My Little Pokémon

by Amarvax

Growing as a trainer

Author's Note:

Slightly shorter chapter. I did originally plan it to be apart of Chapter 60.

Total loss.

Rainbow Dash was sitting in a back alley alone, looking at her Pokeball. She was struggling to cope with the loss she gained today. She had never felt that much pressure before. Even before the two worlds crossed.

"I lost."

The only thing running through her mind. She sent out her Pokemon who were severely injured. Whirlipede, Rufflet and Swablu were all tattered up as they could still feel the effects of the battle.

"I'm sorry you three. I let us down. I rambled on about how nopony would ever take us down. Me and my big mouth."

Her Pokemon looked at her with sadness in their eyes as well. They flew and rolled over to her, going to comfort their trainer. Tears began rolling down Rainbow Dash's eyes but she was trying to pull them back.

"I didn't know all of that would happen. I didn't see it coming."

Twilight and the others eventually found Rainbow Dash in the alley.

"Rainbow!" They went over to their saddened friend, also wanting to comfort her. "Hey. You feeling better?"

"No. I'm not feeling better, Twilight."

"We know it was a tough loss for you. But surely you can recover from this can't you?" Rarity asked.

"I don't know. I talked a lot about winning and look what happened."

"Rainbow. Losing isn't that big of a deal, you know-"

"It is to me Twilight! You have no idea how it feels to lose like that! I thought I was invincible. Me and my Pokemon could take on anypony and pull through at the very end. How am I gonna become a Pokemon Champion? I barely managed to take down that Fletchinder. And that Braxien... I didn't even reach her final Pokemon." She kept beating herself.

"Ash. You've lost your fair share of battles, right? Talk some sense into her." AJ turned to Ash, seeking some help.

"It's tough alright. Sometimes you're not prepared for what your opponent may do. And losing stings. No doubt about it. Especially if you've got a lot of confidence and trust in your Pokemon." This was only making Rainbow Dash feel worse. "But, losing always has one perk. It's that you can learn from your loss."

"Learn from my loss?"

"Mhm. Even if you lost, you can adapt to it. The next time you face your opponent, you'll be able to predict what tricks they might use to throw you off. Your Pokemon want to get better and win don't they?"

Rainbow Dash's Pokemon nodded in response to what Ash said. Dash looked at her Pokemon, seeing their determination to be better along with her.

"You guys..." Rainbow Dash's tears that she was trying to hold back started to flow as she hugged her Pokemon tightly. "Let's get stronger together!"

---

Pallet Town, Ash home.

"Alright Rainbow Dash. You wanna get stronger? You gotta learn. And you'll be practising against me and my Pokemon." Ash stood there with his arms crossed. It was time to train Rainbow Dash.

"Right!" Rainbow nodded in response.

"Now. Your first major obstacle is that Attract. It'll totally stop you and your Pokemon from attacking Braxien. Only Rufflet could resist it. So, we'll let the others get past it. Snivy here will help."

"Sni!"

"I got it. I'm ready to train."

"Okay. Snivy! Use Attract!" Snivy winked over at Whirlipede, sending a heart towards it.

"Whirlipede! Close your eyes!" Whirlipede did just that, shielding itself from the Attract. Once it opened its eyes, Snivy used Attract once more, putting Whirlipede in a trance. "Huh?!"

"You may be able to avoid Attract by closing your eyes. But your opponent can keep using it against you. And your Pokemon still need to see when they're battling." Ash explained.

"Then how am I supposed to get past it?!" Rainbow Dash felt like the Attract move was unstoppable.

"It's easy. Switching out your Pokemon can remove the effects of Attract. But be careful not to let your Pokemon get caught up in it again."

"So there is a way around it. But how come Rufflet was able to snap out of it?"

"If you have a strong bond with your Pokemon, they can snap out of certain things with no problem."

"Pika!"

"Snivy!"

"Now. Let's try with your other Pokemon, okay?"

"Right. Swablu!" Swablu was next. The only Pokemon who wasn't hit with Attract. Ash commanded Snivy to use Attract on the Cotton Bird Pokemon, however, Swablu, on its own instincts avoided it. "I... didn't tell you to dodge though."

"Must be acting on instinct." Ash said.

"Well, if Swablu knows how to avoid it, then two of my Pokemon can work around the move."

"Yeah. Now you know a way around Attract. But there's still one issue that we gotta deal with it. Burn."

"Pika."

"Oh yeah. The burn." The effect that killed Rainbow Dash's winning streak. "I should've expected Fire-Types to be able to burn my Pokemon. Silly me."

"Don't worry about it. Status effects sting. But there's not much we can do about them during a battle. They can really drag you down and throw your flow off."

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded in agreement to Ash. Twilight and the others were watching Ash teach Rainbow Dash, hoping that this will help her improve once she has her rematch.

"Fletchinder's ability is Flame Body. Meaning that if you get too wild with the up close and personal stuff, there's a good chance you'll get the burn. It's the same for Pikachu over here. At times, his ability Static will kick in and paralyze anyone if he takes a direct hit."

"I can get rid of them by switching out again, right?" Rainbow thought.

"Nope. It'll still stay. Your best option is to keep your distance at all costs."

"Only Whirlipede and Swablu have ranged moves. Pin Missile and Disarming Voice. Rufflet doesn't really have anything for distance. So I did have a chance of winning." Rainbow Dash realised that her options were good, but she still had no idea what went wrong.

"Then you gotta make sure that you take that chance one more time." Ash put his hand on Rainbow's back. "Every trainer has bumps in the road. You just came across your first one. The road to being a Champion is tough. Just like me on the road to being a Master."

