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Domain of the Alpha - Arceus's Dimension
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A reality away, in another dimension entirely, the golden form of the Alpha Pokémon slept soundly, waiting with eternal patience for the One to rise again. He had awareness through the many eyes of his pale white copies, who monitored his favored worlds, and all who lived on them, for instances where his power would be needed by Sentient and Pokémon alike.
He waited for the One that his last Holder had prophesied would one day appear. The Trainer who could control his power, and was worthy of doing so. The Trainer who would, so he'd claimed, propel both their species to heights neither could properly imagine. Being all but omniscient, Arceus could imagine quite a bit. The human had laughed when he'd said as much, and promised that the next one to Tame him would, at the very least, pique his interest. It wasn't as impressive as the rest of the prophecy, as it was self-fulfilling. Of course Arceus would be interested in another human that could handle his power. Sentients like them, creatures born of the universe's natural evolutionary processes, usually couldn't even properly fathom his existence, let alone tame it.
With a sudden jolt, the red eye of the true Arceus opened for the first time in millennia. His near-omnipotent senses confused him, for an instant, as he felt the combined psychic potential of many Trainers who could end up taming him upon the world he watched most closely. The world he himself had saved from catastrophic imbalances in the natural cycle that had allowed life to appear and flourish. Though the humans had, at first, repulsed him, the Alpha Pokémon had come to see that they were indeed worthy of being saved. The one he'd granted his power to had shown him that, and their accord was not yet fulfilled. For now at least, the Earth was worthy of his gaze, and attention.
After a moment, he understood. One of the potential Trainers who could handle his power had just been awakened in a rapid manner, at the behest of a psychic type, and this was following a draw on his power that had made him stir in the first place, which had been used in relation to the same Trainer. For a brief moment, that Trainer's mind had almost unlocked its latent psychic abilities. Almost. Now, at best, he was aware of them, but unable to use them. For now.
Still, it was more promising than the thousands of others Arceus had sensed over the long millennia, and that particular Trainer's latent power had been strong enough to jolt his own senses back to awareness, which was no small feat. He took a longer look at the planet through his third eye, and then realized just how long he'd slept. Humanity had evolved, since last he was awake. There were thousands with that same psychic potential, and more besides without it that could, in the right circumstances, also prove worthy. It was a far cry from the war-loving brutes they'd become once his Holder had fallen prey to his mortality, despite the Alpha Pokémon's best efforts.
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The challenge, the true hidden purpose of the Pokémon Leagues, established by himself and his human, had never been tougher. He could sense it. The time for his next Holder to appear was fast approaching, and eventually, one of them would rise atop the others. He stayed awake, watching the world from his dimension of infinite Light, even as his clones monitored the Earth.
They were one, and yet weren't, and many wondered at what his awakening signified. More than a few had developed skewed personalities over the eons, but now that the original was conscious once more, they were slowly erased, and molded back into the single entity that was Arceus.
His patience was also infinite. He could wait a little longer for the next Holder to rise. He'd stayed awake, and waited two whole Earth centuries last time, which in his realm, was much, much longer. He could do so again, if needed. He'd made a promise, after all.
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Sensing the potential within this latest batch of Trainers, the Alpha Pokémon sent a psychic message to the ones who would test the potential Pokémon Master's latent power. There were many such Pokémon who lived on the world, that could test the candidates. Of all of the differing species, very few were alive when he last was Tamed. Though the Sages all had psychic potential, some were simply shorter lived species.
Now, they all received the message, the call. The time was approaching. His awakening signified a change in their world, one that would only appear evident as his handiwork over time. Soon, the trials would begin again. He could feel the Sage's inherent excitement at training the One. They would all be disappointed before the end though, all but one. Only one of their protégés could Tame him, after all.
All across the world, the Psychic Sages shivered as they felt Arceus, the real Arceus, call them to action. They needed to stop being picky, and uncover the potential of as many Trainers as possible. This time, one would be chosen.
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Sage's Isle - The Great Swamp, Floria Region
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On the Unovan side of the northern continent, there was one psychic type who received the message, and sighed. He lived south, far south, in a massive swamp that extended from what was once called Floria thousands of years past, to Jinia Town, a home of rather superstitious and fearful humans that rightly avoided his home situated in the middle of the continent's eastern coastline. Thanks to its sheer size, the Swamp was rather dangerous, if one was not prepared.
When Arceus had bid Regigigas to shift the continents of the planet that hadn't been drowned under rising water levels, much in the old world had changed. New Tork City's southernmost borough now directly bordered an ocean, and the new coastline was home to many ancient cities, long since looted, destroyed, or abandoned in humanity's downwards spiral. The continent had once, long ago, been home to many humans, but now, it was overrun by ocean, and much of the southern half had become a salty swamp filled with Pokémon and rumors of deadly misfortune that befell any who dared to enter.
The Pokémon in charge of testing the candidates was, on this continent, the Foggy Swamp Sage. Oranguru. He was old, not quite old enough to have sensed the last time the Alpha Pokémon awakened, but old enough to know that it was his own father who had trained a human candidate for the last cycle of awakening. He was younger than his father had been, but in his wise opinion, far stronger.
His father's chosen protégé had not succeeded in the last test. The candidate from Eous had, but that had been a long time ago, and that candidate had failed to prove worthy enough to Tame the Alpha Pokémon. Now, the process would begin again. Now, there was a chance to prove that he could train a worthy human to become the Holder of Arceus, and succeed where his forebear had failed.
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Over ten millennia had passed since the true Arceus had been conscious, and influenced the world in wonderful ways. Humans had mostly forgotten, and while some of them knew Arceus existed, many had simply categorized him into their 'National Pokédex', another number on a list that grew every year.
While he never interacted much with the planet, save for when humanity and Pokémon alike were doomed before a natural catastrophe, like a meteor, Arceus had appeared all over the world at one time or another. Or rather, his pale white clones had. They sacrificed willingly, to keep the planet from being obliterated by disturbingly frequent meteors, and with each loss, the world was littered with yet more broken Plate shards. Luckily, it was easy for a new clone to form from the Alpha's dimension, and take the fallen one's place.
Only one region painted his myth with Arceus as he truly was, golden as the sun, and only one story contained the tale of this golden Arceus. But it had been twisted and misused by lesser men in the long millennia since his last appearance. Now, in the modern world, it was seen as a fantasy, a tale believed true only by those under the control of the Arcean Church, who many in the eastern States disliked for their disdainful outlook on their modern societies, and the morals that ran them. Oranguru sighed again.
