Note: For any readers not familiar with the story of the Colosseum and XD games, this story goes over any relevant information of those throughout, and is still worth checking out. I've worked incredibly hard on this, and hope that you find as much enjoyment in reading it as I have writing it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the properties written here beyond my own creative interpretation, but that should go without saying.
If you have suggestions, opinions, or anything else, be sure to PM me or submit a review!
Additional Note: It is frustrating that I even have to put this as a message before my story, but I recently had to block a user on this website for the first time. I am no stranger to criticism regarding my works, and I welcome it in most cases. However, when profane or inappropriate language becomes directed at me or any author in a derogatory context, it is no longer helpful criticism on writing styles or narrative structure, but instead counterproductive negativity that serves no purpose. We live in a world with enough negativity to go around, and while I cannot speak for the readers of my story, I have no interest in bringing more hostility and anger to a space like this. I have faith that the majority of you reading this will not do anything of the sort, however, and I thank you for that.
Without further ado, enjoy!
I awoke to my alarm buzzing on my phone. Still face-down in my bed, I blindly ran my hand across my nightstand. After a couple of seconds, I found my phone, and pressed the power button a couple of times. By now, I mustered the energy to flip onto my back and stared at the ceiling fan spinning above me.
A small amount of light shone through my window, as the sun was still rising above the crest of the skyline. It was an early morning ritual for me, to look at the ceiling fan and remember how completely unenthusiastic I was about having to do Battle SIMs again. Battle SIMs were an alternative to actual Pokemon battling, developed in Orre due to a serious lack of wild Pokemon to catch and battle with, and was designed to put rookie trainers like myself through battle scenarios to prepare for the real thing. I had found over the past couple of months, however, that it wasn't engaging for me. It wasn't the challenge of the scenarios that drove me nuts, but the disconnect came when I would start to enjoy myself. Right when I would feel more immersed in the battle and try to encourage the Pokemon that I was using, I'd feel stupid as the "Pokemon" would not respond in any way. It would eventually end up the same way, too; my lack of concentration would lead to me failing the simulation, and when the instructor would try to figure out what was going on, I would simply tell him that I "wasn't ready for something this challenging", knowing how flimsy my real reason would be to him.
It worked well at first in shortening the time I had to spend at the SIM center, but backfired later when my parents heard about how terribly I was doing in SIM training. As a result, I had to wake up extra early to log in more training time. I wanted to be direct with the instructor, and tell him that I didn't want to continue doing Battle SIMs, but it was pretty much the closest thing to Pokemon that I could get on the island. I also couldn't help but wonder if Pokemon battling was really my passion, and so tried each session to "picture this in real life". No dice.
After about five minutes of looking up at the spinning of the fan blade, I got out of bed. Checking the time on my phone revealed that it was 5:45 AM. I walked over to my dresser and changed into the usual. Tan shorts, a simple black T-shirt, and a grey and black long sleeve shirt over it. Stepping over to the right of the dresser, I looked at myself in the mirror; my black hair was disheveled, spiking in every which direction as it always did. The lighting was nicer this morning too, as my hazel eyes shined back at me through my reflection where they would normally appear brown. Satisfied with how I looked, I threw some black sneakers on and quietly made my way to the front door (I had no interest in eating breakfast and my parents were still asleep). I grabbed my bag on the way out, making sure to fill it with random things to snack on later. As hard as I tried to rush through the Battle SIMs, they tended to go into the afternoon.
After closing the door behind me, I broke into a sprint as I made my way towards the simulation building. I figured that running a bit would make the whole day seem less depressing than it was going to be.
It was another warm morning on Citadark Isle, and within minutes I was building up a sweat. As my feet crunched the uneven volcanic rock below me, I reminded myself that these roads would one day be fully paved. People wanted to live here, after all, to get away from the more unsavory characters inland in the Orre region. Despite the island's dubious history, anything closer to water seemed enough incentive for people to want to move there. So much so that there was already a Battle SIM building stationed here.
Keeping a jogging pace to account for my lackluster stamina, I arrived at the Battle SIM building just after 6AM. To make sure that I would be getting the best education in battles, my parents went the extra mile and paid for private lessons with a middle-aged man by the name of Salvator. He wore the standard Battle SIM outfit, consisting of a blue jacket and brown cargo pants, except that he earned the right to wear a brown duster (I had no idea why these facilities allocated such a thing to higher ups). His face was a tad wrinkled, but the extreme handlebar mustache -which extended to the sides of his face just below the ears- and slicked back hair seemed to be a poor attempt at appearing younger. Instead, he ended up looking like a rejected Yugioh villain.
