Pokemon Saga: FireRed and LeafGreen
CHAPTER 11: ELECTRIFYING ENCOUNTER!
-Route 6-
The gray clouds rumbled with might brightly as Red continued to walk down the path. Today was a strange day. He had encountered his rival and lost badly, his mom had to cheer him up over his loss, he let a rare Pokemon get away and he encountered probably the three strangest people ever. And now here he was, walking to his next destination which wasn't far from here.
And now things were about to get stranger...
"What the...", Red said. There, in front of some thick trees, was a small cottage with a purple roof and brown walls. Normally, this would be some random person's house and Red would walk away, but what confused him was the fact that someone lived here in this isolated area with only trees around.
"Vermilion's not that far from here too. Wonder who lives here?" Red thought. He decided to check out who lived here just for the heck of it. Walking over to the cottage, Red was about to ring the doorbell when he nearly tripped over something.
"Huh?" Red looked over and saw it was a Super Potion. Now that was strange. Super Potions were expensive to buy and nobody left them in the open, especially one that had not even been used.
Might as well snag it while I can. Looks like I'm saving alot of money, Red thought grinning as he took the medicine and put it in his bag.
"Where was I...oh yeah!" Red exclaimed. He then rung the doorbell, a loud bing! sounding in the house. Red waited for a minute and heard some rustling inside, but the door didn't open. In fact, now he was hearing voices. It sounded distant but it sounded like someone was telling him to...help?
"Huh, must be losing it", Red said. He looked at the door one last time, knowing nobody was going to open it, and prepared to walk away when a loud crash stopped him from doing so.
"What the hell?!" Red exclaimed, wheeling around. The crash had come from inside the house. Red stood there, trying to process what happened when a thought struck him.
"Whoever lives in there must've gotten hurt! Hang on, I'm coming!" Red exclaimed charging at the door. He got ready to break it down and was about to. Except when he hit the door, he didn't recoil back. He just went through the door, breaking it off its hinges and bringing it down along with Red.
As the smoke cleared, Red was laying on the ground, trying to think what the hell just happened.
"Owww...", he said getting up on his feet.
"Oh man! Why'd ya hafta break that dang door down?! Now I gotta go an' repair it again!" a voice exclaimed. Red jumped, knowing the owner was probably going to be angry at him. Except, there was nobody there.
"Phooey, and I just repaired it last week too!" the voice said again. Red realized it to be high pitched, sounding like a kid's. But what kind of kid lived here?!
"Hello? Where are you?" Red called out.
"Right here, under your feet!"
Red slowly looked down and what he saw shocked the living daylights out of him. There, standing on the ground on two feet, was a Rattata! And a wierd looking one too as it had curly hair around it and wierd eyes.
What happened next nearly gave Red a heart attack.
"Hey there! Why'd ya break my door?!" the Rattata exclaimed. Red didn't know what to do or how to approach this situation, so he did the natural thing everybody did.
"AAAHHHH! A TALKING RATTATA! WAAGHHH!" Red shouted as he jumped back, only to trip over the door, making him fall down on his back.
"Hey man, chill out-" the Rattata said, but Red threw it off and screamed again.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" the Rattata angrily yelped as it hit the floor. Red got up and dashed out of the house, turning around. The Rattata was calling out to him, as if it needed something.
"Uhhh, wow. A talking Pokemon", Red said, regaining his composure. He walked back to the house, cautiously. The Rattata glared at him, angry for breaking his door and running off like that.
"Well, that was a bit rude, dont'cha think?" the Pokemon asked, putting both paws on his hips. Red nervously chuckled.
"Eh sorry about that. You kind of startled me".
"It's cool. And no I ain't a Pokemon. At least, not physically. The names Bill and I'm actually human", the Rattata spoke.
"Doesn't seem like it", Red chuckled, earning him an angry glare from the Rattata.
"Anyway, the reason I'm a Rattata is because I was just testing out the storage system over there and by accident, I locked myself in that other chamber right there".
"Why didn't you use your keys?" Red asked. Bill snorted.
"Ya think I wouldn't do that? I left them on that desk and now I can't reach them!" Bill exclaimed.
