On a bright sunny day in the largest city in Galar, Wyndon. Roarious cheering, chanting and the like can be heard from its prestigious stadium from all across the surrounding city. It couldn't bother anyone simply because everyone was there! No one would miss the battle to determine the next "Monarch" of the World Coronation Series. A new up and coming 19 year old trainer had made an explosive entrance into the league and blasted all the way up to a battle with Leon! Galar Champion and monarch.
"Po! Tank the attack and hit 'em with 'Counter'!" the young man yells as the big lug enters a different fighting stance with a wide opening in anticipation of Leon's Haxorus. The huge dragon charging him with an 'outrage', head low, skids to a stop just before hitting the Urshifu. Haxorus had canceled the move on her own and is trying to use 'guillotine'! She shot her head into the sky with her left tusk pointed downwards and dropped her body down to yank her head down for added power. Both pokemon roar war cries as just before the 'guillotine' was about to connect, the Urshifu literally clapped the scythe-like tusk between his hands stopping it instantly! It was a feint! He never intended to take any hits!
In a show of strength, Urshifu rotates Haxorus' entire body 180 degrees and slamming her into the ground, unconscious. Before the call is even made that she is out, Urshifu is back on his side of the field and back in ready position. The young man silently sends his ace commands through hand gestures. Champion Leon could be heard exclaiming about the young man's strength, receiving a snort from the young trainer. Feeling disrespected, Leon sends out his Aegislash to curb Urshifu's fighting type strengths. As if already victorious, Leon poses dramatically as he orders an attack move that couldn't be heard as his pokemon's cry overshadowed it.
Before anyone realized something was wrong, Aegislash was already knocked out! "Wha- WHAT HAPPENED? I didn't even see your Urshifu move!" Leon was unable to get any response so he recalled his pokemon and sent out his Dragapult. Just like before, the moment he sent out a command, in the blink of an eye, it was unconscious! "WAIT NO HOLD ON!" He began to rack his brain for an answer and it dawned on him. It was urshifu's signature move 'Wicked Blow'! But something was even more wrong about this. That Urshifu didn't even telegraph it. No charge up or anything! Leon began to scan the opposing trainer for anything. He was just standing there with a neutral smile… It was menacing. Leon knew it was a gamble but he had his pride as THE champion of the Galar region.
With a tiny prayer, He threw out his Charizard and instantly opted to gigantimax it! The titanic Pokémon bellowed out a roar like no other and lowered its head to the ground to make direct eye contact with the Wushu Pokémon. The Urshifu stood there with the slightest grin. He glanced back at his trainer and saw three repeated hand gestures followed by one knuckle crack. The Urshifu's grin was sharp and irradiated confidence. On queue, The G-max Charizard opened with a 'G-max wildfire'. The flames engulfed the entire arena, save for where the trainers stood. Beads of sweat are now dripping off both competitors. Standing tenaciously and still in stance, The Urshifu stood proudly despite the flames engulfing his body. His body subtly vibrated as he observed the being of pure fire.
Charizard followed up with a tail sweep that dragged tons of earth with it. After completing a rotation, Urshifu was nowhere to be seen by trainer and audience alike until a roar was heard behind Charizard. He was standing on Charizard's tail! In an instant, Urshifu was already in the giant monster's face with a punch that sent it reeling and whirling to maintain balance. The Wushu bear landing without making a sound returns to stance and observes the great beast once more. This time it's going for another 'g-max wildfire'! Urshifu is charging up for one big attack as his muscles start bulging rapidly. 'Bulk up' used secretively when not seen allowed for such outstanding power. As the Charizard let out the wildfire, the Urshifu had leapt and clocked the ginormous lizard in the face! Landing alongside the unconscious head, he roared out something that shook the arena and audience alike just as the Dynamax energy was purged from the body creating explosions. Dust permeating throughout the arena. The deafening cheer of fans and spectators dying down to see how the field is. Whispers became murmurs, which became chatter, which led to shouting. The audience erupted as they saw the Urshifu standing proudly, but to the shock of everyone, he was unconscious too!
