As expected of a training method given to him by his mom, in the past few days, where Anthony made Zubat have vocal exercise instead of immediately trying to break glass, the Pokemon immediately gave promising improvement in its on-command manipulation of its Supersonic sound's volume, even though the changes and improvements are not qualitative, they're still improvements nonetheless. And again, as expected, the 'deadline' and more 'strictness' made it so that Zubat will work hard in the whole span of the training due to a lingering sense of urgency, delighting Anthony, because by Saturday, Zubat can use the Supersonic move in any volume with the same potency, after that, injecting energy to heighten the potency irrespective of the volume would be learned through the insights in controlling the mysterious energy for Bite, Wing Attack, etc.
Anthony was delighted because of this, as he could feel that he and Zubat would be able to make a lot more progress for the next 3 months, rather than the previous 3 months, when his mom is too busy to give him some guidance. Alongside delight, Anthony also can't wait for his father to retire so that he can also give Anthony knowledge.
Anthony also knew that his father was more of a hands-on type of parent, adding fuel to his excitement even more. Going back, Zubat's energy allocation during the Bite exercises has improved as well, and it can now put a dent in half of the cubical wood (cut by Hana) that Zubat has been biting. The main objective, however, is to consistently crush the cubes of wood before going on to chunks of steel bars. For Wing Attack... Well, Anthony can presume preliminary proficiency, but a true assessment is needed for the battle between Zubat and Pidgey. For the Air current reading, Zubat also made some progress, but being the hardest part of Zubat's routine, many flinging away or dropping suddenly are present in the 5 hours of the training.
"Zuuu..."
Anthony, reading a book about Pokémon egg patterns and classifications while taking notes, watched as his Pokémon gobbled down the water from a shot glass given to him by his mother. Zubat has just finished its protein star cookie and is now resting for its impending first battle.
Indeed, this day is Sunday, and Zubat is about to take on Pidgey, who's also pecking at the star-shaped cookie.
_I wonder when it will realize that Protein Cookies have no strengthening effect at all..._
The Pidgey Anthony has contracted for every Sunday battles also uses the obstacle course for itself; however, because it already has some experience in fighting against Spearows for territory and food, it didn't really have that much of a gain. Anthony consulted his mother during this week on the most probably age of the Pidgey, and upon inspection, Hana said that it couldn't have been born for more than 5 years ago as evident of the lighter cream color on the stomach feathers of the Pidgey, the son of Hana is impressed by such knowledge as in the world of Pokemon, there is almost no difference between the size of an aptly old first evolution line Pokemon to a newborn one, being able to observe the age of a Pokemon with a single glance is something only veteran trainers can do.
Besides that, Anthony also sighed as he now needed another batch of knowledge to study. What can he say? Breeders in this world are monsters, so much so that they can be top students in their previous world. Just the fact that they have to deal with a butterfly that lays eggs as big as their body and make it make sense is something Anthony couldn't even imagine doing.
_My knowledge of Pokémon needed to be on sight like my mom and probably even my dad, huh..._
Anthony sighed as he watched the two Pokemons finish their food. While doing so, a plate of piping hot sauteed vegetables on top of a pile of another piping hot cup of rice appeared in front of him.
"Nice work."
Hana, Anthony's mother, praised her son while also putting a plate of the same contents as the former on the table. She then sat down while Zubat made a waving gesture towards her, and Pidgey nodded slightly before going back to its fight against the star-shaped cookie.
"So when will the battle start?"
Hana asked, which made Anthony, who had already put down his studies temporarily as he started eating promptly, swallow his food and say:
"After we eat."
Before continuing to scoop up the contents of his place, Hana nodded and started making casual conversation, way before the day of Zubat's first battle, it was already decided that Hana would be the referee of the match... well, the match doesn't really need a referee, however, it was observed by Anthony that Zubat and Pidgey are both spirited for a battle and they might go too far and injure themselves. Pidgey, raring to go in battle, also made it reject Hana as its impromptu trainer, which is a normal attitude, especially for Pokemons that have a natural rivalry with other Pokémon, and one of the most classic canonical rivalries is that of the Pidgey and Spearow line.
Obviously, the Pidgey wanted to be a fighter in its flock against the Spearow and become strong on its own rather than having a trainer; that way, it can be with its flock and grow together with them.
_Apparently, there are instances where trainers had to release their Pidgeots because of this rivalry... which makes me wonder if that Associate Field Researcher will one day do it too... that would suck as the Pidgeot is her very first Pokémon as indicated in her license._
It was a rather lucky occurrence for Anthony that Zubat doesn't have a deep-seated rivalry against any Pokémon, as releasing Pokémon is one of his hated features in the anime or in any media of the Pokémon franchise. Going back, such is the reason why Hana, who wanted to observe her son and give him some guidance, was relegated to a referee. Anthony is quite regretful of this. If he has to face his mom, then the lessons would not be just his insights on how to raise Zubat better and insights on how good it can control the mysterious energy on its body.
There could be lessons on how to command Pokemons against the commands of other trainers, but now, Anthony can only use his own observations as a reference. Silently, Anthony sighed whilst continuing his fight against the food on his plate and the casual conversation between him and his mom.
