Mt Moon, and a Step Forward!

Miku shook her head, "This is fine, thank you..." She squeaked out, hurrying into the room. She gave a polite bow, closing the door awkwardly after a moment. She sighed in some relief, going into the bathroom and grabbing a towel. She changed from her clothes, wrapping her body up and hanging all her soaked garments to dry.

Fortunately, it seemed that only her usual clothes were truly dirty, the rest only wetted from Feebas' surf attack. Not that Miku knew the Pokémon contained such power, anyway. Nodding feeling accomplished, the girl hopped in the shower to wash away the stress and dirt of the day. The water was nice and hot, melting into her muscles as she finally was able to relax. Tomorrow she would need to train her Pokémon to take on the Gym Leader in Pewter City, and then make their way south. She heard a professor in Pallet Town gave Pokémon away to newer trainers. She hoped she would qualify.

When Miku rose, she was slow to start. It had been a while since she was able to get a proper room at a center. Sure she would get to wash normally, but it was hard to beat a soft, warm bed to sleep in. She packed up her things, most seeming to have dried out well. Putting on some clean clothes, she felt refreshed and renewed as she headed out to the main desk. Nurse Joy's voice chimed out like a bell, beckoning Miku to her.

Miku nodded, trying to contain her excitement to have her Pokemon back with her. She clipped her pokeballs back to her waist one by one, then gave Magikarp a quick once-over. "Sorry I didn't get to it before, Magikarp," Miku said, clutching an empty ball and tapping him with it. "In you go," it was only logical to carry him in a pokeball unless he was going to be a pet fish.

Finally she turned to Clefairy, it looked so much better than the night prior. The adorable pink Pokemon seemed glad that Miku was alright too, which managed to crack a smile across the girl's lips. She reached out to pet the Clefairy gently, "So glad to see you're alright..."

The girl couldn't help but giggle only a bit when Clefairy chimed happily. She would love to take Clefairy with her, but knew the Pokemon had just suffered a traumatic experience. She didn't want to force it into anything it didn't want to do. At the mention of food, Miku's head rose, stomach growling loudly.

"I...guess it has been a while since I had a good meal..." she muttered, silently salivating over the thought of real food. "Is there...any yakisoba?" It was a stupid question, and Miku quickly became embarrassed. Of course there wouldn't be any yakisoba, or vegetable tempura for that matter. It was breakfast time! "Um...never mind," she squeaked, seeming to get quieter if that was even possible.

"Clefairy, do you want to sit down with me while I have breakfast?" Miku suddenly asked, turning to the pink fairy. It was so much easier for her to talk to Pokemon, to the point it was almost absurd.

Miku smiled softly at the Clefairy, then nodded to Nurse Joy. "Thank you very much..." she peeped, before she turned and started down the hall. "You probably haven't seen too much outside of that cave, have you Clefairy? I mean, that has probably been your home since you hatched, right?" Miku made small talk, though secretly thinking about her own life rather than the Clefairy's. Her family rarely ever left Cerulean City, though Mako and their father would make trips down to Saffron for their Mother's medicine. Miku usually stayed with her mother to take care of her while everyone else was gone.

She idly rubbed at the pokedex she'd subconsciously pulled from the outer pocket on her bag. It was originally her mother's, passed down to her when she fell ill. As such, it was a slightly outdated model. It still served its function for the most part, though. Miku snapped back to reality, finding herself already at the mess hall. She went through the cafeteria line, asking for small portions of different items to try. By the end her plate was rather full, and she tried to find a quiet corner for herself.

When she was able to locate a relatively vacated area, she sat herself at an empty table and pulled the chair out for Clefairy. She let Slowpoke out of his pokeball, he deserved to see Clefairy was all better now. "Hey Clefairy, this is my partner Slowpoke, remember him? He helped save you last night," Miku chirped, seeming to have no troubles carrying on a conversation though the Pokemon could do little but say their names in response. She began to eat happily, sipping at her milk every few bites.

