Nory and Kind were pondering their next destination as Buckets and Chol took in the scenery they were walking past. Nory was bothered that he couldn't remember the name of the city they were nearing. An- Av- Definitely something with an A... Arihana! Nory brought Kind's attention away from the road with a misfired snap of his fingers. Stupid gloves! Stupid awesome, cool-looking gloves!
"You know Kind, I don't think I have ever visited a city as big as Arihana before. How weird is that?"
"I am not sure what the probability of that happening is. You are only 15, started traveling recently, lived far from an area of high population density..."
"I meant how weird is Arihana. You have been traveling for a while so you must have been to some pretty huge metropolises before."
"I have been to some metropoleis before. My experience is what I expect you would predict; large groups of people and loud environm-"
"Look out!" Nory yelled as he tackled Kind, shielding him from a stream of airborne stones.
Solhund was very content with her plan. Battle is the only way to see one's true nature. If they fight I can see how disciplined they are, and if they run away, well then they weren't worth much to begin with, were they? Solhund was careful to make her first Rock Slide just graze them, giving the humans time to respond before the real fighting started.
Nory prepared Buckets for battle by opening the top of his orb. "Water Gun!" he commanded as Buckets jumped out of the opening and released a burst of water right into the Solrock's face. Rather than being deterred like Nory expected, the Rock type Pokémon took the hit as if it was from a kid's toy. The aggressive Pokemon proceeded to knock Buckets into a nearby river with a well-timed Psychic. "Buckets!"
"/Way to get... carried away..\" The small Barboach managed a final pun before hitting a bolder jutting out of the water with enough force to send a worrying 'crack' through the air. Nory jumped into the water as well, disregarding how water-savvy Buckets was. That was a harsh blow and all Nory cared about was seeing his Pokémon alive and well.
"/RRAAAAARGH!\" Chol roared with fury.
"Wait, Chol!" Kind's words fell on deaf ears. All the type advantages in the world could not convince him that the immature Pokémon was ready for his first battle, but it seems it wasn't his decision to make.
Chol's Bite attack was rather successful, for a short while. Eventually he was flung off by the Solrock's violent twisting. Kind held out the Pokéball he already had at the ready. "Return," Kind commanded while Chol was still flying through the air, stopping the month-old from taking a hit similar to Buckets. Solhund turned away from her disappearing enemy to find herself facing Kind's other 2 Pokemon.
Using the time the young one got him to prepare for the true battle. Quite a quick thinker, the attacker mentally noted. If a bit uncaring. Nory ran back from the river soaking wet, ready to join Kind in combating this menace with Amp and Sev.
"/Stop this!\" Charev said with great confidence filling his voice, undermined by his position in the back of the party and the fact he was breaking into a nervous... whatever bugs do instead of sweat. "/Why do you assault us? I assure you we are but peaceful travelers that seek to do no harm!\" Solhund was silent for she had decided that an explanation should come last in this situation, especially if the humans prove malicious.
"/Stop, or be stopped!\" commanded Shootaf.
Much to Amp's dismay, it had been a general consensus among the Pokémon that the Fire type was their unofficial leader, or at the very least he could pull seniority. "/Oh no hotshot! You are not showing me up here! I can take this Solrock. Better than you anyway.\"
Sev was appalled by what she thought was Amp's selfish need for glory. "/What are you- this is serious! We need to work against this threat!\" Sev found herself talking to Amp's back as she jumped right over Shootaf.
"/I said I got this! You on the other hand are both at a disadvantage.\" She then used a Thunder Shock to dispersed the incoming rocks, some striking her despite her best efforts. "/Just let me do this!\"
Recognizing that the Amp and Nory could hold their own for a bit, Kind saw the chance he was waiting for and quickly took a breath. He then stared at his shoes for a full 30 seconds even though every trainer is taught to never take their eyes off a battle.
Why is this Solrock attacking us? There is no trainer to order it and aggressive wild Pokémon do not claim territory near human habitats or routes. Maybe it holds a grudge against humans because some poach- STOP! The relevant information is that it is attacking. I can reason out its motive later.
