Here's Chapter 2! Thanks for those of you who supported me!
P.S. Char is legitimately small. Imagine a glass of water. Yeah. That height.
######
The Flame of Destiny: Chapter 2: From Mountain to Mountain
## Randrake Arc, May 11, AW667
Reinsgard wasn't very large, so it took almost no time for Draxel to arrive at the town gates. He looked over at the town, his heart heavy. The old wooden buildings nestled in the mountains with well-tended gardens had been his home for all his life. He was taking his first steps into the unknown, the world outside Reinsgard.
The sun was barely visible over the mountains. The yellow-orange sky signaled dawn. After one last glance at the dirt and cobblestone paths and trees in the distance, he faced the other direction and began to walk.
Soon, daybreak came. Char rode on Draxel's shoulder, examining the unfamiliar outside world. The mountain road cut through forested mountains, and the dirt path was shady from the trees above. The sandy path was pretty narrow, only enough for a small vehicle to move along, and the rustling of the trees in the wind was constant yet calming. Everything was green or brown, with occasional flashes of color from the flowers growing on the roadside.
"Char…"
Char pointed over at a Deerling that was nibbling on some grass by the path.
"Deerling. The young deer Pokémon. It hides in grass, and its appearance changes with the seasons."
The Deerling curiously walked onto the path, stepping gently around the pebbles as it neared Draxel.
Draxel knelt down as he approached it, stopping to examine it.
"Char!"
Char reached out and poked the Deerling on the nose. It gave a cute mew as it recoiled.
There was a booming call, and the Deerling immediately turned back to the forest. It looked back at Draxel, then bounded back into the forest, probably to its parents.
Draxel stood up. The rustling of the leaves and the shadows on the ground reminded him of home.
After a few long hours of walking without any others in sight, Draxel realized that there was a flat area ahead with a few shacks on it. Upon leaving the forest, he realized that it was a meadow. Deerling played in the grass and Butterfree flew around, fluttering their wings over the flowers.
"Char!"
Char jumped onto the ground and looked up at some flowers twice his height. His face contorted momentarily, and then he sneezed.
"Chu!"
Draxel turned around, confused by where the other sneeze had come from. He looked over at the center of the meadow and noticed a Pikachu sneezing, surrounded by allergies and flowers.
"Chaaaaa….."
It sniffled and sneezed again.
"Pikachu! You're going to get allergies if you roll in the flowers!"
Kieren walked out of one of the cabins. He initially walked towards Pikachu, then saw Draxel.
"Wait… Draxel?"
He jogged over to Draxel and Char. Pikachu walked over to his partner, rubbing his nose.
'Draxel! Fancy meeting you here!"
"Kieren? Why are YOU here?" Draxel exclaimed.
Kieren chuckled and scratched his head.
"I'm on my way to Lorrestine. I'm going to join in the Pokémon Battle Tourney. Basically, it's a competition held in Raystream City every year where trainers and Pokémon fight together against other trainers and Pokémon. Of course, you know that much already."
Draxel's eyes widened.
"Wait a sec! Raystream City?! That's so far away from here! It's that city where they have all of those machines and everything!"
Kieren nodded at Draxel.
"Yeah, but I don't need to be there for a long time, since the competition is much later. On a side note… let's battle! Pikachu needs to recover from his allergies, so that'll be an acceptable handicap against your baby Charmander."
Draxel knelt down and faced Char.
"Char, do you want to fight?"
Char looked back at him.
"Char…"
He looked down at the flower in front of him.
"He's shy. Don't worry." Kieren said, nodding at Pikachu.
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, getting the signal.
Pikachu walked over to Char and held out a paw. Char looked over at Pikachu.
"Pika. Pikapikachu." "Char…char char char."
Char faced Draxel, then walked back a few steps.
"Char!"
He blasted a stream of embers at Pikachu.
"Chu!"
Pikachu dodged and retaliated with a thundershock.
"CHAAAAAARRRR!"
Char cried out in pain as he was hit. He fell down on the soft grass with a small thud.
"Char! Are you OK?!"
Draxel knelt down and gently picked Char's limp body up.
