This is a written adaption of the Pokémon Adventures/Special comic arc, HeartGold and SoulSilver.
It takes place in the same universe as all my other stories, including Legends of Arceus and Brick Bronze.
I HIGHLY recommend that you read Pokémon Adventures: Legends of Arceus before this story.
Enjoy...
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Two thousand years ago, the Plates were torn from Arceus by the Evil Djinn, a fallen spirit, and a menace to the world at that time.
Although the Evil Djinn was sealed away, the earthly form of Arceus was forever put into slumber, hating all that existed in it's agony.
The Plates passed out of all memory, and were forgotten.
However...
The smallest sliver of the Evil Djinns' essence has escaped its weakening cage, and it now schemes from the shadows, plotting its rise to power.
Many heroes have foiled the schemes of the Evil Djinn in the past thirteen years, even if they did not know who was the true mastermind behind all that troubled the world.
Now, after many other plots, the Evil Djinn had decided that he may use his servants to finish what he started two thousand years ago, to absorb the power of Arceus, and become as mighty as He.
Of course, resistance to such evil is found in many places, and the powers of Evil are seldom ignored or go uncontested, by Man or Pokémon.
And with strange eons, even the most unexpected people can carry out the will of the Original One...
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Route 37, Johto...
"Are we there yet? I'm bored. And hungry."
Gold was riding on the back of his Typhlosion, bounding along the trampled, gravelly path with Whitney riding on her Miltank beside him. The whole line of scenery besides the trail faded to a blur, with only the high towers of Ecruteak City in the horizon.
Whitney was wondering why in the world that the Pokémon Association had forced her to, as they put it, 'ensure the arrival of the courier.' Apparently, Gold was was to irresponsible to simply go to the Pokeathlon Dome on his own. And here Whitney was, trailing with a whiney, womanizing man-child.
Gold undid his travelling bad, and pulled out two tawny colored foodthings.
"Heyyyy!" Gold said, stuffing the thing between his teeth. "I'll try this Rage Candy Bar. Here, have one too! Enjoy!"
With a precise throw, Gold chucked the bar in Whitney's open mouth. Immediately, the Gym leader began to choke as the hard candy bar blocked off her airway.
Gold noticed, and sent out his Politoed. A gush of water from the Pokémon's mouth made the dry bar crumble, albeit soaking Whitney and her Miltank.
"Har har!" Gold laughed, gnawing on his own candy bar. "Too much water, prissy? Yeah, this Rage Candy Bar is a little tough. Problem?"
Whitley was silent for a few seconds, dripping liquid.
"A little...tough?" She said, uttermost scorn in her voice. "Fool! It was like chewing on a piece of bark! Idiot!"
Gold, amused at her outburst, put his plasti-mesh riding goggles up to his forehead as the Pokeathlon Dome drew nearer. "Really? It certainly wasn't too tough for the fabulous, famous, handsome, amazing Gold, the famed Pokedex Holder of New Bark Town!"
Whitney leaped off her Miltank and onto Typhlosion, and started to teach Gold a lesson in a physical manner.
"Jeez!" Gold said, bearing the punches. "Sor-ree! Why so serious?! Hey, the Dome is right there! I can see it!"
Indeed. As Route 37 melted away to the coastal complex of the Pokeathlon Dome, the grandeur would have made anybody pause. The clear glass of the massive complex stretched for yards and yards. Several symmetrical outcroppings jutted from the main structure, being where the games were hosted. A arch of tempered steel stood above the glass entryway, with the sigil of the Pokeathlon games, a flaming fist jutting out of a Poke Ball, stood sentinel to the masses that came in and out of the dome.
The glimmering sea stretched far away, the Sea of Southernesse. Foam and mist drifted in the air from the churning froth, the saltiness in the air a tinge on everyone's skin. Several people had come just to experience the history, with the legendary Johtoian-Hisuian myth of the Ten Ordeals surrounding the history of the Pokealthlon, and the fact that the Dome rested atop of the ruins of the Logarian colony of Ya'ash Kaah, whos remnants could still be seen in the foundations of the building. The site where the Hisuians and Logarians had first signed a treaty of mutual commerce awed visitors and workers alike, and it was rumoured that the wreckage of a pleasure barge in the bay once belonged to Tar-Castamir, the last Logarian Emperor.
Of course, Gold could hardly care less about that.
Once he had reached the grand entryway, Gold swiftly planted down his portable skateboard, Gold sent back Exbo, (causing Whitney to fall rather roughly to the ground) and rode through the lines of waiting trainers and spectators, expecting the 'commoners' to move aside.
From Whitney's Poke Ball, a trained Smeargle appeared. With two swishes of it's paint-coved tail, Gold was blinded by the pigment, and reeled into a wall. Whitney's Miltank dragged his dazed form away, while the Gym Leader apologized to the crowd for the inconvenience.
"What are you scoping out this place for?" Whitney said. "Or are you just trying to cut in line?"
"No! Uh, it was for certain...reasons. Important reasons." Gold then took a look at his clothes, covered in green paint. "By the way, what are you gonna do about this?! My custom-made, brand new cool duds are covered in paint!"
