Beta: Gerald of Revea
AN: I have retcon'd a slight bit of Chapter 5. Particularly when Mewtwo calls Cloud's legendary a bird. The bird retcon'd. I looked at that storyline, realized it was crap, changed it. Chapter 5 has been updated to reflect this. Also tournament is starting first scene next chapter. Again, images are Discord & QQ Exclusives.
-Cloud, 2 years ago-
"Thunder!"
Raiden outsped the Lapras easily. Not only was he faster because of his own base speed, but the Sticky Webs ensured every Pokémon I sent out would be faster than Reds.
Which made it all the more frustrating when it was useless at the end of the day.
It was my fuck-up. Teaching Galvantula Thunder instead of Thunderbolt was a mistake on my part. When he missed in previous circumstances, it didn't matter. He was generally stronger than the other Pokémon anyway and would get the win.
So it was just my luck that Thunder missed for the Third time in this battle.
In a row.
Lapras practically danced around the attack, spinning in place before shooting an ice beam in retaliation.
"Fuck," I hissed, returning him to his Pokéball before he could get any more hurt. "Fuckity fuck fuck."
Red was practically running circles around me. I underestimated him, my Pokémon were stronger than his, able to take more hits and deal out more damage, but getting those hits in the first place felt hard to come by.
I genuinely thought his entire team was using Bright Powder or something, because I felt more unlucky than usual.
Ignoring Thunder missing three times in a row, he has been spot-on with his predictions. Twice he was able to power up when I tried using Sucker Punch. This, along with him not calling out his attacks, made this battle one of the toughest I've ever fought.
I was losing. But I was having fun. I was annoyed at my luck, but my heart was pounding a mile a minute. He had taken out five of my team, and I've only taken out three of his.
The only Pokémon I had left was my starter. And he still hadn't even brought out his Charizard yet.
He shouldn't be this strong. His Pokémon, should not be as strong as they are. He's barely been on his Journey, but his team was the strongest I have ever faced.
The team you make for journeying is never the best team for battling. I prepared for this battle. Red didn't. I've made sure my Pokémon were EV-trained, and Red battled whatever wild Pokémon without care.
Shaking my head, I tossed out my final Pokémon, my starter announcing himself with a roar that shook the nearby landscape.
My strongest Pokémon is also my first. It was weird. I was still trying to figure out if I tried drugs or if I was actually in the Pokémon world. He seemed concerned about me and I was touched.
I thought he would be my team mascot. Not very strong but good to have around.
Watching him take out a horde of Stoutland nipped that in the bud then and there.
Dovahkin wasn't just stronger than most of his kind. He was unnaturally stronger than them. And it took me ages to realize why. He wasn't just an over-leveled Pokémon, he was an outlier.
A Partner Pokémon.
Partner Pokémon always come with perfect IVs and have around 100 more base stats than their counterparts. Being unique as they are, only two Pokémon have ever been recognized as such. Pikachu & Eevee from the Let's Go games.
Then I found my buddy and that was third. A serious Chatot that seemed very insistent on following me around.
And one of the strongest Pokémon I have ever seen.
"Boomburst!"
There are many moves people consider to be 'destructive.' Moves like Explosion, Self-destruct, Hyper Beam, and nearly all the Z-moves would be good examples. Boomburst isn't considered on that list because it doesn't do any environmental damage.
Usually.
Leaves left their branches. Branches left their trees.
Wild Pokémon started to hurriedly run away from the battle, scared of getting caught in the crossfire.
A small avalanche was triggered on the peak of Mount Silver, sending snow cascading down its slopes.
And Lapras lay on the ground, having fainted from taking the full brunt of the attack.
"We've got two more to go!"
His Pikachu suffered the same fate. Even if his Pikachu was faster, Sticky Webs made it a non-issue. Red knew his Pikachu would go down in a single attack.
So he used Quick Attack and fainted soon after.
A grin slowly crept onto my face as I felt the battle shift in my favor, before I paused, watching Red send out Charizard.
My Pokémon should be able to defeat Red. I believed this a fact up until halfway through my battle. My Pokémon were missing attacks more often than not, Red getting in status effects every time, even now that I have the upper hand.
I felt like I was going to lose this battle.
Not because he was stronger than me. But because it felt like I was in an impossible battle. That if I had a royal flush in my hands, the dealer would say my cards were fake and sweep the issue under the rug.
