Megan crashed into the floor with a loud thud and proceeded to roll around, disoriented.
"What's going on?" She mumbled to the legs she tumbled into.
"Finally," An outreached hand spoke to her, "You woke up."
Megan's mind tossed ideas around until she was able to figure out exactly where she was and for what reason she was there. She has spent the entire previous day teaching Polly to shoot bubbles in Viridian Forest, which paid off, because now the Poliwag was able to create many bubbles in a short period of time. The two had actually spent so much time and energy training that Ellen had to help her back to the Pokemon Center to stay the night. Sleeping on a couch wasn't all too comfortable, but it was what they had to do.
Ellen began folding the blankets as Megan struggled to regain consiousness. Today they were going to journey all the way through the forest and make their way to the next town.
The forest was dark and cool because of the rich trees filling the area. The grass was very tall, and it wasn't uncommon to see a Bug Pokemon squirm around a nearby tree. Megan wanted to catch one, but they all ran as soon as they heard footsteps approaching.
"I wish a Pokemon would come out so Polly could have a training battle," Megan whined.
Ellen looked around, "The Pokemon here seem to run away when we get near them. I don't think you'll have any luck here."
"How about you battle me?" Megan smiled.
"Oddish is trained a lot more than Polly," Ellen laughed nervously, "and he's a grass-type, too."
Megan blinked a few times before responding, "What does type have to do with it?"
Ellen's head sulked, "Grass-types are strong against water-types. Pokemon types have strengths and weaknesses."
"Oh," Megan blushed, "Well, use Rattata then!"
Unclipping the Pokeball from her side bag, Megan's friend remembered catching the new Pokemon when the two girls had begun their journey. Ellen rolled the little ball in her hand, wondering what she should do about her friend's request.
"Let's do it then," She said softly, dropping Rattata's Pokeball in front of her.
As the purple rodent appeared from the light, Megan's Pokeball was hitting the ground from a few yards away, bringing her Poliwag into the grassy forest.
"This is a friendly battle, Rattata," Ellen prompted, "but don't hold back. She's trained more since the last time you fought."
"That's right Polly!" Megan shouted in excitement, "Just because Rattata is your friend, you don't have to go easy on him. Let's show 'em what we learned with your new Bubble attack!"
Polly chriped bravely in response and quickly started forming bubbles, sending them in masses at the opponent. As the spheres of water floated forward, Rattata chattered and jumped to the side easily. A few bird Pokemon flew away from a nearby tree as the snap of the bubbles crackled through the forest. Rattata started to run in towards Polly, but she was already starting to blow bubbles in the new direction. Rattata dashed away, skimming just past the new bubbles. The quick Pokemon had to stop and wait for a direction from his trainer.
"You can't attack head on," Ellen calmly instructed, "Use your Quick Attack to make her lose track of you."
"Don't let him!" Megan yelled, jumping around in excitement, "Keep a close eye on him and Bubble him when he charges you!"
The baby Pokemon's eyes locked on to its opponent as Rattata started to run in a circle around her. At first Polly seemed fine, but as Rattata gained speed, Polly's wobbly feet couldn't keep up and the purple blur was out of sight. Without warning, a painful shove found Polly tumbling forward across the grass. Struggling to her feet, the Poliwag locked her eyes on Rattata once again.
"Good job, Rattata, keep it up!" Ellen smiled.
Polly tried again to not lose sight of Ellen's Pokemon, but it was no use; the speed was just too much. The hit in the back was twice as painful to the tumbling Pokemon, crying out after being tackled by Rattata's Quick Attack. Megan gasped and stepped forward, eager to run to her injured Pokemon, but she knew she couldn't interrupt the battle now. Megan watched as her friend's Pokemon started to ring around her Polly once again. Polly was strugging to keep its balance, getting dizzy with the twirling by trying to keep its eyes on the Rattata. When Rattata knew its opponent was defenseless, he skidded to a short halt before sprinting in, and Megan's eyes lit up.
"Now!" Megan shrieked.
The confused Polly twirled itself backward, losing its balance and rolling to the side. Her speedy opponent dashed through, hitting her foot.
"You almost dodged it!" Megan was bouncing in excitement as her mind raced with new ideas, "Now create a shield in front of you with bubbles."
"That will just distract her," Ellen spoke to her Pokemon, "Just do what you've been doing, you should get a clear hit and win this time if you hit from behind."
Megan smiled, but Ellen knew that Megan's plan couldn't work since Polly can only shoot bubbles forward. Ellen gently smiled back as Rattata began another Quick Attack around Polly. The grass was starting to wear away where Rattata was running. Polly managed to get a large mound of bubbles infront of herself when Rattata slid into place behind Polly and prepared to dash in for the final blow.
"Polly!" Megan's scream echoed through the woods, "Jump!"
Understanding, the baby Pokemon used all of her strength to sping off the ground and into the air as the purple blur shot in for the last attack. Rattata's noticed the danger and tried to get a firm hold on the ground, but the momentum of his Quick Attack was just too much to stop before the purple Pokemon crashed himself straight into the back of the shield of bubbles. Polly's feet barely managed to clear Rattata's head as the crack of the bubbles rang out. Rattata 's face burned, and he lost control of his front legs. He struggled to regain his power as his opponent landed safely on the ground just behind his tail, sending a wave of bubbles to cover the now-defenseless Pokemon.
Rattata squeaked with pain as the snap of bubbles stung over his body, knocking him off his feat and down into the grass. Ellen stood in awe at the idea her friend had just created. Megan jumped and cheered as Polly danced to her side as Ellen slowly began to open her bag and grab for some medication. The Poliwag lept into her trainer's arms, chirping with excitement as Megan happily sprayed her down with a Potion. When the two Pokemon were healed, Ellen called Rattata back into his Pokeball.
"I never would've thought you'd have a strategy like that." Ellen whispered to her giddy friend.
Megan laughed and gave Ellen a hearty slap on the back, "Of course!"
Ellen stumbled a bit but returned Megan's gift with a light shoulder nudge and a quiet smile.
"Now we just have to get through this forest." Megan immediately marched forward to the next town.