"So, how did you get the title?" asked Blue.

The trio had been out in Kalos for the past few hours, their new starters in their pokéballs. They were now sitting in a café, enjoying the sights and scents of the capital while they exchanged stories.

Every once in a while, someone would come up to Diantha and ask for her autograph or something of the sort. In response, she would chat with them for a few seconds and send them off with a friendly au revoir! The ex-Champion occasionally told Red and Blue the histories of particularly interesting buildings or streets, which ranged from epic tales of large-scale battles between entire kingdoms or nations to wholesome stories of neighborly actions. Red particularly enjoyed the origin of the Avenue Vendémiaire; it had been named after the old Kalosian word for the act of harvesting grapevines, in honor of the day when it had been discovered that florges, one of Kalos' quintessential species, had a beneficial effect on the plants around their habitats - including faster growth rate, resistance to cold and disease, and increased fertility. Until that discovery, Kalosian farmers had been locked in a constant battle against the pokémon they deemed invasive, but since then it was almost necessary to have a grove of florges living in any large-scale farm or garden (in addition, it was this discovery that led to the famous quality of Kalosian wines). Such tales of cooperation between Man and pokémon always managed to put a smile on Red's face.

He was pulled out of his musings by Diantha's answer.

"Well, just like every other Champion!" she laughed. "I collected eight badges, challenged our Elite Four - le Conseil des Quatre, as we call them - and then defeated my predecessor. His pangoro was quite the adversary, as I recall, though dreadfully vulnerable to Fairy-type attacks. They weren't even considered "Fairy" back then, just a strange brand of nature-attuned Psychic-type attacks...my gardevoir - " her Kalosian accent came out quite strongly when she said the name - " - in any case, was quite proficient with them. She made quick work of his team. I did have a close call with his Drapion...Poison-type pokémon, I truly will never understand the appeal of. To slowly drain your opponent of its health, prevent it from even getting a shot at you, until you can deliver the killing blow...I find it frankly quite sinister."

Red frowned. An image of his venusaur flashed before his eyes, exactly how it had looked when it had defeated Ethan's lanturn. Poison powder, toxic and leech seed had been its greatest weapons on Red's journey, wearing down tougher opponents while shrugging off hits and healing itself with its enemy's own nutrients...it wasn't exclusively a Poison-type, but it did have much of the tactics and traits of one complimenting its Grass-type attributes. Like any good trainer, he would defend his pokémon if it couldn't do it itself.

"...The satisfaction of a well-put strategy...that's the appeal of Poison-types...to see your opponent wither and faint after only minimal contact because you nullified its defense, or poisoned it beforehand, or both...only the most decisive counter-attacks can defeat you before that happens, and only the bulkiest of pokémon can tough it out...there's minimal risk to your own team…"

Diantha stared at him, shocked. Blue whistled.

"Man, when it rains it pours, huh? It's gotta be something in the air, we all know Red doesn't talk!" he grinned playfully. "But I get what you mean. Not planning on using any on my team, though - unless Kalos has some really sweet Poison-types."

Diantha was still looking at Red, who held her gaze, confident in his claim.

"Yes, I...I suppose that makes sense...I'd never thought of it that way...As for Kalosian pokémon, there are dragalgae often swimming around the Southern shores. I could ask Drasna for you, next time I see her. Poison and Dragon-types, quite resilient…"

She looked away, still lost in thought.

Red feared for a moment that he'd disrespected Diantha somehow, broken some Kalosian code of conduct without knowing. Her face didn't look offended, though, just...thoughtful.

Blue looked at him quizzically, his eyes shifting from him to Diantha and back. Red shrugged in response. The Viridian Leader frowned, looked down, and decided to change the topic.

"More of a Fairy person, huh? I can see that. We didn't even have those in Kanto 'til, what, last year? I remember Gramps bein' all flustered about Daisy's clefairy because all of a sudden it was a whole new type of pokémon. Man, if I'd known, I would've brought one for Lance when I was going through the Elite Four…"

Diantha seemed to focus back in to reality.

"Ah oui, Lance! The famed Dragon Master. I always did want to see how our teams would match up...though, if I am not mistaken, his team isn't actually entirely made of Dragon-types?"

Red smirked. If there was anything Blue was good at, it was socializing. He made up for his lack of tact with charismatic confidence; no matter how harsh he may sound, he always knew he could back up his claims, and as a result people naturally looked up to him as a leader (in both senses of the word).

Blue grinned mischievously.

"Yeah. You know, among Gym Leaders, we used to call him "Mega-Falkner" behind his back 'cause the only type his whole team shared was Flying. I even got Janine to replace his shampoo with blue dye this one time..." He chuckled. "Never saw it coming."

Diantha put a hand to her mouth and laughed lightly.

