First Battle

"Bai Shi, you want to battle me?"

Oniki stared at Bai Shi in astonishment and asked him to confirm it.

Like Bai Shi, he was an orphan from the Orphanage, and they were about the same age.

He had been fairly lucky.

Not long after leaving the Orphanage, he had happened upon an injured Rattata near his rented room.

He had caught the unconscious Rattata without any effort.

Just like that, he became one of the few people from the Orphanage who owned a Pokémon.

Only later did he learn that Rattata had been injured fighting another Pokémon over food.

It had somehow wandered near Oniki's home, where he had found it.

Having saved Rattata's life, Oniki soon became close with it.

Along the way, Oniki discovered by chance that Rattata had an exceptionally keen sense of smell.

It could often find food people had thrown away from a great distance.

That saved him quite a bit on the cost of raising a Pokémon.

An idea struck Oniki, and he began taking Rattata around town to find things for people.

From then on, things went well for him.

He had recently moved out of his rented room and into a nicer place.

He only came back now and then to visit his old friends.

As it happened, today he ran into Bai Shi, who had just returned from the wild.

Bai Shi seized the chance and challenged Oniki to a battle without hesitation.

He wanted to test his current strength against Oniki's Pokémon.

"That's right! Interested?"

Bai Shi nodded in confirmation.

"Oh? Now that's interesting!"

At Bai Shi's words, an amused look crossed Oniki's face.

He had heard about Bai Shi from other people.

Apparently, Bai Shi had only obtained a Pokémon a few days ago.

And now Bai Shi was challenging him.

What was that supposed to mean?

Obviously, Bai Shi thought he would be an easy opponent!

Little did Bai Shi know, Oniki was already preparing to venture into the wild.

He had been training his Pokémon with that in mind.

He had even battled other Pokémon Trainers a few times.

Beating him would not be so easy.

How strong could a beginner who'd only had a Pokémon for a few days be?

With that thought, Oniki accepted the challenge.

The two went to an open patch of ground to battle.

"Come out, Rattata!"

Brimming with confidence, Oniki sent out his Pokémon first.

A purple, mouse-like Pokémon appeared before Bai Shi.

"Phew. Starly, get ready to battle!"

Bai Shi took a deep breath to calm his excitement and nerves.

Borrowing Paul's catchphrase, he sent Starly onto the field.

"Star!" (So you're going to be my first defeated opponent?)

As soon as Starly appeared, he spread his wings and flew into the air, letting out an eager, ringing cry.

"Starly, huh? You caught a pretty good Pokémon."

"But you think you can beat my Rattata with him?"

"Don't be naive!"

Oniki looked slightly surprised to see Starly. Bai Shi certainly had been lucky.

But Oniki quickly regained his composure.

He remained confident in his own Pokémon.

He even offered to let Bai Shi make the first move.

"Then I won't hold back!"

"Starly, circle around him first, then—"

Cautious as ever, Bai Shi wanted Starly to observe his opponent and wait for an opening before attacking.

But before Bai Shi could finish, Starly shot forward like an arrow, heading straight for Rattata.

He ignored his Pokémon Trainer's instructions entirely.

In an instant, he was right in front of Rattata.

"He's fast! Rattata, dodge!"

Oniki's expression changed, and he hurriedly called out to Rattata.

Rattata sprang to the side, easily dodging Starly's Tackle.

Starly's swift strike hit nothing but air.

"Star!" (Quit dodging and fight me already!)

He had just learned a new move. He wasn't going to put up with this.

Embarrassed and angry, Starly launched attack after attack at Rattata.

He turned into a streak of white light and charged at Rattata again.

This time, Rattata failed to dodge. Starly struck it and sent it flying.

"Rattata!"

Oniki shouted in alarm at the sight.

"Star!" (Heh, heh, heh! I knew I was a genius!)

After knocking Rattata away, Starly held his head high and gave a shrill cry of triumph.

He was already deciding how to celebrate his victory.

"Starly, watch out!"

But before he could enjoy the moment for long, he heard Bai Shi shout.

"Star?" (What?)

Starly quickly looked down and found that Rattata was already back on its feet.

It had crept up close to him without a sound.

"Now's your chance, Rattata! Use Bite!"

Oniki's eyes lit up as he ordered Rattata to attack.

Rattata opened its mouth and sank its teeth into one of Starly's wings.

"Star!" (That hurts! Let go of me!)

Starly was in so much pain that tears nearly sprang to his eyes.

He flapped his wings with all his strength, trying to shake Rattata off.

But that only made the pain worse.

"Starly, slam him into the ground!"

Just as Starly ran out of ideas, Bai Shi's voice reached him.

Starly snapped to his senses and beat his wings, slamming Rattata into the ground with him.

The impact finally made Rattata loosen its grip.

Freed, Starly flew back into the sky.

"Starly, finish him! Use Quick Attack."

Bai Shi urged Starly to keep attacking.

He gave Rattata no chance to catch its breath.

"Star!" (Oh, got it!)

After all, it was Bai Shi's advice that had freed him from that troublesome mouse.

Without thinking, Starly followed Bai Shi's order and used Quick Attack.

He became a streak of white light and knocked Rattata to the ground again.

Rattata's vision went dark, and it fainted.

With that, Bai Shi won his first battle as a Pokémon Trainer.

"You won this time!"

"Let's battle again when we get the chance!"

With those two parting remarks, Oniki scooped up Rattata and hurried away.

He was rushing to the Pokémon Center to have Nurse Joy treat it.

"Star!" (Ha! I really do have what it takes to become a Staraptor!)

Watching Oniki leave, Starly let out a delighted cry.

"Feeling pretty pleased with yourself, Starly?"

But when he turned around, he found Bai Shi staring hard at him with a grim expression.

That snapped Starly out of his joy at winning.

He realized that he had ignored his Pokémon Trainer's instructions during the battle.

Because of that, he had ended up in a tough fight and nearly lost.

Ashamed, Starly lowered his head, unable to meet Bai Shi's eyes.

"Still, the fighting spirit you showed deserves praise."

Seeing that Starly understood his mistake, Bai Shi's expression softened.

He praised Starly's performance in a gentler voice.

"Star!" (Of course it does!)

The praise swept away Starly's gloom, and he cried out proudly again.

"But remember today's lesson. Don't make the same mistake twice."

Seeing Starly getting carried away again, Bai Shi added that warning.

"Star!" (Right, right!)

At Bai Shi's reminder, Starly nodded over and over like a little machine.

Whether he had actually taken the words to heart, only he knew.

"Ah, one step at a time. We've still got time."

Bai Shi rubbed his temples with two fingers and sighed helplessly.

He was discovering that becoming an excellent Pokémon Trainer was not as simple as he had imagined.

His journey as a Pokémon Trainer had only just begun.