Stats and Training

"Chaaar!","Rioooo!" 

*Baam* 

In a small clearing on route 1 connecting Pallet City with Viridian City two Pokemon a Riolu and Charmander are in the middle of a friendly spar. 

Dodging one Ember after the other with Agility Riolu seems relatively carefree yet in reality he is only putting on an act in order to provoke Charmander into leaving an opening. 

Charmander on the other hand is continually prepping one Ember after the other, slowly getting more and more tired and frustrated at not hitting his mark even once. 

Finally, after misfiring three more Embers Charmander fails in his preparation of the next attack, seeing his chance to end this spar in one decisive strike Riolu executes a Quick Attack dashing in Charmanders direction. After coming near enough Riolu stops his Quick Attack turning 180° with his tail glowing attacking with a point-blank Iron Tail. 

"Stop!" 

Mere inches away from Charmanders face, Riolus tail stops advancing and loses its glow. 

"Good job, both of you. Alright Riolu, I don't think I have to say much about you." 

"Rio!" 

"Charmander you, we will have to work on both expanding your move set and general fighting strategy." 

"..char.." 

A meek voice is all Lukas gets in response as a clearly dispirited Charmander flops down on its butt, trying to catch his breath. 

*sigh* "Don't take it so hard buddy, although you were the strongest back in your breeding center the squabbles among baby Pokemon can't compare to real Pokemon fights, but every Pokemon has to learn one day that unless you're Arceus, you can't be born the strongest." 

"char char." 

"I know how to cheer you up, how´bout I show you a recording of Riolus first spar against my moms Weavile after we make camp tonight." 

"RIOLU!" 

Hearing its dark history being mentioned Riolu who was until now quietly listening and nodding perfectly playing the role of a senior gave a startled cry. 

"Haha, I'm kidding, didn't I promise you to delete it back then, there is no way I still have that recording." 

While Riolu was suspiciously going through his PokeNav checking to make sure he kept his promise, Lukas crouched down in front of Charmander activating his MentalDex(thats how he calls the Pokedex like ability he got). 

'Let's see' 

___________________ 

Species: Charmander 

Gender: Male 

Age: 1+ 

Type: Fire 

Rank: Iron(mid) 

Abilities: Blaze, White Smoke 

Traits: Strong Blood(fire). 

Affinities: Fire 

Bond: Lukas Emerald(new). 

Stats:(Iron) 

Vitality(HP): Mid 

Strength(Attack): Mid 

Constitution(Defense): Mid 

Agility(Speed): Mid 

Energy Strength(Special Attack): High 

Energy Constitution(Special Defense): High 

Moves: 

Learning: none 

Initial: none 

Novice: 

Scratch, Growl, Smokescreen 

Beginner: 

Ember, Dragon Breath, Dragon Tail(egg) 

Rank-up req.: ??? 

Evolution req.: (mid)Bronze-Rank, Bond(weak). 

___________________ 

So, where to start. 

First of all species, gender, age, and type are self-explanatory. Rank shows the current main and sub-rank the Pokemon is in, the sub-rank is determined by the average rank of a Pokemons stats rounding up in case of a tie, for example a Pokemon with three (low) and three (mid) stats would be of the (mid) sub-rank. 

Abilities here differ in that every Pokemon below Diamond-Rank can have up to 2 abilities. 

Traits are very versatile in that they included many things like, Type variation, Mutations, individual talents, titles, and even blessings from Legendaries. Charmanders Strong Blood(fire), descends from a strong direct ancestor a maximum of three generations away, in his case that ancestor had to have been a Fire-Type Pokemon(most probably a Charizard) of the Diamond-Rank. If he had an ancestor of Master-Rank, for example, Strong Blood(fire) would have transformed into Pure Blood(fire). As it stands, this trait boosts all of Charmanders Fire-Type moves by 10%. 

Affinities shows how proficient a Pokemon is in a specific Types energy. All Affinities boost attacks of their respective Type(STAB). Pokemon always get the Affinity for their Type, that means Charmander will automatically get the Flight Affinity upon evolving into Charizard. 

