Title: Alto Liebe: A Pokemon Journey
Summary: Pokemon crossover
"Leon Fou Bartfort, we challenge you to a Pokemon battle!" a pretentiously regal voice sounded behind me.
These challenges had been going on for quite some time. Curse the Holfort region's Pokemon league system. It just had to grant gym leader status to all noble families. Because I was an independent baron, I couldn't offload my duties onto Dad, the head of the Bartfort family.
It wouldn't have been so bad had it not been for the fact that I was a fresh noble with no backing. I had no followers to act as a filter for me. This meant almost every noble challenged me thinking I would be an easy gym badge.
The rural boys saw this as an opportunity to gain some prestige, which didn't make sense since everybody would know my badge was worthless due to my lack of experience. The higher nobles within my battling tier range saw it as an opportunity to put me in my place, which was all the more embarrassing for them when none of them could get past my first Pokemon (Luxion was far too overpowered).
I couldn't even throw my matches since there were penalties for gym leaders should they lose too often. That was also ignoring the fact that other nobles would be incentivized to invade my territory because I would be seen as weak.
Winning wasn't even any better since battle junkies saw me as a challenge.
The worst part was that I didn't even get a badge for winning. Because the ones challenging me were only the heirs, their badge wasn't on the line. It wasn't a symmetric ante system. This in turn meant that my upward progression in tiers was gated as I needed to earn badges to be able to progress. I was basically capped as the top of the bottom wrung... hooray...
The only silver lining was that the big shots couldn't challenge me. A certain protective policy to prevent us lower nobles from being completely decimated.
Haaaa... This sucks. Best to get this over with. Turning around, I saw the five and their lover.
What the shit?
"Unfortunately, you five are outside of my battling tier," I said obstinately as a daunting thought came to mind.
"But Olivia is not, and she will be the one to defeat you," Julius said as he pushed the protagonist forward. Why was Olivia being pushed to do it, aside from the rank requirements? Julius seemed far too insistent, and with the way he looked at me... there was some odd hostility.
I narrowed my eyes. "But why? What prompted this challenge?"
"It's cowards like you abusing the battling system that undermine the sanctity of our league," Greg snarled.
"Pardon?"
"Feigning ignorance, eh? I suppose that should be expected, given your need to bully the weak."
"What in the hell are you talking about? When I have done that? In fact, what is this bullying you speak of?!"
Jilk scoffed.
"Pay no mind to Greg. He's simply miffed that you're beating his battling record, though I suppose I can't fault him. After all, it is rather sly to keep swimming in your small pond. A rather facetious way to up your standing by beating small fry."
"... Are you talking about how everyone's been challenging me for my badge?!"
"A rather ingenious plan by presenting yourself as an easy target by not having any followers."
Brad decided to interject and said, "Now, now. Perhaps it's not a ploy. He certainly doesn't seem cunning enough based on his look confusion. Perhaps it's simply that he lacks the charisma to gather followers or the confidence to challenge real battlers."
Did... did he just insult me thrice in his attempt to defend me?
"Look. I don't know why you are all hostile to me, but I'll put all my cards on the table. I just became a baron little over two months ago. People see me as an easy badge due to a combination of factors including being new and having no followers. By the time people realized I wouldn't roll over and die, people didn't want to become my follower due to the number of challengers and the fact that more enthusiastic challengers began showing up. As for not ranking up to a more appropriate level, it's kinda hard to do so when I'm stuck at school and all the battlers I need to fight for a badge are within their own territories."
Chris scoffed.
"Such a well thought out excuse. Almost as if you know exactly what you are doing."
"Just straight in one ear and out the other with you lot," I grumbled.
"We'll not let you continue on with this mockery," the protagonist said as she stepped forward with Pokeball in hand.
This sucked. I think I became a boss encounter. From a gameplay standpoint, I should let her win. Winning here only served to endanger us all, but, if I were to lose here, who knows how bad it could go. Losing to the commoner would surely have worse repercussions than losing to some upstart noble.
It would be a different thing if the five battled me. At least then people would attribute it to the difference in our battling tier. But judging from their attitudes, they wanted to humiliate me. Giving me an out was off the table.
"... Fine. Not like I have a choice in the matter," I said while drawing out my Pokeball. I noticed the smug looks on the five.
"What's the meaning of all this?" another voice called out.
Looking at the source, I saw the villainess marching in. This did not bode well. The only question was who she would side with.
"Stand back, Angelica. He has accepted the duel," Julius said imperiously.
I saw Angelica's eyes wide. It had a look of fear.
