Celadon City, four in the afternoon.
The first book signing for Pokémon Adventures had finally come to a successful close.
Shiraishi Ritsu stood outside the bookstore, flexed his slightly aching wrist, and let out a long breath.
"Finally over!"
"Smear..."
Beside him, Smeargle was just as exhausted, cradling a bottle of Berry juice and taking little sips.
At today's signing, Smeargle had drawn over eighty small illustrations. Each had been fairly simple, but drawing so many in a row had left its tail somewhat sore.
Still, thinking of how happy the readers had looked when they received their illustrations, Smeargle felt quite satisfied.
"Thanks for all your hard work, Mr. Masuda!"
Kikkawa Maho walked over and handed Shiraishi Ritsu a report on the event with a smile.
"The reader feedback today was excellent. The bookstore hopes we can hold another one sometime."
"Another one?"
Shiraishi Ritsu hurriedly waved his hands.
"Miss Maho, spare me! Just seeing a pen makes my wrist ache on reflex now."
Kikkawa Maho couldn't help laughing.
"Don't worry. There are no plans for a second session anytime soon."
"That's a relief."
Shiraishi Ritsu had only just breathed a sigh of relief when hearty laughter rang out behind him.
"Haha! Had enough rest yet, Masuda?"
Lt. Surge stood a short distance away with his arms folded, his muscular Raichu beside him.
"I've been waiting for you for ages!"
The smile on Shiraishi Ritsu's face instantly froze.
I nearly forgot!
The Vermilion Gym Leader had just arranged to show him what real Electric-type Pokémon battles were like!
"Gym Leader Surge, you're really taking me to a training ground?"
"Of course!"
Lt. Surge grinned.
"I always keep my word!"
He clapped Shiraishi Ritsu on the shoulder.
"Come on. There's a public training ground nearby."
Shiraishi Ritsu glanced at Smeargle.
Smeargle had still been a little tired, but hearing that they were going to watch Raichu train instantly perked it up.
It quickly stuffed the empty juice bottle into the backpack, then took out its sketchbook and nodded vigorously at Shiraishi Ritsu.
"Smeargle!"
Shiraishi Ritsu smiled helplessly.
"All right, let's go take a look!"
Twenty minutes later.
The public training ground in eastern Celadon City.
It was slightly smaller than the venue that had hosted the earlier rookie exchange tournament, but the training facilities were quite comprehensive.
Several repositionable training targets stood in the center of the field, with protective equipment for testing move power installed around the perimeter.
Lt. Surge walked onto the field, greeted the staff, then had Raichu rest off to one side.
"Raichu, have some water first!"
"Raichu!"
Raichu took the water bottle and settled beside a bench with practiced ease.
At the sight, Shiraishi Ritsu couldn't help remarking.
"Your Raichu is really obedient, Gym Leader."
"Haha! Of course!"
Lt. Surge laughed proudly.
"We've been through plenty of battles together!"
As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something and pulled a copy of Pokémon Adventures from his backpack.
It was the very copy he had gotten at the signing earlier.
"Oh, right, Masuda."
"What is it?"
"While Raichu rests, I've got something to ask you!"
Lt. Surge opened the manga to the pages where Red and the others defeated him.
"Explain this to me!"
"Huh?"
"I'm clearly so strong in the manga, and Raichu's no slouch either, so why do I end up losing to a bunch of young Trainers?"
Shiraishi Ritsu felt a headache coming on.
Sure enough.
There was no escaping this!
"Gym Leader, didn't we already discuss this at the signing?"
"We were talking about characterization earlier!"
Lt. Surge thrust the manga toward him.
"Now we're talking about battles!"
Shiraishi Ritsu looked down at the panels, thought for a moment, and could only explain patiently.
"Because the protagonist has to grow."
"That doesn't mean you can use me as a stepping stone!"
Lt. Surge's eyes widened.
"I'm a Gym Leader-level Trainer, at least! How could a few rookies beat me so easily?"
"Please hear me out first."
Shiraishi Ritsu hurriedly waved his hands.
"Actually, Red and the others didn't win this battle easily. Raichu had the advantage in their first few head-on clashes."
"Part of why they ultimately won was that the Lt. Surge in the manga was too confident and overlooked his opponents' growth."
After listening, Lt. Surge rubbed his chin.
"You mean I lost because I underestimated them?"
"More or less."
"Tch!"
Lt. Surge immediately looked unconvinced.
