Welcome! As mentioned in the description, this is a standalone sequel to Champion Game, my other fic which is still ongoing. It moves away from the supernatural elements that so heavily featured in CG and explores Ren Goodwin's life and growth as he takes on new challenges after losing his title. I've included a brief recap of Champion Game below that gives a little context to events mentioned in the story, but for the most part, no prior knowledge is required and you may as well treat this as a new fic.

OCs, mostly gameverse with some anime canon mixed in where convenient. Rated T for some violence and language, but nothing excessive.

Recap

Not long before his fifteenth birthday, Ren Goodwin wrested the title of Hoenn League Champion from Steven Stone. He was prepared for interviews and publicity, but not for the new and frightening world of darkness he was thrust into. He discovered that the role of Champion was not merely about being the best Trainer, but also about protecting the very fabric of the universe. Terrifying creatures desperate to invade the waking world haunted his dreams, along with brave warriors who battled them. The fighting was brutal, bloody, and the fate of the entire world hung in the balance. In the end, the battle was won at great cost and the instability patched up, returning peace to both worlds - and Ren's life. After two short years, Ren was defeated and passed on the mantle of Champion to another.

Prologue

Ren sighed. It wasn't like him – not these days – but he felt increasingly melancholic ever since his tenure as Champion had ended. There was little he could have done about the outcome of his battle with Cassie; he had been soundly defeated, and he was at peace with that fact. He had said all the necessary goodbyes as well, leaving the secret world he had discovered in far better shape than he'd found it. Together with his predecessor Steven Stone, he had made sure that his mantle as Champion was passed on securely and in safe hands. The difficult time was over, and he could move on without concern.

But to what?

The sun burned slowly through the sky, tracking inexorably towards the western horizon. It was late afternoon, but it would still be some hours before the oppressive summer sun touched the horizon over Slateport, bathing the sky – and the cliffs upon which he now stood – in a thick, heavy orange.

He would wait; he had time. He had nothing but time.

What had he done before he was Champion? There had to have been something, but he could only remember travelling. The quintessential mark of the twenty-first century teenager's transition into adulthood – the so-called 'Pokémon Journey' – had been all he'd known since he had been old enough to leave. The last two years had been different, though. Based out of Slateport, he had found time to reconnect with his roots, re-establishing contact with family members and keeping busy with his Champion business. In point of fact, he had had more to do in the last two years than ever before: more responsibilities, more friends, more excitement and adventure.

But now, that was all gone. Ren flopped down on the wild, scratchy grass and leaned back against the rusty chain-link fence, which screeched in protest as it bent. A sharp southerly breeze snapped at his floppy brown hair as it raced past, playfully threatening to tear his sunglasses off his head.

On any other day, Ren would have let out one or more of his Pokémon to keep him company, but right now he yearned only for his own company. Two years as the Champion had caused him to become far too accustomed to being around other people, if you asked him. Though he wouldn't trade the friends he had made along his journey for the world, sometimes he longed for those distant years where he really had been alone, save for the quiet company of his Pokémon.

Those friends were gone now anyway, and they wouldn't be coming back. Not for him. Involuntarily, his hand moved to his neck, where until recently, the Dreamlight had hung on a silver chain. Its absence still stung, though it had been nearly a month now since he had relinquished its power – and its responsibility.

"Responsibility, huh?" he murmured, the breeze snatching the quiet words from his lips and dancing away with them across the bay. Responsibility was something he had had far too much of over the past two years, but he had a strange feeling that it would only get worse from here. He had lived a truly blissful youth, he knew, but it could not last forever. What was next? College? An office job? He was seventeen now – not quite a man yet, but his time was running short.

An image of the letter resting on his bedside table at home flashed through his mind. Dour, professional stationery, stamped black lettering: an invitation from DevonCorp, a job offer dressed up in formalities and doublespeak. Through the unsolicited recommendation of Steven Stone, son of the company's president, the biggest conglomerate in the Hoenn region was scouting him.

And the worst part was that Ren wanted none of it. Today especially, he wanted nothing more than to cut himself free. Free of responsibility, free of the real world for just a little longer before he had to grow up for real. Was there any way to do that?

