A/N: It's been a while since I uploaded a story. I've had this one in my head for quite a while but couldn't find the time to start writing. And now that I'm confident that I can finish this story, it will be my first multi-chapter fic! :D It's based on Pokémon Special Manga which is also the setting, just some years into the future; Red and Green are in their thirties, I'm gonna let you guys guess what the other dex holders' ages are. This was partially inspired by the song 2112 by Rush and has some elements from the song's storyline in this story so you might want to listen to it. It's rated T for language and violence. Enjoy :3
Disclaimer: The author of this fanfiction does not, in any way, profit from the story and all rights to Pokemon Special and the song "2112" belong to their original author(s).
Prologue
Pallet Town, Year 2102
Professor Oak ran back and forth in his laboratory, the atmosphere full of hectic abnormality. However, it is pretty well known that the distinguished Professor's mornings always transgressed in comparison to a normal person's life. But what is normal nowadays, in this chaotic world?
The professor grunted, heaved a crate full of research papers and started walking towards his messy desk through the dull hallways of his lab. No windows, photos or even the modest plant could be seen in the high-tech lab—only machines churning up more and more papers for whatever research professor Oak would want to examine.
He lets go of the crate, letting it drop on his desk ungracefully. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling around his wrinkles. He was quite tired, having spent weeks, if not months, researching on this fantastical little energy source that could solve all of Pallet town's energy problems. And just as he was this close to finding the answer to their dilemma, he hears a knock on his door. The professor takes a moment to look at himself in the mirror. Oh, how time passes by; a frown crosses his features as he examines his pale skin and snow white hair, his lab coat covering a red t-shirt and brown trousers that covered his leg, his foot covered by old dark brown shoes with mold growing out of his left shoe's right aglet. Such detail is what a professor can only see. From the small scratch at the heel of his shoe to the tiny speck of dust resting on his eyebrow.
Turning around quickly and flicking the speck of dust away, the professor opens the door to see the grinning figure of a large, fit man with blonde hair characterized by the rough edged military cut. The professor turned around and began walking towards his desk not bothering with the rest of the man's features as he already knew who it was.
"Nice to see you, prof!" yelled the man, following the professor with confidence and, as the professor aptly ignored, grin still as big if not even bigger.
"What are you here for, Surge?" enquired the professor with a bored, tired tone as he sat down behind his desk and began sorting his papers from the crate he carried earlier.
"Um... Do you have any mouthwash?" asked Lt. Surge with uncertainty, something really uncharacteristic of him. The professor took his eyes off his papers and looked at Lt. Surge with annoyance in his eyes.
"What the hell do you need mouthwash for? You don't care about your hygiene any more than a Mankey does," replied the professor in a slightly more intrigued tone than before.
"Well, ya know how it is. In these times one can't be too careful—"
"Your point being?"
"Eh, if you don't have any it's okay. I can ask other people," replied Lt. Surge with more confidence.
After a few moments of silent staring from professor Oak, he nodded, "Check the medicine cabinet."
"Thanks, prof!" Lt. Surge bellowed in his usual overconfident demeanor.
The professor returned to examining the papers, skimming through charts, graphs and translations of ancient texts and Unown language. Searching for anything that could help them in their situation rather than delay them further and leave them hurtling towards obscurity. Taking his eyes off the papers for a second, he could have sworn he saw Lt. Surge gulp down an entire bottle of mouthwash and throw the container in a recycling bin. Deciding to focus on Lt. Surge for the moment; the professor promptly ignores the papers and sighs.
"Why did you just swallow an entire bottle of mouthwash?" Oak dared to ask, even though he knew he wouldn't like the answer.
"You mean you aren't supposed to swallow it?" said Lt. Surge in an innocent surprised voice. The professor obviously saw through it and walked towards the recycling bin—it wasn't like they could afford to recycle nowadays anyway—and took the container out somberly, dreading that his hypothesis was indeed correct. Checking the ingredients of the mouthwash, he glares at Lt. Surge, who was already prepared for Oak's full-on lecture mode.