"Please!" Whitney said with a wry grin. "You're going to have to change anyway! Are you a small or a medium? More of a medium..." Whitney grabbed a uniform from a nearby clothing hanger, and started to push Gold over to the dressing rooms.
Later...
"A...jersey? Seriously?!"
"Come on!" Whitney said. "You look great in it. Of course, you also can't participate in the Pokeathlon without one, if that is what I dragged you over here for..."
"Pokeathlon!" A message board proudly proclaimed. "Ten types of competitive sports to participate in with your Pokémon! Hurdle Dash! Relay Run! Circle Push! Lamp Jump! Pennant Capture! Ring Drop! Block Smash! Goal Roll! Disc Catch! Snow Throw! You win or lose with your Pokémon as a team, not just as a trainer! Because the trainers choose which of their Pokémon will participate in each sport, it's important for them to keep a keen eye on their Pokémon's strengths and weaknesses!"
After selecting his team, Gold decided to try out the Snow Throw first. He seemed to have time to kill, as no matter where he looked, he couldn't find L...well, the trainer in question was a criminal informant, after all...
Snow Throw...
Apparently, the Snow Throw was exactly what was advertised: A snowball fight. Whichever team had the most Pokémon still standing at the end of it, and the number of hits that they got, would win by the means of a higher point score.
"Hey, Aibo!" Gold yelled to his Pokémon. "You aren't going to get anywhere by throwin' little bitty snowballs like your doing! Finish them off with a single huge snowball!"
With herculean effort, Aibo gathered piles of upturned snow, and made such a large snowball that even the incredibly strong tail of a Aipom had difficulty hefting it. The gigantic snowball crushed everything in its path, essentially ensuring the win for Team Gold.
One of the Maximus brothers, a bulky game announcer, added up all the accumulated points.
"Hmm...if we add up the challenge bonus as well...ermm...the winner is Team Gold-consisting of Aipom, Typhlosion, and Politoed! They're a tenacious team who aren't afraid to make mistakes! Please receive your medal!"
After obtaining his medal from the Maximus brother, Gold left the Skill Course sector, where Whitney was waiting for him.
"Not bad..." Whitney said. "Are you going to do anything else now? There's the Speed Course, Stamina Course, Jump Course, and Power Course, with three sports chosen out of ten and divided between those five courses..."
Gold flitted through the options on a plasma screen, and went with the Jump Course.
Meanwhile, in the depths of the Sea of Southernesse...
If you saw it, there would be a chance that you could mistake it for a rock, or some kind of large fish.
Of course, fish do not have such large, glowing eyes.
Also, fish typically avoid the Pokeathlon Dome, not swim toward it.
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"There are six sport fields inside the Pokeathlon Dome!" DJ Mary said, her voice broadcasted over the airwaves of Goldenrod Radio. "Track, Fight, Dirt, Jump, Snow, and Beach Dome! As we speak the Pokeathletes are competing in them as we speak! And I, DJ Mary, will be bringing you all the latest scores and details from Goldenrod Radio, broadcasting throughout the Johto region!"
DJ Mary and her cameraman went to the Disc Catch sport, in the Beach Dome. Essentially, the Pokémon had to catch the discs that flew at them from slits in the wall, while also attempting to grab the disc in a battle with all the other Pokémon in the arena.
"Alright," Mary said, oblivious to her immediate surroundings. "As we can see, all the trainers here are enthusiastically coaching their Pokémon..."
"Move aside! Move aside!" A voice cried. Mary glanced to her right without moving her body, and Gold hit her at a rotational point as he ran past, causing Mary to whirl about in a shocked daze.
Gold halted, turned back, gave the cameras a charismatic grin, and helped steady Mary.
"You're...Gold?!" Mary said, recoiling. "The infamous troublemaker from New Bark Town?! Who causes chaos and destruction wherever he goes?"
"Hey!" Gold exclaimed. "That's not a very nice thing to say to the great hero who saved the Johto region, and the Hoenn region, and, oh, the world! Well, I'm here to play some games, and I will run where I please!"
"Well, Gold," Mary said. "Why are you running around like that? It's not really jogging weather, inside the Dome or out of it!"
Gold lifted a large, plastic canister from his jersey pocket, a ruddy liquid sloshing around inside it. "This!" Gold said. "Apricorn juice! I only found out about this after I came here...it's a juice you create by blending Apricorns! I was told to put the ingredients inside this blender and run around with it for a while...it should be done now, I suppose."
"That's all well and good," Mary said. "But shouldn't you be concerned with coaching your own Pokémon? You're in the middle of a Disc Catch game, aren't you?"
Gold eased her concerns with a flippant wave of his hand. "Sure, but they'll be fine. If you look at my Pokémon, you'll see that I don't need to micromanage them."
In fact, this was true. Subo, Gold's Sudowoodo, and Sunbo, Gold's Sunflora, were exceptional catchers and fighters, at the top of the rankings. They did not need direct commands to compete, and they consistently outclassed every other Pokémon competing.
At seeing this, Mary had another question. "You're supposed to enter three Pokémon in this game, aren't you? Where is your third?"
