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Poke. I groaned as a sharp claw jabbed my side. Poke, poke. "Quit it," I mumbled. Poke, poke, poke. "I said stop!" I shouted. Suddenly, a burst of hot flames engulfed my head. I scrambled out of my sleeping bag in surprise. I looked over and saw Charmander standing there with an innocent grin.

"Time to get up," he stated.

I frowned at him. "Didn't I tell you not to use ember on me anymore?" I asked grumpily. I stretched my arms in an attempt to help wake up some more.

"Actually," he replied cheekily, "you only berated me about it. You never told me not to do it again." He chuckled. "Now come on. It's already way later than we had planned on leaving. You have to get everything packed up."

"I suppose I do," I conceded. I yawned, still a bit groggy. I walked out of the tent with charmander, and began to dismantle the tent. "Where did Kecleon go?" I asked Charmander while I worked.

"He said that he was going to a nearby lake," Charmander answered nonchalantly. "He needed to wash off the cum that dried on him. He said that he'd be back soon. I'll help put your stuff away." He walked away and began putting the dishes back into my bag.

"Thanks," I said appreciatively. "You know, I should ask Kecleon to take me to that lake. I could use a good wash." I finished getting the tent down and stuffed it into its case which I then placed in my bag.

"That sounds good," Charmander agreed as he lay down on his back. "I could use one, too. The professor only ever gave me sponge baths, never a real one."

I looked at him curiously. "Wasn't that because he didn't want to accidentally put out your tail flame?" I inquired.

Charmander sat up me a look of disbelief before beginning to laugh with hilarity. After he calmed down, he exclaimed "That's the funniest thing I've heard in my life! Ha! Putting my tail flame out, oh that's a killer. Do you humans actually believe that?"

I was stunned. I wasn't sure if he was trying to make a joke or if he honestly found it funny, but I answered him nonetheless. "Yeah, Professor Oak even put it in the pokedex."

"Oh that's too funny," he laughed. "You got it reversed. Our flames only go out after we die; never before. Oh, you just made my day, Ronan."

I rubbed the back of my neck and responded, "Well, I'm glad that you're amused." I took out a bottle of water from my bag and took a swig. I offered some to Charmander who gratefully accepted.

A voice from behind us surprised me when it called out, "Hey, you!"

I swiftly turned around and saw guy, who looked to be around three years younger than me, tossing a pokeball up and down. He was wearing blue overall swith a red shirt underneath it. His hair was brown and a bit spiky. I waved to him and replied, "Hi. Did you need something?"

"A battle," he answered. "I just got a new Taillow and need to train it a bit. Do you mind?"

I looked down at my Charmander. "Ready for a battle?" I asked him.

The flame on his tail grew larger and burned fiercely. "I've been waiting for this!" he exclaimed. He jumped forwards near the center of the clearing.

"That would be a 'yes' from Charmander," I told him.

"Thanks," he said. He stopped tossing the pokeball and clutched it tightly. "Is a one-on-one battle with no stakes okay for you?"

"Yeah," I replied. "My Charmander needs the experience, too, so this'll just be a friendly battle. My name's Ronan, by the way."

"Name's Kyle," he reciprocated. He threw the pokeball he was holding into the air and called, "Taillow, take flight!" A taillow appeared out of a red beam of light, and began to fly. "You can make the first move."

"In that case, Charmander, use growl!" I commanded. Charmander let out a loud roar. It was at a much lower pitch than his normal voice, and seemed to do its job. The Taillow seemed to be losing its edge.

"Stay strong, Taillow, and use quick attack!" Taillow began to glow white and quickly flew towards Charmander.

"Use smokescreen to block its view!" A black billow overtook the middle of the clearing, allowing no one to see it. Taillow flew in one side of the billow and out the other in less than a second. It didn't appear to have made contact with Charmander.

"Blow away the smoke; then use wing attack!" Taillow flapped its wings harshly, effectively clearing the air of smoke. It then began its descent upon Charmander; its wings were glowing white with power.

"Dodge it!" Charmander quickly jumped out of its trajectory, but the Taillow was swift to redirect itself and hit him dead-on. Charmander went flying back several feet before rolling to a stop. "Charmander, can you continue?"

He jumped up quickly and shook off his daze. "I won't be defeated so easily!" he cried out.

"That's my boy," I responded happily, "now use ember!" He spit a flurry of small flames in Taillow's direction.

"Ascend!" Taillow swiftly rose just out of the ember's reach.

I could sense Charmander's frustration. "C'mon, don't let it get to you!" I encouraged. "Moving target. Go again." Charmander took aim and let out another ember attack.

"Not gonna work. Ascend." Taillow quickly moved upwards, but Charmander seemed to have predicted that. The flames truck their mark, and caused the Taillow to fall from the sky.

"Ahh!" Kyle gasped in surprise. " Quickly, readjust!" Taillow shifted itself slightly and did a u-turn just before crashing into the ground. "Great job."

Taillow looked over at him. "Next time don't send me into the fire!" the Taillow exclaimed. I chuckled at the retort. I was mildly surprised that the translator had worked, considering how it hadn't worked on Kecleon before I caught him. It seemed to only fail to work on wild pokemon. I'd have to inform my parents of this.

