The Renegade Trainer

"Gible, use [Dragon Rage]!"

A wave of draconic energy swept through a wild group of Aipom, knocking them out in one fell swoop.

A man approached Cynthia from behind, "Not bad. You've trained him well..."

"Thanks, leader Drago. But we still have a long way to go."

Drago let out a soft smile and patted her head, "It's good to know that there's still room for growth, but don't forget to count your small wins. Because they matter a lot, trust me."

The Ace trainer didn't elaborate, giving the girl time to contemplate.

Gible smiled innocently, proud and happy, which instantly infected its trainer.

"He praised us, Gible! You're doing well."

Cynthia complimented, which was well received. However, their celebration was cut short by signal from the reconnaissance squad. 

"It's a group of Intermediate-ranked(Lv. 25-34) Hippowdon group! They're approaching the camp!"

The call was soon proven as a sandstorm seemed to be coming towards them in great speeds. 

Cynthia was fast to support her team: "Wear your Go-goggles! It's [Sand stream]!" she distributed at her station at the supply tent while Gible, with Gible was significantly more agile in the sandstorm as it handed out to the members further from camp.

Being an experienced group of Pokémon trainers, wild attacks were a norm. It wasn't hard to get used to wild Pokémon behavior, which was why Drago and most of the members were perplexed at their current situation.

"Their territory is far from the wetlands, why would they come to this place?"

"The Hippowdon are running from something. Let us focus on surviving this before we talk theories, alright?" Drago's eyes narrowed.

His Flygon were in an advantageous setup, easily hovering through the sand while staying hidden from their opponents. It was harder to see through the sandstorm, especially when more than one [Sand stream] is activated.

The first clash began when a member's Claydol was attacked by [Crunch]. 

"Our peace broker was attacked, they are hostile!" Although still alive, Claydol was heavily damaged and its trainer, a part of the recon group, retreated via [Teleport].

Pokémon battles among humans do not tolerate killing the opponent, which adds more importance to controlling their powers while preserving most human-tamed Pokémon. 

However, wild Pokémon do never try to hold back.

That is why Claydol, one of the Psychic-type Pokémon treasured by humans as Pokémon language translators, took a lot of damaged. And that is beyond the fact of [Crunch] being a super-effective move!

So its trainer, Scout, informed the leader before rushing to the inner tents of camp.

And so began a small skirmish that barely lasted five minutes.

.

.

.

On the other side of camp, same time...

"Gible, no! Why you..." growled Cynthia seeing her partner getting hit by an [Aerial ace].

 In front of her was a Gligar that sneaked in their camp.

 They naturally had a rear guard, but they were occupied by its companions.

It wasn't hard for Cynthia to figure out that Gligar was at a higher level than they were. Although this gap could be offset by skill or talent, Gible was outmatched 2/3 as its black-potential was its only advantage over Gligar. 

Still, these factors aren't everything in battle, Cynthia firmly believes.

Recovering from the assault, Gible squared up once more.

"Let's change things up, Gible. Keep your eyes peeled."

Instead of going all-out on offense like usual, Cynthia decided to play counter-attack this time. 'Gligar will always outspeed us, but it still takes damage from [Rough skin]. A perfect time to retaliate will come, especially since it's underestimating me.'

Once more, Gligar dived in for an attack from above. Another [Aerial ace] hit Gible, even with its best efforts to evade the move. Cynthia easily learned the big flaw of her plan.

Because it would fail without a doubt if her partner were to fall before they could get an opportunity for a counter attack or before Gligar succumbs to [Rough skin], the latter of which was straight up impossible.

It was an uphill battle and Cynthia found herself in a pinch. 'If Gible fails, then our supplies might get compromised, if not worse. We can't afford to lose this battle.'

Gible was already bleeding from the relentless attacks, yet it still stood strong.

It was simply too fast, and an opportunity to counter attack dimmed every second. Cynthia was on the verge of tears from seeing her Pokémon all wounded despite all her efforts to keep calm.

She about to call out a command when out of the blue...

A bright light of pure energy enveloped Gible's entire body, prompting Gligar to move out of the way. 

Though an enemy, it was a natural response. 

Because it knew all too well that this was an evolution. 

Cynthia stood frozen as ice. She too was mesmerized from seeing her Gible evolved. Not too long and a Gabite emerged from the light, lunging itself towards the motionless Gligar.

In the air, its tail glowed purple as it used that newfound power to nail Gligar with a flip.

A rejuvenated roar resounded after that.

Gabite's trainer was also revived, and knew the fight wasn't over just yet. "Gib-- no, Gabite, use [Dragon rage] before it recovers!"

Even with Gligar's speed, it still needed a tailwind to take off and build momentum. That is why it could not avoid the breath attack that followed.

Coupled with [Rough skin] damage, Gligar fainted on the spot.

Cynthia did not forget to throw a Pokémon to catch it and healed Gabite with a smile plastered on her face as she checked out her partner's new form.

"You're looking good, Gabite! Congratulations!"

"Gabite!" The Land shark Pokémon embraced its trainer.

Today was a big win for Cynthia, and she definitely wouldn't be growing this rapidly if it weren't for this trip.

As the sandstorm subsided, their frontliners returned to camp. 

They were looking good, as if the battle hadn't taken a toll on them. Being Elite and Ace trainers, it wasn't hard to overcome the group of Hippowdon. Especially since they've been trained to work in teams for their whole lives.

"Still, things will only get harder from here on out..."

Drago stared blankly at the starry night sky. He was beside Cynthia who also sat away from the celebrating team members. 

"I think this mission will succeed."

"That is a given. But we mustn't get carried away. We would've lost a lot of our supplies if it weren't for you and our rear guards. I should assign more to defend our resources." 

Cynthia nodded as caressed her Gabite while stargazing.

"Oh I almost forgot. So you really did evolve, congratulations are an order, Gabite." 

The dragonmaster congratulated before continuing: "I also remember that you learned a new move. May I see it?"

Cynthia's attention was caught by this. "Oh right, that completely slipped my mind after the report." 

Moving to an open area, Gabite used the move. It's tail lit up a purple hue, and it was obvious to the naked eye that it was draconic energy. 

"This is [Breaking swipe]. Your Gabite is really talented, Cynthia. The average Gabite doesn't learn this move naturally. It normally takes a TM or a move tutor and months of training to improve its mastery."

"You heard that, Gabite? That's the second compliment you got from Drago today." They shared a moment together savoring the praise before Drago said, 

"So why don't we have a Gabite vs. Gabite battle, Cynthia?" 

.

.

.

[TO BE CONTINUED]