Before anything, start here
“Don’t let up yet Gengar!” Brendan encouraged, “Let’s throw him off with another Confuse Ray!” Brendans’ Shadow Pokémon grinned as his eyes began to softly glow and the air around him grew dark, preparing to blind his opponent with a disorienting flash.
“Not falling for that one twice!” A teenager in shorts and a cap boasted, before turning to his Pokémon; a large blue turtle on two burly legs, short arms, and two metal cannons peeking between his shoulders and shell like shoulder pads. “Cannon, throw up a Rapid Spin, and keep your head down!” The Blastoise responded quickly, throwing himself directly at Gengar, tucking his limbs into his massive shell, inertia quickly taking hold as the shell rotated rapidly on its collision course. Straight through the Gengar and out the other end, having no effect on the ghost type- “Psyche! Switch up and use Whirlpool!” Blastoise, while still spinning, opened up its shoulder cannons and began to spout water that swirled around him, forming a ring that grew into a cylinder, growing outwards until it was a seven-foot tall cyclone of water. Caught completely off guard by the move, Brendan failed to warn Gengar of the threat, and the Pokémon was caught up in the maelstrom, becoming a dark spot in the raging whirlpool. Blastoise meanwhile, burst his way out from the base of his own creation, standing back to admire his continued handiwork.
“Oh no, Gengar’s trapped…” Brendan grimaced, already figuring out what was coming next.
“Right where I want ya… Ready Cannon!” Blastoise opened up his shoulder cannons again, falling onto all fours, both of his armaments aimed directly at Gengar. “Aim… Hydro Pump!” Blastoise tensed, and two high-pressure streams of water burst from his cannons, flying in a straight line into the whirlpool, cutting through its current like knives. Both spouts hit Gengar hard enough to propel him out of the whirlpool and send him crashing into the ground, knocked out.
“Gengar!” Brendan shouted, running over to check on the Pokémon.
“Whoo hoo! We won!” the teenager shouted, punching the air in glee. “If we can beat Brendan, we can win at the league for sure! Now, do any of you fine fans want to come home and see my badges?” Within minutes, the teenager and his entourage of fans had cleared the arena, leaving Brendan behind with the few spectators that were rooting for him.
“How’s Gengar?” a voice spoke up behind him, Brendan looked back at the young man with shoulder-length dark hair and a red headband.
“Dazed,” Brendan answered, keeping his eyes trained on his Gengar, “… but he should be back on his feet in a few minutes.”
“That’s good,” there was an awkward pause that lasted a full minute. The man kept his eyes fixed on Brendan, a pale young man not much younger than he was, with bleach-whited hair, a headband, and blue, almost dull eyes. “You know, you used to be one of Tom’s idols, not too long ago in fact.”
“Yeah, last time I saw him; he only had Cannon, as a Squirtle, for a few weeks. Hard to imagine how much stronger he’s gotten since then.”
“Tom’s grown a lot, in more ways than one… but that’s not the only reason he won.” Brendan didn’t reply, but he stopped patching up Gengar, leaving his hands on his lap.
“You’re usually more careful out there, I’ve seen you anticipate traps like that before. You have a lot on your mind.”
“Well Dad’s in a wheelchair, so that’s a given.”
“I know; Romans’ condition has been worsening recently. That’s not the only thing on your mind though. You’ve been hanging around Pallet Town for nearly six months; you haven’t stayed here this long since you first left seven years ago. This isn’t you, and it’s wearing you down, like a spring that’s been wound up too tight.”
“Well somebody has to take care of Dad, he was fine before, but he can’t do much on his own now!”
“Yet you’re picking fights here with youngsters…” there was a long pause. “This isn’t the first time your worries held you back. But if you didn’t go out on this journey, do you think you’d have done the things you’ve already done. Is this something he’d really want you to do? Just think about it.” He then turned and walked away. Brendan remained there, unmoving and swimming in his own thoughts. His trance was eventually broken by a pat on the face from Gengar. Brendan looked up to see the Phantom Pokémon with a small grin on his face, an unspoken word that Brendan understood.
“Alright, you got me. Let’s just get you back for now.” Brendan pulled out a pokeball and returned Gengar to it, before moving on.