Both trainers recall their Pokémon and exchange glances. Leon is in total disbelief as he realized it was a terrible trade. Four for one and this guy has five left! He looks across as he sees the young trainer say a few words to the Urshifu's pokéball and turns to him. His neutral smile was unchanging. It silently spoke of this guy's confidence. It lit a fire inside Leon, This was just too fun. They both reset and finally agree to send out their next pokémon. He sent out his Mr. Rime and The challenger sent out his Cinderace. A bad matchup for him considering Mr. Rime is a Psychic - Ice type.
The look on Cinderace's face was that of pure malice, as if Leon had wronged her in the worst ways possible. As both pokémon agree to get in position, Cinderace looks back and gets a hand signal of a balled fist with the thumb knocking on his forehead. It was acknowledged with a cheeky grin. On their marks, Cinderace began to stack 'Agility' as Leon commanded for an 'Icy wind'. The ice move couldn't catch up to Cinderace as she was darting around the entire arena to evade. Mr. Rime threw a few 'Ice Shards' to get any chip damage in but barely got so much as a scratch on her before she darted in for consecutive 'double kicks' that practically juggled Mr. Rime, sending him flying to the other side of the arena. With the most vicious scowl Leon has ever seen, Cinderace began to stack 'Swords Dance' as her opponent recovered! Leon was helpless to do anything about this as most of Mr. Rimes' attacks kept missing. However, he has an answer to this! "Use Hypnosis and follow up with a Shadow ball!" Leon's command had the watchers cheering as if their life depended on it. No way was Galar's strongest trainer being demolished, his comeback victory was on the mind of all spectators. He thought to look at his opponent and was surprised to see that she was completely unphased by what was happening.
Just before the Hypnosis went into effect, Cinderace had launched herself at Mr. Rime with an 'Iron Head'! After sending Mr. Rime flying, she laid there snoring. Leon prompted his pokemon to continue the assault and launched numerous 'Shadow balls' Cinderace laid there still snoring as if completely unphased. Shocking Leon for the Unth-teenth time in this match. In fact, she looked as if she was getting better and better. Then it dawned on him. She was using 'rest'. By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late. Cinderace was already back up and this time, was ready to end it. She charged straight for her enemy while evading numerous ice attacks. Using a spike as a platform to jump straight at Mr. Rime and hit him one last time with a hand-held 'Pyro ball'! Knocking Mr. Rime out with an explosive launch!
Cinderace began to show-boat to raise the volume of the stadiums already deafening cheers and roars. Leon couldn't let this pokémon have all the fun so he poses dramatically before stating "I'm not finished having a champion time here! And I won't let anyone finish it for me! Inteleon! It's your time to shine!" The moment he shouted his final pokémon's name, Cinderace canceled a backflip and turned to her trainer, and made numerous gestures before the young man waved Leon down.
"I think Ashes here wants to chat with her old friend real~ quick. Is that cool with you?" This stole all the built energy and anticipation inside him. Acquiescing to the request with a short reply. After all, It has been a few months since these two starters last saw each other.
Both pokémon lock eyes for a moment and begin to walk toward each other, silently glaring each other down. Cinderace strutted towards Inteleon as if she were on a fashion runway with her head held high. Inteleon adopted a menacing pace with a hand on his hip with a look in his eye that screamed of killing intent. Just before they could collide, they stopped just a few feet from each other and silently stared each other down, daring the other to so much as move a finger. Leon felt just a bit worried at this moment, slightly confused because it looked like they hated each other
To everyone but Cinderace's trainer, the mood went from night to day as they hugged ecstatically. It looked like two girls gossiping over celebrity news! There was another moment of silence as Cinderace bragged about something with pride that made the secret agent pokémon cry tears of joy. A few words later, they head back to their side of the field and ready themselves for commands.
Curiosity got the better of Leon and he had to ask "Any idea what that last part was about?"
"Oh, She was bragging about having a kid recently. She's the all-too-proud mother of a few eggs. And You…" He points at Leon with a finger gun. "...Had knocked out her mate in this match." He finishes by firing the finger gun. A queue for his Cinderace to ready herself further.
"Oh that's wonderful news! Congratula- Err '' A quick and ominous glance from Cinderace gave him a second reminder that he was responsible for knocking out her mate. He got no response from the 'Mama Rabbit' as he tried to apologize. He chuckled and got his pokémon ready. "Inteleon, 'Rain Dance' Into 'Soak'!" Performing acrobatic leaps and spins, Inteleon has practically started a rainstorm localized entirely in the stadium. At this point, Leon isn't even surprised that the Cinderace isn't bothered in the slightest.
