Chapter 1: The Final Semester
"It's the final Battle! Who will bask in the glory of the Championship!? …And there's the Flamethrower!" The announcer shouted, as the Charizard responsible inhaled, and let out a torrent of fire.
A young Alexander Redwood stared in awe, as Leon, the current World Champion, faced off against Alain, the reigning Champion of the Kalos League, in an all out Charizard vs Charizard brawl from the carpeted floor of their TV room. The two Champion level teams had traded off KOs throughout the match, which had taken most of the evening, and Alex, along with his brother and younger cousins, were all watching, spellbound, as their eldest cousin Geralt idly mastered becoming a Berry Ninja via an app on his Xtransceiver. Despite his aloof attitude, he too was watching with some interest. Not enough to pull him from his game, though.
"A clash of Dragon Claws in this fiery, white-hot brawl!" The announcer continued. Leon smirked then, and Geralt sat up, for the finale. "Here it comes, kiddos. Watch."
The little humans looked at their cousin, and then at the TV. "Charizard! Thunderpunch!" Leon gave the command, and the pair of fire lizards entangled in a Dragon Claw clash struggled, only for Leon's to duck low, and bring Alain's partner with him. His Mega Form had faded after a previous round, but Leon's was also tired from battling and expending its signature G-Max Wildfire on Alain's Metagross. At that moment however, it was clear which fire lizard had more fuel left in the tank.
As Alain's partner was dragged down with Leon's, his right claw drew back, sending Alain's Charizard into the ground, where its Dragon Claw stuck fast. Then, came the counter. A thunderous uppercut, right to the jaw, sent Alain's Pokémon sailing onto his back. Their moves faded, and Leon's partner was panting hard as it stared down its opponent. Alain's Charizard raised its head, growled, and then fell, fainted, and out of energy.
The announcer sound very hyped as he shouted into his mic, "What a strike! That's what a Battle is all about! It's completely unpredictable! Once more Galar's Unbeatable Champion claims victory from the fires of this white-hot Battle!"
It was as Alex took in the Unbeatable Champion of Galar striking his iconic pose that he knew what he wanted to be. What he wanted to do. The same thing literally every child in their Pokémon-focused society wanted: to be the very best. To climb to the peaks Trainers like Lance, the Dragon Master, and the Unbeatable Champion Leon had. To protect the world, alongside Pokémon, travel with them, live with them, and train alongside them. His tiny mind already knew he wanted a Charmander.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans. At that moment, his father came into the room, shut off the TV, and scolded Geralt for letting the little ones stay up so late. Never mind that not one of them had gone to bed when Alex had defied the tweenager's orders, and stuck by him in solidarity. That night, Alex's dreams were filled with images of him, standing before the living wildfire that was a Gigantamaxed Charizard, wielded by arguably the best Trainer of his time. He was older though, confident, smirking. He turned his hat backwards like Ash Ketchum did in the ever-popular Pokémon cartoon series, and sent his own Charizard in to battle Leon's.
When he awoke, it was to his parents telling him they were driving south, to Unova proper, to see a doctor. He was told to behave, and while he planned to, he also constantly babbled about Pokémon on the way down. His parents had to remind him almost every five minutes that he'd get one when he was older, but clearly, the youngster was eager to start. While this behavior was normal in other regions and families, for whatever reason, Alex's preschool teacher had convinced his parents it was somehow abnormal, and combined with his tendency to be mild, shy, and aloof with other kids, she deemed it a sign of some kind of deficiency but one that, Praise Arceus, could be studied and cured by the wonderful technology of the Arcean Church, a powerful and influential religious cult led by their self-proclaimed Prophet, that essentially controlled the entire western half of the States, and was based in the Fornia region's capital of Sacreus.
Alex's father, Frederick Redwood, was not an Arcean himself, nor was he an unintelligent man. He knew what the Arcean's Prophet was, and didn't really care one way or the other. He was more concerned that his firstborn son, who would become the Redwood Ranch's owner if he had his way, was far too obsessed with Pokémon training. His teacher had convinced them that the renowned Doctor Frank Ein could provide the guidance young Alex needed, and so, it was to Doctor Ein that he was brought.
Being the tender age of seven, Alex didn't have much of an attention span for adult talk, and he would live to regret not paying attention to what Doctor Ein said as he dazzled his parents with his degrees, and clear knowledge of Pokémon, human psychology, biology, and several other fields of study. That the man was well-learned, nobody could deny, and his flashing of degrees was enough to convince the Redwoods to let him examine their seven year old in the same manner Fornian parents did, when 'maladaptive tendencies' were detected early in life. Such 'deficiencies' would be measured on a device known to members of the Church, as a Pokémeter.
Once alone with the boy, Doctor Ein explained in child-friendly terms how it worked, and within those soundproofed walls, claimed the device could measure the latent potential in a person, to see how good of a Trainer they could become. This was not what he'd told his parents it did, but in this instance, the truth would be more appealing to the child, and Alex hadn't noticed the discrepency.
Alex did as he was instructed, taking hold of the two almost unnaturally silver canisters attached by long wires to the machine. He dropped them, as they buzzed in his hands, but on the second grab held firm. Ein had been preparing to suggest that Alex's parents enroll him in Arcean based classes that would refine his behavior and his potential as a Trainer, when the machine registered something odd. A sleeping source of power in the child, that pushed the Pokémeter's needle into the red.
What this actually meant, had long been lost. Pokémeters had once been used by the first Tamer of Arceus himself to try to find a worthy successor, but nobody in the modern era knew this. Not even Doctor Ein. All that meter readers like him knew, was that if they found someone, especially a child with that unnatural potential, they were to do everything in their power to keep them from becoming a Trainer.
Not being entirely heartless, as Ein could tell the boy adored Pokémon, he decided to make a call, to his superiors. Over several minutes, the call made its way to the Prophet of the Church himself, when Ein skillfully argued, in the privacy of his office adjacent to the meter room, that the boy could be a useful tool. Caleb Pravus however, had other plans, and ordered the rules to be followed in this instance. Had he but asked the boy's name, things might've turned out very differently, but the callous nature of the Arcean Prophet shielded Alex from the sins his granduncle, one Professor Gilroy Redwood, had committed against the Arcean Church in the past.
Ein told Alex his results were good. On Leon's level, even, which had made the boy's eyes shine with hope. The doctor had then turned around and crushed that hope into despair, when they returned to his parents in the waiting room, one that convincingly appeared to be Ein's office, but wasn't. The doctor had reversed his kind words entirely, with a smile on his face no less, showing his parents bar graphs (which had no labels for what was being measured) to illustrate his point that, according to their readings, their son was mentally unfit to handle Pokémon as a proper Trainer, and would likely never be capable of safely controlling a Pokémon in battle. Alex had, naturally, called him out on this, by explaining what had transpired in the few minutes he'd been gone, but the Doctor had refuted him with words that had more syllables than he could count, and could only guess the meaning of. With the power of logic, Doctor Ein had convinced his parents that their eldest child simply couldn't handle the power of a Pokémon safely.
Thus, his parents had been convinced he'd never become a Trainer. Pokémon were too dangerous for those with the 'mental disabilities' Ein had labeled the young boy with. Alex's granduncle was the only one in his corner, as when the three had returned home, he was the only family member to react to the news with what Alex saw as the right response. Utter disbelief, and several vulgarities comparing Ein's findings to Tauros dung. Of all the young Redwoods growing on their ranch, the Professor had noted that Geralt and Alex had the most raw potential for training and using Pokémon. That wasn't to say the others lacked it, those two simply had a connection with the creatures that went deep, and made for excellent Trainers. Geralt had gone on to become a Pokémon Ranger in the years that followed, and had excelled, becoming a Top Ranger on their continent in the space of a few years and the Professor had similar hopes for Alex.
Though his granduncle had tried to convince his father otherwise, or at the very least have a different doctor test him, the decision had already been made. Alex would work on their ranch as a farm hand, and that was the end of it. Eric would take over eventually, and together, the two brothers would build a 'legacy'. Alex had other ideas though, and despite not having a Pokémon of his own, he'd managed to convince wild ones to battle alongside him. Sometimes. The Redwood line had produced several Pokémon Rangers over the years, and his family was quite good at bonding with the creatures. Each of them, usually, had a knack for it, but wild Pokémon were, at their core, wild. Thus, he had made it to the age of twenty four with some decent battle experience, but no team of his own.
Derrion Town - Northern Unova Region
The alarm rang, and Alexander Redwood growled awake, smashing it with his oversized fist, swearing into his pillow as he heard and felt it break under the careless pressure his large limb exerted. He always underestimated how hard he could hit those damn alarms. It was a problem in every region. It was either that, or use his Pokégear, which was unreliable at best. At least when it came to alarms.
He smelled breakfast, even from two floors up, and outside of his slightly ajar window could already hear his mother's shrill tones asking where he was. As expected, nobody had taken care of the Miltank and Tauros, but as of today, that was no longer his job. Alex rolled out of bed, half awake, and stumbled into the too-small shower in his room. It was a little cube, and he was a large man, both in height and unfortunately, weight. But that changed today.
Once showered, brushed, and de-odorized, he grabbed his green-brown hat and hooded jacket and pulled them over his black undershirt, then pulled on his dark blue jeans. The hat fit well over his black, curled hair, even though he was desperately in need of a trim, as the hair by his ears curled up around the edges of the Trainer hat. Today would finally be the day. In this region, on the north-eastern coast of the largest continent in this part of the world, his journey would finally begin. He'd been waiting two decades for this. Though he knew he was starting way behind his own generation, he was ready.
