Sam sucked in a breath as Redi leaned forward in her chair, setting her hands on the table. He watched as she interlaced her fingers like Mr. Pokémon had done seconds before. This was no longer just a casual conversation. This was now a discussion of an actual deal.
“A sponsorship,” Redi repeated. “You’re offering us a sponsorship?”
She tapped her fingers in a wave. Despite Mr. Pokémon being the businessman within the room, Sam could...
2024-07-03 22:35:23 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
The end of the last chapter has been tweaked. Details are included in the post-chapter author note to avoid spoilers in the chapter preview.
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A familiar roar shocked Sam awake, and he rushed to search his surroundings. The bed he laid on was thinner than he was used to, and its position meant rays from the late morning sun were shining onto his eye from be...
2024-07-01 22:42:33 +0000 UTC View PostThe Explosion blasted back the fog and consumed the decoy campsite. Primeape and Ursaring disappeared as the sea of flames rushed Sam and Redi. Misdreavus and Porygon acted simultaneously, unleashing a dual Psybeam that sliced through the edge of the dissipating explosion. They carved out a gap that let their small group go unaffected.
Sam felt the heat flow past his sides. The air was briefly too hot to breathe. He was left blinking, recoiling, and a few wild Gastly peeked o...
2024-06-28 22:30:31 +0000 UTC View PostBefore Petrel ever began his attacks, Sam and Redi blew through town, rushing to gather materials before heading out. They still had money left from the tournament and Sam’s most recent Gym battle winnings, so they doubled up on restocking healing items and bought a few extra items—specifically, they bought a spare set of tents, sleeping bags, and foldable chairs.
They also got a crowbar, neatly attaching it to the side of Sam’s backpack. It wasn’t relevant to their p...
2024-06-26 23:51:45 +0000 UTC View PostDue to changing rules on Royal Road, I’ve preemptively removed all mentions of Patreon to not risk this story being taken down.
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Petrel wouldn't call the last few days the worst few days of his life, but they were definitely up there. Between the constant running, relocating, and hiding, it reminded him of his younger days, before he began his stride towards improvemen...
2024-06-24 22:48:11 +0000 UTC View PostWelcome back! Today’s chapter is slightly shorter as I ease myself back into writing. Monday’s chapter will be back to the normal length. Thank you for being patient!
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Sam didn’t sleep well that night. It didn’t help that he’d been staying up later and later. He found himself tossing and turning, waking up at even the smallest of noises. The sheets on the bed were too heavy,...
2024-06-21 22:18:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe title of this post summarizes it pretty well. I need to take some time off just for myself and recover for a while. Expect to see chapters start to pick back up towards the end of the week. I'm taking Wednesday off on Royal Road, so I'll owe you chapters for today and last Friday.
I'm sorry to go so long without any updates, but this is necessary for my own wellbeing. Please, take care of yourself in the meantime. I'll see you all soon!
2024-06-17 21:46:26 +0000 UTC View PostI wrote Chapter 73, went through and edited it, then sat back and realized I hated everything about it. This is a last minute schedule change that I'm deeply sorry for, but it's for the best that I scrap the chapter. I definitely think burnout has been affecting the quality of my writing.
I'm hoping that taking a break over the weekend will help. This upcoming chapter is important for obvious reasons. Thankfully, while the sudden delay is painful, it does mean you'll be avoiding a cliff...
2024-06-14 22:33:50 +0000 UTC View PostSam knew he could crush this battle. He could constantly switch his team members in and out to overwhelm whoever they faced with status conditions. A Will-O-Wisp could lead into Hex, which didn’t need to be hidden in a private battle like this one. A Hypnosis could cause a flying Pokémon to plummet to the floor, opening it to attacks from Primeape. And if Sam didn’t want to rely on the more non-volatile conditions, he could instead subject opponents to moves like Spite, Mean Look, and th...
2024-06-12 22:34:22 +0000 UTC View PostSam couldn't take credit for Primeape's latest attack. Rock Slide was Redi's idea, as she suggested it to deal with flying Pokémon at a range. For her team, Porygon could accurately track even the speediest of Pokémon with its beam attacks, but Ursaring might as well have been a sitting duck. Hyper Beam was one thing, but he didn’t have Porygon’s accuracy nor did he have a way to bypass the need for a recharge. Rock Slide, however, was a quick-to-use rain of stones that was painful to e...
2024-06-10 22:33:07 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 69 has been split in two on Royal Road, so make sure you haven't missed the second half of that chapter before reading this one!
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Morty first heard the story soon after he became Ecruteak’s Gym Leader. The average person was more focused on the story’s conclusion, but his position allowed him to learn of the events that transpired along the way.
... 2024-06-07 22:43:25 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
The poll is now closed! If you want to see the final numbers, you can see the post itself here. Additionally, DooomCookie has made an incredible breakdown of every included species and what exactly they bring to Sam's team, which I highly recommend checking out2024-06-05 23:15:23 +0000 UTC View Post
Author Note:
I’m in the process of adjusting the last two chapters, editing certain parts based on your feedback. The overall events won’t change, but I’m hoping to improve both Sam and Redi’s reactions to better match their characterization and growth so far.
Thank you for reading! The edits will hopefully be in either tonight or tomorrow!
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Author Note:
Part of the reason this chapter was delayed was because I didn’t want to break it up. It’s a bit longer than usual, so please, enjoy!
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There was a simple fun that came with shopping. Having money to spend, a willingness to splurge, and friends to choose gifts for made the act of going out and buying items way more interesting than doing so fo...
2024-06-01 02:27:32 +0000 UTC View PostBut only by a few hours.
