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A Story of Stories - Part 1: A Flaming Past...


On this long forgotten day of summer, we find a boy named Adrian sitting at home, bored, and too young to really get a job. "Hmmmmmm...." he wondered, "Mom, I think today would be a good day to checkup the pokémon at the center."
"Funny, I was thinking the same thing!" she came in and said to her son, "I guess we could go today..." She was working on something on the computer before she came in. She looked for the one spot where she had left the pokéballs from the last time she got them checked. She used to be one of the best trainers, and she never yelled or scolded her pokémon. She was now old, and didn't care too much about the training or battles or most things pokémon. She found the balls and her purse. They decided to walk to the center since it was a nice cool day.
"Tell me about some of your pokémon," Adrian said to his mother as they walked on a well worn path.
"My pokémon are not mine; they are not under my total control," she stated, "They are governed by their own will, and they are my friends." She had nine pokéballs with her and they kept walking. "In this one," she held up a solid red pokéball, "is a charizard that has been passed down this family for millennia. Her name is Charla, named when she was born as a charmander."
"Yeah, I know her, sorta. She has helped me on more than one occasion, likes watching TV, and you let her out every few weeks to go hunt."
"Correct! She is quite possibly the smartest charizard in existence. She can tell you about herself since you will be inheriting her and the other pokémon I have when I pass-away."
"Wow... I would like to hear her tell her story," Adrian said as his mother held another pokéball, which was solid blue.
"This is one holds a blastoise, but it is not as old. His name is Cannon, so named for the potential that he had as a squirtle. He was all about brute force when he was an infant. He towered over all of his kind when he was growing up. Over the centuries, like Charla, he was taught how to read, write, and speak our language. He can tell you more about himself, as can all the others, they all know how to speak our language. I just know brief history on all of them," she paused to get and hold up another ball that was yellow and black. "This one holds a raichu, whose name is Lightning, so named since she had the brightest yellow fur as a pikachu. Now her fur has turned solid black except for the little yellow dots on her cheeks," she smiled as she remembered seeing how Lightning could trash any ground pokémon without breaking a sweat. "This one," she held a ball that was red on top and a very white colored red on the bottom, "has a rapidash named Dasher. His parents were racers, and since they loved the feeling of wind rushing over them, they named their first born Dasher. He does have siblings, but they are probably too old to truly race any more. He probably has a good dozen years left thanks to the pokéball."
"Well, we are almost there," Adrian pointed to the center slowly coming into view.
"I guess you could hear what they have to say for themselves when we get home," she said as she put the ball back. They walked into the center and were greeted with a friendly nurse.
"How may I help you?" she asked.
"I'd like to get these pokémon checked," Adrian's mother stated as she put on the counter nine pokéballs.
"Okay. Chansey, I'd like you to take these pokéballs to the checkup room.
"Chansey! Chansey-chansey."
"It'll take a little while, so why don't you sit down on the couch and read a magazine," the nurse said as she left to the checkup room to checkup the pokémon.
"I wonder what magazines they have?" Adrian asked as they made their way to the couch. "Hmmmm.... Not real good selection.....," looking around and under some of the magazines, he finally found something of interest. His mother didn't feel like reading a magazine, so she sat and waited patiently.
After about half an hour, the nurse came out and said, smiling, "Your pokémon are in tiptop shape and have good manners! They all feel okay and just want to relax a little bit in the sun when I told them the temperature outside. Hehe... they were really nice and cooperated nicely with me!" She handed back the pokéballs to Adrian's mother.
"Chansey-Chansey!" the Chansey agreed.
"Thank you very much, bye!" Adrian's mother said as they left the building.
After some uneventful walking, they reached home and Adrian immediately sat on the couch and turned on 'ye olde radiation toob.' (THE TV IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW)
"I wonder what's on," he said as he flipped through the channels. "Cool, wrestling!" After he shouted this, a pokéball opened by itself. It was Charla.
"I loves watchin' people wrastle!" she said as she hopped over the couch and slammed on the carpet in front of it. She seemed less than six feet tall, head to toe.
"Remember my grandmother's teaching about how to control the temperature of your flame, now," Adrian's mom told Charla.
"I remember. 'S okay," she said. She had gotten so used to talking in human that she started slurring just like Adrian did sometimes.
