Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Rags to Riches

This is the prequel to my ever popular Pokemon Platinum series, and here you will see the beginnings of it. This fic is also posted on Serebii so if you copy it please revise it as such.


Chapter One: New Beginnings and Humble Backgrounds.




Rain pelted softly against the misted windows in an almost rhythmnic manner, all the while accentuating the gentle snoring that could be heard around the house. A large pile of clothes could barely be made out in the darkness, lying on what appeared to be a bed thanks to a faint yellow glow in the night. The peaceful stillness was soon brought to an abrupt end...


The rest of the house was calm and still until a bird flew into the window pane causing a loud noise which suceeded in rousing the inhabitant inside the room.


“Sh*it!” The boy swore under his breath. Quickly he lept out of his bed only to see that the clock read 6:30, and it was still dark outside so Chris promptly hopped back into the bed.


Then an annoying ring eminated from below, and it was not long before the low hum of the coffee-maker could be heard brewing its brown beverage. The thing causing the yellow glow seemed to leap through the air, and somehow managed to open the door own its own after unsuccessfully attempting to find something in the bed.


Music by Tupac Shakur began eminating from the downstairs living room. Chris grabbed a towel from the linen closet outside his doorway, treading softly on the carpet. The bathroom light flickered on and he hurried back to his room to find a brush, once in hand he continued on to the shower.


Chris looked at himself in the mirror. He hadn't changed much over the past few months according to him, same old brown eyes that matched his skin, same old black hair, and same old damn bruise on his shoulder from a sparring incident. What his relatives and everyone else said was untrue for the most part...He hadn't changed at all.


With a slight squeak he turned on the shower and let it run fo a moment. Turning once again to the mirror he let a few punches fly, the bathroom was narrow he didn't have room for any kicks, and any routines was definitely out of the question. He stepped inside the flow of water, and was met with a stream of cold water that jolted him completely awake-he hated when the water took longer to warm up.


The water cascaded off his lanky, muscular frame like water off a rock face. Chris stood still with his eyes closed allowing the warm water to wet his face, it was refreshing. He stood out well against the shower walls which were a beige-white in contrast to him, by now the bathroom was beginning to steam up so he hurried and washed up.


"MULTIPLE GUNSHOTS FILL THE BLOCK, THA FUN STOPS.
SNITCHES IS CALLIN' COPS, PEOPLE SHOT NOBODY STOPS."


"Does he have to play his music that damn loud?" Chris asked himself as he toweled off, the furry wool felt somewhat good on his now dry skin.


He tied the towel around his waist tightly as so it wouldn't fall off and opened the bathroom door, the cool air that swept in brought along with it a wave of relief. After changing into a black Tall-Tee and his grey sweat pants that seemed to be several sizes to big, with black and red Nike(s) and white socks. The boy then hurried down the stairs, two at a time. A picture of a young woman with hazel eyes, and chestnut hair sat on the mantle in the living room amidst trophies, ribbons and other pictures.


He waltzed into the kitchen to find his Pokemon pet curled up in a ball on the floor under the cherry wood table. Chris looked down and could see is reflection in the finish.


"Sparky, hungry?" He asked. The Pokemon nodded, it was about three feet with brown fur, some wide black stripes on its back, and white fur on its stomach.The yellow sacs on each of its cheeks matched the yellow tint on the inside of its ears.


"I don't care about evolution, your Raichu can't beat Charmeleon."


"I've said it before CJ, 'n I'll say it again. Battle us to prove it." Chris replied as he picked up the mouse by the scruff of its neck, revealing its black, wiry tail which ended in an almost lightning bolt shape which was the same yellow as its sacs. Searching through his pockets he found the Pokeblocks he made, and fed them to Sparky who promptly devoured them.



"So, whats up wit' you?" CJ asked.


"Nuttin much, talkin' to this girl named Harmony."


"Didn't you jus' break up with Tiffany?"


"Like 4 weeks ago, dumb****."


"Oh, don't get dropped, and end up failing your test."


"Don't worry about that."


"Why?" CJ asked as he gave a bowl of milk to Charmeleon, who shared with Raichu.


"Trust me." Chris replied with a glint in his eye. "I don't need luck." He said that with his famous smirk.


"Famous last words you know." CJ answered dryly, a little coffee spilled on his shirt, and he uttered another obscenity.


