TRAINER OF A DIFFERENT CALIBER

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Pokémon franchises.

Warning: This is mainly an OC story, which follows the anime a little bit, but takes place a couple of years before Ash begins his journey, and the characters from the show will only have like a brief appearance in this story.

Here is a heads up; I'm going to ignore the four attack limit rule because while it's good for the game, I find it pointless anywhere else.

Okay, those of you who need a reminder, including me, or those who skip ahead, here are the names of the three trainers and the Pokémon they have with them, x meaning with them now:

Will Walker- My main OC

X Charmander-Chameleon

X Pidgey-Pidgeotto

Spearow

Mankey

Male Nidoran

X Pichu-Pikachu

Weedle-Kakuna-Beedrill

Caterpie-Metapod-Butterfree

X Magikarp

X Mew

Sandshrew

X Bulbasaur

Abra

Oddish x 2

Bellsprout

Krabby

Jerome Anderson-One character created by Foxaxel

X Magby

X Psyduck

X Rattata

X Zubat

Paras

Geodude

Ekans

X Elekid

Poliwag

Krabby

X Bellsprout

Cindy Grant-The other character

X Poliwag

X Vulpix

X Female Nidoran

Igglybuff

X Cleffa-Clefairy

Sandshrew

Caterpie

Goldeen

X Abra

X Oddish

On with the story . . .

Bill is inside his cottage, going over some pictures. When he watched the kids start their training, it made him think back to his days of traveling. Where he got his first pokemon and decided to travel, see the world, his eyes opening up to discover new things. He got the feeling that his maid called Professor Oak, and told him to have one of his new young trainers come by to his cottage to make him take a nice break from his work.

And after spending time with those kids, he started to realize how much time he spent with his research, and his inventions. While yes, he does these things to help promote unity between humans and pokémon, but the one thing he failed to do was keep up with a world that well move on without him. He also hasn't been keeping up with his family, considering that he has a pile of letters from them that go back at least a year. Now his biggest worry is finding out that somebody he cared about has died, and he missed the funeral.

Right now, while the boys were outside, doing their training for the next gym badge, Marie was giving Cindy some advice to help her deal with the girl's first contest. Or rather the first part which involves how to have a pokémon display its moves that would catch everybody's eyes, especially the judges. The second part, the boys are willing to help out to ensure that Cindy gets a grasp of what needs improving, considering that it involves battles.

When he seen the boys train, he was feeling impressed. All three boys are using the two ponds he has outside to prepare for a battle with pokemon that has some serious home turf advantage, considering that the Cerulean Gym uses an aquarium to do battle on. What they are doing is having the pokémon battling learn to trust their instincts in order to prepare for surprise attacks.

So right now, he is thinking of maybe checking to see if his work is something that can be put on hold for a certain amount of time. With all of the work he has been putting in, he could use a nice long break to reestablish bonds with those he used to be close with.

Before he can look further into his past memories, a loud knock rang out. "I'll get it." Bill said, since he decided to let Marie keep helping Cindy out.

When he opened the door, he was greeted by two individuals wearing black uniforms, with a big red R on the tops. One of them being a man who seems to speak of experience, while the other being a girl who looks like she wants to be anywhere but here at the moment.

"Bill, we are from Team Rocket, and you have been chosen to help us with a project." The man said, "And no is not an answer we accept."

"Unless one were to give you a real good reason to accept it, right." Everybody turned to see Will, standing there with his arms crossed.

A few minutes earlier . . .

The boys were taking a small break from their training. The plan was divided into two parts. One part had Lance look over the training between his Dratini and Will's Magikarp, by having them battle underwater. He wasn't supposed to give any orders, just let the pokémon do their own thing, and get stronger in the water.

While most people would question why anybody would bother raising such a worthless pokémon, instead of jumping straight to capturing its more volatile evolved form, others would understand the test behind it. While Gyarados is indeed a more powerful pokémon, yet even for a seasoned trainer, if anybody were to catch a wild one, it would be like walking in a mine field. Any step could be the wrong step to take you out.

Yet Will's approach isn't exactly perfect, but it isn't entirely dangerous either. It all depends on how he raises it, and what the end result is. While yes, magikarp is a pretty much useless pokemon, with a very small set of moves, but with Will, he is trying to make Magikarp grow so much from so little, that when it does become a gyarados, it would have better control over its abilities, and be willing to work with its trainer.

The other part had Will and Jerome just focus on improving their battling pokémon's agility, since chances are, they well be battling pokemon that can move through water and attack from anywhere. Jerome has picked Elekid and Bellsprout, while Will picked Pikachu and Bulbasaur, even though he is thinking of using Magikarp for a battle.

