My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI)
By: Aria
After living in a bullshit post-modern world with starvation, poverty and Tim Curry running to space to escape capitalism, I decided to fully enjoy my retirement in the true Utopia of Pokemon.
Status: complete
Published: 2024-01-11
Updated: 2024-06-09
Words: 132018
Chapters: 30
Original source: https/forum./threads/25435
Exported with the assistance of
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI)
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24 (LEEEEEOOOON! HELP!)
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Omake: The Real Chosen One
Chapter 28 Epilogue
An overlong after word
Chapter 1
Preface
A few things to take note of before you read:
1. My update schedule won't be regular like the last story. It'll be like the usual authors, just whenever a chapter is ready and done.
2. This isn't a super serious story.
3. The story takes play in the Galar region, or Sword and Shield games.
4. Gen 8 has one of the most "nothing" stories ever. I'll extensively rewrite a lot of it. Many characters will act very differently from their game counterparts. At least this means no one will hate Hop now (hopefully). This also means AU. Very very AU.
5. Yes, self insert.
6. This story won't feature any Legendary or Mythical Pokemon. The MC will only catch Pokemon native to Galar region. Some trainers might have some stuff that is more exotic or out of region, but nothing Mythical or Legendary.
7. Pokemon can learn moves that's not in their official move sets if I think it makes sense. I'll try not to abuse this.
Professor Sonia
Sonia enjoyed visiting Postwick. She couldn't help herself. Even though she thought she'd gotten over Leon, the past had its own ways of creeping up on her at times. Perhaps it wasn't anything that sinister. Maybe she had simply deluded herself into believing that the past was behind her by burying herself in her work, chasing after the legends of history. How ironic that she had turned to the past of the region to escape her own. Nevertheless, Postwick was a safe haven for her.
The tranquil and quiet town of Postwick was the secret economic powerhouse of the Galar region. Its sheer abundance of domesticated Wooloo ensured that the residents had no end of wool ready for export to other regions, with Sinnoh being one of the biggest buyers due to their tumultuous snowy weather. Wedgehurst benefitted from the arrangement by facilitating the sale of the product, with the hardworking folk of Postwick being kept too busy with their flock. As far as Sonia was concerned, the whole deal suited her just fine. The sheer abundance of adorable and fluffy Wooloo never failed to heal her to the max.
There was just one oddball that left her feeling quietly concerned. In the white clouds of fluff and wool, there was a literal black sheep. Shiny Pokemon weren't anything that special at this point. Although the statistic of "1 in 8192" sounded domineering, the sheer number of Pokemon that roamed the world ensured that shiny Pokemon were a common enough occurrence amongst trainers. Sure, people would still scramble for a shiny Charmander or Axew, but no one cared if there was a shiny Pokemon if it was something weak like Wooloo. The town folk of Postwick didn't care much about it either. Most of the wool would have been dyed eventually anyway. What did it matter if it was black or white in the end?
There were some who cared though… or was it some Pokemon? She had seen it the last time she visited. Though Wooloo usually crowded together because of their herd mentality, there was a single one that stood apart from the rest, an intimidating empty circle forming around it. By nature, Wooloo were gentle and docile. They never bullied that singular shiny and black Wooloo. Then again, they never included it either. It was always sitting at the side by its lonesome. Sonia wondered if she should catch it. There was a chance that it would never find comfort with its herd, and trainers were more than likely not going to catch something weak like a Wooloo to compete in the League. Strength didn't really matter to her. What would a professor of history need to battle anyway?
"Yes! Do the Roly Poly with me! Like this!"
She was startled out of her thoughts by the enthusiastic shouts of a child. When her head snapped over, Sonia immediately spotted that very same Wooloo looking extremely bemused. She didn't blame it. The child tucked his upper body down before performing a forward roll. He proceeded to outdo himself by rolling to the right, then left, and even backwards, always landing perfectly on his feet. The sheer acrobatics he was pulling off at his apparent youthful age befuddled her.
"Now you try!" The boy pointed at the black Wooloo, his shout echoing through the clearing.
"Baa!" The Wooloo eventually agreed, before rolling forwards. Pokemon were just amazing like that. She might not have specialized in Pokemon biology or ecology, but subjects of academia did not escape her. When trimmed correctly, the fleece of a Wooloo allowed it to roll in any direction while cushioning their entire body. Sometimes she wondered if Arceus was real. Each and every Pokemon was perfectly designed in their own areas of expertise.
The boy clapped and whooped, twirling his hand in the air. "That's it! You've taken your first step on the path of the Roly Poly! Together, we'll crush the League and smash Leon's stupid dragon team into pieces!"
Tiny pinpricks of tears dropped from the Pokemon's eyes, before it cried out in agreement. "Baaaa!" The Wooloo shook its head before stomping the ground, its eyes resolute with determination.
Sonia shook her head softly and gave a small smile before walking off. Defeating Leon? Countless trainers who set off on their League journey dreamt of doing the same. They were all stonewalled by his team of monsters. She felt differently about the strange boy and his new companion. Anyone who could make a Pokemon shed tears of joy would always be something special in her book.
Victor Nash
The bad news first; I died. Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit. That's not exactly bad news. I had long gotten over my untimely death in my previous life. Sure, I missed my old family and friends, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. Besides, my new life was a lot better than my old one. It practically made it look like a shit hole.
The good news is that I reincarnated with all my memories intact. That's a cheat all by itself. Newborns have to go through development and don't really begin honing their abilities until their mid-teens. Humans could easily miss over fifteen years of potential learning by that point. Well, it's not truly a waste. Learning to walk, speak, socialize and gaining cognitive reasoning isn't an actual waste. I get to skip all that with my memories intact. Coupled with my fully formed personality and mindset, I can get right to learning the power set of my new world.
The even better news? I didn't actually have to bother with learning much. Thankfully, I didn't end up in some shithole like Worm, DC or Marvel. There wasn't some sort of looming apocalypse or super demon god ready to destroy everything I know. In fact, I ended up in the greatest utopia in all of fiction; Pokemon! I can't tell you how many times I thanked Arceus profusely for allowing me to be here. The holy llama of a thousand hands truly provides.
Make no mistake, despite its flaws, the world of Pokemon is a true utopia. Scientists had cracked unlimited energy a long time ago. Different regions had their own method of doing so. Unlike the games, Legendary Pokemon weren't something that could be caught. They weren't hostile to humans either, partly due to their essential roles as guardians. Hoenn harnessed the passing waves of Kyogre and quakes of Groudon to power their cities. Here in Galar, Macro Cosmos Energy managed to tap into some form of dimensional energy to power everything seamlessly. With unlimited energy came wacky scientific advances that would normally be limited by resources. It explained why healing could be free for both humans and Pokemon. The energy didn't cost a dime.
Dangers? There were none in Galar to be found. Pokemon came in all sorts of shapes and sizes… and temperaments. Some were battle hungry while others like the cute Wooloo outside my home were essentially as threatening as a rock. All of them shared one thing in common; they don't attack humans. Why? The ones that had such instincts were all wiped out a long time ago. Civilizations of the past had unknowingly executed a man-made Darwinian evolution in Pokemon as each generation protected themselves from hostile monsters and cleared them out from settled lands. You could still battle and catch them in the wild, but they would leave you alone if you lost or weren't a trainer.
I might not have been religious in my past life, but having been born in such comfort and luxury made me into a true believer of Arceus. At every meal, I loudly thanked him for giving me such a peaceful retirement. It didn't matter if my mother looked at me funny for it. He truly deserves my praise and adulation.
An impact knocked me out of my thoughts and sent me sprawling into my bed. A black Wooloo baaed loudly before nudging my leg impatiently. "Alright! Geez. Grannie Maggie isn't gonna just up and leave without giving us our recommendations!" I stood up and adjusted the straps of my haversack before tapping the Pokemon on its head. "C'mon Raul! Let's go!"
True to his name, Raul didn't walk but rolled alongside me, even down the stairs. He had taken upon himself the sacred duty of being the god of rolling. Truly, the gym leaders should be quaking in their boots from our sheer magnificence. When we reached the kitchen, I found my mother playing with a Zigzagoon on the table, wiggling her fingers into its belly. "Who's a big doofus! You are! You're the big doofus!" Her condescending baby talk did nothing to detract from the enjoyment of the Zigzagoon as its tongue lulled about in the wind while its body shivered and shook on its back.
"Mooooooooom!" I whined. "Stop bullying Merry already! If I take any longer, Hop is just gonna take my recommendation and run off on his own!"
"Oh my!" She covered her mouth with a hand. "My widdle baby boy is all grown up and doesn't need his Mama anymore. He's ready to leave the nest behind."
I rolled my eyes before moving forward and capturing her in an embrace. "You know that's not true. Stop fishing for hugs."
My mother dropped her chin into the crook of my neck, caressing it adoringly. "Don't blame this old woman for having her fun. I know you'll be back, but it'll be a long while before I see you again."
I pushed her off and held her by the shoulders. "Of course I'll be back! No one makes curry like you do!"
"Fufufu." She tittered. "Even when he's all grown up, my baby still can't admit his true feelings."
I strongly resisted the urge to roll my eyes again. "Maybe it's because his Mom still thinks he's a baby."
"You'll always be my baby." Her eyes hardened. "Are you sure you want to take on the Gym Challenge now… or ever? You don't have to do it just because you hit the minimum age required. Sixteen is still pretty young to go off on your own."
"You know I can take care of myself. Besides, Hop would be hopelessly lost without his rival to keep him honest." I assured her, before patting her on the shoulders and letting go. "Besides, Raul needs to fight some other trained Pokemon before he picks another battle with the barnyard again."
"I know you can." Her eyes shifted to the side, awash with worry. "And I don't doubt that a smart cookie like you could make it all the way to the end. But everytime someone does, Leon-"
"Leon ain't shit!" I placed my hands on my hips and puffed out my chest. "That power-brained moron and his dragons will get crushed with Raul and Merry at my side."
"Language!" She chided instinctively.
Ah yes, language. Arceus bro really did me a solid by placing me in Pokemon England. If I was born in Kanto or Johto, I'd have to learn Japanese. Auditory and text translators existed through the power of Porygon and Rotom computing, but it'd be pretty odd for a native to be lugging that around in their own region. I pumped my fists into the air. "Thank Arceus!" My shout resounded out of the blue.
As though she was used to it, she simply sighed and smiled exasperatedly. "Sometimes, I think your intelligence and maturity are balanced out by your weirdness."
I just responded with finger guns. "Can't have everything in the world, Mama!" Then I pecked her on the cheek before returning my Pokemon to their balls and started running out. "Gotta go! Watch me on the news!"
I took my first steps out the door and towards greatness.
Hop Kennedy
Victor was late as usual. Hop resisted the urge to snark at his rival when he stepped out of the door. At least his reason for being late could be understood this time. After Maxwell Nash had passed away, Gloria had shifted all her affections onto her only son. While she didn't necessarily smother him to death, it mustn't have been easy for her to let go of him, even if it was only for the duration of the League. Still, he deserved a tiny bit of shaming. "Are we ready? I'm going to snatch your recommendation from Professor Magnolia and run away with it if you take any longer."
Victor blinked a few times before grinning unrepentantly. "As if you could. I'd just beat you in a battle and take it back again."
Hop looked away with a grimace. It wasn't as if he'd lost every fight, but their battle tally came close enough to it. He had never understood how his rival knew so much about Pokemon. It was as if the teen was born with all of the information at his fingertips. The few battles he did win were when he surprised Victor with new strategies, and even then, it didn't guarantee a win. Still, it was good to have a strong rival. His best friend would serve as a whetstone to prepare him to face Leon at the end of their journey.
"Can we go now?" Hop shot back.
"Now?" His friend gasped in exaggeration before taking off in a sprint. "I'll reach Grannie Maggie first!"
Used to his antics by this point, Hop simply took off and followed suit. As they ran through Postwick and through Route 1, he couldn't help but notice that all of the Pokemon simply steered clear of the two of them. Due to their young ages, the two of them had not been allowed out of Postwick and Wedgehurst, which confined their stomping grounds to Routes 1 and 2. At first, the Pokemon were eager to challenge them. Over time, their battles started to get easier and easier. Eventually, the Pokemon refused to fight them entirely. It wasn't as if they had brutalized their opponents. They were just so far ahead of them that they knew they would lose by this point.
As they sped past Wedgehurst, Hop withheld the sneer on his face as he spotted the oh so familiar logos that were dotted around the town. These weren't prominent in an agricultural town like Postwick, but Wedgehurst was much more commercialized. Macro Cosmos Rail, Macro Cosmos Living, Macro Cosmos Tech, Macro Cosmos Media; the list went on and on. To anyone else, these logos were just a part of everyday life. The Macro Cosmos corporation had monopolized the Galar region entirely, with only small outliers like Postwick having their own source of business. He hated them. They symbolized the chasm between him and Leon.
"You're finally here." An aged voice spoke cheerfully.
Hop snapped out of his auto-pilot running and turned to the reason for their race. He would be forever thankful that Professor Magnolia had taken them in as assistants, providing them with spending money for their journey and a learning environment that allowed them to be more in tune with Pokemon. The worry that he wouldn't be able to participate in the Gym Challenge without a recommendation was neatly solved by her as well. To everyone else, she was the foremost expert in Dynamaxing. To Hop, she was the greatest mentor ever.
"Ossu, Grannie Maggie!" Victor saluted exuberantly.
"Please stop calling our boss and foremost expert in Dynamax that!" Hop retorted lightly.
The professor just giggled and smiled. "You know I don't mind it, Hop. Victor here is just being affectionate in his own way."
"Yeeeah. I don't meaaaaan it, Hoppie!" His rival singsonged.
Hop pouted. "How are you doing today, Professor? Is Sonia around?"
"She's waiting for you in Motostoke." The woman hummed. "Make sure to let her know when you arrive. She worries about the two of you. But enough about that." Professor Magnolia slammed her cane into the ground with authority. "The two of you are here to receive your recommendations for the Gym Challenge. I've known the both of you since you were kids. You have nothing to prove to me, but regulations and traditions dictate that you must prove your worth with a battle. Are the two of you ready?"
Victor simply nodded and started to walk to one end of the battlefield. That was his rival in a nutshell. While he was usually flippant and irreverent, that attitude totally shifted when a battle was at hand. It made his best friend the best possible rival for him on this journey. Hop followed suit and went to the other end. He nodded to Victor. "League rules?"
His rival nodded in return. "League rules."
As they both simultaneously threw out their pokeballs, Hop prayed that his rival would go full aggressive and start with his Wooloo. To his dismay, a Zigzagoon stood across his Rookidee, its tongue flapping every which way. Out of all the records he could find, the Wooloo his rival was using stood at the absolute pinnacle, not that there were many trainers who even used a Wooloo for long, owing to its weak and docile nature. Somehow, Victor had turned one of the weakest Pokemon in Galar into an absolute monster. The only counter he had to it was Rookidee's aerial supremacy over it. He slapped his face with both hands. A good trainer overcame all odds and surprises. There was still a chance he could win this.
"Hone Claws!" Hop commanded. The talons of the bird Pokemon began to shine with luster as they sharpened. Victor had trained his Zigzagoon to be more reactionary than aggressive because of its eventual evolution into Obstagoon. He was going to take full advantage of that fa-
"Wet Dirt." Victor's dry and emotionless voice carried across the field.
Wet what? To his horror, the Zigzagoon sped towards Rookidee and used Lick, causing his Pokemon to flinch in disgust. Due to being mid-move with Hone Claws, it was unable to react. Before he could call out another command, the Zigzagoon hit it with another Lick, causing it to flinch before its entire body froze up.
Hop withheld the urge to curse. Shit, his Pokemon was paralyzed. "Arthur! Take off!" He desperately called out. Though it tried to do so and began flapping its wings, a palpable shudder went through the bird, causing it to freeze up against its will. Zigzagoon then began to kick dirt into its eyes, blinding his Pokemon. By the time it finally managed to leave the ground, Zigzagoon had managed to kick multiple lumps of sand and dirt into his Pokemon's eyes. This wasn't good. He knew what Victor was up to.
"Lick and Sand Attack? Since when did you use this combo?!" He unconsciously blurted out.
Victor simply shrugged. "What? You think I'd show you all my tricks before our journey? Knowing your enemy is half the battle."
"Fine. Harry him with Peck!" Fighting through its discomfort, the bird dived into Zigzagoon, its beak glowing with energy. Unfortunately, the Pokemon simply stepped to the side and dodged the wildly inaccurate attack.
"Snarl everytime it misses." Victor intoned softly. The Pokemon simply yipped before growling with nebulous dark energy, sending out a ranged attack that smashed into the bird. This wasn't working. Hop clenched his fist angrily. Every time Rookiedee dived down for an attack, the Zigzagoon would simply dodge before sending out another Snarl. Due to the paralysis and Sand Attacks, the speed and accuracy he'd trained his Pokemon in were rendered useless.
Then he saw it; an opening. When the bird came down for another Peck, it finally managed to land a hit, causing his opponent to slide back slightly from the impact. Hop punched forward in the air enthusiastically. "Now! Use Power Trip!" This would cause a substantial amount of damage. Power Trip increased in power the more a Pokemon raised its stats in battle. His Pokemon had used Hone Claws multiple times by the time Victor got off his combo. This would win the fight in one hit!
"Zigzag."
As Rookidee lunged forwards, Zigzagoon lived up to its name by running in a zigzag pattern. To his horror, it perfectly dodged Power Trip by running towards the bird instead of away or to the side. When both Pokemon were past each other, Victor spoke again. "Spike Butt."
The fur on Zigzagoon bristled and sharpened into the beginnings of a Pin Missile, but instead of firing them out, the Pokemon launched itself tail first into Rookidee, slamming it with the full force of its sharpened fur. Tired out from the earlier fight, his bird Pokemon couldn't take it anymore and dropped to the ground in exhaustion. Hop sighed before recalling his Pokemon. "You did well, Arthur. We'll get them next time."
To his surprise, Victor did the same. "Good job, Merry."
"Why'd you do that?" Hop asked in confusion. "Merry could keep going. She barely took any damage."
"Sure she could." Victor shrugged again. "But I'd like Raul to take part in my first official match. I owe it to him."
Understanding the logic, Hop simply nodded. They threw out their final Pokemon. It felt like his heart had stopped. The battle was already over by this point. "Get them, Siegfried!"
The Chewtle landed heavily on the ground and roared cutely, opposed by the Wooloo that arrived at the same time.
"Use Water G-"
Before he could get out his command, the Wooloo barrelled straight into Siegfried and knocked him out in one blow. Hop sighed despondently. That little sheep was as monstrous as ever. He was Victor's greatest trump card. How did something so cute and gentle become such a beast?
"BAA!" Raul called out loudly in victory.
After they recalled their Pokemon, Professor Magnolia walked into the center of the field. She nodded at Victor first. "It goes without saying that you've earned your recommendation. Raul is the most unique specimen of Wooloo I have ever seen. Your training methods, paired with your unusual and unorthodox battling style are a sight to behold."
Hop clenched his fist, but Professor Magnolia wasn't done. "Hop." She walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You've earned yours as well." He grabbed the envelope that she handed him, clutching it tightly.
"But I lost! I-"
The woman pressed a finger on his lips. "And it wasn't about winning. I asked you to prove your worth and you did. A regular trainer would have lost their cool when Victor set the tempo, but you managed to face him head-on."
"Didn't you see my panic? I couldn't deal with it at all."
Her eyes narrowed sternly. "I told you this wasn't about winning. The Gym Challenge is about self-discovery and growth. Nobody is perfect from the start." She shook her head in disappointment. "If anything, I'm the one who's sorry. I can only grant the two of you recommendations. My authority is much more limited than the professors of other regions. The three elemental starters are strictly under the purview of the champion."
"I'll win this without hand-outs. We've earned our strength." Hop's voice was laced with determination. "And when I win… I'll finally get to ask my question."
"Yeaaaaah." Victor strolled languidly towards them with his hands behind his head, having dropped out of battle-mode. "Leon sucks anyway. Imagine going full dragon when your name isn't Lance Blackthorn. That just makes you a dragon weeb."
They had been friends for sixteen years, but he still never understood the strange terms his friend used. "He doesn't suck." Hop refuted with a shake of his head. "He's the champion for a reason. But I'll beat him and take his place."
"Not if I do it first!" Victor stuck out his tongue before grinning widely. "You're gonna have to up your game if you want a shot at him."
"I'll crush you and your monster Wooloo before I take over as champion!" Hop held out his fist.
Victor bumped his fist. "Right back at ya, buddy."
"Ho ho ho." Professor Magnolia laughed happily. "It's so nice to see you boys get along. Now, the first stop of your journey is Motostoke to get registered for this season of the Gym Challenge. Remember to call Sonia when you arrive. That girl is such a worrywart."
"You got it, Grannie Maggie!" Victor nodded.
Hop just screeched. "It's Professor Magnolia!"
Current Team
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My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 2
Hop Kennedy
Hop said:
Hey bro! Just saw your opening ceremony in Motostoke. Gotta say that I'm Motostoked to do the same when I'm old enough! The uniform looks kinda cool. Did you get to talk to the gym leaders? Is Kabu as intense as he looks? I heard that he's really hardcore but nice to new trainers. Do you think you could get his signature for me?
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Leon said:
I was super nervous on the pitch! It felt like everyone was looking at me even though they were probably just looking at the gym leaders. Maybe I could become a gym leader in the future? That's an idea right? Which town do you think would suit me the most? Turffield seems like a good idea. Mom really likes the berries that they grow. They also like Wooloo which is a bonus. The current gym leader seems like he'll retire soon. So maybe… Anyway, I got Kabu to sign my uniform! I only realized that it was my only one after I sent it over. The League official scolded me for quite a while. Worth it though!
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Hop said:
Your match in Turrfield was crazy! I can't believe you brought down the final Pokemon with a Yamper! Isn't electric not very effective against grass? How did the Max Lightning even take it down? Then again, it's kind of crazy that your Charmander got taken out at the start. Guess the gym leader planned for fire types! And flying types too, since rock is super effective against both! Guess I know what to look out for! Looking forward to your next match!
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Leon said:
Yeah, Charmander shouldn't have gone down like that. I should have been prepared for a move like that. I guess what they say is true. Even if they use weaker Pokemon against Gym Challengers, it doesn't mean that the gym leaders lose their battle sense. Don't worry, I'll be prepared for something like this next time. And hey, at least I won in the end. That's one down and seven more to go!
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Hop said:
Woah! You got past Kabu! That dude battles as intensely as he looks! It was fiery as heck! I still can't believe his Pokemon could tank super effective hits so well. How'd you think he does it? Victor told me that he probably just gets them to go through endurance training against Pokemon they're weak to, but that's crazy talk right? He's always been strange, but at least he's nice. Anyway! You did really well! When it came down to Yamper and Centiskorch, I was on the edge of my seat! But that old dog really pulled through! Guess I'll be seeing you at the finals soon enough.
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Leon said:
It really shouldn't have been that close. I thought my plans against Kabu would work out. Why did he have so many tricks up his sleeve? At least I won. That's three down and five to go. Anyway, I'll talk to you next time. I've got some training to do.
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Hop said:
Hey bro… Sorry about your loss. It looked really close too! But that's okay, you can try again! Mom read the rules to me and it says that you can try as often as you want as long as the Gym Challenge is still going on. Yamper and Charmeleon looked like they were really hanging in there too! Don't mind it! Most people face their first loss at Kabu! Making it this far before losing for the first time already means that you're ahead! You can do it! We all believe in you!
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Leon said:
I won't lose next time.
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Hop said:
I heard about your sponsorship from Macro Cosmos! Why didn't you say anything? We're all so excited that you got help from Chairman Rose! Doesn't that mean he sees potential in you? That means he sees the same thing that our family does! Hell, the whole of Postwick thinks you can do it. We'll all be cheering for you. Do you think I could get Chairman Rose's signature too? That'll be pretty cool!
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Hop said:
Woah, that's your seventh gym badge down! Guess you must have been really busy training for your matches! Where did you even get a Drakloak and Dragonair from? Those must have been hard to get. Do you think I could find one when I go on my Gym Challenge? Are they hard to control? How come I didn't see Yamper this time? Is he okay? Anyway, we'll be cheering for you!
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Hop said:
What did you say to Sonia? Why was she crying? And why does she have Yamper? You haven't responded recently. Please reply.
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Hop said:
Can you tell the security guards for the finals to let us in? We wanna cheer you on before you go on to face the last leg of your journey.
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Victor Nash
The world of Pokemon can be kind of scary sometimes, even though it's basically a paradise usually. As the train breezed past the idyllic countryside and headed towards Motostoke, we soon arrived at the edge of the Wild Area. It never really hit me till now why they called it that. The place was basically a self-contained hell land that constantly shifted between rain, hail and sandstorms. I don't really know how that worked, but the explanation for most things is usually just some vague Pokemon thing. Honestly, I'm probably gonna give that place a pass for now. I'm not sure my pampered butt could make it through that hail.
"Hey Vik." I turned away from the window to see Hop staring intently at me. "Did you finalize your team choices yet?"
I rolled my eyes before turning back to the window, staring at the hellscape that is the Wild Area. "Haven't we been through this already? I'm just going to pick whatever cute Pokemon I find and that'll be it."
"But what about type coverage? Role composition? Tanks? Sweepers?" My friend extolled with frustration pouring through every pore. "And why even go for cute? Most of the strong Pokemon are fierce, like Charizard or Garchomp!"
I sighed and squished my face against the cool glass pane. "Why even go for 'strong' Pokemon? Is it even worth it if you don't like them?" My body shifted and leaned against the couch as I gave him the deadest stare I could muster. "Pokemon aren't just about battling. They're your friends for life. There's nothing wrong if you genuinely just like super giant dragon types. Heck, there's a whole clan dedicated to that concept. But I like cute Pokemon. So I'll go for cute Pokemon. Call me the cute type specialist if you must. In fact, I insist!"
"You have to know that Raul won't take you all the way. He might be strong now, but once the evolved Pokemon start appearing, he'll become dead weight!" His eyes narrowed with irritation.
"Gasp!"
"Did you just say ga-"
"Gasp!" I covered my mouth in faux shock, before taking Raul's ball and caressing it with my cheek. "Don't listen to this little Giratina. He doesn't know the glory of cuteness… or Arceus." I stood up and raised my hands to the roof. "Hail Arceus!"
Hop hurriedly pulled me down when he noticed that most of the other passengers were staring at me after my outburst. "Why are you like this?" He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm saying this for your own sake." My friend hissed through his teeth. "It's admirable that Raul has made it this far through sheer effort. I'm sure he can make it through Milo and Nessa, and maybe even Kabu, but what about after that? The battles are just going to get harder and harder from there. Even Leon lost at the fourth gym."
"Leon, Leon, Leon. All anyone talks about is Leon." My hand mimed my words mockingly. "Listen, buddy, if you pick Pokemon just based on their strength, you're going to regret it. The science for things like effort values and individual values isn't even an exact one. It's based on the average of the species. Raul is a super giga chad that's gonna squash Leon and his stupid brute force team."
Giving up on the lost cause that is me, he leaned back into his chair and exhaled. "At least tell me you have a plan to train them? And rolling around with Raul doesn't count!"
"Why not? I was showing him the majestic art of the Roly Poly! We were practicing it together! It doesn't matter how dark our souls get, the flames of our enemies will never reach us!" I stood up and clenched my fist, before Hop pulled me down again because the other passengers were staring. "How could you possibly understand your Pokemon if you don't think like them or understand how they feel? You told Arthur to divebomb his opponent when he couldn't see. That's why my dear Merry could so easily zigzag past your Power Trip."
"Is this another power of friendship speech?" He rested his face on his fist.
"You numpty!" I threw a biscuit at him, and it bounced off his face. "It's not just about the power of friendship. You don't gain some sort of super power just because your friends believe in you. It's about empathy and understanding. Who cares if the Pokemon are weak or strong? As long as you understand how to best utilize them, it really doesn't matter what you have on your team."
"But why can't you just do that and pick strong Pokemon?"
I sighed. "Cuz people who go straight for the OU list are scrubs. Besides, if I don't like them, how would I ever understand them properly?"
"What is an OU lis-" He shook his head. "Never mind. Let's just agree to disagree. We'll learn at the end whose ideal is right."
The train came to a startling halt in the station. Well, that's fine. According to the brochure, it usually only stops at the Wild Area station for about five minutes. There aren't many passengers who get on or off here. The intercom went off. "Dear passengers, a herd of Wooloo have obstructed the tracks. We appreciate your patience and kind understanding as we resolve the issue."
Dang, were canon events static or something? I thought coincidental shit like this would get butterflied away considering this world, or at least the Galar region, was nothing like the games. Oh well, nothing for it. I looked at Hop, who was rolling up his sleeves already, and nodded. We both stood up and made our way to the front of the train.
Hop Kennedy
He might not have been as informed about Wooloo as his close friend was, but he was still a Postwick boy. Herding around flocks of Wooloo was basically required knowledge during his childhood. It was almost a daily occurrence that a herd of Wooloo would block off the entirety of Route 1 through their sheer numbers, preventing them from reaching Professor Magnolia's house.
When they got off, they were greeted by the sight of a flustered train conductor, desperately trying to negotiate with the Wooloo into moving off into non-rail pastures. He was failing miserably. The Wooloo paid him no mind. The average Wooloo was docile and gentle. They were also very stupid. Like most simple minded Pokemon, they followed their basic needs to a T. Talking with them never worked out.
"Aite mate, me and my buddy got it." Victor patted the conductor on the shoulder and shooed him off. "Go on then Hop, it's your turn."
Resisting the urge to sigh, Hop marched forward to the back of one of the Wooloo. They were pretty instinctual creatures. If you could get one to move, the rest would automatically follow because of herd mentality. The best way to kick off the first domino? Fear. He took one hand and slapped the bottom of one of the Wooloos. It would roll away in panic once its brain caught up with the sensation.
Except nothing happened.
Thirty seconds later, all they could feel was the cold chill blowing past from the Wild Area.
What happened? This usually worked. Victor just sighed and stepped forward, shoving Hop away. "Guess these ones are a bit sturdier than the wimps we get at Postwick. C'mon, it's time for the Raul method." Hop just closed his eyes and turned away, trying not to feel the pain of secondhand embarrassment.
"C'mon out, Raul." The black sheep appeared with a flicker of light from the ball. "They gonna see us rolling and be hating, okay?" Raul just baaed in affirmation before looking straight ahead. Hop could see that a sizable crowd of passengers had gathered to watch the spectacle. He did his best to blend into the train, despite his bright blue jacket contrasting greatly with the glossy black exterior.
"Hup!" Victor did a forward roll alongside Raul, and the pair continued to roll down the tracks. The other passengers gasped in awe and delight as the herd of Wooloos panicked and parted down the middle, making way for the rambunctious pair. They were like the train itself, tearing through the sheep crowd as Wooloo after Wooloo rolled off the track in their panic. Eventually, the herd had enough and split in two, rolling away from the tracks entirely. Instead of feeling the same embarrassment that he did, Victor simply turned to the crowd and bowed deeply.
"Thank you! Thank you! I'll be here all day, or at least till my train reaches Motostoke."
Raul dipped his head in tandem. "Baa!"
Some of the crowd actually started throwing coins for the impromptu performance, much to the dismay of the train conductor who bemoaned the state of his tracks.
Hop just smashed his body harder against the train, going by the principle that the crowd couldn't see him if he couldn't see them.
Victor Nash
"Where's Sonia?" Hop put a hand on top of his eyes and peered through the crowd at Motostoke station. "Professor Magnolia didn't actually tell us how we'd find her."
I was honestly just glad I wouldn't have to go through the Wild Area for now. Thank god for my Raul and his big chad energy scaring away the Wooloo. "Have you tried using the revolutionary technology called an electronic telephone?"
"It's not like I didn't think about that!" He slapped me on the back in response. "But you know how she is… once she starts on an ancient manuscript or mural…"
"Yeah, it figures that the big history nerd would be too busy to hear her super loud ringtone." I cackled. "Imagine living in a world where creatures can spit fire and ice, but you're too busy being buried in a book to notice any of it."
Hop nodded in agreement. "For once, I agree with you. Pokemon are so wonderful and magical. Our understanding of them barely touches the surface. There's so much we don't know about them. What makes them strong or weak? Who created them? Did they create us too? How can they do the things they can do?"
"Yeah, only a huge nerd would be more interested in two dead old kings and fail to pay attention to the world around her." I felt a shiver travel up my spine. Before I could react, an arm grabbed me by the neck and pulled me in. From the corner of my eye, I could see Hop being pulled as well, his pupils dilating and darting about like manic pixies.
"Who's a huge nerd? You couldn't possibly be talking about Big Sis, right?" The demon held us close, preventing us from escaping. It didn't matter that I had trained both my Pokemon and my body for the last sixteen years, there was nothing I could do to pull myself free. All the strength had left my body. The fight or flight system had failed me, turning into the freeze in place system. Sonia's grip on our necks tightened, causing us to slowly turn blue. "And to think this Big Sis came all the way down from Hammerlocke to escort her ungrateful kids to their opening ceremony. I'm hurt! So hurt!"
The only ones being hurt right now were me and my buddy. In my heart, I had already begun to pray to my good friend Arceus to send me on a second Isekai if I died now. Before I could leave the mortal coil, she relaxed her grip before grabbing us by the backs of our collars, holding us limply. "Let's go before you hurt my feelings anymore." Her tone was joyful but I felt nothing but terror.
"It wasn't you we were talking about!" Hop cried in desperation as our feets dragged across the ground whilst she hauled us towards the main elevator in Motostoke. "You're not a nerd. You're an intellectual who has unearthed our forgotten history!"
"And did we mention beautiful and talented?!" I played along, miming his intentions. "The musical industry cried out when they lost an idol like you! And such a merciful idol you are too!"
The two of us sighed in relief when she dropped us on the ground. "That's what I thought. Now, since you've come straight from Wedgehurst, I assume that your team is well rested and you're ready for the sign-ups." We frantically nodded in synchronization, tracing each other like we were Espeons. "Good, then let's do that first." She reached her hands into our jacket pockets before snatching the envelopes Grannie Maggie gave us, before stomping towards the elevator. Like cute little Wooloos, we quietly followed behind the raging inferno of a woman.
Sonia was not what I expected when I first met her. Then again, other than people having the same names and appearances, as well as other major things like towns, a lot was different from the games. I wasn't sure if this was some offshoot from how much of a dick Leon was in this version of the Pokemon world. Instead of the bubbly and cheerful Assistant Professor of canon, Professor Sonia was a full on respected history Professor with a fierce and exuberant exterior. What did Leon do to turn her into this? I was too afraid to ask. What I did know was that the academia respected her greatly for tracing the lineages of the two kings to the current Shwert and Schild families. The two aristocratic families had since begun to heavily sponsor her studies after she inadvertently elevated their social standings, affording her a full on lab with assistants in Hammerlocke.
As the mechanical gears of the elevator ground against each other before spinning in reverse, flinging the platform upwards, I beheld Motostoke in all its awe and glory from above. Just because the Pokemon world was basically a post scarcity utopia, it didn't mean that economic activities had stopped. All it really meant was that basic needs like safety, water and food were met for everyone. Luxuries like electronics were still high in demand. From my vantage point, I could see multiple factories churning out tufts of smog and toxic air, a by-product of industrial production. Pokemon made things like pollution a moot point though. Kabu, the city's Gym Leader, had the ingenuity to import a large population of domesticated Alolan Weezing, who floated in the air space above the factories and purified the air. Pokemon were such bullshit and I loved every single one of them.
"All hail the mighty llama who provides for us puny mortals!" I supplicated and declared for every Gym Challenger to hear. As if they were used to it, Sonia and Hop simply grabbed an arm each before dragging me into the stadium. Their strenuous work carried on all the way till we hit the reception. Sonia let go of me and slammed both recommendations on the counter.
When faced with the possibly insane woman who had just violently accosted his desk, the receptionist fearfully opened Hop's envelope and scanned through the contents, before his eyes widened. "Kennedy? Like Le-"
"No."
Taken aback by the quick rebuttal, his eyes moved to Sonia. "And aren't you Professor So-"
"No."
With the intense glare of Sonia and the brooding gaze of Hop tearing into his very soul, he quickly completed Hop's registration by punching in a random uniform number before turning to me, his eyes filled with hope that I was just a normal Gym Challenger.
I crushed it into pieces.
"And your name i-"
"Hailing from the tranquil fields of Postwick!" I stepped one foot forward dramatically as one hand splayed out front with the other behind me. Sonia and Hop slapped their hands into their faces. "I am the herder of Wooloo, the breaker of hearts, the spawn of glory and the apostle of Arceus!" Raul and Merry left their balls and bounced in place, before posing dramatically with me. "I am… Victor Nash!"
The envelope hit me in the face. "Next Challenger!" The receptionist rudely interrupted my glorious introduction and moved on. Perhaps he didn't enjoy the attention. Sonia hurriedly grabbed the both of us, pulling us out of the stadium entirely. Her face was red with rage or embarrassment. I could never tell the difference. Maybe both?
"You'll need to go get a room at Budew Drop Inn. It's covered by the League so you should be fine. I trust that even two idiots like you can't get lost? It's literally a straight shot from here." I guess she had hit her quota of my antics for the day, because she stomped away pretty quickly.
"Ugh… let's just go before I learn Dig just to hide myself." Hop muttered as he trudged his weary body towards the hotel.
When we finally entered the lobby of the hotel, I was hit by yet another canon event that I thought might have been butterflied away. Dressed in their gaudy purple and black pseudo goth outfits, Team Yell were making a huge mess of things while a tiny slip of a girl was quietly shaking her head and sighing in the background. As we walked up to the hotel receptionist, Marnie's cheerleaders cut us off by standing in our path. One of the dudes walked up to me and yelled through his double horned loudspeaker.
Team Yell is here to say! Marnie is the queen and she slays!
If you step up to us, be prepared to battle!
But you better be ready or you'll get rattled!
I decided to fight fire with fire… or to fight their absurdity by being the most absurd troll I could be. This was my retirement life, after all. Arceus had allowed me into this glorious world so that I could spice up his prime time viewing or something, I think?
"I agree completely!" I nodded resolutely.
Unused to other trainers cooperating, the four grunts were taken aback. "What?"
"What do you mean, what?!" I cried loudly, drawing an even bigger crowd who thought a battle might be imminent. "All women are queens, but Marnie is the queeniest queen of all! She's a queen with a capital Q! Queen Marnie is the best!" It felt like I'd heard the tiniest squeak before it faded away into the cacophony of noise.
"Uh…" The grunt droned unintelligently, before snapping back. "That's right! You know what's up. You're alright in our books!" He stopped yelling through his loudspeaker and simply gave me a thumbs up.
"Say… Greg?"
"My name is Allen."
"Sure, whatever. Say, Greg." I dismissed his words and continued barrelling through. "That's a nice loudspeaker you have there."
"Oh yeah? You have an eye for quality!" He preened and ran his hand up and down the double horned loudspeaker. "This is a genuine craft of Spikemuth!"
"May I have a look? It's not often that I come across a master work such as this." Sure, if a dang loudspeaker could be considered as anything more than mediocre.
He handed it over to me promptly. "Of course! The Marnie supporters have to stick together!"
I took it and pretended to inspect it for a second, before placing the speaker over my mouth. "RAUL! KATAMARI DAMACY!"
My chad black Wooloo popped out of his ball and instantaneously used three instances of Cotton Guard. His already magnificent fleece puffed up significantly, before he rolled towards the four grunts. Caught off guard, they could do nothing but accept the inevitable, as they were swallowed up by a woolen wrecking ball. "Heh, problem solved." I grinned, before freezing when I turned to the reception counter, or the lack of it.
Raul had gone overboard, he hadn't just absorbed the grunts into his godlike puffball body, but had taken the counter and the butler reception man behind it as well, creating my first instance of collateral damage. Should I be proud or mad at my sheep god? Sheepishly, I walked up to the well dressed man in his bespoke suit and spoke softly. "Um, sorry? I was just trying to contain these four troublemakers. This was an accident." A cold sweat began to drip down my back. We were well-off, but if my Mom got the expense invoice for this, she'd still tear my ear off.
Unfazed by the situation despite being trapped in a woolen prison, the butler receptionist man simply spoke calmly. "No issue, sir. The youth are always rambunctious, after all!" He chortled politely. "Not to worry. An incident or two like this occurs yearly during the Gym Challenge. The League covers all of our expenses during this period, including repairs."
I just sighed in relief. Sonia was bad enough today. I didn't need my Mom jumping in with her motherly fury and rage.
Marnie Spike
Her wooden dead eyes peered across the room at the companion of that strange kid, the one wearing the bright blue jacket. His eyes that simply screamed death peeled away from the screaming grunts and met hers, and for that moment, it felt like they understood each other. They were comrades in pain.
Hop Kennedy
It was finally time.
"Ladies and gentlemen!"
His big moment to shine.
"I am Rose, chairman of the Pokemon League and Macros Cosmo!"
Leon would have to notice him now.
"I know that everyone here and everyone watching from home have all been waiting for this big moment!"
It didn't matter who stood in his way; the Gym Leaders, the other finalists or even Victor.
"It is my pleasure to announce that finally, the Galar region Gym Challenge will now begin! Only the most worthy will have the honor of challenging the greatest Champion in history!"
Hop would be the one to do it!
"Now, I would like to invite the Gym Leaders to show themselves!"
The crowd cheered as the eight Gym Leaders made their dramatic entrance into the stadium, walking towards the center. Milo, Nessa, Kabu, Bea, Opal, Melony, Piers and Raihan ambled slowly and purposefully under the adulation of the crowd. As the chairman announced the names of each Gym Leader, Hop slapped both palms against his cheeks to psych himself.
"And now… your challengers!"
Hop took his first steps towards his destiny.
Victor Nash
Kek. Hop's number is 069 and mine is 420. I take it all back. That receptionist was clearly an unmatched comedian.
Oh Arceus, what the fuck? Why are the lights so bright? I can't see anything! How the hell did the soccer players in my past life ever play a match under these conditions? Should have brought my sunglasses.
So what do we do now that we're at the center? Do we just awkwardly pose and wave? Hello? I'd appreciate some directions! Anyone?! My eyes are shriveling up from the lights!
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 3
Raul
Raul had lied to himself for his entire life. It was a lie borne of self-preservation. Pokemon weren't born as infants. From the get go, they were fully formed the moment they left their eggs. That explained why Pokemon were never found in varying states of maturity aside from evolution stages. It also meant that the moment Raul was born, his parents could cut him loose immediately. They didn't hate him. There was no hatred or malice in their eyes. It was an act borne of self-preservation. They rejected what was new or different and stayed away out of instinct.
Raul was different.
He was the most powerful of them all. The black fleece he bore set him apart from the common Wooloo. Unlike the rest, with the vacant looks in their eyes, there was something of substance sparking between his ears. None of them could roll as well as him. Within days of his birth, he had the rolling power of two Wooloos! He was a protector; not the one they needed, but the one they deserved. Responsibility came with a price. They shunned him out of necessity. The mighty Sigma Wooloo had to stand alone and go their own way. It was just the way of the world.
It was a lie.
He knew it was, but didn't dare to admit it. Though he didn't have the context to understand how he felt, Raul intrinsically felt the hurt that blossomed deep within his core every time the herd formed a wide berth around him. It was bad enough being the odd one out. It was far worse being rejected by your own kind. The humans were nice enough. They didn't really treat Raul any differently from the rest. Most of them were indifferent to the Wooloo, having been around them since birth. That was fine. At least they didn't reject him like the other Wooloo. He could cope with just that. Even the scraps off the table was better than nothing at all.
It was yet another lie.
Those lies dissipated into mist when a strange human boy first approached him. He was extremely fascinated with Raul, despite his black wool, gasping loudly and prodding at it with excitement. Sigma Wooloos were supposed to stand headstrong against threats. When dealing with a weirdo intruding on his personal space, Raul should have just rammed him away with his prodigious strength. And yet, his legs were locked. His mouth hung dry. How could he act as a protector this time? For the first time in his life, someone was interested in him. They didn't treat him with apathy or indifference. Instead of Raul moving towards them, the boy moved towards him.
The bizarre boy began to roll. Humans could move like Wooloo?! That shock only deepened when the boy continued to do so in every direction he could think of. Then the boy asked him to do the same. Pretty soon, the boy and Wooloo were rolling around the field in tandem, scaring away any white Wooloo who were nearby. This was the first time he had done anything with someone else. That same someone gave him a name. From that point on, he was known as Raul, the first Pokemon of Victor Nash.
Victor Nash
This was awkward as fuck. Rose and Leon were talking near the exit for the Gym Challengers. There really wasn't any way to get out other than to walk past them. Personally, I didn't really give a crap. Rose was an idiot in the games, and was possibly still one right now. Leon was probably worse. He already felt like a bit of a pillock when he was nice. This Leon was a lot different. My first inkling that things were different was actually this prick. Hop's mother was a quiet woman. I thought that was her nature, but it turned out to be a result of something else. The boyo was always somber whenever I brought up the Champion.
Of course, my biggest clue was his entirely different team.
My buddy on the other hand cared entirely too much. It felt like I could do a prose on anger and tension when I saw him. Hop's eyes narrowed as he clenched his fist. His attention wavered between the two. When he focused on Rose, I could feel the fiery tension and rage straining to burst free from his chest. On Leon? The hellish pits of despair. I think the worst part of it all for him was the utter indifference the two held towards him. Leon didn't even spare him a glance. Rose obviously didn't think he was important.
How do we get out of this? I was and still am a huge troll in my Arceus given new life. There really weren't many occasions where I needed to be serious. Everyone was safe and fed in this idyllic world. Me Ma was loaded from all the Wooloo moolah we were rolling in. I'm really only doing the Gym Challenge for fun and to meet some cute Pokemon. Why would I take any of this seriously? Some things were different. Those were the things I cared about. Hop was very different from his irritating self in the games. There was a real hurt and drive behind his goal of becoming champion. It was like that story about the orphan child who tried to become a famous violinist so he could find his parents. Hop just wanted to ask his big brother why he did the things he did. That's how I bought into his teenage angst, and dang it that made me care.
"Raul! You absolutely must not use the Katamari Damacy!" My dude bro sheep understood my meaning immediately. The shiny Wooloo left his ball on his own before beefing up his wool reserves with Cotton Guard, causing the passageway to be entirely blocked off. Then the chad sheep began to roll towards the pair. They went from indifferent to shock and panic real fast. I quickly took some pictures with the best cameras known as the eyes before following along the carnage. Raul had rolled and rolled till he reached the reception, before despawning his wool and returning to the ball.
I did another oopsie and hit some of the other participants in my little troll moment. After my annoying behavior of the previous day and today, they were now collectively glaring at me. I think that pink guy who looked particularly pissed was Bede! I happily waved at him, causing him to scoff before storming off. The only two who didn't look mad were Marnie and Hop, who looked confused and neutral respectively.
The two "important" pricks were now staring at me with consternation. With a placid smile on my face, I walked forwards to greet them. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! As you can see, I'm still a beginner who just started his journey. Please forgive me." My body bent at the shallowest possible one degree angle before straightening. "May I say that it is a great honor to meet you chairman Rose!" I stretched out my hand for a shake.
Under the scrutiny of the crowd, the megacorp fat cat had to swallow down his anger and smile, before he reached out to grasp my hand. "Oh, it's no problem. What is a journey for but discovery and self-improvement, right?"
Humans in the Pokemon world were more robust and open to self-improvement, at least physically. It explained why some people could tank hits from Pokemon or even outright defeat them when the situation was dire. Though I was sixteen, I had spent a good chunk of my life training everyday with the same routine I put my Pokemon through. What I told Hop about empathy and understanding was only one half of the reason. The other was that I thought it was only fair that I undergo any rigorous and torturous training I made my Pokemon do. That training was what made me physically on par with some of the fighting type specialists. What did I do when his hand curled around mine for a handshake?
I crushed his hand with as much force as I could muster.
The visible strain on his face was obvious, alongside the sweat drops that dribbled down the side of his face. His wide PR smile was cramping at the sides as he fought to maintain his image. He couldn't possibly cry out that a child was crushing the hand of a middle aged man right? Guys liked to look macho all the time for some reason. "That's a strong grip you have there." Rose lightly commented when we separated, his trembling hand sliding into a pocket.
"Oh my, I've been rude! It's so good to meet the GREATEST champion in history!" After snatching Leon's hand, I crushed it too. Why stop there? "Let me clean you up!" Under the guise of patting away and stray wool from their shoulders, I slammed my palms onto their shoulder blades, pushing down the grown men. "There, all better."
"We have something to attend to." They hastily spoke and left. Leon and Rose looked constipated, but there was nothing they could do in public towards me. I'd probably have to sleep with one eye open from now on though.
That just left the rest of the participants. Marnie just stared at me with confusion before walking off on her own. I guess Piers immunized her to weirdness to some extent. The rest of them were looking at me with annoyance and irritation, bordering on anger, for my Wooloo stunt and crass behavior towards the two most important people in the region.
Hop was the only one who looked anything but mad. He slowly stepped up to me, before softly whispering. "… thanks."
Aw shit. Of all things, he had to be sincere. It's super effective. That just made it worth being hated by basically all the current contestants and the big wigs. Who cares what they think anyway? Those mouth breathers probably thought Wooloo was weak or something. With a flourish, I released Merry the Zigzagoon. "Zigzag training let's go!" That absolutely wasn't my reason to leave ASAP. We ran in a zigzag pattern out of the stadium. Then we went for broke and decided to just leave the city altogether and head straight for Route 3 towards the first gym. Turffield, here we come!
Well that was my intent at least.
Standing at the west exit of Motostoke was Marnie, looking as if she was waiting for someone. That might have been me, because her head snapped in my direction when I arrived, or it might have been just the commotion that Merry and I were making.
"Oh, it's Queen Marnie!" I waved at her enthusiastically.
She blushed and looked away. So cute! She's embarrassed! "Don't call me that!" Marnie shook her head before looking down at the ground. Her chest heaved as multiple deep breathes went in and out, before she stomped her feet and before taking a stance. "I challenge you to a match!" Her finger pointed at me fiercely, a fire burning in her eyes.
"Okay?" My head titled in confusion. "Merry, you're up."
Though she was confused as ever, my Pokemon stepped up to the impromptu field. Come to think of it, were we blocking the exit by fighting here? I guess it's fine. The first thing you got used to in Pokemon was people fighting in all the strangest places. It's like mini flash traffic jams. Marnie stared at her ball with hesitation for a second before throwing it out, releasing a Croagunk.
"I'm sorry for using a type advantage this way… knowing what Pokemon you already have out, but I want to win!" She pumped her fist.
Marnie Spike
When she had seen him the night before and at the stadium earlier, Marnie had thought of him as the clownish sort. He didn't seem to take the Gym Challenge seriously at all. Did the constantly sold out tickets and millions of online viewings mean nothing to him? Hundreds and thousands of people used their time and money to watch their matches, even at the beginning of the Gym circuit. None of this was a joke, yet he treated it like one with his stunts. This battle wasn't personal. Her brother and his followers would never take her seriously if she won the Gym challenge against opponents like this clown. It would be good for him to start taking things seriously too; the journey was about discovery and personal growth, after all.
Maybe if she won against a real challenge at the finals, she'd stop living in the shadow of Piers, who revitalized their city with the help of Macro Cosmos. If she fought hard enough, maybe Team Yell would actually mean it when they said she was the best. Defeating this clown now would just be the first step. That was why she released a fighting type that Zigzagoon was doubly weak to.
But something was off about him now.
"Did you think a type advantage means you'll win?" The playful demeanor he had earlier faded away as if it never existed. His face was entirely blank. "Merry, Play Rough."
Her eyes widened. That wasn't a move Zigzagoon could even learn! "Croagunk! Sucker Punch!" She shouted hurriedly.
The move Sucker Punch was supposed to speed up a Pokemon just enough to get their attack off first. Instead, Croagunk was slashed across the face. It stumbled backwards, clawing at its eyes. What happened? She squinted and looked harder, finally noticing tiny smatterings of sand on her Pokemon's face. "Did you just use Fury Swipes and Sand Attack?!"
"Play Rough again. Talking isn't a free action." He reprimanded lightly.
Her head whipped back to the field, but it was too late. While it was trying to get the sand out, the opponent had slashed across its face once again, making the situation worse. She had to regain control of the situation! "Revenge!" She called out, just as Zigzagoon had attacked with a Headbutt. To her horror, Croagunk's fist lit up with fighting type energy and lashed out… in the wrong direction. Marnie should have known, with its sight impaired like that, it was difficult to aim for the opponent.
"Merr-"
"Wait!" Marnie cried out, before holding out a pokeball. "I'm retiring Croagunk. He can't fight anymore."
"Very well." Her opponent nodded, accepting it easily. "Send out your next Pokemon."
She fingered the ball on her belt before sending out Scraggy. Her fist clenched around the pokeball. Victor wouldn't get a chance to play his tricks this time!
"Scraggy, low kick!"
"Pounce!"
Trying to sweep its opponent away, Scraggy's foot lit up with fighting type energy and swept out. Unfortunately, the Zigzagoon was much faster. It leapt into the air, dodging the Low Kick, before landing on Scraggy's chest, pinning it to the ground. That wasn't a problem for Marnie. Getting up close to a fighting type when you were doubly weak to it was just foolishness.
"Brick Break!" "Headbutt!"
Scraggy understood her intentions immediately. Instead of trying to kick the Zigzagoon off, it punched at its side with a Brick Break. Her opponent wasn't idle either, as its head lit up with normal energy before slamming down on Scraggy's head. The two Pokemon continued this exchange, one punching the other in the side with the other slamming its head down. Marnie thought she had this in the bag. Victor might have said that type effectiveness didn't mean victory, but in a direct slug match like this, it meant that-
Zigzagoon fell off Scraggy, its body slackening on the ground. "Good job Scraggy!"
Her Pokemon didn't move. "Scraggy?" Marnie moved closer to get a better view. To her shock, it was unconscious.
"Return. Good job, Merry." The Zigzagoon was awash in light as it returned to its pokeball. "I told you." Her opponent's voice was soft, barely carrying through the wind. "Type effectiveness doesn't equate to victory."
"How?!" Her head whipped to him, tears of frustration threatening to pour out.
He looked to the side, as if remembering something. "I'm not on this journey because I was interested in being a champion. Well, maybe I wanted to beat Leon up a bit. Ponce deserves it. Other than that, all I'm really interested in is playing with cute Pokemon. Raul wanted to be strong and begged me to train him up. Merry just followed along with the training because she wanted to do things with her friend. You have no idea how hard my Pokemon have trained for this. Type effectiveness?" Victor shook his head before he returned to his side of the field. "Strength and hard work triumphs everytime."
She clenched her fists in frustration. Was he saying that she didn't work hard and struggle to reach this point like he did? That wouldn't stand. She would show him! "Morpeko!"
Her signature Pokemon arrived on the field. Following her, Victor released that same Wooloo that caused both of the incidents she saw. "Finish it, Raul."
Before she could get a command out, the Wooloo rolled faster than a speeding car towards Morpeko before colliding with it, sending the two-sided Pokemon flying. Despite all the training they had gone through, it had taken a single hit for Morpeko to fall unconscious. This was… how? Marnie went forward and clutched it to her chest.
"Now I feel bad." The demeanor of her opponent shifted again, like he had multiple personalities. He scratched the back of his neck as if he was embarrassed. "I didn't mean to be this harsh and end the fight so soon. Raul is just… a lot to handle sometimes."
"No." Her teeth grinded together in frustration, but she held it in. "It was a fair fight. You were just stronger. I'll… I'll defeat you next time."
To her shame, she ran off with her Pokemon to the Pokemon center. At the very least, Victor had proven that he wasn't just clowning around. He was a very real obstacle to her being the next champion. She would win next time! Her determination was real! It didn't matter that her face was reddening from the embarrassment of running away after a fight!
Raul
"-was a good fight, Marvin. Thank you for showing me what a good grass type can do. I'm more prepared to fight Milo now." His owner and best friend was shaking the hands of the schoolboy they just fought. He wasn't very strong, like most of the trainers on Route 3. The kid didn't take the defeat too badly, considering it was just a practice match. The two of them talked for a bit before parting ways, with Raul following Victor from behind. Before they got far, the sheep heard a rustle from behind, causing it to tense up before turning back to see what it was.
From the tall grass, a Vulpix sauntered out with the tip of its nose pointing into the air. "Oh my gosh, it's a Vulpix! Look at it! It's so cute and smug!" Victor was gushing over the fox. Raul felt an ugly feeling tremble down its spine.
"What's that? You want to fight?" His owner asked the fox. It somehow managed to nod while continuing to point its snout upwards. What a prick. "Oh? You think we're the only ones worth battling so far? If you lose you'll have to join the team you know?" Why was he making those kinds of decisions without consulting him? "Alright Raul, you're up."
Warily, he stepped up and observed the opponent. That was one proud fox. It probably thought that it was stronger, not knowing the hell Raul put itself through each and every day. "Baaaa!" He cried out challengingly. Vulpix didn't deign to answer, wallowing in its pride. Very well, Raul would be happy to crush those delusions.
"Do whatever you want." Victor allowed. Raul rolled forward at rapid speeds. The fox reared back in shock, as if it didn't expect such a quick response and attack. In its panic, it yipped and shot forth an ember at the wrecking ball that was headed straight for it. Raul felt the flame wash over him. Even though fire type attacks were strong against him because of his thick fur, that sort of pain was nothing compared to the pain he felt during training, allowing him to shrug it off and barrel straight through the fox. It was knocked out immediately, falling to the ground unconscious.
"Nisu!" Victor gave him a thumbs up before taking out a pokeball. "New team member getto!"
No, that couldn't happen! Merry was one thing, but this bastard could not be allowed to- Before his owner could throw out the ball, the Wooloo curled up again and began rolling towards the fox. If he could get rid of it now, Victor would see that it was too weak to join the team.
Victor Nash
Before I could throw the ball, Raul was attacking the unconscious Vulpix. I really should have known he would do something like this! Didn't he already get over his issues?! In my panic, I did the only thing I could do; I jumped in front of the Vulpix and braced myself. I felt it all in an instant. A massive impact caused me to go flying as a bundle of pain blossomed in my chest. Was this how Raul's opponents felt when he went against them head on? This was-
I blacked out for a second.
When I snapped back to reality and quickly sat up, I found my black little Wooloo standing over me, shedding tears. Despite the pain I was in, I reached out my hand to wipe the tears away. "Don't cry you baby. This is my fault. I should have asked the team before adding someone. Well, maybe just you. Merry is too dumb to understand it."
My poor little baby tried its best to bury his head into my hand, as if to assure himself that I was fine. "C'mon you dummy. We can't be champions with only two members. Leon the dragon weeb has a full team. You'd be exhausted after fighting just one or two of them, not to mention all six."
"Baa!" He shook his head stubbornly.
I held both sides of his head. "C'mon man. Give it a chance! You can't just carry the team forever. Our battles will get harder and harder from here on out. We might have years of training on the trainers that are just starting, but the Gym Leaders have been around for a long time."
Raul tried to move his head away and look elsewhere, but I held on stubbornly and looked him in the eye. "Just believe in me. You'll always be important to me. We're only on this trip because you wanted to go, right? Vulpix is essential in beating the shit out of Leon."
I'm not sure what he saw in my eyes or if my words moved him, but Raul eventually nodded. "Baa…"
"Alright, I'm doing it this time."
Vulpix had joined our team.
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
Last edited: Jan 13, 2024
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 4
Hancock
She was the strongest Vulpix in the area, that was an undeniable fact. Ever since her birth, there wasn't a single Vulpix which could stand up to her. Their flames did nothing more than ruffle her pristine and lucious fur. She was the god of Vulpixes. That was why she went on to challenge the other species of Pokemon in the area. Panchams fled at her approach. Stunkies left their revolting scent behind when they spotted her. Even the ever ready Tyrouges turned cowardly when she was around.
There wasn't any challenge left in the area. She could continue to hang around and lord over the Pokemon here, but that felt boring. Instead, she wanted to lord over all of the Pokemon everywhere. A small dinky place like this could not contain her greatness. While she could easily just leave herself, the time she spent in this place had shown her the greatness of servants. It was so interesting! Those humans were perfect for her. They basically ferried around Pokemon, fed them and taught them how to fight better. She was definitely interested in getting her own servant, but it couldn't be just any one. A perfect Pokemon deserved a perfect human.
It took a few months, especially since human traffic seemed to be low during that season, but he finally arrived. She watched as he defeated human after human in Pokemon battles with ease. That Wooloo of his seemed especially strong. The Zigzagoon was a definite cut above the rest too. After a brief moment of consideration, she stepped forward to present herself. First off, she looked down on him with her signature look of superiority. Her superiority was at such a level that her head had to bend backwards to convey that. When the human acquiesced to a battle for capture rights, she had already planned it out. First, she would beat up his entire team. Then, she would graciously allow him to put her in one of those balls, an obvious sign that he was volunteering to be her servant. When the Wooloo stepped up, she wasn't concerned. Nothing could defeat her.
Then it knocked her out in one hit.
When she finally came to, the sky had already turned dark. The warmth of the crackling fire gave her the energy to blearily open her eyes, where she spotted the human and his two other Pokemon munching on some sort of food. The human welcomed her and introduced the team and himself. Victor named her Hancock, after another woman he knew who exuded pride and had the same signature look of superiority that she constantly had. Hancock graciously accepted the name he gifted. If that other woman had even one tenth of her prowess, it would be a fitting name.
When it was finally time to train and expand her abilities, the smart human started with assessing which moves she knew. After she demonstrated them all, he nodded happily. "That's great! You already know most of the moves that I would want in a Vulpix. We don't have to waste time learning those." That was a given. She was the god of Vulpixes.
"Unfortunately, you're way too weak currently. You should be fine with Milo, but Nessa and Kabu are going to cream you as you are currently." Her world shattered from his words. Weak? She was the strongest there was! Her hackles raised as she growled angrily.
"Woah there! Need I remind you that Raul over there punted you with one hit?" He unnecessarily pointed back at the Wooloo. "I'm totally okay with you having that kind of personality and all, as long as you don't go around hurting others, but pride without power is just arrogance." His eyes hardened. Suddenly, he didn't seem so servant-like anymore. "You haven't earned a lick of that power. I can just tell. Raul and Merry have trained for years to reach this point." His hand grabbed her head. The chills she felt going down her spine reminded her of the ghost type energy she felt from Lick. "It's time to train. We'll have to work extra hard to make you ready before Milo."
That was the day she descended into hell.
Victor Nash
My first steps into Turffield were met with a fluffy cannonball. When the Wooloo careened down the path and smashed into me, I simply caught it. This was nothing compared to Raul. Judging from the texture of the fur, this felt like a normal untrained Wooloo. Did one of the Gym Challenge Pokemon escape again? Milo, the Gym Leader, came running up in his half sports half farmer outfit.
"Look out for the-" He paused in confusion. "I see that you've caught it. You're a strong one ain't ya?"
Instead of replying, I walked over and handed the Wooloo back to him. Unsurprisingly, with his huge frame and muscular arms, Milo was easily able to hold on tight to the Wooloo, who still remained docile and glassy eyed. "You've gotta keep an eye on them. These dumb dumbs can't actually plan an escape but they'll mindlessly wander around to the point that they look like escape artists."
"That's true!" He belted out a loud laugh. "Sorry for the inconvenience! The Gym gets a little hectic at the start of the Gym Challenge every year!" Milo took a closer look at me, and a glimmer of recognition entered his eyes. "Hmm yeah. You'd definitely have the strength to manhandle a Wooloo. I saw what you did to Chairman Rose and the Champion."
"Ahhaha…" I scratched the back of my neck nervously. "You saw that?"
"… we all did. The Gym Leaders were using the same exit. Kabu wanted to talk to you but you ran off in a hurry." He explained patiently.
"And you're not mad?" I basically used violence on the League chairman and champion at the same time in front of some of the highest ranking officials in the region. I didn't think Milo was the type to hide his feelings, so his response was confusing me.
"No." He turned around and faced the city. "I hope you do well in the Gym Challenge. Come down in an hour if you plan on challenging me today. In the meantime, enjoy some of our produce. It tastes even better before shipping!" The big man walked away with the Wooloo in his arms. I wonder what that was about?
I guess I could enjoy the city before going in. The first stop is the giant geoglyph I think? Galar is just Pokemon England, so a lot of the landmarks and cultural aspects are carried over. I'm not really sure if it really means anything for me though. It was supposed to be a foreshadowing for Rose's summoning of Eternatus because he panicked about the lack of energy. That was hardly going to happen now because the scientists in this world didn't get the stupid ball. They had already harnessed unlimited clean energy in various forms.
Maybe the rest of the city would be more fun? Mom always enjoys the produce they grow here. While food was plentiful and no one actually starved, premium food will always be in demand for those who can pay for it. Turffield's little niche is their careful and meticulous raising of crops and berries. With the power of science and skilled farmers, the crops that are exported out are a lot tastier than the normal stuff you get at the markets.
… I should probably feed Hancock some. She still twitches when I mention training.
Dan Referee
Dan Referee the referee came from a long line of referees, hence the name. They had served the Pokemon League with pride through countless generations, dating all the way back to the first rendition of the Gym Challenge, which was just known as the trial. The modern version was even better. Each participant had to go through a mission before facing the Gym Leader. The mission usually depended on the locale and Leader. For example, Milo required Challengers to herd Wooloo back into their pens, all while dodging Yampers and Gym trainers. This ensured that trainers had the patience and fortitude to take on the Gym Challenge as a whole, especially in the second half. He still had no idea what Bea's tea cup mission taught though.
The Challenger that walked in was one he recognized on sight. This was the boy who had disrespected the Gym Challenge, the Chairman and the Champion with his antics. If he were a younger man, he would have fought him on the spot for daring to act that way with the region's sacred rites. As it were, he still had pride as the official referee of the Gym Challenge. Dan Referee would not shame the Referee name this day. The mission would go on. Milo could sort him out.
"The mission given by Turffield's Pokemon Gym is this!" He gestured towards the Wooloo and hay bales. "Chase our unruly Wooloo through the hay bale blockades!" Dan would normally introduce himself at this point, but there wasn't a need for a ruffian like him. "Now let the Gym Challenge begin!"
The participant simply rotated his arm as if he was stretching while laughing out loud. "Rousing up Wooloo is just a daily chore for a Postwick boy!" Dang it! He was from Postwick? Of course they would find Wooloo easy to deal with! The ruffian grinned and threw out a pokeball. "Excuse me, you may not battle the Wooloo!"
To his surprise, a shiny Wooloo appeared from the ball. "I'm not battling them. Raul, chase them down!" The moment the shiny Wooloo started moving. To his shock, their stray Wooloo started to panic and roll away in the only direction they could; in the direction of the hay bales. They moved with such speed and agility that their momentum was barely blunted by the impact of demolishing the blockade. The Yampers and trainers were simply ignored as the Wooloo basically stampeded down the narrow path, screaming away with their baaing. Dan could see one of the Gym trainers scrambling to get himself out of the way. Eventually, all three of the blockades went down as the Wooloo escaped back into their pens.
"The mission is… complete?"
Dan wanted to go home.
Gym Leader Milo
The Gym circuit in Galar was fixed unlike the other regions. It began in Motostoke and ended in Hammerlocke. That made it easier for the Gym Leaders to plan Pokemon of appropriate levels for the Gym Challengers. Milo would only ever face beginners, so he only had to keep Pokemon of around that strength. He liked being the first. If Kabu was the iron wall that kept Challengers from going further, weeding out the truly strong from the rest, Milo was the one who clued them in on what the circuit would be like and cheered them on. It really didn't suit him to be the one that discouraged them. Kabu was stronger than he seemed for performing his role on an annual basis.
As Victor walked through the field, he had to stifle a laugh. The way he completed the mission was truly unique. He hadn't known that shiny Wooloo caused that reaction in their normal brethren. It wasn't surprising to him in the slightest though. Wooloo tended to operate entirely on instincts and would get scared by something aberrant. It was fitting that the trainer matched the Pokemon.
All of the Gym Leaders had seen what Victor did to Rose and Leon. None of them were upset about it. In fact, they reveled in joy in The Captain's Table during their post opening ceremony dinner. Thank Arceus neither Leon nor Rose were invited. They might have fired them on the spot with how loudly Bea and Nessa were laughing. It wasn't exactly a secret that they despised the chairman and champion. Using both leadership positions, Rose was able to do whatever he wanted, entirely to his benefit. You didn't need to be a genius to see the correlation to Macro Cosmo's growth and the time Leon was crowned Champion. Unfortunately, Gym Leaders only had administrative power at a local level. They could interfere in minor ways, but that would only invite backlash to the citizens of their towns who were innocent.
When he came face to face with Victor, he reached forward and clasped their hands together loudly. "That was some mighty fine Wooloo handling. You're definitely a Postwick boy!"
"Was it that obvious?" Despite their first impressions of his thuggish nature, the teenager almost seemed shy when Milo praised him.
"It was when you shouted it out loud." He grinned. "My Gym's the first one people face, so we get a lot of Challengers. That's why I try to keep the Gym mission challenging but that didn't stop you from completing it, Victor! Proper job! We have high hopes for you!"
With that ominous statement hanging in the air, he walked back to his post and posed with his fist clenched. The showmanship was part of it all. People from across the world watched their matches and paid for their infrastructure as a result. With a twist and flick, Milo threw out his pokeball to release Gossifleur on the field. He turned to look at Victor and was stunned. The once overly expressive teenager had gone completely stock still with no expression on his face. He held out his pokeball, causing a ribbon of light to hit the ground, revealing a Vulpix.
New trainers did this on a yearly basis. They thought that type effectiveness was all it took to win, especially in the first Gym. Most of them didn't realize that experienced trainers wouldn't just let their Pokemon stand around and trade hits. As a result, Milo had seen his fair share of Rookidee and Vulpix. He knew exactly how to deal with them, even with a disadvantage.
"Goss! Use Razor Leaf!" Milo yelled immediately. Vulpix and their evolution were iron walls against special attacks such as Magical Leaf or Round, but their normal defense was significantly lower. A continuous barrage of Razor Leaf would bring it down in time if the opposing trainer couldn't match the tempo of the match.
Without even receiving a command, the Vulpix dodged and shot out an eerie purple flame at Gossifleur. My goodness, he'd trained the Pokemon to this extent? The Vulpix had basically covered its defensive weak point by trying to burn its opponent. A Burned Pokemon had its physical attack halved, which compensated for Vulpix's deficiencies. Having a Pokemon react automatically to a physical attack like that was astounding! This must have taken months of training.
"Gossifleur, dodge!" He commanded out of instinct. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough as the purple flames tracked it down and burnt it. It reared back in pain, which only gave the Vulpix an opening to follow up with a dizzying array of lights that flashed around his Pokemon before winking out. Ah, the pain of being a veteran trainer without the team of one. Gossifleur was now burnt and confused. He'd normally just retire it at this point if this were a normal fight. A grass type laden with status ailments stood no chance against a Vulpix. Unfortunately, this was a televised event with a full stadium of audience watching. The show had to go on.
"Snap out of it and use Magical Leaf!" Though it was a beginner and barely trained, Gossifleur tried its best to follow his command, but couldn't fight through the burns and confusion. As it struggled in vain, the Vulpix actually paused to preen and point its nose in the air.
"Training." Victor simply said a single word, but the Vulpix shivered before angrily dashing right for Gossifleur, spewing a continuous barrage of Embers. It didn't take longer than a few seconds for his Pokemon to faint. That was brutal, especially for an almost untrained Pokemon. He'd apologize to it later with some of Piers' music. For now, he had a job to do.
He withdrew his Pokemon before sending out Eldegoss. To his surprise, Victor did the same and sent out that shiny Wooloo he used earlier. Challengers had the right to two substitutions per match, but it didn't make any sense for him to do that right now. Vulpix was barely winded. The Gossifleur hadn't managed to do any damage at all. Wooloo didn't have the type advantage either. Well, he didn't have the time to criticize his decisions mid-match. It was time for the highlight.