'Is it truly possible for me to win this?'
I started analyzing the battle in my head over and over again, realizing things didn't make sense. Red's luck was unnatural. Almost like-
"He knows what I'm going to do next," I whispered.
My thoughts raced a mile a minute as I tried to find a workaround. He knows I'm going to use Boomburst and there's a ninety-ish percent chance Boomburst takes him out on the first hit. If it doesn't I lose.
Then I had a thought.
'What if I gave him a reason to lose? Or at the very least draw?'
If he is able to beat me, then clearly he doesn't need anything from me. But if he still had some catching up to do…would he turn down a free Pokémon? An extremely rare one at that?
And if he beats me still?
'Wow, you are pretty strong! I was going to give ya a Pokémon as a helping hand, but it looks like you are pretty strong already!'
If I remember that conversation after he beats it means it was just bad luck on my part. I lost a fair battle.
All he has to do is take the bait.
"Boomburst!"
The attack connected. My Chatot being just barely faster than his Charizard.
But it wasn't enough.
It was a low-role attack, Charizard just barely getting through by the skin of his teeth. His body was lit up in flames as he charged at Chatot.
My heart stilled for a brief moment, seeing Chatot take the attack head-on but still land on his feet. Charizard landed a moment later, the two eyeing each other as they both breathed in heavily.
A few moments later, both of them fell to the ground, unconscious.
Neither of us said a word as we both returned our Pokémon.
Anger rose up within me, but I quickly pushed it down. As much as I'd like to curse him out, call him a cheater, and a bunch of other things, I can't.
I can't let him know that I know what he can do.
I left him a parting gift, a shiny Dratini I found in the game corner. I left giving him some parting words, telling him to get stronger and he might be able to beat me next time.
I hated the idea of acting like an NPC, but in the end, it worked. The battle stayed as a draw, and learned the battle wasn't a fluke.
And that in order to win I had to step up my game.
I needed to figure out a way to beat someone who can time-travel.
-Sonia-
It wasn't working.
She had tried to convince Cloud to do things the right way. She has tried it over and over again but ever since that Geeta situation, it has gotten worse.
He would always have a way to justify his actions, but it would have been so much easier and better if he didn't do them in the first place. And once Cloud got an idea into his head, he was stubborn to let it go.
But telling Cloud to change for the sake of 'doing the right thing' won't work. She had tried that and had been stonewalled multiple times because of it.
Ignoring how no league would ever sanction a tournament where a person could be won, Cloud could still follow the spirit of the prize. Change to whoever wins will win his…heart.
Definitely not, she couldn't allow something like that.
So in order for this to change, she needed to change how she would handle this as well. She needed to adapt. She needed to be crafty. She needed to get her point across in such a way like it was Cloud that came up with it in the first place.
"I'm not here to stop you having your tournament, but what I do want you to do is listen. There will be too many people. If you go through with this? If this gets even more attention? Hundreds of thousands of people won't just show up to watch. They will want a shot at winning as well."
"What's the problem with that?" he rose a brow. "Let everyone shoot their shot, and the strong will come out on top."
"Because of logistics," she stressed. "It would be impossible to set up. Let's give a very conservative estimate, and say there are about 50,000 contestants. That would be 25,000 matches for the first round." She leaned in, meeting Cloud's eyes. "How many hours do you think it would take if there were 15 different matches per hour?"
"...Okay, I get the point you are trying to make here. There'd be a lot of people and it would take weeks to get through them all."
"Months" she corrected. "So we stop that from happening in the first place. At the very least, an entry fee. Maybe something like a 10000 Pokédollars. Something any trainer can afford, but know they would be wasting it if they had to go against champions, right?"
It would cull some of the weaker Pokémon trainers, ensure there were fewer trainers overall to worry about and generate income. Something Cloud would realize and then start to realize he hadn't thought this all the way through.
"Fuck, I forgot about the fodder," he muttered, making her eyebrow twitch. "Yeah, all that makes sense. We should do all that."
"Even still, thousands of trainers would want a go at this. We need to narrow it down further for the best trainers. That's why we need a new rule. Each contestant must have at least 8 badges to participate."
