Book 1: Kanto Saga

This is my story, cliche start I know, but I like it...so there. This story starts off where all biographies usually do, with the birth of the person, or in this case Charmander in question.

Chapter 1: The Beginning and Ending of Life in Kanto

It all starts in a little area of the Kanto region known as the Seafoam Islands. Now don't let the ice caves there fool you, there is a spot close enough to a volcano to make living possible for fire types like me. Anyway, back to the story. My birth was like any other Pokemon birth, from an egg and uneventful. Looking up from my egg I see my parents, two powerfully looking Charizards. They look back down at me, smiling a toothy grin that is typical of my species. The female Charizard leans down to nuzzle me, making me feel safe. Just then a commotion is heard close by. Something that I came to learn later, what is called an explosion, shakes the cavern walls. Muffled voices are heard in the distance shouting something. My father steps forward to check what the commotion is all about. He leaves my field of view and several moments later a billowing roar can be heard coming from where he walked to. My mother instantly looks up with dread on her face as a net descends not long after the roar, capturing her and myself inside.

My view of the outside world is blocked by my mother holding me tight against her chest within the net as we are dragged outside the cavern I called home for only a short few moments. I hear several voices shouting. One voice says something about "We must keep this male under control, lest he burn the ship down!" Another voice, more sinister in tone says "These Charizards will make fine research specimens. As for the Charmander, lock him up once at the lab. I want these two at there most ferocious for the experimentation. It makes for better test data, and seeing their offspring in peril is just the motivation." Another voice chimes out "Understood sir." Still more voices are heard nearby as the net my mother and myself are in is dragged aboard said ship. I hear another voice shout out "Subdue that Charizard now! Use the tranquilizers if you must! Get those fires put out as well before we have no ship left!" Several shots are heard from tranquilizer guns, my mother watching as the darts hit my father squarely in the chest. Not long after he falls to the deck of the ship and is dragged away into the ships hold.

Not long after that, my mother and I get thrown into the hold of the ship beside my father. I happen to get a glimpse of him, his eyes glazed over. The tranquilizer darts still sticking out of his chest. My mother regains her hold on me, looking into my eyes with sadness. The look of fear showing, unsure of why these people came and captured us, or what they plan to do with us. The boat ride was long and turbulent. Despite Cinnabar Island being a short way from Seafoam Islands, a storm had settled in between which made traversing the waters very treacherous for man and Pokemon alike. I overheard some of the people saying that this was no ordinary storm, that someone or something was mad for their transgression in capturing us and other Pokemon I didn't know were on board. Another voice chimes in "Stop with all this superstitious talk, this is just a normal storm, nothing more. We make land fall at Cinnabar in two hours. Make sure all our 'guests' are ready to disembark. Especially that male Charizard, he will be first in the experimentation."

The rest of the boat ride was turbulent, yet uneventful, except for some pained growls and roars from some of the other Pokemon who got too rowdy and were shocked with some sort of pole containing electricity. My mother kept me in a tight hug the entire way, never letting me leave her side, sometimes holding me tighter when one of the people would walk by. I manage to look over and see one of the men clearly enough. A somewhat tall man wearing all black, a giant red R emblazoned on his shirt. I didn't know what it all meant at the time, but later I found out that it was a criminal organization named Team Rocket. They were gathering Pokemon from all over the Kanto region, some being sent to the lab on Cinnabar Island to have experiments done on them. I hear some of the men on the boat move about as an order comes down to secure the Pokemon for arrival to the lab. I look at my mom and see the same look as before, she then looks at father, a tear rolling down her face as if she knows she won't make it out of this.

