…

I had always dreamed of being Pokemon League champion.

In my prior life, I grew up playing the Pokemon video games and watching the anime. So nostalgia played a large part in my journey through the Pokemon world. And while I personally knew Ash Ketchum now, something else had changed.

I knew I wouldn't have to undergo the Pokemon League challenge on my own. I had friends rooting for me.

Ino, Crystal, and Gold.

I kept up with my monk studies daily, making sure to read scripture while practicing public prayer and open discussion on Mew.

I decided to challenge Chuck's gym in Cianwood City.

His team normally would've been a challenge, with heavy physical and Fighting type attackers with my Normal type team, but instead I went with Arcanine first.

Arcanine was an absolute beast.

My beloved canine grew well into his second evolutionary form, and by this point, just starting with him, I won most battles.

Arcanine's standard attacks included Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Ember, Flame Charge, and I was in the process of having him perfect Extreme Speed.

Arcanine was also learning Dig.

Eevee was a tricky addition because I was already challenging Chuck's gym by the time he could become relevant. He was practically a newborn when the rest of the team were around Evolution 3 in their paths.

Vigoroth was about 75% there towards evolution, and I reviewed data on Ursaring from other regions to find out that he could evolve into an Ursaluna. A prospect I more than envied one day.

Chuck's Gym was a walk in the park.

He was using a Hitmonchan, Primeape, and Poliwrath.

Only Poliwrath appeared to be of any real danger, I had Arcanine solo the entire damn thing.

…

There was a roar in the arena, spectators cheering and making noise with plastic clappers as Arcanine and Hitmonchan had a fiery duel.

Hitmonchan threw Ice coated jabs, a right hook, slipping a fireball.

He wasn't fast enough to stop Arcanine from closing the distance in a rapid dash, and closed his jaws directly on Hitmonchan's torso.

Chuck banged his Trainer's box's metal guardrail speaking. "Counter! One two! Uppercut!"

Arcanine then ignited himself and Hitmonchan at point-blank range, Hitmonchan's punches meant nothing.

"1-0, the score is in favor of the challenger from Takujimi!"

Chuck switched Hitmonchan with Primeape, and the story continued.

Chuck's Pokemon were beefy, quick, and possessed refined strikes. But Arcanine would just dash forward with a developing Extreme Speed and Flamethrower combo.

I spoke from my Trainer's Box when Chuck frustratedly switched a knocked out Primeape with Poliwrath.

"Use Dig as a counter boy!"

"Poliwrath, Surf this pup outta here!"

Poliwrath was unsuccessful, and as soon as the massive wave of water missed and crashed violently on the ridges of the arena, Poliwrath narrowly dodged Arcanine's Dig attack.

Poliwrath then tanked the low effective hits of the fireballs, turning to use Focus Punch.

Arcanine was more than fast enough to dodge, diving in close now with a strong Crunch.

The lack of effective moves Arcanine possessed against Poliwrath were meaningless, because over time, the crowd noticed that in terms of sheer strike volume Arcanine was winning three to one.

Eventually, Chuck's exhausted Poliwrath gave in under one Extreme Speed too many, and that was that. I had earned my fifth Gym badge.

My team, that had undergone a fiery exit from clandestine Monk training under Master Yan, returned from the wilderness stronger than ever. Fighting for your life teaches you that fighting for competition just isn't the same thing and it showed in every battle Nico had as he continued through the Pokemon League.

I fought Morty's ghosts in Ecruteak City Gym to thunderous applause.

Arcanine and Gengar were going back and forth, dazzling the crowd with flying fireballs, a rapidly disappearing and reappearing Gengar throwing Shadow Balls.

They tended to miss and explode wildly to where Arcanine was standing, before blasting Gengar with Flamethrower before he could disappear again.

A few more traded shots and Gengar went down.

"The winner of the match, Nico from Takujimi!"

For my seventh badge people were already talking. My friends and I were enjoying a cafe out in Olivine City when the radio played something special.

"This is DJ Mary, live from Goldenrod City. I'm here to let you know about an up and coming trainer you should keep your eye on. I've already covered him on my show! The one and only, Nico from Takujimi Temple."

I grinned, swallowing my sandwich as Crystal and Gold patted me hard on the back laughing.

"I may not believe too much in religion, but this kid's track record makes me believe in him alright." DJ Mary said. "He's got not three, four, not five, but six Gym badges in his first half year of competition. I don't know about you, but he's made of some stiff stuff. The Pokemon League certainly has their hands full with this all star rookie!"

With her kind words, I moved on to Mahogany town, where I had the easiest time absolutely blindsiding the entirety of Mahogany Town Gym with Arcanine.

Arcanine had a flair for the flamboyant, knowing we held a massive type advantage, and of how many people had come to watch us.

