Pokémon The Champion's Illusion

[IFBench]

Description from Zoruaspotting: This video takes place just before Illanero and Silver battle Archer in the Goldenrod City Radio Tower.

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The video begins with Illanero and Silver exiting the Goldenrod Radio Tower elevator, and emerging onto the observation deck, where a man with a Team Rocket emblem on his suit waits.

"So, you've finally made it here," the man says. "The Zorua who ruined everything, and the son who couldn't do anything right."

"He's not coming back, Archer," Silver says, glaring at the man. "Battle us. Now. If we win-"

"Ah ah ah, you're not in a position to make demands here," Archer says, smirking. "Neither of you are. He's coming, I know it. Giovanni will come back."

"But he said he's disbanding Team Rocket when I defeated him in Viridian City!" Illanero says, tail lashing.

"You really believe that? I know the truth," Archer says. "The whole 'disbanding' was an act. He's out in hiding, waiting for his opportunity to return, to lead us once more! And this is our signal to him, that we're ready for him!"

"He's. Not. Coming. Back," Silver says, starting to tremble.

"Afraid? Scared he'll see how weak you still are?" Archer says. "He doesn't need you, and neither does Team Rocket."

"Why are you doing all this for Giovanni?" Illanero asks, tilting xyr head. "He's reallyreally weird and mean and bad!"

"Giovanni is perfect," Archer says. "He knows exactly what to do in any situation. He's what Team Rocket needs! We can't exist without him!"

"He's not coming back," Silver says. He hesitates, then adds, "You're probably too weak and pathetic for him to even consider coming back to you."

Muttering under his breath, Silver adds, "Like me."

Archer's eyes narrow. "I'm not weak. I'm not like you! I'll prove to Giovanni that I'm strong enough for him to return!"

"That's what I thought too, once," Silver says. "I thought that if I became the strongest trainer in the world, Giovanni would come back. But he's not coming back. And there's nothing either of us can do to change that!"

"How dare you! He...he's coming back! I know he will!" Archer yells. "He has to come back!"

"He's not!" Illanero says. "He said he was going to disband Rocket for good!"

"Lies! It was all lies! He was just going into hiding!" Archer yells.

"If he really was coming back, he'd have at least told his top executive," Silver says, standing his ground. "Face it, Archer. He's not coming back for either of us."

"No...no!" Archer yells, grabbing two pokeballs from his belt. "I'm not weak like you! I'll prove it! I'll prove that I'm strong enough for Giovanni to return!"

The video ends.

 

[canisaries]

Hey there! Here for Catnip. I read up to and including JOHTOVID - DOUBLE. Here are my thoughts.

Illanero is a Zorua in disguise.

Oh, it's an exposé. I thought it was just going to be a vlog. Interesting.

"Illanero!" a third voice rang out, as Professor Oak arrived in the room. "Congratulations on becoming Kanto Champion! You've come so far since you and Charmander left my lab."

Oh, xey're actually going through the storyline of each region, not just becoming the champion. Cool!

"I ran into him in the Pokemon Tower, and he was mourning one of his teammates, that Team Rocket killed! His Raticate!" Illanero said, tail lashing back and forth.

suuuuuuuuuuure it was team rocket

and a "human" with a Zorua tail.

I really found myself wishing that we'd gotten more physical description than just this. I had to kind of have a vague human-shaped character in my head the whole time instead of a specific look.

Cam says, standingt up.

Typo.

"If that's what you really want, who am I to stop you from spreading your wings?" Falkner says, walking to the other side of the battlefield. "Let the battle begin!"

Falkner speaking in flying-related puns feels fitting for his character. It's been too long since I played HeartGold for me to remember if he did that in the games, but even if he didn't, it works.

"Aw, you remembered me! I'm flattered," Proton says, grinning. "Do you remember my darling knife, Top Surgery?"

"Well," Proton continues, "This isn't it. This is Bottom Surgery, for naughty Pokemon like you."

I was caught pretty off guard by these knife names. Frankly, I really think you should have some kind of content warning in your author's notes. He's basically indirectly threatening to commit unwilling breast and genital surgery on his victims, and that's something that can be pretty upsetting to readers.

"Excellent," Proton says, pulling the knife away from Illanero's neck. "I hope you're not too fond of that tail of yours."

So he knows that Illanero is a Zorua? This threat wouldn't mean anything (or very little) if he thought it was just cosplay. I wonder how he found that out.

"I like your spirit! Bugsy says, "Reminds me of a Scyther, always wanting more foes to fight."

There should be a period after the "says" instead of a comma, as "I like your spirit!" is a complete sentence.

"Come to think of it, you never did battle Alder, did you?" Bugsy continues.

I'm unsure why he brings up Alder. It didn't seem related to the previous conversation, at least not directly. I would have expected Bugsy to more clearly acknowledge that his question was out of place.

"What?" Illanero asked, tilting xyr head.

Tense seems to slip to past for this one line.

"That hat clashes hard with the rest of your outfit, and that cosplay is just gaudy," Whitney says. "Did you take inspiration from Valerie? Her outfits aren't nearly pretty enough."

I'm glad that we find out that xey had a hat, but it kind of draws more attention to the fact that we really don't know what Illanero looks like or what xey wear. There are lots of different kinds of hats, after all. Did the original blog have art on it?

"What is crack-a-lack-ing, Anomaly?" the figure says. "I have been informed by 4Chansey of that being a polite way of greeting new people in this world."

well in all fairness, 4chan could have taught him to say far worse things

"If you leave, I'll tell you all about the legendary Pokemon Suicune!"

