Note: This is a relaunch of my original Quest of a True Master series, going under a new –less, let's be honest, pretentious name with a highly rehashed beginning, to try and make up for the mistakes I made on the previous launch. I apologize for making you all start the series over when it had already come so far, but I had many trusted sources, and my own conscience as a writer, telling me this had to be done.

I hope you find this new one as good, if not better, than the original. I hope not to disappoint any of you with this decision, or this story.

Prologue:

Fall of the Champion

The battle had raged on for quite some time...

Mark Taylor, the current Hoenn Champion, against the challenger Randy Calvin. Their partner Pokémon were locked in fierce combat. Mark with his Fire/Fighting-type Blaziken, known by her nickname Vitesse, against a Grass-type Sceptile known as Thorn.

Normally the advantage in this battle would have been obvious to even the newest of Pokémon Trainers; that a Fire-type will always have the edge against a Grass-type. Especially with the Champion's Blaziken having ascended beyond her limits through Mega Evolution, to become a mighty Mega Blaziken.

Yet, even with that power, Mark's Blaziken did not have the edge, for Thorn too possessed that power. When Mark had used his keystone to evolve Vitesse to her Mega Evolved form, Randy had followed suite with a keystone worn from a string around his neck, unlocking his Sceptile's ultimate power. With his evolution he had also gained the Dragon-type, abolishing his natural weakness to Fire and granting him power and speed enough to face Vitesse.

What tipped the scales further was that Thorn was a master of fighting at a distance –the polar opposite of the close-range Blaziken, and though most of his attacks, being grass-type, had little effect against her, unleashing them repeatedly while keeping away from her own was going to eventually yield results.

At one part of the battle, it looked as though Randy would get the edge again, as when Thorn managed to get enough distance, Randy issued a new command. "Synthesis!" And at the order, Thorn used the sunlight beaming in from the windows above to heal himself.

But it seemed Mark was of a similar mind. "Vitesse, Roost!" And so the Blaziken leapt up to the top of a nearby column, standing perfectly still and shutting her eyes as she let herself relax, and released a flowing, restorative energy into her body, healing her bruises and cuts and bringing her back to a better level of health.

Randy snickered when he saw Vitesse do almost a repeat of Thorn's move. "This could drag on for a while," he said. "Heh... could've made a 'dragon' pun there."

"Wrong," Mark stated as Vitesse jumped back down to ground level, facing Thorn again. "This battle is about to end now."

"Oh ho, ho! Is it?" Randy asked, grinning widely. "Challenge accepted! Let's see what your big finisher is then, Champ! Thorn, use Tree Missile!"

Thorn turned to a sideways stance, aiming his tail at Vitesse as his trainer had commanded, and with an explosion of energy from the root of the tree-like tail end where it connected to the rest of the tail itself, it launched towards the Blaziken, racing across the arena and spiralling as it soared towards her.

"Go, Vitesse!" Mark called, knowing the Blaziken would know exactly what to do. And she did, taking a step forward before she made a mighty leap over the tree missile, dodging it with only a small corner of the lower half grazing her back as she arched over it in a reverse arc, but doing her no harm.

To add to the surprise, she did not even land on her feet, but on her taloned hands, and somersaulted repeatedly as she closed the distance towards Thorn. So caught off guard by the display of gymnastics, both Randy and Thorn hesitated to react, and then Vitesse stopped on her hands in front of the Sceptile, delivering a two-legged Blaze kick right to his torso and sending him flying straight up into the air, back-flipping uncontrollably as he nearly reached the ceiling

Thanks to having healed earlier, Thorn was still not down even after that brutal attack, but he had been winded by the kicks to his chest and was slow to recover, almost landing poorly as he returned to the ground and used both hands and feet to break his fall. But as he tried to stand up, he nearly doubled over to cough, giving Mark the opening he needed.

"Now, Dual Chop!"

The Blaziken lunged, racing up to Thorn and slowing down just as she began to turn, her two hands glowing with light purple energy as she held them both in a knife-hand fashion and spun in a full circle to add momentum to her strike. The first hand struck Thorn's shoulder –only a glancing blow to make him wince, but when the second strike found his cheek, finally it was lights out for Thorn...

The Sceptile reeled, eliciting a long, pained groan as he fell to the floor, and going silent as he lay slack against the stone. It was clear he could no longer continue when he devolved from his Mega Evolution, back to the form of a regular Sceptile.

