And here is the first new story,
Chapter One: Alone.
Stoic and calm. The two words most often used to describe the Champion of Kanto. Of course anyone who said it in his presence received a short, sharp glare from said Champion. Currently representing Kanto in the Pokémon World Tournament as a second entry. The reasoning behind them getting a second Champion (Or in Blue's Case, Former Champion), was that Hoenn had two Champions entering, Steven and Wallace.
Of course had several other factors not acted at the same time, Red knew he wouldn't be here, he wasn't interested in being crowed world strongest Champion, rather he was far more interested in making sure his younger brother was safe.
One of Red's closest kept secrets was the existence of any siblings, everyone knew about his mother, the kind hearted centre of Pallet Town, she was untouchable and anyone who did would be caught before they made Route 1.
His siblings however, especially his youngest were not as well protected. He reeled their names and current locations in his mind
Fire, In Johto…. With Leaf and Ethan. Last I heard they were playing at the Pokéanthelion
Ash… Unova… No clue where or with who… but JJ&M are watching over him.
His three siblings were what Red spent nearly all his winnings from any battle on, the rest were spent on items or given to his Mother, making sure she could continue to survive on her own. He naturally had 'asked' Blue's sister to visit and Professor Oak to keep an eye on her when all of her Children were out of town.
He looked around the large hall he was currently sitting in, Blue asleep next to him, he looked around, minus the Elite Four, the entire Kanto League was here. Red had no clue as to where Agatha, Lorelai or the other two, whose names he'd forgotten, after all he'd met them once when they'd taken over from Lance and Bruno. Those two had moved to the Johto League, causing a Rivalry between Kanto and Johto to spark up once more.
His Crimson eyes scanned the hall, Misty was sitting talking with Sabrina and Erika about Mew-knows what, Brock was watching Giovanni wearily, Lt. Surge, Koga's Daughter (Again Red frowned for a name but it didn't come) and Blaine were all having something to eat while speaking about recent challengers.
He smiled slightly to himself, Kanto was united, it was safe. Red's eyes again scanned the hall and found what he was looking for, Red stood up and walked forward, every awake eye fell on him as he moved,
Blast it all, I'm the Champion and yet I'm watched as if people mistrust me. Red growled inside his mind, he knew the Government of Kanto disliked him for living atop Mt. Silver, but Red knew why it was necessary, Project UP…. Or as Red knew him, Mewtwo. Still that did not stop the League from slandering him every chance they got, however thanks to Blue, and Green, they rarely did.
Red's thoughts switched from the treasonous League to Mewtwo the Pokémon had suffered greatly and Red hoped that with just him there, Mewtwo would learn to trust him and could, at some point in the future, return to Indigo Plateau, or wherever the Kanto League had chosen for their new League, after he heard a rumour Johto had taken over Indigo Plateau and were using as their own league.
Red continued walking, feeling every eye on him like pinpricks, he ignored the feeling that an argument was about to flare up and grabbed his rucksack, kneeling and opening it, the plane had forbidden them from having Pokémon outside of a Pokeball. However now that they were off the plane, he could realise Pika.
Find the electric mouse's ball was easy he threw it in the air and in a flash of light, Pika burst forth and landed in Red's arms, before hopping on his shoulder. He stood up and turned around, everyone was now avoiding his gaze, and Red smirked a little, Pika made a big difference to people's perception of him.
Alone he wouldn't be much of a threat against 8 older, stronger people, but with his Pikachu on his shoulder, he was a much greater threat, especially considering the small mouse had defeated Lance, Agatha and Lorelei without aid or healing items. Red returned to his seat and Pika hopped into his lap, enjoying as he received a scratch from behind his ear.
The room was silent for an hour until the host of the PWT arrived, looking like he was ready to give a speech, Red looked over at Blue, who was still asleep, grinning in his mind, he elbowed Blue in the side who awoke immediately, glaring at his once Rival.