They watched as a real big muscular guy strutted down the ramp, making his way to the ring. "Ladies and gentlemen, Bulk Logan!" the ring announcer shouted into the microphone. The crowd, and our little audience, whooped and yelled and cheered! After the announcer shouted the name of the other wrestler, the match was under way.
After the show was over, our two TV watchers sat, pleased with the show.
"What else is on?" Charla asked Adrian.
"I don't know... let's check," he said picking up the TV guide. "Hmmm.... nothing good at this hour."
"Hmmph," snorted Charla, "Over a hundred channels of TV and nothing good is on!" She almost flamed up at the ceiling. "Oh well.... might as well go hunting." She got up and headed toward the back door. "Be back in an hour!" she yelled as she left. She flew up and over the horizon as seen from the house. She loved to fly around and be wild, even though she knew that she had manners and discipline. She finally found her pray: a wild mankey in a forest outside the town. She did a 'sonic slam' attack to knock the mankey completely out. She picked it up and made for home. Once in the yard she went to work on mankey, ripping the meat off bones. Soon it was just a pile of bones that was once a pokémon. She started to work at eating the marrow in the bones when Adrian came outside.
"Whoops! Sorry, I didn't know you weren't finished," he said as he shielded his face from the mess of blood and some inedible guts in front of Charla.
"It's okay. Just hold on a sec," Charla said as she finished the marrow from the bone. She then flamed all the blood off her face and arms and incinerated the gore on the ground to ashes. "There. What was it you wanted?"
"Well.... I just wanted to know.... your history, uh, I mean, you-you know," he stumbled.
"Oh, oh! Ya, I know. You want to know the life I lived all these thousands of years. Hmmm... A long tale it would be.... Let's start by finding a good spot out of the way where it's just you and me. I'll tell your mom." She stepped in and told her that they will be leaving for a few days and to not worry. Adrian's mother knew what was going on; she did the same when she was his age.
Even though it didn't look like it, Charla was an incredibly strong flyer. Adrian rode on her back as they flew to a mountain that had no life on it or in it; a perfect spot she had remembered. They found a good spot to land as well as sleep.
"That was an awesome ride!" Adrian said as he fell off her back dizzy. He regained control and stood up, looking at Charla's tail flame.
"It's suiting that I tell another in this long living family of humans who befriended me more than two thousand years ago. You are Adrian, named after an ancestor of yours I once knew. He was the son of the man who tamed me. That man who tamed me was named Crimson, for the long crimson stripe he was born with that seemed to separate his left side from his right. That man was a great man." She paused, remembering him. "You're almost like him, in a way." She then heard a small rumbling noise. Adrian looked down at his stomach and smiled.
"I guess since we're here, we might as well eat," he said trying not to sound anxious.
"Might as well!" she said, smiling back at him. She then flew off in search of pray. This time she found a couple of scyther attacking a nidorino. In one swoop she knocked all three of them unconscious. She picked up the scyther and nidorino and flew back to the where Adrian sat patiently. "Wow!" he gasped.
"I couldn't pass up the three-for-one offer these three set up for me!" she laughed as she set them down. Since scyther had tough, almost steel like shells and blades, Charla had to gut them. "This will only take a minute," she announced. She flamed the shells dry after she removed all the meat. This almost formed a full suit armor, complete with helmet and shin guards. "Try it on," she said to Adrian.
"Uh... how do I put this on?"
"Here, let me put this on you," she held what was the scyther's chest and slipped it on Adrian's shoulders. "Hmm.. A good fit, right?" she asked, remembering the previous times she did this to his ancestors.
Adrian looked bewildered, "Uhhh... Yeah, it does fit a little snugly, but it's fine." He then tried to get up, but fell over on the armor. CLANK! While on the ground, he asked, "Done cooking the meat?"
"Yes, it's finished, but it might be a little dry. Why not put a little nidorino blood on it for flavor."
