Pokemon: Arceus' Champion

"Breakfast is ready!"

I looked up as Joy's voice rang out, heralding her arrival with a cart full of food for all of my pokemon.

"Good timing." I said while looking to the collapsed figures around me, Chloe, Misty, May and Dawn. They had tried to join in on our typical morning training, but it ended up exactly as one might expect.

"I made them some energizing smoothies to go with their breakfast." Joy said without missing a beat, apparently already having expected this outcome.

"You're the best!" I said while giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, making Joy blush even as she handed out food to our pokemon.

"Would you do the honors, Chansey?" I asked my happy little healer.

"Chansey Chance!" She trilled happily, before using the move Heal Pulse on the girls and I.

Immediately the ache in my muscles vanished as the damage done to them healed, along with the girls as they all readily got to their feet.

"Come on, time for breakfast." I said amongst their grumbling and groaning after the intense workout. Not even my new pokemon grumbled this much from our training.

"Oh Ace! There's something I thought you should see on the tv, so I paused it for you to watch while eating." Joy hurriedly said as we started walking back towards the house.

"???"

"Ok!" I called back to her, wondering what it was she wanted me to see.

It didn't take me long to figure it out though, as the girls and I piled our dishes high with food before gathering in the living room to eat and watch tv.

"Welcome back to another VERY special episode of Gabby's Corner! Today we will be covering a topic that has been the subject of much debate over the last week, Red Ketchum!"

"!!!"

I cocked a brow in surprise as Gabby mentioned my father, who had been exposed to the world by Giovanni before the battle began aboard the SS. Anne. Until then, almost no one knew who Red was since he had flown under the radar for most of his life.

"There has been much debate and controversy regarding Red Ketchum for the last week, ever since Giovanni revealed his existence and who he is to the world. Most notably is the growing following Red has received from people considering him the 'true' Champion of Kanto and Johto instead of Lance, who has consequently been subjected to the scrutiny and loss of faith from his own people.

"But who is Red Ketchum? Where has been for the last seventeen years that no one has seen or heard from him? And why has he returned only now to challenge Lance for the Champion position?

"That's right folks! Red Ketchum has issued a challenge to Lance for the position of Champion over both the Kanto and Johto regions! Their battle will be held in four days on the Indigo Plateau, and will determine the future of the Kanto region! And to answer those questions for us, here is Red Ketchum himself!"

"!?!"

I blinked as the camera panned to show someone sitting in a chair next to Gabby, which was of course Red.

"Good morning Red, and thank you for being here with me today!"

"Good morning Gabby, and thank you for having me." Red said back to her, appearing completely cool, calm and collected under the lights and camera, but I could tell he wasn't enjoying any of this.

"What is Red doing?" Chloe asked curiously.

"Probably prempting any potential negative rumors and backlash." I answered, recalling similar situations in my previous life. I then continued as the girls looked at me confusedly,

"There are too many holes regarding Red's background. There is a LOT of room for people to make up their own versions and theories about where he has been, and what he has been doing. I'm willing to bet that Red is trying to fill in those holes himself before people's imaginations can run wild."

As I finished speaking Gabby continued the interview as she asked Red the first question.

"First of all, why did you initially reject the chance to become Champion after you defeated both Lance and Blue twenty years ago?"

"Easy, I had no interest in the position." Red answered naturally. "All I wanted at the time was to see just how far my pokemon and I could go, to test ourselves fully against what was there to test ourselves with at the time."

"I see. I suppose not every single trainer would be interested in becoming the highest form of government within a region. They are known to value their freedom after all. Which brings me to my next question, where have you been, and what have you been doing for the last seventeen years?

"As a normal trainer it would be understandable for you to continue traveling to raise your pokemon further, but as a husband and father it is strange that you did not return to visit, contact anyone, or even say what you were doing for all that time."

"Ah yes... It is my greatest regret that I was unable to watch my boys grow to be the outstanding young men they are today. The reason for that though is because of a strong premonition of danger I had received when they were born, courtesy of my aura abilities."

"How interesting... Can you tell us, what is aura?" Gabby asked, probably because I had been using mine so liberally, and there was the aura kingdom to the north of Rota.

"Aura is a type of energy that all living things possess, humans, pokemon, even plants. Similarly to psychic powers, some humans are born with the ability to manipulate and control their aura, while most have a certain gift with theirs. Mine is a sort of sixth sense, warning me of danger usually. It was this same warning that drove me to leave my family, so that I may ensure that my sons could grow up safe and happy in a peaceful world. Had I known about Team Rocket, and how incompetent Lance would be in dealing with them, I never would have left."

