As he spoke, he brought Trapinch over to a clearing.
"Kn? (Aren't we going to battle?)"
Trapinch turned to Yuanjun in confusion, utterly bewildered.
Yuanjun smiled and looked into Trapinch's eyes.
"Trapinch, before we battle, let me ask you something."
"Kn?"
"Can you use your moves?"
Yuanjun asked in a serious tone.
Before sending Trapinch into battle, Yuanjun felt he should have Trapinch practice his moves first.
He wasn't asking for mastery of every move, just proficiency.
Next, Yuanjun planned to focus their training on a single move, then move on to another once Trapinch had become proficient with it.
He didn't think a Trapinch born less than a week ago was ready to battle. Even though Trapinch had already left the newborn period, Yuanjun felt he should at least be able to use one move proficiently before attempting a battle.
Otherwise, a battle between two beginner Pokémon would be nothing but two amateurs flailing at each other.
"Kn..."
Trapinch lowered his head in thought, then shook it after a moment.
"Exactly." Yuanjun nodded. "Trapinch, I think we should practice your moves before battling."
"Kn? (Why?)"
"Think about it, Trapinch. If you aren't proficient with your moves, how can you bring out their full power?"
"Besides, you were only just born, and your body isn't very strong yet. Practicing your moves will also strengthen your body, so you won't get tired after barely starting a battle."
"Kn... (That makes sense...)"
Trapinch nodded thoughtfully.
"So, let's make a promise."
"Kn? (What promise?)"
"We won't battle right away. We'll train first." Yuanjun paused before continuing, "Once you've become proficient with one move, we'll battle. How does that sound?"
Otherwise, we'd just be handing out experience to wild Pokémon.
Yuanjun silently added that last remark to himself.
"Kn..."
Trapinch blinked his white, four-pointed-star