Everything not Saved Will be Lost
I'm sorry for my recent inactivity, have a terrible oneshot.
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I never really knew my parents. Since I was hatched from my egg, I was encased in a strange thing I later came to call a PokéBall. I was jostled around a lot, but overall it was comfortable. I could hear voices outside, but I chose to ignore them.
All at once, my world turned upside down. One second, I found myself snug in the PokéBall, the next second standing in front of two humans. One was tall, dressed in a white coat. The other was short, with a black and yellow hat.
"You choose Cyndaquil?" the tall one asked. I recognized his voice from when I was living inside the PokéBall. Although clearer now, it was definitely the same human.
The smaller human nodded. He knelt in front of me and reached out a hand, gently patting my head. "I'll call you Blaze."
Blaze? Was this a name? But I thought I was Cyndaquil…?
The boy stood again, facing the taller human. "So I have to find Mr. Pokémon's house?"
"You got it, Gold." The man said. "Hurry back!"
"Come on, Blaze." The boy, Gold, said.
It took me a second to realize he was talking to me. I followed him as fast as I could go, excited to know what we would be doing. He waited at the door for me to catch up. Together, we stepped into the big world outside. I squeezed my eyes shut from the light.
We ventured into the grass, stumbling upon a Pidgey. Gold turned to me, saying, "Go, Blaze! Use Tackle!"
I took a few steps back before charging at the bird, knocking it back into the tall grass. It didn't reappear.
"A critical hit!" Gold grinned. "Great job!"
I happily ran in a circle, telling myself I would be the best Pokémon he had ever seen.
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Gold and I quickly went on to defeat our first gym leader. We also caught a Pidgey, which we both came to call Phoenix. Gold, Phoenix and I were an incredible team. Before long, I evolved, taking him by surprise. I was a little scared at first, afraid that Gold wouldn't like me anymore, but he was happy as could be. Phoenix evolved soon after.
After that, we only grew stronger. The three of us were unstoppable, fighting through hordes of trainers just like us. Gold said we had something they didn't, but he never told us what.
There was a group of people that Gold called Team Rocket that tried to stop us. When Phoenix fell in battle, I was the one that pulled us through to victory. Gold didn't waste a second afterward; stashing me in my PokéBall and jumping on his bike, pedaling furiously toward the nearest PokéCenter. Once Phoenix recovered from fainting, we continued on our journey.
The third member to our team joined shortly after. She was a red Gyrados named Rose.
A few trainers tried to tell us that just three Pokémon wasn't enough to take on the Elite Four. I didn't know what the Elite Four was, but Gold seemed determined to do it, despite what everyone said. He trained us extra hard. Phoenix and I both evolved into a Pidgot and a Typhlosion. Gold had never been happier.
Gold, Phoenix, Rose and I continued on our journey. Our adventure took us across the sea and through caves, until at last we reached a tall building at the base of a cave. It had been a tough battle, but Gold had enough badges pinned to his chest to assure us victory. He told us we were his best friends.
We spent a lot of time standing outside the building. At last, Gold opened the doors and walked in. We were greeted by a set of grand stairs leading up to a door blocked by a police officer. On either side of the stairs was a PokéMart and a PokéCenter.
Gold didn't waste much time before healing us and marching up those stairs. The officer let him through, impressed with the badges he had earned. We walked into the first room, Gold explaining that this was the Elite Four.
I tried harder than I have ever tried before. Rose and Phoenix did the same. Together, the three of us fought our way through the four of them, coming at last to the Champion. Gold quickly restored us to full health before taking her on.
We battled Cynthia. It was extremely close. We only won from a critical hit from Rose. Cynthia, although defeated, awarded us the title of Champion. Gold was jumping for joy.
Shortly after our victory at the Elite Four, we ventured up a mountain called Mt. Silver. It was full of strong Pokémon, stronger than I had ever seen while venturing with Gold. We continued fighting with all our strength.
