Trapped in the Darkness – Chapter 21

A Pokemon Fanfiction

Pearl: The author owns nothing but the plot for this fic!

~000~

Green was the first to snap out of his dreamlike state, standing up only to apologize to his Pokemon before putting them in their Pokeballs. The only exception was his Eevee, because he wasn't up for a scuffle and she looked like she didn't want to be bothered. He cracked his knuckles, muttering to himself when he noticed he had one spare Pokeball left minus his Eevee's, due to his rogue Pidgeot, but he placed it back in his small white bag that rested on his hip. His Eevee took her seat on his left shoulder, wrapping its tale around its front paws.

Red noticed his rival standing to leave, so he quickly busied himself with his own Pokemon in each of their Pokeballs quickly and silently as his Pikachu ran up to take its own place on Red's signature hat.

There was a chain reaction, but none of the trainers decided to leave out a Pokemon except for the two Kanto boys. They all seemed to turn to Green for some sort of advice before doing anything, but he didn't notice as he was coughing into his elbow.

When he finally looked up, he looked uncomfortable as he noticed all the looks he was getting. Most of them were expectant, but he ignored Red and N's concerned looks. "What is it? Something up?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Aren't you going to say something encouraging considering you started this whole revolt?" Sapphire said, a smirk growing on her face. Green blinked in discomfort again, but cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Uh, sure, I guess. . ." he said. He looked at the crowd of people before thinking a few minutes, standing straighter after he had figured out how to start. "So. We're back in business. Everyone's got their team and we're ready to roll.

"Every single one of us has encountered this foe in one way or another before. Some of us didn't do anything, which we're ashamed to admit." Green looked at the ground as he said this, shame crawling up his throat. He swallowed it back down and looked back up. "Others, pretty much single-handed, took down each of the teams all on their own. We have an advantage, because I doubt they've gained much strength."

"That's right," N spoke up. Everyone's attention turned to him quickly. "Their last attempt to succeed in their plans was only months ago." His voice was tight. "There was someone who did the job of a hero, although I'm not sure why they teams haven't taken him as well. . ." N shook his head. "But that doesn't matter. If this horrid plan was started this soon, then they should be a simple problem to fix."

Green looked distracted. "If they haven't taken care of everything first. . . ." he drifted off quietly. This did not go unnoticed, because Gold perked up at this statement.

"Who do you mean by they?" he asked. "I mean, are they those two trainers and Morty?"

"Yeah," Black spoke up suddenly. "You have to mean Alder and Cynthia. Who the hell is Morty?" Gold and Crystal gasped, turning to the Unova trainer mouths agape.

"Only the best Ghost gym leader you've ever met!" Gold said, chortling. Platinum rose a thin eyebrow, her lips pulling into a pout.

" I think you're a little sorely mistaken," she said quietly, but Gold hadn't heard her.

Green looked at both Gold and Black, his eyes confused before his eyebrows skyrocketed. A smile flew onto his face and he laughed.

"I didn't tell you everyone who's here!" he said cheerfully. His grin turned wicked. "Lance is here. So is Erika, Clair, and Falkner." Green turned to Sapphire and Ruby, who looked very lost at the names. "You remember a few guys named Steven, Wallace, and Wally?"

Sapphire screeched excitedly, and an excited smile slowly made its way on Ruby's face. "Are you serious?" he asked, his voice close to a whisper but loaded with anticipation.

"Completely," Green said. He stood straight and addressed the crowded room again. "Okay, so now you know who's here, do you know what we have to do?"

Pearl leapt up, his pumpkin eyes shining with anticipation. "We have to confront the leaders, taking out anything in our paths!"

Green's smile grew. "They may have broken our bones, but they'll never break our spirits!" He threw a fist above his head. "Let's do this!"

With that, all of them rushed to the rotating platform, White raising her pink and black sneaker automatically. She smiled eagerly, replying, "I've got this."

Slamming down her shoe, the platform shook for the slight moment before it jerked around. Sending the kids flying, it took a moment to gather their wits before they ran down the corridor they had followed only shortly before.

