Chapter 1: Michael’s the name, and speed’s my game!

Chapter 1: Michael's the name, and speed's my game!

XXX

In our world, there are many strange and wonderful creatures, who inhabit it. These creatures are called Pokémon. These fascinating creatures are known throughout the world, they live with humans in harmony as pets. But in this world, there are trainers, who work together with their Pokémon in battle. Together, both the trainer and the pokémon create and shape a strong bond that strengthens both of their drives.

XXX

*DUN!* *DUN!*

Immediately, lights started flashing on over a rectangular field as the cheers resonating from the crowd fills the very stadium itself. The excitement, the tension! All of that could be told by the expressions the audience had as they vamped themselves up to see a spectacular match that was worthy of spending their money on.

"Ladiiiiiiiiies and gentlemen! Thank you all for coming to Floaroma Town's honorary Battle Stadium! Here we pit the best of the best or the worst of the worst together to give you, the lovely crowd, a spectacular Pokémon Battle! Are you all ready for a fight!?"

The crowd cheered and screamed at the thrilling announcement.

"Good! That's what I want to hear! Now let's introduce both of our Trainers for this sanctioned match!"

On opposite sides of the stadium, both gates slowly slid open to reveal two individual silhouettes walking into the brightly lit stadium as the screen above identified both them and their stats.

"To our left, we have Pokémon Trainer, Justin Bell, who hails from Solaceon City. Justin has been quite a veteran in Battle Stadium fights over a year now. He is o and has attained a total of 2 gym badges under his belt!"

From the left field, a young tall man with blonde hair, blue eyes walked over to his side of the field. He wore a pair of overalls, and underneath he sported a short sleeved black t-shirt while wearing a long sleeved white shirt underneath as he completes his look with a pair of boots.

And once it was time for the next combatant to walk out the crowd gasped in surprise.

"And to our right, we have Pokémon Trainer, Michael Albanese, who hails from Twinleaf Town! And you aren't going to believe it folks, but he's actually 13 years old! Not too many trainers nowadays are not expected to be younger than 16 years old due to League laws, but this kid has been blowing minds left and right with his past Battle Stadium fights in Jubilife City and Orebourgh City. Not to mention, he already obtained a single gym badge!"

Walking onto the field next was quite a fit young boy, he had dark skin, emerald green eyes and spiky black hair. He wears a blue hooded jacket that's zipped all the way up to reveal a little bit of his black t-shirt as each of the jacket's sleeves are short, and wears black shorts. On each wrist, he wears a black wristband, and he wears a pair of red and white running shoes that each have a gold buckle.

"You ready, pal?" Michael looked to his right to see his battle partner, Sneasel, give him a curt nod. The pokémon looked to be about your average sneasel, save for the blue scarf it wore around its neck.

Already up and ready on both sides of the field, the trainers readied themselves as the huge screen above depicted both their Pokémon License photos and the shaded amount of pokémon they're about to use.

Approaching the field from his bench, a referee raised both arms and shouted,

"This battle will be a 3 on 3 match! Substitutions are allowed!"

As the referee stated the rules, both trainers were giving the other their best regards before the match.

"Incredible. You're near the same age as my little sisters, but you already have your pokémon license, eh? I can tell that this battle will be thrilling!" Justin praised the boy's skills.

"Thanks! But you already have 2 badges. One more than me, meaning this fight will be quite the challenge, but I'll manage." Michael pulled a pokeball off the strap on his belt and enlarged it.

"Don't get cocky! You may be a kid, but I never pull any punches in a battle!" Justin prepared his pokeball as well.

"That's perfect because beating you wouldn't be any fun if things weren't a little challenging." Michael grinned and looked over at Sneasel, who stoically nodded in agreement.

"Both trainers ready?" The referee received a few nods and raised his arms, "Then let the match commence!"

"Go, Donphan!" Summoning out his first pokémon, Justin released his Donphan onto the battlefield where the armored pokémon gave a hearty roar. The crowd cheered loudly with the pokémon's release.

"Well, what do you know it seems Justin is starting the battle with his Bulldozing Donphan, a pokémon he's been using in the Battle Stadium ever since it was just a little Phanpy!"

"So, he's using a ground type first, eh? Then Piplup, I choose you!" Cracking open his pokeball, Michael calls out to the field his Piplup, as the penguin pokémon was unveiled on the stage it was shown wearing a pair of red rimmed sunglasses and proudly pushed them up.

