I have recently watched the anime, Sword Art Online, and love it! Hence, it inspired me to create a crossover fanfiction between Pokémon and Sword Art Online. This fanfic will incorporate elements from other Nintendo franchises such as Fire Emblem. Like A Pokémon Trainer's Journey in Ylisse, this story, Sword Art Online: Smashing Red Version, will incorporate music track suggestions. I hope you readers enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Nintendo Gamecube and Sword Art Online. Pokemon, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Nintendo Gamecube belong to Nintendo and Sword Art Online belongs to ASCII Media Works.
Chapter One: A New Journey
Music track: Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum: Pokemon League (Night)
Red was on the route to Pallet Town after exiting the limits of Viridian City. He had had a very long journey exploring the Unova region, capturing and training new Pokemon, and challenging trainers and the Pokemon League. He was a teenager who wore a red baseball cap that covered his dark brown (or borderline black) hair, a red vest with a black t-shirt underneath it, a pair of blue pants, a pair of black wristbands and a pair of black shoes with a red stripe on each shoe. A yellow backpack was strapped behind him and six red and white golfball-sized spheres – Pokeballs – were clipped on his belt at his waist.
It was a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly, the breeze blew gently, the bird Pokemon Pidgey sang cheerily, and Red was humming a merry tune as he walked through leafy trees and tall green grass of Route 1. Pidgey fluttered about and purple mice-like Rattata scampered around as he walked past with his backpack bustling and bouncing on his back.
Red let out a tired yawn as he hopped down a short ledge. The Pokemon journey, while rewarding, was exhausting. He had opted to walk instead of flying to Pallet Town since he thought that he may not be alert enough to pilot his flight Pokemon. He was looking forward for a warm, satisfying meal from his mother and an evening of videogames and a night of restful sleeping on his warm, comfy bed at his quaint house in Pallet Town.
About twenty minutes later, he finally arrived at the small Town of Pure White Beginnings. The sun had just began to set, giving the sky and clouds a beautiful watercolor of red, orange, yellow and purple. There were not many buildings in the town, only a small number of single houses and a large building Red recognized as the lab belonging to Professor Oak, the lead Pokemon researcher in all of Kanto and a respected one in the world.
Red looked at the town at the top of the hill, with nostalgia. Tears glistened in his eyes, threatening to fall, as the trainer had one thought in his mind: "Home at last…"
He missed being at home.
The red-capped Pokemon trainer charged down the hill, clothes rippling by the slipstream, his backpack slapping against his back as he ran. He did not stop until he finally reached the front white gate of the front yard to his house, lightly panting. The red mailbox that stood next to the gate said "Red's House."
Red, without any hesitation, burst into his home eagerly. The commotion startled his mother, who was about to cook supper. She had black hair and wore a red dress and a white apron. However, upon seeing her only son finally home at last, she could not contain herself and rushed over to hug him. She was overjoyed that he came home and proud that he accomplished so much during his several journeys.
She soon finished making dinner for just the two of them, with Red scarfing down his meal in less than fifteen minutes flat with second helpings; he was starving and enjoyed a home-cooked meal. He spent the rest of dinnertime speaking with his mother, telling her of his journey, while she told him about how Pallet Town was while he was gone.
After the supper, Red retired to his bedroom upstairs. He noticed that it had not changed much since his absence, his bed was still neatly made, though the television set, his personal computer, the desk, and various videogame consoles that were strewn about on the floor had accumulated a small layer of dust. He quickly dusted one of the systems off, a purple and black Nintendo Gamecube, and plugged its cables into the back of the TV and turned the TV and the console on. The melodious orchestral opening of the fighting game, Super Smash Bros. Melee, began to play in its glorious full color glory. Once the start menu appeared he quickly began playing (he briefly considered inviting his old rival, Blue, over to play with him, but decided against it as he figured that Blue may be too busy with his duties as the Gym Leader of Viridian City) until the late of night when his earlier exhaustion caught up with him. With a sleepy yawn, a much-needed warm shower and a fresh change of clothes, he climbed into his bed, and played various handheld games before he was out like a light.
