I sat barefoot in the courtyard, legs stretched into a perfect middle split on the sun-warmed stone tiles. My palms rested calmly on my thighs as I breathed in a steady rhythm. The breeze creating a cool feeling on my skin, broke me out of my silent focus between each shift in posture. I moved slowly from one stretch to another, almost as if in a meditative state.
Flexibility is one of those things people overlook until they lose it. I learned early that what's easy to keep now becomes painful to recover later.
Back pains in late high school...
Back in my old life, I knew a girl in university who never stretched a day past childhood or so she said. But she could still drop into a full split like it was nothing. Turned out she'd been a gymnast as a kid. Her body remembered even when her habits didn't. That always stuck with me more than she ever knew.
'If I ever could reincarnate, I would prioritise my health.' Was one thought always on my mind.
If she could hold onto that level of flexibility without maintenance, I could absolutely keep mine if I started young and never stopped.
My thoughts were broken as a voice broke out a few meters away.
"Silver," Proton called from across the yard. He stood with arms folded, one brow arched high over his sharp eyes. Always looking forward to meeting me for some reason. "Forgive me, but shouldn't you be taking up martial arts? You've got the discipline and an uncanny talent for full-body coordination..."
"Not yet," I said, not breaking form. "I'll get into that if it feels necessary."
He blinked. "Not interested?"
"I am. Just not urgently. I'm not planning to fist-fight Pokémon." I retort squinting my eyes. Yeah, punching elemental attacks would solve my problems.
Well maybe it could but I'd rather do it when I'm older for now.
Proton gave a soft chuckle and walked over, settling on the ledge near me. "Fair enough. You're not wrong, thinking ahead. Can't keep your edge without a strong base. Endurance, agility, balance... it all adds up."
Hearing his words, he starts to talk too much. An annoying feeling hit my head as he kept staying.
I rotated slowly, stretching my obliques. "Reaction time is another thing. That's what I'll train seriously."
"Oh?"
I tapped my temple. "You don't need brute strength if you react faster in a Pokemon battle. That's an advantage in itself."
That actually got a smile from him as he put a hand to his chin in thought. "That's something I should implement immediately..."
"Good, now leave me" I mutter, leaning into a forward fold.
The last few weeks had been quiet. Routine. Focused. I wasn't training for bulk or show. My muscles didn't need to be big just dependable. I'm ten. I don't need to be a brawler.
It wasn't a race, skipping a few workouts here and there wouldn't be bad.
Proton glanced sideways at me still here. "Most kids your age would kill to lift weights all day, look cool, spar like action heroes. You stretch. You run. You dodge."
I gave the man a death stare already tired as it's been like this for a while. "And they'll all pull their hamstrings by forty."
He laughed again. "You're something else, kid."
...
[Later that day]
The training chamber under Rocket HQ was prepped for one thing which was clean repetition. No simulations. No outside noise.
Totodile stood in the shallow combat stream that sliced across the floor, water swirling around his ankles. Gliscor hovered across from him, arms out, wings slowly fanning. His posture was rigid, like a training dummy that could hit back if needed.
"Again," I called from the platform above, arms folded. "[Ice Punch] full power!"
Totodile darted forward, feet splashing. He twisted into a hook, his fist glowing with cold before slamming into Gliscor's chest.
Clean hit.
It didn't move him at all.
"Back up and repeat," I say making the Pokemon get his repetitions in.
Totodile stepped back, shook his wrist out, and resumed stance. No fuss. Just breathe in, breathe out.
Next to me, Tyson reviewed a glowing tablet. "Nutrient optimization's already kicking in," he muttered. "Recovery's nearly doubled."
"Both of them?" I asked.
"Totodile and Gliscor," he nodded. "The one made by Team Rocket's lead scientists. Custom blend with adaptive proteins, neural boosters, and muscle support."
I looked back down at the field. "Good."
Totodile launched again and this time a jab into an uppercut. Gliscor didn't even flinch and just stared with a wide smirk, pissing off the usually cheery Totodile as he growled.