Most of the people in Derrion Town spent their lives preparing to one day take over their family business, and contribute to society as a whole. But not Alex Redwood. Being denied access to Pokéballs and his own partner had turned him increasingly more bitter the older he'd gotten. It was only to be expected in a society like theirs, that almost constantly emphasized that humans and Pokémon were meant to work together to live in harmony, and enjoy the utopian society they'd built together after rising from the ashes and ignorance of the Dark Times.
Becoming a steady Leafhead at around the age of seventeen, Alex had shirked his chores as often as possible, and done jobs that actually paid around their town, as he combined that, with his monthly allotted allowance, to save up for the items he would need on the journey he fully intended to one day take.
Despite his parents, he'd still managed to earn his Trainer Card alongside a Bulbasaur who'd grown into a Venusaur by the time the weeks long examination had concluded. He'd done better than his brother, but not even that had been enough to convince his parents that Doctor Ein was wrong. If anything, his defiance of them to take the exam anyway only demonstrated he was irresponsible, unruly, and unfit to be a Trainer. His Bulbasaur had stayed with his examiner, but his Trainer Card he had kept. Many times had his parents tried to find it, but much like his Leaf stash, it was hidden in places they simply couldn't reach, and once he'd filled out to his adult height of six foot two, he had stopped worrying they'd ever find either of the treasures in his most precious stash.
Working on the ranch had been hard, filthy, grueling work, and after finally getting tired of shoveling Tauros dung, Alex had had enough. When he'd turned eighteen, he declared he was simply done. He'd strode into his father's office to make said declaration, and the entire Redwood Manor shook as they argued. It was a fight that, in the opinion of most of his family members, was decades in the making.
Alex knew that if he'd but had the chance to be a Trainer, he could be the best. He'd burned with the desire for a chance to prove himself for years. Finally, after two decades and several hours of arguing, his father had accepted his intentions. Being an eighteen-year-old, and by their laws, a man, he could no longer legally stop his son from purchasing his own Pokéballs. He already had several, but had resisted using them, as his father had once promised to 'get rid of' anything he attempted to capture on his own. As he had been about to enter Unova University, and thus complete the final stage of his general education, they'd agreed that if he managed to pass the Trainer course at the University, without a team, he would have their blessing to finally become a Trainer. Things hadn't been so simple, though.
Currently, he had one more year at the Unova University to finish, and to finish it, he needed a Pokémon. Now, finally, Alex's father had acquiesced to letting him have a partner. Only one. He'd said that it was a 'probationary period' and if he proved himself capable, he could get more. Victory was bittersweet though, as even at eighteen he'd been far behind his contemporaries.
After years of saving and spending his hard-earned cash, the only benefit of being trapped on a ranch where his relatives were forced to pay him a wage or be hit with child labor laws, was that he was now armed with hundreds of balls, potions, protein pills, and other gadgets that would help him in Unova, to the south, and beyond. Alex intended his journey to last his entire life, as was the case for serious Trainers, and he'd stockpiled as much as he could. He'd packed his bigger-on-the-inside bag, a gift from his granduncle, with enough items to last a lifetime. Or so he assumed. His father had no idea about his stash, but it had been impossible to hide the six custom Pokéballs he'd prepared for his main team. He'd had to keep them empty, but now, he retrieved them and shoved them in his pack.
Alex looked in the mirror by the entrance of his room once he was dressed, and sighed. He was tired of seeing this fat incarnation of himself. The past few years at University had been relatively easy, as he had all but memorized the Pokédex, and without a team to train or a ranch to take care of, he'd grown fat over the long years there without working on the ranch. With nothing much else to do besides study, enjoy a bowl of Leaf, and play video games day in and day out, his lack of physical activity had caused him to grow wider. Fun as it had been, he was tired of it. He'd had more than enough lounging about to last a lifetime.
He'd understood early on that to be the best Trainer in a world full of claimants to that title was a long, uphill climb. But, he had studied every Champion he'd been able to find information on, and watched more Pokémon League matches than anyone in his household, perhaps even his whole town. They were mostly farmers, this far north, and many of his peers had made the 'Unovan circuit' as it was called, and had returned once they'd found a Gym Leader they could not surpass. He'd long since studied his own region's leaders though, and he was ready to start his journey. Now all he needed was a Pokémon. That was where his granduncle, and strongest supporter of his decision to be a Trainer, came in. As always, he'd promised to help his grandnephew when he'd heard that he was, finally, going to get a partner.
The elderly Professor knew that if Alexander Redwood was to be a top tier Trainer, he'd need the right starter Pokémon. The Professor had pulled his strings, and the renowned elderly Professor Juniper, from Unova proper, transferred him three of their starters common to Unova's capital, namely Snivy, Oshawott, and Tepig. Each a Pokémon that anyone in Unova or otherwise would love to have. Their region had produced many Champion level Trainers, and most of them had begun their own journeys with one of those three.
His granduncle was waiting in the lab adjacent to the main house when Alex arrived, and the old man knew as soon as their eyes met, that this was it. The day had come to finally test just how hot the fire in those blue eyes could burn. Professor Redwood was an older gentleman, though to call him that would be kind. Almost two hundred years of age had caused him to slump a bit as his spine was perpetually curved, the top of his head was bald, but he had wild, gray hair sticking out from the back and sides of his head.
He looked like a mad scientist, and with the official Professor coat, he basically was one. He got his aide's attention with a snap of his fingers, and everyone watched as the Professor's favored relative walked into the lab, towering over everyone there as he strode past. Most Trainers weren't so large width-wise, but the training he had in mind for his last year of University would take care of that.
The Professor gestured to a briefcase on a table by the lab's back wall. "Snivy, Oshawott, Tepig, this is Alex." The three Pokémon appeared as they were named, and eyed the new Trainer, who examined them in turn.
"Hmm." Alex said after looking them over, and confirming his suspicions. He had nothing but respect for Professor Juniper, but he was well acquainted with the kind of Pokémon the Victory League gave to new Trainers. He didn't need babies or inexperienced Pokémon to learn with, as he did not define himself as a rookie Trainer. He needed a partner with some measure of life experience, and of course, potential. "These three are not for me." The three starters, doing their best to look pleasing to the eye, all pouted, visibly deflating at his choice.
"It's okay." He patted each of them, and the three young Pokémon smiled. "I have a feeling I'm not supposed to be your Trainer. You may have noticed I'm a bit old for you...but we will meet again, I think. Go back to your home, and you will find the ones you're destined to bond with. Then, one day, challenge me. When you're ready." The three starter Pokémon shared a look, then looked back at Alex, and nodded. The fire burned in each of their young eyes, and he knew, the challenge was accepted.
Shrugging, the ancient Professor called them all back, hiding a smirk. "Well lad, I didn't expect that. Unova Trainers are renowned for their starters." His sly gaze shifted to his grandnephew. "Why, even that girl next door has a Snivy." Alex's passive face was typically hard to read, but his older relative knew how to see past the stone-faced expression that was his default. His eyes always gave him away. They were on fire today, and at the mention of their neighbor, they'd become just a bit shinier.
Alex nodded in agreement keeping his face impassive and his cheeks cold. "That she does." He glanced at the Snivy's ball again, but shook his head. Copying her would get him nowhere, and, both the Snivy before him and hers were female. There were other ways to gain her notice, though.
Jessica Gladstone was, in a word, beautiful. He'd been crushing on her since they'd met during his Trainer Exam to get an ID, and once she'd moved to town, he'd wondered if fate was actually favoring him. He'd always carried a torch for her, but then, so had every other boy within their small town who had an interest in women. He had a small advantage though, as he lived 'next door', though over a mile of land separated their homes, something not uncommon in a farming town. She often ran barefoot through the fields of her family's land with her Snivy, and her red hair was always easy to spot. It was the color of a Charmander, as were most of her outfits, but despite that, she and Snivy made a good pair. Their eyes were almost identical.
Despite being neighbors, they rarely spoke anymore. With so much distance between the properties, the only way he'd ever even had a chance at talking to, let alone befriending a girl so gorgeous and rich, was because of her older brother, Connor. He was a good friend who, like Alex, had shared a love of Leaf, video games, and Pokémon. They'd agreed to one day be rivals, when Connor learned why Alex had no Pokémon, and had pitied him. Then, on a seemingly random day and for no particular reason Alex was aware of, he'd encouraged the would-be Trainer to study, as without years of battling experience, knowledge was the only way to close the distance between himself, and the rest of the Trainers their age.
As the years had passed, Connor had decided to get a leg up on his rival-to-be, and to that end he had gone overseas to Kalos a few years back. Now, Alex didn't see much of Jess, or her family, outside of their yearly Festivus gatherings.
Connor Gladstone had always been obsessed with Greninja, and getting a Froakie on this continent was challenging, to say the least. His family was rich, richer than Alex's, but their father had just gotten into the Tauros ranching business after years of owning a ranch estate, but not using it. He'd decided to partner with Alex's father, and the two business minded men had agreed on splitting the profits of the cheese and milk their Miltank produced on their combined ranching land.
After generations of breeding, the number of Miltank had slowly increased, as did the quality of their milk, but they were more of a side-effect, as the Tauros who sired them were worth more money. Still the stronger the Tauros, the better milk its daughter made. It was this aspect of society that the Redwoods had grown rich on over the past few years, but Alex knew he would never take up his father's work. It would pass to his brother and his cousins, who also worked on their Pokémon ranch and laboratory.
