Chapter Five: Kama Valley's Last Tournament

…

In a small clearing besides a garden and besides some buildings, I trained Slakoth for the first time.

I sighed, speaking calmly. "So, this will be our first lesson together."

His face changed from a blank and tired expression to a happier and more attentive one.

"As a Slakoth at this stage of competition, the only weakness you're going to have is against other types. Why does it seem like I know much more about Pokémon battling than I should?"

The Slakoth merely kept smiling up at me.

Well, it was because I'd seen the anime, played the games, and came from the world that designed Pokémon from the ground up. But here it was real, this was a real living thing, a two month old baby Pokémon that would listen and do whatever I'd say to help it improve.

"Copy me okay?"

"Laa…." the baby Slakoth turned in the direction I did.

"Keep your left hand forward, keep your knees slightly bent, and your chest turned to the side."

It was a simple karate fighting stance, I'd explain this strategy better when Slakoth began competition.

"Then bounce, forward, and backward."

I had a total of two years of karate experience, even in official competition. Karate and Pokémon battling were quite different, but at this level, not too much. Pokémon only really knew how to use physical moves, barely very hard hitting and high level special moves yet.

No one knew how to use Ice Beam or Thunderbolt, almost every Pokémon at this stage never knew how to use anything more advanced than Mach Punch.

I would train Slakoth exactly how I was trained to compete in karate sparring as a young adult in my previous life, the same drills, the same techniques, the same concepts.

"Always be aware of your opponent's front hand."

I stood in front of Slakoth and explained, faking a jab to his head. The baby was so convinced this was just a game or something completely unrelated to actual combat that he didn't remotely flinch.

"This, is the jab. Kizami zuki, front hand punch. For you, it's called Scratch. Okay?"

"La!" Slakoth chirped happily in acknowledgement.

"Watch. This, is how you jab."

I showed Slakoth the proper point style execution of the jab, and Slakoth followed.

Then I had him practice the jab with his left claws, scratching off some pieces of bark off a nearby tree on by one.

"Your opponent's will mainly try to land moves like Hi Jump Kick and especially Mach Punch. You can't let these techniques land on you. Okay?"

Slakoth nodded with that same dazed smile.

I knelt to Slakoth. "When you get in the ring, your opponent won't be able to hurt you. But you have to protect yourself at all times. Right now, this is how you block a punch. Go ahead, use Scratch on me."

Slakoth tried to jab, and I leaned my head aside, raising my rear hand, my right, to shield my face, and my left to completely deflect his claw. Then I instantly showed him how to use the backfist as a counter, it was a simple karate technique.

The back of my knuckles almost struck Slakoth on the temple.

"Right now, Pokémon at your level won't be that much quicker than you. But in the future, you have to move very very fast in the ring. But for now, this is what you need to focus on, your handspeed."

I gripped Slakoth's claws lightly. "You need to not use Scratch wildly, every strike, must, be, decisive. Got it?"

Slakoth nodded repeatedly.

"Now, I have to train your footwork. Staying close to the ground, bouncing forward and backward a little bit, instead of up and down. Makes you more explosive, decisive, and quicker in sparring. Try it."

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight. Then we switched sides, continuing to bounce forward and backward just a bit again and again.

I worked up a bit of a sweat and kept going. "Another very important technique in karate, the style you need to remove the only weakness you'll have going forward. Is the reverse punch, gyaku zuki."

"There is, the reverse punch to the body."

There was a light thudding sound when I dropped all my weight onto my front foot and twisted forward, lightly showing Slakoth how to punch to the midsection. "And the reverse punch to the head, jodan zuki."

I simultaneously parried Slakoth's front hand downward while punching an inch away from his face. Again, the baby Slakoth didn't flinch, either because he was too young to get the seriousness behind this, or because he wasn't scared at all.

"Chudan zuki." I showed him the reverse punch to the body against the air. "Is the quickest and most effective counter against your opponent trying to attack you. Whether he's jabbing, or rushing you, or trying to kick you, you have two options."

I drew a line with my left hand in front of my face. "All these attacks at the level of baby Pokémon come in a straight line. Tackle, Scratch, even things like Bubble or Ember. Are coming directly at your face or here."

Slakoth watched closely as I drew a line up and down my hip to my ribcage from my side facing front stance, or fighting stance. "You have three options when being attacked. First, you can angle outward, make it miss completely."

"Or, you can lean backward, counter." I showed him a round kick with my front leg to the jaw area.

