[CW] The Goltan Region

[Marcello 436]

(Discussion/Feedback thread: http://www.pokemonreborn.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=15242 )

Ever since one unified Pokémon authority began universally managing every regional league, a golden era of competitive battling had begun. It was easy for trainers of any region to register for any league with cheap travel, if something happened to a gym leader or E4 member in any region, there were spares somewhere that could be relied on to temporarily fill in. It was brilliant. Not to mention the advent of Mega Evolution had revolutionised battling within itself, albeit this had led to a severe shortage in the ore that was refined into making keystones. And then an expedition discovered the Goltan Region. Goltan, named after Gulliver Goltan, director of the unified Pokémon authority, was a paradise for Pokémon. 719 out of the 721 known Pokémon species’ were discovered to live in a self-sustaining ecosystem on the massive island. Its caves and mountains even had plentiful supplies of the necessary ore for Keystones. Indeed, this was truly the perfect region. No haste was lost setting up the league to end all leagues in Goltan, either. Unlike every other regional league, there was a requirement to travel to Goltan and challenge its league. You needed to have qualified to challenge the Elite Four in at least one region already. In most, this meant 8 badges. In some, this meant a succession of tournament victories. Indeed, a handful of regions had even begun adopting a more modern 18 badge system.

Because only top quality trainers were allowed to challenge the Goltan League, only top quality trainers were allowed to run it. The eight gym leaders were all high ranking Elite Four members from other regions. And the Elite Four consisted of former Champions from other regions. The league was initially begun without a Champion, only finally adopting one when a single trainer managed to conquer it. Relatively unknown as an individual, that had no bearing on her skill. Indeed, as the Goltan Champion, she was recognised as one of, if not THE greatest trainer in the world.

But all good things must, naturally, come to an end. Carbink and Diancie were the two Pokémon thought to be missing from Goltan’s ecosystem. In truth, however, a vast network of undiscovered subterranean tunnels existed, unknown, under the region. Hundreds of Thousands of Carbink lived in these tunnels, ruled by a single Diancie, who had appeared to take on a permanent Mega form due to her constantly being surrounded by Keystones. One day, a miner found these caves. He disturbed the Carbink. He upset Diancie. Before the day was over, the island had been overrun. Melvin Pariah, Poison typed Leader. Julius Goltan, Poison typed Elite Four. Julius Roll, Ghost Typed Elite Four. Winter, Ice typed Elite Four. Angelica Arcadia, Champion. These five were the only survivors. Everybody else perished, challenger and leader alike. Everyone fought fiercely, but it seemed inevitable that Diancie would lead the Carbink to wipe out every person in the region. Melvin and the remaining members of the Elite Four had done all they could to protect Angelica. Brilliant trainer she may be, but she was also young, and sickly. But they couldn’t hold off the hordes, so Angelica took to the field while they were too weak to stop her. Her trusted companion, Cacturne, took down thousands of Carbink before Diancie finally showed itself, practically laughing at the sickly teenager. That was the last act of Diancie’s life as a wild Pokémon. It was caught, and the Carbink quietly and peacefully returned to their caverns with no leader to incite them to war. It was over.

Upon hearing of these events, Gulliver Goltan had every intention of having the region evacuated and its league shut down, despite the immediate threat being over. His son, however, convinced him otherwise. The region was a brilliant asset, and the unified authority was running low on sufficiently talented monotype trainers for Leader and Elite Four positions. So Julius devised a plan, to turn the region into an intensive gym leader boot camp of sorts. A competition was run, asking for budding inexperienced monotype trainers to apply for an opportunity to become a gym leader. And 18 names were chosen, one of each type. Despite convention usually forbidding it, Melvin was promoted to Elite Four status, giving them two Poison type trainers. The 18 arrived in Goltan, only allowed to bring with them their most trusted Pokémon partner. The other five members of their team were to be caught on the island. They would be working under the five top standard trainers left on the island until they were all ready to be Gym Leaders, at which point the Goltan region would open to challengers once again, with an 18 badge system. Or the program could fail. The island could be deemed too dangerous; the training could take too long… The region would be abandoned. But the unified authority would have up to 18 brand new potential gym leaders they could ship around the world. Either way, the Goltan region would be useful once more, despite the massacre of only a month prior. But after all, a chance to be a Gym Leader? A region which had every Pokémon in it, just waiting to be caught? A chance to work and train under five of the most talented and well known trainers in the world? Who would turn those opportunities down?

Not these 18…

----

After many boats had been and gone, there were finally 18 people standing on the beach, right in front of a Pokémon Centre. Varying ages, looks, races… It was a very diverse group of people, but they all had one thing in common. All had a single pokeball strapped to their belt. They had all already formed into groups which were discussing their own things. A pair of dark-skinned twin girls seemed to be gossiping with a guy about their age who had bright pink hair, and a slightly older woman who was dressed rather reminiscent of a librarian; glasses, and brown hair in a bun. Two men who were built enough they could easily have been bodybuilders were talking loudly about their workouts, there was even an elderly man and woman standing away from the rest of the group, quietly chatting between themselves.

“Goodness me, I didn’t expect this to be such a… young affair.” The old woman observed looking around. Her hair was long, grey, and neat, obviously the sort who had aged gracefully. Unlike the man, she had no walking stick, and indeed no sign of any lack of physical health. Simple brown trousers, white shirt, brown cardigan, brown shoes. “Back home in Hoenn, all of the gym leaders are at least 50. I imagine I was older than that when most of these kids were born.” She remarked with a small chuckle. The old man smiled back at her, he was dressed more formally. Black suit and tie, perfectly kept but still large moustache, his short hair was a darker grey than hers.

“Really? I did this to prove a point. Back in Sinnoh, all the leaders are kids these days.” He sighed a bit. “I’m Jeremy, Normal type,” he added with a brief bow to the lady. She couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Please, no formalities, we aren’t gym leaders yet. Right now I’m just a housemaid on holiday,” she smiled at him, but quickly added her own introduction. “Ah, and I’m Tara. Poison.”

“Poison eh? With two poison type masters in the Elite Four here, I’m not sure if that makes you very lucky or very unlucky,” Jeremy remarked, and the two continued chatting. Indeed, the whole group of 18 was an animated one, nobody was on their own, and everybody had made at least one friend to talk to. After a short while, four men walked out of the Pokémon centre, and they couldn’t have been more different. Leading the group was a short man with neat, orange hair, down to just above his shoulders. He appeared about 50, and with his glasses, a simple white shirt, and smart trousers, he looked like a teacher. Behind him was a much younger man, roughly the same height though. Dirty-blond short hair, looking to be in his mid-twenties, a stern and seemingly permanent scowl on his face, most of the left half of which was covered in scratches and scars, and he wore a black T-shirt and jeans. Behind this one was a more normal sized man, although he appeared to be in his mid-twenties as well. His eyes were a deep blue and his hair a dark brown, and also rather unkempt. In fact, all of this man seemed rather scruffy, he may have been wearing a suit but it was going off colour, creased, small rips in a few places… The man looked like his clothes had lost a fight with a Ferrothorn. The final man towered over the other three. He was dressed extravagantly, a big grey coat with a white fur lining, silk white undershirt, aqua blue trousers… But his eyes were an unnerving and steely grey, and his long silver hair just added to the fact. Upon the arrival of the four, the chatter between our prospective gym leaders only got louder. Among the dark-skinned twins, one of them turned to her sister, eagerly.

“Woah, who’s the hot ginger dude?” She asked, before eying him up rather unsubtly. Her sister just rolled her eyes.

“Fuck’s sake Bella. Not only is he probably about three times your age, your memory is actually a goddamn sieve.” Her sister grumbled. “Not even two years ago he was our region’s Champion.”

“Are you sure Ri?” Bella asked, taking another look at him. “I swear Julius Roll is black.”

