Nexon’s Journal : Trainers.
When talking about pokemon trainers, people agree that there is generally two types of trainers. The generalists and the specialists. The names are pretty self-explanatory. The specialists will focus on a specific type like the gym leaders do while the generalists are not concerned with that.
Of course, that leads to debate on the internet with both groups advocating that they are the best, and of course the internet being similar in all worlds the arguments are sometimes valid or braindead. In my opinion my answer is simple: do what you like. True, generalists are sometime spread thin, but it also gives them the flexibility that specialist lack. Specialists on the other hand have robust foundation but are at risk of being swept due to a difference in type. But these are just broad category from online there is more than that…
--
“Use Leaf Blade.” The calm voice resounded through the packed arena.
As swift as the command, the green serpentine pokemon slithered toward its opponent, the leaf at the end of her tail humming with power. The opposing Steelix had no time to react as the tail violently slammed its face to the ground. In a show of will, the Steelix stood up, but just as the trainer was about to issue a command, the steely pokemon fell back to the ground unconscious. The crowd’s cheer was only matched by the voice of the announcer through the speakers.
“Steelix is unable to battle. The winner is Gym leader Cheren!”
As the announcer finish his statement, the unconscious pokemon was returned to his pokeball silently. The only combatant left on the field, Cheren’s Serperior, slithered imperiously with her head held high toward her trainer before wrapping herself around him dropping her head on his shoulder. After a couple of scratches on the head that the leafy snake enjoyed, she was returned to her ball as well. Both trainers made their way to the center of the arena to exchange a few words and a handshake. Unfortunately, they already turned their microphone off, so I was not able to hear anything. Once they were done the moved out of the arena prompting the audience to trickle out as well.
“What? Already getting cold feet?” Pops said to me as we made our exit.
“Not really. I am simply impressed because his battle style is completely different from when he uses a normal type team.”
The match today was a trainer from another region who wanted to challenge Cheren personal team. When you reached a high enough level, you could afford to do that, but the case of Cheren was different. While most Gym leaders specialized in their early days and build their team based on that, Cheren completed his journey as a generalist, so his personal team did not reflect his gym type. You could still get the badge, but you would not fight normal types. Rumors have it that he is building a secondary team of normal type but taking Pokémon to that degree of power took time.
“True, it’s impressive to be able to do that so young but part of being a trainer is being able to adapt to your pokemon. You’ll need to learn how to do it as well since you want to stay a generalist.” He ruffled my hair as he said that.
Nike had to stay in her ball since there was too many people to accommodate the pokemon on the stand today. This was also one of the reasons why the town seemed packed when we came back. It is not every day that you get to see a personal team of a leader fight after all.
Still, Pops words gave me something to think about. Knowing how to use your pokemon strength and weakness, and how to adapt to your different pokemon style of fighting is something to train for as well. For instance, even with my two pokemon they already have two very different style of fighting. Nike is more of an immobile turret specialized in raining punishment from afar while also taking a surprising amount of resistance (or will be once her move pool increases), although not really durable. Skoll however is a brawler through and through, rushing at opponent and pummeling them. Others might fight even more differently.
Pokemon are just awesome!
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling and with that, we went back home. Two days had passed since we came back to Aspertia, and tomorrow was the big day for the gym battle. In the meantime, we already started training and saw some results. Skoll proficiency with Iron Claw improve greatly over the past two days mainly thanks to Pop’s Aggron. With her help and advice on using Steel type energy, his progress was fast enough that the time needed for the move was shortened further. Once he is able to use it instantly we will move to Bullet Punch. He seemed unusually subdued but I chalked it to the presence of stronger pokemon and the training.
Nike continued her double training of Mystical Fire and Disarming voice despite my protestations. She is now able to summon a small ball of flame that does little to no damage as of now, but it is miles aways from the intense focus that she needed for a single spark two days ago. The progression for her disarming voice is… let’s just say that Jeanne is taking full advantage that she has access to the move as well. Though it is going well and can maybe be squeezed in battle if we need to.
I for my part continued my own training but nothing more than trying a mental tug of war with Klint. Although not as psychically focused as his female counter part, he is still way more powerful than me. So much so that from time-to-time Nike joins me but we still lose.
On Seraphina’s side, the small yet proudful Litleo found himself very competitive with Nana’s Flareon. The little lion met the fire foxlike pokemon when she came back from her patrol in the surrounding forest and seemed to want to prove something. It spit out a cloud of glowing Ember and puffed its chest as soon as they met. Unfortunately for him, the fiery vixen is just as competitive and not only responded with a cloud thrice as big and much more powerful, but also proceeded to use Fire Spin, trapping the embers, before going to lay on Nana. Needless to say, Litleo continue to chase her and after confirming with Nana, Seraphina let it be since it was training as well.
