An endless expanse of darkness covered the sky, littered with small dots of light, a full moon shining high. The warm glow of the street lights bathed the bare dirt of the battle arena at the back of the Pokémon Center. There, standing on opposite ends, were Alexis and Thiago. The night breeze ruffled their hair as they locked eyes—Thiago, the embodiment of overconfidence born from experience; Alexis, the very image of excitement and anticipation, facing his first true Pokémon battle.
"I assume you only have one Pokémon, right?" Thiago asked as he looked at Alexis, his small smirk rubbing the new Trainer wrong.
"I did only just become a Trainer a few hours ago," Alexis answered, his eyes narrowed, his stiff posture betraying his nerves.
"Then let's do a 1v1 battle," Thiago offered. "I'll use a recently caught Pokémon."
Alexis was not the kind to refuse someone's goodwill, even if it came from a place of overconfidence and underestimation. Thus, he patted Eevee—who was resting on his shoulder— and spoke to it.
"Come on Eevee, you can do it bud," he said with a smile on his face, already strategising with Eevee's limited move pool. The small Evolution Pokémon jumped from his shoulder to the battle arena, showing its readiness and desire to make its Trainer proud, beady eyes shining with determination.
"Let's go Lillipup!" Thiago exclaimed, throwing a Pokéball and releasing a similarly small Pokémon. It was a small dog-like Pokémon with brown fur, a patch of lighter brown covering its face and snout, and a small black patch on its back. It was none other than the Puppy Pokémon, Lillipup.
As the tension rose in the battle arena, Lillipup squared off against Eevee, Thiago stared straight at Alexis. Both new trainers and young Pokémon, separated by a small margin of experience. Then the tension snapped, like a rubber band pulled too tightly.
"Lillipup charge with Tackle!" Thiago commanded, Lillipup immediately responding by charging straight at Eevee, intent on crashing against it.
"Eevee dodge with Quick Attack and use Sand Attack!" Alexis's quick reflexes allowed him to react, Eevee instantly jumping into action as soon as it heard its Trainer.
As the Lillipup came closer to Eevee, the latter dashed to the side, leaving behind a trail of white energy. As soon as it had properly dodged Lillipup's Tackle, Eevee turned towards it and used its front legs to throw dirt towards the other Pokémon's face.
"Now Eevee, use Tackle!" Alexis instructed his young Pokémon.
With Lillipup's face covered in dirt, its eyes temporarily blinded, it wasn't able to see Eevee's charge in spite of Thiago's command to dodge. With reckless abandon, Eevee smashed into Lillipup, pushing it to the edge of the battle arena, standing proudly.
"Lillipup hang in there! Use Work Up!" Thiago encouraged his Pokémon. Lillipup quickly shrug off the dirt and sand on its face, standing strong in place and stomping the ground, looking as ferocious as the small Puppy could. "Now use Bite!"
Lillipup once again charged at Eevee, which tried to dodge to a side, but was still caught by the strong Bite of its opponent, which hit harder due to the Work Up.
"Eevee, shrug him off with a Quick Attack!" Alexis instructed, Eevee answering by dashing with Lillipup holding on to it, forcing the Puppy Pokémon to let it go and sending it flying through the battle arena. "This is it Eevee, use Curse and then Quick Attack!"
A dark aura spread from Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon growling menacingly, before it converged back into its body. This was Alexis taking advantage of the different mechanic of Curse when used by non-Ghost types. Raising Eevee's Attack and Sp. Attack by one stage and lowering its Speed, but countering the lowered Speed by using Quick Attack.
Before Thiago or Lillipup could react, Eevee was already smashing against Lillipup, pushing it out of the battle arena, raising a small cloud of dust as it crashed into the ground. When the cloud of dust cleared, if one looked at Lillipup closely, they would see its eyes spinning— he was unable to continue battling.
The first to react was Eevee, who dashed towards Alexis and jumped into his arms, wanting praise from Trainer. Alexis himself was shocked for a moment, before finally coming back to himself, Eevee's joyful cries and warmth snapping him out of it.
"You did it Eevee!" He exclaimed, throwing the Evolution Pokémon into the air before catching it again, unable to contain the excitement from having won his first ever Pokémon battle in real life.
A wry smile appeared on Thiago's face as he released a short sigh, processing the fact he just lost to a just-licensed Trainer. He walked to Lillipup and picked it up from the ground, looking at it with regret. "Sorry bud, I couldn't make you win."
"Now that your battle is over, why don't you both come in and get your Pokémon treated for any injuries?" The voice of Nurse Joy came from the back door of the Pokémon Center, surprising both boys and making them turn around to look at her with surprise. Looking at them with a mocking smirk, she put a hand on her hips and showed her sass. "What, did you think I wouldn't notice you coming out at nighttime?"
Alexis and Thiago looked at each other with wry smiles and then shrugged, bursting into chuckles as they walked back into the Pokémon Center.
*
After getting their Pokémon treated, Alexis and Thiago went to get a late dinner, treating their Pokémon to some good food, and then went back to their room in the Pokémon Center to spend the night. For Thiago it was something normal now, but Alexis had a hard time falling asleep—his mind was consumed by the adrenaline and dopamine he had felt during and after the battle, as well as the fact it was his first time sleeping away from home.
'This is my life now,' Alexis thought as he looked at Eevee, who was sleeping by his side under the covers. 'And it is what I chose, so there is no room for overthinking now.'
With his resolve strengthened, Alexis fell asleep while thinking of future strategies he could use with Eevee.
The following morning, both Trainers woke up and went their separate ways after exchanging their contact information. Thiago went ahead to the Bariloche Gym, Alexis off into the wilderness, headed straight for the northern town of San Martín of the Andes.
As Alexis left the Pokémon Center and waved his goodbye to Nurse Joy, she stared at his back as it disappeared through the front door.
"He's got a bright future ahead of him," she muttered as she looked at the small Eevee perched on Alexis's shoulder, licking its Trainers face playfully. "His Pokémon loves him so much already."
She had overheard him saying he had just been licensed the previous day, which meant he could not have been Eevee's Trainer for long. Still, as a person, having Pokémon love and trust you so much was a characteristic that all of the greats had. Seeing Alexis, she remembered a certain Champion she had been friends with since they were kids.
"He reminds me of her so much."
*
Alexis and Eevee stood on the edge of Bariloche City, staring off into the wilderness ahead of them. To Eevee, it was its return to the wilds as a different Pokémon—one with a goal, a new-found determination, and a Trainer that would guide it to new heights. To Alexis, it was his first time stepping into the unknown—yet he was not afraid. All he could feel was excitement.
"Let's go Eevee, if we hurry we will reach San Martín in two days!" Alexis exclaimed, rushing out into the forests ahead of him, Eevee running by his side.