Battling Brock

The moment Onix appeared, his enormous body and the cold, disdainful gaze he cast at the tiny Pokémon gave Pikachu quite a fright.

"Pika! Pika!"

Pikachu scurried back to Ash, lifted his shirt, and tried to press the buttons on his other Poké Balls, hoping to swap out with another of Ash's Pokémon!

"Hey, hey!" Ash grabbed Pikachu and lifted him up, snapping in frustration, "Pikachu! Don't go switching yourself out with Pidgeotto! Get back out there and battle!"

With Ash pushing and urging him on, Pikachu reluctantly returned to the battlefield.

Using an Electric-type against a Ground-type...

In the stands, Xia You smiled silently. Charging into battles without understanding type matchups was both Ash's weakness and his strength. It was precisely this that let him defeat so many formidable opponents with creative tactics.

But right now, he's still far too inexperienced...

Shaking his head, Xia You took out his Pokédex and pointed it at Pikachu.

Ash's Pikachu looked no different from any ordinary Pikachu.

His entire body was covered in sleek, golden-yellow fur. He had long ears, two round red electric sacs on his cheeks, and a jagged, lightning-bolt-shaped tail. His glossy black eyes made him look utterly adorable.

Pokédex: "Beep. Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon. Electric-type, also known as the Electric Mouse. The electric sacs in its cheeks store electricity. When angry, it releases all its stored electricity at once to deliver an electric shock."

Xia You then pointed the Pokédex at Onix.

Onix had a long stone horn on top of his head. His towering, snakelike body was made up of massive gray boulders, giving him a powerful, imposing appearance.

Pokédex: "Beep. Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. Rock/Ground-type. Its body consists of linked boulders and resembles a giant snake. It swallows soil as it digs long tunnels, traveling underground at eighty kilometers per hour."

At Brock's command, the battle began.

"Onix! Use Tackle!"

Hearing the command, Onix heaved his enormous body forward and rammed his massive head at Pikachu.

Pikachu leaped and scrambled about, so frightened by Onix's intimidating presence that he could only flee, with no thought of fighting back. Before long, Onix seized an opening and wrapped his tail tightly around him.

"Good, Onix! Use Bind!"

Pinned by Onix's tremendous strength, Pikachu struggled in pain. Watching anxiously from the sidelines, Ash couldn't help shouting, "Pikachu, hurry and use Thunder Shock!"

At Ash's words, sparks crackled from Pikachu's cheeks, followed by a fierce burst of electricity. Yet even when it struck Onix, it did no damage at all.

Across the field, Brock folded his arms. "As a Pokémon Trainer, you really don't know what you're doing. You think you can defeat my Onix with nothing but Thunder Shock? That's far too naive!"

"Damn it!" Ash clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, but Pikachu's suffering only grew, and he still couldn't break free. Finally, Ash called out helplessly, "Please stop! I concede this match!"

Only after Brock nodded did Onix loosen his tail. Pikachu fell, and Ash rushed onto the field to catch him in his arms.

"Are you okay, Pikachu?"

With the battle over, Xia You slowly descended from the stands, unsure how to comfort him.

Still, knowing Ash's personality, he would probably bounce back soon enough.

Stepping into the Pokémon Trainer's command area, Xia You said to Brock, "All right, the appetizer's over. Now it's my turn."

Looking at Xia You, Brock recalled Onix and took out another Poké Ball.

"You seem completely different from that last guy."

"He's still a little immature, and he's somewhat lacking in experience," Xia You said with a smile. "But I think that, with enough training, he'll become a Pokémon Master everyone admires someday."

Ash was carrying Pikachu up into the stands when he heard those words. He abruptly turned around, his eyes growing moist at being acknowledged for the first time.

He... really thinks that highly of me?

"Come out, Geodude!" Brock threw his Poké Ball. A blue light flashed, and a round rock with thick, powerful arms appeared before Xia You.

Pokédex: "Beep. Geodude, the Rock Pokémon. Rock/Ground-type. It usually inhabits mountain forests, burying half its body in the ground to observe passing climbers. Because it looks so much like a rock, careless passersby often step on it and trip."

Xia You turned, his gaze moving back and forth between Squirtle and Bulbasaur. Then he said to Bulbasaur, "Bulbasaur, I'm leaving this battle to you!"

"Bulba, bulba!"

Whether he chose the Water-type Squirtle or the Grass-type Bulbasaur, their attacks would deal quadruple damage against a Rock/Ground-type Pokémon, since both of its types were weak to them. Either way, this battle looked quite easy.

In the stands, Misty first stroked Pikachu's forehead as Ash approached, then teased him with a grin. "He knows his type matchups. Unlike a certain idiot, Xia You actually understands battling. Now that's a proper Pokémon Trainer."

Surprisingly, Ash didn't argue. Instead, he carefully watched Xia You's every move.

Perhaps Xia You's earlier acknowledgment had made Ash take him a little more seriously.

Once Bulbasaur and Geodude were both in position, the match officially began.

"Geodude, use Tackle!"

Xia You called out, "Bulbasaur, let's show him our new move! Use Razor Leaf!"

Before Geodude could get close, numerous leaves glowing green suddenly appeared around Bulbasaur and flew toward Geodude.

Brock shouted, "Geodude, dodge it!"

But Razor Leaf was simply too fast. Even though Brock had given the command, it still struck Geodude dead-on.

It was super effective!

After the smoke from the explosion cleared, Geodude's face was twisted in pain. Seeing this, Brock ordered, "Geodude, use Rock Throw!"

Geodude thrust both hands upward. In an instant, several enormous rocks appeared out of thin air beneath the ceiling and hurtled toward Bulbasaur.

The attack covered too wide an area. Knowing Bulbasaur wasn't fast enough to dodge, Xia You gave a decisive command. "Bulbasaur, aim at those rocks and use Razor Leaf!"

Green light gathered, and another Razor Leaf shot out, striking the rocks. Although it shattered most of them, plenty of fragments still rained down on Bulbasaur.

Yet even after being struck by the stones, Bulbasaur stood calmly in place, as though that little bit of pain was hardly worth mentioning.