Viridian Forest had a dark and oppressive atmosphere. It wasn't hot or humid, but something in the forest itself seemed to want you to get out. Whilst you still had a chance. Jack tried to not let it affect him but the atmosphere was spooking him. It did not help that he could see many Caterpie, ranging from as small as your finger to scarily, obscenely large. Nearly as large as him.
That scared him, so he released Dante to accompany him. Suddenly a teenage boy, all knees and bones, bumbled in front of him, acne ravaged face set in a challenge. 'We met eyes, I challenge you to a battle against the awesome power of bug Pokémon.' Jack rolled his eyes and looked down at Dante, 'have some fun, it shouldn't be a problem.'
The boy released a huge Caterpie that was bigger than him, it was a monster, segmented body blown out of proportion and eyes huge but expressionless. 'Dante, knock yourself out,' muttered Jack, before he sat down on the leafy forest floor. The bug trainer's face twisted in anger, 'arrogant bastard, I will destroy you.'
Jack shrugged as Dante leapt to attack, smashing his head into the soft, pliant side of Caterpie. It was sent spinning wildly, the powerful attack too much for it. It was unconscious before it hit the ground. The boy looked even more angry, if that was possible and sent out an equally oversized Weedle. Huge drops of venom dripped from the stinger at its tail. Jack just yawned.
'Dante, don't use any fire attacks because it might hurt the forest, keep using physical attacks.' Dante nodded and slashed the Weedle with a steel claw, ripping it in half. The tail fell to the floor with a crash, but immediately another tail began to grow in the place of it. 'Hmm, that's a surprise. I'm intrigued,' Jack got to his feet and clapped slowly, 'impressive, but it won't help you. Dante, mega punch.'
Dante nodded and delivered a crushing punch of amazing power. The Weedle was knocked unconscious automatically, in the wild it would already have been killed such was the power of the blow. The boy actually stomped his feet in frustration at this loss. 'Damn it. Screw you!' He returned his Pokémon and ran off back into the forest, his appearance as fleeting as a wood sprite.
'Amateur,' muttered Jack scornfully, conveniently forgetting that he had only received his Pokémon three days ago. He slowly climbed to his feet, then cupped his hand to his ear. A continuous piercing shriek was echoing through the forest, the direction of the sound altered as it bounced off tree after tree. It sounded like a Pokémon in trouble.
Jack had a huge feeling of déjà vu as arrived onto a scene of a Pokémon being beaten up by a group of other Pokémon. This time, the Pokémon seemed to be at least a match for its attackers. This time, the Pokémon attacking were owned by a trainer.
The Pokémon being attacked was a long serpentine Pokémon with deep blue scales, three-pronged fins where his ears would have been and a large silver nose. It was being attacked by a small, blind, blue skinned bat Pokémon - a Zubat – and a bulky rat Pokémon with huge teeth and a long, whip like tail – a Raticate.
Behind them stood a shifty looking man dressing in black leather with an equally black cap pulled down low over his eyes. A small red 'R' emblem was stitched onto his chest. 'Zubat, leech life,' he cried, 'Raticate, hyper fang!' The Zubat closed its wings and fell towards the serpentine Pokémon's neck, long fangs bared. The Raticate opened its huge jaws and dived. The serpentine Pokémon twisted its body sharply and smashed the Zubat out of the air with a savage slam attack, knocking it out cold.
Before it could turn to face the Raticate the rat-like Pokémon slammed into its side and knocked it to the floor before viciously biting it with huge fangs. The serpentine Pokémon screamed and thrashed wildly, but it was in vain. The Raticate had a firm grip. Jack decided to intervene. 'Dante, iron head on the Raticate then tackle the trainer.'
Dante smashed into the Raticate with a towering headbutt, breaking its ribs instantly and sending it flying through the air to crash into a tall, coniferous tree. Hard. It hit the ground with a dull thud and began to glow before disintegrating in a shower of bright white sparks as it returned to its Pokéball. The other trainer looked at Jack, spluttering with anger.
Before he could make a move Dante's muscled shoulder connected with his midriff sending him flying through the air. He got up slowly and limped away, calling a threat, 'you will rue the day you messed with Team Rocket. Believe me when I tell you this. Your days are numbered.' Jack arrogantly dismissed the threat as that of an incompetent buffoon. He was so very wrong to do so.
The serpentine Pokémon groaned as it tried and failed to rise. Thanks for that boy. I had it covered though. Jack shook his head in mock amazement, 'Really? You had me fooled!' The Pokémon groaned again and Jack took a good look at it. It was covered in scratches and bruises, looking like it had been put through a blender. He pointed his Pokédex at the creature and the metallic feminine voice played out of the speakers on the side.