"Pika-Pika."

"Thanks, Ash. If you don't mind, I'd like to battle you and your Pokemon. To get better."

"You got yourself a battle!"

"Pika!"

---

A training battle to help her improve. All of her Pokemon against Ash's Pikachu and Buizel. Rainbow Dash gulped a bit. She knew how different Ash was compared to Sunset Shimmer. Sunset is like everypony else, new to Pokemon still. Ash has been doing this for 22 years now. But this was just a small training session. So not too much to worry about.

"I'll definitely become stronger. Whirlipede! Pin Missile!" Whirlipede sent a barrage of pins moving at high speeds towards Buizel.

"Buizel! Water Gun!" Buizel cancelled out Pin Missile with a shot of water. "Now come as close as you want, Rainbow."

"Bui!"

"Okay! Whirlipede! Rollout!"

"Intercept with Aqua Jet!" Both Pokemon dashed towards each other, clashing. But, Buizel easily won the clash, pushing Whirlipede back. Rainbow could see the one thing consistent with Whirlipede. Since it is in the shape of a circle, it's constantly rolling around, even if it was knocked back. She saw this as an advantage.

"Whirlipede! Use that rolling momentum to your advantage!" As Whirlipede was rolling, it then gained control, turning around Buizel and continuing to use Rollout.

"Not bad! Ice Punch!" However, Buizel easily stopped Whirlipede by freezing it with an Ice Punch. "You're learning how to use your Pokemon's skills to their advantage much better now. Let's keep going."

"Right! Come back Whirlipede." Rainbow returned Whirlipede, sending Swablu out next. "Swablu! Disarming Voice!"

"Alright, Buizel. Spin with Water Gun!" Buizel reflected the sound waves by causing Counter Shield. The spinning water struck Swablu from the sky, pushing the Cotton Bird Pokemon back.

"If I'm gonna advance forward, me and my Pokemon need to take the toughest of battles! Swablu! Fury Attack!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the top of her lungs.

Their battle didn't last very long. Only 7 minutes. Buizel and Pikachu easily overpowered her team. But she learnt a lot and improved. Nighttime came along. Everyone had else had headed home for the meantime. Rainbow Dash was in her home at Cloudsdale, thinking about what had happened today. Losing the Gym Battle, but improving with Ash has made her realise a lot.

"Next time. I'll totally win. Me and my Pokemon." She said with confidence in her voice. Rufflet could feel her determination from within his Pokeball. The Bond Phenomenon within the two was growing. What they experienced today will help bring it out even faster.

The next day, Rainbow Dash was out on her own at White Tail Wood. She was training with Rufflet, Swablu and Whirlipede. Still wanting to improve.

"Rufflet! Brave Bird! Swablu! Fury Attack! Whirlipede! Rollout!" She commanded all three of her Pokemon to attack each other in unison. The three of them crashed into each other, sending them both back. "Keep going!" She kept this up for a while. Her Pokemon weren't stopping for a moment.

Fluttershy peeked her head out of the bushes, seeing Rainbow Dash train.

"Rainbow Dash's really riled up now. I'm just glad that she's gotten over her loss... but I'm worried. What if she doesn't win again? What'll she do?" Fluttershy thought of the worst possible scenario. There's no telling if she'd win a second time. And even Fluttershy knows that Sunset Shimmer hadn't used Litleo yet.

Twilight was at her library, thinking about the battle from yesterday as well.

"I think I've figured it out, Spike."

"Figured what out?"

"I think I've figured out this Flame Body ability. Ash said that there's a good chance it'll burn the Pokemon if they get too close for comfort. I noticed that when Swablu was battling, for the first part it didn't get burned. But the second time it went to attack, that's when Flame Body got it."

"So... what are you getting at?"

"I believe that there's a 30% chance of Flame Body actually working."

"A 30% chance? That's kinda low."

"Not too low. That's only a 70% chance of missing. If I can get this information to Rainbow Dash, she'll love it!" Twilight flew out of the library with the book by her side. She crashed on the ground, still not used to her wings.

Pinkie Pie was preparing a cheer up party for Rainbow Dash. Ash had already done that yesterday, but Pinkie wanted to make sure she was even happier.

"Come on Slurpuff! Sniff out the best cupcake you can find! Rainbow Dash has to be so happy, her loss will be non-existent to her!" Pinkie had piled up tons of Cupcakes with the inclusion of some chocolate sculptures, inspired by Mulia Mild.

Her friends were doing everything they could to lift her spirits up even more. Rarity made some dresses while Applejack got some cider for her to enjoy. Rainbow Dash wasn't aware of what her friends were doing for her. Not until they actually arrived at White Tail Wood, tracking her down.

Dash had finished training her Pokemon as they needed a small break. They sat down, relaxing as they were all thinking of the inevitable rematch. Breaking the silence, Twilight and the rest of her friends showed up. Each here for different reasons. She saw them heading this way to cheer her up.

"Rainbow Dash! I've got a solution to your burn problem!"

"I've got a party waiting for you back at SugarCube Corner!"

"Well, I got a nice cider drink waiting for you. Tons of em!"

"She can drink the cider and party after she learns of this."

"Parties come before anything!" They were bickering about what to do first. Rainbow Dash merely smiled at it. She was happy to have such good friends.

Next time. She'll feel like she'll win for sure.

Chapter 61 End.

Comments

[schorpioen007]

Good story ^^

[Roboman3000]

Good luck, Rainbow