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Pokémon: Ideal Times (story I've been trying to write for eons)

Ultomato

Smash Master
Joined
Dec 31, 2018
Messages
3,177
Location
Tallon IV
Switch FC
SW 1995 0060 1138
Good morning Everyone.
A long time ago I decided I wanted to write my own version of the Classical Pokémon adventure. I made numerous failed attempts but this time, I know I'll succeed!

The story of Ideal Times takes place in the region of Oblivia, which you may know from the Pokemon Ranger games. Historicaly, the people there are laid back and tend to care more about their tradition and the relationship with their pokemon than politics or technology. Some 10 years after the events of Guardian Signs, the people of Oblivia decided to create their own version of the island challenge. They were very much alike Alola after all.

The story follows a handfull of "main" characters. There's
- The protagonist. A 16 year old boy whom I haven't found a fitting name for yet. He takes the island challenge in Oblivia, alongside his two best friends, Electabuzz and Squirtle.
- Matt. A 17 year old nerd who meets the protag early on. He's a bit overanalysing, but a friendly guy nonetheless. Some wonder how much his friendly nature actually comes from his buddy Pichu though.
- Simsa. A 13 year old Kahuna. He only got that position because his grandfather requested so in his will. Determined to make him proud, he and his Gliscor take on any challenger that comes to Mitonga island... Not to much succes.
- Lydia. A 19 year old marine biologist and Simsa's sister. She tends to use having to protect Simsa as an excuse to travel the islands and study the wildlife. With Popplio and Clamperl at her side, she's always looking to solve the mysteries of the sea.
- Eva. An 18 year old girl who is also taking the island challenge. She occasionally crosses paths with the protagonist, but she and her Zangoose seem to be making a lot more progress than him.
- Alolan Sandslash. A wild Pokémon who, after baby a baby kantonian Sandshrew from an abusive herd of Sandslash, is wandering the islands to find a home for the little guy.

Other important characters are the mysterious man with the overpowered Greninja, Joey, the cocky rival with the even cockier Charmander and Rhydon, Omicron, a powerfull trainer with a Hydreigon and the mysterious unknown Pokémon who fight alongside Tapu Koko and Fini and the mischievous team Aria against the legendary Pokémon native to Oblivia.

The story focusses on the journey of the protag, but I want to have the relationships between the Pokémon in his team to have a central role in the narrative.

I really want to get this story out as far as possible before SwoShi comes out, because new Pokémon means new writing...
 

young grasshopper

Smash Ace
Joined
Jun 4, 2014
Messages
668
Location
a little town on the edge of nowhere
3DS FC
4227-3446-5848
Your characters all seem to have distinct and memorable personalities, which is an amazing start! This is a story that I would want to read, so you better follow through with it :)

If you don't mind, I have a couple of suggestions for you:
First, you don't necessarily have to include the new Pokemon from SwoShi. Additionally, if you do include any, you don't really have to include all of them. Given that you're working with an island region, it would make sense that not every species of Pokemon would be found on those islands.

Second, a potentially cool idea for a side-arc would be if the protagonist helped Simsa train to be a better Kahuna.
 

Ultomato

Smash Master
Joined
Dec 31, 2018
Messages
3,177
Location
Tallon IV
Switch FC
SW 1995 0060 1138
Your characters all seem to have distinct and memorable personalities, which is an amazing start! This is a story that I would want to read, so you better follow through with it :)

If you don't mind, I have a couple of suggestions for you:
First, you don't necessarily have to include the new Pokemon from SwoShi. Additionally, if you do include any, you don't really have to include all of them. Given that you're working with an island region, it would make sense that not every species of Pokemon would be found on those islands.

Second, a potentially cool idea for a side-arc would be if the protagonist helped Simsa train to be a better Kahuna.
Thanks for the sugestions!
The SwoShi thing is more to prevent from what happened with SuMo (I had 5 chapters written, then the games released and I was like "Ooohhh these are cool! I want Them!" And lost my direction completely)

About Simsa, I definitely have some plans for him, don't worry
 

Ultomato

Smash Master
Joined
Dec 31, 2018
Messages
3,177
Location
Tallon IV
Switch FC
SW 1995 0060 1138
I finally got around to writing!