"Arcanine, use Fire Blast!" I ordered.

One shot knockout for his Swinub. Although I did actually need to switch in Vigoroth to take out his Dewgong.

Man, my puppy was no longer a puppy. This absolute juggernaut of a fire type Pokemon had scorched through three different Gyms in as many weeks.

Pryce's best Pokemon fell knocked out to Arcanine in a matter of minutes. Piloswine, his main, was both slow and weak to fire, so Arcanine blazed through him quickly.

Soon, Pryce shook my hand and placed a Glacier Badge within my palm.

…

We were all relaxing, the four of us, on the grassy plains near Blackthorn City.

Gold was a bit of a loudmouth and always a bit scrappy, he'd grown a bit more confident and headstrong since the first tournament we met. It was ironic how it came full circle that my challenge of the Pokemon League would begin by challenging Clair's gym.

There was always something off about Silver. Like the rest of us, he had gotten his Gym badges a bit after I did. By a difference of weeks, none of them had the seventh badge, and Silver had just gotten his sixth. I mostly used the catch up time for my friends to get their own badges to do preaching work for the temple.

But Silver was always a bit more intense, a bit more serious. I was the only one who knew the truth about where he came from.

Crystal, the only girl in the group, took somewhat of a motherly role. She'd always check on us, and was the snootiest when it came to things like dressing properly or with hygiene. I asked her if she grew up with siblings, and I was thoroughly surprised when she said no.

Then there was me. Nico.

Gold rubbed Arcanine's belly, the canine fire best laid out on the grass with us as Crystal's Feraligatr chased a few of Silver's Pokemon. He stretched out more as Gold petted him.

"You've been quiet." said Gold. "Everything okay?"

"Yup."

"We all know that's not true." said Ino. "Not with that tone."

"I'm about to set a Pokemon League record before I have my own go at the tournament. I imagine I'd be." I sighed, thinking out loud. "Telling DJ Mary everything in a live interview at some point. About why I'm fighting, what I'm fighting for."

"And, what are you fighting for?" Crystal asked, rubbing Azumarill's head.

"To spread the word of Mew. I even saw graffiti made in Mew's image, saying to 'Never Forget Fuchsia.' My words and actions are changing the lives and more and more people everyday."

"So you're happy you're winning?" wondered Gold.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

I smiled. "Very happy."

I had good reason to be, even if there was a large portion of those in the Pokemon world who were suffering.

I was surrounded by friends, and I always spread Mew's truth to the planet everywhere I went, more and more each and every day.

I knew I was going to beat Clair, more than anything, I was hyping myself up mentally for the tournament. The best Trainers in the Johto and Kanto region would clash to select who could then be named Regional Champion and challenge the Elite Four.

No small feat.

…

I walked into Blackthorn City Gym amidst thunderous applause.

The ring wasn't anything special, except that it was.

It took place in a large stoney field bowl, hanging over battlements with lava here and there to pop the eyes.

The next fifteen minutes were a bit of a blur, despite how well I led the match.

Clair opened with Dragonair and I decided to give Arcanine a break, leading with Vigoroth.

My main proceeded to wreck Clair's team, Dragons or not, Vigoroth was an absolute unit.

"Dragonair! Use Dragonbreath!" she said, after her first Pokemon, a young Dragonair, had already fallen to Vigoroth's honed rage.

Vigoroth dodged with ease, proceeding to use Focus Punch, or rather a strong variation of it.

The right cross directly on Dragonair's frame was a shattering Fighting type blow.

Tutting, Clair Withdrew her last Dragonair, and switched it for Kingdra.

Vigoroth proceeded to wail on Kingdra, literally. He would dodge the powerful but mis-timed long range special attacks and then close the distance to do what I called 'Donkey Kong' smash. Where he would dig into the Dragon type with both claws one at a time as if he was an ape.

This followed for some time, until eventually Kingdra collapsed.

"And the winner of the match is Nico!"

My friends surrounded me with congrats and compliments as the crowd roared in favor of me.

Clair begrudgingly gave me the Rising Badge without any words. Not that I needed her approval.

I felt deeply grateful for where I was in my Pokemon journey.

I had started feeling like Clair wanted to use me as her pawn. And now here I was, bombarded with questions by reporters asking.

I already had a phrase prepared.

"I'm focusing on the community."

That was more or less what I wanted to spread, and I wanted my message to be spread.

…

"So I'm here in the studio with the prodigal son of the mountain monasteries, Nico." DJ Mary sat across from me in her recording booth in downtown Goldenrod City. "Nico, how does it feel to be the trainer to earn all eight badges in their respective region faster than any since Red?"

"Well personally I think I feel grateful. My monastery supported me greatly when they sent me on my way. As I always say, my Pokemon's performance is tied to their spiritual connections to me, not their physical ones."

