[Pokémon] The Tales and Trials of a Trainer

This is a story I've been plotting and working on for a while, and I'm finally getting around to posting it. Its a pokemon fanfic with Red and Blue chronicling their journey to the championship. I'm going to try and make it a bit different than the games/anime/manga and try and mash them together and put a different spin on it. I think it would be massively boring to just read a complete novelization of the game. I'm planning on making some changes and am going to try and keep it interesting.


The Tales and Trials of a Trainer
Chapter 1: Battle of the Century

Every great pokémon trainer has a moment, a moment where they knew that they were going to become one. I'm not talking about the schmuck down the street that has a zigzagoon and claims to be a pokémon trainer because it's foreign and he taught it to sit. I'm talking about the trainers. The ones that liken themselves to the original trainers of old that when the Brink opened and unleashed literal monsters in our world decided that those beasts coming through would be our best chance at defending ourselves.

Torsten of Pewter's ruling Tektite Clan recalled his moment when he watched his grandfather ride off on an enormous onix to defend the stone gray city against Johto.

Pryce Willow, Mahogany's gym leader recalled he would become the best trainer he possibly could after watching helplessly as his lapras was orphaned by an avalanche.

Our esteemed Grand Champion Aconite Shino recalled his moment when he watched his starter hatch from its egg.

My moment wasn't a big flashy moment, or even one most people would call, 'the moment'. It was small, and personal.

I was eight years old. My mother and I lived alone with the exception of her sole pokémon, an older Mr. Mime. We lived on the outskirts of Pallet in a small two bedroom house, it wasn't much, but it was ours and we got by on my mother's meager salary from the diner.

Even then, I was obsessed with pokémon. I tried to learn as much as I possibly could. The different types, and species, and how they interacted with each other, but what captivated me the most were the pokémon battles. Trainers pitting their pokémon against one another in a simple yet high-stakes game.

The Gambit had just began. It was the brief week-long period where a challenger who completed the stringent qualifications could pit their pokémon against the Grand Champion's for the chance at gaining the throne.

The Grand Champion was Indigo's de facto leader. They were considered the best able to defend the region against the monsters that invaded our world millennia ago. They were advised by their hand-picked senior advisors known as the Elite Four and the representatives of the major cities throughout the Johto and Kanto regions known as the Gym Leaders.

In order to be able to qualify to challenge the Grand Champion of the throne, a challenger must first defeat eight of the gym leaders in Indigo. They would then need to survive the trial known as traversing Victory Road. If succeeding, they would then make it to the Indigo League Semi-Finals where they would have to defeat in battle another semifinalist. They would then be entered into the Finals where they would challenge the Elite Four one by one. Upon defeating all four they would be able to challenge the Grand Champion.

Our current Grand Champion Aconite had been on the throne for literal decades, throughout his reign he has cycled through various Elite Four members and Gym Leaders, and has had many challengers for the throne, but all have failed.

My mother and I had been following the meteoric rise of Blackthorn's Lance Drakken. He had set records for his challenge of the gyms completing all sixteen in a quarter of the time it took most challengers to complete eight.

An unheard of feat, at least until my brother.

I woke up early on the very first day of the Gambit. I think I half expected Lance to challenge Aconite at the first chance he got, but instead of the challenging I got something else.

"Good morning," a woman with perfect blonde hair in a red dress said on our dinky little television with a bent antennae. "We have breaking news for you this morning, and it is not what you would expect."

"We have confirmation," a man in perfect black suit jacket and tie continued, "that Giovanni Razzo, the man known as the Would-Be-Champion has returned home at last."

The video cut to a light-skinned man with a black receding hairline. He was standing on a battle platform with a determined look on his face yelling orders down to the biggest sandslash I had ever seen with wicked sharp spines along its back. A second later it sprinted off for a nidoqueen that was almost twice its size.

"For those of you who may not remember, Razzo was a very accomplished serviceman in the Indigo Plateau's special forces following his gaining of the eight badges and passing the tests required for admittance. During his service he continued to challenge gyms throughout Indigo eventually becoming one of the few trainers attain all sixteen."

The television cut to the headshot of Razzo in perfect military blues with eight Indigo badges on one breast and a number of multi-colored bars and medals on the other.

