"As a trainer, it is essential to battle other trainers. It's not only a good way to help make your Pokémon stronger, or get them to evolve, but it's also great for the bonding relationship between trainer and Pokémon.
In a Pokémon battle, a trainer must learn to trust in their Pokémon, and must have complete confidence in them. A trainer and Pokémon must act as one, and both must learn to keep a level head.
We learned this on our own, and over time, but it started on the day we decided to challenge each other to our first battles ever…"
The group yawned in succession as they stretched out on the cool spring grass.
They had stopped on a shady hillside for their morning break and were enjoying a bit of relaxation after walking for hours.
Alyssandra had a Poké Ball in her hand and raised it up to the sky above her and stared at it. "I can't believe it. I caught my fourth Pokémon! This Pachirisu was so cute, I just had to!"
"Looks like we'll need to start catching more to keep up," joked Sam. "Of course, you know we'll need to start making decisions about which Pokémon to carry with us and which to leave with Professor Rowan."
"What do you mean?" asked Alyssandra.
Jeremy sat up and stretched. "He's referring to the Pokémon Trainer rules. We learned them back in Trainer School, remember? One of the rules of being a Pokémon Trainer is that you can only carry a maximum of six Pokémon with you at a single time."
"Does that rule still apply to Pokémon Coordinators?" asked Alyssandra.
"Unfortunately, it does," answered Sam. "The only person that doesn't apply to is me, since I've got a Pokémon Breeder's license. I'm able to carry more than six Pokémon at a time, though I doubt I will. Carrying around all of those Poké Balls would weigh be down after a while."
Alyssandra frowned. "But how do I decide which Pokémon to keep with me and which to send to Professor Rowan?"
Jeremy laid back down and stared at the clouds. "You just do. Pick which Pokémon you like best, and those are the ones you keep. The catches that mean the most to you usually."
"Or if you pick the Pokémon that are going to be most helpful to what you need to accomplish," added Sam. "As a trainer, type coverage is important, so you need to make sure you have the type coverage to challenge the gym leaders and Pokémon League. If you're a coordinator, you need to know which Pokémon work best for battling but also appeals. You can always swap out Pokémon as needed along the way."
"I see," said Alyssandra. "That's kind of helpful. Do I have to decide right now?"
"No, not now," said Sam as he stood up and brushed the grass off him. "But soon. There's a Pokémon Centre just up the road, maybe you can decide then."
"Oh, thank goodness!" cried Jeremy. "I love camping, don't get me wrong, but nothing quite compares to a mattress and pillow."
Alyssandra and Sam laughed. With that, everyone stood up and prepared to keep walking.
"You know, that reminds me," said Jeremy as the three of them reached the bottom of the hill and started back on the road. "I want to battle you guys. Seriously, we haven't had proper trainer versus trainer battles yet, and I think now is a good time to start."
Sam thought for a moment, and then responded. "I agree," he said. "That'll be a good way to bond with my Pokémon, and it'll give me a chance to show you guys who the better trainer is."
"Yeah, me," said Jeremy. "I'm going to win."
"We'll see," replied Sam. "Hey, you know, we can have Nurse Joy judge the match. I have an idea how we can make this more interesting."
"What do you mean?" asked Alyssandra.
"You'll see when we get there," said Sam. "Come on, it's not much farther."
Sam placed his stuff down by the door as he entered the Pokémon Centre and walked over to the videophones and transport machines.
"All right, so who to call first?" asked Sam. "Professor Rowan or our families?"
After a few seconds of thought, they agreed on Professor Rowan. Sam dialled in the number, and after a few rings, came face to face with the old Professor.
"Ah, kids!" he said. "How nice to see you! How is your trip so far? Having fun?"
The three nodded in unison.
"Yeah," said Sam. "We're really getting a hang of this Pokémon Trainer thing. We've caught a few Pokémon as well; in fact, that's why we called you."
"Excellent to hear," smiled the Professor proudly. "Now what's this about Pokémon?"
"We'd like to send you a few Pokémon," said Jeremy. "Ones that we've caught but don't want to carry with us. Is that okay?"
"That's perfectly fine," said Professor Rowan. "I will study them while you're out travelling, but I only have so much room here, so you may need to find an alternative eventually."
