Cragspur II

'Well. This isn't the normal classic TV or game version of Pokemon that I imagined it to be. Fuck. There goes all my knowledge on the future,' Deimos thought to himself as he surfed the PokeNet (AN: Internet. Duh.). It had been a week and a half since the meeting with Captain Ujiteru and Deimos was now taking a break from training with Boldore to visit the local Cragspur Library. 

'I am in the region of Ransei, but Nobunaga hasn't begun his conquest yet, or at least I don't think he has. But then again the media saying that the Kingdoms of Dragnor, Nixtorm, Spectra, and Valora have been decreasing hostilities recently.

I could've possibly been transmigrated right before Nobunaga begins his conquest which would mean that the protagonist is currently not yet the Warlord of Aurora, but about to become it.

I could always try to desert and make my way to what I know to be the eventual winning side. However, Aurora is on the other side of the continent. With the power level, Boldore is at currently, we wouldn't stand a chance of making it through the wild much less surviving attacks from different Kingdoms along the way.'

Drumming his fingers, Deimos sat at the computer in deep contemplation carefully considering the different options. Eventually, he was able to narrow it down to one option.

'That means my only option is to consolidate power here in Cragspur. From what I can remember our current Warlord Ujiyasu will remain in power and join Nobunaga's cause to conquer the region. It is then one of the first castles to be taken over by the protagonist's side.

Then again, there are even more factors to consider. Legendaries. There are two known types, full-blooded legendaries which are walking natural disasters, no one has captured one of these to date. The second type is half-blooded legendaries which while just as rare, some have been captured by trainers. 

From the information I was able to decipher from the mural, a half-blooded Terrakion is most likely living within the Sacred Four mountains. If only I could capture it,' Deimos thought with a chuckle to himself. Boldore had nowhere near the amount of power required for them to face off against a legendary. 

Refocusing himself, Deimos continued to research. 

'Wars like the current one between Cragspur and Viperia have been going on for decades in Ransei. The tradition is that once an enemy army reaches the opposing Kingdom's capital, they can issue a challenge that the opposing Warlord cannot reject. Seems kinda stupid to me though.

The challenge consists of a 6v6 Pokemon battle between the two Kingdom's best fighters. Whichever Kingdom comes out on top claims dominion over the Capital that the challenge was issued for and a one-month grace period. 

Each Kingdom usually had its Warlord, Commander, and four strongest Captains fight said battles. No such challenge had been issued in over a decade, with each Warlord and their predecessors having been locked in a stalemated fight with the opposing Kingdoms. When one Kingdom gained the advantage over another, another Kingdom usually allied with the weaker Kingdom to keep the status quo.'

Shaking his head from the information dump Deimos started to think about how this could affect his plans. 

'I'm currently 14, which while not the youngest, certainly isn't an age anywhere near the oldest of Warlords, Commanders, or Captains. Some of them have been training Pokemon for decades. While tradition demands you can only use one Pokemon on the battlefield, most of them train full teams in case their Pokemon does die. 

If I plan on building a power base here in Cragspur, I'll need to become a Captain eventually. Following Captain Ujiteru and when I eventually become a Lieutenant, I could split off and go for a Captain position, somehow. Thoughts for later. Now, time to see what the other regions look like.'

Changing the focus of his research, Deimos began researching the other regions outside of Ransei. Kanto. Johto. Hoenn. Sinnoh. What he found both surprised him and didn't. The Pokemon League was a universal organization that from what Deimos could tell controlled the different regions and ensured peace between the different organizations. 

While some regions such as Kanto and Johto held immense animosity for each other, others were allied and had close bonds such as Kanto and the Sevii Islands, Johto and the Orange Islands, and Hoenn and Orre. 

Kanto and Johto had just finished their last war only a decade ago. Lance had yet to become the Champion of Kanto, what did surprise him was that the man who was the Champion of Kanto was known by the name 'Red'. Indigo was not a thing considering how it had its own Champion, Pryce. 

Other regions had similar differences and similarities as far as Deimos could see while conducting his research. One thing that did surprise him was the different Teams.

Team Rocket was a large-scale criminal organization that operated in Kanto and Johto, funnily enough, it was the only thing that Kanto and Johto mutually hated. Team Aqua and Magma in Hoenn, Team Galactic in Sinnoh, and many others.

'So, Captain Ujiteru is most definitely either a part of Team Rocket or simply a very ambitious man seeking to become the Warlord of Cragspur by harnessing the power of a half-blooded legendary. Interesting.' Deimos thought to himself. 

Getting up from the table he was at, Deimos left the library while thinking to himself,

'Well, that was very informative. I think I have somewhat of a plan for the future, now I just need to get there. Somehow. Well, that's enough of a break, time to train once more.'

