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When he awoke the next morning, Eevee stood over him, chanting his name softly to wake him up. With a yawn, he gestured Eevee from his lap and wiped his eyes, giving his face a wake-up slap to finish off. He motioned from out of his sleeping bag, and slipped on a fresh pair of dark blue jeans and a button-up shirt to match. Once dressed, he exited the Pokémon Centre and proceeded onward to Viridian Forest, careful to avoid the grass patches and trees as best he could.
Barely managing to travel through Route 2 without a problem, Ethan and his team prepared to enter the wild natural maze before them. With a tentative step forward, the young trainer embarked through the front entrance to the maze, the small building he had seen many a time during his Route 2 expeditions. Inside, there were people standing around making conversation, and though a few of them waved invitingly he continued to walk to the opposite side, walking towards the second set of doors. As Ethan reached for the doors, he paused, staring down at Eevee who could sense his master’s apprehension, and nudged at his feet with encouragement. “Here we go…” Ethan gulped, bracing himself for what was to meet him as he slowly opened the door.
The image Ethan had formed in his mind about Viridian Forest was almost exactly as he thought. The overgrown grass accompanied by the tall trees teemed with pokémon and at a glance, he noticed one or two trainers that were itching to fight. Ethan shied away from the trainer for the time being, not particularly sure that his pokémon were strong enough to battle them just yet. A few minutes later, he found a nice little spot away from the trainers, keeping a close eye out for wild pokémon in the process.
Moments later, he spotted a Kakuna, quickly logging the pokémon into his PokéDex. Then, with a swift point in its direction, Ethan summoned Eevee to battle it. “Use Tackle!” He directed, knowing that Kakuna rarely moved, let alone attacked. However, just at Eevee went in for the blow, Kakuna hardened. Eevee’s attack landed, but did not do much to it at all, and after another instructed Tackle being bounced off completely, Ethan had to think quickly.
“Kakuna is trying to bounce you back with Harden, Eevee. We need to stop it from defending, so try using Sand Attack first, then use Tackle.” Ethan spoke, initiating a newly designed tactic. Eevee immediately turned to acknowledge his master’s words, and moved quickly into action. Eevee smartly kicked up a clump of dust, but did not prevent Kakuna from hardening its shell and minimizing the damage once more. Ethan cursed, he was sure that it would work.
Well, it seems to have taken a couple of hits, but it isn’t going down. He pondered. If I can somehow force it out of being defensive, then maybe I’ll cause it to faint sooner. Aha!
Ethan reacted quickly, “Eevee, rush in and use Tail Whip as it hardens. It might force it to soften up again, so when it does, use Tackle.” He said, hoping it would work… and it did!
Eevee dashed over to the cocoon pokémon and flicked his tail teasingly as it predicted another Tackle, forcing it to abandon its Harden temporarily. Seizing this chance, Eevee clattered the pokémon with some force. Exploiting this, Ethan continued to repeat this until finally the Kakuna could not continue to battle. Eevee looked a little tired from the battle, but only due to the energy he used, probably not used to having to attack so much in one battle.
Ethan called Eevee over for a congratulatory snack, stroking his partner’s ear as he ate. “Good Job.” He said softly. Suddenly, someone called out to him, causing Ethan to jump up in surprise.
“Hello?” He answered.
“I just saw your battle with that Kakuna. It was okay… I guess.” The trainer exclaimed cockily. Eevee stood in front of Ethan, growling fiercely. The little fox felt insulted, and could sense that Ethan did too. However, Ethan understood that such a remark begged for an angered response, and merely shrugged with a neutral expression. The boy that stood in front of him stood with an arrogant posture, and based on his attire, could not be anything other than a bug catcher. With that in mind, Ethan decided to wait for the boy to continue.
“How’s about we battle, huh?” The bug trainer asked, “I need the warm-up…”
Ethan could not back out from such a request. It is Ethan’s duty, as a trainer, to battle against other trainers to be the best, even in ill-prepared situations. In addition, Ethan did not want someone so overconfident to have more fuel to boost his ego by him declining.
