A/N: Hello, this is Nateman364. I'm the next writer of this little collaborative story. Hope you enjoy my chapter!

Pokemon Yang

Chapter 4:

Predetermined Commitment

Written by Nateman364

He sighed, looking out the window of the passenger train that was carrying him to Anvil Town. With the direct route temporary out of commission due to maintenance, he had to endure a longer trip to Junction City, through other towns, then finally Anvil Town on the Northwest coast. The Region was pretty diverse, as far as the different environments and climate goes. The Northern part of the region was usually cold year round with snow and dense forests. He wasn't from that part of the Region. He was from one of the most Southernmost settlements in the Region known as Agricrop Town. As its name suggested, it was centered around agriculture. In fact, it was the Agricultural Hub of Selos. In other words, if you bought a crop from the grocery store or market, there was a ninety nine percent chance it came from Agricrop Town.

The seventeen year old boy missed his beloved home already. The area was peaceful, full of hard working folk who all worked or owned the local farms and Ranches. This boy was one of them. There were three things about this boy that everyone in town knew. One, he loved Pokemon. Two, he was the heir to a sizable share of fifty-three percent in Selos' Agricultural Industrial Hub known as Agri-Corp. And finally, three, he was well respected among the local populace, especially among the ladies around his age due to his looks and kind attitude towards them. Yeah, some could say that this boy had it made.

He had short dark hair that was pushing an inch long, which the front was like a wave due to a slight cowlick. His eyes were light brown, but in the right shade of light, they turned pure amber. He was lean and muscular as well as five foot eleven inches in height. He wore the most basic of clothing which was a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of hiking shoes. His backpack was sort of large, mostly having his spare clothing and MRE's inside. This boy's name was Nathan Church, but he liked to be called Nate for short. He remembered what his grandparents asked him before making this journey.

"What Pokemon are you going to get?" His grandfather had asked him.

"Oh that's easy," Nate had replied, "A Chimchar."

His grandfather looked at him questioningly for a moment as if not knowing why his grandson had made this decision. "Why a Chimchar?"

"I chose carefully grandpa," Nate replied, "They're Pokemon that are overall great because of their duel typing in their later evolutions. A Fire and Fighting dual-type would be perfect for me, I could teach it some of the stuff you taught me and train it to help me out on my journey."

"What if Chimchar is already chosen?"

"Oh I already have back up Pokemon ideas," Nate replied, "If Chimchar is unavailable, I'll go with Charmander because of its Fire and Flying type in its final evolution and it is effective overall in combat. If Charmander is unavailable, then I'll go with Fennekin because of its dual type for Fire and Psychic when it evolves. And my final choice would be Piplup, because of the dual type it has, as a Water and Steel when it evolves into an Empoleon. Although electric attacks will hurt it, it's still a hardy species overall."

"You sure have been planning this out haven't you?"

"Of course," Nate replied nodding, "I just hope one of them is available. If not, I'll probably come home and see about buying a Pokemon or something."

Yes, Nate would. He had already planned this out ahead of time. He hope this wouldn't be a wasted trip. If there was one thing about Nate, it was this, he was peculiar when it came to Pokemon. His preference for an ideal companion, was one that had natural life in it. He didn't particularly like artificial pokemon such as a Magnemite or Porygon. They were man made and could easily be manufactured somehow another. No, he preferred the Pokemon that had been born from an egg, not one that didn't reproduce or had emotions programmed into it. It had to have blood running through its veins or had once lived as a living creature such as a Ponyta, Gastly, or Gyarados. He had made it a personal goal to capture and train Pokemon that were Canines, Dragon typed or dragon-like, and Birds. The reason being was that they made up the majority of the living Pokemon population. He didn't mind capturing felines, bears, foxes, horses, reptilians, or the occasional ghost. But anything else probably wouldn't make the cut. Nate had his own capture list that he wanted to complete. The reason being was that he believed that he could train every single one of them to become strong and learn to use their natural abilities and moves in ways that far exceeded their own minds and other peoples minds. He would be sure to write these training methods and results down in one of his journals.