_____________
After the mother and son duo washed their cutlery, Anthony, Hana, Zubat, and Pidgey, alongside Hana's Charizard, went outside Fuchsia to Route 15 away from the paved path used by trainers. Even though only a scarce number of trainers can be seen taking that path as they are focusing on evolving and strengthening their Pokemons before the start of the league challenge season in January, as a precaution, Hana made it so that they would be fighting away from the road.
Every Pokémon League season lasts for 2 years, with the majority of the content of the challenge being gym challenges, and ends around June with the whole Champion's league. These league challenges are often given analysis by gym leaders on streaming websites or paywalls it in content services for revenue. This is the private income of the gym as a business of the gym leader, this is besides the tourism they are generating regularly, on or off season.
_Why is the lore being explained instead of the venue of the battle?_
... Ahem, Going back, as the group of two humans and 3 Pokemons arrived at the edge of a forest, and after confirming through Charizard that no trainer will be disturbed in the battle, Hana immediately positioned herself in the middle right side, facing the forest while Charizard is just outside the forest to watch for any wild Pokemons that might investigate or even become aggressive because of the sound of the fight.
As Anthony and Pidgey took their position, Zubat, that's on its trainer's shoulder, tapped the side of Anthony's ear, which prompted the trainer to look at his Pokémon.
"Zuu! Zuu!"
Zubat's metaphorical eyes shone as it made a throwing gesture with its wings. Hana, who was about to start the match, and Pidgey, who was already flapping its wings, looked at the two strangely, which made Anthony feel rather embarrassed.
"R-right... alright then, go back to your Poke ball."
Anthony sighed. During his studies, it was inevitable to watch Pokémon battles in the Champion's League often, and Zubat, the child that it is, was influenced by the iconic 'I choose you!' moment, something that Anthony now sees as the philosophical anchor of how he was raised. Zubat nodded as Anthony pulled out Zubat's Poké Ball from his pocket, pressed the button in the middle, and let Zubat turn into a red stream of light and enter it.
"Mom, start the battle."
Anthony exhaled, wiping off his embarrassment and nervousness, after all, Anthony never had the chance to train with Zubat in command-based training as his mother made it a suggestion to make command training live battles instead of going for non-battle means. This is a good point as the instinct of the Pokémon would be more honed when in high high-intensity environment.
"Alright, you two know the rules, the two parties will have a battle, anyone who loses the ability to fight or I personally deem to be incapable of more battling will lose."
Hana put her hands up and swung them down.
"Begin!"
Anthony heaved a foul breath before throwing Zubat's Poke ball.
"Zubat...!"
Anthony, finding such 'I choose you!' cringy due to his mental age, stammered and can only mutter the name of his Pokemon which embarrassed him a bit, however, seeing that Pidgey's wings immediately immitted a pure white light as it lunged towards Zubat who was just celebrating its first Poke ball toss moment, Anthony's embarrassment immediately went out of the window and immediately commanded.
"Zubat, Wing Attack to intercept!"
Zubat flinched a little at such a command; however, seeing the larger, cream-colored Pokémon lunging towards it at full speed, Zubat woke up from its excitement and abided by the orders of its trainer. With glowing wings, Zubat flew at full speed towards Pidgey and let its Wing attack intercept Pidgey's own. However, Anthony can't help but sigh.
_Zubat's momentum started much later..._
As its trainer thought so as such, as Anthony expected, Zubat lost in the clash of Wing Attack and was flung back to its original position. One of the reasons is that Pidgey is more adept at using such an attack, and second, Zubat wasn't able to respond in time to Anthony's command.
Anthony nor Zubat dwelt on such matters, the bat Pokémon immediately somersaulted in the air to regain its fighting spirit and glanced at its trainer, waiting for command, when suddenly, it heard a deafening caw of a bird.
"Piiiiii!"
Pidgey, of course, wouldn't let Zubat do as it pleased, its beak emitted white light like its wings before and again, lunged towards Zubat. This time, Zubat is much more prepared; its brain is right in the battle with not even a single thought of fun or games. It was its first battle with Anthony, and it wanted to deliver victory.
"Go! Bite and Leech Life to the right wing!"
The Zubat that was moving in the air at hyper low altitude to have better space in dodging the Peck, going left and right all over the field just like its training immediately flapped its wings as it let the mysterious energy flow on its teeth, like last time, the two Pokemons lunged towards each other face to face, the Peck of Pidgey and Bite+ Leech Life of Zubat facing each other in an impending clash, however, to the surprise of the wild Pidgey and Hana, Anthony shouted a command right at the 5th inch of the impending clash.
"SWERVE!"
Zubat's ear perked to the area where Anthony was before, immediately twirling horizontally right at the moment where the two attacks are about to meet. Pidgey tried to evade by doing its own maneuver, but like earlier, Zubat, being the first to make the move, was able to make a reversed arc downward before biting down on the right wing of Pidgey.
The Small bird Pokémon emitted a high-pitched cry as it felt its energy being sapped away from it. Pidgey's altitude lowered for a moment as it flung around Zubat. It took Pidgey 3 flinches before being able to swat away its assailant. At that moment, Hana's eyes widened, and she, alongside her son and Charizard, used their hands to cover their ears.
"SUPERSONIC!"
Anthony shouted, and as he did, a ring of 'Zuu' sound pulsed in the arena.