I'll get around to some css in the next few posts

Chapter 0: Prologue

Kerry frowned as he raised and lowered the Chimchar's limbs. The Pokemon looked at him, wide-eyed and confused as the freshly annointed trainer inspected him.

"Ch-chim?"

The boy shook his head. "No, no. You're definitely not a prime specimen." He said as he dropped the Pokemon's leg against the bed. He wheeled over to the nearby desk and opened up a binder. Kerry flipped to a page marked with a tab and then licked his thumb. "It'll be in here somewhere… let me just… there." He whispered, turning each page following the marker individually. "Just as I thought. Above average, but…"

"Chim?" The Pokemon questioned, sitting upright now that the boy was finished with his inspection.

"Sorry, your arms are just too thin. Your flame is weak, cranial diameter is half-an inch smaller than the average, and your right ear is slightly larger than your left, while your left arm is slightly longer than your right. Your proportions are completely off from a prime example. No person or Pokemon is created with perfect symmetry of course, but even your asymmetry is completely wack."

The Chimchar drooped its head and lifted its arms up, looking between each as he traced the lengths of them with his eyes. "Chim?" The Pokemon whispered as it looked over its shoulder at the fiery tail on its behind. "Char?"

Kerry sighed, putting the binder back down. The boy glanced over at the Chimchar and then leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. "I can't exactly get rid of you right now... but..." He whispered to himself as he chewed on his nail. The boy nodded his head and returned his gaze to the Pokemon. "If you want to be the prime example of a Chimchar, you're going to have to train hard. Harder than any other Chimchar out there. Even then, you might not be able to overcome the weaknesses presented by your abnormal sizing."

"Chimchar!" The Pokemon cried out as it leapt to its feet and pounded on its chest. "Chim. Chim!"

Kerry raised an eyebrow and looked the fire-type over before turning his gaze to the Gligar hanging from the ceiling in the corner of the room. "What do you think, Gustavo?"

The Gligar lethargically opened its eyes and stuck out its tongue. "Gli." The Pokemon released its grip from the ceiling and glided down beneath Kerry's bed.

"Fair enough. He is a starter after all. I can't expect the best of the best right from the start. If it was that easy, there'd have been no reason to do all that research into breeding." He rubbed his chin and looked over at the Chimchar with squinted eyes. "Well. Guess you'll do for now then! Welcome to the team, Chrim!"

The Chimchar pounded its chest twice in acknowledgment. "Chim! Chim!"

"Now, it's best we all get some rest. Dad's not supposed to be back home for a while yet, so we'll have to take up Rashirrin on her offer of a ride to Olivine. Luckily mom has to work in the morning so she can't talk the woman's ear off about her fashion ideas again. I do wonder about her Pokemon though. She seems a capable combatant from what I've watched of her live footage. But just how good are her Pokemon actually?"

"Chim?" The Chimchar crawled off the bed and onto the floor. The Pokemon looked up at his new trainer and then back to the bed. "Chim!" Chrim placed one hand beneath the bed and began to lift it repeatedly. The Chimchar grunted a few times and then flexed its free arm as it stole glances up at its trainer between reps.

"Hey, look at that. Already in the right mindset." The boy laughed as he placed his arms across his chest and proceeded to squeeze his own biceps. "Keep that up until you can't feel your arm anymore and when we work out tomorrow you'll really start to feel the burn!"

"Go to sleep, Kerry!" Mariann burst through the sliding door, slamming it open and causing it to bounce off of the door stop and shake out of its rails. "It's two in the morning! Please! You'll have all day tomorrow to train, just please get some rest? I need to sleep too, but I can't with all your shouting!"

Kerry stood up from his chair immediately with his hands up in a defensive gesture. "My bad, I didn't realize it was so late. Alright. Bed time. Bed time…" the boy placed the binder on the desk and then took off his shoes before crawling into bed. He looked over at the Chimchar and winked at the Pokemon after his mom left. "Hey, keep on lifting. Don't mind me, but just try to be quiet about it so mom doesn't get upset again. Tomorrow will be your first day of a real routine, so be ready."

