"Is that him, Arron?"

"Him, who? I hate it when you're vague, Penny."

"That Trainer everyone's been talking about. I can't remember his name."

"There are, like, ten Trainers who have been all over the news."

"Look at him quickly and you'll know who I mean."

"Holy shit…That's Lassiter. You know, the Trainer from Undella Town? I heard he beat Alder, Cynthia and Lance at the Pokémon World Tournament in Driftveil City."

"Really? You know, Sharon Watkins said he saved her from an angry Heatran in Reversal Mountain when he was last in Lentimas Town. Do you think he's really strong enough to beat a legendary Pokémon?"

"I'd say. I saw a news report on him saying he had caught a legendary Pokémon. I don't know if it's true – you know what Jubilife News is like for spinning lies."

"I think it might be. After all, have you seen his Haxorus Mordred? It wiped the floor with Gym Leader Drayden's Druddigon Ricochet and that's no pussy Pokémon!"

"You should have seen him in the PWT against Red. Rumour has it, the Kanto Champion is the only Trainer who has ever beaten him and it was a very close battle. It came down to Red's Pikachu Amy against her Absol, Astrophel. It was dumb luck that Amy managed to score a critical hit with a Volt Tackle even though the boards showed that Astrophel had a way more stamina points than her and stay standing. Trust me, Arron, you should have seen it. The techniques Lassiter uses are amazingly powerful."

"Really? Maybe we could ask him to Train us. He's one of the best Trainers in all the regions."

"Being so powerful, he'd probably say no."

"It's worth a try. Look, he's waiting for his Pokémon to be healed. Let's go ask him."

"Okay, but it was your idea."

I opened my eyes when I heard the two younger Trainers approaching the lounging area of the Pokémon Centre's reception. When they came into view, the boy was brunette with green eyes and the girl was a bluenette with near-black eyes. Both seemed to be around nineteen, maybe twenty – the average age for people to be novices despite getting their Pokémon at eighteen.

"Can I help you?" I asked smoothly, raising a brow.

The boy bit his lip. "Aren't you Lassiter?" he asked, seeming quite intimidated.

I nodded. "Yes."

"Me and my girlfriend were wondering…" he paused to suck in a deep breath. "Would you Train us? We'd pay you, of course."

I pursed my lips. "How long have you two been Trainers?"

The girl answered. "Nearly two years," she said, palming a Pokéball. "But neither of us are very strong. We train as much as possible but our Pokémon don't seem to be getting anywhere with it."

I shrugged. "I don't have the time to teach you," I told them as kindly as I could without being patronising. "But I can give you some tips on your Training once my Pokémon are healed. I'm only in Lentimas Town for the night."

"The Pokémon of the Trainer Lassiter are now healed. Please collect your Pokéballs from Nurse Joy at the main desk. Thank you." The speakers had just screwed me. Now I was going to be hounded by a bunch of twelve year olds on my way to pick up my team.

I stood up, not exactly towering over the two Trainers, what with my height maxing out at around five feet and seven inches. "That's my cue. Come with me, guys. I'm going to be Training on the back pitch."

"Wow!" the girl, I think her name was Penny, squealed. "Thank you so much!"

"Thank you, sir!" the boy, Arron, said politely as the two of them followed me to collect my Pokémon.

Currently, my team consisted of Mordred the Haxorus, Wren the Lucario, Astrophel the Absol, Zake the Salamence, Killian the Sceptile, Micah the Glalie, Chase the Crobat, Jace the Hydreigon, Quiora the Gallade, Elijah the Luxray and Xander the Blazekin. Since I had an unlocked Pokedex and Trainer Card after doing the two Professor Junipers a favour, I could carry as many Pokémon with me as I wished, but I never went anywhere without Mordred, my Haxorus and most powerful Pokémon, and Astrophel, one of my first Pokémon. Sometimes, I felt I was cheating if I used Mordred in a battle and the only time he had ever been beaten was by Red's Blastoise, who knew Blizzard and Ice Beam. Astrophel, on the other hand, while powerful, preferred to tire his opponents out with Double Team before striking with an attack.

The Nurse Joy at the counter, like the two Trainers, looked a little intimidated by me when I went to the main reception desk, where, as predicted, there were kids between eight and sixteen clamouring for a glance.

