The Type Specialist

"I've got Fairy Type themed mugs, Fairy Type themed plates, and Fairy Type themed lunch boxes. I'm selling pink blankets, pink shirts, and even just pink towels. Fairy Type Pokémon food sales have reached an all-time high, and I'm starting to consider if I should use your likeness for a full-body p-"

"Please don't say what it sounds like you're going to say, Marty."

"-oster. What, do you not like people putting you up on the wall of their room to inspire them to be a better trainer?"

Old Man Harvey smacked Marty on the back of his head, causing Trubbish to squeal in Marty's arms. I personally rolled my eyes. I had called Marty to catch up after my Gym battle and tell him the good news while my Pokémon were being healed, but he had instead started to talk about all the ways my sponsorship was causing his Pokémart to rake in Pokédollars.

"Look, I'm just saying people are starting to talk about Fairy Types after hearing about your success. Seven Gym Badges in your first season? You’re doing great, Alex. If you get to the Conference, Olivine will be in a state of real Alex-mania. I've been keeping everyone up to date on your misadventures and exploits, and they all have been avidly following your journey. When the news got out you were part of the team that discovered the Mirage Tower fossils? Since then, sales have been through the roof. You won't believe the number of people here talking about Fairy Types now, it's ridiculous how much you've changed the perspective on such a weak Type," Marty said.

"Excuse me? Weak Type?" I crossed my arms. "Fairy Type is anything but. There are no weak Types, only trainers that don't know how to use them properly."

Marty held up his hands to calm me down.

"I know, I know. I just meant that everyone here thought Fairy Types were weak before. Olivine’s Gym Leader is a Steel Type specialist, so Fairy Types don’t tend to get a good showing when they struggle against her entire team. Sorry, I should have phrased that better."

Rather than giving me time to respond, Old Man Harvey cleared his throat and Marty stepped to the side to let him move closer to the screen. The two of them were taking my call at a local Pokémon Center rather than the video phone Marty had installed in his Pokémart. This way, Old Man Harvey would have a chance to talk, and also it let me check up on Trubbish again. The little guy was still overjoyed to be living with Marty, and just a few weeks ago, he actually stopped smelling so bad thanks to his improved diet and overall happier life.

Old Man Harvey smacked his lips and looked me over.

"So, seven badges, eh?"

"Yup, I just beat Tate and Liza to earn the Mind Badge," I replied.

Old Man Harvey moved his jaw around in thought.

"You making good use of my journal, kid?"

I cringed at that. I hadn't been using it much recently, but at the same time I had already internalized most of the lessons inside it back when I read it so vigorously at the start of the season.

"...Not recently," I said while scratching my cheek and looking away. "Your notes for your Weavile helped me train Ninetales's Ice Type moves, and your experience with Lickilicky actually helped me work with Azumarill since they have similar body types, but where I'm at now means that I've already picked up most the general tips I could from it. Everything else was too specific to your Pokémon, and you didn't train any Fairy Types."

To my surprise, Old Man Harvey smiled at that rather than seeming disappointed.

"Good, you're developing your own strategy then, rather than just copying mine. I gave that to you to help, not to drag you along by the nose and tell you how to do everything."

I smiled at that.

I'm glad I'm not disappointing him.

"Thank you. Right now I'm trying to incorporate better tricks and deceptions into my strategies to better match with my Pokémon's Type," I said.

Old Man Harvey frowned.

"Bah, you better not be relying too much on tricks. You read my notes on my Saffron Gym Battle, right?

"You mean your page-long rant about how the Gym Leader before Sabrina abused Teleport and Hypnosis? Yeah, I read that. You managed to win by having your Weavile use Taunt to shut down everything his Pokémon did. It was an easy sweep after that."

Old Man Harvey nodded sagaciously, satisfied that I remembered that lesson. The previous Psychic Type Gym Leader did over rely on tricks to win, but he was easily defeated when his tricks were countered. However, I didn't think that would be a problem for me.

"I get what you're trying to say, but only Ninetales primarily relies on a trick like that, and she's still strong even without her Hail and Snow Cloak up. I don't plan to try to have everyone deceive their opponents, only the ones that it works best with. Azumarill and Florges, for example, don't heavily rely on deception. All Types have certain aspects that reflect traits Pokémon of that Type share, and trickery is only a single one for the Fairy Type.

"Then what are the other aspects of the Fairy Type?" Marty asked. "Asking as an interested individual, rather than the guy using your image for marketing."

He paused.

