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This was bad. Poochyena hadn't even landed one move on Taillow yet, but with its attack rising so dramatically with every single howl, one Tackle might be all that's needed to knock Taillow out of the fight. If Nolan didn't get Kiera's pokemon first, the rest of the battle might not matter either no matter what he had to throw at the Bite pokemon. But what other options did he really have right now except trying to buy more time with Growl or trying to get Taillow to peck the canine into a daze?

Right now would have been nice to have stronger pokemon with more moves. It really limited his decisions while they were such low levels. Gritting his teeth, Nolan would just go for broke, "Keep it up, Taillow. Keep getting behind Zeus and pecking him!"

Just as he feared, when Zeus tackled into Taillow it was a bone-crunching hit for such a little bird. Nolan's pokemon hit the ground and rolled, but before Nolan took even a step, Taillow was back up. She squawked at the Poochyena, fluttering her wings to throw off the dirt, just barely hanging on and determined as hell. But that was enough for Nolan. He wasn't going to push his pokemon so far without a good reason.
"No, Taillow, you did way better than you think. You don't have to continue this fight."

Nolan returned his Taillow back to her pokeball, but there he paused, wondering which to pick next. He had originally planned to use Honor since the Shinx was his second lowest level pokemon, but that Poochyena was brutal. If Honor couldn't land a hit quickly enough, he'd just get serious hurt for nothing. Nolan said he was going to use his weaker pokemon, yet it didn't seem right now to do that to his partner.
"I know I said I'd use my newer pokemon, but you're better than you look. Erm ... no offense meant. Eh heh."

And his fastest pokemon? Well, second to Taillow, Nolan called for Snivy to take the bird's place.
"Quick, use your Vine Whip, Snivy!"
The Grass Snake couldn't ignore the urgency in Nolan's voice, and she quite readily realized the danger that Zeus posed right now. Before he hadn't looked so tough, nor a very good challenge at all, but now, well, Snivy was ready to fight. She dashed forward and lashed her tail out around at Poochyena's snout.

Ah, right, that was a Cyndaquil. Nolan remembered seeing one at the Laboratory as one of the fifteen starters, but the Fire Mouse was ... well, a fire type obviously! This could be very bad for Snivy if there were any flames involved. Nolan considered switching his pokemon again, but then the Shinx really were the best choice. Well, no reason to risk it at all. Before Vesuvius started his attack, Nolan recalled Snivy into her pokeball, surprising the Grass Snake. She probably wasn't going to be in a very pleasant mood when she came back out again ...

"Okay, get ready, Valor! You got an incoming!"
The Shinx jumped into the fray, but that meant he had to take the Leer, wincing. Yet he saw that Tackle coming a mile off and dodged to the side out of the way, turning quickly to hiss at Vesuvius, the Flash pokemon's Intimidate coming into play.
"Tackle it back!"

'Eevee? What Eevee?' Did she have another pokemon he didn't know about? Nolan didn't really know what Kiera was referring to, yet he did remember seeing another trainer with an Eevee before, fighting the Dragonite. This wasn't quite as exciting and explosive as that battle, but he was sure he had this one fight in the bag now. And it did wonders for his self-esteem ... and yet, still, he did use Snivy and he used three pokemon against Kiera's two. If he hadn't he might have lost, maybe? Sighing, his hesitance got to Valor and when the Shinx looked over his shoulder at Nolan, he didn't see the Cyndaquil coming. Unprepared, Valor was knocked right off his paws and Nolan shouted in alarm.
"Damnit! Sloppy! I'm sorry, Valor, but focus with me! We got this now! Keep up the Tackles."

Valor winced but his positive attitude won out, always happy just to be a pokemon with a trainer now. Valor knew someday he was going to become a big and strong Luxray with Nolan's help. After all, fighting was fun to him and his time to shine! Literally because the Shinx's fur glowed with electricity after that hard hit. Bouncing back up, he yowled at Cyndaquil, trying his best to roar, and rushed forward again to Tackle the Fire Mouse.

Well, that was it. Nolan won his first trainer battle. Now he could finally breathe, not realizing he had been holding it for so long until he was feeling a little dizzy from the lack of oxygen. But Valor had done it! Taillow was even better than he could imagine, but it was Snivy really turned the battle around. Nolan didn't really feel like he should take much of the credit at all, and while he wasn't it looked like his Shinx would. Valor was strutting, swinging his star-tipped tail side to side, and Honor got caught up in the game, pouncing at Valor. The two started to wrestle playfully, and Nolan could only shake his head at them. Where did they get all that energy?