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Such things would need to be dispelled and prevented against, if the One truly did appear again. Once, Arceus' name had spread the world over, spoken in reverent tones of peace and gratitude. He had healed thousands, his power bolstered by the bond to the human who had Tamed him. In response, naturally, humanity had named Arceus their deity, ever-grateful for his aid in healing the planet. Nevermind that said healing had upended entire nations with the shifting of the world's continental plates, the planet had survived, and that was what was important, for it once more gave hope to a race that had lost theirs, and accepted their impending doom brought on by their uncaring ancestor's mass polluting of the air, water, and land.
With the introduction of Pokémon into the animal and plant kingdoms, humanity had, true to form, abused the new, magical creatures in their midst, and it did not take long for them to start using them as weapons. Arceus put an end to that, in a conflict known historically as the Judgement War, and once the parties responsible had been Judged unworthy of continuing to exist, humanity had managed to thrive. At least, until the Holder of Arceus had succumbed to mortality.
The cult that had formed around the Alpha Pokémon and his Tamer had grown powerful in the years they'd served faithfully. Once the Tamer of the Alpha passed on, it had taken less than a year for the cult to fracture, and war to erupt once more on the supercontinent, namely in what was known today as Eous. The fractured cults, each with diverging beliefs, were what sparked the period of turmoil and strife now known to modern humans only as the Dark Times, an indeterminate period of time wherein empires had risen and fallen, and an uncountable years had passed before the formation of the Pokémon Leagues, and the start of the current period of recorded history.
The Foggy Swamp Sage had not lived through the Dark Times, his father had experienced them though, and had shared psychic visions of the atrocities humans and Pokémon alike had committed in the absence of Arceus' Tamer. It had taken far too long to climb out of that downward spiral, and the only thing the Pokémon in charge of training the next Tamer agreed on was that it had to be avoided again. Humanity had grown so far on its own, even now, and that progress could not be lost. It was their job to choose one who would be strong enough, wise enough, to keep that from happening again.
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As the energy from Arceus waking up rippled through the world word began to spread to Gym Leaders, and the Pokémon Leagues all around the world from Alola in the west to Sinnoh in the east. The challenge was on again. The Leagues had, originally, been formed to administer a test to find remarkable Trainers, and send those Trainers to the Sages, in an effort to find the next human capable of Holding the Alpha Pokémon. In the modern era, many Trainers had held Champion status in multiple regions, and many regions had more than one Champion, if they were large. Very few ever went to the Sages, even if they were asked to.
Many of the older League members were skeptical. To become worthy of being trained by one of the Psychic Sages, a Trainer had to beat at least five of the leagues around the world. A feat not unheard of, but one that was rare enough. The only other way to prove one's worth was by Taming a Legendary Guardian, or preventing a disaster of some description. Humans who managed to bond with, and successfully use, Legendary Pokémon were assumed by the Sages to have the same potential as a Trainer who could best five regional Leagues. Trainers capable of five League victories often spent their days enjoying their celebrity status, before retiring to a University to teach, and live off a fat League paycheck until they passed. The more they taught, the more they earned.
Nobody alive knew what happened after Champions went to the Sages, because the last challenge hadn't gotten past that point. In the end, none of the candidates had been deemed worthy, and the Alpha Pokémon had remained untamed. That had been centuries ago however, before Pokéballs had existed, and the few old timers who still knew about the challenge assumed it couldn't be beaten. The Sages had a habit of rejecting anyone they felt was even slightly unworthy.
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Trainers had changed over time though, mainly thanks to Pokéballs. While the civilizations in the time of the Holder had possessed similar methods of carrying their partners about, it had taken a long time for them to be rediscovered. It was still relatively new technology to the societies that had survived the turmoil of the Dark Times, barely two centuries old, but it had revolutionized modern training of Pokémon.
Most of the Leagues were excited, despite the skepticism of the older generation. Many still believed that there was a Trainer out there who would remind the world of what was actually important when it came to training Pokémon, of what really mattered. This challenge, from what little they knew of it, would separate the unworthy from the pack, and hopefully one of the chosen Trainers, should they be judged worthy, would prove to modern Trainers the world over that there was more to it all than statistics and vitamin maxing.
The Foggy Swamp Sage looked out over his peaceful island, and sighed for a third time. He was putting it off, and he knew his rivals were already summoning those with potential in their own regions. He knew he had to do the same. With a thought, he summoned the human in charge of gathering the worthy. Once she'd arrived and hopped from her Dragonite, he explained the situation, and she was off again just as quickly. Oranguru watched her go as he loaded his wooden pipe with crushed Leaf, and with a flash of pyrokinesis, started yet another smoking session. He stared up at the sky as he exhaled the foul smelling smoke, remembering this calm, and knowing that it would be centuries before his home would be this quiet again.
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Humilau City - Unova Region
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Alex's abrupt return had stirred the local media into a frenzy. The first thing he'd done was tell his family he was alright, and recover his Torterra. The Professor had said that Terra had slept almost the entire time Alex had been gone, awakening abruptly about a day ago.
He told his granduncle then about what had happened on the mountain, and afterwards, with his new Ralts, who was at that very moment examining the local book collection in the Pokémon Center. He hadn't decided on a nickname earlier, so Alex left it up to him to choose. After a bit of training, he was smart enough to read on his own, and was therefor deemed capable of picking his own name.
Alex had just finished telling his uncle the whole story when, after several long moments, he said "We already know about the battle, lad. And by 'we' I of course mean most of the world. Two Mega Evolved Charizard going at it that high in the atmosphere catches attention. Nobody knows, yet, who the victorious Charizard's Trainer is though. Your hat was blocking your face. I suppose the local media might recognize it. It was pretty dirty though."
Alex took a moment to ponder that information. "So…I should tell them? But there's no way they'll believe me. I bet half a hundred Trainers have already stepped forward to claim that they were the ones who battled."
His granduncle nodded. Unfortunately, there were many Trainers looking to leech fame off the exploits of their betters. They rarely succeeded, but like any leech, they were hard to pry off once they attached.
"There is one way, of course…" The Professor said, a gleam in his eye, "You have your Charizard Mega Evolve again. I wouldn't mention how the black one did it though. That'll only make the Arceans crawl out of the woodwork. The last thing we need is to give them an excuse to grab power."
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Alex's eyes narrowed at the mention of the cult responsible for his Pokéless childhood. The Arceans were the leftovers of the cultish group that claimed to have formed around the last man to tame the Alpha Pokémon, almost ten thousand years prior. Whatever they had been when they'd started, time and human greed had corrupted them in the absence of their original leader.
