Chapter Text
*Kimi’s POV*
Most kids dream of traveling the world while they’re young.
Ditching school to become a full-time Pokèmon trainer has always been the standard everywhere. Being a Pokèmon trainer signifies freedom, adventure, and the thrill of a world that seems larger than life. At the age of 18, young adults are allowed to pick a starter Pokèmon as a lifetime partner for their journey, and their trainer’s license is issued. From there, they are regarded as Pokèmon trainers.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, like most kids, aspires to become a trainer.
He’s been dreaming about this since he was, like, 3 years old—when he watched his father fight his way through a gym challenge, back at their hometown Artazon, Paldea. The elegance of a one-on-one fight, the energy emanating from everything, even the walls and the ceilings, the way both Pokèmon and Trainer reach their highest potential during a confrontation like that… At 3, he was already fascinated. He’d turn to his father after the fight, bright eyed and gapped tooth, and exclaimed with the confidence that filled his short tiny body:
“I’m going to be a trainer and fight to become the best!”
His father had laughed and ruffled his hair back then, but he didn’t realize that Kimi’s life had already been set right then and there, in his mind at least.
And on the morning of the 26th of August, the sun rises with a smile and a good morning. Various flying Pokèmon flew the skies and chirped their morning songs. Downstairs, Kimi could hear the sound of his family’s day starting; his father’s TV playing the news, his mother making their breakfast with her Cinccino, the scent of bacon and eggs being fried and wafting from the kitchen to his room from the open door. And throughout this all, Kimi’s day started with a wide smile.
Today’s the day after his 18th birthday.
He sits up abruptly, bouncing on his bed excitedly and waking up his Minun who did not appreciate being woken up. Minun glares and pouts at Kimi, squawking indignantly to tell him off for being rowdy, and Kimi just giggled at the adorable sight.
“Today’s the day Min-Min!”
The sudden burst of energy surprises the Pokèmon who tilts his head, following Kimi’s movements as he stands up from the bed. Minun sighed as his trainer rushed to the bathroom, a small smile appearing on its face. He jumps down on the bed and makes his way to the kitchen himself, leaving his overexcited trainer (sort of, almost) to get breakfast, making tiny cute huffs with every skip and step.
Kimi ran down to the kitchen half a minute later, dressed up in his black PokèBall tee under a black jacket with cyan wolf pelt, silver jogging pants, and a black rubber shoes adorned with a black cap and a silver arrow necklace hanging around his neck. “Buongiorno,” he greets his mom and crouches down to pat Minun and Cinccino. The pokèmon greeted him while eating their berries happily, their bowls a mix of oran, sitrus, petaya, and rawst, all looking scrumptious.
Sometimes Kimi wonders what those berries tasted like, but he’s seen videos of people eating them, and well, their reactions had been enough to make Kimi scared of trying as a child.
Still, the curiosity is there.
His phone chimed up as he sat down on the table, his mother calling for the rest of their family as he checked his phone. He smiled fondly as he saw the name, pressing the contact name Ollie<3 to read what his best friend texted him.
Ollie<3: Morning Kims
Ollie<3: you ready?
He smiled at the message before tucking his phone away and sitting down to eat what his mom prepared. His sister sat down beside him, looking disgruntled and grumpy. He was going to fulfill his obligatory older brother's responsibility of teasing her, if only their father didn’t come to the kitchen and fix him with a stare as if he knew exactly what he was going to do. That shut him up quickly, just in time for Kimi’s mom to place their plates in front of them with a chuckle, and the smell of fresh pastries and espresso captured his attention enough.
Breakfast was business as usual—casual conversations happened over the sound of forks scraping against plates, Maggie talking about something her best friend did, his mother scolding Kimi for playing with his food with Minun, and his father talking about whatever he could talk about (“Have you heard about that new Pokèmon racing event that’s been gaining traction in Kalos?” “Not yet, honey.”), with the occasional chirping from their pokèmon joining them for breakfast.
Eventually, he finished his food. The first thing he did was fish his phone out of his pocket to send Ollie a quick “omw <33”, before springing up from his seat. “I’m heading out,” he told his parents and pressed a kiss to their cheek, excited to finally start his adventure with the love of his life best friend.
“Off to Professor Wolff's lab?”
“Yep!"
He grabbed Minun from his bowl, ignoring the pokèmon’s squawks of protest at being dragged away from its food, and waved to his parents one last time before heading out of the house.
