Creation began on 12-23-17
Creation ended on 08-06-18
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Elite Four, Three, Two and One
A/N: To meet and defeat the elite is a goal worth dreaming about.
"…Hey, you're the guy whose son went missing and ended up in that other world that got posted all over YouTube, aren't you?" A man in a separate cell asked Gendo as he recovered from the effects of alcoholism last night. "Yeah, you're him! Why are you in here?"
"Disturbing the peace," Gendo stated.
"What, your son being a celebrity caused you jealousy or something?"
"I am not jealous of some petulant child."
"It sounds like you are if you got thrown in here for disturbing the peace. Hey, you're Gendo Ikari! You're the bastard everyone says killed your wife and got away with it!" Another guy in a separate cell shouted. "Man, your kid is a superstar in the making! He's even better than you, and he ain't a scientist or a politician! The people love him!"
A police officer came over and unlocked the cell Gendo was in.
"The broadcast of your son's match with his most recent opponent ended quite spectacularly," he told him. "He's going up against this group called the Elite Four now. I got four grand on him beating all four of them."
"He isn't some hero or role model," Gendo retorted as he got up and stepped out of the cell. "He's just a brat that got lost and is currently taking advantage of his displacement."
"And you can't be proud of what he has done so far? A lot of kids do strange things that don't fit in with their parents' plans for them, and that's if they even have any plans for them. Some fathers want their sons to be politicians when they'd rather be chefs, some women want their daughters to be dancers when they just want to be doctors. What did you want for your son?"
"To do as he's told when he's told."
"That's stupid."
-x-
"Toji, did you just sneak some of my Pokemon food that belongs to Misato into your mouth?" Shinji asked Toji, noticing that he was a little too close to the food bowl belonging to his Eevee in his hotel suite with everyone the morning they left the Pokemon Center.
"Suzuhara!" Hikari expressed, feeling like he was stealing from the Eevee.
"I'm sorry," he apologized to the trainer and his Evolution Pokemon. "It tastes so good. In fact, it tastes like you made it."
"Well, I did make it," Shinji confessed, reaching into his bag and pulling out a canister with a picture of an Eevee on it. "Pokemon are able to eat human food, but they shouldn't do so all the time. I found out why when Misato ate my last slice of pizza during our time in Saffron City in the Kanto Region four years ago. She got the stomach flu and spent the next two days in the Pokemon Center while I was training Hyuga, Ibuki and Shigeru to face Sabrina, the psychic Gym Leader. They don't get the same degree of nutrition from human food that we do, so I buy Pokemon food and make it myself whenever I go shopping. People admit that they like eating Pokemon food, too, depending upon the way it tastes."
"Oh, really?" Asuka asked, and then took one of the kibble-like pieces of Pokemon food from Misato's food bowl to taste for herself. "Hmm? Hmm… This is actually good. Did you really make this?"
"Yes, it isn't all that difficult. Cooking isn't all that different from training Pokemon; both take time to get good at and have to be something you enjoy. If you enjoy what you do, you get good at it."
Shinji sat down at the table and opened the canister and refilled Misato's bowl with extra food before petting her head, earning a purr from her. Then, he offered some to the others.
Kensuke partook of the food and admitted to almost forgetting the taste of it.
Rei tried some, as well and stated that the taste was quite vegan.
"Would you care for some, Misato?" Shinji offered his guardian.
"Sure," she answered and accepted. "Whoa… These are good. You really outdid yourself, Shinji."
"Happy Pokemon are at their best when they have a good diet," he praised.
"Hey, Shinji, this Elite Four," Toji expressed, "what type of Pokemon do they specialize in?"
"Each member specializes in their signature type preference," he explained, having studied the individual members. "Aaron uses Bug-Types. Bertha specializes in Ground-Types. Flint is a Fire-Type Pokemon Trainer, and Lucian is a Psychic-Type trainer. Each member is at the top of their game."
"You will do your best, Ikari-Kun," said Rei, encouraging him.
"Thank you, Ayanami."
"We'll be rooting for you," Hikari added in.
"We're behind you, all the way," added Misato, as well.
-x-
"…A night in jail for disturbing the peace during the broadcast?" Ritsuko questioned Gendo as he showed up in Central Dogma for the day. "Couldn't you just watch it with suspense like everyone else did?"
"It's irrelevant," he stated firmly.
"I checked the reviews on YouTube and other sites. In the court of public opinion, the people want to see more of Shinji during the event he's involved in. They want to see him win it."