"Or, you can throw the reverse punch." Slakoth nodded as I leaned my head off angle from an invisible incoming jab to my face, and threw the gyaku zuki to the midsection. "This interrupts your opponent's attack by landing your own. And immediately after doing so, space out again."

I got back into my front stance, and fired off the kizami, or the jab.

"Strike again, that'll do some damage. You ready to practice this?"

Slakoth nodded excitedly.

…

We had four weeks to work on all of this, and I think I more than got Slakoth into fighting shape.

He wasn't particularly fast, not nearly as fast as I needed him to be later on, but for now, he was fine.

Slakoth practiced only the strikes I taught him, he couldn't necessarily form a fist very well with his claws, so instead I taught him the motions for punching, modifying it with open hand techniques for his sake. Essentially, he became a very low level karate fighter after a few weeks of training.

I'd start off every lesson with footwork to warm up, then we'd work from 10 AM to midday for two hours every single day.

I'd have Slakoth practice his modified open handed reverse punch against a tree to strengthen his hand strikes, as well as then practice the jab against me. Having a Pokémon, even a baby, Scratch me in the face wasn't a good idea, so I would constantly had to borrow debris and random trash from nearby trash cans to let him practice.

I'd pick up stuff like worn out pillows and hold them up near my face. I'd commit to a jab punch and make Slakoth dodge by taking his head off angle and leaning forward to twist off his rear hand and scratch my chest, protected by a body protector for Pokémon training Inoru had found for me.

It was solid enough to stagger me barely and stop my momentum, and Slakoth instantly followed it up by firing Scratch again but to my face with his front hand. I used the pillow to block, and he slashed it right open.

I nodded, impressed with such a young Pokémon's strength after only a few days of karate fundamentals.

"Very good, and angle out!"

Slakoth panted, smiling as he moved away facing me, still bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet, in his fighting stance.

"Great job, go again."

I didn't have any agility ladders or cones to work with, so I merely had Slakoth mimic everything I did.

Practicing footwork by bouncing in my fighting stance from left to right, then every time I'd land in a new spot, throwing the reverse punch to the body, getting into my stance, resetting my guard, and firing the jab and reverse punch to the face.

Working on Slakoth's timing was easy, I'd just attack repeatedly and make him counter with his hands.

However, I needed to work on Slakoth's explosiveness too.

The best work for plyometrics I found was having Slakoth do squat jumps, and also do jump squats with me from one end of the clearing to the next. It was great physical training for me too so did it alongside him.

Slakoth wasn't exactly a naturally born karate fighter, or even born to be great at Pokémon battling from what I gathered, but everything I told him to try, he more than tried.

Everything I corrected, he worked twice as hard to fix. Despite only being two, now almost three months old, Slakoth wasn't stupid, and could perfectly comprehend all the lessons I gave him.

Slakoth wasn't smart though, nor a genius in the ring, but he listened, he worked harder than anyone I'd ever seen at fighting. I think it was for a reason I realized about two weeks into training.

Slakoth had barely known his mother. Unfortunately, back on Mount Takujimi, he had lost his parents who had likely squabbled with others in the Slaking line. So, Slakoth had never known affection or a family well at all.

To compensate for that, I could tell Slakoth had somewhat imprinted on me as its parental figure. It was extremely attentive whenever I spoke to it, incredibly happy whenever I complimented its progress, and worked as hard as it possibly could for the training I set before it.

Slakoth dedicated himself to my training and a bunch of methods like bowing to each other from our knees at the beginning and end of every lesson without any confusion or question. He didn't question me, he didn't frustrate me, he was essentially the perfect karate student.

To improve his kime, or the power behind each of his techniques, I practiced kata with Slakoth. I focused on how to perfect his blocks, the crispness and kinetic foundation to his body behind his blows.

I only knew the first five Heian katas, the ones you learned all the way up to brown belt. And I started from the first form, Heian Shodan with him.

I never would've imagined a Slakoth could actually make a karate kata look well done.

Finally, the day of the tournament came.

…

Kama Valley had a total of seven villages including a Pokémon Ranger's outpost that had a reasonably sized settlement sprout around it.

However, I found out only two other people had signed up to compete against me.

"Not what you were expecting huh?" Inoru asked, the Bellsprout he sort of trained these past weeks resting on his forearm.

I shrugged. "Sort of."

The Youngster Tournament took place in the middle of the town, in a large courtyard where all the shops and stands I found the first day I came here had been cleared out. The town center was converted into a large competition area.

A decently sized pagoda stood in front of the small mayor's office who had deployed a few clerks to help run the tournament, even though it was tiny.

