"Alright, let's get a bit of practice in for the day." Adrian led his Pokémon farther away from the Suicune Dorm, where fewer people were. His own personal methods of training differed a lot from most other Trainers' -- while they would go and battle random Pokémon and capture those that didn't even want to be confined in a Pokéball, he would simply ask around for the strongest or smartest one around that was willing to battle.
Today, he had progressed some distance, when he encountered a Rattata that was foraging for food. He appeared out of the grass, looking very irritable. "Gods, this was already a bad day before YOU came along. Here I am, trying to get a decent snack, and someone like your filthy self shows up. Can't a simple rodent live in peace these days?"
"Hey look, I'm not out to battle you, so your day isn't going to be ruined." Adrian leaned on his cane, looking at the Pokémon straight in its eyes.
"Wait. Am I crazy or do you actually understand what I'm talking about?" The Rattata actually sat up and wasn't growling anymore. Instead, surprise in the extreme was registering on its face. "I thought only that green-haired guy could understand us, and he's never around."
"Apparently he's not the only one. And I'm a bit offended by being called filthy, thank you very much." Part of his mind wanted to laugh hysterically at the mere concept of talking to a rat. Another part of him took pride in his gift with communicating with anyone and anything he wanted to.
"Yeah, my bad. I'm used to more clumsy people coming up and disturbing my colony. All they do is pick us out one by one and try to catch us. But we're smarter than that. We gang up on them these days, and it's gotten easier since a few of our number evolved into Raticates recently." The Rattata puffed up his chest as a sign of pride. He also stood up straighter, feeling like he was invincible as long as the pack was behind him.
"Yeah, I'm up to help my Pokémon train. You know of anyone in the area who wants a good round? I'm not out to catch another Pokémon yet. The time isn't right for that." Adrian shifted his stance on his cane. If this Rattata was right, his colony shouldn't be too far, especially if he was talking tough about it in the open.
"Boss is always looking for a good fight. He's always wanting to show the others just how tough he is. He always says that if he loses he'll even let his conqueror lead the colony! How funny is that?!" The Rattata was obviously at the point of laughing about the whole thing. "He's as tough as an Onix, but he's going to end up in a Pokéballs sooner or later."
"Don't mind taking me over? I need to teach my Gastly and Shellder a couple lessons anyway." It was high time they met a tough opponent. If they were taken down a peg or two by the alpha Raticate, it would at least teach them to use their heads. If they won, they'd obviously come out a lot stronger anyway. Even so, if they were both taken out, he had his ace in the hole always by his side.
As Adrian suspected, it wasn't long at all until they came to the colony's center in the middle of a grove of large oak trees. It sat on top of a hill that commanded a view of the entire woods. And in the middle of the group sat the biggest Raticate that Adrian had ever laid his eyes on.
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VS Raticate (level 28)
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It didn't take long to get the big rodent's attention, nor did it take long to get him to fight Adrian's Pokémon. First, he sent out his Gastly, who disappeared as usual, before resorting to his usual antics of reappearing everywhere and annoying his foe half to death.
However, it wasn't before long that the agitated Raticate managed to nail the Gastly with a well-placed Crunch, which disrupted his form and made him a lot weaker.
However, his relentless attacks had taken their toll. He had already slowed down the Raticate by a lot, and also poisoned him. That being done, Adrian recalled the ghost before any more damage could be done, and sent out the Shellder.
This time, it was a brute clash of will, in which the Shellder pelted the rodent with rocks and ice repeatedly until the Raticate made a titanic effort and nailed him on his shell's weak spot with a powerful Hyper Fang attack.
No wonder that Rattata was bragging do much about this one. He's a beast! Adrian recalled the Shellder as well while the rodent was still paralyzed by the Gastly's slew of Lick attacks, poison, and Scary Face attacks from earlier.
Finally, he sent out Supernova. The Larvesta slowly creeped out onto the battlefield, as the Raticate made a herculean effort to get up again. Seeing what appeared to be a much weaker Pokémon on the field, he used all of his strength in a valiant (and failed) attempt to take her down in a full-body tackle.
"Now, light him up!" Adrian loved this strategy, and almost nobody ever saw it except for his toughest foes.
As the Raticate made contact with her scorching hot body, he was burned now as well as poisoned and partially paralyzed, effectively crippling it, because the Larvesta had used Morning Sun just before the attack hit, not only healing her, but heating her body so much that it burned the Raticate as his attack landed.
And then came the best part of the combo. While she was still powered up by the heat of her Morning Sun, she unleashed her most powerful Ember attack, right in the Raticate's face. The sheer power of the attack, coupled by the poison and the burns, along with the crippling paralysis, did the massive rodent in...
And the Larvesta remained completely untouched by the whole thing. All according to plan! Adrian had to admit that he loved it when he won, but still, it was Supernova's brilliant timing that led to this complete victory over his stronger foe.
She rarely battled, but she was powerful, and Adrian was always trying to make that a point to her. If she'd only step out and embrace her strength, she would be completely devastating on the field.
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"There, all done." Thankfully, Adrian had brought enough healing items for the trip, both for the Raticate and for his own Pokémon, who were less hyper because of this whole thing. The oversized Raticate had taken down more than half a good Trainer's team, and both parties had reason to be proud of their accomplishments.
"You fought well, and I lost the bet with my colony. My teeth are yours." The Raticate stepped aside, so that Adrian could sit in the center of the hill among all of the Raticates and Rattatas on the hill.
"I can already eat well enough." By now, the colony had already gotten used to the fact that he could understand them all, and the humor was well-received. "Besides, I can't visit everyday, and I was only out for a good round today. You certainly gave us one!"
The Raticate stood up and made a gesture of pride, which was copied by a good number of his own kind. "Let it be known that this human... Adrian? ... this human, Adrian, shall pass freely along with his Pokémon friends through our turf! If he ever needs us, our teeth will be there to help!"
A loud round of agreement went through the colony. Nobody in the colony would question the biggest one around, and it was already proven that this was a Trainer that was helpful, strong, and completely understanding of them. He wouldn't have to worry about going through this area (even without any Pokémon) ever again.
And better yet, if he ever needed a mob of Rattatas and Raticates to help out... A good friend is worth a million times more than a good Pokeball.
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It wasn't that long before he had reached the Dorm again, his fully-healed Pokémon in tow. They were all quite a bit stronger from the encounter, especially Larvesta, who seemed to simply radiate power during that battle. Well, they always say the timid ones are the most dangerous when they start to get things moving.
It was when he was closer to the Pokémon Center that was based very close to the dorm when some kid came running full tilt towards him and told him that he looked tough, and started trying to catch his breath. It was plain to see that this kid was obvious over-excited, like he just ate a whole bag of sugar or something.
He was about to straight-up ignore him, when the kid challenged him to a battle. Adrian slowly turned towards him, looking like the very definition of the words "calm and strong."
"Who are you?" He didn't even answer whether or not he wanted to battle. If that kid really wanted a battle, Adrian was ready for it. But he still would rather battle someone with more reason for battling other than the fact that he had crossed his path. This isn't some dumb 90's video game, where people fight for no reason at all.