Chapter 5: The First Battle: Goku vs. Vegeta

Just as Professor Rowan instructed, Goku, Vegeta, and their respective starter Pokémon anticipatingly ran toward Route 202. This area, otherwise known as Sandgem Beach, was a small shoreline of sparkling white-sand that connected the land with Route 220's presiding sea. Large rock formations were also placed next to mountainous regions and the ever-encompassing array of green trees located nearby. Rowan, Roseanne, Dawn, and Barry closely followed after the two Saiyans with varying opinions. While Dawn and Barry were increasingly interested in witnessing a full-fledged Pokémon battle between them, Roseanne and Rowan had a more research-based approach to this observation in mind. After all, it wasn't any other day that interdimensional travelers accidentally drop in and decide to use Pokémon for the first time.

Goku and his new Chimchar practically moved in sync with one another, observing the surrounding area in curious, child-like delight. Vegeta, however, just displayed his typical scowl and silently perused this semi-tropical portion of Sandgem Town. His Piplup nervously twitched about, shaking like a petrified leaf while sweat trickled down his spherical head.

"Stop shivering, bird!" Vegeta grunted disapprovingly with folded arms. "Fear and cowardice won't get you anywhere, especially when we're facing a versatile opponent like Kakarot over there."

Piplup suddenly froze in place, bowing his head apologetically with a downcast expression. Huffing in disappointment, Vegeta rolled his eyes in waiting for this so-called "battle" to start. Dawn glared at Vegeta's disrespectful attitude in instinctive disgust.

"Talking down to the poor thing won't get you any further either, Vegeta. You're acting as if Piplup's opponent is Goku himself." Dawn remarked, sympathetically peering downward at the nervous penguin. Her own Piplup tried to comfort him once again, but to no further avail. Vegeta's starter simply wouldn't dare move a single muscle.

"Like there's a difference. That fire monkey may be fighting, but it'll still be Kakarot telling it what to do regardless. In that sense, Kakarot and I are battling one another through these… things." Vegeta scoffed, directly gesturing to the four Pokémon with a dismissive wave of his hand. Barry furrowed his eyebrows while Turtwig attempted to do the same.

"They're called Pokémon, Vegeta. It's not that difficult of a word to say." Barry corrected the irate prince's purposeful mistake. Vegeta just spared Barry a searing glance of annoyance.

"Don't patronize me, kid. I simply refuse to say something so ridiculous." Vegeta spat distastefully. He personally couldn't tell which was a worse name to have: Pokémon or Piplup. To him, both seemed equally embarrassing and childish by his standards.

"But, didn't you call Piplup one back in the lab?" Goku questioningly reminded his fellow Saiyan. Vegeta, inwardly cursing Goku for remembering such a small detail, sighed heavily.

"Shut up, Kakarot." Vegeta grumbled angrily. He bitterly stamped over to the opposite side of Sandgem Beach with a prominent grimace. His Piplup fell straight into the sand in a desperate attempt to catch up.

"Pip…" Piplup quietly whined, spitting out small pieces of sand from his yellow beak. Professor Rowan darted his eyes from the distressed Piplup to Vegeta for a moment before lightly coughing.

"Ahem. While you are indeed correct in that assumption, Vegeta, the rules of Pokémon battling are a bit more complex than that." Professor Rowan wisely informed with a slight stroke of his beard. Goku directed his full, undivided attention to the elderly researcher while Vegeta denounced Rowan's statement.

"Please. What could be so complex about two animals beating each other up until one is defeated? It sounds like mere child's play to me." Vegeta proclaimed grumbly. Roseanne shook her head at this while Rowan grinned in amusement.

"Quite a number of things, actually. Just activate your Pokédex and I'll show you." Professor Rowan pointed out in a calm, knowing tone. With that, Goku, Vegeta, Dawn, and Barry decided to play along with Rowan's probable explanation. They collectively popped open their devices' screens and pressed the "on" button.

"Now, scroll down and select the entries for your starter Pokémon." Rowan advised with a gesture toward the Pokédex's gray D-pad. The four did as instructed and selected the individual categories pertaining to all three Sinnoh starters. Alongside the previously uttered description, nature, and abilities, there were now six subsections aligned in an even list. There was also, to Goku and Vegeta's interest, a separate page with four named "skills" of sorts.

"Hm I didn't see these before. What are they, Professor?" Goku asked whilst gently stroking his chin. Chimchar peeked over his shoulder, wondrously fascinated by the handheld device's smaller depiction of him.

"Those, Goku, are your Pokémon's base stats. Based on how a Pokémon is trained, each one will progressively increase in terms of HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. However, certain Pokémon excel in specific stats over others, regardless of type." Rowan thoroughly explained the significance of all six rectangular bars. Goku gazed down at the screen, somewhat taking note of the small number 5 placed next to Chimchar's written name.

"Huh, that's cool I guess. Can the Pokédex really keep track of all that math stuff?" Goku replied in semi-understanding. He scratched his head with a disgruntled look of confusion and bewilderment. Barry and Dawn gave each other a funny look in response to this admittedly childish term of phrase.

"Math stuff?" Roseanne muttered to herself, also quite a bit taken aback by Goku's simpleminded thought process. In contrast, Rowan chuckled at Goku's ever-present naivety.

"O-Of course, my boy. As a Pokémon figuratively "levels up" after each battle, your Pokédex will automatically calculate these changes when activated. This includes external factors like inherited natures and vitamins that are usually purchasable at any town's local Poké Mart." Sinnoh head researcher further elaborated on how Pokémon gain calculable experience via combat with one another.

"Wow. Pokémon really are more complicated than they seem." Goku stated with a puzzled face. He looked down at his Chimchar with an even greater sense of excitement to see what it could do on the actual battlefield.

"You mentioned that these natures contribute to stat progression. Care to elaborate on that?" Vegeta questioned upfront, recalling the so-called 'Quiet' nature his Piplup was reported to have had.