Music track: Pokemon: Pallet Town
The next morning, Red came downstairs fully dressed and refreshed, smelling the scent of bacon and eggs, which were freshly cooked by his mother, wafted through the air. He drooled a little as his stomach rumbled.
"Red," said his mother. "Professor Oak had heard that you had come home; he wants to see you today."
"It's been a while since I last saw him in person," replied Red as he munched on a sunny-side-up. "I'll go see him then after breakfast."
After finishing his meal, Red strolled along the dirt path of Pallet Town. He noticed that not much had changed while he was on his journey as he leisurely walked past Blue's house (which was next door to his). He saw Professor Oak's lab in just a short distance away, easily seen by its large size and the windmill that lazily spun with the breeze.
He walked into the air-conditioned room that was buzzing with the large machines stowed behind several bookshelves inside the lab. There, waiting for him, was none other than Professor Oak. He wore a red collared shirt, a pair of brown khakis, a pair of black shoes, and a large white lab coat. His hair was grey from age.
"Good morning, Red, and welcome back," the elderly man greeted with a warm smile. "How was your journey?"
"It was great, Professor!" replied Red cheerily. "I got so many new Pokemon and won another league!"
"Wow, impressive!" lightly gasped Professor Oak before he chuckled a little. "It only seems like yesterday when you came with Blue so you can get your first Pokemon… Speaking of Pokemon, how's your Pokedex coming along?"
"Why don't you take a look at it yourself?" replied Red as he fished into his backpack and pulled out a small, red handheld device and handed it to Professor Oak. It was old, and had cracks and scrapes all over it.
The Pokemon researcher turned on the Pokedex and read the number of recorded entries, skimming through several of them with widening eyes.
"Well done, Red!" congratulated Professor Oak. "You have seen and caught so many Pokemon – that will certainly help out my research."
Then, the professor picked up a handheld device that looked similar to Red's Pokedex. It was shiny and brand new. After a couple button presses on the device and Red's Pokedex before he handed the new device over to Red.
"Huh? What's this?" asked Red.
"I've noticed that your Pokedex was old and banged up," answered Professor Oak. "I decided to reward your efforts in my research by transferring your data over to a new Pokedex. In other words, you now have a brand-new Pokedex!"
"Wow, it loads everything up fast! Thanks, Professor!"
Just then, the telephone rang. Professor Oak went over to answer it.
"Hello? This is Professor Oak speaking," said the researcher to the telephone receiver. "Oh, hello, Bill! … What's that you say? …You made a program to upgrade the Pokedex with? … Hmm… Red's here right now… Alright, I'll tell him. …Bye!"
He put the phone down and turned to Red.
"Bill wants to see you," said Professor Oak. "He says he has created an upgrade for the Pokedex and wants you to come over to test it out. You know where his house is, right?"
"Yeah," replied Red. "It's over at Cerulean Cape."
"You better get going; Bill sounds excited – I don't think he wants to wait!"
Music track: Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver: Cerulean City
Red rushed out of the lab. He ran back home to tell his mother that he was heading off before he came back out with a Pokeball ready. He threw it into the air.
"Go, Charizard!" he called out.
At once, a large orange dragon materialized in front of Red, roaring out to the sky.
"Charizard," said Red. "Can you fly me over to Cerulean City?"
Charizard snorted as if Red was crazy for even asking before it lowered itself so its trainer can climb on. With that, they took off to the skies to Cerulean City.
After landing at Cerulean City and running over a bridge and through a forest, Red arrived at Bill's house, which was sitting peacefully close to the sea. He knocked on the door.
"Coming!" called out a voice from behind the door, which was soon opened to reveal Bill, who had brown hair and wore a purple collared t-shirt and a pair of brown khakis. He was a Pokemon researcher and Pokemaniac who was famous for creating the Pokemon Storage System for PCs everywhere.
