Chapter 2 - "The Promise You Forgot"

Mecca, Harley, Shane- you're with me. Move! …We're going to strike the neck, just like the archers!

Harley…strike the neck, just like the archers!

…the neck…

'Strike the neck, just like the archers.' That's what Red ordered- he knew it, he remembered it, and now he kept repeating it, while the scene played again in his head. The neck, not the head. Harley must've heard- everyone else did. So why the hell didn't he listen? Red pondered the question grimly as he walked with Green to the dead drake- the charizard.

Much as he would've liked to simply write it off as a loss, Red couldn't help but be shaken, seeing as how Harley's was the first death Red had actually witnessed. It didn't bother him in the way that he'd previously feared it would; he didn't freeze, he didn't panic, and he didn't get himself killed, either. The only thing Red felt, now that the anger had subdued with the fall of the char-kin, was pensive, much like most people saw him as, anyway. He kept trying to figure out, in the minutes before he would tell Green what had happened, why Harley died. But Red had no idea. Why didn't he listen? Was he stupid, or hard of hearing? Was he really so arrogant as to disobey the order, or had the dragon moved so that striking its head was imminent, and thus, entirely accidental? Or did Red just fail as a leader and a warrior? Every guild member, even the few who stayed back in Viridian City, had attended the brief prior to the mission. Before that, there was training every day, and even many of the resources for studying, through which Red, Green, and Leaf had learned were always available in the guild's library. Taking all that in to account, Red still thought on the cause behind Harley's fatal error, and Green began speaking before having Red's attention.

"Man… man, I… I really can't believe this. Dude, this is incredible!" He raved, Red slowly looking towards him. "You guys are the best. Man, you guys actually did it! Hahaha! This is a great day!" He stepped in close to the charizard's skull and stooped down, a wicked smile on his face. With a sinister voice, he chided the slump on the ground.

"You jackass. Did you really think we wouldn't get you? You thought you could just come here and fuck with us? Scare us? Hunt us? Nah. Nope, that's not how this game works… haha- now you know, and so will every other pokemon. We are not to be trifled with!" Green smiled triumphantly as he rose to his feet; he turned to Red, who was just gazing thoughtfully at the unrecognizable corpse-mess of Harley a few yards away, though Green didn't see that.

"And you! I saw it- just now- an arrow to eye! To the damned eye! How in the hell did your guys pull that off? Was it Tristan? I bet- still trying to 'wow' Portia into asking him out," he laughed, still fully engaged in his monologue, "Ah, but I bet that hurt. Must've crippled the thing good. Once you had that, move swift enough and you'd probably kill it right then. You bastard- is that what happened? Haha, you never did fight fair- always going for the weak spot. I guess you had little choice with this guy, though," Green concluded merrily. After one final laugh, he looked expectantly at Red, who was still dour. With a long, humored sigh, he walked over to Red and slung his arm over his shoulder, pulling him close. Red probably would've twisted the arm of any other man who did this, but with Green, he simply let out a sigh of his own and looked the guild master in the eye.

"…I had a casualty," Red confessed.

It took a full 10 seconds for Green's smile to fade, before he said, in a simply confused manner, "What?"

"My guy, Harley, died. The charizard... look, I told him to hit the neck, and- despite everything- he went for the skull. That's when, you know, it got him..." It wasn't often that Red was timid, but that's how he came off now, which Green couldn't help but notice before he fully-comprehended the tragedy behind the day's triumph.

"So, we- that kid- wha?- he..." Green just shook his head, upset. "No- no, no, no, no, no! Dammit, man. Ugh. We trained for so frickin' long for stuff like this! I mean, aw, dammit, Red. What did we say before we came out here? Huh?" He drew close to Red, a stern look in his eye. "No one else was going to die- right? Isn't that what we said? Answer me!"

Indignantly, Red defended himself, angry at Green's suddenly harsh tone.

