It was a regular day for Viridian Training School. Gongenzaka's Machamp defeated Yuya's Dragonite in battle despite the disadvantage, as always, since Yuya was never an exceptional Trainer, unlike his missing father, Yusho, who he tries to live up to, to no avail.
Yet, today, something unlike ever before happened. Nico Smiley, the manager of Kanto's reigning Champion, Strong Ishijima, showed up, requesting that Yuya battles the Champion in an exhibition match. The school's principal, Shuzo, was initially reluctant to let Yuya go but was eventually persuaded.
Yuya himself was shocked at the proposal and was lost in thought, gazing at Viridian's pond, until he remembered his father's words that he should always smile when he feels like crying and accept challenges of Pokemon battles, in which he should do his best to entertain the audience. With newfound resolve, he headed to Indigo Plateau using the super-fast Kanto subway, where the battle with the Champion would be held.
The stadium in Indigo Plateau was huge and crowded. Nico Smiley introduced the Trainers, without neglecting to mention that Yuya is the son of Yusho, who disappeared 3 years ago, the day he was supposed to battle Ishijima for the title of Champion, thus never showing up for the match and getting branded as a coward.
The battle finally began, with Ishijima sending out his best Pokemon, Machamp. Yuya sent out Dragonite. It looks like Yuya has the type advantage, but things aren't exactly like that. Ishijima, after all, was the Champion, and his Machamp was extremely well trained, so it was able to deal Dragonite some serious blows much easier than Gongenzaka's ever did. It was essentially a curb-stomp battle…
… until Yuya's pendant charm glowed in a way it never did before, linking Yuya's and Dragonite's souls together, transforming the Pokemon, giving it a more powerful form. No, it wasn't Mega Evolution, Dragonite can't Mega Evolve as far as we know. I guess we can call it Yuya-Dragonite, for this transformation has never happened to any other Trainer's Dragonite, before.
With newfound resolve, Yuya ordered his Dragonite to use Fly on Ishijima's Machamp. The super-effective attack knocked the Fighting-type out in one hit. Everyone was shocked, of course… a 14-year-old child defeated the Champion, just like that…
The next day, Viridian Training School got flooded with people wanting to enroll, seeking to obtain this newfound power themselves, or at least wanting to see it again, requesting that Yuya battles and uses it again, live. Yuzu, Yuya's best friend and Headmaster Shuzo's daughter who is obviously another student of the school, was selected as his opponent.
She sent out her Wigglytuff, and Yuya sent out Dragonite. He ordered his Dragonite to transform… but nothing happened.
Then he got an idea; since the transformation only happened when he was in a pinch during the fight with Ishijima, he asked Yuzu to attack Dragonite until it was weak. She indeed asked Wigglytuff to use Doubleslap endlessly on Dragonite. When it looked weak enough, Yuya ordered his Dragonite to transform again… but nothing happened, once more. Wigglytuff, annoyed at Yuya and Dragonite, used Doubleslap once more, knocking Dragonite out.
Most of the audience thought that Yuya is a cheater who pulled some strange magic trick in his last battle, so they left… only one kid, named Tatsuya, stayed, and he was accepted as a Junior Class student, joining Ayu and Futoshi.
Yuya-Dragonite has attracted many people's interest… one of them was Akaba Reiji, headmaster of the Silph Co. Trainer School and CEO of the Silph Co. He wanted to wield this strange power himself and add it to the school curriculum. To this end, he sent one of his schools' best students, Shingo Sawatari, after Yuya, so that he could still Yuya's pendulum and wield the power himself. Reiji also installed a monitoring device on Shingo's student's pin, so he could get readings on the energy of the transformation and decipher its nature.
Meanwhile, after some intense training with Gongenzaka, Yuya was finally able to trigger the transformation at will. After school was over, Shingo approached Yuya and co. and introduced himself in a very special way (hitting Yuya's face with a dart). He requested that he Duels Yuya in Silph's Central Court. This is a chance one shouldn't miss.
When they finally arrived there, Shingo used a Silph force field device, like the one Team Rocket was using years ago, when they were still active, to trap Yuzu and the children, then he grabbed Yuya's pendulum by force and wore it himself, requesting that they duel. In return, he gave Yuya a Pokemon as a gift… a small and weak Paras.
Yuya had no choice, he started the battle in order to get his pendulum back and save his friends. He sent Dragonite out, then Shingo sent his Beedrill out. He used the pendulum to transform it to Shingo-Beedrill right away and used Poison Sting on Dragonite, weakening it considerably and poisoning it.
