Geoff and Isla sat in the lobby with their healed Pokémon and met up with Eli, who was just returning with hers. Isla caught herself staring at Eli as the latter walked up, but not before she noticed that Geoff had been staring just as long, if not longer. She ignored it for the time being and spoke before anyone else could, an attempt at preventing Eli from noticing the mindless gazing.
"Seems like we are all set," Isla started. "I may go ask around town for a bit and find out if there is anything I can learn about the Pokémon here, maybe even check in with the Pokémart for some supplies." Geoff, in his being a guy and noticing when girls are acting strange, figured Isla was up to something with such a snappy response. Why was she trying to leave so quickly? "You can keep me company if you want," she added.
Eli didn't have a problem joining her; she needed to pick up more Pokéballs, since she'd already used two to get only a second teammate. Geoff was surprised about Eli's decision, but he tagged along anyways. Scarlett followed along, carefully watching the others' Pokémon. Bandit bounced along, and was debating nipping at Isla's and Eli's heels (and maybe Geoff's leg again), just because he was a bit of a jerk, and not quite used to humans yet.
As Lily reached the town she hurried over to the Pokémon center, passing by some trainers who were just leaving. The girl recognized them as trainers as they were the only ones with Pokémon by their side in the whole town. Lily reached the Pokémon center in no time. She stepped through the automatic door and entered the building, walking straight to the nurse there and after greeting her, gave the nurse her Pokémon to get treated. Since she had to wait a bit Lily decided to go outside and have a look around until her Pokémon were healed, maybe pick up some supplies. Nurse Joy was more than willing to give her a small buzzer to tell her when she could pick up her Pokémon.
Geoff waited for Eli and Isla to finish getting some new things; he didn't need to buy anything. He could've, but he'd already packed plenty before he even came here, and had only used up the one pokéball to catch Bandit. Eli stocked up on extras while she had the chance. A few potions couldn't hurt, either. Isla stocked up on a couple of Pokéballs, Potions, and Antidotes and such--after all, the middle of nowhere would be a terrible place to suffer a serious injury or status ailment.
Before they'd left the Pokémart, Eli picked up a drink from the vending machine for herself, and another for Isla and Geoff. Thanks was given while Eli thought of how Oldale's Pokémart had fairly less stock than Fortree's. Since it was likely none of them had any trainer-battling experience, Eli brought up the idea of a three-way battle in the open space dead center of Oldale Town. Everyone was up for it, and the Pokémon were far from objecting.
As Lily ended up in front of the Pokémart, she found herself facing the trainers from before as they left with their hands full of supplies. The girl entered into the shop and in minutes finished buying all that she needed: Some Potions and Antidotes. Lily was about to return to the Pokémon Center when she spotted the same trainers she had passed by earlier. They had eager looks on their faces and seemed to be itching to start something. All that Lily could say was that they were restless. They all had Pokéballs and Pokémon at the ready, but a three-way battle seemed abnormal. Lily couldn't help herself but be curious so she went closer to the group of teenagers and asked them if they are preparing for a battle.
Answering first was Eli, "That's about right. What's your name?"
"Lily."
"Nice to meet you; I'm Geoff," the taller boy answered. Isla and Eli also introduced themselves.
"Do you mind if I battled, too?"
"No problem," Eli replied. "We could have a tag battle. Two on two, one Pokémon each."
"Awesome! Just let me pick up my Pokémon from Nurse Joy and I'll be right back!"
The group didn't have to wait long for the girl. In a matter of moments, Lily had returned, Pokéballs in hand. Isla had already snatched up Eli for a teammate, so Geoff teamed up with Lily, everyone taking a place in the center of town. Once everyone was ready, they all threw up a Pokéball and called out their names--except for Geoff, whose Pokémon were almost always outside their Pokéballs. Bandit, his Poochyena, charged onto the soon-to-be battlefield before he could even tell who to go. Geoff blinked several times in surprise. "Alright, then. You're up, Bandit."
"Vex, let's get this started."
"We can't let them win, now can we? Knight, come out!" she said, calling her new Ralts out.
"Brotad, come on out!"
Four corners; a Ralts and Poochyena on one side, with a Vulpix and Lotad on the other.
"Opposites attract, huh?" Isla thought as she looked at the teams. She was starting to be grateful these thoughts popped up in her head before she said them. Remembering they just started a battle, Isla yelled out, "Brotad, use Astonish!" The little Bro did as commanded, rushing at Lily's Ralts with its stubby legs.
Geoff used Rest. Zzzzzzzzz. Geoff used Snore. Snore turned into Mass Hypnosis! All the girls fell asleep on his lap. Geoff dies young with no regrets.
Geoff was the next to bark orders. "Bandit, Bite that Lotad!"
"Ember!" Eli called. Once Bandit took off toward Brotad, Vex fired off a blast of flames at the Poochyena, only for it to get interrupted by Knight's Confusion. Knight quickly launched the ball of fire back at the Vulpix, but that only powered up Vex's abilities. Meanwhile, Bandit sank its glowing teeth into the poor Brotad.
"Try it again, Knight!" Lily commanded. The Ralts picked up Brotad, Bandit still baring his teeth in the Lotad's flesh, then threw the pair at Vex, who promptly ran out of the way. With Brotad and Bandit skidding on Oldale's fresh-cut grass, the latter finally let his Bite go before both stood back up again. "You're not supposed to hurt Geoff's Pokémon; he's on our side!" Knight, having a tinge of guilt on his head, went directly for Vex this time, who was controlling ghostly white flames around her body.
"Hex!" her trainer yelled, but before it could happen Bandit slammed into the Vulpix's side, Brotad dogpiling on and rolling everyone over. Seeing the stubby, leaf-headed Lotad stumbling over the canine and fox Pokémon nearly made Lily fall over laughing. No one could suppress their laughter at the sight. Even Scarlett rolled around laughing, setting fire to small patches of grass as she did so. Geoff hurried over, stamped out the flames, and moved back to the battlefield.
Brotad rolled to the side, and faced the opposing Ralts, who was standing there mocking all three other participants. At his trainer's behest, the ever-eager Lotad charged at Knight with a ghostly aura, slamming into it head-to-head while it was distracted. With Vex and Bandit recovering, the former managed to pull off a Hex to take Ralts out before it could get back up. Needless to say, it was super effective, though Bandit managed to get his little fangs around Vex's tails.
Vex, in response, started running around frantically, trying to get the beast off of her back end.
Get off get off get off get off! she screamed, the simplistic cries of her own species' name echoing in everyone's ears like they could read the poor Vulpix's thoughts. Regardless, Geoff wouldn't stop laughing as both his and Eli's Pokémon were slamming into everything solid, one trying to dislodge the other from its fur. The bashing only ended when both finally fell unconscious, bruises all over their bodies due to attacking the trees, buildings and Oldale Town sign.
In the end, Brotad was the only one remaining. He was utterly satisfied, even unbelieving that he was actually the winner. That said, he returned to his trainer's side in the
slowest, most awesome walk possible for his stumpy little legs. The trainer in question had been hugging Eli in her excitement over winning their first trainer battle. She managed to catch herself and let go after a few seconds, but it was far too late to take back the hug. Isla blushed furiously from having hugged a cute guy she'd just met, and Eli blushed from having been hugged
but that didn't stop Isla from thinking Eli was even cuter and more huggable, both turning away from each other to get their Pokémon. Geoff was jealous that Isla got to hug the cute guy and he didn't, but he disguised the envy while he and Lily retrieved their own Pokémon.