Journey Towards Greatness

Julian is on his way to the Patelburg gym to challenge the gym leader Norman, he is surprised to see posters are being hanged around the whole city about the upcoming battle between the champion Wallace and Sidney the elite-four member.

Julian 'Well champions are celebrities so this is not extravagant'

Since Julian was once a champion he knew how people treated him, he is still treated the same in Kanto but the other regions are different as they are busy talking about their own region champion.

Julian arrives in front of the Patelburg gym, it was a big building made up of fine wood and was constructed very well, it looked plain and simple.

Julian walked towards the door and opened it, he saw a wooden corridor leading towards a room, Julian went inside calling out to find if anyone was inside.

Julian walked inside and saw a battlefield made up of wood.

Julian 'A wooden battlefield, it might break but it also has its advantages as it is cheaper to repair than hard ground and stones'

Julian looked around the gym and found nothing special he could use as an advantage in a battle, as he was looking around a woman in and saw Julian inside.

"How may I help you?" she asked. Julian, turned around and saw the woman, she had brown hair and blue eyes, Julian recognized her, it was May's mom and Norman's wife.

Julian "I am here to challenge the gym"

Caroline "Oh, wait a minute I will call my husband right away"

Julian nodded and went back to looking at the battlefield to find anything that could help him the slightest.

Caroline walked to the backyard to call her husband who was watering some plants.

Caroline "Dear you have a challenger"

Normal "Oh, I will be right there"

Caroline thought about Julian and felt she had seen him somewhere but she could not remember properly.

Caroline "I think I have seen him somewhere but cannot remember where have I seen him"

Norman was also now interested in this challenger as he heard his wife say this, Norman quickly finished his work and walked towards the gym's battlefield to see his challenger, Caroline also followed behind him as she was interested in seeing this battle, when he walked in he saw a young man with black hair wearing a black coat as he was looking out the window into the forest nearby.

Norman "Are you here to challenge the gym?"

Julian turned around and looked at Norman and nodded he then walked towards the challenger's corner and stood there.

Norman also took his side and looked at Julian, he also felt that he has seen Julian somewhere but even he has no idea where he saw him.

Norman "So how many badges do you have?"

Julian "This will be my first gym battle in Hoenn"

Norman "So you are not from Hoenn"

Julian "Indeed"

Norman "Ok then let's start the battle, darling would you mind being the referee"

Caroline "Sure"

Caroline got up from her seat and walked took her spot as the referee.

Caroline "This will be a three on three battle between the challenger and the Gym leader, only the challenger is allowed to switch his pokemons during the battle"

Both Julian and Norman nodded after hearing the rules, seeing both of them agree Caroline proceeded with her role

Caroline "Then let the battle begin"

Norman "Go Spinda"

Norman sent out his first pokemon, it looked like a teddy bear with spiral patterns on its eyes and ears.

Julian "Let's go Larvitar"

Norman "Spinda use Tackle"

Spinda bolted towards Larvitar with full speed, Julian waited for the perfect moment until Spinda was close to Larvitar.

Julian "Larvitar use Iron Defense"

Spinda smashed onto Larvitar and felt as if it hit an iron wall, Spinda was stunned by the sudden counter.

Julian "Bite"

Larvitar quickly moved towards Spinda and used Bite, Larvitar grabbed onto Spinda's arm and threw it back towards Norman.

Norman became serious after this exchange.

Norman 'Direct physical attack will do no good, I have to attack while maintaining distance'

Norman "Spinda use Psycho Cut"

Spinda quickly made some distance between it and Larvitar and sent a Psycho Cut towards Larvitar.

Julian "Larvitar use Iron Defense and move out of the way"

Julian wanted to dodge the attack but he knew that Larvitar was not fast so he used Iron defense as a backup, Larvitar somehow managed to dodge the move by few inches, Julian didn't waste time and called out a move.

Julian "Larvitar use Iron Head"

Larvitar charged towards Spinda while his head shined like metal.