How's he supposed to do that if they leave? Maybe "if you leave with us" would make this clearer?

---

So this seems to be a small anthology of interactions that Illanero has had with gym leaders and rivals and other characters from the mainline games. It doesn't appear like there's really a plot, but you did say that this was just for fun, so that's understandable. I did wish I would have seen more sides to Illanero's character than xem being ambitious and nice, but it could also be that I just didn't read far enough.

I would also have liked this to lean more heavily into the exposé angle. If I was uploading existing footage of a person to expose something about them, I would call more attention to whatever proves my point. Like, a zoom-in on the tail when it wags, maybe a blinking red circle, or just a mention in the video description of "look at <timestamp> closely, you can see the tail wagging". Little things.

On a side note, it's pretty funny to think about how Illanero could copystrike these videos for stealing xyr content.

Anyway - while I think it could have done a bit more in a few places, I do think this is charming and works for what it is. I can also tell you had fun writing it which is really what's most important. Good luck in writing onward, and see you around!

 

[IFBench]

Description from Zoruaspotting: This video takes place just before lllanero battles Clair.

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The video begins with stepping off the last movable platform in the Blackthorn City gym, and stepping onto the battlefield.

"You're here," Clair says, cape draped over her shouler. "Lance told me about you. You and the previous challenger."

"Previous challenger?" Illanero asks, tilting xyr head.

"Yes, the red-haired child," Clair says. "Lance said that you put a stop to Team Rocket, twice. In Kanto, and here in Johto."

"Yesyes!" Illanero says, tail wagging.

"While I thank you for that..." Clair steps forward onto the battlefielod. "Your victory lap ends here. I don't intend on losing to you."

"Lots of people say that!" Illanero says.

Clair's eyes narrow. "I mean it. You may have come here for a gym battle, but I'm not giving you one, Champion. I'm giving you a real battle, where I hold nothing back!"

"Yayay!" Illanero says, smiling. "Let's battle!"

"I'm not finished," Clair says. "I heard about your encounters with the other gym leaders of Johto. They fought you like they would any regular challenger. But you're not a regular challenger, you're the Champion. It would be a disservice to both of us to give you a battle that you could win so easily."

"So hold nothing back in turn!" Clair shouts, thrusting her arm out. "Show me the might of the Champion, and let me show you how much you have yet to learn!"

The video ends.

 

[IFBench]

Description from Zoruaspotting: This video takes place just after lllanero battles Clair.

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The video begins with Acacia the Meganium scoring a fainting blow on Clair's Kingdra.

"Yayay! I won!" Illanero says, tail wagging as xe runs up to Clair.

Clair simply recalls her Pokiemon, and stares at Illanero, eyes narrowed.

A few seconds of silence pass, before she says, "No. You won the battle, yes, but you didn't win my respect."

"What do you mean?" Illanero asks, tilting xyr head.

"You didn't treat this battle with the respect it deserved. You just saw it as another stop on your victory lap. For that, I can't award you this badge."

"But...I won!" Illanero protests.

"There are certain values that the gym circuit encourages, that should be discarded. Such as going from battle to battle at a rapid pace, without showing those battles the respect they deserve," Clair says. "Every battle is important, every battle should have an impact on you in some way. That is where the League fails."

"But I..." Illanero begins, before trailing off.

"If you want the Rising Badge so badly, treat it with the respect it deserves. Not a fancy trinket to add to your collection, but the symbol and memory of a battle," Clair says.

"But how do I prove that?" Illanero asks.

"There's a sacred shrine at the back of Blackthorn City, across the lake, inside the Dragon's Den," Clair says. "Go there, and pass the test there. Only then will I give this badge to you."

Illanero hesitates, then nods. "Okok. I'll go there."

"Good," Clair says, taking a step back. "Don't disappoint me."

The video ends.

 

[IFBench]

Description from Zoruaspotting: This video takes place as Illanero encounters Clair in the Dragon's Den.

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The video begins in the Dragon's Den, with Illanero exiting from the shrine deep within it. Clair is waiting outside.

"That was quick. So you failed? You can try again tomorrow, but I advise that you think long and hard about..." Clair begins, before trailing off, seeing the cape Illanero now donned.

"Nope! I passed!" Illanero says, playing with xyr cape. "And I got this reallyreally cool cape!"

"I..." Clair sighs. "Fine. You win. Take this badge, and get out."

Clair extends a hand, holding the Rising Badge, but Illanero doesn't take it.

"What's wrong? Isn't this what you wanted? Your eighth badge, the end of your victory lap?" Clair says. "Don't tell me that you're giving up now."

"You seem reallyreally upset," Illanero says, tilting xyr head. "Why are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you," Clair says. "Simply disappointed that I failed."

"What do you mean?" Illanero asks.

"My duty as Blackthorn gym leader is to teach challengers. If I fight a challenger, and they have learned nothing, like you have, then I have failed. You defeated me easily, and learned nothing," Clair says. "Apparently you already had those values I lectured you on, with how easily you passed this test."

"But I did learn something!" Illanero says. "I learned that I should treat battles with more respect!"

"Is that why you're not taking my badge now?" Clair asks. "Because you don't think you showed me enough respect to earn it?"

"Yesyes!" Illanero says.

"Well," Clair says, smiling a bit "That's enough for me. Go on, take it."

"But I didn't show you respect," Illanero says.

"You just did, by listening to me right now," Clair says. "You've earned this badge, and my respect. So long as you keep treating battles with respect from now on, you are worthy of this badge."

"Thankyou!" Illanero says, and takes the Rising Badge.

The video ends.