Beta Reader: Gerald_Of_Revea

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-Cloud-

1024 participants.

There were more who wanted to participate but couldn't make the cut.

Each trainer had to register for the tournament manually. Thousands upon thousands of applications were sent my way, but it wasn't too hard to narrow down the top one thousand.

Of course, certain people had certain privileges. Gym Leaders, Champions, Frontier Brains, public figures that are known to be a cut above the rest were obvious shoe-ins. Then there were the Ace trainers & Veterans. These people had multiple sets of badges from different regions, so at the very least, had high-level Pokémon.

It went down from there, bTrut there were some outliers.

From an outside perspective, Nemona was the weakest trainer. All most people will see is someone that got 8 badges and was lucky enough to get through. Her first opponent is definitely going to think it will be an easy win.

I didn't look at every application. I didn't have the patience to meticulously check each of the thousand trainers. What I did care about was one specific trainer coming along. And Red did just that.

However, there was one thing I forgot about.

"Let me go! Let me go, I'm warning you!"

I forgot to tell the one guy I'm doing this all for.

"Calm down you fuckwit!" I hissed. "I have a plan, but we need to wait!"

It's very hard to work around save states. The best idea I had to ensure our battle would go as well as it could, was to make it as inconvenient as possible if Red fucks up.

Your teams are locked in upon registration, meaning you can't change whatever Pokémon you are using throughout the tournament. This is so I know exactly what Pokémon Red is using.

I will learn exactly what Pokémon Red will have over the course of the tournament, as will he if he watches my battles.

When we finally face off, he realizes that there is no way his team can beat mine, sure he could reset.

But that would mean going through another week, of waiting until all the trainers are finally done with their battles.

That is, of course, if he has multiple save states, and save states that span back that far. That's why I thought up of prizes that could be won during the tournament. Rare items, TMs, and even strong or shiny Pokémon that I caught recently. Red, wanting something to do in his spare time, will likely play to win a lot of these prizes. If he wants to change teams, he's going to lose the prizes he would win, and then he's going to have to ask himself one question.

Is it truly worth it?

It's one of the scummiest and demoralizing strategies that I ever thought of. But if Red really can't use save states, he will never have to worry about it.

"We can't go in there guns blazing. We need to know what we are going up against," I pressed. "If we act now we lose."

"If we do nothing, he could leave!" Meowth hissed back. "He could just be passing through, and if we don't do something we could lose him!"

"He's signed up for this, you fuckwit," I sighed. "We can deal with Red, but we need to be smart about it and not fuck it all up."

"I just-" Meowth stopped scrambling in my arms, going limp.

"I don't want what he did to James to happen to you."

And the little bastard had to hit me in the feels.

I never told Meowth about my battle with Red. I didn't want to. While I didn't lose, I didn't beat him either. A large part of why I wanted to do this in the first place was because of Meowth. Get him his justice and get some peace.

Another large part of me wanted to do this because I despise losing. That and I want the whole world to believe one singular truth.
I am the strongest trainer.

"Meowth, I need you to believe in me. I can deal with Red. I can beat him, but I can only do that if you have faith in me. If we act now, it's not going to happen."

I held out my hand to him.

"Can you trust me?"

He hesitated for a brief moment, his lips twitching before he put his hand in mine and squeezed.

"Do your worst."

-Cloud-

A simple rule can change so much about how to make a team.

You could have a mind-bending amazing strategy that can take out any team if you play your cards right. There isn't a lot of regulation for Pokémon battles because a lot of people don't realize how broken a Pokémon battle can truly be.

There are only two clauses people have to worry about. Both of which 95% of the competition don't have to worry about. Evasion Clause & OHKO Clause.

Evasion Clause prevents moves like Double Team or Minimize from being used. I considered adding accuracy-reducing moves to that list as well but realized that would be going too far. I also banned Bright Powder & King's Rock, though I doubt many people even use them in the first place. I didn't ban the use of OHKO moves, only limiting them to only one successful play per match.

