Pokemon: Arceus' Champion

The wind rushed through my hair as we raced down the path to Saffron city, all six of us soaring on bikes while Lucario, Blaziken, Luxio, Sceptile, Houndoom, Mightyena, Absol, Tauros, and Persian ran alongside us, Charizard, Rowlet, Rookidee, Altaria, Tropius and Chatot flew above us, and Ralts happily rode in my basket.

We had been going like this ever since leaving Celadon city, which was a couple hours ago, with the girls' bikes doing most of the work for them due to the electric assist feature. I of course was going off of sheer leg power, making mine burn from the unfamiliar strain of peddling the bike.

We continued at this pace until shortly after noon, when we decided to take a small break for lunch.

"My butt hurts!" Joy wailed as we dismounted our bikes, with Chloe, May, Dawn and even Misty all appearing the same as they nursed their butts and thighs, which were probably developing rashes from the bicycle seats.

"Shall I rub some ointment on it for you?" I offered with a less than saintly smile, making Joy blush.

"Maybe tonight..." She muttered quietly, the blush creeping up to her ears.

I flashed an evil grin at the prospect while May eagerly pulled out our lunchboxes, and I helped Joy prepare lunch for our pokemon.

Silence ensued shortly as all of us, human and pokemon, began eating our meal.

"So how much further are we going to go?" Misty shattered the silence as she asked curiously between bites.

"Hmmm..." I hummed in contemplation while looking up, as a certain smell entered my nose.

"Maybe another hour or so, just long enough to find a place to set up camp before it starts to rain."

"""???"""

"Uh, what rain Ace?" Chloe asked while looking upwards, where there wasn't even a single cloud in the sky.

"It'll rain in a few hours, give or take, and should go well into the night. We should find a place to set up camp before then." I stated before bringing a piece of food to my mouth, pointedly ignoring the looks I was receiving from the girls.

Instead, I looked to the south-west where I could 'feel' the rain clouds approaching. We couldn't see them yet, but I knew they were coming.

The rest of our meal passed uneventfully before we packed everything up and remounted our bikes, which made the girls hiss slightly in discomfort. Not that I could blame them, I could also feel the start of a rash on my ass from the bike seat. Just something we'd all have to get used to I guess.

With some of our pokemon following us on either wing or foot, we took off eastwards towards Saffron once more, except this time we were looking for a place to stay for the night.

"There's a river up ahead, we can make camp there!" Misty called out a little more than an hour later, before she took off down a smaller pathway that was flanked by shrubs and trees.

We all followed her lead down the path about a half mile or so, before we came to an open area beside a small river, where a dozen or so tents were already erected by traveling trainers.

"Not a whole lot of room to work with..." Dawn said as we parked our bikes and began packing them away."

"An easy fix." I replied, stepping forward so that everyone else already here could see me.

"Is that Ace Ketchum?"

"What's HE doing here?!"

"Do you see those girls with him?"

I smirked as the numerous trainers around us muttered from my appearance, some with awe, others with envy, and even a few who radiated with a desire to battle against me and my pokemon.

"If anyone doesn't want to camp in the rain tonight, then we can set up some Capsules made by Silph co if some space can be made." I announced, which caught several people's attention.

"Yeah right! He just wants us to get out of the way!" One man sneered contemptuously.

"..."

I shook my head at him since there was no basis for his claims, and instead just tossed out a Capsule at the only space left in the campsite.

"""!!!"""

Surprise filled the campsite as a miniature Pokemon Center appeared there instead, though it was much too small to house everyone present. Judging solely by it's outer appearance that was.

"Contrary to how it looks, this Pokemon Center is fully functional and capable of housing everyone else here. Not only will you all be able to sleep with a roof over your heads tonight, but you can have a proper meal prepared by Joy while she looks after your pokemon." I announced to them, while Joy readily stepped forward to show herself to them all.

Even if she was acting as my personal nurse, she was still a Joy while also having her own officially recognized Pokemon Center. It meant that she was bound to help all people and pokemon who needed her assistance.

"Sleeping in an actual bed tonight sounds pretty good!" One of the trainers stated excitedly, before he and the others stepped forward to examine the Pokemon Center excitedly after breaking down their tents.

"Why are there so many trainers here?" Chloe inquired quietly as Joy began to organize the group and arrange rooms for them.

"Most of them are probably from the SS. Anne, and are waiting for the repairs to finish before returning to Celadon. To them, this is a rare chance to explore the region of Kanto and catch some pokemon that they wouldn't be able to run into otherwise. This also means that I can battle some more foreign pokemon and give my newbies more chances to train." I explained to her, even as I placed my other Capsules in the now empty spaces.