"Slow," Slowpoke said happily. Happily, but very slowly. He stared at Clefairy for several moments before making a move to raise his front paw in response. Highly intelligent, extremely slow sometimes. Miku was lucky that he was a bit quicker to think in battles, even if not by much. She rubbed the back of her head, laughing lightly at her dull looking Pokemon.

Miku quickly finished her meal, somewhat glad everyone else seemed to preoccupied by their own lives. It was better in her eyes to avoid confrontation, anyway. "So Clefairy...did you want me to take you back home, or..." Miku trailed off, wondering if she should even ask the Pokemon. Rubbing her arm nervously, she finally decided that nothing worthwhile in life came without risk. "Would you want to come with us? We're going to Pewter City next, and then the world!"

"Really?!" Miku said rather excitedly. "You'd like to come with us?" She could hardly contain herself as she scooped up the Clefairy in her arms and gave it a big hug. "We're gonna make a great team, Clefairy! Just you wait and see!" it was clear Miku was ecstatic about the new partner, but she had to make sure other people couldn't catch her first.

Setting down Clefairy, Miku rached for her empty pokeball, and presented it to Clefairy. "This is so other trainers can't steal you with their pokeballs," Miku said with a soft smile. "You don't have to stay inside it if you don't want to, though. Slowpoke usually stays outside of his, after all." She wanted to reassure the sweet little fairy.

With a final click, Clefairy was officially part of Miku's team, which was now full. "Alright!" She exclaimed, though not too loudly to attract attention. She knew she'd have to stop at the PokeMart in Pewter City to pick up some supplies, but she felt this last pokeball was worthwhile. She gave the ball a kiss, clipping it with the others.

"Okay Slowpoke, let's get moving. It'll still take us several hours before we get to Pewter City from here." Miku slung her bag over her shoulder, beckoning for her Psychic Pokemon to follow as she left the Cafeteria. Slowpoke followed, naturally as the two exited the building and headed en route for Pewter City.

A bit down the way, Miku stopped for a rest next to a small pond. It looked like a good spot for Feebas and Magikarp to get some exercise. "Come on out, guys!" Miku called, tossing the pokeballs into the air. They popped open, the fish Pokemon appearing in the water free to swim about it as they pleased. "Here, you guys can stretch too," Miku released Clefairy and Psyduck from their pokeballs as well, the two chiming and whining respectively.

She stopped and stared at her last ball, containing Sandshrew. She was reluctant still, the way she caught him was just so aggressive. Still, it wouldn't be right to favor the others, she tossed the ball to the ground, allowing it to pop open and return to her hand. She sighed, Sandshrew still refused to come out. It was only to be expected, hopefully he would realize she wasn't really all that bad eventually. For now, she needed to train her Pokemon for the upcoming challenge.

[Training: Psyduck]

"Okay, let's start with you, Psyduck. I know you have a lot of psychic potential, we just have to unlock that...somehow," the girl trailed off as the derpy duck held her head. "Right then, let's start off with some stuff we know! Practice your tail whip to this beat," Miku began clapping her hands rhythmically.

"Duck, duck, psaiaiduck," Psyduck chanted, turning on her flippers to show off her tail feathers. She moved from one foot to the other every few claps, twitching her haunches and tail around. The little duck could really get down, that girl had been right about that much. Though Miku found it entertaining enough, she would never be caught dancing like that.

"Good job, Psyduck...err, you can stop now," she had to mention, as several beats had gone by with no claps yet the duck continued to dance. "This time, try scratching that tree over there," Miku ordered, pointing to the nearby shrubbery.

"Duck?" Psyduck asked confused as she stopped dancing. She turned to look at the tree. It didn't look too intimidating. "Psyduck!" An almost serious look came across her face, and she waddled up to the tree. She pulled back one wing, then slapped at the tree once with her claws. "Psyduck!" she cried excitedly, turning back to Miku who now had her palm to her face.

"Do it again, Psyduck, but not just once! Do it until you chip off some bark at least, c'mon...work with me here!" Miku pleaded. Her derpy team could be hard to manage sometimes.

