The four of them arrived at the nature reserve and picked an open area as their battlefield.
Originally, the first match was supposed to be between Charles and Harry. But seeing Ron standing eagerly to the side, Charles suddenly had a new idea.
"How about trying a double battle?" he suggested.
"Double battle? What's that?" Harry asked, puzzled. They hadn't encountered the concept before.
"It means two Trainers fight together—each side sends out two Pokémon. Think of it like doubles in badminton or tennis," Charles explained.
Ron didn't know what badminton or tennis were, but fortunately, the rules weren't complicated. After hearing them once, he got the gist.
"That sounds awesome!" he said excitedly, eyes shining as he turned to Harry.
Hermione, however, looked a bit worried.
"Don't forget—your teamwork isn't exactly the best yet. I think beating the Professor under new rules will be very difficult."
"So what? There are two of us!" Ron shot back immediately.
Winning was important, of course—but for the two of them, Pokémon battles were about the thrill and fun of the fight. Experiencing new formats was part of the joy.
Even if they lost this time, there was always next time.
"Fine," Hermione sighed, arching an eyebrow as she walked to one side of the field. "Professor, I'll be the referee."
"That would be a great help," Charles said with a nod, taking two Poké Balls from his belt.
To handle the young wizards' challenges, he had raised several Pokémon that weren't too high-leveled. Most of his main team was scattered across the inner areas of the reserve, only joining him when he left the school.
For example, his Charizard had formed a whole Charizard Valley in the Rocky Desert region. The newly hatched Charmanders had become its subordinates, and their numbers were growing. The first generation of young ones had already matured and begun raising the next.
At that moment, Harry was about to send out his Pokémon to charge ahead recklessly when Ron stopped him. "Wait, Harry! We need some coordination first!" he whispered.
Charles made no move to stop their little secret conference. In fact, he welcomed it—seeing the young wizards learning teamwork was exactly what he wanted.
Harry and Ron already had a close friendship, so working together wasn't difficult. Maybe next time, he thought, he could have Slytherins and Gryffindors team up too.
Of course, forcing cooperation between them could either improve relations—or make things much worse.
"You have a plan?" Harry asked.
"Nope!" Ron said firmly, eyes wide.
Harry gave him a look of exasperation.
Then what was the point of bringing it up?!
"But I do have a suggestion," Ron added quickly. "First of all, we shouldn't both use Houndour. Otherwise, we'll definitely get confused."
Two identical Houndours in the same match—especially in the chaos of battle—was a recipe for disaster. One mistaken target could change everything.
"Good point. Anything else?"
"…Nope." Ron couldn't think of anything more and decided to just go for it. He strode onto the field, and Harry followed, standing beside him. The two looked like partners ready to face the world.
"Come on out, Nimbus!"
"It's you, Pikachu!"
With a flick of their wrists, two Pokémon burst from their Poké Balls. The Ponyta reared up, stretching its body, while Pikachu landed lightly and let out a sharp cry, sparks crackling from its cheeks.
"Pika! Pika!"
At the same time, Charles released his own two Pokémon.
"Come out, Elekid and Magby."
Two small Pokémon appeared on the field—just like their opponents, they were red and yellow in color.
"Fire and Electric types?" Ron muttered, already analyzing.
Those species weren't listed in the Kanto Pokédex, but they did know at least one of them. Harry himself had an Elekid.
"That red one should be Magmar's first-stage form," Ron guessed.
Harry nodded—it wasn't hard to tell. Their appearances and names were clearly related.
"All right, I've got a plan!" Ron said. "I'll handle Elekid—you go for Magby. Otherwise, our attacks won't line up properly."
"But it's the same problem for the Professor," Harry pointed out. Fire and Electric types alternating would avoid type disadvantages, but it also meant Charles's attacks would hit harder on either side.
"That's exactly the point!" Ron said confidently. "When we're being attacked, we'll just have our Pokémon switch positions quickly. What do you think?"
"I think we'd be better off just dodging. Also—why not switch out Nimbus for Roundy?"
Ron froze.
"…You make a fair point."
"Return, Nimbus!" he said, recalling his Ponyta and sending out his Sandshrew. Though Roundy didn't get as much spotlight as Nimbus or Inferno, its level wasn't much lower. Ron never neglected it in training.
Once both sides were ready, Hermione raised her wand and sent a spark into the sky—signaling the start of the battle.
Ron struck first.
"Roundy, use Stomp on Elekid!"
Harry followed up right away.
"Pikachu, use Spark on Magby!"
Spark looked a lot like Volt Tackle—both surrounded the user in electricity before ramming the opponent.
But the two moves were in completely different leagues. Volt Tackle's voltage was so high it even caused recoil damage to its user. Spark's base power, on the other hand, was only 65.
Still, for low-level Pokémon with small move pools, both Stomp and Spark were already strong attacks.
Yet Charles didn't even give a command.
Elekid and Magby dodged on their own—showing how well-trained they were.
The lively Elekid even counterattacked instantly after dodging Sandshrew's strike.
Unfortunately, most of its known moves were Electric-type. Its Thunder Punch landed cleanly on Sandshrew, sending it flying—but doing no actual damage.
(End of Chapter)