Veronica chuckled fondly upon seeing her eldest son, her pride and joy. “He’s going to do wonders.”
Marco nods, a smile across his face and mirth in his eyes, sipping from his mug of coffee. “No, he’s going to be the best.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kimi arrived at the front porch of Professor Wolff’s lab, panting as he attempted to catch his breath after running the entire way, Minun perched on his shoulder and patted him congratulatory for running miles from his home to the lab. The exterior design greets him; a modernistic two-storey building with glass walls, Toto Wolff’s logo— It was a silver circle cut into one thirds, it was simple but unique enough to identify—identifying the lab, and the pathway was lined up by gravel and a lush grassfield where various bug pokèmon and others played around. After gathering his bearings for a while and making sure he looked presentable, he opened the sleek glass doors and went inside.
“Ollie?” He called out, the sounds of work from upstairs reaching him. There was some chatter that broke out and the sounds of footsteps falling on soft, carpeted floors, and the person he was searching for appeared from the doorway.
Ollie appeared, wearing his gray shirt under his lab coat and safety goggles on his face, a small smile gracing him and making Kimi smile himself. “Hi, Kims.”
“Sorry for making you wait,” Kimi greeted as he climbed up the stairs, letting Minun down from his shoulder and watching the little bugger run towards Ollie’s Plusle, the two bonded pokèmon playing and petting each other in the cheek. He turns to his own friend and offers him a smile. “You look good.”
“Thank you,” a faint flush appeared on Ollie’s face. “Uhm, Toto’s inside, you wanna…?”
Kimi nodded, excitement flowing through him again. “Yes.”
They entered the hallway leading to the lab with Plusle and Minun following them closely behind, the air conditioned room making Kimi glad he wore his jacket. The whirring of machines and beeping lights of blue screens made themselves known, holographic designs of various pokèmon and machinery on full display. A couple of interns ran around, all looking disheveled like they haven’t slept and are only running on a couple of mugs of coffee (which, they probably are). And on the end of it, standing in front of an incubator with three pokèballs laying in it, was Toto Wolff.
A professor that challenged the norms of being one. While others focused on the pokèmon aspect of it all, he was focused on the battles, the experience that brings pokèmon and trainers together, that forges bonds and defines what adventure really is. He had come up with many different battle styles, moves, and had taught young trainers all over the world the importance of battling with their pokèmon in hopes of inspiring a generation of spectacular fighters. Kimi had looked up to him growing up, and he had read every article Toto had written like it was a sacrament.
And now here he was, with his renowned assistants Bono and Sergi, in front of Kimi, ready to give him the partner he’ll be starting his journey with.
Toto looks up from his clipboard and sees Kimi. “Oh, you’re here, great. I’ve been expecting you.” He spoke up and Kimi stood straighter, like a soldier listening to the orders of his commander. “You must be Kimi, yes?”
“Yes sir,” Kimi replied instantly, feeling like a little kid meeting Santa. “I-It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”
The professor chuckles and waves a hand. “Well, I’ve heard a lot about you from your father.”
“You know my dad?”
The professor doesn’t look at him as he presses a couple of buttons on the incubator thing he had. “Yes—your father and I used to fight regularly. He was a formidable opponent for sure,” then he turns and looks at Kimi with calculating eyes. “Let’s see if you can surpass him, eh?”
Before Kimi could respond, the incubator opened its glass container. The pokèballs inside rose with their platform, and up close Kimi could see the symbols embedded in the middle of them, indicating which starter they are.
This is it.
Ollie walks behind him and claps his back, soothing his nerves. Below him, Minun chirps and watches. Kimi takes a deep breath.
This is it.
“You have three options,” Toto said, pointing at the pokèballs lying inside. “And you can only choose one, so make sure you make the right choice.”
Kimi steps up and raises his hand…
He already knew who he wanted.
“I…” he reaches for it and grabs the pokèball, “I choose you.”
He lifts the ball and throws it in the air. The ball opened with a chime and a light blue stream appeared and hit the ground. Seconds later, the monkey figure appeared on its hindlegs, and the light dissipated, Grookey appearing from it with a loud yawn.
“Hello,” Kimi whispered, crouching down. The pokèmon looked up at him curiously, and Kimi felt a tug at his heart, the bond already forming between him and this tiny being that was going to be his partner for life. “I’m Kimi. Nice to meet you.”
Grookey looked up at him, assessing him, then smiled and chirped, touching Kimi’s nose. It made Kimi’s heart flutter.
