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Nolan's guts twisted and made him squirm at the thought of another battle with a trainer. Yes, it didn't really make any sense. He shouldn't have been worried about Kiera's Cyndaquil, because he had battled Vesuvius before. And yet, it still made him grimace at the thought of a fire attack being used on Valor. And yes, it was his own idea, because he really was hoping that the battle could help his Shinx learn to use electricity meanwhile ...

But Kiera didn't give Nolan much more time to silently complain, because she started the fight off with an order for Ember. Valor was already ahead of Nolan, bounding forward along with Vesuvius to stand out in the clearing in front of the tree as well.
"Err, get out of the way, Valor! Start charging up, um, use Charge!"
Or at least, that's what Nolan thought it was called, but he didn't really have the time to check his pokedex right then and there. Thankfully Valor seemed to understand, and circled around wide, building up power with a fast run, his fur getting more charged up.

"Keep going, Valor! Dodge Vesy the best you can!"
Valor leaped out of the way of the Cyndaquil's first attack, dodged the second as well, but was tripped up when the little Fire Mouse clipped his star-tipped tail with the Tackle on the third try. Sliding to a stop, Valor got up as quickly as he could to stare daggers at the Fire - using his Intimidate with teeth bared, back arched, crackling fur standing on end. Cyndaquil rammed into him, and the Shinx stayed on his feet, braced for the impact.

"Tackle him back! Don't let him slow you down whatever you do."
With a nod, the Shinx dug his tiny claws into the grass and launched forward at the Cyndaquil as quickly as he could. By this time Snivy was watching with a hint of cool disinterest masking her growing excitement. The Shinx named Valor was proving to be quite a fierce fighter whenever he could actually grasp what was going on. She smirked to herself, and also noticed that Taillow was fixated on the fight.
"Nivvvy ...?"
Yet the sly call at Twill only got a sharp squawk in return. The Grass Snake recognized jealousy when she saw it, even if the Tiny Bird wouldn't admit it.

Damn, that Cyndaquil was so fast that Valor was just barely keeping up, yet the fight seemed to be pretty even so far. It seemed to be a race for which pokemon could use their elemental attack first. And to be truthful, Nolan wasn't sure if his Shinx would learn how to use his electricity first. Yet, Nolan had to ask himself, was he only relying on his pokemon's speed to possibly win battles? He remembered when brute force wasn't the answer to defeating Nincada. Maybe a mix of the two ...? But Nolan didn't have a moment more to spare on tactics.

"Now's your opening! Get it!"
Valor rushed forward again to tackle the Cyndaquil head on, wincing under the effects of leer.

"Wait! Valor, don't get too close. Back up, back up."
The Shinx was pacing on the outskirts of the Smoke Screen, sneezing now and again as it tickled his nose. He was trying to find the Cyndaquil within, until Nolan said he should do otherwise, and started to back up. Yet Valor lost that look of determination when he glanced over at his trainer and he meowed. Nolan didn't like the look of all that ominous smoke, and didn't know how well the Cyndaquil could see from inside. Nolan didn't wish to chance it at all, but he was stumped on how to blow the smoke away.

Maybe patience?
"Wait it out, Valor. Let the smoke clear away on its own once Cyndaquil gets tired ..."

Valor kept moving backwards away from the creeping black smoke, his eyes starting to water, blurring his eyesight even more. Nolan was trying to think fast, but well ... chalk it up to inexperience, he was at a loss again. He knew he had to do something, yet where was the line between assuring defeat through inaction or by giving the wrong orders? Gritting his teeth, Nolan tried to pick out the Cyndaquil within the cloud. His distance from the smoking pokemon let him see a little better than his Shinx, and then Nolan thought he had it.
"There! Valor, aim for the light inside the cloud, as fast as you can."

The Flash cub didn't really know what else to do, but he wanted to make Nolan happy so he ran right into the thick of it. Squinting his yellow eyes, the pokemon must have seen what Nolan was talking about, since Valor was heading right towards the center of the cloud with a Tackle.

