Davin and Haro sat on the edge of the cliff that overlooked the ocean while Ros was taking nap far behind them.
"I guess I should start from the beginning." Haro spoke calmly. "It was about 2 years ago. I had turned 10 years old and I wanted to go on my Pokemon journey. Unfortunately, we were very poor then, so I couldn't get an official starter Pokemon. But, one day, I found a Poke ball that was washed up on the shore of Lilycove and I decided to use it to catch a Pokemon in Route 121."
Flashback: 2 years ago
A young Haro was walking through the field looking for a Pokemon, but he couldn't get a glimpse of anything.
"Aw, man. I can't find anything in this area. Usually, there would be a bunch of Pokemon 'round here, so why aren't there now?"
Just then, he heard something growling in the near distance. "Wh-What was that?" He shifted his head from left to right but he couldn't see anything. "Maybe it's just my imagination." He was soon proven wrong as a big, black dog jumped out of the nearby bushes and attempted to scratch him; it would've succeeded if Haro didn't turn around and leap to the side.
"A Mightyena..." he said with fear in his voice. The canine crept closer to him as it snarled with rage. "S-Sorry I came into your territory. I didn't know you were living here, honestly."
The Mightyena ignored his apology and jumped at him, Haro shielding himself with his arms while screaming, "HELLLLLLLLLP!"
To his fortune, something out of nowhere tackled the Mightyena to the ground. Haro glanced and saw a bushy raccoon standing in front of him. "A Zigzagoon!"
The Mightyena became really angry and fired a Shadow Ball at it, but Zigzagoon dodged and released an orb of water from its mouth that drenched the Mightyena and made it run away in fright.
"You... saved me..." Haro said as he looked at it.
"Zig! Zigzagoon!" It smiled at him. Haro knelt down to it and hesitantly petted it, making it jump on to his knees and nuzzle him affectionately.
Haro chuckled. "You're really nice." Then he remembered why he was out here in the first place. "Hey, Zigzagoon. Do you want to be my Pokemon? You'll be my first Pokemon ever and I promise to take care of you and make you the happiest that I can." He took the slightly dirty Poke ball from his pocket and held it in front of him.
"Zig..." It thought for a moment. Then, with a happy, "Zigzagoon!" it touched its nose to the button and the Poke ball absorbed it. The button blinked with red three times before it stopped completely.
Haro stood up and stared at the Poke ball. "You and I will be great together... I just know it."
-
End Flashback
"Wow. It's hard to believe you were poor at the time, but I'm glad to hear how you got your first Pokemon." A thought came across Davin at that moment. "Wait. You said that you got a Zigzagoon as your first Pokemon, right? So, does that mean your Linoone is..."
"Yep." Haro took out a Poke ball and opened it, letting out the Linoone in question. "This Linoone's my first Pokemon, and the one who saved me from the Mightyena attack." He petted the Pokemon's head. "Thanks again for that, buddy."
"Lin." It smiled at him.
Davin thought for second. "Not to be rude, Haro, but Linoone doesn't seem as strong as your other Pokemon like Meganium. Is there a reason for that?"
Haro closed his eyes. "Back then, I didn't have a clue about how to train Pokemon, so I used large objects I could find so that Zigzagoon could practice its attacks. As a result, it didn't get the proper training it needed because the large objects were like only 50 or 60 inches big." He opened his eyes. "That's when I asked other trainer's for advice and learned about Pokemon battling; I used Zigzagoon in a few, but it lost all of them. At that point, I decided to catch different Pokemon and they turned out to be stronger and have better moves than Zigzagoon."
"Li..." Linoone lowered its head sadly.
Haro petted it again. "Sorry. It was only at that time. I don't think that about you now." That made it cheer up a bit.
"Anyway, I decided to stop training Zigzagoon for awhile and focus on the other Pokemon I caught. To my surprise, it worked out well." Haro turned to his Pokemon. "After a few months, I decided to train it again and it evolved into Linoone. That was good because its power increased and it could defeat opponents more easily. And that made me really happy."