"Hmm... worth a shot!" He picked up a piece of cooked meat and dipped it in the nido's blood. Not sure if it would be good, he sniffed it, then made a big bite into the cooked meat. "Not bad, not bad at all.... munch"
"I knew you'd like it!" she said as she got done gutting and cooking the other scyther. "I like scyther cooked, but nidos taste good raw." After another half hour, they were full, and Adrian kept the scyther suit on. "Now you really look like Crimson," she said as she looked at Adrian with the full scyther suit on, "he had the skill and power to kill scyther with his bare hands. I remember him in a blood stained scyther suit of armor; he even left the wings on the back!" She paused, remembering watching him snap the head off one and clear the shell it had of insides. "He was so skillful in his kills, even more than me! It was this that captivated me; a human had learned the ways of the wild hunter. I was watching him from far away when I saw him jump on a scyther and snap it's arm clean off the body. The scyther screeched, but he continued, and off came the head. He used the fallen arm as a weapon and as a tool for gutting that scyther." She paused as Adrian took this brutal scene in his mind.
"I didn't know anything could kill a scyther in such a manner, let alone a man." Adrian stated as he envisioned it.
"He could, and did often. As I came closer, he sniffed the air and turned his head. He looked straight at me, with eyes that could shatter a boulder into powder. I held up my hands and said that I would pose him no threat. He looked at me, bewildered. It was obvious that he understood me when he asked 'why'. I sat down and told him..." she stopped and closed her eyes, "I was the outcast of the group of charizards that had inhabited an island off shore a few miles. I was hated by the elders on that island because I had been accused off killing another out of jealousy and anger. I never did such a thing, but the (um.... e-v-i-dence? yeah!) evidence showed that I did. My parents never believed it, but it wasn't up to them. I was damned by the elders. I had to leave that island since it became hostile for me; everyone wanted my guts to feast on. I was about five hundred years old at the time." She paused as she remembered Crimson's reaction to this. "Crimson looked surprised. He couldn't believe what I told him. He then looked into my eyes. I started getting teary eyed as he stared at me with cold iron eyes. He said that he would take me under his wing, so to speak, after he told me his name. He would keep me company until I could find another charizard that was not of that island. I came with him to a small village after he killed another scyther. He carried the meat and armor of that scyther with him also. I gasped as I saw the village; It was made from the various hides and platings that pokémon in that area had. One person stepped up to him; she had on a thin scyther suit that was stained pink. Another slowly came to his feet and walked to him; he wore a robe made of nidoking skin. 'I've come back with more than a kill, a charizard!' he said to the people as he pointed to me. The people that were in front of him greeted me. 'I am Tiki' the woman said, 'I am a doctor here.' She took off the scyther head she had on to reveal her face. She almost looked like your modern day nurses at the hospitals." She stopped, smiled, and snorted a little fire. "It is getting late," she said as she looked up to see a full moon.
"Think we should go to sleep?" Adrian asked. Charla nodded. "Okay!"
They looked around to see if anything looked comfy to sleep on. Adrian looked over at the nido hide that Charla left when she gutted it. Then he felt the armor's inside; it was smooth and soft. He decided to just lie on his back and let the plating be his pillow. He then looked over and saw that Charla was getting comfy on the hide. He grinned, looked up at the sky, and fell asleep within a few minutes.
He began to dream.....
It was a silent, dark forest. He looked up and saw a harvest moon. He looked over and saw a strange being he had never seen. "Mew?" it said. Adrian got up and looked at the ground; it was covered with ashes. He then looked at the creature, which said something again. "Mew?"
"Who are you? I don't understand," Adrian finally said to the creature.
"YYYYYOOOUUUUUU WWWWWIIIIILLLLLLLL KNNNNOOOOOOWWWW SSSSSSOOONNNNNN......." Adrian didn't know where it came from, but he suspected the creature.
"Why am I here, in this forest? Why is the moon red?" he said, slowly.
"YYYYYOOOUUUUUU WWWWWIIIIILLLLLLLL LLLLEEEAARRRRNNNNNNNN........" came the voice, "NNNNNOOOOWWWWW...... WAKE!" it shouted, loud enough to wake the dead. Adrian saw the forest slowly disappearing into white. He tried to shield his eyes, but the white was incredibly bright. He then woke in a cold sweat.
"Huh?! What!? uuuhhhhh..." he had shot up from the sleep, but fell back down, drained.
"AHH! Are you okay?!" Charla yelled as she saw Adrian shoot from his slumber.
"Hmmmmmm.... I think so..."
"You gave me a fright! You slept for more than a day! I was going to fetch a doctor today, but you woke; what was it that you saw?"
