A.N. Hi. Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I'll be honest, I kinda started this on whim, you know, the whole, "Let's post the story I've had in my mind for years because I can't find anything like it anywhere!" kinda deal. However, I have, slight anxiety issues. Okay probably major ones, and for life of me, I could not post another chapter, let alone work up the courage to write. But, I can't get better, or get over my stupid fear if I don't write, so, here's chapter 2! I'm gonna put more down at the bottom, but for now, here's a super long chapter 2. Please leave a review if you like, and review telling what you didn't in the comments (nicely if you could, please, it would really help me out to, you know, keep my chin up and keep writing).

Chapter 2

"Get it!"

"Don't let it get away!"

Almost 6 months had passed, and the boy called Red watched from the window as 4 boys tore away from the orphanage, chasing after a rattata. Red allowed the smallest of smiles to appear on his face as he thought of how the small rat Pokémon had been stealing bits of the children's lunch. Red had no problems with sharing his food with the local Pokémon, but the others did, and this thought brought a frown to his face. The others had never had the chance to even see the Pokémon before that moment, and he began to wonder if it would still be safe when they cornered it.

Perhaps I should help. Momma Kangaskhan did say that to do the right thing you have to help others in need. It was injured, limping as it tried to make its escape, is that "in need". Red continued to stare out the window for a moment more, still lost in thought. Helping it is what she would have called "the right thing to do", but I'd really rather not deal with them any more than I must. But, He wouldn't have wanted me to help. He wouldn't care, He would just say that the weak deserve to die, that it's survival of the fittest. No, I won't be like Him, I'll help it, I won't let it die, I won't be like that anymore. I'll be what Momma Kangaskhan said that she knew I could be, and this shall be my first step without her here to guide me.

Having made up his mind, Red slipped down the stairs, making an unnoticed exit out the back door. He quickly followed the sound of shouting, to a small, dark alley, barely big enough to have 2 boys stand shoulder to shoulder, and littered with trash. The 4 boys stood at the end of the alley, with the rattata trying to press itself further into the corner. Red narrowed his eyes, hating the way they were frightening the poor thing. It was scratched up badly, and moved with a limp. From where he stood, it also appeared that the young Pokémon had one eye shut.

"Teach it a lesson!" one of the boys shouted. He had light brown hair, and looked to be slightly older than Red.

"Yeah Nick! Make it pay!" another one shouted. This one joined the brown haired boy in the back, jeering the other two on. The blonde haired boy at the front gave a thumbs-up, before moving closer to the rattata.

"Stop it!" Red shouted, the sound echoing off the walls of the small alleyway, making him sound much louder than he had originally intended.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Crybaby. What are you going to do, go cry to old Mr. Park. Maybe if you cry enough you and the rat can be friends, it'd be the first you'd of ever had," the 4th and final boy taunted. This boy appeared to be around perhaps 10, with black hair, pulled back in a low ponytail.

"Freak. You only talk when it benefits you. Why don't you go talk to old Park, maybe then you can get sent where you belong, to the trash," the brown haired one shouted.

"Why don't you go cry to someone who cares," the youngest one taunted.

"You- you shouldn't hurt a creature that can barely defend itself," Red whispered.

"Get outa here you Crybaby! Unless you plan on fighting us over this pest, leave!" shouted Nick.

Red flinched the moment Nick brought up the idea of fighting. He had come to hate that idea. Fighting was what brought him here, to the place that no-one liked him, brought him to the fear that everyone would hate him. Fighting is what tore his best friend from him.

Lost in his memories, the boy with brown hair slid up to him. Red had never really bothered to learn any of their names, he kept to himself mostly, dealing with them only when he had to. And as Red's mind drifted more and more, the boys sneered at him, laughing when the brown haired one punched him in the face.

