Seeing that I'm a massive idiot, Passing With Flying Colours (now named "The Release" has been edited to include a rather important part of the story which had been left out.
Plz forgive me D:
ALSO WHAT IS THIS.
A CHAPTER WITHIN A MONTH AFTER THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER?!
WHAT IS THIS BLASPHEMY XD
^V^V^V^
"Hey, Chimchar! You plan on wakin' up any time soon?" The voice of my brother echos in my sleep, making my eyes open. The first and only thing I see is the face of Monferno. "It's time to eat!"
"A-Already…?!" I say before a yawn, quickly getting to my feet. "When did you guys wake up?"
"Ages ago." He started. "We've already eaten all the Cheri Berries!"
"There's no way, Mom wouldn't've let you!"
"But she did!" He goes on. "She even helped me eat 'em all. There was so many, you should've seen it!"
"Stop it Monferno!" I cry, rushing out of the hollowed out tree we lived in to see if what he was saying was true.
The only way to get into the three was through a hole on one of the branches in the leaves. It was pretty big, which was good. If not, then Mom wouldn't be able to get into her own home!
I start swinging down the branches, and eventually fall to the floor. I turn around after landing to see Mom sitting down on the grass, with a few Berries around her.
"Good morning, Chimchar!" She says to me, waving slightly. "Did you sleep well?"
"Monferno woke me up…!" I tell her, kind of annoyed at my brother.
"Hey, Mom told me to!" I hear Monferno's voice from the tree above me.
"I thought you wouldn't want to miss out..." She then says, holding up a Cheri Berry, making my eyes gleam. "But I guess I'll have to eat this if you're going back to sleep..."
"N-No, wait Mom!" I cry as she starts to open her mouth and moving the Berry closer. "It's OK, I'm not tired!"
Mom smiled at me and pulled the Cheri Berry away. "Something told me you'd say that."
"Well, he is the most annoying child you have." Monferno says to her, dropping from the tree and landing next to me. I hit him in the arm playfully as he does.
"I don't think so, Monferno." Mom starts to say back to him. "You were much more of a pain than Chimchar."
My brother sweatdrops, and I grin smugly at him. "Maybe that'll make ya shut up..."
^V^V^V^
"Alright, you ready Chimchar?" My brother calls over from the other end of the clearing where our home was. The tree was in the middle of the clearing, and the clearing itself was pretty big. It was a nice place to live, for sure.
"Yup!" I well back to my brother, giving him a thumbs-up.
After that, he rushed at me, and I rushed back.
Monferno picked up his speed before we met in the middle of the clearing, trying to surprise me. He throws a punch at me, but I dodge to the right and avoid his fist.
Then, when I'm to his left, I see that his side is wide open for me to throw a punch.
I do just that, but to my surprise, Monferno grabs my hand before I can make the attack. Time seemed to stop for a second…
"...If I wasn't your brother, you'd be in big trouble, Chimchar!" He tells me, letting go of my hand and backing away. "Just because you dodged once doesn't mean that the enemy can't keep up with you."
"...But what was I meant to do there? I had a chance to get a hit in, I couldn't let it pass!" I ask him, not knowing what he expected.
"Get into a place where it's harder for the enemy to counter attack, like behind. You might have to put more effort into moving quickly, but it can really help." He answered. "Now, let's try aga-"
"E-Excuse me..." A voice called out from the bushes to my left. We both looked over, and saw a Furret walking towards us. "P-Please help me..."
It was cut and bleeding in a lot of places…
"Oh, damn…!" Monferno says, running over to the Long Body Pokémon. "Chimchar, go get Mom!"
"O-OK..." I reply, rushing to the base of the tree. I run up to it, jump, kick off it, then do my best to grab a branch above me. I usually needed Monferno to help me up here, but I had to do it on my own this time. Luckily, I managed to grab a branch, and pulled myself up. I went into the hole and saw Mom, sleeping on one of the beds of straw.
"Mom… Mom, wake up!" I say out loud, shaking her shoulders. She groaned a bit, and then turned open to face me, her eyes only just opening.
"W-What's that matter, Chimchar…?" She asked me, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.
"...Another one just came..."
^V^V^V^
"It had been goin' on like that for a while..." Chase told me, his tail flame being the only light in the room. But although it was small, it burnt passionately, illuminating the entire hut like a campfire would. "Pokémon would come to us, bruised 'n battered, saying they had been attacked, that they lost their territory… We did the best we could to help them, but they kept coming. From all over the forest..."
So far, Chase had told his story avoiding eye contact with me, either looking at the ground in front of his feet or at the walls of the hut. But now, he was looking at me, dead in the eye.
It looked like he was beginning to cry.
"...M-Monferno and Mom were really strong. I was sure they'd be able to stop whoever those Pokémon were if they ever came for us. I was sure of it..." He said to me with a small smile.
...It was fake…
^V^V^V^
"Monferno?" I whisper to my brother as we both sat perched on one of the highest branches of the tree that night.
"What's up, Chimchar?" He replies, still looking out at the stars.
"If… If those Pokémon ever come here… Do you think there's a chance they'd… K-Kill me…?" I ask him, honestly scared about if that day would ever come.
