When I woke up it was my turn to see the Machop, or now Sin. Three letter names are boss, sorry not sorry Puff(waaaaiiiittt, I could spell it Puf...ignore me).

  "Thank you nurse Joy" I stood up and rubbed the Chansey on the head that helped me in appreciation.

  "No problem, have a nice day and I would advice against fighting pokemon in the future, they generally have more practice in fights on top of them being stronger."

  "Yeah, that would be right hehe" I go ahead and grab a pokeball from the belt I took off earlier and hold it up to Sin "Go ahead."

  "Wait!" a tiny voice calls out. I turn to see the Kubfu running towards us for some reason. "You can't catch him! I..uh..By the authority of my father I command you to not catch this Pokémon."

  She stands in front of Sin like a guardian for some reason, I tilt my head and look at the legendary cub. Sin grabs her shoulder and shoves her out of the way. Man what a guy, that was awesome, gender equality at work right there. He reaches up to tap the pokeball but gets tackled by Kubfu before he can.

  "NO! You can't leave!" she pins him down but the Bombirdier from earlier comes over and gently picks her up and pces her away from him. They have a short conversation.

  "What? No. But- Can't I-" the child is getting stopped at every turn, barely making any sense to me. Finally Puff floats over and giggles as she nds on my head.

  "Oooooooooo this is good" she says, humming to herself.

  "What is even happening?"

  "Nothing much" is her response, expining absolutely nothing. I wait for the conversation to finish, watching with the ball in my hand. I flinch at something but keep my eyes on the conversation. Finally, the Kubfu relents and hangs her head.

  "I'm sorry, I just- sorry" she mutters. She gnces around "Hey where did he go?" I do the same and find that my new capture up and disappeared on me.

  "What the heck?" I look around but still can't see the one handed Machop anywhere.

  "Open your ball Maxy, he clicked it while they were talking" Puff smiles to herself and changes to whistling. I do and Sin gets released, he gres at the Kubfu.

  "I'm sorry Mac, I shouldn't have tried to stop you" he growls something at her and she walks away moping.

  "Mac?" some Pokémon have nicknames before getting caught but I haven't met many up to this point. Only a Bidoof named Teethy by a younger kid in Forestree and a Dachsbun called Breadwinner who leads a pack around the forest and sometimes stops by to help us bake bread in exchange for potions or shelter. Sin shakes his head and growls at the name. "Yeah, too close to Max anyways. What's her deal by the way?"

  "She used to train with me, but then she became cruel" Puff transtes while turning to our new companion "don't worry old man, we'll get you up to speed." Sin looks at Puff with tiredness "ouch, ok I'll stop."

  I take the time to scan Sin with my pokedex. His ability is guts where his power increases if he gets afflicted with any status conditions. I start daydreaming about what a monster he'll become as I see his diverse move pool. He has literally everything I could ask for at the moment, bulk up and focus energy, fist attacks, revenge moves, and even some moves that are more difficult to learn for his species that are usually taught via tms.

  I'm going to be dreaming about a Machamp equipped with a sword and shield of an Aegissh tonight. The only thing I criticism is that he doesn't seem to know close combat which is an egg move that he is far too old to learn easily now.

  "Alright, how about we get you acquainted with the rest of the team and then we can go do a couple practice battles so I can see how you fight for real" he simply nods. We start walking around as Puff and Fly start bugging the new guy with many questions. He mutters responses but shapes up when I tell him to be nicer. Ian seems to like him, another soldier to fight alongside and their bond grows easily.

  Then we start challenging people and Pokémon that catch our eye. Sin seems to be more of a retaliator in most circumstances and slowly uses bulk up and focus energy before throwing all the built up energy into an elemental punch that is super effective. Sometimes he nds the first punch by using bullet punch and have it rocket forwards at a speed too quick to dodge but even then he waits for them to get closer and the punches ck power from hip rotation and following through.

  Sure the thing is fast and powerful but it is so simple that many are able to read when and where it will nd. I start drawing up some ideas about how to teach him better flow and more sudden movements in my head as a gong rings.

  I gnce up at a podium that has risen from the ground with a lone Pokémon on it. He bows in the general direction of a crowd before he begins. Sin starts running towards it as I try to catch up. I watch the Pokémon gather dark and fighting type energy, slowly as if to teach us. The buildup is in his entire body and keeps growing in density until the energy rushes first to his back foot and then it flows through his body to the fist in a slingshot motion.

