"Tactics? No way! You're totally a trainer! Training isn't just about battles, you know."<br/><br/>Eleyna hopped over a narrow crevice,  peering up through the trees and undergrowth in the direction of the cave she thought she had spotted earlier.<br/><br/>"Training's all about getting stronger... battles are just the best way to see how you're doing. They test everything you've got, you know? Like... if you and your Pokemon have a strong bond." Eleyna stepped over a thick root, using the tree to support herself. "Or if you're getting smarter and can come up with cool strategies... or adapt to things changing on the battlefield."<br/><br/>She passed Growlithe who stood up and nimbly bounded from rock to rock, getting ahead of the mountaineers.<br/><br/>"You could do it just on your own... you know. Like just go around with your Pokemon and never battle. You'd still be a trainer, you'd just never know if you were really getting better." Eleyna plucked a stone. "I mean... I could really try to get better at throwing rocks," she tossed the rock up the slope ahead of them. "And think I was getting way better... but then if I met someone else who was throwing rocks and we both threw one and theirs went way further than mine, I'd realize I wasn't getting better as much as I thought. That's what battles are!"<br/><br/>Eleyna frowned, unsure of herself. "I mean... I guess. That's kind of the way I think of it. I can't be the best if I'm never finding out what others can do."<br/><br/>Her features brightened and she hopped, clasping her hands together and turning around to look at Naomi. "Oh! Oh! Its like that Red kid! He won the whole Kanto League when he was just a kid! But it wasn't because he was just battling all the time. They said he had been on this huuuge adventure across the region! His Pokemon knew how each other thought and felt and how they battled so it was just instinct, and knowing what Red wanted them to do when things got tough! But they were friends first and foremost because of their adventures!"<br/><br/>She beamed and stuck out her arm, lifting two fingers. "And that's what we're going! Adventuring!"<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>