The runt introduced himself as Frankie, and he had two followers with him that I honestly didn't pay attention to. I call him a runt even though he's roughly maybe fourteen, fifteen years old.

He has a cocky-looking white rabbit-like Pokémon with orange and yellow markings on its ears, toes, and neck. Its buck teeth, black beady eyes with orange accents, and the cute little orange nose with the band-aid-like marking above it may have made it cute had it not been for its smug smirk and aggressive body language. It was remarkable to me how much a Pokémon incited the urge to punch it.

"I'm not interested," I told him flat out before closing my eyes and returning to my meditation. I really wasn't. The last thing I needed was to draw attention and have another video of my fights posted.

"Wh-wha?" I could hear him stuttering. "You can't do that. It goes against the trainer code!"

"Trainer code states that I can refuse any and all challenges so long as it is not an official request for the trainer logs. What Arsene and I had yesterday was an official challenge that we both consented to. You're just barking up the wrong tree, runt. Now go bark somewhere else," I growled at him with as much animosity and venom as I could muster. Take the hint, kid. I don't need distractions right now.

A loud roar whizzed by the left side of my face as I felt intense heat fly by my left cheek. In an instant, my eye opened, and my face contorted into a snarl, the smell of burning hair and smoke in the air. Immediately, Beca and Champ jumped to the front in my defense, Beca with her tiny fangs glowing malevolently and Champ summoning a rock slide from the earth around us.

There was an intense stare-down between my Pokémon and Frankie's Scorbunny, who currently held an outstretched paw, ready to pitch another Ember attack in my direction.

I had been annoyed, but now I was livid.

"Call off your Scorbunny, or I won't be held accountable for what happens next," I told him through gritted teeth, trying to bite back the rage that wanted to be unleashed. He clearly had no control over his Pokémon, the rotten brat.

Frankie's two lackeys released a Poochyena and a Geodude, getting ready for an all-out fight.

"Hmph. This wouldn't have happened if you had agreed to the challenge. You have only yourself to blame for being a coward," Frankie said back, arms crossed over his chest as he acted tough. His Scorbunny mimicked him with a sneer on his face.

This was getting out of hand, and there was no real way out of it. I was getting bullied into a dumb fight. Now that I think about it... I might as well make it an official challenge. That should teach him a thing or two.

"Alright, I guess we're doing this. Remember, you asked for this, kid."

I pulled out my Rotom phone and scrolled to the Indigo League app that was used for officiating formal challenges. The phone immediately flew away to a decent distance between us as a face appeared on the screen. The phone emitted a weird dial tone noise followed by a small fanfare soundtrack.

"Hello everyone, I am Referee John Alexander, badge number Alpha, five, four, nine, two, eight. For the intents and purposes of this match, please state your full name and the location of origin for your gym tour."

"Erembour Lionheart from Pallet City," I replied calmly as Champ stepped forward while Beca climbed up to my shoulder. I would love to have Beca fight, but she would be at a tremendous disadvantage, and official fights can't be lost as often. It'll bring my overall rating down and affect my sponsorship. I found out the hard way when the email came in before getting to the lake. The email stated that my win-to-loss ratio could not be greater than one to five or they would begin to dock my income. At least the good news about it all is that if I rack up a bunch of wins against people of my ranking or higher, then I would qualify for increases in pay.

"Franklin Thornebrook from Viridian City."

I could see Frankie swallow hard as his hands twitched. His body language already spoke volumes that he wasn't ready for this fight. His Scorbunny, on the other hand, seemed to be already itching to go, clearly a new starter given to him by a sponsor, so the kid must have some promise.

However, a solid amount of my battle experience as a grunt has returned to me. Plotting out the best course of action, I grinned as I realized the best way to give this bunny a reality check.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Standard rules will apply for this battle. Seeing as how your Pokémon are already out on the field, I am going to assume this is a one-on-one battle. The prize pool will be one thousand Pokédollars. Any objections?"

I shook my head no. I wasn't looking for money. All I wanted was to make sure this sniveling runt and his shitty attitude bunny were pummeled into the ground.

"I want the prize pool to be ten thousand!" exclaimed Frankie, much to the protest of his two goons.

"Oh? You sure you can afford to cough that up?" I retorted quickly. His face turned beet red as he scowled at me.

"Of course I can! Not like some bum like you can afford it!"

"Fine then. I'll take your money and your pride," I scoffed, answering before the referee could even bother asking.

"Then the terms have been met. I will countdown from three. Once the gong sounds, the match will begin."

We both nodded our agreement as our bodies tensed while our Pokémon squared off thirty feet from each other.

"Three…"

Champ cracked his knuckles, and a grin broke out on his face. I could tell he was itching to beat the crap out of the Scorbunny.

"Two…"

The Scorbunny jumped from foot to foot as a ball of fire coalesced in both of its hands, a look of pure concentration on its face. Champ said something to the bunny which set it off. The fire was gone from its hands as its legs tensed.

"One…"

There was a profound moment of silence, as if to say this moment in time, this moment in space, was going to determine how the rest of my journey was going to go. It was a strange sensation of both giddy anxiety and sheer determination.