Unprepared, Red was sent tumbling to the floor. As the boys laughed, Red restrained the urge to stand up and hit the boy back. He didn't want to hurt anyone, not anymore. I won't give in. I won't do what He always wanted me to. I swore that day that I would never fight unless I truly had to. I won't fight, not now. But… Yes, that'll work.

Red stayed upon the ground, pulling himself into a ball as two of the other kids moved closer. He continued to shout at them to leave the rattata alone, and all but Nick did. Nick continued to make his way towards the rattata, throwing whatever trash was next to him at it. The other three, instead chose to make attacking Red the next thing they would do.

"What a wimp!"

"Why don't you just go home Crybaby!"

"He can't Tim, no one wanted him!"

They three began to laugh as they continued to attack Red, but as suddenly as he had curled up, Red picked himself up, charging at them with a scream. Startled, the four children stumbled to the side of the alley, only for Red to charge right past them. He raced right up to the rattata, and ignoring the look it its eyes, picked it up, and bolted. After a moment's pause, the other four tore out of the alleyway, screaming at Red to stop running like a coward.

Unbeknownst to the children, another person had been watching their confrontation, about to have stepped in when Red had made his move. The figure moved after the small pack of screaming children, noting that the direction the boy ran in, was towards the Viridian Forest, the place that the figure was currently supposed to be in, looking into the rumors of a rampaging Nidoking.

"We're almost there rattata. Once we reach East Viridian Forest the cowards will- ow!" Red's words were cut off as the Pokémon began using its sharp teeth to bite at his arm. "Rattata stop that! I have no intentions of hurting you." The rattata froze, unsure of whether or not he spoke the truth. Red continued to run for the forest, deciding that whether or not rattata trusted him wasn't as important as getting them to safety. He could still hear their screaming, echoing off of the walls, and the shouts of startled people being crashed into on the streets. He could hear the boys shout at each other to find where he managed to get off to. He smiled as he heard them, a smile that was so dark and cold, that most wouldn't even dare to call it a heartless smirk. His smile quickly returned to his usual blank look though, only different from it in the determination and focus in his eyes.

Red continued to careen down his zigzag path, turning left through one alley, only to take a right, and then another left. The poor little rattata quickly got dizzy trying to keep track of where they went, and shut her eyes. Red kept running for what felt like ages to the injured rattata, before he finally spoke again.

"Hold on tight rattata. We're almost to the forest, just one quick jump, and we're in the East edge," He muttered quietly to her.

Rattata peeked through half-opened eyes, only to squeal and bury herself into his rough, brown shirt, as the boy charged at a wall. Red however, was unfazed, having used this wall as his route into the forest almost every day. With a graceful, fast paced stride, he charged the wall, with poor little rattata preparing to get smashed into the wall. She couldn't see his plan, there was nothing next to the wall, the buildings were close, but still paced a fair distance away from each other, so that wasn't his plan. All she could think was that he would try to jump the wall, and though he stood only a little under 4 feet tall, the wall was well over twice his height. But to her fear, that seemed to be his exact plan.

Red however had never had any qualms about leaping over this wall. It was, after all, the fastest way to the forest from the orphanage, being less than minutes away, why the actual exit to East Viridian Forest was an approximate 40 min walk away. Feet from the wall, Red launched himself up, pushing off his left leg, digging his right into the scuffed-up wall, propelling himself up to grab the edge of the wall in his left hand, with rattata being held in the crook of his right arm. However his moment didn't get him to the top of the wall, it got him high above. Having grasped the top of the wall, Red had yanked himself up in one fluid motion, resulting in him flying above the wall. And with the practiced fluidity of one who's done this for years, he kicked one foot out as he neared the top of the wall, and launched himself down to the gravel road that skirted the town, and led to the eastern half of the woods.