"Chimchar, there's no-way I'd let them get close enough to hurt you." He says after a few seconds of quiet. "Even then, you're a great fighter. There's no way you'll be killed, or even hurt, for that matter."
Then, looking back to me, "If they ever come, we can kick their butts together!"
I looked at my brother, who was giving me a gleaming smile. That same smile that brought me back from any sadness, big or small.
"...Right!"
^V^V^V^
That night, I had a weird dream… But it was a really nice one…
I could never remember everything that happened in the dream, but I think it was about all the times I had with Mom and Monferno… Everything I could remember myself, at least. My first time trying Cheri Berries, marching along the woods and goofing around with Monferno when we were trying to find new territory, training with him, watching the stars with him and Mom…
And there was someone else in the dream too… I can't remember much about him, I could only see the part of his body around his mouth and neck…
Around his neck… Was a wooden bead necklace, coloured dark green and black.
He held his hand out to me as he started smiling, when Monferno's voice started to wake me up, washing his image away from my mind…
"Chimchar, you have to wake up…!" Monferno whispered sternly. Then he lifted me up so I was standing.
"M-Monferno, what's the matter…?" I whispered back. "What's goin' on…?"
"Their here..." He replied, making my eyes go wide. "Those Pokémon are in our territory…!"
"...W-Where's Mom?" I asked him, starting to get worried.
"She's trying to get them away, but she told me to get you and Furret out of here if she can't..." He told me, going over to the Furret and shaking it awake. It opened it's eyes slowly, and asked Monferno what was going on too. He explained, and then we started heading out of the tree quietly.
Monferno was the first one out, with me following behind him. We were being careful not to make any noises, in case that the Pokémon were already around here. I reached out for Furret's hand to help it out of the tree.
But then, there was a sudden bright light, and me and Monferno were blasted out of the tree…
I hit the ground hard, and I think Monferno did to. Luckily, it didn't feel like any bones were broken.
I pushed myself off of the floor, and looked back at the tree.
The entire top half of it was missing! The bottom half was surrounded by burning leaves, and it was like the top half had been ripped off…
Furret was still in there when it happened!
Then, suddenly, we saw Mom being thrown past us and into a tree. Me and Monferno both went to help her, but when I heard a noise behind us, it turned around to see who was there.
A Tyranitar was standing there, with another Pokémon I'd never seen before. It's chest was covered in sharp, circle-like blades, with one on it's head, too, coloured yellow. It looked like it was wearing red armour. Around those two Pokémon were what I guessed to be the de-evolved form of the new Pokémon. There was tons of them, and they were coming closer by the second…!
Mom quickly pushed herself off of the ground, and went into a battle stance. "Monferno..." She started. "While I'm fighting, get away with Chimchar. I'll find you once I'm done here..."
"B-But Mom…!" Monferno started, but then backed down when Mom did something she never did to either of us.
"Now, Monferno!" She yelled. Her loud voice making us both flinch. It only took a few more seconds for Monferno to react, grabbing my hand and running into the woods with me.
When I looked back, I saw all the Pokémon charging at her...
^V^V^V^
"Monferno, we have to go back and help her!" I cry as Monferno had to resort to carrying me, as I kept trying to pull away from him and back towards where Mom was. But he wouldn't listen to me at all… "Monferno!"
All of a sudden, he stopped running, and put me down on the grass of the forest. I looked at him, confused.
"Chimchar." He started. "I want you to stay here. Stay here, and do not move."
"A-Are you goin' to help Mom?" I ask him, smiling with hope.
"That's right." He told me, starting to run back to where our home had been. "Stay right here, I'll be back with Mom soon!"
And then he ran off into the trees, quickly disappearing from my line of sight.
So I waited hopefully, waiting to see Monferno come back through the trees with Mom beside him, bruised and battered, but alive and kicking, boasting "We won!" at the top of his lungs. I waited…
^V^V^V^
And I waited…
^V^V^V^
And I waited…
^V^V^V^
And I waited…
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...And I waited…
^V^V^V^
Before long, it was night-time. I had been waiting for Monferno to come back all day, but no-one ever came back. Not one Pokémon…
My tail flame was starting to die down a bit, seeing I was tired… It was probably late if I was tired from sitting around all day…
I stood up, and started walking towards the trees my brother had ran into this morning. I could see him running in there again, like it just happened. Was that…
Was that the last time I saw my brother…?
Was I never going to see him again…?
...Were Monferno and Mom… Dead…?
^V^V^V^
"Chimchar, there's no-way I'd let them get close enough to hurt you. Even then, you're a great fighter. There's no way you'll be killed, or even hurt, for that matter." He told me, as we sat perched on the branch, looking at the stars above.
"If they ever come, we can kick their butts together!"
^V^V^V^
I walked around the darkness of the forest that night, not knowing where to go at all… Was there anywhere left for me? Anywhere I could call home…?
I looked up at the night sky as I walked into a small clearing. There were so many stars out tonight, forming hundreds of galaxies, swirling around in the sky with all sorts of pretty colours.
For a second, I felt Monferno by my side.
