Arc 1

Chapter 9: A Confliction with Choice

The Rescue Base's Headmaster Meeting Room

The headmasters waited until Red Fire and Water Gun closed the door and went down a few steps of the stairs before talking.

"Those two are quite a pair. Wouldn't you say so Jay?" Asked Tawny.

"Maybe. But I don't like that Charmander."

"Could you make it any more obvious? I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't join us with the way you acted towards him."

"It's just…he doesn't have anything we're looking for in a rescuer. There is no way a Pokemon like him can even become one! We put our hopes too high. Now we will face the consequences."

"Oh Jay, don't say that. There's more to anyone than what they show. For all you know, He could change and become a great rescuer; I know you did, remember?"

Jay let out a grunt and looked out the window, suddenly finding something behind it interesting. "Don't hold your breath." Tawny sighed and turned to Rai.

"What do you think about them, Rai? Do you agree with him?"

"An odd character Red Fire is…. as well as amusing. Never before have I heard one say Greener Meadow appears similar to squashed Caterpie excrement. That Charmander...with experience He speaks." He said as he let out a bird-ish chuckle. "I do look forward to his and Water Gun joining us; but if they will? That, not even I know…" Tawn nodded her head, smiling in agreement.

"Well, there we have it. Two to one, odds in favor of recruiting both Red Fire and Water Gun to our forces, if they choose to do so. Now that that's over, let's get back to our game. I haven't finished beating you two yet."

And with that, the three headmasters returned to their game of go fish.

Water Gun and I walked down the stairs and straight into the bored eyes of that depressed looking Delcatty. What was her name? Delly or something…

"Oh you two again. I guess your meeting with the headmasters is done. It sounds boring just thinking about it. What did they want anyway? Your stances shows nether of you have that much experience in fighting, and that neonatal look on both of your faces practically screams that neither of you have even been trained to be a rescuer. You two are just some common folk, probably even wild." Besides the fact that this cat basically summed us up by only looking at our stances and the way we looked at everything, she seemed pretty smart, not to mention lazy.

"Nice to meet you too. Name's Red Fire, Delly."

"My name is Delphia. Don't call me Delly. I don't like it when Tarsal calls me Delly, and I defiantly don't want you to start. Now, answer my question."

"Why should we tell you, Delly?" I did wiseacre smirk, a little too close to Water Gun for my tastes.

Still keeping her bored expression, she put an irritated tilted frown on her face. Man, this was just too fun. "You're troublesome, do you know that? That's something you bipedal lizards have in common. Just answer the question. Then we can be on our way…maybe even take a nap or two…"

"Like I asked-"

"Red, just stop. You're being obnoxious."

"'Red'? Since when was my name 'Red'?" I asked.

"I don't know, I guess it's just easier than saying 'Red Fire'. You gotta admit it's a pretty cool nickname!"

"No, it isn't. And don't call me 'Red'. I want a three syllable name and I can't have that if you call me 'Red'…It sounds dumb anyway."

"You two are troublesome." Sighed Delly. "Can't you just answer my question? Then you can be on your way, out of this troublesome building. Maybe even take a nap or two. Hey, I almost envy you." she lazily giggled.

"The headmasters wanted us to be a rescue team." Water Gun blurted out before I could reply.

"You two? That's interesting. Why would they want you two to be one of us? You're just a bunch of boring-"

"Yeah, Yeah. I hear it all the time. We're just 'common folk'. You wouldn't believe how much I'm tired of hearing that. All we did was fall through a stupid hole in the ground and now we're on some sort of display for idiots to look at."

"Whatever; you can go now. This whole thing is just troublesome. Ohh…." She yawned as she stretched against the counter she was sitting at. "I feel like taking a nap."

"Yah, whatever. Maybe by the wrath of Mew, we'll see each other again. See ya, Delly" I called out as Water Gun and I headed for the main doors of the Rescue Base.

"Till then, Red." Delly nodded her head once tiredly.

Stupid Squirtle. What did I get myself into?

Water Gun's House

It was nightfall when we finally reached Water Gun's place. He lived at the end of the lake that I could see on top of my hill. It was amazing how close we lived and never met each other. Though, it sorta makes sense. I normally stayed away from the river because of all of the water types. Most of the time, I hung around the forest or just wandered around the grassland. I'm gonna miss that life.

I was pretty surprised when I saw that Water Gun lived in a house, especially out here. Not many Pokemon do that, you know. The majority of Pokemon, who either don't want to be 'civilized' or simply just don't care, don't live in houses or any building. They just live in caves, trees, or anything else nature provides. The fact that Water Gun lived in a house, out here in the 'wild' just shows how much of an idiot he is.

The house was a little hidden, which was probably why I didn't notice it when I was on my hill. It was a smallish shaped house that stood on the lakefront. A mud and grassy hay roof was laid on top, making it blend into the ground. Around it were a few tall trees that made it blend in its surroundings even more. I'm not really one for construction and that stuff, but I did notice that the house was only made out of hay, sticks, and dried up mud. Even I have to say it was pretty cool compared to that brick stuff that everyone in the town uses.

Water Gun opened the round door and led me through my new home. Sorry, my new Temporary home. I'm just going to stay here for a while until I find a new place or skip town. It's not like I haven't done it before― skip town, not stay at someone's place.