Begrudgedly, Randy called Thorn back to his Poké Ball, staring at it for a long moment before he returned it to the holster on his belt, turning his gaze towards Mark and meeting the eyes of his new opponent. "I have to hand it to you, and your Blaziken," he began. "You guys are some of the toughest opponents I've ever faced. How you made it to be Champion isn't even a question."

"You're a really good trainer yourself," Mark returned respectfully. "I would even go as far as admitting you have the qualities of a Champion, and are certainly worthy of the title." His expression turned hard as he finished his compliment to Randy. "But Vitesse and I won't surrender our title so easily; we fought hard to get here, and we will fight to keep it."

"Then I guess I'll just have to dethrone this king," Randy stated as he reached for his next Poké Ball and hurled it forward. "Go!" He called.

The ball opened, and from its confines, a blue-furred, jackal-like Pokémon emerged; a Lucario wearing a blue scarf around its neck, standing tall and proud on its pawed feet as it faced Vitesse, shifting to a sideways stance and letting out a rumble of anticipation.

But Mark only scowled. "You think I'm going to fall for that trick a second time?" He asked. "You already fooled me into believing that you had a Lucario when your Zoroark impersonated one and beat my Tropius."

"You think this one's a trick, do you?" Randy asked, grinning broadly. "Okay then, show him, 'Shadow', whether you're real or not."

At his command, the 'Lucario' moved its arms around to its front, cupping its paws in front of its belly and hardening its stare as an orb of swirling blue and white energies suddenly formed in between its paws, bathing the caster and everything in front of him in light. Mark realized his error too late as the Lucario –a real Lucario- sent a powerful Aura Sphere flying at Vitesse and struck her directly, sending her airborne and flying back a full two meters before she hit the floor again.

"It's... not your Zoroark!" Mark exclaimed.

"Nope," Randy returned. "This is Cairo; he's real, and he's ready to rumble!"

"Arruuu!" Cairo howled, flexing his arms vigorously before he shifted his stance again, waiting for Vitesse to get up and fight him.

Recovering from the Aura Sphere attack took her a moment, but eventually she flipped back onto her feet, and used Roost once more to recover some of her strength. She would only be able to use that recovery move one more time, Mark knew. He took a second to think about his opponent's Pokémon, weighing his options.

'Lucario is part Steel-type; that means it'll be vulnerable to Fire," Mark thought, in deep consideration. 'But there's no way Randy doesn't know that; using his Sceptile was one thing since it lost its weakness to fire by Mega Evolving, but that's not the case here. If he's bold enough to actually use a Lucario against Vitesse knowing that she has a type advantage, he must be pretty damn confident in its abilities. I better be ready with my trump card.'

Deciding he would take it cautiously for now, Mark gave Vitesse her next command. "Use Bulk-Up!" He ordered her.

Vitesse widened her stance, crossing her arms over her chest as she channeled the energy in her body into her limbs, enhancing it through her will and that of her trainer, before she opened her arms and raised them high, the ribbons of fire trailing from her wrists intensifying as she held her hands up. Finally, she brought her arms down, releasing a shrill cry as she felt her body filling with power, pumping her arms as her muscles visibly bulged beneath her feathers.

'Her Speed Boost has brought her speed up to maximum by now,' Mark thought. 'And with Bulk-up, her strength and her physical durability are increased. Using her speed to close in on Cairo, she can take him down at close range.' He felt himself brimming with confidence. 'She can't lose!'

"Cairo, Aura Sphere again!" Randy called.

Once more, the Lucario formed one of those spheres of energy and hurled it at Vitesse; she banked right, dodging it easily and sending the glowing orb soaring harmlessly across the room. Seeing her window of opportunity, she then moved to charge Cairo, but she did not move six steps before the same sphere raced past Mark again, startling him and catching her in the blind spot, sending her stumbling uncontrollably towards Cairo.

"What?!" Mark demanded.

"Force Palm!" Randy added.

Lunging forward, Cairo met Vitesse up close just as she started to regain her balance, his paw glowing as he elevated it up to shoulder height, and then thrust forward with lightning speed. Without even fully touching her, the Blaziken felt a wrecking ball of force hit her stomach and send her skidding across the floor, clutching where she had been hit and coughing painfully as she dropped to one knee.

"What's going on here?" Mark demanded. "She dodged that Aura Sphere; how did you do that?!"

"You can't dodge Aura Sphere," Randy declared with a broad grin. "When a Lucario uses Aura Sphere, they use their own Aura Sense to lock onto their target's own aura like an anti-vehicle rocket, and with that they can make the sphere zero right in on their target. Short of using something to intercept it, there is no way to avoid an Aura Sphere; no matter how fast your Blaziken is, it'll chase her until it finds her."

