Chapter 1

I was not sure where my fascination with water type Pokemon came in.

As a child I was not a huge fan of Pokemon in general mostly seeing them as ways to get things done and as brutal but powerful weapons that Trainers had.

A trainer in my eyes was essentially a god. They had the rules set out by the Pokemon League of course that they had to follow but they could do anything they wanted.

Well, that was what I thought anyway.

Trainers were bound by rules but they could roam the earth and essentially do anything they wanted to. That's what I liked, the idea of freedom, the idea of being able to walk around with no-one telling me what to do. But it also meant that if my country needed me, I would … no should be prepared to go to war to fight for it.

But thoughts of war were far from my mind at the moment as I eagerly sat in front of the television. My older brother's Gible Zoroj had jumped into my hands and was watching the program eagerly, his small body bouncing in my hands. My brother Jonathan was eagerly looking at a map with his large Fraxure Slasher and his Dratini which he hadn't named coiled around his arms. My brother was 17 and was of legal age to go out on a 'journey'. He was a lover of dragon types and he wanted to be the Champion of the Unova Region.

He loved the power they had. The ferocity they could possess and the fact that all the powerful trainers in the world were dragon type masters. Well in his opinion. To that end, my brother had blown all of his hard earned money on an Axew over a year ago as well as a Dratini egg. The Gible was a surprise, given by family friends who had a spare egg to give away when their Garchomp gave birth.

In what promises to be a thrilling match ladies and gentleman, we have the Hoenn Champion Steven Stone with his powerful team ready for battle!

I could see a young man with white hair and dressed smartly in a black suit. There was a hard look in the man's eyes and he had a large notebook in his hand. The man stood atop a large pillar overlooking the arena with his opponent doing the same. He looked … what was the word?

He looked assured, as if he was going to win the battle for sure. He threw a pokeball in the air revealing a powerful looking Aggron which roared into the sky as it was released. The crowd gave a roar as the bipedal grey and black Pokemon turned to its trainer and nodded before facing the other side of the stadium. Fire clawed out from the Aggron's mouth and around him rocks began to build up lifting into the air.

And Steven releases his powerful Aggron, Bones! Bones looks ready for battle ladies and gentleman! My, this is looking to be a good match! What will his opponent bring out?"

Trainer battles of this magnitude were rare.

Challengers had to not only beat the gyms and collect all of the badges, they also had to beat the Elite 4 who were amongst the most powerful and skilled trainers in the world. Many trainer's Pokemon died facing off against the elite four and those trainers who did, had their Pokemon killed by the overwhelming power of the Champion. The 'fairest' battle for Champion in years had been Red from Pallet Town, a prodigy against Lance, the Dragon Master. No Pokemon had died in the battle and although Red had won, Lance had retained his title as Champion.

A champion facing off against a challenger for his title?

When they did happen, it was always a highly publicised event well at least in Hoenn, the other countries were much more private in this kind of battle and most citizens wouldn't know it until after it happened. In Hoenn, such an event was publicised all over the world.

Champions were the most powerful trainers in their region. They and their teams had years of training and experience behind them and most challengers weren't only crushed but their teams were killed as well. Any who wanted to re challenge were forced to go back and retrain a team or go to their PC Box and get other teams. As far as power went, Champions were in control over part of the military (the Rangers), their respective leagues as well as a visage of political power in their respective regions government.

The Champion of the Unova Region, the Region I currently lived in was Alder, a powerful trainer who had been champion for over a decade. Coincidentally, he had not had a challenger for his title in a decade as well which coupled with the fact that he did not fulfil his duty as Champion resulted in many Unovans doubting his skill and power.

Champions in the Hoenn region were a little different from other regions. They not only ruled the armed forces of their country, but they were also the President and the ones in charge of the region as a whole. The Hoenn Elite Four and Gym Leaders were members of government. This gave them an unprecedented amount of power in the world, power which had out them in direct conflict with the other regions before but for now, things had settled down.

Well settled down enough that there was a ceasefire between the Hoenn and the other regions.