Sam nodded. "I already have one. You are familiar with the Accardi Pokémon Ranch?"
"Yes, the one run by your family," Professor Rowan answered. "They supply me all of the Starter Pokémon I give out. What about them?"
"I'd like you to send the Pokémon there once you're finished studying them," explained Sam. "That should save you some space, and my family has more than enough room for it."
"That's an excellent idea," agreed Professor Rowan. "You can stop by and visit any time you like, and your Pokémon may benefit from being around other Pokémon. Which Ranch shall I send them to?"
"The Sinnoh Ranch, please," said Sam.
Professor Rowan nodded. "Very well, I shall pass along the message before I send them. Well, I'd best be off, I have to help Pascal with an experiment of his. Just transport your Pokémon over, and they'll be stored in my PC. I'll pick them up once I'm finished. Goodbye kids, and good luck on your travels!"
With that, Professor Rowan was gone, and the videophone shut off again.
The three teens looked at each other, not sure who would give up which Pokémon.
"I'm good with my current roster," said Sam.
"As am I," added Jeremy.
"You two are making me give up my Pokémon, and you're not even going to give away yours?" complained Alyssandra.
"We're not giving them away," said Sam. "We're letting them be studied; besides, we have our parties planned. We know we want these current Pokémon in our permanent parties, what about you?"
"Well, I…I mean," started Alyssandra. "I have put a little thought into it.'
"Excellent," said Sam. "So which Pokémon are you transferring?"
Alyssandra sighed and pulled two Poké Balls from her ball belt. "I suppose Glameow and Pachirisu. Glameow would just try to attack Sam's Starly—not to mention he used to be a stray; he'd be happier having room to roam around. And Pachirisu, cute as she is, isn't what I planned for a permanent party."
Alyssandra placed the two Pokémon in the transporter, typed in the address and pushed the button. In a flash, the Poké Balls were gone.
"Well, now I'm a Pokémon shorter than you guys," she said. "So, I hope you are ready to battle two on two."
"That's fair enough, I suppose," said Jeremy. "A battle is a battle, and it's not a fair battle unless it's equal."
"Oh! Let's call home before we forget," exclaimed Sam. "Our families will want to hear from us; we promised to call at the next Pokémon Centre."
"Then can we battle?" asked Jeremy with glee.
"Yes, now hush," hissed Alyssandra as Sam dialled in the number.
The phone rang several times but hung itself up in the end.
"Huh, I guess no one's home," said Sam. "Well, they could just be outside in the garden. You know how your mother and my grandmother love to garden."
"Yeah, that's true," agreed Jeremy. "Well, shall we have our battle now?"
"Yeah," said Sam. "But before we do, let's say we make it interesting."
"What do you mean?" asked Alyssandra.
"A three way, two on two Pokémon battle," explained Sam. "We all fight each other, and we are each allowed to use two Pokémon."
"I'm game," nodded Jeremy. "Alyssandra?"
"Well, it does sound fun," she said. "All right, I'm in."
The group ran over to the counter where Nurse Joy stood, hoping to get her to proctor their match.
"Nurse Joy," started Alyssandra, "Could you please judge our Pokémon battle?"
"I would love to," smiled the Nurse Joy. "Just go around to our practice field out back, I'll meet you there."
"You guys have a practice battlefield out there?" asked Sam.
"Well, this is usually one of the first stops for trainers when they start their Pokémon Journeys," explained Nurse Joy. "So many Trainers want to battle each other, and I've been asked so many times to be the judge, so I just had a battlefield built outside."
"I'm definitely liking this Pokémon Centre," said Jeremy as the group walked out of the Pokémon Centre.
"Well, enjoy it while it lasts, we're only here for the night," teased Alyssandra.
Alyssandra, Sam and Jeremy each took a different position on the circular field.
"I guess we're not the only ones who have decided to have a three-way battle," pointed out Sam as he examined the four separate standing areas on the field.
"Yeah," replied Alyssandra. "This field can take up to a four-way match, it seems."
"I'd love to try that one day," smiled Jeremy. "That will definitely be a battle for the history books."
"We lack a fourth person," Sam reminded Jeremy. "Unless any of you have a clone I don't know about?"