"That's what mom used to say." Chris stopped and looked at the floor. It had been five years since the accident his mom had been involved in, he remembered her saying she was headed to the front of the store, but hadn't seen the robbers.. She was shot in the forehead she died painlessly, but still never had a chance to say goodbye..


Chris got up in the middle of that to grab the last piece of toast, before he was interrupted.


"Oh yea, that restaurant you work at on the corner called."


"Who? Eva, or Max?"


"Sounded like a female, but they said if you pass the test you will get paid, and sponsored as long as you wear something with their emblem on it."


"Not that hard...I guess."


With that he bolted out the door into the rain, and came back a few seconds later. CJ was already holding out the umbrella.


"Thanks."


"Sure, now hurry up."


Umbrella in hand rain was no longer a formality, and he stepped out into the dreary streets of Darlwood yet again amidst the lightning that now flashed from time to time causing loud thundercracks that sounded as if a bomb went off. When he was little he'd always thought God was crying when it rained, and the lightning, and thunder were caused by Pokemon that felt his feelings


Around his friends he was known for being the logical one, you know the one who always balanced pros and cons, the own who always had an answer to every question no matter how obscure. Also he was known for being arrogant, and sometimes rude, but most of all people knew him for being smart, very smart; in fact he was known for correcting the teacher's on numerous occasions when they got formula's wrong, or failed to grasp some abstract point.


On the other hand, in private he was much more reserved seeing less need to enlighten people as to how smart he really was. He'd overheard a conversation between his sensei, and parents a while back. Something along the lines of him not focusing, and if someone could light a fire under then the possibilities would be endless, he still didn't see that yet, and it confounded him to no end as he thought concentration wasn't immediately affected by trivial things such as actually wanting to do it, not just doing it because it was cool.


Before long he could make out the building that belonged to the Pokemon Trainers Association, the place where all trainers got their beginning. It wasn't a particularly tall building, but it was easily identified by the large red and white Pokeball sitting atop the stucture. Almost immediately he noticed the growing crowd of people who must've come to take the test, and didn't see anyone he knew. The buildings sliding glass doors opened with a "whoosh!" and the parade of people filed in, most already had Pokemon they just needed to pass the test, and get their trainers license.


Once inside everyone had thier own agendas, and ways of keep calm;one person who attracted his attention was the latino dressed in white listening intently to his Ipod, as to tune out all other distractins in preparation, he had the right idea; a dripping from above alerted him to the fact he was still holding his umbrella, and he promptly put it away spraying water everwhere.


He was so busy drying out his umbrella he didn't notice the girl standing next to him. By the time he did notice her it was to late, she stared at him with a sort of cross stare as if to convey a message that he didn't quite catch.


"Did I splash you?" He asked stupidly.


"No, I just got out the shower." She said cooly.


It was then he immediately reconized the girl as Stacy Chase from his school, one of the finest girls at West IngleWood High!


Stacy fingered her auburn curls slighty as she turned around and headed towards the check-in desk. Her tight-fitting blue jeans made it quite easy to see the curves of her body, her black spaghetti strap halter top made her ever more beautiful, but what caught his attention weren't her luscious red lips, or sparkling chestnut eyes, but the small red and white metal balls on her belt.


"No frickin way..." Chris thought louder than he intended. Stacy was a trainer as well? Man the world is getting smaller, and now he was going to have to fight her eventually. Then he did something that fought against each, and everyone of his instincts.


Whipping his phone from the clip on his belt he checked the time it read: 10:30, another five minutes...


Chris strutted over to the T.V. posted up on the wall he saw a talk show featuring four renowned Pokemon proffessors discussing various subjects, including the upcoming Pokemon trainers.


"Yes, I am anticipating that we will see the rise of many great trainers this year, I mean look at who we have already."


"I know I'm reading the roster right now, We have Sarutobi Sasuke son of Emperor Sarutobi Masayuki. I know for a fact he is already a skilled trainer, and not a bad martial artist either!"


"Yes, and I hear the Urban League is about to finish it's testing as well, and needless to say I can't wait."


"I know, the wait is excruciating."


Chris winced when he heard the Urban League, people like the Profs were paid to mention the league since no one really gave a crap about them, it wasn't even a league yet, they were just now holding Gym Leader applications. He doubted anyone he knew would qualify, but you couldn't help hoping right? The attending were now ushering the crowd into a large auditorium filled with school desks. He trudged over to his desk, and sat down before putting some earphones into his ears which connected to his phone, and picked a song by Next to calm his nerves.


