A/N – I would like to thank 92FireDemon as well as all the other writers out there for inspiration for this story. I've always loved reading stories of Red. Red, the first ever player character. Red, the legendary trainer. This is my attempt to get inside his head, create his backstory, and put it on paper. Hope the readers like it and review!

Chapter 1 – The Return

At first glance, the glade looked as abandoned to the forces of nature as it had been five years ago. The last rays of sunlight were not enough to light up the entire area, but visibility was not poor. Small creatures could be seen scurrying across the branches of tall oaks, or flitting through the ferns and bushes littering the ground. A light wind blew steadily across the open space, breaking the quiet by rustling the leaves. All in all, it was peaceful- an idyllic view of a simple forest.

All of a sudden, powerful, erratic gusts of wind made the branches tremble and frightened the little denizens of the clearing. The origin of these gusts was a large black dragon shaped creature seen up in the sky above the glade. The dragon was hovering in place just above the treetops. The tip of its tail looked to be on fire, the heat of which could be felt over a hundred feet away; each of its limbs ended in claws the looked like they could cut through stone with ease. The dragon let out a roar, showing fangs like daggers. Its eyes were a brilliant crimson. On its back was a young man, black hair ruffled by the flapping wings.

The dragon slowly descended into the clearing, causing all the forest inhabitants to scurry away in alarm. As the dragon neared the ground, the man leapt of its back in a remarkable show of agility and landed on his sneaker covered feet. His shoes, like the rest of his clothing, was completely black, matching the colour of the dragon he had just disembarked from. He was carrying a small backpack, inside which another creature was placed; one could see its head, as it could not completely fit inside the backpack. This one was orange in colour, with large pointy ears not unlike those of an elf with the tips curling. It jumped out of the backpack as the young man touched ground, and one could see that it had a long thin tail that ended in a lightning bolt.

The youth reached into his backpack and took out a red hat and put it on. He then reached to his belt and pulled out three small balls, about the size of a ping-pong ball; each was half red and half white. He pressed a button on each one and it enlarged to the size of an orange after which a beam of light shot out from the ball giving form to other creatures, each one a magnificent specimen of its species.

One was a large tortoise, standing upright on its hind legs. It had a smirk plastered on its face, and it stretched out its arms as if just awakened from slumber. From its shell, on either side of its head, cannons popped out with blinding speed. They remained out for a few seconds, as if stretching those as well and then popped back in just as quickly as they appeared.

Another one was a green reptilian quadruped, looking very much like a lizard without a tail. If said lizard had a tree growing out of its back, that is. This one stomped the ground with its front legs, as if annoyed at something. The Stomp attack made very ground quake for a dozen feet around.

The last one looked like a teddy bear, albeit a giant one. Its fur was dark, with a light patch around its belly. It also had its lower canines sticking out of its mouth along with sharp claws on each limb adding some ferocity to its otherwise cute and cuddly look. This particular creature gave a large yawn as soon as it was out of the ball. It then collapsed backwards and was immediately snoring away. The Yawn attack had the other inhabitants of the glade feeling drowsy soon after, but they were able to shake it off and remain awake.

The young man looked at the sleeping creature and grinned. This was not an unusual occurrence with the large teddy. He turned away to the black dragon and stroked its head. The normally fierce countenance of the dragon gave way to a pleased expression, much like a puppy being petted by its owner.

Suddenly another creature crashed down next to the black dragon.

The man pivoted to look at the newcomer. This one had a feline look to it. It was humanoid though, with a long purple tail. There were two small horns on its head and purple eyes. It had thin arms, and its limbs each ended with three digits, all having spherical tips. Apart from its neck, a tube also connected its head with its torso, giving it a very 'genetic experiment' look.

The late arrival had an annoyed look on its face. 'How does that infernal dragon fly so fast! I had trouble keeping up even using Teleport!' said a voice inside the young man's head, clearly displaying the creature's psychic capabilities.

He grinned in reply and shrugged. He swivelled to face the dragon and said a single word.

"Here."

The midnight coloured dragon nodded and settled down on the ground. The remaining creatures also visibly relaxed. The large lizard sent out a number of leaves and twigs from the tree on its back, which landed in a messy pile in the middle of the gathering. The feline levitated some stones and pebbles to form a ring outside the pile. With a puff the dragon sent out an ember to set them ablaze.

Within twenty minutes the clearing fell under the spell of the wonderful aroma of freshly cooked meat. The young man had spent years living alone cooking and caring for himself and his creatures. The long years of practice had had a not inconsiderable effect on his culinary skills. This particular meal consisted of two 'ducks' for the teddy bear creature and two 'goldfish' for the rest of them. Hunting and catching creatures was a trivial job with the psychic powers of the feline humanoid.

After the meal, the sky was completely dark, except for the millions of twinkling stars and the full moon shining. All the creatures in the forest that had been scurrying around earlier were now asleep in their burrows and nests. Some nocturnal ones were moving about foraging for food, but in all, the glade was much quieter than before.

The young man sat with his back against the dragon, the fire dwindling a few feet away. He was covered by the dragon's wing and he was protected from the sudden chilly gusts of wind. They were quite close to a large and famous mountain, and occasionally the snowstorms on its peak would send some cold wind all around it for a few kilometres.

He was surrounded by the rest of his companions, all of which were in varying states of sleep. The tortoise had retreated into its shell, which was lying on a blue mat, a little ragged and worn from seeing years of use. The lizard had just thumped its torso on the ground as far away from the dragon as it could and still be near the man. The little rat was lying on the man's lap, with its eyes shut and its tail slowly swishing side to side. The bear had woken up just to eat, and after its meal it immediately slept again.

The feline, however, did not need sleep and was floating high around the clearing keeping watch, surrounded by a protective bubble. Its psychic abilities allowed it to sense things for a few hundred meters around and as such did not need to patrol, but floating around gave it a sense of comfort.

Soon, the fire died out, and with it, the wakefulness of the newcomers. All except the floating feline slept well, secure in the presence of their companions. Today the forest seemed peaceful, but soon the world would be turned on its head.