A/N: Yo, guys! Today's Thanksgiving and if you're not tired after a Thanksgiving dinner yet, then you better hang around for a special preview coming this 2016!
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon! It belongs to Nintendo! Also, the characters appearing belongs to me, so no stealing!
It's another day in Pallet Town as the flocks of Pidgey are chirping and the Pokemon are frocking around Professor Oak's ranch. However, a young boy wearing an aqua blue newsboy cap, white hoodie jacket, blue shorts, and pink sneakers knocked on the laboratory's front door, which Professor Samuel Oak answered.
"Professor Oak?," asked the boy.
"Yes, that's me. Can I help you with something?," Oak asked. "Or you wanted to start on your Pokemon journey? I got some Pokemon to help you start with.
"I have no interest on Pokemon journeys or your starter Pokemon. You can call me Rai," the boy introduce himself. "I have something very important to show you."
"What is it?"
"All in due-time. But first…do you know how to play chess?"
"A little, yes!"
Rai then cracked a childish smile, and his eyes gleamed with joy.
"Then I hereby challenge you to a chess match!"
"Okay…," Oak said uneasily.
"Great!," Rai said as he zipped inside, and pulled out a chessboard and game pieces and set them up. He then motioned for Oak to sit with him. Oak, stunned sat at the white side of the chessboard, while Rai sat at the black side. "Well, white always moves first…so your move."
Oak then moved a white pawn forward a space. Rai then moved a black pawn forth and suddenly, the scenery around Oak suddenly began to change and shift…
To a crowded street of an unknown city, much to his shock.
"W-Where are we?! I thought you only wanted to have a chess match," Oak said in shock.
"Oh, we are," Rai said as he appeared right in front of the Pokemon Professor. "Only the special conditions are that whenever we move our pieces, the representations of them will appear right into our eyes. In this case, my pawn represents a rumor."
"A rumor?," he asked while he moved another white pawn.
In an instant, the enigmatic boy moved the same black pawn, which switched to a LED monitor showing some kind of a chatroom.
"To be more specific, an urban legend from the world I'm showing you. They said that there's a mysterious user named 'GameLine' wandered around in every chatroom it could possibly think of. Whenever it finds you alone, it will invite you in a private chatroom and challenge you in five games. But when you finished those games no matter the outcome, something bad is going to happen to that challenged person. In a sense…"
FireAG1La: Some say if you've been challenged by an AI in a chatbox for five games... You will never go back to reality.
"Wait, what do you mean never go back to reality? Wouldn't that make people afraid and not want to go into a chatroom online?," Oak asked with worry. He moved a white rook and the scene changed to seemingly ordinary game room.
"You're right, it is ridiculous. Not what I imagined when I made that rumor."
"What did you imagine then? That there would be people who might accept the challenge?"
"As a matter of fact, yes!," Rai said as he moved a black knight.
"But you made the rumor sound so ominous if you ask me," Oak said.
To his shock, Rai started laughing in a childish manner and said, "Yes, I did. But for one purpose…"
When he moved his King piece, the room started to transform, much to Oak's horror at what the young boy just did.
"What are you-?!"
"To find the best gamers to challenge my world. The world where games rule them all and violence is replaced with play!" Rai arrogantly declared and stood up proudly as the room started to grew fuzzy. "The world which I can call my own world!"
Before the Pokemon Professor can react, the room then split itself like an unfolded paper cube before Rai declared, "WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF MY OWN CREATION!"
To his shock, Professor Oak now found himself falling from the skies and into the new world, much to his horror as he shouts, "WHAT WORLD IS THIS?!"
"This is an ideal world where everyone can challenge the world!" Rai shouted in excitement. "The world of games! The ultimate board game! My own creation, GAMELINE!"
"GAMELINE?!," Oak shouted as they continued to fall.
"Yes. A world where games are the way of life!"
"I've never heard of such a thing!"
"Few people have, professor! Only those that are challenged or invited know about GameLine. In this world, games are used not only for fun and entertainment, but also to gain objects, status, and power and resolve disputes and conflicts without violence and bloodshed. Basically, everything is decided and run by games. These are some of the many laws and ways of the GameLine world."
"Well speaking of bloodshed, I'll be shedding mine in just a few more minutes!," Oak began to panic as the ground got closer and closer.
"Just make your move!," Rai shouted. Oak quickly looked and saw the chessboard falling right with them. He took a white rook, moved it two spaces and then shut his eyes.
