Well. More than 50 favorites and 70 followers in a single month. Pokemon fandom goes hard, lol. Big thanks to everyone who's followed or favorited so far, it means a great deal to me. And further thanks to everyone who's left a review. I'll be the first to admit I'm terrible at responding to reviews on this site (the format is just so terrible for it) but I always enjoy reading them.

Anyways, I figure I'll release this now that a month has passed.

Chapter 3: The Starting Line

"So Hilda…" I say conversationally. "How do you think this is going to go?"

"Actually… probably pretty well." Hilda admits. "I had my doubts, but it seems like Bianca has some good ideas for this training session. We talked about her plan for a while last night."

"Huh…" I look towards my new teacher, as she jogs in place in our designated area. "Well she certainly seems gung-ho about it, at least."

"Yup." Hilda yawns loudly. "She's always been the morning person of the group. Which reminds me… if either of you need me, I'm gonna be over there." She gestures to a nearby bench. "Getting some more sleep."

She's slept for roughly sixteen of the past twenty-four hours, so a part of me can't help but find this somewhat worrying. But I decide to leave it be. She has been through a lot with all the Team Plasma stuff going on.

"One has to wonder why she even bothered coming out here if she's just going to sleep." Cheren says huffily, watching her go with a scowl.

"More curious about you, frankly." I remark. "Not like you have a horse in this race." It was quite a surprise to find this guy had decided to join the group. He apparently invited himself along at some point over the course of the night, and has been nothing but irritable for the entirety of the hour I've spent with him.

"I'm here because my two best friends are suddenly very interested in spending time with a strange man none of us know anything about." Cheren snips. "The same man who just happened to show up during Team Plasma's crowning achievement to date."

"Valid thing to be worried about." I admit. "Though I think you're a bit off base. Pretty sure with their teams either one of them could straight up obliterate me if I tried anything shady."

He doesn't respond directly, muttering under his breath and walking away. He stops roughly halfway between Bianca and Hilda, giving me a sharp look as I approach the former. It's a bit obnoxious, if I'm being honest, but overall I'd say I respect him for it. Good of him to be looking out for his friends like that, even if they can take care of themselves.

I walk up to Bianca and stand at attention, throwing her a casual salute. "Reporting for duty, sensei!" I say with a grin, "I am ready for instruction."

Bianca's chest puffs out proudly, and she shoots me a mischievous grin. "You say you're ready for instruction, but how can you be ready for a lesson in Pokémon Training if your Pokémon is still in his ball?"

"Got me there," I chuckle sheepishly, reaching for my belt. "Alright Ogrim, let's do this thing!"

Ogrim appears in a flash of light, pumping his arms enthusiastically. "Go! Go! Golett!"

"Oh, you named him!" Bianca exclaims enthusiastically. "Ogrim, huh? Sounds like a menacing name for such a cute little guy."

"Menacing?" I gasp in mock offence, "I'll have you know that Ogrim is the name of a mighty hero! Soon to be known throughout all the land!"

"Golett!" Ogrim cries in agreement.

"I'm loving that enthusiasm!" Bianca grins. "Alright then! I may not be an expert, but I'm going to do everything I can to help make that happen."

"Golett?" Ogrim tilts in confusion.

"Ogrim, Bianca is going to help teach us all about proper battling." I explain. "She's got a lot more experience as a trainer than I do, so you need to make sure to listen carefully to what she has to say."

"Goooooooo…" Ogrim gasps appreciatively. He clenches his hands and nods firmly, looking up at Bianca with determination. "Golett!"

"Great!" Bianca smiles, looking a bit nervous at the open admiration in Ogrim's voice. "Well then, uh… right! You!" She points to me suddenly, "Pop quiz! What do you think the most basic thing to know about battling is?"

"Uhh…" I blink in surprise. "I guess… type matchups?"

"Bzzt!" She crosses her arms, looking very pleased with herself. "That's a common misconception! The most important thing to learn, the thing you need to know first is this: mobility!"

"Mobility?" I blink in surprise.

"Yup!" Bianca places her hands on her hips. "Knowing your type combinations is super important, yeah, but the first thing you need to keep in mind as a trainer is how the Pokémon can get around on the battlefield! Type combinations and effectiveness don't matter if you can outmaneuver your opponent! And knowing how your partner and the opponent can move is critical if you want to figure out how best to attack."

"Huh…" I mull the information over. It seems so… obvious, and yet I hadn't thought of it before now. I'm sure I would have realized this soon enough, but coming from a world where Pokémon just stand in place and basically trade punches has me at a disadvantage in that regard. "Okay, damn. Barely started and you're already blowing my mind."

"Really? Yes!" Bianca throws her hands up triumphantly. "I thought that would be helpful! I had tons of trouble winning battles until I figured this out!"

"Alright, so the plan is to figure out how well Ogrim can move then?" I nod eagerly. "How are we doing that? Some sort of obstacle course maybe?"

"I thought about that, but no." Bianca frowns. "Couldn't set one up on short notice. None of us have a ground type with the skill to build one quickly. So instead, I've got a different idea. Come on out, Sunny!" She pulls a Poké Ball from her belt and releases a Pignite.

