My adventure began much like most adventures of Pokemon trainers. It was a sunny day in Mauville City, I heard the taillow chirping outside and cracked open my eyes. I had woken up on my tenth birthday, and was immediately filled with energy, in my clothes, out the door, and off to register my name at the Pokemon center to become an official Pokemon trainer. On my way there however, I could not help but notice a strange sensation in the air. The sky began to darken, and this prickling sensation in the back of my neck gained intensity. As I looked up I saw the cloud of sand descending upon my town. The sandstorm from the north had spread to the point of engulfing my town! I watched in awe as the Pokemon center was swallowed by the colossal cloud of sand. The windows shattered, and I could here the futile yells and attempts to communicate the words: "Get down! Cover your eyes and protect your Pokemon!" Nurse Joy was brave in the face of this disaster. I ran for shelter in the walls of the Pokemon center, and hid behind the counter where Pokemon are usually dropped off. The sandstorm was fierce. I then heard a very distinct booming noise, which was unmistakably the sound of the Mauville City Gym Leader Wattson. He sent out his Manectric with a monumental bellow and ordered a Shockwave from his faithful partner. Shockwave however, seemed to have no effect. That's when, from the corner of my eye, I spotted a streak in the flurry of sand. In a rush of adrenaline and impulse, I rushed towards where I saw the shape flash in the storm. After a few minutes of being barraged by sand in every direction. I caught sight of the little shape once more. It was a Larvitar, so small and vulnerable, yet causing so much destruction with a simple sandstorm. I had never seen a larvitar outside of pictures before, and was intrigued by it. I approached the Larvitar and managed to emit a "Why are you hurting these people, Larvitar?!" It turned and looked me in the eyes, and never before had I seen a more frightened and desperate looking creature. I trudged through the sand struggling with every step trying to reach the little Pokemon. I finally managed to get close enough that it was in an attacking posture. I told it not to worry, and that I would do my best to help him, but he had to calm down and stop the sandstorm. The little Larvitar seemed to relax its stance, and slowly the sandstorm subsided. A quick look around told me what had happened to Wattson and his Manectric, they had been forced to take shelter in the Pokemon center where I had previously hidden. Nurse Joy was crouched over a shuddering gang of multiple baby Torchic, Treeko, and Mudkip. I simply looked at her and said, I will take this one if you don't mind. She looked at me with wide eyes that were imploring me to reconsider, but simply forced her head to nod its approval, seeing that no matter how strongly her eyes implored, there was no changing my mind. Larvitar looked up at me, and tears in its eyes walked up to my right foot and grabbed the loosely hanging shoelaces clutching to me as a frightened baby would its mother. I never found out what had driven little Larvitar into such a frenzied panic, that caused it to bring a sandstorm all the way to the center of Mauville, but upon asking many Professors, and Ruin Maniacs, I discovered that it may have something to do with the large and oddly shaped rock at the southernmost end of the desert. I am grateful to whatever it was though, because it was the start of a journey that Larvitar (now Tyranitar) and I would share for many years to come.

My new partner Larvitar and I helped repair the wreckage caused by his frenzy the previous day. Using rocks that Larvitar had smashed with its head, the Pokemon Center was slowly rebuilt in a cobblestone fashion. When the debris had been cleared and everything was rebuilt, Larvitar expressed its deepest apologies to Nurse Joy by helping her clean and set up the new center (without any prompting from me I might add). Larvitar I soon discovered was very afraid of the interior of Pokeballs, and refused to stay in one, much preferring holding on to my leg as i walked, or when i was biking, staying inside of my backpack. Unfortunately on that particular day, I was unsure where to go in my journey, I did not share the same virtues of those who live in Littleroot Town, due to the fact that Mauville City is in the dead center of Hoenn, and there is no natural progression for travel throughout the Hoenn League. Sitting on the beach looking over the river that led to the east, and towards Fortree. Larvitar nuzzled my shin and looked up at me again, I pondered how something so small and innocent could be so intimidatingly powerful. As it looked at me, I knew that we had a long journey ahead of us, and that if we were going to share it together, we may as well share it from the starting line forward, and so I decided we would make our way to Rustboro City, and give Larvitar the chance to grow and challenge this league with me the way it should be done, from start to finish. However, this meant that our real first stop would be Slateport, to get a boat and means of travel to Rustboro, to challenge Roxanne. I got on my bike, had Larvitar crawl in the main pocket of my backpack, and made sure that I had everything I needed to start my journey, and finally we were on our way down the path under the cycling road. I noticed that wherever we went there seemed to be someone giving us a double take and staring in befuddlement at Larvitar, who was smiling chanting and with its head popped out of my backpack. I realized on further thought something that had never even occurred to me before, Larvitar are only supposed to be found in the Johto region! I stopped and held up Larvitar in the air, looking upon it with a new feeling of appreciation, but also a distinct twinge of wonder, and amazement. "Larvi!, Tar! Tar!" it chanted waving its arms in a happy show of affection, I nuzzled it close and realized the significance of our meeting for the first time. Suddenly in the grass beside us, the sound of something shuffling in the grass broke our moment of emotional symbiosis, and I immediately got in a ready stance. Larvitar followed suit, getting in a pose to take on any threats. I felt a layer of sand starting to rise to the air, as Larvitar's intensity rose. Finally a flash of green sprang out of the grass, and I reacted, ordering Larvitar to perform