"Hey, don't patronize me. This isn't on me! I did everything I could for that guy, and he threw his life away like a fucking doofus! Ok? I told him, 'Strike the neck,' -alright?- 'Strike the neck,' that's what I said! He didn't listen, and now he's dead, and I damn-near killed that thing on my own. Ok?! So don't put this on me; don't come at me, like I just let him die- there was nothing I could do!"

"Oh, save that bullshit! What do you mean, 'It's not on you?' Of course it's on you- you're squad leader! What the hell do you think that means? It's responsibility, jackass! You're squad leader because I trust you to lead- not just because you're my friend, not just because you can fight- because you lead! Or don't you know that? Don't you know anything?! Or do you just not care?"

"Seriously?!" Red waved him off angrily and he and Green went back and forth, talking over each other for several moments. Dust flew softly in the air, and the squads looked on quietly from a distance as the two best friends clashed. Tristan and Portia were holding each other, talking to the just-approaching members of Squad 1, with a still whimpering Shane and an unconscious Mecca laying down. Green had seen the injuries of the members of Squad 2, but believed everyone would live, not knowing Shane's condition was as bad as it was. The huge corpse laid there on the ground beside the guild's master and lieutenant- intimidating even in death- as if to oversee their argument. Finally, Green just groaned and grabbed Red firmly by the shoulders, looking him squarely in the eyes. Red looked back at him defiantly, but he also went silent.

"Red. You're my best friend. Ok? So, just... listen: I'm not trying to say his death was your fault- that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that you are responsible for your people. You tried your best to direct him, and he couldn't follow," Green's voice was steady, but still insistent, "So you should've retreated. Fallen back and taken a more tactical approach, or at least had him do something else. This wasn't worth losing one of our people, man. We're out here to save people- that's why we do whatever it takes to keep everyone alive. We're not soldiers, fighting to the death, we're guardians, and the less people we have to help, the less help we are, man- you gotta realize that," he finished.

"I know that!" Red began, "I know that. Look, the situation did not allow for a retreat, Green. This thing is exactly like we've seen and read- it doesn't let up. He- Harley- slipped up in what was supposed to be a crippling blow; he fell, and that thing made sure he didn't get back up. Now, don't tell me that you think I would not have pulled back if I could. There's no way I'd let anyone die for a victory that I could get at anytime. I mean, at least... fuck- at least, if it wasn't too late by then, anyway." Red exhaled sourly, and Green asked him what he meant.

"After Harley died, I... I went solo. I should've regrouped then and made a strategic retreat, or something, but I didn't. Because of that, Shane's in critical condition; I mean, it'll be weeks, at least, before he could even think about fighting again. He might quit, actually..." At this, Green admitted his confusion, and Red gave him the full report of what happened, from the time that the charizard was summoned by its kin, to when it was defeated.

"Ah, shit... well, yeah, I guess you wouldn't have been able to help that too much- Harley, I mean. And Shane... Tristan said he ran?" Red nodded in response. "Well, then he took that risk on his own. Should've ran to the side, if anything," Green yielded. He looked at Red, who was looking at the sky soberly, hands loosely on his hips. They were still wearing the brownish-orange fire-retardant suits, but where Green's suit was torn, frayed, or otherwise damaged, Red's seemed like it was just as good as when he'd put it on earlier, which must've meant that he didn't get seriously hit at any point during the fight.

Red's black hair fluffed with the wind, his mask off since the threat of fire had been quelled. His crimson eyes flit meagerly as he quietly gazed into the afternoon sky, still relatively cloudy, but no longer rainy at all, and his slim jaw was tight. Like most young people in Kanto, both he and Green kept their faces clean-shaven, but neither one of them got into the 'unique hair' trend the plagued even older people. Red's silky hair was somewhat unkempt, but clean, and it fell naturally into a sleek and loose style- fitting with the hat he normally wore- whereas Green's longer hair was in combed into obnoxious spikes, a popular style from the Hoenn region. With a sudden smile, Green once more took Red under his arm, and Red did the same, as the two began to walk back towards their teammates.

