Chapter nine (HK PKMN)

Harry's first thought when he easily won his first badge? His Pokemon were still too strong to make battles challenging, but Harry just sighed and began training his Pokemon seriously again.

Roark, the Oreburgh City Gym Leader was easily beaten by Torterra and Whiscash, and Harry won the Coal Badge.

Gardenia, the Eterna City Gym Leader was easily beaten by Infernape and Froslass, and Harry got his second badge, the Forest Badge.

Not even Maylene was a challenge and Fantina was absent. Froslass, Bronzong, and Spiritomb gained Harry yet another easy victory.

Crasher Wake's team was also easily swept by Harry's Abomasnow and Torterra.

Harry had just gotten his fifth badge from a lesser Gym Leader when he learned the Champion Cynthia's current location and decided to challenge her. Battling a champion wasn't an opportunity that Harry could pass up, and once he had chosen his desired team, he teleported away to her location.

When Harry arrived near Cynthia, the physically perfect champion of Sinnoh, he was just about to state his challenge and then some purple haired guy beat him to it; causing Harry to groan in annoyance and attract his brother, Ash Ketchum's, attention.

"Hey Harry!" Ash called out.

"Hey, Ash," Harry returned. "You come to challenge Cynthia too?"

"Nope, just wanted to meet her."

"Well, maybe I can still battle her, after she does a team sweep and sends him away crying in shame." Harry said, amusing some nearby kids who recognized him.

"You don't know that Paul will lose!" Ash said angrily.

"Yes, I do," Harry replied, without even glancing at Ash. "I know how to quickly assess a trainers skill with a glance now. This Paul is arrogant, has little real skill, has poorly trained Pokemon, and he will suffer a team sweep here. Just watch. You'll see that I'm right."

Paul's Chimchar was quickly beaten, and then insulted by the arrogant jerk.

Paul's Weavile and Murkrow were both one-hit like low-level trash.

Paul's second powerful Pokemon, a Torterra, was also one-hit and Paul forfeited amidst laughter and mockery from the audience.

Harry approached Cynthia. "Do you still have time for a five-on-five Pokemon battle, or a Full Battle with substitutions?" Harry asked, and Cynthia instantly recognized him.

"I can do five-on-five with substitutions," Cynthia replied. "I heard that you defeated Steven Stone's Mega Aggron and one hit his Mega Metagross with your Charizard without even Mega Evolving it, and I definitely need a real challenge." Harry noticed that several people looked shocked by that reveal.

"I'll be all too happy to provide with one," Harry replied, mildly annoyed by that reveal.

"Go Lucario!" Cynthia said, going with her second strongest.

"Go Charizard!" Harry said.

Cynthia allowed Harry to have the first move, much to Harry's annoyance. Harry ordered Charizard to use Fire Spin, but Cynthia had it countered with Psychic and Rock Slide which Harry had Charizard destroy with Flare Blitz and then use Flamethrower. Again, Cynthia had it countered with Psychic. Harry ordered Charizard to use Blast Burn and then follow it up with Flare Blitz; obscuring Charizard while dealing damage to Lucario and then letting Charizard deal more with his second attack. Lucario was left unable to battle, much to the nearby people's shock.

"Go Spiritomb!" Cynthia said.

Harry returned Charizard and sent out his Gardevoir, deciding that Charizard should save his strength for other battles.

"Use Hypnosis!" Cynthia ordered.

"Dodge and use Misty Terrain!" Harry replied, and then the battle began. Gardevoir used Moonblast, which was met by Shadow Ball, but Harry had Imprison snuck through to hinder Spiritomb further. That shifted the battle to his favor and stripped Spiritomb of several moves. "Restrain Spiritomb and use Moonblast." Harry thought that he heard Cynthia say something to Spiritomb, but he wasn't certain.

Spiritomb was severely damaged, but it took one more Moonblast to defeat it.

"Your Pokemon are at a very high level and all very well trained, Hadrian. I can see how you defeated Steven and only lost one Pokemon during the battle.... Steven was very annoyed by that defeat." Cynthia said, blabbing more about Harry's true power and skill.