"I saw a creature, a strange one I had never seen before. It looked at me and said something. Ughh.. I don't feel to hot.."
"You need to eat. I got and prepared a nidorina. The meat is tender and easy to digest. Have some." She had a chunk of cooked meat in her hand and handed it to Adrian. He began to eat slowly, but that changed on the second bite. He never noticed that he wasn't wearing the scyther suit. After he had eaten, he felt a little better.
"Thanks for the meat," he said as he leaned on a rocky wall.
"What did that creature say, if you don't mind me asking," she asked.
"It said something that sounded like 'new,' but it wasn't 'new.'"
"Hmmmm..... Strange. I've never encountered something that said that."
"Its head looked a little like a cat's, cute little hands, big feet, and a long thin tail. Its eyes were a lighter color of blue then that of your wings. It seemed.... harmless... in a way. Hmmph." He pondered a second. "Will you continue with your story?"
"Yes, I will."
"Crimson presented his kills as well as his new friend. 'What is your name, charizard?' was the first question out of the old man's mouth. 'I'm Charla' I told him. Crimson translated when he looked at me funny. 'Well, Charla, welcome to this village! It has been ages since any of us has seen one like you. You do not need to explain yourself as to why you here. You can live with us as long as needed.' I thanked him and I thanked Crimson. 'Crimson,' the elder called, 'you have done well again. We cannot thank you enough. As I understand, you will be leaving soon, correct?' Crimson said that he was, and to not worry. As long as they had the scyther armor and weapons, they could catch their food easily. He then looked at me and said, 'Will you join me on my adventure?' I was happy to accompany him; it was the only thing I could do to show kindness to him when he agreed to help me. He then asked me if he could fly on my back, since it was a long trip and flying would be fastest. I said hop on, we're going!" She paused to reflect back to that moment. "He told me where to go as we flew into the sky." She sighed, with a little flame coming out her nostrils. "It was a long journey; we found countless kinds of pokémon. We even saved each other's lives several times! Ahhh..., but then he wanted a family. He told me to fly back to a town we passed on one of the trips, and sure enough, he found a young, beautiful woman named Kate. She even invited me to the wedding! It was like we knew each other from the beginning." She was a little teary eyed at how much kindness and love they had toward her. "They had one child, a boy named Adrian. Kate decided on that name and we agreed that it was a great name. Sadly, Kate died of a disease unknown to them at the time. Crimson was heartbroken, and so was his son, who was only six years old at the time. The little boy turned to me and said, 'It is sad that mommy has gone, but it seems.... now..... that you will help guide me through this life.' *sniffle* He looked at me with solid blue eyes, not wavering or teary. I said to Crimson that he had a strong hearted son, and that I would do what I could to make sure he lived. Crimson, it seemed, was the only one who understood what I said, because the little boy looked at his father bewildered." She looked over at Adrian, sitting on a rock, listening to her, absorbing her words, motionless. "I spent more years with them, then Crimson died of old age. He had asked me to put his red stained scyther suit on him a few days before he died. His son, who had a wife and a child then, dug the grave and made the box, using only his strength and some tools. I attended the wake that was held for him. There were hundreds of people, all of them lives he touched in some way. His son asked me to stand in front of the crowd to say a few words after everyone else had said their part. I don't think anyone knew what I said, but they didn't need to; all who spoke said basically the same thing. When I was done, I made a plume of fire that lit the entire place with light, since it was nighttime when it ended." She paused and cleared her nostrils. "None were more sad than his son and me. We stayed at his grave for one whole week; not moving nor flinching. In that one week, winds gusted to forty miles and hour. Rains poured hard, as if fleeing from the sky. The sun shone and baked the ground at one hundred fifteen degrees Fahrenheit for fifteen hours straight on two days. We sat, and endured it all. When it was exactly a week later, his son rose from the ground, stood beside me and said, 'Come, we must feast.'"
She stopped and looked over at Adrian. He was sitting, almost in a trance, staring at her tail flame, since her tail was the source of light in the now dark sky. "Adrian?"
"Hmm.. yes?" he said lightly.
"You've been sitting there, silent, almost in a trance."
"Sorry, I've been concentrating and absorbing all that you have said. I hope the rest of those generations are just as interesting."