The Pignite lets out an enthusiastic yell, snorting embers from its nose, before turning to face Bianca dutifully. Bianca grins and indicates Ogrim and I, "Hey Sunny, this is Ben, and Ogrim. They're both fresh trainers, so we're going to be helping them out today!"

Sunny turns to us and waves cheerfully, calling out another enthusiastic grunt, "PIIIIIIIG!"

"It's nice to meet you, Sunny." I reply with a chuckle, as Ogrim returns the wave happily.

"So, I know Ogrim here won't have the full range of movement that Sunny does." Bianca explains. "But his body shape is similar enough that we should be able to get an idea of how he can move. So what I want you to do Sunny, is to go through your usual stretches, nice and slow. And Ogrim, I want you to copy him as best as you can. That should give us a basic idea of what your limitations are."

Our Pokémon reply enthusiastically, Sunny leading Ogrim to the side so he can start walking them through his stretches.

The next several minutes pass relatively quietly, as Bianca and I take note of where Ogrim falls short of Sunny's movements, as well as the rare moment where he exceeds the burly pig Pokémon. I feel a bit concerned at how often my friend falls short, but Bianca assures me it's not as bad as it seems.

"Remember, Sunny is a fighting type Pokémon. Their body shape may be similar, but Sunny is totally built to do this stuff. He's way more flexible than he looks."

"Still, Ogrim's legs are clearly giving him trouble." I note as I watch him wobble through another stretch. "He doesn't have a lot of room to move them."

"That will continue until evolution." Cheren cuts in. "Golett is considered a struggle to train by many because of its limited mobility. There's nothing you can do for it except to wait."

"No way to train some of that awkwardness out of him?"

"Not really. Training non-organic Pokémon is very different from organic ones." Cheren replies coolly, "Non-organic Pokémon can get stronger, but their range of motion is set from birth, save for evolution. The most you can do is help teach him to compensate for his limitations."

"Oh yeah, you have a non-organic Pokémon, don't you Cheren?" Bianca looks over eagerly.

"Boldore are organic Bianca, they just don't look like it." Cheren replies. "I'm not speaking from personal experience, I know all this because unlike you, I never skipped Professor Juniper's lectures."

"You didn't have to bring that up!" Bianca pouts, "Meanie."

"So, if you can't train them by strengthening their body, how do non-organic Pokémon get stronger?" I ask, diverting attention before an argument can break out.

Cheren looks pleased at my attentiveness, turning back to me and giving an approving nod, "Good question. Non-organic Pokémon get stronger solely by learning to better channel their energy. In the case of Golett this means ground and ghost. Ground energy helps its body become more resilient, and ghost energy gives its movements more power."

"It uses ground energy to hold its body together, and relies on ghost energy to move. Makes sense." I nod thoughtfully.

"You seem to understand the basics." Cheren nods.

I watch as Ogrim whirls his arm like a windmill, prompting Sunny to gasp in awe. "So, what's next for this training session then? I feel like training Ogrim to master his movement is going to require something more specialized than just running laps."

"I was thinking the next thing you should learn is how well Golett can control himself in a battle." Bianca replies. "It'll be the best way to see what you need to improve on."

"A battle?" Cheren replies incredulously. "Bianca, your Pokémon are all far better trained than this Golett. There won't be any value in a one-sided fight."

"I know that, Cheren, geez!" Bianca groans, tugging her hat down over her eyes. "Why does everyone keep acting like I don't know that? I'm not saying Ogrim should fight one of my main team yet. I don't want to bully the little guy!"

"Then… what are you saying?" I ask.

Bianca looks up with a grin. "I have a secret weapon!" She holds up a Poké Ball triumphantly. "Ta-dah! I caught a new Pokémon the other day! And since I was helping Ben all day yesterday, we haven't had much time to train yet!"

"Meaning the Pokémon will be at a similar level, even if the trainers aren't." Cheren replies thoughtfully. "That should work well enough for now. I'll admit, I didn't give you enough credit."

"Darn right, buster!" She holds her fingers up in a 'V' towards Cheren's face, grinning playfully. "I know what I'm doing! Mostly."

I look over to our Pokémon, to see Sunny and Ogrim pumping their arms enthusiastically in the air. "Well unless that's a particularly wild bit of stretching it looks like those two are done with their warm up. Should we get started now?"

"I'm ready if you are!" Bianca grins, looking to Sunny and Ogrim. "Alright Ogrim, are you ready to try a battle now?"

"Go! Go! Golett!" Ogrim calls out eagerly.

"Ni-nigh!" Sunny turns to Ogrim eagerly, arms flexing.

"Sorry Sunny, not you." Bianca shakes her head. "Maybe some other time. We need to let the new girl show what she can do."

"Piiiig." Sunny says, looking disappointed. The gloominess lasts only a moment before he perks up again though. "Pig!" He gives Ogrim a good natured pat on the back and runs over to stand at Bianca's side.

Ogrim looks at that, then looks over to me and runs over dutifully. He stands at attention at my side, doing his best to mimic Sunny's pose. I grin, looking down at him. "You having fun, little buddy?"

"Golett!" Ogrim replies cheerfully, shuffling a bit so he can lean back to look up at me.

"Glad to hear it." I nod. "I'm going to let you call most of the shots on this battle, okay? Once I know how you like to battle we can start figuring out what needs improvement."

