I'm especially proud of this chapter because there's some foreshadowing here. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I owned Pokemon, Ash wouldn't be a retard.

Chapter 5: An Even Stronger Wake-Up Call! Resolution To Defeat!

Carl did not sleep at all in his room in the Pokemon Center. He had spent all night reading books and pamphlets about general information on Pokemon. He woke up in a cold sweat after ten minutes when he closed his eyes. He went out and searched for a bookstore in Viridian City. Fifteen minutes later, he was back in his room, with an armful of books. He had bought several Pokemon field guides and battling manuals. By the time he finished reading, it was four in the morning.

He leaned back in his chair at his desk and sighed in accomplishment. Then he yawned widely. He felt exhausted. This was the first time he had studied an all-nighter since back at the Academy. He looked back on his days at the Academy. He'd done reasonably well but better than the most of the other students.

Every month at the Academy, there is a series of exams that students must take to show their proficiency. There was a written test and then a battle or contest simulation with random rental Pokemon. Carl didn't do so well on the written exam, which was composed of several multiple choice questions, short answers, and a dreaded essay, but he was exceptional in the battle simulations.

In his third year, he was given a Sandslash, Tauros, and a Mr. Mime. For some reason, Carl was always paired up against Duncan. Duncan was equipped with Kingler, Machoke and Jolteon. Despite the obvious type disadvantages, Carl won.

The Sandslash started with Poison Sting then finished Kingler with two Slashes. Against Machoke, he didn't have much luck. It knocked out both Sandslash and Tauros with Cross Chops. But Mr. Mime Confused Machoke and it knocked itself out. Jolteon was easy. It was boxed in by Barriers before it could do anything and overwhelmed by Psybeam. The battle was close, but Carl had won in the end. That battle had given him the highest battling grade, even higher than Alice's; and enough to make up for his dismal written exam grade.

All of a sudden, Carl remembered his loss to the Rattata couple. With a horrible pang, he asked himself whether all of his wins so far at the academy were lucky breaks and flukes or for real. Was reality playing a cruel trick on him? Then he remembered his father's last words: "You'd better, because your luck won't save you all the time. Just make sure you don't waste your time. And instead of wishing the best of luck to you, I hope you fail."

Carl shook with rage. Was he telling him that he should give up? That smile on his face, it drove him crazy! Luck had nothing to do with this. His father actually went on his own journey and came back as Champion. That was years ago but still! What a hypocrite. And he actually called battling and training a waste of time. Carl hated his guts - no, his entire existence. Carl silently made a pledge to challenge his dad one day and destroy him.

xxXxx

All throughout breakfast Carl was in a rage. As he ate his eggs (which did not belong to or contain any Pokemon, thankfully) he glared at anyone staring at him. Charmander who was out of his Poke ball, kept trying to soothe him while munching on bacon but was ignored. Eventually Carl got sick of the center's atmosphere, put the rest of his eggs in a piece of toast, and left with Charmander in tow.

Carl found a boulder on the edge of the city and sat on it, facing Pallet Town. While chewing on his sandwich, he contemplated about returning to his hometown. What was the point of it all? He wasn't even prepared for a battle against a wild Pokemon, let alone two Rattatas.

Suddenly, the sound of rustling bushes shook him from his gloomy thoughts. Without thinking, he walked towards the vegetation in front of him. When he parted the bushes, a foot flew to his face. Carl fell on his back and knew no more…

xxXxx

When Carl came to, he was seeing green. Literally. He sat up, leaves falling from his face. It turned out that when he was knocked out, Charmander collected the leaves and covered Carl like a makeshift blanket. He looked around for the little fire Pokemon but all he found were scorch marks and scattered footprints on the ground. Alongside of the miniature battlefield, there was a drawing of an arrow, pointing to the west of Viridian City. It seemed that Charmander had fought off whatever knocked out Carl, chased it away, made the blanket of leaves for Carl, and went after the threat.