"Actually, I'm asking as that guy, too," he said.

I pursed my lips and tried to think of the best way to phrase my recent thoughts.

"Hm. Saying Types have 'aspects' isn't necessarily accurate, but it's the easiest and simplest way for me to put my thoughts into words. Like, Water Types have 'water' as an aspect, of course, but also 'rain' and 'fish'. Poison Types, on the other hand, have 'venom,' 'sludge,' and 'pollution' as what I consider to be their 'aspects' or themes. The question is, what aspects can Fairy Types be boiled down to?

"Well, unlike other Types, the Fairy Type is almost more conceptual? Like, instead of a connection to something physical like water or rocks, it's more connected to stories and legends. The deceit and trickery of Fairies is a common theme that goes along with them, and can be seen in how some of them battle like Mr. Mime creating barriers to trick its opponents, or Ninetales using her snow and Confuse Ray to mislead the senses. The issue is not every Fairy Type follows along with that, like how I said both Azumarill and Florges don't use tricks. I want to figure out everything that makes a Fairy Type a Fairy Type, but considering the only other things I can think of right now is 'a connection to nature,' and 'being cute,' I figured trickery and deceit was a good place to start."

Marty blinked and Old Man Harvey spoke up.

"And what stories and legends mention Fairy Types? I can't think of anything like that off the top of my head."

"They're only in small towns near forests," I hurriedly said. "I can't remember any right now, but I'm sure I can find them in the future."

Old Man Harvey suddenly eyed me with interest and Marty raised an eyebrow.

I didn't even stop to think that stories about tricky fae and mythical creatures like unicorns are probably extremely rare here. Everything can be explained by Pokémon, so even though there are stories surrounding them, the whole idea of fairies as a unique creature might not exist. I need to be more careful sharing my thoughts like that, I don't need to accidentally reveal my origin by accident.

…Although, how do Fairy Types connect to local myths? That might be a worthwhile avenue of research.

Noticing the silence that permeated the call while Old Man Harvey and I both got lost in thought, Marty spoke up to continue the conversation.

"Anyway, Alex, as your sponsor and friend, I'd like to know where you're heading next. I might be able to figure out some merchandise to prepare ahead of time based on your future plans," he asked.

"Oh, I'm going to compete in a tournament taking place in a few days in Lilycove. It seems like it'll be important."

Marty's eyes grew wide.

"Oh! You're participating in one of those? Every region but Galar suddenly announced tournaments within their big cities, probably because Galar is in the middle of their Champion Cup right now. Rumors state those tournaments are giving mysterious and valuable prizes for those who win, which means everyone's been talking about them. They'll be televised too. I'll be sure to get a tape of your matches."

I blinked.

"...Televised?" I asked.

"Yeah, the League is treating them as kind of a big thing, and everyone I've talked to is looking forward to watching them," Marty said. "Make sure to give a good showing, since I won't be allowed to sponsor you at the end of this season, and you have to perform well to attract a new one.

"...Plus if you show off your team people will be more motivated to buy your merchandise," Marty said quickly under his breath.

Every Gym Battle I had been in so far hadn't had that large of a crowd, only a few dozen at most. The only exception was when I fought Wallace, since the audience had been packed with his fans. The idea of having my battles televised to the entire region, and potentially the entire world, was a little nerve-wracking since it meant I really had to make sure to do well. I knew I would have it worse during the Ever Grande Conference, since Conferences were big enough to actually get the entire world watching in later rounds, but I had thought I would have more time to prepare before I would be on TV.

Old Man Harvey noticed me get serious at the mention of being televised.

"Calm down, kid. You still have weeks before it starts, and having a big crowd isn't bad. All the cheering will pump you up, and once you're battling you'll forget all about it. Trust me, I've been in my share of big tournaments.”

I let out a deep breath and smiled as Trubbish cheered for me, too.

"Thanks. I needed to hear that," I said.

I glanced behind me as I heard Nurse Joy call out my name.

"It seems my Pokémon are healed. I'll talk to you all another time, Marty, Trubbish, Old Man Harvey. Thanks for everything, but I need to go. You'll see me on TV soon, I guess."

Marty smiled and waved.

"You can do it, Alex! Go far!"

"Show 'em what you got, kid."

"Trubbish!"

Once we said our goodbyes, I hung up and turned off the screen. I needed to collect my team, celebrate with Wally, then head off to Lilycove tomorrow.

Mossdeep was close to Lilycove, so we arrived in the city by the afternoon the next day.

