- "The most important rules are the unspoken ones."
Max From Nowhere is a Pokemon Trainer with a rather infamous reputation: one of trickery, misdirection, and underhandedness. A bad reputation is the least of his worries, however.
You see, Max is not from the Pokemon world. He's from ours, and he left an entire life behind when he came here. Now he wants to go home, but the only way to do that involves earning the rank of an Elite Trainer. Outclassed, outgunned, and outmatched by the native trainers of the world, however, he's going to have to resort to some, shall we say... unorthodox strategies to compete, much less succeed.
The Most Evil Trainer
is a Pokémon Self-Insert Fanfiction published on Spacebattles. It is completed.
This Fanfic Contains Examples Of:
- Arch-Enemy: Malva becomes Max's as the story progesses. After their official match, which Malva wins, albeit by a hair's breadth, it's made abundantly clear that the two absolutely despise each other.
- Bittersweet Ending: Really, there was never a possibility the story could ever not have one of these, regardless of the outcome; if Max stays in the Pokemon world with the friends he's made, he'll never see his family again. If he goes home, he'll never see his Pokemon again. In the end Max is unable to return home, as even Hoopa doesn't have that power (it's implied Arceus himself is somehow involved), but Max is finally able to make peace with that and begin healing, ready to live a happy life as a famous and successful Pokemon trainer.
- Black Knight: Invoked; after Max gets an official sponsor, he starts wearing a suit of costume-armor designed to make him look like this trope, playing into his reputation. It earns him the nickname "Blackguard."
- Combat Pragmatist: Max's modus operandi, which is why he's so unpopular with the honorable Kalos trainers. As he puts it, in the wilds winning means surviving, and surviving means using whatever means are available to you.
- Cool Old Guy: Lord Wikstrom and Master Gurkinn both qualify; Drasna is a cool old lady.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Max is really quite a nice guy; his team, however, consists of several Poison, Dark, and Ghost-Type Pokemon, with his starter Pokemon being a Banette, and his battling style is generally based around deception, trickery, and misdirection, which are considered dishonorable in the Kalos region. Lastly, it's later revealed that his aura is naturally Posion-type, which is associated with the concept of "Harm." All of this has led to him getting a reputation as a "villainous" trainer; he initially objects, but eventually leans into it as a kind of stage persona, which earns him the nickname "Blackguard."
- Defeat Means Friendship: All three of the trainers Max battles during the Conference — Gabriel, Catherine, and Roland — become his friends for the rest of the story, some of them before they even battle.
- In Medias Res: By the time the story starts, Max has been in the Pokemon world for several years, has completed the Kalos Gym circuit twice, and is midway through his second Conference. A few details of his journey to this point are filled in through flashbacks.
- Knight in Shining Armor: Lord Wikstrom, as per canon, invokes this, as does his apprentice Roland. It sets them both as contrasts to Max, who later starts styling himself as a Black Knight.
- Legally Dead: Max has, in all likelihood, probably been declared this by his loved ones back home. It's a bit of a source of angst for him.
- Honor Before Reason: The whole Kalosian mindset, really, hence why they hate Max so much. Their culture, particularly where Mega-Evolutions are concerned, encourages trainers to adopt a raw-power, strength-focused mindset, and an open and straightforward battling style, much like the chivalrous knights of old. It's implied Max's battling style would be much more accepted in other regions, like Kanto or Johto. Unfortunately, Max's plan hinges on meeting Hoopa, and it's in Kalos...
- Mentor Archetype: Lord Wikstrom to Roland, and Master Gurkinn to Catherine. Both also take some time to impart a bit of wisdom to Max as well.
- Mythology Gag: According to the League Chairman, the government of the Sinnoh region has denied access to anyone seeking an audience with the 'Origin Trio' due to an "incident" a few years prior to the story. Sinnoh has apparently hushed up the details, but it's all but stated to have been Team Galactic's attempts in the "Diamond and Pearl" games, or something very similar to it.
- Nervous Wreck: Max, during the first arc of the story, has been in Kalos for two years, already failed the Conference once, is absolutely hated by both crowds, fellow trainers, and Pokemon League Officials, and is desperately aware that he's fighting an uphill battle and failure will mean a whole nother year his family and friends think he's dead. To say he's in a bad headspace would be putting it mildly. He gets better after the Conference.
- Olympus Mons: Deconstructed; the whole crux of the plot is that access to Legendary Pokemon is heavily restricted by region governments so that only qualified Pokemon Trainers can ever gain access to them. The idea is that if something goes wrong and the Legendary gets angry, the Trainer will be able to defend themselves and subdue, drive off, or earn the respect of the Legendary in question before it can go on a rampage, the consequences of which could be apocalyptic. Max's goal is to meet Hoopa, in the hopes he can convince it to send him home.
- Post-Victory Collapse: Max, after beating Roland by a hair's breadth, and thus winning the Conference, promptly passes out and has to be rushed to the hospital. Justified, since he hadn't been eating or sleeping properly due to sheer nerves.
- Self-Insert: Very much so, but it has a twist to it: the average Self-Insert tends to
casually brush aside the fact that they'll never see their friends and family again; for Max, it's a driving motivation, and the knowledge that he's been gone for several years already causes a lot of depression and anxiousness.
