The Crimson Legend
Written by Intemporel.J
Chapter 2: Steep Inclines
The train steamed down its tracks at a frustratingly sluggish rate, of course as it was the cheapest alternative to flying via plane. Looking out the window in apparent deep thought, Red noticed the gradual decrease in the already plodding slakoth of a train.
'Thump'
"Shit." he muttered.
"Hey, why are we slowing down?" asked the blonde in her half awakened state. "Aw don't tell me the train broke down again."
'Thump'
As the last thump reverberated underneath the cold aluminum floor of the train the PA system beeped twice and a message followed.
"Dear passengers. We are sorry for the delay but it seems the train's engine has malfunctioned. Please remain in your cabins as we will try to resolve this immediately"
As the buzzing speaker overhead finally died, the blonde then turned to face Red with a small smile plastered on her lips.
"So, where were we in your story? C'mon Mr. Champ, we have all the time in the world."
øøøøøø
That day I walked out of the old professor's lab feeling giddy. Hell. I was absolutely ecstatic. It isn't everyday you get to meet the single most important being in your journey as a Pokemon trainer.
Late in the afternoon with the sun still high, Blue, Green and I all set out towards route 1 planning to at least make it to Viridian City before we parted our ways.
On the way towards Viridian, there were two incidents both involving a Rattata. Blue being the most eager to try his hand in battling sent out his stocky turtle to fight and he made quick work of the Rattata causing it to flee in a matter of minutes. Congratulating him on his first ever Pokemon battle, Green and I both became excited to try it ourselves believing we were as ready as Blue. Green proved her belief right in her calculated leech seeded victory using her cute plant dino.
Getting slightly impatient and anxious about my first battle, I called out Char, my new friend and partner, as I tried to train it to learn the basics of battle. I repeatedly gave Char random commands to see what he could do.
Sadly, he couldn't do much.
"Charmander, get behind the Rattata and use scratch!" I commanded, yet to no avail. I could see the fear in my Charmander's eyes when the Rattata charged at him and as his trainer, I couldn't make him fight this battle.
"Charmander come back, quick!" I yelled. Over and over again, but the Rattata had cornered my new partner into a large rock so grabbing the nearest stick I saw, I took action. I brought the stick down on the Rattata's skull and it collapsed instantaneously. The split in it's head sprayed out blood and my Charmander ran to me quickly, it's eyes showing that it trusted me and was grateful that I protected him when he couldn't fight.
That trust is still there, even stronger than ever. After all, my Charmander became the fiercest dragon in all Kanto and Johto, not to mention the Orange archipelagos.
Watching the entire spectacle, Blue laughed at the blood that splattered over my shirt and told me I should head back to Pallet if I couldn't handle the journey. To hell with him I say. That day was when I realized that being a trainer wasn't all about making my Pokemon fight, but rather it was my being in sync with them as we battle together as a team.
~*VIRIDIAN CITY*~
Our trio split in the least memorable way imaginable.
"Well, I guess we'll see each other there" I told them, staring at the mountain pass known as Victory Road. Green gave me a gentle smile as we parted our ways.
"Make sure not to die Reddy boy!" yelled Blue from a distance.
To hell with him, that ass.
øøøøøø
I wouldn't meet either of them until I made it to Celadon two months later, but that's a story for another time.
Right then and there after we had parted, I made my way towards the Viridian Inn, a small Bed and Breakfast on the outskirts of the city.
In the middle of the night I remember being awoken by an alarm sounding off in the middle of the night. A flock of wild Spearow had flown over to the commercial area of the city. Those scavengers were looking for food, be it littered trash, crumbs, even other Pokemon. It wasn't uncommon for Spearow to fly into cities when food was scarce, but this time was different. The Spearow were noticeably more aggressive and were seemingly fearless. Even the local Rangers had a hard time trying to contain the rodents of the sky.
The sound of the alarms were still ringing far in the distance and my groggy self was instantly awoken when a group of Spearow began trying to enter the Viridian Inn. The Viridian Inn's alarm went off, signaling for the help of local rangers but after half an hour of waiting, it was apparent that no help was arriving.
The small group of Spearow had now become an entire flock, all attempting to break into the small inn. The owner of the Inn urged us all to gather in the dining hall for it was unsafe to be alone.
"What the hell is going on?" said a man with a gruff voice. "These pieces of shit are going to get in if we don't do anything."
Many people murmured in agreement, but they all looked like locals who had no experience in training Pokemon. That is, except for the man with the gruff voice. I took a closer look at him and noticed that his clothes were covered in dirt and grime, evidence that he was a traveler. He was dressed too strangely to be from west Kanto, so I assumed that he had journeyed far to make it here, only to be bothered by aggressive Spearow while he tries to get some rest. I chuckled to myself while imagining how pissed off he must have been, but that was a mistake. The already irritated man with the gruff voice had noticed me laughing to myself.
"What the hell is so funny kid?"
I would have probably gotten an earful had it not been for the timely break-in of the flock of Spearow. As the flying rodents swarmed inside of the building, there was widespread panic inside.
It was then where we all started to run out of the inn. In retrospect, it was a completely stupid thing to do. Running from a flock of Spearow into the streets of a city under attack by thousands of more Spearow. A real good idea.
As I ran down the street looking for some safe haven, behind me, I saw a flash of light and a loud roar that thundered throughout the city. I turned and saw the fiercest looking dragon I have ever seen standing in front of the man with the gruff voice. It was an enormous Charizard, a Charizard that surely was a lot larger than normal. It truly was a magnificent beast.
In that moment, I completely forgot about the dangers of the night and whipped out my pokedex, completely captivated by the presence of the crimson dragon. I held my pokedex up towards the beast and read the description that came from the detailed analysis.
Charizard: #6. Fire/Flying type.
This Pokemon is the final natural evolution of Charmander. Charizard are a currently endangered species that are known to traverse the sky in search of powerful opponents. It's natural affinity for battle often cuts it's life span short, although the average lifetime of the Pokemon is 200 years. The number of Charizard in the world has declined greatly since the beginning of the Sin-joh war, where they were used by the Kanto and Johto armies against the invading Sinnoh. Their ability to incinerate an entire battalion of Pokemon troops have earned them the nick-name 'Flying-Inferno'. The Charizard population suffered a heavy blow when the Sinnoh Rock battalion sieged Charicific Valley, one of the four remaining natural habitats for the Charmander line of evolution. They are known to be overly aggressive in battle, yet refuse to use their flames while fighting Pokemon it sees as weaker than itself.
Charizards can only be tamed by the best of trainers, for they only obey trainers whom they have the utmost respect for. Kanto Legends speak of a giant Charizard that breathed the fire of life into all fire type pokemon, this most likely being the reason for it being Kanto's mascot along with Blastoise and Venusaur. Charizard is also one of the only Pokemon who seems to hold a natural sense of honor, for it will never back down from a challenge even if it is completely outclassed.
Scientists fear that Charizard may soon become critically endangered because of their aggressive nature. There are many notable foundations that put effort into repopulating the Charmander line to save it from extinction. It is still speculated as to why the Charizard and Rhydon species are natural enemies even though extensive research has been put into it.
After I had put my Pokedex away, I witnessed for the first time a Pokemon as powerful as Charizard taking flight into battle. I was so focused watching how it stayed true to it's Pokedex description, not using its deadly flames for the much weaker Spearow. Distracted by the dragon that was slashing its enemies down, I failed to notice a large shadow flying towards me accompanied by an unmistakable screech. The screech of a Fearow.