Cherreads

Chapter 25 - Chapter 25: Surprise and the TM

"Huh? Bellsprout mastered it this quickly?"

Icarus looked at Bellsprout, who was already using the Thorn Whip skill smoothly, and felt a little puzzled.

"Sprout, spri spri… spri spri."

Bellsprout finally explained that it hadn't rested at noon and had secretly trained extra.

"What?! Bellsprout, why didn't you wake me up? Can your body even handle that?" Icarus immediately asked nervously.

"Spri… spri."

Bellsprout admitted that after the extra noon training, it didn't have enough energy, so it secretly ate that unpalatable Grass-type Pokémon feed.

"You're too serious…"

Icarus felt both helpless and touched when he heard that Bellsprout had forced itself to eat the unpleasant feed just to avoid disappointing him.

"If you wanted to practice more, I would've trained with you! We still have plenty of Pokémon meat!"

"Spri…"

Bellsprout said it wanted to save money. Noon break was short, and Icarus had already been working hard. It could practice this move on its own.

"I… thank you, Bellsprout."

In the end, Icarus didn't say much. He simply squatted down and hugged it.

"Spri~"

Bellsprout's eyes curved happily. It hadn't let Icarus down.

Suddenly—

"Sprout! Spri spri!"

It seemed to remember something and called out again.

"Huh? You have another surprise for me?"

For a moment, Icarus even wondered if its strength had broken through.

"Spri!"

Bellsprout rooted itself into the ground. At the same time, its leaf-hands stretched toward the sunlight. A faint green glow appeared around its body.

"This is… Growth under sunny conditions?"

"Sprout!"

Bellsprout nodded heavily, then lashed out with a Vine Whip. The power was clearly stronger than before.

"Bellsprout, you're incredible! Not only did you master Thorn Whip, you even improved Growth under sunlight!"

"Spri~"

Bellsprout happily explained that because rooting recovered energy too slowly and the feed tasted awful, it had remembered Icarus saying that Growth was stronger in sunlight. So it tried practicing Growth under the sun to speed up energy absorption.

"So your photosynthesis has improved in sunlight?"

"Sprout."

It nodded—recovery speed was indeed faster.

"Then Growth must temporarily absorb energy from both the earth and the sun, creating a short burst that raises your attack power by two stages."

Icarus quickly wrote this insight about Growth into his notebook.

These notes weren't ordinary descriptions. They were a trainer's own analysis after careful observation—far more valuable than basic Pokédex summaries.

"Bellsprout, you've worked incredibly hard these past three days. This is your reward."

He took out one catty of Caterpie meat and handed it over.

"Spri spri!"

Bellsprout happily devoured it. Even if it was full, it could store energy within its stem. In the wild, food wasn't guaranteed every day—stored energy meant survival.

After a pause, Icarus's expression grew serious.

"However, I still need to say this. Your intentions were good, but you can't secretly overtrain like that again."

"This time the move was low-level, and you're still at the beginner stage, so there were no side effects. But in the future, when you practice advanced moves, if something goes wrong without guidance, it could be dangerous."

"We're family. We carry things together."

"Sprout, spri spri!"

Bellsprout nodded obediently, promising not to act alone again.

"Alright. Next, we'll learn Absorb."

Icarus took the green TM from his backpack and handed it over.

"Bellsprout, wrap it with your energy. Feel it with your heart. Listen carefully."

"Sprout!"

Bellsprout enveloped the TM with its energy.

In an instant, its consciousness was pulled inside.

Within the TM, an Oddish was explaining the key points of Absorb. Beside it was a diagram showing the energy flow inside its body.

"Spri?"

Bellsprout was confused. The energy trajectory didn't exactly match its own body structure.

But remembering Icarus's instructions, it focused on listening carefully.

Soon, the explanation ended. Its vision darkened, and its consciousness returned to its body.

"How was it? How much did you learn?" Icarus asked eagerly.

"Spri… spri…"

Bellsprout said the internal flow felt different from its own previous moves. It only remembered part of the key points.

"That's normal," Icarus explained.

"A TM is different from bloodline inheritance. A TM is another Pokémon explaining its move to you—like a teacher giving a lesson. How much you learn depends on the teacher's clarity and your own understanding."

"But bloodline inheritance is like personally experiencing the move inside another Pokémon's body. That's learning from within."

"So TM learning is external. Bloodline inheritance is internal. Inheritance is easier—but I believe you can master both."

"Sprout."

Bellsprout nodded firmly.

"By the way, what Pokémon is teaching you inside?"

"Spri spri."

It answered: Oddish.

Since Icarus had previously shown it common Pokémon found in Viridian Forest, Bellsprout recognized its instructor.

"Good. Oddish naturally learns Absorb, so the explanation should be thorough. The move itself isn't too complex. You should master it before the TM's energy runs out."

"Spri?"

Bellsprout tilted its head—there was a usage limit?

"Look closely. The TM's glow has dimmed slightly. That's because when your energy resonates with it, it consumes the stored power."

"You probably have about twenty viewings left. So every time you enter, concentrate fully."

"Sprout!"

Bellsprout lowered its head and noticed the TM's light had indeed faded slightly. It immediately resolved to focus with full attention next time.

(End of Chapter)

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