Chapter 2

The First Catch and The First Battle

Paul quickly left Nuvema Town and went into a path with tons of wild pokemon in it.

Paul let out the Tepig he had received from Professor Juniper.

"Te te Tepig!" went Tepig as it hopped around excitedly.

"Alright Tepig." Paul said in a deep commanding voice. "I'm going to see how well your battling skills are, so the next wild pokemon we see we're going to battle, alright?" Tepig seemed to have no objections.

"Pi pi Pidove!" came the call of a grey bird pokemon in the sky, not more than 5 seconds later. Paul quickly looked up the pokemon on his pokedex and found out it was a Pidove.

"Tepig fire an Ember at the Pidove in the sky now!" Paul commanded. Tepig fired Ember, which narrowly missed the unsuspecting Pidove by mere inches.

"Not to bad." Paul said, impressed with Tepig's accuracy.

The Pidove was both startled and irritated. It retaliated with a Quick Attack.

"Counter with Flame Charge!" Tepig and Pidove clashed, with Tepig overpowering the Pidove. Pidove was sent flying back a few feet away, but still had the strength to keep battling. Pidove fired an exceptionally powerful Air Cutter. It hit Tepig directly and making it skid back on the ground a few inches away.

'It has a decent level of endurance for a new pokemon.' Paul thought.

"Ember!" Tepig fired the attack, but Pidove avoided the attack by flying upwards. "Tepig jerk your head up!"

Ember hit Pidove like a whip of flames, but Pidove stood strong and attacked with Aerial Ace and directly hit Tepig.

'It knows Aerial Ace?!' Paul thought in shock, then smirked. 'Now I really want that Pidove."

Pidove went for another Aerial Ace, but Paul was ready this time. He knew from Tepig's and Pidove's first clash that Tepig had superior power.

"Flame Charge!" Tepig used Flame Charge and, thanks to the added speed given by Flame Charge, easily overpowered Pidove, but it still hung on.

'That thing just won't quit.' Paul thought frustratingly. 'Oh well the better for me when I catch it! Plus it gives me a chance to try out something new.'

"Tepic use Flame Charge to circle around Pidove and don't stop till I say so!" Paul ordered and Tepig obediently listened. Tepig circled around Pidove getting faster and faster thanks to the added effect of Flame Charge. As Tepig ran a blazing ring of fire began to appear and Pidove became disoriented the faster Tepig went.

"Strike it now!" Tepig was like a fiery bullet as it nailed Pidove sending it crashing into a tree. Paul immediately threw an empty pokeball at Pidove.

1 shake, second shake, and the third shake made it Paul's!

"Good job Tepig." Paul said as he picked up the pokeball with Pidove in it. Tepig hopped around overjoyed. It became obvious that Tepig hopped around when excited. Paul realized that he lucked out big time with these two. They weren't nearly as powerful as his Magmortar or Honchkrow, but these two had potential and with training they'd be power houses.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud voice.

"Good that was great!" boomed a voice from the trees. A young boy boy came out of the woods next to the path and jolted right in front of Paul. He had spiky blond hair and was in a sleeves green shirt and jean shorts. His eyes were golden and he just radiated "hyperactive".

"Hm?" Paul went.

"Hey are you a new trainer? Cause if you are you sure are a smart one! I mean that last maneuver wow! Your Tepig went woosh, then… huh?"

Paul had already called Tepig back in its ball and walked away ignoring the hyperactive boy. The boy dashed to intercept Paul. Paul looked at the boy void of any emotion.

"Hey you!" he screamed angrily. "You have a lot of nerve for a beginner! I'll have you know that I've been a trainer for a month now so I'm your senior and I was raised to always- Hey!"

Paul, once again, passed the noisy trainer, but this time he said something. "Having a month more experience doesn't really mean much, you know."

Once again, the loud trainer intercepted Paul."Alright newbie, if you think that then let me show you how superior I am. I challenge you to a three on three battle right now! I'm Anthony by the way."

