"Then… the battle begins now!"
As soon as Sutter's voice fell, Aven and Peter simultaneously began issuing commands to their Pokémon.
"RHHYYY—!"
Rhydon stomped down hard with one massive foot.
In that instant, the earth beneath them suddenly surged upward. A large number of jagged rocks protruded violently from the ground, spreading rapidly across the battlefield toward the distant Bibarel!
"Bibarel, Aqua Jet to evade!" Aven ordered at once.
A quick flow of water wrapped around Bibarel's entire body, and under the explosive thrust of the water, its figure shot forward at incredible speed.
Aqua Jet was a priority move, meaning Bibarel rushed in almost instantly, its body vanishing in a blur before smashing head-on into Rhydon with a heavy impact of water.
Even though Rhydon possessed very high defense, it was still under quadruple type disadvantage. The blow inflicted tremendous damage, forcing a pained, guttural roar out of Rhydon's mouth!
"Rhydon, use Rock Slide!" Peter hurriedly commanded.
But in practically the same moment, Bibarel's huge tail—covered in swirling currents—slammed down toward Rhydon with Aqua Tail!
BOOM!
The two Pokémon's attacks collided violently, creating an explosive roar.
Bibarel quickly pulled back afterward, widening the distance before firing another Water Pulse straight at Rhydon, the blast striking it solidly.
Although Rhydon's Rock Slide still managed to hit Bibarel a moment later, the damage it caused was nothing compared to what Rhydon had suffered.
"Rhydon is being completely overwhelmed by typing…" Sutter and Matthew couldn't help commenting as they watched what was basically a one-sided battle.
Given the current situation, the outcome was obvious. Even if their raw strength was nearly the same, Rhydon had no chance of winning under this kind of type suppression.
"Peter, in a situation like this, what do you think you should do?" Aven asked, looking at Peter with a teasing smile.
Peter froze for a moment, then frowned deeply, trying to think of a countermeasure. After a brief moment of contemplation, he suddenly called out, "Rhydon, Dig!"
"RHYYY!"
Rhydon reacted instantly. The drill on its head spun rapidly as it burrowed into the ground with astonishing speed.
"That's not the method I meant." Aven let out a sigh. "Bibarel, fire Water Pulse into the hole!"
Using water to flood a Dig tunnel was a common and effective countermeasure, forcing opponents to emerge quickly.
Sure enough, Rhydon burst back out from underground almost immediately—only to be greeted by a Water Pulse sweeping directly into its face!
"You idiot! Hurry up and recall Rhydon already!" Aven couldn't help but shout.
"Rhhhhyyy—!"
The battlefield echoed with Rhydon's agonized scream as the Water Pulse hit cleanly and harshly.
"Recall it?" Peter stiffened, staring down at the Poké Ball in his hand.
The next moment, he quickly pressed the button. A beam of red light shot forward, striking Rhydon and pulling it back into the Poké Ball.
"Biii—?"
Bibarel noticed the opponent disappear and quickly ran back to Aven's side, waiting for the next Pokémon to be sent out.
"Huh? Rhydon got recalled?" Sutter and Matthew exchanged confused looks.
Clearly, neither of them expected that you could use Poké Balls like this during battle—getting beaten and simply withdrawing the Pokémon. It felt a bit shameless.
"In Pokémon battles, recalling a Pokémon is perfectly allowed."
"So, when your Pokémon is under severe type disadvantage and has no chance of winning, the best choice is to withdraw it first."
Aven continued explaining battle rules. Strategic switching and coordinated defense were core elements of Pokémon battles—and also where a trainer's skill shined the most.
"All right, send out your next Pokémon."
"But you'd better choose something that can withstand Bibarel's attacks. Otherwise, the battle will end even faster."
Aven added another reminder: "According to the rules, when you switch during battle, the other side gets a free attack!"
Peter closed his eyes to think. After a moment of careful reflection, he took out another Poké Ball and threw it. In a flash of white, Gloom appeared on the field.
But the instant Gloom appeared and before it could even stabilize its stance another Water Pulse blasted straight into it, pushing its body backward.
"Glooo!"
Gloom let out a shout of spirit, the swirling water exploding apart around it.
Although it had taken the Water Pulse head-on, it showed barely any signs of damage.
"A Grass-type that resists Water moves—looks like you've finally learned how a trainer should battle." Aven smiled faintly.
The battle resumed, and now the typing advantage had completely reversed. Bibarel gradually fell into a disadvantageous position.