How far? How far is he going to carry me? That doesn't matter, I couldn't move even if I wanted to. I wonder though, why does he help me? Why, this boy with the eyes of a monster, and the expression of one who could never even give you the time of day? Why the one walked surrounded by an aura of anger, and hatred, so strong that even one who couldn't sense aura could see it. Why the one who commanded a room, who walked as if everything was his, the one who hid his face from everyone else, but was still undeniably, the one with all the power. And that's another thing! This boy, he holds so much power! And yet he ran from those boys. He very easily could have beat them, if that jump over the wall says anything about his muscles. Even without formal training, he could have caused some damage, so then, why did it seem as if they were the strongest?

"Are you just going to muse over who I am and why I do what I do, or are you just going to continue to ignore the fact that we're in the woods now and you can leave." Red asked.

"What a rude child, he sounds as if he doesn't even care where I go from here, even though I'm injured," rattata said.

"I don't." He replied curtly.

"Wha-"

"I don't care about you," He cut her off. "I couldn't care less about what happens to you. And don't go acting like I'm some hero or something, cause I'm not. I did this because it's what she would have wanted me to do, not because I care about your life."

"How- how- HOW RUDE! First you rush in like some prince, save the damsel in distress, and then you tell her to scram and go die out of your presence! Well I never asked for your help, boy, so even though you-"

"Don't call me that," Red growled.

"What?" rattata stopped her rant, curiosity settling over her features.

"Boy. Don't ever call me that," He reiterated, a deadly look entering his eyes.

"Ookay… Don't call you boy or likely get my head- WAIT! You can understand me!?" rattata shouted.

"Yes. I can. And I never told you to go die. I simply said that I don't what happens to you," He stated simply.

"Yes because that makes this a thousand times better," she muttered bitterly.

"Truly? She always said I was too harsh when explaining things. Perhaps I have gotten better," Red turned away, beginning to lose himself in thought.

"No you idiot! I was being sarcastic. And who is this 'She' you keep bringing up?"

"Oh, it seems I haven't improved then. Anyways She is- wait. Why should I tell a stranger this?" Red questioned.

She sighed. "Oh dear, you can't be anything more than a stranger if you don't tell them about yourself. How about this. You tell me about yourself, and I'll tell you about myself. Deal?"

Hmm. I'm not too sure about this. However she and Momma Kangaskhan have both said the same thing. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt. However, I'm not to sure about him. I don't think he even realizes that I know he's there. Perhaps an amatuer couldn't see him, but with his black cape, and red hair, he sticks out like a sore thumb. Especially with how noisy he is. I could hear every leaf stirred beneath his boots. Although that could just be because… Well even so, I know that he's here. Perhaps I should… No. Momma Kangaskhan said that to read another's mind without permission was wrong, and I'm trying to be right… Or, good. I suppose I could say a bit, test how he reacts. Perhaps I should even drop a few hints? Oh yes, that'll do. If father sent him, then I can just erase his memories of me, too bad I can't do that to him. And if he is just a curious not quite passer-by, then no harm will have been done. I could even confront him on eavesdropping afterwards. Momma Kangaskhan did say that that was another bad thing, although it's one habit I don't plan on dropping.

"Alright rodent, you've got a deal."

"Alright, how about before we go any further, you don't call me that."

"Understood. And to answer your question, She, is my surrogate mother. She's actually a kangaskhan, but she took me in for about 6 months before I was taken to the orphanage. She was trying to help me be a better person," Red stated.

"God knows you need it," she muttered. "Okay, so you old me about your 'mom', but I'd like to ask how that ties into how you came to this city."

"Some people found me out in the woods by-"

"Sit down."

"I'm sorry?"

"I said sit down, you're far to tall, and you're making my neck hurt just trying to hold a conversation with you," she stated.

"I believe the correct thing to do is apologize, and then comply, correct?" Red asked.

"Well, most people would generally say sorry even though it's not something they realized, but yes."

"Then I apologize for my transgression." Red said as he laid on his stomached upon the ground. He propped his head in his hands before asking, "Will this work better?"

"Yes, thank you. Now, please, continue."

