Though the fight had ended before either Pokemon fainted, it was clear who was in better condition; Squeeze’s legs were wobbly as she walked back towards her trainer, near-crying from the burning pain. Those two fire attacks had done a number on her, compared to the Houndoom who just needed the pin needles removed, and had already dealt with the String Shot.

Hideo felt Squeeze brush up against him - it was easy to guess she needed his help. And he could tell what it was for; he could feel the heat emanating from her rear, a flame still burning on her. “I got the solution for that,” Hideo said, dropping his backpack and quickly rifling through it. He took out a water bottle and potion, dousing the flame with water before spraying her. It wasn’t a full heal, and she wouldn’t be fighting for the rest of today, but it would make her a bit more comfortable and stop her from getting any worse.

“There? That feel bet-” He received the answer before finishing the question, receiving a tight hug from the big bug. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

But bonding time would have to wait; it was time to summarize his experience.

It took him a moment, but Hideo was able to think up a few points about the fight. “Well...I guess I could have done better. I knew we were gonna fight, but I didn’t expect you to just do it suddenly, so you caught me off guard. If I reacted faster, Squeeze wouldn’t have been bitten, and she might’ve been able to completely avoid that Inferno.”

“I probably should’ve switched her out for a different Pokemon too. Bugs aren’t that great against Fire-types, and her webs are pretty flammable. It would’ve been a better idea for me to use my Dewott for that fight, since he’s a Water-type.” Ironic that the Pokemon he switched out for Squeeze, would’ve done better than her. But not like he knew he’d be facing Skids’ Houndoom first.

“As for the fight itself; I know Houndooms are fast, and Squeeze is kinda slow, so once I got the chance, I tried to slow Holo down. Squeeze is great as slowing other Pokemon down before beating on them, but she didn’t have much room for that with all those fire attacks your Houndoom was using.” He’d been on the defensive for pretty much the whole fight, and paid for it.

“So I guess…” He didn’t want to say it, but it was the truth ”...I’d say I lost the battle. If Squeeze struck first, I could’ve taken better control over the battle. But since I didn’t, you had control the whole time.”

Skids Lawrence

"That's the thing when you meet random trainers on the route,they often don't give you much of a heads up unless they choose to do banter in their speech and mention battle. Often times, they'll caught you off guard." Skids explained.

Still he listened carefully tothe young man's words, glad to see that they were thinking of multiple things they could've done. It was good that they were mentioning this now as they could use that in the future.

"There's nothing wrong with switching out in a fight, more risks get involved but you can still come out on top." Skids replied. "Now in regards to your words on striking first, that doesn't define a battle. It's fully possibly to take control of the fight even if you didn't get the first blow in. Sometimes yes, it makes a fight easier if you strike first but no one should rely on that alone. Doing so can cost you more than the fight. In the end though, never feel like you lose just because you didn't win the fight. You still gain valuable insight and information regarding the pokemon in play and how you can change your strategies to best suit the next encounter or a similiar one."

Was that a lot? Yes. However this was just Skids trying to convey what he wanted to in order to help the lad. They knew so much already and that was something he could see with how he handled Squeeze; a pokemon they were used to commanding in battle.

"I did rely a great deal on Holo's speed, Squeeze almost got her with the cross posion, if she was any slower that would've hit her." Skids added on. "I combined that with her long range attack. The fire fang at the start was to get the ball rolling, see how you would adept to the quick attack as well as to see how Squeeze herself would react. I also choose to not have Holo immediately escape the string shot an thus she took the brunt of Squeeze's pin missle, why do you think that is?"

Skids's voice was gentle the entire time. Holo gave a loud 'hurmph' to his words, causing him to chuckle lightly. She probbaly wasn't too happy with having to deal with that sticky webbing for so long.

"I will have to make it up to you Holo, I know." Skids told the fire dog.

Hideo Kino

“Honestly met more wild Pokemon that were like that.” Trainers, they at least let him know they were going to battle. Wild Pokemon sometimes just came at him without warning, but their way of battling was much less coordinated. “But I get what you mean; there was nobody to say when the fight began, so whoever went first...went first.”

Hideo listened as the man explained that he wasn’t 100% about his assessment, though the boy did raise an eyebrow at the “never feel like you lose just because you didn't win the fight” part. “I...guess,” was all he could muster to say, trying to wrap his head around all Skids said. “I know you learn a lot more from a loss than a win, and it’s not always a bad thing to lose, but...a loss is a loss.”

He pet Squeeze on the head, to let her know that he wasn’t mad about the loss. She was still hugging him, but at least she wasn’t close to crying anymore.