"Duck, psyduck!" The Pokemon again became what looked like serious for the species. She turned around, rushing to the base of the tree more quickly this time. She slashed at the trunk furiously. Relentless, she took off a good chunk of bark which inevitably hit her in the head. She fell to her rear dizzied, holding her head and complaining.

"Well...at least you did it. Good job, Psyduck!" Miku praised. However, it was short lived as she felt her body turn stiff. She wasn't able to control her body! "Psy...duck...did you use disable?" The girl managed to force out to the purple glowing Pokemon.

"Duuck..." Psyduck admitted apologetically. She rubbed her head ashamed, but she definitely felt stronger after training some.

[End Psyduck's Training]

After some time, Miku was finally able to move her body again. She sighed relieved, rubbing her wrists and making sure all appendages worked properly. "You gotta be careful with that, Psyduck. But it's okay this time, because we were training," Miku said, trying to resolve any worry her words might have put into Psyduck before they could.

Smiling, she made everyone a snack out of the supplies she had managed to salvage. "Okay guys, I know it's not much but we all have to share." She broke pieces of bread into little bits, tossing them to Feebas and Magikarp in the pond as the others ate. She again looked down to the one unopened pokeball and sighed at Sandshrew.

Wiping her hands of the crumbs, Miku stood back up slowly and turned away from the pond. "Okay then, who's next?

[Training: Clefairy]

Clefairy hopped forward cheerily, chanting her name and wagging her arms. "Huh? You want to be next? Okay then," Miku said, smiling down at her newest addition. "Okay Clefairy, let's see what you can do," the girl pulled out her pokedex and checked out some of Clefairy's potential battle moves. "Well, I've seen your Healing Wish. So, how about we start off with something more physical this time? Try using pound on the ground!"

"Fairy, clefairy!" Clefairy chanted, excited to try and make Miku proud. She ran over to a clear spot of dirt showing through the foliage, winding back her tiny paw. She swung at it, but hadn't really been accustomed to fighting. She swung through, swooping mere inches from the ground, the momentum throwing her to the ground. "Fairy..." Clefairy said, discouraged at her failure.

"It's okay, Clefairy. Everyone has to start somewhere. Just try again, go slower and try harder to aim," Miku encouraged. She was similar when she was a child learning with a wooden sword. She tried to take on too much too fast, and failed. "Go ahead and try pound once more!"

"Fairy!" Clefairy nodded, looking determined this time. One could see her little tongue sticking partially from the side of her mouth as she concentrated. She swung down, kicking her feet up to reach the spot appropriately. A small dust cloud rose from the spot, and Clefairy chanted excitedly as though she'd won her first battle.

Miku giggled for a moment, Clefairy was quite childlike. "Good job Clefairy. Now, let's try out something else...hmm, let's try this Disarming Voice!" Miku wasn't sure of what the move did, but it sounded cute enough.

"Faaa~" Clefairy cooed. Her voice was haunting and charming all at once. Miku felt her heart twinge a bit, clutching at her chest. "Faaa, clefaairy~" Miku felt like she could barely move, tears coming to her eyes making it hard to see.

"So that must be it, makes it harder for the enemy to hit you, and easier for you to hit them, huh? Good job Clefairy, I think we can stop for now..." Miku tried to keep herself from crying, but the experience was emotionally overwhelming.

[End Clefairy's Training]

After some recoop time for Miku, as well as cuddle time with Slowpoke to help her recover, she again looked around at her team. Psyduck and Clefairy were looking a bit stronger, which was a good thing for sure. However, both of her fish Pokemon were looking rather pathetic right now, they would need training for sure.

[Training: Feebas and Magikarp]

Miku loked down into the pond at her derpy little fish, unsure of exactly how to go about this. "Umm...right then, I don't think you can do much more than splash right now. Still, that works your muscles, so it makes you stronger, right?" Miku nodded to herself, deciding to do it that way. "Okay guys, start by swimming in a circle. Try to stay at the same pace and distance. Mirror each other, this will teach you muscle control!"

