Well here is the third chapter. I finally found the time to finish it.
Hope you guys enjoy. And yes this chapter has no explicit scenes, so don't worry. If any particular chapter has a Lemon, i will warn readers in the pre chapter notes here in advance. This fic is rated M for a reason.
Without further ado here it is...
Chapter 3-The Start of New Endeavors
Since the fateful day over 2 years and 3 months ago when Kieran left, things haven't really been the same. Whether in the land of Kitakami, at the Blueberry Academy and it's League Club, or back in Paldea even at Naranja Academy. When he left that day, no one could have forseen how this would affect not only those that once cherished him back at Blueberry Academy, but a certain Champion-ranked trainer from the region of Paldea and even her three closest friends whom he barely even interacted with, even during that whole Manic Mochi Mayhem nonsense when they visited his homeland.
Deep within the caverns of Mount Moon in the Kanto Region, a peculiar battle is taking place. Two shadows are clashing with one another. One of a Dark-type that is often considered a Nightmare Demon and the other, a Ghost-type Astral Warrior said to be the apparition of a soldier that died in war.
Commanding the demonic shadow however was a kid...yep that one, it was Kieran and his new partner Darkrai who tracked down the Mythical Marshadow after 4 and a half months tirelessly searching for it. Now they have it cornered and it seems Marshadow is about to yield to Kieran's Darkrai's onslaught despite a type advantage over the latter.
"Darkrai Finish this and use Dark Pulse to stun it, then wrap it up with Dark Void." Kieran stoically commanded.
Once Marshadow was hit with Dark Pulse it flinched allowing Dark Void to fully connect and put Marshadow to sleep. With Darkrai's ability weakening it's opponents while they are asleep, it was as easy as chucking a Master Ball and Marshadow was caught. See this was Kieran's 5th and last Mythical Capture giving him the full team of 6 mythical Pokemon that he longed to train and at long last, he did catch them all.
With the exception of his Manaphy and Shaymin, ever other Mythical he caught had to be weakened because even if the Master Ball wouldn't fail to capture a Pokemon once it was contained within the capsule during the capture process, the ball could be dodged, deflected, or shattered still. And catching these one of a kind Pokemon more often than not proved too difficult to catch without proper subjugation even with such an infallible tool at one's disposal.
After retrieving his newest catch he proceeded to head towards the exit he came from which leads to the trail that goes back to Pewter City. There's a Pokemon Center nearby where he can rest up and heal his team. After some trekking back, and thankfully he marked the path with waypoints using chalk he had procured in his travels, he was finally out of the mountain caverns and back on the trail. He saw the Pokemon Center in the distance and no one else nor any wild pokemon was around, so it was an uneventful trip back from there.
Having put on his hood and sunglasses before approaching the Pokemon Center Building, he finally made it...there were only very few, if any trainers lounging in the center lobby as Kieran made his way to the receptionist.
After handing her the 6 Master Balls(which the receptionist found rather odd) wordlessly, she put them on the healing machine and healed them up after typing something on a keyboard. After looking at the monitor, what she saw flabbergasted her to no end...6 Mythical Pokemon and this one kid caught them all. Having checked their OT and ID number, they all matched someone named 'Kieran'. 'How odd' the receptionist thought before the healing process was completed and she handed the balls back to Kieran before he took a seat in the lobby away from everyone else that was there. He found the remote and turned on the TV hanging on the side of the wall were he was seated at.
Immediately it was on a channel that peaked his interest as it just went to commercials but he caught a glimpse of the program that was currently airing. After a few minutes the program was back on as the show's narrator spoke. "We now return to 'Dark Side of Pokemon Trainers: The Kieran Saga'." Now Kieran was piqued and perhaps not in a good way either. After the show briefly recapped part one which he missed, perhaps thankfully so, which detailed how he grew up in the Land of Kitakami as well as how he first enrolled in the Blueberry Academy and how Part 1 ended with that joint school field trip in which the events leading up to his big change happened. Part 2 was his Involution Phase at the Academy and his transformation from weakling to powerhouse and all the bad vibes that came with it. After Part 2 ended with his accomplishments being taken from him, then his failures in catching and holding onto Paldea's Hidden Treasure, and of course, his subsequent bouts of depression.
Then got to the final part which was Part 3 which detailed that fateful day he ran from everyone he ever personally knew to begin his new journey. That part of the documentary, aside from the academy search party that was launched, was just mainly speculation and retrospection. Many of his former close associates were interviewed such as Drayton, Amarys, his big sister Carmine, his teacher's at the Academy , his Grandparents, and even Juliana herself, the one who utterly ruined him at the behest of those who claimed to cherish him deeply, they all either expressed anger, indignation, sadness, regret, heartache, or emotional distress and any particular combination of such as well and how difficult it was especially at first, how to cope with these possibly tragic circumstances and continue onward without their beloved Kieran.
