(A/N) So, why do I put even more on my plate by putting out another story?
I don't know.
Either way, the muse is there, and as a result, so is the newest addition to the Pokémon fanfic community.
I'll be trying to keep the mixture of "youthful nostalgia" and "more sensible take" to an acceptable level so that things don't start to feel too out of place. Obviously, not everything will work out that way, and the things that I try to establish won't always fall within the realms of what Gamefreak and The Pokémon Company would call "canon-compliant" (either due to my own ignorance or a given topic not giving itself to a believable plot element).
That isn't to say that I won't try my hardest to make the very best I can out of the wonderful world that was part of many of our childhoods (and even adulthoods).
I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed it when the idea ran through my head.
X
It had been a little over four years since that fateful day he became Champion.
Admittedly, it was tiring work. Since Kanto and Johto shared a league, it was his responsibility to look after the peace and public image of two different regions.
It wasn't all bad, though. Once he fully got into the swing of things, he quickly realized that he had plenty of free time. Sometimes even more than the average person.
It was presently one such instance of "free time".
"Come on, buddy. Stay still for a moment will you?"
The Venusaur hummed happily and tried not to squirm as its trainer pruned the growth on its back. Usually, it wouldn't be necessary, but repeated use of powerful grass type moves made the vegetation on the creature's back grow a little too large for its comfort.
Red was currently on Professor Oak's ranch, looking after (and spending time with) his Pokémon. While he could technically do that anywhere, it was nice to have an excuse to visit home.
That, and because the Professor said he wanted to speak to him.
"How very like you, Red. I should've known you would have stopped by the ranch before coming to the lab," spoke Samuel Oak as he walked up behind the young Champion.
Red blushed faintly, absentmindedly running his hands up and down Venusaur's back. "Sorry, I was about to head over, but Venusaur's back was really bothering him. I figured it was better to deal with that sooner rather than later."
The Professor let a small smile escape his lips. "Yes, I figured it would be something like that. Regardless, you're here, and that's what matters in the end."
Red gave Venusaur one last pat on the side before moving next to the older man. "So how can I help you, Professor?"
"There's trouble near Cerulean."
Red sighed. So much for free time. "Any details?"
Oak waved him over, and started to walk towards the laboratory in the center of the greenspace. "Follow me, we'll talk inside. It would be better to show you."
Red did just that. The teen noticed offhandedly that the lab had changed quite a bit since the last time he'd been there. Some old machines were gone, some new machines came in, and some were replaced with newer, sleeker models.
"Misty, the Cerulean City Gym Leader, called this morning to inform me that strange things have been happening near the restricted area around Cerulean Cave," the professor told him once they were inside.
"Strange things?"
"Yes. Pokémon going missing, and Pokémon that don't belong to the area appearing. Those that are sighted have shown signs of erratic and violent behaviour. Six incidents have been reported thus far, all with passing hikers. Thankfully, no one has been seriously hurt."
Red looked confused. "That just sounds like some sort of mating pattern to me. Maybe a migration, even."
Professor Oak's expression turned grim. "I thought so too at first, but according to the Gym Leader, there are traces of unusual psychic energy. What made me call you here today was this picture she sent me."
On cue, the professor's hologram projector fired up and suspended a two-dimensional photograph in midair. The image quality wasn't the best, but Red could still make out that it was taken just outside of Cerulean Cave. Darkened by the entrance's overhang, the Champion could barely see the unsettling, alien-like features of the… the…
"What is that?"
"A Pokémon," came the older man's answer.
"A Pokémon?" Red had seen many such creatures over the years, but never something that looked anything like this one. "What kind of Pokémon?"
"…We don't know."
That was unusual. If the Professor Oak doesn't know what kind of Pokémon it is, then it would be safe to say that it isn't a Kanto native. "Did you try contacting Professor Elm, or even Professor Birch? Both Johto and Hoenn are pretty close, so it could be a rarer species that found its way over here."
"You don't understand me. I said we don't know." The professor tapped the image and the hologram zoomed in on the Pokémon. "I've sent this picture to every league-affiliated laboratory. Not one professor or Pokémon expert could tell me what this thing is."
"…Oh." Red tried to hide his surprise. The jury was still out on whether the aging man could see through that or not. "I'll head out now then."
Red pushed a few buttons on his Pokédex, causing both the state-of-the-art encyclopedic device and Professor Oak's Pokétch to ring.
"These are the Pokémon I'm taking off the ranch," said the teen, referring to the Pokémon checkout request he sent via Pokédex.
The Pokédex checkout was something the professor had implemented for security reasons. It makes it a lot easier to keep track of which Pokémon are where with a digital record of their removal from the ranch.
"Good luck, my boy. I suppose you'll go pick up Pikachu on your way out?" mused Oak.
"Yeah, I'll go see my mom before I leave."
X
The moment Red walked into his house, the little thunder-type that had been with him since the beginning of his journey appeared and perched himself on his shoulder.
"Did you two have fun?"
Pikachu nodded his head, then tilted it to the side. Almost as if to ask, why, are we leaving already?
Red could pick up on his friend's body language fairly well. "Yeah, we gotta go check something out near Cerulean Cave. I called Misty and told her that we'd meet up with her this evening."
"Leaving so soon? You just got here."
Red's mother, Delia, walked into the living space. Despite her words, she walked up to her son and gave him a big hug. "Stay safe, my little champion."
The teen blushed a little but didn't whine. He was used to his mother's efforts to embarrass him by now. He returned the hug with a smile. "I will. Pikachu and I will stop by again when we're done."
Her loving smile turned into a more teasing one. "It's always just you two. Would it kill you to bring a nice girl home to your mother? You'll never find someone at this rate."
"Mom!" he did whine that time.