"Here you go, sir," Joy smiled, handing me the two trays of my Pokéballs. "We had a little trouble with your Haxorus. He was being quite uncooperative."

I smirked. "Mordred hates hospitals," I explained and led the two Trainers (and the crowd of kids) out to the back pitch.

I looked at how many people had ended up joining us and sighed. This was going to be a lesson in intimidation, to be honest. Some kids had Dictaphones, video cameras and note pads to take down what they learned. I didn't mind, as long as it taught them something.

I released Mordred, since he hated being inside his Pokéball, much to the awe of the gathered audience. Mordred had been mine since the very start. He had hatched from one of the eggs at the Day Care in Straiton City, where I had been working just before going on my journey six years ago. He was beautiful in a scary, masculine way. At six-nine, he was a beast with lean muscles underneath a pair of black combats, black steel-toe cap boots, a dark grey bomber jacket and a black T-shirt. His two red-edged black axes rested on his belt, silent but deadly. His jet black hair flowed to his waist in a tight plait, accenting his blood red eyes and olive skin.

I should really be a teacher, I thought to myself. Maybe more kids will end up as half-decent Trainers if I do. As well as Mordred, I released Xander the Blazekin and Astrophel the Absol.

Xander was two inches shorter than Mordred in orange flared jeans, a orange-brown body warmer, fingerless gloves, black boots and an orange long-sleeved T-shirt. His hair was an off-white colour, stick straight to his delicious backside, while his eyes were blacker than Mordred's hair. His board sword was worn across his back, always pulsing with fiery power.

Astrophel, on the other hand, wore all white – combats, trench coat and T-shirt – with black trainers and leather gloves. Two of his four scythes were worn on his hips and the other two were strapped to his back. His white hair waved down to his shoulders with a black streak in the part of his fringe that fell over his left eye. Unlike most Absol, his eyes were blue instead of red.

"All right, listen up!" I called to the audience, which had swelled to encompass even veteran Trainers. "Mordred, Xander and Astrophel are my three top Pokémon. They all have varied moves for taking on different Pokémon, either learned naturally, by tutoring or by using Technical Machines. They might be expensive, but TMs are the best way to teach your Pokémon moves it doesn't learn naturally by levelling up." I nodded to Xander. "For example, Xander has been tutored to learn Blast Burn and Poison Jab. I used TMs to teach him Vacuum Wave, Aerial Ace and Shadow Claw. This way, he has an advantage over Rock and Ground types, as well as Psychic types."

One of the older teenagers' hands shot up. "Can I ask you something?" he called from the bleachers.

I nodded. "Go for it."

"I've always wondered about how you got your Haxorus. Would you mind telling us?" he asked, looking a little shy for asking.

I shrugged. "I used to work at the Day Care. I found an egg and Mordred hatched from it as an Axew. Since then, I've raised him the best I can. Now back to Training!" I gestured to Mordred. "As you can see, Mordred doesn't wear the same colours as other Haxorus. Due to being a different colour, he is easier to train and about one-point-five times stronger than your average high-level Haxorus. Shiny Pokémon are very rare and in high demand for the higher classes because of this. Despite the heightened power level and the easier training methods, shiny Pokémon are also more emotionally open. Even though Mordred doesn't show it, as his Trainer, I can tell he feels awkward right now, as well as pumped for a fight."

"A fight?" one guy called. He looked around twenty-three, a seasoned Trainer, with blond hair and blue eyes. "If he wants a fight, I know my Pokémon would be willing to go all out!"

I smirked. "In that case, I'll be able to teach everyone some of my better-known methods," I said coolly. "What's your name, dude?"

"Owen," he said, coming down onto the pitch from the bleachers. "Can we make this a double battle?"

"Sure," I mused, taking up my position on the pitch with Xander, Mordred and Astrophel behind me. I palmed two Pokéballs. "Let's go, Elijah and Quiora!"

Elijah, my Luxray, was a handsome bastard. Dark blue hair in a spiked fashion matched his navy jacket, navy jeans, black boots and yellow T-shirt, as well as his gorgeous yellow eyes, which were covered by what I affectionately called his X-ray Goggles. Quiora, my Gallade, wore a white T-shirt with a red scarf, green combats, black boots and a green jacket, one shade darker than his riotous hair. Both were leanly muscular and topped six-four easily.