"Chim!"

"First thing before we leave is a trip to the local trainer mart." Kerry let out a long and deep yawn as he pulled the comforter up to his neck and wrapped his arm around the pillow. "We're gonna fill my bag with as many balls as they've got in stock and catch everything we see. Who knows when some of these Pokemon will end up being useful, even if they're not the best the world has to offer."

Chapter 1: Olivine
Part 1: The Lighthouse

Kerry smiled as he and Chrim climbed the stairs to the top of the lighthouse. "Not much more now!" He called out to his Pokemon which had fallen slightly behind during the climb.

Of course, if he hadn't treated the climb as a workout routine and just climbed it normally there wouldn't have been any issue. However, not wanting to leave any time as wasted potential, he switched up his exercises with each new floor. On the base level, he traversed the floor utilizing a mix of high and long jumps. On the next floor, he hopped about using only his right leg; the next level was the same but opposite. And finally, heading up to the observation room - which was also the shortest distance - he opted to walk and climb using only his arms.

"Ch- Chim!" The Pokemon cried out after finishing out the series of back-bends it had used to move up the stairway. The Pokemon was exhausted, clearly indicated by the bags under its eyes. It had likely followed Kerry's orders and trained the entire night before, and now it was in the midst of a rigorous routine following that sleepless night.

Kerry nodded his head. "You're doing great Chrim. Gotta keep working like that if you want to be the best. No pain no gain buddy! Push through and achieve that feeling of euphoria! Ahhhh!" The excitable teen screamed at the top of his lungs and began to rub at his legs. "Let me hear your battle cry! Show. Me. How. You. Push. Through!"

"Chim…" The Pokemon looked up at the sweaty mess that was Kerry. The boy had long since removed his shirt and had tied it off to his backpack. Chrim looked at his trainer's legs, seeing now that he was shaking from the exercise thus far. But… "Chiiiiiiiiiiiimchaaaaaaaar!" The little Pokemon cried out, beating its chest and wincing each time that it moved its arms. "Chim! Chim! Chim! Char!"

Kerry nodded his head and smiled wide. "Yeah! That's what I'm talking about! This pain isn't real! We haven't even started yet! One more level and we'll be at the top! Push it out. I want to see everything that you've got little man! I wanna hear you cry, I wanna hear you scream! Ahhhhh!" The boy began a knee raise exercise, but sped it up as he cried out. He moved slowly towards the final set of stairs, driving his feet into the floor as hard and fast as he could before slamming them back into his chest and moving on. He took each step one at a time, slamming each foot down beside the other before moving onto the next stair.

Chrim's eyes widened as he watched his trainer continued to push himself despite being clearly fatigued. Maybe it was because he was so tired himself, but for some reason, despite how the Pokemon felt right now - Kerry just seemed so inspirational at that moment. "Chiiiiim!" He cried out before following in the trainer's steps.

After a few minutes of screaming and stampeding, the duo flopped down onto the ground at the top of the lighthouse. Kerry, gasping for breath, looked over at Chrim and held out his fist towards the little fire-type. "Goo-good job." He smiled and chuckled slightly.

The Chimchar breathed rapidly, staring at the ceiling until Kerry grabbed his attention. "Chim." He responded, bumping his clenched fist against his trainer's. "Chim-char."

Kerry laughed loudly before choking. "Oh, gotta breathe. But yeah, you're right. I'm pretty tired myself. What do you say we take a short break and do some stretches while we look out at the sea? I heard the Ampharos up here got sick earlier on, so I figure after we sightsee I can see if I've got anything in my notes about Pokemon specific ailments. Gotta build up my image, y'know. Never hurts to help a Pokemon in need."