'Son of a bitch!' Mark cursed in his mind, now understanding why Randy had chosen his Lucario; it wasn't about typing at all -it was about the unique moveset that would let Cairo abolish her supposedly astronomical speed advantage by using an attack she could not avoid. To pour salt on the wound, too, Aura Sphere was a Special Attack, namely non-physical, which meant that the increase to her durability she had gained from Bulk-up would amount to nothing against it.

'If I don't get her in close and nail that Lucario now, we're going to lose!' He looked at Vitesse. "Hey girl; are you okay?"

Vitesse shook herself to clear her head, looking back at her trainer and nodding to him to confirm she was still able to continue. "Roost, one more time," Mark instructed. Repeating her earlier gesture when asked to use the attack, she tapped into the last of Roost's energy to heal herself, bringing her strength back up, but not completely.

Mark had been a trainer for a long time, and he knew when a battle was fast approaching its conclusion. Unfortunately, he also knew when it was not in his favor. 'I have to stop those spheres somehow,' he thought.

"Alright, Cairo, another Aura Sphere!" Randy called.

The Lucario barked in reply, conjuring another of those energy orbs before hurtling it at Vitesse. Once more she dodged it, this time making sure not to turn her back to it, and watching as it stopped in midair. In less than a second, it was mobile again, coming right back at her; she evaded it once more, but every dodge was for naught; the sphere would not stop until it found its target...

Unless...

Mark's gaze drifted down, to the tiles across the floor; throughout the battle, especially against Thorn, the floor had been extensively damaged, and many of the stone tiles were loose and broken. Staring at those tiles gave Mark an idea –one crazy enough that it might actually work. "Vitesse! Use one of the tiles to intercept it!" Mark called. 'I hope this works,' he added darkly in his mind.

Vitesse dodged the Aura Sphere again, glancing at her trainer with some question before she looked down at the floor, seeing the damaged tiles as well. She was able to quickly discern Mark's plan as she noticed a particularly loose one by her foot. Stomping on it, she flipped the stone tile up, grabbed it, and just in time ducked out of the path of the Aura Sphere again as it made its next run at her. With that dodge, she leapt in the opposite direction, trying to get a safe distance before hurling the tile at the sphere just as it began to turn around.

The tile successfully blocked the sphere and exploded upon the energy ball slamming into it. Randy gawked in disbelief as the supposedly unavoidable Aura Sphere was stopped, by a mere chunk of stone. 'Time for the trump card!' Mark thought before he called to Vitesse. "Flare Blitz!"

Randy's reaction was sluggish, too distracted by what he had seen. Vitesse's whole body ignited with searing flames, launching herself at the Lucario, who was unable to avoid in time. Cairo braced himself as she slammed into him, the Fire-type move inflicting extensive damage before sending him flying backward, hitting the floor and sliding across the stone as if it were snow, the metal spikes on the back of his paws generating sparks as they ground against the tilework.

When the flames abated from Vitesse's body, she fell to one knee again, panting for breath. Flare Blitz was the strongest attack she knew, but it had its price –the move was so powerful, it sent some of the damage inflicted on the opponent right back at the user. Mark could see his trusted partner was almost at her limit, but he was certain they had at least defeated Cairo...

His heart skipped a beat as he heard the Lucario growl, both he and Vitesse turning to stare incredulously as the injured Fighting/Steel-type started to move again, rolling over onto his front and placing his paws onto the floor, using them to raise himself up until he could put his feet under him. They both stood, frozen, as the Lucario shakily raised himself up to stand at his full height again, and flinched as he glared over his shoulder at them, his red eyes filled with a burning determination to finish the fight...

"I don't believe it..." Mark whispered. "He actually withstood that?"

"Cairo, you freakin' rule!" Randy called, pumping his fist in the air. "Let's finish this!"

Mark looked at Vitesse, staring at her and noticing how she was shaking. It wasn't from anticipation, either; she was at her limit and would soon not be able to fight anymore. Even if she could beat Cairo now, she would never be able to handle Randy's remaining Pokémon in her condition. But the battle still wasn't over, even if it was clear how it was going to end...

"Alright, Randy," Mark called out to his opponent, ready to see the battle through. "This battle ends now one way or another; one more Blaze Kick!"

"Use Reversal!" Randy commanded his Lucario.

