Chapter 2: Cliché Accidents
Along for the ride
A/N: Hi there! Welcome to Ch. 2 of Along for the ride. This is a much longer chapter from the first one. The pairing finally meets aye. Well onto the story. Enjoy!
"Out loud"
'Thoughts'
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Its owned by Nintendo and the Pokemon Franchise.
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Red forcefully opened the door, gripping Espeon's pokeball. Red marched at a brisk pace to the first of the Elite Four. What met him surprised him greatly, it wasn't Lorelei who greeted him. It was someone completely new.
'How strange´ Red thought to himself.
"Welcome to the Pokémon League! Allow me to introduce myself. I am Will. I have trained all around the world, making my Psychic-type Pokémon powerful. And, at last, I've been accepted into the Elite Four. I can only keep getting better! Losing is not an option!" Will, the new Elite Four member introduced himself.
"Where… Lorelei?" Red asked quietly his sentences barely making sense.
"What is it to you? She retired and I replaced her." Will replied as he sent out a Bronzong. (A/N: The Elite Four will have their teams from HG and SS after beating them for the first time.)
Red wasn't ignorant to the new pokemon at all. He kept up with the times. He disposed of Will's team with easy. Easily one hitting every single one of them. Red hid his eyes with the shadow of his hat an overpowering aura radiated from him. Red grunted in displeasure. "I expected more from you," Red whispered.
"J-Ju-Just who a-are you?" Will stammered out. Awe and slight fear was evident in his eyes. He never knew of anyone with this much power other than maybe Lance. All he saw was one pokemon and he couldn't even hit it. That Espeon was completely something else. Red walked to the next room a passive look on his face.
'Back then it was Bruno. Maybe he got replaced too.' Thoughts filled Red's mind as he traveled to the next Elite Four room.
Red walked in, not expecting much from the next Elite Four. The next Elite Four member, turned out to be someone familiar. "Koga," Red breathes. He sends out his Espeon ready to finish it up quickly. Koga knew that get-up from anywhere. He smirks, knowing that he has no chance whatsoever. He held up his pokeballs and apologized for the pain that they are about to receive. In a matter of minutes Koga was reduced to a man with no pokemon.
"It's been a while hasn't it Red? Four years." Koga tried to strike up a conversation. Red just responded back with his usual silence. "You were always a man of a few words. Anyway, what are you doing here after all these years?"
"Champion…Meeting…Unova Champ…" Red incoherently replied not caring if it made sense or not. He continued to the next room. Red looked over his shoulder to Koga. "Not gym leader anymore?"
"My daughter Janine, she took my place." Koga replied. Red nodded good-bye ending the conversation. Red found the next Elite Four member quite familiar; seeing Bruno brought back memories of the first time he took down the Indigo League. He smiled as he reminisced on his past.
"Bruno, what changed?" Red asked not wasting any more time. They started their battle and continued to chat; well Bruno did most of the talking. Bruno recapped all that happened during Red's absence. Red absorbed every little bit of information. He soon nodded good bye as he moved on to the final Elite Four before Champion Lance.
'Karen, how strong are you?' Red wondered. He traversed to the next room wanting to meet Karen. According to Bruno, Karen was a dark-type specialist. Red shrugged, 'Espeon can take whatever is thrown at her.' Red stops in his tracks tossing out Espeon out of her pokeball, sparing the unnecessary time releasing her before battle.
Red continued to make his way into Karen's room stopping once to send a message to his mom that he was off Mt. Silver and was visiting the Elite Four. Once he snapped his pokegear shut, his pokegear rang like there was no tomorrow. The ringing noise echoed through the long hallways. He answered the pokegear with a hoarse hello.
"Red? Red! It's mom. So you finally got off that stupid mountain? So when are you going to visit me? Professor Oak would definitely want to see you again. It's been really lonely without you, but thanks to your pokemon, it feels like I have a piece of you with me." Red's mother rambled, "Anyway. What are you doing with the Elite Four?"(A/N: I know that Delia is Ash's mom, but for the sake of the story she is going to be Red's mother. Sorry if Delia is a bit ooc I don't really remember what she was like.)
Red flinched from the amount to questions Delia asked. "I'll visit as soon as I can. There's someone I want to meet. Before you start getting any ideas, this person that I plan on meeting is the new champion of the Unova League." Red's voice came back to him.
Delia sighed she thought her son was actually interested in a girl. She was getting old and she wants grandchildren. "That disappointing son, you never change do you. It's always about pokemon. I still want grandchildren y'know." Red blushed from his mother's comment. "Red, I know you're a Pokemon Master, but I can't help but worry about you. Take care, okay? I don't want the next time we meet in the hospital." Red agreed to Delia as she hung up on him. Taking a few deep breaths, he walked into Karen's room.
"I am Karen of the Elite Four. Who are you now? No one bothered to tell me your name. I love Dark-type Pokémon. I'm known for my overpowering tactics. Think you can take them? Just try to entertain me. Let's go." Red looked up from the brim of his hat. He chuckled to himself as he sent out his Espeon once more.
'How cocky.' He thought to himself calling out attacks using only light taps and body movements. The battle was short lived and was completely one-sided. Although Karen had the type-advantage all she could do was tell her pokemon to dodge and hope for the best.
"You tried." Red complimented her. "Not many can land a hit on Espeon." Red spoke his deep voice filling the air. He shrugged at her and continued on, the retired-champion walking away at the disheveled Karen.
"Wait." Red stopped turning his gaze to the fallen Karen, "You didn't tell me your name."
Red sighed. He opened his mouth to form words just as the door he was about to enter burst open. A spiky red haired man wearing a black cape spontaneously entered the room, cutting off Red before he could say one syllable.