Arriving at the training grounds that the Cragspur military used, Deimos released Boldore before grabbing a Training Shield from the nearby armory. Training Shields were used for friendly and competitive battles. They converted lethal attacks into non-lethal attacks that sapped Pokemon's strength. 

A useful invention that made training through practice battles safer for those involved. 

Looking around the training ground, Deimos found an older man with an Arbok practicing against a training dummy. Making his way over to him, Deimos asked him,

"Are you up for a practice match by chance?"

The man took his eyes off his Arbok which seemed to be training the three different elemental fang moves it knew. The man glanced at Deimos's Boldore before responding,

"Sure, do you want to place a bet on the match or are you just doing this for experience?"

"Experience," Deimos easily responded. He didn't have the cash to spare in case he did lose, renting out a month at the hotel was already expensive enough. 

"Arbok, come. We have a match to win." The man called out, clearly confident in his victory against a younger soldier.

The two took their places on opposite sides of the training ground ready to battle.

"Boldore, blast it!"

"Arbok, show it your fangs!"

The two called out simultaneously as the battle began. The Arbok lunged with an Ice Fang powered up and ready to sink into the opposing Boldore.

Boldore as the Arbok lunged at it responded by using Smack Down. Rocks on the battlefield gathered together and launched themselves at the Arbok. Taken by surprise at the quick attack of the Boldore, the Arbok didn't have time to dodge or brace itself and was bowled over by the rocks.

"Arbok, continue to dodge, wait for an opportunity to present itself," the opposing Page called out.

Tumbling backward on the ground, the Arbok quickly reoriented itself. It began to dodge the stones that continued to fly at it, waiting for the opportunity to strike.

Quickly analyzing the battlefield, Deimos came to a quick conclusion on what to do. 

"Begin to harden yourself and use Smack Down if the Arbok approaches. When fully hardened close the distance and use Headbutt," Deimos instructed Boldore, a sly grin on his lips.

Frowning upon hearing that, the older man called out to his Arbok,

"Acid then close the distance and use Wrap and Bite!! Don't let it begin too Harden!"

Boldore began to use Harden in between the gaps of its Smack Down, Arbok upon seeing this began to attempt to exploit the gaps between the rocks launching themselves at it to sneak in Acid attacks. However, each Acid consistently hit rocks as the gaps filled themselves just as quickly as they appeared.

"Boldore!" Boldore cried out as it completed its final Harden.

Arbok immediately retreated in the opposite direction while firing off Acids knowing that in a face-to-face confrontation, it would lose to the Boldore. Boldore began to charge, ignoring the Acids that splattered across its body.

Catching up to Arbok, Boldore cried its name, "Boldore!" before slamming into the Arbok head first using Headbutt.

The Arbok was unable to dodge and was sent flying for the second time in the battle. This time it was clear it had taken too much damage and stayed down for the count.

"Excellent work, Boldore."

"Arbok, get up!"

The two pages said at the same time. Sighing, the Arbok's trainer recalled it knowing that it wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

"Good match," Deimos told the Page, before striding away with Boldore towards an isolated area of the field planning to go over the battle with it and begin training once more.

"Excellent work, as usual, this marks our first victory against a page without taking any damage. Once we get Sandstorm mastered we should be able to take on Squires. You mastered Sand Attack last week so the basics are there, we just need to expand on them," Deimos told Boldore with a grin on his face.

"Bol Boldore," Boldore said in agreement with Deimos.

"We have approximately three and a half weeks left of training. That should be enough time to master Stealth Rock as well. Next week we'll start placing bets against other soldiers and trainers in Cragspur and make hopefully enough money to buy one or two more TMs. After that, it's off on whatever mission is next," Deimos continued to say.

Reaching the end of the field, Deimos turned to Boldore and said,

"Alright, let's begin training Sandstorm once more. As I've said before, Sandstorm is a domain attack in my opinion. It affects the environment and for you can be incredibly useful. Sand is rocks ground into dust, if you can continue to work on feeling rock-type energy you should be able to eventually sense your opponents in a way within Sandstorms. That's a long-term goal, however. For now, continue building it up as fast and as large as you can."

"Boldore," Boldore said while bobbing its head. Turning it began to use Sandstorm, soon after it began sand was blowing on the training field obscuring their view.

"Good, keep working at it. We'll master it eventually, one step at a time," Deimos said before taking a seat on the side of the field. His mind racing with thoughts and plans for the future.

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Deimos

Cragspur Page

Pokemon: Boldore

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Boldore

Moves Mastered: Tackle, Harden, Smack Down, Headbutt, Sand Attack

Moves Trained: Sandstorm

Moves Untrained: Stealth Rock