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Pokémon Unite fanfic. Story by GenEric. Art by me.
Chapter 1 Synopsis
Eric is a young Pokémon Trainer who’s insecure about his skills. One day, he meets the Trainer Rhyme, who invites him to join Unite Battles on Aeos Island.
Chapter 1: Out of his Shell
My name is Eric. A seventeen year old Pokémon Trainer from the Saorsó Region, a smaller region off the west side of the Galar Region. My two Pokémon partners are Elpis the Lucario and Kou the Espeon.
Though… I haven’t actually been participating in the League. I’ve mainly just been travelling around. I was never really super-into Pokémon battles, mainly due to my own insecurities about leading Pokémon in battle.
I’m doing my best to improve. Elpis and Kou are super supportive and patient, so they let me experiment a lot with training. But… I still don’t think battles are for me.
Thankfully though, I’d get an answer as to what I should do one fateful day when I met one particular trainer…
Saorsó Region. Eric and co. are walking along a coastline.
Eric: He sighs contentedly. “Y’know, nothing beats this…”
Elpis: “Nothing beats what?”
Eric: “Just… this. Walking along the coast, listening to the soothing waves, and being with my two bestest friends… Nothing could ever top this.”
Kou: “Heh. You’ve got that right. This is the life…”
Elpis: “Mhm.”
The trio then hears the sound of what seems to be training further down the way, so they go to investigate. They then spot the source of the noise, and it’s a black haired Trainer in a Sylveon-based outfit training with his Pokémon.
Kou: “Huh. I didn’t know they made outfits based on Pokémon.”
Eric: “They don’t. Not here, anyways. Maybe he’s from a different region?”
Kou: “Hm. Could be.”
Elpis: He gasps lightly. “Eric! Look at what Pokémon he has!”
Eric: “Hm?” He inspects the Trainer’s team. “Oh crap, he has a Lucario too! Awesome.”
Elpis: “Not exactly what I was referring to, Eric. Focus your eyes and look again.”
Eric: “Hmm…” He focuses and looks, spotting the yellow blur dashing around. “No way… is that a Zeraora?!”
His shouting out catches the Trainer’s attention and the Trainer waves at him, inviting him down.
Kou: “And it looks like we’ve been spotted. Might as well introduce ourselves now.”
Elpis: “Mhm. Let’s go.”
Eric: “Huh? W-Wait, wait up!”
Elpis and Kou head down to the Trainer, with Eric hesitantly following a bit behind. The Trainer gives Eric and co. a warm welcome.
Rhyme: “Hey there! I’m Rhyme.” He outstretches a hand to Eric, who takes it.
Eric: “Um, I’m Eric. N-Nice to meet you.”
Rhyme: “Nice to meet you too, Eric.” He looks at Eric’s two Pokémon. “I see you’ve a Lucario as well. They’re great, aren’t they?”
Eric: “Uh, y-yeah. Elpis has been with me for years, same with Kou. They’re both the best…”
Rhyme: “Hehe. Definitely sounds like you love your Pokémon a lot.”
Eric: “More than anything…”
Rhyme: “Heh.” He inspects Elpis again, noticing his eyes. “Oh? Your uh… “Elpis” was it? He has green eyes…”
Eric: “Yeah. Still not sure why, though.”
Rhyme: “Hmm… if I might theorise, maybe it’s something similar to the Shiny phenomenon but on a smaller scale?”
Eric: “That… might be it, actually.”
Rhyme’s Pokémon all pause their training upon seeing Eric and his team, and come over to say hi.
Rhyme: “Oh yeah! Eric, meet my team. Ruka the Lucario, Zephyr the Zeraora, Happy the Blissey and Nini the Sylveon. Guys, meet Eric, his Lucario Elpis and his Espeon Kou.”
Ruka: “Hiya.”
Zephyr: “Yo.”
Happy: “Hello!”
Nini: “Hi!”
Elpis walks up to Ruka, sensing his aura.
Elpis: “Whoa… your aura is so powerful!”
Ruka: “Oh, th-thank you. Yours is quite strong as well!”
Eric: “Hey uh, Rhyme?”
Rhyme: “Yeah, Eric?”
Eric: “How did you meet Zephyr? Cuz Zeraoras are Mythical Pokémon, right?”
Rhyme: “Mhm. I met him on Aeos Island when he joined my team to try and beat Ruka’s brother, Ruki.”