X
The Indigo League Champion arrived in Cerulean City in less than an hour, thanks to his Charizard's impressive wing strength. He was a little early, but he figured that he might as well let Misty know that he'd arrived.
He had Pikachu pass him his Pokégear from his bag to send the Gym Leader a message, but the phone-like device flashed first, letting him know that he received a notification.
"Meet me at the gym– Misty"
Huh? How did she know he was here?
Swiping out of the messaging app on his Pokégear, he pulled up the area map so he could find his way to the Gym. While he knew his way around Kanto –and even Johto– pretty well, it didn't stop him from getting lost in big cities like this one.
He patted Charizard on the snout, then returned him to his Pokéball. They landed on the outskirts, but it was close enough for him to walk the rest of the way. "You did well. Thank you."
It didn't take the teen and his yellow companion long to make it to Misty's gym. Unsurprisingly, the place was still full of water Trainers trying to better themselves despite it being close to seven in the evening.
"Red, over here!"
Misty waved him over. She was sitting at the far end of the pool, and unlike the other trainers, she was simply dangling her legs in the water.
Red noticed that she'd changed a bit since he last saw her a few months ago. Her hair had been let down to fall to her neck, and she wore a one-piece bathing suit under a track jacket since she seemed to be taking a much more hands-on approach to her aquatic training.
He also noticed the Psyduck trembling in her arms.
"What's up with Psyduck?
The Gym Leader's previous easy-going mood quickly turned into an annoyed one. Noticing the shift in tone, Pikachu decided it was as good a time as any to remove himself from the equation and go play with the Starmie in the pool. "Moron. It's your fault for flying over to Cerulean on that stupidly overpowered Charizard of yours. Any Pokémon around here with even a slightly psychic nature would have felt that thing get close. And of course, you know how easily stressed this little guy gets."
Red blinked. "Oh. Sorry."
So that's how she knew.
"Tch."
The Champion wasn't really worried about making Misty angry. While she liked to act nice around strangers, her friends would know that she's easy enough to anger that she's more likely to be annoyed about something than not. He had learned early on in their relationship to take her pissy moods with a grain of salt.
"Anyway," she diverted, "come with me to the office. I want to get this problem solved ASAP."
Misty quickly gave instructions to one of the lifeguards to come to get her if anything happened, while Red waved to his Pokémon to let him know where he was going. Misty then grabbed Red by the arm and pulled him towards the backroom.
"I'll get straight to the point. I'd go investigate this myself, but… current circumstances make that course of action considerably less advisable. Sorry for putting this on you."
As she spoke, she shuffled around papers she had placed on the large wooden desk. She handed a manila folder to him.
As the Champion read the contents of the files, his eyes widened. "This is…"
"Yeah. Officer Jenny gave that to me just a little before you got here, actually. Those police reports paint a much more serious picture than what we thought it would be just yesterday. A couple attacked by their pet Evee, a Snubbull starting fights with passerby Pokémon, even the police force's Growlithe disobeying orders…"
"It's not just the Pokémon near the cave that are being affected," concluded Red.
"No, it's not. We're trying to contain the situation as much as we can by passing all of these off as 'isolated incidents', but that doesn't actually do us any good in the progression of this case outside of causing mass panic. If anything, cases like these will just keep piling because we can't tell anyone that something's up."
"So," reasoned the boy, "I'll go deal with the issue as quickly as possible while you and the Force try to deal with things in the city?"
"Pretty much, sorry again."
He shook his head. "No, it's fine. I'm the Indigo League's Champion, so it's my responsibility to act if ever this stuff happens."
Misty gave her friend a gentle smile. "I suppose. But for now, it's getting pretty late. You can stay the night with my family, and I can help you set up tomorrow morning."
"Sounds good."
X
Red knew something was up when he didn't run into a single Pokémon. It made sense that the trainers were gone (since Officer Jenny had route 24 on lockdown), but there wasn't a Rattata in the grass or Pidgey in the sky.
"Lapras, be vigilant. We don't want to be caught by surprise by anything underwater."
The champ and his Pikachu were sailing the waters leading to the cave on Lapras' carapace, crawling at a snail's pace out of caution. Red's eyes darted back and forth, making sure nothing would attack them from above ground.
Thankfully, the trip was uneventful. At the cost of half an hour's travel time and a lot of paranoia, they got to Cerulean Cave's entrance in one piece.
Red disembarked from his Pokémon, returning it to its Pokéball. Pikachu ditched his own ride too, choosing to walk instead of riding his trainer's shoulder.
Pikachu froze.
All of a sudden, the League Champion's starter Pokémon ran off in a seemingly random direction.
"Pi– Hey! Don't go too far!" Red chased his partner no more than a hundred meters before they both came to a crashing (and nearly clumsy) halt.
Pikachu was staring wearily at a blonde girl the same age as the dark-haired boy. Despite their location, she wore an elegant black dress paired with odd (yet surely equally classy) hair ornaments.
She didn't seem to notice them, too busy looking between the cave entrance in front of her and a handwritten journal. She was absentmindedly fiddling with her long strands which she kept up in a ponytail.
Despite his experience, it took Red's brain a moment to catch up to his current situation, and a moment longer for it to tell him how to react.
"Hey, you." –she turned to him, visibly startled– "This place is off-limits right now. Please leave."
X
Her heart was beating faster. And faster. Any faster than that and she was sure it would explode.
"Dodge it!"
She made it all the way here.
"Knock it off balance with an earthquake!"
She won the Lily of the Valley Conference. No one could hold a candle to her.
"Now, Garchomp, Giga Impact!"
The Elite Four were formidable trainers, no two ways about it. However, she was just that much better.
"No! Endure it!"
She was close. She was so close. The champion was strong, the crowd was painfully loud, the stakes were raised to astronomical levels. It was do-or-die.
She would win.
"End it now. DRAGON RUSH!"
