I had an idea that's been brewing for a a long time. So I've recently come to love the Infamous game series. When I played it I thought to myself, what if I gave Pokemon strange powers, but keep the story element of my own? Well that's how this story was birthed, but I did not label it crossover because it is the Pokemon universe with a sprinkle of Infamous powers here and there. Do please let me know what you think about it in a review or PM. Maybe I can get a good thing going.
Many trainers and fans alike can agree on one thing overall. People love their Eevees and pretty much all of its evolutions. All 8 of them and Eevee itself, it just speaks to them in a very different way. It is the sociability of the Pokémon itself? Or is it the combat potential and usefulness in battle?
This is where people get divided, are Pokémon actually just creatures in place of guns and weapons? Or are they more than that, friends, pets, and even lifelong companions? I knew how I thought one time. Only the best, most purebred Eevee's would be on my teams, nothing weak, only the strongest.
Hell, that got me so fricking far too. I challenged that Kalos league, beat all the gym leaders, even beat the elite four and the champion herself! I was so sure that it was because of strength and physical prowess alone that I achieved victory, that I was unstoppable as long as I kept the strongest Pokémon on my team, I firmly believed that.
"Believe me; it will not get you far." Diantha said as she recalled her Gardevoir who had just been beaten down by a Flareon. "If you truly believe that you alone beat me on strength alone, you are so naïve." She pointed at the Flareon. "Look into his eyes, what exactly do you see? A tool? A living testament to your strength?" She shook her head. "You can't lie to yourself forever, Fletch. Look into their eyes, then into your heart. You aren't too far gone, change while you can."
That was my name, Fletch. That was what the champion of Kalos said to me. She called me naïve, even after I crushed her Gardevoir that she had bonded with for so long. Of course I was strong, stronger than the champion, the elite four, hell, dare I say I was the strongest in the world!
But that wasn't it. It just wasn't true. One morning, a month after I had beat her, I found myself letting out all of my Pokémon that I used in the final battle against her. Note that I only used Eevee evolutions, nothing else. A Flareon, Umbreon, Sylveon, Vaporeon, Glaceon, and a Leafeon. They all stood at attention, but looking back on it, it wasn't that type of attention I had desired when I became a trainer initially. It was one of seriousness only, no fun, no pleasure, no bonding, all business.
The ironic thing was, I was nothing like that. No, I was relaxed, friendly, and approachable. I guess only I thought that. Not even my own Pokémon ever bonded with me. They just charged into battle at my orders, not caring if they were knocked down or not. That's no way for any Pokémon to live… just no way.
And to add onto that, Diantha's words rang in my head like a church bell. I mean it, I literally freaked each and every one of them out by just staring into their eyes for a long 60 seconds each. It crept them out, really. When did their trainer ever get to eye-level with them other than to criticize them for missing a vital attack? Never, I can tell you that.
"I thought about what you said." I found Diantha in a café in Lumiose City, and she was the person I sought out the second I had my epiphany. "I did exactly as you asked, looked into the eyes of my Flareon, and all of the Pokémon I've used." I remember the crowd gathering around as I exposed my mind out to her. "Their strength is only but a fraction of how I beat you a month ago." She and her Gardevoir looked at me with curious eyes. It was like taking a standardized test in school, where the teacher's eyes were always focused on you. It was look that said: Show us who you really are. Show us how you've grown. It wasn't just Diantha's face, but her Gardevoir, the bystanders, and their Pokémon were all dialed in on me to see how I changed. "I lost sight of what I was supposed to love."
"Hm…" She responded. "Why did you become a trainer?" That question hit me hard. As unprepared as I believed I was, I said what came naturally.
