Challenge

He returned Fafnir in his pokeball, despite the dragon's unwillingness.

Cinder decided that he should take a look at what made his pokemon feel like this. He would only take a look, if it is something he couldn't handle, he could always turn around and leave.

Cinder knew he was supposed to be getting close to the halfway point in Mt. Moon. The tunnel system narrowed the further in you went, but had a large chamber deep inside that served as a resting spot of sorts. The problem was, the closer he got to said waypoint, the more 'disturbed' Storm and Hercule became. Cinder decided to take a break before they reached the rest stop—if there was a fight waiting for him, he wanted his pokemon to be ready. They ended up sitting in a small, enclosed cave just off the tunnel. It was out of sight from prying eyes and secluded enough for Cinder and his team to feel relatively safe.

Cinder was about in the middle of trying to communicate with his pokemon when it happened.

The bolt of electricity fired off in the near distance, somewhat deeper into the tunnel, had drawn their attention, and compelled them to look over, he exchanged glances with his pokemon before he walked towards the source, albeit slowly.

It didn't take too long to reach the source of the electrical attack. The group quickly reached a slightly deeper area in the tunnel, and were immediately greeted by the sight of two figures.

Cinder didn't know it yet, but what he would find would impact his journey immensely.

Standing tall was a pokemon that Cinder immediately recognized as an Elekid.

They were an electric-type species of pokemon, well known for their strong evolution, Electabuzz, and, infamously, for their incredibly powerful-but super rare- final evolved form, Electivire.

A boy with purple hair was standing next to the creature as he held a pokeball in his hand.

The boy looked about Cinder's age, but his exterior seemed a lot more rough. In fact, if Cinder didn't know better, he probably would have suspected that the boy was older than him.

Something about him was unsettling to look at. Cinder couldn't even pinpoint it, but ignored the unease that was settling into his stomach as he and his pokemon looked on at the scene. A single thought. 'It's a trainer/human, it's not a criminal who caused a ruckus in the tunnels after all.' This made Cinder sigh unknowingly.

Stuffing the orb away, the boy turned to Elekid, who met its trainer's gaze with a fierce, but not disloyal, expression on its face.

"Okay, we have three now. Good work, Elekid. We'll start comparing them." His voice was surprisingly deep. He sounded oddly grown up, and his tone had a hint of inherent callousness to it.

The electric-type made a whirring noise as the boy suddenly turned in Cinder's direction.

Cinder met the boy's gaze. What was it with this new boy's eyes? The look in them made his stomach feel like an empty pit for some reason. Nevertheless, he wasn't intimidated, he was more curious than anything else, he kinda reminded him of a certain douchebag.

The purple haired boy scoffed at the motion as he crossed his arms and eyed Cinder and his team scrutinizingly.

"I didn't realize that it was considered productive to spend your time staring at other trainers. I wonder what skills you're honing by standing around twiddling your thumbs." His voice was laced with bluntness, uncaring to what was coming out of his mouth, only concerned with getting it out.

The purple haired boy looked between Cinder's duo of pokemon, his scrutinizing gaze seemingly intensifying.

Cinder raised an eyebrow at the new teenager's tone of voice. Does this dude have a stick in his ass or something? He shook his head. With the same uncaring bluntness, Cinder responded in turn. "Is this mountain even your property? Why do you care who I stare at and not stare? I just came here because of the commotion you've been making." He paused, and eyed the purple haired boy weirdly. "... Or, did you think that I was staring just because I wanted to? Dude, you have problems. Get some help."

The teenager seemed irked by Cinder's response, but said nothing as the boy remained calm.

"What are you doing here anyway? You could've hit us with a stray attack from your Elekid." Cinder added.

"Whatever." The purple boy(He may be a part of BTS or someshit.) continued to be uncaring.

He looked over in curiosity as the purple haired boy unclipped two more orbs from his belt. Now with three pokeballs in hand, he placed them carefully on a boulder before taking out a Pokedex. This one was black, and seemed to have a wider shape to it, compared to the ones Cinder normally saw. Almost like it was a completely different model.

