And now, it's time for the Pokémon Trainers to make their return/debut! My notes for them:
- Going by the timeframe that I left for the Ice Climbers, Red and Leaf are 15, turning 16 years old soon in this canon of mine.
- Leaf owns a Bulbasaur, Charmeleon, and Blastoise, but her team is standardized to what Red has for the tournament.
- Red hasn't seen his Charizard in a year (since he declined to return, but Charizard wanted to compete), and Master Hand kept Charizard's Poké Ball with him so he could return Charizard to Red after the tournament had wrapped.
- Due to this, Red is not particularly fond of Master Hand, as he had taken away his most loyal partner.
- Charizard's a big 'ol softie, you'll see.
In the Viridian City Gym...
"Venusaur, use Petal Blizzard!"
Blue's Venusaur wrapped itself in a storm of razor-sharp petals, and barreled straight towards Squirtle.
"Squirtle, Ice Beam, now!"
Squirtle then breathed out a beam of freezing cold onto the ground, icing the ground, which caused Venusaur to lose her balance, and the Petal Blizzard dissipated. Squirtle then started to skate around Venusaur, using Ice Beam to freeze its legs onto the ground. After several rounds, Venusaur was rendered completely immobile.
"Finish it, Squirtle! Use Dragon Pulse!"
Squirtle began to prepare his coup de grâce; a massive, multicolored ball of energy which began to form in his maw, ready to fi-
"Okay! Stop!"
Red motioned for Squirtle to stop the attack, and the energy building in Squirtle's mouth disappeared. Blue returned his Venusaur, and then stepped to the other side of the battlefield to shake his former rival's hand.
"Y'know, despite your baffling decision to not evolve your Squirtle, you're still as good as always, Red! I've always wondered, though, what ever happened to your Charizard? I haven't seen him in a ye-"
Red had heard enough, as the mere mention of his Charizard melted the smile off face, and he began to choke up, saying, "Blue, thanks for the battle today, but I need to go."
"Aw, c'mon, Red, what happened-"
"That's enough from you. I want to leave."
"But Red-"
"Not. Another. Word." And with that, Red ran out of the Viridian Gym, returning Squirtle as he left.
Cerulean Cave...
Red sat at the entrance of Cerulean Cave, eating the lunch his mother had packed for him, trying to forget about that fateful day one year ago...
Flashback
"But why?! Why can't you find another Charizard? I know that there's plenty of them in the Charicific Valley in Johto, why don't you go there and find a Charizard instead?" Red said, desperately trying to dissuade Master Hand from taking his Charizard.
Master Hand shook a finger in an almost sad manner, saying, "Alas, Red, you said it yourself, your Charizard's been raring for a fight lately."
"But the Silver Conference is in three months! Surely you can find another Charizard for your tournament, I'm sure that there are other Charizard willing to sign up! We've been training for the Silver Conference for the past six months, you can't just take that away from us like that! We're a team!"
"But, Red, your Charizard was the only one of its brethren brave enough to venture into Subspace to save the others during the third tournament, and I want to reward that kind of bravery. Why don't we leave it up for him to decide?"
Red reluctantly called out Charizard, who had heard the entire conversation inside his capsule.
"So, Charizard, I've heard that you've been desiring a fight lately. Why don't you join the fourth Smash tournament? I've managed to recruit plenty of new fighters, and I even managed to find a Pokémon from the region of Kalos! The name of his species is Greninja, if I remember correctly. So, what do you say?"
"Charizard, I know it sounds selfish, but please stay with me! The Silver Conference is coming up, and I want to win it as a team! You, me, Squirtle, and Ivysaur, together forever, remember?" Red's voice had come close to breaking as he said those words.
Charizard looked to his trainer, and then towards Master Hand, and reluctantly made his decision.
He reached for the envelope that the white hand had so gingerly held throughout the exchange.
Red, after a moment of shock, said, "Fine. If that's what you want, then I'm okay. Good luck, Charizard."
Master Hand then said, "I'm going to need his Poké Ball, too."
Red, after a moment of hesitation, reluctantly handed it over.
"Before you leave with Charizard, promise me one thing. I understand that you are capable of translating Pokémon speech, right?"
"Yes."
"Promise me that you will write me a letter regarding Charizard's status and how he feels at least once a week."
"Consider it done."
