White Knights and Future Sights

“You mean you failed again and fried another girl!?” Exclaimed Eddie Unger, loud enough for everyone in the classroom to hear. Crim responded by placing his head on his desk, hands over his head, hoping he could hide from the world. He had kept his failure with Miri hidden for, what? Till the end of school the next day. Almost twenty-four hours? Good job, Crim…

Despite Crim’s expert job of hiding, a crowd was beginning to gather around him while others in the class (and the halls!) began to gawk, attracted by Eddy’s big, fat mouth. Not his friends (did he still even have friends anymore?), just… classmates, he supposed. Now with an audience, Eddy continued to yap.

“I mean, how many girls have you fried now? Seven? I mean, I still can’t believe you don’t have a partner!”

“It’s five!” Crim corrected, daring to rise from his hiding place. “And I didn’t ‘fry’ anyone, Miri and the others are fine. Wait - do you mean you have a partner, Eddy!”

“Yup!” Eddy puffed out his chest with outsized pride, grinning and swaggering. Crim’s response was to have all colour drain from his face, all emotion too, as he gave a thousand-yard stare into empty space. “Rodi from Class 4! Me and her are gonna take the League by storm and become champions!”

Aura Battling wasn’t an easy career path and Battle School likewise wasn't an easy education path. Crim knew that there really wasn’t such a thing as a bad student in his class or any - his straight-B student career put him in the bottom half of the academy’s student body grade-wise - but Eddy Unger was about as bad a student as there could be. And he had a partner Pokémon and Crim didn’t.

“Well, congratulations, then…” Crim said, sourly, packing his things into his bag. “Don’t need to worry about me, though.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not.” Eddy replied, giving Crim a slap on the back. Crim was pretty fit and well built, but Eddy was a cross between a mountain and a shaved gorilla, with a body as big as his mouth. The slap knocked the wind out of Crim and caused him to double over his desk. “You’re probably done after this, bro. Whatever ‘Mons are left at school want nothing to do with you. Don’t know what you’re gonna do after this.”

“Crim’s going to be fine, don’t you worry about that!”

While Crim may moan that he had burned most of his bridges with his fellow students, he did at least have one friend left in the world, and she was storming into the classroom, all fire and business despite being a touch shy of five feet and possessing a bright pink bob of hair.

“At any rate, he certainly has more talent than you… um…” Joy squinted, focusing on Eddy. “Sorry, I think I forgot your name…” That drew a roar of laughter from Eddy and the crowd and sort of deflated Joy’s defence of him.

Joy Mercier wasn’t a student at the Palo Vista Battle Academy, instead studying at it’s sister facility, the Saint Cogita Medical University, training to become a Pokémon medic. That might explain her forgetting Eddy, but the last thing Crim needed was his childhood friend riding to his rescue in such a manner.

“Whatsa matter, Crim? Giving up on Aura Battling means you can’t fight your own battles, period?” Eddy guffawed, nudging Crim with his elbows. Crim remained silent, giving grimaces to both Eddy and Joy. “Jeez, man, don’t be so huffy.” Eddy said in response to Crim’s glowering. “I’m just giving you a hard time, bud.”

Even when his social standing was somewhat more respectable, Crim never considered Eddy a friend. He wasn’t a bully, wasn’t an enemy or anything dramatic like that, he was just a big, loud jerk. And Crim had had his fill of Eddy Unger for the day.

“Hey, no, don’t be like that.” Eddy said when Crim rose to go to the door. “Look, I know I’m giving you a hard time, but me and some of the guys are gonna go to the red light district and, uh… have some fun! Yeah!” Eddy snickered at his own euphemism… and no doubt whatever image was in his head. “We got partners. We’re about to graduate. We’re men! We’re gonna celebrate like men. I wasn’t gonna invite you ‘cause, well, you’re not a man. But you can tag along, if you’d like.”

The backhanded compliments stung, Crim’s face turning almost as red as his hair, but even then, he was more angry than embarrassed by Eddy’s offer.

“You guys aren’t men, either.” He stressed through clenched teeth. “You still treat Pokémon as glorified sex objects, don’t you?” Palo Vista’s red light district was famous for being entirely populated by Pokémon sex workers, with brothels themed along a variety of axes, from specific types to Pokémon species (mammals or birds or fish, etc) to a variety of sexual fetishes. “You treat becoming Battlers as a way to score. They’re our friends and partners. They deserve more respect.”