Ri sighed, she had plenty of experience with her sister’s memory, and she’d just gotten used to trying to not let it frustrate her. “I swear to God, if your memory was any worse you’d forget how to battle.” This prompted a hearty laugh from the pink haired guy that they had also been talking to, and they all quickly returned to laughing and joking. All the chattering, laughing, whispering and whatnot from all eighteen stopped quite quickly a few minutes later when a fifth individual emerged from the Pokémon centre. A beautiful young woman, 18 or 19 by the looks of it. Her eyes were a deep red, long, snowy-white hair, a matching white summer dress, and pale skin. The silvery frame of her wheelchair and pink parasol she had resting on her lap helped to offset the huge amount of white quite well, although the wheelchair was unlikely a fashion statement. As she moved over to sit beside the four men, the redheaded short man cleared his throat before promptly beginning to talk.

“Hello, prospective gym leaders! We, your Elite Four and Champion, humbly welcome you to the region of Goltan. Before we begin anything, the five of us are going to give some brief introductions, we’ll go over some important league rules regarding the region and your eventual roles, and then we’ll split you into groups to properly explain what your time here will entail.” He began, warmly and softly, despite his rather loud voice. “As those of you from Kalos will likely recognise, I am Julius Roll. I was the Kalos Ghost type Gym Leader very shortly after they adopted the 18 leader system, but I quickly decided to challenge the league myself, and earned the title of Champion. Since two years ago, I have served as both league administrator and leader of the Elite Four here in Goltan. More or less, that means I’m your boss, so work hard.” He joked with a slight chuckle, before gesturing to the scowling man next to him to continue.

“Ah, umm, brilliant.” The scowling man said nervously. What had seemed like a permanent scowl very quickly melted away as he began talking, and a very genuine social awkwardness showed itself on his face instead. “Well, umm… Just like Julius, those of you from Kalos will probably recognise me, too. The time which he served as both Gym Leader and Champion, I was a permanent fixture in the Kalos Elite Four. I was the poison type Leader here in Goltan but due to the, umm… events, I got promoted, so that’s me, first member of the Goltan Elite Four, and the first Poison type member.” He finished up, and looked to the scruffy man on his left to once more continue.

“Yes, well. I’m Julius Goltan.” He said dismissively with a brief wave, but a glare from the first Julius had him continue speaking. “I’m Gulliver Goltan’s son; I was the Kanto champion for a while, now I’m the second member of the Goltan Elite Four, and also the second Poison type member. That’s that.” He quickly turned to the tall man on his left, obviously eager to not speak anymore.

“Hello all, I’m Winter.” He introduced with a bow. “I was the first and only Champion of the Orre region for its brief stint where an official league was set up. I’m now the third and Ice typed member of the Goltan Elite Four. And no, it’s not my real name. If my parents named me Winter, Ice types would be the last thing I trained. But I needed some type of nickname; three quarters of the Elite Four being called Julius would be plain ridiculous. Julius Hel, for those of you who must know.” He briefly explained. Despite his politeness, his general unnerving aura didn’t change when he began speaking, unlike Melvin’s had. Lastly, the girl in the wheelchair began speaking.

“Hello everyone, I’m Angelica.” She said, sweetly. “I’m the Champion here in Goltan. I don’t really have backstory like the other four, I trained to be a gym leader for a month or so before deciding I didn’t want to stick to one type, but I’ve never really had any public claim to fame before this job. So you all know in advance, my legs DO work, just not reliably, or for long periods of time. So don’t think a miracle has happened if you see me standing, but don’t expect to see it often either.” She addressed them all, before beginning to twirl the closed parasol in her hands.

“So, that’s us.” Julius Roll announced, clapping his hands together, before taking a deep breath and then continuing. “As you all know, you brought one Pokémon with you here, and will catch your other five as you train throughout the region. You also should have received Keystones on the boat journey here. Now, you are responsible for locating Megastones yourself, although they aren’t too rare here on the island, and there is a small stock for sale, too. If your main partner, or signature Pokémon, cannot Mega Evolve, as appears to be the case with most of you, don’t fret. We don’t care which of your Pokémon goes Mega here in Goltan, even if it’s not your signature. For some of us, our signature also DOES happen to be our Mega.” He quickly looked down the line, and himself, Melvin, and Julius Goltan promptly threw pokeballs, sending out Sableye, Beedrill, and Gengar respectively. After a fitting ‘Oooh’ from the crowd, they called their Pokémon back. “Others among us have Mega Pokémon-” He began again, which was followed by Winter sending out a Glalie. “-And entirely separate signatures.” He finished, which was followed by Winter calling Glalie back and then throwing a pokeball above him, sending an Articuno soaring above the group. Everybody watched in awe, although it was only out for a few seconds before Winter called it back.

“It is also worth noting, however, that the nature of this Island seems to have created the possibility of permanent Mega Pokémon. We aren’t sure exactly what it is that causes this, as we’ve only actually seen two instances of it, but they certainly exist.” He explained, in response to which, Angelica held out a pokeball and let out her permanent Mega Diancie, which looked angrily at the onlookers before she had it return. “For whatever reason, they are wildly aggressive, and very powerful. If you come across one, we would HIGHLY recommend not disturbing it, or if it is blocking a path, certainly don’t challenge it on your own.” He looked solemnly at the ground for a second, before continuing. “However, there is no denying the tactical use one of these Pokémon can be if you manage to acquire it. League rules prevent multiple Mega Evolutions, not actually multiple Mega Pokémon. So, for example, in Angelica’s case; despite her Mega Diancie, she is also capable of Mega Evolving her Garchomp.” He explained, to which Angelica quickly added.

“Given that I’m partial to double battles, I usually use both at once.”

“Anyway, with the general rules out of the way, we’re splitting you up for specific instruction. So, Ghost, Normal, Fighting, Fairy; you’re with me. Ice, Rock, Dragon, Flying; you go with Winter. Poison, Fire, Water, Bug; follow Melvin. Electric, Ground, Dark, Grass; you’re with the other Julius. Steel and Psychic will remain here with Angelica.” With his words, the Elite Four members all headed in different directions, with four Leader Candidates behind each. Jeremy and the bodybuilders both followed after Julius Roll, the twins and the librarian-ish girl after Winter, Tara after Melvin, and the Pink-haired boy was one of the two who remained behind. After all others had left, Angelica smiled at the two men in front of her as she slowly stood up. Her legs shook, and she needed to briefly prop herself up on her parasol, but she was otherwise fine as she slowly walked to them. The pink-haired teen was dressed in a leather jacket, a band T-shirt, and jeans. The other man looked more likely to be in his late twenties or early thirties. He had long blond hair down to his waist, golden eyes, and was wearing a loosely fitting black robe-like garment, with a dark blue trim, a look which was no doubt fashionable in his region. It suited him, at the very least.

“Lucas Wiles and Lethe Xendristus.” Angelica smiled at the two men when she was sufficiently close. “You have both piqued my interest for entirely separate reasons. Lucas, no formal training, no participation in any official battles, indeed there are no records of you as a registered trainer until a few weeks ago.” She remarked while addressing the pink haired boy. “And yet you’ve tamed a legendary Pokémon. The number of people as young as us who have accomplished a feat like that can be counted on one hand.” The blond man’s interest was obviously piqued by this, as he seriously evaluated Lucas, who he had been previously ignoring. Lucas just shrugged at Angelica’s praise.

“What can I say; I grew up on a farm. I saw an injured Pokémon, I helped it, it grew attached to me. I was with Hoopa a year before I even knew she was rare, let alone legendary.” He said followed by a quick chuckle. Lethe rolled his eyes, before Angelica turned to address him. “And you. About as much formal training as one can get without becoming a leader already, you’re very experienced. Never challenged a gym, but I suppose you had your hands full being a police officer. Particularly with that Team Plasma resurgence last year, which I have it on good authority that you masterminded the downfall of.”

“Well, you ARE well informed.” Lethe smiled at the Champion, briefly. “Me and Doublade are quite well versed in terms of battling, but I figured I should probably catch more Pokémon eventually. Plus I was always told to apply for a more respected position than the police. Then this opportunity came along, and I decided ‘Two birds, one stone’. I’ve never used another Pokémon anyway, I’ll hardly miss other types.”

“Brilliant!” Angelica cheered enthusiastically for the two men, although this sent her slightly off balance and she once more had to support herself with the parasol, before she slowly walked back to her chair. After sitting down, she looked back at the two.