The man's opponent was a tall, slim man with green hair and wearing a large hat. The man also wore an open chested shirt and white trousers. The man's grin came into view as the camera focused on him and he released a massive Tentacruel which roared let out a piercing cry of approval. The crowd let out a cry as the huge Tentacruel came into view with its tentacles lashing out.

"Wow!" I muttered. The Tentacruel was at least three times the size of any other Tentacruel I'd seen on television. Its tentacles were massive and looked easily capable of crushing most vehicles and more.

My brother Jonathan who was aged 20 looked into the room, his Dratini still wrapped around his arm as it looked around inquisitively. Seeing that they hadn't started. He quickly left the room whilst my father walked in and flopped onto the couch, whilst his Froslass floated in behind him.

Well! The former Gym Leader of Sootopolis City Wallace has brought in his titanic Tentacruel Whiplash for battle!

The referee of the match was in a small box on the pitch surrounded by three Kadabras. The Kadabras were there to help protect him in case of any stray shots by the Pokemon, seeing that both parties were ready, the referee raised his hand before launching it down signalling the start of the bout.

Steven tapped his foot on the ground and his Aggron, Bones rushed from his position his head glowing silver as he slammed into Whiplash. The Tentacruel let out a yelp in pain as it was rammed in the chest with the attack before it retaliated by grabbing the powerful Pokemon with its tentacles and raising it up only to slam onto the ground.

"That Tentacruel must be tanky," my father commented. "Not many Pokemon can withstand a hit from an Aggron, but then again, at such high level your Pokemon have to be able to take hits and dish them."

Whiplash shot out powerful water guns which slammed into the bulk of Bones and elicited a cry of pain from the Aggron. Steven frowned but said something sharply as the Aggron turned to the Tentacruel and opened its mouth where a large beam of energy began to form at a very rapid pace. Wallace barked an order and the Tentacruel began to spit out massive amounts of muddy water towards the Aggron.

The attack shot by the Aggron which the commentator said was a Flash Cannon didn't hit Whiplash. Instead the Tentacruel had used the water to dive underneath it and the Flash Cannon had impacted upon the psychic barrier separating the two contestants. There was silence, with the Aggron forming a quick pillar of rocks to stand up as it stood far above the water.

"Wow." I couldn't believe what I was seeing, I was only 7 at the time but what I was witnessing was incredible. Two trainers of pure power battling it out for the title of Champion. I wanted to emulate them oh so badly.

Zoroj leapt up and down in my hands before I placated him. The pre-evolved form of Garchomp were easily excitable and sometimes hard to control. Somehow my brother had caught and was the trainer of Zoroj which had stunned me and my family when he had brought the Pokemon in. Along with a small Abra called 'John' which was currently nestled up in his room doing what his brother called 'meditating' whatever it was. Jonathan hadn't gone on his journey and gone for badges yet, he was still saving up for a Pokemon egg, a Horsea then he would go out. He did however train his Pokemon in the woods separating Roshan City and Aspertia City, home of the Basic Badge and the Gym Leader Cheren who was a new and relatively young Gym Leader as well as a frequent battler of the Unova Champion Alder.

Seconds later tentacles slammed into Bones tipping him into the water where a frenzy of large whip like objects began to thrash around along with the screams of the Aggron. I watched in mild confusion until my father explained that Tentacruel tend to hunt underwater anyway and Wallace was using the massive amounts of water at his disposal to empower his Pokemon. Steven raised a hand and made a swiping notion before returning his Aggron with an agitated look on his face.

Such power…

I couldn't believe the power of the Tentacruel and what it could in water. It seemed almost unstoppable as it tore through Steven's Armaldo and Claydol with its tentacles. It fell to the power of Steven's Cradily but then Wallace's gargantuan Sharpedo tore the powerful Cradily apart forcing Steven to have it rushed to hospital before any minor injuries occurred. Steven's next Pokemon a large Skarmory defeated the Sharpedo through a battle of wits and proceeded to then defeat the Starmie that followed by braving the psychic type attacks and hitting it with its wings.

Then came out Wallace's Swampert and it was over. The humungous fully evolved form of Mudkip tore through the rest of Steven's team and earning the flamboyant man the title of the Champion of Hoenn and its leader.