Maybe Crim’s lecture would have had more teeth if he didn’t mutter it out in a seething, harsh tone. Maybe. But in reality, it just drew more laughter from the assemblage of his peers. Once more, Crim felt his face growing hot. His hands balled into fists and he hunched his shoulders together.

“Bro, being a white knight isn’t going to help you score with Pinkie, here.”

“Gosh, you really are just a dork…”

“Hiring a prostitute doesn’t disrespect nothing or no one.” Said Eddy, puffing his chest out. “And, I mean, come on, we all know pro Battlers end up hooking up with their partners at one time or another.”

“That’s not true…” Crim said, once more through his teeth. One of his classmates pointed at him and then said:

“Hey! Weren’t your moms former Battlers? How did they meet, huh?”

"Yeah! His mom's a steaming hot Gardevoir. You know what those are like..."

More laughter. More embarrassment. Crim felt so hot all over he was half-expecting steam to start erupting from ears. Once more, though, Joy came to his rescue. This attempt was more successful, fortunately.

“Ugh, Crim is right. You guys are gross and immature. I feel sorry for whichever girl partners with you. Let’s get out of here, Crim.” Joy then took Crim by the hand and led him out of the classroom and off school grounds.

Laughter followed in their wake and Crim hated it but, he had to admit, if Joy didn’t bail him out there and then, he probably would have stayed and continued arguing with Eddy and his goons, just growing angrier and more embarrassed with every exchange.

If that’s how his peers were going to treat him, maybe he was better off without friends.

////

“So, yeah… that’s about it. I’m going to meet my new partners in a day or two. Hopefully they actually are my partners. Because if this doesn’t work…”

Evacuating the school, Crim and Joy grabbed some drinks and made their way to the park, cooling off under shade provided by broad-leafed oak trees. The park was right outside the area where not only the Battle Academy and Medical University were, but also the regular high school. Students from all three places mingled and walked home. Crim couldn’t help but envy them, especially the regular kids going to regular school.

“Well, that’s great!” Joy exclaimed, louder than she normally would be, clearing trying to raise his spirits. “Not only are you going to get two partners instead of one, they’re hand picked by one of the best Battlers in the League! That’s amazing, Crim.”

“Yeah, if I succeed. If I fail…” Crim downed the remains of his sport drink and then tossed the empty bottle at a nearby recycling bin. He missed. “I’m probably not going to become a Battler. My career is over before I know it and I’ll have wasted five years of my life.”

By the time Crim jogged over to deposit the bottle and jogged back, Joy was standing up with hands on her hips.

“Crim Rainier! You have been wanting to be a Battler since I first met you, since you moved here. All you ever talked about since then was how cool Aura Battlers were. You are absolutely going to succeed and become a Battler!” With each emphatic pronunciation, Joy rose higher and higher, standing up on the balls of her feet to ascend to maximum height. But as she reached her crescendo, like everything that went up, Joy came down. “And if you don’t, well, I wouldn’t say you ‘wasted’ five years. You gained a lot of valuable experience only a few people have.” Crim pouted and grumbled. “Come on, Crim! Most Battlers don’t have very long careers, it’s a tough sport. Didn’t your moms only last a few years on the circuit before calling it quits?”

“I thought you were trying to make me better, not make me come to terms with my imminent failure.” Crim snapped back in a bitter tone, earning him a censuring glare from Joy. He blinked first, shying away and sitting back down. “Sorry, Joy, I know you’re trying to help me, but… I’ve just been thinking about a lot of stuff lately. Not just what happens if I fail to Link. Again.”

“What kind of things?” Joy asked out of genuine concern and Crim looked back at her with genuine doubt.

Pausing with a foolish, put-out look on his face, Crim was struggling to either explain himself or get out of this situation. There were just some things you didn’t say to your childhood best friend. Especially to a childhood friend as… much as Joy was.

Joy just crossed her arms and stared Crim down, waiting for him to buckle, which he did. He had yet to meet anyone - man or ‘Mon - who could withstand Joy when she got like this.

