Day -1
Saffron City-Johto
Missingno Casino backroom

The room was dark. The four had always liked it that way. None of them had ever liked looking at each other for a decade or two, but the oath that they had sworn to each other had brought them all together.

The Criminal. The Hero. The Submariner. The Landsman.

All those years ago they had started out as friends and allies. But their lives had taken different turns, and each of them were now each others' arch foes. But yet the bonds of friendship that they had forged in the early years still brought them together once more.

For one, final purpose.

The Criminal broke the silence in the near-dark room. "Well, ante up Gentlemen," he said, looking around the poker table, and studying his opponents carefully. "We ain't got all day." He tossed some of his poker chips into the middle of the table.

The Hero smiled wryly, glanced at his cards, and tossed a handful of chips into the middle of the table. "It's really something, isn't it? We've come all this way, and under any other circumstances we'd be duking it out right now."

The Submariner laughed, tossing her hair over one shoulder. "you'd get your girlfriend to do your dirty work for you, buddy. That old crone you used to date always did like to fight your battles." The chinkle of plastic coins hitting each other and the green felt of the table seemed to echo through the small, dim room.

The Landsman said nothing, but studied his companions carefully before adding his ante to the pot.

"Who says we're not going to duke it out when this is all said and done?" the Criminal asked. "After all, none of us is going to allow any of the others to win. Land, Sea, jail, or victory. That's all that awaits us." There was silence at the table for a long while. Then the Criminal said quietly. "Dealer takes two."

The Hero smiled wryly. "True, outside of this room I won't rest until I stop each and every one of you." He laughed and slid three cards across the table to the Criminal. "But I have to admit, it's good seeing you guys again."

The Submariner grinned, her white teeth flashing in the near darkness. "That it is, old friend. But in the scheme of things all we're really doing is playing the game that brought us together on a much higher level."

"What, the roleplaying game my brother let me have?" the Landsman asked, frowning as he slid four cards to the Criminal. "You gave me crap, man. Give me better cards."

The Submariner laughed. "Yeah, you moron. Roleplaying games." She reached over and slapped the Landsman upside the head. "Poker, you moron!" She settled back into her chair, enjoying the Landsman glaring at her. "Besides," she simpered. "He's always given us crap. We're sissies for wanting to protect the environment. Yadda yadda yadda." she grinned and stuck her tongue out at The Criminal teasingly.

The Hero shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose we are all, in our own way, trying to save the world."

The Criminal grinned. "Exactly. The easiest way to save the world is to rule it and slap the people who are messing it up like a newborn Mankey." The group chuckled. "But on to business. We've all tried to change the world. We've all failed."

The Submariner snorted. "Some of us tried more than others." The Landsman laughed at that.

"And Some of you have failed more than others," The Hero said, grinning at each of the others at the table in turn.

The Criminal laughed. "Yeah, so I have more losses on my me already. You'd be ten years back in the backlog, at least. But I have made a lot more attempts than the rest of you lot." He grinned. "But I was trying to bring us around to why we were meeting." The Criminal studied his cards for a moment, then tossed chips into the middle of the table.

"Our generation's dried up," The Hero picked up where the Criminal left off. "We've discussed it at length, and we all know that we're too old to try to take over the world again. But that doesn't mean that the legacy has to end."

The Criminal smirked as the other players consulted their cards, and tossed their chips into the pot. "That's why we've all been raising up our prodigies. Shame Cyrus couldn't make it. We tried to warn him that messing with interdimensional forces would end up badly. Shame he ended up stuck on the other side of some dimension. It would have been fun to have had him actually been a part of this."

"His grandson will be." The Submariner pointed out. "Even though he has no idea who Cyrus was."

The Landsman nodded. "So. I suppose it's time for us to name our Champions."

The Criminal nodded. "Yeah, I suppose it is. Sam, who have you got?"

The Hero stood up, and reached into his wallet. "My Grandson, Gary Oak." He said, grinning and tossing a photograph of himself, Samuel J. Oak, and his grandson down onto the table in front of him.

The Criminal nodded, then turned to the Submariner. "Joan? Who have you got?"

Joan Paula Jones smiled thinly and pulled a card from her hand and placed it on the table. "I have to admit, I was originally going to approach Misty Waterflower, but the little twerp ran away from her gym. She didn't think that she was a good trainer or something."

The Criminal raised his eyebrows as he looked at Joan's choice. "Didn't see that coming," he said, grinning. "Thought you were going with the whole Grandson theme. Condolences about your husband, Joan. Doesn't seem right, dying the way he did."

Joan paused, her face growing blank for a moment. Then she smiled. "Thanks. Really. That means a lot from you, even though I called you a blood-sucking fiend."

The Criminal grinned. "No Problem."

"Doesn't mean that I still don't stand by the whole blood-sucking fiend part" Joan smirked. "I think you'll find that my choice is more than capable."

Samuel Oak grinned. "With parents like those, I do not doubt it one bit." He turned to the Landsman. "Maxie? What about you? Who's the one carrying on your banner?"

"A kid named Richie. Lots of potential. I've been grooming him for this for four years." Maxie replied, pulling a photo of his champion from his coat. The group all turned to The Criminal. "That just leaves you, Giovanni. Who's your pick to succeed your destiny?"

The Mastermind that had spurred the entire group to motion so many years ago leaned back in his chair. "You've all brought something to this group, you know. Sam, you brought your grandson up right and proper. Moral fiber. Cyrus' kid'll have the brains. Joan, your pick's definitely got the spunk. Maxie, your kid's got the training." Giovanni leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers and grinning. "I'm going to break from the tradition you guys have all got going here and not volunteer my son, not that he'd ever agree to it anyway. Thinks he's got something to prove to me."

Giovanni grinned. "you all prepared for this the last ten years, ever since Sam took us all down inside a month. You calculated, you schemed, you prepared your choices well."

Samuel Oak frowned at the gangster. "What are you trying to say, Giovanni? Who's your pick?"

Giovanni grinned. "That's just it. What I'm adding to the group is the unknown. Every one of these kids of yours are gonna be so stuffy about 'oh, upholding the family honor and beating everyone else' and all that other crap you all have been whining about for years. My pick is just in it for the fun of it. Just like I have been this entire time."

Joan narrowed her eyes. "Giovanni, spill."

The man paused, then grinned, pushing all of his chips into the center of the table. The rattling the chips caused made the others jump. In the heat of the moment, the others had forgotten about the game. "You're all concerned about who's going to win this. I don't know about you, but I'm just here to sit back and enjoy the show."

Maxie frowned, then turned away from the giant stack of chips in the middle of the table. "Giovanni. We all told you who our choices were. Now who is your pick?"

Giovanni shrugged his shoulders. "Like I said, I'll just be going along for the ride. I have no idea who my pick is." He grinned and leaned forward again, eyeing his opponents like a cat looking for a meal. "now are you in or are you out of the game?"

Sam cocked his head. "what do you mean you don't know?"

Giovanni grinned. "That," he said. "Is my little secret. You guys going to fold or what? I've got money to win back from Maxie!"