Disclaimer: I do not, have never, and most likely will never own Pokemon in any way, shape or form. This story is just for the personal enjoyment of those that read it and does not, nor ever will, receive any monetary. Thank you.

Smogon. The ideology most trainers rally behind.

It was known for producing some of the best trainers in the world. Master battlers who could fine tune any team to perfection with extensive knowledge on anything and everything related to pokemon.

Smogon is all about figuring out the best way to win. Which pokemon were the strongest. What should each pokemon hold in battle. Which pokemon you should train against to correctly build up your team to be the way you want. The best Smogon Trainers frequently became champions and those that implemented it correctly and effectively were commonly referred to as Ace Trainers.

True Smogon trainers were the best of the best. These trainers would raise teams of pokemon together from the day they were born to work as a team, to be able to analyze the situation and know how to win, or to set up a victory for a later teammate if they couldn't. Trainers have absolute faith in their team because they know exactly what they can do, and in return their pokemon have absolute trust in their trainer to bring them through the battle to victory.

And then there are Meta Trainers.

A Meta Trainer is the ideology of Smogon at its most basic; and most corrupted. They see only stats and pokemon. If they catch a pokemon to have a tank, it will be a tank regardless of its EVs or IVs. A Meta Trainer might care for their pokemon, but in the end they care most about the results they can get out of a pokemon. They usually only hold on to a losing pokemon because of the time and effort that they have put into it. They aren't necessarily bad people. They're just short sighted in their goals.

Me? I'm neither.

I grew up in a small forest town hidden away in Kanto. There are dozens of similar towns scattered around every region sending out their bug trainers and youngsters to explore the routes near to home. I did no such thing. I spent my early childhood and teens working on my Mom's farm. She thought it would be good if I learned the family trade early. Besides, with Dad out patrolling nearby routes everyday with the rest of the Ranger Police someone had to pick up the slack.

It was nice and I never really felt myself wanting for anything growing up. I had my Mom during the day and my Dad to tell me stories at night, but I always felt anxious about something, like I should be doing something else.

Growing up I rarely noticed it. So what if my eyes were drawn to the youngsters battling next to the the field as I pulled weeds, I just wanted to make sure they weren't going to destroy our crop. Who cared if I would stop to watch some lasses battle with their caterpies, farm work was boring. But as I got older I couldn't ignore it anymore. I didn't have some unreachable goal grand destiny in place, I just wanted to battle. I wanted to train pokemon and challenge trainers and gym leaders, to develop the bond with pokemon that I saw between the other children and their pokemon. To laugh and play with pokemon like they did.

Standing up from the hill I had been laying on I watched as the sun rose and the dawn of a new day was born. The golden beams of light slowly overcoming the thin mist that had covered the village since dusk of the previous day. Hearing rustling grass behind me I turned and saw my Mom walk towards me.

"I still don't agree with you, but I know that I can't change you mind at this stage." she said as she joined me on top of the hill. From my belt I plucked a small red and white sphere and brought it to her attention. "Don't worry so much Mom" I say, mirth slipping into my voice as I look at the concerned expression on her face "I have my Rattata to protect me." This did not seem to give her any sense of relief.

"I guess that Dad had to leave for work early today"

"Yes, he said he was sorry that he couldn't see you off but that there was an unruly flock of pidgey in the area and they needed all the rangers they could get."

"That's okay, I'll try and find him on my way to the next town." I say as I turn to my Mom. I give her one last hug before I begin to walk down the hill and into the woods following the beaten path to the next town.

As I walked into that forest leaving my Mom on the hill and a Rattata on my waist I had no idea just how crazy my life would become.