But when he opened his eyes, Oak was surprised that he was now back in his own laboratory, which he realized it must have happened when he finished his turn.
"Sorry about that, Prof. I didn't expect you to be scared like that," Rai said with a smile on his face.
"Well, what did you expect when you have me suddenly falling 1000 FEET TO THE GROUND!," Oak snapped.
"Sorry, I just wanted to show you GameLine the fun way."
"More like the crazy way to me! So what else can you tell me about this world?"
Rai only replied with a move of another one of his black pawns, which the scenery changed to a war-torn battlefield, much to Oak's shock once more.
"My world was not always about games as it was ravaged in continuous wars for years," Rai said as his voice has now became serious and hardened. "Every race, every nobility, even the gods were taking each other's lives just to prove themselves. I was created by every children in that world to ease of their pain and when most of them die, I was sick of it."
The scenery then changed to an empty chessboard-like area above the colorful sky as he held out a floating globe-like orb on his hand. "I hate violence and I hating waiting for the gods and races to kill each other into a stalemate. So I bet the children to the gods. A game of violence. My only weapon: never shed a blood. Do you know how I win?"
"Let me guess, with strategy, wit, cunning, and intellect?," Oak asked.
"Very good, Professor. The gods were so impressed by my wisdom, they made me the head god of the world."
As soon Professor Oak moved another white pawn, the scenery then changed into a calm medieval/fantasy town, now free of the violence that he mentioned.
"After I won and took the role of God, I remade the world with one goal in mind: To turn it into a world of games and teach everyone to unite and play together."
"And I suppose everyone lived happily ever after?," Oak said.
"For a while, yes we did. But…"
"There was a catch? Like maybe people started cheating to win the games," Oak guessed.
"Unfortunately, it's not that simple."
As he moved his Rook piece forward, the scene changed to some people and other races taking advantage of others after they lost the games.
"People started to take advantage of my Laws for their personal gain. They even took games too seriously to the point that they are either a crime or a way to gain power," Rai sadly said. "I wanted to show everyone the true meaning of games, but as a God, I can't interfere anything in my power as my position is neutral. I even spread the rumor in the real world to send skilled players called Foreigns to help them, yet it still spreads the corruption of the meaning of games. I was running out of options. I have no choice but to observe."
As he said this, everything was gone dark as his explanation was ended.
With them now returned to the laboratory, Oak became a little guilty about hearing Rai's story.
"I'm sorry, Rai," Oak said. "But why challenge me? I'm just a Pokemon researcher. And the one person I know would love to help is on a journey right now."
As he heard this, Rai's sadness turned into a childish grin once more as he said, "That's because I'm not interested on that Ash boy or your research. I'm here because you remind me of this kid I met."
"Who is he?"
"He's a good kid. He's stoic, kinda snarky, and a little pessimistic, but deep down he also has a kind, selfless, and noble heart. He never gives up and is always ready for a new challenge."
"Well, that sounds a lot like Ash," Oak said as he moved his white king piece forward
"Which brings me to another important urban legend."
With Oak's turn now finished, he found themselves in the same monitor room once more with the new chatroom in the LED monitor.
"How many loses you took in your life?" Rai asked with a smile. "And how did you endure them?"
"I've taken quite a few," Oak said. "But I actually took the opportunity to learn from them to better myself."
"Ah, spoken like a true competitor. However, this kid I know, likes to lose a lot."
"Likes to lose?"
"It's part of his over all gaming strategy. Watch."
Rai then snapped his fingers once more, revealing the chatroom's contents on the monitor.
bLackHy9no: Did you hear about that player named Savior?
monoDe7ectiVe: Yeah! He wiped the floor on me in 5 turns!
"Savior?" Oak repeated.
"Yeah. The legend goes that there's a player named Savior who is very infamous not because of perfect wins, but his loses," Rai explained. "They said that when you beat him in any video game, he will become stronger. And the more loses he take, the more wins he will obtain. Heck, his win record shows that he got 100 wins and 90 loses!"
"Well, I always said, learning from your loses can make you stronger in the long run, but this is unheard of."
"Maybe to you. But in the GameLine and online communities, it's legendary!," Rai said.
"So what else about him?"
"Well, I heard one time, this player managed to beat him with 2 players in her team. Yet thanks to her arrogance, she challenged him with 20 players in her team. And thanks again to her arrogance, she resorted to cheating to defeat him."
"Really? Well what exactly happened? And was she penalized for what she did?"