Scattered around on land were Will's Charmeleon and Jerome's Magby, moving around, shooting flamethrowers at their targets, having them dodge attacks they can see. While a different element from the Water Gun they'll have to deal with, yet still the same principal, considering that both come out of some pokémon's mouth in a straight line. They also had Jerome's Psyduck in the pool nearby, to jump out at random spots, using its water gun to provide random long distance shots, while Will's Pidgeotto flew in the air, and do flying tackles from different directions for direct assaults. The rest of the pokémon just stood back and watched.

After at least an hour of training, the pokémon were being giving a break, or rather the ones who were in the regiment. This was the first time they actually attempted this, and since this was the best that they could do, well, they won't know the full result until they return to Cerulean.

They were about to continue their training when they noticed two individuals wearing Team Rocket uniforms walking towards Bill's cottage. One of them being a familiar face. Giving each other a nod, all three boys called back their pokémon, and separated. While Will went to confront the two, Lance and Jerome went to take care of any other members of Team Rocket in the vicinity. Even though Team Rocket are known to travel in pairs at times, or at least their field agents, but it never hurts to be cautious in case they have backup somewhere.

Which is where we are at now. The senior Rocket agent spoke up, "Kid, this is adult business, get lost or else." He ordered.

"Or else what?" Will countered, shocking the man that this boy would have the guts to talk back to him like that, "Because I'm not leaving here just so you could force somebody to do something you want, which is something a kid would do."

Before the conversation can keep going, Sandra stepped in, "You! You're the one that destroyed my chances for promotion." She yelled out, after recognizing the person before her, "Because of you, I lost out on all of those rare pokémon."

Will just gave her a blank look, "I remember seeing on the news about six months ago that you disappeared after an argument with your family." He said, "Just how long have you been in Team Rocket?"

The senior rocket spoke up, "She went to the academy about four months ago, and has only been an agent for only two weeks."

"So if she is still a rookie, why was she allowed to lead a mission at Mt. Moon?" Will asked.

"Don't really know, since after about three months of training, all new agents have to start from the bottom of the ladder. Just like a lot of organizations." The senior rocket answered, "Although with her, well, since the boss seems to have something in store with her, everybody just has to go along with it."

Getting tired of being talking about while within her presence, "Hey, don't talk like I'm not even here!" Sandra yelled out, getting their attention, "And it's because of you I lost that really rare pokémon."

"Which one?" Will asked, trying to sound ignorant, only for said subject to make itself known onto his shoulder. "Could this be the pokémon you are talking about?" He asked, while pointing towards Mew, who responded with a "Mew." Of its own.

"That's the one, that's the pokémon that could have gotten me a promotion." Sandra yelled out, while pointing towards the pokémon. Her senior, on the other hand, was shocked that he was seeing the one pokémon that people would consider to be nothing more than a bedtime story.

"One, chances are, all you would be getting is a pat on the back for getting such a lucky catch, even for a grunt." Will said, making the girl mad that somebody has the nerve to call her something so low, "Second, pokémon deserve to be treated with respect, not like toys that can be disposed of."

While the two are having their arguments, the senior agent was thinking to himself. Even though he could capture mew from the boy, but like said boy has pointed out, all he would be getting is a pat on the back, while said pokémon gets sent to a lab, and kept under wraps from everybody. Even kept from the rest of Team Rocket, because you never really know which ones are really loyal, or which ones can bring the organization down. Yet he remembers something the boss was saying about how certain members are getting too full of themselves. Sandra being a prime example of somebody who believes they are at the top of the ladder, yet refuse to believe that they are really at the bottom. Seeing a solution in front of him, he decided to test out a theory.

Stepping up, "Kid, I have a proposition for you." The senior rocket member said, getting both of their attention, although Will was giving him a suspicious look, "Relax kid, I seen you send your friends out to take care of any extras we brought with, even though smart, is still risky." Seeing Will's look adding some worry to it, "Yet soon they will realize that it is just the two of us, like it usually is. So you don't have anything to worry about for now."

Will still kept his guard up, "And what is this proposition?" He asked, reading the man's eyes, since they are the one part of a person's body that never lies.

"Straight to the point, somebody I could respect." The rocket senior said, knowing how the outcome is going to be. "I want you to battle my subordinate here with your mew. If you win, we leave empty handed. If you lose, we leave with something extra."

