Disclaimer: Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.
Chapter 16: Expansion
Several days after leaving Mauville, the two trainers found themselves skirting around and in their second Pokémon Ranger protected territory, off of the south-western edge of Route 123. This one was a Bug-type sanctuary, and while trainers were free to enter, capturing Pokémon inside the borders wasn't allowed, much to Danny's vocal and repeated displeasure.
"Ow, man… Look at the surskit and masquerain," Danny said, and Max followed his gaze to a nearby pond, where a small group of those Pokémon were skittering and flying on and over the water. They were currently inside the sanctuary's territory, according to the signs they'd seen half an hour back."This sucks."
"Denied again," Max said. They'd found a masquerain the day before, but that one had turned out to belong to a trainer already. "You've got some serious bad luck."
"Maybe third time's the charm?" Danny said, sounding hopeful. "C'mon. I want to get to the Center before sunset."
Max turned along with Danny and began walking. "Good idea." A long shower sounded really nice right about no…
Loud, shrill, pained cries from behind them interrupted Max's thoughts. As one, the boys turned around, seeing a man cast a large net over the water with the help of a cradily.
There was no thinking involved. "Hey!" Max shouted at the man as he ran up to the pond's edge, quickly crossing the distance. "Stop that!" He grabbed a Pokéball, and released the Pokémon within.
Bagon immediately blocked an Energy Ball sent straight at Max with little issue. The dragon roared a challenge, and spat a Dragon Rage at the cradily, which blocked it with another Energy Ball. Behind the former fossil, the man released a second Pokémon: a quilava that spat a quick ball of flame at bagon.
"Bagon, Dragon Pulse! Poliwag, Water Gun!" Max ordered as he released two more Pokémon in quick succession. "Baltoy, block attacks sent my way," he added to the small Pokémon as he took a few steps to the side, trying to put himself between the poacher and the pond.
Both Pokémon aimed their attacks at the quilava, but while the Dragon Pulse did nearly hit it, the quilava having rolled out of the way at the last second, the Water Gun did something strange. It veered off course, splashing on the cradily, which had been close by. "What the..." Max said. "Bubble!"
Quilava rolled in, not on fire, but with plenty of speed, aiming for bagon. Max's quick order for poliwag stopped the Rollout from connecting, though, as quilava avoided the Water-type attack religiously. "Get the poliwag. Solar Beam!"
"Rain Dance!" Max countered as he felt the ground underneath his feet become less solid, and more muddy. A quick look down revealed that he was close to the water's edge, between the net and the man.
Poliwag sent up a blue sphere that immediately blocked the overhead early-evening sun. Instead, she created a small rain shower, and Max saw the quilava struggle to gather enough sunlight to fully form the Solar Beam. As did the poacher, who didn't have the patience to wait for the Grass-type attack. "Swift!"
Small yellow stars shot towards poliwag and Max, but the nimble tadpole avoided most of them with careful jumps, and baltoy's Light Screen diminished the ones that came through to Max enough that he felt the attack, but nothing more. Like a swat on the legs. Behind him, he heard Danny talk softly to the trapped Pokémon, and the snip of scissors told Max was his friend was doing.
A cry of pain from Max's right jerked his attention to the bagon, who'd been left to fight the cradily. Max winced: in trying to make sure poliwag didn't get knocked out, he'd ignored bagon, and the young Dragon-type wasn't exactly the best at battling on his own. Somehow, the fossil had managed to constrict bagon in its face tentacles, who wasn't liking that one bit. He thrashed, but his arms were too short to remove the tentacles from his face. "Dragon Pulse. Give it all!" Max yelled, even as he heard steam sizzle to his left.
A small explosion occurred right next to cradily's face. Bagon was sent flying back, tumbling through the air, but it landed in the soft mud, getting up nearly immediately. The cradily wasn't as lucky. "Great bagon. More Dragon Pulses!"
The quilava tried to help its partner, but poliwag kept it occupied with alternating Water Guns, Water Pulses, and Bubbles, forcing the quilava to roll, jump, and sprint away from wherever the Tadpole Pokémon was aiming. Luckily, the weird redirection wasn't happening any longer.
