I looked around me to make sure I wasn't back in that white room and I wasn't. I was back in my hospital room with my freshly woken Torchic and now awake Trapinch. It was kind of odd that we all woke up at the same time, but it's good for teams to be synchronized. I awkwardly got my cast out of its sling and achieved a sitting position. A Nurse Joy entered the room to check up on my Trapinch and me.

"Good afternoon Tyler. How are you?" She walked over to my Trapinch and adjusted some of the wires that were connected to his body and placed a piece of raw meat in his mouth which he devoured ferociously and quickly.

"I'm fine. Wait…did you say 'Good afternoon.' Oh no! I was supposed to meet that Martin guy at noon. What time is it?" I grabbed Oliver's empty Pokeball and shoved it in my pocket. I reached down grabbing my crutches and got up.

"It's 12:30. Where do you have to get to in such a rush?" I handed her the business card that had his address on it. "Oh dear. That's quite a walk from here, and there's no way I'm letting you walk there on crutches. You'll have to catch the bus."

"Well when's the next bus gonna come?" I was already up and I was now hobbling towards the door.

"The next bus should be here in about fifteen minutes. And the bus stop is just across the street. Oh, I almost forgot to ask you. What happened to your cheek?" On my way out of the doors I could see my reflection on the windows. My left cheek had been cut about three inches and it was still bleeding a little bit, but it was mostly covered in dry blood. Wait, didn't that crazy girl draw a slash mark on my face with her blood? No it couldn't be that. Oliver had just probably scratched me with his foot on accident while we were sleeping. Now that I think about it, he was at the end of the bed, but that doesn't matter now. I'm going to be late for my training session.

I rushed out the front door and crossed the street barely looking across. Horns were honking at me as people stopped their cars even though they had the green light. Pedestrians always have the right away…even if I am j-walking. I reached the bus stop with ten minutes to spare, which meant that I rushed for nothing. Better safe than sorry. I sat down on one the metal benches as I awaited the bus.

While I was sitting an older man around the age of sixty sat beside me. Oliver hopped on my lap and eyed the man cautiously from the corner of his eyes. The old man coughed a bit then looked towards me.

"So you're an aspiring trainer, huh?" His voice was raspy and it sounded as if he had more than his far share of cigarettes. Also his yellow teeth and smoky breath were a pretty dead giveaway as well, but whatever.

"Yeah. I'm gonna try to get all eight badges in Hoenn." I was holding my breath to avoid breathing the breath he was spewing out. They say Charizard have the worst breath out of all the living things out there. I'm not sure if this decrepit, old specimen could count as living, but his breath sure beat any Charizard's breathe I've smelt, and I've smelt the breath of a lot of Charizards.

"Oh, well I was just wondering. Just be careful. I have a grandson out there trying to become a trainer as well. His dad, my son, died while my grandson was only three years old. He died while trying to win the Kanto Conference. On his way to win the Virdian Gym, he stumbled into the territory of a Nidoking and died." I didn't know how to respond to that, and luckily for me the bus pulled up right at the same time he finished his tale of woe. I practically jumped up and hobbled with my crutches on the bus, which was pretty hard. I grabbed a seat right behind the bus driver and the old man walked on the bus moving slowly. Every time he took one step, another person would've been able to take four steps. He then decided that the Nidoking death story wasn't enough, and sat right beside me. When he sat down a puff of air rose from his body that smelled like dust. I sat for about twenty minutes listening to the old man's tales about how well his grandson was doing. The only thing that I actually got out of it was his grandson's name was Jacob Iverson.

Just then I looked out the window and the scene had gotten much more rural. After about another ten minutes of listening to how his grandson was an excellent trainer and how his starter was a Bulbasaur, and blah blah blah.

Finally the bus stopped. This was just the place I needed to get off at. "Excuse me, but this is my stop Mister." The old man took his time slowly getting up and allowing me passage. I grabbed my crutches and haphazardly got off the bus. I somewhat wondered if that man only stayed on the bus to tell me more about his grandson, because this was the last stop.

When I got off the bus the only thing I could see was a ranch, and trust me when I say: it was gargantuan. Pokemon grazed upon grassy knolls, while others were drinking out of a pond. I would love to own a place like this. The Pokemon actually looked happy, unlike the Poke—

"You're late." I turned around to see Martin was walking towards me, but he was wearing a different pair of clothes. He was wearing a blue t-shirt, cargo pants, and large, thick gloves. Just then a blur of red and blue flew down and landed on his arm. "I told you to be here at noon."

I sighed as I began to tell about my adventure trying to get here. "I'm sorry! I woke up late and then I had to catch the bus, but an old man got on it too and was telling me all these bor—"

"Okay I get it. Let's just get to the training." He stroked the bird that landed on his glove and it started to coo.

"So what move should Oliver learn?" Oliver was looking at the blue and red bird and I think he was wondering why he couldn't be on my hand like that.

"Well I gave some thought into it, and initially I thought we should teach him a move like Flamethrower, but it's obvious that he's not that experienced—"

"Hey!" Both I and Oliver were perturbed by the fact that he would go and call us that. Even though we've only been training for a few days, there was a bunch of experience packed in those days.