"Yes well, as I said I was found by some people in the woods outside of the Indigo Plateau. It took them a few days to take me away, as I did not wish to leave, and so the Pokémon helped me stay. But after a couple days, Momma Kangaskhan convinced me to go, as I should learn from other people."

"I see. That's sad," she answered.

"Not really."

"Huh. But she was your mom, leaving those you love-"

"I didn't. I didn't love her. I don't know how to feel love. My siblings and I came to believe that we our wish to stay together and protect each other was akin to love, but we never truly felt love. It is an emotion we weren't raised with."

"Is that why you speak the way you do?" she asked after a few moments. "Is that why you talk in a way that people many times your age do? Why the whole way here you never broke a sweat, or gasped for breath?"

"Is that why you don't seem like a child?" she whispered, afraid to hurt his feelings.

"Yes. It is. My mother didn't get to visit to often, and she stopped visiting not to long after my sister was created. And my father, he didn't want weak children. Or anyone weak for that matter. So he didn't raise us with compassion, he only raised us to be better than anyone else… Umm. I don't really know why I told you all that."

"It's okay. I can help. I can play with you, once I'm better. Then you can have more friends here, and you can still have a childhood," she smiled at him. "But if we're gonna be friends, then you should know that my name is Gelsey."

"Flower, huh. Don't suppose one of your parents speak Persian?" He asked.

"You- you understood it's meaning? Actually, I suppose with what you just said, it shouldn't come as that big of a shock. Anyways, my story on how I entered the city isn't nearly as dramatic as yours. I simply got to curious, got chased by a meowth and ended scared and lost."

"I, suppose I could help you get home Gelsey. Although first I would need to bandage you up. And by the way, my name is Red." But, all I have are my clothes, and their quite dirty. That could only cause her wounds to become infected. She doesn't need much though. It only looks like I small cut on her side and a twisted ankle. Sprained at the worst I would think. But maybe… Yeah, maybe the hiding man would have some stuff to help Gelsey. Momma Kangaskhan did say that there was no shame in asking for help, and anyone who said otherwise was a fool.

Standing up, Red turned to his right and shouted, "Hey mister, do you got any bandages so that I can patch up Gelsey?"

The man hidden in the trees did not do as Red expected however. Instead of being surprised, or startled, the man simply detached himself from the trees and walked towards him, removing a first aid kit from his bag as he went.

"There was someone there!"

The man however did something Red could predict, and ignored Gelsey, not able to understand her. Red felt slightly pleased. I was right. I simply wasn't paying enough attention. He didn't know, he just doesn't show emotion, like me.

The man only continued to do the opposite of what Red thought he would, however, as he smiled while pulling gauze and a potion out of the kit. "I was wondering when you speak to me. I got the feeling that you knew I was there after you questioned why you would tell, Gelsey was it, anything at all about you."

The man walked past Red, crouching down by Gelsey, who had begun to shake. "Don't worry now little miss. This potion might sting a bit, but after the gauze gets applied after it you'll be feeling much better."

"Red?" Gelsey called, her voice quivering.

"I won't let him hurt you. But he is right about the medicine." Red replied, haken by how the man had come to realize that he knew he was there. How? How could he have realized it? I thought for sure I had followed all of Charles's suggestions? I didn't glance over to him, did I? No, I did, 2, maybe 3 times. Damn! I thought for sure-

"If you're done mulling over how I knew, I'd be happy to tell you."

"Name," Red growled.

The man simply smiled, as if he was expecting this reaction. Am I that predictable?

"Lance. Lance Ryūsei. A pleasure to meet you, Red."

"Ryūsei. Imperial Dragon, eh. So then, you're from the Blackthorne Clan, and if my memory serves me correctly, which it always does, you also happen to be the Kanto, and Johto Region Champion." Red observed.

Gelsey looked back and forth between the two, wondering what exactly was happening.

"Heh, it seems this father you mentioned taught a lot more than the basic materials covered in class."