Seeing this, Aven recalled Bibarel and sent out Yanma instead. With Bug- and Flying-type attributes, Yanma had a natural advantage over Gloom.
The moment Yanma appeared, a volley of Razor Leaf attacks shot toward it—but Yanma avoided all of them with sharp, agile maneuvers.
"Gust!"
Yanma's wings beat, whipping up a spiraling tornado that surged across the field and crashed toward Gloom.
By this point, all three observing trainees already fully understood how switching worked. Peter immediately recalled Gloom and sent Rhydon back out instead.
"Silver Wind!"
A Bug-type move—Yanma unleashed it the instant Rhydon appeared.
Rhydon, having no resistance to Bug-type attacks, was engulfed by the blast. It was sent flying across the battlefield, crashing onto the ground and losing the ability to battle.
"Uh… Rhydon is down." Sutter and Matthew were stunned again.
Peter had learned the tactic of switching to avoid type disadvantage, but in this case, it completely backfired.
Originally, Rhydon's Rock-typing resisted Flying, and it also had super-effective damage against Yanma. It should have been a good counterplay.
However, switching meant Rhydon had to take a direct hit the moment it entered the field. And considering it was already heavily injured, the moment it appeared—it practically walked into a knockout.
In this case, sending Gloom to force the typing matchup would have been the better choice. At least Gloom still had enough strength for one last stand. Rhydon only ended up fainting instantly.
"I made a mistake in judgment…"
"It seems switching Pokémon in battle isn't something you can rely on too often. Otherwise, you're just taking free hits."
Peter began summarizing Rhydon's defeat. This was indeed the kind of lesson that tested a trainer's command instincts.
"This is tough… which Pokémon should I send out next?" Peter frowned deeply.
"Peter, this time you can relax when choosing."
"Since one Pokémon has already fainted, it counts as the start of a new round. In this situation, my Pokémon cannot perform a free attack."
Hearing this, Peter finally relaxed a bit. He took out another Poké Ball—this time sending out his ace, Mightyena.
After so long being trained, Mightyena's strength had already reached the peak of intermediate-level Pokémon, and it was only a step away from advancing to advanced-level!
"Grrrrowl—!"
The moment it emerged, Mightyena let out a low growl, its Intimidate ability activating.
Yanma stiffened mid-air. Before it could react, Mightyena leapt forward with explosive speed and clamped down with Crunch!
Yanma's ability was Speed Boost, and through the battle its speed had already risen tremendously. However, the moment it was startled by Intimidate, its reaction lagged just enough.
Mightyena's Crunch hit cleanly, its sharp fangs biting into Yanma's frail body before slamming it onto the ground.
With its flight interrupted, Yanma became a helpless target. It managed to unleash one last Silver Wind that dealt considerable damage, but in the end, it still fainted.
Seeing this, Aven couldn't help but admire Peter's natural talent as a trainer. Mightyena had no typing advantage over Yanma, yet Intimidate completely suppressed Yanma's speed advantage.
Against fast opponents, restricting movement with control-type abilities was indeed the most correct counter!
"All right, let's end the battle here."
"You should now have a whole new understanding of Pokémon battles, right?"
Aven recalled Yanma and walked toward Peter.
"Yeah… I think I've understood a bit." Peter nodded. "But understanding it is one thing. Actually executing it in a real battle… that's still really hard."
Sutter and Matthew also walked over. They felt exactly the same. With Poké Balls now in actual combat, the battles suddenly became much more difficult.
Because Poké Balls opened up far more tactical options, mastering the timing of recalling and releasing Pokémon could greatly enhance a trainer's combat effectiveness.
"This part can only be improved through accumulating experience in battle. There's no shortcut for it." Aven shrugged.
Then he took out a notebook and handed it to Peter. "These are some battle strategies I've compiled. Take it back and study it well."
"When the official trainer examinations begin, I'll have another exhibition match with you. Don't disappoint me."
Taking the notebook with visible excitement, Peter nodded vigorously. "Don't worry, Your Highness Aven! I'll study your notes carefully and become stronger!"
Watching Peter immediately open the notebook, with Sutter and Matthew squeezing in to read alongside him, Aven smiled faintly, waved, and left the training grounds.
"Now I need to prepare the Pokémon for the assessment."
"First, the typings must be comprehensive, ideally covering all types."
"And the Pokémon should preferably all be at peak low-level strength, so type advantages can be displayed to their fullest."
Aven continued thinking as he walked toward the Safari Zone. With so many Pokémon gathered there now, finding ones that met the requirements shouldn't be too difficult.
(End of Chapter)