The two soon got up and started walking, leaving the park and the school block to enter the city proper. As Crim sputtered and stammered his way to explanation, they passed by an electric billboard and he was given the perfect segue.

“If you need to recharge during the day, there’s nothing better than Jolt Energy!” A voluptuous Pikachu woman with long teal hair cooed in a melodious, sensual voice, her body and siren call amplified by the size of the billboard, projecting the sexual energy of the Electric ad-hocker far and wide. “_Jolt will give you a revolt, and that’s a Voltagia guarante_e~”

“Gosh, they really let her tromp around like that in public…” Joy muttered as Voltagia, world famous pop star, danced around for far longer than anyone would think, massive breasts bouncing about in her leather halter. “I mean, not public because it’s a billboard, but… you know what I mean…”

“Yeah, I do…” Crim said, not trying to gawk at the yellow vixen, still dancing for some reason! “That’s kind of… I mean, do you think it’s weird how…”

“How what?”

He thought back to Eddy discussing the red light district. He had seen videos of it online. Red lamps enticingly shining along the street. The best brothels and pleasure houses having Pokémon dancing in lingerie in the display windows, a sample and a lure all at once. He thought about tabloids and rumours saying this Battler or Leader was involved with one or more of their partners. About how his moms met in battle school, were Linked up, and fell in love.

Crim thought about how he wanted to say “How any Pokémon in the spotlight gets weirdly sexualized and romanticized? Them and the female Battlers, too.” But he couldn’t bring himself to say it, because he felt gross and hypocritical.

When he told off Eddy and his goons, he believed what he said. But Crim was also a teenage boy on the tail of end of puberty, who idolized Battlers and their partners and had spent plenty of time gawking at images online of the gorgeous women and Pokémon that made up the upper echelon of the sport he craved to be a part of. He had swimsuit pin-ups of Misty, Nessa, and Tulip. He scoured online for glamour shots of his faves or up-and-comers or lesser support idols of lust. Heck, even though she was cold and snippy, he could not get Sabrina out of his head last night and ended up masturbating to the echoed images and sounds bouncing around in his mind.

Was society wrong in how it viewed things? Was he wrong for railing against it? For being a hypocrite? Or was he just another cog in this machine, scolding others while gleefully drooling over his idols?

The ad finally ended. Voltagia had finally stopped dancing. Why was an energy drink ad so long? Why did their spokesmon spend more time dancing and twerking than selling the product?

“...Thanks for sticking up for me.” Crim finally said, quiet and strained, broadcasting that it was a lame lie. “Not just today, but always. You’re a good friend.”

“And you’re someone worth sticking up for.” Joy replied, accepting his bald-face lie in good faith, shoving him playfully. “Get some rest, clear your mind, and you’ll knock it out of the park when you meet these partners. I know it.”

“Yeah…” Crim **** himself to smile despite it. “Hey, maybe the reason why I’ve been struggling so much is that I’m just too awesome for most gals. I need super special partners to handle all I have!” His joke and his smile both died in record time, when confronted with Joy’s flat expression.

“Hmm, yeah, I don’t think that’s it. You’re special, Crim, just not in that way.”

After a few more good-natured jabs, the two went their separate ways, back to home for the evening. And while Crim was heading home, he also knew he was not going to be able to relax at all. He felt jittery and nervous, from his confrontation with Eddy, to his inability to express his shame, to the looming possibility of utter failure in his near future.

That evening, after dinner and after Crim was certain his mom and sisters had gone upstairs for the evening, he snuck out for his own night on the town. Not to the red light district, but to somewhere else seedy and dangerous to blow off a little steam.

/////

Sabrina manifested her psychic powers at a very young age and was quick to develop a variety of them, possessing access to almost the full spectrum of psychokinetic powers. However, most of her public believed she was only a powerful telepath and telekinetic. It was true that there were some aspects of her powers she was loathed to use, there were others she kept private. Namely, that she was precognitive. Sabrina’s future sight wasn’t as strong as other seers, nor did she have many visions, she did have one claim to her credit: her visions were always right.

And that was why, in the darkness of her hotel room in Palo Vista, her partner Kalista was projecting this newest vision into the air, so that she could watch it again and again. And that she could share it with her partners. Sabrina would always travel with at least a small contingent of her partners.