"He's a type specialist, and I did my research and brought my best Pokemon to the battle." Harry replied, still wanting people to under-estimate him.

Cynthia sent out her Togekiss next, and after briefly thinking Harry sent out his Electivire. Cynthia was already considering substituting Togekiss for her Gastrodon, but Cynthia might need her later.

"Extreme Speed!" Cynthia ordered.

Harry watched his Electivire get pushed back some and had it use Thunder Punch, which was evaded and countered with an Aura Sphere that knocked Electivire back. Harry waited for the next attack and then had Electivire use Discharge and follow it up with a Thunder Punch that only briefly connected. After a few more Aura Sphere's and Cynthia's Togekiss using Extreme Speed to horribly annoy both Harry and his Electivire, they both grew annoyed and Harry had Electivire use Thunder on the entire battlefield.... Togekiss was left unable to battle.

Cynthia and Harry returned their Pokemon. Electivire needed to save it's remaining strength saved for Cynthia's Milotic. This also put Cynthia at even more of a disadvantage and forced her to fight blind at first. Cynthia smirked at Harry, knowing what he was doing and waited, forcing Harry to take the disadvantage. Harry sent out his Charizard and Cynthia her Gastrodon.

Cynthia was very concerned when her opponent smirked.

"Blast Burn!" Harry ordered, actually causing Cynthia to be briefly relieved. Harry wanted the ground around Gastrodon's feet super-heated and unsafe to walk on. Why? For this! "Use Solar Beam!" The Solar Beam went through the smoke and heat and struck the unaware Gastrodon, leaving it unable to battle.

Cynthia returned her defeated Gastrodon, truly shocked at how this went. Harry relied on over-whelming power, skill, and strategy. Cynthia was very impressed!

"You are going to dominate the Lily of the Valley conference," Cynthia admitted, to the nearby trainers shock. "I've never forfeited a battle... until now. I can't beat you, but I will be training to do so in the future." Cynthia said, garnering even more shock from those watching and listening.

"I look forward to the challenge," Harry said, before returning his Charizard.

Harry noticed that Paul, the guy who lost to Cynthia, was walking away without having his Pokemon treated and Harry was just about to say something, but Ash beat him to it. Thankfully Cynthia actually stopped Paul; being respected by Paul helped greatly with that.

Harry opted to join them; needing to heal his Pokemon anyway, and maybe even flirt with the lovely Cynthia.

Harry was doing just that, but was sensing that Cynthia was flattered but unwilling to flirt back or date. Sadly, Harry opted to abandon his flirtation and resigned himself to getting to know her until he was legal, and then flirting with her.

After they all learned that Nurse Joy was in surgery, Harry invited them all to his private island to make use of his personal Pokemon Center and teleported them all there. Harry was very annoyed by Brock flirting with Cynthia though....

Why would Cynthia want a failed Gym Leader and Pokemon Breeder instead of a former conference champion?

Ash and his other guests were all admiring his well trained and well taken care of Pokemon.

"This island has my own Pokemon and also functions as a League sanctioned preserve for Pokemon and a refuge for abused Pokemon, so no trying to catch them. I won't hesitate to press charges." With that harsh warning, which visibly disappointed Paul, Harry lead them into his private Pokemon Center.

"You have a very nice home, Hadrian." Cynthia said politely.

"Thank you, Cynthia. I personally invested a lot of effort into it and its features." Harry replied. "This is my Pokemon Center. Please place any Pokemon that need medical attention into the slots and they will be healed in order of priority."

It seemed that Paul's Pokemon were in the worst shape due to fighting at a major disadvantage and taking major damage, and Paul took this opportunity to insult his Chimchar.

"Actually, Paul, your Chimchar is quite powerful despite its low level. It also has a mutation in its Blaze ability that can grant it even greater power... if you can learn to draw out Chimchar's full potential and guide him through controlling it." Harry said.