"Ten years ago, Razzo was in much the same position that we are in now with Lance Drakken. A challenger that all analysts say has the greatest chance at claiming the throne in recent memory."

"Reports claim that Razzo was in the throne room in the midst of issuing his challenge when an alert came through from A.C.E. requesting the Indigo Special Forces with great urgency. A claim that grew increasingly fragile as time led on."

An elderly man stood with the backdrop of the Viridian Gym behind him.

"It has been nearly two centuries since Viridian has had a Grand Champion," the man said growing increasingly agitated. "I just find it oddly suspicious that as we are poised to have a new one they are disappeared away under the pretense of an emergency which has still been 'occurring' for years."

"Which means it'll be a race," the male anchor took over. "Who will make it to the Plateau first to challenge Aconite for the throne? The Would-Be Champion or the Dragon Tamer?"

"Red!" My mom said exasperatedly.

My mom said my nickname was one of the only gifts I received from my father, that and the color of my eyes that my name comes from.

"How long have you been up?" Mom called from the doorway.

"Not long," I muttered quietly.

"Mmhmm," my mom said with narrowed eyes. "Go fix your breakfast, and I'm working a double tonight, so make sure you come to the diner after school."

"Will Oak be at the diner tonight?" I asked between bites of cereal a few minutes later as my mother rushed around in a whirlwind to get ready.

"Professor Oak, young man," she said sternly and I nodded. "I don't know, he comes in sporadically."

I gave my mother a hug and a kiss and headed off to school. School was boring, I didn't get perfect scores on everything, but I was close. The kids weren't outright bullies but they weren't exactly nice. It was subtle, I was picked last or almost last in all the games. They whispered behind my back about my eyes behind my back and came up with elaborate stories. The best ones were that I was some kind of experiment that was either a success or a failure that depended on the day; the worst ones was that I was the result of some affair my mother had with a dark-type pokémon trainer, or worse their pokémon.

I ignored them for the most part, although my mother did get called up to the school occasionally for fights. Usually when my classmates would make the more vulgar insinuations about my parentage.

Following school, I made my way to the diner where I tucked myself into a small booth in the corner and pulled out a book on types and battle strategy that Professor Oak had given me the last time he had been in.

Two hours later, I idly watched the news as they reiterated the exact same information they had this morning about the return of the Would-Be-Champion. They then spent the rest of the news discussing the ongoing battle on the Plateau of the gym relocation from the inner-city Celadon to the frontier town of Pallet.

About an hour before closing I glanced blearily at the door as the bell dinged for the thirty-second time that night. My eyes widened when I saw a middle-aged man in khaki slacks and a white lab coat walk up and seat himself at the bar.

I waited just long enough for my mother to walk up and take his order before I packed up my stuff, walked over and carefully climbed up in the bar stool next to him.

"Good evening Red," Oak said with a warm smile on his face. "Isn't it a little past your bedtime?"

"Not really," I yawned. "I'm not tired at all."

"You listen to me, young man," my mother said as she sat down a plate of food in front of Oak and a slice of chocolate cake in front of me. "You let Professor Oak get a few bites in before you start pestering him with questions."

"He's fine, Deliah," Professor Oak watched as I viciously dug into my cake. "I don't mind answering any of his questions. An inquisitive mind is not something I want to stifle."

"How was your day, Professor?" I asked after waiting for him to take precisely four and a half bites.

"It was busy as usual, but not a bad day at all. I received the news that my son's family will be moving here shortly, which means you'll have a new student in your class, my grandson."

"That's nice," I said politely. "I can't wait to meet him."

"I'm sure you guys will get along great. How was your day, Red?"

"It was okay."

"Just okay? Those kids haven't been bothering you again have they?"

"No, not really. They were all mainly distracted with the Would-Be-Champion returning and who is going to be the next Grand Champion."

"Ahhh, I don't think Mr. Razzo quite likes the nickname the world has given him."

"You've met him? Have you already seen him since he's been back? Why do they call him the Would-Be-Champion?"