Her Garchomp, the Pokémon she raised since she was nothing more than a cute little Gibble, hit the foe's Salamence so hard that it got launched into the walls on the other end of the stadium.
She forgot how to breathe.
A moment passed.
Another.
"It's over! Salamence is down for the count, and the reigning Champion has lost all six of his Pokémon!"
The crowd's cheers grew louder. They were cheering for her. Before the commentator could finish what he was saying, she rushed towards Garchomp and enveloped her in a bone-crushing hug.
"You did it!"
"There you have it, Sinnoh! The challenger, Cynthia from Celestic Town, is your NEW CHAMPION!"
Tears of joy fell down her cheeks. If it were possible, the crowd's cheers got even louder.
She did it. At seventeen years of age, Cynthia was crowned the youngest Champion in Sinnoh's history.
X
It was a month later that the rose-tinted glasses finally came off. Being what was essentially the figurehead of a region became tiring very quickly.
There were reasons that Cynthia made an attempt at the title outside of, "being the best that ever was". The Champion had access to places that were strictly off-limits by the order of Pokémon Leagues across the globe.
More than battling, her passion laid in ancient history and the study of Legendary Pokémon. Logically, the best way to find out more about the legends of the past would be to try her luck exploring places out of the reach of the general populace.
Much to her chagrin, however, her newfound duties had sucked up all the time she had for her hobbies.
And so, here she was. Barely instated as Champion and she already took a vacation to visit home.
"Cynthia, dear, could you track down this text for me? I'll send you the ISBN by Pokétch," called out her grandmother from another room.
Her grandmother, Professor Carolina as she was known as by most, was a well-respected figure in her field. Researchers from all over the world came here, the Celestic Town Historical Research Center, just to have the opportunity to work with her.
When Cynthia's parents passed away when she was a child, it was her Grandmother that took her in and practically raised her in this very research center. Spending her time in the facility, helping her grandmother, brought back fond memories of her years before beginning her journey.
"I'll get right on it," she answered back. "Just give me a second!"
The champion gently closed the old and worn tome she was reading. Removing her reading glasses, she rubbed her tired eyes while stifling a yawn.
Just because she liked the work, it didn't mean that it wasn't tiring. She had spent the last eighteen hours cooped up in her grandmother's study trying to find out as much as she could about the legends of space and time.
It was a subject that was just as important as it was exciting to the people that worked here. If a reason existed to seek employment here –other than working with the great Professor Carolina, obviously– it would be…
The young blonde looked out the large glass screens that panned the whole length of the study, allowing one to see the magnificent sight that lay before it. Just outside the research facility stood one of the most probed and discussed historical landmarks in the world.
Yes. People from all over the world surely came to work here, if only to be close to the famed Celestic Ruins.
Did Legendary Pokémon exist? Many would say that some did. There were sightings, of course, of countless ancient and powerful beasts spoken of in legends. The Guardians of the Lake were one such example: they were definitely revered by the people of Sinnoh, and enough people say that they've encountered them that most could admit that they were around –at least in some capacity.
But what about the Pokémon that is considered to be akin to God, creator of all?
The creature of the shadows; the Devil himself?
…What about the two that command Time and Space?
The Celestic Ruins were one of the world's only clues to the answer. Not because of the ruins themselves, but what was found within.
Cynthia shuffled through rows upon rows of books within the research center's study, trying to find the exact journal that her grandmother requested. Occasionally, her eyes would wander to the reinforced metal doors that she knew stood behind the bookshelf in front of her.
An artifact existed behind those hidden doors; something that, on its own, was undeniable proof that the Rulers of Time and Space could be…
"Cynthia! Are you coming or not? It shouldn't be that hard to find… did you doze off?"
The girl blushed. She snapped out of her thoughts, grabbed the book, and hurried over to the head professor. "Coming, grandmother!"
Professor Carolina shook her head in exasperation, the other lab workers chuckling quietly. Many of them had known the woman's granddaughter since she was a child, so they found it amusing when she showed some of her old mannerisms as an adult.
"Here you go," said the youthful woman. "Assuming you're looking for the author's take on general relativity, it should be on page ninety-four… or rather, ninety-five. Sorry, I forgot you have a newer issue."
Her grandmother grinned. "Honestly, girl. You're such a nerd, you know that?"
Cynthia blushed, despite knowing the head professor was just teasing her. The coloration of her cheeks darkened when she heard the muffled snorts of the other scientists.
She pouted.
X
Professor Carolina wasn't surprised to hear that her granddaughter wanted to come to help out at the facility. Honestly, she figured it was a matter of time.
The foolish girl kept telling herself that it was a "vacation" to "de-stress", but she couldn't fool the one that raised her that easily.
Even all the way out here, she heard the rumours: the new Champion is too young, the new Champion isn't experienced enough, the new Champion doesn't have the right mindset…
It was getting to her, the poor thing.
Cynthia had to go out and do something, not stay cooped up here with research papers shoved up her nose.
Cross-referencing the email she just received from Professor Oak with files she had that depicted physical features of ancient Pokémon, she figured that she may have something that could work.
"Cynthia, dear," she called out to her wound-up granddaughter, "could you track down this text for me? I'll send you the ISBN by Pokétch."
From another room, she heard, "I'll get right on it, just give me a second!"
Technically, she didn't need that article right now. It was more of an excuse to get the girl out of the study.
Using state-of-the-art equipment, she superimposed a digital copy of Samuel's mystery Pokémon over a two-dimensional render of what, hypothetically, the Legendary Pokémon Mew could look like.
…A ninety-two percent match.
It might as well be perfect.
…
Where's that scatter-brained–
"Cynthia! Are you coming or not? It shouldn't be that hard to find… did you doze off?"
The girl really should be more grateful. This could be the discovery of the decade– no, the century! If she didn't love the little brat as much as she did, she'd be going to Kanto herself, damnit!
