Metang’s claws twitched. His arms moved imperceptibly. His red eyes never left the forms of the Pokémon before him, but he wasn’t involved in this battle.
An electric, gliding rodent—and Emolga—flew circles around a Gothitelle standing stock-still. The Psychic type almost seemed as though it was merely a model showing off its tiered dress, but that was just because it was locked into intense focus, trying to lock down its highly...
2025-11-20 01:43:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe first two chapters have been posted, and the release schedule will follow a similar schedule to the initial one here. Daily weekday chapters for the next two weeks, with only next Thursday off due to Thanksgiving.
Additionally, I’ve been going back to edit some earlier chapters, primarily trying to make them flow be...
2025-11-18 22:24:14 +0000 UTC View PostAlmost a year ago.
I was poor.
I was still getting used to being a Pokémon trainer, but I was getting money that helped. Every week, a notice came of a payment from my sponsor that gave just enough to get by. Combining that with the earnings from odd jobs and the occasional battle win, I was able to profit just enough to save up a decent sum.
And that decent sum had all but disappeared into a single, big purchase.
“B...
2025-11-14 23:19:35 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
Hello! Here’s the upcoming schedule for this fiction:
Tentatively, chapters will come out twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays. If that schedule ends up being too compacted, I might shift things around.
I’m aiming to have the Royal Road release of this fiction be on Tuesday, November 18th. However, I still need to get the cover art in order, and the current WIP title needs to be changed—i...
2025-11-13 23:28:35 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
When I end a chapter with a major cliffhanger, I want that cliffhanger to last by choice and not because a shift in schedule forced it.
This is Wednesday’s chapter. We’ll pick back up on Thursday. This time around, there is no cliffhanger at the end.
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Something about Kyurem ...
2025-11-09 20:30:39 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
(I forgot to update the next chapter links for Chapter 8, so if you missed it yesterday, it was posted here.)
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“You... actually caught a Metang?”
Di...
2025-11-06 22:20:23 +0000 UTC View PostA Pokémon’s evolution was almost like filling a water balloon—the energy inside them would slowly fill and build pressure up to a certain point, and then it would “burst,” spreading out and inspiring a rapid, extreme change. Different species had different ways to achieve this sudden change, with the vast majority of species only needing the base prerequisite of a certain level of strength. A Pokémon like Beldum had two ways to evolv...
2025-11-05 23:48:22 +0000 UTC View PostOur goal had changed; we were no longer trying to catch any possible Pokémon. Now, we had a specific Pokémon in mind that we sought to add to our team. While I wasn’t insane—if we ran into an Excadrill or another strong Steel type, I’d still try to catch it—my entire focus and energy was spent searching for that one Metang. In a way, doing so was a form of training in itself.
Every day, we’d pay the “toll” needed to pass ...
2025-11-05 00:18:50 +0000 UTC View PostWe were surrounded. Dark figures lurked in the trees, and long claws dragged grooves into the bark while knocking away thin, surface-level layers of snow. Red eyes gleamed within the shadows, and even Liepard wasn’t able to hide. Every Pokémon species had a special ability innate to it, and the group that surrounded us had an especially Keen Eye.
Valiant brought up their polearm, readying their stance with their weapon in hand. Rotom ...
2025-11-03 22:41:32 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
Early chapter due to the holiday!
Happy Halloween!
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My team had a pretty clear ranking when it came to power and skill in battle, but it was a ranking for power and skill individually rather than both at once.
No one could argue that Valiant stood at the top of two lists; their overall capability w...
2025-10-31 20:07:26 +0000 UTC View Post“Rotom! Come back down!” I shouted up into a gap in the trees. “The magnetic fields are already messing with everything—the feeds are warped! We’re going to have to do this the hard way.”
I was thankful that I was able to recognize the distortions before they got too bad; when Rotom flew back down in his drone, the other drones with him were already at lopsided distances. They were the worst kind of usable: technically 2025-10-30 21:27:52 +0000 UTC View Post
The bus maintained a low rumble that brought us eastward along a consistent path. What started as mountainous cliffs turned into a low-lying moor, and then evergreen forests began to flank the road.
Despite the untamed nature around us, this road was the most well-paved road I’d seen so far. Most of the time, travel in the Pokémon world was not something done lightly. Even if Routes were actively maintained as “safe” paths between...
2025-10-29 23:14:48 +0000 UTC View Post(Working Title)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Author Note:
Read Chapter 1 here.
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Jack stood across from me, his hi-vis vest standing out in the shade between hangars. He lowered his stance so he could better focus on the upcoming battle, p...
2025-10-28 22:08:30 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
Welcome!