"Some ice flakes on Gliscor's body," I noted.
"Instead of just misty coldness, there's a physical substance," Tyson mutters writing it down like a good second command.
"Totodile that's enough, you've done amazing. Let's use [Hydro Pump] now."
Totodile's eyes got a dangerous glint. He jumped back and flung a compressed geyser of water from its mouth. Gliscor dipped under the splash and braced for impact. This time, the hit actually made him skid back.
'Not bad but it's more supplementary, in case he can't get in close,'
Off to the side, Beedrill darted through the laser grid. Red lines were tracking every twitch of his wings.
"How's Beedrill's bursts of speed going?" I ask curious.
"The speed is about the level of an Ace Pokemon, with his stamina able to sustain a total of 25 bursts."
"Damn." I simply say.
Totodile came in again and this time feinting an attack and then using [Hydro Pump] again. Gliscor thought was too close and held the poor guy's mouth shut. The water splattered like spit from the guy's mouth as its eyes widened in shock.
In a rage, the little guy started to throw haymakers for naught. Gliscor just had one of its hands on the poor Pokemon's head keeping it still. The Fang Scorp Pokemon seeing this giggled in glee, teasing.
"That's enough," My voice rang through the room.
Totodile let his arms hang, panting, but his grin never faded.
Beedrill zipped over and tapped his stingers together in front of me. Returning Beedrill and Gliscor to their Pokeballs. The crocodile was left to be in my embrace for the rest of the day as my little plushie.
The lights above flickered faintly as I walked back to the helicopter. But then HE was there. Proton approached with his usual brisk walk and curious expression.
'Not this invasive idiot again....'
"What's up?" I asked.
"You made the news."
I raised an eyebrow. "For what?"
He flipped the tablet around. Headline in bold.
[Two Badges In One Day?! A PRODIGY SHAKES THE KANTO GYM CIRCUIT!]
Grainy footage played of my Beedrill diving at Flint's Onix and Gliscor knocking out Starmie from Gareth.
"It shouldn't be that crazy seeing my Pokemon no?"
He shrugged uncaring. "Probably your father's doing. Leaked just enough to spark buzz for your name, your badge count. It's working."
I let a faint smile creep in. "So he's advertising me."
"A soft debut. You were a rumour one week, and now you're a spectacle." He says shaking his hands with an amused look as if showing me a surprise. Not funny.
Maybe it would be if he wasn't a terrorist but hey, beggars can't be choosers.
"We heading back?" I asked.
"Helicopter's already on the roof."
By the time we reached the Viridian estate, the sky was orange. Reporters swarmed the gate with flashes, mics jammed through the bars. None of them dared step inside.
The two guards at the front are at full vigilance.
I stepped off the chopper, coat straightened, face unreadable. Totodile still in my hand, he innocently pointed over at the crowd. Seeing this an impossible urge to pinch his snout happened as he wriggled in my arms.
"Dile!"
A guard opened the gate. I stepped through.
"Silver! Over here!"
"Are you really Giovanni's kid?"
"Are you aiming for the Elite Four?"
"What's your starter?"
I raised a hand.
The effect was immediate and the crowd went silent. 'Damn that shit really worked,' I thought surprised as I've seen my father do it before.
"One question at a time."
They quieted just enough. One woman leaned in. "Can you confirm your starter?"
Giving her an unimpressed look, I kept silent and just held out my derpy looking Totodile who was still exhausted from training and snout tickling.
This got a few enthusiastic reactions as I didn't realise he already started to nap.
"Johto starter?" Someone whispered.
Another shouted, "What's next? Eight badges?"
"No," I said. "I only needed two. I'm heading to Unova."
The murmurs started again. Then someone in the back called out louder:
"Is that because Kanto's too hard for you?" This caused a hushed silence and a simmering tension throughout the crowd. It was very bold to say but these people in the end just wanted news to report, maybe drama even.