Her granddaughter scurried out from her hole in the wall, bringing with her a fairly recent edition of Sinnoh's Legendaries and the Probability of Their Existence by Professor Cedric Juniper.
"Assuming you're looking for the author's take on general relativity, it should be on page ninety-four… or rather, ninety-five. Sorry, I forgot you have a newer issue."
Carolina hid a smile. Cynthia's strength and ability as a Pokémon trainer was prodigious, so much so that it overshadowed some of her best qualities. Most would never know that Sinnoh's reigning Champion was, in reality, a bookworm with an amazing mind.
"Honestly, girl. You're such a nerd, you know that?" she said, teasing her good-naturedly to downplay how proud she was of the child she raised. Many of her co-workers, who knew the kid when she didn't even reach her grandmother's waist, laughed to mask the fond smiles that split their faces.
Cynthia might have it rough trying to win over the rest of Sinnoh, but amongst the researchers of Celestic Town, she had always been loved.
It was time to see if this could work. "Now, on to other matters. I need to ask a favour of you."
"Hm?" the pout was washed away by curiosity. Carolina was not a woman who asked for favours. If she wanted something, she'd simply tell you to do it.
"What do you know about the Pokémon Mew?"
"Supposedly, Mew is an ancient being that possesses the genetic code of every Pokémon known to us. Many think that it holds the secrets to evolution and that it is the ancestor of all Pokémon. Uh… why do you ask?" The word-vomit came out from the teenage genius' mouth before she could really process the question.
"What if I told you… That Mew could possibly be in Cerulean City, Kanto?"
"…" Cynthia's one visible eye widened. She was speechless.
"I can't go myself, since I'm too busy keeping things running here. You, on the other hand…"
Could it be?
Could her grandmother really be asking her to…
"But I'm the Champion! Sure, I'm taking some time off, but I can't shirk my duties forever.
The older woman grinned slyly. "Then you better get moving, right?"
Cynthia was out the doors of the CTHR faster than a Linoone could chase the shiniest pearl. Carolina hadn't seen her granddaughter move with such excitement since she played with Gibble in her youth.
Before the doors closed shut behind her, the blonde called out, "Grandma, send me the details! I can't be gone for long."
Carolina smiled. " Stop worrying your pretty little head. Go have an adventure, silly girl," she spoke softly to herself.
X
Having taken the direct flight from Sinnoh, it didn't long for Cynthia to arrive at Kanto Airport. The domestic voyage took roughly two hours, gate to gate.
Oddly enough, it was the trip to Cerulean that took the most time. Cerulean City wasn't easily accessible from the airport by road, so after all the detours it was already getting dark out when she got to the city.
Thankfully, she found a nice Hotel near the heart of town. A little pricey, yes, but it wasn't as if she would be low on cash any time soon.
Feeling a little hungry, she figured there was just enough daylight left to burn to go find a nice place to eat.
That's when she felt it.
She was walking leisurely down the still-quite-busy streets, then felt a sudden chill run down her spine. Rattata scurried away, some Wingull nearly fell off their perches, and countless psychic-types roaming the street shrunk in on themselves.
The foreign champ noticed almost immediately that the humans were taking it much better. There was obvious discomfort, but no-one was really panicking.
"So he's already here, huh?"
"I guess. We won't have that problem for much longer, then."
What was going on?
"Excuse me," she asked a random passerby, "do you know what that was just now?"
The kind-looking elderly man she stopped let out a shaky laugh. "Y'er not from 'round these parts, are ye?"
Cynthia blinked. "No… no, I'm not. Is it that obvious?"
"Well, I'd say those o' us under the jurisdiction o' the Indigo League would be used to the Champion dropping by e'ry now 'n then."
The Sinnoh native had to consciously hold her jaw up. "That was the Champion?"
She'd never met the man before, but she definitely heard the stories. Red was a powerful trainer; he had to be, since he was responsible for two regions.
But what she felt wasn't power. It was something more than that.
"Sure was," confirmed the old man. "…Er, his Pokémon, I mean. I hear its 'cuz the thing exerts a strong Pressure."
Pressure? That was rare ability, but for it to be this strong…
"It couldn't be a Kanto native, then…" she mused aloud, not caring that the man could hear her.
"Hm? O' course it is. Charizard is one o'em 'starters', right?"
…What? Charizard?
No. It should be Blaze. Charizard's ability is Blaze. "That doesn't make much sense, I'm afraid."
The man scratched his chin. "Heh. Hell do I know? I could be mistaken; never knew much 'bout'em trainer things t'begin with."
Cynthia smiled politely. "Never mind my comment. Anyway, thank you for your time. It's surely strange to think that the Indigo League's very own Champion is so close."
He waved her off. "No problem, young missy. You have a good evenin', now."
The man resumed his walk, presumably heading in the same direction as before she interrupted him.
Cynthia's smile fell, and her face scrunched into a thoughtful expression. "A revived Aerodactyl, perhaps?"
She would be stewing over that for a while, apparently.
X
The city outskirts leading up to the Cerulean Cave felt… off.
No one was here. There wasn't a Pokémon or Trainer in sight.
"You there!"
Turning around, the voice calling out to was a police officer flanked by an Arcanine. "Yeah, you! What are you doing here? Didn't you hear that the outskirts of Cerulean are off-limits to trainers right now? It's dangerous."
She tried to tell the man that being the Champion of the Sinnoh region, she was pretty confident in her ability to take care of herself. Taking out her trainer ID, she said, "You see officer, I'm actually the Champion–"
"Why didn't you just say so? Sorry about that, carry on."
That was… strange.
She decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. The blonde ignored the funny feeling she was getting and approached the rocky sides of the cavern.
She leaned against the entrance walls, pulling out her handwritten field journal. No matter how excited she was, this was still official research being conducted. She needed to document everything.