As for why Skids didn’t have his Pokemon avoid some her Squeeze’s attacks? “I just thought it was because Squeeze was a good shot. She’s been really good at hitting stuff since she evolved.” Which was true; he didn’t notice it until after she’d evolved, but she’d become a better shot after enough training. Even seemed to solve her insomnia issue. “If you tried making her move after she got caught, she might’ve fallen over and been an even easier target, right? You had her attack Squeeze so she’d get a chance to free herself without interruption?”

He’d misinterpreted Skids’ intent, and hadn’t caught on that those choices were completely intentional.

Skids Lawrence

"True, wild pokemon often initiate a battle without warning because they're doing it for a variety of reasons. Sure some wild pokemon like to fight, but many times they think the trainer is trespassing on their territory or you might be too close to their nest or den. Hunger can factor in as well." Skids explained.

Seeing the raised brow at his words, he tilted his head. Listening to them reply in regards to the loss win thing.

"You can learn just as much with a win or a loss, the whole time you're creating new strategies, hearing new pokemon. Learning potential movesets the other has. You can always learn equally no matter the win or loss status of the battle." Skids attempted to explain. "You have a skill that others don't have, you're able to see things differently. Your hearing is no doubt better than another kid your age, you identified Holo just by her sound and you could tell that she was fast as you could hear her quick movements on the ground. Therefore, you knew to imply different methods."

IT seemed the lad misheard him when he told them what he did in the fight and had asked why he didn't have holo dodge or escape sooner. He set a hand on Hideo's shoulder.

"Squeeeze did perfect in that battle Hideo, she is a good shot this is true. But remember, I intentionally had Holo stay slowed down in that string shot and then get hit. It was a part of my plan that was incoperated in when you got her slowed down." Skids explained. "Yes if i ordered Holo to try and dodge the pin missile, she was at risk of tripping but doing so wouldn't give her any additional damage; besides a wounded pride."

The loud bark came right after those words and Skids laughed lightly, only for Hideo to hear a slight 'ow' from the man as HOlo whacked him with her thin bony tail.

"Yes yes, I know my dear. You'll get a treat for this I promised already." Skids told her as he lightly batted her tail away, allowing for him to return to the subject at hand. "I had her attack Squeeze long range but through a different means, to see if how you and Squeeze would take it. Inferno causes fire to burst out of the ground from underneath a opponent, unlike how Holo's Fire fang and Flamethrower originate from her mouth. You caught onto the two moves, so you opted for long range strategy. So I decided to test how you'd both adapt to a long range fire attack from bellow."

As he spoke, he tapped the ground as if to demonstrate. Since he was tapping it with his fingers, it wasn't as loud as the rumbling inferno but he was just testing a theory.

"My intention wasn't to win this battle Hideo, my intention was to see what you know and what you do with your team. You care greatly for your pokemon, you didn't waste a second with fixing that burn on Squeeze. And Squeeze shows her affection for you very readily and fondly." Skids added. "Since we're treating Squeeze as your starter in this case, this shows how close you are with your pokemon. This shows me that the first pokemon you have, has just as much trust in you and love that Squeeze does for you. Even if they show it differently, I can see how good of a trainer you are and how much heart you put into this. Are you with me so far?"

Hideo Kino

Hideo couldn’t resist grinning as Skids complimented his senses. “Well, some people might have an easier time telling Pokemon apart from sight. I’m just so good with hearing ‘cause that’s one of the main ways I tell where people and Pokemon are.” Probably odd to other people, but he had to work with what he had. “I have a better time telling them by touch, but not a lot of people let me touch their Pokemon before a fight. Neither do wild Pokemon. Can’t imagine why.”

He laughed a little at his own joke. There were a few people who let him do that first, but they were rare.

And maybe he’d “cheated” a little with already having familiarity with Houndooms. But he wouldn’t object to the praise. Didn’t hurt to know stuff beforehand.

He tried not to laugh when Skids was hit by his own Pokemon, but a small snort escaped him.

“Pretty much all Squeeze has are ranged attacks. Cross Poison is the closest she has to something close, but that still fires something off. That’s why it’s so important she slows others down first.” Maybe teaching her something she could use up-close would be a good idea. Or make her tie down her opponents faster, though that wouldn’t work on everything; Skids’ Houndoom had a good range of attacks.

“And yeah, it’s pretty important to take care of stuff like burns. Wouldn’t want her getting hurt more than she already had been. And, you know, most not-fire-types don’t like parts of them on fire.” A little squeal from Squeeze affirmed that.

“But thanks for that, Mr. Lawrence. I try to take care of all my Pokemon. I hear some people can go too far and hurt them, and others don’t do enough and get walked all over by them. I just try to find a nice balance between the two.” It did help that his own Pokemon helped out with the disciplining process - whether or not he knew the full extents they went to.

Skids Lawrence

So their touch was more sensitive? That made sense. The lad's senses were working over time to compensate this was true. Though it still was interesting to him that the touch was stronger. Skids chuckled along with the joke, it was a good one in his mind. Removing his hand from their shoulder, he took a seat on the ground.