Despite being the 'organizer' of this whole debacle, Cloud still wanted to take part. Fight for his own freedom. If that happens, she was just making it all the more likely he came out on top. Up'ing the entry requirements would cut down the list dramatically. Most trainers don't get past their fourth or fifth badge. She herself only had seven, and while she thinks she could get her eighth nowadays, it wasn't her calling.
"And what about people from regions that don't have any Gyms?" He asked, catching her off guard. "Regions like Fiore, Almia, and Oblivia-"
"The tournament is in four months Cloud, enough time for any experienced trainer to get 8 Gym badges if they wanted to."
"...Fuck." He sighed, and she felt an overwhelming feeling of relief. "Yeah, I forgot about all that stuff," he admitted, giving her a thumbs up. "That's why I have you around! You fix my mistakes before I make them!" And didn't that sound like an unhealthy relationship?
"Then we can start by fixing the next mistake. The prize."
"The prize won't matter if I win, It's there to-"
"The prize is stupid" she cut him off, taking him aback. "Stupid, lazy, uninspired, and illegal."
"Lazy?" He blinked. "Uninspired?! Hey there's nothing cooler than an all-or-nothing tournament that-"
"You're doing the exact same thing with this tournament as you've done with Geeta. A big all-or-nothing gambit where your Pokémon is on the line."
"Yeah but this time, I'm-"
"You are reusing material."
That stopped Cloud in his tracks, going completely silent at the accusation. She had to stop herself from smiling because it meant Cloud was starting to see sense.
She didn't know why Cloud wanted a tournament in the first place. If anything, she thought Cloud would try to battle through different regions and try his luck against other Champions. So the fact Cloud decided to go with a tournament instead surprised her.
Which made it all the more surprising when he didn't back down.
"No, Sonia. Not the prize. That's something we can't change."
"Explain."
"Right so, there's this guy."
Oh?
"And he's the strongest trainer in the world."
Oh?!
"And if I'm going to battle him, we need something more appealing than money to get him to join the tournament. A bunch of new Pokémon is just that."
Does that mean, Cloud is- but the innuendos, the flirting, wait-.
"This trainer," she hesitated. "Have you battled him before?"
"Yes," he scowled, taken aback by the amount of venom in his tone. "We fought before, we drew, he disappeared. I need to battle him again."
…All of this, to get someone's attention?
Her mind hadn't been on romance for some time- she already knew what she wanted- but if Cloud liked this other trainer then-. No! She will not be losing this race! She needed to step up her game if she was going to be competing against someone that Cloud thinks is the strongest. She wasn't going to lose to some...some guy!
"And what's the name of this trainer?" she gripped her pen tightly. "Anyone I'd know?"
"No, you wouldn't know him," he sighed. "And I hope you never do. He's bad news. And better at causing trouble than I am. Sonia, if you ever meet the guy, you need to run." he pressed, and she finally realized the gravity of the situation.
Cloud was worried about this guy. And he wanted to beat him in a Pokémon battle.
At the very least, her heart was starting to calm down. She was actually worried for a moment there.
"And you want to use your Pokémon as a lure to battle him again?" she asked, making him sigh once more.
"Incentive. Red needs an incentive. He wins all of his battles so money isn't an issue. Mega stones could work but that's not a guarantee. When I fought him last, he didn't have one, but that could have changed. Something that guarantees him he will come to battle is rare Pokémon—something that I have."
"Cloud, most people don't even know what Pokémon you have in the first place. They know about your team against Geeta, but not the majority of Pokémon you have. Couldn't you just capture rarer Pokémon and make them the prize?"
"The problem with that is, they wouldn't be trained. People want rare Pokémon sure. But Pokémon that can fight on par with Elite Four members and Champions are more valuable to them. Skips the process of having to train them in the first place. Good trainers want Pokémon so they can keep up with the rest of their team."
"And finding wild Pokémon that can fight on that level is next to impossible." She deflated, knowing that she wasn't going to win this argument.
"You're right, is it next to impossible." He agreed, before pausing.
"But it's a lot easier when you know where those Pokémon are."
-Dovahkin-
"No, no no!" Cloud snapped. "If you want to do well in this tournament, you need to have more Pokémon."
"Four months is not enough time to make them strong, coño" Geeta hissed back. "It's better to train the Pokémon I have than hope for some miracle to happen. Carajo!"
"You see it's that type of thinking as to why you lost in the first place! If you want to win, you need to use different Pokémon than what you used to fight me!"