Alyssandra opened her mouth as if to speak, but she stopped as she noticed Nurse Joy approaching the battlefield.
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting," she said. "So, this will be a three-way battle then I assume? How many Pokémon will you each be using?"
"Each of us will be used two Pokémon. It'll be a three-way double battle," explained Sam.
"This'll be exciting," replied Nurse Joy. "The match between Alyssandra, Sam and Jeremy of Twinleaf Town will now begin! Trainers, release your Pokémon and start the match!"
Sam wasted no time and tossed his two Poké Balls up in the air. "Shinx, Piplup, go!"
Jeremy gave a small smile as he threw his two Poké Balls, releasing Starly and Turtwig, while Alyssandra sent out her Piplup and Shinx as well.
Sam raised a brow in surprise as he saw Jeremy's choice of Pokémon. "I thought you would use Pikachu," he noted.
Jeremy laughed. "I've put a lot of work into Pikachu, but I haven't yet had a chance to use Starly or Turtwig."
Alyssandra quickly interjected into the conversation. "Let's save the talk for later ladies! Piplup, use Peck on Turtwig! Shinx, use Spark on Starly!"
Jeremy reacted quickly. "Starly dodge and use Wing Attack on Shinx! Turtwig, dodge and use Bite on Piplup!"
Starly was fast enough to dodge the Spark and manoeuvred itself to land a critical strike on Shinx with its Wing Attack.
Turtwig on the other hand was not as fast as Starly and was hit with Piplup's Peck.
Sam was about to get into the fray, when a thought occurred to him. He could claim victory if he waited patiently and attacked at the right time. He would expend minimal energy and effort and not to mention have a greater chance of knocking out the already weakened Pokémon.
"Shinx, get up if you can and use Spark on Starly one more time, keep using Spark until you hit it!" Alyssandra exclaimed passionately. "Piplup, good Peck, now follow it up with a Pound attack!"
"You two know what to do!" exclaimed Jeremy. "Use that plan we discussed!"
Despite its unorthodox style, what Jeremy had in mind worked.
Starly continued to dodge Shinx's highly inaccurate Spark attacks, which were no match for Starly's speed. Meanwhile, Turtwig recovered and stopped the Pound attack from landing by biting down on Piplup's flipper.
Alyssandra's Piplup cried out in pain. Her Shinx let out a final, weakened Spark. It was visibly exhausted from an overuse of its electric abilities.
"All right guys!" cheered Jeremy. "Now Turtwig, throw Piplup into the air! Starly, use Quick Attack on Shinx while it's down, then climb into the air and circle around it! Once you're up there, pull into a dive and use Wing Attack on Shinx to finish it off!"
Starly did as it was commanded and sent Shinx flying across the battlefield, and although Shinx didn't faint, it was too weakened at this point to stand back up.
Starly began to circle around the weakened Shinx like a hawk. It's speed was unmatched on the battlefield. Starly began to climb, doing as Jeremy commanded, bringing itself into a steep dive for a powerful Wing Attack.
Meanwhile, Turtwig had sent Piplup hurtling into the air, and while the Piplup struggled with the pain in its flipper, it was too panicked to attempt to slow its own fall.
Sam knew this was the time to strike. Jeremy and Alyssandra had been too preoccupied with fighting each other to focus on Sam's Pokémon or what they were doing. Sam used their inexperience against them—though he knew in their position he might have done the same. He had only come up with his strategy thanks to something his grandfather had once told him during a practice battle when he was a kid.
"As Pokémon grow in skill and level, generally, most one on one battles with end within a few moves. However, sometimes you'll face an opponent that will draw the battle out and test your Pokémon's endurance.
"Most trainers forget to plan for this, and their Pokémon tire after only a few moves. Their Pokémon are left vulnerable because of this. Exploit this oversight and ensure that your Pokémon can endure a long match, and you'll find yourself a formidable foe for even the Pokémon League."
"Piplup go save Alyssandra's Piplup and use Bubble to break your fall!" cried Sam. "Shinx, use Spark on Starly while it's in its dive, and put everything you have into it!"
