Two Pokemon, a Rockruff and a shiny Zorua, sat together in a field, watching the clouds.

"Hey Shifty, mark my words - we're gonna be the greatest battlers ever!" exclaimed the Rockruff, brimming with confidence as he glanced over at his Zorua companion.

The Zorua next to him just smiled and nodded, continuing to look up at the sky imagining what could lie ahead.

12 years later...

Awakening from his deep slumber in an old falling apart cabin, Shifty a now 17-year-old Zorua sat up in bed sore and exhausted from the week's happenings. All week Shifty and the rest of the Summit Hills High battling team had been competing in the annual tournament against the rest of the high schools in Lakeside County.

The tournament worked as follows: Each school 7 member battling team would be put against random mons from other schools, if you fainted in any round you were eliminated from the tournament as a whole no school could have more than 1 mon in the semi-finals so whoever was the highest scoring member between the 2 would stay in the semi-finals while the other member was switched out with a participant from a different school.

The semi-finals were tomorrow then the championship the next day, Shifty had managed to make it to the semi-finals even though he was the only non-evolved mon in the tournament. This was both a blessing and a curse for Shifty as opponents tended to underestimate the small Zorua, and he could dodge attacks more easily with his quickness.

The four finalists for the tournament were Lily (Gardevoir) versus Makoto (Raichu) and Shifty (Zorua) versus Sprout (Grovyle).

Walking out of his room and into the small kitchen, Shifty spotted his mother, a Zoroark, cooking breakfast for the two of them while humming to herself.

"Good morning sweetie, how are you feeling?"

"Sore all over and nervous but also excited."

"Well these next few days are your chance to surprise colleges, it'll be harder for you than everyone else since you can't evolve."

"I know mom, all I can do is try my best and hope it all works out."

"Well have fun at school today, say hi to Comet for me."

"Yes, mom."

Shifty quickly ate some oran berry stuffed pancakes and made his way outside towards Comet's house, it wasn't that far but it still took around 10 minutes to arrive at the 2 story home that housed the Lycanroc. It wasn't anything special by normal village standards but for Summit it was the nicest home made from wood and brick with a wrap-around porch.

Knocking on the door, he thought about what today might bring. Coach called a meeting before school. I wonder what it's about.

Shifty heard the sound of the doorknob turning and was pulled from his thoughts only to see a Lycanroc around his forties.

"Ah hello Shifty, Comet will be down in a moment, why don't you sit over on the couch until then?"

Shifty only nodded and walked over to the couch. He had been in this house hundreds of times throughout his life. The living room that he was currently in was your average living room, with a coffee table between the television and the couch with a recliner beside it and an end table to its right. A gray and blue rug covered the hardwood floor beneath the coffee table which was made from oak wood with a nice golden oak stain making it easy on the eyes.

To the left of the living room was the kitchen and dining room and on the right was the master bedroom with some stairs towards the back of the house that led up to Comet and his younger sister's rooms.

A sound came from the stairs and Shifty heard a voice behind him. "Hey, Shifty! Ready to head to the team meeting?" Comet the Lycanroc asked Shifty.

Shifty only nodded in response before getting up and walking to the door, Comet in tow. The walk to school was more uneventful than usual seeing as no other mons were really on their way to school for the day yet.

The grass training fields came into sight quickly and they both noticed that the rest of the team was already waiting for them to arrive so they could start the meeting. Shifty and Comet both sat down on the far right.

"Okay team, as you all know, the semi-finals are tomorrow. Before we start, let's congratulate Shifty. He's the first battler in our school's history to make it to the semi-finals." The coach, Chuck, a Pikachu, looked towards the Zorua who shrank back from the praise.

"Today is important for those who aspire to compete in college. Recruiters from various schools are here today to determine if you're worthy of a scholarship. You'll be practicing all day to impress the recruiters except for Shifty, who must rest for tomorrow. You don't have to worry about attending your classes as you've been excused for the day."

Everyone nodded in understanding before going to respective circles to battle. Shifty, seeing nothing to do, decided to watch quietly while letting his mind wander to everything that had happened throughout his life that brought him to this point.

It started when he and his mother moved into Summit Hills when he was very young. At the time his father had abandoned the family in the middle of the night, while this didn't surprise Shifty's mother she was still heartbroken about it. The situation worsened when his mother grew sick and couldn't work any longer.

Shifty had gotten a job running errands for a Flareon shopkeeper in the town center. Being a mon of few words he was well-liked by the shopkeeper as he wasn't caught up talking to any customers for extended periods.

Shifty was pulled from his thoughts by several mons sitting beside him on the bleachers. They all had clipboards in their possession and appeared to be taking notes.

Time passed slowly as the recruiters would pull members of the team aside, everyone was pulled aside at one point during the practice, except for Shifty who just sat on the bleachers watching as his teammates were interviewed.

It was nearly the end of the day when finally an Absol walked up to Shifty. "Hey you're Shifty, right?"

Shifty only nodded in response. "Alright, I am Coach Grim of the Crestwood Institute of Technology. If you would please follow me I'd like to ask you a few questions."

