START Chapter 3: The Trainer Initiative
Ayaa Nguyen
[Friday, January 6, 2024. 11:00 EST]
"On December 29th, Vice President Ayaa Nguyen delivered a shocking address to the nation. Promising an administration of utmost transparency, she has risen to the occasion as the leader of this country. Has she delivered? In an exclusive interview with Lawrence Aberdeen, Vice President Nguyen shares her story today"
"Good morning, Madame Vice President. Or is it… President Nguyen now?"
"It's a confusing time for all of us, Lawrence," Ayaa replied, "but I was sworn in on Saturday."
"So President Nguyen. I'm sure you're incredibly busy so let's begin right away," Lawrence said. He shuffled around a few of the cards in his hands, sifting through his questions.
"Of course."
"Now, Madame President," Lawrence began, "I'd like to talk about the United States government response to the Catastrophe. With six cities and six separate meteorites, our country has the second highest number of 'legendary pokemon' in the world. Has your administration figured out why that is the case?"
"As of right now, no. We have not. I can assure you that figuring out what was behind the Catastrophe is the Pentagon's number one priority," Aaya replied.
"And containment efforts… how have they been going?"
"Seattle and Memphis have been completely cleared. Our intelligence has tracked down suicune to the Cascade Mountains, where it has remained dormant since the Catastrophe. Seattle has returned to Level One, and all lockdown measures should be removed once the city itself has been cleared of any hostiles."
"Memphis had tornadus, right? The hurricanes," Lawrence said.
"That is correct. Damage in Memphis was limited to the meteorite itself. Tornadus has not caused any civilian casualties, and we do not believe that it is a threat, at least not a priority," Ayaa said.
"I'm glad to hear that. Madame President, I'd like to talk about the American response to the other part of this catastrophe, the emergence of pokemon. Now it's to my understanding that the government is not intending to follow Japan's lead-"
"Our allies in Japan have been very proactive in their response to the Catastrophe, Lawrence."
"Do you mean the Trainer Initiative Program?" Lawrence asked.
Ayaa frowned, pausing for a moment to think before responding, "Yes. Japan is trying to recruit civilians to aid in pokemon research and any containment endeavours. However, we do not believe that unregulated vigilantism is the appropriate response to the Catastrophe."
"Do you mean that there will not be a similar program in the United States?"
"Well actually… Umm…"
"Will there be a Trainer program in the United States of America?" Lawrence asked. His question lingered in the air, followed by silence.
"My administration is currently working with private research institutions across the country, to better understand the situation before authorising any kind of domestication efforts."
"Like the Leona Foundation? Madame President, is the government working with the Leona Foundation in Chicago?"
Ayaa gave a strained smile. "Mr. Antonin Monti has… graciously taken the initiative in pokemon research, through the Leona Monti Foundation. We have not yet established formal cooperation with their private pokemon laboratory, but our people are currently in negotiations."
"Well let's move on then, Madame President. Starting with your new cabinet…"
Antonin Monti
[Friday, January 6, 2024. 15:23 EST]
"With their SILPH program, the Japanese government has announced their full support for the development of pokemon domestication technology. Since they have taken full possession of the Pokemon Company's resources, we anticipate expedited efforts in pokeball development technology."
"Alice dear, an update report please," Antonin said.
"Yes boss. Of the three divisions in the Leona Monti Foundation, which one would you like to hear first?" Alice responded.
"How are we doing on the pokeball development efforts?"
"Currently, we have two people on the Japanese SILPH team. They are using a process of infusing semiconductor technology with these plants called apricorns which have been known to possess a unique compound that-"
"Alice, please. It's good that you're excited, but just the overview for now."
"Yes sir, sorry sir. SILPH should be able to produce working prototypes by February, if not earlier. The Japanese government is providing full funding for the team behind it. It's all hush hush for now."
"And they're planning on making this completely accessible to the public? So the average person can 'capture' pokemon?"
"The Prime Minister seems like he's hell-bent on making that happen. I have no idea why he'd do something that dangerous…"
"He's not a politician, Alice. Ryuzei is a scientist at heart. He'll have the prototypes done by the end of this month."
Antonin paused to take a sip from his glass. He swirled the whiskey in his mouth before swallowing with a grimace.
"I want you to transfer $500,000 to each of our insiders' accounts. If they can get us that working prototype before it reaches consumer shelves, then send them an extra 500 grand."
"And after we get that prototype, sir?"
