Kanto Saga
Chapter 10: The Trio of Mischief and the Building of Thunder
The morning after Charonus' training with Mewtwo concludes, the group say their goodbyes, and prepare to leave the Cerulean cave. "Thank you for all you have done for me Mewtwo," Charonus smiles and bows. "It was a pleasure to help. Remember to keep practicing the ways of balance during the rest of your training," Mewtwo says back. "I will Mewtwo," Charonus says back, "Now it's time to head out." Amber comes out of the house, carrying some bags and hands them to the group, "Take these, they will surely help you on your journey. They contain plenty of supplies to keep you running." "Thank you Amber for this gift," Cynder says as she takes a bag. The others also take a bag and bow to Amber in thanks. "Take care, and we hope to see you again, and watch out for Team Rocket. I have heard that they may be in the area as of late," Amber says as the group goes to leave the cave. "Thank you Amber, we will keep an eye out for them. I hope we don't run into them." Draco says. The group leaves Mewtwo and Amber, headed towards the cave exit.
Meanwhile, outside the cave, a trio of figures is setting a trap near the entrance. "Are you sure this is the right cave?" Asks a tall, blue haired male. "The boss' report said a strange group of Pokemon has been seen entering this cave months ago." says a tall, red haired woman. The both of them are wearing a white outfit that has a red 'R' prominantly displayed on their shirts. "Will yous guys be quiet, we want to get the drop on these Pokemon, so be silent!" says a white, cat like Pokemon that has a coin affixed to it's forehead. "Why is the boss so interested in them?" asks the female. "The boss thinks that they may be linked with his lost experiment, now will you pipe down!" the cat Pokemon angrily yells back. The trio hides near the entrance when they hear some voices coming from the cave. "I hope my training goes well with the next legend of Kanto," Charonus says. "If you keep believing in yourself, you will do great Charonus," Bowser says back. The group exits the cave and looks around, "It feels good to be out in the open air again." Cynder says. "Yeah, even though the accomodations were good in there, it is good to get back into the sunshine," Draco says as he stretches his wings out. The group hears rustling coming from some nearby bushes and starts to get on edge. "What was that?" Draco asks somewhat worredly. "I don't know Draco, it could be just a Pokemon nearby." says Cynder back. "But it could be Team Rocket too, Amber said they were in the area." Charonus says. "Did yous guys hear that. Someone has tipped them off," whispers the white cat Pokemon. "I wonder who this Amber is," responds the male. "Cynder stops and listens closely to the surroundings suddenly. "Hey, what's up Cynder. Why did you stop all of a sudden?" Asks Draco. "Shhh, I hear people whispering. Tread cautiously," Cynder replies. Just then Bowser steps forth with Charonus closely following behind, stepping on the trap activation pad. A cage springs up and surrounds Bowser and Charonus. "W-what is this?! Where did this cage come from?!"
Draco and Cynder look on, rushing over to the cage to try and open it. An electric pulse gets sent through the cage bars and knocks them back. "Who is responsible for this. Show yourself!" Bowser angrily roars out. Suddenly they hear laughing coming from the bushes as the captors speak.
Prepare for trouble...
...and make it double!
To protect the world from devastation!
To unite all peoples within our nation!
To denounce the evils of truth and love!
To extend our reach to the stars above!
Jessie!
James!
Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!
Surrender now or prepare to fight!
Meowth, dat's right!
