Pokemon: Arceus' Champion

"Alright, take a rest." I told my pokemon as we finished our strength training, after completing our morning run.

"""..."""

Every single one of my new pokemon, those I received yesterday and on board the SS. Anne, collapsed wordlessly to the ground after the intense workout.

"You all did well for your first workout." I told them, earning myself only a few sighs and grunts in response. When Joy appeared a moment later with a cart piled high with pokemon food though, they all suddenly grew energetic.

"Time for breakfast~!" Joy called out, before she was immediately swarmed by the ravenous pokemon.

"Be patient, there's enough for everyone!" Joy told them as she handed out dishes. Tepig, true to it's appearance as a pig, tried going back for more, but she kept him from doing so until everyone had eaten.

"Snove!" Snover cried as it froze it's own food, making it akin to ice-cream.

"Osha?" Oshawott asked as he looked over at Snover's food with interest.

"Snove!" Snover cried while defending it's food jealously.

"Oshawott, don't eat Snover's food." I reprimanded him sternly.

"Oshawott..." He said dejectedly, while Chespin and Totodile tried to comfort him.

Meanwhile, some of the fire types like Fennekin and Cyndaquil were using their flames to roast their food to their preferred tastes, and some of the others also added certain berries from the greenhouse.

While the pokemon ate we also had our breakfast, which was prepared by Lyra, Lillie and Selene, before we resumed our training.

"Ok. After breakfast we spend the rest of the morning training working on moves and such. Now Tinkatink and Grookey, I want the two of you to work with Cubone and Honedge since you all fight by using weapons. Rowlet and Rookidee, work on aerial combat with one another, but also try to incorporate your grass and steel type attacks. Remember, you all aren't trying to actually defeat one another. As for all of you fire types, come with me."

After giving instructions for what I wanted my pokemon to work on, I gathered all of the fire type pokemon I had for a special form of training. Soon I was surrounded by Charizard, Houndoom, Rolycoly, Chimchar, Cyndaquil, Tepig, Fennekin, Litten and Scorbunny.

"Alright, I've been thinking of different ways to make you all stronger since the next Gym we're going to face is a grass type. And I think I may have figured something out. So today, I'm going to teach all of you breathing techniques!"

"""..."""

Silence met my declaration as the fire type pokemon just stared at me.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" I asked them.

"Hound hound, doom."

"Yes, I am well aware that you all can breathe, you need to do it to survive. What I'm talking about is changing the way in which you all breathe to increase the potency of your flames." I told them, which earned me another round of skeptic looks.

"Fire is not like rock, ground or water, fire is alive, just like grass. It consumes oxygen as it burns, but if you take the oxygen away, then the fire goes out. Increasing the amount of oxygen you all take in from breathing should increase your fire power. At least I think it might help."

"""..."""

Again, I was greeted by silent skepticism from my pokemon, before a new voice suddenly spoke up.

"He's right you know."

We all looked up to see Red approaching us, his own Charizard by his side.

"Breathing techniques are all extremely useful to know, even for people and most types of pokemon. As fire types though, you would be one of the ones who would benefit the most to make your flames far more powerful. Just look at Charizard here."

As Red said that, his Charizard took in a quick breath before letting out a small Flamethrower, except instead of the usual orange-red flames, they were a vibrant blue that felt far hotter than normal flames.

"Char....." Chimchar uttered in awe when he saw the flames, along with the rest of my fire type pokemon as their eyes began to shimmer.

"I see how it is... You won't trust your trainer, but you will this old man?" I grumbled, making my pokemon snicker playfully.

"He has a point you know." Red told my pokemon sternly.

"It is your trainer's responsibility to make you all stronger. The only way to do that is to test any theories Ace may have. Some may work, others may not, but you should all still listen to him and try new things out. Its the only way for any of you to reliably grow stronger."

When Red finished speaking my pokemon appeared Mareepish from doubting me, but none more so than Charizard.

"Right then, are you all ready to give it a try now?" I asked them.

"""..."""

This time all of my fire type pokemon nodded energetically after seeing the display of Red's Charizard, and followed my lead as I sat down cross-legged in the middle of them.

"First is to take in a deep breath through your nose, hold it for a second, and then exhale through your mouth. Then just keep repeating this until it become second nature. Remember, fire power comes from the breath."

My pokemon did as I bid them, and the sound of breathing was all any of us heard afterwards as we entered our own rhythms. Seconds passed, and then minutes until we were meditating for thirty minutes, and then an hour.

*Poof!*

I opened my eyes slightly and glanced to the side, seeing that whenever Charizard was exhaling he was poducing a small burst of multicolored flames.