Now, they were mostly based in the Fornia region, but a few had migrated to Unova in recent years. They were notorious for latching on to any excuse to claim doom was coming, and unfortunately, they could convince many people what they said was true…if the proof behind their words was good enough. Fear could drive people to believe almost anything.
A similar incident had happened in Sinnoh a few decades back, and to this day, many in that region were convinced that Arceus had a fierce and vengeful temperament, which made them perfect recruits for the Arcean Church. Now, their latest claim to superiority was having 'bases' on two continents, something no other organized cult could claim.
That was due to the strong scientific following prevalent the world over, though. Many technologically superior regions had traded fairytales and myths for laboratories and research centers. They weren't always moral, but many agreed they were better than the thousands of cults that had warred during the Dark Times. Those wars had brought low almost every civilization on the planet, almost crippling them as much as the destruction of Old Earth had. Many would do anything to avoid having that scenario occur a second time.
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Thinking about it, Alex could see how whatever power made Lizardon Mega Evolve could be tied to Arceus. For all he knew, it was Arceus who had given the tyrant Pokémon that power, for whatever reason. There were other examples of Pokémon reaching their Mega Forms on their own, a fact his granduncle stressed early in their conversation, but given that said examples were of Rayquaza, a Legend, and Mewtwo, a product of human bio-engineering artificially enhanced to match a Legend, he didn't think people would care to be reminded. What Lizardon had done was different, for with his temperament, he would've never reached that form on his own.
"Fine." Alex said finally, "I'll play it vague. Just like you taught me. Now send Terra back."
The old man held up his Pokéball, and put it in the transporter. "He'll be happy to see you. He was very disoriented when he woke up. I'm just glad he recognized me before he started to rampage."
Alex shook his head, taking the ball as it materialized. "Terra would never rampage. He's a gentle giant." At his words and the sound of his voice, the newly materialized ball opened on its own, and Terra freed himself, looked around the Pokémon Center for a moment, then all but tackled his Trainer.
Large as he was, very few beings could be tackled by such a strong Pokémon and hold their ground. "Ah! Terra, Terra, stop! I know, I missed you too." Alex grabbed his Pokémon's head spikes, and was lifted up and over onto his shell, covered in Torterra drool. He grabbed a branch on the large turtle's Ash tree, and wiped his face clean on the soft leaves.
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He turned then, and settled on the white, raised hexagon just above Terra's head as he retried the Holociever. His granduncle grinned. "Gentle giant. Right."
Alex was focused on his partner, however. "How would you like to Battle, hmm? I hope your Earthquake isn't out of practice."
"Terra!" The large Pokémon rumbled. Seemed he was eager.
"Very well, return." Alex recalled Terra, landing carefully as his seat was suddenly gone, and then focused on the phone. The Professor seemed to have something important to say, but was holding back until his relative's attention was refocused.
"I should tell you, by the way, there's a rumor going around. Remember that super-secret elite Pokémon League challenge I told you about once?" Alex nodded, vaguely recalling it through the hazy smoke-filled memories of their long basement talks. He'd thought he was being pranked by his uncle and granduncle at the time. It sounded made up.
"It's on." The Professor said, quietly. "League members and Gym Leaders worldwide have already been notified…and Trainers are already starting. Do you remember what I told you about joining?"
Alex nodded. "Beat…umm…four or five League challenges…and then…" He paused, clearly forgetting the rest.
"And then find one of the Psychic Masters to train you, and hopefully deem you worthy. Honestly lad, pay attention." His granduncle crossed his skinny, wrinkled, lab coat covered arms and shook his head in mock disapproval.
"I am paying attention!" Alex said, knowing it didn't sound half as convincing as it needed to, "And I already started with Marlon, and this 'elite challenge' thing they have in the Victory League this year."
The Professor tilted his head, at that. "Elite challenge?"
Alex nodded. "Nurse Joy said Champion N started it. It's not the first time they've held it, but nobody has ever managed to win it, since it's insanely hard. If Marlon was any indication, this will be a good test for the team I'm putting together. I think once we beat it, we'll be ready to take on other Leagues. Are there any other ways of proving worthy? Preferably faster ones? Beating over thirty more Gyms will take a long time." With a Charizard, he could probably finish relatively soon, as there were a number of Pokémon Leagues in the States, across the continent Unova shared with them.
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He knew however, that traveling with Jess would limit how fast he could beat them, if indeed he could. He'd never admit it, but Marlon almost had him in that last battle, and he intended to do some serious training with the rest of his team. He was still far behind the Ace Trainers his age, more so now that he'd lost so much time to the mountain.
The old man scratched his chin, which seemed to be perpetually covered in gray stubble. "Well...you could always stop a disaster, or accomplish a heroic feat that benefits the world as a whole...but to my knowledge, Unova is fine right now." Alex sighed, looking disheartened. His granduncle had no intention of mentioning taming a Legendary to his grandnephew after the poor judgement he'd had on Draconis Mons.
"Don't get discouraged, lad." His granduncle continued with a sly wink, "If there's trouble around, you'll probably stumble into it."
Alex rolled his eyes before changing the subject. "By the way, did you manage to figure out what those crystals are?"
The Professor's face grew more serious, and he nodded. "Remember those Plates that I told you about? The ones related to Arceus that are said to radiate Infinity Energy and boost a Pokémon Move's typing considerably? It seems that these fragments are indeed made of the same stuff, and have the same inherent power. My colleague in Hoenn had a Plate given to him by a Trainer, and we compared the energy readings they give off. His was a Flame Plate, but your little crystal was giving off levels of Infinity Energy we've only measured in Mega Stones. When I touched your crystals to the Fire Plate, it became active too. I had a group of fire types, like our Torchic huddled by my window, drawn by the power it was giving off. True to the name, the energy they're both radiating seems infinite."
He stroked his scruffy, gray beard stubble before continuing, "If it really is a piece of the Alpha Pokémon, we hypothesized that someone must have taken a crystal like yours, and hammered it down into a Plate sometime in the past. We're not going to try that however…as these crystals are rare."
Alex nodded, stroking his own beard in thought. After a trim and a shower, it actually looked somewhat respectable, if patchy. "I understand. If I find one I don't need, like ice or something, we can try to turn it into a Plate."
He looked away from the screen, smirking as he spotted an unmistakably familiar shade of red coming from the hallway leading to the center's guest rooms.
As usual, Professor Redwood missed nothing. "Seems my own blood would rather talk to a pretty redhead than listen to me ramble on about science! Bahaha! I'll let you know if anything new happens with our research lad, now go to her. And use protection! Ha!"
