"WAKE UP YOU USELESS SACK OF POTATOES! I'M GOING TO CO-" I hit the snooze button. That alarm clock is literally the spawn of Giratina some days, but I guess that's the point, isn't it? I might wake up every day kicking and punching, but at least I wake up. Doing better than a lot of other people, lately. Our cutesy little civil war isn't sitting well with some people. The Isouries attacked Garden Town just last week, but luckily they didn't take it this time. The dry heat and miles of rolling hills must be getting to them.

I should probably explain. My name is Damien, and I live in the Ansak region. What remains of it, anyway. Before the war, I thought the thousands of square miles of farms were boring, but the Isouries didn't. We've had a rivalry with the Isouri region for hundreds of years, but nothing above harsh banter and sports games for a while. Apparently, they were having a food crisis and started demanding more food. That's right, outright demanding. You see, we're a major exporter of wheat, so there are farms everywhere. Massive ones, at that. It probably costs as much to maintain them as they earn. Anyway, they've been pushing us back into the west, but for a couple years they haven't gained any ground whatsoever. It probably has something to do with the fact that we can see them coming hours in advance. Flat land can be a great advantage for defenders, as shown by our war and the fictional Battle of Geonosis. It seems even nature is on our side, as a couple months ago an entire platoon was eliminated by a tornado near Green City.

I rolled out of bed and got ready for the long day ahead of me. A long day of manning the guard towers outside the city limits. I expressed my concerns about it the first time, main argument being I am literally only 13, but I was just deployed to Boot City instead of Hutch Town. Hutch Town, by the way, is an awesome stronghold to defend. Even if invaders bypassed the border, there would still be two bases they'd need to overrun, one being a labyrinth of spacecraft and the other a literal mine. I had a great time there, and would've loved to stay. But nooooooo. I just HAD to open my mouth and get transferred to Boot City, aka the middle of nowhere. At least I can appreciate the place's history, but by Arceus the place is boring. I guess so boring no one has made a move on it in months. Its mall is pretty sweet, though. It has an unofficial gym there!

Around the second hour of patrolling the same tiny space repeatedly, I put on some headphones and started listening to a Pokérap. It's pretty interesting how they can rhythmically count off over 800 Pokémon at once. Just one song can last 20 minutes! As I was starting to get into it, I heard gunshots. Great, I thought, of course this only happens when I'm not paying attention. I readied my rifle and was prepared to pop some Isouries when I saw him. One man was coming up the path, deflecting bullets with an...energy shield? What? I zoomed in on him with the rifle's scope, and discovered it wasn't a shield generator. It was a tiny little Goomy on his shoulder using Protect. Frowning, I called towards the other guards for a cease-fire. Surprisingly, they listened. I ran down towards this figure with my weapon raised just high enough to be intimidating but too low to cause any real damage. That was probably the one thing I learned after being drafted for this stupid turf war. As I got closer, I expected him to stop. Alas, he did not, so I moved to block his path. I shouted, "Stop! State your name, motives for coming here, and hand over your identification." He just walked by me. That was a bit rude, to be honest. I ran to catch up.

The thing that got me was that this man wasn't wearing any military garb, or even common civilian clothes. Just a lab coat and some long pants. Poor guy must be boiling. I repeated myself to his back but he just kept going. Of course. This guy probably thought he was invincible with his Pokémon and that he could take over the whole place on his own. Not on my watch. I decided to grab his attention by poking him repeatedly with the barrel. I couldn't hear it, but I saw him sigh. Then he turned around and said, "Look, kid. I'm just here to investigate the weather, but I can't do that while you're poking me with a gun." Smirking, I said "You could've just given me your ID. Then I wouldn't have poked you. It's just a security precaution." Sighing again, he handed over his ID. I gazed at it, but was shocked at what it said. "Professor Spruce, expert on mythical Pokémon?" I read aloud, "Like, an actual Pokémon professor?" "SHHHH!" he whispered, "My presence here is supposed to be secret. That's why I tried to ignore you." Confused, I asked, "If you're an expert on mythical Pokémon, why are you here studying the weather?" He said, "Nature isn't on your side like your fellow men may think, but I have a theory that the tornado that wiped out an entire brigade of Isouries last night was actually the work of Tornadus!"