Pokemon Rebellion

Training Grounds

“ALRIGHT TIME TO GET UP AND OUT OF BED LET’S MOVE!” shouted a loud lady while she was banging pots and pans together. Armaan and Zaid were frightened out of their slumber and fell off their beds. They both panic to brush their teeth, clean up, and dress up quickly. Once they were done, Armaan took a look at the time and it read 4:30am. “What in the world? You got us up at 4am in the morning what gives?” Armaan asked with anger. “Hey don’t get mad at me, it's my job to wake people up by any means necessary.” replied the lady. “Who even are you? We never met you before.” Zaid asked. “Oh my name is Naina, now if you will excuse me, I have more people to wake up!” and she runs towards her next victims.

Major Sam was ready and waiting for both Armaan and Zaid to arrive to give them the tour of the facility. Their first visit was to Krista Labs where all the finest scientists were gathered to create potent healing potions to treat the soldiers quickly and effectively. Many of the scientists were super busy and hard at work but there were two scientists who found time to greet the two trainers. The major introduced the young twin researchers as scientist Kutuhal and Maitreyee.

Maitreyee: Welcome to Krista Labs we hope all is going well major!

Major Sam: Thanks Maitreyee. How have things been going for the both of you?

Kutuhal: Terrible, absolutely terrible. One of the new assistants overheated the flux capacitor because he spilled the alkaline mixture that we were working so hard on causing a huge exothermic reaction and completely disrupting our momentum.

Major Sam: Now Kutuhal that happens sometimes, we are all learning.

Zaid: Wow this guy is an absolute ray of sunshine.

Kutuhal: Major Sam, who in the boron are these two?

Armaan: Hi my name is Armaan and this is my rival Zaid.

Maitreyee: Hi Armaan and Zaid it's very nice to meet the both of you.

Zaid: She’s cool, I like her!

Kutuhal: Major, permission to have dissection of that protoplasm standing right there (pointing at Zaid)

Major Sam: Kutuhal these two are the up and coming recruits that General Corrin has been speaking of.

Maitreyee: That’s awesome, we will be sure to do our best to provide you with the best potions research can find!

Armaan: Wow thank you so much!

Zaid: Finally some respect around this place!

Kutuhal: We are putting our hopes in these twos? We’re doomed…

They continued on their tour through the facility as they arrived at the ‘Technology Testing Area.’ It was a decent size area with many researchers and mechanics tinkering and assembling things together. This time a lady in her early 30s was there to welcome them. Her name was Rashmi the tech guru and head of the technology department. They quickly exchanged introductions before Rashmi told them that it was her task to make sure all fighters were equipped with the highest quality weaponry and armor. When asked by Armaan what she was working on, her eyes lit up and she began to speak passionately about all her amazing gadgets. She was pulling them all out left, right and center just going to town and explaining everything with excruciating detail.

Rashmi: Here is something I invented called the Airbag Armor. It looks like just a normal piece of armor suit you wear over your body but if you are ever going too fast for your own good and about to hit an object, the suit automatically inflates before impact saving you from severe injury.

Zaid: That’s genius! You can be super irresponsible and have fun without consequences!

Rashmi: Another one here is what I call the Visual-cise Goggles.

Armaan: Sounds interesting what do they do?

Rashmi: If you ever want the feeling of having exercised but don’t want to actually do it you can put these goggles on and boom! Instantly you feel like you worked out for 2 hours or longer!

Zaid: Intriguing, tell me more…

Rashmi: But the greatest of all inventions is this Micro-Fridge that fits on the palm of my hands.

Armaan: Why would we need a micro-fridge? It doesn’t seem to hold too much food.

Rashmi: That’s true but it is designed to keep only the most important of all food cold and delicious, carrot cake!

She would have continued on but Major Sam intervened and asked Rashmi to show them something a bit more serious. She talked about how any weapons and gadgets created would be heavily tested before giving them to their warriors for actual combat. She guided them towards their testing station that was encased with explosive resistant glass. Inside the testing station was one person who was the test subject dressed up in full hazmat gear. Rashmi introduced the participant as Pritish, one of her apprentices.

From the outside, they could see Pritish testing out several different gadgets, almost all of them end up exploding on him. “Wow, you must pay him good money just to be the guinea pig.” Zaid said. Rashmi shook her head, “No, he doesn’t get paid, but he did something very unforgivable and this is his punishment.” Armaan was shocked, he wondered what her assistant could have done to deserve such discipline. “He took the last carrot cake last week…” She said in disgust. Another explosion occurred in the room and after the smoke cleared Pritish was lying on the floor. Armaan and Zaid had the look of concern but the apprentice on the floor raised a thumbs up and said, “Don’t worry I’m okay!”

Finally, they arrived at the final destination of the tour, Sean’s Training Gym. This gym was massive, it had its own workout room that had all high end training equipment any workout enthusiast could ever dream of. Also, in this amazing gym was a large track for people to train up their cardio. At this location, Armaan and Zaid were greeted by a muscular lady in her early 30s named Michelle.

