Anthony is not shocked by such an unconventional command, after all, this is the real Pokémon world, where commands like "Lopunny, Twerk!" can be given without repercussions, besides social death.
What he's worried about is the Pokémon itself; after all, Bulbasaur is just a child in Pokémon terms. Even though he was bred to be the ace or at least a very reliable second option of their future trainer, there is no way in hell that they are prepared to take a pounding in the mouth (as the move implies) at the moment of their first battle, even though Bulbasaur was prepared to obey commands.
"Mom, you will get fined if Bulbasaur's mouth gets injured."
Anthony reminded Hana, yet the retired Pokémon trainer just waved her hand to dismiss her concerns.
"HAHAHAHA! My Pokemons have a lot of children to replace Bulbasaur! I'll just take care of it here! Bulbasaur, Tackle Treecko, and aim for the ground!"
Anthony sighed at this and shook his head. In the past week, he was able to see the brash and reckless attitude of his mother, as evidenced by his being hospitalized because of a promise between the two; he didn't think of such a matter further, and just continued watching the match.
"Oh no! Treecko!"
Glen shouted as he saw his Treecko cry out in pain repeatedly as he was tackled to the ground again and again by Bulbasaur. Glen started to panic while Treecko was dragged and stomped to the ground across the battlefield while muttering "what should I do... what should I do..."
Anthony also looked conflicted seeing such a thin Pokémon getting hurt; however, it's obvious that Treecko, with the glint in its eyes, is just waiting for a command from Glen, and a command from Glen did appear, with eyes that seem to have remembered something, Glen shouted.
"Treecko, Leer!"
Treecko smirked at this while making an affirmative cry. It then held both sides of Bulbasaur's face and put its forehead to its abuser's before its eyes glowed, making Bulbasaur buckle on its track, loosening its grip on the lizard Pokémon's tail.
"Treeckooo!"
Treecko cried in happiness while a muffled click of a tongue was heard in Bulbasaur. Hana watched this with calm eyes, actually, unbeknownst to Anthony, his mother's eyes were kind of focused on his side. He just frowned at this while saying in his mind.
_Treecko could have made an independent decision to use Leer and Pound through its tail inside Bulbasaur's mouth, if Treecko and Glen or I trained for spontaneous command and execution, a bad habit can be formed that my pokemons will not move unless I make a move..._
While Anthony ingrained a lesson in his mind, Glen beamed with happiness and then shouted.
"Don't let up, Treecko, use Pound inside the mouth of Bulbasaur!"
Treecko again cried out in affirmation and then started to forcefully swing its tail inside Bulbasaur's mouth. Hana saw this and was finally given command.
"Bulbasaur, keep your ground and continue tackling Treecko to the ground!"
Bulbasaur nodded and then put itself up on its two back legs before slamming Treecko to the ground again, such a scene repeated again and again before finally, Treecko had done enough damage inside Bulbasaur's mouth to make Bulbasaur give up its grip.
"Tree... Tree..."
However, it's evident with Treecko's injured tail and heaving lungs that it's already moments before fainting.
"I'm too late in my commands..."
Glen muttered in frustration, though Anthony, who was just a referee, couldn't help but think.
_This fight between 'level 5' grass types is so weird without vine whip or absorb, it's just wrestling with the coach needing to command what will happen play by play..._
While Anthony was thinking as such, Hana continued the battle.
"Alright, Bulbasaur, finish it with Tackle!"
Bulbasaur cried out before swiftly running for the tackle, Treecko's eyes looked behind its trainer, and the said trainer immediately made a command.
"Treecko, dodge upwards and use Pound!"
Treecko, albeit sluggishly, successfully executed the command and somersaulted to increase the momentum of the Pound move, seeing this, Hana smiled lightly at this and also gave out a command.
"Bulbasaur, jump and meet Treecko's tail with Tackle!"
Bulbasaur nodded and did as he was told, in mid-air, two low-level moves, Pound and Tackle, met, causing the two recipients of the attacks to immediately get separated with a resounding sound and a small sand gust.
"Bulba!"
Bulbasaur whimpered as it was bounced around towards the side of Hana; however, only the thumps of Treecko's body could be heard, causing Glen to get worried and immediately run towards the impromptu battlefield. Anthony saw the injured Treecko, whose eyes were spinning.
"Treecko is unable to battle; Bulbasaur is the winner."
Anthony put up his right hand, the side where his mother is, Hana, however, didn't celebrate and picked up Bulbasaur and said.
"Let's go inside, I'll treat Treecko of its injuries."
Anthony and Glen nodded at this, though Glen is still sad, maybe even guilty that Treecko lost in their first battle, Anthony put his hand on the shoulder of his friend as an act of sympathy as they entered the house.
"Put Treecko in the chair, I'm going to pick up a potion and some bandages."
Glen nodded at this whilst Anthony gestured at the sofa, and as Hana left the sight of the living room, Glen couldn't help but sigh.
"Your mom is a very strong trainer, Anthony. She only saw Bulbasaur for a minute, and she was able to defeat me and Treecko, who had been playing around for longer, though not that long."
Anthony nodded at this.
"Yes, as expected of someone whose Pokémon are being used as one of the breeders for starter pokemons. You shouldn't take this defeat to heart, after all, we're still kids, I don't even have a Pokémon of my own."
Glen nodded at this, his smile bitter and with a hint of resignation. It was a good thing Glen is a kid who has a lot of enthusiasm for pokemons, not to mention he faced Bulbasaur and not Charizard, something that Anthony's mom loves to do to new trainers who just got their badge at the Poison Gym.
