Kanto Saga
Chapter 3: The Charizard Shrine - A Destiny Revealed
"So, how are we going to reach this shrine as a group?" The little Charmander looks up inquisitively at the three. "I know Charizards can fly, as well as most dragon types because they have wings, but what about the strange Blastoise that is with you. Wouldn't it be hard for him to get there?" Draco looked at Bowser, knowing this to be a very good question as he obviously can't fly. Suddenly, Bowser heard a voice speaking to him. "Need help travelling far distances?" it spoke. "It's you again?" exclaimed Bowser. "Yes, I would absolutely need help, please!" "Very well," said the voice. "Just think with your mind where you want to go, and you'll be brought there." The others looked at Bowser with confused expressions. "I forgot to mention," said Bowser. "That I have a way to get to where you'll be going without any hassle, and I'll be using my mind to do so." Purple fog start to emanate around Bowser before he slowly vanishes as he gets spun around. "Meet you at the Charizard shrine!" he called. The little Charmander stares in amazement as the strange Blastoise that stood there moments ago vanishes before his eyes. "H-how did he do that? I've never known anyone to do anything like that except for that Shadow Mewtwo I saw. Well I guess we should follow him then."
Meanwhile at the Charizard Shrine, some of the resident Charizards there are tending to their duties, tending to the needs of the young Charmanders as some Charmeleons run around helping the Charizards out. Suddenly a purple fog sprouts up around the base of one of the Charizard statues as Bowser materializes there. One of the Charizards walking by the statue's back spots the fog. "Huh, what is going on, where did this fog come from?" As Bowser completely materialises at the shrine, he looked on a bit nervously. All the Charmanders, Charmeleons, and Charizards were staring at him suspiciously. "That's the strangest Blastoise I have ever seen," exclaimed one Charizard. Bowser took no notice at the remark and tried to think up what to say. "Um, hello," he finally spoke. "Is this the Charizard Shrine?" "Yes, it is," replied another Charizard. "But what brings you here, strange Blastoise?" "It's a bit of a long story," said Bowser. "Right now, I'm expecting a Charizard and Charmander that are supposed to arrive here at this time." "Bowser, over here!" a voice called. Bowser turned around and saw his friends Draco and Cynder flying towards the shrine with the little Charmander riding on Draco's back. Once they land the little Charmander jumps off of Draco's back and looks around at the scenery. "This place is impressive, I never would of figured that so many of my line were in this one place." At that moment, an old looking Charizard comes from behind the crowd that isgawking at the strange Blastoise. "I welcome you to the Charizard Shrine young travellers." He glances down at me and lets out a warm smile, reminiscent of the one I saw from my mother. "And an especially warm welcome to you young Charmander. Now if you four would follow me, I want to find out what brings you to a place like this."
The old Charizard leads us to a secluded field and motions for us to take a seat. "I have felt a disturbance in nearby Kanto as of late, and an aura that is familiar to me. It felt like my daughters aura. Would any of you know about this disturbance?" He keeps watching me as he speaks. I catch his gaze and frown at what he said, knowing full well that I was the one responsible for the disturbance he felt. The old Charizard looks at me with concern. "What is wrong young one?" He comes closer to me, putting his hand on my shoulder. "You can tell me anything." I look up at him, tears welling up in my eyes. The way this Charizard speaks makes me feel like I can tell him anything. I begin to tell him everything. "I was the disturbance...my rage got the best of me, rage towards the ones who killed my parents...many innocent Pokemon and people were caught in my fire as my rage destroyed an island." I continue to tell him more details from my story, almost completely breaking down. The old Charizard wraps his arms around me, hugging me tight, feeling much like the hug I recieved from my own mother not that long ago. A strange feeling comes over me, wondering who exactly this Charizard could be. The old Charizard looks up at the other three. "This Charmander has been through a rough time for a newborn, thank you for bringing him here. Now that I know his side of the story, I would like to ask how you three, a Dragon, a Koopa and a Charizard from some other world entirely, got here."
