Okay that me start by saying that I'm sorry for not updating last weekend and I hope this chapter makes up for it so I'll see you at the end.
Chapter 4: Training
"Alright Surskit show Treecko how to use that quick attack, attack the rock!" Nate exclaimed pointing towards a nearby rock. They had found a good place to train about an hour ago but before that Nate decided that it would be a good idea to have some lunch before training. During lunch he found that the new edition to his team was settling in rather well and that she and Treecko got on really well. Throughout all of lunch though, he could tell that Treecko wanted to get strait to training. As Nate had worked out a while ago his Treecko had a lot of pride in his battling and was passionate to learn as much as he could to get the biggest advantage he could in all of his battles.
Surskit raced towards the rock at the full speed that was available from the move. As Surskit raced towards one of the many nearby rocks, Treecko was watch with awe at the speed that the small Pokémon was able to reach through using the attack. After the first time Surskit used the attack on the rock, which smashed to pieces, Treecko was eager to try himself. "Okay, Treecko, try quick attack."
Treecko immediately broke into a fast run but as he began to pick up speed, and have a white light follow him from the attack, he tripped having not been used to running at those speeds. Treecko hit the ground hard from the impact, but still got up ready to give it another go.
"Hold up there Treecko, why don't you watch how Surskit does it a few more times and then you can try again. Sound good to you?" Treecko though he was eager to practice agreed with Nate and allowed Surskit to show the attack off again.
Several hours later, Treecko was at the stage where he was able to use quick attack but was still unable to reach his max speed. Nate new that Treecko would be able to master the attack with enough practice but he wanted his Pokémon to have some strength left in them for if they encountered any challengers on their way to Petalburg city.
"Treecko, Surskit, it's time to get going." Surskit agreed without any problem but Treecko wanted to train more and master his new attack. "Treecko, we need to get moving, plus you will be able to master it with more experience at battling. The best way to do that is to find some trainers to battle on our way to Petalburg city." After hearing that he would be able to battle new trainers and new opponents he was more than happy to get going. "Alright then, Treecko why don't you take a rest and Surskit, if you want you can stay out with me for a bit."
Both of Nate's Pokémon agreed to this and so he held up Treecko's pokeball and the Pokémon returned to it in a beam of red energy. "Come on Surskit." Nate said, holding out his arm for the pond skater Pokémon to jump up and rest on his shoulder. Surskit had other ideas though as he climbed up Nate's head and sat on top of his head. "Surskit, Sur." She said softly asking to stay in his current seat. "Fine, you can stay there, just please don't dangle your legs in front of my eyes. "Surs, Surskit sur." She cheered happily in victory as Nate began to walk down route 102.
"Hey you, with the Surskit on your head!" Nate heard someone shout at them. He looked to his right and saw someone run at him. The boy wasn't very tall so he was properly a youngster around 10 years old. As the boy got closer he could see that the boy was wearing a plain red polo shirt and black shorts that went down to his knees. He also wore a pair of pure black trainers and a dark red baseball cap on his head which he had turned back to front. "Hold up." He shouted as he reached Nate.
"Can I help you?" Nate asked the boy in front of him.
"Yeah actually you can. My names Calvin and I challenge you to a Pokémon battle." The boy said as he pulled out a pokeball which, Nate presumed held out his first Pokémon. "You're on, my names Nate by the way." Nate exclaimed as he pulled out Treecko's pokeball as he was ready to battle. "Surskit, sur." Surskit said as she rested on Nate's head ready to watch the coming battle.
"Treecko lets go." Nate shouted as he threw the pokeball into the air. As the pokeball opened a beam of read energy came out and launched towards the ground. Where the red beam of energy hit appeared Treecko. "Treecko." He said calmly as it took a battle stance, ready to face whatever appeared from the other trainer's pokeball.
"Come on out Zigzagoon." The trainer shouted as he threw his pokeball. On the ground in front of him appeared a small, stripped brown and cream coloured raccoon like Pokémon. The fur had a jagged outline which gave it a zigzag pattern. Its head was brown with spiky ears and it had a jagged muzzle. Its feet had three claws, the forefeet coloured cream and the hind feet brown. Its tail was spiked and, much like the rest of its body gave off a zigzag pattern. Also, as it opened its mouth to yawn, Nate could see two fangs on the bottom jaw.