"Of all the stupid—drinking, seriously! Some of the stuff in this mouthwash is dangerous, drink too much at once and you could have a heart attack! I thought we agreed that alcohol is to not be permitted inside Pallet town a long ago when you came here seeking shelter. I understand that you're having trouble dealing with your alcoholism, but are you really that desperate that you're willing to drink mouthwash not knowing anything about what's in it except for the high alcohol levels and—"
"Not to interrupt you or anything, but why is that thing beeping?" Lt. Surge pointed at one of the older machines in the lab. It was so rusty that it was a surprise that machine was still in commission. The professor was prepared for an interruption and was about to continue, but then recognized the incessant beeping he had longed to hear for years. He ran frantically towards the machine with Lt. Surge following in curiosity.
"This… This is…" professor Oak looked like he was on the verge of crying, "The answer, I've finally found it!"
The machine slowly reeled out a single sheet of paper with incomprehensible text. The professor was one of the few people who could read it, of course. Lt. Surge peeked over the professor's shoulder, scratching his head in confusion as to what the nonsensical gibberish or complicated extraterrestrial dialect would mean. It obviously meant something; otherwise the professor wouldn't be so excited. The professor speed walks towards his desk, still staring in wonder at the paper in his hand. Lt. Surge followed gingerly, almost like he was expected to do so (or the professor was just ignoring him).
"It will take me a while to translate. If only Elm was here, he's much more fluent in reading this dialect…" grumbled the professor with excitement still etched in his voice. The professor then turned his head to face Lt. Surge so fast that he was surprised there was no whiplash.
"Surge, mind telling Green to come here?" requested professor Oak solemnly, as if he was ashamed to ask an annoying person like Lt. Surge for such a task.
"Okay, we have the night shift tonight anyway," said Lt. Surge and left without excusing himself, leaving the professor to his thoughts.
Just a few more days, Oak. Just a few more days…
2112
The high walls encircling Pallet town loomed above the town. It was just another day of hoping that one day they wouldn't have to hope for something ever again. Outside the walls of Pallet town was all under control by the Priests of the Temple of Syrinx, a group of Pokémon extremists who ban the use of Pokémon by the general population and allow the use of Pokémon as weaponry within their ranks. This, of course, led to many groups of Pokémon trainers and enthusiasts to rise up against their oppressors. Not a single rebellion against the Priests was successful, unless you count the fact that Pallet town was never taken by the Priests as a "rebellion" on its own.
The Pallet town Revolutionary Guard had some of the most elite trainers in Kanto, which was one of the reasons Pallet town remained out of the Priests' control. That and the kamikaze-like attitude of Lt. Surge against the Priests.
A man in his late forties stood near the northern gates of Pallet town, assuming his patrolling position as he waited for his replacement to relieve him. His wait was over quick, as another man wearing a simple black shirt covered with a red button up jacket, jeans that covered his legs and had that trademark somewhat spiky black hair that differentiated him from anyone else in Pallet town walked towards him with Pikachu in tow.
"You're late, Red," groaned the man in his late forties, Red simply nodded back and watched as the man began walking towards his house. Red stared at the sky, contemplating at how the stars could be so free when they weren't; the stars weren't even living creatures. He felt Pika leap to settle on his head, Red was used to it of course so he wasn't fazed, gazing up at the stars with his trainer.
"They're beautiful, aren't they, Pika?" Red murmured, "If only I was a star… That would be cool."
"Weirdo," said a voice behind him, Red didn't bother turning around as he already knew who it was.
"Hey Surge, are you drunk again?" asked Red like it was a daily occurrence for Lt. Surge to be drunk, which it was. No matter how many times Prof. Oak tried to restrict alcohol in Pallet town, Lt. Surge would find more ways to get his hands on some fine liquor. At least he doesn't drink like he used to when the Priests first appeared, Red thought to himself.