"Tch..." The guy from before clicked his tongue irritably, even as he too broke down his own tent and entered the Pokemon Center. Personally, I hoped Joy had run out of beds by now. But that was just my pettiness.

I then brought most of my pokemon to the arena to rest and prepare for our later training, before going to the greenhouse to deliver Pidgeot to his nest and Vespiquen to her hive with the Combee. I then made my way to the house to prepare dinner since Joy was busy, despite it still only being midafternoon, before moving on to the evening training.

"How about something a little special...?" I muttered while bringing a larg slab of meat out of the fridge, a rack of Emboar ribs that had been imported from Unova.

"Ooooh!" May practically drooled over my shoulder when she saw the ribs.

"Ooooh is right." I said with a grin as I laid the rack down on the counter, before pulling out a pan and placing it inside after opening the wrapping.

Not only were Emboar ribs larger than Oinkologne ribs, but they also possessed a natural spicy flavor due to the fire typing that Emboar had. So I only had to moderately spice the ribs before wrapping and placing them in the preheated oven, setting the timer to go off in a few hours.

"One of the worst parts about constantly being on the move, is that we will hardly ever be able to use a smoker since they take so long..." I muttered in lamentation, my mouth salivating in anticipation of the ribs.

Rather than wait around torturing myself with the increasingly potent smell of the ribs, I swiftly made my way back to the Pokemon Center while they cooked. Once I stepped outside, I saw the clouds I had sensed approaching gathering overhead, proving that it would start raining soon.

Entering the Pokemon Center, I found the numerous trainers all gathered around the common area, dining hall, and even in the showers as they washed the road from their bodies, while Joy worked in the kitchen with Chloe helping her. The general chatter dropped considerably when I entered though, as numerous eyes turned towards me.

"I have some time to kill before dinner. Who wants to try their hand at a battle?" I asked them all, before several trainers quickly rose to their feet. "Alright then, follow me."

I turned and exited the Pokemon Center while several trainers followed, their excitement at trying their hand against me radiating like numerous miniature suns. The group then followed me to the arena that doubled as a training facility, right as several fat drops of water began to fall from the sky.

Inside were all of the pokemon I had brought with me, minus Pidgeot and Vespiquen, resting after the day of travel.

"You all did well to keep up today. Get some proper rest back at professor Oak's." I told them, before returning them all to their pokeballs and swapping most of them out.

With Lucario and Charizard still with me, as always alongside Pidgeot, I now had Chikorita, Electabuzz, Froakie, Tepig, Sobble, Cubone and Tinkatink. Not to mention my Breeder pokemon Miltank, Tauros, Chansey, Ditto and Ralts.

"Alright, so who's first?" I asked the group as I took my place at one end of the arena, while they were busy looking every which way in disbelief.

As my voice echoed throughout the arena though, they all looked sharply at me before one guy stepped forward eagerly.

"I'm Andre of Driftveil city in Unova! Let's goooo!" He cried out in eagerness, a pokeball gripped in his hand.

"Alright, we'll make this a two on two batttle!" I declared, my own pokeball in hand. "I choose you, Electabuzz!"

"B-B-B-BUUUUUZZ!"

Electabuzz cried as he appeared in the arena, electricity arching all over his body.

"You're up SAWK" The other guy cried out, throwing his own pokeball out.

"SAWK!"

I eyed the foreign pokemon curiously, finding it weird that it was basically just a blue guy in a karate gi.

"Start with a Karate Chop!" Andre cried out, and his Sawk shot forward like a bullet at Electabuzz.

"Discharge." I ordered Electabuzz out loud, my voice and aura calm and confident.

"BUZZ!"

With a roar, Electabuzz unleashed his full electric power in a unfocused attack in every direction, including right at Sawk.

The fighting type was unable to defend itself as it was bombarded with powerful wave of electric energy, which stopped it in it's tracks on top of dealing damage to it.

"Damn! Sawk, use Bulk Up and then attack with Fire Punch!" Andre ordered hurriedly.

"Use Charge." I told Electabuzz calmly, who began to build up electric power while Sawk tensed it's muscles so that it's entire body began to bulk noticeably.

*Crash!*

The ground fractured as Sawk launched itself at Electabuzz dangerously, it's right fist radiating fire type energy.

"Thunder Punch."

"BUUUUUUUUZZ!"

