We've reached the pinnacle of trainer expertise in the origins of the Indigo League. Correct - the Elite Four.
The Elite Four did not always exist, however.
In Indigo Misaka's original vision, he wished for two trainers instead of a total four to make up his final challenge of the league. This vision led to the formation of the Dynamic Duo, an early predecessor to the Elite Four.
"The sublimity between two trainers trusting each other with all their heart is something to be appreciated. Truly worthy of a broadcast in today's day and age."
Indigo Misaka
Shade Twain, a young man from the city of Saffron, was selected to take part in the first Dynamic Duo for the Indigo League. Joining him, was his ever-loving soulmate, Nikita Cloud. Shade was skeptical of the role at first, however. The concept of waiting for long periods of time for a challenger's arrival was not very enticing to him. It was his fiancee, Nikita, who eventually convinced him, after painstaking deliberation.
"I don't think waiting in a room for hours on end for some eager stranger is a career that I'd like to foretake, darling. The amount of time spent there can probably be spent on other things that are better worth our time. Think about it! We would turn mad if we were locked in a room for so long!"
Shade Twain
"I think you're looking at it the wrong way, honey. The organizer said that we'd be free to leave in and out of the building as much as we like. We'd be some of the most powerful people in the region in terms of benefits! A nice house on the Kanto hillside, like you always wanted? Sounds like a delightful life to lead, no?"
Nikita Cloud
The Dynamic Duo was given top-notch housing by Misaka himself. He wanted the most important trainers in his league to receive the highest benefits. The freedom he gave them allowed for the couple to arrange a schedule for when they'd hold battles. The system was effective, due to the fact that the new league was still very challenging for up and coming trainers.
Shade and Nikita are both credited by historians as being the first pair of League members to hold double battles as a challenge. The style of battle confused incoming challengers plenty! Not many people at the time knew of double battles. Indigo Misaka himself had to be tutored by the Dynamic Duo of how the battle style actually worked. Misaka was fascinated by how greatly the couple trusted one another in the heat of a battle.
Shade himself is credited as the originator of Double Battles. At the age of six, he found himself lonely while playing in the alleys of industrial Saffron City. His taste for exploring the alleyways in an attempt to cure boredom and loneliness led to many instances where delinquents attempted to steal his Pokemon.
"I was young and scared… I remember the first time it happened, I found a dead-end in one alleyway, with this big iron gate in my way. I didn't know how to climb things yet, so I was about to turn around and head back the other way, naturally, when these two towering teenagers tormented me with their slow walk into the alley, cornering me against the dead end. They barked at me, requesting that I give up my Pokemon. I was a Deerling in headlights! I panicked and shook my head quickly. The two goons both sent out Zubats, to which I responded with by sending out my Gastly and Misdreavus. They were taken by surprised when my Pokemon brutalized theirs with such frightening, ghostly, attacks. From then on, I realized that I had stumbled upon something that rose my adrenaline to another level."
Shade Twain
Shade's father, Charles, was known as a riveting battler during his prime, in the early days of organized battling - long before the Indigo League. Charles Twain was never fond of Shade's new battling methods.
"I would tell him, "But father, it's fun! It's a way to innovate battling for the better! I know it's strange, but you just have to try it!" My father was always a stubborn man, though. He would always say, "Well, wearing a blindfold during a battle is strange too." I never knew how to respond, so I'd just shake my head."
Shade Twain
Shade had always been fond of spirits. He would often get in trouble for surpassing his curfew. Shade wouldn't be outside playing or on dates, or anything of the sort - of course not! Shade would rather get in trouble for exploring Lavender Town's crypts too late at night. Shade claims that spirits from other regions could be revived when their bond was strong enough, although science has never proven this true. Later in his reign, Shade would often have arguments with his fellow Indigo League member Tyron about the aspects behind the supernatural.
"It remains to be seen whether he is indeed mad, or simply a teller of fictional tales, with the goal of undermining the serene sanctity of the general populace's belief in pure scientific logic and research."
Tyronisius Norlander II
"I wouldn't lie to you. These spirits are lonely. Nobody is bold enough to talk to them besides me, and they trust me for that reason! Anybody would go mad if they were lonely for so long, which is why spirits appear to people in the first place. I've helped them feel a sense of being."
Shade Twain
A majority of Shade's Pokemon, are as he claims, revived from spirits he had the "pleasure of getting to know." No matter the origin, Shade proved a formidable foe when he presented the Pokemon from far away regions in battle. Their mystifying attacks left opponents astonished. Ghost types, much like the Dark, Steel, and Fairy types at the time, were not very well known to the general public in Shade's era. Misaka was praised for making the league an actual challenge, due to all four of these types having a respective member in the league.
Shade met his soulmate Nikita Cloud in one of his many Lavender Town outings. Nikita just went through the loss of an Ekans she had owned, when she was approached by two female delinquents from her school, who mocked her loss.