“Anyway, I suppose I should get on with the official spiel,” She remarked, followed by a long sigh.

“Frankly, I don’t give much of a shit WHAT Pokémon you catch.” Julius Goltan explained to his group. “There aren’t any alarms that go off if the Dragon Leader catches a Bidoof. Do whatever the hell you want.”

“But, umm, remember. While you may want to collect and train Pokémon of many types, your official Gym Leader team MUST consist of six Pokémon which all share your chosen type. With, umm, a few exceptions.” Melvin paced nervously as he addressed his group.

“Mega Pokémon, naturally, fog the waters. Let’s say you want to use a Mega Altaria.” Julius Roll began his example. “The Dragon, Fairy, AND Flying type leaders would all be entitled to that. The Fairy Leader would only be permitted to use it if it WILL Mega, but otherwise. The Flying Leader isn’t restricted to not letting it Mega. As long as one of its forms that you use during the battle has your typing, you’re good.”

“So here’s your goal. Explore the region. Form a team of six. Train it up, battle each other. Come to us five members of the upper league for help, guidance, training… Whatever, really. And when you think you’re ready to really be a gym leader?” Winter looked down on his group as he spoke.

“Head through Goltan’s own Victory Road and to our main League building, it’s on your map.” Angelica explained to Lucas and Lethe. “There, we’ll test you. If you pass, you’ll be a bonafide Gym Leader; we’ll construct your gym and everything! Until all 18 are qualified, you can continue to train, explore, and battle each other. You will naturally get some perks once you qualify, which will be discussed when you do as such.”

“Lastly, if you ever require help, one of the five of us will always be at the Pokémon centre on the beach, one of us will always be at the main league building, and the other three will generally be exploring the island and training, just like yourselves.” Julius Roll finished his explanation. “And with that, I suppose all there is to say is… It’s time to become Gym Leaders.”

Edited August 15, 2015 by Marcello

[Marcello 436]

The twins and the girl who looked like a librarian all promptly left Winter’s presence after he had finished the introduction, heading in different directions to go and try to build their teams. But the fourth leader stayed, eyes locked on him. She was a tall woman with long silver hair, in curls which ended just below her waist, standing out against the simple cream-coloured bodysuit she was wearing. When Winter turned around, he noticed the unnerving silver eyes locked on to him.

“How nice to finally speak to you, Julius.” She nearly spat at him, clutching the Ultra Ball that was strapped to her belt.

“Winter.” He corrected her, softly, before a brief roll of his eyes. “And stop being overdramatic Jade. I am Articuno’s Chosen. You’re a child with a Goomy that I gave you.” He held up the pokeball that contained Articuno, before waving his hand at Jade dismissively. She let go of the Ultra Ball and looked down at the ground for a second, before rather quietly correcting him.

“S-S-Sliggoo.” She quickly looked back up at him, and sighed a bit. “Dad’s worried, you never even call.”

“Oh, I’m sure if the mighty Duke Hel was worried, he would’ve thrown money at the problem, not his daughter.” This time Winter was the one practically spitting, but he quickly cleared his throat and smiled at his sister. “I’m glad to hear Goomy evolved. And it sounds like your stutter has gotten better.”

“Only when I’m angry.” She muttered, before leaning back against a palm tree and sending out Sliggoo, who appeared fascinated by a coconut on the ground.

Winter looked at her for a few moments, before grinning a little. “Follow me, Jade. I know where we could find some Horsea.” He began walking without waiting for a response. Jade sighed and looked down at Sliggoo, before following after Winter. Sliggoo attempted to follow, but tripped over the coconut, forcing Jade to have him return so he didn’t lag behind.

“Hey! Rialla, Anabella! Wait uuuuuuuuppp!” Lucas practically sang as he ran down the forest path that the twins were wandering down. The moment he got to them, he sat down on the dirt path, panting.

“Did you run all the way from the beach?” Ri asked, raising her eyebrows.

“…Yeah. Had to catch up with my new besties, didn’t I?” He laughed a bit, although that obviously strained him, he was hardly the most physically fit guy in the world, mostly just stick thin, and they were a fair way from the beach.

“But you’re partnered with Hoopa, right?” Bella asked a little confused.

“Yeah, so?”

“Well, umm… Isn’t her whole thing like… Teleporting and wormholes?”

“…Huh. Ri was right; you DO have a tendency to make people feel stupid.” He teased, standing up.

“Only when they are.” Bella smirked, which resulted in her sister punching her in the arm as the three carried on walking, although rather slowly so Lucas could keep up. After a while, they heard a rustling from a bush ahead of them, and as they each clutched their pokeballs, a small Tyrunt ran out. And then a slightly larger one. And then another. Indeed, about 10 Tyrunt, of varying sizes, but all small for what they were, ended up standing in front of them on the dirt road.

“Rock types. Score.” Bella grinned, as she sent out Amaura. The Tyrunt quickly surrounded her Pokémon, but they mostly just seemed curious. “They’re so tiny, it’s adorable! I wanna catch ALL of them!” Bella’s face lit up, one of the Tyrunt curiously gnawed at her trouser leg, but they all had a short enough attention span that they quickly started wandering around aimlessly, stopping to briefly stare at Amaura or the three potential leaders if they ever ended up in the line of sight.

“We… Should leave.” Lucas remarked, surprisingly firmly. He was clutching Hoopa’s pokeball rather warily.

“What’s up, farm boy? I thought you loved cute stuff!” Bella giggled, as she had forgotten about catching, and was instead on her knees playing with one of them.

“I know what newborns look like. I don’t really want to hang around for their-” He was interrupted by a loud roaring, and the sound of heavy footsteps, coupled with trees being uprooted in the distance, he just shrugged his shoulders. “Never mind.”

Within moments, the Tyrunt had all moved a few paces away in a huddle, and looked up as a rather large Tyrantrum, around twice the height of Lucas, smashed through the trees to see its babies. And then locked eyes on the trainers. It took a step forward, and the three of them, as well as Amaura, stepped back. It opened its mouth, about to take a bite of the three trainers, but then stopped, mouth agape, as it heard the patter of tiny footsteps behind it. It looked over to see that one of the Tyrunt had gotten distracted and wandered off. It quickly turned its head back to the leaders, and then to its babies, most of which had now followed after the one which had went astray. It let out a roar which sounded a lot more like a groan and began to run after them, tearing through even more trees in the process. Anabella, no longer staring death in the face, beamed without hesitation. “Rock type! Dibs!” as she ran behind the Tyrantrum, leapt forward, and grabbed onto its tail, holding on for dear life as it ran.

“Fucking hell my sister is an idiot.” Rialla grumbled, as she watched Amaura hopelessly run down the path that the Tyrantrum had created.

“Yeeah… We should probably do that whole wormhole thing and help her out.” Lucas decided, throwing the pokeball on his belt.

One of the two bodybuilders had headed back to the beach, as had a number of the other leaders. This particular bodybuilder was in a red sleeveless top, with black shorts on, he had short black hair and tanned skin, and towered over most other people. He certainly towered over the two guys he headed towards. One of them seemed to be about 30. He was tall and thin, frameless glasses perched on his rather square shaped head, which was topped with a buzz cut, and the look was completed with what seemed to be a lab coat. The other person was… a child. A young boy, brown hair down his shoulders, rather weedy, blue eyes, dressed in a jumper and joggers, he couldn’t’ve been older than fourteen or fifteen.

“Woah, is that pipsqueak one of us?” The bodybuilder asked as he approached the pair.

“Yup. SOMEBODY decided that some 10 year old was good enough to be professional. I’m Walter, by the way. Ghost.” He introduced himself to the bodybuilder, before the child interrupted.

“Thirteen. I’m Thirteen.” He grumbled, although it came out barely louder than a whisper.

“Whatever.” The bodybuilder shrugged. “I’m Dorian, the Fairy Leader.” He introduced himself to Walter.

“I… I’m just as entitled to be here as you!” The teenager yelled, although this still wasn’t very loud.