Dratini the dragon Pokémon. Long considered a mythical Pokémon, recently a small colony was found living under water. Even the young exceed six and a half feet in length. It does so by repeatedly shedding skin. Jack reached into his bag and brought out a Pokéball and placed it in front of the Dratini. It was enveloped by white light and captured. The Pokéball began to shake violently but after five shakes it stopped and the Dratini was caught.
Jack immediately released it and sprayed on his second full restore. After it had healed the Dratini rippled its body and raised itself up. I am Asrael. Its voice was deep and booming and reverberated impressively around his skull. Then Asrael began to laugh. Sorry his voice was high pitched but masculine I just had to do that. So are we going to kick that guy's arse now.
The Dratini bared its teeth mischievously and let out a corrosive dragon's breath. Jack shook his head. 'I'm going to get you to the Pokémon centre in Pewter City then we are going to train back here for a day before we challenge Brock.' Asrael growled but stayed silent. He continued growling until Jack returned him and trekked into the depths of the endless forest.
The darkness was nearly complete here, only broken by the faint streams of sunlight that wormed their way through the almost impenetrable tangle of branches to pool on the forest floor. Jack kept the tired Asrael in his Pokéball but had Dante walked by his side to discourage any intrepid Caterpie or Weedle from jumping on him. After Jack defeated the first 'bug catcher' in such convincing fashion none of the rest had dared to challenge him.
He had seen them out of the corner of his eye, hiding behind trees or in bushes as he passed, springing out once he gone. So his walk through the forest was relatively uneventful. When the exit was in sight a second trainer finally decided to challenge him.
'I hear you have been terrifying the bug catchers,' said the boy, a tall handsome boy. He was about eighteen and incredibly muscle-bound. Veins wormed their way up his arm over knotted muscles in his forearm and shooting straight as an arrow up his bicep. 'I started off my life as a trainer here, as a bug catcher,' he trailed off at Jack's incredulous look, 'it's true. And I don't like trainers more powerful than them coming here and humiliating them.'
Jack opened his mouth but the trainer cut him off. 'I challenge you to a battle. Six vs. Six.' Jack frowned, 'I only have two Pokémon.' The boy stared at him hard, as if trying to make him out, 'OK. 2 vs. 2.'
He threw his Pokéball in the air and a tall bug Pokémon appeared. It attacked Dante immediately with no prompt from its trainer. 'Dante, dodge it,' directed Jack desperately, sighing with relief when Dante managed to avoid the wickedly sharp, scythe-like forearms. The points dug deep into the ground, nearly half way up the blade itself, but the Pokémon pulled them out easily.
It was a daunting display of strength and Jack wondered what he was up again. The trainer gave his first order, 'X-Scissor.' He was calm, quiet and collected. The Pokémon leapt in the air, paper-thin wings flapping furiously to keep it aloft then flew towards Dante at furious speed, arms crossed in an X shape.
Dante began to glow with a purple sheen and for one second a tenuous link between the Pokémon seemed to be traced with purple energy. 'Dante, flamethrower!' Jack had not noticed this strange move on Dante's part – his only concern was stopping the rampaging bug Pokémon. The flamethrower was thin but concentrated and as powerful as Dante was able to summon. It hit the bug Pokémon and engulfed it in a ball of red hot flame.
Nothing happened. The Pokémon continued to fly through the flames as if they were but a minor inconvenience. Its attack nearly ripped Dante in two. Dante screamed, a terrible sound full of ripping, tearing pain and collapsed on the floor. Liquid fire began to seep out of his body, a vivid, fluorescent orange. Before Dante could spill any more of his lifeblood on the floor Jack returned him, shock painted on his face.
This trainer seemed unimaginably powerful. Dante was nearly killed with one move. Suddenly the bug Pokémon gave a strangled cry as a purple aura surrounded it. It collapsed to the ground with a wound identical to that it inflicted on Dante, red blood spurting out. The trainer cursed as he recalled it. 'That was a low blow. Destiny bond? Your Pokémon isn't even a psychic type.'
Jack shrugged, desperately trying to keep his outwards appearance calm. 'I thought that move would come in handy.' In truth he didn't even know that Dante knew that move, or could even learn that move. The bug trainer shook off the shock and rebuilt his solid armour of disinterest and rolled another Pokéball onto the floor. A huge brown stag beetle Pokémon stared at Jack, large, intense eyes giving an unspoken challenge.