Electabuzz met Sawk's attack with his own as his fist crackled with powerful electricity, creating an explosion of fire and thunder that buffeted all of us spectating the match. And losing the contest of strength was Sawk, who was sent flying back to it's trainer's feet.

"Sawk is unable to battle!" Declared a girl that apparently decided to take the place of mediator.

"Damn it..." Andre groaned as he recalled his pokemon, before pulling out his second pokeball.

"You did well Electabuzz." I told mine with pride.

"Buzz buzz!" He declared while pufing his chest out with pride, even with his entire right arm scorched from the Fire Punch. I then recalled him myself before grabbing my next pokeball.

"Alright, you're up Cubone!"

"CuBONE!"

Standing at his full height of one and half feet, Cubone admittedly looked cute as he tried mean-mug Andre through his skull mask.

"Its your turn, Durant!" Andre cried out, surprising me with yet another unknown pokemon in the form of a metallic ant, which was even shorter than Cubone. And instead of a normal cry, all I heard from Durant was a rhythmic metallic clicking noise.

"Durant, use Dig!" Andre immediately called out, to which his pokemon made the same clicking noise as before while it began to swiftly burrow underground.

"Cubone, use Dig as well." I commanded him, while also following Durant's position through it's aura. Cubone then used his bone club to begin digging through the dirt in much faster pace than he had any right to as he went after Durant.

"Ha! Don't think your little Cubone will get out of this unscathed! Durant are the rulers of the underground in Unova!" Andre declared haughtily from the other side of the arena.

"And don't YOU underestimate my Cubone." I said back to him, my lips curling up in a smirk. After all, if I understood it correctly, the true strength of the Durant species was like that of Combee, through numbers.

"Durant, find it and use Vice Grip!" Andre commanded with confidence.

'Now, use Bone Rush.'

I projected my mental voice to Cubone, since he was still underground, prompting him to erupt from his hiding place under the tunnel Durant had dug to surprise it.

*Boom.*

*Boom.*

*Crash.*

Muffled impacts shook the arena as Cubone and Durant fought while being completely hidden from view, right up until the middle of the arena suddenly exploded upwards.

"Ha!" I laughed as the unconscious Durant fell to the ground, leaving only Cubone standing.

"Durant is unable to battle! Ace and Cubone win!"

"No way..." Andre uttered in disbelief, even as he recalled his unconscious pokemon.

"Alright, time for a REAL pokemaster to battle." Stated another guy who swaggered forward to take Andre's place. "I'm Cole from Eterna city in Sinnoh!"

"Sup Cole." I said while recalling Cubone, after praising him of course, and then reaching for my next pokeball. "How about facing my Chikorita!"

"CHIKA!"

My new little grass type starter proudly posed in the middle of the arena, standing tall at three feet.

"Cool! Your Chikorita, versus MY new Growlithe!" Cole declared as he sent out his own pokemon.

"GROWL!"

The Growlithe growled in an attempt to intimidate us, but all I could think of was how cute it was as it did so.

"Growlithe, use Flame Wheel!" Cole immediately commanded, apparently going straight for the full-out offensive.

"Chikorita...." I murmured in a voice so quiet that only she could hear me.

"Get in the hole!" I suddenly cried out as Growlithe was RIGHT on her.

"Chika!"

Chikorita dodged right as Growlithe was about to hit her, and jumped into the hole Cubone dug earlier to hide from the fire type attack.

"Growlithe, use Flamethrower on the hole!" Cole hurriedly commanded.

"Growl!"

Growlithe stopped using Flame Wheel as it positioned itself right at the hole, before expelling flames directly into it.

"Now Chikorita, use Vine Whip!"

I sensed Chikorita flee to the part of the tunnel where she would be protected from the flames, before she sent her vines through the ground itself so that they erupted around Growlithe.

"!!!"

The fire pup was so surprised, that it accidentally cut off it's own attack as the vines wrapped around it, before also wrapping around it's snout.

"Excellent!" I declared as Chikorita jumped out of the hole, even while maintaining her hold on Growlithe. "Now, use Tackle!"

"Chika!" She cried out as she charged at Growlithe.

"Quick Growlithe, get rid of the vines with Flame Wheel!"

"Growlithe!"

The little fire pup spun in place while catching flame, forcing Chikorita to release her vines before it shot at her while she charged it as well.

"Chika! Chika chika chika!"

"Grrrrrrrrrrr!"

"Chika!"

"GRRR!"

The two pokemon hit each other with a small burst of flames that by all means should have been Growlithe's victory, but Chikorita had undergone my training. Even if it had only been a few days.