"It's a long story," Rai told the professor.
"I'm all ears. And I got the time, so…"
"Well..."
"N-No way..."
The woman was completely shocked at the fact that her strongest monster was defeated by a weak-looking monster that a masked boy just owned.
"He's the only one in here and his class is completely weak! Yet..."
She then looked around and saw many avatars lied down dead around the battlefield, which suggested that they met their fate thanks to that masked boy.
"He managed to beat 20 players in my party?!"
Before she can think anymore, the masked boy charged onto her with his big broadsword and black rifle as he used the latter to shoot multiple rounds to her, which the woman dodged in panic.
"Enough! I had it with his games!" She shouted in anger as she pulled out her staff and created a barrier to block the incoming bullets to her. With a few mana remaining, she then created bright ray blasts to eliminate her opponent, but no matter the number of magic she fires, he just dodged them with the speed of light. But just as the boy thought he got away from her attacks, the woman's mana then suddenly had her mana recovered to full health before she created a powerful ray to accurately blast the boy into oblivion.
"Goodbye, cheating Savior! I'll be the one who will expose you as the fraud you are! Even though I'm also cheating as well by replenishing my mana with illegal means, this is the risk I'll take to defeat you!"
As the ray disappeared, the masked boy was nowhere in sight, causing the woman to laugh in madness in celebration and shouted, "I DID IT! I DETHRONED THE IMPOSSIBLE PLAYER! HAHAHAHAHA!"
"So she violated the rules just to ruin him?," Oak said.
"Yes, and she was so cracked by then she had started celebrated right as the ray hit," Rai said. "She was happy as a clown that she had won. Or so she thought..."
Suddenly, a big rock hand grabbed her and carried her to let her see the masked boy and his golem summon, much to her horror on the fact that he survived.
"You can't dodge that..."
As she continued to mutter with those same words, the masked boy then jumped and used his broadsword to finish her off.
"YOU CAN'T DODGE THAT!"
With the slashing sound in a black screen, the words -GAME OVER- was shown on her computer screen.
"Because of his unnatural use of his loses as keys to his many victories, any player who come across his masked avatar avoided him at all cost as they didn't want to lose to him or suffer the hands of his unnatural gaming prowess."
"I see, but that doesn't answer my question on why you challenged me," Oak said to the enigmatic boy.
"Well, I wasn't talking about his avatar, though. I was talking about his real identity, that you can see for yourself," Rai said as he moves his queen piece and the scene changed to a dark room, and standing right near was a boy.
When Oak took a closer look at the boy, he realized to his shock…
"He looks a lot like…me!"
"And by the way..."
"Huh? What is it?" A young 10 year old boy with a black-brown swept short hair wearing a silver polo shirt, black pants, and neon blue and black sneakers asked in a bored manner.
VIRGIL TYSON
AGE: 10
THE HERO/MONARCH
"Do you suppose to find a heart and give us back our clothes and our freedom?!" The man shouted in anger, revealing the fact that their clothes were replaced by kiddie mascots that the boy just salvaged for them and were tied up on their hands and feet.
"I don't know... Your clothes looked busted by the time I saw them. Also, how can I release you guys when the fact you guys are big time criminals around here?"
"I can give you $40 if you let us go and never mention this to anyone!" The man begged, knowing the boy might be tempted by that amount of money he had.
And wasted my chance to get a ride to school that those police just promised on the phone? No thanks," The boy said as he stopped playing his 7RS to talk to them. "Also, do you think I'm stupid enough to fall for your money ploy just so you guys escape and eliminate me after that? Look, this whole thing just started as an accident with me got chased by rabid dogs and ended with me crashing onto a bucket of barbecue sauce that you guys got doused on and attacked by dogs instead, but I'm not dumb enough to know you guys are part of an infamous criminal gang known for major crimes in this city after that episode. I'm still a kid, but not clueless."
"You've got a point, but still... YOU CAN'T LEAVE US LIKE THIS!" The man desperately begged as he don't want to go to the slammers in these ridiculous costumes.
"Oh, my ride's here. Later."
Upon they saw the boy left them, the costumed criminals screamed in horror as the police take them away before the man shouted, "PLEASE, DON'T LEAVE US! GET BACK HERE! I CAN'T GO TO JAIL IN A CHICKEN SUIT!"
But despite their threats and pleas, the boy just ignored them as the car he just jumped in left them, much to their shock and humiliation of this turn of events.
