CYOA 2 – To The Victor Go The Spoils – Chapter 1: The Journey Begins (Patreon)

Before we start, a few small things for your information:

- There is no One Region this story is placed in. Pokémon have been chosen just from what would be fitting the needs most. (And obvs will correlate to the environment they're in, if they're wild).

- In line with that, I have grabbed names out of different regions and will fit them together as I see fit. However, their content will very likely translate to their original state e.g. Route 12 (from X & Y) will have a Skiddo Ranch here as well :)

- Every chapter will come with a poll, but the resolution of that poll might not be for the very next chapter, but a few chapters after that

That should be it for now... on with the show!

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Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

warnings: none

Hanzo has lowered himself onto his knees, bent deep with his forehead nearly touching the floor. He is very aware of his father’s gaze on him… as well as that of the large Pokémon hidden in the shadows behind him. He tries to ignore the familiar fluttering of nerves in the pit of his stomach.

Time seems to stretch infinitely until finally Sojiro starts to speak.

“This is it, then. Hanzo. I trust that you have prepared yourself perfectly?”

Hanzo slowly raises himself until he sits with a perfectly straight back in front of his father, meeting his hard gaze and stony expression.

“Yes, father. I have packed.”

“You know what is at stake. You will bring honor to our house. To our gym.” Sojiro inhales deeply, his slim nostrils trembling as he does so; the only real show of emotions he lets himself show.

“Yes, fa-”

“I will not,” Sojiro interrupts him quietly but with force, “have story of my son being a failure being brought back to me by our contacts, and the other leaders. Do you understand, Hanzo?”

His father’s Corviknight shifts slightly in the shadows. Hanzo can feel sweat starting to prickle the edge of his hairline, trying not to glance toward the corner so he wouldn’t see those infernal red eyes staring right at him.

The Corviknight has been a constant terror throughout his youth.

Still, it is not quite enough to distract him from the indignity that immediately wants to bubble up. He has trained for this moment for years. He is perfectly capable of going on this perilous journey.

He swallows his pride and lowers his chin against his chest.

“Yes, father.”

Sojiro stares at him for a scrutinizing moment longer, before he finally reaches into the sleeve of his robe and pulls out a single Pokéball. He carefully places it on the ground between the two of them.

Hanzo’s gaze immediately snaps to it, staring at the glossy shell glinting warm in the meager light offered by a few sconces on the walls. The image of a flame is embossed into the cap just above the release button – the only hint as to what might be inside. He has no idea; they are breeding many Pokékom on the estate.

He waits for other balls to follow, so he may choose between them all, but none come forth.

“Take it, Hanzo. Make me proud. Do not lose.”

Hanzo swallows down the many questions he has. He tries to be dignified like father and roll with the punches, but he can’t keep that little voice in the back of his mind from whispering an incessant Why?

As he leans over and carefully grabs the Pokéball – very warm to the touch against his palm – the doors to the chamber suddenly are slid open.

“Sorry! Sorry, ‘m I too late? I kinda uh… forgot.”

Hanzo jerks around as he hears his little brother’s voice. Genji is standing there, grinning at them loose and happy. He is wearing a hotchpotch of clothes that make it unclear to Hanzo whether he had been out partying or not.

“Damn. Am I interrupting…?”

“No, sparrow. Hanzo and I were done. Come in.”

Before Hanzo’s brain has properly registered what is happening, he already moves up and aside. In the corner of his eyes he sees Sojiro moving. When he looks, there are three Pokéballs laid out in front of him.

Genji comes closer, sitting himself down in a sloppy imitation of Hanzo’s absolutely perfect posture from before.

His brain clicks back in, and he pauses, just staring at the two of them while Sojiro looks back, clearly anticipating for him to leave.

“Wait, what… is this?” Hanzo finally asks. His fingers are curled tight around his Pokéball. His Pokéball.

Corviknight shifts in the corner. It probably does not like the tone Hanzo has utilized, but Sojiro lifts his hand and it stays right where it is.

“Genji will start his journey today as well.”

Hanzo’s mouth runs dry immediately, that ugly temper that he has always been chastised for, flaring.

“What? But he is too young!”

“He is not. He has shown great potential, Hanzo.” Sojiro’s gaze becomes a bit harder and impatient. “I expect the two of you to support each other as brothers do.”

Genji twists and throws Hanzo a broad grin. “Isn’t that cool? We can start on the same day, Hanzo! We can even train together!”

Hanzo’s upper lip lifts in disgust. He has never heard anything more ludicrous than a happy go lucky playboy like Genji telling him they could train as if they were equals. As if he hadn’t spent hours upon hours every single day to train with father’s Pokémon and to beat every single trainer in their gym.