Alex had always envied Connor for being able to leave on a journey, but without a team of his own, he'd never be able to travel beside him. Choosing his starter while knowing his chosen rival's choice, as well as a few of his other team members, gave him an advantage, and as Alex recalled the Trainer Exam, he briefly contemplated trying to find Saur again.
They had been a powerful team once Saur had fully evolved during the test, and his record of wins and losses against the other novices had been impressive enough to get him into that year's top percentile. Unfortunately, his record had been scrubbed several years later, after the League got an anonymous tip, suggesting that he'd cheated. Evidently, it claimed he'd been boosting his partner with Rare Candies, and given his tendency to hide in bushes during the test, the tip appeared credible.
Ultimately, the League had scrubbed his win/loss record, but allowed him to keep the ID, as Professor Redwood threatened to make a scene if they forcibly tried to reclaim it. Given his friendship with John Crimson, legendary anchor of the Pokémon News Network, the threat had been enough for a small victory. Alex had remained Pokéless throughout his high school years, always burning for the chance to properly train his own Pokémon, and show that he was the reason they were strong, not Rare Candies. Without his granduncle's intervention though, he knew none of this would've been possible.
Despite the long years of being an odd, pitied, socially awkward outcast, he'd finally made it. He'd known since he was little that he wanted to be a Trainer. Today was the day he began to change his reputation for being too 'slow' to handle a Pokémon. His father had never had an issue telling everyone what the League had done, loudly, and in public. His mother had, since he'd been born, seemed to be primarily focused on his brother Eric, and she too never hesitated to explain why their eldest son, a clear and obvious natural with Pokémon to whoever saw him with them, was not a Trainer. The resulting embarrassment had created more than a few feelings of resentment between Alex and his family, but then, he'd never really been close to either of his parents. What good memories he had of them were faded and few, and he was more than ready to leave 'family business' to them, to start his own journey.
"I've made up my mind, Gruncle." Alex said, using his nickname for his favorite relative, and looking quite pleased with himself. "I want a Turtwig." A chuckle went through the room. They'd had bets that he'd choose a turtle of some kind. Eric had trained a Blastoise over the years, and the aides were well aware of this Trainer's desire to prove his competence. As his granduncle had counseled, demonstrations would go further with his father than words ever could.
This had, logically, led to Alex thinking that if he trained a bigger, better, turtle he'd undoubtedly prove who was 'competent enough to be a Trainer' and who was not. He didn't dislike his brother overmuch, he had his own parental burdens to deal with as well, but after over twenty years of waiting, he needed to make the most of this chance, or he would remain without a Pokémon until he buried his father, and by that point, he had no illusions about becoming a Pokémon Master if he waited decades before starting. He didn't know how he knew, but he was convinced that waiting that long would be too long. No Champion in history, that he was aware of, had started training when they were over thirty. Most humans, by that age, either found a job, joined a Gym Leader, or became a Gym Leader by applying to the League. Alex intended to shoot for the Victory League's Champion title, and if he failed to dethrone N, which he knew was very likely going to be the case, becoming a Gym Leader was a good backup plan. Plenty of them still regularly journeyed around, in between having matches.
The Professor burst out laughing at his response, and a few of the aides smirked behind their glasses in the background. "Turtwig! Hah! Very well lad, if you want a Turtwig, you'll get one. Though, you'll have to go out and catch it yourself."
Alex smirked. "Like I'd do it any other way." For Alex, the choice of starter was simple. His favorite clothes matched Turtwig's color scheme, and it had a type advantage over a Blastoise, like the one his brother owned. More than that, Torterra was a strong defensive battler, and no slouch with heavy hitting physical attacks. Speed would be the main issue. He was a turtle, after all. He was also a grass and ground type, meaning their main weakness would be ice. They'd figure out a way to deal with that though. Torterra were known for their sturdiness and defensive abilities. He knew in his heart that his would be able to take an Ice Beam or three, if they trained hard enough.
The Professor pressed a button on one of the lab's walls, and a doorway opened on the back-right side of the lab. Once Alex wandered into the small room, looking around, the Professor turned to his assistants, "Pay up." He said, smirking.
He knew his nephew well. Those who'd bet correctly on his choice had won a great deal of Pokédollars. Half had been expecting him to choose Squirtle instead, so he could prove who could raise a Blastoise better, and no one had bet that he would take the Unova starters, young as they had been. The Professor had insisted on testing him with them anyway. Returning them was as simple as pressing a button, after all.
He followed his great-nephew into the side lab, and flicked the light on. "From here, I can talk to an old friend. He owes me a Turtwig..." The Professor stepped past his relative, and made the call.
He spoke softly, "John, it's me. I know I'm interrupting your favorite meal of steak, waffles, french fries, and of course Scotch, but I need a favor. Ask your people to find out where the Turtwigs are today, up in my neck of the region."
There was audible sighing in the call's background as Gilroy Redwood's contact ordered the PNN's radar people to scan for Turtwigs in their area, not too far west of Bostonia. They had satellites around the world, over every civilized country, which made tracking Pokémon easy. Once a familiar image appeared on the screen a few seconds later, he hung up the phone.
A map of the local area was on the screen. The old man pointed a gnarled finger at a forested area a few miles north of their small town. "There. Past the ranches, and into the woods by the orchards, is where you'll find your Turtwig."
Alex was already out the door, and the aides had to stop him. "Hold up lad." Professor Redwood wheezed, hobbling over to his great-nephew on his cane. "A true Trainer needs a Pokédex. And-"
"And balls. Yes Gruncle, I know. I have the balls. And I was making my own Pokédex…"
"Nonsense." The Professor interrupted, several seconds after Alex had stopped speaking. "You'll have a Redwood Pokédex, and that's final. I've improved on Juniper's design. Every known Pokémon from every known region is listed here, and it updates as new regions are catalogued. I expect you to catalogue at least one region. Unova hasn't been finished yet you know, though we pretty much know what lives here by now. Go catalogue it. Heh. Do my job for me!"
The old man cackled and wheezed through another laugh as his relative took the Pokédex with a sigh and a sarcastic tone. "By the time I fill it, you'll have probably fossilized."
His granduncle's only aspiration was making sure his Leaf jar was over seventy five percent full, and he'd never been invested in fully furnishing a Pokédex. As Alex looked the device over, he was still somewhat impressed. It would remain to be seen if the 'improvements' were actually beneficial, but he doubted they would get in the way. Once the genius known as Bill had figured out how to link every Pokédex the world over via the PokéNet, the database of known Pokémon had quadrupled in a night, as Trainers across the planet linked up. New information on more than a few species entirely foreign to Unova, and most League friendly regions, had flooded in, and had only kept growing. Alex could use his own creation once it was finished, but this would do. For now.
Alex was out the door again, Pokédex in hand, as he power-walked towards the woods, and soon found himself damp with sweat in the summer heat, as he was wearing a heavy jacket suited to colder weather. He pushed on though, as being sweaty was going to become a regular thing. That was how it had been with Saur, and that was how training would be with whoever he found in the woods. He was a large man, many would say fat, but that was only because he'd spent so long on the sidelines, learning and eating and lounging. He knew his future would be full of intensity…so he had taken this brief time in his life to relax. Now, he would finally prove himself, and lose weight in the process.
After over twenty years of watching the Pokémon world advance to ever more ridiculous forms of competitive battle, he had, of course, planned his team for his own challenge. He wasn't a kid, and he didn't bother going after the first Pidgey or Starly he saw. He had a focus, today.
In other countries like Japan, ten-year olds might have been cautioned against going into the areas where Pokémon lived alone, but this was not necessary for one who had been educated at the regional University. The fact that he'd often played in these woods also helped. The Pokémon he passed as he finally made his way into the natural forest glanced at him curiously, but otherwise ignored the human.
Even Beedrill avoided him. The first thing he'd been taught was how to walk through the woods without angering a Pokémon, and even if you did accidentally wander into the territory of a mean one, they usually softened once you offered a berry, and then quickly left. This didn't always work, but none of the wild ones here bothered him today.
Despite what some might think, wild Pokémon were very clever. As long as one didn't anger them, they would typically ignore or avoid humans. Especially if they sensed said humans had no Pokémon of their own with them. Alex had never had a problem with these woods, and he knew many of the Pokémon in this forest, even some that were considered meaner by the locals.
As a child, he'd often played here when he'd helped out at the Torterra orchards, to the east. The Torterra had always let him climb their shells to pick fruit, even the grumpy old ones who didn't like to be bothered. They were kind, but also powerful. They had once even driven off a gang of thieves, who were obsessed with stealing fruit for some reason, that had all used fire types.
Their combined power in the form of a massive Earthquake had awed Alex, who until that point had wanted a fire type as his first Pokémon. He still did, just not as his first. He'd find a Charmander eventually, they were absurdly popular requisitions on the Trading Network after all, but he would start with a Turtwig, and train him to be as powerful as the Torterra in the orchard had been. The very earth had shook with their power. That was the kind of Pokémon he needed on his team.
To the Pokémon of this forest that might have considered leaping out and joining him, as they spied the previously lacking bag and Pokéballs, it was obvious that this human had a focus, and no matter how badly he wanted that Nidoran pair, or the healthy green looking Caterpie he saw on a nearby log. He went deeper, ever deeper, until he discovered a place, a round, bare hill, where he found his prize.
Lying beneath an enormous Oak tree were several sleeping Turtwigs. "Finally…" he said, panting from the hard hike and the summer heat, and now properly, thoroughly, damp from sweat. He'd underestimated just how out of shape he'd gotten in the three years of no farm work. As he uttered the words, he knew what he would awaken. Their mother. While it was true some Pokémon liked to live on Torterra's shell, the females usually kept theirs empty, for their eggs. It was the easiest way to determine an adult's gender.
