I don't know when it all started. I've dealt with worse, but, this is like a whole new scenario. I've went through Garchomp's rage and disobedient period and Braviary's recklessness period, but this is different. Currently, I'm challenging the gyms in the Galar region and it's been fun so far. I have 3 gyms badges, and getting ready for badge number 4. I originally brought Dragonite with me since I now have a 7 pokemon storage limit. I caught three new members so far: Yamper, Drizzile, and finally, my newly evolved Raboot. That's where my troubles started. I remembered when I first met it as a Scorbunny.
Liz is training Dragonite for the first gym, which is a grass type. She shouts,"Dragonite, use ice punch," as it uses the move and smashes a boulder. As she praises it for a good job, they both hear a rustle in the bushes. It turns out to be a Scorbunny running away from a pack of Galarian Zigzagoons. They tried to attack using a mixture of take downs and headbutts as Scorbunny flinched in fear. Dragonite shooed them away with a fierce dragon pulse, scaring them. Scorbunny looked up and saw that it was saved by her. Liz knelt down towards it as she says,"Are you ok? They're gone now." It nodded and smiled with a lot of pride. Liz then got up and says,"You know, there are going to be a lot of pokemon like them who are strong and want to battle you. You got lucky that I was here to save you, but next time, you may not." Scorbunny looked down in sadness and shuffled its feet as Liz continued with,"However, if you want to get strong, I'd be more than happy to train you. In fact, how would you like to travel with me"? Scorbunny nodded as it walked a few feet away from her and got into a battle position. Liz tipped her hat and says,"I see. You want to battle for your place? You're on!! Dragonite," as Dragonite prepared to battle. Scorbunny ran in with quick attack as Dragonite went in to intercept with ice punch. However, thanks to the quick attack, Scorbunny dodged the move and hit it on the head with fire punch. Dragonite easily recovered as Liz shouts,"Use thunderbolt," as Dragonite launched the move with ease. Scorbunny jumped to dodge and prepared to use double kick. However, Dragonite was able to hit it with dragon claw, terribly weakening it. It dropped to a knee and was out of breath. Liz shouts,"Go pokeball," as she tosses a pokeball and catches Scorbunny easily. Once the capture was finished, Liz went to heal it up and soon let it out. It grinned and jumped around happily as Liz says,"You ready to take the first gym by storm"? It cheered and nodded happily as the duo hopped onto Dragonite and headed towards the gym.
It's been a great team member ever since, so eager to battle and train. Then, during our bouts in the fire type gym, it learned ember and then, that's when things changed for me.
Liz is currently challenging Kabul, the leader of the fire type gym. She already had Yamper beat Centiskorch with a critical hit from spark and Drizzile easily defeated Ninetails with a newly learned water pulse. All that was left was Arcanine and Scorbunny wanted to face it. It was a tough match and Arcanine's flamethrower would always easily overpower it. Then, after another hit from flamethrower, in the flames, Scorbunny glowed and evolved into Raboot. Finding a pebble on the floor, it kicked it around and learned ember, hitting Arcanine and burning it. Then, before Liz could give it another command, Raboot charged in without her command and used a double kick / quick attack combination. With that, Arcanine was easily defeated and Liz was announced the winner. She went to give her newly evolved pokemon a hug, but it jumped out of the way and began to walk to the stands. After getting her gym badge, Liz tried to give Raboot a comment and high five, but it just turned away and ignored her, surprising Liz with its new, odd behavior.
Since then, it wouldn't listen to a thing I say in battle. On top of it all, it just doesn't even want to do anything with me. So, today, I decided to do something about it. After everyone was healed up, I let them out to stretch their legs / wings. Dragonite hovered in the air, Drizzile found a shady spot and went to take a nap under it, even Yamper was nuzzling me happily. In the distance, I saw Raboot sitting on a rock, kicking a small pebble. I told Yamper to play with Dragonite as I went to talk with Raboot. When it saw I was coming, it turned away instantly. I say,"Listen, I know that ever since you evolved, you've gotten stronger. However, that doesn't mean that you can let the power get to your head and ignore what I say." It didn't look like it was listening as I sweat dropped and says,"If you can understand a bit of what I say, show me some sign." It seemed to turn its head a little bit towards me and opened one of its eyes before turning it away again. I groaned in exhaustion as I continued with,"Raboot, this behavior is not nice. Whatever happened to the energetic Scorbunny I raised to be ready for battle"? With yet another moment with no reactions whatsoever, I felt like there'd be no way to get through to Raboot. Then, I got an idea that just might work. I stood up and said,"If words won't work for you, then I challenge you to a battle"! That got its attention as it got up and looked at me before I whistled for Dragonite to come over. Yamper and Drizzile went over to watch as I say,"You against the one pokemon you haven't been able to beat yet: Dragonite. Sounds good"? Raboot prepared to face Dragonite as it was determined to beat it. However, I knew that this battle will be able to show Raboot how following a command can help a lot in battle.