"What an interesting choice, Michael has decided to use his Piplup! This pokémon won't be just dangerous because of its harsh attitude but also because of the major type advantage it has over Ground types like Donphan!"

"We may not have a type advantage, but we can push on through with just sheer power alone! Donphan, use Rollout!" Curling itself into a ball, Donphan began steamrolling its way after Piplup.

"Piplup, dodge it!" Piplup managed to jump to side and dodge it, but was unaware of the bigger pokémon's grasp over its constant mobility as quickly turned in place and rammed into Piplup.

"P-Pip-lup!" Piplup cried in pain and was roughly thrown into the air.

"Alright!" Justin knew that must have done somewhat of some damage.

"C'mon, Piplup, recover!" Piplup shook its head and stopped itself from flailing in the air to glare at its opponent, "Good job! Now follow through by using Bubblebeam on the ground!"

Releasing a stream of powerful bubbles, Piplup rained down an unforgiving barrage of them on Donphan, but the Armored pokémon wasn't just lying down to take the brunt of the attack either.

"Donphan, keep using Rollout to dodge it!" With itself rolled up into a ball, Donphan maneuvered its way around the onslaught of exploding bubbles. Eventually none of the bubbles hit Donphan, and because of gravity, Piplup landed on the ground, on Donphan's turf of battle.

"Piplup's back on the ground! Now we can inflict more damage! Use Rollout once more then horn attack!"

Rolling its way after it once more, Donphan was quick to pursue the penguin pokémon.

"Piplup, try to dodge then use Peck!" Strengthening its beak, Piplup rolled away from Donphan just it was about to hit it and tried to stab Donphan with its beak.

"Don-phan!"

"P-Pipl-up!" Piplup was sent rearing back as its beak made no damage whatsoever against Donphan's thick armor.

"What!?" Michael gasped.

"Donphan isn't going to fall to some weak Peck attack!" Justin rubbed his nose in pride. "Now Donphan use horn attack!"

And uncurling itself, Donphan used the close proximity to charge at Piplup and slam its horns into the penguin pokémon sending it tumbling back. The damage was immense, but Piplup still struggled to stay on its feet.

"Looks like things are over for your Piplup, Michael!" Justin laughed.

"Don't be so sure of yourself. We still have a trick or two up our sleeve." Michael grinned.

"Oh, really? Then why don't you try pulling it off before we knock it out! Donphan finish it using, Rollout!"

Using the same move again, Justin's Donphan pursued Piplup for the finishing blow, but that was what Michael wanted.

"Piplup jump off of Donphan to get in the air!" Piplup heeded its trainer's order and with some difficulty used Donphan's bigger body as springboard to get high up in the air.

"What!?" Justin gasped.

"Better cover yourself up!" Michael placed on the hoodie of his jacket while Sneasel adjusted its scarf.

"Now Piplup use Water Sport on the whole field!" Raising its head, Piplup spewed out a huge gush of water that poured itself down on the field to cover its entirety in water which mixed with the dirt to create mud.

Landing, back on the ground it faced Donphan with a prideful smile something that angered the opposing pokémon.

"So, you used Water Sport! Its only effective against fire types and Donphan's a ground type!" Justin shook himself as he was completely drenched in water.

Taking off his hood, Michael chuckled, "True, but I wasn't going for any type effects, so let's end this battle!"

"Gladly! Donphan use Rollout!" Donphan proceeded to do the exact same move again, but as it was about to flatten Piplup the penguin pokémon grinned before perfectly shuffling away from the attack by skating using the muddy field.

"What?" Justin gasped.

"Didn't think we could pull out that quickly, did you? Before, you may have had the advantage with speed, but now that the field is wet, Piplup can truly shine with his speed!" Michael scratched his nose as he explained.

Almost showboating, Piplup was skating through the muddy terrain.

"How clever, but let's see whose speed wins in the end! Donphan keep up the attack and go after Piplup!" Donphan tried to change direction but couldn't due to the slippery terrain.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Justin gasped.

"Oh, and I forgot to mention. Rollout won't be effective if the ground isn't dry enough to help it make those quick turns!" Michael grinned, and used this as his chance, "Piplup, use bubblebeam to overwhelm Donphan!"

Gladly taking the initiative, Piplup skated around Donphan, who uncurled itself and pelted the ground type with an unrelenting stream of bubble from all directions. The damage that Donphan was receiving was massive and constant as the pokémon was about to reach its limit.