"I actually want to know that for myself too, Professor. Along with going through the usage of moves and abilities if you don't mind." Dawn politely contributed to the conversation. Rowan brushed aside her worries with a kind, fatherly smile.

"Not at all, Dawn. Natures signify the personality traits of a Pokémon in and outside of battle. Depending on the type of nature, multiple stats will be increased, decreased, or stay exactly the same. In the case of your Piplup, due to being shy and nervous, he will have increased Special Attack, but a slight regression in Speed." Rowan explained informingly. At the mention of an increased stat, Vegeta glanced downward at the Water-type currently quivering in fear with mild interest.

"Special Attack, huh? Is that… good?" Vegeta inquired hesitantly, uncertain of the difference between Special Attack and normal Attack. Roseanne fixed her glasses and decided to answer in Rowan's place.

"Yes actually. High Special Attack will definitely prove useful when he becomes a fully grown Empoleon one of these days." Roseanne replied in admiration of Piplup's untapped potential. She then caught sight of Piplup clinging onto Vegeta's boot for dear life while said Saiyan, as usual, displayed no sense of care whatsoever.

"Well, if your Piplup even survives long enough to reach that point…" Roseanne joked with an indifferent brush of her green locks. Vegeta squinted his eyes in minor irritation, profusely glaring at the assistant researcher for what she just said.

"What was that, woman?" Vegeta grunted threateningly. Roseanne folded her arms and glared at him.

"I don't need to repeat myself." Roseanne whispered with a challenging smirk etched on her face. Grumbling, Vegeta rolled his eyes and turned to look back at Rowan.

"As for Chimchar, a Brave nature will give him an above average Attack stat and, like Piplup, decreased Speed. Dawn's Piplup, on the other hand, shall most likely flourish in terms of Special Defense, but falter Speed wise as well. Barry's Turtwig will show the opposite with raised Speed and lowered Special Defense. That's all based on my best assumption, though. Natures are fairly difficult to predict for fledgling Pokémon like these four. For all we know, they could eventually change upon evolving." Rowan summarized the other three's natures and what was effected by them. Barry squatted down to look at his Turtwig face-to-face, deeply analyzing every part of the grassy turtle with focused intent.

"A faster than normal Turtwig, huh?" Barry pondered to himself in distracted wonder. He began to picture himself riding atop Turtwig's shell as it ran almost 50 mph across all of Sinnoh. At the prospect of such a ludicrous scene, Barry sniggered gleefully.

"Oh yeah. I could definitely be on board with that." Barry mused anticipatedly with a mischievous gleam in his orange irises. He then rubbed his hands together while Turtwig, Dawn, and her Piplup blankly stared at him.

"I don't like that look on your face…" Dawn sighed. Barry quirked a brow, lightly stroking Turtwig's shell as he looked up at her.

"What look? This is just my face when I'm excited." Barry blandly exclaimed, pointing a single finger at his own expression for emphasis.

"My point exactly. Nothing good ever comes out of that." Dawn remarked with a wry smile.

"And it's never good to overexaggerate either, Dawn. Name one time when me being excited about something has caused any sort of problem!" Barry assertively defended himself. Dawn placed both hands on her hips with an indignant frown.

"The Glameow Incident." Dawn reminded her friend with a monotonous deadpan. Barry opened his mouth to refute the cause of this supposed event, but abruptly caught himself mid-sentence.

"Oh… that…" Barry trailed off in vivid remembrance of the not-too-distant past. "I still think that was Zoey's fault."

"She wasn't even there!" Dawn cried out in stunned disbelief. She then huffed and waited for Professor Rowan to speak once more. Goku, Vegeta, Rowan, and Roseanne silently studied the two would-be trainers' little "argument" with unanimous incertitude.

"What was that about?" Goku thought it appropriate to ask.

"Nothing to be concerned about. We argue all the time, so having short tangents like this one is pretty common." Barry revealed honestly with a careless shrug. Dawn, her mood practically taking a sudden 180, motioned for Professor Rowan to move on.

"Yeah. Carry on when you're ready, Professor." Dawn chirped encouragingly with a somewhat forced smile. Rowan, not objecting to this request, crossed both arms behind his back and turned over to the Saiyan duo.

"Well… erm… with that out of the way, I'd rather showcase moves and abilities with a more physical demonstration. It helps make things go by a bit faster." Rowan announced in a momentary stammer. By "physical demonstration", Goku immediately knew what the old man was referring to.

"Does that mean…" Goku said, his smile growing progressively wider with each uttered syllable. Rowan simply nodded once in confirmation.

"Yes, Goku. You and Vegeta can start your battle now." Rowan amusedly affirmed with a small thumbs up. Goku's eyes collectively widened in child-prone excitement.

"Really?! Great! Let's get ready, Chimchar!" Goku whooped, eager to directly experience a battle between two Pokémon for the first time. Chimchar cheered just as much, his fiery tail conjunctively shooting out more orangish red flames.

"Char Char!" Chimchar happily cried, running after Goku with the symbiotic use of all four limbs. Goku and his starter stood at one end of Sandgem Beach while Vegeta shuffled over to its opposite side.

"Hmph. Took long enough." Vegeta grunted impatiently. He then parted Piplup from his pantleg and roughly plopped it down on the sand.

"Pip?" Piplup squeaked, tilting his spherical head to examine Vegeta's complete figure.

"You'll do as I say without question, bird. I expect you to beat Kakarot's monkey, so any sort of mistake is unacceptable. Understand?" Vegeta threateningly commanded with a darkened glare. Piplup stiffened and nodded in a sporadic, repetitious motion.

"P-piplup Pip!" Piplup murmured in a silent, hoarse voice. With that, Chimchar and Piplup positioned themselves in front of one another on the beach, patiently waiting for their battle to officially begin.