Some people from other regions had argued on forums that their decision to use Dynamaxing on the last Pokemon didn't make any sense. It should have been a move that was used as and when necessary. Doing it like this made the Leaders look predictable. They were right, but they did it this way for a reason. This wasn't just about the match, but the spectacle they put on. Dynamaxing served as a climax and conclusion to it all. Regardless of their original size, it would end with two gigantic Pokemon duking it out to the end. Milo recalled Eldegoss before triggering his Dynamax band, causing the Pokeball to expand in size, he turned around and threw it, releasing a hundred meter tall Eldegoss.
He turned back to his opponent, only to see Victor impatiently tapping his foot without moving an inch. Only the Gym Leaders were beholden to the rule of Dynamaxing, but the Challengers usually followed along because not doing so put them at a severe disadvantage. Oh well, it was his loss. There was nothing tactical about this. "Max Overgrowth!" His Pokemon crooned loudly and released gigantic seeds across the field.
"It's time for the Roly Poly." Victor's soft voice somehow reached Milo despite the cheering crowd. The what?
To his shock and everyone else's, the Wooloo simply rolled away from an attack that spanned half the arena. That was impossible! You couldn't just dodge Max Attacks! No one was fast enough! Even an Accelgor using Extreme Speed couldn't do that! Yet, the Wooloo wasn't using speed at all. It had remained in its half of the arena. It was just somehow rolling through just the right spots to avoid getting blasted with grass type energy. After two more attempts at Max Overgrowth, the Wooloo remained completely unharmed, having just rolled through the attacks. The cheering crowds were silent for once. Milo was the same. In all his years, he had never seen such bullshit. His Eldegoss shrunk down to its normal size, having exhausted all of the Dynamax energy and its own. That was the downside of Dynamaxing. The energy couldn't sustain the attacks by itself, some of it came from the Pokemon too.
"Tackle."
And it was over, not with a bang but a whimper. Eldegoss simply toppled over after a light hit from the shiny Wooloo. Was this how the other Wooloos felt? He was completely flabbergasted. Despite all of that, he swallowed down his exclamations and questions to do his duty. Putting on the biggest smile he could muster at that moment, he confidently walked forward and shook Victor's hand.
"How did you do it? I didn't even think that was possible." He spoke softly after muting the mic he wore so no one would hear. It was up to Victor to tell him, but the public shouldn't be privy to trainer secrets.
Juxtaposing his earlier behavior, Victor beamed widely. "I just got the local Zigzagoon population to blanket an entire area with their Snarls. Raul had to train for years to dodge those fake Max Attacks." The teen enthusiastically pumped his arm, thankfully not to the extent that he had done to Rose. "I'm just glad it worked. We didn't know if it would till today!"
That almost sounded cruel. If he didn't already think that the Wooloo was the battle hungry type that wanted that kind of training, Milo might have arrested him on the spot for Pokemon cruelty. As it were, he kept the conversation going. "Did you put your Vulpix through the same kind of training? Its ability to react to different situations was very impressive. That must have taken years!"
"… years? I got Hancock a few days ago." The worst part of it all was that Victor looked genuinely confused at his statement.
Milo wanted to go home.
Gloria Nash
Her home felt a bit lonely without her son around. The silence had started to creep in after his match ended. It was quickly broken by the clinking of keys and the door opening. Victor walked in holding a crate of Cheri Berries. "Mom! I got you your fav!"
Though her chest blossomed with joy that her little baby had returned so quickly, she was extremely confused. "Why did you come back so quickly? Didn't you just finish your match?"
"Oh, you watched it?" He seemed pretty happy that she did, but that was a stupid question. She would watch all his matches even after he became Champion. "I told you that I wouldn't be gone for long. Also, why would I train in the wilderness if I just want to do stat training for Hancock? The taxi can get us back in like ten minutes."
It took awhile for her to understand some of the strange terms he'd use out of the blue. Stat training was what he called training the muscles and type energy usage of his Pokemon. Hancock must have been that adorable little Vulpix he showed off against Milo. Gloria reached down and pulled his cheek. "Tell me the real reason."
"I need your help to talk to Raul." His words were garbled but she understood him well enough. Her boy could tell you anything you wanted to know about Pokemon, but he was horrible at the telling part. It took a long time for people to warm up to him and look past that 'troll' nature of his. Every mother said this, but Victor was a nice boy. Half the reason he even went on this journey was because of Hop and Mrs Kennedy.
"Oh dear." She held her cheek. "What is he mad about this time?"
"Hancock."
"Ah, the same as when Merry joined then?" Gloria got the gist instantly.
Her son put down the crate and sighed. "I think he might see that as a one off incident. Merry is literally so stupid that she might die in the wild if we left her alone. The only reason she followed us home was because she thought Raul was the same species as her because of his coloration."
"That was a fun day. I'd never seen anyone so shocked at their reflection before." She tittered, before turning serious. "I accept your bribe of Cheri Berries. Were they fresh from farmer Godwin's?"
Victor nodded fervently. "Fresh as can be. I picked them myself. The only time after that was my quick mission and match before I flew back. I swear!"
"Good boy." She ruffled his hair. "Okay, call them out."
He released Raul first, and bent down. "Hey buddy, our Dark Souls Roly Poly Dodge Roll training actually worked! We took down a real boss!" She wasn't even going to try to understand what he was talking about. At least the Wooloo looked happy enough about it, baaing in return. That was good. These kinds of talks were better when they were in a good mood. Then he released Hancock and Raul's expression soured instantly.
"You see what I mean?" Victor rubbed his temple. "I can get them to work together but I can't get them to like each other. My dream of double fluffy Wooloo x Ninetails heaven is getting further away as we speak."
"Hmm. Yes." Gloria bent down and looked Raul in the eye. "Raul, listen to me." Despite his battle hungry nature, he snapped to attention straight away. She had put the fear of Arceus in him already when he knocked down one of their walls earlier on. "Hancock isn't here to replace you. Leon's team has six members. We need six members to crush him so thoroughly he'll cry as hard as Mrs Kennedy does when she thinks no one is looking. Are you following along?"
Raul nodded with a quiet baa.
"Hancock is your ally in this journey. Victor is kind of stupid sometimes and he needs more Pokemon to look after him. While you're doing your… Dark Souls Roly Poly Dodge Training, Hancock can look after Victor. If you get ganged up on by wild Pokemon, there's one more friend helping you guard your trainer. Do you understand me so far?"
"Baa."
"Now I want you to try getting along with her. Let's start with sharing some fresh Cheri Berries." She put a few on the ground in front of Raul. "Go on." Gloria gently prodded.
Raul slowly rolled over a few berries in front of Hancock, who was busy pointing her nose in the air. Victor cleared his throat and said something along the lines of 'training', which snapped her out of it and got her to scarf down the berries. "That's a good boy, Raul. Now, you wait right here while I go talk to our new friend."
She squatted in front of Hancock. The Vulpix was backing away due to some sort of premonition it was getting, but that couldn't be the case. She was a very nice mother. Just look at the radiant smile she was giving off!
"Let's talk about the house rules, shall we?"
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 5
???
In an astounding turn of events, Champion Leon has singlehandedly quelled the rampant Dynamxed Liepard! As our viewers are no doubt aware, wild Liepard are usually moody and vicious Pokemon, unlike their tamed counterparts. With Dynamax energy running through it, the day was set to be a disaster! Everything turned around when our beloved Champion rushed to the scene aboard his signature Charizard! Without the advantage of Dynamaxing, he was still able to bring down the Liepard, preventing damage to the cultural center of Galar, Hammerlocke. Chairman Rose had this to say about the incident…
… technology to capture and utilize Dynamax energy for daily use has long since been perfected by Macro Cosmos Energy! There is close to no energy loss in the conversion process; less than 0.1% of the total absorbed. Unfortunately, it is entirely too costly to blanket the entire region with those same receptors. As you know, Dynamax energy is a natural phenomenon in our homeland. It would be foolish to attempt to cut it off completely. Incidents like this will continue to happen. But never fear! Champion Leon will continue to safeguard our homes and lives! A great man like him is able to single handedly hold the region on his shoulders! With the support of Macro Cosmos, our Champion will continue to protect everything we hold dear!
Victor Nash
"Vik! I challenge you!"
Hop was literally waiting right outside of the Pokemon center. It's been a week since I won against Milo. With the support (read:cooking) of me Ma, I've been putting my team through hell training, especially Vulpix. That might not be enough to fully prepare her to face Nessa, the water Gym Leader, but we'll still have a few more days from traveling through route 5. Holding off on the challenge is an option too. We have a whole half a year to complete the Gym Challenge. No one said I had to rush if I didn't feel ready.
It's just good practice to bring your Pokemon in to a center periodically even if they aren't hurt. No one knows better than a Nurse Joy or Chansey if your Pokemon are alright. I always do so after a stretch of hell training. As usual, Chansey gave me the all clear and released them to my care. Hancock really enjoyed playing up the trauma card, but Pokemon were actually far more resilient than humans. They could take a lot of rough treatment if it was goal oriented, like my hell training. It was only when you started to actually abuse them that things got dicey.
So why was Hop here? That's just his way of being considerate. Beating me when my Pokemon were exhausted from training wouldn't count. Unlike the win at all costs dragon weeb Leon, Hop wanted his victories to actually mean something. The few that he got over me were when he looked the happiest. Obviously, he could only challenge me when my team was at peak condition. The easiest indicator of that? Being fresh out of the Pokemon center of course!
"Have you just been waiting here all week for a fight instead of just fighting Milo?" I asked, exasperated at his behavior. "You can always just challenge me after that, you know? I won't turn you down or anything."
"I just… I need to know for sure that I can win against Milo. The easiest way to know is to see how I fare against you." This silly summer child. Hop isn't actually adverse to losing. He wouldn't have challenged me hundreds of times over the years if he was. He was adverse to losing officially in a Gym match. His precious Leon couldn't be given any chances to look down on him. "Maybe I won't win, but this will be a good test for Heracles!"
"Heracles? Was it a Tyrouge or a Pancham?"
"Guessed it already?" His form slackened in disappointment. "It's a Pancham…"
"I think Po might be a better name for that Kung Fu Panda." I shook my head in amusement. "Are you actually preparing to fight me or Leon? Pancham seems like an anti-Raul rather than an anti-dragon."
"It's for Duraludon!" Hop exclaimed, clenching his fists with his knees bent slightly. He really likes to act like a shounen protagonist at times. "But if it gives me a chance against Raul, that's just a beneficial side effect!"
"Ho?" I cupped my chin. "Little Hop is getting feisty! Very well, I accept your challenge! C'mon out, Hancock!"
Hop released his Pokemon at the same time, revealing an angry little Pancham. Its eyes widened at the sight of Hancock, taking an instinctual step back for a second before grounding itself. The panda pounded his fists together and prepared to fight. Hancock just ignored him with her signature look of superiority. Did they know each other? While I understood the general gist of what my Pokemon wanted, I couldn't exactly probe into their pasts or read their minds. I wasn't some super OC with aura and psychic powers.
My expression hardened. Time to get my game face on. I don't actually have multiple personality disorder, despite how I must have looked to onlookers. This is just a form of code switching I used to perform in my past life. When I was on the job as a teacher, I needed to be stern and serious. With my friends and family, I was free to act like the utter child I was. Pokemon battles are a serious business here. You couldn't just screw around or cheat. People could accept all kinds of eccentric behavior except messing with the sanctity of a battle. Thus, I treated it like it was my work time.
"Hancock, you know what to do." The fox gave an involuntary shiver before stopping her preening and facing the panda with all seriousness.
Hop punched his fist out. "I should've known you would bring her out after that showing against Milo, but I'm prepared for that too! Heracles! Rockslide!"
Was I allowed to say "Did you already know about type advantages?!" as if Hop didn't grow up in a world filled with Pokemon? No, let's not clown on him in the middle of a fight. Pokemon were kind of scary. This was evidenced by how a tiny baby panda punched down at the ground and hauled out giant boulders to throw at my little fox. It even managed to imbue latent rock energy in them while doing so. Thankfully, Hancock was trained for these kinds of situations.
First, she sent an ember barrage at the boulders to slow them down, giving her the opportunity to dart past them, right at Pancham. "Counter her Tackle with a Circle Throw!" Hop wanted to play the long ranged game using Rockslide, so he asked his Pokemon to throw mine back. Did he even watch my match? Just as she was getting close, Hancock stopped right outside of melee range, causing the Pancham to stumble in its movements. Right at that point, she released purple flames right in its face, inflicting the Kung Fu Panda with Burn.
"Confuse Ray stall." I commanded.
Hancock shot out a dizzying ray of lights around Pancham before darting away. The poor Pokemon couldn't tell left from right. Hop desperately tried to salvage the situation by cheering it on or asking it to recklessly pepper the field with boulders. None of it worked out for it. I didn't even ask Vulpix to attack at this point. Her offensive capabilities were not her strong point to begin with. Besides, it was starting to tire out from the burning and attacks it was using.
"I give up. Come back Pancham." He returned the Pokemon, looking utterly disappointed. "You did great. We'll get them next time. I'll do better from now on."
"Are we continuing?" This wasn't a form of mockery. Trainers were free to give up a match at any point if they didn't see any chance of winning or their Pokemon were severely injured.
"We've just started! There's more to go!" Hop threw out his next Pokemon. Holy crap. Chewtle had already evolved into a Drednaw?! "Show them your full power, Siegfried!" This would be good practice for Nessa. While I wasn't insane enough to send Vulpix against a water Gym Leader's signature Pokemon, getting a feel for how a Drednaw fought in person would help me plan against it.
"Drednaw is a physical attacker. You know what to do."
"Yip!" Hancock preened at the command, fearlessly facing down her opponent despite it having two types that countered her.
"Razor Shell!"
The Drednaw roared angrily, its shell hardening as the edges grew razor sharp, before charging right at Hancock. She put up a fierce front, pelting it with Will-o-Wisp, Confuse Ray and Embers, but the monstrous turtle just shook them off. That was expected. Hancock was still relatively new while Siegfried had been trained by Hop for years. Though she tried dodging to the side at the last second, the immense size of Drednaw allowed it to barrel into her regardless. She was clipped at the side, sending her spiraling through the air before she dropped to the ground unconscious. That was fine. I never meant for her to win.
"Leave the rest to your teammates. Go, Me-"
"I give up!" Hop raised his hand and declared loudly.
That snapped me out of it. "Uh… You what?"
He shrugged lightly. "It's not like I can't see the outcome. Siegfried is Burned and exhausted from her barrage. Merry will take her down with ease. Arthur can't stand up to her either. That's okay. I already took down one of your Pokemon. That's more than Milo managed." Despite his loss, he grinned happily, holding his hands behind his head. "We'll win this for sure!"
I just sighed. "You're so weird. Do you want me to wait before I go off to Hulbury?"
Hop gave me a thumbs up. "Sure! This will be easy! No Wooloo challenge can hold back a Postwick boy!"
Hop Kennedy
Defeating Milo wasn't very hard. The Gym Leaders were supposed to increase in difficulty over time, and Milo was just the first hurdle. He might have been a proper challenge for someone just starting out, but Hop and Victor had been battling each other and the Pokemon of Routes 1 and 2 for the past few years. That was one down and seven to go! He didn't let it get to his head. Leon faced his first defeat at the fourth Gym for a reason. Most don't even make it past Kabu. At least Arthur managed to evolve into Corvisquire after the match.
The journey through Route 5 was relatively peaceful. A handful of trainers challenged them to matches along the way, but they took turns to battle them, ensuring that neither of their teams were overly exhausted from the fights. They might have taken them more seriously, but they weren't very strong or useful for growth at this point. The only ones who benefitted were Pancham and Vulpix, the newer members of their teams.
"Alright, it's time for more training." Victor commanded his team. Raul looked determined to get even stronger. Vulpix's signature look of superiority faded away into fear. Merry didn't seem to get what was going on.
He might have felt sorry for them, but this training was necessary. The Gym Leaders were absolutely monstrous. Disputes were usually solved through Pokemon battling. If they weren't the strongest in their towns, no one would listen to their commands at all. Before he could call out his own team to do the same, a loud thrill rent the air, causing Hop and Victor to crouch down in pain, grasping at their ears.
"What was that?!" Victor screamed.
His eyes shifted and spotted the hulking Pokemon easily. "A Wild Dynamax Pokemon!"
Their pupils dilated as they beheld the giant Farfetch'd stomping through the forest, swinging its leek around wildly. Wait, wasn't this his chance? The instinctual fear he felt faded away as a fire bloomed within his chest. Leon wasn't just respected because of his strength. When Dynamaxed Pokemon wreaked havoc, he was always the first on the scene to subdue them. His record was practically perfect. This was his chance to do the same!
"Victor! Give me Hancock and Merry! We'll be bait while Raul takes it down!" His rival stared at him in the eyes for a moment, as if he was searching for something, before nodding and throwing the balls over. Hop released all the Pokemon at once.
"Arthur! Harass it with Pluck! Retreat if it starts attacking!" His bird nodded before flying off. "Hancock! Merry! Use every status move you know!" Thankfully, the situation was serious enough that the proud Vulpix was willing to listen. Merry just nodded blankly before getting to work.
He turned to Siegfried with a heavy heart. "Buddy, I need you to stall it out." Drednaw were bulky Pokemon and could take a good amount of hits, but it was weak to Farfetch'd. Hop was basically consigning his own Pokemon to being knocked out. Despite that, the massive turtle just nodded before it roared angrily and stomped towards the Dynamaxed Pokemon.
The Farfetch'd was swinging its weapon around wildly, as Arthur continued to harass it from the sky, plucking and pecking at it. It was further hampered by the Confuse Rays and Sand Attacks that Victor's Pokemon were throwing at it. Despite that, Hop felt worried. They couldn't pull this off indefinitely. He was proven right immediately when a Max Knuckle crashed down on Siegfried, causing his turtle Pokemon to groan in pain.
"Victor! Are you ready yet?!"
"One more turn!" His rival hollered back. While their teams were having a slug match with the Farfetch'd, Raul was rolling around rapidly in circles, getting faster and faster with each turn.
"We can't hold out any longer!" The anxiety was palpable in his voice. Siegfried had just been rendered unconscious from another Max Knuckle. Arthur was slowing down as well. It wasn't easy to play keep away from a gigantic Pokemon for a lengthy period of time.
"Raul! Max Rollout!" The Wooloo went around once more before going straight at the Farfetch'd. It picked up so much speed that it managed to launch itself off the ground like a cannonball, blasting straight at the forehead of the Farfetch'd. With a thunderous impact, Raul crashed into it, causing the Dynamaxed Pokemon to stumble backwards in pain, before it started to topple forwards, right on top of Victor.
"Victor!" Hop screamed anxiously. Trained or not, there was no way for his rival to outrun a gigantic Pokemon dropping right on him. A blur of black and white swooped past him. Merry was running straight for her partner, trying to get him out of the way. She wouldn't make it! Victor was standing too far away from them!
Then a miracle happened. A white glow overcame her for a moment, before she evolved into Linoone. That gave her the burst of speed she needed to tackle Victor right as the Farfetch'd hit the ground. Hop ran over to his rival, and found him sprawled on the ground, breathing heavily. Victor started laughing uproariously. Hop stilled for a moment before following suit. This was just too absurd!
"I can't believe we did it!" Hop exclaimed excitedly. "We took down a Wild Dynamaxed Pokemon!"
"This was so different from Milo's! Praise Arceus that I'm not a pancake!" Victor raised his hands to the sky in prayer.
For once, Hop didn't roll his eyes. It definitely was an achievement. Dynamaxing in Gyms gave the Pokemon a set amount of energy to use, usually capping out at three moves. Those in the wild were the exact opposite, and would run rampant till they were taken care of or their own energy ran out. "I think our training should be put on hold…?"
"Duh, of course." Right as he said that, Merry dropped to the ground and rolled over, showing her belly. Her evolution must have tuckered her out. "I almost died. All I want to do now is sleep the day away."
"Ri-"
The distinct roar of a Charizard burst through the area. With a thud, it landed next to the Dynamaxed Farfetch'd, before a familiar figure alighted from it.
"Leon!" Hop gasped in shock. To his dismay, his brother didn't acknowledge him at all. Instead, he stood in front of the Farfetch'd and posed as a Rotom phone came out and took a picture. The man solemnly went back on the Charizard before they flew off, disappearing across the horizon. "What was that about?" Hop asked in confusion. "He just arrived, took a picture, didn't acknowledge us and left?"
Victor massaged the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Buddy, I have a theory and you're not going to like it."
A sinking feeling went down his gut. Victor had a lot of theories that usually ended up correct. "What is it…?"
"You know how Leon takes down every Dynamax Pokemon? I think that's bullshit. I don't know about some of the newer Gym Leaders, but do you think people like Kabu and Raihan just wait around for Leon to save their towns?" Unlike his usual enthusiastic self, Victor was explaining his theory patiently. That was a bad sign.
"No?" Other than Leon, Hop did look up to the other Gym Leaders. Their annual matches during the finals showed off their strength. Any one of them could have easily taken down the Farfetch'd they struggled against. "Don't tell me…"
"Just turn on your phone and see for yourself."
Trepidatiously, Hop took out his phone and navigated towards the news page. He had a feeling he knew what Victor was talking about, but didn't want to believe it. Right there on the front page, was a photo of Leon, his Charizard and the Dynamaxed Farfetch'd in the background. The news captions struck right at his heart.
Leon does it again! Rampaging Dynamaxed Farfetch'd taken down before any harm could come to Hulbury and Turffield!
"What…?" He gasped loudly, almost dropping the phone in his grasp. Hop trembled painfully, shifting between rage and despair. It was only when Siegfried ambled up to him, nudging his chest with its head, that he gained some semblance of control again. "He lied?"
"He always has." Victor seemed awfully calm for someone who had his achievement stolen. "I'm not even surprised that this happened."
Victor Nash
"He did this for a reason, right?" Hop looked at me, his expression almost pleading. "Leon must have a reason to do this. Right, it makes sense. The Champion needs to appear strong. Everyone needs to believe in him. That's why he has to do this. Or maybe Rose forced him to."
I just sighed in reply. It sucked to see him like this. Everyone in Postwick knew Leon was a horrible person, everyone except Hop. I didn't know what to think of him at first. He seemed to be relatively cheerful before he set off on his journey. He started to turn for the worse after his loss at the fourth Gym. Hop couldn't see the signs through his rose tinted glasses, but I started to realize that the Leon of this world was vastly different.
I tried to clue Hop in on this many times over the years. Seeing him wallow in his ignorance wasn't fun at all. No matter what I did, he'd come up with some excuse or another for Leon's actions. It didn't help that his optics and PR department worked against me. Those who personally knew him were aware that he was a bastard, but everyone else? They just saw the shining paragon of a Champion they wanted. The region thrived on performance, and Leon was the best one by far.
"C'mon Hop, let's take care of our Pokemon." There wasn't a point in pushing any further right now. His sanity was hanging by a thread. If even clear evidence of Leon's corruption wouldn't do it, my words weren't going to change anything.
I went to Merry first. Despite her exhaustion, she was still an affectionate gal. The Linoone squirmed happily as I rubbed her belly, before she flipped over and licked my shoes. Merry isn't the smartest Pokemon around, but it's hard not to love her when she acts like this, even if my shoes are going to smell gross as hell later on.
"Good job girl. You really saved me today." She just stared at me blankly, growled happily, before going back to licking my shoes.
"Raul, that was a nice rollout. You basically one shot a Kaiju today." My Wooloo baaed with pride. "In the immortal words of the Roly Poly Elder Lords, you really git gud today! But I think we can do the build up even faster. Our friends were battered to hell and back because we took a long time to build up speed. Let's work on that." It might have sounded like I was putting him down despite his achievement, but he thrived off improvement. Raul was never satisfied with a good job and well done. He always wanted to know how he could be better. I think that in time, he might topple Arceus himself. Or maybe just Giratina.
I walked over to Hancock, who was licking her fur, and knelt down. She turned to me and held her head so high that it almost tilted backwards. "You've really come into your role as a staller. That dumb giant bird could barely swing in the right direction with you constantly confusing him." She was getting so into my praise that she was somehow looking behind as her head continued to tilt upwards. "Hey!" I snapped my fingers. "Twice the pride, double the fall. You might have been a good staller, but that was all you could do. If Hop didn't have his Drednaw out, the Farfetch'd would have squished you instantly." Hancock wilted. I didn't like to do this, but she needed the most growth as my weakest Pokemon. "We'll be training you to do more than just that from now on. Everyone has their specialty, but I want you all to be adaptable as well. It's training time.
She paled.
Over the next few days, Hop and I put our team through extreme training. He was more frantic than usual, as if he was trying to busy himself and his thoughts. One of the things I got his help with was type effectiveness training. Fire would always be weak to water, no matter how much you trained, but you could still train yourself to resist it to an extent. It almost felt like animal cruelty each time Drednaw smashed Vulpix apart with a Razor Shell, but she got up each time when I asked if she was ready to give up.
Raul and Merry received the same treatment. Kabu might have been the biggest hurdle for most trainers, but I anticipated Bea, the fighting type Gym Leader, to be mine. Picking a team based on personal preference might be based, but it didn't change the fact that two thirds of my Pokemon were weak to fighting. Type effectiveness didn't guarantee victory but it certainly helped. Pancham certainly got its workout in as it bashed my Wooloo and Linoone around.
As I watched Drednaw smash into Hancock again, I readied myself to heal her up with a potion. To my shock, she wasn't sent flying. Instead, her feet dragged against the ground as she slid backwards, kicking up a dust cloud. As it cleared, I saw her standing proudly, preening despite her wounds. She yipped angrily, snapping at the giant turtle. I looked at Hop who nodded back.
We were ready.
Current Team
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Last edited: Jan 20, 2024
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 6
Victor Nash
Arceus above, these routes are a lot longer than they looked in the games. That kind of made sense, it would be insane if the towns were ten minutes apart by foot. I just wish common sense wasn't so exhausting. Walking an entire day to reach Hulbury isn't very fun. I had it easier earlier with Hop because we'd stop after a few hours to give our Pokemon time to train. If I ever become Champion, I'm strangling the guy who disallowed usage of the air taxi to contestants for towns they hadn't reached manually.
As I reached the bridge that connected the route to Hulbury, I noticed two Team Yell grunts accosting some scientist guy.
"Oi! Just hand over that bike already! We need it to cross this long bridge!" One of them yelled. I don't know what they're talking about, the bridge is like five minutes by foot. "We're gonna use that bike to chase around Gym Challengers! It'll be a scream!" Are these guys actually insane or just stupid?
Deciding to help the poor guy out, I stepped up and pulled out my Team Yell loudspeaker, the same one I stole a while back from that one guy. "Marnie is the best! Marnie is the Queen!"
The three of them paused mid-way through their comedy skit, their attention drawn by my screaming. "Oh! That's a Team Yell loudspeaker, copyright pending! It's one of us!"
The scientist guy clapped his face with a palm. "Not another one…"
"Marnie wouldn't like you making fun of this scientist guy! A Queen doesn't behave like this, and neither should her minions!" I declared imperiously, blasting them with my sound waves. "This is not the Marnie way!"
"What would you know about the Marnie way?" The other grunt stamped his foot. "Aren't you a Challenger too? You're standing in her way!"
"Au contraire!" I leapt forward and clasped his hands together. "Going on the same journey that she does means I get to be closer to her than ever! Don't you get it?!" I clenched my fist right in their faces. "How else could I get closer to Queen Marnie!"
"Oh… oh my Arceus!" They knelt down and received my divine word. "You're a true believer of Marnie! We're not worthy!" The two idiots shed some tears before running back into town.
I turned around to check if the scientist guy was okay, but he had already gotten on his bike and started pedaling towards Turffield at full speed. I could barely make out his screaming. "I've had to grow up with those Alola cucks! Now there's even goth cosplay wannabes! I'm done with this tooooooown!"
"You're… welcome?" I guess I'm not getting a bike?
Five minutes later, I made it into the town. I don't know why they felt like they needed a bike just to cross the bridge. Strangely, the gate was a lot more populated than I thought it would be. There were a bunch of guys wearing Hawaiin shirts, and a few girls wearing grass skirts. I really had to keep my libido in check. These women were wearing only a bikini to match their skirts. What's going on?
One of the girls came to me and put a wreath around my neck before giving me a beautiful smile. "Alola!" She used her hands to symbolize a rainbow. "Welcome to Hulbury!"
"I'm pretty sure we're in Galar?" I asked in confusion.
She ignored my question and shoved a drink into my hands. "Try our refreshing berry mix!"
In my utter confusion, I could do nothing but sip at the drink. "Delicious?"
"Great!" She held my hands. It's been sixteen years since I was this close to a girl, and Sonia doesn't count. That's the crappy part about reincarnation. Not that it mattered, I was obsessed with Pokemon, but it also meant I had no resistance to her at all. "That'll be one thousand Poke!"
Something inside me cracked. Oh, this was a tourist trap. I always wondered how Hulbury locals made money. A part of me just assumed they worked at the mines, but this fake Alola cosplay made sense too. It checked out. Why would Hulbury ever function as a port when Corviknights could transport containers way faster than any ship could? The whole hospitality thing with hot girls thing was just a scam. I should be mad.
"Do you take card?" I flashed my card out at lightning speed. It even glinted in the sun. What? I'm loaded! Didn't I mention this already? Postwick is an economic powerhouse! Me Ma gives me a lot of pocket money! Working with Grannie Maggie was just a way to pass the time and get more experience with Pokemon. And you know what? Grannie Maggie is loaded as well! Ever since Sonia got in good with the Shwert and Schild family, her mentor got a boat load of funding as a side benefit too. Hop and I were basically rolling in cash.
I grinned stupidly as one of the girls grabbed my arm and smashed my elbow into her cleavage. Another girl even got bonus points as she did the same to my other arm. "Oh my! You're a very generous man! Would you like a signature pearl necklace?"
The men tacitly backed off when they realized I was a rich pervert. The girls basically led me by the nose, depositing me on a beach chair as they fed me berries and fanned me with palm leaves. None of it was special in any way. The berries in Turffield tasted way better. Her arm strength was kind of weak so I barely felt the wind. I didn't give a shit. With my arms around two hot girls, I was basically in heaven. All I had to do was continuously flash my card at them. A Pokemon journey was about growth and self discovery. It was also basically one long funded holiday if you weren't funded by the League. Tourist scam? Yeah, but I'm enjoying myself!
After a few hours of that and a few tens of thousands of Poke short, I decided that I was rested enough to take on the Gym. Nessa better watch out! I was all Alolaed up!
Dan Referee
He gnashed his teeth as that ruffian came strolling in once again. That thug wasn't even wearing the uniform properly! It didn't match League standard to wear five wreaths with the uniform! Where did he even get those from anyway? A moment of thought caused a spark to go off in his mind. Dan was an experienced man. He knew every town like the back of his hand. That knowledge came from traveling through every town on a daily basis to usher in every single Gym Challenger.
It wasn't an easy job, but he made it work. Due to the fact that the Gym Challengers went through the circuit in a set manner, he basically only needed to stick with two to three towns at once, using the sponsored air taxi to cut short the travel time. From what he knew about Hulbury, it was basically a tourist trap. The locals would smile and give you a wreath, as if it was some sort of town tradition, before charging you for it. Most people would have wisened up by this point and stop getting scammed, but this boy had five wreaths around him. So he wasn't just ruffian but an idiot as well? Very well, Nessa's Gym mission would cut his journey short. The complex water puzzle would stump him in his tracks.
"The Hulbury Pokemon Gym's mission is this!" He would still carry out his duties, ruffian or not. A challenging maze! And you must reach the goal to clear the mission! However, some paths in the maze are blocked by water." He hid a smirk. The paths were basically blocked by gigantic streams of water cascading down from the pipes. You'd need to press the right buttons to clear the way to Nessa. It was a maze that this ruffian, who was scammed by the locals, would be too stupid to clear. "What should you do then? Try pressing that red button over there, and I imagine you'll figure it out, future chump!" Whoops, hopefully nobody caught his slip up at the end there.
Dan had to withhold the snicker as the ruffian just stared straight on at the water stream that blocked his way. Looks like this idiot couldn't make it thr-
What was he doing?
Dan Referee could barely contain his befuddlement as the ruffian walked up to the water stream before poking his body through. It's not as if the water just parted for him. The water continued to blast down at the contestant's body at a high pressure, pushing him down. Despite that, with nary a hint of sound, the ruffian just powered through the flowing water and pushed his body out.
"What the heck?!" One of the Gym trainers screamed in astonishment. The ruffian simply flexed his arm with a grin at her, his bicep bulging out, before he made his way to the next stream. Like before, he simply powered his way through instead of bothering with the intricate puzzle that Nessa set up. Everyone who was part of the mission could do nothing but watch with their jaws agape as he pushed through the last hurdle with sheer body strength alone.
"Gym mission cleared?!" He yelped, not knowing whether he should laugh or cry.
The ruffian just raised an arm sheepishly. "Can I take a five minute break first? I'm exhausted."
The Gym trainers collectively facepalmed.
Gym Leader Nessa
She had an image to keep to. The town was filled with Alola dorks. Nessa was the sole exception to that. Across all of social media, she was known as the Gym Leader that was cool, slender and beautiful. As the crowd cheered for her entrance, she made tiny waves at them, giving slight smiles at their cheers and adoration. It was exhausting to keep up the image at times, but the way everyone looked at her made it all worth it. In time, she would shed the image of being the Gym Leader of the Alola town.
When she reached the center, she wanted to reach out to shake the hand of the Gym Challenger. He deserved her respect for standing up to Rose and Leon. Instead, he stopped short, smiled beatifically and waved his hands in the shape of a rainbow. "Alola!"
Nessa struggled to keep the smile on her face. She could do this! Don't crack under the pressure! Don't lash out against the Challenger on live television! Shakily, Nessa waved her hands in the same manner. "A-Alola!"
That was so embarrassing! None of the Challengers had ever done this! She couldn't just not reply. A majority of the population was made up of those Alola dorks. Strong trainer or not, they wouldn't respect her if she didn't respect their traditions. Was her image as the cool beauty destroyed now? What would the simps on social media say? That's it. Respect or not, she was crushing this boy.
"I don't doubt my humble mission's difficulty. Yet you cleared it. Your mind….hmmm… your body as a Pokemon trainer must be quite refined." Oh Arceus! Did she just say that a Gym Challenger was hot on live television? The stupid way he cleared her mission made her stumble on her words! Gosh, why was he embarrassing her so much! "My partner and I will sink you beneath the waves!"
Okay, that was better. She walked back to her spot and awaited the Challenger. Oddly, he stepped to the side first to put down the wreaths he was wearing, before he stepped back and faced her. The carefree expression he had earlier faded into nothingness. That was the trainer that she and Kabu watched. Milo had spoken about this earlier, that this trainer seemed to become someone else entirely during a match. Good, she'd crush him at his strongest.
They threw out their Pokemon at the same time, revealing a Vulpix and Goldeen. He might have made it through Milo, but she was allowed to perform at a higher level!
"Agility! Aqua Ring!"
Goldeen sped up, shifting on the spot before a ring of water covered it.
"Spite!" A wave of ghastly energy smashed into Goldeen. It did nothing to harm it, but it looked noticeably more tired.
She couldn't back down now! "Agility!"
"Stall."
As her Goldeen started speeding up on the spot, the Vulpix didn't stay idle and barraged it with rays of light and purple flames. It couldn't dodge as it set-up, causing it to be both Confused and Burned.
That was fine. Her work was complete.
"Waterfall Dash!"
With three layers of Agility on the Goldeen, it sped off across the field. It didn't matter if it was confused, the attack was entirely random to begin with. In a dizzying blur of blue, Goldeen randomly darted about the field with a water shield formed in front of it. The Vulpix couldn't do anything more than to pivot its body this way and that as the Goldeen bounced around like a pinball. Before long, it smashed into the Vulpix, causing it to go sliding back. The fox snarled angrily. Strange, it barely looked hurt.
"Continue!" She commanded.
"Spite!"
As Goldeen continued to smash about the field, Vulpix didn't do much more than to take the hits and output that wave of ghastly energy. Why wasn't it going down?! After a minute of this exchange, Goldeen slowed down significantly before stopping entirely. The Vulpix didn't look too good either as it panted away. Despite its exhaustion, it somehow still looked proud, like it had already won.
Oh crap. Spite sapped away at Goldeen's stamina. Coupled with its erratic movements, it was too tired to do anything more.
"Extrasensory!"
She couldn't just let it end like this! "Flail!"
Right as Goldeen leaped at the fox and mindlessly flailed its body, a jolt of psychic energy crashed into the fish. Both Pokemon flinched away at the same time before they toppled over unconscious.
"Hmm." The boy grunted before recalling his Pokemon as Nessa did the same. She could accept a draw.
"Arrokuda!" She sent out her next Pokemon as her opponent sent out Linoone. Hmm? He didn't use that against Milo.
"Liquidation!"
The arrowfish Pokemon sped forward, trying to slam into Linoone at full speed. To her dismay, the dumb looking Pokemon literally just rolled over and dodged it easily. Arrokuda continued to try its best to crash into its opponent, but it seemed to always dodge by the barest of margins with the silliest possible movements. Gritting her teeth in annoyance, Nessa called out. "Aqua Jet into Liquidation!"
Her Pokemon blasted off at hyper speeds before changing moves mid-way yet carrying the same momentum and speed. The Linoone couldn't move fast enough to dodge. She had this in the bag!
"Clutch." Except it didn't dodge. The Linoon stood up on its hindlegs and took the Liquidation head-on, before its paws held on to her Pokemon. Arrokuda struggled, but couldn't get out of Linoone's grasp. Without missing a beat, her opponent continued. "Full Counter."
"Oh no." She accidentally let out, as Linoone's knee lit up before crashing straight into the gut of her Arrokuda. The damage it dealt was returned back two-fold. Arrokuda was a fragile Pokemon that depended on speed to begin with. There was nothing it could do but be sent careening into the sky before dropping to the ground with a flop.
Nessa just sighed and returned her Pokemon, her opponent following suit. Why was he doing that? She paled. Milo had told them about this. Why was the boy hellbent on embarrassing her on live television!?
"F-flood the stadium and make it our ocean." She lifelessly drawled, going through the motions. "Drednaw, it's time to Dynamax!" Nessa threw out the gigantic Pokeball, releasing a humongous Drednaw that roared for all to hear.
The Wooloo just baaed.
She couldn't even back out now! Everyone was watching! "Max Geyser!"
Drednaw shot off an impressive ball of water that collided with her opponent's side of the field. To her horror, the sheep just rolled around the point of impact expertly, constantly positioning itself at just the right spots to not get hit by the cascade of water that was washing over the field. Two more Max Geysers came and went as that frustrating sheep just dodge rolled past all of it. As her Drednaw started shrinking down from exhausting its reserve of Dynamax energy, the woolen ball of fluff began to roll in place, getting faster with each revolution. Her eyes widened.
"Water Gun!" She yelled in panic. Before Drednaw could do anything, the Wooloo shot off, launching through the air at supersonic speeds and colliding with her Drednaw on the face. Despite its bulk, the gigantic snapping turtle was launched off its feet, flying straight into the stadium wall. The indent was extremely obvious as her Pokemon slid off the wall and dropped to the ground unconscious.
You're a cool beauty. You're a cool beauty. You're a cool beauty.
Nessa chanted inwardly as she stepped up to congratulate the Challenger after she recalled her Pokemon. He changed his disposition once more, smiling happily as he skipped towards her. Before their hands could meet for a handshake, he simply stopped in place and waved his hands.
"Alola!"
Nessa almost snapped.
Victor Nash
Man, that was fun. Nessa was a challenge for sure. I don't know how long the Wooloo strat can stay viable all by itself. Hancock and Merry probably have to evolve soon. Raul can't just carry the team all by himself forever. As I strolled out of the stadium, I spotted a few people pointing at me and whispering amongst themselves. Woah, people are noticing me now? That's nice. Maybe I'll get a few fans along the way. I wasn't shy about it at all. Whenever someone pointed at me, I replied to them with my arms raised. "Hail Arceus!" They backed away real quick after that. So… maybe no fans?
When I exited the stadium, I found myself face to face with the queen bitch herself, Oleana, the Vice President of Macro Cosmos. Wait, was she both the VP and secretary? Girl was hardcore. I couldn't find my way past her. She seemed to take up the entire walkway, tapping her foot impatiently.
"You!" She pointed straight at me. "Chairman Rose would like to congratulate you on your victory. Come with me."
Wow, she wasn't even leaving room for rejection. How could I get out of this without smacking a bitch up? I certainly wasn't strong enough to beat her in a head on Pokemon battle yet. Before I could do anything, a horde of men and women wearing their Alola gear mobbed her. "What are you doing? Stop!" She screamed as one of them threw a wreath on her and another shoved a berry surprise drink down her throat. "Alola!" The crowd cried out. Her words turned into gurgles as she fought through the cool liquid in her mouth to scream.
I felt a hand grab my elbow as my entire body was tugged away. Nessa put a finger on her mouth. "Shhh. Let's go." Not seeing any other way out, I just let her pull me away as the crowd continued to mob the queen bitch. At some point, we stopped sneaking and straight up ran towards the Pokemon center. Nessa panted for breath after the run, but I was totally fine.
"You really need to work out more." I commented lightly, looking down at her exhausted form.
Nessa just pushed me on the chest, her arm devoid of strength. "I don't need another Bea in my life. Do you think I could maintain this figure if I had bulging muscles?"
"Woooooooooow." I snarked. "Turns out the cool and slender beauty of Hulbury is just a vain girl."
"Shush. I don't need an Alolan dork telling me that!" Nessa steadied herself and regained her breath before standing up. "C'mon, let's get your Pokemon healed up."
As we sat at the side while Nurse Joy healed up our Pokemon, I had to ask my burning question. "So, what was that about?"
"You're pretty good for a beginner."
"Hey! This beginner won against you!" I retorted.
She just laughed. "And this Gym Leader held back against you. You didn't really think I tried my best against a two badge challenger, right?"
I pouted and crossed my arms. "I thought I did pretty good."
Her laughter tickled my ears before she tussled my hair. "There, there. I said you're pretty good, didn't I?"
Now she was making me feel like a kid. "So I'm good, that doesn't explain what that was about."
Nessa's expression turned startling stern. "You've expressed quite clearly that you don't like Rose and Leon. Neither do we."
This was news to me. "And all those press conferences where the Gym Leaders praise them are… what?"
"Are the things we're forced to do." She leaned back into the chair and sighed. "You think we enjoy singing their praises and letting them steal our credit? Rose controls the economy. There's a lot that we simply won't get if we don't comply. From those wreaths you were wearing, I can tell you were having fun with those Alolan dorks."
"Hey! Stop calling them dorks! They're super fun… even if they were totally scamming me." I mumbled near the end.
She flipped her bangs. "They were scamming you for a reason. Our town is slowly being taken over by the Macro Cosmos miners. We used to be fine with just getting income from some pearls here and there or the occasional tourist." For the first time, I watched as her facade faded away, a somber look crossing her face. "That's just the reality of things. We don't normally need much. Ever since the company aggressively came in, more and more of the houses and land have been taken up by the miners who are drawing high and stable salaries. The people here are struggling to get homes for their families because of that." She grabbed my hands. "So please, forgive them for their behavior. They helped you out too, right?"
"Nah, it's good. I let them scam me because it was fun. Don't worry, I'm totally loaded." I grinned happily before flashing my card.
"Why do I even bother?" Nessa shook her head. "We went off topic. Every year, we try to defeat Leon fair and square. None of us have been able to do it. Raihan came the closest, but even his weather stratagems fell short in front of the sheer power of Leon's team."
"So the Oleana thing was…"
"The Chairman sponsors a promising trainer every year, sometimes more than one, just in case Leon somehow loses. This ensures he still controls the Champion even in the worst case scenario." She held out her hand. "We do the same thing. It would be nice if we could actually defeat Leon, but if someone else can do it, that'd be okay as well, especially if they don't like Rose and Leon."
"That explains Milo's weird behavior."
"Exactly." She snapped her fingers. "No pressure. It's not like we don't scout other trainers every year. Hop looks promising as well, even though he's related to Leon. We have our eye on Marnie too."
"Wow. Do you guys just put all your hopes and dreams on kids like this?" I snarked.
"Hey, you have to try everything at least once right? Don't worry if you can't do it. We're trying to win our front as well. Just try your best, alright?" She gave me a sunny smile.
Oh no. She's hot!
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 7
Victor Nash
About two seconds after I stepped into the Galar Mines, I felt someone grab me by the shoulder. Acting instinctively, I jumped away from the possible threat, only to see Bede, the pink psychic trainer, bent over, breathing heavily. "Yo-You! Wait up!" He could barely get the words out. "Arceus why do you keep disappearing! I can-"
I rolled my eyes before helping him up. "Breathe in slowly. In. Out. In. Out. Better?"
He was still kinda pale, but at least he wasn't going to collapse anytime soon. "I've been chasing you all over the place! Why do you run so quickly!"
"You were stalking me?!" I gasped and covered my chest. "Should I call the police?"
"It's not that! I need to challenge you! Don't think your disrespect escaped me." He flung his hand to the side. "I saw what you did to Chairman Rose. You even rejected his invitation to celebrate your win against Nessa!"
I shook my head. "Look if Nessa invites you to go hang out somewhere, you don't say no unless your libido is dead. I'm not crazy, okay? Besides, I don't see how this is your problem."
"Of course it's my problem! The Macro Cosmos Foundation raised me! Miss Oleana gave me my first Pokemon when the Gym Challenge began! I owe everything to them!" Woah, pink boy was turning red.
"Aite. Cool story bro." I turned around and started to walk off.
"Wait! I challenge you!" He wheezed but held out an arm.
"Uh… no thanks?" I turned around and started to walk off again.
"Why?! You have to accept!"
"No I really don't?" There really wasn't a rule about having to accept challenges from people. It's just kind of rude not to, which explains why fights happen all the time for basically no reason. People don't just solve disputes with fights, they also communicate through them. It's a way of life. Turning it down makes you look bad, but since when did I care about human social norms? I'm in a Pokemon world! Humans could suck it. I turned around and started to walk off for the third time.
He grabbed my sleeve, barely holding me back. "No, please! Let me challenge you!" Desperation laced his voice. "I have to!"
"Ugh." I turned to face him. "Why even bother? The match will end in like a minute or so."
"I don't know that till I try!" He narrowed his eyes, determination bursting through the windows to the soul.
"That's why I'm telling you. Nevermind, it's better if you see it for yourself. Deal with this, Merry." I let out my dopey little Linoone.
"Finally!" He threw out his pokeball, revealing a Solosis. "Endea-"
"Night Slash."
Linoone sped forward and slashed at the Solosis with dark energy coursing through its claws. The Solosis keeled over and fainted.
"Fine." He flipped his sweaty hair. That's kinda gross. "I see that you'll be a challenge. Gothita! Us-"
"Night Slash."
His Pokemon fainted again.
"Alright. I clearly have to pull out the stops." He threw out a Galarian Ponyta, which neighed happily. Arceus, he's starting to make me feel bad. I really love those little unicorns, they're so cute. Ah well, it's still a battle.
"Night Slash."
The unicorn took one hit and dropped to the ground.
"It's not the end! I'll turn things around!" He threw out Hatenna. I hated those freaky little things. Now I feel better about this. "Disarming Voice!"
"Night Slash."
Surprise, surprise. That Pokemon fainted too. He recalled his Pokemon before clutching the pokeball tightly. "Why?! How could I just lose like this?!"
I sighed before going over to pat him on the shoulder. "That's why I didn't want to fight you. You're from the Foundation?"
He tried his best to rebuild his arrogant facade, flipping his gross sweaty hair. "What of it? I'm still good enough to become Champion!"
Bede isn't too far off the mark. Pokemon is a paradise. Even orphans can turn out perfectly okay with all their needs met. There's no such thing as that one matron who embezzled all the money because there really isn't a point in doing that. Food is basically free. It's why restaurants need to be either really good or have stupid gimmicks like a battle cafe. The League fully sponsors their expenses during the Gym Challenge as well, if they choose to participate. That did nothing to erase the fact that I had years of time to train up my Pokemon and get experience with Grannie Maggie. I believe they could make it to the finals if they tried and were gifted enough, but this early on? The head start counted for more.
"You absolutely can. Just keep trying your best, alright? Your Pokemon need more training. You won't make it past Kabu like this." I tried to give him some advice. Dude seemed like he needed it. "Even if they use Psychic and Fairy attacks, you should make them more resilient to hits too."
He brushed my arm off. "I don't need handouts! I'll make it on my own merits." Bede stomped off deeper into the mines, leaving my arm awkwardly hanging there.
"Heh." I heard a giggle from behind me, before a girl stepped out. "He certainly has the attitude for it."
"Were you just watching the whole thing, Queen Marnie?" I teased.
Her face turned red instantly. "Stop with the Queen Marnie stuff! I didn't watch on purpose." She turned to the side. "I just wanted to tell you something."
"Oh?"
Marnie bowed slightly. "I'm sorry for being mean to you!"
I flicked her forehead, causing her to grab it in pain. "Stop being weird."
"You're the weird one!" She stamped her feet. "I'm trying to apologize here!"
"And I don't know what you're apologizing for?" No really, I don't.
"I challenged you because I thought you weren't being serious about the Gym Challenge. Then I saw your fight against Milo and Nessa and… I was wrong! Your methods are strange but they were obviously well practiced! I've never seen a Pokemon dodge a Max attack before!" Marnie grew noticeably more excited as she spoke. "How did you even do that?!"
"Wait, hold up." I held out a hand. "You challenged me because you thought I wasn't serious?"
"The incident at the hotel? The incident at the stadium? It's hard to take you seriously."
I snapped my fingers. "Point. But there's nothing that I take more seriously than Pokemon. It's impossible to be in this Arceus given world and not love Pokemon. They come in all shapes and sizes. Each one does a different thing and shapes the ecosystem differently. And all of them are so cute." I couldn't help it. I knelt down and raised my arms. "Praise Arceus!"
"That!" She pointed at me. "That's why I thought you weren't serious! But I guess I took it at face value. There's plenty of strong battlers that are really eccentric too."
"You mean like Nessa?"
"What's wrong with Nessa? She seemed cool and professional when I challenged her Gym." Marnie looked confused.
Grinning, I stood up and slung my arm around her shoulder. "Tch. This is why you should act like a loon all the time. It gets you all the hot goss. Underneath all of that, Nessa has like zero composure. She just pretends to be cool."
"No way!" Her mouth was open as her eyes bulged. "That's bullshit!"
"Nuh uh. She totally is. We had a little chat before I came here." I denied.
Then she noticed how close we were and shook it off with a blush. "Anyway, I'm sorry for being mean. I just didn't want my Challenge to be a joke. Maybe I'll win or maybe I won't, but I want it to count!"
I took out a pack of berries, sat down, and started to munch on them. "Oh! Exposition time! Why do you need to win so badly?"
She pouted but continued talking. "Ever since Spikemuth was renovated and refurbished by Macro Cosmos, Piers has been kind of distant, not just from me, but from the rest of Team Yell too." Her expression drooped in melancholy. "That's so not like him, ya know? Spikemuth is the city of expression and music, and it was named after my family. Out of everyone, I would have expected Piers to express his feelings the loudest, but his sound is muted."
"That's a very stylish way to describe things."
She stole my pack of berries and started eating it herself, the thief! "Shush. I just want to know what's wrong with him. He won't tell me. If I become the strongest in Galar, maybe I could take the burdens that he's carrying. Maybe the things that Team Yell says about me will actually mean something." Her eyes glistened. "Maybe Spikemuth will sing once again."
"Well, we certainly won't be doing that here." I stood up and patted off the ore dust, before holding out my hand. "Shall we, Queen Marnie?"
"Please stop."
"Nuh uh." I started walking off, trusting her to follow. "All women are Queens. Aren't you a woman?"
"… yes."
"That makes you a Queen!"
"I hate you."
Marnie Spike
As much as he annoyed her, she found herself fascinated by the sheer knowledge and joy that Victor had about Pokemon. It was fun to watch him play keep away with a Chewtle, always moving his hand away just as it lunged forward to bite down, only for him to yell in pain a few seconds later because he wasn't looking. Thankfully, he managed to get it to let go by soothing it with the seemingly infinite amount of berries he carried.
He truly was a child, and maybe that wasn't the worst thing in the world. She watched as he played hide and seek with the curious Noibats, which was doomed to failure because they had sonar. Victor somehow managed to get the respect of the Scraggy population by butting heads with them and not flinching a single time. The tiny yellow Pokemon collectively gave him thumbs up before waddling off. It was only after they left that Victor crouched down and held his head, screaming about the pain. Marnie just giggled.
Okay, so maybe he wasn't so bad. Now, if he'd only stop with the Queen stuff.
When they reached past the halfway point, navigating through a narrow tunnel, they came upon two Team Yell grunts guarding the exit. Marnie had a sinking feeling in her gut that this wouldn't go well for her. It got even worse when Victor pushed her behind him and strode forward with purpose. The grunts held out their arms and blocked the pathway.
"Hold up! You're one of those Gym Challengers, yeah? 'Ow bout you let us have a fight with you? See what you're all about?" No, please. Arceus! Why didn't they see how much they were embarrassing her?
"I reckon he could take us two on one? They have to be good if they're doing the same thing as Marnie?" The other grunt stepped up. She literally just had a conversation with Victor about wanting to do things fair and square. Why were they doing this?!
"Gentlemen, I would normally accept your gentlemanly invitation for a tussle, but I'm afraid you're acting like foolish fools with foolish notions that only fools would have." Victor bowed at the waist and smirked.
"Huh? You mocking us?!" They cried out.
Victor was unperturbed. "For you see, I am carrying out the greatest sacred duty of all!" He stepped aside, revealing Marnie, who was trying her best to blend into the cave walls. "Queen Marnie is my charge of the day. I've taken it upon myself to ensure she makes it back to Motostoke unmolested!"
"Bro!" One of them gasped. "We didn't know! I'm sorry, Marnie!"
"I didn't mean to make things harder for you!" The other one shouted. A group of Noibats fluttered away, annoyed at their noise.
"Tut tut." Victor wagged his finger mockingly. "This is not the way."
They looked at each other before staring back at Victor eagerly. "What is the way?"
"Would the glorious Queen Marnie who reigns above all grant me permission to take charge?" Victor bent at the knee and kissed her hand.
Marnie panicked and looked away. Boy, was it getting hot in this cave. Wasn't it really cooling earlier? "… okay." She squeaked out.
He did a one eighty and marched up to the grunts. "So she has decreed! Help an old lady cross the street. Make sure that Pokemon are happy! Escort any kids that are lost! Do your best to ensure that the Queen Marnie name is associated with good and love!" Victor raised his hand up high and clenched his fist. "Are you with me!"
"Yeah!" The grunts cheered and whooped.
"Then go! Spread her name across Galar!" He commanded loudly with his arm outstretched.
"Yeaaaaah!" They ran off, screaming at the top of their lungs. She had never seen them run so quickly before.
"Well that's handl-"
Marnie grabbed him by the collar. "Why are you like this?!"
The little bastard just smirked. "Because it's fun."
She shook him. "What about that other stuff?"
He shrugged. "Hey, if I'm gonna screw with them, I might as well make them do nice things for people and Pokemon. I'm a bad guy, but it doesn't mean I'm a bad guy, you know?"
"That doesn't even make any sense!" Her grip on his collar tightened. "You're so mean to me!"
Victor sighed and patted her head, despite her shaking him around. "There, there. I'm mean to everyone. Except me Ma. She'd whoop my ass."
Marnie finally had enough and let him go. "I'm not talking to you."
"Sounds like you are." Victor singsonged.
She pouted and started walking further into the mine. "No I'm not."
"You so are."
"Not."
"Yes."
"Idiot."
"Cutie Pie."
"Please stop."
"Then talk to me!" Victor whined.
"I thought I was!"
"And so you are."
Their nonsensical conversation was stopped by the sight of the same two grunts again, cheering on a Carkol as it worked hard to excavate the ores in the earth.
"You can do it!" "Go, go Carkol!"
Before they could do anything about it, Kabu, the Motostoke Gym Leader, jogged up to the grunts menacingly. "Youth these days." He lamented. "Stop getting in its way. Carkol is in the middle of doing honest work!"
"Oi! We're just cheering for it! You're the one making a ruckus of things!"
"Yeah!" The other grunt stepped up. "If you want us to go, you'll have to make us!"
"Very well." Kabu palmed his pokeball. "If that's what it takes."
"Hold it!" Victor pointed at them with his arm outstretched. He was smirking smugly like he was laughing inwardly at some joke only he knew about. "Stop right there!"
Kabu seemed confused at the interruption but decided to let things play out. Victor ran up to the grunts. "What did I tell you!?"
"To spread the name of Queen Marnie, sir!" The grunts saluted him. Marnie wanted to die. Were they forming a hierarchy now?
"Is interrupting this nice Carkol from its job helpful to that?"
"Uh…" The grunt trailed off unintelligently. "No?"
"So what're you still doing here, hmm? Making things harder for Carkol and challenging the Motostoke Gym Leader?" He crossed his arms and grunted. "Is this how I've raised you?!"
"No, sir!"
"Now get out there and carry out your mission! Go! Go!"
They made haste and ran out of there, leaving them in silence. Marnie had to withhold her sigh. Thank Arceus that was over.
"Not how I would have resolved that, but nicely done, young man." Kabu gave Victor two thumbs up. "You seem to have a way with words!"
"Aw shucks." Victor sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "That was nothing." Why on earth was Kabu encouraging his behavior?
"Hmmm." He peered closer at them. "You must be Victor and Marnie. It's so good to meet the trainers endorsed by Professor Magnolia and Piers. I look forward to battling you." Kabu took a second to take in his surroundings. "I'm just training right up until the last moment so that I can guarantee the perfect match when I face you Gym Challengers!"
He fiddled with his shirt. "I specialize in fire type Pokemon, and the water type Pokemon in this mine are the perfect opponents to train against!"
"No way!" Victor screamed exaggeratedly. "I do the same!"
"Truly?"
He let out a Vulpix. "This is Hancock. I've got a friend with a Drednaw that I made her train against before taking on Nessa."
"And what a fine match it was." Kabu laughed loudly. He bent down and ran a hand through the Vulpix's fur. "What a fiery specimen. I can see the pride brimming in its eyes, pride stemming from earned power. You've picked a fine partner!"
"Aren't Ninetails and Vulpix just the best?!" Victor excitedly clenched his fists.
"They are!" Kabu replied equally boisterously. "Just the other day, I had my Ninetails train up against Nessa's Drednaw. He took so many Liquidations without going down at all!"
"Yeah, they can take a lot. But I was wondering if there are other tactics that Ninetails could use other than taking hits."
"You've come to the right man. So, Ninetails aren't the fastest or most powerful, but…"
The pair started walking off, laughing and talking loudly about tactics regarding Ninetails. They really seemed to get along. In fact, they got along so well that they forgot about Marnie, leaving her standing there all by her lonesome.
"Um, guys? Where are you going? Guys?"
Victor Nash
Man, Kabu is just the best! His fiery passion for Ninetails really amps me up. I've really learnt a lot from his tips as well. Most of my strategies stem from all my wiki and game knowledge of Pokemon that I've translated into 'real life', but sometimes an experienced trainer just knows things you wouldn't think about. I've been a bit narrow minded by shoe horning my Pokemon into roles. It's worked out so far, letting them use their specialties to trump over novice trainers and toned down Gym Leaders, but I have to diversify if I want to make it all the way.
No idea why Marnie seemed so lifeless and dead though.
We finally made it to Budew Drop Inn, causing me to praise Arceus loudly in the lobby. This day has just been way too long. I hung out with my Alola buddies, fought Nessa, then got hurried away into the mines because of queen bitch Oleana. What I really need right now is a good night's sleep in the most expensive hotel in town. The best part is that I could easily drag Marnie along because she was loaded as well, being the younger sister of a Gym Leader.
Then we ran into Hop.
"How on earth did you make it here before us?" I questioned.
"… I took the air taxi? Did you guys come through the mines or something?"
"Don't mention the mines. Please." Marnie pleaded.
Hop seemed to recognize something familiar in her eyes. He walked over and patted her on the shoulder. "You were a victim of this guy, huh?"
"Hey!"
"Yes I was!" Their camaraderie was instantaneous and at my expense. "How do you get him to shut up?!"
"You can't." Hop closed his eyes and shook his head. "You can only learn to live with it."
Just to punctuate his point and make a bigger nuisance of myself, I decided that our lord, god and savior needed more praise. "Hail Arceus, for the thousand hand llama provides!"
"Is the rest of my journey just going to be like this?" Marnie mumbled listlessly.
"Cheer up." His finger pushed her chin upwards. "Victor might be annoying, loud, crass, stupid, inappropriate…"
"Hop, I'm right here." I squished his cheeks from behind. He ignored me.
"… but he means well. You might think he was a troublemaker because of the whole Champion and Chairman Wooloo incident…" Wow, they gave it a name? "… but he was doing that for me in a way. As annoying as he can be, he sometimes does it for his friends."
"I'm cool like that. Hail Arceus."
They ignored me.
"What did that have to do with you?" She looked at him, roving her eyes up and down, then paused. "Oh."
"Yeah. I bet he did something that was really annoying but ultimately good in the most roundabout way possible for you as well? Maybe something to do with Team Yell?" Hop ventured.
"How did you know about them?"
"I don't." He shrugged. "But I can see the pattern forming. Let me guess. He yelled at them till they backed down and made them do something nice for people?"
"Guys, stop ignoring me."
"That's exactly it!" Marnie pointed her finger. "He made them go out and do nice things. But why does he have to be so irritating about it?"
"Why do Wooloo roll? Why does a Corviknight have a metal coat? Why is Victor the most annoying human to exist?" Hop took on the thinker pose. "These are just some of the mysteries that even the esteemed Professor Magnolia is unable to solve."
"I'm challenging the two of you to a Pokemon match!"
"I wish he was as serious about life as he is about Pokemon battling."
Hop nodded sagely. "Hmm, yes. His Pokemon methodology is unorthodox but powerful. It is truly a shame that he doesn't handle all facets of life with the same gravitas. Think of how much respect he could garner if he acted professionally?"
"Instead of an Arceus loon?" Marnie continued, showing a small smile.
"Correct. I have more fans than him purely because I don't go around screaming about Arceus at people."
"Should we continue this over a coffee?"
Hop held out his hand, which Marnie took. "After you."
Abandoned by all my traitorous friends in the hotel lobby, I pondered the meaning of life. Thankfully, Sebastian the butler man receptionist walked up to me and handed over a berry surprise drink. "You seemed like you needed this."
I fake cried into my drink. "Yes I did. I've been used and thrown away. Now they've just left me behind. Do you ever feel like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?"
"I can't say that I have, sir. We recycle all plastic bags in this establishment."
I sighed. "Can I have another drink please? I need to drink away my sorrows."
"Already prepared, sir." He handed it over.
"I love you."
"Very good, sir. That'll be one thousand Poke."
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 8
Merry the Zigzagoon
Merry was confused. She just had a great battle against her clone who was hiding in that shiny wall. When she broke the shiny wall, it ran away. Then the human woman came in, screaming at her to get out of the house. The outside wasn't fun when she was alone. There was no food or water. She liked berries, especially the blue ones. Merry saw a Wooloo roll past. She chased after it. Then another Wooloo rolled past her, so she chased after it. And again another one rolled past, so she chased after it, tongue flapping in the wind.
Strange, why were so many Wooloos rolling around? Merry sat down and used her 530,000 IQ mental CPU and came to a conclusion; they were fighting against the grass! Merry knew that there was something wrong with those plants! There were too many of them, and they covered all of the lands that she had seen. The only safe place was the house. Oh no! She put her paw to her jaw. What if the grass took over the house as well? What would happen to her food and water?
Merry was a brave Zigzagoon! She would protect the fat Zigzagoon and human boy who fed her! There was only one thing she could do! Taking a stance, she raised her paw to the sky and stomped down on the grass. That was one down, but her enemies were numerous! She stamped another paw down, defeating yet another enemy. Again, again, and again! It was a thankless task, but she would do it till the grass stopped threatening her home!
Gloria Nash
"What the hell is that girl doing this time?" She mumbled to herself, watching the Zigzagoon continuously slam her paw on the ground. "Merry! It's dinner time!" The Zigzagoon's head snapped towards her, before it ran back into the house, tongue flapping in the wind.
Victor Nash
I was being hauled away by the scruff by a Boltund. My hands desperately slapped at its snout, hoping to dislodge myself from the beast. It was an unerring hound, reminiscent of Cerberus and Cu Chulainn. Nothing I did could stop the beast from dragging me into the fiery depths of hell itself. All that awaited me at the end of the road was the River Styx! None saw fit to give me aid. Hop snickered and walked off with Marnie. I can't believe that stupid girl was NTR-ing my buddy away! The butler man receptionist mumbled something about how there wasn't enough money in the world for him to help. Even Team Yell did nothing as the Boltund dragged me to my doom!
"Nice job, boyo." I fell to the ground as the Boltund was returned to its pokeball. A hand replaced the jaw, dragging me to my feet before throwing me into a chair. "Good morning, Victor."
"Big Sis Soniaaaaaaa." I whined. "Why'd you have to get Bolty to drag me off this way! It's embarrassing!"
"You're embarrassing."
"Okay, it's emasculating!"
"You're sixteen."
"… history is lame." I finally retorted.
Her head snapped towards me. "You take that back!"
"Oh ho ho. Look at me." I put a finger on top of my lip, pretending to have a stache. "I'm from a noble family called Sword and Shield. My family descended from kings. Ladidah!"
For once, she didn't hit me. Instead, she leaned back into her seat and smiled smugly. "History let me meet the Legendary Pokemon of Galar."
"No freaking way! You met Zacian and Zamazenta?!" My palm hit the table, jostling our coffee cups.
"Yes I… how did you know their names?" Her eyes narrowed as her face loomed ever closer to mine. "This is the first time I'm telling you about it."
"Uh… munya munya." I looked away. "Like… I saw them in the Slumbering Weald? It's not hard right? That's practically next to my house." I really hope she bought the lie. What else was I going to tell her? I came from another world where this world was a game except Leon was less of a prick? Actually, I should probably go meet the Legendary doggos after this so they could get our stories straight. Yes, I meant they should lie to Sonia for me.
"And you didn't tell me about it?!" She screamed in outrage. The waiter and other customers in the cafe looked at her for a moment before deciding to go back to their business. Guess they didn't want to draw her wrath.
"I took like, a sacred oath and stuff, to not reveal the Legendary doggos to the world." I promised solemnly, raising my arm. "May Arceus strike me down if I lie." A thunderous crash resounded through the cafe.
The waiter bowed to the customers. "My apologies for the disturbance." Then he went and picked up the broken plates and cups. I'm sorry super llama! Don't kill me!
"Anyway, for immortal guardian Legendaries, they were surprisingly nice. They even answered my questions!" Sonia beamed. Hmm, that's nice. I don't really give a shit about the topic, but seeing Sonia smiling like that genuinely soothed me. Occasions like these were far and few between. It's usually just rage and hellfire with her.
But I'm not letting the chance to make a nuisance of myself go! "What? Did they speak?" I put my hands on my mouth and mimed a dog. "Bork! I use a sword! Bork!"
The blinding whiteness that overcame me and the sweltering pain in my head told me what happened. "Be respectful! Apparently they chased off some sort of threat called Eternatus. They're more or less just standing guard just in case other threats or dangers happen to Galar."
"Uh… so is this Eternatus thing ever coming back?"
She shook her head. "They didn't seem to think so. It wouldn't have a reason to as long as they're around, unless someone does a stupid thing like summoning the monster back."
"Gosh, why would anyone do that? To tap the space devil as an unlimited energy source? That'd be so dumb!" My laugh echoed the room, drawing annoyed gazes from several of the other cafe goers.
"That's oddly specific." She cupped her chin. "But highly unlikely. We've cracked Dynamax energy for a long time. I hear Kalos taps into some sort of life force energy for power? Regardless, there's no good reason to summon Eternatus."
Oh, thank Arceus! Leon and Rose are bad enough right now! I genuinely don't want to see them summoning the space poison dragon devil thing. "It's too bad that they don't consider a misuse of capital and governmental authority to encroach on the lives of locals as a threat. It'll just take one slice of that sword to end things… if you know what I mean."
It really spoke volumes of how much Sonia didn't like Rose that she didn't chide me for insinuating that we should get the immortal guardians to go assassinate him. "Unfortunately, intelligent as they are, I think it's too much of a stretch to ask that they understand complex human socio-economics."
"That's true."
"You ready to face Kabu? Your match is in an hour. I'm looking forward to being annoyed by whatever you think is a suitable victory pose" She took a sip of her coffee.
"Are you kidding? Kabu is scary as hell. I'm not even sure if I can win." I bit into my berry toast. Wow, what did they do to make the jam this consistent? Delicious. Nom nom nom!
"Huh? Where did your confidence go? That's not the Victor I know." Sonia bit her lower lip. "I thought you'd be praising Arceus and annoying the crap out of Hop right now."
"Well for one, you dragged me off and some girl NTR-ed me." I shrugged. "I thought I could win against him easily. Then I talked to him on the way here. He really shared a wealth of knowledge and strategies with me, a lot of which I didn't already know or think of. I thought I'd already learned and explored everything by now, but Kabu showed me the reality of things. He really is the iron wall."
"Well, it's called a Gym Challenge for a reason. You're not supposed to just happily stroll through all of it." Sonia's eyes shifted to the side.
"Hey." I grabbed her hand. "If I win, you're buying dinner."
"Now why would I do that?"
"I just…" My grip tightened. "Just give me something to look forward to; a reason to win."
I don't know what she saw in my eyes, but her expression softened. "Is Torch Poulet good enough?"
"Sure!" I stood up and pecked her on the cheek before running off. "Thanks, Big Sis!"
Dan Referee
There he was again, that ruffian. Though Dan still disliked him and his mannerisms, a part of Dan was looking forward to seeing what would happen. Every other Gym Challenger cleared the missions as prescribed by the Leaders. Why would you do it in any other way? Yet, this one boy had bowled through Milo's mission with ease, clearing the entire thing in one guy. He even stayed on his feet as his body forced its way through the raging torrents of Nessa's mission. Dan might not like the boy, but he was certainly different and unique.
"The Gym mission for the Fire Gym is this! Catching Pokemon to earn the most points! Earn five points to clear the Gym mission! In case you were wondering, you'll earn one point for defeating a Pokemon, or two points for catching a Pokemon!" Dan pointed at the unregistered yet tame fire Pokemon that were standing around, three in total. Next to them were the Gym trainers. "But you won't be alone in this competition. Other trainers will be joining your battles!" There, he couldn't just brute force his way through this. He'd have to join them in battle! "Think about what your opponents might do, and try to take the best action to rack up points! Gym mission start!"
What would he do now? Dan watched as the ruffian strolled up to a Gym trainer and shook her hand. He reached down to pat the Vulpix on the head before going into position. As one, the two trainers released their Pokemon. Before anything could be done, the ruffian yelled. "Quick Ball!" He threw a blue and yellow ball at the Vulpix. It shook once, twice and finally thrice, signifying a successful capture.
Wait, what? No.
Dan Referee watched as that impertinent fool did the same for the next two Pokemon, maxing out the points for the Gym mission, an uncommon feat. The ruffian strolled up to the goal area and stretched his back before saying something to himself. "Man, it's good to have money and common sense!" Then he ambled into the stadium.
What?
