First Battle

It seems that the Anomaly has found its Champion.

Ah, yes.

I was able to judge that one when I descended from the sky.

He has a strong spirit, one worthy of a candidate for the True Champion.

A strong spirit indeed.

Kyle's phone buzzed once while he was doing homework. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and took it out. He had been sent a message from Carol. He put his homework away for now and hunched over in his chair to text.

Check it out! she had texted. Underneath the message was a picture of her at the beach. It was still cold outside; Carol couldn't have been at the beach to go swimming. This wasn't what caught Kyles's attention, however. What was even more interesting was wrapped around Carol's neck like a scarf. It was sky blue and had a snakelike body; Kyle identified it as a Dratini. He raised his eyebrows. Dratinis, he had heard, were an especially rare Pokemon.

How'd you manage that? Kyle texted back.

I was actually surprised myself, she replied. I was taking my little brother to the beach. He said that his friends were meeting down here to battle. I was off by myself, minding my own business and eating a snack when this little guy came out of the water and onto the shore. I was the only one around at the time. It came over next to me and prodded my hand, so I gave it some food!

Is it yours? he asked.

Not yet, Carol texted. But I talked to it, and it's all for being my partner. I think I'll call it Scarf!

Kyle chuckled. That's great. As he sent the message, Eevee walked over to where Kyle was sitting and hopped up into his lap. Kyle raised his arms so it could get comfortable. It curled up and wrapped its tail around itself, closing its eyes.

Hey, I have something to show you too, Kyle texted.

What is it?

Kyle took a picture of the resting Eevee and sent it. He only had to wait a few seconds before Carol replied.

IT'S SO CUTE, she texted.

I found it today on my way home from school. I actually would like to think I saved it since Jordan and his friends were trying to capture it.

So, you stole it? ;)

I prefer saved. Jordan was mistreating it and it would've been bad if he had caught it.

Yeah, that's probably true. Anyway, I'm so happy we both got Pokemon! We'll have to battle soon! What are you going to name it?

Kyle thought for a moment. I honestly don't know yet, he texted. I'd like to get to know it better before I make a decision. For now, I guess I'll just call it Eevee.

About a half-minute went by before Carol texted again. By the way, she said. Did you see the new Arceus?

Kyle remembered the glowing circle in the sky and the falling light that had come from it. He also remembered the creature he had seen in the light.

Yeah, I did. Kyle texted. I was also wondering something since it seemed smaller than last time. Did you get hit by it?

No, actually, which surprised me since the beach isn't that far from where it happened. If I'd been home, it would've hit me. I'm so upset. What about you?

So, the Arceus had been smaller. From the way things looked, it only covered Sale Woods, which was remarkably small compared to the rest of the world. So, why Sale Woods? Kyle would have to search online on whether or not other Arceus appeared somewhere around the world. He would also need to research that creature he had seen. It's a shame that Carol hadn't been able to see it too.

Yeah. It was actually pretty close, Kyle texted. I was trying to investigate before I found Eevee.

Did you find anything?

No, I didn't. I had to heal Eevee, so I wasn't able to keep looking. Jordan probably found something though.

Ugh, I'd hate to think that Jordan found something related to the Arceus. But hey, maybe you did find something!

What do you mean?

Well, that Eevee was found near the Arceus, right?

Yeah. Jordan thought it was special in that way. He kept saying that the Arceus had given it special abilities or something.

He might be right! What if that Eevee was affected by the Arceus? What if Eevee was given some awesome ability by it?

Kyle smiled and rubbed his hand on Eevee's furry head. The Pokemon shifted a little, encouraging him to continue.

That would be cool, but it's pretty unlikely, Kyle texted. It doesn't seem like the Arceus could do something like that.

Hey, you never know! I'm just giving possibilities!

Alright, then, Kyle texted, still smiling. But his smile faded as he typed out his next message.

There's one more thing, Kyle texted. I need to talk to you tomorrow during lunch.

What is it? Carol texted back.

It's about something I saw in the Arceus. It's too complicated to talk about over text, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Ok, Carol texted before Kyle closed out the Message app on his phone.

"Now, let's see what we got here," Kyle said.

Eevee opened its eyes as Kyle opened a different app on his phone that he had recently discovered. The app was developed by the CPP, called the Trainer Tracker. One could log in to their trainer account to find certain information, such as Pokemon info, Pokemon sightings in the area, trainers in the area, and so on.