As he mentioned Lance, Red scowled irritably in a way that told of the bad blood between the two of them.

"Do you and Lance have a long-standing rivalry?" Gabby eagerly asked.

"Not at all." Red immediately answered.

"Lance is the acting Champion of Kanto and Johto. That is a fact that I was content to let be, regardless of his decisions and the results of them. But the fact is that Lance has done next to nothing to combat Team Rocket and their rise to power, while my son was the one putting himself into harms way to fight them.

"Ace revealed their existance five years ago after being mauled by a pack of Houndour being led by a Houndoom. Ace protected the Viridian city Pokemon Center when it was attacked a few months ago, and then protected the Fossil Sanctuary in Pewter city soon after. Coordinating the assault on their Pewter city bases, halting their operations in Mt. Moon, turning one of their Legendary pokemon against them, protecting the Cerulean city Gym, defending the people of Lavender town, taking down Surge in Vermillion, and everything aboard the SS. Anne. All of that was Ace, while Lance was content to sit on sidelines as someone fresh out of childhood did the fighting for him.

"If Lance had been doing his job, then none of that would have been necessary. My son wouldn't have had to fight until he was on the verge of death's door numerous times. That is why I now intend to take the Champion position from him after all this time."

When Red finished speaking Gabby could only stare at him in awe, apparently at a loss for words until one of the crew members cleared their throat.

"Ehem! So, how confident are you in defeating Lance when you do battle one another?" She asked after remembering herself.

"Completely." Red immediately answered.

"He may not realize it, but by instilling the Conferences and limiting the challengers the Elite Four receives, he set them on the path of a slow decline. Trainers and pokemon only grow by constantly challenging themselves, no matter what level of the League you find yourself in. How could I possibly see myself losing to a man scared of accepting challengers?"

"Amazing... I have a few more questions if you don't mind!"

"Of course."

The rest of the show was Gabby asking some general questions about Red himself, such as his favorite pokemon, what kind of pokemon he had, and so on. until they finally got to the end of the interview.

"We're down to the last few minutes now. Is there anything else you would like to add before things come to a close?" Gabby asked Red finally.

"Only that tomorrow I will participating in exhibition matches against the Champions of Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Galar, and the representive Champion of Paldea. If anyone wishes to spectate, then they are welcome to come and do so." Red stated while looking directly into the camera.

"Amazing! Well I look forward to covering these matches as well! See you all tomorrow for the exciting Champion battle-palooza! See you next time on Gabby's Corner!"

I turned the tv off as the interview ended, leaving us sitting in silence as we finished off the last few bites of our food.

"I can't believe that Red is going to challenge the other Champions as well!" Chloe said in amazement.

"Its probably because once he beats Lance they won't be able to." I told her.

"Yeah, there are rules restricting offical Champions from battling one another. If not, then Nemona wouldn't have been so quick to challenge everyone else on board the SS. Anne." Misty stated knowingly.

"It'll be fun to watch!" Dawn exclaimed excitedly.

"Some of it at least. Tomorrow is when I plan to challenge Erika." I stated.

"Already?" Chloe asked curiously.

"Yeah. I mean, I probably could have gone and swept her entire Gym the first day I woke up with Charizard. The only reason I waited was to get back into the flow of things with all of my pokemon, both new and old. Plus it wouldn't be fair to my other pokemon if I just used Charizard for everything, and we still have six other Gyms that I need to challenge in both Knto and Johto, while the Conferences are in only three months."

I stood now that breakfast and the interview were over, and rinsed my dirty dishes before putting them in the washing machine.

"Speaking of, time to get back to work." I said, intending to start to second portion of our morning training since breakfast was over. After all, I wanted to be able to get some of my new pokemon up to speed enough that they could participate in the battle against Erika.

Just as I was about to head outside though, I sensed someone approaching the house.

"What a surprise to see you here, President Silph." I said as I opened the front door to reveal an older man with graying hair, and a matching bushy mustache.

"Hello Ace, it is a pleasure to see you again." The old man said to me in greeting. "Perhaps we can talk out here."

"???"

"Ok." I said, stepping out of the house to join him as we stepped away to a clear area.

"I rushed here as soon as I heard you were awake, to give you these." President Silph said as he offered me a case, which I opened to reveal two Capsules.

"!!!"

"My other two Capsules!" I exclaimed while excitedly accepting the case.

"Indeed. They were finished just a few days ago, and I decided to bring them here myself to thank you for everything."

"You didn't have to do that!" I quickly told him.

"It was no trouble at all, especially since I simply had my Jynx Teleport me to Celadon city. Besides, it was the least I could do to come and personally thank the hero of the battle on the SS. Anne, as well as the son of our soon-to-be Champion."

