I have posted.

I somewhat forgot about this fanfiction for a bit, but hey, I updated.

My update seclude is random, so sometimes it will be months in between chapters or other times back to back updates.

The next chapter will take a I guess 3 days to a week. Best estimations.

Also, please read to the bottom or skip to the bottom to read the note on the chapter. Yes I don't count the top as notes.

Since this is my first fanfiction, any criticism is welcomed!

anywho, I hope you enjoy and please read the bottom note!

Galar, Motostoke.

'Strange. Why is there an extra package?'

I double checked the amount of items I had purchased.

'One, two, thre-yeah, there is definitely an inconsistency.'

This package, unlike the others, was more luxurious looking. It was white and had a fragile stamp on it. Yeah, that was it, I said it was luxurious because all the boxes came a lot worse than this one.

'That package might not be mine, but I don't care if it arrived at my doorstep, and if no one claims it, it's mine!'

I attempted to bring all the packages all in one, but I found that there were too many to carry on both hands, so I settled for bringing them one by one.

'Well, I suppose that's done. There is only one thing left to do now is to unpack!'

I set the packages individually on my desk.

I looked around for anything resembling a knife or anything sharp. Unfortunately, there was none.

'My poor, poor nails. They will never be the same.'

This will be a hand task, as I had bitten my nails almost daily.

'Well, I can always use my teeth.'

The taste of tape is not something I enjoy, but the texture is not unpleasant either.

'I might save the tape to chew on later, I know it's unhealthy but I miss chewing gum.'

After removing the tape, I opened to see what was inside.

'This is the…'

I checked the packaging

'TM for Destiny Bond! It looks…fine I guess? Somewhat rough around the edges, but usable.'

I placed the box in the corner of the room and went onto the next

'...Who the fuck packaged this thing? Why is taping so bad? How did I not notice until now?'

I decided to just punch a hole into the box.

'Just as thin as american walls.'

I grabbed what I presumed to be a TM and plucked it out of the box.

'This is the…TM for Perish Song!'

The only reason I bought it was because it was cheap. I don't have an application for it yet, so I just stored it in my backpack.

'Now, onto the next one.'

This box was packaged properly, that is all I can really say, it just looks like a normal box.

'Welp, I'm just going to rip the entire top of the box.'

And I ripped most of the top of the box and picked up the TM.

'Now, this is the TM for Explosion, I'll be keeping this safe.'

Onto the moment I am waiting for, the Totodile plush!

I carefully unpacked the box to find…a flash drive?

'I've been scammed by a Totodile plush, whoever did this will pay dearly.'

I picked up the flash drive wearily.

'I am frankly scared shitless right now. I do not want to know what is in here, what horrors lay in this drive I do not want to see.'

Normally, I would just throw the drive into the trash can, however, my curiosity got the better of me.

'Well, this might be a virus, I have a backup if that happens.'

I plugged it into my laptop.

'Let's see what we have here…a video that is three gigabytes…I have never been so scared.'

It seems like what was inside this drive was something that could be highly unsavory.

'Three, two, one…and click.'

I waited for the video to load and…

"Rickroll music starts playing."

I stared blankly at the screen.

"This Pokémon can't do much. You know the rules, and so do I…"

I'm going to kill myself.

Yes, it's not the actual rickroll, but still. It's a goddamn rickroll and I have been fucking rickrolled.

'I might ge-you know what, change that to I will. I will get convicted of murder if I find that man.'

I attempted to snap the flash drive in half, but then remembered that I am too weak to bend steel, so I threw it away.

I turned to look at the last box.

'Surely nothing bad can come from this box?'

I picked up the box and shredded it into pieces.

'Well, what do we hav-IS THAT A DYNAMAX BAND!'

I carefully grabbed the band and placed it on my table to cross-reference it to be certain it was real.

'This seems pretty real, this might just give me an advantage.'

I also noticed an email on my laptop that I hadn't noticed a while back.

'How long was this sent? Four hours ago eh, how come I never noticed?'

The email read as follows.

"Good Morning sir, William Brown. It is upsetting for us all, as we have to inform you that due to urgent matters within the Galar region, your appointment with Mr. Rose, as was promised to be the reward for the online musical competition "Galar National Online Musical Competition" has had to be canceled.

As an apology from us, The Official Recording Corporation of Galar, please accept the dynamax band that has been shipped to you as of now.

