Latest Update:March 26, 2023
Summary: Ash's greatest rival will become better than ever! He may need to change his strategy for training, but he won't let that deter him. Surpassing Ash, Tobias, and even Cynthia is his goal! Paul Si/OC
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13626805/1/A-Superior-Journey-into-the-World-of-Pokemon
Word count:113k
Chapters:28
Chapter 1: Change
"Elekid!" my Pokémon called out, sending electricity in the air as he spun his arms. This was decidedly the same situation from before. The one who I'm waiting for will be approaching soon. What should I say? How should I act? It's simple.
I just gotta be me.
Bodies of Starly drop with the calculated effect of Elekid's attack. One such Starly, however, evades the attack, flying around and calling out its name, signaling to its trainer that someone was here.
"Starly, over here!" a voice called out as his figure appeared revealing a young trainer wearing a red and black hat with a white and yellow Ultra Ball themed shirt.
Ash Ketchum, here right on time.
Seeing his face reminds me of just when I changed.
It had only been a week and I was a bit hazy. Waking up to feel and touch purple hair was definitely something! I almost tripped over myself when I saw that. All these strange experiences flowing through me and people I've watched on tv suddenly becoming living people.
It was all very hard to take in. Thankfully, what was fantasy was also my reality at the same time, so my common sense stayed intact.
I didn't forget who I am, so I could just act normal. In a sense, whoever this person was, doesn't matter. Only their knowledge and some of their common sense trickled over.
I don't know if this was the work of Arceus or some other force, but seeing how I knew what I could become, I was eager to push that aside. I have aspirations to be something greater. I just need to change some of my childish tactics.
Oh, right. Ash has arrived.
Him and Brock followed Starly to me, and so I decided to greet what might become my rival. "Your Starly should be careful if he doesn't want to get attacked."
Sound advice if I do say so myself. A lesser trainer would've tried to capture a seemingly experienced Starly.
"I didn't know anyone else was out here but us, really." Ash scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. I don't really understand that reasoning. It's common for trainers to camp out in forests all around to capture Pokémon and a forest like this is home to lots of standard Pokémon to train up. I hold my tongue as to not get into what is common knowledge for Pokémon trainers, but I am curious to where they usually find trainers.
"It must've been his Elekid that launched that electric attack." Brock makes his appearance known with his astute observation.
"Anyway, I got a question for you," Ash revealed, attempting to find Pikachu again, "Uh, you haven't seen a girl with a Pikachu around here, have you?" Hmph, Team Rocket was involved in this scenario if I'm not mistaken. Dawn and Pikachu must've met at this point and gotten caught up in a fight… or getting captured.
"No, I haven't," I replied, getting straight to the point.
"Oh, uh, sorry to bother you then. We gotta run," Ash said. Hmm, maybe I should help him out some.
"Hey, that's your Starly, right?" I asked, knowing the answer.
"Yeah, that's right," He didn't seem to know where I was going with this, judging by his confused tone.
"Your Starly is a pretty average one in terms of moves and stats. If you intend to train that Starly, I'd advise teaching him some moves to work with. Maybe your Starly is a little better than these wild Starly," I say, pointing to the Starly on the ground, "But, the strength gap isn't that big."
To further my point, I took out a Pokeball and threw it up, saying, "My own Starly, on the other hand," My own Starly took to the sky, free for me to show him off. "My Starly stood out from its flock and gave my Elekid some trouble. His Aerial Ace is rare for such a young Pokémon."
"I'm sure my Starly can learn Aerial Ace and be just as strong," Ash said, not missing a beat from my free explanation for efficient capturing.
"Wait, if you already had a Starly, why are you battling the Starly in the region," Brock asked, pointing to the Starly on the ground.
Seriously Brock? As a gym leader you should know this. "I'm training. Elekid needs a good anti-flying type offense," I said, nodding to him which he returned the favor for.
"Then are you just going to leave those Starly there? They could get hurt by being left injured." The future Pokémon Doctor seemed especially concerned for something I'm already aware of.
"That's why I always carry Potions to heal up wild Pokémon I've used as fighting partners," I say as I use the said potions, healing up all the Starly. They fly away very quickly after the fact.
Brock seemed satisfied by my actions, but Ash seemed conflicted.
I guess I'll give them the advice to move on.
"Come and battle me when you're not busy searching for some girl and a Pikachu. I intend to allow my Pokémon prove my words." They quickly realized what they were supposed to be doing and ran off.
