((OOC: My first Pokemon-related story, ever. And FYI, gray italics flashback. Normal italics simply mean unspoken thought. Originally, I posted this on a message board, but I felt like posting it here to see if I could get more feedback. ))

Pokémon: A Fire Against Fate
by Galleon

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Part I: A Broken Dawn

Monday 22:43 GMT // 10:43 PM
Night had come in a rush. The moon and its fellow stars hid behind a sea of dark clouds, and the gentle wind of the late day had gradually begun to pick up. Various animalistic noises could be heard ever so often amidst the dense forest that pushed against an empty road cutting through it. Plagued by shadows, the ground swarmed with dancing black mayhem as the light from a single campfire cast its puppeteer's strings upon those different shades of darkness.

Two figures sat together, nestled between the small fire and the brunt of an aged tree. The larger figure was a young man looking to be around his mid-to-late teenage years, perhaps sixteen as a more defined estimate. A well-fitted, navy blue vest overlaid a white long sleeve shirt bearing a dark red stripe down the length of each arm, and a pair of rather standard blue jeans fit loosely against his crossed legs with the help of a jet black belt, retaining a deep silver lion's head for its buckle. His shoes, tapped up against each other, matched color with his belt and held a thick soul, probably for greater durability in what one might have expected to be their extensive use. He wore only one glove; matching the black of his belt and shoes, it stopped halfway up the fingers of his left hand. Aside from his attire, his face held a certain earthly youth to it, perhaps hinted at by his smooth features and the dark brown clinging to his eyes as well as the properly messy shag that he called hair. The red, cylindrical pack that was normally strapped firmly to his back now lied on a patch of grass next to him.

Sitting there staring into the fire, Cole let his mind wander away from himself. You know, came the beginning of his reminiscence, I never really thought that I'd ever get around to this day. It always seemed like something that was nailed into the future, and even though I'd always dreamt about setting out on my own journey, to realize that it's actually beginning... He let himself trail off unfinished in favor of another thought. Mom and Dad... I think I'm already starting to miss them... A touch of what he thought might be homesickness grazed the lining of his stomach, and he adjusted his seated position against the large oak to his back in an effort to relieve the unsettling feeling. With an abrupt sniff to help him gather himself, Cole turned his eyes towards his partner, who'd managed to fall asleep against the side of his leg some time ago.

The maroon-colored fur covering its body seemed just slightly unkempt, very similar to Cole's own hair. With lids drawn over those marbled crimson eyes and darker-toned tails coiled around its body, it pawed faintly at something in its dream. For the most part, Vulpix slept relatively soundly, even managing to keep the drooling to a minimum, which was pretty rare, as Cole recalled. They'd been together since he was six, according to memory, but it wasn't always so peaceful as this. To think that I nearly succeeded in flushing you down the toilet that one time... A small smile turned up the end of his lips as he recalled how vehemently the two had 'gotten along' at first. I remember I wanted a pet so badly that I'd bother Dad almost every day... and when he finally caved and got me a baby Vulpix... it turned out nothing like I thought it would…

"That thing's insane, Dad!" Cole yelled to his father, pointing an accusing finger at the little red fox firmly tied against the leg of the family's heavy dining table.

"You said you'd take care of it, son. You aren't gonna go back on your word now, are ya?" his father replied with a slight smirk, stroking the tip of his goatee with a couple fingers from his left hand.

"Well… but…" was all Cole could manage against that annoyingly frequented argument from his father. An abrupt shake of his head brought him back to his own argument. "That thing set my bed on fire! While I was still in it!"

"I knew it," Cole's father sighed with a reluctant expression laced with satisfaction, "I told you that a pet would be too much responsibility for you…"

...Cole blinked, suddenly coming back to the present. Gently resting his left hand on his sleeping Vulpix's head, more memories filed into his thoughts and he began to feel a distinct heaviness pulling at his eyelids. A deep breath furthered the notion of sleep as the sound of rain falling grasped his ears. It felt kind of refreshing, he realized as a musty new scent washed over the area. Today wasn't quite as exciting as I thought it would be… With all that walking, Vulpix and I hardly even made it out of Azalea Town… Then again, we mighta gotten lost somewhere in this forest… He couldn't help but give a lazy grin as he settled back against the tree, trying to nose away some of the fat rain drops that had run down onto his forehead. I think I'll try to avoid shortcuts from n-

A crash of lightning on the horizon broke into his thoughts, and for a second he felt a shiver cling to his spine. A low lulling noise still ringing in his ears, Cole squinted at the deeply darkened road when the sound didn't fade. What is that? he asked himself, straining to place the dulled hum. He looked down to see Vulpix perk up, standing on all fours with a queried look plastered on its face, as well.

Another bolt of lightning burned an afterimage into the sky, leaving a tremendous ripping sound only a couple seconds behind; and as the deep rumbling in his chest subsided, Cole heard that same distant hum again, only now it seemed to have jumped a few decibels closer. Several nightly birds leapt out of the forest all at once, flying away from some unknown terror. Tremors began choking the ground beneath him as his eyes widened in disbelief.