I'm not worried about Red bringing in a competitive team to face me. Like I said before, Red doesn't have skill. What he has, is a way to fix his mistakes and a lot of time on his hands. The odds are still in his favor.

The biggest rule change from normal battles is the timer. Each trainer needs to make a move every 30 seconds. This can be ordering your Pokémon to make a move or switching out. Two strikes and you are out, and the other trainer wins. There are exceptions, such as if a Pokémon is asleep or stunned by Paralysis, but this is all to avoid long bouts of stall.

"And Trevor is out for the count! A stunning 3-0 victory by Paldea's own Champion Geeta!"

The stream was just showing the battles, and the matches came and went. I didn't bother watching the majority of them. Most were just big fish living in a small pond.

Trevor, some kid from Kalos, was very distraught when he learned that relying on gimmicks wasn't going to lead to an instant win in the three-on-three battles. Checking his record made it clear why.

Mega-Evolution. In nearly every battle he is in, he starts with his Charizard, and Mega Evolves, going for a clean sweep. Basically, it's the strategy of anyone that started with a Gen 6 game.

My own match was coming soon. And it was against someone that I was actually excited to battle against.

Match 23: Cloud vs Blue

He became a Gym Leader recently enough. Taking over the Viridian Gym and making it his own.

He's the only Generalist Gym Leader, by that's not why I want to battle him.

He's a champion. Well, ex-champion, and now I'm curious.

Between Blue & Geeta, which one will be harder to beat?

-Blue-

He loved his life.

I mean, how couldn't he? Everything seemed to always go right for him. From getting the best starter, to becoming champion, and now he was able to skip all the drama of fighting through weak-ass trainers and skip to the main prize.

He knows a lot of people that hate Cloud. They all say the same stuff: "He's a crazy pseudo-scientist", "He's a heartless person that doesn't deserve his own Pokémon", and "They should ban him before more children start believing his nonsense."

He didn't care about all that. He pissed off everyone he knew, even his grandaddy.

For that reason alone, he liked him already.

But one thing is for certain about the guy is that he's insane. At the very least, he isn't right in the head.

I mean, he bet his Pokémon, that's one thing, the legendaries? Okay, the guy can pull together a team to take one down at a time. But himself?

The winner of the tournament gets all of Cloud's belongings, legendary Pokémon, with the sole exception being his own Pokémon.

Cloud's being hailed as one of the strongest trainers in the world right now. Sure, he beat Geeta, but Cloud already made that case. Geeta is Geeta. The weakest champion. Any champion-level trainer could beat Geeta.

But once he won? Taking Cloud out in the first round? Nothing would be more satisfying.

"Right, right, let's get this over with," he yawned. "Why don't you just end the whole tourney after this match? Not like you'll be participating anyway."

"Quiet Blue, you will never be stronger than Red."

If Cloud wasn't expecting him to get mad at that, it didn't work.

Red was always playing catch-up to him. He let Red become champion because he found it funny. Red had the same plan as him: travel around, battle & catch Pokémon. He couldn't do that while he was champion. That's why he had an exit strategy planned out before he even fought the Elite Four.

He didn't think Red would leave as soon as their battle was over, but then he realized the bastard thought this true.

Of course, he knew immediately where he'd go, which is why he bet Red to the top of Mt. Silver to finally have a proper Pokémon battle.

So saying he'll never be stronger than Red?

All it did was make him laugh.

"Maybe I should make this a three-on-one then?" He smirked at Cloud. "Go on, send out three of your Pokémon. I'll only use one of my Pokémon. I think that's pretty fair, don'tcha think?"

"Nah," Cloud waved him off. "Isn't worth revealing three of my Pokémon so early."

"I really shouldn't play with my food, but it looks like I have no other choice," he grinned, sending out his first Pokémon.

His Gyarados roared, gaining the attention of all the spectators and making other battlers briefly pause.

He didn't blame them, his Gyarados is the biggest Pokémon he has ever seen. And now that he's in Galar?

He wanted to see the unseen.

A Mega-Dynamaxed Gyarados.