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I’d ridden a plane exactly once before—twice, technically, since I’d needed to take a return flight home. I had only been a child back then, so my memories of it weren’t great. They mostly consisted of staring down at a tablet’s screen and walking through the airport itself.
Now, I wa...
2025-10-28 22:06:15 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
The sixth extra chapter came out before this one. Make sure to read it here.
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The world was changing. The stories that were once fated to become reality had now become nothing more than fantastical tales. Paths w...
2025-10-24 21:08:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe train’s whistle blew, and Magearna all but bounced around the cabin. Her metal legs clicked against the wood floor to bring her along to inspect every possible inch. Her eyes were red glass lenses that failed to shift or hint at any possible feeling. For her mouth, it was nothing more than the smallest of openings. Nothing about her face changed—nor could it change—but her body language was all that was needed to reveal her ...
2025-10-24 20:59:45 +0000 UTC View PostIf you missed it and need context, read the first extra chapter HERE.
(Originally posted almost two years ago.)
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“Wandering Elite Alex! It’s a great pleasure to meet you. I’m so glad you ...
2025-10-20 22:55:49 +0000 UTC View PostThe brisk weather hit me first; it’d been a while since I’d escaped any sort of humidity. Where Alola and Hoenn would have this uncomfortable warmth to them, the weather out here was much closer to Sinnoh’s. However, Sinnoh’s environment tended to be dry, and Galar’s was undoubtedly wet.
Though it was not actively raining, clouds still painted the sky grey as if a downpour had just recently ceased. People held closed u...
2025-10-19 23:36:28 +0000 UTC View PostThe environment of this place was significantly more humid than I expected, but I was basing my expectations on the fading memory of a video game that I’d played years and years before. The warm air was thick in a clogging sort of way, and it felt as though it was sticking to my skin even though all I was doing was standing at the edge of a road.
At my side, Ninetales fanned herself with her tails, as she was dealing with even more hos...
2025-10-16 20:31:38 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
Technically, this is a Contest chapter.
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Kanto. One of the most well-established regions, as well as the region in which the Pokémon League first formed. Other regions have always had their “bosses” and skilled trainers, but Kanto was the region that formalized and regulated the classic Pokémon Gym Ch...
2025-10-15 01:08:39 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
The extra chapters will begin to be posted to Royal Road starting next week.
This chapter is insanely long and is likely the longest chapter of the set.
More notes about these extra chapters and the upcoming schedule are included at the bottom of this post.
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“Welcome, one and all, to the most exciting...
2025-10-14 00:15:18 +0000 UTC View PostI want to thank everyone for being patient! Life’s been a bit difficult lately, but I’ve been trying to write as much as I can. Right now, I’m in the process of building up a backlog of chapters to mass post when the next fiction comes out, and then I also plan to use those chapters to continue into a fast release schedule from there. Once the backlog gets expended, the schedule will slow down to a more reasonable pace. Unfortunately, a ...
2025-09-26 00:06:31 +0000 UTC View PostValiant has just been released on Royal Road! Chapters 1-4 are all up, and the rest of the chapters will be released every weekday, culminating with a double post next Thursday to end it off.
Valiant Chapters:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Cha...
Author Note:
This is the end of the story. If you want to start from the beginning, start here.
Two chapters came out today, with one being released alongside this one. Chapter 5.1 is the previous chapter if you missed it.
... 2025-08-29 23:14:25 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
Two chapters today. One more after this one--this is the end of the fiction!
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The grove was defined by an unnatural calm. Girafarig were slowly returning to their home beneath the trees. Broken trunks lay surrounded by fallen branches, and nearby Pokémon dug with their hooves to bury the splinters that remain...
2025-08-29 23:02:23 +0000 UTC View Post“Get to the grove! Stop it! And remember that the Roaring Moon is a Dark Type—the Farigiraf won’t be able to hurt it!”
Next to the Iron Valiant, Nick scrambled back to his feet, but the Iron Valiant was already jumping off the cliffside yet again. However, instead of plummeting downward, it stabbed an arm into the cliff wall. The rocky surface slowed it and gave it the chance to land with more control.
Ahead of it, deeper i...
2025-08-27 22:04:12 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
Chapter 4.1 came out earlier today. Read it here!
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The Girafarig positioned themselves intentionally. Though weak individually, all the Pokémon together formed an intimidating group. The Pokémon too weak or old to...
2025-08-25 23:03:19 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note:
There'll be a second chapter out soon after this one.
Patreon has changed the post editor / publisher again. If there's anything off about this chapter, please tell me so I can try to fix it!
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Berries crushed by hooves served as a healing poultice. Juice from those same berries became a medicinal syru...
2025-08-25 22:05:00 +0000 UTC View Post