"Grgh! No choice then. Donphan use slam on Piplup." Desperately looking for an advantage, Justin ordered his pokémon to jump in the air and flatten Piplup with its whole body.

"Way to leave yourself open!" Michael narrowed his eyes.

"Huh?" Justin gasped.

"Piplup use Peck on Donphan's stomach!" Using the unarmored parts on the Donphan's belly, Piplup's beak made some serious damage as it sent Donphan tumbling into muddy battlefield with its entire body no longer active for battle.

"D-Don…" Donphan's eyes spiral in exhaustion.

"Donphan is no longer able to battle meaning the first match goes to Piplup!"

The crowd went wild at the announcement of a winner.

"Spectacular! Using the field to his own advantage, Michael was able to turn the table of the battle against Justin! Is this kid something, or what!?"

"Return, Donphan. Heh, you did good out there, bud." Justin returned his pokémon and said, "That was some good thinking out there, Michael. I got caught up in your plan there."

"Thanks, but I was able to pull this off because of how fast your Donphan was with its Rollout. If it were any faster, then Piplup would have been flattened." Michael rubbed his neck.

"Pip-Piplup!" Piplup growled at its trainer for the accusation, but Michael raised his hands in defense.

"C'mon, you know its truth!"

"P-Piplup…" Piplup tried to disobey its trainer with a growl, but was obviously in pain from the first fight.

"See? Return." Michael called back the stubborn penguin pokémon back into its pokéball, and took out another one for the next match.

"It looks like Michael returned his Piplup for some rest! This is odd because he hasn't seen the pokémon that Justin had yet to send out!"

"I guess the next match will have to be a hard one to predict, but come on out, Staraptor!" Releasing his next pokémon, Justin summoned a Staraptor to the field. The winged pokémon took the air and gave a loud cry.

"So, it's a flying type? Then you're up, Murkrow!" Tossing his pokéball into the air, Michael released the Darkness pokémon, Murkrow as it gave a very creepy laugh.

"It looks like we're in for an intense Sky Battle Folks with Justin's Staraptor and Michael's Murkrow! Let's see who'll triumph over this match!"

"I hate to say this, but we're going to knock your Murkrow out of the sky! Staraptor, use Wing Attack!" And by Justin's orders, Staraptor soared after Murkrow and without forewarning smacked Murkrow with its larger wings.

Murkrow flinched in pain as it recovered from the blow and awaited its trainer's command.

"Murkrow, use Wing Attack, too!" Flying towards the bigger bird, Murkrow slaps its wings against Staraptor's face with little to no damage.

"Sorry, but Staraptor's tough enough to take much stronger attacks let alone ones within his type! Staraptor blow 'em away with Whirlwind and tackle him with Quick attack!"

With a powerful beat of its wings, Staraptor created an intense gust of wind that blew Murkrow out of balance and sent the smaller bird reeling back. But it wasn't over yet. Staraptor was now in pursuit of Murkrow with its Quick Attack which knocked the wind out of it.

"Mur…krow…!" Murkrow cried in pain as it slowly fell to the ground. Both of those attacks were effective and pinpointed right on the mark.

"Come on, Murkrow, don't give up! Hold in there for just a while more!" Michael's shouting roused Murkrow to some awareness of its fall, but it wasn't enough.

Besides Michael, his Sneasel was impatiently tapping its arm before loudly snarling at Murkrow with an angry look in its eyes.

"Murk…!" Murkrow snapped itself back to normal and took the sky before it plummeted to the earth.

"Great, we're still in this!" Michael turned to Sneasel and nodded, "Thanks for the help, pal!"

Sneasel shrugged it off and turned away from its trainer before peeking back at the battle above.

'That Staraptor has the edge over us with its speed, despite being a bigger pokémon than Murkrow. Plus, we can't damage it in an upfront battle, so let's make it fight in our territory again!' Michael thought.

"Murkrow, fly high up in the air and use Haze on Staraptor!"

"No! Staraptor, quick stop it with Aerial Ace!"

Being much faster with an extremely speedy attack, Staraptor lands a critical blow to Murkrow before it could do its own attack. But despite the damage, Murkrow recovered just enough to exhale a thick black fog that covered the entire battlefield.

"Drat! Can't see a thing!" Justin struggled to see through the haze.

As for Michael, well…

"Murkrow, use this chance to use Pursuit on Staraptor back to back!" Michael commanded.