"I've met him a few times before he left. He's a very charming charismatic young man, and quite the trainer, everything they say about his battle prowess is completely true," Oak ate another bite before continuing. "As for the nickname, that moniker started to circulate after his abrupt disappearance. Many believe his chance was stolen from him and that he would have won."

"So you think he'll win if he beats Lance to challenging Aconite?"

Oak barked out a laugh. "Now I didn't say that, Aconite is quite the formidable trainer even in his advanced age."

"Who do you think will win of the two of them against Aconite?"

"You're the fifth person to ask me that today," Oak smiled. "Who do you think will win?"

"According to this," I said tapping the battle strategy guide between us. "They both have about an even chance of beating Aconite."

"Why is that?" Oak asked surprise coloring his voice.

"From what I can tell, Razzo's pokémon before he left were mainly ground and rock types which have hard outer bodies which would be hard for the Aconite's primarily poison type pokémon to penetrate."

"Very good Red! What about Lance?"

"He's got dragons," I snorted.

"And?" Oak chuckled.

"They're dragons," I sighed, that should have been reason enough. "They have armored scales which would make it very hard for them to penetrate and if they managed to, it would take a very strong poison to be able to bring down a dragon."

"Wouldn't that make Lance a better chance of beating Aconite since it would be just as hard for the poison pokémon to penetrate the dragon's scales as the rock and ground pokemon, but then they have to bring down a dragon's immune system? Which would be much hardier than a rock or ground pokemon's system?"

I nodded. "Except it's Aconite whose pokémon have been creating potent poisons since before you were born. I'm sure his pokémon could bring down a dragon."

"That's an amazing analysis Red! Most people would go right for Lance taking the win easily because of his dragons. Although you did leave out one very important part."

"What's that?" I frowned.

"As all of Aconite's pokémon are poison types, and poison types are not very well known for their sturdiness, they would be more likely to be gravely injured from a good direct hit from say a giant rock or a dragon. But despite that, your reasoning still stands since Aconite would be at an equal disadvantage from both challengers."

I nodded for a moment in thought. "I completely forgot about how Aconite's pokémon would fair against attacks from Lance or Giovanni."

"A fair assumption to make," Oak said sympathetically. "Aconite has been the Grand Champion for decades most people don't take into his pokémon into account."

I have a follow-up question for you," Oak continued after a moment. "Any good trainer would try and round out their pokémon's weaknesses, how would you expect Aconite to round out his pokémon's weaknesses?"

"Ummm…" I took a few moments to gather my thoughts. "Something with armor?"

"Indeed, Aconite has a few nidoqueen and nidoking on hand since they are big, bulky and very well protected. What else could he do?"

"He could have something quick?"

"Yes, he probably has some incredibly fast and agile pokémon to be able to dodge any incoming attacks."

"When do you think they're going to challenge Aconite?" I asked and stifled a yawn.

"One of them will probably do it very soon, within the next day or two I'd imagine."

"Boys," my mother called exasperatedly from the other side of the room. "It's time to go, and it's way past your bedtime mister."

I looked around and realized we were the only three left in the diner, all the tables had been wiped down and the chairs stacked up and the back had been locked up. The night had flown by.

"It takes a lot of planning and strategizing to be a good pokémon trainer doesn't it?" I asked as we walked towards the front door.

"You are correct, Red, but I think you are going to be a great trainer," Oak ruffled my hair.

Oak was right of course on both accounts. I haven't known that man to be wrong on very much at all.

That wasn't my moment.

The next evening I was seated at my spot in the diner when the news broke in to the Hoenn League Semi Finals.

Collectively, the entire room turned as one to the flat screen television on the wall. Even the cooks, and busboys came up to the front to watch.

"Good evening," the same woman from the morning before in a blue dress started. "We have breaking news it appears on the second day of the Gambit an official challenging has been made. We take you now to the Indigo Plateau."

I caught my mom's eye across the room and she gave me the biggest smile, I think she could practically feel my excitement from across the room and came over and picked me up.

The same thought was on everyone's mind, who managed to extend their challenge first?

The feed flipped to reveal an elderly wrinkled man in a dark colored robe with a single pink flower pinned to his breast. He had long white hair and beard and was seated on an elevated gold throne.

His Elite Four members were spread out on either side of him seated in wrought silver chairs.

