God damn, I love Pokemon.
So why am I writing this story, basically I wanted to make a loser first, and then break him and turn him into a total winner. Assume that the whole thing is AU because the timelines are mighty screwed up, there is going to be a few OC's but that's it.
There is a note at the bottom people.
Total Win: Kanto
Summary: I am not really good at this thing, but I figure a Magikarp is an awesome Pokemon to learn with. Right? Yeah, I'm going to win. OC's. AU.
Chapter 1
"Pikachu use Volt Tackle" Ash Ketchum said, staring at the impressive legendary pokemon in front of it.
"Laitos, Luster Purge" said Tyson, his opponent. It was the semi-finals of the Lily Of The Valley conference in Sinnoh.
In Pewter City, way back in Kanto, Ash Ketchum's home region people stared on the television screen, hoping that Pikachu could take out Latios.
It couldn't. Both Latios and Pikachu attacked each other and a brilliant mixture of light enveloped the stadium, by the time it lifted, both Pikachu and Latios had circles in their eyes, indicating that they were knocked out.
A disappointed hush surrounded the cafe in which the match was being watched. There were several kids, mostly girls with Ash Ketchum signs who were excitedly watching, hoping that the Kanto boy could win, but he couldn't.
"It's not fair" one pretty blonde girl piped up after five minutes of silence during which Ash was congratulated by Tobias. "They can't allow him to use such strong Pokemon, they are all things of the legend, how can this be allowed" she said, trying to invoke outrage.
It worked, they were all outraged. All the local supporters of Ash Ketchum were outraged beyond belief. Meanwhile Ash Ketchum stared at the sky, already getting up from his fall, already hoping to better the next time.
This is not the story of Ash Ketchum. It's mine.
My name is Brad Armstrong, 13 years old, native of Pewter City in Kanto, my Dad works for Flint, helping him cut rocks to sell, it's a thankless job, but it pays well and someday my Dad hopes I take over from him.
The girl I like, Cindy Belfast is also a big fan of Ash Ketchum, she is the blonde who successfully invoked outrage, someday I hope to impress her. And I think I just know how.
I'm not a Pokemon fan, I'll level with you, I've never understood them, I've always thought they were slaves who should help humans with day to day chores, but my Dad and Flint feel that Pokemon should be allowed to do what they want, with whom they want. I don't particularly care, I was never really interested in the Pokemon side of our world, but I was interested in Cindy.
And Cindy was definitely interested in Pokemon. Which gave me a way to easily impress her, become a Pokemon trainer and beat that Ash Ketchum guy, win the respect and love of Cindy, retire and live happily ever after.
"It sucks what happened to Ash doesn't it" I say to Cindy as I walk up to her, man is she beautiful. She has teary eyes, I'm hoping by providing some fake sympathy, I can get in her good graces.
"Who are you?" she asks me, a confused look in her eyes.
"Brad. Armstrong?" I say, hoping she can remember, she stares at me still confused.
"Oh yeah, the drop out kid" she says to me. Sweat pools around my head, I thought they had forgotten about that nickname. You see, since I had no interest in Pokemon I was sent to a normal school, but I wasn't good at studying, I knew I was intelligent, if I could apply myself I could do well, but I didn't want to apply myself, because seriously, who cares about school.
So I dropped out, only to be sent to another school, before being sent to another school. Eventually my Dad decided that it wasn't worth wasting any money on me, he seemed really glad when he told me that because I was opting out of an education, my elder brother and the apple of the eyes of my parents would get to go to college and do all the great things that I could never do. I could cut rocks.
But was it my fault? No, it was the fault of a screwed up system, you either did well with Pokemon, or by studying, but there was no alternative and that sucked.
"Yeah" I said sheepishly, realizing that I better speak up before I screw up the meeting.
"I thought you said Pokemon suck" she said to me, an accusatory tone in her speech.
"What?" I said outraged, "Why I would never say something like that" I said to her. Her look told me that she didn't believe me.