It is a 1 on 4 fight, so our numbers is our advantage. We should set up a perimeter and attack from multiple angles. The polygon our Pokémon make should be regular, modified based on effective attack range and dodging speed. I can quickly estimate the correct modif- STOP! I cannot. There are too many variables.
I need to simplify the situation. The fastest way to do that is to return Pokémon. This compromises our most major advantage though. By returning Pokémon until the fight is 1 on 2, we preserving the numerical advantage while decreasing calculation time. This also opens the possibility of turning this fight into a battle of attrition against an opponent that has no Pokémon in reserve. If Nory and I each have one Pokémon in battle, our cognitive capabilities can both be utilized as once. In contrast, if Nory or I had 2 Pokémon in battle while the other had none, our cognitive abilities would be used sequentially instead of in parallel.
"Nory! Return one of your Pokémon!"
"What!? We have it outnumbered! We should-"
"Just #^&(%+} do it!" Nory stared at Kind wide eyed for a moment. He had never heard Kind swear before, or even yell. Sure, he raised his voice during Pokémon battles, but that was just to be heard. What just happened was completely different. There was another explosion as Amp's Thunder Shock was blocked by a Psywave.
Amp seems to he doing better than anyone else right now "Return Lil' Sev! Amp, Thunder Wave!"
"Shootaf, return!"
Nory squinted at Kind. What is he doing? A Bug- and Flying-Type versus a Rock-Type. Is he suicidal?!
"Charev, use Double Team as much as possible, but only in front of it!"
Correction: genius. "Got it! Amp, use Charge as much as possible. We have to use the most out of the time Charev is buying us!"
"/Gah! It really is true what they say about bugs!\" Charev wasn't listening to the attacking Solrock, instead focusing on hiding among his rapidly disappearing duplicates. The paralysis was helping, but it was still a matter of time before all the Double Teams in the worlds couldn't help him.
After a full minute, Solhund's train of thought became all over the place. This has stopped being a test quite a while ago. The Water and Dark attacks she took back-to-back made her angry; the constant misdirection she faced now made her utterly furious. "/CHEAP tactics! That's what this is! CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!\"
Nory trusted Kind with all his heart, but he had an idea he was itching to put into motion, and he wasn't the only one. Nory swiped his hand past his waist as he took a breath, waiting for the perfect moment. When one of the Solrock's attacks created a sizable dust cloud, Nory throw what he was holding with as much force as he could.
"/Ow! Was that a rock?\" Solhund wondered out loud as something bounced between her eyes. "/What kind of ill-mannered human chucks a rock at a Pokémon!?\" Solhund howled. Her eyes widened once she saw that it was actually a Pokéball.
"Sev use Bite, now!" Solhund was hardly quick enough to react to the Seviper emerging from her nearby Pokéball, letting the faster Pokémon latch on to a particularly vulnerable spot at the base of one of Solhund's horns.
"Amp! Use Thunder Shock, and give it everything you got!"
Amp was buzzing with stored electricity from the Charges she had used previously. She took a deep breath and unleashed it all in the most powerful blast she had ever experienced. She let out a scream as the ground around her was fragmented by the powerful currents. By random chance, one of the many bolts of electricity leapt toward the Solrock.
-.-.-
Panting. All Solhund could hear was her own panting. Panting was not even a thing she could conceive of herself doing only minutes ago. Well, they're clever I'll give them that, the Solrock thought as she slowly got up to make her escape.
"Charev!" Kind ran over to his downed Pokémon.
Charev slowly got to his feet with Kind's assistance. He replied between shaky, yet deep breaths, "/King Master, I am fine.\"
"Is everyone alright?" Nory asked while rubbing his eyes, trying to make the spots disappear.
"Yeah, we are all fine. I think that the Solrock will not be a problem anymore."
"What on Earth happened?"
"Amp did... did something. I am not sure."
"/N- N- Nory\"
"Sev! Lil' Sev! Is that you?" Nory's sight finally returned and he saw what was before him. Oh no. Lil' Sev was lying on the ground in an awkward pose with burns dotting her body. Her breaths were much too shallow and sparse. Nory sprinted past Amp, who was on a knee and clutching her chest, hyperventilating. "Sev! Come one, stay with me. SEV!"