"wait for it..." like a newly hatched doduo mimicking a DoDrio, Cubone followed Vhira's command to a tee and hung low, preparing himself for a pounce that Vhira had anticipated. The trainer of the Ratata in front of her had trained his Pokemon so that she would use Quick Attack right after two unassuming tail-whips to make sure that their opponent wouldn't be able to anticipate the blow because they lower their guard.

And, just as she expected, for the second time, the Ratata went near Cubone, swishing her tail forwards and making him flinch, the Ground Type understandably thinking that it was an attack. If she didn't warn Cubone, the pokemon would've lowered its vigilance and think that the next attack would've been another fluke but not Cubone,

She grinned when the blue rat got enveloped in a sheet of white, preparing to use quick attack without any input from her trainer. And as she darted forwards, Vhira issued her counter-attack, "now Cubone! break her streak by dodging and use Headbutt!" she said excitedly, and it soared when her pokemon side stepped to the side, making the Ratata miss entirely before lowering his head and bending his knee, he glowed an ethereal white before releasing his tense muscles, propelling him forwards like a spring, he hit the Ratata to the side, making her wheeze.

"Ratata! Tackle!" seemingly quick to recover, the Ratata stabilized herself and pushed Cubone to the ground, both their bodies colliding with each other in a loud thud.

Proving himself in Vhira's eyes, the Cubone huffed with defiance as he pushed the Ratata off, Even after he was down, he propped up his club in preparation and met his trainer's eyes, Vhira nodded in understanding, "Bone Club!" - in reply, he raised his club high up and hit the target perfectly in the face, sending it barreling away as her second Quick Attack got canceled. She rolled on the ground and sneezed before shaking dust off of her body.

Minutes after Lionel gave him to her, Vhira immediately went into testing with Cubone to see what he could do and after a little bit of testing, she managed to learn the little guy's ability as well as his moves, which were; Growl, Tail Whip, Bone Club, and finally, Headbutt- a standard set for a young Cubone his age.

Cubone showed off his prowess even further by dueling against Rein and holding himself off before succumbing to the more experienced Pokemon's attacks. He didn't really mind the loss and after Vhira told him that Rein had been fighting opponents of similar strength and winning, Cubone took his defeat in stride and willingly went back to his Pokeball to get healed in a Pokemon center.

After their visit to nurse joy, they were told that the damage he received weren't that bad and that all he needed was just a good amount of rest and so, the three of them went out into the city to enjoy some sights as Cubone recovered. After half an hour, she felt that he was physically capable again and they went to one of the city's battle courts to see a few trainers fight each other to help Cubone familiarize himself with the type of battle scene that he would be contending against and after watching a battle or two, they went ahead and fought the trainer in front of him with his insistence.

Rein was currently watching from his Pokeball to see how his fellow party member would do and was glad that he could hold his own. Vhira, meanwhile, was more than happy to have a strong Pokemon under her team and so, pumped up from the battle, she issued another command- "use growl!"

And he did, making the Ratata back away for a single step before she shook her head and regained her composure, she then looked at her trainer who asked her to use Tailwhip.

"Bone Club! Intercept her!" Cubone moved after Vhira's yell, he got up to his opponent a second later and struck the rodent in the leg, not because it was his intention, no, but because the Ratata leapt away to try and dodge.

Cubone hissed but felt glad when he saw the Ratata limp. He called out his name and slammed his club into the ground, challenging the rodent.

She, in reply, used her Growl but Cubone didn't look phased.

"Bone Club again!" / "Quick Attack!"

Both Pokemon moved as their trainer issued commands, the two of them gladly following the words of their trainers as they ran for one another, attacks already in preparation and aura flaring to life. They both met each other in the middle and struck, Cubone was hit square in the chest and the Ratata in the rubs,

Cubone took a step back and coughed, Ratata rolled to the side, her purple skin now having hints of blue on the side.

She glared at Cubone and wheezed, clearly having trouble breathing, she took a step forward, glowing white, and Cubone followed, his club shrouded in brown, they both once again met, having no need for trainer commands since they both know what kind of attacks those two would make them do.

Once more, they met with the same results, except, this time, the Ratata never stood up and she stayed limp on the ground after the harsh roll.

Two red lights came out of two opposite sides, absorbing both the fainted Ratata and the panting Cubone. Vhira gripped Cubone's ball tightly, "thank you," she whispered to it.

This had been their first win together and she must say, her newest team member had put up a more than decent fight and, by some odds that she wished she never even thought of, even won. She placed his ball back onto her belt. Lionel had been right about the Ground type, and if she were to be blunt (something that she would never do to Cubone unless she wanted to hurt his feelings,) then she didn't really expect anything out of him and would've even wanted to ask Lionel about finding a proper home for him together...

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She blushed at the thought of that and her approaching opponent had grown a small frown on his face as he approached. She looked at him and shook her head, now probably wasn't the time.

Vhira waved as the guy approached, "it was a good battle!" she exclaimed and got a small nod in reply from him, "honestly though, you and Ratata always going for Quick Attack right after two Tail Whips would probably start to become obvious over time,"

He nodded again, scratching his head, he replied, "yeah, I guess," he handed her the winning money of 200 Pokedollars, "thank you, I'll ask her to change it here and there so we won't be as predictable," he bowed, "I'll see if I can find you for a rematch then,"

She nodded, "yep! I'll see you then, Cubone would be much stronger by that time though so prepare for that," she smiled, "right?" the ball on her hip shook in mirth.