"..." Feebas was silent, staring up at this new trainer. She had saved her once already, back in the cave. Not that Miku would know. Still, hoping not to get thrown away like last time she did as told and began swimming in circles. Magikarp was a little more derpy and hesitant. It was clear he'd had a bad experience with the Magikarp man.

"It's alright, Magikarp. I took you away so I could train you to be strong, and be your friend!" Miku said, friendly as possible. She wanted the Pokemon to listen to her, but more than that she wanted him to trust her.

"Karp..." he replied, somewhat reluctantly. He then began swimming in a circle adjacent to Feebas. They were out of sync for a few minutes, but soon managed to synchronise their swimming.

"Good job guys, now I want you to use Splash as high as you can!" Miku commanded, hoping they would do it. As though she were a tamer at a theme park, both the fish sprung high into the air. The water droplets spraying seemed to glisten in the light like little diamonds. It was hard to believe that such a useless move could be so pretty sometimes.

The fish landed back in the pond with an audible splash, even getting some of the spray on Miku. She didn't really mind, even though she'd practically just gotten dry clothes back on. "Awesome..." Miku muttered, still a little shocked at the sight. She might just have to try out a contest with moves like that coming from her Pokemon. She had them continue their rounds of swimming synchronized, and splashing out of the water a few more times. She didn't want to wear them out too much, and allowed them to stop training finally.

[End Training for Feebas and Magikarp]

"That was really great, everyone!" Miku cheered, all her Pokemon had performed beautifully in her eyes. Slowpoke butted his head against her leg, as though to protest being left out. Miku smiled softly, squatting down to place a hand on her partner's head. "Don't worry Slowpoke, I didn't forget about you. You'll get special training later, though. Slowpoke grinned, replying to her with his name as per usual.

"Alright, time to get moving, everyone!" Miku called, as she returned Feebas and Magikarp to their pokeballs. She turned to the rest of her Pokemon, returning all but Slowpoke one by one. "Let's get moving, Slowpoke. It's getting late!" All the training had taken so long, the day was almost gone already. The duo headed to Pewter City, and new adventures ahead of them.

[Tag Note]

Spoiler:

Miku was glad things seemed to be going her way, even if that was only the case by going off the beaten trail. Still, it wasn't so scary jumping down small ledges once you got used to it. Miku could see the scenery changing, and the sign welcoming her to Pewter City just ahead. Excited, she began to make a bolt for it.

You can imagine her disdain when she was cut off by the girls, especially with the way they presented themselves. Grimacing, Miku knew she didn't really have much choice in the matter. They weren't going to just let her say no, they came here looking for a fight. So Miku was going to give them one.

"Oh yeah? You'll regret saying that," Miku snarled, grabbing one of her pokeballs and tossing it out. "I choose you," the pokeball opened in its signature red light. As her Pokemon came into being before her, she sounded off its name, "Clefairy!" Sure, she was a new Pokemon on her team. But Miku felt she was a tough little Pokemon, and willing to fight hard. Which she would have to do with the level disadvantage.

"Slowpoke, you as well," Miku started, the pink Pokemon stepping into what was now for all intents and purposes, their arena. Miku smirked slyly. She might not be eloquent, but she wasn't an idiot. Nidoran would be the easiest to take out fast, though she had to worry about its potentially poisonous horn.

"Alright, guess I'll make the first move then, go Slowpoke, use Curse!" Miku started off with her signature buffing technique, Slowpoke cursing its speed to increase Attack and Defense. "Clefairy, use Disarming Voice!" Miku was lucky she'd studied up on Clefairy's moves during training, as she found out Disarming voice most often affected any adjacent opponents while leaving allies unaffected. Well, unless it got aimed at allies, of course.

"Clefaaa~ Clefaairy~" Clefairy used her hauntingly charming voice against the foes, trying to impact them at an emotional level. The hope was to make it harder for them to land a successful hit, while making it easier for both her and Slowpoke to land a hit easier.

