Obviously, I don't own Pokemon.

[=-CHAPTER 4-=]

Man, he really needed a hobby.

While waiting for Sandshrew to get better, he realized he had pretty much nothing to do in this life except train and watch battling videos.

That much was made even more apparent when he posted his request and sat near the board for the rest of the day. No one approached him and man was it boring.

Near the end of the day, Nurse Joy wandered over to him.

"I thought you would want to know that Sandshrew is going to be alright and…" She drifted off as she saw his request. "That's an, um… interesting request you put up."

On the board was a piece of paper with pristine handwriting.

Well, he thought it was pristine. Anyone who thought otherwise was just jealous.

{F+ Class Trainer with a 100% Mission Success Rate seeking work!}

{Current Pokemon include a level five Sandshrew. Biggest job completed in the C-Rank!}

{Interested in joining a group part-time or working on commission. 25% discount for solitary requests.}

{If intrigued, search for Izan Richter.}

She dragged a hand down her face while reading it, her expression becoming one of worry.

"Izan… are you okay?"

"Eh?" He thought she would scold him for his embellishment or something. Her genuine concern threw him for a loop. "Yeah, I'm fine. I feel great, even, knowing Sandshrew is going to be okay. Why?"

"Well, a lot of new trainers from the Youngster program come in. They get their first Pokemon, they go on a few jobs, and they feel invincible. They feel like their potential is great enough to go far, some even saying that they'll become the Champion with ease."

"Wow, really?" 'I couldn't care less. Why am I being lectured?'

Ignoring his dry tone, she continued. "Most of them either pass away due to their hubris or get their Pokemon irreversibly crippled. I just want you to be cautious-"

"Wait wait wait." He put up his hands to stop her. "What, do you think I'm some sort of… battle junkie or something? That I'm just trying to guarantee my next 'fix' after… that?"

Joy's finger rose to briefly touch her lip, which she chewed on for a second, clearly uncomfortable. After looking away, she nodded.

"No!" He exclaimed heatedly. He took a breath, knowing she was just worried for him. "Sorry, no. I just need the money and experience, that's all. I'm not that much of an idiot."

She looked noticeably calmer hearing that, but her confusion was still clear on her face.

"What do you need so much money for? Even half of that C-rank would've gotten you enough for the rest of the month."

He sat back and looked down, contemplative.

She wasn't wrong. On both accounts, actually.

With the money he just made, he could probably stay cheap and live comfortably for about three months in the Pokemon Center doing absolutely nothing.

And if the circumstances were different, he would've become a battle junkie just like those foolish ones.

But there were a few details she couldn't have known about.

Before he became Izan, he dreamed of a life like this. In his dreams, it wasn't as modern, but it had all the pieces.

Fighting, magic powers, cliche lines, and enduring ridiculous training just to fight the next bad guy. Over and over.

A life of fantasy.

If he had been transported to a different world where he was a fighter, he would've thrived. But this was the Pokemon world.

His own training didn't matter. Only his Pokemon did.

Even with his mysterious power augmenting him, he barely moved that Fearow. The only reason he hadn't died was the [Leech Seed].

In battle, he most likely wouldn't be the most injured. He wouldn't be the one staring up at giants and steeling his resolve.

He'd just be a spectator. A commander. A king who would fall if his knights failed to protect him.

And watching Sandshrew get hurt wasn't the same as fighting himself. Watching one who he took care of put themselves in harm's way made his heart drop.

It wasn't the same as his dream at all.

So he made a decision.

It was time to stop being so stingy about his money. Every dollar, every cent, every resource he got his hands on would go towards his Pokemon.

In this life, where his dream of becoming strong was through his Pokemon, he would make them his top priority.

Plus, it wasn't like he had all the time in the world to just be living leisurely.

The Youngster Program was only a program for a reason. After a full league season went by, his temporary license would be gone.

Considering that a league season only lasted a year, it meant he had almost a year until he was either striving or had to hang up the towel. Maybe go back to his fishing job.