“All right, then. I will accept your challenge.” Ethan responded, taking a few steps back from the bug trainer to allow a decent sized battlefield. With the stage set, and his idea bank filling up, Ethan only needed his opponent to call out a pokémon.
“Weedle, go!” The boy shouted, tossing a pokéball from his hands. The Weedle shot from the ball in a red flash of light, and stood ready to battle. Taking one look at Eevee, he knew that the fox wanted to prove himself after hearing such an insult. ”We will show him a good battle, won’t we Eevee?” He announced, confident that Eevee will do his best.
With the two pokémon squaring up to one another on the field, both trainers prepared to commence the battle. Ethan’s nerves succumbed to the overwhelming excitement he now felt, and whichever way this battle went, he knew it would be a good experience.
In amongst the trees and patches of grass, the two trainers stood within fairly even ground. With the environment around them, a trainer could make use of the surrounding trees for a better vantage point, and the long grass had its uses in concealment and ambush strategies. Recalling what happened yesterday, Ethan took notice of this, more so now than he had before. Although Ethan had yet to see the bug trainer’s pokémon in action, it was safe to say that Weedle was limited to Poison Sting and String Shot. Nevertheless, those moves could possibly be enough to stand well against Eevee.
Without wasting time, Ethan called out to Eevee. “Stay alert and evade incoming attacks, but test it out with Tackle!” He bellowed, thrusting a hand forward commandingly. Eevee launched into attacking strides a moment later, advancing upon Weedle with good speed. However, Weedle shot at Eevee with String Shot, forcing the tiny fox to dodge. “Ha! I’ve got you!” Yelled the boy, “Weedle, use Poison Sting now!”
Weedle sprung forward using its segmented body and lowered its head, ready to injure and possibly poison Eevee. The thought of having to cope with poison so early on in his journey made Ethan worry, but for the sake of his companions, he was determined to stay calm. As the worm neared, Ethan remembered Sand Attack with a glint in his eye.
“Use Sand Attack, then counter with Tackle!” Ethan roared.
Eevee turned and kicked up dust using his heels, blinding Weedle and creating a sort of cover, as the thick dust formed into a small cloud. As Weedle stopped to prevent dust invading its eyes, Eevee came through the dust cloud and slammed into his foe with good tackle, knocking the bug to the ground.
“So you are pretty good after all.” The boy admits, “But this is only just beginning, so Weedle, use Poison Sting again!”
Getting up from the tackle with surprising haste, Weedle began to press forward with another attack. The way Weedle seemed to get up so easily after taking a hit from Eevee could only mean that this was a well-trained pokémon. It dug its horned forehead into Eevee’s side, causing a dose of pain that took Ethan by surprise.
“Eevee, try to dodge the next attack, then use Tail Whip and Tackle!” Ethan said constructively.
Eevee dodged a String Shot, which had intended for his forelimbs, and wagged his cute tail provokingly. There was a pause before Eevee attacked the now defensively absentminded bug with a great deal of force. Once again, Weedle fell in pain, but got back up… albeit rather gingerly this time. Using this chance to follow up with an attack, Ethan quickly insisted another attack. With great speed, Eevee managed to deliver a knockout blow before Weedle could fully recover. The boy stood in disbelief, but quickly overcame his shock shortly after.
“Okay, okay, you got me there, but how will you do against this?” The boy said, returning his Weedle and throwing another pokémon out on the field. This time, the pokémon happened to be a Kakuna, and with his prior experience with a Kakuna previously, the young trainer raised a brow. Ethan stared at the boy inquisitively and said, “Are you sure you want to battle with that pokémon?”
The boy laughed. “You obviously don’t understand it yet, but you’ll see…” He grinned, not giving anything away and further placing Ethan in the dark. With a sigh, Ethan kept Eevee out on the field, seeing it as the safest choice.
“Alright then Eevee, let us go first again. Hit it with Tackle, and then use Sand Attack.” Ethan announced. In response, the bug catcher replied, “Use Harden!”
Showing good pace once again despite an injury, Eevee thudded into the Kakuna with some force. However, with the damage-limiting Harden in effect, Eevee barely scratched the surface. With Eevee scooting backwards to flick up dust, the solid bug did something that Ethan did not expect; it attacked. By the bug catcher’s order, Kakuna shot its appendages forward and shot out a flurry of poisonous stingers at Eevee, doing a fair amount of damage. To make matters worse, it followed up with String Shot, before shooting at Eevee with Poison Sting once more.
