This is a sequel to my previous story 'I Don't Remember'
If you read this without reading the previous story, there may be certain references you won't understand. In order to fully enjoy this story, I strongly recommend reading the original story first. (or at least skimming through it). Having said that, this will be nothing like the original.
This is an introductory chapter. It's much shorter, at 2,000 words. The rest of the chapters should be somewhat longer.
I'm experimenting with the tense of the story. If there are issues with it please let me know.
If you are a young child, please close this story and do not read any further.
Route 1, Kanto
Today's the day. Hugo has never travelled on his own before. The region of Kanto is new to him, even though he's technically been there before. He's going to miss his friends, that's for sure. In fact, he already misses them. Ash, Brock and Dawn had been by his side since the day he lost his memory. Their journeys in Sinnoh are fondly racing through his mind as he begins the walk from Pallet town to Viridian city. He still can't believe they've all gone their separate ways. Dawn has stayed over in Sinnoh to pursue a career in modelling. Brock's going to focus on becoming a Pokémon doctor, meaning he and Ash have at last parted ways after roughly 6 years of journeying together.
As for Ash, well, up until yesterday it looked as though he'd be accompanying Hugo, re-challenging the indigo league…
"WHAT?!" Exclaimed Brock and Hugo in unison.
"It wasn't easy." Began Ash. "But I've made a decision. I'm going to Kalos. To gain a new experience and meet new friends. I'm going to leave all my Pokémon here, aside from Pikachu of course."
After a lengthy discussion, Brock and Hugo had to accept Ash's sudden decision. "Good luck man. You'll conquer Kalos while I conquer Kanto!"
"Yeah, you can do it Hugo! Just remember everything I taught ya." Ash winked cheekily.
And that was that. Now, Ash is busy packing his things for his flight while Brock's spending a few days with his cousin who lives in Pallet Town, then he's heading back to his home in Pewter city. It's still early in the morning. Not much after 8AM. Hugo had decided he'd be up bright and early for the start of his new adventure.
"This is it team. We'll conquer the leagues of Kanto and aim for victory in the league!" He's incredibly excited as he sets off along the same path as Ash did 6 years ago.
If you haven't heard of Hugo already, by the way, he stands at 6 feet and 7 inches. He doesn't care much for fashion, not like he can afford nice clothes anyway. Plain black shorts & shoes with a plain white t-shirt are what he wears pretty much every day. He has pale skin, blue eyes and fairly short black hair, even shorter on the sides. He has the tiny stubs of a beard. Apparently, he's around 21-years-old, although he finds that hard to believe due to his lack of facial hair. He had a lot of muscle, although recently he's been feeling quite out of shape and has visibly become skinnier and less muscular despite maintaining his large appetite.
His Pokémon team consists of Kabutops, Tyranitar, Rotom, Drifblim, Hippowdon and of course Shinx. Shinx was Hugo's first ever Pokémon. The only one that was with him when he lost his memory. Due to complications caused by the memory loss, it possesses an unusual moveset not possible for your average Shinx.
Suddenly, Hugo is snapped out of his trail of thought by somebody adressing him.
"Away with the fairies I see. I thought you might not notice me."
It's your average bug-catcher sort of character. Hugo smiles. He'd heard Kanto had a lot of people like this.
"Would you care for a Pokémon duel?" While the day is young and the air is cool?"
"Sure, why not?" Hugo replies.
"Your answer brings a smile to my face. Beware, I'll come at you at quite a pace."
This guy's awesome, Hugo thinks to himself, but for some reason the way he speaks reminds him of a certain trio of villains he knows very well.
"We'll choose a partner on the count of three, who will make the best choice? Let's wait and see."
Hugo seriously doubts his choice of Pokémon will have any affect on the outcome of the battle.
"One… two… three! Here's the choice from me!" The bug catcher throws out a Kakuna while Hugo chooses Drifblim. Upon seeing his pathetic choice, Hugo regrets battling this clown.
"Interesting choice from you. But now you'll see what my Kakuna can do..." "Shadow ball."
Before the bug catcher has the chance to react, Drifblim's shadow ball attack easily defeats Kakuna. The bug-type is knocked over and its eyes close.
"Wow! Such a display of skill. A single hit and you got the kill. I suppose I shouldn't whinge and whine. After all, Kakuna's level 9."
"Hey, uh, thanks for the battle. See you around." Hugo stammers, eager to be rid of this guy before he asks for a rematch.
"Johnny's the name, I thought you should know. I travel round at the speed of a tornado. I'm sure you will see me again. Next time my Pokémon might be level 10."
"I'll look forward to it." Replies Hugo, doing his best not to sound sarcastic as he speed-walks away. He walks for a few moments, ascending to the top of a small hill them beginning the descent down it.
"Interesting battle." A deep, adult man's voice calls out. "Mind if I have the honour of battling you next?"
Hugo is halfway down the steep hill. As he looks around at the beautiful yet hilly landscape of route 1 he spots a man who appears to be in his 40's. Coincidentally, this man is dressed similarly to Hugo. He's wearing a plain black shirt with plain blue trousers. His shoes are bright red and his haircut is almost exactly the same as Hugo's. Around his waist he wears a belt. Why does this man look somewhat familiar? Suddenly, something catches Hugo's eye which makes him nervous.
"How about it? A double battle? I'll even show you the Pokémon I'll be using."
The man confidently launches two pokéballs, summoning a Snorlax and a Pikachu.
