Embers of Ambition

"Concentrate on only using water type moves, Gyarados. Focus on Waterfall, Aqua Tail, and Surf."

My voice echoed throughout the clearing following the bright flash of lightning bolt that took out the third Gyarados that had ganged up on my Gyarados. Despite my aversion to giving my pokemon nicknames, I will acknowledge that this was a situation which highlighted their convenience. Still it wasn't like my pokemon did not know who I was referring to.

A month had passed since the end of the Indigo Conference. I had arranged this training excursion to the Lake of Rage in Johto for the primary purpose of pushing my Gyarados to his limits so that he could exceed them and finally step into the realm of the Elites. Currently, he was the closest, among my remaining pokemon, to crossing the threshold to Elite status.

For the last six days, he had made a point to brutally beat down every single Gyarados who had challenged him without resorting to super effective moves. There were of course the occasional slip ups when his training and instincts kicked in and he took out his opponents in the most efficient manner.

My main reason for limiting him to water type moves was to increase his mastery of water type energy. From my experience, proficient water manipulation was paramount to him overcoming the barrier. This limitation also increased the challenge and encouraged him to exploit any weaknesses the opponents presented instead of just overpowering them with brute force. Admittedly, power played an instrumental role in my overall strategy but I knew the importance of not being overly reliant on that advantage. 

An enormous wave of water took out the smaller of the two Gyarados facing him. Then the remaining Gyarados did what I had come to expect after the last couple of days. He tucked his tail and ran. Well, he swam away as fast as could. Gyarados used Taunt and even shot a Scald which clipped the fleeing pokemon. However, it continued on without even a second glance at the two unconscious pokemon he had teamed up with. 

"Gyara! Gyarados", My pokemon looked back and his demeanor showed just how eager he was to crush his fleeing opponent. He had been growing increasingly irritated as this had become a recurring occurrence. Everyday we moved from one part of the Lake to another to find fresh opponents. The Lake of Rage was the largest lake in Johto and truly earned the nickname 'Gyarados Lake'. However, it seems that the reputation of my Pokemon has been spreading more and more among the residents of the Lake. Despite the sight of two or more Gyarados joining forces being a rarity, these last few days our opponents had been coming in packs of at least three. 

"Go on. After this, we'll take a little break and wait for the others to come back"

I felt a little sorry for his opponent. He was in for a serious beatdown. Gyarados in general are vicious pokemon and use their rage as a driving force. I realized early on the importance of giving Gyarados an opportunity and channel to vent this boiling anger. Trainers understand sooner or later that they can't just change who Gyarados are as a species.

I turned to Gardevior and Milotic who were relaxing on the sidelines and basking in the sun. They had not joined the others who were hard at work scouring the depths of this section of the Lake of Rage for the secondary objective of this trip: the search for Gyaradosite.

Gardevoir was instrumental in transmitting the mental picture I had of an uncut Gyaradosite to the rest of my Pokemon but she was not suited to search the depths of the large lake. Milotic, on the other hand, was the pokemon who was there to 'reinforce' Gyarados and protect me. In other words, she was basically enjoying a rest day. I rotated the pokemon every day so as to give them adequate rest and not overburden my pokemon. It also ensured that one pokemon was completely rested and fresh in case of an emergency.

Honestly, I do not remember the location of any Mega Stone. I also had no clue where I could possibly find a key stone. Still, the allure of Mega Evolution was too strong. This was not the first time I had spent a significant amount of time on this quest. 

The most frustrating part was that I was already in the possession of a Mega Stone. You may be wondering how can this great find which basically confirmed the existence of mega evolution be so disheartening? Well because it was a freaking Beedrillite. All the weeks spent searching and when I finally saw the iconic double helix, it was for a Beedrill.

It had been three whole years since the fateful day I found the mega stone in the possession of the Queen Beedrill of a massive hive in the Viridian Forest. The real kicker was that I was not even searching for a mega stone at the time. I was assisting the Rangers tasked with reducing the size of the overgrown beedrill hive which had started harassing the passing trainers.