It needs to go through a few rewrites since the previous version was unrealistic and almost action movie-like. If you can't tell, there'll be a bit of a shift in the next update, but I don't want to completely turn the story on its head. It's going through extra rounds of editing to make sure it remains in-line with the rest of the story so far.
This post is mostly a courtesy to anyone in a different time zone. If it's late and you're waiting for the new c...
2024-05-31 22:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
I spent way more time focused on the poll than I initially planned. There were over a hundred-sixty comments, and I’ve read every one. This chapter ended up a bit more rushed than I would have liked, but it should still be decent. If there’s anything that seems especially off, please tell me so I can give it a fix!
Sam’s alarm woke him up exactly at midnight. It was a compromise from when he had woken up a few hours later the last time he had done something like this. While slightly earlier, it was still deep enough into the night that the moon was at its peak, but this way, he wouldn’t need to sleep in as late the next morning. He'd still have most of the day to do as he wished.
He rolled out of the Pokémon Center bed, stretching to regain wakefulness and grabbing the clothes he...
2024-05-27 22:07:50 +0000 UTC View PostRedi hadn’t taught any of her Pokémon a TM move before, but she had seen Sam do it, and it was just as easy as she had seen. All it took was returning Ursaring to his Pokéball, slotting him into a Pokémon Center machine, and then after inserting the TM disc, the machine read its contents to teach him the brand new move.
She wasn’t sure if it implanted memories, taught him the feeling, or did something equivalent to showing him a video several times over, but the TM-tea...
2024-05-24 22:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
A quick warning for this chapter, about a topic brought up in the second half:
The start of the second half discusses a topic that I’m not personally a fan of. Namely, it discusses the source of protein in the Pokémon world and all that entails. If you aren’t interested in reading something like that, then once you get to the midpoint break, skip to the next piece of dialogue to avoid those details.
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2024-05-22 22:51:44 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
As a reminder, there will be no chapter on Monday. Expect to see the next post on Wednesday.
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The annoying fact of this battle was how little Sam knew about Franklin's team. Sure, the freshly evolved Alakazam had extensively revealed its moveset in the previous rounds, but there were no hints to the identities of the rest of Franklin’s team members outside of a vague ...
2024-05-17 22:34:33 +0000 UTC View PostAfter so many rounds of battling, the Violet City Tournament was entering its final phase. Two competitors were left to fight it out in a final match to determine who won overall.
As no one wanted the finals to be a fight between exhausted Pokémon, the final round had the longest break before it, giving competitors a full hour to rest while also allowing a battle for third to take place towards its end. When it came to tournaments, people were always the most interested in t...
2024-05-15 22:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostHello! Two quick announcements.
First off, I just want to say thank you to everyone who left a comment with their suggestions in the last chapter. There’s a lot of Ghost Type Pokémon out there, but I’ve definitely been able to narrow the list down. Not every Pokémon will get picked, but I hope the ones that do will make sense and fit well!
As for the second piece of news, there will be no chapter on Monday, May 20th. Friday’s chapter ...
2024-05-13 22:34:29 +0000 UTC View PostIf Sam wanted to win this tournament, he couldn’t ignore the current status of his team. Quilava had an injured leg, which prevented her from moving at her usual top speed. Also, Primeape had pushed himself far past the norm and was now utterly exhausted. He teetered in place whenever he was sent out. As for Haunter, he was... fine—a bit tired at most—but Sam had a feeling his future opponents would be expecting the Ghost Type. Haunter would definitely be able to fight, but peo...
2024-05-10 22:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
Hello! My recent schedule has been a bit hectic, so a good chunk of this chapter was written and edited on my phone. Expect a few mistakes to have slipped through as well as errors introduced by autocorrect. If you see anything that looks off, please tell me and I will fix it as soon as I can!
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Sam called for a Smokescreen, and Quilava's flames flared to l...
2024-05-08 22:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
There is a cliffhanger at the end of this chapter.
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When the announcers described the bracket, they had described the battles in order. They started with Franklin’s battle in the top-left and ended with Sam’s battle in the bottom right. Sam had the advantage of being assigned the last battle of the four, meaning he could spend time...
2024-05-06 22:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostSam was ambushed the moment he left the lower hallways. The Machoke standing guard stepped to the side to let him out only for him to be rushed by a pair of reporters.
“Hi, Samuel! I’m Marilyn with the Johto News Network! Would you be interested in a quick interview? The public is dying for answers!”
The blonde woman’s eyes sparkled with hope as she held a microphone under her chin. Behind her, a heavyset man balanced a camera on one sho...
2024-05-03 22:07:10 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
Make sure you read the rest of Chapter 54, found here!
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In one match, a Skiploom used the air pressure caused by Water Guns to dance around a frustrated Corsola. In another match, a Jynx’s Powder Snow froze the horns of a Stantler laying illusions. A Hitmonchan exchange...
2024-05-01 22:31:53 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
This is the full version of Chapter 54, containing both Part 1 and Part 2 together! For those of you who have already read Part 1, the only tweak was the section about the Elite Four. You won’t miss anything if you skip to the new content, which is located after the break.
Chapter 55 will be up shortly.
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A week was spent training. A week was spent pra...
2024-05-01 22:18:50 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
Hello! I have two announcements for you.
First off, today’s chapter is only the first part of Chapter 54. Due to writer’s block, I wasn’t able to get the second half into any decent state, but I’d rather post something rather than nothing at all. You’ll get the second half of Chapter 54 alongside Chapter 55 on Wednesday.
Second off, I spent this weekend going back and giving Chapter 48 another shot. That chapter i...
2024-04-29 22:31:50 +0000 UTC View Post