"Red! So you are here! I thought everyone was pulling a prank saying you just were battling the Elite Four again. So you're talking back the title of Champion, are you?" Lance led Red out of Karen's room and moved him to the Champion's Arena. Red furiously shook his head at many of Lance's questions.
"Lance, I'm here for the Champion meet up. I heard the Champions were gathering here and it caught my attention." Red summed up his short quest, "The receptionist wouldn't let me meet with you unless I took the Elite Four challenge. So I did."
"Well, you made it just in time. All the Champions are here. Since you aren't out to take my job let's have a battle for old times' sake." Lance offered. Red smirked, liking the idea of checking how much Lance improved over the years. The champions from the other regions walked out from a hidden door leading towards the meeting hall. "Hey. You should all know this is Pokémon Master Red. We are about to have a little battle and you guys get front row seats." Lance winked at the other Champions as both trainers walked to their respective sides.
As Red walked to his side, he observed each Champion memorizing their individual faces. He scanned through the small crowd looking for the Unova champion. His gaze eventually ended up on her, his heart skipping a beat as he saw the girl for the first time in person instead of seeing her through a screen. She was definitely prettier in person, her brown hair in a loose ponytail covered by a white hat with a pink visor. Her choice of clothing complimented her body perfectly hugging all the right places. Red caught himself staring at Touko. Her body shivered in anticipation. She was about to watch two colossal trainers duel. Touko, who could barely keep her excitement released a small squeal.
(A/N: I'm not the best at writing battle scenes so don't put your expectations too high.) Shaking his head from his previous stupor, Red tipped his hat so his eyes were hidden among his bangs and the shadow of his hat. The Champions shuddered as an aura for raw power was emitted from Red. Lance face contorted to a face of worry. It was like he was going to face a god. He soon started to regret initiating a battle with Red as he released his Espeon as usual. Lance sent out his Salamence. (A/N: Lance's team is based on his team when you battle him a second time in HG and SS.) His Salamence gave a mighty roar, taking flight, flapping its mighty wings. Red gripped his hat to keep it from flying away.
"Salamence! Take it out using a shadow claw!" Lance commanded. (A/N: During Pokemon battles, Pokemon aren't limited to their 4 moves. As long as the move can be learned, it can be used.) Salamance charged, his sharp claws elongated and coated with a dark matter. Espeon stood completely calm acting as if Salamence was not worth reacting to. Salamance was inches away from Espeon rearing back to slash. At the last second, Red flicked his wrist upward. Taking quick note of Red's motion Espeon nimbly dodge the shadow claw landing Salamance's head. Espeon turned to Red making eye contact. Red nodded acknowledging Espeon's request. Espeon took matters into her hands as Red gave her the 'Go ahead' sign. Espeon attacked with psyshock causing Salamence to stop frozen, dead in his tracks. Espeon followed up with a psychic, she slammed Salamance hard. Debris flew, Red lifted up his collar to cover his face. A small silhouette came out of the smoke. Espeon mewed out signaling that the battle was over. Lance recalled his Salamance. He grimaced 'Why did I challenge him again?'
-Battle Scene Skip-
Lance sighed as he released his final pokemon. A pale orange Dragonite popped out, its huge figure glaring down on Espeon. Espeon braced herself for the final battle, her fur stood on edge, and her fangs stood out.
'Espeon, take a break.' Red conveyed his thoughts to Espeon as he returned the Lavender colored cat to her pokeball. With a nod of his head, Pikachu launched off his shoulder and hopped to the Arena. Static came off his cheeks as Pikachu growled from excitement. Red produced small smile, he hasn't seen Pikachu this excited since he battled Gold's Pichu. "Alright, make this quick." Red voiced out to Pikachu.
"Dragonite! Dragon Dance!' Lance made the first move. A pale blue aura enveloped Dragonite as his Power and Speed increased. On the other side, a snap was heard. Pikachu disappeared and reappeared next to Dragonite's head. His tale shining bright silver as it came crashing to the unsuspecting Dragonite. Pikachu followed with a volt tackle, not letting up his barrage of physical attacks. To the spectating champions, Pikachu appeared as a yellow blur. They gasped as Dragonite was reduced to kneeling. Pikachu flipped back to his side of the battle field without a scratch. Static freely escaping from the red circles on his cheek.
"Pikachu, surf," Red commanded. "Wrap this up" A huge wave rose from beneath Pikachu's feet. The water surged forward towards Dragonite.
Lance was confused. 'Red should know that water type attacks don't do much to dragon types' He commanded Dragonite to stop the wave with Fire Blast. Mist soon filled the stadium as the water turned to gas. Following the steps of the water cycle, rain clouds took the place of mist. Rain poured down heavily as Lance soon noticed his mistake.
"Pikachu, Thunder," Red's voice echoed out. Lance knew there was nothing he could do about it. He fell on to his knees in defeat as a loud crash was heard. Dragonite groaned in pain as he fainted. Lance returned his fainted Dragonite as he walked up to Red.
"Powerful as always I see." Lance shook Reds hands. Soon enough the champions surrounded the both of them. They congratulated Red and Lance on the battle. The compliments flew past his ears as he tried to focus on his objective. Not to be rude but, there was only one person that he was interested in. Red scanned the faces for Touko as he searched for her. Seeing that he wasn't paying attention to what's in front of him and he collided into someone. That someone tripped backed causing both of them to fall. The rest of Champions heard the large thump as two bodies fell to the ground. The dust soon cleared out, revealing a fallen Touko under Red, their lips were locked.
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A/N: Sorry to do this to you guys again but it has to be done to keep the interest going. I'll see you guys in the next installment. Favorite and Follow. Phantomical out!
R&R