Chapter 4: The First Battle 

"Riolu, the Emanation Pokemon

It's exceedingly energetic, with enough stamina to keep running all through the night. Going for walks can be a challenging experience. Though infantile in appearance, it has the mysterious ability to read the minds of humans. The pure of heart are met with Riolu's approval, while those of ill nature earn only its loathing.

Type: Fighting"

Dratini, the Dragon Pokemon

It's still weak, so it dwells near bodies of rapidly flowing water, such as the plunge pools of waterfalls, eating whatever food sinks down and living a quiet life. It sheds its skin almost daily and grows larger. Its skin is soft just after it's been shed.

Type: Dragon

As the match begins, Trevor pulls out his pokedex to log both of our pokemon into its notes. Hearing more about Riolu's abilities, I'm sure that it will be able to pull out a surprise if I don't take it seriously and underestimate the little guy. While lost in thought, my opponent uses my momentary lapse of concentration to make the first move.

"Riolu, get in close with a quick attack and then use metal claw!"

With a nod of affirmation, the bipedal pokemon shoots forward with a burst of speed towards my pokemon in order to catch her off guard, showing just how quick it can truly be all while extending silver claws from the back of its paws. In less than a second, it has cleared the distance and is almost right in front of Dratini.

"Dratini, stop it with Leer and then use Wrap to immobilize it!"

Not wanting for Dratini to take a direct hit from Riolu, I have her use leer in order to stun the nimble fighting type just long enough for her to use her long body and stop its movements with a wrap, essentially using the advantage of her physique against him.

"No! Quick Riolu, use Metal Claw to try and get her off of you, and then use Force Palm!"

The Skater gives out a quick command to try and get Riolu to retaliate but the momentary delay in his orders gives Dratini enough time to tighten her grip on the little pokemon putting more pressure on its arms to where they can't move.

"Dratini, keep it from moving by using Thunder Wave to paralyze it, and then hit it with a Dragonbreath to knock it out!"

I didn't want her to harm herself with a point-blank dragonbreath, so I ordered her to use Thunder Wave to make sure that the Riolu wouldn't be able to use its speed to dodge out of the way and to also prevent it from escaping with any quick movements. Normally, Thunder Wave would be able to be used from a distance, but due to how she isn't used to using the attack, I didn't want to take the risk of it being dodged.

As the burst of electricity is released from Dratini and makes contact with Riolu, it causes their muscles to stiffen, staggering their movements and leaving them writhing helplessly on the ground as Dratini creates distance before letting loose a purple beam of draconic energy towards her opponent, causing it to be knocked out.

"Riolu is unable to battle! first point goes to Saya! Send out your next pokemon." Trevor announces to the two of us after the Skater recalls his Riolu while thanking it for his hard work. I was very surprised with how well my little girl managed to do in that battle; after all, she's still growing and barely has any experience doing battles against trainer Pokemon.

"You did amazing, darling!" When we get to Santalune, I'll make you a special batch of poffins just for you!" I don't always get a chance to make them, but I've always been interested in cooking, so I took up making custom food to help my pokemon grow better, but occasionally I spoil them with poffins when they've been on their best behavior.

"Tiiii Tiii" seems as though she's very happy with her reward, if her bouncing around is anything to go by. Giggling at her antics, I recall her and look down to my Gible, who is primed and ready for her chance at a battle after watching her sister win with such a larger margin.

"Are you ready to show everyone what you've got, Gible?" Let's make this 2-0 and win this, shall we?" seeing how well Dratini won her match i give a little pep talk to Gible so that she can really show her stuff. Though the two of them act like siblings, you'd actually be surprised at how competitive these two can be when it comes to battling and training. I usually let it go, as having someone to compete against can be a good motivator to improve if a proper relationship is built, and these two are both their biggest motivators and rivals.

"Gabu Ga!!!" Gible gives a pumped cry and jumps onto the field, kicking up a bit of dust into the air.

"alright lets turn this battle around come on out Litleo!" out of the pokeball comes a little lion cub with a tuft of flame on the top of its head brown fur and tail. With a cry of challenge, the tuft glows a bright red, trying to intimidate Gible, but to me, the cry seems more like a kitten's mewling than an actual roar, but it's the effort that counts. even if it is more cute than fear-inducing.

"Gible the Land Shark Pokemon

It nests in caves untouched by sunlight. It skulks in caves, and when prey or an enemy passes by, it leaps out and chomps them. The force of its attack sometimes chips its teeth. Its sharp teeth may fall out when worn away or after an impact, but they regrow in a few days.

Type: Dragon/Ground"

"Litleo, the Lion Cub Pokemon

When they're young, they live with a pride. once they're able to hunt prey on their own, they're kicked out and have to make their own way. The stronger the opponent it faces, the more heat surges from its mane and the more power flows through its body.

Type: Fire/Normal"

"The second match between Gible and Litleo will now begin!"

With that declaration from Trevor, I notice that for some reason my opponent, Litleo, seems to be a bit agitated and that the flame radiating from the tuft on its head is slowly but steadily increasing in intensity to the point where I can feel wafts of heat even from my side of the battle field. Not wanting to be caught off guard by attacking recklessly, I decide to play it passive, just in case.