Brendan quickly walked back to his dad’s house, which was close to middle of the town. The place looked a lot smaller nowadays, then again, it was Brendan that got bigger. It wasn’t very well kept either, the grass especially, was yellowing and flattened, the latter due to Brendan’s own Pokémon. Brendan sighed; it wasn’t too small for him either, but his growing Pokémon collection as well. And it didn’t help that most of Brendan’s team became heavy bruisers like Rhyperior. Brendan crept inside, careful to avoid stepping on the especially creaky floorboards, since his dad was probably napping in the nearby room. Brendan stopped when he found a neat stack of Pokéballs on the table inside, in a simple glass case with light didn’t he leave his team upstairs? Brendan nonchalantly opened up the case, peering at the shiny balls inside. If anything, Brendan spent a lot of time polishing them lately. He picked up one and looked at it closely, a blue ball with small red extensions on the sides like little ears, he knew exactly what Pokémon was held inside. He could barely remember the last time he had a proper battle with it: some three or four years ago in Pewter City against a Zangoose. Is that too long? At that thought, the ball suddenly felt heavy for a moment, and shook briefly. It looks like he was thinking the same thing.
“Brendan.” Brendan snapped his head around to see a man in his early fifties with grey hair with black hairs weaving around it. The man was sat down in a simple wheelchair with his immobile legs hanging free. In both hands was a large envelope. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I just, spaced out a little there.” Brendan answered quickly, holding the ball against his side. “Did you bring down my case?”
“I tried to, Machop did it in the end.”
“Mach,” the short grey Pokémon confirmed, walking around from behind the wheelchair. In recent days, Machop had gone from Brendan’s main travel Pokémon to his dad’s main caretaker when Brendan was on his little ‘walks’.
“What for?”
“To talk to you.” He paused before continuing, “I’m going to be going up to Saffron for a few months to meet up with some associates. We have deadlines to meet and I need to get hands-on with the staff.”
“Of course, I’m sure Machop could accompany you for that.”
“Thank you, but Machop is staying with you, for good reason. It’s only the legs that don’t work anyway: I can cope without a helper.”
“This doesn’t concern you though, what I wanted to tell you about is this.” He handed Brendan the envelope, Brendan looked at the back and saw that it was already opened, the Silph Seal on the back in two pieces. “My high praise of you didn’t fall on deaf ears after all, and the management is scouting for trainers like you. Now, before you say anything, I already heard about your scuffle this morning, and the two you’ve had last week. I can tell that you’re not happy with being stuck here with nothing to work towards, and that’s hurting me too. If you cared about your old man’s well being, you would not let my problems keep you from what you want to do.” He stopped, looking at Brendan intently, expecting him to read the letter, even though it was already clear what was in it.
Brendan slowly opened up the envelope, pulling out a letter and a silver card with a star symbol on it, a pokeball in the middle of the star. Brendan opened up and quickly read the invitation in the letter, already deciding on what he was going to do.
One month later…
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls,” A voice echoed through the streets of Saffron City. On numerous television screens, the announcer could be seen at a modern coffee table in a large chair holding a microphone close to his face. “I bet you’re having a wonderful summer in our Golden City of Saffron, and not just because we have something extra special for you this year. I hope you’re all as excited as we are, because this year, we are bringing you the Glory Stars Cup! A new, once-in-a-lifetime Pokémon battle tournament set to compete with the Pokémon League itself! We’re pulling all the stops out for this season! Bringing in many talented trainers of all flavours from Kanto and beyond! There’s no telling what will happen in the coming weeks, as over a hundred trainers duke it out in a fierce competition to see who stands above all the rest, who has the strongest will and the toughest Pokémon, who can bring home, the Glory Stars Cup! Even as I speak, these eager fighters are making their way to the Silph Co. Headquarters; our local sponsors for this incredible event, to ready them for the first round. And you can watch it all right here! This time tomorrow! Where we give you a special exhibition match before we send the trainers into the ring. And we expect to see you folks there too! May the Glory of Battle take them to the Stars!”
Brendan shuffled through the busy streets, ducking and weaving his way around the many people that walked these paths. In any other place, you’d be able to tell from the activity that there was something special going on, here though, it was just another day in this city of skyscrapers. The summer weather was heavy upon the city, and the poor fashion choice by most of the corporate employees left the early evening air feel rank with the sweat of another day at the office. Brendan could see the large Silph.Co Building dominating most of the skyline, even when he was still at least twenty blocks away. Each of the other skyscrapers seemed to bow down in shame in the face of the massive building. It is here that they manufactured pokeballs, Potions, and many other tools of the trainer.
What really stood out in the building though, were the addition of several domes at the top of the skyscraper, huddled tightly around each other like petals on the end of a flower stalk. Apparently, the tournament itself was taking place right at the top. It was already obvious how much Silph Co was flaunting their sponsorship with this tournament. Brendan knew from his dad that it was supposed to be an advertising scheme, for what though, he kept a tight lip. No doubt though, his dad was doing some work relating to the tournament, so he should be up in the arena right now.
Today though, Brendan wasn’t going there, registration was already taken care of, so he just had to show up tomorrow. He would need a place for the night, so the Pokémon Centre to the south should do for that.