“Prove it, tiny.” Dorian rolled his eyes, before throwing a pokeball, his Granbull landing on the sand.

“A positively brilliant idea!” Walter nodded, throwing his pokeball in the air. He jumped after it and grabbed the Pokémon as it came out, adopting a fencing stance as he brandished Honedge.

“I-” The teenager started, but a confident male voice from behind him interrupted. “Two versus one? Now that just isn’t fair.” Lethe remarked, walking to stand beside the young leader. “I’m Lethe. Steel. And I’d say we just started a double battle.”

“I’m David. Ground.” The young one said, as Lethe slyly slipped something small into his hand. He looked down at what it was and smiled, slotting the small spherical object into the indent on the top of his Dusk Ball, which most modern pokeballs were now manufactured with. The Fairy and Ghost leaders paid no attention to this; smug about the fact they couldn’t possibly lose to a child and some guy in a robe. Lethe just laughed.

“You wield your Honedge like a weapon? How… Unique.” He said sarcastically, as he threw his pokeball and Doublade came out, both of which he promptly began wielding, sheaths and shield floating around him.

“Pssh, we’ll see you change your tune when we’re done.” Walter taunted. “Sure, your Pokémon is a little higher levelled than mine, but with that kid on your side, you’re basically fighting two versus-”

“STEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!” The Pokémon David sent out shrieked, completely drowning out Walter. As the Steelix towered over the three men and David, Walter gulped. “…one.” Almost mockingly, the Steelix parroted Walter’s nervous tone back to him as it leaned forward, completely blocking out the sun over him.

“Ix.”

“S…So what!?” Dorian yelled out, obviously a little nervous at the prospect of this battle. “You’re a kid! No matter how big, that’s probably a weak Steelix.” He tried to reassure himself. Lethe chimed in, relishing every word of his next sentences.

“David, is it just me, or is something… reacting? To your keystone?” He asked, as a look of dread washed over Walter and Dorian’s faces. Indeed, David held the Dusk Ball out in front of him, and the small gem he had embedded into it was glowing brightly, and he pulled his keystone out of his pocket, which he hadn’t gotten a chance to get fashioned into an accessory of some time. Nonetheless, it was glowing softly as well.

“Why, it is! It looks like Steelix’s Steelixite is reacting to David’s Keystone! Isn’t that just wonderful guys!?” Lethe chirped a wide grin on his face as he crouched, ready to pounce on his opponents, Doublade in hand.

Steelix was enveloped by a soft light at first, but then in an instant it was blinding. Crystals jutted out, shards floated around him, he got longer… This was a Mega Steelix.

“Dorian. I think we’re boned.” Walter observed.

“Steel. Steel Ix Ix Steelix.” Steelix parroted after Walter.

“I think it’s mocking you.” Dorian remarked, as his vicious Granbull was backing away slowly, although stopped doing so with a glare from him. “And we aren’t boned till I SAY we’re boned, dammit!”

“Steelix, use Bulldoze.” David commanded, before running towards Steelix and jumping, grabbing onto one of the newly protruding crystals, not wanting to be on the ground when this attack went off. Lethe followed suit, jumping on top of the floating sheaths which were about a foot off the ground, before letting go of Doublade. “Swords Dance around Steelix. Vigorously.” He ordered. Everyone but him looked confused, but David quickly caught on. As the blades floated and danced around Steelix, close to the ground, they disturbed the sand. Not much, but enough, to be as if there was a little mini Sandstorm going on around the base of the Steelix. Which was enough for Steelix as its crystals softly hummed with the strengthening of his attack, and the ground began shaking. Lightly at first. Just enough to make the sand dance around a little bit. But then a little more violently, a coconut falling from a nearby tree. And then, a huge tremor hit. Walter, Dorian, and Granbull all fell over, and Walter dropped Honedge. They all seemed fine, but it quickly dawned on Dorian that that was the tremor caused by Steelix jumping into the air. As he came crashing down, sand flew everywhere. Doublade came to shield Lethe’s eyes, but Dorian and Walter were hardly as lucky. Honedge went flying to the other side of the beach, as Granbull got up. Scratched and bruised, but as the stirring sand calmed down, he was still standing. Dorian was equally scratched as he spat out a mouthful of sand, abandoned by Walter who had ran to find where Honedge had landed.

“FIRE PHTANG!” Dorian screamed, spitting out more sand mid-sentence. Granbull ran towards a calm Lethe, who stepped off of the sheaths, and curiously watched the flames well up inside Granbull’s mouth.

“Protect.” He uttered at the last minute, giving Granbull a mouth full of shield. “And Iron Head.” He continued, the blades darting over to the annoyed fairy type, and quickly bashing him on the head with their hilts, knocking him unconscious.

“See ya’ around, fairy boy.” Lethe waved at Dorian, the battle scarce finished a second ago and he’d already called Doublade back and began walking away. David looked at the Steel Typed trainer in awe, before looking down at the Steelixite embedded in his dusk ball with a smile.

“Bun… Bun… Buneary?” The lone Buneary hopped around, confused. It was in a meadow, just on the edge of a forest, and there were no other Pokémon around. Cyrus Divine, Fighting type leader candidate, and second bodybuilder, sat on a fence watching it. He was a pretty pale guy, wearing a tight black T-shirt with a pair of jeans, and spiked blonde hair.

“One lonely Pokémon. I’m going to guess you’re the fighting type leader, eh?” The elderly Jeremy asked as he walked up behind Cyrus, leaning against his walking stick as he stood.

“Did the muscles give it away, or do I just look too dumb for psychic types?” Cyrus asked with a hearty laugh, before extending his hand to shake Jeremy’s, which Jeremy happily reciprocated. “I’m Cyrus.”

“Jeremy. I’m the Normal type candidate. Which I would say gives us a slight problem, don’t you think?” He asked.

“It does? I’m not gonna beat you up because a type advantage, if that’s what you’re trying to say, old man.”

“That is not… Never mind. You want to catch that, don’t you?” Jeremy asked, plainly.

“Damn right I do. All I need is a megastone and I’m set.” He explained, eagerly.

“That’s all well and good, but I’d quite like a Lopunny myself.” Jeremy explained, before throwing a pokeball, his Zangoose coming out in front of him.

“Oooh, I LIKE you old man!” Cyrus grinned as he lobbed a pokeball, Monferno coming out. “No time like the present, Mach Punch!”

As Monferno charged forward, Zangoose lazily held up a claw to block the punch and effortlessly push Monferno away. This caused Cyrus to pull out his pokedex, and his eyes widened a little.

“Shit, you’re over twice my level. Nice one, old man.” He complimented, which elicited a brief smile from Jeremy.

“Ariel Ac-” He began, but they were both interrupted by a loud roar coming from the forest. Followed by some muffled screaming. And then some slightly less muffled screaming. And then the shouting voice of the Psychic type candidate.

“THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA!” Echoed through the meadow, as a Tyrantrum came crashing through the trees which bordered the forest, the Buneary hopping away. Not only was this Tyrantrum larger than normal, it also had three passengers. Bella gripped onto its tail, Ri onto its arm, and Lucas its neck. Every so often it tried to throw one of them off, but it kept getting distracted by the rings appearing near its face with wormholes contained in them. Unfortunately, while Hoopa made a brilliant distraction, it was still very low levelled.

Cyrus held his pokedex up towards the Tyrantrum, before nervously turning to Jeremy. “And that thing is about three times my level.”

“Oh boy.” Jeremy looked up at the dragon, Zangoose quickly moving its attention from Monferno to do the same. “I guess Buneary is off the table.”

[Marcello 436]

“Have Monferno taunt it or Mach punch it or something.” Jeremy said to Cyrus, not taking his eyes off the giant, angry beast in front of them. “Zangoose knows Close Combat. Even with the level difference, that should seriously hurt.”
Cyrus nodded, and looked over at Monferno, who nodded with him. In the next second, he was almost halfway to Tyrantrum, and quickly landed a Mach Punch on its neck. It turned straight to the Monferno, having lost interest in Hoopa’s wormholes; it lowered its head to stare down Monferno. Lucas used the opportunity to jump off its neck, and Zangoose used the opportunity to strike. As Zangoose unleashed a flurry of blows, his claws penetrating the scales of Tyrantrum’s face to draw blood, the dragon screamed and roared like no tomorrow, swinging its tail round at full force. Not only did this knock both Zangoose and Monferno unconscious while sending them flying, it had a similar effect on Bella, who lost grip of its tale with such a vigorous swing. Jeremy, Lucas, and Cyrus began slowly backing away.