"Buy whatever factories we need in Michigan. We start making our own pokeballs. Cheaper. Better. Increase our R&D budget by however much is necessary. I'll get the funding for it."
"Yes sir. Would you like updates on the other two branches?"
"Please, whatever you've got," Antonin said.
"We're still actively hiring as many people that have managed to train a pokemon as possible. So far, the list of tamed pokemon that require no further domestication are about twenty species. Mostly dogs, cats, some lizard variants and birds."
"How many people do we have on payroll?"
"About 400, give or take. We're still vetting the last batch of recruits for how well they actually control their pokemon. Peter has taken full control of this division. He's calling himself Executive Peter now."
"That's fine. I'm glad he's stepping up to the situation," Antonin said.
"Andrew is making sure that all your other duties are being taken care of. He's currently talking to the administration. The feds are trying to crack down on all of our operations, but Andrew is doing a great job fending them off," said Alice. "He's more like your second-in-command at this point."
Antonin simply nodded. He stared at the unfinished glass in his hand, before sighing and setting it down. "Andrew's a good kid. He'll make sure that the work gets done."
A silence fell on the room. Alice waited for her boss to say anything else, then just tightly smiled.
"If that's all, I will get right on with the R&D tasks," Alice replied. She dipped her head before heading to the door. As she turned the handle to leave, she stopped and looked back at her boss. "Sir… Mr. Monti. If you ever need anything, anything, we're here for you. Andrew, even Peter. You can trust us."
She then left, closing the door behind her.
Antonin paused to stare at the door, wondering what to make of her words. Shaking his head, he stood up from his desk and snagged the crutch that was leaning against it. A full recovery, that's what his doctors promised him.
"You can come out now, monster," he cautiously said.
A small, pinkish creature emerged from the wall behind him. It had a long, sleek tail, which was about the length of a cable cord. Immediately it began to dig into the plate of scones that were on Antonin's desk.
"Just what the hell are you, exactly?" Antonin muttered to himself. The pink pokemon first appeared in front of him a few days before, when he had finally been cleared from bed rest. It had been rummaging through his pantry when Antonin had encountered it.
On his desk, he had a few meagre books on pokemon that his secretaries had scrounged up for him. Several hundred species were a lot to get through, and after some searching he gave up trying to identify what this creature was. It would always disappear whenever he tried to get one of his subordinates to try and get a look at it.
"Monster. Why do you torture me?" Antonin asked.
The creature just chirped, nibbling on another scone while swishing its tail around. It even made a noise that sounded awfully like a belch.
"Glutton," he said, pinching his nose and resting back in the chair. "There's more if you want some."
While the small pokemon was happily rummaging through the snacks, Antonin picked up the remote from where Alice had left it, and turned on the television.
[Friday, January 6, 2024. 16:08 EST]
"Several eyewitnesses in the Rocky Mountains have reported seeing an orange dragon-like creature roaming the skies. It's believed to be the species known as charizard, one of the most famous pokemon of the past few decades. Eyewitnesses have also claimed to have seen a small child riding on the back of this fire lizard."
"Internet forums across the world have referred to this child as Red, a homage to the playable character in the titular Pokemon Red games. How exactly this young man would have tamed such a ferocious creature has yet to be determined. More on this 'Red' in a special edition later tonight."
"Why would a creature like yourself choose to follow a human?" Antonin asked.
The creature looked up, its curiosity piqued at the blurry image of the orange dragon that was on the screen. Its pink snout just quivered.
"It's irrational. You possess the strangest of powers, far greater than any man. Yet mere video games are all the evidence that people need to believe you can be tamed. Why?"
Shrugging, the pink creature just continued to nibble away at the scones. Antonin sighed, tuning out the television and grabbing a stack of paperwork.
"No matter. I will figure it out. I always do."
Antonin picked up one of the small pastries, holding it up against the light from his desk stand.
"You know, creature, my mother was the kindest woman I have ever known," he said while crushing the flaky scone between his fingers. "My father- my birth father ran away when I was just six years old. So it was just me and her, the two of us against the world."
The pink creature just stared, snout twitching but otherwise as still as a statue.
"My mama and I loved watching this TV show together. About spaceships and aliens. It was her favourite. We'd go visit the neighbour's place next door and watch new episodes every single week."
Antonin dropped the scone back on the plate.