"Yes. He also had us taught how to put two and two together. You didn't come here because of me, you just happened to see the exchange with those 4 idiots and thought you should follow."

At this Red was able to allow himself a small smirk, for finally he reacted the way he thought he would. Lance's jaw dropped slightly, surprised coloring his features. Red hated when things didn't go his way, and at last, it seemed he had control of the situation again.

His smirk slipped for a second however, when Lance asked, "Well, since you seem to be so good at this, why am I here?"

Red's smirk had returned though, and as Gelsey slinked up to him, asking him to pick her up, as she was slightly frightened by the proceedings, Red answered.

"Simple. You're here for the exact reason that no-one else is. The new nidoking. And it isn't just because he went on a slight rampage in order to claim some territory and to win over a mate, which by now I'm sure you know that he did, you're also here because there has been no reported sightings of him, and you're afraid of the implications."

Lance's eyebrows raised, as if he wasn't expecting him to have known that much. "That information happens to be classified, although I don't think you care much about the rules."

"And what makes you say that?" Red questioned, slightly angered at this man who he simply couldn't figure out. I know that his main Pokémon is his dragonite, and that though he's mainly a dragon type only trainer, he's known to train pseudo dragons, or any Pokémon in need. I know that he's almost 30, and that he's married. I know that he had a strong sense of justice, and I know all about the rumors that we had to learn about just to know that he could have ties to the G-men. I know that he's smart, and a man who always avoids any traps set to catch him. But the thing I just can't figure out, is how he keeps surprising me. How can this man, who I know all about, still throw me off guard? How can he seem to know me so well, when I'm almost positive that he hasn't fully put two and two together?

"If you want to know how I figured that all out, you should simply ask. Otherwise, just go home, while I go deal with this nidoking." He said, turning around to leave.

"Wait! Would you- would you tell me, how you figured all that out," Red spilled out. Lance turned back slightly, raising an eyebrow at him. "Please."

"See now, that wasn't so hard," He laughed. He stopped though, seeing the cold glare Red was giving him from under his luxray bangs. "Or perhaps for you it was. Anyways. I figured this out because, one, you glanced over to where I hid multiple times, including the moment when you were considering whether or not to tell Miss Gelsey here more about you."

"Wow. I never noticed. I thought you were only paying attention to me and your thoughts the whole time. Did he call me Miss? Red! C-can you tell him just to call me Gelsey! Miss makes get all nervous, as if I were a parent or something."

Red glanced at her, perched upon his shoulder and nodded once. Turning his attention back to Lance, he said, "It seems I was not as subtle as I would have prefered. Now, would you please tell why you think I don't care about the rules? Also, Gelsey says not to call her miss."

"Kindly!"

"Kindly asks you not to call her miss."

Lanc chuckles, before smiling and saying, "Of course. Now then. As for why I think you disregard the rules. For one, you're out here in the forest, when the Viridian Orphanage has a rule against that. And the city as well in fact. No children are to leave without a Pokémon. And secondly, also as to do with the fact that you're out here. No-one is supposed to be out here with the rampaging nidoking about. And the fact that that information was classified."

"Hmm. Yes that does make sense. You simply followed the obvious trail of clues that most people would fail to see. Yes, I suppose you aren't considered a smart, and powerful threat for no reason." Red mused.

This caused Lance to nearly trip as he turned back to go and find the nidoking. "Wha-threat? What are you-"

"To people like Team Rocket. You know, criminals. Criminals all consider you a threat, although I suppose I could have worded that the other way and say guardian as opposed to threat?"

"You… Are an odd child." Lance said after a moment.

"Yes I get told that a lot. Also, if you are going to continue your search for the nidoking, don't bother," Red stated flatly.

"Ah, and why not, may I ask?" Lance questioned.

"Because the sun is setting," Red replied, pointing at the sky. "At this time he heads to his favorite berry patch to wait."

"Wait? For whom is he waiting for?"