Across the road, massive trees jerked violently and suddenly uprooted themselves to be flung back deeper into the forest, soon giving way to an enormous blackened silhouette. Spotlights shown down from atop the menacing presence, illuminating several metallic arms bearing saws, drills and even what looked like giant gloved hands lurching forward to clench whole clusters of trees and ruthlessly deracinate them from the earth. Hearty chunks of dirt, mud, and rock cascaded through the air, grazing Cole's cheeks and arms as he quickly rolled over to shield Vulpix. Then, without any warning at all, all the churning and grinding of iron and steel stopped, leaving a relative silence as everything tried to settle back into itself.

Still trembling, Cole came out of his defensive curl to stare up with tearing eyes at a gigantic machine interrogating him with its harsh, piercing headlights. Squinting through the stabbing fear, he tried to ignore Vulpix's whines of similar feeling. The object seemed like an oversized tank, he realized after a moment, though the many elongated arms jutting out of its front corners looked to detour any thoughts of standard military reference.

The sound of a large hatch pulling open averted Cole's eyes to the sides of the monstrosity as several figures piled out of the thing. All similarly dressed in black uniforms topped with what could have been a strange type of motorcycle helmet, each one bore a definite red sash across his or her chest. None of them said anything, but only stood there staring at Cole and his Vulpix as another low hum rose from the momentary silence. Cole looked up to see another individual appearing from the machine's utmost top, apparently by means of a slow moving elevator. Upon reaching its pinnacle, the elevator stopped, and a grave voice took its place.

"It's just a stupid kid, I see." The figure, apparently a man, took a single step closer. The heavy cape draped over the man's shoulders hardly even twitched in the growing wind. Little could be distinguished about this person with the immense darkness still covering the sky, not to mention the two blinding spotlights beating down at Cole. "Do you know the punishment for getting in our way, boy?" came the booming voice again.

Cole remained silent, incapable of any words.

"Of course not. How could you know, unless you're one of us?" What might have been a laugh broke out of the man's mouth. "We'll just take that little fox there as payment for interrupting our mission."

"What!?" Cole burst out, still unable to keep the shake out of his voice. "Who are you, anyway!?" A strange mixture of anger and fear rolled around in his stomach, creating a sickening sensation of anxiety.

"Hmph, there's no need to tell a shrimp like you." A quick nod of the man's head, and two Pokéballs bounded towards Vulpix, immediately emitting a red aura to introduce the enemy's attackers. A Golem rolled out into standing posture, and a Wartortle came spiraling through the air to land on all fours atop a displaced boulder, glaring at Cole and his fox.

But Vulpix bolted forward first, headlong into battle.

"No!" Cole shouted after it, "You can't!"

The small fox didn't listen. Everything suddenly lit up as scalding flames erupted from its mouth, leaving smoldering earth in its wake as a pillar of flames tore a path to Golem. Cole squinted at the fierce intensity behind the fire, but Golem didn't budge as the burning stream split straight down the center, whipping away to set one of the far off trees ablaze. Surprised, Vulpix slid to a halt, but a sudden jet stream of water threw it off its feet with a curdling whimper, pressing it into an upheaved stone. When the Wartortle released its watertight grip, Vulpix crumpled to the ground in a soaked heap, unmoving.

Vulpix is nowhere near strong enough for these guys! Cole thought urgently, I have to do som-

An abrupt slug square in the jaw cut him off, knocking Cole to the ground as he tried to shake the haze out of his eyes. From where he had fallen, Vulpix was clearly visible, heavily drenched and bundled up into a defeated curl.

"All too easy," said a haughty voice, "I guess we couldn't expect much of a fight from some random kid like this. Geez, he must be totally new to this; the kid doesn't even have any other Pokémon."

Trying to shake away the spots from his eyes, Cole craned his neck around to see one of the black-dressed grunts rummaging through his red pack. At that sight, his eyes widened, and everything else seemed irrelevant. He suddenly found himself on his feet, dashing towards the person holding his bag. "Don't touch that, you-!"

The last word was stolen out of his mouth before he could say it, and when he looked down to see where it had been taken, Cole saw an elbow digging into his stomach, twisting as it shoved him back to the ground.

For a while, it all seemed to be happening to someone else, as if he was only watching and the pain he felt wasn't really his. His vision stammered inside of itself, and the clouds seemed to descend from the sky to cast a murky fog over everything before a black silence slowly began to take him away from all the noise. And as Cole watched the night delve further from his senses, a few trailing words gathered into his mind as a last, trembling echo.

"…Some kind of list? Heh, what a piece of trash…"

"See, buddy?" Cole said, holding a slip of paper up in front of his little red fox's face. "It's a checklist." He smiled, proud of his idea. "It's got all the things I want to accomplish when I finally embark on my journey! See, see?" He pushed it closer for Vulpix to get a better look.

