The park wasn't hard to find. He'd spotted it on the map while booking in at the Pokémon Centre— a modest green space tucked between two residential streets near the eastern edge of the city, with a wide flat central clearing and mature trees around the perimeter. Not a battleground, not a route, just a park where people brought their Pokémon for a run or a sit in the sun. A couple of benches. A stone fountain with a Poliwag sitting in it. A Rattata that wasn't his darting between a hedge and someone's shopping bag.
Kai chose the flat clearing. He set his bag down by a tree and turned to face Sandshrew and Totodile, who were both looking up at him with an air of general willingness.
"Right," he said, cracking his knuckles.
"Physical training."
Two blank expressions stared back at him.
He'd expected that. He spread his arms and tried to sound like someone who knew what he was doing. "In the real wor— " He caught himself. Old habit.
"From what I know, Pokémon mostly get stronger through battling. You take hits, you dish them out, your body adapts. But a human athlete doesn't just spar every day and nothing else. They run, they stretch, they build their base fitness. And I think —" he looked at them both— "the same should apply to you."
Sandshrew scratched the side of its face with one claw, processing this.
Totodile, on the other hand, yawned.
"Look, I'll show you," Kai said. "We start with laps."
He started jogging round the clearing, once, twice, finding his pace. On the first pass, neither of them moved. On the second, Sandshrew fell in alongside him, its short legs working fast to keep up. By the third, Totodile had decided it wasn't going to be left out and joined on Kai's other side, arms pumping with extraordinary seriousness.
They ran laps.
Kai kept the pace honest — not punishing, but not lazy either. By the fourth lap, he could hear both Pokémon beginning to labour. Sandshrew's breathing came quicker, its round body rolling with each stride. Totodile's face had gone from seriousness to effort, jaw set, tiny fists working the air.
"Good," Kai said, slightly winded himself. "Two more."
The last two were harder for all three of them.
When they stopped, all of them stood with hands on their knees — or whatever the Pokémon equivalent was — breathing hard. Totodile put its hands on its legs and stared at the ground. Sandshrew dropped to a sit and panted, both of them clearly tired from the effort.
Kai grinned. There it was. Right there. The slightly glazed, slightly bewildered look of a body that had just been pushed past its comfortable cruising altitude.
"See?" he said, between breaths. "That's the point," Kai said, stressing the situation.
Suddenly, he dropped to the ground and started doing push-ups. Not because he was particularly fit in his young body — he wasn't, and his arms were burning by rep eight — but because he wanted them to see what he meant.
After a moment's consideration, Sandshrew lowered itself to the ground beside him and attempted to replicate the movement, its short front arms pressing against the grass. It managed about three before its belly touched the ground entirely, and it made an indignant sound.
Totodile, watching this, crouched down and tried its own version. Its posture was all wrong, back arched like a bridge, but the effort was genuine — its arms shaking with the attempt, eyes fixed downward with total concentration.
Kai stopped pushing and just watched them for a second.
Yeah, he thought. They're not built for this yet. Which is exactly why we're doing it.
"Again," he said gently.
They were on their third round of push-ups — Sandshrew having improved its form considerably, Kai feeling it in his chest and shoulders in a way that was going to be unpleasant tomorrow. He wondered what else he could do to train his other Pokémon. He could have Totodile shoot water guns for target practice, and power?
He could have Rattata improve its bite force and speed. Mankey, he was sure he could train and improve its strength, as long as it could control itself, that was, and not beat him up.
Zubat, on the other hand, could be tricky. After all, he wasn't sure how to improve a flying type Pokemons ability. But he was sure he could figure it out.
Suddenly, a voice came from across the park, snapping Kai out of his thoughts.
"Hey! You there — trainer!"
Kai, Sandshrew and Totodile all looked up.
A kid was standing at the park entrance, maybe twelve or thirteen, school bag over one shoulder, a blazer with a small embroidered badge on the breast pocket that Kai recognised from the building he'd walked past that morning. Trainer Academy. The boy had the look of someone who'd spotted something interesting and had decided that his lunch break was going to get a lot more productive.
He was already unclipping a Poké Ball from his belt, too, as he ran over.
"I saw what you were doing with your Pokémon, that looks like some cool training," he called, walking over with the easy confidence of someone who'd been trained to do this. "I've been practising at the academy for two years." He held up the Poké Ball. "Why don't we have a battle and let's see if your training makes a difference?"
Kai got to his feet slowly, brushing grass off his knees. He looked at Sandshrew and Totodile, both still catching their breath, both already watching the newcomer with sharp, focused eyes.
However, Totodile cracked its knuckles, and Kai allowed himself a small smile.
"Alright," he said. "Let's find out. Totodile, you ready for a battle?" Kai asked, watching as the small crocodile Pokémon sprang to life, giving a confident response.
