Disclaimer: I do NOT own Pokemon… Yet.
Chapter 1: Ashes Remain
Red felt excitement. Excitement to see his mother again, excitement to see Professor Oak, excitement to see his friends and juniors, and of course, excitement to see Yellow once again. He spent most of the ride, a minute at most, fantasizing about how much Yellow would have changed in 5 years. How tall she is now, if her hair changed color, if she… If she was still waiting for him. The thought scared him. He shivered, he wondered if it was because of the thought or because of the cold air pressure.
He felt the air change and instinctively knew he was finally home. Finally back in Pallet Town.
But what greeted his eyes filled him with great horror.
Every building he could remember was still in its place, the difference is that they were smoking piles of rubble. Charred wood and falling bricks littered the once clear streets of the town. Even the sign saying "Pallet Town" was torn to bits and pieces. Small, metal remains jut out of its previous stand.
Red ran to the buildings and knocked if it still had a door. If it didn't, he would enter and look for people. First, his house, which was especially charred. He didn't find any sign of his mother. Then he ran towards Professor Oak's lab and seeat, and it's moving slowly.'
'Human?'
'Yes. Male. Age Range between 60 and 80.'
'Professor Oak…'
Recalling Charizard, he quickly exited the laboratory and quickly headed south-east, towards the direction of the man who made him who he was. The beginning of his journey was all thanks to this man, now he'll see him again under these terrible circumstances.
He reached the forest proper, and by training, he jumped towards a branch, and silently moved among the foliage to his destination.
'Four meters,' Said Vee
Red nodded and scanned the surrounding below with his blood red eyes, but failed to see anything. He moved to another spot, but once he did, he heard a blast and felt searing pain shoot up his left arm, between his shoulder and elbow. He lost footing and fell 10 feet, landing on his spine, making him groan in pain. He heard footsteps coming near him, a strange metallic tool pointes straight at him.
"Well, well, well, looky here," said the man. He sounded old but with a very twisted childishness in his voice.
Red opened his eyes and saw someone standing in front of him. It was not Professor Oak. The person circled him and studied his face, twisting the wrinkled features in unrecognition. Then his face lit up. He licked his lips in the sudden satisfaction.
"Well, well, well. Red eyes, red cap, looking like a mountain man, I just shot The Red. Genesis is going to be thrilled to have the leader of the Dexholders under-"
His tirade was cut short when he screamed. His head was suddenly filled with a massive influx of information, overflowing his five senses and slowly shutting down his neural network. The screaming stopped when he fell to the ground, drooling, with his metal tool still in hand. Vee plopped onto the grass, looking quite pleased with himself.
'Oh, Arceus, that was fucked up.'
'A thank you would be nice.
'Is he-'
'Not dead, but barely alive. He couldn't handle all the encyclopedic information about Eevees.'
'…'
Red shook his head and felt the pain in his arm. His left arm was bloody, and had a small hole on it, where most of the blood was leaking from. He ripped his shirt and tied a piece to the hole, inhaling sharply from the pain.
'There seems to be something in that wound.'
'Why tell now? Take it out if you can.'
He unwrapped the wound and allowed Vee to use Psychic on whatever she had sensed. Red had to bite his tongue just to not screech in the pain. After a grueling minute, the espeon held a small, bloody, metal cartridge in mid-air. Red examined it, then re-wrapped his wound.
'What is it?'
'Never seen something like it before.'
'We need someone to explain what's happening. Right. Now. Scan the area again.'
Vee's eyes glowed again, then abruptly stopped.
'What?'
'Someone's coming.'
'Hide the body.'
'He's not dead'
'I. Don't. Care. Hide it. Up in the trees.'
Shocked at hearing his trainer use a stern mental voice, he did as commanded. Red hid behind a tree and waited for the one coming. He heard the slow footsteps.
CRACK! A branch broke, putting Red on edge. He recalled Vee and made himself more invisible by removing his jacket and cap.
He saw a hint of white. He grabbed around for a tree branch, finding one to defend himself with. Then, the character came into vision, amd he swung the branch towards it.
The branch broke into two, Red felt the searing pain im his arm again. He stood to look at the man's face. His eyes widened.
"Professor!" His throat tore a little. He toned down his voice to make it more bearable. "Prable. "Professor!"
The man on the ground, with his hair whiter than snow, was the legendary Professor Oak, groaning with the pain in his stomach. He opened one eye after another, until his vision returned to normal.
"Oh, my," he wheezed out. "That was quite a shot. A little more and my body would have given out."
He tried to stand up, with difficulty, so Red offered him his right hand. Professor Oak took it gladly. The old man turned to look at the boy, who he was sure just called his title with familiarity.
"Um, what's your name again?" he scratched his white hair. Red felt a chuckle from his mouth. This same question started his journey, though nobody but him remembers.
"Red…"
Professor Oak's eyes widened. He put his hands on the young man's shoulders and squinted to take a look at him clearly.
"Red?" First, with uncertainty, then, "Red? Red, is that really you?!"
The old man started to shake him, but he felt happy at this moment, so he took his time nodding with a small smile. With all his strength, the Professor engulfed him in an embrace.
"You've grown so much, your mother would have been proud to see you."
'Would have…' Red thought.
"Where…. Everyone? What.. Happened?"
