Chapter Text
Hello, this is my first Pokemon fanfic. I've been a fan of the franchise for over 15 years, and I have to say Scarlet and Violet have got to be my favorite games since Black and White 2 (despite how buggy they are). I especially love the gym leaders, with Larry and Iono being my favorites. I find that funny since their personalities are the polar opposite, and I thought them interacting would be funny, so I thought up a story about them. Just a heads up, this story takes place in the Violet universe since that's the version I played, though the specific elements of that version won't be a major factor.
Chapter 1 - The Most Popular Gym Leader in Paldea
It was a beautiful sunny day in Paldea's biggest city, Mesagoza. Waltzing through the streets was a pink and blue-haired girl with Magnemite-looking accessories in her hair. It was Iono, the internet-famous streamer and the electric-type gym leader of Levincia. Normally, she would be back in her home doing a live stream while being viewed by her thousands of international fans, but today was a special day that required her to head to the Pokemon League. Iono passed the steps to the famous Uva Academy, the illustrious school with the best classes in the Pokemon world, whose students can challenge gyms and eventually challenge the Pokemon League to become champions. Iono then heard two screams from the steps and saw they were coming from two female students.
"OMG, Elena, look! It's Iono!" yelled the blonde girl.
"No way, we watch your streams all the time!" yelled the brunette girl who was supposedly named Elena.
"Oh, are those two of the beloved fans I hear?!" Iono lit up. If there was anything Iono loved, it was being recognized in public. She gave the two young girls a double hand wave under her ridiculous large yellow jacket sleeves while spouting her iconic greeting, "'Ello, 'ello, hola! Ciao and Bonjour!"
"'Ello, 'ello, hola! Ciao and Bonjour!" her two fans repeated back.
"I can't believe Iono is right outside our school, Carmen," Elena sang to her friend before turning back to her idol, "What brings you to Mesagoza?"
"It must be important since you had to cancel your stream today," Carmen added.
Iono let out a big sigh, "Yeah, I have to go to the Pokemon League for a meeting. You know, boring gym leader stuff."
"Still, you're an amazing gym leader," Carmen complimented, "I wished I could challenge you some time, but I'm no good at Pokemon battling."
"Hey, I wasn't always great at battling myself," Iono mentioned, "In fact, I was once like you. An Uva student who dreamt of becoming a champion but was too afraid of failure. However, through hard work and building trust with my pokemon, not only did I become a champion, but I eventually became the Levincia City gym leader! The moral of the story is to never give up!"
"Wow, that's so inspiring," Carmen's eyes sparkled with hope, "Maybe I will train to get better."
"Anyways, we know you're busy, but could we get a quick picture?" Elena requested.
"Of course," Iono smiled warmly, "Anything for my fans." The two girls squealed as they took out their rotom phones and stood next to their favorite streamer while holding up peace signs, while Iono herself lifted her hands up and gave a cheeky sharp-toothed grin.
"Thank you!" Elena farewelled before she and her friend ran off happily.
"I hope I'll see you at my gym!" Iono waved goodbye. The electric specialist was now feeling rather good about herself. This was why she became a streamer and gym leader: to have people fawn over her and be an inspiration. And each year, her popularity seemed only to grow bigger and bigger. The gym leader was so happy that she nearly forgot she had a meeting to attend at the Pokemon League. The Uva Academy clock tower struck 12, which made Iono realize she was late. "Oh, Krabby!" she cursed as she hurried over to the gate.
Iono made it up the hill to the Pokemon league. She briefly remembered her first time coming here, which was when she first took on the champion assessment. She recalled having to take the interview twice because she confused the types Katy and Brassius used.
"There you are, Iono," said the man who guarded the entrance of the league whose name streamer could never remember, "The meeting started ten minutes ago."
"Sorry, I was stopped by some fans," Iono rushed by, "oh, the struggles of being a celebrity." Iono jokingly put her wrist on her forehead before heading inside.
The electric gym leader burst through the meeting room door where she was that the other seven gym leaders had already seated themselves at the table while top champion Geeta sat at the end in her big important throne-like chair.
"Iono, how wonderful that you finally joined us," Geeta greeted in an oddly polite tone.
"I'm so sorry for being late," Iono bowed apologetically, "There were these fans, and I…"
Suddenly, she was interrupted by a tired, monotone voice, "Just take your seat, so we can continue with the meeting." It came from none other than Larry, the normal-type gym leader in Medali and the flying-type elite four member. He was a slender pale man with messy brown and grey hair, big bags under his eye, and, ironically, the only person in the room to be dressed appropriately in a suit and tie. Being Geeta's unofficial second in command, Larry sat next to her on the left. Iono puffed her cheeks, taking offense at the older gentlemen's interruption as she took the seat on the right of Geeta.