Myself with only Inoru to support me, and a boy and girl of seven and eight respectively had all come with their parents. Only a few spectator's had shown up.

A teen girl with brown hair and yellow dress and hairband leaned against her Rapidash boredly almost the entire time, chatting with a few tournament officials who had tried to make conversation with her. I hadn't seen her before, but assumed she was Violet, the butcher shop's employee's cousin.

I signed a waiver, and was luckily cleared from having to pay a small participation fee because of my affiliation with the Sprout Order and Elder Toji.

"Okay then, let's see here."

A young man and woman standing behind him wearing white 'Volunteer' shirts, a judge from the Pokémon league began to speak. He held a piece of paper in his hands, likely the brackets, and was a professional looking gentleman well into his sixties, balding with white hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He even wore a pair of glasses to read the brackets.

The referee had a full formal black suit with slacks and a button up as well as a suit and tie, with a gold World Competitive Pokémon League, or WCPL button pinned.

"Is a, Barry Waters from Tiniet Town here?"

A very small boy with a stern looking father and a Tyrogue raised his hand.

"How about Jenny Stone? Jenny Stone?"

"Here." The girl with pigtails and both her wealthy looking parents and an Oddish raised her hand.

"Nico of Takujimi?"

I raised my hand. Despite being a monk and a teenager, the judge barely blinked an eye that I was competing with children half my age.

The judge drew a pen from his blazer, and seemed to strike a name from the list, someone had not shown up to compete.

"Alright. First, I need you all to know to calm your nerves. These are in fact live matches, but Doctor Yuu over there." the same man who cleared our Pokémon physically for competition nodded. "And I will be aware at all times that you and your teams will not be injured. I personally helped judge the final matches between Red, Blue, and the Elite Four several times over the years. And was also chairman of the official WCPL for a bit."

I wasn't really nervous and neither was Slakoth anyway, but that was nice to know.

"Before the fights begin, I need you all to remember something. This is not life or death, these are matches where everyone gets a medal, and is added to the history of Kama Valley's competitive battling scene. Your Pokémon must protect themselves at all times, and parents," The judge's tone became much more stern then. "May not be allowed to give advice of any sort during actual matches. Obey my directions at all times, fight hard and fair, if any rules or orders are disobeyed. You will be warned, afterward, asked to leave the ring if that continues."

Everyone more or less nodded.

The judge fixed his glasses. "Alright. Jenny, congratulations, you have automatically moved forward to the next round. The boys will fight then instead for the first semi final, Barry and Nico, you're up first to compete for the bronze medal."

He removed a stopwatch from his blazer and clicked it. "All of you have five minutes to warm up and go over strategy. Nico and Barry, ensure your team is ready to spar shortly. First, parents and team members, please exit the ring.

Soon, only us three, our Pokémon, and the judge alone remained on the cobbled steps under the giant gazebo in the town center of Kamarino. Despite this being a historic albeit monthly occasion, only about twenty five people were specating, most friends and family of the friends and family of the competitors.

"Face that direction."

Oddly, we seemed to face in the direction of Kanto and likely Mount Silver.

"Bow." the judge ordered, bowing with us.

"Face towards me."

We did so.

"Bow again."

Both volunteers oddly seemed to stand at either corner of the gazebo and were watching the ring carefully.

…

"You're facing a Tyrogue. He has a type advantage being a fighting type, but we already practiced and prepared for that didn't we?"

I kept kneeling as I spoke to Slakoth, the baby Pokémon nodded and smiled again.

"I need you to take this match seriously. We're not just practicing in that clearing anymore, this is a real match. This other Pokémon will seriously hurt you if you let it, nothing too bad since there are judges and stuff, but never let your guard down until the judge stops the match. Got it?"

"La!" Slakoth crossed his arms.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Go line up, get ready." the Slakoth marched off to the edge of the courtyard where the fight was about to begin.

I turned to Inoru, walking forward from the galleries. "You ready for this?"

"Yeah. I had a feeling we'd have a type disadvantage in the first round, I figured it was the only way Slakoth was gonna be able to lose this."

"What did you focus on in training?"

"This early on, I'm getting the feeling speed and timing will be the name of the game. I worked on plyometrics and explosiveness, just trying to get as much speed and fast twitch power out of Slakoth's calves as I can."

Inoru turned towards Barry's father, a bald man with a long beard who seemed to advising both his son and his Tyrogue, showing them strikes and explaining.

"They seem to be underestimating you most likely."