I entered the simulation center. Given the early hour at which I was scheduled, the main lobby was devoid of people, except Janice (the attendant lady), who was busy getting the routine morning emails out of the way. I waved to her as I passed by.
"Same room as always, I assume?" I asked.
The older woman smiled.
"You have a funny way of making small talk with me, sweetie." she replied. "But yes, he's in Room 4 as always. Try and at least pretend to be excited this time. Salvator tells me he worked especially hard on these ones."
The parting comment makes me nervous, but I had learned at that point that the most important thing was keeping my spirits high. If they deflated this early, then I would surely disappoint today.
I was forced to stare right at him when I reached the appropriate simulation room. He looked at me with his small eyes (too bad he couldn't fit glasses over the massive moustache) and then looked away again….just the usual.
"I...I...I'm sorry...w-whatever it is…" I told him, although through the heavy breathing and my head down with my hands on my knees, it came out like panting
Salvator took another long sigh and ran his fingers through his inhuman moustache. This was a telltale sign that a lecture was coming my way.
"Attendance is not the issue, Hakins," he began. "Almost two months of my career has been wasted."
And that was just the usual. It was hard enough to fail at something many others half my age had accomplished. But to see the impact it was having on Salvator made getting up in the morning for this so much worse.
"I'm feeling good about this today. I think I can do it, so let's stop wasting your time." I said, my heart sinking a little when my empowering statement clearly fell flat.
Salvator sighed once again, and walked over to the console controlling the Battle SIMs.
"We shall see, Hakins." he replied curtly.
Entering a Battle SIM was quite simple. A large cylindrical chamber was stationed next to the console at Salvator was at. I simply walked in, hooked up headgear that was wired to the SIM chamber, and waited for my vision to change from the exit of the SIM room to whatever lesson Salavator was teaching me today.
My eyes opened to see that the Battle SIM had begun. I was now in a rocky outcropping in the middle of the desert. Rocks flanked this circular battlefield. Looking to my left, I saw a Ponyta model, rigid and unmoving. Across from me was a Shedinja, static in front of a generic human model whose comedic appeal had long since been lost on me.
The sound of static in my ear indicated that Salvator was hooked up to communications.
"Alright Hakins," Salvator began. "I hope your good feelings are well founded, because this lesson involves type-immunity based Pokemon abilities. I'm sure you're familiar with Shedinja, so this will be your warm up."
I looked back across at my awkwardly stiff opponent. I knew its ability was Wonder Guard, so I couldn't help but feel like this was a walk in the park.
"You have two additional Pokemon waiting in your party, should you need them. Alright, begin!"
"Alright Ponyta!" I exclaimed. "Use-"
"Tone down on the theatrics." Salvator interjected. "They haven't helped you so far, and won't help you much now."
I pushed down my irritation at the snide comment, and repeated my command at a monotone volume. Flame Wheel was my choice.
Instead of Ponyta charging up a flame wheel through a rolling motion like on TV, however, Ponyta merely teleported next to Shedinja, and executed a poorly textured fire flip. Shedinja let out a pre-recorded cry, and sunk into the terrain. I sighed.
Why did I think today would be any different, I thought, waiting for the next challenger.
"Not bad," Salvator's voice rung in my ear. "Your next opponent is a Bronzong."
On cue, Bronzong's model materialized out of thin air.
Suddenly, an idea popped into my head, and I wanted to prove to Salvator that I did have what it took.
"Flame Wheel!" I declared, pointing towards Bronzong.
Ponyta once again teleported to the other side of the battlefield, except this time the attack passed right through the bell Pokemon. Bronzong followed up with an Earthquake, and Ponyta sank into the ground just like Shedinja had.
This is gonna be another long day, I thought, readying myself to send out my next Pokemon. However, something different happened.
I felt the familiar sensation of the SIM link being removed, and I was suddenly looking back at the SIM room. I blinked a couple of times, a look of confusion on my face.