"Before we can start, I'll briefly explain the basic format of a traditional Pokémon battle. Each of you will need to instruct Chimchar and Piplup on what to do in combat. Aside from planned out strategies and evasive maneuvers, this typically boggles down to their respective move pools. Simply activate your Pokédex to find out what those lists specifically entail." Rowan lectured, positioning himself in the center of this makeshift battle arena. The two outworlders perused their individual Pokédex models and selected the entries for each starter. To their surprise, as Rowan said, two named attacks were placed underneath Chimchar and Piplup's profile models.

"Scratch and Leer, hm?" Goku mused to himself, taking notice of five subsections that both "moves" possessed: Type, Category, Attack, Accuracy, and PP. He had absolutely no clue what PP stood for, but there were two big numbers placed under it that most likely held some sort of significant purpose.

"Pound… and Growl? What… what in the hell is that going to do?!" Vegeta shouted in comical anger. If this was all Piplup had to work with, he was unquestionably doomed from the very start.

"Remember, these are starter Pokémon, Vegeta. Through gaining experience in a battle such as this, they should be able to acquire more viable moves sometime soon." Rowan attempted to ease Vegeta's visible frustration with sound logic.

"For now, you'll need to take advantage of what Chimchar and Piplup currently possess. Both of them should have two Normal-type moves at the moment. One will be a physical attack that deals 40 damage (either Scratch and Pound as you two have already read) while the other will be a status move. Status moves can lower and heighten the stats depending on how they're used. For example, Leer sharply lowers defense while Growl sharply lowers attack. They're slightly different, but have equal viability against an opponent." Professor Rowan divulged the similar, yet different aspects of Chimchar and Piplup's movesets. Better understanding the concept behind a Pokémon's moves and how they're used, Goku gratefully nodded in appreciation.

"I think we get the gist of it, Professor. Thanks for telling us." Goku acknowledged Professor Rowan's additional help with a kind smile.

"No thanks are necessary, Goku. It's my job to help you two become more accustomed to this world, after all." Professor Rowan humbly declined Goku's polite sense of gratitude. Vegeta, on the other hand, shared no such comment.

"Roseanne will be your referee for this battle. I'll be on the sidelines with Dawn and Barry, so if you need to find out anything else, just ask." Rowan stated, switching positions with his green-haired trainee. He then walked over to another portion of Sandgem Beach, evenly aligning himself with the two residents of Twinleaf Town as promised.

"Alright then. Will do, Professor!" Goku replied with his own complementary thumbs up. He then narrowed his eyes, staring at Vegeta with a competitive smirk.

"Ready for this, Vegeta?" Goku asked his long-time rival. Vegeta scoffed, cockily sneering in a similar manner.

"Tsk. Do you even have to ask? I'm always prepared for a chance to beat you, Kakarot." Vegeta proudly uttered, pointing his finger at Goku with the utmost confidence in his own resolve.

"That's good. Then I expect you and Piplup to not hold back. Right, Chimchar?" Goku commented with a firmly clenched fist to emphasize his sheer anticipation.

"Chim!" Chimchar lightly roared in agreement. Both Saiyans and their Pokémon then remained silent, waiting for Roseanne to officially sound them off.

"This will be a 1v1 match, guys. Since you don't have a full team of 6 quite yet, the first Pokémon to be knocked unconscious automatically loses the match. Is that clear?" Roseanne specified the exact method from which this battle would be won.

"Yep!" Goku said to show he was on the same page.

"Just get on with it already." Vegeta rudely snapped with a slight tilt of his head.

"Humph. Fine then. Prepare to get started on the count of three: 3… 2… 1…" Roseanne slowly counted down with her fingers.

"Kick Veggie's butt for me, Goku!" Barry loudly shouted, encouraging Goku to put the irate prince in his place. Dawn nudged Barry's side with her elbow in order to shut him up.

"Barry!" Dawn reprimanded Barry for his foolhardy insult.

"What? We were all thinking it!" Barry sheepishly pointed out whilst massaging the sizable bruise Dawn just gave him.

"…Battle!" Roseanne powerfully yelled, swiping her arm down as a visual signal for Vegeta and Goku's battle to finally begin. In case anything freakishly destructive appeared during this battle, Roseanne took a few cautious steps back just to be safe.

Up above, Mesprit materialized into thin air once again. Its yellow eyes were practically glued to Goku and his Chimchar's forms, acutely interested to see how a powerful specimen such as him would perform in battle.

"Mesmes!" Mesprit giggled delightedly, clapping its gray nubs as an attempt at cheering Goku on from the sidelines. Making sure it wasn't seen, said Emotion Pokémon made itself invisible using psionic energy. This coated its entire body in a blue, translucent hue that couldn't easily be seen by the naked eye.

Goku, not entirely aware of the Psychic-type pixie's presence, decided to make the first move. He skimmed over Chimchar's currently sparse list of moves and ultimately chose the one that would inflict physical damage upon Piplup.

"Ok. Let's go with… Scratch, Chimchar!" Goku ordered the fiery chimp. Following his trainer's first instruction, Chimchar retracted small white claws from his fingertips. Each one then sported a vibrant white glow and slightly grew bigger in terms of length, accentuating their user's fierce intent. Said Fire-type bared his fangs and speedily charged the opposing Piplup in quick succession.

"P-pippip Plup!" Piplup screamed in anguish, not knowing what to do as a response towards Chimchar's fast approaching attack. Seeing that the small penguin left himself wide open, Vegeta immediately took charge.

"Dodge, you moronic bird! Do it now!" Vegeta shouted angrily with clenched teeth. Snapped out of his currently fear-stricken daze, Piplup shut both eyes and frantically backflipped away from Chimchar's strengthened swipe.

"Char!" Chimchar cried, fully outstretching his palm to enhance the accuracy of Scratch's effect. The enflamed primate performed a downward slash, managing to graze Piplup's right wing before he could successfully dodge.