A tired-looking woman with buttery, yellow curls handed him his paper her glasses reflected some of the flourescent light into his face, Chris flinched slightly before turning to take his test. Well over 75 questions about various subjects covering what could be considered useful, but he felt most of it was irrelevant to anything an actual trainer would face. He finished long before anyone else, and simply left to await his results...


The downpour had since weakened to a drizzle, so Chris decided decided to go the nearby corner store to grab a bite to eat, he counted his money to figure how much he could buy.


"CJ might want something to." He thought to himself.


Then a car whizzed by him splashig water, luckily his umbrella was there to shield him; it was then he looked up and saw his friend Kareem talking to the finest girl he'd ever seen him pull. It was a brown-haired latina he was talking to, and she looked pretty good as well, a lite blue tube top with a white stripe down the middle well complimented by her white booty shorts, and reeboks.


He stood there for a few minutes completely speechless, and looked up to see a flock of Pidgey led by a Pidgeotto, he was narrowly missed by a load of white droppings, and decided it was best to move. Trudging slowly into the store Chris noticed his friend Jared putting bags of chips into his pocket in the back of the store, his orange tall tee coveringthe bulges in his pants. He could see his timberland boots were soaked from running, probably from someone's dog or something.


"Yo, cashier!" Chris called out, a large man with cornrows, and a large fiery dog with stripes by his leg answered.


"Wassup, what can I git'cha?" He managed to speak above the Growlithe's barking.


"Lemme get that." He pointed to a bottle of transcluscent blue liquid.

"This Blue Rasberry pop? Anything else?"

"Yeah, some flamin hott cheeto's. That sh*it is da bomb!"


"I know, yo aint you CJ's brother?"


"Yeah, don't tell me we look alike, he bout 5 shades darker than I am!"


"Don't get worked up I was jus saying."


"I know, how much?"


"What?"


"The cheeto's, and pop!" Chris sighed loudly.


"Oh yeah, got caught up in the conversation. 1.25."


"Ight, here."


With that exchange Chris walked outside. Hw was about to open up his pop when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He gritted his teeth grabbed the hand and was about to deliver a painful sidekick to the attacker when he noticed the orange tee shirt.


"Jared? still stealin shi*it I see."


"***** good lookkin' out distractin' the cashier for me."


Chris looked at him crossways before knocking his hand off, and walking down the street.


"Hmph, I didn't do it for you, I was hungry."


"Really?"


"Yeah, If I'da helped you, I woulda been in hot water too, ya see I go here everyday unlike you."


The dark skinned boy across from him laughed.


"It's funny, you're still not as tall as me."


Darric stopped laughing and frowned.


"I don't see it that way."


Chris shrugged, and continued walking down the street. He'd gone a few steps when he turned around and called out.


"You comin', or not?"


Darric ran after him towards his house hopefully for some food. What Chris didn't notice was the red and white metal ball under his friends shirt next to his phone, it seemed that more than a few people were becoming trainers. All that meant was more people to contend with and more people to eat plus more money to win; that's how he saw it anyway.

~~End~~

Comments? Sry, no battle in Chapter One.
 
Chapter 2: Strange turn of events

The street was ever more dreary thanks to the rainfall from the earlier morning, Jared walked right along Chris almost brushing against his shoulder. The wind started to kick up once again causing Chris's shirt to billow slightly, a bit of dirty brown water splashed against his shoes leaving a line of dirt and ground up leaves.

Chris looked at his shoes momentarily before casting a frowning glance upwards towards the sky, a flock of Bird Pokemon caught his gaze because they weren't native to his region as far as he knew. The sky held so many wonders in its vastness in fact, Chris was so deep in thought he didn't notice Jared calling his name until he shook him.


"How did you- nevermind I should know you by now."

"Mh-hm" Chris meerly nodded along to whatever 'J' had just said.

They continued walking until they came to a(n) alleyway that would lead to a shortcut home. The problem was that the alley was mostly inhabited by the nieghborhood gang-the Scorpions! Chris had seen some Scorpions, or stinger for short trash businesses when they didn't pay thier protection money and he'd even seen them kill peoples Pokemon pets when they tried to get in the way.