"Don't pretend like you have stronger Pokémon than the six you used to battle me. You used them for a reason!"
"There's a reason why you were able to knock out more than one of my Pokémon. It's because I used to a team to fight the weakest champion, not one to fight the strongest, Pendejo!"
He found a certain comfort in arguments. Ones without malice of course. He didn't start them either but enjoyed it when people spoke with passion. Arguments are when people speak with their truest feelings.
He had heard quite a few during his time living in the guild. Cloud was certainly more colorful in his language than anyone he met before. He thought all humans were like that at first until realizing later that Cloud just enjoyed swearing a little too much.
Humans have long been extinct in his world. When he first arrived in this world, he was dumbstruck. Humanity was thriving in their own civilization and they were working hand-in-hand with Pokémon as well.
When Cloud mentioned they didn't exist in his world, he believed the inverse had occurred. That Pokémon have gone extinct and the knowledge of them has been lost to time.
And both of them have been sent to this world. Where neither humanity nor Pokémon were extinct. Both not knowing how they got here or the reason why they were here in the first place.
He does miss the guild. Deeply so. He spent the first few weeks worrying half to death, the guild could hardly function with their second-in-command gone, and with Wigglytuff being as carefree as he was, he was sure no work was going to get done!
But over time, that worrying feeling became more hollow, replaced by a sense of longing.
He misses his friend.
"Dovahkin," Psyclone appeared beside him, making him groan.
"Just Chatot," he groused. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that little nickname."
As soon as Cloud saw him use Boomburst, he made up his mind and started calling him that. While he was flattered by the comparison, he would rather just be Chatot. Which made it all the more annoying Meowth or Psyclone wouldn't convey that to Cloud.
"You are not training with Cloud's Pokémon. Why?"
"Futility," he huffed. "Cloud wants trainers to use only six Pokémon for the whole tournament," and he understood things from Cloud's perspective. It was a good plan based on what he thought to be true.
If Red could actually cheat like Cloud claims he can, knowing the exact six Pokémon he is using would be extremely helpful. Not that he agreed with his trainer on Red. The idea that a human could jump in and out of time at will was absurd. A way to explain his bad luck in the match.
Which made it all the more intriguing why he didn't have the same reaction when he lost to Leon.
"Cloud has an idea of what he wants. I'd be surprised if he uses any of the Pokémon that he used to fight Geeta with. Perhaps one or two at most."
"And you?"
"Of course, I will be battling, I have a score to settle!" he laughed, flying down from his branch. "But perhaps I have slacked off in my duties. There is one Pokémon I know Cloud wants to use for the tournament."
Psyclone wordlessly followed him, eventually coming across the Pokémon in question.
Cloud had claimed Zacian was one of the strongest Pokémon that ever existed. He said that having Zacian on his team would make nearly every battle he fought an instant win.
Something that Cloud would have undoubtedly found boring in the long run, which is one of the positives he found Zacian the way he was.
Technically, there was nothing wrong with Zacian. He didn't suffer illness or injury or some other nonsense that made him unable to battle. He even had his sword, allowing him to show his truest form.
And when he saw Zacian for the first time, he was excited. Thrilled to even be able to battle him.
Right until he used those glasses of his.
Zacian: Level 3
"He was telling a joke."
"I doubt it," he guffawed, watching Zacian trying to stab his sword into a rock. "Cloud has plenty of time to train. Perhaps Zacian will never regain his memories, but perhaps he can regain his strength."
Zacian had somehow lost his memory. His memory and strength. He and Cloud originally thought he was a newborn, but his move set said otherwise. He'd eat his hat if any Pokémon is born knowing how to use Giga Impact.
"It will be a wasted effort. The fool doesn't have a single thought in his head. He would be wasting his time." Psyclone spoke with frustration, making him shake his head.
"Cloud gave up on him when he shouldn't have. Too lazy to train a Pokémon that didn't have much experience to begin with. Perhaps given some time to polish, Zacian can be one of Cloud's strongest team members."
Psyclone paused at that, looking between himself and Zacian who was now chasing his tail.
"It won't be happening instantly!" he tried to defend Zacian, but Psyclone had already made up his opinion.
"We shall see."
-Cloud-
The problem with setting up a tournament up like this and streaming is that I'd be screwing my new apprentice and Geeta if I showed my Pokémon and their training online.
