Seems like easy prey, that was the first thing Kai thought after seeing the young boy, who should be no older than 10, walking into the trail to Viridian, getting closer and closer to his position.
The boy walked slowly, eyes full of tension, looking at every shadow on the way, seemingly afraid that something would jump out and attack him.
For Kai, this meant the boy was either a newbie or a coward, maybe both.
His evaluation of the boy sank even further after noticing the boy's nice clothes. A white Golo shirt with blue jeans and white sneakers, all from a brand Kai recognized but couldn't remember the name.
Why is he wearing this in a forest?
He felt bad for the kid's parents and quickly classified him as a wannabe trainer, a kid who heard tales of other kids who went on their pokémon adventures and thought he could be just like them.
Kai had seen a fair share of them; they ran from home, going to the Viridian Forest without preparation, and in a matter of hours came back crying.
To be sure, Kai looked above the boy's head, seeing a big 0 floating there, as well as one red pokeball symbol and five blank ones.
This meant the boy had 0 badges and only one pokémon.
Satisfied with his analysis, Kai turned to the two boys hiding in the tree with him.
"He is a good target. Who wants to battle him?" Kai asked in a casual tone. They had been doing this for a few weeks at this point, so any tension that he might have felt in these situations had evaporated a long time ago.
"I'll-" Rick started.
"I'll go," but Sammy was faster, quickly jumping from his branch and running towards the boy on the trail.
What followed was the common routine.
First, Rick appeared before the boy, challenging him to a battle. The boy got startled and, after recomposing himself for a second, accepted the challenge, like they always did - it was simply the way this odd world worked, something Kai no longer got surprised by- and then both trainers released their Pokémon.
"He has a Rattata… one that is not very trained, maybe recently caught." Kai murmured to himself while looking above Rattata's head, where a big " Lv 5" was written.
"Kai, do you think Sammy will win this fight?" Rick asked him, his voice almost a whisper.
Hearing the question, Kai wondered, not for the first time, what an interesting pair of friends these two were.
Rick was a shy boy. At 13, the same age as Sammy, he could still be mistaken for an 11-year-old. The boy was short for his age, leaning on the heavy side, with a round childish face that any aunt would love to pull at, but with shiny brown eyes that revealed wisdom beyond his years.
Sammy, on the other hand, was a typical pretty boy, tall for his age, with a nice face, blue eyes, and blond hair. He was bold where Rick was cowardly, social where Rick was timid, and dumb as a brick where Rick was the smartest kid Kai had ever seen.
This, he had to recognize, was a beautiful friendship brought by their mutual love for Bug-type Pokémon, a love that turned both of them into Bug Catchers.
Now, as for how to answer the question, Kai thought for a moment. He wasn't a man for certainties; he made guesses- educated guesses, as he would tell people, but guesses nevertheless- and for him, there was no right answer when it came to Pokémon battles.
Regardless, he replied.
"Well, if he doesn't make any dumb mistakes, he should win."
Sammy's Pokémon was a Level 8 Karrablast, so on paper, there shouldn't be any problem for him to win against a lower-level Rattata. But the quality of the trainer and tactics could bring forth unexpected outcomes.
"Let's just watch for now," he said, turning his attention to the two trainers.
Rick nodded, now looking at the battle.
***
Samuel, or Sammy- as everyone eventually came to call him, because of his grandfather- felt a fire burning in his body, quickly spreading to every inch of his body, a familiar and comfortable sensation for him.
A trainer's spirit was what his grandpa, old man Samuel, called it. Sammy liked how that sounded; it made him feel like a natural-born Pokémon Trainer.
In front of him, the other boy, no, the other trainer, had released his Pokémon, a Rattata.
Sammy smiled and released his own Pokémon.
"Goooo, Karrablast! Use Horn Attack!" Sammy felt his body get lighter as his excitement grew.
A white light surged from his Pokéball and a pokémon materialized in front of him.
Karrablast was a small blue beetle-like Pokémon with cute yet dangerous eyes.
"KAR!" Upon hearing its trainer's command, Karrablast shouted, lunging towards Rattata, its horn shining with a white light.
"Rattata, dodge and use Quick Attack!"
The mouse Pokémon began to move at high speeds, easily dodging the attack, before turning around and hitting Karrablast in the back.
Karrablast rolled on the floor, but quickly got up again. Clearly, this was not enough to seriously hurt it.
A smart… no, any reasonable trainer would now change tactics, but not Sammy. For him, the most direct solution was always the best, and, most importantly, big attacks were way cooler.
"Karrablast, Horn Attack!"
"Rattata, Quick Attack!"
Karrablast attacked, but Rattata dodged and then delivered another blow to Karrablast without significantly hurting it.
Sammy was not convinced, so he repeated the same commands many times, yielding similar results.
Sammy felt his frustration building up. This was not the type of battle he wanted. Why weren't his attacks working?
His gaze involuntarily turned to Kai, who was also looking at him, his gaze conveying equal parts frustration, resignation, and helplessness.
Kai turned his face and sighed.
Sammy felt the fire inside of him freeze at this moment.
Ugh, he's going to nag me again later; I'd better finish this quickly.
What strategy did he tell me about before, for when the opponent is faster?
He remembered that Kai told him something about it, but he couldn't remember what it was. But then, from the periphery of his vision, he saw Rick making grabbing motions.
Why is Ricky doing this? Is he ok?
Wait, grabbing? It was something about grabbing them, right?
Let's go with that.
"Karrablast, go slow and steady."
Karrablast's eyes shone with understanding. It stood in place, lowering its stance and opening its arms as wide as it could, like a goalkeeper in a football match.
The other boy looked confused by this new development, but decided to continue with the same strategy.
"Rattata, use Quick attack!"
The purple pokémon shone with a white light and, with quick movements, pounced on Karrablast's back, expecting another hit.
This time, however, Karrablast was ready, turning at the last moment and grabbing the smaller pokémon with its arms.
Rattata struggled to free itself, moving like a fish out of water, but it was useless. As fast as it may be, it was significantly weaker than the other Pokémon.
Sammy was not going to waste this opportunity.
"Karrablast, use Bug Bite continually!"
The beetle began delivering a series of bites to Rattata until Rattata fainted, ending the fight.