The attack took Ethan by surprise. Not only had his prized pokémon suffered moderate damage, but also the viscous thread that shot from Kakuna slowed Eevee down too. To make matters worse, poison might have seeped into Eevee, but after a quick examination as Eevee staggered back, Ethan's shoulders slumped in relief. “That could have been worse, Eevee, so let’s be more careful in the approach.” Ethan started, recollecting his thoughts. “We need to get that gunk off of your legs right away, so use Sand Attack and dive into the long grass.”
Just as the bug catcher had finished ordering Kakuna it fired a burst round of pins at Eevee, but using the Sand Attack as cover, Eevee slid away into the brush and proceeded to nibble away the sticky thread. With Eevee in hiding, the bug catcher grew impatient, and instructed Kakuna to fire blindly into the grass. Ethan, on the other hand, remained calm. He even smirked as Kakuna bombarded the trees and bushes.
“That is cheating! Your pokémon shouldn’t be allowed to just leave the battlefield. You should be disqualified!” The outraged boy erupted noisily, Ethan wincing as the boys pitch shot through his ears. However, Ethan shook his head in response.
“Technically, because we aren’t using a stadium, there is no strict boundary to go by…” Ethan argued, “Even so, many stadiums simulate environments such as this. Gym leaders are prime examples of this, so that they can tailor their style of battling and their pokémon to the battlefield they use for the ultimate advantage.”
At that precise moment, Eevee came out of the grass gingerly. Kakuna struck Eevee with Poison Sting despite shooting blind, but fortunately, Eevee avoided being poisoned. It became clear that Eevee had removed all of the string shot fibres binding his legs, and was ready to end the fight.
“It seems that your blind fire tactic worked somehow, but not as well as you would have hoped.” Ethan called out to the bug catcher, in a commending manner. He then turned to Eevee and knelt close. “Don’t worry, I have an idea. Run at Kakuna, but move side to side. Then, once you are close enough, flick sand into its eyes and run around it. Kick up more dust as you do so, then on my command, use Tackle on Kakuna.”
With the plan in place, Eevee jolted forward, staffing left and right as Kakuna tried to immobilise him with String Shot and Poison Sting. Then, as Eevee neared, he skidded to the side and kicked up a cloud of dust. With Kakuna’s vision impeded, Eevee circled it with haste, using its tail and hind legs to blind Kakuna with more sand. With the massive grainy cloud in place, Ethan gave the command to attack, and Eevee obeyed. Leaping into the centre, Eevee tackled Kakuna and emerged on the other side.
“Kakuna, Harden!” The bug trainer yelled, as Eevee turned for another attack. Although not stopping Eevee’s onslaught, it did make it harder for the little fox to deal damage, but as the dust settled, Eevee and Kakuna stood side by side. Eevee pressed hard upon Kakauna’s bolstered shell, but Kakuna held firm nevertheless. To everybody’s surprise, Kakuna’s hardened veil disappeared suddenly, and the two pokémon fell back. Kakuna fell to the side, unable to get up and fight. This signalled the end of a dramatic second round.
Ethan thought for a moment, concluding that maybe Kakuna was supposed to break the tide of battle and shift it towards the bug catcher, which would explain the sullen look upon the child’s face. As Eevee returned to Ethan’s side, he threw out Weedle’s pokéball. In response, the bug catcher tossed his last pokémon onto the field; a second Weedle. This third battle went on for a good few minutes, and though Ethan’s Weedle won, it took a few direct hits in the process, rather fortunate that poison pokémon are immune to poison attack.
“That was a good battle; I look forward to a rematch sometime.” Ethan said, returning a victorious Weedle and reaching out for a handshake. The boy looked rather embarrassed, but shook Ethan’s hand anyway. “Thank you and I’m sorry for being cocky.” He muttered, looking down and passing a pouch of money into Ethan’s hand. Ethan just smiled and walked away, searching for a spot to tend to his pokémon.
