Hello all! My first Pokemon fic! Just a one-shot, a little something fun. Sorry for any OOC-ness, this story isn't meant to be at all serious.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. If I did, we'd have been seeing a lot more of Leaf after Gen III.
"…"
That's all there was. Silence, never a word spoken by the man. Ethan panted slightly, hands on his knees. He'd won the battle, but the exhaustion sure didn't make it feel that way. His opponent, the legendary Pokémon Master Red, didn't even look winded.
Red's expression never changed, even as he replaced the pokéball for his Lapras on his belt. Then, there was a flash of light filling the cavern that momentarily blinded Ethan and his friends, and when they could see again, he was gone.
"Wow…" Lyra muttered, "that guy really is as mysterious as the rumors around him."
"Oh come on, all he did was use flash to blind us and run," Kris said. "Look, there's another tunnel over there. It's hard to make out, but that's obviously how he got out."
"Hmm… let's follow!" Lyra said, sounding giddy. "I've got so many questions for him!"
"Yeah," Ethan agreed, straightening up. "That was the toughest battle I've ever fought, and I don't think anyone wants to leave it at that. Right, Gyarados?"
The shiny Gyarados gave a growl that was probably agreement; it was a little hard to tell, even when he wasn't exhausted. With a small smile, Ethan returned his Gyarados to its pokéball and made for the small tunnel that had been behind Red.
The tunnel wound upwards, and as they moved up, Ethan could see light up ahead. Either another well-lit cavern with holes open to the sky, like where he'd battled Red, or they were about to emerge outside.
It turned out to be the latter, and Ethan gasped slightly as he looked around and realized they were at the summit of Mount Silver.
What was perhaps more surprising though, was the two-story wooden cabin ahead. There were lights on inside.
"Well… I suppose there isn't anyone who could handle being up here for a long time without some proper shelter," Lyra said. The others nodded in agreement before all three began trudging through the snow towards the cabin.
Up here, at the peak of Mount Silver, the constant snowstorm for which the mountain was famous raged with such ferocity that Ethan doubted any pokémon that wasn't a legendary could possible fly in it.
As they approached the cabin, the door opened up to reveal a Chansey, waving its arms at them as if to usher them inside. They hurried in, not wanting to inconvenience the matronly pokémon inviting them somewhere warm.
The first floor of the cabin seemed to be mostly one big room, with the exception of what looked like a closet and a restroom, plus another closet under the stairs leading to the second floor. Near those stairs was a medical station, similar to the ones they'd seen in pokémon centers, along with a transfer PC on a counter next to it. There was a fireplace against the opposite wall from them, as well as lowered circular seating area with a fire pit in the middle and a chimney built directly overhead.
"Chanse!" The Chansey cried at them, ushering Kris and Lyra towards the seating area with one arm while pushing Ethan towards the medical station with the other.
"Whoa, alright, alright!" Ethan said with a slight laugh, beginning to pull his pokéballs off his belt and letting the Chansey slot them into the healing station.
It had been nearly a year, and the technology still fascinated him.
Kris and Lyra, meanwhile, had seated themselves around the fire pit, holding out their hands in an attempt to warm them after the incredible chill of first the Mount Silver caverns, and then the incredible snowstorm just outside.
They stayed there for awhile, the Chansey tending to them. The only time they saw another soul was when a Blissey emerged from the door under the stairs carrying a large trey with three meals on it, incidentally revealing the door actually led to a basement rather than a closet. The Blissey came back a few times, carrying food for their pokémon, prompting the trainers to let them out of their pokéballs (well, Ethan's were an exception, still resting on the med station).
What had astounded the three of them was that the two nurse pokémon displayed no surprise at just what pokémon the trainers had.
Most were normal enough—Kris had a Typhlosion, Miltank, Raichu, Dragonite, and Tyranitar, while Lyra had a Meganium, Noctowl, Gengar, Azumarill, and Umbreon.
(Ethan's recovering pokémon included his Feraligatr, Alakazam, Gyarados, Steelix, and Pidgeot)
But they each had one pokémon with them that should've turned heads anywhere—specifically, Kris's Suicune, Lyra's Entei, and Ethan's Raikou. But neither Chansey nor Blissey batted an eye at the presence of the elusive legendary beasts.