"Pip!" The wounded Penguin Pokémon winced in minor pain. He stumbled back a few feet away, delicately clutching one blue wing with the other. As Piplup breathed small, shallow breathes, a displeased Vegeta checked the starter's Pokédex entry. Piplup's topmost HP stat, visibly indicated by a green rectangular bar, was now half-full in response to the damage accumulated by Chimchar's Scratch attack.

"Damn. This won't do." Vegeta cursed in annoyance. He lifted up Piplup's Poké Ball, tightly clutching it in an attempt to quell his inner fury.

"Yeah. Great start, Chimchar!" Goku complimented with a pumped fist. Chimchar sheepishly chuckled in thanks, flexing his thin biceps to emphasize the previously showcased power of Scratch.

"Most impressive. Goku's Chimchar is already showing signs of admirable strength. And at Level 5, no less." Professor Rowan noticed the prodigious might of Chimchar's first attack. The fact that Chimchar followed Goku's orders without any sign of reluctance was also quite an astounding sight to behold. Piplup seemed to be the same way in that regard, even with the presence of Vegeta's outward hostility.

"I just hope Piplup's okay. That Scratch move didn't look too pleasant." Dawn expressed her concerns for Piplup's safety. Her own Piplup seemed to agree with this sentiment, sympathetically eyeing the fellow Water-type's injured appendage.

"Pip…" The female Piplup sadly murmured. Dawn, noticing her companion's anguish, crouched down to stroke its head.

"There's no need to be concerned, Dawn. Pokémon, no matter the species, are able to endure much more than us humans. The worst that can happen to Piplup is being fainted; just like how it is in any other Pokémon battle." Professor Rowan assured with a comforting clasp of her shoulder. Dawn faintly nodded in understanding , picking up Piplup, so she was safely nestled in her arms.

"I know that, but still… seeing a Pokémon in any type of pain just rubs me the wrong way." Dawn stated while tightening her grip on Piplup's stout body. Barry playfully bumped his fist on Dawn's shoulder as a sign of comfort.

"Lighten up, Dawn! This battle will be over soon anyways. Goku and Chimchar practically have this in the bag!" Barry chuckled, already waiting for the moment where he could rub this impending loss in Vegeta's face.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Barry. Goku and Vegeta are obviously equals in terms of fighting prowess and overall skill. Let's see how he decides to counterattack on his own turn." Professor Rowan reminded Barry of Goku and Vegeta's implied status as rivals in their own universe.

"Oh sure. Like ol' Veggie there has any chance of coming back after this." Barry doubtfully rebutted, slumping down onto the sand with Turtwig in his lap.

On the actual battlefield, Vegeta carefully thought over the options he had left. The proud prince figured that brute strength was going to cut it for Piplup as he is now, so witling down Chimchar's own power would probably work best. Luckily, Piplup had a move equipped for said situation.

"Use Growl!" Vegeta bellowed authoritatively. Determinedly ignoring the pain, Piplup stood his ground and took a deep breath.

"PIIIIIIIP!" Piplup shouted, producing a loud soundwave that distorted the air around him and everyone else. Chimchar flinched, cupping both ears in a desperate attempt to ease Growl's high audibility. On Goku's Pokédex, a blue arrow pointing south materialized next to Chimchar's Attack stat.

"Huh, what do you know? Guess Growl really does lower Attack." Goku said with a shrug. Professor Rowan deadpanned at this care-free comment.

"Did he think I was lying?" Professor Rowan inwardly asked.

"Looks like I'll just have to make sure Vegeta doesn't get a chance to use Growl again. Scratch from the side, Chimchar!" Goku requested a second time. Chimchar, now on all fours, sprinted along Sandgem Beach's shoreline in order to incapacitate Piplup with a surprise attack. Better anticipating this move, the aquatic starter prepared to defend himself.

"Dodge properly this time." Vegeta ordered with a composite wave of his hand. Piplup narrowed his eyes, managing to completely somersault away from Chimchar at the last second. Chimchar, unable to stop his forward momentum, slashed away multiple grains of sand upon impact.

"Good. He's wide open. Now, it's time for the real battle to start." Vegeta thought, smirking at the prospect of improving Piplup's battle performance even further. He unlocked his ki, causing a white aura to spontaneously erupt all around him. He then transmitted some of his energy over to the small penguin mid-evasion.

"Pip…?" Piplup cheeped nervously. Unbeknownst to the others, an aura similar to Vegeta's enveloped the Pokémon's young, avian form. Momentarily startled, Piplup glanced at his trainer for some sort of explanation.

"Here's your chance, bird. Use… can't believe I'm saying this… Pound!" Vegeta begrudgingly stated. Piplup headed his trainer's word and raised one of his flippers. Similar to Scratch, it was wholly encompassed by a white light post activation. However, due to the mystical properties of Vegeta's ki, the fiery aura surrounding Piplup both became more lively and glowed just as bright.

"Pippip PLUP!" Piplup squawked with a faint echo to his voice. Before Chimchar in any sudden movement, the Water-type used to Pound to smack Chimchar straight across the face. Surprisingly, this move, unlike Chimchar's earlier display of Scratch, was indefinitely powerful enough to send the aforementioned monkey flying straight into a sea of trees.

"C-chimchaaaaaar!" Chimchar shrieked in a daze of horror and pain. He uncontrollably smashed through tree after tree, piercing them clean in half at monumental speeds. Hordes of possibly over a hundred Starly and Staravia flew away in reactionary fear, saving themselves from damage that their unfortunate nests already faced.

""HOLY CRAP!"" Dawn and Barry shrieked in incredulous disbelief. Their eyes practically popped out of their sockets just looking at the absolute mayhem Piplup's seemingly harmless Pound managed to cause. High velocity winds were also produced from Chimchar's unprecedented launch, almost knocking a distracted Roseanne off her feet.

"Gyaaah!" Roseanne squealed girlishly while trying her best not to fall over.

"W-What on Earth?" Professor Rowan gaped in astonishment.

"Chimchar! Are you okay, buddy?" A dumbfounded Goku asked in concern. He checked Chimchar's current status on his Pokédex, noticing that its health bar quickly transitioned from green to yellow.