"Go!" Golett responds firmly, holding up his hands, fists clenched in determination as he turns back to Bianca.

"Alright! If you two are ready, then come on out, Li!" She tosses her Poké Ball into the air. The Pokémon that appears is yellow, sleek, and weasel like, with powerful looking furry red arms. A Mienfoo. She stretches diligently, before turning to Bianca and Sunny and bowing to each of them.

"Hey Li!" Bianca waves enthusiastically. "These are my friends Cheren, Ben, Ogrim, and that's Hilda over there on the bench!" Li bows to each of us as we're introduced, tilting her head in confusion as she realizes Hilda is barely awake. "Right now we're helping Ben and Ogrim. Ben is new to battling, so I was hoping you could spar with Ogrim for practise."

"Mien." Li says quietly, nodding to Ogrim and I.

"Thanks for your help." I reply, bowing my head to the little fighting type. She gives me a small smile in return.

"So, since we don't want to have to run to the center in between fights, let's take it easy for today." Bianca continues, "Ogrim can't heal himself yet, right?" She sees me nod and nods in return, "Alright, so let's just fight until one of you knocks the other one over. Sounds good to you guys?"

"Sounds good to me." I reply. Ogrim nods as well with a cheerful cry.

Bianca and Sunny start to move further back, putting some space between themselves and the incoming battle. I start to do the same, before thinking back on what I've already learned today. Might as well start putting Bianca's lesson into practise early. "Ogrim." I say, taking a knee to look the little guy in the eye. "She's going to be a lot faster and more agile than you. Pick your moments to attack carefully, and try not to let her get behind you. Got it?"

Golett stares blankly at me. "Go… Golett." It says after a moment, nodding.

He's hesitant, either because he doesn't understand or because he's nervous. Well, I'm not sure how well that actually got through to him, but hopefully that little bit of information will prove helpful to him. "Alright." I smile, patting him on the shoulder. "Do your best. And have fun."

"Golett!" He replies much quicker.

I take my place opposite Bianca, and Cheren steps up to the halfway point between us. "I guess I'll be the referee then. This will be a practice match only. First to knock their opponent over is the winner. No prize at stake. Ready?" He waits for confirmation, "Then… Begin!"

The fight should be interesting. Far more interesting than I might have expected were I only using game knowledge. In the games, a freshly caught Mienfoo wouldn't be able to do a thing against a Golett. Li only knows normal and fighting moves after all, which wouldn't affect ghost types normally.

According to what research I've managed to do since arriving in this world though, type immunity isn't quite the same as it works in the games. There are far more exceptions to the rules, due to basic physics often taking precedence over game logic. In the game, fighting and normal moves pass through ghost type Pokémon. But in this world, Golett can't just become intangible. Well, they can, but they have to practise to learn that trick. I guess it's just harder for Pokémon with physical bodies to phase through stuff.

So when Li starts the battle by blurring into a fake-out attack that knocks Ogrim off balance immediately it's not half as surprising as it might have been. Well, for me at least. Ogrim is startled so badly that he nearly falls over on the spot. He barely manages to catch himself, back-stepping nervously as his opponent presses the advantage with a flurry of blows.

The poor fella seems so nervous that I can't help but call out encouragement, despite my earlier intent to let him fight this one on his own. "Easy there Ogrim, you can do it!" I call out calmly. "Keep your arms forward, try to block her!"

Ogrim raises his arms, wobbling uncertainly as he tries to figure out where his attacker will strike from next. He lets out an agitated cry, swinging out with his arms to try to stop Li's ceaseless assault. Every time he moves he's a moment too late though, the speedy Mienfoo already hitting him from a different direction. If it continues like this the outcome seems certain.

Ogrim seems to realize this as well though, and starts to change his strategy. Rather than trying to block Li's attacks, he curls in on himself and weathers them. Li keeps pressing the advantage, attacking relentlessly, but no longer pushing Ogrim back. He still grunts in pain as she jabs at him, but isn't budging. Li sees this, and decides to break through his defense all at once, rearing back for a big blow.

And that's the moment Ogrim seems to have been waiting for. As she moves in for the heavy hit Ogrim's body flashes purple, and he uncurls with an enthusiastic cry, knocking Li's arm aside. This time it's the fighting type's turn to fall back. She recovers quickly, readying herself as Ogrim rushes her.

But Ogrim starts his attack earlier than she's expecting. Before he's within arm's reach he sends out a pulse of that same purple energy he just used, sending the Mienfoo reeling again. And that proves all the opportunity Ogrim needs to close the gap, and push her over.

"That's the match!" Cheren calls out, catching the attention of the battlers. "Ogrim and Ben are the winners!"

"Way to go, little guy!" I call out eagerly. "You did great!"

"Golett!" Ogrim replies happily, holding a hand out to Li. The Mienfoo looks frustrated with her loss, but allows Ogrim to help her to her feet. She bows respectfully to Ogrim, a small smile on her face as he returns the gesture, if a little awkwardly.

"Ahh, you guys both did so good!" Bianca cries out in excitement, running forward to hug the two. "Li, you were so fast at the beginning of the fight, I was super impressed! And you really pushed Ogrim, you almost had him a couple of times. And Ogrim, you toughed it out really well! Great job you two!"