"Awesome, a Zigzagoon." Nate said as he pulled out his pokedex to look the new Pokémon up. "Zigzagoon, the Tiny Raccoon Pokémon, Zigzagoon is extremely curious. Rubbing its nose to the ground, Zigzagoon restlessly wanders back and forth in search of something. As Zigzagoon shows an interest in everything it happens to see, it always zigs and zags, even leaving distinguishable zigzag footprints. Zigzagoon also rubs its bristly back hair against trees to leave territorial markings, and may play dead to fool foes in battle. When thirsty it will lap up water with its tongue. Additional information: Zigzagoon have a keen sense of smell."
"Sweet, we haven't battled a Zigzagoon before. This will be a good challenge." As he said this he saw his opponents Pokémon come running straight at Treecko. As he watched his opponents Pokémon he instantly saw that it was going to be hard to hit as it zigzagged towards Treecko. "Use tackle Zigzagoon!" The other trainer shouted and charged even faster towards Treecko. "Treecko, jump and use pound!"
As Nate shouted this to Treecko he instantly jumped over his opponent and came crashing down with his tail hitting the ground where he thought Zigzagoon was. The problem was that Zigzagoon was already gone and was charging in for another tackle as he landed. As Treecko landed and his tail hit the ground he jumped up using his tail back into the air, but higher this time around. When Nate looked at the field he saw that a large cloud of dust had formed from where Treecko had briefly landed and had Calvin's Pokémon confused.
"Now's our chance Treecko, come down with another pound!" Hearing this, Treecko came down with his tail ready to hit the target Pokémon when he landed. At hearing this Calvin Panicked a little bit and didn't know what to do, he knew that if that made contact then it could deal a lot of damage. "Zigzagoon get out of the dust!" Calvin shouted to his Pokémon but was too late, by the time Zigzagoon heard his trainer it was hit in the back by Treecko pound attack which had been super charged from the momentum of the fall. "Zigzagoon!" Calvin shouted in fear for his partner. As the dust cleared both trainers could see Nate's Treecko standing proudly in front of his trainer and Calvin's Zigzagoon panting heavily, clearly tired and struggling to stand. "Time to finish this up Treecko, use quick attack!" Treecko then burst into a fast run and a bright white light formed behind him as he charged for the Pokémon.
"Dodge it, Zigzagoon!" Calvin shouted as he watched the green gecko Pokémon charge towards his Zigzagoon. The problem was that Zigzagoon was too tired to move and was hit by Treecko's quick attack and sent flying back to the feet of his trainer. Nate watched as Calvin picked up his partner and walk over to him and Treecko. "Good game, Nate." Calvin said as he held out his left hand with Zigzagoon in his other arm. "It was, I would recommend that you head to Pokémon centre soon." Nate said, accepting the hand shake. "We will, Oldale town is not far from here and I should get there soon. See you around."
"See ya." Nate shouted to the trainer as he rushed of towards the Pokémon centre. Turning back around he faced his partner, Treecko. "You're really getting good with that quick attack now, Treecko." At hearing this Treecko scratched the back of his head sheepishly at the praise. "Tree, Treecko." It said and jumped on his shoulder. "Guess you want to stay out for a bit now too, huh." Nate guessed as he put Treecko pokeball back onto his belt. "Treecko, Tree." It said ready to get going. "Surskit, Surskit Sur." Surskit said from Nate's head, praising Treecko even more, she was thoroughly impressed with the gecko Pokémon.
"Treecko." Treecko said proudly and, with Treecko and Surskit on his shoulders, Nate began walking along the route towards Petalburg city. On the way he battled A few other trainers, one was called Rick, he had said he was a bug catcher and Nate didn't have a hard time believing it as he was dressed in a light blue shirt and black shorts, he wore dark blue trainers and wore a bug catcher's hat on his head. What really made Nate a bit uncomfortable was that he had a massive net, which he guessed; he used to catch the Pokémon. This made Nate really uncomfortable because he didn't think a Pokémon should be caught any way other than with a pokeball in a fair fight.