At this, the old man's face turned solemn, then he said, "Follow me," and Red complied.
"Red, many things have happened since your disappearance. Everything was peaceful, until 2 years ago. Your team, the Dexholders, destroyed evil groups left and right in other regions, but suddenly, another organization rose up.
"This organization was much, much more powerful than any Team ever seen on this world. Their crimes were blatant and large-scale, and your juniors had problems stopping their grunts.
"That was when they swooped in, from all sides, and simultaneously conquered all seven regions. It was a large shock when they stormed into houses and killed any resistance. We had no idea their roots were already deep."
The Professor looked at Red to see how he was taking it in, but the young man had put his cap back on, so his face was all but unreadable. All he could see was that Red was nodding.
"Pallet town…?"
Professor Oak understood. "Pallet town was ransacked. The only people who didn't get caught in it was me, Daisy, and my Aides. We hid in my underground lab. When we came up, everyone was," he stopped to choke back tears, "dead. We buried all of them in their places, and moved to hide. Y connections contacted me with S. O. S. Signals, warning about an organization unlike any other."
Red asked one, final question. "Yellow…"
They stopped in front of the ruined Pallet Town laboratory. The old man retrieved a small key chain from his coat and pressed the button. A small rumbling of mechanisms were heard as the floor panel gave way. It lead to stairs downward.
"We don't know. The location of the Dexholders are a mystery. They seem to be hiding. Yellow included. None of them responded to the S.O.S. I sent to their Pokedexes."
They descended a few steps, then the floor panel above reverted to its original position. The underground lab was filled with small, high-tech computers controlled by 3 aides, and Daisy.
Daisy Oak was wearing a green dress that complemented her young, womanly figure. She was wearing small, square framed glasses that sat snugly on her nose. She was sitting in front of a computer, typing away. Red approached her, but she paid him no mind. Until she spoke intil she spoke in a sharp voice.
"You know, this wouldn't have happened if you were here," she said with as much hatred and as emotionless as possible.
The words struck Red deep, simply because of the closeness they used to share. Though it was obvious that it wasn't there anymore. She turned to him, and her eyes hurt him more than her words. They were tearing up, filling up with tears.
'Her brother was-is a Dexholder. Blue is missing too.'
"Come with me, Red. Have some food and water. There's two more things I need you to know."
He followed the Professor to the 'living room'. He took a glass of water and drank, feeling this throat burn with relief. He was led to a large screen, the biggest computer in the premises, displaying footages from over 50 years ago, the great World War.
"Red, have you seen a gun?"
He nodded.
"Have you been shot?"
He nodded again, and pointed to his left arm. The old man signaled his aides to mend the wound.
"Those guns have been obsolete for over half a century, because we realized the power of Pokemon. Now, someone brought it back, modified it, to have the power to kill both humans and pokemon, which it never had.
"They crystallized a small portion of the power behind a Disable, effectively making a bullet that can go through Barrier, Protect, Reflect, and other defensive moves. This was how they defeated gym leaders, by killing their strongest pokemon.
"However, these are limitedly produced, as my colleagues work to disrupt any attempt at mass production. But it's only a matter of time."
Red nodded in understanding.
"Secondly, the organization. They are ruthless, selfish, and powerful, with no mercy against anyone, man, woman, or child. They call themselves," he paused for dramatic effect, "Genesis."
Genesis is going to be thrilled to have the leader of the Dexholders, Red remembered the strange man'swords.
Professor Oak turned to look at Red, and remembered how he followed the boy's growth, from a naïve little trainer with a charmander, to the legendary Fighter of the Dexholders, and pride swelled in his heart.
"Red, I need you to find the other Dexholders. I'll do it myself but I'm much too old. Will you help with this old man's last wish?"
He smiled as he tried to replicate his first, selfish request that Red granted. At this, Red gave a nod, and tightened his hand around Charizard's pokeball. His new goal was no longer to be the best, but to find his juniors, and stop Genesis from launching a new World War. With a new fire in his eyes, he requested water and food supplies, which the aides happily gave.
Red stood at the door panel, opening slowly, as if to welcome him into the world of pokemon once more, but a shadow was waiting for him at the top stair.
"'Sup, Red. Finally got lonely on that mountain of yours? 'Cause things got really fucked up after you left."
He couldn't mistake it. The voice, the manner of speaking, the language, even the sudden irritation that he felt for some reason every time he met this person. His rival, and brother in arms.
"Blue…"
"Wanna try fixing this mess, Red?"
The sunshine slowly set behind both of them, and darkness fell, but two fires burned in Professor Oak's lab, a cold, calculating Red, and a passionate, raging Blue. With their flames as guides, their perilous journey begins.
Pallet Forest, 5 miles south-east
2030 Hours
A small, nimble human navigated the forest outskirts, bouncing from tree to tree. The figure wore a mask with no insignias whatsoever. The wind howled in silence behind and around him. The figure smiled to himself for no reason.
He reached a tree with an old, dangling human on its branches.
'This man really bit the dust this time.'
With a quick shove, the body fell on its back. The shadow then leapt away, going back the way he came. He blew a small whistle, and the old man's body was devoured by hungry raticates and rattatas, leaving nothing but a small, bloody mark in the forests green backdrop.
'Sayonara, useless grunt.'