Lilycove reminded me of Slateport, but rather than a tourist destination, it was much fancier and didn't have most of its city taken up by docks. The population of this city was much better off, and its architecture seemed to have more class. There was a clear preference toward beauty and comfort over function, and some of the buildings seemed almost artistic in their designs.

Wally and I weren't able to get a room at the first Pokémon Center we visited, but the second one still had a few available. It wasn't as packed as Mauville was in between seasons, but it seemed we weren't the only trainers here interested in the tournament.

The city was busy, too, but not with tourists. A lot of the population tended to be out either walking with their Pokémon, or going to or from work. Their clothes were either suits or fancy outfits, which reflected the apparent wealth the people of the city had. The most common Pokémon were Granbull that all tended to vary both in color and shape of their face, probably from differences in breed. I even saw one woman walking a Furfrou whose fur was cut to look like an Egyptian pharaoh.

Since Lilycove was another beach city, Wally left to squeeze in some late afternoon beach time, and I left to head to a local park. Like most other cities, Lilycove had open spaces for Pokémon to play in, and there were even some dedicated to trainer Pokémon rather than just companion Pokémon. When I headed towards it, I decided to send out Cottonee to float along next to me to keep me company. I hadn’t spent much time with him one-on-one since I received him from the trade, and I wanted to fix that.

When I sent Cottonee out from his Pokéball, he spun in happiness and looked around. Seeing that he was alone, he glided over to me and nuzzled into my chest. I briefly petted him before he left to float next to me, and we continued moving along.

Contrary to the other times I had sent Cottonee out, he was much calmer and fine with just simply hanging out. He didn't vibrate in excitement like usual, and he didn't make any telltale signs of pranks like he usually did. He didn't even blink at the buildings we passed by, uninterested in the surroundings. He was just satisfied to be out and calmly stuck nearby as I walked down the sidewalk.

"So what do you think of the team so far?" I asked Cottonee.

Since Cottonee was a traded Pokémon, I wanted to make sure he was fitting in alright. Being traded to a new team was a big change, and while he seemed to be getting along well, I wanted to make sure he was happy.

Cottonee looked at me and his eyes curved up into a smile.

"Cottonee! Ee ee!" He replied.

I nodded. I couldn't tell what he said, but he seemed happy enough.

"And your training, are you comfortable with the rate we've been going?"

Cottonee's brows furrowed in thought, then he shifted forward and brought his body to float up, like he was gesturing towards the sky. He said his name a few times with a determined inflection.

"...Wait, you want to be trained harder?"

"Ttonee ee!" He said, giggling to himself.

"If this is a prank you're playing on me, I hope you know it's just going to end up with more time to work on your moves."

Cottonee just nodded at that. It really did seem like he wasn't tricking me or pretending to want something he really didn't. Cottonee genuinely wanted to push himself harder.

"I hadn't taken you as a Pokémon that likes to push himself. Can I ask what’s motivating you to do this?"

"Cott Cottonee Ttonee Tton Nee Ee Cotton Eeee Tton Cottonee," he said while moving his body up and down seriously, nodding.

I blinked.

"I’m not sure if you know, but I can’t understand your language."

Cottonee looked genuinely shocked at that and looked down, upset with himself. He flew over to a wall and pressed his face to it in shame. I jogged over to where he was sulking, and waved in apology to the few pedestrians I had rushed in front of to get to Cottonee.

"It's okay," I said while patting him on the back. "I can't understand the specifics of anyone else on the team, either."

Cottonee’s mood brightened after hearing that, and he laughed. I hoped that he was actually feeling better, and not that he had pranked me into... feeling bad for him?

If that was a prank, it was the weirdest prank he had ever done.

We turned to continue towards the park, and I repeated my question.

"So why do you want to train more?"

Cottonee looked around hurriedly, then tried to float off again before I grabbed him.

"No, seriously. What's going on? Are you okay?"

This time, Cottonee didn't try to distract me from the question, and looked down in embarrassment. I let him go and he floated ahead of me, not speaking. After a moment, he glanced at my belt where I kept everyone's Pokéballs, then to me, and then quickly looked away. I didn't need to take too long to put two-and-two together.

"Ah. You feel like you're not at the same level as everyone else, huh? Well, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Your ability and preference for utility moves makes you a strong member of the team, especially once your repertoire of moves expands and you have more options in battle. You won't be as strong offensively as someone like Azumarill, but I have no doubts that with enough practice, you'll be able to shut down almost anyone you meet."