Bill saw that Red had arrived and ushered him in excitedly. The room was similar to Oak's lab; only with fewer machines, a smaller area and papers scattered across the floor with books. Some muttering and metallic clanking can be heard behind one of the large machines.
"Glad that you can come!" the Pokemaniac said eagerly. "You have your Pokedex with you, right?"
"Right!" replied Red as he showed him the red device.
"You've outdone yourself, Red!" said Bill as he scrolled through the entries before he went over to his computer. "You could do well passing yourself off as a Pokemaniac! Now let's see…"
Bill sat down at his computer with Red's Pokedex in hand. With a scan of the Pokedex, some button pressing on the keyboard and some mouse clicks for a couple minutes, he returned the Pokedex to Red.
"Here you go, Red," he declared. "Your Pokedex is now upgraded! Take a look and see if there's anything different! It's off right now since it needs to be rebooted for the upgrade to take effect."
Red turned on the Pokedex and was quickly surprised when it booted up.
"Whoa!" shouted Red. "I can access my PC and my Pokemon storage account through the Pokedex!"
Sure enough, Red tested the update out, swapping various Pokemon and items in and out of his PC and party.
"It really works! Thanks, Bill!" he said.
Suddenly, the telephone rang. Bill went over to answer it.
Music track: Pokemon: The Enigma
"May I help you?" answered the Pokemaniac. "… Yes, this is Bill speaking… What? The Pokemon Transfer System is not working? … You're receiving the wrong Pokemon? … Right, I'll see what's wrong with it… Bye."
He put down the telephone only for it to ring again. He answered it again, only to hear similar messages. After repeating the process a few times, he looked ready to pull his own hair off.
"Red, something's gone wrong with the Pokemon Transfer System," said Bill. "I'm going to head over to the Pokemon Center to see what the problem is."
"I'll come along and see if I can help," replied the trainer as he followed him out of Bill's house.
At the Pokemon Center in Cerulean City, Nurse Joy, the receptionist there, was also similarly stressed out – she was answering phone calls after phone calls, each filled with complaints that Pokemon were not being transferred. Bill consulted with her to see what the matter was.
"A computer virus? Doubtful," said Bill as he left the Pokemon hospital with Red in tow. "I think I may have an idea what may have happened. Let's head back to my house, Red."
Back at Bill's House, the Pokemaniac led Red to where the large machines were. Red can hear the muttering and clanking much more clearly.
"Dr. Akihabara," called Bill. "Did anybody come here?"
A different male's voice rang out. "No, I haven't seen anybody. Let me check the cameras."
From behind the machines, an eccentric scientist stood up. He had dark green hair, an orange collared shirt, a white lab coat and a pair of grey khakis. What stood out the most though was his pair of glasses on that appeared to have a large circular swirl in each lens. He went to a computer to check recorded security footage.
"Who's he?" asked Red, curious.
"Oh, that's Dr. Akihabara," answered Bill. "He's a scientist who has helped me build the Pokemon Transfer System. Nowadays, he's trying to create a machine that can transport people into the virtual world."
"The virtual world? Don't you mean cyberspace?"
"That's right."
"Eh?" started Dr. Akihabara, getting the two's attention. "Who are these people?"
Bill and Red crowded behind Dr. Akihabara, each trying to get a good look at the computer screen over the scientist's head and shoulders. Shown on the computer screen, were three men dress in black clothes. Each of their shirts was adorned with a large, bold red R.
Music track: Pokemon Black and White: Carrying Out a Mission
"It's Team Rocket!" gasped Red. "I thought they have been disbanded!"
"All of us thought so," added Bill. "But what did they do?"
"They must've stolen one of the Porygon I have and transported themselves into cyberspace!" shrieked Dr. Akihabara. "They're trying to steal the Pokemon as they're being transported between Pokemon Centers!"
"What are we going to do?" asked Red.