Soon I noticed something similar from my other pokemon, as their auras and flames grew slightly stronger.

It was barely noticeable, but I could sense the slight increase that came a result of their increase in oxygen. Mostly because Cyndaquil, Tepig, Fennekin, Litten and Scorbuny were all so young, and as a result still had weak inner fires.

"Keep it up. I'm going to check on the others." I told them before getting up, making Litten give me a dirty look since he had been curled up in my lap for his own meditation.

I then went back to the interior of the greenhouse where the rest of my pokemon were training, noting Ash training his own pokemon a short ways away with Red. Entering the greenhouse, I saw several of my pokemon either engaged in their own form of training, or helping to train some of my new pokemon.

With Pidgot still, reluctantly, in his new nest, I went further into the greenhouse to find Blastoise, Floatzel and my two Milotic all helping my new water pokemon train, at least they were trying to. Froakie and Popplio were paying complete attention to them, but Sobble was watching anxiously from afar while Totodile and Oshawott were both goofing off.

"Knock it off you two." I told them sternly, making both pokemon stiffen up since they hadn't realized I was here.

"You can goof off later after your training is over, but focus for right now. After all, do you not want to be able to battle from being too weak?"

""!?!""

Both pokemon looked stricken when I threatened not to use them in future battles, and they both hurried to train beside Froakie and Popplio. As for Sobble, I wasn't too worried about her since she was still paying attention while hiding out on a nearby tree.

I then went to look for my grass type pokemon, Chikorita, Snivy and Chespin, which were being trained alongside Bulbasaur by Grotle, Sceptile, Tangrowth and Exeggutor. The main goal was for those who could to learn the spore attacks, Stun Spore, Poison Powder, and Sleep Powder, as well as Razor Leaf and Vine Whip.

A short ways away from them, I could see Grookey sparring with Cubone to learn to properly use it's branch in combat, while Honedge was sparring with Tinkatink beside them. Speaking of Tinkatink, I would need to find a way for her to acquire metal scraps to better forge her hammer in the future. Normally they got them from either mining or hunting steel type pokemon, but I didn't really want her trying to pick apart Honedge or Magnezone.

A blast of wind drew my attention upwards, where Rowlet was busy training with Rookidee as they worked on their aerial combat and flying type moves. Nearby, Crobat was watching over them while also occassionally giving them advice from the tree she was perched in.

I watched them for a few minutes before making my way to the next group, which was Machop, Eevee, Croagunk and Whismur being coached by Lucario. The previous three were all fighting against Lucario as best they could, with Machop putting aside any thought of defending himself, Croagunk secreting toxic mucus to add poison to his attacks, and even Eevee was darting about while trying to find an opening to attack Lucario from. Whismur though was far too timid to attack, and may even need far more attention from me in the future.

A short ways away I could also sense Weavile teaching Snover how to best use it's ice type moves, as they were the only ice type pokemon I currently have. And near them was Gardevoir teaching Ralts how to focus her psychic powers properly.

Unfortunately I couldn't let Grimer and Alolan Muk train properly with everyone else, since their toxic bodies had the habit of destroying wildlife wherever they go. So hopefully I'll be able to get the training facility from Silph Co soon...

We continued working, all of my new and old pokemon, for the next several hours until we got around to lunch time when Joy brought out the next round of pokemon food.

"Alright everyone, take a rest." I told them, to which all of my pokemon eagerly complied. The only exception was the fighting type Machop, who wanted to keep going.

"You all did great this morning." I told my pokemon as they ate, even as I looked pointedly at Oshawott and Totodile.

"Go ahead and spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing, and then later tonight we'll resume your training once again. In the evenings though, we focus on actual battle training, so I'll pair you all up in one way or another, and let you all battle to get a feel for the moves and such that you were all learning this morning. Ok?"

The vast majority of my pokemon all let out a cry of affirmation at my words, with more than a few that were ready to relax after training all morning. Though I could also see that some, like Machop, wanted to keep training instead. But that was fine since they were free to.

With my piece said, I left my pokemon to their own devices while I returned to the house for my own lunch, where I found the girls gathered as well.

"Hey Ace!" May cried out when she saw me, a plate of sandwhiches in her hands.

"Hey May. You save any for me?" I asked her playfully.

"Lillie and Chloe have a lot more." May said while pointing at the larger platter sitting on the table.

"Thanks." I said while taking a seat, and helping myself to the offered food.

"Everyone has been so busy this morning, so its the least I could do!" Lillie said with a radiant smile that almost seemed too pure for this world.

