>>53724108>>53724122The next gym went by so fast that Percival hardly remembered it. Even as Lake Acuity was blown to bits and he was called to action, his mind was far more focused on what was in front of him.
His team.
He kept losing mon after mon. He was training them well- what was going wrong? It didn't linger in his mind for too long, of course, but... once Lake Acuity was fully cleared of its wildlife and Percival was clear to continue his journey, he couldn't help but notice something.
When he'd fought Crasher Wake, he had a full team of six with him. Most of it was comprised of eager young mon ready to fight and willing to come along with him. He'd made sure to train them all diligently- his attentiveness had heightened to the point where he was now creating individualized routines for each member to maximize their effectiveness- and they responded well, with the regimented structure almost seeming to improve their cohesion.
By the time he had finished in Lake Acuity and set off to Celestic Town to investigate some old murals, he was left with only Covie and Moose from that team.
He'd even brought in two newcomers since then.
Only one of them had lived.
And almost all of these losses were from... trainers.
Random trainers, out in the wilderness, dead set on using fancy new foreign mon that had invaded the region. That they clearly didn't know how to train.
Percival couldn't help but look to his Crobat. Covie. His most consistent companion. She was so shaken now. He almost felt sorry for her. She didn't deserve all this death. Neither did he. As he stroked the shivering mon's wing to calm her, Percival found himself lost in thought.
Maybe Cyrus had a point. Maybe there really WAS something deeply wrong with this universe. A universe like this- where random events could cause total bloodbaths, complete chaos... for no reason?
His leader was absolutely right. Humanity needed a blank slate.
This... this state of affairs...
...it was unacceptable.