The program that Kyle pulled up was the Trainer Party program. A trainer's account was linked to their registered Poke balls, so a trainer could examine and assess the Pokemon they owned. The Eevee Kyle owned was currently level three, which was very fortunate. Most Pokemon owned by trainers would be level three by now. It was also male, which would help with the naming process.

Kyle could also see various statistics on his Eevee and the statistics of a normal Eevee. His Eevee was fairly average, though it did have a bit more special attack power than normal. It also had a little bit less physical defense power than the average Eevee. Kyle had read about certain personality natures that caused these types of changes.

There was also a section where Kyle could put the information he found out about his Pokemon, such as food preferences, nature, and other personality traits. He entered the Eevee's nature there and left everything else blank. He would find that info out later.

Kyle searched the program until he found what he was looking for. When he did, he opened it and examined Eevee's attacks. Currently, it only knew Growl, Tackle, and Tail Whip. They would need to start battling soon so Eevee could level up and learn new and better attacks. Kyle continued to examine the overview of his Eevee until he heard a voice from downstairs.

"Hey!" It shouted, "Who took the medicine?!" Kyle!"

He hadn't even heard his sister come home from work. He turned off his phone and, regretfully, picked up Eevee with care and set it down on its feet. He had been very comfortable with it on his lap.

Something caught Kyle's eye as he was getting up from his chair. It was the mysterious stone he had found in the woods. He had searched the internet for what it might be, but the only thing it could be classified as was a leaf that had somehow been fossilized. Still, Kyle felt like it was something else, something he had heard of before. He just couldn't place it. It looked pretty cool anyway, so he had put it on his desk.

Kyle had forgotten to mention it to Carol. She might know something about it. He would have to ask her tomorrow.

Kyle left his room and put his phone in his pocket as he went down the stairs. His sister was standing next to the medicine bottles Kyle had used to heal Eevee and was holding them up while looking at Kyle for an answer to her question.

"Well?" She asked.

Kyle scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. I needed it."

"What for?"

At that moment, Eevee came down the stairs as well, following Kyle. Chelsey's eyes widened as she saw it. She pointed.

"Is that a Pokemon?" She asked. "When? How?"

"I found it on my way home from school," Kyle explained. "It was injured because some kids were trying to catch it. It was just trying to run away, so I got it out of there and took it home to heal."

Chelsey smiled. "Aw, that's sweet," she said. Kyle blushed and looked down. "So, is it yours now?" She asked.

"Yeah," Kyle replied. "I asked it, and it agreed, so we became partners."

"Yes! That's amazing! I'm so happy for you!" Chelsey exclaimed. "So, I take it you haven't had the opportunity to battle anyone yet?"

Kyle grinned. "Nope," he said. "But I was waiting for a chance."

Chelsey smiled back and held up her Poke ball. "Well then, I'd like the honor of being your first opponent!

Kyle's grin grew even more. "You're on."

The two siblings stood about fifty feet apart in the woods behind their house, preparing for battle. Kyle's Eevee waited next to him, but Chelsey's Pokemon was still inside its ball. Kyle was relaying everything he knew about Munchlax to Eevee.

"It has a lot of HP," Kyle was saying, "So it'll be tough to take down. But it's really slow, and we can use that to our advantage." Eevee nodded.

"You ready?" Chelsey called out.

Kyle finished preparing his Eevee for the battle before responding. "Yeah! Let's go!"

Chelsey sent out her Munchlax. From what she had told Kyle, he knew that she had won all three of the Pokemon battles she had participated in. That would make her Munchlax level three, the same as his Eevee. It would be an even match.

"Alright, here we go," Kyle said. "Go get it!"

Eevee bounded out onto their battlefield. There were many trees in the area they were using, so Eevee would be able to dart around and between them. Kyle had his plan to win all figured out. Now, who would move first?

"Use Metronome!" Chelsey commanded.

Metronome used a random move, even if Munchlax couldn't learn it. It could end up being nothing, or it could knock Eevee out in one hit.

Munchlax's arm turned into a glowing blade. Kyle recognized the move as Secret Sword. It would almost certainly take Eevee down in one hit.

Oh, come on! Are you kidding me?! How unlucky is that?!

