Open Challenge (Open Battle to Anyone)

Cepeda walks down the roads of Sinnoh, as he searches around, after catching both Chimchar and Starly, he was confident and knew his journey was going on a great start, however his battle skills were somewhat rusty when it came to other pokemon, and he decided to work on that. "Are there any trainers out there?"

"This stupid route is boring. Does it ever end?" Raiku asked, flat-eyed, speaking to his small bug pokemon as he walked. Sarutobi was curled up in his backpack, his head poking out, his antennae twitching slightly. The few friends that he had back home hadn't come along with him, so he was walking with his pokemon alone. Letting out a sigh, he dug around in his coat pocket for a riceball, and heard somebody calling out. Lifting his head, he found that there was a reckless looking boy at the end of the path. "Heh. Why not, Sarutobi? We could use the practice."

Waving his arm, he called out, "Yeah! I'm right here! Let's battle!"

"All Right then, your on. Riolu, come on out!" He shouted, as he equipped his pokeball in his hand, as he threw it onto the battlefield, Riolu was released from his pokeball. Riolu got into its fighting stance, as he smiled, and nodded at the new trainer. "Let's just make this a one on one match." He said, as he let his new opponent do the first move.

One on one. Perfect. He didn't want to admit that he only had one pokemon, so he nodded. "You're on!" Once the opponent's Riolu was called out, he found himself slightly nervous. Nice pokemon. However, he could still win this... If he tried. "Sarutobi!" The Nincada scurried out of the open backpack he'd been nestled in and faced his enemy, lifting his head, antennae twitching.

"Harden, Sarutobi!"

Riolu looked, as it seemed the pokemon was increasing it's defense. Riolu smiled, as Cepeda pointed at the pokemon. "Riolu, Foresight!" Riolu nodded, as it used the Foresight move, and started to lock on to the Nincada.

Yikes... Foresight. Not a good move for them, considering about the only thing going for Nincada was his ability to evade attacks. There's no way he's dodging his next attack... To prepare for the onslaught, he said, "Harden again, Sarutobi! Get ready!" The Nincada curled up its body, ready for an attack.

Riolu smiled, as he finally locked onto Nincada, as Cepeda then pointed in the air again, as he looked at Sarutobi. "Quick Attack!" Riolu began to speed off from Cepeda, toward Nincada, as he homed in on the Nincada, he attempted a kick to the Nincada, which would most likely hit due to using foresight before hand.

The Quick Attack landed and the Nincada winced, taking less damage than he might have normally due to his hardened shell. Sentimental as he was, Raiku nibbled his lower lip. This wasn't his first battle, but he wasn't a seasoned trainer. He and Sarutobi had only been in a handful of battles before this. "Okay, Sarutobi... Scratch!"

Sarutobi uncurled himself and slashed at his foe with his claws.

"Riolu, Quick Attack!" Riolu used its Quick Attack to dodge the incoming claw, as it ran around to Sarutobi's side, Riolu and Cepeda smiled at the same time, as if they were linked. "Now, Attack!" He shouted, as Riolu, rushed forward, and attempted another Quick Attack.

The second Quick Attack landed, and this time the Nincada went tumbling aside, unprepared for the assault. Righting himself, he shook himself off and lifted his head, antennae feeling about. "Okay, let's try Leech Life!" Nincada scuttled forward, attempting to pin the larger Riolu down and leech it of its blood.

Riolu was pinned down, as it seemed Nincada was leeching its health. "Riolu, try to kick the Nincada from underneath." Riolu attempted a series of kicks to the Nincada's stomach, to attempt to get it off.

The leeching restored some of Sarutobi's health and he felt a little more lively. However, he wasn't equipped to deal with being kicked in the softer underbelly and it let out a soft gasp as it was kicked off the Riolu. Tumbling end over end, it landed on its side a few feet away. "Get up, Sarutobi! Try to Scratch him!"

Sarutobi rolled over and sprang forward, attempting another scratch.

Riolu looked at the Scratch attack, as it hit Riolu, it flew back somewhat, Riolu looked back, as it winced in pain. "Are you alright Riolu? Try Quick Attack!" Riolu sped forward toward Nincada, and attempted another Quick Attack.

Another Quick Attack! "Dodge, dodge!" The Nincada tried to dodge, but was barely hit by the attack, causing him to roll. Seeing the way he spun, the dizzy look on the pokemon's face, Raiku went for a potion--only to realize he didn't have any! He meant to buy some earlier that afternoon before he left, but... Clenching his teeth, he watched Sarutobi slump over, fainted. "Sarutobi!" A weak cry followed. Raiku rushed to the pokemon's side to check on him, falling to one knee beside him. He was breathing and fine, just wiped out from his battle with the strong Riolu. For a moment, Raiku kept his head bent and lowered, as if he was still worrying over the pokemon, but then he finally looked up at his opponent, a grin appearing on his face.

"You were excellent! A worthy opponent!" Then he blinked and realized that he was being far too noisy. His grandfather would have whapped him on the head with a paper fan at that point. "I mean... That was a good battle." He turned, sitting on both knees, and he lowered his head to the ground in a sign of deference. "I recognize your strength."

Cepeda smiled at the boy's pokemon. It was indeed a nice battle, and he enjoyed it. He and Riolu walked over at Raiku, as he nodded at him. "That was a nice battle, your pretty good, but we all need to get stronger." Cepeda said to him, as he started to stretch, as Riolu jumped into the air energetic, as Cepeda rubs his head congratulating him. "Good job out there Riolu. You too Sarutobi." Cepeda said, as he took out Riolu's pokeball. "You deserve some rest." Cepeda said, as he put Riolu back in his pokeball, and put his arm out to Raiku, hoping for a hand shake.

Carefully scooping up Sarutobi, Raiku placed him into his backpack. It wasn't that like the Nincada didn't like his pokeball, but Raiku felt more closely bonded with him when he was around. There was a pokemon center close enough, he'd have to go there and get him all patched up. Not to mention, buy some potions for his next encounter.

He did take the boy's hand to shake it, as rivals and good opponents normally did. He was taught how to lose well, knowing that his path would lead to just as many failures as successes and to recognize strength when he saw it.

"I'm Raiku. Congratulations on the win. You two have a pretty strong bond, huh?" He had noticed the way they seemed to smile the same way. "I bet you guys will go far..."

1/2 Battles for Riolu level up
0/2 Battles for Chimchar Level up
0/2 Battles for Starly Level Up