Chapter 1: The Contenders

The inside of Viridian was dark when Joe stepped inside. Well, dark was an understatement, it was a gloomy place to begin with, full of old pokémon statues and not much else. Add a lot of blacked out windows and next to no natural light and the place looked like a cheap house of horrors at a fairground. It was thanks to the dark that he didn't notice the figure approach him from behind one of the statues. The noise, akin to the sound a dying bird or very scared little girl makes, that came out of his mouth was something he'd never admit to anyone.

"Holy crap that was loud. Okay, calm down buddy. Honestly. Why is everyone always so jumpy? It's not even that dark."

"Are you Blue Oak? The Gym Leader?" He asked, his face bright red as he tried tohide his embarrassment and make out the figure through the darkness.

"The one and only. You a challenger?" Came the cheerful reply.

"Um. In a manner of speaking. Can we battle please?"

"You got the other seven badges?" Blue asked sceptically. "Because you don't look like much of a trainer to me."

"No I don't. I'm not here for a badge, I just need to battle you."

"Okaaay." Blue replied, his confusion showing clearly on his face. "Whatever dude, as long as it's not for a badge I can battle whoever I want just... try not to get beat too bad okay? I'll feel bad for your pokémon."

Joe scowled, irritated by Blue's attitude but unable to refute it. He'd been a poor trainer in his youth and hadn't managed to get more than two badges. The pokémon he carried today didn't belong to him and had been trained to battle independently of their trainer. He was nothing more than transport for the much more important test pokémon, his job was to hold the invitation and let the pokémon do their thing.

"Follow me." Blue told him. "Is three on three okay? Six on six would be overkill and I don't really enjoy boring battles, or inflicting needless pain onto pokémon."

"Um. Yes, three on three is acceptable." Joe managed to stammer out before losing his will to talk, he'd quit being a trainer exactly because he wasn't any good at it. It wasn't fair that he was stuck being some kind of proxy trainer for the higher ups against his will, it just gave people like Blue, competent trainers, excuses to make fun of him.

"Alright!" Blue declared as they arrived at the pokémon arena inside the gym. The dusty white lines poorly maintained and barely visible in the darkness. "Lemme get the lights."

Blue flicked a switch on the nearby wall and the dark building was bathed in the light of the floodlights overhead. For the first time since he'd entered the building he could actually see Blue. A thick messy head of dusty brown hair and a cocky grin that practically defined the guy, for someone who acted so superior his wardrobe was surprisingly simple. A plain black jacket and sand coloured pants, Joe had been expecting all designer labels, or at least some douchy sunglasses.

"Alright. Let's do this." Blue grabbed the first ball on his belt and tossed it lazily into the arena.

The ball cracked in half and a solid mass of white energy emerged, slowly shimmering and shifting into the shape of a wolf with crimson red fur. Joe had seen Arcanine before, both in pictures and reality, but what was stood in the centre of the arena was incomparable to them. Thick knotted muscle rippled and twisted underneath its fur, speaking of the amazing power stored in its body. Its coat shimmered so many different shades of red you could almost believe the beast was carved from flames. Most terrifyingly of all, each of its fangs was so visibly sharp, so similar to a row of dozens of knives, that Joe physically recoiled in fear at the sight. This pokémon stood in the upper echelons of strength and its regal posture suggested that it knew that.

Joe gulped and pulled the crumpled note he'd been given from his pocket. "Okay... if he releases Arcanine use pokéball number... 3!"

Joe tried to ignore Blue's look of disbelief and carefully located the third of his pokéballs, nervously tossing it into the arena. The ball bounced and for a terrifying second Joe thought it wasn't going to open and he was going to look like an even bigger fool, but as it bounce it cracked open and the formless mass of energy emerged. From within emerged a streamlined mantis, Scyther, a pokémon renowned for its deadly speed and wicked sharp blades. This one was clearly a veteran. The sudden weight in the air when it emerged from its ball, coupled with the obvious and almost sinister sharpness of its blades spoke volumes. Even to an amateur like Joe.

Blue chuckled. "You wanna compete in speed? With MY Arcanine? I don't know who gave you that note buddy, but they've got balls. You ready?"

Joe nodded.

"Then let's GO! Arcanine, Extreme Speed!"

Joe's mouth opened to issue a command, before snapping shut when he remembered he had no control over this battle. This level was far above him.

Arcanine's entire body erupted into motion, ripping forward through the air in an explosion of dust as it pushed off the floor. There was a white flash and Arcanine appeared in front of Joe faster than he could see, he flinched and raised his arms to try and protect himself from the incoming furry bullet but, as quickly as it had taken off, Arcanine skidded to a halt and spun to face Scyther, who had nimbly dodged the lightning fast attack.

