This work is based on the premise of the great HandsOfFate's "A New Master's Quest," which I HIGHLY recommend you go check out. It's worth it.

*Thump* Scott's hands ached and his skin burned. *Thump* The air around him seemed to shimmer from the heat. *Thump* Air wheezed out of his lungs as he looked into the sky. Today was a hot one, to be sure. But work was work, and it had to be done. Around him little eyes peered up at the eighteen year old, as if to ask permission.

"Alright, guys. I think it's time we take our lunch break before I die of heat stroke," he said as he set down the post-digger. Cries of joy erupted from the small, red chicks around him and the ten or so torchic went skipping back to the house ahead of him, blissfully unaware of just how hot it was outside. A small harrumph drew his eyes lower to the small dog. It's hair was mostly a medium brown with lighter tufts around the face, and a small patch of purple sprouted from its back. "Fire pokemon, am I right Lillipup?"

*Harrumph*

Scott allowed himself to take in the scenery around him. His family lived on a small farm in Mississippi just near the Alabama border. Here they grew a veritable ass-load of crops. More peas than you could count, corn, watermelon, and much more. They also had recently started raising torchics, which was proving to be harder than anyone could have prepared them for. The little devils had just started learning to cough up smoke and had, on more than one occasion, convinced the fire department that the woods were burning. But still, carefully raised torchics were high in demand lately and people were paying a pretty penny for them.

He and Lillipup made their way back to the house together, laughing at how the little chicks waddled and tripped in excitement. He banged the dirt off of his tools, took his shoes off, and walked inside. "Hey, taking my break," he called into the house to his parents. He heard no response, which wasn't out of the ordinary. His father had recently injured himself and required his wife's aid, leaving them unable to work for the next few weeks. Most likely, they were fast asleep thanks to his pain meds and her exhaustion.

Scott carried some food out to the torchics, and set up a plate of food for Lillipup before microwaving a burrito for himself. "Wanna see what's on TV buddy?" Lillipup yelped a yes, and the two sat on the couch to enjoy their next few hours. While lunch breaks are normally short, in the summer heat of Mississippi it was smart to stay in for longer. On the screen came a woman dressed in a white coat. Her hair was done up above her head and Scott had to admit that she was pretty attractive.

"This is a message for all you trainers out there," the woman said. "I'm Professor Juniper, and I'm representing the Pokemon League." Scott took a swig of his drink, petting Lillipup on the back of his neck. " We're looking for new trainers to travel alongside and work with pokemon, so that we might understand more about these amazing beings. How did they come into being? How can we grow together with them? And most importantly, how can we improve our world with their help? The best way to learn these answers is for all you trainers out there to get out there and bond with your partners. And what's the best way for THAT? Take the League challenge!" At this point the music swelled and showed highlights from previous years' tournaments. Scott leaned forward and took in the amazing sights before him. He could remember each and every one of those fights, as he had watched them live on the air as they took place.

It was no secret that Scott had always wanted to take the Pokemon League challenge. His own room was plastered with League posters and snapshots. His childhood dream was always to travel the world as a pokemon trainer. But, life doesn't always work out as you want it to. His parents moved out to this little farm and he accepted that they depended on his help. Money was tight, and you would have to be really good to make a living out of pokemon battles. Just as he was about to change the channel out of sadness, Juniper appeared back on screen.

"For those of you on the fence about it, then here's your chance to learn. We're holding a tournament in Meridian on July 25th with a cash prize. Anyone looking to test their mettle and see how they fare is welcome. Open registration!" After that a bunch of information flashed on screen like the address and the website for more information. Both Scott and Lillipup stood up from this news. All tournaments that Scott had ever heard of were restricted to trainers with a certain number of badges. If this truly was a tournament for people trying to decide if they wanted to become trainers, then this was the chance they had been waiting for. They looked at each other and started giggling in excitement.

"Lillipup, did you hear that! We can do it! We can try!"

"Lill- Lillipup!"

Scott picked up the small pokemon and danced in a circle for a second until he realized something. The date. It was the 16th. They only had nine measly days to prepare, meanwhile this commercial had likely been airing for at least a month. "Come on, buddy," he said with new determination. "We have to start preparing."

The first order of business was to let his parents know. The next few days of training would definitely cut into the farm-work that had to be done, and he couldn't imagine them being happy about this. He crept to their door and knocked to see if they were awake. A grunt on the other side let him know they were, and so Scott went in with Lillipup at his heels.