"And just how do I do that?" Paul asked rather snidely.

"It requires a bond of trust and friendship as well as decent levels and self-control on Chimchar's part." Harry replied, but Harry doubted that Paul could ever draw out Chimchar's full potential and Paul's scoff proved that. "Bonds are required to unlock a Pokemon's full power and potential, and that includes Mega-Evolution; otherwise you might die at your Pokemon's hands. I'm not saying that training is unimportant, that would stupid, but forming a bond while also training them to greater levels of power has yielded great results for all who've tried that method." Harry felt he was making great progress in convincing Paul until Ash took over his attempts and ended up sabotaging them. Hearing something from someone of obvious skill was different than hearing it from someone who wasn't respected.

"You just keep doing things your way. I'll become stronger in anyway I choose." Paul eventually replied, trying to end that topic. It was ruined by Harry laughing and angering Paul. "What's so funny?" Paul asked angrily.

"You have one Pokemon that's Elite Four-level, and that's your Torterra. Your oldest and most powerful Pokemon ironically seemed under-trained despite your professed beliefs. You and Ash have invested similar amounts of time, but Ash has at least five Pokemon as strong as those of champions and at least nine that could compete against the weakest of the Elite Four. Granted those are his older Pokemon and represent a minority of his collection. Ash is the better trainer of the two of you and has potential for much greater growth than you do."

"Ash could probably easily win a league conference if he would use type advantages and his oldest and strongest Pokemon."

Paul looked enraged, but Ash looked thoughtful.

"I call it as I see it, Paul. The weak bonds between you and all of your Pokemon will prevent you from ever reaching your full potential." With that remark, Paul asked to leave once his Pokemon were ready.

"Alright, would you like to be teleported to Veilstone City, Pastoria City, or Hearthome City? Or back to where you where?"

"Veilstone City, please," Paul replied, seeing a way to cut down on travel time.

Harry calmly sent Paul away, directly to the Veilstone Pokemon Center.

Cynthia's Pokemon were healed next, they thankfully weren't severely injured and were healed within thirty minutes, merely requiring rest.

Harry offered Cynthia the option of staying the night, but she politely declined and instead opted to have her Pokemon rest within their Poke Balls. Harry's previous flirtation made her understandably reluctant... and Harry most certainly would have continued his flirting.

After teleporting Ash and his friends away, Harry returned to his journey.

Harry's annoyingly easy victories had continued and Harry now had seven months to train for the Lily of the Valley Conference.... Naturally, Harry focused solely on training. All of his Sinnoh Pokemon were now at level 100 and that made Harry very very proud. At this rate, Harry would have plenty of extremely powerful Pokemon to choose from and that he could use to win him further championships. This was only improved with his recent capture of Cresselia, Heatran, Darkrai, and Regigigas; the latter of which was caught on Death's advice.

Not that Harry would actually use them in official battles, but they were still nice to have for his alter ego to battle evil and stupidity with.

Harry caught even more Sinnoh Pokemon, a shiny Metagross, a normal Metagross, and an Aggron that was a menace.
Harry was confident that he would soon have his fourth league win, and that was with the rumors of a trainer with a Darkrai that was participating. Over-powered Legendary Pokemon were no true substitute for hard work and skill. It was overwhelmingly unfair to other trainers to use Legendary Pokemon in official battles and it was a massive sign of weakness. No, Legendary Pokemon were best used for serious matters. Like battling teams of idiots and defeating legitimate threats... or Team Galactic.

Yes, Agent Looker of the International Police had requested that Harry go to Celestic Town and protect the Lustrous Orb from Team Galactic. Harry naturally accepted, he wanted a good working relationship with such a powerful law enforcement group, and defeating idiots with unknown but likely stupid goals was its own reward. That in mind, Harry was nearing Celestic Town on the back of his Rayquaza and was eager to get this over with and defeat Team Galactic.

Rayquaza landed in front of the Historical Research Center and Harry was greeted by Professor Carolina and the Champion Cynthia, who, of course, did not recognize Harry in his disguise.

