Three years later, the voices claimed another victim. But Johto was ready for them.
Red's condition had taken everyone by surprise. His triumphs - against gym leaders, organized crime, and even the Champion - became legend. Then he disappeared.
For three years, people wondered: would there ever be another like him? Then, one day, a child named A.J. started saying strange things. "Up... right... need to beat Misty..."
His mother, devastated, sent him to see Professor Elm. Elm had known this day would come. He gave A.J. a Totodile and a Pokégear. Little did A.J. know, this was no ordinary Totodile. It would gain strength faster than any other.
The Pokégear served another purpose. Some trainers who met A.J. got his number and called him from time to time. These trainers pieced together the things A.J. told them to get a picture of what was going on in his head.
Like Red, A.J. also spoke of Helixes and bird messiahs. But the voices in his head – whom A.J. called "Twitch" – didn't worship these gods. They wanted evolve past their old religion. They wanted to defeat the gods.
Every hour, the voices mysteriously disappeared. At these times, A.J. would move very, very slowly, but at least he became calm. Usually, the voices quickly forced themselves back into his head. But the more fearful and frustrated they were, the longer they remained gone. When Elm learned about this, he called Bill. Bill tweaked his P.C. system – now it was easier to release Pokémon. The voices needed to be as scared as possible.
A.J. caught a Pidgey. Its resemblance to "Bird Jesus" confused and distressed Twitch. Eventually, they had to concede that this was an ordinary Pidgey, unrelated to any deity. They called him Brian, a name fitting his averageness. Twitch was so uncomfortable with Brian – a reminder of the gods who left them – that they put him in the day care.
For a while, Twitch was happy. They caught an Admiral and a Colonel, building an army against the gods. They hatched a prince. They defeated a gym leader who worshipped birds and was protected by "keepers".
But then they lost their admiral to Bill's P.C. Later, the P.C. took their prince. And their colonel. Their army and royalty were gone. Only ordinary Pokémon remained.
Feraligatr – Lazorgator, as Twitch called him – became very strong. He defeated every gym leader with ease. But without demons, there could be no angels. Some voices turned against Lazorgator. A.J. spent a lot of time near P.C.s, muttering "Tick tock kill the crock," and then crying while chanting " b". His best friend Joey sometimes called to console him.
In fact, Feraligatr was just a scapegoat for the voices' dwindling numbers and growing displeasure. More and more, they withdrew to a dormant state (A.J. called it democracy). Morty's gym was a turning point. He knew about A.J.'s condition, and had set up his gym accordingly: A.J. simply could not reach Morty unless he drown the voices out. Twitch did not give in easily – they wanted a miracle, having seen so many in Kanto. But there were no miracles in Johto.
Team Rocket tried to make a comeback in Johto. A.J. stopped them. The people knew that this was no coincidence. A.J.'s condition was both a blessing and a curse. The new Champion, Lance, decided to help A.J. In truth, Lance wanted to see the boy in action. To his surprise, A.J. wasn't like Red. Red had practically worshipped his Pokémon; he had given them titles befitting gods and kings. All of them except his Venomoth. That Venomoth had defeated Lance's strongest dragon. Lance was pleased to see A.J.'s team following its path. Satisfied, he went back to Indigo Plateau and waited.
Why were the voices content again? Only one trainer knew. He hadn't been near civilization for years. But his dreams told him all. For The Keeper still dwelled in the P.C., and whenever A.J. deposited a Pokémon, The Keeper ate its dreams and sent them to his master.
It's true that the world seemed too prepared for Twitch. It's true that they felt abandoned. They had resigned to democracy for many tasks, and dared not approach a P.C. without it. In Kanto, the Master Ball had led them to the Angel of Anarchy, the Zapdos of many names. In Johto, it captured a Goldeen.
But Red understood the voices better than they understood themselves. Before, their goal had been to conquer anarchy. To conquer themselves. And they succeeded. The gods and kings they worshipped had united them.
Having conquered anarchy, the need for gods and kings disappeared. Red knew the logical next step. The voices would come for him. They would conquer the conquerors of anarchy. They would defeat their old gods with ordinary Pokémon. To prove that they could.
So Red waited at the top of the world. For the starter who hadn't been sacrificed. For the Pidgey who was never a savior and the Eevee who was never a demon. And for other ordinary Mon. He waited, because he knew that only one thing would save poor A.J. from the voices: closure.
