In a vast, open stretch of grassy fields, two trainers stood facing one another, separated by dozens of meters of swaying green.
On the left stood a tomboyish woman with a Poke Ball clenched firmly in her hand. A fierce expression sharpened her striking emerald-green eye, while her messy black wolf cut framed her face and an ahoge stubbornly sticking straight up like a stick. She wore an oversized black jacket over a wildly popular anime T-shirt, paired with black cargo pants that matched her restless stance. She looked ready to explode into action at any moment.
On the right stood a gentleman.
His dark hair was neatly combed, thin rectangular glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. Calm, observant black eyes studied his opponent with quiet intensity. He wore a perfectly tailored tuxedo, its long coat tails flowing down toward the grass like ceremonial capes. His posture was dignified and refined, yet there was something unmistakably fragile about him, as though a strong wind might knock him over.
"Hah! Still able to walk, Patient Zero?!" the tomboy shouted, grinning sharply. "You should just go rest in a VVVIP hospital bed!"
Then she threw her arms wide and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"WHILE I TAKE THE WORLD CHAMPION TITLE!!!"
The gentleman merely smirked, slipping a Poké Ball from inside his suit.
"I may not have much time left in this world…" he said calmly, adjusting his glasses."But I still have enough time to take the World Champion title before I die."
The tomboy's grin widened.
"Well then…" She raised her Poké Ball. "Let's settle this the way trainers all over the world settle their beef."
"Heh. Agreed." The gentleman lifted his own.
Unable to wait any longer, the tomboy hurled her Poké Ball forward.
"Go! My main character of my story!"
A burst of red light erupted and from it emerged a tall, elegant humanoid Pokémon. Her gown-like white body flowed smoothly, a red spike protruding from her chest. Green hair framed her serene face, while piercing crimson eyes radiated power.
It was a Gardevoir.
Psychic energy surged outward, lifting stones from the earth as they hovered and trembled in the air.
"At your service… my lady," Gardevoir spoke gently with telepathy.
Across the field, the gentleman calmly tossed his Poké Ball downward.
Red light flashed again and a towering blue-gray powerhouse emerged. Four massive arms flexed instinctively, muscles refined and impossibly dense. The Pokémon slammed one foot into the ground, leaving a deep crater beneath it.
Machamp appeared on the field.
"Machaaaamp…!" it growled.
Suddenly, it drew back one fist and punched the air.
"CHAMP!!!"
A violent gust of wind exploded forward, tearing across the field toward the tomboy.
In an instant, a shimmering psychic barrier formed around her and Gardevoir, effortlessly dispersing the blast.
The tomboy smirked.
"Seems like someone's eager, to get beaten up." The tomboy teased.
The gentleman sighed. "Then I suppose we have no choice but to hurry..."
"Battle."
"START!"
Both trainers shouted at once as their Pokémon launched forward.
Gardevoir glided through the air with elegant precision, psychic energy trailing behind her like silk, while Machamp charged like a rampaging beast, the ground shaking with every step.
Moments later, they collided.
To decide who would become...
The Champion of the entire world.
---
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!
"HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!!"
A furious shout rang out from a white sedan as a red SUV cut sharply in front of it on a long, empty desert road.
"Ugh…" came a low groan from inside the SUV.
"I could flip that white sedan over that mountain if I wanted to…!" she muttered, psychic energy faintly crackling around her.
"Now, now. Calm down," a deep, coarse voice said beside her. "Maybe I should be the one driving, like usual?"
Machamp sat in the passenger seat, holding a map with two of his hands while the other two rested casually. He offered a gentle smile.
"NO!" Gardevoir snapped. "I just got my driver's license a few weeks ago! I can drive just as well as you! I'll prove it!"
"Okay then," Machamp said, nodding calmly as he returned his attention to the map and took a sip of mineral water.
"…By the way," he added, unfazed, "we're going the wrong way. We're heading toward Nimbase City. Striaton City... is the other direction to the right not straight."
There was a brief pause in the car.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
Gardevoir screamed in pure, unfiltered rage, realizing she now had to drive two hours back and another hour just to reach Striaton City.
In the back seat sat a boy wearing a red T-shirt and shorts. He had black hair, bright black eyes, and an ahoge sticking straight up like a stick. Despite the chaos in the front, his face was lit with boundless excitement.
After all, he had just arrived in Unova.
Coming from Hoenn, he had never left his home region before and every mile of this disastrous road trip only made the adventure feel more real.
And now, he began to monologue about his family.
[Hello! My name is Maru Fujinari!]
[I'm ten years old. My birthday is three months away, and someday I will become a Pokémon Trainer, just like my real mom and dad.]
[Mom told me they were very successful trainers! So I shall follow in their path!]
