"Flame Burst!"

"Bulldoze!" The large, bulky, goat-like Pokémon charged at full speed, lining its curved horns up with its foe. Its opponent was a small ghostly candle who made no movement or attempt to avoid the rampaging goat. Instead, it gave a small smirk and opened its tiny mouth before spitting five blue spurts of fire that littered the field. With far too many obstacles to evade, the reckless goat tripped over its own red hooves before rolling into one of the roaring flames.

"Nice job Litwick." Alex Murphy grinned, giving his Pokémon a thumbs up. Alex was a seventeen year old boy, aspiring to be the greatest Pokémon trainer ever. This ridiculous ambition was made to seem possible by the school he went to, New Moon Academy, the most prestigious school in all of Sinnoh. It had produced more top level professional battlers than any other and from his first year at the academy, Alex had a good feeling that he'd be the next great trainer to emerge. He was unbeaten and on top of that, in the summer he'd even foiled the plan of the evil Darkness Warriors, taking down a huge, legendary Giratina in the process.

"Keep fighting Gogoat, I know you can do it!" His opponent urged. The boy he stood opposite from was his best friend Ryan Leonard, or Lenny as everyone called him. He was shorter than most and had some major confidence issues, mostly due to his father. Alex had never met the man but apparently he was a former World Champion who had always been harsh on Lenny for not living up to the standards he had set.

"Still going?" Alex grinned. "That's the kind of spirit I like to see!" Alex gave his friend his signature cheeky smile as their eyes locked for a moment, both filled with determination. Alex brushed his messy, chocolate brown hair into its usual small quiff, out the way of his equally brown eyes to get a better look at Lenny. Over the summer, he'd gotten a tan, making his clear skin appear almost golden which really brought out the colour of his sapphire blue eyes, underneath his well kept, short, wavy black hair.

"We don't give up so easily now." Lenny shook his head. "Not after this whole summer of training." His words were very true. The two teenagers had spent almost the entire summer together, training in Alex's back garden, doing everything in their power to disturb his nosy neighbours. Lenny had become a much better battler as he had gradually grown more in tune with his Pokémon, learning their strengths, weaknesses and battle styles. Now, the friends were almost matched in battle.

"You've improved a lot, that's for sure." Alex agreed. "But so have we. Will-O-Wisp!" Without much warning, the battle kicked back into gear with Litwick spitting four blue fireballs at its foe. Caught off guard, Gogoat was completely unable to avoid the oncoming attack as it sustained a serious burn.

"Leech Seed!" Lenny retaliated quickly. Before the holidays, it would've taken a long time for him to react to the situation but this was no longer the case. Alex had no time to celebrate his minor victory as Gogoat gave an irritated bleat before several seeds shot out from the grassy pelt on its back. The seeds surrounded Litwick and opened up revealing vines that ensnared the candle, restricting its movement and sapping its energy. Now both Pokémon were racking up a lot of damage with each passing second. The difference was, the strength that Litwick lost from Leech Seed was then gained by Gogoat. Lenny had the upper hand.

"Alright buddy, it's time. Use Inferno!"

"Finish it off with Bulldoze!" Not wanting the battle to go on any longer, both trainers went for their riskiest attacks. Litwick spun, creating an immense blaze all around it that burned the vines trapping it to a crisp. Meanwhile, Gogoat took aim and charged for the firestorm with no hesitation. It was actually a clever move from Lenny. He knew that Litwick had trouble maintaining its strongest attack and if it did eventually falter, Bulldoze would knock out Alex's Pokémon and win him the battle.

"Litwick, no!" Alex cried as the ghost became dizzy and fell sideways, crashing down onto the floor. It seemed like the battle was all over but fortunately for Alex, Litwick had fallen in the exact direction of Gogoat and with one final burst of energy, it sent a stream of fire at its foe that made direct contact.

"Gogoat!" Lenny cried as his Pokémon was engulfed in blue flames.

"Would you boys like some orange squash?" The two friends turned to see Alex's smiling mother, holding out a tray with two glasses of cold orange squash.

"In a minute Mum!" Alex groaned. As lovely as his mother was, she could be incredibly embarrassing. She still hadn't stopped bragging to her friends that her son had won an award for Special Services to the school and yet she still couldn't correctly pronounce Giratina.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed when she actually looked at the scene. "Honey, stop blowing up the garden!"

"Sorry Mrs Murphy." Lenny said sheepishly. The flames soon died away, possibly because of the cross look on Alex's Mum's face, leaving a fainted Gogoat on the floor and a victorious Litwick.

"Yes!" Alex yelled. Just as Litwick turned to smile at him, something amazing happened. The little candle became cloaked in an all too familiar glow, filling the garden with a mysterious blue light. Alex had been waiting a long time for this to happen. When the eerie light died away, a completely new Pokémon was left were Litwick once was. It looked like a black street lamp floating in the air with long curved black strips that acted as arms. A flickering bluish purple flame was contained in the lamp and the Pokémon wore an expressionless face of only two blank yellow eyes. Litwick had finally evolved into a Lampent.

"Honestly, what will your father say?" Alex's Mum gestured towards the garden, or rather what was left of it. He hadn't noticed until now but the place had been almost completely destroyed.

"He'd probably say something like... why didn't you destroy more of the neighbours garden?" Alex grinned. His Mum shook her head and muttered something to herself as she walked back into the house. Hopefully, there wouldn't be time for any sort of punishment. After all, he was going back to New Moon Academy the next day and then he'd be gone for another year. Oddly enough, he was looking forward to going back to school. Sure, the lessons were boring but there was always some excitement around on New Moon Island and with Alex's team now looking stronger than ever with its latest addition he knew he'd be ready for whatever challenge came his way.

Just a little introduction to some characters and previous events in case you're new here. Just a note that even though it's summer, I'm actually pretty busy right now so uploads might be kind of infrequent.