Yuya had no chance to win the 1v1 battle head-on… but Paras, who was not participating in the battle, wanting revenge at Shingo, who gave it away, used Stun Spore on him, paralyzing him momentarily so Yuya could grab the pendulum and wear it again. Then he used it to unlock Yuya-Dragonite, which reverted Shingo-Beedrill into a regular Beedrill right away. One Fly attack and the match was settled.
Dragonite then used Fly on the force field, breaking it open. With his friends saved, everyone tried to leave, but Shingo and his lackeys gave chase. Then a blue-haired boy with a Keystone pendant on his neck, who was supposedly watching the battle, knocked them all out using a single lollipop stick.
Starting the next day, said boy appeared in front of Yuya all the time, even barging in his house and convincing his mother to serve him pancakes! He introduced himself as Sora, a big fan of Yuya's who wanted to Duel him. Yuya tried to avoid him, to no avail… so he accepted the challenge, placing a bet; if he were to win Sora would have to leave him alone, but if he were to lose, he would have to become Sora's teacher.
Sora sent out Banette, then used the Keystone in conjuction with the Mega Stone Bannettite his Pokemon held to Mega Evolve it into Mega Banette. What he did is pretty rare for Kanto standards, Mega Evolution, on a non-Kanto-native Pokemon at that… only Silph Co. students are supposed to have access to such things all over Kanto…
Nonetheless, Yuya sent out Dragonite and immediately transformed it. The battle was even for a while, but Bannette managed to score a Shadow Ball powerful enough to force Dragonite out of its transformation! The revelation that the transformation can be undone mid-fight shocked Yuya deeply… but fortunately, it can be re-done, and this caught Sora off-guard, which let Yuya-Dragonite finish the Ghost Pokemon with a Fly attack. In the end, this battle was pretty pointless since Sora sticked around the school despite the outcome…
Meanwhile, Shingo planned to get revenge on Yuya. Yuzu, who was in Saffron for shopping with Ayu, learnt this by chance and decided to confront him herself, asking Ayu to go back to Viridan and warn Yuya. She found him in an abandoned hangar in Saffron City and challenged him to a battle, which he accepted.
Just as she was about to send Wigglytuff, though, she was interrupted by a masked Trainer, who simply told her "Leave it to me." Shingo sent out a new Pokemon of his, the Ice/Grass-type Abomasnow. The Trainer sent out Hydreigon, a Dragon/Dark-type. Shingo had type advantage, so he asked Abomasnow to use Avalanche and bragged about how good a Trainer he is. Hydreigon endured the hit, but then, the masked Trainer transformed it, in a similar fashion to the way Yuya does it, but without a pendulum… this Dark-Hydreigon easily defeated Abomasnow with Focus Blast, the impact of which injured Shingo a little.
Yuzu was shocked upon seeing his power, but the worst part came when he took of his mask, who was destroyed from Focus Blast's shockwave. The Trainer looked just like Yuya! And to make things more complicated, Yuzu's supposedly innocuous bracelet she wore in her right hand emitted a strange purple glow, then the mysterious Trainer disappeared and a worried Yuya, looking for her, rushed in!
Shingo was admitted in Saffron General Hospital (for humans, you know, not Pokemon Center!) and exaggerated his injuries, blaming Yuya for them. This made Reiji and his mother Himika angry, so the latter took 3 students with her and made it to Viridian, with plans to take over the Viridian Trainer's School and assimilate it to Silph.
Shuzo denied the proposal immeditately of course, so Himika forced the students in a 3v3 battle; if Viridian wins, Silph would let them be, but if Silph does, they will assimilate it as planned. The first battle was between Yuya and a boy named Hokuto. Yuya-Dragonite VS Clefable. Yuya easily won the match.
The next was between Yuzu and a girl named Masumi, a famous jeweler's daughter. Wigglytuff VS Sableye. Due to Sableye's immunity to Normal attacks and Yuzu's lack of focus because of her doubt on Yuya and the masked Trainer's actions, Yuzu lost the Duel in a very embarrassing curb-stomp.