Owen smiled slightly and threw his two Pokéballs. "Go, Marie and Lucy!" Marie and Lucy, as it turned out, were a Samurott and a Gothitelle respectively. Both were very pretty but not my type.

"The challenger gets the first move," I told him smoothly. "That's how I do things."

"Okay," he nodded. "Marie, use Mega Horn on the Gallade! Lucy, let's go for a Psychic on the Luxray!"

I raised a brow, then smiled coolly. "Elijah, go straight for Charge and dodge it. Quiora, use Teleport to avoid the attack."

Elijah grinned and blue electricity surrounded him before being absorbed into his pores as he back-flipped out of the Psychic attack's range. Quiora simply Teleported to the right to avoid the Mega Horn attack.

"Marie, go for Razor Shell on the Gallade!" Owen cried. "And Lucy, go in with Shadow Ball on the Gallade, too!"

"Elijah, use Charge again," I said. "Quiora, use Protect."

Elijah stood and simply Charged himself up, the blue electricity more potent than before. Quiora was enveloped in a blue shield of energy, which the attacks both glanced off.

"You're doing well," I called to Owen. "I used to use that technique as well – knock out one Pokémon, then you can focus on the other. It didn't work very well, since it gave the other Pokémon I wasn't focussed on more time to power up an attack."

Owen bit his lip. "Lucy, go for Shadow Ball on the Gallade. Marie, use Ice Beam on the Luxray."

"Elijah, Discharge," I called. "Quiora, use Protect."

Elijah let loose a bright blue blast of electricity from his body, hitting the Gothitelle and Samurott with its full force. Quiora was protected behind his barrier from the attack, since it would have hit him as well. Both of the opposing Pokémon vibrated with the electricity, crying out in pain.

"Lucy, break free and use Psychic! Marie, you use Razor Shell as soon as the Gallade drops its Protect!"

This was in the bag. "Elijah, use Spark on the Samurott. Quiora, use Night Slash on the Gothitelle," I said to my Pokémon as they advanced.

Just like that, it was over.

Owen was stunned. "But that was barely five minutes!" he said in shocked awe. "Wow, you're really strong!"

I smiled and helped his Samurott up as he picked up his Gothitelle. "You're pretty strong, Owen, and that's coming from a professional. Keep working at it and you might get to be as strong as me one day."

He smiled hopefully as he returned his Pokémon. "I never thought you'd be so nice," he said, still smiling. "On TV, you seem like a real asshole in battles, like at the Driftveil PWT."

I shrugged. "I get so into a battle that challenges my Pokémon sometimes that it frustrates me, so I start swearing and bitching." I smiled at him again. "Keep training, kid."

"Thank you," he said kindly and returned to where he had been standing with his friends.

I turned back to the audience that had swelled during the battle. "As you can all see, Elijah and Quiora are also very strong, if I do say so myself. Does anyone have any battle-related questions?"

About twelve hands shot up. I pointed to a girl in the front row of the bleachers with blond hair. She stood up with a smile. "Can you show us some combination attacks? I saw you using some against Red at the PWT. I'm pretty sure everyone here would like to see some."

I nodded. "Mordred," I mused as he came to stand beside me, slyly stroking my backside. "How about we show the crowd your combination of Dual Chop and X-Scissor?"

He nodded silently and took out two of his axes, creating an X shape across his chest. One began to glow with the pulsing blue energy of Dual Chop and the other vibrated with the olive green of X-Scissor. He sliced downwards diagonally with each one, the power combining into one attack in a shade of greenish-blue at a boulder at the edge of the pitch. The rock shattered into four pieces, falling to the ground.

"That," I said loudly, "was Dual Chop and X-Scissor. Teaching Pokémon combination attacks is difficult but if you persist, you can make sure things go right in the end. My personal favourite combination attack is Thunderbolt and Shadow Ball, during which a Pokémon that knows both fires off both a Shadow Ball attack and a Thunderbolt at the same time. It drains their energy considerably, however it doubles the power and will hit Normal-types due to being a combination move." I smirked at their awed faces. "Any more questions?"