"What!? S-Staraptor, quick use Aerial Ace on Murkrow!" Justin panicked, "Just how can you see through this thick haze?"

The sounds of two bird pokémon duking it out in the fog were heard. Especially the cries of one pokémon that kept receiving damage every few seconds.

"Well, Justin, the thing is I can't see squat, but Murkrow can. His eyes can adapt to dark places, so…" Michael wore a huge grin as he trailed off.

"Oh, no… Staraptor quick use Whirlwind to blow this haze away!" Justin's face paled.

"Murkrow keep laying it on thick with the Pursuit! Don't give it any chances!" Michael shouted.

And with one loud cry, a huge thud filled the battlefield as a shadow soon feel from the sky and into the muddy battleground below. With that, the haze cleared with Murkrow doing its cackle-like cry as it stared at the muddy visage of a damaged Staraptor in the mud.

"Staraptor, are you okay?" Justin gasped.

"Nice job, Murkrow! Now we can get ourselves a win!" Michael chuckled.

"Grr! Don't get cocky! Staraptor take to the sky!" Staraptor attempted to beat its wings, but it still stayed planted to the ground.

"Staraptor?" Justin blinked.

"Hehe…Staraptor can't fly with heavy, muddy wings, right?" Michael snickered.

"Darn! How could I forget…?" Justin gasped.

"Murkrow, use Pursuit to finish it!" Surrounding itself with a dark aura and heavily strikes Staraptor from above. Creating a small explosion in the process, it flies out and watches as the smoke clears once more to see the fainted Staraptor laying in the mud.

"Staraptor!" Justin cried out.

"Aw, yeah!" Michael cheered.

"Justin's Murkrow has been defeated, and the match goes to Michael and his Murkrow!"

"Did you see that folks? Michael's Murkrow had taken down Justin's Staraptor! That's a sight for sore eyes if I do say so myself!"

"You did great, Murkrow!" Michael laughed as Murkrow landed on his head and cackled before getting returned into its pokéball.

"Staraptor, return. I'm proud of you, you did great." Justin returned his Staraptor and looked back to Michael, "We both had the same type of pokémon, but I'm surprised, I was sure that Staraptor's better strength and speed would defeat your Murkrow."

"Yeah, it could have. But it takes more than just that to win a match! You need strategy and to make use of the playing field to your advantage!" Michael gloated.

"I see…" Justin looked at the muddy terrain before looking at Sneasel, "Then I'll take advantage of the moment then! Go, Magmar!"

Justin summoned the Spitfire pokémon, Magmar to the field, and the flame covered pokémon released a heavy gout of fire into the air before looking menacingly at Sneasel.

"It's sort of a bad move to leave out your pokémon like that during an official battle! Gives me the advantage, and since this is a three on three match its only simple to believe that it's your last pokémon."

Justin proudly grinned.

"Wow, he actually got us there, pal, but…" Michael jokingly scratched his nose, "We can still handle them, right?"

Michael gave his Sneasel a thumbs up, and received a determined nod back.

Calmly trotting its way to the muddy battlefield, Sneasel faced its type's mortal enemy, a fire type. Both pokémon were sizing the other up in complete silence. Magmar just smirked while Sneasel wore a small calm smile.

"It looks like the third match has begun! Could this be the end for Justin should his Magmar lose, or could he turn things around by defeating Michael's Sneasel! Nobody knows, but we're sure as hell are going to watch and see this through to the end!"

The crowd cheering rose the tension as both trainers and pokémon stared each other down.

Killing the tension, Justin decides to make the first move, "Magmar, use Flamethrower!"

"Sneasel, dodge it!"

Taking extreme caution, Sneasel uses its superior speed to dodge the flames along with skillfully sliding through the mud.

"Piplup's not the only one with experience, y'know!" Michael gloated.

"Magmar continue to use flamethrower!"

Magmar released another powerful blast of flames that still missed, but this pattern continued to go on because of Sneasel's superior speed. Almost out of breath, Magmar tries to recover as Sneasel stops its dodging to size up the pokémon before taking its command.

"Looks like your Magmar was too winded to keep up!" Michael said.

"We weren't. Look at the field."

"Eh?" Michael looked and found that the battlefield was back to normal since the flames that missed dried out the mud.

"Whoa! That's clever!"

"Thank you." Justin nodded.