"You can't do that. Regardless of his record, he's still too low of a tier for you to challenge," she rapidly said. I had little doubt this was to preserve Julius's image than for any concern for my wellbeing.
Jilk chuckled. "Not to worry. Olivia here is the challenger."
Angelica looked at the girl apprehensively. No doubt she was weighing the ramifications. Even if Olivia was the one battling, she was acting as a representative for the five. Her loss could potentially drag down the five by mere association.
But the possibility of hurting Olivia's standing woth the five must be enticing for her. A bit of foolish thought since these boys didn't care about capability. They were the type to fawn over the damsel in distress... Actually, they were the type to fawn over the protagonist.
I suppose it didn't matter in the end. Angelica was weighing decisions over a matter that was already settled.
After a few more moments, Angelica said, "Fine, but I shall be acting as referee."
None of the challengers seemed too keen on the idea but kept there grumbles to the minimum.
"What format shall we be using?"
"I'd much rather get this over with quickly. I'd prefer a one-on-one," I said lazily.
That apparently offended the six.
"Come now. Don't be such a bore. So little room for tactics using such a limitation," Jilk said snootily.
Angelica interjected.
"As the recipient of the challenge, it is his right to determine the nature of the challenge. If you find it unacceptable, either retract the challenge or civilly discuss the matter."
I just sighed. Looking at the party, they just saw it as me trying to be a cheat.
"Haa, don't bother. They don't care and will probably just keep bothering me until I give in."
Angelica gave me a defiant look.
"More reason to abide by the rules. This is meant to protect you in such scenarios."
"And they'll only call me a coward for doing so. They've already done so simply because I can't go challenge noble heads for badges. Damned if I do and damned if I don't."
Angelica gave me a complicated look. Odd.
Whatever, I decided to play into their game, but with my own rules.
I called out in an irritated tone, "Fine. We'll do one-on-six. Happy now?"
"Such a louse to suggest such a handicap," Chris said with indignation. This was followed by several calls of me being a coward by the rest of the crew.
"Huh? I'd figure you all would leap at the chance to have such a numerical advantage.
This silenced them. How could it not? I was, to an extent, making a mockery of the battling system.
After a few beats, Julius finally said, "Such arrogance!"
"What are you playing at?" Angelica asked me point blank.
Nothing that would make sense to Angelica probably. The way I figured was that playing fair would never work in my favor. Beating the protagonist just made me seem like a bully. Losing to the commoner protagonist made me seem weak.
So not playing fair was the only answer. By using such stacked odds, no one would dare consider me weak if I so happened to lose. I was just a cocky noble. It happens.
On the off chance that I were to win... that was something to consider if it came to that.
"If they wish to use a full team, I'll not stop them, but I very much don't have an interest in spending more time than strictly necessary. Besides, no one's been able to force me to switch out as of yet."
"But these are the founding heirs! They are a league above the best you've had to face!"
I stilled at that. That was odd. Was she rooting for me? Shaking my intrusive thoughts away, I corrected her.
"The challenge came from Olivia, who I sincerely doubt has nearly as much experience as the five."
Angelica gave me an apprehensive look before nodding.
"Very well, do you accept the terms of the battle, Olivia?"
"I accept."
"Then, let the battle begin."
I put Luxion's ball back on my belt. Might as well use my weakest Pokemon to bridge the gap as much as possible.
"Go, Iron Treads," I said while tossing out one of Luxion's recreations.
"Go, Chillbert!" Olivia called out. Guess she named her Pokemon.
"What?!" Angelica said after hearing the name.
"Hm?" I queried.
We all waited with baited breath as we waited for the Pokemon fully formed into a Prinplup. The sight infuriated the villainess.
"What's she doing with your starter, Your Highness?!"
Oh dear... this was going to escalate. It was one thing to fight with the founding heirs' backing. It was a completely different issue now that it had just come out that Olivia was using their Pokemon. It had implications.
Predictably, each of the heirs had donated a Pokemon for the fight. Brad had donated a Braixen, Chris had donated a Dewott, Greg had donated an Thwackey, and Jilk had donated a Frogadier. I noticed that they had all donated an evolved starter. Was it because they had no other Pokemon, it was the strongest they had, or was it some symbolic gesture?
In any case, none of these Pokemon could stand up to my Paradox Pokemon.
Not even Olivia's Kirlia was able to put up a fight. It was far too onesided a match.
It was concerning. I shook away those thoughts. I was overthinking things. Of course the Pokemon were weak. It was still the first semester. I couldn't judge them now compared to there final year.
Plus, I knew my team was endgame level. I may not know the ins and outs, but a full team of Paradox Pokemon would surely see me through the end of this godforsaken game.
