A Test of Strength

"Poochyena, use Howl!"

As the battle began, A Lin gave the first command.

Following A Lin's order, Poochyena opened its mouth and let out a long, ringing howl to raise its Attack.

"Starly, use Gust!"

Bai Shi wasted no time issuing a command of his own.

Starly beat its wings, sending a powerful rush of air toward Poochyena.

"Go, Poochyena! Use Bite!"

A Lin clenched his fists and shouted to Poochyena.

Rather than retreating, Poochyena pushed straight through the blast of wind and lunged at Starly.

It tried to tear Starly apart with its sharp teeth.

"Starly, get higher, quick!"

Bai Shi's expression changed, and he hurriedly called out to Starly.

His opponent's approach to battle seemed rather reckless.

Starly flapped hard and soared higher.

Poochyena's ferocious lunge left it biting nothing but air.

"Starly, use Gust again!"

Having dodged his opponent's attack, Bai Shi immediately ordered Starly to counter.

From above, Starly sent another powerful blast of air at Poochyena on the ground.

It dealt considerable damage to Poochyena.

"Poochyena, hurry and use Mud-Slap!"

Seeing this, A Lin gave Poochyena a new command.

Poochyena rapidly scraped its forepaws along the ground, flinging several clumps of mud at Starly in the air.

In his panic, A Lin had forgotten the basic fact that Ground-type moves could not damage Flying-type Pokémon.

"Starly, dodge!"

Bai Shi's eyes gleamed as he directed Starly.

Since my opponent wants a head-on clash, I'm not going to give him one.

I'll use Starly's flight advantage to wear Poochyena down first, then find the right moment to finish it in one go.

At his command, Starly nimbly dodged through the air.

It kept its distance throughout, denying its opponent any chance to get close.

Poochyena's move accomplished nothing.

"Damn it! Stop dodging if you've got the guts!"

"Poochyena, keep using Mud-Slap!"

A Lin went Scratch-crazy, scratched his head in frustration, and shouted to Poochyena.

His continued lack of results was gradually making him anxious.

At A Lin's order, Poochyena kept flinging clumps of mud at Starly overhead.

Unfortunately, Starly nimbly avoided them all without taking any damage.

Instead, Bai Shi found an opening to settle the battle.

"Now's the time! Starly, use Quick Attack!"

At Bai Shi's command, Starly suddenly accelerated, turning into a streak of white light as it shot toward Poochyena with Lei-like speed.

Having already exhausted much of its stamina, Poochyena could not react in time and was sent flying by Starly's tackle.

"So fast!"

A Lin sucked in a sharp breath at the sight and cried out in surprise.

A moment ago, his Poochyena had been chasing Starly all over the place with Mud-Slap.

How had Starly suddenly sent Poochyena flying?

For a moment, A Lin's mind went blank.

"Starly, use Wing Attack!"

Bai Shi pressed his advantage, ordering Starly to keep attacking.

Starly spread its wings and swept them into Poochyena's head with a whistle of wind.

Thud!

Poochyena collapsed, unable to battle.

"..."

Defeated, A Lin lowered his head in dejection and fell briefly silent.

When he and Bai Shi had driven Seviper away together, he had not thought much of it.

He had still believed that they were roughly equal in strength.

He had played a part in driving Seviper away, after all.

Although he was immensely grateful to Bai Shi for saving him,

he had not thought that Bai Shi was stronger than him.

Only now did he realize how foolish that belief had been.

Bai Shi really had not wanted to battle earlier; it had not been a matter of lacking strength or being afraid of him.

Ultimately, beating a few Pokémon Trainers had gone to his head.

He had even forgotten his parents' warning to be careful, which they had given him before he left home.

That was why he had overestimated himself and gone out of his way to provoke that Seviper.

Even while battling Bai Shi, he had thought only of winning quickly and completely lost his composure.

"I've still got a long way to go!"

After reflecting on his mistakes, A Lin shook his head helplessly with a wry smile.

He still had many shortcomings to overcome before he could become a powerful Pokémon Trainer like his idol, Champion Cynthia.

"Great job, Starly!"

Bai Shi smiled and gently stroked Starly's feathers as he praised it.

To be fair, A Lin was reasonably strong.

He was much stronger than Oniki, though slightly weaker than Kuroda.

He had simply been a little too impatient, allowing Bai Shi to lead him around by the nose and ultimately hand him a crushing defeat.

Otherwise, beating him would not have been so easy for Bai Shi.

"Star~" (What a pushover! I barely tried, and it was already done for!)

At Bai Shi's praise, Starly narrowed its eyes contentedly, held its head high, and chirped smugly.

Starly and I have pretty much learned to work together now.

From here on, as long as we keep training, we'll naturally get stronger.

I can devote more of my energy to a new Pokémon.

At that thought, Bai Shi could hardly wait to catch his second Pokémon.

Still, to be safe, Bai Shi returned to the Pokémon Center with A Lin.

They had their respective Pokémon examined and treated.

Bai Shi wanted to ensure that Starly would be in peak condition when they went into the wild to catch a Pokémon.

"Thank you, Bai Shi! Hopefully we'll meet again!"

A Lin waved goodbye to Bai Shi.

Everything had gone smoothly for A Lin since he caught Poochyena, but these successive setbacks had given him a fresh perspective.

The inflated confidence he had gained from becoming a Pokémon Trainer had vanished as well.

He wanted to be stronger the next time he stood before Bai Shi.

A Lin resolved to continue his journey and battle more Pokémon Trainers.

That was why he was so eager to leave and say goodbye to Bai Shi.

"Goodbye, A Lin. Have a safe journey!"

Bai Shi responded with a smile.

He actually had a fairly good impression of A Lin.

He thought A Lin's personality was rather like Ash's when he first started traveling: passionate and impulsive.

He was full of enthusiasm for both battles and Pokémon.

Once experience tempered him, he would definitely become stronger.

Perhaps the two of them would have another chance to battle then.

"Now, it's time to get down to business."

Bai Shi murmured as he watched A Lin's figure recede into the distance.

Originally, he had been considering asking A Lin to lend him a hand.

That way, he would have some backup if anything unexpected happened while catching a Pokémon.

Since A Lin had already left, there was no longer any reason to dwell on it.

"Let's go, Starly!"

Once A Lin disappeared from view, Bai Shi looked away, called to Starly, and headed in the opposite direction.