Pokémon: Ideal Times

Chapter 1: Sophian Island

Episode 1: A Warm Welcome

‘And remember, be kind.’

The words of his mother echoed through his mind as the boat entered the harbour.

‘Be kind to your Pokémon at all times.’

Dan got off the boat, anxious to start his journey as a Pokémon-trainer. Together with his Squirtle sitting on his shoulder and his Electabuzz walking behind him, he was going to take the island challenge of Oblivia. He was from Kanto himself, but he wanted to see new places.

‘Because if you’re kind to your Pokémon, your bond will grow and you’ll both get stronger.’

His parents had kept him from going a journey with Pokémon for years, telling him he should earn his own money to fund the journey. Not everyone can afford to travel around, you know!

‘Most parents tell their children to be safe.’

As Dan walked into the Aqua Resort, the only city on Sophian Island, he noticed a noise in an alleyway, as if someone was fighting. He ran towards it and saw a Snubbul and a Chatot fighting over some berries. Dan looked at it worried.

‘But I’m telling you to be kind and to be strong.’

As Dan prepared to step in, an Incineroar approached, picked up the arguing Pokémon and split the berries between them. He smiled at Dan.

‘Because if your bond is strong enough, I know your Pokémon will keep you safe.’



Dan was a 16 year old boy from Saffron City. He was a bit shy, but always ready to jump into a new adventure. He’d begged his parents to let him travel together with his two best friends, Squirtle and Elekid, for years now. They made him work shifts at the local Pokémon Centre to earn his savings, afraid to actually let him go. But when one day Elekid evolved, there was no stopping Dan’s determination. He was going to travel. Not Kanto. He’d seen plenty of that visiting family. He wanted to go somewhere else. Oblivia had just started an island challenge, in the vein of Alola’s and was looking for participants. This meant boat tickets for trainers were cheap this year, so Dan’s choice of destination was easily made.

Walking through the resort felt good. It was a picturesque old town, water flowing between every street, flowers growing everywhere. Wild Pokémon were playing around freely and people had little shops everywhere selling rugs, flowers and all kinds of food that smelt amazing. Only he’d soon find out he had no clue how an island challenge actually works…

Dan approached the large building in the centre of the town, full of confidence. This is where he’d find the Kahuna of Sophian Island. The building didn’t look much different than the Kantonian gyms. As he was about to enter, the doors opened and a girl stepped outside. Dan was silent for a second. Sure, he’d looked at girls before, but this was… different. No, not some love-at-first-sight nonsense. There was just some aura coming from her. Her long brown hair, her sweet smile, her modest orange shirt and black skirt. She simply looked… Dan didn’t quite know, but he was soon awoken by a sharp pain in his left arm.

‘Sorry, he’s a bit impatient sometimes.’ The girl said, pointing at the Zangoose besides her who had just scratched Dan’s arm.

‘It’s okay!’ he said, holding his arm awkwardly as he entered the building. Electabuzz followed him, chuckling a bit. Dan sighed.

The inside of the Kahuna arena looked as pretty as the town he was in. It was like a gigantic indoor garden with the strangest flowers he’d ever seen. As he carefully reached to touch a cyan blue flower with large thorns, he was stopped by an angry looking Wigglytuff.

‘Do not ever touch the flowers!’ a woman screamed.

‘Oh… uh… sorry… My name is Dan. Are you the Kahuna?’

The woman appeared to be angry. She was slightly taller than him, wearing a flamboyant pink dress. Her hair was painted a slightly too bright shade of red.

‘Of course!’ she replied, agitated, ‘Do you see anyone else here?’

Dan was shocked a bit by her aggressive attitude.

‘Uh… okay, then I challenge you!’ He said hesitantly.

The woman rolled her eyes.

‘My god, you sound as weak as you look. I’m Angela by the way. Tell me, how did a weak kid like you beat Morgan? Or Jenna? Or even Ian for that matter?’