Just treat this as a mandatory loss for the player. Show the protagonist what is to come.
"You are far too advanced for your tier," Angelica said with a rather tired expression. No doubt she was in for some rough nights now that the heirs' had functionally been defeated due to lending their partners for the match. I'd of held back if I could, but I couldn't in any plausible way.
Returning my Pokemon to its Pokeball, I shrugged.
"Blame how the system works."
Angelica gave me a frown before tossing me something. Catching it, I saw it was a small metallic pin with a red motif.
"That is a qualifier badge. You can bypass the followers and challenge the head of any family affiliated with the Redgrave faction. I expect you to raise your rank appropriately as soon as possible."
The secondary message was received. We can't shame the five with a loss to someone from the bottom rank.
Secrecy was out knowing how loud the my were.
Ugh, so troublesome.
AN
1) Holfort League is set up so that every noble family is the equivalent of a gym. The head of the household or proxies may be challenged for a gym badge. Followers may be used as preliminary battles to determine if a challenger is worthy to try for the badge. Other methods of approval can be granted. Ie, a family at the head of a faction can allow challengers to bypass conditions set by families within the faction.
2) There are several tiers for battling. Tier advancement requires both good win rates and a certain number of badges from the current tier or better. Badges are valued based on the head of house's battle tier.
3) Heirs of houses are expected to be at most one to two tiers below their head of house.
4) Formal challenges can only be done between battlers within two tiers for the sake of everyone's safety and time.
5) Noble house rank typically correlates with battle tier. There are exceptions.
6) The founding families are the equivalent of the Elite Four and Champion. The necessary requirement to be able to challenge them virtually requires claiming almost every badge available.
7) I chose Leon to have future Paradox Pokemon as his team because it fits what I would expect from Luxion, high tech and fairly upper end.
8) The heirs were all given starter Pokemon because of their hugh status. This is not the norm. Their teams will progressively get stronger and more in tune with their personalities as they gain more experience and catch more. Ie, Chris's endgame would have a legendary like Zacian sword.
9) Julius would have a team comprised of mostly King/Emperor themed Pokemon. Jilk will have more ninja/snake/dirty fighters. Chris is obviously sword themed. Etc.
10) Olivia will have a more psychic/fairy composition. When possessed, the odd ghost type will be added.
11) The legendary beasts of Fanoss will be Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, and Mega Rayquaza. You know, just absolutely broken.
Review Response
Dragon Blaze-X: I don't really do mecha based because trying to do action sequences in text is hard. Also, most crossovers with mechas don't do much in terms of changing the dynamics due to Leon already having something Gundam level. There are good ones like the Armored crossover by Slug Slinger, but I just don't have it in me for a small snippet.
dawnwatch: Yeah, pretty much this is how you can probably get me to write something specific.
partner555: Honestly, Hufflepuff. Most of the lower noble boys would get sorted into Hufflepuff, which also then feeds into the idea that Hufflepuff is the house of losers.
ZealJD: Yes, avoid the lower Slytherin girls if at all possible. However, good girls are in short supply. As for better house environments in other houses, yes and no. There are elitists in each house, and they will let you know where you stand. The Slytherin lower noble girls are the worst though. Still somehow good at leveraging things in their favor due to the societal expectations placed on the boys and because there are enough of them networking within their groups to stay afloat (Forest of Ladies).
lupus23: More of an easter egg to tie in the fact that it is a videogame world, however, it does not follow either time periods. This is still way far into the future compared to the two.
Worldbringer Joseun: Marie gets sorted mainly because her thoughts are so single minded in her pursuit that the hat only sits on her head for a second (think Draco Malfoy). Basically not enough time to get a real look in her head. The upper years are still taught by the other staff members on rotation. As for why Lucas acts as temporary head of house for Gryffindor, there are several. The maternity leave is only temporary and Holfort doesn't want to train or hire new staff for that. Out of the three heads of houses, Lucas os the most fair. In a future plot point, Lucas is slated to become headmaster. Etc.
JD: Eh, I could come up with several reasons why Marie gets under the radar compared to Leon.
1) All staff positions are filled.
2) Marie's singleminded goal gets her sorted immediately with almost no interaction (think Draco Malfoy). Basically so Slytherin that the Sorting Hat just phones it in.
3) The Sorting Hat sees that Marie is not fit for society yet and views her mentally as a slightly more mature child.
4) It amuses him. Sort of /s. Depends of where someone wants to take this fic.
Could come up with more, but at that point it just comes down to what you are willing to accept in your suspension of disbelief.