Or a farmer. [Rototiller] was a move, after all.

He looked back up at Nurse Joy, his eyes alight with orange. Yet there was no rage, only a sad but determined smile. "I've just had a realization, is all."


Half a week passed.

During that time, Izan spent the days mostly holed up in his room with a notebook, writing down every useful piece of information he could find on the ground-type forums.

He was considering becoming a ground-type specialist. He didn't want to have to think of new training methods and diets and patching up every hole that a new type would add to the team.

Plus it wasn't like he couldn't catch other Pokemon types, he just wouldn't use them for battle.

Even if the ground-type forums didn't have a consistent moderator like grass-types had Erika, it was lightyears better than the wild west that was the generalist forums.

Seriously, 'Theory: Venonat evolves into Butterfree' shouldn't even be a topic of discussion.

In other news, Sandshrew had recovered enough that Nurse Joy said she was ready enough for light training.

If the world didn't have such advanced medical technology and magic healing Pokemon, that healing process would've taken weeks if not months.

And due to Pokemon's ability to become stronger after healing battle injuries, Sandshrew had leveled up enough that the scanner didn't have to estimate anymore.

[Sandshrew (Female)]

[Type: Ground]

[Level: 8]

[Energy Mastery: Ground (Beginner), Normal (Beginner)]

[Ability: N/a]

[Moves: Scratch, Sand Attack, Defense Curl, Mud Shot]

Her new status confirmed one thing for him, and that was that Pokemon didn't magically learn moves upon level up. She should've learned [Poison Sting] by now if that was the case.

It made sense, considering she'd never used poison energy in her life, but it was a bit disappointing.

Yet even with her newfound power, healing didn't mend her shattered spirit.

Instead of the bold, haughty, and oddly graceful way she used to be, she shambled from place to place. She avoided eye contact with him, deliberately not climbing onto his shoulder.

At one point she even asked to be put in her Pokeball.

That was the tipping point that made him pause in his research and decide to get to work.

But before that, he needed to go shopping.

The first thing on his list was a few books recommended to him by some veterans in the forums.

He had been treating Pokemon less like living creatures and more like one's and zeroes like in the games. They weren't just data on a screen. Physical changes, lifespan, body language, and even breeding were all things he needed to at least have theoretical knowledge on.

Breeding was still a mystery despite all the research done. Pokemon didn't have sexual organs nor did they even excrete waste. Their bodies were perfectly efficient, meaning they didn't have to poop or pee.

Finding the bookstore was the hard part, but after that he bought more books than he could comfortably carry, having to put them in a bag.

Realistically, only a few would be useful for becoming stronger. But he didn't want to be like Ash who didn't even know Pikachu was the 'Electric Mouse Pokemon' until someone told him.

His next stop was a home improvement store.

Confidently, he strode in and bought a mini fridge before strapping it to his back like a backpack. It wasn't as heavy as he'd thought it would be.

He ignored the looks people were giving him and focused solely on the bewildered look Sandshrew was sending him, her eyes adorably wide.

She sobered up and looked away when she noticed him giving her a big smile.

He frowned.

Still, there was one more place he had to head to before he dealt with that problem.

The Pokemart.

Without hesitation he walked through the doors of the Pokemart and right towards the counter, causing the cashier clerk to grimace at the sight of him.

He was probably just jealous of his sick new fashionable backpack.

"Sorry, but I can't be bothered to look around with this big ass fridge on my back. You mind just telling me if what I want is even here?" He began.

Most likely surprised that he wasn't a crazed weirdo, the cashier gave him a polite smile. "That's perfectly fine sir, what exactly do you need?"

Izan pulled his small notebook out of his pocket. "Let's see here… Ah, right. I need a gallon of Moomoo milk, Sandshrew-specific Pokefood, an Apriblender, three dozen white and yellow apricorns, and three type gems."

Surprisingly picking up most of that, the clerk was ringing up the total cost that would be when he stopped in thought.