She watched it with breathless amusement. Because while she had faith in it’s accuracy, no matter how absurd it may seem, Sabrina had no context as to how this future would come true. It almost made it more exciting, knowing a tantalizing detail but being ignorant of how the now became the then.

And this then was her having sexual relations with the Battler she met today, Crim Rainier.

Both of their eyes were hidden by shadows, but their smiles and shallow breathing were evident of the excitement and the pleasure their future selves felt. Crim lay prone upon some surface, fully naked, well-muscled for a boy his age, and not lacking in the most important department. Sabrina rode atop the neophyte Battler, totally in control, grinding her hips and swivelling her waist to milk as much pleasure from her surprising partner as possible.

Her heart - that is, the Sabrina of the now’s heart - was pounding in her chest. The thrill of this voyeuristic prediction made her excited beyond belief. Especially because she could share it with her beloved Pokémon partners.

“And here I thought you said this boy was nothing special.” Asya the Kadabra said in a flat tone. All of them were cuddling atop the king sized bed. Sabrina had Kalista and Mysel on either side of her, while her legs were wrapped around Asya’s waist, her longtime companion resting her head on Sabrina’s stomach.

“Oh, he is absolutely milquetoast.” Sabrina pronounced, as her future self bent forward and she and Crim kissed most passionately, something she would never expect of the boy she met today. “There are dozens of rookie Battlers every season just like him. But, well, the vision speaks for itself.” Sabrina had actually had this vision a week ago. She had not a clue who this mystery lover was, but the moment she received that call from Arjun Sal, she knew what was happening. Her disappointment in Crim was immense, but she supposed he had time to grow to meet her lofty expectations.

“And yet you gave this boy such a fierce challenge, my lady.” Came the soft, ethereal tones of Kalista. The Espeon girl sat atop the bed on her knees, projecting Sabrina’s vision through the great ruby-like gem on her forehead. Sabrina kept one hand on the small of Kalista’s back, petting the silken purple fur in small, circular patterns. “Are you sure he can even qualify for the Supernova?”

“No. But this is half the fun.” How did this future come about? Sabrina wondered. Another deal between the two? Would he impress her with hitherto unknown battle prowess? Or was she just **** for a man with a big, nine-inch hog? “Besides, it’s been some time since I have taken a lover outside of our circle.”

“But you will share him with us, right?” Asked Mysel, very eagerly, the Hypno girl having been, well, almost hypnotized by the erotic prediction of her friend, teammate, and lover.

“But of course, darling.” Sabrina cooed in an unusually loving tone for the harsh woman. One hand ruffled the white hair of Mysel as she giggled, before it descended and traced the elegant lines of her large, angular nose. “What’s mine is yours. And if he is half as good as my vision shows, it would be cruel of me not to let everyone of you have your turn.

“However, pleasure aside,” Sabrina turned back to Kalista. “Are our prospects ready?

“Yes, my lady.” Kalista replied. Her deference was not something inherent to their relationship - for a Battler and their partners should be equal - nor a sexual put-on - though it could be that under the right circumstance - but an emblem of how much respect Kalista had for Sabrina. “Transportation is arranged. They’ll be in Palo Vista tomorrow, early evening. We should be able to introduce them to this Crim Rainier the day after.”

“Wonderful.” Whatever low first impressions she had of Crim, there was truth to his psychic potential. And his Aura. He was an uncut, unwashed diamond, and while it wasn’t Sabrina’s aim to polish him, she was glad she was handing these specific Pokémon to someone who should be able to handle them.

She smiled, watching the vision, pulling her partners closer.

Someone with a bright future ahead of them.

////

So, I know I said Crim would have two partners of types chosen by you, but second place a deadlock between Fairy and Fire for sometime, and while Fairy prevailed in the end, I came to like the idea of Crim with a Fire partner, so BAM! he's getting three partners now. I guessed Sabrina lied.

Anyways, now you're voting for the species of the starter. One vote per poll. Voting ends when the next chapter goes up.

Dragon
https://strawpoll.com/BDyNzRwEeyR

Fairy
https://strawpoll.com/B2ZB92k9EgJ

Fire
https://strawpoll.com/PbZqbENb0yN