Cynthia reached into her handbag and pulled out her reading glasses. Idly, she noted that her prescription might need another change. Was it because of all the reading she was doing?
"Entry one: wildlife has been entirely evacuated from the area–"
"Hey, you."
She jumped, embarrassingly enough, not expecting anyone else to be here. Standing in front of her was a teenage boy –around her age, maybe– with dark hair hidden beneath a red cap. His clothes were mostly dark, save for the long, high-collared red vest he wore.
At his feet was a Pikachu, still and alert. Cute little thing, really.
"This place is off-limits right now. Please leave."
Hm?
Cynthia thought she heard this one already. They let her in, didn't they?
And who was this kid to talk? He didn't look any older than her, and he surely wasn't any kind of security force.
"I assure you that I'm quite fine," the blonde tried to reason. "Please, don't mind me."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," he answered.
"…Excuse me?"
Pikachu, having realised by now that she didn't pose any immediate threat, ran up its trainer's leg and perched itself on his shoulder. "I don't know how you got here, but it really isn't safe. Judging by the journal, I'll go on a limb and say you're some sort of researcher, right? Something dangerous is going on, and I strongly advise you stay away until it's resolved. I can't promise you'll be safe."
The trainer didn't know who she was, obviously. She couldn't hold that against him. However…
"Look, kid," she visibly pulled out her Pokéballs as his eye twitched upon hearing his new label, "I can take care of myself."
"…"
He stewed over something for a moment. Evidently, he decided that arguing wasn't worth the trouble since he drawled, "Fine. Follow me, but stay close and stay alert. I can't leave you here on your own."
If anything, she shouldn't be letting the boy go in, if the place truly was that dangerous –not that it should be, considering the police let him through. However, it appeared that they both came to similar conclusions. She'd let the kid follow her if only to get him off her back."
Cynthia sighed. She put her glasses back in her bag along with her notebook. Unfortunately, her field entries would have to wait. "A boy your age should know that there are much better places to pick up girls than in a dungeon-looking place like this. "
He didn't let himself get riled up. "It is closed off, right? How did you even get in here?"
The Sinnoh girl could admit to herself that she was a little curious about that too. "How did you?"
Evidently, Pikachu's trainer thought she was being facetious. "Tch."
Walking through the dimly lit cave, the two thought the same thing at the same time: this person is unbearable.
"…Pikachu? What's wrong?"
The farther they walked into the dimly-lit cavity, the more agitated the little thunder-type acted. It could definitely sense a danger that remained undetectable by the two humans.
The blonde scrunched her brows. "Maybe it–"
"ROAAAAAAAAAAAR!"
An intense heat crashed into all of them, almost making Pikachu drop off the boy's shoulder in surprise.
A large figure walked towards them from further into the cave. Each step created a tremor powerful enough to drop the stalactites from the den's ceiling.
A Rhyperior appeared.
The young man didn't look to be as frightened as he was confused. "There shouldn't be any Rhyperior in the wild here. Anywhere near here, actually."
Thump.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
…There were a few steps too many for a single Rhyperior, right?
They appeared behind the first. A Scolipede, a Camerupt, a Scizor, an Arbok… was that a Tyranitar?
Dozens of incredibly powerful Pokémon from all over the world were gathered in one cave.
He fidgeted, looking left and right. The space was a little too tight for his comfort. "Hey," –he got the blonde's attention– "we should try to get out of here while we can. It'll be bad if–"
"Aura Sphere!"
A bipedal, canine-like Pokémon –a Lucario, if he remembered correctly– shot towards the group of behemoths like a bullet. With a quick flick of its wrist, a large ball of concentrated aura was sent flying straight into the leading Rhyperior.
The boy could tell immediately that the strength behind that blow was nothing to scoff at. The attack took the seven-footer right off its feet and sent it crashing into the group at its back.
This was their chance.
The dark-haired teen could let himself be amazed later. The two trainers and their respective Pokémon made a mad dash for the entrance.
"Huff… Huff… What," The young lady tried to catch her breath. "the hell… were you thinking?"
"Huh?" came the dumb reply. She poked him in the chest for that.
"Do you get how lucky you are that I was there? You said it yourself– this place is dangerous! And to think that you would've gone in there alone, with a Pikachu, to fight a ground type and its friends!?"
Her laboured breathing now had more to do with her ranting and hysterics than shaky lungs.
The Pikachu's trainer did his best to stay calm. "Like I said, this place is different now. I was comfortable with the idea of relying on Pikachu in there since it's usually mostly water-types; none of them group up like that either."
She was just about to let him know what she thought of that tidbit but was fully incapable of doing so thanks to the following dilemma.
BOOOOOOOM!
The narrow, rocky entrance was reduced to a pile of rubble with a potent Rock Smash. It seemed that their aggressors weren't done with them yet.
A new beast was leading the charge. It was…
"What is that thing? cried out the red-clad teen. He covered his face with his arm to prevent the debris from getting in his eyes.
The Sinnoh-native had the answer. "It's a Rampardos, but that shouldn't be possible… It's a prehistoric Pokémon that can only be brought back to life in labs!"
Pikachu's trainer threw out two Pokéballs. "Alright, we have a little more room out here."
A sturdy-looking Lapras was released in the waters surrounding the island, while a–
Was that really a Blastoise?
Given another few inches, it would've been the same size as the Lapras.
The boy gave his commands. "Blastoise, Hydro Cannon! You!" –he looked pointedly at the blonde– "get on Lapras!"
She either ignored him, or just didn't hear him. She had already thrown her own Pokéball. "Togekiss, Aura Sphere from above!"
Togekiss didn't have the chance to act.
Blastoise's Hydro Cannon slammed against the wild Pokémon with a sweeping motion. The water pressure was strong enough to tear up the earth when it hit the ground.