"Actually, we don't have food specifically for Sandshrew. That would have to be ordered or created yourself. We do have ground-type Pokefood if you'd like?"

Izan clicked his tongue. Of course, they wouldn't have that. That'd be freakishly convenient. "Yeah, that's fine."

Clicking some more a number appeared on the cash register as the man finished up. "Got it. Your total would be 5,300. Is that okay with you?"

Izan's expression became strained. "Yes, That Is Completely Okay With Me. I'd Like For The Gems To Be Poison, Rock, and Steel." He spoke robotically.

The clerk gave him a knowing and sympathetic look but nodded anyway. "Rrrright… I'll be just a moment."

After walking into the back room, Izan awkwardly stood there, burning a hole in the wall with his intense stare.

He really didn't like spending a lot of money.

Five minutes later the clerk came back carrying his purchases in a big blue bag with a white Pokeball symbol on it.

"This should be everything. Is there anything else you'd like to buy today?" He asked politely.

Making sure that nothing was out of order, Izan quickly passed his card over, ripping the metaphorical bandaid off.

All of that money; gone in an instant. Considering the mini-fridge cost 200 , and the books were 15 each, he was back to square one.

Dejectedly, he took his card back after the vile man drained it of all its money.

Now holding two bags and a mini-fridge on his back, he walked out of the store. He waved off a faint 'thank you for shopping at-' blah blah. He wasn't listening.

It was finally time to address the elephant in the room. Er, mouse. Pangolin? The Sandshrew. It was time to address the Sandshrew.

"Let's go, Sandshrew. After I set all this stuff down, it's time we had a talk." She visibly cringed at his tone.

- (Sandshrew) -

Her master truly was a heaven-gifted blessing. The longer she stayed with her master, the more she learned.

While she was healing, the reality of the situation finally sank in. She… was weak.

The hill she once stood on, laughing at those below her, was just that. A hill. She'd been so content to look down on those she considered lesser, yet she hadn't realized the mountain behind her.

It was the first time she had ever felt so… helpless. For the first time in her life, she wanted to run.

To hide away, and burrow deep in the ground like her instincts were urging her.

She'd lost so utterly that her master had to get involved. How shameful! To cower and tremble behind him. It was beyond mortifying when she thought back on it.

At one point while she was healing, her master came to see her. It was without a doubt the most terrifying time of her life.

Her promise to never disappoint him was broken so swiftly it hurt.

So she kowtowed the best she could despite her injuries. She had shamed him with her battle, and there was no excuse to give.

She didn't even deserve to look him in the eye.

At the sight of her poor state, the power that laid dormant within her master raged outward. It tore the air asunder and threatened to bury the world in its rampage.

'This is it.' She thought. Her master was benevolent, but it seemed that even he had limits. That her life was forfeit in front of his overwhelming rage.

For a moment, she considered curling up into a ball like before. Cowering and hiding. But she refused to be like that again. To be weak and helpless.

She would accept her death with honor.

But instead of being smitten by his hand, she was embraced. His power twisted and flickered to surround her wholly and comfort her very being.

Careful as always, he hugged her delicately like she was a statue of glass.

She winced as she realized he was speaking. Something wet trailed down her back as he whispered apologies endlessly.

She didn't know what he was apologizing for, but it didn't matter.

Once more she was humbled by her master. She almost couldn't believe it. He cared more for her health than her power or her shamefulness.

She suspected that even if she was always a coward, he would protect her with everything that he had. He seemed unable to help himself from caring about her.

In his arms, she allowed herself to stop mulling over her failures and finally rest.

- (Izan) -

Waiting for him at the Pokecenter was a lengthy lecture from Nurse Joy about how his room at the Pokecenter was NOT his house and that he really shouldn't be buying a mini-fridge if he didn't have his own place.

Izan didn't take the lecture seriously considering Nurse Joy was just worried about him.

That seemed to be one of her two modes. It was either she was worried or she was happy.