An important aspect of Pokémon battles is not knowing what Pokémon your opponent will have until the tournament itself. With every battle in a tournament, you learn about what strategy they are using and you have to think of the best way to counter it with the team you bring.
That aspect is more or less non-existent here. People tend to favor using six Pokémon. Most people don't have more than ten and very few have much Pokémon more than that. With a bit of research, you can have an idea in advance of what Pokémon they are going to bring. It's not just skill and strategy that wins battles here, levels provide so much of a difference that they flip the board entirely.
You could be an absolute genius when it comes to Pokémon battles, but if you don't grind and put in the training to your team, you won't amount to anything.
But that doesn't mean those strategies aren't important. I just want everyone to realize that. If my tournament isn't filled with Smogon trainers, then I have failed.
So it's up to me to make them the most hated individuals on Earth with the power of strategy and bullshit.
Of course, my first idea was trying to convince everyone to use level 1 sturdy teams just to laugh my ass off when the Pokémon start leveling up mid-tournament, breaking the strategy completely. But I genuinely want people to do well in this tournament.
Unless they are Red. Because fuck Red.
"Azumarill!" I pointed to the Pokémon in question. "Is one of the best Pokémon you can have on your team that is both easy to find and easy to train. They have a brilliant defensive typing, as a Water/Fairy type, and a good move set.
I rattled off more facts about Azumarill. Bulky, but slow. Low attack & special attack. For a fully evolved Pokémon, it only had an excruciatingly low stat total of 420. However, if it has the Huge Power ability, that effectively becomes a stat total of 470. Because Huge Power doubles the attack stat of the Pokémon.
"If the Pokémon uses Belly Drum paired with a Sitrus berry, you are worrying about a Pokémon that can take down entire teams on their own."
[Gerald_Of_Revea: Damn, I feel like it's been ages since the last steam. Glad you are back!]
[RealSteel: Oh I 3 Azumarill, they are so cute.]
[TheQueenOfBlue: Cloud, darling, where are you? You don't need that bint Geeta]
[TheQueenOfBlue has received a 24-hour ban.]
[LowTierKier: Azumarill should faint itself. Now.]
[LowTierKier has received a 480-hour ban.]
[Morty: Didn't think Cloud's streams would just be him being a discount teacher. I was expecting more shit-talk, ngl.]
[Cyn: Azumarill is too slow to make a long-lasting impact. While it would probably be able to walk off the first hit, she wouldn't be able to walk off the second.]
"Right you are Cyn! Azumarill isn't very fast, which is why it wouldn't last long. She is just a worse version of Snorlax at that point.
Azu pouted but knew where this was going. So at the very least, she didn't take it to heart.
"So we are going to put that to the test. I have with me my apprentice Geeta and y'all are going to realize just how good Azumarill can be."
I tossed Geeta three Pokéballs, catching them with ease as we got on opposite sides of the clearing.
Geeta probably thought this would be a quick one-on-one. That she had a choice between the three Pokémon I gave her and let the battle go from there. She would be wrong.
"This is a three-on-one battle. No stakes, anything goes. You ready?"
Geeta looked surprised at that but didn't question it. In one smooth motion, she tossed Glimmora onto the field, appearing in a flash.
And then, the battle began.
Azumarill used Belly Drum taking half of his HP away but gaining a quarter of it back using the Sitrus Berry. I didn't expect Geeta to terastalize at all during the match, but she managed to surprise me, The Power Gem taking away a good chunk of Azumarill's HP.
"Aqua Jet."
Azumarill was coated in water, and I saw the look of painful realization sink in on Geeta's face as the attack connected. The Terastalization shattered, and Glimmora was hurled back into the forest. Glimmora crashed into one of the trees, fainting from the sheer damage caused by the attack.
"Next."
Geeta sent out her Avalugg next, sure that Avalugg would be able to take the Aqua Jet and knock out Azumarill.
And she would be right.
So I didn't use Aqua Jet.
"Liquidation."
Geeta scowled at that, the attack catching her and her Pokémon off guard as Avalugg got hit by the full force of the attack. The Avalugg skidded back, trying to take the attack head-on, but she couldn't stand the overwhelming attack. Like the Glimmora before her, she fainted in a single attack.
"Next."