Carl immediately went into the direction where the arrow was pointing, passing several people and buildings. Not only that his Pokemon gave him a direction, but a trail. Every 25 yards, the resourceful lizard left one arrow after another. Finally the trail ended in a small valley. Carl ventured forth, hearing Charmander's cries. He saw a dirt path and was just about to step on it when a fireball rushed past by in front of him. Carl stood very still, stunned. He had almost been incinerated.

He looked to his left and saw his Charmander. The little dinosaur was dirty and panting heavily. There was a screech behind Carl, he whipped around to glimpse his Pokemon's opponent; however, he was knocked backward again by a foot. This time, Carl was hit in the mouth. Spitting blood, he looked up to see a furry monkey with a pig-like snout glaring at him. Taken aback, he crawled backwards to Charmander. He grabbed his Pokedex from his pants pocket and flipped it open. He pointed it to the furious monkey. The machine beeped into life, scanned the Pokemon and spoke in a mechanical voice: "Mankey. The Pig Monkey Pokemon. It lives in treetop colonies. If one becomes enraged, the whole colony rampages for no reason."

Carl looked around; there weren't any other Mankeys around as far as he can see. He pressed the Further Information button and the Pokedex spoke again. "Light and agile on its feet, and ferocious in temperament. When angered, it flies into an uncontrollable frenzy."

"That doesn't help much," Carl muttered. Then he looked up just in time to the Mankey dashing towards him and Charmander. It scratched Charmander several times; one of the scratches was so deep, blood seeped out. Then it brought Charmander down with a single Low Kick.

"Hang in there, Charmander," Carl shouted. "I'll get you a Potion." Charmander struggled to get up and was back on his two feet successfully. Carl fished for a Potion in his bag. He sprayed it on Charmander and his Pokemon was good as new and ready for battle. "I'm gonna beat and capture you!" Carl shouted to the wild Mankey. As soon as he finished his sentence, the angry Pig Monkey charged but Carl was ready for it.

"Charmander, Use Ember and when it's distracted, get in close and Scratch it." Carl ordered.

Charmander fired a fireball. The wild Mankey sidestepped and Charmander rushed in. It was a direct hit. Mankey may have dodged the Ember attack, but since it was angry and could only focus on one thing at a time, it didn't have time to dodge the second attack. The result was Mankey having red streaks across its dirty-white fur. Now, the wild Mankey went completely ballistic. It suddenly ignored Carl and Charmander and began to stomp the ground. When an innocent Rattata appeared, the crazy Mankey sent the poor critter flying. Abruptly, the enraged Mankey turned on Carl and Charmander who jumped backwards.

Strangely, the wild Mankey did not attack them. Instead, it dashed to a nearby tree and began pummeling it mercilessly. Leaves cascaded down every time the tree shook from the impacts of the Mankey's blows. When one of the wild fighting Pokemon's fists hit a branch, it bent backward then whipped across the Mankey's face.

Carl could see the Pokemon was drunk with rage. It reminded Carl of his anger towards to his father. He could see that if he was going to face his father, he must do it calmly, and not let his emotions get in the way. If he lets his anger get the better of him, he will only end up hurting himself.

A screech shook Carl from his epiphany. He glanced up and saw that the rampaging Mankey had finally set its sight on Charmander and Carl and was running towards them. Carl acted quickly. "Charmander! Unleash your full energy using Ember, now!"

Charmander took a deep breath. With a small roar, a huge fireball formed in his mouth and engulfed Mankey. Mankey was severely burned, its fur turned black. Carl threw an empty Poke Ball and captured Mankey. The ball wiggled on the ground signifying that the Mankey still had a little fight in it, as if trying to defy Carl. However, there was a small pinging sound, signifying that Mankey had been captured.

Carl smiled slightly. Wordlessly, he picked up Mankey's Poke Ball and clipped it to his belt. He did the same with Charmander and made his way back to the Pokemon Center. The small smile on Carl's face had changed into a look of determination. He will defeat his dad, no matter the cost.