"It was always about the next adventure for her. She was vibrant and alive, always caring. She wanted to be an astronaut when she was a little girl, before she met my birth father. Wanted to fly off into the sky in a rocketship. Once I was born, she gave up on school. I would be her new little rocket man, her little Nino."
Antonin rose from his seat once more, clutching onto his metal crutch. He turned away from the small pink creature and stared at a picture on the wall. A picture of the winged beast that had ravaged Chicago. A picture of lugia.
"It's time to reach into the stars, mama. I will avenge you, and make you proud."
Holt Locke
[Monday, February 5, 2024. 10:02 EST]
"Rodie, heel," I ordered.
The herdier looked at me, head tilted to the side, before he promptly sat down.
"Uh… Use a fire fang on that doll over there."
Herdier just snorted, falling onto his belly.
"Fire fang. You have to make your mouth on fire and… fang. You know?" I pleaded.
He just kept staring at me, not even budging.
For about a month now, I had been trying everything I could to understand the herdier's movepool. So far, he had the Bite attack and Take Down mastered. None of the other moves that I found online seemed to be doing much. Leer was another one that Rodie could sometimes pull off, but never against the test dolls I was buying for him.
Once the federal government took action, Seattle was cleared of most of the wild pokemon that were roaming the streets. In about a week, the new president's task force was able to drive out the hordes of pokemon. She called it the ACE initiative. Agency of Containment and Enforcement. A real cheeky move, considering that they were just glorified hired guns.
My apartment in Capitol Hill had escaped much of the firebombing that razed most of North Seattle. The I-5 had been barricaded off after a swarm of paras and parasect were discovered in Everett. Anybody living in the communities between Seattle and Canada had either been evacuated or terminated by government forces.
It was a state-run massacre that had been covered up so tightly, that only a select few people were privy to the details. Clayton just so happened to have a friend that was one of them.
Speaking of Clayton, the old bartender had gone out of his way to become a local community leader of sorts. He organised regular patrols, outside of the ones that ACE was conducting. People have taken to calling him Old Man Clay, or Clay the Cowboy.
Clay. That name rang a bell for me. But for the life of me, I could not figure out where I knew him from. I'd never been to his hometown of Ellensburg, and as far as I could tell I had never met him before the Catastrophe. But a nagging feeling persisted. A cowboy named Clay…
I tried telling herdier another command. "Thunder fang!"
He still didn't move. I sighed, and tossed him another berry. Just because pokemon had suddenly come to life did not mean that training them would be as easy as it was in the games.
On the topic of games, as soon as I made my way back to the apartment, I made a beeline for some of the old Nintendo games and consoles that I had stashed away in the closet.
Dumping out the 3DS, I rummaged around for any of the cartridges for the Generation 5 series. Pokemon Black, White 2, anything that I could find.
Funnily enough, they were all missing. Just my luck, I'd probably sold them during the pandemic for a quick buck.
No matter. I still had the internet. I quickly browsed through any online forums that could help me try and train this herdier of mine. I refused to be confined to basic physical attacks.
With this new knowledge at my disposal, I had been training Rodie to the best of my ability. Since the Seattle Herald had effectively shut down since the Catastrophe, it wasn't like I had a day job or anything to get to.
"At ease, boy. How ya' been?" A voice asked, from behind me.
Herdier was lapping at this newcomer's boots. Looking up, I recognised the dusty look of Clayton who was fondly scratching Rodie's ear.
"Hey there Mr. Clay. Might as well call you Mr. Mayor at this point," I said.
"Very funny, kid. You're real funny, you know?" Clayton responded. He had on a new hat, probably freshly purchased from some Western wares store. "How's training going?"
I shrugged. "As good as it can be, I guess. It's not like there are any pokemon training experts around, so a lot of this is just trial and error."
Clayton grimaced. "About that, son. I'm gonna need yer advice about something," he said.
"I'm all ears."
"Right, it's about pokemon training specifically." Clayton pulled out a sheet of paper from his vest pocket, uncrumpling it and handing it to me. "Came from the governor's office this morning. He wants me to send a dozen folks over to Olympia, for some government program."
"What kind of program?"
"He's calling it the trainer initiative. Supposed it's a federal program for trying to find people willin' to officially train pokemon. You gotta bring yer own, so you'd take Rodie with ya," he said.
"Fucking hell."
"Language, boy."
"Oh my dearest heavens," I said. Cheeky bastard that I am. "Do you have a dozen people you could send?"