Cottonee significantly perked up at that, then rapidly circled around me as if begging to elaborate. Since I could see the edge of the park in the distance, I decided to give a quick explanation.

"Well, let's give an example of two moves I want you to learn: Encore and Taunt. Encore will trick your opponents into only using their most recently used move, and Taunt tricks them into only using attacking moves. Now, what happens when you use Encore on a utility move, then follow it up with Taunt? Your opponent will be too disoriented to use any moves against you, and will likely hurt themselves in their Struggle to attack you due to Taunt, or at least that's what my research online said would happen. You'd be in the perfect position to safely use moves against them, and that whole strategy honestly lines up with how you like to battle."

At that idea, Cottonee was back to vibrating in excitement, and I smiled at his happiness.

"Well, if you're so desperate to train harder, how about we work on teaching you those two moves next? From a recent battle with a Mr. Mime, I know that properly used utility moves can let you beat stronger opponents, so I'd definitely be able to send you out in more battles if you knew them. Plus, Taunt should be easy for you to learn if Mawile helps you, especially since your Prankster ability should speed up the rate you learn those moves, much like Technician. What do you think?"

Cottonee was filled with joy at that suggestion, and nuzzled into my chest again. I laughed and patted his head, then entered the park to relax with my Pokémon.

"I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"

I looked over to the young voice who shouted at me, and saw a boy in a blue and yellow shirt and shorts combo, no older than twelve, with a red, Kantonian Vulpix by his side. He was awkwardly holding two Pokéballs in his hand and trying his best to look confident.

Mawile and Ponyta were at my side, and Cottonee was off gliding around another trainer's Pidove nearby. Those three were the only Pokémon I was allowed to send out, since I hadn’t realized this park had a size limit on Pokémon before I got here.

"Are you sure you're up for it?" I asked the kid. "I've earned seven Gym Badges so far, and don't want your team to get hurt."

He sniffed his nose, sucking back in some mucus, and just looked more determined as his Vulpix next to him took on an aggressive stance.

"Then it'll just be more impressive when I beat you! Come on, we looked each other in the eye, you can't back down now!"

While that wasn't actually a rule, a lot of kids believed it to be true, and I sighed.

He'd get upset if I turned him down, but also if I beat him. Actually, wait a moment. If he's a beginning trainer with two Pokémon, this might be the perfect chance to finally let Ponyta battle for the first time.

"Actually, I think I will take you on. How many badges have you earned?" I asked.

The kid frowned at my question.

"None yet! But when Vulpix and I are finally allowed to take on the League, we'll sweep everyone!"

Absentmindedly nodding as he said that, I looked around to see if he had any guardians nearby. I quickly found a woman with short brown hair and a jacket watching us at a moderately close distance, and she locked eyes with me and nodded.

While I can't say I approve of her letting her kid challenge a complete stranger like this, at least she's keeping an eye on him.

"Okay, you have your challenge. Where do you want to battle?"

"Let's go over there!" he shouted while pointing deeper into the park. "There's some battlefields we can use!"

Standing up, I called over Cottonee, who said goodbye to his thankfully not paralyzed Pidove friend, and the kid led us over to the battlefield. The woman who I presumed to be his mother stayed at a distance.

"So how about a two-on-two battle, no switches?" I said as we took up our spots on the field.

The kid locked eyes with me and nodded, but then stuck his tongue out in thought for a second and added another condition.

"Loser pays 20 Pokédollars to the winner!" He said while grinning mischievously.

I blinked.

That's like two or three full berries and is chump change to me at this point. Wow, my finances have significantly improved for that to be practically nothing to me. No wonder Marty is so gung-ho about merchandising. Having money is nice.

"Alright, but if you lose I get bragging rights instead, got it?" I called out, not wanting to scam this kid out of his money when I won.

The kid smirked and held back a chuckle when I said that, and it almost made me regret passing up the bet.

"Uh-huh. I get 20 dollars, and you get bragging rights. Ready to battle?"

"You only get 20 dollars if you win," I said to specify. "Let's start."

"Come on out, Shuppet!"

"Ponyta, go!"

While Ponyta trotted onto the field, I blinked at the Shuppet. It looked like a floating gray cloth being held up by a nail in the center of it like a tent, but had a recognizable head and face. Seeing a Ghost made me nervous, and knowing it was being trained by a kid made me paranoid that not everything was okay. I glanced over to his mother, who was watching with interest, and didn't feel anything from Banette, still in my shadow. Raising a Ghost as a child was risky but not unheard of, but then again not everyone was as paranoid as I was.