I feel the movement of the boat slow down some, then come to a complete stop. My mother keeps me close ever still as some men surround us. I hear one person say "Get the Charmander and lock him away, if the mother resists, tranquilize her as well." My mother looks down at me with sadness as if she knows she can't stop this. One of the dark clothed men yanks me from her grasp and carries me off to lock me up. My mother lets out a saddened roar, but doesn't resist the Rocket grunts. I lose sight of both of them as I am taken into the lab and put in one of the cages they have set aside for Pokemon. Looking over I see other Pokemon, a Pikachu here, a Sandshrew there, even a small Articuno, possibly from the Ice Caverns of Seafoam. I keep looking around, eventually seeing a giant window where I can see several larger Pokemon, an Onix, a Gyarados, a Lapras, even my parents together in the same cage. I stare at my parents, tears welling up in my eyes since I am so far away from them. A Cubone in the cage next to me comes a bit closer "Are those your parents?" I look over and slowly shake my head yes, he sighs a little. "Big Pokemon like that usually don't last long here due to the experiments they perform here...I recently lost my mother to these people. All I have to remember her by is the last words she said to me...telling me to grow strong and protect others from this kind of torture." Still to this day, far removed from these times I'm telling you about, those words resonate to my core being, words I adopted from that Cubone. I look towards the Cubone, my tears unable to be held back now, as I ask what happens to the small Pokemon here. The Cubone looks sternly at me, telling me that the small ones, the Pikachus, Cubones and the like are used to keep the big Pokemon fed until they have no more use for them. I step back, shocked by this response. "How could these people be such monsters?!" The Cubone looks down and sighs again. "It is all in the search for the most powerful of traits within them, when the trait wanted is found, the big Pokemon are killed and genetic samples taken to be implanted into their greatest work." He points towards a glowing tube off in the distance, something can be seen inside but it is too far away to make out clearly.

The Cubone corrects himself a bit. "It's not really genetic samples, but something like it, some sort of crystal that resides within every Pokemon, big or small. It is like a condensed form

of all the energy, potential and ability a Pokemon possesses. The thought of Team Rocket is that only the big Pokemon have the best attributes within these crystals, but this is wrong. " At that moment a Pokemon that is not native to the region, a Riolu speaks up. "I have been reading the aura of all of the new arrivals, yes, even you young Charmander. Out of everyone here, you seem to have a deep power locked inside you, a power that even dwarfs the experiment they are making. Be sure to take care of yourself well, people will use this against you to claim it for their own if you are careless." I listen to this Riolu's words, wondering how such power could reside in a newly hatched Charmander, a scientist walking up to the cages snaps me out of my thoughts. "Bring some of these Pokemon, our big Charizard guests seem a bit hungry. Maybe a meal of Pikachu and Cubone will sate their appetites." The Cubone looks at me as his cage is opened. "Don't worry about me...I resigned to my fate a while back. I leave you now with my mothers words...may you have the power to do what I could not." I watch as the Cubone is picked up and carted off, as well as several other Pokemon to feed my parents. "I will hold your mother's words to heart...I'm just sorry I can't save you from this..." The scientist looks at me and smiles. "Noisy little things these Pokemon are, well they will be silent soon enough."

I look back through the large window as the scientist comes into view with the grunts that hold the small Pokemon. The Scientist smiles as he taps on the cage, waking my father and getting the attention of my mother. "Well my new Charizard friends, time to eat up and get your strength back. I need you two in fighting form for the experiments to come, hehe." My father looks at the scientist with anger, my mother looks on with disdain. I can hear my father yell out to the scientist. "Where is my son, where is Charonus!" My mother tries to calm my father, but to no avail. The scientist smiles some. "Too bad I don't know what you are roaring about, but I do have an idea, and you will see him soon enough, maybe as your next meal, maybe not." My father stops for a moment, not believing that these people would be so heartless as to feed their own children to them. The grunt holding the Cubone opens their cage and tosses him inside, the other Pokemon they were holding are tossed in as well. "Eat well you two, the experiments start tomorrow and I want you in top form." My parents look down at the smaller Pokemon and sigh. The Cubone looks up at them. "It is quite alright...we have resigned to our fates, not having the power within ourselves to get out of here, but maybe there will be one that can. It is a high possibility that your young Charonus was it...young Charonus may have the power to free everyone here from this groups grasp." My father lowers his head down to the small Cubone. "I hope you are right, like you I do believe he is special and I want to protect him in any way I can..." My mother nuzzles my father, then looks down at the Cubone. "Thank you for your sacrifice, if we make it out of here, my family will make sure your lives are remembered." With that, I turn away as my parents reluctantly make a meal out of the small Pokemon. With tears welling up in my eyes once more, I steel my resolve to make sure atrocities like this never happen to other Pokemon, but little did I know that the worst was yet to come, driving this little Charmander to a rage that he will only experience one other time in his life.

