"Akira versus Mark, 1v1 Practice Match. Light contact only, send out your Pokémon!" Joseph casually acted as the referee.
"Phanpy, let's give it our all. Whether I make it into the Gym depends on this battle."
"Phan~ Phan!" Phanpy swung its trunk and called out seriously.
"Solosis, you give it your best too~" Mark wasn't about to lose either. He smiled after hearing Solosis's cheerful response.
"Battle start!"
"Unknown Pokémon 'Solosis', capable of levitation, initial analysis suggests the Levitate ability…" As the match began, Akira actually sat down, pulled out his laptop, and started analyzing data.
"Your opponent's not going to wait for you to finish analyzing! Solosis, use Charm!"
"Sola~"
Following the command, Solosis slowly floated up to Phanpy and affectionately rubbed against it. Its soft and childish voice immediately dulled Phanpy's will to attack.
"Speed average… Phanpy, use Rollout!" Although its Attack was greatly reduced, Akira showed no panic, calmly giving the counterattack command.
"Phan~"
Phanpy's gaze regained its resolve. With a light jump, it curled into a ball and began rolling furiously along the ground, charging straight at Solosis.
"Solosis, Reflect!"
Mark hadn't just recently caught Solosis. He knew its weakness was in speed, which is why he hadn't rushed to attack.
A golden Reflect flashed around Solosis's body, and Phanpy slammed into it hard, but only managed to deal minor damage.
"That's enough, Solosis, use Hidden Power!"
"Solaaa~"
Solosis let out a soft cry. Its body began to glow faintly as it gathered twenty shimmering energy orbs, which it then hurled straight at Phanpy.
"Turn and keep rolling!"
Phanpy had never stopped its Rollout. As the Hidden Power came flying in, it instead used the flexibility of its move to dodge the attack.
Bang~
Solosis was knocked back again. Though the power of Rollout had increased, it was still limited.
"Solosis, Psywave!"
"Sola~"
A sudden burst of invisible psychic force erupted from within Solosis and instantly struck the still-rolling Phanpy.
Psywave directly impacted Phanpy's mind, causing a strong daze. In that moment, it lost its balance and crashed into a rock nearby, forcing the move to stop.
Rollout might be weak at first, but once it builds up, it becomes a monstrous move. Almost unstoppable.
"Psychic-type… Phanpy, are you okay!" Akira suddenly understood and quickly followed up with a 'Trainer Move: Rejuvenating Roar'.
"Phan~" Phanpy shook its trunk. As a Ground-type, it might look cute, but it was still tough and resilient.
"Phanpy, use Rock Slide!"
"Solosis, don't be scared, use Shadow Ball!"
Rock Slide and Shadow Ball collided midair and exploded. Neither attack had any effect.
Mark figured it was time to end this match. If it dragged on any longer, even he would feel embarrassed.
"Solosis, full-power Psywave!"
Psywave was a special move, its power changed with each use.
…But since Mark had aimed for high power, this time it would definitely hit hard.
"Phanpy, Endure it!" Akira suddenly gave a special command. Just as he finished speaking, Psywave struck. Phanpy let out a pained cry on the spot.
"Hang in there, use Flail!"
At this moment, Akira had already stood up in excitement. He had known from the beginning that it would be difficult to beat Mark, so everything up to now had been setting up the combo of Endure + Flail.
Endure: If the attack would make it faint, it would survive it.
Flail: a frenzied and reckless move, the less stamina remaining, the stronger the power.
But in the next moment, the flames of excitement in Akira's heart were instantly extinguished. He only heard Mark calmly say, "Solosis, use Recover."
"Sola~"
A green light lit up from within Solosis. It hadn't taken much damage to begin with, and now all of it was healed.
Phanpy's Flail hit, but Solosis continued to restore its health.
For a move like Flail, which gambles everything, if it can't finish the opponent in one hit, it basically declares the battle over in advance.
Right now, Phanpy was at the point where a single hit would knock it out. If it used Flail again, it could even damage itself.
"Alright, let's stop here," Sato spoke up to end the battle. Mark swallowed his final command and held it in.
"You knew you were facing a tough opponent, so you prepared a combo from the start?"
"Ah? Uh, y-yes..." Faced with Sato's sudden question, the chubby kid stuttered again. He hadn't even been this nervous during the match.
Sato pressed his lips together, but still decided to say what needed to be said. "Too impulsive. Endure and Flail are for do-or-die situations, not for winning. If you go in thinking you'll lose, how can you possibly win..."
Then, Sato couldn't continue, because Akira already had teary eyes and was pouting hard, trying not to cry.
'…'
"But… barely qualified," Sato quickly added. Akira did have talent and was worth cultivating.
"Uwaa! I knew I did poorly and wasn't cut out to be a Trainer, uwaa… huh? Leader, did you just… hic- what did you say?"
"Don't cry, chubby! Sato said you passed the test. You're too big to cry, shame on you, bleh!" Trish popped out with a mischievous smile, teasing Akira.
She had come along just to see if there were any potential playmates. Sina and Sia acted like adults, which made her shy.
But this chubby kid was different… he looked like a perfect sidekick candidate. So Trish immediately jumped out to stake her claim as the leader of the pack.
"I didn't cry, it's… hic- just sand in my eyes," Akira quickly wiped away the tears streaming down and puffed up his "little" belly.
But the surrounding laughter still made him feel quite embarrassed. When he saw that Sato was the only one not laughing, Akira suddenly felt that the Leader must be a really good person. He had misunderstood him before! "Leader, I'll definitely train hard and become the backbone of the Gym!"
"The backbone of the Gym doesn't cry every time something gets tough," Sato said faintly.
"Pfft hahahaha…" x3 "I-I-I won't cry ever again, uwaa!"
At that, even Sato couldn't help but smile a little. Some people are just born to bring joy, Akira was one of them.
"One more thing, did your parents agree?" Joseph was the first to suppress his laughter and asked Akira.
"They did. They just went to work… I'll tell them when they get back," Akira mumbled.
"Good. Have them come to the Pokémon Center tonight. That way your parents can rest easy too."
"Okay, I got it."
"Training is tough. I hope you can stick with it."
"Mhm!"
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150 Powah Stones = Unlimited -1 - Chawpaht