The line cut out before Alex could respond, and he was once more left flushed red, standing in front of a phone, on a call that he knew most of the surrounding callers, and their contacts, had overheard. His Gruncle was nothing, if not loud.
He tilted his hat down, and fussed with his belt as he adjusted Terra's place on it. Then he went to the closest sink to wash the Torterra drool from his face. Blaze's ball was right behind Terra's now, followed by Hydrus, then Leo, Shruikan, and his to-be-named Ralts. He'd let his Ralts out earlier that morning after rising to discover he was sore in places he'd never been sore before. Sleeping on primarily hard stone for weeks on end left a mark, but he hadn't actually slept much until the sun had risen.
Thus, by the time he'd revealed his presence to the Pokémon Center, who then passed the news on to the local media, and after calling his granduncle, it was now high noon. He knew that he was being watched, as Humilau's 'open and free' center design had large windows on the front.
The local news crews had been taking constant pictures throughout his phone call, but he'd forced himself to ignore them. Thankfully, he'd had the phone closest to the windows, so the main irritation from the flashing was on him, and not his fellow callers.
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Of course, there were eyes in the Pokémon Center as well. Hiding from those eyes was a male Ralts that nobody seemed to notice. He'd been shown how to use the PokéNet by his Trainer, and given his typing and stubby hands, had been able to look up whatever he liked on his Trainer's travel laptop. But the problem with that was that he had no idea what he wanted his name to be.
His Trainer had, hurriedly, shown him his final evolution, and explained that once he became a Kirlia, he'd go straight into a Gallade, thanks to the stone Alex had given him.
However, when the female who shared his Trainer's room saw that, they'd resumed their heavy-panting-mouth-sucking, and the young Ralts had been summarily ignored. Had he been anything but a psychic type, this would've gone over his head, but he understood a lot of what his Trainer had said.
He'd also understood why. In his Trainer's mind, the young Ralts had seen that he wanted every Pokémon to have their own unique name, just as humans did. To him, there was no reason not to. Calling his Ralts 'Ralts' would be like someone referring to him as 'Human', and thus the young psychic type had grasped the need for a nickname.
In the wild, there was no need for such a thing. Pokémon could always tell each other apart, more or less, but every name he found on the PokéNet thus far had been unacceptable.
With the understanding of names, the young psychic type had also understood that this was something he would be referred to by everyone. He couldn't explain why, but even his Trainer's other Pokémon, who he'd briefly met, now referred to each other by their nicknames. They had become them, and each of them fit like a glove. Especially the one called Shruikan.
Thus, he had been given access to the PokéNet, failed to find anything, and had then found himself wandering the building he was in while his Trainer made a call. Whatever that was. Nobody seemed to notice him, not even other Pokémon. He moved silently on his hidden legs, Teleporting into various rooms past locked doors until he discovered one filled with strange square objects that had hard covers, but soft insides.
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The runes within them were understandable though. Since unclouding his Trainer's mind, and borrowing his knowledge of human runes, reading them had become much easier. Granted, he hadn't seen many examples of Common before that, but when he had, they'd been mostly unimportant gibberish.
Now, they seemed to rearrange themselves into something he could understand, though when he deciphered them, it was his Trainer's voice that echoed in his mind, and explained their meaning to him. He might've been awed by that, had he not been engrossed in the tome he'd grabbed.
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It was the first he'd touched, several isles into the room, and it had drawn him, somehow, by pure instinct. Humans had long since ignored their instincts, and thus they'd become dull, but Pokémon trusted theirs constantly. Especially psychic types. This allowed Pokémon to prepare for, and sometimes prevent, natural disasters, as well as accomplish other amazing feats their human counterparts usually had no idea they were capable of.
The instincts of those with psychic power were, arguably, the best-attuned. They could even, sometimes, alter fates. This young Ralts' instinct had drawn him to this specific book on this specific shelf for some reason, one that became evident as he deciphered more and more of the text. It was a story about a king, a beloved king in a time far, far in the distant past.
Ralts quickly found that reading with his hands was far less efficient than using his powers, and soon, he'd found a dusty old couch to recline on as he held the book before him in the air, and scanned through it, reading at a speed that no human could match without the aid of a machine.
The king was called Arthur, and as he read on, the young Ralts found himself admiring the character more and more. He was kind, fair, just, and above all, a hero. He fought witches, monsters, evil kingdoms, and was surrounded by powerful, loyal friends who all treated each other as equals.
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It rang through the small Pokémon's very being as he finished the book, which had been a treasure hoard of information on the king's legend. All anyone knew at this point, so many thousands of years ahead of the time in which this man had lived, was that there had probably once been a king named Arthur, who had ruled over a kingdom that might have been called Camelot. It was good enough for the Ralts.
He understood that this was a story, for Pokémon had them too, and while most stories were complete nonsense, they usually carried a hint of truth. Or rather, the ones his mother had told him had seemed to. He sat quietly, still levitating the book, as he struggled to recall her.
All he really had was images, and it made him sad to remember them. He focused on the book again, recalling what Arthur would've done in the face of such sadness, for he too had, supposedly, lost his mother. He would've continued on, focusing on his quest for the betterment of his people. That was what the young Ralts vowed to do as well, and then, he smiled as he knew what his name would be.
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The trick then, was getting his human to understand. In his limited experience, getting humans to understand anything was like trying to make a Geodude bathe. His Trainer was clever though, or so he'd sensed. It would probably be obvious if he saw the book. Pokémon had little concept of what 'property' was, and a Pokémon that wasn't territorial, like Ralts, had no experience with it.
Thus, he felt no guilt as he left the room, book in hand, and hurried towards where he sensed his Trainer, and the red female he seemed mentally, and often physically, attached to.
Jess had just finished lecturing him about being shy about showing her affection in front of so many watchful, knowing eyes, and in response he had done the only logical thing. The young Ralts, who now thought of himself as 'Arthur', came upon the two, wrapped up in each other in a kiss that was definitely not meant to be seen by the public.
In Alex's mind, it was necessary. She had insinuated that he was too shy for her, and now he was proving otherwise. As usual, she could do little to resist his affections, falling into each one of them eagerly after a second of hesitation. Such was the power of newly discovered lust. Had Alex not felt his Ralts tugging at his spare, and now only jacket, they might have gone further right there in the main entrance area of the center.
Reluctantly breaking the kiss, which had prompted the media circus just outside to bombard the interior with seemingly endless flashes of light, Alex looked down to his newest Pokémon, as his lover was left with a distant smile on her face.
