Is this more than you bargained for, yet?

[Sparx]

Despite the exhaustion she had been feeling earlier, Jensen had wasted no time in jogging her way to route 4 after receiving her starter Pokémon at Lumiose's lab. Her new chespin companion, Valiant, scurried after her, struggling to keep up with the new trainer's long and fast stride. Jensen felt rejuvenated, and any weariness had disappeared as soon as she was hit with the lust for adventure.

Eventually, the girl slowed to a stop and took a look around her. There were a lot of flowers and fences around; route 4 was a pretty pleasant field-y area, and even from where she stood, she could see Pokémon flitting around in the grass and among the petals. What a great place to start training!

"Alright, Valiant, this is our grand debut!" Jensen called to her new friend, whom had only just caught up with her and was doubled over trying to catch his breath. This girl was way too energetic and hasty for him, but he had to start getting used to it, since they were stuck with each other. "It doesn't look like anyone's around right now," continued Jensen. "So we've got the whole route to ourselves! We should see what we can find. We'll have you buffed up in no time!"

[Dygii]

    Luckily for Brendan, it was considerably easier to find the entrance to one of the surrounding routes than to find the Pokémon Lab; after all, every one was on the perimeter of the city, and even though some of them were very far apart, Route 4 happened to be rather close to the lab. It briefly crossed the newfound trainer's mind that this was probably done on purpose, as the route in question was teeming with weaker Pokémon, or so he'd heard. Standing before the great arching gate appropriately marked with the number four, he finally set his charmander down, who was shaking from the mild terror he'd caused her.

    "I guess we might as well start here," Brendan muttered. "I'd rather head back in the direction of Anistar City, but no way am I getting myself lost in that goddamn maze of a city again."

    Hopping onto all fours, Slayer gave a shrill yap and waited for her trainer to start off ahead of her before she bounded along towards the gate.

    Once the duo had stepped onto the paved pathway surrounded by lush grass and flowers, Slayer wandered off into a bush, her wide eyes and frantic sniffing indicating that something had caught her interest. But all Brendan caught glimpse of was another trainer, who appeared to be shuffling around with a small green Pokémon. Perfect! Brendan thought. That's a grass-type, right? Grass is weak to fire. We've got this match in the bag!

    "Hey!" he called to her--him? Them? Brendan couldn't tell--standing on his toes and waving a hand. He then took off forward towards the other person, unwittingly leaving his Pokémon behind. "Hey, that's your Pokémon, right? I'll tell you what: I've got a Pokémon, too. Battle with me!"

    He did not stop to think that his request could be taken as demanding, but he couldn't think to care either.

[Sparx]

"Hey!"

Before Jensen had too much time to decide where she wanted to start her training, a loud male voice caught her attention. She spun around, surprised by the sudden appearance of what looked like another trainer. A short boy with stupid-looking black and orange hair with a charmander at his side. Who was this punk? He looked about the same age as Jensen, and just as new at Pokémon training. She frowned and folded her arms over her chest as he demanded a battle.

"A battle? You're pretty ambitious, pal," Jensen scoffed in reply, turning her nose up as if trying to make herself look even haughtier. Valiant peered at the other pair from behind Jensen's legs. "Your little lizard thing wouldn't stand a chance, type advantage or not. You're looking at an ace trainer, after all!"


The chespin glanced up at his trainer with a doubtful expression.

"If you're really that desperate to lose, though, then I guess I won't refuse you." Jensen laughed. "My name's Jensen, by the way. Jensen Oliver! Remember it, 'cause it's gonna be all over the headlines in no time!"

[Dygii]

    Jensen, or so the trainer introduced herself as, stood as confidently as she spoke, although something about her tone portrayed exaggeration. Even still, her looks alone made it hard for him to take her seriously at all. He may have been a new trainer, but he knew one thing.

    Her little grass nut was going down.

    With a scoff, he responded, "I'll hold you to that, chickie. Just 'cuz I wanna see the look of embarrassment on your face when it's MY name instead. Heh, call me Brendan." He shrugged, as if to brush off this statement without really meaning it, although his intense stare made it clear he doubted her skill. "Ready to see what we're made of? Alright, Slayer! Go get 'em!"

    He thrust his arm forward dramatically, pointing at the opposing trainer, but the only movement besides that was that of the wind in the grass and trees. A few moments later, an orange head poked out from the flowers a few meters away. "Char?"

    Brendan relaxed and snapped his gaze sharply at her. "Whaddya think you're doing? Get over here!"

    With a squeak, Slayer fell to all fours and came darting towards her trainer, her location in the tall grass only evident by the rustling path she made. When she made her way back to the trainer's feet, she looked up at him, then to Jensen's chespin. "Chrrraah rah char?" she rasped, motioning with her tail.

    Pointing again, but less theatrically, Brendan commanded, "This is it! Our first battle, alright? Let's go!"

[Sparx]

This guy sure had a lot of gall, thinking he could beat Jensen so easily. Even if he had the type advantage, there was no way Jensen could lose! She didn't think the charmander knew any fire attacks, anyway, if it was straight out of the lab like her chespin. Even if it did know fire moves, well...at least chespin had great defenses and powerful attack! Frankly, Jensen was a little nervous now; if she did lose, it would be especially embarrassing, since she had gone into this encounter so conceitedly. Well, that was only more reason to try extra hard, she figured; she couldn't let herself lose and have to listen to this little punk boasting! There was no way she could allow that, no way!

"Valiant, you ready? Let's show these punks what real ace trainers battle like," said Jensen, slamming her fist into her palm and digging her heels into the ground. "There's no excuse for losing, got it? Show me how great of a pair we'll make!"

Valiant was still a bit put off by Jensen's haughty attitude, but he decided he'd just take it in stride and do as he was told to make his new trainer happy. Still pretty relaxed, he scuttled in front of Jensen into the makeshift battle ground, where he waited for further orders while falling into a laid back battle stance.

"You good? Okay then. How about you, punk?" Jensen called to Brendan with a cocky smirk. "Ready to go? Well, ready or not, let's get started! Valiant, use scratch! Get 'em good!"