Norman "Spinda Dodge"

Spinda quickly jumped to the side and evaded the Iron Head but it was still not safe, it was in the air leaving it vulnerable to attacks

Julian "Now Bite"

Larvitar used his tail to stop his movement and turned towards Spinda and used Bite, sharp jaw with teeth formed from Dark energy formed and closed down on Spinda.

Spinda was sent rolling on the wooden floor, Julian wanted to finish this fast so he made his move.

Julian "Now Sand Storm"

Larvitar called out a large amount of sand out of nowhere and surrounded the whole battlefield.

Norman "Spinda stay alert"

Norman was worried as he couldn't see Spinda and he knew that this match was almost over.

Julian "Iron Head"

Soon a slamming sound was heard and Spinda was sent flying out of the Sand Storm, Spinda landed on the floor, it was knocked out.

Caroline checked Spinda and confirmed the results.

Caroline "Spinda is unable to battle, Larvitar wins"

Norman called back Spinda and looked at Julian.

Norman "You really know how to lead a battle"

Julian "Thank you"

Norman nodded and sent out his next pokemon.

Norman "Go Linoone"

Linoone came out of his Pokeball, it looked like a weasel with an arrow-shaped pattern on its head to its tail.

Julian called back Larvitar and sent his next pokemon.

Julian "Ralts let's go"

Ralts came out of her Pokeball and looked at her opponent, it was her first battle and she was really excited for it.

Norman "Linoone use Tackle"

Linoone dashes towards Ralts at 60mph, Linoone is really fast pokemon but they have a huge flaw and that is they cannot make turns until they come to a full stop, Julian knew this so he chooses Ralts instead of Treecko or Larvitar to face it.

Julian "Teleport"

Ralts suddenly disappeared from her previous spot and appeared straight behind Linoone.

Julian "Now Psyshock"

Ralts sent Psyshock towards Linoone which was still trying to stop itself, the Psyshock inflected damage, Linoone turned and faced towards Ralts again ready to charge at any moment.

Norman had a deep frown on his face as he knew what is going to happen, seeing that Ralts could teleport his Linoone has no chance of inflicting damage on it until it was a direct contact but he cannot stop the match like this so he continued the battle.

The same move was called again and again by Julian, Teleport, and Psyshock until Linoone collapsed on the ground, Linoone was just played around by Ralts the whole battle.

Norman called back Linoone back.

Norman "It was really a huge disadvantage for me"

Julian "It was indeed"

Norman took out his final Pokeball, Vigoroth was both powerful and fast so it was his best choice against Julian.

Norman "Go Vigoroth"

Vigoroth was a white colored Sloth but unlike a Sloth it is fast.

Julian also called back Ralts.

Julian "Let's go Treecko"

Treecko came out of his Pokeball and looked at his opponent, it will be his first official battle so it was exited.

Norman "That's a very rare Treecko"

Julian "Yes finding him was really hard"

Norman "Vigoroth use Scratch"

Vigoroth accelerated towards Treecko and used its claws to swing it with full force at Treecko.

Julian "Treecko duck then use Pound"

Treecko used his tail as a spring and bent down to ducked the claw as enough potential energy was stored in his tail he used it as a springboard and slammed his tail on Vigoroth's face, Vigoroth was stunned by this sudden attack it had never encountered any opponent to use a move like this.

Julian "Quick Attack"

Treecko bolted towards the stunned Vigoroth but Vigoroth has already snapped out of it and dodged the quick attack.

Norman "Slash"

Julian "Counter it with pound then Bullet Seed"

As they were still in midair moving, Vigoroth turned around to deliver a Slash towards Treecko, Treecko also used his tail and propelled it towards Vigoroth's arm and countered the slash but it was not over as Treecko sent Bullet Seed at point blank range on Vigoroth's face.

Vigoroth had no time to defend itself and was hit and sent rolling on the floor but it got up quickly and rubbed off the pain from its face and glared at Treecko.

Norman "Vigoroth use Gunk Shot"

Julian "Dodge"

Treecko dodged the huge ball of poisonous substance shot at him but he didn't realize Vigoroth has also closed in.