"Oh, well if that's how you feel~" A familiar dark but pleasant voice came from just a short distance behind him, causing Kerry to tilt his head up towards the woman now towering over him. "Thing is, I already know roughly what's wrong. I just can't leave to get the medicine as things are."

Kerry rolled over and sat up on his knees. "Well, if all you need is some medicine I'd be happy to go grab it. Takes a little bit of the weight off my shoulders by not having to figure out the problem myself, heh." He chuckles gently, tapping on Chimchar to get him to sit up similarly to him. The Pokemon looked between his trainer and Rashirrin before lethargically following suit.

Rashirrin smiled and nodded. "In that case, what I need is called Opal Kelp. It's found down in the shallows by the beach here. It would be awful nice if the two of you could help in collecting some."

Kerry shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Yeah, we were planning to head that way later anyways." He looked over at the exhausted Pokemon and then back up at the trainer ahead of him. "Guess it can't hurt to move up the schedule a little bit."

Chrim gave a defeated sigh as it glanced back at the stairs they'd just labored to climb. Now, they'd not only have to go back down sooner than anticipated, but also had a reason to come back up later. Kerry looked over at the Pokemon and winked. "Hey, don't worry. I'll carry you down. You stayed up all night so I'm sure you're pretty out of it right now. Can't have you passing out in the middle of a battle after all. Nobody can hurt you more than you can hurt yourself."

Chrim smiled and cried out happily. "Chim!"

"Well, if you don't have anything else, we'll be on our way. Here, Chrim." The boy rose to his feet and held out his hand towards the Pokemon. "You might not have to deal with the physical part going back down, but that doesn't mean you get to miss out on tactical talks. We're going to the beach, which means it's our first real chance to fill out the rest of the team. First, since we slept in this morning, we stop at the mart in town to see what they've got. And then-" the boy trailed off as he placed the Pokemon on his shoulders and skipped down the stairs two and three at a time.

Chapter 1: Olivine
Part 2: Sand Fight!

"That's our target, Chrim."

Kerry and Chimchar sat behind one of the sand dunes on the beach, staring out at the shallows. Small, moving mounds of sand stood between them and their destination. Thankfully, this part of the beach was clear of guests for the most part, save for the random jogger every now and then who managed to dodge the barely moving piles.

"Their movements are subtle, but if you watch closely enough, you can see them. They pulsate with each breath that they take. Up, down. Up, down. They're so interesting to watch, but now really isn't the time for that. We'll have to capture at least one for the time being, which means…" he glanced over at the flaming monkey, gauging its reaction to the inevitable. "Maybe I'll give you a break for now and show you what's to be expected out of a battle."

"Chim?" The Pokemon gazed up at his trainer, having been lost in its concentration as it tried to find which piles of sand were moving and which were just being shifted by the ocean's waves.

"Yeah, it's not a big deal. We've got a lot of battling to get through here before we can move on anyways, so it's not like there won't be more opportunities. Besides, there's a reason trainers carry more than one Pokemon at a time." He smiled and gave the small Pokemon a thumb's up. "Just sit back and watch. Gustavo's got some experience on him already from the time we've spent together, but this'll be his official debut. Come on out, bud."

The trainer unclipped the ball from his belt and released the Gligar beside him, giving the small scorpion time to gain its bearings. "Gliii?" The Pokemon whispered, looking out over the horizon.

Kerry nodded his head. "They're there," he pointed at the nearest mound of shifting sand. "We need to peel them off one by one, otherwise we'll get overwhelmed. Only the ones that are most active though - we should be able to step around the slower or sleeping ones with little effort. No use fighting them all here now. From my count…"

"Gli."

"Yup, three seems right. You'll be taking the first two, and then Chrim will clean up, yeah?" he looked over at the small fire-type and tilted his head. "Keep watch on our battle and learn what you can."

"Chim!" The Pokemon saluted its trainer dutifully before laying across the dune, propping itself up on its elbows and making little hand goggles to peer through.

Kerry nodded and then nudged the Gligar beside him. "Showtime."

