Chapter 24 - Actual Combat Training

"This is the end of today's practice, thank you very much."

Quinn put a cup of orange juice that he carried with him in front of the Budew, and said, "Let's take a break first!"

He lowered his head and glanced at the 1.6s on the timer nearby. This is the fastest that Budew can use "Stun Bomb". For how young Budew is, this result is great! This move can now be considered an ace in the hole for whenever Budew battles.

The next step would be training Budew to use the move Absorb more effectively.

In the game, the move is described as such-

[Absorb, Grass-Type Move, a nutrient-draining attack. The user's HP is restored by half the damage taken by the target.]

As a move that most grass-type Pokémon can learn, the move is of great strategic significance for some Pokémon who are good at long, drawn-out battles. Reality is not like the game. The trainer can't use Potions or Revives during a battle, it comes down to whichever Pokémon is the last one standing.

In a close battle, if one of the Pokémon has mastered this move, they have a large advantage over the other.

Mastery is divided into three stages-

In the first stage, it's an ordinary Absorb, the overall power and ability to actually absorb energy are limited.

The second stage, named by the League as "Mega Drain". Compared with the first stage, both the power and the ability to absorb physical energy have made a qualitative leap.

The third stage is named "Giga Drain", as the name suggests, both its power and the ability to absorb energy have reached the top of the line.

But unlike the games where a Pokémon will automatically learn the higher stages of the move through leveling, in reality, the Pokémon has to train and reach a certain proficiency with the move to move forward to the next stage.

To explain again, it's like playing basketball. At first, it may be difficult to even dribble the ball, but after a long time of practice, you can master all kinds of skills. At the highest levels, you can even close your eyes and shoot three-pointers.

'I don't know when the Budew can evolve...' Quinn thought.

After Budew evolves, it becomes a Roselia. At that point, it has a good base for truly battling.

Budew's evolution method... In the game, you needed to have a high favorability rating with Budew and trigger the evolution during the day. So what about the real world? There's not even the concept of favorability here!

Quinn sighed, got up, and recalled Budew- ready to teach class for the day.

"Only training moves without actual combat experience won't be helpful." On the way, Quinn thought.

Maybe some of the teachers or students could battle with him? No, that's no good, except for him, who is similar in nature to a physical education teacher, everyone else is very busy. Since this is the case, he'll have to go outside of the school to find someone to battle with.

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If you wonder where you'll find the most trainers, the answer without a doubt would be the Pokémon Center. Trainers often battle each other on the routes between towns, and for this reason, the Pokémon Center also specially made a battleground for battles nearby.

Therefore, after class, Quinn came to the Center to see if he could find anyone to battle. Soon enough, he found his first opponent- a new trainer from Verdanturf Town.

"It's on! Let's go, Torchic!" The boy named Ethan said while throwing out a Pokéball.

As a white light flashed, a Pokémon with vibrant orange feathers appeared in Quinn's sight,

'He's so slow... both the release and the command were slow.' thought Quinn.

If this is a battle in the wild, then the enemy can completely subdue him first and not give him a chance to throw the Pokéball.

Quinn did not forget that this was a battle and released Budew from her Pokéball.

"Budew, a grass-type Pokémon! Torchic has the type advantage... Torchic, use Ember!" yelled Ethan.

Quinn's words are quick and concise, saying, "...Budew, avoid the Embers to the left and front."

"Bud!"

Budew and the Torchic moved at the same time. The result was as Quinn expected. The untrained Torchic just aimed at the position where the Budew was standing and sent the Ember. But Budew was prepared, and before the Ember arrived, she had already dodged.

Quinn commanded, "Use Stun Spore."

"Torchic, use Ember again!"

This time, the Budew moved before Torchic could even start the Ember. The yellowish spores spread out from the bud on her head!

Originally, Torchic was out of the range of the Stun Spore, but after all the move-training the range of the spores had increased greatly! As such, the spores covered the Torchic before they could move!

The preparation for Ember was interrupted, and Torchic almost created a miniature explosion losing control of the fire-type energy! Torchic's body stiffened, and it had trouble moving its body.

Quinn calmly commanded, "Use Seed Bomb."

The newly trained Torchic hasn't faced many battles, and due to its impatience spread the spores throughout its body even more! With the Stun Spore thoroughly impeding Torchic's movement, Budew quickly shot the Seed Bomb and knocked the Torchic unconscious.

Everything happened so quickly, and the boy didn't seem to realize what was happening and stood still while watching the scene blankly.

Quinn reminded the boy, "You should send your Pokémon to the Center for treatment."

The boy came back to his senses, quickly picking up Torchic and running off to the Pokémon Center.

With one victory under his belt, he began to search for another trainer to battle. Soon, a trainer who seemed to be a little older asked him to battle.

Three minutes later, looking at the Pokémon unconscious on the ground, the trainer could only remain silent.

"What a powerful Budew!" Many trainers watched these two battles and when they looked at the Budew, the look in their eyes had changed to something else.

In their impression, Budews were incredibly weak before they evolved. It was such a 'weak Pokémon' that defeated two opponents who were stronger than him in a row, and one even had a type advantage!

This shows what? It shows that the trainer who can train this Budew isn't a normal trainer! The eyes of everyone looking at Quinn had also changed.

Battling against strong trainers is a very enjoyable time- so Quinn kept battling and battling.

The results were all unsurprising, and they had won every single battle. No one can even force out Budew's hole card they had been working on.

'Most of them are trainers who have just started their journey, and my combat experience and commands really take away any chance they had of winning...' thought Quinn.

He recalled the panting Budew back to the poke ball, and thought to himself, "We need to find stronger trainers to battle."

The strength of those near the Pokémon Center aren't anywhere near his level, and can no longer help them in any way for their training.