“That Pokémon of yours isn’t much good in a scrap, is it Pink Hair?” Cyrus asked, with the three men staring down a very angry Tyrantrum, which still had a screaming Rialla on its back, albeit she was now screaming about her unconscious sister halfway across the meadow.

“‘Fraid not.” Lucas sighed. “Don’t suppose you guys have already caught second Pokémon?” he asked in response, which was followed by a rather solemn shake of both other men’s heads.

“I’m about to do something really stupid, it’ll probably just piss it off. But it’ll give us a few moments to get away. Tell the girl to be ready to run.” Jeremy explained, still not taking his eyes off the beast, but now rummaging through his pockets.

“RIALLA! BE READY TO RUN!” Lucas yelled. Without even another moment’s notice, Jeremy had thrown something at the Pokémon. An Ultra ball. Tyrantrum was condensed into light as Jeremy attempted to capture the injured beast, and Rialla fell to the ground, letting out a small yelp on impact, but quickly running straight to her sister, an act which Lucas followed. All had planned to flee before Tyrantrum broke out, but the three men and Ri were engrossed by the spectacle. One shake. Two shakes. Three shakes. As Ri and Lucas had picked up Bella and all four were ready to sprint away as it broke free, a quiet but recognisable ‘Click!’.

“Huh.” Jeremy walked over and picked up the Ultra ball now on the ground.

“Well, I guess you’re the leader with the highest levelled Pokémon now.” Cyrus said with a bit of a laugh.

“Pretty sure I already was. And I can’t even use it.” Jeremy sighed a bit, but this was followed with a much more satisfying sigh of relief. The twins may be a little injured, but the five individuals survived the event. He hobbled over to where the twins and Lucas were, followed slowly by Cyrus, the pair recalling their fainted Pokémon when they reached them.

“So, would one of you two kids care to explain how you came to be using an angry dragon as a method of transport?” Jeremy asked, softly, but with a hint of scathingness.

“I… Well, we saw some Tyrunt and…” Ri began, as she was cleaning some blood on her still-unconscious sister’s forehead.

“The mother got angry. Bella wanted to catch it. She jumped on. We followed. Cue crazy screaming death-trap of a ride through the forest, and our asses being saved by you.” Lucas finished for her.

“I see. So she wanted this… Dragon type Candidate?” He asked, curiously.

“She’s Rock type. I’m Ice type. Lucas is Psychic.” Ri quickly interjected, before looking longingly at the Ultra Ball Jeremy was still grasping. He followed her gaze, looked in his hand, and laughed a bit.

“If I was maybe a bit younger, I’d have you give this to her when she woke up.” He remarked, but shrugged a bit. “However, the grumpy old curmudgeon within wouldn’t possibly let me. If she comes out of this whole ordeal successfully receiving a level 60 odd powerhouse, what will she learn about stupid risks?”

“I… Well, she meant well, it’s just…” Ri started, but stopped before pouting a little, and then looking back up at him. “You’re probably right about that.” She admitted.

“I hope the rest of your journey is a little safer.” Jeremy smiled. “Hey fighting boy. That was my only ball. If you can find the Buneary, it’s yours,” he chuckled a little after saying this, and began walking off. Cyrus watched him for a moment, but then began running in the direction the Buneary has fled, leaving the twins and Lucas alone in the meadow, although they were soon joined by a thoroughly exhausted Amaura, collapsing a few steps away from them after finally catching up.

“Nice save… Jeremy, was it?” He heard from behind him as he had begun heading back towards the Pokémon Centre on the beach. When he turned, he saw the scowling man with the scars on his face from their introduction, Melvin Pariah.

“A member of the Elite Four. To what do I owe the pleasure?” The Normal type trainer asked, followed by a brief bow.

“I was about a second away from stepping in. But, well… You did good.” Melvin smiled a bit, before scratching behind his ear, rather awkwardly.

“Well.” Jeremy absentmindedly corrected. “I did well.”

“That too. But also good. You saved five people’s lives, including your own. That counts as doing good to me.”

“I… suppose you’re right.” Jeremy chuckled, before raising an eyebrow. “I got the impression you don’t really like talking much. Why bother to approach me?”

“I’m fine one to one. But you HAVE caught me out, I admit. It’s a mighty fine Pokémon you just caught. And which you can’t use on your official team, I might add.” Melvin elaborated.

“Why are you interested? You’re poison, you can’t use it either.”

“Ah, but I have a handful of… other Pokémon that I train. After all, who’s satisfied with being JUST a member of the Elite Four? By default, I might add.” He laughed a bit. “I’ve recently acquired a Normal type, but I’d much rather a Dragon.”

“You want to be Champion?” Jeremy asked, a little surprised. “You, as in the bottom member of the Elite Four?”

“You’re damn right I do. The moment all 18 of you have gyms, I’m coming for your badges. And then I’ll beat Julius, and Julius, and Julius. And then Angelica.” He explained, thrusting his arms into the air as he exclaimed his intentions.

“Well then, let’s see if we can sort out a fair trade over this.” Jeremy smiled a bit. This man was miles more talented than he was, but still a fair bit younger. He couldn’t help but be impressed by his passion.

“Dratini, Dragon Dance! Charmander, Growl!! Rotom, Double Team!” The girl dressed like a Librarian ordered the three Pokémon she had sent out in front of her. She had taken her glasses off and let her hair down, as she gleefully watched her Pokémon train. They had no targets, but they were all brand new additions to her team, and she needed to make sure they were up to standard. Unbeknownst to her, however, she had an audience of two other leaders watching her. They were in what looked like the ruins of an old town, obviously ravaged by the Carbink. It was a little eerie, but peaceful, in a way.

“Dratini? Rotom? Charmander? None of those even share a type, who the hell is she?” Walter asked. Beside him was a nearly unnaturally tall woman. She had blonde hair in a long braid with very nearly touched the floor, big green eyes, a small nose and mouth… Her face was structured a little like some kind of adorable woodland creature. Her manner was hardly adorable, however, as she simply scoffed at Walter.

“Dragonite. Rotom-Fan. Charizard. She’s the Flying type candidate, dumbass.”

“Shh, she’ll realise we’re here.” He whispered, dismissively. She scoffed once more, but nonetheless focused back on watching the Flying candidate train.

“What are we whispering about?” A male voice asked from behind them. As the two turned, they saw a man equally as tall as the woman, at about 7 feet. In his mid-twenties, he was incredibly handsome. Hazel eyes, well-toned muscles that showed through his white tank top, short and neat blue hair, swimming shorts… If any of the candidates really dressed for their type, it was this guy.

“Oh hey, the Water Leader.” Walter remarked, looking up at the man.

“How did you know, I didn’t introduce myself?” He whispered, with a genuine look of surprise on his face.

“You have blue hair.” The woman whispered back, smirking a bit.

“So, one of the other guys has pink hair and he isn’t the Fairy Leader…” The water leader pouted a bit.

“He has pink hair and dresses in leather. That’s a fashion statement. You have blue hair and swimming trunks. That’s a stereotype.” Walter summarised, but then went back to watching the Flying candidate, as did the woman. The Water candidate watched for a while too, before sneezing rather loudly, causing the librarian-girl to jump a mile and turn to face the group.

“Shit, how long have you guys been there?” She asked, as all three of her Pokémon scurried and hid behind her, poking out from the sides of her legs at the others.

“Umm… a while.” The woman shrugged. “I’m Amelia, Bug. This is Walter, Ghost. And this guy is, umm…” She looked to the Water candidate expectantly.

“Frederick, Water.” He added.

“Oh, well, umm... I’m Crescent, Flying.” She introduced meekly, as she took her glasses out of her pocket and put them back on, retying her hair as she talked. “I caught these three on the way here, I was just training them.”