"If only type advantages were everything."

The judge spoke loudly, clicking his stopwatch. "On your lines." he gestured towards the spaces in front of him drawn with tape.

Slakoth and Tyrogue walked forward from the shade the courtyard's gazebo offered into the sunlight.

Barry's father offered his last bit of advice before taking out his Pokénav, starting to record the match.

The judge's voice had a familiar tone to the usual HAJIME matches in my previous life, "Begin!"

"Mach Punch, go go go!" Barry shouted in his sharp voice.

I fixed my blue hat, turning it around. "Come on Slakoth what are you doing?"

He all but completely forgot all of his training for a bit, leading to a bad start for me. He almost got punched directly in the jaw, and was driven straight out of the ring blocking wildly and randomly.

"Stop!" the judge yelled strongly but not rudely.

The Tyrogue might've appeared to be a bit aggressive, but his training was clear. This was likely not the Tyrogue's first match, nor real sparring session.

Slakoth returned to his line.

"That's a warning for exiting the sparring area." he raised a finger towards Slakoth, a volunteer jotting something down behind him. "Two more warnings of any sort and you'll face disqualification. Ready? Begin!"

Tyrogue casually bounced off his line, resuming his explosive but still shelled up boxing stance. It kept trying to kickbox Slakoth, finding he was lacking reach and speed, but had enough power and guard to ignore any sort of counter.

Slakoth was able to block a very hard and random round kick to the midsection, it sounded like it hurt, but I could see striking Slakoth's elbow ended up hurting Tyrogue's foot more than it hurt Slakoth.

Slakoth began to fire a jab and a reverse punch to the body combination but Tyrogue merely shifted away without so much as blinking at the clear speed and power behind the blows.

"Tackle and Hi Jump Kick! Get him Ty!"

Tyrogue roared before Slakoth was barely able to angle out and dodged the attempt to tackle the fellow baby Pokémon to the ground. As his jab slid harmlessly off Tyrogue's thick temple spike, Slakoth had a split second to dodge the Tyrogue's spinning wheel kick.

Slakoth leaned his head back just in time, and Tyrogue all but cartwheeled away to recover.

Tyrogue kept his chin tucked, elbows in, and guard tucked, continuing to bounce around on his heels, bobbing and weaving randomly to keep Slakoth guessing.

Barry kept trying to get Tyrogue to land a quick kick on Slakoth but it kept failing. Slakoth simply had too much reach and was actually quick enough to counter.

Slakoth landed the first real hit of the match and Scratched Tyrogue's chest cleanly immediately after another one of Tyrogue's round kicks missed. It barely seemed to affect it but deep down I could tell it had helped Slakoth's confidence in the match grow to land a clean hit.

"Mach Punch, use your hands Tyrogue!" shouted Barry in his tiny voice.

I didn't even need to give any orders, Slakoth had already practiced what to do when someone was trying to throw straight punches to his face.

He stepped off angle, made Tyrogue miss. And when Tyrogue reset his guard, got a bit closer and tried to combo him again, Slakoth interrupted the combination dead in its tracks.

He slipped his head off angle, Tyrogue's left fist missing his face by inches, while his right claw dug clean into Tyrogue's chest. So deeply and so hard that Tyrogue had the wind knocked clean out of him, pausing for just a moment to recover.

Slakoth used this split second opening to space out, and fire his front hand as well as his rear hand. Both Scratches I had modified to be more effective in a karate straight punch style landed straight on Tyrogue's chin.

The first merely throttled its head a little bit, but the second one sent it spinning backwards.

"Get him Slakoth, now now now!-"

"Stop!"

The judge paused the match and I called Slakoth over by my side.

"You're doing great buddy. He's gonna come after you again now, keep your hands up, keep doing what you're doing."

"La." the baby Pokémon grunted in acknowledgement.

Injuries must've happened without judges blinking an eye in actual WCPL, but these were in fact baby Pokémon, I didn't blame the judge at all for stopping the fight.

Slakoth and Tyrogue lined up again, curiously, Tyrogue didn't seem to be faking toughness of any kind. The clean scratches on its face barely seemed to bother it.

"Way to tough it out buddy!" Barry smiled and cheered.

"Ready!? Continue!" the judge roared from his spot in the shade between where Barry and I were giving advice.

"He's looking to combo you, just keep your distance for now."

"You just got rocked Ty! Give it back to him!"

This Tyrogue was tough as nails indeed, and besides the fact that it had clearly been trained well, it was able to make Slakoth work really hard.

