Location Perspective

By: Aviantei

[Twelve Shots of Summer: Go/五 10/12]

A Pokémon One Shot

With my breath stuck in my throat, I stood at the end of Victory Road. The last time I was here, I had emerged from the cave and into the sunlight, too overwhelmed to even think. Now I stood on the Pokémon League's doorstep as its officially indoctrinated Champion.

The weather was crisp and clear, the wind carrying just the slightest chill of autumn. Nature hadn't caught wind of the seasonal change yet, so the trees and gardens that lined the path up to the League building still were verdant green. The entrance to Victory Road was a gaping black maw against the shale of the mountain.

Looking at it from this angle, I was a little embarrassed to admit that I'd gotten lost for a few good days inside that damn cave. I'd never told Fri or Errat about that when I told the story of my journey. It was even more embarrassing now that I could see the code of the world, the correct pathway blindingly obvious. I could make my way to the Elite Four's doorstep in my sleep.

Not that I had to.

Because they were my Elite Four now.

I sighed. A pokéball twitched at my hip, shaking in agitated bursts. As if catching on, an Ultra Ball started rattling next to the Master Ball, though the remaining four balls remained motionless "Geeze, you two…"

Acquiescing to their demands, I pressed the release switches. Wicker and Polymer emerged, both shaking their small forms out. A Naleef, Wicker stood a bit taller as a deer comprised entirely of bark, clusters of leaves forming her ears. Polymer was the slightest bit shorter as an Omocherub, but that was only because they were in their doll form and not the hulking beast I'd challenged not too long ago. The pair barely reached my knees, and they were so cute you'd have a hard time recognizing them as the stuff of legends.

And yet they were. While my new League advisor had assured me that it was fine to include them in my title matches, I still had to wonder if the whole thing was okay.

Well, knowing these two, they'd just show up to the battle anyways…

"Naaa," Wicker said, nudging her head against my leg.

Polymer tugged on my pants from the opposite side. "Omo?"

"Oh, yeah, you guys didn't come here with me last time." At last stepping away from the door, I lead my pokémon down the pathway, keeping my pace slow to let them enjoy the scenery. Wicker bounded out into the grass on regular occasions, bringing back flowers every time. Polymer accepted them, tucking them into various places on her body. I smiled, the last of the stress from my Champion meeting near forgotten. After a few minutes, we ended up at the cave entrance, even cooler air from inside wafting out towards us with the smell of rocks and water. Wicker and Polymer glanced up to me before staring into the darkness.

"This is Victory Road," I said. "People who want to challenge the Elite Four are gonna start from the other side. And the strongest will make it through. And the strongest out of them will make it through to us." I smiled down at my pokémon. "So that means we're gonna fight a lot of strong opponents from now on. But I know you guys are up to it." My hand brushed against my other pokéballs, filled with the rest of my teammates. Everyone was up to it. Even I felt a lot more confident about it than I had when I won the title of Champion in the first place.

Was it because I stood there of my own free will, and not at the direction of a player?

Trying not to think too hard about it, I clapped my hands together and pivoted back towards the Elite Four building. "Well, you guys aren't the only antsy ones, I'm sure. That meeting took a bit longer than I thought, so it's about lunchtime." I craved Errat's family cooking, but I couldn't just fly off home without finishing up my work first. "I have a fancy suite and garden as the Champion now. Let's go check it out with the others."

"Cheeer!"

"Leeef!"

And with my two legends skipping behind me, I stepped forward.

[Author's Notes]

This here is my submission for week ten of this year's round of [Twelve Shots of Summer]. Given the Pokemon theme (and lack of better ideas), I figured I'd do another OC piece. The prompts were "Road to Victory" and "Changing Teams," both of which I took in the most literal sense possible. Victory Road is very obvious, and Changing Teams is much more subtle in that Jijri has changed himself and his team since he first stepped foot at the Pokemon League and took on the challenge to become Champion.

This is a post-canon expansion to Save State, my multichap Pokemon fic that focus on the idea of self-aware game characters after the player has chosen to stop picking up the game and the sort of consequences that kind of come from that... Because I hate myself, Naleef and Omocherub are legends for a region that I guess I'm responsible for developing now.

I'd like to one day look at the Save State universe from different angles, but that day is not today. It was nice to play around with these guys again, though.

If you have the free time, do check out the [Twelve Shots of Summer] community for all sorts of great one shots and company. While the season's on the final stretch now, that just means you have all sorts of stories to enjoy. See you there?

Thanks for reading!

-Aviantei

[07.30.2018]