A Tale of Fire: Deleted Scene
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I should note that the last time I posted a "deleted scene", someone corrected me and said that it would be more properly labeled as an omake. However, this is an actual deleted scene and not something intended for pure humor – this scene was originally going to be in the story proper, but I decided to cut it out because it would take away from the story's main focus.
I'm posting it now because it was absolutely fantastic and I had a blast writing it. I don't know what inspired me to make up a whole warrior tribe of Grass-types, but I think it ended up being super-cool.
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Arcanine ran across the great plains of Viridian. He moved at such speeds that he was like the wind, swift and elusive – a talent he had become legendary for in his travels across Kanto. Pokemon all over still spoke tales of a knight unlike any other, a mysterious Fire-type samurai that ran a continuous marathon around the world and performed selfless deeds for all those who were suffering. It was said that the winds themselves were the source of his great speed and stamina, allowing him to run at velocities yet unheard of.
At the moment, however, it was truthfully the unspeakable horror of what he had learned that fueled his speed. Before he'd left, Magmortar had shared the location he'd heard Charizard was said to be heading to. The dragon-like Pokemon was flying eastward, no doubt to the lonely Lavender Tower – where Pokemon went to die.
The Tower was located deep in the mountains located on the eastern coast, where nothing existed except for rock and death. For reasons unknown, the spirits of deceased Pokemon found something about those mountains inherently attractive, and gathered there by the hundreds. The caves there were said to lead to an entrance to the underworld, although how true those claims were was debatable. What was real, though, was the Tower itself, built long ago as a place where Pokemon could go to bury and mourn their dead.
Lavender Tower was located practically on the other side of Kanto, so no matter how fast Arcanine ran, it would be a journey of several days. He only slept for a few hours each night, knowing that every minute spent in one place meant more ground to cover between him and Charizard (who was quite a fast flier himself). Already, he was leaving Viridian and its peaceful residents behind and no doubt steadily gaining on his draconic quarry. Every time his feet touched the ground in his flight, the hope swelled more in his chest.
However, there was a problem. His current trajectory – a straight line from Cinnabar to Lavender Tower – was rapidly bringing him toward a certain collision course with Celadon Forest, a place where he had never dared tread before. Fire-types were not welcome in the realm of Grass-types, and their queen was not only powerful in her own right but had good relations with the Poison-type kingdom of Fuchsia to the south. It would not do for Arcanine to cross such a potential foe, not when he was already looking for trouble by chasing after Charizard.
There are already a worrying amount of trees in this area, Arcanine thought as he continued to race, said trees nothing more than green-and-brown blurs to him. If I go much farther, I will be in Grass-type territory… so if I want to alter my course and go around, I'd best do it now.
It was a thought that brought a displeased frown to his muzzle, and he slowly went from a full run to a leisurely lope, and finally to a complete standstill. He raised his eyes to the sky as he considered his options – play it safe and avoid incurring the wrath of the Grass-type queen, or cut straight through to catch up to Charizard before he reached the Tower?
Unfortunately for him, though, he had no time to make the critical decision. As soon as Arcanine stopped running, something flew out of the bushes and ensnared him in one fell swoop.
Immediately, he was surrounded by Grass-type Pokemon. Arcanine struggled against the net which had bound him until his legs were pulled tightly up against his body, but there was absolutely no room to move, and his armor clanked uselessly against the ground. In his initial panic, he drew a breath and prepared to unleash Flamethrower, but a sturdy vine quickly coiled around his muzzle and snapped his jaws shut in one smooth motion.
The Tangela approached him, beady eyes glowing ominously from within the tangle of tentacles that made up its body. Each one of the blue appendages was decorated with painted bands of white and red, marking it as a warrior of the Celadon Forest army.
"Keep still, wielder of flame," the Tangela hissed, its voice like the soft stirring of bushes before an ambush. "The net was purchased from the trap-makers of Fuchsia. Not even your fire will burn through it."
Around him, the rest of the sentient plants lashed their vines to his unmoving form and pulled, dragging him off his original path and into the undergrowth. There was no doubt in the knight's mind that they were taking him straight to the heart of their forest to receive judgement from their queen. All Arcanine could do now was hold onto the hope that his reputation as a peacemaker and Pokemon of nobility preceded him. Otherwise, he might certainly be jailed – or worse – for being a Fire-type caught on Celadon soil.
The journey seemed to take forever, and by the time it was over, Arcanine was aching all over from being dragged across kilometers of dense forest. At last, his captors pulled him into a sunlit clearing absolutely teeming with Grass-types, most of them partially hidden amongst the bushes and flowers or perched high in the surrounding trees. All of them were decorated in the same tribal markings as the Tangela, and had their leaves or vines tightly wound around blowguns or poison-tipped spears. Every single weapon was pointed directly at the helpless intruder in their midst.