"I became a trainer out of looking for a fix to seal a hole in my life, to find love, and to find a purpose to live and a purpose to wake up each day. That was my reason, all those years ago." I stated. The look on Diantha's face was unchanged, but the look on the Gardevoir's face shifted to her trainer. "Then, when I got a taste of what power really was when I got that pure-bred Eevee that is my Flareon. Nothing could stop us, we kept winning, battle after battle, and I slowly was filling the desire of love and that hole with glory and desire to win and defeat more and more, without ever feeling like anything other than my might alone pulled me through." The Gardevoir looked back at me. "I raised my entire team with the purpose to win, not to love. And thus, my victory over you holds no merit in my eyes." There was a murmur in the crowd, I could hear it. Diantha's face then became one of calm shock, while her Gardevoir had a small smile on her face. "I don't care what the league rules say, I do not honor that victory." Diantha walked up to me, and my heart literally froze. She's gonna rip me a new one, that's what I thought. To my surprise, she handed me a pokeball and put her hand on my shoulder.
"Oh you beat me Fletch, that much is clear." I didn't like her words. "I'll be honest with you dear. You beat me with strength and a little bit of care for your Pokémon. The little bit of care that prevented you from being undesirable." She smiled. "If you raised your team with even a hint more of love and caring, I wouldn't even knock out your Leafeon. You are strong Fletch, never deny that, but it is all up to you if you want to love your Pokémon back. You beat the champion, you hold that title. And plus, I like you a lot." I blushed, yeah, but hey the 'Pokémon Duchess of Queensville' just told me she liked me. You realize she's like the top of the celebrities chart right?
"What are you saying?" I sounded like a little kid didn't I? She smiled again, that smile man, just something about it is so frightening, but calming.
"How about you take my place for a while as Champion of Kalos?" Everyone, even the baby in the stroller gasped at her suggestion.
"So wait, hold on. Is this a test? Like you can't be serious." Like honestly, if you were me, would you just say yes, believing those words were sincere. If you say yes, you are lying to yourself, and don't do that to yourself, sound familiar?
"Look Fletch. I've been beaten by many great trainers, but none posses the potential and authority you do. I'll still be the real champion, but you get to sit in the throne for a bit. You take challengers, solve issues, if you desire of course, and see what happens." I would totally be into that, so naturally I tried to decline, but she wasn't going to let me out of it.
"I can't, it's too massive of a merit. I can't Diantha, I'm sorry." Then, to add to my redness, she took my hands now.
"Look at me Fletch." Those eyes too, jesus it is like she was carved out of ice. "Modesty is a great trait. Very few posses it, but don't go down that road of turning down something you rightfully deserve. I will not force you to do anything at all, but act on what your heart tells you to do now." She still pressed the pokeball against my hand. I heard it speak to me, really I did. It said something like 'believe in yourself' or something. I then looked at my pokeballs on my waist. They were not out, but I could see each one of my Pokémon's faces smiling at me, telling me to do it. They now had a say in my choices. I gripped the woman's hands tightly and smiled.
"I'll do it."
Of course, that's how my second journey began. I believed it was over and that I'd just up and settle down in a city now that my dream had come true. But that was just the icing on the cake. She gave me a pokeball that contained something that talked. I was worried at first because it would make seven Pokémon on my team. She smiled and said only six could be used for battling. I could keep whatever was inside the ball outside and by my side. It would be like having another person traveling and assisting me on the side. I haven't opened the ball yet, I was going to wait until we were alone.
That time is now. I'm sitting in the Champion's room in the elite four building. All of my Pokémon were standing at attention, but this time, it was a very relaxed attention. I placed the ball in the palm of my hand and hurled it into the air. The ball opened and a sleek white figure landed on two feet facing away from me and my team. The second I saw the hair and dress, I knew exactly what it was Diantha had given me.
"Holy shit it's a Gardevoir." Is all I could say. My team responded with a chorus of their names, adding to my surprise. The figure turned and revealed a single red eye that showed from her hairline.
"Diantha has a lot of faith in you." Okay, play it cool Fletch.
"Okay… yeah I'm totally not going to act surprised at all. Like I can understand a Pokémon, totally everyday stuff." The Gardevoir laughed quietly before turning around.