The mound rose from the ground, and slowly one massive, unmistakably female eye met his gaze, and looked him over. He bowed low, fist to palm, in the Unovan style. "Great Mother Torterra. I wish to train one of your young ones. I need a partner for my journey."
He stayed perfectly still as the great beast regarded him, and he didn't flinch as hot air was expelled over him, almost knocking his hat loose as she snorted. Then, finally, she went back to sleep, shaking the very forest around her as she burrowed into the ground. Once more there was only a great tree on a round hill, the rest of her was completely underground, giving her more nutrients than she could ever find by grazing at her size and speed.
The young Turtwigs huddled around her tree ran towards him then, all eager and understanding that this was their chance to be trained, and not given out in a lab either, caught in the wild itself. Very rare, for a new Trainer, but not unheard of in parts as rural as 'northern Unova'. Alex scratched their chins and gave their shells many pats as he subtly checked their health, but as he looked them over, he knew immediately which one would be his.
He was the largest Turtwig, and the only one to have walked over to him patiently, before regarding him, and nodding, agreeing that he was worthy. Alex smirked, even as he consoled the others. They were all a bit young still, but not the larger one. He was ready to be trained.
The small turtle had watched, and waited to judge whether Alex was a worthy Trainer or not. The others were adorable, and he gave each one another friendly scratch, but he knew the large one would be his. This was his partner.
Alex knelt from his lofty height and offered the green and brown camouflage patterned Pokéball he'd picked specifically for his Turtwig, at no small expense to his personal cash. He had a ball for each of his future party members, and gathering them all had taken most of his life. Luxury Balls, and the tools to recolor them were expensive after all, and he'd been given a lecture about finances after buying each one of them, despite using his own money. Now he would make his family see why they'd been worth it. Before today, his parents had considered them a waste, since he would 'never own a Pokémon under their roof'. That was fine with him. He was eager to leave.
He'd obtained five Luxury Balls and had spent an entire weekend preparing them for their future occupants with their color schemes in mind. The result was a ball with water designs, one with fire, a purple looking one that would hold his psychic type, and a Timer Ball that would hold his dragon type. His proverbial Ace in the hole when his future Torterra couldn't cut it. As Unova had many dragons, and he'd had limited cash, he'd decided on an all but guaranteed catch for his sixth ball, assuming his team could last long enough while battling whatever he decided to pursue.
The small turtle nodded, pressed the center button with his large nose, and swirled into it in a flash of green light. It shook once, and then the button faded from its blinking red to a plain white. He stared at the ball for a long time, not quite believing what had happened. He finally had his own Pokémon. It was two decades overdue, as he'd literally been asking for one since he was four.
Finally, the attempts at bullying would end, the strange looks, mixing between pity and disgust. He knew he was still weird, one did not simply change a lifetime of exclusion, and the habits it had formed, in a day. But it was a step in the right direction. One he'd been itching to take. A wide smirk appeared on the passive face as he stood, and tossed the ball. It came right back to his hand, with the accuracy of a homing Pidgey.
Alex smirked as the Turtwig formed from the emerald colored light, glanced around, and then blinked. Evidently entering and exiting was weird, but he didn't seem adverse to the ball, at least. "Well done. I name thee Terra. Together, you and I will be the best. Like no one ever was." He smirked, recalling the line from one of his favorite shows as a kid. "Are you with me?"
Terra had, up until this moment, been a lazy Turtwig, unwilling to do much more than sleep and eat and learn from his mother. Watching over his siblings had always been tough enough, especially in the wild, but he'd always felt as if he was destined for something more. He'd had little interaction with humans, as his mother had warned him to stay away from them, but this one, she had liked the scent of. She had never, to his knowledge, given a human more than an uninterested glance before moving on and ignoring them entirely.
This human was different though. Similar to his kind, in some ways, but there was more to this new sensation than a matching color palette. As soon as Terra had entered the ball, he knew they were bonded. Now, he felt this human's fire, his drive to climb to the very top. Their bond would last the rest of their lives. They were both big, and a bit overweight, but together they would grow into something truly powerful, as their adventure carved their power from their pudgy starting forms. Terra nodded. He could picture himself as the mightiest of his kin, and this was the Trainer who would take him to that height. Every instinct he had confirmed it.
"Very well." Alex nodded, smirking. "Someday, you will be regarded as the strongest Torterra on the planet…but for now my friend, we train. It's a long road, a hard road, full of ice, fire, and obstacles you won't be able to handle alone. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Twig!" was the reply he got from the large Turtwig. He hadn't hesitated in answering, and Alex didn't need N's abilities to understand a yes when he heard one.
With that, they said their goodbyes to the grass turtle's family, and headed for home. As they walked, Alex reassured his stoic friend; "Now you know the way to your mother from your new home. If you can get to our home, you can go find her. Whenever you wish. Just let me know beforehand, hmm?"
That made the little turtle grin, and nod. He hadn't looked worried, but the reassuring tone had helped ease his nerves. Anyone would be nervous leaving home, but it turned out that he wasn't really all that far from the home he knew.
His new home wasn't bad either. He'd have to grow truly massive to feel cramped in a place like this, and he liked the way his Trainer and his family smelled. He could tell what his mother had sensed with one sniff, now. Each of the humans had an inherent kindness to them, though as he met the older ones, he sensed their kindness had, for whatever reason, dulled. He avoided those humans in his usual aloof manner. There were too many faces to remember at the dinner table that first night, but the other Pokémon that were allowed in the house were friendly as well. He didn't notice how quiet the humans were, nor did he think it abnormal, as this was his first real interaction with them. His Trainer kept smirking at them, so he assumed all was good.
The only Pokémon that hadn't been friendly towards him was the Blastoise that eyed him the entire time they ate, not with malice, but with something that seemed like high expectations. Beyond staring though, the cannon turtle did nothing. He could tell when another Pokémon wanted to battle, though. Someday, he guessed, they would both have the chance. He looked forward to it. It was clearly a powerful Pokémon.
Terra spent all night playing with the others, as all but one of the humans he sniffed and greeted quietly admired his size, and when they were done, he followed his new Trainer to his room, all the way to the top of the house. Stairs were a new experience for him, and he knew immediately that he would come to loathe them. Then again, they would only be an issue for as long as he remained small. When he was grown, he could crush them at his leisure with feet as big as his mom's. Everyone in the house soon knew when Terra went up, and when he went down, as he practiced stomping on every single step.
Alex had shown him a place on the floor to sleep, no doubt comfortable, but Terra waited until his Trainer was in bed, and then joined him. Alex didn't mind. Grass types preferred warmth, and the soil on his Pokémon's back smelled wonderful. He cuddled his Turtwig close, and even though he woke up with dirt stains on his sheets, he didn't mind. He had a Pokémon. Nothing could ruin his good mood. Indeed, even his cousins were astounded at the shift in personality. He'd avoided most of his family as a rule, preferring to either climb atop their barn and 'cloud gaze' or 'star gaze' as the case sometimes was, but now, the passive face bore eyes that didn't stare at the world with irritation. Instead, they were on fire.
Weeks passed, and summer soon began to end. The new pair had trained hard in the brutal heat, but sunlight was something grass types loved, and Alex had let his little turtle absorb as much of it as possible. It was going to be a hard winter, and the local water type Trainers gave them quite a bit of practice. He didn't take their money though, as the only Trainers with Pokémon on Terra's level were still in grade school.
Then, finally, his final year at University began. Alex quietly trained his new Turtwig over the winter months. Having obtained him in August of that year, their combined training took place in the coldest months, in one of the coldest parts of the northern continent. Their training was, in a word, intense. Most Trainers didn't push their partners so hard, but Alex had explained his situation to Terra. They'd both agreed then, they would need to work so hard, they'd feel like they were on the verge of death after each session. It was the only way to advance as far as they needed to, as fast as possible, though naturally they balanced this extreme exertion with well-earned days off sprinkled in between.
They did everything together, he and Terra. Schoolwork, what little was left to be done, and then graduation of course, where he was likely to be the only Trainer in his year not to have a fully evolved starter, or a full team. His parents had been furious when he was told he'd have to pay for another year to finish two classes that required at least one Pokémon, but Alex didn't mind. He wasn't paying, the government was, though there was quite a hefty fine for needing more time to finish a degree than the University said was needed. That money typically came from either students or their families. As much of an allowance as he'd been given, six digits were yet out of his range. As it was his parent's own stubborn refusal in allowing him a single Pokémon that caused this unnecessary extra semester, he felt the fine was well earned karmic justice.
As expected, once he had a partner of his own, he excelled at battling. He'd started at the bottom as Terra, while large, was still young, and needed to train. Naturally, the twenty-four year old showing up to challenge teenagers on the campus' high school, had seemed more than a bit odd, though the awkwardness had lessened once their teachers saw how well he battled, and of course, heard his reason for visiting them in the first place.
He subtly toured the entire town surrounding the University's buildings for the highest levels of learning, and as he beat Trainer after Trainer, it didn't take them long to reach the level of people his own age, though when they had fire or ice moves, there was little he could do if their initial hit wasn't enough for a win. Once at University, the matching pair focused mostly on battle tactics, like coded commands that made it hard for an opponent to guess their moves. Terra learned them easily, as he and his Trainer could communicate with about 90% accuracy. The training had helped with that, though. The turtle had learned that humans often needed a very obvious nudge in the right direction for comprehension, but once they understood, they could usually grasp whatever he was trying to tell them.