With a little luck, all the aggravated Pokémon were dazed enough by the attack that they couldn't get back on their feet. However, that wouldn't last for long unless they could knock them out.
It was an unnecessary risk.
The Kanto local grabbed the blonde girl by her arm and pulled her to his Lapras. "Quickly, before they get back to their senses!"
She was just in time to call back Lucario –who was on standby– and Togekiss while Blastoise's trainer returned the water-type to his Pokéball. The moment they were on the transport Pokémon, it was off like a speed boat. They were out of immediate danger.
"Hey… if your Blastoise is that strong, why didn't you use it in the cave?" she had to ask.
The dark-haired teen scratched Lapras on the side of the head. They were now cruising at a comfortable pace on the water, well on their way to make it back to Cerulean proper by the next top of the hour. "A lot of Blastoise's moves need a big open space. Actually, most of my Pokémon need more space. We would've been flattened in a heartbeat if one of his moves misfired with us that close to him."
He thought for a moment before asking, "But really, what were you doing there?."
After what they'd been through, she might as well answer. Maybe if they put their heads together, they could identify what that utter clusterfuck had been. "I'm from Sinnoh, and my grandmother is one of the world's top experts on myths and history. She got a lead that makes her think that there might be a Legendary Pokémon around here, and she wanted me to look into it."
The boy looked bewildered. "Your grandmother sent you across the country to look for something dangerous? And what do you mean, 'Legendary Pokémon'? There's no way you'd find something like that." Could the lead have been the picture Professor Oak had sent out?
The blonde pouted; and expression that decidedly didn't fit her personality. "Hey, hey. Back in Sinnoh, I'm pretty well known, you know. I'm the Champion, so she knew that if anyone could take care of themselves, it would be me."
Oh, that makes sense then, since she's the–
"Wait, you're the Sinnoh Region Champion?" That explains why the Cerulean Police let her through. They were told to only let the Champion in, after all. "But you're…"
"Young?" she guessed. By the tone of her voice, she was pretty tired of hearing it.
"I… uhm. I'm just caught a little off guard is all." He didn't think there would be another champion as young as him.
She didn't push the issue. "…So you heard why I'm here, but what's your excuse?"
"Actually, Professor Oak is the one who sent me here. Misty, the Cerulean Gym Leader, sent him a picture of a strange creature that was spotted near the cave. Apparently, there have been a lot of problems with Pokémon around here."
She gasped –quietly enough that it wasn't audible to her temporary travel companion– and fiddled around with the strange watch she had on her wrist. "Was it this picture right here?"
He looked at the small image pinned up on the watch's display. "Yeah… that's the one! Is your grandmother one of the Professor's colleagues?"
"Mhm. She got it from him."
"Pikachu, pass me my Pokégear, will you?" the trainer asked his Pokémon. The little yellow creature fiddled around with the boy's backpack before pulling out a cellphone-looking machine.
He punched in a few buttons, then hit the speaker function. The Pokégear rang audibly for a moment, then a click sounded. Someone had answered on the other end of the line.
"Red, I expected to hear from you hours ago. Is everything alright?"
The Sinnoh Champion's brain rebooted. "Hey, did he just say–"
"Yeah, sorry Professor. There was a bit of a commotion. Actually, that's why I'm calling."
"What happened?"
"I'm here with Sinnoh's Champion. Apparently, her grandmother–"
"Professor Carolina?"
Red shuffled over on his Lapras to look back at the girl for confirmation. She nodded. "–Yeah, Professor Carolina said the mystery Pokémon could actually be a Legendary."
"Is that so? She could have let me know instead of sending her granddaughter all the way here."
"Actually," interjected said granddaughter, "Grandmother sent me because she wanted to be absolutely sure before letting you know –I mean, we're working off assumptions and informed guesses for now."
"I see! Red, why don't you and miss Cynthia stop by the lab, then? We have much to discuss."
The mentioned blonde blinked. "Wait, Professor, how do you know that I'm–"
"Last I saw you, you were an infant, my girl. Professor Carolina was on an expedition at the time, so she asked me to look after you. That was, say… fifteen years ago?"
Cynthia could only nod dumbly, not that Samuel Oak could see her.
"I'll be expecting you both, then! See you tonight."
The line went dead.
Cynthia fidgeted. "Wait."
"Hm?"
"He said your name is Red. As in… the Kanto Champion?"
Both Red and Pikachu nodded. "That's me."
"You couldn't be any older than I am! If I'm right, you were named Champion four years ago, which would mean that–"
"Yeah, I had just turned twelve, actually."
She couldn't believe it. She had heard of the Kanto Champ in passing, but never would she have thought that he'd risen to the top of the Indigo League at twelve years of age. At seventeen, she was still Sinnoh's youngest, even beating world-famous Steven Stone's record of twenty-one in Hoenn.
…But that also brought other issues to light. If she had trouble making people respect her now, it must have been near-impossible for him as a pre-pubescent kid.
She would stop thinking about it for now. "So, Red… Oak's lab is supposed to be in a place called Pallet Town, right? How far is that from Cerulean?"
He scratched the side of his head. "I suppose it would depend on how you're getting there. Pallet doesn't have a commercial airport, but flying there on a Pokémon can take as little as an hour. Do you have a Pokémon on you that can carry your weight for that long?"
She could think of a couple, actually. "It won't be an issue."
"Good."
Red dialed a different contact on his Pokégear. "Misty, are you there? Don't expect me this evening, I've got a lead that I need to bring back to Pro–…"
Red pulled the device away from his ear. The person on the other end was yelling so loudly that Cynthia could hear it too. "Sorry, Misty. I know that dragging this out will start to spread you a little thin, but bear with me, will you? It won't be much longer… Yeah, I promise. Okay, talk to you later, then."