It didn't take much of a genius to figure out what the extra was, but Sandra lacked the patience of some geniuses when she decided to make her opinion known. "Jose, what are you saying?" She yelled out her questions, "Why can't we take both of them?"

The now named Jose just shook his head at the girl's serious lack of tack. "Because for one, the boy is an unknown. Another is because I said so." He said, looking at the girl that made her lose some of her self-confidence, "So buckle up buttercup, this is one ride you don't get to decide on."

Giving a slight gulp in return, all Sandra did was nod, and pulled her pokeball.

Giving a small sigh, knowing that the choice is now out of his hands, "Come on Mew, we have a brat to bring down." Will said, while stepping towards a clearing in front of the cottage.

"Where are you going?" Sandra yelled out, wondering if this boy was mocking her.

"No way am I battling where collateral damage is so high." Will said, without even looking.

Sandra was about to voice her disapproval, when Jose spoke out "Move it grunt, he's right, this is the worst place to have a battle."

Giving a slight grumbling that closely resembles a 'yes sir,' Sandra moved to the area between the two pools. When she got to her spot, the blunette looked at her opponent with anger, growing even more when he is just looking at her with no fear, and Mew was just floating above the field. After releasing her jynx onto the field, "I'm going to make you pay for this, you little brat."

"Pay for what exactly?" Will asked, not fully understanding the issue of this teenager, "I'm just a trainer who is just trying to prepare for the next badge."

"You're also a goodie-goodie that has to do the right thing, even if it means sticking your nose where it shouldn't be." Sandra said, thinking back to how her family always goes about trying to help make the world a better place, "And because of you, you cost me a chance to be at my rightful place within Team Rocket."

Giving his head a small shake, "I take it you never train yourself or your pokémon?" Will asked, already knowing the answer. Mew gave the girl a curious look, after looking into its trainers thoughts.

"Why do I need to train? I'm from a rich family. I'll always be better than you." Sandra said, causing Jose to be shocked at this revelation. The boss must really have something up his sleeve if what he suspects is true.

Shaking his head at this, "Mew, transform into houndoom." Will said, getting a headache from talking to this nut.

Mew responded right away, transforming into what could be described as an hellhound. A dog with horn ears, what looks like bones sticking out along the spine, and the tail ending in a spear-like tip.

While this form gave both Sandra and her jynx a good scare, Jose gained some respect for the boy. He picked a pokémon that can be twice as lethal to a pokémon like jynx, especially if Will knows how to use it.

Recovering from her fright, "So it changed into a dog, it's not going to change things." Sandra said, while her jynx was having a different opinion. Especially with the houndoom looking at her, ready to pounce at a moment's notice, "Jynx, take out with your Confusion."

Everybody in the area shook their heads, because apparently somebody has been neglecting their homework badly. When Jynx's eyes glowed blue, a blue field appeared around Mew's transformed body, yet showed that it wasn't even fazed by the attack, to the complete shock of the trainer who ordered the attack, "Okay, looks like I'm the one who has to explain it to you." Will said, turning towards the teen, "Houndoom is a dark/fire type pokémon, to where psychic attacks have absolutely no effect on it."

When Sandra's eyes widened after realizing her mistake, "Mew, use Shadow Ball now." Opening its mouth, said pokémon fired a ball of dark purple energy, which hit the jynx right in the chest. Deciding not to give this opponent a chance to recover, "Finish her off with a Fire Blast." Once again, the mouth opened to launch a fire attack, one that forms into the Dai kanji, before hitting its target. When the flames died out, jynx had swirls in her eyes, indicating a win.

When seeing the junior agent call back her pokémon, while collapsing onto her knees from the humiliating defeat, Jose just shook his head. Whether the girl is going to change her ways, or try to blame the world, only time would tell. Looking at the boy, who was hugging a happy mew, which jumped into his arms while dropping its transformation. It's not hard to see the potential this boy would have, even though he would never join an organization like Team Rocket.

"Okay kid, you have proven your metal, we well be leaving emptyhanded." Jose said, getting a surprised look from Sandra, "Let me guess, you expect me to 'avenge' your dishonor? Newsflash kiddo, what I would really be doing is picking up the slack, just like everybody else, and I refuse to clean up your dirty work. So we are leaving now."

Watching as her leader started to walk away, all Sandra could do was given Will a really evil look, and went after her boss.

After a few minutes, when things felt calmer, everybody gathered in Bill's living room.

"What just happened?" Cindy asked, since she watched the battle from a window.

"I think I just planted a target on myself." Will answered, before explaining what happened.

Well, here is the latest chapter. Sorry it isn't much. Read and Review, and have a nice summer.