So it all came down to the third match. Sora was asked to battle but passed to Gongenzaka, who took the challenge. His opponent was a boy called Yaiba. Machamp VS Bisharp. Definitely the most interesting match of the three, since despite Machamp having a huge type advantage, Bisharp was surpisingly fast for a Steel-type. And to make matters worse, Gongenzaka battled using his Steadfast style according to which Machamp shouldn't move around! This strange but intense battle ended in a draw when Machamp used Submission to knock Bisharp out, but also got knocked out itself because of recoil damage.
With 1 win, 1 loss and 1 tie for each school, there was no winner, so the fate of Viridian school was still on the line… to solve this problem, Reiji showed up and requested a Duel with Yuya. The latter sent in Dragonite and Reiji sent in… Regigigas. A unique legendary Pokemon that could only be obtained by an extremely powerful Trainer, if not THE strongest Trainer in the nation.
Despite that, Yuya's special Dragonite was winning at first, partly due to Regigigas' Slow Start ability. Just when Yuya was about to score a victory, though, Reiji did the unexpected… he revealed that his long, red scarf is a Silph device that attempts to replicate the transformation Yuya and Shingo achieved using the data Shingo gathered during his battle with Yuya.
Using it, Regigigas was transformed and it obtained a terrifying form; it became Reiji-gigas! It didn't last long, though… the transformation was unstable and thus almost immediately undone. The battle never reached a real climax as Himika received a phone call over an emergency, so Reiji had to leave, conceding the match and declaring that Viridian school will be not assimilated.
This may have been a victory for the school… but Yuya was depressed to find out that Reiji was able to replicate his pendulum… Headmaster Shuzo took it upon himself to snap him out of it, by forcing him into a battle. He sent out Arcanine. During the battle with Dragonite, instead of focusing on it, Shuzo ordered Arcanine to use ExtremeSpeed to get close to Yuya and use Bite on his pendulum… which undid Dragonite's transformation and transformed Arcanine into the hot-blooded Shuzo-Arcanine!
Shuzo explained that just like Yusho was the pioneer of entertainment battles, Yuya is the pioneer of non-Mega transformations. And while many followed Yusho suit, he never got depressed because he was no longer the only person capable of doing it, but rather was happy that he was able to spread it and did his best to stay as #1 at it. Yuya smiled, finally learning his lesson. Shuzo undid the transformation, letting Yuya transform Dragonite again and win the battle.
A few days later, Nico Smiley, Ishijima's former manager, came to Viridian with another proposal; that the school lets their students participate in Kanto Championship (KCS). Tatsuya, Ayu and Futoshi were all automatically qualified for the Junior Division, but for one to be eligible for the Junior Youth Division, they have to maintain a 60% win rate in official Pokemon battles or win 6 consecutive matches. Yuzu already had the needed win rate, but Yuya didn't; in order to get it in the quickest way possible, he needed to win 4 consecutive matches. Still better than 6. Sora, however, who only came to the school recently, had to win 6 from scratch. Nonetheless he was still more than willing to do it, considering himself a far superior than Trainer than most people in Kanto. Nico took it upon himself to find Yuya his 4 opponents.
The first one was Michio Mokota, nicknamed "Mitchie" by his fans. One of the most renowned young cooks in Kanto, and a skilled Trainer as well, he has defeated SDS students pretty easily in past matches. If there was one battle Yuya should've not started with an empty stomach, this was it. Too bad he skipped breakfast because his mother took too long to prepare one of Mitchie's recipes! You can tell that Yuya disliked Mitchie already…
Unlike most matches these days, this would be a 2v2 single battle. Mitchie sent out his first Pokemon, Vanillite. Yuya's trasnformed Dragonite defeated the non-evolved Pokemon with ease despite typing. However, Mitchie's next Pokemon, Slurpuff, was too much for it. For the first time in a while, Yuya sent out a second Pokemon of his; Donphan. Meanwhile, Yuya's mother showed up and gave him breakfast based on one of Mitchie's recipes, but altered. Mitchie got angry but Yuya got newfound resolve, and the battle was easily won by Yuya. Mitchie came to see the errors of his ways just like his father wanted him to, and he became good friends with Yuya.
Meanwhile, Yuzu was accompanying Sora in his quest to qualify for KCS, trying to become a better Trainer herself, so that she wouldn't lose to someone like Masumi again, embarassing her school. Sora gave her a Pokemon Egg and asked her to raise it while also looking at his matches for battlign tips. During one of Sora's matches, in which Mega Banette easily defeated their opponent, the egg hatched into Ralts.
Yuya's next opponent was a quiz master named Kyuando Eita. A really annoying know-it-all guy for sure. His Alakazam was a tough fight for Dragonite but Yuya eventually won.