"Whatever" she said getting up and leaving, before she left she muttered 'loser', was she intending for me to hear it? Yeah, probably.
-x-
"Fuck this" I said kicking rocks. It's not like there was anything else I could do.
I'd gone home after being snubbed by Cindy, only to find my brother Evan at home, he'd come back on vacation and was being fawned over by my parents. I figured that I'd be ignored anyway, so I just left, it's not like I would be missed.
My parents forgot me a lot, they once left me behind in the museum and it took me nine hours to show up by myself, only to get grounded for showing up late. I wanted to say that it was their fault, but it was always my fault right? I mean nothing I did could ever eclipse stupid Evan and his stupid college.
"Man, I need to get away" I said loudly, hoping that someone up there would hear me. But no one probably would.
"Did someone say get away?" an excited voice asked me.
I looked towards the voice, it was a fat man wearing a hat and a beige jacket. He looked like a sleazeball and sounded like one too.
"Would you like to get away on your own Pokemon Journey?" he asked me.
I looked at him, how was this sleaze going to help me get away from home? But since he was talking about starting a Pokemon journey, I figured how hard could it be. I might as well try this too, I know I can surely do better than that Ketchum guy.
"Sure" I said, trying not to sound too hopeful.
"Great" the fat man said smiling and showing me a thumbs up. "To start a journey, you need a Pokemon, and I have something I can sell you one for just a measly $200" he said to me.
I perked up, so I was just going to give up around one tenth of my savings and get a Pokemon, fuck yes I'm going to take it.
"I'll take it" I said to him. "What is this anyway?" I asked him after I handed him the money and received the Pokeball.
"Ah, it's a Magikarp" the fat salesman said, a very majestic water Pokemon indeed" he said to me, before immediately running away, thanking me as he sped away into the nearby entrance of Mount Moon.
Magikarps sound really familiar, but I couldn't recall what they were. I was sure they were awesome. The salesman sure seemed to say so.
-x-
I sped back home excited, but found the door locked. There was a note, telling me that my parents had gone with Evan to a nearby restaurant to celebrate his homecoming and that I could spend time at a friend's house.
As if I had any friends. None of the kids my age even talked to me. They all called me 'Stupid Brad Armstrong', one of my teachers called me 'Stupid Brad Headstrong', you get the point.
I stared at the Pokeball in my hand, my ignorance with Pokemon was such that I didn't even know how to get them to appear, I figured I'd just toss them, but the Pokeball just bounced before rolling down the slope in front of my house.
"Fuck" I swore loudly, I couldn't swear at home, but I sure could do it here. I ran after the slowly rolling away ball, the ball seemed on a merry path of it's own, before it promptly stopped in front of someone's foot.
I stared at the person whose foot had stopped my Pokeball. It was a girl, about my age, she was wearing a red skirt, and a blue top. A yellow bag was strapped to her shoulder. She looked pretty. Just as pretty as Cindy Belfast who was right behind her. Fuck, Cindy was right behind her.
"Oh, I am so sorry" the girl said to me, picking up my pokeball and handing it to me.
"It's not your fault" I said to her, now was my turn to be suave so that Cindy could be impressed. "I was just, ugh, trying out my brand new Pokemon" I said to her, "And my ball slipped from the fingers" I said rubbing my hair.
"Cool" she said, perking up instantly. "Wanna battle?" she asked me.
Cindy was looking at this girl, shaking her head. "Leaf, that is not a good idea" she said to this girl, who I just found out was called Leaf.
"Why not? He's a trainer" she asked her. Cindy just sighed, before signalling Leaf to just do whatever she pleased.
"Hi" the girl named Leaf said. "My name is Leaf Green, and I have just won a badge from Pewter City" she said to me, smiling. "Do you accept my challenge?" she asked me.
"Yeah" I said. How hard could it be, beating a girl.
"Alright" she said, pressing a button at the center of the PokeBall before throwing it towards the ground, so that's how that was done.