"It's always good to have your pokemon with different skills than just typing. Holo is one of my faster pokemon, Salemn is more oldest pokemon and is very strong, he also covers the aerial side of things as well." Skids replied. "Squeeze being good at slowing others down for herself to get in attack or one of your other team members is always a good thing to have. In double battles, this'll prove even more useful."


He was happy to hear these things. It was nice and Skids was getting close to feeling like there might not be much he could teach the lad left to give him. There was one other test he wanted to do.

"A balance is always needed, I'm happy you do your best to do that." Skids said. "You're welcome Hideo. Now, we're going to do another excerise if you're up for it? We'll be using your wild card for this battle."

SKids glanced over his shoulder to the large dragon pokemon, they were looking at Skids and seemed to sigh. Slowly the pokemon rose to it's large feet and started to stretch. Best to let him do that while he let Hideo answer in their own time. Holo rose to her paws and slowly trotted over to Powder Sugar. Someone was gonna have to watch the small thing.

Hideo Kino

Hideo nodded along with Skids’ words. “Yeah, I try to have a good variety. Even people that stick to one type keep a good variety of Pokemon and moves.” Even had a good variety with him at this moment, though he was only showing off a few.

And then the offer to continue. “Yeah, I’m up for another one!”

Though he paused when he was told what said lesson would be. "Oh…" He should have seen that one coming; after showing off his most-obedient Pokemon (that he had with him), it was natural they'd work with his least-obedient one next. "Alright. Come over here, Sir Fightsalot. You're up."

The bored cat flashed a grin as he stood back up, pushing the Ferrothorn's blocking tendril away. He walked over to the boy, waving off the none-too-pleased Ariados.

Hideo pat the big spider on the head. "It's his turn, Squeeze. You can wait with Spiker." There was a concerned squeal from the Ariados. "Don't worry; Fightsalot won't attack me or anything." He knelt forward a little, right by her ear and whispered, "And if he does start causing trouble, you can web him up."

That was enough to placate her, as she finally let go of him, walking back with the Ferrothorn.

"So we gonna do like we did before, with another battle 'till you say it's done?" As reticent as he was to having Sir Fightsalot fight like this, it might get him to calm down, even a little.

Which would be for the best, because the Perrserker was already sizing up Skids’ other Pokemon.

Skids Lawrence

"Yep, we're going to do this the same way." Skids agreed as he stood up. "But first, one final thing. Salemn, come here for a moment."

The salamence tilted their head but slowly lumbered over on their heavy paws. The feeling of the ground vibrating under them as their mass was heavy but they paused by Skids, tilting their head. The man gestured for them to lower their long neck so their head was closer to Hideo.

"Hold out your hand for me Hideo." Skids requested. "I promise that nothing bad is going to happen."

If Hideon held their hand out, they'd feel the cool skin of the dragon pokemon. Each individual scales on their head and the dragon pokemon had a mild look of annoyance before they pulled their head back. A huff left them and Skids patted the old dragon's shoulder.

"Thank you for cooperating ya old grump." Skids commented before returning his focus to Hideo. "So, do you know what pokemon Salemn is or have a guess?"

Skids figured it would be fair to let Hideo use their touch method to help them get a strategy in mind. After all, this was a pokemon native to Hoenn but also they were very intimidating ones in person.

Hideo Kino

Sir Fightsalot grinned as Skids confirmed they’d be up for another fight. He eagerly looked over his two potential opponents; that Sandyghast seemed pretty wet behind the ears, but that Salamence seemed like he’d make for a very good fight. And to his delight, that seemed to be the one he’d be fighting!...soon.

As requested, Hideo stuck out his hand, very quickly meeting with the dragon Pokemon’s cool scales. He felt as much of its face as he could (avoiding the mouth and eyes) until the Pokemon drew back.

“Well, I can only get a little bit from just feeling his face. Best I can guess is that it’s a dragon-type, and it’s a big one.” Most scaled Pokemon were either fish-like or dragons, and this one definitely didn’t sound like the former. That latter point, he’d gotten just from hearing it move around. “But there’s a lot of big dragon-types out there, so I dunno which one this is.”

Still, even that much information was helpful; his Perrserker didn’t have anything extra effective against a dragon, but he also wasn’t weak to most of what a dragon could attack with.

“Well, if we got that settled, and this is gonna be just like the last battle...” He took a few steps back - he knew better than to get close to a fight his Perrserker was in - let alone one against a dragon-type. “...Fightsalot, get that big dragon with your Iron Head!”

Yes, he knew that getting the first strike wasn’t the only way to win a fight, but he wouldn’t get caught off guard again. Especially not against this opponent.

His Pokemon did as he said, his forehead glowing gray as he charged towards the Salamence, ready to hit it forehead-first.