"Totodile!" It yelled.
The other boy also looked excited, throwing his Poké Ball into the air as he called forth his own Pokémon to battle.
"Alright, go, Aipom!"
The Poké Ball arced through the air and split open in a flash of white light, and the Aipom that materialised from it was already moving before its feet had even properly found the ground — tail curled high, the three-fingered hand at the tip flexing open and closed, lips pulled back in a wide, self-satisfied grin.
Kai blinked.
"Oh," he said. "An Aipom."
He'd known Aipom existed, obviously. He'd caught one in the Safari Zone back in the day, spent about forty-five minutes throwing bait and rocks and praying to whatever god governed encounter rates. But knowing something existed and seeing it standing six feet away from you in the afternoon sun were two entirely different experiences.
He already had his Pokédex out, scanning the small monkey.
[Aipom. The Long Tail Pokémon. Its tail is so adept at handling and grabbing things that it has more dexterity in the three fingers of its tail than in its actual hands. It lives high in the treetops, using its tail to swing from branch to branch.]
The entry screen flickered and added a secondary note beneath — the Pokédex's best assessment of its current moves and condition. Kai scanned it quickly.
Normal type. Moves detected: Scratch. Fury Swipes. Sand Attack. Tail Whip. Tickle.
Kai pocketed the device. The grin hadn't moved from Aipom's face. It was watching him right back, head tilted at a jaunty angle, completely at ease.
Okay, Kai thought, running the numbers. No type advantage either way — Normal versus Water is neutral. But Aipom is fast. That's the problem. It's quick, it's got good hands — well, tail, and Fury Swipes is going to add up fast if we let it get close and comfortable.
He looked at Totodile.
Totodile was already staring at Aipom. Not with aggression, not yet. Sizing it up the same way Kai was, taking in the coiled energy in those quick limbs, the way the tail-hand wouldn't stop moving. Its jaw shifted slightly. Reassessing.
"Alright," Kai said. "Let's find out what this Aipom can do."
Suddenly, the Aipom hit the ground running — literally. The moment the boy shouted the first command, it was already in motion, long purple tail arched high, that three-fingered hand flexing as it dropped low and kicked up a sharp spray of dry park dirt across the clearing.
Sand Attack. First move out of the gate.
"Totodile, close your eyes!" Kai snapped.
Too slow. The grit hit Totodile square in the face. It reeled back with a short cry, shaking its head, blinking rapidly against the sting.
Right. I forgot how fast Aipom moves.
"Now — Fury Swipes!" the boy shouted. The confidence in his voice told Kai he'd done this before.
Aipom launched itself forward, tail-hand swinging in a rapid, blurring arc — once, twice, three times, each swipe catching Totodile across the shoulder and chest before it could get its bearings back. Each hit made a sound like a wet slap. Small hits, but stacked. Totodile stumbled sideways, jaw clenched, screwing its watering eyes shut as it tried to clear them.
Okay. It can't see properly, it's already taking damage, and Aipom is faster than I'd clocked it for. Kai's jaw tightened. Don't panic. Work with what we have.
"Totodile — Scary Face!" he called out. "Don't aim. Just do it!"
Totodile didn't need its eyes for that. It spun toward the sound of movement and dropped its jaw wide — rows of teeth on full display, every line of its small body suddenly rigid and aggressive, eyes wild even through the irritation. It let out a sound that was less a cry and more a challenge, low and guttural, something that didn't quite belong to a Pokémon that small.
Aipom skidded to a halt mid-approach.
It wasn't fear exactly — more like a hard, involuntary recalculation. Its movements tightened. Slowed. The loose, playful energy in its limbs got heavier, like someone had turned up the gravity on it just slightly.
Good. Kai exhaled. Speed's the only real advantage it has over us. Close that gap and this battle is ours.
"Water Gun — aim low, sweep it!"
Totodile hauled in a breath and let fly, still blinking against the grit, the stream of water catching the light as it raked across the grass in a wide arc. It wasn't a precise shot. It didn't need to be. The spray caught Aipom's legs as it tried to dodge sideways, the force of it enough to knock its footing loose, and for just a moment Aipom was on one knee in the wet grass, tail whipping furiously to balance itself.
"Yes!" Kai said, sharper than he meant to.
"Aipom, get up — use Tickle!" the boy called, and Aipom recovered fast, faster than Kai liked, darting back inside the reach of another Water Gun that missed before Totodile had enough time to recover. It was close now — too close — and its fingers were moving before Totodile had a chance to do anything about it.
The effect was almost funny if it hadn't been so frustrating to watch. Totodile's defence crumbled. Its whole posture sagged, that aggressive set to its frame dissolving into something loose and uncoordinated, the laughter that bubbled out of it entirely involuntary. It tried to swat Aipom away and only managed a feeble scratch at the air.