The two Pokémon cheer enthusiastically. I jog up and pat Ogrim on the shoulder as he emerges from Bianca's hug. "I'm proud of you, buddy." I smile down at him.

"Yes, he'll have to work on his balance and on not losing his composure in the future, but he recovered well." Cheren comments, smiling slightly as well. "He seems to have a decent grasp of his ghost attacks."

"Right." I look down at Ogrim appraisingly. "That was… Astonish and Night Shade, right?"

"Correct." Cheren nods in approval. "Looks like you know a thing or two about his moves."

"I'm no expert, but I like to think my general knowledge of Pokémon moves is pretty good." I reply. "Like, I can also tell Mienfoo was mostly using pound and force palm, other than that fake-out at the start."

"That's right." Bianca nods, turning to Li, "Which reminds me, you should try using double slap next time. When your opponent is off balance like that you can totally overwhelm them if you can hit them a whole bunch of times really quickly."

Li nods thoughtfully.

"You sound like you're speaking from experience on that one." I comment, nodding towards Sunny, "Let me guess, arm thrust?"

Bianca chuckles at that, "Well I do use that with Sunny, yes. But I mostly know that trick because we kept… losing to it." She tugs at her hat sheepishly, as Sunny grumbles in embarrassment. "Lenore had this Minccino she used against us our first fight, and when she saw how much trouble we had with it, she wouldn't stop using it until we won. It took… a lot of tries."

"A Minccino? Really?" Cheren blinks in surprise. "I always assumed it was her Watchog giving you trouble."

"No, I never had a problem with the Watchog." Bianca shakes her head. "Luna was really good at putting it to sleep. My Musharna." She explains, noting my curious gaze.

"Hrm." Cheren grumbles, looking rather put out. He probably struggled with Lenore's ace.

"Alright, so are we ready to go again?" I ask, trying to get back on topic. "Still on the clock, so we should make the most of it."

"Oh, totally!" Bianca nods eagerly. "You good for another round, Li?" Li nods in quiet assent, eyes blazing with determination, and Bianca grins up at me. "Li's super ready. Let's go again, and this time I'll start giving her more commands."

I'm embarrassed to admit that the rest of the rounds we fight in our time frame aren't nearly as close. For all that Bianca acts scatterbrained during the course of the battle, she directs Li with far more intent than I can equal. She'll gasp, and stammer, and gesture frantically, and somehow always convey enough information that her Pokémon can easily respond properly. I try to direct Ogrim in response, but it doesn't have the same effect.

It comes down to experience. Bianca acts humble, but she's a six badge trainer and it shows. Even though she often seems to get flustered, as soon as I press the perceived advantage she knows immediately how to respond. Ogrim spends the next half hour getting flanked, and tripped, and surprised, and countered. By the end of the session I'm forced to conclude the only reason Bianca seemed so off-balance in those battles was probably her lack of experience with being on the winning side of the skill gap. The way she blinks and gasps in surprise whenever she outmaneuvers me is a dead giveaway.

It's… disheartening, to say the least. A large part of me was expecting this at the start of the training session, but I think winning that first round screwed with those expectations. I found myself clinging to that brief moment of victory, and being unable to find it again when faced with proper competition from a more experienced trainer.

"It's to be expected, given the difference in training experience." Cheren says, not unkindly, as we return to the Pokémon Center. "All things considered you did better than I expected."

"Yup!" Bianca nods emphatically. "You're doing way better than I did when I first started. And this was only your first time battling. There's tons of room for growth."

"I appreciate it." I nod gratefully, despite my pride stinging at being consoled by people so much younger than me. "I'll have to work on ways to get around Ogrim's mobility restrictions. More work with Night Shade, maybe? If he can expand its effect to surround his whole body it could stop Pokémon like Li from hitting him in the back so easily."

"I have a Lampent that could maybe help with that!" Bianca replies eagerly.

"You should probably focus on improving his control of ground type energy first." Hilda cuts in, still looking sleepy. "Mastering that will make him harder to knock over, and let him take hits better. They say when a ground type has proper control over their element nothing can bring them down. They're pretty much immovable."

"Oh! Like when I fought Clay!" Bianca nods, "His Palpitoad was like that, it totally fainted standing up!"

"That's intense." I grin, taking my place behind Bianca in line. "I'd love to see Ogrim reach that point. I'm not sure how to go about training with that stuff though… I bought him some modelling clay, I heard that can help."

"A lot of ground type Pokémon start by manipulating sand or mud before moving on to something firmer." Cheren says. "Clay would be more of a middle ground."

"That's what I heard as well." I nod. "If he doesn't learn how to manipulate it immediately it's fine. I also just bought it as a way for him to distract himself in crowded areas. Little dude is pretty hyperactive around people."

"He does seem like he wants to be friends with everyone he meets." Hilda replies thoughtfully, a mischievous smirk creeping across her face, "Except Cheren."

"What?" Cheren blinks in surprise.

"Oh hey, that's true!" Bianca exclaims in surprise, "Ogrim totally didn't say hi to you! I wonder why?"

"Probably scared because Cheren's always so grouchy!" Hilda teases, messing up Cheren's hair.

"You're being ridiculous." Cheren states flatly, trying his best to look unbothered.

"Don't worry Cheren," I reassure him, "I'm sure Ogrim was just distracted with his training."

