Kris and I stood on opposite ends of the field, smiling at each other with a fierce glint in our eyes. It was as if we were in a deadlock, neither one of us moving to the Pokeballs on our belt. Just then, a pen dropped in the lab and the professor's loud complaints interrupted the silence.

"Chikorita, show them what you've got!"

"Cyndaquil, It's your turn!"

Both Pokémon appeared on the field, determination shining in their eyes. Or well, I guess I couldn't see either of their eyes, but I could just tell.

They were ready.

Both of us quickly took a second to scan our Pokémon with our Pokedexes. Mine whirred a bit before speaking in a robotic male voice.

"Chikorita, the Leaf Pokémon. Chikorita loves to bask in the sunlight. It uses the leaf on its head to seek out warm places by checking for the temperature."

It then showed me a screen listing Chikorita's moves, which included tackle, growl, and vine whip.

I looked up to see Kris grinning at me, making me do the same. We both put our dexes away and waited for a moment. A second passed, and Kris made the first move.

"Cyndaquil, get in close! Be careful of Chikorita's vines!"

I smacked my lips in annoyance. She must've known that Chikorita had vine whip somehow.

"Chikorita, use growl!"

The small Pokémon tensed and let out a small, threatening growl. I could see Cyndaquil freeze up for a moment before moving again, this time more wary.

"Use tackle!"

Cyndaquil launched forward with unexpected speed, but I reacted quickly.

"Vine whip! Smack him away from you!"

Chikorita tensed yet again and two of the small nubs surrounding her neck grew into long vines, reaching to smack Cyndaquil, but Kris countered by yelling at him to jump.

After Cyndaquil jumped out of reach, Chikorita tried to reach for him once more but Kris had a plan for it.

"Use tackle to get to the ground faster! Pin his vines under you!"

Cyndaquil somehow gained the momentum to nosedive into the ground right as Chikorita's vines were about to reach him.

"Retract the vines!"

He tried, but Cyndaquil managed to grab a hold on each of them and was being dragged with them.

"Nevermind! Throw him off!"

"Let go and tackle!"

Chikorita tried to throw him away, but Cyndaquil took his small hands off of the vines just in time and dashed forward, the opening for him to attack clear.

"Retract and try to block the attack!"

After a quick skim over Chikorita's description, I knew he didn't have enough speed to dodge from this range. He retracted the vines and held them in an "X" in front of himself, but Cyndaquil just barreled through them like they weren't there. His tackle connected and sent Chikorita skidding back toward me, but he stood firm.

"You've got this! Trip him up with vine whip!"

Chikorita's vines rushed forward with more speed than before, swiping at Cyndaquil's feet before he could jump as Kris ordered. He fell to the ground with a cry and Chikorita immediately tried to get a hold on him, but Kris was one step ahead.

"Use double kick to launch yourself toward Chikorita!"

My eyes widened as Cyndaquil kicked the ground hard enough for a bit of dust to fly up, launching himself forward with the fighting type move.

"Dodge to the right!"

Chikorita moved just in time and was only grazed by the speeding bullet that was Cyndaquil. The hit still managed to send him skidding backward and now that the dodge unbalanced him, he fell on his side.

"Use tackle and finish the fight!"

"Uhh...use your vines to push yourself up, and grab Cyndaquil!"

Chikorita pulled himself up in time, but due to my hesitation, he couldn't move his vines fast enough to grab Cyndaquil out of the air and was flung backward with a tackle. He cried out in pain, but my eyes widened as he tried to stand up again. He managed to pull himself up for only a second before his legs gave out and he fell again.

I rushed over and pulled a potion out of my bag, spraying him a few times before putting it away. He lifted himself up but when I tried to offer him a smile reassuring smile he refuses to look me in the eyes.

"Chikorita. You were amazing out there. Thanks for trusting me so easily. I'll make sure to get us that win next time."

He looked up at me in disbelief before smiling happily.

"Chiko!"

I chuckle and pick him up, hugging him gently. Kris does the same with Cyndaquil and rushes over, smiling brightly.

"Wow, that was such a great first battle! Come on, come on! Let's train for a bit! We need to start as soon as possible!"

I nodded and we both retreated to our own corners of the field. I released Skitty next to Chikorita and knelt down to their height, hoping for them to understand my words well enough. The fact that Pokémon understood English, or I guess it would be Galarian, was not one that I planned on trying to make sense of, but it certainly made things much easier for me.

