The Platinum Rule

by Charon the Red

Some shmuck with a chip on his shoulder needs to prove himself in the world, and there's no better way than being a trainer. Let's watch him make many mistakes, make friends, and grow up. Maybe. [Platinum Novelization w/ some AU.] [SYOC closed until Chapter 3]

The Platinum Rule
Pokèmon
Some shmuck with a chip on his shoulder needs to prove himself in the world, and there's no better way than being a trainer. Let's watch him make many mistakes, make friends, and grow up. Maybe. [Platinum Novelization w/ some AU.] [SYOC closed until Chapter 3]

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Pokèmon and make no profit what so ever.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The civil dawn light spilled through cracked windows as a bleary eyed young man stared, more glaring, at a TV sitting upon a carpet floor; a program of no concern was playing, probably some documentary or some such. Tired mint hued eyes twitched towards a clock on occasion, whenever a particular elderly gentleman would appear on the television, a soft murmur coming from the youth. This routine remained for the next thirty minutes, the sun crawling higher and higher into the sky, only broken when the door to his room was nearly kicked open and a packet was thrown. With practiced ease, it was caught before it struck his face.

"Haven't slept again?" an amused, rowdy sounding woman called, with a few bags of groceries in hand.

"Not more than two winks," he responds smoothly, taking the packet and smacking it against his palm. The packet was labeled 'Muk'kems' with a Muk holding a cartoonishly large cigar. "Meeting this Rowan dude has me on edge," he continued, "He's near Lake Veridity now. If I leave in the next hour," He stuck a cancer stick in his mouth, lighting. After a deep inhale, he scratched his brow in thought "I should make to Sandgem reasonably early."

"That sounds about right, but why are you on edge?"

A soft hum of thought; "I can't explain it. Probably just fear of the unknown. I can't predict what's going to happen, this isn't a game of chess."

The woman let out a sigh of exasperation. "You're jumping at ghosts again, kid. Rowan isn't gonna gobble you up or anything." Mild irritation crept upon her face with a pale, tatoo'd hand resting on cotton candy pink-and-blue dyed hair. "What're you going to do during a gym battle or during the Lily Conference? You can't predict everything."

He sat in stupefied silence, or possibly scruitinized stirred thoughts. "While true, that doesn't make the unknown any less frightening. I'll get used to it, though." He responded after a few moments. "I do need to calm down, however. Can't be smoking on the way to an important appointment." He reached over to snuff the cigarette half-way through upon an ashen table pock-marked with burns and rose to his feet.

This youth was tall, standing straight up to a little over six feet in height. A tanned hand flattened out darkened auburn hair then moved to smooth out his dark green tee-shirt and check the pockets of his jeans. "Gotta finish getting ready...bus will be here shortly." Whatever bravado this young man gathered seemed to have wilted to a degree as his voice tightened a little bit.

The woman shrugged as she claimed the entirety of the sofa. "You'll be fine," she called, and added under her breath "Muk-for-brains." A cigarette pack careened over her head and landed on top of the couch, to which she responded with a raspberry.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The goodbye was short and sweet. A hug and a high five with well wishes under his belt, he quickly collapsed onto a seat and was quickly lulled into a series of floating in and out of naps – bouts only fully broken when a changing of the bus was in order. Six and a half hours went, from Veilstone City to Sandgem. This whole ordeal was a painful slough to type, much less experience – we'll save ourselves the time and sum it up as such: In between boughts of unconciousness, careless kids carrying on with scolding parents, it was otherwise uneventful.

So now, at the summit base of his journey, he stood inside of Professor Rowan's laboratory. Arms folded across his chest, he had seen a younger girl walk into the laboratory – and decided to wait for her to depart; mayhaps she had a prior appointment with this man? No matter – she left soon enough, in a bit of a fluster if he saw correctly.

He looked down to the doorknob as his hand firmly, confidently wrapped around it, cool metal cooling his digits from the absurd heat. It was weird; here he was, standing before an anxiety attack waiting to happen - countless of predictions ran through his head every second, clawing at his nerves and making him question wether the breeze he felt as he made his way from the apartment complex in Veilstone City to the steps up Rowan's lab was real or not; now at the door to an anxiety-filled adventure, everything was calm. A small, tired smile tipped along his lips as he opened the door. Every thing will be okay.