“Don’t let up yet Gengar!” Brendan encouraged, “Let’s throw him off with another Confuse Ray!” Brendans’ Shadow Pokémon grinned as his eyes began to softly glow and the air around him grew dark, preparing to blind his opponent with a disorienting flash.
“Not falling for that one twice!” A teenager in shorts and a cap boasted, before turning to his Pokémon; a large blue turtle on two burly legs, short arms, and two metal cannons peeking between his shoulders and shell like shoulder pads. “Cannon, throw up a Rapid Spin, and keep your head down!” The Blastoise responded quickly, throwing himself directly at Gengar, tucking his limbs into his massive shell, inertia quickly taking hold as the shell rotated rapidly on its collision course. Straight through the Gengar and out the other end, having no effect on the ghost type- “Psyche! Switch up and use Whirlpool!” Blastoise, while still spinning, opened up its shoulder cannons and began to spout water that swirled around him, forming a ring that grew into a cylinder, growing outwards until it was a seven-foot tall cyclone of water. Caught completely off guard by the move, Brendan failed to warn Gengar of the threat, and the Pokémon was caught up in the maelstrom, becoming a dark spot in the raging whirlpool. Blastoise meanwhile, burst his way out from the base of his own creation, standing back to admire his continued handiwork.
“Oh no, Gengar’s trapped…” Brendan grimaced, already figuring out what was coming next.
“Right where I want ya… Ready Cannon!” Blastoise opened up his shoulder cannons again, falling onto all fours, both of his armaments aimed directly at Gengar. “Aim… Hydro Pump!” Blastoise tensed, and two high-pressure streams of water burst from his cannons, flying in a straight line into the whirlpool, cutting through its current like knives. Both spouts hit Gengar hard enough to propel him out of the whirlpool and send him crashing into the ground, knocked out.
“Gengar!” Brendan shouted, running over to check on the Pokémon.
“Whoo hoo! We won!” the teenager shouted, punching the air in glee. “If we can beat Brendan, we can win at the league for sure! Now, do any of you fine fans want to come home and see my badges?” Within minutes, the teenager and his entourage of fans had cleared the arena, leaving Brendan behind with the few spectators that were rooting for him.
“How’s Gengar?” a voice spoke up behind him, Brendan looked back at the young man with shoulder-length dark hair and a red headband.
“Dazed,” Brendan answered, keeping his eyes trained on his Gengar, “… but he should be back on his feet in a few minutes.”
“That’s good,” there was an awkward pause that lasted a full minute. The man kept his eyes fixed on Brendan, a pale young man not much younger than he was, with bleach-whited hair, a headband, and blue, almost dull eyes. “You know, you used to be one of Tom’s idols, not too long ago in fact.”
“Yeah, last time I saw him; he only had Cannon, as a Squirtle, for a few weeks. Hard to imagine how much stronger he’s gotten since then.”
“Tom’s grown a lot, in more ways than one… but that’s not the only reason he won.” Brendan didn’t reply, but he stopped patching up Gengar, leaving his hands on his lap.
“You’re usually more careful out there, I’ve seen you anticipate traps like that before. You have a lot on your mind.”
“Well Dad’s in a wheelchair, so that’s a given.”
“I know; Romans’ condition has been worsening recently. That’s not the only thing on your mind though. You’ve been hanging around Pallet Town for nearly six months; you haven’t stayed here this long since you first left seven years ago. This isn’t you, and it’s wearing you down, like a spring that’s been wound up too tight.”
“Well somebody has to take care of Dad, he was fine before, but he can’t do much on his own now!”
“Yet you’re picking fights here with youngsters…” there was a long pause. “This isn’t the first time your worries held you back. But if you didn’t go out on this journey, do you think you’d have done the things you’ve already done. Is this something he’d really want you to do? Just think about it.” He then turned and walked away. Brendan remained there, unmoving and swimming in his own thoughts. His trance was eventually broken by a pat on the face from Gengar. Brendan looked up to see the Phantom Pokémon with a small grin on his face, an unspoken word that Brendan understood.
“Alright, you got me. Let’s just get you back for now.” Brendan pulled out a pokeball and returned Gengar to it, before moving on.