Zaid: No way… Armaan do you know who this is?!

Armaan: Yeah? I mean Major Sam just introduced her as Michelle.

Zaid: No, not just Michelle. THE MICHELLE! Haven’t you been paying attention in Justine’s pokemon history lesson class?

Armaan: Michelle… wait. The same Michelle who fights pokemon one on one with her fists? Who’s taken out top fighting pokemon contenders like Primeape, Lucario, and even the four armed Machamp?!?!

Michelle: Yes that is me, the one and only! (slams her fist together)

Major Sam: Michelle will be in charge of making sure you and your pokemon will be in top shape before you begin on your quest. I bid you both the best of luck on her conditioning exams!

(Major Sam leaves)

Michelle: Alright boys, you got 5 minutes to get ready before the pre-warm up starts.

Armaan: What’s in the pre-warm up?

Michelle: Oh not much, just a 10km run total but in between every kilometre, you will be doing 50 burpees, 100 lunges, 100 wall climbers, 100 squats, and 78 push ups.

Zaid: Umm, permission to be excused?

Armaan: Wait, why is there only 78 push ups at the end there? That’s such a random number from all the other ones.

Michelle: Look at me, I’M YOUR CAPTAIN NOW! There will be no complaining or back talking in my dojo understand?

Armaan & Zaid: SIR YES SIR! I MEAN… NO MADAM YES!

Michelle: You just used up your 5 minutes! Get to the baseline!

As they quickly hustled to get on the baseline, they were greeted with a pleasant surprise. Nurse Ruby came to deliver back their pokemon. Returning back to Armaan was his blue frog pokemon Froakie and to Zaid was his blue turtle Squirtle. Armaan was caught a bit off guard not realizing that Zaid had his own pokemon. “What? You didn’t think you were the only one who had secrets did you?” Zaid announced. Before they could continue on in their conversation a familiar voice called out to the both of them. It was Chloe who was jumping and waving at the both of them emphatically. Of course Da-Wei was there too but he didn’t share the same enthusiasm and energy as Chloe did. Armaan went over to ask if Chloe was ok from the wound she sustained. Chloe pounded her chest and exclaimed, “I’m A-OK! I’m too reckless to be injured by a weak event like that!”

As Michelle approached, everyone became silent and stood for attention. She let them know that there was a change in their schedule and that there would be no pre-warm up. That gave a huge relief to Armaan and Zaid initially, until Michelle told them that they were going straight to the true examination: fighting against her.

The unlikely duo stood together with their pokemon Froakie and Squirtle ready for battle. “For the record, we are still rivals.” Zaid affirmed. On the other side of the arena stood Michelle who signaled them to initiate the first attack. Froakie used it’s ‘bubble’ attack while Squirtle fired a ‘water gun’ both aimed directly at Michelle. The attack landed and Armaan celebrated with enthusiasm as he thought they landed a clean strike but Michelle stood completely unscathed. She dusted herself from the attack like water off a duck’s back, “Is that all you got?” Both of them were baffled as their previous attack had absolutely no effect. Armaan called Froakie for a ‘Quick Attack’ while Zaid commanded Squirtle to follow up with a tackle. Froakie dashed full speed at Michelle but she stuck out her right arm and caught Froakie in midair. Squirtle came in for the tackle but Michelle caught the turtle with her other hand. She threw both the pokemon back at their trainer and instantly knocked them all out of the ring.

As the two trainers gathered themselves up, they were immediately notified by Michele that they had failed her examination. Filled with discouragement and their heads down in defeat they began to head towards the exit. However, before they could leave they were stopped by Justine. She asked for an explanation of the events that had just transpired. After gathering the story, she went to converse with Michelle to see if she could negotiate a deal for the two youngsters.

She came back in a better mood with both good and not so great news. The good news was that Michelle was willing to give them a second chance. She acknowledged that the last examination was ridiculous unfair and she wanted to live up to the reputation for having the most extreme exams. On the flip side, both Armaan and Zaid were going to have new opponents and they were Da-Wei and Chloe.

The stage was set for Armaan and Froakie to battle against Da-Wei. Both of them were determined to redeem themselves from earlier but they knew their current opponent was not to be taken lightly. Froakie stepped onto the battlefield staring down the battlesuit Da-Wei. Armaan knew better than to charge in against Da-Wei with his electrical gauntlet so he waited for Da-wei to make the first move. Da-Wei lept towards Froakie for a direct attack which Armaan was expecting. In response, Armaan called for Froakie to use ‘double team.’ Instantly the stage was filled with a multitude of Froakies surrounding Da-Wei. “Cute trick, but it won’t work.” Da-Wei said as he pressed a button at the side of his helm. It activated a mode on his visor that allowed him to see through the copycats. As the army of blue frogs charged at Da-wei, he picked out the real one coming from his right and retaliated with his right palm pushing Froakie back.