The group just stops and watches as the trio jumps out from behind the bushes after speaking their motto, looking dumbfounded. "What...the heck? Who are these clowns." asks Draco. Meanwhile Charonus' eyes are fixed on the 'R' on their shirts. Bowser looks at Charonus staring at the trio, "Hey, are you alright Charonus?" Charonus says nothing as a strange aura begins to become visible. Jessie takes a look at the the Pokemon in the cage, "That is one strange looking Blastoise." "And look at that dragon over there Jess," James points to the Twilight Storm, "I have never seen that kind of Pokemon before." Suddenly a jet of fire slams into the bars of the cage from the inside, doing some damage to them. As the smoke clears, Charonus can be seen with a twisted Charizard aura. "Team Rocket...the ones who took my family from me..." Bowser trys to calm Charonus down, "H-hey, calm down Charonus, you're scaring even me here." Bowser reaches out a hand towards Charonus, but gets burned. "Yeouch! Is this the malice that was unleashed on Cinnabar? There must be something that can be done to stop this" Team Rocket looks on at the Charmander, James asks Meowth, "Meowth, what did it say?" Meowth looks at James and replies, "The Charmander says that Team Rocket took his family" Charonus unleashes a Fire Blast at the cage, blowing it apart and knocking Bowser to the ground. "All of Team Rocket is my enemy," Charonus continues to look at Team Rocket with the fires of hate in his eyes. "Ummm...you know what Jess. I think we should get out of here," James says. "We have faced worse before from that Pikachu, but you may be right..." Jessie says back. "Snap out of it you two, the boss thinks that these Pokemon must be connected with his secret experiment that escaped years ago, he wants these Pokemon, and thats what we are going to do," says Meowth. Before they can enact another plan, Charonus unleashes a portion of corrupted flame right at the trio, hitting them and sending them sky high. "Team Rocket is blasting off again!" says the trio as they disappear into the sky with a flash of light.
Charonus collapses to the ground, the corrupted aura eventually going away. The group rushes over to him. "Hey buddy, are you alright?" asks Draco. "Why do you think he would of done that?" asks Bowser. "I think his traumatic experience with Team Rocket might be a trigger to his subconscious, bringing out a corrupted self within him," Cynder says back. "All I know is that once he saw that red 'R' on them, he started changing...luckily that was only a fraction of corrupted power. I'm glad we didn't witness another Cinnabar incedent," Bowser wipes his forehead. Charonus starts coming to and looking around, "W-what...happened?" He sees the broken cage and the scorch mark on the ground. "Please don't worry about it, lets just get you to your next training area," says Cynder as she picks Charonus up, "Do we know where we are headed?" Draco takes a look in the bag Amber gave him and finds a map, "Ah, according to this map, it's not that far away, just to the east of Cerulean City. It shouldn't take more than an hour or two to get there." The group nods to each other, keeping secret about Charonus' outburst of corruption, but in the back of their minds they know that they will have to tell him sometime. As the group flies to the power plant, Charonus rests and enters his dreams again. "I-I'm sorry...I lost control again..." says his subconscious, "The red 'R' sets me off..." Charonus looks at the Charizard, "T-the red 'R'?" Charonus thinks a moment and remembers back to the ship him and his parents were taken captive on. He remembers the black clad humans with an 'R' on their clothing, he also remembers to just a moment before he blacked out, the same 'R' on the shirts of the two humans with the Meowth. "Team Rocket...the red 'R'...This could be a problem if this keeps happening...I must double my efforts to balance us. Please try to keep our feelings for that group contained...I don't want any more death on my conscience, please." Charonus taps his subconscious self on the nose and slowly wakes up.
As he wakes, he sees that the group is getting close to the building from his dreams, "Hey, doing alright Charonus?" asks Draco as he carries Charonus closer to the power plant. "Y-yeah...I think so, and sorry for any trouble I caused..." Charonus looks down slightly. "Hey, don't worry yourself. Just focus on your training and hopefully this won't be an issue anymore," Says Bowser. Charonus smiles a bit as the group approaches the window that Charonus saw the lightning bird from in his dream. "Wait, I want to take a peek into that window," says Charonus. "Huh? What's up?" asks Bowser. "There was a lightning bird here in my dreams. I want to see if he is there," Charonus answers back. Draco takes Charonus up to the window, and they both peer inside. In the window they both see the generators of the power plant whirring away, but no signs of the lightning bird from the dream. "This is the right place, but where is the legendary bird?" asks Draco. The group hears a crackle of electricity from behind. Suddenly a bolt of lightning strikes in a clearing behind the group and the form of a bird materialize from the bolt. "I am here," The group watches as the lightning bird comes into view, impressed with not only his entrance, but also the power he exudes. The lightning bird locks eyes with Charonus and makes the same pleased face that Charonus saw in his dream. "I am Zapdos, Kanto's legendary bird of lightning, and I have been expecting you four, especially little Charonus." Charonus looks at Zapdos, "How do you know my name?" he asks. "Mewtwo has told me of your arrival, as well as your wandering dream self," Zapdos answers back. "I just want to know if you are ready for my training. Mewtwo has given you the tools to train in alternate energy manipulation and channeling correct?" Charonus nods, "And I also trust that he has helped you to bring your inner self out to help you train as well? Zapdos questions Charonus. "He has...but can I know what aspect I need for this. What aspect will be trained?" Charonus responds. Zapdos answers, "Ah, the attribute I control is that of Bravery, my brother Articuno controls Knowledge, and my other brother Moltres controls Strength. We keep the attributes in balance between us, one never exceeding the others." Charonus listens to this explanation and smiles, "I see, bravery like the ability to face down the storms of nature themselves. The knowledge to keep oneself safe in nature, and the strength to perservere through nature." Charonus says. "I see Mewtwo has trained you well. Now it is time to impart my training to you. I will train you in the use of two of my abilities, Charge and Zap Cannon. Please prepare yourself for your training." Charonus, listening to Zapdos does as instructed and brings his inner self out once again.