Brendan quickly walked back to his dad’s house, which was close to middle of the town. The place looked a lot smaller nowadays, then again, it was Brendan that got bigger. It wasn’t very well kept either, the grass especially, was yellowing and flattened, the latter due to Brendan’s own Pokémon. Brendan sighed; it wasn’t too small for him either, but his growing Pokémon collection as well. And it didn’t help that most of Brendan’s team became heavy bruisers like Rhyperior. Brendan crept inside, careful to avoid stepping on the especially creaky floorboards, since his dad was probably napping in the nearby room. Brendan stopped when he found a neat stack of Pokéballs on the table inside, in a simple glass case with light didn’t he leave his team upstairs? Brendan nonchalantly opened up the case, peering at the shiny balls inside. If anything, Brendan spent a lot of time polishing them lately. He picked up one and looked at it closely, a blue ball with small red extensions on the sides like little ears, he knew exactly what Pokémon was held inside. He could barely remember the last time he had a proper battle with it: some three or four years ago in Pewter City against a Zangoose. Is that too long? At that thought, the ball suddenly felt heavy for a moment, and shook briefly. It looks like he was thinking the same thing.
“Brendan.” Brendan snapped his head around to see a man in his early fifties with grey hair with black hairs weaving around it. The man was sat down in a simple wheelchair with his immobile legs hanging free. In both hands was a large envelope. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I just, spaced out a little there.” Brendan answered quickly, holding the ball against his side. “Did you bring down my case?”
“I tried to, Machop did it in the end.”
“Mach,” the short grey Pokémon confirmed, walking around from behind the wheelchair. In recent days, Machop had gone from Brendan’s main travel Pokémon to his dad’s main caretaker when Brendan was on his little ‘walks’.
“What for?”
“To talk to you.” He paused before continuing, “I’m going to be going up to Saffron for a few months to meet up with some associates. We have deadlines to meet and I need to get hands-on with the staff.”
“Of course, I’m sure Machop could accompany you for that.”
“Thank you, but Machop is staying with you, for good reason. It’s only the legs that don’t work anyway: I can cope without a helper.”
“This doesn’t concern you though, what I wanted to tell you about is this.” He handed Brendan the envelope, Brendan looked at the back and saw that it was already opened, the Silph Seal on the back in two pieces. “My high praise of you didn’t fall on deaf ears after all, and the management is scouting for trainers like you. Now, before you say anything, I already heard about your scuffle this morning, and the two you’ve had last week. I can tell that you’re not happy with being stuck here with nothing to work towards, and that’s hurting me too. If you cared about your old man’s well being, you would not let my problems keep you from what you want to do.” He stopped, looking at Brendan intently, expecting him to read the letter, even though it was already clear what was in it.
Brendan slowly opened up the envelope, pulling out a letter and a silver card with a star symbol on it, a pokeball in the middle of the star. Brendan opened up and quickly read the invitation in the letter, already deciding on what he was going to do.
One month later…
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls,” A voice echoed through the streets of Saffron City. On numerous television screens, the announcer could be seen at a modern coffee table in a large chair holding a microphone close to his face. “I bet you’re having a wonderful summer in our Golden City of Saffron, and not just because we have something extra special for you this year. I hope you’re all as excited as we are, because this year, we are bringing you the Glory Stars Cup! A new, once-in-a-lifetime Pokémon battle tournament set to compete with the Pokémon League itself! We’re pulling all the stops out for this season! Bringing in many talented trainers of all flavours from Kanto and beyond! There’s no telling what will happen in the coming weeks, as over a hundred trainers duke it out in a fierce competition to see who stands above all the rest, who has the strongest will and the toughest Pokémon, who can bring home, the Glory Stars Cup! Even as I speak, these eager fighters are making their way to the Silph Co. Headquarters; our local sponsors for this incredible event, to ready them for the first round. And you can watch it all right here! This time tomorrow! Where we give you a special exhibition match before we send the trainers into the ring. And we expect to see you folks there too! May the Glory of Battle take them to the Stars!”
Brendan shuffled through the busy streets, ducking and weaving his way around the many people that walked these paths. In any other place, you’d be able to tell from the activity that there was something special going on, here though, it was just another day in this city of skyscrapers. The summer weather was heavy upon the city, and the poor fashion choice by most of the corporate employees left the early evening air feel rank with the sweat of another day at the office. Brendan could see the large Silph.Co Building dominating most of the skyline, even when he was still at least twenty blocks away. Each of the other skyscrapers seemed to bow down in shame in the face of the massive building. It is here that they manufactured pokeballs, Potions, and many other tools of the trainer.
What really stood out in the building though, were the addition of several domes at the top of the skyscraper, huddled tightly around each other like petals on the end of a flower stalk. Apparently, the tournament itself was taking place right at the top. It was already obvious how much Silph Co was flaunting their sponsorship with this tournament. Brendan knew from his dad that it was supposed to be an advertising scheme, for what though, he kept a tight lip. No doubt though, his dad was doing some work relating to the tournament, so he should be up in the arena right now.
Today though, Brendan wasn’t going there, registration was already taken care of, so he just had to show up tomorrow. He would need a place for the night, so the Pokémon Centre to the south should do for that.