"Go, Wartotle" she said. From the Pokeball emerged a turtle type Pokemon, a Wartotle apparently. It looked pretty menacing.
"Ha" I said, I was sure my own awesome Pokemon would deal with this, I pressed the button in the center of the Pokeball and threw it on the ground, revealing a Magikarp.
It looked weird, it was a red fish, and it flapped on the ground pretty uselessly.
Leaf did not seem impressed, but Cindy just started laughing. Cindy's laughter caused Leaf to start laughing.
"Oh God" Cindy said in between laughs. "A loser Pokemon for a loser" she said to me, gasping.
Now I know I don't let the world bother me much, I don't care if my parents and brother think I'm a loser, I don't care if the world calls me a drop out, but to hear it from my crush seemed to, well, crush me.
"Alright" I said, getting angry. "Magikarp, use water gun" I said to my fish thing. It just uselessly flopped about, not doing anything. What the fuck?
"Magikarps can't use Water Guns loser" Cindy said to me laughing. Even that stupid turtle Wartotle was laughing at me.
"Who gave you this Pokemon?" Leaf asked me.
"I bought it-"
"-from that fat salesman?" she asked me. I nodded.
"Yeah, you've been conned. You really are stupid" she said to me. "But since this is a battle, I'll finish it. Wartotle, use bite" she said to her turtle.
"Get away Magikarp" I said to the fish, but it just flopped about uselessly. Great.
The turtle bit my Magikarp and that was it, it was knocked out.
I recalled Magikarp into my Pokeball, tears starting to flow from my eyes. Cindy was still laughing, calling me a loser every five seconds, Lead laughed at first but it seemed like she didn't find it funny anymore. I ran away to hide my tears, I don't know how long I ran.
-x-
"YOU SUCK" I said shouting at the Magikarp. It seemed to flop about sadly, I didn't care.
"YOU ARE USELESS, YOU ARE WORTHLESS" I said to it. "Fuck you" I said to it before kicking it. It made a painful sound before hitting a rock.
"Why does this happen to me?" I asked no one in particular. The Magikarp was knocked out. I was crying, I had not cried in a long time, but today in a long time I realized that I was useless, just like everyone had been telling me for all this time.
"No wonder I have no friends" I cried. "Who'd be friends with someone like me? Who'd be friends with this idiot?" I said, slapping myself, because I felt like I deserved it.
I must have cried for fifteen minutes before deciding that being a Pokemon trainer was not for me, and then I left, going back home.
-x-
As I walked back home, I saw someone close by. I was feeling naked, I just wanted to go home and bury myself in the shame of having lost my savings on a fucking worthless Pokemon. And then I walked upon him. It was an old man, his hair was white and long, his clothes dirtied.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him. He ignored me. "Sir?" I asked him.
"I'm looking for my Floette" he said to me.
A Floette? Another stupid Pokemon. Yeah, who cared.
"I have been looking for years" he said to me.
"That is stupid" I said to him. "Just catch a new one" I said to him. Suddenly he looked outraged.
"I can't catch a new one" he said to me. "You insolent child, what do you know, what it feels like, to love someone and lose them?"
"You're in love with a Pokemon?" I asked him incredulous. "Ha! Lame" I said to him.
"Spoken like a person who has never been loved" he said to me. I stared at him before walking away.
-x-
"So what is going on with your life drop out?" Evan asked me. I stared at him, I would have come up with a witty retort, but I couldn't, the loss I had today in my first ever Pokemon battle made sure that I couldn't outwit my brother.
"Nothing is going on" my mother kindly answered for me, of course, I'm being sarcastic. I do not want my mother to answer for me. Because I know what happens after we have this conversation, we have the 'my life is going nowhere' conversation, that leads into the 'you are useless' conversation. This day wasn't going to pan out any differently.
But it didn't. They didn't say anything, they just ignored me and moved on, the whole conversation was focused around my brother. It felt like they had given up on me. Just like I had given up on Magikarp.