a tackle, suddenly the sand seemed to erupt into the air, as Larvitar quickly tackled the mystery shape, I saw it recoil and prepare a counterattack, but I could not make out what was happening as well as I hoped in the sand. I yelled out to Larvitar, "Use Crunch!" and could make out the silhouette of Larvitar dashing behind his opponent, and chomping down on its back, leaving it motionless. The sandstorm started to dissipate, and what I saw was Larvitar standing over a olive green colored Trapinch... I was completely taken aback, I had seen plenty of Trapinch before on my walks up towards the desert, but never had I ever seen one that was any shade of green, After a couple of moments the little creature moved and managed to send a glare in my general direction, I saw a fire and passion in its beady black eyes I had never seen before, or even knew that such tiny eyes could portray such a confidence, I then immediately knew what my next move was, i reached to my belt and pulled out a pokeball, hurling it at this new acquaintance. Larvitar and I stood motionless as the suspense of the ball rocking back and forth gripped us, finally, the moving had stopped, and I had realized that i had just caught my first Pokemon! I was overcome with a sense of joy as I picked up the Pokeball, and was warmed at the thought of a new companion. I called Trapinch out, and used one of my very limited supply of potions on it, it seemed to perk up, and then jumped away, standing low, and wary of both me and Larvitar, I approached it again, and let it know that it was in no danger. I reached out to stroke it, and was shocked at the smooth texture of its hard skin. Trapinch turned to try to take a bite at my hand, and nicked my thumb, drawing a small amount of blood, however, I let it keep its grip on my skin, refusing to recoil. Trapinch's jaws softened, It looked at my red and stinging hand, and licked it sympathetically. This was the second Pokemon now, that seemed to have been driven away from its desert habitat farther north in the desert, and I realized that something was disturbing the balance there...

As I drew nearer to Slateport on my bicycle, Larvitar seemed to be getting restless and was emitting low pitched rumbles from my backpack. I promised him that we would reach the city soon, and that once there, I would get him straight to the pokemon center, so he could get all spruced up. I was worried for Trapinch who was still relatively injured from his encounter with Larvitar earlier. Finally we reached Slateport, and you could see the ocean all the way from the northern end of the city. The pokemon center was to the right, and i dropped off Trapinch and Larvitar there, and took the time to tour the city and restock on supplies. I saw a gathering of trainers down at the beach, and looked in interest as a young girl was yelling into a megaphone, "Cash Reward for the winner of this years Beach Battles Tournament!" my eyes lit up and I signed my name with my two pokemon entries (I got a weird look from the admissions booth for only signing in two pokemon). I knew this was the perfect chance to further hone and test the skills of my two companions. I rushed back to the pokemon center, gathered my pokemon together, and raced them down to the beach, Larvitar was struggling to hang on to my shin as I ran. when we reached the beach and looked at the tournament roster, we saw that we had a couple of moments to watch the competition, as we were battling in the second heat. I sat and let out Trapinch, who looked warily at Larvitar, and crawled up to perch on my left shoulder, Larvitar saw this as an attempt to establish pecking order, and perched himself on the opposite shoulder, not letting Larvitar one-up him. we sat and watched as the opponents let out their pokemon, and slowly i realized, almost ALL of the pokemon in this contest were water-type, that's why they gave me a weird look, not because i had only two pokemon, but because they were both susceptible to water attacks. However, my confidence was unwavered, I had full faith in my pokemon to succeed, even against stacked odds. Before it had felt as if much time had passed, suddenly it was the second heat, and our turn to battle. We walked into the drawn lines in the sand, and readied ourselves for the opponent. He had turned out to be a sailor, by the name of Daniel, and his first pokemon was a Wingull. I had come prepared for this, "Larvitar, get out there!" Larvitar leaped to the ring, and got in an attacking posture, the beach started to come alive as the sand around Larvitars feet, rose to the air, and swirled around both himself and the Wingull. Startled looks came from the audience, as i ha not yet ordered an attack from Larvitar, but still the sand was swirling and ravaging the senses. I yelled out "Larvitar use Stone Edge!" Suddenly the large clumps of sand in the air seemed to gather and solidify, becoming rocks that rushed towards the Wingull shaped shadow deep in the sand. A cry was emitted, and Larvitars seemed to loosen his tense flexing, and grunting. The sand did not entirely clear, but the Wingull became visible as it lay on the ground. Daniel looked rather peeved at the seemingly effortless win over his pokemon that had a rather severe type advantage. next up was Trapinch, against the opponents Machoke. I yelled out a quick "Sand Tomb!" and the sand around Machoke began to sink and then rise up behind him, encasing his limbs in hardened sand, the sand brought Machoke down to it's knees, as if they were pulling him or trying to swallow him into the earth. my eyes were as big as dinner plates, I had never seen such a powerful and quickly executed sand tomb before, it was intriguing and frightening all at once. When the sand had finally brought Machoke face down, flat on his stomach, I ordered Trapinch to dig, Trapinch dived into the sand as if it were water, and next thing I knew, he was across the ring, ten feet in the air, with Machoke propelled even higher above him. Trapinch landed on all of its legs, completely unscathed as Machoke crashed to the ground in a heap behind him. I was in awe, how was it that i was finding so many unusually powerful pokemon? complaining was not the answer, and I walked to the center of the ring, to wish Daniel luck in his future endeavors, and to tell him not to be too disheartened as I shook his hand. being the victor, I was to continue battling, and awaited the next opponent.