This time however, there was no end to the damp and musty corridor. The team halted, heads turning around expectantly. Red frowned, pointing down the hallway when Green glanced his way in a confused gesture.

"I don't know, Red!" Green hissed, irritated. He coughed into his shoulder briefly and looked back down the hallway. "They must be playing tricks on us again."

There was an uncomfortable shiver that passed through the group. "Don't touch anything," Diamond said loudly. "They could pull another stunt like they did before we got in here." The group pulled in closer to each other. The hallway was deathly quietly.

Until a distant rumbling was heard.

"What did you do?" Black shouted at White immediately, but she lashed back just as quickly that she hadn't done anything. They began arguing loudly, but the rumbling didn't stop.

"Uh, guys. . . ." Crystal said, her attention directed down the hallway. A warm breeze came from the direction, light faintly beginning to fill the hallway.

"Guys," Platinum tried again, horror making her voice crack. The two didn't hear her.

The first glimpse of fire rushing down the hallway made her scream. Black and White shut their mouths, being jerked forward when N and Diamond grabbed them by their arms and everyone started running, the faint sound of someone screaming "Move move move move!" barely audible over the roar of the fire behind them.

Red could feel the heat behind him, but there was a fire in his lungs that was growing stronger and stronger and FUCK it hurt to breath it hurt to run it hurt to think. Despite all these thoughts running through his mind the absolute terror of being burned alive kept his adrenaline up and him running faster and faster.

Hope seemed to be flying out of reach because the exit to the hallway didn't seem to be in sight. There was only more and more paneling and artificial light that went on forever. Red felt the hope die behind him in the scorching flames and he let out a terrified yell as the fire licked at his ankles. Because of their undernourishment from being in the cell, and the fact there seemed to be no end to the corridor in front of them, hope was gone as the fire grew closer.

They were all going to die after getting so close.

Suddenly there was another fire in Red's chest, not because he was on fire or his lungs finally combusted from overuse, but because he was angry. After all they've gone through, after all that they've survived- and Green. What about all that Green had gone through? He survived the cell, he came back from the dead and came back to save them all! He had to go through the fictional pain of a spear plunging through his chest: all of this to end up burning to death?

Red didn't think so.

He stopped running, turning around to face the oncoming flames.

Green saw his friend halt and turned around, yelling, "What are you doing?!"

Red pointed, a shout building up in his chest and filling his throat before pouring out his mouth an a torrent that fought it's way over the sound of the flames.

"Pikachu- Thunderbolt!"

There was a spark, followed by an explosion that rocked the corridor, sending the team flying forward before engulfing them all.

~000~

Green was always the one who was known to do things recklessly. Red was the exact opposite, thinking things out calmly before doing them. This was a main factor to why Red was superior in his training, because when things didn't seem to be going Green's way, he'd loose his head and start doing things without thought.

Green only knew of two instances when Red had done something recklessly, and both times through he came out on top. The first time was when they were kids: Red had run off one night when Green had forgotten his pendant somewhere in the surrounding forest. He came back the next day with it around his neck and a few scrapes and bruises.

The second time was when they were battling over the title for Champion. Red was one Pokemon away from either winning or losing, his Pikachu the final Pokemon standing. Green only had his Arcanine left, and he had sent it out in a furious rush of words and taunts. The moves were Thunderbolt and Flamethrower, and it ended quite like the explosion in the corridor. The only difference was when the smoke had cleared, Pikachu was still standing and Arcanine was lying on the ground in a faint.

"No," Green had said, disappointment and agony and a million other feelings welling up in his chest as he fell to his knees. "I couldn't have-"

Red hadn't said anything.

He just stood and watched as Green's world crumbled around him.

Faintly, Green roused from the darkness, his ears ringing painfully as he got to his knees. He blinked the smoke and fuzziness from his vision as he gathered in his surroundings. The corridor had been blasted open and rain was pouring in from the hole in the ceiling, falling on Green's face and washing away the grime and smoke that had caked onto his cheeks during the explosion.