My team had been part of the final push to completely scatter the hive as they had become unrelentingly aggressive. While the ranger in charge of the mission was battling the Queen Beedrill, my team along with five other rangers launched an assault on the underlings in the main hive. The battle was intense. It was in the aftermath when my Pokemon were searching for stragglers that Blastoise came across the stone beside a fallen beedrill.

He instantly recognised the double helix of the mega stone from the mental images of my campfire stories. The decision to train Garveior's telepathy ability by transmitting mental images during my stories had paid off big time. The excitement and happiness he radiated when he rushed over Mega Stone in hand was unforgettable.

However, the iconic yellow and black color in addition to the fact the double helix only appeared in the presence of a Beedrill confirmed that stone was without doubt a Beedrilite. I still remember his drastic emotional turn from sheer joy to utter disappointment. It was that day I realized just how enamored had Blastoise had become with mega evolution.

The rangers did not even bat an eye when I pocketed a seemingly insignificant glass marble. They thanked me for my assistance and gave me the pitch of how the rangers would welcome my services, should I choose that career path. That little good deed of volunteering my services for the mission had netted me a Mega Stone.

That day, I also promised Blastoise that together we would find a Blastoisinite and one day he would be an Elite Pokemon with three launchers capable of blasting through anything. Well, he had become an Elite level Pokemon last year but we had still come short on the Blastoisinite.

I went and joined my two Pokemon. Milotic opened her eyes as I approached and quickly nudged me to start giving her headpats. As soon as I started patting her and scratching her favorite spots, she purred in contentment and shot Gardevior a smug look.

"Gar Gardevoir Gar"

"Yes we are waiting for the others to return from the search. We will have lunch and after that maybe we'll have a free for all."

Milotic perked up at that "Milotic. Milo!" She was evidently pumped for the free for all. 

"You are supposed to take it easy today. You know the importance of getting your beauty rest. You can participate in the next one"

Milotic looked me in the eye and then at the currently calm lake. She let out a sigh and a satisfied coo at my continued pampering. 

"Milo. Milotic. Milo!" She was satisfied with my reasoning as the self-proclaimed most beautiful pokemon in the world would enjoy her beauty rest and simply showcase her superiority next time. 

Gardevoir joined in as I chuckled in amusement at the vain response. 

"Gardevoir voir?"

Gardevior's inquiry was something I had also been wondering about just a little while ago.

"To tell you the truth, I am not sure. Gyarados could make the breakthrough today, in a week, or even in a month. We just have to keep at it and he has to keep pushing his limits. Achieving Elite rank depends on a number of factors."

Milotic took the opportunity to chime in with her opinion. "Milo! Milotic! Milotic!"

"Don't be so harsh on him. Your ascension to Elite Rank may have been very smooth but it is not the same for every Pokemon. He is working hard and trying his best."

"Milo" She whined at my harsh tone and her red antenna dropped to the side as she portrayed the picture of perfect innocence.

I sighed "I know how important this is too. With him ascending, the number of Elite Pokemon bonded to me will increase to four satisfying the condition to unlock my Aura."

"Milotic!"

Her excitement was extremely contagious and a big smile appeared on my face. "Yes, after I unlock Water Type Aura, we will all go on deep underwater adventures and see all the beautiful marine ecosystems. No more big tanks and special suits and only staying in the shallow areas."

Aura as a concept had been extremely intriguing to learn about. My shocked face when I learnt that almost every human could unlock Aura is something my father still likes to tease me about. According to the anime, only a few special souls like Ash and Riley had been blessed with Aura.

However, in this world Aura was present in almost every human. It was the main reason people could tank attacks from Pokemon and have greater vitality than the human counterparts in Other Me's world. The most important function Aura provided was the ability of humans to bond with Pokemon.