"Oh, don't mind Larry. He's just being his usual grumpy self," Geeta assured Iono, "Anyways, to catch you up. We were about to discuss the annual gym leader evaluation results. Now, I know this year was rather unusual…"
"Yeah, you sent that new kid to challenge us instead of you," Ryme, the rapping ghost-type gym leader interrupted, "What's up with that?"
"I share the same question with Miss Ryme," Brassius, the grass gym leader added, "I know that child is a very excellent Pokemon trainer but they're still only a student. It's rather strange to have them take on a responsibility that the Top Champion is supposed to do."
"Hey, I didn't mind it," Kofu, the water-type gym leader argued, "It was a nice change of pace for once."
"Yeah, it was fun to battle that kid again," Iono chimed, "I love their moxie."
"Still, you all deserve an explanation," Geeta humbly replied, "Every year, I test your abilities as powerful gym leaders, but this year I wanted to evaluate other factors as well."
"Like what exactly?" Grusha the ice-type gym leader asked, "I can't imagine what else would be important other than our skills."
"Well, Grusha. There's more to being a gym leader than just being a power trainer," Geeta began to explain, "It's also about being an inspiring figure for our region. We have a duty to be good representatives for our towns, cities, and people."
"Amen to that, Geeta," Iono agreed enthusiastically, "We should always put on the effort to put on a great show for everyone!"
"I guess," Larry added in a dry tone, "I just don't really care about making a big deal out of every battle."
"Well, you should Larry," Iono crossed her arms, "If you did, then you would probably have a lot more fans."
"Whatever," Larry rolled his eyes. Iono could never understand that man. Not only was he a gym leader but an elite four member as well, and yet he acted like being both of those things was a chore. She knew anyone would kill to be in his position, yet he lacked the charisma and the enthusiasm. If poor Larry was much more cheerful and energetic, then maybe he could be as beloved as her. 'Though no one could be more beloved than me," Iono smugly thought of herself.
"Anyways, some of you might be aware of the popularity polls some websites do about you all," Geeta continued.
"You mean the ones where Iono always takes first place?" Tulip, fashion model and psychic gym leader quipped sarcastically.
Iono chuckled to herself delightfully. It was no secret since Iono became a gym leader, she had been much more popular than her peers. Iono tried not to revel in the fact too much. "Oh, come on, Tulip. You are always in the top three," Iono assured, "Why don't I teach you how to be a streamer? That would totally get you topping some lists." Iono failed to notice all the leaders giving her the stink eye. They all liked Iono, but her humble bragging does get annoying.
Geeta quickly coughed to get everyone's attention, "While I wouldn't take any of those polls seriously, I decided to actually do an official poll with the Uva Academy students." This peaked all the gym leaders interests since the academy had thousands of students. "Now I won't say what everyone's ranking is since it would be unfair to point out who is the least popular. I simply tell you all who were the top made the top three so you all know whose example you should be following."
"Wow, an official ranking," Iono psyched, "I can't wait to hear who made the top three." Iono didn't want to say out loud that she hoped she was number one.
"Larry, would you be so kind to hand me the results?" the top champion ordered. Larry shuffled through a large pile of paper and took out the poll results, handing them to Geeta. "You didn't peek, did you?" Geeta teased.
"I honestly don't care," Larry grumbled.
"Let's see," Geeta read the list. Suddenly, her eyes widened, "Wow, now this is surprising."
"Eee! I probably got a lot more votes than everyone else," Iono thought to herself.
"In third place with 3,078 votes, we have Tulip," Geeta announced.
"Wow, over 3,000 votes," Tulip smiled, "It feels extra special knowing what the future of Paldea sees me."
"Yay, Tulip!" Iono clapped, "I knew you would be in the top three. Now, who made second place, Geeta?"
"Funny you asked that Iono," Geeta began, "Because it's you."
Iono's mind immediately shattered. She completely froze in order to hide her disappointment. "Ah… what?" she said softly.
"That's right," Geeta nodded, "With a total of 5,266 votes. Congratulations."
Iono tried to stay composed while giving a weak smile.
Ryme leaned over to the streamer, giving her a teasing smirk, "Hmm, you don't seem all that excited about being in second place, streamer girl."