Alex had never talked much at University in the years he'd gone, never made many friends outside of classes really, or rivals for that matter. He was just the tall, dumpy looking kid with the equally large and dumpy looking Turtwig. He didn't battle publicly to show off, always bowing, then walking off after a win, or a loss. He didn't boast, and stayed as low key as he'd been every other year while they slowly grew stronger. Most of the time, even with his size, he went unnoticed entirely in the sea of students.
He'd rarely bothered raising his hand in class, unless the teachers demanded an answer of him. He usually answered right, and yet remained quiet all the same. Once they'd battled enough Trainers to understand their weaknesses, they switched to training alone, in the woods around the campus almost every day, always leaving his spot and moving deeper into the great forest whenever he heard other Trainers his age approaching. He knew avoiding battles for the moment was best, now that they knew where Terra needed to improve.
Terra had, over the course of endless hard hours of training during the long semester, become a powerhouse. They had started the day he caught him, and hadn't stopped. The road had been long, and cold, and there were plenty of times one of them had wanted to quit, but they had managed to come through it stronger, strong enough to start rumors around campus. Naturally, anyone with a full team was eager to beat a Turtwig. Once he'd learned a ground typed move however, their win to loss ratio shifted dramatically, as few Pokémon could handle an Earthquake.
He and his Trainer had taken multiple vitamins each day, and over the remainder of his school year, the both of them grew physically strong as they replaced fat with muscle. Their bodies grew harder from the training and vitamin regimen his friend Nick had given him to follow, and Alex found his old clothes began to fit again, as the excess from lounging about and getting PokéBell every weekend burned away. Terra did not evolve, though he could have gone straight into a Torterra if he so desired. They spent the rest of the year, until graduation, primarily focusing on using ground moves, and in their travels into the mountains north of campus, had come across a Tyranitar that had, with persuading, many pets, and a pile of berries, eventually agreed to show the tiny Turtwig how to perfect his Earthquake. When the armored giant used it, mountainsides shattered. Terra didn't quite reach that level, but he could set off a landslide, with enough focus.
When they did battle those persistent Trainers, who sought them out after hearing the whisper of a rumor about their supposed strength, they always won, or at least ended things with a draw when their opponent had a type advantage. Alex had figured out early on how to counter for fire moves, at least. Ice remained a weakness, and he knew as Terra grew bigger after evolving, and slower, they would be even harder to dodge. For the moment though, the lighter form of a Turtwig made dodging Ice Beams much easier.
When they won, instead of taking their opponent's money, pride, or Pokémon, he made them swear not to tell anyone else where he trained. Many blabbed anyways of course, to their girlfriends, or boyfriends, as the case sometimes was. It was hard to track him down twice though. He and Terra often moved miles away from the campus. Having only two classes meant several days off in a row, and often, they could go leagues away from anyone, and train as hard as they dared. Having grown up in a place that was little more than fields and forests, he was quite used to camping as well. Having a bag that was essentially bottomless also helped.
Though he very obviously walked into the woods with his Turtwig, and came out hours later, exhausted and sweaty, nobody made the connection between him, and the supposedly 'super strong' Trainer in the woods. Mostly because most people wouldn't even consider that a kid that large with just a Turtwig could be that strong.
The people who oversaw his dorm knew about his training habits, but they respected his wish for privacy and stayed tight lipped, or at most, pointed the more insistent Trainers into the woods. Even as a dorm student he was quiet, content to sit around and play video games, and watch TV with the volume low when he took an occasional day off.
He never disturbed anyone, never had parties, occasionally invited unregistered guests, but they were always respectful, and were Alumni themselves. What friends he did have it seemed, were older and already had jobs in their chosen fields, their dreams of journeying around the world crushed by the hard reality of financial concerns. Alex had always flown under the radar, but he knew he would eventually be thrust into the spotlight once they had a stadium watching them. The graduation exams for Trainer majors were always public. His would be no different.
It was when he overheard rumors of a 'strong Trainer in the northern woods' as he devoured hash-browns in the Mess Hall that he knew he needed to stop battling the few people who managed to find him. Someone had talked, despite his asking otherwise. For what he had in mind, he needed to stay relatively unknown until graduation. The more people who knew how strong he and Terra had become, the harder their test would be. The faculty pretended to be above the local campus gossip, but he'd been at Unova University long enough to notice the difference in difficulty during Final Exams for Trainers with a reputation. His examination needed to be as easy as possible, since he only had one Pokémon.
Though the strength of this 'mystery Trainer' was supposed to be impressive, he was glad when nobody seemed to believe it. Every Trainer claimed to be strong, and those who didn't were often ignored. His teachers had an inkling of course, they could spot talent and strength when they saw it, but he never showed off, even in class. Mostly because he was always exhausted after his days of training, such was its intensity.
Though his original plan hadn't called for them, Alex had added weight vests for both himself and Terra after they had stopped a rampaging Tyranitar, the very one they'd trained with, from devastating the campus, and still managed to remain incognito. Their strength had plateaued, and they still needed to be stronger for what lay ahead. The weight vests never came off, even in class. Terra wore them too without complaint, though not at all times, as he was still growing. The added strain on their muscles would be worth it soon enough. Though the training had a positive effect on Alex's weight, the vests made him seem just as heavy as he'd always been. He didn't care. He needed to reawaken his muscles, and push them to be stronger. Everything he felt, he knew Terra felt just as much, if not more. In time, they hardly noticed the vest anymore, and eventually, Terra traded his vest out for Power Bracers on his forelegs. They slowed him, but Alex knew the boost to his attack power would be enough to claim victory once they came off.
The final exam of the University, for Trainer majors at least, consisted of an intense test that forced the studying Trainers, and their partners, to go through a rigorous set of exams with their Pokémon team, to demonstrate what they had learned. When Alex had shown up to his advisor's office with only a pudgy Turtwig in his party at the start of his final year of University, his advisor had actually facepalmed.
His parents had been consulted. The Dean was informed. According to his parents, he wasn't 'allowed' to fail University. The Redwood Lab would be even more disrespected. He was, apparently, his family's chance to erase the 'stain' his granduncle's reputation had left on their name in the science community. In his father's opinion, it was the only good that could possibly come from him being allowed to become a Trainer. If he could manage to discover something, anything really, that other Trainers had missed in regards to Pokémon, that would be enough. His mistake was in assuming his son would return, once he'd had a few adventures.
Eventually, at a meeting of all interested parties, Alex had told them all to, quite literally, piss off. He stated that he would pass any test given to him with his Turtwig, and just his Turtwig. As his father had demanded when they agreed he would finally be allowed a Pokémon. He felt more satisfaction than he should have when he saw the patriarch of the Redwood clan turn red with anger. None of the University staff had known that little factoid, nor had they realized just how long Alex had gone without a Pokémon. It was embarrassing, to say the least. What kind of parent denied their own flesh and blood a Pokémon partner after all?
His advisors and the Dean were against his decision, but his teachers supported him. They had watched this young man show up to every class for almost six years without a single ball on his belt, or even many friends. He had a knack with Pokémon that was obvious to anyone with eyes, and they were all aware of the role he'd played in calming a certain rampaging Tyranitar. He'd done that with naught but a Turtwig, and all in his first year of actually having a Pokémon. He could handle the exams with just one, though certain caveats would have to be made to make passing possible.
His parents had remained quiet, letting the educators bicker. Alex knew his father expected him to fail, he'd said as much, and had only the lowest of expectations. Alex intended to smash through them with the ferocity of a Woodhammer, and not look back. Though, in the face of his son's evident skill, the elder Redwood's preconceived assumptions about his son's ability to handle a Pokémon were finally starting to shift. The University's educators were some of the best trained mentors in the world. If they were impressed, his firstborn must have been good. For the first time since Alex was a child, his father quietly wondered if he'd made a terrible error in trusting Doctor Ein's words.
It was one such teacher, who had been responsible for dealing with the repercussions of the Tyranitar that had wandered onto the campus several months past, that spoke up for Alex, and managed to ultimately sway the Dean's mind.
In the end, it was decided that Alex would face the test with just Terra, and the young Redwood intended to have the entire University watch in awe as he beat every single challenge he faced. His only stipulation for the trials was that during and after each one, he could give his Pokémon a potion of unrestricted strength, and an Elixir to restore his moves' power.
His request was granted, and with it, Terra demonstrated how strong he was. Alex had been stockpiling supplies for years bit by bit, and in this final series of Trainer tests, his patient use of his allowance was helping him tremendously. Terra grew rather strong during the examination, as the tests were fairly difficult for a Pokémon without Vine Whip, Ember, or even Water Gun. The Trainers who'd balanced their teams of six with moves of pretty much every type did the best, and both Alex and Terra had watched carefully at how they'd moved, before cracking on with their own test.
Despite being forced to take the slowest route through whatever course they had him moving through, Alex made good use of his early education from his granduncle, namely by way of utilizing the wild Pokémon present on the courses with neither Ranger Styler nor Pokéballs. Most were persuaded to help with multiple berries. They made up for what Terra simply did not have, but Alex knew once his team was assembled, and trained, a test like this would be nothing. He'd studied up on what he'd need to be a Trainer since the time he learned to read. He'd watched every League Champion match, from Lance's first to Leon's 'last'. He was prepared.
He ran the obstacle courses, and Terra was right along with him, as the crowd watched in disbelief. Nobody could fathom how a Turtwig could do so much, and with such heavy bracers on his tiny feet. He swam, jumped through hoops of fire, endured man-made blizzards, simulations of pouring rain, swamps, grassy plains, etcetera, until finally, the two of them made it through to the end.