He hadn't had much experience kissing, but it seemed good enough for her. He'd found that trusting his instincts had always been the smart move, when it came to her. He blinked the thoughts of lust away as he felt a book being shoved into his hand by a psychic force. Looking down, he read the title, and smirked.
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He gave Jess a subtle pinch on her rear, bringing her focus back to reality, and showed her as well. She giggled, just as amused as he was at a joke his Pokémon could tell he'd been missing out on.
"Ralts." He said, pointing at the book, wondering if his Trainer had understood. He seemed distracted by this female, and could not understand why his book was so funny.
Finally, Alex nodded, and handed the book back. "Very well. I'll call you Arthur." He began to laugh as well then, and the small psychic type finally had to speak up. "Ralts?" The questioning tone was universal, even to Pokémon, but his Trainer seemed to understand.
"It's not a bad name. We're laughing because, after I gave you the laptop this morning, Jess suggested I name you after Arthur Pendragon, or one of his knights. She said it fit you, but I was stubborn, and wanted you to choose for yourself." That made Arthur smile as well, and his opinion of the female reversed.
She'd seen what he'd felt, that the character and the Pokémon were really quite similar, even if his appearance didn't suggest it yet. Arthur turned to look at her then, and smiled, touching her consciousness with his thoughts of happiness, approval, and admiration for her ability to understand him.
It came off as emotions to her, of course, but Arthur noticed that she seemed to understand him as well as his Trainer did.
He decided to ponder what that might mean later as he yawned, and poked the ball button on his Trainer's belt, once more entering the new pocket dimension that he now called home. It was certainly cozy, and he could tell it had been made for a Pokémon like him. He radiated a sense of satisfaction, even from within his ball. He had a Trainer, a comfortable home, and now a name. He was finally fully part of their little round table, and by his reasoning, he'd just appointed himself the King.
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Arthur's sense of satisfaction spread to his Trainer, manifesting as confidence, renewed after being literally shattered by his trials on the mountain. He had the girl he'd dreamed of for years, he had the makings of his team, and already three of them were fully evolved and powerhouses in their own right.
He could handle addressing the media circus. He met Jess's gaze again, and nodded, as he adjusted his hat. She'd insisted on giving his hair a trim, and he wasn't yet used to the shortness. "Right. I think we've kept the jackals at bay long enough. Are you sure you don't want to join me? After that kiss, they're going to want to hear from you, I think."
She waved his words away, laughing nervously. "Ahaha…no. I'll be in enough trouble for that kiss. If not from mother, then definitely from father. And Connor might be annoyed as well…no, I'm in enough trouble already without adding a bunch of media rumors. They'll probably assume I'm pregnant already as it is. All they do is make up baseless rumors…I'm rambling. Go. They're not going to stop until they get answers. I'll be in the room." She added her seductive tone to the end of her sentence, and narrowed her eyes at him while twisting a lock of her hair. Day two, and she already knew how to stoke the flames.
She turned and left before he could think of a properly clever rebuttal, and Alex shook his head, muttering under his breath. "You chose well, Redwood. You chose well…" With that, he strode out of the doors into a barrage of intense camera flashes that, in broad daylight, were completely unnecessary. At this point, with their advanced recording technology, the flashing lights were literally just decorative, and annoying. But the news hounds didn't seem to care.
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It was a good-sized crowd, just large enough to be a nuisance to the regular Humilau foot traffic, but not as large as something say, a Champion would've drawn. The only reason it was that big was because the Redwood name was famous, even in Unova proper. He knew why, of course.
Every Redwood knew of the secret family shame, but to speak of it was to give it life. As his granduncle had predicted, nobody important now remembered exactly why he was considered infamous. They just knew that the once honorable Professor Redwood had been disgraced.
Now however, the media had once again begun sniffing around for dirt, in the long absence of anything newsworthy pertaining to the missing Redwood. They gnawed at whatever source they could, like a Houndoom at a bone that had been picked clean. With the barrage of light came a barrage of questions, that blurred into an incoherent babble of nonsense noise.
After weeks of relative silence, it stunned Alex, and as he shouted at the crowd for quiet, his calls were drowned out, each one only making the mob of babble grow louder. Finally, there was a flash of red light, and a deafening roar tore through the babble as Blaze appeared beside his Trainer, and glared at the crowd. A few more lights flashed, but soon were stilled as he followed his roar up with a deep, menacing snarl.
Each of his Pokémon had disliked the noise, truth be told, but Blaze was the first who did something about it. He had enough sense to know that these other humans probably wanted information on him. He'd caught a glimpse of a satellite, after all, not that he'd understood what it was, but he knew human tech when he saw it by now. It was little more than an instinct, a feeling of eyes on the back of his neck in the middle of a battle, but he had followed it regardless.
"Thank you, Blaze." Alex said, recovering from the barrage of noise and light. The Charizard snorted flame in response, eyes still glaring at the crowd.
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He put on his best public face, a face his father had coached him on long ago, when he'd been little more than a toddler. When his granduncle had been disgraced. They'd had to go on TV for some reason. He still couldn't remember why exactly, though he knew the bare details, he never pried. He knew his Gruncle was a good person, a bit crotchety, prone to bouts of sad silence, but truly and genuinely kind.
It didn't matter what his Gruncle had done, he was family, and family stuck together. Whether they wanted to or not, no matter how many branches separated them on the family tree. A Redwood was a Redwood. Or so the old man had said. It didn't matter that the aged Professor and his father didn't get along. He'd always stressed the importance of family.
"Please, I know you have many questions, and I will gladly answer them. But one at a time. I'm sorry about the wait, but it's over now. Let's have a little respect for the town, eh?" To his surprise, the reporters shared guilty looks.
They had caused quite a stir, and more than a few locals were still glaring through their shoreside cabin windows at the source of the disturbance. An elderly gentleman stepped forward then, and Alex had to blink. He was, arguably, the most famous person there. It was a testament to the severity of the light and noise that Alex hadn't even noticed him.
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His tone was deep and baritone as he spoke for the crowd with their unspoken and ungiven permission. "John Crimson, Poké News Network. I apologize for my colleagues Mr. Redwood, but we are a bit excited. You've been missing for months, after all. I suppose the question to start with is… where have you been?"
It was weird to be called 'mister' by the man he'd watched anchor the most famous global news network on the planet for years. He'd also shown up for Festivus once or twice, when he was younger, as John Crimson and his granduncle were apparently old friends. He resisted the urge to address him informally. This was a time for questions, after all, he could show his appreciation for the Crimson Fox's appearance afterwards. He was more of a silver fox these days, though no less desirable, judging by some of the looks the female reporters were giving him.