The lab's interior was, as with any other lab, clean and sterile. Well, in the loose sense of the term - one of many research tables was currently littered with papers and books alike, all askew and opened to various topics. Cool air ventilated through the room, much to his relief. Eyes darted around, shifting towards the numerous bookshelves, looking around for the main occupant of the laboratory.

"Hello?" he finally called out after some time of not hearing or seeing hide or hair of Rowan. "Professor?" Without an answer, he shrugged and walked over to the previously mentioned cluster of research tables - more aptly the one covered with books, the only true mess in the otherwise empty lab. He started to nose through the books, giving only a skimming look through the contents of random pages. Many of them based on evolutionary theories on pokemon and possible links to humans. Though a small notebook caught his attention, more because it was handwritten than any other reason. The cover bore the words 'Steam' and another in a script unfamiliar to him; perhaps a transliteration. Before he could start flipping through though a man clearing his throat caught his attention. His head snapped back, eyes widened at the sudden appearance of an old man and the girl from before was beside him, holding a briefcase.

"My my, an aspiring scientist I see?" the wisened man spoke with the barest hints of amusement within the tone. "Or perhaps the last trainer appointment for the day?"

"Ah..." he stumbled in response, out of embarassment of being caught just about to rifle through someone's possible thoughts. The youth stumbled into an incoherent mess.

"It's alright, there's nothing wrong with the pursuit of knowledge. What were you about to read?" the professor walked up to the table and took a glance down at the notebook. "Ahh, that. That was a gift from a colleague far away. He claimed to have found some evidence to another...Pokèlantis, if you can believe such a thing. He does have some, if not questionable, credibility though." That smile widened a little bit, likely at fond memories? However, the professor caught onto the potential ramble-fest and stopped it. "But that's neither here though. Dawn, would you go and get our young friend his gear ready awhile?"

The young girl set the briefcase down on an unclaimed table and nodded, "Yes, professor." while the tone was even and respectful, she shot the trainer-to-be a...peculiar look, one of mixed anger and confusion, and quickly left.

He frowned lightly. "What was that about?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. Time may reveal that answer later. Come! Let's get your information registered a while." the professor said as he removed his coat and tossed it to the side. "What's your name, son?"

"Ban Belmont" the minty-eyed teenager said, running a hand through his hair with an exhale.

Rowan sat before a computer and added the prior information. "Home town?"

"Veilstone City."

"No criminal background?"

"...Well, there was that one time in the casinos..."

Professor Rowan lifted his head and gave Charon a very even, very unamused stare.

"What? I got a bit grabby with a guy's girl, he didn't like it, so we got into a fight. It wasn't a felony! I was also incredibly drunk."

"...I must ask, how long ago did this occur?"

"I was sixteen, so a year and a half ago?"

Rowan pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation for a moment. "But you haven't gotten into any serious crimes?"

"Nope. Just a fist-fight between me and a guy. We broke some chairs, but..eh…"

The professor wordlessly tapped at the keyboard, shaking his head from time to time, likely in disbelief. As he did, Dawn returned with five pokeballs and a pokèdex that was handed to Rowan. It was interesting to see the two work both fluidly and wordlessly with each other. She made her way to another set of laboratory doors, leading into a small arboretum of sorts. A sharp whistle penetrated the air, the girl having called three pokemon into the building.

In strutted a young and proud, and perhaps a little awkward from its small stature, a Piplup; it looked up at Ban with a look of disdain as it waddled. A furious screeching could be heard from the outside as a flaming Chimchar bounds into the room, leaping onto the back of the Piplup, causing the once-proud penguin to faceplant quite ungracefully onto the linoleum. As the penguin leaps back to get the monkey off, the Chimchar had leapt onto an empty lab table, proceeding to point and laugh at his victim.