"I've got about ten kids lined up and ready to go. They used to play this game called Pokemon GO, and they've been itchin' to get in on the action."
"Fair enough. What's the pay?"
"Not mentioned. They said they've got some new tech from overseas they want ye to try out. Called a pokeball or summut," Clayton said.
I froze at the last part. Pokeballs, the metallic capturing devices that would allow for people to truly harness the power of pokemon. Even with the Catastrophe having changed the world, this was one thing I had never expected to come out of this, especially not so soon.
"If ye want time to think about-"
"I'm in." I cut him off. Clayton just blinked at my response, but shrugged.
"Figured you might. I managed to scavenge an old school bus from my buddy Riley over in Sammamish. I'll drive ye down myself, tomorrow morning."
"Why so early? Don't we need to let everyone else know?" I asked.
"Look around, kid. People ain't got much of a choice. The world just ain't the same no more, If yer not essential services, then people just ain't hirin' ya," Clayton replied.
"Will it be alright for you to be missing all day? What about your work with the patrol corp?"
"I whipped 'em boys into shape well enough. Bout time I let the deputy take charge for a bit. These old bones won't last forever."
The conversation died there. Clayton stayed around for a bit, watching me train his old herdier, before making his way out of the gym. The gym was an old jujitsu centre, before the Catastrophe. The old owners had packed up their stuff and left town, saying that it was too dangerous to be in the city.
Clayton had spent a few hundred bucks buying the place, before handing me the keys and telling me to make the best use of the space as possible. Since it was only a block away from my apartment, I happily agreed.
"Rodie, use work up!" I shouted.
Rodie jumped to his feet, suddenly yipping and jumping around. He was really starting to get riled up, which he demonstrated by tackling one of the training dummies.
"Good boy." I tossed him an oran berry, which he chewed up eagerly.
Pokemon training was turning out to be the most fascinating experience of my life.
[Tuesday, February 6, 2024. 6:34 EST]
"You're late," Clayton stated, looking irritated.
"You said the morning. It's 6:30 AM. I don't know what you're on about, old man."
"Ungrateful brat. Get back there," he said.
I hopped up into the bus, making my way to the back. There were a few other sleepy looking faces around me, each with their own creature partner sitting next to them. I spotted a few interesting pokemon, including one boy's houndour and another girl's purrloin curled up next to her.
Despite having spent so much time with Rodie, it still fascinated me how people were suddenly able to tame such terrifying creatures as pokemon. The world was defying all logic, letting mankind wield such raw power.
Strangely enough, that prospect only made me all the more excited.
The bus ride down to Olympia was a quiet affair. Clayton was an excellent driver, able to get the 60-mile distance down to a 40 minute bus ride. We arrived at about 7:30 AM, half an hour earlier than scheduled.
The building we stopped at was grey, unassuming, and drab. Clayton pulled over in an empty parking space and told everyone to hop on out. I joined the rest of the dazed non-morning people, trudging their way off the bus.
By the time the last of us had made it out of the vehicle, three uniformed officers had come outside to meet us. The man in the middle was built like a tank, triceps thicker than a fucking barrel. He had buzzed blondish hair and a pair of black sunglasses which masked his eyes.
"Good morning. My name is Lieutenant Matis, and welcome to the Olympia Trainers' Camp. Are you ready to begin your initiation?" he asked, voice booming and thunderous.
A few yeses were mumbled around me. Matis frowned, his eyebrows scrunched together.
"ARE YOU READY?" he yelled this time.
"Yes sir!" Some of us instinctively yelled, myself included. Satisfied with the response, Matis marched us inside with the two other officers escorting us from behind.
Once inside the facility, we were led to a classroom with twenty-five desks. Ten of them were filled with some other faces that we did not recognise. I'd somehow managed to make it to the front of the line, so Matis ordered me to fall into rank. That basically meant to 'find a seat and sit down.'
After we were all seated, they began to pass out some sheets of paper and number 2 pencils.
Lieutenant Matis, now calling himself Instructor Matis, was standing in the front of the room with his bulging arms crossed.
"Alrighty, now that we're all here, it's time for the first test! This is going to be an easy one, so I expect all of you to pass with flying colours. Anyone that doesn't get at least a 7 out of 10, will be disqualified from the Trainer Initiative Program. Am I clear? I hate repeating myself."
"Yes sir!" We collectively shouted out.
Matis just grinned. "Aaaaaand, BEGIN!"
I flipped over the piece of paper and began reading through the first question.
