In Professor Oak's backyard, Steven and Red stood on opposite sides of the field.
In front of each of them were six shrunken and locked Poké Balls.
(When locked, the Pokémon inside cannot emerge on their own—they can only be released when the Trainer presses the button.)
The rules for a full battle were simple: you only needed to defeat one of your opponent's Pokémon to win. Alternatively, defeating the Trainer directly also counted as a victory.
Before the battle began, Steven and Red established their specific rules. Only one Pokémon could be released at a time for battle.
Steven and Red exchanged glances and nodded in mutual understanding.
The battle started!
Both moved simultaneously, sprinting toward the Poké Balls laid out in front of them.
As Red neared his set of Poké Balls, he suddenly rolled forward, grabbing one first and releasing his Pokémon in a fluid motion.
Bang!
What appeared was a yellow Electric Mouse Pokémon—Pikachu!
"Pika, use Thunderbolt!"
The released Pikachu was still airborne when electric arcs began swirling around its small body. It suddenly unleashed a powerful surge of electricity.
Steven was a step slower than Red. Just as he grabbed a Poké Ball, a strong premonition of danger made him dive to the side.
Bang!
The Thunderbolt struck the ground, barely missing Steven by inches.
However, the Poké Balls scattered on the ground were blown away by the energy wave from the Thunderbolt attack, scattering in all directions.
Steven frowned slightly and released the Pokémon from the Poké Ball in his hand.
In full battles like this, Steven had far less experience than Red.
Bang—
What appeared on Steven's side was an Aggron!
"Earthquake!" Steven shouted quickly.
At the same time, he rapidly climbed onto Aggron's sturdy body to avoid being affected by the ground-type move.
Aggron lifted its massive foot, preparing to bring it crashing down!
When a Poké Ball is in its shrunken state, its defensive structure is incredibly strong. However, once opened and expanded, it becomes relatively fragile—especially its internal mechanisms. This design was intentional, created to prevent Poké Balls from being too easily damaged while also accommodating the dynamics of full battles.
Before the modern era, battles between Trainers were exclusively full battles like this one. This combat style had led to a disturbingly high mortality rate among Trainers, which was precisely why the League eventually set the official Trainer age at sixteen and above.
Just as Steven launched his counterattack, Red had already acquired his second Poké Ball.
While releasing his next Pokémon, he smoothly recalled Pikachu into its Poké Ball with practiced ease.
A gray-bodied Aerodactyl suddenly materialized, grabbing Red with its powerful claws and carrying him swiftly into the sky.
Rumble—
The ground began to shake violently from Aggron's Earthquake, but the tremors couldn't endanger Red and Aerodactyl high above.
However, Red's remaining Poké Balls, which were still on the ground, also rolled around chaotically due to the Earthquake's powerful vibrations.
As for Steven's Poké Balls, they were already scattered in disarray, so a little more chaos wouldn't make much difference.
Steven eyed the nearest Poké Ball, stepping on Aggron's protruding armor plates, and leaped into the air!
He rolled upon landing to dissipate the impact force and successfully grabbed his second Poké Ball.
"Aerodactyl! Stone Edge!" Red shouted from high in the sky.
Aerodactyl flapped its powerful wings, and several sharp rock fragments formed from concentrated energy materialized around its body before hurtling toward Steven.
Steven's eye twitched. It seemed like Red was genuinely trying to take his life!
But Steven's hands didn't stop moving. While releasing his second Pokémon, he swiftly recalled Aggron to safety.
Bang bang bang—
Stone Edge struck the ground with explosive force, kicking up a thick cloud of dust that obscured the battlefield.
Whoosh!
The dust at the edges suddenly dispersed as something cut through the air. Steven, now riding on Skarmory's back, burst out of the dust cloud!
Skarmory flew close to the ground initially, then executed a barrel roll before shooting straight up into the sky.
"Stealth Rock!"
As Skarmory ascended vertically, it began to spin rapidly, scattering energy-formed rocks across the battlefield below.
Steven gripped Skarmory's neck tightly to avoid being thrown off by the intense maneuver.
Red grabbed Aerodactyl's leg and swung himself up onto the prehistoric Pokémon's back with impressive agility.
He swung his arm decisively and shouted, "Thunder Fang!"
What a monster! Steven thought with a mix of admiration and concern.
He quickly countered, "Steel Wing!"
Aerodactyl's sharp teeth began crackling with electric arcs as it opened its gaping maw and charged toward Skarmory.