It probably is written on his face that he is about to say something nasty, so Sojiro cuts him off swift and decisive.

“Go. Be on your way. Do not embarrass yourself on your first day on the journey, Hanzo. You will bring honor to our gym. Both of you will.”

Seething, Hanzo turns and makes his way out of the room without another word, Pokéball still clutched in his fist.

.oOo.

Hanzo does not say goodbye to anybody else on the estate of the gym. He is fuming silently, Pokéball gripped in one hand and his backpack in the other. He just wants to get out and get at least a head-start on his little brother that for some reason got sent off on his journey on the same exact day as he.

Was that some kind of joke? Had he not proven himself to be the perfect heir time and time again? He had applied himself with the utmost diligence to his training whereas Genji, smothered by the affection of father, had been allowed to spend his nights outside, moving through club after club and partying his life away…

Hanzo has been on a fast clip out of the Shimada grounds for ten minutes, fuming away with his own thoughts by the time he becomes aware of the warm vibration in his hand. The nearby forest is still at the horizon. He’d like to get to the cover of the trees and lick his wounds in silence… but his curiosity gets the better of him.

What is the Pokémon his father had thought to entrust him with? Hanzo slowly comes to a stand still. There are a few tree stumps next to the path he has taken, so he puts his backpack to the ground and take a seat, eyes on the Pokéball in his hand. The embossed flame probably meant a fire Pokémon.

He brushes his thumb over it thoughtfully as he thinks of his father’s well-trained creatures that he has been battling with for years now. He only has one fire type; a fierce, Alolan Marowak.

Would he have…? Hanzo’s heart thumps a bit faster, throat growing tight. He clutches the ball in his fist, feeling it vibrate again. It doesn’t feel like something the eerie Marowak would do, but…

He’s getting too much in his head about it. Damn it. Steeling himself, Hanzo presses the release button to let the Pokémon outside.

Grey-blue flames. His heart thumps faster still, belly tingling with excitement. Father has gifted him indeed-

Ponyta neighs loud and shrill, small hoofs trampling the ground in what Hanzo can only assume is a temper tantrum. He stares at it quietly, brain lagging behind a moment to understand what he is seeing.

He knows this Pokémon; this Ponyta. It had been born on their estate but two months ago; a singular rarity with its bright blue fire. But… a baby, nonetheless. Nobody had trained it yet, to Hanzo’s knowledge.

He stares at it in silence, and Ponyta stares back at him defiantly, a small tremble to its legs as if it had still a bit of trouble standing.

Hanzo had stood up sometime between thinking it to be his father’s formidable Marowak and realizing with a sinking heart that it was… not that. He slowly lowers himself back down on the tree stump, watching as Ponyta loses interest in him since he isn’t interacting with it, and instead turns around to look at its surroundings.

It takes a few steps, then suddenly starts to bounce, throwing its head around with wild abandon. It is undignified, the ruckus it is making right there on the path where anyone could see – but, Hanzo supposes bitterly, it is quite normal for a baby.

Why would father do that to him? Did he want him to fail?

He curls his hand in a fist around the Pokéball, about to curtly call Ponyta back into it – when he is interrupted by the sound of his name being called.

He jerks up from the tree stump. Ponyta stops bouncing and throwing its legs every which way in order to peer down the path as well where Genji is jogging toward them, arms waving at in a wide arc above his head.

Running along next to him is a Pokémon with a huge grin and lolling tongue. Hanzo’s mood sours further: it is Rockruff. It had been Genji’s Pokémon all but by name in the estate. They had known each other for years.

Ponyta trots toward them, head held high and ears perked with attention. Hanzo wants to call it back to his side, but he feels like Genji will laugh at him and call him a sourpuss or something of the like, so he is quiet and watches in growing anger as Ponyta greets the pair of them with a lot more interest than it had shown to Hanzo yet.

“Oh shit, dad gave you the shiny Ponyta?! Holy fuck!”

Genji reaches out and rubs over Ponyta’s nose, up between its eyes and into its mane. Hanzo waits for it to burn him but nothing happens. His eyes narrow – he’ll have to teach it not to be so buddy-buddy with the enemy…

“Hmm it seems so. But nobody has trained it yet.” He comes a little closer – not wanting to seem too eager or interested – and looks Genji up and down.

“I see he gave you your Rockruff. How good for you.” His eyes narrow some. “Where’s your backpack?”

Genji hadn’t even looked at him, apparently not paying any mind to the badly concealed jabs – or well used to his older brother’s complexes. He lifts his brows at him as if he couldn’t understand what Hanzo was talking about. Turning a little, he shakes at Hanzo an almost empty bag that had been slung over his shoulder.