Fuck.
-x-
I had managed to get away from home, my parents didn't seem to care that I was leaving, I guess fawning over Evan was more important.
I found my Magikarp just where I'd left it, it was still flopping about pretty uselessly, except there seemed to be several Pidgey's swarming it. Now Pidgey's were pretty common in our land, so were Spearow's. I knew what they could do, and I knew that they would eat Magikarp alive.
"Magikarp" I called out to it. It stared at me, as did the wild Pidgey. "I'm sorry Magikarp, I'll work on your forgiveness later okay, so return" I said to it, trying to call it back into my Pokeball, except it dodged, it moved away. It did not want to return.
"Come on Magikarp, I just said I'm sorry" I said, trying to recall it, the laser beam seemed to miss it completely.
"Please" I said to it. The wild Pidgey just stared at us, I'm sure I looked funny to them.
"Magikarp, I have never said this to anyone, but you're not the useless one, I really am" I said to it, tears threatening to fall again. "I've spent my life not being good at anything and just making up excuses, but with you I won't make any excuses, I am a horrible person, I deserve punishment, and you can leave me later, but for now, please, let me take care of you, because these wild idiots will eat you alive"
"Magikarp" the fish said to me, it tone sounded different.
The wild Pidgey's dived towards the Magikarp and in that instant I knew what to do.
"Fuck this" I said diving over my Magikarp and covering it with my body while the Pidgey's mercilessly tackled into me.
"I thought birds were herbivores" I said shouting helplessly.
I seemed to be mercilessly pelted by Pidgey's for hours and hours before a familiar voice rang out.
"Golurk"
And then, in one fell swoop, all the wild beasts were gone.
"You alright kid?"
I turned to look around, and I found myself face to face with a giant, golem like behemoth, and that old man from before.
"That was brave, and stupid" he said to me. I just looked at him, actually I couldn't, my eyes were blinded by tears, due to the pain I was feeling right now. I slowly got up, my Magikarp lay there, unharmed, it seemed to have stopped flopping about uselessly.
"I am going to look for my Floette, do you understand why?" the old man asked me.
I nodded. Suddenly, I felt something in my chest, not pain, something pleasant.
"That good feeling" he said to me. "It's a feeling of positive emotions and thoughts, it happens when you do something selfless, you should try more often, it's the best high in the world"
The best high? Does this old geezer think I do drugs or something?
"There is no useless Pokemon in this world, there are just useless trainers, with the right kind of training, even the most useless looking Pokemon can be strong" he said to me.
And then it hit me, why Ash Ketchum was so successful, even after he lost, he picked himself up, his Pokemon loved him, no one loved me, but now I had a chance, I looked at my Magikarp, and I smiled.
I don't think Magikarps can smile, because this one just flopped about excitedly.
"Do you want to, ugh, be my Pokemon? Still?" I asked him. The Magikarp flopped about excitedly.
"Alright" I said, happy for the first time in a long time. "Return" I said calling Magikarp back. It willingly went in.
"I hope you find Floette" I said to the old man.
"I plan on it" he said to me before leaving.
I need to go and read up on Magikarps. I wonder if there is a book for that.
To all the few people who actually make it to the end, please leave a review, now let me explain myself and what you will see from this Fic.
Not many OC's: The main character is one, but he's not overpowered, in fact, he's an idiot. A well meaning idiot, but he'll learn from his mistakes.
Shipping: It's not going to be with Cindy Belfast for sure.
Brad's Pokemon: Magikarp will actually evolve pretty fast, the Magikarp was his first Pokemon only to show how stupid he is, but the Magikarp is also a sign that Brad is someone with amazing potential. He won't catch every Pokemon, but he'll catch more than Ash catches in the anime. I'm not one for nicknames, so, there won't be any.
If you've read this and liked it, review and follow, read my other (mostly) Naruto stories if you're into that fandom. At this moment I plan on updating pretty regularly.