"Ok, Red. I'm pretty beat right now, so I'm gonna hit the hay and give you the grand tour of my place tomorrow morning. After that, we can go to the Headmasters and tell them what we wanna do. Sound good?" Surprisingly, His whole place was just one room, with a giant hay nest-bed at one corner with a fireplace next to it, and a wooden table at another end. There was a bunch of other stuff I didn't recognize, but that probably was only because I was so darn tired. So naturally, I was kinda wondering what he meant by 'grand tour'.

"Sure, I guess." We walked over to the giant hay bed and lay down. I was on my back with my tail in between my legs and its fire in front of my face. It was the way I normally sleep, and the sound and warmth of my fire was pretty soothing. I looked over to Water Gun, thinking. I never did find out what he wanted to do- you know, become part of a rescue team or not.

"So, about that rescue team thing, what do you say? Do you want to become one?" I asked. Water Gun turned around and smiled at me.

"Yeah, actually I do. You know, I've always wanted to do something with my life. I didn't want to just 'live'. I wanted to have an adventure. That's how I came across you. That day, I decided to do a little exploring. It's amazing where that got us. But, now…I think this is it. This is the way I will finally have an adventure, some excitement, no more a boring, old life. What do you say, huh? I know you didn't want to at first, but near the end of the meeting, you sounded like you changed your mind."

"Tch, that was only because that Noctowl was bribing me! I already said I don't have an obligation to this place. Heck, I've only been here for two years! I sure as Mew am not going to go and risk my life saving someone's butt just because they got in a situation that they should've avoided in the first place. Sorry Water Gun, I just not the type." Said Squirtle was staring at me after I finished my little rant. His eyes...I could see a bunch of emotions well up inside of them: sadness, a little anger, worry, hurt, and most of all disappointment. I know I don't normally think before I talk, but it never hurt me this much to see the effect of it. So much regret...but I pushed it down; pity doesn't give, so neither will I. But, it made sense that it hurt so much; he was a friend, and for record, I didn't really have that many friends around with me being a jerk and all.

"...Okay. I guess it's nice to know what you think. Good night, Red Fire." Water Gun turned his back to me to lie on his other side. It was becoming harder and harder to suppress that little pang of conscious that kept welling up. Water Gun and I... we became fast friends. Friends... Who'd think it hurt so much to hurt someone who you only spent a day or two with.

I stared and my flame with this melancholy feeling coursing inside of me. I hurt a friend. My first and only friend. Someone who save my mean butt not one but two times, someone who more than tolerated me, someone who joked with me, someone who like me, and most of all, someone who actually cared for me. Huh, and I thought I was a jerk before…

While wallowing in my self-pity, I slowly fell asleep...and had one of the most mentally Mew-screwing dreams I ever had. Heh...thinking back, those are perfect words to put it...

Red Fire's Mew-Screwed Dream

I was running. Where? I sure as Mew didn't know. All I knew was that I had to get away. The shadows were warping and twisting around me. The trees were bending and curving in impossible ways. Eyes...disgusting, creepy, beady eyes were staring at me. And the sky. The sky was red, blood red and filled with black swirling clouds.

Suddenly, there was a flash of shimmering black lighting besides me as three eerie, blood-curdling laughers resounded everywhere. In the horizon behind me, three ominous translucent figures grin evilly at me. One, was a big dark blue and white bird; another, a white Pokemon with a green helmet; and the last, a purple and white ghostish Pokemon with icicles piercing from the crown of her head. Each had some creepy variant of red eyes. Dark, sickening, merciless red eyes piercing me.

As I was running, something- a building came into view. It was that Rescue Base. Somehow, I knew. Somewhere deep inside me I knew that was the only safe place. If I was there, I didn't have to be afraid. If I were there, I would be protected. I had to get to the Rescue Base!

I ran on all fours to go faster. But, no matter how fast I ran, the rescue base stayed the same distance away. I couldn't make it. But, I had to! The three Pokemon…they were coming. I had to get away.

Out of the blue, a gigantic black spinning blotch rapidly formed in front of me. It slowly sucked me into its darkness. It was so dark, so lonely as I fell farther and farther into the nothingness. The last thing I heard before I woke was the three Pokemon's evil, dark cackle. Those cackles that pierced my heart and shook my bones. That cackle full of pure hatred…

Water Gun's House

I woke up panting. I look around me: it was dark out and besides that and the sounds of the nocturnal Pokemon, everything was completely the same. No creepy Pokemon out to get me; no freakishly weird sky; and no gigantic swirling blotch of nothingness. It was just…normal.

I turned to look at Water Gun. He was in the exact position he was in before my nightmare. But his face; I could see marks of dry water. Tears; He was crying.

I lay back down and stared at the ceiling. I didn't know what to think about. There was Water Gun; he was my friend, and I hurt him. And that rescue team thing; weather or not I should join.

I yawned as my eyes became slightly droopy. I was still tired, even after that nightmare. Yes, there was that nightmare. It was weird; it was almost like it had a meaning to it. If it did, I knew exactly was it was. It wasn't a threat, but a warning…

"Join the Rescue Base, or die." I muttered as I drifted back to sleep.

In the corner of the room, behind Red Fire, a Pokemon opened its eyes and smiled. No, it wasn't an eerie or dark smile, but an innocent and happy one. It flew up into the air before taking one last look at Red Fire.

"Tee-hee! It's amazing what you can do with a little nightmare attack! Good luck Red, you'll need it!"