Hanzo’s nose scrunches up in disgust. “Have you not prepared yourself for this journey?”

Genji grins only with one side of his mouth, sharp canine glinting at him while his face is illuminated by Ponyta’s blue fire. He looks weirdly fierce in that moment.

“Nope!”

Hanzo, taken aback a little, rolls his eyes to mask his confusion over the situation. He turns jerkily to move toward his own large bag and starts to pull out a few extra things he had stashed away.

His brain is playing tricks on him.

“You’re hopeless. I can’t believe father would’ve let you go on your own journey already. And with Rockruff, no less – I was given no choice whatsoever. I have to deal with whatever father deigns to give me. He expects absolute perfection, but what do I get? A baby Pokémon that probably only knows Tailwag or some nonsense. Of course he would have gifted you your dream partner, you’ve always been his favorite-”

“Damn, Hanzo. You’re in a piss bad mood today, huh?”

Hanzo startles. He hadn’t noticed Genji sneaking up on him, and the sudden voice at his ear has his heart clenching painfully before thumping in a fast tattoo against his ribs. Genji’s arms curl around him from the back to keep him from toppling to the ground, his chin hooked over Hanzo’s shoulder so he can keep crooning right into his ear.

“Come on… I thought this was your dream, bro? Getting out from under dad’s thumb and prove to the world that you’re a genius? Why don’t you just loosen up a bit and stop being such a sourpuss, then, huh?” One of Genji’s hands shifts to grope Hanzo’s left pectoral muscle through the t-shirt he is wearing. “Look at it this way: You got an awesome shiny Pokémon and you can train it up right from the ground. Just the way you want it to be. Right?”

Genji’s thumb passes a few times over Hanzo’s nipple, making him feel… weird. Confused and flustered, Hanzo elbows his brother away – though not as hard as he should maybe have. He clears his throat.

“Give me your bag. I’ll share some of my supplies with you.”

He thinks about Genji’s words while he stuffs items into his younger brother’s backpack, listening to him wandering away to talk to their Pokémon. From the sound of things, Ponyta and Rockruff do not necessarily get along. Maybe it is their natural disposition as a Rock-Type and Fire-Type… or maybe it is their large gap in experience. In any case; Ponyta keeps dancing away just out of reach of Rockruff’s slobbering tongue.

It relaxes Hanzo somewhat to know that he has at least something in common with his own Pokémon.

Hmm… maybe Genji does have a point. He might have started the journey on the wrong foot just because father threw him off with sending Genji out at the same time.

He should just shrug it off and focus on his own journey. It’s true – he has a shiny Pokémon now; one that hasn’t yet been through the grind at the gym, ready to be trained into perfection by him. They could become a powerful team… and really, having a Ponyta would only ease things up once its legs are strong enough to carry him.

Hanzo can feel his muscles relaxing. He hadn’t even noticed how tense he had been since leaving the estate. Smiling a little to himself, he stands up, zipping Genji’s bag closed and thrusting it towards his younger brother.

“Here.”

Genji grins at him broad and loose. It’s the same drunk playboy grin that he has on when stumbling home after a party and is busted by either his father or Hanzo himself. Hanzo has seen it countless times by now – and there is nothing sharp or cunning about him anywhere to be seen. It’s just his useless little brother Genji who only wants sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll. Hanzo could count on both hands the times he has seen Genji actually train at the gym. His brain really must have played tricks on him earlier.

Still, that sloppy grin makes Hanzo… wary. Genji isn’t drunk right now (at least he hopes so), so he must be planning something...

“Thanks, Han. Say…” he grabs the bag, eyes not leaving Hanzo’s for a second. “...how about a little fight?”

Hanzo’s face almost goes slack, eyes flicking toward their Pokémon. Ponyta’s legs still seem a bit too long for its body as it bounces out of Rockruff’s way and wildly waves its flaming tail around.

“What do you mean?” he says slowly, trying to come up with an excuse why a Pokémon fight is absolutely out of the question without sounding like he is afraid or something. He can’t come up with anything fast enough.

Genji throws his arm around Hanzo’s shoulders and gives him a friendly jostle.

“Just what I said. A fight!” He keeps his arm around Hanzo’s shoulders while he calls over to the Pokémon: “Rockruff! Come on, let’s get cracking!”

Hanzo’s alarm bells are ringing. Rockruff is a lot more experienced than Ponyta. This wouldn’t go well at all. But he also couldn’t decline his first battle as a trainer… especially against his baby brother.

His voice is scratchy as he calls for Ponyta. It does stop stomping its hoofs on the ground, at least, and twists its neck to stare at him with large, dark eyes.

