Pokemon : The Timeless Journey

Chapter 29 : First Battle against a Pokemon Trainer

Orion replied, "Sure, I'm Orion."

Emma was asked the same question and agreed as well. They moved to a spot where no one was fighting and stood opposite each other.

Orion and Roland both grabbed a Pokeball and threw it in front of them.
"Go Rattata"
"Go Machop"

A level 6 Rattata and a level 8 Machop faced each other. Orion couldn't help but think, 'Poor guy. His luck sucks… Though I shouldn't look down on him too much. After all…'

The memory of Rattata's tail cutting into his forearm was still fresh in Orion's mind. Roland immediately commanded, "Rattata, use Quick Attack!"

Orion commanded, "Machop, endure the hit and counter with Revenge!"

Rattata, despite being weaker, was much faster than Machop. As a result, Orion didn't want to compete with Bullet Punch even though there was a chance that Bullet Punch could hit Rattata first. Not to mention, Revenge was just too perfect for this situation!

As Orion expected, Rattata moved at a rapid speed and directly hit Machop's abdomen. Roland's face lit up. However, at the very next second, Machop was covered in an Orange aura as he unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks.

The Rattata was flung back to its trainer. It had already lost consciousness. Roland looked shocked as he didn't understand how he was beaten so quickly.

Orion smiled and patted his Machop and said, "Good job buddy."
Machop flexed his muscles happily once again. Roland called back Rattata and said, "You are very strong, Orion."

Without saying anything else, he quickly left to heal his Rattata. Orion looked puzzled as he thought, 'That's weird. It feels like I am forgetting something…'

He quickly realized, 'Wait! A defeated Trainer doesn't give money???'

He quickly looked around and saw several other kids being defeated. However, no one gave anyone money. He sighed internally and thought, 'What a shame… If it was like in the games, I'd have let Rhyhorn run amok and challenged everyone. Even if a Pokemon Trainer gave me just 100 Pokecoins, if I defeated a thousand, then that would be enough food to last until next year's batch…'

While Orion suddenly recalled some of his memories, Cedric was looking at him in surprise. He analyzed, 'This boy is very good at battles! He understood that his opponent was faster and let him come close. He even let the Rattata attack his Machop so that the Revenge's power would be doubled. Not to mention, Revenge was already super effective on Rattata and gets a STAB bonus. It was as if Rattata was attacked by Revenge 6 times! Even if that Rattata had a higher level, it wouldn't have any chance of withstanding that attack.'

Orion's performance caught several eyes. He was immediately challenged by another.

Meanwhile, Emma was in a tough fight. Her opponent had a level 8 Bellsprout. Though her Meditite had two super effective attacks, the Bellsprout was using Vine Whip continuously to keep Meditite away so that it couldn't use Ice Punch or Fire Punch on it.

After trying to get close for several minutes, Emma instructed, "Meditite, use Fire Punch on those vines!"

Meditite's right fist immediately engulfed in fire as she punched the incoming vines repeatedly. It caused the vines to start burning and hurt Bellsprout as the vines were still a part of its body.

The Bellsprout's trainer frowned and commanded, "Bellsprout, use Ingrain."

Orion shook his head on seeing it and wondered, 'This battle will go on for a long time. It's a match between whether Bellsprout is able to catch Meditite or Meditite is able to reach close and hit it with Fire Punch.'

Orion looked towards the new kid called Brook who came to challenge him and accepted the battle.
"Go Pidgey"
"Get ready, Machop"

Orion frowned on seeing the Pidgey and thought, 'Its aura is slightly higher than Machop's. It should be level 9. Shit, it will know Gust!'

Unlike Orion who couldn't find any opponents, the new trainers found plenty and could fight daily until their Pokemon could no longer fight. It was why their Pokemon levelled up much faster than Orion's Rhyhorn. It was pretty common for a Pokemon to reach level 10 from level 5 within a couple of weeks of the new Trainer receiving the Pokemon.

It did get harder from there onwards as most Trainers started their journey after a couple of weeks and the number of challengers available would decrease significantly. Of course, once the levels get higher, the speed would reduce drastically, especially if the Pokemon's Talent isn't high.

Orion's guess was accurate. The Pidgey he was facing had just reached level 9 and learnt Gust. As he expected, Brook commanded, "Pidgey, fly high into the sky and use Gust!"

As the Pidgey flew higher, it completely exceeded the range of Machop's attack. Understanding his situation, Orion commanded, "Machop, hide behind those trees."

Machop quickly ran towards a tree and hid behind it. Since Pidgey had just learnt the move, he was quite bad at it. The move hadn't even reached basic mastery. As a result, it took a few seconds of flapping its wings at a high speed to prepare the move, giving Machop plenty of time.

Soon, a strong Gust of Wind hit the tree, causing it to sway around but Machop was completely safe behind the tree. Orion analyzed, 'Its move mastery is terrible. If it could have created a mini-tornado, then Machop could have been in trouble even while hiding behind the tree.'

Brook shouted, "Hey, don't be so cowardly! Why is your Pokemon hiding behind the trees?"
Orion looked at him and asked, "Why is your Pokemon hiding in the sky? What's the point of such a battle?"
Brook replied, "He is flying because he has wings. Don't blame me because your starter isn't a Flying type."
Orion chuckled and said, "Well, my Machop is hiding behind the trees because he can. I'll just keep hiding until your Pidgey tires out. Hehehe."

Orion's opponent frowned and thought, 'Such an annoying brat! I could level my Pidgey so quickly because he can fly. If he keeps hiding, then I can't harm him. But at close range, his Machop is very strong. That Rattata didn't stand a chance!'

As he was thinking, Orion taunted, "What happened, are you too chicken to fight in a fair manner?"

Orion's words angered Brook who immediately instructed, "Pidgey, get close to him and use Gust so that he won't be able to hide behind a tree."

Orion instructed, "Machop, keep hiding behind the tree and change your position depending on where the Pidgey is."

The Pidgey flew slightly closer to the tree towards the side where Machop was and used Gust again. However, Machop just hid on the other side. He tried moving while using the Gust to hit the opposite side as well but was too slow in doing it as he hadn't mastered the move yet. In addition, the power of the move had started falling as well.

Orion noticed it and immediately instructed, "Machop, climb up the tree and get close. Use Bullet Punch!"

Machop immediately climbed up the tree and used Bullet Punch. Brook panicked and shouted, "Pidgey, get away from him!"

Unfortunately, Pidgey was slightly tired due to using Gust repeatedly. Machop gritted his teeth and moved through the Gust to reach Pidgey when Orion shouted, "Machop, grab his wings and use Revenge!"

Machop immediately opened his fist and grabbed Pidgey's wings. An orange aura surrounded him as he began kicking Pidgey repeatedly as the two of them began falling to the ground.

Brook noticed the damage Pidgey was taking and immediately shouted, "Wait, I give up!"

Orion was surprised. He instructed, "Machop, let him go and return."

Machop was surprised to hear the command as well. He recalled Orion's words and let the Pidgey go and jumped down on his feet before returning to Orion.

Brook quickly rushed to the Pidgey while Orion thought, 'This guy is good. Even though he fell for the taunt, he didn't lose his mind entirely and kept some distance. And right when Pidgey was taking a lot of damage he gave up so that his Pidgey won't need a long time to recover and he can continue fighting and levelling…'

Orion was surprised. He didn't expect a newbie Trainer to be so smart. Of course, there was someone else who was more surprised!