The lighthearted conversation continues until we reach the front desk, Bianca and I getting our Pokémon checked up in only ten minutes or so. Golett's damage was very minor throughout the sparring, but since he can't self-repair yet I have to stay vigilant. It's going to be rough keeping on top of this until he can care for himself.

I should probably consider getting another Pokémon, so I'm not relying entirely on a Pokémon with such severe limitations. Not to say I'm unhappy with Ogrim, just that traversing a route will be much safer with a Pokémon that can be healed in between Pokémon Centers. If I want to walk to another route right now I'll be screwed if Ogrim takes a bad hit in the middle.

I'm reluctant though, for two reasons. First, I want more time to figure things out with Ogrim before I have to split my attention. Secondly, every Pokémon I catch brings the deadline for finding a sponsor that much closer. Since I don't have a home address at the moment, I'd be seriously screwed if something were to happen to me. Hospitals have some space for taking care of Pokémon in case of emergencies, but typically they prefer to send them to sponsors in the case of trainers.

And I honestly still have no idea what to do about the sponsor situation. Been looking up options, but there's not a lot available to me outside of Unova. And I definitely want to put some distance between myself and this region. I'm supposed to be a Unovan native, but I don't know anything about this place. If I can head for a different region I'll be able to brush off my ignorance as just me being a foreigner.

Also, I really don't want to stick around in the region where there's a criminal organization running around with a Legendary Pokémon. Seriously, Reshiram acted friendly enough, but it was still goddamn terrifying. Could have eaten me in like, two bites.

Makes me wonder what Hilda's thinking about the situation. She continues to hang around, even as the others leave to take care of their own business. Surely she'd have more important things to deal with right now, especially after that challenge she was just given.

Oh, wait. "I'm just a distraction for you right now, huh?" I ask, turning to the more experienced trainer, "So you don't have to think about the Plasma bullshit."

"You caught me." She replies, pointing my way with a tired looking smile. "That a problem?"

"A problem? Having a trainer well on their way to eight badges hanging around to give me tips? Oh yeah, it's really inconvenient." I snort, "I'm not bothered, just thinking out loud."

"Cool." She replies with an air of indifference I realize now is entirely forced. "So what's next on the agenda?"

"Morale booster, I think." I reply, heading outside to release Ogrim somewhere less crowded. Hilda leads me to a nearby park, still filled with people but not quite so noisy. And I let Ogrim out of his ball.

When he first appears the little Golett is slumped over, though he perks up quickly when he notices me. "Golett! Let go Golett go Golett!"

"Hey buddy, feeling better now that all the bumps and scratches have been ironed out?" I ask warmly.

"Golett!"

It's funny. I've known the little dude for like two days, and already I'm starting to get a feel for his moods. "You know…" I crouch down on his level, looking him in the eye, "I can tell you're upset. You don't have to hide it from me."

"Gogo!" Ogrim waves his hands in denial, before seeming to think better of it. He slumps over sadly, voice glum as he continues, "Golett go let go go Golett go…"

"You're sad about losing so many times?" I guess.

Ogrim nods gloomily.

"Well, that's alright." I pat him on the shoulder, "It's fine to be upset. But I feel like you're thinking about this all wrong right now. You did a great job today, buddy. You worked hard, and we learned a lot, and you even won against her once. Bianca's a lot better than us right now, but that's why it was good to face her. I learned a lot about how far I have to go to surpass her, and you did too, right?"

"Go…" Ogrim replies thoughtfully, before perking up a little, "Golett!"

"Atta boy." I grin. "So now that we know what we need to improve on, let's get to work, yeah?"

"Golett!"

"You got this, Ogrim." Hilda says encouragingly from her place off to the side. Ogrim nods with determination, pumping his arms in the air. I give her a grateful look as well, but it fades as I see the look of melancholy on her face. She notices this, and gives me a half-hearted smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

Apparently she's not as distracted as she was hoping.

Maybe I can fix that. Give the girl a break.

"Alright buddy, first things first, I want to see you practice your night shade attack. I want to know everything I can about how big you can get it, how fast you can fire it off, and what you need to do to shoot it."

Ogrim starts running through the movements as I direct him, and I watch as Hilda's gaze turns analytical. I refocus on Ogrim with that, feeling reassured that this might be doing some good for her.

I continue to train in Icirrus City for the rest of the week, as I continue to mull over my next move. Over that time I find myself growing increasingly close with Bianca and Hilda, as they are all too happy to help with Ogrim's training. Cheren occasionally helps as well, though in his case I would refer to the relationship more as a 'begrudging acquaintance' than a proper friendship. I learn a lot about them in the process, their strategies, their teams, and their different approaches to training. Like how Cheren favors highly technical strategies and techniques, while Bianca pushes through on sheer enthusiasm.

Strongest of the trio is Hilda though. When she said she was nothing special she clearly wasn't being entirely honest. Hilda strongly favors overpowering her opponents and battling aggressively with her team. Said team consists of absolute monsters, with her starter, Ronin the Samurott, being particularly dangerous. Her Simisear, Cole, moves with a dexterity and purpose I never imagined the species was capable of. Lola, her Scolipede, attacks with an overwhelmingly fast and powerful style that belies her gentle nature outside of battle. And Aspar the Duosion is capable of crushing force from across the battlefield, which I wouldn't have expected after seeing how skittish he acted the first time we met.