His lungs burned, and he began coughing so violently he thought he was going to puke. "Hello?" he croaked after his fit, trying to hear past the ringing in his head for an answer.

The ringing was beginning to fade, and sure enough there was the groans of people combined with the hissing of rain as the downpour continued.

It seemed like the group had survived the explosion, but Green's head was pounding and his vision was still fuzzy. His tongue felt thick in his mouth and it was hard to swallow.

"Is everyone alright?" Diamond's voice rang out, coarse and dry but audible. There were a few sounds of discomfort and negative growls. Diamond's voice was heard again, this time embarrassed. "Okay, that was a dumb question. Is everyone alive?" The sounds weren't as irritated in response to the second question.

Green fought against the spinning of the world and he staggered to his feet, a voice screaming in his head to look for Red. Half of him wanted to yell at his for doing something so reckless, the other half of his was terrified of the thought of him not surviving the blast.

The Oak boy heard weak chirps before his Eevee skittered up his frame to take a seat on her trainer's shoulder. Green staggered at the slight shift in his balance and fell against a wall that stood behind him. He shut his eyes tightly and tried to stop the world from moving while his Eevee squeaked worriedly. Once he thought he got a hold of the world, he took a shaky step forward and opened his eyes, searching through the rain to find his friend.

He saw the raven boy sitting alone against the wall opposite of him, tightly clutching his left arm while his Pikachu nuzzled up to his knee. Green stumbled over before falling beside his rival awkwardly.

"Are you okay," Red said between clenched teeth, breathing heavily. Green had fallen onto his face, mumbling an "ouch" and just stopped moving.

"Ears won't stop ringing. World spinning," he said into the ground. Red let out a breathy laugh, but it was humorless.

"You just survived an explosion that could have killed you," he managed to say, wincing. "I'd say you're lucky you only have that much."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you do it?"

There was a pause. "I thought we were going to die."

Green took a moment to get in a sitting position, holding his head. "We could have died anyway." Red laughed again. Green grimaced. "I'm serious, dick."

Red looked over at his friend, smiling widely. "But we aren't." His crimson eyes were lived with an abundance of emotions that Green couldn't sort through fast enough. "I haven't had that much fun since forever." Red cringed and held his arm tighter. "To bad I had to sacrifice my arm to do it."

Green blinked, bewildered. "What?"

"My shoulder was dislocated when I hit the wall."

"What."

Red nodded, wincing again. "I could put I back in myself I guess, but I've only seen it done in movies. . ." Green cut him off, waving his palms in front of him.

"No no no – I don't want you to mess up your arm. I'm sure me or Diam-"

There was a sickening popping sound and Red shouted a curse of pain that cut off Green before he could finish. "RED!"

"Hey, I got it in didn't I," the rival snapped, but his voice was weak. "Man that hurt a lot more than I expected. . . ."

Green fought for words. "You just fucking pushed your arm back in its socket!"

Red didn't seem too impressed with himself. "Yeah, and it really really hurt. I think I'm going to pass out now." Green cried out in frustration.

"Oh sweet Arceus we have things to do and places to be!"

Red closed his eyes, frowning. His voice grew soft as it began drifting off. "Then do me a favor and carry me. Mew, I carried your fat ass down the hallway. . ."

Green sighed irritably. "Whatever, dude."

Red smiled weakly and drifted off to sleep, Green deciding to sit against the wall on Red's other side. He glanced around quickly, deciding they wouldn't set off until everyone was ready. From the looks of it everyone was okay, but Silver and Platinum were walking with limps, Diamond was telling Ruby he had a concussion, and some of them had serious burns.

Actually, most of the team had burns. Green had a few on his arms, and his pants were singed. He winced when he moved his arms, but decided not to treat them.

After all, they would be getting out pretty soon anyway, right?

~000~

So this chapter was a little bit better than the last one I hope. I got to throw in a little more of my Kanto boys so I'm satisfied.