Author's note: You might be wondering, "Neonugget, why were you late this time?" Well other than real life coming out of nowhere... You may (or may not) know of the current state of This site.

For those who don't know, there's currently some sort of bug or error that's affecting the stats of stories. Whenever I post a chapter, the bug makes it so I can't see any views. So even if you guys are reading, it'll show that I have 0 views on my chapter.

This has been happening for the past three chapters, for three weeks. Seeing the views and seeing that you guys are interested in my story is what I love to see, and that's the main thing that keeps me going.

It was a little disheartening to see '0 views' on the story I was writing, but I knew that it was an error, and hopefully the stats will be restored. And I thought it would be restored by the time the next week rolled around, so I had planned on waiting on posting the next chapter until it was fixed. But given that there has been delayed responses from the site, and that this issue has persisted for around a month... I realized that I had to post anyway.

If anyone's still reading this- (Which I hope people are!) Give me a review or two, or some sort of sign that you're reading. It means a lot to me and helps me keep the motivation to keep this story going.

But even if no one is reading this... I'll continue anyway. I made a promise that the show must go on- so no matter what happens, I'll finish this story. But giving a sign that you're reading, especially at this moment, would be really helpful.

That being said- Enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 40: I'll make you Believe in me

Kai was thinking to himself while still standing right next to the Pokémon center where he and his two friends separated from him. He had returned all three of his Pokémon to their balls due to them making too much noise and distracting their trainer.

"Well…" Kai said. "It's time for to get stronger. But how?" Kai pondered to himself for a moment. For a while he was a bit ahead of the average trainer thanks to his consistent battles with Nemona back when School was still in session. For a moment, Kai thought back to what happened. He'd remembered the times when Nemona would consistently beat him over and over again, but then cheered him up when he was down about himself. Nemona was a good friend, but an even better training partner.

Because of his constant battles with his best friend, he was used to having a stronger opponent as a training partner. It was tough, but it It's why he was able to beat his other opponents without needing to train extra hard- because he was somewhat already ahead of them. It was like working out and training with 40-pound dumbbells for weeks, then suddenly shifting to 20-pound dumbbells. Of course, because of how hard the previous task was, the other one will be much easier to do.

That being said- that didn't mean he didn't struggle through his previous fights, oh no. Kai was only slightly above average. Geeta even knew this- which was why she told the first gym leader to go all out. So regardless of how confident Kai felt about his own ability… the truth was that he was...exceptional.

After all of this time… he was actually acknowledging the truth. He was actually pretty strong. And it felt good. However, stronger and more terrifying opponents are going to be flung his way. The Bombirdier… the next gym battles… heck- even that girl Eri of Team Star. Eventually, he'd have to fight those enemies. And so, he had to prepare.

Finding someone or some Pokémon who was equal to his strength would be difficult… and Nemona wasn't here. Nemona as a training partner felt really ideal for him, though. Since she was so much stronger, it felt like he had something to aspire to during his training session. Maybe he could give her a call really quickly- knowing she'd bolt over to him in an instant.

Kai pulled his phone out, and dialed Nemona's number. After waiting for a bit, he suddenly heard a message…

"This number is currently unavailable- the user's phone is off." The phone said.

"Huh," Kai muttered. "Nemona usually picks up in a second. Wonder if she's up to something… Oh well. Back up plan time." What Pokémon or trainer, (other than Nemona) was stronger than he was and available to fight? Strong enough for there to be a gap for him to work towards...? Kai gasped as he realized the answer to his question. It was obvious.

Titan Bombirdier.

It was much, much stronger than Kai- and it was a perfect opponent for him. But…was it smart to go after a Wild Pokémon that had to be...several times stronger than him...?

'Don't tell me you're doubting yourself now.'

Kai's thoughts made him nearly gasp. Everything around him became pitch black. And that only meant one thing. 'He' was coming. The manifestation of his own inner thoughts. Kai turned his head. He saw his other self. No longer was his eyes yellow- it was the same color as Kai's.