“I see you’re bonding with him,” Sergi spoke up from beside Bono. “You’ve got a good friend in your arms.”
“Grookey’s never been the type to cozy up with just anyone,” Bono chimed in.
“Well, to you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It just means you’re not exactly the most approachable, Bono.”
“That’s enough, you two.” Toto chimed in, walking towards Kimi with a smile. “Congratulations, you seem to be taking Grookey in well.”
Kimi grins and lifts Grookey up his arms, the little pokèmon letting him and snuggling into the pelt of Kimi’s jacket. “Yeah, well, the feeling’s mutual. He’s perfect,” he says the last part to the pokèmon in his arms, the little thing yipping happily.
Beside him, Ollie chuckles, making his presence known. “Congrats, Kimi. You’re a trainer now,” he pauses. “Well, not yet, we still need to officiate your license.”
“Oh—right!” Bono chimed in. “I’ll get on that right away.”
Bono runs off to the side to work on Kimi’s trainer license, and Kimi watches with nervousness, because this is really it. Just a couple more steps and he’ll be out in the world, with his partners, Ollie, and many friends that he’d be making by battling and learning and experiencing things he’s been dreaming of. Toto chuckles at the excitement clear in Kimi’s eyes; he could definitely see Marco Antonelli in him, a youthful version of him that is just as eager, and just as hungry to prove himself to the world.
He can see much potential in him.
“While we’re waiting, would you mind helping me with my research?”
Kimi perks up. Anything to help his idol out. “Yes! I can help!”
“Excellent,” Toto nodded. “Follow me, please.”
Kimi walks forward, grabbing Ollie’s wrist to make him follow them to wherever Toto was leading him, Grookey still in his free arm as they walk to another room of the lab. It was an empty space area with a white matting on the floor, with seemingly nothing in it. That was until Toto spoke up.
“Initiate Battle Protocol,”
A robotic female voice replied, “Initiating: Standby Battle Simulation…”
Kimi lets out a gasp that was a mix of surprise and amazement as the room started shifting: headlights appeared and the walls started changing into an open space, simulating blue skies and clouds, the floor changing appearance from a plain silver footing to a grassy battlefield, a pokèball symbol cutting the field in half.
Kimi and his mons, Grookey and Minun, all gasped in wonder, while Ollie chuckled fondly at the look on his best friend’s face. Kimi knows he must’ve seen this place before, and he wonders if he had the same look that he does right now. Or maybe he wasn’t all that impressed by the stage and more on the mechanics of it, how it worked, how the rays changed the appearance of the room and how the machinery made it all so immersive. Ollie never really was the type to focus on battles after all. He wonders if he could persuade him…
He was broken out of his thoughts when Toto walked to the other side of the arena, standing inside of the box and taking position. “Well? Are you going to just stand there?”
He turns to Ollie as realization over what’s happening kicks in and sees Ollie backing away to the side. The other boy throws him a grin and a thumbs-up. “You got this, Kims.”
Oh, shit. He was about to have his first Pokèmon battle!
Kimi looked down at his partners and saw them looking at him, as if they were conveying to him that they were ready. Minun looks like he’s been waiting for this his whole life, electricity flashing from its cheeks as it cheered in excitement and readiness. Grookey looked a lot more nervous, but Kimi could see he was excited as well, not backing down or showing any signs of doing so. He couldn’t have been prouder—he’d made the right choice picking him.
He was not about to disappoint him now.
Kimi walks into place, Minun and Grookey taking theirs right beside him, looking all fired up. He looks at Toto and grins wide. “I hope you don’t go too easy on me, sir.”
“I don’t believe in going easy,” Toto replied with a smirk. His hand went to his lab coat’s pocket and pulled out a luxury ball, pressing the button and adjusting his hand as it enlarged. “Show me what you’re made of, boy.”
He tosses the ball and out comes Sobble, its cry lively and fierce. Kimi smirks—he has the advantage here, with Grookey being a grass type and Minun being electric. Besides, he didn’t waste his time doing nothing while waiting to be a trainer. He’s watched so many videos and listened to so many podcasts, soaking in all the tips on how to fight as one with pokèmon.
Toto might have the experience, but he has the drive.
“Go, Grookey!” He sends out and the little monkey cries its assent, running ahead of Kimi and taking a stance. Minun and Ollie’s Plusle cheered from beside Kimi.