Eric: “Aeos Island?”
Rhyme: “Yeah. Home of Unite Battles.”
Eric: “What’s that?”
Zephyr: “It’s a special type of battle where a team of five Pokémon and Trainers work together to score points in an enemy team’s goal.”
Eric: “…Huh?”
Nini: “It’d be easier to just show you a match… I know! Why don’t you come with us to Aeos Island, Eric?”
Rhyme: “Nini, you can’t just invite a guy like that. Eric’s probably busy with the Pokémon League here anyways.”
Eric: “I-I’m not actually. I don’t think I’d be good enough to take on the League.”
Happy: “Really? Why not? Elpis and Kou are strong Pokémon, I could tell that off the bat.”
Eric: “I just… well, I know they’re capable… but I’m not.”
Ruka: “How come?”
Elpis: “It’s an insecurity of his. He thinks he’s not fit to be a Trainer, even though he is.”
Ruka: “Insecurities, huh? I know all about that…”
Rhyme: “Hmm… I know. Eric, how about you and me have a quick battle? Just a 1v1.”
Eric: “Y-You wanna battle right now?! I-I dunno…”
Kou: “Come on, Eric. Let’s show Rhyme just how strong you really are!”
Eric: “…” He sighs. “A-Alright. I choose you, Kou.”
Kou: “Got it. Let’s show ‘em what we can do.”
Rhyme: “Alright then, Nini, you up?”
Nini: “Sure thing!”
Eric and Rhyme both ready up for battle.
Rhyme: “And remember Eric, it’s just some sparring. Don’t think about it too much, alright?”
Eric: “R-Right… (Yeah right… it’s more like us being a sandbag thanks to me…)”
Rhyme: “Ready, Nini?”
Nini: “Yeah! It’s been a while since we’ve done a battle like this, so sorry if I’m a bit rusty.”
Rhyme: “Don’t worry about it. You ready, Eric?”
Eric: “I-I guess, yeah…”
Rhyme: “Hey Ruka, can you be our referee for this one?”
Ruka: “No problem!”
Rhyme: “Right. Let’s get this started.”
It was a long and hard fought battle, but due to Eric’s own insecurities causing a costly hesitation, he and Kou ultimately lost the fight, which only helped in further cementing Eric’s feelings towards himself and his ability, or lack there of, as a Trainer.
Ruka: “Kou is no longer able to battle. The victor is Rhyme and Nini!”
Eric: He sighs. “Heh… yeah… Just as I expected…” He sits down on the ground.
Rhyme: “…” He looks over at Eric, walks over to him and sits down. “Hey, you okay Eric?”
Eric: “Eh…”
Rhyme: “Look, don’t take it to heart man. You can’t win every battle. Heck, I lose plenty in Unite Battles.”
Eric: “I know, I just… the sting lingers for me, longer than it should. I don’t even know why, it just does… and it’s hard to get past it sometimes… I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel like giving up and going home once or twice…”
Rhyme: “Hey, I get that. Being a Trainer is a lot of responsibility. I mean, it’s comparable to being a parent sometimes. But you’re never alone. You know how?”
Eric: “How?”
Rhyme: “Because you have your Pokémon. And anyone would be able to tell that you have two Pokémon that love you more than anything in the world.”
Eric: “I just… can’t help but worry about them, y’know?”
Rhyme: “In what way?”
Eric: “With how they feel about my losing streaks and everything. They’re strong Pokémon, but they’re with a weak Trainer… I don’t want them to feel bad about constant losses because of my inability. I’ve only actually had 5 or so battles since I left home, yours included.”
Rhyme: “Eric, they’d never feel bad about anything like that. Because they’re with you. I don’t know much at all about your relationship with your Pokémon, but I can just tell that it’s a loving and honest relationship. And I just know that being able to travel with you means the world to them, and they’d gladly go through anything to do so…”
Elpis and Kou both come up to Eric and Rhyme.
Elpis: “Rhyme’s right, y’know.”
Kou: “Yeah. We don’t care about a couple of losses. As long as we get to spend our time out here with you, anything and everything is worth it.”
Eric: “Guys…” He starts to tear up, and Elpis and Kou hug him in response. “You two really are the greatest partners I could ask for… Arceus, what did I do to deserve you…?”