Hitmontop hits gengar with a rolling kick. Gengar hits back with a sludge bomb. Hitmontop uses a hi jump kick on gengar. How effective is this attack?
A) x1 effective
B) x2 effective (super effective)
C) x0.5 effective (not very effective)
D) x0 effective (immunity)
Well shit this is easy, I thought to myself, marking (D) as the correct one. Ghosts are completely immune to fighting type attacks. I peered over at Matis, to try and catch a glimpse of his face. He was making his rounds past the desks, wearing a sinister grin. A knowing look that really grinded my gears.
No, no, no. Let's think this through, I thought. Looking at the question again, I noticed something peculiar. The fact that hitmontop had used a rolling kick before, why was this even mentioned?
A particular move came into mind. One that rarely saw any competitive use, if ever. But if my memory serves me correctly, it could mean a whole world of difference.
Foresight. The move that would allow fighting type moves to actually hit the ghost type. If hitmontop had been able to use rolling kick on gengar, then it would stand to reason that he had already used foresight on it to be able to hit it.
Scribbling out my answer (D), I instead circled (C) as the correct choice before moving on to the next question.
Berries can be used to cure certain status ailments and/or conditions. For example, the pecha berry can be used to cure paralysis in people and in pokemon.
A) True
B) False
False. Pecha berries were for the poison status condition. I vaguely wondered how the whole poison gimmick would play out in the real world now. Would there be a universal cure for all poisons? How does this mechanic even function in any cohesive manner?
The rest of the questions were surprisingly easy to answer. Anyone who's played a main series game should've been able to get through them without too much difficulty.
"Aaaaaaand time! Pass your papers forwards, people. Pencils down! Down I said!" the lieutenant barked. "While the instructors are grading, please line up in front of the room. Single file, and I really don't care what order you're in. Move it!"
We were escorted outside of the testing room, this time to a huge indoor boxing ring of sorts. All of the pokemon that we had brought with us were waiting patiently inside of the ring. Lieutenant Matis whistled once, and all of the pokemon leapt out.
"While you all were testing your hearts out, these mutts here have been undergoing a harsh physical evaluation. We tested them on speed, strength, and most importantly, how well they listen to orders," Matis said. I noticed Rodie in the mix, he was panting heavily and looked on the verge of collapsing.
"You have no right to do that to my pokemon!" One of the other initiates cried. He had reddish hair and was wearing a tan jacket for some college sports team.
Matis just stared at him, eyes unreadable behind his shades. "Door's over there, if you want to leave."
Red-haired guy just stared at the blonde lieutenant in front, then whistled at the group of pokemon. One of the pokemon, a kecleon, leapt out of the enclosure and waddled up next to him. He glared at Matis, then muttered something about "bullshit government lunatics" before storming out of the room.
Lieutenant Matis just started cackling. "Runt wouldn't even make it a day in basic training. This is easy work, troops. If you can't stomach a bit of pain then you'll never make it out there."
"We're not training to be soldiers though," I spoke up. "We're here to be pokemon trainers. That's what the Trainer Initiative is about, right?"
"Right and wrong. We got no use for spoiled brats who are lucky enough to even be near a pokemon without getting their guts clawed out. The Trainer Initiative is only for the most capable of people, soldiers in all but name," Matis said.
"And you work for the government? Where's the governor? I thought he was the one looking for people to sign up," one of the other initiates asked. She had brown hair, and was holding tightly onto her hoothoot.
"He ran away weeks ago, like the spineless bastard he is," Matis replied. He flashed a grin. "Luckily we're picking up the pieces. Real men stepping up when the country needs them."
I suddenly had a weird feeling about the man in front of me. His blond hair, the shades, and this weird obsession with the military… and being a lieutenant.
"Lieutenant Surge?" I blurted out loud.
Matis raised an eyebrow. "Now how do you know about that nickname, boy?" He walked over closer to me. "Did someone send you? Felix? Adrian?"
I shook my head. This was impossible. The man in front of me looked exactly like the gym leader from the Kanto games. Lt. Surge, the Electric Master.
Was there something more to the Catastrophe than I initially imagined?
Said man just smirked. "Doesn't matter how you know about the war. You maggots ready for the next test? We've gotta see just how well you all fare in a real fight. K9, come on out!"
A small streak of blue and black raced out of one of the locker rooms. It seemed to bounce around Matis's legs, nuzzling up against him and purring. I recognised it to be a shinx. Matis gave him a little pat on the head, before facing us.
