Swablu's First Battle

Early morning.

At the foot of Mt. Chimney.

Swablu lay on Terrance's head as he stood dressed in casual clothes, curiously looking at everything around it.

To the newly born little creature, everything outside was so novel.

Terrance had been with Swablu from the beginning, and even without the bond of a Poké Ball, Swablu regarded him as its only family.

From the moment Terrance gently placed the newly hatched Swablu on his head, he and Swablu were destined to be bound together.

When a Trainer caught a new Pokémon, the Pokémon's initial expression was usually one of bewilderment and docility.

But the look Swablu gave Terrance was one of affection and dependence.

Looking at Swablu, theoretically the first Pokémon he had caught, Terrance kept a smile on his face. This little one with extraordinary potential would be closely tied to his future.

"Chirp~~~~~~~"

As the sun rose, Terrance gently stroked Swablu. Swablu seemed to enjoy the touch, lying comfortably in his hair and looking a little lazy.

"That won't do," Terrance said with a faint smile.

The one-month assessment period still lay ahead. What awaited him and Swablu was no leisurely vacation; they would spend the month constantly battling, training, and honing themselves.

Only that way could they bring out Swablu's full potential and foundation!

It had only been a little over ten days since Terrance left Fallarbor Town, yet he had met Master Katsumune, become a junior Breeder, and provisionally obtained a second Pokémon he was extremely pleased with, even pleasantly surprised by. All of this filled him with hope for the future.

To live up to Master Katsumune's expectations and become Swablu's Trainer fair and square, he had to make full use of the one month he had left, no matter what. However hard or exhausting it was, a month's effort should be worth it to obtain Swablu and enter Coronet Academy. Besides, if he couldn't endure even this much hardship, how could he hope to make a name for himself and bring everyone at Qinggu House a better life?

On his way here, Terrance had marked the places he had confirmed were safe, so the areas he and Swablu passed through weren't likely to be very dangerous.

"Rustle~ rustle~~"

As Terrance and Swablu moved forward, they heard the sound of grass rustling.

Terrance quickly glanced over, delight rising in his heart. "Found one!"

A little bug with a red-and-white body and sharp spines on its red back slowly crawled out, staring straight at them.

Terrance naturally hadn't been wandering around aimlessly. To find out Swablu's condition as soon as possible, he needed an opponent, but one that couldn't be too strong. Swablu had just been born, and no matter how much potential it had, it was still very weak right now.

In a place like this, Wurmple, a Pokémon at the bottom of the food chain, was naturally the best choice.

There weren't many Wurmple around Mt. Chimney, though, and it had taken Terrance and Swablu quite some time to find one: the unlucky fellow before them.

It didn't yet know that Terrance had already chosen it as a "sparring partner."

Terrance had once raised a Wurmple until it evolved into Beautifly, so he naturally knew the characteristics of this very common Pokémon. Overall, Wurmple weren't particularly strong, but if their lives were in danger, they would release toxins from the spikes on their tails and fight desperately.

So, as long as he didn't provoke them too much, they made good targets to pick on.

After all, Wurmple only knew a handful of moves, such as Tackle, String Shot, and Poison Sting. If Swablu handled it carefully, there shouldn't be a problem. Although Swablu wasn't exactly its natural enemy, it was still a bird, and it had a natural advantage over Wurmple.

Terrance had also come well prepared, bringing basic supplies of both Potions and Antidotes.

"All right, this is our first battle on the road to becoming strong!" Terrance said encouragingly to Swablu. As a Trainer, although he could sometimes suppress certain Pokémon through his own strength alone, his main role was to command his Pokémon in battle. He was in control of the battle and took part in it, but he did not personally fight.

After a night of adapting and growing, Swablu could already fly on its own.

Although it didn't look very smooth, Terrance was already quite satisfied that it could do this much. After a few more days of adjustment, once its wings had developed more fully, Swablu should be able to fly more easily.

Although Swablu had only just been born and felt somewhat aggrieved about battling, its blood still carried some warlike genes, so it was also very curious about this novel concept.

It could also sense the energy contained within its body.

Some basic moves seemed to be engraved in a Pokémon's memory.

At Terrance's command, Swablu flew toward Wurmple, as though it wanted to show off its might. Wurmple also realized by now that they had come with hostile intentions, but the little fellow didn't turn and run, which made Terrance breathe a sigh of relief.

"Whoosh..."

Wurmple fired a String Shot from its mouth, giving Swablu a fright. With no direction from Terrance, Swablu was hit right at the start.

"Find a way to deal with it." Terrance watched calmly from the side. Although Pokémon relied on their Trainers' commands, they also needed a certain "instinct" of their own for the most basic things, such as dodging moves, looking for chances to attack, and taking advantage of an opponent's mistakes.

It could also be called "battle awareness."

Pokémon needed to experience these things from the very beginning. Once a Pokémon developed its own style, it would be somewhat late to try to change it.

Swablu, wrapped in the white string and brought to the ground, cried out in pain. But after hearing Terrance's words, it immediately got into position and pecked at the string on its body with its sharp beak.

"The first move, Peck."

Terrance noted it silently. Peck was Swablu's most basic move, so it wasn't unusual for it to use it. But a faint white glow was clearly flickering at the tip of Swablu's beak, indicating that its mastery of Peck had improved slightly.

Only when it could concentrate most of its energy in its beak while using Peck would it have executed the move perfectly. Swablu still had a long way to go in that regard.

"Peck, huh? Looks like I need to work out a training plan for that move."

Having systematically studied the knowledge involved in raising Pokémon, Terrance knew that most Trainers fell into a misconception: they neglected moves that were relatively "weak" or "impractical." What they didn't realize was that, although these moves might have little tactical value in battle, they were an important means of stimulating a Pokémon's growth and influencing its overall development in subtle ways.