"I take it that you're Agent Potter of the International Police?" Carolina asked.

"Yes, Professor Carolina, I am. You were informed of the reason for my presence?" Harry asked, though the Agent status was a surprise to him.

"Yes. Extra protection for the Lustrous Orb and attempting to capture members of Team Galactic." Carolina replied.

Harry nodded. "I'll need to scout the nearby buildings and area for Team Galactic members, catching one should allow me to learn and then counter any plans that they have." Harry returned his Rayquaza and went off to do just that.

Harry ended up catching dozens of the losers, and some were on the actual Research Center's property. Harry was extremely pleased with himself and he even lifted the name of Team Galactic's leader from Saturn's mind. This would make destroying Team Galactic all to easy and the International Police had already been informed by Harry and were coming to take Team Galactic's leadership into custody.

"Looks like you were successful," Cynthia said, looking at all the captured Team Galactic members who all glared defiantly.

"Yes," Harry replied. "Some were even on the Center's property and had explosives to cause a distraction and a lot of damage. They were stopped though and will have plenty of time to think over their bad choices; life in prison. I also learned the name of their leader and the locations of several bases and I will be taking him and them down."

"If you need any help, let me know," Cynthia said.

"I will," Harry replied, but he had no intention of involving her. Harry preferred to work alone in combat. He didn't want to have to worry about the people with him or account for them in his strategies. Plus Harry didn't want to risk her well-being in a life or death situation.

Once the International Police arrived and took Team Galactic into custody, Harry was assigned the duty of taking down Team Galactic's bases and it was extremely easy for him and his Legendary Pokemon to do, and Harry was soon free to continue training and relaxing. Truthfully, taking down Pokemon Hunter J was more difficult due to having to track her and then arrest her, but she was 'accidentally' killed during the battle.

With Harry being back to training, he also researched and spied upon Tobias, and Tobias had a Darkrai, Cresselia, Latios and Latias, Heatran, Entei, Raikou, and a Legendary Bird set. Tobias made Rick look like a paragon of hardwork, dedication, bravery, and skill! Harry had his work cut out for him in the Lily of the Valley Conference though and was even somewhat concerned that he wouldn't win it.

That was unacceptable to him! This was a chance to prove all of his beliefs by defeating yet another person who exploited the powers of Legendary Pokemon in official competitions! Defeating Tobias could inspire others to disdain and oppose those who exploited the power of Legendaries and strive to eventually defeat them. Defeating Tobias would prove Harry's own strength and show that not even Legendary Pokemon could challenge his best. Harry had to win!
And as Harry bonded with his Pokemon, he knew that he would somehow manage a victory.

After learning that Ash had won his eighth badge, Harry contacted him. Harry felt that the Aggron and the non-shiny Metagross he had caught would be perfect for him... plus they needed empathy rather than the firm hand he was giving them. If they misbehaved, they were put into their Poke Balls. It just wasn't working as hoped.

"Hey, Harry!" Ash said.

"Hello, Ash. I heard that you just won your eighth badge. Congratulations!" Harry said.

"Thanks! Where are you?"

"I'm training my Pokemon on their moves on my Sinnoh estate. Some needed more time to perfect their skills." Ash nodded, but was surprised that Harry could afford his own estate. "Apart from congratulating you, I also wanted to see if you wanted an Aggron and Metagross. Both were causing damage to towns and Aggron was actually attacking trainers within its territory. I've tried my stern but fair, disciplinarian methods, and they are more tame, but I already have my own much more powerful Aggron and Metagross, and I was wondering if you wanted them...."

"Sure. I mean, if they would cause trouble if released then accepting them would prevent them from causing trouble again." Ash replied.

"Great. I'll transfer them to Professor Oak for holding then." Harry said.

After saying their goodbyes and exchanging promises to meet up at the Lily of the Valley Conference, the call was ended.

After sending away the two Pokemon, Harry returned to to polishing up his Pokemon's skills for the next conference.