When I looked, there was no-one there. Only the darkness of the forest. I stood there for a second, looking into the black of the night, thinking about everything that had just happened.
I could be attacked at any moment, I don't have any food, and I'm tired. Everyone I loved had just been taken away from me, and now I have no-where to go. I could never see them again…
...I could never see Mom and Monferno ever again…
I fell to the ground, on my knees and hands, crying out Monferno and Mom's names loudly as tears fell from my eyes. I couldn't stop… I needed them to comfort me…
But they weren't here… And that made me cry even more…
The grass beneath me was soaked in tears, which wouldn't stop falling. I didn't know what to think, what to feel, what to do… All I could do was let the sadness overtake me…
Everything was gone…
^V^V^V^
"...W-What happened then…?" I ask him, trying to hold back oncoming tears. But non the less, some of them slided down my face, despite my efforts. I though I had it bad with Axel…
Chase was doing his best to carry on with the story, but having to tell me everything, having to remember the feeling of going through all of that, it almost seemed like he was a shambling wreck right now… He wouldn't stop trembling, and tears were streaming from his eyes non-stop. But non the less, he did his best to speak loud and clear.
"...A-After that… I think I passed out… Gardevoir found me later and brought me here to Starside Town, where she took care of me for the time being. She even brought me a hut to live in..." He started to tell me, giving of a small smile. A true one, this time. "B-But before she did, when I first woke up after she brought me here, something happened…
^V^V^V^
"...ar… Are you OK…?" I heard a voice call out to me. I opened my eyes slowly, to see a Gardevoir looking down at me, a concerned look on it's face. Was I passed out?
"...I-I'm fine..." I told the Embrace Pokémon, sitting upright on the bed of hay I was lying on. Looking around, I saw that I was in a kind of hut now, with a burning fireplace in the middle, probably the Gardevoir's home. "...T-Thanks for helping me out..."
Another tear rolled down my eye as I remembered what happened.
"Do you have any idea how you ended up passed out in the forest?" It then asked me, it's voice sounding like a girl's.
I stayed silent for a few seconds, before giving her an answer.
"...I-I'd rather not talk about it..." I say plainly, looking down at the floor.
A few seconds of silence passed, before I asked a question to Gardevoir.
"...My name's Chase. What's your-"
I didn't even manage to finish after I realise what I just said. Chase? That's not my name… My name's Chimchar…!
But no matter what I told myself, I couldn't accept Chimchar as my name anymore. It was Chase. I could only think of myself as Chase…
"...What did you just say…?" The Gardevoir asks me, her look changing to a look of… I don't know what it was… It looked like a look of worry… or interest… A mix of both… Concern, maybe?
"...My name is Chase..." I repeat.
^V^V^V^
"...After that, she sat down a told me something. Something that changed my life..." Chase began. "'Pokémon with names are destined for greatness.' She told me. 'When Pokémon suddenly feel like their name is something it isn't, it means they've been chosen by Arceus to help protect the world.'"
"I just… I didn't know what to think..." He continued. "How could I have been chosen to help protect the world… If I c-can't even lift a finger to h-help my own family…?!"
Chase let his head fall as he started crying, tears continuing to platter on the floor beneath him. He didn't show anymore signs of talking any more, so I decided to finally take action.
I stood up, went over to Chase, and hugged him tightly, as he did to me when I woke up after our battle with Arbok and Scyther.
"...E-Edge…?"
"Don't say that kind of stuff, Chase." I say to him, still hugging. "You kicked ass today, and at the Berry Fields, too. You've been able to protect an entire village of Pokémon. And think about it, if you followed your brother to help him fight, you might have been killed, and he'd never be at peace. Same with your Mum. And, if you did die that day, we'd never have met, would we? You wouldn't have been able to help me."
"...I… I never t-though of it like t-that..." My friend says quietly. "...A-and have I r-really been helping you…?"
"Of course!" I tell him! "Think about it, you wouldn't have been there when I woke up, so I'd have probably wondered off into Emerald Woods and gotten eaten or something…! And being honest, I don't have any friends in the human world… As a matter of fact, my best friend bullies me now… But being around you, that helps me more than enough…!"
Hearing this, Chase starts to return the hug, wrapping his arms around me too.
"...Because you're the greatest friend anyone could ask for..." I finish, a few tears forming in my eyes.
However, Chase was now crying even more than before, hugging me even more tightly than I was him. He buried his face in my shoulder and let the tears stream down as he sobbed loudly.
All I could really do right now was keep hugging him… I saw that his tail flame was starting to dim down, so he might end up falling asleep in my arms. But I had no objections to that in the slightest.
I closed my eyes, deciding not to disturb Chase's crying. It was good for him. It would feel horrible, but it got all the bad stuff out of your mind, all the stuff you want to forget so bad.
Expressing the sadness would make him feel happy again. That's what I believed, anyway…
Keeping my eyes closed, I heard Chase's eventually dying down as he grew more tired, or it was just me falling asleep. Either way, pretty soon, nothing could be heard apart from both of our quiet breathing as we fell asleep in that rather… odd position. An odd position to fall asleep in, that is.
It was time for me to end the day, and move onto the next that was soon to follow...