The cradily slumped into the grass with a wet squelch after bagon's barrage was over, and the quilava was looking worse for the wear as well, panting visibly and looking somewhat drenched. It rolled back, going into a Rollout again, and Max started to give poliwag the order to defend herself when a net covered her. An electrified net.
The poliwag wailed in pain as the electricity ran through her body, looking for the path of least resistance. Max glanced at the poacher, who was watching with a wide, almost crazy, grin on his face. But he wasn't watching the poliwag, he was watching the…
An almighty roar suddenly filled the area, and Max noticed its source from the fierce light in the corner of his eye, even as he turned towards it. A large symbol – easily Max's size – of fire was rushing towards him from the direction of the quilava.
Max dropped to the ground.
The Light Screen shattered. Shouting behind him.
Heat soared over him, blistering, dry. Flames licked at his knuckles and arms.
Something fell to the ground in front of him.
Max opened his eyes – when had he closed them? - and saw bagon and baltoy lying on the ground. Smoke wafted off of them in irregular plumes, and the bagon grunted in pain.
Then his eyes opened, and his right eye met Max's gaze.
Rage.
Max and bagon got up at the same time, the latter launching himself forward as his trainer shouted loud, raw, ferocious orders.
A Flamethrower splashed on the bagon. The dragon parted the stream.
A smokescreen was attempted. The bagon closed the distance and butted his head into the quilava's. A flint of white shot away.
Another Headbutt. A squeal. A roar that suddenly died out.
Red energy. A small explosion right in front of Max. Smoke obscuring vision.
Coughing. A thud. A cry of pain.
Smoke dissipated. A man on ice, cradling his elbow. A snorunt at his feet.
A hand on Max's shoulder. A soft, friendly, trembling voice. "Max?"
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
"Yeah." His legs suddenly felt wobbly, and he landed in the wet mud. The rain stopped. "Maybe not."
A nervous chuckle. "Bagon and baltoy..."
"Saved me." No other word for it. Max lifted his arm, returning the bagon and immediately releasing him again. "Whoa."
Bagon's belly was black and red with soot and inflamed skin. His eyes were closed in unconsciousness, but he still breathed, shallow but regular. His nose was also discoloured, but that didn't look like fire damage. Baltoy was just black from soot, and unconscious as well.
A whimper of pain reminded Max that the poacher was still there, cradling his arm. "Shut up, bastard!"
"Called the Rangers. They'll be here in five." Danny sat down beside Max, and the younger boy saw the relief on his friend's face, clear as day, but a frown overtook that soon. "Your arms."
Max lifted his arms. They were red, raw, almost blistered. Didn't hurt too much, for some reason. Nor did his knuckles and fingers, which actually were blistered. "If that's all..."
Poliwag chose that moment to cry out from within the net, and Danny got up, releasing the Pokémon from the no longer electrified net. The tadpole immediately bounced over to Max, pressing her back against Max's right hand. It felt painfully nice. Danny sat down opposite him as she did so.
The two stayed there in silence until powerful flapping overhead made them look up. They saw two Flying-types, both carrying people, start to descend in a circling glide. Danny stood up, and helped Max get up as well. Luckily, his legs weren't as wobbly as they'd been previous.
"Danny Birch?" said one of the Rangers, a grey-haired, moustached, imposing man as he dismounted his pidgeot. Beside him, another Ranger dismounted her pidgeot, immediately leaving her partner behind. "Tell me what happened here."
Max heard Danny take a deep breath. "We were on the road and heard Pokémon cry in pain. A poacher – that guy – had thrown a net over a group of surskit and masquerain. Max here fought the poacher, I freed the Pokémon from their net."
"I take it you won," the Ranger addressed Max, glancing around, his gaze lingering on the baltoy and bagon near between him and the boys. "Are you and your Pokémon in need of medical assistance?"
"Yes," Danny cut across. "The poacher's quilava tried to Fire Blast Max. Baltoy and bagon had to block it, and even then it did this." He grabbed Max's left arm, holding it out for the Ranger to see.
