

But Renan wasn't actually without backing in the Pokémon world, either.

He nodded to the man once more. "It's getting late, so I'll be on my way."

With that, he didn't wait for a reply. He turned and walked toward the Pokémon Center.

About twenty minutes later...

Renan placed another call, and the person on the other end was, unsurprisingly, his Elite Four uncle.

After hearing his nephew recount the conversation with the man, Lance gave a slight nod. "Ren, you did the right thing. You shouldn't get dragged into the family affairs between the Saffron Gym's former and current Leaders. But since you turned down that fellow's deal, staying on in Saffron City wouldn't be very wise."

Renan thought so too.

A wise man doesn't stand beneath a crumbling wall.

He had planned to stay in Saffron City only to learn psychic powers. Now that the goal was met, there was naturally no reason to linger.

As for Charmander and the others' training, that could easily be done bit by bit while traveling.

"I'll set out for Cerulean City in a little while, then go through Mt. Moon and challenge the Pewter Gym."

There was one thing Renan didn't say. Since he was now living in the world of the Pokémon anime, the high-quality Moon Stone he'd need to help Nidoran evolve could be found on Mt. Moon.

And if fate smiled on him, he might even recruit a Cleffa.

Pink devils and the like were perfectly reliable creatures, as long as they weren't aimed straight at him.

On the other end, Lance nodded as well. "Fine. I'll just change the destination on the package. Remember to pick it up when you reach Cerulean City."

"Got it."

Renan had always been quick to act.

He'd meant to rest a night at the Pokémon Center. Instead, that same afternoon, once he had the three little ones' Poké Balls back, he said goodbye to Nurse Joy at the counter and set off on his journey again.

But unlike his earlier dash down Route 7, this time he walked noticeably slower. He also avoided the Route 5 main road that ran straight to Cerulean City.

Renan's goal had always been clear. For now, that meant challenging the League Gyms for all eight badges. Next came winning the Indigo Pokémon League tournament. The plan to wipe out Team Rocket he had pushed to the very end.

To manage all that, a full team of six Pokémon was the bare minimum.

Of course, with real-world stamina and rotation in mind, it would be best to double that number to twelve.

Anything beyond that was out of the question. Setting aside the huge pile of League currency it would cost to raise them, Renan doubted he had the personal energy to keep up.

After all, not everyone was like Ash, born in Pallet Town where Professor Oak lived. Ash could hand every Pokémon he caught on the road to the Professor to board and raise. He also had Brock, a fairly high-level Breeder, traveling with him. In the early going, every battle meant picking a Pokémon, sending it out, and shouting a few commands.

Only after a loss did he think about special training.

Besides, it might sound a little contradictory, but both the original owner and Renan had always held to one principle: a Pokémon should be raised by its Trainer from the very beginning.

Take a Pokémon already trained in the wild, or raised by someone else. Even if it won the final victory at a Pokémon League tournament, at bottom that would only prove the Pokémon was strong enough. It wouldn't prove the Trainer's skill at raising Pokémon or his tactical sense.

Renan knew that with a precondition like this, winning the League tournament within a year (nine months, really) would be considerably harder.

But don't forget, he wasn't without a cheat.

"Charmander, Pidgey, Nidoran, come on out!"

About five kilometers outside Saffron City, Renan picked a camping spot on the grass beside the road and released all three little ones.

"Gyao!" "Bi!" "Nido!"

The original owner had never spared any effort on Pokémon training. Renan hadn't done much training with the three over the past couple of days because he'd been rushing along. But all three wore forced-training gear, so simply walking or flying was the same as constant low-intensity conditioning of their stamina and strength.

In real terms, that meant Charmander's level in the Pokédex had quietly gone from 12 to 13. Pidgey and Nidoran had each gained one level too, reaching 11 and 10.

That pace wasn't slow.

But it wasn't fast enough.

So...

"Charmander, Nidoran, Pidgey, I'm going to teach you a little trick that'll make you stronger fast at this stage. Do you want to learn it?" Renan asked, a faint smile on his lips.

Pokémon are creatures that chase power. Apart from a few that lacked talent or had a slacker streak, nearly all of them would never turn down a chance to grow stronger.

This time was no different. At their Trainer's words, Charmander, Nidoran and Pidgey all let out eager cries.

Their meaning was clear: we want to learn!

"Good." Seeing the three little ones so driven, Renan's smile widened. Even so, he added a warning before starting. "What I'm about to teach only suits me, or rather, a human body. If you feel anything uncomfortable while you learn it, stop right away and tell me. Understood?"

"Gyao!" "Bi!" "Nido!"

The three little ones weren't fools. Anything uncomfortable was obviously bad. Why would a Trainer need to remind them?

Renan had awakened psychic powers, but so far he'd only mastered Confusion and Meditate. The rest, such as Telepathy and Teleportation, he hadn't learned yet.

Naturally, he couldn't understand the three little ones' grumbling. Seeing Charmander and the others nod, he hesitated no longer. "Then..."

What he was about to teach was, of course, Thunder Breathing, the only technique he had so far that tempered the body.

More precisely, it was the part of the Breathing Techniques that dealt with breathing rhythm.

The technique wasn't hard in itself. And given what he'd run into in Saffron City, this world most likely had similar traditions of its own, so it wouldn't seem out of place.