'You were able to do something for once.' The other Kai said. 'You were able to beat a gym leader. You beat Mela!'

'I know.. but-'

'But nothing! Listen to me. If you can beat those two, you can beat anyone. You hear me? Anyone! '

'But-'

'Remember that time when you created a miracle and beat Mela despite the odds?! That felt great- didn't it!? It did, right!'

'Yeah, it did! But...Aeon sai-'

'Is Aeon here right now? What's he going to do- stop you? Now, What're you going to do!? You're going to go fight that Bombirdier, and do your best! You're going to go in there and kick it's butt!'

Kai's eyes widened- realizing that he was thinking of the same words Nemona said to him when he was about to fight in the Team Star Base by himself for the first time.

'So- are you going to do it?! You're going to fight Bombirdier, right!?'

Kai clenched his fists- and his other self mirrored his movements.

'Yeah.'

'Yeah..!'

'YEAH..!'

'YEAH..!'

A confident grin started to grow on Kai's face.

"YEAH!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. The moment he did this, the darkness around him faded, and his other self was gone. That was something he'd never experienced before. It was like he kind of had a mini-Nemona in his head.

It was… nice.

Now to find Bombirdier.

Bombardier was roosting in the middle of the massive crater it created when it dropped a tree onto the ground from very high up in the sky.

"Hey- you!" Kai's voice made the Pokémon's head turn. Kai stood behind it. It shook its body before turning around to see the boy clad in his Invoker Armor and wielding Quaxwell's weapon.

"Show me what you can do!"

Kai felt chills as the Titan Pokémon screeched at him. But despite the danger, his lips formed a smile. His heart was racing- and the rush he felt… was incredible. It was intoxicating, even.

"Come on!" Kai cried- his eyes shining blue due to activating Flow without realizing it.

Kai awoke with a start on a hospital bed. He turned his head and saw Nurse Joy standing beside him.

"Wha-!?" Kai cried.

"Your unconscious body was found after you were dropped by a…massive Bombirdier in the middle of a forest," Nurse Joy said.

Kai smirked. Then, he began to chuckle- and that chuckling erupted into laughter. Aeon was right. That Titan WAS several times stronger than him. But that rush that he had… the feeling was like no other. He wanted to have a taste of that feeling again. Kai hopped off of the hospital bed, not once looking at the concerned-looking nurse.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," Kai said. "But…you and I are going to be seeing each other a lot more."

"What..?!"

Nurse Joy immediately ran to the door Kai was headed for and extended her arms outward.

"What do you mean, 'seeing each other a lot more?!"

"Ahh- you're worried. Makes sense." Kai said.

"Explain yourself!"

"Let's just say…I decided to play a game on the hardest difficulty. That thing that just beat me… I'm gonna fight it again and again."

"What-..?!"

"The thing that just beat me- The Titan Bombirdier. Even though it's several times stronger than me, I'm gonna keep fighting until I'm satisfied."

"Wh- Why not just fight opponents around your level, and gradually grow from there?!"

"Yeah, that'd be the sensible thing to do."

"So why not just do that!?"

"Cause that's boring. Fighting against that Bombirdier…was the most fun I've had in a long, long time."

"That doesn't make what you're doing any less crazy!"

"Something I realized during my travels… is that believing in myself is a little crazy. How could I, of all people, become the strongest trainer in the world? How could I, of all people, become the champion? There are hundreds of thousands and thousands of trainers out there- all with the same goal. The chances of me being the one that rises and becomes the best… is incredibly slim. It's near impossible. But yet, someone becomes the champion. Somehow, someway. It's because that person looked at the odds and spat in its face."

Kai pointed at himself with his thumb.

"I wanna be like that," Kai continued. "I've always wanted to be like that, but for so long- I never thought I could do it. But for the first time in my life- I'm starting to truly think I can. You may think I'm crazy. But believing in the idea of becoming the champion requires a bit of insanity."