Piplup opened its beak, made for a swift Bubble, but was hoist up by Dawn who hugged it close to soothe it while Rowan made for the Chimchar, hoisting the mischevious child-like pokemon up by the collar. Finally, in came the last pokemon; while an older-looking Turtwig walked in, its face exasperated and tired opposed to the burning youth of Piplup and Chimchar.

"We have quite an...energetic bunch with these two, as you can plainly see." Rowan said as the monkey settled upon his shoulders with practiced ease. The professor nodded towards the Piplup. "These two are about six months old, so they're rather...easy to train. Turtwig on the other hand, here has been here a solid year."

"Why so long?" Ban asked with a hint of concern.

"The Turtwig litter has been larger than normal this time. Unfortunately, this one was the runt, and...no one wants a runt. If they go too long without being chosen, they're sent to a sanctuary where they'll be put up for adoption." Dawn explained with a nod.

Ban stood silent after the explaination, arms folded across his chest as he became locked in a staring contest with the Turtwig. Most Turtwigs were almost two feet high, this one was only one foot if he had to guess. Battling with this tiny turtle would prove challenging, however...its eyes shared the same expression his had; exhausted. He knelt down in front of the Turtwig after a moment, finger tips exposed for it to smell. It only got a whiff of burnt tobacco, so it recoiled, but bumped its forehead against the giant's otherwise gentle approach.

"So, you alright with coming with me then? Better out there, fighting for our lives than living in a packed hostel. But I mean that, fighting for our lives. We're going to be fighting against a stacked deck. We'll have to work hard." Eyes once again locked, and a mutual understanding was reached. "Alright then. Turtwig, I choose you!" Ban exploded with a sudden spark of enthusiasm, having grabbed the turtle and held it up over his head. "Let's rock the world together, Mahogany!"

Rowan and Dawn, with their respective pokemon, all jumped at the sudden burst of energy from the otherwise composed, quiet and questionably respectful teen. "So, Mahogany the Turtwig, hm?" the elderly man said once he regained his own composure. "Why that name?"

"Because I feel that we'll make warm music."

Rowan grinned a little bit at the stretched logic, while Dawn looked a little confused, giving Ban an inquiring look. A smug smile was on his face; that cryptic answer shall remain cryptic.

"Alright then, Mr. Belmont. I believe that we have everything in order. You have your pokedex and pokeballs?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright then. If you're anxious to start your journey, I suggest heading to Oreburgh City; there they have the closest gym, or Hearthome City if you're the contest type."

Ban made for the door, Mahogany hopping in line with his trainer. "Thanks for the advice, Professor. I'll give you a ring once I've made some form of headway."

Rowan shared a look with Dawn. "I'm not 100% sure about him."

Dawn nodded, half-lidded. "Yeah. He looked familiar at first, just couldn't figure out why. But then he said about the casinos. I remember that..Didn't win, but he didn't do too bad either...Other guy had a black eye. Are you sure about this?"

"Mmm...With how he considered Turtwig over the others, I'm sure he's going to be fine." He looked down to both the Piplup and Chimchar who waved their senior goodbye. "Well you two, let's go get everyone some food, shall we?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Speaking of food, Ban and Mahogany walked out of a corner burger joint as the sun begun its descent upon the horizon. "Let's go find something to catch and try to make it to Jubilife before late. Sound like a plan?" Mahogany nodded in response. "Right then, let's rock and roll!"

A bush suddenly found itself home to the two of them, as it was decided that laying in wait would be a clever idea. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that an hour or two had passed. The sun set to dusk before anything would start to venture out into the open plains. Two bidoof meandered by, in their slow, bug-eyed trance of a waddle. In between audible exchanges between the flocks of Starly in the distance, Mahogany and Ban sat, a small treat dispensed for no readily apparent reason from time to time.

This peace was disrupted though, when a sudden sharp pain met Ban's backside. The teenager rolled foreward from the brush with a squeel, Turtwig chasing after him. He jumped and looked at the offending bush as a blue-and-black furred feline slunk from underneath, its tail swishing side to side with the widest of shit-eating grins, as if to say 'Yeah, I did that, you gonna do somethin' about it?!'