Draco, Cynder, and Bowser were stunned. They never expected that the elder Charizard would have guessed that Cynder and Bowser were the only non-Pokémon that came to their world. The others looked at Draco, being very intrigued at how he is the only Charizard to wear human clothes. After the trio told their story of how they met Dialga and Palkia, the elder Charizard looked at them with great interest and pondered. "Seems as if Dialga and Palkia have chosen you three because you may have what it takes to help this little Charmander put a stop to a dangerous threat that will emerge. I truly believe that you are strong and dedicated enough to accomplish this noble task." "We are glad to help, your Honour," replied Draco. "But how will we be able to do it?" The elder Charizard. "Come with me," he said. "All of your answers will be revealed inside the temple." As the group enters the temple, they can see the walls are lined with large Charizard statues, some of which have jewels located in their chests that shine with different colors, but others that have jewels that look dull and lifeless. A pair of statues catches my eye and I walk closer to get a good look at them. "This is the hall of Charizards, ones that have made a better world to live in through their contributions against evil...unfortunately recently we have lost a pair of powerful Charizards as denoted by the dull jewels that you can see." The elderly Charizard points over to the statues that I am going towards, just then seeing me. I look up at the statues, recognizing them somewhat. The elderly Charizard comes over towards me. "Do you see something familiar young one?" "T-these are my parents..." I look up into the elderly Charizard's eyes. "The statues look just like them..." The elderly Charizard kneels down next to me. "Why are statues of my parents here..." The Charizard speaks. "That is because they are important Charizards to this shrine. These two have done a lot for this world since becoming Charizards. Please come with me and I can tell you more about them and what is in store for you."
He leads us deeper into the temple, into a meeting room like area. "If any of you have any questions before we begin, please feel free to ask them now, I am still waiting for another to show up, an old friend of mine who can shed some light on this situation for our young Charmander here." Draco raised his paw up. "Yes, Draco?" nodded the elder Charizard. "This may not be a serious question, but are we going to eat yet?" asked Draco.
Cynder rolled her eyes. "Always thinking with your stomach, Draco," she muttered. "Come to think of it, it is time for lunch after all," smiled the elder Charizard. "Come this way to the eating room, the food shall be ready in no time." Inside the eating room, the five dragons waited as they took their seats. Soon, a Charizard came by to serve the food, which consisted of plates full of an assortment of roasted meat. While everyone started chowing down, Cynder looked on, not feeling hungry at the slightest. "What's the matter, young dragon lady?" asked the elder Charizard. "Don't you like this food?" "Allow me to explain, elder," said Draco after he finished a piece of drumstick. "Cynder here is a piscivore, meaning she eats only fish." "Ah, I understand," said the Charizard elder. "It's alright," replied Cynder. "I wasn't feeling hungry anyway, so I might have something later." "This meat is good!" exclaimed Bowser after he tossed away a now fleshless bone. "How do you do this?" "Oh, we just bring our catch, carve them to pieces, set them in our own fire pits where we use our Flamethrower to cook the meat," said the elder Charizard. The little Charmander belched after eating ravenously. He had been starving for a long time since being separated from his parents.
As the meal begins to come to a close, the elder Charizard smiles as he senses a presence arrive in the other room. "Ah, looks like my guest has arrived, please wait here while I go to meet him." I look up and watch as the Charizard leaves the room, wondering who his guest could be, curiosity getting the best of me as I try to stealthfully follow him and see. In the next room I catch a glimpse of a familiar figure talking with the elder Charizard. "Welcome my friend, I have been waiting for you." The figure responds, "Hopefully not long, and I see you have some other company here. Is one of them the one that you mentioned having the power like your daughter?" The Charizard replies, "Yes...he even confessed to be the one that destroyed the island, but I am still unsure. As for the other three he was accompanied by, they come from the other world that you yourself have visited during your travels, brought here by Dialga and Palkia to help him out." "I see, one Charmander with power untempered, and three others from the planet Earth, brought to aid the young one...Arceus, what have you gotten us into. Well lets not keep our guests waiting, there is a lot of explaining to do, and a naughty little Charmander to take back to the group." The figure looks at me with a piercing gaze, like the one Shadow Mewtwo gave me as he spoke in my mind, next thing I know is I'm teleported onto Bowser's head as the elder Charizard and the mysterious figure teleport into the dining hall, finally revealing himself to be a Mewtwo.
