So this was the Pokemon Center.

Stepping into the tall white and red building through sliding doors, I was greeted at the front desk by a very attractive woman, with the pinkest hair I'd ever seen in my life, whom I instantly recognized as Nurse Joy.

And to think that I would be running into a whole bunch of them during my journey. I was not looking forward to that.

"Hello and welcome to the Pokemon Center. How may I assist you today?" Nurse Joy asked with a kind smile. Her greeting reminded me of all the times I would enter the Pokemon Center when playing the games.

At least now she was attractive to look at instead of a blob of head on the screen.

"My Pokemon need to be healed." Taking out Chimchar, Elekid, Croagunk, and Starly's Pokeballs from my belt, I handed them over to Nurse Joy.

They needed their health restored after our battle with Ash. Only Elekid and Croagunk didn't really need it since I had managed to defeat two of Ash's Pokemon during the match with just Starly and Chimchar, thus automatically making me the winner. Still, I wasn't going to be like Paul and carry on with training my Pokemon while they still had injuries sustained from their previous battles.

"I will let you know when your Pokemon are fully healed," Nurse Joy said, placing my Pokeballs on a tray and handing them over to Chansey.

Might as well make that call to Paul's brother while I was waiting.

Heading over to the phone booths, I stopped in front of them, wondering if I was making the right decision. It was going to happen anyways, whether I wanted it to or not.

Here goes nothing.

As if by instinct or memory, I dialed in Reggie's number and waited for him to answer.

As to why I was calling Paul's brother, it was related to one of my initial worries when I first discovered my predicament.

It goes without saying that I am not really Paul. Our personalities were completely different when it came to treating Pokemon, and if he acted anything like how the show portrayed him, one would easily see the shift in personality that occurred literally overnight, like Paul's Elekid and Chimchar were no doubt noticing. It was only shown in small scenes how Paul acted towards his Pokemon, and I knew how his training methods worked.

Though Paul rarely interacted with his brother during the show, it seemed like Reggie knew what his brother was like and took care of all of his Pokemon that he kept in his reserves.

I don't want to think about what would happen if anyone concluded and proved that I was not the same Paul that was born into this world, so I'm nipping that problem in the bud.

Reggie soon answered the call and his face appeared on the screen. If only these phones were voice only and didn't show my face, it would make things so much easier for me.

Stay in character, stay in character, I told myself. "Reggie, I'm sending one of my Pokemon over to you. I won't need them for the Oreburgh Gym."

If I remembered correctly, unlike Ash, Paul constantly rotated his team around when they suited him, so might as well start the conversation off with that before things got serious.

"What Pokemon did you catch this time that caught your interest?"

So far so good. Reggie hasn't noticed anything yet.

"A Starly and a Croagunk. I will be using Croagunk alongside Elekid and Chimchar for my Oreburgh Gym match."

"They must be strong if you decided to keep them."

And rare, I added to myself, knowing that I was one of the few trainers in this world to own a shiny Starly.

Time to see if this works. Please let Reggie believe me.

If anyone would be able to call out my bullshit, it was Reggie and I hoped that would never happen.

"There is something else. It's about Chimchar."

Please let this work, please let this work, I prayed in my mind.

Reggie raised an eyebrow. "What is it? It's rare for you to show concern for your Pokemon."

You have no idea, Reggie.

"My current training methods are not working for Chimchar. I haven't been able to produce the power Chimchar unleashed the day we met."

Reggie seemed surprise by my acknowledged failure for Chimchar. "What do you plan to do about that?"

If it was the old Paul, he no doubt would have released Chimchar for its weakness, but that was not me. I knew how strong Chimchar would become and had no intention of letting that power fall into someone else's hands. Looking at you, Ash.

"I've been thinking about what Brandon said. I want to get stronger, together with Chimchar and all of my Pokemon. Right now I am not compatible with Chimchar, but I know that Chimchar has the potential to become one of my strongest Pokemon."

"What brought about this sudden change? It can't just be because of Chimchar's potential, because you and I both know that the only thing you care about is a Pokemon's strength."

And this was where Ash came in.

"I met a trainer recently who has a Pikachu that can use Volt Tackle. He reminds me a lot about you. His Pikachu was strong and it made me realize that Chimchar, given the time, could also reach that potential. Chimchar, however, will be the only exception. I still will continue to catch other Pokemon that are powerful in my eyes."

I was expecting quite a number of things at this point: Reggie could always call bullshit, demanding what had happened to his real brother, as he would not be fooled by such a ruse and accuse me of body snatching, or whatever the term was. Not only that, but Paul's Pokemon would also be able to realize that something was up with their trainer, including his Torterra.