On the other side of the clearing were two titanic trees whose shade would have stretched across the entire space if it had not been noon. As it were, all that was obscured by the darkness was a great pile of rotting logs upon which enormous mushrooms grew. Sitting atop the largest fungus was the queen, Empress Vileplume. She was the most magnificent and ornate Grass-type present, with every inch of her body bedecked in white warrior paint and bracelets decorated with Fearow feathers. Atop her grand flower sat an intimidating crown made from Nidoking horns. She glared down from her organic throne in the shadows – whatever her mood had been like previously, it was now as vile as her name at the unwelcome sight of Arcanine bound at her feet.
"Tangela, my dear," she spoke to her subject coldly. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"My Lady," it rasped softly, bowing as much as a ball of vines with legs could. "This Arcanine was captured near one of our borders – the one closest to where all Fire-types come from, Cinnabar Island. It is likely he was sent as a scout to spy on us."
Vileplume turned a not-very-friendly smile on Arcanine, laughter now tinging her voice. "So the great Emperor Magmortar is afraid of me and my people? How flattering to hear."
She waved a hand, signalling Arcanine's captors to set him loose. They did so, and as he got to his feet, his keen ears could hear an immense rustle carry across the entire clearing – every single Grass-type had simultaneously readied their weapons in case he tried something stupid.
But the noble knight was far from stupid. Instead of attacking, he bowed low and said, "Your Majesty, I am terribly sorry we meet under such grim circumstances. I come with no intentions of bringing harm to you or your subjects. My great Emperor's daughter has been kidnapped, and he sent me to rescue her. I only wished to pass through your forest on my way to Lavender Tower."
The Empress' mocking laughter rang out to be heard by all. "A Fire-type, pass through my forest," she chuckled dismissively. "Adorable. And I'm sure you only wished to burn down a couple of trees on your way out, hmm?"
Arcanine's voice momentarily caught in his throat. "Y-Your Majesty, I-I assure you –"
"I've heard of you, knight of Cinnabar," Vileplume interrupted him, rising to her feet. "I'll tell you what I'll do – if you are truly as great as they say, I'll let you leave if you best me in a one-on-one battle. I've killed over a hundred of your fire-breathing kind, and I'll gladly kill a hundred more if it means keeping my forest safe!"
On that final word, the Empress leapt into the air, using her fungal throne as a springboard to soar high above Arcanine. Her flower spun like a Buizel's tail when she reached the sunlight, and the deadly lights of a Dazzling Gleam began to rain down explosively around him. Trusting his reflexes, the canine darted to and fro across the clearing, dodging the colorful bolts as they threatened to spear him. A couple glanced off his reflective armor, and he silently thanked Arceus that the Fairy-type move consisted only of light.
Upon the conclusion of her unsuccessful attack, Vileplume landed feet-first and immediately spun her flower again, whipping up a powerful Petal Blizzard around herself. At the exact same time, Arcanine spat a Fire Blast – unfortunately, the combination of wind, flower petals, and soil was enough to snuff out the flames as soon as they made contact. The tornado then began to move forward rapidly, sent in the knight's direction by its conjurer.
Realizing that fire wasn't going to be quite the simple solution as he'd hoped, Arcanine changed tactics, exploding forward with Extreme Speed. His form resembling nothing more than a flash of white, he knifed straight through the Petal Blizzard and struck Vileplume on the other side. There was a *CLANG* of metal against plant matter, and she skidded backwards, hurt but not knocked off her feet.
Her eyes suddenly glowed, and Arcanine noticed with a jolt of fear that the ground was coming to life underneath him. Blades of grass sliced upwards and knitted together, moving like serpents as they lashed out to grab him. They tightened as soon as their coils touched his fur, winding around his limbs and neck with enough force to make it seem as though his bones would shatter at any moment. Pain was surging through his body as he struggled against the Grass Knots. His mouth was open, but his throat was being forcefully squeezed closed by the merciless vegetation – it was impossible to even scream out what little air was left in his lungs, let alone to let loose one of his flame attacks.
Quickly enough to save himself from a crushing death, Arcanine remembered his last trick. A Flare Blitz sparked to life around him, incinerating the grass instantly and sending a wave of relief sweeping through him as he took that first much-needed breath of air. He dispelled the flames the second he was free, not wishing to burn up any more of the Empress' clearing than he had to.
Spinning to face the Grass-and-Poison-type herself, he saw her painted face twist into a mask of righteous fury as she watched the flames extinguish themselves from the blackened grass. A primal war cry tore out of Vileplume's throat as she charged forward with her flower already spitting out fatal Toxic bursts.
But it was too late for her, as Arcanine was already on the move. A second Extreme Speed sent the several hundred-pound, samurai-armored canine crashing into her. She smacked against one of the trees shading her mushroom throne, hit the ground, and went still.
Arcanine had won the battle, but he wasn't going to wait around for Vileplume to wake up and acknowledge his victory – the assembled Grass-types were screaming in anger and dropping from the trees with spears in hand, too furious to remember the challenge their queen had issued to the Fire-type. He fled without a second thought, leaving the outraged warrior tribe behind.
And besides, he reflected on his way out of the clearing, feeling only the littlest bit guilty for his impolite departure, it's still a long way to Lavender Tower.