There was. It was pure escapism, he knew, but the idea had taken root now and it was too late to change his mind. Ren had never been spontaneous. Everything he ever did was calculated, decided after great deliberation and weighing of the costs and benefits. But today . . . Screw it. Ren pulled the PokéNav from his belt, flipping it open and scrolling through the contact list, heart pounding. Did he dare? Damn right he dared. Finding the number he was looking for, Ren punched the call button. A few moments later, he heard the clunk as his friend – perhaps his only friend these days – picked up.

"Ren! Dude, what's up?"

"Hey, Karl," he said quickly, a smile growing on his face. "Did you still want to go to Unova?"

Chapter 1

Nothing More To Do

17:28
Thursday

"You're going to what." Thalia Goodwin's voice was flat with disbelief. She set her laptop aside and regarded him incredulously across the table in their small, sunny kitchen.

"I'm taking the Unova Gym Challenge," Ren repeated. His mouth quirked into a half-grin as he watched the uncertain battle of emotions flit across his mother's face. "I already have some of the badges, so it seems like a waste not to finish the job."

She eventually settled on mildly affronted disapproval, brow knitted and mouth twisted in a familiarly sharp fashion. "Really, now." She sighed, her consternation evaporating. "Actually, I should have expected this. You've never been one to sit still, have you?"

Ren grinned despite himself. "I suppose not. Does that mean you're okay with it?"

His mother tilted her head. "You know I couldn't stop you if I wanted to, and honestly, I think this will be good for you. You're always at your happiest when you're doing something."

"You won't miss me too much?" Ren asked, half in seriousness, half teasing.

"Please. You know I'd rather have you here than not, but if you're just going to mope around town doing nothing it's just going to be miserable for both of us. So go on, sweetheart. Make me proud." She embraced him tightly.

All the tension that Ren had worked up during his walk home evaporated in an instant, and he returned the hug with feeling. He was taller than his mother now, and the difference was immediately obvious as his chin bumped against her ear, eliciting a quiet chuckle.

"Is it really –"

"It's fine, love." She cut him off gently, drawing back to hold him at arm's length. There were the beginnings of tears welling in her eyes, but she seemed to have resigned herself. "Having you home for two whole years has been . . . amazing, but Slateport is suffocating you. You have a natural talent for Pokémon battling – among many other things – and an urge to get out and see the world, neither of which I had as a child. Use them."

Ren could only nod. What could words do here? He knew she understood, and she knew he knew that.

"When are you leaving, then?" she asked, suddenly all business. "Are you going by plane, or by boat? Do you have a plan for when you get there?"

"Actually, yes!" Ren said with a laugh, raising his hands in mock-surrender. "I'm going with Karl – you remember, from Fortree? I thought we'd take the cruise ship leaving town for Castelia next week."

"That doesn't leave you much time," she said with an ever-so-slightly bitter smile. "You'd better start packing!"

"Is this really okay?"

Ren looked up from his luggage tags to see Karl squinting up at the gleaming white ship that had recently pulled into Slateport. A top-of-the-line cruise liner, the Royal Unova dwarfed every other ship in the harbour, a hulking behemoth of mobile accommodation and entertainment. "Is what okay?" he asked blankly.

"You know I could never afford this, man," Karl sighed, pushing his shaggy black hair out of his face. Dressed in a well-worn band t-shirt and ripped jeans, he would have looked more at home at a concert than on a luxury cruise. Then again, Ren supposed he wasn't much different. The brown cargo pants he wore were designed for comfort and practicality, not fashion, and the orange puffer jacket shielding him from Slateport's biting coastal wind was no better.

"Which is why I'm paying for it," Ren explained patiently for the dozenth time. "I owe you for that business at the Weather Institute, remember? And even if I didn't . . . I'm not going to Unova without my wingman."

Karl grimaced, but he finally seemed to accept it. "All right," he said reluctantly, hoisting his hiking pack with a grunt. "Then we'd better get underway before it leaves without us. You need to, uh, say your goodbyes or anything?"

