Chapter 29: Swablu vs. Lotad

It's been another two days at the foot of Mt. Chimney.

This was Darren's eighth day and night here.

A day ago, Swablu had already completed its basic training and learned the principle of the move Natural Gift.

At present, Swablu's Peck can already crack wooden stakes. If switched to "Fury Attack" mode, it can use Peck 3-5 times in a row, with an average power of about 40%-60% of a full Peck.

As for the Agility move, Swablu still cannot control it well, let alone stop the crashing under high-speed mode. But Darren never expected Swablu to rely on this move with his small body.

Although Swablu has learned Natural Gift, it still wasted two of the energy berries that Darren gave it in the first two attempts.

...

"Are you sure you want to make it your opponent?" Darren asked, looking at the Lotad in front of them, which was looking for the lake.

Darren had not seen this Pokemon nearby before, and it was probably accidentally entered this area. Lotad rarely walks on the ground and generally lives on the surface of ponds and lakes. However, if they lose their water source and their leaves wither, they will become weaker and immediately search for new clean water sources, occasionally moving on land.

If Darren guessed correctly, this Lotad should be lost.

"blu~" Swablu hesitated for a moment, then confirmed its call.

"Okay, I'll go communicate with it." Darren took some clean water sources from the lake and walked to the front of Lotad, breaking through the grass.

Darren's method was simple, he promised Lotad to find the lake in exchange for a battle between it and Swablu. The process was simple and smooth. Although Lotad was a little wary at first, it happily agreed after Darren promised him to find him a new water source.

"Are you ready?" Darren looked up at Swablu, which had already taken off from his head, and asked.

At the same time, Lotad also regained its energy under the bottle of clean water from Darren, full of spirits.

Looking at each other, Darren could see that both Pokemon were ready to go.

"It seems like you're ready, then let's begin the battle." Darren showed a surprised expression, not expecting Lotad to also be enthusiastic battler. It seems that Swablu will have a good time this time.

After arriving at an open area, Darren made some rough preparations, and then let the two Pokemon distribute themselves on opposite sides of the field.

After the rock hit the ground, the battle had officially begun. Telling Lotad to pay attention, Darren pointed to the rock in his hand and made a throwing motion. Once the Lotad nodded in understanding, Darren stepped back and threw the rock into the air with force.

The rock rose slowly until it reached a critical point and then fell rapidly.

With a loud "thud," the rock hit the ground, and upon hearing the sound, Lotad immediately launched an attack. Its body was surrounded by a blue light as it spewed out a group of bubbles.

The chaotic bubbles floated towards its opponent, but Swablu was calm and composed. It was no longer the little guy that fought against Weedle a few days ago.

Watching the bubbles calmly, this was the first thing Darren taught Swablu: to remain calm in the face of danger, to trust the trainer, and wait for the trainer's commands.

Swablu performed well. As the bubbles approached, it didn't try to dodge or attack on its own. It knew that it was fighting as Darren's Pokemon, not alone. Therefore, it waited for Darren's command.

There were three major factors that determined the outcome of a Pokemon battle: the trainer's commands, the strength of the Pokemon, and external factors. Darren didn't worry about external factors for now. Commands were his responsibility, and the strength of the Pokemon included not only its physical strength but also its battle awareness, judgment, and reaction time.

In battle, trainers might be affected by some special circumstances, resulting in commands being issued too late or other mistakes. At this time, the Pokemon's prediction of the battle situation would come into play. A Pokemon that only waited for its trainer's commands and one that had its own subjective combat consciousness but followed the trainer's commands could discern the trainer's intentions at the moment or even before the commands were given, and perfectly execute them. The two would either come out stronger or weaker in an instant.

Darren hoped to train Swablu to become a Pokemon that believed in its trainer's commands but also had a rich combat consciousness.

This cultivation required a deep bond and trust between the trainer and the Pokemon, and the road ahead was long. Darren was in no hurry to achieve perfection, and everything had to start from scratch.

"Fury Attack!"

The crisp command was given, and Swablu immediately understood Darren's command. Its beak shone with white light as it faced the incoming bubbles and began to charge forward from the direction with the fewest and most sparse bubbles.

"Whack! Whack! Whack!"

Swablu pecked three bubbles in a row and flew towards the Lotad with a relentless momentum.

The light on its beak did not dissipate. At this moment, Swablu was attacking from the air, intending to use the Peck move to directly defeat the Lotad. However, the Lotad did not sit idly by and threw out a green light similar to a vine, trying to entangle Swablu as it flew towards it.

Absorb!

The energy vine with the green light diffused was filled with countless small holes. If Swablu was bound, its stamina would be continuously absorbed away.

Therefore, Darren ordered a retreat.

"Fly back into the air."

Upon hearing the command, Swablu hastily canceled its attack and flew back into the air, just barely dodging the Absorb move.

However, the Lotad did not stop its action. From the connection of its moves, Darren knew that the Lotad had at least some battle experience, unlike Swablu.

"Pupu~"

More and more powerful bubbles blew out, flying towards Swablu in a very neat angle. This Bubble Burst move was a sign that Loatd had mastered the move Bubble.

"There's no choice but to dodge with Agility." Shaking his head, Darren knew that Swablu's methods to dodge this move were limited. Immature high-speed movement was actually the most practical.

Compared to a standard dodge, Swablu's movements were very erratic when utilizing Agility. With a "whoosh," it leaped over the range of the foam's barrage. Swablu was lucky this time. Although it couldn't control its Agility state very well, at least it didn't crash into any obstacles.