  As the move strikes air I see no energy release from the fist and it dissipates into his body. He then goes on to perform simpler motions, ones that I saw Sin doing except, he seems to be striking in a smoother manner, in a way that shows his experience and skill. Yes, this is the legendary Pokémon Urshifu, particurly one that uses the single strike style.

  Simple punches and forms flow as the boss and alpha of the Colosseum performs his techniques in absolute silence. When he is done he bows towards the crowd once more and we begin to cp. After a couple seconds I see him motion for us to stop and I feel a weight on my shoulders, as if the world is commanding me to stop. The cpping stops instantly and Urshifu begins speaking.

  "I have taught the single strike style for many years and yet few have ever mastered it, learning wicked blow. I am saying this because I want to encourage you, the time to learn and grow is upon us as soon you will need more than you have to survive in the outside world. This year my daughter is setting off on her journey as she would like to see the outer world. For this important event in her life, I would like all the trainers here today to line up to meet with me here to decide who will accompany her and be allowed to train her through this endeavor. Should you not be chosen I ask that you spread the word to others such that in a week's time she can set off to conquer your little circuit. Move" he finishes.

  All the while I feel his words resonate with me, commanding me to act upon his will but I resist. I do not line up.

  Despite being rare and guaranteed to be strong in the future I already have my team's muscle. I begin to walk away with my team as the line forms. I feel a prickle tease my back but I stand strong.

  As Max walks away the Urshifu watches. Good, it will be easier to let her down this way. He would be too unreliable anyways. Now to see if there are any chosen among this bunch or if Zoroark will start her career as a trainer again.

  Max exits the Colosseum, finding his way to an pce where he can sign up for a martial arts css. "Hello, I would like to sign up for a group self defense css for myself and my team, are there any avaible tonight?"

  The receptionist quickly looks down "Yes, how many are there going to join the css, it starts at 7:30 and your private instructor will be in section D3."

  "Four Pokémon and myself."

  "That will be 90 pokedolrs, would you like to sign up for our rewards program?"

  "No thank you but is there any discount for being a retive of a cn member?" I ask.

  "It would be free if you were, who are you reted to and show me your trainer ID on your pokedex as well" the receptionist perks up at this and is mildly interested.

  "Patty Gordon is my grandmother, here you go" I show her my ID, one of the things they gave us in my summer training.

  "Ah, her. Would you be interested in meeting with your family here? I can alert them-"

  "That won't be necessary" my grandpa had warned me to stay away from them. Meeting her Pokemon would be weird too since...I don't know how to expin it but it would be.

  "Ok then, be sure to be in section D3 before the curtain falls and your instructor will meet you there. Have a nice night" she hands me a form with the section number and the name of my instructor. Falinks. That is a weird name, wonder who that is and how it got that nickname since there is a literal Pokemon with that name.

  I went to the outskirts to avoid other people as I privately had my Pokémon practice their moves. The next gym type is dark so Sin will be key as will Ian's furry cutter if I end up doing the normal challenge. Ian shadow sneaks quickly through the ground before Sin uses sucker punch to drag him out of the shadow by the hilt before he can finish the attack.

  Ian wraps his ribbon around Sin's arm and weakens his grasp enough to escape and attack with another shadow sneak. He is better now and sinks into his own shadow before shooting out behind Sin to stab him in the back. He groans in pain but flexes and the bulk up powers him up and pushes Ian out.

  He turns and uses foresight and counter on Ian, doing a lot of damage with the returned force. Ian shadow sneaks again but Sin knows what's up and grabs a rock from the ground with rock slide, capturing Ian's shadow. He escapes and stabs Sin while his hand is full but gets a boulder to the face(?).

  "That's enough guys and good work dies but we have to get to that css now and learn to work together a bit more" I announce. Puff and Fly had been dodging each other's ranged attacks with their speed while trying to focus on the accuracy of their moves. They had gotten better at predicting movements but it wasn't as good as I wanted them to be.

  I would have two groups, the close range slow fighters and the long range quick artillery. Electricity was lighting up Fly as she worked on what I asked of her, she wasn't able to do it yet but I saw some evidence that was promising.

  "Let's go meet up with Falinks and then tomorrow we'll move on to our second badge" man that feels awesome to say. I grab my bag with my new Machamp keychain figure along with the others. I am starting quite the cool looking collection it seems as I dropped my funds slightly lower with keychain figures of all my new Pokémon.