"But it still won't help, Sneasel is still faster without the mud and can still do tons of damage! Sneasel use Quick Attack!" With its dynamic speed, Sneasel made quick work of Magmar by tackling it without warning.

"Magmar, use Fire Punch!" Magmar imbued its fist with flames and prepared to throw it at Sneasel.

"Sneasel, quick use Agility then a Slash attack!" Increasing its own speed, Sneasel relaxes and lightens its body to move quicker than Magmar's punch and fluidly strikes the fire pokémon with its sharpened claws.

"Magmar!" Justin screamed.

Magmar recoiled in pain, but Sneasel wasn't done with his attack.

"Type advantage means nothing if you can't hit you're target! Now Sneasel keep using Slash back to back!"

Almost like a trained assassin, Sneasel used its speed to one up Magmar's slow reaction time. Each time Magmar tried to throw a fire punch it would either miss or get interrupted by one of Sneasel's claws digging into its defenseless body.

"Magmar, look down and use Flamethrower!" Magmar did just that and used the power of its flames to propel itself into the air, and to indirectly force Sneasel back from further attacking.

"What?" Michael gasped.

"Now rain down a powerful Lava Plume!" Magmar spewed out various intense scarlet flames that heavily bombarded the battlefield.

"Sneasel, try to dodge it!" Sneasel did its best to avoid all of the flames, but soon realized that speed can't get you out of avoiding a continuous rain of flames that kept growing on the battlefield.

Sneasel's loud screams of pain filled the stadium.

"Sneasel!"

"Great job, Magmar!" Justin praised Magmar as the pokémon landed on the ground to look through the smoke. As it clears, it smirks once it catches a heavily injured Sneasel trying to keep itself from passing out. The attack was very effective and the fire power was more than enough to push Sneasel back into a corner.

"It looks like Sneasel isn't going to last long, so let's put it down with a fire punch!" Magmar imbued its fist with flames and charged at Sneasel.

"Sneasel, Ice Beam!" Sneasel prepare to fire its attack before getting a fierce right hook to the face. Both the impact and the type advantage sent Sneasel crashing to the ground.

"Sneasel!" Michael screamed, "Get up! You can still fight right, pal?"

Pushing itself up to a knee, Sneasel nodded with a grunt.

"Great! Now charge in with a Quick Attack!" Picking up speed, Sneasel charged its way towards Magmar.

"Stay on the offensive with Fire Punch still, Magmar!" Imbuing both of its fists with fire, Magmar was at the ready to counter whenever it was given the chance.

"Trip him up, Sneasel, then attack!" Pushing itself, Sneasel forced itself to keep running, but before it could successfully tackle the Magmar, it stopped to wince at the wounds that Lava Plume inflicted on it.

"Sneasel?" Michael gasped.

"Now Magmar, fire punch back to back!" Justin shouted.

Ruthlessly, Magmar leaned and took the chance to bombard Sneasel with a powerful barrage of fire punches. To the face, to the stomach and chin, Magmar chose any spot to take Sneasel down for good, and to finish things off, Magmar lands a powerful uppercut against Sneasel.

"S-Snea…" Sneasel roughly lands on its back and shivers in pain.

"Wu-oh! It looks like Michael's Sneasel has been dealt a devastating blow, folks! It appears that the tides have turned over to Justin's favor now!"

"Looks like we win this one, Michael. Magmar's typing was enough to even the playing field!" Justin grinned.

"D-Darn…" Michael clicked his tongue and hesitated to reach for Sneasel's pokeball.

'Sneasel can't take any more, and he can barely run at that condition. If I switch him with Piplup, then maybe I could stand a chance. But, wait, Piplup took some damage too from the fight before and I don't feel comfortable with Murkrow fighting a fire-type…'

Conflicted in thought, Michael considered his choices and quickly pulled out Sneasel's pokeball until he saw the pokémon struggle to stand on its two feet.

"Sneasel?"

"It still wants to fight?" Justin said shocked.

"Would you look at that folks, Michael's Sneasel is back on its feet and despite the injuries it still looks ready to fight back!"

"Sneasel, are you sure you want to continue on?" Michael asked.

Casting its trainer, a look over its shoulder, Sneasel gives him a resolute nod. Something that gave Michael all the courage he needed to continue the fight even if it ends in them losing this match.

"Okay then, pal! We'll see this fight through to the end!" Michael grinned.

"Magmar use Flamethrower to finish off, Sneasel!"