Cinderace used 'Trailblaze' to zip in and out for a quick hit on Inteleon! Cinderace would occasionally stop darting around to walk slowly and observe, It was as if it was some form of goading. The water pokémon shooting ridiculously fast beams of water in retaliation. It wasn't doing crazy damage like predicted due to evasions and she seems to just not be taking that much damage.… This had Leon's mind racing until he finally realized, It had to have been Cinderace's rare ability, "Libero" he spoke out in a shocked whisper. It was so outstandingly rare that he had nearly forgotten it existed entirely. It would change her type to that of a move she was ABOUT to use. It was clearly being exploited here for damage mitigation… "Use 'Blizzard'! QUICK!"
It wasn't anywhere near fast enough, as Cinderace had tossed a small 'will-o-wisp changing herself back to a fire-type to reduce some of the damage, and tossed out a 'Substitute' as she fell over snoring again. The blizzard moved towards the substitute and away from Cinderace! He couldn't help but laugh "Okay that's cheeky! Not only did you set up a wall and fully heal. You guarantee them because of your boosted speed… So cheeky."
Replying only with a confident smile, the young challenger ordered for the last time. "Ashes! Get up, you know what you need to do. Finish this." This sent an actual chill down Leon's spine as the rabbit stood straight up with a stretch… no pokémon has ever done that, a pokémon is supposed to be out cold for way longer than that. Looking over he saw that his Inteleon was still working on the substitute as it compelled all enemies to attack it no matter what. Leon wondered if he could snap Inteleon out of it like how his opponent did with 'Rest'. It was a wasted thought as Inteleon finally destroyed the weird doll. Looking worse for wear as the burn had done a considerable amount of damage over time.
Thinking to himself, he decided to copy the young man's tactic. "Shield up and use 'Rest', we're going to take this fight back!" His Inteleon used both 'Reflect' and 'Light Screen' which doubles defense and reduces special attack damage taken by a third! As Inteleon healed, Cinderace could be seen laughing almost hysterically. She began to create a giant ball of flame. Leon wasn't too worried considering 'Light Screen would lessen the blow enough that he'd still be better off than before healing. The ball of flame was sent careening towards the sleeping 'mon but suddenly and sharply shot into the sky and hovered there for some time. A moment later heat permeated the stadium dissolving the rain before it touched the ground. 'Sunny Day' was finally being used and left Leon wondering 'why wasn't it used earlier?'
Cinderace stood there waiting for Inteleon to wake up, perhaps out of some sort of honor or respect. A hesitation Leon knew he needed to but couldn't punish. As soon as his pokemon got up he shouted "Tearful Look!" Upon hearing that command, Inteleon burst into tears! Wailing and saying things to Cinderace to make her feel bad. Although her atk and sp atk are lowered just a bit, she was thrown slightly off guard leaving a tiny opening. Within a split second, Inteleon whipped her finger around and shot a beam of high-pressure water at Cinderace's knee.
The force of the beam sent her left leg behind her, the kinetics makes Cinderace land on her face. The young man began to lightly chuckle. "Oh Ashes, wait until Po sees this on video!" Cinderace blushed red as a tomato and whipped her head back at Inteleon screaming something with a clearly humiliated tone, shocking Inteleon. She takes things a step forward as she shouts something again, but this time, she slams her knees into the ground after a short sprint and with another shout, Inteleon's 'Reflect' and 'Light Screen' were now benefiting Cinderace. It was 'Court change'! "Yeah that's about it, end it quick! And no more toying with them. It's too disrespectful." A nod was all the young man got. Cinderace stood up and assumed a kind of "Crouch Start" position and her form flickered. She was still there, simply flickering. Inteleon took the initiative and repeatedly fired off multiple 'Swift's!
The most peculiar thing happened at that moment. The stars weren't moving toward their target! All sound slowly began to drowned out as a wall of stars began to fill the arena. The roaring of all spectators had disappeared as the projectiles started moving indiscriminately in all directions! Within moments, everyone's entire field of vision was enveloped by a swirling storm of rainbow-colored wind!