When he awoke the next morning, Eevee stood over him, chanting his name softly to wake him up. With a yawn, he gestured Eevee from his lap and wiped his eyes, giving his face a wake-up slap to finish off. He motioned from out of his sleeping bag, and slipped on a fresh pair of dark blue jeans and a button-up shirt to match. Once dressed, he exited the Pokémon Centre and proceeded onward to Viridian Forest, careful to avoid the grass patches and trees as best he could.
Barely managing to travel through Route 2 without a problem, Ethan and his team prepared to enter the wild natural maze before them. With a tentative step forward, the young trainer embarked through the front entrance to the maze, the small building he had seen many a time during his Route 2 expeditions. Inside, there were people standing around making conversation, and though a few of them waved invitingly he continued to walk to the opposite side, walking towards the second set of doors. As Ethan reached for the doors, he paused, staring down at Eevee who could sense his master’s apprehension, and nudged at his feet with encouragement. “Here we go…” Ethan gulped, bracing himself for what was to meet him as he slowly opened the door.
The image Ethan had formed in his mind about Viridian Forest was almost exactly as he thought. The overgrown grass accompanied by the tall trees teemed with pokémon and at a glance, he noticed one or two trainers that were itching to fight. Ethan shied away from the trainer for the time being, not particularly sure that his pokémon were strong enough to battle them just yet. A few minutes later, he found a nice little spot away from the trainers, keeping a close eye out for wild pokémon in the process.
Moments later, he spotted a Kakuna, quickly logging the pokémon into his PokéDex. Then, with a swift point in its direction, Ethan summoned Eevee to battle it. “Use Tackle!” He directed, knowing that Kakuna rarely moved, let alone attacked. However, just at Eevee went in for the blow, Kakuna hardened. Eevee’s attack landed, but did not do much to it at all, and after another instructed Tackle being bounced off completely, Ethan had to think quickly.
“Kakuna is trying to bounce you back with Harden, Eevee. We need to stop it from defending, so try using Sand Attack first, then use Tackle.” Ethan spoke, initiating a newly designed tactic. Eevee immediately turned to acknowledge his master’s words, and moved quickly into action. Eevee smartly kicked up a clump of dust, but did not prevent Kakuna from hardening its shell and minimizing the damage once more. Ethan cursed, he was sure that it would work.
Well, it seems to have taken a couple of hits, but it isn’t going down. He pondered. If I can somehow force it out of being defensive, then maybe I’ll cause it to faint sooner. Aha!
Ethan reacted quickly, “Eevee, rush in and use Tail Whip as it hardens. It might force it to soften up again, so when it does, use Tackle.” He said, hoping it would work… and it did!
Eevee dashed over to the cocoon pokémon and flicked his tail teasingly as it predicted another Tackle, forcing it to abandon its Harden temporarily. Seizing this chance, Eevee clattered the pokémon with some force. Exploiting this, Ethan continued to repeat this until finally the Kakuna could not continue to battle. Eevee looked a little tired from the battle, but only due to the energy he used, probably not used to having to attack so much in one battle.
Ethan called Eevee over for a congratulatory snack, stroking his partner’s ear as he ate. “Good Job.” He said softly. Suddenly, someone called out to him, causing Ethan to jump up in surprise.
“Hello?” He answered.
“I just saw your battle with that Kakuna. It was okay… I guess.” The trainer exclaimed cockily. Eevee stood in front of Ethan, growling fiercely. The little fox felt insulted, and could sense that Ethan did too. However, Ethan understood that such a remark begged for an angered response, and merely shrugged with a neutral expression. The boy that stood in front of him stood with an arrogant posture, and based on his attire, could not be anything other than a bug catcher. With that in mind, Ethan decided to wait for the boy to continue.
“How’s about we battle, huh?” The bug trainer asked, “I need the warm-up…”
Ethan could not back out from such a request. It is Ethan’s duty, as a trainer, to battle against other trainers to be the best, even in ill-prepared situations. In addition, Ethan did not want someone so overconfident to have more fuel to boost his ego by him declining.