Bond shows the connection between trainer and Pokemon. Although showing no significant or special effects in its lower stages, a strong Bond can later be a requirement for Evolution, Rank advancement, or even things like Mega-Evolutions. 

Stats like in the games are divided into 6, unlike the games tho stats can only increase through 2 ways, Physical/Move training and battles. The process of increasing a Pokemons stats can be accelerated by using consumable Items, both natural and artificial(drugs). As previously mentioned, a Pokemons sub-rank is determined by its stats, with increasing a stat becoming increasingly difficult. 

Moves are just the moves a Pokémon currently knows. As mastery of moves increases, it ups damage and cast time of the respective move while also reducing stamina cost or even recoil for moves like Double-Edge. 

Finally, the 2 types of requirements for rank increase and evolution, respectively. This might be the most important part of Lukas ability since while the req. for evolution are generally the same for a species, the req. for rank increase is different from Pokemon to Pokemon, with them usually getting a vague and instinctive feeling as to what the req. are. Lukas on the other hand will never have to waste time finding out what the req. for his Pokemon will be since, as long as they reach the req. sub-rank necessary for a breakthrough which is (high), he can always just look it up. 

Following this summary is another detailed prescription showing some of Charmanders quirks, likes, dislikes and as he wanted the most efficient way to train and improve his stats and moves. 

"Alright, while you rest I'll tell you how you will train from now on, you got that?" 

"Char" 

The next 5 days traveling Lukas spent with mostly only three things, walking, training Riolu and Charmander and battling wild Pokemon with both of them alternating between each other. 

"Riooolu" 

On the 6th day, while preparing lunch for his training Pokemon Lukas has his attention drawn to his cheering Riolu. Riolu didn't even need to say anything because Lukas, having gotten used to Riolu's aura over the last four months they spent together, could immediately tell what Riolu was so excited about. Still, that didn't stop him from double-checking. 

___________________ 

Species: Riolu 

Gender: Male 

Age: 2+ 

Type: Fighting 

Rank: Iron(high)->Iron(peak) 

Abilities: Inner Focus 

Traits: Pure Blood(fighting), Budding Aura 

Affinities: Fighting, Aura(weak) 

Bond: Lukas Emerald(weak) 

Stats:(Iron) 

Vitality: High 

Strength: Peak 

Constitution: Peak 

Agility: High->Peak 

E.Strength: High 

E.Constitution: High 

Moves: 

Learning: Aura Sphere 

Initial: 

Fire Punch, Ice Punch 

Novice: 

Sword Dance, Thunder Punch, Protect, Screech 

Beginner: 

Agility, Quick Attack, Iron Tail, Bite(egg) 

Intermediate: 

Brick Break 

Rank-up req.: Intermediate Fight-Type move, defeat 50 opponents with a Fight-Type move (Completed) 

Evolution req.: Bond(Strong), Intermediate Fight-Type move, (high)Bronze-Rank 

___________________ 

Riolus possess the next tier of Charmanders Strong Blood, namely Pure Blood which in his case adds a +20% damage multiplier to Fighting-Type moves. His other trait Budding Aura increases Riolus talent with Aura and is also indirectly responsible for Riolus (weak)Aura affinity. Besides that there is the Bond of Lukas and Riolu that increased just 1 month ago from new to weak and his stats that are obviously higher than Charmanders. That only leaves his two requirements, among which the Rank-up req. is already completed yet Riolu is still of the Iron Rank, there of course is a reason Riolu is not breaking through to the next major Rank. 

Actually there are two reasons why Lukas ordered Riolu to delay his breakthrough, the first is that Lukas already planned the beginning of his journey for weeks now, so he knows that in a few days there will be a Rookie-Trainer battle contest in Viridian City which is on his way to Viridian Forest. While he would still be considered a Rookie-Trainer as long as he doesn't catch another Pokemon and renews his ID, Bronze-Rank and above Pokemon are forbidden from participation in most small scale Rookie events. 

The second and arguably more important reason is that breaking through when all stats reach (peak) is the most beneficial and optimal moment for advancement.