"She was trying to fight back on her lonesome. Her lone Ivysaur was taking a beating from the two attackers. I introduced her to double battling when I came to her side. After that - even though it sounds cliche - we've been inseparable ever since. I managed to revive her Ekans eventually, as well. Good things happen to good souls, I suppose."
Shade Twain
Besides being a devastating member of their duo, Shade was also known for his personal hobbies and extracurricular feats.
During his lifetime, Shade established himself as a top-notch musician. His prefered instrument of choice was the violin, although he remained proficient in the guitar and piano as well. It was obvious to the audience, whenever he performed, that he poured great emotion into playing music.
"I loved this man for many reasons, and I have been with him for a large portion of my life. I will admit that at times, he can seem like an irrational sociopath, with no sympathy or empathy for other human beings besides myself. The only time I've seen him express extreme emotion to the public is when he was on stage - violin in hand - tearing out sorrow, or anger, or anything… I still remain unsure as to what exactly he expressed. Perhaps he just enjoyed music that much."
Nikita Cloud-Twain
One of Shade's most notable performances was his Lavender Town Symphony, in which he performed with an orchestra. The performance is now a common practice for up-and-coming Kanto violinists.
The man behind the emotional music was later established in a novel, by fellow Indigo League member Malcolm Reynolds, titled "The Violinist." The book sold extremely well, attaining best-seller status in it's release year of 1955. Shade had wished for Laura Mingxia to write the story at first, though she respectfully declined, stating that it was not "her preferred genre."
Laura and Shade later produced a work of literary fiction together in 1957, which led to the Lavender Town Controversy of 1957, an event that sent Kanto media into flurry during it's eight month span, from March to December of that fateful year.
Shade's plan first set into motion when he "contacted spirits within Lavender Tower", as he famously claims. Shade explains that the spirits of Lavender told the story of a man from the late 1400s, who lived in what is now Lavender Town. The town supposedly had an outbreak of a plague during the time. With technology limited at the time, the doctors within the town set out to execute people who had contracted the plague. The doctors were dastardly by nature, however. The man in question was victim to horrifying torture methods, which involved a claustrophobic darkened cell with a large pendulum blade, along with a steep pit in the center of the room. The methods led the spirits and townsfolk to coin the man as "Buried Alive."
Astonished and intrigued, Shade wished to put the story in print. He worked with Cinnabar Island Gym Leader and horror genre expert Laura Mingxia on writing the work of fiction, which was titled as "The Pit and the Pendulum of Buried Alive." Laura's work became a bestseller quickly, much like most of her stories and poetry. Lavender Town didn't like the story as much as the public did, however, and was very offended by the fact the story was dubbed with the tagline, "Based on a True Story."
It was Shade himself who faced the brunt of the controversy, as many protested his claims of hearing the story from the spirits, due to being skeptics of the supernatural. Historians also debated the authenticity of Lavender Town actually having events such as those depicted in it's history. The controversy stretched for long enough that high-ranking officials such as Indigo Misaka became involved.
"Only the sublimity of individuals who sleep by day are able to witness, and understand, the horrors of the night."
Laura Mingxia, who took a neutral stance with riddle-like answers to questions on the situation.
"It is completely blown out of proportion, and something that is not on my immediate list of matters, although it is a situation I shall handle soon enough."
Indigo Misaka
In the December of 1957, the culmination of the controversy in the media led to a temporary suspension of Shade's duties until March 1958. High-ranking gym leader Gilbert Daniels took Shade's place temporarily as the second member of the Dynamic Duo, with both he and Nikita reverting to single battles. Gilbert's wife, Scarlett, took the reigns as the eighth this gym leader. This marks the only instance in Kanto's history where a member was suspended, and the only time a gym leader was involuntarily reassigned. It is also the only occasion where a person became a gym leader without passing an initiation battle test, instead being appointed by Gilbert himself.
In the case of Laura's novel, the book was banned from Lavender Town entirely, and also banned by schools within Saffron City. The tagline "Based on a True Story" was also removed, along with any credits to Shade himself. The book still sold well, despite this, due to Laura's reputation as a prolific and artistic writer.
Despite the bumps in the road, Shade returned to glory before long. In what many historians assume is a statement to the league, Shade and Nikita went undefeated by challengers in the year of 1958 after his return.
In his later years, Shade kept to himself mostly, having learned his lesson from trying to present something to the general public. His musical performances slowed down as well. After the escapade in 1957, hecklers often appeared in the audience of his orchestras. Shade settled on writing music instead. One of his most famous works was "Ode to Happiness," which he later performed just once in 1969. The piece has been parodied and performed by many orchestras from around the world, and is considered Shade's "final hurrah."
Shade later passed away in 1999, peacefully in his sleep, at the age of 74. His grave is placed a few yards from the Indigo League main building, next to his wife Nikita. His accolades and achievements can be viewed by trainers in the Indigo League museum as well, for future trainers to get a glimpse of the Man of the Spirits.