“All right, then. I will accept your challenge.” Ethan responded, taking a few steps back from the bug trainer to allow a decent sized battlefield. With the stage set, and his idea bank filling up, Ethan only needed his opponent to call out a pokémon.
“Weedle, go!” The boy shouted, tossing a pokéball from his hands. The Weedle shot from the ball in a red flash of light, and stood ready to battle. Taking one look at Eevee, he knew that the fox wanted to prove himself after hearing such an insult. ”We will show him a good battle, won’t we Eevee?” He announced, confident that Eevee will do his best.
With the two pokémon squaring up to one another on the field, both trainers prepared to commence the battle. Ethan’s nerves succumbed to the overwhelming excitement he now felt, and whichever way this battle went, he knew it would be a good experience.
In amongst the trees and patches of grass, the two trainers stood within fairly even ground. With the environment around them, a trainer could make use of the surrounding trees for a better vantage point, and the long grass had its uses in concealment and ambush strategies. Recalling what happened yesterday, Ethan took notice of this, more so now than he had before. Although Ethan had yet to see the bug trainer’s pokémon in action, it was safe to say that Weedle was limited to Poison Sting and String Shot. Nevertheless, those moves could possibly be enough to stand well against Eevee.
Without wasting time, Ethan called out to Eevee. “Stay alert and evade incoming attacks, but test it out with Tackle!” He bellowed, thrusting a hand forward commandingly. Eevee launched into attacking strides a moment later, advancing upon Weedle with good speed. However, Weedle shot at Eevee with String Shot, forcing the tiny fox to dodge. “Ha! I’ve got you!” Yelled the boy, “Weedle, use Poison Sting now!”
Weedle sprung forward using its segmented body and lowered its head, ready to injure and possibly poison Eevee. The thought of having to cope with poison so early on in his journey made Ethan worry, but for the sake of his companions, he was determined to stay calm. As the worm neared, Ethan remembered Sand Attack with a glint in his eye.
“Use Sand Attack, then counter with Tackle!” Ethan roared.
Eevee turned and kicked up dust using his heels, blinding Weedle and creating a sort of cover, as the thick dust formed into a small cloud. As Weedle stopped to prevent dust invading its eyes, Eevee came through the dust cloud and slammed into his foe with good tackle, knocking the bug to the ground.
“So you are pretty good after all.” The boy admits, “But this is only just beginning, so Weedle, use Poison Sting again!”
Getting up from the tackle with surprising haste, Weedle began to press forward with another attack. The way Weedle seemed to get up so easily after taking a hit from Eevee could only mean that this was a well-trained pokémon. It dug its horned forehead into Eevee’s side, causing a dose of pain that took Ethan by surprise.
“Eevee, try to dodge the next attack, then use Tail Whip and Tackle!” Ethan said constructively.
Eevee dodged a String Shot, which had intended for his forelimbs, and wagged his cute tail provokingly. There was a pause before Eevee attacked the now defensively absentminded bug with a great deal of force. Once again, Weedle fell in pain, but got back up… albeit rather gingerly this time. Using this chance to follow up with an attack, Ethan quickly insisted another attack. With great speed, Eevee managed to deliver a knockout blow before Weedle could fully recover. The boy stood in disbelief, but quickly overcame his shock shortly after.
“Okay, okay, you got me there, but how will you do against this?” The boy said, returning his Weedle and throwing another pokémon out on the field. This time, the pokémon happened to be a Kakuna, and with his prior experience with a Kakuna previously, the young trainer raised a brow. Ethan stared at the boy inquisitively and said, “Are you sure you want to battle with that pokémon?”
The boy laughed. “You obviously don’t understand it yet, but you’ll see…” He grinned, not giving anything away and further placing Ethan in the dark. With a sigh, Ethan kept Eevee out on the field, seeing it as the safest choice.
“Alright then Eevee, let us go first again. Hit it with Tackle, and then use Sand Attack.” Ethan announced. In response, the bug catcher replied, “Use Harden!”
Showing good pace once again despite an injury, Eevee thudded into the Kakuna with some force. However, with the damage-limiting Harden in effect, Eevee barely scratched the surface. With Eevee scooting backwards to flick up dust, the solid bug did something that Ethan did not expect; it attacked. By the bug catcher’s order, Kakuna shot its appendages forward and shot out a flurry of poisonous stingers at Eevee, doing a fair amount of damage. To make matters worse, it followed up with String Shot, before shooting at Eevee with Poison Sting once more.