DJ Mary looked inquisitive. "But even you admit the facets of modern tech help give every trainer their edge right?"

"Sure but, look what happened. We relied so much on technology Ho-Oh burned down an entire city."

"As the Sprout Order's representative in the Pokemon League, what is your opinion on that attack? What is it all tied to?"

I explained.

"First, Ho-Oh is a result of a much larger problem. Team Rocket, the return of the spirits being so violent, these are symptoms of a huge lack of meaning and purpose behind daily life. In most cities around the world today, people are connected almost purely to the physical side of doing things with no regards for the spiritual."

"So they should believe in the word of Mew? Your gospel."

"Either mine or anything higher than just their Pokenav. Why do you think Team Rocket gained so many followers? Because we set everyone to Red's standard with the funneling tournament system. And any trainer not able to meet his mythic level or damn near it, falls out."

"So you'd change that system?" asked Mary.

"Definitely. At least allow for all trainers to challenge Gyms regardless of their certification status with the Pokemon League. And you know what, there's a lot we did that Red wouldn't agree with either."

DJ Mary shrugged. "Like what?"

"Like turning him into a god. I never met Red personally, but it seems that just because he broke so much ground in the realm of competing globally with Pokemon, we built a false idol out of him. We focused so much on his achievements we never focused on why he battled so hard to begin with."

"And what reason was that?"

"Just for the sake of it. Pokemon battles help decide champions and that's it. Red was among the first Trainers to use their Pokemon to save the world, and he did. His connection to his team was far more than just achievement based. He deeply respected his team, and they felt the same way for him. That's Pokemon raising at its core: Trust."

"So your general argument is that we've lost trust with our Pokemon."

"Trust in every way we do things. I was at Fuschia City, I know how hard it was. But don't worry DJ Mary, I will set things right. For all you listeners, keep your eyes and ears peeled."

…

It started with just a couple of us offering shelters with tents on our small hill outside Blackthorn City. Those displaced by the Ho-Oh attacks and forgotten by society, everyone, was given a home.

But then DJ Mary got word out about all the good we were doing.

It was the holiday season, weeks of me streaming through the Pokemon League at record pace had led me to the snow-ey days.

Men and women, children, those young and those old, all came to our camp.

We sang songs, we built monuments in honor of the fallen, and we danced in circles around bonfires.

I needed scripture to read from, so I used the first three scrolls on Mew's sacrifice to save humanity by giving himself a physical form as a sort of religious book.

It was printed and sold, including exact instructions for how to build chapels.

I thought about naming our blossoming community New Fuschia City, but that didn't sit well with me as the reconstruction of that city was still ongoing.

So I settled on: The Commune.

Everyone in the Commune lived in complete harmony with everything around them the best they could. Their Pokemon, the ground and waters.

We more than offered a sanctuary, we were a peaceful place, dedicated to worshipping Mew. In my dreams, I often found Espeon musing that we had in fact created the first corner of true civilization in line with Mew's original vision in thousands of years.

The Commune gave everyone a house, and a reprieve away from the devastation caused by Ho-Oh and Team Rocket.

I was expected to be leader of this community, however, I had little experience in the matter. So I organized a team of monks in charge of ordaining the whole group.

They were a collection of Sprout Sages from all over the Kanto and Johto regions, such as the one who administered Muchmoney's wedding, who were in charge of leading all prayers.

The Commune soon became a place, just south east of Blackthorn City, where all Pokemon and Trainers, regardless of their pasts could see Mew's light.

People came to us hungry, they came to us cold and needing shelter, and we were working around the clock to finally do some good in the world of Pokemon.

The Commune was intended for a way to study Mew's gospel without needing to solely review it through the lens of a monk. We held open prayer groups, so that those misplaced by Ho-Oh's attack could see that the spirits were not all bad.

Day by day it grew, we were growing the community with more people and more shelters. The large amount of wealth I'd built battling my way to the top of the Pokemon league I re-invested into my community by building the commune.

…

"I would just spend so much time at work you know."

A man from Cherrygrove city gave a tearful confession, all of us were discussing our past sins and mistakes in a circular group setting in our main chapel.

"Both my wife and kid, I never had enough time to see them. I would do anything for my son, anything. Except be there for him, to give him the right amount of time. And then, Fuchsia City, and that bird- I'm sorry."

He broke down a little, likely thinking of his lost family members, and someone rubbed his shoulder.

I nodded to him. "It's always best to let things out than keep them in."

"Brother Nico."

I looked over at a newer member of our Commune, just an average woman from Goldenrod city who decided to join.

"Have you ever seen Mew himself?"

Everyone in the group perked up and looked towards me.

"No, not yet."

"And why's that?"