It finally dawned on Leon, who was too awestruck to make any order, not that he would even be heard, that the stars had in fact been moving towards their target the entire time! They were increasing in speed and that was the worst part! Leon couldn't comprehend how fast Cinderace actually was! In the blink of an eye, she stood in front of Inteleon. Genuine seconds had passed but the stars didn't move toward her. They kept spinning as she stared down and paralyzed his pokémon. He noticed these after images of Cinderace revealed themselves all around the swirling mass of stars! One by one they disappeared as he saw the path they followed. Slowly they began to converge into a large beam, losing their star form as the monumental collection of rainbows combined into what looks like a prismatic laser of doom.
Leon pleaded for Inteleon to move, dodge, or even use a move. Inteleon stood there in fear. She couldn't even hear her trainer after all those sonic booms had rendered her momentarily deaf. In front of Inteleon was the same little Scorbunny she hatched with. In her tiny silhouette, she saw her true form. A monster. The Cinderace gazed at her with a contorting face between smug satisfaction and pure unadulterated rage rooting Inteleon in place, fear taking hold of her very being. Strangely enough, she felt a little bit of pride in knowing that she had grown so strong. Inteleon cracked a smile as the afterimages finally caught up with her best friend. The last thing she saw was the torrent of 'Swift' envelope Cinderace before one final sonic boom sent her flying into the stadium wall. Having sunken into it, it had taken its shape and she hung there. She felt no pain. She had been knocked unconscious well before she took that last hit.
Giant clouds of dust floated around the entire stadium, and most if not all attendees had to cover their eyes and mouths until it all settled down. The announcer couldn't make a call yet since he couldn't see the challenger's Cinderace yet. After a minute or so, the crowd began to cheer louder than they'd ever done before. Standing in the center of the field was Cinderace. Panting heavily looking like she was about to collapse any moment. The challenger had won with just two pokémon!
Leon had been knocked onto his butt completely shocked by what he had seen. He had lost in a way he was certain that no one would have predicted. He had almost been completely "rolled" as his brother would say. He could have done so much better. But thinking back on it, he had finally made the most important realization. The chall- The new Galar champion had barely made any commands. Leon couldn't get a single read on him. Couldn't make any counterplays from listening to his opponent's commands. He himself had been countered at almost every turn and it was all just his opponent's pokémon making its own plans.
Standing back up, Leon put his cap in front of his face. A bit crestfallen, but a sudden rush of excitement crashed into him. "THAT! WAS! SO! AWESOME! How did you get so strong? Wait, it's only been two years since you started! So fast! What did you-" Leon lost himself to the excitement. The new champion simply stood across the field with a big toothy smile.
A camera crew ran out onto the pitch as confetti and cheers and cries of support raged around the stadium. They went to Leon first as the challenger waved them off for a moment to get his pokémon in shape. "Leon! What do you have to say about your loss today? What could you have done better and do you have any parting words?" Standing there for a moment to observe the victor. His Urshifu was brought back out. He sat cross-legged in front of his trainer as Cinderace draped herself around his neck. It seems he is getting lessons on top of scolding. "Pardon me, Ex-champion Leon! We need your statements, sir."
"Ah, yes. Right. My loss…" Leon swept some hair back as he put his hat back on. "That was single-handedly one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The loss stings but I couldn't be happier to lose to such a strong trainer! Looking back I think I was swept up by how crazy everything looked and I would lose sight of the fight for only a few moments. I mean… I'm certain no one has ever seen anything like that last fight there! Moments I could have done anything like analyzing just what kind of beast I had to contend with!" Pausing before answering the final question, he looked once more at the new champion. He was pacing back and forth nervously now. A complete 180 from the calm and collected man who had just beat the crap out of his team. Turning back to the reporters, "That man is a beast. I barely know him, but my brother is close to him. From the things he tells me, and what we saw here today… Long may he reign, for he may reign for a long, long time." As the reporters dash over to the challenger, Leon turned away and slowly walked to the tunnel leading to his locker room. Satisfied with the results of today.
Once the reporters got close enough, it was question after question.
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"Where are your other four pokemon?"
"How does it feel to be the new Monarch!?"
"How did you make them so strong!?"
"How did your Cinderace survive that last hit?"