"We can't use an antivirus program to stop them," replied Dr. Akihabara. "That might accidentally kill the grunts!"
"Are you saying that we…?" started Bill nervously.
"Yes, we need to send in somebody into cyberspace, get those thieves out of there, and get the transport system to work again," finished Dr. Akihabara gravely before he turned to Red.
"Red, is it?" he started. "I need you to go into cyberspace and apprehend those grunts. Can you do it?"
Red thought about his choice. It was a childhood fantasy come true to be able to go into the electronic world. But he was worried.
"What if I get lost… and don't come back…?" he queried nervously.
"Don't worry," reassured Dr. Akihabara. "You basically get turned into a digital program. I can use that status to keep track of you so you don't get lost. And the machine is essentially a much larger version of the machines that transport Pokeballs between Pokemon Centers; they follow practically the same principles!"
"Red," added Bill. "Do you have a Porygon? They can travel through cyberspace, so they may be useful there."
"Good idea, and I have one in my PC. Getting one, let alone three, from the Game Corner was a lot of trouble," replied Red. "Though would the PC not work?"
"The problem only seems to be affecting the Pokemon Centers, plus you're the only Pokedex holder who has that upgrade so far, so you should be fine… and why do you have three Porygon anyways?"
"Oh, I don't know… Porygon have always fascinated me since I'm a big computer geek like you… I just can't help but try and get multiple Porygon. You can't imagine the trouble I have getting them."
Red used his newly upgraded Pokedex to access his Pokemon Storage, got out Porygon's Pokeball and tossed it into the air.
"Go, Porygon!"
In a burst of white light, Porygon materialized. It looked like a rudimentary polygonal computer-generated model of a pink and cyan-colored duck.
"Pory," said the Virtual Pokemon as it floated in the air.
"Red, are you ready to go?" asked Dr. Akihabara seriously.
Red checked his Pokemon party, which was his six main Pokemon plus Porygon, and his bag, which was filled with medicine, food and tools he would need.
"Yes, I'm ready," replied the trainer with a nod.
"Alright, step into the machine and stay still," directed Dr. Akihabara as he began to press some buttons on the keyboard.
Red stepped inside what looked like a large cylindrical glass capsule, which slid shut after he entered, and waited for the transfer to begin. His Porygon followed after him. He stood still and looked calm, though inwardly, he was excited.
Suddenly, laser rays shot down from the ceiling of the capsule, dematerializing Red, starting from his feet. Red took the last opportunity to wave goodbye to Bill and Dr. Akihabara, who both watched and waved back as the trainer and his Porygon began their new journey into cyberspace.
Music track: Pokemon: Abandoned Ship
A silver metallic portal opened in what looked like a black spatial realm with green grid lines. Falling out of it were Red and Porygon. Porygon expanded in size before it flew down to catch Red as he fell.
"Whew, thanks, Porygon," sighed Red before he gasped, taking in the sights.
Though virtual space was dark at first glance, it was brightly lit. Panels of code scrolled through the air. Pictures of mailing envelops zipped back and forth. Brightly colored lines looked like railroad lines on a transit map.
"Wow…" he breathed out, amazed and in awe.
Suddenly a small screen appeared in front of Red. The trainer can see Dr. Akihabara's face on it, swirly-eyed glasses and all.
"Red! Red!" called Dr. Akihabara on the screen. "Can you hear me? Are you alright?"
"Yes, I can hear you, and don't worry, I'm fine," replied Red. "This place looks amazing!"
"Glad to hear that you're enjoying your trip, though enough sightseeing. Here's the location of where the Pokeballs that were being transported are held up."
Another screen opened up next to Akihabara's video chat screen. It looked like a radar map. A red dot on one of the lines was blinking.
"You have to go over to the red dot on the map," explained Dr. Akihabara. "Team Rocket will most likely be there, so be ready to battle."
"Right," affirmed Red. "Let's go, Porygon."
