Last time, Makanui chose Charmander and battled against a powerful rival, Bane. Despite being someone that was focused on restoring honor, he had some solid advice to give him. Having lost, Makanui learned the first lesson of his journey, how to handle defeat.

Chapter Two: Makanui's Companion!

Makanui and Lanakila stared intently at the television screen. The tag battle was nearing its finish. Only two pokemon remained: a Rhydon and an Onix. The two of them were locked in a battle of control over the battlefield and Rhydon had the clear advantage. Onix wasn't giving up though. The two pokemon used Rock Tomb, and the attacks collided one more time. Makanui and Lanakila both shot up from the couch, Lanakila swinging his fists around trying to punch and dodge rocks in some mental image he had with him at the battle. Makanui couldn't take his eyes off of the screen.

Suddenly the screen went black. The both of them shot death glares in the door way at Tito. "I hate to say it, little cousin," Tito started, "but I don't think you can leave just yet." His expression was glum. "Charmander hasn't fully recovered yet."

Makanui's adrenaline from the battle he was watching disappeared almost instantly. He hated to admit it, but he had completely forgotten about his injured starter. He felt awful about the whole thing. Having spent the night watching battles with Lanakila, as well as the entire day doing the same, he hated to admit that he ignored the loss he faced the previous day. "How is he doing?"

Tito gripped his stomach and chuckled. "Don't look so down, little cousin. He is okay. He is eating and moving around just fine." Tito paused for just a moment. "You shoudnt avoid avoid him. I know you feel like you failed, but you need to let him know that you will not give up on him. He has his own regrets from that battle."

Makanui clenched his fists. "I know that, I really do. But how can I face him after letting that happen? How can he trust me as a trainer?"

Tito's expression hardened a bit. Makanui didn't see his uncle serious very often, but when he did, he knew to listen. "Abandoning him after a defeat isn't the way to earn his trust. He needs you now more than ever."

Makanui's eyes widened with the realization that he was in the wrong. "You're right. Thank you, Uncle Tito."

Going into the bedroom that Tito had laid out for him, he saw charmander crouched in the corner. The two of them locked eyes and Makanui froze. He wanted to come right out and tell Charmander that he would try better next time and that it wasn't Charmander's fault, but he couldn't. The pain in Charmander's eyes said it all.

"We won't lose next time," he finally said.

Charmander tilted his head to the right, obviously confused by Makanui's words. Charmander has also blamed himself for that loss, while Makanui blamed himself for it. The two of them were way too alike. Then, out of nowhere, they both burst out into hysterical laughter.

"Alright," Makanui said, "for now on we will both try our best. We will pour our hearts out into every battle and leave no regrets."

Charmander's face lit up and he quickly nodded in agreement. Makanui was relieved that Charmander's overall mood had improved. Lanakila came in and gave them both a cocky grin before also giving them a thumbs up.

"I already know you don't plan on losing," the three of them laughed together. It felt good to bond with his pokemon. His grandfather had instilled that into him, because of the bond he had with his own pokemon. He always said that a strong bond could never be broken, and that a strong bond will bring out a pokemon's full potential because they will be happier.

The three of them didn't sleep much that night. They watched official pokemon matches and spent their time getting to know each other instead. Having finally bonded with Charmander, he finally decided on a nickname which the lizard pokemon accepted happily. Ahi, which meant fire.

The next morning came quick. The three of them ate their breakfast as fast as possible and prepared to set out on Route One. Tito watched them closely, impressed with how well they were getting along. Though Lanakila gave him weird looks in hopes of confrontation. Finally, the time had come for them to leave.

"Before you go, little cousin, there is one last thing I want to give you. This is a case for you to put your badges in. I used it back when I was taking on the various pokemon leagues. It was passed down to me from your grandfather when he used it on his journey."

Makanui took the wooden case, shocked by the weight it had to it. The case was freshly polished and looked like it was brand new. He opened it and there were eight indents in it to place each of his badges. The fine silk felt nice against his fingers. "Thank you so much!"

"And Lanakila," Tito added, "don't forget what we talked about. Grow strong enough to beat me. I'll be waiting for you."

Lanakila gave him a determined glare before smiling and turning around, his arms folded over his chest. He didn't want to seem interested in what he said, even though he clearly was.

Having said their goodbyes, Makanui took the backpack that Tito had prepared for him the previous night and set out with Lanakila and Ahi following close behind him. He took one final look back at Tito's ranch-style home and watched Tito wave both of his arms over his head excitedly.