He decided to keep to the formal tone, something he would not regret in the future. "Well Mr. Crimson, it's a long story…but I suppose I can summarize. When I first went missing, I'd been hunting a Bagon around Draconis Mons, to the north. I didn't find any, or any other Pokémon in the forest. Seeing that as odd, my Charmeleon and I climbed the mountain to discover the source of this strange lack of Pokémon, and we found that the mountain was under the rule of a tyrannical black Charizard I ended up calling 'Lizardon'. I stumbled upon him as he was brutally defeating a rival Charizard. The other Pokémon were all watching, and I later learned, they had been all but forced to do so. This Lizardon noticed my Charmeleon, and before we could escape down the mountain again, for we were barely off of the path to the top, he landed in front of me, and slammed his tail into me, severely injuring me after I crashed into a nearby mountain cliff side."
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He paused for effect, and suppressed a smirk. Connor was right, he really did have a flair for the dramatic when the moment came, and though he was new to having an audience, he had them captive. He could sense the questions building, but the only sound was of writing implements scribbling furiously as they took notes on his story.
He could tell more than a few of the newer ones were thankful for his pause, but he continued all the same. After all, they'd never be good reporters if they relied on pauses.
"I was…nursed back to health by an old hermit, whose identity I will keep anonymous. All you need to know about him is that Lizardon kept him captive, and treated him like a plaything. He was old, bent, and covered daily in new bruises. But despite the risk, he saved my life. And yes, he is still on the mountain. I think that more or less covers where I've been."
There was more scribbling, and when no more questions came forth, John Crimson spoke again. "I see. I suppose we'll need a formal interview for the full details, but for now, my next question is this: How did you escape from this...Lizardon?"
Alex met the old man's curious but intense gaze. He could see the question the reporter really wanted to ask still beneath the surface. He knew, more or less, what it would be about. His Charizard had all but made them blurt it out, but nobody dared interrupt a legend like John Crimson.
Alex allowed himself a confident smirk then, a smirk he'd practiced for hours while wearing his hat backwards. He knew it was a stereotype straight out of a cartoon, but honestly, he had stopped caring years ago. He knew what kind of Trainer he wanted to be, and if he ever did achieve true fame, he wanted that look to be obvious, and consistent.
He put off realizing that this was likely the start of his entire career as a Master, for such Trainers were almost always popular with the media. He didn't need that pressure just yet though. He instead nodded towards Blaze, who had the same smirk his Trainer did.
"Blaze here was the only Pokémon I'd brought with me onto the mountain that day. I left my bag at the Pokémon Center as well, thinking I wouldn't need to lug all that weight around, as it's a relatively short trip to the mountain…Blaze stayed with the hermit, and once I was healthy again, we began to train to defeat Lizardon, as he'd trapped me on the mountain."
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He tapped Shruikan's ball, and the Shelgon appeared in a flash of black light, staring at the crowd, and then looking up at Blaze and his Trainer. He grasped, more or less, what was going on.
Blaze had explained to him, once they'd returned to the center and rested, that he'd felt their battle had been seen by other humans. Shruikan had no idea what that had meant however, this entire scene being completely foreign to him. He followed his friend's lead, and looked over the crowd, like he was superior to them. Easy to do, as a dragon.
His appearance put any doubts of Alex's story to rest. He'd been in the area, seen on satellite, vaguely, and had both Pokémon who'd been in the battle. While the Mega Charizard brawl had been the main focus of the media hype, they had eventually found footage of the first round of the fight, albeit from a great height. Apparently there was always a camera focused on the mountain's peak, and said camera had been just zoomed in enough to show Shruikan, and a Trainer with him. It seemed Redwood was the real deal, and the few fame leeches who were watching live knew it. Most of them had a Charizard, but none of them could be put in Humilau at the right time, and none of them had a Shelgon. Even a con artist can tell when a jig is up.
John Crimson smirked, and both he and Alex knew what question was next, but Alex continued answering for the sake of posterity. "I caught Shruikan here as we trained, luckily the ball I picked for him wasn't smashed, like my Pokédex was, and eventually, the time came to face Lizardon." He crossed his arms, hoping he looked as cool as he thought he did. "We won."
The reporters rumbled again, but John Crimson's deep baritone cut through the growing chatter like a hot knife through butter. "I see. So would I be right in assuming that the Battle that's still being broadcasted and watched worldwide was fought by you?"
Alex nodded. He'd seen it of course, as Jess had shown both he and Arthur, the only one of his team, save perhaps Terra, that hadn't watched it live, or participated in it. She had certainly appeared impressed when he told her the whole story, and what had happened next was not appropriate for him to be thinking about while the media was grilling him for information.
"I know several imposters have already claimed to be that Trainer. I can tell you with total certainty, that they are lying." He held up the red crystal then, which got everyone's attention, especially John Crimson's.
"This crystal is something I found in the mountain that was given to me after completing my training. Given by a Magmortar, who lived deep in the caverns within the mountain. Blaze retrieved it, and gave it to me…and when it became evident that Lizardon could also somehow Mega Evolve, I...activated it, which made Blaze Mega Evolve as well. I'm not quite sure how…"
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He paused again, this time less for drama and more for weighing whether or not he should mention his granduncle. "My granduncle, Professor Redwood, examined it this very morning, the source of my delay, and told me that it's giving off similar power to a Mega Stone, though he theorized that it could be used on any fire type, thus eliminating the need for race-specific crystals."
He flipped it in his hand, and then appeared to pocket it, instead hiding it within his black Trainer glove. He had no doubt somebody would try to pickpocket it before the day was over. This kind of power always drew out a criminal element, and a crystal that could make any fire type Mega Evolve was going to be highly sought after.
"I was given that crystal shard because the Pokémon of that mountain needed my help to free them of their tyrannical ruler. Now that they are free again, I want to make it perfectly clear that they need to be left alone. No government, no tourists, no power seeking amoral Trainers. As he spoke, his pocket began to glow with a familiar red glow, and he raised his fist half on purpose half on instinct, appearing to draw the stone from said pocket.
"Anyone who decides to ignore this warning and desecrate that mountain…" Blaze's form grew and shifted as the red light enveloped him, "Will answer to us!" The Mega Charizard beside him let out a powerful Flamethrower in unison with Shruikan's Dragonbreath, crossing in the air above him.
Alex was impressed, and proud, as he looked above him and smirked. He couldn't have choreographed it better. He knew, of course, that there would be idiots who decided to defy him on this, and that this statement would only draw them like flies to Muk, but they would've come regardless. Now, the public would keep an eye on that mountain, and anyone who did decide to desecrate it, and was caught doing so, would pay the price. It was the ones who didn't care about repercussions that he had to worry about. The dragons residing at the top would not be merciful to intruders.