"Go for a double team!" Suddenly, a whole circle of Taillow were hovering around Charmander.

Charmander looked from one to the next while muttering, "Which one? Which one?"

With quick thinking I called out, "Use ember in a spin!" He quickly began to spin himself around and shot out flurries of flames. The flames hit every one of them and they all vanished.

"Where'd it go?" Charmander inquired.

"Finish it off with wing attack!" From out of nowhere, Taillow appeared and sent Charmander sprawling across the clearing.

"Charmander!" I exclaimed as I ran to him. I picked him up tenderly and held him close. "You fought honorably, but you should take a rest in your pokeball now." I took out Charmander's pokeball and activated it. A red beam of light sucked him back into it.

"Taillow, return," Kyle called out. Taillow, like Charmander, was absorbed into its pokeball. "Your Charmander put up a great fight."

"Thanks," I replied. I put my hand on the back of my neck. "He's gonna be bummed about losing it, though. It was our first one."

"That's tough. You both did quite well for your first time," he complimented. "You handled the double team better than most new trainers. The only mistake you made was thinking that I intended on hiding him in the group. Double team is about misdirection, and I use it to its best ability." He paused a moment " Some advice for a new trainer: Never take a move solely for its face value; they always have more to give. Remember that, Ronan." He extended his hand.

I gladly shook it, with much enthusiasm. "Thanks for the advice and the great battle. It was nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you, too," he said with a smile. "Bye." He turned away and walked off.

I jumped as voice behind me asked, "Who was that?"

I gasped and turned around to see who it was. When I saw it was just Kecleon I exclaimed, "You scared the crap out of me!"

"Oh, it never gets old doing that," he laughed. "So, who was he?"

"My first loss," I sighed. "I guess we're going to need more training than I thought."

Kecleon walked over and patted my side. "It's okay," he consoled. "It takes time to learn how to fight properly. I remember that I didn't win a sparring match until at least my eighth attempt. There's no shame in losing to a more experienced opponent."

I looked over at him and smiled. "Thank you," I said sincerely. "I needed to hear that." He gave me a wide smile back. "Now, I heard that you know where a nice lake is. Mind showing me the way?"

He nodded his head and answered, "Yeah, no problem. Follow me." He sprinted off into the forest, while I followed close behind. Several minutes later, we arrived at the lake. It was crystal clear and looked so serene. The water was barely moving and seemed so peaceful.

"Wow!" I exclaimed. That was all I could utter as I took in the beauty of the lake.

"I know, right?" Kecleon responded. "The best part is how clean it is. There are several families of Quagsire and Wooper here, which indicate that it's pure enough to drink from." He knelt down and took a sip to show that he was telling the truth. "Ahhh. Try some."

I took his suggestion and took a drink myself. It tasted great. Charmander could use a drink, too, I thought to myself. I took out his pokeball and released him. He appeared from a red light, curled up and sleeping. I chuckled, "He's so cute when he's sleeping. I 'll just let him sleep for now."

I was about to strip off my clothes to bathe in the lake, but something caught my eye. Movement in the water alerted me to an approaching pokemon, and it was coming in fast. The pokemon darted out of the water and right in front of me. Its eyes fixed on me with an intense glare. I didn't know what I had done to make it so angry, but I knew it wanted a fight.

"Buizel, bui!" it exclaimed angrily.

Kecleon chuckled to himself. "A territorial Buizel," he said. "Well, you don't see that every day. If it's a battle you want, then it's a battle you'll get. I hope you don't mind, Ronan, but I'll do this solo. You don't know what moves I can do." I nodded in agreeance.

Without warning, a blast of water pummeled Kecleon backwards a few feet. Kecleon turned to Buizel and shook his fist angrily. "You don't just attack someone while they're talking to their friend!" he shouted angrily.

"Bui bui buizel bui."

"I don't care if it's not a real rule. It's just common courtesy, you fuzzy bastard!" A dark shadow appeared around Kecleon. Buizel gave a fearful look and froze up. "Gotch'ya!" Kecleon began running up to Buizel, but he snapped out of his trance before Kecleon got to him. Buizel whipped his tail at Kecleon and a white arc shot out. Kecleon suddenly vanished and reappeared behind him, effetively evadin the attack and getting into an optimum position for attacking. While Buizel was still facing away from him, Kecleon let loose a barrage of scratches. Buizel jolted away from the assault. Several rings of water appeared around Buizel.

"Oh, no you don't!" Kecleon called out. He let loose his tongue, wrapped it around buizel, and pulled him out of the rings. Try as he might, Buizel was unable to escape Kecleon's constricting tongue. Buizel tried to turn his head to aim a water gun at Kecleon but, Kecleon made sure that he was unable to. Eventually, Buizel gave up.

I took advantage of the situation and threw an empty pokeball at Buizel. He was sucked up in a red light, and the pokeball fell to the ground. It shook once, twice, three times, and then finally gave the satisfactory click of capture. I walked over to the ball and picked it up. "You'll need a long rest after that," I said out loud. I turned to Kecleon, "You did great, Kecleon!" I walked over to him and patted his head. He made a gentle hiss of appreciation and smiled happily at his victory.