Kai stepped forward.

"There are people in this world who've, despite the incredible odds against them, despite the countless losses they've had-...they've pushed through to become champions. Nemona, Geeta…they didn't care about the odds. They only had one dream- one goal: They wanted to be the very best. Like no one ever was. They say that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity…But guess what? I expect different results after trying again and again."

Nurse Joy lowered her head. A shadow loomed over her eyes.

"If you're worried about my life being in danger, I'll run away. I'm insane- not stupid."

Nurse Joy slowly lowered her arms. Tears began to flow from the Nurse's eyes. Kai's eyes widened with shock.

"I-... used to be a trainer, like you. But I gave up on my dream, because I thought I could never beat the odds. But you-..."

"I remind you of yourself?" Kai said.

Nurse Joy nodded.

"My thoughts crushed me- I thought after losing countless times, that there was no point to continuing. So- I didn't want you to go through the same thing."

"Well, I'm going to lose countless times." Kai said. "There's no way to avoid that. But it isn't about winning. Not anymore. It's about growing and becoming stronger. I don't care if I lose a million times. If I can stand right back up and learn something from it, then it was worth it. Do you know what it takes to create a Diamond? It takes a lot, and I mean, a lot of pressure. But after all of that's done, Diamonds become one of the most hard and unbreakable things on the planet. I'm a Diamond that's in the process of being made. And once all of that pressure that's needed to make me is done, I'll become unbreakable. If you don't believe in me, I'll make you believe in me."

"Just tell me why- why you're doing all this- why you're deciding now's the time to become strong..?"

Kai crossed his arms.

"For so long, I looked at the result. If i lost, then I was a failure. If I won, then I'd deserve praise. It was all-or-nothing gamble, so I put too much pressure on myself. I couldn't grow as a trainer, let alone a person. But now.. I finally see…that fights aren't about the result. What matters the most, even over the goal itself is that…I have fun. For me, the fun part is beating the odds. Giving a big fat I-told-you-so to people who doubted me. Turning those doubters into people who believe in me and acting like the coolest guy around. I always wanted to be like that. So… Now I'm thinking to myself, 'what would the coolest person around do?' Become champion, that's what."

Kai nodded to himself and uncrossed his arms.

"For the first time in my life.. I want to become Champion because I want to, not because my friend Nemona told me to. So, from now on, I'm going to say what I want to say. Be arrogant whenever I want to be arrogant. Even to the point of insanity… because to me, that's what makes battles fun. People may think that I'm stupid…or that I'm a jerk… or may not even like me… but that's okay. I have to keep that 'insanity' with me and believe that I am okay. That I am worth being liked no matter what. As long as I'm always on my side, even when the world is against me… I can do anything."

Nurse Joy nodded once again and stepped aside.

"I'll believe in you," She said. "Do what you think is best."

"Yet another doubter…turned into a believer. Although, you weren't the first." Kai placed a hand on his chest. "I was my first doubter…and I turned myself into a believer. Anyway… I'll see you again in… I dunno, 15 minutes? Maybe 20?"

Kai then left the hospital room, keeping that same smile he showed Nurse Joy.

'You've grown.' Kai's inner thoughts came to him again.

'Obviously, yeah.' Kai responded. 'Although, Brain, I'd like it if we focused less on that, and more on fighting that Bombirdier.'

'All right.'

The Titan Bombirdier was inside of its cave. Its wounds from its fight with Kai were mostly healed by now thanks to the special herbs that were growing inside of its home. After munching on it for a while, the flying-dark type's body shone with green colors as its wounds healed. As it spun around, looking out the massive entrance it came through- it shook its whole body before preparing to take flight. As it began flapping its massive wings, gusts of wind powerful enough to shake the leaves of the trees around it blew by. After its talons left the ground, it slowly took flight. As it flew, it held the cloth around its body with its beak, and its eyes darted around with malicious intent. Perhaps it was looking for something, or someone, to take up into the air and drop onto the ground.