"Listen, I'm sorry; how about we get some drinks back in Viridian, huh? Let me make it up to you," Green offered.

"...Ok, but you know I only like the expensive stuff!" Red smiled.

"Yes, yes, you're a very classy date- only the best f-" Green started to tease. In the middle of speaking, however, he was interrupted by an explosion to the north. Quickly looking around to see if everyone was accounted for, Green remembered that it was only his squad and Red's here- Squad 3 was still out, in the vicinity of the explosion he'd just heard. He didn't waste any time.

"Hey, four people that can move and fight- let's go!" Green barked. His squad gathered to him, since all of Red's people were at least wounded. Only a single person from Squad 1- Desmond- stayed behind with the rest. They all gathered into a single grouping of six, put on any gear they'd removed, and ran off to investigate the event.

Leaf, Green thought nervously, you better be ok! It was a long run to Squad 3's location, just as it had been with getting to Squad 2's, for him. He wondered if Leaf would have even heard the recall horn Red blew earlier; he barely heard it himself, even though he wasn't fighting or talking during its sounding. Silently, Green cursed his search plans, and wished that he'd kept everyone closer together. As if to speak to this, Red voiced his own frustration.

"Argh, I never realized how long this beach was!" Like-minded comments came from the others in the group, spurring Red and Green to run faster. But they were still about two miles away- near twenty minutes of running, for their speed.

Thick black smoke was already rising portentously over the area, but a loud, fierce roar announced something Green had been wondering about, yet nearly stopped Red in his tracks. Draped in a cloak of black fume, an orange dragon burst majestically from the dark cloud, flying straight from the area and back towards the sea. Fire blew from the mouth of the charizard as it soared, most likely back to the Orange Islands, and Red glared at the creature, vowing internally to hunt the thing no matter where it flew if anything had happened to Leaf. Looking back to where he was running, he still couldn't see the source of the attack. Only an inky plume of burning smoke lifting his fear into the sky.

Almost two miles away, in a large, old, and burning cavern, Leaf and her team- Squad 3- crawled somewhat swiftly from the depths they'd been investigating. Dirty, tired, and only a little pissed-off, Leaf and her crew had miraculously managed to survive two very bad situations, and were nearing full-survival of a third. She bitterly imagined the other squads sitting around, laughing and drinking while she pulled herself along the ground, thick smoke filling the air and funneling slowly out of the tunnels. In the dark of the smoke, she couldn't see and barely remembered her way out. Gratefully, she thought back to the designing phase of ordering the gear she and the guild currently wore, and was glad she demanded a basic respirator be implemented into the mask. It was more expensive to create and didn't completely protect from smoke and chemical agents, but when laying on the ground and exerting minimal energy to move, at least shallow breathing was possible.

A relatively uneventful hunt became a near-suicide mission when an unexpected influx of charmander and charmeleon rushed into the cavern Squad 3 was in. Given how hesitant the char-kin were to attack, she didn't think it was an ambush, but in the tight, hot corridors of the cavern, it may as well have been. Driven back to an open area, she thought she'd finally get the advantage, when she practically stumbled into a matron's nest. A charizard matron's nest. Once again, the creatures were just as surprised to see her as she was, them. Ten fire-spawn blocked her only sensible exit and another fifteen moved to prevent her from handling the situation properly, one of those fifteen being a charizard. She swallowed her fear and pressed to the left wall towards another exit, her squad carefully following her every move. Char-kin pressed them to leave, releasing small fireballs and gouts without getting too close or even aiming carefully, and the charizard itself mostly just watched and growled. Surprisingly, Leaf didn't have to fight her way out. The char-kin seemed to want her gone as quickly and peacefully as possible, and she was eager to oblige them in such a dire situation. Looking around as she carefully stepped closer and closer to an opening, she realized it was mostly charmanders and unhatched eggs around the charizard. Of course the mother wouldn't want to risk harm to her children, Leaf thought. Still, she and the rest of the guild had already killed plenty- it must have known that. Would the charizard simply wait and take the fight elsewhere, or what? The creatures were too aggressive to only want to be left alone, especially after an assault like the one she'd delivered. So what was going on?

