The man who was observing our excited faces finally spoke.
"Okay, here are the rules—everyone will have to win three times to win the whole game. After every round, you have a thirty-minute break. If your Pokémon is injured badly or has been affected by a status condition, I will heal it for you. Go all out and don't hold back."
The excitement was palpable on the faces of the participants, and I was no exception.
The man spoke again.
"The first battle is between Nicholas and NPC-1. Don't waste time and send out your Pokémon quickly."
'Wait, so quickly? Never mind…'
I throw out my Pokéball, and so does NPC-1. Our Pokéballs open at the same time. From his comes out a small purple rat, and from mine, a blue bat.
'A Rattata… this shouldn't be very difficult… A low-level Rattata should only know Tackle… My Zubat should know Leech Life, Astonish, and Supersonic. Astonish is useless for this fight, so it seems I have to use just Supersonic and Leech Life.'
I looked at the person opposite me and saw him a bit distracted. Not one to waste such an opportunity, I called out:
"Zubat, Supersonic!"
Zubat lets out a sharp sound that travels toward Rattata.
"Rattata, dodge!"
Rattata tries to dodge, but due to the trainer's late reaction, it is hit by Supersonic.
"Rattata, try a Tackle!"
Rattata did not trigger the confusion and started running towards my zubat. If I wanted, I could tell Zubat to ascend and play an aerial game, but it would be useless since I didn't have any ranged moves in my arsenal.
"Zubat, brace yourself and let him hit you!"
As soon as Rattata hits Zubat, I immediately issue a command.
"Don't let go—Leech Life on its neck!"
Zubat latches onto the neck of the Rattata, absorbing a good amount of health.
"Rattata, break free!"
Rattata tries to break free but immediately triggers the confusion.
"Zubat, keep using Leech Life!"
Zubat keeps the Rattata in place and continues using Leech Life. Finally, Rattata breaks free and tries to get away.
"Zubat, don't let go! Pursue and hit a final Leech Life!"
"Rattata, be careful!"
Unfortunately, it was too late. Rattata gets hit by a final Leech Life and is out.
The man announces,
"Rattata is knocked out. The winner is Nicholas."
I could, for some reason, see stars in his eyes as he looked at me. Imagine an old man with scars looking at you like that. I can finally relate to Harry Potter. Also, this is… definitely not suspicious… What am I even thinking? That guy is definitely a recruiter or something and will try to recruit the winner with some incentive, allowing the better performers to keep their Pokémon if they join… But there's not much I can do at this point, so let's see how it plays out.
The man doesn't waste much time and says,
"Next battle is between NPC-2 and NPC-3. Please send out your Pokémon."
The two trainers send out their Pokémon. NPC-2 sends out a Koffing, and NPC-3 sends out a… Koffing as well.
The man looked a bit amused at first but then started the battle.
"Let the battle commence!"
The outcome was very unexpected… Koffing won. Well, the Koffing of NPC-3, that is.
The next battle was between NPC-4, with a Pidgey, and NPC-5, with a Sandshrew. Sandshrew had put up quite a fight but was overpowered due to Pidgey's aerial fighting style.
The final battle is between the orange-haired girl—whose name is apparently Selena—and NPC-6. Selena sends out a Meowth, and the NPC sends out an Ekans. Unexpectedly, the girl absolutely dominated the fight, but it is not surprising. STAB Fury Swipes is very scary. She might be the toughest opponent in this fight.
After the fight, the man says,
"Okay, kids, the first round is over. The second round will start in thirty minutes. I recommend you familiarize yourself with your Pokémon and develop a few strategies. Nicholas will be fighting NPC-3, and Selena will be fighting NPC-4."
After saying that, he went and sat at a distance, observing us.
I didn't waste much time. I went to a corner and took out Zubat from its Pokéball. Zubat was looking at me a bit warily but also curiously.
"Hello, Zubat. Thank you for fighting for me in the first battle—you did great!"
As I said that, I gently reached out and started stroking its comical head.
Zubat looked happy and started flying around me excitedly.
'Is it really that easy to befriend Pokémon?'
I looked around and saw the other kids… They were struggling, to say the least. Even Selena, who seemed a bit experienced, seemed to be getting ignored by her Meowth. Well, Zubat must be a great match for me then, I thought with a grin.
"Hey, Zubat, if I win, we can be partners. So, will you help me, please?"
Zubat, still flying around, stopped and nodded enthusiastically.
"Okay. Do you know any moves besides Leech Life, Supersonic, and Astonish?"
Zubat thought for a while, then turned around. It started flapping its tiny wings, and a gust of wind hit the tree.
'So, Gust, eh? I thought Zubat would know Absorb at best, but not bad at all. If I remember correctly, Zubat learns Gust by level-up in Legends: Arceus game.
I first looked around to make sure that no one saw.
"That was great, Zubat! With this, our chances of winning are very high. Okay, since our next opponent is Koffing, I want you to listen to me carefully. I have thought of a plan that will guarantee our victory."
I then started whispering my 'master' plan to Zubat, who listened to me while flapping its wings excitedly.
After thirty minutes, the man gets up and says,
"Okay, time's up. The second round starts now. Nicholas and NPC-3, please come forward and release your Pokémon."
We went to our respective positions and released our Pokémons—Zubat versus Koffing.
'Hn, this will be a cakewalk.'
"Let the battle commence!"
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