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The babble of questions rose up again, but a growl from Blaze, mega evolved as he was, and a raised hand from the legend, John Crimson, kept them in check. Sensing that this…whatever it was… had gone on long enough, Blaze let the power flow back into the crystal from whence it came, and Alex recalled his Pokémon.
John Crimson's voice rose again quickly, sensing their time was nearly spent. "Before you go, Mr. Redwood, one more question, if you'll take it." Alex nodded.
One did not simply defy a question from John Crimson. To be interviewed by him was a dream for any Trainer worth a damn. The fact that he was here at all was unusual, to say the least. As far as Alex knew, he hadn't been live in the field in decades.
"Your story is…interesting, to say the least. The legal implications alone…" He whistled, and a chill went up Alex's spine. He'd hoped everyone would conveniently forget that going up on the mountain was illegal, but now he'd just admitted to doing it on live TV. Given that he'd made the mountain 'human friendly', he hoped that little factoid would be forgiven, or at least forgotten.
"I know I have a lot more questions for you, as I'm sure many other people do, so I'll get ahead of the flood and make this a two-parter. Will you consent to an interview in the near future? And what's next for you? After your exam and 'tournament' victories, and of course this mountaintop duel, what are you doing next?"
Alex let out a small chuckle, not surprised that they'd tracked his every move since leaving home. He might have been John Crimson, news legend, and owner of a mustache so glorious his own scraggly one shivered in envy just by being this close, but at his core, he was still a reporter.
"Well Mr. Crimson, I can say I'll gladly schedule an interview with you in the near future. I would be honored, in fact. As for what's next…I have a certain League Challenge to complete…several Badges to win…and then after that, who knows. I may drop off the map for a while and find a mountain to train on, or something." His smirk widened, and he took note of those who chuckled at the obvious reference to Red.
The old reporter nodded, making it clear he was done, and as the other lemmings surged forward, desperate not to be outshone by the famous old-timer, Alex quickly shouted, "No more questions, thank you!" and ducked inside the center again.
A few looked ready to storm the building, but getting on the bad side of a Pokémon Center was never a good idea, for any profession, and the local nurse had already warned them to stay outside. She was kind to Alex, and his travel companion, but he knew her nerves had to be wearing thin after dealing with him so long. For free.
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After explaining that it was probably a better idea to find a new town to make love in to his scantily clad and clearly ready-to-go redhead, he eventually relented to her persuasions, and thus, they ended up finally leaving several hours later, after dinner in the common dining area of the center.
They got looks the entire time they ate, but when he told her, she'd simply shrugged and said, "I've been getting those looks my entire life, Alex. That's jealousy. They're jealous of my wealth, my looks, my clothes, my…boyfriend." She batted her eyes at the last bit before breaking into giggles, and he found himself nodding in agreement out of reflex.
That was that, then. He'd been wondering how to ask her, but it seemed she already considered them to be…a 'them'. A couple. "You're getting stares too," she said, unfazed, and seemingly not caring that the staff in the small dining area could very much hear her, "You're practically famous now. That Battle of yours has been the most watched in recent memory. As if that wasn't enough, you discovered a new kind of Mega Stone. Just wait. You'll be getting mobbed before you know it. By reporters, by Trainers, by girls...but they can't have you. You're all mine."
As if to emphasize that fact, she snatched his hat and put it on, forgoing manners entirely, and shot daggers at the comparatively cute waitress who had apparently been watching him all through dinner. He hadn't even noticed. That left him in a thoroughly good mood through the rest of the evening, despite the glares he got from the other staff, particularly the men.
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Pokémon Centers were free because the Pokémon League had, since its inception, funded them. The Elite Four and Gym Leaders kept the chaos of a world full of superpowered magical beings from upending society, and for that, they were compensated by the local government. That compensation went to two places: The Elite Four, and the Pokémon Centers. The Elite Four, and the League of the region was typically expected to maintain the upkeep of things like stadiums, Gyms, and Pokémon Centers.
While the centers were required by the Leagues to take in all injured Pokémon, and anyone that needed a place while on the road, they typically despised 'freeloaders' who stayed for weeks on end.
Alex decided to tip generously for their dinner, as Jess didn't, and when they left out the back of the building to attract less attention, he felt the goodbye the nurse gave them was actually genuine. Which was good, because nurses talked. Bad behavior at one center led to low quality rooms and food at others. It was a very good idea to not end up on their bad side. Thankfully, getting on their bad side was difficult.
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Blaze managed to fly them halfway to Undella Town, though the ride was a bit 'comfy' on his back, and the weight of two people was a bit more than he could take. Alex made a note to figure out their combined weight, and double it. He'd then make Blaze practice flying with that weight, every day, for every mile they had to walk.
It seemed harsh to Jess, but Blaze had risen to the challenge after Alex had explained that once he could be swift with the weights on, taking them off would make him much faster, and stronger. They needed to build up his wing strength, and quickly. Carrying them would also be a breeze, but he knew it would take his Charizard a while to get to that point.
He wasn't the only one with intense training however. Hydrus got some much needed battle experience against other water Trainers on the road into Undella Town, eventually evolving into a Marshtomp. He might've been stronger, but he kept his playful attitude. He'd missed his Trainer, and though he'd grown to like Jess as well, Alex was the one who'd promised to help him grow. And grow he did.
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He had Terra train Leo in evasion, by dodging as many Razor Leaves as possible, and that task kept the two busy for several hours when the group of two humans and their Pokémon teams rested. Once Hydrus had evolved, it was Arthur's turn to battle the random Trainers on the route south of Humilau, and eventually, he learned several new moves that helped him one-shot the many fighting types they came up against. He used special moves for now, as until he evolved, his physical attacks would be quite weak.
During the last battle before arriving in town, he finally evolved, and then evolved again into a Gallade, thanks to his Dawn Stone. Alex wanted him to have as much experience with his amorphous body as possible. It was also good to evolve Gallades immediately, so their physical attack strength wasn't unbalanced by a Kirlia's affinity for special attacks. Pokémon grew quickly, and Alex wanted his growing in the right direction. As useful as a special attacker psychic type was, he knew Gallade was extremely versatile, fast, capable of Mega Evolution, and had a move pool that would prove quite useful in the battles to come.
He was taught to use Psychic, Shadow Ball, Night Slash, and Brick Break. With those moves, he became better at winning battles, even though he was relatively new at using them. Type advantage did most of the work, but it didn't take long for the Gallade to start slashing in a specific pattern, based on the move he used.