The atmosphere shifted, tension surrounding Kimi as he prepared to make his first move. Before he could, Toto beats him to it with his own move. “Use Water Gun,” he commanded and Sobble obliged, shooting out a stream of water from its mouth.
Kimi reacted, “Razor Leaf, go!” and Grookey uses its power and shoots out leaves to soak up the water, successfully stopping the attack from hitting him. “Now follow up with Taunt!”
“You seem to know what you’re doing,” Toto commends as his pokèmon falls for the taunt, rendering it unable to focus on anything but attacking. “Good, that’s good. Most new trainers wouldn’t have successfully commanded a move they didn’t know.” However, Toto didn’t waste any time and made his next move. “Sobble, run up and use Pound.”
“Grookey, be ready to use Branch Poke to counter once it’s close,” Kimi prepares him and Grookey, but Toto and Sobble had other plans.
As soon as Sobble gets close and Grookey prepares to hit with a glowing green branch, Toto switches it up. “Now Wrap,” and suddenly, Sobble jumps overhead and reaches out to Grookey with its tail, and wraps it up around its body, making the monkey pokèmon cry in alarm. “Toss him up, then follow with Water Gun.”
Ollie winces as Grookey was tossed to the air, rendering him unable to dodge. Kimi and Minun gasp for their partner as the pokèmon falls to the ground, taking a second to stand. It must’ve hurt, but with the type disadvantage of the move, it wasn’t enough to knock him out of the fight just yet.
Still, Kimi knew he had to switch things up. He can’t get Grookey close to him, so the next best thing would be to use long-range attacks.
“Shake it off and use Razor Leaf, point blank!” Kimi commands without hesitation, and Grookey follows through with a cry, fired up.
“Dodge it, Sobble!”
But it wasn’t fast enough—getting nicked by some of the leaves as it backs off, making it cry and hiss. Kimi didn’t waste any time, ordering another barrage of Razor Leaf. This time, Sobble was fast enough to dodge all of them, but Grookey wasn’t letting up at all, firing wherever Sobble landed and keeping him moving.
Eventually, Toto sees an opening and takes it, “Water Gun on Grookey’s left!” and the lizard shoots, the bullet flying at its opponent.
As Grookey moved to dodge, he miscalculated and got closer to Sobble, which gave it enough space to react. Its tail flies directly towards him and pounds, hitting Grookey head on. Kimi orders a Branch Poke, and Grookey manages to land a super effective hit, making Sobble cry out in pain and wobble backwards. With the opponent weakened, Kimi doesn’t let this chance go.
Toto’s eyes shone. This boy…
“Grookey, don’t let this chance get away and fire up a Razor Leaf!”
Grookey lets out a victorious roar. Beside Kimi, Minun cheers loudly as Grookey successfully fires off a Razor Leaf and hits, giving Kimi the victory. The moment dust settled and Sobble reappeared, fainted on the ground, it was official.
He did it.
He actually did it.
Kimi and Minun explode into cheers and they run off to Grookey, lifting him up in his arms and hugging him tightly, making the monkey pokèmon yelp in surprise and happiness. A few feet away from them, Kimi could hear Toto recalling and thanking Sobble for a wonderful work. “You did it! We did it! Oh, you were amazing, mate!” Minun yips and jumps up and down, congratulating Grookey as well as the pokèmon takes the praise with a happy smile and cry.
Claps ring out as Ollie, Toto, Bono and Sergi all come over to congratulate him, the latter two probably having joined them while the battle was going on. “Congrats Kimi,” Ollie grinned, and Kimi felt like everything was better. “You were amazing, you and Grookey both.” He pats his shoulder once, his hand lingering there for a second longer before letting go as Toto took his turn to congratulate him.
“You did great,” the professor praised him, and Kimi turned to focus on him, high on the feeling of being acknowledged. There was something in the professor’s eyes, something calculating, as if he was finding something in him that he’s been searching for all this time. “You have a gift, Kimi. I have never seen a new trainer be so in sync with their pokèmon. You’re special, boy.”
The young trainer grinned, feeling like he was on top of the world. “Thank you, professor.”
Toto shakes his head. “Please, call me Toto.”
Bono is up next, handing him a cyan card with his face and full name in it. “Here you go, champ in the making,” he said, handing the wide eyed boy his official trainer card. “Try not to lose it on the first day, yeah?”
“I-I won’t!”