"Nope. How come stating the truth makes me drunk?" replied Lt. Surge, who stood next to Red, as it was his night shift as well.
"I heard that the professor had this big discovery earlier today?" asked Red, promptly ignoring Lt. Surge's question.
"Yeah, I think it has something to do with the power shortages we keep having. A solution to them, I mean," answered Lt. Surge in monotone, clearly he didn't care about trivial matters. Not that they were trivial matters to anyone else, so to speak.
"Really? That was fast, only took us seven days!" exclaimed Red, "Huh. I wonder where Green's at."
"He's patrolling the underground tunnels tonight," replied Lt. Surge, still in monotone.
Red gave Lt. Surge a strange look, "You sound bored today, what's up?"
"Nothing, that's what's up, we keep fighting these freaks to defend Pallet town and so what? What's the point when the rest of Kanto is under their control and we never bother to help them? What about my home town Vermillion, are we just gonna leave that town to rot under those assholes' control?" fumed Lt. Surge, taking Red by surprise. Red thought over what he was going to say next, knowing that if he said the wrong thing Lt. Surge would throw a fit.
"They outnumber us," started Red gently, "By hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, we wouldn't stand a chance!"
"And yet, we kept this little town protected while the rest of the Pokémon world got screwed over. If we keep like this then they'll just get stronger and we'll never be able to defeat them!" argued Lt. Surge.
"So you're suggesting we go in there blind and take as many with us as we can? There's no difference, Surge, they outnumber us now, they will outnumber us in the future, there's no point in fighting them when all we can do is defend Pallet town and hope to last as long as we can!" snapped Red, not willing to continue the conversation. Lt. Surge went quiet, sudden realization having taken effect. They stood there silently for some time; Red stared at the sky with Pika again and Lt. Surge stared at his legs like a shamed school boy being berated for bad behavior.
Red's radio suddenly cackled into life, "Aerodactyl One, status report," echoed the robotic voice of the communication system programmed by professor Oak.
"Nothing to report here," replied Red.
"Await assignment, Aerodactyl One," cackled the radio once more. Lt. Surge turned his stare towards Red; not a lot of interesting things happened during night shifts lately.
Lt. Surge chuckled, "Seems like trouble!"
Red rolled his eyes, and was surprised to hear the radio come to life again, "Breach in tunnel-A and B, Feebas One will take care of it. Aerodactyl One and Electrode One are to scout for further opposition and await backup."
"Finally, something exciting around here!" yelled Lt. Surge, who had already sent out 3 Magneton and, using their conflicting magnetic fields, rose up and stood at the top of the high wall encircling pallet town. Red followed on his Aerodactyl. The scene they saw before them left them awestruck.
"Oh shit," stated the wide-eyed Red. It was an understatement really, considering there were hundreds of Pokémon and trainers lined up in front of the Pallet town walls, seemingly ready to attack. The Pokémon were fitted with cannons, guns of sorts and the larger ones carried bulky looking cubes. Red and Lt. Surge knew who they were and what those 'modifications' were, of course, and knew that their intent was murderous. Lt. Surge, however, was excited that he finally had some people to beat the shit out of.
"CHARGE!" yelled Lt. Surge, jumping off the wall and running towards the Priests' army. He released several Electrode, Manectric, Magneton and a single Magnezone.
"Electrode, bomb the shit out of them, no remorse. Magnezone, lead the Magneton towards battle and try to disable the enemy's weaponry with whatever means necessary. Manectric, kill anyone that survives the Electrode's Explosion attacks," Lt. Surge ordered quickly. His Pokémon quickly did as they were told, breaking into the lines of the Priests. Lt. Surge released a Raichu and an Electivire, "Raichu, harden your tail with Iron Tail and hack through anyone who gets too close to me. Electivire, shock anyone who tries to attack me, I need to do something…" Lt. Surge began fiddling with what looked like a satchel charge.
