13 Chapter 13: Going Solo
[General POV]
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{Time Skip 4 days}
Today was the last day Eli and Andre would be training. As Eli got ready to head out, he reviewed the progress of all four of his Pokémon.
Pokémon: Kubfu
Lvl: 31
Type: Fighting
Ability: Inner Focus
Gender: Male
Potential: Deep Gold
Moves: Rock Smash, Leer, Endure, Focus Energy, Aerial Ace, Reversal [E]
(Innate Talent) Brick Break [E] (Innate Talent) Bulk Up [E]
(TM) Protect, (TM) U-Turn, (TM) Ice Punch, (TM) Fire Punch, (TM) Thunder Punch, (TM) Mega Kick [E], (TM) Mega Punch, (TM) Substitute, (TM) Low Sweep
Pokémon: Corvisquire
Lvl: 31
Type: Flying
Ability: Keen Eye
Gender: Male
Potential: Gold
Moves: Peck, Leer, Power Trip, Hone Claws, Taunt [E], Fury Attack
(Innate Talent) Drill Peck [E] (Innate Talent) Tailwind [E]
(TM) Roost [E], (TM) U-Turn, (TM) Fly, (TM) Protect, (TM) Air Slash
Pokémon: Kirlia [Shiny]
Lvl: 32
Type: Psychic Fairy
Ability: Trace
Gender: Male
Potential: Shallow Diamond
Moves: Growl, Double Team, Disarming Voice, Confusion, Hypnosis, Teleport [E], Heal Pulse [E], Drain Kiss
(Perfect Talent) Dazzling Gleam [E] (Perfect Talent) Magical Leaf [E]
(TM) Protect, (TM) Light Screen, (TM) Reflect, (TM) Confuse Ray, (TM) Psychic, (TM) Shadow Ball
Pokémon: Fuecoco
Lvl: 9
Type: Fire
Ability: Unaware (Hidden Ability)
Gender: Male
Potential:Gold
Moves: Tackle, Leer, Ember, Round
(Innate Talent) Flamethrower (Innate Talent) Slack Off
(TM) Protect
A lot of things had happened in the span of those 4 days: Kirlia had passed Kubfu and Corvisquire in levels and had also gotten Heal Pulse to expert rank; Fuecoco had also begun his training on the 2nd day; and Eli had him get his Innate Talent moves to expert rank first. Kubfu honed Mega Kick to expert rank, its synergy with Brick Break undeniable. He also had began to train Ice Punch to the same mastery, aiming for future coverage against Flying and Dragon types. Additionally, significant progress was made on the second step of the Scroll of Waters.Meanwhile, Corvisquire already boasted Expert Rank Roost, with Protect close behind. Air Slash, however, remained a work in progress.
As he arrived at their usual spot, he noticed that Andre was already there, a first for him as he always seemed to arrive fashionably late. "Hey, why don't we just have a friendly battle with our Pokémon? I want to spend some time with my family before leaving tomorrow." Andre asked Eli. "Sure, I was thinking we meet up with Adrian and go out for some food in the afternoon too, as kind of a farewell party to you." Eli explained as Andre nodded, "Sure works for me; alright, lets get this party started. I don't have any strong 3rd Pokémon to match your 3 monsters, so it'll be a 2 on 2 alright?" Andre explained, to which Eli shrugged; he didn't mind it being two on two.
Eli sent out his Corvisquire and Fuecoco to watch from the sidelines. Corvisquire did have an indignant expression, realising he wasn't chosen, but Eli just patted his head while saying, "You've already fought Andre's team once; let Kirlia have some fun too." Corvisquire supposed he could give someone else the glory just this once as he grumpily stood next to the always smiling Fuecoco, with Larvitar and Eevee joining them.
"Alright, let us begin. Pancham go." Andre sent out his first Pokémon, his starter Pancham. "Kubfu, let's win this." Eli also sent out his starter. As the two fighting types squared each other off, the fight began. Eli scanned the Pancham to see his progress in training.
Pokémon: Pancham {Held Item: Muscle Band}
Lvl: 29
Type: Fighting
Ability: Iron Fist
Gender: Male
Potential: Gold
Moves: Low Kick, Brick Break, Taunt [E], Work Up [E]
(Innate Talent) Circle throw [E], (Innate Talent) Fake out [E]
(TM) Mega Kick [E], (TM) Thunder Punch [E], (TM) Mega Punch, (TM) False Swipe, (TM) Protect
While Pancham and Kubfu had a level gap of 1 during the tournament, now they had a level gap of 2. As Eli thought about why this was, he realised that no one went out in the wilderness to level as much as he did. He had astonishing level-up speed for his Pokémon, mostly because he trained in the wilderness for extended periods of time, where as even elite trainers were scared to do such a thing.
"Start with Bulk Up." Eli commanded his Pokémon to use his go-to strategy. "Taunt." Andre replied that as he had taunt on expert rank, he could now counter all other status moves on expert rank and below if he got it first. Kubfu barely finished one Bulk Up before he was hit by the Taunt. "Work Up." Andre pressed on as he had his own Pancham start to set up. 'I really need to buy Taunt for Kubfu as well.' Eli made a mental note to buy the move later. "Brick Break into Mega Kick; follow it with Aerial Ace." Eli commanded his fighter as he charged head-on with his hand glowing. "Circle Throw once he gets closer; initiate close quarters fighting; I'll let you run the battle from then on." Andre gave orders to his Pancham who smirked and nodded. As Kubfu neared with Brick Break, he tried slamming it onto Pancham's head, but Pancham caught it by clapping his hands at the right moment. Keeping the momentum, he threw Kubfu behind him, as without any other commands from his trainer—a jab here, a knee strike there—Pancham was in the zone pummeling Kubfu.