The camera panned around and groans and cheers reverberated throughout the room as a man with flaming red hair that stood on end was revealed.

Lance Drakken the Dragon Tamer was the first one to make it to the Plateau.

"Grand Champion Aconite!" Lance called out across the throne room. "I have acquired sixteen badges, I have defeated your Elite, I challenge you for the throne!"

Aconite stood up shakily with the help of a shiny black cane and sighed, "I accept."

The video feed switched to a man in a suit with the Indigo Plateau's colosseum in the background.

"Lance Drakken has challenged Aconite for the throne. Will this be the end of an era? Find out tomorrow!"

The television flipped back to me the Hoenn SemiFinals.

"They're not going to battle?" I frowned, that was a complete disappointment.

"No," an older gentleman said at the next table over, "tradition holds that the Champion and the Challenger both have 24 hours to ready their pokémon." He squinted at me for a moment. "You were probably a little toddler when the last trainer challenged Aconite, 'course he got his ass handed to him, but still…"

"Well...that's stupid!" I shouted.

"Yup," the older man agreed, "I expect nowadays it's more to get the cameras prepared and teleport in all the spectators."

Less than twenty-four hours later, my mother and I were seated on our couch with a bowl of popcorn between us. Mimey was sitting in a comfortable chair on the other side of the room. My mother managed to get one of many other waitresses to return a favor and cover her so that we could watch it together. Just us.

"Good evening Johto and Kanto!" The same correspondent from the night before exclaimed. He was standing yet again in front of an ancient looking grey arena. "We join you tonight in front of the Indigo Colosseum, where the first champion carved it out the very mountain millennia ago. The battle is about to be underway! We now take you inside!"

The camera changed to a wide panning shot of the interior over a thousand people lining the stands. A dirt field with outlined chalk bisecting it covered the majority of the colosseum. On either side of the halves were raised platforms.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages welcome to the Grand Championship! This is sure to be a battle to remember! This will be a battle that you will tell your grandchildren about! This will be a battle for the century!"

A blue raised platform appeared on the tv. Standing at the top leaning heavily on a cane was a man that looked to be nearly a century old.

"In the blue corner, He can survive a multitude of deadly venoms and has been the leader of Indigo for over half of his life, the Poison King," The announcer started and was drowned out by the crowd. "We have your current Grand Champion Aconite!"

The elderly man gave a stiff short bow a small smile played on his face as the crowd continued to further deafen the elderly man. He wore a dark violet robe with a single pink flower in his breast pocket. Wrinkles and mottled skin covered his face and arms, and his eyes had a thin white film on them. Long white hair was tied into a neat bun on the back of his head and a long white beard flowed down to his chest.

The red platform appeared. Standing on top of it was a young light skinned man with dark red hair that stood out at odd angles.

"In the red corner, we have the up-and-comer, the man who earned sixteen badges, the only man that can stare down a gyarados, he's known as the Dragon Tamer, but may soon be known as the Dragon King," the crowd went equally as wild cheering, "I give you the Challenger, Lance Drakken!"

The young flame-haired man nodded. He was dressed in a pressed black suit with a white button up shirt and a red tie. Clasped on his shoulders was a burgundy cape that flowed almost all the way down to his feet. He flourished his cape and took a bow.

"The rules are as follows, 6 vs 6 winner with the last standing pokémon is the champion. Begin!" The announcer boomed.

The battle was everything the announcer predicted it to be and more. Back and forth the battle raged on, neither Aconite or Lance able to gain the upperhand on the other.

After a heated opening back-and-forth battle between Lance's dragonair and Aconite's nidoqueen, the blue serpent managed to choke out the nidoqueen, but in the process took several puncture wounds from the poison pokémon's spikes.

Next Aconite threw out a four foot tall crobat with a wingspan of over eight feet. It made quick work of Lance's bleeding dragonair who then selected a gyarados that swallowed the crobat whole.

Aconite released a record-breaking muk with absolute speed that actually managed to poison and bring down the gyarados.

Lance threw out a haxorus which didn't last much longer than the gyarados against the muk. A visibly frustrated Lance threw out a garchomp that slowed the muk down enough it was able to slice it to ribbons before it disappeared in a red laser.