"If I really found myself in that situation, I'd never make that mistake!"
Shiraishi Ritsu smiled.
"That's why I said it's the Lt. Surge in the manga."
Lt. Surge glanced at him, then finally couldn't help laughing too.
"You sure know how to talk, kid!"
But he didn't end the discussion there.
Instead, Lt. Surge opened the manga again and pointed to the scene where Raichu fought Sandslash.
"I do have a question here."
"Go ahead."
"Against a Ground-type Sandslash, why did you have Raichu use Thunderbolt first?"
Shiraishi Ritsu took a look.
"Because at that point, the Lt. Surge in the manga didn't know his opponent was about to switch in Sandslash."
"By the time Sandslash appeared, Thunderbolt had already been unleashed."
Lt. Surge nodded.
"Go on."
"Next, Sandslash's Ground typing made it immune to the Electric-type attack, so Lt. Surge started changing tactics."
Shiraishi Ritsu pointed to the next page.
"Here, I had Raichu use Agility to increase its movement speed first, then use Iron Tail to attack at close range."
"Why Iron Tail?"
"Because Electric-type moves don't work on Sandslash, while Iron Tail can deal damage normally. Raichu's tail also lends itself well to conveying the force of a close-range attack."
Lt. Surge looked thoughtful as he listened.
"That's true."
"But you have to consider Iron Tail's accuracy, too."
Shiraishi Ritsu continued, "Sandslash isn't particularly fast, but it's agile, and it can use Dig. If Raichu kept charging in blindly, its opponent could exploit an opening instead."
He flipped a few pages ahead.
"So I also had Sandslash use Dig, while Raichu watched for changes in the ground to predict where it might emerge."
"Hmm?"
Lt. Surge's gaze gradually grew serious.
"Predict its position?"
"Right."
Shiraishi Ritsu nodded.
"Dig lets a Pokémon temporarily avoid attacks aboveground, but when it counterattacks, it still has to approach its opponent again."
"If the Trainer can observe vibrations in the ground and changes in the soil, and combine that with the Pokémon's reaction speed, there's a chance to respond in advance."
Lt. Surge rubbed his chin.
"Interesting."
He looked back at the manga.
When he had read this part before, he had only focused on admiring how cool Raichu looked in battle.
Only after hearing Shiraishi Ritsu's explanation did he realize how many details had gone into it.
"Wait!"
Lt. Surge suddenly pointed to another panel.
"Then why not just have Raichu use Quick Attack?"
"That works too."
Shiraishi Ritsu answered quite readily.
"But Quick Attack's main advantages are moving first and closing in on an opponent quickly. Whether it can deal effective damage still depends on the actual situation of both sides."
"Besides, the Raichu in the manga already knows Thunderbolt, Agility, and Iron Tail. If I gave it Quick Attack too, I'd have to consider its remaining moveset."
"You even thought about all that?"
Lt. Surge was a little surprised.
Shiraishi Ritsu smiled.
"Of course! I've seriously studied Pokémon moves."
As a veteran player who had played through every generation of Pokémon games, Shiraishi Ritsu couldn't have been more familiar with this knowledge.
However, real Pokémon battles were far more complicated than games.
Games had clearly defined turn orders and numerical calculations.
Actual Pokémon battles also required consideration of terrain, distance, stamina consumption, and the timing of a Trainer's commands.
Those details were precisely what Shiraishi Ritsu had been paying particular attention to while watching real matches lately.
"But Gym Leader, I think a truly great Electric-type Trainer also needs to know how to make up for type disadvantages."
"Oh?"
Lt. Surge's interest was piqued.
"Let's hear it!"
Shiraishi Ritsu pointed at the Sandslash in the manga.
"For example, when facing a Ground-type Pokémon."
"Electric-type moves can't deal damage directly, so simply increasing the power of the electric current over and over definitely won't work."
"That's when you have to consider attacking moves of other types, or take advantage of speed, terrain, and the Pokémon's own physical advantages."
Lt. Surge nodded repeatedly as he listened.
"Exactly!"
"What else?"
"Speed, for example."
Shiraishi Ritsu continued, "Raichu is agile and can change positions quickly. But being fast doesn't mean every attack will land."
"If the opponent predicts the direction of its charge, it might miss no matter how fast it is."
"So Trainers have to learn to observe their opponents' habits, and ideally use feints to bait them."
At that, Lt. Surge finally couldn't hold back his hearty laughter.