"Me. I visit him every day at this hour there," Red replied with a shrug, walking the opposite direction Lance was headed, and headed off towards the Northwest part of the forest.

"That is incredibly dangerous! You could have be seriously injured!" Lance burst out. Red raised an eyebrow, but kept walking. Does everyone concern themselves over the wellbeing of others like this?

"I agree with him Red! That's an incredibly dangerous thing to do! Why would you have even encountered such a beast in the first place!" Gelsey shouted in his ear.

I thought flowers were supposed to be dainty and sweet? "Enki is no beast. He is my friend. I met him by chance one night when I was wandering the woods. He was trying to get berries, but he couldn't reach, and the mankey kept teasing him, so I stepped in and chased them off, before climbing up the tree and bringing Enki some berries to eat. We do this every night now. Before you came along Gelsey, Enki was my only friend."

"How lonely. However that doesn't excuse the fact that you could have been in hurt," Lance growled at him.

"I wasn't. But if you want to find Enki, you can follow me. Just don't go trying to fight him. Enki doesn't like fighting, he only did it to get a home and a mate. You can talk to him, I'll translate of course, and then, after you realise what a softy Enki is, you can leave. Go back home or wherever it is you have to go to next."

"I shouldn't allow a child to go there with me. I should be taking you back to your house first," Lance stated.

"But you won't. Also, don't call the orphanage my home, because it isn't. I don't have a home."

"Alright. I will go with you."

The two walked together in the direction of the berry patch, with Lance musing over what an odd, child he had stumbled across. One that was quite rude and mean, but was trying to be better.

On the other side, though, Red was pondering over how books really didn't do the man justice. None of his lessons could have ever prepared him for the outside world without his cleverly disguised lenses to look through. Although he never would have believed someone, if they told him that his shackleless freedom, would come at the price of his family, and be backed with fear. So much fear. He pondered on the fact though, that with Enki, he didn't feel afraid. And neither did he around Mr. Park, or Gelsey, or even Lance. He wondered what could have caused such a change in himself.

Lance pulled them out of their musings though, with a simple question. "I have to ask, did you name him, or did he name himself 'lord of the earth'?"

And surprising himself most of all, let out a small laugh, before he replied.

The door drifted shut, as an exhausted Lance flopped onto his bed. A lithe figure slipped into his arms, muttering a quiet question about how his day going after the nidoking went.

Lance simply smiled, and said, "I met someone interesting. Someone that I think you would like to meet," before he drifted to sleep.

So, uh, there's chapter 2. I wanna put here that this is my first fic, and that I'm so thankful for any tips that I get. St Elmo's Fire, thanks for being my first review and trying to help me out, I hope that my first 2 chapters didn't bore anyone too much, but this story is something that I've had in my head ever since Pokémon Black version came out and just grew, and I really need to set up the basis for it first. Hope that people will be willing to suffer through any boringness in the start and a bit of bad grammar, I plan to get to the actual journey soon, maybe 2 or 3 more chapters before hand. Also, this will kinda be a mix of games, manga and anime. Red will mostly follow the anime, but I'm going to throw in some manga characters, some characters might also be similar to their manga counterparts, and every now and then I might throw in a game event. Like with Hoenn. I do plan on going all the way to Kalos, no matter how many bad reviews I might get, ause, after all, I can only get better with practice, right? But, with Hoenn, I just feel that there should have been more Magma/Aqua encounters, and even that the game didn't do it justice. Same with Unova and Sinnoh. Anyway, at this point I'm kinda rambling, so, stay tuned for chapter 3. Although it won't be till around next Saturday, as I'm gonna be gone at a camp with no internet connection . But I'll try to get chapter 3 out as soon as I get back, heck, maybe even Monday if I can leave myself enough time to write. Anyway, thanks for reading, (especially if you read my a.n.'s, I'll get better at these, I swear) and don't forget to review! Bye :p