“Wait, you have FOUR Pokémon already? I only have one…” Walter seemed pretty shocked.

“Same.” Frederick said, but he seemed far less bothered by that fact.

“I caught my second a bit ago.” Amelia smiled. “And if I didn’t just have the BEST idea. There are three of us; you have three Pokémon to train. We have four Pokémon between the three of us; you have four on your own…”

“W-wait, you want to battle?” Crescent asked, as she looked behind her at the three Pokémon. “Well, they could do with some real practice…”

“It’s on then!” Amelia exclaimed, before sending out a Heracross. Frederick seemed happy enough to oblige as he sent his Spheal out, and Walter just grumbled to himself.

“I better win this one…” Before sending out Honedge, adopting a fencing stance as before.

“Well, umm… I guess I’ll save my main for last then.” Crescent mumbled, before turning around and getting on her knees to whisper to her Pokémon, who eventually, albeit reluctantly, stood out in front of her.

“Man, all that effort and I didn’t even catch the Tyrantrum. Bummer.” Bella sighed as the trio walked through the meadow, although this elicited a glare from her sister.

“Effort!? We almost got fucking killed! Be glad SOMEONE was able to catch the goddamn Pokémon, even if it wasn’t you!” She yelled.

“Woah, Ri, I… Sorry.” Bella looked down at her feet. “And, uhh… Thanks for taking care of me until I woke up. You’re the best sister ever.”

Always a sucker for affection, Ri went red and muttered something under he breath.

“I’m sorry, what was thaaaat?” Bella teased.

“I said take this, ass.” Rialla repeated, shoving a pokeball into her sister’s hand.

“Woah… What’s this?” Bella asked, looking at the pokeball.

“Before we ran off to save your stupid ass, I caught a Tyrunt for you. I would’ve given it earlier, but you were too busy bitching.” She grumbled.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” Bella exclaimed as she jumped up and down excitedly, before giving her sister a big hug. After a while of similar exclamations and a blushing Rialla, Bella quickly turned to Lucas.

“You’ve been awful quiet.” She raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I have.” He sighed. “I’ve just been thinking. Me and Hoopa? We’re weak.”

“Weak? You have a Legendary Pokémon!” Bella said excitedly. “You could probably beat the snot outta us!”

“Oh, yeah, my measly level 5 Hoopa against your 20 something Amauras. I’d so win.” He remarked with rolled eyes.

“Hey, stop that.” Rialla chimed in, pushing Lucas rather forcefully. Enough so that he lost his balance and almost fell over. “I’m the angsty one. You’re the happy one.”

“I appreciate the sentiment.” He said with a little smile. “But I’m gonna leave you two to adventure on your own. I think I need to do a bit of work to catch up to the rest of you lot.” He said as he began walking off.

“Hey wait!” Anabella ran after him, he turned and raised his eyebrows at her. “You come battle us when you’re all awesome and powerful, y’hear?”

“…Will do.” He said with a smile as he threw Hoopa’s pokeball. “Hyperspace Hole!”

As soon as the tiny pink djinn of a Pokémon showed up, it made a portal appear which Lucas stepped through, and it followed, which promptly closed.

“…Dumbass.” Ri mumbled as she carried on walking down the path.

“Hey, stop being the angsty one for a second. You’re just sad you can’t walk with your booooooyyyfriieeeend anymore.” Bella teased.

“Shut it, he’s just a friend. Anyway, you think Julius Roll is hot.” Ri teased right back, and both sisters went back to laughing as they walked through them meadow together.

“Dusknoir, Drain Punch!” Lethe heard from deeper into the cave. He recognised the voice, so quickly ran after it, and as expected, he found Julius Roll blocking a passageway, his Dusknoir and a fainted Pangoro in front of him. Lethe briefly eyed the natural stone entranceway Julius was standing in, but quickly turned his attention to Pangoro.

“Pangoro? In a cave?” He asked, a little surprised.

“Ugh, don’t get my started. Surprised you haven’t seen any yet, the bloody place is infested with them.” Julius scratched his head a bit, and then looked Lethe up and down. “Steel type, right? What’re you doing in Victory Road? Don’t tell me you’re ready to qualify already.”

“Hardly. Only just caught my second Pokémon outside, I-” Lethe began, but he heard a quiet scratching sound above him. He briefly looked up to see a Skarmory flying a bit too close to the ceiling of the open cavern that made up this section of Victory Road. Without hesitation, he threw an Ultra Ball straight up, and then turned back to Julius.

“As I was saying, I just figured ‘Where do you find steel types?’ ‘Caves!’ ‘Which cave will have the STRONGEST steel types?’ ‘Victory Road!’” He laughed to himself a bit. “Not to mention I need a Dus-” Once more, Lethe was interrupted by a quiet sound. This one, however, was not a scratching, but a ‘Click!’ Indeed, the Ultra ball he had thrown up had landed next to him, and been shaking while he spoke. Lethe simply smiled to himself as he attached it to his belt, another Pokémon joining his team.

“Dusk Stone. I need a Dusk Stone, and I figured if I was likely to find one anywhere…”

“Dear Lord. I think that might be the second most impressive catch I’ve ever seen in my entire life, how in the name of… This cavern is almost 120 feet high!” The Elite Four member’s mouth was agape, in total shock, not only by Lethe’s actions, but also how nonchalant he was being in response to them.

“Only second?” Lethe asked with a chuckle, but then smiled. “So, I have to ask. What’s down there?” He pointed to the passageway Julius was standing in front of.

“Ohhh, this? Giratina nest.” Julius responded, after having very quickly regained his composure.

“An entire nest of… Huh.” Lethe seemed the shocked one now, but he continued probing. “Stopping any unwary trainers going down there and getting hurt?”

“Hardly. If one of you lot is stupid enough to fight a nest, of Legendaries no less, you’ll either have crazy success, or learn your lesson very fast. I just don’t want anybody taming one before me.”

“You haven’t already? Did you run out of pokeballs or something?” Lethe asked, not quite following. “The whole point of pokeballs is the taming thing.”

“Ah, of course. Most people don’t understand what makes Legendary Pokémon Legendary.” Julius smiled, as impressive as Lethe seemed, he was still just another trainee.

“Aren’t they just arbitrarily powerful enough for some nutjob to make up a legend about it a thousand years ago? I figured when all of those stories got disproved, they just sorta become normal but powerful Pokémon.”

“That’s what most people think, and its half right. But there’s another feature of Legendary Pokémon which caused that original classification, and is why they still keep their classification today. Which is that they can’t, strictly speaking, be tamed. Not by pokeballs, certainly. They can of course be contained by them but… If you expect cooperation, they need to CHOOSE you. That’s why people who catch Legendary Pokémon are often called their chosen or champion. Because if you aren’t chosen, catching one is just a berserk accident waiting to happen.”

“There are enough Steel Type Legendary Pokémon that I should probably remember that.” Lethe remarked, before peering into the dark passage behind Julius, although nothing could be seen. “Well, the lesson is appreciated, Mr. Roll.”

“Any time.” Julius smiled, before finally calling Dusknoir back into its pokeball, and looking up at the ceiling, absentmindedly. “There’s an offshoot cavern, about three floors up. FULL of crystals. You should be able to find a Dusk Stone in there. Be careful though, there are chargestones as well. You don’t wanna be caught off guard by a Magnezone. Might be a good catch for you, though.”

Lethe just nodded at the Elite Four member as he began heading towards the passage to upper levels, before sending his three Pokémon out to walk with him. Doublade floated next to him, Skarmory circled above him, and Riolu ran along besides.

“Thanks. See you around!” Lethe waved behind him to Julius, who began walking down the passage to the nest once the Steel candidate was well away.

“Okay, umm…” Crescent mumbled to herself as she looked at the three opponents in front of her. She cleared her throat before removing her glasses once more and untying her hair, letting it drop down to her sides. “Rotom, Shock Wave on the Spheal! Charmander, Flare Blitz on the Honedge! Dratini, Dragon Rush on the Heracross!” She ordered her Pokémon with surprising confidence. All of her Pokémon obeyed without hesitation. The ring of electricity that Rotom loosed went straight for Spheal, despite the Pokémon trying to run (or more aptly, roll) away, and it had barely touched the Pokémon before it fainted. Frederick called it back and just shrugged, grin still plastered on his face. “I should probably train a bit more.”