Several striking combinations including Hi Jump Kicks that Tyrogue was quick enough to recover from cleanly after barely missing to Slakoth's head and midsection, as well as plenty of punch combinations, ended up making Slakoth stay on his toes for several minutes.

The other baby Pokémon kept bobbing and weaving, using its front hand to keep Slakoth at a safe distance, and then it kicked Slakoth hard…in the leg.

Slakoth dropped and before Tyrogue could overwhelm it with punches I surprisingly, even to myself, had trained it well enough to pull Tyrogue into its guard. The baby Pokémon struggled for a bit before the judge paused the match seeing neither Barry or myself had orders of any kind to give, made them separate after a moment, and continued the match.

Slakoth's leg was weak, but I spoke up.

"We barely practiced checks, but try to work on them."

Due to Barry's youth, as well as his Pokémon's they tried the leg kicks again, but Tyrogue ended up kicking Slakoth's shin instead of its ankle again. Slakoth immediately continued to check every single low kick Tyrogue tried, and the match changed, Tyrogue stopped attempting leg kicks.

Tyrogue shook this off without even blinking, and pressured Slakoth with its hands, straight punches, rolling his own head out of the way of Scratch counters. Slakoth greatly impressed me, the pain in its leg must've been crushing but it kept fighting as if he just stepped into the ring.

What followed was Slakoth combining his savage mountain Slaking and Vigoroth roots with the refined explosive and precise strikes I gave him.

And a speed match of proportions I don't think the crowd was expecting followed.

The crowd actually began to cheer every time a blow landed.

Slakoth faked, and pressured Tyrogue into a corner. Before Tyrogue could clinch and spin away or do anything at all, Slakoth lowered its front hand and delivered the strongest Scratch I'd seen directly to Tyrogue's face again at the same time roaring at the top of its lungs.

"LAAAA!"

As Slakoth's power hand blasted Tyrogue in the face, the baby fighting Pokémon instantly ducked and clinched, trying to recover.

Slakoth struggled to pull the tinier Pokémon off himself before Tyrogue landed a hook kick at close range by gripping Slakoth by the elbow and pulling into the kick.

Slakoth's head whipped backward, wincing, before Tyrogue spun into a back kick taking advantage of the stagger he induced.

Slakoth went spinning backwards, quick and tough enough to stop tumbling away across the paved stones of the courtyard. Dust settled in the trail the flying Slakoth set, and Tyrogue glared at him, panting, and raising his hands again.

I squinted, how many hits could this damn thing take?

"Get back in your stance," I ordered as an equally confused Slakoth stood there. "Scratches, jodan and chudan, let's go, no clinches, no kicks, just go get him."

"Counter Ty counter!"

Slakoth's face level Scratches made Tyrogue roll away in a somersault, crossing both of his hands together to block and then clinch with Slakoth again.

As Tyrogue tried using its front hand and Mach Punch by proxy again, Slakoth merely bounced away, and then landed yet another Scratch, this time to the midsection while on offense this time.

Tyrogue was still absolutely fine, despite how much damage he took.

Slakoth dodged a pair of face punches again and as he and Tyrogue clinched, this time Barry spoke.

"Rapid Spin!"

Despite it clearly not being meant for close range, Tyrogue showed its adaptiveness.

Tyrogue was able to sweep Slakoth off his legs, despite it being a full head taller than Tyrogue, and punch it as hard as it could in the center of his chest.

"STOP!"

Slakoth was wheezing as Tyrogue raced back over to Barry.

I spoke to Slakoth quietly. "It's okay, get back up, get your feet out from under you."

Slakoth coughed. "La…"

He returned to his line, ready to fight again. I was proud of how fast he had recovered from such a hit.

"Ready!?"

Tyrogue ran out from the shade again, raising his hands and getting into his stance.

"Continue!"

Slakoth caught Tyrogue's leg when it attempted a Hi Jump Kick again as soon as the fight started again, this time with a side kick, and with a backfist Scratch, popped Tyrogue's nose very hard. Now staggered, Tyrogue dodged blindly and then clinched with Slakoth yet again.

We had only drilled this technique a few times before, but it worked perfectly. This was the moment Slakoth amazed me and convinced me he was a blessing of a starter. Gripping Tyrogue's arm as hard as it could, exactly how I trained him with the karate counter out of the clinch, Slakoth finally kicked.

His foot crashed into Tyrogue as hard as it could kick, and struck it directly on the left side of its midsection. A resulting THUD, could be heard all the way behind me.