Fortunately, Nidoran would have also been sucked into Jigglypuff's tactic, lowering his attack as well. It wasn't quite as subtle as Disarming Voice in that matter, affecting anyone adjacent, including allies. That was alright by Miku, even as Slowpoke took the rather weak attack from Nidoran. Unfortunately, this meant Slowpoke was down on his attack.

"Slowpoke, Curse once more. Then Zen Headbutt that Nidoran!" Miku ordered, her partner doing as told. His body glowed as he altered his stats again, before launching himself forward with his psychic enforced headbutt! "Clefairy, use Growl as well, then go in to double slap that Jigglypuff!"

"Clee..." Clefairy growled, doing her best to snarl at her opponents. "Fairy!" she cried, running up to Jigglypuff. She began her relentless attack, trying to hit the opponent as many times with her slaps as possible.

"Just time it better, Slowpoke!" Miku called, knowing he would be able to. After all, he was quite intelligent. "Clefairy, use Pound back, then jump back! Keep space between you!" Clefairy's eyes watered up a bit from the Pound attack, Slowpoke on the other hand seemed rather oblivious.

"Slow..." Slowpoke said, waiting for an appropriate moment to lunge at Nidoran with his Zen Headbutt again. Clefairy was angered now as well, and cried out as she swung her little paw at Jigglypuff with her own Pound attack, swiftly jumping back afterward. She might need to use her voice again, since the enemies' accuracy and evasion still seemed to be barely effected.

"Clefairy, use your Disarming voice again!" Miku called angrily, watching her Pokemon be chipped down. "Then use After You to help Slowpoke out!" Miku hoped that boosting Slowpoke even for just this one move would help him, especially with the evasiveness of their targets being lowered so much.

Clefairy started her heart breaking song to instill more emotional damage in her opponents. Meanwhile, Miku worked on Slowpoke's strategy. "Slowpoke, use Yawn to slow that Nidoran down. Then use your Zen Headbutt again!" Miku was determined, entirely focused on the Pokemon.

"Sloww," Slowpoke yawned wide, hoping to make Nidoran drowsy. Hopefully it would make it sluggish before passing out. That was when the plan was put into action. Clefairy glimmered, pointing her fingers at Slowpoke to give him a priority boost.

"Fairy!" She chimed, Slowpoke now glowing and glimmering at the same time. He launched forward with Zen Headbutt, hoping his timing was accurate.

Clefairy was able to dodge a few of Jigglypuff's attacks since her accuracy had been lowered, but just barely so. It looked like it was taking all she had just to dodge every couple swings. "Slowpoke, hit that Jigglypuff with your WaterGun to get it away from Clefairy!" Miku ordered. She would have used Scald, but didn't want any splash damage getting to Clefairy.

Slowpoke did as he was told, taking aim at the less than evasive foe and shooting a stream of water at her. He hoped it would be enough power to split the two up. "Clefairy, use your growl to lower their attack!" Miku commanded, hoping to draw out how long Clefairy could last in the fight.

Following orders, Clefairy used the first available moment to let out an adorable growl at her foes. "Fe, fe, Clefairy," she panted, staying back to try and recuperate some. To make sure things went alright Slowpoke went to move between Clefairy and Jigglypuff as a shield of sorts. His mouth bubbled with waters, steaming as he readied an attack...

"Right Slowpoke, go for it!" Miku called as the Jigglypuff rushed him. Her little arm came down on him, triggering his attack. A large rush of scalding water gushed from his mouth. There was no way for Jigglypuff to avoid it at this distance, a bonus for Slowpoke for sure. "Excellent," Miku said, enjoying the other girls' frustration.

"Now Clefairy, go use your Double Slap on that Nidoran!" Miku had to make use of its current state, and Double Slap was Clefairy's only offensive move currently thanks to Disable. Clefairy rushed over to the sleeping Pokemon, using her training as she went to slap Nidoran multiple times!