Back a few years ago when I was actively playing competitive Pokémon, I stumbled across the Trainer Card Maker on Pokestadium, and decided to make one for myself for the sake of it. As I was picking out my favourite Pokémon, I noticed the seed of a story begin to sprout in the back of my head. However at the time, I had neither the interest nor outlet to do so, and as such the idea simply sat on my metaphorical idea shelf, collecting metaphorical dust.
Years later, the situation has changed. The advent of yet another generation of Pokémon piqued my interest ever so slightly, and my typical neglect of this blog provided the perfect opportunity for me to bring life to my old character idea for the entire internet to scrutinise. Of course, I’m well aware of the connotations of publishing amateur writing online, but hopefully I can make it to the end without going too Tumblr or too Kirito.
Albert grew up in Littleroot Town together with his neighbour May, whose family was coincidentally the only other one inhabiting the small town. While May showed great interest in assisting with her father’s research and fostering bonds with as many Pokémon as possible, Albert had only one goal in mind: to rise to the top.
Unlike many others before him, he did not boast a burning passion to become the best, nor did he have the willpower to pull through consecutive crushing defeats. In fact, his ambition was nigh on non-existent. He was simply a perfectionist, and wanted to make sure everything he did was as optimal as it could be. Naturally, this tendency led him towards the road to becoming the champion.
Before he set off on his journey, he frequented Professor Birch’s laboratory to do as much study as possible. Day after day, he would be poring over the professor’s research materials and absorbing knowledge of not only different species of Pokémon, but also the tactics of battle and the governing systems in place in Hoenn.
Impressed by his dedication, the professor began to show interest in Albert’s studies and noticed his slight obsession with steel-type Pokémon. In order to give him the luxury of choice, the professor rounded up a few steel-type Pokémon. He had planned to bestow one to Albert, but when the time came, Albert took the professor by surprise.
When Albert indicated that he was ready to leave the town, the professor offered him one of the handful of steel-type Pokémon he had collected, pointing out he had noticed the youngster’s interest in the archetype. Albert did not deny his interest, but he politely refused the offer and instead requested Absol, the Disaster Pokémon.
Although taken aback, Professor Birch could tell that Albert knew exactly what he wanted. He had seen the young boy’s potential and did not want to nip such talent in the bud, so he contacted an acquaintance and had the Pokémon delivered promptly to Littleroot. With his new partner in tow, Albert was ready to begin his Pokémon adventure.
Rather than running off to challenge the first gym in sight, Albert took his Absol across the region and raised him according to a meticulous plan he had decided prior to leaving Littleroot. Alongside this, he hunted for the other five Pokémon he was after for his party, as well as any necessary equipment to raise them exactly as he had planned. When the Pokémon were not native to the region, he made acquaintances that could help him get his hands on the species. Eventually, he had acquired his ideal party, without a trace of imperfection.
Absol @ Absolite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Knock Off
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Blast
Absol was a physical sweeper, immune to status due to Magic Bounce and able to take care of the majority of Pokémon between Knock Off and Play Rough. Sucker Punch was a priority move to take care of fast threats, and Fire Blast caught physical walls such as Ferrothorn and Skarmory off-guard, taking advantage of Absol’s naturally high Special Attack.
Absol was also Albert’s right-hand companion. Wherever Albert walked, Absol would only ever be half a pace behind. The majority of battles Albert found himself in were swept clean by Absol. His other Pokemon only ever saw the light of day on the rare occasion a trainer skilled enough to not be taken care of by Absol alone showed up.
Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Roost
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird
Skarmory was Albert’s main physical wall. She was able to absorb the majority of physical attacks with ease, giving her plenty of opportunity to lay Spikes on the opponent’s field. Between Roost and Whirlwind, she was able to go wear down the majority of Pokémon, keeping Brave Bird in the back to keep the opponent on their toes.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Albert built Scizor as a bulky pivot, revenge killer, and pursuit trapper. Technician, coupled with the Choice Band, Adamant Nature and 252 Attack EVs boosted Scizor’s physical power to insane levels, allowing him to take major chunks of health away from opposing Pokémon. 92 Speed EVs let Scizor outpace uninvested Klefki, who can resist his priority, with HP EVs invested to help him trade blows.