The pressure in the air grew thicker as the two pokémon began to slowly pace around the arena, each watching the other with well trained eyes. Joe was doing his best just to maintain his bladder control, but when he looked over at Blue he realised why he had never been a good trainer. Blue's eyes were narrowed and locked onto the two figures in the arena, his body was tensed and his breathing had slowed until it was nearly no existent, this level of concentration was something Joe would never understand. It felt as though Blue was in the arena with the two pokémon.

A heavy silence washed over the stadium. Joe couldn't help but keep quiet as any words that formed in his mouth were crushed by the intense pressure that filled the room. The only sounds were the steady thud of Arcanine's paws and the gentle click of Scyther's claws as the two circled each other.

"Fire Fang!"

Arcanine broke the stalemate, leaping forward with crimson death spewing out of its mouth and washing over its fangs. Scyther dodged backwards to avoid the brutal flames and Arcanine's jaws snapped shut just short of Scyther's thorax, the flames rippling and flaring as the shockwave from Arcanine's vice like jaws passed through them. Arcanine's neck twisted and it lashed out with its fangs again, only for Scyther to narrowly slip out of his range once again, this time attempting to flee across the battlefield. Arcanine crouched and rocketed after Scyther. The duo zigzagged across the field and leaving a trail of red flashes as Arcanine lashed out again and again with his fangs, Scyther narrowly pulling himself out of the jaws of defeat each time.

Arcanine's flames fluttered and slid back down its throat as he finally had to relinquish his assault for a brief moment to recover his breath. Seeing his opportunity Scyther lunged forward, his right blade flashing towards Arcanine's neck. There was a flash of light and both figures froze, Scyther's blade caught neatly between Arcanine's jaw. For the briefest of seconds Scyther looked genuinely afraid, before Arcanine's jaws closed and a sickening crack reverberated throughout the building, Scyther's blade shattering into dozens of shards that scattered across the ground.

"Flamethrower!"

As the injured Scyther staggered backwards Arcanine's head snapped upwards and a seething mass of flame erupted inside its maw. His head swung down towards Scyther like a guillotine and a torrent of flames burst forth from within, the vortex of fire mercilessly crashed into the crippled Scyther and sent the unfortunate creature tumbling through the air before it came to an abrupt stop. The force of the attack embedding the mantis in a nearby wall. Where, after several seconds, it peeled away from the deep crater and tumbled to the ground and landed in a heap.

Joe stared in amazement while Arcanine stood triumphant amongst the shards of Scyther's blade. "Good work buddy." Blue remarked retuning Arcanine to its pokéball. "You'd better return that Scyther to its ball fast dude, that needs at least a full treatment at a pokémon centre, if not several."

"Um. Yeah." Joe replied, dazed, before sucking the Scyther back into its ball.

"Alright. You're up next buddy."

Blue tossed another pokéball into the arena. A hulking bipedal rhino carved from granite emerging from within. Joe gulped in fear for whichever pokémon he would have to send out next, surely a Rhydon's horn wasn't usually that big? And its armour that thick? With very little enthusiasm Joe checked his notes and tossed pokéball number 5 into the arena.

As the white light of his pokémon formed Joe couldn't help but feel hopeful that this battle would go better for his poor pokémon than the last. Unlike before the reptilian beast that emerged from his pokéball wasn't at a type disadvantage, Rampardos was on a fairly even footing with Rhydon. If anything Rampardos was at a slight advantage, being well known for its power.

The gazes of the two pokémon met and Rampardos instigated by pawing at the ground, unlike before the tension lasted only a few seconds before Ramparods attacked, charging towards Rhydon. Rampardos had greater speed and Rhydon knew it, remaining still as the spearing pokémon rocketed towards Rhydon in a streak of white light. Rhydon's own movements would have been useless and slow, so instead Rhydon shifted its weight onto its front leg and planted itself firmly on the ground. Mere inches away from his opponent Rampardos' head swung down, bringing its thick skull plate to bear while Rhydon curled one hand into a fist, swunging one of its huge appendages at its opponent.

The duo clashed and there was a deep crunch as Rhydon's fist embedded itself in the Rampardos' skull plate. Unlike Arcanine Rhydon didn't have much force, just sheer stopping power, so unlike Arcanine's attack Rampardos didn't fly across the room. Instead chunks of its skull plate crumbled away from its head and gravity dislodged Rhydon's fist from the remains of the poor creature's skull plate. The poor pokémon crumbled to the ground, at best simply unconscious, while Rhydon watched with disinterest and Blue sighed before returning his pokémon.

"Buddy. As both a trainer and a Gym Leader, if you force me to do that to another of your pokémon I'm going to lose my temper."

Joe returned the Rampardos and gave Blue a look that was half respect, half terror, before nodding. "Yeah. That's more than enough. Here."

Still somewhat shell shocked from what he'd just witnessed Joe handed Blue the envelope with shaking hands. "It's the War of Champion's tournament organised by Silph Co international, all gym leaders are invited if they pass the evaluation, that was yours. You passed. Congratulations." Joe mumbled as he stared at the aftermath of the two battles, still trying to wrap his head around what he'd just seen.