Most impressive of her team has to be her Archen though, mostly because of what it represents. Dust isn't impressive because of how fast, powerful, or vicious she is, though all of those things are true. Dust is impressive because it means that Hilda studied for and qualified to get a Tier five license for the species. The fact that Hilda was able to do this while staying ahead of her friends in her training shows a capacity for hard work and a talent that stands out even to somebody as oblivious as me.

I see her strength first hand on many an occasion as we train, going out to the moor so Ogrim can practise moving earth around. As Ogrim learns how to channel his energy into strengthening his body, Hilda will often let her team out to blow off steam and get stronger. For the more laid back members of the team, Lola and Aspar, this tends to mean simple exercise, but some of the others prefer sparring. More than a few times I watch as Cole and Dust beat the crap out of each other, darting back and forth across the Moor. And the one time Ronin managed to talk Lola into sparring the results were wild enough that Ogrim and I completely stopped training just to watch for a while.

Today's training session seems far more casual though, with Ronin relaxing by Hilda as the rest of her team just exercises and watches Ogrim practising.

"Alright Ogrim, let's see what you can do. Show me your best mud slap!" I call out encouragingly.

"Go!" Ogrim calls out eagerly.

Watching Ogrim use mud slap is a little weird, mostly because the little dude can't actually bend over enough to reach the mud on the ground without falling. His arms are too short, his balance is too top-heavy, and his joints aren't flexible enough. Instead, he retracts his legs into his body until he's low enough that his hands can reach. From there he hurls a nice sized handful of mud at the rotten tree stump we're using as today's target.

"Alright, good shot!" I call, "Now rapid fire, as accurate as you can!"

Rapid fire takes advantage of the one aspect of Ogrim's movement that he truly seems to excel in: his arm rotation. He whirls his arms like a propeller, spraying mud like crazy at the tree. This is the part where his training in controlling the earth is really coming into play. With his arms moving as fast as they are, accuracy is something of an afterthought. Ogrim's not really cut out for deep thinking and calculating his aiming anyways, which suits this technique just fine. The end goal is to teach Ogrim how to harness this power without thinking, after all.

If he has to fire without stopping to aim then that should hopefully act as a first step to the goal. Ogrim can't aim properly, so he has to, on some level, will his shots to hit. And that willpower is critical to harnessing energy. There's no science to it, just desire. Damn near everything that Pokémon can do spits in the face of what is physically possible after all.

"There," Hilda says suddenly, clapping me on the shoulder, "Did you see that just now?"

"See what?" I ask, staring at the mud intensely. "I can't really make anything out in the middle of that mess."

"Focus!" Hilda barks, shaking me lightly, "It just happened again. Some of that mud is moving at a weird angle."

I do my best to watch as closely as I can, and realize she's right. While most of the mud hit by Ogrim's whirling arms is flying out in two straight lines, every once in a while a clump of mud will fly closer to the middle, hitting the trunk more exactly than the rest. "Saw it that time. You're sure it's not just chaos theory at play?"

She snorts in response, "Nah, he's getting it. That's definitely what you're looking for. Way to go, Ogrim!"

"Golett?" Ogrim asks uncertainly, spinning far faster than should be possible with his legs currently half their normal length. And inadvertently spraying mud at the both of us.

"Shit!" I yelp, ducking away as mud pelts my jacket. "Ogrim! Trigger discipline!"

"Golett!" Ogrim yelps in horror, stopping his arms and extending his legs once more so he can run over to apologize. Thankfully I'm the only one who got hit, Ronin having moved in immediately to shield Hilda with his swords. But that doesn't stop Ronin from joining me in on lightly scolding Ogrim for the mistake.

"I should probably take some time to make sure he understands his own strength." I comment, once Ogrim's gone back to training, "I feel like he's a disaster waiting to happen."

"Compared to a lot of wild Pokémon he's pretty good." Hilda replies, "Take Dust for instance. She gets skittish around every vehicle she sees, and one time she even tore down a giant inflatable Pikachu in Nimbasa City. They nearly rescinded my license for that one…"

"They tried to rescind your trainer's license?" I blink in shock.

"No, when you pass a Tier 5 examination you get a license to train that specific Pokémon." She explains, "Folks were really uneasy about me earning a Tier 5 license in my first year of training, even with all the work I've done for Professor Juniper. So when Dust went nuts at the theme park less than a week after I earned it… it didn't go over too well."

"Sounds like a pain."

"Compared to most of the crap I've had to deal with since becoming a trainer, it was lovely." Hilda mutters.

"God damn, you need a vacation." I sigh. A sudden feeling against my back distracts me for a moment, and I look back to see Lola cleaning the mud off of my jacket with her antennae. "Oh, thank you Lola, that's very sweet of you." Lola croons in response, clicking her mandibles cheerfully.

"Such a sweetheart!" Hilda praises, scratching at Lola's neck as she turns back to me. "I think if it wasn't for Team Plasma, I'd have hated everything about that debacle. But I've been dragged into dealing with their crap so often since setting out that it makes me really appreciate the problems I've had that involve just… regular trainer stuff. Even the cruddy legal issues like training Dust. At least that's a problem I'm supposed to be dealing with."