"Who do you dedicate this victory to?"
"What made you want to take on the WCS and become the new monarch!?"
He straightened himself before turning to the cameras. He needs to remain calm if he wants things to go as planned. Po is bridal carrying Ashes, who seemingly seems fine again, as she ate some popcorn she got from out of nowhere, occasionally putting some into Po's mouth. In a subtle deadpan voice. He said "Hi! Yes, hello. I'm certain you didn't forget my name but hello again! It's me. Renart Golvand. A pleasure to be here." Waving with both hands. He spoke normally when we began to answer the questions. A soft smile that paired well with smile you can see in his eyes. "First off, I've had a great day today. Thank you for asking! My other four are at home." Ignoring the shocked faces and exploding crowd he continued. "It uh… I dunno how it feels to be Monarch. Only been a few minutes. Not looking forward to the paperwork, but I'm a hundred and twelve percent ready to take on my duties as one." Glancing over one of the reporters, Ashes was spinning on Po's hand making faces at Renart. "I am not going to tell anyone my trade secret, sorry. I believe we must all find our own way to train and grow our Pokémon. I will say, however, that I don't treat them like they are MINE per se." Renart states putting both hands over his chest. "They are a part of my family and I treat them as such. Also, Cinderace simply shot a 'Shadow Ball' at the ground making her a mono-ghost type for a short bit."
With another glance, his two Pokémon were missing. The Butterfrees in his stomach are acting up. "I uh…" He couldn't even start his next statement before he was interrupted
"Mr. Renart, Sir! What were the other four Pokémon that were supposed to fight here today?"
"Ah, great question. Before we get into that, just know that my roster is changing often. If you check, every other region was defeated using different teams with my two starters being the only consistent members. First, we have Aranea, THE Gardevior. She prefers the emphasis. Second is Guy, the Gyrados. Then there's Tombstone, the Spiritomb. And lastly, Blaithe, the Haxorus. It was actually a dare from Leon's brother, Hop, to only use two. Ashes and Po immediately volunteered so I didn't really choose who I'd bring. It's crazy how Ashes and Po had a kid just the other day and still came to kick serious- butt" Hop, hidden in the crowd, couldn't help but burst into gut busting laughter after being named dropped like that. Looking around while there was more chatter from the reporters, some swarming hop for questions, he finally saw Ashes. She was laughing pointing at Leon running back out onto the field because he forgot to recall Inteleon. The poor girl was still out cold.
Before he could answer anything else, he heard a thump behind him and turned to see Po standing close. Renart gave him a quick hug. As he was about to turn back, Po grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him. The big guy stepped aside revealing his girlfriend of three years. Completely decked out in homemade merch to show support for her boyfriend. The world went silent as she kissed him on the cheek. All he could hear was his own heartbeat.
"-abe! Darling!? Hello?" She was waving her hands in front of him. He said nothing and simply hugged her. More cheers from the crowd can be heard. "Bicho Raro…" She whispers, returning the hug. A quick glance around showed that nobody tried to crowd them. Perfect.
After grabbing her hand, he turns to the reporter and answers another question. "I obviously dedicate this victory to my angel of a girlfriend!" Garnering a grand singular cheer from the crowd. It seems that everyone has settled down and has focused on the interview on the field. It was being projected onto the big jumbotron directly above the field. A secondary camera linked to the large TV's on each end of the field was focused on Ashes as she causes lighthearted trouble like stealing cotton candy and giving it to a little kid before stealing his hat to make a face.
Clenching her hand slightly with a reciprocated squeeze from her, Renart had to tune out everything just for this moment "...As for why I even did this…" He quickly turned to his girlfriend and gazed into her lime-green eyes. "I did it all just for this." grabbing both of her hands, he slowly and deliberately got on one knee. He let go of one hand reaching into his pocket to pull out a smooth box, opening it revealing a beautiful ring, humble, but handmade with custom inscriptions just for her. "Miriam Mimosa…" He softly spoke as he got on one knee. The entire stadium slowly descended into silence aside from the occasional murmur. Ashes disappeared from the tv screen and was already nearby holding Po's hand. His starters were already mated to each other, but he saw them as irreplaceable parts of his family. Their silent presence helped steel himself for the biggest moment of his life. Miriam no doubt was shocked with wide teary eyes. "...I…" He took a quick solidifying breath and pushed forward. "I cannot imagine my life without you. You make everything I do worth it when I come home and see that smile. Will… will you marry me?"