Ren shook his head, grimacing slightly. "I did that already. Mom had to work, so she couldn't come see us off."

"Oh," Karl said. For a moment, he looked as if he was about to say something else – probably inappropriate – but he simply shrugged and said, "Let's get onboard, then."

The Royal Unova truly was a monstrosity, Ren reflected as they passed security and crossed into the ship proper. More like a floating city than any kind of boat, it had more than twenty levels, an onboard shopping mall, movie theatres, swimming pools on the top deck, and who knew what else. It hardly moved in the sedate waters of Slateport Harbour, suspiciously resembling solid ground. Their cabin would be on the fourth level, he recalled, availing himself of a folding map to guide them there. He could use a holiday, he realised. It had been two years and then some since he had finished roving around the Hoenn region, and since then he had been flat out.

Life as Champion had ill suited him, packed as it had been with constant media attention and pointless formalities. He had been invited to two or three different events a week in all corners of the region for most of his tenure: festivals in Fortree; almost monthly appearances on Hoenn Buzz, where he had apparently become a popular feature; even a trip to Unova to sit in on their League Conference two years ago.

At least now he slept easy, although he would almost have traded that to have the nightmares back. He missed his nightly forays into the world of dreams – and he missed Elly. Despite a rocky start to their relationship, they had somehow wound up as fast friends. Despite being an ancient dream-spirit, there had been a vivid, sharp energy about her that made her feel more real than anybody he knew. Saying goodbye had been hard, but such was the way of things. He was no longer the yehktira, the dreamer; in fact, his nights had been empty since the handover, a fact which had been profoundly disturbing at first.

"Yo, Earth to Ren!" Karl flicked him on the forehead, startling him. "You awake in there?"

Ren forced himself to smile. He had walked to their cabin in a trance-like state, and he had at some point arrived outside the door. "Yeah. Just a little tired. I had a lot to do this week before I left." Entering the cabin, Ren briefly admired the elegant décor before flopping down onto the bed. The cruise lasted six days – he would have plenty of time to explore the ship later. For now, all he wanted to do was sleep.

"Seriously?" Karl grunted. "Do I have to go have fun by myself?"

Ren sighed inwardly. "Nah," he said, rolling back over and forcing himself back to his feet. "Let's go have some fun. Everything's paid for, so we might as well."

"That's my man." Karl was slowly warming to the idea of a luxury cruise, Ren noted. Good. Last thing I need is him sulking too.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of activity. The main body of the Royal Unova was dominated by an enormous, roofed atrium, brightly lit and lined by galleries of shops, restaurants and cafes. The ceiling was arched and vaulted nearly ten stories above deck level, acting as a support for the dizzyingly high entertainment deck. Three glass-roofed swimming pools, plus one in the open air for good weather, areas lined with deckchairs and umbrellas, and more stalls, cafes and arcades dotted the roof. The first time Ren and Karl made it up to the top, though, their attention was immediately caught by a compact, open-air Pokémon stadium on a lower deck towards the stern.

"You think they'd let us use that?" Karl wondered.

Ren shrugged. "It's part of the package, sure, but there's probably a queue a mile long. Why? You want to battle me?" he prodded, half-teasingly.

"Well... it has been a while," Karl said, squinting down at the battlefield. "I wouldn't mind, y'know, seeing how much I've improved."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Why don't I see what I can do?"

He might not have been Hoenn Champion any longer, but he was still a recognisable figure. Within ten minutes of arriving at the stadium, he and Karl were waiting in the wings for the current battle to finish, listening to the hum of a sizeable crowd that had gathered for an afternoon's entertainment. The stadium manager had been more than willing to oblige Ren's request once she recognised him, but he hadn't imagined she would bump them right up the order to battle next.

The waiting room was small, but clean and professional, outfitted with all the amenities he had come to associate with registered Pokémon League venues. Drab decor, polished metal lockers, a view screen to watch the matches – currently switched off – and even a minibar, which Ren ignored. Karl would be waiting in a matching room on the other end of the arena.