The fight itself didn't last very long, he used two Wurmple's and Nate was able to take them both out with Treecko by having him use his speed to avoid the attack and because his Wurmple were so slow they were unable to avoid Treecko's pound or quick attacks when he came in close. The second trainer he found was called Tiana; she wore a Plain white shirt and a red skirt. Her trainer were also red and she had socks on that came up to the base of her knees, Nate assumed that this was so she could keep her legs warm in that skirt.
Her Pokémon were both Zigzagoon and since Treecko had already battled a couple of times today he decide it would be a good idea to use Surskit and give Treecko a bit of a break. It would be fun to have his first battle with Surskit since he hadn't seen her fight since the battle in which he caught her. Needless to say, Surskit was looking to impress her trainer after seeing what Treecko was capable of. Through the battle Nate found it a challenge to get one over on Zigzagoon as when he came in with a quick attack, his opponent was able to zigzag to dodge it and when he used bubble the Zigzag Pokémon just dodged it by zigzagging around the individual bubbles. Soon Nate decided that the best way to throw them of was to let them get close and that's just what he did. When he though that he was close enough he had Surskit jump in the air and form a circle of bubbles around the Pokémon. When it couldn't move from the bubbles around it Nate had Surskit come crashing down with a quick attack on the Pokémon knocking it out straight away from the power of a quick attack combined with the force of the fall. After this she sent out her other Zigzagoon and it was taken out in much the same way only he needed to finish it up with an extra quick attack after the combination.
Now Nate was getting a lot closer to Petalburg city but just as he was about to enter the city he saw someone standing on the path in front of him about ten feet away. As he got closer he could see that he looked quite a lot like a boy he battled early that day. He was wearing a yellow T-shirt and dark blue shorts. He also wore a light blue baseball cap, which was back to front much like the other boys, and he wore black trainers.
"Can I help you?" Nate asked the boy. Now they were face to face he could see that he looked almost identical to the other boy called Calvin from earlier that day. "Is your name Nate?" the boy asked.
"Yep, that's me, what can I do for you?" Nate replied, a little bit surprised that he knew his name, let alone the fact that he had been looking for him, he made sure that he didn't let it show though.
"I heard from my brother that you're a pretty good trainer, how about a Pokémon battle?" Nate now understood why he looked so much like the other boy and how he knew his name, they were brothers. "I assume your Calvin's brother, then." Nate inquired
"Yep, how'd you guess?" Replied the boy.
"You look more alike than you think." Nate replied. "I do feel at a disadvantage though, you know my name but I don't know yours?" Nate added, realising he still didn't know the boy's name.
"Good point, guess I forgot to introduce myself, the name's Allen, I'm staying in Petalburg for some time before I head out on my adventure. My brother is still in oldale town with our family for the next few weeks before he decides what he wants to do."
"I guess that makes sense, I'm heading to Rustboro city to try and get my first badge, and after that see where the journey takes me. Anyway enough about that, how about that battle?" Nate looked to his Pokémon who both looked eager to fight. "How about we make a double battle, make it a bit more interesting?"
"Sounds good to me." Allen replied now eager to have a battle. He pulled out two pokeballs and tossed them both into the air. "Poochyena, Taillow come on out." As he through his pokeballs two Pokémon appeared in front of him. One Nate instantly recognised as a Poochyena but the other one he hadn't seen before.
It was a small bird like Pokémon with dark blue feathers and patches of red on its chest and forehead, the patch on the forehead had a triangular upper tip. Its wings had wingtips that were elongated, thus making the wings seem configured for speed and manoeuvrability. The underside of the wings also had white coloration. The Pokémon possessed two sharp tail feathers. Its yellow beak was somewhat short, but wide, and its black feet had yellow nails.
"Taillow? What's that Pokémon?" Nate pulled out his pokedex and scanned the flying type. "Taillow, the Tiny swallow Pokémon. Much like other small bird Pokémon like Pidgey, Spearow, and Starly, they congregate in big flocks looking for food to eat. Unlike the more docile Pidgey, they are very brave for such small Pokémon, and will even stand up to much larger Pokémon such as the considerably larger and more powerful Skarmory. Despite this, they sometimes become lonely and cry at night. They tend to balk when they are hungry and they dislike cold climates, so they tend to migrate to look for food and warm weather. Additional information: Taillow have fantastic speed and aerial abilities. In addition to this, they become even more aggressive if they are attacked. When migrating in search of warm climates, it may fly over 180 miles per day."