Jack began to worry even more here, his knuckles clenched as he dug his nails into the palm of his hands. The trainer just stood there as implacable and unreadable as a statue. He would not let up. Jack knew what he had to do there. He knew he wouldn't win. He began to walk away. 'What the hell are you doing you little bastard?' exploded the trainer, taking two menacing steps towards him.
His whole body language exuded barely controlled violence. 'I forfeit,' said Jack quietly as if saying the very words would curse him.
Saying those words seemed like treason to Jack, but he knew he that his Pokémon would just get hurt if he continued in the fight. 'You seem to be a lot stronger than me. I don't want my Pokémon to get hurt.' The other trainer's face mellowed out, 'those are good sentiments,' he said, nodding approvingly, 'I may have overestimated your strength. How many badges do you have?'
Jack laughed bitterly, 'you think I have badges? I only got this Pokémon on January the first.' The trainer stepped back in shock and raised his hands, 'I'm sorry. I really overestimated your strength.' The trainer's armour plated exterior was shattered for a second and he looked shaken by his misjudgement. Without further words he released a Pokémon that look very similar to his first Pokémon except it was encased in bright red metal armour.
Even though he was nearly half a foot taller than his Pokémon the trainer jumped on his back. With a loud, sonorous vibrating sound the steel encased bug Pokémon leapt into the air and flew fast into the sky. Within a minute it was only a red dot. Within two it was lost in the clouds that crept nervously across the sky.
Jack did not move from that place for a long while. He was stunned – shocked by his humiliating defeat to the very core. His confidence, which was once so large, lay shattered on the ground before him. That fateful encounter with a Pokémon trainer far superior to him made him realise how far he was from realising his dream of being Pokémon Champion.
He felt his eyes fill with tears, and however hard he tried to blink them away they kept on welling. Soon they were spilling over his eyelids and running slowly down his cheeks. Drop by drop gravity pulled them down. Drop by drop they left salty trails streaking down his cheeks. Drop by drop his dreams of being Pokémon Champion were crushed from him.
After an eternity of crouching there Jack stood up and made his way slowly towards the exit of Viridian forest. His movements were listless and careless. It was as if his brain had just switched off its emotions. He moved as if in a dream. A nightmare. He did not react when he finally exited that accursed forest and sweet rays of sun, far too bright after hours in the dark, blinded his eyes sending stabbing pain through his temple.
He did not react when he tripped and fell over onto the grass, skinning his knee. He did not react as blood slowly seeped out of the wound, making its way slowly down to stain the vivid green grass. A splash of red in a sea of green.
When he finally stumbled into the Pokémon centre darkness was just claiming the sky, the last vestiges of the dying sunlight splashing blood red across the sky. Without a word he carelessly tossed his Pokémon to Nurse Joy and slowly climbed upstairs to be welcomed by a harsh, unappealing room. Dreams came easily that night, though for once Jack wished that they wouldn't.
Each one was more bizarre and more pain filled than the last. They filled his skull with vivid, clashing colours twisted in bizarre manikins by his uneasy mind. Finally his dreams began to reveal some semblance of reality as the whirling colours combined into a harsh landscape.
In his dream wind howled across the land, shrieking through the bogs and marshes, howling over crags and peaks. On one side stood his parents. Their smug 'I told you sos' left a bitter taste in his mouth. He stepped towards them and they began to welcome him. They didn't think he could see the knives hidden behind their traitorous backs. On the other side stood Lelana, as tall and as beautiful as ever.
She looked at him with sorrow and understanding in her eyes, begging him to come to her. She had not knife hidden behind her back. Behind her stood his Pokémon, Dante and Asrael. They did not look at him accusingly as he first feared. They were not angry and resentful. They looked at him with trusting eyes, respectful eyes, was it...loving eyes? Behind them stood the man he had met early. He stood tall and proud, cape billowing in the wind. His face contained respect. He beckoned.
Jack began to walk towards his Pokémon, towards a life of danger and excitement. He got half way before his traitorous parents began to beguile him. Their sneering words entered his head and suddenly he was looking out with a whole new light. His Pokémon weren't looking at him lovingly. No. That was vicious hate in their eyes. The man with the cape wasn't looking at him with respect, his face contained contempt, it was twisted in an arrogant sneer.
Even Lelana, so pure and beautiful before, began to look ugly and resentful to him. He blinked at this new vision and looked towards his now loving parents. Light shone from behind them. They looked a picture of angelic brilliance. They looked the better choice. Jack began to walk towards them, towards the welcoming arms of wonderful parents. The reality of the dream shifted again and this time both sides of the invisible division seemed good and untainted. Jack was torn, his mind undecided.
He knew he had to choose. Jack looked from side to side, indecision building with every second. Finally he decided that he needed to make a choice now. He chose.