“ROOOOAAAAAAARRR,” the Pyroar roared. The Pokémon looked at me with a ferocious glare, stepping closer to me while a few Litleo jumped behind it. I guess I came at a wrong time

I was sweating balls now. The glare Pyroar gave me, as well as the roars from some of the other Pyroar in the group, was bordering hateful, but one of the Litleo that had gathered gave me a curious look. Pyroar looked around at the cub that had gotten closer.

It walked over and sniffed my shoes, before a grin appeared on its face. The Litleo walked back to its mother and began to excitedly tell her something. The Pyroar looked at me and I swore I could see a look of recognition flash across her face.

‘That doesn’t make sense, why would she reco-.’

Then it hit me.

I was forced onto the ground after the Litleo’s tackle, who came up with a smile on its face.

‘No way, is this the Litleo from my first day?’

Pyroar glanced at me with a strange look in her eye. The rest of the Litleo bounced over and began to roughly play with me. Inkay and Ferroseed came out of their balls to join the fun. After a few minutes, Pyroar huffed out impatiently. The Litleo all looked over at her with puppy… kitty?... eyes. Before she could tell them they were leaving, I called out.

“Pyroar, wait. I have a proposal,” I said, quickly earning an irritated look.

“I would like to challenge the group to battle me,” I said, sweating a bit from the glare I was getting. “I want to take a few of the leaving Litleo with me to a ranch where they can live and train as they want. So, I think it would be better to battle the ones that are willing to leave with me. If I win, I will catch them and bring them with me. If I lose, I’ll never bother the group of Litleo again.”

Pyroar stared straight into my soul after listening to my proposal. Her eyes flicked towards the group of Litleo and then back to me before growling something out. I was a bit confused about what she meant, but a few of the Litleo began to talk animatedly so I hoped it wasn’t a bad thing. Pyroar then moved to the side, walking away with a fiery puff from her nostrils. I guess that’s a green light.

One of the younger cubs ran into the forest and came back with a few more of the older and larger Litleo. I opened the Scan app, scanning most of the Litleo that stayed close to me. They were all pretty similar in terms of moves and abilities, with two having the exact same movesets.

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Litleo (male and female): The Lion Cub Pokémon

Litleo are curious Pokémon that leave their pride after they are able to hunt by themselves. Their mane gets hotter when they battle stronger Pokémon.

Abilities: Unnerve, Moxie

Moves: Tackle, Leer, Ember, Work Up, Headbutt, Double Team (Egg Move), Fire Spin (Egg Move), Yawn (Egg Move)

Conditions: Motivated, Energetic, Excited; Curious, Careful, Excited

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Those two were probably siblings. And given the intense look Pyroar had as she focused on these two, it would be safe to bet they were her cubs. I don’t think I’ll want to catch those two. I sent out Ferroseed first, hoping to get a few before becoming more serious with Inkay. A random Litleo came forth, rawring very cutely in its failed intimidation. The Pyroar that stepped away roared, signaling the start of this battle.

“Ferroseed, Gravity on the cub!”

Ferroseed immediately used the move, its speed showcasing just how much she practiced it. The Litleo was mid-Ember when Gravity crashed onto it. It slammed onto the floor, the Ember bursting in its mouth and causing it damage.

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‘Way more effective than I had imagined. This is going to be a great opening move to interrupt stat-boosts.’

“Ok, now use Bullet Seed.”

Ferroseed did as she was told, bombarding the poor cub until it passed out. Once that happened, Ferroseed stopped Gravity. I praised her performance while pulling out an Oran berry. I squeezed some of the juices into Litleo’s mouth, who twitched awake and ate the berry I offered. Pyroar was staring intently the entire time, stopping any of the Pyroar that tried to intervene. I looked at her, figuring her to be the alpha or alpha’s mate because none of the other Pyroar bothered to interrupt us after she stopped them.

I grabbed a Pokéball, raising it at the Litleo and waiting for its response. It growled and then nodded, so I caught the Litleo who turned out to be a female. After that, I repeated the process a few more times. Again, Ferroseed’s Gravity made it all too easy to beat them. After catching two females and a male, one of the two siblings came up. The first Pyroar tensed at this but made no other move.

This Litleo was carefully watching Ferroseed, both waiting for Pyroar. Once she gave the signal, Ferroseed immediately used Gravity. This time, however, it did not go so well. Litleo immediately used Double Team, a clearly trained move, using the speed of the move to confuse Ferroseed just enough to get out of the immediate range of Gravity. While Litleo was still affected, he was able to use Yawn. While Ferroseed was shocked, my dumbass was still processing that Litleo used Double Team to dodge. I completely blanked, only returning to the battle after an Ember hit Ferroseed, causing her to grind out an uncomfortable hum before falling asleep.