"Chillax. Like I was saying, you guys are inexperienced, so I'm gonna try and teach you a move that's pretty decent in power and quite easy to learn. It's a move known as Aerial Ace." The red and blue bird's body started glowing white with energy then shot off of Martin's arms and started moving at a speed I wasn't able to keep up with leaving a trail of white light.

"That's supposed to be easy?" Oliver seemed to agree with me. It did seem pretty hard. Moving around at those speeds, ha. Oliver could hardly keep up with me on crutches.

"Now we battle. I think the best way to learn how to use a move is training in battle. When practicing in desperation, you do what you need to survive, and learning a new move becomes a whole lot easier." I remembered how Oliver learned Ember when fighting my Trapinch in the desert. I guess he did learn it because he was desperate.

He led me and Oliver to a grassy field with a few boulders here and there. I pulled out my Pokedex and scanned the flying bird to see what it was and what it could do.

Pokedex entry:
Taillow, the Tiny Swallow Pokémon
Taillow courageously stands its ground against foes, however strong they may be. ThisgutsyPokémon will remain defiant even after a loss. On the other hand, it cries loudly if it becomes hungry.
LV15
Known Moves:
-Wing Attack = 60
-Quick Attack = 40
-Aerial Ace = 60
-Peck =35
-Steel Wing = 70

Hmm, so that's what that thing was. I then pointed my Pokedex at Oliver to see how he's grown and how he would match against the Taillow.

Pokedex entry:
Torchic, the Chick Pokémon
Torchic sticks with its Trainer, following behind with unsteady steps. This Pokémon breathes fire of over 1,800 degrees F, including fireballs that leave the foe scorched black.
LV 11
Known Moves:
-Scratch =40
-Ember = 40
-Crush Claw = 75
-Night Slash =70
-Focus Energy = N/A

Even though Crush Claw and Night Slash were the most powerful attacks Oliver knew, he couldn't even use them. This battle would probably be really quick.

"Alright Taillow use Steel Wing." Martin called.

"Okay use Scratch Oliver."

Both of our Pokémon started towards each other. Taillow's wings started getting a metallic sheen to them. The Taillow had the advantage of being in the air while Oliver was landlocked. The hard-as-metal wings hit Oliver head on, and then Taillow was back in the air before Oliver could strike back. Things were already looking bleak.

"Go in with Aerial Ace." Martin had a sly grin on his face like he knew something I didn't.

"Oliver, dodge then use Ember." If there was one thing I knew Oliver was good at it was dodging. All that practice of quickly moving behind my leg when we meet a stranger or when a wild Pokemon attacks he managed to run away while dodging all their attacks. Surely he could dodge the Taillow.

The Taillow started to glow a bright white like earlier, and then it started moving so fast I thought it disappeared. While I was keeping my eyes in the sky I heard a cry from Oliver. Before he even had a chance to move and dodge the attack, the Taillow was already on him. Luckily for me, Oliver quickly rebounded and shot a barrage of burning cinders into the air, which caught the Taillow off guard, injuring its left wing.

"Oliver now try using your own Aerial Ace." I was somewhat hoping that Oliver had reached the same amount of desperation he had when we were facing the Trapinch in the desert, though this wasn't nearly as dangerous.

Oliver started to run towards where the Taillow had landed, but he eventually ended up tripping over his feet, falling face first into the grass. The Taillow and his trainer stifled their laughs at my Torchic's failed attempt. Oliver got up and his face appeared pretty flustered, but he started running towards the Taillow again, but he got no further and ended up face planting again. He got and spat out some the grass that was in his mouth. This time the small bird and its owner couldn't hold it in, and both of them started bursting out laughing.

Oliver turned to me with tears starting to swell in his eyes. He started to run to me trying to get to me, but alas, the cruel hand of fate dealt judgment once more and he fell again. This time the Taillow and its trainer were on the ground laughing hysterically. Oliver got up again full of embarrassment, but this time his embarrassment turned to rage. His whole body became surrounded in a blue aura, and then the blue all concentrated on his beak. His beak then doubled in size and he started racing across the grassy field. Taillow and Martin stopped laughing as they realized that Oliver had achieved a weak version of Aerial Ace with the help of Focus Energy and the embarrassment he felt.

"Come on get in the air Taillow." The Tiny Swallow Pokemon tried getting up in the air, but its wing was pretty burnt from the Ember attack. It watched helplessly as my oncoming Torchic smashed it into the boulder behind it. The Taillow was now trapped between a rock and a hard place, that hard place being my Torchic. Oliver than opened his mouth and released orbs of fire right into the Taillow's face. The close range of the attack was bound to have caused massive damage. Oliver backed up from the Taillow and it fell limp too exhausted to continue moving.

Oliver ran back to me and surprisingly managed to make it all the way back to me without tripping. I dropped my crutches and picked him up and embraced him, happy that he was already starting to get the gist of Aerial Ace, and we won our first trainer battle, too. He killed two birds with one stone, or should I say one Oliver.

Martin returned his Taillow to its Pokeball and walked over to me. "See I told you that it's when desperation starts to kick in a Pokémon reaches its full potential. Well, that's all for today. Come back at noon tomorrow, and next time, actually show up on time. Now get out of here."

I placed Oliver back on the ground and picked up my crutches, and we headed for a good place to celebrate.