Unova Adventures 4

Oshawott VS Riolu! Training match of Destiny?!

“Oh, it’s a Riolu,” muttered Jimmy, Sarah’s Pokedex scanned the blue canine.
”Riolu, The Emanation Pokémon. Riolu’s stamina is high, and can cross three mountains in a single night. This Fighting-type Pokémon uses special Aura-moves to take it’s opponents down.” the Pokedex stated.
“Well, if it’s a Fighting type, I’m gonna catch it,” grinned Sarah, she pulled out her Pokeball, “Oshawott! Stick with me!”
The Pokeball opened, Oshawott emerged with a cheerful smile, waving to Sarah.
“Focus Oshawott, look!” she pointed at the Riolu, whom was stood with a berry in one paw, half of it had already been eaten as indictaed by the small bite marks, “that Riolu is your target! Get ready to battle!”
“Osha? OSHAWOTT!” Oshawott faced Riolu, looking ready to fight, it pumped it’s stubby little arms in a strong-man pose, which failed to impress Riolu at all.
“Alright Oshawott, Tackle attack!”
Oshawott dashed forward, turning to one side so it could tackle with it’s full body. Riolu ate the final part of the berry and readied itself; pushing both arms out it caught Oshawott and at the same time shoved it back sending it flying.
“What was that?” Sarah muttered.
“That was a Counter attack,” muttered Jimmy, “I think you need to try a different move, why not have Oshawott use Water Gun?”
“Huh?” Sarah turned to Oshawott, who was standing back up, looking ready for more despite taking the beating, “Oshawott, can you even USE Water Gun?”
Oshawott nodded, giving another strongman-flex, then charged back at Riolu.
“Alright, Oshawott, let’s see you use that Water Gun!”
Oshawott gurgled in it’s throat, using a small jet of water, aiming it right at Riolu. Riolu looked ready to try another Counter, but ended up simply drained.
“Riolu’s relying on Counter too much,” muttered Jimmy, “it doesn’t even work on attacks that aren’t physical moves.”
“Right, so try another Water Gun, Oshawott!” called Sarah.
Oshawott raised a stubby arm in a salute then gurgled once more, shooting water at the wild Riolu.
“Ri...” Riolu growled as it took the hit, and once the water had died down, it began to glow bright blue.
“What’s that?” asked Sarah.
“It’s about to use an Aura move...” Jimmy looked thoughtful, “Oshawott needs to do something and fast...”
“Uh...” Sarah panicked as Riolu darted towards Oshawott, who seemed to have hunkered down, “Oshawott! Stay strong!”
Oshawott grunted as the attack connected, sending blue waves through the otter’s body. Yet even as Oshawott cried out in pain, it seemed to be moving forward again without waiting for a comman, it’s eyes glowing red. Before Riolu could evade, Oshawott smacked it in the stomach with a stubby arm, sending Riolu tumbling back into a tree, causing it to lie stunned.
“Sarah, now’s your chance!”
“Pokeball, go!” Sarah took aim and hurled the Pokeball as hard as she could, causing it to collide with Riolu, converting it to red energy and sucking it inside. The Pokeball’s red button glowed briefly, but didn’t even wriggle before turning back to white, signalling the capture.
Sarah grinned, then wandered over to inspect her newest capture.
“Riolu welcome to the team,” she grinned, turning back to Oshawott who hadn’t moved, “that was awesome, what move did you use Oshawo- wait, Oshawott?”
Before anyone could react, Oshawott collapsed, completely exhausted.
“Oshawott!”

At the Floccesy Pokémon Centre, Sarah and Jimmy sat talking about the upcoming Gym Battle.
“So the reason you were out here is to get some training?” asked Jimmy, “I guess that Gym Leader’s pretty tough.”
“He is,” agreed Sarah, “beat me in two moves. Hopefully, with both Riolu and Oshawott, I’ll be able to win this time around.”
“Sounds awesome,” Jimmy nodded, “I’ll have to come and watch this.”
“You will? I thought you were researching the Legendary Pokémon around here?” Sarah turned as the Nurse approached, handing her the two Pokeballs back.
“I am, but that doesn’t mean I can’t watch you battle a Gym Leader. Besides, you want to train, right?”
Sarah nodded as Jimmy looked up at Klink, floating above them slowly, “then what better opponent then Klink? We’ll train together if you want.”
“Against Klink? Are you sure?” Sarah looked a bit worried.
“Sure, I need to let Klink battle whenever we can. Besides, it might be fun to see how I fare against Oshawott.”