It essentially created a feedback loop between the human in question and the bonded Pokemon. This feedback loop was also why the pokemon bonded to humans grew at a much faster rate than those in the wild. The aura in humans is usually in a dormant state. Thus, unless the human has activated his or her Aura, he or she will not be able to even sense this bond.

However, the main condition to unlock and actively manipulate Aura inside the body is very harsh. The trainer needs to be bonded with four Elite Pokemon that share the same type. The trainer in question will then unlock Aura of that type. 

Just to give some perspective, a trainer only needs to beat three Pokemon of an Elite four member to get their Elite Trainer Certification. Thus, a trainer may become an Elite without unlocking their Aura and there are currently only twenty six Elite trainers in Indigo. So, out of a population of about five million, only around twenty six have unlocked their Aura.

Unlocking Aura also provides the trainer in question with various benefits in accordance to the type of Aura he or she has unlocked. For example, trainers who have unlocked Water Type Aura can breathe underwater and withstand an enormous amount of pressure as the Water type Aura absorbs the pressure. Trainers with unlocked Fire Type can withstand extremely high temperatures and not be suffocated by smoke. Trainers who have unlocked Psychic type Aura can use telekinesis, telepathy, and other mind related powers depending on their affinity and strength.

One benefit provided by unlocking Aura of any type is mental protection. Moves like confusion and dream eater by psychic type Pokemon will no longer work on the trainer. Anyone trying to read his or her mind will also be unable to do so as they will be bombarded by the protection offered by the respective type Aura. 

However, I believe that the most important benefit provided is the massive increase in growth speed of all bonded Pokemon of compatible types. That means that after I unlock Aura, my Water type Pokemon will grow thrice as fast as they should while Pokemon of compatible types will grow twice as fast. This is extremely crucial because after reaching Elite level, the time taken for a substantial increase in strength is very long.

This is the glaring flaw of following the path of generalists. Without unlocking aura, any substantial increase in strength at that level will take at least five years of continuous training. The strength of even the most talented generalists will inevitably plateau. 

That is not to say that there are no downsides to unlocking Aura. The unlocked Aura type will have a profound impact on the personality of the trainer. Moreover, the type Aura will also be harmful to bonded Pokemon of the opposing types. 

For example, after I unlock Water type Aura, the growth speed of Ground, Rock, and Fire Type Pokemon without a Water Dual Type will be reduced to a quarter of what it should be. The pokemon in question will also become very uncomfortable and irritable.

It is also impossible for one individual to unlock Aura of more than one type. All this combined was essentially the death knell for my hopes of becoming a generalist and taking full advantage of my meta knowledge. All my dreams of riding a Charizard, playing with a Tyranitar, and fighting alongside a Garchomp were shattered.

However, according to records, there exist special individuals who are born with a special type of Aura called Universal Aura. The most famous example is without doubt Sir Aaron. Universal Aura is active from birth and provides a three times boost to the growth speed of all types of Pokemon. This is also the only type of Aura in Humans that can be manifested outside the body. Sir Aaron was also able to make constructs and attacks out of pure Aura so there is that possibility. 

The anime also showed that those with the Universal Aura could speak with all Pokemon. Honestly, the information about Aura is not publicly available and Universal Aura is the stuff of legends. No one knows the full extent of the benefits this provides. My father and most of the other Elites speculate that Professor or more appropriately Ex-Champion Oak was born with Universal Aura.

Even though he has never confirmed this or even showcased the ability to manifest Aura outside the body, I personally believe that his generalist Champion level team should be proof enough. From the anime, I know that Ash and Riley will also have Universal Aura. And considering her future achievements, I am sure that the despicable Cynthia was also born with Universal Aura.

I mean that unfair advantage is no doubt the only reason she is so strong. The overwhelming power of her Garchomp is simply not natural. No matter what anyone says, she is basically cheating. And I am not just saying this because she eliminated me in the Sinnoh Conference.

I mean what other explanation could there be of how she beat me. She was twenty years old and had been a Pokemon trainer for four years, the same time as me. I knew about all her Pokemon. I knew which strategies she prefers. Hell, I even knew which moves her Pokemon prefers. In spite of all this, she basically curb stomped me. Kingdra was no match for her Garchomp, Princess. Hell, none of my Pokemon were.