The fire Pokémon looked at the paper with an emptied gaze, almost stupefied, then stuck its nose right up next to it, sniffing cautiously like any small animal would. After a moment, Vulpix tilted its head, as if to say it didn't think the idea nearly as wonderful as Cole apparently did.

"Aw, come on, buddy. Don'tcha understand?" Cole's grin lessened slightly at the lackluster reaction he'd achieved, letting his shoulders slump down a little. "This piece of paper will keep me on track; it'll keep my head straight so I can achieve all my most important goals," he paused to point an index finger at the top of the list, "like seeing all the different kinds of Pokémon there are, and becoming Champion of the Pokémon League and super-famous as a world-class trainer, and-"

The paper suddenly burst into flames, forcing Cole to let go as it burned to ashes. His face went flat, an eye twitching irately as he threw his gaze at the rolling fox. Its high-pitched mirth made his temples bulge.

"Agh, Vulpix!" He scooped up his fox to shake it violently, but it only seemed to heighten the little joker's laughter. "Now I have to make another one…!"

Tuesday 07:36 GMT // 7:36 AM
Cole started awake, his eyes popping open as he jolted his body up into a seated position. Looking around frantically, he found the forest around him in shambles. Stray branches and rocks littered the ground; entire groups of trees were snapped off at the root while others were torn out of the earth completely. Giant track marks drove off deeper into the woods behind him, leaving a path of sheer destruction. Squinting, he noticed that the night had left, subsiding to the first signs of daylight. Clouds hung over the distant mountains, and though the sun hadn't come up yet, its arrival seemed imminent. He took a heavy breath and felt a penetrating ache off to the side of his forehead. A couple inquiring fingers revealed a bit of blood, and he figure the head injury must have contributed to his falling unconscious. And then it hit him.

"Vulpix!" his mouth shouted instinctively, "Vulpix, where are you!" Urgency and panic roiled his chest as his legs moved over the debris to start digging for his small friend. "Vulpix!" Dirt and rock and mud flung out in all directions as he started to chisel his way through the fallen forest. "Vulpix!" He couldn't stop himself from shouting all the while, tears welling up despite the protest in his eyes. "Where the hell are you!?"

For a time, he stopped thinking, stopped feeling, and only let his body search as if by some automated action. His eyes were seeing, but he was no longer looking. His ears were hearing, but he wasn't listening. Until, at length, even his body gave up searching and only lied on the ground, letting salted droplets roll off his cheeks and into the destroyed earth with all his other belongings.

They took him, he finally admitted to himself, they took my best friend… Cole could only stare straight up into the early morning sky at the bundles of puffy white cloud, seeming so carefree and distant to him. I… a thought started shakily, I couldn't do anything… I couldn't do anything at all… They just took him… so easily… it's like I wasn't even there… He clenched his eyes shut, trying to make the words stop. I… I'm so… so… He raised his arms to his temples, as if to stop the words with his bare hands. Pathetic. A yell belted out of his lungs and straight into the bluing sea above him; a harsh, cracking yell that pulled him to his knees to where his hands could sink down to the splintered wood before him. And suddenly, he felt something under his left hand, something unexpectedly smooth, if a bit crumpled.

His eyes slit open and Cole saw something besides clumps of dirt and broken wood. It was the little piece of paper he'd stuffed into his bag before leaving home; it was the list he'd made to try help him remember the goals he aimed to achieve on this journey. His eyebrows receded with surprise as he attempted to smoothen the slip of paper so that he might be able to read its contents... and perhaps try to remember his reasons for being here. The words spilled out of his mouth as he read them off, letting them echo across the demolished portion of forest.

"I, Cole Rigen, do hereby proclaim my intentions for the quest that I shall be set upon once the approving rights of my fatherly and motherly parents are properly administered-" he paused to take a moment to chuckle half-heartedly at the ridiculous grammar he'd chosen, and decided to skip his senseless introduction, "-Objective 1: To achieve a renowned status throughout the world as a remarkable trainer and Champion." Cole stopped as he finished those last words. Right now, he began to himself, I don't care about that… And as he skimmed down the rest of his list, he realized the truth of his current circumstance. This thing is useless, came the harsh thought, furrowing his brow as he stared at the paper. That guy was right. It's trash… Stark distaste wrenched at his face. Was I really so obsessed with this crap? How childish could I be…? Gritting his teeth, the anger flew to his hands, tearing through the paper in a frenzy. Shredded white fell towards the churned earth, floating with specks of the morning wind. At the sight of it, he blinked away the water behind his eyes before moving to gather up what was left of his possessions.

And though Cole still felt the immense strain within his chest, as he took up his fire red bag again and tightened it into its diagonal position across his torso, he smiled. He smiled the way one does after finally finding something that is more important than anything else. I'll get you back, Cole promised as he pulled himself from the wreckage and back onto the roughly paved road towards Goldenrod City. And as he gazed into the horizon laid out before him, he saw the sun peeking through the morning's earliest clouds to greet him with a broken dawn.