The Ranger approached, his steps squelching in the mud poliwag's Rain Dance had caused, and studied the arm. "Must've been some Fire Blast, to overcome two Pokémon and still do this," he commented.
"The Blaze ability might have been a factor, sir," the other Ranger interjected in a clear, but deferential, voice, approaching from where the poacher sat. She looked barely twenty, with brown hair in a long ponytail. "Most Fire-type starter families have..."
"Yes, I know. What can you tell me about the man?"
"It's not somebody in our databases. He refuses to give his name up, but we found only two Pokéballs on him. He also took a nasty knock to his elbow, which looks broken." She walked off after receiving a nod, heading around the pond.
"I ordered my snorunt to Ice Beam behind him," Danny said. "Cut off the escape path and make him trip. I didn't mean to..."
"Easy lad. You're not in trouble for that." The man smiled, his moustache tilting up. "Smart thinking, though. This isn't your first time facing poachers, is it?"
"It's his. Not mine," Max spoke up, finally remembering to return baltoy and bagon. "What's going to happen to him?"
The elder Ranger raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised by something. "Prison. The sentence for trying to poach in a Ranger Park is fairly steep, and the Fire Blast that knocked out your bagon and baltoy, and injured you, is only going to add to that."
"It didn't knock out bagon," Danny corrected. "I saw it from the other side of the pond. Bagon went down, but it got up, and then beat the quilava up." Then, to Max. "What happened there? You were both down, and then you're both up, yelling, screaming…"
Max shrugged. "Dunno. Heat of the moment." It wasn't until Danny groaned that he realised what he'd done. "Bagon looked… angry."
"Enraged, you mean?" the Ranger asked, to which Max nodded. That fit a lot better. "You're lucky it fainted. A dragon's rage is difficult to stop." He looked at them, obviously thinking of something. "Then again, you look like you'd have a plan for that."
"Max has a clefairy," Danny offered.
"That'd do it. So, you said one Pokémon was a quilava. The other was..."
"Cradily. Got its tentacles and head on bagon's face, and bagon Dragon Pulsed it off."
"Impressive work." Squelches announced the reappearance of the other Ranger. "Found anything?"
"Two things, sir. A skinning set in the undergrowth over there, and this." She held up something white. "It looks like part of a Pokémon tooth, but I do not recall Pokémon with teeth this big living here."
"That's the quilava's, I think," Max offered. He had seen something white fly off, right? "From when bagon beat it up."
The male Ranger whistled appreciatively. "Must've been some attack."
"Just a Headbutt. I think."
"The point stands." He looked around, before checking a watch on his wrist. "Jackie, why don't you escort these lads to the Pokémon Center? I'll call and wait for Officer Jenny."
"Yes, sir!"
"Don't forget to explain about the investigation, and tell Nurse Joy to document the injuries."
"Yes, sir!"
"Dismissed."
Was it Max's imagination or did the man smirk when his partner saluted?
The boys made to leave: Danny returning his snorunt as the Ranger sent out a fierce-looking houndoom to guard the poacher. Max wanted to return his poliwag, but the Water-type dodged the beam before gently spraying a mist of water on Max's other arm. The cold felt great on his arm, and he decided to not return the poliwag after all.
They were about twenty feet away from where they'd first seen the poacher when, suddenly, Max saw something land on Danny's pack. "Hey!" Danny said as he struggled with the sudden added weight. He didn't fall down, but it was close. A masquerain had landed on his pack, sitting stock-still, even when Danny put the pack down. "What do you want?" Danny asked kindly. "You're free to go to your family now. The poacher is gone."
In response, the masquerain took flight, buzzing around the group before settling, carefully, on Danny's left shoulder, making Max's friend look weird as he tried to glance at the passenger. "Do you want to come with him?" Max asked.
The answering cry was very clearly 'yes'.
"We're not allowed to do that," Danny explained as he held out an arm, like Ash had done for taillow way back. Masquerain perched on it. "These Rangers say we can't. You have to go, okay?"