“A battle.”

For a horrible split second he thinks that the foal doesn’t even know that much; but it hops into gear, almost vibrating on the spot with eagerness. The flaming mane and tail become more agitated as it stands with its skinny legs spread to brace itself from an oncoming attack.

It makes him wonder whether it has seen the position from its parents, or whether fighting really is just that much of a natural response to Pokémon...

Genji doesn’t waste any time… though his first order to Rockruff has Hanzo immediately bristling.

“Don’t hurt it, Bud! It’s still a baby!”

Hanzo sucks on his teeth, hands curling into fists as he watches Rockruff sit down to contemplate what to do with Ponyta who looks a bit lost itself now when its trainer fails to give it any order whatsoever.

Shit… shit, what would it know? Tackle. Right? Right.

“Ponyta. Tackle!”

It jerks on the spot, surprised at Hanzo finally barking an order. For a split second his heart starts to drop as he thinks it has no idea what he is talking about, but then Ponyta moves, trying to ram Rockruff with its body… and stumbling all over the sitting Pokémon. Rockruff is so small that Ponyta on its long legs has trouble even landing a hit.

Genji at his side makes an aborted chortling noise that sounds like he just managed to keep from snickering. Hanzo’s teeth creek with how hard he clenches his jaw. “Again! Again!”

As Ponyta keeps trying its best to hit a stationary target on the ground, Genji jostles Hanzo with the arm he still has slung over his shoulders.

“Don’t worry about it, bro! It’s Ponyta’s first fight. Don’t go so hard on it, okay?” He has turned his body a little, face obnoxiously close to Hanzo, breath fanning over his cheek distractingly. “Bud! Doubleteam!”

Hanzo’s nails dig into the palms of his hands as he watches Rockruff stand up, vibrating on the spot with how fast it is becoming and just running circles around an increasingly more frustrated Ponyta that, in its haste to hit it, stumbles over its own long legs.

Genji reaches around, distractingly grasping Hanzo’s chin to turn his head so they can look into each other’s eyes.

“It’s a good thing we didn’t bet on this, huh?”

His easy-go-lucky grin makes Hanzo want to hit him badly. He has never been good in dealing with a losing fight… especially one as humiliating as this.

“Ponyta! Stomp!” he barks after jerking his head out of Genji’s grip. Ponyta stops, glancing toward him, then to Rockruff running in dizzying circles around it. It lifts one of its small hoofs, but there is not much force behind it when it slams it back to the ground.

Slowly it starts to dawn on Hanzo just how much work he has to do… teaching it moves and training its muscles up…

He startles badly when Genji’s warm, wet mouth suddenly suckles his earlobe in, giving it a gently bite before rasping right into his ear: “Don’t take it so hard, Hanzo. It’s alright. Next time will be better, right? We can have a bet then, too…”

Hanzo turns his head, staring at his little brother with wide eyes as Genji flashes him that same crooked canine grin from earlier and calls over: “Rockruff! Sandattack!... but be gentle, right?”

He is too flustered to really react and tell his frustrated Ponyta to turn away as Rockruff comes to a stand still right in front of it, kicking up a massive cloud of dirt, sand, and little rocks that hits Ponyta right in the face.

Just like that, his first fight as a trainer on his won merits, is over.

Ponyta screeches, throwing its head wildly and dancing out and away, both panicked and shocked about the sand in its eyes and the dirt trying to cake over its flaming blue mane.

Genji laughs good natured, calling Rockruff back to his side – but to Hanzo it sounds like a taunting cackle.

He claps him on the shoulder and gives him a slight jostle.

“Sorry ‘bout that. Uh… I’ll see you on the other side of the forest, right? You just keep training with Ponyta and next time we’ll fight. If I’m sober. And we’ll have that bet, huh?”

Hanzo doesn’t answer, just staring at Ponyta who is only slowly calming down. It is still rubbing its face against its legs to try and get the sand out of its eyes.

Genji gives him another friendly clap.

“See you in Goldenrod! Oh yeah – thanks for the supplies, bro!”

Hanzo has to swallow the bitterness the defeat has left in his mouth. His voice is still rough when he calls to Ponyta: “Stay there. I’ll help you.”

It is no use getting angry at the Pokémon. It did its best. He grabs a clean cloth from his backpack and goes over to Ponyta who is standing on slightly trembling legs and waiting for him to gently wipe its face down and clean its large black eyes.

The defeat sits heavy on his shoulders.

Next time… Next time they will win. He will win.

Next Chapter: Hanzo and Ponyta have to work together as they make their way through Viridian Forest and toward the first city – But what’s that? A short encounter with a mysterious man in the forest?