TEAM SKULL's Training and Tutalage: Pokemon Care.
"Alright maggots, lets get down to business." Snake declared, the veteran taking a seat atop the table as a dozen or so skull grunts sat dilligently. "Now, how much do you know about taking care of your partners?" He asked, a Skull in the back raising his hand.
"Yes?" The FOXHOUND member obliged.
"Well, you should make sure they are healthy and clean after each battle." The kid mentioned, looking slightly nervous with everyones eyes on him "And also, make sure their diets have the proper nutrients for their species?" He asked
"Correct" Snake nodded his head "Making sure they are functioning properly is the first priority of taking care of any trained animal in Military usage. Now can anyone name prioritiy two?" He asked, looking at a pink haired grunt as she gulped at the attention.
"... Uhh, make sure they are happy with how your treating them?" She asked "Moxxie doesn't like it if I don't treat him once in a while." She admitted, the Pinsir behind her chattering in agreement as it ate a blueberry muffin.
"Thats another good one" Snake nodded "Keeping your pets docile and rewarding them is a good way of making sure they don't cause problems." The carrot was always better than the stick when it came to dogs in the clone of Big Boss's mind. His first pet, a Husky named CC came into mind.
A bit of a fighter, always willing to bite him if he took her somewhere she didn't want to go. It usually took promises of a good girl treat and a belly rub to coerce her into doing what he said.
He still visited her grave whenever he had the chance too...
He shook his head, getting back into reality, he had a class too teach "Priority 3, what is the most valuable thing about a trainers pokemon?" He asked aloud, several grunts puzzled, before each gave their own opinion.
"Rarity!"
"Power!"
"Nature's!"
"Evolution amounts!"
"No, no, no, and no" He said "The most important thing, is cooperation." He said "It doesn't matter how strong, or rare, or how much potential your pokemon has if they refuse to work with you." He explained "You'll all seen how Crimson fights with his pokemon correct?"
"He fights like a beast" Steve mentioned, the 15 year old recalling how his Slowpoke and Vulpix managed to use a the formers psychic to control the fire type's flamethrower mid air. "Every move he makes is backed up by another without a second to waste."
"He has all these weird phrases for actions" Another piped in "One time he said 'Washout' and then that Slowpoke of his just grabbed onto a lakes worth of water to throw onto that Lycanroc."
"Its like big bro Guzma and Golisopod" Niya said from the back "He and his bug have been through so much, its almost like they think as one."
Snake letting a small smile grace his beard as he knocked against the board "The most important thing about that is Crimson and Guzma have worked for their partners trust. They have spend time with them, lived with them, and have put significant amounts of their time into going over strategy with them." By treating their partners as equals, rather than fancy pets like some trainers believed them to be. Though Crimson had it easier by the fact that his pokemon could talk as well.
"Guzma has had his Golisopod since Childhood, and Crimson has lived for years with King. By putting in time and effort, they can defeat even pokemon far out of their lead simply because they function like a well oiled machine together." He told them, grazing over as he petted his Poochyena on the head, the dark type nuzzling into his gloved hand as his remaining one gestured to them. "They tell you kids first impressions are everything, but thats only half true. You need to have a good first impression, but you also have to be consistant with that impression." He told them, narrowing his eyes as he remembered the way some military members treated their partners.
Acting sweet at first, only for that false persona to slowly decay over time, the kind treatment they presented with slowly peeling away as by the end they had treated their police dogs like nothing but weapons that did as they were told or were useless to them.
He had dismissed some of the less offensive ones, but for the most severe cases?
They were sitting in a hospital bed for weeks, their careers ruined as they spent the next 5 years in prison for animal abuse and/or murder.
"If you screw up the first meeting, it will only make the rest of the journey harder, and failing to meet those standards will cause them to lose faith in you." He said, seeing some of the grunts clutching onto their partners, as if he was almost about to steal them away. "There is no greater sin then betrayal, and the last thing you want is to lost the trust they have in you." He said, the rest of the class going off as normal for the next hour as he explained different ways to care for a pokemon or raise their trust in you.
Suggestions such as promising treats or playing with them good suggestions on how to raise cooperation, though it may clear not to the point of spoiling them.
Ways to clean them also gone over, mammals the easiest as Snake had experience washing dogs with how many he had owned. Having spent many nights reading up on pokemon habits at Crimsons request, he had also gained decent knowledge at cleaning avians, reptiles and insects as well.
Though how the hell you were supposed to clean a
ghost of all things was still beyond him, Guzma telling him it involved a special sponge that you had too wait for a certain time at night to work.
So yeah, he was avoiding capturing any Ghost types in the far future.
The class ending as all the students walked out, off to either enjoy time off or put some training into them. Most going to bed as Crimson had jobs for each of them in the morning. Po Town's future looking brighter each day.
"Thank God its over" The former spy sighed, collapsing into his chair, just about ready to take a nap.
The nubbing of a wet nose at his leg caught his attention though, Poochyena holding onto his collar as his red eyes pleaded with his monster as the brunet sighed.
"Alright, lets go for a walk" He said, picking up the leave as they left outside for the last hour of sunlight in the day.
It was honestly the most peaceful thing of Snakes life...