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And then, on the top of the mountain, overlooking a tall cliff, was a boy much like Gold. He was wearing a vest that left his arms bare, despite the snow that blew down on us. Gold stood closer to me.
"Who is that?"
I didn't know. I poked my trainer in the side, urging him on. Gold approached the boy. "I challenge you."
The boy turned, a cold glare frozen on his face. He pulled a PokéBall from his belt and threw it. A Pikachu stood in front of us, as battle-wary as its trainer.
"Blaze, go!"
If I thought the Elite Four were tough, the boy and his Pikachu were a step down from unbeatable. Although I successfully managed to defeat the Pikachu, I couldn't continue on with the battle. Gold called me back and instead sent Rose out to fight.
Amidst the flurry of gnashing teeth of Rose and slashing claws of the boy's Blastoise, I realized we simply did not have a chance. We were outnumbered, judging by the four remaining PokéBalls at the boy's belt compared to Gold's three. With a roar of defeat, both the Blastoise and Rose brought each other down.
"Phoenix!" Gold shouted. "Go!
The mystery trainer recalled the Blastoise without a word, sending a Snorlax in its place. It was hopeless. Phoenix never had been a powerhouse of might in the first place, but against a Snorlax that had nearly double his attack…
The Snorlax moved with speed I didn't know it had, the dark orb of the Shadow Ball it threw colliding with Phoenix and dropping him like a stone.
Gold turned to me, something like fear in his eyes. I had never seen him scared before. His voice shook. "B-Blaze…I'm sorry…"
I nuzzled his shoulder warily. I took my place on the battlefield, the mystery trainer tapping his foot in impatience. I was critically low on health, I knew. But I still had to try.
"Blast Burn!" Gold was shouting. "Use Blast Burn!"
I let out a roar, fire melting away the snow from the ice and creating a mist that hung over the battlefield. The Snorlax was struck with a barrage of flames, leaving more than one serious burn. I dropped to all fours, snarling. I hadn't knocked it out…not even close. I had sealed our guarantee that we suffer our first loss in a long time.
The trainer snickered. Without even speaking to his Pokémon, it knew what to do. Another Shadow Ball was conjured up. I braced myself and shut my eyes, waiting for it to knock me off my feet.
"NO!"
I relaxed slightly and dared to open my eyes. Gold was standing in front of me, arms spread wide and facing the mystery trainer's Snorlax. The Shadow Ball fizzled out of existence as the other boy glared angrily at us.
"I won't let you hurt him!" Gold shouted. "You win!" he pulled a handful of cash from his pocket—cash we had won from defeating less experienced trainers—and threw it at his feet. "Take it!"
The anger in the other trainer's eyes was replaced with bewilderment. He didn't make any move to stop us as Gold turned and hustled me back to the safety of the cave.
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Since the battle in the cave, Gold became more and more distant. He still found the ability to smile, but he trained us harder than we had ever trained before. More than once I ran out of Power Points and was down to less than a fourth Health Points. Phoenix and Rose became more withdrawn, relying on no one but themselves. They were convinced Gold only wanted to win and didn't care about us anymore.
I didn't want to believe them.
We were the strongest Pokémon in Jhoto. We could singlehandedly knock out anything anyone threw at us with one hit. We went back up against the Elite Four twice, then three times…four…five…
Gold told us that we were as experienced as we could get. It was getting harder and harder to level up.
And then, abruptly, we stopped training. We spent days in the Pokémon Center, Gold hunched over in a corner, hardly paying us any attention. Phoenix and Rose lost all faith they had in him. I began to have doubts. What were we doing here? Why weren't we challenging that strange trainer again? Why were we just sitting here? I nuzzled my way around Gold, protecting him from the cold seeping through the walls. He pretended he didn't notice me.
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It was a few days later. Gold had been acting stranger lately and barely talking to us. The only thing he said to me was when he gave me a green, sealed envelope.
"Take care of that, ok?"
I nuzzled his arm in response, but he didn't react the way he used to.
It was sundown when he encased all three of us back in the PokéBalls. I couldn't see what was happening, but I could hear voices. Something about linking. And other trainers. We were going to train again!
