I looked around, awestruck, at the Pokemon around me. I was in the breeding center, and everywhere I looked, Pokemon were pleading with me to take them with me. I turned slowly, taking everything in, then spotted one that I really wanted. Machops.

There were ten of them in the same enclosure, and I walked over to it and made my way inside, and man, were they ever strong, even at that early age! I had to make a conscious effort to stay up, they were all pushing me every which way, and I made my way over to one that was sitting alone in a corner and picked it up. It was the runt of the litter, I could tell that, but as I picked it up, it seemed to enjoy being near me, and cuddled into my chest. I turned towards Erin, and said, "I want this one. It may not be strong now, but it will be later."

Erin grinned at me with a mischevious look on her face. She wasn't telling me something. I knew that. What she was hiding I couldn't tell, but still...that expression...there had to be something special about this one. I didn't have to wait long to find out what, because as we were walking out she couldn't hold it in any longer, "That one is actually the smallest and youngest of them all, but it's also the strongest." I looked at the Machop in surprise, the runt of the litter being the strongest? It was amazing.

The next day, I went to the Training center, then looked around. My Machop knew where to go, and strode across the entry lounge to a door, opened, it, took a left, then the first right, then into a gym. There was only one person in the gym, but there were many Mankeys, Primeapes, Mahops, Machokes, Machamps, Hitmonlees, Tyrogues, Hitmontops, and Hitmonchans.

The Machop waited patiently by my side as I looked around, then I strode towards the Trainer, obviously in charge. He turned and saw me walking towards him and said, "Ah, I see that you have brought the little master back. He is actually one of the most powerful Machops that I have ever seen though he is the smallest. Now, if he will just take his place..."

I suddenly had an idea, and said, "No." He had already half turned away from me, and I saw him stiffen. His fists clenched, and his muscles bulged from the cut-off T-shirt and I could see that he was just a little peeved. Obviously, he was used to getting his own way most of the time.

He turned back and walked right up to me and asked, "What do you mean, 'no?' Do you wish to battle me? If so, then bring it on. He is hopelessly outclassed by the various Machamps that you can see training here." He was standing at his full height and glared at me down his nose.

I smiled easily, knowing that he could easily beat me to a pulp. "What I mean is, Choppy here won't join in the training until you agree to train me as well." I fixed him with a cool gaze.

Well, I didn't know that a grown man could whine and complain that much. He kept going on about the differences in Pokemon and human anatomy, how this had never been done before, how it was different for him since he had started when he was younger than me, and finally back to the good old, "it's not fair," and "I don't want to." I simply responded that if he didn't train me, I would spread the word that his brother was in jail, I knew this from gossip that I had heard from people around Rocket-Bane. "My brother is a warden!" he shouted at me. I told him that I wouldn't tell that part.

That got him, since he had had a sterling reputation and didn't want that botched. "All right," he growled, "But I don't have to like it. Your Machop will have to help you catch up with the class. Get over there, in the corner, and there's a book over there and you'll have to learn from it. I'll be over in a bit, just let me get the Pokemon going again."

Walking over to the corner, I found a pedestal much like what the Code of Rocketbane Book had been on, and began reading. It was fascinating, the history of martial arts, but I made a mental note to come back sometime just to read it, then I quickly flipped to the pages that the trainer must have been referring to...the pages telling a person how to use martial arts.

The Trainer came over to me and growled, "All right, Sanders, My name is Lieutenant Colonel Thompson, but most people call me Muscles. You can call me Colonel Thompson." Now, I trust that you read that carefully?" I nodded, and he grinned malicously. I began regretting my choice, "All right, then, let's get going!" Whenever he trained me, he pushed me to my limit, and I think sometimes just bit over it.

"It's awful!" I complained to Erin that night, since we had agreed to meet at a burger place, "He pushed me harder than he has any right to! You'd think I was in boot camp or something!"