Bisharp @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
Bisharp was a set-up sweeper that boasted similar strengths to Absol. He had a powerful STAB core of Knock Off and Iron Head, with Sucker Punch as priority for good measure. A single Swords Dance also made him a menace to deal with, as a +2 Black Hole Eclipse could OHKO Pokémon such as Mega Sableye, Celesteela, Toxapex and Mega Scizor, Pokémon that would otherwise wreak havoc on Albert’s party.
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Substitute
- King's Shield
Aegislash was a bulky attacker, and the only special attacker in Albert’s party. Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon were STAB moves that covered the majority of Pokémon, while Substitute was used to force switches and avoid status moves that King’s Shield would otherwise miss. 44 Speed EVs also allowed Aegislash to move before and knock out opposing Gothitelle, before the latter’s annoying support moves could come into play.
Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
Rounding off Albert’s team was Excadrill, the Pokémon best able to take advantage of the newly-introduced Dynamax mechanic. His Dynamaxed STAB moves, Earthquake and Iron Head, increase Special Defense and Defense respectively, while Rapid Spin now increases Speed, allowing him to clear hazards and set up simultaneously. As an added bonus, he served as the team’s rocker and sported an Air Balloon to avoid being revenge killed by opposing Excadrill and Ditto.
With his party complete, Albert set out to challenge the then-champion of the Hoenn Region. He bested all of the gyms and cleared the Pokémon League in record time, earning the title of champion as his own. All but the champion fell to his Absol alone, but even he was no match for Albert’s party at full strength.
Albert was unimpressed by the performance of the so-called Elite Four, but had not discarded the idea that there may be latent, untapped potential hidden across the region. To this end, he used his newly-obtained influence as champion to abolish the Pokémon League system and replaced it with a new one.
Under Albert’s new system, each trainer had an associated Converging Order-Invariant Ladder (COIL) Score, which was crafted to indicate the trainer’s skill level as accurately as possible. It was a function designed to take multiple variables into consideration, so that a trainer who had a 100% win rate from winning one battle was not considered more skilled than one who had a 99% win rate across a thousand battles.
Tournaments would be held at odd intervals, where only trainers with a COIL over a certain threshold were able to participate. The winner of this tournament would be crowned champion until he or she was potentially dethroned in the next tournament. After each tournament, all trainers had their COIL scores reset, bringing everyone back to the same starting point.
Albert’s system received much praise, as it put every trainer on equal footing rather than pitting individuals against arbitrarily-chosen gym leaders. It gave an incentive to trainers to battle as much as possible in between tournaments to raise their COIL rating, and gym leaders also benefited from their gyms becoming local meccas for fostering talent and hosting battles.
Months passed, and Albert had won consecutive tournaments with little trouble and held onto his title of champion thanks to his Absol. Surprisingly, his challengers were never discouraged, and requested to face him again and again. Due to the implementation of the COIL score and tournament format, they were confident that it was only skill and not a flawed system that set them apart, and sought to improve.
Albert was content with the status quo, until a certain tournament where an unknown trainer had blown away the majority of the competition and was staring him down in the grand finals. It was then she revealed her identity as Elesa, a model and gym leader from the Unova region. She had Albert’s Pokémon on the ropes in an electrifying battle, but he managed to scrape through in the end and earn a well-deserved victory against The Shining Beauty.
Elesa had been the first trainer to draw so much out of Albert and his party, and he was rightly impressed. After the battle, he approached her and learned that she had travelled to Hoenn to experience the innovative tournament format that had been making waves across all of the regions. Elesa was also impressed by Albert’s achievements, and the two got along quickly and formed a partnership not long after.
Once Albert and Elesa had joined forces, they established a series of tournaments for double battles to go alongside the singles battle system Albert had implemented. They took the region by storm, dominating every doubles tournament and facing off against each other in the grand finals of every singles tournament. There wasn’t a single trainer in Hoenn that could stand up to their forces combined, yet this disparity only served as further motivation for the challengers to grow even stronger.
This lifestyle, while enjoyable, grew stale as one would expect. Elesa had become ever so slightly homesick, and had also been neglecting her duties as a model and gym leader. Albert was also curious about the Unova region, and was hoping to test his skills against other trainers as strong as Elesa.
Eventually, the two found themselves bidding farewell to the Hoenn region. Unsurprisingly, the titles of Hoenn Champion were snapped up promptly by eager trainers in the following tournaments, but the Steel and Electric pair had their own agenda that they would see to with their Pokémon once they had settled down in Unova.
Never to be continued…