Salvator gestured for me to step out. I froze at first, anxious about the implications of a very early stop. I found my footing after a moment, though and moved to face the SIM instructor once I removed the headgear. There was a prolonged moment of silence, and Salvator's unwavering glare had my hands in a slight tremble. I couldn't help but envision the scenario that had been keeping me up at night for months, where this distinguished SIM Master would tell me that I'm not cut out to be a Trainer in Orre.
"Did you know that Bronzong's ability was Heatproof?" he asked, bringing me out of my thoughts. There was no attitude in his tone this time. Just curiosity.
I stared back at him.
"I knew it was a possibility, but I thought it could've been Levitate too…" I said quietly. I didn't know why that simple question had me on edge.
"Hmm…"
Salvator's gaze was still locked on me, and I felt like two tiny drills were boring their way into my mind, inspecting the thoughts and feelings that I had on his esteemed Battle SIMs.
Salvator turned away from me after a few moments.
"I don't think you're being entirely honest with me." he stated, looking at me from his peripherals as if gaging my reaction.
I felt my chest tighten.
"I…" I trailed off, unable to muster a response. Salvator tapped his fingers lightly against his chin for a moment, and then suddenly turned to face me. This sudden movement made me step back a bit. This was unusual, even given the circumstances: something was definitely different this time.
"Let's shift gears for a moment, Hakins. Tell me, why do arrive on time for these lessons?" he asked.
"I heard that correctly, right?" I replied, completely taken aback by the question.
"I can guarantee that you heard the question in its entirety." he assured me.
"Okay, um..." It was hard for me to respond with the massive moustached man towering well over half a foot over me. After a deep breath, I continued.
"Well, I do it because I'm supposed to, and so that I don't waste your time and be rude in the process." I replied.
Salvator turned away from me again, and started pacing around the large SIM room.
"So, when you come here on time every day and make me arrange a simulation specifically catered to you, and fail time and time again, is that not precisely what you say you wish to avoid?"
Salvator took a moment to rub his eyes, and at this point I was standing up and seized the opportunity to respond.
"Salvator, I try my hardest, I really do! But it's just that-"
"How naive do you think I am?!" his response was loud enough to make me stop what I was saying.
"Look, I may not be a SIM instructor awash with people skills, but I am not blind. I've had a couple of months of data on your repeated failures to see a couple of patterns."
He began to pace.
"There is a precise point in which your simulation sessions turn from promising to failure. During these sessions, you seem to both know the fundamentals well and make careless mistakes with no regard to them. There is some intentional reason behind this shift, and if you actually want to train Pokemon, I need you to tell me what that is. We cannot make progress here if you're not being candid with me."
I was seriously debating what to say next. If I told him the truth, that I saw no use to the classes, then he would surely let my parents know (who had both benefitted tremendously from the Battle SIMs), and I would be unable to convince them that I actually had what it took to be a Pokemon trainer. If I lied, then I would be stuck in SIM training for the foreseeable future and lose any chance of accomplishing what I felt I wanted to. Either way, I had to make a choice.
"These SIM battles just feel really fake, Salvator," I began.
Salvator's expression became more intense, but there was no going back now.
"I'm trying to do different things because all I see in real battles are quick decisions. Clever use of fields or moves or whatever else beyond just type matchups. Beyond just one super effective move sweeping a team or switching out when matchups are unfavorable. It doesn't feel like I'm really learning to be a Trainer here."
Salvator ran his right hand through his moustache.
"This does not explain why you'd use Flame Wheel on a Pokemon with Heatproof, as opposed to switching into a different one with a Ghost or Dark type move. Real life or not, that move would not damage Bronzong."
A part of me wanted to lie; to say that I just wasn't thinking straight. But I was at a point where the words were just coming out. It had been unimaginably hard to keep this quiet for so long.
"I wasn't trying to damage Bronzong. I thought, since Bronzong looked so bulky, that I could easily knock it off balance with a direct attack, and then do real damage once it was on its...heels." I mentally scolded myself for my word choice at this moment.
Salvator paused briefly from his pacing and raised an eyebrow at me.
"Bronzong weighs approximately 412lbs. By your logic, how would a Ponyta, whose weight is a mere 66lbs., do anything to it?"
"Look, I know that it didn't make the most sense, but to be honest, nothing about the past couple of months has, either. I feel like if I ever want to become a good Pokemon Trainer, I've at least gotta try something different. But at this rate I'll be stuck in a chair in a SIM room while everyone else my age is traveling the world with real Pokemon!"