[And right now, sitting in front of me, are my new mom and dad. Voira and Champ!]
[Though… of course, they aren't my real parents.]
[From what Mom Voira told me, my real dad died early from a really rare disease. My real mom was already six months pregnant with me at the time.]
[And then… when she gave birth to me… she died too.]
[But it's okay!]
[Because my real mom trusted me to be raised by her and dad's Pokémon, Champ and Voira.]
[Champ is my super fun and super powerful Machamp dad! He's always cheerful and happy no matter what. He even learned English just so he could talk with me! That's really cool, right?]
[Dad works at a company called Champion Movers, where he moves really heavy stuff that normal people can't. But because Dad can speak English, he got promoted! Now he manages a whole branch in the Unova region.]
[So the reason we're moving to Unova is because of Dad!]
[Yay, Dad!]
[Next is Voira, my mom.]
[Dad once told me she used to be a very gentle and kind Gardevoir. But I disagree, because what I experience every day is Mom yelling at me when I play in the rain, come home dirty, don't clean my toys, or forget to do my homework, and so much more! She is so strict to me!]
[Still… Mom is very kind.]
[She always takes care of me when I'm sick, helps me study, and cooks my favorite food Farfetch'd every day! She also cleans the house using telekinesis. And my toys too!]
(…Sometimes.)
[Both of them also have something called a Pokémon Aidee (ID).]
I don't really understand what it is, but for some reason I should mention it.
(IG notes: Pokémon IDs are special identification cards granted to Pokémon who pass a special societal test. These IDs grant them human rights allowing them to have jobs, own property, hold driver's licenses, and making it illegal to capture them in Poké Balls, as that would be considered human trafficking. Pokémon with IDs are also free to choose their own names.)
[But now…] Maru continued in his thoughts.
[I'm going to a new house in a place called Striaton City!]
[I can't wait to see it! My neighbors, my new friends, and my new school!]
[I'm so excited!]
A few hours later...
Under the light of a brand-new morning, the red SUV finally pulled to a stop in front of a modest two-story house. Its walls and roof were painted green, and a wide, open yard stretched out in front of it.
The moment Maru saw it, he burst out of the car and ran straight into the grass.
"Maru! Don't run like that, you'll fall!" Voira shouted sharply from inside the car.
"Mahahaha! Look how big this yard is!" Champ laughed, scanning the space. "Maru could play soccer here with at least his five new friends! Mahaha!"
Voira glance at Champ and sighed. "Champ… are you sure Striaton City was the right choice? Your workplace is in Castelia City, right? Isn't that pretty far? We could've lived there than here."
"Nah! It's fine!" Champ brushed it off while stepping out of the car. "I'd rather have Maru be within walking distance of his school than have you drive him every day."
"CHAMP!" Voira snapped as she got out. "I drove just fine, didn't I?!"
Champ only laughed.
Voira's eye twitched in irritation.
"MOM! DAD! COME ON!" Maru shouted from the porch. "I WANT TO GO INSIDE OUR HOUSE!"
Champ and Voira looked at him, then at each other.
And smiled.
"It's bigger than our old house…" Voira murmured, gazing at it with awe. "Won't this be expensive?"
"Don't worry!" Champ said proudly. "With my promotion from mover to branch manager, our income is fifty times higher than before!"
Voira's eyes widened. "so that means..."
"So that means we don't even have to use the money in the vault…" Champ continued. "The one that'll belong to Maru someday."
"…Is that so," Voira said softly, smiling.
With the key turning in the lock, the three of them stepped inside together.
Their new beginning in Unova had begun.
---
Fun fact:
The two trainers who fought for the title of World Champion… both became World Champion. Their final match ended in a perfect draw both Ace Pokémon landed decisive blows on each other and fainted at the exact same moment.
Also, rather than a traditional six-on-six battle, the match was fought as a one-on-one duel, each trainer relying solely on their Ace. This was because their Ace Pokémon were leagues beyond the strength of their remaining five Pokémon, standing on an entirely different tier of power and skill than the rest of them.
The battle took place on a massive artificial island created specifically for the match. The land itself was raised by the father's Groudon, while the mother's Kyogre brought life to it with primordial water making many flora grow on the island.
The island was later named Ground Zero.
But after the battle, Ground Zero was no longer merely an island. It had become something… bizarre.
Gigantic chasms and fissures tore across its surface, one of the fissures was stretching from one end of the island to the other. Enormous craters each resembling the imprint of a colossal fist scarred the land in multiple locations.
Psychic energy also saturated the entire island, causing massive rocks to levitate permanently and mountains and terrain to bent and curved unnaturally. Finally, At the very center of the island hovered a colossal mountain, suspended in the sky, and its peak pointing downward toward the ground below.