"No, they aren't, except one. I'll tell you after we get some sleep. Don't you scare me like you did last time, now!" she said, smiling.
"I'll try not to!" And with that, they both got comfy against some rocks and scattered plant life.
Adrian fell asleep after Charla did this time. He began to dream.....
"Adrian.... Adrian....." A voice called his name. He opened his eyes to see a vast sea of white and pearl color flowing all around him. "Where... am I?" he asked.
"You are dreaming..... This place is in your mind....... Open your mind and you will see me....." Adrian tried to do as commanded, and succeeded. An image of an old man with a solid line down his face and body stared him in the face. "I am Crimson. It is good to see that Charla is still alive, and that this family line still lives. You are the first I have contacted, since she told you more about me than she did previous times. Your mind wondered so long and so far that you have given me a link to the living world. From your mind I can see that your world is corrupted, and pokémon are used as tools for fighting. Because of your devotion to her story, my idea of pokémon will be born again, in another human of high rank and power. From your mind, there should be others like me; possibly the original captures of your mother's pokémon. A lot of things happened with your ancestors; the convergence of all these different pokémon to one person is no coincidence. Continue to listen to her stories, as well as the stories of the others, and you will have the power to change the future for the better!"
"Change the future? What?!"
"In my time, people could predict the future in various ways. Of all the different ones I heard, they all agreed that, in thousands of years, the world would be plunged into chaos by wars. All the wars would be fought using pokémon. Needless to say, the end of pokémon is what was predicted. I am telling you this now so you know that these stories of past lives have meaning. When you wake, Charla will begin by hunting; she will catch a nidoking; she will present you with the plating; she will tell a story. Listen to it, absorb it like you did the rest. It will empower you some day." As he finished, the sea of white began to go dark, and Adrian awoke.
"Ughh..." he slept in a bad position and had aches. "Charla?" She was nowhere to be seen. Must be out hunting.
It turned out to be true; she came back with a nidoking. "I couldn't believe the luck I had when I saw this big lug running around!" She dropped her kill in front of Adrian and began to gut it. "These guys have incredibly tasty meat! I'll cook you some after it's all cleared out."
"I'll try it rare this time."
"Are you sure? Okay..." She handed him some of the muscle from the nido's arm. Adrian looked over the blood enriched meat and started to eat it.
"Soft, meaty.... wow!" he couldn't believe he was eating it raw, but he loved the taste. He began to feel a little different after he was done eating. "Huh, what's this?"
"It's the nido's hide! It would make a good mat or blanket for you, but with all the plates, it could make good protection in a battle." She then handed Adrian the hide.
"Hmm... It's a little thin, but very strong. I'll keep it."
"Mmm hmm. Well, shall I continue my story?"
"Yes, please continue."
"It was a number of generations after Crimson's son's that a strange event happened.."
"I stepped out of the man's home and was going hunting. The person who was in charge of me this time was named Nicholas. He was already married, but his wife didn't like the fact that I was there. She finally left after having one child, a kid named Steven, who was sixteen and had a job at the time. He never blamed me for his mother's leaving the family, and Nick was sorry that she hated me. Anyway, I found another nidorino and proceeded in killing it and having it for lunch. There was something strange in the thing's blood. I didn't know what it was, but it would be too late when I figured out. I brought home the kill, like always, and began ripping the meat out of it. I normally just gut everything, since I am in no rush. Nick came outside and saw what I bagged. 'Good hunt today, ehh,' he said, since I didn't get anything the day before. He came close to me, and..... and... I jumped on him....," she paused, remembering that frightful event, "and I bit his arm. I came to my senses when I saw what I had done. I released my jaw and got off him. I swear, if I chomped any harder I would have cracked his arm. He got up and yelled to his son to go get the doctor. We lived close by a small hospital which was run by several doctors and a bunch of nurses. He ran and found the nearest doctor and told him what had happened. The doctor picked up some items, and ran as fast as he could to the backyard of the house where Nick was slowly bleeding to death. The doctor immediately began to disinfect the wound then started to bandage it. I sat a few yards away, sad that I had bit him. My back was facing him and my head was down. 'How exactly did this happen?!" the doctor almost shouted after he was done helping Nick. 