Magmar did just that, but Sneasel barrel rolled away from the attack in a forced effort, and breathed heavily. It didn't seem it was going to last much longer if it continued dodging like that.

'Alright! Think, Michael, think. Magmar has the advantage when it comes to typing, and lesser damage received when compared to Sneasel's state. Its power surpasses ours as well, so we can't handle another Lava Plume. However, we still have speed and even though Sneasel is injured it still seems to be faster than Magmar overall, so…'

Michael snapped his fingers.

"I got it! Sneasel, use quick attack!" Without hesitation, Sneasel repeated the attack it did before, but much slower.

"This again? Magmar prepare to counter with Fire Punch!" Magmar initiated the same tactic and prepared to launch its flame coated punch at the charging Sneasel.

"Hah, you fell for it! Sneasel, quickly use Ice Beam and curve it around Magmar to create a wall!" Successfully jerking it's body to the right of Magmar before getting into close proximity, Sneasel fired an Ice Beam and created a curved wall behind the fire type.

"The heck are you doing?" Justin gasped.

"Sneasel, run up to the wall and skate on it to boost your speed!" As soon as Sneasel's feet touched the wall it proficiently skated and followed the curve all the way to Magmar's defenseless back.

"Sheesh! Magmar, turn around and use Fire Punch!"

"Stay low and use Slash, Sneasel!"

Both pokémon charged at one another and threw their attacks, but before Magmar can land a successful hit, Sneasel lowered its body to attack Magmar's legs. Leaving a deep gash to hinder its standing.

Tumbling from the accelerated fall, Sneasel panted and turned back to catch Magmar gripping its leg in pain.

"Magmar?" Justin worriedly called for his pokémon.

"Good job, Sneasel! Now let's get them back for twice the damage they gave to us!" Michael cheered.

"Not so fast! We won't let you think that way after this! We'll finish you off with the same move as before, Magmar jump into the air and use Lava Plume again!" Justin commanded, but as soon as Magmar tried to jump, it fell on its back and gripped its cut-up leg.

Catching up with Michael's possible plan, Justin growled, "So that's what you predicted, wasn't it?"

"You can say that. When I told you that you were fooled I wasn't bluffing." Michael rubbed his nose before shouting, "Now we have the advantage, Sneasel can at least stand, but I don't know what to say about your Magmar! Agility!"

Increasing its speed yet again, Sneasel was not back to its normal speed due to all of the injuries it sustained.

"Magmar, you have to get up! Use Flamethrower!" Unable to stand, Magmar sat up and released those heavy flames at Sneasel.

"Dodge it!" Sneasel did another dodge roll and charged at Magmar, "Now use Ice Beam!"

It wasn't a very effective move, but it was good enough for long range as Sneasel fired the icy beam.

"Magmar. use flamethrower to counter it!"

Releasing its stream of hot flames, Magmar's flamethrower and Sneasel's Ice Beam collided to create thick steam that filled the battlefield once blinding both trainers.

Looking seriously through the steam, Michael shouted, "Quick Attack, and Slash! Go!"

"Flamethrower once more!" Justin shouted.

Through the steam, an ongoing blast of flames went through it seemingly missing as it was followed by a heavy grunt in pain. Next to exit from the smoke was Sneasel and it was tackling Magmar with its entire body.

"Magmar!" Justin screamed.

"Now finish it with Slash!" With the momentum pushing it, Sneasel stabbed its claws it Magmar one more time and sent it tumbling back towards its trainer, now completely worn out.

"Justin's Magmar is unable to battle, the match goes to Michael's Sneasel, and the combatant Michael is the winner!"

"We did it." Michael sighed in relief as Sneasel simply falls to sit down.

The crowd was going wild at the conclusion of the match.

"That was amazing folks! That display of Ice vs. Fire was off the hook, and the winner, Michael won without losing a single pokémon! Now that's what I call either skill, or dumb luck!"

Walking over to Magmar, Justin smiled, "You did your best out there, Magmar. Take a long rest."

He returned the fainted Magmar and watched as Michael ran up to pick up his injured Sneasel.

"You okay, Sneasel?" Michael received a nod and chuckled, "I'm so relieved, but you did great out there! I'm proud of you."

"That battle was intense there, Michael. You really had me trying to keep up with your pacing." Justin scratched his cheek as he approached the trainer.