"Gible buy some time to figure out what's going on with that Litleo! Once we know what they're up to go all out and smash through it!" After issuing my orders, Gible concentrates on the litleo and senses the still-ever-growing heat waves emanating from it.

"Don't give them a chance to figure you out Litleo! "Use Work Up and then blast them with an Ember Go!"not wanting to give us the chance to study them My opponent immediately gives me the order to give a ranged attack, perhaps wanting to wear out Gible from a distance after seeing how his Riolu went down in the first matchup. I'm still on guard for what he's planning, and I wait to see what he's planning; however, what happens next shocks both me and Gible.

"LEEEOOOOO!" Instead of a barrage of flames, what comes out is nothing more than a deluge of flames with such intensity that I almost thought that it was actually a flamethrower heading straight for Gible, who is still shocked at how powerful the move is, but we can't stay dazed by it forever. While dragons resist fire moves naturally, I don't want to take a direct hit from that.

"Gible, we can't just stand around! push it back with a Dragonbreath and don't let up!" While I'm not sure how those flames powered up so much with one work-up, I'm not willing to let a little shock put us on the back end of the match. If he sets the tempo, it'll be hard to reestablish the flow, so I order an all-out attack right from the get-go.

"Gibleeeeee!"With a surge of energy, a large purple beam heads straight for the boosted ember, causing both flame attacks to struggle for supremacy before ultimately canceling one another out with a deafening boom. The shock that I can feel all the way from where I'm standing wholly demonstrates just how powerful both attacks had been. Not wanting to suffer another attack of that nature, we quickly go on the offensive.

"Quick get into the ground with Dig before it can power up another Ember and then Tackle it!" noticing how the Litleo is starting to build up another ember, I quickly ordered Gible to hide in the ground in order to dodge the attack and also obscure her movements. After a few seconds, the ground underneath the fire type cracks and bursts out, revealing Gible, who quickly hits the little lion, dealing a lot of damage.

"Litleo get up and use Leer then use Headbutt to knock it away!" My opponent quickly orders not to be stunned for too long, causing the cub to send a glare at Gible that causes her to falter, leaving her open for a headbutt that sends her skidding across the field, not without sustaining some damage from her ability Rough Skin, but I notice that even that headbutt is far more powerful than it should be until it finally dawns on what is going on.

'This Litleo it's a girl isn't it? which means that boost in power has to be coming not just from work up but her ability Rivalry!' after finally realizing why my opponent we so strong in such a short amount of time i can see a way to exploit that boost now. due to how strong Litleo's flames have become thanks to Work Up and Rivalry she takes a few seconds to mold the flames before releasing them at us. I've got something that will allow us to attack while also using that power against it.

"Gible, next time Litleo uses ember, use the Sand Tomb and shape it into a dome right in front of it!" wasting no time in putting my plan into action, I rapidly give my orders to Gible, to which she gives an affirmative nod before waiting for Litleo to power up another fire attack.

"NOW!" with a shout, I give the signal for her to build a dome of sand in front of Litleo, who, just as she was about to release the attack, is shocked by the sudden appearance of a barrier of sand, releasing the attack, but due to the proximity, an explosion occurs point blank, kicking up a vast cloud of dust.

after around a minute of waiting for the dust and smoke to clear out all that's revealed is the fainted form of Litleo on the ground.  It seems my idea worked out just as I'd planned. Due to the intensity of the flames and how unfamiliar the little cub was with managing all that power, she had no time to lower the power before she released that attack, causing her to damage herself instead of having it blasted at Gible. If she managed to punch through the wall of sand, she would have been met with a Dragonbreath that I'd had her prepare discreetly behind the screen of sand.

"Litleo is unable to battle! Saya is the winner of the match." With a victorious cry from Trevor, I breathed a sigh of relief. I hadn't imagined Rivalry to give such an amazing boost like that; it truly was quite spectacular. If she had been more comfortable using all that newfound power, I'd have been in trouble.

I walk up to my opponent, we shake hands, and he hands me money for winning the battle. It isn't much, as you only have to give a small amount of money per league rules, and it stops you from putting another trainer in debt. This was put in place as a sort of check so that one trainer couldn't bully another one into a state of no longer being able to continue their own journey.

"Thank you for the thrilling battle! "You caught me off guard with that workup, but your Litleo is a female with rivalry, isn't she?" I question the skater with a sly grin on my face. After revealing the true cause for those intense flames having been caught, the skater gives a rather sheepish smile, confirming my suspicions.

after exchanging out goodbyes our trio and two happy dragons start back on the road to Santalune whose gates are rapidly coming into view. It took a bit longer than I'd expected, but we're finally near the town proper.

Lorekeeper_Mystique

So here it is the first battle of the series. how do you guys think it was? i wanted abilities to play a more prominent role along with the moves and how they can be used to various degrees. If you've any suggestions on how to improve the fight segments then please by all means give me your advice.