A/N: The Second Chapter. Took me a long time and two rewrites from the begining to even get this to make sense in my head; and after that, I have a newfound respect for writers. Even if you got a bone structure for your story, you still got to think about how this event will lead to the next one without going off into a tangent.
~Mauville City~
The Trainer came into the city as the sun was beginning to set, the day coming to its slumbering end. As he walked towards the serene Pokémon Center a fair distance, the people of Mauville paid no attention to him; this was fine for him as he had already been through the city once when he had begun his Pokémon journey. But as he looked at the fair city from the cold gray concrete to the warm blue sky, old nostalgic feelings had arose when he was here ten years ago. But he pushed them aside as the past was dead to him, and nothing good came to the person he once was four years ago.
As the lone Trainer entered through the automatic doors of the Pokémon Center, some of the younger Trainers that saw him quickly ran out of his way. He saw this many times when small Pokémon like Ratatta and Pidgey came across him and would turn the other way as fast as they could. He gave off a feeling that made those unfamiliar to him run the other way, whether he wanted it or not. It did not bother him as much as he thought; frankly, it gave him the sole peace and solitude he wanted. Once he came to the counter, he waited for Nurse Joy to greet him. He turned to look at the other Trainers and other travelers, subtly observing them to get an idea of their goals and what type of battle style each one used.
It looks like that a third of these people are Trainers, another third are Coordinators, and the rest are just passing through.
When he thought of Pokémon Coordinators, a form of contempt crept up his spine as his philosophy about Coordinators were that they spent too much time performing flashy moves that they lose the true meaning of battle; once they did enter into a battle their tactics were easy to read that one had to wait for the right attack combination and break it with a simple attack, leaving them helpless that they would lose the battle.
"Excuse me, sir," Nurse Joy said to get his attention. "May I help you with something?"
"Uh, yes," he replied as he pulled his cap forward to keep half his face hidden. "I need to have my Pokémon healed."
"Very well, but I'm afraid that we don't have any vacant rooms for you to stay in."
"That's fine," he told her, "I'll rest outside. I don't really like being around other people."
"If you don't mind me asking, what is your name?"
"Just call me Blitz," he muttered as he gave her his Poké Balls before leaving to go set up a tent on the outskirts of the city.
As Blitz left, he didn't notice that someone was keeping a watchful eye on him.
Blitz was eating a meal he had bought from the local restaurant on the outskirts of Mauville. His tent was set up and his Pokémon had been fed before he ate, making it a normal day for him. Although he had problems with his newly caught Steelix, but he was at least able to bring it in line. As he looked around his surroundings as the fire continued burning. The only living things around him were his Umbreon and Luxray lying beside him.
"Why do I continue being a Trainer?" Blitz asked himself, a drained sigh escaping from his hanging mouth. "I can't participate in the other regional competitions again as I know the Elite Four's battle tactics that the battles are never as fun as they were when I first fought them. And these new Trainers can't possibly keep a veteran Trainer like me on my toes."
"Then maybe I can help you with that," a voice said from behind him.
At that moment, Blitz, Umbreon and Luxray all got up ready to defend themselves from the mysterious stranger. His Luxray had sparks of electricity sparking from its fur, trying to warn off the intruder from coming any closer.
"Who's there?!" Blitz demanded towards the direction he heard the voice.
"My apologies for startling you and your Pokémon," the stranger said, holding his hands up to his head to show that he was harmless, "But considering that you chose to sleep on the outskirts, I don't know when you would leave before I could give you my invitation." Blitz looked towards the stranger, and took a closer look at his mysterious visitor and noticed that he was a portly man wearing a tropical shirt and khaki a shorts, and had what appeared to be a PokéNav around his neck.
He looked towards Luxray and made a hand gesture to stand down, but to still keep its guard up in case their visitor dare try anything.
"Who are you and what of this invitation you mentioned?" he asked as nicely as he could, sensing his irritation welling up within him. He really didn't like it when people snuck up on him.
"Of course, introductions are in need," the man said calmly. "My name is Scott and I scout out talented Trainers to participate in the Battle Frontier." Blitz looked at him with a confused look. Sure he knew he was good, but he cursed it more than give praise to it as he enjoyed breaking apart his opponent's tactics that he could predict their moves and take advantage of it.