"Actually, it's okay lad." Max nearly jumped as the gravelly voice of the older Ranger came from behind him. "Rules are rules, but exceptions are there to confirm the rules. If a Pokémon clearly wants to join you, and a Ranger can see that, then there is no issue. Did you understand that, Ranger Hill?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good. Now, capture it and go. Sunset is in fifty minutes, and the Pokémon Center is a mile away. You'll be reunited soon enough."
Danny obliged, gently touching one of his empty capsules to the bug's body. The ball vanished, but Danny's grin was enormous, and his good mood lasted all the way until the Center.
"Ranger Hill. I heard you were bringing in wounded?" a Nurse Joy greeted the party just outside the Pokémon Center. "What do you need done?"
"Regulations say witnesses need to give testimony, and pictures need to be taken of any injuries sustained under the Pokémon's assault," Hill recited easily.
Nurse Joy nodded happily. "Excellent answer. Can I trust you to take the pictures?"
"Of course. You can count on me!"
"I think we'll leave the testimony for tomorrow." Max saw the Ranger about to protest, but the healer shushed her with a shake of her head. "These boys need rest. The left one looks nearly dead on his feet, and the painkillers aren't going to help with that."
It took Max a moment to realise he was the leftmost boy. He grinned sheepishly, belatedly. He did feel pretty bad.
"Right. In you go. Let's get you patched up."
~~§~~§~~
"Hey Danny."
"Hi Ash," Danny said, speaking normally in the abandoned lobby of the Center. It'd been an hour and a half since they'd walked in, and he was dead tired, but he needed to talk to Ash. "Hope I didn't wake you."
He heard laughter. "I don't go to bed that early. What's up."
"We ran into a poacher today, and he…" Danny swallowed, still uncomfortable with that. "He ordered his Pokémon to attack Max. Fire Blast, possibly with Blaze." Danny agreed with Ranger Hill's guess. He'd seen the symbol, and it was too big for a normal quilava. Thankfully, the Blaze seemed to have stopped when bagon was going in.
A sharp intake of breath was mangled by the Pokénav's speakers. "Is Max okay?"
"Burns on his arms and knuckles. Baltoy and bagon..."
"Blocked it," Ash finished. "You're in a Center now, aren't you?"
"How do you know?"
"A good guess. Max is asleep?"
"You're used to this?"
He heard Ash chuckle, and the pikachu that was probably sitting on his shoulder did the same. "I lost count of how many times I was ushered off to bed like that somewhere in Johto. I still don't know what painkillers they stock, but they're amazing at making you feel sleepy."
"Oh."
"What's on your mind?"
"I just…" Danny interrupted himself. He didn't just want to talk. He had a question. "Did this happen often with you?"
"What did? Injuries? Poachers?"
"Both, I guess."
"If you don't count Team Rocket… A few poachers, I guess. Two of them way worse than the rest." From the way Danny heard Ash mutter the last bit, he suspected that meant legendary-grade danger. Ash had talked a bit about meeting more legendaries than just the ones he met with Max.
"Oh?"
"And injuries…" Ash ignored Danny's question. "Counting Team Rocket, our first aid kit was very busy, and all of us got pretty good at using it. Max got injured the least, but he was always sneaking around them, trying to help us the best he could. You know, for not having a Pokémon."
"Okay, so… This is normal for Max?"
"Sorta?" Danny could nearly see Ash shrug. "Burns aren't something Max ever got, but May and I did. Comes with training a Fire-type. It'll heal, and maybe it'll leave a cool scar."
"Oh, okay."
"So, while you're here. Tell me what happened?" Danny obliged, giving Ash a quick summary of what had happened and what he and Max had done respectively, up to the point of the Rangers arriving on their pidgeots. "You did a great job. Both of you," Ash complimented once Danny was done.
"Max did all the battling—"
"And you freed the Pokémon, and made sure he couldn't escape," Ash interrupted. "That's important. It's good teamwork, and good on you to think of that."
"Everyone would do that." Danny was certain of it. It just seemed like the logical thing.
"Nope," Ash cheerfully informed him, and Danny's eyes widened in surprise. "Especially making sure he couldn't escape. We always forgot that. Team Rocket got away so many times..."
