PROLOGUE

"But mom I don't want to move towns," a nine-year-old Red whined to his mother who was furiously packing her bags. "I want to stay here in Pallet Town," he grouched.

His mother was having none of it. She looked up from her suitcase, already full to the brim, and she shooed him off. "Stop bothering me Red, go and pack your suitcase," she said, dismissing him.

Delia knew that despite her child wanting to stay in Pallet, they had to get out of town. A close friend of hers had called her recently, warning her that there were people looking for her, looking for her and Red. Delia was perplexed initially, how could they have caught up with her? She had managed to only tell two people where she was going to go when she went into hiding and those people were Professor Oak – her friend and Dr. Fennel who had since passed away two years ago. So how? Could Oak have told? But that can't be it...he was the one who told ME about them...

Red sat on his bed, his suitcase packed. He checked his watch then checked it again waiting for when his mother would come upstairs and tell him she was ready to go. He'd been ready for an hour already but she was taking too long. He sighed but it was short-lived as there was soon a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," he yelled as he bolted down the stairs eager for some excitement. His mother rounded the corner before he could reach the door and yelled at him to get back. Why? He thought. There's someone at the door. He saw his mother make her way slowly to the door, placing her hand on the knob and slowly turning it. She looked at the person in front of her and sighed, it was only Blue.

Blue blinked. "Um…is everything all right Mrs. Ketchum," he asked as he brushed aside Red's mother and made his way towards Red.

Delia looked at him. "Hmm? Oh, yes everything is fine Blue, we were just getting ready to leave," she said motioning for Red to get ready. Red shrugged and pointed at his already dressed-self and his packed suitcase. Delia huffed as she got his point. "I'll only be ten minutes more," she said before she bustled off.

"Why're you here," Red asked Blue as soon as his mother had left.

"Why wouldn't I be," Blue replied. "Oh and Green is coming soon too," he stated as an afterthought.

Red sighed as he collapsed on the couch opposite of Blue. Blue looked at him for a moment before settling down on the floor near the couch.

"So-," Blue started before the ring of the doorbell interrupted him. "Oh that must be Green," he said getting up and making his way to the door.

"Peep the eyehole," Red called after him. "We don't want her coming in wearing pink!"

Blue groaned at the stupid joke but nonetheless checked the eyehole. He blanched. This wasn't Green. No, this was something else. Something not good. The doorbell rang again casting an echo around the house.

Red got up on his elbows. "Well? Aren't you going to open it," he asked his friend who had noticeably gone white in the face.

Blue shook his head and was about to make his way towards Red when a loud sound rang through the Ketchum household as the main door came crashing down.

Delia was confused. She had so many things she wanted to pack yet so little space inside her suitcase. Hmm, she thought. Maybe I should go ask Red if he has some extra space in his. She made her way to Red's room but she didn't get far as before she could make it, the ground beneath her shook like an earthquake and Delia soon found herself on the floor wondering what that was. It couldn't be, she thought as her eyed widened. The kids! Red! She thought frantically before equipping herself with her blade.

It was a duel blade combo and it hadn't been cheap. That was how it was nowadays. Everyone needed a weapon to protect themselves and the better the weapon, the more expensive it was. Delia had to fork over half her money just to get her hands on the little sucker.

She made her way down slowly, calling Red and Blue's names. The living room downstairs could barely be seen with all the smoke fogging it up. She grew worried, as she could neither see Blue nor Red. Blade in hand, she made her way into the fog …

"Red," Blue whispered to the boy who looked like he was thinking long and hard. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing Blue? Playing with diamonds and pearls? I'm thinking," he said.

"This isn't the time to be thinking," Blue shouted. "We need to get out of here! The house is under attack!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Red said arrogantly. "Whoever it is, is no match for me anyways," he said walking backwards with his hands in the air.

"Uh … Red?"

"Yes?"

"Don't turn ar-," he tried to say before Red turned around. Red came face-to-face with a humongous arachnid-like creature. It had eight long spindly legs and two very large teeth with a spiky horn protruding from its forhead. Red did what any other normal person would do in this scenario. He screamed. And then he screamed a little more. And then he screamed again.

Blue face-palmed. "I said don't turn around," he said indignantly.

"And miss this beautiful creature who looks like it wants to eat me? How could I resist," Red answered with sarcasm.

"What are we gonna do about it," Blue asked.

"It hasn't moved in the last few minutes. It's just staring. Ew."

"Um… I'm going to go get your mom," Blue said as he began walking in the other direction. He soon returned back to Red. "If I could see I would totally go but I can't."

Red looked at him and blinked. "You're scared," he said matter-of-factly. It was as if the situation at hand had finally hit Red. His house was under attack. There was a huge arachnid beast above their heads and his mother was nowhere to be found. Red took it like a man. He sat down on the busted couch, put his head in his hands and began to cry.