The little Shinx for her part worked with Seraphina on the power of their Thundershock. It seemed that the demonstration by ranger Mathew was quite effective on them. Their training basically consisted of Shinx emptying and replenishing her electricity reserves. Feeling bad because they did not have an electric type at hand, Pops asked one of the neighbors with an Electabuzz to assist as a battery for faster recharge.
“You know, I never realized how having powerful pokemon in the family could help but now I see it.” Was Seraphina’s reaction.
And honestly, I agreed with her. This is clearly a case of golden spoon. Or maybe silver. Anyway, I realized how without even travelling straight away I could get my partners to get stronger. Of course, I would not do it. And I’m pretty sure Nana and Pops WILL kick me out if I tried it now. Shame really.
As we were having an early dinner, something caught my attention on TV.
{Relationship between Paldea and Unova grow closer after talks of academic exchange. The paldean champion Geeta is “Hopeful for more opportunities to work with other regions”.
This is part of the regional effort to create closer ties with other regions following the footsteps with the Kalos Region. We will keep you updated as the information arrives. This was Goodnight Unova, and we will see you tomorrow.}
“uh Paldea?” Seraphina asked.
“The name sounds familiar. I feel like I heard it before somewhere.”
“Honestly… young people should follow the news more often” Pops clicked his tongue. “it’s the latest admission under the league so of course you heard of it. As for the location you would have to look for yourself. You know…” His words caused Seraphina to blush in embarrassment while I simply tuned them out. Probably another story of ‘back in his days’.
Ah! I remember. I think it was supposed to be the next region in the game? But was it out already? Damn it I don’t understand the chronology of the whole thing.
It was frustrating really. The reason why I was so concerned about knowing the timeline was to get out of the way of any potential activity. I don’t know if it follows the game or the anime and one way to find this out is looking for Ash.
I mean, I’m pretty sure he exists given what ranger Mathew told us but…Well at least I know that he is in Unova or past it. Hopefully past it.
And with a very mature reaction, I went back for a light training. No point tiring ourselves out if we have the gym battle tomorrow.
---
The next morning, I found Seraphina sitting on the porch facing the backyard with her two companions by her side. She seemed so out of it that she did not even notice me getting closer.
“Good morning!” I called to make myself known.
She jumped at my voice before answering in a barely audible voice. “Oh, good morning Nexon”
“Is everything alright?”
“Yes, everything is fine.” She tried to smile but I could tell it was forced. Nike also seemed to sense something as she floated down and patted her back.
“You sure about that?” The pointed look I sent toward Nike seemed to get my point across.
“Well actually… it’s just… remember when I told you I lost to Roxie before we met?” I nodded for her to continue. “The truth is I didn’t simply lose I got obliterated. In the middle of the battle, I froze and was unable to give orders to my pokemon… it let to her Koffing taking both Shinx and Litleo out…” she had a sad smile on her face causing her companion to rub on her.
“And so, you are worried that it will happen again during the fight with Cheren?” I asked and she acquiesced. I sat down next to her and took some time to think of an answer. “but you did not freeze when we were battling last time.”
“Well, that was different, back then it was just a passing battle nothing more. But a gym battle, especially with early ones having a crowd is…” she trailed off.
The silence stretched once more.
“If the problem is the crowd why not just ignore it?”
“As if that was as easy as that.”
“I know, I mean why not just focus on something else if you can’t focus on the battle? I will be in the crowd so just try and imagine a bunch of me in the crowd. Or imagine that the gym is a ruin that you want to crack?”
“That’s” she started but then stopped. “Maybe something like that could work… although having a bunch of you in the crowd will be a nightmare.” She exaggeratedly shuddered.
“That’s what I get for being nice.” I sighed just as exaggeratedly as her which caused her to laugh.
After a while she calmed down. “Thank you. Now how about we eat something and go to the gym? I want to watch others as well.”
---
“Here, keep this on your shirt.” The assistant of the gym pinned the mic on her shirt and gave her a few encouraging words before her name was called.
Her heart beat rapidly in her chest despite her best effort to put it under control. The stress and anticipation have been mounting ever since they came to the gym with Nexon. The battles of the day had been a bit pointless for her. The majority of the battles have been of little use to her. Most of them had been for the second gym badge and apart from seeing the battles itself, she could not really apply it to her fight.
There were the odd first gym battles which at least had the merit of giving her a possible list of opponents. For the first gym there were three possible choices and the criteria for which would come was nebulous. The first pokemon is always a Pattrat or a Lillipup. This choice was apparently made to give young trainers at least a fighting chance. The second pokemon is where the uncertainty comes in. if you are lucky, you get the other choice, meaning if you got Lillipup first, the second pokemon will be Pattrat. If you are unlucky, however, you get a Pidove.