'Charla bit me, but I know she didn't mean it. It must have been something in her latest kill.' Nick said. The doctor said to me, 'This charizard? Well, it should be locked up for doing something like this so it doesn't happen again.' 'NO!!' Nick shouted, 'She has been in this family for a lot of generations, and nothing like this ever happened!' I said that he was right. The doctor looked bewildered, 'What did she say?' Nick must have looked at me, 'She said that I was right.' Steven must have been confused when he said, 'I thought you didn't understand her language.' 'It seems that I can, now,' Nick said, slowly. 'Well, I'm getting out of here, the bill will be in the mail!' the doctor said as he walked back to his hospital. It was a few days later when I noticed a difference in his height. 'I didn't know humans could still grow when they were middle aged.' I said looking at his new height. 'I can't fit into my own shoes anymore,' he said, 'Could this have something to do with that bite you gave me?' 'I think it does,' I said to him. He was now a couple inches taller than me. Another few days passed by. He was a whole foot taller than me, and most of his clothes couldn't fit him. His legs stopped growing after that; only his feet began to grow and arch, like mine. 'I think I know what's happening to you,' I told him, 'You are becoming a charizard!' He began to take on more changes: his arms and legs began to grow heavy with muscle, his neck began to lengthen, his head grew horns, and a tail shot out of him after a few weeks. His hands and feet remained five fingered, and he grew claws that could cut diamond. He had remained outside all this time, afraid that he would smash things, and I brought him food when he needed it. His tail flame grew with intensity, and began to glow white. He began to scratch at his skin, which began to flake off his body, revealing a white skin underneath. His eyes never changed; they were still the pale green he had since he was a child. The hair on his body fell to the ground, except for a long stripe of hair in the middle of his head. He slowly began to grow taller by the day, topping out at eleven feet! Two months of changes passed and soon he had a throbbing pain in his back. 'Can you please rub my back, Charla.' he stated, not asking. I reached up and began to rub his white back. 'Ahhh... Thank you Charla, for all you've done for me these past months.' 'I couldn't just leave now, could I?' He relaxed, and hunched over. 'Charla, please move out of the way, quick!' he yelled, holding something back. I darted away just as it happened: his wings burst from his back in blood and gore. He let out a roar load enough to make mountains burst into atoms." She looked at Adrian, who had his eyes closed. "Are you awake?"
"Yes...., I am. I'm just envisioning it in my mind. Please continue."
"All right..."
"His wing span reached a whopping thirty feet! The crimson blood color against his white body began to stir some emotions from within me. I walked over to him as he retracted his wings. He turned and looked at me; his pale green eyes staring me in mine. With his giant, muscular hands, he reached out and grabbed my hand softly and lightly pulled me his way. 'What you have done to me is irreversible. How you took care of me, I should only pay back. In the light of a terrible event, you were calm, and thought things through back then, in your world. You are not a charizard to me.... You are a beautiful person of grace and intelligence far acceding the limits thought of your species. This world will know who you are: the mother of the most omnipotent being of existence.' These were his exact words. I had helped to create the most powerful being on the planet then. I couldn't resist him. He took me under his arm and he flew me to a large mountain range hundreds of miles away in a few minutes. He then set me down and flamed what was left of the blood off his back. 'Charla, I will take care of you for as long as I live. But I fear that will not be very long.' I looked at him: bulging muscles on his chest and limbs, flat stomach, a flame hot enough to incinerate me, able to fly faster than the speed of sound several times over. Something's wrong? 'Because I was once human, I fear that my life span has been severely shortened. Hm... I suppose we should get started by hunting. I did get the urges of a normal charizard, you know.' He leapt up and shot to the nearest forest. I guess scyther are everywhere and breed like those no tomorrow, because he brought back six of them, all dead and dripping blood, half an hour later. 'Five of them are to eat, this one is to test my flame on.' He picked one up and threw it in the air. It flew high in the sky and started to fall. Then he blew a flame so hot, and so concentrated, that it looked as if he gave off a solar beam! The beam of pure, raging heat hit the bug and incinerated it to nothingness. No shell, no ash. 'Ha!' With one hand he cracked the shell of another scyther, and squeezed all the meat out of the torso. He then snapped off the legs and put them in his mouth. He chewed through the legs as if they were just crusts of bread. He then flamed the meat from the torso a little, and handed it to me. 'You know I like it raw,' I said to him. 'I know, I know.'"
