65 The Rival (Edited)

Living alone and feeling alone are 2 entirely different things. Feeling alone is way worse than living in solitude. Unlike living alone, when you have been feeling alone, you just don't go finding companions or friends to feel your void. Maybe you already have that. But the constant reminder in your heart that, every man is on his own, is not a good feeling…. At first.

The reason you don't like that feeling is cause it is a new thing for you. You feel pain like never before, sadness cause you have been left alone, rage cause even the heavens don't give a shit about you and jealousy of others laugh and joy.

Why don't you deserve those things? Are you the one that is wrong or are you wrong itself? Why have Arceus decided to isolate this pain to you like a poisoned finger that has been cut down to save the whole hand?

These were the things that Bruno felt every day. His father always beat him up, the children in the orphanage always bullied him and the caretakers of the orphanage never listened to his story. But things started to change when he became a Pokemon trainer.

At first, he wanted power, to be headstrong so that no one can trample his feelings again. But after some time he realized that he was wrong. He treated his Pokemon like his father treated him. Since he only wanted power, his feelings towards Shedinja were that of a weakling. But now he felt bad for Shedinja. Shedinja had never done anything wrong.

He was just treating Shedinja how the world treated him. And that was wrong. Over time he understood that his Pokemons were not just a means for his power. They were an extension of himself, his family. He decided that he would only trust his Pokemon from today as they were the only ones that understood him.

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He had not caught any new Pokemons. For now, he only had Pidgeotto, Zubat and Scyther. His Pidgey had evolved recently so he decided to challenge a gym. The result? Utter destruction of his team.

It was not even a close match. He could not even defeat one of the gym leader Pokemons, not even scratch a bit. From there he learned the hierarchy of gyms and how to defeat them.

For the first 2 badges, the gym leaders would challenge you as an intermediate trainer (they will use 3 rare ranked Pokemons). All the gym leaders were at least master trainers, some were even elite trainers.

He realized that he would need years to even get the first 2 badges if he was on his own. He didn't have sufficient money or resources to raise his Pokemon ranks. After thinking long and hard, he decided to join an organization. There were 4 organizations that were popular. They were:

1. The league itself.

2. Zard family

3. Toise family

4. And Venu family.

The most lucrative was the league as the resources provided by them were huge. But it was also the hardest to get it. The league would not select you unless you are an exceptional trainer and there were lots of conditions that you had to fulfill.

Like, you must be eternally loyal to the league and the Kanto region. Plus it was hard to get in the higher ranks of the league.

Bruno immediately canceled this option. He knew he was not an exceptional trainer. He was not even very talented. It would be impossible for him right now to get in the league.

The next 2 options were the easiest. The Zard family and Toise family accepted young trainers as a part of their organization. They were powerful families of the Kanto region and had a lot of treasures and resources. But those were only for the higher rankers of the family. The hierarchy of those families was huge. He estimated that it would take almost 20 years of relentless serving to be a core member of their family. He didn't have such time.

The ranking of the members of both families was similar. They were:

1. Newbie

2. Rookie

3. Underdog

4. Early member

5. Trustee

6. Elite member

7. Core member

8. Deciders

9. Leader

You would only be an actual member of the family when you are promoted to the 4th rank, 'Early member'. Until then you would be an outsider. When you become a 'Trustee', only then the family would consider you as their own and you would have access to rare resources and ingredients.

Until then, you would complete the missions and trade the resources. Those resources are common at best and could be found in the market easily.

And lastly, The Venu family. This family had not taken any outsiders till date. (Axel being a member has not been revealed to the outside world). Its power was a mystery but both the other 2 families didn't meddle in its affairs so it should be pretty powerful. But since the family doesn't accept any outsiders, he never thought about it.

But there was another organization, that he came to know recently. It was called 'Pride'. This was an illegal organization. The league didn't accept it but it was very powerful. He didn't know what illegal things it did, as the league covered up most of its tracks.

But it was powerful nonetheless. How did he know? He actually met a member of Pride on his journey. The member name Althea was high in ranks and she invited Bruno to be part of the team.

As per Althea, if you would want to grow fast, Pride would be the best. It doesn't need your absolute loyalty unless you are in a very high rank like an executive. And the Pride rewards those who work hard. The resources are not divided as per the ranks. Unless you have enough points which you collect from the missions and other things, you could buy them.

But since it was an illegal organization, Bruno didn't give an immediate answer. He told Althea that he would think about it. Since his childhood, he had been taught things like illegal organizations are evil. And they do bad things and you should report it to the league if you find out about it.

However, now Bruno changed this mindset. He was not an evil person, but Pride seemed to be the only option for him now. Besides, he didn't care about Pride. He only cared about power. And Pride could give that to him. He thought that once he got strong enough he would just leave the organization. His hatred for humans had not diminished a bit. He would just use it as a ladder for his success.

Thinking about it, he walked towards his destination.