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Poli stretched out on his mat, he glanced over to his temporary companions snoring loudly. It was taking some getting used to having a whole new group up on mount Silver. Sabrina and her Pokemon were one thing, they were quiet and kept to themselves but Gold and his Pokemon were wild.
But Red had told Poli and the rest of them that they were on big sibling duty and were expected to keep an eye on Gold and his team as they trained in the unforgiving climate. While the newcomers were strong, they also lacked discipline. But it was obvious that they were serious about getting stronger well except for Polibo who was uninterested and didn’t seem to like Poli.
Dutifully, Poli led both teams in morning calisthenics as Red and Gold worked on a human equivalent. Each day the poliwrath noticed improvement in the stamina and strength of the younger team. Every single Pokemon was improving, with the exception of the politoed, Polibo. There was no reason for Polibo to not improve, except he wasn’t trying, preferring to spend his time by the springs. This morning though, Gold had begged him to join in the workouts.
After a round of exercises, the various Pokemon broke off into groups to practice battling. Poli watched as Red came over to instruct him directly, a hand gently petting him in encouragement.
“Hey Poli, let’s show Gold and Polibo how we like to train!”
Poli perked up at his trainer’s suggestion, he knew what that meant, they were going to spar. Being a fighting and water type meant that he and Red got to have lots of fun. They could not only battle pokemon, but also each other. Maybe it could inspire Polibo to improve.
With a grin, Red and Poli squared up, the other team members and guests gathered around. One punch, a dodge, another punch, a kick, a dodge, a direct hit! There was nothing better than a sparing match with Red.
They fought hard until Red had worked up a good sweat and Gold was begging to be tagged in. With a nod, Red allowed Gold to try to spar. Much to Poli’s surprise, Gold was a decent partner. By the end of the morning, Poli had gotten to spar with both boys and had lots of fun. The other pokemon cheered on from the sidelines, with the exception of Polibo who seemed angry.
The boys began working on lunch, while they were distracted Poli walked over to where Polibo was relaxing, he nudged the other evolution with his foot, earning himself a hard glare.
He hunkered down next to the other pokemon, but was still ignored. There was no reason for the other pokemon to dislike him, yet he did.
Gold brought bowls of food for each of the poliwag line and sat down between them, he began eating his lunch, halfway through he laughed lightly,
“You know, I had originally wanted a poliwrath, and you’re really cool Poli, and it was fun to spar with you,” Poli listened to Gold speak, an inkling of what the problem with the other pokemon was forming. Gold smiled, reaching a hand out to his pokemon, “But now I’m glad that Polibo is the way he is! I don’t think I could spar everyday! Plus We can totally cheat at poker with your hypnosis!”
Poli snickered watching as trainer and pokemon continued to eat, Polibo seemed much happier after too, leaning into his trainer.
A few days later and Polibo was training just as hard as the rest of the pokemon, even attempting to spar with Poli.
While Polibo’s moves were cool, Poli was glad he was a poliwrath. There was nothing better than sparing with Red. He’d take his dual type any day.