"Oh yeah." She smiled. "So, this is your team?" She walked closer and looked at me. "You seem nervous." Yeah, I had every reason to be nervous. Do you have any idea how DANGEROUS one of these Pokémon can be? Let me put it into perspective. A human as a bad day right, they might punch a wall, crash their car, whatever. A Gardevoir? That thing will ruin your life by creating a black fucking hole. You know, like SPACE BLACK HOLE? But maybe I can avoid that.
"Okay okay okay, look here." She cocked her head sideways. "I'm nervous because I know Gardevoirs can ne clingy and tend to overestimate danger. So RULE ONE. NO. BLACK. HOLES." She timidly looked away.
"Oh yeah… huh." God what was it with Pokémon just being able to make you feel like a terrible person?
"I just… also know what can happen as a result." I admitted. "And I never want to lose something I love." She looked up suddenly. "Yes, I love you just as much as all my Pokémon… it's just creepier now that you are practically the same as a human with psychic powers. You know how it goes I'm sure." I clapped my hands together. "BUT. My name is Fletch, I am the stand-in Champion for the time being. And you are…?"
"My last owner named me as a Ralts. My name was Caitlyn, but my friends," She winked at me. "…call me just Cait." Smooth start, let's keep it rolling.
"So uh Cait, what's your favorite color?" My tone was starting to grow obvious that I was off tracking hard.
"Light green, not to promote vanity or anything." She smirked and mocked me, playful little Pokémon. "So Fletch, have you ever kept a conversation going by forcing off-topic questions?" Oh, cute. I rolled my eyes and grinned.
"Yeah…" we stared at each other for the longest time. This friendship wouldn't be boring at least. Cait smiled and gave me a light hug. "Whoa there, easy now."
"What? Never been hugged by a girl before? Man I could feel your embarrassment while I was in the ball still. You're so timid around girls its adorable!" So yeah. Pretty sad day it is when a Pokémon is telling you that you're shy around women. This one wasn't even human.
"Watch your contact Cait, I don't want to get arrested because I fused a Gardevoir to my body." She let go and laughed.
"My, you're entertaining."
"Yeah, likewise." Then I heard whirring sound come from the other end of the chamber and Siebold, the water type user of the elite four walked in. His look was terrifying. It did always seem his eyes were able to tear worlds apart.
"Fletch, I assume you are finding your chamber nice?" Oh hell yeah. Dude, there are like six windows that are about 5 stories high with massive golden curtains blowing in the breeze. Did I mention that the breeze in this room was godlike? It was a constant, perfect breeze. Not too hard, but soft and gentle.
"I am, Siebold." I confirmed. Then I saw he had a homework folder in his hand, and I immediately wanted to bolt. "What's that you have there?"
"Paperwork." He smiled. "Oh that look on your face!" He handed Cait the folder. "Just letting you know, I'll be in touch whenever we have a challenger running through the elite four. You got my phone number so we can just call each other, yeah?"
"Yeah man." I said with a smile. I liked Siebold though, hard-ass in battle, and a cool guy outside of battle. "So you got something for me? How about lunch, does Tony's sound good?" Siebold put his hands up and said nothing. That meant no, he doesn't want lunch. So he has something else for me. "Okay, so what else you got for me?" The guy looked up and seemed to pull a task out of thin air.
"Diantha wants to meet you outside. It sounded important. She didn't even give me the details. The only thing she requested is that you bring your Gardevoir over there." Siebold looked at Cait and back to me. "I bet she's going to show you Mega Evolution." WOOOOO!
"Oh, alright I'll be right down." I returned my Pokémon to their balls and kept Cait outside. Besides, nobody said I couldn't carry more than six, I just figured everyone else did it, why not me? "Cait, you ready?"
"Of course, wouldn't want you to be late for your date." This girl would never let me go.
"Oh you, you aren't going to let up are you?"
"Nope." She laughed, and she laughed hard. Again, at least this experience won't be boring and grey.