Birth of a Legend—a Board 8 fanfic
by Cyberchao X
A/N: If you're not familiar with the GameFAQs character battles, this fic probably won't make any sense. If you find yourself confused, you should check the Board 8 wiki.
Disclaimer: All characters are property of their respective owners, with the possible exception of Missingno who doesn't really "belong" to anyone because it's just a glitch. Results of tournaments all based on actual results from GameFAQs' annual character battles.
Another clarifying note: Even though the Johto region appears in this story, Cinnabar Island is depicted as it appeared in Pokémon Yellow.
In the year 2007 A.D., CATS was frustrated, finding himself in last place in the newest character battle format. He had already resigned himself to the fact that he was considered a "joke entrant" and would always be up against far superior foes, but it didn't take the sting out of his record, about to drop to 0-7. After the match ended, he packed up and prepared to leave, having long since lost any interest in watching the proceedings. The same characters won year after year, and as a result of the format change, all of the characters that had previously been removed from the main bracket for post-tournament exhibitions were once again participating—he himself had gone up against Sephiroth in that opening-round fourpack. But before he'd gotten very far, he heard mumblings that there had been an upset, and that Bidoof had somehow advanced to the second round as the second-place finisher in Link's opening fourpack. Intrigued, he returned just in time to see another joke entrant, the HK-47, pull an upset, to be followed immediately after by a Mudkip—although, he would admit, the Mudkip didn't really have much in the way of legitimate competition. Now fully interested, he ended up staying to watch the remainder of the first round, and realized that there was a chance for the so-called "jokes" after all. Sure, they'd all be finished in round 2, but at least it was possible to get a lone win. As the second round began, he again left.
And again he was unable to complete the long trip home before getting news that surprised him. One of the joke entrants, the L-Block from Tetris, had made round 3. However, as it would have taken longer to go back—so long that the L-Block might have already been eliminated, as the second round was nearly over and so round 4 would already have begun by the time CATS made it back. Also, it was a waste of good rocket fuel, the price of which had been rising a lot lately. So he continued on, but he was somehow intrigued by this, and he watched the tournament on television once he had gotten home. And L-Block advanced to round 4, and CATS was primarily happy that a fellow joke was doing well, but deep down, the DARKNESS that had been lying dormant in his heart since his Spring 2005 match with Ansem began to well up with resentment, as he had been struggling for half a decade to get a single win and this newcomer was advancing with ease. Then the fourth round came, and after three straight second-place advancements, the Block won a match outright, beating out two members of the Noble Nine and eliminating one of them from the tournament. The tournament almost over, CATS headed back out, keeping the coverage on in his ship, determined to find the secret to L-Block's power and claim it as his own. He laughed at the realization that the Block's path had actually grown easier upon reaching the semifinals—the bracket had been terribly unbalanced, and neither the fifth nor sixth divisions held a single member of the Noble Nine; the other seven had all been stuffed into the first four divisions. Not surprisingly, there L-Block was again, in the finals, going up against the top 3 finishers in the previous year's Battle Royale. L-Block beat all three. In retrospect, they had seen Link struggle against a "joke" before, in an unofficial exhibition match held after the conclusion of the previous year's tournament, but that was hardly to be expected in an official match. Yet L-Block had done it.
Though the tournament had already dispersed by the time CATS' trip was complete, it was easy enough to find the Tetris block—the media coverage far exceeded anything that Link had ever received—heck, it even exceeded what Cloud had gotten when he upset Link and Sephiroth to win the 2003 tournament. However, that constant attention would make it hard to get to the Block—and CATS wasn't exactly someone who could blend in easily. Fortune stepped in when L-Block tired of the attention and called upon identical twin J-Block to serve as a decoy so that L could make an escape. CATS approached with the intent of kidnapping the Block, but was surprised to find…kindness? CATS hadn't realized this, but L-Block had actually been around longer than he had, and had been longing for the day that a Tetris piece would be able to participate in the Character Battles for quite some time. Even though CATS had always lost in the first round, he had always been there, fighting, which was something that L-Block had never been able to do. CATS listened to this story, and found that the DARKNESS vanished, and together they formed an odd…partnership. Before long, a year had passed and the next tournament began, and the two of them watched as other "joke characters" took their shots—Mudkip again advancing to Round 2, GlaDOS falling right away, and then…it was L-Block's turn. After seeing the Block come in second in the "bonus round" that had been rigged up against other would-be jokes, one of which would be in the field of 128 this year, the tournament organizers decided to try putting a second joke in L-Block's opening fourpack. It almost proved to be enough to get the block to fall…to second place; advancement was never in question. CATS smiled as L-Block held off Ryu's charge, as the Shotoken master had been the first to beat him in a contest, way back in 2002. Now into the second round, L-Block rejoined CATS to watch the remaining matches, and they cheered as the Weighted Companion Cube also managed a first-place finish to start off Division 5. Soon, it was CATS' turn, and L-Block rooted for him, and with his new training, CATS finally broke through…sort of. He was still finished after one round, but he had finished in third place, ahead of a newcomer named Nathan Drake, which provided some consolation. Other joke entries would compete, and some would succeed, while others would fail, but they were gone after round 2.