Alongside with the dynamax band there will be attached a 3000 pokédollar coupon that can be cashed out at every single pokémart within the Galar region excluding the branches that can be found within the train stations.

Once again, we congratulate you on this huge accomplishment as an up and coming musical artist in the region and hope that you may forgive us for this inconvenience."

Best of luck with your music, the Chairmen of The Recording Corporation of Galar

Gary E. O'Donoghue

To: William Poké

From: Communications "

Now, my first reaction is "I finally won? Thank god! That took forever!"

My second reaction was "Gary O'Donoghue? Isn't that a BBC correspondent? The North American one if I remember."

Out of sheer curiosity, I searched up the man.

'Well, he sure does look alike, however, I don't think that's him. Quite a coincidence with the name though.'

Ignoring who sent the email, which was quite hard to do, I cleaned up my room and packed my items.

'TIme to put these TMs to use.'

I then headed towards the Wild area.

Once I arrived at a secluded location in the WIld Aea, I released my Pokémon.

"Alright lads, you know the drill, we are going to test out some moves today.'

Each of my Pokémon became slightly more serious.

'But I must warn in advance, the moves that you will be learning might cause some pain or mild discomfort.'

I brought out the TMs.

"The moves in question are Explosion and Destiny Bond, in which both will end up with you guys back in the Pokémon Center. I don't fancy the outcome by any means, but a sacrifice must be made for the betterment of the odds of victory."

After being told this explanation, both Carkol and Drifloon scooted away, or in more accurately for Drifloon, floated away slowly.

"You are a lucky Pokémon today Carkol, you will have the fortune of not blowing up or getting beaten up, no, instead, you will watch Porygon and Drifloon faint.'

Carkol happily roared, meanwhile, Drifloon was giving the hundred mile stare.

"Uhh, you can get extra food for compensation?"

Drifloon was not impressed.

"Let's just get this over with.'

I first gave the TM to Porygon and then the other TM to Drifloon.

'My imaginary lawyer is heavily advising me to not make any jokes on a certain terrorist group that hit two towers in Manhattan.'

I then directed my hand at a tree.

"Porygon, go to the tree. When I give the order to explode, Explode."

I Porygon floated to the tree while I hid behind a rock along with my other Pokémon.

'I somewhat feel quite guilty for destroying most of the trees, Mr Beast would look down on me with shame, but what can I do? The tree is one of the only not sentient targets to use moves on effectively.'

I looked at the distance of the rock from the tree.

'Yup, it should be far enough, the rock is large enough to protect me from the shrapnel.'

I looked over to Porygon awaiting the order. I decided a countdown would be fun.

"ALRIGHT! IN THREE…"

I should probably consider a joke or a quote, but none comes to mind.

"TWO!"

I can't think of anything else but that!

"ONE!"

Ah fuck it, who is going to judge me?

"ALLAHU AKBAR!"

That was cringe.

'Nothing is happening? Is that supposed to hap-

"KABOOM!"

'I retract my statement.'

I quickly ducked into the safety of the rock the moment I saw a branch hurling into my general direction.

Every flying type had flown away, while most Pokémon fled the area, it was not an everyday occurance for a Pokémon to just self-delete itself via Explosion.

'My ears…that were louder than I expected…my ears hurt so bad…I should have tested further away…'

After a few minutes of recovering, I got up and walked to the crater of where the tree used to be.

'Well, I think this has enough destructive power to severely hurt even legendaries.'

I then found Porygon flatten and charred in ash.

'Well, uhhh, I expected something more violent, but Porygon is definitely not getting back up.'

All things considered, normally I would be somewhat concerned about having one of my Pokémon explode, this is an exception. Porygon does not feel pain, so I am fine with using Explosion.

Would people criticise me? Almost definitely. Would I care? Nope, I can bend my morals a bit when it comes to Porygon, it does not hurt it, so I don't see the problem.

"Porygon, return!"

In a flash of light, Porygon was back in the Pokéball.

"Welp, I guess it's your turn Drifloon."

Drifloon just stood there and used Destiny Bond.

'Oh yeah I forgot, I need another Pokémon to test on.'

I turned to look at Carkol

'Nah, not this time.'

I looked around for any Pokémon that did not flee.

"Alright, see that Onix over there? Use Destiny Bond and aggravate it. After that, just stand still."

Drifloon did as I said, however, it looked at me one last time with the look of a death row inmate.