‘Shit, I’m still too much of a noob. I really fucked that up.’

Once Ferroseed fell asleep, Litleo used Work Up. Before it could use another one, Ferroseed woke up. The benefits of having a training partner that spammed Hypnosis for training.

“Alright Ferroseed, Gravity again, this time spread it out a bit more instead of concentrating it on Litleo,” I advised while Litleo shook out his surprise and began charging up Fire energy that swirled around in front of his mouth. He released it just after Gravity took effect, slightly changing its trajectory while slowing down the move. This gave Ferroseed enough time to hop out of the way. While hopping, she used Iron Defense to increase her density and defense. Litleo was trying to lift itself up, barely getting into a squat before falling on its stomach. Instead of just laying there, it began spamming Ember, trying to hit the bouncing egg of thorny metal.

“Keep bouncing out of the way. Once you’ve used Iron Defense again, jump high and Tackle into Litleo, applying Gravity to yourself at the same time!”

With the command, Ferroseed began to hop vigorously. Dodging each Ember was keeping her busy enough to prevent her from using Iron Defense again. Once Litleo paused to catch his breath, she took the opportunity. Before Litleo could start Ember again, Ferroseed jumped up high before a white glow came from her as she began falling. Litleo tried desperately to move, throwing an Ember at her when he couldn’t move. The effect of Gravity and Tackle caused Ferroseed to slam into Litleo just after getting hit with Ember, blasting dirt away from the impact zone where a small crater with both Pokémon was found.

I stood there dumbfounded, not expecting Ferroseed’s Tackle to damage the terrain so much. I walked over, along with Pyroar, to see a knocked out Litleo and my Ferroseed just barely standing up, humming with confidence. She looked at both of us with a happy gaze before she slumped over as well. I looked at Pyroar, whose intense stare almost made me shit myself.

Pyroar scoffed, leaning her head toward Litleo before walking away. I pulled out two Pokéballs, one for Ferroseed and another for Litleo. I returned Ferroseed before throwing the ball at the other. The ball shook several times, some shakes having a longer pause between them than others. After a minute, the ball laid still with a click. I swear I could hear trumpets in the background. As I walked out of the small crater, a Litleo ran up to me yowling. It yapped around my feet, staying close and staring at the Pokéball that contains Litleo.

‘I guess this is his sibling.’

“Do you want to battle?” I asked her, receiving a swift shake of her head. “Do you want me to release your brother?”

This, again, received a shake of her head.

“You want me to take you as well?”

This got me a nod. We both turned to look at Pyroar. She seemed to have disappeared, either bored at the repetitiveness of this entire situation or thinking herself above interacting with me anymore. Either way, I captured the second Litleo sibling and walked back towards Santalune City. It was now 5pm, just enough time for a late dinner before bed. The Breeding Ranch’s store was currently closed so I couldn’t turn in the Pokémon I caught. I got to the PokéCenter and had all of the Pokémon sans Inkay healed up. Nurse Joy gave me a strange look that disappeared when I told her about my current task. After a quick, delicious dinner, prepared by Nina, I went back to my room to sleep.

The next morning I returned to the store to give them yesterday’s catches. In return, I got happy smiles and 8064$ for the Pokémon, plus 300$ as a tip. Happy with the new gains, I went towards the PokéMart. I bought another 10 balls, which earned me one more Premier ball. I was planning on taking up more catching tasks seeing how much I could get for the effort. I also browsed their berry selection, stocking up on several kinds of berries before moving on to TMs.

TMs were rather expensive, so I was definitely not going to buy one today. I just wanted to take a look at what they had. I spied several TMs that could prove useful, including Double Team, Protect, Spikes, Nasty Plot, and Lash Out. The last two would be especially useful for Inkay. I was planning on forming a strategy around his ability Contrary and the move Superpower, which would end with a high-power attack boosting Inkay’s attack and defense. Since Inkay and Malamar were physical attackers, a drop in his special attack would not be minded after using Nasty Plot, while Lash Out would make use of that stat reduction to double the move’s power. However, this all depended on how special attacks worked and whether it would mess up any of Inkay’s Psychic abilities. So it was in the works for now. More research would definitely be needed.

Anyway, I decided to go back out into the forest, this time in search of Flabébé. This area of the forest was well-traversed by trainers, so I was hoping to get a battle or two in for practice. Yesterday’s bout with that last Litleo definitely showed me I had a lot to practice before I could call myself a competent trainer.

Nothing that can’t be fixed with extra practice. I hope.

As I walk into the forest, I can hear the noise of excited chatter and sounds of Pokémon battling. It was definitely trainers, since Pokémon were normally quiet while watching a fight. I headed towards the sounds, expecting to see a few trainers traveling together. When I got there, a crowd was surrounding two teenage trainers staring daggers at each. This would definitely get me some good practice.