4 Chapter POV Mav 

Well I am Mav. From my crib I could watch another kid my age crawling and bulbing his head, at that time I was still laying in my crib or barely crawling about. I was jealous so I started moving my limbs more consciously. A few months later I can crawl like him but he could already walk. Another few months and I was able to stand and waggle around a bit. I fell plenty to the ground while getting the hang of walking.

When I was 4 years old I was happy to see the kid in my class. I went to him and challenged him to a race around the school. He beat me but I am not far behind. We got each other's names, his being Vailein mine being Mav. The next playtime he is reading and talking about all known Pokemon. He wants to be the best Pokemon trainer there is whatever that may be. I just want to be strong and smart to live an easy life.

My parents are poor, we live in a small house with little space. We have none of the creatures that sometimes zap past the windows in Vaileins house. Vailein always has a well filled lunchbox which he shares with me. He also gives me pouches filled with powder. When I show my parents the pouches they suggest I drink it every morning with a big glass of water. A single pouch has the nutrition to go sporting for 4 hours without needing anything else except water.

Seeing Vailein care for me this well I cry tears of happiness. As a result Vailein and I push each other even further during the day. Our running speed increases and our strength is also higher compared to the other children.

It's not just working out though we also learn together. Not like I have much of a choice though. If he is done with a book he gives it to me to borrow. I learn what it means to become a Pokemon trainer. At first we will be a financial burden but in a little while we will be able to bring food to the table by doing tasks.

In each neighborhood there is a task center they distribute tasks to anyone who has Pokemon.

The task levels are as following:

1-star level: Rookie trainers who just got a Pokemon.

2-star level: beginner trainers, those who traveled and trained their Pokemon out of a baby phase into rookies.

3-star level: intermediate trainer, with at least 1 advanced Pokemon and 2 rookie Pokemon.

4-star level: advanced trainer,those with at least 3 advanced Pokemon or 1 pseudo-king Pokemon.

5-star level: professional trainers, those with at least 1 pseudo-king and 3 advanced Pokemon.

Higher star levels are always personal quests directed to trainers themselves after reaching professional trainer levels or higher.

Each star also represents a money award for a completed task. So I start looking forward to becoming a Pokemon trainer. With the help of Vailein I slowly gain more knowledge about balancing a team of Pokemon. You can also specialize in a type but that means you also have a definite weakness. I learn about first, second and third evolution. To earn myself some coin to pass the first month after my Pokemon egg hatched I did chores for my neighbors. I don't earn a lot but I think after saving up for a year I can last the time that they only cost money.

On my 5th birthday I can finally go to a warehouse to get my Pokemon egg. Once there I hear the workers complain that a ranger had to go and die before he picked up his Torchic egg. After playing the innocent kid (that I am) the workers sold me the egg. The first egg is free, but a rarer egg always costs a fee to reserve. I did neither but I did have to pay 40 bucks for administration or something? I donno.

Happy I walk home only to see my parents in despair at the extra costs it will be to feed the Pokemon. Once I give them the money that I earned till now they calm down a bit but tell me that that is barely enough for a week's worth of food.

A month later my Torchic hatches and Vailein is looking at the Torchic with a gaping mouth. I see his Houndour and I like his looks, feeding our Pokemon is another chore that the teachers help us with. Why must it be so difficult?

Just like with my own training that is practically stolen from Vailein, Torchic copies the training of Houndour for his fire abilities. His fighting abilities are trained together as best as we can. My father guides us, apparently he did some Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA for short, as a kid.

Seeing the progress my Torchic makes we decide to go to the task center and take our first task. Torchic at this time is only 2 weeks old. We take a task that asks us to kill 20 caterpillar Pokemon in the park.

We go to the park and notice that there are plenty caterpillar like Pokemon here. We take 2 hours to slay 20 of them but it gives me the shivers. Especially how Torchic seems to want to eat the corpses. Wait, Torchic has just killed its own food? Maybe this can relieve more burden to our household. We bring the corpses as proof for task completion. I gain 50 bucks as a reward. With 50 bucks and 20 caterpillar Pokemon corpses we move home. Once home I ask my parents to help me prepare the caterpillar Pokemon as food for Torchic. That evening each of us has meat on our plates.

Each day we will go and do a task and at the same time hunt our food. On my way to school the next day I encounter a Rattata. Torchic tries to capture it but the Rattata is already gone before we get close.