'I feel very bad. I actually feel like a scumbag for doing this, but, sometimes, you gotta do what you got to do."

I watched as Drifloon tackles the massive Onix and immediately got annihilated off the face of the planet.

'Does the effect of Destiny Bond take a while to take hold? If so, I should re-oh never mind, the Onix also fainted.'

I walked to the area where the Onix faint.

I tapped the Onix, then smacked it.

'Well, this thing isn't getting back up in a wee bit.'

I turned towards a deflated Drifloon.

"You did well. Drifloon, return!"

I then looked towards the Onix.

'This is an opportune time to catch a ground type, but, in my personal opinion, Onix is trash. I just don't like the design, maybe some other trainer would thank me for knocking out an Onix for them to capture.'

I headed back to Motostoke after that.

'There is only one thing left to do. Inform them of the plan and hope for the best.'

"We hope to see you again!"

I picked up my Pokéballs and headed back to my room.

Once I had arrived, I released my Pokémon.

"Alright, I apologise if it was painful, but I must inquire, how did it feel? How long of a delay did it take?"

Porygon transferred into my phone and opened Google.

"I cannot say for Drifloon, as for me, I felt nothing. The delay took around a few seconds, my best estimations are around 4-6 seconds after the move was used. "

This is quite useful information to know. The delay is too miniscule for it to deeply impact any battles.

"Alright, how about you Drifloon?"

Drifloon made a sound, I could not even describe what sound Drifloon made. Okay, to be more accurate, I did not have words to describe the sounds that Drifloon made. It sounded…you know what? I'm just not going to describe it.

"Translation: Drifloon stated that Destiny Bond was instantaneous, if there was a delay, it would be around a picosecond.

Note: There is no feeling to using Destiny Bond. The pain depends on what is hitting the user, it would obviously hurt if you get hit by a Hyper Beam."

Well, looking back at it, me asking if getting obliterated was painful or not was quite daft of me.

"So, after compiling the last minute information, I believe this is the best plan for the gym battle.'

All my Pokémon were now attentive.

"So, I believe we should challenge the gym tomorrow. You might say it is a risky choice to challenge the gym immediately after obtaining the required items, which I agree with. However, this plan of mine is so braindead, that it requires no brain cells to execute."

Drifloon and Carkol was waiting for me to continue, meanwhile Porygon just went to check my strategy in Documents.

"The plan goes as follows, we lead with Drifloon, and then the moment that one of Kabu's Pokémon attempts to deal a finishing blow, Drifloon uses Destiny Bond, and the first round is done."

Drifloon slowly nods, or at least to me, attempts to nod without a neck.

"If Kabu sends in Centiskorch next, Porygon will deal with it. If Porygon wins the engagement, that increases our chances of victory. If Porygon does not win the engagement, they will bring down Centiskorch with it via Explosion."

"Are you certain that cheesing gym leaders will work? This is not a game anymore, things will be a lot more unpredictable."

"You are right. I am just taking a risk here, this is a one time strategy relying on luck. This strategy won't work again in the future, the other gym leaders will know. If we lose this gym battle, we are fucked. We are on a timer, so taking a risky gambit is one of the only choices to save time."

I then looked at Carkol.

"And you, Carkol, your part is the most important, if you lose, it is over."

Carkol looked the most attentive I have ever seen him, like a soldier awaiting orders.

"The final outcome depends on you, you would have to beat Kabu's last Pokémon, which most likely Arcanine, if not, then things get a bit harder as your part was meant to give you every advantage against Arcanine, and even so, the odds are stacked against your favour."

"So, you explained that fighting Arcanine was difficult even if you prepared for it. What if it is not Arcanine?"

"Pray to RNGesus."

"...so, plan b is just…pray that the opponent messes up big time…that's it?"

"I am not certain what else there is to do."

"Train until Carkol is a Coalossal? Catch another Pokémon?"

"...You mak-nah, I retract what I was about to say. I don't have enough time for that, or the money to buy EXP candies."

"Both you and I know that you can do both. I won't stop you, I know you won't stop. I do warn though, being lazy is not an excuse for everything. You will eventually hit a brick wall."

'I guess next time? I don't hope to rely on RNG too many times, so I will probably be prepared properly."

"Now, I have read your plan, it is not a bad one if used on the inexperienced. The gym leaders on the other hand? You better hope they have been exhausted."

I paused looking at Porygon sentence, most particularly the one that said "You better hope they have been exhausted."