After waiting for them to be out of sight, I addressed my Pokémon. "C'mon, we got work to do."
(-)
Meanwhile, a Pikachu and Piplup were engaged in a battle against Team Rocket who were manning a powerful six-armed, giant robot. Electricity had been useless against the robot as it was seemingly immune to electricity.
After some taunting from Team Rocket where they boasted their "Super Sinnoh Slinger Mark 1 A", the robot launched its assault on the Pikachu and Piplup. Dawn tried to defend against the robot by ordering Piplup to use Bubble, but it was to no effect. Pikachu was captured by the robot and its thunderbolt did nothing to stop the arms from keeping it locked in its grip.
"Chree (three) points!"
"And Team Rocket wins it!"
"With the Pikachu pass-play!"
Thunderbolt from Pikachu and bubble from Piplup was absolutely ineffective against the multi-armed mechanical monstrosity. Ash and Brock joined in to help rescue Pikachu, but their attacks did nothing to free Pikachu from the grip of the robot.
"Pikachu!" yelled Ash. Ash ran towards the robot as it attempted to grab him, but Ash quickly jumped to a tree and then propelled himself onto the robot's arm. The other arms of the robot flailed and then mistakenly punctured itself. Ash tried to pry Pikachu from the fingers of the robot, but it was not helping.
"Ash! Hurry! I think it's going to blow!" warned Brock. They weren't going to make it.
I guess this was my cue to stop sitting on the sidelines. "Aerial Ace, Starly."
My Starly flew up above the trees and approached the robot, encapsulating himself in a white light. That white light broke the robot's finger, freeing Pikachu. Pikachu and Ash quickly took this as their chance to run away from the exploding robot, eager to not get blown up.
Starly returned to me discreetly, seemingly unnoticed from everyone.
"Good work. Now follow me," I say to both Elekid and Starly.
There was work to be done for sure. At this moment in time, my current team was strong but lacked something or rather I lacked something. Well, it was time to fix that.
After a moment of walking towards an open field, I quickly got to work. "Chimchar, stand by."
Once he appeared, he seemed scared, or maybe confused as to why he came out for neither training nor a battle.
"I'll be issuing a challenge against a trainer I met earlier. I expect you all to try your best! No slacking. Starly, your aerial ace will be indispensable in the coming battle. I expect you to perform well." Starly responds with a cheery "Star!" Perfect, now to deal with the problem Pokémon. "Chimchar!"
"C-char?"
"You're a Pokémon with a ton of potential. If you can learn to take hits well, dodge when necessary, and utilize that blaze ability of yours, you will truly become a force to be reckoned with. You understand?"
"Char!" Chimchar responds with a fire burning in his eyes. His nervousness had evaporated.
"Elekid, I expect prime performance as usual." Elekid nods in understanding.
"Right, return all three of you." I say raising my pokeball to all three of them. Now to face Ash. I head to a tree that's right off of Professor Rowan's lab and wait until they exit the lab. Kind of creepy stuff to be honest, but I wanted to confirm something.
The automatic doors open and out comes Ash, Dawn, Brock, and Professor Rowan. "Er, who are you?" Professor Rowan asked.
"The name's Paul. And from the looks of things, you're Professor Rowan. I'm waiting for him." I move my eyes to focus on Ash. He looks surprised by the looks of things.
"For me?"
"It seems you've found the girl and Pikachu. Wanna battle?" I ask, smirking. Maybe it was because something was new about me, but I couldn't help but get excited for this battle.
"Sure, I'm ready. Pikachu and I are going to show you just who you're challenging, a future Pokémon Master!" Ash said, Pikachu backing him up affirming their resolve.
"Hm, then off to my back garden." Professor Rowan declares. It's finally time to test my skills!
And so, we gathered around Professor Rowan's back garden with Rowan and Dawn spectating, Brock as judge, and Ash and I on opposite ends of the field.
"This is great! I've never seen a real Pokémon battle before!" exclaimed Dawn. It's certainly surprising that it's her first time seeing one. It's all over TV and the world as a whole.
"Well you're seeing one now so hold on to your hat!" Ash quipped.
I couldn't help myself "heh"
"What's so funny Paul?"
"Nothing, I'm just eager to see how you'll do."
"Oh yeah? Well, I'll make sure to give you a surprise!"
Deciding to lay down the rules, I clarified, "Just remember, this is going to be a three on three battle with no substitutions. The first one to 2 wins will be the winner. Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it. Starly, I choose you!"