Seeing the Ghost on the battlefield created a different problem, however. Ghosts could avoid most attacks not infused with Type energy, and even then they were still immune to Normal Type energy. Ponyta only knew and practiced Tackle, which Shuppet was immune to.

No wonder the kid was so confident he'd win. Most attacks at this low level of play are Normal Type moves which don’t affect Shuppet.

While I knew Cottonee could win, this was Ponyta's first battle. It wasn't everyday a low level trainer challenged me, so I couldn't pass up this chance. However, I didn't want him to lose in his first battle either. Our best option was unlikely: Ponyta would have to figure out the move while motivated by a high-stress environment. Luckily, our practice with his Psychic Type powers meant he already understood the basics of this move already, but I would need to walk him through how to use it in the middle of the battle.

"Focus on staying away from Shuppet, and listen to my instructions for a new move."

Ponyta glanced back at me when I said that, and I was unable to tell what his emotions were due to the calm but serious expression on his face.

Meanwhile, the kid was beaming, and Shuppet approached Ponyta.

"Shuppet, you're going to win! Don’t let it run away, and use Night Shade!"

Shuppet paused to process its trainers orders, then got close to Ponyta and a sphere of faint darkness appeared around it.

I recognized the move. Not necessarily just its name, since I already knew it from when the kid called out “Night Shade,” but as the same move Banette used to conjure the darkness back in Sea Mauville. Night Shade was a move whose effect was tied to the inherent power of its user, rather than the actual mastery of the move itself. Since Shuppet didn’t have that much training, it was only a light sphere of Ghost Type energy. However, when Banette used Night Shade, it had been a large pitch black sphere that gave me chills even though it hadn’t hurt me at the time.

Ponyta was a Psychic Type, however, so the Night Shade was more effective against him. As soon as the move reached him, he shook and ran away from Shuppet as fast as he could.

“Stay in the bounds of the field! You can do this, Ponyta!” I called out.

Ponyta quickly swerved before he ran over the painted white line boundary, and ran away from Shuppet as fast as he could. He was far faster than it, and Shuppet desperately tried to follow. It seemed that it didn’t have any ranged moves.

Ponyta was able to get back under control of himself now that he was staying far away from the Ghost Type, so I decided to call out some instructions.

“Ponyta, your close-ranged attacks won’t hurt Shuppet. I need you to learn a new move. Remember how you can detect and nudge things with your mind? You have to use that to attack Shuppet. Try to nudge it, but do it as hard as you can! Use Confusion!”

Ponyta’s eyes flickered blue as he continued to run, and Shuppet desperately tried to catch up. Ponyta had trained with Pokémon significantly stronger than Shuppet, so even in his young age he had impressive stamina. I was worried that he wouldn’t be able to both run and use Confusion at the same time, since many early stage Pokémon had to stay in place to use special moves, but he had no trouble at all as his eyes maintained their blue glow while he skirted along the edge of the field.

Ponyta is a species dedicated to running. I wonder if his species is specifically adapted to using their Psychic powers while moving.

While Ponyta’s eyes were glowing blue, I noticed that they faded every so often whenever he tried to damage Shuppet. While the Ghost Type didn’t resist the Psychic Type, many Psychic Types struggled with dealing with Ghost Types since Psychics tended to instinctually recoil when they detected a Ghost. Ponyta was struggling with that very issue, but he was making quick progress.

The kid on the other side of the field was looking frustrated, and called out to change Shuppet’s strategy.

“Night Shade isn’t working, Shuppet! Use Knock Off instead!”

Shuppet nodded at its trainer, acknowledging the new command, then continued the chase anyway, as both Night Shade and Knock Off required it to get close. The chase continued for a while longer, but then I suddenly felt a faint breeze under my feet. I looked down to see a pair of red eyes disappear back into my shadow, and the kid’s Shuppet paused on the battlefield, clearly noticing something was up. In response to whatever information Banette had just shared with it, the Ghost Type sunk into the ground and disappeared into a shadow, then rushed forward at Ponyta with Shadow Sneak.

Did Banette really just help my opponent learn a new move in the middle of a battle?

Ponyta tried to outrun it, but Shuppet’s shadow movement was too fast and it quickly caught up with him. It launched itself out of the shadow, coating itself in Ghost Type energy and dealing super effective damage to Ponyta as it slammed into him.