Red had obeyed the orders and waited for reinforcements. He stood outside the walls of Pallet town with 8 other trainers, all ready to go into battle. Red didn't need to say anything for them to know that it was time to attack the Priests to defend Pallet town. After all, offense is the best defense. They rushed towards battle, brandishing all their pokeballs and releasing their Pokémon. Red sighed, he loved to battle Pokémon. But he just hated it when it was serious like this.
I wonder what everyone else is doing…
2112
Under Pallet Town, Tunnel A
A man with spiky brown hair stood over several dead and knocked out bodies and Pokémon. His Scizor stood near him, looking equally bored. The man was Green Oak, the silent person that no one wants to piss off because when they do… They're pretty much fucked.
Green took out his radio, "Feebas One reporting, Tunnel A is clear. How's tunnel B, Dragonite?"
The response was quick, and Green could hear the sounds of war in the background of the transmission, "Not too good, there's a Rhyperior occupying half our squadron! It's carrying a purification cube!"
Green cursed under his breath and quickly replied, "I'm on my way! Try destroying it with Draco Meteor," Green turned to his Scizor, "You stay here in case more of them try to enter from this tunnel," the Scizor nodded. Green began running towards Tunnel B. It was very close by, so he could get there quickly and easily.
Green soon reached the ongoing battle in Tunnel B. All of the enemies have been eliminated except for a Rhyperior carrying a heavy gray cube with a red circle on the top and green lights on the lining of the corners. It didn't have a trainer, so that was a good sign. A woman stood in front of the Rhyperior with a Dragonite—presumably hers—glaring at the Rhyperior menacingly.
"Draco Meteor!" commanded the woman. Much to her dismay, the Rhyperior turned and shielded the cube with its hard body. Even as the Rhyperior had flaming meteors hitting his back, it was not fazed; it was ready to carry out its mission by whatever means necessary. It turned around to face the exhausted Dragonite with a smug grin, its victory was short lived, however, as Green quickly took out his Charizard and gave out his order.
"Blast Burn."
Fire erupted from Charizard's mouth as the temperature in Tunnel B jolted upwards. The fire hit the Rhyperior head-on with amazing ferocity. Although the Rhyperior just barely survived the attack, the cube it was carrying was shattered to pieces. Before anyone could finish the Rhyperior off, it used whatever last bits of strength it had to initiate an Earthquake. The already sensitive tunnel shook weakly and, unfortunately for everyone in the tunnel, the tunnel caved in. Burying with it every human and Pokémon. The tunnel caved in so fast no one was able to escape, much less prevent it.
A disgruntled Scizor rushed towards the wreck, hoping to find his trainer somewhere. He saw a pointed tuft of hair coming out of a small hole in a cluster of concrete and metal. Quickly destroying all the obstacles in the way, Scizor hauls his trainer out of the wreckage, checking for any life signs. Desperately, Scizor attempted to wake up his trainer gently, to no avail. Scizor kept trying regardless, hoping that by some miracle he wouldn't be dead…
The tattered body of Green Oak showed no sign of life.
2112
Back at Pallet Town…
Professor Oak frantically paced up and down after hearing that Tunnel B had collapsed with several people inside, including his very own grandson, Green Oak.
The professor took out his radio, "Send team Camerupt to help us out on the southern front. The priests are gathering aquatic forces from Cinnabar Island. I'll take the rest of team Blissey to try and rescue the people in what used to be Tunnel B," not bothering for confirmation, Oak started running towards Tunnel B.
When he reached Tunnel B, he saw several men clad in white robes. They all looked quite different in looks, but one thing they had in common (other than the clothing) were the Pokémon that had cannons attached to their shoulders, arms or hands. One of the Pokémon, however, looked different than the others. It was a Snorlax carrying a gray cube, something that caught professor Oak's attention and had him quickly send out a Blissey for defense.