'I think that little shit broke skin.' Ban thought to himself, as he rubbed the spot on his now bitten butt, and sighed with relief when there was no wetness present. He turned to the grass type. "Mahogany, let's go! This is your first battle! Show me what you can do!" he exclaimed as he stood straight up.

Mahogany flew at the pokemon in an attempt to close the distance. The wild 'mon returned the gesture, meeting the turtle with a headbutt. The both of them fell to the ground then sprung back to their feet. This time the wild Shinx took the initiative.

"Brace yourself!"

The turtwig did just that, widening it's base and preparing for the Shinx' charge. It leapt into Turtwig, who this time met the Shinx with his shell, and hard. Both of them landed on the ground with a thud. Turtwig was the first to snap back to his senses and took this moment to buck the Shinx off, forward. It rolled and lied still for a moment, springing itself back onto its feet. The two stared the other down, starting to circle one another. Again they charged at each other and met in the middle.

Ban stood by the side lines, eyes narrowing as he took in Mahogany's and the Shinx's state as they continued their bull-rushing. They were both in good condition, though Mahogany was starting to get tired, despite his efforts to put up a good facade about it. Before the two could get a solid plan formulated, the Shinx started to run towards them again as the once playful grin turned into a predatorial snarl.

"Quick, Withdrawl!" Ban exclaimed

The turtle pulled into it's shell at the last second, the Shinx's head smacking off of the tip of the hardened shell. As it landed right in front of Mahogany, Ban seized the opportunity. "Come out as hard as you can then tackle it!"

Mahogany's limbs popped out from the shell quickly, his head crowning Shinx as it was sent a few inches away. It picked itself up and stumbled around in a bit of a daze, and tried to shake its head to shake the cobwebs out from its head. But it was a second too late. Mahogany struck with a lot of force, proportional to it's smaller stature; enough so that it flew back a good five feet.

"Now or Never!" He pulled a pokeball from a pocket and enlarged the sphere. The ball struck its target true, cracking open in half and turning the pokèmon into red energy, before closing shut with a snap. The ball wobbled once...twice...thrice...then the oh-so comforting sound of capture, the red light upon the ball fading as Shinx was successfully captured.

It took a moment for the two to realize what happened. Once the gears clicked into place, Ban jumped up and clicked his heels together in mid air as a series of cheers and hoots followed after with Mahogany bouncing after Ban, who ran to grab the pokeball. He held it up to the sky, looking at it with one eye closed, almost surveying it like a fine gem. He shrunk the ball, placing it on a holder upon a wristlet, before leaning down to pick up the injured Turtwig, also holding it in the sky with a euphoric grin on his face.

"You did a great job, Maho-" Ban was cut off mid-sentence as a nearby group of trees erupted with flocks of wild Starly, a loud yelp following shortly after. He looked to Mahogany and nodded, holding up his pokeball. "Return for now, you earned the rest. I'm proud of you." Ban looked over to the edge of the forest where the Starly flew away from, and ran - out of some strange compulsion.

Ban's head swiveled from side to side as he looked for the source of the noise, which was a task in and of itself due to only having the one clue to go off of. His pace slowed down dramatically, from a brisk walk to a slow, crawling pace. A peculiar sensation came over him as he crept through the forest.

A vaporous haze clouded his mind while his temples painfully throbbed. His skin crawled, the haze taking deep root within his being, a velveteen darkness obscuring most of his vision; the barest of light registered with his throbbing mind, muscles screaming and protesting in forced, agile movement. The sounds of nature above were masked with the sounds of steam gasping from machinery. The sound of static fills Ban's ears, gears grinding, a cacophony of raw noise...then wimpering. The subtle sound of someone wimpering in pain slowly drowns out the cacophonous noise, the fog clearing up, light filtering through Ban's mint green eyes once again, making him wince as the sky was still alight with the dusk; it was still rediculously bright out, though he had no idea how fast he had gotten here. He had no idea where exactly he was, but he found the likely source of the startled birds.