"Chika!" She cried out, scorched, but still standing tall while Growlithe was sent rolling back a short ways from the force of her Tackle.

"Now keep it up! Razor Leaf!" I commanded her, trying to keep up the momentum before Growlithe could recover.

"Chika!"

Chikorita swung her head to spin the leaf atop it around, sending numerous razor-sharp leaves flying at Growlithe that buffeted it relentlessly.

"Growlithe!" Cole cried out worriedly, before his new pokemon took enough damage that it collapsed.

"Growlithe is unable to battle! Chikorita wins!" The girl declared, ending the round as Cole recalled his Growlithe dejectedly.

"Its ok Growlithe, we have all the time to get stronger." I heard him say to the pokeball, which made me smile happily. I looked forward to seeing how Cole and his new Growlithe turn out in the future.

As Cole stepped away, this time a girl stepped forward with two pokeballs raised.

"I'm Stella from Verdanturf town in Hoenn! How about a double battle?!" She asked excitedly.

"I say, of course!" I declared, holding up two pokeballs of my own.

"Alright! Let's go Volbeat and Illumise!"

I cocked a brow at the two bug type pokemon from the Hoenn region, which were a male-female pairing based off of fireflies.

"Hm... Come on out, Froakie, Sobble!"

"Key..."

"Sobble? Sobble!"

In an instant Froakie calmly evaluated the opponents across from him as they floated in the air, while Sobble immediately panicked as she turned invisible before crawling over to my side.

"Uh, Ace?" Stella asked curiously.

"Its ok." I assured her, even as Sobble took cover behind my legs.

"You don't need to battle right now Sobble." I told her quietly.

"Sob?"

"Just watch Froakie."

"Sobble?"

With Sobble watching the battle by sticking her still-invisible head out from bhind my legs warily, I then turned toward Froakie and his opponents.

"Volbeat, Illumise, use Tackle from both sides!" Stella ordered her two pokemon.

"VOLBEAT!"

"Illumise!"

The two bug type pokemon zipped through the air at high speed at Froakie, one on either direction as they tried to corner him.

"Froakie, jump and use Smokescreen." I countered, prompting Froakie to do just that as he leapt up high on his powerful legs, and filled the arena with a thick cloud of inky smoke.

"No! Volbeat! Illumise!" Stella cried out as her two pokemon disappeared from view, though I could tell exactly where they were.

"Now Froakie, use Bubble Beam!"

"Froakie!"

At my command, Froakie expelled a powerful blast of bubbles into the Smokescreen right at Illumise.

"MISE!"

Though no one else could see her, we all heard Illumise cry out in pain as she was attacked, prompting a rapid flashing of lights from Volbeat as he tried to find her.

"Illumise, follow Volbeat's lights!" Stella ordered hurriedly. "Volbeat, keep flashing your light so Illumise can find you, and beat your wings really fast to clear the Smokescreen!"

"Volbeat!"

The light that was Volbeat's bulb shone with the brightest intensity yet, while the sound of buzzing filled the air as he beat his wings with greater intensity to help clear the air.

"Focus on Illumise, and use Pound." I ordered my own pokemon, who used the remaining smoke as cover to hit Illumise.

"Illumise, counter with a Zen Headbutt!" Stella declared in retaliation. "Volbeat, use Helping Hand!"

"Beat beat, VOLBEAT!"

As Volbeat cried out and moved it's body in a little dance, I felt the aura of Illumise spike right as Froakie shot in for his attack.

"MISEEEE!"

First Illumise was hit by Froakie's Pound attack, before she responded by hitting him back with a Zen Headbutt boosted by Volbeat's Helping Hand.

"FROAK!"

Froakie exclaimed as he was sent flying through the air, before flipping so that he landed on his feet.

"Now use Quick Attack on Volbeat before following it with a Water Pulse!" I ordered, and Froakie disappeared from where he was before reappearing right next to Volbeat to hit it.

"Can you see him Sobble?" I asked the other water starter hiding behind my legs while Froakie continued battling.

"Sobble?"

"Froakie is out there, fighting two to one. He's outnumbered, and against opponents who probably have far more actual battle experience than he does, yet he's not giving up. He's giving it his all despite the fact that he may lose. Wouldn't you like to help him?"

"..."

"Use Smokescreen again."

Though Sobble was silent, I could see her aura fluctuating as she looked between myself and Froakie, who was still battling intensely despite going against two opponents.