Gendo walked down the hall to his office and fumed over how the people were deluding themselves with these blogs and videos of the Third Child. He wanted to hold the Gioavnni Corporation responsible for all this, but it felt easier to blame his son because he got lost and was just taking his merrily time coming back, diverting his focus by facing other people to show his skills.
-x-
"…Mew, mew," Hikari of Light uttered as she flew around the training field in front of Shinji and the other Pokemon after breakfast.
"It looks like she's feeling better," he heard his Mew's namesake say.
"Yeah, but against the creepy crawler member of the Elite Four, I'll keep her benched along with Master and Guardian…because Psychic-Types can have trouble with Bug-Types to a degree."
"But isn't Guardian also a Flying-Type, which is strong against Bug-Types?"
"Yeah, which gives him an edge against them if they were just Bug-Types. But Aaron's Bug Pokemon are likely to be more than that. Dual Flying and Poison-Types are possible. What's more is that he's a member of the Elite Four; it won't be an easy feat to beat even one of them, especially if it's a consecutive match."
This, of course, reminded the Class Rep. that the Pokemon League was hard on those that lost at any point during consecutive matches. If Shinji lost even just one match against a member of the Elite Four (and it didn't matter if it was the first match or the last match), the loss of his spot in the league and a chance to meet and face the current champion was absolute. And if any trainer wasn't allowed to switch out their on-hand Pokemon for their other Pokemon like Shinji periodically did, that would've been more difficult.
"Will you still be allowed to switch out your Pokemon before each match?!" They heard Toji ask him as he showed up outside the Pokemon Center.
"If I couldn't, then my concerns would be more than heavy," Shinji expressed as he answered.
"So…your Charizard, Entei, Moltres, Guardian, and Eevee are your best bet against this bug expert."
"Speaking of Eevee, where is Misato?"
"She's being brushed by Asuka inside. It looks like she trusts her enough to let her brush her fur."
Shinji left momentarily just to see how his Eevee was being treated by the redhead, and was relieved to see Misato being groomed as gently as possible by Asuka, who definitely seemed to be enjoying the brushing of the small creature.
"I'm not sure exactly how he kept you well-groomed over four years," he heard her say to Misato, "but Shinji's really lucky to have you for a companion."
"Eee!" Misato purred.
"Maybe next time, we should try to bring Pen-Pen," he heard his Eevee's namesake say behind him.
"Yeah, that'd be great," he agreed with her. "We'd have the whole crew here, then."
-x-
"If animals with positive relationships with people are capable of subconscious travel between dimensions, it'd be just as interesting," said Antonio, observing the scene between Ms. Katsuragi and Shinji. "The possibilities are all but limitless."
"And after last night's broadcast, your research is likely to expand and intensify," Fuyutsuki stated as he prepared to return to NERV. "I shall return later."
"We look forward to seeing you again."
-x-
"Tomorrow, we go up against Aaron and his bug horde, friends," Shinji told his Pokemon as he finished training with them for the day, three hours after switching out his Aggron, Zapdos and Gyarados for his Moltres, Pidgeot and Entei, as well as returning his Mew so that he was back to the six-Pokemon limit. "I see each of you and I see the best you can be because we all put in the effort to bring out our potential. Just do your best while having fun out there."
"Pidgeo," Kensuke chirped, spreading his wings.
"Eh-heh-heh! The bugs are gonna love you guys."
Sitting on a bench across the field from the trainer and his Pokemon, Asuka, Rei and the others watched as Shinji bonded with his large power houses for tomorrow's match against the first of the Elite Four.
"Things are gonna get scorched," said Toji.
"Yep," Hikari added.
-x-
"I'm guessing the broadcast from last night has the whole of NERV in a cheerful mood," Fuyutsuki stated to Ritsuko as he noticed half of Central Dogma reviewing the recorded footage of Shinji's most recent match in the Sinnoh League.
"Yeah," she responded. "Believe it or not, if Giovanni broadcasts the next match, everyone's going to want to put down everything just to watch Shinji go up against his next opponent for a shot at the current champion."
"Maybe they'll broadcast it again. Maybe."
"Ikari's throwing a fit towards his son so much that he got locked up last night for disturbing the peace during the broadcast."
"He must've been the only one who wanted to see Shinji lose."
"My protégé has started a pool on him for his next match."
"Is that so?"
"I put in thirty on him to win again. One of the maintenance workers is willing to go double or nothing if Shinji wins the next match after."