Turning back to the battlefield, he paused as he saw Cloud's Pokémon, trying to recall its name.

'Dracofish? Dracovish!' he thought with a snap. It isn't a Pokémon he knew a lot about, but guessing from its name, it was probably a Water-Dragon type. Aside from that, he was wearing a choice scarf, which meant Cloud was up to his old tricks.

Seriously, you can't use the same trick twice. It isn't a trick once you know how it works. All he had to do was not start with Dragon Dance, and he'd win.

"Let the battle begin!"

Lifting his arm in the air, he activated his keystone, and the effect was immediate.

Gyarados was engulfed in a white light, and his form started to change. He became bulkier, stronger, and a terrifying figure to anyone that laid eyes on him.

However, unsurprisingly, it didn't stop Cloud from making his move.

"Fishious Rend!"

Crap, he hasn't heard of that one, "Crunch!"

Dracovish was fast. Scarily so. In a moment, he was in front of Gyarados, and he was dragging him down to the ground.

'The fuck?' He thought, watching Gyarados roar at the pain, but as soon as the attack was over, Gyarados was on him.

Dracovish was fast & powerful. That usually meant the Pokémon was a glass cannon. But he didn't think he was bulky enough to not faint after getting crunched by Gyarados.

He was wrong.

Gyarados gave as good as he got, Crunch making Dracovish cry out as he felt the full brunt of the attack.

He hadn't heard of Fishious Rend before. Was it a move that was only strong on the first turn? It had to be something along those lines, he couldn't return his Gyarados; he's already Mega-Evolved him, so how-.

'A crit!' He realized. It was only so strong because it was a critical hit! It had to be!

"One more time, Gyarados! Crunch!"

"Again, Fishious Rend!"

He was wrong.

Watching Dracovish drag Gyarados to the ground again, he scowled, stilling himself as he felt the backlash of Mega Evolution.

Returning Gyarados back to his pokéball, he couldn't stop himself from scowling for a moment as the crowd started to cheer. It was a small thing, but it got on his nerves nonetheless. A moment later, it was out of his system, and for a moment, he felt an odd form of kinship with Cloud.

'Is…is this how it feels like when other people battle me?'

-Cloud-

What makes a Pokémon strong? Is it their move set? Their ability? Their stats? Their typing?

The answer is all of the above. For most Pokémon anyway. Of course there are outliers, but Dracovish isn't one of them.

Dracovish is so strong because everything that makes a strong Pokémon works in Dracovish's favor.

What makes Dracovish a nightmare to deal with, is when it's on the offense. Focusing purely on attacking and overwhelming their opponent.

Fishious Rend is a broken move. It's much better than a lot of signature moves that moves legendaries have. Base 85 power, but is twice as strong if Dracovish goes first.

Normally, you would never see the Fishious Rend at full power. Dracovish has a base speed of 75 in the first place, you'd be lucky to come across Pokémon slower than that.

That's where the choice scarf comes in, negating that issue.

But it doesn't end there.

Dracovish has an ability, Strong Jaw, which does an extra 50% damage for bite-based moves.

And guess which move that applies to?

When all of this is added up together, Strong Jaw, Choice Scarf, Fishious Rend. That's a base damage of 255.

All this leads to a Pokémon that can be incredibly powerful when put under the right set of circumstances. One that is basically guaranteed with the Choice Scarf in play.

Still, that does mean Dracovish is locked-in with only one move, and can still be taken out a couple of different ways. There are abilities like Water Absorb & Dry Skin, and a fast Pokémon like Dragapult would be able to take him out before he could attack. Heck, if it got burned or paralyzed, he'd be a lot easier to take out.

But Dracovish isn't the only Pokémon I can use for the tournament. He is only one of six. And I'd rather not show my hand on what other Pokémon I brought too early.

"I gave you that one," Blue confessed, and I had to stop myself from smiling. "There isn't any fun in beating you with only one Pokémon anyway."

"Nah," I waved him off. "It is totally fun to beat you with only one Pokémon."

"Then let's see how long you last this round then! Go, Blastoise!"