Now, Pidove in itself is not a strong pokemon. But for a first gym it is something of a nightmare due to its wider move set and the evident fact that it flies around. Finding a way to deal with is apparently part of the challenge. But it’s ok, she had a plan.
“From the challenger’s side, coming from Virbank City, we have Seraphina, challenging for her first gym badge.”
The voice of the announcer coming out of her earpiece brought her out of her musing. She took one last breath and took a step forward. Her heart continued to beat like a drum to a tune she had no control of, and she hated it. Still, she moved forward. Her… friend had told her, and idea and she repeated it to herself.
This is just a ruin that needs to be explored. Just a ruin.
As she stepped out of the small tunnel, she was relieved to notice that the crowd, already thin before, had reduced even more. That’s right, she told herself, there is nothing that needs to be seen for a first gym.
Scanning the stand, she easily found Nexon in the crowd, easily noticed by the pink and blue pokemon that seemed glued to his head. He gave her a thumb up and next to him, his relatives similarly encouraged her, treating her like family. She wasn’t sure what their relationship was, but it was not her place to pry.
Opposite her, stood the gym leader. He was a handsome young man wearing a blue pants and a white shirt with a simple red tie. Honestly, he looked exactly as she imagined a strict teacher would look if not for the part of his hair striking out on top of his head. To be honest that reassured her a bit given that he was actually about the same age as her or maybe a bit older. He stood in a relaxed posture, eyes fixed on her.
As she saw the seriousness of his gaze, she almost flinched but managed to hold it back. She advanced with as much confidence as she could muster and stood in the trainer designated box. As soon as she reached it, the referee began speaking once more.
“This battle will be a 1 on 1 for the first gym badge of challenger Seraphina. Each trainer will be allowed to use two pokemon and only the challenger will have one switch while the gym leader will have none. The battle will be over once both pokemons of one of the combatants are unable to battle. Are you ready?
“Y-yes!” she stuttered and brought her hand to her pokeballs strapped on her right.
Cheren only nodded his head.
After receiving the confirmation, the referee brought his hand down and shouted “Begin.”
“Let’s go!”
“Go for it.”
With the signal given, two Pokeballs flew in the arena within a fraction of a second of each other. Two pokemon manifested on the field. Cheren sent out a Lillipup, while on her side, her lovely Shinx materialized. She thought she saw the gym leader frown but when she looked again there were no signs of it.
On the field, Shinx did not waste time and immediately started to growl at the puppy, making sure he was sufficiently cowed so he would be reluctant to attack. Her ability, Intimidate, made sure that despite the apparent cuteness of the sound, her opponent would almost always break. And this time again it worked. The standstill held for barely a second before Cheren broke it.
“Set up”
He only spoke two words, yet the Lillipup took immediate action. It made seemingly useless actions, bouncing around and stretching without moving toward Shinx. Seraphina was so distracted by the action, that she only realized that it was Work Up when she saw the steam rising from the pokemon and only now realized that she did not give her companion her order.
“Shinx use Leer!”
From her position, she was not able to see the move, but she could see it take effect on the opposing Lillipup. This was part of her strategy. Every time the leader would use Work Up, she would counter with Leer. The move Work Up allowed the user to raise their attack by rousing the pokemon. On the other hand, Leer used the interaction of the normal type energy to lower the effective defense of the target.
Her goal was simple. If she could not stop the opponent from raising its attack all she had to do was turn the opponent into a glass cannon. Leading with Shinx was also part of the plan seeing as she made the pokemon more reluctant to attack in the beginning, meaning the debuff was one step ahead of the buff.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
After the exchange repeated one more time Cheren frowned and seemed to understand what she was trying to do, giving her a nod.
“Not a bad strategy. However, that’s it. Tackle.”
The Lillipup having powered up sufficiently ran toward Shinx. She followed Seraphina’s order to use Thunder Shock. When she failed to stop the charging pokemon, she braced for impact but was still sent skidding, leaving claw marks on the ground.
“I am using my switch.” Seraphina declared and the referee acquiesced. The red beam called her partner back. “Thank you, princess, you were perfect. rest and your turn will come.”
She felt her ball shake and she grabbed the pokeball of her second partner. The little lion, Litleo took to the field with eagerness. As soon as he locked eyes with his opponent, he puffed his chest and she could see his muscle tensing already. By this alone she knew that his Rivalry activated. Rivalry was a strange ability in her opinion. It allowed the user to use more of their power, but only when an opponent of the same gender was on the field. Although that ability was perfect for her prideful partner.
And with that phase two is a go.
“Litleo just like we trained! Use Work Up.”