"How the hell does anyone ever win the Earthbadge?"

"Oh I have a weaker regulation team I use for gym battles. Although even then not many people beat me, that's the point of being gym number eight. I'm the buffer between the challengers and the elite four. I weed out the weaklings. Hey what's this?"

Joe glanced up and saw Blue examining the back of the envelope. "Additional information on the competition, that ticket is one of the ones issued today so the information should be the most up to date."

"Hmm." Blue murmured scanning the wall of text, suddenly his eyes fixed on one name and a wide grin spread across his face. "Hey, this name here in 'Confirmed Competitors' they're definitely coming right?"

'Red? Wasn't he a Champion at one point?'

The name Blue was pointing at rang a bell in Joe's head, but he couldn't quite work out why. "If their name is on that list that means that they've accepted. Probably already at the tournament grounds too. Why does it matter?"

"HAHA!" Blue howled stuffing the ticket into his pocket. "I'm all pumped up! Lemme just get my stuff and we'll head off right away, damn if he's competing I can't miss it for anything!"


Falkner's Pidgeot crashed into the wall with enough force to rattle the foundations of the gym, the bird's once majestic plumage stained with blood and its body broken. Falkner just stared in disbelief at his prized pokémon, now reduced to the same state of total defeat as his other pokémon. The trainer stood opposite him, his Electivire smirking with superiority at the easy win, let out a loud mocking laugh.

Mary's eyes couldn't tear themselves away from the Electivire, its entire body was bathed in static, just the residual electricity from its battle was powerful enough to make her hair stand on end from several dozen metres away. She still couldn't believe it, she'd would have never expected someone that wasn't even on the list for the War of Champions would make such short work of a competitor that had just received their invitation.

"I think this belongs to me." The challenger declared, snatching Falkner's invitation from his hands.

"Ah!" Mary exclaimed. "You can't do that, invitations are exclusive to the person whose name is on it."

The challenger opened his mouth, a look of scorn on his face, and was no doubt about to insult her when Falkner intervened. "Let him have the invite." He declared. "After that defeat I clearly don't deserve to compete in any event with the word 'champions' in the title."

"First sensible thing you've said all afternoon." Declared the challenger, returning his Electivire and smirking.

Mary scowled, but knew her hands were tied. "Alright. Give Falkner back his invitation, he's still eligible to compete. Come with me and I'll arrange your invitation. What's your name?"

"Ardos."

'If the rest of his team is as powerful as that Electivire then it's going to take a monster to beat him.' She ran through the competitors she'd heard about trying to figure out if any of them could match up to this 'Ardos'.

'Maybe the Johto champion from four years ago, or the current Hoenn champion, it's her second term as champion if I remember correctly, and of course there's always the other wild card that entered last week. '

"Hey! Woman! Quit daydreaming already!" Ardos Snapped. "I want my invitation sometime this century!"

'Jerk. I can't wait to watch you get beat down.'


"Lunatone!"

"Solrock!"

"GO!"

Mossdeep gym had been torn to pieces by the force of their battle, the most even clash in all of history, between the twin gym leaders Liza and Tate. With entering as a pair not being an option for the War of Champions they'd decided to pick which one of them got to go the only way they ever could have. With a battle. Now, finally, the battle had reached its climax, two pokémon, two psybeam attacks, one survivor. The blasts clashed, brutal amounts of psychic feedback flooding the arena and sending thick stabbing pain through the minds of the two competitors.

Without warning Solrock's beam began to shudder and Tate's face fell, he already knew what was coming next. Solrock's beam faltered under the colossal pressure of its opponent and Lunatone's psybeam triumphed, mercilessly sending Solrock streaking across the gym and into the opposing wall. The victor had been decided.

"DAMMIT!" Tate yelled, sinking to his knees and punching the ground beneath him in frustration.

Liza sighed and made her way over to her brother, the edges of her sky blue china dress were frayed from the battle and she frowned as she noticed this. She'd only recently started wearing dresses, but she liked them a great deal, having worn an identical outfit to her brother in her youth. It'd started to look out of place however as she'd grown into a teenager and now at seventeen she could no longer get away with wearing men's clothes something which she was quite pleased with. Despite her own transition into adulthood her brother remained as imature as he'd been in his youth, albeit taller.

"Come on bro-"

"-you can still go if you want to. We both got invitations." Tate finished, grumbling and looking up at her. "Yeah I know but-"

"-we both agreed only one of us would go." She finished. "I know but-"

"-That was just a stupid bet. Except-"

"Will you two PLEASE stop that!" Sarah exclaimed sighing. "Look I've got two invitations here one for Liza, one for Tate. You can have two, one, or none. That was the deal when you passed the evaluation, I really don't care which it is so for the love of god please just DECIDE already."

"Arlright alright." Tate said sighing. "We'll take-"

"-Just my invite." Liza finished.