That's another reason I dislike her. Who names such a powerful Garchomp, Princess. Who does that?! At least, my Milotic was able to beat hers which clearly shows that I am the better Water Type Trainer. If only I had been able to evolve and register Milotic's evolution before she got hers.

And the worst part is that after the battle, all she cared about was what kind of ice cream I liked! I spent four years training my Pokemon with single minded determination. Every single one of my pokemon were pumped and excited to give it their all. I had a chance to make history by being the first trainer to win a regional conference on his first attempt.

And after crushing all this, the only thing on her mind was ice cream. I don't care what Richard says. This is not me twisting the slight crush I may have had on her before our matchup to cope with loss. There is only one word I need to describe my feelings towards her: Hate, pure unadulterated Hate. 

"Milo! Milotic!" " Gardevoir!"

Milotic released a wave of energy to calm my feelings and nudged her eyebrows on my cheek. Gardevoir also sent positive feelings using telepathy. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to center myself. 

"Milo! Tic!"

"No, I was just thinking about Cynthia and that awful Garchomp, Princess. She is despicable, isn't she?"

"Milotic!" The sharpening of her eyes and fierce expression accentuated just how she felt about them. They had hurt me so she would hurt them. 

I wasted no time in hugging her. I loved how simple the reason for her support was. She may be a little spoiled, vain, and act hurt to get what she wants from me, but when it mattered, she would always have my back. To hell with Garchomp, she was the real Princess.

"Gardevoir!" This was not the first time she had voiced her disapproval. Fairy Types… couldn't she just go with the flow and at least dislike Cynthia?

Gardevoir may point out how hatred is not a healthy emotion all she wants, but it doesn't change the fact that it is an amazing driving force. In the year after the tournament, Milotic and Blastoise became Elite level Pokemon and both Gyarados and Swampert were close to doing the same.

I looked into Milotic's eyes as I made the same proclamation I had a year ago. "The next time we meet her, she is going down." 

"Milotic!"

"Kingdra!" Kingdra was the first to return and voiced his agreement to my statement without even knowing who the 'she' was. That is true unconditional loyalty. I got up from my position at the edge of the lake and enveloped him in a hug. 

"King?"

"We were just discussing how we will completely crush Cynthia and her Garchomp."

He nodded his head in understanding. He would always have my back. I am sure that the next time Kingdra will be more than a match for Princess.

"Garde?" Gardevoir, not willing to jump onto the 'Hate Cynthia' bandwagon, was evidently trying to shift focus from the issue. Well, finding a Mega Stone was definitely the more important topic.

"King. Kingdra!" He shook his head in denial.

This was an all too familiar response. Well all I could hope was that the others had better news. If not, we will have to continue the search tomorrow. I mean the Lake of Rage has to have a Gyaradosite, right? If Gyarados Lake does not have a Mega Stone, I seriously do not know where we can find one. Does it completely depend on chance?

Blastoise was the next one back. He also replied in the negative and joined the others as they started discussing their day and how they fought the pokemon that acted as an obstacle to the search. 

Vaporeon materialized out of the water right in front of Milotic in an attempt to scare her. However, all of us had grown kind of used to Vaporeon turning back from water. Nonetheless, Milotic made a scared expression and Vaporeon cheered in triumph. He was kind of like an excitable younger sibling and his reactions were extremely cute.

On the other hand, Gyarados was still not back. It had been over ten minutes since he left. Did they set up an ambush or something? Even if he was ambushed, he should have been able to crush them with no difficulty.

Mantine also flew back in time for lunch. Starmie arrived a few minutes later. I guess we'll just resume the search tomorrow. Right now, I am more worried about Gyarados.

"Kingdra Can you check up on Gyarados? He should have been back by now."

Kingdra nodded from his position in the water and was about to depart when a huge splash of water was followed by the arrival of Gyarados. He was radiating excitement and happiness.