Aconite let loose a venusaur that solar-beamed the garchomp out of existence which prompted Lance to release a charizard that burned the grass dinosaur's flower off.

Death at this level of competition was inevitable, at the same time trainers don't get to this level without being quick on the return. Lance and Aconite, despite his age, were both among these trainers and managed to return their pokemon to pokeball stasis before their injuries could become life threatening with the exception of the crobat.

Aconite's answer was to release a hulking nidoking, and in a spectacular display of strength Aconite's nidoking and Lance's charizard both managed to knock each other out. A first in the Grand Championship.

"The Champion and the Challenger are both now down to their last pokémon," the announcer boomed. Everyone in the stadium and watching at home were on the edge of their seats. "Who will they choose next?"

Lance pulled off a bulky, overly large pokeball that was faded from a once shiny red and pristine white to an off-color orange and eggshell white. He threw it down to the field with barely a second glance.

A flash of a red light and a looming orange scaled dragonite appeared. The enormous bipedal dragon towered a staggering nearly fourteen feet tall, it flared out a pair of wrinkled azure wings that were taller than a man. Wrinkles covered its armored orange body and its cream colored belly. A white film covered its eyes which made me wonder how it could even see. Two jagged amber antennas stuck out of the top of its head, one bent at a completely unnatural angle. Two fingers were missing on its left forepaw and one from it's right hindpaw.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Ares!" The announcer said and the crowd roared in approval. "The dragon that is over a century old. Older than even our dear champion. He's named after the ancient pre-brink god of war, a fitting name since this ancient beast fought under Lance's great grandfather in the last Kanto-Johtan War" the announcer barely finished before Aconite moved to release his pokémon.

Aconite pulled one last pokeball off of his belt, he gave it a solemn look before throwing it down onto the field.

A red laser lanced out and a twelve foot long purple arbok as wide as a fully grown man appeared. The first four feet of the snake were split in two each one ending in a head with a full hood flared out. Each hood continuously shifted its markings from yellow to red to black to orange and black never staying the same for more than a few seconds. The left head's hood had a jagged scar running diagonally across it, no matter what color the rest of the hood changed the scar would always stay the same purple color as the rest of it's scales. They both opened their mouths in near perfect unison showing off their fangs that were nearly a foot long.

The two-headed arbok let out a long hiss that sent shivers down my back as it didn't actually stop to breathe as the other half of the snake would pick up when the other left off.

"Its Doku and Mushi, the only arbok in the world to have two heads! Mushi is the head with the jagged scar. Doku-Mushi was Aconite's starter, hatching for him many many years ago."

"Ixen Drevan!" Lance shouted.

Ares took a wider stance and opened his gigantic maw and launched three balls each one the size of a small car across the battlefield.

Aconite literally hissed at his giant snake.

Doku-Mushi rose up a foot higher before the two heads cocked back and coughed up a trio of dark purple acid globs high into the air.

Aconite and Lance both held their cards to their heart that night for the last battle. Lance spoke exclusively in his native dragon tongue, a famous blackthorn dialect handed down from when the clan first tamed the original dragons. Aconite spoke a coded hissing language that he and the snake developed when they first challenged the league decades ago.

The fireballs and acid collided in midair causing a blinding explosion. The video feed on the television shook as a plume of smoke filled the air.

Through the haze, Ares was barely discernible as he leapt up into the air and flapped his enormous wings dispersing the smoke near him.

A purple blur shot into view as Doku-Mushi landed where Ares had been moments before. The snake coiled in on itself and sprang twenty feet in the air after the hovering dragon fangs bared.

In an almost effortless move, Ares reached out and smacked the neck joint where the heads met, knocking the flying snake out of the air.

Aconite hissed as Doku-Mushi hit the ground and rolled before launching diagonally across the battlefield. A roar shook the colosseum as Ares dive-bombed the spot raking his claws across the dirt.

As one, the purple snake twisted it's body, Mushi slithered them away turned completely sideways, while Doku spat bright purple acid at the trailing dragon.

The globule of acid split apart as it sailed through the air hardening into dozens of thin darts.