I didn't even blink and replied sarcastically. "Sure."
They laughed nervously but obviously they would twist my words in some way. So I turned and walked back through the gate.
Proton met me with a smirk. "That was... Certainly interesting."
...
[POV Omniscient (Blackthorn City)]
The Dragon's Den stood silent at the heart of Blackthorn Valley, nestled inside a cavern, with ancient trees and statues all over. The wind whistled through the sacred stones, carrying with it the cold breath of the mountains.
Inside the great hall, four elders of the Wataru Clan sat in a crescent before a brazier, flames flickering with cerulean heat. Scrolls lined the walls, and above them hung tapestries of the Dratini line deeply engraved.
An envelope rested on the central table, wax-sealed with a crimson "S"
"Giovanni Sakaki," one elder murmured, voice brittle with age. "Sending us an invitation."
"To a gathering," another added. "to create connections is what people say these days."
"He doesn't do anything without a reason," grumbled the third. "And his reputation is… mixed, at best. Definitely not beneficial to anybody from Johto..."
The eldest among them, a tall, silver-haired man with a dragon-carved cane, nodded slowly. "True. But he doesn't invite us unless there's something worth seeing. Or someone."
A beat of silence passed.
"It's about the boy," said the woman on the left. "Silver."
"The one who took two Kanto badges in a day?" asked another. "A rumour."
The elder shook his head. "No. We've confirmed it. Pewter and Cerulean, back to back. And he's heading to another region as one of our members working in the league informed."
More silence.
"They say he is a born battler. A gym trainer facing Indigo League participants since he was six."
"Giovanni's son, raised in secret."
The flame crackled.
"We cannot ignore this," the eldest said. "The world is changing. Technology is outpacing tradition. The League is no longer what it was with champions rising and falling. We've clung to our ways too tightly."
"Our bloodline has always held strength."
"Yes. But strength without relevance fades into myth. We've had Gym Leaders. But never a Champion."
That landed like a stone in the hall.
"Lance," he said simply. "It's time for him to branch out."
Another elder nodded solemnly. "He's strong. Honourable. Charismatic. He's made connections through the League. But he needs more... more exposure, more leverage."
"And if this Silver boy truly is a prodigy… then perhaps Lance should see him firsthand."
They shared a look, the firelight dancing in their eyes. One thing they preached about was caring about your Pokemon and giving their young members good moral paths. But now they had to act and show their resolve.
The decision was unspoken but unanimous.
Later, in the training arena below the shrine, Lance stood facing a thick oak dummy. His crimson cloak billowed behind him as his Dragonair coiled gracefully at his side, crackling with contained power.
[Image]
He didn't flinch as the eldest elder approached, his cane tapping lightly against the floor.
"You've been summoned," the old man said. "A party hosted by Gym Leader Giovanni in Kanto. You'll attend as our representative."
Lance tilted his head slightly. "To meet the gym leader?"
"Make sure to observe his son, Silver Sakaki," the elder replied. "See if his strength is worth the rumours. Don't worry about the Wataru's reputation, do as you see fit." The old man says with a subtle smile, his voice softening at the end.
Lance gave a confident look and did a small bow. "Understood elder, thank you for this opportunity."
He turned to Dragonair and whispered a command. The serpent flicked its tail and let out a soft hum, then glided off toward the cliffs.
As Lance walked toward the exit, a young voice called out from the shadows.
"Bring me along!"
Lance stopped. His eyes softened slightly. "You planning to follow me, little one?"
The girl stepped forward, calm and composed. Her arms were folded, her blue eyes unreadable beneath bangs that nearly covered them. The words "Little One" made her want to shout.
She said nothing, her respect for Lance clear as day.
Lance looked back at her for a moment. "Fine," he said helplessly with a smirk. "Just stick close to me."
She didn't respond.
He smiled faintly to himself and walked on.
Behind him, she followed with a little arrogance. Followed by a slow Dratini who was trailing quietly.