"Thank you all for coming" The large man spoke calmly, "Unova is honoured to have the famed League of Kanto here and we will be hosting the tournament in a few weeks, until then, please feel free to explore Unova and even take on our own league if you think your good enough, but please, return her before the end of three weeks and we'll begin"
The Gym Leaders left, Blue turned to face Red,
"So you going hunting?" Blue grinned, Red's eyes narrowed at the term before shrugging,
"I Wish Gary hadn't given up training, then the Oak could face the Ketchum's in a three-on-three, after all, I hear Fire has decided to take up contests rather than training?" Blue asked with a knowing smirk.
Red simply sent him a bored look as he walked out of the building, Backpack on his shoulder, Red looked around and immediately spotted Lance waiting for them,
"And here he is, I knew you'd be here Red" Lance smiled as he walked forward, his voice suddenly dropping to a whisper, "I know I should be routing for Johto, but I will always route for Kanto with you in the Champions seat"
Red smirked slightly and nodded his appreciation of this.
"But" Lance's voice suddenly became louder, "I won't go easy on you Red, and I expect the same in return"
Red nodded, but not before noticing the Other Champions watching carefully, he listed them in his mind in their level of threat to him,
Wallace, Water trainer…. Well Pika and Venusaur can deal with him..
Alder, strong but growing older… and his reflexes aren't up to Charizard, or Blastoise Speed.
Steven Stone, Steel trainer… Charizard… maybe Snorlax.
Cynthia, said to be the strongest Trainer in any region, going to need Pikachu, Blastoise and maybe Charizard to take her on.
Then of course there was Blue and Lance, Lance was less of a danger than Steven, but greater than Alder, but Blue would be just behind Cynthia.
They were all speaking to people from their own region, Red watched around before getting bored, picking up a second Pokéball from his bag he threw it and Charizard burst forward, landing down on the ground with a thump, he carefully climbed onto the large dragon and took flight. Red had silently asked Professor Oak to track his Brothers progress through Unova and found that he had 7 badges already.
Red knew that meant he could be found a short way ahead, imagining his younger brothers face when he landed down behind him, Red smirked, watching as Pokemon flew around him, his eye scanned for a trace of his brother, before he saw him, pointing Charizard roared and began to descend.
(With Ash)
Ash frowned as he sat down on a rock close to the end of Route 8, Cilian was preparing lunch while Iris had been shouting at him again, he hadn't done anything wrong per say. Rather had simply hit a nerve about the next badge he'd be trying to get.
He watched as Pikachu ran around playing with Oshawatt, he smiled as he watched before hearing a rustling sound behind him, he turned around, Pikachu rushing over before it stood up tilting its head. Before rushing forward and leaping into the air,
Ash blinked several times, Pikachu only did that to him and…
His jaw dropped as he saw his brother walking out of the forest, Pika on his shoulder with Ash's own Pikachu in his arms.
"R-Red" Ash stuttered, "What… what are you doing in Unova?"
Red blinked before withdrawing his Pokégear, holding it up he showed Ash the logo of the PWT Champions round.
"Oh right… I heard about that" Ash laughed worriedly, "But its not for three more weeks is it?"
Red rolled his eyes and typed on his Pokégear a message appeared on Ash's
It is… but the Gym Leaders wanted to explore, so here we all are… but the other Champ's are around here somewhere…
Ash began to relax as Pikachu leapt back to him, and Red watched him curiously, "So why are you here?"
Red head lowered slightly and his hand covered his eyes, Ash realised very quickly that due to the lack of other people, Red was able to act however he liked, particularly if he said something stupid, he realised there might only be three reasons Red, Champion of Kanto was here,
One was that Red was thinking about taking on the Gyms of Unova, but Ash reasoned if Red did that he'd be swarmed by fan girls and fan boys before defeating the second gym.
Second, was that Red could be out catching new Pokemon, but again if Red were, he'd need to spend weeks, nay, months training them to understand him,
Third… Ash realised this was likely the reason, Red was here for him, to see him.
Ash and Red stood in silence for a few moments before Red seemed to realises something and took off his backpack, opening it and pulling objects out, Pokéball's, Full Restores, Revives, Max Potions, and finally a small brown box, Red held it out to Ash who noticed the note on top,
Dear Ash,
I hope your enjoying your trip through Unova, you could call more often.
