Leaving the lab of the Professor behind, I found myself traveling down the very same path I had appeared on. It made me wonder if there was more to it than it had seemed at first. Being dropped at a spot where a road perfectly cut through the road, one path leading to an unknown forest and the other direction leading to a building, while still unknown and strange it still was something.
What would have my life here been like if I had avoided the Professor and only trusted myself? Why had I spoke to him? Sure I rationalized it at the time as the easiest way to gather information, but with my skill I could have easily done so without being seen as well. Was it the Voice's influence? My own hopes at being someone other than a creature of the night, someone that lives in the light that I had squashed and put away deep in my soul.
I shook the thoughts from my head, it wouldn't do any good to wonder about things that wouldn't help me here and now. What I should worry about is my Pokémon that I'm supposed to be training. Pulling the ball from a pocket in my jacket I stared at it before clicking the button to expand it and subsequently release my Pokémon.
"Char- char!" It chirped more than rumbled, it was still young after all.
Crouching down to its level I stared into its eyes. I didn't know if it was due to its type but I felt as though I could see flames burning deep within. It had what my world would call a "Warrior's Heart". It thirsted for battle and wished for nothing more than to show its dominance over others. If guided properly it could be a powerful weapon, but even in my world those that had this trait could become consumed by the thirst for battle and devolve to little better than a brainless brute.
I inspected it closely, keeping in mind what I read from the information Selene had provided me about the Charmander line. I poked and prodded, lifting its arms, legs and even its tail as I checked all over. It was weak yet malleable, a strong base ready to be molded as I saw fit. I nodded. The Charmander had endured all the poking and prodding with no complaints, seemingly accepting it since I'm his master.
That thought clicked within me as I realized that now I was a master. Not in the sense that I was a Pokémon master or even a master trainer. But that this creature would now obey my commands as long as it wasn't detrimental to it, or perhaps even to its detriment.
I thought back to my own training and while I couldn't find flaws in it, something told me that that was not how Pokémon were meant to be trained. It seemed cruel to use physical punishment to correct a creature that's not able to truly communicate.
"Charmander. Do you wish to become strong?" I asked it, not sure if it would even really understand me. I had read that they had sentience and could follow commands, but how much could they truly understand? My question was answered by the small lizard clenching its fists, the flame on its tail flaring up as it let out a small growl.
"Chaaaar!" Sparks of flame puffed from its mouth with the growl and found myself smiling. I patted its head like I had seen beast tamers from world do.
"Good." I said and held out a hand in front of me.
"Now punch my hand." It titled its head in confusion and I stared back quizzically. Could it not do attacks that aren't the already known ones. Is punching incompatible with it? Maybe it just needs to be taught? Selene had told me that they were practically newborns, only a few months old when they arrived at the lab. I wasn't sure at what rate Pokemon aged, as I didn't get a chance to learn everything, but if they were given out by a sanctioned professional then it had to be okay.
Instead I reached out and held up its hand as I had done, prompting it to leave it there.
"This is a punch." I said before demonstrating a punch, ensuring I showed the proper way to clench your fist, along with the movement of my body providing power.
"Now you do it." I said again as I held my hand aloft. Its eyes narrowed and I watched it clench its tiny fist, pull back and softly punch my hand. The form could use some work and I assume it punched softly because I had, and decided to rethink my approach. Looking around I noticed a tree nearby and had Charmander follow me to the tree.
"Now a punch is just an attack. I'm going to teach you the right way, but for now I just want you to punch as hard as you can. I need to get an understanding of your strength and speed. We'll do some more training when I'm satisfied." I spoke and Charmander dutifully nodded along as it stepped beside me in front of the tree.
"Punch." And it did, pulling back and swinging with what I assumed was all it's might. It wasn't much, but I also wasn't expecting too much due to it being so young and inexperienced. I crouched behind it and corrected its form, modifying what I knew about punching to hopefully work for a lizard.
"Again."
I continued having it punch the tree, as well as alternating fists and was surprised at the rapid progress it made. It began leaving marks on the tree with each punch. While it was doing that I pulled out the Pokédex. They had told me that I could learn about the Pokemon if just held the Pokédex up to it and pressed a button… I nearly dropped it when it began to speak.
Smokescreen huh? That could come in handy, just have to get it used to fighting with limited vision and that could prove very effective.
"Charmander, let me see your smokescreen." It stopped at my voice and stepped away from the tree. It opened its mouth as black smoke began to pour out cover a nearly 15 foot radius. I was honestly surprised at the amount of smoke it produced and grinned in satisfaction.
"Good. Very good Charmander. Alright show me your other moves and then we'll continue on. Training is good, but I understand Pokemon need actual combat to get stronger.
"Char!" It growled in agreement and let out an ember. Not bad, seemed to have more force behind it than any real burn effect since it didn't catch the tree in fire, but that was fine. We went over his moves several times so that I could get an understanding of them, needing to look up leer since I couldn't observe any effects when it performed the move. It seemed some moves only had a visible effect if their was a target to hit.
We moved away from our tree and continued down the path until I spotted one of the very first creatures I had seen when I came to this world. It was a bird pokemon called a Pidgey.
"Alright, Charmander. Let's see what we can do." It seemed disadvantageous to attack a pokemon that could fly when Charmander only knew one ranged attack, but it was good target practice if it came to that.
"Cover it in smokescreen and then move in and punch it." It felt weird needing to give exact commands on how it should fight. My masters and trainers had only taught me how to fight and guided or corrected me after, not actively told me to slash or jab during a fight.
Charmander kept moving forward as the smoke billowed out, enveloping the small bird. Caught off guard it panicked and instead of flying away it just beat its wings to try and blow away the smoke, only this gave away its location to Charmander. With them both shrouded in the smoke I could only make out vague shapes as Charmander's punch connected center mass and sent the Pidgey rolling out of the cloud.
"Stay on it, Leer and then Ember as you close in." Charmander stepped out of the smoke at my command and I watched as the Pidgey shivered in fear from the Leer. And before it could move the tiny flame struck it and sent it rolling back again.
"Stop it's fainted." I called to Charmander and it diligently stopped, seemingly not tired in the slightest. This bird didn't seem that strong, while it would be useful for scouting I didn't particularly want it for my team. It didn't feel right.
Charmander walked over to me with its tail swishing happily and that gave me an idea.
"Charmander, attack the tree with your tail. Makes sure to strengthen it as you whip it around your body to build momentum." It seemed confused at first but soon did as I said. It didn't seem very strong or coordinated but I didn't let that deter me.
"Looks like there is lots to work on and train." I said with a smile, getting one in return from Charmander as flames puffed from its mouth.