At the same moment, Charmander, engulfed in flames, jumped at Walter. It was met with the face of Honedge as Walter tried to push the Pokémon back. He was sweating; both from the strain and heat, and his arm quivered as he put his full force in repelling the airborne Fire Type, but finally managed to repel it, knocking it backwards onto the ground. Despite its strong move, it’s apparent that the Charmander itself was weak, as the impact of its fall caused it to faint. Lastly, the Dratini practically flung itself at Heracross. Amelia simply smiled at this and nodded at her Pokémon, which launched a Megahorn at the last second, knocking Dratini unconscious and sending it flying with a single thrust of the horn.

“D-damn… Rotom, Ominous Wind on Honedge!” Crescent ordered, calling back her two fainted Pokémon, and rummaging through her bag to find her last pokeball. As she found it and sent out her signature, Walter frantically waved Honedge around to repel the attack, but it was to no avail. It had already sustained minor injuries due to Charmander, and the wind was the last straw, blowing it out of Walter’s hands and having it faint. Amelia responded quickly, just as Crescent’s Masquerain was let out of its pokeball.

“Heracross, Night Slash!” She shouted, and darkness began to gather around the bug’s horn, as it charged Rotom, knocking it out instantly. Masquerain retaliated without being told, and a flurry of wind gathered around Heracross. Not much, but enough to knock it out due to its major weakness. Amelia just smiled as the pair called back their Pokémon, and Amelia threw out a Net Ball containing her ace. Shuckle stared down Masquerain, the two young women and their signature Pokémon ready to do battle.

[Marcello 436]

“Gretchen. You’re here.”

“Mr. Harmonia. To what do I owe the honour of a personal meeting?”

“The Goltan Region. After their tragedy, they want new trainers to apply to be Gym Leaders. Goltan has something the team requires.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Bubble!” Crescent ordered, and Masquerain quickly responded, although as the super effective bubbles burst in Shuckle’s face, it simply cocked its head slightly, yawning.

“He’s not much of a fighter, I’ll give ya, but he sure as hell is a trooper.” Amelia grinned at her opponent. “You can take another shot; he’ll attack when he can be bothered.”

“I… Fine, Bubble, again!” Crescent responded, although the attack had a nearly identical result, yawn and all. Shuckle then turned its head to the side and wrapped a tendril around a nearby pebble, throwing it at Masquerain. This pebble, however, managed to travel about an inch from Shuckle before landing again, posing no threat to the other bug type.

“Well, I think this place is bound to have some ghost types, and I probably won’t miss much from this battle if I leave for a few hours to catch them.” Walter remarked, as he began walking off. This got him a glare from Amelia, but she didn’t attempt to stop him. Frederick seemed quite content to watch the battle, despite Masquerain doing hopelessly minimal damage, and Shuckle being unable to hit it.

“Jade, my dear little sister?” Winter spoke softly. The two were standing in front of a large lake, in a forest clearing. It was a beautiful scene. She had her newly acquired Horsea out, and he had his Mamoswine.

“Yes, big b-b-brother?” She asked, looking a little exhausted, but otherwise happy.

“Try. HARDER!” The Ice Master practically screamed at her, and Mamoswine flung a chunk of ice, which Horsea only narrowly dodged.

“What the hell!?” Jade yelled, before furrowing her brow. “Horsea, with everything you’ve got!”

With her order, a plume of smoke shot from its mouth, shortly followed by a gout of boiling water. Mamoswine growled slightly, and began to run off, although was followed by Horsea, who didn’t let up on the Scald for a second. Indeed, it was almost nonstop for about a minute, after which a loud CRASH as Mamoswine collapsed.

“I… I did it…” Jade looked amazed.

“Told you that you could. And only three hours. That’s about half the time I was expecting.” Winter smiled warmly at his little sister. Even if it didn’t retaliate much, beating away at a Pokémon four times your level for three hours would tend to be a valuable experience.

“Thanks for-” Jade began, but she stopped as she noticed the tiny wisps of light dancing around Horsea. A few at first, but more kept appearing. “A-already? But he was only level-” She began, but was cut off by a laugh from her brother.

“Am I gonna have to remind you of the whole three hour training thing we just did?” He asked. The little wisps were now plentiful enough that they had formed a shell around Horsea, completely enclosing it. Moments later, that shell shattered, and the newly evolved Seadra was in its place.

“Thanks for pushing me so hard!” Jade exclaimed, practically jumping with excitement. Her brother laughed at this, before quietly responding.
“Well we aren’t done yet. I have a Dragon Scale on me, so let’s sort out Seadra, and then we can move on to training that Mareep you caught.”

Two men were lying on the beach, their Pokémon besides them. The man on the right was redheaded, tall and skinny, and looked to be in his mid-twenties. Next to him was a Cherrim, soaking up the sun just as gleefully. The guy next to him had dark hair and skin, and was rather short and rotund, although he seemed to be enjoying the rays just as much as the Grass candidate and his Cherrim, and next to him were his own Pokémon, Slugma and Fennekin.

As Cyrus walked over, he looked down at the two men.

“Umm… So I just went to heal my Pokémon and… There’s something weird at the Pokémon Centre.” He informed the pair.

“We’re sunbathing, fighting boy.” The dark skinned man remarked, dismissively, shooing Cyrus.

“Julius Goltan’s being all… nice.” Cyrus explained, ignoring the shooing. Both men shot up and looked in the direction of the Pokémon Centre. Julius Goltan was indeed standing there and talking to Angelica, a rare smile on his face.

“Huh. How old is Julius, like twenty-six?” The redhead asked.

“Twenty-three. Angelica’s nineteen, before you ask.” The Fire candidate revealed. “You don’t think they…?”

“I doubt it. They’re just chatting, he’s being nice… I reckon he’s interested in her, though.” Cyrus laughed a bit, as the trio walked over. They weren’t even within ten feet of the upper league members before they got a usual glare from Julius.

“We’re busy.” He nearly growled, before he returned to speaking to Angelica, smile back on his face. She looked up at the three men and just smiled.

“Now, now. We ARE here to help them, Jules.”

This elicited a sigh from Julius, but he turned to the group, still smiling. Although, unlike the one he wore with Angelica, this one was obviously forced.

“Cyrus. Seth. Lester.” Julius addressed them. “What can we do to help the three of you?”

“Well, it’s just the three of us are beginning to fall behind a lot of the other leaders, and we were wondering if you guys had any tips on battling and training.” Lester, the redhead, lied.

“Well, maybe if you didn’t laze aro-” Julius started gruffly, but was cut off by an excited Angelica.

“Let’s battle!” She grinned, looking up at the E4 member with wide eyes.

“I… What?” Julius seemed surprised. “Last time we battled was when you took on the league. You beat me without losing a single Pokémon.”

“Yup! But that’s because it was an official challenge so you had to play the format I wanted. I know you aren’t a double battler like me, you can choose the format!”

“I… Well, I AM a triple battler. But seeing as this would just be a test battle to show the newbies how it’s done… Single? Just one Pokémon each. I’ll try to last as long as I can.” Julius laughed a bit.

“Last as long as you can? Don’t put yourself down, you could totally win!” Angelica remarked cheerily, as she wheeled herself away, putting enough space in between them for a battle.

“I’m sorry, say that again Miss ‘I have a level 98 Cacturne’” Julius laughed a bit.

“Fine, fine. No Cacturne.” She conceded. Julius smiled and threw a pokeball, his Gengar coming out.

“I choose you, Chompy!” Angelica announced, as her Garchomp came out of its ball. This was met with a sigh from her opponent.

“Do you really have to narrate everything you do in battle?” He asked.