Geeta sent out the final Pokémon I gave her for this demonstration. Kingambit's lone eye met my own, and I couldn't help but wonder if I had pushed her far enough.
Will she Mega-Evolve Kingambit?
I didn't know if Azu could take a Sucker Punch or not. I say it was more than likely, but I wasn't sure. Kingambit has the same speed stat that Azu has as well, though if I had to guess, because of a few extra levels, he was probably faster.
But Geeta didn't know that. Azu just took out two of her other Pokémon. She might not be thinking straight. There's a good chance with mega-evolution that Kingambit becomes faster to make it a non-issue.
A minute passed with neither of us making our moves.
But I broke first.
"Aqua Jet!"
"Sucker Punch!"
Kingambit drove its gauntlet into Azu, and I feared for the worst as the Aqua Jet started to flicker.
A massive grin split my face as the attack went through, Kingambit skidding back from the attack, but not falling over like the two before him. Kingambit pushed against the Aqua Jet, and Azumarill jumped back, landing back at my side of the field.
Both were breathing hard,
"New rule," I said, setting up a timer on my phone. "If neither of us makes a move in sixty seconds, it's a draw."
"Why would I agree to that?" she asked with amusement. "No matter what move you make, I win."
"Then you'll have no problems agreeing to it then, right?"
She hesitated for a moment, before scowling. Knowing that I was up to something.
She was correct.
So as the minute timer was about to go off, we both made our moves.
"Sucker Punch!"
"Belly Drum!"
With Azu not having enough health and Sucker Punch not having a Pokémon to lock onto, both of the attacks failed.
And at that moment, I knew I won.
Geeta caught on immediately, letting out a string of curse words in Spanish I didn't recognize.
For a brief moment, I saw her lift up her sleeve, her keystone visible for the world to see, and then she froze in her tracks.
Slowly, she lifted her Pokéball, returning Kingambit before he could be knocked out.
"I withdraw."
She knew how it would go. Sucker Punch has 5 PP, Belly Drum has 10. Geeta would run out of Sucker Punches quicker than I'd run out of Belly Drum's to cancel them out. And if she used any other move, I would use Aqua Jet, trapping her in a corner.
With me coming out on top.
Azu lifted her arms in the air, doing a little twirl before falling over, completely exhausted.
[Zin: No way.]
[Zin: No. Fucking. Way.]
[Mystique: Well I know what Pokémon I'm getting next.]
[IHateMornings: Nope! Not believing this! Geeta did not just lose like that! It has to be rigged! It has to be!]
[Bea: Why didn't you use Azumarill in your last battle against Geeta?]
"Because it's Geeta," I shrugged. I used a team that was more suitable to fight against on her skill level."
I waited for Geeta to give a snarky comeback, but none came. Looking up from the screen, I tried to find the girl in question, but she was nowhere in sight.
"Why the hell did she leave?" I muttered, only to palm my face a moment later.
Of course she left. I humiliated her for the second time in the past week. It's no wonder she is sulking.
"Aight lads, we'll continue the stream a bit later, need to set up a few things first," I lied easily. "See ya."
Shutting off the stream & returning Azu, I followed her tracks, eventually coming across the girl in question.
She stood with her back against the tree, rhythmically tapping her foot against the ground in slight agitation. And didn't draw out the silence, getting straight to the point.
"Have you had enough?"
If she was supposed to make me feel bad, it didn't work.
"Not particularly, I would have preferred if I made it a six-on-one, but I didn't want to humiliate you too badly," I grinned, making her scowl.
"You know how that would have gone. Gogoat would have-"
"Probably knocked out Azumarill, I know" I rolled my eyes. "Here's me thinking that the three Pokémon I gave you was enough, but what do I know."
"Why did you do this?" she hissed. "What was the point of letting everyone know I couldn't take out a single Pokémon?"
"Apart from showing how cool Azu is?" I shrugged casually. "Because a demonstration is better than an explanation."
She looked at me in a bemused sort of outrage, but I continued on nonetheless.
"Let's face it, this is something you will never forget. That with one tactic, a Pokémon can take out half your team with ease. And you know what's the best part?"
"That's only one of my strategies." I held my arms out. "And I've got so much more to show you. But in order to use them, you need to get yourself more Pokémon."
"I'm not using a new team," she tsk'd. "You might as well have picked up someone from the street if you wanted a trainer with a clean slate."