The Pokémon Centre didn’t have a battleground like in some of the larger towns, so Sarah and Jimmy simply used an open field, where the air was blowing gently. Several Mareep had gathered at the edges of the field, behind the fences, to watch.
“Oshawott! Stick with me!” called Sarah as the Pokeball opened up, Oshawott performed another strongman pose, was this going to be its trademark pose?
“Alright, Klink, you’re up!” called Jimmy, hurling his own Pokeball.
“Klink-klink,” squeaked the gears as they rotated together, Oshawott looked surprised.
“Osha! Osha-Osha-wott!” it called to the Klink, who responded, “klink!”
“That’s enough banter,” Jimmy gave a small bow and raised an arm, “m’lady can have the first move.”
“Alright, if you insist,” Sarah blushed a bit but shook it clear, “alright, Oshawott! Start with Tackle!”
Oshawott raced forward, slamming into Klink, who was knocked back, but otherwise appeared unharmed, “Klink?”
“What, no damage?” Sarah shouted.
“Actually, Klink is a Steel-type,” nodded Jimmy sagely, “which means Normal moves like Tackle won’t do much damage. Now it’s our turn to attack. Grab it with Vicegrip!”
Klink spun so it was laying “flat” in mid-air, then sped over to Oshawott, the surprised Pokémon was unable to do much as it was caught between the two gears, squeezed slowly.
“Oshawott!” squeaked Sarah, peeking out from between her fingers, “stay strong!”
Oshawott wheezed as it was suddenly released from the grip, Klink backing away and righting itself.
“Time to strike back, try a Water Gun!”
“OSHA!” An angry-looing Oshawott spat water at the Klink, which let out a loud “KLIINK!” as it was soaked.
Jimmy looked panicked, “we can deal with this Klink! Use Charge!”
Klink began to rapidly rotate it’s two gears together, glowing yellow as it did, after a few seconds of this, it seemed to stop but the glow didn’t vanish.
“Huh? Charge?” Sarah seemed to consider this, “ah, who cares, Oshawott, Water Gun!”
Oshawott Gurgled it’s Water Gun, scoring another direct hit. Unlike last time, Klink didn’t appear to be fazed as much by this attack.
“Charge raises a Pokémon’s special defence, so elemental attacks are going to cause less damage,” Jimmy grinned, “now it’s time to finish this off, Klink, attack with Gear Grind!”
“Klink-klink-KLINK!” Klink’s spinning started again this time, but this time it separated into two pieces and raced at Oshawott, looking to catch it between the two mini-gears.
“Oshawott... Um... Do that thing again!”
“Osha?” Oshawott looked back at Sarah, not sure what to make of this command. Sarah grinned.
“That thing when you were fighting Riolu, use that move!”
Oshawott seemed to understand this and hunkered down, it’s body glowing red. Klink’s attack made contact, trying to grind the otter Pokémon between the two gears, Oshawott’s red glow flared like a flame, and it reached out, pushing the two gears away, causing them to go flying, “KLINK!”
The gears, unable to be apart for too long, quickly came together and rotated, but the turning had slowed, showing it had taken a strong hit.
“I get it now, Oshawott’s learned how to use Revenge... Interesting...” Jimmy smiled, “alright that’s enough. Klink return!”
Klink vanished in the red beam, leaving Sarah confused, “what about the training?”
“It’s fine,” Jimmy shrugged, “you guys seem ready to take on the Gym Leader now. That battle was just so you can get ready for it.”
“You think so?” Sarah grinned, “alright! I’m feeling pretty confident now!”
Oshawott cheered and posed in the strongman pose once more.

With their backs to Flocessy, Sarah and Jimmy set out for Aspertia City, Sarh felt confident she could win this time. The only remaining question was, “would she?”

Next time: Riolu’s Battle Debut! The art of the Counter Attack!