Leaf coughed abruptly, stopping her crawling and her reflection on how she got into the smoky mess. She refocused on her path after a few seconds, heat blazing overhead in the ridiculous smog. It showed no signs of thinning, though it had to be doing so. Behind her, the five other members of Squad 2 were quietly filing along. Leaf felt terrible that she'd let her squad be put into such a dire circumstance, but relieved that they were at least capable of handling it. Annoyed at her situation, she considered what another squad would have done, as each squad was composed in a balanced, yet strategic way.

Her squad specialized in reconnaissance and infiltration. Analyzing movements, infiltrating nests or habitats, and quietly dispatching enemies was her preferred method of mission completion, and her squad was composed of like-minded guild members. In larger battles, she would circumnavigate the battlefield, picking off enemies from a distance, and every single member of Leaf's team was at least trained in archery. Squad 2 excelled in maneuver and guerrilla tactics- which basically meant they moved quickly from place to place, hitting their enemies in conspicuous and critical ways, either to attract and subdue weaker enemies or to lower defenses until they easily could swoop in for a killing blow. Squad 1 led the charge on the front line. Obvious and powerful, Green and his guys went for a straight challenge with little-to-no secrecy or deception in his tactics, except for the occasional reliance on the other squads for cover, to avoid being overwhelmed without having to fall back. It was all about power and domination, or shock and awe for them; killing every enemy, or beating a few so badly that the rest would run. And surprisingly, they were good at it.

When the three of them were still kids- Leaf, Green, and Red- they practiced and perfected their roles in nearly every battle, be it against one pokemon or several. She would go first, stealthily, get behind the enemy, and engage from a remote front, while Green attacked directly. Red would exercise constant mobility, aiming for critical locations not covered by Leaf, which directly benefited Green's assault. The trio had learned about combat operations and strategy from one of Dr. Woods' hundreds of books, all of which they were more than welcome to.

With an irritated sigh, Leaf refused to conclude that any one squad was better than the others, and instead determined that she must've had the greatest chance of surviving simply because she was the most careful. Any other group would have likely engaged the char-kin and subsequently...

Belatedly, and not coincidentally following another cough, Leaf realized that she'd gotten side-tracked again. She hated the heat, and blamed it for her terrible concentration. At the same time, she was starting to feel a little light-headed, and realized that she needed to get fresh air as soon as possible. She owed it to her squad to get out of the black caverns and live to fight another day; Leaf dedicated herself to inching forward all the faster, remembering with some effort that the curve of the path she was currently on mirrored the one she'd come in forty minutes ago. By her calculation, it would only take another fifteen minutes or so of crawling to get out, as she recalled the way she initially got to where she was now. Smiling to herself, she noted that neither Red or Green would've remembered details like that, and willfully focused on the path, smoke like tangible death literally just overhead.

12 minutes later, and just as she predicted, Leaf pulled herself out of the caverns onto a dirty beach full of rocks and shrubs. It wasn't really the beach- there wasn't even any sand there- but it was close enough to the water that everyone called it that, and even so, she was nearly thirty minutes away from the actual ocean. Thinking about the ocean made Leaf long for a cool bath as she eagerly, yet carefully, rose to her feet, far enough away from the billowing smoke to stand. She glanced around once to ensure the safety of the scene, then hurriedly pulled off her mask, nearly falling over for being so light-headed. As her squad joined her in a circle, they all ripped off their masks, coughing and hacking as they hurried to inhale fresh oxygen once more. After a full-minute of just breathing, one of the group- Oliver- started laughing. The others joined him in a moment, questioningly, and he explained at the look on everyone's face.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just- I really didn't think we were going to make it back there. And, when I joined up with the guild," he panted, a smile still on his adolescent face, "My ma actually told me that whenever there was a chance I was going to die, not to eat or drink beforehand. I asked her, you know, 'What are you talking about?', and she just said, 'You'll see!' Haha, man, now I know what she meant- I'm just glad I could hold it!" He laughed as he ran into a thick brush, and the whole squad groaned humorously upon hearing his relieved sighs.