"So you mean to say that this kid captured a whole bunch of bad guys all thanks to rotten luck and clumsiness?," Oak asked.
"Well, he looked like a clumsy boy, but he's in fact not clueless. You see, he encountered lots of bad luck in the past, yet thanks to one person he met when he was a child, he practically turned it into an up-and-down luck…"
Flashback:
Virgil is being chased by a bunch of bullies on bikes, and runs through an alley. He then suddenly trips over a trash can, knocking it over and into the bullies' path; the leader then runs into it and is flipped off his bike and onto the ground, with his buddies crashing into him, causing a massive pileup. Upon seeing the crash, Virgil smirks then runs.
Virgil is skateboarding through the town, jumping over just about everything. He then comes up on two construction workers trying to lift a large wooden board up. He zooms onto the board, and into the air, but as he does, he skateboard comes right out from under him. Virgil panics as he falls to the ground…and lands right onto of a would-be mugger, just as he grabs away a woman's purse. The woman then plants a kiss of gratitude on Virgil's cheek, making him blush.
Virgil is being cornered by a group of DVD bootleggers who wish to eliminate him as a witness. As Virgil backs up in fear, he accidentally trips and falls into the wall of a cage containing the smuggler's half-starved, and abused dogs. The wall collapses, and the dogs, furious at their masters, lunge at and attack them. The smugglers scream in pain and terror as Virgil watches.
"As he continues encountering his up-and-down luck life, he later carried this trait into his gaming abilities, thus his Savior persona was born," Rai said before he moved the King piece once more. "And I was impressed by his skills that I used the rumor to convince him to go to GameLine as an invitation. Although…"
The scenery then changed to GameLine world where Virgil found himself in the beach of the human country, who was now ticked off by this.
"His first impressions to it were not exactly what I've imagined."
Now completely peeved, Virgil angrily shouted, "WHY THAT LITTLE CONNIVING JERK!"
"He was pretty upset about me suddenly yanking him from his world and not to mention, the fact that he was in a part of my world that wasn't what he'd envisioned."
"Well, of course he wouldn't be happy about that. I know I wouldn't," Oak replied.
"Of course, he's not alone in my world though."
When the Pokemon Professor moved his queen piece, the scenery around them turned into some kind of school ground as they saw a 12 years old girl wearing a fantasy school uniform walking with Virgil.
"Getting away from this school isn't the reason I want to go explore the world," the girl said as she looked up to the sky.
HELIER "HELI" VALIANTH
AGE: 12
THE WITCH
"I wanted to go around just to bring peace and have fun with everyone."
At the next scene, they saw a 10 years old boy wearing a vest and shirt version of the fantasy school uniform and an 11 years old boy wearing an unbuttoned school jacket and black polo shirt surrounding Virgil.
"So you're the new gamer everyone's talking about, eh?" the 11 years old boy said with an arrogant tone. "You don't even look like a professional one like those other Foreigns we've met."
KNIGHT EVLAN
AGE: 11
KING'S KNIGHT
"Agreed. Are you sure you're even qualified to enter our world in the first place?" the 10 years old boy added in a professional manner.
ROOK IVLEN
AGE: 10
CASTLE'S ROOK
The scene then shifted to some kind of library where an 18 years old girl with unkept medium hair, nerdy-like shining glasses, and sweater as her school uniform smiled at Virgil and said, "I like how you talk, young man. But I have to warn you..."
When she adjusted her glasses, it revealed her red slanted eyes along with evil-like grin, showing her true nature.
REID QUELLI
AGE: 18
SERVANT OF KNOWLEDGE
"You can't win against my knowledge."
Then the scene changed to a lone 16 years old boy silently looking out from his castle bedroom's window.
LEN EMPERO
AGE: 16
MENTOR (?)
"He has a strong ensemble of friends with him: a young witch girl with a love of exploration who becomes his personal guide, two warriors who initially antagonize him and later befriend him after he stood up for them, an intelligent, strategic girl who also owns and operates the country's library, and a wise, experienced student who teaches him all he needs to know about the GameLine world," Rai told Oak.
"Wow, sounds a lot like Ash. Wherever he goes on his journeys, he always has a small group of friends with him. They protect and look out for each other throughout the good and bad times."
"Yeah, but his journey is very different from that Ash boy you've mentioned." Rai said before he moved his Knight piece to capture one of Oak's white pawns, which cause the scenery around them to change once more. "You see, his role is not actually a traveller or anything, but a monarch."
"A monarch?" Oak repeated in confusion.