“Well, on the one hand: No, I don’t. But on the other…” Angelica started, and then leapt out of her wheelchair, opening up her parasol midair as she practically screamed, “CHOMPY’S GARCHOMPITE IS REACTING TO ANGELICA’S MEGA PARASOL!” And indeed, the tip of her parasol glowed softly, the pokeball on her belt glowed blindingly, and next thing you knew, the vicious monster that was Mega Garchomp was in front of her. Of course, as impressive as this act of theatrics which got exclamations of awe from all the spectators was, Angelica was no Flying Pokémon. She was a teenager with barely functional legs. As such, she had to land, and as she did;

“SON OF A BITCH!” She yelled, wincing in severe pain.

“Fucking hell Angelica, shit like this is why your legs never get any better.” Julius scolded, but quickly turned to the three observers. “Help her back into her chair.” They all rushed over and quickly followed the Poison master’s orders, and once the Champion was back in her chair, she smiled weakly and fixed her hair.

“What can I say? I’m dying anyway. If pulling awesome stunts like that while I can costs me my legs, so be it.” She shrugged complacently. This was obviously a face she had come to terms with, but Julius pained expression made it apparent that he had not.

“You know I don’t like it when you say… Nevermind.” He sighed, and then forced a smile, as he rolled the sleeve on his left arm up, revealing a rather expensive watch. A look of sheer glee returned to Angelica’s face, not unlike the one she had worn at the onset of the battle, as she cheerfully narrated, “Gengar’s Gengarite is reacting to Julius’ Mega Watch!”

“Are they SERIOUSLY still going at it?” Walter asked as he walked over to Frederick who appeared to be just as engrossed with the rather repetitive battle as he had been before. “I literally just went and caught two Pokémon.”

“Yeah, it’s tense.” Frederick smiled up at Walter. “I snagged a Wingull that flew past, as well.”

“I think we should call it quits…” Crescent mumbled. Her voice was raspy from shouting bubble for about half an hour.

“Yeeah… Still, you took out the goons over there as well as one of my Pokémon before calling quits. I’d say you won that.” Amelia stretched out as she called Shuckle back.

“This was fun… Anyway, umm… I have two more Pokémon to catch, so I’m gonna go.” Crescent mumbled as she once more put her hair back up and her glasses back on.

“Hey, don’t forget about the little old Bug leader when you’re already challenging the league, y’hear?” Amelia teased, which elicited a small smile from Crescent, who waved at Amelia, and then meekly so at the two guys.

“Hah, you could’ve cut the sexual tension there with a knife.” Walter laughed a bit, which got a confused look from Frederick and Amelia.

“Huh? I was just saying bye. Like seriously, there was zero sexual tension there.” Amelia remarked.

“Yeeah, I don’t know how much you know about romance, but there’s a difference between subtlety and something just not being there.” Frederick stated with raised eyebrows.

“Pssh, you’ll see. You are gay, right?” Walter asked Amelia.

“Well yeah, but that doesn’t just mean-” Amelia began, but Walter cut her off.

“Fine then, if you haven’t made a move on her in the next two weeks, I’ll give you my brand new Shedinja. And if you do… Eh, I don’t need anything from you. I’ll just say I told you so.” Walter offered, confidently.

“F-fine. You’re on. I’m not even a little interested in her.” Amelia mumbled, blushing a bit, before clearing her throat. “Anyway, I’m gonna catch more Pokémon too.” She decided, looking off in the direction Crescent had walked, and then just loudly sighing and heading in a completely separate direction.

It was an extravagant office. Walls lined with bookshelves, pristine wooden floors with a red and golden carpet, a large window behind the desk which looked onto a beautiful waterfall… It was nothing like anything from the Goltan Region. A middle-aged man with short brown hair and blue eyes was talking to a young, smartly-dressed girl. The man was dressed somewhat casually, and was sat on the desk while the girl stood.

“That’s wonderful. Let Hoenn’s new Champion know that we-” He began, but noticed the man who had just entered his office and was rather rapidly heading in their direction. “Damn, can’t I just ask for one day without his constant...?” The middle aged man whispered, but then turned to face the other man with a smile. “Duke Hel, what can I do for you?” He asked politely.

Duke Hel wore a pristine white suit, which clashed rather loudly with his greasy black hair, although the pair did serve to have his steely-grey eyes stand out. He seemed slightly older than the other man, perhaps in his sixties.

“The Goltan Region. I wanted to inquire how the project was faring.” He asked simply.

“Well, Francoise, they’ve only been there a day and a half, so there’s hardly anything to report.” The first man shrugged as he stood up from the desk. His plain T-shirt had a band logo on it, and he had his hands in his jean pockets. He somehow managed to not look too ridiculous with the outfit, although it was certainly obvious he was wearing an outfit that should really only be worn by somebody half his age.

“The amount of time is irrelevant at this stage.” Francoise dismissed. “Even if we ignore the abundance of powerful Pokémon to catch and train against, the island being practically made of Keystones gives off a lot of excess energy, allowing for ease in levelling of Pokémon.”

“I recall. You did the analysis yourself.” The first man smiled, but he was visibly frustrated. “I did speak with Angelica earlier. She said she has her eyes on a particularly brilliant candidate who may well be qualified by the end of tomorrow.”

“Is it Jade?” He asked, curtly.

“Not unless she’s secretly a man called Lethe that uses the Steel Type.”

“Funny.” Duke Hel responded blankly, narrowing his eyes before continuing. “What about Legendaries? Anyone tamed anything yet?”

“For goodness sake, Francoise! It’s a training ground, not a bloody boiling pot of miracles!” The first man snapped, and then cleared his throat. “Apologies. Still, there are only six people currently alive known to have tamed Legendary Pokémon. Four of them are already on that island, and the other two are having this conversation. I know you have high hopes for your daughter after the achievements of yourself, your late wife, and your son; but you should loosen up a bit. Mauville wasn’t built in a day. It took you, what… Eight years to catch Kyurem? It’s not even been two days.”

“…My apologies, Gulliver. I was being unreasonable.” Duke Hel nodded in agreement. “I’ll let you get back to your work. Do let me know if the region has any interesting developments.”

As Duke Hel walked away, Gulliver began pacing around the room, displaying an obvious limp as he did, and turning to the woman. “Find me some sort of pointless busywork I can pawn off on Francoise. The man is utterly brilliant, but the less time he has to talk to me, the better.”

“Of course, Mr. Goltan, sir. I’ll come back after your break.” The assistant told him politely as she left the room.

“Gaaaarrrr!” Chompy roared as it kept swinging it’s scythes at the Mega Gengar, which managed to fade into the ground to dodge every slash, but Chompy’s assault was far too relentless for the Gengar to be able to get an attack of its own in.

“That thing is a complete monster.” Lester whispered to the other two.

“Yeah, Gengar looks utterly exhausted.” Cyrus whispered back.

“Umm… Is Angelica even paying attention?” Seth asked the others. They both turned to look at the wheelchair bound girl, who seemed to just be swaying her head back and forth with a wide smile on her face, looking up at the sky instead of at the battle.

“I, umm… I think she’s humming a tune. It looks like she’s totally off in her own world.” Seth added as they all watched her.

Julius obviously noticed this as well, as he put his hands on his face and mumbled something.

“Angie!” He called out. She quickly snapped out of her daze and looked over to him, smiling still.

“Oh, shit, yeah. The battle. Chompy, win now.” She ordered half-heartedly. As soon as she did, the Mega Garchomp plunged a scythe into the shadowy patch of ground where Gengar was hiding. A high pitched noise could be heard, and it sounded pained, as the wounded Gengar rose out of the ground, it was met with a roar, and two scythes quickly in its back. There was no delay, and it collapsed instantly, leading to Julius calling it back. He walked over to Angelica, although he reached up to scratch Chompy’s head as he walked past. The Garchomp let out a low purr almost instantly as he did.

“Alright Angie, we had some fun, but you need to get back to the league, rest those legs.” Julius told her, sternly. She sighed, but didn’t protest as she called Chompy back, and Julius began wheeling her over to the centre again.

“She… Is she seriously meant to be the best trainer alive?” Seth asked.

“I honestly can’t tell if she’s some kind of idiot or some kind of genius.” Lester mused in response.