5. First Battle

Ding!

At nine o'clock the next morning, Jacob was still playing with his little Noibat when the doorbell rang.

"Jacob!" A sturdy, heavyset boy stood at the door, his forehead dotted with fine beads of sweat, his fair face glowing red, and his skin surprisingly delicate. "Open up quickly!"

"Kyle, so early?" Jacob opened the door, looked at the portly boy, and greeted him with a smile. The boy standing before him was Kyle, a close friend who had grown up with Jacob. He had been following Jacob around since elementary school.

"It's so hot out there." Kyle walked into the house with the familiarity of someone entering his own home, opened the refrigerator door, took out a bottle of soda, and gulped it down.

"This is great; it's much more comfortable at your place. My parents won't even let me drink soda," Kyle complained.

"Alright, enough complaining. Your parents are just looking out for you. Look at yourself—you weigh over 200 pounds." Jacob smiled and patted Kyle's belly, producing a hollow sound.

"Don't touch my belly!" Kyle pushed Jacob's hand away, his eyes rolling. "School starts in a few days. Let's go to the gaming center today. I'll play mid lane and you support. I'll carry you to victory."

"I'd rather not," Jacob declined with a wave of his hand. Even in his previous life, he hadn't been particularly interested in games. Additionally, Kyle was quite stubborn about his gaming choices, which diminished Jacob's enthusiasm further. "I need to focus on studying."

"Jacob, stop pretending. Hey..." Kyle spotted the Noibat resting in the incubator, and his eyes lit up. "That's a Noibat, a Dragon-type Pokémon! Does it belong to your brother or your father?"

Kyle never considered that the Pokémon might belong to Jacob. He knew Jacob's family held a respectable position in Starlight City, but since Jacob had never captured a Pokémon before, he simply assumed it wasn't his.

"This is my Pokémon."

"Don't be ridiculous; it must be your brother's." Kyle muttered to himself, "Your brother must be aiming to become a Champion, so he'd naturally raise a Dragon-type. But Noivern isn't particularly strong among Dragon-types—your brother should at least choose a Pseudo-Legendary. What a shame."

While Kyle was speaking, he suddenly noticed Jacob taking out a Pokéblock to feed the Noibat. He paused and looked at Jacob in surprise. "Is this really your starter Pokémon? Is the sun rising from the west? Is Master Jacob planning to become a Trainer?"

"I just hadn't met a Pokémon I liked before, so I captured this one when I found it," Jacob invented an excuse. "Do you want to have a battle? Didn't you just catch a Charmander?"

"You're on!" Kyle was eager to accept the challenge, his eyes gleaming with excitement. Though he wasn't behind Jacob academically, he believed he had talent for battling. While he might not match up to genuine prodigies, he felt more than capable of handling a novice like Jacob. "Let me, the great Kyle, teach you a lesson today."

...

The two of them made their way to the basement in the backyard. The spacious area had been converted into a battle arena. Jacob and Kyle took positions at opposite ends and released their Pokémon.

Kyle owned two Pokémon: a Rockruff that had grown up with him, and a Charmander, one of the starter Pokémon he had recently acquired.

"Go, Charmander!"

Charmander was one of the most famous Pokémon in the entire world, and its final evolution, Charizard, was among the most popular. In the Pokémon anime, four Champions—Ash, Alain, Lance, and Leon—all possessed a Charizard, making it almost a standard feature of Championship-level Trainers.

Jacob himself was quite fond of Charizard, but unfortunately, he had never encountered one with King-level potential or higher.

The Pokémon Jacob sent out was naturally his newly hatched Noibat.

"Trigger mission: First Victory."

[First Victory]: Win your first battle.

Failure penalty: None.

Reward: One random draw.

Seeing the task issued by the system, Jacob's eyes brightened with determination. His gaze fell upon the small Fire-type opposite him. Sensing Jacob's sudden seriousness, Kyle said confidently, "Brother Jacob, today I'll teach you a lesson. The path of a Trainer isn't as easy as you might think."

"Noibat, Tackle!"

Jacob didn't waste any more time talking with Kyle and directly ordered his Noibat to attack.

Noibat's ability was Telepathy. In the games, this ability was specifically designed for Double Battles, allowing the Pokémon to evade allied attacks.

However, reality differed from games. The Telepathy ability was extremely rare in the real world. Beyond its in-game effects, it offered additional benefits, such as enabling direct telepathic communication without verbal commands from the Trainer. It was essentially a minor superpower.

Noibat and Jacob had developed a strong bond. After Jacob issued his command, Noibat flapped its small wings and charged toward Charmander.

"You have no battle etiquette—attacking while I was still talking," Kyle protested loudly while simultaneously ordering his Fire-type to evade. "Charmander, dodge it!"

When Charmander heard Kyle's command, its orange-red body flashed as it leaped backward to avoid Noibat's attack.

Watching this, Jacob couldn't help but feel frustrated. Dodging truly was the ultimate technique, allowing direct evasion of enemy attacks. Reality was indeed different from games—there was no such move as "Dodge" in the video games.

"Charmander, use Dragon Tail!" Kyle displayed considerable battle talent. After Charmander evaded the attack, he immediately ordered a counterattack.

As a Dragon-type move, Dragon Tail was super effective against Noibat and could inflict double damage. Additionally, Dragon Tail had a secondary effect of forcing the opponent to switch out, compelling any backup Pokémon to enter the field.

"Noibat, fly upward to avoid the attack!" Facing Charmander's assault, Jacob remained composed. Although he had minimal practical battle experience, he possessed extensive theoretical knowledge about battling, influenced by his brother and father, both Gym Leader-caliber Trainers.

For instance, when facing a grounded Pokémon like Charmander, a flying Pokémon like Noibat held a natural advantage. By simply taking to the air, Noibat could neutralize Charmander's Dragon Tail attack.

This wasn't like turn-based battles in games, where flight made little difference and everything depended on accuracy and evasion rates. In reality, as long as a Flying-type could remain airborne, Pokémon without ranged attacks were severely disadvantaged.

"Charmander, Ember!" Kyle naturally saw through Jacob's strategy and quickly instructed Charmander to use Ember. This move was one of the few ranged attacks Charmander had mastered so far.

The scorching flames shot toward the airborne Noibat. Fire-type attacks only dealt half damage to Noibat due to its Flying typing, so their effectiveness was limited.

"Noibat, Roost!"

Facing Charmander's attack, Jacob chose to have Noibat use Roost. Fairy energy showered over Noibat's body, healing any damage it had sustained.

"Noibat, Supersonic!"

After healing Noibat's injuries, Jacob again commanded his Pokémon to attack.

Supersonic: Emits special sound waves that confuse the opponent.

As a Sound Wave Pokémon, Noibat naturally excelled at Supersonic. It emitted special sound waves from its mouth, striking Charmander with precision and causing it to become confused.

"Charmander!"

Kyle realized something was wrong when he saw his Charmander fall into confusion. He knew the match was effectively over, and he was likely to lose this round.