This time she saw Cheren raise an eyebrow. This was something that she trained in secret to do. After searching on the net, she found that Litleo naturally learn the move, so a bit of training went a long way to speed up the process. Unlike the Lillipup earlier, he did not need to move that much, simply increasing the temperature of his burgeoning mane.
But of course, the opponent would not let it go that easily and rush toward him with another Tackle.
“Dodge into Leer!” She ordered.
But unlike the last time, the Tackle connected squarely and sent Litleo backward. He did not have the time to recover before he had to move once more.
I guess I won’t be able to do more set up now that the fight is on. But still, everything is still on track.
She allowed her eyes to drift briefly to the stand where Nexon and his family watched the match intently and with serious faces. She had shared with them her plan so seeing that they did not seem particularly worried reassured her.
“Get in close and use Tackle” She ordered.
“Dodge and use bite.”
She watched as the small dog moved out of the way, only to find itself shoved by a last-minute change. Yet it showed that it was trained by a gym leader and continued on with its Bite, catching a hind leg and drawing a yowl of pain from Litleo.
“Get rid of it!” She shouted.
Yet despite her best effort nothing worked. The smaller pokemon even started to shake his head, intent on causing the maximum damage possible. She started to panic, seeing that despite his trashing, her pokemon found itself unable to dislodge the normal type from his leg. Yet without her command, her pokemon sucked in a lungful of air and let out a loud roar that seemed like it should not come from such a small pokemon. Lillipup also seemed like he did not expect this as he let go and backed away without any order.
She watched in surprise as Litleo stood firm as if nothing happened at all. She was distracted and only when he met her gaze and let out another cry, did she snap out of her stupor. She had frozen again in the middle of the battle. If not for her partner, she would not have been able to come back to her senses. She had a battle to win… no, a ruin to solve. It looked like she would have to make it up to him afterward.
She whispered a small thank you and gave her next order.
“Use…Tackle!”
Cheren for his part simply ordered his pokemon to dodge. Yet she had reached her objective by getting Litleo close enough. The pause in her order had been intentional. As Litleo got close, he stopped just before his opponent. Before the latter could move again Seraphina real order game through.
“Headbutt!”
The small lion got in close, and after strengthening his head with the type energy, headbutted the puppy causing a painful yelp to echo. The Lillipup started to titter, but unwilling to give the opponent another chance, her partner re-used the same move, causing Lillipup to drop to the ground unconscious. As she saw that, Seraphina could not help but let out a sigh of relief.
“Lillipup is unable to battle! Litleo wins!”
“That was a good combination. Hiding Noble Roar gave you the opening you needed to finish the fight. Although I must say that you waited a long time to pull the card.”
The comment Seraphina received stung. Because simply put, she did not even realize that the move Litleo used was Noble Roar. Still, she did not say anything and simply adapted her strategy.
Cheren recalled his pokemon and his hand hovered over his pokeballs. After a bit of hesitation, he moved his hand back one pokeball and tossed it. Out of it, the pokemon that materialized did not touch the ground immediately and instead landed of its own power and accord. This was the worst case she hoped would not happen, but at least she was ready. The Pidove cocked its head from side-to-side while looking at Litleo. The fire type breathed deeply, but after confirming that he was still good to fight, the match resumed.
“Use Noble Roar!” she ordered.
“Taunt!”
Before Litleo could even completely inhale to let out the roar, the Pidove emitted a sharp clack of the beak before sounding almost like it was laughing. This seemed to enrage Litleo and instead of letting out a roar, clouds of glowing ember shot and peppered the opponent before it flew off . Seraphina knew it was because of the Taunt but still cursed as this single move made her preparation almost useless. Almost.
“Continue with Ember once more!”
“Stay in the air then use Quick Attack.”
The cloud of embers simply flew past the Pidove as it circled around before it dove at an astounding speed toward Litleo, leaving behind a comet like tail. Before Litleo could react, the wing of the Pidove sent him caroling back and bouncing on the floor due to the speed of the move.
Litleo came to a stop and shakily got to his feet. Even from her position, Seraphina knew that he would likely be able to take one more hit at most. And knowing his proudful disposition, she knew she had to make it count.
“Litleo wait for my signal and bring in the heat.” She whispered but she knew he heard her as his ear twitched.
“Finish with Quick Attack!” Cheren continued to call out orders calmly.
“Now! Ember! Right in front!”
Without missing a beat, Litleo spat his cloud of embers having waited for the order. After battling Nexon she knew that trying to hit before Quick Attack was a lost cause. Therefore, the best move was to predict the path and force them to interrupt their attack or take the hit. Changing direction at that speed requires a lot of control, the kind you would not see until the fourth badge, let alone the first. And the battle awareness for the pokemon to stop the attack on their own was also too much to ask for the first gym.