"I get that." I nod, "It's why I've been looking outside of Unova for sponsorship. Training here in Unova has become a total mess lately. And I feel like it's going to get worse before it gets better."

"I don't blame you for thinking that way." Hilda replies, "I don't think I could leave myself. As crummy as things have gotten around here, this place is my home. I love Unova. Even when I'm stuck dealing with a bunch of crazy terrorists pretending to be activists."

"I think I'm gonna need to get a badge or two before I'm really ready to take on any big criminal organizations." I grumble.

"Aim for at least three." Hilda replies with a bitter smirk. "That's how many they say Red had when he really started fighting Team Rocket in Kanto."

My mind goes blank at that. That… actually happened? I mean, I know that I seem to be stuck in the game world, so I guess Red must be a thing, but I still feel caught off guard.

Thankfully Bianca shows up just in time to distract Hilda from my weird response. We hear her long before we see her, the girl yelling excitedly for us as she comes running into the clearing. Which gives me a perfect opportunity to hide my shock at what is probably very common knowledge for most people interested in training.

"Hilda! Ben! I did it!" Bianca cries triumphantly as she approaches, grabbing the two of us in a hug as she grins. "I got the Freeze Badge!"

"You did!?" Hilda blinks in surprise as Bianca releases us, "I thought your battle wasn't scheduled until tomorrow? We were going to come watch!"

"They had a last minute cancellation, so I got to battle early since I was already there training!" Bianca explains, clapping her hands together and bowing her head in apology, "I didn't really have enough time to call you guys."

"Well, congrats on the win!" I say with a smile. "Nice to see all your preparation paid off!"

"Thanks!" Bianca says, grinning sheepishly. "It was really close, actually. I only won because Sunny- Oh wait, I should just show you! Sunny, come on out!"

She throws Sunny's Poké Ball into the air eagerly and we're greeted to the sight of a hulking Emboar nearly a foot taller than me. A wave of heat radiates off of him as he emerges, and as he sees us and waves I'm treated to the sight of arm muscles thicker than my head flexing powerfully.

"Booohh!" Sunny calls out in greeting.

Ronin and Ogrim move in immediately. Ronin starts jostling with his fellow starter playfully, offering congratulations to a Pokémon he's probably known his whole life. And Ogrim babbles excitedly, practically bouncing on his feet. He already looked up to Sunny metaphorically, and now that the meaning of the phrase has become literal as well Ogrim seems to be slipping into full blown hero worship.

"Holy crap, I thought they only got to be like, 5 feet tall." I say, blinking at the newly evolved Pokémon in surprise.

"It depends on how active they are typically." Bianca explains, "The numbers you see in textbooks or the Pokédex are the average you'll see in the wild. Trainers usually see larger increases when a Pokémon evolves. Trained Pokémon usually have better diets, better exercise, stuff like that!"

"Duly noted." I nod, smiling up at Sunny. "Well either way, congratulations on evolving big guy!"

"Boooooh!" Sunny grins in appreciation, flexing his arms.

As Hilda's team comes over to congratulate Sunny on his evolution, I notice Hilda herself is being very quiet. She looks almost bitter about the news, which strikes me as very odd for her. It's not like she has cause to be jealous, she got her own badge the day before she met me. So what has her so bothered?

Whatever it is, Bianca's going to notice if this keeps up. "Alright Bianca, let's celebrate. I'll pay for dinner." A chorus of cheers sounds out at that, "Uhh, just for the trainers, sorry. I'm don't have nearly enough to buy food for all the Pokémon too."

The Pokémon may only be able to say their own name, but I can still identify their response as booing. Cole throws a handful of grass at me. Lola gives me a reproachful look. Even Ogrim has the nerve to act betrayed despite not being capable of eating.

I throw up my hands in protest, giving them all a defensive glare, "Look, if you want me to buy two full Pokémon teams worth of food you're going to have to wait until I have some sort of upward momentum in my bank account, alright? I'd go broke in an instant trying to pay for everyone here!"

The uproar everyone is causing forces everyone to withdraw their Pokémon for sanity's sake. I clap a hand to my face as Hilda manages to get Dust into her ball, the last holdout of the group, and groan to myself, "Lesson learned, don't bring up food within earshot."

"They're going to be a nightmare after this." Hilda grumbles, "What were you thinking?"

'I was thinking I should distract you before Bianca realized you were upset about her winning a badge without you,' goes unsaid. Instead I just shrug innocently, "I was thinking Bianca deserved something nice for winning her battle. And paying for a meal is about as much as I can justify money-wise."

"Well after that battle I think I could use a meal." Bianca grins. "Let's get back to Icirrus, there's this place I've been meaning to check out that has this huge dessert menu!"

"Will it have anything on the menu that Sunny might like?" I ask, leading the way. "I feel like I should at least get him something for evolving. Besides, I already technically bought Ronin sushi, so it would be fair."

"Oh, probably." Bianca replies easily, "He'll pretty much eat anything."

The two of us chat amongst ourselves for a while, with Hilda trailing quietly behind. Finally, as we emerge from the forest path and Icirrus comes into view, Bianca is distracted long enough for me to talk briefly to Hilda.