The man smiled at him again and clapped him on the shoulder, Sergi being next with his own ‘congratulations’ and ‘you have immense potential, mate’, before leaving with Bono to resume their lab duties, Toto following close behind. Then, it was only him and Ollie, who was smiling at him so brightly it felt like Kimi was being hit by the sun’s warm rays.
“You…did it,” he whispered. “How’d it feel?”
“Mate, like I was on fire. Did you see me?”
Ollie chuckles. “I did. I always do.”
The two of them blushed after that and looked away from each other, completely shy. They were only reminded of where they were when Plusle and Minun started playing with Grookey by chasing him around, the three pokèmon’s version of celebrations. They both chuckle at the sight before turning their attention back to each other.
“Man, I can’t wait to experience more of this…”
With you, Kimi tried to say, but didn’t.
Ollie nodded. “I’m sure. So, what now? Are you off to start your journey?”
“Yeah—”
Toto interrupts them as he reenters the training room. “Kimi? Ollie? Come with me, please. I have something to discuss.”
The two shared a look, wondering what it was as Toto leaves, before they were off to follow him, their pokèmon in tow as they exited the training area.
Toto leads them to an office with glass walls and blinders that gives an impression of privacy. Inside, there was a mahogany desk with various things on it; a desktop on the side open, a flower pot that looked quite intimidating somehow, and Toto’s crystal nameplate with the Mercedes logo in the middle of the desk. Two connected shelves adorned with books and articles laid behind the fireplace in the room, a landscape painting of a crater sitting on the wall, and finally, a black leather couch on the side of the room. The professor walks around the desk and sits on his office chair, gesturing for the two of them to take a seat.
“What is it, Toto?” Ollie asked as he and Kimi sat down on the couch, looking at the professor expectantly.
“Well, I have a request for both of you,” Toto started, looking at each of them before settling on Kimi. “Mostly you, Kimi.”
“Wh-what is it?” Kimi, rightfully, was nervous. The professor was requesting something? From him? He didn’t know what it was, and he was afraid he’d mess it up.
Toto smiled reassuringly. “No need to be nervous, it’s nothing too…intense, I would say.”
He turns and presses a remote button that beeped, and suddenly, a hologram appears displaying a pokèball symbol with a crown on its head, before changing to a display of some sort of ranking, the boxes being filled up with names quickly until reaches the top, with the initials M.V and L.H appearing side by side in bold lettering.
“Have you heard of the World Pokèmon Championships?”
Kimi’s eyes widened. “O-of course, it’s where trainers from all over the world fight their way to proving they’re the best.”
It’s been a dream of Kimi to join the championships ever since he heard of it all those years ago. Year round, Kanto hosts the WPC, and trainers from all over the world get the chance to cement their names in the top leaderboard and prove themselves. Every year, two champions are reigned simultaneously and heralded as “World Champion”, making them the strongest of them all. For four years, the champions have remained the same people.
Someday, he’ll be the one to change it all.
Toto nodded. “Yes, well, as you might know I specialize on pokèmon battles and the bond trainers and their partners form through fighting. Recently, I’ve been getting close to a breakthrough in the research I’m conducting. So, so close. I just need a couple more…” He trails off, then looks at Kimi once again, eyes burning with intent. “And that’s where you come in.”
He flicks his hand up against the holograph and the screen follows, stopping at the very bottom of the list where Kimi could see…his name.
Kimi could feel his heart pounding. “That’s…”
“Yes—I’ve signed you for the tournament. You’ll be my endorsement for my research. All your travel, food, and any other expenses will be taken care of. All you have to do… is to win.”
He turns the holograph off and looks at Kimi expectantly. “Are you up to the challenge, Kimi?”
And really—what else could he have answered except ‘yes’?
“Yes,” Kimi whispered quietly, before clearing his throat and repeating it soundly. “I mean, yes. I am. I’ll take on the championship and prove to the world that I’m the best!”
His pokèmon cheered beside him, just as fired up as he is, and Toto smiled with relief.
“So—what will I need? Oh, I have to tell my parents about this! They’ll want me to pack for flights and traveling outside the region. Oh man, I’m so excited, Ollie, mate, we’re gonna have so much fun battling and exploring! Right, Ols?” He grins at Ollie, who had been quiet the entire time.
He can do this. He’s been training and studying for this his entire life, and now that he gets the chance to compete in a worldwide championship, he wasn’t about to let this go. And he’ll be doing it with his best friend too!
With Ollie by his side, he’ll climb through the ranks like it’s nothing—
“Kimi, I’m not going with you.”
…what?