Adrian took all of this in and saw it happening in his mind. She didn't have to tell him what came next; he could tell. "So, what did you name your son?"
Looking a little surprised at what he said during her pause, "Oh, it was.... White-Flame. How did you know it was a male?"
"Just a guess, but it could've easily have been a female."
"Hm.... Well I thought of the name when I looked at his tail flame; it was white. His skin was not white, though. It was a deep crimson, deeper than my color. He also had golden eyes; something that shocked both of us. sigh.... The years passed by. We went back to his original house. His original son was still living there, with a wife. They had been married barely a year when we came back. 'So, you finally came back, Father.' he said with a bright smile on his face. 'Father? That?!' were the first words out his wife's mouth. 'It may seem strange, but he was a human once, just like you and me. But an accident happened, and he slowly changed into what he is now. My, you look godly!' Nick stomped over to his son and picked him up in his giant hands. 'Heh, you've grown a lot! I wish I could have seen it.' He hugged him without crushing him and placed him back down. 'So, who's your ma- I- I mean wife?' he said, pointing at the woman. They looked bewildered, then she said, 'My name is Tiki, and I run a local hospital facility during the day.' I thought it odd that she was named 'Tiki,' but I didn't say anything. Life was normal after that. Nothing big happened until he started to wither. 'I'm dying...' Nick said, wheezing. 'I told you this would happen to me.' I looked at him; the once god of pokémon now looked ancient. All the muscle he once had was gone. He couldn't even stand. 'There's something I want you to do before I pass on, Charla. Please, take me to a clearing far from trees.' I did as told, but was shocked at just how much he weighed. 'I will teach you the secret to a technique I call 'Heavy Fire.' As the name implies, there is a way to create and blow heavy fire. Look into my eyes....' I looked at him, and he reached out with giant hand and touched my head. I instantly felt a flow of knowledge from his hand. 'Now, cut my wings off...' I looked at him as if he went mad, 'Cut your wings off?!' 'Yes..... and bring two large bowls to catch the blood.' I was shocked. I called over Steven's now twenty year old son, Kevin. 'Could you bring the two largest bowls in the house, as well as a scyther blade?' He was born with the ability to understand me somehow. 'Right away!' He brought the bowls and the blade a minute later. Nick fell on stomach. 'Now, cut one off and catch blood until the bowl is full, then flame the wound shut!' he almost shouted. I placed a bowl against his right side and.... I began cut the wing. He let off a haunting yell that caused me to jump, and the blade glided straight through, cutting the bone and muscle. The wing fell off him and flapped as blood gushed out of the open hole. The bowl filled quickly and I flamed the wound shut. 'AAAHHHhhhhh....... Thank..... you..... Charla.... Now.... the other...... one.....' I couldn't do that again. I hugged his neck, 'I'm sorry Nicholas, I can't do it..."
She stopped speaking for a few minutes, trying to regain herself. Adrian got up and went to her. "Are you... all right?"
She almost began to cry, but she stopped trembling and said, "Yes..... I will be fine. Please, I must continue...." Adrian sat next to her, just in case.