Blue looked at Red uncomfortably. He wasn't good at cheering people up and this was a serious situation, they still didn't know what had happened. Red seemed to come back by himself however as he looked up at Blue, wiped his eyes, got up and said, "come on, we're going to find my mom."

Red led the way through the thick smog as Blue followed behind. "Mom," he called but there was never a reply.

"Mrs. Ketchum," Blue called as well only to be met with silence. "You don't think-," Blue began but Red clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Shut up."

"I'm just saying that-," but Red interrupted him.

"Well don't," he said as he walked off leaving Blue to catch up.

Where could those boys be, Delia asked herself for the hundredth time. She had skipped the living room in exchange for the basement from where she had heard a strange noise. She made her way carefully down the invisible steps as she held on to the banister. "Red," she called. "Blue!"

Delia heard a sound behind her. She quickly turned around, blade in one hand but she was too slow. She felt something hit against her head. She passed out on the floor; the baseball bat used to attack her was dropped beside her. Red, she thought.

"You idiot," a man said to the other who had been previously holding the baseball bat used to attack Red's mother.

"I got sidetracked," the man responded. "She turned around so quickly and did you see that blade in her hand? She would've killed me!"

"We weren't supposed to get her though you dumbass. The child was top priority and you went off and knocked out his mother," the first one said. "She could've given us some useful information. Now she's probably dead."

"Yeah, yeah, save it. We still need to grab that kid, if he's not in here then burn the house. We don't want him coming back."

"Pfft. He's still here. No little baby runs off without its mother."

"He has a friend with him, if you see him then exterminate him. We don't want others getting involved. Remember, top priority is the kid."

"I just told you that!"

"Get to work grunt."

Both grunts looked hard and long for any sign of Red and his friend, Blue but to no avail. They met back together thirty minutes after having searched the house fully.

"Well," said the first grunt. "I got nothing."

"Neither did I," said the second. "The little brat's gone."

"We still burning the house down?"

"You bet we are."

And so it went, both grunts got outside the house and spilled kerosene around it. Lighting a match, the first grunt threw it into the liquid and the house was instantly enveloped in flames.

"Well, I wish I could say a job well done but we got nothing done," the first grunt said.

"Never getting that promotion," snickered the second as they walked off leaving the Ketchum household in flames.

"Something's burning," Red said from outside his backyard balcony.

"Well duh," Blue replied. "There's smoke everywhere and I'm not talking about the smoke from before."

Both Red and Blue had taken refuge in the balcony that was located in Red's room after hearing both grunts. The balcony was only accessible through a trap door that Delia had had installed by Professor Oak when they had heard news of another baby. She hadn't wanted the poor thing to go outside by accident. Unfortunately, Delia had lost the baby before it was born but the trap door had remained.

"Come on," Red said as he got back inside his room. "Woah." The entire house was in flames. Fire leaping at all edges. Quite intimidating for a nine-year-old.

"Um…Red? I hate to break your fascination but we need to find your mother and get out of here or we'll be burned alive," Blue said in a calm tone.

That seemed to shake Red out of it. "Come on," he said as he ran downstairs calling for his mom. "Mom," he yelled.

"Um Red," Blue called from the top stair of the basement. "I found your mom."

Red dashed over to where Blue was only to be met with his mother on the ground, unconscious. "Mom," he asked, his voice cracking. He looked back at Blue. "Come on," he started. "We have to help her out of here, the house is this close to being burnt down."

Blue grabbed the hands of Red's mother as Red grabbed her feet as they tried to lift her past the stairs. "Red, come on we gotta go," Blue said. "We can't get her past these stairs and if we don't leave now we'll all be dead!"

"Are you crazy," Red said. "My mother is in this house, I'm not leaving!"

"Red we … we'll have to leave her here…"

"Fine, go by yourself. I'd rather be dead than leave my own mom here to burn," Red said as he sat adamantly on the ground beside his mother.

Blue let him sit there for a good thirty seconds before grabbing on his arm and forcefully pulling him up the stairs. Red didn't say anything. He didn't do anything. But he still felt the drops of tears run down his face. Blue dragged him outside the house and then turned around at the sight. It was just their luck that Red's house was practically on the outskirts of town and no house was in nearby distance to run to for help. Red looked up at the house he'd grown up in for the past nine years. He saw himself reading books to himself in his room. Singing loudly with his mother. Inviting Blue over for sleepovers. Baking cookies for the bake sale. Then he saw what was in front of him. The smoldering house, burning. His mother passed out on the basement floor. The flames growing wilder. And then, Red fainted.

Well, there it is. I really didn't want to kill off Delia, I really didn't but I needed a huge loss in the beginning to justify behaviour that would happen in the future. In hindsight, I could've killed off Oak, but he's kind of important lmao. Poor Delia tho. Oh well. Review!