Cairo and Vitesse charged one another, unleashing the final attacks as ordered by their trainers. Time seemed to slow down all around him as Mark watched, staring with glazed eyes at the imminent clash. Cairo's paws glowed, Vitesse's feet ignited. The two of them simultaneously jumped as they neared; Vitesse spun, leg outstretched, Cairo lunged, thrusting with both paws...

The midair collision was like a midair sonic boom; their limbs collided, but only Vitesse was sent flying. All of the damage she had inflicted upon Cairo with her Flare Blitz was sent right back at her with Reversal. The Blaziken spun through open air, slamming into a pillar with bone jarring force, her eyes going wide with shock as the impact stunned her.

And then, just like that, she devolved, her mega evolution disappearing and returning Vitesse to the form of an ordinary Blaziken. She fell slowly forward, nothing but floor beneath her as gravity peeled her from the stone pillar. Spurred on by instinct, Mark ran towards her as she started to fall, holding out his arms and catching her before she hit the floor, grunting as he felt her weight across his arms, standing firm. Slowly and carefully, he lowered her down to the floor, turning her over and pulling her into a seating position against the column.

Her eyes had been closed when he braced her against the pillar, but they opened once he folded her talons across her lap, turning her gaze towards her trainer. He heard a raspy cooing from her, alerting the trainer that his Pokémon was still conscious. Mark met her gaze, seeing the look in her eyes; she was disappointed, but not with him. With herself, for failing to keep the title of Champion that the two of them had worked so hard to achieve...

Mark gave her a weak smile, reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, girl," he said softly, moving that hand to rub her neck. She shut her eyes at his touch, cooing again as she felt his fingers massage her neck through her feathers. "You did great; never believe otherwise. Even if we lost, to me you're still the best there is."

Reluctantly, he lifted his hand from her neck, reaching into his vest and pulling out a pair of Sitrus Berries from the inner pocket, which he placed into her talon. "Now, eat those when you can and rest here for a bit," he instructed as he returned to his feet. "I'll be right back."

While Mark silently lamented this loss, Randy and Cairo were practically dancing for joy at their victory over Vitesse. They did not even know the battle was over but in all of the adrenaline produced by the epic clash, they could not sit still with their excitement. Randy almost poked himself with the Lucario's metallic chest spike as he gleefully hugged his Pokémon partner, letting out an 'ow' when he felt the prick of it.

"Randy," Mark stated, to get the other trainer's attention.

At the sound of his name being called, Randy paused, both he and Cairo turning to look at Mark. They quickly collected themselves, facing him. "Right, we're not done yet are we?" The challenging trainer asked.

Mark shook his head. "No, we are," he returned. "This battle is over; you won."

"Wha-?" Randy gawked. "But you only used five Pokémon; you should still have one left, right?"

Mark looked down at his chest, reaching up with one hand to pull open the flap of his vest to the holster that held his Poké Balls, eyeing the one at the bottom right of the stack, which did indeed still hold one; a newborn Charmander. Such a youngling wouldn't stand a chance against Cairo; it had only just come into the world a short time ago and was not yet trained to battle. He wasn't about to let a poor newborn get beaten to a pulp for the sake of his pride...

He let the flap of his vest fall back against his chest, and shook his head again. "No, I don't," he lied. "That's all there was." He forced a smile, fighting back his disappointment as he showed his good sportsmanship. "Congratulations; Randy Calvin. You are now the new Hoenn Champion."

Randy and Cairo looked at one another, large grins creeping across their faces before they both leapt into the air, pumping their fists vigorously as they announced to the world their victory through a mighty cheer. "Oh yeah!" Randy bellowed. "We made it!"

"There's just one last act as Champion I have to do," Mark stated. "And that is to officially cede the title to you." He turned on his heel, pointing to the stairs at the other end of the room. "Follow me to the Hall of Fame."

"You got it," returned Randy, letting Mark lead as he looked down at Cairo. "Come on boy; you deserve to walk with me for this."

"Ar!" Cairo returned, nodding to his trainer.

Following Mark's lead, trainer and Pokémon marched proudly up the stairs that led to the final door of the Pokémon League, feeling their hearts beating strong as Mark pushed open the doors and led them through into a room of white, mostly empty except for a huge computer terminal at the very center of the room. The walls were lined with portraits of champions of the past, from the very first all the way to its current one, Mark, showing him in a picture with only five Pokémon.

"You really beat the League with only five?" Randy asked, staring at Mark's portrait in wonder as they crossed the room.