"Man!" he exclaimed after putting the device away. "She has one hell of a pair of lungs on her."
"Erm… That was…" Cynthia was surely caught a little off guard by the… intensity of the phone call.
"Misty, the Gym Leader. She's a good friend of mine."
The blonde looked visibly confused. "Friend? She sounded like she was ready to kill you."
Pikachu sniggered, while his trainer let slip a sheepish smile. "Yeah, well, she's a very outspoken individual. She's got a lot on her plate too, which doesn't help much."
"I do suppose Gym Leaders have quite an extensive list of responsibilities," mused Cynthia.
"Mhm. She's not even eighteen yet. Legally, her older sisters run the gym, but they dump the bulk of the job on her." –Red thought about the way he said that– "Oh! That's not to say they're irresponsible or anything. It's just that they own other businesses that need running too, and Misty is more keen on being a Gym Leader than her alternatives."
A chirp from Lapras cut their idle chatter short. They had reached the shore of route twenty-four.
The twosome disembarked the Transport Pokémon. Red returned the creature to its Pokéball, then brought out another one from his belt. " Come on out, Charizard."
The same feeling from earlier washed over her. Having fought her fair share of Pokémon with the ability before, Cynthia could say without a doubt that the aura exerted by Charizard was an effect of the Pressure ability.
An ability a Charizard shouldn't have.
"Tell me… That Charizard's ability is Pressure, isn't it?"
Red understood where she was coming from. "You're wondering why his ability is Pressure instead of Blaze, right?" –he rubbed the dragon-like creature on the side of the head affectionately– "To be honest, I don't fully understand it myself."
"What do you mean?"
"He wasn't always like this. I'd say that originally, he was a pretty normal Charizard."
Cynthia blinked in confusion. "Are you saying that he learned Pressure?"
The Indigo representative scratched his chin. "Yeah, you could say that in a way. It was a gradual thing. After every battle, he'd get stronger and stronger, and by the time we won our eighth Gym Badge, his growth was pretty visible. Physically that is."
Red's smirk turned reminiscent. He continued, "The first time I'd felt him exert Pressure, though… I would say that was when I was fighting Lance of the Elite Four. His Dragonite is a force of nature that was head-and-shoulders above anything I'd seen before. Charizard was still super strong, but Dragonite was bigger, faster, more experienced…"
Red trailed off. He finished while flashing his fellow trainer a genuine smile. "Charizard's whole aura changed, then and there. It was like he couldn't accept losing, so he adapted by creating a Pressure that could counteract that dragon's overwhelming presence."
Cynthia was fascinated. "I can't say that I'd ever heard of anything similar happening. It's as if Charizard evolved on the spot to match its environment!"
"I… haven't thought of it that way before."
The blonde took out her notebook and jotted her thoughts at a furious pace, all while mumbling to herself. "Hypothesis: Pokémon could display accelerated evolutionary tendencies if exposed to–"
"Uhm, excuse me, but…" Red snapped her out of her ramblings. "We should get a head start. We wouldn't want to be stuck in the Kanto skies at night."
A light blush crossed the Sinnoh girl's cheeks. "Right."
X
They made it to the lab just in time. The remaining orange-hued light disappeared over the Horizon just as Charizard and Togekiss landed in an open field inside of the Oak Ranch.
The figure that awaited them was one that Red was surprised to see.
"Blue? What are you doing here? I thought you said that you were 'stuck' in Viridian for another week."
Blue, a young man with wild brown hair, waved his hand dismissively. "This and that are different. Besides, the world isn't going to end if I close shop for a day or two. If gramps thinks this is urgent, you know I'll come no matter what."
"Also," he continued, noticing Cynthia stepping off her Togekiss, "who's your girlfriend?"
"She's not–"
"I'm not his girlfriend." Cynthia extended her arm for the man to shake. "I'm the Champion from the Sinnoh region. You are…?"
Instead of shaking her hand, Blue high-fived –and effectively slapped away– her hand. She frowned but otherwise kept her mouth shut on the rude gesture. "You can call me Blue. I'm pals with this guy here," –he pointed at Red– "and recently the guys in charge made me the head honcho at Viridian Gym."
"I see." She nodded. "Did Red call you over then?"
"Actually, I'm–"
"He's my grandson. I called him over since I thought we could use an extra hand." Coming out from the lab was Professor Samuel Oak himself.
The lone eye left uncovered by Cynthia's hair widened almost imperceptibly. This brash kid was really…?
"Yeah, that too, I guess. What's so important that you called me over anyway, old man?" inquired the Gym Leader.
Oak closed his eyes. "…We need to be careful. There aren't any existing records of anything like the being we're dealing with, so I'd rather be overprepared than deal with an opponent whose strength we couldn't handle."
"I'm glad you called him, actually," interjected Red. "We had a rougher time than I expected."
Samuel frowned. "Come in, then, all of you. We have much to discuss."
X
"I see…" The professor paced around his laboratory sporting a consternated look. He realized, after being filled in by Cynthia and Red, that the situation was much worse than he feared. "We can't let this go on for a minute longer than necessary. Other than Lance, I doubt that any trainer in Kanto would be able to deal with this excluding present company."
"That bad? We should call him, then," suggested Blue.
"It's no use." Red shook his head. "Lance is in Johto right now politicking with diplomats from the Unova region. He can't just leave, no matter how serious this is."
"Excuse me, Professor," spoke the blonde. "Isn't discounting the rest of Kanto a little much? While the Pokémon we encountered were formidable, an experienced trainer –with enough preparation– could surely–"
"The Pokémon of Cerulean Cave will be the least of our worries, my dear."
The Professor's words left the three teenagers tongue-tied. "The true threat would be the Pokémon with enough psychic power to command them all."
"The Pokémon?" Red narrowed his eyes. "I don't understand. Have you discovered something?"