"Starly, stand by for battle!" Both Starly have a staredown. We're about to show why Ash that I'm not a big fan of surprises. "Ash, you can go first."
"Right! Starly, use Quick Attack!" A bright white light followed his Starly's flight as it flew fast towards my Starly.
"Starly, fly over to the right!" Starly obeyed, but it was too late. It got hit a bit in its side. It'll be fine. I hear some musings about me testing Ash's Starly's power by Rowan. You're not exactly right this time Professor. "Starly use Aerial Ace quick!" Starly tucked his wings in and nose dived towards the opposing Starly. A direct hit!
"Wait a second. Was that Starly from earlier? The one that saved Pikachu?" questioned Dawn from the sidelines.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I denied, "But my Starly won't lose here!"
"We'll just have to make sure we beat you to make you reveal the truth! Quick, Starly, Wing Attack!"
Heh. Victory is within sight.
"Starly, Double Team." Starly multiplied more and more, making the opponent lose which one is real. My Starly flew behind Ash's preparing itself for an Aerial Ace.
"The real one's in the back. Dodge it now!"
"Aerial Ace!"
With no time to dodge, my Starly flew right into Ash's, knocking it out. I've won one using Paul's, or rather my, original strategy. Next up is Chimchar. Time to take things up a notch!
"Ash' Starly is unable to battle. Paul's Starly is the winner." Brock announces.
"You know, your strategy of just pushing with a lame strategy isn't going to do you any favors. Any Pokémon on your team isn't going to win if their trainer can't guide them well. That's all you got?" I taunted returning Starly. Some trash talking is always helpful to see how someone responds to it.
"Aipom, you're up next!" Ash declared. Oh? Keeping it cool for now. Impressive.
"Chimchar, stand by for battle!"
"A Chimchar?" Ash said, opening his pokedex. The pokedex gave its spill of Chimchar being the "Monkey Pokémon", as if there are monkeys in this world for humans to compare it to.
"Isn't that nice. You got your Chimchar lesson for the day." I was morally obligated to say this.
"Grrr, use Swift, Aipom!"
You can't dodge swift so we'll have to cancel it out! "Ember Chimchar!" As planned the swift and ember canceled leaving both Pokémon unharmed.
"Focus Punch, let's go!" Aipom readied its tail with a bright white light. I can't let it have a chance to use it.
"Chimchar, use Flame Wheel!" A direct hit landed, stopping the Focus Punch from charging. Perfect. Now to not make the same mistake.
As Rowan gives an explanation about Focus Punch, I start my next move. "Ember!"
"Dodge it, Aipom!"
Hmph Can't dodge forever, eventually, you'll run out of space to go and then you'll be in Chimchar's range. "Chimchar, advance towards the Aipom with some more Ember."
"Aipom, Swift attack!" Swift and Ember canceled out, but the work behind it is done. It's time.
"Chimchar, Flame Wheel!"
"Aipom, Focus Punch." I won't allow his plan to work!
Right before Chimchar would hit Aipom, what could be heard from both trainer's mouths was "Jump now!" Instead of Aipom jumping out of the way of a flame wheel and then striking, it gets hit directly.
"No, Aipom…" Ash cried out.
"Aipom is unable to battle, the winner is Chimchar, making Paul the winner." Heh, as expected.
"Return, Chimchar, you've shown your potential." I walk over to Rowan to communicate my thanks.
Ash stopped me on my way up. "So, you really did win, Paul. I'll be sure to win next time! Also, thanks for saving Pikachu. Even if you haven't admitted to it yet. That Aerial Ace did seem familiar," Ash declared.
"Yeah, whatever. Just make sure to hold on to that Pikachu of yours," I wave off Ash. He was sure to get stronger in time. I just needed to not underestimate his potential.
Turning to Professor Rowan I say, "Thanks for the use of the field Professor. I appreciate it." I turn and walk off.
A satisfying victory, but it was only a victory because of knowledge of what's going to happen. I won't rely on that in the future. In fact, it'd be terrible if I did.
Maybe you've figured it out already, but I have gained some new memories you could say. Memories of the future, my future and Ash'. I may have been rivals with Ash in some distant future, but now I plan to best him completely and utterly. There are bigger fish to fry after all. Monsters like Tobias with a Darkrai and a Latios. I'll rise to the occasion. I'll beat him, I'll beat the elite four, and then she is next. Cynthia, the champion of Sinnoh. This I swear: to become the very best of the best!
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13626805/1/A-Superior-Journey-into-the-World-of-Pokemon