'Huh?'

"Round Two, Begin!"

-Blue-

For a while, he thought he had his back to the wall. He needed something fast. Faster than Dracovish and able to take him out before it could attack.

And for a while, he kept coming up short.

He had Pokémon that were faster than Dracovish, he had Pokémon that could probably take him out in the next hit. What he didn't have was both.

So that brought him to the next line of thinking.

He needed to use a Pokémon that was able to take Dracovish's attack. And his starter did just that.

That being said, he wasn't certain that firing off an ice beam would take it out. Sure, he could be lucky, and perhaps Dracovish would be frozen. But he didn't bank on it.

So he decided to do the next best thing.

"Fishious Rend!"

"Shell Smash!"

Dracovish attacked first, and he couldn't stop himself from wincing as Blastoise took the attack. It would have been even more damaging if Shell Smash came first.

The attack hurt. Blastoise tried not to show it, but it's hard to fake force. Blastoise was pushed back by the attack, sliding along the ground until he was only a few feet away. It just meant he had plenty of space to use Shell Smash without interruption.

And it would make all the difference.

Shell Smash made him twice as strong. Twice as fast, there's no way Dracovish would ever be able to get an attack in before-

"Dracovish, return!"

Oh, this little shi-.

-Cloud-

"Go, Eggman!"

"Shell Smash, again!"

He was good.

"Toxic!"

"Shell Smash, one final time!"

But he was cornered.

"Surf!"

"Protect!"

And he hasn't learned to adapt to Toxic Stall.

It is one of the most painful, annoying and infuriating tactics ever created. It was-Oh fuck, he is dancing.

"Hydro Vortex!"

The fucker has a fucking Z move?!

"Seismic Toss!" I snapped, cursing to myself as soon as I said it.

The Z-Move came through. It was perfectly baited as well. If I didn't use Protect and instead just spammed Soft-boiled, I wouldn't be in this mess. Sure, it wouldn't have stopped the attack entirely, but reducing the overall damage to just a quarter of it would have made it basically useless.

Nonetheless, Eggman was caught in the attack. Being battered around the Whirlpool before being unceremoniously tossed out, crashing and rolling before finally ending up back on her feet.

With a grin on her face, Eggman charged towards Blastoise.

And moments later, the battle was over.

"Blastoise is unable to battle, the winner is Chansey!"

And the crowd roared.

-Blue-

He knew it looked bad.

He was down to his last Pokémon and hadn't even taken out any of Cloud's Pokémon yet.

But here's the thing.

What do people love more than beatdowns?

A comeback.

A comeback which he was planning from the very start.

"Let's make this quick. Go, Arcanine!"

The match wasn't over yet. Sure, he hasn't seen Cloud's last Pokémon yet, but one of them was on the brink, and the other had to play with his Gyarados.

This match isn't over any time soon.

Not when he had one final trick up his sleeve.

"The next round begins–fight!"

But he couldn't do it. Not yet.

"Extreme Speed!"

"Protect!"

Cloud's Chansey was dead to rights. Arcanine just had to finish the job.

"Flare Blitz!"

"Once more, Protect!"

The Chansey was bulky, no doubt about that. It took a full-powered Z move and still managed to brush it off.

But every Pokémon had its limit. And now the little shit didn't have time to heal.

Flames ignited around Arcanine, and he started to run. The fire wasn't just heat—it was momentum, rage, the embodiment of wild, unrelenting power. Every stride it took left scorch marks in the dirt. The Fire started to hurt Arcanine himself. The intensity of the flames became so strong, that the fire momentarily went blue.

Then it launched forward, a blazing comet with fangs.

Protect flickered around Chansey, but it shattered on impact.

And Chansey was met with a face full of fire.

He had to shield his eyes from the attack. The brightness of it lit up the whole damn field, a flash of orange and white-hot heat.

And then it was over, with the referee singing music to his ears.

"Chansey is unable to battle! The round goes to Blue!"

The round was over, but the battle wasn't.