"Huh. So..."
"You did a good thing, even if you didn't beat the poacher's Pokémon. Not all battles are won on the battlefield, you know." There was a shout in the background. "Time to go. Drake wants a night battle. See ya!"
"Good luck!"
~~§~~§~~
Lance, Champion of the shared Kanto-Johto Elite Four, paced just off-stage in a Viridian City hall. He'd been a Champion for seven years, a Master-tier trainer for at least twelve, and he was still not used to press conferences. Or, he amended silently, he was to regular ones. Not this one, which was more of a presentation than a press conference. He nodded to himself. That was probably it.
A door opened behind him, revealing his fellow Champions: Wallace of Hoenn and Cynthia of Sinnoh. Neither of them looked nervous in the slightest. "All are here, Lance. Are you ready?" said the Sinnoh Champion, clad in her customary black coat.
"Remind me why I agreed to this?" Lance half-lamented.
"Because a new competition demands a new presentation, a new élan!" Wallace replied. "And as it was your idea, it is only fitting for you to be the host." The Water Master's face twitched with ill-disguised mirth. "Come, Lance. Your audience awaits."
The three Champions walked out onto a small stage, to light applause and furious picture-taking. Thankfully, the theatre they had rented for this was well-lit, else Lance would probably have been blinded by the flashes. He let them take pictures, enduring the media circus he'd been living in for years, before gesturing for silence. He got it nearly immediately, and he took a last deep breath before launching into his talk. "Fellow trainers, esteemed members of the press, honoured politicians, I am pleased to see you all gathered here today as we start a new era of inter-region cooperation." Light applause filled the auditorium once more. "Today, we unveil the Champion's League."
Right on cue, the screen behind him lit up, and Lance stepped aside so that he could face both screen and audience. "For years, the individual Pokémon Leagues have been the pinnacle of organised trainer battling. Winning one grants one benefits, such as the right to challenge a chosen Elite Four and its Champion, but those matches are far and few between. In the last five years, only one trainer made it to me, and frankly, it's probably that boredom that spawned this idea." He heard a chuckle or two, which had been the point of putting that in.
"The Champion's League will feature the winners and the runners-up of the last leagues in a certain timespan, usually one year, or six leagues." The screen lit up with the ten pictures of those eligible, as well as two question mark pictures. "They'll be divided into two groups, where they'll battle it out in a full battle round robin schedule, vying for position. The places everyone wants are the top two in each group, for those provide access to the semi final, and, for two of them, the final."
"The winner gains eternal glory, a sizeable amount of money, and a guaranteed shot to challenge a single Champion of their choosing, irrespective of their other challenge rights." The Dragon Master paused as all the rights of the winner appeared on the projection. He saw furious scribbling going on from the area where the press sat, and intrigued looks on the trainers in the audience. One trainer in particular – the recent Johto champion – was especially surprised.
"Now, I guess you'll all want to know where and when this will take place. I'll answer the when first. The inaugural Champion's League will take place this coming March, at the Indigo Plateau, and it will take place in March every year thereafter. However, its location is not set, for the year after next, it will take place in Sinnoh, on Lily of the Valley island. The location will then cycle to Johto, Hoenn, and then back to Kanto again." That got the politicians nodding, Lance noted, as he had hoped. A set location had been removed from consideration early in the planning process for that exact reason.
"Lastly, astute observers likely noticed two question mark blocks in our participants earlier. This is because the actual cut-off date for entry into the tournament falls with the October tournament. This means that the upcoming Indigo League winner, and the runner up, are eligible to enter this tournament, but the next Ever Grande Conference champion has to wait until the next iteration in Sinnoh."
Inwardly, Lance let out a sigh of relief. Just the questions left now. "We will now take questions. Though I held this talk, Cynthia and Wallace were instrumental in designing the tournament, so please do not forget them."
The questions had to wait for a round of thunderous applause that lasted a minute or two.
The first question came from the press area. "Will this be broadcast?"
"Of course it will," Wallace replied, stepping forward on the stage. "These skilled trainers deserve a podium to display their prowess for more than just the audience. We've negotiated a contract with the regular broadcasters, who'll be covering the spectacle with their usual meticulous detail."
