Chapter 17. Meeting Your Match

Words : 1587 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

As can be expected of an evolution, Raticate's stats have increased anywhere between 50% to 100%. Specifically, HP, Defense, Special Attack, and Special Defense increased by roughly 100%, while his Attack and Speed increased by 50%. It shows definitive proof that EVs do exist and that Raticate has already maxed his EVs out. He would no longer benefit from continuing to eat specific Pokémon meat or the berries that reduce his other stats. The next plan of action for Raticate is to elevate all of his moves to Basic while feeding him high-quality Pokéblocks. Another option would have been to go out of the city and pick fights with wild Pokémon, but that is not an option for the next four years, so Pokéblocks it will have to be. Finishing up with their morning training, Alex made his way to the school, where he went through another day of boring classes before finally finding himself back at the battle arena floor. Immediately registering for a match, Alex and Raticate enjoyed watching other matches in the arena until their queue was up. Their opponent for this match was a massive Onix at the largest battlegrounds they had. Its trainer was the female equivalent of the nerd from yesterday—still glasses, still neck-length black hair, still clean and tidy clothes. As Alex approached, he couldn't stop himself from asking, "You don't happen to have a brother who has a Toxic Stall Beedrill, do you?" "I do. Do you know him?" "No. I just fought him yesterday, and the similarities are uncanny." "I see," she replied, unperturbed. "Very uncanny," Alex reiterated. "Trainers, ready. Battle begins in 3, 2, 1. Battle!" "Blizzard." "Rock Slide." Both commands came simultaneously, but something strange happened that left both trainers stunned. Raticate conjured up Ice-type energy in its mouth and unleashed it upon Onix, but what came out was more like Icy Wind—except much weaker and scattered. Needless to say, the move failed and did negligible damage to Onix considering the distance. Onix, on the other hand, managed to summon a powerful Rock Slide, only for it to land behind Raticate, minimally blocking Alex's view of the battlefield. Essentially, Onix missed. Alex and the woman looked at each other incredulously before the woman snapped out of her stupor first and immediately commanded Onix. "Onix, charge in and use Body Press." Meanwhile, Alex just sighed with relief as he commanded Raticate. "Grass Knot." Green energy immediately surrounded Raticate, which alerted the woman, who quickly tried to stop Onix from moving. "Wait, Onix! Stop!" Too late. A pair of long yet thin, weak-looking blades of grass grew on both sides of Onix's body, tying together into a knot that wrapped around the tip of Onix's tail, snagging it. Onix tripped, resulting in a crash that kicked up a cloud of dust. Alex was initially concerned with the results, but as the dust slowly dispersed, he noticed a pair of large swirling eyes that confirmed his victory. Onix was knocked out by one Grass Knot from Raticate. Grass Knot in the game is a powerful move against heavy Rock-types like Onix, and it doesn't have any prerequisites. But in the real world, you cannot trip anything with a Grass Knot if they aren't moving. So, the hidden prerequisite of the move is to ensure that the opponent is moving. The more reckless the charge, the better. "Winner, Alex Wattson!" the automated referee finally announced as the dust settled enough for the referee to determine that Onix was, in fact, knocked out. The woman retrieved her Onix into its Pokéball before leaving some parting words for Alex. "You should have your Raticate practice more before using moves in battle," she advised. "Thanks for the advice. You should invest in Pokéblocks that improve vision. Your Onix may have depth perception problems," Alex countered. "Thank you. I'll look into it." With that, Alex's and Raticate's second somewhat wild, somewhat predictable battle in the arena concluded. Alex and Raticate continued queueing up and battling in the arena until night fell, when Alex had to get back home for dinner. Their win rate was quite high at 60% but would have been higher had Raticate had all his moves at Basic. There were plenty of missed opportunities due to failed executions. This, however, only made Alex more determined to have Raticate increase his proficiency in all the moves he knows to Basic. At least in the Adept rank, they have yet to meet an opponent who could outright beat them. Raticate was just flexible enough to secure consistent victories. It also helped that his Attack and Speed EVs were maxed out. It was just enough of an edge to tip the scales to victory. Also, though rare, Raticate's own combat acumen has contributed