"Char…"
Kieren whistled in concern.
"Ouch. Make sure you feed him well. He's not really old enough to do battle. Sorry about that. I guess I got a little too excited."
"Pika."
Pikachu offered Char some leaf tissues. Char sneezed into one, then walked onto a small patch of grass.
"Char…"
Char gave a sigh of content. Then he yawned and fell asleep on the spot.
"Char, return."
Kieren faced Draxel.
"Don't overwork him. Otherwise he'll get burned out. Come into the cabin. You haven't been outside of Reinsgard, so it's essential that you learn more about Randrake before you continue and something bad happens to you."
The wooden cabin was a little rickety and a little unstable, but was still comfortable. Kieren pulled out a wooden chair by the table and sat down. Pikachu hopped onto the table and looked at the map of Randrake that Kieren had set up earlier.
"OK Draxel. We are from here, Reinsgard."
He pointed towards the bottom right corner of the map.
"This town over here is Lorrestine, as you already know. Farther west along the mountains is Revenstrake. If you exit the mountains around here…"
He pointed to a path halfway through Lorrestine and Revenstrake.
"You can go to Rejernia City. It's next to Lorrestine Lake. It's probably called that because the person who founded Lorrestine also founded Rejernia. But that's a different story. It'll be unfamiliar for you until you get near Lorrestine, so I'll tell you now. Each town and city has at least one Pokémon Center. Trainers can rest there and heal their Pokémon for free. Use them well, and use them to learn more about the city you're in."
He looked outside and noted the sun going down.
"Well, it's getting late. I suggest that you get some sleep and some dinner. Come over here; I'll show you something."
Kieren stood up and motioned for Draxel to follow.
In the makeshift kitchen, Kieren put a frozen meal into the microwave.
"Pikachu!"
He plugged the microwave into a set of electrodes and attached the electrodes to Pikachu's cheeks. Pikachu began to charge up static electricity, which crackled as sparks flew from his cheeks.
"Pika…CHUUUU!"
Instantly, the microwave started working.
"…What… kind of…" Draxel stammered, unable to comprehend who made such an invention.
Kieren chuckled, adjusting the microwave as Pikachu charged the device.
"Technology can be weird sometimes. But hey, it works."
Dinner was served shortly. Pikachu seemed perfectly fine and happy, despite having had electrodes attached to his face for the past few minutes, and the meals were eaten in silence, the only noises being slurping of epic proportions and the sound of plastic silverware scraping against emptying bowls.
"Chaaaaaar…"
Char gave a sleepy yawn after eating, and immediately fell back asleep on the table.
Draxel smiled.
"He's really cute. It's nice to have a Pokémon with you."
Kieren chuckled evilly.
"Make sure that he knows how to clean up after himself."
That night, Draxel woke up to the aroma of Char scat on the floor.
"Be glad that he had the decency to do it on the floor and not on you." Kieren said, cuddled up with Pikachu on a separate bed and facing the other way with his nose under the covers.
Draxel scowled back and proceeded to clean up, trudging out of bed.
## Randrake Arc, May 12, AW667
Draxel woke up to the pleasant sound of chirping Taillow and Pidgey.
*Yawn*
He rubbed his eyes and looked around.
"Char… Where are-"
Char was gone. And so were Kieren and Pikachu.
Draxel jumped out of bed and threw on his shirt as quickly as possible.
"Kieren! Char! Pikachu!"
No response.
He bolted out of the bedroom. Nobody in sight in the main room either. He rushed out of the cabin, the door swinging back and forth on its creaking hinges.
Char and Pikachu were standing on the edge of the meadow, which overlooked a valley.
"Char! Pikachu!"
The two Pokémon turned to face Draxel as he ran over.
"Chuuu." Pikachu was sobbing, and pointed at a cabin in the valley below.
Draxel came to a stop at the cliff edge and looked down at the wooden cabin, which was next to a whitewater river and surrounded by trees. The path down was a steep, dirt path.
"Is he there?"
Pikachu nodded, sniffling.
"Let's go!"
The chirping had stopped. The meadow had been disheveled. Chunks of dirt had been thrown up, and it looked as if the meadow had been gouged.