"No no no, I'm absolutely elated," Iono shook her arms frantically, "Wow, I can't believe 5,200 out of the 30,000 Uva Academy students are Lightening Lovers." (Lightening Lovers are what Iono calls her fans).
"Wow, I can't believe Iono isn't first place," Katy, baker and bug type gym leader stated, "Now I'm really curious who is the most popular gym leader."
"Well, with a resounding 7,525 votes, this year's most-voted favorite gym leader is…" Geeta built up the anticipation, "Larry!"
Everyone gasped as Geeta gestured to the plain-looking suited gentleman. Larry for once looked fully awake, looking genuinely surprised he topped the chart. "Are… Are you joking," he asked in disbelief.
"No way," Grusha's jaw dropped.
Kofu let out a hearty laugh, "Good job, lad! Who knew you had so many fans?" He then slapped Larry on the back, who did not appreciate it.
No one was more shocked than Iono, who looked like she just witnessed a cyclizar crash. "But… how is that possible?" she managed to ask.
"Hey, your guess is good as mine," Larry shrugged. The messy hair man scratched the back of his head, unable to say anything else.
"Well, I'm certainly proud of you, Larry," Geeta smiled, "No one works as hard in this league as you. It's great that your dedication is finally being recognized."
Iono's mind was even blanker than it was before. Out of all the people to be more popular than her, how it could be Larry? He was so plain and emotionless. Yet he somehow managed to get 25 percent of the votes and 2,300 more votes than her. She tried so hard to put on a show more everyone yet this guy, who she thought was boring, is more beloved. Iono noticed she was starting to tear up. She tried to hold them back since she didn't want to seem like a sore loser. After all, Larry won fair and square.
Iono made sure to hide her pain by saying something. "Congratulations, Larry," Iono gave a fake smile while sniffling, "I'm so happy for you."
"Uh… thanks, Iono," Larry replied weirdly. The room was awkwardly silent since it was apparent to everyone that Iono was trying to hide her tears.
"Oh great, my allergies are acting up," Iono lied, "Freaking pollen season. I need to get home to take some allergy medications. Have a nice everyone, and congrats again, Larry. Byeeeee!" Iono then ran out of the room before anyone could say anything.
"Wow," Grusha cringed, "I know Iono cares a lot about her popularity, but wow."
"I guess we shouldn't be too hard on the poor girl," Brassius sighed, "She's still quite young."
"I knew doing this poll was a bad idea," Geeta shook her head.
"Oh, come on, Iono's a big girl," Ryme sneered, "She'll get over it."
"You're right, Ryme," Geeta sighed, "Anyone, on with the meeting. Grusha, we've been getting a lot of complaints about the location of your gym. Perhaps the peak of Glaseado mountain isn't the best place to hold gym challenges."
"I say you also need to take the freeze as well as the heat," Grusha quipped.
Meanwhile, Iono cried herself all the way home to Levincia, even on the flying cab ride, which made the driver very uncomfortable. Once she reached her apartment, she took off her oversized yellow jacket, threw it on the floor, and face-planted on the bed.
Suddenly, her ace Bellibot came out of his Pokeball and approached his trainer with a concerned look on his face. He rubbed his head against Iono, who pulled him into a hug. "Don't worry about me, Belibolt," Iono assured, "Mama is just having a bad day." She let out a huge sigh, "I shouldn't even be this upset. I'm still the second most popular gym leader. I just… I just don't get what Larry has that I don't. What am I doing wrong?" Iono laid back down, with Bellibolt joining her.
"Aw, thank you, Bellibolt," Iono smiled, "I feel a little better now. Now I need to figure out how to become more popular than Larry. But how? I don't even know why he is more popular. But I'll figure it out because if there's one thing I know is that the internet has all the answers!"
Iono got out of bed and went to her computer to check Larry's social media accounts, but to her surprise the normal specialist had none. "No Pidger, no Instagrimer, not even a My Ultra Space," Iono flabbergasted, "Does this guy use the internet at all?" It was one thing that someone as plain as Larry was somehow super popular, but the fact that he had no social media presence made Iono even more confused. The strangest thing was that there was barely any information on Larry in general. The only things Iono was able to find about Larry were things she already knew, that he's from Medali, specializes in normal, was one of the co-founders of the modern Paldean Pokemon league, and often frequents the Treasure Eatery. Other than that, there wasn't much about his personal life or past. Iono was getting too frustrated with her lack of findings and decided to go to bed since she had an early stream the next morning.