In Kieran's mind however, he felt sorry for none of them. They all either ignored him and his potential, even stymieing his potential to what he could have been, or they conspired against him, going and talking behind his back, lying to his face, treating him like an outcast, and making sure he failed time and again as his dreams and aspirations were mercilessly crushed, and most egregious of all, having everything he worked for taken from him. He had no recourse but to hold back laughing in glee at the misery they were feeling back then at losing the one thing they all took for granted, with such feelings possibly lingering to this very day.
After the show ended, he turned off the TV while thinking how the program could have used a better name, such as 'Chapter Zero' or 'How those Traitors ruined me'. He had hoped no one else was watching, and then after gathering his things, he left...It was beginning to be sundown as he headed towards Pewter City. Soon he would arrive long after nightfall and he would book a motel stay for the night before heading back out in the morning.
Meanwhile back at a certain academy in Paldea, a forlorn, heartbroken teenage woman was lying in bed, tears still running down her face. Having been stricken with grief and heartache over the disappearance of her once true love, the object of her desires. While her deep rooted feelings for him peaked during the festival of masks, the unfortunate circumstances and events which led to his spiral meant that those amorous feelings she held for him was all but one-sided, if it weren't already one-sided from the start that is. And now, after ruthlessly decrowning him as the League Club Champion of his own academy which she held until her time at Blueberry was up, upon which having willingly relinquished that title and vacating that position, and since their trip to the Underdepths went awry due to his hubris, which she saved him from, he then became completely reclusive and even less outgoing since then.
Standing outside her dorm room was a somewhat tall, athletic looking man with wavy hair wearing a Winter variant of Naranja Academy's uniform. After knocking on the door as gently as he could he spoke up. "Hey little buddy, you doing okay?"
This was pretty much the norm for about two years now. Occasionally, this man's friend, Juliana would have a breakdown, or would fall into a depressive state every time she is reminded of the one that got away, scratch that, the one she drove away. Her Friends from Naranja Academy take turns trying to cheer her up when this happens. And it was this man's turn to cheer Juliana up.
After a few seconds he knocked again. "Hey mind if I come in?" The young blonde man said before entering the dorm room which was unlocked after a few seconds of no response.
"Hey Julie, feeling okay?" The young man said with a hand on her shoulder as she lied face down into her pillow. Apparently the teenage girl was sobbing for 2 hours before this friend of hers came to check in on her. These days she was handling these episodes a bit better but she still needed the emotional support of her friends.
After another minute passed, she mustered the will to compose herself and get up. "I'll be fine Arven. Thanks." Juliana replied before making herself presentable once more.
"Want to talk about it?" the young man Arven said.
"It's okay, I just needed to let loose for a bit, I'm fine really." Juliana replied hoping Arven would buy into it.
"Okay, let's go get lunch and then finish our group project for History class." Arven said, a bit skeptical but willing to overlook it for now.
With that half famous trademark smile of hers, Juliana replied. "Okay!", before they both headed out the dorm room.
Speaking of Academies, back at Naranja's sister school, which is Blueberry Academy, all four of everyone's favorite student council members and Elite Four Members were sitting at their usual seatings at the League Club room. They were waiting for someone to arrive before commencing the day's afternoon meeting to order. Drayton who was a 4th year flunked twice more before being promoted to 5th year which makes this his final year as a student. Amarys who was a 4th year during the last two school years has now graduated and is now working as an intern staff at the academy as a Teacher Assistant and still allowed to keep her position in the League Club. Lacey who was a 2nd year is now in her 5th and final year along with Drayton. And Crispin went from 1st to 4th year, now taking both his club duties and school studies more seriously but still had time to perfect his chosen culinary craft.
After 3 or so more minutes of waiting, another student, this time, Carmine, Kieran's big sister entered the room and immediately sat down with the other four in a huff. "Sorry I'm late, UGGHHH! Miss Briar is running me ragged as her full time personal teacher's assistant. Now I'm stuck doing this assignment where I have to go back and from from here to the mainland and back." Carmine who was a 2nd year back then, was now a 5th year as well and she is working as an intern for Miss Briar at the same time so she basically gets ahead by the time she graduates.
"Noted." Simply replied Amarys in her usual tone of calculated composure.
"Okay now that the whole gang's here, let's get to today's topic of the day." Announced Drayton before continuing. "We managed to get the green light for this whole collab thing with all these Gym Leaders and famous trainers 'round the world and Cyrano says we are a go for hosting the first ever Blueberry Battle Showcase. It's where the top Blueberry trainers battle it out with these worldy powerhouse trainers we invite here to participate in order to showcase how we stack up against the rest of the world. Pretty cool eh?" Drayton finished.
"Ah okay, so it's an opportunity to showcase our advanced, cutting edge way of battling and show how we stack up to the pros and champions of today?" Inquired Lacey.