When I heard your brother was going to the same region as you, I knew that he'd meet with you at the first opportunity, after all you are his baby brother, so be nice to him.
But in here is a little taste from home for you,
Love
Mom
Ash started at the letter before watching his brother, who seemed to be giving him a little privacy while he read that letter, but as soon as he saw Ash pocketing the letter his crimson eyes turned on his sibling.
"I think we better go, Cilian will be waiting" Ash told him, as he began to walk before realising Red wasn't following, he turned back to see him, "Are you coming?"
Red raised an eyebrow before shrugging and following Ash who began to smile, "Iris is going to freak when she find out."
Red repressed a smirk at this, by the way Ash had stated this information, it was clear they had fallen out recently, and hoped that the sudden appearance of his intimidating, legendary older brother would help resolve things.
They walked for a few minutes as Pika and Pikachu chased each other around, and Ash stood just short of a clearing
"How about a prank of sorts?" Ash asked, Red's eyes glittered with interest, "I'll say I found a strong trainer in the woods and that the four of us have a 2-on-2, me and you against them…"
Red's lip twitched in a approving smile, before reaching into his backpack again and pulling out a black jacket, that simply seemed to be a different colouration to his red one, with the exception of a hood.
He pulled off his red jacket and placed it in his bag before putting on the black version and pulling the hood over his head, effectively hiding his eyes.
"Wow… that'll do even better!" Ash smirked as he rushed forward, Red rolling his eyes before following,
In the clearing were two figures and a few Pokémon, Red immediately spotted a green haired man wearing what seemed to be a waiters outfit busy cooking, while a short women with purple hair stood playing with a small Pokémon.
Years of living with Pokémon had given Red a rare gift, to be able to determine a Pokémon type by sight, he could tell this small Pokémon was some sort of baby Dragon.
He watched as Ash walked up to the pair and listened carefully to their conversation to pick up the two trainers names, which he learnt quickly were Cilian and Iris.
He thought back to Misty and Brock, both of whom had travelled with Ash for a time. And then whatever their names had been in Hoenn had replaced Misty… then someone else in Sinnoh, Red smirked his brother was popular.
"So you want me and Cilian to face you and Ash" Iris smiled, "as a match for each of us to use one Pokemon"
Red nodded once and smirked, his Pikachu hopping to the ground while Ash's did the same.
"Pansage, let cook up a storm!" Cilian called
"Emolga!" Iris nodded, as what Red could only describe as Rat-with-wings took flight,
Red smirked as he saw Ash watching him, waiting for his cue to move, a tiny nod from Red made Ash turn back to the battle,
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt on Pansage!" Ash called as Pikachu leapt in the air,
"Emolga, intercept and then use Hidden Power on the Other Pikachu!" Iris called,
"Pansage spice things up with Rock tomb!" Cilian called as rocks decended and landed around the field, Red smirked, and raised a single gloved hand and clicked once, in an instant, Pika ran forward, yellow bolts of lighting surrounding him,
"Erm… Cilian… what is that?" Iris asked,
"Its Volt Tackle!" Cilian called, as Pika smashed all the rocks in his path before turning on Emolga, who flew above him sending Hidden Power attack raining down at him, Pika waited until one was close enough and sent it flying with Iron Tail knocking into Pansage, who had failed to miss the Thunderbolt Ash had delayed from earlier to result in a knock out.
"Pikachu, Iron Tail!" Ash called and Red nodded to Pika to do the same, both the mice leapt and slammed their tails into Emolga, it crashed to the ground defeated.
"Such a power!" Iris called, Red smirked, he had missed the thrill of battle, the excitement and the bond, he tapped his shoulder and Pika turned and leapt onto his shoulder, before sticking his tongue out at Cilian and Iris.
"Wow, what a fiery bond between Pokemon and trainer" Cilian walked over and held out his hand for Red to shake,
Red simply raised his head slightly, which meant Cilian got a quick glance of Red's eye causing him to leap backward…
"I-it can't be" Cilian began
"Cilian you big wuss… what could be so scary under there?" Iris teased as she walked forward, Red smirked to himself, the game was up now, why keep up pretence.
