Chapter 0 - Prologue - The First Step

“…Crap.”

That about summed everything up for Faust as his Haunter drooped, hanging unconscious in the air. He scowled at his opponent, a blonde teenaged girl, and yanked out his wallet as she congratulated her Greninja and recalled it back into its Poké ball. He had to admit, he had clearly taken her too lightly. Could you blame him, though? She was wearing a pink hat, for crying out loud. Now, however, he was literally paying for his mistake, and it wasn’t even the fact that his pockets were going to be a bit lighter that annoyed him the most.

Putting it bluntly, Faust hadn’t gotten laid in a while. It had been a couple months since his main squeeze Lillian had dumped his ass, and not a single one of the beauties on the street would give him the time of day. He had thought his fortunes were taking a turn for the better when the blonde trainer had shown up, and he’d jumped to challenge her. A quick triumph would’ve likely impressed her – or, failing that, stunned her – enough to get her on her knees right there in the alley. How was he to know that the wide-eyed girl who had wandered haphazardly into the alley he hung out around would be packing such a powerful Pokémon? Now he’d be stuck wasting his afternoon at the Pokémon Center to get Haunter patched up, which was not his idea of a good time. Especially now that he’d been rejected by every nurse who worked there.

“The hell are you even doing around here?” Faust demanded as he shoved a small bundle of bills into her hand. “Weird enough a girl like you’s wandering the alleys, but you’re packing a high-level Pokémon like that, too?”

“Well, I’m not just traveling with Greninja,” she began to answer. She dug into her bag and revealed five more =10ptPokéballs, each containing a combat-hardened member of her party. “As tough as he is, I wouldn’t stand a chance against Clemont if he were my only Pokémon!”

Faust blinked in surprise. “You…you want to take on Clemont!?” He huffed. “Figures you’d be wasting your time on a little dweeb like him. Besides, you probably wouldn’t stand a chance against him.”

The girl frowned at Faust’s string of insults, and dug something else out of her bag. She flipped it open, revealing two things: her Trainer Card – her name was Serena, he noted – and two rows of badges. One was a complete set of four, while the second had three empty slots, and the one that was occupied contained the Voltic Badge of Lumiose City’s gym. “For your information,” Serena stated as Faust gawked at the sight, “I already beat him. And don’t call him a dweeb, he’s a way better trainer than you!”

Faust’s face clenched up in anger. He grit his teeth, and for a second actually looked ready to strike Serena. Instead, his hands fell limply to his sides, and he let out a sigh. “Yeah, guess he is…” he muttered. “You know, for whatever little that shit’s worth…” Hell, before he’d let Lillian get away, she’d dismissed his abilities in a very similar manner. When he’d angrily attempted to prove her wrong, his Haunter had ended up much the same as it was now.

Serena’s eyes softened as she saw how depressed Faust was. Not knowing how little she actually was to blame for that, she decided to change her tune. “Hey, it’s not like I didn’t have to try really hard to beat Clemont, or any of the other leaders,” she said, “I had to train with my Pokémon any time I got the chance I could. When I started off my journey, I never would’ve stood a chance against him.”

“Journey?” Faust interrupted. “What journey?”

“My Pokémon journey!” Serena answered brightly. “I’m taking the League challenge! Oh, and I’m also trying to fill out my Pokédex too, I guess…

Faust snorted dismissively again. “What’s the point of going to all that trouble just to beat a bunch of nerdy dudes?”

“Not every Gym Leader is like Clemont,” Serena explained, patiently. “Here, look,” she took out her Pokégear, and walked over next to Faust, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him as she began pulling up information on the device. Had he been paying attention, Faust might’ve caught a brief glance of all sorts of fascinating information scrolling by on the device’s screen, but instead he spent the whole time staring right down Serena’s top before she caught his attention again. “See? Those are the Gym Leaders I’ve met so far. Pretty big variety, huh? Not all a bunch of ‘nerdy dudes’, right?”

Faust stared at the five faces that were currently visible on Serena’s Pokégear. He’d never really looked into the Pokémon League before, he was only aware of the really famous trainers that were associated it. And Clemont, too, because of his being a local prominent figure. The fact that the other trainers might be anything other than like Clemont had never really occurred to him, and two of them – a cute girl with a ponytail, and an absolutely smoking girl with a camera – now had his attention completely. Clearly, if there were girls like this to be met during the course of the Pokémon League Challenge, then clearly it was worth taking. He wouldn’t even need to track them down – each Gym Leader was sure to be found at the gym they operated out of, it would simply be a matter of making the trip, then defeating them and-
Faust frowned again, and his eyes lowered. He turned his head to look back at his fallen Haunter, then sullenly back at the screen again. “What’s it even matter?” he asked rhetorically, “I ain’t a good trainer like you. I fucking blow.” Serena winced a little at his choice of words. It was kind of cute how innocent she was. “I’d just get my ass kicked no matter what gym I went to.”

“Hey, don’t be so sure!” Serena said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. Faust jerked a little, and she quickly backed off, though he wished she hadn’t. He’d never been one to work the sympathy angle, but it might’ve been worth trying. “Your Haunter’s about as strong as any of my Pokémon were before I got to Lumiose City. Plus, Haunters are great for catching new Pokémon! I’ll bet if you tried really hard and put your all into it, you could have a really successful journey too!”

Faust looked down at Serena, who was now smiling encouragingly up at him. He imagined what it would be like to make her smile a completely different way, and now that he had heard her voice a whole lot, he could perfectly imagine her crying out his name in ecstasy. He managed quickly enough to push those thoughts out of his head, though, because he realized that she was absolutely right. There was no reason he had to continue to loiter around these back alleys for the rest of his life. There was a world of beautiful women to see and to conquer, and he had the means with which to achieve it. All he had to do was try.

“Alright then,” he said, making Serena blink in mild surprise, “I will, then. I’ll have the most successful Pokémon journey ever! I’ll take on the League – hell, I’ll take on every League, just to show you I can!”

“Yeah!” Serena said excitedly, and nodded. “That’s the spirit! Glad to hear it. Now, I’ve gotta get-”

“An’ after I do,” Faust continued, interrupting Serena, “I want to face you again. Just to show you how much stronger I’ve gotten.” He smirked down at the shorter girl, and his eyes glinted slightly as he bared his teeth. “And I’ll make you pay me back a hundred times over for today.”

Serena blinked at Faust in confusion, clearly not gathering the true meaning of his words. “Alright,” she finally said, nodding again, “you got it! But I can guarantee you, by the time that happens, I’ll be five times better than I am today, so it won’t be easy to beat me!” She turned and headed off back toward the entrance of the alley, and turned to face him again just before she stepped out onto the street. “I’ll see you later! Good luck!” She waved enthusiastically to him once, and then she was gone.

Faust gathered up Haunter. First things first, he had to get to the Pokémon Center. After that…training. Capturing. Battling. Everything that young trainers did to get stronger. And all of it would begin with him leaving the dark shadows of the alley behind, forever. And so began the journey of a Pokémon trainer with the darkest intentions ever to challenge the Pokémon Leagues.