"What are you doing?" Cinder asked with no interest whatsoever, but he still has to pass time with a conversation. The purple boy also seemed to be responsive to the matter.

The teenager, although acting rude in Cinder's opinion initially, responded. "I'm sure you're aware that your Pokedex can scan the pokemon that you've caught to assess their Moves and Abilities. I take advantage of this." Cinder watched curiously as the mysterious new boy held his Pokedex in front of the three orbs, analysing the data. After a few moments, the Pokedex was put away as the boy took one of the pokeballs. The boy had pushed a few buttons on the Pokedex before stashing it away, causing Cinder to raise a brow. "This Zubat I just caught knows Brave Bird, and Zen Headbutt. Rare egg moves for her species at such a level. And the perfect cherry on top is that her hidden ability is Infiltrator. In comparison…" Clipping the pokeball to his belt, he took the other two pokeballs. "These two don't have a lot to go off of. I won't be in need of them."

This time Cinder and his team were taken by a surprise as a Geodude and another Zubat emerged in two flashes of light, flying away deeper into the forest.

The boy had… released them?

"Wait a minute…" Cinder interjected, raising his hands up above his head. "Did you just… let them go? Just like that?"

The purple haired boy shrugged borededly. "Those two had been easy catches, so I wasn't expecting much from them, but I was even more disappointed by what they had to offer than I thought I'd be. I'm just narrowing down my options."

The feeling of unease in his stomach intensified, 'The fuck? He ain't wrong, but...' Cinder thought on about in unease. Behind him, Hercule and Storm's face scrunched up a bit.

"You're saying you just choose your teammates based on what moves they already know?"

A light smirk appeared on the boy's face. "It's a pretty pragmatic way to go about things. What would you do if you had to choose between an Abra with a couple of basic moves, or one with a few significant ones?"

His point made sense in theory, but… "An Abra with basic moves can still learn the advanced ones later. Any Pokemon can be strong if you train them properly." Apart from the two egg moves he inherited from his parents and mysterious move Storm has learned on his evolution which he used against Geodude and Hercule's Ice Beam egg move, which they couldn't even use to maximum mastery yet(since he haven't checked but would go about in that when they rest.) Storm and Hercule had nothing extraordinary going for them when he had first met them, with his new Starly's Reckless Ability being the obvious exception. But both of the former had grown far stronger than before in such a short amount of time, he was confident he could train his Starly too if he would think of a suitable training for her, if she was willing that it is. Cinder knew from experience just how talented that they were.

An amused chuckle escaped the boy's lips. "Any pokemon, huh? That kind of mindset is the same trap most rookies fall into. It's why so many people in the field look down on newcomers like us." His face hardened. "The fact remains that where a pokemon starts out is what showcases its potential. Maybe they have a bunch of powerful Egg Moves that can be tapped into later, like my new Zubat. Or maybe they've already learned some impressive techniques by themselves, without any guidance, like my Elekid." Cinder stole a quick glance at the Elekid as the electric-type baby pokemon voiced his opinion proudly at the words of his trainer. His gaze returned to the purple haired boy as he continued. "You need to learn how to distinguish the best from the masses. The Pokedex has given us the tools to do so, and yet so many rookies are satisfied with trying to train up whatever pokemon they can get their hands on, no matter how insignificant the catch is when compared to everything else available, not caring to put in the work and actually seek out the potential team members that would be the most worth it in the long run. Why waste time trying to tap into some average pokemon's potential, when the next one you encounter could have far more? Why put so much time into trying to develop a pokemon's work ethic, when the next one you encounter might already have one? Any pokemon can be strong, for sure, but we're talking about a demanding profession where only the best can prosper without eventually fizzling out into obscurity. The best trainer needs the best pokemon to utilize their training skills with. Otherwise, you'll be stuck with an average team, with nothing worth remembering. You'll just be yet another trainer, doomed to fizzle out with the rest of them." Cinder frowned from the intensity in the purple haired boy's eyes. "So many rookies claim that they'll never be forgotten, that they'll actually amount to something. But unlike them, I'm actually taking the actions necessary to live up to those words."

