Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Location: Pewter City

Time: 8:00 A.M.

Date: Day 1 after the Grand Announcement

Brock awoke to the sound of someone banging on the door of his home, the Pewter City Gym. He groggily checked a nearby clock, and found it to be eight o'clock sharp. He stared at it with his usual stony gaze, trying to grasp what was so crucial about today, then abruptly realized what it was. He shot up out of bed, throwing on his Leader's uniform, checking to make sure he looked alright, and strolled out to the entrance to his Gym.

The Kanto Government decided that the Indigo League, marred by the scandal surrounding the trainer Red four years ago, had fallen so far from it's original purpose that it must be shut down immidiatley. Shortly after, the circuit was disbanded, leaving seven unhappy Leaders out of a job.

Brock walked to the door of his gym with a smile, stepping lightly over several boulders that littered the arena, and did something he hadn't done in four years-he threw the doors to his Gym open wide.

"Welcome to the Pewter City Gym, contenders!" Brock said loudly. "I know it's been four years, but trust me, I've still got it! Come on…in…"

Brock trailed off as he saw who was standing in front of him. He gave the person the most hateful glare he could before stiffening straight up.

"Cut the crap, Brock." Richie said acidly. "You know why I'm here."

"You." Brock spat. "I should have known you'd be the first one. What, ruining the life of an innocent boy wasn't enough for you? I'm surprised they'd even let you compete with all the questions surrounding you."

"I was one of the first people to be told the Indigo League was reopening." Richie said with pride. "I'm the leading contender for this year's tournament."

"Is that so." Brock said flatly. "Well, come in, let's battle."

Richie followed Brock into his Gym, examining the mass amounts of dirt, grime, and cobwebs that had collected after four years of inactivity with a look of disgust on his face.

Brock walked to the far side of the Gym, turning to face Richie.

"If I wasn't bound by the damn law to accept all challengers, I'd make you leave right now." Brock said with barely controlled fury. "Or kill you for what you did to Red. He was my friend, and you destroyed his life."

"He was crazy." Richie said evenly. "He thought Team Rocket was real."

"Knock this shit off Richie!!" Brock roared. "I know Team Rocket is real!! And so do you!! Hell, four of the Gym leaders in our circuit are Rocket members! He confided in you, and you stabbed him in the back!!"

Richie glared at Brock.

"He was mental. He beat his Pokemon. He needed to be stopped."

"Have you really fallen so far into your madness that you actually believe these lies?!" Brock shouted. "That's it Richie. You destroyed his life-I'll destroy you!! STEELIX, GO!!"

Brock hurled a Pokeball into the center of the arena, and a massive steel worm exploded out of the ball. Steelix rushed over to Richie, breathing right in his tiny face.

Richie just stared straight ahead. He looked away from Steelix, examining the interior of the Gym.

"This Gym needs a makeover." Richie said, a touch of dementia in is words, and a sick smile spreading across his face. "And I'd be glad to oblige."

He reached to his belt, and without even so much as blinking at the Steelix in front of him, dropped a Pokeball in front of him.

"Mewtwo." Richie said. "I choose you."

Brock barely had time to let his eyes widen in horror before a surge of psychic energy sent his Steelix soaring backwards and into him, knocking him through the back wall of his Gym and onto a patch of bramble.

Brock recalled Steelix into his ball, and staggered back into his Gym, finally collapsing on the floor in agony. His right arm was bent at a odd angle, the lower part of the arm bent backwards and off to the left. His clothes were tattered, and thin lines of blood caused by the brambles were visible all over his chest. Richie laughed, and pointed at Brock. On command, Mewtwo floated over to Brock, and with a gesture removed a Boulder Badge from his pocket and floated it over with his mind to Richie. The Badge attached itself to the inside of his vest, and with a final sneer at the fallen leader, Richie recalled Mewtwo and walked out of the ruined Gym.

Location: Silver Cave

Time: Unknown

Date: Unknown

Red gasped, reaching down to lift the Pikachu-his Pikachu-out of the crater it's explosion had created. He felt his face begin to sting in a way he hadn't recalled feeling for almost four years; he was freely crying, his tears landing with a small crackling noise on Pikachu's charred face.

"Pikachu…you're alive." Red sobbed, his body shaking as he cried. "I thought you were killed by that bastard Richie…how did you escape?"

"(They had me held at the Rustboro Science Organization's headquarters. They were going to attempt to experiment on me to determine how you might have been able to communicate with me. When they let me out of my cage to begin, I used Explosion to destroy the entire building, then I ran.)" Pikachu choked out. "(The others…what happened to them? And what do you mean, killed?)"

Red wiped his eyes, getting control of his emotions.

"Pikachu…" Red whispered. "Richie killed all the others. They're dead."

Pikachu's eyes widened.

"I know…I know…" Red soothed him. "But don't worry. Soon I'm going to have my revenge on him, don't you worry. I'm going to make a plan. And then, once I'm ready, we're going to get him."

