How could it happen? I was defeated.

"Dusclops use Never Ending Nightmare!"

"How could I loose?!"

The referee threw a red flag into the air before pointing to the left of the field. "The winner, Battle Pyramid King, Brandon!"

"How could I loose AGAIN?!" I thought to myself as I laid down in my bed. I had challenged Brandon twelve months ago and all I could think about was my defeat to him. I kept replaying the battle in my head thinking about what went wrong. I trained my ass off, I had the best strategy, I had the type advantage, I clearly had the upper hand going into battle. He fell for all of my traps and I used the perfect team, but in the end, I still lost. I just couldn't understand why. Why did he beats me when I was clearly the better trainer?

"I hate him. First he leaves, then he destroyed Renji, then he taunted me. He's a pathetic excuse if a man. But if he's so pathetic, why did I loose?" My mind was going crazy when it suddenly dawned on me. "It was his Dusclops" I said as I realized his Dusclops had taken out half my team. Reggierock was hardly a threat and I took him out quickly with Ursarig. Reggieice wasn't much better but it did manage to beat my damaged Ursarig before it was defeated by my Magmortor. His Torterra was even worse and fell to mine with only two hits. Reggiesteel, hmmm, I suppose it did well. Still it would've fallen to my Aragon if he hadn't switched it out for Salamance. Salamance. Again, it did well by taking out my Magmortor but I crushed it quickly with Froslass. Then there was Dusclopse. The Pokemon that single handedly took out my Aragon, Torterra, and Froslass who had earlier beaten three of her strongest Pokemon.

"Damnit it was the most important battle of my life and he played me like a flute!" I instantly had a flashback of Satoshi beating me with the Infernape I gave him. "Why. Why can pathetic trainers like Satoshi and Brandon unlock their Pokemons true potential but I can't?!" What made them so special? What was different about them? Could it be my training style? Was I too harsh on my pokemon? Was treating your pokemon with kindness and compassion really the best way to unlock a pokemons strength? No. I couldn't believe that because they were both weak and pathetic trainers who only beat me because of dumb luck! It just so happened that when they got lucky was the time that it mattered.

"Damnit! I fucking hate them!"

I heard a soft knocking on my door followed by my brothers voice. "Shinji, can I come in?" I groaned in response, hoping he would understand I wasn't in the mood to talk. Apparently he didn't get the message. "I want to talk to you." He said letting himself in. "You've been so down since your loss to Brandon. It was a good fight Shinji and you have nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, he's the Pyramid King, the highest ranked trainer outside of the elite 4. It's not like you lost to some amateur."

"Shut up Renji. I'm in no mood for one of your motivational speeches." I growled at him. Normally, he would sigh and then continue trying to convince me the world was full of rainbows and unicorns for at least another half hour before giving up. But today he decided to switch it up on me. In a very un Renji like manner, he growled back and slapped me in the back of the head.

"Fine. You want to be like that then go ahead. But I'm sick of it. You need to pack your shit and go on a journey." I hadn't heard Renji curse in a while so I knew he was really upset. Not that I cared. "I'm not going on another journey." He surprised m again by walking to my closet and throwing my travel bag at me so hard it left a bruise. "Well I really don't care where you go but you're not going to lie around the house like a miserable bastard! It's been an entire year Shinji! Get the hell up and stop feeling sorry for yourself! You constantly talk about how pathetic everyone else is but look at yourself! You're the most pathetic one letting a single loss get to you like that."

Now I was pissed. What a hypocrite. Clearly he forgot he gave up on being a trainer after being beaten by Brandon. "Like you're one to talk Aniki! Did you forget you QUIT being a trainer completely after loosing to him?!"

"No I didn't. And I'm not going to let you do what I did. I never wanted to be a trainer in the first place. I only did it because that's what he wanted. You on the other hand have wanted to be a trainer your whole life and I won't let you throw your dream away because of one loss. You're better than that Shinji."