"Ch…chim…" Chimchar groaned sorely, struggling to pick himself up amongst the shrapnel of torn woodland. The chimp was covered head to toe in small bruises and scratches, the evidently largest of which was produced from Piplup's prior attack.

Realizing that Vegeta shared some of his ki with Piplup without permission, Goku angrily looked at his long-time rival in disappointment.

"Come on, Vegeta! That's not fair and you know it!" Goku childishly protested Vegeta's actions.

"What, Kakarot? No one said we couldn't use our ki to give these weaklings a much needed boost. Besides, it makes this little battle far more interesting." Vegeta logically pointed out with a defiant shrug of his shoulders. Dawn gestured to the gigantic crevice of shredded trees with widened gray eyes.

"Did you really have to destroy everything in sight to do that?!" Dawn erratically questioned Vegeta about his choice to activate ki in such a compact area like Sandgem Beach.

"Yes. And it's not my fault that fire monkey couldn't properly take the hit." Vegeta rebutted with little care. Dawn gave Vegeta the stink eye before haughtily upturning her nose.

"Fine." Goku partially accepted the validity of Vegeta's justification. "If you want to play it that way, Vegeta, then…"

Goku revealed his own aura and lent some energy to Chimchar. This caused the Pokémon to immediately regain his composure and lost stamina in a matter of seconds.

"Chim!" Chimchar cried triumphantly, now equal in strength compared to his opponent. He leaped out of the rubble, landing nearly face-to-face with Piplup. The two Pokémon glared at each other with the utmost conviction, causing their newly acquired auras to skyrocket.

"…let's shake things up a bit." Goku whispered fiercely with a reciprocated crack of his knuckles. His ki rose in tandem with his Pokémon's, figuratively appearing as if they were battling as one single being.

"Hmph. With pleasure." Vegeta confidently proclaimed with a small smirk. The two Saiyan warriors stood in place, waiting for the ample moment to resume their fated Pokémon battle.

"Scratch!" Goku shouted.

"Pound!" Vegeta profusely demanded.

After both moves were sounded off, Chimchar and Piplup speedily rocketed towards the other without a moment's notice. The fearsome power of ki exponentially increased the two starters' stats by tenfold, rendering their movements quite invisible to anyone in close proximity. Chimchar scratched at Piplup in all four cardinal directions, changing the length and weight of each attack according to said penguin's quick maneuverability. Piplup, as a defense mechanism, proceeded to skip from side-to-side, back-to-front, or up-and-down based on where Chimchar's claws were aimed. As his own offensive tactic, Piplup slashed both glowing flippers like broadswords in an attempt to make further contact with Chimchar's previously bruised face. Goku, trying to get Chimchar out of this small pinch, thought it best to utilize his remaining move.

"Use Leer, Chimchar!" Goku instructed. Failing to land Scratch a final time, Chimchar got into Piplup's personal space and contorted his simian face in pure rage. The Chimp Pokémon's pupils glowed a dark, piercing red hue that caused Piplup to freeze in an almost trance like state of uneasiness.

"P-piplup Pip!" Piplup stammered, temporarily reverting back to a state of unfocused nervousness. The little penguin's body shivered, cold sweat leaking down the side of his head just looking at Chimchar's face for too long.

"Don't be scared of him! Fight back with Growl!" Vegeta irritably instructed his starter. Unfortunately, all that Piplup could seem to muster was a forced chirp.

"Pipppp…pip?" Piplup faltered in his own daze of confusion. With this attempt at Growl considered a failure, Piplup's defenses were left wide open as planned.

"Now's your chance, Chimchar! Go in for another Scratch!" Goku helpfully suggested with a direct point at Piplup. Chimchar nodded, managing to phase out of existence and directly appear above Piplup's head.

"Char!" Chimchar dangerously growled. Imbued with pure, refined ki, his claws smacked against the back of Piplup's head and, as a result, sent him careening face-first into the sandy floor. A towering implosion of sand and rock shot upward in direct response.

"This is insane! Chimchar was fast enough to literally disappear in a split second! Is this really… all because of Goku's ki?!" Dawn gasped in amazement of Chimchar's new skills.

"I know. It's… a lot to take in, honestly." Barry nervously laughed whilst stroking the back of his blonde locks. In contrast to his scatterbrained trainer, Turtwig's attention was fervently glued to the purveying battlefield.

"Indeed. They've managed to be in near-perfect sync with their Pokémon in only a matter of minutes. They truly are astounding boys, aren't they?" Professor Rowan pondered with growing intrigue of Goku and Vegeta's origins.

"Yeah." Dawn wistfully muttered, her eyes keenly focused on both Vegeta and Goku from that point onward.

"Well, it's also astounding how much destruction they might cause if this battle continues to go on." Roseanne bitterly stated, praying to Arceus that she wouldn't need to help pay for repairs out of her own pocket.

Vegeta and Goku both checked over their Pokédexes. At this point, Chimchar and Piplup were at low yellow HP after those most recent skirmishes. It obviously wouldn't be long until this battle came to a decisive end, so the Saiyans needed a way to gain the upper hand somehow.

Covered in sand, Piplup hesitantly plopped himself back up from where he was buried. Shaking himself of excess minerals like a wet dog, Piplup then faced Chimchar with a more exhausted, groggy demeanor. Chimchar, coincidently, seemed to be experiencing similar fatigue due to his injuries.

"Chim… char…" Chimchar weakly breathed out as he held a hand over his knee. His tuft of orange hair drooped ever so slightly whilst resting in place.

"Piplup… pip…" Piplup whimpered with a half-way hunched over back. Their auras became less evidently pronounced, fading away as any temporary power-up would in time.

"Weird. It looks like lower-leveled Pokémon can't handle the excess stress and pressure caused by ki usage." Goku attentively inferred from Chimchar's body language. Seeing that Chimchar's health bar was falling 1 point after the other, he narrowed his eyes in preparation to land one last attack.