Draxel stopped to approach one of the gouge marks. It looked like a beast had run through the area. A pretty big one, at that.
Meanwhile, in the small shack in the valley below, a black-clad ninja-like figure stood over Kieren's body, which had been tightly bound with ropes. Kieren's arms were tied behind his back and his legs were tied together.
"Hmph. You're going to battle in the Pokémon Battle Tourney, right? Well, too bad. Because I'm going to eliminate you here."
A large beast approached the ninja. It was about as tall as the man, and had sparkly electric-blue fur. It looked like a Raikou in terms of overall body structure, but looked much more wild and fierce, and its eyes were colder.
Kieren managed to activate his PokéDex.
"Kyrofrein. No data available."
Kieren's Pokédex returned a negative. No data.
"Who the hell are you?!" he demanded to know, struggling to get out of the ropes.
The black-clad man chuckled. His entire body was covered in black except his cold blue eyes.
"I won't be telling you anytime soon. You'll be dead before you find out. Kyrofrein, finish him."
The beast leapt forward, landing in front of Kieren's body. Its sharp saber teeth sparkled with electricity, as did its rough electric blue fur.
Kieren froze, shutting his eyes. It was all he could do.
"Am… I going to die here?" he thought to himself.
"PIKA…CHUUUUU!"
A volt tackle slammed into Kyrofrein, knocking it over.
"…A Pikachu?" the masked man commented, showing no surprise.
Pikachu stood in front of Kieren's body, arms out as if to shield him. Electricity sparkled from his cheeks and arms.
"Chaaaaaaar!"
Embers slammed into Kyrofrein as Char entered the room.
"Grrrrrr…."
Pikachu and Char, who had been so determined a few seconds before, suddenly froze. The roar was deep and terrifying. An icy wave of fear overcame everyone in the room except for the trainer. All noise stopped.
"Kyrofrein. We're going. I think we gave him something to think about."
He mounted Kyrofrein and they bolted out of the shack.
"Kieren!"
The sound of Draxel's panting and footsteps grew louder as he neared the shack.
"Char!"
He smashed through the wooden door, gasping for breath as it fell to the ground.
"Kieren!"
He dashed over and frantically began to try to untie the ropes.
"Char!"
Char looked up at Draxel, then at the ropes. Draxel's fingers were quickly accumulating bruises from the material, and he wasn't having much luck.
"Chaaaar!"
He blew a small flame, lighting the rope on fire. In a few swift movements, Draxel ripped the rope apart and extinguishedthe flames. After a bit of tugging, Kieren was free.
Kieren sat up, wincing in pain.
"I owe you all… I thought that guy was going to kill me."
His back was covered in bloody red welts from the rope. It didn't look good.
"Let's get you back to the cabin."
After a long hike back up, Kieren lay down on his bed. Draxel pulled off Kieren's shirt and examined his body.
The ropes had been pretty tight, and the welts all across his back oozed blood, blood, which had already soaked his shirt. His chest and abs were relatively uninjured.
"Are you okay?" Draxel asked as he put a bloody cloth back in a bucket of water.
Kieren nodded weakly.
"…That guy was terrifying. Still… I'm alive."
"…Can you walk?"
"Not really. I think I'll be fine though. Go on to Lorrestine, Draxel."
Draxel sat down next to him.
"Listen, Kieren. I've been with you for a long time. Don't tell me to leave you here."
Kieren sighed.
"…I have Pikachu with me. Go on. I'll be better soon enough."
"Char."
Char looked up at Draxel.
Draxel looked back in return.
"…OK. Let's go. Don't hurt yourself, OK?"
Kieren laughed.
"I won't. Go."
Draxel stood up and picked Char up.
"…I hope we see each other again soon."
With that, he left the cabin.
#####
So another chapter is done. Hopefully I'll be able to make a coherent story.
For those of you who are wondering who the ninja is… I have his identity down already. He's 19 years old, partner, Kyrofrein. As for Kyrofrein, I decided that I wanted an Ice/Electric type, so that ended up with Kyrofrein being created. I was planning to introduce the 'evil team' but decided not to.
Thanks for the support!