Dan was baffled a bit.

‘Who?’

‘Oh no! You’re telling me you’re wasting a Kahuna’s time without even completing any trials? Get out of my garden, now!’

And with those words, Wigglytuff simply kicked him out of the building. It went by so fast Squirtle fell off his shoulder. Dan picked him up carefully and softly rubbed his head.

‘It’s okay. So what do I do now?’ He mumbled to his Pokémon. Squirtle looked a bit distressed as well, but Electabuzz pointed to a map painted on the wall of the building. Three spots on the island were marked. One light blue, one dark blue and one purple.

‘Three names… Those must be the trials!’ Dan exclaimed with newfound enthusiasm. ‘Let’s see. If we first go by the Canal Ruins and then the Oblivian Ruins we can go back here through the mountains. All right guys, let’s do this!’



Reenergised, the three buddies went on their way to the Canal Ruins walking by the river. After walking through the peaceful woods for a minute or ten, another trainer came walking towards them. From his backpack hung three wooden feathers, one dark blue, one light blue and one purple. It immediately clicked with Dan.

‘Oh cool, you’ve done the trials?’

The boy looked at Dan with the smuggest look he’d ever seen.

‘Oh, so you’re a beginner, huh?’

‘Yeah, but I’m going to get better real fast.’

‘Yeah right, you know what? I’ll fight you right here. Bet your Pokémon can’t even hit mine!’

‘Sure thing. Good luck! Go Squirtle!’

The boy grinned and sent out a Yanma.

‘Squirtle, use tackle!’

Squirtle charged at the Yanma, which swiftly moved out of the way to dodge it.

‘Attack!’ shouted the boy, after which Yanma charged at Squirtle. Not sure what to do, Dan looked at the battle as Squirtle hid in his shell, his tail flung up, accidentally swatting Yanma away. Agitated, the boy ordered Yanma to use quick attack, to which Dan let Squirtle respond with a water gun. The attack hit Yanma frontally, hitting him into a tree. Soaking wet, the dragonfly got back up, now looking as pissed off as his trainer.

‘Faster!’ The boy shouted after which Yanma used another quick attack.

‘Use water gun again!’

To no one’s surprise, the move worked and Yanma was sent flying across the road, taking him out. The boy growled angrily and sent out Charmander.

‘Ha! You’re using a fire type against my water type? And I’m the beginner? Use water gun!’

As Electabuzz was cheering him on, Squirtle fired a jet of water, hitting Charmander straight in the face, taking him out in one blow. The boy called him back and readied a third pokeball, but Dan stopped him.

‘Wait, I only have two Pokémon, I’ve won already, right?’

The boy snorted.

‘What? Only two? Then you’re disqualified!’

‘What? There are no official rules to a Pokémon battle on the side of the road!’

‘Yes there are! And I, Joey, just won! Deal with it, loser!’

Joey walked away, smug over his “victory”. Dan sighed.

“Is everyone in this region such an asshole?” He asked Electabuzz, who pulled his shoulders up.

“Well. At least you did amazing Squirtle!”

Squirtle tried to say something back, but they were interrupted by a load bang. Looking to the right, they saw a Suicune running on the river, followed closely by Tapu Koko and Tapu Fini.

“What the hell…” muttered Dan.





Meanwhile, at an undisclosed beachfront.

A helicopter landed. It was time. This was it. Now he made his stand!

The man in the fancy suit approached the helicopter, nervously, as a man in a slightly fancier suit got out. His tie was a dark purple. His hair looked grey but the stern look on his face prevented him from looking “old” in the traditional sense. He just looked intimidating.

It’s okay, he thought, I have bodyguards. Well, so did he. Two humanoid figures covered in shadow. One with noticeable red eyes. The other with a shine coming from his helmet.

“Mister president!” The fancier man said with a booming voice. “Have you reconsidered my proposal?”

“No! I can’t give you what you asked for!”

“You do realise what’s going to happen to Oblivia now, don’t you?”