The trainer of the Snorlax wore slightly different clothes, having a blue crescent on her top. She stepped forward and raised her thin arms up in greeting.
"The renowned professor Oak, somehow I thought you'd be much taller," said the woman smugly, "And bulkier."
"Blissey, Egg Bomb!" professor Oak ordered hastily, not bothering with the introductions. The Priests' Pokémon easily evaded the attack.
"Careful now, you don't want to hurt your friends," warned the woman. To the professor's horror, he saw the entire team Blissey clad in white alongside the enemy. Although he had theorized how the Priests' could brainwash people into joining them, he doesn't know how they did. His theory supposed that the gray cube would be the culprit but he has no evidence to support that claim.
"I'm guessing that you're wondering how, huh?" smiled the woman, "Out of my good intentions, I will tell you how," she pointed at the gray box in her Snorlax's hand, "That box emits a special gas we, the Priests of the Temple of Syrinx, made to enlighten these poor souls into believing what they should have believed right from the start."
"Is it that simple?" asked professor Oak.
"It's best kept simple," the woman answered.
There was a comfortable silence between both sides as Oak seemed to be thinking of what his next move should be and the Priests were anticipating said attack.
Suddenly, a group of trainers rushed to the professor's aid, sending out several Pokémon to attack the unwavering—and clearly disciplined—line of priests.
"Get back, prof!" yelled one of the trainers, "We'll handle this."
"But… You're supposed to be protecting the southern front!" yelled the exasperated professor.
"It was a diversion! These guys got here by coming through Tunnel A, now go!"
Professor Oak was about to head back to his lab when a Tangrowth grabbed him with its tentacles. (A/N: Not sure what to call those things…)
"Professor Oak is coming with us," stated the woman calmly, "Tangrowth, take him with us, we're leaving."
"No he's not! He's staying right here in Pallet town!" snapped a man who seemed to be the leader of team Camerupt. You could guess that because he was the only trainer with a Camerupt.
The woman laughed, "And you're the one to stop me? Tangrowth, we're going."
"Over my dead body!" yelled the infuriated man. Suddenly, the woman turned around, this time she didn't look calm. Now she looked angry. And you could tell she was angry because the Tangrowth stopped moving and looked like it was prepared to beat the shit out of Camerupt despite the type disadvantage.
"Tangrowth, Power Whip."
Tangrowth's tentacles quickly shot out and hit the Camerupt within a second. The Camerupt fell over like a cow when it's tipped over. Difference here is that the Camerupt was able to get up without anyone else to help it, much to the Tangrowth's trainer's surprise.
"Eruption!" ordered the man, knowing that the damage of the attack would reach everyone near him. The more the merrier, they say. Large amounts of molten rock were launched from the holes on the two humps on Camerupt's back, flying into the air and predictably falling back down to hit its target (and a whole bunch of other people and Pokémon). The Tangrowth shields its trainer and professor Oak and sustains several burns on its body. Victory was short lived; as the Camerupt's trainer soon realized that a priest's Charizard had the cannons on its shoulders point menacingly towards him and the Camerupt. It was too late however, as he felt the thunderous roar of an explosive round hit him and his Camerupt. He didn't hear anything else after that.
Professor Oak stared in horror at the bloodied remains of the Camerupt and its trainer. Too shocked for words. He'd seen many of these cannons fatally injure Pokémon and destroy infrastructures, but never saw these weapons be used against human beings. Sure, he'd seen some trainers get killed by Pokémon attacks in his days, but pulverized by an explosion caused by a Pokémon? Not really.
"Tangrowth, knock our guest out with your Constrict attack," ordered the devilish woman, that is how the professor viewed her as now. He knew that these self-proclaimed Priests of the Temple of Syrinx were bad people; he just didn't know that they were all fucking insane. He soon felt a sharp pain as the Tangrowth tightened its grip on him.
And soon, all was null and void.
