Revival of the Burned

Chapter 2: Eyes

Six months later.

Flames. Heat. Sweat. Smoke. Cough. Blur. Darkness.

Nathan awoke with heavy breath. The night sky and bright sparkling stars stared at him from high above. He shifted in his sleeping bag.

"Almost back to Ecruteak," he whispered. He stared at the brightest star in the black sky. "Booster, I miss you. You've missed a lot in the last six months. Anna, Zach and I have traveled around the Johto region. I've met some new friends, too. I got a feisty Croconaw from Professor Elm. His name is Chomper. And I caught a Flaafy, that's Dreamer. You would've liked them, I'm sure. I wish you were still with me, to go on this Gym challenge together."

"Dreamer use Thunderwave!" Nathan commanded.

The Flaafy sent an electrical beam forward that surrounded the enemy Gengar and pulsed through its body.

"Gengar! Use Shadow Ball!" Morty, the Ecruteak Gym Leader, called out.

Gengar hurled a blob of dark, ghostly energy at Flaafy. Flaafy cried out in pain.

"Dreamer, hit 'em with Confuse Ray to mess with his offense!"

Dreamer shot a beam of eerie light that dazed the Gengar's senses.

"Gengar, use Hypnosis! Put it to sleep!"

Gengar tried to use its attack, but it wobbled over in confusion and fell to the ground.

"Alright! Now, Flaafy! Let's go on the offensive with a Thundershock!"

Flaafy's electric attack struck the fallen Gengar.

"Gengar, try Hypnosis again!"

Gengar shakily stood back up and blasted a hypnotic signal as its eyes glowed. Dreamer fought off the sleep as its eyes drooped, but it soon fell to the ground asleep.

"It's ironic that your Pokémon is named Dreamer as it's about to have its dreams used against it. Gengar use Dream Eater!" Morty commanded.

Flaafy's sleeping form shivered as Gengar pulled its energy out. Dreamer rolled over, knocked out.

"Damn," Nathan swore as he retrieved Flaafy's Pokéball. "Dreamer, come back. Chomper, let's finish this!"

He swapped his sleeping Flaafy with a Croconaw, who growled with enthusiam.

"Chomper, use Bite attack!"

Croconaw charged forward and chomped into the Gengar's arm. Gengar yelped in pain.

"Gengar, use Shadow Ball!"

The Ghost-type tried to fire off its attack, but the paralyzing shock from Flaafy's earlier Thunderwave kept it immobile.

"No, Gengar!" Morty shouted with concern.

"Dreamer's role was never to beat your Gengar. His job was to paralyze and confuse you so that Chomper has an easy meal. And he did exactly that. Chomper, finish it! Use another Bite!"

Chomper, as his name suggested, chomped another bite into Gengar. Gengar fell over, defeated.

"Chomper! We did it!" Nathan exclaimed.

"I'm not good enough yet... All right. This Badge is yours," Morty walked across the stadium and handed the Fog Badge to Nathan.

"That was a great battle," Nathan smiled as he hugged his Croconaw.

"I don't think our potentials are so different. But you seem to have something more than that…" Morty contemplated for a moment. "So be it."

Nathan waved farewell to Morty and turned to leave. "Oh, by the way. My friend, Zach, will be by later to have a match too. He's strong, so watch out."

"I'll look forward to it," Morty said with smile.

Nathan went to the Pokémon Center to have his Pokémon healed up. After handing off his Pokémon to the nurse there, he met up with Anna and Zach in the waiting area.

"Nathan, how'd the match go?" Anna asked.

"I won, naturally," he replied with a big grin.

"Ha. If a chump like you can beat the Gym Leader, it'll be a cake walk for me," Zach laughed, confidently.

"Oh, really?" Nathan snickered. "I think it's the other way around, 'cause I just told Morty that you were a newbie and to go easy on you."

"Whatever you say," Zach shrugged. "If I really needed your help, I would've watched your match to see his strategies first hand. But I don't need a handout from a weak trainer like you anyway. So, Anna. How'd your trip to your folks' place go?"

"Uh, not great," she sighed. "They still don't like the idea of me out in the wilderness. Too afraid of danger and what not. The fact that we all nearly died six months ago didn't exactly help their overprotective side."

An awkward silence rolled over their group. That day had scarred them all. Nathan had regular nightmares. Anna had a burn scar on her shoulder and overprotective parents on her back. And Zach had issues that he refused to talk about.

"It's true! It was a legendary Pokémon!" a female voice exclaimed nearby. "I got a picture of it on my Pokégear, take a look."

"Wow, Amanda. I've never seen that Pokémon before," her friend said.

Intrigued, Nathan walked over to the pair of girls. Zach and Anna followed him over.

"What Pokémon did you see?" Nathan asked.

The girl, Amanda, showed him the picture. It was a large lion-like Pokémon. It stared directly at the camera, into the heart of each person who would view the photo.

"Those eyes… They look familiar somehow…" Nathan muttered.

"As soon it I took the picture, that Pokémon ran away," Amanda explained. "It was so fast, and it looked like it'd be really strong, too."

"Maybe, we could still find it," her friend suggested.

"No, Marcy. I looked everywhere. It's gone. But a picture of it is still amazing!"

"The Pokémon you saw is called Entei," a familiar voice said.

"Morty?" Nathan looked up. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you. Even Gym Leaders have to visit Pokémon Centers to heal their Pokémon."

"What do you know about this Entei?" Anna asked.

"It's one of three Legendary Pokémon that have been seen around here. Along with Suicune and Raikou, Entei is a very rare and powerful Pokémon."

"I knew it was a Legendary Pokémon!" Amanda exclaimed.

"Yes," Morty continued. "Entei the Fire-type, Raikou the Electric-type, and Suicune the Water-type. Collectively, they are called the Legendary Beasts."

Fire, Electric, and Water types? Could that be a coincidence? Nathan silently wondered.

"You know, I once saw Entei," Morty said. "I mean like up close. It was amazing. Entei looked me in the eyes. I'll never forget its eyes. It was like it could see right through me, down into the depths of my heart…"

"Its eyes…" Nathan repeated.

"Hey, Marcy," Amanda said to her friend. "I may not have caught that Entei, but let's go so I can show you the other Pokémon I got."

The two of them ran off excitedly.

Morty turned to Zach. "I take it that you're Nathan's friend who wants to challenge my Gym later."

"Yes, I am."

"I'll see you soon, then," Morty waved goodbye.

"Sorry, Zach. You'll have to wait on that Gym match," Nathan said.

"Huh, why?"

"Because we're going to go look for that Entei."

"I get it," Zach snickered. "You know that catching a Legendary is the only way you can be better than me, is that it?"

"No, that's not it. That Entei… It's Booster."

"What?" Zach and Anna asked simultaneously.

"Those eyes… I'm certain of it. Those are Booster's eyes."

"But, how can that be?" Zach scoffed. "Even if he somehow survived the fire, last time I checked, Flareons don't evolve into Legendary Pokémon."

"Come on, think about it," Nathan encouraged. "Morty said that the Legendary Beasts were a Fire-type, an Electric-type and a Water-type. You have to admit that there's a chance it could be them."

"That's just a coincidence," Zach said.

"Yeah, it sounds a little unbelievable," Anna shook her head.

"Even if I'm wrong, what do we have to lose? Besides, no matter how unbelievable it is, if you had another chance to see River wouldn't you at least try?"

"How are we even supposed to find it, Nathan?" Zach asked.

"Well, I haven't thought that far ahead," he admitted. "Maybe, we'll just get lucky?"

"You don't sound very confident," Anna muttered.

"Whatever. Let's go."