"Chikorita...I'll have you work on your vine's speeds. I'll throw a rock in the air to different heights, and you have to smack it away before it touches the ground. Try to hold back a bit so I don't have to find a new rock every time, alright?"

My new partner nodded with a smile and moved a bit further away, waiting for me to finish explaining Skitty's training. I pulled out my Pokédex again and scanned her.

"Skitty, the Kitten Pokémon. This Pokémon can't stop itself from chasing moving things, and it often chases its own tail."

I look over her moves for a second before nodding. Fake out, Swift, tail whip, tackle, and sing were moves I didn't exactly know how to train...at least not yet.

"Skitty, I want you to train your speed. You're going to run through those trees over there until you get tuckered out, and your goal is to maneuver through all of them without hitting any. Sound good?"

"Mreow."

She sets off into the bushes and I hear the sounds of her running on the dirt. I smile and turn to Chikorita, who looks up at me in wonder.

"Okay, let's begin." I say, picking up a small rock near my feet.

Chikorita extends two vines from completely different nubs around his neck, making my eyebrow raise.

'I suppose that makes sense. Is there a way for all of them to be out at once? Would he still be able to do that once he evolved? Is there some sort of cooldown period for each one?'

I push the thought away for later, focusing on what I already planned.

"Ok, I'll count down from three and then I'll throw it. You ready?"

Chikorita nods resolutely.

"Three...two...one!"

I throw the rock high into the air, making Chikorita cry out as he reaches for it with his vines. In a second, the rock is gently knocked out of the sky back to my feet.

"Great job." I say with a smile, which earns a happy cry from him.

We continue like this for an hour. I make sure to throw the rock to different distances at different times. The rock touched the ground a couple of times near the start, but I saw obvious progress as we continued and by the end, I was confident no rock would ever get past Chikorita's vines. Just as Chikorita finished smashing the rock into the ground and Skitty came out of the nearby brush panting and a little scuffed up, we heard a startled yell from inside the building. I looked toward the sound and saw someone with red hair sneaking out of the window.

"What was that?!" Kris asked, startled in the middle of increasing Cyndaquil's control of his flames.

"I don't know...but I have a feeling. Go check it out and catch up with me, I'll be right back."

I quickly sprayed Skitty once with the potion and returned both of them, keeping my eyes on the suspicious person before running after them.

I ran around the building and gave chase to the red haired guy, my mind whirring with possibilities.

'This scenario is familiar. Is he part of the evil team or something? I think I remember this happening.'

My endurance training for the last month helped immensely as I gained speed and eventually got close enough for the guy to notice. He stops running and turns to me as we break the forest line.

"Who the hell are you?" He says with a scowl.

"I'm one of the sponsored lab trainers. I saw you sneaking out of the window, what did you take?" My question seems to shock him before he chuckles and takes out a Pokeball.

"Just this."

He throws it forward and out comes Totodile, who looks extremely confused.

"You...!"

He doesn't react as I glare and throw Chikorita out, who looks ready to fight.

"You may have the type advantage, but it means nothing. I can tell you that you and your Pokémon are weak."

My glare only becomes more pronounced at his every word. Totodile looks around in confusion once more before getting into a battle stance, probably thinking that she just got picked by a trainer instead of stolen.

"Totodile, aqua jet."

My eyes widen as she disappears and reappears in front of Chikorita in an instant, her entire body coated with water. Before I can even get a word out, Chikorita is hit and skids a few meters back, but I can tell the attack didn't do too much damage.

"Vine whip! Try to grab her as best you can!"

His vines lash out with greater speed than in their earlier battle, the fruits of our training showing already. He uses one vine to attack from the front, and one to attack from behind, without even needing direction from me.

"Aqua jet to get close, then scratch."

Totodile pauses for a moment, as if computing the idea in her head, but moves just in time for the vine to miss her.

"Retract!"

The vines fly back toward Chikorita like retracting measuring tape. Totodile appears in front of Chikorita, but before she can scratch him, she is hit in the back with two vines, making her cry out in pain.

"Now grab her!"

His vines twist to grab Totodile by the arms, but the mysterious guy recalls her before the attack lands.

I look to him, but he is completely silent as he puts her pokeball on his belt and takes out another one. He throws it in the air and a black cat with sharp claws lands gracefully on the ground, looking bored.