Gym Leader Kabu
Kabu was so excited for this! Finally, after so many years, they'd chanced upon a trainer that was both competent and bore a grudge against the Champion and Chairman. Both qualities alone were already rare enough. The chances of them appearing in a new trainer was extremely low. Victor had such promise too! He'd seen the matches with Milo and Nessa. A Wooloo capable of carrying out that strategy required not just tactical brilliance but pure power as well. But gimmicks like that only carried you so far. You needed to be a well-rounded trainer to make it to the top. You needed POWER! He'd drill this lesson into the boy's head today.
He stepped forward and stopped next to the trainer, before jogging towards the center. Victor jogged along with him. What a good sport! After a light and breezy warm up, Kabu took his hand and shook it. "Welcome! I am Kabu, the fire type Gym Leader! The fact that you're here means you've bested both Milo's grass type Pokemon and Nessa's water types too. That's quite an accomplishment!" The praise was entirely sincere. He was known as the iron wall that stopped trainers in their tracks, but that only applied to the high profile ones who steam rolled past the first two Gyms. Many more didn't even make it past the first. "Every trainer and Pokemon trains hard in pursuit of victory. But that means your opponent is also working hard to win. In the end, the match is decided by which side is able to unleash their true potential." Words aren't enough. He would show him the true meaning of power!
They broke apart, moving to their positions. Like his fellow Leaders had said, the boy changed entirely. Milo described it as lifeless. Nessa said it was creepy. That wasn't what he saw. When he stared into his eyes, all he saw was the power that was begging to get out. The kid was laser focused on his victory. Good! This would be a match to behold! Kabu threw out his pokeball, revealing a pristine Ninetails. Victor did the same, sending out that fiery specimen of Vulpix he saw the day before. That didn't make any sense. The boy knew that he was an expert in the Ninetails line. No matter how well trained it was, a Vulpix couldn't stand up to a Ninetails either.
He shook his head. This wasn't the time for it.
"Confuse Ray!" "Confuse Ray!"
Blinding lights shot from both Pokemon. Neither were hit by them, choosing to dodge the familiar attack.
"Spite!" "Spite!"
The waves of ghastly energy counteracted each other, canceling the attacks.
Was that it? Was that all the boy could bring to bear? The match could be ended in a single move. "Imprison!"
A formless psychic energy formed around Vulpix, moving so fast that she couldn't dodge. Imprison made it so the opponent couldn't use any moves that you already knew, and Ninetails knew every move that Vulpix did. Was that a sweat on Victor's brow? Good, things couldn't be that easy.
"Extrasensory!"
The boy was listless, despite his stoic expression. Not a word came from his mouth even as his Vulpix screamed in pain from the psychic attack.
"Hyper Beam!"
Victor's arm reached down to his belt as he sighed. Kabu nodded to himself. Knowing when to retreat was just good sense. He should never have used a Vulpix against a Ninetails to begin with. As if she could sense her owner's emotions, the Vulpix snarled at Victor before throwing herself at the Ninetails. Due to it being mid-charge, the big fox was not able to dodge. The Vulpix landed on its head, angrily clawing and biting into her opponent.
What pride! What power!
"Ninetails! Throw her off with an Extrasensory!"
The boy seemed to hesitate, before curling up his fist and moving it away from the ball. His Ninetails followed the command despite the pain, blasting another psychic wave into her opponent. Despite the pain, the Vulpix didn't give in at all. It continued to rend and tear into her older counterpart. The match became a vicious slug match. His Ninetails continued to use Extrasensory, trying to throw off the tiny fox while bucking its body. The vicious Vulpix remained steadfast, angrily snarling while tearing her opponent apart.
Someone had to give in first. It was Kabu.
"I've seen what I needed." He withdrew his Ninetails. That diva of a Pokemon would require hours of grooming before it accepted another fight. The match was a tactical oversight on Victor's end, but he still thought highly of how well trained the Vulpix was. Even now, it was baring its fangs, ready to rip into its opponent.
"That's enough." The boy had the good sense to withdraw his Pokemon too. Willpower or not, it was on its last legs. Any further and it risked permanent damage.
They threw in their next Pokemon, with an Arcanine on his end and a Wooloo on his opponent's. Curious, the boy would normally have saved that for the last Pokemon.
"Rollout!"
It was power, plain and simple. The Wooloo rolled on the spot for a moment before speeding off, dashing straight for the Arcanine. Kabu's eyes hardened. They could do the same! He flung his hand to the side. "Extreme Speed!"
They clashed in the center before bouncing apart, only to clash again elsewhere. Their movements started getting faster and faster, to the point that Kabu could barely even keep track of their forms. The only thing visible to his naked human eyes was the point of impact where they'd still for a movement before bouncing away. He felt the fire within him threaten to burst forth.
He let it.
"Excellent! This is POWER!" Kabu punched his fist and laughed heartily. "More! More! SHOW ME YOUR FIRE!"
They collided again and again and again. Before long, the Wooloo stopped, bouncing on its feet. On the other hand, his Arcanine was flung away. Before it could hit the wall, Kabu was ready with his pokeball, recalling back for a well earned rest. "You've really revved me up! I hope you're ready to feel the heat!"
"Burn bright, Centiskorch! Let Gigantamax change your size and form!" He thrust both hands into the sky, flinging the gigantic pokeball to release his G-Max Centiskorch.
"Do it now! G-Max Centiferno!"
A fiery conflagration of flames burst forth, torching the entire field. The Wooloo dodged as it had with Milo and Nessa, but this was still within Kabu's calculations. "You might have dodged it, but did you take the burning field into account?!"
Even as Wooloo rolled through another G-Max Cetiferno, it visibly slowed. The previous exhaustion from battling Arcanine and the persistent burning field that resulted from G-Max Centiferno had sapped its strength. With one last G-Max attack, the Wooloo couldn't muster the energy to dodge. Its burns and exhaustion were getting to it. Even then, it stood bravely, facing the attack head on. The explosion heated up the air, before clearing apart. All that remained was the faced down form of the brave Wooloo.
"Excellent! Bring forth your last Pokemon!"
Victor took out his last ball, stared at it, and flung out a Linoone, even as his Centiskorch began to shrink down. Before Kabu could do anything else, Victor raised his ball and recalled the Linoone, as his band filled the pokeball with Dynamax energy, increasing its size. Kabu's heart sank. Expressionlessly, the boy turned around and threw the gigantic pokeball out, revealing a huge Linoone that dwarfed his Centiskorch.
"I knew I was forgetting something."
Merry the Linoone
Wow. Her human was tiny. This was so weird. She looked at the other side of the field. What's that!? It's a gigantic red grass! She needed to end it before it could hurt her human! Merry ran forward and stomped the red grass flat into the ground, before doing it two more times for good measure. She suddenly shrunk down. That felt weird. Oh well. Merry ran back and jumped into her trainer's arms for huggies.
Gym Leader Kabu
Despite the anti-climatic ending, that was still a fiery match! He strode forward proudly and shook Victor's hand. "You've done well! They call me the iron wall, and yet you scaled me with your power!"
"I wasn't even sure if I'd win. You really got me good with that Imprison." Victor scratched his cheek.
"Nonsense! You have the guts and the will to win! Everything else will come with experience. I'll see you at the finals, young Challenger!" He punched his fist in the air and yelled. "POWER!"
Victor was a good enough sport to follow along. "POWER!"
The stadium pumped their fist to the sky as one. "POWER!"
Victor Nash
That was a good meal. Torch Poulet is really worth the price that Sonia paid. She was even extra nice to me during dinner. I wonder what's up with that? With the exhaustion weighing down on me, I decided it was a good time to take a break and go home. My team definitely needed some training if Kabu was that hard to deal with. Who knew what the rest of the Gym Challenge would bring? I started to walk out of the city. You could call an air taxi in the city, but they would charge you more for the inconvenience.
Before I could walk out of the gates, Milo, Nessa and Kabu ambushed me.
"There are many trainers who never manage to gather three Gym Badges, and they just give up on the Gym Challenge altogether." Kabu began. "So I make a point to see off any trainers who are able to defeat me."
"Congratulations, Victor!" Nessa slung her arm around my shoulders and grinned. Libido! I'm trying to have an emotional moment here! "I knew you could do it, but it's still pretty amazing that you defeated Kabu in such a spectacular way!"
Milo chuckled, his big chest heaving. "Not a lot of Gym Challengers are able to get a Gym badge from Kabu. We like to get together to see them off, as a way of showing our support."
"And I also wanted to give you this." Kabu stretched out his hand. Resting on his palm, was a pristine and glistening Fire Stone. "You've truly shown your power today. Besides, Nessa already talked to you about the… thing." Wow, Kabu isn't very good at being subtle. Who knew? "Just think of this as a form of sponsorship."
With trembling hands, I picked up the Fire Stone. I was pretty worried about getting one. It wasn't exactly something that was ultra rare or super expensive. People just tended to use them as soon as they managed to get one. That went for the ones that hit the market as well. You either got lucky and found one in the wild, or got lucky and found one in a store. It was purely dependent on luck, usually. I should have known Kabu would have some, but I wouldn't even have thought about it if he didn't just hand one over.
"Go on. The only thing holding her back is her evolution." He gently prodded.
Nessa's grip tightened slightly. "Getting to see an evolution is a privilege. Go ahead!"
"Alright." I let out Hancock, she looked around in confusion before staring at me. She'd usually take her time to preen and look down on every one, but this time, her eyes were laser focused on the stone in my hand. "This will help you to evolve into a Ninetails. If you think you're ready to evolve, we can do ri-"
She jumped at me, bonking her stupid nose onto the Fire Stone. That was enough. Hancock was awash with white light before it faded away, revealing the majestic form of a Ninetails. My girl howled to the moon, drawing the onlookers from the sides. She held her head high, luxuriating in the attention that her new found beauty brought her. I think the only stats that went up were her pride and the only move she learnt was super signature look of superiority.
"Wow. Her fur is so well kept." Milo took a closer look. "It's so shiny and glossy!"
"Now that our matters are settled. Allow me to send you off with a proper, sporty chant!" Kabu's wide opened eyes were scaring me. "Hustle, hustle, hustle, Victor! You can do it, you can do it, you can do it, Victor!"
What else did I expect from the man shouting "POWER!" all over the place? At least the other two were here to share the pain with me. Milo just laughed in embarrassment. Nessa sighed and rested her head on my shoulder.
"The Gym Leaders you will face ahead are all tough opponents." Kabu continued unabated.
Her voice tickled my ear. "Especially Bea. Your whole team is weak to hers. Though she's the youngest of us all, she has one advantage that most of us didn't get."
Milo nodded. "Her mentor."
"He was a Champion once, before he retired and became the fighting type Gym Leader." Nessa explained. "That's the same man who gave Leon his only loss ever. And he's mentoring your next challenge."
Kabu nodded solemnly. "His name is…"
" Mustard."
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 9
Victor Nash
I waved goodbye to the departing Corviknight. Despite the ferocity inherent to their species, the Corviknight that ferried me to Postwick was very calm and stable. It showed me that I had more to learn about Pokemon than just battling. Its trainer had definitely done a good job in training it for transportation purposes. We didn't have that issue with our kept Wooloo as they were pretty dumb, but maybe I could train them to do tricks. My family was rich, but I don't think me Ma would be too upset if we had some of that fat Poketube cash.
Speaking of me Ma, I had entered the house, searched the entirety of it and our yard and haven't seen her at all. Where did she go? Just as I was pondering that, the door to Hop's home opened, revealing Mrs Kennedy. "Oh! It's Victor! Are you looking for Gloria?" She came plodding over and patted my shoulders. "My, you've grown taller in the time you were gone." I hadn't. "Have you found a girlfriend yet?" It hasn't been that long. "Why don't you come in and I'll prepare a meal for you?" I wish I didn't have to.
Instead, I smiled and hugged her. "That'll be great. Thanks!"
She started to hustle and bustle through the kitchen, pulling out pots, pans and ingredients like macaroni, milk and cheese. I had to withhold a sigh, so it was that again. There's nothing wrong with Mac & Cheese. The issue here is that Mrs Kennedy makes it pretty much all the time. Hop can't look at cheese without feeling like puking. There's a reason for it, of course. It was a certain someone's favorite meal before he decided that fame and fortune meant more than his team or family. Hop had to have inherited his delusional behavior from someone.
Despite my complaints, I still took a big bite of the meal. "Mhmm! This is as nice as ever!"
"You've always been such a good boy." She tittered happily. "How has your Challenge been going?"
"Oh right! You haven't met my newest team member!" I let out Hancock. No matter the time or place, she never missed the opportunity to show off and preen for the adoring public. The Ninetails crooned, before curling up her tails at just the right angle and raising her head to the sky.
"What a lovely Pokemon." She reached out to pet the fluffy tails, because who wouldn't? Hancock didn't want to let her do so, and started to move the tails out of the way. The prideful little shit only let me do whatever I wanted. Everyone else was too beneath her. I wasn't about to let her disrespect the poor woman. WIth my eyes bursting aflame, I stared daggers at her. I mouthed the word "T-R-A-I-N-I-N-G". Hancock paused for a moment, shuddered, and stilled entirely, allowing Mrs Kennedy to run her hands through the luscious fur.
"Has Hop visited recently?" I would pummel that little shit if he hadn't. Postwick is like a ten minute ride away from the Motostoke circuit area.
"Of course he has. I'm so proud that he's made it past Nessa. He reminds me so much of Leon." Her happy expression didn't even change a single bit when that accursed name left her lips.
"I'm sure he'll make it past Kabu too if he'd stop getting stolen from me by Marnie." What I did was the sacred art of changing the topic.
"Who's Marnie?"
I leaned forward and steepled my hands together. "Let me tell you more about that homewrecker."
I spent the day at her home and made sure to mess up Hop's room for when he came back. Returning to Motostoke after that send off from the Gym Leaders felt a bit awkward, but I didn't run into any of them so it's all good. I started to make my way through the Wild Area to reach Hammerlocke, making sure to pick fights with any wild Pokemon that were looking for a challenge. When I arrived at the city of culture and history, I could have spent some time there, but Sonia wasn't even around, so I just skipped right past it after taking a break. Nothing special happened on route 6, not that I was expecting it. My life isn't a story after all. Sometimes, nothing happening is a good thing. It gave me the time and room to train up my team against the Pokemon and trainers on the route. Hancock and Merry were finally getting used to their evolutions. Raul refused to evolve as always, but that didn't matter as long as he was strong enough. Soon enough, I arrived at Stow-on-Side. Thank Arceus! I was getting sick of that route. It was filled with sand. I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.
This was such an unfortunate place to live. The land around the town wasn't fertile, so I didn't have any good eats to look forward to. There weren't any signature Pokemon around the place either for me to have fun with. The origin of the town is actually kind of lame. Some scientists had discovered a large concentration of Pokemon fossils in the area. As with anything, other people started to gather together to profit off the large population of scientists that arrived, causing the small village that only boasted a mural to grow in size. Now it was a place where people sold all sorts of random goods. One of the stores was even selling a bunch of pink things.
I decided to investigate it and regretted my decision almost immediately. My eyes were blinded by the amount of pink that permeated the place. Pink jackets, pink sauce, pink watches and even pink Pokeballs. "Would you like some PINK?!" The store owner basically teleported to my side and grabbed my hands. "Young man, I see that you're fated with PINK! I will grant you the opportunity to get some PINK from me! There isn't enough PINK in your outfit. How about a PINK jacket?!" Why was she yelling the word pink? I felt like I had landed myself in some deep trouble.
"Uh… How about a pink Pokeball?" If I could pay money to get this crazy person away from me, I absolutely would.
"Great choice!" She slammed the pink ball right into my hands. I had to keep steady to prevent her from knocking me over. What kind of manic energy medicine was she eating?! "This is our special PINK pokeball! With it, any Pokemon you catch will be filled with the power of PINK!"
"So what does it do?" I felt up the ball with my hands, but it just felt like a normal Pokeball. You never knew though, scientific advancements could happen anywhere in this world. Maybe there was something special about it.
"What makes this pokeball special is that it's PINK!" She declared unashamedly with pink stars in her eyes.
"Is this just a normal pokeball you painted to be pink?"
"That's all it needs! With our patented PINK paint, the PINK ball will work wonders for you!" This was so cringe. I just wanted to leave. Hurriedly, I threw her some cash and ran away. I ran so far that I didn't just leave her store, I left the town entirely. Truthfully, I was looking forward to this moment. Sure, I could deal with the fourth Gym Leader first, but I couldn't wait any longer. Beyond Stow-on-Side is the dark forest known as Glimwood Tangle. An instinctual part of me felt fear at the dark and gloomy atmosphere the whole area was exuding. The only way you could see in this place was the glow in the dark fungi that dotted the forest. Tiny fairy Pokemon scuttled about the place, causing weary travelers no end of anxiety.
There was one reason I had rushed here. One of my favorite Pokemon could only be found in this forest. Others had laughed at me for liking it, but there was nothing better than a pretty pink unic-
"Eleganto!"
I flinched as a loud telepathic voice boomed through my head. A majestic Galarian Rapidash charged through the bushes, trampling them underfoot. It stopped a few paces away from me and reared back, neighing loudly as it did so. Due to the sudden psychic blast, all of my Pokemon left their balls by themselves, gathering around me to defend against a possible attacker. That only made things worse.
"Eleganto!"
The Rapidash blasted the word into our minds, making us flinch for a moment. It dashed rapidly at Raul and prodded at his thick, woolen fur with its snout.
"Eleganto!"
Merry didn't put up a fight as the Rapidash examined every speck of her body. She even obliged and rolled over to make things easier. That dumb dumb would really starve to death if we didn't take her in. The unicorn then plodded over to Hancock. My Ninetails couldn't be bothered. She lifted her head up and looked to the side, ignoring the horse entirely. If anything, that only spurred on the manic Pokemon even more. I could almost see the glistening hearts in its eyes as it thoroughly took in the majestic form of Hancock.
"Very Eleganto!"
For once, I was on the backfoot. What the heck was up with this Rapidash? Matured and powerful psychic Pokemon were capable of communicating fluently with people. They were a great help to stronger trainers, allowing them to understand the nuance of their other Pokemon. This psycho horse seemed to only know two words in totality, and chose to blast it out at every opportunity. What was I supposed to do with this?
I held out a pokeball. "Do you want to join my team?"
It didn't even take a moment to think before nodding. "Eleganto!"
"Alright, great!" Crazy or not, I still wanted a Galarian Rapidash. Nothing is better than a pretty pink unicorn. I held out a pokeball. "Just tap this and you'll join the team!"
"Not Eleganto!" It shook its head and neighed.
Uh, what? I took out a blue pokeball. "Great ball?"
"Not Eleganto!"
"Ultra ball?"
"Not Eleganto!!"
What the hell does it want then? A sudden brain wave hit me. Wait, hang on, maybe this will work. I took out the pink pokeball I bought earlier. "Pink pokeball?"
"Very Eleganto!" The unicorn poked the ball with its snout and was sucked in.
Um, Rapidash getto?
It wasn't really what I was aiming for, but I still got a Galarian Rapidash! My cute type team was finally shaping up, even if they all seemed to be insane in their own way. That's okay with me. Normal is boring. I started making my way back to town. My new Rapidash needed some training before he could be useful, but I wasn't going to do that in the creepy forest. I started to see a pattern forming when I stepped into town and was immediately lifted off my feet. Someone had grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and I could do nothing but go with the flow.
"Help! I'm being kidnapped!"
The traders who had set up their stalls alongside the road simply rolled their eyes and got back to their business. That 'PINK!' woman actually waved at a hand at me before going back to screaming at her latest victim about the power of her pink cult. I tried to pry the hands off me, but I had no leverage. One thing I did note was that they were surprisingly soft for someone so strong. With that not panning out, I dug my heels into the ground, trying to slow down my kidnapper or even grind them to a halt. That just led to them hefting me over their shoulders before continuing to run… somewhere.
"I'm trying to help you. Don't resist." A soft and feminine voice said sternly. Hang on, she sounded kind of familiar. Though my head was bouncing around, I managed to get a good look down her back. I felt like I had seen that attire somewhere before, but it was hard to tell with how rapidly she was running despite carrying a fully grown man. Eventually, we barged into some sort of dojo area where she finally let me down.
That was when I finally got a good look at her, causing my brain to freeze and shut down entirely. The only thing that left my mouth was…
"Hot."
She nodded stoically. "Yes, it is. Stow-on-Side allows me to train my mental fortitude, which makes it an ideal training ground."
My eyes roamed up and down her body. Her gray hair was cut unflatteringly, almost as if it was simply sheared to a short bob for maximum efficiency. A loose tank top covered her upper half, and it would have revealed something more if not for the black training suit she wore underneath. Then again, the tightness of the suit did nothing to hide the tight and compact six pack that she displayed nonchalantly. Despite her loose stance, her powerful legs flexed unconsciously, the muscles rippling fluidly despite their rigid appearance. This was-
"I'm Bea, the fourth gym leader." She stretched out a hand. "Nice to meet you."
On autopilot, my hand clasped around hers and shook. "I'm nice. Victor to meet you."
Her head tilted to the side in thought before shaking it off. "You must be wondering why I've brought you here."
I just pointed at her. "C-cute."
"Thank you." She accepted my non-sequitur with a straight face. "As I was saying, I've brought you here for training."
Despite my obvious infatuation with her form, I was still coherent enough to process what she said. I waited for a moment for her to continue explaining, but she simply stayed silent. "… and?"
"That's it. I've brought you here to train."
I… what?
"What the young lass is failing to explain, is the why." An old man wearing a tracksuit ambled in with his hands behind his back. He chuckled. "Ah the youth these days are so quick to take action."
"Mustard!" I pointed at the newcomer in shock. Holy Arceus! I didn't think I'd get to meet the man, the myth and the legend.
"Young man, do you only use one word at a time?" His laughter brimmed with amusement. "What Bea is failing to articulate is this… We've brought you here to train you up so you'll stand a better chance against Leon. Think of it as a special benefit that you're getting for impressing Milo, Nessa and Kabu so much."
"So there really is a secret Gym Leader conspiracy to bring him down?" I frowned in confusion.
"Yes." He nodded simply.
In the background, Bea started practicing her kicks. Truthfully, it was extremely distracting. I couldn't keep my eyes off her legs. "And you're just admitting it?" My eyes remained glued to her.
Mustard didn't seem concerned with my state. "What else was I supposed to do?" He shrugged. "Induct you into a secret cult and hand you our cipher for coded messages? It's not like that uppity rich brat and dragon boy don't already know we try to take them down every year."
"Okay… so you're gonna train me to take down Leon. I can jive with that." I nodded in thought, though that might just be my head religiously tracking her kicks. "But aren't you already training her?"
"Yes I am, but nothing is stopping me from training someone else. We don't actually care who becomes Champion next as long as they aren't insane. Maybe Bea will win eventually, maybe she won't. Or maybe you'll be the one to do it. It doesn't hurt us to try different methods. I hear Raihan has been developing his weather teams recently because his pure dragon teams just aren't hacking it." He mused with a hand on his chin. "Don't feel too pressured. You're just one of many arrows that we're letting loose."
"I'm still confused." I raised my hand like I was still a kid in school. "Why don't you just do it? You were a Champion and you've already defeated Leon once."
For the first time since we spoke, his face hardened. Mustard turned his back to me. "I did that as the Gym Leader when he was still developing. Repeating that feat is impossible for me."
"… I don't understand."
I heard him exhaling loudly as he shook his head. "The team that I raised… the team that brought me to the top, they've all returned to Arceus." Wait, what? "There wasn't anything dramatic about it. Some Pokemon live longer and some just don't. I've outlived them all." He clenched his fist so hard I could hear his skin tightening painfully. "It's not as if I can't raise another team. I could even defeat Leon if I tried hard enough. But what then? No Pokemon should have to bury their trainer."
Bea stopped kicking. She silently walked over and pulled his fist open before holding his hand. Though she was silent, the soft expression on her face said it all. It felt like all the tension had left his body as he loosened up. The old man rubbed her head and chuckled. "Such a good child." Then he swung his body around and stared at me with intensity bursting from his eyes. "Now… let the training begin!"
Mustard Higgins
Bea shot forward, her leg swinging right for the boy's head. Surprisingly, he managed to put up an arm to block the impact, staying rooted to the spot. Utilizing her great core strength, she simply rechambered her leg before kicking at his torso. Victor slapped his hands down in reply, redirecting the force of her impact. Kabu had told him about the boy's physicality earlier, but he was still surprised that Victor was holding his own against Bea. She wasn't normal. Even before he started to train her, the lass could hold her own against a Machoke. That the boy was even still standing was an accomplishment.
"A trainer needs both mind and body." Bea spoke as they jumped apart, her leg raised threateningly. "Your body is strong."
"Thank you…?" The lad still seemed confused about the whole thing. They'd have to train that out of him. When facing the full might of Macro Cosmos, he'd have to adapt, improvise and overcome. There was something to be said about fighting a horde of Durants that the company enjoyed employing and Mustard didn't think any of it was good.
"But your mind is weak!" When he was distracted by the compliment, Bea took the chance to sweep his legs from under him, sending Victor tumbling to the ground. She leaned down and held a hand out before pulling him up. "We'll work on that."
"I'm still very confused about this whole thing." Victor volunteered.
Bea began pacing in front of him. "The strength of a trainer doesn't just come from his team. Your Pokemon are strong, but you're holding them back. You need to be stronger to use them to their full capacity."
"Are you calling me weak?" He almost giggled at the frown lines that creased the boy's forehead. Young people were so quick to anger.
"No, you're strong too." Bea shook her head, failing to read the room. "But you could be stronger, and so could they."
"There's always more to learn." Mustard interjected. "In the next week, we'll be training both you and your team. Don't underestimate Leon. Despite his personality defects, he remains undefeated for a reason. Raihan came the closest with the recent changes to his team, but a close defeat is still a defeat."
The lass walked forward and clasped her hands over the kid's shoulders before nodding in what she must have thought was an assuring manner. "We aren't looking down on you. Everyone has room to grow."
"And we wouldn't be training you if we didn't think you had a chance against Leon to begin with." Mustard continued.
The boy was silent for a moment, before he stared back at them. "Alright, then I'll accept your training. Show me how much further I can go."
"Let's begin with your team." The retired Champion looked down at the belt, before squinting his eyes at the fourth Pokeball. It was pink. Why was it pink? "I see you've got a new team member. Start with that. Kabu has already given us the data on the rest."
The kid seemed to hesitate before throwing out the Pokeball. The light from the ball coalesced into the majestic form of a Galarian Rapidash. Interesting pick. Was it chosen to counter Leon's dragon team? Before he could continue his train of thought, Mustard flinched as a wave of psychic energy hammered against his brain.
"Eleganto!"
The unicorn neighed loudly, standing on its rear legs as it kicked the air. Mustard felt a pool of dread form in his stomach. "Kid… why on earth did you catch that Rapidash?"
Victor hummed. "Well, because he's-"
"Eleganto!"
"-that. Yes."
The old man felt his age catching up to him. With a sigh, he sat down on the floor cross legged, trying to hold back the incoming headache. "You caught the guardian of the forest."
"The what of the where?" The boy stuttered.
Mustard just massaged his temple. "We get trainers every year. One of them was infatuated with the Rapidash line and managed to catch a Ponyta. She trained it up to the point that she and her team managed to get past Raihan, only losing in the finals."
"Then why was it in the forest?"
A sense of melancholy overtook the old man. "That isn't something uncommon. Trainers usually can't afford to train more than a single team. It's not just about the money. Everyone has limited time as well. If they feel a certain member of their team has a significant… perceived defect, they might just abandon them." He shook his head. "At least the girlie had the common sense to release her Rapidash back where she caught it."
"… defect? What's wrong with him?"
"Eleganto!"
"That's one." Mustard held out a finger. "The other was that it refused to use any physical attacks. Whenever she tried to make it use a Psycho Cut or Megahorn, it would just say-"
"Not Eleganto!" The Rapidash neighed loudly once more, interjecting into their conversation.
"-exactly that. You know well enough that their species specializes in using their body to fight. They can use Psychic and Fairy attacks from range but it pales to their close combat prowess. A Rapidash that refuses to use its main strength is just not optimal." He sighed painfully. It wasn't as if he didn't understand where people like that were coming from. You'd want your team to be the strongest it could be. However, abandoning your Pokemon because they weren't strong enough just didn't sit well with him. It was the same reason he refused to raise a new team. Leaving them behind after his death would feel too much like abandonment.
"It's not too late to release him now. You've just caught it, and it isn't part of your team yet. I doubt you'd want a liability like this when facing Leon." Despite his advice, Mustard still frowned. This was the right move. Leon wouldn't go down easily. They had to make sacrifices to reach the top.
"Huh? Why would I do that?" Victor looked confused again. Was that just his default expression or was the situation just special? "That's not a defect, it's just his personality. If he doesn't want to use physical attacks, that's fine with me. I'll just train his other attacks to the point that they're stronger. It's not like the rest of my team isn't just as crazy. Raul refuses to evolve. Hancock might be even more prideful than this Rapidash. And Merry is just…"
He had expected a bunch of things to happen. The kid might have listened to him and released the Rapidash. There was even the possibility that the boy might clench his fists in determination and refuse to back down from the challenge. That wasn't good either. The trainer who released Rapidash was equally determined, but she gave up in the end. Instead, Mustard was met with confusion and simple acceptance. He felt his old bones warming up. The boy didn't even see it as a defect or an obstacle to overcome. That made all the difference. There was nothing to give up on if Victor didn't even think it was a problem. Maybe, just maybe, he would be the one.
"Your mind is stronger than I thought." The lass finally spoke up after being content with watching for so long. "You'll go far." She pumped her fist.
"I really don't understand what you guys are talking about. My team is genuinely that insane." He turned to the Rapidash. "Your name is Sebastian now. I took it from the most elegant man I know."
"Eleganto!" Though the psychic message was still painfully loud, Mustard felt the subtle hints of happiness seeping through unconsciously. He held back the smile that crept up. Looks like it really was just putting up a front before.
"No, really. I feel like none of you believe me." He took out another Pokeball and released the Linoone he used to squish Kabu, before pointing at the newly named Sebastian. "We just heard some sort of sad backstory for our new friend. I think he needs a hug."
The Linoone's tongue lulled around as its eyes glazed over, before a shimmer of clarity shined through. It stared at the towering form of the unicorn, as if pondering how it could possibly hug something so much larger than it, before standing on its hind legs. The black and white Pokemon shined brightly as a white light covered its form, before it grew larger into a full on Obstagoon. With its bigger form, it happily dashed forward and embraced Sebastian.
"Eleganto!" The horse didn't seem to mind.
Bea and Mustard stared at the sight with their jaws agape. He felt that headache coming back.
"What the f-"
Current Team
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Last edited: Feb 27, 2024
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 10
Bea Hawkins
She executed an uppercut. Victor yelped and leaned his body back, barely dodging the blow. They had been at it for the whole morning. Bea would train him in the morning while Mustard would help with his team in the afternoons. Night was for resting, obviously. A good regime allowed for rest and recovery. She pivoted on her heel, slamming her leg right into his midsection. He hissed in pain, but held strong. A part of her admired the sheer strength he exuded. Victor was standing up to her despite having no training.
"Your strength and reflexes are exemplary. What you lack is experience and training." Her leg snapped towards his chin.
He barely managed to weave his body to the side, avoiding a total knockout. Expecting that, she simply turned slightly before smashing her leg down in an axe kick, which he narrowly dodged rolled away, yelping in surprise the entire time. "That was close!"
Victor panted heavily. That was expected. Though he matched up to her when it came to physicality, he simply wasn't as efficient. All he could do to resist were a bunch of wild movements and overextensions. He couldn't even throw a punch right. Bea had her work cut out for her. "How on earth is getting better at fighting supposed to help me?" Despite the exhaustion and pain he was working through, the man seemed to try his best to appear composed and measured. Strange, was this some sort of male pride?
"How could you ever lead if you've never learnt to follow?" She got into a boxing stance before rapidly jabbing at his face. He did his best to bob his head around the strikes, but she landed a few glancing blows. "Fighting specialists aren't just strong because of our great match ups and the large quantity of good fighting Pokemon. We've fought with and beside our Pokemon." Bea did a strong straight, pushing him back despite his guard. He shook off the pain. "We know what it's like to fight in an actual battle. That allows us to bring out the full potential of our Pokemon. None of our commands are frivolous or impossible. You have to fight to lead."
She went for another kick to his side. To her surprise, he managed to catch her leg this time. Victor grinned nastily. "It's time for payback." He raised his arm and tried to slam his elbow into her knee.
"Well done." But Bea wasn't a novice. A childish grapple like that meant nothing to her. Instead of resisting, she dropped flat to the ground before kicking out with her other foot, striking his knee. That caused him to buckle and drop to the ground. With ease, she rolled over and captured him in a submission hold, her limbs draped around him like an octopus with his head stuck on her chest. "Submit." She stoically commanded.
To her surprise, his body seemed to warm over considerably. He cried out in defiance despite the pain. "I'll never submit!" Victor even seemed to lean his head further into her chest, as if he was trying to slam her away from him. Was this more of that male pride speaking?
That just caused her to tighten her hold, choking him out. "Submit."
"I'll never… I'll never…" He couldn't get the words out. Then his entire body went limp. Well, she did warn him. She pulled him out of her grasp before laying him on the ground. With a heave, she landed a slap on his cheek. He sat up with a gasp, panting heavily.
"We don't have a lot of time. Let's get to it." Bea wasn't being cruel, at least from her perspective. This was just how she learned from her fighting types and later, Mustard.
"Wait, hold up." Victor held out a hand. "This will be easier for me if you agree to something."
"What is it?"
He twiddled his thumbs. "You said that night time is for resting right? Do you think we could go to some place to eat that has uhhhhh… optimal nutrition for training?"
"Alright." She agreed easily. Why not? Food is food, and free food tastes even better.
"Yosha!" He pumped his fist into the air. "I'm all fired up!" This time, he took the initiative and charged at her with a strong punch. Bea admired his tenacity.
She still threw him over her shoulder though.
Mustard Higgins
"Let's go over your past few battles." Mustard scrolled through his phone, looking through the screenshots he had taken from the battle videos from the first three gyms. "I've got nothing to say about your fight with Milo. He has to take it easy on new trainers and you frankly overperformed in that battle."
Victor nodded in acceptance.
He swiped further, arriving at a picture where Victor's Vulpix was standing across a Goldeen. "Now this was interesting. I don't know if you were aware of her Waterfall Dash tactic. It doesn't really work on stronger trainers because it's so random, but it works perfectly to weed out new trainers because of that. Using Spite to sap its stamina was inspired."
"I would've done that anyway. Vulpix isn't a great match-up against an entire water Gym. Stall tactics were my go to in that scenario." The boy shrugged.
"Ahem." He cleared his throat. "Moving on. Your fight against Kabu is where things started to get shaky. Tactically, I can understand your decision to send out Vulpix against a Ninetails. It wouldn't have much use against Kabu's other Pokemon. Better to let it wear out something than to do nothing at all." Mustard waved his hand dismissively. "But you only won that round because Kabu relented after witnessing its sheer determination. That wouldn't have happened in a real fight. You forgot about Imprison, didn't you?"
Facing his stern glare, Victor laughed sheepishly and looked away. "Yeah… I forgot about that. Vulpix can't learn the move till it evolves, so I was caught off guard."
"And that's what we'll be working on. You've got some unique ideas with that Wooloo and Obstagoon, but you can't just rely on those forever. I'll be training your mind while you train your Pokemon." He suddenly held up a finger. "And I won't be helping you in that last part. This is your team, and you have to retain command."
Victor just grinned. "Wasn't going to let you. Come on out guys." He threw out all his Pokeballs. The Ninetails, Wooloo and Obstagoon simply grunted in affirmation before going off to do their thing. Seems like the kid had trained them so hard they just did it automatically. That wasn't surprising to him, seeing the extreme power that ball of fluff could perform so easily. Only the Rapidash remained stationary.
"Eleganto?"
"Hey there Sebastian." The boy trotted up to the horse and ran a hand through his mane. "Remember when we talked about joining my team? It's time for training." The unicorn neighed in reply. "Now, this old dude here told me about your no physical attacks thing yesterday." How insulting. "And I'm okay with that. But it doesn't mean you can skip physical training. It's not like your enemies are going to let you just stand there and shoot Psychics at them."
"Not Eleganto!"
Suddenly, the boy's face tightened. Mustard even felt a chill creeping up his spine. Why was that smile so scary? The hand that was softly running through the mane gripped it hard. "I wasn't letting you choose. This isn't multiple choice." So that's what a neigh of distress sounded like. "Only the strong get to choose! If you get powerful enough, I'll let you fight however you want! But before you reach that point, you'd better learn how to dodge the attacks that come your way."
"Not Eleganto! Not Eleganto!"
Mustard bore witness to a full on powerhouse of Rapidash screaming in psychic terror as its trainer ran after it, pelting its hide with rocks that he conjured out of nowhere. "That's right! Defeat isn't elegant!" The kid was somehow keeping pace with a Pokemon that could run faster than a car, all while throwing stones with unerring accuracy. "Come on! Merry could do this when she was a Zigzagoon! DIG DEEPER!"
"NOT ELEGANTO!"
He scratched his chin while watching the pair disappear into the distance. Mustard was starting to understand why the kid's entire team was so bat-shit insane to the point that a Wooloo could dodge Dynamax attacks or a Linoone could evolve just to hug better.
The kid was bat-shit insane himself.
Bea Hawkins
They had taken an air taxi to Hulbury. It wasn't a very long ride, just barely cresting over ten minutes. Even then, she was still confused about the diversion. He'd just said that he wanted food. There was food in Stow-on-Side. Heck, there was food in the dojo. Why did they have to come all the way out here? As they walked into town, the locals seemed to swarm up to them. Were they picking a fight? She could take them alone, but she worried about Victor.
"Oh hey! It's Victor! Alola!" One of the girls brightened up and waved her hands in a rainbow.
"Alola!" The rest continued along, with smiles across their faces.
"Alola guys!" Victor waved his arm enthusiastically. So this wasn't a fight? She felt a tinge of disappointment. "I need your help with something!" He took out a card for some reason.
One of the girls stepped up to him. He leaned down and whispered something to her. She seemed to glance at Bea for a second before averting her eyes, giggling the whole time. What was going on? Before she could get her bearings, they threw wreaths over her and Victor, before pulling them into the town. "Hulbury is a beautiful and scenic town!" One of the girls declared. "It is said that when you find love here, it lasts forever!"
"And who better than my pal Victor!" A man laughed uproariously and slapped Victor on the shoulder. "He's just so cool and awesome!" Then he mumbled quietly. "… and rich."
The fanfare continued for some time. They spouted a lot of trivia about Hulbury, which seemed to be mostly love related. That was strange to Bea. If all of that was true, why was Nessa still single? Did everyone just find her unattractive? They had even given her multiple drinks that they swapped out when she finished them. Hydration was important. Eventually, they stopped in front of a restaurant named 'The Captain's Table'. It was way fancier than her usual fare. Why had he brought her all the way to this place?
Then it clicked together. Bea wasn't stupid. She just didn't think about things like that a lot. A dinner in a different town at a fancy restaurant? The people guiding them in talking about love and making Victor look good? "Victor, is this a date?"
The crowd stilled as a deathly silence washed over them. They seemed to look at each other in the eyes before deciding to retreat, leaving the pair alone on the street. Victor just chuckled softly. "I want it to be… do you?"
She started to speak her thoughts out loud. "Your body is as strong as mine. The only thing you lack is training and experience." Her pupils shifted upwards. "I've seen your matches. You are far better than the average trainer that starts their journey. You have the potential to defeat Leon. From what I can tell, you have a stable source of income despite being a beginner trainer. The luxurious fur on your Ninetails shows me that you care about them deeply." Bea nodded and plodded towards him, before running her hands down his arms, feeling up the hard bulges of his shoulders, biceps and triceps. She even reached under his shirt and traced her finger along his abs before nodding in satisfaction. "And I find you attractive as well. Okay, why not?"
"Oh thank Arceus! Phew!" The tension seemed to leave his body.
"Why didn't you just tell me you wanted a date?" Confusion tinged her voice.
"Um…" He looked to the side. "I was just nervous?"
"Nervous about what?"
"I don't know how to explain things like this." Why was he sweating? There was a pleasant ocean breeze right now.
"That's okay. Can you tell me why you want to ask on a date?"
His face turned red. "Cause you're hot and strong."
"Hot? Oh, that was what you meant. You do not find my muscles unattractive? I've heard that men do not like women who are stronger than them." Bea wasn't bothered by that. She didn't find those men attractive either.
"That's the best part about your looks!" His eyes sparkled. "Your thighs are strong enough to crush my head!"
She shook her head. "I would not do that, but thank you for the compliment. Between Nessa and I, who do you find more attractive?"
"I asked you out instead of Nessa, didn't I?"
Her lips curved ever so slightly. "That means I am objectively more attractive than her. She can no longer deny me when I make her work out."
"I feel like I just screwed Nessa over."
Bea just smiled wider. "Nonsense. This will be good for her. Shall we proceed with the date? You'll have to guide me. I know nothing about this."
"I know nothing about dating either. Healthy relationships? Yeah, I can do that. Dating?" He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Well, you saw that mess."
"How odd. Very well, let us experience it together."
She grabbed him by the arm and led him into the restaurant. Though they didn't get any further that night, Bea thoroughly enjoyed herself.
Victor Nash
My spirit was broken and so was my body. Was this how all my Pokemon felt? It's not like I hadn't trained with them before. I could roll almost as well as Raul despite our biological differences because I rolled whenever he rolled. Sebastian could attest to my speed as well, considering all the times he ran away screaming 'not eleganto!' as I pelted him with rocks. Bea was just on a whole other level. She didn't just match me physically. Her sheer efficiency in combat allowed her to outpace me easily, causing me to not only waste all my energy on pointless maneuvers, but to suffer from her heavy blows as well.
Did I blame her for the harsh training? Of course not. She obviously meant well when she went as hard as she did. It's not like I haven't applied the same level of training towards my own Pokemon. Neither of us were being cruel. It was just expected that the residents of this world were this hardy and had the room to grow even further. Some humans could even fight Pokemon head on. It helped that I was deeply attracted to her. In this life and the one before, she was easily the hottest woman I knew. Sonia was easy on the eyes, but I practically grew up with her. Incest is not wincest. Nessa was hot, but not really my type. Bea could lift me with one hand, which won me over immediately.
It helped that she was extremely simple and blunt. Most people would have associated someone with such a lack of tact as rude or demeaning. I didn't see it that way. She simply pointed out how she felt in the moment with explicit honesty. There was no double meaning, nothing to guess. Bea meant what she said. Her impressive muscularity aside, I found it both refreshing and extremely attractive. I was interested in her looks, but I only stayed interested because of who she was. On the other hand, it wasn't as if she was mean spirited. Most of her assertions were simply bland observations or questions. Point in fact, it was day four into our week long training, and she had taken one look at my broken form and gave me the day off to rest. Like I said, she wasn't cruel.
Having declared that we were having a day off, Raul simply rolled his eyes before rolling into his pokeball. Hancock and Sebastian were in agreement for once, with the pink unicorn screaming happily for everyone to hear. Merry still didn't really understand what was going on. I decided to venture into town with my Pokemon sans Raul, who was pouting in his ball from the lack of training. One of the benefits of having a giant pink horse is getting to ride it. The dozens of townsfolk pointing at me must have been in great awe. I raised my hands to the sky. "Praise Arceus!" They averted their gaze from my majesty combined with that of the Holy Llama, ashamed at their inadequacy. That must be the reason.
"Victor?!" A startled voice called out. I turned around and saw Hop and the homewrecker running in. Not gonna lie, they looked kinda worn out. Marnie's clothes were frayed and tattered at the edges. What the hell had they been doing?
Instead of asking them that, I clung tightly to Sebastian and whined loudly. "You stole my friend from meeeeeeeeeeee!" That got everyone's attention. Marnie shied away from their accusing stares.
"You were the one that left us first!" Hop shot back hotly.
"Only because I was taking care of your mother!" That got the crowd to stare at me strangely as they whispered to each other. "Not in that way you perverts!"
"Please stop." Marnie pleaded, tears brimming in her eyes.
Hop and I stared at each other before nodding. There was a limit to having fun like this. I got off my unicorn and hopped over to them, grabbing the pair by the shoulders. "So what've you guys been up to? I've been here for a few days by this point. You can't be that slow, right?"
"Oh get this! Hop made the most astounding discovery the other day!" She started bouncing in place, her weird side ponytail thing following along. The girl literally squealed with her hands clasped together. "The Maractus on Route 6 actually respond really well to music!"
"It was fascinating!" Hop pumped his fist in excitement. "I was just tapping along on some rocks while we were having a break. Then the Maractus started to dance along. Marnie noticed and started playing her guitar, and they got even more excited. Pretty soon, a whole bunch of them had gathered around our camp and we were having a whole campfire session with them!"
"I didn't know that they liked music that much!" She was really excited about this. Was it her whole music background speaking?
"Right!?" Now Hop and Marnie were the ones making a scene in the middle of the street. I found it hilarious, so I didn't interrupt them. "Pokemon are so fascinating. The Marcatus even started to play along at some point, shaking their hands like real maracas! I thought that was just something they did to scare off other Pokemon!"
"So you guys stayed in some sandy place for a few days… to play with Maractus?" I questioned. I'm not judging them. To each their own and all that. It's just strange to see this from Hop, who was super focused on beating Leon before.
He gripped my shoulders. "It wasn't just that! We played different songs to see what they were interested in the most. Strangely, they liked percussion music best. I reported all of this to Professor Magnolia and she praised my scientific discovery!"
"I can't believe I contributed to the Pokedex." Marnie sighed dreamily.
"I even caught a new buddy! A Trapinch was being attacked by a bunch of Maractus, but we calmed them down by using our new discovery. He decided to follow me in the end." Wow, if he puffed out his chest anymore, Hop might just burst.
A slow clap rang out. That was annoying. Who the hell was stealing my sarcastic applause cue? Bede, in his all pink attire and flamboyant hair, strolled in while clapping sporadically. "Excellent discovery. Imagine playing with Pokemon in the desert instead of focusing on the Gym Challenge. You'll be easy pickings for me… not that you weren't already."
I sighed. At this point, he was obviously stalking me. It's not like I didn't sympathize with him. Bede was an orphan who didn't have much. This might be a post-scarcity world where nobody starved, but it didn't mean that all their needs were met. I was lucky to have a loving mother, and so were Hop and Marnie with their families. All Bede really had to cling on to was the scarce approval from Oleana and Rose. It made sense that he would track me down like this. Still, I wasn't going to be someone's sandbag just because they had a traumatic backstory. I reached down to grab Merry's pokeball, granting him a small mercy by ending it fast. Before I could, Marnie grabbed my hand and pushed it off. With determined strides, she stood in front of us and tensed up.
"You take that back!" She pointed at Bede angrily. "What we did wasn't just playing! Hop made a major contribution to the Pokemon world!"
"Feh." He flipped his hair. "Maractus enjoying music? You call that a contribution? Pitiful."
"That's it! I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!" She reached down and grabbed her ball, before releasing a Liepard.
"It'll hardly even be one, but I'll indulge you." He responded in kind, releasing his Duosion. I resisted the urge to facepalm. It's like he didn't learn anything from our last match.
"Sucker Punch!" Marnie cried.
"Humph. Round."
The Liepard took the chance to act before its opponent, attacking with a dark, fist shaped phantom that crashed into the psychic Pokemon painfully. Despite that, it stood strong and burst forth with a painful sound, causing not just the Liepard to flinch in pain, but the audience as well.
"Night Slash!"
Oddly enough, Bede was content to just watch as the Liepard sent forth dark gales that ripped into the Duosion. Then he smirked. "Pain split!" Immediately, the Duosion didn't look so close to fainting anymore. On the other hand, her Liepard started to look unsteady.
"Night Slash!" "Round!"
The two Pokemon collided before knocking each other out. "I was giving you a chance by sending out my weakest Pokemon first, but all you managed was a draw? Pitiful."
Marnie stomped her feet angrily but didn't rise to the bait, releasing her next Pokemon instead. It was a Toxicroak. Wow, she evolved it since we last met. Unfortunately, Bede sent out a Gothorita in reply. She was hard checked. Before she could even do anything, the Gothorita acted of its own volition, sending forth a painful Psychic that blasted her Pokemon backwards, causing it to faint immediately.
"What did I say?" Bede just flipped his hair again.
Withholding the urge to yell, Marnie just released her Scrafty.
"Feint Attack!" Bede commanded. The Gothorita seemingly disappeared before crashing into her Scrafty. She just grinned in reply.
"Payback!"
Bede widened his eyes and moved to yell out, but it was too late. The stored energy in Scrafty was released in a single blow, blasting the Gothorita away. The boy just snorted angrily before sending out his Rapidash.
"Dazzling Gleam!" "Crunch!"
Though special attacks were not a Rapidash's forte, Scrafty was weakened from the previous battle, causing it to faint from the barrage of gleaming lights, but not before landing a painful Crunch on its opponent. The round ended in a double knockout once again. I was honestly just noticing this, but their Pokemon were kind of weak. Maybe I was just getting used to the standards of Bea and Mustard, but the fact that they were getting knocked out so quickly was sad. Hopefully she becomes more of a challenge when the finals start. There's still half the Gyms to go, after all. She has time to grow.
Marnie sent out her Morpeko while Bede sent out his Hattrem. This was it. I had faith in her to win this. Out of all her Pokemon, Morpeko was the toughest. It was with her even before the start of her journey. She just smirked. "I learnt this move because of Victor. Aura Wheel!"
To my astonishment, the hamster Pokemon rolled in a wheel of lightning and crashed straight into Hattrem before it could do anything. There was no contest. Aura Wheel is an absurdly powerful move. Bede's Pokemon was knocked out instantly. Unfortunately, it seemed that the move was way too powerful. Morpeko couldn't contain the blowback. Everyone in town watched as a flying electric wheel was sent flying all the way till it crashed into the mural wall that the citizens here treasured. With a crack, the wall shattered and broke apart, revealing the statue of the two legendary Pokemon of the region.
In that stunned silence, an ominous click clack of heels echoed through the space. The crowd parted, revealing Oleana and Rose. She was so furious that a vein was popping on her forehead. Without a word, she grabbed Bede and dragged him away. It was all he could do to recall his Pokemon, his face wrought with worry. With all of that going on, I did what came naturally to me. I turned to Marnie and pointed at her.
"You ARE a homewrecker!"
Bede Nelson
"What were you thinking, you stupid boy!" She slapped him, sending his face careening to the side. Though his face stung, all he could feel was his rapidly pulsing heart. Bede's eyes twitched every which way, only stopping for a moment on Chairman Rose, who was stoically watching from afar.
"M-miss Oleana! That was an accident!" He pleaded with her pitifully. They have to understand! I only went after those ruffians because they besmirched Chairman Rose's honor! I owe them too much to just ignore it!
"Accident? You've participated in the destruction of a cultural heritage site. No doubt Piers will do everything in his power to cover for that insipid child. What do you think will happen to you?" Her stern, rage filled voice, sent a shiver down his spine.
He cowered from her rage, barely managing to get the words out through his trembling lips. "Doesn't that mean you can do the same? The influence of Macro Cosmos spreads far and wide. I believe in you!"
Oleana just stared at her nails, buffing them out. "We could." She agreed nonchalantly.
"Then-"
"But why should we?" His world shattered. The buzzing of the air conditioning, cries of the Pokemon outside and the impatient tapping of Rose's foot, they all faded into static. Only Oleana's sharp and steely voice pierced through. "If you were a promising trainer like we had thought, we would have invested in you without thinking too hard." Her gaze was cold and apathetic, nothing like the warm memories he had of her. "But you're not. Not only did you lose to Victor Nash, but you also couldn't even eke out a win against that weak girl either. Are you even worth the effort?"
She turned around and started walking away. Bede dropped to the ground, breathing hard. His heart beat erratically. The pupils in his eyes dilated. He withheld the urge to vomit. All he could focus on was the click clack of her heels echoing through the room. When she paused mid-stride, he held a faint glimmer of hope. "Oh, and consider your nomination revoked." That hope was snuffed out mercilessly. "As for the Pokemon we gave you? They belong in the trash." She looked over her shoulder, pointedly staring at him. "Where they belong." Oleana sniffed and walked off with Chairman Rose.
Bede just knelt there in that room, accompanied by the pitter patter of water droplets.
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 11
Victor Nash
I could feel myself getting faster and surer of myself with every bout we had. She didn't bother with teaching me any forms, it would only hinder me in the short time that we had. Everything hinged on me getting experience against a superior opponent. Every movement became more refined for each time she slammed her foot into my gut. Pain was the greatest motivator, driving me further into the upper echelons of mastery. I wouldn't be beating her anytime soon, but I was starting to see openings that I could capitalize on. It wouldn't win me the match, but I'd still take every opportunity to inflict the same pain on her that she did to me.
Just as she rechambered a kick, I watched her eyes waver with hesitation. That singular moment gave me the chance to sweep her lone foot, sending her crashing to the ground. I pounced on the opportunity, jumping at her with my fist swinging while she was still prone on her back, only for my eyes to meet a cloud of brown dust. Instead of landing on her, I ended up rolling onto the ground, grasping at my eyes. A burning sensation overcame them as I rolled around the ground in complete darkness. Before I could struggle any further, I felt a foot on my crotch, stilling my movements entirely.
"Submit."
Cold sweat poured down my back as an instinctual fear washed over me, even as the foot remained poised to strike at my precious. In that situation, I did as all men would, and surrendered to the dire threat of having my manhood squashed. "Okay! Just get your foot off already!"
"Good." Luckily, we weren't in an actual deathmatch, as I felt the pressure down there disappear, before her footsteps got softer. A moment later, my face turned blindingly cold as a cascade of water washed over it. That did the trick for me, as I started to blink away the final grains of sand still stuck in my eyes.
As I rubbed away the last bits of it, still feeling the stinging pain, I couldn't help but whine. "Really? Pocket sand? What happened to the honor of the fighter and all that?"
She crouched down and stared at me, her face stone hard and serious. "What honor, Victor? Pokemon use all manner of trickery to win. Poison, sand, paralysis, confusion, attract… so and so forth. If these are acceptable moves from Pokemon, why can't humans simply do the same?" Bea shook her head before reaching out with a towel to wipe my damp face. "There isn't honor in battle, just victory and defeat."
"Well, if that's the case, why don't you ever aim at somewhere that's more… vulnerable?" I hedged. Not even sure why I was asking something this stupid, but I genuinely don't have a filter during the best of times.
Her eyes drifted down for a moment, before shifting back up to meet mine. "You mean down there? Just because I don't believe in honor, it doesn't mean I'd do irreparable harm to a friend during a spar. Besides, seeing as we are dating, I would have use for it some time in the future."
This girl is way too straightforward sometimes. "Wanna use it right now?"
Bea actually took a moment to think. "Maybe next time, we have a schedule to keep to and I feel more time is warranted before we take that step."
Damn, what a girl.
Dan Referee
Was the ruffian really as bad as he thought? Sure, he was eccentric and disrespectful towards both the chairman and Champion, but he had proven his mettle against Kabu. That was just how the world worked. As long as you weren't some kind of super villain planning to dominate the world or some jerk who kicked Yampers, you could more or less be forgiven for your eccentricities if you proved yourself through Pokemon matches. Dan followed this line of thinking as well. It was fairly logical, all things considered. Having Pokemon strong enough to win against tough opponents like the Gym Leaders meant that at the bare minimum, the trainers were doing a good job of raising their Pokemon, and no one who could raise Pokemon that well could ever be seen as that bad.
That didn't mean that Dan Referee had forgiven his poor behavior, simply allowing for some leniency in his judgment. This was especially pertinent for this Gym mission. He had never understood what the mission had to do with a fighting Gym. In this particular mission, challengers had to ride a teacup down a downward slope, navigating through a maze to eventually reach their goal. Dan would never speak ill of any esteemed Gym Leaders, but he did wonder what they were smoking when this was designed.
"The Stow-on-Side Gym's mission is this!" He began with a loud voice that boomed at the ruffian.
Before he could continue, a hand tapped his shoulder. Dan took a step back and found himself looking down at Gym Leader Bea. "That won't be necessary." She shook her head softly, before turning to face the ruffian. "Victor, I've got a different challenge for you. Come with me to the stadium."
"I don't have to do the teacup thing?" The thug asked with surprise written all over his face.
Bea sighed. "I would rather nobody had to. In this case, I'm choosing to make an exception. Your mission will be harder, not easier."
"Why even make the teacups then?"
Her eyes glazed over, fingers twitching sporadically. "That wasn't me. That was Mustard."
"… Mustard?"
Dan Referee became more invested in the conversation as Bea's face squirmed uncomfortably. "He said he likes tea cup rides, so he made the Gym's mission exactly that."
The ruffian stroked his chin in thought. "And you couldn't just replace it?"
"This whole set-up wasn't exactly cheap. I don't have a good reason to spend all that money to both dismantle it and set-up something new. All I really have is 'this is so stupid'." She bemoaned.
"Alright. How bout we do the mission and get your mind off this?" He patted her on the head before grabbing her arm, leading her into the stadium.
Dan remained rooted to the spot, feeling like his faith in the League and Gym Leaders were cracking and breaking just a smidge.
Victor Nash
On the bright side, I didn't have to do the stupid teacup mission. It never really made sense in the games what the mission had to do with ghost or fighting types, but I guess Mustard acting like a senile old man made sense. I wasn't looking forward to what Bea meant about having a different mission just for me. As nice as she was, she became a harsh taskmistress when it came to fighting and Pokemon battling. A part of me felt like I was walking straight into a meat grinder.
We walked side by side to the center of the field under the eager gazes of the crowd. Bea, despite her smaller stature, was able to project her voice to the entire stadium. "Everyone! I have a different mission for our challenger today!" Her hand pointed in my direction. "You might have already known him as Victor, the Wooloo trainer! Today, I'm announcing that he is also my disciple in martial arts!" She turned her body to face me, her entire body brimming with excitable energy. "The Stow-on-Side Gym's mission is this! Fight me, and survive!"
Even as the warmth of the crowd's roar washed over me, I could feel nothing but a deep chill when she revealed her mission. Survive? For how long? Sometimes I wish she was a little more chatty. I could barely last for three minutes under light sparring conditions before this! Despite my trepidation, I still readied myself for combat. Bea was never unfair. She wouldn't give me an impossible task. It meant that she believed I could survive if I pushed myself. I had to show her that her faith in me wasn't misplaced. My stance shifted even as my arms came up in a guard. Channeling the energy of the crowd, I roared in defiance. "COME!"
She didn't waste a single second, blasting across the field before bleeding off the momentum in a telegraphed but powerful kick to my side. It was all I could do to raise my knee and guard against it, but even then, the impact sent me skidding backwards. Her motions were powerful and fluid, like a great river flowing through the battlefield. Bea gave me no pause as she aimed for my head with a kick this time, causing me to duck downwards into a squat, before she further capitalized on my position to kick downwards at my head. It was all I could do to catch the violent impact before I was knocked out.
I tried to grab hold of her leg at that point, hoping to get her off-balance, but in a show of mastery, she quickly retracted her foot and rolled backwards away from me. This wouldn't do. I was losing badly. Sure, I was never going to straight up win against her after a week of training, but even surviving for a mere five minutes was starting to look like a stretch. Right at that moment, it felt like a Thunderbolt shot through my brain.
Enlightened, I decided to take the initiative this time. Though she was versed in all forms of fighting, Bea specialized in her powerful kicks. Instead of allowing her the chance, I dashed in with a boxer's stance, getting all up in her guard. I jabbed at her face, and continued to do so even as she dodged every hit. Bea bobbed and weaved, slowly making room between us, but I didn't let up on the pressure and continued to close in with every chance I had.
Annoyed by my futile pestering, she chose to reciprocate. Too quickly for me to react, she reached forward with both arms and grabbed me by the shirt, before her leg reached between mine to sweep it from behind. As my stance was broken and I started to fall onto my back, she accelerated my descent by pushing down on my chest. Not one to be deterred, I grabbed onto her shirt in kind and pulled myself up towards her, before my lips crashed into hers. That was the first time I had ever seen or felt Bea go so still. The thunderstorm that swept away everything in its path had given way to clear skies. Using that very opening she granted me, I pushed her away before throwing an uppercut at her chin with all my might. In her daze, Bea never even saw it coming as her head snapped upwards from the impact. She only passed out for a brief moment, but that was enough for her body to tip over backwards. Instead of letting that happen, I caught her, holding the girl by the small of her back.
Her eyes fluttered open, confused at the circumstance, before a glimmer of clarity entered them. "Ah. You listened to my lesson."
"I sure did." Nothing could keep the smile off my face.
"I didn't exactly mean you should do this when I taught you about distractions." She mused in thought.
"Hey! Pokemon use Attract too!" I rebutted petulantly.
"That they do." She stood up and dusted herself off. "That was nice. I wouldn't mind doing that again in a more private setting. For now-" Bea took my hand and held it up. "Your winner! My disciple, Victor!"
The silence continued for a brief moment before shattering as the crowd cheered uproariously. As I basked in their adulation, something niggled at the back of my mind. Bea declaring so publicly that she taught me seemed deliberate. Not on her part, but someone else's. Was the Gym Leader coalition trying to ensure that I wouldn't turn against them by tying my image to theirs? I chafed a bit at the completely pointless manipulation. Why would I ever do that? Then again, no one thought Leon would have turned out the way he was. Fine, I'd accept it for now.
That old jerk Mustard was getting mustard in his pillow though.
Bea Hawkins
She had been looking forward to this all week. Though she got his measure through their spars, there was more than one facet to every person. Bea had seen his fights, but she had never experienced them personally. There was just something about the way a person battled that told her about their hidden depths. That was becoming increasingly important for her to know about Victor, not just because of the Leon situation, but her involvement with him. Their dalliances hadn't exactly gone very far till five minutes ago, which totally still counted even if it was for a distraction. In fact, she would argue that it was even more significant because it took place during a heated fight. Before she got into a deeper relationship with him, she wanted to know more about the way he thought; who he truly was. There was no better way than a battle.
"Gym challenger, welcome. You have an unshakable spirit that won't be moved. I felt it in our spar just now. Regardless, a trainer is measured by their skill with Pokemon. I think I'll test that now." She bowed and walked back to her spot. A strange calm overcame her disciple. Bea was used to Victor being over expressive and energetic. It was something she enjoyed about him. He was loud where she was quiet. They complimented each other well. This was a part of him she had never seen in person, and she'd do her best to dig out every bit of it.
She got into a fighting stance to help her concentrate before sending out her first Pokemon. A mighty Pangoro shook the ground as its sheer weight slammed down. It roared in defiance and got into its own stance. Though Victor remained perfectly still, she noticed the slightest twitch of his finger when Pangoro appeared. Why? Was her first Pokemon of significance to him? She shook her head and cleared the thoughts out when he sent out a Ninetails. It crooned melodiously before looking upwards, as if the thuggish nature of Pangoro turned it off.
Now, she'd test him. "Work Up!"
Pangoro roared once again, fighting type energy coursing through its muscles, causing it to bulk up. Though Victor said nothing, the Ninetails began acting on their own initiative, sending a barrage of purple flames. Will-o-Wisp, a classic opening move against fighting types. Did he really think it would be that easy?
"Rock Defense!" Using the move Rock Tomb, Pangoro cracked open the ground before placing a wall between it and the Ninetails. The purple wisps of flames sputtered out ineffectually against the barrier. Not to be outdone, the opposing Pokemon narrowed its eyes before sending a flight of dancing lights right past the wall, before they circled around Pangoro and confused him. That wouldn't work either. Pangoro was merely confused for a split second, before it shook off the condition. Her Pokemon trained as hard as she did. Tricks like that were just that, tricks.
What would he do now? Victor nodded after he witnessed the sight, before stretching out his hand. "Disable!" A brief glow overcame her Pokemon, before it became unable to use Rock Tomb anymore. That was annoying. Instead of disabling one of her stronger moves, he decided to use it on her only line of defense against Will-o-Wisp.
"Attack!" To her amazement, the Ninetails moved as fast as an Arcanine could, dashing through the field before leaping onto the rock wall. It breathed in deeply, a sure sign that it was about to use Flamethrower.
"Revenge!" It wasn't her fault if he forgot about the standard ways fighting type trainers responded to head on attacks. As her Pangoro readied itself to counter, a cone shaped stream of flames burst forth from the maw of the Ninetails, but they weren't ordinary flames. Instead of the usual red tinted flames, they were purple, much like that of the Will-o-Wisp. She had given the wrong command, and without a way to form another rock wall, her Pangoro was utterly bathed in the burning purple flames.
Despite that, it roared in defiance, ready to fight hard. "Body Slam!" Her Pangoro shot into the air, utilizing its sheer weight as a projectile against the ranged attacker that dared to get too close. In response, the fox smugly leapt up, before using the giant panda's shoulders as a foothold to get away. Her Pokemon grumbled when all it hit was the wall, before it turned around, ready for more.
"Spite!" Just as it closed in for a Hammer Arm, the Ninetails sent a wave of ghastly energy, sapping at her Pokemon's stamina, causing it to falter. That brief moment allowed the smug fox to dodge to the right. This couldn't go on. As she pondered over her next move, the cycle continued, with the Ninetails continuously taunting her slow moving Pokemon before punishing it with Spite. That's it.
"Taunt!"
Though it was sluggish from the torment of Spite, Pangoro still managed to put up a front and challenge the Ninetails, smirking derisively. That should have put an end to the status move barrages, at least for a while, allowing her to even out the match. It had the exact opposite effect. With its pride challenged, the Ninetails went from playing with its food to outright rage. Though her Pangoro was a wall of bulk and muscle, it could barely stand its ground as Fire Blast after Fire Blast impacted against its thick hide. The panda stood its ground, angrily yelling despite the pain it went through, but that was all it could do. Bea sighed before lifting up her pokeball and recalled it.
She should have known after seeing it fight Kabu, and it only got worse after evolving, but putting things to practice could be harder than one thought. Fine, clearly a more agile contender was required. Bea released her Sirfetch'd. The sword and shield bird Pokemon narrowed its eyes at the opponent. By now, the Ninetails had calmed down, but the rage filled attacks had exhausted it. She had to take it down quickly.
"Brick Break!" "Nasty Plot!"
The bird sped into the distance, landing a nasty fighting energy infused slash on the Ninetails. Despite that, the fox merely growled after the hit before a thin cloud of dark energy wafted from its head. She had even more incentive to end this as quickly as possible. "Continue!"
The Sirfetch'd desperately began attacking the Ninetails in rapid succession. Every blow weakened the fox. Where it once stood tall, its legs began to shake from the pain. Yet, the vulpine trickster refused to fall. Was its pride that strong? Right as Sirfetch'd went in for another blow, Victor intervened.
"Fire Blast! Put in everything!"
An enormous wave of fire engulfed the field, centering on her Pokemon. Even from a distance, Bea could feel the trickles of sweat dripping down her temple. The end was a foregone conclusion. Her Pokemon returned to her ball. On the opposite end of the field, the Ninetails had also collapsed, having overdrawn its energy.
Very well, he'd pushed her far enough to be truly tested. The next Pokemon she sent out was a Machamp. Unlike the previous two that she kept at a certain level for the Gym Challenge, this one was a personal Pokemon that she trained in her style of fighting. It wouldn't be as easy to overcome. In reply, Victor sent out that dopey Obstagoon she saw before. That didn't make any sense. It had a quadruple weakness to fighting types!
"Close Combat!" Victor yelled.
Wait, what? But it couldn't learn that! Instead of hunkering down as Obstagoon usually do, it ran forward on all fours straight at Machamp. Her Pokemon instinctively threw a Dynamic Punch at the incoming opponent, only for the Obstagoon to yelp and weave around it. All four arms of the Machamp continued to barrage the Obstagoon with Dynamic Punches, but the fool seemed to dodge it at the last second each time in the silliest possible ways. A straight punch was met with a limbo. A gut punch was met with the Obstagoon cartoonishly deforming its torso to the left. The whole thing was starting to feel familiar.
When it yelped again after leaning backwards to dodge another punch, Bea frowned. This was a mirror match from all the times that she had fought Victor. When her Machamp finally managed to land a blow, the Obstagoon frustratingly had its arms crossed, putting up an Obstruct. The sudden barrier caused her Machamp to recoil from the attack, its entire body bouncing back.
"Double-Edge!" And Victor fully capitalized on it with a full on attack. The Obstagoon recklessly rammed into her Pokemon, damaging both itself and the Machamp. The four armed Pokemon retaliated with a powerful Quadruple Chop, two of which landed on the shoulders of the Obstagoon. As if it couldn't feel the pain, the dopey Pokemon reached out and grabbed the two arms that struck her when the Machamp wanted to withdraw.
"Full Counter!"
No matter how much it struggled, her Machamp couldn't pull itself away, tightly gripped by its opponent. The Obstagoon reared back as a glow of fighting energy suffused its forehead, before smashing it down on the Machamp. With a thud, her Pokemon dropped to the ground, unconscious. Bea withheld the urge to sigh on live television. Even when he put on the facade during matches, his cartoonish and over expressive personality somehow managed to shine through.
This was it then. It was time for the Dynamax fight. She didn't like doing this a whole lot as it didn't make a whole lot of tactical sense, but she put aside her own ideals for the sake of the region. The ball was tossed out, revealing a dark accented Urshifu. Although she went through the motions, she knew the fight was basically over because of a Pokemon Victor held in reserve. Sure enough, he withdrew the Obstagoon and sent out the Galarian Rapidash, causing it to stand on its hind legs while neighing loudly.
She did what she had to. They both Dynamaxed their Pokemon. Sure enough, the G-Max One Blow and Max Knuckles did nothing to ruffle the gigantic unicorn, who just blasted away with Max Starfalls. Bea just shook her head, a small smile on her face. There wasn't a whole lot she could do while holding back to the level of a fourth Gym. Very well, she'd have ample opportunities to unearth everything about him during the finals. She just knew that Victor would make it all the way to the end.
As her Urshifu fell anti-climatically, Bea got ready to make her way to the center and congratulate her friend. What she didn't expect was the pounding headache she got as the Galarian Rapidash neighed in pride before utilizing its gigantic form to send a psychic death wave to everyone in the stadium.
" VERY ELEGANTO!"
She really should have known.
Mustard Higgins
"So nice of you to call me, Kabu. Did you enjoy the match?" He leaned back into his chair, watching the crowd go absolutely crazy for Victor as the boy and girl shook hands. The small hiccup at the end did nothing to deter the audience from going insane over yet another Gym match. These Galarians were just cuckoo for fights, and he loved them for it.
"Cut the crap, Mustard. I know what you did." The usually enthusiastic voice cut at him, dripping with venom.
Mustard sighed, but didn't reply with the same level of vitriol. "And just what is it you think I've done?"
"Bea just declared that Victor is in our camp for the whole world to see. I know she isn't the type to think that far, so this could only be your doing." Kabu's voice was accusatory.
"And so?" Mustard remained relaxed even as one of his friends' heavy breaths came through the call. "I'm just doing what has to be done."
"What do you mean?"
"Victor's a mite craftier than the lass, even if it's usually just focused on his immediate desires. He's probably figured out that a public declaration like this is meant to tie him to us." He chuckled at the short sightedness of youth these days. "But he can't take his thinking a step further. I don't need to force him to remain in our camp at all. There is absolutely no reason for him to accept Rose's offers. The strength of his team doesn't come from his careful selection but a strict yet insane training regime. Any amount of sponsorship won't help with that. Our investigations have already turned up his history, so we know he has reason to dislike Leon and Rose anyway."
"Then why do this!?"
"Because it'll bring him to Rose's attention. All eyes will stay on him while we work in the dark. Rose will still try to poach him away regardless, especially after withdrawing his nomination from the Bede boyo. That would just further motivate Victor to reach for the top." He explained patiently.