to some of the victories. Raticate has always had an eye for openings that guarantee a melee hit that cannot be retaliated against, and although it rarely helps, it ultimately still does. Lastly, they have not fought a particularly dangerous fully evolved Pokémon. Adept rank is quite broad, and its upper levels are usually when most Pokémon would have already attained their final evolution. Luckily enough, they haven't encountered a particularly powerful one yet. Most of their fights are between level 20 to 30, so it's almost always an easy win for them. In the following days, Alex and Raticate slowly fell into their new routine: training in the morning, classes during the day, battles in the afternoon, and dinner and personal study in the evenings. A week later, Alex and Raticate had firmly settled into their new routine—until they met their match in their regularly scheduled battles at the arena. Having recently queued up for their first battle of the day, Alex and Raticate were enjoying spectating the other battles when they received the notification for their own match. It was scheduled at one of the larger arenas, which were mostly used by the lower ranks, like that time with the Onix. As they made their way over to the arena, they spotted their opponent—a Charizard standing next to a beautiful red-haired teenage girl with a ponytail. She wore an overly mature business suit, complete with a pencil skirt, tailored blazer, and even glasses. Honestly, she looked more like school staff than a student. 'Are school staff even allowed to register for fights? Well, the fights are ranked, so they should be able to,' Alex thought as he answered his own question. The Charizard was fully evolved, meaning it had to be at least level 36, roughly similar to Raticate's own level. It could be surmised that Charizard was superior to Raticate in every area—moves, stats, and even type advantages. Sure, there was no STAB move conflict, but a flying lizard was incredibly difficult to pin down for a primarily melee-oriented big rat. I should consider changing Raticate's EVs to Special Attack rather than sticking with Attack when it's already sufficient. That would certainly increase Raticate's combat diversity. As Raticate arrived at his side of the battlefield, the automated referee announced the beginning of the match. "Trainers, ready. Battle begins in 3, 2, 1. Battle!" "Sucker Punch." "Fly." Raticate started strong, a quick burst of dark energy surrounding him as he landed a solid paw on Charizard just as it was about to take off. Charizard, now airborne, wore an enraged expression—it had been attacked before it could even get off the ground. "Now! Flamethrower," the girl commanded, surprising Alex. Charizard eagerly obliged, its powerful wings beating against the air as it maintained altitude. With a deep, guttural roar, it unleashed a torrent of searing flames from its maw, engulfing the battlefield below in a blazing inferno. 'You can do that?' Alex thought in surprise before quickly commanding, "Evasive maneuvers!" Raticate, obeying orders immediately, darted around the battlefield in quick bursts of Quick Attack, ensuring he stayed out of the flames while keeping Charizard in sight. The flying lizard continuously adjusted its aim, trying to track the elusive rat scurrying across the blackened ground. Since Charizard was too high up to land a melee hit without leaving Raticate open to a counterattack mid-air, Alex's only option was to rely on special attacks. Unfortunately, the only Basic proficiency special attack Raticate had was Thunder Wave, which might be too slow to release before Raticate gets hit or Thunder Wave gets neutralized by Flamethrower. Right now, Raticate was maintaining the status quo by spamming Quick Attack. If he stopped using it and just ran normally while trying to release Thunder Wave, he wouldn't be able to guarantee dodging the next retargeted Flamethrower. Alex considered the F.E.A.R. strategy before shelving it entirely. There was a problem with this approach, with Charizard's current altitude and gravity going against Raticate, there is a significant chance that even a priority move like Sucker Punch wouldn't reach before Charizard fired another Flamethrower while Raticate was mid-air—making the strategy unreliable for landing the final blow. "See if you can guarantee a Thunder Wave before getting hit by a Flamethrower!" Alex shouted as Raticate continued scurrying across the battlefield. If there was one thing Alex trusted about Raticate, it was his ability to spot an opportunity for a hit-and-run without letting the opponent retaliate. No doubt, the rat was an expert at running away after a hit. ----- Support me on Patreon patreon/babywrath

Chapter 17. Meeting Your Match

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