Chapter 1: Warrior
Brock
The wild geodude vaults at him. He braces, grits his teeth. Its rocky forearm crashes down on his shoulder. Exhaling, he pushes the young golem back, pausing to roll his shoulder. It was a glancing blow - just enough to bruise. The geodude wheels away, dancing on fingers of liquid rock. Beneath a brow as furrowed as his own, a pair of bright, benitoite eyes observe his stance, lingering on the ball in his hand.
His realization fills the quarry. The ball is placed away from the action. He apologizes. Cheating would only cheapen his first battle - and his partner's.
Misty
With her, regional conferences are never boring. She was born in the Year of the Gyarados and lives up to the sign's reputation.
"A water-specialist, a rookie, a civilian, and a girl." Vermillion City's leader leans back in his chair, grinning. "That's four strikes." This year's conference host, Erika, shifts uncomfortably. Sabrina, from Saffron, glowers dangerously from across the room. He continues, oblivious, only for Cerulean's champion to roll her eyes. A challenge is declared, bets are wagered, shots fired. Their argument echoes down the halls. Awkward glances are exchanged.
"Even chances," Sabrina mutters.
Surge
His gym is all that's left of a repurposed military base. It's a small part: he can still remember when all of Vermillion was protected by a wall.
Some days he hardly leaves the gym. It's the little things: a stranger's lingering glance or the setting sun in spring. The glint of dew on berries can turn a market into an armory.
Other times, he camps in the hills for days on end. However, he never battles outside of a gym. It's a rule that helps keep him sane, though he'll never admit it.
Erika
She is wide awake by the last round. The stadium is wet with slush - her abomnasnow's work - and excavated boulders litter the battlefield.
Her last pokemon is a craidly. His, a charizard. It circles, and dive-bombs boulders at random, seeking to flush out its opponent.
Its master grits his teeth. "Can't you see it's over already?"
She shrugs. Sometimes doing nothing is the right thing.
The charizard dives again. Something shifts beneath the boulder. Stones as long as her hand flash upwards, shooting the dragon out of the sky.
"You're not wrong." She nods off.
Koga
Kneeling before the Champion is a surreal experience. He cannot remember the last time he served someone else.
If used right, he knows, humility can be one of the greatest weapons. With people like his daughter and Red leading the way, the country will be in good hands.
It's almost humorous how quickly children grow these days. Though he was twice her age when he inherited the Fuchsia Gym, his daughter's skills are equal to his own, if not far greater.
The champion standing before him is even younger.
"Welcome to the Elite Four, Koga of Fuchsia City."
Sabrina
It is easy for laypeople to assume expertise. Levitation and spoon-bending look nice on television. Self-knowledge, less so. Even in Saffron, only a handful of trainers understand the true power of psychics.
Every morning, she leads her apprentices in meditation. "Empty your mind. Let your breath ebb and flow." Silence fills the room. Her thoughts brush along its borders. Soon, everyone breathes in synch. "Be silent. Look upon your sleeping self."
This is where many lose focus. Today, only she accomplishes this task. There is no shame: for a psychic, facing oneself is the greatest battle.
Blaine
He researches volcanos between battles. A celebrated genius, many assume he does this to further Cinnabar Island's living conditions.
They are not wrong. After thirty years of effort, the entire town runs on geothermal energy, the island produces the widest variety of fruits and vegetables in the region, and the restorative qualities of the island's hot springs are said to rival those of Lavaridge Town and Kindle Road.
Few know that his research focuses on common factors among catastrophic eruptions, their signs and causes, proactively responding to disasters, and trauma psychology and counseling: all vital tools for saving a town.
Giovanni
As predicted, the reporters creep out of the woodwork. "As the leader of the Viridian City Gym, what is your reaction to confessions connecting you to Team Rocket's activity in Lavender Town?"
He turns to the reporter, his movements smooth and calculated. The reporter is the best-dressed of the bunch, but just one of his shoes alone costs more than the man's entire wardrobe. He literally cannot lose here. His expression softens - it is still stern, but paternally so now. "Only pity and disappointment. Don't all paragons encounter such challenges sooner or later?" He dazzles them.