"K9 here is battle tested. He's been with me since the war. A natural fighter. He's only gotten stronger since the Catastrophe." Matis fished around his pocket until he pulled out a small sphere.
A pokeball. It was almost unreal, how much it resembled the ones from the games.
"Your job is to beat K9. I don't care how you do it, as long as you get it done. We'll split ya into four teams, and go one team at a time. Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes sir!" We all shouted. I looked around to see everyone's eyes glued to the pokeball in Matis's hand. This was the ultimate prize, the reason that we had all signed up for this camp. This was the chance to finally be able to capture a pokemon legitimately.
Some of the other uniformed soldiers started rattling off a list of names.
The brown haired girl, whose name I learned was Courtney, was in the second group. She picked up hoothoot and made her way over to meet the rest of her team.
Towards the bottom of the list, my name was finally called. Group 4. I moved to join up with who I would be working with in this fight. We went around introducing ourselves and our partner pokemon.
Corbin, a line chef who had travelled all the way from Spokane to join this boot camp. He had a politoed with him who was about the size of a basketball.
Rajesh, a grad student from Seattle. He was one of the people that had come with me on the bus that morning. His partner was a houndour, the fire and dark type dog pokemon.
Micah, a high schooler from Olympia. They had a starly in their arms, chirping happily at being snuggled.
In terms of type advantage, we were most certainly screwed. We gathered in a circle to try and hash out a strategy, but nothing really came of that discussion. Evade this, counter with that. To be quite honest, none of these people seemed particularly knowledgeable about pokemon battling.
Since we were group 4, we figured that we'd reconvene after watching how the other battles played out. Corbin and Rajesh sat beside each other, chatting nervously while Micah took their starly and settled down next to me.
"You maggots ready to rock? Group one, step right up!" Matis bellowed.
The first team walked up and into the ring, five trainers and five pokemon alongside them. I recognised a spinarak, another houndour, a lillipup, a rattata, and a dwebble.
"Since you're the first up to go, I'll give you guys the first move," Matis said. "Begin!"
The spinarak sprang into action, shooting out webs around shinx and trying to snare it from moving. K9 dodged the webs, nimbly, before leaping over the spinarak and onto the dwebble's head.
"Remi, use bite!" One of the girls shouted.
The rattata jumped up and rushed at shinx, fangs gleaming. K9 just shrugged out of the way, letting the rat pokemon crash face-first into the hard rocky shell of dwebble. I flinched when I saw small shards of rattata tooth flying out of the ring. That had to hurt like a truck.
"Ember, houndour!" A guy shouted.
Houndour carefully glared at shinx, before spewing a small flame at the electric type pokemon.
"Tank the hit! Hit the houndour with a spark attack," Matis ordered.
Shinx just braced itself, getting a faceful of the fire. Shaking off the damage, it rushed forward and tackled the houndour with a wave of electricity. Houndour managed to shoulder the attack pretty well, snapping back with a follow up bite attack.
K9 weaved through, slamming another electric attack straight into the houndour's maw. The fire type was out cold after that, slumping to the floor.
"Houndour, no!" The boy cried out.
Chomping down on the spinarak, K9 just shook it around in its mouth a bit, sending sparks straight into the poisonous spider's body.
"You can take it, spinarak. Poison sting!"
The spider pokemon just shot a dose of poison straight into shinx's mouth. K9 howled in pain, jumping back and sending an arc of electricity that instantly downed the spinarak.
Just one pokemon remained, the lillipup. Its trainer issued a few commands, but shinx managed to take it down with one supercharged spark attack. The normal type dog pokemon collapsed, twitching from the electricity.
"Something's off about that shinx," I heard Rajesh comment.
"It seems… stronger after that poison attack!" Corbin yelled.
"That must be the Guts ability," I explained. "It increases the power of physical moves when the user has a status condition like poison."
"Jesus…" Corbin shook his head. The first group had all been sent to the infirmary with their pokemon, and the second batch was already getting ready for their turn.
And so the battle for the right to own pokeballs would continue.
END Chapter 3: The Trainer Initiative
A/N: Thanks for reading. Longer chapters are in the works, but I hope that this is some pretty good development for now! Let me know if there's any feedback, or improvements that I could make for this story.
Main Character: Holt Locke (24)
Rodie (M) [Herdier]: formerly owned by Clayton, now trained by Holt