Kubfu, unable to do anything but take the beating, tried to block the hits, but every time he blocked one, another seemingly came out of nowhere. He couldn't even use protect to stop Pancham's momentum due to the Taunt. He had to deflect all of Pancham's attacks on instinct. Realising what he had been doing wrong, while he could attain extreme focus, he still made inefficient moves. Even if they were a fraction of a second, every move had to be with purpose.
Realization dawned on Kubfu as he began deflecting blows with increasing frequency, his parries growing sharper. A jab aimed at his center was met with a swift parry and countered with a thunderous Mega Punch. Pancham, attempting a Circle Throw while Kubfu launched a Brick Break, found his grip broken as Kubfu repositioned his footing, immovable like a boulder. Gradually, fluidly, Kubfu found his rhythm, turning the tide of the battle. A final, precise Brick Break landed squarely on Pancham's head, sending his opponent sprawling. But in the same instant, Pancham's Thunder Punch connected with Kubfu's gut, knocking him unconscious too. Though a draw, Eli beamed with pride. Kubfu had grasped the second step, mastering the art of efficient attack redirection
"Hot damn, did I just see that? Kubfu demolished my Pancham in the last part; if he had any more health, he would have won." Andre congratulated the little fighter, who had indeed come a long way in just a short amount of time. "Alright, Onix, you're up." Andre threw Onix's Poké Ball as the stone serpent came out with a menacing roar as he scanned the Stone Serpent.
Pokémon: Onix [Shiny]
Lvl:30
Type: Rock Ground
Ability: Weak Armor (Hidden Ability)
Gender: Male
Potential: Deep Gold
Moves: Rock Slide, Earthquake [E], ,Stealth Rock, Sandstorm [E], Sand Tomb,Harden, Rock Polish
(Innate Talent) Stone Edge [E] (Innate Talent) Iron Tail [E]
(TM) Flash cannon [E], (TM) Dig
'Kirlia' Eli spoke telepathically as he sent out his psychic. 'Your will is my command, Friend Trainer.' Kirlia replied. 'Start with Reflect, then Confuse Ray, and finally barrage him with Magical Leaf.' Eli gave out a multitude of commands, which were swiftly followed by the psychic. A barrier was set up by Kirlia before having to dodge with a teleport as Onix threw an iron tail at him before firing back a Confuse Ray, as the Stone serpent thrashed around after being hit by the Confuse Ray, Kirlia and bombarded it with Magical Leaves. Kirlia really made quick work out of Onix as there was nothing he could do. It's not that Onix or Andre were bad; Kirlia was just better. 'The serpent has fallen, friend trainer.' Kirlia reported more as a courtesy.
"Well played; I've never seen Onix demolished like that; what the hell do you feed your Kirlia?" Andre looked shocked as he healed his wounded Onix. "The blood of Mew." Eli joked as he patted Kirlia's head while Andre just rolled his eyes before seeing his Pokédex beep. "Adrian's asking if we're ready to go eat; let's head out, yeah?" Andre asked Eli as he recalled his Pokémon. Eli nodded as well as he returned his Pokémon before they headed back to Viridian City.
The trio met up and had a fun time in Viridian; this was probably the last time they'd be together for a while, so they made their time memorable. As Andre left at noon, Eli also decided to make his way to Pewter City to challenge his first gym by at least tomorrow; he thought he was overqualified for fighting the gym with how much his team had trained. Bidding both his friends farewell, he made his way through Viridian Forest. Making it inside the forest, Eli sent out his Kirlia and Fuecoco, while Kirlia would not allow anyone to sneak up on him, especially those rockets, who probably had him on their hit list, and Fuecoco to battle some trainers to help him level up.
This time around, Eli decided to take the main route as it was the quickest way to Pewter City, and he wanted to make it there by nightfall. Kirlia remained vigilant in sensing any threats as Fuecoco levelled up here and there from trainer battles, reaching level 12 quite the good progress. At the final stretch, he encountered a character he remembered from the anime; it was the Pinsir kid, Samurai. While he didn't have anything special, only a Deep Silver Pinsir at level 15, he decided to let Fuecoco have the battle as he had had too many easy battles as of late.
"Pinsir, use Bug Bite!" Samurai shouted as Pinsir lunged in for the attack. "Protect then Flamethrower." Fuecoco raised a translucent shield, blocking the attack as he fired right back with a mighty Flamethrower, charring the poor bug." Eli looked disappointed, as he was hoping for a greater challenge for Fuecoco, but he didn't find one. As he left the forest, he arrived at Pewter City, which again was scaled up way more than what the games showed. It was a budding metropolis with its own charm, centred mostly around rocks and fossils.
Eli had arrived very late, so he rushed to get a room in the Poké Centre, after which he decided to rest up with his Pokémon in his room as he let them out. He had come to realise that they had been doing nothing but training in their free time, so he decided to just let them socialise a bit. Fuecoco was the social butterfly, even talking with the more cold and silent Kubfu and Corvisquire. The atmosphere was lively with Fuecoco in the centre.
'Our own dysfunctional family.' Eli thought amused, sensing Eli's amusement. Kirlia let out a chuckle as he too decided to start up a conversation with his trainer. 'So, friend trainer, what will we be doing after beating this 'Gym'? I don't think it will be too hard.' Kirlia asked curiously. 'Well, I was hoping to get the badges as soon as possible, leaving time for dedicated training for us till the league started, but we'll have to see.' Eli explained his plans to his Pokémon, who nodded enthusiastically. 'You have my full support, friend trainer.' Kirlia backed up his trainer enthusiastically. Seeing his Pokémon so enthusiastic, he chuckled before chatting some more. Before long, it was time to go to sleep, as he and his Pokémon slept soundly.