Kabu's disappointment was practically palpable, even through a phone call. "You do this every year to our selected trainers. I keep telling you that it isn't necessary. Why are you going this far?"
"Those upstarts destroyed everything I built as Champion. I had brought peace, freedom, justice and security to the Galar region, and all it took was a rich brat to wash that all away." Mustard's eyes gleamed as he looked down at the boy, basking in the attention of the crowd even now. "If they want to play the role of the monster, then I must play mine… the one who stops the monsters."
"You're treading a thin line, Mustard. That boy has power in a way I've not seen since Leon's debut. Take care that you don't create another monster."
The line went dead.
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
Last edited: Feb 29, 2024
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 12
Victor Nash
After the audience finally cleared out, I walked out of the back entrance of the stadium with Bea. From the fourth Gym onwards, the frequency of matches decreases drastically because of Kabu stopping most trainers from proceeding further. That meant I was free to hang out with her after the slug match she went through, but only when her duties were completed, of course. We weren't holding hands as we strolled out, but that was okay. Neither of us were the touchy feely types anyway.
"AHHHHHH!" Hop was there with Marnie, and he was screaming his lungs out while pointing at me.
"Arceus above, what is wrong with you?" I questioned with a brow cocked. He's not normally this energetic, that's usually my role.
"Y-you!" He stuttered incoherently. Marnie just pursed her lips in apprehension.
I rolled my eyes. Why was he being so dramatic? "Make like a Cramorant and spit it out, idiot."
"How on earth did you get into a relationship with someone?!" And there it was. I knew he'd bring up something stupid.
Bea spoke up before I could say anything. "There are several qualities that I find attractive about Victor. His muscularity denotes a drive and power that I value greatly. The rate at which he picked up fighting over the past week means he'll be a good long term sparring partner for me. Our battle just now showed that he knows much about Pokemon battling and even has the potential to go further, which is something we can share with each other. I enjoy his initiative, as I am unaware of the usual dating customs. Most importantly, I enjoyed the week we spent together, and I'd be happy to explore this further." She shot everything out at once calmly, leaving Hop and Marnie dumbstruck. Dang girl, do you even need to breathe?
"I-" He took a deep breath, before pointing at Bea this time. "Homewrecker!"
"Hey! That's my joke!"
Hop ignored me. "I won't lose!" He turned to Marnie. "Would you like to go out with me?"
"Ah?!" She squeaked, before looking away. "S-sure?"
"Great!" He grinned, before grabbing her by the hand and ran off.
"So Hop is insane apparently." I muttered in the silence that fell upon us with their departure.
She took my hand. "You enjoy it."
I grinned. "Yeah, you're right."
"Would you like to do the thing from before again? In private this time?"
Oh Arceus you glorious llama. "You bet I do!"
Gloria Nash
It had been an hour since the match between Victor and Gym Leader Bea ended, and she was still sitting on the couch in complete silence. She barely even paid any attention once the official match started, her mind still stuck on what her son did earlier on live television. What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to feel? Why did Victor do that for everyone to see? When did their relationship start? Who was Bea, the Gym Leader, really? Where was her son right now? How on earth did he grow up that quickly? Gloria felt like she had reverted back to her earlier days when she first entered trainer school as a child, falling back on her language teacher's lessons about the 5W and 1H.
"Ma! I'm home!" Victor's voice was a bolt from the blue, causing her to startle from the couch. Hurriedly, she stood up and dusted herself off before bussing her way to the front door. Good, she'd get to the bottom of this if it was the last thing she did! The door opened with a creak, reminding her once again that she really had to oil the hinges. Gloria got ready to hug her son, even if she was feeling really annoyed with him right now, but paused in surprise when she saw the girl with him.
"Ma, this is Bea, my girlfriend." The Gym Leader was standing in the middle of the doorway, with a small formal smile on her face, while her son was kneeling on the floor while gesturing to her with jazz hands. Gloria withheld a giggle. The juxtaposition between the pair was adorable.
With her hands clasped in front of her, Bea gave a small bow, her posture both rigid and controlled. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs Nash."
Victor wasn't having any of it. He slung his arm around Bea's shoulders and pulled her in, squishing his cheek against hers. The way Bea just passively accepted his actions almost reminded Gloria of Raul. "C'mon, you don't have to be so formal! Just call her Ma like I do, or Gloria if you're shy."
"Okay, Gloria." Bea nodded slightly, failing to process the implications of what he said.
All of this was a rush of information to her, but Gloria didn't forget her purpose. Using the move Metal Claw, she reached out with practiced ease and gripped Victor's ear, before pulling him into the living room. Bea silently followed the procession. "Ow ow ow ow pain pain pain!" Victor cried piteously as she dragged him in by the ear. That did nothing to deter her womanly wrath.
"Why did I have to find out you were dating someone from a national broadcast? I know I raised you better than that!"
Her son flailed his arms in futility, but managed to eke out the words. "I only found out we were dating at that point too!"
"Weren't we already dating before that?" Bea cocked her head.
He shrugged, jostling the hand that was still attached to his ear, though it wasn't gripping quite as painfully as before.. "That was like pre-dating. Think of it as scouting the battlefield, except it's about relationships. Neither of us was sure about the whole thing at the time."
"But the kiss made it official?" The girl touched her lips. So adorable!
"When it's live for everyone to watch? I wouldn't have done that otherwise." He could be insensible at times, but at least her boy wasn't insensitive. She gave him plenty of incentive not to be, as part of the basic parenting package.
"Mhm." Bea just nodded with the same wisp of a smile.
Gloria finally let go of his ear, satisfied that he hadn't purposely kept her out of the loop. "Get everyone else out. I saw a new face and some who changed entirely."
Used to following her every demand, Victor threw out four pokeballs, releasing Raul, Merry, Hancock and a Galarian Rapidash she hadn't been introduced to. The Wooloo took one look at the situation, before he baaed and rolled out of the living room, heading for his usual training spot. Merry, now an Obstagoon, had become an unstoppable hugging machine. Her larger arms allowed her to scoop up the unruly sheep before he could leave, holding him close.
"Baa!" Raul protested. He was never one for socializing, preferring to use all his time to get stronger. The sheep reminded Gloria of one of those Aura Masters that trained in the mountains with their companion Lucario. Unfortunately for him, he was in her domain.
The mother leaned towards the Wooloo, their faces barely an inch apart. She smiled. He began to sweat nervously. "You're staying, understood?"
"Baa?!" Despite being a rising star in the Gym Challenge, having gained a name as the strongest Wooloo in existence for dodging Max Moves of all things, Raul was still cowed by her gaze. He nodded frantically, like the good boy he was.
With her job done, Merry let go of Raul. He was immediately claimed by Hancock, now a gorgeous Ninetail, who simply rested her paws and head on him like the Wooloo was a giant fluffy pillow. In all fairness, he was exactly that and Gloria was starting to feel just a tad jealous.
" ELEGA-"
Victor coughed into his fist. "Rocks."
"Eleganto." What was once a loud psychic message petered out into a soft, whiny voice.
She took in the beautiful form of the Galarian Rapidash, running a hand through his mane. "What a specimen you are. Finally got the Rapidash you wanted?"
"He's weird." Victor admitted nonchalantly. "But everyone on my team is weird."
His Pokemon shot him death glares, except Merry. The dope decided now was the best time to pick her son up, before setting him on her lap while she sat on the couch. He just rolled with it and leaned into the dumbest Pokemon in existence. "So why did you suddenly decide to visit this time?"
"To show off my new girlfriend?"
Bea, who had been content to enjoy the byplay, spoke up. "I am something to be shown off?"
"Why not?" His eyes were bright and clear. "Meeting you is like finding a shiny Eevee. I feel quite lucky if I'm being honest."
"So you're saying that I am of moderate value to you?" Bea's tone was calm and moderate despite the accidental faux pas her son committed.
Gloria sighed, massaging the bridge of her nose. How could someone who knew so much about Pokemon understand so little about the world? Was this really going to be their future Champion? "Honey, the Eevee market became oversaturated after Breeders flooded it to meet the high demand in the past. One in four thousand might sound like very little, but it adds up to quite a bit if you consider that one in every four thousand Eevees sold is a shiny."
Her brand new daughter nodded along. "When you consider the number of regions that take part in Eevee breeding, shiny Eevees, while not common, aren't exceedingly rare or valuable anymore." She turned to her new boyfriend. "Was that the message you wanted to convey?"
"No! That's not what I meant at all!" Once again, Victor was on the backfoot. This was just karma for all the times he'd randomly praise Arceus when Gloria brought him on her shopping trips. She was rapidly warming up to Bea. Any girl who could keep her son in check, even inadvertently, was alright in her book. Plus, seeing her son sweat so profusely was better than any show on the Pokenetwork. "I meant that meeting you is like finding a shiny Lucario!"
"They are both strong and wise, having a unity in mind and body." Bea seriously considered the statement that Victor clearly did not seriously consider. Her arms were crossed, forehead creasing in thought. "Mustard told me that Rose could not get any Riolu to willingly be on his team because of their high standards. Any he bought just left in the night.Their intelligence precludes any attempts to force them to breed, making a shiny of their species both rare and valuable. I would love to have one."
"T-that's great!" He laughed nervously. "So I'm forgiven?"
"Forgiven for what? I was not aware that you had done anything that required it." Hancock just sighed loudly, before going back to her nap on Raul. The sheep was still staying completely still.
"Oh! That's great!" He pumped his fist in the air.
Infected by his sudden cheer, Merry picked him up and swung him around, before throwing her trainer straight in the air. She had clearly forgotten that they were indoors, as Victor's head crashed straight through the ceiling. "Oooooooooooooooow!"
As Bea worriedly went to retrieve him, Gloria decided to just ignore all the chaos in her household by preparing dinner instead. The ingredients never made a mess or caused trouble. They were quiet and orderly. Clearly they were superior to her own child. A smile crossed her face as she busied herself.
Gloria still wouldn't have traded her son for anything.
Professor Sonia
Hammerlocke was a great place to be if you were a professor of culture and history. Not only were numerous relics of their past enshrined within the city, tourists often made it a point to stop here on their way to Wyndon, allowing her to experience the world beyond Galar vicariously. It was utterly fascinating to speak to them on their different perspectives. Some of them absolutely revered their regional legendaries. Palkia and Dialga were rightfully venerated by the residents of Sinnoh. On the other hand, those from Kalos were uncomfortable with Xerneas, after the fiasco that Lysandre caused.
It made the ambivalence and ignorance of those in Galar stand out. Why had they forgotten their history? Did Zacian and Zazamenta simply wish to be forgotten? Though she managed to speak to them, there were many questions that they simply refused to answer. It was frustrating, but she respected their right to privacy. She was broken out of her thoughts when a ball of fluff softly collided with her foot. The black Wooloo looked up at her and baaed. As savage as he may be on the battlefield, Raul still looked like a Wooloo, and everyone found the species to be absolutely adorable.
Sonia easily picked up the Pokemon and held him close to her face. "Hey Raul! Is Victor here too?" If he wasn't, she'd want to know how Raul came all the way to Hammerlocke on his own.
"Make way!" The tourists and citizens warily parted, giving way to a Galarian Rapidash that pompously trotted to the streets. Her gaze moved upwards, and Sonia immediately facepalmed. Victor was holding his hands aloft, staring into the sky as if Arceus himself had descended. "Praise Arceus, for he is good. Praise Arceus, for creating Galarian Rapidash. Praise Arceus, for all of you are single and I am not." Victor yelled loudly for all to hear. The already weirded out tourists were taking pictures as if he was some sort of pre-planned attraction.
Sonia narrowed her eyes. Seated behind Victor was Bea, the Gym Leader of Stow-on-Side. Like most of his friends and family, the professor had religiously followed his matches on the television, so she knew that they were in some kind of relationship. This applied to Hop too, of course. She had watched the two of them grow from kids to young adults. Watching them dominate the Gym Challenge gave her a certain feeling of catharsis. Then again, with the way Victor was acting, had he really moved on from being a kid? And why was an esteemed Gym Leader going along with his antics?
Before long, he alighted from the unicorn in front of Sonia, before holding out a hand to Bea. The girl took his hand and hopped off. "Victor, explain." Sonia's voice was clipped and terse.
"I wanted to show off Bea to you, so I came over to Hammerlocke. On the way here I just had a thought; shouldn't I show her off to everyone I can? So… that happened." Before he could finish his last words, Sonia's palm met the top of his head, slapping the fool down.
"What have I said about following the first thoughts that pop into your brain? Boy, have you lost your mind cause I'll help you find it! And you!" She pivoted on her heel and jabbed a finger to Bea's chest. "Why are you going along with his antics?!"
The Gym Leader just shrugged slightly. "It makes him happy."
Sonia held a hand to her face, trying to prevent an incoming headache. "Arceus save me from immature children." Then she clapped her hands together. "Victor, I'm happy for you. It's great that you can find someone that's not immediately turned off by your antics. That said, the two of you need some time apart."
"… why?" Bea asked softly, a trace of hurt in her voice.
"Because you're an enabler and letting the two of you cause chaos in the next town is grounds for an international incident." Sonia explained. "Besides, don't you have an actual job to get to? You can't just follow him around all day."
The girl slapped her fist on her palm. "Oh, right. Victor, I have to go. I'll meet you again later."
"Kiss kiss before you go." Victor pointed at his lips. How old was he, really?
Surprisingly, Bea played along without a hint of shame, pecking his lips. "Okay, gotta go." Then the Kung Fu girl just straight up sprinted out of town using the path they cleared earlier, presumably to call an air taxi.
"I'm coming with you to Ballonlea." Her hand landed on Victor's shoulder, gripping it with a Metal Claw.
The pain made him sweat and stutter. "W-why?"
"Because the last thing I want to deal with is the Cult of Pink calling for your execution."
Victor cocked his head. "The what?"
Gym Leader Nessa
Her palms were sweaty, causing her grip on the pull-up bar to falter.
"Don't let go. You can do it." A monotone voice called out from behind her.
Nessa's knees were getting weaker from holding her legs up, but a certain someone had insisted that this was necessary.
"I believe in you." The voice was blander than the rations Pokerangers brought to the field.
She couldn't do this anymore! Her arms were so heavy! All Nessa could manage was hanging on to the bar, unable to perform a single pull-up.
"Dig deeper." She would hear this voice in her nightmares. Nessa just knew it.
Her stomach churned. This couldn't go on! Even her body was rebelling against the sudden onslaught of physical activity. At this rate, she would puke out her dinner; her mom's spaghetti.
"You are strong and you are valid." How on earth could someone's encouragement be so utterly devoid of energy that it became demoralizing?
Screw this! Nessa let go of the bar and fell to the ground, dropping to her knees. The immaculate Gym uniform that she wore, and sold thousands of copies of, was drenched in sweat. As a water specialist, Nessa had never thought that she would get wet in this way. Why did she allow herself to get involved in this torture again?
"Oh. You're delirious and speaking out loud. Take a five minute breather and we'll continue later." A silver haired demon crouched down and held out a bottle. "And I told you already, I'm more attractive than you, so you don't have an excuse not to work out and gain muscle mass."
"Based on Victor's opinion?! Seriously?!" Nessa squawked loudly, before her lack of breath got to her again, causing her to keel over.
"I trust his judgment. He is honest, and strong in mind and body."
"Bea, are we talking about the same person here? That lunatic goes around screaming about Arceus. He even says 'Alola!' like the dorks in town!" If she wasn't so tired, Nessa would have infused even more exasperation into her tone. As it was, she spoke the words one at a time.
"Isn't Arceus the creator? That means Victor is more credible than most people. At least, that's better than Cyrus who ran after Giratina." Bea's logic was somehow both solid and utterly nonsensical.
Nessa leaned backwards, falling on her butt. "Did he even explicitly say that you're more attractive than me? Is he blind? Look at this body!" She gestured to her form. "Do you know how many followers I have on Pokenet?"
"But you're the one who's single."
"I sell more merchandise than you!"
"But you're single."
"A-and more challengers come to face me!"
"That's because you're earlier in the circuit. Also, you're still single."
"Bea, if you don't shut up, I'm going to kill you."
"It doesn't change the fact that you're single."
Nessa leapt for Bea, but faltered at the last second because of her exhaustion and fell on her face.
Bea smiled. "I win."
???
The matron treated him well enough. She tried her best to be there for all of them, but she was one woman to over thirty children. Having a conversation that lasted longer than a few minutes once per month was already stretching it thin. He didn't mind it. The matron was clearly trying her best, but she only had so much time each day. He had been moved to this orphanage after his family died in a freak landslide. The only reason he hadn't perished with them was because his mother managed to push him past a steel blockade, which easily stood strong against the cascading river of rocks. It was an utter tragedy that his brother was too far away. She might have been able to save them both if he wasn't. As it was, he was all that remained.
Life in the orphanage was mostly alright. Their food portions were never too much or too little. Even for down and out orphans like them, food remained a universal right in this world. They were given opportunities as well. The League would sponsor their journeys when they became of age. They would have to carefully budget the sum to last the whole way, but it was generally enough to sustain a normal team if they were careful. He thought life here was alright, especially after some time had passed since the unfortunate accident.
Then he went out for a stroll in the city. Perhaps it was mere coincidence or a trick of fate, but his life's trajectory shifted due to a chance encounter. He came upon a mother and child, chatting the day away as they munched down on their scones. "I want a premiere ball, and a heavy ball… and, and a dive ball!"
The woman smiled indulgently, before reaching down with a napkin to brush off the crumbs on the child's mouth. "You can have whatever you want for your journey if you promise to do your chores later."
"Yay!" The child clapped happily.
He thought he'd gotten over the death of his family, but did he really? An ugly feeling caused his stomach to churn painfully. The emptiness in his chest almost felt physical, as if he was breathing the thin air of that mountain which took his parents. He should have been satisfied with what he had. None of the orphans went hungry. The matron cared for them and tried her best. There wasn't more he could have asked for, but why couldn't he?!
Was it wrong to want more than 'enough'? Wasn't he allowed to dream of a world where he could get whatever he wanted, like that petulant child? Why settle for mediocrity when he could reach further? The League handouts, regular food portions… none of it would ever be enough. The image of that steel barricade that saved his life flashed through his mind. It was practically immovable and invincible against the very thing that had taken their lives.
Steel…
He would become like steel, strong and unbending. Whoever stood in his path would be brushed away by his sheer tenacity. The world would be his for the taking, and when he stood at the top, nothing would be withheld from him. It wouldn't be easy. He needed to become as powerful as steel, and have the cunning to utilize that strength in the right places.
I wonder if there are any management internship roles I could take?
With his goal in mind, the boy began to plan a path into the future.
His eyes slowly fluttered open. As the man's hand shook over so slightly, the ice cubes in his whisky glass clinked softly. He looked through the glass from high atop his tower, gazing down at the night scenery of Wyndon. The immaculate suit he wore ruffled as he pressed a single hand to the gigantic pane of glass. His reflection stared back at him, diminishing the beauty of the city below. A small smirk crossed his face. Rose liked what he saw.
That memory never failed to renew his determination. It had taken years of blood and sweat, but he had finally made it to the top. This wasn't the end of his journey. Galar was just one region. There was an entire world out there for him to conquer. His ambitions couldn't be confined to an achievement so small.
The Gym Leaders thought they could stop him. Little did they know, they were just like the night lights that twinkled in his eyes, fleeting and ephemeral. It didn't matter if that pink boy failed. It didn't matter if Raihan tried a new strategy. It didn't matter if they trained up their newest secret weapon. His control over Leon was absolute, and Leon's control over Galar was absolute. Soon, he would turn his sights to Kalos. Their neighbors were still reeling from the machinations of Lysandre. There wasn't a better place for Macro Cosmos to extend a helping hand. Kalos would fall under his control, just like Galar.
And soon, so would the rest of the world.
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
Last edited: Mar 1, 2024
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 13
Victor Nash
A searing pain lanced through my arm, crawling up my spine and wiggling its way into the deep recesses of my mind. I wholeheartedly believed the theory that a person's psychological state and their physical one were intrinsically linked, because I could barely think through the five fingers that were suffocating my arm. Sonia's cool professor disposition had faded away into a shivering wreck as we trekked through the Glimwood Tangle. The gloomy dark atmosphere of the fairy-like forest was only made worse by the few bioluminescent fungi that dotted the place and the muffled footsteps of the mischievous Impidimp. Honestly, I was somewhat creeped out the first time I came here despite knowing about it from the games, but that terror had shifted to the iron claw that was slowly killing me.
"Sonia, please let go. It hurts." I could barely muster any energy into my words, with most of it dedicated to staying alive.
"HIEEEEE!" Paying no heed to what I said, she instead decided to hide behind me in a single instantaneous movement after a branch broke behind us, this time deciding to clutch both of my arms painfully at the same time. Great, I was now dying twice as quickly.
"G-get me out of here!" Her voice rang shrilly in my ear. That was a good plan. The faster we left, the sooner she'd stop trying to murder me with her hysterical power. Mustering my strength, I awkwardly waddled forwards as my previously cool sister continued to tightly grip my arms from behind, shaking like a leaf. We were barely making any progress with her recalcitrant steps, but something was better than nothing. This was it. As long as we continued to edge forwards, Sonia could stop being so terrified when we reached Ballonlea, and I could be saved too. I had just forgotten one simple fact.
Man proposes, Arceus disposes.
The leafy barrier of brambles and branches was torn asunder as a Grimmsnarl broke through. It roared at me in challenge. Perhaps it had sensed Sebastian, the former strongest Pokemon of the forest, on my waist. That was fine. I honestly should have thought of using my actual horse to get us out of here sooner. Like I thought, the pain was slowing down most of my cognitive functions. Before I could reach down for the pokeball, Sonia screamed far louder than the Grimmsnarl ever could as she let go of me. Neither the Pokemon or I could react as she tossed out three pokeballs at once.
In that singular moment when she let go of me, I felt my well praised and esteemed intellect return to me in full, before exceeding my limits as if the capacity which she held back was now overloading. Almost akin to a mind palace or occlumency, time slowed as I pondered the strange sight in front of me. It wasn't the Grimmsnarl. Pokemon challenging trainers to fights for no particular reason was basically a fact of the world.
My eye was more drawn to the fact that she had thrown three pokeballs. For as long as I had known her, Sonia didn't really have much of an interest in Pokemon battling. The only reason she kept Yamper, now Boltund, around was because the two of them had bonded over their shared abandonment. This allowed the dog Pokemon to evolve despite the infrequency of battling and training. When did she get two other Pokemon? The only other Pokemon I could remember her mentioning were… my eyes widened in shock. Instead of a singular hound, two more appeared on the sides of Boltund. Their profiles were far more majestic than the electric dog could ever manage. Each of them brandished a weapon with their maw, one holding a sword, and the other a shield.
As quick as it came, my vaunted mind palace crumbled under the Zacian and Zamazenta shaped meteors that struck it.
"Get it away! Get it away!" Sonia frantically shook her arms with her eyes closed, screaming at one, all, or none of her Pokemon.
As one, the trio of hounds looked at each other and sighed, before howling in unison at the now deathly still Grimmsnarl. I didn't blame it. The dark-fairy Pokemon basically came looking for a featherweight class match and was given two heavyweights to accompany its opponent. It did what I couldn't; the Grimmsnarl courageously ran away.
Zacian, the sword wielding doggo, padded up to Sonia and chuffed lightly, as if it was asking if she really called them out for something so trivial. Zamazenta just held a paw over its snout. Only Boltund was actually concerned for her, whining softly while nudging her foot. In all of that chaos, the only thing I could do was pull out my tent. We really needed to talk and the creepy atmosphere of the forest wasn't going to allow for coherent answers from Big Sis Sonia.
Minutes later, under the fully zipped up canvas of the brightly lit tent, Sonia stretched her arms and sighed happily, a stark contrast from her previous state. "Ah, that feels better!"
"Arceus above!" I exclaimed loudly. "Are you an actual anime character?"
"What do you mean?" She tilted her head quizzically.
I pointed at her belt. "For one, you're just casually carrying around the two most powerful Pokemon of the region." As if they felt complimented, one of the two doggos gave a casual yet preening 'bork' outside of the tent. "You've also somehow completely changed your personality after we put up the tent!"
"I don't understand what you mean at all." Sonia dismissed with a wave of her hand. "My personality has always been this way and never at any point changed throughout our walk through the…" The pupils of her eyes dilated, almost looking hollow. "… dark creepy forest with scary fairies running around."
"Okay…" So it turns out that history professors are kind of insane. That explains a lot about Cynthia managing to dominate Sinnoh. "At what point did you get TWO LEGENDARY POKEMON TO FOLLOW YOU?!" The rest of my words escalated into a strangled scream. In the aftermath of my echoing voice, the bushes rustled heavily as a stampede of muffled footsteps trailed off into the distance.
"Shhhhh!" Sonia covered my mouth. "It's kind of a secret! Also, it's not as amazing as you think it is. I just pestered them into letting me bring them along so I could ask them questions in a more conducive environment then the Slumbering Weald. I'm glad I received those sponsorships beforehand because their tastes are surprisingly expensive for Pokemon who've lived in the woods for centuries."
"Ugh!" I threw up my hands in annoyance. "At least I get to test my theory." I pulled open the tent and walked out. "Zacian, could you let me try something?"
"Wait, I already tri-"
The sword Pokemon plodded over, playing along with my whims. I took out a stick and started drawing a supply and demand graph on the ground. "So if the supply is here…" I pointed at one point. "And the demand is there." Then I drew the gradient line for the supply. Before I could draw the one for demand, Zacian just rolled its eyes before using its claw to draw the demand curve.
My eyes widened in confusion. I thought they wouldn't understand complex human socio-economics! There went my theory that they didn't intervene because they wouldn't even understand what Rose was trying to do with Galar. The hound chortled before miming a meteor with its paws. "Meteor? Rayquaza?"
Zacian nodded before pointing at the demand and supply graph before shaking its head. "Oh, just like Rayquaza, legendary Pokemon only intervene in extinction causing events?" The hound nodded.
"That's what I was trying to tell you." Sonia stuck her head out of the tent. "Did you really think I didn't already try asking them to just dethrone the current ruling class so everyone could live in peace?" Perhaps it was due to the serious nature of the conversation, but she managed to walk out of the brightly lit tent without jumping at shadows once again. "Everything in this world is born with desires. Humans and some Pokemon attach meaning to those desires, but on their own, they don't inherently mean anything. A god like Arceus and Legendary Pokemon like Zacian and Zamazenta…" She fondly stroked Zamazenta's mane. "… they don't think that acting on those desires is against nature."
"Against nature? You mean to say that only specific events that are outside the bounds of mortals are considered as something to act upon?"
"Precisely." Sonia nodded. "Meteors falling from the sky, Ultra Beasts from another world and Legendary Pokemon rampaging outside of their intended function, those are against nature. A single man desiring to rule the region is merely a facet of human nature. Actors like Cyrus and Lysandre were bushwhacked by fate because they attempted to involve Legendaries in their plans. Rose and Leon have done none of that."
"Bork!" Zacian nudged her hand with his snoot, causing her to fall into the unenviable task of trying to please two Legendary Pokemon with scritches.
"Maybe Rose will win in the end, but he won't last forever and things will change in time. Or maybe other people will act on their desires and manage to win their coup. All of that is just the natural course of events to Legendary Pokemon. I haven't revealed their existence to anyone because they should be allowed to play their role undisturbed." Sonia sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Human and Pokemon conflicts should stay as such, that's my thoughts as a history professor anyway."
"You've only told me?" I took a step forward. "Why not Hop? Or Grannie Maggie?"
She shook her head. "Because they would care. You don't. From the day I met you, I knew you were unique and different from anyone else I've met."
"I'm special!" I pumped my fist. "Yes!"
"Not in that way, doofus." A small smile crossed her face. "You just have a very different way of looking at the world. It's as if you think this place is paradise. The usual worries that people have just seem like trivialities to you. Nobody else seems to appreciate having food whenever they want as much as you seem to. The way you appreciate things that people take for granted is almost akin to the refugees that came from the Orre region before it was given the same unlimited energy technology that everyone utilizes."
Holy crap, she's perceptive. Were all history freaks this scary? No one else had come this close to guessing I was a reincarnation from another world. Of course I appreciated everything about a post-scarcity society. Even if I wasn't rich, I would never have starved. Nobody here struggled with getting what they needed, merely what they wanted. I might have made a nice life for myself later on in my first go around, but the two decade long streak of poverty still stuck with me. Early childhood adversity, they called it. Those years of sometimes going hungry, foregoing medical treatment and struggling to just get my needs met could never leave my mind. Could anyone blame me for being ever-joyful in a world without starving African children, free healthcare and gainful employment?
"That's why I knew your path would inevitably lead to this point." Before I knew it, she had placed her hand on my head, stroking it fondly. "For a child who appreciated everything he had, a man who never seems to have enough must seem like the biggest possible villain."
"Well, yes. But it's also the harm Leon caused to you, Boltund, Hop, Auntie Kennedy and me." I retorted.
She pursed her lips. "What on earth did he do to you?"
"He hurt my eyes. Seriously? A cape and shorts?!"
I received a whack on my head for my troubles. "Never change, Victor."
"Then why did you hit me!" I whined.
"Thought I saw a fly." She buffed her nails, before returning her Pokemon to their balls. "Anyway, it's time for us to go- HIEEEEE!" Sonia clambered onto my back, strangling me in a desperate bid to stay on, after a bush rustled.
I sighed and let out Sebastian.
"Eleganto!"
Professor Sonia
She could never get used to Glimwood Tangle. It's a good thing she could visit Ballonlea using the air taxi without any League restrictions. That creepy forest was one of the biggest reasons she refused to even participate in the Gym Challenge. A part of her was kicking herself for even accompanying Victor through that zone of death and shadow, but the rational part of her brain knew that if she tried to meet him in the town instead, he might have burnt down the forest as an effigy to Arceus or something equally nonsensical on his own.
The inner light of her soul brightened considerably at the sight of the luminescent Pokemon center of Ballonlea. Finally, they had reached human civilization once again! Sonia could handle trudging through the muddiest jungles and ruins filled with ghosts, but something about Glimwood Tangle just made her ever so thankful for lightbulbs in human towns. Alighting the unicorn, she breathed a sigh of relief. Victor got off as well and patted the snout of Rapidash.
"Thanks for getting through that place buddy. I might have died from asphyxiation without you." That was a gross misrepresentation of what actually happened in the forest. She did not hold him tight enough for that to occur!
"Eleganto!" The horse whinnied, before disappearing in a burst of light.
"So what's so important about this place that you felt the need to accompany me in case of an 'international incident'?" Victor did air quotes with one hand, the other still clutching onto Sebastian's pink pokeball.
"Well, it's beca-"
"Oh ho." An older woman, wearing the signature turquoise and pink uniform of the Ballonlea Gym, ambled towards them with a kindly smile on her face. "I see you've met Nancy."
"Who in Arceus' name is Nancy?" Victor questioned rudely.
The woman just pointed at the pokeball that Victor was holding onto. "She sold you that pokeball in Stow-on-Side, didn't she?"
"Oh my gosh, they were right! This is a cult of Pink!" The boy grasped both sides of his face and exclaimed dramatically.
Sonia pinched the bridge of her nose. "Really? That's what I was trying to tell you. This isn't a cult, it's a clan."
"Ho ho ho." The older woman laughed amicably. "Nancy is just overly devoted in ensuring we have enough to get by, what with the policies and cut throat strategies of that young'un Rose. The whole Pink thing is just branding for her trade." She shrugged lightly. "Helps that it references our deity in the process."
Sonia could see the very moment Victor's eyes lit up as the light bulb went off in his head. "You're the Pearl Clan! The Pink is about Palkia?!" A few children that played nearby stopped to point and stare at Victor when he screamed.
"I'm surprised you figured it out so quickly. Most don't even know that we exist." She held a hand to her mouth in surprise. "It must be nice to be taught by an esteemed professor of history."
But Sonia hadn't told him about the Diamond and Pearl clans at all.
Unlike the woman, Sonia wasn't surprised Victor knew about the Pearl clan, something she herself only knew about because of her connections in the history academia that led her to Cynthia. He was remarkably careless with sharing information that he knew, especially the things he shouldn't have known about. There were factoids about Pokemon that went completely undiscovered until Magnolia verified the random things he would spout during meal times. Victor also used the excuse that Arceus came to him in a dream to tell him about things one too many times when she grilled him about how he even knew that Rayquaza had a primal form, or the origin of the infinite energy machine in Kalos. Sonia could never explain the sheer wealth of knowledge he seemed to have, even as a child.
The answer only hit her after a trip to Sinnoh for an academic discussion with the Champion there. Centuries ago, when the first human settlers arrived in Sinnoh, they were beset by wild Pokemon, rampaging Legendaries and even the Devil itself, Giratina. It was only due to the timely arrival of a single hero that they could overcome the troubles that plagued their expedition. The hero was a strange girl. Despite meeting Pokemon for the first time, she knew more about them than their incumbent professor at the time. Only the Diamond and Pearl clans, along with Cynthia, knew about the real reason.
The girl was a transmigrator, and Victor was likely one as well. That was the only reasonable explanation for all his knowledge, especially as a child who barely left the pastures of Postwick. It also explained why he was so enamored with Pokemon and the many other things of this world, as the Hero had once shared that the world she came from was wrought with poverty and had not a single Pokemon. Sonia had kept that information to herself. It's not like she knew when Victor actually arrived. Was he merely a soul that was pushed towards Gloria during inception? Had he accidentally hijacked the body of an infant? It wouldn't do any good to mention that information to the mother, especially since Victor treated her like his real one. He never shared his origins either, leading her to conclude that he didn't really want anyone to know.
That was why she kept from talking to him about it either.
"Yeah, she told me about it!" Victor declared loudly. Sonia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He was really terrible at keeping things secret. She clearly hadn't mentioned this before. "But wait, what is the clan doing all the way here in Galar?"
"We're an offshoot of the Pearl Clan. As you know, we worship Lord Palkia, the god of space. However, we are also its guardians, not just for those who would exploit it, but for those that it would destroy."
Sonia chimed in. "Palkia and Dialga were driven mad by Giratina once before, which led to mayhem in Ancient Sinnoh. Just in case that happens again, the Pearl Clan sent a delegation to Galar should that day arrive once more."
"Wait, what?"
"Look around you, young'un. What else could calm down Palkia other than an army of powerful fairy types? We can't simply wait for another hero to save us." The woman gestured at the many Rapidash, Grimmsnarl, Shiinotic, Slurpuff, and Hatterene that were dotted throughout the town. "Should the time come that Lord Palkia falls into a frenzy once more, we will return with the full force of our fairies and quell his rage… and put down the devil Giratina once and for all."
"Hey!" Victor angrily pointed at the older woman. "Don't say that about Giratina! It's just a tsundere!"
The woman rolled her eyes, not taking any offense. "A devil that caused the early settlers to fear for their lives? You call that a tsundere?"
"That's just a matter of scale! Of course it's temper tantrum to get daddy Arceus' attention would cause region wide changes, it's a Legendary Pokemon!" The teen argued back heatedly.
Sonia realized that the sweat that dripped down her temple was a sign of her rising panic.
"You would side with Giratina over Lord Arceus?"
"No, Arceus is the best! Hail Arceus! But that includes all his children as well, even the problem ones!" He was starting to escalate even though the woman remained calm. "And I won't let you slander Giratina anymore! I bet you think Darkrai is evil as well? For your information, they're just misun-"
With practiced ease, Sonia hugged around his neck and blocked his airflow, choking out the last words he would've said. "Sorry about that. He gets passionate easily. Be seeing you!" Before she could pull him off, Sonia startled and stopped in place. Four identical children, wearing white smocks, had surrounded her and Victor. Despite the placid expressions on their face, Sonia felt her stomach churn.
One of the children spoke. "You yelled at Grandma."
"You will pay."
The third took out his pokeball. "We will crush you."
"-believer of Giratina!" In sync, they threw out their pokeballs, revealing four different Grimmsnarls that looked a lot fiercer and terrifying than the one they encountered in the forest.
Victor, who had gone surprisingly still in her grip, shivered and shook. Her worry intensified for a moment. Was this too much for him to handle? Sonia looked over to the elderly woman, but the stern expression on her face said everything about her intentions.
"Hahahahaha!" Victor's laughter echoed throughout the sleepy town. Oh, that's why he was shaking. She let go of him. He covered his eyes and continued to laugh hysterically. "That's right! I had forgotten! The one who's right in the Pokemon world is the one who wins!" As if responding to his heightened emotions, the team he kept holstered on his belt came out all at once in bright rays of light, revealing a Wooloo, Obstagoon, Ninetails and Rapidash.
"Guys!" His grin was manic. Did he really feel that strongly about Giratina? Victor slashed his arm forward. "As one!"
"Atta-" The crowd of children tried to command their Pokemon, but were interrupted by a ghastly wave of purple energy that erupted with Ninetails at the epicenter. Spread out as it was across four targets, the stamina sapping effects of Spite merely made the four Grimmsnarls falter mid-charge; but that was all the time Victor's team needed.
"Baaaaaaaa!" The Wooloo spun in place, kicking up a dirt cloud. Within that very same cloud, the shaded silhouette of Obstagoon sprinted forward and punted her own teammate, causing the projectile Pokemon to be sent careening at one of the Grimmsnarls. Wooloo collided against the opposing Pokemon, causing it to slide backwards as it held its ground. Just as Sonia wondered if the pay off was worth all that build-up, the Wooloo that was sent off course collided with a psychic barrier in mid-air, before being sent right back to the crowd of Grimmsnarls.
It was a field of death. Everytime Raul bounced off one of his opponents, the Rapidash would send him right back into the fray. The balled up harbinger was simply moving too quickly and unpredictably for the four Pokemon to react in any meaningful way.
"Leave the zone!" One of the children commanded frantically, their placid facade fading as the match fell out of their favor.
One of the opposing Pokemon tried to do just that, dashing towards the Rapidash as another of his compatriots got smacked in the back of its head. Before it could get out of the invisible zone, Obstagoon stepped forward to obstruct it. It didn't matter how angrily the Pokemon snarled, or how many attacks it threw, Obstagoon acted as the perfect goalkeeper and continuously used Obstruct to block its path to safety.
Victor held his hands up high and cackled. "This is my G-Max Pinball! Try and stop it if you can!"
Trained Pokemon or not, these were kids at the end of the day. They had no recourse or answer to the seemingly perfect attack and defense play that Victor had set on the field. One by one, their Pokemon were knocked out, and their entire team lost.
"No fair!" One of them stomped his foot and pointed at Victor. "You cheated."
Sonia felt a lot less creeped out by the kids now that they were acting like… kids. Victor just continued to laugh like a madman.
The elderly woman only chose now to interject. "Run along kids. Everyone loses someday. He's right, you know?" She cleared her throat. "Might makes right. If you're unhappy about it, train harder so you don't lose next time." As the kids sulked and stomped away, she turned to face Victor and Sonia. "As for you, are you ready to challenge the whole town for your beliefs?"
Sonia's eyes spun around unsteadily, darting from one part of the town to the next. Out of the shadows, fairy Pokemon stepped out, glaring at the duo menacingly. "Dang it, Victor! This is what I meant about causing an international incident."
"Chill, fam. I got this." Despite the overwhelming hostility they were facing, Victor just grinned. "All of you at once?" He spread his arms wide. "I'm honored to be put on the same level as Palkia!"
"You-!" The elderly woman growled, stepping one foot forward.
"Enough! Have we fallen so low that we need the entire clan to deal with one child?" The rhythmic tapping of a heavy cane interrupted the woman, as Opal, the Gym Leader, stepped out of the Gym and glanced down at the mass of trainers and Pokemon. "Come boy. It's time for your Gym Challenge." She slammed the cane down one final time, silencing the clamoring crowd. Prove that Kabu was right in choosing you. Show me the conviction behind your words."
"You got it!" Victor promised loudly. "See, Big Sis? I got this."
Sonia felt the anxiety that ran rampant in her chest come to a pause. She almost feared that she would have to pull out the Legendary Pokemon just to escape from the international incident that Victor caused. Resolving it all with a Gym match was just par for the course in this wacky world they lived in.
She still smacked the back of his head.
"Ooooooow!"
Current Team
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Last edited: Apr 13, 2024
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 14
Dan Referee
A part of him felt excited that the ruffian was undertaking the Gym mission. As uncouth as he was, the way that thug chose to solve the challenges put before him was both unique and breathtaking in a way that Dan had never seen before. Even the wackiest eccentrics of Galar chose to conform to their traditions. There was just something about the challenger that made him do everything his own way with an ease that the Referee family had never seen. Even his sister, Sheila Referee, had begged him for a go at overseeing the ruffian's Gym missions.
Dan refused, of course. He had to get his entertainment where he could find it.
Opal meandered up to him. There was just something about the lady that Dan found unnerving. Despite her frail form, the Gym Leader's very presence exuded authority, as if she was the commander of an entire legion. Her soft footsteps and the melodious thunking of her cane caused Dan to reflexively straighten his posture, almost standing at attention.
"The boy is on his way then?" Though her voice wasn't one octave higher than a whisper, he could hear her perfectly in the oppressive silence of the studio. It was kind of creepy that he couldn't even hear the soft whooshing from the ventilation ports.
They both knew the answer to her question. Opal had a tighter grasp on her Gym than most Leaders, yet she chose to ask him anyway. To Dan, it was a sign of respect towards his position, and he returned that same respect easily enough. "Yes, ma'am! Reports from the front desk indicate that the Challenger has left the changing room!"
"Lighten up, Dan. I have a feeling that this will be a show of the century." The small smile on her wizened face did nothing to instill confidence in him. Maybe the masala he ate earlier was the reason his stomach was churning ominously?
"Ah, here he is."
Sure enough, the ruffian casually strolled into the studio wearing the most garish outfit Dan had ever witnessed.
"There you are, my dear Gym Challenger. Though you really are lacking in the color-" Her eyes roved up and down. "Oh ho?"
The thug must have learnt some sort of Pokemon move, because Dan's eyes were beginning to water. Though the cut of his outfit matched that of the Gym Challenger uniform, it was dyed in the brightest possible neon pink, accented with a deep royal purple. The Challenger spun in place, preening at their attention. "You like? I had this specially made for my audition."
"Then you already know?" Opal raised a single brow. "I'm looking for a successor for the role of Gym Leader here. My Gym mission serves as an audition of sorts, too. Oh, don't worry. It's simple enough. I-"
"Actually, I have a proposal." The boy performed a mockery of a deep bow. "Why don't I simply show you why I, the fabulous devotee of Arceus, am your best possible candidate?"
Though Dan was offended on her behalf, Opal simply chortled. "Now there's that Fairy moxy I was waiting for! Youngsters these days are just too compliant!" She slammed her cane onto the ground twice. "Very well, step onto the stage and show us what you've got."
While the thug ambled onto the stage, Opal disappeared in a burst of psychic energy before reappearing in her seat. Her gnarled fingers tickled the chin of a Ralts, before the Pokemon re-entered its pokeball. The boy bowed once more, before speaking into the microphone. "The answers to your questions are Poison and Steel, Annette and Omelets."
"Managed to get a peek at the future, have we?" Opal didn't look very impressed, and neither was Dan. The thug could have simply gotten the answers from the previous Gym Challenger. Then, as if a lightning bolt had struck him, Dan stiffened in place. There weren't any previous Gym Challengers, at least, not in this circuit. The boy was the first one for the Ballonlea Gym. How did he know the questions and answers already?!
"Not good enough?" The ruffian wiggled his hips and grinned, before stretching out his hand and pointing at the Gym Leader. "Your nickname is the Wizard. Your favorite color is purple and we all know that the lovely Ms. Opal is still at the tender age of sixteen."
Her stern visage crumbled into dust, as if it never existed to begin with. Though Dan had seen her smile before, it had never been this wide. Her face was so twisted by the grin on her face that it seemed as though her eyes had turned into crescent moons. "What a delightful child! I can see why Kabu likes you now. Bea has certainly picked a man who knows the right things to say to a lady."
"I live to delight, my youthful lady." Though the boy performed that same mocking bow, Dan was too taken aback by the spectacle before him to get offended. How did he do that? Seeing the future was one thing, but impressing Opal was a feat he had never seen in his life! Truly, he was right to not give up his slot to Sheila. She would be so pissed that she missed seeing this.
"But I can't just let you breeze on by like this. Shall we continue this game of trivia for just a bit longer? It'll help keep that flamboyant ass off my tail." D-did she just casually insult Leon, the Champion of their region?
"What organization was responsible for the Slowpoke Well incident in Azalea Town, Johto?"
Before Dan could even ponder the question, the ruffian posed with his arm outstretched towards the ceiling.
"Prepare for trouble!" He spun on the spot.
"And make it double!" Then he made a V sign with his fingers.
"To protect the world from devastation! To unite all peoples within our nation!" The boy clenched his fist and made a sorrowful face.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love! To extend our reach to the stars above!" The clenched fist was moved to his chest, and the boy actually started crying.
"Victor!" He spread his legs and pumped his fists.
"Dan!" The thug pointed at him. Why was he being included?!
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light! Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
Of all things, a Galarian Rapidash materialized on stage and psychically screamed into everyone's mind, causing Dan to hold onto his throbbing temple. "ELEGANTO!" Then the unicorn returned to its pokeball.
"Very showy. I approve." Opal nodded lightly, unfazed by the psychic blast everyone else experienced. "What Pokemon line has no type weaknesses?"
For once, Dan knew the answer immediately. They had discussed this very line of Pokemon at a recent family dinner. Sheila had gotten it into her head that she needed an Eelektross to make up for her lack of battling prowess, as if not having any type weaknesses would somehow fix all of that. He chuckled silently at the thought.
"Humans." The boy answered simply. Ah, there it was again. That same oppressive silence that pervaded the studio from before was back.
"Wh-" Dan exclaimed, before getting interrupted.
"Interesting!" He really should stop being surprised that she was this nimble despite her aging body. Opal had basically shot up from her chair and spread her arms across the table with a manic gleam in her eye. "Validate your answer."
"Humans have no type weaknesses." The ruffian nonchalantly buffed his nails. "Am I wrong?"
"Ah, but I asked about which Pokemon have no type weaknesses." Was Dan imagining her eyes turning pink?
"And humans aren't Pokemon?"
"Go on."
He swept his arm in a wide arc. "Everything in this world is a Pokemon! Every species with the capacity to think is a Pokemon. Our lord Arceus is a Pokemon!" The boy clenched his fist and curled his form dramatically. "Isn't it hubris to think that we are above our very creator?! Are humans not just weak but intelligent Pokemon? Who's to say that we weren't just an ancient species that evolved in a different way?"
"I accept your reasoning." Opal sat down demurely. "The answer I was looking for is Eelektross. You have subverted my game within the confines of the rules. It's just like a Fairy to abuse every loophole and go against the spirit of the contract. I've seen enough. I just have one final question." Dan leaned forward in anticipation. "How do you know the things that you know?"
What was she talking about?
"Will you tell me how you stay forever sixteen?"
"No."
"Then you know my answer." The boy winked.
Opal sighed and shook her head. "Very well, you've proven yourself to be a manic pixie dream boy in spirit, but your mettle has to be tested as well." She looked towards the referee. "Dan?"
He fought through the impulse to ask any questions about what just went down and cleared his throat. "The Gym Challenger has passed the mission!"
As the boy stepped through the door into the stadium, Dan looked at Opal and gestured with his eyes, silently asking her for an explanation.
Opal just winked at him.
Gym Leader Opal
Never had she encountered such a perfect candidate to take up the mantle of Gym Leader for Ballonlea. They might have traced their origins back to the Pearl Clan of Sinnoh, but the residents of the sleepy town had formed a separate identity as generations passed on by. Opal took great pride in her sacred duty of safeguarding their guardian deity, Palkia, but the world didn't just revolve around world-ending threats. The Fairy Pokemon that they trained and bonded with played their part in shaping the identities of this little Pearl Clan offshoot. They enjoyed being aloof to the troubles of the mortal world, only interfering when it amused or benefitted them. Trickery and showmanship was their bread and butter, and Victor exemplified that perfectly. Auditions? She didn't need to bother with that farce any further. The only notable Gym Challengers left were Hop and Marnie, and the two of them were too shackled by their circumstances to ever be suitable.
Victor hadn't backed down even when the town was up in arms against him. Though the threat wasn't real, he hadn't known that she had only set-up that scenario to test his convictions. He remained steadfast in his beliefs and continued to be a… what had he called it? Ah, yes. He continued to be a troll through and through. So what if he wasn't descended from the Pearl Clan? Tradition? Feh! As if they had kept to tradition when the Pearl and Diamond clans united under the leadership of the hero. Opal could just matchmake him with a strapping young lass from the Pearl Clan and the matter of bloodlines would be resolved. Then again, Bea currently had an iron grip on him. Perhaps she should revisit her strategy. Were there any clan members that specialized in seduction?
As his footsteps got closer, Opal opened her eyes and took in the crowd. She could never get used to their loud and boisterous cheering. It got significantly harder to pull off any trickery with so many eyes on her, but that was only true for amateurs. They called her the Wizard for a reason. She'd pull out every card to force out every lick of potential that lay dormant in the child. Her eyes took one final glance at the crowd, alighting at the Gardevoirs stationed around the stadium. Good, the psychic barriers were in place. It wouldn't do for the crowd to be hit by a stray attack.
"That was an interesting show you've given me." Her cane tapped the ground. "I've never seen Dan so flustered before."
"Really? I thought he'd be used to me by now. This isn't the first Gym mission I steamrolled through." Victor shrugged.
"Steamrolled?" Her eyes hardened. "Say that when the mission is over. The last part of the Gym mission is me. Show me that the Fairy moxy you displayed isn't just hot air. Talk is cheap. Only the victors get to decide."
She stepped away from the center, slowly making her way to her spot. When she turned around to face the child, Opal found that the recordings were accurate. As if to form a perfect juxtaposition, Victor's face was as placid as solid rock. All she saw in his eyes was an intense concentration and determination to win. Interesting. She would test that soon enough. With a casual toss, Opal sent out a Galarian Weezing. An Obstagoon appeared on the other side of the field.
She knew he favored stall tactics. It was time to take him out of his comfort zone.
"Self-destruct."
Though his face remained placid, she spotted the brief flicker of panic that passed through his eyes as her Weezing exploded with the force of a thousand suns. The extreme wave of heat and kinetic energy passed by her, causing her brittle bones to shudder momentarily. When the dust settled, both of their Pokemon were sprawled out on the ground, unconscious.
"Now what will you do with your tempo disrupted?" Though she spoke softly, the twitch of his ear told her that Victor heard what she said despite the roaring crowd. Opal flicked out her next pokeball, revealing a Mawile. The child reached down to his belt, his hand pausing in contemplation as his fingers twitched nervously. That wouldn't do. Small tells like that gave away the game to an experienced opponent. Eventually, he gripped a pokeball and sent out his next Pokemon; a Wooloo.
It seems she had shaken him up enough. He called out his ace, after all.
"Mawile." Opal started languidly. "Iron Defense."
"Tackle!" Good, he was keeping on his t- Her eyes widened in disbelief as the ball of fluff collided head on with her Pokemon. Despite being surprised, her Mawile easily took the blow, even managing to catch the Wooloo. What was he thinking? With a type advantage and strengthened defenses, a Tackle wouldn't even scratch her Pokemon!
Victor took out a loud speaker, the same one that those goons from Team Yell used. "Raul! Katamari Damacy!"
Before her astonished eyes, the ball of fluff blew up like a balloon. The wool on the Wooloo multiplied several fold in the span of seconds, overwhelming her Mawile that got trapped in wool hell. As if it was an actual ball, the gigantic mass of wool bounced up, before slamming down on the ground, faint traces of brownish energy wafting off it. She couldn't believe it. That boy tricked her! Victor was abusing Body Press while Mawile was completely helpless.
"I'm forfeiting Mawile." She held up her pokeball and returned the Pokemon. It took a good trainer to know when to give up. "Nicely played boy. Now how will you deal with this?"
A Togekiss trilled as it entered the match, luxuriating in the awed gasps of the crowd. Kabu had tried a similar tactic, but Kabu could never match her heights. He was a Gym Leader, while she had an entire legacy behind her.
"Extreme Speed!" The joy about trained Pokemon was that they barely needed commands. They already knew what you wanted. The Wooloo, now shrunken down to its usual size, rolled in place before shooting off to meet its opponent's charge.
It missed.
Togekiss wasn't just faster than the Arcanine, it had the advantage of flight as well. The Wooloo continued to chase it around with half-baked Roll Out launches, yet it failed to connect each and every time. Her Pokemon weaved and bobbed through the attacks with a serene gracefulness, akin to a fairy dancing atop a still lake. At this rate, the sheep Pokemon would get tired out before anything of value was achieved. What would the boy do now?
"Fine. You've seen this before. G-Max Pinball!"
But how could he possibly pull that off without a psychic Pokemon forming barriers? Her eyes shifted to the crowd once more. Opal sighed. If a sheep could roar, that Wooloo most certainly did. "Baa!" It cried as it launched itself with prodigious force. Togekiss easily dodged away, but that wasn't the end of it. Her opponent collided with the psychic barrier, before rebounding towards Togekiss. Her Pokemon continued to dodge every attack, but the projectile's trajectory was getting increasingly rapid and unpredictable. Opal watched as the Wooloo bounced around the stadium. She knew something had to give eventually, and it was her Pokemon that proved her point. Whether through luck or skill, the Wooloo slammed against the Togekiss from behind with awesome force, crashing both Pokemon into the ground. The impact rivaled the shockwaves from her Weezing's Self-destruct, rattling her brittle bones once more.
"Very well, you've pushed me far enough. Let's get ready for the… finale." Opal let loose her Alcremie. Victor replied with his Ninetails.
Casually, she returned her Alcremie as a bundle of Dynamax energy entered her Pokeball. She threw it behind her, causing the gigantic layered cake that was Alcremie's Gigantamax form to appear. Opal pointed at her opponent. "Max Starfall."
Victor chose not to Dynamax. "Protect."
A barrage of shooting stars slammed into and around the Ninetails. Though the sheer force of the attack made it through the Protect barrier, the Ninetails looked unscathed, yawning in boredom. That wouldn't do. Fairies were anything but boring. A faint pink mist shrouded the battlefield. Her first move was nothing but set-up. "G-Max Finale!"
"Sunny Day."
Giant dollops of cream crashed into the canine, boosted by the Misty Terrain that surrounded them. The Ninetails looked hurt this time, but certainly not anywhere near fainting. Just how hard had the child pushed his Pokemon?! Opal was beginning to harbor doubts about her selection. Was he more insane than she was? Belatedly, the sun peaked out from behind the clouds, glaring down on the Pokemon.
She sighed. "G-Max Finale."
As the attack slammed down once more, Ninetails didn't need a command to pull out another Protect barrier. With the move over, Alcremie shrunk back down to its tiny form.
"Fire Blast."
Instead of attacking from a distance, the Ninetails showed off its sheer brutality by dashing forward and pinning down her Pokemon, before a torrent of flames burst out from its maw, blasting Alcremie at point blank range. With that, the fight was over.
The crowd watched in silence as Opal collected her Pokemon before stepping forward to the center of the field. Victor took his time and arrived as she did. A flicker of rage crossed her face. "Never in all my days have I fought anyone as infuriating as you. That was a genuine test of my patience. Everything about it was just so… irritating." Her gnarled fingers gripped the cane tightly. "If Arceus is merciful, he will never grace our world with another one of your kind."
Victor flinched back at the sudden vitriol she spewed.
Then Opal smiled as she let go of the cane, causing it to clatter against the ground. She darted forward and grabbed his face by the cheeks. "You're perfect!"
"Mwfect?" He mumbled through his squished face.
"You are everything a fairy should be! Take it! Take my position so I can retire!" Opal kneaded his face like dough.
Victor's arms flailed. "Dwint winah!"
"I won't take no for an answer!"
"-chimpeon!"
"Impossible! You can't win against Leon! No one can! Just give up and settle down as my successor!" To punctuate her point, she pulled his cheeks even harder.
He finally had enough and slapped her hands away. Victor let out a sigh of relief. "I'll do it if I somehow lose against that Dragon wannabe."
What did the kids like to say? "Bet!" Opal slapped his shoulder.
"Why do people keep hitting me!"
Bede Nelson
Nothing had gone right for him. For one, his hair and clothes were in a complete mess. Random bits of leaves and branches were stuck right in his gelled hair. The immaculate attire he treasured was torn in weird places by the brambles of the forest. He hadn't been ready to brave the dangers of Glimwood Tangle, yet he forced his way through. After the dressing down that Oleana visited upon his person, Bede had locked himself in his room in Stow-on-Side. He had never felt so lost in his life.
For as long as he could think, the boy had dedicated himself to a singular goal; to win the championship and admiration of Chairman Rose. There was nothing more important to him than that. What else could he aspire for when his benefactor was so clearly enamored with the role of Champion? His world shattered just as easily as the mural did. They had tossed him aside because he was useless. Oleana was right. He was trash. How had he lost so many of his matches? They were weak! Then again, what did that say about the one who lost to them?
The days seemed to pass him by without a care as he stewed in his misery. He never seemed to notice as the TV switched between programmes, blaring out dramatic lines or advertisements, or when his Pokemon had left their balls to console him. Bede remained dead to the world for an unfathomable amount of time, until a match came on. A glimmer of recognition entered his eyes. He recognized that face. It was Victor. He was going through the Gym mission at Ballonlea. As usual, he treated it like a joke. The sanctity of the Gym Challenge seemed to be nothing but dust and ashes to that bastard.
That's right, he was a bastard. It was his fault that he ended up in this state. He had only challenged Victor because of his insult towards Chairman Rose. That first loss seemed to snowball into an increasing string of failures. None of this would have happened if not for that bastard.
For the first time, the numbness in his chest faded. A raging flame took its place. Bede felt hot and heavy. His sweaty palms brushed against the carpeted floor as he pushed himself up. It was a slow walk at first as he trudged through the town towards Glimwood Tangle, but the fire in him grew as the intrusive thoughts multiplied. Disregarding the pain he felt as he barrelled through the thorny underbrush of Glimwood Tangle, Bede charged through the forest and headed straight for Ballonlea.
Children wearing white smocks stopped and stared as he stomped towards the Gym. Adults pulled them away from the obviously deranged person, but Bede was too far gone to care. When he spotted the bastard strolling out of the Gym with Opal at his side, laughing and chattering away with her, the fire in him stilled for a moment.
Then it burst out all at once. Why did he get to be happy? Why did he get to be satisfied? Why was Bede the one who was tossed aside like trash?
"Cause Rose is a piece of shit." A voice interrupted his internal tirade.
It was only then that Bede realized he was grasping Victor's shirt, balling it up as he shook the teenager with rage. He hadn't kept the thoughts in his head. Bede had screamed his questions out loud for all to hear.
"No, he's not! You were the one! It was your fault!"
Despite being violently accosted, the bastard just sighed. "Come on, man. Losing in Pokemon battles is just normal. Property damage is normal as well. These things kinda happen everyday. The fact that you've been tossed aside by them says more about their character than anything else."
No, this couldn't be! His chest heaved unsteadily. The fire in him finally sputtered out. Bede turned around and left the way he came, his body slouched and defeated.
He couldn't be right, could he?
Victor Nash
"Such a shame. I had my eye on him, you know? He seemed to match my style the most. I could have accepted either of you as my successor." Opal shook her head in dismay. "As it is, Rose has ruined yet another rising star. What a disgrace. That boy will have to find his own path now. It's purely up to him if he crawls out of the muck that Rose pulled him under."
I watched the once proud boy wander into the dark woods. A part of me felt like I screwed up his life just by existing. Hop was a stronger contender just because I got him started on training earlier. Or maybe it was just how this world was, with a much crueler Rose and Leon. Bede might have acted like a child, but he kind of was one still. All I could feel were mixed feelings as he staggered away like a wounded animal.
"Yeah."
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
Last edited: Apr 14, 2024
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 15
Professor Sonia
The journey from Ballonlea to Hammerlocke was surprisingly smooth. Though the residents of the town seemed like they wanted to tear Victor to shreds earlier, their hostility seemed to vanish into thin air after the Gym match. Some of the kids even looked at Victor with awe. They managed to hitch a ride on an air taxi before alighting outside of Hammerlocke. Victor called out Sebastian, who they rode into town. It was nice to take things slowly like this once in a while.
"And so I trust that you won't be causing any more international incidents?" Sonia tightened her grip around his mid-section, choking the life out of him.
"Y-yes!" Victor stuttered.
"Eleganto!" He reached down and smoothed out Sebastian's mane.
"When you get to Circhester, what should you do?" She didn't let go.
"I'll go to the Gym and challenge the Gym Leader!"
"Anything else?"
"That's all I'll do!" He squeaked, before reaching down to pet the unicorn's mane after another "Eleganto!"
"Good!" Sonia nodded, her ponytail bobbing along. "Once was enough. Save all your troublemaking for the actual bad guys, alright?"
"Hurk!" Victor forcefully breathed out a mouthful of air when she tightened her grip one last time. "Alright!"
"Eleganto!" The boy sighed before reaching down to run his hand through the Rapidash's mane again.
"How long are you going to be mad at me for not using you in the Gym fight?" He huffed.
Sebastian neighed roughly and shook its head. "Not Eleganto!"
Victor leaned down and wrapped his arms around the unicorn's neck. "It's not that I think you're weak. There's just no point in bringing out all my Pokemon if the opponent doesn't call for it." The unicorn still stubbornly shook its head. "Just think of it this way. The opponent wasn't elegant enough for me to require you. I'll only use you if they are elegant enough. Is that fair?" The horse paused mid-stride, before continuing to trot through town.
"Eleganto!" It nodded once.
"Oh thank Arceus." Victor relaxed his entire body against the Rapidash. Sonia withheld a giggle. A professor had once theorized that Pokemon tended to pick up the dispositions of their trainers, as the data showed similar personality types within the same team. It was kind of fitting that all his Pokemon were just mini versions of Victor; drama queens.
"Welp, this is my stop." Sonia got off with practiced ease. Victor was still lying face first on his horse. "Thanks for bringing me back to my lab. Remember our promise not to cause another international incident, okay?"
He just held out a thumbs up. Sebastian started trotting off once again, heading for route 8 and Circhester. Then the earth shook violently. Sonia violently flailed her arms in an attempt to keep her balance, before finally managing to ground herself by spreading her legs out. Victor was a lot less fortunate.
"Holy crap!" She heard him scream, before hearing a thud. Sonia turned back and saw him lying face first on the ground. "Why does the world always inflict violence on me!"
Sonia just shook her head and entered her lab.
Victor Nash
A busted up nose from face planting into the ground aside, my journey through route 8 wasn't very eventful. We battled a few trainers and wild Pokemon along the way, stopping to rest every now and then. I felt both surprised and disappointed. Wasn't I the protagonist? Shouldn't random events be happening to me for no reason? That wasn't even my hubris acting up. I had taken the place of the actual protagonist from the games. It's kind of strange that nothing was happening.
But even Arceus couldn't overcome Murphy.
Before my very eyes, a Pawniard Dynamaxed, growing in size and only stopping when it towered over everything in the route. Some of the trainers screamed and started running in the opposite direction. A lucky gal even had a Corviknight to take her to safety. I hesitated for a brief second. Could I do this? Then I dismissed my concerns. Whether I could or not, I had to do it. Whatever form of chaos I caused to amuse myself, I would never hurt or allow any Pokemon to come to harm. That Pawniard was going down.
My finger danced across the pokeballs on my belt, releasing the whole team at once. They came out before focusing on the gigantic Pawniard that was swiping its blades across the ground, tearing huge rents in the earth. I didn't need to explain anything, they knew what they had to do.
"As one!"
Hancock huffed, but still complied and began laying a litany of debuffs on the Pawniard. It staggered around in confusion as its stamina slowly drained. Merry took a running start before kicking off Raul. He spun and shot towards the giant, like the pebble David flung at Goliath. With a resounding thud, the sheep bounced off the Pawniard's forehead, causing the earth to shake as it stumbled backwards. "Eleganto!" Sebastian stepped in and played his role, forming a psychic barrier that rebounded Raul back into the Pawniard.
"G-max Pinball!"
The giant Pokemon groaned and tried charging at Sebastian and Hancock, but they ignored it and continued to play their roles. Their confidence lay in Merry, who courageously stepped forth to Obstruct the Pawniard's path. Though it couldn't fully absorb the impacts of the goliath, Merry remained obliviously steadfast and took each blow with aplomb. The battle was long and arduous. I hadn't invented G-max Pinball for extended fights. The waves of ghastly energy that Hancock blasted out began to appear with longer intervals. Sebastian had slipped up once already, almost allowing Raul to be blasted into the distance before catching it at the last second. There was also only so much physical damage Merry could take before she dropped.
Thankfully, their opponent gave in first. The Dynamax energy drained from the Pawniard, flowing back into the leylines from which they came. The giant dropped to the ground, and went unconscious. I decided to just leave it be. Pawniards were cool and all, but they just weren't my cup of tea. Instead, I gathered up my exhausted team members in front of the gigantic body and held up my Rotom phone. Hancock tried to look aloof, but her fur was matted from all that sweat. Merry held up Raul, who looked triumphant at his victory. Sebastian simply posed in the background, forming what he probably thought was an elegant silhouette.
"Cheese!" I grinned and held up a V sign, taking a selfie with my team in front of the defeated Dynamax Pokemon. This was a monumental achievement for my team. It was one thing to go against a Gym Leader's Dynamax Pokemon, but an entirely different ball game when a wild one had access to an unlimited amount of energy. I didn't even have Hop by my side this time! Of course I needed a victory selfie! I could even upload this to Pokegram and spite Leon's perfect record of handling Dynamax incidents!
"Hand it over." The voice was rough and coarse, as if it hadn't been used in the longest time. I turned around and found Leon with his arm stretched out, his Charizard looming menacingly behind him.
"Uh… no?" I didn't even have to fake my confusion. Why on earth would I ever comply?
"Very well, then I shall take the chance to nip the problem in the bud." He flung his arm out, his stupid cape fluttering with the motion. "I, Leon Kennedy, Champion of Galar, challenge you to a Pokemon match!"
His words were like a bolt from the blue. A fight with the Champion? Now? I hadn't even made it to the finals yet! Was I ready? Could I do this? There wasn't a rule or law that forced trainers to accept matches. It was simply frowned upon to ignore challengers, even if you had extenuating circumstances. People had literally dropped the work they were doing to carry out matches. Yet, no one would blame me for walking away. This was a challenge from the Champion, after all. He was above most people in battle prowess. I shook my head. No! I couldn't doubt myself now. This was what I trained myself for. If I could win now, then I could easily do so later as well.
"Fine. Let's do this." I slammed my fist against my palm. Our Pokemon returned to their balls, awaiting their turns to be called out. As usual, I felt a calm wash over me. I didn't act this way to intimidate my opponents. Sonia and my mom thought that I was unaware of some of my flaws, but I wasn't. I knew that my mind had the tendency to wander. There wasn't a moment I could keep still. It was almost as if my body constantly needed an adrenaline hit to function. That was why I tended to act out so often, but Pokemon matches were serious business. For this, and only this, I forced myself to fully concentrate on the match.
"Merry." I let out my Pokemon. Leon silently released a Garchomp. It slammed into the ground and shook it, akin to the rampage from the Pawniard from before. The shark dragon roared angrily, before slamming its claws together.
"Dragon Claw." "Obstruct!"
With practiced ease, Merry formed a perfect barrier against physical attacks. Nothing could punch through, and the recoil from being rebounded would allow her to counter attack. The claw of the Garchomp, lit with purple embers, sheared right through her move. The dragon lifted up my Pokemon with a single arm, cackling with disdain. I felt my stomach drop. How?! I had to do or say something, but the words were stuck in my throat.
Merry wasn't stunned like I was. With her limbs bound, she did the next best thing. Her head glowed with normal type energy, before slamming down on the Garchomp. The dragon reared back in pain, screaming in fury. She wasn't deterred, slamming her head down once more.
"Enough. Dragon Claw."
The Garchomp slammed her down, cratering the ground upon impact. The cruel eyes of the beast glared at me, mockery darting through its pupils. I recalled Merry and sent out Sebastian. It needed to go down now, and my fairy type was the best candidate for the job. The moment the unicorn crashed down with a whinny, I flung my arm out.
"Layered defense!"
Multiple instances of luminescent pink barriers formed in front of Sebastian. "Now-"
"Take down."
The monstrous dragon recklessly charged through the barriers, cracking each one into pieces with ease. Those same barriers which could easily withstand and rebound Raul's full on attacks were getting shredded like tissue. Hurriedly, I called out.
"Dazzling Gleam!"
Right before the point of impact, Sebastian erupted in a burst of blinding lights. I blinked my eyes in pain, but kept them focused on the fight. The Garchomp slowed down for a second, but finished its charge anyway, slamming full on into the Rapidash. My Pokemon was sent flying and crashed behind me, dropping in a dead faint. After all that, with half my team down, all we had managed to do was exhaust one of his Pokemon. I tightly gripped my fists. A thick liquid dribbled down my palms. I ignored it, sending out my ace.
Raul arrived with a "Baa!", ready to take on his opponent. In a move of desperate retaliation, he blasted off before I could even say anything, slamming into his opponent's mid-section. The Garchomp tried to stay firm, but it started to stagger backwards as it fought against the cannonball that struck it. Eventually, it gave way, dropping to its knees in exhaustion.
"Okay." Leon nodded. "You asked for it. Charizard."
His signature Pokemon came screaming out of its ball. It moved with such speed that neither I nor Raul could react before the monster had gripped my partner in its claws.
"Fire Blast!" No! At point blank range, the Charizard unleashed a torrent of searing hot flames from its maw. The scalding heat waves caused me to be drenched in sweat, even from a distance.
"Baa!" But Raul remained defiant, struggling through his bondage.
"Fire Blast!" A second torrent at point blank doused my partner in flames. Even through it all, he continued to bleat in defiance. But I could hear it all. It didn't matter if his will was strong. Everyone had their limits. His voice got softer as he suffered through the pain. This couldn't go on. There wasn't a point in this torture.
"Fire Bl-"
"I forfeit!" My phone was tossed to the ground, forgotten, as I ran towards Raul. His breaths were rapid and shallow. The immaculate fur on him, groomed with the best products on the market, was tattered and burnt. My hands trembled as I reached out for him. A strange ringing sound rang through my ears. I couldn't breathe. I could barely see as my vision blurred. My arms wrapped around my partner, cradling him softly on the ground. How did it get to this? This wasn't supposed to happen! There were rules! Nobody went this far during a Pokemon match! The only thing that kept me from lashing out was the slow rise and fall of Raul's chest.
Leon's footsteps pierced through the ringing in my ears as he stepped towards me, ending in a crunch as my phone shattered into pieces.
"Weak."
"LEON!"
Hop Kennedy
He had decided to go ahead without Marnie. Their relationship was developing well, but they were still in the midst of their Gym Challenge. To put it simply, she was too distracting for him. He needed to concentrate on training his Pokemon to finally beat his brother. His team would have to be the best to beat the best. Marnie understood his sentiments. They would have plenty of time to continue pursuing the relationship after the championship. She reluctantly agreed to part for now.
It was a bit strange to battle Bea, considering her relationship with Victor. She certainly didn't hold back despite their connection. It was a tough fight, but he pulled through with grit and strategy. Opal was much stranger. Though she was polite, Hop had the feeling that she wasn't very interested in his Gym mission and match. She seemed to barely try before granting him the badge. He had the strangest feeling that Victor was involved somehow.
With that over and done with, he had begun making his way through route 8 towards Circhester. The earthquake from earlier concerned him, but Hop just figured that he could make it through anything with his team at this side. Right as he reached the route, he saw a Pawniard Dynamax. He tried to make his way there as soon as he could, but the crowd of screaming trainers running away from the Pokemon slowed him down. Thankfully, he spotted the tell-tale signs of Raul hammering down on the Dynamaxed giant, allowing him to slow down. When it finally collapsed, he breathed a sigh of relief. Victor could be depended upon, sometimes.