Tyrogue caught its breath by backpedalling with its hands up, and Slakoth just went after it. Roaring, Scratches everywhere, just beating Tyrogue into a corner.

This time it couldn't recover, no Mach Punch or Hi Jump kick combos, no clinching and head movement or angles to dodge attacks to the body. Nothing.

Slakoth just overpowered it.

Tyrogue just barely ducked under a Scratch so powerful I could practically hear it through the air. And then it took another Scratch straight to the center of its chest again, furious, precise, and as powerful as Slakoth could send it.

With a roaring 'LAAA!' Slakoth was about to start wailing on a Tyrogue that keeled over on the ground.

"STOP!" the judge yelled louder than he ever had before.

"Stop!" I said too, wondering if Slakoth would be willing to stop despite a chance to end the match right in front of him.

Barry looked worried, but a slight mutter and shake of his head between him and the judge told him he had to stay at his Trainer's post.

Yuu and the referee checked up on Tyrogue, and after raising him too his feet, and the baby Pokémon balling his fists and nodding after catching its breath and recomposing himself, the judge seemed to nod in return before walking to his spot beneath the gazebo's shade.

I almost though the match was going to continue despite the fact that Tyrogue seemed to ignore an immense amount of pain in his chest.

"Winner!" the judge raised a hand towards Slakoth on his line.

A few people in the crowd were confused, but less confused when they saw just how hurt Tyrogue really was and how tough the baby Pokémon had been. It had bruises and scratches up and down its face and midsection, and was tired beyond belief.

Barry was only a single head taller than it when they hugged, but removed his Pokémon instantly when seeing how hurt and tired it was.

"Return buddy, great work."

An ever familiar sound echoed, and the Tyrogue returned to its ball.

Slakoth trotted back up to my side, arms crossed, still ready to fight. "Relax, you took some hard hits. I need you fresh for the next round."

Slakoth didn't really get the sound of that. "Laaa!?"

"I said, rest. Please."

I let Inoru and a medic used a Potion to start washing up the bruises on Slakoth's leg and temples as Iooked to the other end of the gazebo.

Violet, or the girl with the Rapidash I heard of and assumed she was, was kneeling to Barry and speaking, as her father gave advice too.

"Your Pokémon's strong and fast. But you need a better strategy to fight Pokémon equally as fast and strong that are also bigger, alright?"

The boy was successfully holding back his tears, "Alright."

I nodded in respect. A tough Trainer with a Pokémon just as tough. That Tyrogue moved almost like a Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan already in my opinion, Slakoth had his work cut out for him in his very first fight ever.

Violet took a side facing fight stance as she knelt, demonstrating with her front hand. "That Mach Punch of your Tyrogue is great. But he has to time it better, try to cover more distance. Build better combos, some more footwork, and you'll be winning matches in no time I promise."

I thought the girl might hate me for some reason, because it seemed like she took pity on Barry for some reason. Instead, she nodded slightly in respect back at me after we made eye contact.

A volunteer walked up to me after her and her male partner were done talking to the center judge. "Your next round begins in just one minute."

"Slakoth. You ready to go buddy?"

Yuu was about to protest but Slakoth jumped right off the medic's table and instead of limping or whining, immediately stood by my side.

"Nice, don't underestimate this Pokémon. Never underestimate them."

"Laahh!"

…

It seems we should've though, at least a little.

This girl's Oddish was fast, but was extremely weak and not used to real battles at all. From what I gathered, her parents had their daughter doing all sorts of extra curriculars, and likely thought throwing Pokédollars and time at everything could give results.

Slakoth merely dodged several small green Absorb spheres easily before closing the distance and smacking the Oddish away with a slash.

While I could tell Jenny really wanted her Pokémon to win, and in fact had spent a lot of time and effort on her Pokémon, her strategy was weak, and her Pokémon had very little sense of timing, distance, or combinations.

All Oddish had was Absorb and a Sweet Scent that looked like she had only practiced it against stationary targets, not mobile ones or ones trying to counter or attack. Oddish also had a tackle, but Slakoth had already proved very easily that you had to strike it hard with hands or feet to do damage.

And even then.

Oddish's size disadvantage was worsened by the fact that Slakoth wasn't slower at all. It could control the tempo and pace of the match with ease, and every moment was his.

The match was over in under a minute. The judge stopped the match when Oddish was knocked clean out after Slakoth timed a counter as hard and quick as he could.