Tito didn't live too far away from the entrance to Route One. It took about ten minutes of walking before they saw the sign: Caution Route One. It was just a small wooden sign with thick letters. At the base of the post was a small flower garden that brought attention to it.

"Are you ready?" Makanui asked with a smile. He stood right at the border of Route One and Pallet Town, still on the Pallet Town side. "This next step is the start of our journey together."

All together they took a step forward and — "Omg, help me! It's going to kill me!" — Makanui looked around. He was as alert as he could be. — "For the love of Arceus, please save me!"

He, Lanakila, and Ahi took off in the direction of the screaming and came across a girl that was fighting to climb a tree. At the base of the tree was a single caterpie, harmlessly moving around. The girl's face was red and her eyes were watering as streams of tears poured down her cheeks.

She immediately caught sight of Makanui and called out to him, "Hey! Please help me! Use those pokemon to save me!"

Makanui walked over to the caterpie and looked down at it. It looked at him and spit a string of web at his face, knocking him on his back. "Hey, what was that for!"

Caterpie didn't respond with words. Instead, it dived at him with a Tackle. Makanui was quick enough to roll backward and avoid the attack and gain some distance between the two of them. Ahi jumped between him and the caterpie and began to growl while Lanakila stood back with his arms crossed, completely disinterested.

"So you want to battle? You got it! Ahi, use Scratch," Makanui commanded.

Ahi charged forward, raising his claw over his head and swiped across the caterpie. Caterpie cried out in pain and fired a String Shot at the orange lizard. Makanui hesitated and didn't realize that he should have told Ahi to dodge, getting the charmander wrapped up in the sticky web. "I'm sorry, Ahi! Use Scratch to free yourself!"

Of course Ahi broke free easily, just in time to take a Tackle from the caterpie. He shrugged it off pretty easily thanks to his Growl.

"Use Scratch!"

Ahi charged and ran his claws along the caterpillar one more time. Caterpie slumped over and stopped moving.

"Alright, time for me to catch him!" he said as he reached back to grab a pokeball, only to realize he had none. "Oops, I forgot to buy some!" Lanakila and Ahi both started laughing while he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

Makanui noticed that the little girl was gone. The entire time he was battling the caterpie, she had used that as an opportunity to run away. She didn't so much as thank Makanui for distracting the caterpie. He didn't mind though. He was just happy to battle. And even happier that he won the battle, despite hesitating again.

"You sure showed that caterpie!"

Makanui recognized that voice. He turned around and saw Titus walking from the path over to where he was. He noticed two pokeballs — one having a leaf, revealing it to be his bulbasaur — on his belt. He wasn't surprised that he had caught a second pokemon. He was actually shocked that he only caught one other in the two days that he had apparently been hanging around Route One.

"You said to call you Maka, right? I'm Titus. I'm going to be a pokemon master," Titus bragged with a smile.

Despite Makanui already knowing his name, he just continued the conversation. "That's some dream you have. I can't say that I know what that means."

Titus burst into laughter. "I'm going to defeat every champion out there. That is what it means to me to be a pokemon master."

Makanui didn't know how to respond to that. Not only did Titus want to defeat the Indigo League Champion, Bartholomew. He wanted to defeat every champion. That naturally would include his grandfather. And that was something he couldn't see any trainer in the world doing. "That's going to be a tough goal."

Titus looked toward the sky. He looked like he was deep in thought. "I don't really have any other choice. I am not really good at anything. But I know everything that there is to know about pokemon. I've always loved them."

Makanui really appreciated how genuine Titus was. He could see it in his eyes that he really did love pokemon. Then Titus locked eyes with Makanui.

"When two trainers eyes meet, they battle. It's not written in any rule book, but most trainers abide by it."

Makanui heard that from time to time from trainers in the Alola Region. So the concept wasn't foreign to him. He had to admit, the battle with caterpie was fun and there would only be one way to get over his hesitation. "I," — he was then interrupted.

"If I win, we travel Kanto together."

Makanui didn't really understand, but he liked the sound of a bet. Plus, he really didn't mind having a traveling companion. Especially someone who shared his views about bonding with pokemon. "It looks like we both have two pokemon. So how about a two-on-two battle?"

Titus grabbed the second pokeball on his belt and gave a large grin. "You got it!" he called out as he tossed it into the air. "I choose you, Screech!" The pokeball burst open with a white light and out came a little brown and beige bird.

Raising up his arm, Makanui scanned it with the pokedex feature of his pokewatch.

Pidgey, the tiny bird pokemon. Pidgey has an extremely sharp sense of direction. It is capable of unerringly returning home to its nest, however far it may be removed from its familiar surroundings.