Hop took his time to get there, now that the urgency of the situation was gone. When he arrived, he realized he should have ran. Victor was on the ground, cradling Raul to his chest. The fierce sheep Pokemon looked entirely wretched, its wool torn and burnt in places. His eyes zeroed in on Victor, whose tears were flowing relentlessly. Hop had never seen his friend cry in his entire life. He always seemed to be an upbeat moron who took things as they came. Hop realized that he was fortunate to have never seen such an ugly sight.
Then he realized who was standing before him. Leon loomed over Victor with a Charizard at his back. It was only then that he noticed the blood on Victor's hands, as well as his bent nose. The pieces fit together in his head. Leon had attacked his friend. A rising tide rose in him. His brain blanked out, a cacophony of screams drowning out his own inner voice. Before he knew it, Hop was charging straight at his brother.
"LEON!"
Leon's face swung to the side, blown back by Hop's fist. He staggered slightly, before regaining his footing. Even after being punched in the face, Leon looked down on the two teenagers as if they were beneath him. Slowly and methodically, the Champion reached up and swiped away the trail of blood that dripped down the side of his mouth.
"Leon! How could you do this! You grew up with Victor! Even after everything, I st-"
"You attacked a Champion." Leon's voice cut through Hop's tirade. "Your nomination will be revoked."
"Wh-" Hop's brother ignored him, jumping on the back of his Charizard and flew off. "Wait!"
???
We six were born as one, yet we had none to follow. Our voices held equal weight with each other. None was qualified to lead us. We were lost, spending days and nights quarreling over the most basic of decisions. We had no direction in life. Our purpose could not be found with no one to lead us. We had given up hope.
Then we saw the strangest sight. We beheld a dark metal soldier growing in size, towering over all. We felt fear and indecision. Should we run? Should we fight? Should we submit? Our twelve eyes saw a strange human run towards the giant soldier. He had four Pokemon in his team. We heard him shout "As one!". The team worked together to accomplish a goal. Though they were weaker than the giant individually, their teamwork bolstered their overall strength. We were amazed. The fur ball hammered the giant. The pink horse bounced it back. The fire fox sapped the soldier of its will. The black ferret protected its team.
It was glorious. Under their mighty leader, the team felled the giant. We had never seen anything that spectacular. We found our purpose. We were lost, and now we were not. That human would be our guiding light. He would lead us to victory. We would crush our enemies, united in purpose. Separately, we were weak. Together, we would be the strongest.
For the first time in our lives, we agreed.
Victor Nash
"How's Raul?"
I rested my head against the cool bark of the tree. Hop sat beside me. I let out a shallow, stuttery breath. "He's fine. I always carry around more potions than I need. He won't be battling for a few days, but Raul will recover." The grass didn't do anything to me, yet I ripped it out of the ground. "What about you?"
Hop stewed in his misery for a bit, stretching out the silence. "I believed in him. Even when he ignored us, forgot about us, left us, and made Mum cry… I believed in him." He bowed his head. "I thought this was my chance to get answers. When he stole the credit for defeating the Dynamaxed Pokemon, I thought it was just a bump in the road." His voice warbled. "But the answers were staring me in the face all along!" Hop gripped his own shirt, twisting and tearing it.
"Yeah." I didn't know what to say. All this time, I had wished Hop would break free from his delusions that Leon was in any way redeemable, but I only felt regret at that sentiment now.
"And what happens now?! He just revokes my nomination like that?" That was the laugh of a broken man. Even my anger over Raul felt minor compared to the anguish he was clearly going through. "What am I supposed to do with myself? Where do I go? What do I tell Mum?"
"I… I don't know."
"Fuck this." He stood up and stormed off. I didn't follow. What could I even say to all of that? I could barely even process the simmering rage in me over my partner's injuries. This day was just utter horseshit. Was my Pokemon retirement supposed to be like this? Someone else had to help him. I didn't have the capacity to do it. My hand groped around my pocket for my phone. The least I could do was tell Marnie that Hop was in a bad place. Then I stilled. Right, my phone was destroyed. My head smacked back on the tree. I sighed.
A bush rustled. I felt a brief rush of anxiety wash over me. My whole team was down for the count. A hostile Pokemon would be utterly dangerous. Had I ever been this helpless? An odd Falinks waddled out. The Falinks line was made up of six separate individuals, almost as if it was a full team. Five of them have shorter horns on their helmets. The last has a distinctly longer horn, denoting it as the leader. They act sort of like a hive mind, exclusively following the commands of their leader. On this Falinks, I counted six helmets with horns of equal length.
Oh. It was crippled.
Genetic mutations were not uncommon in Pokemon. Regular Darwinian evolution was an actual thing, after all. Sometimes the mutations were beneficial. An Ursaring born with the gigantism gene would outclass any of its own kind. This was the first time I had seen such a flawed mutation. Though each individual segments of Falinks were capable of thought, it was their leader that united them in action. Without one, they would never agree on anything. Just how had they lived their lives?
They scampered towards me, surrounding me in a loose formation. I wondered if they were here to attack me.
"Meep!" One of the helmeted blobs hopped in place. "Meep!" Another followed suit.
"I don't understand."
"Meep!" "Meep!" "Meep!" Meep!" "Meep!" "Meep!" Their cries grew agitated, as they hopped around in discordance. One of them stopped in place, before dashing straight at me. I flinched, but the pain never came. It stopped beside me, lightly kicking my belt with its stubby leg.
"My belt? Pokeballs? You want to be my Pokemon?" I asked in disbelief.
"Meep!" "Meep!" "Meep!" Meep!" "Meep!" "Meep!" They happily cried.
I shook my head. "I don't understand. This is the first time we've met. Why would you even want this?"
They paused in their celebration before forming a huddle. "Meep?" One of them asked. "Meep! Meep!" Another nodded. "Meeeeep!" A third jumped. They broke up before forming one of the stranger sights I'd seen since coming to this world. Three of them stacked up, like kids in a trench coat. One of the Falinks blobs lunged at the stack, breaking them apart.
"That… are you guys talking about the Pawniard?"
"Meep?"
"Big Pokemon."
"Meep! Meep!" They cheered.
Then it came to me. They had no leader. My team's fight against the Dynamaxed Pokemon was the first time they had seen leadership. Despite being born without anyone to lead them, the need for someone to lead was still ingrained in each individual Falinks blob. How cruel. They had gone their whole lives without the one thing that would make them whole. And here they were, desperately hoping that a complete stranger could complete them.
"Okay." What else could I say?
"Meep!" They jumped on me, cheering at my decision. Despite my apprehension, their underbellies and stubby legs were soft. It felt like I was covered by a bunch of cute tiny Pokemon as they rubbed against me affectionately. Losing against Leon stung. Logically, I knew that I still had more than half a year to prepare for him. I was nowhere near ready to fight someone with a full Dragon team. It didn't mean the loss didn't hurt. The rage that burned within me still boiled at a low simmer. But as a crowd of Falinks danced with joy around me, I thought that maybe things would be okay. One day, I would take Leon down.
And when I did, I was going to spank him on live TV.
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
Last edited: Apr 15, 2024
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 16
Victor Nash
"Attention! You maggots can't even perform a simple marching exercise! All of you are a disgrace to this company!" I paced back and forth in front of a line of Falinks blobs, each of them standing rigidly. My voice boomed across the clearing. From the corner of my eye, I spotted a few Corvisquire fleeing for their lives. "Now drop and give me twenty!"
"Meep! Meep!" Instead of doing push-ups, each of the blobs were doing squats, seeing as none of them had arms. Watching them struggle and exert themselves like this brought warmth to my heart. They were absolutely adorable. It's not like I actually wanted to go full drill sergeant on these cute little helmet critters. They just seemed to respond best to my military persona. Man, was I actually feeling grateful that my country press ganged me into joining the military in my past life?
While they did that, the rest of my team was out and about. Thankfully, the potions I had on hand were enough to heal them. Did I already thank Arceus yet today for basically magical healing? Potions were just portable versions of Pokemon Centers. It's less effective but you get to bring them around. My other Pokemon were training themselves in their respective areas of expertise. The time for general training was over, at least for now. Each of them had to hyper specialize and take up specific roles going forward. I had expected some resistance from Hancock and Sebastian for more intense training, but they dove in like possessed madmen. Sebastian grunted and neighed, forming an impenetrable psychic steel wall. Raul blasted at them, sometimes cracking a few and sometimes bouncing off. Merry was kind of just slamming herself against any solid surface she could find. Hancock continued to cast her debuff moves over and over, straining herself to the brink.
I had failed to consider how they felt. The loss against Leon had hit me hard, but they were equally hurt in the process. It was the first real loss for our team. None of us really knew how to handle the fire that sprouted from within. Even Hancock was affected, though she didn't get to participate in the fight. Despite her pride, she knew that her strength wasn't that much different from the rest of the team. If they got bodied by just one Pokemon, so would she. It didn't matter if we were exhausted from battling the Pawniard. A loss is a loss. The only way to get over it is to get good.
It's a good thing I didn't need to give them much instruction at this point. Our newest team member(s) needed a lot of micromanaging. "-and so, Alpha, Beta and Gamma, you will be our frontliners. Is that understood!?"
Despite my harsh yelling, the three of them stood even straighter. "Meep!"
"Delta, Epsilon and Zeta!"
"Meep!" These three blobs bounced in place, unable to control their excitement.
"You will be our ranged attackers! I don't want to see any of them nasty flying types flapping their stupid wings. You will knock them out of the sky! If the enemy wants space, punish them with rocks!" Epsilon took that as an actual command, breaking the ground apart before kicking a small boulder into the sky. "Yooooooooou maggot!" I lunged towards the blob, pushing my face right at it and screaming myself hoarse. "Did I give you a direct order?!"
"Meep!" It just bounced in place. Arceus help me, I couldn't keep up the strict act when they acted like this. Screw it, I need a break.
"I want each of you to study my instructions. Drill them into your empty heads. They will be your bible! But don't forget your main purpose! When I tell you to fight together, you fight together! As one!" The slackened formation of helmet blobs immediately tightened, forming a perfectly level straight line.
"Meep!"
"Excellent! Diiiiismissed!" I looked at the rest of my team. "That means you guys as well. You won't get strong if you just train. Remember that rest turns your training into strength." They grumbled, but complied in the end. The lot of them knew just how irritating I could be if I didn't get my way.
With them at rest, I had the opportunity to observe the interesting team dynamics that arose because of our newest member. Alpha, Beta and Gamma, the frontliners, tended to crowd towards Raul and Merry. The Obstagoon was plopped on the ground, using Gamma as a makeshift plushy in her arms. The blob looked perfectly content. Raul, Alpha and Beta were rolling around as usual. Delta seemed to enjoy roleplaying imperial general as it rode around on Sebastian's back. The combination of "Meep!" and "Elegant!" would absolutely destroy a town's peace. Epsilon somehow managed to hold a brush in its mouth, allowing it to meticulously brush Hancock's fine fur. That little diva absolutely enjoyed having a mini servant, I just knew it.
As for Zeta, it basically acted like my old cat. When I plopped my body onto the cool grass, it tumbled to me before resting in the crevice of my arm. Actually, you know what? Fuck Leon and his stupid dragon team. None of them were cute enough to snuggle with. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep with Zeta tucked in my embrace.
When I woke up later in the day, I couldn't get up. My entire team had dogpiled onto me except Hancock, who had curled up close by, just not too close. It took me a whole hour to get them up. I couldn't move my arms because they were pinned down by the sheer weight of the Pokemon sleeping on me, nor could I say anything with Raul's wool muffling my voice. If my last Pokemon is big, I'm gonna suffer in the future.
A few hours of hiking later, I trudged into Circhester, ready to rest my aching bones with some hotsprings action. A stinging pain blossomed on my cheek. My feet left the ground. For a moment, I felt the same freedom that every flying type Pokemon experienced in their lives. That moment ended when I felt myself smack right into a wall. I blinked the stars out of my eyes. A hand grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me up. My vision cleared, it was Bea. There was a small frown on her face. With the way she usually was, this meant that she was extremely upset. What did I do?
"You're finally here. I was worried." I detected the slightest fluctuations in her monotone voice.
"Huh? What?" But I was still extremely confused by what caused it.
"My son is just the worst. We've been worried sick about you." Of course I recognized her. That was my Mum. Gloria Nash was here in Circhester too. What on earth did I do to make both my mother and girlfriend this upset?
"Did everyone find out about Leon already or something?" That was the only possibility I could think of.
"Leon?" Bea shook her head. "I don't care about him. You just disappeared from my tracking app all of a sudden."
Wait, what? "Wait, what?"
"Honestly, it's like I can't even trust you to not lose your phone every two seconds. What's the point of me buying you a phone if you aren't trackable?" My Mum held a hand to her face, frowning slightly.
"I am seriously confused right now."
"Look." Bea pulled out her phone and showed me a map screen, including its history. My jaw dropped. It basically showed my movements for the past few weeks, starting from Stow-on-Side, leading to Ballonlea, and going all the way to route 8 before disappearing. "You just disappeared here. We got worried but figured you would show up at Circhester sooner or later, so we decided to wait for you."
My mother rested her hands on Bea's shoulders. "She's such a caring girl. You're really screwing things up by making her worry for you."
I was indignant. "You guys have been tracking me?!"
"What do you mean?" Gloria tilted her head to the side. "I've been doing it since you were five. Ever since you caused the Wooloo stampede, I knew I had to keep an eye on you at all times. You're a good boy, but also not really."
"And you?!" I turned to Bea.
She didn't even have the decency to look guilty. "I asked you if I could do whatever I wanted with your phone. You said yes."
"I thought you were gonna play Flappy Karp or something!"
"Well, no. I installed Child Locator on your phone just in case something ever happens to you. Leon or Rose could take action against you at any time. It's only prudent that I know where you are at any moment." That was sweet. Also, holy crap, my girlfriend has been tracking me this entire time. It's a good thing I wasn't the type of guy to cheat.
"Oh, you used Child Locator? I found it kind of wonky and switched to Driftblim Helper a few years ago. It's less prone to losing track of the paired app." My mother gave her two cents.
"Really? Child Locator was at the top of the PokeApp store."
"You silly girl. It's not always about which app has the best visibility. They can pay for that, you know?" My mum rubbed her hands on Bea's shoulders. "That's okay. You just need to install Driftblim Helper later. When we get Victor a new phone, I'll just share his location with you."
I was starting to feel attacked here. "Can you guys not casually discuss tracking me down in front of me? Also, when were you two this close?"
"Victor, you caused an international incident with the Pearl Clan." Bea stated matter-of-factly. "And I've been having conversations with your mother ever since you introduced us. It only felt right to get along with my mother-in-law."
"What a sweet child." My Mum sighed wistfully.
I felt my soul leave my body. "… and how do you guys know about that?"
Gloria showed me her phone screen with a group chat pulled up. "Keep Victor Out of Trouble? Group participants; Gloria Nash, Bea, Sonia and… Grannie Maggie too?! You guys even have a group chat to keep an eye on me? What about Hop?!"
"Hop never caused an international incident." My mother shot me down instantly. "We love and care for you, so making sure you don't perish from pushing things too hard is perfectly normal."
Except I did. Bea must have noticed the look on my face, because she cupped my cheek and frowned. "You mentioned Leon earlier… did something happen? Is it related to you disappearing from the map?"
"I…" I shook my head.
"I see." She nodded. "Mother, could you us some privacy?"
"Oh my. I'm a bit too young for this, but who am I to say no to youthful indiscretion? I had Victor quite early on in my life too." My mother cackled and walked off.
Bea pulled me by the arm, leading me into Circhester. I didn't really have the energy to resist. We walked past the market square, straight to the foot baths, before going to the back, where Bea opened a door. "Where are we going?"
"I booked a place." She said simply. We walked down a dimly lit hallway, before turning left into a room. Inside, there was a mini hot spring, clearly meant for private use. Paying no mind to decency, my girlfriend stripped down before getting into the bath. She side-eyed me. "Aren't you getting in as well?"
My eyes glazed over for a second, roaming over her naked form. This wasn't the first time I'd seen her naked. She didn't really have the concept of modesty when it came to training partners. Her body was as glorious as the first time I saw her. The outline of her abs were well defined. Her biceps and thighs unconsciously flexed with power. Though Sonia had her beat in that department, her heaving breasts weren't anything to sniff at after the bindings came off. At any other time, I would have lost all self control and tried to seduce her, but I just couldn't muster the mood to do so. I shrugged off my clothes and got in the bath.
Before I could get settled, she pulled my head and rested it on her shoulder. Her coarse hands, normally used to inflict violence, gently stroked my hair. "Did you have a match with Leon?"
"Yeah."
"Did the Dynamaxed Pokemon have anything to do with it?"
"Yeah."
"He broke your phone?"
"Yup."
"You know this doesn't say anything about you right?" Had her voice always been this gentle? She was practically lulling me to sleep. "It's too early in your journey. He's supposed to be the last trainer you face. You've not even gotten past Raihan or gone through further training with Mustard. No one could have expected you to win. Not even you could have actually thought that."
"That doesn't mean it doesn't-"
"Hurt? I know it does. So why did it take you so long to come here? We were waiting for you."
"I got a new Pokemon. They needed the training to get acclimatized. The rest of my team really wanted to train as well."
"That could have waited." Her voice was stern and brook no argument. "No amount of training would have been urgent enough that it couldn't wait for you to rest and decompress."
"It's not about me." I argued back petulantly. "They needed it after the loss. The only way for them to get over their defeat is to prepare for the next victory. Do you know how upset Raul was that he actually lost for once? He's been training his entire life to be the strongest, and when the opportunity comes, I just completely mess it up."
"Victor." Bea sounded disappointed. "You don't rush recovery. What did I tell you? Rest is just turning your training into strength. Your Pokemon need a break, and so do you. Your speed at clearing the circuit is already significantly faster than any other that came before you. There's plenty of time for you and your team to decompress. Take a break and reserve your strength for the challenges ahead of you. I'll be here till you feel ready."
"What about your Gym?" Why did it feel like these Gym Leaders were way too free sometimes?
"Those who made it past Kabu have already made it past me as well. He's the iron wall of the League for a reason. Most trainers can't defeat him. I don't have any other challengers for the season."
"Oh."
"I'm sure mother will be more than happy to stick around as well."
"About that, when did the two of you get so close?" It almost felt like they were plotting a conspiracy against me.
"Mustard is an old man with weird hobbies. Nessa isn't always free. Why wouldn't I get closer to my future mother-in-law?" Bea gave me a queer look.
"And that somehow led to an entire group chat dedicated to tracking me down?"
"No, that's entirely on you. Though, I'll have to look into that Drifblim Helper app she mentioned."
"I'll just not get a new phone at this rate."
Her grip tightened painfully around my head. "I'm sorry?"
"Instead, I'll let you pick my new phone!"
The women in my life were all violent savages.
Two weeks passed in a flash. Most of the first week was spent just bumming around Circhester. Bea brought me to Bob's Your Uncle, the restaurant, quite a few times for dinner. It turns out she really likes pasta. The chef was even named Mario, if I needed any more reason to not doubt Pokemon Italy existed somehow. I wonder what the Pokemon there are like. As the first week went by, I started to feel better. Everyone loses eventually. Leon let it control him, turning into the monster he became. Rose and Oleana let it color their perception of Bede. He might not have been the strongest, but that was only relative to star trainers like Marnie and Hop. The kid was certainly far better than any of the random grunts that Macro Cosmos hired. I wondered what they were smoking. As for me, the girlfriend therapy really helped me take a load off. I still wanted to spank Leon on live TV, but I could wait till I was ready for it.
My Pokemon started training after the first week, or at least, Bea finally allowed them to do so at that point. They still trained with a greater intensity than before, but the frantic desperation in their movements had finally stilled. That was the one upside to the situation, I think. Getting Hancock and Sebastian to train no longer required coercion or threats to their lives. They really didn't like to lose. The only member I really supervised was Falinks.
"Meep!"
"I said hit the target, not around it!" I screamed at their faces. "When will you maggots get the ability to hit the broadside of the barn?!"
"Meep!" "Meep!" They happily spun in place. Zeta even came forward to rub its helmet on me. Why were they enjoying the military roleplay this much?
Bea left mid-way through the second week. She might not have any more challengers to face, but she was still needed for the administration for Stow-on-Side. Mustard could handle it in the short term, but if he was left alone for too long, that stupid old man might pull off another tea cup challenge. We trained for the rest of the week. The fact that I hadn't seen Marnie or Hop after stopping in one place for so long was somewhat worrying, but he probably needed the space. Then again, why would he continue his journey when his nomination was revoked? Leon really needed to go down.
But first, I would face off against Melony.
Dan Referee
Dan had really looked forward to this. He wondered why the kid needed two whole weeks before challenging this Gym. Maybe he just wanted a break? Whatever the case, Dan just knew that this would be a hilarious treat. The path through the Gym mission was a vast expanse of ice. Challengers simply needed to make their way to the end to challenge Gym Leader Melony. But it wasn't that simple. There were parts of the path that were trapped, causing participants to fall in if they stepped wrongly. He handed over a pair of Trap Detectors to Victor.
"I will explain the details of the Gym mission carried out here in Circhester. Behold, there are multiple invisible pitfalls ahead of you! You'll need them to…"
"Oh, that's it? Nah man. I'll leave the ASMR stuff to my girlfriend." Victor passed them back to Dan. "I'll meet you at the end."
Far from being offended, Dan was even more expectant now. The more the ruffian denied conformity with the rules of the Gym mission, the greater a spectacle he would perform. Victor didn't disappoint. The thug took off at full speed, outclassing even some of the Pokemon Dan had seen before. He ran straight through the ice, not paying any mind to possible pitfalls. He did trigger a few; they were put there to prevent challengers from running in a straight line after all, but the ruffian was running so quickly that the pitfalls only triggered after he had stepped off.
At the halfway mark, there were walls to complicate things for challengers. This was meant to be a puzzle at the end of the day. Like a juggernaut, Victor just ran straight through them, breaking the ice walls in twain. The trainers that were supposed to battle him couldn't even get a word in as he zoomed past them. Eventually, he reached the end without even breaking a sweat. Victor just raised an arm in victory, before walking through the doors into the stadium.
"Mission cleared!" Dan called out belatedly after he recovered from his shock and awe.
Sheila would be so jealous that she didn't get to see this!
Gym Leader Melony
Victor had taken quite a while to challenge her, but she didn't blame him for it. Melony had already been informed by the other Gym Leaders about what Leon did. Any normal person would need some time off after that. She grit her teeth. Having cunning and guile was one thing, but what Leon did was pure cowardice. What was the vaunted Champion of the region doing, punching down at a trainer in the midst of their journey? Did nobody have standards anymore?
Melony raised the mic to her mouth, ready to whisper the sweet words of assurance for the challenger going through the Gym mission. Before she could say anything, a report came through her ear piece. "Gym Leader, he cleared the mission!"
"He what?!" She screeched through the mic, causing the speakers in the mission area to project her voice right back into her ear piece. Melony held her head in pain.
"Challenger 420 ran through the path and ignored all the traps!"
She really shouldn't have been surprised. Milo and Nessa did tell her about what happened with their Gyms. Were all the kids so well fed these days? After staving off the incoming headache, Melony made her way down to the pitch and found Victor already standing at the center, waiting for her. He was tapping his foot impatiently. She walked up to him.
"Ufufufufu. Ice to meet you. You've certainly made a showing in my mission, but I think you need to chill out."
Victor shook his head. "Sorry, mommy." And walked off to his part of the field.
"Huh? Why does everyone keep calling me that?" What was that about? Guess he wasn't in the mood for conversation. Pity, she had so many jokes prepared. Melony got to her side of the field and pulled out her pokeball. "You might have beaten Opal, but you won't be sending me back to the cooler!"
She sent out a Frosmoth. The bug/ice type cooed adoringly as it fluttered above the frozen grass. The kid said nothing, keeping that famous calm expression on his face as he sent out a Falinks. That was new. Should she feel honored that he picked up a fighting type just to counter her Gym? It wouldn't be that easy, she had a few tricks up her sleeves for rookie trainers that relied on type effectiveness.
"Frosm-"
"No Retreat! No stepping back! No surrender! Formation 2!"
To her utter confusion, the Falinks that would have normally stayed together all the time split up after buffing themselves. 6 distinct helmeted blobs spread out across the field, surrounding her Pokemon. Before she could respond to the situation, they began to break the ground apart with their stubby feet, kicking the boulders at her Pokemon. The move was distinctly similar to Rock Slide, except it was a lot weaker.
"Dodge!"
Her well trained Pokemon could have easily dodged a Rock Slide, but no one, even Gym Leaders, really trained to fight more than one opponent at a time. To her horror, she realized she had failed to take into consideration that Victor had turned the match into a group fight. Frosmoth was able to dodge the first, second and even third boulder that went its way, but the fourth knocked it off course. The six blobs didn't fail to take advantage of the situation, continuing to pelt it with boulders and wearing it out. Eventually, her Pokemon gave up the ghost and collapsed.
"Humph!" She pouted as she recalled it. "You haven't chilled my fighting spirit!" Then she sent out a Galarian Darmanitan. Victor really had no chill, as he started attacking before her Pokemon even arrived fully.
"Formation 1! Wall it in!"
"Shake them off!
Three blobs charged right at her Pokemon, throwing out weaker versions of Rock Smash. It wouldn't be that easy. Her Darmanitan was well suited for close combat. It easily fended off the onslaught with a barrage of Ice Punches, staving off any hits from its opponents. Then it got hit in the back by a boulder. With its concentration entirely on the three that came up to it, the Pokemon failed to take into account the other three that stayed behind. They relentlessly shot rocky projectiles at it. The icy gorilla was forced to split its attention between the combatants meleeing it and the archers behind. It couldn't do it. She didn't train it to fight multiple enemies at once. Those blobs were a menace.
"You're really driving me into an icy grave." Just what did he go through these past two weeks? Melony was finding it impossible to deal with him at the level she was allowed to perform at. "Eiscue, freeze them over."
The penguin Pokemon arrived and-
"As one!"
Oh, for Arceus' sake! He wasn't even letting her finish her internal monologues! The Falinks reformed and charged straight at her Pokemon, performing a swift Close Combat that knocked it out. "The Reverse World will freeze over before I let you win!" She didn't bother letting out her Lapras, sending a burst of Dynamax energy straight into its ball before throwing it behind her.
It Gigantamaxed, crooning loudly for the world to hear. "Quick! Use G-Max Resonance!"
"G-Max Infest!"
What.
Her Lapras sent out an Ice Age's worth of hail, striking down at the Falinks. They scattered about, dashing straight for the giant sized Lapras. To her dismay, the widespread attack only managed to take down one of the Falinks blobs. The rest had managed to reach her Pokemon and began clambering up its shell with long range hops. Like parasites infesting an organism, they made their way to the fleshy bits before slamming down with Mega Horns. Melony was really reaching the end of her patience. Why couldn't he fight like a normal person?! It's not like she could use any Max Moves now! Those weren't made for precision! The Gym Leader stamped her foot frustration.
"Mou! I've had it! Perish Song!"
The Lapras sang, even as the ants bit down on it. Though they were irritating, the sheer bulk of the Gigantmax form allowed it to hold on long enough to finish singing. The result? Every Pokemon on the field was knocked out. Did it benefit her? No. Did she feel better after being hounded relentlessly? You bet it did! And with that, the match was over. Unlike its name, Perish Song only knocked out the Pokemon who heard it for less than a minute. No real harm was done to them, or the move might have been banned. Of course, even a brief knockout was enough to disqualify a Pokemon from the match. In effect, this meant that her Lapras and the Falinks were up before their trainers recalled them. Her Pokemon just crooned in disappointment. The Falinks made their way to Victor, standing in a straight line before him.
"Spartans! What is your profession?"
"Meep!" "Meep!" "Meep!" "Meep!" "Meep!" "Meep!" They started hopping in place, celebrating their victory.
"That boy might have broken my cold heart." She held a hand to her face and smiled slightly. "But I can't deny that they're cute."
Breaking his calm facade, Victor clenched his fist and screamed into the air. "YEEEEEEEEEAH!"
Victor Nash
Yeah, I named them Spartans. It's not lame. Shut up. No, you. Fuck off. I'm cool. We're cool. Look, just let me have the win okay?
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 17
A/N: Going forward for this arc, and maybe occassionally, there might be songs being used by characters. I will embed the songs when they are being used. It's not background music (though its up to you if you want to use it that way), characters will actually play/sing the songs. For songs in Japanese, I will include the non-English version. All lyrics used for Japanese songs are from the English version for ease of reading.
Victor Nash
"You haven't told me where we're going." I told the man who was tugging me strongly by the arm, pulling me deeper into the Gym. Dan had just sort of appeared after my match, telling me that I was needed for something. I could have just torn off his arm when he was this rough, but I was familiar enough with the referee after six different Gym missions. This was probably important, at least to him. The blonde haired mustachio man didn't look this panicked till I started pulling off my antics, usually.
This kind of interrupted my plans a bit. I wanted to call my Mom over for some pasta after she gave me and Bea space to deepen our relationship. She seemed to sense that the overbearing mother thing wasn't the best deal for a somewhat brooding boy, but I was over it by this point. A week of muscle girlfriend therapy and a crushing sweep against a Gym Leader saw to that easily. I'd have to apologize to Melony though. It wasn't my intention to be rude or anything. I was just anxious for a win after losing so badly.
"You broke it, so you'll be the one who fixes it." He said curtly. I had the feeling that he wasn't my biggest fan right now.
"Broke what?"
He shook his head and pulled harder. "You'll see." Yup, that wasn't ominous at all.
We finally reached a door, hidden under an alcove. It looked like any other regular door. Were they hiding treasure in there or was he trying to murder me in a random storage room?
"I'm coming in." Dan turned the knob and pushed his way through.
"No!" A soft, womanly voice cried out from behind the door, but it was too late. The door opened and hit the wall with a thud, revealing a woman crouched in the corner of the room. I hadn't known that much about her before this. Despite her position, Melony was quite low-key in terms of the things she did. Milo, Nessa and Kabu were some of the most widely known, owing to the fact that most trainers had faced them at least once. Raihan hogged all the attention as one of the few streamers that held any position of importance. Piers was known for his performances and his part in revitalizing Spikemuth more than his battling prowess. I drew a blank at Melony. I knew she did Ice types and looked like dommy mommy bait, but nothing else.
"You did that. Fix it." Dan pointed at the pathetic shell of a Gym Leader in the corner, shoved me into the room, and slammed the door shut. Rude.
I wasn't ashamed to admit that I didn't really know what to do with depressed or crying women. The Pokemon world might have thrived on the power of friendship, but even that came in different forms. I was a doer, not a thinker. That was the reason why I used acceptable violence on Rose and Leon instead of calling them out. The issues with my Pokemon were resolved through slow action and gradual training instead of an uplifting speech. Instead of telling Raul he could be the strongest, I decided to just make him the strongest. That seemed to be far easier, honestly.
I squatted down next to her and patted her shoulder. "There, there."
She sniffed up a bit of snot. "Do you even know what you're there there-ing me about?"
"Um, no? Would you like me to roll like a Wooloo instead? That's a thing I can do." I offered tentatively.
Melony seemed to realize how shit I was at the whole cheering people up thing and decided to throw me a bone. "I'm mad cause I had this whole cool mission set up and you just went straight through it. Then I wanted to banter with you with all the ice puns I thought up, but you just ignored all of it and crushed my whole team before I could do anything. Gordie keeps telling me I have to change my image from being ice cold, but you rushed through the whole thing before I could do it!"
"I'm sorry?" I had my reasons, but I still felt kind of bad for her.
"You don't understand." She whined like a child. That whole mommy thing was dying a painful death. "I only get like eight challengers a year! Kabu thins out most of the herd, and the rest get too weirded out by Bea and Opal to even make it to me! How am I supposed to show change without any opportunities?"
"I could see that happening." What? Bea is weird. I wasn't unaware of that. That's how our relationship even worked out to begin with. We were both extremely weird. I loved her for it, not in spite of it.
"So I set up this whole nice and relaxing mission where the challengers could slowly go through it while I guide them with nice reassurances and good vibes." Whoops, there she went. Melony started to slam her head against the wall. "Then after all that, I'd break the ice with a few ice puns and have a nice fight. Piers and Raihan go really hard, you know? I just wanted to be nice! Gordie told me too! Then you… you…" Her finger wobbled as it pointed at me.
I sighed. "Then I just bum rushed the whole thing and swept your team."
"Yes! What did I even do to you? Why are you so mean!"
My fingers combed through my hair. That was probably a defense mechanism against stress. "So that whole Ara Ara voice in my ear thing wasn't just a dommy mommy thing?"
"Ara Ara?" Melony purred naturally. Arceus help me, my chastity was reserved for Bea. "Why does everyone keep calling me mommy? Shouldn't only Gordie call me that? Is everyone else just lacking in motherly love"
"I… Do I have to explain this?"
"Why? What's the issue?" Her head tilted to the side inquisitively. "Can't you just tell me?"
"I don't want to." I crossed my arms over my chest. "It's too weird."
"Tell me!" At least she looked less like a depressed anime character now, but she was channeling that energy to the wrong place.
"Nope." I shook my head. "Don't wanna."
A thicc dommy mommy launched herself at me, before wrapping around my waist like a koala. Her head turned up to look at me with tears brimming in her eyes. "Tell meeeeeeeeeee!"
"Ask Nessa." I decided to throw the water Gym Leader under the bus.
"You're the one who called me that! You tell me!" It didn't work.
"No!"
Gloria Nash
He never seemed normal, even as a child. She had always worried for her son. Gloria had even once thought that "not normal" was clearly understating things. Compared to those with physical disabilities, the wide variety of mental illnesses and conditions, or even straight up prodigies, Victor was the true definition of not normal. No other child would wander out from their home at the age of three into the Slumbering Weald, looking for 'doggies'. At times, he imitated the Wooloo near their home to the point that they treated him as one of them. That was still fine. Eccentric behavior was par for the course in their society.
Then he accidentally caused a Wooloo stampede because he rolled around too hard during one of his workouts and the other Wooloo decided to imitate him. While most Wooloo were considered to be weaker Pokemon, with Raul as an exception, they were still Pokemon. A herd of them going crazy and rolling around at full force was basically a natural disaster. Her heart had almost burst when she spotted her five year old child in the eye of the storm. That was when she decided he needed to be accounted for at all times. Doing it was easy enough. While the routes around and within civilization were safe and often patrolled by rangers, children still wandered off and were prone to pissing off the local wildlife.
Gloria never regretted her decision. Though she hadn't said a thing, she was well aware of the things that Victor did because of Sonia and Bea. In truth, she wasn't that invested in his mission. Leon deserved to be brought down, and Mrs Kennedy didn't deserve to be treated that way, but why did it have to be her son? Why did he have to go up against a mega corporation and the Champion of the region? Couldn't someone else do it? Bea had sat her down and explained why the Gym Leaders had picked up on Victor. He never seemed normal, even as a challenger. The reasoning still rang hollow for her. It didn't matter what Victor was, he was her son!
Her worries were proven right once again. Gloria had come down to Circhester for a few days of rest and relaxation with her child. Though he caused her no end of worries, she still loved him anyway. It was a no-brainer for her when he asked her to hang out for a bit. Except, instead of finding her child with his arms wide for a hug, he was dragging around a strange, fully grown, woman wearing a fur coat as she hugged his waist, adamantly refusing to let go.
Gloria acted on her immediate instincts; she slapped down on Victor's head, and the other woman as well. "Is this behavior acceptable in a public setting?"
So mighty and awesome was her presence that her boy and the woman, who she now realized was the Gym Leader of all things, immediately knelt on the floor in chastisement. "Oh glorious mother, I have wronged not just you, but the great Arceus himself." For his theatrics, Victor received a second knuckle on his head. Whilst he cradled himself in pain, the raging mother turned to her other victim, quirking a brow.
"No…?" Melony looked to the side, poking her fingers together.
"Now what is this about? Why on earth is a Gym Leader being dragged around by my son as she hangs on like a limpet?" It might be apt to say that she was practically towering over the pair now, the sun casting a tall shadow over them. Gloria enjoyed the slight bit of dramatic flair it added to her scolding. While she didn't condone Victor acting out like this in public, he did get his penchant for it from somewhere.
"He called me- Mmmmph?!" The Gym Leader started to speak, only to get interrupted when Victor slapped his hand over her mouth.
"That won't be necessary!" He squeaked out. Was it just her, or was Victor actually visibly sweating despite the winter climate the town enjoyed? If she didn't know any better, Gloria might have mistaken him for a Gyrados that was about to use the move Waterfall. As it stood, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Victor…" She trailed off threateningly. Gloria knew she still had it when he 'meeped' before letting go of the woman.
Unimpeded, Melony finished her sentence. "He called me mommy and I wanted to know why!" The grown woman wailed in distress. "Victor's such a meanie!"
Perhaps she should have heeded her doctor's advice and gone through with the health checkups, because Gloria could feel her blood pressure rising. The throbbing of her forehead only got worse as the implication ran through her head, before it made another lap to really hammer in the point. With a strength not inferior to that of a Krabby, she gripped Victor's head with a single hand as her body leaned down to meet him in the eye. "Did I hear that correctly?" Gloria smiled, even though she wasn't feeling particularly gracious. "Did you just call another woman, mommy?"
"Meep." That was all Victor could manage whilst he visibly gulped.
"First of all…" Gloria inhaled, her chest rising from the air she sucked in. Then she let it out all at once. "I.AM.YOUR.MOTHEEEEEER!" In the distance, a young couple that was immersed in the footbath startled in fright before falling in. A Rookidee that flew overhead dropped to the ground, catatonic. The chef of Bob's Your Uncle could be heard screaming "Mama Mia! My ah pizza!" Victor flinched slightly, but wasn't really affected. Melony started to roll around on the ground. "You do not call another woman mommy, no matter how sexy she is!"
The rolling stopped. "I'm sexy?" Melony pointed at herself in confusion. "I didn't know that?"
Both mother and son snapped their heads over, staring at the woman, before shaking their heads. Gloria didn't want to explain this to her. Some battles were better left unfought. "Victor, repent! You have a girlfriend for Arceus' sake!"
That was the point where he started to rebel. "Don't bring her into this! I would never cheat on Bea. She's 100% assured of this!"
"Even when you call other women, mommy?"
He shook his head. "That was obviously a joke. And in her words, my behavior is about three standard deviations from the average person who lives in Galar. The chances of me finding someone else who could not only accept me, is similarly unique, and has looks that could eclipse Bea are so low that I'm more likely to catch a Legendary Pokemon." Victor crossed his arms and nodded. "That's right. My girlfriend thinks I have no chance on the market and will never cheat on her. Wait-"
Ignoring his sudden revelation, Gloria turned to the utterly clueless woman, her eyes softening. "And you, would you like to grab a meal with us? To put this whole confusing chapter to a rest? I've been looking forward to eating the pizza at Bob's Your Uncle."
Melony put a finger on her mouth and thought for a bit before nodding.
Sadly, when they later visited the restaurant, the pizzas were not available.
Victor Nash
Training Pokemon is a process that can't be rushed. While I had managed to cobble together a working strategy for the Spartans in less than half a month, that came nowhere near to their full potential. To begin with, it had taken the entire journey to this point for Hancock to have an acceptable physical baseline to work with. Though Pokemon in higher numbered routes were stronger, the Spartans had a ways to go before I considered them acceptable for the team. Their coordination, as well as my own grasp on it, was tenuous too. While I did split them into two teams, with one being ranged and the other melee, that didn't fully capitalize on their ability to act as six distinct individuals despite being one Pokemon.
That was why I had snuck out at night after a spa day with my mother. I had brought the blobs with me to the icy cold waters of route 9, with the team following along because any training is good even if they weren't participating, to work on their coordination with the rivers as a backdrop. These were the perfect conditions for what I had in mind. The night sky would make the glow sticks I attached to the Spartans' horns shine brighter, and our distance from the town meant no one would be disturbed by what I was about to do.
Idol
English Version
Japanese Version
~What did you eat today?
What book do you love?~
I was singing a popular song from my previous life, Idol, that Ikura of YOASOBI sang. My precious little blobs were training their coordination in accordance to the song, swinging their glowstick-ed heads this way and that in a trained dance routine. That's right, one of the best ways to train their coordination was to get them to dance.
~Whenever you go out for fun, tell me, where do you go?~
This wasn't entirely just for their benefit. The Pokemon world is great and all, but I missed the creature comforts I enjoyed in my past life.
~Haven't eaten anything
It's a secret, unknown
Any questions you're facing, always acting so vaguely~
But I didn't want to let anyone know that I had an entire world's repository of popular songs. People had to look at me and think of 'Victor, the Champion' instead of 'Victor, the Singer'.
~So unconcerned, although you brightly glow
Any seemingly unveiled secrets are as sweet as honey~
These songs were not truly my strength. If I were reborn in a modern world with no advantages of my own, I might have been desperate enough to use them in a bid to make my second life matter.
~Confusing, why, why, why?
Essential lie, lie, lie~
That wasn't needed here. Pokemon had already embodied my soul when they were fictional. What else could I possibly ask for when they became living, breathing creatures?
~So, what is your type of guy? Any partner?
So, now, answer this~
As my melodious voice traveled through the empty space, accompanied by only the sound of waves, I watched the Spartans grow more coordinated in real time.
~"I don't have any idea how I could love anyone" (Meep! Meep!)
"I don't seem to know what it signifies" (Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep!)~
Their every step and movement became tighter. What was once an uncoordinated mess held together by duct tape and military roleplay was becoming more cohesive.
~Cannot find out if it's true or it's a lie (Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep!)
Once again, there's somebody who's fallen for the words and cues~
Training Pokemon is a process that can't be rushed, but no one told me that I couldn't have fun with it. My glowing helmeted blobs were having the time of their lives. Even Raul was rocking his little sheep body from side to side. I knew then, just as I had confirmed before, that I was truly blessed to have been born here.
~Made him lose his head over you~
???
Their race was known as singers. That wasn't all they were known for. In fact, the humans had prized their capacity to carry larger groups over waters, whether raging or calm. There was just a certain stability that came with their weight, buoyancy and shelled backs. Those who lived in human covens, or were released back into the wild, told them wild tales of how the humans used them to transport trainers around on their backs through lakes and oceans.
But no one said a thing about their singing.
Sure, groups of humans and some Pokemon did stop occasionally when her pod sang their crooning songs as a way to stave off their boredom, but that was all it ever was, a passing fancy. No one else in her pod thought much of it. Their main capability was in transportation, not music. It just so happened that their race possessed a minor trait to sing some sea shanties. They told her to stop singing so often. Her practice would amount to nothing, and it was disrupting their sleep. The only thing she should have focused on was her stability in their waters and the occasional ice beams.
Yet, she wasn't satisfied by that. She enjoyed singing the most out of everything she was capable of. A thrill ran through her whenever the humans stopped and listened to her voice. She wanted to capture their hearts and minds, and become the greatest idol in the world. The rivers of route 9 weren't a sufficient stage for her. She wanted to travel the world and share her ability with everyone, but how could she do that? For as long as she knew, trainers prized utility or battle ability. No one was interested in a Lapras that only wanted to sing.
Then she heard it.
~That emotion melts all hearts, all eyes on you
'Cause you are perfect, the most ultimate idol~
That voice… was one of the worst voices she had ever heard. Yet, the lyrics of the song spoke to her. Though the human could barely convey the tune and melody, her trained ears could figure out what it was supposed to be like, reconstructing it in all its glory. And glorious it was. The Lapras had never heard a human song like this in all her life. The only thing that came close were the tunes from Spikemuth, the city of music. However, their sound was more focused on hard rock, which ill-suited her.
~Unrivalled, will not appear again
It's the brightest star reborn, yes, indeed~
But this song… it was perfect for an idol to be like her. She moved closer to the singing and found a human boy singing his heart out. Next to him was a motley group of Pokemon, with the Ninetails standing out the most. Then again, there was something to be said about the Falinks that waved their glowing horns in step with that horrible, horrible singing.
~Ah, using that smiling face
That "I love you" again~
Then she started to sing along. Though the human looked bemused at her joining in, he continued anyway.
~Now, everybody is lured and captivated by you
The pupil that you got~
This was everything she had ever wanted.
~The words you vocalize
Even when untrue, it's your perfected Ai~
With that final high note, the human paused for breath. The Falinks dropped to the ground and panted for air. She was disappointed. Just when she started to get into it, the song had ended.
"There's more to the song you know? This isn't even half of it." The boy broke the silence first.
"Goooo!" She crooned back excitedly. There was more? That wasn't all of it? Why on earth did he stop? Where was the rest? The Lapras rushed forward and bumped her head into him, causing him to fall on his butt, laughing.
"Woah girl. What's the rush? You liked it that much?" She crooned even louder than before. "That good, huh? Well, that little ditty was called Idol. It's one of my favorite songs."
The song itself was called Idol? That's exactly what she wanted to become! Desperately, she nuzzled her face into his body, trying to communicate just how important this was to her. Though his voice was terrible, this human was obviously a genius song writer! With him at her side, she would become the greatest singer in the entire world!
"That's not the only song I have, you know? Backlight, Fleeting Lullaby, and Racing Into the Night are just some of the others I have in my head." His hand fluffed up the side of her head. "Do you want those too?"
She didn't think it was possible, but she became even more desperate, basically attaching herself to his stomach at this point. This was the one! Any other trainer would just end with battle after battle or monotonous travel through perilous seas. If he could really give her the songs he was talking about, and they matched the quality of the one he sang before, she would pledge her eternal loyalty to whatever cause he wanted. If he wanted to be king of Galar, she would stomp everything in his way. If he wanted to destroy Arceus, she would cast down the false god and take his place as the true idol of the world. Nothing was more important to her than becoming the most renowned singer in the world.
"GOOOOOOOO!" She crooned loudly, paying no heed to the Ninetails smacking its paw into its face. This was it! This was it! This was it!
Laughingly, he pushed her off him and stood up. The boy held his hands wide. "Every good song in my head will be yours. You can sing to your heart's content. If you follow us to the top, you'll battle it out on the world stage. Every eye in the world will watch my championship match against the poser." He pointed a finger gun at her and smirked. "And when everyone in the world is watching, you'll sing your song for the world to hear as the ultimate idol!"
Yes! Yes! Yes! "GOOOOOOOO!"
"I'll take that as a yes. I shall name you after the greatest human singer I know, Ado. Together, we'll make it to the top!" The human posed dramatically, pumping his fist into the sky. That was utterly ruined when his Obstagoon came rushing in to hold him in a tight embrace. The Rapidash standing off to the side let out a psychic scream of 'Eleganto!'. The Falinks did a ritualistic dance around them. That Ninetails from earlier smacked its face. Though the Wooloo didn't do much, she could make out the barest hint of a smile.
As for her? She sang.
"Excellent! And with that, my team is fully assembled. You'll be my secret weapon to destroy Leon!" He started to cackle maniacally. The smile on his face was both devious and perverse. She didn't care. He could be whatever he wanted if he gave her the songs and a stage to perform them for the world.
"That dragon fucker will never see this coming."
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
Last edited: Apr 27, 2024
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 18
A/N: Obviously, Lapras can't say actual words, which means she can't sing the actual words in the song either. The lyrics will still be present in the story, but will be denoted with {} at the start and end to show that the words aren't being sung.
Victor Nash
If there was one thing that I admired my mother for, it was her ability to force everyone to cooperate and get along. Despite the initial tiffs I had with Melony and her demands to know more about my sexual kinks, we managed to come to an understanding over the dinner table. Melony wasn't actually that bad when she wasn't just wailing away. In actuality, she was just a gentle woman who looked forward to the few challengers that she had each year. In a way, she was far more suited to the earlier part of the circuit than so far at the end. Unfortunately, things like geography got in the way, because where else would the ice type Gym be other than the ice type weather town? Regardless, she did her best to give a nice and smooth ride to the few trainers that challenged her Gym, which kind of explained the weird ASMR thing she tried to do for her Gym Challenge.
Case in point, when I arrived back in town with a brand new Lapras and asked her for advice on how to care for it, she rushed me into the currently unused stadium. "Let it out! It's always a good day when I can see another one of these cuties!"
Shrugging my shoulders, I tossed out the ball and released my Lapras, who shook the ground with her sheer weight. "Meet Ado!" She let out a cheerful tune.
"My, my, my! Her singing is beautiful!" Melony ran a hand over Ado's scales. "She's so well groomed and maintained too! Look at that shine! How did you do it?"
"I can't even really take credit for that, seeing as I only caught her last night." I laughed, infected by the joy that the Gym Leader and Lapras were sharing. "She's the best idol an agent like me could ask for."
"Idol?"
"Haven't you noticed?" "Goooo!" I raised my hands to the sky. "Ado! Sing!"
Melony's eyes widened. "Wait, no-"
A wordless tune churned through Ado's throat before rushing out all at once. I was truly blessed to have a team such as this. Each one of them was unique in their own way. It wasn't the same as listening to my two favorite singers in my past life, but I could appreciate the sheer vocal talent and control my Lapras had over her voice. Unlike many others, she could actually back up her dream with real talent and hard work. The Gym Leader looked stunned. "Oh, you meant that. I thought you were asking her to use the move."
"C'mon! I don't need to use Pokemon moves to get women to sleep with me!" I whined petulantly.
She pursed her lips. "Is this another sex joke that I'm not getting?"
"Uh, no?"
"I'm asking Gloria." Melony made to leave the stadium.
I hurriedly grabbed her shoulder. "Wait, no."
"Unless…" She started again.
"Unless?"
Then she beamed widely. "Unless Ado here graces me with her singing just a bit more."
"You hear that Ado? She wants to listen to more of your singing!" It wasn't hard to get an agreement at all. She thrilled in agreement before starting on another tune. I guess pretty much all idols just really enjoyed attention and compliments. "Looks like she's okay with it! In return, you'll have to show me how to best take care of her, aite?"
"You didn't even have to ask!"
Marnie Spike
Hop was kind of acting like her brother, Piers, at least that was the case whenever he got off a phone call with the Chairman. A big part of Marnie wanted to know what was going on with that. Sure, Spikemuth was revitalized due to their collaboration, but a core part of their identity had been washed out. The once dark and dank punk city of Spikemuth had been gentrified, giving way to clean reflections, smooth tiled floors and white buildings. The punks and punkettes of the city had been relegated to a sort of underground resistance, where they quietly rocked out away from the new residents that had taken over, and the less said about the new music they brought the better. Who knew that Chairman Rose had such horrible taste?
Thinking about it depressed Marnie. It was one of the things that she set out to change when she decided to go on her journey. There was obviously something about it that made Piers so distant, just like Hop was being right now. The main difference in this case, was that she was well aware of his reasons for turning into a moody emo teen. Victor had done her a solid and relayed the situation over the phone. Though he was normally insensible, in this case, he decided to leave it to her as he was partly linked to the cause of Hop's depression.
Normally, anyone who used violence would be demonized and vilified. It told people that you couldn't handle confrontations the usual way; through Pokemon matches. Marnie wasn't surprised that it led to him being disqualified, even as an excuse. Even then, she wasn't blind to the circumstances. There was always something hollow behind his smiles. She would know; she saw the same thing in the mirror everyday. If Leon had really gone that far, she would have given him a tight slap as well. So no, she didn't blame Hop for what he did, but that didn't help her figure out how to cheer him up.
"Look! Over there! A Crustle!" Though she was basically hopping in place as she pointed at the Pokemon, Hop's eyes swooped disinterestedly to it, before gazing back to the floor. Marnie's shoulders drooped. How was she supposed to cheer him up?! This wasn't her area of expertise! If she knew how to do this shit, Piers wouldn't be so depressed either!
"Just go, Marnie." Hop plopped his butt on a large rock, gazing into the sands of the deserted route 8. "I'm not worth the effort."
"Your worth isn't determined by your trainer status!" She was this close to pulling on her pigtails in frustration. "I'm not going to leave you alone just because of that!"
"What's the point of anything? I set out on this journey to get answers, but I had them all along. All I did was delude myself into thinking that things would change if I tried harder."
Marnie was getting pretty frustrated by this point. She didn't know how to fix this! Unbidden, an old memory flashed through her head. She rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a Morpeko plushie. It was a sad, raggedy thing, but she loved it dearly since Piers gave it to her when she was young. The girl clenched her fists in determination. With a start, she stood up. "It's been two weeks of this! I'm mad!"
"Then go." Hop just sighed.
"No!" She shook her head angrily, before thrusting the Morpeko doll into his lap. "Take this!"
For once, he showed an expression other than sadness, confusion flitting across his face. "… what?"
"That Morpeko plushie can be inverted into Hangry Mode from Full Belly Mode if you pull from the bottom. We're putting your shit in order." Marnie poked his chest. "Now I want you to change the Mode depending on how you feel about something. How do you feel about me?"
Hop fidgeted, but didn't change it from its current Full Belly Mode.
"Victor?"
Nothing changed.
"Leon?" She was straying into dangerous territory, but Marnie pressed on.
The boy frowned, before his fingers reached down and pulled the plushie inside out, turning it into its Hangry Mode.
"Good, we're getting somewhere." Marnie nodded. "Sonia?"
Thankfully, Hop changed it back to Full Belly Mode.
"Pokemon?"
It stayed the same.
"Pokemon battling?"
No change.
"Rose?"
Hop changed it into Hangry mode faster than earlier.
A small smirk crossed her face. "The unsolicited dictatorship of Rose and Macross Cosmos that came about through an underhanded use of an outdated mode of capitalism and abuse of the highly respected role of Champion?"
His grip on the plushie tightened.
"We've established that you've still retained your senses instead of going into some weird, emotional and depressive spiral. Your friends still remain your friends and Pokemon are still a marvel to behold" She started to pace back and forth in front of him. "The sources of your negativity are Leon, Rose and the things that they've done to the region. Correct?"
"… yeah."
"As you are now, we can't do anything about Leon. Even Piers doesn't have the ability to override a Champion's decision that was made with seemingly…" Marnie paused to do some air quotes with her fingers. "…'legitimate' reasons. That's fine. We don't have to do everything on our own. From what I know, Victor has already cleared the sixth Gym and is on his way to challenge my brother. Based on my own judgment of him, he has a good chance of reaching the finals and challenging Leon. We can leave that to him." She stopped pacing, turning sharply to face Hop. "That still leaves Rose. Someone has to deal with him. Why don't we do it?"
"Us?" He stared back at her with wide eyes.
"Think, Hop, think! Rose clearly did something to my brother and yours too. He's probably the reason my city doesn't feel like home either, with him clogging it up with his music." She shuddered at the thought. "Who better to take him down than the two of us?"
"I…" For the first time since his nomination was revoked, a spark ignited in his eyes. Hop stood up, clenching his fists. "I want to take him down."
"Really? You don't sound sure? Maybe Rose should just get away with all the bullshit he's been spewing. Guess I'll just hop on over to your mother and tell her that Leon is never coming back." It was a low blow, but Marnie still taunted him with something important. Nothing was off the table if it meant getting the fire back in him.
"I want to take him down!" Hop screamed loudly. "He needs to pay!"
"Then let's do it." Marnie smiled softly and stretched her hand out to him. "Together."
"You would just give up on your nomination?" He asked in shock.
"I set out to stop Rose to begin with. Victor can deal with Leon, but he can't do everything on his own. Let's take down that capitalist scumbag and break this crappy system he's made!" Marnie had never felt so invigorated. Where did this burning passion come from?
"… let's do it." He took her hand and smiled, before frowning again.
"What's wrong?"
"How are we supposed to do it?"
She looked to the side. "… I didn't really think that far ahead."
An awkward silence came between them. Hop tried to allay it by pointing at a Pokemon. "Look, a Crustle! Despite the awkward cube shape of the rock on its back, it enjoys pretending to be part of the environment!"
"Leave that to me." To her shock and confusion, Mustard, the previous Champion stepped up to them. "You just ready yourselves for a fight."
"Leave what? The Crustle?" Hop tilted his head to the side. Marnie wondered if the ex-Champion was losing his marbles.
"No! Rose! Why on earth would I want to deal with Crustles?" Mustard back pedaled.
"You kind of came in after we started talking about that." Marnie poked her fingers together. "It's really confusing."
"D'oh!" The old man slapped his face. "I was trying to interject when you asked 'how are we supposed to do it', but my old and crickety bones can't walk that fast!"
"Oh." The couple just stared at each other in bemusement.
"But yes. Let's do it. I'll let you in on the plan to deal with Rose. You kids just focus on getting strong enough to participate."
Marnie couldn't think of a better way to stick it to Rose. Joining in with the ex-Champion seemed to be a viable move, more than anything she could think of. "Alright." She agreed easily.
Yet, she couldn't shake the bad feeling that something whacky was going on.
Victor Nash
I left soon after getting some tips and tricks from Melony for the next city. My journey had been delayed for long enough after the incident. While I could have just flown to Hammerlocke and walked through the tunnel to Spikemuth, as arbitrary blockages in the path were a game logic thing, I decided to ride through the waters of route 9 instead. Why have a Lapras if you weren't going to ride it? Though she was pretty fixated on becoming an idol Lapras, nothing was stopping her from functioning like a normal one either. I trundled through the snow to get to the river, only to get stopped by Team Yell yelling at some scientist guy again. Huh, hadn't seen them in a while. Seems like a good way to warm up.
"I'm telling you man! This is a bad idea! You shouldn't ride your untested bike augment through the freezing cold water! At least test it in like a pool or something!" One of the grunts shouted at the scientist.
"And I keep telling you, 'man'! It's way too expensive to book an entire pool just to test my design!" The scientist yelled back, flailing his arms.
"How on earth are you able to design a way for bikes to CROSS RIVERS but not have the funding to book a dang pool?!" The grunt screamed back.
His buddy interjected. "And it doesn't matter anyway! No amount of money is worth risking your life to test your invention! We've gotta do good in the name of Queen Marnie and letting you go off to risk your life just to test out something is not good!"
"Why do you emo goth cosplayers stop me at every step of the way!? Everywhere I look it's like you're always there! Get a hobby!" Man, that scientist dude was really going off the rails now.
"Holy crap. Who needs Netflix when life is this interesting?" I muttered to myself while watching the dramatic back and forth between them.
Just then, the scientist's eyes caught sight of me, before widening. "No! Not you again! No more Alolan cucks! No more Goth cosplayers!" Then he pointed at me, his eyes darting about erratically. "And no more of whatever the heck you are! I'm getting out of here!" Before they could stop him, he mounted his bike and frantically pedaled into the water. Miraculously, the bike made like Jesus and glided over the surface instead of sinking to the bottom.
"Wadaya know? It works after all." The grunt placed a hand over his eyes and stared at the scientist who was disappearing into the distance. "Guess we didn't need to stop him."
"Hang on, it's you!" The other grunt exclaimed. "The guy who was escorting Queen Marnie around!"
"It's nice to meet you again, Greg." I decided to be nice and clapped our hands together. They've clearly been trying really hard at the being good thing.
"It's Allen."
I ignored him and looked at his buddy. "What's your name again?"
"I'm Patt, and that's Allen."
"Great! Matt and Greg! Do you need a lift? I'm headed over to Spikemuth to challenge Piers." I offered.
They looked at each other and shrugged. Greg (Allen) turned to me and nodded. "That'll be helpful."
I sent out Ado and got on board, with the two grunts following suit. Soon, we were off. The route we took was pretty empty, populated only by swimmers and the occasional battles between trainers and wild Pokemon. None of that was useful for me, so I told Ado to push through all of that. To pass the time, she started to croon a soft and gentle melody as she cruised through the river.
"Hey, your Lapras is pretty good at singing." Matt (Patt) said, humming along. "Our scene is more of Rock and Heavy Metal, but this is nice too. Better than whatever those blowhards are playing at Spikemuth anyway."
"What are you talking about?" I thought back to what I knew about the city and came up with blanks. "I know your city got revamped, but that doesn't just delete your music out of existence, right?"
"Don't get me talking about it!" Greg (Allen) slapped his palm against Ado's shell angrily. "Whoops, sorry. Didn't mean to do that. You're not the reason I'm angry." He apologized to her. "Those jerks bought up all the performance locations and stages in our town! The only place that we're allowed to perform anymore is in the sewers!"
Matt (Patt) screamed to the heavens. "And Piers ain't doing nothing about it! That's why we're pinning all our hopes on Queen Marnie to bring about change to our city! She's the very soul of Rock and Roll!"
"C'mon… are you guys really gonna put all that pressure on a teenaged girl? Besides, how bad can their music be?" I felt a tingling in my spine. Murphy was beating the shit out of Arceus again.
A few hours later, in front of the gate of Spikemuth, I came to regret my words.
"Synthetic music is za fyötjör!" A blonde man with a keytar cried out in jubilation, as off key synthetic notes ripped through my ear drums.
"Ja! Rit-Dit-Dit-Di-Do!" His little buddy 'rocked' out with him, his fingers 'dancing' over his own keytar.
Never have I received such an assault on all my senses. My eyes were blinded by their attire. These idiots were wearing shiny, gem encrusted jackets that flared out, with V neck shirts that really went too deep. My ears were popped by the synthetic sounds they were making, as I hesitated to even label it music, each sour note reminding me of the Reapers from Mass Effect. The sinus problem I thought I had gotten rid off with my rebirth came back with a whimper, droplets of mucus freely flowing from my nostrils. It was so rancid that even my tongue burnt from the noxious fumes. Their entire ensemble and faux Swedish accents caused my skin to crawl.
"Oh, how delightful! The cute leetle emo rock stars have returned from supporting their silly leetle girl. Vhat's de matter? Have you realized dat de sewers are more suitable for you?" The taller faux Swedish thrust his hips into the air, before playing another sour note. "Don't vorry! Ve vill take care of dis vonderful town for you! Haven't you heard? Dat pretty boy Piers is renaming it Aeki. Soon, our vonderful music vill drown out your stupid leetle guitars and drums."
"Aaaaaaargggggh! Sven, you condescending prick!" Matt's (Patt's) face blossomed into a Krabby red as he screamed incoherently, punching his fists into the sky. "UGHOOOOOO! I wanna punch you! I want to punch you, but I can't!" He started to punch his own palm as if to compensate. "It's illegal so I can't punch you but I wanna punch you! I can't! Arrrrggggh! Why! Allen! Hold me back!" Matt (Patt) lunged at the blonde men, clearly trying to commit murder. Thankfully, Greg (Allen) held him back. Actually, you know what? In the face of this bullshit, Team Yell isn't the enemy/minor annoyance anymore. They get to have names now. Allen tried his best to hold on to his friend, not out of any consideration for the keytards, but because the police would show up pretty quickly at the first sign of violence. It's what allowed Leon to revoke Hop's nomination, after all.
"How quaint. Look at dem, Hans! Dey resort to violence ven dey can't get deir vay!" Sven laughed and patted his smaller companion. "Next, dey vill be challenging us to a Pokemon match because deir music can't beat ours. No von rocks harder dan us keytar kings!"
"Uh, yeah? Why not? I challenge you to a Pokemon match." I shrugged.
"What? Dey veren't supposed to say yes! Den ve vould have challenged dem to a music keytar off! Hans! Hold me!" He dropped into a dead faint into his smaller friend. "Who vill fight de match for us?"
"Ve both vill! Let us both challenge dis rough ruffian to a match togeder and show him de silly errors of his silly vays! Ve are unmatched in music and Pokemon both!" Hans cheered up his buddy before pushing him to his feet. Allen was still holding on to Patt, who had clearly lost his mind in a haze of fury.
"Oh my Arceus! Stop acting like you have a monopoly in being condescending! I can do it too!" I threw out my ball, releasing my Ninetails. "Let's do this, Hancock! We will show these fools that their foolish ways are foolishly foolish with no hope of being anything other than foolish fools who foolishly flounder!" Hancock facepalmed.
"Very vell! Come, Maractus!" Sven flamboyantly threw out his pokeball.
"Yes! Vin dis for us, Maractus!" Hans followed suit.
I thought I heard them wrongly, but they really both sent out the same Pokemon. The two Maracti danced back and forth, swinging their arms as if they were playing maracas. "Solar Beam!" They both cried out, wiggling their hips before spinning in a circle. The two Pokemon began to charge up their attacks, the awesome power of the sun concentrating on their flowers, ready to blow away my vulpine companion if I let them carry on.
"Flamethrower." I deadpanned.
Hancock yipped before letting out a searing cone of flames that hit them with such force that the Maracti blasted off into the distance. Wow, that was such a tough battle. I had to think so long and hard to defeat them. It's almost as if their battling prowess matched their musical capabilities. Truly, they were the giants of Galar and we should be awed by their very presence.
"No fair! You cheated!" Hans stamped his feet on the ground petulantly. "We vant a rematch! Dis time, ve'll let our music talk!"
I sighed. "Aite. Patt? Allen? I need your help for the background music. I'll provide the vocals." That got Patt to snap out of his rage induced stupor. They turned to me and saluted, before running off to get their instruments. "As for you two…"
They didn't pay me any heed and began 'strumming' on their keytars. It looked more like they were just pressing the keys one at a time before swinging their hands in circles. My heart went out for Elvis because of their poor impression of his dance moves. The whole thing sounded absolutely awful and I regretted allowing my two comrades to run off, leaving me by my lonesome. Thankfully, they came back in a few minutes with two other grunts, somehow transporting a mess of instruments that included a guitar, drums, bass and keyboard. They got set-up surprisingly quickly.
"Alright, you guys just free-style the accompaniments. I highly doubt you can be worse than them." I nudged my head at the duo who were still 'strumming' their instruments. My impromptu band nodded. I grinned. Time to keep my promise. My ball went flying from my hand, releasing Ado once again.
"It's that Lapras!" Patt pointed.
"Ado, Backlight!" I thrust my hand out and commanded.
She slapped a flipper to her forehead in salute before crooning out a melody at the band. Somehow, they understood what she was saying and began to play the beginning of the song. It was then that I regretted not sharing my musical knowledge earlier. If my Lapras could so easily communicate the song to them that they could play it this similarly to how it was in my past life, I could have enjoyed them here as well. Clearly, my melodious voice would have done the trick.
Backlight
English
Japanese/Original
{~My mem'ries so good and awful, it seems they gave me a grudge
But I have left bitterness and resentment behind me
And it is all thanks to him~}
The Swedish cunts took a step back as if my Lapras' Arceus sent singing was actually impacting them.
{~Look, it's the clowns who think they know
How crushing loneliness can be
You know nothing 'til you come with me~}
"Hans! Keep playing our song! Those emo freaks are only putting up a front! Ve must push through and vin!" Sven yelled over Ado's voice, but it was so powerful that it drowned him out.
{~And run wild! Release your rage
Let the winds of wrath blow them away
Not gonna live in compliance-iance-iance~}
The Spartans came out of their own volition, beginning to dance and wave their horns in the air. A strong wind began to blow against the faux Swedish duo, the glittering gems encrusted in their outfits being torn out and thrown away by the violent gale. The two of them had to visibly ground themselves as Ado's voice started to pick up in strength with the chorus. Their hands shook with each note they 'strummed'.
{~I'm not playin' the victim, no more
Time to go rage, let's punish them all
For their love, I'm done trying to trust~}
She proudly sang for all to hear. Though her song had no words, the rage, vitriol and sheer attitude was communicated to all who could hear her through sheer talent. The violent razor wind blew stronger, tearing the two keytards' outfits into shreds as their keytars snapped in twain. "Ouhr instruments! No! Ve vere superior!"
{~Not gonna live in compliance-iance-iance
Gonna play with fire, backlit
By the flames
(Meep-meep-meep-meep-meep-meep-meep-meep)
(Meep-meep-meep-meep-meep-meep-meep-meep)
(Meep-meep-meep-meep-meep-meep-meep-meep)~}
Ado's voice rose with a guttural growl at the last note, showing the world what true grunge is. Oddly enough, the Spartans actually played along and sang the backup vocals at the end, accenting the powerful song with specks of cuteness. Hans and Sven dropped to the ground with their broken keytars, the scraps of fabric, what remained of their outfit, flapping in the wind. Their despair filled eyes formed a huge juxtaposition with their arrogant attitude from before. "Dis is not fair! Dey used a Pokemon! It doesn't count! Just you vait! Chairman Rose vill hear about dis!" Then they took off running.
My Lapras preened with delight. I was so proud of her for winning her first music off. She had reproduced one of my favorite songs so easily. Of course, some props had to go to the Team Yell musicians. They somehow produced the accompanying track with duct tape and dreams. I really should have shared my songs sooner, perhaps anonymously. Maybe I could get them to make the backing track I wanted for the Championship finals?
"So, uh, guys? Who the heck were those clowns? What happened to the emo or goth city of Spikemuth?" I ventured.
They didn't seem to notice me. Allen curled up his fist, tears in his eyes. "Why, Piers?! What did they give you to give in like this! The city that your family passed down… it was named after them! Why would you change the name?"
Patt sighed. "Let's go, Allen. The rest will want to hear about this."
"Mind if I come along? I'll have to fight Piers eventually. Might as well help you guys out since Marnie is away."
The band took a moment to inspect me, before nodding. "Sure, you must be a genius musician if your Lapras can sing this well. You're definitely one of us. Let's go."
Ado huffed in disdain.
Current Team
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Last edited: Apr 28, 2024
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 19
Victor Nash
So the bad news is that the 'rebellion' is holed up in the sewers. The good news is that all the Muk we imported from Alola keep the place smelling, not fresh, but relatively okay. Who knew that creatures who fed on gross stuff would be so hyper motivated to keep everything clean? It's like an all-you-can-buffet down here for them. The other bad news is that everyone in the 'rebellion' look pretty defeated. I've never seen Team Yell cry for anything other than sheer joy at seeing Marnie before today, so this is a bad look for them. The good news is that Allen and Patt are still holding together somewhat. I'd hate to have no backstory before helping them out with whatever this is.
We shambled past the crying grunts and arrived at a sort of back area. The two of them pulled out crates for sitting, before Patt graciously placed one for me too. "Okay, so what's go-"
"It started off so simply." Allen bowed his head and spoke, his dramatic voice cutting me off. "When Leon first became Champion, Rose started to go around to different towns to offer his support. We were fine without it. Spikemuth wasn't really much of a town. No one owned anything. We just slept wherever we could find shelter and listened to Piers when the going got tough. Everything was good."
He gave off a hollow chuckle. "Then we had this thought, you know? We were fine, but was Marnie fine? She was still a young girl at that point. It wasn't healthy for her to grow up in what basically amounted to squalor. The only place we could get electricity and water from was the Pokemon center, and that just wasn't ideal for a kid. So Piers accepted the deal for a bit of help."
Patt shrugged his shoulders exaggeratedly. "Couldn't hurt right? They said it was free and all."
"Right guv. It was free, even if it wasn't much. All they really did at the beginning was to hook us up with utilities. On the surface, you wouldn't even realize that anything about the place had changed. We just had access to clean water and electricity. That's all good right? Now Marnie could grow up healthier and power all the little toys we would give her." Allen shook his head. "Arceus, we were so stupid."
"We started to get used to it and all. It's easy to get used to your living conditions getting better. If I'm being real, we benefited from the deal as well. Who wouldn't be happy with utilities?" Patt sighed. "Then things started to escalate."
I could already tell where this was going. A part of my studies was rooted in sociology.
"Macross Cosmos came back. They wanted to help us for free again. Their message was nice. Everyone is equal, and everyone should be treated equally. Why should the rest get access to nice towns but we don't? That Rose feller really pulled the wool over our eyes." Allen stood up and opened his arms wide. "We'll fix the roads, tile by tile! Everyone deserves to walk on even surfaces! The town walls will be restructured and built from scratch! No stray Pokemon can wander in and cause havoc! Everything will be cleaned! Litter will be gone from the streets! Equal living for all!" Then he slumped back onto the crate. "Then those weirdos started coming around."