This was getting ... rather intense, and he had thought their first battle was kind of brutal - relatively speaking since they were just both newbie trainers. But hey, cut him some slack. It was just that right now Nolan was regretting his previous choice to not even consider a fire starter when he was back in the lab. That was pretty scary to see a Cyndaquil ignite its back like that. Valor had quickly regained his feet again, and was either too stupid or too brave to recognize the danger of a flaming mouse - Nolan wasn't sure yet which it was. The Shinx was caught up in Kiera's happiness, and he bounced up and down with a big happy face.
"Valor! Try to focus here! Um ..."
Without an electrical attack, there wasn't much else Nolan thought could win this battle, so he tried the only thing they could really do at this point.
"Break Vesy's concentration and Tackle it!"
The Shinx did one more happy leap and then started off at a sprint at the Cyndaquil, straight on.

'So much for Valor ...?' Well, what was Nolan supposed to think? It was FIRE that hit his Shinx, yet Nolan really underestimated pokemon. His best grasp on the wondrous beasts was what he could imagine after reading facts about them in books, and listening to the radio, since his mom didn't allow a television set. And there had been a strict 'no battles' rule in their house, since it was a place for pokemon to relax and recover.

So imagine Nolan's surprise when all the Shinx did was stop dead in his tracks, yowling, and swiping at the sparks of fire that landed on him. But Valor hadn't gone up in a puff of smoke nor burst into flames. Yet the thought of that even being a vague possibility had shaken Nolan to the core.
"That's ... that's enough. ... I think you've won this one, Kiera. It's going to take a lot more practice for Valor to learn to use electricity."
The cub was ready for more, yet he didn't seem to care which way or another the battle went. He just wanted to make his trainer happy. The Shinx was all sooty now from the Smoke Screen and all of the flaming bits of Ember, and he happily shared the mess with Nolan, rubbing his smudged fur against his trainer's leg. Nolan took half a step back, and quickly picked up the cub to hold him at arm's length.
"I'm ... going to go get Valor cleaned off. I'll be right back."

To be honest, the filthy and sooty little cub was the least of Nolan's troubles. He glanced over his shoulder just before he walked into the thick grass, catching a glimpse as Kiera praised her Cyndaquil for a battle well fought. No, Nolan wasn't disappointed in Valor, not in the least, yet that nagging feeling wouldn't really go away - he felt as though it was he who let his pokemon down. Valor couldn't have done better considering, but they should have won that. They really should have.

Nolan sighed, trying to banish the thoughts. At least he wasn't so worried about the wild pokemon around Route 1 while he headed back towards the city. He also noticed that Snivy decided to follow him instead of staying by the tree with Kiera and the rest, trotting right alongside him as they entered Blyse. Ducking into the first restroom open to the public, Nolan set Valor down on the counter, turning on the faucet. Nolan happened to look up at himself in the mirror, and he hesitated for a second. He didn't only feel tired and worn-out, but it showed too. Taking off his glasses, Nolan washed his face, trying to rub out some of that hollow weariness, and Snivy hauled herself up to the counter too. She glanced at her trainer and ran the other faucet for a drink of water.

Valor started to bat the glasses off the counter, leaving little gray pawprints, and before they went over the edge Nolan caught them in time. Slightly annoyed at the cute antics of the cub, Nolan splashed water from the sink on Valor's fur, and to start to clean off the ash. That wasn't one of Nolan's brightest ideas, because the second the liquid hit the cub's fur, it connected the shock of electricity through the little puddles on the counter right up to Nolan's hand.

The lights flickered, alternating with the light that glowed from the Shinx's fur, scaring the cub. When Nolan came to a second later, he was on the bathroom floor with Snivy standing on his chest, staring down at his face. Nolan sat up with a groan, his head smarting where he had hit the tile floor, and Snivy slid down off of him, still watching him carefully.
"I'm okay, really. Just ... a little dizzy is all. Where's Valor?
"Niv." Snivy pointed to one corner of the bathroom, where a little star-tipped tail could be seen poking out from behind the trash bin.

Nolan could see a small burn on his palm, but it wasn't anything serious. His head wasn't bleeding either, his luck holding out. Tugging his finger-less gloves back on, Nolan slowly tip-toed over to the hiding Shinx. Then quietly, trying to coax the Flash cub out, Nolan said,
"Hey there, buddy, you're not hurt, are you? Everything's okay, or did that all scare you? I'm really sorry, but it's really fine now."
Snivy just rolled her eyes, but the sweet talk worked on Valor. The Shinx peeked around the bin, tears in his yellow eyes, but upon seeing Nolan all that fright was forgotten right away. Simple Valor, but there was no complaint from Nolan now when the pokemon jumped right back into his arms.

This time, Nolan just used some paper towels to spiff up Valor's fur, and started back towards their little spot on the outskirts.