"Well, I'm glad Kalos' Leaders never did anything like that to me...but tell me more! How does he battle? Do his dragons ever disobey him? I heard his pupil, comment s'appelle-t-elle déjà, Claire had one of her dragonairs bite her once…"

As the conversation continued, Red swore he could see something in Diantha's eyes. Was she starstruck? Could Diantha have developed a crush on Kanto's Dragon Master?

More impressively, did Blue initiate this conversation because he already knew?

...you sneaky ekans…

Eventually they reached a large open space amidst Lumiose's maze of streets. There was a fountain in the middle, with sculptures of two pokémon spraying water; the first was a lapras, serene and graceful as it seemed to glide through the water, a small waterspout spewing from its mouth. Standing on its shell was a creature Red didn't recognize; it looked like a kingler, but with smaller legs and a sleeker, more elongated body. Like the Pincer pokémon, it had a small claw on one side and an oversized one on the other, pointing up - though this one was shaped more like a cannon than a crushing implement. From it spewed three jets of water that rotated slowly, catching the light from every angle and sparkling like cascades of gems.

Blue and Diantha stopped conversing.

"Ah, here we are," said the latter. "La Place des Combattants. Before the Pokémon League existed, this is where trainers would battle the current Champion - though, back then, that title had a much more...belligerent meaning. The greatest pokémon trainer in the country, or kingdom before it, was usually its greatest weapon as well. Really that was the case with most high-level trainers; then the strongest Regions established the League, and set the foundations for what we have now."

Then Blue unclipped the last pokéball on his belt and started throwing it up and catching it, a devilish grin spreading across his face.

"And what we have now, pal, is two pokémon aching for a battle! Whaddya say we try 'em out? Come on, I'll take you on!"

It took Red a second to realize Blue was challenging him to a battle. A battle of starters...he had even used the exact same words as he had four years ago.

A rush of adrenaline coursed through Red's veins. He took Shinba's pokéball off of his belt, feeling the sphere's smooth metal under his fingers.

Diantha hummed excitedly.

"Well, messieurs, at your positions! I suppose I will be referee for this one, though I don't imagine I will have much to call out with trainers of your caliber!"

The Kanto Champions grinned at her, already caught up in the heat of a battle that hadn't even begun.

"En effet, ma chère! Just enjoy the match!"

They made their way to opposite ends of the courtyard, never breaking eye contact, even through the fountain's jets. Pokéballs in hand, they waited for Diantha's signal, and when her arm went down, threw their starters into the match.

"Noko! Let's go!"

"...Shinba."

It was in the first second that Red realized his problem: he was battling with a starter pokémon, fresh from the daycare, with assumedly no previous experience or anything to go off of other than natural instinct. It hadn't been trained to respond to his coded commands like the rest of his team, which meant…

...this is going to be harder than expected…

Opposite from him, Blue had decided to take preemptive action, having realized Red's initial handicap long before the battle even started.

"Noko, ember!"

Red looked into Shinba's eyes as he heard the command. The Grass-type was unsure of what to do on his own, as pokémon tended to be without instructions. He looked back at his trainer, doubt in his eyes. Red decided he could absolutely not let his new friend down.

"...Duck."

The word was said with so much force that Shinba immediately hit the deck, as if jolted by a pikachu's cheeks. A second later, a small glob of flame passed over his head, singeing the pavement where it landed.

Noko was already on the move, having been ordered to scratch at her slower opponent. She dashed over to Shinba, who was still on the ground, and lunged at the Grass-type, front claws out. Before she could reach her opponent, however…

"...Vine whip."

Shinba steeled himself, hunkering down to the pavement and looking up at Noko. A split-second before the Fire-type could scratch at him, he pushed up and flipped backwards. The red tip of his tail caught Noko under her snout, knocking her off-balance mid-air, and she landed clumsily just a few centimeters in front of Shinba. Blue, however, had been expecting a counter-attack and took advantage of the proximity between the pokémon.

"Now ember!"

Red frowned. From this distance, there was no way Shinba could dodge the attack. Before even getting up, Noko arched her back, readying the ember, and in less than two seconds she would launch it.

He couldn't dodge the attack, but maybe he could take advantage of it.

"Tackle."

Crouched down as he was after his feat of acrobatics, Shinba only had to propel himself forward as Noko spat out her ember.

At this point, Noko was too young for an ember to do too much damage, but it was still a Fire-type attack on a Grass-type pokémon. Shinba took it head-on - literally. However, as Red had counted on, his weight and forward momentum carried him through the small puff of fire and smoke that resulted...and straight into Noko. She was launched almost three metres back with a yelp of pain, rolling on her side once before getting back on her paws. Red was actually surprised at how much force a chespin could have.

He looked back at said chespin, whose "cap" was blackened and singed. The extra layer of moss and fur had protected Shinba from most of the damage, but he wouldn't be able to pull that off again. Red had to end this quickly.