"You need to snap out of it. I get that you want to cling to every bit of normalcy you can find, and that you're feeling left out, but that doesn't mean it's okay to act like this."

"What? How did-"

"Didn't take long for me to work it out after that discussion we had earlier. Now quit feeling sorry for yourself and start congratulating Bianca on winning her badge. She worked her ass off for it, and we both know she didn't run all the way into the moor just to talk to me about it. Your opinion is worth a hell of a lot more to her than mine will ever be."

She attempts to protest again, but I cut her off by pushing her forward to walk next to Bianca. She stumbles, glares back at me, and then looks helplessly towards her friend. "So… how'd you handle Brycen's Cryogonal?"

Bianca grins and starts giving Hilda the play by play of her gym battle, the two girls walking side by side. I stay a few steps behind them, letting them have their moment. After a while Hilda starts to get into the discussion, and I can't help but feel good that my little intervention worked out.

Though from the beaming and grateful smile Bianca later sends me, I can't help but feel like I might not have been as subtle as I was intending.

Cheren ambushes us in the lobby of the Pokémon Center when we get back, a pleased look on his face. "I've found it."

I stare blankly at the boy, then turn to Bianca and Hilda. They look as confused as I am, and so I decide to take the initiative. "Alright, I'll bite. What did you find?"

"I've found you a sponsor." Cheren says confidently, holding up his Pokégear to show me a news article from Kanto, "It'll be risky given your current situation, but if you take a chance on this and succeed it should provide everything you're looking for."

I take the Pokégear from his hand and peer closely to investigate. "This thing have hologram functionality? I don't know this model."

Cheren reaches over and taps a button on the back of the device, and the screen is displayed in front of me. Hilda and Bianca take this as their cue to crowd in, reading over my shoulder as I take in the article.

Elite Four Koga Announces New Sponsorship Openings in Fuchsia

"Holy shit…" I mutter, reading over the article. Cheren's right. It looks ideal. When a member of the elite four provides sponsorship, he doesn't fuck around. Koga's deal involves enough space for thirty Pokémon, provided meals for said Pokémon, and a weekly allowance which, while not specified in the article, is apparently 'considerable'. There are no prerequisites for applying, no references required, and no restrictions on trainers from outside of Kanto. All you need to do to get the sponsorship… is pass Koga's test. A test which apparently will involve training a Pokémon which you get to keep upon passing the test, thereby solving yet another problem I've been struggling with.

"Damn Cheren," Hilda exclaims as she reads along, punching her friend in the shoulder, "You really outdid yourself this time!"

"Naturally." Cheren sniffs disdainfully, "This is important, of course I'd do my best."

"Are you guys sure about this?" Bianca says, looking between the three of us anxiously. "It seems way too good to be true. Whatever Koga's test is, it must be really difficult! Ben, can you really afford to travel all the way to Kanto for something that might not work out?"

It's a fair point, I have to admit. A deal this good must have a seriously high bar to clear. But it really is perfect. Frankly speaking, it's too good of a chance to pass up. "I don't know if I can afford not to, Bianca. Where else am I going to find something that fits what I'm looking for this well?"

"I think you can do this." Hilda says encouragingly, "Think about it. This is a sponsorship we're talking about. Something most people only look for as new trainers. Sure, some applicants might be pros looking to find a better sponsor than the ones they have right now. But whatever test they have in mind has to be something a rookie trainer could possibly pull off. Otherwise they'd have something like a badge requirement."

"I agree." Cheren nods firmly. "And while you certainly have a lot to learn, I would say you're better than most rookies. Your understanding of moves is fair, and your knowledge of Pokémon types is nearly perfect. You've come far in just the past week."

"Ha!" Hilda throws an arm over Cheren's shoulders, nearly dragging him to the ground. "I knew you cared, Mr. Stoic!"

"At what point did I ever claim otherwise?" He replies irritably, shrugging Hilda aside.

I look over the article again, thinking over my options. From what I remember of the games, Koga always gave the impression of being stern, but crafty. A fan of tricks and mind games, deceptive as the ninjas his character was designed after. I have little doubt that any test he creates will be far from normal. First guess: Koga's looking for cleverness as much as he might be testing for actual ability.

And that's something I think I can provide in spades.

"Hey." Hilda interrupts my train of thought, tapping me on the shoulder. "You've got a funny look in your eye. Dollar for your thoughts?"

"I'm thinking…" I say slowly, looking over the article. "I'm thinking I'm going to Kanto."

To those of you sad to see Ben preparing to leave Unova so soon, do not worry; this is not the last we'll see of this region.

For anyone confused, when the term non-organic is used, that's basically my way of referring to any Pokemon with the Genderless egg group that isn't a legendary. It's not a particularly large group at all! But I felt like is makes more sense for Pokemon with weird bodies like that to have different rules applied.

Ogrim has a lot to overcome, the poor little guy. But he is doing his best, and we love him for it. All of us. Love for Ogrim is mandatory. I wanted to convey a sense of room for growth here with this very simple battle. It always bothers me when trainers in fanfiction are great at battling and have everything go smoothly right from the start. Ogrim will be a monster in the end. The perfect giant punch-bot. But he's gotta work for it, just like Ben has to work to become a good trainer.

Come to the discord, it's good fun for all! discord .gg/9XG3U7a