"Gligar." The Pokemon whispered, leaping from the compacted mound. He looked down at the ground from the air for a few seconds before swooping in quickly with a jab of its tail. "Gli!" It cried out, stabbing the sand with a Poison Sting.

"Atta boy Gustavo!"

The sand began to shift quickly as the mound rose slightly out of the ground, revealing a set of eyes and also what appeared to be a mouth. What seemed to be a toddler's shovel shifted around the Pokemon's body until it became firmly planted in the head of the Sandygast.

"Oooo?" The disturbed Pokemon called, looking around for its attacker.

Kerry stepped out from behind the dune, revealing himself to the Pokemon in hopes of provoking a retaliation. "Ay, come and get some!"

"Ooooo!" The Pokemon cried out angrily, lethargically moving its body across the top of the beach as it closed the distance between them.

Kerry watched the Pokemon move, opening his bag and retrieving one of the binders from it. He eyed the Pokemon closely, not letting it come too close before taking another step backwards. "Thankfully, Sandygast are some of the slowest Pokemon out there. I'd done some studying on the Pokemon around here while we were on the boat, but a refresher could be helpful. It might not be my money, but I'd hate to waste the excitement of a pending capture on something nonoptimal."

The boy quickly turned the page to the one labeled 'S' and then skimmed his finger down across, flipping the pages until he found the Pokemon he was looking for. He glanced quickly between the Pokemon and its page entry, making a mental checklist on the visual aesthetics of the 'Mon. After a few minutes of backpedaling and reading, the boy sighed and waved his hand in the air before putting the book back in his bag.

"Gliiii!" Gustavo cried out as it dive bombed the Pokemon. Again, it employed the familiar hit and run tactic of Poison Sting followed by a quick aerial retreat out of the sand pile's range.

"That one's no good. You can take it out!" Kerry waved, signaling back down at the Sandygast which finally began to recognize its situation.

"Ooo?" The pile gazed up at the sun, wincing against the brightness of the day as it searched the sky for its attacker. "Ooo!" It ducked down, disappearing into the sand as the Gligar took another strike at it. Though the strike missed the main target, the Gligar managed to jab some of the surrounding sand which the Pokemon was bringing up into its body as it attempted to harden itself. The sand had been soft enough that it absorbed some of the poison from Gustavo's stinger, causing the Sandygast to immediately look ill following the exchange.

Kerry smiled, motioning once more for another attack. "Don't let up! It got poisoned with that last hit, should only take one or two more now!"

Gustavo nodded, waiting patiently in the sky for the Pokemon to finish hardening. The strikes themselves weren't doing much to the sand pile, but if he was going to stay healthy for another battle, he'd have to bide his time and wait for opportune strikes that forced the Pokemon to work the poison deeper into its body.

"Gligar!" Gustavo cried out, diving back down at the Sandygast with its stinger at the ready.

"Oooo!" The Sandygast was ready this time as it opened its mouth wide, a green aura forming within the opening.

The two Pokemon exchanged blows, with the Sandygast forcing its body open wider to accommodate the speeding scorpion. As Gustavo passed through the opening, he wrapped his body up on itself and struck at the back of the sand pile's head. However, he hadn't passed through unscathed.

"What a waste of time." Kerry shook his head, watching as the green aura encompassed the passing Gligar and then returned to the body of the Sandygast. "It's just delaying the inevitable." He motioned up at Gustavo to move on to the next target, knowing that the poison would finish off the first opponent. "Any more hits here would just exhaust his energy for the next Pokemon. Kerry looked over at Chrim and nodded, ensuring that the Chimchar was indeed watching the battles as they occurred. "Lesson one," he called out in the direction of the fire type. "Know when you're beaten. There's a difference between perseverance and stupidity."

"Chim!" The Pokemon quickly replied, fixing its gaze back on the Gligar which was circling the next target.

