Blaine and Barak made their way through the streets of Scarlet Town, heading for the local gym after quite a nice day out and about. They'd had a late lunch in a café, and Barak had been very happy when Blaine got him a bowl of mixed nuts and seeds that probably weighed twice as much as he did. He'd attracted a lot of attention from younger children who wanted to pet him and play with him, and he seemed to enjoy being fussed over. Blaine had been nervous, though, because pichu were quite rare pokemon, so it wouldn't be wise to make a habit of drawing attention to themselves.

After lunch she'd checked into one of the local hotels called Sunny Lodge. She'd browsed the internet looking for places that were both cheap enough to conserve her money and expensive enough to be in a relatively safe neighbourhood, and finally she'd decided that Sunny Lodge fitted the bill. Her room was very reasonable for $50 a day, with a single bed, a comp, a wardrobe, a fridge, a little kitchen and an en suite bathroom. She'd packed the items she needed for gym training into a small bag and left her bulky backpack behind in the wardrobe.

The gym was a short distance away. It was an Unranked gym, which meant that it couldn't award badges to challengers, but it was still affiliated with the Pokemon League and served as a gathering place for trainers, with all the facilities needed for pokemon training.

Barak had hatched about five or six hours ago, and Blaine was determined to begin his training right away. She couldn't afford to delay. Although she was quite sure that Lachlan would not be harmed in the near future, because the kidnappers would be using him to blackmail her father, it would take her a long time to assemble a team of even moderately effective pokemon. And in that time, who knew what would happen? Maybe her father would refuse to cooperate, or maybe the kidnappers would decide that it was too much trouble keeping Lachlan alive, so… no, she wouldn't finish that last thought. Anyway, the point was that she didn't have time to waste.

It was her fault that Lachlan had been kidnapped. She didn't doubt that for a second. If she hadn't fought with him, he would have stayed at home playing with her and Florian instead of running off by himself. It occurred to her that she hadn't ever been very nice to Lachlan. Well, he was annoying. He was younger than her and always followed her around asking stupid questions, and it wasn't fair that he got to have a pokemon while she didn't. But none of that excused her for not being nice to him, and she knew it.

It was her fault he'd been kidnapped, but she wasn't going to waste time feeling sorry for herself or wallowing in self-pity. She had made a mistake, and now she was going to fix it by bringing Lachlan back, if it was the last thing she ever did.

All she knew about his kidnappers was that they were linked to the BioGen Corporation. Although she wasn't interested in politics, despite having a politician father (or perhaps because of it), she did know that her father had been calling for a public inquiry into the BioGen company for a while now, and she knew that BioGen had links to criminal organisations. That was the only clue she had to who had taken Lachlan.

As she walked along, she looked up BioGen once again on her port. It was an old company, founded almost 200 years ago by a Mr Daichi Sakaki and handed down through an unbroken chain of direct descendants for six generations. The current CEO, Mr Rikuto Sakaki still had the same surname as the original founder of BioGen. Around sixty years ago the company had undergone a massive expansion, becoming one of the most powerful and influential corporations on the planet. It was around this time that allegations of criminal conduct also began to surface.

Thinking about the massive corporate machine she was planning to go up against made Blaine feel extremely nervous, her mouth going dry and her stomach a little queasy. She put her port away and decided not to think about it for the moment. She knew that obsessing about it would only make things worse. The important thing was to be prepared, to think ahead and to be realistic in her expectations of what she could accomplish. First she had to find Lachlan, then she would take him and run. But to do that, she first needed a strong team of pokemon.

The gym was a modern-looking building surrounded by glass and silver panels, with a white roof bearing a sculpture of a machamp lifting four globes in its four hands. Blaine stepped through the rotating glass doors and into a brightly-lit lobby. She approached the man behind the counter.

"Hi," she said. "I would like to register for a gym session."

The man looked at her strangely. He was quite young and probably a regular gym-goer himself, judging by his physique.

He said. "It's ten dollars for a one hour session. Is this your first time here? If you buy one of our memberships, you can use any Pokemon League gym in any city."

After carefully considering all the options, Blaine bought a silver membership and proceeded into the main hall of the gym. There were something like forty other trainers there, and twice as many pokemon. Barak became a little agitated, moving around on her shoulder, probably overexcited due to all the other pokemon, the bright lights and the flat surfaces that made sounds echo loudly.

Blaine could see that it would be a bad idea to begin training Barak out here in the main hall. According to her pokemon training manual, it was best to begin training in a quiet, confined environment where the pokemon wouldn't be distracted or intimidated by anything going on around them. Blaine had a feeling that Barak would not take easily to training, and she didn't want to create any unnecessary obstacles, so she entered a private booth.