Yuzu, on the other hand, wasn't doing that well. She couldn't focus because of her constant thoughts over the Dark Trainer and him resembling Yuya. Her doubt over Yuya clouded her perception of things. Ralts itself was sad seeing its Trainer like that, but all it could do was watching Sora's matches so that it became better itself.
After Sora's latest match was over, they all headed to the port, where they met up with Masumi and an unknown Trainer, dressed in black, but definitely not looking like Yuya. He introduced himself as Kurosaki Shun. Masumi thought he was responsible for the disappearance of SDS' Professor Marco, her favourite teacher and implied crush of hers. His dissapearance was what caused Reiji to leave his battle with Yuya unfinished in the first place.
Shun confirmed that he made Marco dissapear, but didn't explain why. Yuzu asked for explanations, and he noticed her just then… it couldn't be, his lost sister Ruri! He tried to embrace her, but the Dark Trainer showed up and knocked him unconscious, explaining that despite her looking like Ruri, she wasn't Ruri. Meanwhile, Yuya, searching for Sora and Yuzu, met Yaiba and Hokuto, searched for deduced they were all together and headed for them. But as Yuya approached his lookalike, Yuzu's bracelet glowed and he dissapeared along with Shun.
After some more exchanges of words and insults, they all left, except Yuya, who noticed that someone dropped a purple crystal nearby… Only later did Sora notice that his purple crystal was missing…
The next day, Yuya was set to battle his third opponent, a girl named Hochun Mieru who used a Xatu. She has divination powers and could tell that Yuya had a bad day and would lose the battle, and maybe even his life, had he not abandoned the battle immediately. True to her word, Yuya-Dragonite was hit severely by Xatu's Psychic and tossed, alongside Yuya, to a nearby wall. The only thing that could save the day was a miracle…
And it happened. The purple crystal from yesterday, the Arcane Eye, transformed Dragonite into something completely different; this form was called Arcane-Dragonite, and it defeated Xatu with ease. Meanwhile, Sora, who was finally finished with his 6 matches, and Yuzu, who was following him, all went to Yuya's location. He returned the crystal to Sora.
That same night, Yuzu, wanting answers over her bracelet's special power, headed out to meet the Dark Trainer. Masumi, wanting revenge for Marco, decided to ambush Shun, and Hokuto with Yaiba agreed to help. Reiji was looking closely at all of them. They indeed met Shun, and the Dark Trainer was nearby, where Yuzu found him. He explained that he couldn't let her go help Masumi against his friend, introduced himself as Yuto, a person different from Yuya, and clarified that Ruri was someone looking like Yuzu the same way he looks like Yuya, and he with Shun, in their attempt to find her, attack SDS students for information.
The Triple Half-Tag Battle began. Shun sent out Braviary, Mandibuzz and Charizard. The others sent Clefable, Bisharp and Sableye. Clefable took Mandibuzz out and Bisharp took Braviary out. Masumi revealed that her Sableye can Mega Evolve, then Mega Sableye used Power Gem on Charizard, injuring it heavily. Too bad that triggered his Blaze ability. Shun ordered Charizard to use Blast Burn, which obliterated all 3 Pokemon in a single attack.
In order to save the others, Reiji stepped up. Shun revealed that he wants him as a hostage against Reiji's father, Leo, the headmaster of the school of Academia, who is his real enemy. Reiji, however, revealed that Leo is his enemy as well and wouldn't care at all about his son. He requested from Shun to cooperate with him and participate in KCS, while re-writing Hokuto, Yaiba and Masumi's memories so they believe he was their ally from the start.
The next day was a great one for both Yuya and Yuzu. The former would get his last match to qualify for KCS, while the latter, no longer confused over Yuto and Yuya, could finally focus on training Ralts. It evolved into Kirlia that very day. Yuya's opponent was revealed to be none other than… Gongenzaka! Gongenzaka's Machamp was stronger than before, after special training they did with Yaiba, but Yuya's Dragonite, realizing that Yuya has to win the match no matter what, pushed itself and achieved a new form, Beast-Dragonite, which easily beat Machamp.
Yuya was finally qualified for KCS. So did Sora. Gongenzaka and Mieru made it in time despite their loss to Yuya, and Mitchie was already qualified, just like Yuzu. With Masumi, Yaiba, Hokuto, Shingo and Shun around, this would sure be one crazy tournament!