Erin giggled, "Well, you are, in a way. He was in the army, besting Lieutenant Surge many times over, during World War Four, and he had to go through a grueling boot camp, so he's probably taking you through a rough version of it. Though from what you said you rubbed him the wrong way, and he will probably hold a grudge against you for a while, which means he will push you HARD!"

Groaning, I remembered some of the humiliating comments he had shouted at me, and the crowd that had gathered at the door, laughing at me, the dumb trainer that wanted to be strong as a Pokemon. "No?" I muttered, holding my aching sides where Thompson had punched me in a practice fight, "Ya think? I better get home and rest...so I can get some practice with Machop in later before I go to practice tomorrow."

Erin smiled softly, and said, "All right then, but I assume that you won't want that hamburger because of its high fat content then?"

She reached out as if to grab the burger, but I slapped her hand away, "hands off!" I moaned, feeling my aching arm muscles start crying out again, even more tired out than I could have possibly thought them, "I've worked off too much unwanted flab already today, and I need to earn some back." Erin laughed and waved as I left. As soon as I got back to the small apartment carved out of the cave's outer limits that had been assigned to me, I went straight to the bed and fell asleep."

I was wakened early the next morning by Machop shaking me, well, I hadn't slept at all, I was so sore. Machop pointed to the table, where it had fixed breakfast already. Sliding out of bed, I thought how wonderful it was to have a humanoid Pokemon so that it could fix dinner easily with human appliances.

I started staggering towards tha table, but Machop suddenly blocked my way. Glaring down at him, I moved to my left, but he blocked me. Annoyed, since I wanted my breakfast, I moved to my right, but he blocked me yet again! Looking at him, I saw that he had a smirk on his face, and knew that the only way I was getting past him was if I fought him. Groaning, I took a swipe at him, but he merely stepped back and gave me a good one in the stomach. That got me wide awake, but also really mad. Machop barely knew what was going on when suddenly a hail of shouts and punches drove him backwards, and finally into the kitchen, where he started fighting back. I didn't care but just kept fighting and fighting, until I had reached the kitchen tabel, then we both stopped, and I could finally eat. I couldn't believe how sore I still was

After a week of training, even old Lieutenant Colonel "Muscles" Thompson agreed, grudgingly that I was doing better than he had been at my age. "I don't understand it. How can you know a move that only a Pokemon knows? Well, except for me, of course, I know it too."

He must have been referring to my learning Mega Kick. Well, I just paid attention when he trained the Pokemon class, that, and my Machop showed me how to do it. Those practice battles with the Machop were really great! I was actually slowly getting better. But I knew that I would always be weaker than him. Oh, and another thing, the nickname "Choppy" stuck, even though I didn't mean it to be a nickname that first day in class.

A month later, Old Muscles shouted at me when I came in, "Sanders! I have an assignment for you now! You've wanted to see how good you really are?" he smirked, and I began to feel uncomfortable, "I've got a match all lined up for you..." he pointed over to the fighting mat, and I wondered what he meant.

"Are you joking?" I asked, startled at seeing a small but lively Machop waiting for me.

Muscles' smirk grew wider, "Nope, but then I knew that you wouldn't have the guts to face it. This is it. You do this now, and you hve the choice of staying in, or you don't do it, and I never want to see you in here again looking for another lesson.

Swallowing, I cautiously moved to the mat, and looked the Machop over carefully. If I guessed correctly, it would only know be powerful enough to use Low Kick and Karate Chop. Advancing warily, I threw a punch at the Machop to see how it would react. Muscles smiked and shouted in a clear voice, "Machop, Agility!"