“You’re not doing anything, because you’re under arrest!”

Five armed men jumped out of the sand to attack.

“Sakana!” the fancier man said without moving a muscle. The bodyguard with the shining helmet pulled his sword and leapt forward. The massacre went too fast for the president to give a full report, but what he could tell the police was that after his bodyguards were slaughtered by the sword-wielding man, Omega returned to his helicopter without saying a word, followed by his “men”. Dark times were coming and no one could ever know.
 

Ultomato

Smash Master
Joined
Dec 31, 2018
Messages
3,177
Location
Tallon IV
Switch FC
SW 1995 0060 1138
Pokemon: Ideal Times

Chapter 1: Sophian Island

Episode 2: More than just type advantage

As Dan tried to chase after the Tapu’s, someone yanked him into the bushes.

‘Let me go!’ screamed Dan. He felt a hand covering his mouth. He turned around and now sat eye to eye with the one who pulled him in. He was gesturing to remain silent and call back his Pokémon. He pointed to the river.

Tapu Fini and Tapu Koko were chasing Suicune aggressively. It suddenly started to rain heavily.

‘Where does that come from?’ Dan whispered confused. ‘It was sunny just a second ago.’

‘That’s what Suicune does when he’s distressed.’ The man said.

Both Tapu’s floated towards a side of the river, placing Suicune in between them on the water. They slammed their hands into the ground, sending an intense, green and pink aura into the ground. Through the dirt and the river, it reached Suicune, constricting him in energy, pulling him into the river.

‘We gotta help him!’ Dan said, ready to jump out, but the strange and pulled him back down.

‘No, I need to see where they take him!’

As Suicune sent a cone of water from the river outwards, Tapu Fini created a wave of muddy water, counteracting Suicunes defence. She squealed a bit. Looking closer, Dan noticed she looked just as distressed as Suicune. Tapu Koko, on the other hand, looking more stoic than his team member, used the opening to discharge an intense wave of electricity at Suicune, knocking him out. The electricity spread through the river, hitting several Pokémon in the water and on the river shore. A few meters upstream, a Wimpod was awakened by the shock. He looked at the events going on, surprised, hiding in the mud as Koko went to grab Suicune. Then he saw the human.

‘No!’ shouted Dan as he jumped out to protect him. The other man ran after him. On the other side of the river, a large pick-up truck appeared. It had a cage in the back with electrified bars. A men stepped out, dressed in what looked like a military uniform. Wimpod, who was almost stepped on by the unsuspecting henchman, slipped into the river, further downstream, floating closer to where Dan was.

Tapu Koko placed Suicune in the cage and nodded to the man. The man nodded back and the Tapu’s flew away at high speed. After locking the cage, the man got behind the wheel again and drove away. Dan was ready to give chase, but the stranger gestured him to stay.

‘He left the cage behind!’ He noticed, pointing to the other side of the river.

‘So… How do we get there?’

‘That’s not the most important question.’ The man said nervously. Dan looked at him confused. The man explained.

‘Why did they leave it behind?’

Right as he said those words, a helicopter approached. A giant magnet hung from a long cable underneath it.

‘Crap!’ the man shouted, realising his plan to stake out the kidnapping hadn’t worked out. He quickly grabbed a Pokéball and sent a Glalie out, but before he could reach the cage, it had already been swiped by the helicopter.

Frustrated, with a defeated look, the man called Glalie back.

‘****!’ he shouted at the top of his lungs. Carefully, Dan approached him.

‘So… what just happened?’ he asked, still a bit shook by what he had just witnessed.

‘I don’t know.’ The man growled. ‘But it’s not good! These two have been going around helping a bunch of people I can’t seem to track down to kidnap legendary Pokémon.’

‘So who are you?’ Dan asked, still careful to not step on the agitated strangers toes. ‘Some kind of secret agent?’

