The Pantheon

The Indigo Conference - Part I

Hey everyone! 💛

Sorry for the month-long pause — I know some of you have been patiently waiting for the next update, and I truly appreciate it. The truth is, I've been getting a lot of inspiration for other fandoms lately, and I really want to explore those ideas while they're still fresh in my head. Sometimes creativity takes us in unexpected directions, and I've learned it's best to ride the wave when it comes!

That said, this fic will continue. I've committed to telling Ashley's story all the way through, and I'm still aiming for 100 chapters total — just like all my Pokémon fics. We're currently heading into the final stretch of this arc: I plan to keep going until Chapter 60, which will wrap up the Conference + Alola Islands mini-arc.

The Alola part will be short and sweet — mostly filler-style chapters with Ashley bonding with her team, getting some well-earned rest, and enjoying her time away from the chaos. After Chapter 60, I'll be going on a bit of a hiatus. Don't worry — I'm not abandoning the fic! I just need a break from this fandom and some time to properly plan out the final 40 chapters. I have a general direction, but before continuing, I want to make sure I know exactly where I'm going and how to land this story in a way that feels satisfying.

Thank you so much for sticking around, for all your support, and for letting me share this journey with you. 💕 Updates will resume soon, and in the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy the little detour into other fandoms with me too!

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Mandi sat alone on the edge of the observation deck, legs swinging freely above the shallow drop. From here, the Indigo Plateau looked almost unimpressive. Just cliffs and buildings and long shadows cast by the tower's outer ring. Trainers passed below in pairs and small groups, some heading toward the main stadium, some just pacing like nervous Pidgeys trying not to throw up. He wasn't sure if he envied them or pitied them. Probably a little of both.

He reached into his sidebag, fished out the small black badge case, and flipped it open.

He stared at the badges for a while, not doing anything with them. Just... looking. They still caught the light differently depending on the angle—Brock's was a sharper gleam, more metal than polish. Erika's had that faint tint of pink to it that looked fake but wasn't. And the Cascade Badge shimmered like fallen rain. He closed the case with a soft snap.

Only three were from the Challenge Eight. But they counted.

Mandi leaned back on his elbows, letting the breeze lift the edge of his hoodie. Somewhere, a Noctowl screeched. The Indigo Conference was officially beginning tomorrow, and his name was already on the bracket list. He'd made it.

And he wasn't even twenty yet.

He thought about the kids back in Cerulean, the ones who'd laughed when he said he was going to train full-time. Even his mom hadn't taken it seriously at first. "Win a Cascade Badge," she'd said, "then we'll talk." He had. And then he kept going.

Not that it had been easy. Not even close.

His Mt. Moon had been Lt. Surge. He could still picture the moment he realized Cloyster wasn't going to outspeed anything, not even after an Iron Defense setup. That Raichu had blown through his whole team like they were wet paper. The only hit he'd landed was a fluke with Golbat, and even that had been more luck than planning.

Still, Mandi hadn't cried. He hadn't begged for a rematch or blamed the type chart or claimed the gym was unfair. Surge had looked him over at the end of the match and said something like "You've got a spine. Keep that." And Mandi had walked out with no badge but a stronger spine anyway.