(AN): Good news everyone! Backed by popular demand, this story will be multi-chaptered. Before I forget, thanks for the reviews, very much appreciated. I meant to post a few days ago, but everytime I read a draft, I felt it was either missing something or was confusing (no I was not looking for reviews).
IronicPuppies: Yeah, reading through it again, I kinda felt the whole thing was rushed.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon
The white beam escaping the red and white sphere morphed into the shape of a small mouse with sharp pointed ears and a zigzag tail. The white faded away, revealing the creature's predominantly yellow colour, crimson circles on its cheeks, and a bit of black on its tail.
"Pika!" it said, gritting its shiny white teeth as it was pelted by the raging blizzard.
Leaf wasn't surprised when instead of listening to her, Red challenged her to a battle. He was a battler. And as a battler herself, she understood. Pokemon battles were the way trainers communicated with each other. They weren't just a sport with winners and losers.
When trainers pit their Pokemon against each other, they unknowingly put themselves out on the battlefield as well. They get to know each other, their battle style speaking louder than words about their personality, their ideals, and their beliefs.
"Red!" she shouted over the screaming gale, her face growing cold as snow crashed onto her skin. "If this is the only way I can get to you, then so be it!".
She reached into the pocket of her puffy jacket and like her opponent, pulled out a Pokeball. "Go Clefable!" she said.
Pikachu looked on as a bright pink Pokemon twice its size appeard in front of it. Dangerous spikes sprouted from its back. Its sharp ears stood in sharp attention. Yet, despite its appearance, its small eyes held a compassionate glint to them.
"Clefable!" it greeted Pikachu with a wave from its short arms. Like Pikachu was an old friend. Pikachu seemed to let its guard down for just a moment, like it recognized its opponent as a friend once upon a time. Its ebony eyes froze solid at the fairy-type once it remembered its purpose.
Pikachu wasn't the only one who seemed to recognize it.
After all, the Pokemon was once as much Red's as it was Leaf's.
A wave of suppressed memories washed over him like a bucket of lukewarm water. He remembered the first time they met eye-to-eye. The way it struggled to shake broken egg shells off its tiny pink arms. The way it smiled a small smile, first at Leaf then at him, showing its shiny white teeth. The way it happily squeaked "Clefairy!" when it laid its candy blue eyes at him.
But the memories that shone the brightest were the way he smiled whenever he did meet the pink Pokemon. Memories of so much as a wave, Clefairy or Clefable, melting his heart like chocolate. Memories of...
Red shook his head, a cloud of snow escaping his dark hair.
Memories were just that, he told himself. Things change with time. He was much stronger now. Much more ruthless, having developed a killer instinct in his time on the mountain.
Yes. Things have definitely changed.
And he was gonna show Leaf just how much.
Even if he had to drown the ghost of his old self threatening to take over.
Not that he could to start with, Red didn't even have to speak. Pikachu understood immediately what he wanted.
The yellow Pokemon charged at its opponent, its tail glowing with metallic lustre. It leapt at Clefable, preparing to strike with its steeled tail.
"Clefable, use Cosmic Power!" Leaf said. Clefable uttered an affirmation as it changed its colour. For a while, the Pokemon was pitch-black covered with twinkling dots of all kinds of colours, so many colours that maybe some of them had yet to be discovered or named.
With its defensive coating, Clefable took Pikachu's brutal attack without so much as flinching. As Pikachu's tail bounces of Clefable, its small body lands on the soft, cold ground.
"Quick Clefable! Use Toxic!" Leaf said as Pikachu struggled to recover. Clefable spat hot purple goo at Pikachu. The effect was immediate as the yellow Pokemon began to breathe erratically. Pikachu could feel its muscles twisting and turning in pain, begging, screaming for it just to give up.
For a moment, Red felt his heart clench as he saw one of his brothers struggle with the debiliating toxin. For a moment, he entertained the thought of returning Pikachu, pull it out of the numbing cold into the warm confines of the Pokeball where it could deal with the poison a little better.
For a moment, Red considered throwing in the towel, reluctant to see any more of his friends suffer the same sickly fate.
But the desire for victory quickly took over, raw lust for power overcoming gentle compassion for a friend.
So he simply gritted his teeth in frustration, silently ordering Pikachu not to give up.
Pikachu reacted to his trainer's emotions. It got up, more determined than before to tear its opponent apart. Its tail glowed metallic again, preparing for another strike.
"Clefable! Just keep defending yourself!" Leaf knew she wasn't going to win this way. She knew Red's Pokemon were probably strong enough to break through any kind of defense by using an unrelenting barrage of powerful attacks.
But the point of the battle for her wasn't to win. Maybe for Red it was, but not for her.