"More specifically, he's the king of the human country he landed on, Orsus. It's a long story, but for a little kid like him, he can turn a corrupted, run down country into a respected country."
"Wow, a kid like him, a king?," Oak asked. "Well I always new that kings could be any age, but I never knew that they could be regular lucky gamers from other worlds."
However, Rai just smiled mischievously and said, "You forget who are we talking about here. I didn't choose him just because of his gaming talents."
"What do you mean?"
"To obtain is to lose. That's the whole point of his luck. It's also the point of the hidden power within him."
Before he can ask, Oak then saw another change in scenery and saw Virgil who was somehow cornered by a man in a game, which he then said, "Poor luck, huh? Don't make me laugh."
"Why? You lost many times now. One more and I will rank up more points than you," the man said with an evil grin. "Heck, even with that amateurish poker face, you can't even hide the fact that you have a bad hand!"
"Gimme a break! All you ever rely on is strategies and treating this game as a way to grab some money!" Virgil said in a serious tone. "If you think winning games for money is very fun, then you're sadly mistaken."
"Virgil!" Heli shouted in worry, shocked at the words he threw.
"Ever heard of karma? Good things will come if you do good and the same for the bad things you've done." Virgil's expression turned into a smug smile despite he felt a little hopelessness his situation. "In this game, there's a higher chance you will face your own karma."
Now completely incensed from his remarks, the man angrily put down one of his cards on the table. "What a naive little kid. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY back sass me and trust me, after this, you will lose everything!"
Horrified, Heli shouted, "NO!"
"Wow, this guy's a hot head," Oak said.
"Ah, there's always a sore loser around somewhere in the GameLine world," Rai replied. "But fortunately, my Chosen friend knows just how to deal with them."
Just as the man imagine his victory, Virgil somehow became ticked off at his last sentence, now feeling a strange feeling inside him.
"That's when I draw the line."
The man continued laughing until he saw Virgil enveloped in green and blue aura, much to his and Heli's shock. As his brown short hair started to grow and changed into aqua green, his brown eyes turned into blue. When his short transformation is finished, he opened his eyes as he glared at the man with a smirk on his face.
"Now, why don't we finish this up, shall we?"
Then as the scenery around Rai and Oak changed continually, they saw Virgil played some games he faced from each scene. From a Monopoly-style battle to a reality altering-style word chain and magical tabletop RPG to an epic Clue-style game against two mysterious figures, Professor Oak was shocked at how Virgil was such a prodigy at every game.
"Wow, you were right. He's amazing!," Oak gasped in astonishment.
"I told you. Now you see why he's the monarch of this world," Rai said. "With his band of friends behind him, he's capable of anything."
"Just like Ash."
"One more thing, I suggest we should finish up our game. I forgot to mention the more we stay here, the more damage to fabric of space in your world," Rai said in a casual manner.
"WHAT?!"
Not wanting his world to be damaged, Oak put his mind back on the game. He moved his queen, and took one of Rai's bishops. Rai moved his knight and took a pawn. They quickly continued moving piece after piece in rapid succession, until finally, Rai saw an opening and used his queen to take Oak's king.
"Checkmate!," Rai said, victoriously. At that moment, everything shifted and changed at the speed of light, and soon the two found themselves back in Oak's lab.
"Good game, Professor," Rai said, holding out his hand.
"Uh, sure," Oak said as he shook Rai's hand in respect.
"Maybe we can play again sometime. But in the meantime, I must be going," Rai said as he walked over to and opened the front door.
But as he stepped out the door, Rai stopped and said, "One more thing, remember about your guess on me winning thanks to my strategy, wit, cunning, and intellect?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Who said I have to do anything to win?"
"Huh?!," Oak asked slightly confused. But before he could ask Rai what he meant, the boy turned vanished into thin air right before his eyes.
Oak was taken aback at what had happened. He didn't know if all he'd seen was all real or just an illusion. He wasn't sure for certain that GameLine and Rai were real or if he'd see them again.
But he knew one meaning to Rai's cryptic words: He won because he didn't do anything at all.
"Let us meet again. But be ready, cause in my world: Everything is a game."
GAMELINE BATTLEGROUND
COMING 2016
A/N: It's official, a new fic is coming and this time, it's an original fanfic coming to FictionPress (sorry, Pokemon fans...) If you guys want more info about this new fic, visit my deviantArt profile to stay tuned for more GameLine updates! Until then, review (no flames) and I'll see you later!