The gong went off, triggering both of us to call out orders.

"Champ! Bulk Up, then close the distance. If you're going to win, you're going to win using only your fists!"

As Champ's body started to strengthen from the orange aura surrounding him, Frankie was having issues with his Scorbunny.

"Come on, Cinders! Stay at a distance and use Ember to whittle him down!"

Just to prove a point, his Scorbunny uses Quick Attack to close the gap between Champ and it, following up with a quick kick to his face. Champ ducks and delivers a quick left jab to Cinder's stomach before it hops away. It circles around him before doing another series of Quick Attacks to test his defenses, and each one is met with a jab for its troubles. No matter what Cinders does up close, it's no match for Champ. I almost feel sorry for it, even more so for Frankie, who can't get Cinders to listen to him.

"Cinders! You're going to lose if you don't listen to me! You have to keep your distance and use Ember to wear him out!"

His goons look away from the fight, unable to keep watching as Cinders goes in for another Quick Attack salvo. It's another repeat until finally the last attack chains into what I can assume is a Double Kick, as white energy surrounds its feet, and it lands both kicks to Champ's chest, forcing him to skid back a few feet.

"Focus Energy, Champ. Let it come to you, and then end it."

With a smirk on his face, a red aura surrounds him as he lifts his hands up in a boxing position. Cinders, breathing heavily, tenses its legs as it crouches as low as it can go. Frankie by this point had stopped issuing orders and resigned his fate to what was going to happen.

In that intense moment, they remained in their stances for what felt like an eternity, the tension in the air so palpable I could almost taste it. Then, with a sudden burst of energy, Cinders propelled forward, vanishing in a blink of an eye only to reappear with lightning speed behind Champ, poised for another strike.

What followed was a masterful dance of combat. Champ, displaying an astonishing level of finesse, executed a precise one hundred and eighty degree turn, narrowly avoiding Cinders' Double Kick. As Cinders hung suspended in mid-air, desperately seeking balance, Champ seized the opportunity. His right fist radiated with a brilliant, white glow, and in one seamless motion, he unleashed a devastating right hook. The punch connected with Cinders' face, sending it hurtling across the battlefield leaving a streak of fiery energy in its wake. It finally landed at Frankie's feet, it tried to get up, but collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"Scorbunny is unable to battle, the winners are Erembour and his Tyrogue! "

And with that announcement, the ref closes the connection, and my phone flies back to me. The agreed-upon money prize is sent automatically to my account to avoid any personal aggression after the fact. I find it amusing that it works this way using the actual app instead of having someone stand as a referee while the fight is recorded and uploaded.

Frankie falls to his knees as he tries so hard not to let the tears welling in his eyes spill down his cheeks. Champ attempts to approach, but immediately the Poochyena and Geodude both jump in front, the former growling menacingly while the latter slams his rocky fists together. Champ keeps his distance before speaking towards them, and they both eventually quiet down to listen. The Poochyena eventually nods its head as Champ finishes talking, and he, seemingly satisfied, turns away to walk back to me.

Once Champ walks back to me, he starts talking to me and gestures toward Frankie. I look over to where he is still crying over his Scorbunny as he cradles it in his hands, while his goons come up with potions to spray on the knocked-out bunny.

"Ty! Tyrogue, rogue, Ty!" Champ yells at me, gesturing toward the kid.

"You can't be serious," I stare at him in disbelief. "You want me to console him after all that?"

He nods at me in stern affirmation, arms crossed across his chest. A mixture of pride and annoyance wells within me. I really don't want to speak to this rock-for-brains who lacks the voice and confidence to control his own partner. I let out a heavy sigh and ran my hand down my face.

"Rogue..." Champ quietly chastises me.

"Alright. Alright. I'm going," I mumble back to him, walking toward Frankie.

He is still between shock and fighting back tears. Ah, what the hell am I doing? I'm not good at this. I appraise him, he actually looks like he's closer to twelve. His brown hair is tied back in a loose ponytail, brown eyes downcast, an average face. Everything about the kid was just absolutely average.

Flashes of my constant defeats at the hands of my superiors and Lysander come to mind. The ridicule, the laughter, the days of no food until I improved my conditioning and battle training.

"Listen up, Frank," I snarl at him, forcing him to look up at my command.

"You want to be able to beat me? You're going to have to change the way you act. No more bravado. No more timid bullshit. You want a shot at the gyms, at succeeding and making your Pokémon listen to you? You've got to put yourself through the ringer. Make every day a fight for survival. Now that you've lost an official match to me, there's an option in there to set up for a rematch. When you think you're ready, send me the challenge. Assuming that you have enough talent to get far enough to acquire one gym badge."

My smirk turns into a grin as his face contorts into one of pure fury. He stands up immediately, sputtering like a fool.

"Today was a fluke! You'll see! Enjoy the money you earned today, you bum! The next time we meet, you'll pay me back threefold! I'll have my revenge!"

He turns tail immediately after that and runs off with his goons in pursuit, leaving me alone with my Pokémon, hard-earned silence, and a little bit of time to enjoy myself before having to get to business.