Wallace lost the title six years later in a powerful bout with Steven once again. But I couldn't forget the power that was shown by the water type Pokemon. The beauty and majesty they showed as well as the utter elegance they had. A month after that, a battle between two of the Kalos Elite Four happened, Malva an alluring woman and Siebold one of the world's leading chefs. Fire vs. water. Malva won the fight with her powerful Magmortar and Charizard but by then I had already made up by mind about what I was going to do as a Pokemon Trainer.

I was going to be the most powerful water Trainer in the World.

At the age of 13, a week after Steven regained his title, my dream began to become true. A single Pokeball was thrust into my hands as I was forced to follow my brother into the woods.

Jonathan had grown over the past three years and had gathered all 10 of Unova's Gym Badges. Whilst he could have done it within months, my brother had taken his time travelling Unova training his team ritualistically at every opportunity he could get. My mother and father were proud of him as were the other members of my family. He'd joined the higher echelons of the Unova League and was considering leaving for a couple of years to challenge other gym leaders before returning to challenge the Elite Four and possibly the Champion.

My brother led us into forest and stopped in a large clearing before letting out Slasher who had evolved into a large Haxorus as well as Zoroj who was now a powerful Garchomp with a large scar along its chest. Both were looking at me inquisitively making me nervous whilst my brother had a massive grin on his face.

I looked down at the Pokeball. Hesitantly, I raised it up to see that whatever it was, was at 100% and fully healthy. I looked back at my brother. "Umm, what do you expect me to do?"

My brother sighed. "You said you wanted to be a water type trainer didn't you?"

I nodded as Zoroj gave a cry and head-butted I making me fall over. My brother laughed as the dragon type continued to nuzzle my body. Reassuringly my brother told me that it remembered me and was greeting me. I gave a pat to the Dragon type and it roared before plodding back to its trainer. Behind Jonathan, Slasher gave and crossed his arms.

"Yeah." I looked down eagerly. "So there's a water type Pokemon in here?"

Jonathan nodded. "The Pokeball is already linked to the Junior Card Mom bought for you and only you can use the Pokeball for now." I shifted uncomfortably as I beheld the Pokeball.

Jonathan gave a sigh at my nervousness and I looked up at his face. There was a sense of anger? Impatience in his eyes? His eyes seemingly briefly turned red

"Open the Pokeball. Slasher and Zoroj will defend you if it's hostile. It shouldn't be, it's rather young." I nodded absently with his words and threw the Pokeball down. White light burst throughout the area as the Pokeball flew back to my hand. Pokeballs were made to return to the hands of the user after being used. Unless the Pokeball had failed in capturing a Pokemon.

The white light slowly formed a small shape at my feet with a large fin on top its blue head. The Pokemon was almost entirely blue and I watched as the Mudkip cowered down on its feet as soon as it appeared.

I stared in awe. Mudkip were the so called 'starter' Pokemon of Hoenn and grew to be powerful water type with a massive move set as well dual water/ground types. Wallace had a Swampert on his team and it destroyed all his opponents with its insane physical strength and power.

The small Mudkip turned around and jumped up as soon as it saw Slasher and Zoroj. Seeing that the Mudkip was becoming frightened, I got on my knees and held my hand out my hand in front of me. The Mudkip saw my hand and hesitantly nudged against it. I let a smile across my face as I began to rub the small Mudkip's head as it rubbed against me and let out a small noise.

Slasher let out a grunt and the Mudkip shuffled forward until it hid behind my feet as it looked over at the Haxorus. There was a second grunt and the Mudkip let out a mewl. Slasher responded and the clearing became covered in mewls and grunts before the Mudkip stood in front of me and began to nudge against my feet. I realized that the Mudkip wanted me to pick it up and I did holding it close to my chest as it nudged against me.

"A name?" Jonathan asked. "Although you don't have to, not everyone name their Pokemon. Apparently it creates a stronger bond, that's why I did it."

I looked down at the Mudkip as it nudged against me. I stared at it for a while before I spoke. "Finn. I think I'll call you Finn."

The Mudkip shrugged and I began to follow my brother as he began to walk out of the forest.