Paul knew this guy wouldn't quit unless he beat him. It was same for all of the hot headed trainers he had battled. Besides this was a good opportunity to get to see more Unova pokemon.

Paul sighed. "Fine I accept. My name is Paul."

Anthony grinned wildly. "Alright!" he ran 10 feet forward to get some distance and Pull out a pokeball. "The battle will be decided when all the pokemon of one side are defeated. With that said come on out Woobat!"

"Woobat!" called a white fuzz ball with bat wings and a pig nose.

"Woobat, huh?" Paul looked it up. "A psychic and flying type, huh? Pretty rare combo."

"So what of it."

"Oh nothing." Paul had no hesitation with choosing his pokemon. He didn't really feel like playing nice with a new guy right now. "Electivire stand by for battle!"

"Vire!"

"What?!" Anthony wailed in shock. "What kind of pokemon is that?!"

"It's my Electivire." Paul explained. "It's primarily found in the Sinnoh region, which is where I'm from."

"You're from a different region?!" Anthony yelped in surprise.

"Yes and truth be told I've actually been a trainer for a few years now." Paul explained. Paul then smirked. "So what are you gonna do now rookie?"

Paul didn't mock other trainers much anymore, since his loss to Brandon that first time, but Anthony pushed his buttons.

"Shut up!" Anthony went red with fury. "It will take more than experience to beat me!"

Paul ignored Anthony's contradiction.

"Electivire welcome to Unova." Paul said to his pokemon. "This our first battle, so let's kick things off with a bang."

"Don't get full of yourself!" Anthony wailed. "Woobat use Air Cutter!"

The attack connected, but Electivire was unphased. "Huh?! It didn't do a thing! I know flying type attacks are weak against electric types, but come on!"

"When the difference is that great there isn't much you can do! Thunder!"

"Quick doge it!" but it was too late Woobat took the full force of Thunder. It collapsed unconscious.

"In one attack too…" Anthony began to feel disheartened, but quickly got over it. He recalled Woobat and pulled out another pokeball. "Your electric move won't work against this guy! Go Palpitoad!"

"Palpi" went the Palpitoad. It's color and shape reminded Paul of a Quagsire. Paul looked it up.

"A ground type, huh? Smart choice." Paul said sincerely.

"I don't want your compliments." Anthony said.

"Electivire use Thunder on yourself!" This startled Anthony. Electivire shot it's electrical attack in the air and it curved downward and hit him.

"You trying to pity me or something?" Anthony asked annoyed.

"Not at all." Paul assured. "I wouldn't give it."

"And I wouldn't want any! Palpitoad use Mud Shot!"

"Protect!" Electivire was shielded.

"Darn it!"

"Electivire use Brick Break!" It charge with great speed.

"Dig quick!" Palpitoad just barely avoided the attack. "Electivire was so fast too."

"Palpitoad use Mud Shot!" Palpitoad popped out of the ground and attacked.

"Deflect them with Brick Break back to back!" Paul ordered. Electivire used Brick Break, with both fists, to deflect the mud balls with lightning speed.

"Seriously?!" Anthony was shocked.

"Charge forward and use Brick Break."

"Get out of there!" But Palpitoad was too slow. The attack landed and knocked out Palpitoad.

"Palpitoad no…" Anthony recalled Palpitoad. "You did great. Rest up."

"Not bad Electivire." Paul complemented.

"If nothing else I'll beat that Electivire!" Anthony declared. "Go! Sawk!"

"Sawk!" went Sawk. He was a blue humanoid pokemon in a karate gi.

"So now a fighting type." Paul noted when he looked up Sawk.

"Right! Sawk use Focus Blast!" Anthony ordered. Sawk shot a bluish white orb of energy at Electivire.

"Protect!" Electivere's green shield protected him.