"I mean, I am a really quick-witted kid, and really fast, but thanks. Praise really uplifts my spirit." Michael coyly replied, "But you weren't half bad yourself, your pokémon displayed some real power out there. To be honest, I was panicking when your Magmar was getting the upper hand. I may have kept all three of my pokémon active, but I don't think the last two would have lasted against him." Michael stuck out his hand.

"Thanks, but you're seriously a talented kid. I mean, you're 13 years old and already have a trainer's license. I had to wait until I was 16 to get mine." Justin laughed and shook Michael's hand.

"Yeah… I had a lot of time to cram so much information before starting my journey. Plus, I had a very "strict" teacher." Michael rolled his eyes at the thought of said "teacher".

"Well, they must be an amazing trainer, too. Say why don't you come down to Solaceon City whenever you're free! Then I'll get to show you to my other pokémon that I leave at the Ranch." Justin offered.

"Wait, you have more?" Michael gasped in wonder.

"Yup, most stay back home to help my family take care of the daycare." Justin nodded as they stopped their handshake, and waved, "I'll see you around, Michael!"

Leaving through his side of the stadium, Justin waved Michael goodbye.

"Wow, what a cool guy." Michael laughed.

"Sneas…" Sneasel growled at its trainer for forgetting its injuries.

"Crud, I forgot! Sorry!" Rushing out of the stadium, Michael headed straight for the Pokémon Center within the stadium.

XXX

"And here's your reward for taking part in today's Battle Stadium match, Mr. Albanese. Thank you for participating and giving the crowd a rousing match." The receptionist handed Michael a small envelope with cash.

"Thank you." Michael opened the envelope and grinned, "Wow, 12,000 pokédollars? This is twice as much as the last reward I got over in Jubilife City."

"That's because of your perfect win without losing any pokémon in this battle. You see, your battles are rated based on the factors that either lead to your victory or your defeat. Losing will still get you some reward money, but it won't be as much as what you're carrying now." The receptionist continued,

"However, a situation where the loser doesn't receive any money is when they inflict no damage to the opposing side's pokémon. Call it harsh, but these battles are mostly used to publicize and pay young battle trainers like yourselves to entertain and train yourselves for more impacted tournaments in the region. That's why you can find as many Battle Stadium locations as you want in some popular place in the region like Jubilife and here in Floaroma Town."

"Oh…" Michael got most of that, but was still impressed with the amount of money he received. Plus, he was in no position to complain. This money is crucial to his survival since his mother wasn't going to compensate for his journey. Paying for rent at a Pokémon Center's lodging, buying pokémon food, buying his food, and medicine for pokémon was hard stuff to afford on your own and he'll need all the money that he can get to survive out here.

Today, currently in the world of pokémon, you need to have a driving occupation when you become a Pokémon Trainer. Being just a trainer, is just a base occupation that won't get you as much money to live on. Upon getting your pokémon license at the age of 16, you have to know what you want to do such as being a:

-Battle Trainer

-Contest Coordinator

-Pokémon Doctor/Nurse

-Pokémon Archeologist

-Pokémon Ranger (those who preserve the sanctity of endangered pokémon)

-Etc.

There were many more jobs open for those, who obtain a license to handle pokémon, and Michael had the occupation of a Battle Trainer. They take part in tournaments to practice their craft in pokémon battling and earn pay to survive. This type of occupation is the most difficult because finding available tournaments around your area was close to impossible, especially, if you're not near a trademark town or city.

To Michael, he was glad to experience some battles in a Battle Stadium because they helped him develop his battle style for his first gym leader battle that led to him winning his first gym badge, and now he was gunning for his second. Right after his pokémon, become healed at the Pokémon Center, he is leaving this joint.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, miss?"

Noticing someone approaching the counter next to him, Michael spotted a girl around his age asking the nice receptionist lady something.

"I was wondering whether you have any free matches tomorrow. I'd like to sign up for one." The young girl politely asked.

"Pfft!" Hearing that Michael held back some laughter.

"…" The girl passively glanced at Michael before turning back to the receptionist.

"Sure thing, miss. There appears to be an open match available tomorrow mid-day if you like?" The receptionist smiled.

"Yup, that's a good schedule for me, miss. So, is my opponent decided yet or…?"

"Well, not quite, we still have to wait on someone to sign up in the same time schedule as you, but don't worry about having your slot being cancelled. We can contact another trainer, who doesn't have a decided opponent yet, and work it out with them from there to decide the time that would better suit you both, okay?"

"Yeah, I don't mind. Any opponent that I face will still make for an interesting battle."