Gold was walking now. Walking and talking to someone. It sounded like a young boy, much like he had been when he first claimed me as his starter.
"I want to trade." Gold said.
I felt as though my heart stopped. Trade? The only Pokémon he had was us…!
"Trade?" the boy asked.
"Yes. Trade."
"But why?"
I wanted to ask the same thing. Was Gold giving away Rose and Phoenix to this boy? Was it because they lost all faith in him? Did he lose all faith in them, as well?
"Why, Gold?" the boy asked again.
"I want you to take good care of them." Gold said.
Them? He really was trading them off…!
"But I don't have anything to give you…!" the boy said.
"Yes, you do." Gold retorted, almost angrily. "Your starter and the two you caught in the tall grass."
"But…don't you want to defeat Red? He's still up on the mountain, right?"
"Just trade me!" Gold shouted.
The boy didn't respond for a few seconds. I felt Gold hand over the PokéBall with me in it.
Wait! Gold?! Why were you doing this? I was your starter! What's going on? Why are you trading me off for a weaker Pokémon?!
"I'll take care of them, I promise." The boy said in nearly a whisper.
Gold!
The boy was walking now; walking somewhere opposite from my trainer. I tried to break out of my PokéBall, but it proved to be futile. I wondered if Gold could hear me as I roared, or at very least the new trainer.
"Blaze, go!"
I was standing in a Pokémon Center identical to the one I had left. The only difference was everything was mirrored. I was towering over a trainer not even half my height.
"Whoa…" he gasped. "A Typhlosion! …And you have mail…?"
I realized I was still clutching the envelope Gold had given me. The boy reached for it, but I shuffled away, growling.
"Blaze? Come on, please?" the boy asked. "I…I know this is really horrible for you…"
I growled again. The boy sighed. "I guess I should have introduced myself first. I'm Legacy."
I continued to guard the envelope that Gold had given me. When he came back for us, he'd see that I protected the paper from the little trainer. Then he'd take us back again. He had to…
My defiance brought tears to the young trainer's eyes. "Blaze…?" he squeaked, "do you want to…to train?"
Yes, training sounded good. Gold would be proud. Still clutching the letter, I followed the boy, keeping distance from him. We entered the tall grass.
A Pidgey, not any higher than level 4, appeared in front of us. I narrowed my eyes first at it, and then back at the boy.
"Uh…Blaze, use Flamethrower!"
Why was I wasting my effort on this? I turned away from him and instead sat down, yawning. The Pidgey attempted to tackle me, only managing to gently poke my side with its beak and burn itself in my fur in the process.
"Blaze, come on! Use Flamethrower!"
I ignored him. The Pidgey tried to tackle me again. Despite giving its all, there would be no way it would knock me out. I sighed and spat out a careless flamethrower, which more closely resembled an ember, knocking it out instantly.
Legacy sighed. From relief or something else, I didn't care.
"Blaze, please." He said softly. "I know you're confused. I know you want to go back to Gold. But you can't. Not anymore."
I huffed and turned away from him again.
"He wanted to save you." Legacy said, his voice shaking. "So he gave you three to me. He knew I would take care of you and raise you just as well as he did. He wanted to live out the rest of his life in quiet, and you three were too far along to drag down with him."
I was listening now, but I didn't show it.
"You…you can't go back. The three of you are with me now." He held out a hand and cautiously approached me. "I know you want to fight Pokémon that are as strong as you. We'll get there, I promise. But you have to trust me, ok?"
He gently patted my shoulder with a shaking hand. "We'll make Gold proud."
I huffed and held the letter I was holding out to him. He hesitantly took it and slowly undid the seal. I thought he was going to drop the piece of paper as his eyes skimmed over the words.
"It's for you…" Legacy said in barely a whisper. " 'Blaze, you've been my first and last friend. Please, take care of Legacy for me...'"
He folded the letter back up and handed it to me. "…'From Gold.'"
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Lordoftheghostking28