Ponyta was knocked back a foot, and in his panic from the sudden super effective attack, the blue glow in his eyes drastically increased in intensity and surrounded Shuppet. The Ghost Type was locked in place as a fear-inspired Confusion bent the space around it. The unexpected attack dealt critical damage, the Shuppet not expecting retaliation, and it suddenly shot back in fear. It seemed like it wasn’t used to being hurt in his battles.

“No, Shuppet! Get back in there! You can take it out with another one of your shadow thingies!”

Shuppet glanced forward nervously at Ponyta, but Ponyta had already recovered enough to act. The difference in quality of training was apparent as Ponyta managed to regain his composure before Shuppet, and he then quickly finished it off with another Confusion. The kid stomped his foot in frustration, and returned the knocked out Shuppet to its Pokéball.

“I’m withdrawing Ponyta from the battle,” I said. “I don’t want him getting more injured.”

The kid looked like he wanted to say that I can’t do that, but he bit his tongue, recognizing that I was effectively removing one of my Pokémon from play. Ponyta walked over to me, and I kneeled down to pat his head.

“You did an incredible job for your first battle. I’m extremely impressed with your work with Confusion. Now that you’ve figured out a Psychic Type move, we can do a lot of really cool stuff. I’m proud of you.”

Ponyta’s eyes glimmered in happiness, and he went over next to me to lay down. Mawile was still out, and had been watching the battle, and she sat next to him to calmly rub his back. She was trying to hide it, but was practically beaming with pride at Ponyta’s success.

As the kid told his Vulpix to go forward, I looked over to Cottonee.

“Alright, I believe in you too, Cottonee. Let’s fight his Vulpix next.”

Cottonee bounced in the air in excitement, then shot towards the field. He floated in place while the kid’s Vulpix stood at the ready. Contrary to other Vulpix, this one was a bit dirty and its hair was matted. Regardless of being a Kantonian or Alolan Vulpix, the species tended to prefer being clean and well groomed, but it seemed like that one was an exception. It was tough and ready to fight, but I felt it was a bit unfair it was going against Cottonee, of all Pokémon.

“Pft. A Grass Type against a Fire Type? You should check your Type matchups. This’ll be easy,” the kid yelled.

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes.

“Type matchup isn’t everything,” I said. “Sometimes, there are ways to win outside of dealing super effective damage. Cottonee, start with Stun Spore.”

“Ember, Vulpix!”

Cottonee floated forward in the air above Vulpix, as the fox turned to face him and shot out small flaming clumps in his direction. Thanks to his practice with Altaria, he was more than able to dodge them, and a powder of light yellow spores rained down from his body as he moved. Vulpix was too distracted to move away, using all of its focus on aiming Ember at Cottonee, who continued to easily dodge.

“Don’t let up, Vulpix!” the kid shouted.

Vulpix tried to move its head to better aim at Cottonee, but the paralysis condition from Stun Spore hindered its movements. Not needing to hear any more of my instructions, Cottonee shot out a few large seeds that quickly grew vines and wrapped around Vulpix, draining it of energy. After that, Cottonee just sat back and used Mega Drain a few times while Vulpix struggled to move and suffered from the Leech Seed.

The kid desperately tried to get Vulpix to burn the vines off of it, but it was too slow due to paralysis, and Cottonee was easily able to get another Leech Seed off whenever it succeeded. It wasn’t the fastest process, but Vulpix soon fainted to Cottonee’s utility moves, and the kid ran over to pick up his Pokémon.

The vines withered and broke apart now that Vulpix was unconscious, and Cottonee returned to my side. The kid glared at me angrily, but glanced behind me at the woman who had been watching and he frowned.

“...Thank you for the battle,” he mumbled unhappily.

“Thank you for challenging me. With your help, Ponyta was able to learn Confusion, and Cottonee got more battle experience. I hope this teaches you that Type matchups aren’t everything.”

He looked to the ground and nodded in response, and I reached into my pocket to pull out a twenty Pokédollar bill.

“Here, I didn’t lose but I appreciated the battle. You should buy treats for yourself and your Pokémon. Don’t feel down, losses are better to learn from than victories.”

The kid looked much happier at that, and held the bill in his hand. His Vulpix was starting to come to, and perked up at the mention of treats.

“I will!” he said excitedly. “I’m going to buy so much ice cream.”

The kid ran off excitedly towards the direction of where there was presumably an ice cream vendor, and his mother ran after him, calling out “Oh, no you don’t!”

I chuckled at their antics, and took out a potion to heal Ponyta. He had a strong first battle, and considering the Lilycove tournament was coming up soon, I wondered if he’d have the chance to be in any more before it started.