The next day I awaken in my cage to the sound of roars and breaths of fire. I immediately stand up and look into the window, seeing my parents standing inside a battle ring with the Onix and Gyarados I saw the other day in cages. The ring is partitioned off into two halves, one contains my mother and the Onix, the other has my father and the Gyarados in it. A fierce battle is taking place as my parents look battered from the other Pokemon they are fighting. I try to hold back tears again as I witness my father get struck by a Thunderbolt attack from the Gyarados, knocking him down to the ground. The Gyarados unleashes another attack, this time a Hyperbeam, narrowly missing as my father manages to dodge. I take a closer look at the Gyarados and realize that he's crying as he fights, not wanting to fight for the scientist watching on the sidelines, but unable to resist due to controller implants on him. The battle between my mother and the Onix is not faring much better as the Onix uses Rock Slide against her, my mother narrowly escapes, but a rock manages to damage her wing, making her unable to fly. The Onix looks squarely into her eyes, speaking to her through clenched teeth, "Please...end...us...in anyway...possible. " The Gyarados speaks up, "We don't...want to be...used...like this, We will...resist as long as...we can, that should...give you two...the opening you...need" "Please, end our...suffering" I hear the Onix say as the two Pokemon suddenly tense up, resisting the commands given by the devices. The scientist looks on at this display "Well, even with the control implants at their full power, these two still manage to resist. Impressive indeed, but I am prepared for this." He goes to a control panel nearby and overcharges the control implants, making the Gyarados and Onix lose all self-control and wildly attack. My parents dodge as best they can, narrowly avoiding the savage attacks of the two Pokemon. I see them look at each other and nod, electricity crackling in my fathers closed fist, and what solar energy that can be seen, collecting over my mothers wings and into her maw. The Gyarados strikes again, my father moving to the side and striking hard into the Pokemon's side with Thunder Punch, knocking the Gyarados down in one hit, impressing the scientist. Meanwhile my mother has gathered all she can and watches for her opportunity to strike. The Onix, in it's rage comes in and tries to coil around my mother. My mother opens her maw wide and unleashes her held Solar Beam, taking the Onix down hard. My parents collapse after this, their energy spent. The scientist smiles and slowly claps "Excellent, well done my Charizard subjects. You two may just have what we are looking for, what we need to complete our ultimate experiment. Our last one may have been a failure, but this one will be sheer perfection once we harvest your Poke Core, the soul of your being." Just then a light comes on over the tube in the back of the area, cascading over a form familiar, yet not to my parents. "May I present to you two, the perfect genetic Pokemon, Shadow Mewtwo." The scientist smirks as my parents lose consciousness finally from their exhaustion. "Run the final set of tests on these two, lets see if they are truly worthy to be a part of Shadow Mewtwo."

I watch as my parents are strapped town to tables that appear seemingly from nowhere and equipment descends from the area above. "Remove that Gyarados and Onix, I won't be needing them any longer, all that concerns me is these Charizards and their Poke Cores. Also bring me their offspring, I want it to see this" The grunts remove the knocked out Pokemon, one of the grunts comes towards the small Pokemon holding area and opens my cage. I take this opportunity to unleash a powerful Ember attack, scarring the grunt badly and knocking him out. The other Pokemon look at me, asking me to help them get free. As quickly as I can, I melt the locks keeping their cages shut. The other Pokemon now free, start to head out, trying to get out of the lab before more of the Rocket grunts show up. The Riolu stays behind, giving me a concerned look. "Thank you for freeing us, but be careful...I have a feeling that something bad will happen in the near future with you. I can read it in the aura." I look back at him, "All I care about now is getting my parents out of here and back to Seafoam Islands, our home...I hope I'm not too late. " With that, I make haste on getting to the ground floor of the building to where my parents are, hoping that I am not too late to save them.