There was a time he would've thrived on the noise—the cheers, the chants, the electric roar of the crowd. He used to soak it all in, let it fuel him, and send it right back tenfold. Feed the beast, and he'd light up the stage.

But after you go through your one-thousandth battle and realize the gap in just how strong you are compared to everyone else, you come to an epiphany.

Those people? They don't matter. Not when it comes to battling, anyway. So why should he play it up to people so below him?

They weren't like him.

They couldn't do what he could do.

Cloud sent out his Dracovish, and for a brief moment, he felt everything start to click into place.

Arcanine looked back at him, subtly asking him if he was going to go through with it. Of course he was, he was the strongest trainer.

He was built different.

"Trainers, ready–fight!"

For the second time in the battle, his keystone started to glow.

-Cloud-

Why the fuck Arcanine glowing?

"Arcanine! Mega Evolve!"

Oh fuck, that's why.

"Finish it! Fishious Rend!"

When Blue Mega-Evolved Gyarados, it was an almost instant thing. Mega Evolution relied on the bonds between your Pokémon and your own will to keep it up. Blue was already tired from doing it once in the battle, and it showed.

All I saw was an opportunity.

"Endure!"

This first match wasn't going how I wanted it to. I expected some pushback. A trick up his sleeve, like using a Mega Blastoise.

He was actually smart in how he battled. He stopped me from making this a one-man sweep and has continued to fuck with me the entire way. Again, it's not how I wanted it to go.

'It truly is a shame,' I sighed, feeling something akin to regret.

Why did he have to be my first challenger? Couldn't fate have allowed me to battle him in a true six-on-six?

The light surrounding Arcanine disappeared.

And the world saw Mega Arcanine.

-Blue-

This is it.

An all-or-nothing gamble. It was the only way he could win this battle.

He underestimated Cloud, and that was on him. But Cloud underestimated him, and that was on Cloud.

Two moves. That's all he needs to bring down Cloud. And the game will be his.

"Fishious Rend!"

"Reversal!"

The two of them jumped at each other, but he already knew who was faster. He'd trained Arcanine for nearly a year at this point. He was fast extremely fast, Mega Evolution made him even-

He jolted, his head snapping back as a sharp pain overtook him. His vision went blurry, and his feet became unsteady as he was hit by a wave of nausea.

He steadied himself, ready to bark another order to Arcanine before he stopped himself.

For a brief moment, his vision cleared.

"...What?" he murmured, feeling himself let go as the final backlash of the battle took effect.

'...Arcanine? He was slower?'

"Arcanine is unable to battle! All three of Blue's Pokémon have been eliminated! Cloud is the victor!"

And then- his vision went white.

-Bonus Scene: Cynthia-

"And that's two," she muttered, eyes glinting, a small satisfied smile gracing her face.

Cloud has taken down two champions now. Cloud's battle against Blue was much more interesting than her own.

Her battle was a clean sweep. It was a shame Diantha didn't Mega Evolve. Or use her starter. Or use direct counters. Or-

She sighed, a huff of disappointment leaving her as she thought over her own battle once more. Diantha didn't want to be there, that much was clear. But the win didn't feel earned, no matter if she would have won anyway.

It was disappointing.

For a while, she worried that all her matches would end like that. She had watched a few of the matches so far, and they were… less than stellar.

Cloud & Blue's fight was the only one where she felt that feeling. That anticipation to battle both of them.

Cloud hasn't been pushed. Not yet. Even in his battle against Geeta, he didn't Mega Evolve or anything, he only used Terastalization. She wanted to push Cloud to battle at 100%. See where his limit lies.

In a few rounds, she'll be battling Steven. A few rounds after that, she will be against Leon. She was excited to battle both of them. They'll definitely give her the challenge she-

She couldn't stop the small feeling of guilt at her thoughts. She didn't like thinking that she was going to beat her next trainers with no issue. Them, and Steven as well. It was a mindset developed through repetition, with the end result never changing.

She didn't want to lose. She never did. She just wanted to be pushed to her limit.

Is that very hard to ask for?