Norman "Vigoroth Fire Punch"

Julian "Treecko turn right and duck"

Treecko quickly turned right and ducked as he saw a flaming claw go above his head, Treecko then took the air by launching himself up and locked on to Vigoroth

Julian "Bullet Seed"

Treecko shot numerous Bullet Seeds at Vigoroth.

Norman "Vigoroth quickly move"

Vigoroth moved fast and dodged but that was not the end of it, Treecko's Bullet Seeds were like Gatling gun as it continued and followed Vigoroth behind, Vigoroth was busy escaping but it was not lucky as one of the Bullet Seed hit its leg and it fell crashing down.

Julian "Quick attack"

Treecko landed on the floor and dashed towards Vigorth using quick attack and slammed onto the fallen Vigoroth.

Julian "Now Absorb"

As soon as Treecko made contact and inflicted damage on Vigoroth he used Absorb on it and caused additional damage and recharged himself with Vigoroth's energy.

Norman "Vigoroth can you continue?"

Vigoroth struggled but stood up and took a fighting stance but soon its legs gave up and it collapsed but it was still cautious, Norman saw the determination behind Vigorth but he knew Vigoroth would just hurt itself if it continues to battle, so he made a decision.

Norman "That's enough, I declare Julian the winner"

Caroline looked at her husband and smiled.

Caroline "Since the gym leader has admitted defeat the winner is Julian"

Vigoroth was a little down but Norman comforted it and sent it back to its Pokeball, he then walked towards Julian and shook his hand.

Norman "You are an exceptional trainer, it was a great battle"

Julian "You were also great"

Caroline came forward with a plate which had the Balance badge on it on her hand, Norman took the badge and gave it to Julian.

Norman "This is the Balance Badge proof that you defeated the Petalburg gym"

Julian "Thank you"

Julian took the badge and showed it to Treecko, he then looked at Norman and bid him farewell.

Caroline looked at Julian disappearing but she still felt as if she saw him but where she could not recall.

Caroline "Darling do you know him?"

Norman "I felt like I have seen him but I cannot recall where"

Caroline "Same here"

Norman "Ok enough of that let's go and do our work"

Soon they two also went and continued what they were doing.

That afternoon Caroline visited her son Max's room to clean it up.

Caroline "Look at his room, he didn't even clean it before leaving with Ash and May"

As she started to clean the room she noticed a poster near Max's bed and when she saw the poster she was shocked.

Caroline "DARLING"

Norman who was doing his work was startled by hearing his wife scream, he bolted towards Max's room as he heard her scream coming from there, when he reached there he saw her wife standing still.

Norman "What happened?"

Caroline "Look at that"

She pointed her finger at the poster near Max's bed, Norman followed her finger and looked at the poster she was pointing, he was also shocked by seeing the poster, it was the poster of Julian with his OG pokemons, Infernape, Gyarados, Gengar, Electivire, Snorlax, Kabutops, Pidgeot, Venusaur.

Heatran was never revealed by Julian so nobody knew of Heatran existence except few people he had shown him too.

Norman was shocked seeing the poster.

Caroline "Now I remember, we saw him on TV when he fought Lance and became the champion of Kanto"

Norman "Does that mean?"

Caroline "Yes you had a battle with a Champion"

Norman suddenly felt goosebumps on his skin crawling up, then he suddenly realized.

Norman "Then it means that a champion is going to participate in this years Hoenn League?"

Caroline "It looks like it, he was using new pokemons right?"

Norman "Yes, Ah wait? how could you not recognize him when you clean our son's room daily and upon that he is our son's idol"

Caroline "Hehe, I forgot but that doesn't mean that you are not to be blamed as well, even you didn't recognize him, how could you be a gym leader?"

Norman was really embarrassed but he kept his cool.

Caroline "Max would be shocked if he knew who visited us, he will regret going with Ash and May"

Norman nodded his head.

Julian was now going back to his hotel room as he looked at Treecko holding the Balance badge in his hand, he remembered how excited Chimchar was when they won their first badge together.