I was in complete darkness. I couldn't move. I heard something behind me. My body rotated around until I was facing what had made the noise. It was a Charizard! It was wearing an armored, blue collar. It roared and there was a flash of light. When the light faded, the Charizard looked very different. It was black and blue, it's wings were more angled, and blue fire was flowing from the sides of it's face. I watched as it's eyes slowly turned milky white. Then it roared again and it's right claw became cloaked in blue energy. It began to walk towards me. I struggled to get away but I couldn't. Just as it raised it's claw to deliver the blow, there was another roar behind it. I looked and saw a Charizard wearing an orange harness. There was another flash of light and it changed as well. It had become thinner and taller, it's wings were much larger, it had a second set of smaller wings on it's arms, and it had a third spike on the back of it's head. It lunged at the first Charizard and they began to fight fiercely. I tried to help the second one, but I couldn't move. I watched helplessly as they clawed at each other's throats and flew high above my head.

I woke with a start. I was sweating. I looked around. I was in a room and on a weird bed that was sticking out of the wall. There were a few computers on the opposite wall and a closet door on one of the other walls. There were several things nuzzled up against me. I looked down and saw Turtwig, Charmeleon, and Mew. Someone coughed. I looked next to the bed and saw Professor Sycamore and everyone that he'd introduced me to.

"Do you think he's okay?" Aaron asked Braden. "He just passed out from stress" Braden answered "Between that battle, Charmander's evolution, and meeting us, he just couldn't take it all in one sitting."

Robby walked over to me. He was wearing that ninja outfit, but his mask was off. "How're you feeling?" he asked. "Okay, I guess" I said.

Charmeleon crawled up from his spot on the bed and licked my face. I patted his head and watched as Turtwig and Mew woke up. Turtwig crawled onto my stomach and Mew landed top of my head as I sat up. I noted that I was wearing some kind of weird pajamas. My sash and hat were gone. I looked around and saw my sash hanging on the wall. My hat was nowhere to be seen.

"Okay, everybody out" Professor Sycamore said. Everyone but him left. he walked to the closet and got something out. He tossed it to me. I caught it and examined it. It was some kind of suit made from parachute material. "Put that on, it should fit you. There's a spot on the chest where your key-stone will fit, and there's compartments for poke-balls on the arms." With that, he left the room.

I slipped into the suit. It fit perfectly. I put on the boots that were also sitting next to the bed. I noticed that there were two small loops of fabric on the ankles of the suit. I popped the key-stone out of my sash and attached it to the clip in the fabric on my chest. Then I took the poke-balls and slipped them into tiny pockets on the arms of the suit, three on either sleeve.

I recalled Mew and Turtwig. Charmeleon jumped onto my shoulder. I walked out the front door and into a hallway. Robby was waiting for me. "Looking good!" he said. He then led me down the hallway and into a large room with tables and a counter at the back. I smelled food and my stomach growled. Everyone was sitting at the tables and I saw their pokemon all together with several other pokemon I hadn't seen. There was now a Meganium, a Mightyena, a Nidoking, and a Ninetails. They were all eating from bowls of pokemon food.

Charmeleon started drooling. Mew and Turtwig popped out of their poke-balls. they all looked hungry. "You three can go join them" Robby said. They didn't hesitate, they all ran to where the other pokemon were. I thought it was funny how much bigger the other pokemon were.

Robby led me to the counter and handed me a tray. A lady behind the counter piled food onto it and I thanked her. Robby then took me to the table where I sat down and started wolfing down my food.

"Hope you're feeling better" Aaron said as he ate an apple "Your training starts today. With me!" I nearly choked. "Training?" I asked. "Yes" Naomi said "You joined us, so you're going to need to know how to work with us." Professor Sycamore looked at me as if he were analyzing me. "We actually really need you to help us" Braden said. "What do you mean by 'need me'?" I asked. "Well, we need someone who can help us in battle from the air" Robby said. "But I can't fly! And neither can Charmeleon! Plus, you've got Robby's Salamence" I said. But then I thought for a moment, Charmeleon did evolve into something that flies. "We need for Charmeleon to evolve as soon as possible. Salamence is a good substitute for a Charizard but it's not enough." Aaron said. Professor Sycamore talked now "Once Charmeleon becomes a Charizard, we'll be able to give you it's mega stone. Then you'll truly be a member of the team. But until then, you and your pokemon are going to train with each member of the team in order to prepare you for when that time does come." I sat there for a moment, thinking, then I nodded. We all got back to eating our breakfast.

Once we left the cafeteria, I followed Aaron, Blastoise, and Meganium. He led me to the large nature room I had seen yesterday. "This" he gestured to the whole room "is where we'll begin your training." He touched his key-stone "Blastoise! Mega Evolve!" he yelled. Tendrils of energy shot from the stone and hit Blastoise. Blastoise was engulfed in bright light. It faded after a few seconds. Blastoise now looked much stronger. The two cannons on it's back were gone, they had been replaced with one giant one. There was also a small shell on each of it's arms, a small turret stuck out of each shell. It also looked like it had a goatee. "Blastoise!" it yelled and stomped it's foot. The ground shook violently.