_______________________________________________________________________________
(24 years later)
Ethel Golvand Mimosa, Son of Renart Golvand and Miriam Mimosa. Aged 19
Ethel woke up to the sound of his door being barged through. His best friend, Puño the Kubfu who was laying on top of Ethel's forehead, was launched across the room as his trainer shot up from his bed.
"-Un! Eck op! R mTher und ah owm -n pal-!" The figure energetically proclaimed.
All Ethel could say in his 95% asleep state was a jumbled mess of: "What", "huh", "wudda?", and various groans
After being so rudely woken up, Ethel threw up a hand in an attempt to silence the unintelligible voice for just a moment. It did nothing as he was further bombarded with more gibberish. Emerging from the half-open closet, Puño rubbed his head as he trudged towards the voice. With vision somewhat blurry, Ethel realized it was his father practically vibrating in place trying to control himself. He looked as if he was fully dressed for the day. Just before he spoke more, Puño kicked him in the shin.
"AH- OUCH WHAT- WHY!" His father yelped, hopping around on one leg and clutching it with a death grip.
"Dad… it's-" The alarm clock said it was 2:47 Am. "- way too early for this. Chill out for like, a moment… Please?" Wiping the rheum from his eyes, prepared himself for whatever nonsense he was about to hear. Tomfoolery if he knew his dad right.
After sitting down in his son's bean bag chair, he lifts Puño up onto his lap much to the little bear's begrudging acceptance. He spoke "Momma finally got us a house in Paldea. A beautiful house near the beach with plenty of room outside for a garden and a woodshop for myself. Enough room for You!" He points at Ethel with an equally enthusiastic smile "For Me!" Jamming his thumb into his chest then cocked a knife-hand in what Ethel could assume was the direction of Paldea. "For your little sister and Mom! And enough space for the pokémon to stretch their legs too!"
It took a moment for it to set in, but once it did, Ethel and Puño both cheered. Ethel's father mimicked Puño's 'Huzzah' pose as he followed the energy. Ethel tossed off the covers and took Puño back from his father and hugged him. "That's awesome!" Neither he nor his dad knew what else to say. They've been waiting for too long to see his mom and sister again. His parents still being absolutely inseparable despite being across the globe only made this so much sweeter for his dad. They had left for Paldea almost 2 years ago so that his mom could be the school nurse there and so his sister could attend. The reason why they were still in Galar is that getting property there is a hassle with how expensive the city is, it being a popular vacation region doesn't help, and trying to find something that would actually work for all four of them. At least both his mom and sister were given their own rooms in the academy.
"Ah, another thing. We're moving in about a month. So you have plenty of time to settle things here and say your goodbyes. Same for me." His father slumped deeper into the bean bag without a drawn-out sigh. "I gotta fly all over Galar to do that crap. No one wants to answer their damn phone."
"Dad, it's almost 3 in the morning. No one's awake, so of course no one will answer." Ethel had gestured to Puño and had him throw a pillow at his dad. It landed right on top of his face. "Try again later like a normal person, maybe?" as Ethel spoke, Puño clung to Ethel's neck to pass back out.
Barely intelligible, his father replied seemingly ignoring the obstruction. "Well, when you become madly in love with someone, marry them, then be separated from them for a year or so…"
Waving his father off haphazardly Ethel cut him off as he took his pillow off his dad's face. "Yeah I get it, dad, but the point is that you don't need to travel across the region just for some goodbyes." His dad sat up straight and rubbed his chin. "Why don't you just call up everyone that's not immediate family and we visit those that are?"
"You're right, we can just visit the family." As soon as he said that. Ethel gestured for his father to hug him, and as they did, Puño became trapped between the two, startling the little bear awake.
"Y'know, I'm starting to think that I've inherited mom's level-headedness."
"Sure sure, You got her eyes too, but you've got my face and hair."
"Geez, way to say I look average haha! Love ya, Dad. Now get out of my room so Puño and I can wake up later like normal people. I've gotta go and talk with Auntie Bea about leaving the gym."