"'I'll do it.' came from Steven. He was old, but had enough strength to swing the blade. 'Shhtovon,' Nick was trying to speak in human language, 'yoooowll..... mmmushhht..... d-d-dooooo..... it-t-t.....' Steven looked at what was now his father, 'I will not let you down.' I got the other bowl ready to catch the blood. Nick screamed, 'NNNOOOWWWWW!!!!' Steven brought up the blade and let it sing through the air. A clean cut; the wing fell off and flapped; Nicholas yelled; blood flowed like a river. I flamed the wound shut when the bowl almost overflowed. 'Ch-ch-ch-char-la..... Dri-nk.....' I looked at the bowl; in it I saw my reflection. I bent down and sucked up some of the blood. It burned with heat. 'Sshhhhhonnnnnn.....,' he wanted to see his son, White-Flame. Kevin was way ahead of me; he already brought out the charmander, now towering over others with a height of four feet. 'Char?' he asked. 'Dddrrrrinnnnnkk.......' White-Flame saw the bowl that was in front of me, and drank the rest of it. As soon as he was done, he looked up and blew a white hot flame. 'He finally blew fire!' I shouted. Nick motioned his hand to me. 'Cccooommme....' I came near him and he reached up with his giant hand and touched my head. He spoke to me through the connection. 'I want you and White-Flame to save my wings. Do not worry about them decaying; they will not. Tell Kevin that I want him, his father and mother, and everyone that falls in the line of this family to drink one small cup of my blood. It will always stay as it is now, and will never move until one dips a chalice into its space. Someone in this family line will receive instructions as to what my wings will be used for when the time comes. Now.... tell everyone to run, as far as they can still see all of me. Go....' He took his hand off and began to move. 'Hurry, we must all leave, quickly!' I shouted to the others. I picked up the wings and the bowls and flew off to a safe distance. He was right, the blood in the bowl never moved. White-Flame, Steven, and Kevin made their way to where I was. In the distance, we saw what Nick was doing. He stood up on his feet, lunged his head high, and did an ICE ATTACK! How this was possible I'll never know, but he somehow blew a freezing breath that made the area around him begin to snow. I also saw that it began to rain in that area as well. These are the things any fire pokémon fears, since it can cause death. The snow began to build; the rain began to pour with gale winds. In one quick action the whole area froze into a solid block of ice.. but we could still see tail flame burning inside!! I couldn't hold it any longer; I flew to the ice, White-Flame in hand. 'CHAARRRR!!!' he screamed as he saw his tail flame slowly withering. I couldn't believe it either. Then a voice called to me, '...let him touch the ice...' I walked up to the frozen cage and released White-Flame. He ran to the ice and tried to claw his way through. '....you will always have my blessing.....' the voice came again, '...now he will be complete....' It was Nicholas! 'Char?!' White-Flame was becoming charmeleon! I couldn't believe it! He gave me one last look and then flamed hot enough to make the sun seem like just a warm place! I took White-Flame away from the ice just as it happened. The frozen cage exploded into boiling rain, which quickly disappeared. We then walked back to the house. There was nothing left of him in the field; no ashes at all. I still remembered the message he told me, and so I told it to Kevin, who then told it to Steven and Tiki. The bowl of his blood remained solid until Kevin dipped a chalice into it. He scooped up a little of the blood and drank, 'It's burning within me.' He handed the cup to Tiki, who did the same and passed it to Steven. His experience was a little different, 'It was almost as if I drank liquefied fire!' White-Flame, a charmeleon now, began to say something, 'What were my people like?' It was the first time he said a word besides 'char.' I may as well take you to them I said to him. I had been exiled from that place long ago, but I must show him who we are." Charla stopped and looked at Adrian, who was leaning against her, with his eyes looking in a fixed part of space.
"Tired?" he asked looking up to her.
"Tired, no. Tired of talking, yes. Charizards do not make good speakers. Hm... I've told you more about me than I told anyone in your family. I think it's time we leave for home, now."
"But you left a cliffhanger: what ever happened to your son?"
"I took him to that island and everyone saw us come in. All the faces I remembered were still there, unchanged. My mother was the first to say something, 'I am glad you are home, again.' My father stepped forward and shouted to the rest of the charizards there, 'SHE HAS COME BACK!' Everyone came to greet me, and my son. 'What?! I thought he was concealing his wings! Look, it's a giant charmeleon!' He was big, almost too big for the trip there. At seven feet tall, and all muscle, he was taller than nearly all the others, including me. 'He is named White-Flame, for how his tail flame burns.' Everyone looked. No one's tail flame shone that brightly. 'Who was the father?' asked my father. He was a god is what I told him. Then I told exactly what had happened to create him, and how he died. 'Your prophecies were true, Ash. She would come back with the white flamed child,' an elder said to another. The elder Ash was the oldest of this group at around six thousand years at that time. He stepped forward and said, 'The prophecy also stated that this child must stay on this island. In about two thousand years, he will be called upon to help save the world. What you do now could effect the outcome of the future world. I can't tell you what to do now. None of us can. You must make a decision.' I decided to leave my son in the care of my parents, and to fly back to the human family I was used to." She looked up. "I wonder how he is, if he has his father's heart, if he's a father now...."
"Everything is all right, Charla. Now, if you want, we can leave." Adrian said, slowly.
"Thank you for listening so well Adrian. I don't think any of your ancestors sat through a story like you did! They mostly fell asleep about half way through." They packed everything they had and went home.

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