A smattering of applause signalled the end of the current battle, followed by an indecipherable announcement over the PA system. More applause leaked into the waiting room, more directly this time as the arena door slid open with a sharp hiss, admitting a young woman dressed fashionably in white and pink. She spared Ren barely a glance as she swept past, her mouth set in a sharp line. He raised an eyebrow, but elected not to comment. Within moments, he was once again alone in the room. Any moment now...

With a chime, the indicator light over the door turned green. "There's my cue," Ren muttered to nobody in particular, standing up and dusting off his pants – more out of habit than from any lack of cleanliness in the sparkling room. Letting the door slide open automatically as he approached, Ren set out along the short tunnel that led to his end of the arena. All of a sudden, it seemed, his body was remembering this feeling: the racing adrenaline associated with battling, the increased heart rate and heightened awareness that seemed to come along with it. Suddenly cognizant of every foot step, every breath, Ren forced himself not to stop moving, concentrating on the voice of the announcer, who was now in the process of introducing the two competitors.

Pausing just inside the shadow of the archway that led into the arena proper, Ren waited for his name to be called before stepping out, blinking in the evening sunlight. Just like the facilities backstage, the stadium itself appeared to be a mirror of full-sized regulation stadiums, on a noticeably smaller scale. With room for perhaps five hundred spectators, it was still orders of magnitude larger than anything he had expected to find on a ship, but it was no Ever Grande Central – thankfully. Ren had never been one for large crowds, which had made his League challenges difficult, but this – maybe a hundred people at most, lining the lower edges of the shaded stands – he could manage.

Realising he'd let himself get distracted again, Ren scoped out the battlefield. It was the same green permacrete he had come to expect in high-end facilities. Durable and yet shatter-resistant, it was easier to maintain than dirt or grass, but offered less purchase for combatants and added an extra level of danger to physical takedown attacks: rather than ploughing a furrow in the surface, an unsuccessful high-velocity attack – especially from the air – could cause serious damage to the aggressor. Between that, his opponent's penchant for Dark-type Pokémon and a few other factors that flashed through his head, Ren had almost narrowed down which of his own team he would battling with.

It had only been a couple of seconds, but time seemed to behave strangely whenever he stepped onto a battlefield. Shaking his head, he sloughed off the lethargy that had been gripping him, striding forward with purpose to take his place in the starting box. Realising the stadium's announcer was still talking, Ren tuned in absently as he watched Karl take up a position opposite him.

"Both Trainers hail from right here in the Hoenn region, ladies and gentlemen! The young man at the aft end is the only recently dethroned regional Champion, Ren Goodwin of Slateport. And at the other end, we have, let's see . . . Karl Visscher, from Fortree. Single battle, two stock, no substitutions allowed. Give us a good match, gentlemen!"

Ren raised a hand in absent acknowledgement. Was it just his imagination, or was the crowd swelling slightly in size? Pushing the thought from his mind, Ren selected a Poké Ball from his belt, telescoping it to full size. At the other end of the arena, Karl mirrored him silently. No words were exchanged; they were unneeded.

Thumbing the switch again, Ren revelled in the familiar flash of red light as the capsule split open, unleashing the beast within. Zangoose howled to the sky, a bestial cry of exultation in its sudden freedom. White fur bristling, it took a few practice swipes with its gleaming black claws, almost bouncing on its short legs as it psyched itself up. The irregular slash of red fur across its muscular chest seemed to catch the late afternoon sun, suffusing the Pokémon with an almost iridescent glow – although that may have just been the last vestiges of energy from the Poké Ball playing across its haunches.

Ren grinned wryly, feeling Zangoose's infectious aggression and eagerness creep up within him. "Sorry it's been so long, buddy," he said quietly, his words only intended for his oldest partner. Zangoose growled reproachfully, but kept its beady yellow eyes fixed on the slight teenager at the other end of the arena. A seasoned battler and veteran of many Gym and League challenges, Zangoose had seen its share of official battlefields, so it knew precisely why it had been summoned.

