When Lu Chi set out from Pallet Town, he had no money in his pocket and a Bulbasaur perched on his shoulder.
Lin Che stood beside him, holding a Squirtle. "You picked this one?"
"It was cheap," Lu Chi said.
They'd fought from childhood to adulthood, going from marbles to Pokemon battles. Whenever they met, they bickered, then went their separate ways. Neither had ever conceded to the other.
Lu Chi had no System and no golden finger. His only cheat was that, whenever he lost, he gritted his teeth and reviewed what went wrong.
He lost to Brock's Onix, Lt. Surge's Raichu, Sabrina's Kadabra, Giovanni's Nidoking, and Leon's Charizard.
But he won, too. He won Gym battles, the League, battles against Team Rocket, and the World Masters Tournament final.
From Kanto to Galar, from Pallet Town to the Indigo Plateau, he walked for ten years.
Someone asked how he managed to keep going.
"It's nothing special," he said. "After every loss, I could still get up the next day and keep fighting."
A Pokemon fanfiction with no System, wins and losses, a rival throughout the journey, and Team Rocket at the heart of the plot.