"What about other nations, like Kalos or Unova?"
Lance shook his head. "The League, for now, is for the Home Regions only, as a matter of geographical proximity. Perhaps we will expand later, once Unova's insurgency has been resolved." And damn Alder for vehemently rebuffing G-men help. Dialga above the man was unfit, but Unova's Champion rules were unyielding: only death or defeat could dislodge Alder from his position.
"And Unovan trainers?" came an unsolicited shout from where the trainers sat, and Lance needed no vision of the speaker to identify her. It was the newest Kanto champion, a Unovan trainer in her early twenties.
"They are eligible to join," Cynthia calmly answered her. "As are Kalosian trainers. Just like a normal League, any trainer of any gender or nationality can enter, if they meet the entrance requirements." The Sinnoh Champion smiled disarmingly. "Don't worry, Ms. Peterson. It'd be a shame if the only woman to win a League in the last year would be excluded."
On and on the questions went. What about trainers declining their invitation? The numbers three and possibly four of the same tournament would be extended an invitation. What about ticket sales? They'd be up in January. Would something similar be organised for Pokémon Contests? Wallace said he'd raise the idea. Did all of the eligible trainers accept their invitations? They'd been informed of their eligibility a few days prior, and all but one had accepted already.
Eventually, the questions were all spent, and Lance stepped forward once more. "I'd like to thank all of you for your presence, and I hope to see all of you this coming month at the Indigo League, or in March at the Champion's League."
Ten minutes later, the three Champions sat in comfortable chairs in a lobby. Pokémon League employees and interns bustled around them, but except for supplying drinks, they did not disturb the powerful trio of trainers.
"For someone professing his dislike of public speaking at every turn, you are quite good at it," Cynthia said from over her glass of some juice. "A little dry, perhaps, but that's personal taste."
"I would still have preferred the simple press release over this." Lance turned his eyes on an amused-looking Wallace after taking a sip of his water. "However I let you talk me into this, I still do not understand."
"Your understanding that the art of presentation is something I, as a Contest Master, am likely to know a fair amount about was presumably a factor," Wallace said as he raised his glass in a toast. "To a successful tournament."
The three drank deeply and sat in silence for a minute before Cynthia broke the silence. "Any news about..."
"No, none," Wallace answered, his jovial manner suddenly gone. "Phoebe has been working around the clock, trying to find traces, but she found naught." He turned to Lance. "We'd appreciate some more G-men help."
"We're still trying to understand how Archie made his escape," Lance replied truthfully. This chat was the first time in two weeks in which his time hadn't been taken up by trying to unravel that mystery or Champion duties. "And how none of it appeared on our radar until Wattson led his raid of New Mauville."
Cynthia frowned. "Do you suspect leaks?"
"Always. The problem is: where is it located? And who is it?" Being on the side that was infiltrated was thoroughly vexing. "There's only about a dozen people I trust unconditionally to not be involved, and nearly half of them are far too junior to even have access to the information of where Archie was held.
"Forgive me my whimsical musings, Lance, but is there a possibility of your problem and my problem being intertwined?" Wallace asked.
Lance weighed the situation in his mind. "Could be, but unlikely. Too diffuse, no obvious motive. I'll talk it over with the others, but I doubt anything will come from it."
"Very well. I await your correspondence with my Gym Leaders."
~~§~~§~~§~~§~~
Pokébet uses several tiers to roughly denote a trainer's skill. These tiers should not be seen as absolutes, especially when it comes to lesser-known trainers, but they've proven to be decent predictors.
The tiers, from lowest to highest, are:
R – Rookie
I – Intermediate
E – Expert
A – Ace
M – Master
Author's Note: Don't mess with bagon, and get out of the way if you happen to enrage him. Quilava didn't. Oops, as they say.
Obviously, no relation exists between my invented League and the European football (soccer) league. Given it's always the Pokémon League or the Indigo/Silver (etc etc) League, I feel it'd be in character for the regional Champions to keep the naming theme alive.