To my surprise, Reggie smiled. "Well it's a start at least. Hopefully you will be able to care for more of your Pokemon like you do with Chimchar."

"Don't think that I will be able to change that easily, Reggie."

"This trainer must have been something if he was able to influence you."

Not really, but Reggie didn't need to know that.

"I will send my Starly over to you once my Pokemon are fully healed."

"I will be waiting here to receive it."

And with that, their conversation came to an end and I could finally relax.

Well at least that was over and done with.

But damn was that tiring. Who knew that using Chimchar and Ash would work to convince Reggie about my sudden change of heart?

At least it all went off without a hitch. For now anyways.

No doubt that Reggie was wondering what was going on with his brother, but was pleased with the fact that his brother was starting to learn to care for his Pokemon.

That was probably what Reggie was looking forward to when he had learned about Paul's rivalry with Ash. The day when his brother started to learn to care for his Pokemon instead of treating them as tools for battle.

Once my Pokemon had been fully healed and I had sent Starly over to Reggie, I headed over to the PC's in the Pokemon Center to check out what kinds of Pokemon Paul had in his reserves.

Unlike in the games, the PC required Paul's Pokedex to log in to check his storage.

They were definitely a lot more advanced than the ones in the games. Not to mention that there were a whole bunch of PC's in the Pokemon Center compared to just the one that was next to the healing station. Of course that was probably because there were many more Pokemon Trainers out in the world compared to in the games.

Checking Paul's Pokemon, I was not at all surprised to see his Torterra at the top of the list. It was also no surprise to me that Paul had very few Pokemon in his reserves due to his selective team creation, with his Pokemon consisting of those he deems to be powerful.

During his travels through the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn regions, Paul had caught fewer Pokemon than Ash had during his travels. It was no wonder that Paul was unable to win any of the League Conferences he had participated in.

That must have been why Paul's Torterra had been his strongest compared to the rest of his Pokemon.

Continuing down the list, I spotted Paul's Murkrow, Weavile, Magmar, Hariyama, Nidoking, Gastradon, Froslass, and Ninjask that Paul had acquired during his travels.

If I remembered correctly, Paul's Murkrow was really strong, forcing two of Ash's Pokemon to evolve during their battles.

As for Magmar, Paul probably kept it in his reserves while he focused on Chimchar, hoping that Chimchar would become one of his strongest fire-type Pokemon. Magmar would come in handy when I needed Chimchar to rest and could use it for a backup during future battles. It would also evolve into a very powerful Magmortar that Paul would use in his first full battle against Ash.

As for the rest of Paul's Pokemon, I doubted they would see much use in my future battles.

Weavile wasn't that great of a Pokemon and I would need to find a replacement for it to use in the Sinnoh League. That wouldn't be so difficult considering that I wouldn't have to deal with any distractions along my journey.

Compared to Ash who always got distracted and went out of his way to help others, I had no intention of doing that.

Companions would only slow me down. It was better for me if I traveled on my own, like in the games and what Paul did.

It was probably why Ash never got any stronger than he did, always getting distracted by his companions, never focusing on training his Pokemon as much as he should have, and not understanding the basics of Pokemon battles.

Not to mention all of the Pokemon Ash encountered along the way that he could have caught instead of befriending. He could have had a larger pool of Pokemon to choose from instead of just using Pokemon he had caught in the region he was traveling in.

As for Paul, he missed out on a whole bunch of strong Pokemon he could have caught along the way due to Ash's antics.

Sure I had no intention of stalking Ash and his friends just to use their luck against them for catching Pokemon, but it would certainly pay off in the long run for the Sinnoh League.

That of course didn't mean that I planned to befriend them. It was all for the sake of becoming the strongest.

With the problem with Reggie out of the way, I could now put all of my focus on my Pokemon journey.

Guess being a kid again let me get away with certain things as I had learned with Reggie. Reggie probably thought that his brother was finally growing up and learning the errors of his way.

Not like that would ever happen.

Like Paul, I still planned to catch the strongest Pokemon that I could find and train them, but Chimchar would require a different method of training.

I had the patience unlike Paul and when I was done with Chimchar, he would be even stronger than he was under Ash's care in the show.

Closing out of the PC screen, I got up and headed out of the room, satisfied with what I had learned about the Pokemon Paul currently had on him.

Nurse Joy bowed her head as I took my leave. "Thank you for stopping by. We hope to see you again."

Checking the map, I found out that my next destination was Jubilife City, but close by was Bewilder Forest, where Paul caught his Ursaring and had a rematch with Ash.