Ultimately, the friends had shrugged it off. Given that these two likely spent a lot of time around Red, who was rumored to have four legendary pokémon himself, perhaps it wasn't that surprising.
It was shortly after Ethan's pokémon had finished healing and the smaller ones had been let out of their balls to eat that the three friends heard movement from the stairs. Looking that way, they were expecting to see Red coming down the stairs.
What they weren't expecting was a young woman in red shorts and a teal shirt, looking at them with a faint smile.
"So, I see someone managed to beat Red," she said. "Geez, that's no good. I'll have to send someone after him now to remind him that moping won't get him any closer to his goal."
The three trainers from New Bark Town blinked owlishly, glancing at each other before Lyra coughed slightly.
"He's uh, he's not here?" she asked.
"Nope," the newcomer said with a bright smile. "No doubt, he's headed for the pokémon center at the foot of the mountain, because he can't stand the idea of letting me see him after someone else put him in his place."
That statement left the guests even more confused.
"Um… put him in his place?" Kris asked. The teenager's smile seemed to get a bit bigger.
"That's right, a regular reminder that, no, he's not the most powerful trainer in the world, and he's still many worlds away from trying to wrestle that title for himself."
"Wait, I thought he was considered the world's most powerful trainer," Ethan said, confused, and maybe a little disappointed at the idea that he might not have gotten as far as he thought yet.
Their host giggled at that.
"Well yes," she said, "but you shouldn't believe every story you hear on the street. Let me introduce myself." She walked to the bottom of the stairs and placed a hand on her chest. "My name is Leaf, the world's greatest pokémon master."
"We've seriously never heard of you," Ethan said. Leaf's smile didn't falter in the slightest.
"Of course not! I prefer it that way," she said. "It's irritating enough with Red, Blue, Lance, Wallace, Steven, Cynthia, Alder, and Iris constantly trying to challenge me, you think I want the world to know about me? I like having Red to serve as my patsy."
"A little cocky, aren't you?" Kris said.
"Less than I appear to be, but I think being overly dramatic makes life more fun."
Lyra couldn't help but giggle a little at that.
"Anyways," Leaf said, "feel free to rest up. There are plenty of spare bedrooms upstairs, and I have pokémon that can teleport you back down the mountain whenever you like as well. If you're interested, I'd be happy to battle all three of you; that one of you beat Red tells me you and your pokémon must be tough."
"What, the legendary pokémon weren't enough of a clue?" Ethan asked in a joking tone. Leaf shook her head.
"That doesn't mean a whole lot to me," she said, "after all, I've got quite a few legendary pokémon myself." Kris perked up at this.
"Really? What kinds?"
Leaf gave them a playful smirk.
"Battle me tomorrow, and maybe you'll get a peek."
It really was a fairly clever setup Leaf had.
The basement of the cabin held the storage, kitchen, and a full-on miniature hospital room in the event of injuries that couldn't be resolved by the miracle of pokémon medical stations. The main floor was simply that giant lobby, perfect for lounging around. Upstairs, an office, full bathroom, and four bedrooms, including a master bedroom with master bathroom. Really, calling it a cabin was a bit misleading given its size.
Power was provided by a team of electric type pokémon, water by water-type pokémon, and it turned out there was a greenhouse behind the cabin which was kept warm by fire-type pokémon, while being tended to by grass- and ground-types.
There were well over a hundred pokémon at work in the cabin. It wasn't necessarily very efficient, but it was comfortable—home.
But in truth, Red stayed here more than Leaf did as he trained to beat the one obstacle he'd never been able to overcome. She'd been the best of Oak's students, always a step ahead of both Red and Blue. Red had the misfortune of bringing up the rear between the three of them, but he eventually managed to surpass Blue, but still he lagged behind Leaf.
When the abandoned power plant on Kanto's east coast mysteriously powered up, she'd beaten him there and captured Zapdos. When the Seafoam Islands suddenly froze over and the ice began to spread towards Cinnabar and the mainland, she was the one who first reached the bottom of the undersea caves and captured the Articuno responsible. When Mt Ember in the Sevii Islands became active and threatened to erupt out of the blue, she was the first to reach its peak and discovered the Moltres preparing a nest, only to be captured.
She wasn't quite as proud of that last one, but she'd made it up to her new legendary firebird when she found a different volcano to serve as a nest, and suddenly she had a whole clutch of baby legendaries, so, hey, can't complain!
