Chapter 121: Training

"This is the fourth badge issued by Saffron Gym. Please place it in the designated slot in your badge case." The staff member handed a Saffron Gym badge to Amu.

After taking it, Amu hesitated for a moment. Under the staff member's puzzled gaze, he gritted his teeth and asked, "How much does the commemorative badge case here cost?"

Well, Amu felt he had benefited quite a bit at Saffron Gym, so he wanted to make an exception and spend some money.

"I am sorry, but our commemorative badge cases are only issued to trainers who have trained at this gym for more than three years. We do not sell them to the public," the receptionist replied flatly.

Amu was stunned for a moment—as expected of a psychic-type sanctuary, they were truly different from "those" other gyms!

Having saved a sum of money, Amu left Saffron Gym with his fourth badge... and a new Poké Ball.

He checked the time and realized it was only noon. He had previously promised to have dinner at Heiji’s house that evening, and it was still quite early.

Amu decided to head to the Battle Club first to plan his Pokémon’s training. Besides, the "true Abra" that the "Alakazam (named Abra)" had entrusted to his care needed some special "help."

Considering the meals at the Battle Club were too expensive and his wallet was feeling "thin" after purchasing numerous potions, Amu grabbed a bento box on the street—after all, he would be eating at Heiji's place tonight!

Arriving at the Battle Club, Amu chose a "spacious" training room that lacked any other distinctive features.

Amu already had nine Pokémon. Even considering the need for substitutions during tournaments to avoid being countered, this was more than enough. With only three months left until the Kanto Newcomer Tournament, and considering many of his Pokémon still had room to grow, there was no need to expand his team further.

The term "room to grow" didn't mean he had Pokémon trained to their absolute limit—after all, his highest-level ones were only in the low 50s. It was simply that, given Amu’s current level as a trainer, training Pokémon above level 50 was inefficient. Preparing for the Newcomer Tournament by aiming for the level 50 bottleneck across his team was a cost-effective strategy.

Among his Pokémon, Exeggutor, Venusaur, and Nidoking were all around levels 36 or 37, while Rhyhorn was around level 40. The five Pokémon that had already reached level 50 had little to do with Amu’s training; they had basically reached that level by the time he caught them. These included the "Ancient Electrode" he received from Professor Giant Tree, the "Ditto" captured during the villa incident, the "Gengar" and "Clefable" won over by his charm at Mt. Moon, and... the "Abra" he had just acquired.

That’s right, the final "Abra" was also at level 50. Amu had been shocked when he discovered this. He immediately understood why the "Alakazam" had "entrusted" it to him.

This Abra likely had a congenital defect—a broken evolutionary chain in its genetics. Amu had once asked Professor Giant Tree, who confirmed that such cases existed, though they were very rare. Amu didn't know if the "Alakazam" was truly an Alakazam or if it simply stayed in its "Abra" state to conserve energy and improve meditation efficiency, and he even suspected the latter.

Regardless of the Alakazam, the Abra Amu received at Saffron Gym certainly had a defective evolutionary chain. It had only reached level 50 because it had followed Sabrina’s Alakazam in training, essentially being "carried" to its current maturity. Yet, no matter how much its level increased, it could not evolve, which severely restricted its strength.

Amu had temporarily boarded his Electrode, Venusaur, and Exeggutor at Professor Giant Tree’s research institute. In the training room, he released Rhyhorn, Nidoking, Ditto, Abra, Gengar, and Clefable. He would have preferred to board the latter two as well to focus on those under level 50, but unfortunately, Professor Giant Tree was not currently accepting Gengar or Clefable. Amu would have to find a naive daycare center to sign a boarding agreement. As for the Ditto, since Gengar was staying, he decided to keep it as well.

"Coffin, you should get familiar with Haunter later and try to transform into it," Amu encouraged. He wanted to use this opportunity to train the Ditto’s "Gengar transformation."

"Hmm? You want to transform into me? You have quite the eye, Gastly... but you should know, just having another Ditto doesn't mean you'll have the same effect as me, Gastly!"

To Gengar’s bragging, the Ditto simply looked at it with two bean-shaped eyes, filled with affection. Since the first transformation "Coffin" had learned was "Cofagrigus," it was skilled at transforming into Ghost-types. Gengar was a perfect fit, and transforming into Gengar would provide more tactical flexibility. The drawback of a transformed Ditto was often stamina, but its advantage was tactical versatility.

"Also, you two!" Amu looked at Gengar and Clefable with dissatisfaction. Not only had they angered Professor Giant Tree, but they had also acted like cowards at the orphanage!

"Practice the Fire-type moves you learned earlier, and do it properly!" Amu said indignantly. At least they had one advantage: strong subjective initiative. Amu even felt that if he sent them to Professor Giant Tree’s institute, they would progress faster with their Fire-type moves.

While Gengar couldn't learn many damaging Fire-type moves, "Will-O-Wisp" was quite practical. The "burn" status is caused by Fire-type energy disrupting the body; the continuous damage is secondary, as its primary use is to significantly limit the target's physical strength. As for Clefable, which acted as a physical powerhouse, learning "Fire Punch" wouldn't hurt. Since it was a "bonus" move slot, expanding its effective attack coverage was a good thing.

Nidoking didn't need much mention; as it "evolved," it naturally learned "Earth Power," and it was currently learning the STAB move "Sludge Wave." Once mastered, it would move on to "Flamethrower," "Shadow Ball," and "Focus Blast"... essentially becoming a well-rounded "multi-faceted attacker."

Rhyhorn was mainly focused on learning "Swords Dance" to make a final push before evolution. As for the Pupitar shed skin needed for Rhyhorn to evolve into "Rhyperior," Amu was already keeping an eye out for it. If he couldn't find one by August, he would have to make do with an "Everstone"!

Exeggutor was learning "Sunny Day" from Venusaur—it was a free Fire-type move slot, and it would be a waste not to use it. Electrode’s training focus was on auxiliary moves like "Reflect" and "Light Screen." Since those three were currently at the institute, Amu could only assign the tasks and hope they were training seriously.

After arranging the tasks for his other Pokémon, Amu turned to communicate with the newly captured Abra. Perhaps due to its congenital defect, the Abra was somewhat insecure and withdrawn, but Amu had already thought of the key to its training.