Armaan shifted his strategy and called Frokaie to fling the dirt on the ground against Da-Wei’s visor. For a moment his vision was obstructed allowing Froakie to close in with multiple quick attacks. He then followed up with ‘water pulse’ hitting the target right on the chest. Momentum had swung in the duo’s favour and Frokaie continued to charge straight at Da-wei but because of the previous water attacks, Da-wei used the liquid to wipe the dirt from his visor so he could see clearly and react to the incoming attack.

He rolled a couple of pellets onto the ground and they created a smokescreen concealing him from the incoming attack. Froakie was desperately looking around to find the opponent. Armaan saw a shadow in the smoke coming at Froakie’s blind side but unfortunately he was not quick enough to respond. Da-Wei grabbed Froakie with his gauntlet and shocked Froakie with a high voltage. He then followed through with an uppercut to the gut sending Froakie flying in the air but landing in the battlefield. Froakie attempted to get back up but the electrical shock left a paralyzing effect preventing it from doing so. Da-Wei slowly walked towards the pokemon speaking to Armaan, “Well, it looks like you are out of tricks. I hate to do this but you will never learn if I go easy.” He raised his fist and began to swing with full force right at the helpless pokemon.

At this moment, a flashback began to occur in Armaan’s mind as he replayed the events that happened not too long ago. He could see and still remember the poison sting of the Ariados hitting Froakie. As the other pokemon surrounded his companion, Armaan was stuck in the spider’s web only about to watch the dire situation. How could he forget that feeling of not being able to help when his friend needed him most.

Da-Wei’s full force fist came down to finish off Froakie but his attack was intercepted by Armaan who dove in front of his pokemon. Da-Wei was in disbelief, the battle was between him and the pokemon. However, Armaan begged to differ as at the start of the battle, it was announced that the contestants were Armaan and Froakie, not just one of them. Unamused, Da-Wei accepted the rules and continued with a fury of punches against Armaan. Although he wasn’t in armored gear, he stood and took every single strike.

“This makes no sense. You know you can’t do this forever, so why are you still standing?” Da-Wei asked in anger. “I know you are stronger, faster, and more experienced than me. But I can’t just sit by and watch a friend do all the fighting. I will do all I can to fight alongside my comrades!” Armaan replied with fervor. As he finished speaking, Da-Wei let up for a little bit before landing one of his stronger punches forcing Armaan to fall on both knees. “You have a kind heart, but unfortunately that won’t be enough. This fight is over.” As he was about to land the finishing blow, a light began to glow from where Froakie was lying down. Froakie was evolving and out of the light emerged Frogadier.

Da-Wei turned to face his newly evolved opponent without hesitation. He dashed at Frogadier with his gauntlet ready to shock his target but Foradier easily dodged the attack. Forgadier was much quicker than before, making this a closer battle. Armaan got up and called for another quick attack. Da-Wei attempted to block the incoming assault but Frogdier’s speedy barrage was too much for him. However, after about the 10th strike, DA-Wei began to adapt to its speed and blocked nearly every following attack. Still determined, Forgadier launched forward for another quick attack but this time Da-Wei was prepared with his electrical fist. Midway through its attack Armaan sensed Da-wei’s trap and yelled for Frogadier to halt its charge. Right before it was about to blitz in the electrical current, it managed to slightly change its direction, barely escaping another devastating shock attack.

Armaan realized that they needed to take the gauntlet out of the equation to have a hope of victory. In the midst of the battle, a thought came to Armaan to overcome the obstacle. Once again Frogadier went for another quick attack. Da-Wei knew something was strange as repeating the same strategy would only lead to their demise. He waited for the pokemon to engage but before making contact, Frogadier used ‘double team’ to create an army of illusions. “This trick again?” Da-Wei was clearly unimpressed as he pushed the button on his visor to identify the real one. The identification took longer this time but Da-Wei could see Frogadier coming from his left side and got his right hand ready to deliver the finishing blow.

Or so he thought, as instead of going for a melee strike, Armaan called Frogadier to shift and use ‘Hydro Pump’ directly at Da-Wei’s right hand. The attack drenched the gauntlet causing it to short circuit. Da-Wei looked at his right palm and looked back at his opponents. Somewhere there, he cracked a smile and was impressed by the strategy they used.

However, the battle was far from over and Armaan knew better than to celebrate prematurely. Da-Wei regained his battle stance as did Frogdaier, ready for another bout. As they were about to re-engage, the bell sounded to indicate an abrupt end to the battle. General Corrin had entered onto the middle of the battle field.

The general came in clapping and thanking them for the spectacular show they put on. Da-Wei and Armaan were confused, there was no victor declared but the general told them that was not the purpose of the exam. The purpose of the examination was to see if Armaan had the potential to partake on the dangerous missions that lie ahead. After seeing his perseverance through adversity and ability to strategize in the thick of battle, it was determined that Armaan and Forgadier would qualify. Captain Michelle happily nodded in agreement. A huge relief and rush of excitement came to both Armaan and Frogadier. They jumped and emphatically high 5 one another.