I Challenge You, Professor!

Part 1: Confrontation

A/N: HIhihi I'm like, I lost it and wrote this in (almost) one setting because the idea was brewing in my head all day.

Well, I say "all day" but really it's been a headcanon I've had since I was a kid, before I even knew what headcanons were:

When you beat Cynthia and enter the Hall of Fame, Professor Rowan walks in. And he and Cynthia have a short exchange:

"It's been a long while since I last entered this room..."

"If your last time here was when I became Champion, then yes, that would be quite a long time ago."

And little me was looking at Rowan like "Wait..."

So yeah this is where that came from. I wrote this for fun but I figured I'll share it otherwise I'll never forgive myself. Platinum Version is very nostalgic to me, so hey.

Champion Professor Rowan is a concept too fun to pass on.

This is a 3-part story. Hope you enjoy!

- Part 1: The Confrontation -

"Garchomp! Garchomp! Come on! You have to get up! Get up!"

The young voice shrilled in the darkness. Her pleas almost didn't reach the land shark who struggled to do as much as lift its weight off the ground.

Hmmm... When was the last I've found myself backed into a corner?

"Come on, Garchomp! You can do it! Get up! Get up, please!"

The young voice wavered, on the verge of bursting into desperate tears. What a mess...oh what a mess she was.

I would have to say...it was way back then. All those years ago...

I think I actually cried back then? No...no I wasn't crying. But I was terrified...maybe. What I want to know...

The black and chrome floors reflected Garchomp's pained expression. The battlefield felt cold like ice, bitter against skin. As the dragon struggled to prop one leg, there was another creature who hovered at the opposite end of the field, the side where those challenged always stood firm.

The creature's red and blue body twitched and jerked as if it was on the verge of bursting. Its yellow eyes were unfocused and void of any emotion. Its head shook like a rattle, and as if it were struck by a brick, it spiraled in a mad circle. The sounds it made were the equivalent of a dying computer screaming for relief. Its voice was distorted and glitched, like the rest of its body.

And standing just behind that Pokémon...he stood in the shadows. He stared down the frantic child who was on her hands and knees. His face was almost obscured, but his eyes were sharp and cold.

She feared him.

I wonder...is this how all of my challengers felt? For every Trainer that tried to claim my title...they all wore that same expression of despair.

I knew despair once.

Am I foolish for wanting to seek out that feeling again?

- 0000 -

Sandgem Town, "The Town of Sand." A sandy town located right next to a brilliant beach. It was always redolent with the salty scent of the sea. The day felt especially joyful as the blue sky was only littered with a few clouds. The sun was not relentless, no. The temperature was at a comfortable level, the perfect weather to read a book outside.