"Now that you are ready, I will teach you about Charge first. Charge will help you make more use out of any electric attack you may learn in your journey. To execute it, you must internalize the energies within and send them through your body. Once achieved, these energies will create a static like barrier upon your scales that will protect you from special attacks like your own Flamethrower slightly. It will also charge up any electric attacks you may use as long as you concentrate on these energies." After Zapdos finishes his explanation, he shows Charonus the ability, pulling in his wings and concentrating on his core as electric pulses finally spread outward along his body. "As with all the training you went through with Mewtwo, you can only train on this for a limited time." "I understand Zapdos," Charonus says as he prepares to train in learning Charge. The others watch as Charonus tries Charge over and over again for an hour. Charonus slowly learns the move, but doesn't quite grasp it before his time training ends for the day. "That is enough young one. You can train more tomorrow," says Zapdos as Charonus stops and reverts back to his waking body. "Your group is welcome to stay with me as long as Charonus is training. The humans hardly come by this power plant, so I have made it my home." The group accepts Zapdos' offer, and over the next few days, continues to watch Charonus train as they stay there. Charonus takes a week to fully learn Charge and is eager to learn the next tech Zapdos will impart to him.
The next day after learning Charge, Zapdos prepares to train Charonus in the use of Zap Cannon. "Now before I teach you in the use of Zap Cannon, there is something I want to know. Why are you training? What is your motivation to train?" Charonus looks down, "I train to repent for the lives lost to my unbalanced rage...to live by the words given to me by some Pokemon I watched sacrifice themselves to horrendus experiments and make sure travesties like that never happen again." Zapdos listens to Charonus' response and smiles, "That is a worthwile reason to train. I also think to help your balance out after you finish your training here that you should head over to the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town and pay respects to the fallen. It may help alleviate the grief you feel for those that passed in your rage." Charonus says back, "I will, thank you for this info." Zapdos says to Charonus, "Now, let me teach you how to perform Zap Cannon. Like Charge, you concentrate on your core, but instead of internalizing the energy, you bring it forth into a sphere of energy and send it at your opponent. The moves energy is unstable however, so it may dissipate before reaching its target, but if it does hit, it will not only deal damage as the energy surrounds them, but it will also lock up a targets muscle response, paralyzing them." Zapdos shows the move off on a substitute doll. "Please train responsibly young one." Charonus nods as he brings his inner self out again to train. He trains every day as much as he can to try and learn Zap Cannon, eventually getting it after an entire two weeks.
The following day, Zapdos gives the group some advice, "Always strive for balance, even in the smallest of tasks, for you never know when imbalance will sow seeds of chaos. It has happened before to even myself and my brothers because of humans, but don't get the wrong impression. Just as there are Pokemon that strive for balance, there are humans that strive for balance as well." Charonus nods, understanding Zapdos' words well. "Now good luck with your training young Charmander. Remember well the lessons you have learned and head off to my brothers. They are expecting your arrival." Charonus says back, "I will, after repenting at the Pokemon tower for those lost in my rage." Zapdos smiles and nods as he takes to the skies, leaving the group for now. The group takes a look at the map and locates the Pokemon Tower. "Looks like it will be a bit to get to Lavender Town, but we should get there before the sun sets today," says Cynder. "Looks like we may have to stay around the town for a bit," says Draco. "Lets worry about that when we get there. I'm sure we can think of some area to camp at," Says Bowser. The group begins their trek to Lavender Town, and the Pokemon Tower.