Oddish tried running up to Slakoth to use Absorb on it directly in its chest and midsection but Slakoth Scratched it out of the air at full power. It was the unfortunate Pokémon equivalent of a trained baseball home run hitting a miniature bean bag chair.

Oddish struck the ground, bounced away unconscious, and Jenny cried, starting to sob.

I felt a bit bad for this girl, maybe because it was clear that the Pokémon in the previous round had put up much greater of a fight and had landed several hits in return.

"Winner!" the judge ignored the girl's tears as she ran forward and scooped up her knocked out Oddish from the ground.

…

The judge's cleared all three Pokémon from not needing to stay overnight at Yuu's medical practice and then everyone began to applaud as the girl volunteer announced the results.

"In third place, Barry Waters! Barry! Waters!"

The crowd applauded as the young and tiny tough fighting Youngster bowed and smiled, accepting his bronze medal.

"In second place. Jenny Stone!"

The rich girl with the Oddish taking a rest in its Pokéball sniffled and frowned, bowing as the judge placed a second place medal around her shoulders.

"Good job." the judge said stiffly.

"And in first place. Nico. Nico of Takujimi Temple!"

I bowed as a gold medal was placed on my shoulders. I shook the judge's hand and smiled, the man barely nodded.

My first tournament, my first ever win in the WCPL. Sure they were Youngster matches, but still.

"Arms in."

Everyone stood in attention at what the center judge said.

"Bow."

Everyone applauded now.

…

The 173rd and final Kama Valley Youngster Championships came to a close.

The judge, both volunteers helping him decide matches and keep track of the brackets, Doctor Yuu, and myself, Slakoth, Jenny, Oddish, and Barry and the toughest Tyrogue I'd ever imagined all posed for a picture.

The picture was printed out and placed on a wall.

Some pictures were so old that they were long before the WCPL ever existed, and used to be annual tournaments with much more serious competitors. They were even in black and white.

I looked at the wall with a bit of awe.

"Great job man." Inoru said, starting to shed a bit of that 'Initiate' exterior the monks made him have.

"Thanks dude."

A few spectators from Kamarino shook my hand, and I actually wanted to congratulate Barry on such a great match, but something told me I wouldn't see him again after a while.

"Hey."

I turned, Violet was standing there, three Pokémon sitting in their Pokéballs on her belt.

This was a real Trainer. Sure not a very successful one from what her cousin told me, but a real one nonetheless.

"Great battling today."

"Thanks, I think your cousin told me about you. I think he-"

"Look." she interrupted casually. "I don't often say this. But you need to get into bigger matches asap."

I looked around, Inoru and I glancing around. "Um. I planned to."

"What are you doing for lunch?" asked Violet.

"Probably just heat up some rice and talk about training."

"You ever hit up the best grill in town? It's only a few blocks away." She put her hands in the pockets of her jean jacket.

I shook my head. "No."

…

We ate at a nearby traditional restaurant together.

"Three steak bowls with fried rice please."

I interjected. "Um, we don't eat meat."

"I'm sorry?" Violet was confused. "Oh right, you're monks. Two rice bowls with eggs, and I'll have the steak bowl."

Violet turned to me, drinking her miso quietly. "That Slakoth of yours moves way too well for a baby. How old is he?"

"Three months."

"Three months?" she laughed. "I needed wayyy longer with Ponyta to get her to be that precise with her attacks. I found this odd, how did you train a Slakoth so well in karate? And then make it effective in competition?"

"No one's really using special moves that well yet I guessed. This will be Slakoth's base, until I can get him to figure out more diverse attacks and stuff."

Violet shook her head. "I knew the sage's would probably include martial arts to some degree if they ever got into competing. But never like this."

"So wait, you're still interested in battling?"

"Never stopped being." she said casually. "I've just been looking for an excuse to spend my racing winnings elsewhere, travel back to actual Johto for a bit."

"I'm sorry but." Inoru was asking the same thing I wanted to know too probably. "How do you race Rapidash exactly?"

"We have fireproof suits. You do know Rapidash aren't dangerous until they actively try to hurt you right? You, what was your name again?" Violet turned to me.

"Nico."

"Okay Nico. Here's what I suggest, I'll help you train from now on. I'll be your coach if you let me."

I turned to Inoru, he had no qualms with adding another traveling companion to our group. Even though we both knew the Order of Sages was pretty particular when it came to young women.

"Why do you want to coach me?"

"It took a while, but I only got as far as barely placing into the League. I think you can go much farther with the right tools, and as a local of Kama Valley too, it'd help me a lot."

"I'm in. Ino, are you?"