The attack took Ethan by surprise. Not only had his prized pokémon suffered moderate damage, but also the viscous thread that shot from Kakuna slowed Eevee down too. To make matters worse, poison might have seeped into Eevee, but after a quick examination as Eevee staggered back, Ethan's shoulders slumped in relief. “That could have been worse, Eevee, so let’s be more careful in the approach.” Ethan started, recollecting his thoughts. “We need to get that gunk off of your legs right away, so use Sand Attack and dive into the long grass.”
Just as the bug catcher had finished ordering Kakuna it fired a burst round of pins at Eevee, but using the Sand Attack as cover, Eevee slid away into the brush and proceeded to nibble away the sticky thread. With Eevee in hiding, the bug catcher grew impatient, and instructed Kakuna to fire blindly into the grass. Ethan, on the other hand, remained calm. He even smirked as Kakuna bombarded the trees and bushes.
“That is cheating! Your pokémon shouldn’t be allowed to just leave the battlefield. You should be disqualified!” The outraged boy erupted noisily, Ethan wincing as the boys pitch shot through his ears. However, Ethan shook his head in response.
“Technically, because we aren’t using a stadium, there is no strict boundary to go by…” Ethan argued, “Even so, many stadiums simulate environments such as this. Gym leaders are prime examples of this, so that they can tailor their style of battling and their pokémon to the battlefield they use for the ultimate advantage.”
At that precise moment, Eevee came out of the grass gingerly. Kakuna struck Eevee with Poison Sting despite shooting blind, but fortunately, Eevee avoided being poisoned. It became clear that Eevee had removed all of the string shot fibres binding his legs, and was ready to end the fight.
“It seems that your blind fire tactic worked somehow, but not as well as you would have hoped.” Ethan called out to the bug catcher, in a commending manner. He then turned to Eevee and knelt close. “Don’t worry, I have an idea. Run at Kakuna, but move side to side. Then, once you are close enough, flick sand into its eyes and run around it. Kick up more dust as you do so, then on my command, use Tackle on Kakuna.”
With the plan in place, Eevee jolted forward, staffing left and right as Kakuna tried to immobilise him with String Shot and Poison Sting. Then, as Eevee neared, he skidded to the side and kicked up a cloud of dust. With Kakuna’s vision impeded, Eevee circled it with haste, using its tail and hind legs to blind Kakuna with more sand. With the massive grainy cloud in place, Ethan gave the command to attack, and Eevee obeyed. Leaping into the centre, Eevee tackled Kakuna and emerged on the other side.
“Kakuna, Harden!” The bug trainer yelled, as Eevee turned for another attack. Although not stopping Eevee’s onslaught, it did make it harder for the little fox to deal damage, but as the dust settled, Eevee and Kakuna stood side by side. Eevee pressed hard upon Kakauna’s bolstered shell, but Kakuna held firm nevertheless. To everybody’s surprise, Kakuna’s hardened veil disappeared suddenly, and the two pokémon fell back. Kakuna fell to the side, unable to get up and fight. This signalled the end of a dramatic second round.
Ethan thought for a moment, concluding that maybe Kakuna was supposed to break the tide of battle and shift it towards the bug catcher, which would explain the sullen look upon the child’s face. As Eevee returned to Ethan’s side, he threw out Weedle’s pokéball. In response, the bug catcher tossed his last pokémon onto the field; a second Weedle. This third battle went on for a good few minutes, and though Ethan’s Weedle won, it took a few direct hits in the process, rather fortunate that poison pokémon are immune to poison attack.
“That was a good battle; I look forward to a rematch sometime.” Ethan said, returning a victorious Weedle and reaching out for a handshake. The boy looked rather embarrassed, but shook Ethan’s hand anyway. “Thank you and I’m sorry for being cocky.” He muttered, looking down and passing a pouch of money into Ethan’s hand. Ethan just smiled and walked away, searching for a spot to tend to his pokémon.
