The Exposition: The Choosing.
I woke up. I stared at my alarm. And I groaned. I was late, yet again. I slammed my fist onto the button of the bright red clock. I sighed, and got up to get ready for whatever was going to happen today.
I walked out the front door of my house, after saying goodbye to my mother. Adjusting my red and white cap, I made my way to the University of Kanto. The school was the only college in Kanto, and was ranked one of the best in the world. Students from Pewter to Saffron City came to attend. It was the best place to soak in knowledge from the greats of the past, like Samuel Oak, who teaches there.
As I approached the giant building that was the University, I saw someone holding the doors for me as they were closing. I squinted to see who it was, and lo and behold! It was Blue, my best friend and rival. I sped up into a sprint, and slid past Blue into the air-conditioned hallway. He followed suit, and fell on his butt in exhaustion. "Dude, seriously. Do I have to do that everyday? You're killing me, man!" he groaned, as he stood up steadily. "Let's just get to class."
I nodded, and started walking up the stairs to the second floor, then the third to get to my classroom, Room 301-A. I was among the below average students there, being on the third floor. Blue was on the tenth floor, due to his genius brain passed on by his grandfather. There were ten floors in all of the building, ranking the students from experienced veterans to complete newbies that didn't even know how to fight. I pushed open the door to find 29 sets of eyes upon me. "You're late, Mr. Red." I shrugged, and mumbled an apology, and took my seat in the back of the room.
"Anyway, as I was saying before Mr. Red rudely interrupted me, today is the ceremony of selection. As you all know, the Professors and the Headmaster will choose three students to undertake a journey to try to claim the treasure of Kanto: the Wand of Mew. Now, the remainder of this class is to prepare for the tournament to decide the three champions." the Professor pushed her glasses up, gave a snooty "Hm!" and sat down, beginning to scroll through the list of students she could potentially pick to go on the journey. I sighed and put my head onto my desk. There's no way that I could be chosen...no way, whatsoever.
I fired up my Inventory Storage, accessible from my phone. Just my basic things were in there, like a school Honedge. I mentally sighed. None of the lower floors could compete against the upper floors, because the students from floor Six to Ten had rich families that could afford better items, like a Kabutop's Scythe, which were extremely rare because wild Kabutops could only be found from rezzing a fossil. I came from just a below average family, so the only thing I got was the Honedge we rented at the beginning of the year. I booted off the device and sunk my head onto my desk. Nothing like a nap, huh?
AN HOUR LATER
I followed my class out to the outdoor stadium. It was a real simple concept, just like a Coliseum. Here, each level of fighters will do battle, and the champions from each floor will fight each other. I found Blue, he was loitering around the pit where the fighters geared up. Currently, the first level was putting on their armor and weapons. "Who's gonna win?" he asked me. I shrugged, and he shook his head, sighing. "You should really talk more often, dude." I shrugged again. He continued to ramble on. "I heard about this girl from Floor Nine. She might be better than most of the students from Floor Ten. Dunno why she's stuck a level below me. She uses a rapier, that apparently uses magic. Fierce."
I ignored Blue and just gazed out onto the field of battle. It was barren now, but the Headmaster used magic to change up the layout, according to level. Floor One would probably get the simplest map, a grassy field. My floor would most likely get a village, where the objective would be to defeat barbarians and enemy fighters.
"Alright, champ! Imma leave you to fight, so see ya in the final round. Good luck, bro!" Blue left, leaving those words behind. Gotta get ready.
Walking into the pit, I found myself a spot where I could prepare. I pulled my Honedge from the Storage, and set my gear. It was fairly simple, just some metal body armor. I sat down on a bench near where I was. And waited for the battle to start. I heard the roars of the crowd of students that watched the matches before theirs.
I could not sit still in this pit. I had to roam, so I got up and took a lap around the pit. Simple, and very Spartan in design. The prepping students were being replaced with the more experienced fighters from the upper levels. As I wandered the halls of the pit, I saw Blue, he was talking to an older man, he seems important. I waited for their conversation to finish, but it only seemed to drag on. The old man noticed me, and beckoned for me to come over. I shrugged to myself, what's the harm?
I went over to the pair that was talking. The old guy extended his hand, which I shook. "Hello, lad, I don't know if you know me or not, but my name is Oak. Headmaster Oak." He added the end part with a chuckle. I was stunned, why was the Headmaster in the pit? It hit me just as I ended that thought. Blue was his grandson, no wonder. It also explains why Blue is in Level Ten, since he learned so much from Oak. "Your friend is a man of few words, my boy!" Oak said as he laughed, patting my back. He noticed my lack of equipment, and looked into my eyes. "Boy, I know your parents. Why is it that you have such little equipment?" I shrugged and said nothing, and in truth, my parents wanted to save money for food and essential items for life. Such as that PokeRoomba they bought...
A clap on the shoulder from the Headmaster shook me out of my thoughts. "My boy, I'll offer you a once in a lifetime opportunity." He said this seriously, unlike the jolly old guy moments ago. "I'll give you a choice of three items…" I looked at him in amazement, this really was a once in a lifetime chance. "...only if you venture to collect information on every item there is in the Kanto region."