Everyone laughed heartily as they exchanged fears and presumptions about how their situation would end. Leaf examined her team as they chatted; outfits were torn, cut, and blackened, and a there were a couple injuries. They looked completely different from when they'd arrived. A few of them, including her, had dropped their weapons in the explosion. She still had her small swords, but that was her favorite bow, she thought with a pout. Still, she was really just glad that everyone was still alive. Looking at the huge smoke cloud, she grabbed the recall horn from her squad mate, Salvatore, and gave a long call. When she gave it back, her squad was looking at her bemusedly.

"Just in case they don't know," Leaf explained with an innocent tone, bringing everyone to laughter once more.

Five more minutes passed before the rescue team showed up. Red, Green, and most of Squad 1, arrived with heavy breathing, supposedly ready to leap into the still-smoking caves and make a daring rescue. Leaf smiled at their naive bravery as she and her team happily walked towards them.

The moment Red saw Leaf, he ran to her, all wide-eyed, along with Green. The three embraced each other in a group hug, silent yet clearly over-joyed. Red held Leaf close, and Green held both of them from the side. Green and Red let go after several seconds, conspicuously checking Leaf to make sure she was ok, until she firmly said as much.

"Man, you idiots had me worried!" Green fumed. "What in all hell happened?! We heard an explosion and saw another damn charizard flying away... we thought you- uh, well, it looked bad," Green explained, frustrated and indignant. Red just looked at Leaf expectantly, waiting, as well, for an explanation.

Leaf took a big breath and sighed flippantly. "Well, it started with us investigating these caves around here, right? Then we came to this one, and started investigating it, too. Well, imagine our surprise when, as we're poking around, a bunch of pokemon rush in all hurried-like, even though we already cleared the area outside; we were disorganized, and they ended up pushing us back, pretty much into a charizard's nest. It was ok, though, since they weren't really attacking us, so much as just 'encouraging' us to get out. Or so we thought. Well, they pushed us back into what I figured must've been an alternate exit," Leaf detailed, suddenly adopting a serious look and clearing her throat, "But it was a trap. We started running down the cave path, trying to find the exit, but all we found was another open-space within the cavern. One filled with a bunch of koffing and weezing, and enough gas to blow us all sky-high. I'm guessing from then, the charizard had the caves evacuated and then released the huge-ass fireball we saw that ignited the gas, which caused the explosion and nearly killed us all. If it weren't for some damn-convenient cover and these suits, we'd probably be dead. The air filters were an invaluable addition, by the way- glad I thought of it," she said pointedly.

"Koffing and weezing- the pokemon? I thought those sacks of poison stuck to the cities," Sarah, one of Squad 1's members, said.

"Usually that's where we hear about them, but they're attracted to heat, too. I guess it's possible that a few might've come to the caves in response to the heat brought by the charizard's nest," Red deduced, "But still, it isn't so hot that they'd just be wandering around this area in the first place; they don't normally make the flight across the ocean, even if they are common in the Orange Islands." Red couldn't make any sense of it as he tried to figure out what the hell had caused Leaf to come into so much danger. "Maybe there was another entrance- somewhere else, where they could wander in more sensibly."

"By the way," Salvatore of Squad 3 said, "Did you say you encountered another charizard?"

"Yeah, Squad 2 did, only about fifteen minutes before we saw that other one flying away from the explosion here. Ah, I wish we could've brought it down! I wanna fight, too..." Squad 1's Marshall pouted.