"There's not much time left. If I want to win against Kakarot, I'll need to end this right here and now. That damned bird better not mess it up." Vegeta seriously presumed with ground teeth. Remembering that Chimchar's attack was lowered before, he tentatively hoped that Piplup's slightly higher Attack would work out in his favor.

"This is the coup de grâce, Kakarot. It'd be a shame if your little ape faltered at the last second." Vegeta chuckled impulsively with a determined point at Goku. Goku smiled, crossing his arms in acceptance of Vegeta's boastful challenge.

"Same goes for you and Piplup, Vegeta. Let's make this final gambit a big one, alright?" Goku requested excitedly.

"Feh. Who do you take me for, Kakarot?" Vegeta replied in a playful scoff. Dawn darted her eyes from Vegeta and Goku, sensing their heightened adrenaline and indomitable fighting spirit.

"Is it just me or are those two taking this waaaay too seriously?" Dawn whispered over to Barry in amusement. The mention of such an extreme term like 'coup de grâce' proved that sentiment to be true in a way.

"Does it matter?! This is probably the coolest Pokémon battle I've seen in forever! Reminds me of one of my dad's battles, honestly." Barry commended pleasurably.

"Tur Tur!" Turtwig agreed with a wide, goofy grin.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far…" Dawn eased Barry's hype, knowing full well that Barry's father, Palmer, was on a whole other level of Pokémon battling efficiency. Her own dad was somewhat similar in that regard, but she honestly couldn't say for certain after how much time has passed.

With their HP meters at red, Chimchar and Piplup, to their trainer's equal surprise, gained another sudden boost in power. Chimchar's white aura of ki metamorphosized into a reddish orange fire and grew considerably larger in terms of size. The flame on its tail additionally became more pronounced, spewing out small embers that converted Sandgem Beach's sand into minute shards of glass. Piplup experienced nearly the same changes with a light blue aura of condensed liquid. His eyes glowed a startling blue as well.

"Woah. What's going on, Professor?!" Goku shouted in astounded awe.

"It looks as though Chimchar and Piplup have activated their signature abilities." Professor Rowan responded with a fervent grin, already expecting such an occurrence to take place. Goku smacked a fist on his palm in remembrance.

"Oh yeah. That's Blaze and… um… Turnip?" Goku dimly asked with an oblivious expression.

"Torrent, Goku, but close enough. When any starter Pokémon gets weakened in battle, they defensively activate a special ability that strengthens the power of moves imperative of their respective typing and, in rarer circumstances, themselves. In this case, Fire-types like Chimchar have Blaze, Water-types get Torrent, and Grass-types obtain Overgrow. However, some starters have a chance of acquiring Hidden Abilities that buff other aspects regardless of type. Dawn's Piplup is such an example with her unique ability, Defiant." Rowan thought it best to explain the mechanisms intuitive of a Pokémon's abilities.

"Really? Guess I made the right choice then, huh, Piplup?" Dawn asked with a warm smile.

"Pip!" Piplup sassily puffed out of her chest in pride. Dawn giggled at her starter's confident attitude.

"Okay that's good to know. Blaze will definitely make this finishing move even more effective!" Goku expressed his gratitude for Blaze's last second activation. He then looked Chimchar straight in the eye, giving said monkey an encouraging thumbs up.

"Alright, Chimchar. With all the strength you have left, use Scratch one last time!" Goku shared his last command with a swift gesture directed toward Piplup.

"Counter that with Pound again… ergh… Pip-plup? And make it count this time!" Vegeta retorted back, reluctantly saying Piplup's name for the first time as a morale boost.

"Chim… CHAAAAAR!" Chimchar screamed into the heavens. His eyes glowed a vacant blood red as he prepared to go in for the "kill". As his fiery aura billowed like a deployed signal flare, Chimchar's claws were additionally concealed by razor-sharp pillars of white-hot flame.

"Pipipip… PLUUUUUP!" Piplup fiercely charged forward like a speeding cannonball. Torrent's hydraulic energy lengthened the sharpness of Piplup's Pound attack, creating a dangerous blade of light blue aura in its place.

"CHAAAAR!" Chimchar roared monstrously, pouncing at Piplup with his clawed hand already wound up.

"PIPPP!" Piplup squawked in battle-hardened anger, preparing to use Pound like an unsheathed blade.

Once the two fully delivered their attacks, Rowan already knew something monumentally dangerous was going to take place.

"Shoot! Take cover, everyone!" The elderly researcher warned. He, Dawn, and Barry immediately ducked for cover in a state of panic, leaving Roseanne behind to her own devices as this battle's supposed referee.

"Eeeeee! I didn't sign up for thi—" Roseanne frightfully shrieked while unceremoniously nose-diving toward the sand.

BOOOOOOM! The combination of Chimchar and Piplup's ki-enhanced attacks resulted in a ginormous implosion of epic proportions. Being a perfect mix of water and fire, hundreds upon thousands of sand particles were practically sent into atmospheric orbit. Some appeared to be either damp or broken pieces of glass depending on the specific move they were affected by in that moment. The resulting explosion was so massive that highspeed winds smacked against the ever-so-observant Mesprit as it blissfully floated above.

"Messsssss!" Mesprit cried in shock, almost losing complete control of its telepathic abilities. To keep its distance away from this makeshift "warzone", Mesprit quickly teleported to another portion of Sandgem Beach's skyline.

Within the black smokestack of this elemental bomb, Goku and Vegeta attempted to see where their starters were. They could both sense each Pokémon's ki signatures, but said presences were faint and unnaturally calmer than before.

"Are we dead?" Barry mumbled as he poked his head out of the sand.

"I think you just answered your own question." Dawn replied offhandedly with slanted eyes.

Surrounding wind currents blew away the excess smoke to reveal a massive, immeasurably deep crater in the very center of Sandgem Beach. Inside, Chimchar and Piplup stood distractedly frozen in place. While the Fire-type had his hand scratching against Piplup's face, said Penguin Pokémon managed to jab his sword-like flipper straight into Chimchar's stomach.