Munchlax slowly and menacingly waddled over to Eevee, preparing to strike. Eevee turned around and ran, trying to get away, while Munchlax chased it. Munchlax was so slow that it didn't catch up to Eevee, even after a few minutes of running.

"What kind of strategy is that?!" Chelsey asked in annoyance, throwing her hands into the air.

"I mean, it's working, isn't it?!" Kyle retorted. "Alright, Eevee, try to look for an opening and use Tackle!"

After a few more seconds of evading, Eevee rounded a tree and slammed into Munchlax, who cried out and fell to the ground. Its arm returned to normal. Kyle relaxed. That could've been bad.

As Munchlax returned to its feet, Chelsey shouted, "Use tackle!"

Munchlax once again began to run toward Eevee. Surprisingly, Eevee wasn't fast enough to dodge the attack this time, and it fell back from the impact. Kyle looked at his phone. The Trainer Tracker had a Trainer Battle program. It showed how much HP both Pokemon had left.

Kyle was in a poor position. Munchlax did more damage, and it had started with a greater amount of HP. He needed to turn this match around fast.

"Eevee! I need you to start darting around the area! Make use of your speed!"

Eevee complied, running around the battlefield between trees and bushes. Munchlax glanced around, on guard. After a few seconds, Eevee attacked. The Tackle hit its mark, and Munchlax stumbled. Eevee continued to run around and Tackle when Munchlax was open, and Munchlax kept missing its attacks. Soon, the battle was far in Kyle's favor.

"Metronome!" Chelsey ordered.

Damn. Kyle thought. I was hoping she wouldn't try that again.

A green ball of energy began to form in front of Munchlax. It grew until it was about the same size as the Pokemon itself, then was fired off. It hit Eevee directly, throwing it ten feet backward.

"Eevee!" Kyle shouted. That attack had been even more powerful than Secret Sword would've been. It was called Photon Geyser. He turned back to his phone and inhaled sharply. Eevee was almost out of health points. One more blow and it would be over.

Eevee struggled to stand back up, but it eventually was back on its feet. It looked terrible, almost defeated. However, it still had a little bit of fight left in it. Munchlax needed to be hit only a few more times for Kyle to win.

"Munchlax, finish it off with tackle!" Chelsey said.

"Eevee, get out of-"

Kyle couldn't even finish his command as Eevee released countless beams of light at Munchlax. Kyle stopped and let his mouth hang open in bewilderment. The beams struck Munchlax and pushed him to the ground. Its HP dropped to zero. Kyle had won.

"What the-"

"What was that?!" Chelsey complained. "I didn't know Eevee could learn a move like that!"

"Neither did I," Kyle mumbled. He opened the Trainer Party program and examined his Eevee. It had gained the experience to reach level four, but Kyle wasn't concerned with that at the moment. He looked at Eevee's moveset carefully. Tackle, Growl, and Tail Whip were all there. However, where the fourth move would be, there was an error code.

That's weird, Kyle thought. He pressed on the move to bring up a description of the move but was met with something else. Where the description should have been, there was a notice. It read:

It seems that this move has not yet been added to the Trainer Tracker Database. The CPP has most likely not had the opportunity to insert it. Report this issue? Underneath the text was an option to report.

Kyle looked up. Chelsey was approaching him, frowning playfully.

"Alright, what exactly did you pull?" She demanded to know.

"I'm not even sure myself," Kyle said. "Check it out." He showed her the strange move. "Should I report it?"

"Huh, that is strange." She smiled and shrugged. "You should probably report it." Chelsey seemed to think for a moment before her eyes lit up. "Hey, what if it's a move the CPP has never seen before? I mean, come on. A move that an Eevee would learn at such a low level isn't in the database when more than a hundred other moves are?"

"Yeah, but it probably is just not inserted yet, or just a malfunction," Kyle said as he pressed the REPORT option.

"Or," Chelsey said, holding her finger up, "Your Pokemon is just special!" She walked towards her fainted Munchlax, muttering about her win streak.

Kyle looked towards Eevee, who, though beaten down, sat up with pride. Kyle smiled at it and went over to pick it up and carry it to the house. They had one their first-ever battle, and it had all been thanks to a move Kyle had never even heard of before. A move that, maybe, nobody had ever heard of before.

Special, huh? Kyle thought. Just like you said, Carol.