"I did," replied Mark. "I never needed any others but the ones I had; they always did right by me, from the eight gym leaders all the way to the Elite Four." He looked back over his shoulder, staring past Randy and Cairo. "Especially Vitesse. Without her, I never would have made it this far."

Randy nodded in understanding, he and Cairo sharing a proud smile with one another, until Mark led them up to the computer terminal in the middle of the room. "Here we are," the blond-haired trainer stated, stepping aside and gesturing with his hand to six empty slots on the console, each one large enough to hold a Poké Ball. "Place each of your Poké Balls into those slots, and stand before the monitor in any pose you like. It'll do the rest." Tucking his hands into his pockets, Mark turned and began to walk, slowly, back to the exit. "Good luck to you."

"Wait, you're leaving?" Randy asked, surprised.

"There's no reason to stay anymore," Mark returned. "Once you are registered on that computer, my title as Champion officially becomes yours. You don't need me for that." His gaze lowered, although Randy couldn't see his face. "This is no longer my hall, and my partner needs me now."

As he took another step forward, Randy spoke again. "Mark," he said, causing the trainer to stop. "Let's battle again sometime, eh? You were a damn good opponent."

Mark couldn't hold back his smile at that, and turned to look back on Randy, wearing it proudly. "Sure thing," he said.

With that, Randy turned back to the console again, placing each of his Poké Balls into the slots, the last one being Cairo whom he had to recall first in order to do so, and stepped back to stare at the monitor, letting it capture his image, posing with one foot forward and holding an empty Poké Ball in his hand for effect. He watched as an image of his six Pokémon appeared in wire frame on the screen, before each one filled with colour, giving face to his team. From left to right, a Salamence, Starmie, Zoroark, Zangoose, Sceptile and finally a Lucario appeared on the image.

A seventh wire frame formed. As it filled with colour, it took on the likeness of Randy, standing just as he had when the monitor scanned him, wearing a grin and standing proud in front of his team with uncanny likeness to the real thing. Finally, words in bright gold appeared on the screen on the bottom. 'Welcome, new Champion of Hoenn', they read. A clicking caught his ear; he looked over at the wall, seeing the various digital portraits rearranging themselves as Randy's began to form, forcing Mark's to move over a little to make room.

It was then out of the corner of his eye that Randy noticed he was alone in the Hall...

The front doors slid open with a hiss as they sensed the approach of the Ex-Champion and the Blaziken that marched at his side. He barely heard the doors shut behind him as they walked, down to the stone-tiled path below the stairs and towards the tall, grand arches standing above the main path to Victory Road, leaving the Hoenn Pokémon League behind for what would probably be the last time they would see it again.

Mark stopped only once, under the first of the arches, and turned to look over his shoulder at the old, Edo-period styled building where the greatest trainers in Hoenn dwelt, awaiting challengers near and far to enter the building and challenge them. Allowing himself a moment of melancholy, Mark looked back on when he had first seen this place, after collecting his eighth badge at Sootopolis, challenging Victory Road for the right to come here, and his battles with the Elite Four.

Hard-fought and taxing, Mark had been pushed to the very limits of his abilities battling the four top trainers of Hoenn, stronger than any of the Gym Leaders, yet he prevailed against each one of them, earning himself the right to face the Champion, Steven Stone. He remembered the proud swell of his heart, and the overflowing joy filling it when Vitesse had narrowly seized victory against Steven's mighty Metagross, the last obstacle between them, and the Championship.

He had grown so accustomed to this place that he never thought he'd miss it whenever he left. He had been the greatest trainer in Hoenn for almost a year, and now the right to be called that belonged to someone else. 'I guess there's a lesson to be learned from this,' he thought. 'That no matter how strong you get, there will always be at least one challenger out there who will prove your better. Randy may one day find that out for himself.'

It was arrogant to believe that in an ever-expanding world of Pokémon and Trainers, he alone could stand against the rising tide of ambition and ideals. Though Mark was still one of Hoenn's greatest trainers, he had found his better. And yet... he felt oddly at peace with it, even with the lingering disappointment of defeat.

He turned his head to look at Vitesse, who met his gaze. She shared all of his thoughts, knowing what he was thinking as though they were telepathically linked, and she felt what he felt. She had been by his side since the very beginning, shared all of his trials with him and discovered the limits of their abilities as a team. Now, she shared this moment of soul-searching, as Mark accepted the fact that he was now once more just another Hoenn Pokémon Trainer.

With a long sigh, he turned his back on the Hoenn League for the last time. "Come on, girl. Let's go home," were his final words before he resumed walking down the stone path.

He did not look back again...