"Chiii…" Chimchar croaked as traces of saliva was spat out of his mouth. Pound appeared to go far deeper than previously expected.

"P-pip… plu—" Piplup winced at the aching pain caused by Chimchar's Scratch.

The opposite starters then parted their respective appendages from each other's bodies before simultaneously collapsing onto the floor. Their eyes, once sparkling with life and vitality, were now small black swirls.

"Chimchar!" Goku called concernedly. He hopped into the hole and gently attended to Chimchar's unconscious form.

"Harrumph." Vegeta grumbled, speedily jumping into the crater to check on his own Pokémon.

"I-is it over?" Roseanne nervously asked as she turned her head in all directions. She then spotted the crater created by Chimchar and Piplup, causing her brown eyes to considerably widen.

"Sweet Arceus…" Roseanne whispered in amazement. She cautiously tiptoed over to the side, trying to see if were Chimchar and Piplup were still alive after that. Thankfully, Roseanne took notice of the fact that both starters were only fainted, a factor which reminded her that she was considered the referee for this match.

"Oh! Um… b-both Chimchar and Piplup are unable to battle. This battle is a tie!" Roseanne definitively announced with a resound sigh of relief. Vegeta visibly convulsed at this unfortunate revelation.

"What?! A tie? That's bullshit!" Vegeta fumed angrily.

"Rules are rules. Chimchar and Piplup obviously fainted at the same time." Roseanne simply replied with little care for Vegeta's feelings on the matter.

"How do you know?! You were cowering in fear the whole time!" Vegeta insulted with an accusatory point of his finger. Roseanne fixed her glasses and lightly frowned.

"So? I'm Professor Rowan's assistant. It's my job to tell when two Pokémon are rendered unconscious after a battle." Roseanne specified her keen knowledge of a Pokémon behavioral patterns.

"But… ergh!" Vegeta failed to continue their argument.

"Look on the bright side, Vegeta. This way, it's as if we and our Pokémon both won." Goku positively attempted to raise Vegeta's spirits.

"Don't give me that backwards logic, Kakarot! I demand a rematch!" Vegeta furiously proclaimed with an even greater sense of determination.

"We can do that another time, Vegeta. Healing Chimchar and Piplup is more important right now." Goku suggested with a hand gesturing to the limp, partially lifeless bodies of Chimchar and Piplup. Vegeta spared a quick glance at Piplup, feeling that was a reasonable course of action for said Penguin Pokémon's health.

"Tsk. Fine. Don't assume that you can avoid the inevitable for long, though." Vegeta temporarily went along with Goku's idea. In unison, the two then picked up their starters and jumped back to the upper surface of Sandgem Beach. There, Rowan, Roseanne, Dawn, and Barry all caught up with them as one large group.

"I wouldn't be so glum, Vegeta. Both you and Goku performed quite admirably for first-timers. And it looks as though you've already established a growing bond with your starters as Goku rightfully assumed." Professor Rowan applauded Goku and Vegeta for their skills as trainers despite all the damage they inadvertently caused.

"Eh it was nothing, Professor. I saw a lot of myself in Chimchar, anyway." Goku modestly downplayed his performance with a care-free shrug.

"Whatever. It's not as if this Pokémon thing is even that difficult to begin with." Vegeta said with no sense of achievement. Professor Rowan shook his head in denial of Vegeta's baseless claim.

"That's where you'd be wrong. Like I've already explained, this version of Earth is fairly impressive in size. All across the globe, from region to region, there are countless trainers that have mastered the complex craft of Pokémon battling and used it to achieve great things in life. From capturing Legendary Pokémon to dissolving evil organizations designed to achieve world domination, there are those that you two, Barry and Dawn included, have yet to surpass. 'Yet' is the key word here, so don't be discouraged." Professor Rowan recalled the existence of this world's greatest Pokémon trainers and Pokémon in general.

"Wow. There's really that many strong trainers out there?" Goku whistled in curiosity what immense wonders this universe had to offer.

"Yes, Goku. With millions of Pokémon species out there, there's probably twice as many, if not more trainers. Many of which you'll most likely be meeting on your journey throughout Sinnoh, especially this region's Gym Leaders." Professor Rowan informed Goku and Vegeta about the Sinnoh region's potential inhabitants.

"Gym Leaders? Who are they?" Goku blankly inquired, thinking of some fat, middle-aged gym teacher that might have been at Gohan's high school once.

"That is a question I'll answer once we get back to the lab. There, Roseanne shall heal Piplup and Chimchar to make certain they're back in tip-top shape. I might be able to start working on the repairs for your Dragon Radar as well." Professor Rowan offered hospitably.

"Ok. Makes sense. So… um… how do you work this Poké Ball do-hickey anyway? Don't Chimchar and Piplup need to be sent back into them to be healed?" Goku wished to know, repetitiously tapping on the Poké Ball's white button to see what would happen.

"Precisely right, Goku. All you need to do is stick out Chimchar's Poké Ball and say "Return!". You do the same, Vegeta." Professor Rowan advised helpfully. Goku nodded in semi-understanding with a small smile.

"Alright. I guess that's simple enough." Goku stated passively. The Saiyan duo then placed their closed Poké Balls in front Chimchar and Piplup as instructed.

""Return!"" Goku and Vegeta shouted. Both Poké Ball's then shot out thin, red beams of pure static electricity. They hit Chimchar and Piplup, successfully converting said Pokémon's bodies into light of the same color. Afterwards, the two were sucked back into their Poké Balls and dissipated into nothingness.

"What a strange device…" Vegeta murmured suspiciously. He closely examined the handheld sphere's design, wondering what was done to digitize clearly living beings like Pokémon.

"Really makes you wonder how Bulma's dad got the Hoi Poi Capsules to work in the first place." Goku pondered to himself before sticking the Poké Ball back into his gi's spare pocket.