Normally, Hugo might've looked at the man's Pikachu and been reminded of Ash, but he's completely focused on something he's concerned about. On the man's belt is something rarely seen in the Pokémon world. There's no mistaking it though. What Hugo's glaring at is definitely a gun. A powerful looking pistol. Why would the man carry such a weapon around? It makes no sense. Pokémon are far more powerful than guns anyway.
Hugo's mind instantly turns to the safety of his Pokémon. Would it be safer to accept this man's challenge or run away? If he battles, who should he use? What if the man got angry and started shooting his Pokémon? No way was he using Shinx. Imagine if Shinx were to take a bullet? The mere thought makes Hugo's face turn even more pale than normal and fills him with a sense of dread.
Anyone other than Shinx should be fine though. The bullet would merely bounce off his rock types and go through his ghost types. Hippowdon might be tickled by it, but it certainly wouldn't be hurt by it with its tough skin.
On impulse, Hugo makes a decision.
"Drifblim! Hippowdon! Let's do this!"
"Let's begin!" Grins the strange man. "Snorlax! Yawn!"
"Hippowdon! Dodge!" It's too late though. Snorlax scores a clean hit and Hippowdon yawns.
"Drifblim, get it from behind with acrobatics!"
"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Drifblim attempts to attack but Pikachu catches it off-guard with its electric attack. Super-effective!
"Yawn again!" This time, it hits Drifblim while the poor ghost-type is still being electrocuted.
Drifblim and Hippowdon look very tired already. "Earthquake and shadow ball! Quick!"
The ground begins shaking due to Hippowdon's earthquake attack. This doesn't seem to bother Snorlax much but Pikachu looks distressed.
"Dodge it!" The man yells angrily, referring to the incoming shadow ball attack. "Pika-" is all Pikachu manages to say as it is unsuccessful in dodging the attack. It faints, and at the same time Drifblim and Hippowdon collapse to the ground, asleep.
"Ugh. Come on! Wake up you guys!"
"Hahahahaha… MWAHAHAHAHAHA!" The man begins bellowing with laughter. "Now! Give it to me!" From his pocket, the man pulls out a stick. It looks like one of those toy wands you'd give to children who want to pretend they're a wizard. He grabs the stick with both hands, pulling it and stretching it out so it's much longer. He then strolls over towards the sleeping Drifblim and Hippowdon.
"Wh-what're you doing?" Hugo asks, very confused and quite nervous.
"I'm taking them." The man replies in a deep, booming voice.
He holds the stick against Hippowdon's skin. The next thing that happens is a humongous shock to Hugo. Hippowdon begins to glow red. Then it transforms into red energy as it would do when being returned to its pokéball. Then the energy is sucked into the stick. In no more than a couple of seconds, Hippowdon is gone. Or so it seems.
"Now for the fun part." The man grins. He taps his stick against the ground and a horrific sight appears. Blood. Hippowdon's blood.
Hugo's mouth is wide open from shock as he's horrified by what he's just witnessed. He's just watched his Pokémon he'd worked so hard to train seemingly murdered by a total stranger. Suddenly, a thought jumps to the front of his mind. 'Drifblim'.
In a frenzied panic, Hugo reaches for Drifblim's pokéball. He clumsily drops it to the floor.
"Snorlax." Commands the man as he begins to walk calmly towards the sleeping Drifblim.
"WAKE UP!" Hugo screams as loud as he can as he gets down to his knees to grab his pokéball as quickly as possible. He grabs hold of the pokéball, aiming it towards Drifblim as he presses the button in the middle. He looks up as he does this to see Snorlax blocking the way. The red ray of energy intended to hit Drifblim simply bounces off Snorlax's large normal-type grins as it steps aside, revealing what was behind it. The man stands confidently with his strange-looking stick thingy in hand looking pleased with himself as a second pool of blood begins to form. It's too late. Drifblim and Hippowdon are dead.
"You monster." Are the only words Hugo manages to muster as he's helplessly reduced to his knees.
"You'll regret calling me that. Now hand over your other Pokémon." The man demands. "Or this pathetic thing gets what it deserves for that disgraceful battle."
He points his gun directly at his own Pikachu. "It's not even worth draining the energy of this one."
"You're insane." Hugo yells while still down on his hands and knees.
"Far from it. I'm a genius. Now roll those pokéballs over to me. You've got five seconds. Five… four..."
The next decision Hugo makes is one he'll probably regret for the rest of his days. Backed into a corner and lacking both the time and presence of mind to make a good decision, as quickly as he can, Hugo leaps to his feet and runs, runs, runs like the wind. He sprints at the speed of a Shedinja up the nearest hill desperate to get away.
"Fine. Time for some target practise." Scoffs the insane man.
Hugo glances over his shoulder as he runs and spots the man grabbing Pikachu by the tail and tossing the poor Pokémon into Snorlax's stomach. The fainted electric-type's body is launched high into the air. At that moment, Hugo reaches the top of the hill. He's so focused on what's going on behind that he fails to notice the uneven surface below his feet and manages to stumble over a rock, tumbling down the other side of the hill. As he slides down he hears a loud bang. "Boom! Headshot!" The man's voice calls, sounding very pleased with himself.
Hugo tumbles further down the hill, coming to a stop at the bottom. He's fortunate to be unharmed physically, however the thing that lands in front of him very much harms him in another way. Something rolls down the hill just after Hugo. In fact, it comes to a stop just two inches away from him as he's lying there. What he sees, starting him right in the face, is the most horrific sight he's ever seen.
The decapitated head of Pikachu.