A person was sitting on the ground, a girl if Ban had to guess, holding her leg close as she rocked somewhat back and forth. A branch was seen under her form. Her eyes were closed, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes. Ban sighed softly, his head throbbing. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, getting the attention of the fallen girl, who opened up her large doe-like emerald green eyes somewhat. "Oh...can you give me a hand?" a contradicting male's voice came out. "I fell from this tree and I think I broke my ankle or something. I can't get up…"

Ban scratched his nose as he took a deep inhale. 'Guess I can't always judge a book by its cover...' he thought to himself. "Sure." He walked towards the fallen boy, and knelt down, placing the stranger's arm around his neck and supporting the weight as he brought him up. The boy stood at 5'8" with neck-length ebony black hair that likely would have been neat, had he not fallen from the tree. He was garbed in a black, collared polo shirt with a green bandana under the collar, a dark green blazer with a dark purple-hued flower slightly crunched, pinned to the coat. Dark dress slacks with neat sneakers completed the ensemble. As he stood, the both of them winced as their heads throbbed in unison from the sudden change of elevation.

"And could you put that out? I think I'll get sick.." he inquired.

"Any other situation, and I'd tell you to fuck off." Ban said with a bit of a bite, as he ground the half-smoked cancer stick into the tree bark. "C'mon now, easy does it...I think we're pretty close to Jubilife City."

The other teenager chuckled softly, free hand rubbing the back of his head softly with the mirth dying down soon after, pulling his hand away, there was a faint amount of blood on his digits. "I hit my head too..." he whined.

"Do you always get hurt like this?"

"No, not always...only when I fall asleep in trees with my pokè- Wait...We can't go yet! Atropa isn't here!"

"Say what?"

"My pokèmon! Atropa, a Budew. She's not here with us!" Panic filled the boy's voice. However, the sounds of a paniced pokemon reached their ears; it would be cute, if it wasn't so damned scared-sounding.

"Would it be that fear-filled chew-toy sounding critter?"

"She's not a chew toy!"

"It was rhetorical. But let's give her a second, she's close by I th-" A green, bulbous creature had leapt from the bushes and charged towards Ban, cracking him in the face with a full-charge tackle. Ban clutched his face in agony, as the creature leapt to the boy, who fell with another yelp at losing his support suddenly.

"Atropa! I was scared there! Are you hurt anywhere?" the boy checked over the Budew worryingly, then sighed with relief.

"Your little shithead won't be alright when I'm done mincing her up!" Ban yelled as he sat upright, rubbing the red mark on his face from where the buds hit him.

"Oh come on! She didn't mean it, I'm sure!" He held up the pokemon. She looked at Ban with a look of pure disdain. "Okay...maybe she did...but that's likely because she thought you were hurting me?" Though the Budew looked at her trainer with an innocent smile, she gave Ban the opposite.

Ban inhaled deeply. In with the good, out with the bad...in with the good...then opened his eyes, giving the two a very even, very unamused stare, then stood up. "Return her to her ball so we can get a move on."

"But...she hates it in her ball. Why not let her out?"

"Because she shot first and didn't bother asking questions." Ban could feel his eye twitching. "But as long as she doesn't cause any more problems..."

"She won't, Mister!" the boy chirped, happy with the outcome.

"Ban. I'm no mister." He stood up again, and extended his hand out to the Budew-holding boy. "You are? Unless you'd prefer me to call you M'lady.." His face gave an amused grin at the flustered look that appeared on the boys face.

"I'm Don! Please don't call me that!" the boy exclaimed as he clutched the hand with a free one, pulling himself up and quickly wrapping his arm around Ban's neck once again, free hand clutching onto the Budew. "Now I think we're good."

As the trio started a slow trek out from the woods towards Jubilife City, the sun had vanished completely behind the horizon, moonlight starting to peak over the mountain's edge. Stars dotted the sky, the silence only broken by the occasional Kriketot and Starly chirping in the distance.

Occasionally, the Budew would growl at Ban, showing clear displeasure at the close proximity this...foul smelling man had with her trainer, though due to his help, she chose to tollerate the filthy mongrel's presence. For now. Occasionally, Ban would glare back down at the pokemon who turned her head from him, but something finally clicked with him - something was different with this budew from others he recalled seeing in Veilstone City. This one had yellow buds over its head, and the pedals forming below it's chin were a deep violet color, opposed to green.