Shruikan continued to train against Blaze, despite his training weight handicap, but once Blaze used his new weight as a weapon, they became evenly matched again, more or less, as after flying so far with two humans on his back, he could barely flap into the air during their sparring match.
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They took the long way to Undella town, and eventually landed in the forest on the other side of Humilau and Undella Bay gave way to a mountainous region that only helped him train his team further, as Hydrus handled every Hiker they met along the way, usually beside Jess' Prinplup.
Jess wasn't idle either, having trained her Mareep, which she'd named Amphi, while he was trapped on the mountain, and using her to great effect on the many, many bird Trainers that inhabited Unova proper. She'd also gotten the Fennekin she'd asked Connor to bring her from Kalos, and had named her Delphi.
She had trained her team with a similar intensity Alex had demonstrated with Blaze, and had even eventually challenged Marlon's elite team, as Alex had. The badge she received was the same as his, similar to the regular one, but encased in a square of white marble. Her Mareep, after evolving into a Flaaffy, had helped her beat his gym, and then her Serperior had finished the rest, proving to be quite adept at swimming, unlike Torterra.
Her team's training was a bit less intense, but it wasn't long at all before the two humans had used both teams to train as effectively as possible. As a result, her partners rapidly grew as well, and their Pokémon came to regard the others as family. They sparred, but the humans soon learned that they did not wish to battle each other, and neither Alex nor Jess pushed them to. They weren't concerned with which of them was stronger. That showdown, while inevitable, they had agreed to have in the future, when their teams were more mature, and could compete against each other without feeling bad about injuring those they'd come to see as siblings.
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Terra already had a year of training under his shell, the sole reason he'd won every battle since graduating University. Blaze's experience in the mountain had certainly strengthened him, but while his fire power was intense enough, his flight skills had been noticeably lacking. He'd been able to learn enough to fight Lizardon, but it was Mega Evolution that had allowed him to keep pace in the air, combined with his natural talent that came from typing.
After facing a particularly tough Pidgeot however, he was shown that his flight skills were definitely lacking, for a partial flying type, and only Thunder Punch had saved him from a loss. That was another reason he endured such hard training. All in all, the trip to Undella Town took around nine days. Alex certainly hadn't minded, and though he'd expected Jess to complain, it seemed she'd changed quite a bit in the weeks he'd been gone.
Getting filthy while training no longer bothered her, she could sleep on the road without complaining, and when all they had was a thin bag between them and the hard rock terrain, she found sleeping atop his chest was quite a bit more comfortable. Once they found grass again, they continued to share a sleeping bag, and they used hers as extra padding, as it was incredibly fluffy, and high quality.
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As they arrived in Undella Town, they found that the main thoroughfare was blocked. On either side the local townsfolk, who were really just rich tourists experiencing the Undella Bay's sunshine for fun, as it was still summer, watched the lone figure in the road from behind barriers of hard brown mud that acted as fences.
They were high enough to be difficult to climb over, and one could not do so without getting their outfit covered in dirt, something these elite snobs would never dream of doing. Both Alex and Jess recognized the lone figure, and as a look of irritation came over the redhead's lovely features, Alex stopped her, one hand on her shoulder.
"Let me. I've been expecting this since you mentioned he was back. I'll be the lightning rod for his anger. I can take it. This is the Battle I've really been training for..." He already had Terra's ball in hand, as he stepped up towards Connor, his oldest rival, save for his brother. They'd competed in everything from trivia to Pokémon Base, but a real Battle had always given Alex's neighbor a sense of superiority that had been both irrefutable and irritating. A makeshift arena had been carved into the sandy path, and as Alex took his position, he knew already what kind of match this would be as he saw a new, but familiar look in his friend's eye. He'd always been rather protective of his dear sister. He'd need to vent quite a bit of rage before he'd come around to accepting reality.
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Connor shouted out the rules anyway, for the benefit of their small crowd. "One on one, Redwood! Your starter against mine. And if I win, you cease staining my sister's genes, and reputation." Alex could feel the tirade his lover was about to launch from behind him, likely about freedom to choose who she wished to be with and such, a rather touchy topic among the ladies of Unova, who were finally free of oppressive Imperial traditions and serving roles. More than a few of the women in the crowd shot looks at Connor, as his remark bordered on sexist.
Alex knew it was more a result of his upbringing than anything, but Connor had always controlled his words well in the past. Well enough to avoid offending women, at least. Something was definitely off. He'd expected anger, but this seemed more like something that had been simmering for some time. Apparently challenging the League in Kalos had not gone well. Glancing at the Greninja, he could guess why. It was to other Greninja what Terra was to other Torterra. Larger, stronger, and given the species, more than fast enough to strike his slow turtle twice in a row. He'd definitely used the ninja frog quite a bit, enough at least for the rest of his team to be much weaker. Alex had a similar issue, though he had to admit the others were closing the gap rather fast. Arthur, Hydrus, and Shruikan had all proven to be decent battlers, and with a few more Gym Battles, they'd be good enough for the Elite Four. He assumed.
Connor himself was big, though not as big as Alex, as he stood a few inches shorter, but they shared a similar body type. His primarily blue outfit and purple scarf, with hints of white, made it obvious as to which starter Pokémon he'd chosen. His Greninja was right next to him, after all.
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Alex called Terra onto the field, and immediately the crowd began to rumble. Grass beat water easily, and that Torterra was larger than any they'd seen. A few even recognized his Trainer from the news, and their disbelief began to turn into irritation at the delay in their schedules, but Alex knew better to fall into the comfort of type advantage. This was his old friend's first Pokémon, and if he knew him at all, he knew their training had been just as long and intense as Terra's had. Finally, a worthy opponent.
"Alright, I agree." Alex said, turning his hat backwards. He felt the growing irritation turn to him, but the only opinion he cared about was Jessica's. He turned to glance at her, and winked.
The growing temper faltered, as her eyes widened. Alex continued, smirk wide on his face. "But when I win, nobody in your family objects to us. Not your father, not your mother, and not you, old friend. I had planned on doing this honorably." He resisted smirking, recalling her insistence. "...but circumstance forced my hand. Are the terms agreed upon?"
Connor's eyes narrowed, but he nodded, ultimately not caring to argue. He was going to win anyways. "They are." Alex was being cocky, for a rookie with one badge. Now he'd see what three years on the road did for one's power. The thought that his neighbor might win wasn't even considered.
Terra stomped the ground, and the fire in his eyes matched his Trainer's. The battle was on.