Once inside, she hefted Barak and placed him on a seat, before reaching inside her bag and withdrawing a bag of candied seeds. Instantly, Barak gave her his full attention. Holding the port in her left hand, she flicked through it until she found the page she was looking for.

A fundamental part of the education of a healthy pokemon is its obedience training. Obedience training, when successful, allows a pokemon to understand and carry out the commands of its trainer. These commands fall into two categories: general commands and battle commands. We will begin with the general commands, as the basic general commands are simpler than the basic battle commands. Later we will introduce more complex commands in both categories.

Please note that commands in this guide are divided into Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced stages. Beginner commands may be attempted by any novice trainer with any newly caught pokemon. Intermediate commands should only be attempted when the trainer and pokemon have had some time to gain trust and experience with each other. Advanced commands will tax even highly skilled trainers and their pokemon.

Although you may be enthusiastic and eager to rush straight into the higher level commands, it is best to progress through the lessons slowly. Attempting commands of an unreasonably high level, which your pokemon cannot possibly achieve, will only have a discouraging effect on both trainer and pokemon. It may even make the trainer frustrated and impatient with the pokemon, causing a mutual loss of trust, and damaging the relationship. Be patient and realistic in your expectations. Remember that every pokemon is an individual. Like humans, pokemon grow at different rates and have different skills.

Some pokemon trainers move too quickly into trying to teach advanced techniques, expecting their pokemon to perform Fire Blast or Hyro Pump before they learn to perform Tackle or Tail Whip. Not only is this certain to fail, it is dangerous to your pokemon's health to train them in high pressure techniques when they lack the experience and stamina required. Advanced techniques consume a great deal of energy and put intense strain on a pokemon's body, so pokemon should not attempt them until their bodies are fully developed through exercise and training. Imagine if your parents had expected you to run a marathon before you learnt to walk. Remember, always respect your pokemon's health!

When giving commands to your pokemon, the two main elements involved are communication and reinforcement. Communication means letting the pokemon know exactly what you want it to do. Reinforcement means creating a connection in your pokemon's mind between obedience and a reward or disincentive. A reward should be given when a command is obeyed, and can be a treat, petting, praise or some other activity that your pokemon enjoys. A disincentive may be given when a command is disobeyed, and can include withholding a treat, withholding attention or returning the pokemon to its pokeball. Use disincentive sparingly and only in serious cases, because positive reinforcement is kinder and more effective. Never use physical violence as a punishment. Not only is it cruel and ineffective in the long term, it can cause your pokemon to become aggressive and violent, thus creating a danger for yourself and others.

In order for communication to occur, you must have a positive relationship with your pokemon. Ideally your pokemon will view you with friendship, trust and respect. If a pokemon dislikes or disrespects you, it will not pay attention to your attempts at communication. Try spending some quality time with a pokemon before you begin training, in order to give it an opportunity to bond with you.

Now, let us begin with some basic commands that every pokemon should know. The first of these commands is Sit. Holding a treat in one hand, give your pokemon the command, "Sit", in a loud, clear voice. At the same time bring the treat close to your pokemon's face and raise it above their head. This should cause your pokemon to settle back onto their hindquarters. If they do not, you may have to gently apply pressure on your pokemon's hindquarters while giving the command. When your pokemon successfully executes the command, allow them to have the treat, while praising and petting them. Repeat the exercise several times until your pokemon can reliably execute the Sit command.

That sounded easy enough.

"Okay, Barak," said Blaine. "Sit." She brought one of the candied seeds close to his little face and raised it slightly above and beyond his nose. To her surprise, he instantly sat back on his hind legs. "Good boy!" she said, allowing the seed to drop. He snatched it up in his paws and popped it into his mouth, chewing industriously for a few seconds before swallowing it down. Instantly, his gaze returned to the packet in her hand. "All right, let's try that a few more times."

They repeated the Sit command five more times, until Barak was so well-practiced that he would sit immediately whenever Blaine spoke the command. He was obviously a very intelligent pokemon, seeming to understand intuitively what Blaine wanted him to do, and he was eager to win more of those delicious seeds. After half an hour of further training, they had mastered Sit, Beg, Stay and Come.

"Good boy," Blaine said, rubbing him behind the ears and tickling his cheeks. At this rate, they would be ready for their first battle in a few days, but it was still far too early to get complacent. Barak wouldn't defeat anyone by sitting on them. "You know what? Let's try one of the battle commands now."