The course was designed to simulate every possible terrain Trainers might encounter in the world, and he had passed through each of them, Terra never wavered either. There was a fire burning in their eyes that not even the coldest ice could blow out.
Finally, the time for battle came. Needless to say, by this point, those who already competed had left. But those who stayed seemed impressed. His trials certainly took longer than most others, but the judges waved the need for a time limit, given that all he had was a Turtwig. Terra's unassuming appearance had done much to get them this far. Nobody expected him to be strong.
Going in with only one unevolved Pokémon was hard enough, they had decided early on. But now, that was over. No more items. No more elixirs. Terra was given one more chance to heal completely, and an hour's rest before the final battle. That was normal, however. The final battle was, more or less, what Trainer majors were graded on most harshly.
Terra took two hours to recover, but the crowd's enthusiasm for seeing him reappear died off once it became clear he hadn't evolved. They really wanted to see him become a Grotle, at least, but Alex knew forcing him to adapt to a new body mid-challenge was a bad idea. It simply wasn't yet time to evolve him. He had a plan, after all.
His opponent was selected from the heads of the department that oversaw the student's training in a specific aspect of Pokémon. Breeding, cooking, battling, contests, assessing the quality of a Pokémon's bond with its Trainer with naught but a glance, whatever a person wanted to one day be, their final test was given in the setting that would best test them and their abilities.
When asked what his 'focus' was going to be, Alex had simply written, on the first day he had come to the University without a team, 'Pokémon Master'. His first counselor had thought that was a joke. So had the second, and third. The fourth took him seriously, but passed him on when he refused to capture a full team, only stating that he 'couldn't' yet.
It had taken him a total of six counselors over the course of his education to finally help him focus on what he would need to be a master. Four out of six of them had simply said, "He needs Pokémon." Before passing him along. Thus, the head of the Trainer Department had become his counselor in his final year, and had sighed in relief when he finally presented his Turtwig.
At least he had brought one Pokémon. That was an improvement. Though the Department Head felt some guilt in judging him once he'd learned of the strange circumstances the boy had grown up with. Not allowing someone so obviously talented to have a Pokémon was sheer stupidity, in his opinion. He'd called Gilroy Redwood the night before to ask about it, and had gotten a proper tirade from the old man. He'd tried, evidently, to help the boy, but risked eviction in doing so. Out of curiosity, the older man had looked up the scrubbed League record Alex had earned in his Trainer Exam, and that had been the final nail in the coffin. There was potential here. A Trainer like Alex was rare, and only came along once or twice in a generation. He'd been certain that after the Hero twins Hilbert and Hilda, as well as Nate and Rosa two years after them, that Unova had produced its last Champions for a time. But this Trainer, with proper guidance, would likely reach the same heights. If given the chance to excel, and, if that fire in his eyes stayed burning. The fact that it had survived a childhood that must have been an ordeal was a good sign.
It was the opinion of most of the Trainer department staff that Alexander Redwood would never graduate, when they saw he'd brought only a Turtwig to the challenge. Yet there he was, clad in the filthy robes of a graduate who'd made it through the first half of the challenges on foot. He handed the customary robes off to the University staff as he entered the final stadium beside his Turtwig. He was in his training clothes now, and to call them worn would have been generous. But, he'd started the year with them, and he would be damned if he wasn't going to finish it in them as well. He smirked, and gave the crowd a small wave, before letting his weight vest fall to the ground. Moments later, Terra's Power Bracers joined his weight vests. They shared a look as they stretched, and nodded. It was time to test just how far they'd come over the better part of a year.
As Alex stepped onto the final battle field, his counselor did the same. He was an older gentleman, a silver fox some would say, and he had also been the man to replace Grimsley, back when he'd left Unova's Elite Four. Today, he wore the robes befitting the Head of the Trainer Department. He'd even shaved, and trimmed his mostly gray beard short. He addressed the crowd. "This has been…without a doubt, one of the more...interesting challenges our University has had. A year ago, young mister Redwood came to me, without any sort of Pokémon, and claimed his major was in being a Pokémon Master."
The crowd laughed. Alex adjusted his green and brown hat to hide his face, waiting patiently. The advisors always gave a little speech, but he knew his would be long and embarrassing. You didn't fly in the face of tradition without getting gently mocked.
"But then, Arceus be praised, he told me he had 'a plan'." The Counselor continued, using air quotes, "A 'plan' that consisted of finding the ideal team that could take on and react to any type of Pokémon his opponents would use, and counter them with super effectiveness. Obviously, I was skeptical. I thought he would be another failure, another lost cause, education wasted on a rich child with a famous name. Then, after we decided to trust each other, he told me exactly what he was aiming for."
This had the audience's attention now. Especially the staff's, many of whom were his former counselors. They had always wondered why the head of the Trainer Department had taken on that lost cause personally. He hadn't fought at a graduation challenge in years.
Men his age, with his position, usually stayed retired. And most students avoided them, because they were likely to have powerful teams. "I decided to trust what he told me. You can see the fire in his eyes, and I saw it too. So, I gave him a chance. I trusted in his vision, because in it, I saw the same fire that his granduncle possessed when he came through this University with the rest of our contemporaries. And now…young Redwood has beaten all of our expectations. One test yet remains."
Silence filled the entire campus. Anyone who paid attention to school goings on was watching now. Either from the bleachers, or the common rooms, the cafeterias, and even most dorm rooms. This battle would be on all of them. Department Heads rarely, if ever, battled.
They were considered at the Elite Four's level, and often the Elite Four of a League would retire to universities like this one, there were always exceptions of course, like past Champions, but generally the strongest Trainers took to teaching the next generation once they were over a hundred years old. Humans lived much, much longer than they had in the past, and passing on the previous generation's knowledge only became more difficult as their race's lifespan increased.
The counselor looked across the battlefield, a standard, league official affair, that had no rocks, trees, or other environmental hazards. It was designed for exceptionally powerful Pokémon, so they could fight their hardest and duke it out with their opponent blow for blow without fear of ruining the stadium. The old man pointed at Alex from his lofty perch across the stadium's field. "Young Redwood, are you ready to complete the first part of your 'plan'?"
The old man's smirk reminded Alex so much of his granduncle's. He was quite tired of old men underestimating him. This was the start of his journey, the first step that would prove to all of them that they were wrong…or crush his dreams of being the best to dust. He'd waited twenty years for the chance to own a Pokémon and prove he was more than capable of being a Trainer. He would not lose.
Alex had a mic too, though he hadn't wanted it. He answered the old man with a smirk. "I was born ready. This is my first step…I've waited too long to waste this chance. I want to thank you, sir. When I become the world's strongest Trainer, I'll make sure everyone knows the Fist of the Earth started me on that path."
The crowd murmured softly. It was one thing to claim to be the best, anyone could do that. Coming from someone who had just soloed a Final Exam with a Turtwig, it was almost believable. Most in the crowd smiled softly, shook their heads, or chuckled. He was a good Trainer, nobody watching could deny that, but World Champions were on an entirely different level. Some did see what the Department Head saw, however.
This Trainer had the drive, the fire, the iron will needed to climb to that highest of peaks, and at that moment, it is said, he gained his first followers. They didn't yet know it, of course. They thought they were alone in their appreciation of his fighting spirit, but over time they would find each other, and unite, as many humans in their world often did, around the appreciation of a famous Trainer.
His counselor responded, pulling a Heavy Ball from his own robes. "An admirable goal, as I told you before. But before you can attain it, you must go through me…and with naught but that Turtwig. Come, young Redwood. Show me your strength! Go! Tyran!"
The crowd stared as the largest Tyrantrum they'd likely ever seen was called onto the field. He was massive…but noble. He had a dignified bearing, worthy of a king. And, he was colored blue and white, which only made him look even more impressive. Unique coloring usually indicated a powerful Pokémon. When owned by a skilled Trainer, anyways.
Alex swore quietly. As Terra trotted onto the field and took his position, the massive dinosaur looked at his partner as if to say, 'Really?'
His Trainer nodded. "Yes Tyran, you are fighting the Turtwig. Don't worry, it's stronger than it looks. Do not restrain yourself…because he won't." The great beast nodded. A Charizard might have hesitated in unleashing its power on a smaller, and probably weaker, Pokémon but Tyrantrum had no such reservations.
It had been a king in the ancient world, a force of untamed destruction. A force on par with a pseudo-legendary, at least in ancient times. Alex, for his part, knew all about Tyrantrum after having a fascination with them when he was younger, like literally every other child.
In this era, they were of the rock type, like all revived fossil Pokémon. But back then, they had been full dragons. The additional typing hadn't really weakened Tyrantrum as a species…but it did make their number of vulnerabilities increase.
But Turtwig didn't know any ice moves. It didn't have to. Alex smirked as he'd seen the Tyrantrum, and shiny or not, the fact that it was weak to ground moves put the advantage in their favor, assuming it didn't know moves capable of crushing a grass type. The two Trainers shouted simultaneously, "Head Smash!" "Energy Ball!"
The massive Tyrantrum charged the ridiculously small Turtwig, its head glowing with the power of the old world. But Head Smash was a rock type move, and even with the lack of recoil damage, it was still weaker than grass. Terra's Energy Ball stopped it cold as the dense sphere of condensed, swirling grass typed energy forced the charging predator to a halt, and as with most move locks, the type advantage won with an explosion of power.