Except for two. L-Block, and the Weighted Companion Cube, both of whom advanced in second place behind Noble Niners. L-Block was not concerned, as it had taken four rounds to win a match outright in 2007, and L had already won a match here. CATS, on the other hand, had seen the power of "anti-votes" and knew that while the 2007 title boosted L's cred, being the champion would make a lot of people hate the block. When Round 3 finally came around, the combination of Crono and Pikachu managed to knock L-Block out, and the block was heartbroken, yet there CATS was, providing a shoulder to cry on and a comforing embrace. The heartbreak would soon turn to envy, however, as Weighted Companion Cube—whom L-Block had finished ahead of in the bonus exhibition—managed to blast past Mega Man and reach round 4. CATS suggested that it would be best if they didn't stick around for the end of the tournament. They left right after the next match, in which another upset took place, not exactly a "joke" but nonetheless someone who was not expected to reach the quarterfinals advancing. They saw that it was quite possible that all of L's tormentors—Crono, Pikachu, and the Cube—could be eliminated in round 4, but they didn't care to stick around long enough to find out. Instead, they went on a journey, hoping to discover what it was that made Pokémon so dangerous in these battles.
They went to the region of Sinnoh, and studied the plates that told the legend of Arceus and its children, as well as other legends; they traveled to Hoenn, spending much time in the southeastern part, and studied the ruins that held the secrets of the golems, the Sky Tower, the underwater cavern, and Mirage Island; and then they traveled to Johto, first to Ecruteak City with its two towers filled with legends, and then to the Ruins of Alph, which held the secrets of the Unown. By this point, the next contest had begun, but it was a games contest, and L-Block left Tetris in the capable hands of I-Block, and was pleased to learn that the game had reached the third round, winning both of its first two pools outright. CATS and L-Block settled on Cinnabar Island, and studied in the Pokémon Mansion, which contained journals describing the legendary Mew as well as housing an odd Pokémon known as Ditto.
And all the while, they grew closer, and together with DNA stolen from the Pokémon Laboratory, they conceived a creature that would exceed the sum of its parts, and would combine L-Block's strength with CATS' charisma, the inherent appeal found in all Pokémon, and the shapeshifting ability of the Ditto that had so fascinated its parents when they first moved to the island. And L-Block swelled up, though being inhuman, her pregnancy was brief, and their child was born, and it had its father's face and its mother's shape (more or less—the location of the face made CATS briefly wonder if L-Block and her twin sister J-Block had pulled a fast one on him, but L insisted that the child's face could have appeared anywhere, and it proved its mother's point by shapeshifting into a fossilized Aerodactyl). And this child was given the name "Missingno.", and it would be called upon to fight in the next tournament, and much like its father, it was immediately placed in a match with a powerful opponent, and furthermore was given the same seed that CATS had had in his first appearance, 13. CATS himself would not compete in this contest, but he attended all the same, watching from the stands and rooting for his beloved and their child. And in the competitors' area, L-Block took responsibility for watching over Missingno., and hoping that it could knock off its first opponent…Crono, one of her primary sources of heartbreak in the previous competition. Her heart healed from 2008, she didn't even mind seeing the Weighted Companion Cube advancing, and she would easily handle the HK-47 to get the contest started on the right foot. Finally, it was time for Missingno.'s first match.
This story…is just beginning.
CCX: Anyone who does follow the Character Battles knows exactly why I came up with this. I was originally going to call this story "The Origin of Missingno.", but then I realized that that title would spoil the ending. And honestly, do you know how hard it was going five paragraphs without referring to L-Block by singular pronoun once? I considered using "it", but figured that it would be awkward if I changed midway through. The third and fourth paragraphs were the toughest parts to do—I managed to get through the first two without even having to think about it, but then when L-Block was making her escape from the media, I used both a reflexive and a possessive pronoun and had to change it. I'm not really sure if I'm actually going to continue this story, but I probably will add more as the tournament goes on.