Lazarus sits at a cafeteria bar on the 3rd floor of the building, next to him are his pokemon and Mike.
The cafeteria smells of meat, fruits, and liquor. Slow and low jazz music is playing in the background. And as is tradition, dozens of trainers have dinner with their respective instructors.
The bartender is preparing Mike's order with the help of his Ambipom, a purple simian pokémon with two tails, each with a round hand with three red-tipped fingers at the end of both tails.
Ambipom mixes the cocktail with the help of its two tails. And when done, pours the drink into a chilled glass and passes it to Mike.
Mike takes a sip of the bitter whiskey and chuckles, "Ahh, It feels so good to be back here. It has been so long since I was in you shoes, but I still remember what it was like eating in these halls."
Lazarus, who is watching his pokémon share a big plate of meat, smiles, "Really? I am curious now. I told you about my story. Tell me yours. What was it like being a new trainer for you? What did you start out with?"
"Ah well, Let's see. I didn't have as flashy pokemon as you do. I just started out with a Shinx. She was a stray I had picked up in one of the… let's just say less richer parts of the Jubilife. I used some one of those fake Goldeen meat cans to make her trust me, took nearly two weeks, and then I took her home, and tamed her. Two years later, I became a pokemon trainer and went out on our journey.
We successfully completed the gym circuit and competed at Lily of the valley. Our goal was to win the tournament, but we only managed to get to top sixteen, but I was still proud of what we were able to achieve. Then I joined Black Sector, worked for them for nearly a decade and a half before being recruited into the secret service and the rest is history."
Lazarus becomes curious at something, "Did you work under my mother as well?"
Mike nods, "I did, yeah. Your mother became Elite 4 a few years before I joined the secret service. I did go on a few missions for her, but I can't say I knew her personally. I only ever knew her as my commander, she was so good at her job. I can't tell you what it was like doing this job at that time, her and Cynthia were on a generational run, they had managed to suppress almost up almost all pokemon related crime, protected our cities against every legendary attack. During their prime those Galactic fucks wouldn't have dared try anything. Man… I miss our glory days."
"I dream of bringing back that feeling back into the hearts of our people. I am not sure if I can do even a fraction of the two of them managed to achieve, but I have decided to dedicate my life to this calling."
"I will drink to that." Mike raises his glass and drinks the rest of his whiskey before asking, "So, between your two pokemon you have three types, Ghost, Dragon and Ice. How confident are you in being able to train each of these types?"
Lazarus thinks about the question for a few seconds before answering, "I do have some experience training an Ice type. Teaching my Vulpix most of the common Ice moves won't be a problem for me since I already did that once with my Snover. But honestly, as far as Dragon and Ghost types are concerned, I have no idea. I can still figure out how to train a Dragon type but I barely ever interacted with a Ghost types before."
"It is nice that you have one type that you can easily handle. The more time you can save, the better your chances are, especially in your case. And yes, Ghost types are much tricker to train, but thankfully you are not training a Gengar, so you don't have too much to worry about. Your Dreepy seems to have a nice personality as far as ghosts are concerned, so I don't think you'll have a problem on that front.
Start with training your Aurora as many ice type moves you can manage, but make sure not to sacrifice her ability to control ice itself. Build a solid foundation first before moving onto something else. And for your Dreepy, teach him Dragon type moves, the most common ones will suffice for now. And the moment you can get a Psychic type pokemon. They are the heart of every pokemon team."
"Yeah, I am doing something about a Psychic pokemon. I think I'll have one by the time I leave this place. Would have been better if I got to train a Psychic here as well, but oh well… It's my fault for not getting one months ago."
Mike chuckles, "You can blame you father for that. He knew what he was doing. Telling you about his condition only after you were ready to leave."
Lazarus sighs, "Honestly, I don't hold it against him. I get where he is coming from, and it's what I would have done as well, if I was in his shoes."
Mike shrugs, "Well, family is family after all."
"Yeah," Lazarus smiles, before asking him another question, "So, what about defensive moves? Which ones do I teach them? What advice do you have for those?"
Mike shakes his head, "Don't bother with defensive moves right now. If your pokémon doesn't have the natural defense of rock or steel types, then you are just wasting time and energy trying to learn them. New born pokemon don't have enough energy reserves to maintain a defensive move for any meaningful duration.
Your Vulpix can create an ice shield if you really want something for defense, but try to end your fights as soon as possible. People also forget that pokémon derive their abilities from their biology as well and not just their type. Your Dreepy can float and become translucent, focus on that, and you might not even need offensive moves to win a match."
Lazarus takes a bite of his food, "And what can you tell me about evolving my pokémon? How should I strategize it? I have read some books on the topic, but I would rather have a true professionals opinion on it. And how beneficial is optimizing pokemon evolution?"
Mike takes another sip of his whiskey before answering. "Do you know how evolution works?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Tell me."
"A pokémon evolves into its next stage when it channels the required energy to do so. Usually, it is around seventy-five percent of their entire energy reserves, some require more depending on their type and a few other variables."
Mike nods, "Pokémon can evolve whenever they want, but you have probably seen trainers hold off on evolving their pokémon until the end. Do you know why that is?"
"To build up their pokémon's energy reserves?"
"That's one of the reasons. Evolving a pokémon too soon can lead to it growing faster than its energy reserves do. You don't want this to happen, as it leads to wasted potential. But more importantly, it becomes much harder to have a pokémon listen to you if you evolve it too soon.
You need to prove to your pokémon that you are worthy of their obedience. And the younger a pokémon is, the more malleable and manageable it is. There is no shortage of stories about trainers who were too eager to evolve their pokémon but ended up dying when the pokémon revolted against them.
Trainers need to build strong emotional bonds with their pokémon if they want them to listen and follow their commands. Adventures and overcoming adversity together does exactly that. This is why the league encourages new trainers to go on a journey throughout the country.
That's also part of the reason pokémon gyms exist. To keep a trainer moving. Also, keep in mind that the league is not in the habit of hand holding pokémon trainers. Every pokémon requires unique training methods, and only a trainer who knows their pokémon inside and out can know what works best for their pokémon.
So, don't expect the league to be of any help training your pokémon. The league only points you in the right direction and gives you access to its infrastructure. Everything else is entirely in your own hands."
"I don't expect you to help me train my pokémon. That's not my style. I just need you to provide me with the correct information when I need it. I'll take care of the rest."
The trainer and instructor talk for a few more hours after which Lazarus heads to one of the rooms provided by the Battle Arena.
Since it would take Lazarus more than three hours every day just to travel from his mansion to the Battle Arena, he decided it was better to stay in one of the dorms for the remainder of his stay here.
The room he is staying in is furnished with minimal furniture but is big enough for two people to live in.
A single medium-sized bed in the center of the room, next to which is a bedside table, a heater, and an air conditioner mounted on the front wall, with a workstation on the other side of the bed.