"Again?!" Anthony was getting annoyed. "Fine then clash thunder with thunder! Use Thunder Punch!"

Sawk went in close and used Thunder Punch, but it did nothing.

"How strong is that Electivire?!" Anthony screamed. "Nothing I do is working!"

"Electivire's ability is Motordrive." Paul explained. "It neutralizes electrical attacks and converts them into speed."

"Wait what?!" That was news to Anthony. "So that's why he used Thunder on Electivire."

"Thunder Punch!" Electivire struck Sawk in the gut and sent it sliding back and to add insult to injury it was now paralyzed too.

"Sawk!" Anthony cried out. Sawk was on one knee and had many scratches and bruises. But despite all that both trainer and pokemon still had fire in their eyes. "Get up Sawk I know you can do it!"

"I know you can do it" Paul smirked at those words. Those words always seemed to push Ash's pokemon to theirs limits and always helped them win.

"Thunder." Paul commanded. Electivire hit Sawk and that was it.

"Saaaawk!" Anthony ran to his Sawk, who was lying back first on the ground. He lifted it's head and looked at it with proud eyes. "Sawk you were great. I mean that. Get some rest."

His Sawk smiled kindly at him. Anthony returned it to his pokeball.

"Well done Electivire." Paul complemented.

"Vire!" it said proudly. Paul returned it to its pokeball.

Paul approached the depressed Anthony who was kneeling down and looked at ground. He glanced up and noticed Paul. "Oh hey Paul. That was an amazing battle. Your Electivire is incredibly strong."

"Thanks. He and I have traveled a lot and we've battled many strong trainers." Paul explained. "Even so, I don't think you did that bad."

"Are you kidding." Anthony said incredulously. "You wiped me out without even breaking a sweat!."

"True, but you didn't give up and that in itself is a respectable quality in a trainer. I'm sure you'll get stronger with time. You just have to train hard" Paul wasn't really good at these sort of speeches, but it sounded. With nothing left to say Paul walked onward. "I'll be seeing you Anthony, I guess."

"Hold on a sec, Paul." Anthony called out in a serious tone, as he picked himself up.

Paul began to notice a trend of people stopping him when he was about to leave.

"What is it?" Paul gazed at him through the corner of his eye.

"Would you be… my master?!" He shouted with big, bright, eyes.

"M-master?" Paul repeated Even the usually cool, calm, and collected Paul was unnerved by the sudden mood change.

"Allow me to explain." Anthony began. "I come from a family of pokemon martial artists that goes back for generations. As far back as can be remembered members of my family have always become apprentices to the person that they deem to be the strongest and always to those who have defeated them in battle, so I ask you this, Paul, won't you please be my master and allow me to travel alongside you… huh, where'd he go?"

Paul had already walked onward, ignoring Anthony's monologue. Anthony dash to intercept Paul.

"So what do you say?" Anthony asked, actually, quietly.

"Do what you want." Paul said as he passed Anthony.

"Alright!" Anthony screamed as he pumped up his fists. A look of realization fell upon his face. "Um, Master Paul? Would you mind waiting for me? I have to deliver something to my Aunt in Nuvema Town, so I'd appreciate it if you would… and he's gone." Paul just kept on walking.

Anthony looked at Paul and then to Nuvema Town. Paul. Nuvema. Paul. Nuvema. Paul! Nuvema!

"Ahhh!" Anthony cried out in frustration, while pulling on his spiky blond hair. "If I don't deliver this to my Aunt, my mom will kill me, but Master Paul is leaving. Urg!"

"Master Paul!" Anthony shouted in Paul's direction. "I'm gonna go to Nuvema for a bit, but I'll meet you in Accumula Town, okay?!"Anthony ran at high speed to Nuvema Town.

"It was easier to get rid of him than I thought." Paul thought out loud.

So good, huh? What did you think of the new OC Anthony? Does Paul seem nicer while still retaining that cool guy coldness you'd expect?

Please review.