Moves like 'Heat wave' were extremely important because they were area-effect moves. They might not be weather moves like 'Sunny day' or 'Rain dance', but they were essential because they cover a large area.
Now, you might think, what was the use of the area effect move when fighting against a single opponent?
The answer was simple. It was done for two reasons. The first was to slow down the opponent's speed. The second was hiding for a sneak attack. If the concentration of the 'Heat wave' were high, it would not only burn the target, but also help the user in hiding and executing a sneak attack.
"Koffing, use the move 'Heat wave'."
Koffing exhaled a wave of heat from its mouth that covered a small area.
"Now, listen to me. Your goal is to exhale more concentrated heat in the surrounding area to cover a large area."
Axel wanted it to exhale heat not only from its mouth but from its whole body. It could manipulate poisons and heat them, using them in combination as a deadly blend of fire and poison, but that was for a later date. Currently, it doesn't have such a capability.
Koffing took a deep breath and then sent out a powerful 'Heat wave' than before.
"Nice, you did well. When your heat wave is twice as powerful as it is now, then you will be ready."
Axel could not teach it the principle of oxygen, air molecules, and fire molecules as it was too complicated for it.
"Salamence, just try to teach how to use fire-type moves more effectively."
Axel didn't have a fire-type Pokemon to teach Koffing right now. Salamence was the closest that he could get.
###
It was now time for Axel to concentrate on his training. He had reached elemental rank in these two months. This time, it was different. Axel felt that his power had dramatically increased compared to before. Even though he had reached elemental rank, he would be far less powerful than Pokemon, but this time, the gap had closed a lot.
Among the nine requirements to achieve 'Enhanced Willpower', Axel only needed to master two of them, and he would have completed this training.
'Control Opposition' and 'Strength Calling'.
Both of them seemed impossible, but he had read that one can achieve 'Enhanced Willpower' through training alone.
'Control Opposition' would mean that the user would be able to share his/her powers with others for a short period of time. The description seemed simple, but it was not so easy to do.
Axel was familiar with the process. He had to train his aura to such a level that it could help and empower others, too.
Axel had been trying to do it for the past two weeks, but there has been no luck. 'Strength calling' was a berserk-type technique where one would not only heal but also increase one's strength for a short period of time.
'Sigh, why is it so hard?', thought Axel.
Axel had to master aura and psychic powers perfectly so that he could tap into the grand energy, too. But it was too hard. He had his Pokemon. He sometimes wondered why he needed to master the grand energy and another higher form of energy. He had only been doing it because Lucario, the Pokemon of the first Pokemon master, had said so.
'Maybe something extraordinary would happen when I master grand energy and another higher form of energy. It might even help me fight Arceus if I need it.'
His sword techniques had been refined to the limit. He had been training with a sword for more than three years. Now, the sword felt like an extension of his body. Axel was confident that he could defend himself in time of need.
"Maybe I need a powerful sword."
This world was different. There were various kinds of minerals and rocks with unique properties. Just look at the shield of Garry. It was made from a material that absorbs damage and returns it when needed.
Axel went to the blacksmith and told him his requirements. He wanted a sword that had some weight but was also light. After describing his sword, he went back to rest.
Axel had been working and training for a long time with no breaks. He believed that he deserved a good rest now.
###
"What is happening? Why am I here? Was that your plan, too?"
"A part of it was. I didn't think that you would fall for it. But with this, you have a generous amount of time to train yourself and your Pokemon. I must tell you that I cannot keep you here for more than four years. Any more than that, and others will notice.
So, train hard, Axel. You are our only hope."
AHHHHHHH
With his eyes wide open, he stood up from his bed. He was sweating all over his body. Axel realized that it was just a dream. He didn't know who he was taking to in this dream, as he could not see the figure, but he could feel the pressure all over his body. It didn't look like a dream at all.
'Was it Xerneas? Or was it another being?'
Axel didn't know if the dream was true or not. But this had ticked him. He didn't have much time. Even with the fairy realm helping him, he didn't have much time.
---
Ding!
Salamence is ranking up to pseudo-king rank. The host is required to be near Salamence during its rank-up.
---
Suddenly, he received a notification of a rank-up. With a smile on his face, Axel ran towards the training ground where his Pokemon mostly trained. He saw a glow coming from Salamence.