Skids Lawrence

Perrserker is attacking the Salamence with Iron Head

"Very good." Skids said with a nod, moving away from the two and signaling for the dragon to follow him. "Once this is over I'll tell you just what dragon type he is."

Seemed only fair, after all this would help the lad expand his knowledge on pokemon. That was a valuable thing to have. Since Salemn was partially turned in order to get to a bigger gap between the trainers and the pokemon, it wasn't possible to dodge the iron head. The smaller pokemon slammed into them and Salemn gave a growl, glaring down at em. Skids couldn't help but have a small smirk as it seemed that Hideo took the initiative.

"Let's get em off with a similar taste Salemn, Headbutt!" Skids ordered.

This wouldn't do much damage considering it was a normal type move, but Skids was going to hold some things up his sleeve. He didn't know this strange cat, and Skids needed to know more about it. It looked like it was metal in a way but it was still fur..so he needed to see more of this pokemon. Thus Salemn swung their larger head down at the cat, their long neck would make swinging their head a bit funnier looking.

Notes:
Perrserker's hit landed
Salemn attempts to hit back with Headbutt
Hideo Kino

Hideo grinned once he heard the attack hit. It didn’t assure that he’d have complete control over the battle - let alone win it - but he’d gotten the first strike this time around.

But he knew that wouldn’t come without retaliation. Once he heard Skids make the order, he was quick to react. “Fighstalot, move!”

The Perrserker...just stood there, bracing himself for the blow.

The attack didn’t move him so much from the damage, as the size of the Pokemon behind it; that Salamence was at least twice his height and much heavier than him, so when its massive head came crashing down in retaliation, Fightsalot was knocked down.

But the attack only left a grin on the Perrserker’s face. He was glad to get back what he gave, and was more than ready to give some more.

Hideo didn’t know that his Pokemon deliberately disobeyed him, assuming he just didn’t get away in time. “Fighstalot, you gotta make yourself tougher! Use Iron Defense!”

Fighsalot rolled back, onto his feet...and once again, his forehead glowed bright, charging in with yet another Iron Head attack.

Skids Lawrence

Perrserker was hit by Headbutt (not very effective)
Perrserker is attacking the Salamence with Iron Head again (despite being asked to use a different move)

It didn't dodge when the lad requested, did it not have enough time? Possibly. When the grin came to the cat's face, Salemn narrowed his gaze and spread his wings out, watching the small creature. Skids knew Salemn was doing that out of old tactics they used in battles and maybe it would be best to use some old strats? When Hideo gave the next order, the feline once more didn't listen. It's started to glow..

"Up!" Skids ordered swiftly.

A might beat of his large red wings, Salemn pushed himself upwards into the air as Sirfightsalot rushed the dragon. Salemn's wings moved him fast enough to get him in the air and avoid the second iron head. Strange..this pokemon was behaving like one you got in a trade but you lacked the right gym badge...was that still a thing? Or was this pokemon still so new to being on a team that obeying a trainer felt beneath them? Maybe. He'd ask the lad about it later.

"Alright, let's try some old moves. Dragon claw." Skids added, grey brows narrowing slightly as he waited to see how the feline would react.

Salemn had raised himself higher in the air and quickly aimed themself at where the perserreker was. The claws on their front paw glowed as they seemed to extend farther than they should've naturally, covered in a purplish blue energy. If the cat pokemon moved out of the way, the damage done to the ground be very clear as it would crack and even be pushed down where the heavy paw landed.

Notes: Hideo Kino
Salemn dodged iron head
Salemn attempted to use dragon claw

Hideo realized Fightsalot had ignored him when he heard him charging ahead once again, the slight hum of his attack ringing through the air. “Come on,” he muttered under his breath.

Well, not like he didn’t already make it obvious that this was his Wild Card. Honestly, as long as nobody got any serious injuries, this was going to have a good outcome.

Unlike the Perrserker, the Salamence had listened to his trainer, cleanly avoiding the attack. Hideo could hear its wings flapping, and knew that his Pokemon was at a disadvantage; he was a close-up fighter. He did have one attack that he didn’t need to be in melee for, but it wasn’t a very effective one.

Once Skids called out another attack, Hideo was on it. “Fighstalot, you gotta toughen yourself!”

The Perrserker looked up at his opponent, frowning. Once he saw it come flying down, he finally listened to Hideo, guarding himself with his arms as his body glowed bright blue. The Salamence’s attack came crashing down, leaving a neat Dragon-Claw-shaped indent in the ground. Right where Fighsalot had been. Even Hideo could feel it from where he was standing.

Fighstalot was still standing, even under the strength and weight of that attack. And with the Dragon in range, he was going to try and deny its size advantage; he was going to try and climb it and get on its back, before it could lift off again.

Skids Lawrence