"Well, what can I do to help?" Red asked.
"Just open that door for me and I'll tell you what to do next", Bill explained.
"Sounds good enough". Red was about to walk over and open the door when a sudden screech stopped him.
"What the heck was THAT?" Red exclaimed, wheeling around. Bill glanced outside.
"It came from out there", he said walking outside. Red followed him and the two looked around trying to find the source of the sound. Bill huffed in frustration.
"There's nothing here! What in tarnati-" SWOOP!
Red cried out as he dove out of the way before the massive shape crashed into him. He turned around and saw that it was a Pokemon, now flying up in the air with Bill in its grasp. Speaking of which, the latter was screaming his head off, thrashing around trying to break free of the Pokemon's grip.
"HELP! DON'T JUS' STAND THERE, BOY!" Bill yelled. Red immediatly broke into a sprint, dashing after the flying Pokemon. Taking out his Pokedex, he aimed it at the Pokemon, which was a bat, and scanned it.
"Swoobat, the Courting Pokemon. Moves are Heart Stamp, Imprison, Pluck, Screech and Wing Attack. AND their native in Unova!" Red exclaimed.
"NICE TO KNOW, NOW GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" Bill shouted. Arceus, the boy was incredibly loud.
Red huffed as he ran faster, the Swoobat still a good distance ahead. Bill's shouts became less louder as the Swoobat flew away faster and Red knew something had to be done.
"Crap! Pika, let's go!" Red exclaimed releasing his Pikachu. The yellow mouse ran beside his trainer, knowing what was going on. Red looked up and saw the sky was still gray and gloomy, signalling the start of another thunderstorm. It was then he had an idea. The Swoobat was further away now but Bill's shouts were still pretty loud.
"Use Thunderbolt on that Swoobat! Make sure not to harm Bill!" Red exclaimed pointing at the bat. Pikachu obleiged and ran faster, quickly being able to dash up to the Swoobat. He kept running below, easily keeping up. The Swoobat looked down and saw its pursuer, immediatly taking action.
"Swoobaat!" Swoobat exclaimed launching a pink heart at its pursuer. Pikachu easily sidestepped it and fired his Thunderbolt. To his dismay, however, Swoobat saw the attack coming and easily dodged it making the thunder shoot past up in the sky where it dissapeared in the clouds.
Meanwhile, Red had seen the whole thing play out as he struggled to catch up. "Crap! Pika, do it again!"
Pikachu heard the command and fired another Thunderbolt. This one nearly struck Swoobat, and it was dangerously close to Bill. The human Rattata nearly fainted after nearly being fried by his rescuer.
"LOOK OUT!" Bill shouted as Swoobat swooped down and soared towards Pikachu. The mouse tried to move out of the way, but ended up getting smacked back by Swoobat's Wing Attack. The Courting Pokemon started to fly up again and Pikachu tried to seize the chance by firing another Thunderbolt, only to miss again.
"Pikaaa!" Pikachu exclaimed in rage. Red had finally caught up to Pikachu and huffed, hands on knees and struggling to catch his breath.
"Alright, I have an idea. But you're probably not going to like it", Red said. Pikachu looked at him strangely, not knowing what he was talking about. Red looked up in the distance to see the Swoobat was pretty far away now and if he wanted to save Bill, he'd have to carry out the plan now.
"Listen up. You see that tree over there?" Red asked, pointing to a rather large tree far in the distance. Pikachu looked at it and saw that Swoobat hadn't passed by it yet. He suddenly knew what Red was going at, but decided to confirm.
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, nodding.
"Okay, so I need you to run over there...", Red said, his voice trailing off as the thunder rumbled in the sky.
"AAAAHHHH! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Bill shouted as the Swoobat continued to carry him further away. He flailed around in his tiny body, hoping to find an opening to break free but no avail. It suddenly occured to him that there was no way out and his fate was sealed. He sobbed to himself, knowing how his life was going to end in such a bad way.
"Daisy...I'll never get to see her again", Bill sobbed. It was confirmed. He was going to be eaten alive by a Swoobat. Who knew? Maybe it was a mother and had child Woobats with her as well, waiting for her to come back with the food to feast on. He moaned, not wanting to think about that. Bill opened his eyes and saw that Swoobat was now flying over to a tree. It was going to pass it. The tree was rather large as well, with thick trunks and branches.