"Why the hell is...Atropa a mutant?"

"A mutant?"

"Yeah. She's got purple petals instead of green."

"Oh! She's not a mutant. She's just a shiny pokemon."

"...Shiny?"

"Mhm! Whenever they're released from a pokeball, they sparkle intensely, which is where they got that name from. They're really rare too."

"Oh, I see. I've never really heard of them before now." Ban looked over the Budew in a moment of thought, before turning his sights at the slowly approaching gates to Jubilife City. "So, what were you trying to do out there, aside from sleeping in trees?"

Don chuckled with some embarassment. "I was heading back to Jubilife from Sandgem on some errands and decided to take a detour. Climbed the tree and fell asleep with Atropa." he clutched the named pokemon closer, who hummed with delight from the attention. "I decided to start my own pokemon journey. I'm not sure though where I'm going exactly, though. What about you?"

Ban gave a grin as he looked up to the star-filled, moon-lit sky. "I'm gonna go all the way and win the Lily of the Valley confrence...It's going to be beyond difficult. I have the mightiest little Turtwig by my side though, and I feel that we're gonna accomplish a lot."

"Oh? A Turtwig? Why that one?"

"Honestly, I was going to take a Chimchar first. But then I saw Turtwig. The other two came in with such life, but then...Turtwig came in. His eyes were tired..apathetic." Ban's head turned to Don's, the smallest of melancholic smiles crossing his face. "Someone that similar to me? I couldn't help myself...It was like a switch was flipped." He shook his head. "We're not the closest, no where near that, but..I think we'll get along."

"So a bond built on a kindred spirit, based solely on how the two of you felt..Did you name him?"

"Yeah. Mahogany."

"Oooh, any particular reason?"

"Yeah. 'cause we're gonna make beautiful music."

"Using it as a wood for instruments? That's pretty clever. Here I was hoping it was more under the 'Anti-lightning' reasoning."

The two of them finally passed the gates of Jubilife City, as Ban gave Don a weird look at the statement. "Eh? Where do you get that from?"

"Mahogany trees can withstand lightning strikes pretty well. I don't like electric types too much..." Don trailed off.

"Fair enough, can't blame you for that...One just bit me today. I thought it drew blood, but thankfully not. Let's get to a Pokemon Center first, get you looked at, then go from there."

"You're too kind." he said with a soft tone.

"You fell out of a tree because you fell asleep. You'd probably trip yourself into a coma if you tried to get here on your own." Ban responded with a humored snark to his tone.

"...Touchè." The doors of the Pokemon Center hummed open, then slid close as the unlikely, plucky trio walked in.

The cogs fell into place, one by one. Pieces of the puzzle started to move and there was no way out now. Let the adventure begin.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A/N: This has been a long time coming. A random spark of inspiration hit me, so I've decided to try and start writing again, after an unbelievably long break from not caring about writing. This is something I feel pretty good about. Something challenging.

In the next two-four chapters, this will become a full SYOC fiction, more than anything I might need "Characters of the Day" type. If I feel the character fits, though, I may ask for more detail and make them a more permanent addition to the story. There will be one or two more companions joining the Ban-Hammer. I'll post the OC form in chapter 2.

Shinx's info will be finalized in the next chapter, as this one was getting pretty lengthy for my tastes without it. If you guys have any pointers for me in terms of battles, especially wild ones, please let me know. That was arguably the hardest thing for me to get through.

I figure that for the first chapter, 2 cities and a route with a pokemon capture would be a good enough pace. Depending on what happens in the routes in the games, story-wise, I'll adust the story as such; these chapters will likely be meaty. I'm basing this off of all three sources of 'canon:' Manga, anime, and games, depending on what makes the best fit for what.

New OCs (in order of apperance, with known pokemon on hand)

Ban "Ban Hammer" Belmont
Turtwig (Mahogany, Male, runt); Overgrowth
Shinx (?, ?); Rivalry

Don:
Budew (Atropa, Female,); Poison point