Pikachu looked up at Red.

"(Now.)"

"What?"

"(We're going now. We're both leaving this cave, and you're going to raise a new team of Pokemon to defeat Richie.)" Pikachu said with a determined edge in his voice. "(If you don't go now, you'll just keep sitting in this cave without anything to live for!)"

Red looked at Pikachu in surprise. He cradled his injured Pokemon in his arms, petting his soft fur, and thinking about what his Pikachu had just said.

"How did you find me?" Red asked softly, deciding to ignore the statement. "I made sure no one knew where I was going, or where I ended up."

"(Don't try to avoid it Red!)" Pikachu said angrily, coughing a little. "(You have to get over your past, or you'll have no future!)"

Red fell silent, thinking hard on what to do.

"We have to get you to a Pokemon Center." Red said, rising to his feet, with Pikachu in his arms. "There's one just outside the entrance to this place…at least, there was four years ago. After you're healed…I'll decide what to do."

Red broke into a run, dashing through the fallen bodies of assorted Misdreavus, Ursaring, and Larvitar that had been scattered everywhere after Pikachu's attack. He quickly reached the first of several ladders to come, and placing Pikachu in his vest, he bolted down it.

Red found himself in a humongous room, with a massive waterfall flowing downward in it's center. He silently cursed under his breath. There had been no easy way to get up it, let alone down it. Pikachu stirred in his vest, and Red steeled himself for what he knew what he had to do. He took a few steps back, then jumped into the waterfall with a cry of fear. Red held Pikachu close to his chest as he tumbled down three stories of cascading water, the roar of the falls drowning out all other noise the cave around him might have supplied.

After what felt like forever, Red hit the water hard, clinging to Pikachu to make sure that he didn't drift away. He felt the wind fly out of him as he sank down deep into the pool of water he had landed in. Red's head was on fire, stars dancing in front of his eyes, but he still managed to swim to the surface, barely making it to the side of the small pool.

Red set Pikachu down, clinging to both the side wall of the pool, and consciousness, by a hair. He used what strength he had left to pull himself out of the water, collapsed next to Pikachu, and let the darkness overtake him.

Red awoke to the sensation of an electric shock coursing through his body.

"YEEEEOW!!" Red yelped, jumping to his feet.

Red searched the cavern, trying to remember what he was doing outside his room, when he saw Pikachu, and it all came back to him.

"Oh shit." Red swore. "How long have I been out?!"

Pikachu smiled.

"(Just…enough energy to get…you up…)" Pikachu muttered.

Red scooped up Pikachu and sprinted in the direction of the exit.

"You shouldn't have expended that energy, Pikachu!" Red told his friend as he bolted into another, much smaller room.

Red soon came upon a group of Misdreavus, and they weren't too happy. They recognized Pikachu as the culprit who killed several of their friends and family members, and they attacked.

"(Please!! Stop! He was just defending himself!!)" Red pleaded in their language.

The Misdreavus were too enraged to even listen, and they continued to launch both physical and ghost attacks at him. A Night Shade attack hit Red square in the back of the head, and he began to hallucinate, seeing images of horror and death all around him. He let out a scream, and sprinted faster to the exit. In a few moments, the visions faded, and Red saw a glimmer of light ahead of him. He ran full tilt, punching a Larvitar in the nose to get it away from him. He jumped a mid-size boulder, sending a cloud of dust into the air, and distracting the ghost Pokemon just long enough for Red to run straight out of the exit and into the real world.

Red's eyes seared in pain as the harsh light of day struck him in the face for the first time in four years.

"Auuughh!" he cried, throwing a hand up in front of his face.

He squinted, and began to walk mostly blinded to where he remembered the Pokemon Center to be. After a few minutes of tripping over rocks and branches, Red felt his hand touch weathered and smooth stone.

He searched around the outside of the building with his hand until he discovered a pane of glass that he thought was the door, so he waved his hand in front of it to get it to slide open. It didn't budge. Red pounded on the door, trying to alert someone inside to his plight, but still no one came. Frustrated, Red kicked the glass hard, and felt it shatter into nothing.

Red opened his eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the light, and saw that the Pokemon Center was choked with weeds. The roof of the building had fallen in with age, and vines grew all over the outer walls.

Red stepped gingerly over the broken glass, Pikachu in his arms, and explored the interior of the fallen building. The reception desk was mostly intact, and the machine that healed Pokemon seemed to be working as well. The floor of the Center had deteriorated into a rubble pile of weeds and stone, and the P.C. in the corner was beat up beyond recognition, but it was still blinking.

Red waded through the destroyed building, sliding over the ruined desk to set Pikachu down on the healing machine. A few wires and patches spread out from the machine automatically, attaching to various places on Pikachu.

"Administering Treatment." The machine said. "Approximate time to completion: two hours."

"Great." Red groaned.

He trudged over to the P.C., and settled in for the long wait.