"Six new Pokémon, that's how much Pokémon you will get. When the tournament comes around, we pick the best team from the lot. I'm not just including the team you used against me, but all your Pokémon in that."
"For what? So I would stop using Avalugg, and Gogoat for battling?" she snapped, making me laugh.
"You're forgetting Veluza as well," I chimed in, making her angrier. "But you don't have to stop using them for battle." I snapped my fingers. "It's like what I did for my battle against you! You can use those Pokémon when fighting weaker trainers!"
Wow, I am a genius.
"So we can stop pretending that you have Pokémon that are better than they really are. You'll circle through different teams, and we'll figure out the best one from there. You know what, I'll do you one better." I said, an idea coming to mind.
"If you defeat me in any of our Pokémon battles, I will give you back all your Pokémon, no strings attached."
I held out my hand to her.
"Think you can do it?"
-Larry-
When you have been doing nothing but work for the past ten years, enjoying free time becomes hard. Because when you aren't working, you are constantly thinking about how you are not working. That you should be putting better time into your day and not waste it away doing nothing.
Reluctantly, he fell into that category. Having his duties cut down by a good fifth of his regular workload has been amazing. He had gotten four hours of sleep last night and he couldn't remember the last time he felt so refreshed.
However, he had long forgotten how long it had been since he had a day off. He gave himself a single day off. He barely lasted a few hours before he was on his computer, he went back to work.
Geeta has been the champion of Paldea for over ten years now. She was seen as a sign of strength to Paldea. Many of the students & staff at Uva-Naranja Academy spoke highly of her. So while he was glad to have her gone for a little while, the general populace wasn't.
Rika was taking it the worst. The girl was blaming herself for all this. For Geeta leaving, the bet, and a whole bunch of other things that she wasn't even remotely responsible for.
Cloud had unwittingly brought a lot of change to Paldea. And now he has announced his own tournament. With a prize consisting of millions of Pokédollars, his Pokémon and himself. But all this begs the question.
Where does the trail begin?
There wasn't any record of Cloud until about three years ago. Appearing out of thin air with no assets to his name or anything. One year later, he was a millionaire. Now? He is richer than anyone in Paldea.
It all started with music. Music from different bands and genres were uploaded to the internet, and they became popular. However, there is also no record of any of the artists in the systems he has checked. All of this has led to this 'Cloudify' company that is seemingly the rights-holder to all of these mystery artists.
Then there were the movies. Niche movies, that weren't nearly as popular as the music was. While they were well made, bafflingly enough, no Pokémon existed in any of these movies. Cloud was fond of them, sometimes talking about them on stream. Even "getting permission" to play it on stream as well. What made it even more interesting, was that there are credits for each of the movies made, but every company and person listed are either from some closed-off region of the world or don't exist.
He honestly believed the former, that Cloud was from a region where Pokémon were rare to find. That he had escaped this region and wanted to share his region's culture with the world.
There were other things of course. Art, books, video games, but those didn't interest him as much. Cloudify was the main source of income, and after finding out about the other media, he was satisfied with his answers.
Did he intend to tell anyone this? Of course not, if anything happened to Cloud, his vacation was in jeopardy.
And working 3 jobs is so much easier than working four.
-Sonia-
She had done it!
Her big break to become a Pokémon professor has come around, and it was all on her own merit!
After her recent scare when Cloud talked about Red, her motivation to improve herself has been lit like a fire. She wanted Cloud to speak of her like he spoke of Red. While he obviously didn't think he was a good person, there was a level of respect in his voice when speaking of Red that he only had for a few people.
It awakened something in her, realizing that despite her wanting the world to know what Cloud knew about Pokémon, she wanted more.
She wanted to become a person that Cloud would respect, not because they were friends, but because he respected her accomplishments.
And now, she has taken the first step to getting there.
It started when Cloud talked about STAB, otherwise known as Same-Type Attack Bonus. Most people knew about this in concept. The Pokémon dealt more damage by using a move of the same type as itself. What people didn't realize was that STAB increased the overall power of a move by 50%. But that random conversation got her thinking one day.
What if there was more to it than STAB? What if its inverse existed as well? Is there a Same-Type Defense Bonus as well?
At first, she was disappointed, thinking she had gone out on a wild goose chase. It didn't matter if her Dragapult was attacked by a Dragon-Type move or Ice-Type move of the same power, they both roughly did the same level of damage.