I could already feel myself getting emotional. All the momentum of vocalizing my qualms with battling was lost as I began to comprehend the potential consequences of my words.
Salvator stopped pacing, his expression softening. He sauntered to the corner of the SIM room, bringing two chairs over. He motioned for me to sit down in one of them. I gladly sat down, so that I was now directly across from the instructor. We sat there in silence for a few moments.
"Hakins, we are on the verge of actually making progress." Salvator said, clenching his fists and breaking the silence. "Normally, I would encourage my students to only share what they were comfortable with, but please do not let a change of orientation stop this breakthrough. Or would you rather not become what you are telling me you want to?"
"Okay...alright," I replied, taking a deep breath.
I had never shared these thoughts out loud before, and the idea of saying what I was about to say to a man who had spent his life involved in Simulation Battling was nerve wracking. Still, it was now or never.
"It's just that I can't see the real value of these Battle Simulations. I know that you strongly disagree with that statement, and I know that you can quote some great success stories from a bunch of editorials, but can you hear me out?"
Salvator nodded in response.
"When my father tells me about his experiences as a Pokemon Trainer, he always stresses that a bond between people and Pokemon can be strong enough to defy odds and disprove what is normally certain. These simulations are the complete opposite of that. It's just all about the type matchups and whatever the hell "base stats" are. I may not have my own Pokemon yet, but I believe that encouragement has something to do with strength too. If we raise Pokemon like that, then we're treating them like…like…"
"Tools for battle." Salvator added, once again running his right hand along his moustache.
I nodded, feeling reassured that my point was making sense to the SIM Master.
"I want to travel the region like others my age can. I want to meet new Pokemon, and learn more about the region I've lived in all of my life."
I paused for a moment.
"I've never been the most optimistic about Pokemon If anything, I'm even skeptical that I'll learn anything from traveling Orre. But I won't know if I don't at least try."
Salvator looked away for a moment, and then stood up from his chair. A small smile had formed on his face. I could see his perfectly phrased counterargument readying itself, and I felt like I had lost once again. I slowly closed my eyes, ready to be thoroughly scolded.
"You're right, you know."
My eyes flew open.
"What?" I asked confusedly.
Salvator gave the SIM chair a friendly pat, and then rotated it away from us, the squeak of the axle echoing through the room.
"Real Pokemon battles are nothing like what I've shown you, and neither are real Battle SIMs."
I became even more confused.
"You're seriously telling me that you've been putting me through less realistic SIMs on purpose?" I asked. "Why?"
Salvator chuckled, adjusting his duster.
"Because I needed to see that you were truly passionate. I've done that with my students for years, to see what their limit was, and whether they cared enough to say something about it." Salvator replied. "Pokemon training is no place for the mildly engaged. Trainers have the responsibility of caring for and growing with their Pokemon, and I will not usher any Trainer into the world who doesn't understand the gravity of this responsibility."
I was dumbstruck. I had felt so clever with my excuses for my lackluster performances, completely unaware that the situation was one big experiment being conducted by Salvator. Every day I had lied to try and keep with the program was really me shooting myself in the foot.
Of course I didn't get it, I thought, a chuckle escaping me. But that begs another question...
"How did you know that I'd come around eventually?" I asked, thinking about the months spent flunking SIMs.
"I did not." the SIM Master replied simply. "And I'm still not entirely convinced you have yet, Hakins."
"What do I have to do?" I replied quickly, not wanting to waste the opportunity I felt I was being given. "How can I prove that I care?"
Salvator walked over to one of the file cabinets in the room. He took a key out from his duster, and unlocked the topmost drawer.
"You're saying all of the right things, but I need to see just how seriously I can take these words."
From it, he pulled out two round balls, making sure to blow the dust off of them. He made his way back over to me, and tossed one of the balls at me. I caught it, and took a look.
"Salvator? Are these..." I trailed off, ready to be stunned if my guess was correct. I knew what they were, but this unexpected turn of events had me second-guessing what I was seeing.
"Yes, Hakins," Salvator said, his smile widening. "These are Poke Balls, with Pokemon contained within. You and I are having a Pokemon Battle; no simulations and no more excuses."
After almost two years, I have decided to officially continue a story that I have thought and worked on for years now. For those of you who were kind enough to favorite my story, thank you so much for coming back. To those of you who are new to this story, I sincerely appreciate you as well