Such was the nature of a woman born to be a healer, he supposed.

Her worry this time sort of offended him, as she thought he was going in the complete opposite of battle junky and decided to become a freeloader instead.

Though in this life, he figured he was sort of a freeloader so it wasn't unjustified.

Still, after waving it off and assuring her that he was only doing this temporarily, she told him to look into spatial backpacks. They could hold an almost impossible amount of items despite their size and had pockets for refrigeration.

Who knew the Pokemon world had something that advanced? He certainly didn't.

Something to look into, but not for now. For one, he was pretty much broke and couldn't afford it.

And two, he had to talk to the Pokemon currently fidgeting in front of him.

Under the shade of a huge tree, he was sitting in front of his Sandshrew as she sat patiently with him. If it weren't for the meter space between them and the Sandshrew's nervous look, it would've been a peaceful sight.

They had been sitting there for a while as Izan, eyes closed, thought about the words he wanted to use to make this an easier chat to have.

In the end, he gave up and decided to just say what came naturally. That would be the most honest way he could come across.

Breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth, he opened his dark brown eyes.

"Nothing that has happened so far has been your fault. And I mean absolutely none."

Sandshrew reacted as expected. First with confusion, and then with realization and an incredulous look.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm serious. Whether it be how strong you currently are, or how well you did in the battle with that Fearow, all of it was my fault."

She looked down at her paws, clenching them. Looking back up, she shook her head in denial. Ignoring her denial, he continued.

"And I suspect that even if you did have the same level of strength as that Fearow, you still would've lost."

That one threw her for a loop, as she stood up in shock, a flash of rage appearing on her face. "Sandshrew?!"

"That probably sounded like an insult but I'm being honest here. But before we get to that, I need to explain something."

Sandshrew took a second to sit back down, nodding as she did so. There was still a light glare on her face, however.

Izan scratched the back of his head, nervous. "Right, uh, I need to confess something. See… when I first got you, I was using you.

Or, at least I think I was trying to. I had this dream of living a life of a battle maniac. Just fighting over and over while going through life and having as much fun as possible.

I wasn't actively trying to do so, but I only spent the bare minimum of money and resources on you. It was in hopes that my dream could somehow become a reality through any avenue, including money.

It was why I was so obsessed with finding out whatever this strange power is.

But during that fight, I realized I was being stupid. After using all of my strength and even that mysterious power, I was barely able to move it. And if it wasn't for that Ferrothorn, I would've died there.

After realizing that, I put everything on the line to push your training to the next level. If you'll forgive me, I want to fulfill my dream through you.

To make you strong, instead. This time, with everything I've got."

Izan finished his long-winded speech by kowtowing to Sandshrew, something that he didn't think he'd be doing in either life.

Only the Pokemon world would create a situation in which someone earnestly bowed to a pangolin.

The silent stepping of dirt as Sandshrew came closer made him nervous about his response, considering he had pretty much no other options. A rugged paw landed on his head.

He looked up, seeing the expression on Sandshrew's face. It wasn't what he was expecting from her. She just looked… neutral?

She backed up a step and brought up her arms, shrugging, while she shook her head back and forth.

"Do… do you not care?" He asked, confuddled.

"Sandshrew." In response, she made a weird shrug and head tilt gesture that he could only interpret as some variation of 'I expected that'.

"Eh?"

Then afterward, she drew a wing in the dirt before circling it three times, stopping her foot. "Sandshrew, shrew!"

'Huh. I really thought she'd care more about that. Well, works for me I guess.' He thought.

"Oh, right. You want an explanation about me suspecting that you'd lose to Fearow." She nodded emphatically. "That's pretty simple. For one, you're a Sandshrew. Your species isn't that inherently strong. Plus, you still don't know many moves nor how to fight properly. That Fearow probably had years of experience fighting on the other hand." He explained matter-of-factly.

Sandshrew suddenly slumped, sulking on the ground as she made circles in the dirt.

