"Shadow Ball!" Shoteneko cried, trying to perform the new technique. Gradually, a small orb of dark energy appeared in Shoten's hand and fired itself at the target across the room. While not hitting dead center, this was the farthest Shoten had gotten with the technique.

"Darn it. If I only had a couple more days of practice, I'm sure I could at least perfect Shadow Ball." Shoten said, wiping sweat from his brow.

That morning he had received word that the humans were preparing for an assault against the Pokemon stronghold of Verdanturf and was ordered back to the front lines. In the three days since awakening, Shoten was trained nearly nonstop on his new moves as a sort of physical therapy to prepare for a return to the battlefield.

During this amount of time, Shoten has learned to generate Shadow Balls at will, with a little effort. With greater time and usage of the technique, the effort needed to create a single Shadow Ball should decrease immensely. Although Shadow Ball was well on its way to being integrated into Shoten's arsenal, little progress was made on the other two techniques. Thunderbolt only comes out as small sparks and almost nothing was done to learn Dark Pulse, as he believed it would be easier to learn after mastering Shadow Ball.

As he began to towel off and prepare for his departure, Shoten began to have yet another attack of conscience. While learning these moves with the intention of emulating the heretic known as Slash, Shoten has frequently been experiencing "panic attacks" and paranoia that someone will learn of his secret.

Will the rest of my squad recognize where I came up with the ideas for my new moves? Shoten thought to himself. Their suspicions will be heightened since both Slash and I are Meowths but other than that there is no logical connection between my moves and Slash's right?

Mentally berating himself again, Shoten began to justify his action once again by telling himself that it was his childhood hero he was trying to emulate and that it was for the good of the Pokemon cause but each time, the words seemed just a little hollower.

While trying to calm himself, Shoten walked to the teleportation chamber that would take him back to his squad and the war.

Since the beginning of the war, certain psychic types were specially trained to be able to teleport themselves and others over long distances, allowing for easy scouting, spying and transportation unmatched by the humans.

Walking up to an Abra, he stated his orders. "I am Shoteneko and I have orders from high command to return to Verdanturf and prepare for battle."

"…" Abra replied. Although nothing was said, I could tell Abra understood his orders. Since Abras tend to sleep all day, most are relegated to transportation duty until they evolve, at which point they become a much more valuable resourece.

Shoten placed a hand on one of Abra's shoulders and soon the scenery faded away only to be replaced by the military camp of Verdanturf.

As Abra teleported back to Mt. Coronet, Shoten began to perform his normal duties for the squad. No hero's welcome, no one waiting for him to return, just each individual focusing on their own task for the glory of the cause.

Just as he was finishing his work, a loudspeaker turned on and announced "A mandatory tactical meeting will be held in 15 minutes to discuss the defense of Verdanturf. All available troops should attend."

Sighing inwardly Shoten said to himself, "No rest for the weary." And began to make his way to the main pavilion where the meeting was to be held.

Once everyone arrived, the commander, a Reuniclus, began "Welcome everyone. We have received reports from our scouts that the humans are beginning to mobilize their troops toward Verdanturf and the creation of a defense strategy has become imparitive."

Across the room, both Flamerunner and Bruiser subtly took note of Shoten's presence with a slight nod. Shoten nodded back before turning back to Reuniclus.

"A large regiment of tanks have been dispatch from Mauville and are heading west toward our position." Reuniclus continued. "We need to send the squads most familiar with the forest surrounding the city to lay in wait. Perhaps they can surprise the enemy and reduce the percentage of the force that makes it to the city."

There's no way this is the only part of the plan. Shoten thought to himself. Reuniclus is known as an expert tactician thoughout the military and the only thing he wants us to do is thin out their ranks?

"As you know, the humans are also equipped with aerial troops. The majority of you capable of flight should remain on standby on the mountain to the north of town. Once the enemy is engaged in battle with our ground forces, you will take flight and provide the finishing blow."

As Shoten ran the plan through his head, he saw its practicality but noticed one important thing. The entire plan hinged on the fact that the ground forces would be able to hang on long enough to weaken the enemy troops so that the final push by aerial forces would be successful.

After rambling for 20 minutes about contingency options should things go wrong, Reuniclus announced "All troops are dismissed to remain on standby for the upcoming attack. Those who were approached before the meeting by my defense expert, Honchkrow , please report to him at this time. That is all."

As he was departing from the meeting, Shoten ran into both Bruiser and Flamerunner who were both overjoyed to have him back.

"Shoteneko, glad to see you back!" Bruiser greeted cheerfully. "You were hurt pretty badly after that battle but don't worry about it, me and Flamerunner beat 'em down 10x worse they got you."

"Yes we were able to exact revenge for you before we retreated." Flamerunner confirmed. "What did you think of the battle plan?"

"It's got a solid base to it but I think it'll be a lot harder to pull off than it sounds."

"You two are always so serious." Bruiser cut in. "Analyzing battle plans an' trying to stay three steps ahead. Can't you just trust our commanders for once?"

"I agree Shoten." Flamerunner replied, ignoring Bruiser. "The amount of endurance needed by the lead forces for this next battle is going to be tremendous. Hopefully you prepared for something like this."

"Yeah, don't worry about it." Shoten replied. "While I was back at Mt. Coronet I started learning some new moves."

"New moves huh?" Bruiser said, always intrigued by training. "What kinds?"

"Maybe it would be best if he showed us his new moves." Flamerunner said, just as curious.

"OK then how about a little practice match to see if you're battle ready?"

"I wouldn't be back if I weren't ready for combat." Shoten shot back. "Bring it on!"

"Let's not be too hasty here." Flamerunner said. "You just returned to camp Shoten and it's getting late. Both of you get some rest and you can spar first thing in the morning."

"OK!" Both Shoten and Bruiser replied without breaking each other's gaze.

AN: Here we have the introduction of Flamerunner and Bruiser. Next Chapter I will try my hand at writing an actual battle. Feel free to review and leave some constructive criticism(God knows this isn't perfect stuff). Until next time.

Update(2/14/15): Some basic streamlining here and the addition of a little segment to show the beginnings of Shoten's analytic mind. Enjoy!