Raboot charged in with quick attack as it jumped high into the air. It charged in with fire punch as I simply say,"Dodge to the left and uppercut with dragon claw." Dragonite dodged the fire punch and landed its dragon claw on Raboot, sending it flying. It skidded to its feet and grimaced slightly. It then went in to use ember as Dragonite easily blocked it with dragon pulse, creating an explosion. I whispered to Dragonite,"Get behind it in the smoke," as it did as so. I then shouted,"Thunderbolt," as Dragonite launched the move, hitting Raboot hard. It dropped to a knee as it panted in exhaustion. Dragonite then shot a draco meteor into the sky as Raboot used quick attack to scale the meteors and diving down to land a potent fire punch. However, I was prepared as I say,"Flip and use dragon tail," as Dragonite did as so, landing the finishing blow on Raboot. It tried to get up, but it was too tired as it collapsed with swirls in its eyes. I praised Dragonite for a good job as I went over to Raboot and gave it an Oran berry once it woke up. As it ate, I could easily hint in its eyes that it felt disappointed and sad that it lost. This was officially its first loss in battling. Once it finished the berry, I knelt to it and say,"You see? Dragonite listened to me during our battle and it was able to do things that you'd never think of doing in battle by yourself. You can be strong by yourself, but you're at your strongest when pokemon and trainer work together as one. You understand"? For once since its evolution, it seemed to listen to what I say and nodded to let me know.
Suddenly, a trainer came up to me, challenging me to a one on one battle. He released his choice, which was an Obstagoon, which is the final evolution of Galarian Zigzagoon. I decided to go with Raboot as I asked it,"What do you say? Ready to battle as one"? Raboot looked at me and nodded as it went into its battle position. Obstagoon went to use slash as I say,"Raboot, jump and intercept with fire punch"! Raboot did as so, creating a stalemate between the two moves. Obstagoon then launched a hyperbeam as Raboot lept into the air to avoid the move. I then say,"Quick! Use double kick, then right into ember"! Raboot landed the super effective move before hitting it again with ember. Obstagoon was a little shaky, but able to remain standing and ready to battle. I then had Raboot charge in with double fire punches while Obstagoon went to intercept with shadow claw. I was ready though as I say,"Use quick attack to dodge up into the air and then land your double fire punches"!! Raboot, a little skeptical, but willing to do it, used quick attack to dodge and jump into the air before hitting Obstagoon with both fire punches. The final call was when I shouted,"Let's wrap it up!!! Raboot, max powered ember now"! Raboot kicked a tiny pebble and launched ember with ease, knocking out Obstagoon. The trainer thanked me for a great battle as he returned his pokemon and left. Raboot was left in shock, but the good kind. It listened to me, and it still won the battle. I say,"What do you think Raboot? Listening was worth it huh"? It nodded as I say,"You know? When we battled together, you reminded me of when you were a Scorbunny. You still have that battle spirit that resides in your heart. Your special, fiery passion. What do you say? Wanna continue battling and training together? As partners"? Raboot looked at me before offering me a high five, like how we used to before it evolved. I accepted it as it nodded and smiled. Thanks to the battles, it helped knock out its rebellious attitude and got our teamwork back on track. Now, let's just hope it can stay like this.
*4 months later*
I had just won the Galar pokemon league championship. It was a close call, but, we were able to do it. I was sitting on a rock, looking up at the stars above. Next to me was Cinderace, who was looking at the stars as well. It evolved when we were challenging the dragon type gym before the league. The rest of my team was healing up inside the pokemon center. As we were looking at the bright stars, I sat up and faced Cinderace, who saw me looking at it and sat up in case I wanted to ask it something. I smiled, saying,"Cinderace, do you remember back when you were still a Raboot and you were rebellious around me"? It nodded and sheepishly blushed as I say,"I'm glad we were able to repair our teamwork and bond with one another. We grew strong together and close with everyone. I'm glad to have met you Cinderace. I love your passion for battling tough opponents. In a way, you're just like me." Cinderace smiled as we both high fived one another. I'm glad to have met it and I know, deep down, it's extremely grateful to have met me. I hope we can continue growing strong and close together.