The dragon barrel-rolled, but a dozen darts impaled the thin membrane of its left wing. The wing seized up and Ares spiraled down and hit the ground with a deafening boom.

A roar filled the colosseum. Ares climbed out of the crater, bright purple liquid dripped from the wing. He flapped it quickly gaining movement back.

"Litentir!" Lance shouted.

Ares' antennae fizzled with dozens of bright blue sparks before a roll of thunder resounded across the stadium. A giant bolt of blue lightning shot into the air.

Twenty feet away, the great purple snake was coiled like a rope. An instant later it shot into the air like a spring. The bolt shot into the sand harmlessly, instantly forming several shards of white hot glass.

The dragon shot off a half dozen smaller bright yellow crackling bolts popping in the air like firecrackers. The snake slithered in wide arcs towards avoiding the lightning strikes with only inches to spare.

"Shetra Weive!"

The dragon's antennae sparked furiously creating a high pitched whine with a popping undercurrent. They produced hundreds of blue sparks that began orbiting a small point between them. Small flecks of metal slowly floated into the air as it was caught in the magnetic field. The whine began building in intensity as the blue ball that was forming began to shine so bright it was blinding.

Aconite hissed. Doku-Mushi stretched out to its full length flat against the ground, and spread its heads as wide as they would go.

Dozens of bright connecting arcs stretched out and formed with the dragon at the epicenter. It collided with the snake with a sharp zap and sizzled out.

Doku-Mushi hissed in pain and his body locked up flat on the ground momentarily.

"Grounding!" The announcer shouted. "A risky strategy involving covering a wide surface area and directing as much of the current into the ground as possible."

Doku-Mushi flicked its tail sending a dozen more toxic spikes toward the dragon. Ares dashed out of the way. In the same instant Doku sent a glob of acid at the dragon.

It hit Ares in it's beige stomach and the dragon roared as the poison sizzled and melted his armored scales together.

"Ixenious!" Lance shouted.

Ares took a running leap into the air and furled out it's wings. He opened his mouth and let out a stream of fire straight up in the air before diving, smoke billowing out behind him.

The arbok coiled and launched itself, zigzagging away as fast it could. Ares strafed the snake melting whole sections sections of scales together.

The snake hissed and rolled over on its back, both heads rose to their full height. Ares tucked a wing in and whipped around diving again to the snake maw opened.

In one motion, Doku-Mushi shot a double spray of acid at the incoming dragon. Fire erupted from Ares' maw and an instant later the acid made contact.

The acid literally exploded in the dragon's face, and launched him tumbling through the air. He cratered fifty feet away with a resounding thud throwing up dust.

The snake took off like lightning, making an s-shaped trail through the dirt as he made his way towards the downed dragon.

Ares was groggily standing up, when Doku-Mushi started winding his body up and around the dragon's legs, stomach, wings, and shoulders. Ares struggled against the growing binds, pushing and stretching to loosen the snake, but Doku-Mushi was too strong. Aconite barked a throaty hiss and the snake constricted.

The dragon let out a roar that shook the colosseum as the life was literally being squeezed out of it. The Doku and Mushi peeled away from Ares' body with their fangs bared and began rapidly striking all over the dragon's upper half.

"It looks like Lance's bid for the championship may soon come to an end!" The announcer boomed. "How much more can his dragon take?!?"

I turned to my mother with a panicked look and she grabbed me closer, the empty popcorn bowl falling off the couch.

"Shocraos!" Lance shouted.

Ares' antennas began to rapidly spark blue again before thunder shook the battlefield as he sent the blue electric shock down his body.

The snake hissed as his body seized up against its control. Ares pushed and managed to loosen up the snake enough to unfurl his wings and leapt flapping like mad to gain as much altitude as possible, the snake's long tail swinging haphazardly behind them.

The camera zoomed in on the flying duo. Ares did not look good, faint purple veins stood out in the azure color of his wings, one was dripping beads of blood from where the darts impacted. The bites on his neck and shoulder were half melted pits filled with more poison, the veins coming off were in high relief and turning purple as well.

As they continued to climb higher and higher, the snake continued to strike the dragon, even tearing out whole sections of scales.

"Tharm rechan!" Lance shouted.

They crested the top of the colosseum, spectators reached out almost able to touch the flying behemoths.