"Yo my nig*ga, ain't this the Scorpions alley?" He had a wierd, scared look in his eyes.

"Don't worry it'll be fine."

And as if on cue right when tose words came out of his mouth, a long dark shadow cast near them. The cause a group of about three girls and two boys standing near the alley entrance behind them all wearing white hoodies with black scorpion insigmia's.

"This is the Black Scorpions territory, so tell me why you mutha****a's is in our space." A tall black teen of about seventeen thundered in a menacing manner, he reached into his baggy blue jeans and pulled out a shiny silver .45 out.

"Just enjoying the calm weather and pleasant scenery." Chris said defiantly as the glint from the piece caught his eye.

"Say 'T', I think these guys are Purple Dragons." A Skinny Mexican of about fifteen chimed in.

"Shut up chico, I can see what they are." The boy apparently named 'T' yelled back.

"Should I kick ya ***, or make you Get Down or Lay Down?"

As he said those words he let the pistol fly into Chris's face leaving a long, stinging gash across his face and upper lip. Chris pressed his hand against the side of his face to weaken the flow of blood, as he crumpled to the ground.

"Yo, Alira what'chu think I should with these mutha****as?"

The girl to his left apparently named Alira was the only one not wearing a hood, only a jean jacket over a white shirt and blue jean pants so he could see her beautiful olive skin. She tossled her dirty blonde hair for a moment as she thought, she looked both Chris and Darric up and down before she made her decision.

"Kick dey ***, but let 'em go." She gave the two of them a look as if to say. "You owe me big time, and I intend to collect."

That seemed to satisfy the stingers a bit. Chris immediately felt a sharp pain in his gut followed by a blunt force to his face, Jared caught a left hook and was dropped in a few seconds. The pain wasn't what you would call unbearable, but all the while couldn't help curling into a ball and praying for it to be over.

The beating went on for several minutes as the stingers went as far as to kick and stomp on the two fallen teens as if to drive their point home. Chris managed to see out of the corner of his eye for fear they would start beating them with sticks, he saw Alira standing behind the others meerly watching them.

Then little-by-little the thugs stopped thier attack and one by one began leaving the alley, jeers and laughs could be heard echoing against the cold wet walls of the alley. Chris managed to pick himself up first visibly hurt, blood ran down the side of his eye were it was split open as well as his nose. Dirt, mud and grimy shoeprints were visible against the fabric of his clothes as proof of their experience.

Jared wasn't hurt that bad except for a few cuts and bruises here and there, but otherwise he was fine. Chris waited until he was sure the Scorpions were gone before he brushed himself off and got up apparently not as injured as he seemed.

"What the?"

Chris answered as if he'd read his mind.

"I've been through worse, suicides for wrestling while I had stomach flu were worse than this."

The look the followed was one of sheer amazement, whether it was for the past incident, or the occasion he'd just revealed he wasn't sure. A few minutes later Chris and Jared were back on the road to his house, bruises and cuts aside. They limped down the street in silence ignoring the stares and comments from passerbys.

"You dirty mutha*****a." Jr said aloud.

"How the **** 'm I s'pose to know they were right there, you coulda used you Pokemon and at least we woulda got off unscathed."

"No, then the big nig*ga woulda just shot it with that piece he had, you saw it."

Chris had to admit that he was right about this situation, Jared using his Pokemon would've gotten them nowhere moreso than the White Tigers, or the Purple Dragons the Scorpions were known for killing Pokemon if necessary and it was probably better that Jared didn't use it, he still couldn't help wondering what it was.

"So 'D' when ya gonna give me some of that pop you deebo'ed from o'le man Zickers?"

Darric gave him a wierd look because just at that moment he was attempting to chug down all the pop he had. Chris sweatdropped and rolled his eyes before revealing one of his own, so Darric changed the subject.

"Well Chris when do you become an official Trainer?"

Chris pondered the question before answering. "Whenever the fu*ck I get those results back."

"Then once I get the results I go to the Trainers Bureau and apply for a license which will document me as a official Pokemon League Trainer. Once that's complete I can apply for a starter Pokemon which would allow me to freely roam the countryside at my leisure."

"What'chu need a starter for? What happened to your electric rat and those other two?" He inquired.

"Sparky's fine, I just think I'll be more prepared for whatever I come across if I start with an official starter geared up for that league that's all. Duh."

"I see, I think. Still teaching that rat wrestling and sh*it?"