The king of the prehistoric Pokémon went down hard, and got up slowly, unable to use its tiny arms to aid in standing. Still, this was a Pokémon that had seen many battles. He had been the Department Head's first Pokémon. The massive dinosaur eyed the small turtle with new respect. He'd seen Pokémon that were small and powerful before, and that Energy Ball had hit him hard. He would not underestimate this one again.
Alex's final challenge was listed as a 1v1, no substitutions, no items. Just two starter Pokémon, and the Trainers who raised them. Having a type advantage had been sheer luck for Alex, but even if this had been an Aurorus, Terra would've strove to win. They needed to win here. Everything they'd practiced for culminated here. Losing was not an option.
They had trained almost hourly for the better part of a year, in one of the coldest areas on the continent. Ice bothered him less after enduring it for so long, though it still did quite a bit of damage. The key to this victory would be the powerful moves Terra had learned quicker thanks to putting off evolution, and the speed, namely in evading attacks, that they'd practiced since day one.
"Again!" Alex shouted, and another Energy Ball slammed into the rising giant, but it seemed to not affect him at all. The crowd gasped. Tyran's eyes were glowing red. He was a king, a power unmatched. Leader of a team that had been in the Elite Four, and had held that prestige for many years, before retiring to this position. An alpha like him would not be outdone by this whelp with a simple thing like type advantage.
Tyran roared, and the entire campus shook with the force of it.
Terra winced. Tyran's roar had actually been Hyper Voice, a powerful attack from any Pokémon, but not nearly as damaging as their opponents hoped it would be. "Now Terra! Razor Leaf Barrage!" Terra nodded.
His job was now to avoid taking damage, and use his considerable Pokémon power, enhanced by his Trainer's carefully hoarded stock of PP Max, to unleash a steady stream of Razor Leaves at his opponent. He had plenty of power for this beast. The first flurry seemed ineffective, but both Alex and Terra saw that they were indeed cutting the large Pokémon deep. His counselor attacked, then.
"If Razor Leaf is the best you have, you'll never be a World Champion. Ice Fang!" Tyran was already attacking, but for the benefit of his student, the old man called the move anyway. That too was a part of the tradition. Graduates always got to hear what move their superior opponents would be using, even if said opponents didn't need to give commands to battle. In this way, they had a chance to beat them, and thus the next generation would become stronger than the last. As it had always been.
If Alex felt a twinge of dread, he didn't show it. This Tyrantrum had not been revived then, he had been bred. That was the only way he could know a move like Ice Fang. Dragons, especially part rock types, did not do well with ice normally. Tyran's fangs glowed a frosty pale white. Alex did the math. Accounting for level and type advantage, plus the inherent strength his dragon typing gave him, this move would almost certainly take Terra out with one hit.
"Scenario Gamma!" He shouted, and Terra nodded. Coding patterns of attack or defense with key phrases wasn't unheard of…but only serious Trainers ever managed it successfully. You had to have a smart Pokémon to do it, and that Pokémon had to remember the plan exactly.
Terra had studied each of their patterns for almost a full year now. He knew what he had to do, as they had expected this kind of thing to happen. Surprise ice type moves had been one of the many things they'd readied for. Despite that, one hit from this much larger opponent, and he was done. This was the moment all the evasion training paid off. But he needed more than just evasion, he needed an edge.
The plan Alex had called for relied on Terra's judgment as well, so he used a different move from the ongoing Razor Leaf barrage. The earth shook, and the entire stadium field was crushed and made unstable as Terra dodged the icy fangs of his opponent by leaping into the air, and then ruined the terrain with an Earthquake as he landed just in front of the Tyrantrum's snout, and gave the enraged dragon a dopey smirk.
Both Trainers, seeing what was happening, were raised into the air on metal platforms. They avoided the Earthquake, but one accidental hit to the supports, and they would go down hard. Now it was a real challenge.
Tyran's charging speed was now useless, and he had to smash through boulders that crumbled under his weight just to move effectively. The blue scaled beast snarled, growling low as he eyed the tiny turtle once more. He decided then that he'd had enough of playing around. The ice he'd used had locked his fangs together, as it always did when he missed, but it cracked as he angrily forced his jaws to open, and readied another Ice Fang.
Terra, for his part, had no such movement problems. His smaller form was faster, and he jumped through the debris with the skill of one who had run through the woods many times, dodging roots, trees, rocks, and generally speeding through the harsh mountainous terrain.
Tyran was effectively trapped in one area, and he was not happy about it. His fangs tore through rock uselessly in his rage, giving him something stable to stand on, if one could consider gravel stable.
"Enough!" his Trainer called. Tyran had wasted many valuable Ice Fang uses on the environment. Without that move, he could very well lose. "Crush the rest of the area around you with your feet. Let him come to you!"
A novice Trainer with a newly evolved Tyrantrum might've been ignored with a beast that angry, but Tyran and his master were not novices. The great beast began crushing the large upended boulders around him, making the immediate area flat enough to stand on. All the while, Razor Leaves slammed into his rocky hide, launched from the still moving tiny turtle. He ignored them.
That was what Alex counted on. The practice of gauging a Pokémon's health with bars on a screen had been discontinued several years back, and now gauging how much damage was being taken was left to the Trainer's Pokédex.
A far cry from several decades earlier, nowadays every Trainer had an encyclopedia of Pokémon knowledge. Any new information was added from thousands of sources, and the vast number of known Pokémon species was always growing. With so many Trainers cataloging them, many Professors believed they would soon, at the very least, have a visual record of all of the non-Legendary species in their world. The Department Head's eyes weren't on his Pokédex however, and Terra's leaves were easy to miss, small as they were.
Switching to long range once more Tyran roared, and another Hyper Voice slammed into the Turtwig, who shook his head and looked a bit wobbly. "Terra!" The Turtwig snapped to attention, the damage ignored now. He'd just been brought to half health, by Alex's Pokédex estimate. "Finish him."
The Turtwig nodded, stopping his ceaseless dodging through the field of boulders, and charged at Tyran. The great beast let him come. His fangs glowed with frost once more, and one way or another, both Pokémon knew this would be the deciding moment.
Terra charged, eyes closed, at the great beast as the ball of green energy formed in his maw. Tyran lunged, and roared in frustration as he missed yet again. Terra had leapt under the massive Pokémon now, and Tyran had expected him to jump back, or to the sides, not under him. Terra's Energy Ball swelled as he wove the power into a condensed ball like Tyranitar had showed him with his own Dark Pulse, and fired it, slamming it into the giant dinosaur's throat. Tyran flinched, tiny arms reaching in vain at the painful wound as the dense ball of effective energy spun itself into a weak spot on the rocky dragon's hide.
"Frenzy plant!" Both Tyran and his master blinked. There was no way a mere Turtwig would know that kind of move, but Terra had already stomped his little feet into the ground, drawing the power of one of the 'elemental Hyper Beams' into his body. It wouldn't be as strong as, say, a Torterra's, but with all the damage Tyran had taken thus far, this was the end.
The crowd watched, amazed, as a series of massive vines rose from the shattered ground at the Turtwig's command, and slammed directly up into Tyran's body. The massive dinosaur went flying, falling before his master on the other side of the field. Everyone watched it struggle to rise, twice, only to finally fall. If he'd been able to use his arms, he might've gotten up again. As it was, he was too drained to move, and gave in, fainting. The damage from the Razor Leaves had added up.
The platforms lowered once more, and Alex made his way through rocks, vines, and rubble to his advisor, on the other side of the field. Terra met him halfway. The two opponents shook hands amidst the roars of the crowd, and those roars only grew as he took his diploma, and raised it, victorious. Students who lost, and they usually lost, were judged on their battling technique, and given a pass/fail rating that was lenient for most majors, except anything to do with battling.
Facing the challenge with only one Pokémon had all but guaranteed a failure in the judge's rating of battle strategy. Students who won, however, not only automatically graduated, but went on to do whatever they had studied for with a battle record that counted one official League recognized victory on their Trainer Card. The examiners here were considered some of the best, and many had served in Unova's Elite Four under N at one point or another. Such a victory could get a Trainer a spot in almost any gym in Unova.
Yawning wide, Terra slumped against his Trainer's leg, and Alex smirked down at him, patting his head. "You were amazing. I told you, and now I have proof. Together, we cannot be stopped."
He recalled Terra for the first time in weeks, letting him rest in his ball for once, and left the stadium. The murmuring crowd of his peers met him with cheers, handshakes, phone numbers, and challenges to battle. He returned what handshakes he could, and refused almost everything else. Several random numbers ended up in his Holociever anyways, and he didn't rightly know how they got there.
The heat of the new summer finally faded into the coolness of the night, and after dropping Terra off at the local Pokémon Center, he attended what must have been maybe his fifth actual 'Uni party' at the behest of the small circle of friends he'd made, namely fellow Leafheads, or other Trainer majors. It was the last party of his last year. He figured he might as well go.
It was exactly as it had been the last four times. Music that drowned out the chance of any intellectual conversation. Men and women who were so drunk that, if you paid attention long enough, you could guess their major based on intoxication alone. People who enjoyed grinding on each other, and called it dancing.
He'd never really seen the appeal of any of it. The obnoxiously loud music did nothing to stir a beat in his oversized feet, and while he could actually dance, he simply didn't. If he had a decent song on, he could easily move with it, but the loud, obnoxious music here, a favorite of his generation for some reason, did nothing for him. The lyrics were garbled, repetitive, and derogatory of Rangers, a profession he had nothing but respect for.