The scientist looks over monitors as he scans over my parents, noting how my father has exceptional physical ability, my mother having excellent special ability. "Yes, these numbers are beyond expectations, no wonder they managed to do so well against that Gyarados and Onix. Their Poke Cores are just what is needed for Shadow Mewtwo to be complete." At that moment I step onto the lab floor, looking at the scientist, the fires of rage showing in my emerald green eyes. "Well, looks like the little Charmander managed to get away from the grunt I sent. No matter, you came here just the same." He presses a nearby button, a claw from above descends and grabs me, lifting me up in perfect view of my parents but unable to do anything to help them. "I'm glad you are here to witness this, your parents will soon be a part of something greater. They will be a part of pure perfection, but for that to happen they will have to cast aside these Charizard shells to be reborn as part of my greatest experiment." He points over to Shadow Mewtwo. I'm able to see it clearer now, little crystals floating around his form and being absorbed into his chest. I try to struggle free from the claw that holds me, but to no avail. Even Ember is useless to this claws grip on me. The scientist smiles as surgical tools descend over my parents chests. "With these two Poke Cores, my lives work will be complete. Taking over from that last scientist whose Mewtwo experiment failed has proven fruitful for me. I will soon be world renowned!" He laughs maniacally as he presses the button to begin the programmed surgical procedure. I still try to break free as I see the surgical tools start to operate on my parents, all my struggles being futile as I watch with tears in my eyes, seeing the procedure in all it's cruelty. The surgery goes on for what seems like an eternity, eventually stopping when claws descend into the open chest cavities of my parents and pull out a crystal, one a warm orange-yellow color, the other swirling with blue and black. The claws place the crystals into the maturation tube containing Shadow Mewtwo. I watch as the Pokemon in the tube slowly awakens, taking all the crystals within the tube, even my parents crystals, into itself. It then looks around, seeing the scientist and myself, as well as my lifeless parents. I hear a voice in my head "Doctor, It looks like you have given me everything you promised, I am grateful. "You shouldn't thank me, I am only doing what my boss wanted, to make the perfect Pokemon. While the scientist and Shadow Mewtwo talk, my rage starts to heighten, seeing my parents lifeless bodies lying on the examination tables. Wisps of fire start to course all over my body. I look over at the scientist and imagine him bursting into flames brought on by my hatred of him. The Shadow Mewtwo senses these thoughts and releases me with his psychic power, understanding what my rage stems from. The Shadow Mewtwo keeps the attention of the scientist as I let my rage begin to consume me, wanting to put an end to him, and this lab.

The wisps of flame coalesce into a twisted form, a Charizard like form, but different. Black and blue flames intermingle with orange and red ones, making this form seem demonic in nature. The scientist catches a glimpse of me out of the corner of his eye, turning to face me the look of pure fear can be seen on his face. The Shadow Mewtwo speaks again to the scientist, "Bear witness to what you have wrought by taking away this Charmander's parents. I will take my leave of you now, thanks for the life you have given me through these Poke Cores and original Mewtwo DNA." With that he looks over to me and nods, "Let the anger course through you, exact revenge for what he has done to your family. A family that you barely even got to know, kill him so no more Pokemon are tortured." With his words I lose all sense of self control, lashing out at everything I see, the machinery, the now empty cages, the scientist, even my own parents lifeless bodies. I burn everything to nothingness, my power reaching deep into the ground, activating a dormant volcano underneath Cinnabar Island and making it erupt and coating everything on the island, destroying it completely. My power continues to go out of control, reaching out beyond the borders of the island now. The Pokemon waiting to escape get caught in the surge of power, vaporizing instantly, except for the Riolu who braves the constant waves of fire using his aura to protect himself as best as he can. He tries to make his way to where I am, to try to bring reason back to my fractured mind. "Charonus, you must stop this! This is not the way, what you are doing will only lead to ruin. Please, I implore you, calm yourself! His words fall on deaf ears as my uncontrolled power continues to radiate from me. He manages to get right up next to me, holding out his palm. "May my aim be true...I don't want to do this to a fellow Pokemon, but it must be done for the sake of everyone, Pokemon and human alike." He strikes me hard, using Final Gambit and not only knocking me out, but also himself as the fire encompassing my body surges out one final time, fatally burning the Riolu.

Several days later I come to. Slowly looking around what is left of Cinnabar Island, I spot the lifeless Riolu. "W-what...happened here...what is going on, how did all this destruction happen? As I look over the Riolu with tears in my eyes, I notice that he was badly burned, so much so that parts of his body are nothing but bone. "D-did I do this? N-no...I'm just a Charmander...I can't have this kind of power in me...this kind of destructive power." I slam my fists into the ground. "I can't...I can't." I keep slamming my fist into the ground, waiting for someone, anyone to stop me, to pull me from my nightmare.