Cinder felt a brief surge of anger in his chest.

Where do pokemon start out? Potential? This kid was starting to sound a lot like Blue, and he didn't like it. He wasn't as obnoxious, what he said made sense, and to his credit, he certainly did a much better job at explaining himself, but…

Images of subpar test grades flashed through his mind, the test grades that... He shook his head at the memory. But then he remembered the words of encouragement from the people and friends he had, and the Boulder Badge…

Having your potential be determined by where you start out? A foregone conclusion that couldn't be changed at all? That didn't sit right with him. And looking at his teammates, he could tell that it didn't sit right with them, either.

Suddenly feeling a sense of vigor in his spirit, Cinder took a bold step forward and hardened his face to match the mysterious boy. Based on the flinching expressions worn by the purple haired boy and his Elekid, Cinder knew they were taken by a surprise by his stance as they looked over with caution.

"Who's to say a pokemon doesn't just need a little bit of extra help to realize their true potential?" He challenged with as bold a tone as he could manage. Pointing off in the direction where the Geodude and Zubat had flown off, he narrowed his eyes. "Those two pokemon could have become even stronger than Lance's main trio, for all you know. You wouldn't know until you gave them a chance."

The boy's brow furrowed. "And what's the likelihood of that? You're taking a shot in the dark, and your ammo is pretty scarce." The look in his eyes intensified further, and Cinder suddenly found himself taking an involuntary step back, eliciting a chuckle from the Elekid. "Look, kid. The conference is less than over a year. I don't have time to play the lottery and hope to win. And neither do you, if you're really that passionate about making it to the Indigo Plateau on your first try."

Kid? Kid? Was he being condescending, now? They were the same age! Cinder snarled.

"So you think my team isn't good enough?" He challenged defensively.

A shrugging motion was made by the boy. "Only one way to find out. Besides…" he turned to Elekid. "There is a pretty reasonable way for Trainers like us to settle disputes like this." The electric-type pokemon whirred in agreement, and what seemed to be anticipation, as well, as it eyed at Storm challengingly.

Cinder's eyes lit up in realization, as the looks on Storm and Hercule's faces steeled. Storm stepped forward too, so does Hercule, standing in front of their trainer and looking as determined as ever. "You want a battle?"

"That's the idea," The kid smirked. "My name's Paul. I'm from the Sinnoh region."

"Sinnoh?" Cinder echoed. He'd heard about Sinnoh—it was north of Kanto and a fair bit colder. The region was old, with a Pokemon League as strong and steady as Indigo, although the land under its control was smaller than the Indigo League, which commanded both Kanto and Johto.

"Yeah," Paul shrugged. "I wanted to track down some Pokemon I can't find back home."

Cinder was interested to see if any of Paul's pokemon were from his home region. He didn't know very much about Sinnoh. "Alright, you're on."

Paul smirked. "How does two-on-two sound?"

"Perfect, actually," Cinder grinned. "I've only got four Pokemon right now, but the other two can't fight at the moment."

"I see. A Flaaffy and that Poliwag, should be your pick?"

"That's right."

Paul nodded. "I'll start off, then. Nidoran, standby for battle."

He tapped the release on a pokeball and out came a large, pink Nidoran. Cinder recognized it as the male variety of the species and made a note of the impressive horn. It was small, yes, but Cinder had seen pictures of Nidoran before and knew that the horn on this particular specimen was fairly large, almost similar to the size of Dom's starter.

"Hercule go."

Cinder sent out Hercule. The tadpole growled and got into a battle stance when he spotted Nidoran getting out of a pokeball, and gurgled deeply and intimidatingly behind his throat. Nidoran looked unfazed, though his ears twitched and his poisoned barb dripped toxins.