But while in Paldea, she had done a bit of light reading. Specifically the sudden changes in Pokémon throughout history. How they were once able to fight with 'Strong' & 'Agile' style. How Pokémon have adapted over time to the Sleep status effect, how certain moves have changed over time and a long list of other changes to Pokémon throughout history.
The question changed. It was no longer "Do Pokémon have STDB?", it became "Did Pokémon ever have STDB?"
She didn't know if they did or not. But upon doing some very thorough scans, tests and examinations, she did learn something.
They don't have STDB, but they could. The genes necessary for it to appear existed, but they were dormant. Right until she learned how to awaken them.
She got up from her seat, catching herself on the counter as a wave of nausea hit her. She hadn't exactly slept much being couped up in her lab, but her sleep could wait.
She needed to talk to Cloud first!
Stumbling through the door, she made her way through the house, struggling to focus on her surroundings. When she eventually came across someone, it wasn't Cloud.
"Geetaaa! You got a haircut!" she blurted, stars in her eyes as she took in the champion's new appearance.
It was mean of her to think, but she always thought Geeta's hair looked…messy? It made her look a lot less approachable than she actually is. Sure, they haven't spoken to each other much, but she was always polite to her.
It was cut much shorter now, going to her shoulders rather than her back. What was once an untamed mess of hair had been tidied, making Geeta not only look much more pretty than before, but younger as well.
"Hello Sonia," she blinked, looking surprised to see her, before smiling softly. "Thank you, that is very kind of you to say."
"Where Cloud?" she mumbled, the words coming out heavy and sluggish.
She knew she was sleep-deprived but she hadn't realized how bad it actually was.
"He didn't-of course he didn't tell you." she ran a hand through her hair, clearly frustrated. "Of course he didn't tell you where he was going, just gone up and left."
"Wah?" she asked groggily. "Where's Cloud?"
"Sorry Sonia, ignore me." she breathed. "Cloud's in Unova."
There was a long moment of silence between the two, Sonia trying to process what Geeta just said and coming up short.
"What?"
-Cloud-
"Hey chat," I yawned, giving the camera a wave. "We're going spelunking today."
You know, when I came to this world, I thought all the legendary Pokémon must be caught by someone. I mean, sure, the legendaries are there for you to catch, and you'd definitely come across them if you did enough exploring.
The thing is, a lot of people don't go off the path. When going from one city to another, it's best to follow the path for a safe journey. And sure, trainers sometimes do explore, but some places you would just never find.
The Giant Chasm is one of those places.
"So I've been thinking a lot about my tournament," I admitted, giving Rotom a thankful nod as he used Flash. "It's still happening mind you, but I'm going to be changing the prize from what I said it would be."
"You see, after some thought, I became really against the idea of using my Pokémon again as prizes. It didn't make me feel good when I used it with Geeta, and I shouldn't have done it with this tournament either. My money, myself, and I? All still there, but my Pokémon is off the table."
Some trainers wouldn't come for that reason alone. People want strong Pokémon that they don't have to worry about training.
A growl reverberated inside the cave and my heart slowly started to speed up.
"But I still wanted to have some Pokémon as the prize, ones that are strong and rare, but just aren't mine, y'know? So I thought to myself, why shouldn't I just aim higher?"
A moment later, a massive figure emerged from the shadows, its silhouette towering over the cave's icy floor. The air seemed to grow colder as it stepped forward, frost curling in the wake of its movement.
Kyurem's eyes met my own, and found itself wanting.
He started to charge up a Dragon Pulse, and I swiftly sent out Bison, a Flash Cannon charging before I could even give the command.
Both attacks connected with an earth-shaking force, the explosion of power sending a shockwave through the cave. The Dragon Pulse slammed into Bison's who skidded back from the attack but brushed it off. The attack took a good chunk of his HP, but he was still in the fight.
Which is something I couldn't say for Kyurem who slammed into the wall behind it, the impact sending a ripple of ice through the cavern floor as cracks spread across its frozen surface.
I could see Bison start to lose himself, Hyper Mode taking over, his body trembling with raw, uncontrolled power as his eyes flashed with a dangerous red glow.
"So dear viewers, I ask you a question,"
Both Pokémon started to charge their attacks.
"Why have my Pokémon when you can have legendaries?"