"Heard about that, huh?" I asked wryly.

"Of course! I even met your father once, back when he was making his own way through the curcuit. Even back then, he was quite the skilled trainer."

"Is that so?" I asked curiously, even as I hoped I didn't just become known as one of Red Ketchum's sons from now on.

I didn't like being famous to begin with, but being famous just becuse of someone else related to me was even more annoying. I think I get how Hop feels now...

I picked up the first Capsule and pressed the button on it like I would the others, and tossed it out into a clear area before it exploded to turn into a large barn.

"We couldn't make it exactly like you asked for, but this was as close as we could get. It should still serve your needs though, and we also took into consideration your greenhouse." President Silph said as he opened the large barn doors for me, revealing an interior that was SIGNIFICANTLY larger on the inside than it was on the out.

Inside were several stalls with sliding doors, which we opened to reveal a different private landscape within each of them. One had the appearance of a cave interior, while another had a couple rocky outcrops that surrounded what appeared to a deep ravine filled with water. There was even one that looked as it had pools of lava, and another that had the appearance of an electrical plant.

"This is amazing..." I uttered in awe as we explored all of the stalls, which were big enough that several pokemon could live in each one comfortably, even Onix.

"There's even a second level." President Silph said, gesturing to a ladder that led upwards. I quickly climbed up it to find that the second level was filled with various boxes and perches for flying type pokemon, where they could build their own nests by bringing in their prefered materials through a second set of doors at the front.

After looking everything over I climbed back down to where President Silph was waiting for me, looking mighty pleased with himself.

"Its perfect!" I told him, pleased with everything I had seen.

"I am glad to hear it." President Silph replied, before leading the way outside as I palmed the remaining Capsule.

"Now let's see this last one~!" I declared while throwing out the last Cpasule, more than little excited for it considering what it was.

What appeared before us was what looked like a miniature stadium with a domed roof, gleaming in the mid-morning sunlight.

"Awesome..." I uttered as Lucario and several of my other pokemon came to investigate, namely those that were also fighting types, Machop, Chimchar, Tepig, Croagunk, and a few others like Charizard, Froakie, Scorbunny, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Snorlax, and Electabuzz.

"Is this what I think it is?" Lucario asked, startling President Silph from hearing his voice.

"Yep~! Let's go and check it out!" I told them excitedly, opening the doors to reveal the interior.

The interior was significantly larger than the exterior, just like the rest of my buildings, and in the middle was a massive arena like what we had battled on the SS. Anne on. It even had stands surrounding the arena, along with a control center in the middle on the opposite side from us.

"An arena?" I asked curiously, since I had asked for a training center instead of an arena.

"If you'll follow me, I can show you how to operate everything." President Silph said with a sly smile, leading the way to control center that was sitting opposite us on the other side of the arena.

Upon entering the control center, President Silph, Lucario and I were greeted by a control panel accompanied by a thick manual.

"The manual will give you all the information you need to run this place, but I can also show you some of the functions to give you a bit of a demonstration." President Silph said as he closed the door behind us, sealing it as he did so.

"Any particular reason for such high security?" I asked him curiously.

"Of course." President Silph said, before he turned on the control panel and turned the dial in the middle until it was on the number 5.

"""!!!"""

Immediately, I could feel the strain through the rest of my pokemon that were outside the control center as gravity increased on them.

"I see now!" I exclaimed in realization, since it was apparent that the control center was not affected by the special effects of the arena.

"That's only the beginning." President Silph said, turning the extra gravity off before punching in a few other keys. The next thing we knew, the arena started shifting as it changed from a standard dirt arena to an aquatic arena. Another couple keys, and several massive chunks of ice started floating in the water, before the entire arena froze over.

"Water, ice, rugged rocks, desert sand, even a forest and meadow. You can change the setting of the arena as you please to suit almost any kind of training environment, along with several other factors to create different simulations such as high winds, and even waves or currents in the pool. But that's not all."

Hitting a few more keys, President Silph made the arena change yet again so that what appeared was a series of training equipment that both humans and pokemon could use.

"Awesome!" I exclaimed excitedly when I saw all of the training equipment, while I also felt several of my pokemon's auras spike, the fighting types like Lucario and Machop especially.

"I must concur. This facility is easily one of the greatest in terms of pokemon training and battling. I'm quite proud of how it turned out." President Silph said happily, obviously pleased with how much I like it.

"With this, we can REALLY kick our training into overdrive!" I declared while opening the door.

"Indeed! I cannot wait!" Lucario stated in agreement.

"Chop chop! Machop!" Machop declared as well, as we all raced down the stands to go check out our new equipment.