It was a promise that would not be fulfilled.
Red spent a whole year in radio silence regarding his Charizard.
End Flashback
By the time Red had snapped back to the present, he immediately noticed that his cheeks were wet with tears, and that it was close to sunset already. Had he really reminisced for that long?
Before he could dwell any further, however, a voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Red!"
It was Leaf, another one of Red's childhood friends.
"Red! Where are you? Your mother asked me to look for you, she's been worried sick all day!"
It was that moment that Red decided to show himself.
"Red-! Oh, wow, you don't look well. What happened?" Leaf's tone immediately switched to one of concern.
"I miss Charizard." That was all Red could choke out before he risked a complete emotional breakdown.
"Oh, Red. I'm so sorry that I completely forgot about that. Say, how about we walk back to Pallet Town? I just finished shopping at the Celadon Department Store, can you believe they're now selling Litten Poké Dolls in addition to-"
Red didn't need to hear about what Leaf had gotten from her bi-weekly shopping trips, so he just tuned out most of what she was saying, and only nodded occasionally as they walked back home.
Kanto Route 2...
As Red and Leaf made their way through the tall grass, the two of them saw a bright, rainbow-colored light appear in front of them, scaring away the nearby wild Pokémon. And out of the light came the last thing Red had wanted to see: Master Hand, carrying an envelope, a Poké Ball, and a briefcase on top of all that.
"Listen, Red, I understand if you don't want to talk right now-"
"Save it."
"Red-"
"That's enough."
"Red, please, listen to me! I have Charizard's Poké Ball right here!"
"Don't ever come near me- wait, you have his Poké Ball?"
Master Hand gave the closest thing he could to a nod, and gently passed the white and red capsule over to Red, who gingerly took it as if it would shatter if it was so much as looked at incorrectly.
With his heart in his throat, Red pushed the button on the little ball.
Charizard materialized in a blue flash of light and let out a mighty roar.
Red, absolutely awestruck, whispered, "Charizard..."
It was at that moment that both trainer and Pokémon embraced each other, tears freely streaming down their faces.
"I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!"
Charizard growled as if it had a lump of fur in its throat, which Master Hand had translated as pretty much the same thing Red had said.
It was at that moment that Red remembered that the Hand was still there. His voice shaky, he said, "Now go. I'd prefer if you never showed yourself to me ever again."
Master Hand, now on the defensive, said, "Red, please, I apologize for not keeping your promise, I was busy regarding paperwork, and there was also another incident that Charizard was there to witness that put me out of commission for quite a while."
Charizard rumbled in agreement.
Red, after a moment's thought, said, "Fine. What have you come to me for, other than to give me back my Charizard?"
Master Hand said, "Well, we've began the recruiting process for the next Super Smash Bros. tournament, and since all veterans of the previous tournament have already had their paperwork signed, I've been going around to find everyone who's participated in a previous tournament, and that includes you, Red. Popo and Nana have already received their formal notice."
"If it's anything like what happened back at the tournament when I was there, then you can take that letter and shove it right up your-"
"No, no! We've managed to wipe out the last traces of Shadow Bugs from Mr. Game & Watch's body, so that is no longer an issue. Please, just take a look inside the envelope. You may like what you see."
Red looked through the letter, silently reading it, and once he finished, he looked at Master Hand, and said, "Fine. One more chance."
Master Hand's demeanor considerably brightened, and he said, "Great, also tell your friend that she's allowed to participate, but that I'm going to have to make her Pokémon the same as yours."
Red relayed the news to Leaf, who nodded and said, "Do what you must."
Master Hand snapped his fingers, and when Leaf sent out her Pokémon, they were now a Squirtle, an Ivysaur, and a Charizard.
As he began to glow, Master Hand said to Red, "And one more thing: I'm truly sorry for any emotional pain I may have caused you in the last year or so."
And with that, the large white glove had vanished. Red looked back at Charizard making up for lost time with Squirtle and Ivysaur, and he gave off a small smile. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all…
Hoo boy, this was a tough one to write. As the Ice Climbers seemed all too willing to return, I decided to go the opposite way with the Pokémon Trainer, as I doubt that he would be so happy to see Master Hand after he had taken his Charizard away from him. I promise you that Pichu's will be much more lighthearted than this one.
Next stop, Johto!