"And by the way, who the fu*ck says duh anymore?"

Chris looked at him for a minute before answering.

"Well so the fu*ck what if I said it huh?" He was starting to get angry.

"Chill ni*gga, and just tell me about your rat already."

"Actually yes I am, He's learned a lot. He can Slam now, in addition to his Thunderbolt and Tail Whip techniques." Chris said matter-of-factly.

The soft tap-tap of rain could be heard again as the drizzle turned into a light storm, the occasional bright flash could be scene amongst the increasingly gray cloud cover. Maybe his love of thunderstorms could be attributed to the fact he was born during one, which also may have prompted him to pretty much become an expert on Electric-types.

Chris put up his umbrella once more to protect himself and his companion from the rain as they neared his flat. Jared looked up to see that Chris's wounds were much closer to being fully healed than they were about ten minutes ago, it was getting darker thanks to the storm clouds approaching from the distance.

"You, Chris we better hit pods, or we're gonna be wetter than a virgin at a beefcake bar."

"Well put..." Chris said crossly. The weather in this region was weird to say the least and that's why Chris opted for Kanto first, so he could gain experience as a trainer before tackling this area. He was hoping to get the Grass-type starter, so he'd have an edge against the other beginner trainers, but you take what you get in this life.

"Thank God, we're here."

Chris and Jared walked in the door after Chris'd unlocked it with his key, and hurried in before they saw the biggest lightning bolt light the sky an eerie green color. The odd thing was that there was no thunder until the second and third bolts.

"Weird..." Chris said.

"What is weird about it?"

"Usually thunderclaps occur right after a lightning strike, but here I didn't hear anything for a long time."

"So?"

"Don't you see-"

Chris's speech was cut short by a(n) enormous blue bolt of lightning followed by a thunderclap so powerful it shook the very foundation of the house. Both teens had to hold onto some object to avoid falling on the floor and risk getting hurt, and it wasn't long before Sparky came running in the room to greet the two of them.

"Whoa, that has never happened before, as far as I remember anyway."

"I hope this bi*tch don't get struck by lightning and burn."

"The chances of anything getting struck by lightning are remote at best, chill."

Chris noticed Jared wasn't listening to him, and meerly continued to stare out at the now pitch black sky as bolt after bolt dropped from the clouds striking the city. This time all the lightning bolts of many different colors were dropping like flies followed by large claps of thunder, and it was about this time that Chris made up his mind.

"Jared you mind stayin' here to watch the crib for a grip?"

His friend looked at him crossways. "Sure, got any food?"

"Check the fridge!" Chris called out as he was already down the street.


Buildings seemed to whiz by as he sped down the street at a sprint pace as if he'd lost something and was desperately trying to find it. After exiting the Residential District he entered the Industrial area where towering skyscrapers and factory refineries caught the worst part of the storm.

Hordes of people could be seen flocking towards the rare occurance, and Chris was no exception. The iridescent flashes continued as the citizens stared in awe at the black sky that was light up every few seconds by a plethora of colors. Chris continues to stand there at the square even as it becomes apparent that things are getting dangerous and the others sense it as well, yet they continue standing still.

That'ss when something happens. Chris continues to stare at the strange lightning storm when he suddenly feels as if every hair on his body is standing upright, and he feels a sense of impending danger.

'BBRRAAAAK!'

Another enormous bolt of lightning lights up the sky birthing many smaller bolts of lightning from itself and is followed by the loudest crack of thunder anyone ever heard. Chris feels the strangest tingling sensation along wih the erect hairs on the back of his neck, and the next thing he knows he's looking at dozens of faces staring down at him.

"What happened?" A panicked voice asked.

"H-how should I know? I-I t-turned around and-" The guy was tripping over his words and once again was interrupted by what can only be described as an enormous roar that rolled across the skies. The sound shook all the bysanders as it then became apparent what was happening.

"Hee you guys see those people on top of that buidling?"

"Are they flying?"

"What's going on here?"

Then slowly Chris's vision started to blur and he slipped away into darkness as more and more people gathered around and then scattered as more lightning bolts flashed across the sky and struck the ground in various places. Then the downpour that followed could only be described as torrential, alleyways and low streets were immediately flooded by the cascade of dirty water.

Chris however saw none of this as he lay unconscious on the ground in the Inglewood Factory District Square...

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