Shifty followed the Absol a decent distance away from the fields so that they would have privacy for their conversation.

"Alright Shifty, so before we get started I wanted to double-check something that's on your file, is it true that you can't evolve?"

"Yes that's true," Shifty responded, trying to not show his nervousness.

"Alright, so here at CIT we are looking to get our foot in the door of battling as we are

going to be entering our first year of having a battling team, and I see a lot of potential in you. Some schools will overlook you because you can't evolve, but not us here at CIT. I made sure I came here today to show you how much we want you on our team. You would also be receiving top-of-the-line education as we are frontrunners in the technological field. We value hard work and being a leader, and seeing as you're in the final 4 I think it's safe to say you have the work ethic. I haven't heard enough about you outside of your battling but I get the sense that you're shy, would that be accurate?"

"Yes, that would be accurate," Shifty responded looking down at the ground.

"Alright, that's nothing to be ashamed about. I was also extremely shy when I was being recruited for college so I understand how you're feeling to a degree. Now CIT is a very long way away from Summit Hill but I can guarantee you that we offer you the best chance to write your legend. Why go to a top university where there have been dozens of greats when you have the chance to be the first great at a school? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity Shifty, I'll be at the semi-finals and championship so if you have any questions come and ask them. I want to make your choice as easy as possible. I have to get to my hotel soon and inform my athletic director of my plans for the coming days. I do wish I could stay and continue talking but you need to get home and I need to get to my hotel. Good luck tomorrow Shifty." The absol left shortly after finishing his spiel.

Shifty took this opportunity to head home since it was well past time for him to get going home as he couldn't see his teammates at the fields anymore.

______________________________________________________________________

Ten minutes, ten minutes then I have to head out there. Twenty minutes and the first battle starts, thirty minutes after that battle ends my battle starts. One step at a time, one move at a time. I can do this.

Shifty could hear the music from the locker room to hype up fans in the stands, before every match Shifty would take a few minutes to calm his mind. Whenever Shifty would do this he noticed he would be more methodical with his move choices and wouldn't overthink as much.

Checking the clock on the wall Shifty got up ready to make his entrance with the rest of the finalists. As soon as he did the PA announcer started speaking. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 51st annual Lakeside Battling Tournament. As we get ready to welcome our competitors we and all the tournament sponsors would like to congratulate the finalists for making it this far, without further ado." The PA announcer took a moment before continuing.

"Coming from Meadowview High it's the Gardevoir Lily! Next, we have her opponent coming from Harmony High, it's the Raichu Makoto! Next, we have the first participant of the second battle today. Everyone, please give a warm welcome to Shifty battling in front of the hometown crowd in Summit Hills! Last but certainly not least it's Sprout the Grovyle representing Oakride Academy. Be watching the time as the first battle will begin in eight minutes."

Shifty sat on the bench next to Sprout so they could both watch the first battle which had the top two ranked battlers in all of Lakeside facing off. The whistle blew and the battle was off. It turned out to be a very quick battle with Lily easily winning after Makoto lost his balance and easily was knocked unconscious with just a tackle. Lily appeared disappointed by the result and Shifty understood why. It's not fun winning battles easy.

Eventually, the time came for the next battle to start between Shifty and Sprout. They bowed in respect before going to their sides of the field and took their stances. The official looked at them both before blowing his whistle. Sprout wasted no time using a quick attack to get close to Shifty before unleashing a pound to attempt to get Shifty off balance.

However, that didn't work and Shifty was able to unleash a shadow claw before quickly dodging a leaf blade that missed him by mere inches. Sprout didn't give up using a mega drain and a low kick in combination to get Shifty off his paws. Sprout took advantage of this quick turn of events and used a pound on Shifty who felt every bone in his body cry out in anguish as he was hit directly. That pound was the strongest he had ever felt and Shifty knew he had to do something to save this battle.

Thinking quickly he fired off a shadow ball at the unsuspecting Grovyle who was hit directly in his face. Now both Shifty and Sprout were attempting to stand back up, Shifty was on his paws first but didn't have the energy to fire off an attack. The same went for Sprout who also stood across from Shifty. It was a standoff to see who would fall over first.

Shifty felt all of his energy leaving him as black spots began appearing in his vision he felt his legs begin to shake. Sprout was also shaking but not as bad as Shifty was. The entire crowd was silent as they waited with bated breath for who would fall first.

The one who fell was not Sprout but Shifty who felt his body give out and everything went black. Sprout followed shortly after exhaling in relief. Chuck sat off to the side, paws on his head in heartbreak watching Shifty be examined by the training staff before taking him off the field for him to recover. Sprout's coach a Luxray walked over to Chuck before giving a small bow in respect.

"You trained that kid up well, those attacks were powerful."

"It was mostly him, I just pushed him in the right direction. Tell Sprout I say congratulations, he earned that championship appearance."

"I'll be sure to let him know, see you around Chuck."

Meanwhile in the stands sat an Absol looking down at a clipboard while writing something down before leaving the stands to return to his hotel room.