When he was younger, Jaden eagerly looked forward to the day he could become a Pokemon Trainer. His father would always tell him stories about adventures and Pokemon he had seen before bed, which instilled in his son a desire to see the world and what it held. Getting his wish when he turned 10, the young boy began his journey alongside his two friends, Declan and Seria. Travelling together for a good while, they trained and earned their first three badges alongside each other. Upon getting to Ecruteak City was when the happy adventure crumbled apart. Jaden failed his first gym challenge, Morty’s Gengar proving too much for him. Seria stayed behind with Jaden, but Declan opted to continue on his own. Before leaving though, he told Jaden that he might want to turn back if he was struggling this early on. Attempting to reason it was just bad luck, Jaden’s friend suggested he talk to his dad to find out the truth. Returning home, the young trainer intended to figure out what was going on.
Upon returning home to find out the truth, Jaden’s father with a heavy heart, admitted to his son that his stories were all lies. He had never been a Pokemon Trainer at all. From a young age, he had been ridiculed by those around him for being unable to form a bond with Pokemon. When he moved to Johto with Jaden, he did everything he could to set his son up to become a successful Trainer, so that the ridicule wouldn’t pass on to his son. Feeling betrayed by the constant lies he had been told, Jaden refused to be like his dad. He wouldn’t let people’s words stop him, or limit him to what he could do. With this new drive, he resumed his challenge, besting Morty the second time around and successfully defeating the rest of the gym leaders. The anger he had felt from being lied to never fully left him though, and it had begun at this point to manifest in his battling. After parting ways with Seria, having no voice of reason to hold him back, he began to gain a reputation as a brutal Trainer. When he next saw her and Declan at the Silver Conference, he was vastly different from the person they remembered.
Ruthlessly destroying his opponents, Jaden blasted his way to the Top 16 in the tournament. His next match was against his former friend, Declan. The two clashed with their ideals, and in the end, Jaden managed to narrowly win the hard fought battle. After the fight however, the two trainers ended up arguing about the match. Leaving with ill will between them, Declan begrudgingly ventured off to figure out what he would do next. Seria then met with Jaden, and attempted to reason with him, still saying she valued him as a friend and to let go of his anger. Refusing to let go of his plagued feelings, the Top 8 fight would see him pitted off against her. It was here that Seria would show him the error of his ways. In an emotional and down to the wire fight, the young girl managed to best him, leaving Jaden in disbelief. Accepting his loss, he thanked Seria for opening his eyes, and wished her luck in her Top 4 match. Now with his run at an end, he headed home to make amends with his dad.
After the conference, Professor Elm congratulated the three individually on their performance. He had spoken with Declan first, but informed Jaden and Seria that if they were looking for a further challenge, they could take on the Kanto Gym Leaders. Deciding to travel again together, the two made their way for the Kanto Region. Proving successful, they rocketed through the Gym Leaders, and eventually caught up with Declan. Still frustrated over the battle at the Silver Conference, he challenged Jaden to a fight, and this time handed him a loss. Seeing how his friend was walking down the same path he had been, he vowed to do what Seria had done for him. Making it to Top 8 in the Indigo League, Declan and Jaden were once again matched off against each other. In yet another close battle, Jaden managed to win over his friend. After the fight, they had a heart to heart, where Jaden apologized for the way their battle had gone at the Silver Conference. Declan apologized as well, and being able to patch things up, stayed to watch his friend fight in the Top 4. Making it one step higher, Jaden unfortunately lost to the Trainer who had defeated Seria in her Top 8 match.
After the Indigo League came to an end, having made it to the Top 4, Jaden was deemed a strong enough battler to be able to trek Mt. Silver. Having heard rumors of the strong Pokemon that lived on the mountain from people at the tournament, while Declan and Seria headed off to find their next adventures, Jaden decided to ascend the mountain. Making sure to equip himself well, he would spend a gruelling three years of training there, battling some of the toughest wild Pokemon in existence. When he decided to return, he had heard stories about a battle facility opening up in Olivine City. Curious, he ventured there to see what it was like, and potentially test the results of his training. The Battle Frontier proved to be just the challenge he was looking for, with some of his most intense battles yet. Managing to defeat most of the Frontier Brains, he prepared to take on Palmer, when he encountered a mysterious woman while at the Frontier. Upon exchanging introductions, he had unbeknownst to him, met Cynthia, the Sinnoh Champion herself. She had watched a few of his battles, and recommended that some of his Pokemon could get even stronger if he were to venture there. Not confident he could defeat Palmer just yet, with her advice, Jaden decided his next stop would be Sinnoh.
Proving himself once again, he victoriously triumphed over the Gym Leaders with little issue, and gained entry to the Sinnoh Conference. With some of his Pokemon having gained new evolutions he hadn’t known existed before, this newfound strength saw him make it all the way to the finals of the tournament. In a heart-racing final fight, he lost due to his opponent having knowledge of Mega Evolution, the boost in strength enough to turn the tides. Even though he didn’t come out as the victor, it was enough for Cynthia to extend him an offer. She mentioned her private villa in the Unova Region, and that many strong trainers owned houses there. Setting him up with a temporary home there, Jaden trained for half a year in the Unova Region, battling strong trainers from across multiple regions. Feeling more confidence in his abilities, he had become an even stronger Trainer. At the end of the six months though, Cynthia posed him a question. Why did he want to become stronger? When he mulled it over, Jaden couldn’t really think of why he had continued to fight. Leaving him with some words of wisdom, he travelled home to do some soul searching.
Coming back to Cherrygrove City, he spent some time with his father, and after a few days heard that Seria had returned from a trip to another region. When he went to meet her though, Jaden couldn’t believe what he saw. The girl he had known, was now feeble, meak, and sickly. Asking her what happened, she told him that before she met him and Declan, she had been diagnosed with a currently uncurrable disease when she was little. Doctors told her and her family, that she would never be able to go on a Pokemon journey, but she didn’t want to live her life without being able to see what was out there in the world. Telling him she returned home because she didn’t have much time left, Jaden contacted Declan, and the three of them reunited once more to spend Seria’s last days together. After she passed away, Jaden thought he could handle the loss better knowing it was going to happen. He had never felt more wrong in his life. Retreating to Mt. Silver, he went into isolation with his Pokemon, and began training again to forget the pain. He would this time remain on the mountain for five years, thinking and reflecting while continuing to train with his Pokemon. After long hours of contemplation, he finally found his reason to become stronger. He would see the places that Seria hadn’t been to. Battle the trainers she never got to. His new purpose, was to experience a fulfilling adventure for as long as he could, to honor her memory as a respected Trainer and his close friend.