Looks like that was where I was heading next.

"Chimchar use Flame Wheel, Elekid counter with Thunder, and Croagunk use Brick Break!"

"Chim-char/Ele-kid/Croa!"

All three of my Pokemon launched consecutive attacks at each other. Chimchar slammed into Croagunk's fist while Elekid shocked both of them. I kept myself calm while I watched Chimchar and Croagunk cry out in pain from the attack.

We were currently near what I hoped was Bewilder Forest, training for our upcoming gym battle at Oreburgh City. Fighting-types and ground-type moves would be super effective against Roark, who used rock-type Pokemon. Not to mention that Roark would probably not expect me to use these three Pokemon, as he no doubt trained his Pokemon to combat against water-types.

Though Roark's Pokemon would also be effective against mine, it was a risk that I was willing to take.

This wasn't like in the games where I could spam super effective moves against my opponent's Pokemon. Not to mention that my Pokemon didn't have a health bar by their names when they battled. It also didn't help that non-effective moves could sometimes knock out a Pokemon that wouldn't be able to do much damage to it in the first place.

Hopefully all three of my Pokemon would be able to help each other out in their first gym battle.

"Chimchar use Dig! Croagunk, Elekid, counter with Brick Break!"

"Chimchar!"

While Chimchar burrowed itself underground, Elekid and Croagunk waited for the right moment to strike. The ground behind Elekid began to crack open and Chimchar emerged from the hole, only to be struck to the side by Elekid's punch.

"Chimchar, counter with Flame Wheel. Elekid, take the attack."

"Chimchar/Ele-kid!"

Unleashing a powerful flame that cloaked Chimchar's body, he spun straight at Elekid and slammed into him, burning Elekid in the process.

"Croagunk use Brick Break on Elekid. Elekid, counter with Protect!"

Chimchar leaped out of the way as Croagunk flew over Elekid, his fist glowing as he swung it down on his target. Elekid threw his arms to the side, creating a shield around him that blocked the attack.

"Chimchar use Ember on both of them!"

A fury of flame bursts launched from Chimchar's mouth, smashing straight into Elekid and Croagunk, sending them crashing into the ground.

The battle with Roark was going to be a lot more intense than this and they needed to be ready for whatever the gym leader had in store for them.

"Elekid, Croagunk, use Brick Break on Chimchar. Chimchar, counter with Flame Wheel!"

Engulfing himself once more in flames, Chimchar charged forward while Elekid and Croagunk lunged at their new target, fists glowing before swinging them down on Chimchar.

All three of them were engulfed in smoke from the explosion caused upon impact from their attacks.

Once the dust had settled, all three of them looked to be worn out from their training.

"That's enough for now. We'll continue on later once we've eaten and rested."

"Char/Ele-kid?"

Both Chimchar and Elekid were surprised when I approached them and knelt down in front of them. It was obvious from their reactions that Paul never took the time to bond with any of them after training, letting them eat for a little bit before resuming training.

"You've earned it. You three will need all the rest you can get for our first gym battle."

I patted Chimchar's head, showing as much affection to the little guy as I could.

These guys were my responsibility now, whether I wanted it to be or not, and we were going to get stronger together.

After all, that was what a Pokemon journey was all about, right?

Not my best chapter so far, but this was more or less meant as a confrontation between SI-Paul and Reggie. I will admit it wasn't that great of a confrontation and I didn't really like how it went. Hopefully you guys didn't mind it that much and will continue on reading and enjoying it, and like I said before, this is supposed to be a fun project for me while I try to get my muse back for my other story, so don't take it too seriously.

Now for the reviews:

kalmaegi: Same here, and Starly won't be the only shiny Pokemon SI-Paul catches. Hopefully SI-Paul's confrontation with Reggie was bearable enough, but for me, I didn't enjoy writing that scene and wanted to get it over and done with.

frankieu: Hopefully this chapter answers all of your questions.

kbanders96: Not sure about Persian, as I don't have any plans for SI-Paul catching one.

Toa Solaric: Hopefully the confrontation isn't too disappointing. As for mocking the others, I might have a few scenes for that if he's around for any of those moments.

KidChaos69: Maybe, as for a traveling companion, he will not have one.

SI-Paul's Pokemon Team: (On hand)

Chimchar (M) Ability: Blaze. Moves: Ember, Flame Wheel, Scratch, Dig

Elekid (M) Ability: Static. Moves: Thunder, Protect, Brick Break, Thunder Punch

Croagunk (M) Ability: Anticipation. Moves: Poison Jab, Poison Sting, Brick Break