"Yeah, yeah, there definitely shouldn't have been any floating explosives around, and we all wondered if there would be more than one charizard, but we can worry about all that later," Green irately decided. "For now, I think we've done alright securing the area. There's not a damn char-thing in sight. Let's just get back to Pallet Town, tonight, and we'll head for Viridian, tomorrow. We got wounded that need attention." He muttered to himself quietly as he turned around, "Damn, there's too much going on!"

"Yeah," Leaf agreed with a weary smile, "I'm beyond tired. Plus, it'll be good to get some home-cooked food again!" The other guild members cheered warmly at a job well-done, looking forward to Pallet Town's hearty, though modest, cooking.

As the squads began heading back to the site of the dead charizard where the others were, chatting and laughing, an annoyed Red looked around, upset at all the good cheer, until a sideways glance from Green made him realize- the others probably didn't know about the casualty, yet. Thinking back, he thought that he was speaking so loudly at the time, but his argument with Green was somewhat hushed. The others only knew they were arguing, but not about what. If Tristan and Portia didn't say anything... well, it's not like most people payed attention to Harley, anyway, Red guiltily acknowledged. All that meant to Red was that he'd just have to ruin everyone's mood later. He checked back curiously on Squad 3: they were banged-up and bruised, but still alive- each of them. Red couldn't help but gaze at the dirt, crestfallen and reminded once more of his feelings of incompetence and failure, despite knowing the inherent desperation his situation had bore. He was quiet for another ten minutes, taking no part in the chat flowing through the group, and even failing to notice the increasingly obvious peeks Leaf had been sneaking at him; he was staring, then, over the ocean, towards the Orange Islands, which were only just visible from the beach.

Unexpectedly, Leaf went over to Red and grabbed his arm, pulling him forward and out of his head, since he had meandered to the back of the group.

"What's the matter with you? Always so damn dour- aren't you happy about the charizard?" She asked playfully.

"Ah... just wondering about the purpose behind it all. You know, if it was always meant to be like this, God's plans, and all that," he casually mimicked, referring to a conversation they'd had years ago. Leaf was wondering about the possibility of a deity desiring conflict between men and pokemon. Red told her that anything sentient could probably be considered as some type of pokemon, including 'God'.

"Oh, you're a thinking man now, huh? I guess you evolved." The two of them laughed softly, both of their hearts too heavy for the usual joking. After a moment, Leaf bit her lip guiltily; clutching Red tighter, she said soberly, "You can say it, if you want."

"What?" He said with a small blush, thinking she was referring to their interlocking arms.

"What I would say to you. That I... I was reckless, that I should have been more careful- that I should've known it was trap, or- or that I almost got everyone killed, or..." she exhaled somberly, realizing she was just echoing her own thoughts to him.

"...No. I'm the one who should hear that, not say it," Red admitted. Upon the inevitable 'What do you mean?', he took a deep breath, cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention, and confessed loud enough for everyone to hear, "Harley died, against the charizard. My squad mate was killed... and it's my fault." Everyone stopped walking.

Leaf looked at Red studiously, as if she could determine how exactly she felt by looking at him. Red's face was plain and guilty; his red eyes gazed honestly into her blue, and her small mouth fell a bit agape as his words sunk in. A few seconds later, the entire group was buzzing quietly at the news. Green only stared sadly from his position at the head of the pack. Questions and comments pulled themselves into the air, with everyone expecting another argument. Expecting Leaf to scold Red like they'd all seen her do before- to tell him that he was careless, arrogant, or selfish; that he was still just a man, and nothing more, or to at least lecture him on the principles of operational command, like Green had. They expected her to be the humility and caution that Red so often lacked. But instead, Leaf didn't say a word; all she did was take Red by his slim torso and hold him, like she had also done so many times before, burying her soft face firmly in his neck, and she didn't let him go until long after he did the same. His thin, tight lips pressed gently against her ear, as he whispered a thousand apologies.