"Bingo!' Drayton simply replied.
"Cool this is gonna be lit yo. Straight fire!" Crispin exclaimed in his usual bout of excitement.
"I see... I presume we will showcase the usual Blueberry style of Double Battling in this tournament?" Inquired Amarys.
"Well duh, we would be hosting this event here in academy grounds so it only makes sense we promote our way of things here, and maybe we can get some of these guys to enroll here...maybe." Drayton added.
"Well I'm sold, count me in!" Crispin announced excitedly.
"Sure it'll be fun...why not? I'll participate too!" Lacey added.
"This will be sure to become an invaluable learning experience, I am also in." Amarys calmly added.
"Yeah cool, ya already know the Drayster is in...for now we are only expecting Gym Leaders and other trainers from Unova mainly to start with, but we can also invite people we know of, if not know outside of the academy to join this lil shindig as well." Drayton added.
Carmine huffed slightly at Drayton's comments(referring to a potentially big time tournament esque event as a 'shindig', really?) before replying. "I guess if I'm not too busy at around the time it starts, I could join too... I'm down to make these world famous hotshots eat some dirt, Blueberry style." Carmine finished.
"Well then... it's all settled, meeting adjourned I suppose." Drayton said before he got up and stretched lazily before heading out. And with that everyone but Carmine got up and left. Carmine still having some thoughts.
Maybe if Carmine could join the event, it could present her an opportunity to invite Juliana back to the Blueberry Academy grounds and maybe even invite her friends. Unlike her brother, Carmine did befriend all of Juliana's Naranja Academy friend group during the mochi festival that went awry due to a certain pecha berry looking runt. And if Juliana was there, maybe, just maybe...'he' would show up as well. With that thought in mind Carmine finally got up and left the club room which was now empty.
A few weeks have passed, and in the borderlands that divide two of the most iconic landscapes in the history of the Pokemon world, there stood a treacherous mountain peak, known for being the most derelict of them all to ascend successfully. And very few if any, have done so, but the most notable one to successfully ascend to it's peak was the legendary trainer from Pallet Town by the name of Red.
This time someone else had ascended the mountain peak and stood at the top...this time it was none other than Kieran, who had been much too busy training his team of Mythical Pokemon. He soon let them all out in order to begin today's training session. Soon materialized from the 6 Master Balls were: his main partner Darkrai, Heatran, Shaymin in it's Sky Form, Manaphy, Diancie, and Marshadow. He also made a mental note to catch any other Mythical and Legendary Pokemon he happened to come across as well and train them to the max like these 6 were on their way of doing.
"Alright everyone, time to get stronger...it's TRAINING TIME!!" Kieran shouted and as they said that they all went to their specified training routines. In this harsh bitter cold environment, they would all be sure to strengthen further correct? Kieran watched his team to make sure none of them slipped up or eased up on the gas, and as he watched, he wondered if 'any of them' were up to something interesting in their meager school lives while he trained tirelessly and completely uninhibited and undisturbed to become the absolute strongest of all trainers.
After all this is a Pokemon Trainer's world and only the strongest of them is treated fairly in this world. To that end he basically aimed to take over this world, not in the sense of global domination groups like Team Rocket would aspire to, but to become such a global household name in the Pokemon Trainer cultural zeitgeist, that he would be set for life...not having to worry about his future as much if at all. Not having to struggle and claw his way to success but to lean into it as effortlessly as 'she' had ruined him so long ago. To that thought, Kieran could only utter one phrase.
"Carmine...Juliana...soon...I'll be the strongest...and then...neither of you can ever hurt me again...never to stifle me or hold me back, never to keep me down...I'll be the unreachable one." He monologued, now knowing that all of his current efforts are now coming to fruition once more after nearly 2 and a half years since he began this undertaking.
Soon he would show the world his true self, his best version of himself, one he so idealized as a child growing up admiring the one Pokemon that rejected him. He would go on to prove himself better than that Pokemon, better than everyone who only served to keep him grounded, from soaring to heights no one imagined he would be capable of in this unfair life.
A/N: So first of all, i must apologize in advance if it seemed i teased a tournament arc that could span multiple chapters but like i said i would rather finish this fic at 10 chapters so a full tournament arc isn't in the works. I may dedicate an entire chapter to glossing over the majority of the 'Blueberry Battle Showcase' and feature maybe one battle in that single chapter.
So far each chapter had switched scenes focusing on each particular group. These groups are the Naranja Academy group, The Blueberry Academy group, and Kieran and his new team of soon to be OP Tobias level mythicals. However i may dedicate whole chapters that focuses on just one of these groups and try to flesh them out some more. For example that Showcase could be one of the chapters that focus on the Blueberry gang.
Don't know when I'll be up to write the next chapter but hopefully soon. See y'all next time. Peace out :)