Davin scratched his head. "That's great and all, but wasn't the point of talking to find out why you were acting crazy?"
Haro grinned (A happy grin, not the malicious grin he usually wore). "Okay. I didn't want to start my journey in Hoenn, so I went to the Varex region. I got all eight badges and entered the league..." He frowned. "Which is when I faced him..."
Flashback: 2 years ago; Varex league
"Linoone, use Fury Swipes!" Haro ordered. It rushed towards its opponent, a Dragonite, with its claws glowing white. The Dragonite intercepted the attack and knocked it back to Haro's side of the battlefield.
"And Linoone's Fury Swipes backfires!" The announcer stated. "It looks like Ledo is getting the upper hand on his opponent!"
"Ledo was my rival during that time. Throughout our travels, we would come across each other to battle, and every time I lost, he'd cruelly criticize my battling."
"Ha Ha Ha Ha! What's the matter, Haro? You too scared to give everything you got?" The purple haired boy wearing a red t-shirt, orange pants, and black shoes taunted.
Haro sneered. "This isn't over yet! Linoone, Water Pulse!"
Ledo scoffed and said with little emotion, "Dragonite, use Giga Impact."
Dragonite dodged the Water Pulse by flying in the air and dove down as an orange and purple aura spiraled around its body.
"Dodge, Linoone!" But it was too late. Linoone was struck by the powerful attack and it fainted, much to the trainer's dismay.
"Linoone is unable to battle! Dragonite wins! The victor of the battle is Ledo from Priheart City!" The judge called. The crowd cheered for the victor as he blew kisses towards them.
Haro kneeled down to Linoone and picked him up. "You okay, buddy?"
"Linoo..." It said, weakly.
"How pathetic." Ledo said as he walked over to them. "Since you were able to get eight badges, I thought you would be able to give me a challenge. Apparently, that was giving you too much credit."
"Just shut up, Ledo!" Haro avoided his gaze.
"Look at you, Haro. You're just a weak wannabe trainer from the Hoenn region. The only reason you lost is because you're not a true resident of the Varex region like I am."
"That's not true!"
"Yeah, it is. Since you're from a different region, you're not familiar with our customs. You just do what you feel like and don't think about what you're doing. If anyone from Hoenn is like you, I'd say Hoenn is place for worthless trash who will soon die because of their lack of thinking!"
Haro growled. "TAKE THAT BACK!" He tackled Ledo to the ground and started to punch him and kick him in anyplace he could. The league officials got Haro off of him and told him to get out and that he was banned from ever entering the Varex League again.
-
End Flashback
Davin frowned. "Oh, Haro... That must've felt awful..."
"It was." he closed his eyes again. "Since that time, I started thinking about Ledo's words and, through some crazy way, I decided that he was right. That your strength comes from the region you were born in. And since then, any trainer that came from a different region, I would challenge and I would always win, which I thought proved that Ledo's theory was correct."
Haro sighed. "Since then, I developed a cruel persona; someone that I didn't know even existed until now. That lost to Ledo really effected me and... my feelings toward Pokemon and being a trainer have been messed up..." His voice began to break as he started to choke up. "I really love Pokemon... I do... but I... I'm just confused about what I should do... I'm not as mean and cruel as I seem... I'm really a good guy... but ever since that lost to Ledo, my life... my life..." He began to sob. "My life has been a living hell!"
Tears were running down his face as he softly sobbed. Davin pulled Haro into a hug and stroked the top of his back while Linoone rubbed his paw against the lower part of his back.
"Don't cry, Haro..." Davin softly said. "Don't listen to Ledo. If anyone's worthless trash that'll die, it's him. Don't follow his example; follow your own. It's your life and you choose how to live it. Don't let anyone else choose for you."
Haro sniffed. "I know that now... thanks to you..." he slowly returned the hug as Davin began to rock him back and forth.