"You mean the keytards?" I leaned forward with my hands steepled.
"Those blonde pricks, Arceus knows where Rose found them, started to come to our town. It was fine at first. So what if they're weird? All of us here are weird! We accepted them into the town. Our mistake was not overthinking things when they started to inspect the place from top to bottom." Patt continued.
"We even caught them having clandestine meetings and all! It was super weird, even for us!" Allen yelled. "Rose came back after that. He started to buy up the property lots. Wasn't hard, no one owned any of it on paper. The city belongs to Piers and Marnie but they never owned any of the individual properties other than the stadium. It didn't seem too bad either. He built hospitals, community spaces and other public services that a normal town needs. That wasn't the real issue."
"The real issue arose when those keytards started buying up everything else. Like we said, nobody actually owned any of the plots, and by this point Piers had changed. He approved every transaction despite our advice. Then everything got weird. All the warehouses and worn down shophouses were torn down, reconstructed into those shiny white buildings you saw outside. We couldn't just squat there anymore, which is how we ended up in this here sewer." Patt ranted angrily, hot tears rolling down his face. "And now… now we hear that Piers is letting them change the name of the town too!?"
Allen punched the wall. "Has he forgotten why the place was named Spikemuth?! Everyone voted for the name! Piers' father and mother took us in as kids and taught us the joy of music! We wanted to honor that! But what's happened now? What the hell is an Aeki?"
To sum up their angry expository rant; Rose sneakily started to improve the town and before moving in all his cronies to buy up everything else. The rich move in and the poor get shoved into the sewers; classic gentrification. I hummed. "Let me guess… there's a grocery store that sells organic food."
"Yes! How did you know? Most of it comes from Turffield!" Patt agreed.
Wow, no one can escape the Whole Foods syndrome, not even in Pokemon. Rose really needed to die. Why was he pulling this shit in my post scarcity Utopia? Is there even a need for late stage capitalism when all basic needs are basically free? I slammed my fist on my palm. "Alright guys, the plan is simple. We go up there and beat everyone up till we get our way."
"Uh…" The grunt raised a finger as if he wanted to rebut, before putting it down. "Huh."
"Wait, that just works?" Allen stared at me with wide eyes.
"Yeah? That's how our society functions, right? Have a disagreement? Just battle it out. Haven't you guys been beaten up by tons of trainers when you annoyed them enough?" The two of them blushed and looked away. "Now those guys are doing more than annoy you. They've taken everything from you. What more of a casus belli do you need?"
"You're right! Guys! Gather up!" The depressed grunts shuffled in. Though they were all feeling down, their camaraderie still compelled them to listen. "Enough moping around! We're going up there and making those keytards pay!"
Patt seemed to be especially energized when he pumped his fist into the air. "Give them nothing, and take from them… EVERYTHING!"
Okay, I think the revolution might have gotten a tad overzealous when their leaders started to quote Leonidas by accident. Good on them for finding their footing though. Before we stormed up, I decided that a few minor details had to be ironed out first. I clapped my hands together, getting their attention. "Alright, you, you, you and you." I pointed at four different grunts. "Bring up your instruments. I need a backing track. Oh, and maybe four more of you might need to be ready for one too. I have a feeling that we'll need it."
As the grunts yelled and stormed out in a frenzy, I pulled out my brand new (fuck you, Leon) phone. "Marnie? Yeah, you might want to get your ass over here."
Drummer Team Yell Grunt
They marched out into the streets, screaming their lungs out. "Down with the keytards! Get out of our town!" All the pent up anger and fury from being cast aside by society had exploded all at once. Everyone screamed and raved at their invaders. "Your organic berries have to go! Your keytars have to go! You all, HAVE TO GO!" Things were going well.
But every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
The keytards had numbers that didn't lose out to the Team Yell mob. They poured out from their pristine buildings into the streets, forming a mass of glittering outfits that refracted the sun's rays. That by itself was an assault on their eyes, but Team Yell was anything but weak. "Get out! Get out! Get out!"
"Look at dose stupid children, Hans. Ven dey can't get deir vay, dey resort to violence."One of their two leaders mused in condescension. "Vhatever shall ve do? Oh, I'm shivering in fear!"
"Let us punt dese silly leetle children and get rid of dem once and for all. Deyr goth outfits are so not vogue. Look at how beautiful ve are and how ugly dey look in comparison?" Hans spun on the spot, showing off the gems that were embedded in his outfit. "Vhat do you say, Sven? Pokemon fight?"
"Ja." Sven agreed. Amidst their discussions, the Team Yell crew still continued to yell angrily. Their energy was unending and their march was unstoppable. The grunt fingered his pokeball, ready for a fight. As one, the keytards let out their Pokemon. The residents of Galar had thought that Team Yell were uncreative in their Pokemon choices, as most of them used the same few Pokemon. They didn't realize that these Pokemon were selected for a reason. Piers' parents had called them the outcasts of society, and these Pokemon weren't any different. On the other hand, the keytards were much worse. They actually all used the exact same Pokemon, Maractus. "It's time to Polka all of you to death!"
"Guys, this isn't the time for you to fight." Victor walked out of the crowd and stood at the head. "Your battle is with Piers. I'll handle these idiots. Go."
Patt wrung his hands in worry. "Can you really handle all of them on your own? Don't you need any help?"
"I just need that guy." Victor pointed at him, the drummer. "And that, that and that." Then he pointed at the other three who were also carrying instruments. "You guys get set up for that backing track. The rest of you, go."
Allen and Patt clapped their hands on Victor's shoulders. "Thanks, we owe you one, guv. Let's go, guys!" The other grunts ran off, leaving the five of them to face off against the horde of Maracti. Despite the anxiety they felt, the four of them set up their instruments quickly, ready to play the song that Victor's Lapras had communicated to them earlier. In response to the oncoming threat, the trainer just grinned and threw out two balls. One was the Lapras from before. The other was Piers' signature Pokemon, an Obstagoon. Didn't he have four more?
"Ado." Victor ran a hand across the Lapras' neck. "Look at the audience I've gathered for you. Ready to show everyone you're an idol?"
"Gooooooo!" The Lapras crooned back in agreement.
"Good. Ado and crew, Fleeting Lullaby!" That was their cue. It didn't matter if they felt trepidation. Music was a core part of their souls. The drummer slammed down on his instrument as the band followed suit. The song started.
Fleeting Lullaby
English
Japanese/Original
{~I'm sick and tired of being alone
Wanna be connected
Have a bond to hold on to
Just gonna lay it all out, how I feel~}
The Lapras crooned, the almost growl like quality of its voice sending a shiver down the drummer's spine. Right then, Victor pushed out his arm and laughed. "Look, Merry! There's so much giant grass threatening me! Won't you do something about this?" The dopey, tongue flopping the wind, expression on the Obstagoon stilled. A split second later, it snarled angrily and charged into the crowd of encroaching Maracti.
{~Listen baby makin' you happy whether you like it or not
Gonna be up in your ears
No running away just wait for the beat to drop~}
The awesome might of the charging Obstagoon crashed into the horde, sending a few Pokemon flying. It took hold of one of the Marcatus before swinging it in a circle, using their own teammate as a weapon. Then the dopey Pokemon jumped up and threw the Maractus into the crowd, scattering its compatriots.
{~Listen for a surprise, every word will entice
Reality is overrated~}
The Obstagoon ducked under an attack, before uppercutting that same attacker.
{~You're not gonna outthink me I thought of everything
You'll never get it, you can't keep up~}
Merry did a spin kick into the face of a Maractus behind her.
{~So just stay out of my way
Be my good,~}
A straight punch smashed away another Pokemon.
{~good,~}
She slapped an enemy out of the air.
{~good boys and girls~}
The Obstagoon grabbed one of them, before chokeslamming them into the ground.
{~You think you're so tough? Well, I had enough of it
I got something here that's better~}
"Press de attack! Everyone at once!" Sven screamed angrily. The horde jumped on the Obstagoon simultaneously, sending a jolt of worry through the drummer. He didn't need to worry. A shining blue sphere of Obstruct overcame the Pokemon, sending the Maracti bouncing away.
{~Come on up and we can sing togеther fun unfetterеd
Get on stage, let's go~}
Merry growled before honing her claws against each other, a dark light encompassing them.
{~Wanna make your day, do my thing loud and proud
No shame in what I create I got this down~}
She lunged forward, like a calvary smashing into the backline of an infantry formation, and smashed them into pieces.
{~Everything exactly how we want it, this is a utopia~}
"We are losing, Hans! No fair! We can't lose!" The keytards began to shiver in fear as their horde of Pokemon were ravaged, looking less like a horde and more a loose collection of Maracti at this point.
{~Been a long time comin', now it's here to stay
You can't deny~}
Things started to wind down as the Obstagoon lazily swiped at the few Maracti that still stood on their feet.
{~It's a miracle of mercy, you can't stop it if you try
I know it's possible~}
The last of the Maracti dropped to the ground, spirals swirling in its eyes, after Merry swung it around in circles.
{~I'm not tryin' to ask too much~}
The band dropped their instruments. They applauded loudly, whistling and cheering away. "That was fantastic!" The guitar girl yelled. The drummer agreed. While it wasn't really of the same genre they were used to, like Rock and Metal, it had incorporated some of those elements in. Clearly, the kid was a genius musician! He couldn't hear the words that the song was meant to have, but he felt Ado's rage and anger coursing through him, moreso illustrated by the swath the Obstagoon had cut through their opponents. A part of him was disappointed that no one had filmed this. This would have made for an awesome music video!
"Ah! Monster! Monster!" Sven was a lot less appreciative. He dropped on his butt before crawling away in the opposite direction. "Run away! Run away!"
As the crowd of keytards began to flee after recalling their Pokemon, Hans couldn't resist imparting a final shot with a point of his finger. "Chairman Rose vill hear about dis! Just you vait, you stupid leetle boy!" Merry growled at him. "HEEEEEEK!" And that was his cue to run like a prissy cunt he was.
With that, the tension bled out of the group. The Obstagoon sensed the changed in atmosphere, it's tongue plopping out and dancing with the wind once more. It charged at Victor and embraced him in a bear hug. "Yeah, you did a good job girl." He held her face in his hands before wiggling his face into hers. "Who's a good girl! You are!"
Feeling left out, the Lapras crooned angrily. "Oh right! A magnificent performance, my shining star of an idol, you. The world stage is closer than ever before!" That got a happy thrill of a 'GOOOOOOO!' from her.
The drummer wondered what he meant by that, but resolved himself to find out. A performance on the world stage was not something he wanted to miss out on. Though, he stared behind him where the stadium stood, I wonder how things are going with Piers?
Piers Spike
He knew they were spoiling for a fight. Something, or someone, had obviously lit the fire in their hearts. Piers heard them from a mile away, even from within the Gym. They were chanting in the streets, telling the cronies of Rose to get out. Someone even played a song to accentuate the chaos. He thought he saw a Maractus flying in the sky. Clearly, the angry mob wanted blood and violence, but he couldn't give it to them.
Piers sighed.
He was just tired, so tired. The years had taken their toll on him. He acted like a person that was not himself for the public. His attendance for the League opening events went from 0% to 100%. The cameras that once blinded him now captured his uneasy grin. Piers had acted like an entirely different person at the behest of an insidious man for as long as he could remember. When he looked into the mirror, it was the same hair, outfit and face, yet he didn't recognize the person he saw. So when the mob broke into the Gym, he just stayed silent.
"What the hell is an Aeki?!"
"Why Piers, why!"
"We trusted you!"
Their rage induced words poured over him. He should have felt something, but that part of him was numb to it all. There was nary a sensation as Allen grabbed him by the lapel and shook him. Their tears failed to move him in any way. He just stared at them, unblinking. Let them do what they want. They could take their pound of flesh from him. He deserved it for letting things get this bad. It was his fault. Piers just wanted things to end.
"Why, brother?" Her voice cut through the crowd, silencing their rants. His heart beat. Marnie stepped out from the shadows, with a tanned boy behind her. She clenched her fists and stomped her foot, face set in determination. "Tell me." Unlike the crowd, Marnie wasn't wrought with fury. Yet, her stoic determination cut into him deeper than anything Team Yell could have said. His skin crawled. "I want to know what happened to my brother." Marnie stepped closer. Though she looked up at him, it felt like his little sister was towering over his body. His stomach churned.
Then he remembered.
"What the hell is this?!" He stormed into Rose's office and slammed his palms on the table.
The accosted man simply smiled and leaned back into his leather chair, fingers steepled together. "Whatever could you mean, Piers?"
"You know what the hell I mean!" Piers flung a stack of papers at Rose. "Explain this shit!"
The man was unperturbed by the papers that collided with his suited body. He brushed his shoulders before smiling. "I told you what I planned to do. The town of Spikemuth would be uplifted into relevancy. No more, shall people look on that stain of a town and think that Galar isn't prosperous. I've even provided the best musicians I could find. Their keytars truly resonate with my soul."
"Their music is trash!" Piers hit the table with his fist. "Get them out of my town. I'm not approving their requests to buy up every lot! Where the hell are my family supposed to stay?!"
"You will." Rose stood up and walked towards the towering window, gazing out into the city of Wyndon. He swirled the glass of brandy in his hand, the ice clinking against the glass. "What I've given, can be taken. Hasn't your little sister gotten used to the comforts I've provided? What happens if that all goes away?"
"You little-" That wasn't the threat he thought it was! His sister was strong! She could adapt!
The chairman continued. Though his voice was calm, Piers detected the sinister undertone to it. "And maybe she won't get to go on her journey at all. Leon is very… pliable to my concerns, after all. Or maybe she does. Wouldn't it be a shame if a stray Dynamaxed Pokemon just happens to appear where she is? As you know, Macros Cosmos Energy is always striving to improve their capabilities, but accidents can happen during experimentation."
"I-" He stuttered.
"Here's the deal, Piers." Rose turned around and gazed into his soul. "Toe the line. Approve their requests. Get rid of the riff raff in that rinky dink town of yours. Smile for the cameras. Then, and only then, she'll be safe and protected. Do we have a deal?"
His shoulders slumped. "I understand."
"I understand." Marnie nodded. To his dismay, Piers realized he had accidentally regaled them with the entirety of his memory. "Now I'll make you understand, brother." She stepped up on a crate that the grunts had brought and took out a microphone. "You've shouldered a heavy burden for a long time, all by yourself, but I don't need you to do that anymore. I'm strong! I have friends!" The boy nodded. "And now it's my turn to protect you! Everyone, let's play Papa's song!"
"His… song?" A lone eye peaked out from under his frizzled hair.
The once frail girl he cherished had become a strong woman. After ensuring that the instruments were set up correctly, Marnie turned around and gazed into his soul. "This is… Bury the Light."
The guitars riffed. The keyboards unleashed a symphony of electronic sounds. The drummers slammed on their instruments. Marnie sang, her dulcet tones carrying across the stadium.
Bury the Light
~Immortal temptation
Takes over my mind
Condemned~
The single eye that peaked out from under his hair widened.
~Falling weak on my knees
Summon the strength
Of mayhem~
When did this happen? Had he been so numb to the world? When did his child become so powerful? The band continued to pour out their rage and fury into the song. Marnie held the mic with two hands and screamed.
~I am the storm that is approaching~
A warmth blossomed in his chest. What had he been doing all this time?
~Provoking!
Black clouds in isolation!~
He wasn't alone! He never was! They might have been outcasts, but they had each other!
~I am reclaimer of my name!~
Aeki? What the fuck was that even? This was Spikemuth, home to the Spike family!
~Born in flames!
I have been blessed!
My family crest is a demon of death!~
Marnie's voice cracked. The song wasn't suited for her, as their father had composed this for himself to sing. That didn't matter a whit to his sister, as she continued to pour out her sorrows and anger.
~Forsakened, I am awakened
A phoenix's ash in dark divine~
He was wrong. Piers stepped up and pulled a crate over.
~Descending misery
Destiny chasing time!~
He pulled out his mic, joining his voice with hers.
~Inherit the nightmare
Surrounded by fate
Can't run away~
But he wouldn't run anymore! For the sake of his sister and Team Yell, he would stop retreating into himself.
~Keep walking the line
Between the light
Led astray~
Tears poured down even as his scratchy voice raged.
~Through vacant halls I won't surrendеr
The truth revealеd in eyes of ember~
He had never been more proud of her. Marnie had brought him back from the brink.
~We fight through fire and ice forever
Two souls once lost, and now they remember~
Piers hugged her by the shoulders as they sang the previous line. It just felt fitting. As one, they screamed into the mics.
~I am the storm that is approaching!
Provoking!
Black clouds in isolation!~
The joy that was once lost returned to him.
~I am reclaimer of my name
Born in flames
I have been blessed
My family crest is a demon of death!~
The outcasts would cast down the false tyrant from his throne!
~Forsakened, I am awakened
A phoenix's ash in dark divine
Descending misery
Destiny chasing time~
They would rise up from the ashes and take what they were owed!
~Disappear into the night
Lost shadows left behind
Obsession's pulling me
Fading, I've come to take what's mine!~
Their voices faded out as the band stopped playing. Unbidden, Marnie turned to face the crowd of enthralled Team Yell grunts. "I am Queen Marnie!" The mob cheered. "We will cast down the false tyrant from his throne. The outcasts will rise up from the ashes and take what's ours!" She had given voice to his inner thoughts. "Are you with me!"
"Yeah!" They pumped their fists into the sky.
She turned to him. "Brother, are you with me?"
And for the first time in years, he gave a true smile. "Yeah."
Victor Nash
It was nice when things worked out well. Clearly, the power of friendship overcomes everything when you're in the world of Pokemon. I just hope the unexpected crossover with Devil May Cry was purely in the music side of things. The sons of Sparda were not good for my peaceful retirement life.
"Thanks for everything, Victor." Marnie came over and gave me a tight hug which I reciprocated.
"Careful there. Hop might get jealous." I teased.
"No, I won't." He came over and joined the hug. "You be careful, bro. Leon won't be an easy fight."
Marnie nodded into my shoulder. "Leave Rose to us. All you have to do is trash that fake champion."
"Sure, that's all I have to do." I drawled sarcastically. "It's not like everyone else failed or anything."
"We believe in you." They tightened their embraces before letting go. "Let's do this… for a better future." Marnie pumped her fist in determination.
"We'll stick around to get the town in order, maybe get some training from Piers. The eventual assault on Macros Cosmos won't be easy." Hop crossed his arms. "Safe travels, Victor. Stay true to your name." The couple turned around and walked back into the town, the giant gates closing behind them. I guess they were hunkering down now, just in case Rose sent more minions to get them. I nodded. That made sense. Guess it's time to face Raihan in the final Gym. I set off on Sebastian with an 'Eleganto' into the sunset.
Wait, Gym?
I turned right around and dashed back, hammering on the gates. "Guys! We forgot about me challenging Piers! I need the badge! Open up, please?! Kinda need this to challenge Leon!"
"Guys?!"
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
Last edited: Apr 30, 2024
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 20
Piers Spike
He had waived the need for a Gym mission. What was the point? Nothing could beat rallying all of Team Yell to overthrow the regime. That was plenty metal in of itself. Nah, the Gym match was the only thing he required from Victor. At the very least, he needed to prove his mettle if he wanted the badge. Piers thought for a moment about holding back against the kid he was so grateful to, but shook his head in the end. If Victor couldn't even defeat Piers, then he had no hope against Leon. He would give it his all at the seventh Gym level for the kid.
Piers walked onto the stadium field, squinting his eyes at the glaring lights. Even now, he still wasn't used to the new location. One of the first things Rose did was to overhaul his Gym into an actual stadium, with all the facilities it entailed. On the upside, the seats were packed with audience members that rushed over as soon as their match was announced. To this day, he still wasn't sure how they managed to fill the seats with such speed. Didn't they have work to do?
Victor stepped up as well. Now that he had a closer look of the kid, he could see where everyone was coming from. Despite his build that told tales of his fighting capability, the songs his Lapras sang were on the same level as his father's. How did he find the time to be a fighter, trainer and musician as well? Some people had all the luck. He stopped in front of his challenger. Piers raised a hand. "Hey there. I really gotta thank you, kid. The swift kick in the arse that you gave to Spikemuth was just what we needed."
"Don't mind it. I'll honestly do anything if it messes with Rose. Can't stand the cunt." Victor shrugged.
Piers laughed for the first time in years. Boy, it was only getting to him now how bad his life was recently. Good thing he still had time to fix that. "You won't hear me gainsaying you. I look forward to testing a genius trainer and musician. Let's do it."
For some reason, the kid scratched the back of his neck and laughed before replying. "Ja. I vill vin dis match vit my full power. Ve vill rock hard!" Oof, inflicting a bit of psychological damage before the fight even started? Clever boy.
As they took their places, Victor's countenance hardened. Ah, that was the famed 'Battle Victor' he had heard about. The other Gym Leaders hadn't shared any information with him, seeing as he was under Rose's thumb, but the news reached him regardless. It was kinda strange to see how someone who was just spouting off that weird accent seconds ago become someone completely different.
"Now then…" Piers stretched his arm. A song started to play over the loudspeakers. He grinned. That was Marnie's song, the one that she composed for her final match against the champion. It seems that with the possibility off the table, she decided to use it for Victor's match instead. Nice.
Marnie's Song
He brandished his mic. "I'm the Gym Leader of Spikemuth, Piers, the Dark Type user!" Piers threw his hand out. "You wanna challenge me even though you know you'll lose? Then this song's for you, foolish trainer! Get ready for a mosh pit with me and my party! Spikemuth, it's time to rock!" The crowd began to cheer.
Victor threw out a Galarian Rapidash at the same time as him releasing Scrafty. "Everyone, cheer on my Pokemon! Let's do it, Scrafty! Intimidate the opponent!"
Scrafty snarled, sending invisible tendrils of dark type energy into the Rapidash. It didn't looked phased, simply neighing and blasting out an 'Eleganto!'. Huh, what the fuck? Fine, he had more moves up his sleeve. "Fake out!"
"Rocks." What?
Supernaturally, the Scrafty appeared next to its opponent and slammed its palms on the horse's snout. Yet, it didn't flinch. What?
"Fairy Wind." Pink, misty winds blew in, pushing back the Scrafty. Why was his opponent using such a weak move when he knew for a fact Galarian Rapidash could learn Dazzling Gleam?
"High Jump Kick!" "Fairy Wind." His Pokemon took off in a running start before lunging at the unicorn with its foot outstretched. The winds from his opponent's Pokemon came once again, dulling the momentum of the flying kick enough that it barely did any damage, causing Scrafty to bounce off his opponent. Was it just Piers, or were the winds stronger this time.
"Screw it! Get a Head Smash in!" It was a terribly damaging move, both to the user and opponent, but the rock typing would ensure at least some damage was being done.
"Fairy… Storm." The winds blew in again, but that was an understatement. It was more of a pink, violent gale that swirled through the field. Before Scrafty could get near, it was lifted off its feet, carried into a misty cyclone that tore up the stadium. It screamed in pain as fairy type energy buffeted its form, before the winds died down, causing it to drop. "Dazzling Gleam." Ah, so there it was. A blinding burst of light filled the sky, blasting his Scrafty clean out of the air. He shook his head. This was a matter of poor match-ups. He recalled his opponent while his opponent did the same.
"Why are you doing that? Your Rapidash is fine." Piers enquired.
Victor shook his head. "Everyone gets a chance. Come, Raul." So that was the famous Wooloo.
"Malamar's gonna mess you up with its contrary ability!" Piers yelled, before sending out his Pokemon. The squid arrived with a thud, blurping angrily.
"Cannon Roll." "Reflect Barriers!"
That was the weakness of that same famous Wooloo. Though it was strong, its tactics were straight forward. Despite the mighty strength that was contained in the rolling cannon ball of a sheep, it bounced off the reflect barrier and was sent careening. He wouldn't make the same mistake as Opal either. Reflect barriers were formed along the path that the Wooloo was sent on, angled at just the right points to bleed off the momentum. It bounced around the field like a deranged pinball, before stopping right over Malamar as it began falling.
"Psycho Cut!" Piers confidently commanded. How could it possibly dodge in mid-air?
"Cotton Guard." The wool enlarged. "Cotton Guard." The blade of psychic energy slashed at the sheep, but it just baa-ed angrily. "Cotton Guard." Oh, fuck. "Body Press." Like a gigantic, fluffy meteor, the Wooloo smashed down with its weight increased four times over, crashing into his Malamar. When the dust cleared, all anyone could see was a big old sheep before it rolled off, revealing his unconscious Pokemon in the crater.
"I hate fighting this guy." Piers muttered under his breath. "Everyone's gonna stink, but who cares? Win this, Skuntank!" In reply, his opponent sent out an Obstagoon. "You would use my own Pokemon against me?" The Gym Leader frowned. "We'll see how far you can go."
"Toxic!" "Play ball!"
Even in the face of the lunging Obstagoon, his Skuntank held strong, blasting its opponent with the vilest poisons it could muster. Even in the face of the vilest poisons, the Obstagoon never flinched, finally arriving next to the Skuntank and grabbing it. Wait, ball? Gripping it with both paws, the Obstagoon flung it up before kicking it with a heavy swing off its leg. From the corner of his eye, Piers spotted the tell tale signs of Pin Missile being activated on the Obstagoon's foot without being fired. His eyes tightened. Did Victor just have his Obstagoon kick his Pokemon with cleats?
"Venoshock!" In mid-air, his Pokemon pivoted with a twirl of its tail and fired a barrage of poisonous missiles. The Obstagoon had overextended the kick and could do nothing but take the hits, which were doubled in potency thanks to it being poisoned.
"Full Counter!" Victor yelled.
As the Obstagoon charged once again, his Skuntank nibbled at the berry it carried to restore some vitality. "Belch!"
A cascading wave of vomit and poison left his Pokemon, encompassing every inch of his opponent. The Obstagoon was on its last legs, yet it didn't seem to notice as it grabbed onto the Skuntank once again. This time, it slammed down with a Headbutt, causing Skuntank to collide with the ground. Then, it grew out its cleats again before stomping down. Piers thanked Arceus that the field was grass. At least his Pokemon was spared some pain as it fainted. As he moved to recall it, the Obstagoon dropped to the floor as well. He cursed. They were this close to getting a knock-out?
"I don't do encores, get it? Not songs… not moves… not Pokemon!" Piers screamed into his mic. "Here's a number I had saved just for this! You lot in the stands better cheer me on!"
His Obstagoon went out. Victor sent out Falinks. Piers cursed. Why did this kid seem to have a counter for all his Pokemon? It's like he knew what he usually used for Gym matches! In his anger, Piers laughed. "You're not ready for a Dynamaxed Obstagoon!" He recalled his Pokemon and sent a burst of Dynamax energy into the ball. When it fully enlarged, he threw it behind him. The Obstagoon landed with a rage filled snarl, a stark juxtaposition to the one Victor sent out.
"I can Gigantamax too." Victor replied softly and did the same. What? Falinks couldn't do that! Instead of throwing the giant pokeball behind him, the challenger just dropped it to the ground. In a burst of light, an entire horde of Falinks blobs covered the entire field. "Being friends with Mustard has its perks." With his untrained eye, Piers counted off around three hundred of the little bastards.
This was such bullshit. "Max Phantasm!" "Max Phalanx!"
A swirling mess of gigantic, purple furniture swarmed towards the horde of Falinks blobs. Half of them charged straight towards his Dynamaxed Obstagoon while that happened, beginning to swarm its legs and climbed up them like ants. The other half stood firm, each one using Protect against the ghastly attack. A quarter of them fainted from the impact, whilst the others were barely standing. The half that swarmed on Obstagoon were now reaching its chest, and had begun to spam different moves on it like Close Combat and Mega Horn. He instinctively felt that the energies from the moves were far weaker than a normal individual Falinks, but did that matter?
The giant Obstagoon started to panic from what were essentially ant bites all over its body, thrashing this way and that. "Again, Max Phantasm!" Piers commanded, but it didn't listen. Its claws reached up to swipe them off its body, but the blobs were too small for him to get more than a few at a time. This boy was a little shit. No wonder, he was such a thorn in Rose's side. Piers forcefully drained the remaining Dynamax energy into his band before recalling the Obstagoon. There wasn't a point in prolonging this.
He walked towards the boy. Before Victor could say anything, Piers interrupted him. "Hey, fuck you." Then he grabbed his hand and shook it. "But, thanks for everything you've done." He raised Victor's hand into the sky. "Did everyone enjoy the match!?" The crowd cheered. "The song that played was composed by my little sister! You can buy it on Poketunes!"
The trainer's jaw dropped. "Did you just use my match to promote Marnie's stuff?"
"Yeah, problem?"
"The same match that everyone in society agrees is sacred?"
"We're outcasts." Piers chuckled.
Victor gripped his hand tighter, grinning like a shark. "I like your style."
Victor Nash
{~So just stay out of my way Be my good, good, good boys and girls~}
I arrived at home instead of going to Hammerlocke, and the first thing I heard was my Lapras' voice over the speakers. My mom was in the hall, watching a video recording of Merry beating the ever loving hell out of the Maracti. All things considered, it made for a stunning music video. It explained why Team Yell asked me to let them record her singing the song in a studio. Don't ask me how she fit in there. I was still confused about how this was actually filmed, seeing as no one was around to do it, but whatever. The results spoke for themselves.
{~You think you're so tough? Well, I had enough of it I got something here that's better~}
"Hey!" I called out to get her attention, right as Merry in the video used Obstruct. Her face snapped up from the video playing on her phone, her eyes finding mine.
"Victor!" She laughed and charged forward, catching me in an embrace. "You're back!"
I patted her back. "Yup. Always better to be home than camping in the wilds like a hobo." My words were smothered by her chest.
She pushed me up. "Since when were you a musician? And when did you get such a beautiful Lapras?"
"I've just always had these songs in my head and all. Just never found a good place to use them." I was technically not lying.
"Couldn't you have just been a musician then? You'd earn more than being a trainer." Gloria paused. "No, wait. Bad idea. Your singing is terrible."
"What? No it's not!" I reeled back, offended that anyone would say that about my voice. "My singing was so good that Ado joined my team!"
"That name sounds Kantonian." She commented lightly, before bending down slightly to meet me in the eye. "Victor, I've known you since you were born. Every step of your life is recorded right here." My mom poked her head. "That includes all the times you sang in the shower. I think I just didn't realize you had all these songs because you were that off key."
"Woman, how can you be so touching and hurtful at the same time." I dramatically held my chest.
She smirked and held her hands at her hips. "That's because I'm your mother. Now, let's go to the backyard so I can see your whole team."
We did just that. Everyone who was on the team previously went up one by one to greet her before settling in their usual spots. The Spartans went up after that. Instead of greeting her, they did a ritualistic dance in a circle around her. "Meep! Meep! Meep!"
"Oh, how cute! I've never seen a Falinks in person before. They looked so terrifying when you Gigantamaxed them, but up close they're just adorable blobs, aren't they?" My mother bent down and picked one up. The rest closed up the gap and continued their synchronized dance ritual. With a human face up close to it, the singular blob just went 'Meep!'. She squealed and nuzzled her face against it, getting a chorus of 'Meep! Meep! Meep!' as the rest began to get jealous.
When she finally got her dose of cuteness, Gloria walked up to Ado who waited patiently. Upon spotting her, the Lapras smiled and thrilled joyfully. "What a beautiful Pokemon." Gloria stared at her with awe, lifting her hand up to reverently trace her neck. From the corner of my eye, I spotted Hancock bristling her fur before preening disdainfully. Ah, someone's a teensy bit jealous that she's not the only beautiful Pokemon anymore. "How did you get her to join you?"
I puffed out my chest. "I sang."
"Did he?" She looked to Ado.
The Lapras nodded. "Was it good?" The Lapras shook her head.
"I thought you loved me!" I slammed into Ado and wrapped my arms around her large body. "We were supposed to be manager and idol, bringing it all to the world stage as we destroy Leon with our secret weapon. But I hath been betrayed with a poison most foul! I've been ruined! Ruined, I say!" Ado just used her flipper to pat my back.
To my surprise, I felt someone hug the both of us from behind. Her breathy voice caressed my ear. "C'mon Victor. It's okay to have things you're not the best at. Just being my son is enough for me to love you, but you really went above and beyond." She gripped us both tighter. "Look at the family that you've brought back with you. All of them are just so… you that I can't help but feel like I've got six, actually eleven, extra children with me. Heck, with you included, I have enough to make two whole Pokemon teams." My mother giggled. "Each of them carries a bit of you in them. And this is the same team that's going to spank Leon in public. What does it make you, who embodies all of their traits?"
I pushed myself off and straightened myself out. "Wow, you're just dropping emotional bombshells all over the place for no reason." But I still grinned. "Go on, keep doing it. I love it when people compliment me."
She just smiled and tousled my hair. "I'm the original and first person who ever loved you, Victor. Don't ever doubt that. It won't change even if you can't sing." Gloria placed a finger on her lip. "Not that I didn't already know that for more than a decade."
I pouted. "Well, I guess you won't get the song I asked Ado to prepare for you then."
Her hand gripped nothingness. I gulped and understood the threat.
"Alright, Ado." I pressed on the audio recording of my phone, and the song prepared by Team Yell started to play. "Mommy Mommy Do!"
MOMMY MOMMY DO
English
Original/Japanese
{~Mommy mommy do
I want all of you
Your entire body and soul~}
I grabbed my mother by the hand and led her into a dance. At least I can say for sure that my dancing is on point after all the martial arts training Bea put me through. I spun her around in a twirl, getting a tinkling of laughter from her.
{~Throw my heart on the flames
This love, this love
Like fire burning in my veins~}
We shook our shoulders, leaning back and forth. Even the rest of my team started to get into it, as Sebastian began cantering around the yard with 'Eleganto!'. Hancock looked away and sniffed, but couldn't hide the fact that her tails were swishing through the air in tune with the song.
{~Meep-meep-meep
Meep-meep-meep
Meep-meep-meep
Meep-meep-meep
Meep-meep-meep
Meep-meep-meep~}
I didn't even train them to do back-up singing. What was Ado doing when I wasn't looking?
{~I lean in to kiss you
I'm counting one, two, three
But then you look away like it was all a game~}
I kissed my mom on the cheek, before counting to three with my fingers. She giggled before playfully looking away.
{~I'm trying to tell you
My feelings but it's hard
When you keep toying on with my heart~}
Gloria snatched my hand this time and started to lead me in a salsa dance. Holy Arceus, my mother could dance!
{~I shouldn't chase you
I know it's taboo
But I can't help it oh what should I do?~}
I was led around by the sheer force of her dance moves. We spun this way and that with our hands held together. This was such a good time.
{~I gotta make my move
Because I'm running out of time
Remove this disguise of mine~}
Somehow, my mother managed to dip my body before pulling it back up.
{~And fire my shot
Give all I've got
It's not a game anymore
Love is war~}
Uncaring of the fact that my voice apparently sucked, I sang along with Ado.
~Mommy mommy do
I want all of you
Your entire body and soul~
I lifted my mom in the air and spun around, causing her to laugh with joy.
~And like that it's a trap
But I find I don't mind
Boy keep on playing my heart~
It was absolute chaos in the yard as the Spartans lost all coordination and started to do Wotagei by themselves. Raul somehow joined in by spinning in circles around them.
~I'll just take a peak
See what you're hiding
Underneath that smile of yours~
Merry took Hancock by the paws and forced her to clap along. The look on the vulpineIs face screamed for help. I almost burst my gut from laughing so hard.
~Throw my heart on the flames
This love, this love
Like fire burning in my veins~
I threw my mother up and caught her one final time, both of us sweaty and scant of breath. She alighted on the ground and just smiled. "That was wonderful, Victor. Isn't it great that we have Ado here to sing all those songs in your head?"
"Yeah." I agreed.
"Though the lyrics of this song… Victor, incest is bad."
"Of course I know that. Besides, I have Bea." I shot back.
"You say that, but you called Melony 'mommy'." She teased.
"Mom!"
Leon Kennedy
The wine glass shattered over his head, bathing him in crimson liquid and glass shards. Leon didn't flinch. He stood perfectly still despite his throbbing head or the specks of red liquid that looked similar to the wine, but were slightly off color. This was just his life now. He had accepted that.
"Arceus fucking damnit!" A pile of papers crashed onto the floor. The sound echoed through the spacious office, with only one other person there to witness it. Chairman Rose took a moment to catch his breath, closing his eyes as if he went through a meditation exercise. He breathed out. "Fooh. Okay. I'm calm. Things are okay. I can still fix this." Rose smoothed out his gelled hair and straightened his tie before standing up right. The executive power walked towards Leon and poked him on the chest. "You told me he was dealt with." Poke. "Yet here he is, messing with my plans." Poke. "What do you have to say for yourself?" Poke.
"He was dealt with. I defeated him in battle. That should have cemented everything." Leon's voice was soft and toneless, a stark contrast to the raging inferno in front of him. "We hadn't seen much activity from him for two weeks. That should have meant that Victor had accepted his inferiority and gave up."
"Should?" Rose patted Leon's cheek. "I don't deal with uncertainties. The only acceptable answer is 'would'. Do you know what your ineptitude has caused me?" The speed of his patting escalated.
"No." His face was blank despite the Chairman's actions.
"My keytar music!" The patting culminated in a tight slap. Leon's head was flung to the side, before he righted himself again. "Do you know how much money and effort I spent to uplift that podunk town filled with rats? Just because I have unlimited money, it doesn't mean I like wasting it! Piers was onboard. The rats were purged. But all it took was a child to turn it all to shit."
Rose turned around and ambled towards his desk. He reached for a case and flipped it open, taking out a cigar that he lit. He brought it to his mouth and breathed in, before exhaling a cloud of smoke. "I thought I would be rid of that noxious music genre. Rock and Metal? Those are Pokemon types, not music! If Galar was to have a music town, it would be an enlightened one. There is nothing better than the calm, dulcet tones of a keytar."
In the privacy of his mind, Leon wondered why Rose had such shit taste. "What do we do?"
"We? No." He shook his head, causing the bang of hair that stuck out to bounce around. "There's no we in this. You've proven your ineptitude. What was the point of raising you if you can't even carry out a simple task like this? There's no we." The Chairman stepped forward and ground the lit end of his cigar against Leon's chest. "You're useless. Go back to your facade of a throne and await your challengers." The Champion clenched his fists. Rose dropped the cigar on the floor and ground it with his foot. "It seems I can't depend on you for this. Fine."
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The man smoothed out his hair before giving a damning smile. "I'll do it myself."
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
Last edited: Jun 2, 2024
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 21
Victor Nash
I could have headed straight for Raihan after dealing with the whole High School Musical mess with Spikemuth, but I was honestly extremely exhausted after all of that. Seriously, who actually resolved their issues with singing? I just let Ado get some practice in because background music during fights is cool and all, but Marnie actually sang Piers into submission, or was it redemption? Either way, all that socializing had turned me dead inside, and knowing Raihan, I'd need all the social energy I could muster for his Twitch streamer nonsense. That's why I invited Bea to hang out and train with my Pokemon instead. I liked her and felt comfortable enough with her that she didn't actively drain my social batteries. She was also right that she never really got the opportunity to meet my Pokemon, seeing as Mustard oversaw that part of my training.
She didn't really have many issues with my team. When Bea first arrived, Raul rolled up to her and paused, staring at her with eyes that glinted with determination. He baa-ed loudly, before nodding and lightly rolling into her, allowing Bea to carry and cuddle his cute form. This was such a freaking Shounen moment, I swear, more than I cared for. Despite all my training to be Champion, I still more or less saw the whole thing as my afterlife vacation. The stakes weren't that high, to be honest. If all it took to dethrone a megalomaniacal billionaire was a few Pokemon battles, the issue wasn't that serious. I highly doubted someone like Elon Musk would cease being insane with his wealth if I beat him up a few times in my previous life, not that I could.
The rest of the team was more or less fine with her. Hancock showed a healthy amount of fear, but she feared anything that could give her more training even after she firmed up her determination post our defeat against Leon. I understood. Some old habits die hard in the end. The only real issue was…
"Can I hear her sing? I was curious after I saw the videos online." Bea raised a hand to pat Ado's head, but the gentle Idol vehemently moved her body backwards to avoid her touch, before raising her head like she was Hancock. I'd never seen her actually get mad at someone before, which was odd. Why was she annoyed at someone she'd never even met? Bea agreed with my internal assessment. "Why is she upset with me?"
As the designated emotional trauma dump of the team, Merry clambered up to Ado's back and borked a few times. That didn't help at all. We didn't understand what she said, but we all knew it wasn't on topic. Raul rolled up. "Baa!" Ado crooned back. My lovely sheep just rolled his eyes before rolling his body away. At least I knew that whatever it was, he didn't think it was that serious. "Bea, I can't exactly verbally communicate with them. Sebastian is…" "Eleganto!" "That. Do you have anything that could help?" While familiarity and instincts could help you be more in tune with your team, it really didn't help with translating the finer intricacies of Pokemon speech.
Bea nodded before throwing out a Pokeball. "This should help. I partly got her to help correct my Pokemon's forms." A Medicham appeared. Ah, perfect. I'd question where she got that, but Meditite weren't exactly hard to get in their regions. It wasn't a stretch for a Gym Leader to get one. "Please help me ask this Lapras why she's against me." I heard a slight hitch in the end. So it seems even my stoic girlfriend wasn't invulnerable to feeling hurt when cute Pokemon rejected her. Now I really needed to resolve this issue.
"Cham!" Her Pokemon nodded, before turning to the Lapras and using her psychic abilities to speak with Lapras. After a moment, it turned back to Bea. My girlfriend frowned in confusion before speaking to me. "She says that Ado feels a manager's only waifu should be his idol and that you're cheating on her with me." Even from Bea, I heard that touch of amusement in her voice. "It seems that I've intruded on your sacred relationship. That was about the sum of the paragraph she ranted to Medicham."
Okay, who the hell was talking to Ado about Idol anime tropes and why the hell didn't they give her a complete set of information? Don't get me wrong though. It's really cute that she entirely subscribed to a fictitious Idol lifestyle and thought she had to be in a relationship with me for her career to work out. I wasn't into Pokephillia, and I suspected Ado wasn't into humans either. Then again, I don't think she fully understands what being in a relationship with her manager actually entails. Like most of my Pokemon, she was pretty young, all things considered.
"Ado, look at me." Surprisingly, she wasn't mad at me. My lovely Lapras crooned with joy at my approach. "I think you're severely misunderstanding the role of a manager and his Idol." I didn't even know it was possible, but she raised a doubtful brow at my words. "Look, you're right that an Idol should be a manager's waifu." Though Ado nodded along, Bea kicked my shin for not resolving the issue. She should really let me cook. I'd dealt with enough Chuunibyous and otherwise regular delusional people in my past life to learn how to make them cooperate. "But you've totally misunderstood the trope."
"Goo!" She shot back, clearly challenging my authority despite an entire lifetime of anime behind me. "Take the logistics into account. A manager usually has more than one idol under his purview, and a good amount of staff as well, which are usually all female because of the idols." Ado nodded to show she understood. "That means all his Idols are his waifus. They have to share, because the only man they see is their manager." I was truly threading on bullshit anime harem logic, but her ideas were bullshit anyway. "This also includes the staff, because everyone works so closely together right? It'd suck if only one person got a husbando while the rest watched." Lapras crooked her head for a moment, before crooning in reply. Good, she was hooked on the same bullshit logic that got us into this mess to begin with. I gestured to my girlfriend. "Bea here is the strongest martial artist in Galar. That's why I've hired her as our bodyguard. By Idol management logic, it means that she's my waifu too." Bea kicked my shin again, but I ignored it by reaching up and stroking Ado's neck. "That means we're all in this together, okay?" Here I thought I was done with the High School Musical bullshit, but there we go again.
Ado nodded one last time before bursting into song. With that dealt with, I turned around, only to meet the totally not angry eyes of Bea. She grumbled cutely for a moment to herself, before staring into my eyes. "I understand the leap of logic you used to mediate the situation. It's understandable that you've chosen this route to placate your Pokemon, as an actual relationship can't actually come to fruition anyway. I still feel annoyed."
"I understand." I took her hand in mine, stroking the back of it tenderly with my thumb. "Emotions were never logical to begin with. You're allowed to feel however you want as long as it doesn't overly affect how you behave." To further placate her, I lightly grasped her cheeks and pulled her in for a light kiss. "Does it feel better?"
"Mhmm." She hummed lightly, demurely agreeing with me whilst our faces were still inches apart. "But you better not actually apply that logic to anyone else. Your harem consists of just Ado and I. Just an Idol, her bodyguard and manager, understood?"
"Yes ma'am." I agreed easily. This wasn't a segway into getting more girls. I could barely manage the emotional needs of my team with Bea added on to that. No way was I going to try for more at this stage or ever. "Besides, who else am I supposed to add on? Nessa? Even Rose isn't crazy enough to go for that."
"That is true. She is not very attractive." My girlfriend nodded along, a tinge of sympathy coloring her face. "I've tried so hard to get her to work out more, and we got so far. But in the end, it didn't even matter. No matter what we did, I couldn't get her to get the same level of musculature as me. I fear that she's doomed to be unattractive."
No one is allowed to break my darling's misunderstanding on what attractiveness is! It's freaking hilarious that she still thinks Nessa is ugly. "It's okay, you've tried your best. We'll have plenty of time to get her in shape after we deal with Leon."
"You're right. Muscle growth is a lifestyle choice, rather than something we can rush."
Besides, Muscle GF supremacy is the true mandate of Arceus!
Gym Leader Nessa
Out of pocket, she flung her bowl of Kalua Pork into the sea after a bout of irrational rage surged through her. The 'Alolan' residents around her slowly backed away, fearing to incur her feminine rage.
Marnie Spike
"Why do Combees only evolve into Vespiqueens when they've been caught?"
Amidst their training, Hop suddenly paused and asked that question to her. He did that sometimes, and she entertained his inquiries. While it had nothing to do with their training to take down Rose and Leon, it served as a good distraction for Hop. She wasn't a big fan of how intensely focused he got when he indulged in the rage he felt towards the Chairman. Those expressions ill suited a normally cheerful person like Hop. Besides, she had the strangest feeling he wasn't really a battler at heart. He was far too curious about Pokemon as a research topic as opposed to battling partners.
"I… don't know? What do you mean by that?" Marnie wasn't stupid, but Hop had a habit of not elucidating his entire thought process first.
"It's a generally accepted theory that most Pokemon evolve after storing a set amount of experience from battling. It doesn't mean they always evolve during fights, but even during emotional moments, they still require that experience to even evolve, right?" Marnie nodded along in understanding. Hop excitedly continued. "But Combees, more than most other Pokemon, get into the most fights because of how territorial they are around their Vespiqueens. The areas around their hives are actively restricted to trainers who aren't doing the Challenge or have never participated in it. So after all that combat experience, why haven't they evolved? Why do they only do so after being caught for some time? I've read that a lot of trainers found their Combees evolving even when they haven't participated in any fights with them."
"I follow your line of reasoning, yes. Should we investigate?"
Hop paused his fidgeting. "Do we have the time for that? Shouldn't we be training for the final fight?"
Marnie giggled. "You silly boy. There's nothing final about the fight. Even after we've taken them down, life goes on in Galar and the Pokemon world. We can't just base our lives around them, villainous as they are. Not even Victor, with his main character syndrome, is truly the thing that we revolve around."
"Main character syndrome?" He asked, confusion marring his face.
She placed a finger on her lips. "You never noticed?" The corner of her mouth quirked upwards. "He's always acting like the center of attention. Everything he does is with the expectation that things will work out, no matter how ludicrous his chances. All of his Pokemon deviate from the norm in some way. Victor's chosen to take on this journey and do the impossible in defeating Leon even though he had almost no personal stake in his defeat, unlike you or I."
"That… what?"
The singer just laughed in reply. "You really never noticed? Everyone who's a powerful trainer, or soon to be one, has at least one weird quirk about them. Bea acts like a martial arts robot. Mustard acted like an old man before he became an old man. Raihan won't stop shouting sub hype, even in the middle of a match. Leon actually almost lost because of the distraction he inadvertently caused." She continued to laugh, feeling like her gut was being tickled. "They had to call off the match and re-do it because of that! My point is, as long as you know what to look for, you can easily find what's weird about a trainer."
Her boyfriend just raised a finger and paused, before putting it down. "Point. I guess the weird thing about me is my need to question everything about Pokemon?"
Marnie glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "I said powerful trainers had quirks. You're just some guy."
Clutching his chest, Hop sunk to the ground. "Look at you, being lucky enough to get a Critical Hit!"
Bea Hawkins
"Sei!" She pivoted on her heel, launching a roundhouse kick into the sky.
"Meep!" The Falinks, spaced apart equally for their practice, followed suit.
Merry did a backflip. "Bork!"
"Sei!" Bea followed up with a punch to the chest of her imaginary opponent.
"Meep!" As dutiful students, the Falinks slammed forward with their horns.
Merry did a headbutt instead.
The premiere martial artist of Galar dropped to the ground and curled up into a ball. Her boyfriend immediately sensed her distress, plodding over to comfortingly run a hand against her side. "I told you. It's not like I didn't try to teach her the proper forms you drilled into me. Merry is just Merry."
This was the result of watching the music video that featured Merry the Obstagoon going against a horde of Maracti. Bea couldn't really comment on the music itself. She would leave that to actual people with taste in music. All she could tell about it was that it was 'nice'. What she was far more interested in was Merry's fight against the horde. Whilst the Obstagoon had powered through with sheer power and instinct, Bea couldn't help but think that it was 'sloppy'. Honest to Arceus, she felt a bit annoyed that her boyfriend didn't try his best to ensure such power was redirected through the correct martial arts forms. That caused her to set about doing it herself, but the result…
Merry collapsed her gigantic form against the two trainers, dogpiling them. That caused the two to get a face full of fur. "I'm sorry. I see now that Merry is just Merry."
"Don't be sorry. Be better."
With a fist full of irritation, she jabbed at his side, only to squeak when he returned fire. "Hey!"
"I'm gonna hit back if you hit me. Sonia and my mom are squishy, but you of all people can take the hit. That's kind of your thing, if you recall." His words were barely audible because of all the fur on them, but a martial artist trained all their senses.
"Fine." She grumbled. "What am I doing wrong here?"
"You can't just mold any Pokemon into the form you want them to take. That's why most trainers specialize. As a fighter, you took up fighting types because they can learn your fighting forms." Victor pushed Merry off, before rolling his head onto her belly. "This dumb girl here will never be able to do that. You don't make Pokemon adapt to you, you adapt to them." The Obstagoon started to laugh uproariously when Victor poked a finger at her stomach and began to wiggle it.
"I see. Your advice is received. I will take it into account when training Merry." At this point, Raul had rolled into the scene, gnawing on Victor's pants leg and began to drag him off.
"Good luck with that!" Her boyfriend yelled as the sheep dragged him into the clearing with the Lapras.
Bea stood up, clenching her fists in determination. "Spartans! Practice your Phalanx formation!" The Falinks meeped in salute, before going off to do their own thing. With a single hand, she pulled Merry to her feet, only to get licked on her face. "I don't have to turn you into me. I have to turn you into you." That just got her another lick on her face. "Merry, your real strength comes from being the best you, you can be. So who are you?" Bea wiped off the saliva on her face from the third lick. That's when it struck her. "I see. You're sloppy. You're silly. You're a joke." She punched a fist into the sky. "And you'll be a giant pain in the ass for Leon to fight! Let's get to it!"
She started to trade blows with the Obstagoon. "Your enemy is grass. I am grass! Protect your home from the invaders!" A roundhouse kick was easily dodged by Merry, who limbo-ed under it with zero grace, before snapping back up with a double punch. Bea swayed to the side and chambered a kick, only to get knocked off her foot when she was charged by one hundred pounds of wet fur. As she was sent flying, Bea spotted Victor's training with the rest of his Pokemon.
"Cotton Guard!" The Wooloo puffed up. "Now Harden!" Through great exertion, Raul strained for a few seconds before a gleam shined off his wool. "Then Gyro Ball!" The massive ball of steel wool slammed forwards at unheard of speeds, right into the barrier that Ado set-up. "Hold on to that Protect for as long as possible!" The Lapras groaned and crooned, desperately obeying the command. Before long, the shining translucent barrier cracked before giving way to the ball of death. "Good! Now rinse and repeat!"
Mid-way through her flight, Bea nodded in understanding. It was a good idea to pair off those training in offense and defense. That made sense. She flew over a pink horse that flashed through the clearing like a manic pixie. The speed picked up exponentially, causing her to see multiple copies off the unicorn all neighing to the skies above in triumph. "Eleganto!"
Hancock wasn't idle through all of that. The Ninetails rampaged in their surroundings, decimating the local wildlife. Any Pokemon who dared to step up to her were mangled apart, knocked out within seconds. A thrum of concern coursed through Bea when she saw the amount of fire the fox was blasting out all over the place, but it seemed Hancock had learnt control, as none of the plant life was hit. Good, the vulpine was channeling all her pride and rage into combat ferocity through control.
As her flight ended, Bea rolled just as she hit the ground, landing into a superhero pose. She looked up at the charging Obstagoon and grinned. Things were just getting good. Leon wouldn't know what hit him. "Come at me!"
The Martial Artist Gym Leader of Galar stepped into the fray.
Hop Kennedy
They combed through the Rolling Fields, looking for any Combee they could find. Marnie made a good suggestion earlier. They should be focusing on the berry flowers in bloom, due to the nutrient dense nectar that they inevitably produced. Those drew in the Combees like nothing else. There they were, crouched in a clump of bushes next to the flower fields, huddled really, really close together. He didn't need a mirror to realize how red his face was. The heat that broiled off him was evidence enough. Marnie wasn't any better. Her body was like the sun beating down on them, her face close to melting his shoulder off.
"This is nice." He tried to redirect their embarrassment. While they had gone on dates and pecked their lips together a few times, they had never been this intimate.
Marnie shuffled in the little space they had, trapped within the bushes for fear of startling the Combees they were tracking. Her budding breasts rubbed against his back, causing him to swallow a gulp. "Yeah… this is nice."
They sat there in silence for a moment, enjoying their contact despite the embarrassment that came with it. Neither was socially inept enough to actually point out what was happening. Hop really enjoyed her writhing against his back like this, almost enough to call off their Combee hunt for more intimate pursuits, but that would just ruin the moment. Going for something more had a time and place for it. For now, he'd just enjoy this little preview of things to come.
"Is that…?" He felt her stiffen. Hop glanced over at the flower fields and found the Combee they were waiting for. A part of him was disappointed that they came this quickly, but there'd be more moments like this in the future. Quietly, they crept through the tall grass, stealthily following the bike of Combees. Their cute little faces smiled happily as the little bees collected the nectar before buzzing to each other in affirmation. The group then left at startling speeds, causing Hop to really feel the burn as the couple power crouch walked through the grass after the Combees. Soon enough, they came upon one of their nests, with the Vespiqueen smack dab in the center of her Combee guardians.
Something was wrong with her. "She's dying." Marnie gasped quietly in realization.
Hop thought over her words, rolling them around in his head. Sad as it was, most Pokemon didn't live forever, and they each had their own lifespans. Bug types tended to have the shortest lives of the bunch, owing to their reproductive ability and the amount that died to other Pokemon in the wild. A Vespiqueen could probably live for ten years before coming to its end. That fact was only discovered because of a trainer that hatched a Combee and kept it for life. It seems they were fortunate, or unfortunate, enough to come upon a wild Vespiqueen at the end of its rope.
The queen fluttered for a moment longer, gazing upon her kingdom. She alighted on the ground gracefully, staring off at all she had built for one last time, before closing her eyes. Marnie and Hop watched the moment in quiet reverence. Wild or not, all trainers respected Pokemon. This was a solemn affair. The Combees around her frowned at her passing. Her guardians even started to cry. In spite of that, they still did their duty and ferried her still body into an awaiting hexagon, before sealing the top of it away with mouthfuls of beeswax. Every Combee in the nest made their way to the hexagon shaped coffin and buzzed loudly, the swarm forming a cacophony of noise.
"It's sad." Hop commented awkwardly, not knowing what else to say.
"Yeah." Thankfully, Marnie just nodded at what he said. "I don't look forward to the day this happens to me."
"Just the way life is, I guess. You never know what you have till you've lost it."
Marnie took his hand in hers. "You're wrong. I know exactly what I have."
He smiled at her, staring deeply into her eyes. The moment was right, in a strange way, so his face inched towards hers. Marnie closed her eyes in acceptance, awaiting his ministrations.
They were interrupted by a burst of light. One of the female Combees lit up, its form morphing into a much larger one. It buzzed and cried in excitement, as the swarm buzzed with a similar frenzy. Before long, it fully formed into a brand new Vespiqueen, clacking its mandibles together.
"That's it! That's why they only evolve when a trainer catches them!" Hop stood up and shouted in realization. "Combees don't evolve into a Vespiqueen unless they don't already have one in their nests or are forming a new nest! When a trainer catches a Combee, it no longer belongs to its old group and seeks to form a new one!"
"Hop…" Marnie began nervously.
"Think of what this means for our understanding on Combees! It explains everything about their movement patterns, nest formations, and even their territorial instincts. There can only be one queen so they guard her with their lives. This changes everything, Marnie!" He screamed excitedly. "I have to tell Professor Magnolia all about it!"
"Think of our lives first." She shot back blandly.
With a stunned look on his face, he turned back and spotted the angry swarm that was now staring back at them. The Vespiqueen raised her new arm, barking out an Attack Order.
"I guess the moment is lost, eh?" Hop lightly commented as they ran away from the swarm of angry Combees that nipped at their heels.
"You think?!" Marnie sniped back.
"No need to bite my head off. The Combees already want to do that." He laughed back at her.
Marnie screamed. "Arceus Damnit!"
Hop just laughed harder.
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 22
Gym Leader Raihan
He stood outside the gates of Hammerlocke, posing dramatically. This Gym Leader was a man on a mission, awaiting the destined challenger. Every other Gym Leader had hyped him up, even Piers. Getting that lazy ass to do something took a lot of skill, or blackmailing in Rose's case. That still stung, even now, days after Piers revealed the fact to them. They had known something was off with him. Even if he wasn't interested in rebelling, which was already strange, the distance he kept from them was alarming. It was only now that they realized he was trying to keep up the plausible deniability, so he could claim he genuinely didn't know anything if Rose questioned him.
That was also why Raihan grilled them not just on Victor's personality, but his battling prowess as well. Being a nice guy wouldn't help with defeating Leon. They all had good things to say. His battling skills had improved from Gym to Gym at an unheard of rate. Leon's sudden burst of ability mid-circuit didn't count, of course. That loser just bought his strength. Raihan could do that too if he sold out like some scrub. That was when he caught sight of the man of the hour, trudging his way into the city after getting off a Corviknight transport.
"Just who we're looking for! Can we get a 'hell yeah!' in chat for our newest challenger!" Though it seemed like he was talking to no one, the rolling wall of text on his phone said otherwise.
"I am very confused. That's strange. I'm usually the one confusing people." Victor volunteered. "What's up?"
"Challenger! You're getting a different type of Gym mission from me this time!" Before the boy could speak, Raihan shoved his phone into his hands. "You'll be hosting my stream for me! Say hi to chat!" Rose tried to demand that he do something boring; like making his challengers just fight a few trainers. That was lame! The Dragon Gym Leader wanted to test these new trainers in interesting ways! Nothing was more entertaining than a trial by chat fire.
To his dismay, Victor took up the challenge like a Ducklett in water, grinning with a raised hand. "Ayo chat! Guess you were sick of his ugly mug. You got me now, ya boy the Arceus Devotee. Let's go explore Hammerlocke. I doubt dumb dumb over there actually understands the culture of this place."
"Slander!" Raihan shot back, but took it in good humor. He wasn't a bitch ass pussy. You shouldn't be fucking with people if you didn't want them to fuck you back. "Show me your 'culture' then!"
Professor Sonia
She typed away at the PC, before glancing at the notification from Cynthia. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. This was supposed to be a quiet day where she could slowly form that collaborative thesis with the Champion of Sinnoh. Her Boltund was quietly sleeping in the corner. The two Legendary dogs had gone off somewhere, probably frolicking in the grass again. A nice, warm cup of coffee was sitting on her desk, the aromatic steam gently wafting off it.
That was all ruined when she saw what Cynthia said.
"Be vewy, vewy quiet chat. It's Sonia hunting season." The muffled voice of Victor came from behind her. To his credit, she might have missed it if her thesis partner didn't just alert her to the livestream that was going down. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Boltund blearily waking up and staring at the intruder, before plopping right back to sleep when it saw that it was just Victor. Sonia withheld the snort. Yeah, Victor wasn't dangerous, just annoying.
His clothes ruffled lightly as he crept towards her, before he paused entirely. "Oh my Arceus! Thank you for the sub from Dittoman! Five months?! Dude! Can we get some sub hype in chat? Right, I'm going to do the sub dance." Okay, how was she supposed to miss that? Did Victor even know what stealth was? "Sub hype! Sub hype! Sub hype! Sub Hyyyyyype! Yeeeeeah!" And there he was, thrusting his hips in tandem with his poorly sung song. Sonia was this close to mangling him.
Victor quietened down and entered stealth mode again, crouch walking towards her quietly. "Thank you for the follow. Thank you for the follow, Eeveefluffer. Your support means a lot to us." The professor contemplated suicide. Victor got right behind her, and suddenly started screaming again. It took everything in her not to startle at the noise. "Holy shit! Five thousand Pokebits! Now Raihan has to let me pass the Gym mission! Anyone who donates Pokebits over a certain amount gets the rap!" He stood up and started moving his hands like a crazy person. "A bombom chek! A bombom chek! Eevee baby made me happy! They were so fluffy and stuffy! Pokebits, pokebits, you made me rich!"
"Enough!" She was offended by how bad he was at stealth. Her hand flung around, ready to capture his face with an iron claw. Almost as if he was expecting it, Victor side stepped her swipe before capturing her in a side hug. He held up the phone, allowing her to see the scrawling text and their faces on the screen. "Ayo! Can I get an F in chat for Professor Sonia's natural one on attack!"
"You're the one who got a one in stealth!" She screeched back angrily. "I heard you coming from a mile away!"
"I let you know so I could double surprise you!" He grinned like a shark.
"Double sur- Eep!" Sonia squeaked when he let her drop, dipping her low to the ground, only held aloft by the arm around her back. He stared deeply into her eyes, gazing at her gently. His hand danced across her face, tucking the stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Wh-"
"You look beautiful tonight, Sis."
"Wh-"
Then he let her drop to the floor, turning his attention back to the phone camera. "That's the 'culture' of Hammerlocke, chat. You gotta get out there fam. There's a whole lot of 'culture' here, especially with all the girls streaming in from other regions to the cultural hub of our region."
The door slammed open, revealing a Raihan who was laughing uproariously. "Oh boy! 'Culture', huh? My man." He bumped his fist against Victor's. "You gotta come out with me when Bea lets you off your leash. My wingman's gotta have game."
The Gym Leader was interrupted from his plans when Sonia screeched like a Mankee and tackled him to the ground. While she was beating on the Gym Leader, Victor just resumed his streaming duties. "Holy mother forking shirt balls! Fifty thousand Pokebits from our honored Champion of Sinnoh! You get the dance Cynthia!"
That was how Professor Magnolia found the trio; with Sonia attempting to strangle Raihan on the ground while Victor flapped his arms in the wind like a lunatic Driftbloom.
Gym Leader Raihan
After applying a salve on the bruises that formed around his neck, they decided to take the stream outside of the city. Victor figured he had interesting trivia about Pokemon to share after his time with Professor Magnolia. A more educational stream would also help with his damaged standing after she found them torturing her apprentice Professor for the world to see, so Raihan had agreed. Victor pointed at the Perrserker's that ran past them. "Yo chat, those are Perrserkers. That helmet they wear is actually just really hard fur. Feeding them foods that strengthen hair growth and resilience actually makes them stronger in battles."
Their little educational moment was interrupted when the earth shook. Raihan felt his gut tremble. There wasn't such a thing as natural earthquakes. Groundon had that on lock down. If the ground shook in Galar, it could only mean one thing. Before his eyes, and chat's as well, a Thievul Dynamaxed into a towering form, glaring down at them. The policemen on the route hurriedly ushered off the trainers there, ignoring the Gym Leader and his companion.
Victor reached for his Pokeball before hesitating, turning to glance at Raihan instead. He knew why. Every Gym Leader was briefed on the incident. Then he remembered Mustard's words. "My man, go ahead and show chat how you take down that big boy over there. Whatever happens, I'll take the L." What his chat thought he must have meant was about letting someone that wasn't a Gym Leader or Champion take on a Dynamaxed Pokemon. Thankfully, Victor read between the lines and turned to face his opponent.
They knew about the tactics he liked to use. That lunatic pinball death formation might have been useful here. The Obstagoon and Ninetails to play keep away while they went on the offensive would have helped too. Instead, Victor just let out his Wooloo. Granted, it was a mighty fine Wooloo, but what was he thinking of doing by using just one Pokemon to fight a giant Pokemon? He couldn't possibly-
"Rollout."
Immediately, the Wooloo shot off from the ground, spiraling like a cannonball towards the Thievul. Like an actual bullet, the sheep slammed into the forehead of the big Pokemon, performing a perfect headshot. Was he coming back around? Why didn't the kid bring out the Rapidash for the pinball maneuver? After a second had passed, the Thievul's eyes rolled up, before its huge body began to crash into the earth. Holy Arceus! One hit? That was bullshit! Did he somehow find a Dragon type Wooloo variant?
Tamping down his excitement, Raihan looked away with a grimace. Much as he thought Leon was cringe, the fallout from live streaming this wouldn't be pretty. The next few months would be hard, and that was all because the old dude thought Victor had a good chance of ending it all. Though he was a streamer himself, he wasn't one who believed in just videos or word of mouth. Raihan needed to see his prowess for himself. This was just a little taste. How would he stack up against his real team?
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Topic: Challenger Victor challenges Dynamax Thievul
In: Boards Galar Gym Challenge
Dittoman (Original Poster)
Posted on April 25, 2070:
Victor, who we know was rising up through the Gym Challenges, took on Raihan's mission today to conduct a stream. He started with irritating Professor Sonia a lot, who we've spotted hanging out with him. Then the stream moved on to its educational phase where he told us about the Pokemon around Hammerlocke. It was interesting stuff that isn't usually in the Pokedexes online. Did the professors already know those things or…?
Anyway, a Thievul Dynamaxed from the ambient 1% of energy we know Macross Cosmos still can't capture. Crazily enough, it wasn't Leon who took it down, as he usually does. I half expected his Charizard to come swooping in, but Victor just OHKO the Dynamaxed Thievul. That's crazy right?
Links [HERE]
(Showing Page 1 of 1)
ForeverSixteen (Verified Gym Leader)
Replied on April 25, 2070:
Ohohoho! That's my boy!
WoolooHerder
Replied on April 25, 2070:
Get your own son!
Eeveefluffer
Replied on April 25, 2070:
I saw it live! That was insane! Who knew normal types were so strong! Eevee supremacy represent!
Dragonman
Replied on April 25, 2070:
Dang it leon. you really let us down. how could you lose to a stupid wooloo
Dan Referee (Verified Referee)
Replied on April 25, 2070:
I always thought the ruffian was a bit uncouth, but doing his part to safe guard our region puts him in my good books
Rolypoly
Replied on April 25, 2070:
Ayo Victor really representing us good! Win the league for us!
Clacla
Replied on April 25, 2070:
His Gym journey always reminds me that I'm thirsty
Knightrider
Replied on April 25, 2070:
Hey! That's the kid who I keep ferrying! Good luck on your match!
Kabuisbro
Replied on April 25, 2070:
This is gonna be exciting!
Raihan (Verified Gym Leader)
Replied on April 25, 2070:
I hope you're all ready for things to get crazy! Tune in for our match in ten minutes!
End of Page. 1Dan Referee
He didn't get to conduct the Gym mission for the seventh Gym, seeing as Piers' gave the kid a pass. Neither did he get to participate in the most recent Gym mission, as Raihan had hijacked it in his own way. That was why he locked and boarded up Sheila's room. It wouldn't hold his sister for more than a few minutes, but that was all he needed to take over her spot as referee for Victor's match against Raihan. Though the boy was uncouth, rude and disgraceful, Dan had really come to… appreciate his antics in general. From walking right through Nessa's water pressure puzzle, to fighting Bea head on in a full on sparring match, Victor was a source of endless entertainment for him. Even the music video of his Obstagoon fighting countless other Maracti was an amusing substitute.
The kid's defeat of a Dynamaxed Thievul really helped with his impression of him. Most people in Galar felt the same way. Before Macross Cosmos came along and used the Dynamax energy to power their appliances, the people of the region were terrorized by random Pokemon going giant and losing themselves to their new found power. Entire towns were razed to the ground by what could only be called a natural disaster. That was the reason why he and the rest of Galar held Leon in such high regard. He had both the speed and power to quickly take down Dynamaxed Pokemon without any harm being done to their towns. That Victor had done the same was more than enough to offset the weirdness of his random proclamations to Arceus.
As the referee, he had the honor of watching over the challenger and Gym Leader exchange their pre-fight greetings. Unfortunately, it seems they had already spoken beforehand, because he didn't get to see much.
"Sub hype?" Victor raised a fist.
"My man." Raihan bumped it. "Hope you're ready for my Champion Cup team. Gotta test you now before I commit." What were they talking about? Was it even legal for Raihan to use his real team in a Gym match?
"I expected nothing less. Gotta go through you if I wanna go through Leon anyway." The boy replied easily, as if the second strongest trainer in the region didn't just mention he would demolish him.
Raihan returned with a wide grin. "Bet! Referee, you have ta get out of the blast zone now."
Illegal or not, Dan wouldn't turn down the opportunity to watch such an explosive match from up close. He backed off from the center as the two combatants went to their spots. As usual, Raihan posed for his stream and took a few pictures. Victor's expressive face settled into a placid, glacial frown. They threw out their Pokemon at the same time.
An Appletun and a Falinks? What an interesting match up.
"Spartans! Harass!" The crowd of Falinks spread out, acting as separate units to surround the apple dragon. They began to pepper it with attacks from every direction.
Raihan formed claws with his hands and yelled. "Ignore them! Sunny Day!"
"Climb!" The Appletun valiantly ignored the Megahorns they showered on its back, as the skies cleared and simmering hot rays of sunlight blasted into the arena.
"Solar Beam on yourself!" Raihan commanded.
"Go under!"
Raihan tsked. "You're a little bastard, ain't ya?" The Falinks scattered and started to go under their opponent, allowing it to take the brunt of the sun powered beam. "But not enough! Body Slam down!"
"Sack!"
Six Falinks went under the Dragon Pokemon. Five left. One had stayed behind, its horn gleaming with greenish purple energy. Dan almost thought it was grass typed, but realized it was the Bug type energies of Megahorn. Though the single Falinks went unconscious shortly after being slammed down on by the full weight of the enormous apple dragon, it still got in its hit, evidenced by its cry of pain that came right after. The dragon raged in pain and fury, continuously blasting Solar Beams all over the place. The Falinks scattered about the battlefield, taking turns to fling mini boulders at the Appletun when they weren't under fire. Just as the dragon Pokemon was about to fire on another Falinks, it cried in pain once more, revealing the two blobs that had snuck up on it from behind, stabbing its ass with Megahorns.
"That's dirty!" Though he should have been angry, Raihan started to laugh instead. "F in chat! Dragon Pulse!"
"Finish it!" The individual Falinks flung each other into the sky, causing those that were thrown to dive bomb into the Appletun horn first. The weak but consistent hits stacked up, causing the dragon to groan in pain, before dropping to the floor unconscious.
"Aite, aite. Gotta go hard from the start eh?" Raihan threw out his next Pokemon. "Let's see how you deal with what chat calls 'The Sniper'."