"Now, Scratch — go, go, go!"
Aipom's claws raked across Totodile's front once again. Totodile took both hits and stumbled back, the laughter dying abruptly in its throat as the pain cut through it, replaced by something hot and clarifying. Its eyes, finally clearing from the sand, locked onto Aipom.
The grin it gave back wasn't playful anymore.
There it is.
"Totodile," Kai said, voice dropping. Not a shout. Just steady. "Use Rage."
He'd seen it once before — briefly, in the fight against Silver's Nidorino — that thing that happened when Totodile stopped performing and started meaning it. The shift was physical. The small body pulled itself upright, chest out, every muscle locked into something harder than before. The damage it had already taken seemed to settle into it rather than weaken it, like coal being pressed into something denser.
Aipom clocked the change too late.
Totodile came forward hard, no finesse, no angle — just direct and relentless. Aipom's tail-hand swung to counter and Totodile took the hit without flinching, barely breaking stride, its Scratch catching Aipom across the jaw and spinning it sideways.
"Stay with it, Aipom!" the boy urged. "Tail Whip — keep its defence down!"
Aipom's tail connected with Totodile's side and Totodile rocked with the force, but the Rage was feeding itself now, every hit that landed just stoking it higher. The Sheer Force behind its moves was something Kai could actually feel from the edge of the clearing — a heaviness to each impact, like the attacks carried more weight than something that size should be able to throw.
This is the ability working. No secondary effects, pure concentrated damage. In the game, it had been a passive stat. Here, it was a powerhouse of an ability.
"Leer!" Kai called.
Totodile rounded on Aipom, and the look it levelled at it was nothing like the Scary Face from earlier — no theatrics, no exaggeration. Just its eyes, flat and direct and absolutely certain. Aipom's tail dropped slightly. The grin finally slipped.
"Aipom, Sand Attack again — buy us some time!" The boy's voice had an edge to it now.
But Aipom was slower. The Scary Face had done its work earlier, and fatigue was accumulating in those quick little limbs. The dirt it kicked up was a thin spray, half-hearted, and Totodile turned its face away at exactly the right moment, eyes shut.
We watched it do that the first time, Kai realised. Totodile must have remembered.
"Now use Bite. Finish it!" Kai yelled, seeing his chance to end this.
Totodile crossed the gap in three steps. Aipom tried to pull back, got its tail up between them as a barrier — and Totodile's jaws closed on it, not the tail-hand, the tail itself, and when Totodile pulled, Aipom came off its feet entirely, swinging in an arc before Totodile released it.
Aipom hit the grass hard and lay still, chest heaving, the grin gone, one arm trembling with the effort of pushing itself up.
But it couldn't.
"Aipom... Return," the boy said quietly.
The Poké Ball beam took Aipom back, and the clearing went quiet, just birdsong and the distant sound of the fountain. Sandshrew, who had sat through the whole thing with its arms folded and its expression unreadable, finally exhaled through its nose. Kai thought that might've been approving.
Totodile stood in the middle of the grass, sides heaving, jaw still set. The Rage was draining out of it now, and what it left behind was tiredness and something that looked a lot like satisfaction. It looked back at Kai over its shoulder.
"Yeah," Kai said simply. "Good job, Totodile."
The academy kid walked over, Poké Ball clipped back to his belt. Up close, Kai could see the focus in his eyes more clearly.
"That was something," he said. "I've never seen a Totodile battle like that." He paused. "The Rage thing — was that a move, or...?"
"Both," Kai said. "Move, and Totodile's own temperament. You have to know which one is running the show." Kai said, making it sound like he knew what he was talking about more than he actually did.
The boy nodded slowly, chewing on that. He stuck out his hand. "I'm Marcus."
"Kai."
They shook.
"Seriously though," Marcus said, not quite letting go of it yet, "the way you positioned it after the Sand Attack — rotating the face away, not just calling the dodge — that's not basic stuff." He glanced at Totodile, who had wandered over to sit beside Sandshrew with the air of someone who had earned the rest. "Where did you train?"
"Around," Kai said. "The road, mostly."
Marcus considered this. Then he seemed to make a decision.
"You should come by," he said. "The academy — tomorrow morning, they do open training sessions. Bring your Pokémon. There's about six of us who meet up before class, just battle practice, no instructors. Nothing formal." He tilted his head. "I bet you would give my friends a run for their money," Marcus said with a smile on his face.
Kai smiled as he thought it over, knowing it would be a great experience to meet, battle and learn new things from other trainers.
"Yeah," Kai said. "Alright. We'll come."
"Great, meet us back here tomorrow morning, say 7 am sharp?" Marcus then said before he turned and left without another word.
Kai turned to look at his Sandshrew and Totodile before he watched Marcus walk out of the park.
"7 am it is."