Izan hurriedly held up his hands to reassure her. "Oh but that's just if we change the strength levels! If you had more experience and some training I bet you'd easily kick its ass even with the strength gap." He said confidently.

She looked up with hope in her eyes. "Sandshrew?"

"Really. I have no doubt in my mind that you're capable of that. Which brings me to my next point!" He exclaimed, standing up and taking a stick with him.

As he walked over to a soft part of the land, he began drawing something in the dirt while explaining. She intently listened, her earlier mood completely gone.

Although it didn't show on her face, she was quite happy hearing his 'confession'.

"I'm gonna have a few other Pokemon on the team eventually. And I've been thinking about how I'd structure my team since I was a little kid." That technically wasn't a lie. He did think about scenarios if Pokemon were real before.

He finished up one part of the drawing, moving over to the next.

"And I decided I want two front liners, two back liners, a Pokemon that fits into every role, and a support Pokemon."

With the second part done, he finally began drawing the third.

"That probably doesn't mean much to you, and I'm omitting a bunch of minor details, but the only role you fit into would be a frontline Pokemon."

In the dirt, he drew a shield, a sword, and a skull.

"So I want you to choose what type of frontline Pokemon you want to be. An Assassin, a Warrior, or a Tank?"

Sandshrew's eyes were filled with stars, but her head was almost sideways with how far she tilted it in confusion.

Izan looked up from his drawing, noticing that Sandshrew was excited but also looking at him as if he had three heads.

He lightly smacked his forehead. "Right, sorry. Let's start over then. You know what the terms I used before are, right? Frontline, backline, that sorta thing?"

Sandshrew nodded her head.

"Okay, good. I don't think you fit anywhere except frontline… unless you disagree?" He asked, raising his eyebrow.

She shook her head, opting to tap the symbols he drew again to indicate why she was confused.

"Gotcha. Alright, listen closely because I'm gonna let you decide what you wanna do."

She straightened up, intensely staring at the three symbols while she listened.

"Each role has multiple archetypes you can fill. It'll be what your fighting style will focus on and the moves and types of energy you need to learn."

He pointed at the sword. "The first archetype is the 'Warrior'. These types focus on a good balance of defense and attack, letting them take hits and quickly counter back. They're the kings of close range, but they can't do much if they can't close the range."

Sandshrew nodded, her interest growing as he continued explaining.

Moving on, he pointed to the skull. "And on one side of the spectrum is the 'Assassin'. They specialize in deceiving their opponent and defeating them most efficiently and mercilessly possible. Instead of having a good battle like the Warrior, they are solely focused on the moment to go in for the kill. However, they do tend to be frail in comparison."

To that, Sandshrew's interest grew even further, causing her to look at the shield symbol with anticipation.

Sliding the stick he was holding over, he pointed to the shield. "And finally, on the complete opposite of the spectrum is the 'Tank'. They specialize in absorbing any damage sent their way, preventing others from being attacked. They aren't required to do damage, but it is appreciated if they have some way to whittle down the enemy."

Her fixation died like a match underwater. She shuddered as she heard more about the role, outright kicking dirt over the shield symbol.

Izan's lips thinned but he didn't say anything about it. 'I sorta expected that. After Fearow, I'm more surprised she didn't have a worse reaction, honestly.'

Sandshrew sat down in front of the skull and the sword, crossing her arms as she closed her eyes in thought.

When she opened her eyes, she pointed to the skull.

"Really? Assassin?" She nodded firmly. "Alrighty then. I honestly didn't expect that, but it's not impossible."

He put his finger on his chin as he thought. 'Gonna need to look into how abilities work. Both Sand Veil and Sand Rush could work for an assassin build, honestly. Though I'd prefer Sand Veil in this scenario, considering the low special defense and fairly high attack. Plus, having a fighting style that relies on boosted speed wouldn't be helpful when there's no Sandstorm up. And if she learns-'

His musing was interrupted by Sandshrew tugging on his pants leg with a confused look on her face.