On the train ride over to Anvil Town, his fellow passengers found out that he wasn't a talkative person. It was one of the many side effects of Borderline Personality Disorder or BPD. He was diagnosed with it when he was younger. He shut down his emotions most of the time, in fear of experiencing a memory or event that would trigger it. Emotions were more intense to him than someone without BPD. That also factored into his reasons for not letting emotions get the best of him. This wasn't the reason for his manners though. His grandparents taught him manners along with a lot of valuable life skills that would help him survive today's world.

He watched as Southern Pine turned into Redwood as he traveled closer to Anvil Town. He fell asleep before he made it to Junction City and didn't wake up until after they had passed through the other towns save the final stop, Anvil Town. "Last stop," The train conductor spoke over the intercom, "Attention all passengers, we have arrived in Anvil Town." Nate wiped his eyes before standing up and shouldering his backpack. He waited until the train came to a complete stop before getting off with several other passengers. He was immediately welcomed by the sight of Anvil Town's architecture. The town reminded him of his own hometown minus the excess fields of crops and pokemon. It was mostly rustic, with most of the buildings that converged further away from the train station. There was a pristine white building on the other side of the many home, which he was assuming was the lab. He walked towards the main part of town focusing on getting to the Pokemon Laboratory. It was slightly crowded, but not too much where he couldn't get through. Opting to cut through the Market strip, he passed through an alleyway.

It was real confusing to see a little tiny blue alligator dart from the other end of the alley way from the market place and right between his legs. He turned back to get a good look, just as the same Pokemon stopped and looked back at him. He decided to shrug it off and continue towards the lab only to turn around and see a girl collide with his entire front. He stood there like a brick wall unmoving. The girl fell on her butt as if she just plopped down. He was about to help her up, but she beat him to it, springing up like a Buneary. "Sorry about that!" She had said. In just a few short seconds, Nate made his observations of the girl.

She had mint green eyes that were wider closer to her ears. She had a bob-style hairstyle with bangs over her forehead. Her hair was also a delicate shade of lilac. Her nose was somewhat squashed, slightly resembling a cat's muzzle. Her lips were plump and covered in lip gloss. She was at least six inches to a foot shorter than him, being lithe and nimble with her body being a shape of a pear, showing off her curves. Her clothing consisted of pastel goth which he didn't really care to pay too much attention to due to the fact he had seen a lot of strange wear, not that hers was.

She pointed quickly at the little blue alligator Pokemon behind me. "That Totodile ran away from the lab."

Nate perked up slightly at the mention of Lab. She was probably the senior trainer he had heard about. "The lab?" He questioned with interest. He saw her eyes light up. "I'm going there to get a starter."

"Perfect!" She said clapping her hands together, "I'm helping Professor Willow and the new trainers!" She sounded really excited about the fact. "My name's Laurel. Can I ask who you are? Oh but we should walk and talk. We don't want to be late." That was fine with him. He hated standing around doing nothing. In fact, the only time he did so, is if his immediate responsibility required it.

"Nathan," he answered immediately, "But call me Nate." There was a pause between the two before Laurel remembered something.

"You're coming too," She spoke to the Totodile whom immediately started to trot along behind the two humans. She led Nate onto the Lab, probably getting him there faster than he would have on his own. He did have a habit of taking the time to enjoy the scenery around him, after all. He sighed quietly as he took note of the market stalls and stands all around him, most of them selling various assortment of berries. The two of them kept going, Laurel breaking the silence between them. "Every starter with the exception of Totodile and Treecko are available," She informed him with a chipper tone as she kept looking forward, "Do you already have a starter in mind?"

"Chimchar," Nate replied with a confident tone. He kept looking around, dividing his attention between the conversation and his surroundings. The architecture in the buildings hadn't changed from the outside of the town.

