A.N. Again, I've taken a long time to update and I'm sorry. I've more or less had writer's block for a long time and haven't felt very motivated to write any more because I just don't feel like what I write is very good. I recently started a Nuzlocke of Emerald and for some reason that motivated me to write more, not entirely sure why. I've got 3 members of the protagonists team planned, Gardevoir, Absol and Mismagius, the other 3 are up to you guys to vote on, just keep in mind that they have to at least partially be of the Ghost, Psychic or Dark type and that they cannot be legendary for relatively obvious reasons (and please no Kalos Pokémon, I really am not very fond of any of them except Aegislash and Greninja, and the TV show is ruining Greninja). Also keep in mind that I'd like to limit Deecun to having 2 Delta species Pokémon in his team, 1 of which is Mismagius so you guys can help me decide on the other, it just can't be the Absol. Thanks guys, time for some actual plot stuff to happen.
Chapter 2, Humble Beginnings
I woke up the next morning with a headache and a nosebleed. My mom was obviously concerned over the nosebleed and my dad didn't let it show as easily but his forehead creased so even I could tell he was worried. Mom got me some paper towels to hold under my nose to soak up some of the blood, I just sat there not really sure what was going on, just holding my head, the headache wasn't that bad but it was still annoying. Mom brought me some medicine to help with the headache and a glass of water to wash it down.
After Dad reassured her for the umpteenth time that yes, I was not dying and yes, I would be fine to go to the museum and that I agreed we finally left the hotel almost an hour after we woke up. We walked out the front door into the bright morning sunlight and the city was already as active as it would be at midday. We headed to a nearby small restaurant called the Lysandre Café that was owned by a man with vibrant red hair and a beard of the same color who I believe the café was named after. The food was great and the owner was very polite and social, talking to my parents and I like we were regular customers despite having never been to this particular café.
"So, Mr and Mrs Severn, you been keeping up with the news recently?" Lysandre asked.
"We'd prefer it if you just called us by our first names. And no, why?" my Mom responded a little bit tersely.
"Some kid recently beat Lance, the champion of the Indigo League. He's from Johto, apparently the kid took down some remnants of Team Rocket who were causing trouble in Johto. He's been going through the Kanto circuit too, he just beat Surge this morning." Lysandre explained.
"That's impressive." My mom said with wide eyes, "Deecun here barely remembers those guys he's so young. He was only 4 when that kid Red took them down in Kanto. It was so frightening when they attacked Silph Co. My sister just closed herself off in her Gym, not allowing anyone in or out. She didn't do anything..." my Mom recalled sadly.
"That's sad to hear, a psychic as powerful as her probably could've stopped them easily. Though I can understand why she didn't intervene, she was probably trying to protect you from Giovanni, that man wouldn't have hesitated to use you against her." Lysandre responded. His face became somewhat somber as he spoke, almost as if he spoke from personal experience.
"Yeah... I've come to understand that, but then I couldnt'. Then I wanted her to help us, not some kid from Pallet Town."
"That 'Kid from Pallet Town' hasn't been seen or heard from in almost 3 years. After he became champion he went to Johto to take on their gym circuit but after he beat Claire they say he went to Mt. Silver and vanished, no one's seen him since, not even the people who visit Mt. Silver." Lysandre explained.
We all sat in silence for a couple of minutes before my Dad spoke up, "Do you suppose we might see him when we go there later this week?"
"Doubtful," a grim look crossed his face, "there've been people who went there looking for him. No one's been able to find him, some people say he froze to death there, others say the resident wild Pokémon killed him. He hasn't been recorded as visiting the Pokémon Center at the foot of the mountain in these 3 years. That means that he likely hasn't left he mountain, but nobody's been able to get to the top in all of this time, the Tyranitars who nest near the top won't let anyone up, anyone who's tried to get past them haven't come back. If he's alive he's at the top, but I wouldn't expect him to be." Lysandre responded.
(Meanwhile in Kanto)
Gold stepped onto the lush green grass outside the Vermillion City Pokémon Center with a big stretch of his arms. To his left he could see a man and his Pokémon hard at work creating a house (he'd heard that he'd been working on it for a few years without much progress, though apparently he would never admit that). He'd earned his first badge in Kanto this morning and was determined to at least reach Saffron City before sundown.
He turned left and exited the city only to get stopped by a pair of trainers who had been staking him out. Since he beat Lance that had been happening more often than he'd like as he was something of a celebrity now, not like Red had been, but that was to be expected.