The pokewatch had additional information that it didn't read aloud, basically revealing it as a Normal/Flying-Type. It's average height and weight, it's egg type, and other information like that. "Ahi, you're up." The charmander excitedly stepped up to the challenge.

Lanakila still didn't seem very interested. The pidgey obviously didn't pose enough of a challenge to get him pumped up. He turned his head and sighed. He wanted to battle, but he didn't want a battle with a weak, easily beaten opponent.

Ahi didn't think that way at all. Ahi wanted to face whomever would accept his challenge. He felt better after defeating caterpie, but he still didn't feel he redeemed himself. This battle was just what he needed to do just that.

"Ahi, use Growl. Then use Scratch!" Makanui ordered.

"Screech, use Sand Attack to blind him!" Titus responded.

Ahi bared his fangs and starting growling at the pidgey, then charged forward to scratch the tiny bird. Screech responded by kicking up sand and then taking flight. The sand got into Ahi's eyes and he winced in shock.

"Ahi! Growl again and focus on clearing your eyes out!" Of course he followed the order and starter to growl at Screech, all while rubbing his eyes.

"Use Tackle while he is distracted!"

Even though his attack was lowered from the growling, Screech levitated from where he was and shot forward, ramming his body into the distracted charmander. Makanui was going to give the command to dodge, but was shocked to see how quickly the move actually was. He wasn't used to seeing flying pokemon in action.

"Are you okay, Ahi?" he asked, his voice filled with concern. Ahi gave him a nod and looked back at him. His eyes were red and watery, but he could at least see now. "Alright then! Use Scratch!"

"Dodge it and use Tackle again!"

Charmander shot forward and attempted another swipe of his claws against the pidgey. Screech was too quick and dodged to the left, then did a barrel roll, slamming his body against Ahi once again. Ahi took a couple steps back, but the damage was small thanks to the growls.

"Finish it with Gust!" Screech immediately started flapping his wings and formed a gust of wind, which blew toward Ahi.

"Counter it with Dragon Pulse!"

It was too late. Ahi was pelted by the winds of gust and tossed into the air. He landed on the ground with a hard thud, his eyes spinning and body not moving. Makanui recalled Ahi, but he was still determined. "You kept our promise and did everything you could, I'm proud of you."

Without a word, Lanakila stepped forward. He was cracking his knuckles and his neck. The battle with Ahi got him pumped up and he was ready to go. He shot Screech a glare, a red aura encompassing his body, Focus Energy doing its job and increasing his critical hit accuracy.

"Screech, use Tackle!"

The move was still too fast for Makanui to counter it. That wasn't the case for Lanakila. He side stepped to the left, easily dodging the attack. He looked back at Makanui with an agitated look. "I know, I'm sorry. I won't hesitate!"

"Tackle again!"

This time Makanui was ready. "Counter it with Karate Chop!"

Screech dove toward Lanakila, and this time instead of being evaded, he took a full forced Karate Chop to the back of his head. It had enough force to take him out of the air and make him crash into the ground. Screech didn't move.

"Wow! You landed a critical hit! Impressive!" Titus called out as he recalled Screech. "You did great buddy! Next time you'll win for sure!" He placed Screech's pokeball back on his belt and grabbed the next one. "Well Giga. Looks like you're up," he tossed the pokeball into the air and Giga was revealed..

Makanui recognized it, or at least he thought he did, as bulbasaur. Except this bulbasaur was larger and didn't just have a seed on his back. Instead, he had a pink bud with leaves at the base of it. He scanned it with his pokewatch.

Ivysaur, the seed pokemon and the evolved form of bulbasaur. There is a bud on this pokemon's back. To support its weight, Ivysaur's legs and trunk grow thick and strong. If it starts spending more time lying in the sunlight, it's a sign that the bud will bloom into a large flower soon.

Lanakila seemed to get more into the fighting spirit when he started to focus heavily once more. The red aura sealed the deal as it increased his accuracy even more. Combining this with his Karate Chop almost guaranteed critical hits every time he struck.

"He seems to really enjoy battle. I hope I can live up to his expectations," Titus laughed. "Let's get serious, Giga. Use Sleep Powder!" Giga started releasing a light blue dust into the air that seemed to float toward Lanakila.

"Lanakila, don't breath that in! It'll put you to sleep!" Makanui cried out. He knew that even Lanakila wouldn't be able to withstand much if he was unconscious. "Keep low, underneath the dust cloud, and use Low Sweep!"

Lanakila crouched low and shot forward.