Sure enough, the Pidove flew right through the embers before its speed made him collide with Litleo. He laid unmoving to the ground until the referee made the call. Yet it seemed that the Pidove was not unscathed either. After focusing, she noticed that some of its plumage was burned off, causing it to stumble from time to time. This did bring a smile to her mouth as she recalled her unconscious pokemon.
“You did great tough guy! Come on baby girl it’s your time to shine.”
As soon as Shinx came back on the field, she began her postering assisted by her ability, spreading an intimidating aura around herself that shook the opponent. With that she hurriedly gave her order.
“Charge!”
Unfortunately, she did not succeed in making much of a charge before Cheren ordered another Taunt. Thankfully unlike her prideful companion, she managed to reign in the attack that would have wasted the charge’s power boosting of electric attacks. Now all she had to do was wait for a good opportunity. And of course, that’s when Cheren decided to mess with that.
“Gust.” He stated more than ordered.
The Pidove started to flap its wing more vigorously than before creating a strong burst of wind, strong enough the pickup Shinx and push her backward. Yet the small pokemon would not let it be and drew out some claw gashes while trying to keep contact with the ground. What’s more, it seemed the Pidove was determined to keep the attack going. In the end, it was thanks to Litleo last ditch effort that they ended the deadlock when its repeated movement irritated the burn. She did not let the opportunity go.
“Thunder Shock!”
Now the training with the neighbor showed its results. The Thunder Shock zapped through the air a hit the Pidove squarely. Between the damage from the Embers, the burn and now the super effective damage, the Pidove quickly fell from the sky and onto the ground. she watched, half expecting the pokemon to stand back up, but it did not.
“Pidove is unable to battle! Shinx wins and the victory goes to Seraphina from Virbank City!”
With the referee’s announcement, the people that stayed behind started to clap for her. It was not a full-on cheer, but it was enough for her. She basked in the attention until her partner jumped against her legs, causing her to snap back and reward her with all the attention she wanted. After a few seconds, she realized that she had something else to do.
She made her way to the center of the field where Cheren was already waiting for her with a small smile on his lips. “Congratulations on your victory. With that you won your first badge, the Basic Badge.”
Saying so, he pulled the badge out from his pocket and handed it to her. She picked it up and could not believe her eyes. Like its name, the design is far from complex. The rectangular shape of the badge was framed in a golden metal and had different rectangular shapes filling it. She took a moment to appreciate the simple and elegant design in her hand before flashing Nexon the badge and a grin to which he simply shook his head with a smile.
Cheren let her finish before continuing. “That being said if you have a few minutes, I can give you some pointers to work on.”
Seraphina was taken aback but quickly nodded her head at the proposal. She would have stayed in the gym for Nexon’s battle anyway so having some tips from the leader was the Cheriz on top.
--
I watched as Seraphina and Cheren walked out of the stage. Pops informed me that it was not so unusual to receive some pointers from the Gym leader after the battle and assumed it was something like that. Seraphina’s match went well, I think. She froze a couple of times but from what she told me she expected it.
Her Litleo really carried the show. I knew she was working on something with him even before she met me but that Work Up really took me by surprise.
“But to think he would learn a new move while in the middle of the battle” I muttered.
“It’s actually not very rare to discover a new move or master an existing one during a battle. Pokémon in general thrive during battles. That’s also why it’s not uncommon to see some evolve mid battle. Actually, I thought the little Shinx would have evolved during this battle.”
“You are right dear. I think the little cutie could have if she had the opportunity to struggle a bit for this battle. But well, I am sure it will be soon. Speaking of battle shouldn’t you go?”
At Nana’s question, I looked at the time. I had some time before the allotted time, but sitting here was not very useful. So, I decided I would talk to Seraphina later and went to the waiting room, the old ones wished me good luck. To my surprise the room was not actually empty as a few trainers were already there. And to add to that one of the trainers was the rude guy with the Tepig from the other day.
Well, that is just great. Please just ignore me.
Of course, I would not be so lucky. As soon as he saw me, he had to make a comment, though he seemed to recognize Nike rather than me.
“Oh? I didn’t know that losers also took on the gym challenge. What are you gonna do? You know you have to battle right?” he sneered at me.
I wonder what is this guy’s problem… sure I refused a battle but so what? Of course, that’s not what I said.
“I’m sorry who are you?” I asked putting my best confused expression.
And to my delight he actually turned red and left me alone, silently glaring at me. Although I was a bit surprised, he backed down so easily. Maybe since last time I brought up his sponsorship he is not so willing to make another fuss? Anyway, I stood around and scrolled through my phone while waiting.
“Is Nexon here? Get ready, you are next.” Came an attendant and to my surprise there was a groan in the room until someone spoke,
“What do you mean next? That guy just came in.”