I explained calmly. "The Great Spirits only appear to people during moments of great crisis for the existence of humanity. If an entire city or swath of country would be on the verge of annihilation, a Spirit would appear."

"So why did we get no warning about Fucshia city?" someone else asked.

"I was warned. But the message was cryptic, I'm afraid the Spirits are so all knowing and powerful that it can be a great benefit to us. Or a great cost."

I looked around at the group.

"Think of the sacrifices you all had to make to be here. How much you've lost or had to give away. I'm still undecided if the Pokemon League is worth pursuing after everything I've learned about existence and the spirits."

The group listened as I went on.

"What about us makes us so special that we can become as great as Red once was? What about humanity was so special that Mew, a god of Spirits, the one and only uniter of all Spiritual Aspects, allowed us to be bonded to Pokemon?"

"We just are," I said. "Mew is supposed to be inspirational, he set an example for us. And I think Red actually met Mew, and when he found out we weren't what he initially had set out for us to be. He left."

I smiled, group was then concluded and my message was further spread.

…

An hour later, there was a letter placed on my nightstand.

Dear Nico,

I'm sorry I didn't have the courage to tell you this face to face, but I have to leave. There is no room for me in the Commune. The community you've built here sees Mew as merciful and forgiving. When all my life, I've never known that.

How can there be a good destiny for every one of us when I've never met my father? When I've been assailed by Team Rocket from birth, and completely unable to pursue my own path in the Pokemon league. But you should have the answers right?

But you don't. You're fourteen just like me, and you've only done what you did in a scant couple of months. I didn't have monks to raise me like you did, and yet, everyone looks to you for answers. They formed this entire community around someone who's never been in the outside world for longer than a year.

You're not a fraud, but I hate you. I hate everything you stand for.

You destroyed my home, you destroy so much. And I will never understand you for it.

Stop trying to forgive me for things I did of my own accord, no one needs your so called wisdom. Not Gold or Crystal, no one in the Pokemon League, and no one in your commune.

I hope our paths never cross again.

Sincerely, Silver

I understood his pain, but him choosing to leave the only community who'd truly give him a home meant he was seeking something he never really had his whole life:

Power.

He was robbed of all his autonomy, so his sense of control auto corrects to seeking as much personal power.

Master Yan's Umbreon fed off that energy, as did Team Rocket, and in a way Mewtwo.

I felt very upset when I read that letter and I learned Silver had fled the Commune to seek his own path. He always struck me as a loner, and now I knew the true reason why.

He was in a deep amount of pain.

Inoru had entered my room. "We're setting the stage up for a speech. What's that you've got there in your hand."

"Silver's goodbye letter. He hates me."

Ino blinked. "How can he hate you? Look at how much good you've done. You've brought dozens, no hundreds of people from all across Johto and Kanto together."

"I know why he hates me." I put the letter away in my pocket. "But I'll be fine, don't worry."

…

Hundreds had gathered to watch my speech.

I had inspired enough people that some wore silver necklaces with Mew's insignia upon it in the crowds. I gave my speech from a podium on a stage surrounded by the wooden amphitheater I had built, as well as all the wooden huts and cabins encompassing the center of the Commune.

"Thank you all for coming my friends."

I cleared my throat.

"I had planned a very in depth speech saying a whole lot of things, but the truth is." I lifted Silver's speech, starting to talk. "I can't get my message across to everyone."

"I'll never forget that day, when the most powerful people in the Pokemon world met, and even after revealing the truth, Lieutenant Surge still wanted to declare war against Team Rocket and the Spirits."

I went on. "The truth is every single one of us was born with a gift. Mew imparted some of his Eternal power when he saved humanity from extinction. We use this power every day, when we choose to do good deeds, to impart mercy and wisdom instead of brutality and destruction."

"Pokemon are not our slaves, conduits for nefarious purposes to start a dark order. Like the kind Team Rocket aims to build. Rocket and the groups inspired by it around the world, have raised sins against humanity so high, that the Spirits chose to punish us."

I raised my hands upwards. "But I promise you, each and every one of you. In the same way we were punished, we can be rewarded. In times of great need, if communities can chant and pray hard enough together. The Spirits will listen."

"Which is why, to show the unity of this new Commune and the gospel of Mew I aim to spread. I am declaring I will be challenging the Pokemon League directly."

A few gasped, a couple of others cheered.

"I will be competing in the Pokemon League Tournament in two weeks." I stated calmly.

The applause from the Commune was huge, and I tucked Silver's letter into my pocket.

I'd keep it with me, as a reminder that I couldn't reach everyone, just like with him and Surge. But I'd do my best to keep pushing as highly as I could in the Pokemon League and then afterward taking down Team Rocket to get my message out to whoever I could.

…