"Hahaha! Not bad, kid!"
"You even know how to use feints!"
"Isn't that normal?"
Shiraishi Ritsu was a little puzzled.
"They're used in plenty of Pokémon battles, aren't they?"
"Knowing about them is one thing. Not many Trainers can actually use them well!"
Lt. Surge patted him on the shoulder.
"Especially those kids who've just started their journeys. The moment they enter a battle, all they think about is using their most powerful moves!"
"Only after the attack misses do they realize how much energy they've wasted."
Shiraishi Ritsu could deeply relate to that.
A few days earlier, he had coached a young Trainer who had tried to imitate a tactic from the manga.
After seeing Koga's battle, that kid had wanted his Butterfree to use Stun Spore to control the airflow.
Then he had run into a Pidgeotto, and the tactic had failed on the spot.
"Actually, I think the most important thing for a Trainer is understanding their own Pokémon."
Shiraishi Ritsu said.
"For example, even among Raichu, some excel at high-speed close-range combat, while others are more accustomed to keeping their distance and attacking."
"Forcing them to use the same tactics won't necessarily produce good results."
Lt. Surge's eyes immediately lit up when he heard that.
"Well said!"
He reached out and patted the Raichu beside him.
"This Raichu of mine is especially good at close-range attacks after using Agility!"
"Raichu!"
Raichu raised its head and cried out proudly.
Shiraishi Ritsu smiled and nodded.
"No wonder I thought its limbs looked especially powerful when I saw it just now."
"Haha! You've got a good eye!"
Lt. Surge grew more interested as they talked.
Originally, he had only wanted to discuss the plot with this manga artist and point out a few unreasonable battle sequences along the way.
He had not expected their conversation to turn into a genuine discussion of Pokémon battles.
What surprised him even more was that many of the points Shiraishi Ritsu raised actually made a great deal of sense.
Especially his analysis of type matchups and movesets.
Even the Gym's apprentices might not have considered some of those details so thoroughly.
Of course, Shiraishi Ritsu also had obvious shortcomings.
He was very familiar with Pokémon battle theory, but when it came to a Trainer's on-the-spot commands, managing a Pokémon's stamina, and unexpected situations in actual battles, his experience seemed somewhat lacking.
Lt. Surge soon noticed this.
"Kid Masuda."
"Hmm?"
"You don't take part in battles yourself very often, do you?"
Shiraishi Ritsu rubbed his nose, a little embarrassed.
"Not that often, no."
"That explains it!"
Lt. Surge laughed.
"You've got a solid grasp of theory, but some of your judgments still rely too much on scenarios you've planned in advance."
"In a real battle, your opponent won't act like they do in your manga!"
Shiraishi Ritsu broke into a grin.
"Gym Leader, you've hit the nail on the head."
He pointed to the Smeargle beside him.
"I took it to a friendly match a few days ago, and I found that actual battles were quite different from what I'd imagined."
"You've even taken part in a friendly match?"
"Yes, I battled a rookie Trainer."
"How did it go?"
"Hehe, I managed to win by a stroke of luck."
Shiraishi Ritsu answered with a smile.
When Smeargle heard its Trainer mention its battle record, it immediately raised a paw excitedly.
"Smeargle!"
Lt. Surge looked at it and could not help laughing.
"Haha! Looks like your Smeargle has a bit of talent for battling besides knowing how to draw!"
"Of course!"
Shiraishi Ritsu nodded proudly.
"It just learned Quick Attack recently, and its physical fitness is gradually improving too."
Smeargle proudly puffed out its chest.
However, Lt. Surge's attention had already returned to Shiraishi Ritsu.
He studied the young manga artist carefully for a while, then suddenly asked:
"Kid Masuda, have you really never received any formal Trainer education?"
Shiraishi Ritsu paused.
"Formal Trainer education?"
"Right. Like the Pokémon League's Trainer School, or specialized battle courses."
Shiraishi Ritsu shook his head.
"No. I mostly studied on my own before, and I read a lot of material on battles."
"Once I started drawing manga with Smeargle, I had even less time to attend classes."
After hearing that, Lt. Surge fell silent for a moment.
Then he looked at Pokémon Adventures on the table again.
Many of the tactics in this manga showed the author's understanding of Pokémon.
Yet this young man before him had never received any systematic Trainer education.
Lt. Surge could not help shaking his head.
"What a shame. You're actually quite suited to being a Trainer."