The battle was for so she could communicate to Red in the only way he would understand. Show him that despite what he may think, they were still friends.
Red was a good friend for most of her life. She wasn't about to give up on him, even if Red has already.
Pikachu struck Clefable's sturdy form with a hard Iron Tail. Once again, it seemed to do nothing. The only difference was that this time, Pikachu didn't land face-first in the snow.
This time, it maneuvered in the air with lethal, unmatched grace, striking Clefable again and again and again, the howling wind under the dark sky spurring Pikachu on. It forced itself to ignore the poison spreading deftly through its small body, forced itself to feel nothing but raw determination.
Eventually, Clefable's seemingly impenetrable armor broke, revealing its true pink colour. It dropped down onto one shaky knee, eyes closed, breathing heavy.
But it refused to give up. Ignoring fatigue, it struggled back onto its feet, taking up a defensive stance. Its eyes held a defiant glint, yet the way its bruises glowed a sick blue told the story of a Pokemon that would fall in one or two hits.
And for the first time, Red felt himself hesitate. He wanted to order the killing blow, but he felt something hold him back.
The memories
When he looked Clefable, all he saw was one of his own Pokemon in its place. He saw his Snorlax, bloody broken and bruised, standing defiantly against Blue's Rhydon. Saw his Nidoking take an Earthquake attack despite its severe injuries. Saw his Charizard, its normally large flame on its tail faint, carry on fight to a victorious end against Lance's Dragonite.
But as his desire for victory took over, all he saw was an opponent, a small obstacle in his road towards victory.
Focusing all of its power into one attack, Pikachu released large yellow sparks from its small body, aiming it at the pink Pokemon.
Direct hit. Clefable fell face-down on the cold ground, sparks dancing around its body. Pikachu stood watching, panting, as it tried to resist giving in to the poison.
But it was futile.
"Chaaaa.." Pikachu said hoarsely as it followed Clefable's lead, falling to the ground with a soft 'plop'. A red beam hit Pikachu, returning it to its pokeball.
As Red gazed at Pikachu's pokeball with watery eyes, he felt no disappointment. He felt something he hadn't felt since his near loss to Lance. He felt it everytime he battled before that fateful battle against Lance, but never experienced again as his Pokemon were so strong, they rarely if ever got hurt as seriously as Pikachu was in that battle.
Empathy. He could feel the poison as if he was the one afflicted with it. Feel it running through his veins, leaving burning pain in its wake.
And because of it, he felt like he needed to apologize to Pikachu for pushing it, for using it to fulfill his dark thirst for victory...
No!, Red thought, clenching his eyes shut, turning his face away from the pokeball. Emotions were a sign of weakness. I abandoned them long ago to get to where I am today.
But inside, he could feel his frozen blood defrost, warm to the point he could feel again, the numbness fading away.
And it made him want to puke.
Leaf saw it.
The way Pikachu fought, brutally mauling Clefable, its eyes blank and emotionless said it all.
She saw the cold, numbing pain Red was harbouring. She saw Red's insatiable desire to destroy his opponents decisively and convincingly. She saw Red's insatiable craving fo power, which she assumed was the reason he climbed this godforsaken mountain.
But when she saw Red hesitate, saw him look teary eyed at Pikachu's pokeball, she saw a little bit of the Red she once knew.
The only problem was that it was quickly replaced the new Red, the one that saw all but his Pokemon as his enemies. Quickly putting up a shell, refusing to let anyone near him.
The weather had lightened up considerably. The sky above was still dark, but the winds had slowed into a cool, gentle breeze. The wind's pain seemed to have been relieved, its howls degrading into soft whispers. The blizzard lightened into white snowflakes free-falling slowly from the sky.
Leaf reached into her pocket, pulling out the pokeball that housed her second Pokemon.
"Go! Nidoqueen!"
(AN): And so ends the second chapter. I must say, it was quite difficult turning the oneshot into a half-decent mini-novel. I was stuck on thinking of a theme I would base the story on. When I finally thought of one, I was being extremely fussy on how I wanted the story to be written.
And looking at the finished product, I can't tell whether it is worse or better than the oneshot this story was originally. And because it is now multi-chaptered, I'm probably gonna have to change the summary. Not the title, just the summary. The title's fine.
Anyways, today I stumbled upon what is perceived to be the worst fanfiction ever written. Yeah, there's a lot of shit in , but this story managed to be so shitty, it managed to stand out. If you've even heard about it, you know what it is already.
Ladies and Gentlemen, 'My Immortal' by XXXbloodyrists666XXX.
It was taken down, so if you want to read it, you'll need to go to Wattpad. Not that you'd want to.
So I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See anything weak in the story, don't hesitate to tell.
Laters.