“He is right. why does he get to go when we were already waiting.”
“He made the reservation for the slot. If there is an empty slot or a no show, we will take the earliest among you. We apologize for the misunderstanding.” At that point I noticed that the helper had a tired look on his face, showing that this was not the first of such conversation and he ushered me out of there.
Reaching the corridor leading to the arena I was affixed a microphone before the announcer called my name. I must say, I felt pretty confident in my chances. The first badge itself is not that hard to obtain and at the same time it is the normal gym.
“From the challenger’s side, coming from Aspertia is Nexon for his first badge!”
With my name called I made my way to the arena where Cheren was already waiting for me. Looking over at the stands, Seraphina stood next to Nana and Pops, cheering me on much like I did for her.
“This battle will be a 1 Vs 1. Each trainer will be allowed to use two pokemons and only the challenger will have one switch while the gym leader will have none. The battle will be over once both pokemons of one of the combatants are unable to battle. Are you ready? Begin!”
As soon as the signal was given, we tossed a pokeball that released both of our choices. On my field was Skoll while Cheren sent a Pattrat. The small rodent stood on her hind legs while watching Skoll while the latter seemed to vibrate in place for the battle. I sighed knowing that this was bound to happen with the battle nut that he is.
“I will leave the initiative to the Challenger.” Cheren stated calmly.
I frowned at that. He was not so considerate with Seraphina earlier. Regardless I am not about to pass on an opportunity like that, so I simply nodded. Skoll, Nike and I already agreed on possibilities when facing the three possible pokemon so we should be able to deal with it.
“Use Metal Claw!”
With his order received, Skoll did not lose any second and immediately dashed to the other side of the arena. Extending his claws and coating them in metal was already done by the time he reached the opposing Pattrat. He proceeded to sideswipe the opponent, but despite its effort to dodge still caught a glancing blow. Then Cheren gave his first order.
“Detect.”
As Skoll continue his assault and launch Metal Claw after Metal Claw, the small rodent began to avoid each of them as if he saw the move coming. Yet the drawbacks didn't take long to appear. The pokemon’ s processing capabilities are clearly getting taxed and soon the opening I was waiting for showed itself.
"Feint ''
Skoll’s next punch is avoided with a jump backward, but it was what he aimed for and the next moment a kick connected with the face of Pattrat sending him tumbling. It appeared it had taken damage but not nearly enough to make it lose consciousness. Yet Skoll continued his offensive.
“Pattrat Bide your time.”
The way the command was given clearly meant something else as the Pattrat changed its position and seemed to focus on its defense. Thankfully it did not take me long to figure out what was amiss and Skoll also seemed to have noticed something because he stopped. Although he was still in range for the move. The keyword was Bide. The move allowed the pokemon to return double the damage it took onto to attacker. A classic case of return to the sender.
“Skoll fall back!” I ordered him since he seemed reluctant at first. But still he listened to me.
Instead of turning to run toward me, he opted to cautiously skip backward without letting the opponent leave his sight. Yet he did not go far.
As Cheren heard my command he nodded briefly before adjusting. “Abort and Work Up.”
Wait you can abort Bide?!
Although I was surprised, I did not have the time to dwell on it too much. Pattrat already started to move side to side, with a faint mist coming from his body as he exerted himself. Too bad for him that I had a move perfect to counter it.
“Quick Attack” I urgently yelled and Skoll did not disappoint.
The Riolu dashed forward, leaving a trail of white light behind it and reach the Pattrat in the blink of an eye with his fist connecting to his face once more. At least it would have been if Cheren hadn’t given a concise order of “jump aside” as soon as my command left my mouth. As it stood, the Pattrat was a small distance to the right of Skoll and leaving him open.
“Tackle.” Cheren pretty much stated.
It would have been very bad if I did not prepare for a situation like this. And Skoll knew it since it was one of the scenarios we practiced. I barely needed to start the command that he was already executing it.
“Counter…”
The Pattrat charged at Skoll with everything he had causing him to skid backward briefly and visibly twitch. But that was all. Instead of trying to endure the blow or deflect it, he took the brunt of it but did not let the movement lose its momentum. In a fluid motion, he grabbed onto the Pattrat, pivoted with the shock received from the Tackle, lifted the attacker and slammed him into the ground. The whole sequence happened in a few blinks of an eye and yet everything felt like it had slowed down.
Between the damage received from the previous Metal Claws, the Feint and now receiving double the damage of its already boosted tackle, the Pattrat crumpled to the ground without so much as a twitch.
As the referee announced the result, Skoll let out a resounding “RIO!” through the arena. Honestly, he looked like an anime protagonist shouting after his victory. When he was satisfied and Cheren deliberated on his next pokemon, he came back to my side of the arena.
