The sunlight trickled through the cracks in the dirty skylights. The air smelled of dried sweat and old sneakers. From atop the throne of the dojo, Kiyo sat between two pedestals displaying the champion fighting pokemon.
Below him, other pokemon trainers practiced with their other competitors. Muscular men and women training with bigger pokemon; Machokes and Machamps, Mankeys and Primeapes. The sounds of punching bags pulling chains, of punches, slams onto the red mats, and kicks, as well as the occasional shaking of the ground, filled Kiyo's ears with joy.
The doors to the dojo creaked open, pushed by a boy's curious head.
"Anyone here?"
Everyone in the room, towering over the young boy, looked towards each other and resumed their training.
"I guess there are. You weren't here an hour ago."
The dojo leader patiently stood up as Ray respectfully took off his worn-out shoes.
"We went out for lunch. What can I do for you?"
The sunlight bounced around his brown hair before the door slammed shut behind him.
"Well, my name's Ray. I hear you have excellent fighting pokemon here, and that I could win one in a battle."
The other trainers looked towards the little boy again. Some resumed training, some laughed, the rest eyed the boy down as he approached the dojo.
"Yes, we do. Would you like to challenge one of my trainers?"
Ray gulped as he stared at the towering men and women in front of him. Even after being on the road for so long, he couldn't even imagine being as strong as them. Maybe if he did more pushups...
"Well, which one would you like to challenge?" The leader chuckled.
He stood across from Kiyo, his bare feet shuffling on the red mat. The other trainers surrounded him, begging for him to pick them. Yet he knew exactly who to challenge.
"I challenge you, Sir, for one of those fighting pokemon."
The other trainers murmured amongst each other as the Dojo Master walked down to the red mat.
"Of course I accept. There's just one challenge, Ray. You may only use physical moves in my gym. No elemental moves. That means no ground, fire, electric, water, grass, ice, or rock moves unless they are physical in nature, such as a punch, a kick, or a throw. You understand?"
"No."
Everyone was taken aback.
"No?"
Ray stood there with his hand on his chin.
"In that case, I need to train my pokemon for that. I was expecting to use the arena outside..."
"That's for the football team next door. Not every big field is used for battles, boy."
The other trainers roared with laughter as Ray turned to leave. His ears and the freckles under his eyes glowed red with shame. He got as far as the door before changing his mind.
"NO! I understand. I will fight you, and I will beat you, Sir. Get your pokemon ready."
"Great, son. But you can't just challenge me. Hideki, show this boy what you've got."
Ray sprinted back to the battle mat and threw out his pokeball before Anthony had a chance to step forward.
Wartortle growled at his new opponent as Hideki unleashed his own Machop.
"Let the battle begin!"
Ray narrowed his eyes. His ears were still red.
"BODY SLAM!"
Immediately the superpower pokemon flew backward into the padded wall. The room got quiet.
Machop got up, rubbed its nose and sprinted towards the blue turtle.
"Fury Swipes!"
"Dodge and boomerang!"
The bigger trainer couldn't anticipate the move. Wartortle immediately dodged and spun inside its shell so fast it returned like a boomerang, slamming into Machop and sending it flying again. This time Machop couldn't fight anymore.
Reluctantly, Hideki released his next pokemon. Hopping around on tiny pink feet, the white puffball grunted through a pig-like snout and focused its beady eyes on the unscathed turtle.
"Mankey, show it how fighting's done!"
Without command, Mankey let loose with a barrage of fury swipes. Wartortle couldn't dodge so easily. Only after retreating into its shell could it handle the onslaught.
No elemental moves... So that leaves a couple of options...let's try one.
"Boomerang, full body!"
It's these moments that made him glad he came prepared anyway. Wartortle slipped away from the scratches and slipped away.
"Dodge it, Mankey!"
He didn't know Ray was expecting that. As Mankey dodged, Wartortle used the momentum to rocket back towards the pig pokemon, sending that one flying as well.
It struggled to get up again. One more body slam, right where it stood, sent it straight back into its pokeball. One last pokemon from this trainer.
Wartortle smirked at its trainer.
This is supposed to be a challenge?
Ray shrugged his shoulders.
Who cares? Let's finish these suckers before they know what hit them.
Thanks for reading this far! Please favorite if you like what you read and comment what you think! I'd love to hear about it!
I'm also looking for fan art of this series. If you got inspired to draw anything from this story, I'd love to see it! Email me a link to your DeviantArt profile or just send a copy to epiconstories with the Subject "Pokemon TPI Art". Thanks in advance, and I hope this series inspires you to draw something EPIC!