"Oh, sorry Sandshrew. I forgot to tell you what we're doing today." He reached into his pocket before pulling out a brown gem.

"This is a Rock Gem. To put it simply, it's an object full of rock-type energy." Giving it to her, she held it in her palms carefully as if it was delicate. "Ah, don't worry. It's pretty much indestructible unless you use a move on it."

"You need to learn how to use Rock-type energy, and the best way I found out was to just have you get acclimated to it through one of those. Once you absorb it and make it your own, we can move on to actual training." He explained casually.

She looked down at the gem with a frown before looking back up at him with a disappointed face. He innocently smiled down at her, gesturing for her to try it.

Rolling her eyes, she sat down again and looked at the gem with mild concentration. A second later and-

"Shrew!" She yelped and her body momentarily locked up. With wide eyes, she looked up at Izan with a face that screamed 'explain'.

Izan chuckled at her expense and put his hands up. "Sorry, sorry. Just a small prank. The gem will sort of 'reject' you until you have control over it, so it might sting for a bit. Don't give up!"

Of course, that's not exactly how the gem worked.

In essence, the gem was pure rock-type energy from another Pokemon stored into a blank gem. A Pokemon would then use a rock-type move, and all the energy inside would get attracted to the same type of energy, making that single move stronger.

However, if the Pokemon didn't use any moves and simply tried to absorb the energy into their body, it would attempt to 'attack'.

But due to the immense muscle density Pokemon have, it doesn't go any further than the muscular system. And since it's such a weak 'attack', it only functions as a full-body workout.

'Though it sucks that it only works up until level 10. Otherwise, I'd just have Sandshrew absorb every gem I could find for easy training.'

Sandshrew gave him narrowed eyes but shook off his prank, sitting down and continuing. Every so often she would wince at the mild pain that went through her entire body.

"While you work on that, I'm gonna be doing some research for later. Good luck~!" He sing-songed to Sandshrew, who blew a raspberry back at him.

Sitting down with a book under the shade, he got to reading.

- (Green) -

There were a few ways Green expected her journey to go. Battling gym leaders, catching powerful Pokemon, making groundbreaking discoveries. The works.

Reality was… disappointing.

Even after beating Brock and becoming a C-Class trainer in record fucking time, a feat others wouldn't accomplish in their entire trainer career, she was still in his shadow.

Blue Oak, the bane of her existence.

No matter what she did, whether it was in school or not, all of her efforts were overshadowed by that brown-haired prick.

Sure, she understood where people were coming from. She wasn't an idiot, she graduated at the top of her class, after all.

While she had Squirtle under her belt to help her decimate Brock, Blue managed to beat him even faster with just a Charmander. To others, he was obviously the more impressive one, being at a type disadvantage.

She couldn't deny that he was a prodigy Pokemon trainer.

But c'mon, no one even batted an eye when she told them the news! All they talked about was Blue, blue, blue.

Fuck that guy! She might not be a prodigy, but she worked just as hard.

So as she was walking out of Viridian Forest after a training session, she got an idea.

It was probably a stupid one, but she was tired of living in his shadow. Plus, Squirtle could protect her. She had Repels, too.

Glancing at a hole in the cliffside, she squinted her eyes at a sign from far away.

'Beware! Diglett Cave ahead.'

To her knowledge, that cave led directly to a spot outside of Vermillion City. There most likely wouldn't be any guards around since it was just diglett cave, but it didn't matter anyway, she was a trainer.

She'd just say she got curious and wandered in.

It was a place she was planning to go anyway to train up her new Bellsprout and some more training for Squirtle.

And if her knowledge was correct, she could go straight to Lieutenant Surge.

Then no one could say she wasn't on the same level as Blue. Surge was widely known as stronger than Misty, whom Blue already lost to once.

He was rapidly growing though, and she had no doubt in her mind he'd win the rematch.

So if she managed to beat Surge, who was both stronger and would put her at a type disadvantage, surely she would get some recognition for once.

…Right?