“Hey Skoll, do you want to rest up?” I asked him. Unlike Seraphina my plan did not involve my switch so I can use it to save his strength.
My consideration seemed unnecessary as the individual in question seemed offended that I would even suggest it. The mad lad was actually smiling despite his injuries. I shook my head as I realized that he would rather go down than go back just because of that. While we had our interaction, it seemed that Cheren made his choice as a Lillipup materialized on the field.
Somehow, I feel weird. Its like he is looking down on me. First, he gave me an opening move and now I have the easiest combination possible…
It seemed like my thoughts were visible on my face as Cheren spoke up, his voice reverberating through the arena.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. You are probably thinking that you got the easy combination right? Let me warn you that this is not the case. The little one here is not from the league but rather the young of my own partner so looking down on her could cost you.” He said with a small smile.
As if he heard his trainer speak, a massive Stoutland exited its pokeball and laid to the side of the trainer’s box on Cheren’s side of the field. The Lillipup that was puffing herself when Cheren was praising her started to wag her tail and ran off to the Stoutland and nuzzling against it. The bigger pokemon indulged her by moving his head closer to her. The Stoutland had brown fur on its face and limbs. Its face also had a white tuff on the forehead and what I could only describe as a moustache was similarly white but flowed to the point of touching the ground. The rest of its body was covered in a heavy coat of varying shades of blue.
Needless to say, after seeing the father I no longer thought that I had it easy. Stoutland was clearly a veteran of many battles given the way it carried itself and the aura it exuded. Soon, the coughing of the referee brought the attention of everyone to the field. Stoutland demeanors changed and the Lillipup returned to the battlefield. As soon as she did, she growled, a sound that was wholly unsuited for such a small puppy and I could see Skoll flinching lightly and I knew that her ability, Intimidate, was responsible for the change.
“Are you ready? Resume!”. As soon as the signal was given Cheren made his move.
“Retaliate!” he commanded before I could do anything else.
“Skoll do not let her catch you!” I panicked.
Damn it! I have no idea how retaliate work here. If it works like in the game and does double the damage if ally was previously knocked out there is no way Skoll can take a hit. Think! Think! What are your cards? Skoll doesn’t know detect and was hyper focused on offense. The only move he has is… Damn!
While I was thinking of a solution Skoll kept dodging the best he could and could see him start the slow down. Meaning I had even less time if I wanted it to work. I was not comfortable giving this order…yet I knew that Skoll would not let me pull him out or will resent me afterward.
If anything, he might actually prefer the move now. Fine!
It seemed like Skoll was able to feel my shift from my aura because I found him locking eyes with me for an instant and I knew that it was the right decision.
“Endure It!” I ordered him.
Sure enough, his lip pealed back in a wolfish smile as he stopped moving and focused, waiting for the blow. And when it did, I was taken aback by the sheer ferocity displayed by such a small pokemon. Lillipup bit and clawed at Skoll causing him to move slightly despite the difference in size suggesting that it should be impossible. Despite that, inevitably there was a lull in the offensive and that was exactly what I was waiting for. Thankfully Cheren did not say anything and simply observed. I knew that for someone at his level he could probably predict what was going to happen. The difference is that he was bound by certain rules.
“Counter and fall back!”
Similarly to the Pattrat, Skoll followed the movement and slammed the Lillipup in the ground causing a small cloud of dust to erupt. Immediately after Skoll jumped out of the cloud, panting. Although Endure allowed him to stay conscious he was clearly at the end of his road and his attitude made sure that returning him was not an option. Not that I would have given that it would not accomplish much.
The Lillipup for her part was still on the ground after the dust settled. She took basically the equivalent of four times the damage of her move; 2 from the move’s buffed state and 2 from the counter. I could see her forcing herself to try and stand up but with no success. This caught me by surprise since I expected her to be knocked out straight. Her limbs were shaking as she forced them to lift her, and we could even hear a small growl of exertion, but nothing budged. Just as I was starting to relax and thinking that Nike will not have her turn today, the puppy lying down erupted in a torrent of white, blinding light. Despite the strangeness of seeing a clearly noticeable limit to a light source, my mind was occupied by something else entirely.
Wait wait wait wait! This is a joke, right?
Unfortunately, Arceus seems to turn a blind eye to my thoughts as the light receded and instead of the small dog pokemon stood a bigger dog pokemon. Part of her brown body was now covered in blue fur similar to a coat draped across her body. On her face the white tuff of hair present on Stoutland were present, although far less visible. Thankfully, it seemed that the evolution did nothing for her injuries and stamina. Or maybe to a negligeable degree. But she stood nonetheless, her gaze fixed on Skoll.