Ranking up to the king rank was a significant achievement for any Pokemon. He threw a 'Dragon fang' towards Salamence that was in the process of ranking up. Suddenly, the aura of Salamence changed instantly. It increased to a new height. Axel could feel a menacing and cruel aura coming from it.
After 5-10 minutes, the process of ranking up ended.
ROOOOARRR
Axel could see that the size of Salamence had increased. Its neck was more extended, its wings were slick, pointy, and menacing, and its teeth looked like they had grown a few inches.
And it seemed to be out of control.
"Togekiss, control Salamence."
Even though it had just ranked up to pseudo-king rank, Axel could feel that its aura was far more potent for a newly pseudo-king rank Pokemon. This was the advantage of being a dragon-type Pokemon.
Togekiss immediately took action and after getting hit by a couple of 'Fairy wind', and 'Extrasensory', it finally started to get into its senses.
Salamence felt a bit guilty that it had lost its consciousness after the rank-up. But it could not be blamed because the power that it got was far greater than what a regular Pokemon would get.
The quality of 'Dragon fang' was high level. Axel didn't know how strong it had become from it, but he could already feel that Salamence was not a normal dragon-type pseudo-king rank Pokemon now.
"Everyone saw how Togekiss controlled Salamence when it was thrashing around. It is not only the strongest of the group but also your unofficial leader. From now on, I will give Togekiss a name. It will be called 'Adler' from now on."
Before, when it was just Togetic, it was obsessed with getting a nickname, but now, after everything, the name didn't mean much to it. However, this meant that its trainer had recognized its ability.
Axel was dying to look at the status page of Salamence, but at that moment, a Primeape came to tell him something. He could already tell that it was E, one of his own.
"So, the leader is gathering everyone for the hunt, huh?"
Primeape nodded.
"Alright, tell the leader that I will be there."
All the tribes of the forest belonged to a single hell-ranked tribe. Practically, all of them were a part of a team. But while living together, there were bound to be problems, rivalry, and hatred within the tribe. Most of it was due to food. Pokemon hunt other Pokemon for food. This would create hatred between tribes, which would not be suitable for the hell rank tribe that controlled all of these tribes.
Because they might have to fight against another hell rank tribe in the future, at that time, they would need uniformity and trust. So, to decrease this hatred and rivalry, they created a program called 'The Hunt'.
The hunt will last for a month, and in that time, anyone could kill anyone, and they would not be responsible for doing so. If any tribe garners hatred if their members died during that time, then the hell rank tribe would personally deal with them.
From the tribe's perspective, this time was significant because it was the only opportunity they had to stock their food for the entire year.
###
After two months of continuous discussion, Axel was finally able to have a proper conversation with the leader. The leader could now speak in human language. Axel and the team went near to hear what the leader had to say about the hunt.
"Everyone, last time, we lost 10 members during the hunt, and we were only able to gather food for nine months. We had to hunt and struggle for three months. Luckily, none of us lost our lives during that time, but it still carried risks.
This time, I plan to have a successful hunt. We have our usual tribes to deal with. There is only the addition of the Bisharp tribe near our vicinity, but we have an alliance with that tribe, so there is no need to worry about it."
Primeape tribe usually hunted Pokemon that were around their tribe. There were around nine tribes around them. They had an agreement with these tribes that after the hunt, none of the tribes would hunt each other for the entire year. If they had to gather more food, then they would have to target other tribes. This was done to enable the tribes to live in harmony. This was why the leader said that gathering food after the hunting period was risky.
"Don't worry, I promise to help the tribe this time, since we are living inside your tribe. I promise that not only will we have enough food, but we will have excess food to sell to the merchants."
The only rule for the hunt was that a tribe could not kill more than 60% of the other tribe members, and if 90% of the tribe was killed during the hunt, then they could announce their situation, and any tribe would not hunt them during the remaining time of the hunt.
The tribe members valued Axel and the group. Axel had trained their members to pseudo-king rank in just two months. So, his words were highly valued.
After the announcement was over, the leader called Axel to have a private meeting.
All the king rank and pseudo-king rank Primeapes were invited to this meeting, including Axel and the group.
After everyone had settled down, the leader asked, "So, we only have a week before the start of the hunt. Does any of you have any ideas on how to proceed?"
---
A/N: There are more than 60+ advanced chapters in pa-treon along with two new side stories of the novel. If you are interested in reading more and getting ahead in the story, subscribe to my pa-treon channel.
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