"Man that sounds like one tough Pokémon. Come on guys, I know we can beat them, go get them." Having said this both Treecko and Surskit jumped from Nate's shoulder and head respectively. Nate, even though he didn't let his Pokémon see it, was a bit apprehensive about facing this Pokémon because from what he could tell that Pokémon had been raised very well, let alone it had the advantage of being able to fly and, being a flying type, had the type advantage over his grass and bug/water Pokémon.
"Let's get this started." Allen said, obviously aware to what Nate had been worried about himself. "Tailow use wing attack, Poochyena use tackle." Nate then saw something that shocked him, they both moved at a speed that was equal or better than hi Pokémon's but then an idea struck him. "Both of you use quick attack and get out of the firing line." At hearing this Allen face grew into a smirk and then Nate realised his mistake. "Poochyena use sand attack and stop them, then go into a bite onto Treecko and Taillow go into a peck attack."
The sand attack blinded both Treecko and Surskit and they both tripped into the ground and rose back to their feet, unable to see. "Surskit, use bubble to try and stop them from getting to you." Nate hoped that the bubble would, if not stop, then at least slow down the incoming attacks. However the two Pokémon just charged threw the bubbles and threw the dust like it didn't even affect them and landed the attacks. Surskit was being repeatedly attacked by Tailow and was taking a lot of damage while Treecko was having its tail bitten on by Poochyena.
Nate tried desperately to think of a way out, then something hit him but it would be a tall order for Treecko. "Treecko I need you to use absorb on both of them at once." Nate knew that Treecko was about to go under a lot of stress but tried it anyway. A green energy surrounded the two attacking Pokémon and, though it wasn't as strong as Treecko normal attack, it did what it needed to do and Managed to get Taillow to stop its onslaught and let out a small cry of pain but Poochyena still bit down on Treecko's tail. Now that Surskit could attack he knew just what to do to free Treecko.
"Surskit hit Poochyena with a quick attack and free Treecko." Surskit instantly brock into a fast run and hit Poochyena away from Treecko, freeing him. "Treecko, Surskit hit them both with a quick attack." Both Surskit and Treecko brock into a fast run towards the other Pokémon. "Poochyena use howl and stop them dead in their tracks." At hearing this Poochyena let out an ear splitting howl which made both of Nate's Pokémon stop dead in their tracks and Nate felt a sinking feeling in his stomach because he knew what was about to happen. "Now, Taillow hit them both with a double wing attack."
Taillow then raced towards both of his Pokémon that were frozen in the same spot because of the howl attack, and because of Tallow's speed, neither Treecko or Surskit were able to dodge the attack and were sent flying back to their trainers feet. Both of them had swirls in their eyes and were unable to fight any more. Nate had lost. He took out his two pokeballs and returned his two Pokémon before walking up to Allen. "Good match Allen." Nate said holding out his hand after putting the two pokeballs back onto his belt.
"Yeah it was, you had me going there with that recovery from my initial attack. Most trainers Pokémon would have fainted after that but yours just kept going. I can honestly say that it was quite impressive."
"Thanks but I think I need to head to Petalburg and get my Pokémon healed up. I think I put to much strain on Treecko with that double absorb attack."
"I think your right. I'll be sure to see you around."
"You can count on it, and when I next see you I want a rematch."
"Defiantly. I'm going to head towards Oldale to see my family before I head onwards to Rustboro City. Maybe I'll see you there."
After this they went their separate ways with Allen heading towards Oldale town and Nate heading towards Petalburg. "Looks like I found my first rival." Nate muttered to himself as he rushed up the hill towards Petalburg city. When he reached the top of the hill he could see a Petalburg in the setting sun. He didn't wait to admire the view as he was in a rush to get to the Pokémon centre and heal up his Pokémon.
Okay so the reason that I didn't update last weekend is because my German teacher hit me with a surprise when she told me I had a German exam during the week and I had to spend my time revising for it. But it's here now and that's what matters right so as always if you have any Pokémon you want Nate to catch tell me in your review, I have already decided on his next Pokémon which will be a... oh wait that would spoil it for you so I'm not going to tell you. See you next time.