"Oh," Laurel spoke pointing out the white building, "You see that big white building? That's the lab. It's pretty recognizable." Nate merely nodding, his earlier suspicions of the building being confirmed. When the two arrived, she immediately announced very loudly, "We found him!" That was probably the only thing that would irk Nate more than anything about someone, how loud they got. He was slightly annoyed at her for shouting, but he let it go. It was probably a big deal over the totodile.

A boy around Nate's age came around the corner of the building, looking subtly relieved. He was, by his looks, athletic with dark brown eyes, black slicked back hair, and was about six inches taller than Nate himself. He wore woodland camo clothing such as a beanie, cargo pants, and combat vest. He also had brown hiker boots, a black T-shirt, black fingerless gloves, brown leatherette covered gauntlets, and an olive over the shoulder biker bag. Nate got this feeling that this was a guy of few words, and more of a thinker like himself. Seem's like this one's a good guy, He thought silently.

The introduction between the Nate and the boy was short, Laurel apparently knowing both. "Sergio," She said to the boy, "this is Nate. Nate, this is Sergio." She gave the Totodile a small push towards the boy called Sergio. Laurel then gestured to the lab at Nate. Nate gave her a nod and followed her in.

Upon walking in, the first thing Nate heard was a sigh of discontent. The discontent was apparent among the owners expression. He looked somewhat bored. The man, whom I was guessing was the professor, was somewhat like a pretty boy, if that's what you wanted to call it. His hair was ridiculously fluffy and curly like a willow, go figure. Other than that, he was tall. Something about this guy was off. His lab attire was typical for a guy who spent his time in a laboratory. An expression of pure loath came across his features. Nate honestly didn't care what the professor thought as he came for one thing; Chimchar. Besides, the feeling was starting to become mutual. He looked over at Laurel, who didn't seem bothered by the Professor's attitude. That made one of them. He sighed inwardly as the professor spoke up.

"And you are?" The professor asked with a drawled out voice. "Yeah," Nate thought sarcastically, "Nice to meet you too asshole."

"Nate," The new trainer replied without much care.

"Mhm," The professor spoke jotting his name down, "Take whichever one you want." He turned to Laurel. "Oh and Laurel, be a dear and take this Pokedex out to Sergio." He handed her a solid red Pokedex that was dug out of a box atop a shelf. She nodded.

"I'll take Chimchar," Nate responded without hesitation.

"Good," The professor spoke before shoving Chimchar's Pokeball and a Pokedex into his hands, "Now scram. I have work to do." The pair were ushered out of the lab after Nate had a pokedex shoved into his hands.

Laurel sighed as the two were forced out into the cold weather again, she passed the pokedex to Sergio. "We have maybe two more trainers arriving today. They all come at separate times. One guy might already have his." She noted. "I remember Willow trading one to Unova…"

Nate and Laurel walked outside near the side of the Laboratory where Sergio was waiting with his Totodile. Laurel promptly handed him his Pokedex. Apparently, the next trainer had yet to arrive so the three simply waited. While Laurel and Sergio seemed to take the time in leisure, Nate moved somewhere nearby before taking out Chimchar's Pokeball.

"Chimchar," Nate spoke tossing it. He was greeted by the sight of a little monkey pokemon with a low flame for its tail. Chimchar was the definition of something that would come straight out of a kid's story book due to its ridiculously child-friendly appearance. It was hunched over, with orange and creamy fur, and large ears. In all terms, it was a baby fire monkey.

The said fire monkey looked up at its new Trainer for the first time with a curious expression. "Char?" It uttered tilting its head.

"Hello there Chimchar," Nate said with his soft deep southern voice. He knelt down on one knee trying to get to as close to the height of the Pokemon as possible. It was something that he had learned to do when working with some of the smaller Pokemon back on his family's ranch in Agricrop Town. Nate exuded nothing but pure kindness and assurance to the little chimp. "I'm your new Trainer."