The elder Charizard speaks, "Please don't be alarmed, this is my old friend that I have been waiting for. He knows of the current situation and wants to help." The Mewtwo looks at everyone present, "I know of the Shadow Mewtwo, and I want to lend my aid in helping our Charmander friend. I will not stand by and let a twisted version of myself continue to do evil. I will be taking the Charmander to my home near the town of Cerulean and will be training him under the guidance of my friend, You three are welcome to join us for I feel that you three will have some role to play in this Charmander's life." The elder looks at me, "Young one, are you willing to set forth and endure this training that will be placed upon you? If the answer is no, then you are welcome to stay here at the Charizard Shrine, but if you say yes, then I wish you the best of luck in this trial. The start of your journey is up to you." The little Charmander looks up, staring deep into the elder's eyes as he tells him, "Yes, I need to get stronger. I don't want that rage that consumed me to ever befall anyone else. I want to be a flame of protection for those who cannot protect themselves...I may have not known my parents long, but I think they had a similar plan for me, and I'm glad I knew them for as long as I did." The elder kneels down, hugging me tightly with tears in his eyes. "It is good to hear you say this, you are so much like my own daughter. Her sense of right has saved this world before, I wish she was here to see this day." The little Charmander smiles a bit, wiping away some tears of his own. The Mewtwo floats the little Charmander into the air with his psychic power. "Then we shall be going to the Cerulean cave." The Mewtwo begins to lead the little Charmander out. Draco looks to his two friends. "I think we should go with Mewtwo so that we can check on our little friend's training," said Cynder. "She's right, Draco," agreed Bowser. "He will benefit from us supporting him."
The three followed Mewtwo, eventually arriving at a cave not far from Cerulean City. It looked dark and mysterious. The group enters the dark cave, eventually the only light able to be seen coming from Draco's and the Charmander's tail flames. "We shall arrive at my training ground and home pretty soon. I do have accommodations there suitable for our earth friends here." As the party walks deeper into the cave, they hear some other sounds around them, a few Pokemon native to the cave can be seen from the limited light every now and then, but some other non native ones are seen as well. The party eventually sees crystals in the distance, sitting around and on a platform illuminating a massive training ground, as well as a somewhat large building. Three figures stand near the walkway to the training ground, eventually looking over to see Mewtwo and the party. As the party gets closer, they see that the three are a Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise, all with unique markings adorning their bodies. The Mewtwo turns and looks at us. "This is my place, it is a sanctuary for clone Pokemon, as well as a training ground for those Pokemon who seek to better themselves.
A young girl, around 12 to 13 years of age, wearing a flowing dress and sporting long green hair comes out from behind the clone Blastoise to see who they are all looking at. She smiles and bows at us. "Welcome, are you here to train with Metwo?" The Charmander looks over at her, wondering why a human would be living away from the cities with a bunch of clone Pokemon. The Charmander smiles shyly. "Y-yes I am." The girl smiles, "That's wonderful to hear, my name is Amber, what is yours?" Surprised to find a human that actually understands what a Pokemon is saying, it takes a bit to come out with my name. "M-my name is...what did my dad call me again? Ah, Charonus, my name is Charonus." Amber smiled, "Looks like I may have caught you off guard Charonus, I can use telepathy to understand you, a special gift I share with Mewtwo and the other clone Pokemon here. I am also a clone." Mewtwo looks at everyone, "We can get more aquainted inside the building you see there, and tomorrow starts the training. Don't worry Charonus, it will be easy to start, but I hope you can rise in power as well as strengthening your soul." He heads off to the building, motioning for the Venusaur, Blastoise and Charizard to follow.