"While you're here Ace, I think we need to talk..." Hilda said suddenly, her voice uncharacteristically serious as the rest of the girls turned towards me.

"Oh? Talk about what?" I asked after swallowing a mouthful of food.

"You know about the situation with the SS. Anne, right?" Serena asked this time.

"Yeah." I responded, already having heard that the ship was docked while it undergoes repairs from the battle.

"Well, while its being repaired, we decided to explore Kanto a little bit." Hilda continued.

"So were you all wanting to go with me?" I asked, having already planned to leave Celadon once I get the Rainbow Badge from Erika.

"No, we were planning to take off on our own, tomorrow morning." Rosa stated.

"I see. Any place in particular?"

"Maybe the Safari Zone for me." Selene said with excitement.

"I also wanted to go and explore Lavender town."

"And I Cinnabar island!"

The girls then listed off the various places they wanted to see before returning home, before Serena hesitantly turned towards me.

"Are you sure you're ok with it?" She asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked back.

"I don't own any of you or anything, and you all have things you want to do as well that don't involve me. Rather than just follow me around like a large pack of lost Growlithe pups, I would rather everyone go out and do what they need to to get stronger and follow their dreams. After all, its not as if we can't stay in touch, or won't ever see each other again."

The girls in question let out a sigh of relief since I had apparently taken the news of them leaving so well, which I knew was coming eventually. If anything, the hard part was trying to say I was fine with them leaving without hurting their feelings.

Thankfully that didn't seem to be the case, and the girls were relieved that I understood their need to leave to continue their own journeys.

"If you are all planning on leaving, then may I have a bit of your time after lunch? You in particular, Lyra." Giana suddenly asked as she entered the house, dressed once again in a sharp suit.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"It would be far easier to show everyone, if I may." Giana stated, making me even more curious. But since I had told my pokemon to rest for the next few hours, then I had no problem going along with her wishes. And judging by the looks from the others, neither did they.

...

"And here we are." Giana said as she directed us to an empty lot that wasn't too far from the villa where the house was set up, except it wasn't empty right now. Instead, there was a massive airship parked there.

"I wondered where this went." I muttered as we approached the giant airship, which was abuzz with people as they worked on and around it.

"Yes. After the trouble we went through to take it from Team Rocket control, I felt it was appropriate to continue putting it to use. Currently we are outfitting it to act as the primary base and command center of Team Arceus Aegis." Giana explained.

"???"

"Why would you want to make THIS your main base?" Misty asked with confusion in her voice.

"Because, our goal is to be able to respond to threats from the criminal organizations anywhere in the world. Therefore, it only makes sense that our base is able to move us to where we are needed." Giana explained as if it were obvious.

"Well excuuuuuuse me." Misty grumbled.

"If you'll all follow me on board, I can give you the tour." Giana said as she stepped into the open hanger door.

"..."

Though I made to follow her, I paused involuntarily as a bad feeling welled up within me, and the palms of my hands suddenly became cold and clammy.

"Ace?" Dawn asked when she noticed I wasn't following along.

"I'm fine." I said, though for some reason I couldn't take another step forward.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was feeling scared right now, but that made no sense. This thing was basically just an airplane, and I had riden on those plenty of times in my previous life! Right up until....

Oh....

"..."

I frowned as I realized what was going on, apparently a lingering aversion towards planes of some kind after I literally died on one in the past. Which was completely stupid considering I rode on Pidgeot all the time!

Though, if I were being honest, I trusted Pidgeot SIGNIFICANTLY more than I would any plane or helicopter...

"Are you sure you're fine?"

"You actually look pretty pale."

Rosa and Serena both piped up as everyone continued staring at me curiously.

"I'm fine." I stated more firmly than before. Then, to prove that I was fine, I forced myself to climb up the ramp onto the airship.

"""???"""

Though I still received some weird looks, and the clammy feeling my hands had didn't go away, we continued on as Giana led us through the airship.

"Currently we are in the process of installing a proper lab for our scientists to work at, and a command center that can connect all of our field agents for any assignments and so on."

"How many agents do you have?" Chloe asked curiously.

"I don't know the exact number off the top of my head, mainly because we've had an influx of people joining us ever since the battle. We started with only a couple dozen deserters from Team Rocket during the battle, and since then the remaining members were given the choice of either joining us or being imprisoned. Of course, we only accepted those who do not have a record of performing particularly heinous crimes.

