Official Pokémon Trainer's Handbook

Trainer Battles:

As a Pokémon trainer you will find yourself in need of cash. The League donates 1000 poke-bucks to every beginning trainer. Trainers can use this starting amount to purchase extra supplies such as potions, antidotes, repels, and more pokéballs. However should a trainer battle another trainer it will be recorded by their Pokédex and the loser of the battle is expected to give 5-10% of their total Poké-bucks to the winner. To the victor goes the spoils.

Unofficial matches are any battles that isn't in a tournament or against a gym leader for a badge. Trainers engage is unofficial matches all the time to gain experience and hone their skills. These battles are fought using agreed upon rules. Most commonly trainer will battle at whatever level the lower ranked trainer is at.

For a short battle, trainers will often engage in 1vs1 single battles where their strongest Pokémon face off. Novice trainer are very eager and will almost always challenge someone to a full 6vs6 single battle. Journeyman are likewise always trying to get all their Pokémon involved to gain experience. By fighting 12vs12 double battles. Beyond that, matches tend to take too long so most trainers only participate in higher level matches when they are official.

A record of your battles is kept on your Pokédex and every trainer's record can be looked up. All official matches are recorded and stored on the trainer's profile. This helps the League keep track of a trainer's growth as well as monitor some trainers to see that they aren't abusing their Pokémon, or that they aren't pushing them to hard and potentially permanently injuring them.

Unofficial battles are very important to a trainer's growth and it is recommended that a trainer never turn one down if they have the time. As you can learn more by battling often verse never battling. No trainer with less than 1000 poke-bucks has to hand over their money should they lose. The transfer of money is handled by both trainer's Pokédexes.

End of Section

Pallet Town, Professor Oak's Laboratory

Pikachu was confused. He had always detested humans, he believed they captured and forcefully enslaved Pokémon and didn't think they cared about their health or safety. So when he was captured all he could think about was how to fight back against the future torture and slavery and to eventually escape. When he was finally released his plan was to immediately release a Thunder Shock and sprint away. However the first thing he saw upon release was a young boy with black hair and brown eyes staring at him with a big smile. For some reason he hesitated and the boy took the opening not realizing it even existed.

"Hey there little guy," the boy walked up to the newly appeared Pokémon and greeted him. "My name is Ash Ketchum and if you want I would like to be friends with you." Something about the boy made Pikachu want to believe his words. It was like a feeling emanated from the boy and made Pikachu trust what he said. Now that doesn't mean Pikachu trusts the boy, this Ash Ketchum, but he was now willing to give him a chance for perhaps Pikachu had the wrong opinion of humans.

He spent the rest of the day outside his pokéball playing with the boy and exploring his surroundings. The boy explained to him that they were in the town of Pallet, and that he had just begun his Pokémon training career today. The genuine excitement and happiness could be felt just by being around the boy. At this point Pikachu realized what it was, this boy had an extremely strong aura presence and was somehow unconsciously activating it with his heightened emotions. As today he was bursting with emotions and he literally couldn't contain them. He had been quiet and serious all day while Oak explained what was going to happen. But now his exuberance was free to flow outward. After leading Pikachu all around town Ash decided to show him his house and introduce his mother.

Arriving home Ash called out, "Mom! I'm home." His mother came through the doorway to the kitchen and smiled at him.

"Hello honey, ooooh is that a Pikachu!" Before Ash could reply she had stepped forward and picked the Pokémon up. She started giving him a big hug. Now while Pikachu was starting to trust and maybe even like the boy who said he wanted to be friends. He still didn't like humans, and this woman was no natural aura adept, so not sure of her intentions and not use at all use to being squeezed Pikachu let loose a strong Thunder Shock.

"PIKA... CHUUU!" His cry rang out amid the buzzing and crackling of the electric energy as it zapped everything around him, Ash and his mother were not spared and bore the brunt of the electric rodents attack. After getting some feeling back Ash stood up and quickly helped his mother to her feet.

"Ash honey, has Pikachu been like that all day to you? And why do you have a Pikachu, that isn't a Kanto starter?" his mother asked while brushing herself off.

"No mom Pikachu has been kinda distant but he hasn't attacked me or anyone else. As for why I have him, Professor Oak had to go catch a fifth Pokémon since the League only sent him four starters, it is extremely rare for Pallet to even have three trainers start at the same time but five, well they just didn't have one they could send our way. But I'm happy with Pikachu, I could never decide which of the starters I wanted anyway, I like this alternative," Ash responded to his mother's questions.

"Oh well it seems he doesn't like humans very much seeing as he shocked me right off the bat, he must just like you. And I can understand why, you are a very special boy the both of us can agree to that!" His mother chimed back with a happy smile.