In one flud motion, Pikachu sat on his other shoulder and the black Jacket was on the floor, his crimson eyes watching the pair as they both paled.
"Its… him" Iris stuttered, sitting down,
"Why are they scared of you?" Ash asked Red who looked over at him and shrugged, he honestly had no clue, and he doubted Kanto's badmouthing of him got this far out in the world, then again it would just be his luck if it did get here.
"Ash how can you even talk to him? He's well known throughout all the regions for being abusive to Pokemon" Iris told him and both the Ketchum's stood blinking at her.
"Red? Abusive to Pokemon?" Ash said the words slowly as if they were foreign to him, he glanced at Red and that shook him more than seeing him in the first place, his mask was completely broken, in the usual confident, cold, calm trainers eyes he saw fear, anger and panic.
Ash spent the next few minutes, Red. The Champion. His Brother. His feelings for his brother, the rage, the jealously, the bitterness, it was finally time for him to become better than his brother. He looked over at his companion before thinking quickly, grabbing all five of Red's Pokeball's, and pulling Pika from his shoulder. He had always known something was off with him, and now he could act.
His older brother stepped backwards, watching him, confusion on his face, and a look of betrayal.
"I'm sorry Red…." Ash began, Returning Pika to his Pokeball, and placing the six in his backpack, Red looked ready to die without his Pokemon, his mask gone instead of the fabled Champion was a scared little boy,
"We should take him to the League for investigation" Iris told them the trio stepped forward and Red stepped backward slightly, the Master Ball slipping from its place in his sleeve and into his hand, he knew that Mewtwo couldn't be controlled, but it was his only way of getting his friends back,
He raised his hand showing the Master Ball, a waning,
"A Master Ball?" Ash asked as Pika tried to squirm free, knowing what was in that Ball, the trio continued to advance on the Champion, who threw the Master Ball smacking all three in the face before Mewtwo burst forward landing down in front of Red, and now that Pokemon stood on his side of the clash his mask of coolness returned, and Pika leapt forward running back to Red and into his arms,
What fools are these to think you abuse Pokemon? Mewtwo asked, however Red shrugged, if you did, I would rip you in half.
Red repressed a shudder as he understood Mewtwo and the threat/promise,
"What Pokemon is that?" Iris asked before holding up her Pokédex.
No Data…. No Data
"That's not possible your Pokédex must be broken" Ash frowned witdrawing his own,
No Data… No Data
"Well as I live and breathe, the Beast of Cerulean… it does endure" a new voice called, Red knew that voice and it spelt trouble….. Especially with him not having any Pokemon except Pika and the Pokemon that would occasionally listen to him if he felt like it.
Giovanni and several members of Team Rocket walked into the clearing, Red recognised them all, Archer, Ariana, Petrel and Proton, the four Rocket Generals, and of course the Leader himself, Red knew that he'd made a mistake by coming to Unova, he'd been safe on the mountain, where he could keep Mewtwo out of their reach.
"You were wise to hid atop Mt. Silver, Red" Giovanni told him, "Even at our full strength we would have struggled to reach the summit, even then, we would have to battle you at the top… a flawless strategy… but then you ruined it all by leaving your sanctuary, the one place we could not have reached you… but with you finally revealing yourself, there are certain interest parties in you…. Dozens of criminals want to be one to finally take you down… and Team Rocket gets to sell that Honour to the highest bidder!"
Red's eyes flicked around and saw dozens of Rocket Grunts, his eyes narrowed, trapped. Mewtwo turned to him and read his mind, sending Ash, Cilian and Iris to the next town, along with his Pokemon, minus Mewtwo.
One against them all? Mewtwo asked looking at Red, who nodded, and if I don't want to fight, say I'd rather sleep?
Red kept calm as the panic exploded in his mind before he noticed the Master Ball levitating in front of him before it exploded,
And now you can no longer control me, I am free… fair well… Child. Mewtwo flew off leaving Red alone, his eyes darting from grunt to grunt.
"Current bid… 80,000,000" Giovanni smirked, "Your going to make us so much money…. Champion"
And done… for now