Skarmory's outstretched wings turned a deeper, gleaming metallic silver, its sharp gaze fixed intently on the approaching Aerodactyl.
Bang—
Aerodactyl bit down hard on Skarmory's deliberately extended Steel Wing!
Steven and Red's eyes met at close range, and they both grinned at each other.
Then, simultaneously, both Trainers flipped off their respective Pokémon!
Skarmory immediately swung its other Steel Wing, striking Aerodactyl directly across the face with tremendous force.
"Roar!"
Aerodactyl howled in pain before being struck by a beam of red light and recalled.
Conversely, Skarmory was also hit by a red recall beam and returned to its Poké Ball by Steven.
Red recalled Aerodactyl into its Poké Ball, then pulled out another Poké Ball from underneath his red cap.
Steven, falling from the sky, was genuinely startled. When had Red managed to grab his third Poké Ball?
It must have been just before Aerodactyl carried him into the sky!
Since the belt normally used to hold Poké Balls had been removed for this battle, a Trainer had no place to store additional Poké Balls except to hold two at most in their hands. Each switch required putting down the previous Poké Ball somewhere.
Steven hadn't expected Red to hide a Poké Ball in his hat! He had been completely outmaneuvered!
Bang bang!
Both Trainers simultaneously released their next Pokémon.
A huge, rotund Pokémon appeared beneath Red—Snorlax!
And what Steven released was Metagross!
Red used Snorlax's soft belly as a cushion to land safely on the ground.
Then, without hesitation, he lunged forward to grab his fourth Poké Ball.
Steven, utilizing Metagross's Psychic power, levitated down smoothly to the location of his fourth Poké Ball.
Bang!
The hidden rocks from Stealth Rock suddenly surged upward, striking Snorlax with sharp impacts.
However, for the incredibly high-HP Snorlax, the damage was minimal—barely a scratch.
"Snorlax—"
"Metagross—"
Steven and Red shouted simultaneously:
"Hammer Arm!"
Snorlax and Metagross charged toward each other with tremendous force.
Snorlax's execution of Hammer Arm looked more like a full-body slam due to its massive bulk.
Bang—
Red's eyes widened in shock. His Snorlax had been knocked down by Metagross's Hammer Arm!
"Psychic! Block it!" Steven shouted quickly.
Metagross glanced sideways at the incoming red recall beam, and a shimmering Psychic barrier materialized to block it!
While Snorlax's HP was undeniably high, its physical defense was significantly inferior to its special defense—a natural weakness of the species.
The outcome had essentially been decided in that exchange.
Red had debuted as a Trainer less than six months ago, yet his Snorlax had already reached Champion-level strength. In fact, all of his Pokémon were at Champion level.
Poliwrath and Venusaur, who hadn't appeared in this battle yet, were unknown quantities, but that Pikachu already showed clear signs of breaking through to genuine Champion-level power.
For Red, reaching full Champion-level strength within a year of his debut was not a distant dream—it was an inevitability.
If they had been evenly matched in strength—if Snorlax and Metagross had been on equal footing just now—Steven would likely have continued to be systematically suppressed by Red's superior battle tactics.
Moreover, Red consistently brought surprising strategic moves that caught Steven off guard. This was Red's natural talent for free-form battles shining through.
"The sparring ends here!" Professor Oak's voice called out, halting the match.
Steven and Red both stopped their battle immediately.
"Steven is really strong..." Red looked down at the Poké Ball clutched tightly in his hand and muttered to himself.
"Red, you are truly strong," Steven said, walking forward toward the younger Trainer.
"Huh?" Red looked startled, glancing up at Steven with confusion in his eyes.
"My Metagross has been with me for a long time, so its strength is naturally higher than your Pokémon," Steven explained honestly. "If our Pokémon had been at equal strength levels, I would have been completely overwhelmed by your tactics."
After all, Steven's experience with this type of full battle was far less extensive than Red's.
The Ever Grande Conference had already abandoned this battle format in favor of standard Pokémon battles, so Steven hadn't specifically trained for it in years.
In contrast, the upcoming Indigo Plateau Conference here in Kanto would be the last major tournament to use this traditional competition format before it was phased out entirely.
At Red's current phenomenal growth rate, becoming a Battle Legend wouldn't be far off at all.
Steven found himself curious about something.
Could he become a Battle Legend before Red did?
Inside the laboratory, Steven's PokéNav buzzed insistently on the table, signaling an incoming call...