The sudden impact knocked the Normal-type to the ground and the air from his lungs. He quickly regained his feet and dodged as the attacker wheeled around and came again from the opposite side.
"Quick Attack, Dexter!"
Before his nickname had even entirely left the human's mouth, he took aim and launched himself at his opponent, sending the blue Pokémon sprawling on her shell. Sensing that the battle was over, he sat on his haunches and rubbed his face with one paw, pleased with his work.
"Aw, it's alright, Squirt," the other human murmured to the fallen Water-type. "Why don't you take a break and try again in a while?"
Dexter's human, Santina, knelt down next to him, stroking his spiky brown fur, and Dexter pressed his face against the white covering she wore. His human had no fur on most of her body, instead covering it with a large white fabric. Dexter had grown used to this particular attire – many of the humans here wore this coat, including the male a few paces away that had been commanding the Squirtle.
Dexter had battled all three of the young hatchlings, each time taking care not to be too rough with them – he only every used body attacks, never his more powerful biting moves. These were purely training exercises, not real battles. The young ones still had trouble aiming their physical assaults properly, let alone posing a threat. Their main goal now was to improve their speed and aim without compromising the power of their attacks. Dexter had taken over most of this stage of their preparation – before that, they had been attacking much larger Pokémon to practice the basics of their moves. They were greatly improving, and Dexter was pleased to see (and feel) that each hit was harder than the one before.
He could sense the air gradually warming, and he knew that the hatchlings would soon be leaving with humans of their own. He had also trained last year's set, and the day couldn't be more than a week or so away.
Looking at the Water-type, temporarily called "Squirt" by the researchers (her new trainer would also likely give her a new name), he decided that she still needed to improve her speed – it was far too easy to dodge her (admittedly hard-hitting) Tackles.
The Fire-type was his next battle – "Char" still needed to work on the power of his attacks. It wasn't uncommon for the young Charmanders, though, as Scratch was trickier to perfect than Tackle. The young Bulbasaur ("Saur"), lying down in the shade of a nearby tree, still needed to perfect his aim.
As Santina rose, Dexter crouched into his battle-stance, muscles flexing and ready to move. Char stood several paces away, small arms raised and a trying-to-be-menacing snarl on his face. Dexter could see the flame of the Fire-type's tail swinging back and forth.
"Char, use Scratch!"
Baring his fangs, Dexter waited for Santina's command.
A quick peek into how the little guys are doing - there will still be another chapter up this weekend.
At the time I'm uploading this one, 5 people have read Chapter 2! I'm psyched that you've taken the time to read this - it means a lot! Thank you!
As always, feedback is welcome and loved! I can't wait to write more!