Chapter 3

"The battle between Blaze and Shadow is about to begin. Trainers are you ready?" said Prof. Rowan.

The wind blew, allowing the clouds to cover the sky and the sun, turning the surroundings a little bit darker.

"I'm ready." I said, fixing my spiky hair before putting on my gloves for battle.

"I'm always ready. Let's start." said Shadow, as boastful as ever.

"Then let's start. Battle…begin!" Prof. Rowan announced.

"Let's go Piplup!" I shouted, calling to my little penguin pokemon. Piplup burst from the pokeball, looking fierce and ready for battle.

"Turtwig. Come on out!" said Shadow. His Turtwig came out of the pokeball, just like the way it came out before. Even after battling Chimchar, Turtwig still looked fierce and ready for battle.

"You go first, Blaze." Okay...what? Did he just call me by my name?

"Stop acting so surprised there. Start battling already!" he shouted. All right. If it's a battle he wants, it's a battle he's gonna get.

"Piplup, use peck!" I shouted. Piplup's beak glowed, readying the attack.

"Turtwig use harden!" said Shadow. Turtwig hid under his little shell.

"That trick again?" Come on, Blaze. He's gonna corner you, just like what he did with Cherry. I've got to formulate a plan, and fast.

Come on, Blaze! Think!

As I futilely tried to formulate a plan, a drizzle started to occur during the battle. I looked up at the sky. "A drizzle…" I said, astonished at the sudden change in weather. Suddenly, an idea came into my head.

"Come on, piplup! Stop using peck and retreat!" I told Piplup. He immediately stopped his assault then jumped backwards.

"What? Turning into a coward now?" Shadow taunted. No matter how much you taunt me, you can't break my plan. I just hope this works…

"Piplup, use Bide." I ordered him. He immediately started gathering the energy for bide.

"Do you think you'll get the chance to use that attack? Turtwig, Tackle now!" he said.

Turtwig immediately charged at Piplup, scoring a direct hit. "Piplup, hang on!"

Come on…activate already…

"Turtwig, keep on tackling Piplup!" Shadow shouted. Right…come on…keep attacking…right into my trap…

I'm sorry Piplup. But I really need to do this. The limited attacks restrict me from making complex tactics, so I need to rely on brute force on this one.

The drizzle increased as time went on. Perfect, just like in my plan. Turtwig kept on attacking Piplup, and I can see Piplup is barely holding on.

"Now, Piplup. Use Torrent." I said. The moment I said that, Piplup immediately glowed a blue light. "What the hell?" Shadow said. He looked at me, astonished at what I'm doing. Abilities can't be ordered like attacks, but here I am, ordering Piplup to use his ability, Torrent.

"Just like my plan." I told him.

"No! Turtwig use Tackle. Finish this. Now!" Shadow lost his cool, finally.

"Oh no you don't. Piplup. Release Bide with Torrent!" As Turtwig charged to Piplup, Piplup let loose the energy he's been charging up, hitting Turtwig with a direct hit of Bide powered up with Torrent.

Even before the smoke cleared, it was clear who was the winner.

"Turtwig is unable to battle. Blaze and Piplup wins the match!" said Prof. Rowan.

I can't believe it! I won my very first match! "Piplup! We won!" I said, running to Piplup.

"Hmp." Said Shadow, who was leaving the battle field already.

But as I approached Piplup, he suddenly collapsed!

"PIPLUP!" I shouted, running towards my pokemon.

"He has been terribly injured in the fight. We need to tend to his injuries right away!" said Cherry. She's obviously worried about Piplup.

"Come on buddy. Hang in there. We'll get you better right away."

"Come on, Blaze. Let's get Piplup inside." Said professor rowan.

After a while, Piplup got out of the professor's room, looking good as new. Phew. I was worried!

"Professor, is Piplup fine now?" I asked him urgently.

"He's in tip-top shape now. Take good care of your new partner, okay?"

"Pipiplup!" Piplup chorused.

"I will." I got my backpack from the professor's couch. "Professor Rowan, we should get going now. Thanks for everything!"

"Wait Blaze. I was supposed to give you something…"

"You don't need to Professor. You've done enough for us already."

"No, no, I insist on this." The he took out a folder. He retrieved something from inside the folder.

It's a Disc.

"This… is TM 03. You'll find this very useful for Piplup."

"What is does this do?"

"Piplup's Movepool is very limited right now. That useful item right there teaches the move Water Pulse to a compatible pokemon, such as Piplup."

"Really? How can I use this?"

"Go to a pokemon center, then tell the girl there, Nurse Joy, that you want to teach a TM move to your pokemon. Hand her the disc and the pokeball containing your compatible pokemon. After that, leave everything to Nurse Joy!"

"That's all?"

"You'd better go now. Don't want to have Cherry waiting for you."

"Thanks again professor!" then I waved him goodbye.