Vs. Lotad

Two more days passed at the foot of Mt. Chimney.

This was Terrance's eighth day and night here.

A day ago, Swablu had fully completed its basic training and learned the principles behind the move Natural Gift.

At present, Swablu's Peck could crack a wooden stake. If it switched to "fury attack" mode, it could use Peck three to five times in succession, each strike averaging roughly 40% to 60% of the power of a Peck.

As for Agility, Swablu still couldn't control it very well, much less use Take Down at high speed. Terrance had never expected Swablu to rely on that move with its tiny body anyway.

Feather Dance, its Egg Move, was nothing out of the ordinary.

Although Swablu had learned Natural Gift, it had still inevitably wasted two of Terrance's homemade energy Berries on its first two attempts.

"Little guy, are you sure you want it as your opponent?"

Before Terrance and Swablu was a Lotad searching for a source of clean water.

Terrance hadn't seen this Pokémon nearby before. It had probably wandered into the area by accident. Lotad rarely walked on the ground, usually living on the surface of ponds and lakes. But if they lost their water source and their leaves withered, they would grow weak. They would also immediately search everywhere for a new source of clean water, occasionally traveling over land.

If Terrance's guess was right, this Lotad was lost.

"Chirp~~~~" Swablu hesitated for a moment, then chirped in confirmation.

"All right, I'll go talk to it." Terrance took some clean water from the lake out of his backpack, pushed through the grass, and walked up to Lotad.

Terrance's plan was simple: he promised Lotad clean water and offered to help it find a lake in exchange for a battle with Swablu. The process was simple and went smoothly. Although Lotad was wary at first, it happily agreed once Terrance brought out the water.

"Are you ready?" Terrance asked, looking up at Swablu, which had flown off his head.

At the same time, Lotad had regained its energy with a bottle of Terrance's clean water and was full of vigor.

The two Pokémon exchanged a look, and Terrance could tell they were already eager to get started.

"Looks like you're ready. Then let's begin." Terrance looked surprised. He hadn't expected Lotad to be eager for a fight too. It looked like Swablu would be able to battle to its heart's content this time.

After they reached a clearing and made some rough preparations, Terrance had the two Pokémon take positions on opposite sides of the field.

"The battle starts when this stone hits the ground, so pay attention." Terrance explained it to Lotad, pointing at the stone in his hand and making a throwing motion. Once Lotad nodded in understanding, Terrance stepped aside and hurled the stone into the air.

The stone rose slowly until it reached a certain point, then fell rapidly!

"Thud!" The stone struck the ground. As soon as Lotad heard it, it launched an attack, blue light spreading over its body as it spat out a cluster of bubbles!

A jumble of bubbles drifted toward Swablu, but it didn't panic. It was no longer comparable to the little Pokémon that had fought Wurmple a few days ago.

Watching the bubbles calmly was the first thing Terrance had taught Swablu: stay calm in the face of danger, trust its trainer, and wait for his instructions.

Swablu followed the lesson well. With bubbles flying toward it, it neither dodged nor attacked on its own. Swablu knew it was fighting this battle as Terrance's Pokémon, not on its own, so it waited for Terrance's command!

The three major factors that decided victory or defeat in a Pokémon battle were the trainer's commands, the Pokémon's strength, and external factors. Terrance set the external factors aside for now; commands were his own responsibility. A Pokémon's strength, meanwhile, included more than its apparent power. It also encompassed battle awareness, judgment, reactions, and much more.

In battle, certain special circumstances could affect a trainer and cause mistakes, such as issuing a command too late! That was when a Pokémon's own ability to anticipate the course of battle came into play. Compare a Pokémon that could only stand there waiting for its trainer's commands with one that had its own battle awareness yet obeyed its trainer, fighting from perspectives both inside and outside the battle. The latter could grasp its trainer's meaning the moment a command was issued, or even before, and carry it out perfectly, becoming one in mind with its trainer. Which was stronger and which was weaker was immediately clear.

Terrance hoped to raise Swablu into a Pokémon that trusted its trainer's commands but also possessed extensive battle awareness.

That training required a deep bond, trust, and understanding between trainer and Pokémon. There was still a long way to go, and Terrance wasn't rushing for results. Everything had to start from zero.

"Fury attack!"

At the crisp command, Swablu immediately understood what Terrance meant. White light flashed around its beak, and it charged without flinching toward the thinnest, most sparsely packed part of the oncoming bubbles.

"Pop! Pop! Pop!"

Swablu pecked through three bubbles in succession, then flew straight toward Lotad with unstoppable momentum.

The light on its beak hadn't faded. Swablu swooped down from the air, intending to finish Lotad directly with Peck, but Lotad didn't sit and wait. It immediately lashed out with a vine-like streak of green light, trying to ensnare the approaching Swablu.

Absorb!

The energy vine, wreathed in green light, was covered in countless tiny holes. If Swablu were bound by it, its stamina would be steadily drained away.

So Terrance ordered a retreat.

"Fly back into the air."

Hearing him, Swablu hurriedly canceled its attack and flew back up, narrowly evading Absorb.

But Lotad didn't stop. From the way it chained its moves together, Terrance could tell that, unlike Swablu, Lotad had at least some battle experience of its own.

"Puff, puff~"

More bubbles than before, stronger too, blew out and flew toward Swablu in the air in an extremely orderly formation. Bubble Beam could be considered an advanced move reached after mastering Bubble, and Lotad had used it very cleverly at that moment.

"There's no other way. Use Agility to dodge." Terrance shook his head. With Swablu's current abilities, its options for avoiding this move were limited. Its unpolished Agility had instead become the most practical choice.

Compared with an ordinary dodge, Swablu moved nimbly under Agility, zipping past the area swept by the bubbles. Swablu was fairly lucky. Although it still couldn't control its high-speed state properly this time, at least it didn't hit an obstacle, merely stopping with its heart still pounding.