"Since he's now going up against the Elite Four, that should amuse a lot of people."
"The Elite Four. The best and strongest of the Pokemon League. They clearly represent power while the challengers represent potential."
-x-
"…I didn't think I'd find you here again, Seiryu Shores," said Shinji to his recent opponent as he strayed onto the field of one of the stadiums late at night with his Eevee.
"After losing to you, I figured I come back here to take my mind off the defeat," Seiryu explained to the young man. "Still, it was a great match. Be proud of your opponent and take joy in their success."
"There was a question I meant to ask you, but I don't want to intrude of personal matters."
"There's nothing left that is hardly personal. Ask away."
"Well, I… I looked at your profile before our match…and I saw that your Mudkip was no longer with you. If it's alright that I ask, what happened to it?"
Seiryu looked away from the trainer and his Eevee and sighed; he had put the traumatic memory behind him, but it was a pain that lingered every now and then. And then he turned back to face them.
"She was sick," he answered Shinji. "The day after I got her for the first time, she wasn't feeling well. I took her to the Pokemon Center…and found that she wasn't as healthy as she was thought to be. Nobody noticed she had a weak heart."
Shinji bowed his head out of sympathy to Seiryu.
"The people that gave her to me offered to exchange her for another Mudkip, but I told them no. She was my first, and I couldn't just exchange her like she were a broken appliance or something. I stayed by her side until the very end. Three days afterward, I took her to the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town in the Kanto Region. Have you been there before?"
"No," he answered. "It's one of the only parts of Kanto I've not ventured to with my Pokemon."
"I buried her there, thanked her for introducing me to the world of Pokemon, and I go back to see her every year. It was just after I stepped out of the tower, however, that I met my second Pokemon, a Ghastly. I was never sure, but it might've been sent to me by my Mudkip to be a companion for me. Or even the soul of my Mudkip herself reborn as a Ghost Pokemon. Do you think it's possible, to be sent Pokemon by other Pokemon from beyond the grave or to meet your first Pokemon that has returned in another form, different from the one they had in life?"
Shinji thought for a moment and responded, "Yes, it's possible. The bond between Pokemon and their trainers is a powerful force, triggered by the initial relationship made between the trainer and the individual Pokemon that sets them on the path they walk down."
"Eevo," Misato added.
"Best of luck to you and your Pokemon during your match against Aaron of the Elite Four," Seiryu expressed to them as he extended his right hand to Shinji. "I'll be cheering you on."
"Thank you," Shinji praised and he shook his hand.
-x-
"…The unauthorized broadcast that occurred in Tokyo-3 and went viral across the world has people desiring more of the Third Child's prowess with these…Pokemon," went SEELE 06 to the rest of the council during their next meeting.
"The Giovanni Corporation's research will likely expand with this revelation," added SEELE 11. "The Pokemon used by the Third Child were powerful and were able to overwhelm the ones used by his opponent. And based on recent events, the one he seemed to have recently caught, this…Mew, is the rarest and most powerful of Pokemon."
"Ikari's son has gained much recognition through his displacement in this other world and is being viewed as among the most prodigious of individuals," said SEELE 01. "And to know which creatures he needs to find his way back to this world, but to refuse to try and find them to the exclusion of other activities because he believes he can't rush his way to the desired outcome. He has all the time and space he needs over there…and while here, we may have an increase in our own timetable due to the actions of the Eva pilots and this Palkia."
"They didn't kill the last Angel," stated SEELE 04, "which leaves us at a standstill for the time being so long as it's trapped in between two spacial rifts with no way out."
"Unless it's destroyed, the next Angel will likely not show up," SEELE 09 informed them. "As problematic as this seems, we may be able to use this delay to our advantage. We can begin construction on the Mass Production Evangelions necessary for the Instrumentality Project."
"This is true, provided the Angel currently indisposed of is incapable of changing its imprisoned status," added SEELE 07. "Shall we do so?"
"All in favor?" SEELE 01 questioned the council.
-x-
The people were wild with excitement and expectation! The weather was sunny and clear. It was a day of progression to greater heights in the Sinnoh League.
"You've been causing quite a stir since your arrival, Mr. Ikari," said Aaron to Shinji on the field. "I'll be honest, I was looking forward to meeting you. You're the only trainer that has gotten this far this year. You have much to be proud of."
"Thank you, but it's not just me that should be proud of getting this far," Shinji stated. "My Pokemon got me here, and I'm indebted to them all the time, forever grateful to them."