‘I’m more of a… freelance kinda guy.’ He said, already marginally more cheerful. For the first time since he pulled Dan into the bushes, he stood straight up, allowing Dan to notice he was immensely tall. Not a giant, like that AZ guy he saw on the news, but really tall for a human. He had short, curling brown hair and a friendly but tired look on his face. He had to be in his forties, Dan estimated. He wore a long black coat, almost making him look like one of those stereotypical “lonely spy” type of characters.

‘Freelance? You spend your time saving Pokémon for money or something?’

‘It’s… difficult to explain, but that’s something I do occasionally. Now, kid, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll have to find a new lead.’

The man walked away in the direction of Aqua Resort. Dan remained silent for a while, hesitant about what to say, but after what happened, he found it hard to just go on walking towards his next trial.

‘Prove it!’ he said. The man stopped and looked around, a bit confused.

‘Prove what?’

‘If you protect Pokémon, you have to have some strong ones yourself, right?’ Dan said, trying to be cheerful. The man grinned.

‘So that’s what you want?’ He reached for his backpack and took a Pokéball.

‘See! That’ll clear your mind!’

The stranger sent out a Greninja. Dan laughed.

‘Hah! You saw my Electabuzz and you’re gonna use a water type?’ He sent out Electabuzz, who seemed eager to battle. From below the surface of the river, Wimpod was observing curiously.

‘Now! Use Low Kick!’ Dan ordered. The stranger just grinned and Greninja seemed to know what that meant, releasing a powerful Water Shuriken. As Electabuzz moved to kick with one leg, the shuriken hit his still grounded leg, toppling him. Greninja released a second Shuriken hitting Electabuzz in the face with full force. The man chuckled.

‘You just let him attack blindly?’

‘Oh, shut up! Electabuzz, use Thunder Wave! You won’t laugh when you’re paralysed!’

Greninja swiftly leapt into the air to dodge the attack. His eyes glowed green, and two vines appeared behind Electabuzz, grabbing his arms and pulling him into the ground. Dan let out an annoyed growl.

‘You just… attacking.’ The man said softly.

Electabuzz got mad and ripped the vines off him. Looking at Dan, he nodded and his trainer nodded back.

‘Now, use Thunder Punch!’

‘Greninja, manoeuvre four!’ The man gave a command for the first time. Greninja stood in place as Electabuzz ran at him with a electrified fist. As he moved to punch, Greninja swiftly put one hand on top of the fist and pushed himself upwards. He put a second hand on Eletabuzz’ head to move in an arc, allowing Greninja to end up right behind Electabuzz, moving through the air upside down. To Dan and Electabuzz, everything seemed to move in slow-motion. How in the world does that Pokémon move that fast? Then suddenly the world revolved again, as Greninja let a point blank Dark Pulse rip into the back of Electabuzz’ head. The force of the impact threw Electabuzz into the river and Greninja into a tree, which he agilely clung to. Wimpod was launched ashore by the impact of Electabuzz landing in the water and swiftly went to hid behind a tree. Electabuzz swam back to shore exhausted and fainted in Dan’s arms. The stranger called back Greninja and walked towards Dan. After helping Electabuzz get up, he smiled.

‘Thanks kid! I needed that. Here, you’ll need this!’ he said, handing him a few potions. Then, without saying anything else, he started walking towards Aqua Resort again.

‘Wait! What’s your name?’

‘You don’t need to know!’

As Dan held up his shoulders, he walked the other way, towards his first trial in the canal ruins, unaware that Wimpod was following closely behind.



Meanwhile, at a beach on Mitonga island, one single Alolan Sandslash tries to sleep on in a tribe of Kantonian Sandslash and Sandshrew. He was abruptly kicked awake by one of the yellows and, under silent protest, scurried away to sleep on a nearby rock. From there, he noticed the circle of sleeping children. Baby Sandshrew were being guarded by a few older Sandslash, save for one. A Sandslash picked up a Sandshrew and lobbed it across the beach, where it landed on its face and started crying. The alolan Sandslash watched in horror as a group of yellows started laughing at the babies attempts to get back up. No one was protecting him, making one thing clear to the blue guy: This child had no parents. At least, not on this beach. Clenching his claw, he started plotting.
 
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