He didn't quite know how he'd remained anonymous at the party after his apparently awe-inspiring victory, but his natural tendency to avoid eye-contact had helped. That is, until some idiot found a microphone. He knew the voice, and groaned into his cup of what he hoped was alcohol of some kind. It tasted more like fruit punch than alcohol, but that only hid how powerful said alcohol was. He'd hidden himself rather well by a fake tree planter in the back of the crowded room, and kept to himself. Given the lack of light and plentiful beverages, he'd expected to stay anonymous. At least until the Leaf circles started popping up. But those always came later.
Jon was also a Trainer major, and thus had many of the same advanced classes with Alex. He had a thing for black and yellow Pokémon, and was almost the entire reason that Alex intended to find a golden Shinx, somehow. He wanted a Luxray on his team, and he'd get one someday soon if he was lucky. Thankfully, Shinx was an absurdly popular Pokémon even with those who didn't train professionally.
Jon liked Pokémon, and they shared many opinions on them. He was generally pleasant to be around, but alcohol can make an idiot out of even the brightest mind.
"Heyoooo!" He slurred into the mic. Boos followed as it shrieked, and he waved them away. "I jusht, I jusht wanna shay, Redwood, man…wow. What a match. Give it up. He'sh back there in the…the corner…being all aloof. Give it up!"
After a few attempts at pointing, he finally singled Alex out, who took one last look at the window, before being mobbed once again by handshakes, phone numbers that were usually missing digits, and requests to battle.
"I can't battle, Terra is resting now." He kept repeating, explaining multiple times to blank, drunken faces that yes, he really did only have the one Turtwig, and no other Pokémon. They either didn't believe him, or found that 'totally lame'. These were his peers. The future.
The rest of the party was a blur of much of the same, and despite his attitude towards such gatherings, he did eventually have fun before he left. He found a group of grass Trainers as he wandered away from the Pokémon Center with his rejuvenated Turtwig, and spent the night enjoying the hallucinogenic Leaf smoking that grass Trainers so often enjoyed together while Terra frolicked with the other grass types.
The next day he made his way home, after packing his car, alone, as Terra rested in the sun. He was pretty sure the little Turtwig was fine, but he let him rest anyways. They'd had a long year. Now they would go home, and their real journey would begin.
Meanwhile, back on the Ranch…
The Snivy picked her head up, glancing out the enormous ranch-style window of her Trainer's house as a flash of green light caught her gaze. "Ivy." She squeaked, getting her Trainer's attention.
"What is it Serpi?" The flame haired head of her Trainer appeared next to her, looking out the window. Her Trainer had the same eyes she did, the superior look of a Snivy. It was why they had bonded. She too came from a line of her species that was considered to be one step from royal. There was no doubt that she would one day be a Serperior. Thus, she had been named for that eventuality.
"Char!" The more annoying and more recent addition to her master's team, a female runt of a Charmander from the Charicific Valley in Johto, jumped up next to them as well. She was the same shade of red-orange that her master's hair was, and they matched perfectly together, as her master often dressed in flamboyantly red colors as well.
Serpi was jealous of their newest team member, but knew deep down that their bond was stronger. She was the first. She always would be first. Across the field, at the smelly neighbor-boy's farm, there was a commotion. Jessica blinked slowly, staring out the window. Another green flash lit the area, and Serpi's eyes narrowed. Much like how electric types could speak over distance with their element, grass types had similar methods of communicating through nature itself. The pudgy Turtwig was trying to get their attention, for some reason. She'd met the unimpressive grass turtle near the end of last summer, and only briefly.
The flame haired woman was younger than twenty-four, but looked to be graduating early, thanks to her father's influence at the University. Right now, however, was her summer break. She had, of course, been against coming to such a remote part of the region for a whole summer, as their family usually went to places like the Kalos region or Alola. It was as she squinted across the grass that she saw one of her neighbors. Then, she saw the familiar hooded jacket, despite the summer heat. It was Alex, then. According to his brother Eric, he'd been obsessed with little more than training since he'd gotten his Turtwig.
He had, in actual fact, just finished University. She'd seen the battle of course, but hadn't quite believed it was the same overweight, quiet, shy kid she'd lived next to for so long. He was a good friend, fun to talk to, but he always smelled of Tauros, and was a bit too overweight for her tastes. Kind as she was, like most women, appearances mattered, and were often deal breakers, or makers.
Or at least, that's what she'd thought. She watched him again, with a Turtwig just as large and a bit pudgy as him at this distance, fire another Energy Ball at an old stump that he had moved into his yard years ago, claiming it would be where he trained his first Pokémon, a Turtwig.
It seemed the 'master plan' he'd shared in part with her over a bowl of Leaf was finally becoming reality. Before her Pokémon could blink, she was up and racing across the hills towards him. There was something in his stance, the way he ordered an attack, that had her intrigued, and after watching that battle…well, what girl wouldn't be interested in a Trainer like that if they were right next door? She wanted to know how finally getting a Pokémon had changed him.
She needed a closer look, in person, and not on a screen. As she got her improved view, she gasped lightly. From a distance, he had looked as overweight as ever, but she had failed to recall exactly when he'd gotten his first partner.
They had trained for almost a full year, and now, Turtwig was strong enough to have mastered another grass type moved entirely, one derived from their Energy Ball, but had a bit more physical power, something his species line excelled in. The unfinished seed-based move exploded against the stump each time, but to the Snivy, she could tell the Turtwig was holding back, and both of the males had been not so subtly watching her Trainer as she came towards them.
They had both been training hard it seemed, and after that battle, their strength was obvious. With that strength came muscle, and it was no longer fat that filled out his brown-green shirt, torn and dirty from constant activity and training. He didn't have the toned body of a rancher anymore, but anything was better than being comparable to a Snorlax.
Alex's Turtwig was similarly changed. Where once he'd been pudgy, he now radiated bulk that was, to an experienced eye, muscle. His head leaves had grown large as well, and his shell was deep brown, and cool to the touch. As Alex saw the flash of red running towards him across the stretch of mowed grass that separated their houses, he smirked. This, was the other moment he'd spent his life waiting for. The moment where he showed the girl next door that he was actually a decent Trainer. Unlike her brother, Jess had never quite believed that he would make a good one. Thankfully, she knew when she was wrong. Taking down an Elite Four level Tyrantrum with a Turtwig had to require some measure of skill. And luck.
He and Terra shared a look as she and her Pokémon came closer, and after a moment, Alex nodded. For this particular moment, they'd put their training vests back on, as neither had been sure the Snivy would see their moves from such a distance. They let the vests drop with a satisfying thud into the dusty ground of the ranch as the girls came closer. Over the years, science had finally condensed the many weight-training items into one perfected item that could raise every stat with the potency of a final evolution. The drawback was a loss in speed and movement, as well as power. Attacks were weaker, but could be used more often. It was perfect for training.
Alex glanced towards the flash of red racing over the grass towards them, and after a brief stretch, he nodded at his partner. "Now Terra! Seed Bomb!"
Terra responded instantly, and this time, the sphere of dense grass energy was surrounded in an aura of green as it exited his mouth, and hit his target with unerring accuracy. The stump blasted apart, just as Jessica's Charmander and Snivy caught up to her, panting. A life of luxury had left them with little real endurance, as their Trainer would rather dress them up than battle with them, most of the time.
They stared in awe at the Turtwig before them. He was so strong, so bright, he almost glowed…then they noticed, he was glowing. Light shone forth from within him, and he cried out as the blinding spiraling power of evolution took over, finally transforming his child form into that of a Grotle. It was almost as large as a Torterra, and just as deep voiced.
But Alex didn't seem to notice. "Well done Terra!" He ran and hugged the enormous beast, who shared his enthusiasm. They had followed his plan then. Train until he'd learned Seed Bomb, and then evolve. Even the name Alex had picked was the same. But recalling the battle, Jess wondered. If this Grotle knew an attack like Frenzy Plant, he must've mastered Energy Ball a long time ago. From what she'd heard, and seen, they should've been strong enough for a Seed Bomb during the exam. In reality, they'd agreed that using Razor Leaf would be smarter once they saw their opponent. It could critically hit rather often, and Terra had more than enough leaves for a single opponent.
"You really did it…" she whispered, "You're…actually following your plan?" Turning as if just now noticing her, he smirked, and gave a nod. As always, he was covered in dirt, though that was to be expected when one was training an earth turtle. Up close, that intensity in his gaze awoke something inside her that had been sleeping for all the years they'd been neighbors.
He would've always been perfect if he'd just lost a bit of weight and gained some much-needed social grace, but now…now he was holding her eye contact. This was not the same person she'd grown up next to. Who'd been a friend of her brother's, more than her. While the Leaf-smoking gamer had been amusing to tease, teasing was all she'd done. She'd assumed it was harmless. It wasn't like he was secretly pining for her, or anything. Passive as his face was, she could usually tell when guys were interested.
Evidently, finally getting a Pokémon partner had changed the former ranch hand more than she'd expected. At the very least, he had her attention, which of course had been the point of their little light show.
She grinned. "Well, if I recall correctly, the next stop is for Leo, the Luxray."
A smirk cracked Alex's normally impassive expression, and Terra nodded. "Aye. Now we find him. At Mall Town. There's usually alternate colors there." He arched a brow to Spockian heights. "Care to join me?"
She smirked at him, then shrugged. "Why not. Lead the way."
And lead he did. For once, from behind, he didn't look like a lumbering Snorlax. There was purpose in his long stride, and a straightness to his back. Definitely not the same Alex. Gone was the awkward ranch hand. Now, he was a Pokémon Trainer.