"Chimchar," The Pokemon replied as if asking a question.

"Tell me," Nate continued, "Do you wish to become stronger?"

The pokemon seemed to think on the words, not because of the question itself, but because of the way its trainer spoke. It was expecting a loud and obnoxious person as its trainer. It didn't expect someone who was cool and collected. "Chim," It replied nodding.

"I can help you become stronger," Nate replied, "But in return you must do something for me." At this, the Chimchar tilted its head. "You must obey my every command and you must help me achieve my goal."

"Chimchar?" It asked. Nate could only imagine that it was questioning what goal he was referring to.

"Before I thought about this journey," Nate spoke, "I've always wanted to do one thing that didn't necessarily have to involve traveling around. I have a list of Pokemon that I want to catch and train up to become the best they can of their species. I want to train them to use their moves and natural abilities in ways that will help me and whatever I deem necessary. The reason I chose you, is because your species is pretty versatile in many applications in fieldwork such as general survival. Your natural physiology lets you climb obstacles, use your flames to light fire, and when you get stronger, use fighting type attacks to aid in maneuvering and outdoorsmanship. If you want to become stronger, and if I'm to catch all the pokemon on my list, we have to work together. The question is, do I have your full confidence, commitment and loyalty to make that happen?"

The little fire monkey looked at him with a contemplative expression, seemingly inspired by the boy's words. After a few seconds, it finally answered with the confidence that its trainer could help it. "Chimchar!" It uttered nodding.

"I knew I could count on you," Nate said with a rare smirk that he rarely gave to anyone. He pulled out his Pokedex, knowing the information that would be valuable on it about his Chimchar. With the combination of the Pokedex and Chimchar's Pokeball, the information was probably more accurate that the Professor was due to the fact that a Pokeball had the ability to perform DNA tests on the Pokemon inside.

Chimchar, the chimp Pokemon. Chimchar are naturally adept at climbing and using their fire to aid them in their endeavors.

Gender: Male

Nature: Serious

Ability(s)- Blaze

Moves known- Scratch, Ember, Leer

Genealogy: Female Infernape, Male Blaziken

Genetic Moves: Blaze Kick, Focus Energy

Please note that Genetic moves have been passed onto by its father's genes. This Pokemon cannot use moves listed in this criteria until it becomes stronger and has more experience in training.

Nate closed the Pokedex pleased with its information on Chimchar. It definitely was a wise choice as a first partner. "Come on Chimchar," He said holding his hand out. Chimchar grabbed Nate's fingers with both its tiny hands. Nate picked up the Chimchar and hung him over his shoulder. The Pokemon dropped down atop it sitting down. Its flame did not burn its trainer, as he willed his flame to become harmless. He used his right hand to clasp onto his trainer's short hair to help keep his balance. Nate returned to where Laurel and Sergio were.

It didn't take long for him to realize that the next trainer had already arrived and received his Pokemon. Some loud new trainer came out nearly shouting in aggravation. "That guy was completely infuriating," he said, rather loudly, in frustration, "not to mention very obviously incompetent. How much did he bribe to become the Regional Professor?" For the love of Arceus, quiet down...

"He is," Laurel spoke up, "It's better not to think about him too 're one of the new trainers, right? I'm Laurel. I started six months before you did. I'm here to explain and teach you all about the fundamentals. One more person needs to get here before we can start." The teenage girl clapped her pale hands together enthusiastically. "I hope we all get along." She had a habit of clapping her hands when she seemed to get something that excited her stuck in her head.

The boy whipped his head around in surprise at the new voice, while his passenger, which happened to be a Snivy had jumped and almost fell of his shoulder. The boy himself was around Laurel's height, incidentally the two were shorter than Nate or Sergio. The boy had an athletic body with slightly messy dark blonde hair, slightly tanned skin tone, and gold eyes. It wasn't the amber eyes that Nate had which only appeared when sunlight reflected off of them. The boy wore an orange T-shirt, black cargo shorts, red and black tennis shoes, and a red messenger bag.