"And that right there, where you praise your Pokemon, always giving them more recognition than you yourself also deserve. You're so connected to them. May this match be a great one."
Shinji held out one of his Poke Balls and responded, "Against any trainer, any time of the day, every match is a great one."
Aaron took out one of his balls and threw it onto the field, unleashing his first choice.
From out the ball was unleashed a large, brownish creature with a large pair of, spiked horns on the top of its head.
A Pinsir, Shinji gasped; it had been a long time since he had ever faced a trainer that owned one.
-x-
"It looks like Shinji doesn't know which of his Pokemon to use against Pinsir," said Asuka to the others as they sat in the audience, watching Shinji look at two balls in his hands.
"No," went Kensuke, "he just wants to save his strongest members as a last resort. He knows which Pokemon to use first to deal with Pinsir."
They watched as Shinji threw a ball and unleashed his Charizard, which seemed to intimidate the Bug Pokemon due to her fiery nature.
"He might save his other hotheads for later," Toji suspected.
"Begin!" The referee announced, and the match between Shinji and Aaron of the Sinnoh Elite Four began in earnest.
-x-
"The signal broadcast is strong and stable, sir," Antonio was informed.
"Thank you, this is good," he responded as he observed the match between Shinji and his latest opponent taking place. "That is one large pincher."
"There will always Bug Pokémon as large as people," went Palkia as Shinji had his Charizard unleash a Fire Blast at the Pinsir, defeating it in one attack. "Mmm… That ended rather quickly."
"Shinji is…rather fast now," said a man keeping one of the cameras aimed at Palkia.
-x-
As Aaron's Pinsir fell, the Elite Four trainer was stunned that one of his strongest Pokémon was instantly defeated by a Charizard with a disability that should have been its downfall.
"Pinsir is unable to continue," the referee announced. "Charizard wins."
The crowd cheered for Shinji as Aaron recalled his Pinsir.
"Impressive, Shinji," Aaron expressed, selecting a new Poke Ball to throw. "I don't think any of my Bug Pokemon can best your Pokemon."
"Oh, now, don't give up until you've tried everything you know," Shinji responded. "You're the first of the Elite Four I've come to face in any league, and I forward to facing each of you at your best. To simply win a match after only one victory is somewhat hollow."
"Which is why I switched up my roster today to face you," he revealed. "Come on out, Pupitar!"
From out his second Poke Ball came a Pokemon that Shinji hadn't seen since his Larvitar had fully evolved during his time in the Johto Region: A Rock/Ground-Type chrysalis by the name of Pupitar, probably Aaron's attempt at playing defense. But if his could move at a pace much faster than Toji had been able to when he evolved, then its defensive measures could be offensive, too.
"Well, I guess a Pupitar would be similar to a Bug Pokemon since they are cocooned before they become imago," Shinji stated, but his Charizard spread out her wings and flexed her claws; Asuka wasn't going to be intimidated by a Pokemon whose only type advantage meant that it could withstand the heat a little more than usual.
"Oh, try and survive this," Aaron chuckled. "Pupitar, Tackle!"
"Putar!" It grunted, and shot off the ground like a bullet, aimed for Asuka's middle!
BASH! It collided with her like running into a wall, sending her falling to the ground.
"Grr," she grunted, feeling weakened from being hit so hard, but still in the game.
"Whoa!" Shinji gasped, not expecting that. "Bail out! Bail out for now, Asuka! Bail out!"
Asuka got up and was immediately recalled back into her ball.
"Did you see that?!" Hikari gasped. "It shot at her like a bullet!"
"Rock and Ground-Type Pokemon are strong against Fire and Flying-Types," Toji stated, "so a Pupitar would be the obvious choice against a Charizard."
"So Shinji's gotta try something else that can put a dent in this guy's strategy that uses a Pokemon that isn't an insect," said Misato.
It looked as though Shinji was going to choose another Pokemon when his Eevee got his attention. A brief moment went by…before the Evolution Pokemon jumped onto the field; it seemed Shinji was convinced by the little critter to let her participate in the match.
"And it looks like Shinji's going with his Eevee, whom he hasn't used since his first match here in the Sinnoh League!" The judges revealed.
To be continued…
A/N: I might break this battle Shinji has with each member of the Elite Four down into parts because I'm not sure how to show every battle he has with them, meaning it might just go down the way it did with Red in Pokemon Origins. You'll just have to imagine how every unseen battle went as he goes to face the current champion.