Kerry gave the go-ahead, watching as Gustavo dive-bombed the next Sandygast in their path. The first continued to close the distance between itself and the trainer, apparently having recognized that it wouldn't be able to catch up to the Gligar before the poison set in.

"Oooh?"

Kerry shook his head. "Sorry bud. You're just not good enough for me to have tag along."

"Ooooh!" The Pokemon cried out, wincing with every move that it took. "Ooooh! Ooooh! Ooooh!"

Kerry shook his head, glancing back over at the Gligar as it continued with the same strategy with the new Pokemon. The second Sandygast seemed to be slightly quicker witted, but he wouldn't be able to get a good look at it until this one keeled over and left him alone. "Look, you're just wasting both of our time now. Just give up already. You lost. It's over. Go home."

"Oooooh!"

"Tch." Kerry looked over at the sand dune they'd started behind and then back down at the persistent Sandygast. "Chrim! Get over here!"

"Chim?" The Pokemon dropped its hands from his eyes and then cartwheeled playfully over to Kerry. He looked quickly between the trainer and the approaching, weakened Sandygast. "Chimchar?"

Kerry shook his head. "Gunk Shot."

The Pokemon looked once more between the trainer and the Pokemon and then nodded his head solemnly. Chrim pulled back his arm, allowing it to turn purple as it became coated in a toxic sludge. "Chimchar." He whispered, lunging at the pile of sand as he jabbed his arm into the Pokemon's body.

"Oo-ooo…." the Sandygast stuttered as it sank down into the rest of the sand.

Kerry shook his head. "What a waste. Sorry, Chrim. Let's go back to Gustavo, he should be just about done."

The Chimchar lingered for a second, staring at the toy shovel as it slowly tilted and then inevitably fell flat against the ground. "Chim-char…"

"Best to get used to it. We can't take everyone with us, otherwise we'd never make it across the region. It's not a trainer's responsibility to care for every defeated Pokemon's recovery. Don't think about it too much, yeah?"

"Chim…"

"Look, Gustavo's done as well."

The two looked on at the Gligar as it impaled the Sandygast it had been fighting for the final time. This one fell in a similar fashion to the first; slowly sinking into the sand surrounding it before the shovel in its body fell over.

"Glii!" the Pokemon cried out triumphantly.

Kerry nodded, retrieving the Pokemon's ball. "You did great bud. Get a good rest til we need you again." The Gligar smiled enthusiastically and nodded its head, waiting for its retrieval. "Well, you're up next Chrim. The last one will be all yours. Remember, they're quite slow, so it's a good opportunity to work on your form in battle. We won't get many chances like this moving forward since these guys are some of the slowest Pokemon out there. You're essentially fighting a sparring dummy."

The Chimchar glanced up at its trainer and then focused its attention back to the numerous sand piles. Most of them were still laying silent, only slightly moving as they breathed. But as it watched, one of the piles shifted slightly more than the others, moving a few inches as it let out a yawn and peered its head above the ground.

"That's him. Do it - for that Ampharos."

Chrim winced as he inhaled deeply. "Chiiim!" The Pokemon cried out, trying its best to keep its voice down around the still sleeping Sandygast surrounding them. A few Embers escaped his mouth, signaling the start of their fight as the cinders fell onto the protruding sand pile and caused it to rise up a little more quickly.

"Ooooh?"

The Pokemon's voice was slightly deeper than the others - a little more ominous. It's mound was thicker, and the hole that it called a mouth seemed a little smoother than the others. Kerry grinned as he went through the checklist he'd made just a few minutes ago in his head.

"Heh, that'll be the one. Take it out, but don't overdo it. We'll take him with us once this is over, Chrim."

The Pokemon let out a small sigh of relief as readied itself for its new orders. "Chim!"

"Ooooh!" The Sandygast cried out, moving a little quicker than the previous one as it closed the gap between itself and the attacking Chimchar. Granted, if you weren't measuring the difference in a way similar to Kerry, you probably wouldn't have ever noticed.