And then, that defining moment—Red had been champion for mere days when she defeated the Elite Four with a simple Miltank. Then she swept Red's entire team—his Pikachu, Blastoise, Charizard, Venasaur, Lapras, and Snorlax—with her Dragonite. It was only for her formal induction into the Hall of Fame that she'd revealed her other four pokémon to be her legendary bird trio and a Mew.
(She'd gotten many, many questions regarding that one. Her lips had remained sealed all these years)
Leaf had turned down the title of champion, and Red decided against holding onto it, so Lance ultimately stepped into the role. Not long after that, they'd all ended up in Cerulean Cave, investigating rumors of a mysterious, super pokémon.
That had been Mewtwo. The clone pokémon had devastated the Elite Four, Red, Blue, and even took down most of Leaf's pokémon with little effort.
Fortunately, Mew had been powerful enough to wear down Mewtwo to the point he couldn't psychically deflect the prototype Master Ball she'd used to capture him.
After that, she'd dedicated herself to traveling the world, seeking to better herself and achieve the impossible: total completion of the pokédex. She'd used this cabin only briefly before leaving it to Red as he trained atop one of the world's most dangerous mountains, hoping to one day defeat her.
Maybe losing to Ethan would finally remind him that he needed to travel, to explore, to adventure, to live, if he wanted to grow stronger. To bond more closely with not only all the pokémon he had, but all the pokémon that might be his partners if he'd take the chance.
Leaf had only grown stronger—she'd traveled the globe, been just about everywhere, been to space, even been to other worlds. She had thousands of pokémon, numbering more than eight hundred varieties, and she still wasn't even close to completing the pokédex and it was thrilling.
It was a story that she didn't think would ever end, and she was more than happy to call that story her own.
But for now… she had some challengers to face and wisdom to impart.
The next morning, after a full breakfast and a chance for her three challengers to make any last changes to their teams, Leaf had called upon one of her many Alakazam to teleport the quartet to a more appropriate battle location, one of her personal favorites.
It was a remote island, with a stadium-style arena that her pokémon had built for her. This place was special—it was where the fossil from which Mewtwo was cloned had been found, and where she captured her Mew.
"Welcome to Faraway Island!" Leaf said, spreading her arms wide. Their only audience would be the pokémon that inhabited the island. "Now, then, whose first?"
After a moment of debate between them, Lyra decided to step forward. Leaf smiled and gave a nod as the two proceeded to opposite sides of the battle arena.
"Alright Lyra," she said, "on a scale of one to twenty, with one being an eighth badge gym leader, five being a member of the Elite Four, ten being Red, and twenty being my fifth best team, where do you want to start?"
Lyra bristled slightly before smirking, drawing her first pokéball.
"Twenty-five," she said confidently. Kris and Ethan both cheered on her decision.
Leaf smiled back. She liked these three.
"If you insist," she said, pressing a button on her pokédex and summoning a premier ball.
"Go, Meganium!" Lyra cried, throwing her starter's pokéball.
"I choose you…" Leaf threw the premier ball out, releasing a legend from the faraway Kalos region, a power herb resting in its antlers. "Xerneas!"
She doubted Lyra would make it through Xerneas, but even if the girl did, there was no way she'd be able to also make it through Ultra Necrozma, Primal Kyogre, Primal Groudon, Mega Rayquaza, and Arceus itself.
But she also had no doubt all three would learn from these battles—and that, in itself, was worthwhile enough.
Author's Notes: Sorry, no actual battles here. Doing so would've drawn it out a lot more than I wanted, though I admit that I probably could've avoided that problem by simply only including one of the Johto protagonists instead of all three.
Leaf is a little arrogant here, but that's pretty much deliberate. She's basically a player who went through every single game while carrying all their Pokemon with them.
There really isn't much in the way of characterization here, but that's kind of the nature of a one-shot, though a few ideas here are borrowed from a much more expansive story that's bounced around in my head for awhile.
Again, though, nothing in this fic is super serious, save for maybe that middle section with a kind of Leaf introspective.
Anyways, hope this was at least a little fun for everyone; it just sort of came of the idea that, as cool as facing Red is, it can also be a bit of a letdown that he's nothing more than a bonus boss, plus we never get to see Leaf (well, not until Let's Go! anyways).
Please review, and maybe I'll see you all again!