"Um, oh, thanks, Kiera. You're really good and I think you would have won if we were even levels."
Scratching the back of his head, Nolan just decided to use the humble approach, but he didn't know what else to say. 'I wish I had your pokemon?' No, that sounded really bad and truthfully Nolan didn't think he could part with any of his pokemon already. Imagine that. That thought brought a real smile to his face, and he nodded back at her.
"Sure, I can wait around here ... err, but I should really heal Taillow too. Might as well, right?"
But Kiera vanished before he had a chance to figure out what she was doing. He stared blankly at the spot where she was just a second before. Oh right, Teleport. Abra had Teleport. Deciding not to go after all since of the distance, Nolan sat down on a stump, and went over the battle again in his head, trying to remember every detail.

(( I gotta run some errands. I'll be back later ... maybe like an hour or twoooo. ))



"A team?" Nolan kind of laughed to himself, and didn't realize he said the next part aloud before it was too late, "Like Team Grey."
If he could reach, his foot would be in his mouth.
"Eh heh, I'm just kidding. That's just something ... I used to ca- I mean, it's stupid but I was just a little kid. Whenever I played with my toys, when I was little, I used to call my team that. It's dumb."

Oh boy, he should stop talking now before he made it worse. Nolan stood up and his two Shinx looked over at him, pausing in their playing and betting it was time to go. Nincada unburrowed from where he was gnawing on roots for their sap, shivering off the dirt and skittered over to his trainer. And Nolan counted in his head where each of his pokemon were right now, making sure he wouldn't be leaving anybody behind.
"You go on ahead for now, I need to make sure my Taillow isn't seriously injured first, and ... and I had better let Snivy know how good of a job she did. I wouldn't have won if it wasn't for her."

(( Maybe at this rate I'll even catch up with Tsuki, oh ho hoho! ))



"Err ... it was just a joke. We don't have to call ourselves that or anything for that matter. Oh, and thanks again, Kiera."
Clearing his throat, Nolan sat back down on the stump he had waited on before, and he acted all nonchalant until Kiera was walking off. He pocketed the treats - they will come in handy later for Snivy. And what Taillow didn't know wouldn't hurt her. In fact, he needed to find out where Kiera got those pokemon treats, because it might be just what could bridge the gap between him and his Grass Snake.

But he really did mean to check up on Taillow. Letting her out of her pokeball, the blue bird materialized out of the light, standing proud and tall - as tall as a one foot of bird could be. Taillow wasn't to show weakness even now, but Nolan started to worry she might be acting too tough for her own good. She puffed out her chest and got right to preening all the dirt and dust from her crumpled feathers; her wing injured from the Poochyena's mega-tackle. Nolan got down on his knees and taking out a potion from his bag, he motioned gently for Taillow to give him her wing.
"Lemme see that, Taillow. Please?"
She paused and glared straight at Nolan, stopping him dead with a loud, "TAILLO!"

Nolan winced but tried again, this time just putting his hand out near Taillow's black feet. She turned and pecked his palm hard, pinching the skin and twisting to make him flinch back. Nolan grabbed his hand to his chest, and just stared back at Taillow for a few seconds. Valor and Honor, smelling blood, and worried, came over to Nolan with concern as they looked up at his face. Blinking a few times, he just sighed and stood back up, putting away the potion and instead got out the small first aid kit to bandage his palm.

Having no other idea, Nolan called Taillow back into her pokeball, and for good measure he put the two Shinx into their pokeballs as well. Snivy gave Nolan a look, expecting that her fate was to go right back into that red and white capsule so soon, just for helping too, and yet she stayed. Nincada, quiet and unassuming up to this point, just observing the others, crawled down the tree he was in. The situation was grim. Nolan stood there for a few minutes until he realized that he could hear the cries of wild pokemon in the grass.
"Right ... let's go catch up with Kiera."

Snivy gave Nolan an unbelieving glance, but she finally ate that treat he gave to her. Chewing thoughtfully, the Grass Snake nodded to Nincada, and all three of them started walking in the direction they had seen the female trainer go. Nolan just had to follow the snarls and growls of Zeus, staying back a little to be cautious in case Kiera was in a battle right then and there.