"Mooooom," Ash groaned. "Don't say such things you will embarrass me. Anyway, I'm sorry Pikachu shocked you. Professor Oak said that today I should try to form a bond with him and I've been trying but he also said if we needed help or advice when we meet tomorrow he will help if he can."

Finishing up their small conversation Ash's mother agreed with what he said and then told him to go find Pikachu who seemed to have scampered off after he escaped her clutches. She told him she was going to go finish making lunch.

As it turns out Pikachu had found Ash's room and was trying to stick his tail into one of the electric outlets in the room.

"Pikachu," Ash called out. "I am sorry if my mom scared you when she picked you up. But she is very nice and I promise she won't hurt you."

The mouse looked up at Ash with a frown on his face. He figured the woman meant him no harm if she was him mother, however he just wasn't ready for that kind of interaction.

"Pika pika Pi pi chu," he tried to tell Ash he didn't like contact like that. Ash sadly had no idea what his new partner was saying.

"I am sorry buddy, but I don't understand you. But since lunch isn't ready yet would you like to go play in the forest out back for a while? Pikachu live in forests from what I know about them and I am sure you would like it there, it is a very nice forest." Pikachu nodded to Ash and followed him outside and into the forest. They were walking for about fifteen minutes, Pikachu had been springing through the branches, feeling almost at ease in a familiar setting. When they came upon a creek, they turned and followed it up stream for about five more minutes.

Ash knew where they were headed. He often went this way because it led to a small lake surrounded by a meadow in the middle of the forest. Lots of wild Pokémon would gather here and he could sometimes get them to play with him. Other times he would simply sit and watch them. When they neared the clearing he heard loud screeches and caws. It sounded almost like a group of angry Spearow. But Ash knew there wasn't a local Spearow flock so he was confused.

Entering the clearing he saw a group of at least fifteen Spearow and to his astonishment several Murkrow were mixed in the group. They appeared to be flying and occasionally diving down to a small green lump on the ground. Ash recognized what was happening, this flock was pecking and most likely attempting to kill whatever Pokémon had drawn their ire. He couldn't tell by looking what the small green creature was, but he knew it needed his help.

Without thinking Ash yelled out, "Hey you! Leave that Pokémon alone." Pikachu instantly tensed up. He could hear what the birds were saying. And they were out for blood. They didn't care whose and the more the better from what they said. He knew his Thunder Shock could maybe bring down two-thirds of the birds if he gave it all he had. But currently he was weakened from being crammed in that ball for so long and he had released a decent sized shock earlier. His reserves were around 50% currently, meaning he could down around one-third of the birds.

However that was not an option, as there would still be plenty of them left and he would be exhausted from giving his all into the Thunder Shock. Perhaps his trainer could save him? Pikachu didn't know but he didn't trust the human to save him over itself. Before Pikachu could decide what to do, the Spearow had abandoned their play toy and flew at Ash. The Murkrow flew up high into the air. As this happened a huge boom of thunder sounded through the clouds that had been forming and a torrent of rain started pelting down. Pikachu was hiding in a tree on the edge of the clearing. Ash ignored the rain and saw the Spearow flying his way.

Ash made his mind up before he even knew what he was going to do. His body acted before the thought fully registered and he sprinted at the crowd of approaching Spearow. Thinking the boy meant to fight them head on, the Spearow in his path parted so as to not get hit by whatever trickery this human had. But instead of lashing out with something, Ash ignored the Spearow and ran through the cloud of them. He reached the mass of green, and saw that it was bleeding badly and was terribly cut up. With red gashes and blood pouring over it, Ash could not identify the Pokémon, he didn't care however and tried to be as gentle as possible as he picked it up.

The rain had really started pouring now and the Spearow were pissed that the boy had fooled them and that their prey was now in his hands. The rain did nothing to improve their mood. Having forgot the Murkrow Ash was unprepared for when they dive bombed him and one's beak tore into his left shoulder. His cry of pain was drowned out by another thunderous boom.

Pikachu was shocked, almost ironic that an electric Pokémon could be shocked, but he was. This human had just ran right into and then through a flock of Spearow to try to rescue a Pokémon. And it even seemed like he had sort of succeeded except he now had to get back. When all the sudden the Murkrow descended and ripped into his shoulder. An emotion started welling up inside Pikachu but he didn't have time to think about it.

Acting quickly as he noticed Ash was still carrying the wounded Pokémon and was now running back his way. Pikachu jumped off his branch and released a Thunder Wave into the flock. It bounced among them and managed to paralyze about half of them. This left Pikachu with about 30% left inside him and he knew he would run out quick sprinting back through the forest. The Spearow unprepared for the sudden attack flew around in every direction and looked for their aggressor.