I didn't know what to say so I said nothing. It was hard for me to believe that I was better than anything at the moment. But Renji was right. I was being pathetic and letting one loss ruin my career. I smirked at him and he smiled in return. He started helping me pack some clothes, pokeballs, potions, money, and other items I'd need to go on a journey.

I decided to only take Torterra with me. Wherever I was going, I was going to start over. So I figured I should start by catching an entire new team. I would go to a new region with my starter pokemon and become stronger. But where would I go? I had already been to Kanto, Jhoto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Kalos, Unova, and Alola.

"Aniki, do you have any thoughts on where I should go?"

"Actually, I do." I was surprised to hear that and my head perked up. I waited for further explanation but all I got out of him was that I'd find out more at our great uncle, professor Rowan's, lab. He was our mothers uncle and the only family we knew of, so I finished packing and headed downstairs to tell my pokemon my plan.

A few hours had passed and I found myself standing in front of a familiar grey brick building. Inside was my great uncle's research lab. Professor Rowan was the world's leading specialist on pokemon evolution. He was a very secluded person, which is why I was surprised to see four other people sitting in the den when I walked inside.

I was even more surprised when I realized who was sitting in the room. On the couch near the window sat Frontier Brain Palmer and his obnoxious fanboy of a son Jun. Jun was taller than I remembered and his blond hair was longer and tied in a high ponytail. He was wearing a pair of dark wash blue jeans with a pair of orange tennis shoes. He finished his outfit with an orange polo shirt and light brown leather jacket.

On the other couch near the bookshelf sat a beautiful woman with blue hair in a short bob cut wearing a pale blue long sleeve shirt and dark blur stretch pants. Next to her though…. That's when my heart stopped. There in front of me was the girl I hadn't seen in over five years. The blue haired siren that haunted my dreams for the last 1,974 nights. Hikari Yuki.

She looked so different. So much more stunning than I could ever have imagined. Her indigo colored hair was longer and had a slight wave to it. It rested a little past her hips and hung loosely with a simple snowflake clip holding a piece of hair near her ear. Her matching blue eyes seemed even clearer than I remembered and just as mesmerizing.

She still wore her white pokeball beanie with the pink logo but the rest of her outfit was different. She wore a pair of light gray leggings and a pair of thigh high grey suede boots. Instead of a shirt she wore a white long sleeved knitted turtle neck sweater. She also wore a necklace but I couldn't see the pendant because it was tucked into her overly developed breasts.

She was perfect. From head to toe, she was flawless and absolutely gorgeous. She was curvy in all the right places and looked like an elegant flower. So pure and unattainable. My thoughts were snapped back to reality when she caught me staring at her. I couldn't hide my embarrassed blush and she smiled shyly back at me, which made my heart race.

After a few awkward moments, my great uncle came into the room and finally I got some answers.

"Good. I see everyone has arrived. I believe you all know each other already but just in case, I'll go ahead and introduce everyone." He started by pointing to myself and Renji. "These are my late Niece's sons, my great nephews Shinji and Renji Aguri."

Pointing to the left of the room he continued. "This is Frontier Brain Palmer Suzuki and his son Jun." Finally he pointed to the right. "And these lovely ladies are Hikari and Joanna Megumi. They are like family to me as they are my late apprentices wife and daughter."

I was surprised to hear that. The only apprentice I remember my great uncle having was Koizumi Megumi. He died during the war when I was only eight years old. He was the closest thing to a family I ever had, aside from Renji. I never realized he had a family.

"Now I've asked you all here for different reasons. Jun here isn't ready to settle down and start his own gym yet, but Palmer thinks he needs to grow up already. Hikari hasn't been on a journey in three years and her mother wants her to enjoy her left. Shinji here hasn't traveled or battled in over a year and needs to get back to it if he ever expects to become champion. So I've come up with a plan."

He spent the next hour explaining his plans and how each of us could help. I'll be honest, I thought the idea was stupid until my great uncle pulled me to the side for a private conversation. What he told me changed my entire perspective and I vowed to take on a responsibility that would change my life forever.