Reflection and review

This Snivy was very talented and had already mastered Magical Leaf. At its Trainer's command, a single Magical Leaf knocked Poliwag out.

His chances of winning this battle had been slim indeed. Zhang Cheng still had no good way to deal with Pokémon that had a type advantage over Water types.

After the battle ended, Zhang Cheng took the injured Poliwag to the training grounds' treatment room.

While waiting for Poliwag to finish treatment, Zhang Cheng bought himself dinner.

As he ate, he reviewed the day's two battles.

The Trainers he had faced today were all newcomers without much battle experience.

Still, they all had good starter Pokémon, and Poliwag could hold its own even against those starters.

Grass-type and Electric-type Pokémon, however, were very difficult to handle. Things would get easier once Poliwag learned moves of other types.

For now, Zhang Cheng planned to focus Poliwag's training on moves so it could learn new attacks as soon as possible.

At the same time, he was also considering expanding his team.

In battle, Electric-type and Grass-type Pokémon were the main threats to Poliwag. Electric-type Pokémon were not particularly common, so Grass-type Pokémon were his chief concern.

The first requirement for Zhang Cheng's second Pokémon was a type advantage over Grass types. It also needed potential, or it would struggle badly later on.

Next, it needed to be a common Pokémon that was easy to catch. With his current savings, Zhang Cheng certainly could not afford to buy another Pokémon.

Taking all these factors into account, Zhang Cheng chose Pidgey as his target for his second Pokémon.

First, Pidgey had a three-stage evolutionary line and could undergo Mega Evolution, so its potential was not an issue.

Countries around the world were currently researching Mega Evolution, and he believed all the Pokémon capable of it would be discovered before long.

When that happened, Pidgey's potential would reach another level.

Pidgey's Flying type also had an advantage over Grass types, meeting Zhang Cheng's needs. He could send Pidgey into battle whenever he encountered a Grass-type Pokémon.

Pidgey was also a fairly common Pokémon, especially in Magnolia Forest in northern Jiangcheng.

There was no need to buy a Pidgey from the Pokémon Day Care. Once Poliwag's level was a little higher, he could catch one on the outskirts of Magnolia Forest.

Exploring the wilderness was also very dangerous, so having a Pokémon that could keep him safe and help him retreat in time was important.

Pidgey happened to meet that requirement too. Once it evolved into Pidgeot, its flying speed would exceed that of most Pokémon.

If he encountered danger in the wilderness that he could not handle, he could retreat in time and ensure his own safety.

Pidgey could also learn Hurricane. In Rainy Weather, Hurricane and Thunder had a one hundred percent hit rate and could not be dodged.

Not only could Pidgey counter Grass types, but it could also fit into his Rain Team, using Hurricane to deal heavy damage to opposing Pokémon.

Hurricane and Thunder were both powerful moves with a base power of 110. Their biggest drawback was their low accuracy.

Rainy Weather, however, could solve that problem perfectly.

Considering all these factors, Zhang Cheng felt Pidgey was the clear choice for his second Pokémon.

Originally, Zhang Cheng's idea for building a Rain Team had been to catch more Pokémon whose Abilities benefited from Rainy Weather, thereby improving his fighting strength.

But before Poliwag evolved into Politoed, changing the weather would require actively using Rain Dance to create five turns of Rainy Weather.

Even if he could create Rainy Weather and had good Water-type Pokémon, however, he would still have no answer to Grass-type and Electric-type Pokémon.

His Rain Team would only begin taking shape once he had Politoed. There was no rush to catch Water-type Pokémon now; instead, he needed to cover his team's type weaknesses.

Through today's battles, Zhang Cheng realized that the first thing a team needed was for its members to complement one another.

In other words, a team needed Pokémon of other types to counter the types that threatened its members.

If he stubbornly used an all-Water-type team, it would fall apart against Grass-type Pokémon.

So Zhang Cheng's current approach to catching Pokémon was to first add Pokémon that countered Grass types, preferably ones that also worked well in Rainy Weather.

Pidgey met that requirement perfectly. Hurricane performed better in Rainy Weather and was super effective against Grass types.

Later, if circumstances allowed, Zhang Cheng planned to choose an Electric type as his third Pokémon.

Electric-type Pokémon could also use Thunder in conjunction with Rainy Weather. Meanwhile, Water types countered the Rock types that Electric types feared, so he would not have to worry about being unable to damage Rock-type opponents.

To sum up his current team plans, his first Pokémon, Poliwag, would evolve into Politoed, whose Drizzle Ability would form the basis of his Rain Team.

His second Pokémon would be Pidgey, which could use Hurricane on the Rain Team. After evolving into Pidgeot, it would also provide excellent transportation and make exploring the wilderness much safer.

For his third Pokémon, he would choose an Electric type. It had to be able to use Thunder and have considerable potential, with priority given to Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution.

Once he had raised those three Pokémon properly, his remaining three choices would be Water-type Pokémon, preferably ones with Abilities that benefited from Rainy Weather.

A Rain Team built along these lines was Zhang Cheng's ideal.

He would have a Flying-type Pokémon to counter Grass types, and when he encountered Electric-type Pokémon, he could fight back with an Electric type of his own.

Time passed quickly as he considered all this, and Poliwag recovered after treatment.

Zhang Cheng picked Poliwag up. "You did really well today. You beat a strong opponent like Charmander in your very first battle."

"Poli~ Poli~"

Poliwag did not look very happy.

Zhang Cheng knew Poliwag was blaming itself for the afternoon's defeat, so he hurried to encourage it. "Losing is perfectly normal. Your opponent was a Grass-type Pokémon and had a type advantage. It wasn't your fault."

As Zhang Cheng comforted Poliwag, he patted its head.

Hearing its Trainer's encouragement, Poliwag chirped happily.

Zhang Cheng was delighted to see Poliwag back to its usual self.

"That's enough for today, Poliwag. Let's go home and rest. Tomorrow, we'll keep battling and gaining experience. Once we finish our battles tomorrow and get our Pokémon coins, we'll go buy some Pokéblocks to eat."

Zhang Cheng offered Poliwag a little incentive.

The moment Poliwag heard about Pokéblocks, it was filled with motivation. Ever since tasting them last time, it had been unable to forget their flavor.

I have to do well tomorrow, Poliwag thought. I'll work hard for those Pokéblocks!