What.
This guy is expecting me to just leave my parents, my friends, and my life behind to devote myself to this Quest he's giving me. "I've already notified your parents, and they're okay with it, your only friend is my grandson here, and the only life you have is staring at the ceiling thinking about receiving your first Grand Quest." Oak said.
He's a wizard, Blue, your grandpa is a wizard. "So are you going to take this chance, or not?" he asked me again, getting slightly irritated that this mute kid would not answer. I thought about it. And nodded my head. He clapped his hands together, and grinned in glee. "Alright, I'll give you your item now." He disappeared in the pit's passageway for a small minute, and came out wheeling a cart with three weapons on it. One, a rose rapier, like the one the girl Blue mentioned had. Two, a crimson ninjato with kanji inscribed on the blade. Three, a shield and hammer, like what Blue had.
I pondered the choice, and ultimately went with the ninjato. I felt a connection to it, like it was calling me. Oak praised my decision. "Ah, the Charmander's Flame! It's very explosive, but difficult to wield." He paused, like he was thinking about something. "Aha! Let me grab something from my inventory for you!" He pulled out his tablet, and tapped a few buttons. I internally gasped at the sight of this weapon, it was incredibly rare to find the materials, and to forge the blade. In Headmaster Oak's hands was a Tsurugi, the rare blade that chooses its owner. "I think you are the perfect candidate for this. You just have that passion in your eyes, like your mother." I flinched at the mention of my mom. Was she a Fighter also? "She used this Tsurugi to win many battles, and even climbed the Indigo Plateau. She almost beat Lance, but lost due to you." Wait. So my mom scaled Indigo Plateau. While she was preggos with me.
I now have newfound respect for my mom. "Anyways, Red. I want you to wield this Tsurugi." He offered the blade to me, and I immediately felt small sparks of electricity flowing through my skin. I hesitantly grab the sword, and it just felt...right, like it was meant for me. The Headmaster smiled, saying, "Congratulations! You didn't die!" I looked at him in confusion, and he elaborated. "As I said, the Tsurugi chooses its owner. If the wrong person wields it, then well, they die." In shock, I looked down and all around me to make sure I wasn't missing a body part or anything. I sighed in relief, thank goodness none of my body was harmed. "Now, give me your Honedge, I'm pretty sure you don't need that now." I obliged greatly, and eagerly thrust the school's Honedge into his arms. He stored it, and clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Red. I already know how good you are at fighting. Just try, please?" I gazed into the eyes of the Headmaster, and I nodded my head in agreement, those new weapons really instilled a fire inside of me. "Good! I look forward to seeing you in the Championship round!" With a loud laugh, he walked off to officiate the first match.
This whole time, Blue was just staring at the whole exchange with a stupid look on his face. He couldn't believe what just happened in front of his eyes, his best friend just got given not one, but TWO rare weapons. Blue felt happy and jealous for his friend, but decided to stow away those feelings until he sees him in battle. "Alright, bud. I'll see you later. You better make it to the final match, because I got some tricks up my sleeve." I nodded, and went back to the pit's locker room to prep myself once again.
A few hours later, the Level Three battle was announced. I walked out of the pit with my classmates, and observed the field of battle. It wasn't what I predicted, it was instead littered with wooden poles bound to the ground. "Fighters, climb a pole! You will have to stay on the poles the whole battle! If you fall or get knocked off, you're out!" Oak's voice boomed throughout the stadium. A rousing cheer erupted from the crowd, making us Level Three Fighters riled up. We ran to poles we thought had strategic advantage, but in reality, none had one, so we were just stupid.
As we settled on the poles, I slowly drew my Flame and Tsurugi, which did not yet have a name. I studied it, trying to think of a good name. An idea floated in my mind, and I snatched it. "Your...name is...Lightning." Simple, but gets the point across. I looked up at the countdown, we had five seconds left. I tensed up, getting ready to move on the poles. The buzzer rang, and I leaped from one pole to another, trying to find an enemy Fighter to battle. I found one, he was big and wielding what looked like to be Geodude's Set. It possessed a pair of rock solid knuckles, tough body armor, and a helmet that was carved from a Geodude's head.
He spotted me, and gave me a "C'mon!" hand signal. I dashed at him, with Flame and Lightning. I slashed and slashed at him, but was doing minimal damage. Then I realized, he had Rock type armor, and I was using Fire and Electric type weapons. In addition, his armor might contain some traces of Ground types, nullifying the effects of Lightning. I hopped back a few poles, and awaited his strikes. Instead, he decided to use a healing spell, Rest. He got down into an Indian style pose, and started to repair lost damage. I growled, and channeled my power. Flame started glowing an interesting color, and so did Lightning. I looked at both of them and I knew. I knew how to beat this guy. He was almost done with his spell, so I ran at him, Flame in front, and Lightning at the back, ready to swing itself at him. "Metal Claw, Iron Tail!" I mentally shouted, and slashed at him with both Steel type attacks. He took too much damage, and he fell off the pole, dazed.
What happened after that was a blur. All I remembered was Oak saying, "Look at your new Level Three Champion! RED!"
Second Fanfic, don't hate, just review please!