Karl nodded appreciatively, tossing his own Poké Ball with a casual flair that belied his investment in the battle. With a crack, his own trademark partner – a lithe, muscular Mightyena, imaginatively named Scar – appeared on the battlefield. The lacerations on its muzzle that had given the Dark-type its moniker had faded with time, but they were still visible, proofs of a bloody, combative history.

Ren nodded. Karl had done exactly as he expected. The outcome of this battle was decided even before it started.

A referee, who Ren's eyes had skipped over previously, stepped forward and raised a green flag. "Battle begin!" Just like that, it was on.

This was going to be fast and intense. Both Pokémon were brawlers through and through. "Zangoose, go!" Did he even need to give orders anymore? Probably not, Ren reflected idly as his Pokémon leapt explosively into action, staying low to the ground as it charged towards the Mightyena. Zangoose had been with him for seven years now, battling almost every day. Each could read the other like a book. Still, it didn't pay to get complacent.

As the gap closed, Ren leapt into action. "X-Scissor! Go in low!" Zangoose complied, twisting its body to take the unusual attack angle. It would be difficult to defend against for the quadrupedal Mightyena, at the expense of some of the attack's power. Claws gleaming with a dangerous light, Zangoose slashed upwards, but Scar was already moving, leaping over the attack and coming to land behind its confused opponent.

"Scar! Take Down, now!" Karl shouted, gesturing at the off-balance Zangoose. Scar charged with a howl.

Ren quirked an eyebrow. Risky. Potentially suicidal. No time to evade! "Meet it head-on, Zangoose! Close Combat!" Whirling and planting its feet against the solid ground, Zangoose swung a mighty blow at the Mightyena's muzzle, connecting with a two-way impact that seemed to shake the arena. The two froze in place for a split second, a perfect tableau of raw, brutal combat, before Zangoose followed through with a mighty left hook, its clawed paw smashing into Scar's jaw and sending it flying out of bounds.

This was no boxing match, however. No victories by ring-out here. "Follow up, Zangoose," he instructed, control over the battle solidified. "Hit it with a Slash before it can recover!" Zangoose yowled, sensing victory with its animalistic senses, and leapt high in the air, diving at incredible velocity towards its groggy opponent with claws outstretched.

Ren watched with grim satisfaction as Scar could do nothing but twist uncomfortably to mitigate the damage, but Zangoose's massive claws still scored a decently solid hit regardless. Karl grimaced and ordered another attack, but the Mightyena's jaws could only snap weakly.

"Finish it, Zangoose," Ren said levelly as the two Pokémon disentangled themselves and separated, eyeing each other warily – Zangoose with triumph dancing in its eyes, Scar limping and uncertain, but still dangerous. "X-Scissor, once again. It can't dodge this time." Evidently Zangoose was in agreement, for it sprang forward with renewed vigour, bringing the claws on both paws slashing down onto its hapless opponent. With a final howl, Scar crumpled to the ground, twitching feebly before losing consciousness. The flag went up and the crowd – wait, were there so many people here before? – roared appreciatively.

Ren paused. The first round had been fast and brutal, as he had expected, but he couldn't help but be a little disappointed. He knew Karl wasn't Champion material, but part of him had still hoped for a more even match.

Fixing a smile on his face, Ren waved appreciatively to the crowd. It really had swelled since the beginning of the match as word spread of his appearance. In only a couple of minutes, the audience had nearly doubled in size. He started to feel the pressure, but pushed it aside as Karl returned Scar to its Poké Ball and drew another to finish the battle. The rules they'd agreed on included no substitutions, so he couldn't have switched Zangoose out if he'd wanted to. The stocky, powerful Pokémon was just getting warmed up, anyway. It bounced on the balls of its feet, awaiting the next challenge. Ren sighed lightly. This battle would be over soon. He briefly flirted with the idea of going easy on Karl to drag the battle out, but discarded it immediately. For a guy like Karl, that would be the ultimate insult. Besides, he didn't owe this audience a show. If they showed up late, it sucked to be them.

The next opponent was Karl's Sableye. As a Ghost-type, it would be difficult to hit – at least, that was what Karl should be thinking. In reality, Ren knew that it wouldn't help. A slight ennui set in as he took a deep breath and prepared to continue the battle.