"Additionally, since the battle, Ace's reputation has skyrocketed to the extreme. Many trainers from just about every region have approached us with the intention of joining Team Arceus Aegis to serve under him. Of course we are not just allowing anyone to join, and are properly screening all who wish to."

As Giana finished speaking she led us to the bridge of the airship, where several people were already at work trying to coordinate between the people that were already out in the field.

"What exactly do you have them working on?" I asked Giana.

"Mostly becoming stronger, either by tracking down rumors of powerful pokemon, or pokemon poachers. Now that Team Rocket is out of the way, we can assume that there will be a rise of poaching organizations to fill the void they left behind."

"You mean things won't just settle down?" Lillie asked worriedly.

"I'm afraid not. Instead, all of those small time criminals now see the absence of Team Rocket as their chance to make it big. They're mostly just small fry that will never get anywhere, but one or two might actually become a problem. That's the reason I brought you all with me today."

As she finished speaking, Giana tapped a few keys on the center monitor, and the image of a rough-looking man that had his face concealed by a metal mask appeared.

"This is Vicious, one of the former team leaders of Team Rocket. He was one of those in the running to become an Admin after the SS. Anne attack, but when it became apparent that Team Rocket was going to lose, he fled the battle to go on his own path. In the process, he took a group of Rocket agents with him, and now we don't know what he may be up to."

"So what do you want from us?" Misty asked Giana.

"Nothing specific. I just wanted to give Lyra a heads up for when she returns to Johto since we have a strong reason to believe that he may be making his moves within that particular region. Not only did a few of the transports taking former Rocket agents to jail get attacked, but we also received an alert from the alarm system from one of our Johto bases."

Giana then hit another key, which changed the image so that we were watching a security feed on the monitor instead. In it was Vicious, along with a few dozen men as they raided the Team Rocket base for materials, equipment, and a second airship that was docked there, but was nowhere near as large as the one we were standing in.

The footage continued until Vicious apparently noticed the camera, and sent out a Weavile to destroy it.

"Aside from that one recording, we have no idea where Vicious may or may not be, and we have yet to go through all of the Team Rocket's hideouts, properties, and assets. Though, it is possible he is still somehwere in the Johto region, which is why I warned Ethan earlier, and wanted to warn Lyra now."

"Is he dangerous?" Lyra asked worriedly.

"Extremely." Giana answered without any hesitation.

"He didn't get the name Vicious by being nice and understanding. Though not the brightest Mareep of the heard, Vicious can be cunning and meticulous when he wants to be. So if you do hear or discover anything about his whereabouts, let us know before you do ANYTHING." Giana warned Lyra, before looking the rest of us over as well.

"Perhaps a bit less gloom and doom is in order Lyra." Said a new voice from the entry way, and we all turned to see Ariana standing there with Jessie and Cassidy with her.

"Shall I give you the grand tour, sir?" She asked me sensually, before leading the way out without waiting for an answer.

***

Meanwhile, in Johto, a certain man was walking through a rundown warehouse as casually as could be, his eyes scanning the men around him as they worked tirelessly.

"Sir!" One of the men saluted as he passed them.

"What is it?" The man growled irritably at him, as it was obvious the man wanted something.

"Nothing sir! Its just, are you sure they won't find us here?" The man asked hesitantly.

"..."

"No, I'm not sure. So quit your belly-aching and get moving! The faster you lot finish this work, the faster we can get up and out of here!" The man roared at him, making the other man nearly piss himself as he hurried to complete his job.

"Good help is so hard to find these days." The man grumbled tiredly.

"Wea Weavile." The pokemon said in agreement beside him.

"Sir!" Another man called out from another part of the warehouse, drawing the man to him as he said worriedly, "I'm sorry sir, but I don't think we have enough materials to build the containment unit to hold a Legendary pokemon. Maybe if we raid another storehouse?"

"That won't be necessary." The man said to his subordinate, in a marginally calmer voice than he had the previous man.

"It won't?"

"That's right. Build the containment unit as the instructions say, but scale it down as much as you need. It should still be able to hold our target."

"Really? And what is our target, if I may ask."

"No, you may not. All you need to know is that we should have everything we need to do the job." The man sneered, before leaving the subordinate to continue his work as he headed back to his temorary office.

"It won't be long now." The man said, his voice filled with anticipation for what was to come.

"Weavile."

"That's right. Stupid Giovanni couldn't see the brilliance behind my goals, and kept refusing my proposition. But the bastard isn't here anymore. And soon, not even the hands of time will hold me back from taking all that I want!"

As the man smiled sinisterly under his helmet, he focused on a slightly blurry picture of a green figure, that was tiny in stature as it zipped through the forest.