"Come along, everyone. After one more meeting at my laboratory, your life-long journey as Pokémon Trainers will officially begin." Professor Rowan signaled for everyone to follow him again. Barry, only bothering to hear the words 'journey' and 'Pokémon Trainers', immediately scooped up Turtwig and smiled in relentless excitement.

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Barry yelled impatiently. He then sprinted at unrealistically fast speeds, leaving an elongated trail of smoke that showcased his path. An awkward silence then permeated across the air before Roseanne silently deadpanned.

"He doesn't remember where it is, does he?" Roseanne blandly stated in realization. Dawn facepalmed in disappointment and lightly nodded.

"That's Barry for you. Running headfirst into places and situations he has no clue about is practically his specialty." Dawn sighed with a strained smile.

The others then prepared to depart Sandgem Beach with Vegeta silently trailing on ahead. Goku, however, turned his attention to Professor Rowan with an apologetic grin.

"Sorry about all the damages, Professor Rowan. We probably should have been more careful hehe." Goku expressed his guilt for causing so much damage to Sandgem Beach and its surrounding forest. Rowan was momentarily stunned by Goku's full acceptance of this partial carnage, but fatherly chuckled in the next moment.

"Apology accepted, lad. We'll figure out some way to fix everything, I assure you." Professor Rowan forgave Goku for this situation. He then sternly gazed at Roseanne, giving her the signal to do what she needed to do once Goku and the rest finally departed.

"Why me?" Roseanne whimpered miserably as her worst fears suddenly came true. Grumbling over all the "yardwork" she'd need to perform in the next few days, she slowly shuffled toward the exit alongside a more poised Professor Rowan. However, strangely enough, Dawn and her Piplup seemed to stay behind for an unexplained reason.

"Is there something on your mind, Dawn?" Goku asked in confusion with an innocent tilt of his head. Dawn, not wanting to worry him at all, just smiled and gave him the go ahead to move on without her.

"I'm alright, Goku. I was just thinking about something, that's all. I'll catch up with you guys in a little bit." Dawn kindly assured the Saiyan adult turned child. Goku stroked his cheek for a moment or two before shrugging both shoulders.

"Uh… Okay. See ya back at the lab then!" Goku said before departing to rendezvous with the others.

After waving, Dawn's expression turned more stern and contemplative. Her slate gray locks gently blew in the wind as she perused the resulting aftermath of Goku and Vegeta's recent battle.

"Goku and Vegeta are really powerful, aren't they, Piplup?" Dawn wistfully confessed in amazement.

"Pip pip." Piplup wholeheartedly agreed in fond remembrance of the bravery Vegeta's Piplup managed to showcase.

Dawn took a small step forward, closely examining the deep hole where Chimchar and Piplup fought each other. She squinted her gray eyes, thinking over the most prominent effects of Goku and Vegeta's ki transferring technique.

"If only a small glimpse of their ki was strong enough to produce a crater this size, there's no telling how much power they truly possess. Vegeta did say that yellow ball from before was created with not even 1% of his maximum strength, so…" Dawn closely calculated the absolutely devastating properties of said two Saiyans' ki.

"…what could happen if a fully evolved Pokémon in their possession or care shared that immense power? Or even, Arceus forbid, a Legendary like the Giratina they encountered? I don't even think the Elite Four could stand up against that much destructive force, let alone Sinnoh's current champion, Cynthia." The 13-year-old girl shivered at the horrifying prospect of Giratina utilizing Goku and Vegeta's complete mastery over ki. Since the aforementioned aliens were already preoccupied with their inevitable search for the Dragon Balls, a promising idea began to circle inside her head.

"Maybe… they could… no Goku and Vegeta are not going to be here for long. It'd be a waste of both our times… or would it?" Dawn began to doubt the probability of such a thought taking place. However, its greater perks could not be denied.

"I promised Mom that I'd become a great Pokémon Trainer and Coordinator someday. Goku and Vegeta's prior skill as highly talented fighters in their own universe just might be my one-way ticket to achieving that goal." Dawn recalled the hefty promise she swore to keep. Images of Johanna appeared inside of her subconscious mind, causing the young trainer to brightly smile in happiness. Alongside the Berlitz matriarch, an image of her long departed, yet insanely busy father appeared as well.

"If I convince Goku… and maybe Vegeta… to train me in some way, stacking up to Dad as a viable battler might not be so impossible after all." Dawn already presumed from Goku's attentive handling of his Chimchar. She then closed both eyes, holding a hand over her heart in deep contemplation.

"I've come to a decision, Piplup…" Dawn passionately whispered to her starter. She slowly opened her eyes, sporting a newfound look of confidence and determination to succeed.

"Pip?" Piplup cheeped, tilting her head to the side in curiosity.

"The two of us are going to join Goku and Vegeta on their journey to search for the Dragon Balls." Dawn declared authoritatively with a finger pointed toward the distant horizon. Piplup gasped at this idea, but immediately nodded in resolved agreement.

Dawn took one last, hopeful look at the distant sun before exiting Sandgem Beach with Piplup in toe. Goku and Vegeta, whether they knew it or not, now had an even more complicated journey ahead of them than they initially expected.

*Hey there! How's it going, guys? Sorry about the long wait, but I had a lot going on with college and work as usual. The whole Coronavirus thing also got in the way somewhat, but I'm still healthy as of now. I hope you enjoyed the fight scene between Chimchar and Piplup. It took a lot of hard work to describe fully, but I managed to write it all down as planned. Originally, this chapter was going to have a sequence with Team Galactic and the Pilaf Gang, but I decided to save that for the beginning of Chapter 6 for pacing purposes. Anyways, leave a favorite, follow, and/or review to tell me what you think. The next chapter will definitely not take as long to finish, so look forward to it when that eventually comes out.

By the way, what do you think of the new cover for this story? I made it in Illustrator a few months ago and I thought it looked better than the original one.