I barely had time to throw myself backwards and roll before the Machop was moving. It came in with a Karate Chop, but I kicked its hand out of alignment, and its hand hit the concrete floor with a loud crack. It looked at its hand, as if expecting something to be wrong with it, but I knew that the noise was a crack opening up in the floor. While it was busy, I decided to pull my trump card, since Colonel Thompson had already shown his. Luckily for me, the Agility move only increased the Machop's attacking speed, not its thinking speed. While it was still pondering its hand, I darted in and landed a Mega Punch directly on its neck pressure spot. it froze for a brief instant, which I used to back away quickly, and it wheeled around, executing a Low Kick in the process. I jumped over the leg, then jumped again as the kick came again. Suddenly there was another kick, one htat came straight backwards towards me, and I had no time to htink, only to act. I grabbed the leg and shoved it upward. The Machop's momentum carried it off-balance and it fell over backwards. I decided to take advantage of this, and executed a Mega Kick.. It had been getting up, but it went back down iwth a thud.

Gasping for breath, I wiped off my forehead, which was covered in sweat by now, and watched as the Machop staggered to its feet. I let out a bellow and waded in with a Mega Punch. Well, my punch staggered the Machop, actually, it turned out to be the weakest of the litter that Choppy was from, so it wasn't that young, and back pedaled for a few feet, as much to get away from me as anything else, then it came at me, and executed a Low Kick, which was blocked easily by me by grabbing the outstretched foot and flipping it up onto its back.

The arena shuddered under the impact, and I fell to the ground as well, but pulled myself up. The Machop got up wearily now, and looked for its opening. I was pretty tired myself, but I decided to try something, and ran at it, and, at the last possible second, jumped into the air and snapped off a kick. I didn't have as much altitude as I would have liked, so it hit it in its chest, and I went crashing to the floor. It staggered back again, but this time I pressed my advantage, and used two Mega Punches, and it slid to the floor, unconscious.

I staggered, then started to fall to the floor, but Choppy was there, and grabbed me before I fell completely. There was utter silence from the room, except for the occasional Pokemon mutterring in amazement. Then, from the doorway, came a clap, then several, then I heard over the intercom, "Nice work, Mr. Sanders," I recognized it as the voice of Professor Shale.

Professor Shale turned from the intercom, and leaned back in his chair, "I need not remind you, gentlemen, and lady," he commented idly to a group of twelve men and a woman behind him, which comprised the council of Rocket-Bane, the supreme authority on everything that happened in the gigantic cavern, "That you were skeptical about this boy joining our ranks. When you heard the demand he had placed on Colonel Thompson, you said that he would quit in the first day, then the first two weeks, then the first month." Slowly, he got up and stretched, "This young man is ready to fight to the death for our cause, and I say that we shouldn't waste the oppurtunity. to recruit him for the army. I need not remind YOU that I told him that the council would have to make the final call on his joining the army or specforces. Is this not the final shred of proof that you need of his power? And what about his loyalty? Has not the Tester and Mew already verified this?"

"Shale," began a haggard man, "Please, I beg you, cease your tirade, for we have listened to you and grown weary of them. More tests must we ask of him. We must trust his honesty, and we must test his sense of loyalty. I have heard that he is going to the Psychic gym next, and he will not pass either the test or the gym. And if he does, he will have the test of morals and willpower, as Mew has informed us of his plan to go to the Grass Gym next."

Shale rubbed his eyes and reached for the coffee maker, "Someday, when Team Rocket is breathing down our necks, you will rue all this testing that you make the candidates go through!" he murmured fiercely, "We will not have enough Pokemon trained hard enough, nor trainers to face them, and thus the final battle for the world will be lost." Shale wheeled around and, drinking the last of his coffee, tossed the plastic cup into a recycling bin.

I looked over at the door and was amazed to see no less than two dozen people, some in the doorway, some in the gym itself, clapping at me and staring at me in awe. And there in the very front of them stood Erin, no, not standing, running towards me. She grabbed me from Choppy and hugged me. Me? I was so exhausted I didn't really realize what was happening until later, and whenever that came up again, I was always embarrassed. Anyway, the best that I could do at the time was to put my arms around her to sort of hug her back, but really just hoping that when she let me go, my hands would hold together at her neck and I wouldn't go sliding to the floor.