"Illumise, use Bug Buzz!" Stella commanded right as Volbeat darted in for a Tackle against Froakie.

"Mise~!" Illumise cried as she beat her wings hard enough to create shockwaves to hit Froakie with.

"Sobble!"

"!!!"

Before Illumise could actually attack Froakie, she was suddenly assaulted by a burst of water courtesy of Sobble's Water Gun.

"Mise?!" She cried out in alarm while looking for Sobble, giving Froakie the opening he needed to finish off Volbeat.

"Now finish him with a Bubble Beam!"

"Froakie!"

At my command, Froakie blasted Volbeat with a powerful stream of bubbles that smothered his opponent, burying him as he passed into unconsciousness.

"Volbeat is unable to battle!"

"Volbeat no!" Stella cried out as her first pokemon went down.

"Now take down Illumise!" I told Froakie, who immediately flashed forward in a Quick Attack to do just that.

"Use Play Rough!" Stella tried to command, but once Illumise started to move she was hit by another Water Gun from Sobble.

"Sobble!" She cried out victoriously, before camoflaging herself yet again.

"Now Froakie, use Pound and then Water Pulse!"

"Froak!"

First Froakie hit Illumise with Pound, stunning her and earning himself precious seconds as he formed a sphere of water between his hands, before unleashing it in a Water Pulse.

"Illumise is unable to battle! Froakie, Sobble and Ace win!"

"Noooooo! My darling Volbeat, Illumise!" Stella cried out even as she recalled her pokemon, while both Sobble and Froakie returned to my side.

"That was excellent Froakie. And you did well too Sobble. Way to support Froakie!"

A hint of red appeared in midair where Sobble currently was, camoflaged of course, as she blushed from the praise, while even Froakie threw her a thumbs up of approval.

I recalled them both into their pokeballs as the next trainer stepped forward, before reaching for the next one I planned to use.

"I choose you, Tinkatink!"

...

"Tepig is unable to battle! Graveler and Joshua win!"

"HAHAHAHA! TAKE THAT YOU FUCKING LOSER!"

I cocked a brow as the same guy who had been acting pissy since I got to camp jumped around celebrating, as if he had just won some 'great victory' by using his Graveler against my little Tepig.

"Are you ok Tepig?" I asked my pokemon as I walked out towards him, and then kneeling at his side as I checked him over.

"Pig?" He asked sadly, obviously dejected from losing.

"Its ok. We'll get him next time." I told Tepig comfortingly, while Lucario stepped forward.

"Every battle is a lesson, and some lessons are harder than others. Use this lesson, learn from it, and do better next time." He told Tepig seriously. And while Tepig appeared downcast at first, I noticed his aura change as a fire was lit in his eyes. He would not lose the next time.

"Come on, let's go do something about those wounds." I said while taking Tepig into my arms, and standing to carry him out.

"That'll be all for tonight. I'm sure Joy has dinner ready in the Pokemon Center, and I have my own dinner to check on." I told the surrounding trainers, several of which started to groan since they didn't get their chance to battle, while a few others were eager for something to eat.

"That's right! Walk away LOSER!" The guy who beat Tepig, Joshua, declared cockily.

"Lucario."

"On it."

*CRASH!*

I didn't even look back as Lucario dealt with the problem, namely by embedding Joshua's Graveler into the ground before either had a chance to react.

"Little word of advice, learn to win with grace." I said before leaving, with Lucario remaining behind to keep an eye on the place. Plus I was pretty sure he was training on his own inside at night.

With the rain coming down in torrents now, I quickly made my way to the greenhouse, where I left Chikorita, Froakie and Sobble. Then I hurried to the stables to put Tepig, Tinkatink, Cubone and Electabuzz away for the night as well, after treating Tepig and giving them all their dinner.

While Electabuzz settled down in the stall that was modeled after a power plant, Tinkatink, Cubone and Tepig all readily made their way to the stall that was a network of caves.

That in itself wasn't too unusual, but when I noticed them all go to the same little cavern, where a there was a soft glow, I had to investigate out of curiosity. And inside I found Tinkatink working at what looked to be a makeshift forge that I KNEW was not there when I got the stables. And surrounding her were several piles of scrap metal that Cubone was digging through, while Tepig assisted her by fueling her forge.

"Where on earth...?" I uttered while looking at the forge and metal piles, wondering when she had created the former, and collected the latter.

Eventually I decided that I didn't want to know, and left quietly while shaking my head in exasperation as I returned to the house, where my ribs should be almost done. Plus there were some girls who needed treatment for bicycle rashes as well.