"Counter it with Tackle!"

Just as Lanakila was going to sweep out Giga's front two legs, he was rammed and sent reeling back. He held onto his balance and glared at the seed pokemon with determination. "Charge forward again, this time use Karate Chop! Use your critical hits to wear him down."

"Keep him at a distance with Vine Whip, then release another Sleep Powder!" Titus responded.

Makanui was thoroughly impressed at how well he held himself together. Titus was truly impressive and definitely deserved to be acknowledged. Even Tito recognized Lanakila's strength. So for Titus — who also happened to be a new trainer — to keep up with him was nothing short of impressive.

Giga started trying to whip Lanakila with his vines, while Lanakila evaded each and every one by juking to the left and right with an impressive display of footwork. When the dust was shot into the air, he made his move. He once again crouched below the dust of the Sleep Powder, this time rolling forward and to the side to avoid the vines that were being whipped toward him.

"Watch out!" Titus called out, right before Lanakila had struck Giga on the back of the neck with a powerful blow. It was obvious to him that Giga suffered from a critical hit.

"Keep fighting Lanakila! Use Low Sweep!"

"Use Poison Powder!"

Lanakila slid on the ground, feet first, and kicked out Giga's legs. Giga's face crashed into the ground, dealing some more damage to him. Just as he hit the ground, a purple dust cloud shot from his bud and covered Lanakila. "Get away before you breath it in!"

Lanakila shifted back and jumped out of the cloud. He smiled at Makanui and gave him a thumbs up, taking a deep breath. "Good job holding your" — Lanakila gripped his stomach and bent over, his face showing clear signs of pain.

"Poison Powder doesn't have to be breathed in. It can seep into the pours of their skin," Titus explained. "Now let's recover from some of that damage with Giga Drain!"

"Lanakila, look out!" A green aura covered his body and he clearly lost some of his energy from it. The energy then transferred over to Giga.

Both attacks clearly took their tole on Lanakila who started breathing heavily. "Lanakila, you don't have to keep fighting. I don't want you to get more hurt than you already are," Makanui explained.

"Now use Sleep Powder!"

Lanakila straightened his body and fought past the poison. A cloud of clear blue dust was almost upon him. He shot forward, going through the dust and ignoring the drowsiness he was feeling from it. He then slammed his elbow into Giga's face, followed by his knee, and then he ended it with a head butt. Close Combat had been his last resort.

Giga cried out in pain and took a few steps back. He shook his head and fought to stay standing with pure determination.

"One more time, Lanakila! You can finish him if you land one more Close Combat!"

"Don't let him get close, use Vine Whip!"

Just as Lanakila started to run toward Giga, his body fell to the ground. Makanui stared in shock, confused by what had happened. Then he heard his snores. He couldn't help but laugh. "You win, Titus. There is no way I can recover from that."

"Stop your attack!" Titus called out. Just as Giga's vines were about to smack Lanakila around in his sleep, they stopped in their tracks. Giga dropped to the ground in exhaustion and relief. He had taken just as much damage as Lanakila and only held on through his own pure determination. "His Overgrow ability had just activated, so Vine Whip would have done a lot more damage. I would never let a pokemon get injured that way after the battle ended."

Makanui recalled Lanakila into his pokeball and held it in front of his face. "I'm going to let you rest a little while. Come out when you're ready. You did awesome." He then turned his attention to Titus. "A deal is a deal, let's travel the Kanto Region together."

Titus smiled and recalled Giga. "We should head over to the lab one last time to let these guys recover. There are lots of trainers and wild pokemon along Route One."

"Okay, let's go!" Makanui replied. The two of them headed back into Pallet Town, discussing the battle they had just fought.

So ends another chapter. Makanui set out on his journey to help a young girl escape a caterpie. Then he fought his new traveling companion, Titus. Next chapter we will finally set out. Stay tuned!

Just as a side note, thank you for those following and reviewing. It is much appreciated. I have an interesting world to show you, and some really unique twists to add as well. I hope you're all ready for this ride, because things are about to begin.

Makanui's Party:

Lanakila (Machop) — No Guard — Close Combat (egg), Focus Energy, Foresight, Karate Chop, Low Sweep

Ahi (Charmander) — Blaze — Dragon Pulse(egg), Scratch, Growl

Titus' Party:

Giga (Ivysaur) — Overgrowth — Giga Drain (egg), Poison Powder, Sleep Powder, Vine Whip, Tackle

Screech (Pidgey) — Keen Eye — Uproar (egg), Tackle, Sand Attack, Gust