Ares locked both wings and dove forward and looped once, twice, thrice, each loop smaller than the last. He pulled and pried at the snake trying to throw it off with brute strength and centrifugal force.

"It doesn't look good for the elderly snake! A fall from this height would surely kill him," the announcer said what we were all thinking.

The snake was slowly losing its grip. Inch by inch, it began to slide down the dragon's body despite trying to visibly tighten itself.

And then...the world gasped.

I watched as Ares' eyes rolled back in his head and the dragon and snake plummeted.

I let out a small cry as the two tumbled and somersaulted chaotically through the air.

Lance and Aconite watched helplessly, as they yelled futile orders at their pokémon.

At almost the last possible second, Ares shook himself awake and flared out his wings. It wasn't enough and the two hit the ground digging out a massive ten foot deep crater and throwing up a mushroom cloud of dirt and debris.

The entire colosseum was silent, the entire region was silent as they collectively watched as the dust settled. A fall from that height could have killed both pokémon, whoever managed to survive it would be the champion.

Roaring and hissing filled the stadium, as the ground shook while the dragon and snake wrestled in the cloud of dirt.

The dust finally settled to reveal a swaying Ares with a dozen more pockmarked oozing bites across his upper body. He almost looked more purple than orange at this point.

He held Doku's head in one giant paw and Mushi's head in the other. He merely had to flex a muscle and the snake would be ripped completely in half.

The dragon turned toward Aconite's platform, where the elder trainer stood staring down at the field a somber look on his face.

In one slow motion, Aconite removed the pokeball, pointed it at his snake and thumbed the release. An instant later a red laser shot out and beamed the giant snake which dissolved and disappeared.

The announcer, the stadium, the entire Indigo region watched in complete shocked silence.

"I knew this day would come," Aconite said in a throaty half whisper. "Congratulations Grand Champion Lance," he finished with a somber smile.

An instant later, the world erupted with deafening cheers and screams.

I turned toward mom with the biggest smile on my face literally bouncing in my seat.

"He did it! I can't believe he did it!" I babbled a mile a minute. "Ares was so strong! And Doku-Mushi was so fast! I can't believe he has two heads!"

"It was an amazing battle wasn't it Red?" My mom said breathlessly. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Do you think I can be that good of a trainer one day?" I asked hesitantly.

My mom looked at me with a warm smile and complete confidence in her eyes.

"Red, I believe without a doubt, that you can be even better."

This was my moment. The moment where I knew I was not going to be a great trainer, but the very best.

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The following is an abstracted excerpt from Pokedex Entry # 24 Arbok

Arbok, also known as the Cobra pokémon is highly venomous snake known for its dark violet color and its color changing hood. The pokémon's hood actually contains its poison sacs where its venom is produced and stored. The hood's coloring comes from the translucency of the scales within it from the sacs' growth in size and potency from when it was an ekans. The translucency allows for poison sacs' reactions to be visible which give a unique design on the pokémon's hood. No two arbok are alike, they all have different designs on their hoods as their poisons all have different levels of acidity, their poison sacs themselves are all different sizes and they are all reacting differently. As the arbok grows older it gains much more fine control over the sacs and can control the chemical compounds which allow it to create a frightening array of debilitating poisons. The breadth of these variations in venoms allow for the snake to be able to paralyze, dissolve, change blood viscosity, and even how the poisons react when they come into contact with air, or water…

...perhaps the most famous arbok is former Grand Champion Aconite's one-of-a-kind two-headed serpent Doku-Mushi. They were nearly indistinguishable from one another until in an exhibition match Mushi's hood was nearly severed causing it's now famous scar. Each snake independently controls their own head and the two share one nervous system. They cooperatively control the length of their body beyond the joint of the neck where their heads join. The snake not only holds the record for longest living arbok and most venoms, but also held the record for length until she sired Ira, the arbok that was gifted to Aconite's grandson.

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The story has been influenced by a bunch of different fanfics including, Game of Champions by Lamora, The Sun Soul by 50CaliberChaos, Pokémon: The Line by Radhominin, The Saga of Kings by Vile Slanders, and a whole bunch of others.

What did you guys think?