"Wow! That's incredible!" I said. "Aaron patted Blastoise's shoulder "He's now almost twice as powerful as normal" Aaron stated proudly. He then pointed to a spot next to the pond. Blastoise walked over to the spot with thundering footsteps. Aaron hopped onto Meganium's back. Meganium then walked to a spot opposite to where Blastoise was. "Your first task" Aaron said "is to knock Blastoise into the pond."

My jaw dropped. Charmeleon fell off my shoulder. How were we supposed to move anything that heavy? "Ready?" Aaron asked. Charmeleon stood up next to me and I nodded. "Then begin!" he yelled. We charged at Blastoise who made no movement to stop or evade us. We collided with his armored stomach. It was like hitting a brick wall. We both fell back and Blastoise laughed deeply. Aaron shook his head. "You'll have to try harder than that!" he laughed.

We tried again. And Again. And Again.

Every time, we got the same result. Blastoise wouldn't budge. "Here's a hint!" Aaron yelled to me "That suit is fireproof! And it's like that for a reason!"

I thought about it then an idea dawned on me. I whispered my plan to Charmeleon. He nodded happily. We readied ourselves and charged at Blastoise again. I slammed into him first but held on this time. Charmeleon repeated my movements. "Now! Flame Charge!" I yelled. Charmeleon became bathed in flames as we pushed even harder. The flames lapped around me too. I felt Blastoise begin to inch back. We pushed harder with renewed confidence. Suddenly, Blastoise tilted back and fell. There was a huge splash as he hit the water. Aaron cheered as me and Charmeleon dropped to our knees in exhaustion.

Meganium trotted over to us with Aaron. Blastoise rose up from the water and walked onto the shore. He shook himself dry, soaking us and Aaron too. Charmeleon shielded his tail to keep it alight. Aaron hopped off Meganium's back. "Good! Good!" he said clapping. "What's next?" I asked, panting. "You sure you're up for it?" he asked. Me and Charmeleon nodded. "Then we'll get started right away!" he said.

Meganium and Blastoise walked over to the forest and faced us. Blastoise aimed it's cannons. "Call out your other pokemon!" Aaron commanded. I threw Mew and Turtwig's poke-balls and they materialized in front of me. Aaron nodded. "Your challenge now, is to stop Blastoise and Meganium's attacks without making any physical contact!" Aaron yelled. He pointed at Meganium. "She's gonna use Solar beam" he said and then he pointed at Blastoise "He's gonna use Flash cannon. Their gonna use half strength for now." I nodded and started deciding what moves would best counter those attacks.

"Now!" Aaron yelled. Meganium's flower started to glow and a ball of yellow energy formed in her mouth. Blastoise started charging energy into his, now humming, back cannon. I waited for a second and then started giving commands.

"Mew! use Psychic to slow the attacks!" I said. Mew nodded and her eyes started glowing as she readied herself.

"Turtwig! Use Energy ball to counter Solar Beam!" I said. Turtwig faced Meganium and opened his mouth as green energy formed a ball within his jaws.

"Charmeleon, you've got to try and stop Flash Cannon with Dragon Pulse." Charmeleon nodded and faced Blastoise.

Aaron nodded. "Alright then, Go!" he yelled. Blastoise and Meganium launched their attacks.

"Now!" I yelled. Mew cried out and the two attacks slowed slightly as they acquired a blue glow.

Turtwig fired the energy he'd built up at Solar Beam. The two moves collided and exploded.

Charmeleon sent a huge beam of blue and white energy directly into the beam of power being shot from Blastoise. The beams collided and began pushing against each other. After a few seconds, Charmeleon's beam finally pushed Blastoise's back. His attack rocketed forward and hit Blastoise, covering him in smoke.

When the smoke cleared, I saw that Blastoise had thrown his arms up in front of his face. The shells had blocked the attack, but they were scorched and damaged. Blastoise grunted his approval. "Very good!" Aaron said. "Now! Again!"

We repeated the exercise for several hours until Aaron finally said "Stop! That's enough!" I walked over to my pokemon. They were tired, but proud of themselves. Aaron walked over with Blastoise and Meganium following him. "That's all I can teach you for today, anything more would just exhaust you guys." he said. I nodded. "I'll show you to your room" he said "Your dinner should be there already."

Before we left, I watched as Blastoise was enveloped in light and returned to his normal form.

As we walked back to my room, Aaron talked to me. "Tomorrow you will train with Naomi, Venusaur and Ninetails" he said. I nodded as he opened a door and gestured for me to go in.

He closed the door behind me, leaving me alone with my pokemon. It was the same room I'd been in this morning. There was now a table and chair. A plate of food was sitting on the table and several bowls of pokemon food were sitting on the floor. Charmeleon, Turtwig, and Mew ate their food quickly and fell asleep on the bed. I took my time eating and going to bed.

I lay awake for several hours before I finally fell asleep with all of them snuggled up at my feet.

And so begins the training saga! The coming chapters will have many similarities to this one. They'll still be unique, but they'll be based on the idea of readying our hero and his faithful pokemon. So, farewell until then!