Suddenly, a boulder the size of a beach ball smashed against the flying type's stomach with incredible speed. The Titan started plummeting to the ground- its large body crushing the trees below before creating a loud, thunderous noise as it crash-landed.

"Whassup?" Bombirdier heard the voice of a boy and turned its head to him. It was Kai- with his invoker armor on. He had Tinkatuff's weapon, a pink sledgehammer, and leaned against it with his elbow on the handle. He then swung his elbow against the handle and caused it to twirl like a windmill over his head. Kai caught it without looking up, and then aimed his weapon at the Titan. "You mad? Angry, even?"

Bombirdier's eyes widened in rage.

"What's wrong?" Kai asked, grinning. "Go on, get nice and salty* for me!"

The Titan Pokémon lifted its body up from the ground and took flight once again. Bombirdier's ferocious screech was loud enough to send the trees around the boy into a panic. As he felt his monstrous foe's boisterous roar, something inside Kai began to awaken. His grin began to widen. This was it. This rush- this feeling… The feeling he felt when he felt like he was on top of the world- that he could do anything…

"Is that all you've got?! I know you have more power than that! Show me everything you've got! Or else you'll never get rid of me!"

The Bombirdier's entire body exploded with a yellow aura.

Chills ran down the boy's spine as he took labored steps forward, the beast's incredible breath pushed his body back, but not his excitement.

"That's it- Right there- that's your full power, isn't it?!" Kai shouted. He entered a battle stance as his eyes shone blue. An explosion of fairy and steel type energy radiated around the boy. The earth around the two began to tremble before their might.

"It's still not enough! You'll have to do more than that to stop me!"

He was loving every second of this. The rush- the feeling of fighting against the incredible odds against him- the battle…it didn't even matter anymore if he lost. All that mattered was this battle- the amount of fun that he'd have. Maybe Nemona did rub off on him a little.

"THAT'S… What I'm talking about..!" Kai cried. Then, he began shouting a battle roar right back at the Titan who was about to fight him.

On the rooftop of the Pokémon League, the battle to determine the strongest trainer in the region had concluded. Geeta's back was turned to Nemona, who fell to her hands and knees and had her invoker armor disengaged. Geeta's invoker armor, which had the same look it took when she Tera-fused with Kingambit.

Geeta wordlessly sheathed her blade. A shadow loomed over her eyes as she did this.

Nemona chuckled.

"You beat me..!" She shouted. "That was a good fight-"

Intense anger washed over Geeta's face the moment she said this- and she turned her head.

"How dare you insult me..!?" Geeta cried. Nemona's eyes widened. "You- You held back against me, and you dare say that it was a 'good fight'?! I saw you- when I used Klowtow Kleave- you dodged every attack- but then let yourself get hit by the last one..!"

Nemona didn't say anything- she just kept staring like she saw a ghost.

"You insult me by coming to this league- challenging me again only to tell me with your actions that all of my training- all of my efforts... was for nothing...!?" Geeta placed a hand on her own face as tears began rolling down her cheeks. "Despite everything I've done... all of the training I did...! It wasn't enough...!? Why...!?"

As Geeta began to sob, an immense feeling of guilt washed over Nemona, one that she wasn't alien to. She thought back to the first time she felt this way.

"She's too powerful..!" She remembered one of her old friends saying.

"I can't fight her anymore- she's crazy strong... I don't want to be around her.." The voice of another student that she used to be friends with echoed in her mind.

"She keeps asking for fights even though she crushes us... does she just want to flaunt how good she is..?" Yet another student's voice echoed in her mind.

Nemona stood up and turned away from Geeta, tears of her own forming as she made her exit.

Author's note:

*Salty: A slang term used for describing someone who is angry or becoming angry.

"Wow, did you see how angry Sean was!?"

"Yeah- he was really salty for no reason!"