Hana went back with two purple spray bottle and a roll of bandage as soon as the conversation between the two children was over and started to spray the potion all over Treecko's body who's injury visibly disappeared, she then sprayed the remaining content of such a wondrous potion into the severely injured tail of Treecko that got bitten and received the brunt of the final tackle, after which, he bandaged it.
"So, what do you two think of the battle just now?"
After Hana transferred Treecko to a more spacious sofa and told Anthony to spray the second bottle into Bulbasaur's mouth, she asked, and as the one who received a beating, Glen is the first one to answer.
"... I... me and Treecko are still too inexperienced in Pokémon battles..."
Anthony looked at his mom, seemingly understanding that he was the true target of such a question.
_Did she just beat up a kid to teach her child?_
Anthony wondered, though she didn't have any evidence, so he dismissed such a thought and replied.
Pokémon trainers and their Pokémon tend to think that everything inside a battlefield needs to be commanded; however, this is not the case. A Pokémon needed to have prior judgment and battle awareness to assist its trainer's commands."
Anthony then looked at the shocked Glen, who had an enlightened expression, before continuing.
"And no offense to you or Treecko, but if Treecko was able to use Pound inside the mouth of Bulbasaur without your prior command, the Leer move would be more effective, and the fight would be longer and more drawn out. After all, as strong and experienced as my mom is, Bulbasaur is a starter, meaning it's a deliberate move for the initial trainers to make them learn Tackle only so that their trainers themselves can draw out most of their potential."
This is not Anthony bragging about his analytical abilities, which is brought by an adult's mind... well, maybe a little, but the point of such bragging is to reinforce his potential as a researcher, a profession that he said he was having an interest in earlier this day.
Hana was impressed by her son's ability, though such things are to be expected from a bookworm. (Anthony filters out the books he just wanted to read, though...)
"You two are both correct and if I were to battle with Treecko, I would first use Leer to scare Bulbasaur for a second, Bulbasaur is just a child, so it will not shake things off like that easily, this will make it so that my command of biting the Pound of Treecko not work or will only work for a few seconds."
Hana paused, stroking Bulbasaur's flower bulb, who cried out in delight.
"And even though I will act out accordingly, still, this approach is better than just outright using Pound."
Glen and Antony made an "Ohh" sound, especially Anthony, who realized that his reasoning was flawed.
_Certainly, if I make the Pound as a catalyst to deal mouth damage to Bulbasaur, the trade off would be damages for Treecko too, this would certainly prolong the battle, but the prospect of victory will not be that good given that Treecko is a speedster by nature. If Glen uses what mom said, then the odds of victory if the same sequence of commands is assumed to be unchanging will surely increase._
Anthony nodded at this, with just an addition of a move, his mother was able to increase the stakes of Glen's victory, speaking of which, the small man said.
"I see... and what Anthony said is also true... if Treecko and I can't communicate and understand each other, we will not achieve a level where Treecko will adjust to my commands before they even come out of my mouth..."
Hana patted the two children's heads.
"It's good that you two know how to correct yourselves! Now then, let's wait for Treecko to recover before accompanying Anthony here in choosing his first Pokémon."
Hana smiled again before going to the kitchen (for humans) of their house, before coming back with a bowl of cookies and two cups of milk.
"Ma'am Hana, I think I would worry about my house too much if I go out of the city, though this is not to say that you're untrustworthy..."
Glen said, though Hana and Anthony obviously saw the new glint in his eyes, it seems like Hana has ignited the already burning spirit for battle in Glen, which is good.
_If this is a Pokémon game, he would be my rival. Well, I would love my rival to be someone my mental age and not a boy..._
Glen sighed while Hana expressed her understanding; it was a different parenting style for different households after all. After the three watched as Treecko fully recovered and Hana removed the bandage and then sprayed the potion once more for better coverage at the leaf tail of Treecko, Glen and Treecko bid farewell to Kangaskhan (mom and baby) as well as Hana and Anthony.
Hana brought out a modified saddle for Anthony to sit on while surfing in the sea. The mother and son then went to the three routes they had targeted to continue cataloging the available pokemons.
In Route 15, the pokemons available are: Oddish, Bellspout, Pidgey, Pidgeotto, as well as some Venonat, Gloom, and Weepinbell. Anthony emphasized that these pokemons have specific habitats and not just hiding in random tall grasses, though Oddish, Gloom, Bellspout, and Weepinbell do hide in bushes in the side roads, the rest are in the forest, which is not accessible to players in games.
Route 19 has: Tentacool, Magikarp, Horsea, Krabby, Psyduck, and some Slowpokes. This observation is done to the side where the docks of Fuchsia city towards Seafoam and Cinnabar islands can't be interrupted in their operations, so some pokemons might still be present.
Finally, Route 18, his mom had second-guessed and just thought to skip that place as Doduos, Spearows, and their evolutions, Fearows, as well as Rattatas and Raticates, among others, not-so-friendly pokemons are present, so Anthony was not allowed to catch Pokémon over there until he became stronger.
In the end, the mother and son duo were able to finish their long day when it was already 5 in the evening, and right now, sitting in the entrance of the mini farm with Baby Kangaskhan, Anthony was crossing out the pokemons he would certainly not be able to catch due to dangers or difficulty.
_The easiest to catch here are the bugs, followed by Oddish and Bellsprout, Slowpoke and Psyduck in water type..._
Anthony thought to himself while the baby Kangaskhan watched on.
"Kang..."
As if contemplating something, baby Kangaskhan looked at the hard-working baby master of his with a frown on its perpetually baby face. Though Anthony wasn't able to catch such an anomaly because he was called by his mom for dinner.