But suddenly, Bill thought he saw something. Looking closer, he could make out a shape running towards the tree. Yes! It was Red's Pikachu and it was dashing towards the tree at great speed. Behind several yards, Bill could see Red panting and trying to catch up. Maybe his life would be spared for another day.
"Yes! Yes!" Bill exclaimed to himself as Pikachu ran up the tree. The yellow mouse jumped branch to branch, landing on a rather thick one and running up the trunk. Swoobat had just passed by as Pikachu made to the top branch and dashed forward, leaping off.
Suddenly, Pikachu was on a wild Swoobat's back, struggling to hold on as the Courting Pokemon thrashed around, trying to shake him off. Bill shut his eyes as his vision was moving in several directions.
"Swooo!" Swoobat screeched as Pikachu bit down on its wing, inflicting pain. Swoobat thrashed around more, this time even more wild. It jerked left, causing Pikachu to nearly fall off. The mouse gave a determined cry as he struggled to hold on. His paws were pulling on Swoobat's fur, making the bat screech in pain.
"AAAAHHH, I THINK I'M GOING DEAF!" Bill screamed as the Swoobat gave an earsplitting shriek as Pikachu ripped a patch of fur off. The mouse nearly fainted right there and collapsed due to the volume of the noise, but still held on. But it looked like fate had a twist, as Pikachu was slipping off. He couldn't hold on much longer, as his strength had been used trying to hold onto the wild Swoobat.
Speaking of which, the Courting Pokemon noticed and shook around more violently, nearly knocking Pikachu off.
"Pikaa!" Pikachu cried out as he nearly fell off. He accidentally released a Thundershock in the air, making the electricity travel up into the clouds, earning a deep rumble from the sky again. Bill knew that this was it. If Pikachu fell off, there was no saving him. Swoobat shook even more violently, causing Pikachu to tumble down its back. The mouse barely managed to grab onto the tail, his grip slipping.
Just when Pikachu was about to fall, Red's voice called out in the chaos: "THUNDERBOLT!"
Bill shut his eyes and tried not to scream as Pikachu unleashed a massive explosion of electricity onto the Swoobat, shocking it severely. Remembering Red's warning, Pikachu avoid shocking Bill and concentrated on defeating the Swoobat. The bat gave out a howl of pain as it was electrocuted. It tried to shake Pikachu off, but due to the electricity, Swoobat could only twitch as the static forced it to stop moving.
"OHHHHHHNOOOOOO!" Bill screamed as the Swoobat stopped flapping its wings and plummeted to the ground. Pikachu held onto the tail and kept shocking it until they landed on the ground in a small explosion. Due to the attack being active during the fall, the Thunderbolt shot up in the sky and dissapeared into the clouds once more, earning another yet blasting rumble.
Red hurried over to the crash site and saw that the Swoobat was unconscious, the patch where the skin was ripped bleeding.
"Pika? Bill?" Red called out in concern. To his relief, both Pikachu and Bill emerged from beside the Swoobat. Pikachu had several cuts on his body along with Bill, only the Rattata's skin was scorched black little.
"WHAT. THE. HELL. WAS. THAT?!" Bill screamed. He was immensly traumatized by what had just happened. His life had flashed about three times right there.
"Pika...", Pikachu staggered around dizzy from the impact. Red sighed in relief and dropped down on his knees, a Potion in his hand. Curing his Pokemon's injuries, Red looked over at Bill, who was sprawled out on the ground lying on his back. He was panting hard.
"You guys okay?" Red asked.
"Okay?! I NEARLY GOT EATEN BY A FREAKIN' SWOOBAT AND FRIED TO A CRISP BY A PIKACHU AND YOU'RE ASKING ME IF I'M OKAY?!"
"Whoa, chill!"
"DON'T TELL ME TO CHILL, BOY! I NEARLY DIED OUT THERE TODAY!"
"My name is Red and calm down, you're safe now right?"
"Hmph!" Bill huffed in frustration. Red sighed.