A Goodra came barrelling out. Despite his preference for weather strats, Raihan just said "Shoot to kill."
The gooey dragon crooned in reply, and began to fire an onslaught of Dragon and Water Pulses.
Victor narrowed his eyes. "No Retreat! Disperse and attack!" They had the time to buff themselves. They even had the time to disperse. They did not have the ability to dodge the attacks. As the barrage of pulses came zooming in, the still conscious Falinks found themselves being flung into the air by the attacks. That Goodra's reputation was well earned. Raihan hadn't just train its accuracy, but the ability to predict where an opponent might move to. Though their efforts were valiant, the Falinks couldn't handle the unerring accuracy of Raihan's Goodra. In less than a minute, they had all been knocked out.
"Gotta amp it up, bro! Bring on the heat!" Raihan posed for the cameras once again. "Show me what you've got!"
"Fine. Go, Merry." He sent out an Obstagoon in reply. "Be Merry."
Dan couldn't choke down his surprise. "That's it?"
"Fire at will!" The Gym Leader was a lot more composed than Dan.
The Goodra crooned before continuing to blast Dragon and Water Pulses at its opponent. To Dan's shock, the Obstagoon just began walking to the Goodra. There was nothing graceful about it. It stumbled around like a drunk, not knowing up from down. The Obstagoon tripped on a rock at just the right time, causing the purple pulse to fly overhead. It became fascinated by something on its left, just in time for a spray of water to go right past where its head was.
Raihan clapped his face. "I just know Bea had a hand in this. Unbelievable!"
After it gracefully(?) made its way to the Goodra, the Obstagoon simply did a bicycle kick on the dragon, sending it reeling back. As if that wasn't enough, it stepped up and Headbutted its opponent, before ending things with a Brick Break. Dan winced. That Goodra might have a concussion after so many hits to its head. Good thing medicine has advanced a lot in the past few years.
The Gym Leader sighed and sent out his next Pokemon. "I knew you were gonna be annoying. Win this for me, Flygon."
At the first sight of the flying Pokemon, the Obstagoon lost its dopey expression. It craned its head upwards and howled loudly, rage evident in its voice. Dan took a step back in fear. What did this Pokemon have against Flygons?!
Merry the Obstagoon
Dan Referee
It was like watching poetry in motion when the Obstagoon let loose an angry howl before leaping right at the Flyon. The Pokemon moved with such speed and alacrity that no one, not Victor, Raihan or the Flygon, could even react. With its paws, it angrily grasped on to the smaller Pokemon, before dropping down to the ground using it as a shock absorber. Though the dragon type groaned from the collision, it still maintained the coherence of mind to let loose an earthquake that shook the area. But so single minded was its fury in pursuit that the Obstagoon didn't let up despite all the heavy hits it received, continuing to aim a litany of punches and kicks on the downed dragonfly.
Things only ended when Victor recalled the angry Pokemon, with Raihan doing the same with his clearly out of it Flygon. The boy bowed slightly. "Sorry. She has issues with grass and Flygon…"
"Nah." Raihan waved it off. "These things happen. Pokemon are weird. Let's keep going. Go, Turtonator!"
"Eleganto!" The Rapidash cried as it stomped through the battlefield. This would have been a good match up on Raihan's end, Dan mused, if not for the fact that everyone was aware of that particular Rapidash's eccentricities. What was the use of Shell Trap if your opponent refused to attack you with their body?
"Overheat! Power through!" The Gym Leader started things off.
Then the Rapidash moved.
Dan had seen countless Rapidashes throughout his life. They had an enviable speed, able to clear a stretch of road faster than even a speeding car. This was different. Sure, the Rapidash was fast as it should be, but the way it moved was, if Dan dared to say it, elegant. The unicorn applied its speed in such a way that after images of his form were gathering all over the place. Raihan's Turtonator glanced every which way in confusion. "Eleganto!" Only for its head to snap back when a Fairy Wind blasted it from the side.
"Eleganto!" The Turtonator continued to suffer from concussive hits from every direction, the Rapidash darting about the field like a manic pixie. Soon, the now famed Fairy Storm arrived, forming a hurricane of pink wind around the turtle who instinctively used Shell Trap.
"You think you've got us? Iron Defense!" His Pokemon smartened up and hunkered down, causing the whirlwind to bounce off its strong defenses in futility.
When the Rapidash finally slowed down, breathing hard from exertion, the Turtonator came charging out of the storm, its claws gleaming with a Mega Punch. "Psychic!" It was held in place as psychic energy enveloped its form, but the horse was noticeably straining against the might of the dragon Pokemon. The battle of wills continued for a while longer. When the psychic bubble finally shattered, Turtonator staggered forwards, its hand swinging at nothing.
"Fine." Raihan conceded, blowing at the fringe of his hair. "Explosion."
An awesome blast of fire and kinetic energy shook the field, throwing back the unicorn. It landed near Victor's feet, tumbling a few times before coming to a stop. Instead of reaching down in concern, Victor blankly spoke to it. "Can you continue?"
The Rapidash stood up and whinied, despite the exertion. "Eleganto!"
"Good." Victor nodded. "Let's continue."
Raihan frowned in annoyance. Dan was equally puzzled. Why were Victor's Pokemon so gosh darn resilient? "It took me a long, long time to find this one. All that time, trudging through layers and layers of snow! Do you know how difficult it is to catch one?! I gotta show him off as much as possible! Come!" Raihan roared and threw out the Pokemon, before forming his claw pose. "GARCHOMP!"
Dan's eyes were not drawn to the awesome landshark, but the prideful Rapidash. Were his eyes deceiving him? After all that pomp and display, and the tenacity it had to stand back up to fight after an Explosion devastated it, why was the Rapidash flinching now? Instead of screaming in their heads or blasting off a Dazzling Gleam, the unicorn backed away from the Garchomp almost in fear, steadily arriving at its trainer's side. Victor narrowed his eyes. "I see. I'm calling for a withdrawal!"
Dan wondered what that was all about. He didn't have the time, as Victor's newest and most famous Pokemon came flying out of its Pokeball. The Lapras crashed into the ground and sang. "Phalanx formation, Ado."
"Get them!" Raihan commanded simply. Dan didn't blame him. Garchomps were notoriously hard to direct. They were basically power incarnate, overpowering anything and everything with sheer strength. They needed no tactics because they crushed all of that and brushed it aside. The only person who was known to be able to strategically use their Garchomp was the Champion of Sinnoh. Everyone else was forced to give it simple commands.
With a speed that didn't match up to its bulk, the Garchomp seemingly teleported across the field, sending a blow at the Lapras. Calmly and cooly, the scaled Pokemon simply raised a Protect that caused the claw to go glancing back. In that opening, the barrier was dropped in favor of an Ice Beam blasting out of her mouth, right into the Garchomp's face. It reared back at its greatest weakness, before overcoming it with sheer rage and crashing down on Lapras again. This was stupid. Dan could see exactly what was going on. Did Raihan have such little control over the Garchomp? It was being baited into attacking a Protect barrier, only to get blasted in the face with ice.
At a certain point, the Garchomp started to slow. "Sheer Cold!" Victor capitalized on the opening…
"Good! Earthquake!"… not realizing that Raihan was baiting him in turn.
Dan held on to the nearest wall as the ground shook furiously. He heard the crowd above cry in shock and fear as the entire stadium trembled. At the epicenter of it all was the Lapras, who cried in pain. It began to offset its feelings in the only way it knew how; singing a sad song to express its pain. Dan felt his soul melt into nothingness at the magnitude of sorrow in the song. How could anyone hurt a Pokemon as precious as this? It was an utter travesty on Victor's part to make her a part of his battling team.
That was what he thought, until Dan saw the Garchomp dropping to the ground, fast asleep.
"You tricky little bastard. All that showing off of her singing abilities was to confuse your opponent when you actually used Sing, wasn't it?" Raihan thumbed his nose before reaching for his final Pokeball. "Tricks won't work on this! Rend them with steel, Duraladon!"
"It wasn't a trick. She really loves to sing." Victor replied blandly. "I just adapted to the circumstances. Come back, Ado. This isn't the world stage yet. Raul needs his time to shine."
That Wooloo took the place of the Lapras. This was the reason Victor initially shot to fame. Nobody had ever seen a Pokemon dodge a Max Attack. That was the unique strength of this particular Wooloo, only made possible because of the right combination between trainer and Pokemon. Raihan groaned. "Ah, dang it. You're just gonna dodge all my Max Attacks?" Even though he said that, the Gym Leader still followed his obligations and Dynamaxed his Pokemon, forming a towering skyscraper behind him.
"No, we've grown past the Roly Poly." Despite his words, Victor still didn't Dynamax his Pokemon. Dan thought back to the live stream from before. His eyes widened in shock when he realized what was going on.
Raihan seemed to come to the same conclusion as he almost spat out his next words."You're shitting me! No way! G-Max Depletion!"
Unhurriedly, Victor made his move. "Cotton Guard. Harden. Rollout. Gyro Ball." Then he pointed at the head of Duraladon. "There."
The Wooloo puffed out its fur before hardening it. It proceeded to roll on the spot, generating so much velocity that his eyes couldn't keep track. Then, it launched into the sky, meeting the heavy downpour of Dragon type energy that came crashing down on it. To everyone's surprise and horror, the speeding projectile smash apart the Duraladon's attack, before smashing the tip of the Duraladon building. The steel dragon stumbled backwards when struck, desperately holding on to its balance but failing to, before tipping over backwards. The ground trembled from the weight of an entire building smashing head first into. Dan almost fell over from the impact.
The Gym Leader scratched the back of his neck, before pointing two middle fingers at Victor. "Hey, fuck you. But… ah!" Raihan stomped over to his challenger after recalling his Pokemon, and stuck out a hand. "You'll do. Let's kick some ass."
That broke Victor from his battle trance, taking Raihan's hand and shaking it. "Nothing can stop the hype train."
Raihan's grin was almost feral. "Nothing." He promised.
Dan really felt he was missing some context. He didn't have time to ponder any of that when his sister came barrelling out of the stadium side entrance, dashing straight at him.
"Wait! Sheila, I can explain!"
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 23
Victor Nash
Raihan was a cool dude to hang out with, if you could get past all the PTSD he gave me from Twitch. That was pretty much how he afforded the maintenance of more than a full team of Dragon Pokemon. Totally understandable. Everyone has to sell out at some point. The real question is what you give up. At the very least, Raihan seems to enjoy the attention he gets from streaming, so that's not so bad. He doesn't really indulge in any toxic streaming culture, because that doesn't really exist in the Pokemon world anyway. Thank Arceus for that.
I didn't get to hang out much with him after that. He had gone to handle the fallout of our actions on stream, and I wasn't talking about annoying Sonia and Grannie Maggie. The Gym Leader coalition must be extremely serious about taking Leon on this time around. Letting me defeat a Dynamaxed Pokemon on a Gym Leader's livestream was basically declaring war on them. Was it really a good idea? Don't know. That's Mustard's thing. Thinking too hard about strategy and planning beyond Pokemon wasn't something I really wanted to do anymore. This was my retirement!
"This is your retirement." In the middle of a snowy forest, Rose stepped out of the treeline, ten bodyguards trailing behind him. "Or it might not be. Depends on your answer."
"Hello to you too. I'm doing great, thanks for asking." I snarked back.
Rose puffed on his cigar, letting out a circle of smoke. He smiled lazily. "Your sarcasm doesn't do you credit, Champion-to-be. Show a little more maturity, would you? You're playing in the big leagues now."
"… are you high?"
"On life? On wealth? Sure, I am." He agreed amicably. "But that's not what we're here for." I would think he stalked towards me, if I wasn't sure I could punch his head off. "You've damaged my asset. By defeating a Dynamaxed Pokemon for the world to see, you've broken Leon's perfect streak of takedowns."
"Here to take me down then?" My hand inched towards my belt. The guards behind Rose startled into action as well.
He waved his hand at his guards. "Perhaps. Or perhaps not." Did this idiot only speak in riddles? "I admit that my handling of Leon was flawed. He's nothing but a PR drone at this point, only existing because of his modicum of talent paired with my vast wealth."
"We know he's a shill. What's your point?" Irritation seeped into my voice. Could he let me get back to training already? I only have four months left before the Champion Cup!
"You could let me finish talking first." He ground out angrily. That's not the only thing though. The cigar in his hand was ground against the suit jacket of the nearest bodyguard, who winced instinctively but kept silent despite the burning. Rose ruffled his hair before pulling on his suit jacket. "As I was saying… The damage you've caused to my asset isn't necessarily a bad thing. Leon's old news. You're the rising star here."
"Rising star? Are you serious right now?"
"Yes!" He nodded happily, raising his arms up. "You've breezed through all eight Gyms with ease! Your only loss was against the Champion, which we both know isn't a fair comparison. Look at that flawless take down you had with the Dynamaxed Pokemon. That old relic clearly treasures you, if he's broken his silence over something minor like that. The fans you've gathered like your eccentricities as well! And that girlfriend of yours?" Rose did a chef's kiss. Gross. "Icing on the cake! I couldn't ask for a better Champion for my push into Kalos! They're still weak after Lysander's little games."
"Um… ok?" I was confused. "Why on earth would I ever work with you? In case you didn't get the memo, I don't have to buy my way to victory like Leon did."
"You think I just have money? You're such a child. Boyo, I have far more than just money." A guard walked over at Rose's beckoning. The chairman straight up punched him square on the jaw. After he fell down from that and got back up, the poor dude did nothing but get back into formation. "People generally tend to listen to me. You want a rare Pokemon? Done. You want your little Wooloo business to thrive? Done. You want polygamy legalized? Done. I can give you anything your heart desires!" He smirked and raised his arms even higher into the sky, looking like a Jesus poser.
"Okay, why would I want that last part?"
"Aren't our laws the only thing keeping you from ravaging not just Bea, but Nessa as well?" His tone was utterly quizzical.
Huh. Bea was wrong. He was crazy enough to go for Nessa. "Not really?"
"One of you take this down. Oleana gets a demerit." Arceus, the dude was stone cold. Isn't she his most loyal supporter? How on earth did she stay loyal? "Bad example on my end, apologies." Press X to doubt. "But the point still stands. I can give you anything you want. Just name it."
"Aite bet. Give me Coke."
"What?"
"Coke."
"You mean a male escort?" Rose looked back at his guards, who all shrugged in tandem.
"Coca Cola you Arceus damned plebian! I haven't had any in sixteen years! Do you know how much that bugs me! I used to think I hated it, but when I lost access to the damn drink, I suddenly craved it for some reason!"
"Ah, I see." Rose smoothed out his fringe. "You were playing me for a fool. I bet you think this is funny, just like your practical jokes and public stunts for attention. Actions have consequences. Since you're declining my generosity, I'll just have to move on without you. That's okay. No one is truly indispensable." Yeah, no shit. I couldn't tell from the way you treat people. "You trainers seem to think everything is decided through battling. Allow me to prove otherwise."
I could dodge most attacks I saw coming. Bea had drilled that into me. I couldn't stop Rose from upper cutting himself. The blood splattered across the snow, dripping from his nose. What the fuck? He punched himself in the jaw this time, staggering his body to the side. Rose did that over and over. I was too confused to react. Why was he hitting himself? "No, please. Don't hurt me." His voice was drier than a desert as he rained blows on his own body. Should I be calling a doctor for self-harm? What in the Arceus damn was going on? Rose ended his little display with a final uppercut against his chin, dropping to the ground.
He was a right mess. The suit jacket had tears in it from all the rolling he did on the ground. His symmetrical and well groomed face was crooked and dyed crimson. I almost recoiled from the coppery scent that wafted off him. "The hell was that supposed to prove?!" I yelled at the crazy person in front of me. Despite all of that, his bodyguards stood stock still behind him, as if their principal hadn't just destroyed his own body.
"Think nothing of it. Our medical technology is advanced enough to heal me in days." He stood up like nothing happened, straightening out his suit. "More importantly…" Rose turned around and faced his guards. "All of you saw him punch me, right?" They collectively nodded. "You recorded the audio of my begging?" They nodded again. "And his hmmmm… Obstagoon blocked you all off, stopping you from saving me from his violent episode?" They nodded one final time. "Great! See you never, Victor. Congratulations on squandering my generosity!"
Rose pulled the handkerchief from his suit pocket, dabbed the blood on his face, before throwing it to the ground.
"What?!"
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Topic: Challenger Victor Disqualified
In: Boards Galar Gym Challenge
Durantan (Original Poster) (Verified League)
Posted on April 27, 2070:
Chairman Rose, of Macro Cosmos fame and generous sponsor of the League, was assaulted physically while taking a walk away from Wyndon. Medical evidence has found that the assault was done through human hands, as opposed to any form of Pokemon attack.
Due to the overwhelming evidence against him, Challenger Victor has been disqualified from the Champion Cup. This unsanctioned and unwarranted attack on Galar's most prominent philanthropist will not go unanswered. Any trainer who resorts to violence to settle disputes will be dealt with severely. Let this serve as a warning for everyone. Galar is a region of peace and showmanship, not barbarity.
(Showing Page 1 of 3)
Dittoman
Replied on April 27, 2070:
What? No, really. What?
Unlimitedenergy
Replied on April 27, 2070:
I knew there was something off about him!
Commson
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Using violence? How low has our region fallen? We should be communicating with each other instead of fighting
Yuhabach
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Y'all don't know this, but this Victor guy showed signs before. He rides through towns on his Rapidash and disrupts traffic. People keep getting annoyd cause he shouts something about arceus all the time. i heard he even fought with opal, and she's like an old lady or smth
Eeveefluffer
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Cant believe i supported him. Eevee out
Rolypoly
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Lies! They jsut wwant to stop the wooloo supremacy! We will not be silenced! If Victor really did it, why wouldn't he just use a super wooloo projectile!
Knightrider
Replied on April 27, 2070:
I dont know… kid never seemed violent. Unhinged, but violence?
Clacla
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Suddenly, I'm not thirsty anymore. Blood doesn't taste good, y'know?
Kabuisbro
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Gym Leaders! Kabu! Y'all gonna say anything about this guy trampling on the gym challenge???
Konodacynthia
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Why do the challengers this year like breaking stuff so much?
One broke the mural in stow on side
the other broke chairman rose's nose
End of Page. 1, 2, 3(Showing Page 2 of 3)
Rose (Verified Chairman)
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Calm yourselves everyone. While I am appalled with the comportment of trainer Victor, I will recover in due course. The Champion Cup will continue as planned, with a little surprise on my end. Till then, keep it fresh, Galar!
Quantofmilk
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Lmao imagine being so pressed you punch people
Byssa
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Just got out of class. The hell happened in that time?
Dan Referee (Verified Referee)
Replied on April 27, 2070:
There's something off about this! I know Victor! He's crass and uncouth, but violence isn't something he resorts to! There has to be a mistake! Don't let this disrupt the greatest match we could have watched!
Durantan (Original Poster) (Verified League)
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Dan, see me in my office
groundudon
Replied on April 27, 2070:
The heck is going on in Galar? Your challengers are crazy!
buggo
Replied on April 27, 2070:
I fought this guy once. What a prick. Can't just win with grace. Has to roll around like he's a wooloo. So glad he's out
ticusfon
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Not cool, man. Muscles aren't for violence, man, they're for art, and for lifting, not hitting the weak.
Banned from the gym, man. Bea better finds someone else, man. Guess we got a shot now, man.
Eeveefluffer
Replied on April 27, 2070:
LMAO like she'll go for a basement dweller like you
ticusfon
Replied on April 27, 2070:
She went for 'violence is the answer' victor, man. We clearly have a shot because she has no taste, man.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3(Showing Page 3 of 3)
Bea Hawkins (Verified Gym Leader)
Replied on April 27, 2070:
No.
Hansthegreat (Verified Keytarist)
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Ha! Finally got his comeuppance, that leettle sheet. He never understuud the sheer majesty of keytars, vheech are still the future!
Allendrums
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Did you seriously type in your accent?
Sventhegreat
Replied on April 27, 2070:
Our brilliance bleeds through even in text! That is how great our keytars are! Ve are the future!
Piers Spike (Verified Gym Leader)
Replied on April 27, 2070:
No.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3Bede Nelson
For the first time in his life, he felt a strange sense of camaraderie with someone else. The past few weeks were hard, excruciating even. With his income from the Foundation and League cut off, Bede barely managed to keep his Pokemon fed through Pokemon battles. Those weren't meant to be a source of income. Most trainers were sponsored by the League during their Gym Challenge. They usually moved on to whatever jobs suited them afterwards. The rest usually carried on while being sponsored by a rich corporation or their wealthy families. The money people bet through Pokemon fights was just a way to raise the stakes.
That didn't matter to him. He still forced his way into solvency. With everyone else abandoning him, the only ones who still gave any lick of concern was his Pokemon. Gardevoir sensed his sadness with ease, and he spent many nights crying into her chest, falling asleep with a tear stained face. Even Hatterene had broken from her racial stereotype, curling her hand around his back in a mimicry of a hug. Yes, his Pokemon were the only thing that kept him afloat after he was thrown away like yesterday's trash. It was an excruciating, tired existence that he led.
When the exact same thing happened to Victor, Bede set out to find him. After he lifted his rose tinted shades, Bede realized who the true villains were in this scenario. Victor, Hop and that Marnie girl were just regular trainers going through the circuit, as eccentric as they were. Victor didn't deserve to be lambasted by the unknowing public, just like he didn't. Outcast knew outcast, and he wanted to give the teen the helping hand he didn't get.
Luckily, his intuition struck true. He found Victor sitting on a rock in the middle of Route 10, humming an off tune melody. Strange, he didn't look very sad. Maybe he was repressing it. Bede crept closer, trying not to startle him. Victor's head snapped in his direction. "Here to pick on me when I'm down?"
"No! Not that!" Bede walked right up to him, now that he was spotted. "I just know what you're going through. My life hasn't been easy after everyone abandoned me. I blamed all the wrong people and lashed out. I see now that Rose and Oleana were the cause of everything, and now they've done the same to you!" He walked up and stuck out his hand. "I just wanted to lend a helping hand, from one disqualified trainer to another."
"Aite, thanks bro." Victor shook his hand before sitting back down, patting the rock. "Don't just stand there. Have a seat."
"Okay…?" He followed suit. "You're not what I expected you to be."
Victor cocked his head to the side. "What did you expect?"
"I don't know!" The frustration bled into Bede's voice. "The whole world turned against you! Rose got you disqualified! Everything was meaningless!"
"Nah, man." Victor shook his head, smiling wistfully. "You think I'm the one that lost. Rose punched himself like seventeen times. I'm like almost one hundred percent sure his nose broke in a really stupid way. That was more blood than I've ever seen in my whole life." He slapped his knee and broke into laughter. "The whole thing is freaking hilarious!"
Oh boy. Bede was now sure that the trainer he sat next to was going through a mental break. That would explain the hysterical laughter. "It doesn't matter." He placed his hand on the teen's shoulder. "Even if the world turns against you, we'll stand strong together. Someone will do something about this eventually. We'll be free from this disgrace and get to finish our Gym Challenge."
Victor turned to stare at him, puzzled. "You've really had a whole character arc while you were off in the woods, huh? The Bede I knew from a few weeks ago would've just sneered at me, or said 'The Chairman will hear about this!'."
He hacked out a broken laugh. "Perspective does that to a person. I see the world more clearly than I ever have. Only some things are truly important." On cue, his Gardevoir left her ball, pulling him in close for a side hug. The comfort she brought calmed him down. "I'm not forcing you to accept my help. I just don't want you to suffer like I did. We can make it through if we work together."
"Bede, I really like your shounen energy right now." Victor stood up and crossed his arms, grinning madly. "But who said we needed to wait for someone else to deal with this?"
"-but your qualifications! We can't challenge the Champion like this!"
The teen pointed a finger gun at Bede. "And who decided that?"
"The League!" He screeched in frustration.
"Who are in Rose's pockets anyway. So it's not like their opinion matters. I'm gonna take down Leon anyway and spank him on live TV." He shot the finger gun. "You feel me? Besides, you're wrong about one thing." Victor's gaze panned to the treeline. "We're not alone. Not everyone in the world turned against me."
To Bede's horror, every Gym Leader and a few people he didn't recognize came dashing out of the forest. In his panic, he shoved Victor behind him and screamed. "You'll get him over my dead body! Victor's innocent! Don't arrest him!" Instead of backing him up, Gardevoir remained perfectly still. His panic only intensified when the group didn't stop running, breaking past him with ease.
"My baby boy!"
Victor Nash
The crowd pushed past Bede from his defensive stance in front of me, causing him to falter backwards. I made to catch him, but a mother sized missile crashed into me first. "My baby boy!" She screamed shrilly into my ears, wrought with worry. "I can't believe they would go so far against a child!"
Milo caught Bede in his big strong arms and steadied him, before leveling me with a wobbly grin. "We believed you were innocent."
As if he wasn't confused enough, Kabu reached up to dust Bede off before turning to me. "Only those without POWER would resort to cheap tricks like this!"
"Hohoho. I'll shove my cane up his ass. How dare he frame my candidate for retirement." Opal cackled before slamming her cane to the ground for dramatic effect.
"You'd sooner tell another sex joke than punch someone, I believe that much." Melony's voice was dead but the smile on her face told me otherwise.
Piers just gave me a tired smile. "Need I say more? Spikemuth wouldn't be Spikemuth without you."
"My man!" Raihan bumped his fist against mine, retaining his cheerful Twitch chat personality even in the darkest of times. Not that it was that dark, honestly.
"I be-" Hop was stopped by Marnie who placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. "We believe in you." She continued. "Still do."
"Really, they disqualified Bede, me and you. That's like their go to at this point. Am I supposed to not believe in you?"
That was followed by a strangled voice screeching in the night. "You were disqualified too?" Bede pointed a shaky finger at Hop. "You. The Champion's brother. Disqualified?!"
"Oh right. That was never published. Keeping Leon's reputation and all that." Hop put his hands behind his head and grinned. "Oh well."
Bea walked up to my mother and I, joining in on the tight hug she was giving me. "Needless to say, I've always believed in you too." Her words were mumbled against my chest, but I got the gist. Man, the snowy route really wasn't as cold as I thought it'd be.
"Guys, really! I'm f-"
"A-Alola!" Nessa waved her hands in the shape of a rainbow, giving me an absolutely pained smile.
"… what're you doing?" I stared at her with a blank face.
"Cheering you up! Bea said it'd make you feel better!" Nessa stuttered with embarrassment.
"Oh no. Anyway-" I gave a smile to the whole gang that came down. Nessa's strangled scream was ignored. "Guys, I'm really fine! I was just contemplating how to break into Wyndon so I could spank Leon live in front of everyone."
"The hell you are!" Sonia snuck up from behind and chopped me on the head. "You're getting some rest before we do anything crazy! Fine or not, you need to rest after something like this happens!"
"No, really. Rose beat himself up in front of me. It was hilarious! I've always wanted to do that to him, only for him to do it to himself! That's like half the battle won or something." I laughed heartily, shaking up Bea and my mom.
"Half the battle won indeed." Mustard slowly strolled in. How were these large crowds of people all sneaking up on me? "Leave the strategy and all that to me. You've proven your strength against Raihan. We'll handle getting you there. Just take down Leon for us."
I looked around me, staring at the determined, and tired in Piers' case, faces of the Gym Leaders, each of them ready for one last fight to save our region from a Fascist Capitalist. They were genuinely giving me tingly vibes. This was just like the final push in one of those expansive RPGs. I felt like Commander Shepard before the battle for Earth. This was so cool!
"I've got a few secret weapons ready for this. Just train your heart out." Hang on, wait a minute.
"Did you know he'd do something like this after the livestream?" Mustard just waved a hand as he walked away. "Prick."
"We'll train the four of you in the months ahead in the staying power of grass." Milo continued.
Everyone ignored Bede gasping. "Me too?"
"You'll learn to flow like water." Nessa posed, thinking it made her look cool.
"Fire POWER!" Never stop being you, Kabu.
Bea cutely raised her fists. "Fighting." I just ruffled her hair.
"The tricksy of a fairy, ohohohoho!" Opal cackled. She still terrifies me sometimes.
Melony snapped her fingers. "Make sure your opponents never thaw out."
"And draw them into darkness right after." Wow, Piers was joining in on the dramatic moment!
"The hype train of dragons never stops, my man." He bumped my fist again. "Sides, need you as wingman after this. You got that rizz dripping like honey."
Marnie and Hop looked at each other and nodded, before staring back at the crowd with determination. "We're in." Bede jumped in with his hand up. "Me too!" I think he was just happy to have people talking to him again. Poor guy. I'll try to be nicer to him and ignore his Bede-ness.
"I'll stomp his face in too!" My mom clenched her fist. It's kinda cool when her protectiveness over me was aggressively being pointed at someone else.
"Aite." I punched my fists together. "Let's spank that dragon fucker."
"… what did I do?"
The crowd screamed in annoyance, the moment lost.
"Not you, Raihan!"
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
Last edited: Wednesday at 4:03 AM
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 24 (LEEEEEOOOON! HELP!)
Leon Kennedy
He was high on life right now, or was it the fumes from the grass in the stadium. This was where he'd always wanted to be, ever since he saw his first League match on TV. The crowds, more excited than some of the participants themselves, cheereing so loudly he swore the stadium shook. The Gym Leaders stepping forward to greet them, as if they were important! Chairman Rose, the man who ushered in unlimited energy for Galar, ushering in their challenge and welcoming them to the circuit! This was the dream, and he'd just taken his first steps! One day, he'd stand at the very top as Champion and usher in a new crowd of challengers to their Gym Challenge, this he swore. His dramatic posing could wait for a moment. That was his phone beeping. Leon opened it up and saw the message.
Hey bro! Just saw your opening ceremony in Motostoke. Gotta say that I'm Motostoked to do the same when I'm old enough! The uniform looks kinda cool. Did you get to talk to the gym leaders? Is Kabu as intense as he looks? I heard that he's really hardcore but nice to new trainers. Do you think you could get his signature for me?
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Leon smiled to himself. It was nice to have a family that cheered you on. They made it feel like you had a mini crowd that was cheering for you instead of the Gym Leaders, even when you haven't earned it yet. He'd hold on to this for as long as he could. Leon would earn their praise and adulation instead of just being born into it! But first he had to reply.
I was super nervous on the pitch! It felt like everyone was looking at me even though they were probably just looking at the gym leaders. Maybe I could become a gym leader in the future? That's an idea right? Which town do you think would suit me the most? Turffield seems like a good idea. Mom really likes the berries that they grow. They also like Wooloo which is a bonus. The current gym leader seems like he'll retire soon. So maybe… Anyway, I got Kabu to sign my uniform! I only realized that it was my only one after I sent it over. The League official scolded me for quite a while. Worth it though!
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He grinned stupidly, twisting the front bottom of his shirt, right where Kabu's autograph was. This was a good indicator of where he was and where he could go. An omen, if you would, about the good things to come. Every journey that started out this well had to end this well too, right?
Leon stomped out of the Turffield Gym. That was so stupid. He was so stupid! How could he have not considered that a Grass type Gym Leader would have counters to their most prominent weaknesses?! Of course they used Rock type moves the moment Charmander came out! That was just the most logical thing anyone would have done! Yet, he failed to anticipate it, thinking that Charmander could clear the whole Gym on his own. At the end of the day, it was only a huge dose of desperation with Yamper that they cleared the Gym. He could see it in his mind; the sneering faces of the crowd and the Gym Leader. That badge had almost slipped out of his hands! And he wanted to become Champion?!
Leon almost laughed hysterically at the thought. Then his phone lit up.
Your match in Turrfield was crazy! I can't believe you brought down the final Pokemon with a Yamper! Isn't electric not very effective against grass? How did the Max Lightning even take it down? Then again, it's kind of crazy that your Charmander got taken out at the start. Guess the gym leader planned for fire types! And flying types too, since rock is super effective against both! Guess I know what to look out for! Looking forward to your next match!
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He smiled at the text he received at first. It was always nice to hear from his family. They cheered for him even when no one would yet. The sneers of the crowd could be thrown at the back of his mind. Then he actually read the text. His family had seen the match, including his disgraceful lack of capability. They saw him somehow lose his only fire type at the start because of his utter lack of common sense. Were they like the crowd? Did they lose their faith in him from watching that? Leon frowned and practically squashed the buttons.
Yeah, Charmander shouldn't have gone down like that. I should have been prepared for a move like that. I guess what they say is true. Even if they use weaker Pokemon against Gym Challengers, it doesn't mean that the gym leaders lose their battle sense. Don't worry, I'll be prepared for something like this next time. And hey, at least I won in the end. That's one down and seven more to go!
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Next time, he'd win easily. Every eventuality against the Water type Gym would be planned for. If he wanted to become Champion, Leon had to prove to everyone that he deserved it. A mere Grass type Gym wouldn't keep him down for long. Galar had better watch out! The next rising star was coming for them!
Leon leaned back from the sweltering heat of Kabu's G-Max Centiferno. It was only pure luck that his own Dynamaxed Yamper managed to cling to life, returning fire with a Max Lightning. The next few moments passed in a blur. He barely noticed when Kabu gave him the badge, or even when leaving the stadium on his lonesome. Leon looked down at his belt and frowned. He went in with a full team of six, and the only one Pokemon was left, barely conscious at the end. Kabu had beaten him down with three Pokemon. After the Water Gym went so smoothly, Leon thought everything would be easier from there.
He had anticipated everything that the previous Gym Leader would do to a fault. Anything that could hamper his strategy was done away with. For all intents and purposes, his win against that Gym was a perfect victory. The crowds had cheered heartily at his victory. Even the text he received from his family was lighter in tone. There was no sneering commiseration or snide condescension at his near loss. That perfect victory caused the adrenaline to pump through his veins, filling him with euphoria.
That all came crashing down with Kabu.
Iron wall indeed. Was that what the crowds saw as his full team struggled against one half their size? Did they poke fun at him for barely managing to get past Kabu? It was merely beginner's luck to them, wasn't it? What would happen in the next Gym, or even the Champion? How could he make it to the top when he struggled with the bottom three?
Woah! You got past Kabu! That dude battles as intensely as he looks! It was fiery as heck! I still can't believe his Pokemon could tank super effective hits so well. How'd you think he does it? Victor told me that he probably just gets them to go through endurance training against Pokemon they're weak to, but that's crazy talk right? He's always been strange, but at least he's nice. Anyway! You did really well! When it came down to Yamper and Centiskorch, I was on the edge of my seat! But that old dog really pulled through! Guess I'll be seeing you at the finals soon enough.
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He sneered angrily. Victor; it was always something with that brat. Leon never liked him. He was always so high and mighty because he knew a few things about Pokemon that nobody else in the town was aware of. Who cares if a Pokemon was banned in Galar because it liked to knock Corviknight out of the sky? The only thing that mattered was their ability to bring about victory. That reminded him of something too. Yamper was really bringing down the team with his refusal to evolve. It didn't matter how many battles he fought in, the dog just refused to become more. Was it time to switch him out?
It really shouldn't have been that close. I thought my plans against Kabu would work out. Why did he have so many tricks up his sleeve? At least I won. That's three down and five to go.
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"Ah, yes. Our rising star! How nice to meet you." Leon was interrupted from his texting by the genteel greeting of Chairman Rose. Hurriedly, he ended the conversation with Hop.
Anyway, I'll talk to you next time. I've got some training to do.
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"Chairman! It's an honor!" Leon held his hand out to shake, and to his greatest of joys, the Chairman shook it.
"Please, the honor is all mine. That was a great match that you just had with Kabu. Really came down to the wire, eh?" Rose elbowed his side and winked. "So nice to see the younger generation doing so well."
Did he really think the match was great? Unlike the sneering crowds and his own family, Rose was actually complimenting him! This was a great man who held many positions of great responsibility in Galar! Such a man thought this highly of his match? For the first time in awhile, Leon felt validated and strong.
"Oops. There goes my schedule. It was nice to meet you, young Leon." He knew his name too?! Chairman Rose patted him on the shoulder. "We will watch your career with great interest." Then he walked off.
That felt… good. Someone believed in him! He could do this!
He couldn't do this. How was Mustard somehow even stronger than Kabu? It seems, despite his exhaustive strategy sessions, he still had a long way to go as a trainer. If Kabu's fire types burned with power, Mustard's aging Pokemon barely had to move to take down his own highly trained team. What was wrong with him? Didn't his family believe in him? Didn't Chairman Rose also believe in him? How could he lose at the fourth Gym? Was he this weak? Could he even become Champion?
Hey bro… Sorry about your loss. It looked really close too! But that's okay, you can try again! Mom read the rules to me and it says that you can try as often as you want as long as the Gym Challenge is still going on. Yamper and Charmeleon looked like they were really hanging in there too! Don't mind it! Most people face their first loss at Kabu! Making it this far before losing for the first time already means that you're ahead! You can do it! We all believe in you!
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Of course she did. They expected him to lose. That's why they even looked up the rules on rematches. They knew he'd need it. His own family didn't have any faith in him. Well, he'd show them!
I won't lose next time.
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"Young Leon! I thought you'd win, you know! It was so close near the end, I could have almost tasted it!" The Chairman was here once again. He seemed to be the only one who believed in him once again. Why was it that an outsider had more faith in him than his family? "Ah, but you must be exhausted! Sit! Please, I insist." The pedicured hand of the Chairman pulled him down, seating them both on the steps of the stadium.
"I'm sorry I disappointed you with my loss." He felt compelled to say it.
Rose just waved it off. "No, no. I can see the talent in you, desperately trying to break free. You're just… ill equipped to bring it out."
"What do you mean?"
"Did you ever hear the tragedy of Champion Mustard the Brave?" The Chairman gazed into the setting sun wistfully.
"No." Was Leon supposed to have heard it?
He shook his head, grinning ruefully. "I thought not. It's not a story that the League would have told you. Mustard was once the Champion of our region. He united the rival families into one coalition, forming the League we know of today. That took great strength, as I'm sure you've guessed."
The trainer bowed his head. "I experienced it."
Rose patted him comfortingly on the shoulder. "That was just a sliver of the power he had in his heyday. Think of the power that's needed to not just win against every trainer, but all of them at once? You understand that this was in the era of chaos, when Dynamax energies were not yet understood. Towns could be razed overnight. People were naturally rather defensive of the scant few resources they had. Mustard managed to bulldoze through all of that with his strength alone."
"What happened to him?"
"He got old." The Chairman tousled with the loose hair hanging from his fringe. "His Pokemon started to die of old age, and his strength went with them."
"Couldn't he have gotten new ones?"
Rose hacked out a laugh. "I tried telling him that, yes. No matter how badly I begged him, he wouldn't accept my offers to bring him newer and stronger Pokemon. I can do so easily. My resources are vast and varied. Any Pokemon is available as long as I want them to be."
Leon stared back at him, eyes widening in disbelief. "Any…"
"If you can name it, I can get it. And more too. I imagine the costs of raising so many unique Pokemon would be astronomical even for the richer families in Galar."
The teen mulled over his words. "Is that something I can obtain?"
The Chairman smiled, craning his head over to stare deep into Leon's eyes. "Not for a Wooloo Herder."
That was the day Leon received his first and last sponsorship.
I heard about your sponsorship from Macro Cosmos! Why didn't you say anything? We're all so excited that you got help from Chairman Rose! Doesn't that mean he sees potential in you? That means he sees the same thing that our family does! Hell, the whole of Postwick thinks you can do it. We'll all be cheering for you. Do you think I could get Chairman Rose's signature too? That'll be pretty cool!
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Leon didn't answer the message. He had more important things to do. Defeating Mustard after his chat with Chairman Rose was easy. As an initiation gift, Leon was gifted with a fully Drakloak. While Mustard still had Dark type moves at his disposal, the inability to use any fighting moves against his ghost dragon certainly tipped the scales in his favor. This was just the start. Against the fifth Gym, the Chairman was gifting him with even more Pokemon. This time, it was a Garchomp.
The seventh Gym was almost a joke. It didn't matter if Ice was the bane of Dragon types. Leon simply had to ask, and Rose had gifted him with a Bexcalibur and Turtonator. They shrugged off the Ice beams with ease, decimating Melony and her trash Ice team completely. The Dragonair certainly helped too. Young as she was, she didn't stand a chance against a team specially made to defeat her.
Woah, that's your seventh gym badge down! Guess you must have been really busy training for your matches! Where did you even get a Drakloak and Dragonair from? Those must have been hard to get. Do you think I could find one when I go on my Gym Challenge? Are they hard to control? How come I didn't see Yamper this time? Is he okay? Anyway, we'll be cheering for you!
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He decided to ignore the message again. They could have a nice family dinner when this was over and he was Champion. Their praise had to be earned, and this was the only way.
"I can't believe you!"
Leon dodged the pile of papers she flung his way. "Is it so hard to understand?"
"I understand! I'm just having a hard time believing it!" Sonia cradled the Pokeball to her chest. Her tears flowed freely, causing Leon to frown. She was far too emotional. A Champion needed to be decisive and stern. Chairman Rose had said that.
"What's hard to believe about it? Yamper refuses to evolve. And even then, a Boltund is far too weak to keep up with my team. I thought you'd want him back rather than releasing him into the wild."
She stomped up to him and poked him in the chest. "Every Pokemon is viable! I'm not even a Pokemon Professor and I could tell you that easily! It's not like I didn't watch your matches! Before you got your little Dragon team, who was the one who held on to the end against the first Gym? Who helped you get past the iron wall of Kabu?" Sonia hit him in the chest with Yamper's pokeball. "It was him! He did it!" She did it again. "And now, what? You're throwing him away for more Dragons?"
"It's not my fault they're the strongest type. That's what I need to get to the top."
"Oh, of course!" Sonia flung her hands in the air, screaming for the world to hear. "The only thing that matters is strength! It doesn't matter that I entered the wilds, looking for a Pokemon for you! It doesn't matter that I had to painstakingly convince a Boltund mother to pass on her egg to me for you! It doesn't matter that I raised the Yamper from birth till you were ready for your journey for you! Nothing matters but strength, does it?"
Leon frowned. "Sentimentality won't make me Champion."
"When you get your Championship badge-" He could barely make out her red eyes, veins bulging at the seams, past the curtain of orange hair, flowing freely now that her hair band had come undone in her tirade. "-I hope you choke on it."
"So-"
"Get out!"
"Listen, I-"
"Get out of my lab!"
He had finally done it. The former Champion was now broken, laying defeated at his feet. Leon punched his fist into the air, and the crowd cheered. This was it! This was the feeling he was searching for! From the first match he'd ever watched, he had made it all the way to the end. Leon closed his eyes and smiled, drunk on the cheers and adulation the crowd heaped on him. He had turned the tides, ever since Rose gifted him with those Pokemon. The crowds that once sneered at his matches cheered for him every step of the way. He was strong and powerful. Leon spun around, before shooting his hand up with his fingers in the shape of a seven. The crowd cheered even louder.
Nothing could ruin this day!
That was when Leon frowned in remembrance. Where was his family? Weren't they supposed to be here? He took out his phone.
What did you say to Sonia? Why was she crying? And why does she have Yamper? You haven't responded recently. Please reply.
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Can you tell the security guards for the finals to let us in? We wanna cheer you on before you go on to face the last leg of your journey.
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Oh. Maybe he could fix this. That was the point of all of this, after all. Now that he'd finally become Champion, he could sit down and have a nice family dinner. Hop and Mom would praise him for his achievements as he regaled them with the journey he went through. Maybe Rose could even join in. The man was like family to him now, after all the help Leon received from him. Now that he stood at the top, anything was possible!
"Ahahahah! You think your win was earned? His words are like poison in your ear! You'll be discarded, just like I was!" The former Champion had clearly lost it, spitting out nonsense while writhing on the ground.
Rose came out to the field and clasped a hand on his shoulder, pulling him away from the lunatic. "Tsk. The former Champion can't lose with grace, it seems. That's unlike you, of course. I knew I was right about you being a rising star. Let's go, young Leon. We have much to discuss now that you've been made Champion."
"About?"
"You'd agree that my sponsorship is what got you this far, correct? I just want a few concessions on your part, now that you've reached the top. Don't worry, it's nothing major." Chairman Rose smiled gently. "Wouldn't want to ruin your big day with heavy talks, after all. What do you say to a nice glass of whiskey before you go off to make your big speech in front of the world? Sounds good?"
Leon took one final look around the stadium, searching for his family. He sighed when he came up with nothing. The urge to call them came to his mind, but when he saw the expectant face of Rose, the Champion shook it off. They had waited for this long. They could wait a moment longer.
"Yeah."
Leon hunched over his seat, gazing out into the nightlights of Wyndon. The expensive whiskey swirled in his glass, an old habit he copied from the Chairman. Taking the plunge, he brought it to his lips, feeling the liquid burn as it went down his throat. The fire spread through his gut, and back up to his brain. In a moment of anger, he flung the glass aside, shattering it into a million pieces. He didn't even like whiskey. What did it matter if it was expensive?
What did it matter if he was Champion? In the end, he'd burned his bridges with everyone else. Sonia wouldn't talk to him after that day, preferring to go off with that brat, Victor. How unbelievable, that he'd lose his woman to a two timing cunt like that know it all prick. Was Bea so fucking blind that she couldn't see the signs of a cheater?
"You look beautiful tonight, Sis."
"Motherfucker!" He got up and started to pace back and forth.
If it wasn't enough with Sonia, he'd subverted Hop to his side too. Never in Leon's mind could he ever conceive the notion that Hop would punch him for the sake of another. Just what kind of wily and devilish tricks did that ponce pull to change even his own brother? In his anger, he'd revoked Hop's qualification to participate in the challenge. Maybe it wasn't the best move, but Leon felt like Hop deserved it for siding with an outsider against him.
Why was he still plagued by Tauros shit like this, even as a Champion? Didn't he reach the top? All of Galar respected him. The nightlights in the city of Wyndon were nothing but an effigy to the greatest Champion in Galar- the world! Everyone respected him! Why didn't his family? Why not Sonia? Why did that brat think he could go against him with barely a full team!?
"Asshole!" Leon punched the glass in frustration, causing it to crack over his knuckles as blood dripped to the floor. It didn't matter. He barely felt pain, anymore. A Champion discarded all frivolities in the pursuit of excellence.
Rose had gone out on his own to disqualify the brat. In the mind of the Chairman, that meant the issue was settled. Leon knew otherwise. It was an instinct he had developed over the years. Rules weren't something the brat cared about. He couldn't even keep to one woman. What was there to say about his regard to Galar's laws? The sacrificial trainer Rose prepared to keep him in power didn't matter. The true fight he had to prepare for was against Victor. When the time came, he'd crush him till there were no more questions about his Championship.
But first…
Leon sighed as he answered the call. Another Dynamaxed Pokemon? The life of a Champion was never easy.
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 25
Chairman Rose
Rose flung the stack of papers from his desk in a fit of rage. For all the plans of mice and men, eh? The grunt who brought him the message trembled in fear. Good, as it should be. "Where the hell are the Gym Leaders?!" The trainer portion of the Champion Cup had gone as planned. After weeding out potentials like Hop and Victor, the rest of the challengers didn't stack up to the trainer he had prepared for this very occasion. When it came time for the Gym Leader's portion, none of them showed up. "I knew they were against me, but do they not fear the slightest bit of reprisal?! Their economies could be ruined with a wave of my hand!"
Oleana hurried over, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We'll find them and get them in line, Chairman. You have my word."
"Your word means little after your repeated failures." He turned and backhanded her away.
Despite his abuse, she resumed her position behind him anyway. "We could just move ahead with our prepared trainer going against Leon. Just say we're trying something different this year."
"Ugh. Fine. You're right. Give the go ahead to Bede."
"I will." Oleana complied dutifully. "Hmm. It seems Bede would like to speak to our audience. Something about a speech on capitalism?"
"Hmph. What would he understand about the principles behind our great undertaking? Whatever." Rose waved a hand. "Can't hurt. His plebian understanding of our world won't change a thing."
"Understood."
Bede Nelson
Making it past the other Gym Challengers was startlingly easy. He'd really shot himself in the foot by challenging the strongest trainers in the circuit like Hop, Marnie and Victor. Then again, the past few months of training that the Gym Leaders gave them had upped his game significantly. There were so many tricks he hadn't realized he could use, most of them exceedingly simple. It said something about the unity of Galar, bringing so many different perspectives together for a greater cause.
So what was he doing here at the Chairman's behest? He hadn't wanted to accept the invitation, of course. It would have been a betrayal of the highest order against the few people who accepted him after the public backlash he received. These were the first people who had helped him without any expectations on his part, unlike the false charity the Chairman paraded around. No, this was part of their plan. He was the only one who could stall for time long enough for things to get going.
Leon stood across the field from him, awaiting his challenge. Bede felt not a lick of intimidation. He knew now that the Champion was just a sad, broken man. Mustering up his courage, and his memory of the speech Victor shoveled into his brain, Bede spoke into the microphone.
"I am Bede Nelson!" They won't know you're scared if you just went full ham while swinging your arms dramatically. "Here to ask you a question! Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?" Bede angrily thumped his chest, screaming his heart out. "No, says the man in the League. It belongs to the poor! No, says the Arceus Cultists. It belongs to Arceus! No, says the former Champion Mustard. It belongs to everyone!" He paused for breath, making sure to slow his cadence. "I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible! I chose to defy my fate!"
From the corner of his eye, he spotted Victor walking into the stadium. "I chose what's right! I chose what's decent! And above all, I chose what's kind! The hyper capitalistic ways of Chairman Rose end here!" Leon was beginning to reach for his pokeballs, but nothing could stop him now!
"I won't be held back, any longer!"
Gloria Nash
It was hard to actually discern who was corrupt and those who weren't. Not every League official was in Rose's pockets. In fact, most of them were just regular employees doing their day to day jobs. Hence, the ones chosen to assault Wyndon Stadium were a motley crew. Heralding their arrival was the crowd from Hulbury, or as they preferred to call it, Alola 2.0. Dressed in their Alolan shirts, grass skirts and leis, they rushed forward into the stadium like a band of deranged merchants.
She really should be more annoyed at them. Gloria had seen the credit card bill after Victor visited Hulbury, and had immediately realized what happened. Her son wasn't stupid. He knew they were scamming him. He'd just have thought the whole thing was fun enough to be scammed anyway and went along with it. The money lost didn't even make a dent in their finances, but it was the principle of the matter! Who paid a thousand dollars for a stupid drink?
At least that unhinged mercantilism was aimed away from them this time. An attractive hula girl ran straight to a League official and captured his arm, plopping it straight in the middle of her valley. She sidled up to him meekly, running a finger up and down his chest. "Alola! You know? I need a big strong man like you to carry all that pork for me. It's for the children and all of that. They need their Kalua Pork. I was so troubled, but then I saw you and your big, haaaard-" Arceus above. Even Gloria was starting to feel things from the way that girl drawled her words! "-arms. Won't you help me? Pretty please?" The poor official was completely caught off guard. How often did half naked girls come up to you in the middle of the work day to pull devastatingly seductive moves. All around the stadium entrance, Gloria watched as grown men were being led by the nose away from their duties. Ugh. Men.
The Alolan men weren't idle either. They had their own tricks up their sleeves. Like a swarm of Combees, they rushed in, carrying a multitude of Alolan drinks, Alolan shirts, Alolan leis, and other Alolan products Gloria didn't feel like differentiating. League officials and any such employees were being harassed and beaten down with door to door salesman tactics. "And if you buy one Alolan shirt from me, I'll even throw in this lei too! The drink? That's complimentary, of course! Pay no attention to the fact that I quietly raised the price of that shirt too!" Those poor workers were utterly bamboozled, confusedly taking out their credit cards to buy products they didn't need. Gloria held in a sigh. She needed to reimburse those suckers later. Or could they force Rose to do it?
Not every League official was so easily conned. Some of them were made of sterner stuff, standing upright at their designated guard spots with backs so stiff you could break a wooden plank on them. That was fine. The Alolan crew had done their part. It was time for Gloria to do hers. She unslung the ginormous backpack she carried, throwing it to the ground. The flap on it broke open, revealing an avalanche of hundreds of pokeballs that came pouring out onto the ground. "Wait, stop!" One of the employees came over with his hand outstretched. Too late. One by one, the pokeballs cracked open, releasing the Wooloo in them. The audience members who still lingered in the entrance were treated with the sight of a horde of Wooloo staring down at the nervous staff members menacingly.
"Baa!"
One of them flinched. Gloria punched her fists out, wiggled them in a circle, before crossing her arms. This was her son's request, and she would never turn him down. "Z-move! Mama Style: Roll Roll Revolution!" The employees had no chance in the face of a thousand Rauls. They rolled their hearts out, stampeding through the cordon with ease. Everyone screamed and yelled in panic, unable to discern friend from foe. It was complete and utter chaos. No one was truly harmed, of course. These were mostly innocent staff members at the end of the day, but there was something to be said about having such power at your fingertips. Sure, Magnolia said that breaking the carry limit was highly illegal even with her permission, but her boy could just grant her amnesty after he became Champion. So there Gloria Nash stood by her lonesome in the middle of the lobby, the architect of chaos.
Her son came in after the scene cleared, every Gym Leader of Galar at his back. He took one look at the situation, before turning to her with an adorable, dopey smile. "Thanks, mom! You're the best!" Victor formed a heart with his fingers and pulsated it. "Doki doki."
Gloria just flipped her hair, imagining that it trailed behind her with the wind, even though they were indoors. "Anything for my son." Pride blossomed in her. She was glad to be here for his big day, and managing to contribute so much to his dreams.
"Now Imma spank that dragon fucker."
"Son." She caught him on the shoulder, clenching her other hand into a fist. "Crush him."
"You got it."
Victor Nash
There was something to be said about the circle of life. I was a student in my past life, then I became a teacher afterwards, teaching students of my own. With my rebirth, I became a student of Pokemon once again, yet I had taught others in my own way. I thought I'd graduated from childish things like Pokemon when I grew up, but with my death, I came back to Pokemon in the end. My journey began with walking into a stadium with the crowd watching, the Gym Leaders waiting for us. All of this was an over convoluted way of saying that I was now walking into the Champion Cup with the Gym Leaders at my back and sides, all of them flanking me like overprotective bodyguards. This was possibly the coolest moment of my life!
Bede was having his own little moment of triumph as well, as he spouted the objectivist, hyper capitalist bullshit I shoved into his brain. Then he pivoted into pure shounen energy, something about choosing his own fate and doing the right thing. I guess with me being the way I am, Hop being a researcher, and Marnie being the grunge singer, someone had to fill the gaps in terms of tropes.
"I won't be held back, any longer!"
He took one look at me and smiled, speaking into the microphone one last time. "A man chooses. A slave obeys. I am not a slave. Rose will not tie me down any longer! I concede! Today, the one who'll crush you is him!"
Clearly, he adopted Opal's flair for the dramatic, as Bede ushered in my entrance with the other Gym Leaders. Our crew stopped smack dab in the center to stunned silence from the crowd. Bede just smiled and tossed the microphone to me, before taking his leave. Gosh, when did he get this cool? "Do ya'll wanna see a fight?!" Unsurprisingly, the crowd cheered. Galar really needed its bloodsport for the masses to stay satiated. "Aite, bet. What does our dear Champion think?"
Kabu stepped forward, trying to convince Leon. "You'll accept if you truly have the POWER to stay Champion.
"What's wrong? Scared?" Nessa taunted.
Raihan just burst into laughter. "Lil bro here beat me. I think he has a good chance against you."
To everyone's surprise, Leon nodded and stepped forward. "I've been waiting for you. You've taken everything from me. My woman-" He grasped tightly at the cape he was wearing. "-my family. Tried to take my reputation too, didn't you? Almost took the offer from the Chairman, didn't you? And now you're trying to take my Champion title too?" Leon's face twisted into an ugly thing. "ABANDON YOUR ARROGANCE, VICTOOOOOOR!" He flung his arm, sending his cape flying. "COME AT ME!"
The Gym Leaders started to clear off, sensing the start of something. "You can do this." Bea held up her fists. "Fighting." Then she joined the rest at the side.
"Aite. Time to crush you and your small dick energy. I'll come at you, cuck."
"VICTOOOOOR!" Leon threw out his first Pokemon; a Haxorus. There was something to be said about his choice. Did it represent the sheer rage he was feeling right now? Or was the garbled mess of a roar from its gaping maw a metaphor for the utter nonsense he spat at me earlier? Man, fuck it, we ball. If he wanted sheer unbridled rage, I'd give it to him.
"Fuck him up, Hancock." My Ninetails came out of her ball and howled at the sun. She stared past the Haxorus, right at Leon, and snarled. Guess she wanted payback, huh?
I should have gone into battle mode. Concentrating on the fight was something everyone agreed is an important basic principle to adhere to, but look at what it's done to Leon? I didn't want to become a rage bot like him. Honestly, for this most important fight of my life, I wanted to fully experience it. Guess I'm going in this as Victor Nash, the unrepentant troll that I was.
"Dragon Claw!" Leon's spittle sprayed all over the place as he practically frothed at the mouth.
"Take it!" Hancock readied herself. "And don't let go! Show them what we've learnt!"
Milo sat down on the ground, running his hands through the blades of grass. "The plant life all around us is resilient, more than anything else. You can burn it, salt the ground, and devastate the land, but life always finds a way to blossom. It might take a year or a hundred years, but the first thing to come back is always the plants and grass. Learn from this. Be resilient like grass."
The Haxorus barreled down on Hancock, who even now, refused to meet it in the eye due to her pride. The Claw slammed down on her side, but all it got was a disdainful growl from her, Using the nine appendages waving behind her, she wrapped the dragon in her grasp, refusing to let go. Whilst the dragon struggled, a handful of purple flames left her maw, scorching the dragon with a Will-o-Wisp. It cried in pain, but Hancock wasn't done just yet. Her paws leapt up to cradle the confused Haxorus' face, before a bout of ghastly energy continuously blasted into the dragon. Spite, focused in close range against a Pokemon that couldn't struggle, with barely a second between each blast.
"Break free! Haxorus!" Leon screamed
Despite its exhaustion, it managed to entangle itself, backing away from Hancock. For the first time in its life, the rage dragon looked upon another being with fear, exhaustion dripping off its expression.
"Now crush it, with POWER!"
Kabu clenched his fist and punched the air. "The POWER of fire is POWER! The unbridled ferocity of flames, destroying everything in its path. The unrelenting force of nature that crushes all resistance! No matter how strong your opponent is, the POWER of fire barrels through all!"
Whilst spitting mad flames from her maw, Hancock leapt forward in a burst of speed, crashing into the Haxorus. In its exhaustion, it could barely resist before being toppled over on its back. The vulpine continued to claw and rend at the dragon's scales, all while spamming a torrent of Flamethrowers and Overheat at the lizard's face. She basically went on a rampage, channeling all the rage and fear she felt from months ago into this single moment. It was an Arceus damned slaughter. Thankfully, she stopped right at the point it fell unconscious, its head drooping to the ground motionless.
"Get fucked, Leon. I'll dismantle your dragons one by one."
"Raaaaargh!"
Hop Kennedy
It was like one of those epic tales he read, strolling up to the Macro Cosmos headquarters with both Team Yell and the Pearl Clan at his back. Marnie was at his side, giving him a small smile when she caught him looking, allowing him to feel confident even as they committed a coup. The crowd of onlookers parted in the middle as their crew of black and pink marched up to the building, ready for war. Two individuals stood in their path. The first was a big guy, wearing stupid shades and mused up blonde hair. The other was a skinny kid with a creepy mask on his face.
"Yo! Mustard sent us. I'm Gordie. You know my mom as Melony. That's Allister. Ready to overthrow a tyrant?"
It's a good thing the old man didn't do something asinine like not informing him about the help he sent. Hop was expecting them already, if not their appearance. "Cool. Let's fuck them up." The two trainers joined up by his sides, flanking him and Marnie. They continued to march down the streets before arriving at the tower, a symbol of capitalism looming over Wyndon.
"Ståpp right dere. Not vun step furder. Chairman Rose has entrusted us vit protecting de future. You vill not get past us and our keytars!" How could Hop not recognize that horrible accent? What were Hans, Sven and their crew doing here?
"Oh no. No, no, no. Fuck this. I'm done with you. I thought we were done with you." Patt yelled back. "Your arc is over! Fuck off! Fuck you! I wanna punch you! I wanna punch you so bad! I wanna punch you and…" He stopped in realization. "… and I can!"
To no one's surprise, Patt surged forward and gave a right hook to Sven's stupid face, sending him sprawling to the ground. The cry baby couldn't even take one hit and started to cry. "No fair! He's cheating again! Dey always get violent ven dey can't vin! Hans! Keytar Maestros! Attack dem and don't let up!"
Without Hop or Marnie's input, the scene devolved into a chaotic mess as two distinct musical groups unleashed their rage on each other. Some of them started kicking or pulling at each other's hair. A few started random Pokemon battles, often ending with Skuntanks facing off against Maracti. From the sound of it, a few had started to do jam offs to settle their differences in music once and for all. Marnie plopped her head on his shoulder and sighed. "How did I know this would happen? Just how?"
Gordie was as unbothered as a rock, laughing out loud at the chaotic scene in front of the tower. "I reckon I could keep this in check. You guys head on up without me. I'll make sure they play nice."
Not wanting anything to do with this, Hop and gang headed in the headquarters of Macro Cosmos without Team Yell and Gordie.
"Arceus, what happened to my epic battle?"
Victor Nash
A Garchomp came out next. Did Leon genuinely not have any variety? I knew he was sticking to dragon types, but Garchomp and Haxorus weren't that dissimilar in form or function. How about something that flies, like Flygon?
"Hancock, Will-o-Wisp!" That Garchomp might have been fast, but after our months of actual training in the mountains, she was faster. The purple flames washed over the dragon, causing it to groan in pain. "Spite! Spite! Spite! Spite! Spite!" Each 'spite!' from my mouth was accompanied by waves of ghastly energy which sapped the dragon's stamina.
"Stop letting that stupid bastard walk all over you! Earthq-"
"Okay. I'm withdrawing her." With a click, Hancock reformed into light that flowed into my pokeball. "Guess she's out."
"What…"
"You really thought I'd let you knock out my Pokemon again? I know that your small pp energy won't let you hold back, okay? Not gonna make the same mistake twice." I copied Opal for a second for extra aggravation. "Ohohohoho."
"Grrrr."
"Come on then, Sebastian."
The Rapidash appeared on the field with a clopping of its hooves. It whinied for the world, blasting out an "Eleganto!" for all the audience to hear. Then it took one look at its opponent and flinched. This was an entirely different ballgame from Raihan's Garchomp. Standing across from us was the same Garchomp that bodied my entire team before, including Sebastian who should have had leverage against it. But we couldn't take a step forward if we always dwelt in the past. So…
"Conquer your fear, Sebastian! Drown your opponent in darkness and pull it down with you! Force them to fight on your level! Do it in the most elegant way possible!" He needed to know that I was right here with him in fucking up Leon's team!
Piers sighed and leaned against the tree, deeply regretting coming out to a winter route with his barely there clothing. "You know that thing about not letting idiots drag you down to their level? That's just the darkness for you. There's nothing fair in the way we fight. If we can trip them up, blind them, choke them or what have you, we will. Leave your opponents drowning in the darkness, desperately clawing their way out of the swamp as you beat them down."
"VERY ELEGANTO!" Sebastian screamed. There was my prideful boy.
"Ignore them! Dragon Rush!" The monstrous landshark charged at us, dragon energy wafting off its form. The ground beneath it practically cratered with every step it took. It didn't matter. Raihan had helped us to prepare against the overwhelming force of a charging Garchomp. Sebastian concentrated and formed a small but dense psychic barrier at the Garchomp's foot. When it took another step forward in its mad rush, it tripped. The monster fell over like a stumbling drunkard, face first. My good horse took the opportunity to capitalize immediately, forming another psychic barrier on top of its prone form. The Garchomp struggled against it, desperately trying to get up. Yet, it couldn't leverage its brutal strength at all in that position.
Taking his sweet time, Sebastian ambled over to the prone shark. His eyes glowed with pink malice. "Eleganto." He didn't yell or scream. Still, I felt the fear and rage from the recesses of his mind, struggling to break free. It came out all at once as the unicorn glowed, unleashing a burst of Dazzling Gleam. The Garchomp was practically helpless with the barrier pushing down on it, getting a face full of Fairy type energy. Sebastian didn't let up, continuously pummeling the Garchomp.
"Dig, you idiot! Dig!" Leon yelled uselessly. Of course it knew how to Dig. It didn't because it couldn't! To even scrape at the ground, it'd have needed the room to move its arms! The fairy blasts to the face certainly didn't help either. Though it continued to struggle and wiggle on the ground, the unicorn eventually wore it down, blasting the dragon into submission. "Damnit! Every one of you is useless! How are we losing?!"
"There are no useless Pokemon, Leon, just useless trainers." The crowd had long lost their good cheer, watching the match in utter silence. Bloodsport or not, everyone was still stunned by the temper tantrum Leon was throwing from earlier before till now. The way he spoke to his Pokemon didn't just anger me, but them as well. "I might have made fun of dragon types, but they have their strengths too. In the right team, with the right tactics, they will shine. On someone like you; they're utterly wasted."
"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" He was practically having a mental breakdown. Good. Suffer in the same way you've made everyone else. "It'll work out. I have hundreds! I just need to find the correct one to slot back in my team. After I win this, I'll fix my team. I just need to-" His chest heaved. "-defeat this BRAAAAT!"
"Can you even see yourself right now? Is this really the same person who won the Championship Cup? They say a person's true self comes out in adversity, but I haven't even started yet. Save your screaming and insults for the second half. You can cry when I permit you to cry."
"Now nut up or shut up. Send your next Pokemon."
Current Team
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Last edited: Thursday at 3:42 AM
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 26
Hop Kennedy
As they stepped past the rampaging crowds of Team Yell and Team Keytar into the lobby of the tower, they were met by possibly every grunt who worked in the headquarters. They stood arrayed in a formation, wearing their ridiculous jackets and sunglasses. They were indoors! Why on earth were they wearing sunglasses? Hop shook away the ridiculous thoughts. It was time to battle. Only, he was stopped from stepping forward by Allister, holding up a sleeved arm.
"They're mine."
The lights flickered. A sofa was flung into the wall, startling everyone. One of the grunts wiped away a bead of sweat, before screaming incoherently suddenly. Another began to hit his own body. "Get it off! Get it off!" Hop looked back at Allister, only to find that he was gone. What in Arceus' name was going on? Marnie took a step closer to Hop, clinging to his sleeve with trembling fingers. Even the Pearl Clan ladies looked around warily. Then the lights shut off, plunging them into darkness.
One grunt screamed in terror. A fluttering blue flame formed behind their formation, casting a deep shadow of Allister's mask for all to gaze upon. Everyone turned to face it, even the grunts who were there to stop us. Hop felt a chill go up his spine. The shadow from his mask grew and grew, turning utterly monstrous. Then it happened. A menagerie of ghost Pokemon left the shadow, darting around the lobby. A Gengar cackled as it brushed the leg of one of the grunts. One Chandelure settled on the ceiling, bathing the scene in blue fire. Banette grabbed another grunt and hauled him into the air by the scruff of his neck. Hop realized the chill wasn't imagined when a Frolass settled at his side, giggling at the carnage. More than a hundred of these Pokemon spread out around the lobby, causing mayhem and chaos. All that was left was Allister's still form behind the grunts.
"Hyakki Yagyō (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons)." His creepy voice echoed through the place.
In their fear, the grunts ran towards us instead of facing against the parade of ghosts, but they might have forgotten we were enemies. One of the Pearl Clan leaders turned to the other aunts and grandmothers, nodding. "Well ladies? We might have trained to fight dragons instead of worms, but a good bit of practice will keep us in shape for that devil Giratina, yes?"
"Who knows? Maybe the devil will be scared by our showing!" Another auntie replied.
"Let's whip these whippersnappers into shape! Young people shouldn't be so easily frightened!"
"FOR THE CULT OF PINK!"
"Arceus damnit, Nancy." The leader grunted. "Whatever. Attack!"
An assortment of fairy types were let loose. It became hell for the grunts. The combined tricksy of the fairies and ghosts played utter havoc on their ranks. Everything was so overwhelming for them that not a single one even had the presence of mind to pull out their pokeballs. While Hop watched a Grimmsnarl spin around a grunt in the air, the leader of the Pearl Clan tapped him on the shoulder. "You can go on. I think we have this handled. There shouldn't be anyone else left to stop you."
Hop nodded and took off running towards the elevator. Marnie followed suit, leaving a parting shout at the crew. "Thanks for everything! We'll destroy them for you!"
Victor Nash
"If melee attacks won't cut it, have a taste of this!"
Ah, a Dragapult. I actually wanted one of these. These little dragons were really cute. When I was thinking up my team before the journey, I planned to get one. Unfortunately, reality crushed my dreams. Due to a certain asshole, the Dragapults and their line were basically corralled into a protected habitat. Rose somehow fiddled with the law to basically mean only Leon could have one. That just added another reason for me to crush them both utterly, especially now that it was too late for me to add a new Pokemon.
"Dragon Darts!" I could talk shit about Leon all day, but his Pokemon were genuinely powerful. The Dreepy it fired slammed towards Sebastian with awesome speed, with my unicorn dodging the attack at the last second. The hole in the ground was a testament to their power. Not only were they powerful and fast, the rate at which the Dragapult could fire them was nonsensical as well. It was basically a rocket launcher with a machine gun mod.
"Stall it out!" But we were equally quick. Sebastian began to perform Double Team, flashing around the field as Dreepies pierced through his after images. This back and forth continued for a few minutes, turning it into a fight of attrition. Just as the Dragapult paused to reload and Sebstian struggled for breath, I just held up my Pokeball and returned the horse. "Okay, withdrawing again. Told you I wouldn't make the same mistake against you. Seb's out."
"You-!" Leon raged.
I just wiggled my finger. "No, no. I told you, Cuckles. This isn't the time for it. You're only allowed to cry when I'm done. Leave the screaming for later. It's time for the revenge kill, Spartans. No Retreat! No stepping back!"
Without needing any further commands, they performed their signature buffing move before scattering around the battlefield. The Dragapult had re-gathered its Dreepy ammo, and was ready to fire upon my cute little kids once again. We had already suffered at the hands of Raihan and his 'Sniper'. Things wouldn't go that way again. Those months of training had changed things. "Spartans! Flow like water and part the waves! Don't get hit, you maggots!"
"MEEP!"
Nessa sat at my side, watching the waves softly smooth over the sandy beach, before receding under the night sky. Unlike her comical self, she just stared out into the sea with glimmering eyes. "I was raised with the sea, we all were. When Rose came in with his commercial projects, we just flowed around him like water. Can't open stores because he bought up everything? That's fine. We'll sell things on the streets. Outdoing us in the domestic markets? That's fine. We'll outsource to Alola instead. Water flows with the current, not against it. But don't underestimate its prowess. When we finally assault Wyndon, you'll crash on them like a raging tidal wave!"
A Dreepy shot out of Dragapult's missile silos. It swerved through the air at sonic speeds, threatening to hit Epsilon in the face. My cute kid just stepped to the side, helmet hair ruffling as the explosion went off behind it. Another missile went straight for Gamma, who kept bouncing on its feet before jumping right over the projectile. Alpha played a game of extreme dodgeball, stepping from side to side as a barrage of Dreepies hit everything around it. The Dragapult reloaded. Beta launched itself into the air and smashed down on the dragon with a Megahorn.
That caused the ghost dragon to flinch. They took the chance to close in, now that the continuous firing had ceased. Everyone got ready to pile on. I raised my arm.
Leon's eyes widened. "No! Dodge!"
"Don't let your opponent thaw out! Freeze them out! Give them nothing! But take from them, everything!"
"MEEP!"