2112
Red returned Saur to his pokeball after realizing that an inflammatory gas canister was launched amidst the battlefield. He takes out Poli instead, knowing that water Pokémon would put up a fight much better than a grass Pokemon if a fire starts. They were, after all, near Viridian city, and near Viridian city was Viridian forest. Red glimpsed Lt. Surge's Electrode run into the ranks of Priests and explode, whilst an army of Manectric and Magneton led by a single Magnezone were finishing off those who survived the explosions made by the Electrode.
I wonder why the radio doesn't work anymore… Red thought. Sure, he was worried, but he knew Pallet town was safe when Green and professor Oak along with several other strong trainers were there to protect it.
An earsplitting sound filled Red's ears to the point that he couldn't hear anything afterwards; a blinding flash also took away Red's sight for a few moments as he wondered what had just happened. He soon realizes that it was an explosion at the back of the Priests' army. Instantly, he knew what happened.
"God damnit Surge, you could've warned me," mumbled Red, who was already running deeper into enemy territory to join his other fighters in there. He could see around six to eight of them, with him and Surge that made ten. At this rate, they were going to lose regardless of how the current battle went. Surge's Electrode army was spent and his other electric Pokémon weren't as strong without their trainer. Red jumped out of the way just before an explosive shell hit the ground near him.
"Now they're targeting us instead of our Pokémon!" exclaimed Red, "Shit!"
Red jumped out of the way again as a barrage of shells hailed down, killing some of his allies and their Pokémon. A few died from the explosions, some died from gas bombs and a couple of others were killed by a Pokémon attack. Red knew one thing was certain; he and Surge were the only ones left and since the radio was busted they couldn't call for help. I need to hold them off as long as I can, thought Red. After all, the only thing he had left now was the hope that he would buy enough time for the remaining forces in Pallet town to regroup and prepare for the Priests' assault.
Red released all his Pokémon. Just as he was about to give out his commands, he heard a female voice call his name from behind. Ordering his Pokémon to do whatever they think they should do, Red turns around to see Daisy Oak running towards him. She stops and briefly gasps for air.
"Red… They've taken over Pallet town!"
Red stared wide-eyed at Daisy in disbelief at what she said. Somehow, he didn't feel like fighting anymore. He just felt like giving up.
"That's not the Red I know!" echoed Yellow's voice through Red's head.
"Yellow, is that you!" yelled Red.
"I'm your conscience!" berated Yellow, "I'm telling you that you aren't acting like yourself. Just because Pallet town has was taken it doesn't mean that you should give up, put up a fight to the very end. That's who you are Red, a fighter! That's who we are."
"A… Fighter…" mumbled Red to himself.
"A FIGHTER!" yelled Red in anger, abruptly rushing into the battlefield with his Pokémon. He started giving his Pokémon attack orders quickly, and soon he was an unstoppable war machine, which is the last thing anyone would think of Red. But soon, the huge army of Priests overwhelmed Red, knocking out his Pokémon one by one. The last thing Red saw was a man wearing a white robe with a blue crescent on the top of the robe grabbing Daisy and taking her away on the Salamence. This was before a hyper beam hit him. His Pokémon had all fainted so none of them could block the attack. And so, Red inevitably blacked out.
And so, Pallet town was the last place to fall under the rule of the Priests of the Temple of Syrinx.
A/N: So you guys might be confused as to who the Priests of the Temple of Syrinx (I should really start abbreviating this, but POTTOS sounds silly) are and how they're relevant to this story. Well, they're basically a bunch of people who abuse Pokémon and use them as weapons. And since they view Pokémon as weaponry, they ban the use of Pokémon by anyone outside their group.
The characters from this chapter will NOT be the main characters (at least, not in the near future) and this chapter is meant as an introduction so you readers can get a general idea of what my story is gonna have :P
If you have anything to ask about, just drop a review, I won't mind.
For the tl;dr: R&R please!