"You know, if your'e going to act like this I might as well have left you for dead. A thanks is all I ask".
Bill looked at him, unsure. Though he was furious over what had happened, he was extremely grateful to Red for saving his life.
"Fine. I'm sorry", Bill sighed sagging a little. Red smiled. "Hey, all cool! Now if we're good, let's head back and figure out how to turn you back!"
"Right! Let's go!" Bill agreed. The three stood up and started walking back to Bill's cottage, Pikachu being on Red's shoulder. However, a loud crash made them stop and cringe.
"What now?" Bill whined. Red turned around and saw it was in the sky. "Whoa, that thunderstorm's really wild. Look at all that lightning!". Bill looked up and saw indeed it was the thunder. It was really loud and sounded deadly if you asked him.
BOOOOOOOMMMM! CRASH!
Everyone jumped in surprise. "Holy crap, that is really loud!" Red exclaimed.
"Yeah, well we better get inside before we get soaked! I don't know about you, but I don't like getting wet!" Bill exclaimed.
"Alright alright. Geez, you're really a pushover, aren't you?"
"Hey! Don't taunt me after my near death experience! Let's see how you stand getting soaked million gallons of Wailords!"
"Man, now you're exaggerating!"
"Hmph, yeah well if you-WHAT THE HELL?!" Bill's sudden outburst caused Red to flinch.
"What?"
"IN THE SKY! WHAT IS THAT?!" Bill shrieked. Red didn't know what he was talking about until he heard Pikachu cry out in horror as well. Turning around and looking up at the sky, he was met with a shocking sight.
And shocking was definitly the right word.
There, in the center of the clouds, was a massive swirling hole that had loomed dnagerously in the air. And to add more, there was electricity in the clouds as well.
"Is that a tornado?" Red asked.
"I don't think so! Tornadoes don't form like that!" Bill exclaimed.
The swirling hole only grew a little bit more, the electricity circling around more dangerously. A loud crashing rumble was heard, sending a flock of Starly flying away.
Red and Bill looked at each other. That was the loudest rumble they had ever heard in their life. It was loud enough to drown out the sounds of one hundred Chatots.
Suddenly, lightning flashed in the sky, illuminating the area more. Since the clouds covered the sky alot, it was incredibly dark outside now.
Red backed away slowly along with Bill and Pikachu as the lightning dangerously flashed once more. And when things couldn't get more freaky, they did.
Emerging from the large electrifying hole, a large shape stood in the air. It was completly dark now but with the lightning flashing the hole illuminated, Red could make out the shape to be of a bird.
And a rather large bird. Not much could be seen except for the spiky body and the piercing blank white eyes that glowered down at the three.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Bill shrieked, cowering greatly at the sight. Pikachu huddled closer and latched himself onto Red's leg. Red could even feel the rest of his Pokemon shuddering in their Poke Balls. He was afraid. And yet his legs remained where they were, not allowing him to move.
"W-what is that t-thing?" Red trembled. The large shadowy bird still floated in the electric hole, its eyes boring down on the three in front of it. Suddenly, it opened its beak and let out a terrifying howl.
"KYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Red wasn't one to scream in panic, but seeing this right now made him want to do so.
He finally screamed along with Bill and Pikachu when nearly a dozen thunderbolts came crashing down near them. The three were swept off their feet and were knocked down on their backs.
"OWW!" Bill yelped. The monster let out another howl, and let loose another barrage of thunderbolts from the sky, all raining down on the three below. Red grabbed Bill and Pikachu in his arms and struggled to dodge all the thunderbolts to keep them out of harm's way. Unfortunatly, a few ended up striking near him, sending him down on his back again.
"WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Bill shouted. Red knew he was right, so he got up and grabbed the two Pokemon again. He had several cuts on his skin and clothes from the attack, inflicting a little pain.
HOLD ON, I'LL GET YOU THERE!" Red shouted, holding on tight to the two. Suddenly, he was sent flying forward by a thunderbolt that struck behind him. Bill and Pikachu screamed as they tumbled out of Red's arms, the trainer falling on his front. Red turned around and knew there was no escaping the monster. He looked around as several other trainers who were in the forest training running off in panic.