'Hmm…yes…yes, that would do.'

"Hey Porygon, can you book a time slot for Kabu's gym, preferably in the evening, even better if one or two people had challenged him."

"Playing a bit dirty, eh? I have no qualms with that."

Now that is dealt with, I suppose it is time to relax a bit.

"So, to keep my end of our non-existent contract, Drifloon, I shall spoil you with any food you would like, just one though. My wallet can't handle that much.

Drifloon made a…happy sound? I have to check online forums to identify what sounds Drifloon makes equivalent to what emotion.

"So? Japanese or French?

"Well, at least I made my money worth by ordering from the limited time menu."

The meal was under twenty pounds, which is a win in my books.

I had also received an email that confirmed my booking, it appears that my match would begin at around four in the evening, at which at least three people would have challenged Kabu, in which would have worn him down by quite a bit.

A dirty move? Absolutely. No questions required. Deliberately facing an opponent at a weaker state is not honourable. Do I feel shame? Well, I can't say this for all competitive players, but I used to use the top OU Pokémon, always typing "EZ". So to say that I still have any amount of shame is…quite naive.

I am full heartedly committed to shake the meta by using competitive strategies. The strategy in the anime is quite lacklustre compared to the VGC and Showdown scenes. The strategy has gotten slightly better over time, but still, it can't compare to the bull that the competitive community makes on a daily basis.

They would never know what hit them, sometimes literally too.

Then a random thought came to me.

'I feel like I forgot someone…who again? Oh right! Jaimes! I haven't called him in a while, I should really tell him about my gym battle.'

I took out my phone and dialled his number.

"Hello? This is Jaime, how can I help you?" He surprisingly picked up quite fast.

"Hey! This is William! Sorry I haven't called for a while, I was quite busy." Definitely not because I forgot about your existence.

"It's fine, I've been busy myself too. So! What do you want to tell me?" He asked

"Umm, my gym battle with Kabu is happening tomorrow, at around five. Wanna come see?"

"Really? That fast? Dear Arceus, you're going to beat every single gym in a damn month. I have not seen such speed, not even Ash Ketchum was that fast. Are you even prepared mate? I heard that Kabu is way harder than Nessa and Milo." He asked astonishingly.

Ehhh, I wouldn't say I am fast, it's more like that I have an advantage over most people when starting out. It's not even related to skill, it is more likely that Porygon was just powerful enough to steamroll both gyms by itself.

"You're flattering me, but to be honest, you are overestimating my skills and abilities. The only reason that is so slow is because he is a dumbass and seemingly gets into trouble all the time, it is also probably due to the fact that they camp and I just to my destination to the nearest Pokéon Center, I just don't have the money to camp."

"Bit harsh about what you said about Ash, he doesn't willingly get into trouble, however, I can agree outside of battles…he's…not the sharpest tool in the shed." He took a bit to respond, but I am curious? Out of all things he responded to, he responded to me saying that Ash is dumbass?

"Are you by any chance an Ash fan?" I questioned.

"You could say that, but not a big time one. I would still wager that any Galarian gym leader could beat Ash." He answered.

Well, currently, he isn't wrong, but in a couple of years or so, he is going to dethrone the champion.

"Anywho, you still haven't answered the question. Are you prepared to face him?" He said.

"Well, that's for you to see, I can promise you though, it won't be as epic as you imagine." I responded in a mysterious manner.

"What? Are you going to poison his Pokémon and just stall?" He said jokingly.

"It's not that, but I could say the tactic I am going to use is going to be quite anti-climatic."

"I'm going to take your word on that. You want to meet somewhere in Motostoke before the gym battle?" He asked.

"Yea sure mate. Outside of the gym?" I confirmed.

"That can do. Als-oh wait, my mum is calling. Can I talk at a later time?"

"Sure, sure."

Then he hung up.

'Well, I guess I can play some Unite for a bit, but I should sleep early today, tomorrow is going to be quite important.'

'Welp, it's now nine, I guess it's time.'

I turned off my laptop and went to bed.

'Hopefully the plan goes right, but as many things do, they rarely do go right.'

Note:

This are where the notes are, they won't be on every chapter. sometimes I will replace it with answers to questions. also don't expect proper grammar down here

Now my question is, does my mc feel like a Gary Stu? If so, can you point them out for me, or at least help suggest.

Also, I dare u to guess what the tile my chapters reference, not all of them are references.