Elpis+Kou: “You were you.”
The trio stays like that for a bit, hugging it out as Rhyme and his team watch on, happy for them.
Happy: “Oh, how I love a happy ending!”
Ruka: “Yeah, stuff like that is the best.”
Nini: “And I’m happy I got to help with this!”
Zephyr: “I wouldn’t quite say it’s over yet, though.”
Rhyme: “Hm? What’cha mean, Zephyr?”
Zephyr: “I can feel it. Just give them a second…”
Eric breaks away from Elpis and Kou and wipes his tears away. He talks to them about something. They both nod and Eric then runs over to Rhyme, a new fire in his eyes.
Eric: “Hey, Rhyme!”
Rhyme: “Yeah, Eric?”
Eric: “Could you take me, Elpis and Kou to Aeos Island with you? I gave it some thought and… I wanna take part in Unite Battles. Can I?”
Rhyme: “Well, I’m not your dad, you don’t need to ask me for permission. Heheheh… but yeah. You can come to the island with us when we head back!”
Eric: “And uh… one more thing, as well?”
Rhyme: “Hm?”
Eric: “Could you, um… m-mentor us, please?”
Rhyme: “O-Oh… you want you me to teach you?”
Eric: “Well, w-we don’t know anything about Unite Battles. I’ve never heard of them before, but you sound well-versed in it, so… please?”
Rhyme: “W-Well uh… s-sure! Gladly! I mean, I’ve never taken a student before, so my advice might be a little… meh, y’know? Ahahaha…”
Zephyr: “Well, like you said yourself only a bit ago, Rhyme… ‘You’re never alone’.”
Happy: “Yeah! We’ll help you mentor Eric and his team!”
Nini: “Mhm! I’d be more than happy to help, too!”
Ruka: “Me too! I-I might not do well… But I’ll do my best!”
Rhyme: “Ah, you guys… Well then, it’s settled! Me and my team will mentor you and your team, and help you become a great Unite trainer! Sound good?”
Eric: “That sounds great! I can’t wait!”
Rhyme: “Good to hear! Now, we’ll still be in Saorsó for a few more days, so how about we travel around together in the meantime? You can show me around a bit, hehe!”
Eric: “Yeah! We can be like a big, full team! Two Trainers and six Pokémon!”
Rhyme: “Mhm. We’ll be able to get plenty of training in, too! Both your Pokémon… and you yourself, Eric. I’ll try help you work on your self-confidence, alright?”
Eric: “You would?! Y-Yeah, let’s do it then!”
Ruka: “Funny how things work out sometimes, huh?”
Elpis: “Mhm. As long as Eric’s happy…”
Nini: “Yeah. Eric’s a really sweet kid. And he loves you two a whole lot!”
Kou: “And that’s just one of the many, many reasons why we love him… Kid honestly deserves the world.”
Happy: “And I’m glad that Rhyme has another friend now! It’s so nice!”
Ruka: “Yeah! More people for Rhyme to chat to is always nice!”
Elpis: “Same goes for us, Ruka. I hope you don’t mind training me, by the way.”
Ruka: “Oh, not at all. I’d be happy too! I-I’ll do my best to be a great senpai for you, Elpis!”
Kou: “Could I ask you to do the same for me, Nini?”
Nini: “Of course! Us Eeveelutions gotta stick together!”
Happy: “I’ll help too!”
Zephyr: “Heh.” He walks over to Eric, patting him on the shoulder. “Hope you enjoy travelling with us, Eric.”
Eric: He excitedly shakes his paw. “Oh, I will! Trust me!”
Zephyr: “G-Good to hear.” He frees his paw. “N-Now then, how about we start some more training?”
Rhyme: “Sounds good. Eric?”
Eric: “Y-Yeah, let’s!”
And so, after a few more days of spending time training and travelling together, I ventured with Rhyme and co. to Aeos Island to join Unite Battles. Rhyme’s team would tutor my team as we all worked to grow ever stronger together!
And after trying some practice battles with Rhyme, Unite Battles are honestly really fun! It lets me relax a bit more as I just sit on the sidelines giving out strategies while also letting Elpis and Kou show how smart they really are! I think this might be what a Trainer like me was made for…
Just you wait, Rhyme! I’ll work my way up to Master Rank, and we’ll have win streaks together! It’s the least I can do for you helping me break out of my shell!
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