"...Vine whip."

Red decided he did not like having only two offensive options. Had his venusaur been against a Fire-type for any reason, it could have used a myriad of Poison-type attacks or other coverage options to compensate for its type disadvantage. With Shinba he would have to make-do.

Blue was thinking the same thing, only he had Noko's ember. He saw now that giving Red that advantage would have been a huge mistake. Red didn't get cocky; he wouldn't have relied on it to win. He was always the underdog, because that position challenged him. If he wanted to use his ace in every battle, he could. He could have decimated Brock's team with a mankey, but instead he made a point of winning his first Gym Badge with his first pokémon. He could have caught a diglett or even a dugtrio in Diglett Cave and rendered Surge's team almost helpless (and while that was a common strategy, it only really worked if the Lightning Unovan was your third challenge or less. After four, most of his pokémon had a Grass, Ice or Water-type attack. Luckily for Red, Surge was his third). Instead he used both his pikachu and ivysaur in a devastating combo. Even against Blue, Red had used pokémon of either similar types or similar ability to his own, ending with an epic duel between starters.

In any case, using ember again would be a mistake. It would only push Red to find yet another way out...or would it? After all, this was their pokémon's first battle. They only knew three moves, one of which was useless in this high-level battle, and were both tiring already. No matter his skill, Red couldn't pull something out of his partner that wasn't there in the first place.

And so, as Shinba rushed towards Noko, determined to end this battle, Blue took a risk.

"Growl!"

Noko rose to her full height and, flaring out her large ears, roared a challenge to her opponent.

Shinba and Red both flinched. The former because he hadn't expected his weakened foe to simply growl at him - and because it frankly intimidated him a little - and the latter because this had been the least expected outcome.

"...Back."

"Now! Ember!"

"ROLLOUT!"

And in a second and a half, the battle was over.

When his trainer gave the order, Shinba jumped backwards - and in that instant, Blue ordered Noko to use her ember attack one last time. He knew that Red would retreat from an uncertain situation, and when that retreat was sounded, Shinba would be vulnerable - due either to being off-balance for a split-second or running back towards Red.

However, Red had one last trick up his sleeve: rollout. Chespins didn't inherently know how to perform the attack, but it was often the first one they would learn and, well, Red wasn't exactly your average novice trainer either. Two things stood out to him during the battle: Shinba's knack for acrobatics and the amount of momentum the Grass-type could generate. From there, it had been rather easy to make the connection - for both trainer and pokémon. When Red heard Blue's final command, he reacted instinctively; luckily for him, as always, his trust in his partner rewarded him.

Having jumped backwards - while having enough sense to keep facing his opponent - Shinba heard the command and pushed off of the pavement beneath his paws. Like he would have done with a vine whip, he tilted forwards mid-air, compressing his body into a ball and exposing his back. This time, though, he didn't come back up and instead kept spinning. After the first rotation, he hit the ground, and his momentum and

The ember hit him, but with the speed at which he spun, it dissipated almost immediately upon making contact with his back. The brown and green ball barrelled into Noko, launching her into the air.

Before she hit the ground, a red beam of light hit her and she disappeared. Red looked at Blue, who had his arm out, holding a pokéball.

"And here I was, thinking you couldn't beat me with something that wasn't there. Then you go and do it. One of these days, Red, the universe is just gonna say no."

Red grinned.

"...Not today, though."

And, seeing his eternal rival's soured mood, he put his hand out for a fist bump.

Blue hesitated...then, unable to stay sullen in the face of his lifelong friend's contagious smile, he broke into his eponymous grin and bumped.

"*sigh* No, I guess not."

The ex-Champions heard applause and whoops, and suddenly realized that a crowd had gathered to watch their battle (and probably Diantha as well). Blue, ever the showman, quickly took the initiative and grabbed Red's hand, raising it into the air while he bowed.

"Merci, merci! Vous êtes trop bons!"

Red pulled his cap further down.

"Oh, come on, for once they're clapping only because of your skill! These guys have no idea who the heck you are!"

He thought about it. Blue wasn't wrong...and wasn't part of the reason he had even come down from Mt. Silver to meet new people and experience new things?

...well, might as well start here…

And he raised his cap, looking over the crowd as they began to disperse.

"...Merci."

A young boy looked Red in the eye. He had a pokémon on his shoulder - the same kind that he had seen on his windowsill that morning.

His eyes were full of wonder, excitement and a contented, child-like joy. He noticed Red's gaze and jumped a little, before freezing on the spot.

Red nodded at him.

The boy mouthed a merci and turned away, running home with his pokémon behind him.


A tad cheesy, I know, but I thought it was effective. Sorry for the long time between updates, kinda hitting a bumpy moment in my school life, but on the plus side this is the longest chapter so far. As always, feedback is much appreesh'. Till next time!