"I'm Mathias," the boy introduced himself. "Professor Juniper's apprentice in Unova. And this," He gestured to his Pokemon, "is Snivy, my starter. She's a little shy, so she probably won't socialize much at first. I mostly know what I'm doing from what Professor Juniper taught me, but a few extra pointers would be nice." The Grass Snake Pokemon did look a little timid.

"I'll gladly help you along." Laurel nodded in a business-like response. "We're just waiting on one more person."

Mathias nodded, kneeling down and letting Snivy off his shoulder. "So who are these two?"

"I think they can introduce themselves." Laurel stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets, turning to Nate and Sergio. Boredom was overcoming Nate, as he was ready to get started. All in all, he just didn't care who came into the group or out of it. He was just ready to go. His Chimchar, who was perched on his shoulder, shared his expression of indifference. "The name's Nate..." Nate introduced himself, his tone completely plain . The Chimchar merely blinked at the newcomer. "Pleasure to meet you." Mathias reached his hand out and shook Nathan's. Snivy looked a bit disturbed at the seemingly emotionless Chimchar and waved shyly.

Nate's Chimchar immediately perked up and waved back. But when Mathias looked at it, the little monkey looked away huffing. Nate could only deduce that Chimchar only wanted to focus on getting stronger. The only one capable of that should be his trainer. He also seemed quite friendly to other Pokemon, which was good since Nate was planning on capturing a lot on his list.

Sergio stood by just observing. Nate could tell he didn't want to speak, which he was already accustomed to. Sergio just liked to be quiet. "Name's Sergio-077," He introduced himself then pointed at his hyperactive Totodile atop his head. "Totodile." He added. Mathias observed Sergio, sizing up his odd name and quiet disposition. Nate was slightly curious about the numbers, but didn't voice his concerns. He was more focused on the two trainer's Pokemon interacting. Snivy waved shyly at Totodile ducking her head slightly. This Pokemon really was shy. Totodile however immediately came to life and approached the shy Pokemon. The next thing Nate knew, they were shaking hands, easily becoming fast friends. Nate looked at his Chimchar who seemed to have a curious expression. By this time, Chimchar had quickly switched shoulders. This was what Nate did when working with Pokemon on the ranch back at Agricrop Town. He often studied their mannerisms and behavior when they were interacting with the world or Pokemon around them. It was part of his job for one, and two he found that thing sort of interesting. It helped him prepare for how a wild Pokemon or newly captured Pokemon would behave in a battle or general Pokemon/human interaction.

Overall, Nate had a pretty good idea what he wanted out of his near-future endeavors involving Pokemon. He wasn't so sure about being in a group though. He didn't outright like being in a group, but didn't hate it either. He believed in teamwork, he just heard that most Pokemon Trainers are loners and travelled with just their Pokemon alone. It wasn't like he was doing this for a Gym Badge or tournament though. That was an internal argument that he was having with himself. He supposed it was part of his BPD; indecisive decisions. There were very few decisions that he could commit to. Becoming a Pokemon Trainer was one of them, picking Chimchar is the second, and lastly so far was his promise to complete his capture list and train them up. Either way, Nate knew he'd have to stick with the group lead by Laurel. It was part of the deal of getting his Chimchar after all.

Sighing inwardly, while watching the subtle interaction between two Pokemon unfold, he noticed similarities in how the two Pokemon interacted akin to two humans. There was similar behavior there, almost as if Snivy had spoken, Pleased to meet you. She probably did. Pokemon had a language their own compared to human speech. It was something like this that Nate wanted to study a little further while training his Pokemon. With that in mind, as soon as the next trainer arrived, maybe they could get a move on….