Gold had here look closer into the chaos. "All the participating Pokémon are fighting to catch the one disc that's tossed into the field. Obviously, they're all going to bunch up together where they have the best chance of catching it. But..."
Mary could now see a small, fuzzy shape skirmishing with the other Pokémon, dodging in between limbs and feet, constantly moving.
"...my Togepi, Togebo, doesn't have a problem moving through that crowd! After all, Togebo is real small. Plus, it's a naughty-natured rascal who won't budge in a fight! It's small body isn't a disadvantage at all!"
With the combined skill of his team, Gold won the Disc Catch. After accepting his medal, Gold decided to move onto the Lamp Jump.
In this sport, Pokémon would jump up a sheer wall, while also tagging lamps using whatever means necessary to do so. The higher the lamp that was tagged, the more points it awarded.
Gold's team was well suited for this, just like the Disc Catch. Subo's arms were very dexterous, with a wide pressure base to tag lamps with. Sunbo could twist around the outcroppings that the lamps made with its leaves to get to higher lamps.
As for Togebo, DJ Mary could only saw that he was certainly rough, and rude. And...
Heh, Gold and Togebo kind of look like each other, too...
"Alright!" A Maximus brother said, as the points were tallied. "And that's the end of the Lamp Jump! The sum of all the scores shows us the winner...Team Gold!"
After winning once more, Gold entered the stamina course. Due to the high level and superior training of Gold's Pokémon, they swifty surpassed all others again.
Gold then decided to move onto the Speed Course, but Mary's cameraman noticed something concerning.
"Wait..." The cameraman said, having checked the rosters. "If Gold enters the speed course now, he's going to have to face Jet, the number-one ranked Pokeathlete at the Pokeathlon!"
"Isn't he the trainer who always gets the highest score at every game, in all the courses?!" Mary said. "Gold may have met his match this time!"
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The Track Dome was packed with Jet's fans, their numbers like the sand on the seashore. This irritated Gold thoroughly, as he believed that his deeds were far more worthy of praise than a showboating track star.
Promising to give a demonstration of most excellent performance, Jet readied for the race.
DJ Mary was correct in her fears...
Hurdle Dash winner: Jet.
Pennant Capture winner: Jet.
"Oh, dear..." DJ Mary said. "Gold is doing very well, but Jet is always a league ahead of him! If he wants to win, Gold will have to make a comeback in the last game, the Relay Run! He will have to have his team race around a track, while also avoided gravel, barriers, and other obstacles."
Also, the trainer had to run with the Pokémon, as well. It would be the trainer's job to observe when their Pokémon was tiring, and exchange them through the course of the race. Some trainers exchanged their Pokémon very often, and some run their Pokémon until they were exhausted.
The countdown started...
"GO!"
Jet's Voltorb immediately got the lead, moving much faster than the rest of the group. Even Jet was incredibly fast, having trained his endurance and stamina nearly his entire adult life.
As for Gold...
He was sitting atop his portable skateboard, whistling and humming, moving slowly along the track with his pool cue. Also, he was going the wrong way to boot!
Apparently, Gold was totally ignoring his Pokémon again. His Sudowoodo had run out of strength, and was in last place. On a few laps remained...
"Change!" Gold switched out his Pokémon with Sunflora. Still, Jet was far ahead of Gold, and time was running short.
"Change!" Gold switched to his fast-running Togepi. Having kept it as a trump card until now, Togebo passed the tiring Voltorb. Jet switched out his Pokémon with Dodrio, and the gap between Togebo and Jet's Pokémon quickly closed.
Togebo received a swift kick to the back, and it went rolling off the track and into the wasteland environment surrounding it. Gravel in its eyes, Togebo staggered about the track, with little indication that it knew where it was going as it bumped into various obstacles.
Eventually, the Pokémon was facing the correct way...
"Togebo!" Gold yelled. "Hurry up! Don't be such a wimp! Run with all your might!"
Togebo charged. Running like the wind, it was just about to collide with a barrier-
"NOW!" Gold yelled. "Right, left, right, jump, right, jump, left...!"
The little Togepi avoided the obstacles, knowing exactly where to go, even when deprived of clear vision.
"Incredible!" Mary said. "It looked like Gold was just messing around with his skateboard, but he was actually memorizing the locations of the obstacles! And now that Togepi knows where they are, it isn't afraid to run as fast as it can, and it can avoid unnecessary steps without thinking!"
The final lap was nearing completion, and with a hair's breadth of opening between it and Jet's Dodrio, the hardy Togepi crossed the finishing line.
"Goal!" A Maximus brother yelled. "Team Gold has come in first place and earned a hundred and fifty points! If we tally those with the scores from the last two rounds, than Team Gold is the winner of the Speed Course! What a unexpected comeback! This will be spoken of for years to come!"
After Gold had accepted his medal, Mary remarked that it was as if he had a symbiotic relationship and understanding with Togebo.
"Ha, of course!" Gold replied, as he washed the gravel out of Togebo's eyes with a wet cloth. "I've known Togebo since he was just a egg! I am the Hatcher, after all..."
