Zighter looked at his hands. They were trembling. "Dragon rush!" He heard his oponent call. His eyes snapped back up. This was the most intense battle he and his Pokemon had ever been in. "Blaziken, jump into the air to dodge it!"

"Blaze!" His Blaziken called as it leapt up, just avoiding Garchomp's attack. Garchomp skidded to a stop, then pivoted around and jumped up after Blaziken. "Use Flame Thrower, right at the ground!" Zighter called. Blaziken fired it's attack down. The stream of fire propelled Blaziken higher into the air, avoiding Garchomp again.

Both Pokemon landed in front of their trainers. "You're doing great Blaziken." Zighter said.

"It's been a while since we've had such a tough opponent, hasn't it Garchomp?" Cynthia said with a smile, "Zighter, you have what it takes to be a champion. You must have worked hard to train your Pokemon."

"Yeah..." Zighter replied, "... and it all started with Blaziken."

__________________________________________________________________

"Come on Torchic," Zighter said, "I know we can win at least one battle today." He crouched down in front of his new partner.

"Tor!" Torchic replied, "Tor-chic!"

"I know, you're doing you're best, but we'll never be as good as Dad and his Blaziken if we can't even beat sentret and hoothoot."

"Tor!" Torchic turned away from him.

"and what is that supposed to mean?" Zighter asked, " Fine, I guess we can stop for now. I was hoping we could get to Cherrygrove City by tonight, but I guess we'll just spend the night back at home."

"Tor!" Torchic spun around and smiled. It jumped up into Zighter's arms.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get going." Zighter stood up and started to walk towards New Bark Town.

Zighter was 13 years old. He lived in the Johto region, with his older sister, in the quiet town of New Bark. He was an average looking kid. His hair was brown and spiky, though he covered it with a black hat. He could usually be seen wearing his favorite green shirt, and always kept his blue bag on his back.

His Father was a Pokemon trainer, who spent most of his time traveling around the world. Because of this, it had always been Zighter's dream to become a trainer as well. Just like his father, he wanted to defeat powerful opponents with his Blaziken at his side.

To his dismay, however, he did not receive a Blaziken as his first Pokemon. Instead his father sent him a baby Torchic, who seemed to be more interested in having fun than battling. There was a bright side though. All of the other new trainers had gotten Chikorita, Totodile, or Cyndaquil. His Torchic, being native to the hoenn region, became quite popular.

Torchic leapt from Zighter's arms as they approached his house, "Uh... what's wrong Torchic?" Zighter asked as his Pokemon ran away from him, "Wait up!" Zighter quickly followed after his Torchic, who was running towards the eastern exit of Little root. Zighter knew it was just a watery route, and one they wouldn't want to cross without a boat or a water Pokemon.

"Chin..."

"Torchic!" Torchic came to a stop in front of the water, right next to a Chinchou.

"A Chinchou? It's injured." Zighter bent down next to it, "What happened to it?"

"Chin... chou..." The Chinchou looked up at Zighter, then looked back to the water, alerting Zighter of the danger that swam only a few feet away..

"That's bad! Torchic, we should leave."

Three Tentacruel were floating in the water, each one was staring at the Chinchou like they were ready to eat it. Zighter took a step back. Torchic took a step forward. "Torchic, I don't think..."

"Tor, torchic!" It responded.

"Well alright then," Zighter said with confidence, "We'll give it a try. Wait till they get close, then hit them with your scratch!"

The first Tentacruel moved towards Torchic and Chinchou. "NOW!" Zighter called. Torchic jumped up and swung it's talon's at the Tentacruel. It hit one of it's tentacles, putting a small scratch on it. Zighter smiled, "We got it!" His smiled soon faded, as a second tentacle swung at Torchic, smashing it into the ground. "Torchic, no!" Zighter called, "We have no chance of winning, we have to run away!"

"Torchic!" Torchic shook it's head and jumped to it's feet, "TOR!" It opened it's mouth, shooting small blasts of fire at the Tentacruel, causing it to wince in pain. "That was ember! Quick, use it again!" Torchic began to fire it's ember again. The tentacruel swung it's tentacle down, slamming into Torchic again.

"Torchic, return!" Zighter held out the Pokeball. It shot out a red beam, and Torchic vanished. The tentacruel looked at zighter, who was slowly backing away. Being unable to follow him onto land, they quickly turned their attention back to the Chinchou. The leader raised it's tentacle, preparing to attack. "Chin.... chou..." Chinchou looked away, ready for the attack to crush him.

Tentacruel's tentacle slammed down, hitting the ground hard. Chinchou had vanished, and in it's place was a Shaking Pokeball. Once, twice, three times and it stopped. "Yeah!" Zighter let out a chuckle, "My first capture!" He ran forward and picked up the pokeball, then quickly turned to run. "I'll be back to kick your slimy butts some other time," he called to the Tentacruel, "I've got to get Torchic and Chinchou some help."

A half an hour later, Zighter was sitting in Professor Elm's lab. He let out a sigh. Little Root didn't have a Pokemon Center, so the Lab was the only place to get treatment for his Pokemon. Torchic only had a few scrapes and bruises, but Chinchou was poisoned, and according to the professor, it had been for quite some time. "I just hope they both come out of this alright."

"Don't worry, they'll be fine." A young woman with brown hair walked over and sat on the couch next to him. She had a pokeball, which she placed in Zighter's lap. Zighter picked it up. It popped open, and in a bright flash of light, Torchic appeared. Zighter smiled, "Hey buddy," he said, "How ya feeling?"

"Tor!" It stood up straight, with a confident look on it's face.

"I guess that means you're all better." Zighter rubbed Torchic's head, "I'm proud of you Torchic. Those Tentacruel must have been three times as strong as you."

"I think you could have beat them Torchic," the woman said, "If you had a better trainer, that is." She looked at Zighter and smiled.

"Yeah, pretty sure I'm better trainer than you Sis." Zighter replied.

Professor Elm walked into the room. "Here you are Zighter," he said, "Chinchou is all cured. Just make sure he gets enough rest, and hold off on battling for a little while."

"Thanks Prof." Zighter said, taking the Pokeball, "but I won't be battling with Chinchou at all. I captured it just to save it from the tentacruel. It was easy to catch because they had weakened it. I'd feel like I was taking advantage of it like that."

"What will you do with it then?" his sister asked, "if you let it go back where you found it, the tentacruel will just attack it again. They pick on weaker Pokemon all the time."

"Maybe it would be best if you kept Chinchou." Elm said, "I can tell by his quick recovery, he's a strong Pokemon."

"Well...." He looked at Chinchou's Pokeball, "...I'll bring Chinchou to another lake, or a river, or even a pond. Where ever I can find another group of Chinchou that will take care of him properly."

"Hmmm...." Elm rubbed his chin, "The union cave is probably your best bet. It's south of Violet City."

"Violet City is also the closest Gym," His sister said, "You could challenge the Gym leader there."

"Yeah, that's a great idea, thanks Katie." Zighter said, "Ready to go Torchic?"

"Tor-chic!" Torchic smiled and nodded.

"You're leaving now?" Elm asked, "Wouldn't it be best to wait till tomorrow?"

"Nope!" Zighter said as he jumped up, "Torchic's ready, and so am I!"

Zighter grabbed his backpack and slung it on his back. He ran out the door, Torchic in his arms. "Later Katie, thanks Prof, I'll call you when i get to the next town!" He gave them both a quick wave before the door shut. "This is it Torchic," he said, "Our journey starts now." He ran towards route 29, a huge smile on his face.