"Every little difference matters," he whispered to himself, wondering what a more in depth analysis of the Pokemon later on would reveal. He'd already made a list of the Pokemon he'd intended to take with him after leaving this area, but that was only if they were up to snuff. Nothing around here was particularly exciting to him, but… "gotta fill out the ranks. It doesn't look good for a trainer to have an empty belt."

"Chim?"

Kerry smiled at the Chimchar and nodded his head. "Just talkin' to myself. Don't worry about me bud. We got a battle here. Remember, light on your feet. I don't want to see you get hit by anything physical if you can help it, alright? He should have an Absorb attack, but it won't do much to you anyways due to your typing difference. Just take it slow, and when he's weakened enough I'll end it with this." The boy pulled a ball from his belt and tapped the center of it, returning it to its full size. "I'll put my trust in you for this practice. In the meantime, I'll figure up a name for our new ally based on how well he does against you."

Chrim nodded, hopping in place lightly as the Sandygast pulled itself slowly towards it. The Chimchar blew a few more Embers at it every so often, hopping around it in circles as the Pokemon seemed to disregard it and continue on towards Kerry. The Sandygast followed the Pokemon with its eyes, but continued in its path nonetheless. It retaliated once or twice with an attempt at using Absorb, but the Chimchar shook off the attack each time, resulting in minimal recovery results for the sand pile.

"Oooooh!" The Pokemon cried out as it slowed to a halt a few feet from Kerry. The Pokemon dipped into the sand for a second and then rose quickly out, piling on the surrounding sand as best it could as it Hardened its body.

Kerry imitated the Chimchar's movements, getting a feel for how the Pokemon moved most comfortably during battle. He performed a sort of shadow boxing, following his 'Mon's movements and using his own experience to find the shortcomings in technique and movement. "You've got a long way to go…" he whispered as the Pokemon continued to fire off the fledgling Embers as the Sandygast. "Gunk Shot!"

He knew how this attack should be performed most efficiently based on the current situation. A strike from directly behind would result in a critical hit as long as the Chimchar could aim for a weak point in the sand. "We've got a lot of work to do," Kerry conceded, dropping his stance back to normal as he watched the Chimchar circle around to the front of the Sandygast and strike it between the eyes.

"Chim!" the Pokemon cried out, believing itself to be victorious as the Sandygast fell forward.

"No, that wasn't good enough for celebration." Kerry shook his head as he tossed the empty ball at the Sandygast. "Your movements are still incredibly lacking. You can't just run on instinct forever. I'll have to teach you, or find you a proper teacher somewhere along the way. There's too much downtime in your attacks. If you were against a faster opponent, they could have torn your form apart. Even if you were to go up against Gustavo he'd probably be able to get in a few good hits on you without you able to hit him back."

The Chimchar sunk slightly as it fell onto its heels. "Ch-chim?"

Kerry shook his head, slowly picking up the ball that had stopped shaking about and clicked shut. "You've got good power behind your strikes, but your form is still lacking. It's not your fault at all. We've only had what, half a day together so far? There's a lot of journey ahead of us, I'm just not going to sugar coat what that journey will entail. You did well enough for now, but you can always do better - you can always be better. And going forward, that's what we'll have to aim for. We always have to be better, or else someone else out there will catch up to us."

The Chimchar hung its head and nodded. "Char."

"Don't look so down bud. Like I said, it's not your fault. Neither of us are going to have it easy going forward. No shortcuts, yeah?" He smiled at the Pokemon and rubbed its head encouragingly. "Now, what do you say we grab some kelp and head back to that lighthouse? If you can get to the top first while sticking to your routine, I'll get you something nice to eat once we're done."

"Chim!" The Pokemon's eyes lighted up momentarily as it looked up at its trainer and then headed out towards the water.

Kerry looked down at the ball in his hand and nodded his head before placing it on his belt. "We'll see how you end up faring later on, Cassandra."