I was already regretting the order to fall back I gave to Skoll when the arena, although partially emptied, erupted into cheers and it is only now that I realized that they had been silent. Looking I could see Nana and pops conflicted emotions and Seraphina’s bewildered one. She seemed just as panicked as I felt. Skoll for his part seemed to be having the time of his life. He was still panting but I could almost feel the excitement radiating from his body. Cheren looked a bit off too. His eyes flew through the arena before he sighed.
“I owe you an apology. It seemed I misjudged how far she was willing to go. And also, sorry to say this but I think a Herdier is a bit too much for you right now according to the rules.”
No please don’t, I completely agree.
“I want to interrupt the match but…I don’t think our pokemons would agree with us. So how about this? Technically you already won the match given that my pokemon evolved mid fight which is too much for a first badge. So, while your victory is counted, how about we finish the battle?”
Just as he said, both pokemon were still glaring at each other and seemed to just wait for a signal to start once more. I didn’t really have a choice in the matter really. I nodded while being thankful.
“Very good then. You won’t mind if I stop pulling back, right?” I hesitated for a bit but ultimately nodded. “Ref?’
“*Ahem* under extraordinary circumstances, the gym leader’s pokemon is disqualified and the victory goes to Nexon and his Riolu! After agreement of both parties, the battle will resume once more.” The referee placed an emphasis on the last words and seemed uncertain for some reason.
With the signal given, I gave the only command I could think of right now.
“Hang tight Skoll, get closer.” He happily obliged, gathering his strength and dashing forward while I prepared the next order. Despite his slower speed he was already in range. “Metal Claw!”
With his metal coated claws, Skoll was already swinging when Cheren gave a short command.
“Psychic” he stated.
Now, I don’t claim to know all possible move for pokemon from the game and how it relates in the real world, but I was fairly sure that Herdier did not have access to psychic. The next instant, several actions answered my queries. First, Herdier sidestepped Skoll attack but miscalculated due to being unfamiliar with her new body. Sidenotes, it must be quite jarring. The second action is more of a reaction as Herdier opened her mouth from the pain and next bit Skoll’s shoulder. I could clearly see a bluish-purple light enveloping her fangs.
That’s when I realized that the move was Psychic Fang. As the name implies, psychic energy is used when biting down on the opponent. Skoll being fighting type and already quite banged up, the result was obvious, and he fell unconscious from all the damage taken. His opponent also fell to the ground after him. And with that we had a double K.O.
The crowd once again erupted while Cheren and I silently recalled the two unconscious pokemon and met at the center of the arena where he offered me his hand. Despite his frail appearance his handshake was firm and confident.
“That was a really good match. Your Riolu and you will hopefully go far. Although I am disappointed, I did not even get to see your second pokemon.” He laughed at that.
“I don’t think I will be laughing at home however.” I sighed.
After he laughed a bit more, he handed me the Basic Badge which was identical to the game’s (of course).
“I would offer you some advice like with your friend, but I think it will be more beneficial for you to learn on your own. With that being said, I wish you good luck and don’t forget to collect your prizes at the reception desk.”
With his piece said, the Aspertia Gym Leader walked out of sight leaving me with thoughts on his parting words. Leaving the arena, I made my way to the reception and received my price money and a Technical Record for the move Work Up.
After moving to meet the others, and of course stopping at a pokemon center, we made our way toward home while having an animated and very mature conversation. No childish taunting at all. As we got to the house there was a contingent of neighbors was already waiting for us with what seemed to be a full-on celebratory party.
“How did they even have the time to prepare all of that?” I questioned absentmindedly.
“Simple really. The only way to miss the first badge is to completely freeze during the battle. It’s the first one so they just evaluate your ability to give order under stressful situation!” Pops exclaimed and Seraphina turned away.
“… Don’t you think it would have been a good idea to tell us that?” I glared at him to make my message clear.
“Bah! Where is the fun in that? Also, you learn a lot nonetheless, right? Now come on, bring out the real stars of the show!” A slap in the back made me stumble before I sighed.
Four pokeballs were thrown as me and Seraphina released our pokemon to join the fun. And of course, Nike was pouting!
Great!
After Cheren exited the arena, he went to quickly meet his guest before his next match.
“What did you think?” he asked the Elite Four member, the Psychic type specialist Caitlin.
She yawned before answering. “I can already tell you that he is a psychic that is for sure. Although he controls the Gift quite well when his composure slip so does his control. As for the rest I will follow him for a bit before making a decision. Though I will inform Mr. Alder of what I know so far.”
He nodded because frankly it was the only thing he could do. She was technically his superior so if she did not inform him of anything he did not need to know. He was about to say more but she was already gone by the time he finished his musings.
I guess I will write to her. He thought bitterly.
Stil, he did not have the time to dwell on it as his next match was coming up and his old friend’s daughter needed rest.