"It's nothing more than a hypothesis at this point, but with everything we know now, I would say it's the most likely conclusion." Samuel fired up a holographic display, projecting the blurry image of the strange Pokémon near the cave. "If this Pokémon is of legendary origin, and has claimed the cave as its lair, then–"
"Then it put those Pokémon there!" Cynthia exclaimed as she caught on to what the Professor was saying. "It wouldn't even have to be a psychic. Countless tales of Legendary Pokémon depict some of them as having the ability to command other creatures. The powerful Pokémon we ran into at the cave, and even the ones that acted up in the city…"
"…They're being used as guard dogs!" Concluded Red.
Blue's eyes widened. "The Cerulean Pokémon aren't going crazy, then."
"No, they aren't," agreed the Professor. "They are perfectly sane; merely compelled to keep humans away from the cave."
"Wait, wait, wait." Blue waved his hands in front of him. "I don't want to take the gas outta anyone here, but realistically, do you think that this Pokémon is really a Legend of all things? I think there's a Unovan expression, if you hear hoofbeats, think of Ponyta and not Cobalion. Odds are, if it's a foregone conclusion that no one has ever seen this thing before, it's a new species but nothing more. A Legendary though? That would be like saying you think the boogieman is real and you expect it to be running the party."
"…I think Blue's right."
Red's comment on the issue seemed to annoy Cynthia, but she couldn't say anything before he continued, "The odds of us finding something right out of a fairy tale are laughably low. However, this is going to be dangerous, even for us. If we're going to do this, we need to assume the worst-case scenario."
Professor Oak's expression was unreadable. "Tell me, Blue. Red. You know of Mew, don't you?"
Blue scratched his cheek. "Of course… Wait, you aren't trying to say that you think we're dealing with Mew, now, are you?"
"That's what my grandmother thought, actually," provided Cynthia.
"And I understand why she'd think that," acknowledged the older man. "Had she shown you her findings before sending you off?"
The blonde blushed. "Well, I left in a bit of a hurry, so…"
"Ninety-two percent," stated the Pokémon Professor.
"Ninety-two percent… what?" asked Red on behalf of all three of them.
"Bipedal, feline features, and even an odd, bulbous tail. Psychic abilities, tendencies, activity patterns… Professor Carolina had concluded that when compared to everything we believe to be true about Mew, ninety-two percent of all journals, records and such texts in our possession match our mystery Pokémon."
"Hold the phone, old man," Blue crossed his arms to make an 'x' shape. "We were saying just now that the chances of this thing being a story-book Pokémon aren't zero anymore–which I can roll with! But now we're suddenly ninety-two percent sure this thing's a Legendary?"
The professor shook his head. "The math doesn't quite work that way. I just want you all to know that the odds of encountering a creature no one has seen before on record are real."
The three tensed as the words sunk in. As Pokémon trainers, it was like being told that the tooth fairy actually was real, and they'd be hunting it down.
"Well, Mew or not, this Pokémon is a threat regardless." Samuel tried to redirect the conversation before they could get too deep into their thoughts. "Blue and Red, you two should look into which Pokémon you want to take off the ranch tomorrow. Cynthia, you should call Carolina and ask her to transfer any Pokémon you feel you'll need to my lab. I advise all of you to put thought into your decisions, as this could be a matter of saving your own lives."
X
An austere-looking man puffed on a cigar as he flipped through the pages of the daily newspaper. In the dim lighting of the room, one could barely make out the form of a Persian lying next to the master-craft oak desk he sat behind.
"S-sir!"
A frightened young woman dressed in all black barged into the room, saluting her apparent superior. Her only distinguishing features were the red "R" on her torso and the belt of Pokéballs at her waist.
The man's eyes narrowed. Holding out his cigar, he said, "Give me your hand."
"…Sir?"
"Since you so rudely allowed yourself into my office without permission, I won't be able to finish my corona. Naturally, I wouldn't like to dirty my suit with ash, so I'll need to put it out. I'll ask again: give me your hand."
The poor woman gulped. She should have known better than to come in unannounced. Panic had overtaken reason at that moment. "Of course sir."
She bit her tongue to prevent a hiss from escaping her lips when he used the palm of her hand as an ashtray.
"Alright, then." His hands now free, the man poured himself a glass of the liquor resting on the edge of his desk. "What was it that you want?"
"W-we f-found it, s-sir."
He grinned.
X
In an ancient ruin long abandoned by civilization, two groups stood on opposite ends of what could have once been a place of prayer.
From one of the groups, a muscular man wearing a blue bandana stalked angrily to the front of his crowd.
"Stop getting in my way, you bastard…"
A man from the other side of the room met him at the halfway point between them. The reflective tint of his glasses did a good job of hiding the annoyance in his eyes.
"…You're a blinded fool."
A girl in a red hood smiled.
A towering man snarled.
A portly fellow crossed his arms.
A tall woman scoffed.
X
He was a "sick" man. Or at least, that's what he was told as a child.
He didn't care. In fact, he could feel himself caring less and less as the grin across his face widened.
This wasn't a smile of happiness. It was a smile of success. It was a smile of dominance.
This world didn't need happiness.
It wouldn't have it for much longer, either.
He clasped his hands behind his uniformed back, and his hairless brow relaxed.
"Is this true?"
The young blue-haired man in front of him shook his head vigorously, the twin-pointed bowl-cut atop his head whipping back in forth. "Absolutely! Our members in Celestic Town sent all the data our way. We doubt that Professor Carolina will ever publish these findings, but that doesn't negate their credibility– for our cause, at least."
"…Good."
If his master plan was once labeled as the ramblings of a psychopath, if not a naïve imbecile, then it was no longer as such.
It was real.
They were real.
The smile on his face widened, contorting his face to the extent that it was even starting to unsettle the man before him.
"…Very good."
X