I drudged through the flowing sands, streams of sweat falling from my face. The sun berated my body mercilessly and I reached for my canteen. I took a large drink from it, knowing I could get more whenever I needed. The drops of water fell from my face and dissolved into the sand below. I wanted some company, so I reached for the Pokémon on the far left of my backpack. Instead of throwing it, like many other Trainers, I dropped the Pokéball on the ground and pressed a button on my watch. The Pokéball burst open and shot a purple and light brown light into the sky. It lurched in a parabola, making a tight U-shaped trail as it started to succumb to the force of gravity. It made a small crater, sending clouds of sand. After the sand cleared enough for me to see clearly, I walked towards the Pokémon that just came out.

I calmly said, "Looks like your kind of weather, right Storm?" My faithful Pokémon nodded and put a Safeguard around us. We both had a lot in common. We both grew up and met in Blackthorn City. Both of us always help each other no matter the cost. Finally, we both can communicate with one glance. I'm Thorn, a Pokémon Trainer who wishes to travel to every region and every city inside them. My partner is Storm, a Gabite who I found while I was rushing to get to my plane to Hoenn. Thanks to him, I'm here in the Hoenn region heading for a boat in Slateport to go to Sinnoh. Thanks to me, he wasn't used as a Team Rocket Pokémon.

Thanks to Storm, we reached the end of the dessert fairly quickly. Once we got out, I asked Storm, "Do you want to walk with me or go into the Pokéball" He motioned towards the road ahead, so I guessed he wanted to walk with me. A Trainer saw us and called out, "Hey, let's battle!" I replied, "Sure!" "Ready for some exercise Storm?" The Trainer picked two Pokéballs from his belt and said, "2 on 2 Double Battle" "Fine, but I'll only need Storm."

He threw his Pokéballs into the middle of the battlefield. Two lights shot out from the Pokéballs, one of them light purple and the other green. I then saw what I was dealing with. The first was a Seviper that would be easy defeat due to Storm's Ground type moves. The second was a Grovyle. I started off, glancing at Storm to tell it to use its Dragon Claw on Grovyle. It ran toward Grovyle, its claws extending. I saw the Grovyle try to retaliate, but Storm was too fast for it. Grovyle fell to the ground, then got up. "Seviper, use Acid!" "Storm, dodge with Double Team then use Dragon Pulse."

Seviper sent a blob of Acid at Storm, but just when it was going to get hit, Storm split into two different Gabites. The Grovyle then dashed forward and tried to hit Storm, but hit the copy from the double team. Storm then gathered a ball of purple and blue energy and fired it at the vulnerable Seviper. As soon as it hit Seviper, it was blown back, almost hitting the Trainer. The Seviper was knocked out due to the enormous force of the Dragon Pulse. Trainers and Pokémon stared each other down, their enthusiasm flying like sparks!