"Pory!" replied the Porygon as it levitated off to its destination.
Music track: Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen: Encounter! Team Rocket
At the Pokemon Transfer System line, a row of orange and white construction work fences were erected, prevent any Pokeballs that were being transferred between Pokemon Centers from passing through. The Pokeballs merely gathered up into increasingly giant piles as they stopped at the fence. The black-clad Rocket grunts were busy scooping up the Pokeballs into large brown burlap sacks.
"Heh heh!" laughed one the grunts. "Easy pickings!"
"We're also the first men in cyberspace!" crowed the second, briefly puffing out his chest boastfully. "Going where no man has gone before!"
"This is more than enough to get Team Rocket started up again!" chimed in the third.
"So this is what's that all about?" cut in a new voice.
"Huh?" said the three grunts in chorus before they looked up to see Red on top of a large floating Porygon!
"What?!" shrieked one of the grunts. "How did a Pokemon trainer get here?!"
"Who cares?!" shouted another. "Get rid of him! Go, Arbok!"
Music track: Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver: Team Rocket Battle
A large purple cobra-like Pokemon appeared, ready to fight.
Red disembarked from Porygon and landed on the transfer line.
"Porygon, let's go!" he called as the computer-generated Pokemon floated in from of him, ready to take out the Arbok.
"Arbok, use Gunk Shot!" barked out the grunt.
"Porygon, dodge and use Psyshock!" countered Red.
The Cobra Pokemon obeyed and hurled out large amounts of sickly purple garbage from its jaws at Porygon. The Virtual Pokemon darted to the side and charged up three blue-violet energy orbs in front of its blocky duckbill before firing the orbs at Arbok. The Psychic-type attack slammed into Arbok, dealing super effective damage, knocking it out.
"Grr… Arbok, return," growled the first grunt as he recalled the defeated cobra.
The second grunt stepped up.
"Go, Raticate!" he called out, tossing his Pokeball into the air. "Snap that duck in half with Super Fang!"
A large tan rat with oversized front teeth appeared and charged at Porygon with said front teeth glowing white.
"Porygon, use Conversion 2!" called out Red.
Porygon suddenly changed its skin color to a ghostly pallor, effectively showing that it became a Ghost-type. Raticate's Super Fang did nothing against Porygon; the Rat Pokemon merely sailed through Porygon's body and crashed onto the transfer line.
"Now, follow it up with Ice Beam!" continued Red.
Porygon launched a cyan-blue lightning-like ray from the front of its bill at the Raticate, which was still recovering from the crash on its buck teeth. The Ice Beam landed on Raticate, flash freezing it in a block of ice. The grunt recalled the Raticate in baffled fury. The last grunt stepped up.
"Go, Golbat!" he shouted as he tossed his Pokeball into the air.
A large blue bat with purple leathery wings and gaping wide open mouth materialized into the air, ready to take down Porygon.
"Use Air Slash!" called the grunt.
Golbat began to flap its wings rapidly, forming a large ball of wind before sending it towards Porygon. The Flying-type attack connected, dealing some damage. Porygon's eyes were shut from having them being blasted by the wind.
"Gah!" thought Red, gritting his teeth. "Porygon flinched!"
"Blow it up with Sludge Bomb!" commanded the Rocket grunt.
Golbat began hurling out large purple blobs of smelly sludge at Porygon. Porygon's eyes were still closed.
"Porygon!" called out Red. "Open your eyes! Use Tri Attack!"
At the last second Porygon finally opened its eyes, seeing blobs of sludge heading right for it. It quickly charged up and fired a triple-energy beam from the front of its beak. The blue, red and yellow beams plowed through the Sludge Bombs, stopping them directly, and slammed right into Golbat with a large explosion. Golbat fell out of the air and flopped onto the transfer line, unconscious. The grunt, with gnashing teeth, recalled the Bat Pokemon.
The three Rocket grunts were beyond furious. They began to approach Red with clenching fists and bared teeth, seething in rage. However, Red acted quickly.