His parents weren't ecstatic about his decision. With Scott devoting his attention to this tournament, they'd have to hire a neighbor kid to do the work that they couldn't. But they could also see just how much this meant to their son. From the time he could talk, all he would say is that he wanted to grow up to be the best pokemon trainer in the world. After sending Scott out of the room to talk amongst themselves for a bit they called him back. His father was standing over by his dresser and spoke first. "Son, we understand just how much this means to you. I always wanted you to be able to live your dream and see the world."

Scott didn't like where it sounded like this was going.

"But this definitely will set us back a bit. You're the best at teaching these torchics, and you know I'm not able to work as hard as you right now." At this point Scott was biting his tongue so that he didn't start crying. He knew what they were going to say. "So if you're going to do this, you need to do it right. You need to be good so you make some money from this whole thing.

What.

Scott's eyes shot over to his mother and she was smiling from ear to ear with excitement. "Of course we want you to do this," she told him. "What parents DON'T want their son to live his dream!" All Scott could do was to embrace his parents letting his tears fall openly now.

"But like I said," his dad told him. "If you are going to do this, you need to do it right." Scott's father opened up the top drawer of his dresser and pulled out several round objects. "We never could afford to get you any fighting pokemon, but we were able to get you these poke balls." Scott took the six minimized pokeballs from him, and eyed them over. They were standard poke balls, with red on top and white on the bottom and a small button in the middle. He pressed the button on one of them and laughed as it grew in his hand. He had always wanted to see how that happened in person. "Now go," his father told him. "I have to call up Josh to see if he can help out, and you have to go train. You can use Lillipup, but we need those torchic. They're worth too much and we can't afford to spare them."

Scott nodded his head and left his parents' room. He and Lillipup ran outside to start training. Easier said than done. Lillipup, while being Scott's best friend since childhood, had never been a battling pokemon. The two worked hard to understand what the small dog pokemon could do.

"Lillipup, let's see a Leer!" With that the pokemon turned and looked at him with glowing, anger-filled eyes. It was strange seeing his best friend so angry. He felt his arms lose their tension and his body sort of relaxed in response. After just a moment of holding this stare, Lillipup blinked and gave a cheerful yelp.

"Oh. Um, good job Lillipup. Let's try a tackle attack on that post over there!" Scott gave a few blinks and looked around. He felt as if he was unguarded, unsafe even. Leer was definitely a scary move to be on the receiving end of. He shook his head and watched Lillipup plowed right through a wooden post, splintering it in half. "Great job, buddy! Man you're looking great out there." The Lillipup strutted its way back to its trainer and held his head high in pride. Scott could only laugh at the sight of such a tiny pokemon with such an ego.

Something caught his attention from the other side of the yard. The torchic had all stopped playing, and were crowded around a large lump in the ground. As soon as he saw the lump move, Scott bolted. "Lillipup, a pokemon!" The small dog ran ahead of him and began barking orders for the torchic to go back to their little house. Afraid of the angry pokemon, they fled to go huddle inside of their little hut. With that taken care of Lillipup delivered a nasty tackle attack to whatever that mound was.

From within came flying what looked like the world's biggest mole. It was covered in blue streaks and had a white face, although the most striking quality was easily the fact that it had enormous claws. For a second Scott gulped and hoped they weren't biting off more than they could chew. But as he watched he realized that Lillipup was easily on the winning side. He decided to jump in and help his pokemon with the fight.

"Alright, now tackle it again!" Lillipup charged the Drilbur and plowed into it again, sending it sprawling. "Ok you. You're mine!" Scott drew and tossed a poke ball at the mole pokemon. Upon contact, the ball sprang open and Drilbur converted into pure white energy before being sealed inside the ball. A bead of sweat streaked down his forehead as Scott watched the ball shake, letting out a laugh when he heard a ding. "Holy crap, I just caught a pokemon," he said to himself, slumping down to his knees. Lillipup bounded up to him and sprang up into his trainer's arms.

Carrying Lillipup, Scott walked up to the poke ball and grabbed it, immediately feeling a tingling sensation. He almost felt like the poke ball was covered in dirt, despite the fact that it was completely clean. Shrugging it off, Scott made his way inside to research his new companion. Things were looking pretty good for that tournament.