"Uhhh, hi... can I help you?" Gold said akwardly.
"Oh man! It really is him. You wouldn't mind terribly if we challenged you to a battle would you? We saw that you beat Surge this morning and couldn't pass up the opporitunity to battle you." The guy of the pair replied.
"I was kinda hoping to get to Saffron before dark, but I guess it can't hurt if I don't have to battle more than a few people..." Gold said rubbing the back of his head, unused to getting this much attention.
(A few hours later)
With the sun setting to his left Red trudged on North, almost every trainer he passed asking to battle him. Almost none of the trainers he fought were much of a challenge, his Typhlosion able to handle most anyone who challenged him single-handedly, even in a bad matchup. As he walked forward he noticed ahead of him was the telltale checkpoint that signified the entrance to a city. He broke into a sprint, unable to remember the last time he was so happy to see a checkpoint.
He entered the checkpoint and kept running, waving to the guard as he passed. The guard waved back and returned to reading, pausing to take a drink from his tea. He exited the checkpoint and searched for the signature red of a Pokémon center so he could get a room to sleep in until tomorrow. A few minutes later a Nurse Joy was accepting his Pokémon while he filled out the customary papers to get a room for the night. "Thank you for waiting. We've restored your Pokémon to full health. Please come back again anytime!"
Gold turned around and came face to face with the gym leader he'd come to challenge, Sabrina. "I foresaw your arrival here, Gold. Your reputation precedes you. I look forward to our battle tomorrow. Excuse me." She pulled a handful Pokéballs out of her belt loop and handed them to the Nurse Joy behind the desk, "You wouldn't terribly mind healing my Pokémon would you. My last challenger had a rather strong Krookadile that did a number on a few of them."
Gold had never seen her up close but she was even more beautiful in person than in her movies. He was absolutely stunned and could only stand in awe from her mere presence. She was like a Goddess who had come to visit man. "It's not polite to stare, Gold." A few words snapped him out of his trance. It took him a moment to realize that they had come from the object of his mesmerization.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You're just so..." Gold blushed a bright crimson, embarassed.
"Beautiful, I get that a lot. I'm more than aware, It's why I'm an actress, might as well use what was given to me." She responded.
"I suppose that's one way of looking at it. Wait a second, how do you know my name?" Gold asked.
"I read your mind. You did know I was a psychic, right?" She inquired with a chuckle.
"I didn't know psychics were able to read minds. I always just thought they could float stuff with their minds..." He replied, feeling a little dumb.
Sabrina laughed, which made Gold feel even more embarressed. "We can do a lot more than that Gold. Maybe I'll show you more when you challenge me tomorrow." She gestured with her hand and his hat was suddenly rotated 180 degrees around his head, the bill pulled down over his eyes. "Thank you Nurse Joy. I'll see you again Gold, give me your all tomorrow." She turned around as she spoke, exiting the center on her last words.
Gold shrugged and turned to his left to go upstairs to the rooms for trainers, going to the second door on the right as he was told. He inserted the key he was given and turned it right, the door swung open from a slight push. The same room design as always, a simple room with a bed with two nightstands and a small bathroom to the left of the entrance. A big sliding glass door made up the far wall that opened up to a small balcony. The rooms were nice, but not flashy and were obviously inexpensive.
A few short minutes of changing into his sleeping clothes and Gold could already feel his eyes giving up on consciousness. He pulled out 6 Pokéballs and pressed the buttons on all of them, out came his Typhlosion, Espeon, Noctowl, Jumpluff, Quagsire and Electabuzz. None of them too overly large so it was no small problem being able to take them out, as long as they didn't cause a ruckus there was no problem with having them out in his room.
Gold and all of his Pokémon got situated and before long they slept. Kennen, his Typhlosion, curled up and went to sleep at the foot of his bed, almost like a guard dog would. Koizumi, his Espeon, climbed onto the pillow Gold wasn't using and calmly went to sleep there. Hedwig, his Noctowl, as a nocturnal Pokémon didn't sleep at all during the night, instead sleeping during the day in her Pokéball if she wasn't being used. She sat on the balcony keeping watch until Gold fell asleep, soon after flying off into the night, what for Gold will never know, it was simply her nightly ritual as she was always back at the center when he awoke.
