Radegast smiled. He felt he wasnât worthy of getting a free guitar, but after fiddling with the unlocking mechanism, he got the feeling that the jam session was planned all along. âI take it you try to get every challenger to play?â Radegast grinned.
As everyone returned to their respective pokeballs, Radegast removed the badge, the prize money, and the unusual disc. After pocketing the prizes and folding up the guitar, he picked up his hat and the band for his ponytail. Suros swooped back and landed on Radegastâs shoulder. Radegast produced a Pecha berry, which Suros swiped in the blink of an eye. As the Fletchinder cured her poison, she and everyone, save for Elder and Chrome, had returned to their pokeballs.
Radegast bend down, got a good grip, and lifted with his legs. With a grunt, he hoisted the Beldum over his shoulder. An impressive feat of strength for a kid who looks kind of pudgey in the bulk of the hoodie. The fifteen-year-old was indeed strong. âAnyway, thanks again, Roxie. We should jam again sometime,â he bid farewell before leaving. At the jab about his hat, he simply smirked, as if he knew something Roxie didnât.
The human hefted the Beldum down the road. Half-way to the Pokemon centre, Radegast began to wheeze in fatigue. Between his ears ringing from rocking out and his arms already aching from performing sick shredding non-stop, this was indeed very strenuous.
Elder was oddly silent the whole trip. He was deep in thought. âYou alright?â Radegast asked between breaths.
âIt was a meat grinder,â Elder muttered.
âOnly one knock-out, mind you,â Radegast seemed to sense what troubled the Haunter. âThatâs good experience there,â
âYeah, but Iâve been making poor moves,â Elder continued, âOne after the other⊠I shouldâve led with the Operative.â
âWell, back in school, I quickly found out every mistake is a lesson,â Radegast winced as he took a bad step. âShitshit, this is really heavy,â Radegast adjusted his grip quickly. He could not recall the Beldum to a pokeball. Due to the modifications made to the pokeballs he owned, he could only recall those who were conscious and were ready to be recalled. For now, Radegast had to make do with carrying the 200-pound paperweight. âAnyway, I do agree that was pretty messy,â he continued, âBut⊠well, nevermind. I know youâll think of the solution, buddy.â
âI already know what to do,â Elder finally flashed a smile.
âGot ideas, eh?â Radegast panted, âOh, could you get the door?â
The Haunter pushed the door into the Pokemon Centre. Radegast lumbered in with the Platinum-coloured thing over his shoulder. âSup?â he gasped as he carefully lowered the Beldum onto the Centre counter. Radegast then rolled his now-stiff shoulder to loosen it once more. He then produced the five other pokeballs. Elder then reluctantly entered his own.
The five in the pokeballs got healed immediately. Chrome, on the other hand, was being cared for by the nurse and her standard-issue Chansey. Everyone was out and huddled around on the floor as Radegast lay down on one of the waiting benches and snoozed.
âI think we did rather well, sir!â Operative clicked.
âWe didnât lose,â Crystal added.
Elder, Suros, and Rage wee silent, as the Joltik and Crystal exchanged half-hearted encouragement between the team. Eventually, Elder spoke up. âRage, you only want to become stronger, right?â
Rage grunted a reply. Taking an explosion point-blank and surviving was certainly a bragging point, but he felt it was not as worthy a victory as punching the Koffing until the shell cracked.
âWe only got by at the skin of ourâŠâ Elder paused, unsure if the phrase could apply to everyone involved. â⊠In any case, if that girlâs (Suros feathers flared up) cryptic warning regarding Suros is accurate, then the next gym would consist of opponents you would be extremely strong against.â
Suros silently nodded. âIf I need to, I guess I cou-â
âBut thatâs not what weâre gonna do,â Elder continued, âWeâre going to get stronger- all of us. Weâre going to train so that you would only need to fight when you want to. That being said, Suros, Iâll tutor you to breathe fire again, now that your injury is gone. Weâll need the source of fire for our travels anyway.â The Fletchinder exhaled a harmless puff of smoke from her beak. âEveryone else, we train,â Elder added.
âYES!â Rage suddenly roared, âWE WILL BEOME UNGODLY POWERFUL!!!!â
As the group planned out their training regiment, Chrome was eventually healed up, and sent to the group. The Beldum was entirely on-board with getting stronger, now that it no longer needed to focus on speed to escape trainers who would otherwise try to capture it. Itâs intellect proved handy in deciding on the finer points of the training.
Eventually, they had their idea. They would go into the caves, and fight every living thing. They would leave the tunnel a battle-scarred war zone, a No-manâs land where few will dare to emerge from the cracks in the walls, lest they invite the fury of the group so hell-bent on becoming stronger. It would be back to basics, swarm tactics, where the unorthodox outmatches the duel archetype. It would be perfect to develop teamwork and base power. If they came along trainers, they would decimate them and acquire all the cash they could reasonably acquire.
Radegast woke up from the nap, stretched his shoulders once more, and stood up. He noticed everyone, save for the now-snoozing Suros, held an air of determination in their eyes. âAlright, who wants to go shopping?â The determination vanished, replaced with joy.
With 2520 Pokke, Radegast bought one more pokeball, five more potions, and an escape rope. That left him with 270 Pokke to his name. Everything status-wise, Elder and Radegast could treat. To survive on several islands and caves, even a fifteen-year-old could determine effects of plants found in the wild.
With the new-found supplies, a new disc, a new badge, and a folded-up guitar, Radegast and the others set out. Everyone was out of their respective pokeballs, and everyone (save Suros and Radegast) was thirsty for combat.