"Porygon, use Discharge!" called Red.
Before the grunts could go any further, Porygon flew in front of Red and blasted them with many volts of electricity, shocking them. The grunts fell onto the ground, burnt extra crispy, and with twitching limbs. They were paralyzed.
Music track: Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire: Petalburg Woods
Red soon found the Porygon that Team Rocket used to transport them while in cyberspace (it was easy to spot since it had a black flag with a red R tied to its pyramid-like tail). With some Escape rope inside his bag, he tied the barely moving grunts onto the Porygon with the flag and sent them off to the portal to reality. With the criminals apprehended, he got to work, first by emptying the burlap sacks. He and Porygon then began to shunt the construction fences out of the way just as the screen popped up, showing Bill's face, only for Dr. Akihabara to push him out of the way quickly.
"Red! Red!" he screamed frantically. "The Pokemon Center's sent in an antivirus! You better get out of there quickly or else who knows what will happen!"
Music track: Pokemon Movie 15: Save the Swordsmen
Suddenly, what sounded like ambulance sirens rang through the air. What looked like a small white jet with a medical cross symbol hovered through the virtual space.
"Is that…?" gasped Red, pointing to the strange aircraft.
"YES! YES, THAT'S THE ANTIVIRUS!" screeched Dr. Akihabara fearfully. "HURRY BEFORE YOU MIGHT DIE!"
"But what about the –"
"FORGET ABOUT THEM! JUST LEAVE!"
Some clicking sounds came out of the antivirus; it was taking aim on Red, who was in front of the blockage, ready to flee. The antivirus fired a vaccination needle-like missile, which flew straight at the trainer.
Red quickly ran out of the way and climbed onto his Porygon. The missile sailed into the fence, destroying the blockage, allowing the Pokeballs to successfully be transferred to Pokemon Centers at last.
"Quick, Porygon!" he panted. "Let's go to the transfer portal before it's too late!"
Though the Pokemon Transfer System was finally working properly, the white medical capsule still considered Red and his Porygon as a computer virus and immediately opened fire, launching needle missiles. The needles homed in on Porygon.
"Porygon, dodge those missiles!" shouted Red, deciding against attacking the missiles so his ride can save its energy to keep flying.
Porygon kept darting left and right to the best of its ability. Several missiles crashed into each other, others flew off course, and a few connected on the Virtual Pokemon, dealing damage as they exploded on it.
"Porygon, use Recover!" called out Red, hoping that Porygon can take a few more hits without fainting. He could see that Porygon was too tired to fly quickly enough to the portal.
"Pory…" panted Porygon. It was very tired and began to gather energy into its body. Its body began to glow as it regenerated health.
However, at that moment, the antivirus launched a heavy barrage of vaccination missiles upon Porygon. As Porygon tried to heal itself, missile after missile slammed into it, dealing heavy damage. The havoc was too much for Porygon that it began spiral down through cyberspace like a decommissioned airplane, just before it could reach the transfer point. It fell through what happened to be a bug hole that was created by the explosion of the antivirus's missiles.
"Mayday! Mayday!" shouted Red as he clung onto Porygon for dear life. "This looks like the end!"
For Bill and Dr. Akihabara, the video chat screen suddenly showed nothing but black and white static.
"RED!" screamed the two of them. They feared the worst for the trainer and could only hope that Red was still alive in cyberspace.
What will happen to Red and his Porygon? Find out in the next chapter!
As some of you can tell, this chapter is based off of episode 38 of the first season of the Pokémon anime, Electric Soldier Porygon. That's right: that's the same infamous episode that, on its single airing in 1997, sent over 700 Japanese children to the hospital with seizure-like symptoms due to rapidfire red and blue strobe light animation effects and nearly shut down the whole anime run altogether. The episode was later banned from being aired anywhere (even after receiving edits) by the Japanese government.
I hope you readers enjoyed the chapter. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!