Sheryl, his Jumpluff, quietly bounced on the nightstand as she slept, her own breath propelling her into the air even while she slept. Sally, his Quagsire, followed her normal routine and filled up the bathtub and climbed in, laying on her stomach as she submerged herself in water as she had been for her early life. Guts, his Electabuzz, leaned his back against the bed frame between Koizumi and Gold and lay there as he slept peacefully.
The battle tomorrow would be a tough one, as had been every gym leader and elite 4, and even champion, before. Falkner and his Pidgeotto were more than a match for Kennen and Sheryl early in their journey, while Hedwig was barely on even ground with it even with her immunity to Falkner's favorite move, Mud-Slap. Bugsy had proven himself a worthy adversary, even to those who exploited the weakness of his beloved bugs (half of Gold's team at the time had an advantage). Whitney's Miltank alone had cost Gold thousand's of Poké from losses caused by it alone, not to mention the shennanigans caused by her Clefairy's metronome. Morty and his powerful ghosts easily handled anything Gold could throw at him, even Hedwig with her immunity to ghost and powerful psychic moves could not best Morty's Gengar easily. Chuck and his fighting types over powered Gold's team several times over, only being bested by the combined efforts of Gold's newly evolved Espeon, Koizumi and the bird of prey Hedwig. Pryce and his ice types showed no mercy, freezing even Kennen in his tracks, but Pryce's Dewgong was no match for Guts, whose powerful Thunderbolts forced the Dewgong into submission, and a single Fire Punch was all it took for him to K.O. Pryces Piloswine. Claire proved truly challenging, Gold stayed in Blackthorn for weeks before he could finally defeat the Kingdra whose weakness Gold could not exploit, not to mention the other dragons who Gold could only reliably handle with Guts' Ice Punch, but through his teams combined efforts even Claire's Kingdra eventually submitted.
The Elite 4 and Lance were another story alltogether. Weeks upon weeks were spent training in Victory Road before Gold felt confident that his team was able to withstand the challenges that they would pose, but no amount of training could prepare him for the Elite 4. He made it through each member, just barely defeating each of them, being sustained between battles by healing items and the sheer willpower of his team. He never lost there, not even to Lance, but Lance's reputation as champion was not for nothing. Even with Gold being able to hit every one of Lances Pokémon for super-effective damage Lance's dragons withstood it and retaliated tenfold. But Gold eventually won and Lance conceded defeat, granting Gold the title of Champion, which Gold promptly turned down, wishing to still travel the world with his Pokémon.
Now Gold traveled with a new purpose, to earn the 8 badges of Kanto and travel to Mt. Silver in search of Red, the hero who defeated team Rocket and the Indigo League and vanished from the world.
"Look Mom! It's the Raikou picture the nice lady in the taxi was talking about yesterday!" I cried, tugging on my Mom's shirt to get her attention. We'd arrived at the museum in Lumiose City about an hour after we left the Lysandre Café, making a short stop at a stones emporium on Vernal Avenue that had recently opened up. They sold a variety of stones used to evolve Pokémon, though not all of them, from what the man in the shop said. I had been fascinated by the stones they sold there, though I liked the Thunderstone the most because of obvious reasons.
"Oh, you're right it is. We would've missed it if you hadn't pointed it out." My Mom said, grabbing my hand and my Dad's.
"Not just Raikou, it's got all three of them. Raikou, Suicune and Entei. The Three Legendary Beasts of the Burned Tower in Ecruteak City." My Dad said, showing off a little bit.
I stared at the picture in awe, though mostly at Raikou. What must have been a few minutes passed and my parents decided it was time for us to move on. We started walking and I looked behind me back to the picture, standing near it now was the lady from the taxi last night, Viola. I waved to her and she noticed me and waved back with a smile. We continued walking, I wouldn't see her again for several years.
A.N. So I finally finished this chapter, it literally took me a few months. I've been so preoccupied with other stuff that I completely forgot about it for a while. I got a PS4 so Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 have been taking up quite a lot of my free time, but I started a Randomized Nuzlocke of Pokemon Leaf Green and it made me think of this. I got back to writing and I hit a wall for a little bit, not quite sure if I should go into Gold's adventure or not. I decided to add some stuff with it for now, it will likely stop when we get to Mt. Silver and Deecun's journey truly begins. Sorry for the long wait for the few people who have been reading this. Thanks for reading, please review it so that I know what you guys think, I could use the constructive criticism, I would really like to get better at this whole writing thing.