We closed our eyes and shook from side to side, enjoying the gentle melody that Ado sang. Melony hummed along. "You know? Ice is just the opposite of water. It's solid, brittle and immobile, all things you don't want to be in a fight." Her hand gently pushed my face to meet hers. "That's why you do it to your enemies. Keep on them. Don't let up. They can't win if they can't move. Never let them thaw out. Freeze them in an eternal winter."
It was an absolute slaughter to behold. The Dragapult tried to break free, but kept flinching under the continuous attacks from the Spartans. A Megahorn here, a Smart Strike there, and when it finally found the room to fly up, it would get struck down by a Rock Slide to the face. Melony was right. Your opponent can't win if they can't even move. When I first found them, the Spartans were separate beings, torn apart by disunity. Now I watched as they worked as one unit, taking turns to strike down their foe. Teamwork truly makes the dream work.
I almost felt sorry, when the Dragapult dropped to the ground. The handful of Dreepies that lived in it came crawling out, crying in concern. I engraved that scene in my heart. Leon and Rose had kept the entire species from us, and forced me to attack one so brutally. My punishment for them would be cruel and unusual when I finally dethroned Leon.
He almost let out a roar of rage when he recalled the Dragapult, only to get stopped by me. "No, no. What did I say Cuckpion? You're the one who's losing here. Who said you could scream just yet? What're you going to do? Go home crying to mommy?" I let out a totally faked gasp. "Oh wait, you can't! You abandoned your family in your pursuit of fortune and fame. Now you've burned all your bridges! Your Ohana is my Ohana now, bitch. Oh yes, you were mad about this, right? Big sis Sonia is mine too! Digest that while you think of your next Pokemon, Count Cuckula."
"Y-you bastAAAAAAARD! I'll kill you! I'll kill your whole team! They're mine! The Championship is mine! MINE! MINE! MINE!" Whoops. He was really losing it now.
The crowd just watched on in stunned silence.
Hop Kennedy
"Not one step further!" The stern voice of OIeana stopped them in their tracks, right as they left the elevator on the top floor. The queen bitch herself barred entry into Rose's office. Though she glared at them, the bulging veins in her eyes told Hop everything he needed to know. She was getting desperate. With Victor possibly beating down Leon in the stadium, and intruders making it past all their defenses, she was practically fired already. It wasn't something crass like money that drove her over the edge. Her loyalty to Rose was simply that fanatical. Having to leave his service wasn't something she could imagine, Hop presumed. "You stupid children! You've ruined everything! Couldn't just know your place like the rats you are, could you?! I won't stand for it! Nothing can stand in the way of the Chairman!"
Disregarding the rules of battling entirely, Oleana let out her entire team at once. A Froslass, Tsareena, Salazzle, Milotic and Garbodor came out all at once, facing down the couple. Marnie just shrugged. "Well, if she isn't playing fair, then neither should we." Then sent out a Morpeko.
Hop released his Cramorant and shook out the jitters. "Think we can do this all at once?"
"Like we practiced." Marnie nodded back.
"What are you doing?!" Oleana reacted with shock when the Cramorant swallowed the Morpeko.
"Just our little-" Hop began.
"-combination attack!" Marnie finished.
"Cramorant! Hydro Pump into a Gulp Missile!" "Morpeko! Aura Wheel!"
Hop and Marnie crossed their arms and yelled. "Combination Attack: Electric Aura Missile!"
The bird shot out a beam of hyper pressurized water while spitting out the Morpeko in its mouth. While being pushed forward from the launch at the speeding water behind it, Morpeko curled up and started to spin in a ball of electricity and death. "Stop! No!" Oleana screamed as devastation wrecked her team. When the Morpeko crashed into the group of Pokemon, a deluge of electricity spread out and shocked them. The Hydro Pump came a split second later, not only knocking over the Pokemon, but amplifying the electric shocks they received.
Only a single combination move from their two Pokemon was needed to defeat Oleana's entire team at once. The woman dropped to her knees on the floor, wallowing in her shock and pity. "This can't be! I can't fail him! I can't! No!" So lost was she, that the once secretary of Chairman Rose began to tear her hair out. The couple simply moved past her, ready for the final confrontation with their enemy. Only, Marnie stopped for a bit. "Message from Bede-"
"Guess you're in the trash, where you belong."
Victor Nash
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! Go, Salamence!"
That's not a fucking Salamence! That's a freaking Roaring Moon! I guess I know which version of the timeline I was in, but how the hell did Rose get an ancient Salamence for Leon? Was Paldea going to hit us with any trespassing charges? Nope, don't think about future work now. Focus on whooping his ass in the present. First step-
"Come on back, Spartans."
"Stop withdrawing!" He raged. "Let me destroy them!"
"Nuh uh. You can't make me. They're out of the match now. Cry me a fucking river. Merry, it's your turn to shine!" I threw out the pokeball, releasing my dopey girl. I was super glad I went through the training with the Gym Leaders now. A Roaring Moon wasn't a joke to fight. It was basically one of the final bosses in Scarlet and Violet. I really wanted to call hax on Leon and Rose. Could they cheat any harder? This went far beyond getting Pokemon from outside the region.
"Your opponent is bullshit, so we gotta play this sleazy. Fuck them up with the tricksy of the fairy!"
"Bork!"
"Hohohoho!" Opal's eyes crinkled in happiness when she finally cornered me. How did she know I was avoiding her? I was desperately trying to avoid the fate of being wrangled into the position of Fairy Gym Leader. Only one of my Pokemon was even a Fairy type! "Bea told me about that girl of yours. She said it was sloppy but in a good way? That reminds me so much about Fairy types. Dragons are overwhelming creatures of death and destruction. How could a cute little fairy possibly counter any of that?" Opal slammed down her cane. "Only the tricksy of a fairy lets it fight dragons on equal grounds. Against an overwhelming opponent, you'll have to fight around it instead of against it."
"Flamethrower! Zen Headbutt! Dragon Rush! Throat Chop! Double Edge! Turn that stupid Zigzagoon into mincemeat!" Woah, what the fuck? He's turning full on delusional. Was he seeing Merry as she was before he left? Holy crap, how far did Rose gaslit the fool?
Due to the multiple conflicting orders it received, the Roaring Moon just did whatever it wanted, swooping in for a Dragon Rush at Merry. As if she couldn't sense the danger, Merry just stood there, eyes glazing over. At the last second before the time of impact, she suddenly did a limbo, causing the Salamence to pass right over her. That didn't go unpunished. As a call back to the past, my super girl hardened her fur into spikes using Pin Missile, before grabbing on to the Salamence as it flew overhead. The dragon roared in pain as the spikes dug into its scales, but that wasn't the end of it.
Merry seemed to be hungry, as she started to Lick away at the neck of the Salamence. It roared in pain and disgust, suddenly freezing up as a spark of electricity ran through it. The duo dropped to the ground, though Merry let go and landed in a roll just as they crashed down. The monster stood up, groaning in defiance even as the Paralysis kept it from making any agile moves. What was it met with? A face full of dirt. Merry began to unabashedly throw pocket Sand Attacks at the dragon's face, uncaring of how she looked.
"Attack! Attack! Attack!" Leon hopped on the spot.
"Yup. He's lost it." I turned back to the fight. "Merry! Time to end it! Bash its face in!"
"I bet you think I have something deep and meaningful to say about fighting. Maybe I'll talk about elegance and poetry in motion, each move connecting to the other like a choreographed dance. Nessa was certainly fluent enough to make up for her unattractiveness." Bea's humming vibrated my chest. I have no idea why she was giving me her speech while we were going to sleep. "Fighting is fighting. Simple is best. Everyone's been fighting since the dawn of time. Just find the easiest way to bash their skulls in. Forms and Martial Arts are just supplementary. The main point is to fight."
"VICTOOOOOR! Your ass is grass!" Holy shit, he chose death.
Merry paused in her sand throwing, her pupils dilating. "WROOOOOOOOOO!" She howled angrily, before lighting up her hands in a conflagration of ice, fire and lightning. The Obstagoon charged at the Salamence, throwing a Fire Punch at its jaw. The lizard was knocked over, but she didn't stop, slamming down on its stomach with a Thunder Punch. Oof. Another Ice Punch to the face. Merry was single minded in her fury, raining a barrage of elemental punches that she continuously cycled through on the Roaring Moon. I don't know what I was worried about. Leon triggered her for me and signed his death warrant.
Oh shit, she was gonna kill the dragon by accident. "Merry! Hugs!" She stopped her attacks and became a different Pokemon entirely, running back to me in a flying embrace. With my arm around her back, I tapped her with the Pokeball. "You know the drill, emoticuck. Withdraw Two, Electric Boogaloo."
"VI-"
"VICTOOOR!" I interrupted. "See? That's what you look like. Can you stop shouting and battle me properly? Try this thing called grace sometimes. Can't have our ex-champion look like a deranged hobo."
"VICTOOOOR!"
I sighed.
Hop Kennedy
Their arrival in his office was met with applause. "Well done, kiddos. You got through my Keytarists, employees and even Oleana. How does it feel to ride Mustard's dick this hard?"
"Do you actually have anything intelligent to say?" Hop frowned. "Or can we just get to beating you down?"
"As if a blackmailer's allowed to speak. What's he gonna do? Threaten to cut off our water supply?" Marnie added on.
"Ah, kids." Rose adjusted his tie and smiled. "So naive. I could share that wonderful speech Bede made before he ruined it near the end. He's right, you know? My hard work belongs to me and me alone. Why should I pay an inept government with my money? Without me, there would be no Galar. Do you know how much of a game changer unlimited energy is? And what do I get? Rebellious teenagers." He shrugged and shook his head, letting out an affected sigh. "But my words are wasted on you. All trainers know is battle. How could you possibly understand the complex socio-economics of our region? No, I'll have to speak your language."
He pushed down on a button. From the table, a handful of lights flashed, forming into an army of Tinkatons in front of the Chairman. "Money is power. With money, I can buy all the power I want. Simple enough for you to understand?"
"Wait, that's illegal." Marnie pointed out.
Rose waggled a finger and tutted. "Silly girl. Nothing is illegal if you have enough money. Rules only apply to jarheads like you."
"But the Corvniknights are our main form of transport! If a Tinkaton gets loose, our whole region would be in peril!" Hop reasoned. "That includes the economy you depend on!"
"I don't care." He leaned back against the table, watching them in complete relaxation. "I am the economy! I decide what's best for it. Kids like yourself have no room on the adult's table. Now, go on, play nice." Rose shooed them with his hand.
"Guess there's no other choice, Marnie." Hop side glanced at her.
Marnie shook her head, covering her forehead with her hand. "Do we really have to?"
"Just like Victor told us."
Marnie and Hop held up their hands, armbands gleaming, except it was no longer shining red, but was replaced by the rainbow glow of a gem. "Ready!" They yelled.
The Pokemon on their belts naturally left on their own, revealing a Tyranitar and Aggron. Hop concentrated on his bond with his Pokemon, remembering their training together and the moments they shared. He felt the warmth in his chest travel down to his arm, lightning up the gem in a brilliant rainbow glow. Marnie did the same.
"With the power of love!" Hop thrust his hand into the sky.
"With the power of friendship!" Marnie crossed her arms.
"Aggron!" "Tyranitar!"
Rose widened his eyes in sudden realization. "Wait, that's illegal."
"MEGA EVOLUTION!" The couple cried in synchronization.
Cocoons formed over their gigantic Pokemon, cradling them in an egg of friendship and love, before cracking into pieces, revealing two juggernauts of power. Aggron and Tyranitar roared in challenge, intimidating any who would attack their trainers. The horde of Tinkatons backed off warily at the new threat. Their loyalty was bought with food and treats. It wasn't as firm as the bond between a trainer and their Pokemon.
"Heavy Slam!" "Stone Edge!"
The monsters charged into battle. Though Tinkatons were no joke to fight, the combined power of love and friendship decimated the horde with ease. Hop's Aggron stomped through the battlefield, flinging aside any who stepped in its way like an unbreakable bulwark. Marnie's Tyranitar crushed everything with brute force, almost destroying the floor they stood on each time a Tinkaton was sent flying. When the dust settled, all that was left were a bunch of unconscious Tinkatons, with a few having fled to the sides.
Rose stood up in panic, his eyeballs almost rolling out of their sockets.
"Fuck."
Victor Nash
"-OOOOOOR!"
I was really getting sick of the screaming, so I decided to tune most of it out. It was almost sad, at this point. We were both four Pokemon down. It came down to the wire with our last two Pokemon. Was I concerned at all? Not really. I only withdrew my Pokemon earlier because I felt it'd be safe to do so. Didn't really want to go down the route of battling till knockout. Leon has no freaking chill when battling. One battle was enough to tell me that, not to mention him going full psycho over there. I genuinely didn't know where the assertions about me stealing Sonia came from. She's just my sis, one that I loved, but like family and all. I just ran with it cause it's funny and emotional damage is a perfectly valid strategy.
The silent crowd was kind of jarring though.
"Raul, come on out. You've done this once and you can easily do it again." This was my pick after Leon threw out Duraladon. When I say threw, I mean he practically pitched the pokeball like he wanted to hit me with it. Thank Arceus he's piss at judging distance. I actually felt kind of sorry for the Duraladon for once. It didn't look very happy to be out, almost scared. We did mow down all his other dragon buddies without losing a single teammate, even if they were out on a technical basis. I decided to make this quick.
"The hype train never stops! Keep going like a dragon would, Raul!" My little sheep boy was more dragon than most of Leon's team anyway.
"Baa!"
"Ayo, lil bro!" Raihan slapped my back before sitting down, his arm around my shoulder. "Don't got much to say about dragons. They're real simple. You'd think they're just crazy monsters who want to destroy everything and such. But most of them are just pent up like hell. They got all that energy running through them, comes with being powerful and such. It just translates into being Pokemon wrecking balls a lot of the time. Let's them vent at something, ya know? That's why I'm always about never keeping still, keeping the hype train going. Gotta keep pace with my fam, ya dig?"
Raul knew more about energy than the rest of the team or even I did. He started with the classic Cotton Guard, to build up his mass. Then he Hardened all that fluff for additional stopping power. Raul started to spin in place after that to build up kinetic and/or potential energy, I wasn't sure as to which. When that started to reach its zenith, I decided to indulge myself.
"KAME-"
He sped up.
"… I can't lose like this."
"-HAME-"
Raul was getting ready for lift off.
"Iron Defense!" Leon desperately called out. He knew it wouldn't work. I knew it wouldn't work. The same move took out Raihan's Duraladon while it was Dynamaxed.
"-HA!" As Raul took off with a Gyro Ball, I thrust my hands out, copying one of the oldest chads in manga. He sped off like a speeding bullet through the air, fighting against friction so badly that blue flames started to form on him. The terrified dragon just put its arms up to cover its face. With a thunk, Raul slammed into the Duraladon, sending it flying so far that it crashed with a thud behind Leon.
"Are you withdrawing this time as well?"
I snapped my head up to stare at him, snapping out of my Dragonball themed daydream. He seemed almost resigned at this point. Had he given up? Or did he get a second wind?
"Nah. I'll use my switch. Don't tell anyone I was bullying you."
That was the point where he started to grin nastily at me. "Good."
What?
Current Team
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 27
Hop Kennedy
"Congratulations!" Rose applauded them uproariously. It was a lot less sarcastic than before, almost desperate. "You've dismantled every defensive measure I set-up in this building. Truly, they deserve every cent I've spent on them. Two teenagers, swept away in a whirlwind romance, managed to sweep through my headquarters like a storm. How poetic."
"Sarcasm doesn't fit the man you pretend to be." Marnie sniffed. "Let's get this over with."
"Ah, yes." Rose smiled, taking out a pokeball and casually threw it up and down in his palm. "There comes a time where every hero has to face down the 'boss' of an organization. I suppose now would be such a time? If you're truly set on this course, I could indulge your need for battle. I think you'll find that I'm not the simple Chairman I make myself out to be. Money buys power. At my disposal, I've amassed a vast array of strong Steel types from all over the world. You'll not find this easy, perhaps even less than Leon."
Hop looked at Marnie, who gave him a look of complete befuddlement. He agreed with her silent question. Did Rose think he had any right to ask for a battle? Shaking his head to clear the confusion out, Hop leapt forward and punched the Chairman straight in the gut. While he couldn't compare with freaks like Bea and Victor, Hop had been dragged through a few of the exercise regimes they did. Taking down an overweight executive with a punch didn't present much difficulty.
Rose hacked and coughed up some blood, before dropping to the ground, his eyes awash with bewilderment. "… but battle? Why aren't we battling?"
Hop crouched down and pulled Rose's head up by the fringe, glaring at his eyes. "Did you think settling disputes with Pokemon battles was just a matter of law? It's our culture!" The teen thumped his chest angrily. "You infringed on that by beating yourself up and framing Victor for it."
Marnie stalked over imperiously and kicked her heel into the man's shoulder, pinning him against the back of his table. "The moment you did that, you lost the same protection our rules gave you. Why do you think that culture even exists? It's for our protection! In a world where any teenager can run around with a fire breathing dragon, people would fear for their lives on a daily basis! Everyone agreed to settle things through battling for a reason! Giovanni tucked tail and ran instead of beating on the literal child who won because even he respected the culture of our world! Everyone, from the youngest trainer to the most evil syndicate leader, respects this rule for a reason!"
"Except you, it seems." Hop shook the head in his hands around a bit. "Look at you, so blinded by your wealth and influence that you've forgotten what you are; just a normal human being who has to follow the same rules everyone else does. Now you've gone and broken them in your hubris. It means I can do this." The teen reared back and performed a roundhouse kick on Rose, sending him tumbling to the ground.
"Or this." Marnie leapt into the air, performing an elbow drop on his back.
"Fuck you!" Hop kicked his side.
Marnie followed suit. "For my friends!" Kick. "My town!" Kick. "My brother!" Kick.
"-p… puhreasee….stajp."
"Didn't stop when you stole people's lives, did you?" Hop backhanded the man. "Fucking hyper capitalist trash!" He grabbed Rose by the lapel and punched him in the face. "Make my mother cry, will you?" Hop's fist was dyed crimson. "Fuck around and find out with Victor, did you?" Rose was thrown to the floor.
"Shorreee. Em shoreee."
Marnie cracked her knuckles and neck. "We're done, when I say we're done."
"That's hot." Hop winked at her.
"Stoooop! We're in the middle of something. Flirt later." Despite the blood that covered them, Marnie still looked like a shy schoolgirl as she demurred.
"You have a point. Let's go vent our frustrations."
"Whait, preese! Noooooo!"
Five minutes later, the couple sat on the ground, exhausted from the thorough beatdown they gave the Chairman. "Oh my Arceus. It's like a weight lifted off my shoulders." Hop groaned in relief.
"I know right? Can't believe the idiot opened himself to a beating like that. If he was going to frame us for assault, we might as well just do it." She paused in worry. "Did we go too far? I think we'll get in trouble if he gets crippled."
"Don't worry about it. That's why I borrowed this." He let out a Chansey. "Hey girl, go make sure he's not too banged up, okay?" The Chansey saluted and set out to do her job, which mostly consisted of shoveling boiled eggs down the chairman's mouth while spamming healing pulse with her hand.
"I'm not normally this violent!" Marnie suddenly burst out. "Just thought you should know!"
"Yeah, I know?" Hop cocked his head to the side. "What's this about?"
"Just didn't want you to think I was that kind of girl. Victor and Bea just beat on each other so much that…" His girlfriend poked her fingers together.
"Oh that? It's a one time thing! I get it! Too bad Victor wasn't here. He would have enjoyed this."
"He would have popped that idiot's head like a berry."
Hop cringed. "Ugh. Yeah. I see your point. Wonder how his match is going?"
Leon Kennedy
That little bastard thought he'd cornered him, the Champion of Galar. Unfortunately for the ponce, he allowed sentimentality to get in his way. Leon crushed all his opponents so thoroughly for a reason. Being a Champion is a full time job, sometimes 24/7. He couldn't just keep accepting random challenges from fucking nobodies. That's why he planted a seed of fear in each person he defeated. Suddenly, all those random requests dropped to zero. Never did he think that his modus operandi would bloom in such a spectacular fashion. His opponent was withdrawing his Pokemon for fear of what Leon would do.
What an idiot!
Best of all, he was switching out his Wooloo instead of withdrawing it. That was the one Pokemon Leon wanted to sicc his star Charizard on. Every trainer had a Pokemon they considered their strongest. It was usually their first one. For Victor, it must have been that Wooloo. After he got rid of whatever it was the idiot sent out next with the power of his Gigantamaxed Charizard, he would utterly crush whatever hope the fool had and send him packing. The Championship was his! Sonia was his! Nobody, not even the Chairman, could stand in the way of that!
"Ravage him, Charizard!"
"Time to shine on the world stage, Ado!"
A Lapras? This wouldn't be the first time someone brought out a Pokemon like that to counter his Charizard. It never worked. His Pokemon knew Solar Beam for a reason. "Crush him with your Gigantamax form!" Leon returned his Pokemon to the ball and tapped his wrist, allowing the Dynamax energy to wash over his Pokeball. With style, he turned around and casually tossed the giant pokeball in a layup, releasing the mascot of their region.
Victor had significantly less class, opting to just toss the giant Pokeball behind him. Leon frowned. The Lapras had a Gigantamax form too? Whatever, it barely mattered. Melony had one too and she was weak. He would thoroughly destroy Victor for a second time. That would make his Championship title stay secure for ages, with everyone watching their gore fest live. With the added fame, he could even subvert Rose and take Galar for himself. Once he's done that, nobody could say no to him. Nobody.
"Did you enjoy your hope?" Despite the towering Pokemon behind them, Victor still found the cheek to grin with his arms clasped together. "Were your delusions beautiful? I hope you had a good time. You're about to have a really bad one."
Leon scowled.
"Your next words are 'What the hell are you talking about, you little shit".
"What the hell are you talking about, you little shit."
"You bastard!"
"You bastard!"
"VICTOOOOR!"
"VICTOOOOOOOOR!"
"Aw, dang it. You had to ruin it. I thought you'd be a lot more winded by now. Guess I can't go around copying anime characters if I don't have their abilities." Was he high? That was the only explanation. "You thought I withdrew all my Pokemon because I was scared right? Did you think I wouldn't practice this battle a million times with every Gym Leader of Galar and Mustard at my disposal? I did. I knew I could withdraw them because I also knew how this battle would go. Was it necessary? Nope. I just wanted to give you hope." Victor pointed at him, with that irritating grin still on his face. "So did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy your hope?"
"What is this…? Do you think this is a game?"
"Game? No." Victor shook his head. "Thank Arcues it's not a game. I'm grateful each and every day that it's not a game. Instead, I'd like to think of it as a stage, the biggest one in the world."
He was just spewing nonsense again, so Leon decided to ignore him for now. His victory would only be sealed by pushing things so hard that the boy quit battling altogether. Leon didn't bother to hold in the smirk, holding up the band that Rose gifted him. The glowing gem embedded in it glinted rainbow when the sun rays hit it.
"Come on… that's cheating!" The brat whined.
This wouldn't be easy. He had barely managed it the last time. The Champion searched deep within, focusing on his bond with Charizard. The Mega Evolution process was powered entirely by a Trainer's energy, but the catalyst to it was their affinity with their Pokemon. Charizard was the Pokemon that had been by his side the longest, so this should be workable.
Except…
The Yamper stood strong, bracing itself against the relentless flames that Kabu's Centiskorch spewed from its mandibles. Its fur was scorched, but even then, it continued to growl menacingly, shielding its trainer from their foes.
Sonia was covered in dirt as she trudged back from the forest. He asked her what she was doing in there. She gave him the most beautiful smile he had seen and winked, telling him that it was a secret. In hindsight, the conspicuous lump in her backpack should have given her away, but he was too enamored to notice at the time.
The connection snapped. Why…
"You really wanna use the power of friendship against me? I'll ask you again; was your hope beautiful? Did you enjoy it? Now it's my turn to show you something beautiful." The boy raised his arms to the sky like a messianic figure. "It's your time to shine now, Ado! I kept my promise! This is the biggest stage in the world! Show them who the greatest idol in the world is! Perform your heart out! Everyone's watching!" The ponce continued to smirk, even as he pointed a thumbs down at Leon. "Perish Song, Tot Musica."
Whatever. His prized Charizard was more than enough to crush any challenger he faced, even the brat. Wait, what did he say?
Tot Musica
English Ver
View: https/youtu.be/Q-JIVwhf2_4?si=XNp6H6zoRICVExRE
Japanese Ver
View: https/youtu.be/V9_ZpqfqHFI?si=sJuzjld5iOJvkMF3
ᚷᚨᚺ ᛉᚨᚾ ᛏᚨᚲ ᚷᚨᚺ ᛉᚨᚾ ᛏᚨᛏ ᛏᚨᛏ ᛒᚱᚨᚲ
ᚷᚨᚺ ᛉᚨᚾ ᛏᚨᚲ ᚷᚨᚺ ᛉᚨᚾ ᛏᚨᛏ ᛏᚨᛏ ᛒᚱᚨᚲ
This was not good.
Wandering heart, clouds above
Rain begins to fall down My bitter tears flowing out, they never dry up
I let the words of a curse be my deliverance
"Charizard! Max Overgrowth! Now!"
"It's too late!" Victor started to cackle maniacally. "I've been planning for just this moment for the past few months! You're fucked! Protect!"
The Lapras continued to sing, the musical notes around its giant body pulsating and delivering the dark, gloomy accompaniment to her death bringing song. Yet, even with all that exertion, it found the bandwidth to pull up a Protect barrier. Despite Charizard's valiant efforts, the Grass type energy Max attack did nothing but bounce off the translucent shield.
ᛗᛁᛖ ᚾᛖᚷ ᛟᚾ ᚷᛁᛖᚲ ᚷᛁᛖᚲ
ᚾᚨᚺ ᛈᚺᚨᛋ ᛏᛖᛉᛉᛖ ᛚᚨᚺ These ancient words like a hymn of reclamation
Not even death will escape them
No, no, no, no, no! Even if the Lapras fainted from the song as well, Victor still had that stupid Wooloo! Why was Leon so happy about the switch!? He was about to lose on a technicality!
How to center these troubled thoughts? I pray
Can the future bring calm to the sea? I beg
"Break through that barrier now! G-Max WILDFIRE!"
The relentless spew of flames from his Pokemon did nothing to budge the Lapras one bit. It continued to sing. Each note hammered against his heart, as if it were sapping him of all vitality. Even as Charizard was beginning to slow despite the the Dynamax energy running through it. What kind of ritualistic goth bullshit was this?! Was he trying to summon the demon king?
It's time for salvation to finally come
I feel this rage, and I'm feelin' it strong This weeping and wailing has gone far too long
Nothing left but to yеll! Yeah! Yeah!
"WILDFIRE! WILDFIRE! WILDFIRE!"
His desperation spread to Charizard as well, both of them desperately hoping for the barrier to fall. Leon's heart beat erratically in his chest. The sweat that dribbled down his temple was cold. His hands were clammy. The breakfast he ate threatened to hurl. When had he felt this much fear in his whole life? Was it against Kabu? Or the time he lost against Mustard? This wasn't supposed to happen anymore! He did what he needed to get to the top! Against all odds, he had become the Champion! Nobody else! It was just him! Leon! Was he about to lose it all to a fucking nobody child playing a song during the Championship Cup? He couldn't go down like this! Fuck that! No!
"WILDFIIIIIIIRE!"
I know you feel it too so keep on singin' this song
Even whеn they abuse us, we'll keep singin' along We'll start another big bang when we all sing as one
United, we're fightin', bring 'em down with our song of ruin
The song ceased. His Charizard collapsed in a heap. The Lapras somehow found the energy to croon happily one last time, before dropping down too. Leon collapsed to his knees. How could it end like this? He had done so much, thrown away even more, and he couldn't even keep his title. What was the point of it all? Sonia? When did she get so far? Hop? Why did his own brother punch him?… Mom?
Seemingly unsatisfied with just winning, Victor crossed the field with a shit eating grin on his face after returning his Lapras, stopping right over Leon's knelt form. Without a word, he lifted the former Champion with a single arm, splaying him across the knee. With a single tug, Victor pulled down both Leon's pants and underwear. What the fuck was he doing? The man's eyes widened. Wait, no. Victor raised an arm. "Yeeeeeeees."
"This one's for your mother!"
SMACK
Victor Nash
I could barely see through all the flashing lights in front of me. The crowd was screaming away incoherent gibberish, shoving their microphones in my face. The only thing between me and them was a flimsy wooden table, equipped with its own set of microphones. What was with the double microphones then? I'll never understand news agencies, in this world or the previous one. Sonia smacked a palm into the table. "Would all of you shut up! How do you expect Victor to answer your questions if you're all screaming at him like this?!"
Go, Big Sis. Love ya. The crowd settled down and politely raised their arms, waiting to be called. I genuinely didn't watch the news much here, so I just pointed at a guy who's logo looked cool. "PokeSong! What was that song your Lapras sang during the fight against Leon? Do you plan to sell the record in the future?"
Starting with something easy? Nice, I could roll with that. "The song that Ado sang was called Tot Musica. I'm sure you're all familiar with her. The music video with her singing was spread all over the internet before this. We made a promise that I'll get her to a world stage to perform as the greatest idol alive, so that's what we did. As for selling the record… that depends on what happens after this." The dude sat down, satisfied with my answer. I pointed at another.
She shot up excitedly. "PokeHerald! What do you plan to do with Leon and Rose now that their crimes have come to light with the efforts of Marnie Spike and Hop Kennedy?"
"Oh, that's easy." I winked and pointed a finger gun at her. "Leon's gonna eat all the Wooloo shit we produce in our farms for the rest of his life. That would match all the shit he spews from his mouth."
"Victor!" Sonia slapped my head. "Be serious!" She hissed.
"Alright, geez. Owie." I playfully held my head in mock pain. "Leon will be forced to forfeit every Pokemon Rose gifted him. He will be restricted to the only Pokemon he owns naturally; the Charizard. As for the hundreds of Dragon Pokemon in his stable, they'll be given out to suitable owners or be auctioned off, with the proceeds going to charity or the Foundation. As for the man himself, he'll be consigned to work at his mother's farm for the rest of his life. He will be barred from any Pokemon battles, including the privileges they bring. Nobody here trust him with those anymore, correct?"
The crowd nodded. My buddies really found the motherlode in Rose's office. Every wrongful transaction or illegal dealing that screwed with Galar came to light. Nobody, not even the bribed League officials, cared about the fates of Leon and Rose. I could have them be exiled and no one would even bat an eye. It was worse than we thought. I'll just leave it at that. "Alright, next."
"PNN! What about Rose and Macro Cosmos?"
"Good question!" I snapped my fingers. Hey, I was kinda good at this PR thing. "Rose will be stripped of all his assets. Those will be held in trust by the League until we can suitably auction that off with a cap imposed. It'll be better if the company ownership is spread out amongst multiple individuals rather than one person holding on to our source of unlimited energy. That was a recipe for disaster. He's also gonna work on that farm with Leon. They can torture each other. He even gets to enjoy poverty! As for the company leadership…"
I turned and smiled at Sonia, who gave me wide panicked eyes. "I think I'll hand that to the smartest person I know. She can deal with the rest."
"Victor…" She hissed.
"Sonia!" I formed a heart shape and pulsated it, grinning like a loon.
"I'm gonn-"
"Next!" I cut her off.
"PNS! Wasn't your actions of hitting Leon on live TV too unbecoming of a Champion? You know that our culture and laws forbids violence! What do you have to say for yourself?" Oh. There it was. I felt my good mood drop into the toilet. A dark feeling spread from my chest, crowding my brain with a cacophony of screams.
I stood up and smashed my fist against the table, breaking it in two. "Cause fuck you! I'm the Champion."
The plucky little thing rallied herself despite my violent display, retaliating at me with vitriol. "That's not an answer!"
She didn't fucking know what vitriol felt like. I'd been keeping this in my heart for the longest time. I thought I was born into a Utopia. In a way, I was. This world had all the trappings of one, but as usual, the same suspects ruined it over and over again. Humans, always the source of the god damned problems.
"That was an answer for you!" I practically spat venom, pointing at her in accusation. "And you!' I pointed another reporter. "And you! All of you!" My breaths were heavy and rapid. Bea's breathing exercises did shit for me as my chest heaved and pushed. "Where the hell was this bullshit question and answering when Rose was running his criminal empire? You all let Leon run roughshod over everything! It took a fucking teenager- ME!" I slapped my chest with both hands, my eyes bulging. "-to deal with your problems! Whether it be because you were all blind, or through wilful ignorance, all of you ignored the problems that stared at you right in the face!"
"Victor…" Sonia's worried voice came from behind me.
That didn't stop my rant. "How do we live in a world where there's unlimited energy and food, yet people go hungry? We have Pokemon that can build a house in a matter of days, but the Hulbury citizens have to fight for every inch of land! There's a world out there that's plagued with famine, poverty, racism, sexism, and war! They don't have what we have! We can be better! Why aren't we better?!" I pleaded.
Sonia pulled my head into the crook of her neck, using her hand to wipe away the tears I didn't even know had leaked out. "We're with you in this Victor. Every step of the way."
"Just to be clear, all of us support our lil bro here." Raihan stepped out and grinned.
Kabu pumped his fist. "Such POWER! Such COURAGE! Such COMPASSION! You have my support!"
"And ours." Milo and Nessa smiled.
"Better than any of you idiots." Opal cackled.
"Oh dear. Of course I support him." Melony nodded.
"Duh?" Piers barely looked up from the wall he was leaning against.
"I support you." Bea clenched her fist and walked up to me, standing between me and the reporters. "For a brighter world and better Galar, with you as our Champion."
Sis pushed me up and smiled, her own eyes watery like mine. "So don't hold it in anymore. We'll fight with you, always." She took my hand and raised it up. "Your new Champion!"
The crowd and reporters were silent.
Then they cheered.
Phew.
One Year Later
Okay, let's see. People weren't struggling to find homes anymore. The poor orphans were either cared for by the Foundation or adopted by infertile couples. Most of my Alolan buddies stopped being shills and found actual jobs, except the few that really enjoyed it that much. Team Yell had a few gigs here and there, enough to support their low maintenance lifestyle. The Gym Leaders were in order, even the replacements for those that stepped down. Leon and Rose were still suffering. No Eternatus came down to smite us yet. Macro Cosmos was running smoothly after Sonia found a suitable replacement to foist it off on. She still got mad whenever I reminded her of her short leadership. Bea and I were still going strong.
I slammed my head on the desk.
Then why was I feeling so freaking miserable? My eyes peered up, finding the stacks and mountains of papers on my desk. Oh, right. Being a Champion fucking sucks. Don't get me wrong. I took full advantage of basically unlimited power and support from the Gym Leaders to make things right. Every major issue my old world experienced was eliminated to such an extent I'd have to go out of my way to find someone suffering from them. Basic institutional issues like poverty and hunger weren't really a thing anymore, like a true Utopia. Racism and sexism didn't really happen to begin with. War? That's what Pokemon battling was for. Pokemon abuse? Yeah, no. That shit didn't fly. I specially funded a police task force to look out for that. I joined in on a few hunts too. There's nothing more screwed up than abusing your own Pokemon.
Didn't I already achieve everything I set out to do? Leon ate shit. Rose ate shit. I fixed my Utopia into a real one. Why was My Pokemon Retirement More Miserable than I Expected?! Oh, that's simple. I should be retired, not working. Why wasn't I just sipping Pina Coladas on the beach instead? I was rich. Why did I need to work? I'm an absolute moron. Fuck admin work. There was no precedent for this, but who cares? Fuck you, I'm the Champion.
I slammed my desk and stomped out of the door.
"I quit!"
Current Team
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Last edited: Yesterday at 4:00 AM
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Omake: The Real Chosen One
RikuKage said:
Oh thank God. I was just about to ask if there was an epilogue. Can't wait to see what you have cooking.
Click to expand…
Click to shrink…
ok
Typings; a label that the humans had placed on Pokemon to better understand them. Typings; the most accurate way to know the type of aura a Pokemon possesses. Typings; a woefully inadequate method to understand his August self.
Poison? An underestimation. He was the second born of the endless void, where time and space had yet to come into existence. Up wasn't up. Down wasn't down. There was no side to side. If the first born was the creator of worlds, he was their corruption.
Dragon? The humans labeled him as such because they thought of dragon types as the strongest. It was only right that they placed him as such when the creator was merely Normal. Yet, it still remained a woefully inadequate method to understand the Grandness of his existence.
He was Etarnatus! The void trembled in his presence! All of the first born's creations quaked at the mere sight of him! Master Hand was merely a phantom he had sent to conquer! Everything lives, and everything dies. He was made to be that very end! If it were not for those blasted dogs, his duty would have been fulfilled!
An opportunity had come once more. That fool first born had torn a hole between existence and the void to retrieve a lost soul. What an utterly bizarre move on his part, to have risked all of his creation on a fading remnant. Today, it would all come to an end.
His Majestic head peaked out of the tear, finding himself in some strange foggy forest. "Ah, you were right, Sonia, the beast really came!" Etarnatus snapped his head over at the sound and found two women, one blonde and the other orange, chatting casually despite his presence. This would not do! All should tremble at his might! He let out a heart rending roar!
"Of course I was right!" The orange one continued, undeterred by his fury. "Come on out guys!" nine beams of light flashed. Behind the pair, six Pokemon formed up. A slug like Pokemon, Gastrodon, cooed angrily. Overhead, Braviary cawed mightily. Following shortly behind, the Togekiss thrilled with joy. A snake like Milotic curled around them protectively, its sheer bulk shielding them from attacks. Lucario smashed its fist against its palm, snarling with rage. Worst of all, the Garchomp glanced towards the sky and roared. The reverberations made their way into his heart.
In front of them, three different hounds came bolting out. Despite the weakness of its species, the Boltund prowled about like it owned the place. Flanking it were those two blasted dogs again! He would never forget their Shwert and Schild!
"So, you think he'll pick a fight?" The orange one casually twirled a bang of her hair in her hand.
"If he does, we'll find out why Arceus called you the chosen one." The blonde smirked cruelly. "And I'll get some fun out of the day yet."
"Oh no. Not this again. Cynthia, I know that face. That's your sex after fighting face." The orange one playfully took a step back.
The blonde was unperturbed. She swept the orange one into her hands, dipping her low. "Can you blame me? A legendary pokemon? A sexy woman? Who could resist? Besides, you look beautiful tonight."
What an utter disrespect to his August self; to banter so casually in his presence. He should strike them and their entire team down! They would learn to quiver under his might! The dogs should pay for thwarting him the last time! All of existence would end!
… tomorrow. He retracted his head from the opening and backed away into the void. Before his eyes, the hole into existence closed up. Fuck that. He knew when he was beat.
Everytime I read, hear or write "chosen one" I get reminded of this scene. No link whatsoever but it lives rent free in my head and I don't like suffering alone.
View: https//watch?v=ZauxwpaEYwk
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
Chapter 28 Epilogue
Gym Leader Milo
"You're not unattractive!" At her skeptical look, he waved his arms in the air desperately, trying to emphasize his point. "Really! I'm not lying!"
Despite his good nature, Milo couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance at Victor. Their former Champion was many things. Good was one of them. Despite his short one year tenure, he'd changed their region for the better in that time, setting the foundation for things to come. Although Turffield was far less affected by Rose and Leon, they still benefited from the changes. More people with money meant more berries being sold, especially the organic kind. Heck, if all he did was defeat Leon and quit, Milo would have still saluted him. That he stayed on and fixed everything before stepping down showed a level of maturity he wished he saw in most people.
Now if only he could hold back the worst of Bea's eccentricities….
Nessa shook him around, despite his large frame. That spoke to the level of strength she'd picked up in the past five years. Bea had really put her through the wringer in a bid to make the swimmer 'attractive'. Unfortunately, all of the muscle gain was entirely lean and hidden behind a thin layer of fat, which meant that Nessa hadn't changed her appearance at all. After all those years of 'gaslighting' from Bea, Nessa had a strange self-image of herself.
Milo picked her up with ease, looking into her eyes. "Nessa, I've always been attracted to you. Call me crazy, but you're the most good looking gal in the entire region to me. Bea and Victor just have shit taste, okay?"
She looked away shyly. "You really think so?"
"Victor still thinks the Alola weirdos in your town are fun to hang out with." He replied with a deadpan.
"Oh yeah! Thanks! That makes me feel better!"
"Now come here." He dipped his head down to steal a kiss.
Gym Leader Kabu
"Mister Kabu! Can I become the Champion when I grow up?" A little girl asked.
Kabu laughed and carried her in her arms. "All of you have the potential and POWER to do whatever you want. As long as you keep it in your hearts and never lose your way, you'll one day defeat me, and maybe even our Champion as well!"
"How do you train power?" Another kid tucked his shorts.
"By pushing yourself to the limit and bringing out your POWER! One hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats and running twenty kilometers every day! That is the training regimen our former Champion gave me to bring out the POWER!" Some of the parents pulled their kids back, almost as if they didn't want them to hear about his glorious training. "I bring my Fire Pokemon into the mine, pitting them against their weakness of Water. That brings out all the POWER in them too!"
The kid continued asking with wide eyes. "Do you really believe it?"
"Everyone." He looked around solemnly. "As long as you try your best, you'll get somewhere in life." Kabu raised the girl in his arms into the sky. "Now everyone, roar in defiance with all the strength in your heart. POWER!"
"POWER!" The kids cutely yelled in tandem.
Another parent dragged their kid away.
Gym Leader Allister
Why'd he say yes? What was wrong with him? Was he high? Being a Gym Leader was way too much work! It was always sunrise to sunset with these crazy people! Allister thought he'd just have to fight a few challengers during the Gym Challenge season! Nobody told him it came with all the paperwork, decision making and management! It was outrageous! Unfair! Sleep had never been so vital to his existence before today. He got so little of it.
"Come on, wake up already." The bane of his existence spoke.
"Hiss."
"Did you just say hiss? Just get up will you? I've got a bowl of oatmeal to get to and you're in the way of that."
Allister rolled around in bed, but ultimately ended up face first in his pillow. "Go on without me. I'm lost."
Unfortunately for him, the old bastard was strong even in his old age. Allister found himself hoisted up by the collar like a cat, staring at the mischievous eyes of Mustard. "Do we have to do this every morning?"
"I'll unleash my Hyakki Yagyō on you!"
Mustard just smiled and shook his head. "Yes, yes. You're very scary. Now go get showered and I'll rustle up your breakfast for you."
"No." He crossed his arms and defiantly looked away.
"I could always get Opal to take over. Being an assistant might be a nice cushy retirement job for an old man like me, but she's far more enthusiastic. Your productivity will sky rocket!"
That threat always worked far too well. He'd seen what happened to Bede. "Fine, you bastard old man."
"Ohohohoho!" Mustard just stroked his beard gleefully.
Gym Leader Bede
"I'm sorry that you lost. Please understand that it's my job to gauge you at a certain level. No personal offense was meant. You may try again at any point, but I recommend you take the time to train and reorganize your team before doing so."
It was always the same song and dance with his challengers that lost. This was just a part of his duties; to inform them on the procedures for getting a rematch. He always hoped they did. Those who didn't give up after losing showed the greatest growth.
"I just… am I just bad at this?" The girl fiddled with her hands and looked away, sniffling but holding back her tears.
Bede's eyes softened. He patted her shoulder gently. "C'mon, everybody loses one day. I might have won against Victor once or twice, but I lost maybe a hundred times before that. Or even two!"
"You won against the former Champion before?" She turned to him with wide eyes, shaken out of her depression.
"It's not that big a deal." He reminded her. "Everyone loses one day. I know what losing feels like. I lost to a lot of people when I was a Gym Challenger. It's what you do with your loss that matters." Bede held her hands in his. "You got past Kabu, something barely anyone else in the region can say. Out of hundreds of challengers, less than fifty make it past every year. You have the capability to go further beyond. Don't let yourself get trapped by the first roadblock that comes up. Everyone knows what happens when you do that."
"We end up like Leon?"
"Exactly." He nodded with a grimace. The once famed Champion of Galar was now an infamous cautionary tale told to younger trainers. Nobody wanted a second sore loser sitting on the throne. One was enough. They didn't have a second Victor in their pockets.
"BEDE! WHY AREN'T YOU DOING YOUR PRACTICES!" A familiar, irritating voice yelled from outside the stadium.
"I'M BUSY YOU OLD BITCH!" The sudden shift in tone caused the girl to flinch back, but she couldn't pull away with Bede holding on to her hands.
The door to the stadium slammed open, revealing Opal who power walked in, slamming her cane with every step. "WHAT ARE YOU SO BUSY WITH THAT Y- Oh hello, dear. That was a good match. I hope you try again."
"I WAS ALREADY COUNSELING HER!" Bede screamed at the top of his lungs.
"DIDN'T DO A GOOD JOB, DID YOU?"
"Um…" The girl began nervously.
"WELL, FUCK! LOOK EVERYONE! IT'S THE QUEEN OF COUNSELING!"
"I HAD TO BECOME THE QUEEN OF IT CAUSE YOU'RE A GIANT CRYBABY!"
"Ano…"
The girl eventually won against Bede in record time. She never stepped foot in Ballonlea ever again.
Dan Referee
"The Hulbury Pokemon Gym's mission is this! A challenging maze! And you must reach the goal to clear the mission! However, some paths in the maze are blocked by water. What should you do then? Try pressing that red button over there, and I imagine you'll figure it out, future champ!" It was the same thing he said for the second Gym during every Gym Challenge. He could recite it in his sleep by now. Dan still missed the days when Victor took on the circuit, but comforted himself with the knowledge that all the videos of Victor's escapades were still live streamed to this day. For some reason, the former Champion felt it was necessary to get most of his life on tape.
The challenger made to go off and solve the puzzle, but Dan raised a hand and stopped her. That was another thing. Nessa was a really annoying bitch. He would never admit it in public, but Dan awaited the day that another challenger pulled 'antics'. Unfortunately, the Gym Leaders had a precedent already, and prepared for that eventuality. Some like Kabu continued unchanged, preferring to reward challengers for their creativity. Others like Nessa…
"You may not go under the water, no matter how strong you are. You may not leap across platforms. You must challenge any Gym trainer you lock eyes with. You cannot go through this with a blindfold. You cannot hack the machines or tamper with them in any way. You may not use a Corviknight to skip the entire challenge, or any other such Flying Pokemon. You may not use your referee as a meat shield to block off the water. You may not teleport through the challenge. You may not act in any way that contravenes the spirit of the challenge that was not otherwise stated." Dan breathed loudly, having said all of that in one breath.
"Mr Referee, are you okay? Has this happened a lot?" The trainer reached out to pat him on the shoulder. Huh, nice kid.
"Don't mind it kid. Nessa's just traumatized. Did you know Victor came back and re-did this mission multiple times? Our Champion told him to."
"Woah, really?! Tell me more!"
Gym Leader Gordie
"You can do it!" "You're almost there!" "I believe in you!" "Closer and closer, you're reaching the end."
Even after taking over the Gym, he still hadn't touched the microphone that was connected to their Gym mission. His mom liked speaking words of encouragement to their challengers so much that she just took over the booth for life. That suited him just fine. Her shift away from being a fierce Gym Leader was good to watch, and she enjoyed the rest of her time as Gym Leader a lot more for it. Gordie just wished Victor didn't fill her brain with that nonsensical thing called ASMR. Why did she have to sound so sensual about it?
"Looks like they've made it through!" Melony cheered, happy that she guided another challenger to victory.
"Guess I'll head on in. It's time to test them."
She grabbed his arm before he could leave. "But not too hard, okay? I know Rocks are hard and all, but these are young and impressionable children we're dealing with."
"Moooooom! They made it past Kabu and Allister! I think I'm allowed to go a little harder on them. This is a test at the end of the day!" He did not whine. He was a Gym Leader!
Unfortunately, his mother was a child. She flung her arms around his waist, staring up at him with watery eyes. "Be nice!"
He looked away. "No."
Her arms tightened around him. "Gordie. Pleeeeease. Be nice!"
Gordie's shoulders slumped. "Fine…"
"Yay!" She let go and jumped for joy. "We'll get pizza with the challenger afterwards!"
He sighed and shook his head, but gave an indulgent smile. "Can't say no to you, Mom."
Team Yell Allen
Allen tapped away at the drums with his sticks, churning out a sick beat. "Yeah!"
"Work it, Allen!" Patt strummed his electric guitar, amping up their melody.
The two continued to fire away their wicked harmony in the studio, playing the day away. The upside of Rose causing all that havoc in their town was the studios that were left behind. Those were originally meant for the keytarists that took over, but it's not like they could take the actual buildings when Marnie kicked them out. That gave them a solid place to practice for their gigs that wasn't just a sewer or any random spot outside. This was everything they could have asked for.
Piers opened the door, a lone eye peering in. "Hey guys. You gotta clear out, I booked the studio for the rest of the day."
The duo paused in their practice and stood up, preparing to leave. "Sorry about that Piers. Thought we still had time."
"Don't overthink things. It's fine. Come on in guys." Piers walked in with a bunch of blonde dudes at his back, each of them wearing a keytar around their neck. "While they pack up, can someone summarize our previous lesson?"
"Yas! Playing a keytar doesent yust consist of pressing von key at ten seckond intervals und svinging our arms in circles. Ve need to play acktuell songs to sound guud!" Hans volunteered,
Sven continued. "Keytars are de fyooture!"
"Live in the present before you think about the future." Piers nursed a throbbing headache. Allen felt sorry for him, but their Gym Leader was the one who wanted to mend bridges. Something about how a keytar could sound good if it was played right.
"Now, we'll begin with learning how to read a music sheet today…"
Marnie Spike
"-and from our findings, even though Dynamax energy and Mega Evolution energy do not form a volatile mix, only the strongest of trainers will ever be able to do both concurrently." Marnie watched as Hop walked around the stage with a microphone in his hands, addressing a crowd of professors below. He wore a lab coat over a buttoned up shirt, with a tight pair of dress pants that really clung to his butt. She thought the whole professor get up made him look hot.
"Is it a matter of size?" One of the professors inquired. Marnie almost choked on her drink.
"Precisely." Hop pointed at them, unphased. "You've made the correct deduction based on what we're working with. As a Pokemon increases in size, it requires more Mega Evolution energy to change their form. This is why it's harder to do so with Pokemon like Tyranitar and Aggron. Now imagine their size ballooning up to stadium levels and the task becomes much more difficult. That's why only trainers like Cynthia, Victor or Bea have been able to pull it off, and even then, they were bedridden for days afterwards."
When the conference wrapped up, Hop hopped off the stage and walked towards Marnie, circling his arms around her neck. "You think I did okay?"
"You've been working on this thesis for the past three years. I've seen you lose sleep, go off on random tangents and get lost in the woods looking for your next bit Pokemon trivia. You did more than okay." She leaned in to peck him on the lips. "Now, how should we celebrate?"
"I was thinking of inviting Victor, Bea, Sonia and Professor Magnolia to my Mom's. We can talk all about the conference then."
Marnie stared at him with half lidded eyes. The silly boy never got the hint. "No, how should we celebrate?"
"Oh. Oh!"
She giggled as he carried her in his arms like a caveman, running off to their apartment.
Gym Leader Raihan
He excitedly spun around in his chair. "Did you see that, chat?! I finally got past the boss! Now I wanna fight a Metagross in real life! That was a really hard boss fight! They've really upped the difficulty in Elden Pokemon 5!" Raihan was practically bouncing in his seat. "That took four hours! But we did it! We conquered it!"
He read through the stream of messages. "Go back and do it all over again from the first game? Not get hit at all till we finish the fifth? Challenge freaking accepted! Oh my Arceus! Sixteen months of subs? Eeveefluffer, you're amazing! That gets you the dance! Sub hype! Sub hype! Sub hype!" Raihan got up and did an actual dance, not the chimera monster that Victor made all those years ago.
"Do it all night? Heck, yeah?! The hype train never stops!" Raihan yelled.
"Honey!" A feminine voice called from his room. "Come to bed! I'm naked and lonely!"
"The hype train never stops… except for that! See you tomorrow chat!" In his excitement, he forgot to turn off his stream. They could hear his voice tapering off as he ran to his room. "-Victor is the best wingman on earth!"
Leon Kennedy
"I literally just fixed that! How on earth did you break the fence again?!" He poked his finger on Rose's chest, hard. The former executive had really seen better days. It was impossible to keep up his mustache without the copious amount of products he once had access to, and the sheer dirt that accumulated from Wooloo herding, so his face was clean shaven now. Even the once gelled up hair was frazzled with dead ends. A suit? In this job with their income? Rose was lucky he even had a set of overalls to wear.
"It's not my fault the Arceus damned Wooloo keep rolling around!" The former chairman screamed back.
"You're useless!" Leon threw his arms in the air. "All you had was one job! You can't even do that right!"
"So did you! Just don't lose! That's all you needed to do!" Rose pushed back, causing Leon to fall back and land in some Wooloo shit.
"Fuck you!" Leon pulled Rose down with him, making them both wallow in shit.
His mother's shrill voice rang through the open pasture. "LEEEEEOOOOOONNNN HEEEEEELLLPPPPP!"
"Ashley? Again? It's the fifth time today!" The Wooloo herder, a poor excuse of one, yelled.
Leon just sighed. At least his mother still loved him.
Gloria Nash
She took a sip of her tea. "It was so smart of Victor to give them that punishment. I'll never stop being happy about free labor."
Magnolia took a bite of her crumpet. "Not entirely free right? Punishment or not, slavery is still illegal."
"Pish posh. Of course I pay them. Minimum wage just might as well be free. You've seen how much we make on wool, especially after Sinnoh strengthened their relations with us." Gloria smiled at the thought. Nobody complained about having more money.
"Is Ashley recovering now that Leon's been around for five years?" The professor asked, a tinge of sorrow in her voice. "That might have been the worst part of this horrid affair."
"She'll never really recover." Gloria shook her head mournfully. "The loss of her husband, followed by Leon's actions, really broke her. Leaving Leon around to be her mental chew toy is all we can really do to ease her mental burdens."
"Thank Arceus your son isn't a prick, eh?"
"Magnolia!" She leaned back, scandalized at the kindly old professor. "Language!"
"Come off it. It's just us here."
"But yes, Victor is the best son I could ever ask for." Gloria allowed. "He's worrisome, irritating, jokes too much, gets in trouble way, way too much, and he never calls home enough… but I love him." A fond smile alighted on her face. "Life is good."
Magnolia leaned back and drank her tea. "Life is good, indeed."
Professor Sonia
Stupid cold. Stupid snow. Stupid Sinnoh. She shivered in the middle of nowhere as a snowstorm raged around her, desperately clinging on to her coat for the last few embers of warmth she had. Sonia bemoaned her stupidity in allowing herself to be tricked into this expedition. Why did she say yes again? She'd strangle the idiot who asked her to come. The snow and her had a hostile relationship and now she was knee deep in it.
"Did I make you wait long?" The casually sensual voice of Cynthia drifted past her ear, even as the winds howled. "Just had to wrap up a few things."
"In this weather? Far too long. This ruin better be worth it!"
Cynthia just smirked. "You mad? Don't be."
Sonia frowned. "And why wouldn't I be when I'm surrounded by snow, shivering my nips off in this stupid cold weather? I could be home sipping on a hot chocolate, enjoying the wealth my research gave me. Or even watching the next batch of challengers think they have a chance against our Champion. Really, anything but this!"
The Champion of Sinnoh just smiled and pulled Sonia down, holding her aloft by the small of her back. Her other hand reached down to push aside a strand of hair, tucking it behind Sonia's ear. She purred. "Because you look beautiful tonight, honey."
That just got her a smattering of snow on her face. "You can't just spam Victor's move from all those years ago."
"Does it still work?"
Sonia just sighed and looked away, her face warming up despite the weather. "Yes."
Champion Bea
She ran a hand through his hair, smiling fondly. This was the best part of their days; the silence and privacy of their shared office meant they could just spend their time like this in comfort, together. Victor's hair was soft and fluffy, kind of like the Wooloos he represented. There was a time for rough and tough, but she liked this part about him, just like she did for everything he was.
He rolled over, resting the side of his head on her thigh instead. "Muscle waifu lap pillow is still the best, even after five whole years of it."
"Good. I worked hard for my gains. It's not easy to keep up my regimen while dealing with Champion duties." Despite the slight chiding in her tone, she still gently smoothed out his hair.
"Hey! I didn't volunteer you for this! You're the one who won the Champion Cup when I resigned. Could have just let Raihan win like everyone predicted." He rolled his eyes at her comment.
Bea stared at him with the deadest eyes she could muster. "You want Raihan to administer our region? Raihan. Hype train Raihan. Sub hype Raihan. That Raihan?"
Victor just giggled like the man child he was. "You have a point. It would have been hilarious to watch though."
"And when Galar falls into disarray, do you need to go on another adventure arc and become Champion all over again?"
He blew a raspberry into her abs. It didn't work. She wasn't ticklish. "Yessir, Champion, sir. You're always right, sir. The Champion can do no wrong."
"I'll give you a blowjob if you admit I'm right." Bea revealed her trap card.
"You're right. I'm wrong. Bea is always right. She is a god." He changed his tune immediately.
Bea nodded in self-satisfaction. That always worked. She didn't mind it either. It was all part of showing her affection.
A few panicked knocks on her door broke them from their reverie. "Miss Bea?! There's a Dynamaxed Bisharp near Turffield! What should we do!" Even through the door, the couple could sense their distress.
Victor got up and stretched, getting the creaks out of his back. "Every time I get relaxed, more work drops on my lap. Dang it."
"This is your only job as the Assistant Regional Champion."
He just winked. "Assistant to the Regional Champion. I insisted." And she never understood why.
"Kiss kiss." She opened her arms. He pulled her in for a light kiss before heading out the door.
He always looked cool doing that.
VIctor Nash
I dropped from the Corviknight, landing in a superhero stance when I landed. It freaked out my personal driver the first few times, but he had come to learn just how sturdy I was. I had to be with Bea toughening me up. Plus, this was cool and I lived my life by it. "Woah, you're a big boy!" The Bisharp looked extra menacing as a Kaiju, stomping its way towards the berry fields of Turffield. Should I be annoyed that Milo wasn't handling this? Where did he get off on himself, going off on a honeymoon with Nessa? People weren't allowed to do reasonable things!
Heh.
"Sorry buddy. I literally only have one job as the Assistant to the Regional Champion. And my Mom would kill me if I allowed her supply of berries to run dry. You gotta go to sleep." In a practiced move, one that took months to perfect, I slid my fingers across the pokeball buttons on my belt, releasing my team all at once.
"You guys know the drill! Raul! Pinball death zone!"
"Baa!" My black sheep began to spin on the spot, awaiting lift off. He was as battle ready as he was when we first started on our journey.
"Merry! That's a really tall and really shiny piece of grass!"
"BORK!" Yup, we never weeded out that instinct from my Obstagoon. Why mess with what works?
"Hancock! Crowd control!"
She didn't deign to answer, snorting in her prissy little mouth before looking away. Even after all these years, she still kept up the tsundere act. Wasn't it tiring?
"Sebastian! Barrier duty!"
"Eleganto!" As enthusiastic as ever. I'm so proud of how far my little unicorn has come. Still refused to use any physical attacks, but he more than made up for it with his constant practice on everything else.
"Spartans! What is your profession?!"
"Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep!" They cheered and danced before scattering into the wilds. Their reliance on me for instruction had tapered off as time went on, becoming more independent as individuals as they grew and fought alongside the team. Those little blobs were still very clingy, though.
"Ado!" I pointed at her. "Sing!"
"Goo!" She crooned in affirmation, before beginning to belt out the opening lyrics for 'Backlight'. It's kinda cool to have a record selling artist on my team. It meant that we never went anywhere without BGM. Ado was half the reason I even managed the rule of cool on most days.
"Alright! Let's wrap this up soon! I've got a pizza waiting for all of us when we get back! Let's go!"
I stepped forward with my team, charging towards the giant Bisharp.
"As one!"
I'll forever be grateful to Arceus for bringing me here and letting me meet my team…
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Who would have known that…
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My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)
An overlong after word
Big thanks to the following people, who read my shit and told me it was okay to post. I sent entire arcs to them and forced them to read it, so you guys better appreciate them.
@ClarencelackClarity
@QuantumShadow
@Abyss123
@Fabled Webs
This will be kind of lengthy, so I'll split things up and put them under headers. Feel free to skip to any one you want to read, but they all kind of feed into each other, so you might find yourself a little bit confused if you do.
I Can't Believe My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! Was More Fun to Write than I Expected?!
I've had a lot of fun writing this fic. Thank you all for joining in on this experience. I'm well aware that the reception for this was not as good as Tea Shop, and I'm okay with it. A lot of people get turned off by crack. This story was also partly experimental and training (outlined in the below section). That's all okay. It was fun to write a Pokemon fic after reading so many. I don't remember seeing any Galar ones either (or at least, any ones that made it past like 10k words), so I've filled that gap in my heart.
I hope at least a few of you liked the underlying themes of the story. One of it was about defeat (or failure) and the ability to move on with it. We see that more in Bede and Leon, but even the MC was forced to eat his medicine for a bit. There's also treasuring your bonds in the present. You've seen what happened to Leon when he didn't, and Rose when he lost his (not his fault in losing them but the damage it caused him). The MC's underlying motivation actually stems from my actual frustration with the real world. Part of what I teach is about current affairs, so I'm exposed to a lot of bullshit on a regular basis. It really frustrates me that people can be racist and sexist for stupid reasons, or all the dumb wars that started over the past few years. That's why MC is so annoyed with Rose and Leon for screwing with his utopia.
About the public reactions thing…. I know quite a few people asked for those. I don't do it for a few reasons. I don't like jacking off my SI MC for one. It's really awkward to write about how everyone loves what is basically a representation of me. This MC also doesn't care for the most part. What I choose to include is influenced by the character POV I'm writing from. Victor could care so little about what the public thinks that he doesn't even notice having fans till the streaming episode, for example. I don't foresee my future stories needing PHO, thankfully. More on that below.
A lot of this fic originated from a chat I had with my friend about how wasted the story in Sword and Shield was. The reason I made this an AU is because I wanted to rewrite the villains into having at least a villainous motivation and attitude (though some rando called it bashing). I also tried my best to add in some seamless world building and expanding on things, like saying the Galarian Weezing was imported from Alola, the Pearl Clan having an offshoot Fairy training ground, or just towns having a reason to exist in general.
As many have also pointed out, a big inspiration for the team was from Viva La Dirt League, a gaming sketch channel on YouTube. Their stuff is great, and all the Raul Roly Poly jokes came from there. Oh, and the Raihan streaming bits were also from them. They don't really need my shoutout with their sub count, but credit where credit is due and all that.
And yes, I love the real actual Ado quite a lot. To me, her singing is the best in the world. You don't have to agree with me, we're allowed to have different favorites. A lot of her songs accompany me through the day, with YOASOBI (that's Ikura and Ayase) being a close second, so I'm quite happy to incorporate the songs into this story. I definitely can't use them in my upcoming ones in a way that makes much sense. So here's a shout out to a singer and a duo that need it even less than VLDL!
I genuinely hope you've enjoyed your time here with me. We've had some issues here and there. My tendency to over focus on highlights was pointed out, and I'm onboard with that criticism. It's a product of me wanting to write this story purely for fun. That won't happen with my next main fic. Anyway, if this is where you want to stop reading, that's fine, but we've got some fun stuff below too. There's a bit of a behind the scenes you might want to read to understand my process a bit more. Below that, I will also talk a bit about my future stories.
With all that said, thanks again for reading this till the end, and even reading this afterword. Do drop by again when I post my future stories.
I'll just reuse this from Dragon's Tea Shop:
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About This Story and the Rationality Behind My Madness
I don't know if anyone noticed, but this story and my previous story are complete opposites of their forebears in some way. Dragon's Tea Shop was the opposite of Worm Any% Speedrun, in that the writing didn't get me ripped to shreds by the public. Funnily enough, Tea Shop was much easier to write than Any%. One reason is improvement in writing skills, of course, due to continuous practice over two stories. There's another reason that I don't think anyone pointed out. There's an underlying formula for Tea Shop that makes it stupidly simple to structure for. Most chapters just end up being customer comes in and does something, tea stuff, customer reactions and how it changes them somewhat. Of course, I do change up the formula here and there, but even in Vicky and Dean chapters, I mostly treat them as one customer. Sometimes I mix things up and have two separate entities enter the scene together, like Hannah and Missy. Or maybe Leviathan happens. But at the end of the day, it's a very easy story to plan, and I just needed to focus on delivering good writing. In essence, I made Tea Shop not just to redeem myself from Any%, but as a stepping stone to improving my writing.
This story is the opposite of Tea Shop, in that I don't have a formula for any of the chapters. Sure, there's an easy Gym circuit for me to follow, but everything in between is "unstructured". Even when I decide the MC goes ahead with the challenge can vary. Some Gyms have a few chapters in between or none. This story helps me in precisely that; to put that now improved writing into use with a harder to follow structure due to lacking a formula. In essence, every story I write is planned in a way to improve my writing in some aspect.
It boils down to (or TLDR):
1. Worm Any% Speedrun: Actually getting me started on writing proper full length stories
2. Dragon's Tea Shop: Improving the actual writing
3. Pokemon Retirement: Improving the structure of the writing
So what's next?
Future Stories
Yeah, I know. I might have publicly said many times that I would only do one story at a time, but hear me out. The "main" story is not just epic in scale compared to my current works, but also at times depressing to even think about with its themes. It'll be a thousand times more grounded than this story, as far as characters go anyway. There will be an "off" story to accompany it, for when I feel burnt out from trying to perfect every chapter of the "main" story. The "off" story will be more fun, smutty and light hearted, giving me time off from the "main" story.
So the "main" story…
I Jacked Jackie (Cyberpunk 2077) [Working Title]
Despite all of its issues on launch, I've loved Cyberpunk 2077 since launch, and completed it a few times since then. I've also completed the DLC a few times over (and got the same ending every time, So Mi is sad and deserves to go to the moon, fight me). To me, the biggest missed opportunity of the story was letting Jackie die so soon. If we at least had an extended prologue after V's origin story where Jackie guides the player into the NC life, and then he dies, the death would be a lot more impactful. At the same time, he's possibly the nicest person, maybe other than Misty, we'll ever meet in the game.
So I thought: Fuck it, we'll make him live. A modern man (me, lol) from our world gets fused with Jackie during the heist (so no takesies backsies), and neither Jackie or the man is happy about it. The SI is used to a certain level of creature comforts, like actual food. He's also seen how good people's lives can get, at least compared to how badly they suffer in Cyberpunk. On the other hand, Jackie is a really nice guy who grew up in a terrible environment. Him being as violent as the people around him is just a natural product of his time. I believe that in a better world, Jackie would do something nicer than shoot at other people. Except now the Jackie fusion knows that a better world is possible. Suddenly things don't seem so good anymore.
And what's that? V still got chipped with Johnny "Wake the fuck up samurai, we've got a city to burn" Silverhand. The clock's still ticking. What now? Well our little fusion has a gift from whoever dumped him in CP2077; the CP2077 game system itself. Except, it doesn't work exactly like that, and shooting random people doesn't seem to give exp anymore. Then again, Jackie would have never shot random people on the street anyway. Now armed with a path to more power, a friend with a time bomb in his head, and all his foreknowledge on CP2077 (including the DLC), anything could happen.
It'll be largely epic in scale with a lot of downtime and bridging chapters unlike this fun, campy Pokemon story. People will feel things, get their own chapters and side stories, and different relationships. Jackie has to balance power gaming, his mom, his pre-existing girlfriend Misty, saving V and a whole bunch of existential problems. Did I mention this was a monogamy story? Cause it is. It'll have smut sometimes, but not as the focus. Moresomes will happen sometimes, but those that join in aren't joining a harem. The morals of CP2077 residents are much looser than our modern sensibilities, and the story aims to reflect that appropriately even in smut. How epic in scale will this story be? I bought a whiteboard and nailed it to the wall so I could do the Sunny in Philadelphia meme IRL as I explain to my cat about the intricate relationships between rival gangs in NC.
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Also, yes, this story is largely inspired by Seras' excellent Ghost in the City. The gamer system is different and the focus is also different, but I wouldn't have even thought of writing this without her story.
Oh! If you've got a better title to suggest, go ahead. Or if you like this one, tell me that too. I'm still not sure about the title for this.
If you're interested, do drop in on the story once I release it. Now for the "off" story…
Feeding the Forge (Highschool DxD)
Savvy readers will immediately realize this is a Celestial Forge fic. The CF is a writing tool for newer writers to have prompts that help them along with writing. It's also random. I hate everything about it as a writer, personally speaking. I will never introduce randomness in my writing. Even if it's just a numbered list on a google doc, there's always a plan of some kind. Instead, I'll be using CF as a concept.
Imagine you're a fanfiction writer who got reincarnated into DxD in Kuoh. You immediately know where you are (somewhat), and the CF is already pinging off you. As a FF writer, you also know what a CF is and that it requires "word count" to give you perks. What's the immediate thing you do? Abuse the fuck out of it. There are many ways to both lay low but get screen time. Get involved in characters' lives as their friend. You don't need to get magic involved to do that. Most of Sona's peerage are in Kuoh and don't get reincarnated till highschool. Get involved in their character arcs and feed the forge (roll credits).
As you can immediately guess, this is an overpowered MC fic. He'll have to be real stupid to not be as a writer that knows how to abuse CF mechanics. There will be no rolls or actual perks. I won't even read the CF document. Everything will be planned out, kinda like how Infonticus also picks and chooses his stuff based on the story rather than rolling in Forging a Waifu Harem. Unlike I Jacked Jackie which is more MC centric, this story is character centric and focuses on how the MC changed their lives. This is the smutty harem fic that my "main" story isn't. You can see why this is my vacation fic when I get burnt out. It's much easier to write, partly because this is a monster chimera amalgamation of Any% and Tea Shop.
Luckily for you schmucks, there's a preview of it right here: https/forum.questionablequesting….tra-one-shots-and-snippets.22998/post-8517048
So if that interests you, drop by for this too when I finally release this, though it'll be long after I've started on the CP2077 fic.
and SubscribeStar
So I've had some people ask about this here and there. Here's how you can donate to me; don't. I'm fine. My job is fine. I'll probably never get fired. I work for an authoritarian government as a teacher. My pay is above average for recent graduates. Whether the economy goes up or down, I'll still have a job. In fact, during downtimes, my government gives even more bonuses for civil servants. There are other writers with far worse living conditions than mine who need your support. Find someone that you like the writing of and give that money to them instead of me.
I'll never say never, cause this might all change one day and I'll ask for donations, but for now, it's really better if you give it to someone who needs it.
Another reason I'm not asking for that extra dosh (because who the fuck turns down extra money even if they're doing okay?) is because I don't want to turn my fun little hobby into a side hustle. When money gets involved, I'm suddenly obliged to keep up a certain level of content, both in quality and quantity. Maybe someone will feel entitled to dictate the content I write too. I don't want any of that in something I do for fun. Sometimes I can't write because of work. Am I supposed to choose then? Or sometimes, I just wanna do a different hobby, like gaming or anime. You can see how money creates problems in that aspect.
The only 'payment' I want from those of you who like my stuff is to like and comment where you can. It actually makes me feel better about myself when people just talk about the stuff I write. The more comments I get, the more likely it is that my story gets picked up by people too, who might also comment more. It's like a virtuous cycle and all that. Secret note: It also gives me some big PP energy when the page count goes up. So really, if you want to support me, that's the only support I want.
That's all I've gotta say about this fic and everything else in between. See you next time.
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(Arceus above, the ego on this fucking author. He wrote basically a whole chapter worth of after word!)
Last edited: 38 minutes ago
My Stories
Worm Any% Speedrun (Completed)
Dragon's Tea Shop (Worm/SI) [Completed]
My Pokemon Retirement was More Fun than I Expected?! (SI) [Completed]
Aria's Orchestra (One Shots and Snippets)