"What happened? Did you achieve the breakthrough?"

His excitement dimmed a little at that. As Mantine extended a fin to comfort him, he perked up again and said "GYARADOS!!"

"What do you mean you found it? A Mega Stone?"

I was rendered speechless. The others had spent hours searching while he was gone for less than twenty minutes.

The news emanated a cheer from my Pokemon. Blastoise wasted no time in sprinting towards Gyarados. 

"Blast! Blastoise?" He congratulated Gyarados but he was more interested in finding out what Mega Stone it was.

As he extended his hand, Gyarados let out a mournful sigh and shook his head. He apparently didn't get the Mega Stone. 

"Blastoise!!"

"Calm down, Blastoise. If we know the location, we can just retrieve it. Though, why didn't you just beat up the other Gyarados and take it?"

"Gyara."

"If you feel he was stronger, then there is no doubt you did the correct thing by retreating. The other Gyarados may be an old and experienced Elite Pokemon. Still, he will be no match for us as a team. We just need a plan. Gardevoir, please transmit the location from Gyarados to all of us."

As she did so, we could all see the mental picture of a large, scarred Gyarados who was sleeping coiled around an amber stone which had the iconic glowing double helix symbol inside it. It was clearly his prized possession. Another interesting fact was that all the other Pokemon seemed to be avoiding his location. So, that means he is either the leader or someone very feared.

Still, there was one thing that was still bothering me. How did Gyarados find it so fast? Was there some important information I was missing? Well, I could get the answer right now, so why speculate.

Gyarados' reply made me realize an important connection I had not formed. He said that after he beat down the opponent, he felt drawn to that location. Like it was calling out to him. I mean I should have realized this a lot sooner. 

Why else would a Queen Beedrill, who has no inclination to store rocks, collect and make a subordinate guard the Mega Stone with her life? How could she even find a seemingly ordinary rock? The same with this Gyarados. Why did he value this uncut Gyaradosite more than all the other rocks on the lake bed?

Pokemon were drawn to their respective mega stones. They could feel its importance even if they had no idea on how to use it. This was information I could use. It would make the search for future mega stones so much easier.

"Alright everyone. Before we begin planning, we need to eat lunch and rest. The Mega Stone is not going anywhere. All of you need to be at your best when we hunt that Mega Stone."

________________________________________________________________________________________

[POV: KINGDRA]

I led my fellow teammates as we followed Gyarados underwater to the location of the Mega Stone. I was second in command and served as the Monarch in Alex's absence. My fellow Pokemon may be family but they understood the importance of chain of command and following my instructions in this battle.

I still remember when I was granted the prestigious title of Field General. I was only a little Horsea at the time, surrounded by members of my shoal. All my brothers and sisters admired our father Kingdra and their biggest dream was to one day become a Monarch just like him. 

However, I had even bigger ambitions. I knew that the members of our shoal had a much greater chance of becoming a Kingdra than in the outside world. Every generation, there were at least two Seadra who ascended to become a Monarch.

And unlike the others, I was not content with just that. I did not want to be just another Kingdra who would be forgotten after his time. I wanted to make an impact. I wanted to be remembered. I wanted to become a legend.

The only path to achieving my dream was through strength. I pushed myself harder and absorbed everything I could learn from the Seadra watching over us. While the others played, I trained. While the others slept, I trained. 

I also learnt how important the bond between humans and Pokemon was to increasing my Strength. From what Seadra informed us, all the delicious food was given to us by the human companion of my father. The human also taught my father many powerful moves like Blizzard. My father and the human had also gone on many adventures and fought together. The human was loyal to my father and my father was loyal to his human.

I wanted that. I wanted a human who would understand me and teach me powerful moves. I wanted someone who would push me and train me to be my very best. Someone to go on adventures with and spread my legend. I wanted to form an unbreakable bond as both of us ascended to greatness.