After an exchange of pleasantries, the two of them parted ways and Vhira went over to the "lounging areas" to observe the ongoing battles and see if she can find any other trainer to go up against. Most of the people here weren't children and because of that, some of them have had their journeys in the past and the strength of their Pokemon reflects that. Even if they only got two or three badges, the fact that they managed to do so meant that they were strong enough to earn them.

And it wasn't just that Pokemon would grow weak over time without battling either, or maybe they do, she didn't really know since she'd never had the luxury to see the Pokemon of the older trainers here back in their peak. If she were to go by anything though, then her Father's Tauros didn't seem weaker even as the days went by.

'he's gotten even stronger I think?' she thought to herself, frowning.

A little while later, someone approached the two of them, a kid around her age, and when Vhira looked them over, she noted that the guy only had 1 Pokeball and from the way it shone, she assumed that he most likely just got his Pokemon and she was reminded of her very first battle after she got Rein- calling her a novice back then was an understatement because even after the things that she thought through the day before, she managed to get taken out by her opponent in as short as 7 exchanges that left Rein reeling for three hours afterwards.

She didn't slack off after her first loss though and the fruits of their labor had started to come through currently with Rein being more than capable of going through multiple battles on his level on a single day. Provided that, of course, he gets a small amount of rest in between them.

Knowing what the guy in front of her is thinking, she grinned at him as she stood up, patted him on both shoulders, and said, "I can't battle with you, I'm sorry," in flat out denial.

She didn't want to be a bully, not when the kid in front of her looked like he still hadn't broken his daydreams of becoming the strongest trainer yet but...

Cubone's ball shook, it was followed by Rein's when she looked down to deny them and after the two balls shook for a few more times, she sighed and rubbed her forehead. She met the kid's eyes, and their gazes steeled, "alright, fine, I'll battle you."

"yes!" the stern and stoic look of the guy disappeared, replaced by enthusiasm as he picked up his Pokeball, "you hear that Glen?! we're gonna have our first battle!"

She smiled at him as he started walking towards one of the empty courts, completely oblivious to her presence as the excitement on his face showed itself to be more than visible. Vhira patted Cubone's Pokeball, "you sure about this?" she asked for the last time, he looked like he had been worn out after that first battle...

The ball on her hip shook.

...

Vhira inhaled deeply as she stared her opponent from the other side of the field down. The battle that she was about to go into wasn't exactly something that would be considered as "fair" in her book since her enemy isn't even that good to begin with but if Cubone says so then she didn't really mind doing this, after all, her Pokemon knew that they were doing and she knew that some of them can sense how she feels in the same way that she could understand what, to most people, are just them calling out their names and making odd gestures.

Cubone probably wanted to reassure or maybe tell her about something but she didn't know yet.

Releasing him out into the field showed that he had recovered from the battle before this one, she met his eyes and saw the trust that he had in them. But trust for what exactly, she didn't know, "alright!" she picked up a small rock, "when this falls to the ground, the battle starts," the boy across from her nodded.

He had released a Hoppip, one that looked happy as it floated in the air.

She threw the rock,

Seconds later, both Pokemon on the battlefield moved as their trainers issued out commands, Cubone to use Tail Whip against his enemy and Hoppip to tackle him. They got near each other and Vhira hissed, "dodge it! delay your move!"

and Cubone followed, hopping away from the Hoppip as it struck the ground in a fashion that made Vhira wince.

The Tail Whip got executed as the Hoppip tried to get up, Vhira, not wanting to let it recover, told Cubone to go for a Headbutt and he followed, striking the Hoppip and grounding him even further.

"good job! Tail Whip again!"

"just Double Edge him!" Vhira's eyes widened as she heard that and she commanded Cubone to escape from the range of his enemy.

He couldn't and was struck by the Hoppip, who suddenly gained a burst of speed that allowed him to close the distance in just a single second. She assumed it was thanks to Double Edge and looking at the way it slowed down again after the move, she was right. "use Tail Whip!" she commanded for the third time, and Cubone executed the move this time around, "great! now Headbutt!"

"Double Edge!" both Pokemon met, their moves in order as Cubone struck Hoppip's Double Edge with his hardened skull, which was further toughened by the move he was using.

Even then, Cubone fell back and Hoppip followed by rolling in the same direction he did, his momentum seemingly unaffected by Cubone's attack.

"Hoppip! get out of there!" her opponent commanded,

She watched as Cubone got up, the Hoppip right next to him still in a daze from their exchange. "Headbutt!"

Cubone struck, preventing Hoppip from flying, "Synthesis!" for the second time, her eyes widened as light converged around the Grass Type, and soon after, its wounds became nigh non-existent as it floated upwards, glaring down on Cubone from the ground, "alright! Double Edge!" the boy cheered,

"Dodge it! use Growl if you can't!" was her last command as the Hoppip went down for Cubone, its body already enveloped in a tough sheet of white.

Cubone jumped away but Hoppip merely followed, he looked at Vhira and closed his eyes, his chest expanded as he breathed, and seconds after that, he used Growl, moments later, he was down on the ground, unconscious.

She recalled him and gave out a thank you, she then met her opponent's gaze, "good battle!" she gave him a thumbs up and went into the field, only to stop when she saw him frown, "is something wrong?" she asked,

"you have another Pokemon right?!" he yelled at her and as an answer, she reluctantly nodded, "then I'll fight it!"

"a-are you sure?" he nodded at her, determined. She looked at Rein's Pokeball and her conflicted emotions got worse as it shook, he was way stronger than the Hoppip in front of her but... if both its trainer and it didn't mind then... why not?

She went back to her spot on the battlefield and released Rein, who stared at the Hoppip within difference. Vhira took a deep breath, then said, "Twin Needle."