"Heh!" Michael couldn't hold it in and let out a small laugh.

"Okay, is something the matter?" The girl turned her attention at Michael and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Huh, what?" Michael played dumb.

"This thing you're doing. You're laughing, why?" The girl said in an irritated tone of voice.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just happy about how much money I earned." Michael shrugged.

"Really? Because I don't see how money can make you start to laugh like that." The girl was not amused.

Giving up the act, Michael sighed and turned to face the girl he was trying to avoid eye contact with. Once he does get a glance at her, he sees that she's about as tall as him in terms of height.

The girl had long brown hair tied up into a ponytail and brown eyes that are hidden behind a pair of glasses. She wore a black sleeveless unbuttoned top over a red blouse, blue jeans, and black heeled shoes. Around her neck is a gold necklace with a locket. On each wrist, she wears a white wristband with a single black stripe. Around her shoulder she has a very stylish brown bag with a pokéball charm latched onto it by a small string.

"Sorry, sorry. I just found it cute. Y'know… You, signing up for Battle Stadium." Michael winked before going back to putting his reward cash into his wallet.

"And how is that exactly "cute" to you?" The girl air quoted.

"Look, I don't mean to intrude. I mean most Contest Coordinators try to get more experience by entering REAL battles here. So, I'm not going to judge, but… Don't feel too bad if you lose out there on your first battle." Michael patted the girl's shoulder.

The girl's eyebrow twitched as she took Michael's hand off from her shoulder.

"Contest Coordinator? My first REAL battle? Just what about me gave you any of those notions?" She crossed her arms.

"Come on, I mean it's pretty obvious. You're a…" Michael gestured to the girl and received an raised eyebrow from her as a way to finish his sentence.

"A what?"

"Look, most of the girls who become trainers tend to enter Contests to dolly themselves and their pokémon up. They'd rather do that then enter long brooding battles that involve intense strategy and getting all dirty." Michael chuckled.

"Mmmhmm! I see. So, I get what you're saying, you assumed that I'm a Coordinator because I'm a girl." The girl angrily placed her hands on her hips.

"Actually, I wasn't assuming. I was saying you're a coordinator. There's no shame in it, in fact, I have an annoying little sis back at home, who wants to become one." Michael shrugged.

"…" With her eyebrow still raised, the girl rolled her eyes, "You do know that contests still have battles, right?"

"Whoa, hey. No need to get offended, and besides those battles don't count they're under a time limit." Michael retorted.

"Yeah, this isn't my first time battling." The girl's voice seemed to be polite, but at the same time sounded like restrained anger.

"Okay, no need to try and act tough, we both know that you-" Michael laughed.

"Oh, me act tough? No, I'm pretty sure Mr. Rude Macho Boy over here is acting pretty tough now." The girl retorted back with a zinger.

"Fine, look. I get that your mad."

"Oh, I'm absolutely livid." The girl faked a laugh.

"And to be fair, even if you are Battle Trainer."

"I AM one."

"IF you are one, then it would be okay, but only a few girls are actually able to be powerful battle trainers and like our Pokémon Champion, Cynthia. Besides, I think you're lucky that I finished my match before you were searching for an opponent, or else I would have kicked your butt." Michael leaned against the counter and gave a cocky grin.

"Yeah-no." The girl glared at him.

"Yeah-yeah." Michael glared back.

"Well, then would you like to test that theory out? You and me, tomorrow at mid-day, here at the Battle Stadium." The girl challenged Michael.

"Sure, I can use the extra cash for when I set out for my second gym badge. That's right SECOND. Try not to feel intimidated by that though." Michael walked up to the receptionist to sign up.

"Oh, so you're going for your second gym badge, huh?" The girl rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Yep, I'm pretty incredible, aren't I?" Michael winked.

"Ugh…"

"You want to sign up again, sir?" The receptionist asked.

"Yeah, and could you sign me up "Michael Albanese" for the Mid-day battle, please?"

"Sure thing, Mr. Albanese." The receptionist nodded.

But nudging Michael out of the way, the girl continued to glare at him while talking to the receptionist, "Also, I forgot to give you my name, ma'am. My name is Tina Sawada, it was a pleasure to meet you."

"Why thank you, Miss Sawada." The receptionist was unaware of the intense stare down that both trainers were doing at her front desk as things were made clear that day.

The battle, the next day would be a real intense fight between not only the pokémon, but the trainers as well.