When I looked into the eyes of Alex and found the same burning passion to achieve greatness, I knew I had found my human. He did not want to be just another Elite trainer in the long line of Waterflowers, just as I did not want to be just another Kingdra. 

The more he talked and told me about his dreams and aspirations, the more confidence I gained that I had chosen the right human to pledge my allegiance to. Honestly, the nights when it was just the two of us, him talking about various different things as we both gazed at the enormous expanse of the night sky are among my fondest memories. 

I will admit that I had grown very attached. He was my human. There were moments early in our journey when I feared that I would lose the title of Field General. As a Horsea, I could not spend much time away from the water while my other teammates like Squirtle and Staryu could easily accompany my human while traveling. 

Then Squirtle evolved into Wartortle and surpassed me in strength and my fear began to grow. I was supposed to be Alex's Ace, his strongest pokemon… his second in command. I began to doubt myself. If I could not even be the strongest in the team, how would I ever be great? Me and Alex were supposed to forge our legend together. Would he replace me with Wartortle now that he was the strongest?

It was in this moment of weakness that our bond was most tested and Alex proved beyond a shadow of doubt that my trust in him was not misplaced. He ensured that we spent more time near water bodies and encouraged me and pushed me harder. Even when I was not the strongest, I was still his most trusted, his Field General. 

It was then I realized there was something more valuable to me than strength: Loyalty. Even when Feebas transformed into Milotic and surpassed Blastoise in strength, I was always the second in command. No matter what, Alex always had my back and I would always have his. 

I trained harder, learnt how to anticipate my opponents to exploit their shortcomings and increased my control over water type energy. Finally on the fateful day when I ascended and became a Monarch, I reclaimed my position as the Strongest and proved that his trust in me was not misplaced.

He has never let me down. Just like he promised, I was the one beside him when we won the big tournament. In that moment I could practically feel that we had completed the first step in the path to becoming Legends. To me, it didn't matter if what Alex said or did may be wrong or morally ambiguous. I will always support him just as he has always supported me. 

________________________________________________________________________________________

I want to highlight that the MC is an unreliable narrator. He has his own set of flaws like the fear of being insignificant. More importantly, even with all the extra knowledge, he is still a teenager.

I will NOT be bashing Cynthia in this fic. In fact, Cynthia is one of my favorite Pokemon Champions. Her Garchomp is iconic. I also want to elaborate on Alex's perspective: He has this deep rooted insecurity that he will not amount to anything and be forgotten like in 'canon'. He works hard and gives it his everything. Then a canon character comes along and simply destroys him even with his meta knowledge cheat. This leads to a crisis of faith in himself and his current feelings are basically a coping mechanism.

I have also decided on a Tentative list of his Pokemon. Please keep in mind that he has been a trainer for over five years. 

Pokemon [1] - [10] are basically finalized while I am open to making changes in Pokemon listed from [11] to [16]. I wanted to limit his roster to a twelve but there are just so many awesome Water Type Pokemon.

Alex:

[1] Kingdra [2] Milotic

[3] Blastoise [4] Swampert

[5] Gyarados [6] Vaporeon

[7] Lapras [8] Starmie

[9] Gardevior [10] Mantine

[11] Azumarill [12] Gastrodon 

[13] Slowking [14] Poliwrath

[15] Empoleon [16] Dragalge

I also want to give credit to OllieZz on SpaceBattles. I included Starmie on the list mainly because of this suggestion : "I imagine an elite Starmie as an fast orbiting Drone that shot lasers beams (dazzling gleam, flash cannon, ice beam, power gem, psybeam, etc...) that can shield/protect, recover health, self-heal status through ability, provide utility as a psychic, play with types using reflect type/camouflage... They offer a lot of possibilities." 

Also please comment on which Dragon Pokemon you want him to capture at the Dragon's Den. It can only be from Generation I - IV excluding Garchomp because of Aura reasons.

I also tried writing from the POV of Kingdra. Is this any good or was it too over the top? Please review whether you liked it and would want to see more different POVs.