Ash had made it to Pikachu at this point and he quickly bent down and scooped up the mouse. He had enough room in his arms to hold both, as neither was very large. Hunching over to cover them from the rain and further attacks Ash started running through the forest. Even barely looking, he unconsciously managed to navigate through the woods towards his house.

The flock had reorganized itself and begun to pursue the escapee's. Several of the paralyzed Spearow had shaken it off and were also joining the pursuit, they had a personal score to settle with the Pikachu now. The trees weren't very dense so the flock had no problem flying low amongst the trees. They quickly caught up to the boy and the Spearow began to harshly peck at his back and shoulders. Several even were trying to crack his skull open. Thankfully for Ash these were all rather weak Spearow and none were close to strong enough to pierce into that thick bone. It still hurt like hell though.

Murkrow are smarter than Spearow. It was a known fact, and amongst the Pokémon world Spearow were actually one of the least intelligent, which is partly where all their aggression came from, other Pokémon constantly made fun of their small brains. Such as the very sarcastic Pokémon they had previously been pecking to death. The Murkrow had just been hungry and saw the Spearow, and for some reason had been able to convince the Spearow to let them join in. But the Murkrow saw that the boy was not going to be done in by simple pecking on his back.

So one flew off ahead of the boy and started a Gust attack to try to blow the boy off his feet. The other two involved flew down and pecked at the boy's knees. One landed a very lucky peck on the boy's right knee and the bone was deeply bruised. The damaged bone and the Gust were too much for Ash and he collapsed forward but managed not to come crushing down on the Pokémon he carried. The flock flew up and began cawing their victory as they flew a circle around the downed figure. They were taunting the boy and the Pokémon, no one messed with them and got away with it. Ash would have none of it. Fighting back to his feet he looked down at Pikachu.

"Hey Pikachu buddy. I'm sorry I got you involved in this. So listen up alright," as Ash spoke he pulled a pokéball out of his pocket and pressed it against the green figure. He captured it within the ball and shrunk the ball down to its small size. "I know you couldn't normally carry this guy out of here, but I know you could run away with this small pokéball. So I want you to take it and run back to my mother and the house. You will be safe there, don't worry about me I will distract the Spearow and be back home after I defeat them."

Pikachu gazed up at the boy who held him. That feeling from earlier was back, however he in fact had even less time to try to figure it out then earlier. He couldn't contemplate why this boy had done any of the things he had done today. It was completely against everything he had been told about humans. A feeling he was however familiar with began to surge through his veins, the determination within him now seared that he should help this boy out, and that meant not running away.

"Go run Pikachu!" Ash yelled setting the Pokémon and the pokéball down behind him. He saw a decent sized stick to his left and he bent down and picked it up. "Do you hear me Spearow, do you hear me Murkrow! I am Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town! And I won't be defeated by the likes of you!"

BOOOM!

Lightning struck down and a tree exploded nearby. The flock was in a frenzy, from the lightning to the human boy challenging them. In their frenzy they all tried to dive bomb him at once. Ash raised his right arm preparing to fight the flock to the last. In his extreme focus he managed to tap his aura slightly and a blue glow illuminated his eyes. The flock recognized it for what it was, one who could wield aura, however they did not understand the real circumstances and thought nothing of it. Ash's aura connected with Pikachu and through their new bond a lightning bolt thundered down to connect with Ash.

Pikachu however had already been in motion. He had sprung to Ash's shoulder and had then jumped directly up into the oncoming bolt. It connected with him. Pikachu felt energy like he had never felt before. Raw electric power in its natural and most powerful form surged into him. He knew he couldn't absorb that much power so he instead redirected it. He conducted the lightning while in mid and unleashed it into many smaller bolts into the flock. As it struck the small bolts leapfrogged off each target and they bounced around between them all. Each bird was struck multiple times. Unable to handle the electricity the flock were nearly all paralyzed and those that weren't, were still too heavily damaged to do anything but fall to the ground with the others.

Ash caught Pikachu as he fell down from his jump. The small mouse was able to stay conscious long enough to hear the boy say, "Wow, Pikachu you are the best Pokémon I could have ever asked for. Thank you." the mouse remembered nothing after that as he was utterly drained. To redirect the lightning bolt he had used the last bit of electricity he had within himself.

Turning around Ash picked up the injured Pokémon's ball and held them both as he moved back to his house as quickly as he could. When he arrived home, soaking wet and limping, his mother couldn't help but notice how torn his shirt was and all the blood that was leaking from the numerous gashes including the large one on his shoulder. Ash smiled at his mother and managed a few words.

"Hey mom, I'm home, and before you ask," he held out the injured Pokémon's pokéball. "This Pokémon needs immediate medical attention and Pikachu as well, he got struck by lightning and I'm not sure if it overloaded him or not." He then promptly collapsed to the floor as his mother's scream faded away along with his ability to stay awake.