Sam's manoeuvres were successful. Alyssandra's Piplup was successfully saved from any sort of damage—aside from damage sustained during Turtwig's Bite—while Shinx's Spark attack crippled Starly mid-flight. The attack inflicted a decent amount of damage and sent the Pokémon careening into the ground with a loud thud, concurrently knocking it out.
"Jeremy's Starly is unable to battle! He is down to one Pokémon!" declared Nurse Joy.
Jeremy raised Starly's Poké Ball and recalled it. He smiled softly down at it. "Take a long rest, Starly, you've earned it."
Alyssandra also recalled one of her Pokémon, choosing to recall her Shinx. "My Shinx has taken too much damage to continue to fight properly, I'm pulling it out of the battle!" Alyssandra announced to Nurse Joy.
Nurse Joy nodded and continued her commentary; "Alyssandra has withdrawn her Shinx from the match. She and Jeremy are down to only one Pokémon each, with their Turtwig and Piplup respectively, while Sam still has both his Piplup and his Shinx available for use. The battle continues, now!"
"I'm grateful for you saving my Piplup," said Alyssandra, "But you're a Pokémon ahead, and that means Jeremy and I need to bring you down to our level."
"Shall we team up then, Lyss?" asked Jeremy.
Alyssandra nodded. "Piplup, use a barrage attack of Pecks on Shinx!"
"Turtwig, use Razor Leaf on Sam's Piplup!" commanded Jeremy.
Sam's gut lurched with the adrenaline, but he kept his cool. "Shinx! Use Spark on Alyssandra's Piplup, then Tackle it when it's tired! Piplup dodge the Razor Leaf and jump high into the air!"
Sam's Shinx struck Piplup with a Spark as the opponent charged in for a Peck. The Piplup was stopped in her tracks and collapsed from exhaustion, unable to battle.
Meanwhile, Sam's Piplup managed to dodge the Razor Leaf, and jumped high up into the air above Turtwig.
Sam called out to it. "Piplup, do a swan dive and use Peck, and spin like a screw while you fall!"
Jeremy fumbled to react. The attack would be super effective, and the force of the screw plus gravity would add extra weight to the damage. It was too late for Jeremy however, as Piplup's attack sent Turtwig flying into Alyssandra's unconscious Piplup, knocking it out as well.
"Both Jeremy's Turtwig and Alyssandra's Piplup are unable to battle, Sam is the victor!" cried Nurse Joy.
Sam roared with pride and happiness, shouting to the sky, while his Piplup and his Shinx danced around him. Just as he settled down, his Piplup and Shinx high fived each other and instantly began to glow white.
Sam jumped back in surprise, and Jeremy and Alyssandra stared in amazement after calling back their Pokémon. When the white light faded from Shinx and Piplup, it was revealed that Shinx had become a proud Luxio, and Piplup had become a strong Prinplup.
"What?!" exclaimed Jeremy in disbelief. "How have they evolved so soon? This was only our first battle!"
"Well," started Sam. "I've been pitting my Pokémon against each other when we camp, training them in case the time came for me to battle someone. I wanted experience; you know? You didn't expect me to just go up against the Oreburgh Gym Leader without knowing what I was doing, did you?"
Sam returned his Pokémon to their Poké Ball and met his two friends and Nurse Joy at the centre of the battlefield.
"Well, that was definitely an interesting match," noted Nurse Joy. "I've never seen new trainers use moves like that. Sam, Jeremy, Alyssandra, you guys are going to make great trainers."
"On top of that we even got to see a double evolution," added Jeremy. "Not something people see every day."
Nurse Joy nodded in agreement. "Yes. That's definitely a very rare sight indeed. Now, shall we head inside? I'll nurse your Pokémon back to full health. After that battle the must be very tired."
"Thanks, Nurse Joy, that would be great!" exclaimed Alyssandra. "Could we also get a room? And something to eat for dinner?"
Nurse Joy nodded to Alyssandra. "We'll get you all signed in and everything once I've got your Pokémon set to heal."
Sam felt a great sense of pride was over him as the group returned to the Pokémon Centre. He mulled over his victory. He would have made his grandfather proud, and his grandmother too.
All three friends were finally starting to find their way as Pokémon Trainers, and with the right amount of time, practice, and determination, they'd be skilled trainers of note one day.