"And may I ask what makes you believe that I would take this challenge?" Blitz asked. "I fought against some of the strongest Trainers the four regions could offer with mixed win-lose ratios." He picked up some firewood and tossed into the dying fire as the sun was nearly gone by now. "And here I am, just mindlessly wandering around not giving a care who or what I fight, but I still haven't found that spark or enjoyment from these battles as I can nearly predict their attack plans before they make it themselves. How am I so sure that I won't find such disappointment in this Battle Frontier of yours?"
Scott looked at him as if was trying to figure him out. But as far as Blitz knew, no one has ever heard of him and couldn't find out about his past life without him telling them his true name.
"I can't guarantee such things," Scott warned, yet still kept a level head dealing with the Trainer. "But you never know how things will turn out until you try it out."
Blitz took those words in and began to think about them. Sure he could predict his opponent's next move or tactic, but only after he has gotten a grasp of their moves and had been in the battle long enough. And even then, his predictions of battles didn't mean that he was psychic or anything; it just meant that he was good at taking apart his opponents tactics and exploiting their weaknesses, if they had any.
"Very well, I'll give this Battle Frontier of yours a try," Blitz replied. "Where is it though?"
"The Battle Frontier is in the Kanto region and you will have to challenge Seven Frontier Brains," Scott explained.
"Really," Blitz stated, "So it is similar to what I been doing my whole six years as a Trainer."
"Not really."
"How so?"
"You see," Scott began, "even though there are seven battle facilities, you only learn the location of one. Only once you beat that Frontier Brain do you learn of the location of the next Battle Facility."
"So what your saying is only if I beat the Frontier Brain that I challenge first, I have to go all around the Kanto region to go to the next one," Blitz stated in an annoyed voice as if his first travel in Kanto wasn't bad enough.
"You sound like you don't wish to travel around Kanto for some odd reason," Scott noted.
"It's more like I tend to run into certain members of Team Rocket far too often when I'm in Kanto or Johto," Blitz explained.
"Oh, well I hope that's not going to keep you from accepting my invitation to participate," Scott said.
"No, they won't be a problem as they are more an irritant than a true problem. And who knows, maybe I won't see them this time around."
"Very well," Scott said, "You do have a PokéNav with you right?"
"Yeah, why?" Blitz asked him.
"Just so that I can give you the location of your first Frontier Brain when you arrive," Scott told him.
"Sure," Blitz told him as he reached for his PokéNav and handed it to Scott. Then Scott's last words hit a mark. "I take you will be updating my PokéNav after every battle if I beat the Frontier Brain, right?"
"It's something I do for the Trainers, and I do mix up the Frontier Brains differently for each Trainer," Scott explained to him as he inputted the data Blitz would need and returned the small machine. He looked at Blitz's Luxray who was stilling keeping an eye on him and bared its fangs at him. "I take it that your Luxray doesn't like meeting people."
"More like overprotective of me against strangers and wild Pokémon, but he won't attack unless I tell him or if he feels provoked by the intruder. My Umbreon on the other hand will only attack if he feels that the person or Pokémon is a threat," Blitz told him.
"I see," Scott noted. "Well Blitz, I'll be waiting to see you at your first match."
"Sure, see ya," Blitz muttered as he saw Scott walk back towards Mauville, most likely staying in one of the rooms at the Pokémon Center.
He then slumped down on the ground as he looked at his PokéNav and opened it to see where he would be sent to begin his first match.
"Let's see where I'd been sent," he said as he switched the map from Hoenn to Kanto. He showed a look of surprise when he found out that he would be going near Seafoam Island. "Damn it, I should have told him that I have a problem about getting wet. I'm such a dummkopf!"
Literal Translation: Dumb Head
A/N: Well this is the second chapter, and the plot has just begun. But as most stories, there has to be some character exposition before some of the action can happen.
For my use of a German word, Blitz will only one word German words; and he doesn't have German accent just to make sure I don't confuse people. The German words are only used to emphesise his feelings; considering that the German language sounds harsh.
Also, MisterP: Thank you for beta-reading. I know you are busy and I do appreciate that you accepted my request; but I don't wish to burden you with my spelling and grammar mistakes, no matter how small they are. So if I had those when I sent it to you, I apologize for them. I'll send my future chapters to look over after I make sure that it makes as much sense as it did in my head.
Feel free to leave a review. Input is really good and it does help make us writers do better.
Auf Wiedersehen!