'Is that a...Sneasel?'

Too shocked to say anything, my opponent takes the opportunity and makes the first move.

"Sneasel, Ice shard."

I blink and three sharp shards of ice are flying toward Chikorita at breakneck speed.

"Block!"

I don't have time to elaborate on what to do, but thankfully Chikorita understands. He smacks one of the shards off course and slows the momentum of the other one by blocking with his vine, but I can tell that it hurt him when a piece of it was cut off. The last shard lands true and digs into his side, making him let out a pained cry.

"Again."

I act fast and recall Chikorita, letting the shards sink deep into the ground. I feel doubt rushing through my mind as my hand hovers over Skitty's ball.

'Can Skitty defeat Sneasel?'

My indecision makes the guy click his tongue.

"I see you have two Pokeballs. Send it out or run back to your little lab, fool."

I glare at him and take out Skitty's Pokeball, releasing her onto the field. As soon as she sees Sneasel, she hisses and her tiny claws come out.

"Huh...now I see why you hesitated. Sneasel, end this quickly."

With seemingly no order called from its trainer, Sneasel vanished from sight.

"Fake out!"

Skitty vanishes just as Sneasel reappears, coming back into my vision to slap Sneasel in the face. The dark blue cat gasps in shock and flinches, giving us time to launch another attack.

"Sing!"

The red-haired guy's eyes widen as Skitty sucks in a breath, getting ready to sing a lullaby right in Sneasel's ear.

"Sneasel, quick attack dodge!"

Right before the notes come out of Skitty's mouth, Sneasel vanishes yet again and Skitty is left vulnerable as she can't stop the note in time. Sneasel reappears and kicks Skitty in the back of the head, launching her face first into the ground with a pained cry.

"Skitty!"

"Point-blank Ice shard."

My eyes widen and I look at the guy, but he just watches the scene uncaringly, not phased that he's about to badly injure my Pokémon.

"Return!"

Yet again, I recall my Pokémon just before the sharp pieces of ice embed themselves into the ground, sinking even deeper into the dirt. The thought of Skitty being hit with that made me freeze in fear.

"What a waste of time." The guy recalls his Sneasel and runs in the opposite direction, but I stop myself before running after him. His Sneasel would certainly beat Skitty and Chikorita as they are now. I hesitate for a second before I reluctantly turn around and run to the Pokémon center.

After I rush inside, I quickly hand over both of my Pokémon to Nurse Joy and begin explaining the situation. The more questions she asked, the more stupid I felt. All I could tell her was that he had pale skin and shoulder length blood red hair. She made a few calls before having me sit on the couch so I could wait for my Pokémon to be healed.

"Connor!"

I looked at the door and saw Kris rushing over, similar to our first meeting. Professor Elm walks in behind her, looking more pissed than I'd ever seen him. Even more so than the time Kris spilled his coffee all over his keyboard and the paperwork on his desk.

"Someone broke in and stole Totodile! Did you catch them?"

I shook my head no and began to explain the situation. Professor Elm looked startled when I mentioned the kid had a Sneasel, as they were pretty much exclusive to Mt. Silver, which is a dangerous snowy mountain filled with powerful Pokémon.

"You did a good job stalling him, but you should've told me what you were doing before chasing him. I could've got my team and had I been there...hah. Don't worry about it, I'll take it from here. You two just go along and start your journey, I don't want to ruin the beginning of a new adventure by making you do heaps of paperwork."

Kris and I shuddered as the Professor chuckled, waving us off after Chikorita and Skitty were healed.

"Well...we're kind of late to the party, but that just means we'll have to push harder! Let's go!"

Kris exclaims before immediately sprinting toward the forest path leading out of Newbark, making me pause before rushing after her.

"Wait! I need to buy stuff from the mart!"

My cries are promptly ignored as Kris just increases her speed, making me groan as I do the same.

AN

First battle done! Yes, the main character lost his first battle. I want to emphasize this now, Kris is a genius when it comes to Pokémon battling. She took one look at Cyndaquil's moves and devised a plan to counter Chikorita's vines from the start. Also, there you go, Totodile enjoyers! Silver stole himself a starter. I tried to make this a bit more realistic by giving him Sneasel before he steals it, but it's still kind of insane that he just snuck into a lab and snatched it up. Anyway, have a good one y'all. Bye!