He grunted, eating the noodles one of the waitresses gave him with a shrug. "It's rude to reject help from strangers without good reason." he said using his chopsticks calmly.

I turned back to Violet across the table we all sat on cushions at. "So. Quick question."

"Yes?"

"As my new coach, what do you advise I do?"

"Try building a much more diverse arsenal for Slakoth. He's a great physical fighter, but he has no special capabilities yet. You figured out, quite quickly I have to admit, that fighting types are all he'll be weak to for a while, right? But you haven't ever considered something important."

"Yeah?"

"What if there's a fighter you meet that can match or exceed your physical abilities?"

I actually hadn't considered that. Probably because it was so unlikely to happen yet.

Violet sighed. "Slakoth's naturally fast and strong, especially for his size and his species. But you got a bit lucky today. I know the Waters family pretty well, they used to run Chuck's Gym over in Cianwood before he took over."

My eyes widened. "Really?"

"Gordon Waters was absolutely incredible, really really great trainer, but he was the only Kama Valley local to ever get a gold medal in any WC Johto events. Even still, you know."

I did. Even that is as far as our area gets in Pokémon League stuff.

"His son had only trained a few months with him, I think this was his second or third time ever competing, but his first in a real Youngster match. He was absurdly tough, but if that Tyrogue had a bit more stamina and experience, and was smarter with his jab and that round kick. I don't think you could've put him in a corner at the end like you did."

I agreed with a quiet nod.

"Look, your team will never go farther than your strategy lets it."

"What team should I build?"

Violet seemed to be in deep thought for a moment, the nearby chatter of the restaurant continued as we all still sat cross legged around the table.

"You have a natural aptitude for training normal types, one I've only seen a few times before. Munchlaxes and Snorlaxes are almost impossible to find, but I'd recommend it. But Teddiursa, Teddiursa would be amaaazing for you for sure. I also recommend Growlithe, but that should come later."

"So wait, you do have a Trainer's license?"

Violet looked a bit embarrassed for a second.

She shook her head. "I have what's called a Temporary Pokémon Competition badge. I haven't won enough events to compete anywhere, but I've been around long enough and spectated enough events to sign up wherever I need. Franklin, that's the guy who judged your match, was my coach for a while, he set it up with special permission."

I smiled. "Wow, really?"

"Yeah, he trained me since I was super little. Now coaches can't give any advice during the actual fights of course. But before and especially after your matches, they're so so crucial."

"So have you ever been a coach before?"

"Not really."

Inoru was giving me a look.

"I'm not doubting anything about her, I'm just curious as to what she's been up to."

Violet laughed a bit. "It's fine."

She bowed and accepted the steak bowl with rice that was placed in front of her. "Thank you very much." she smiled before looking at me. "Now, how did you train your Slakoth?"

"I trained him like he'd be in a traditional karate competition, then I trained alongside him doing almost everything he did."

"As if, you'd be the one fighting too?"

"Yup."

Violet shrugged. "That explains a lot. You didn't give a lot of orders, but I could tell how much your Slakoth trusted you. It wasn't lazy at all, from what I can guess, because you worked with it so much and so hard," she said after swallowing her food. "Look you can only use a single Pokémon in competition until you get your official Trainer's badge. For now, focus on Slakoth only. But just know that expanding your team can really help Slakoth grow because he'll have others to spar and practice with."

"Thanks."

I began to eat as well, the whole time, Violet talked to me about her experiences in WCPL, and the journey ahead.

I looked at the gold medal Kamarino's last ever Pokémon Youngster League would ever give out and read the inscription. It was made of metal with a gold tint, in the shape of a Pokéball with each type in a small ball in a circle around it.

First Place - WCPL Youngsters - Kama Valley Sub-Region

I smiled, this was just the start of a very long journey.

"You know, it's sad to say. But I think all the kids who want to become trainers here in the valley are gonna need to go to Blackthorn City from now on."

"Franklin's retiring that soon?"

Violet nodded quietly. "I want to become a judge like him someday. But that'll take decades, decades of experience doing the same things he did. Coaching, Training, competing, spectating. And then I have to come back here to even apply to become a judge."

I sighed, even judging these kinds of matches was tough. Told me a lot about how competitive this was all going to be.

...

...

...

A/N:

Hey y'all thank you all for the reviews lately, I greatly appreciate them. This is my first time writing Pokémon battles, so I hope I did them well. Feel free to let me know your thoughts and suggestions for this chapter, and I'll see you all soon. Thank you and goodbye, stay safe everyone.