He knew what he had to do now.
"Pika, let's go", Red said getting up. Pikachu was unsure about this and knew what Red planned to do, but followed anyway as he had full trust in his trainer. Bill on the other hand was shocked.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?! THAT THING'LL KILL YOU!" Bill shouted.
"I know!" Red shouted back.
"Wha-what? What is wrong with this kid?! RED!" Bill shouted. Red continued to walk forward and stopped, glaring at the entity above.
"YOU WANT TO FIGHT? WELL, I'LL GIVE YOU ONE! PIKA, USE THUNDERBOLT!" Red hollered. Pikachu looked at him as if he were crazy, but decided to follow nevertheless.
"Pikaachuuu!" Pikachu shouted unleashing a large amount of electricity that shot toward the monster. To their horror, the monster simply absorbed the electricity as if it were immune to it.
"KKKKYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The howl had turned into an earsplitting roar as the monster suddenly sparked with electricity around its body. It's body was illuminated way to much as the electricity conjoured a bright light that made the monster's identity kept hidden.
"Uh oh...", Red said as he took a step back. The monster let out another terrifying roar before blasting a large beam of electricity. It was twice the size of Thunderbolt and had multiple lightning darts in it.
Red could only watch in shock as his feet refused to budge, forcing him to stand and watch the waterfall of electricity fall toward him. Bill screamed out his name, but it was no use. With a bright flash, the electric attack crashed down on Red, shattering anything that came in its path. Red could only flail his arms in the air as he was swept off his feet and electrocuted badly.
"RED!"
Red crashed down on the ground before it broke apart, shattering and rocks raining down on him. The last thing Red saw was the ground in front of him exploding and electricity everywhere before a loud SNAP!
Then darkness took him in...
Red groaned as he woke up groggily. He slowly rose up and looked around.
"Awake at last, I see!" Red turned around to see Bill, still a Rattata, looking at him with a concerned expression.
"Where am I?" Bill sighed.
"In my place. You took a heavy hit there".
"What happened? How did I end up here?" Red asked getting up. He then noticed all the cuts and bruises he had on his body. His shirt had several rips in it, showing some of his skin. His lip was bleeding and he had blood from little cuts on his arms. His pants were also ripped, showing off a little of his leg skin.
"You're damn lucky to have survived. I saw you lying in a ditch with half a tree trunk on top of you", Bill explained.
"Pika! Where's Pika?!" Red exclaimed.
"Over there", Bill motioned. Red turned around to see his Pikachu looking relieved. The Pokemon also had several cuts on his body as well. Next to him was Charmeleon, looking relieved but exhausted.
"You were knocked out for a while. Thanks to your Charmeleon, we managed to drag you out and all the way to my house. I patched up your injuries as well".
"Yeah, I can see that", Red said referring to multiple bandages on his body. Bill sighed and motioned towards his broken door.
"Look. The thunder and lightning stopped and now its raining. That...thing dissapeared into the clouds after it nearly killed you".
Red walked outside and saw it indeed was drizzling. So this is proably the aftermath of that, Red thought.
"Hey, you there?!" Bill's voice called out.
"Yeah!" Red called back, returning inside. Bill nodded and pointed to the wierd machine in the room.
"Now help me out here. It's time I get out of this horrible form".
Red walked over and peeked inside one of the doors of the machine. Inside, a normal Rattata was scratching against the door. Bill walked over to the other door and climbed inside before shutting it.
"Alright, now I'll tell you what to do!" Bill's voice called from inside.
"...and you plug that blue cord in there! Now press the button!" Bill explained. It had been ten minutes and Red finally figured out how to set the machine up. He pressed the large red button on the console and watched as a bright light engulfed the machine.
Soon, the doors opened and out scurried the little normal Rattata. Red, Pikachu and Charmeleon watched in awe as a human boy around Red's age step out. He had his curly hair and was wearing a purple collar shirt with white pants.
"Ta-dah!" Bill exclaimed.
"Wow, you're actually human!" Red said.
"Shut up. Anyway, I think I know what that thing was that attacked us". That got Red's attention.
"What was it?" Bill walked over to a desk and shuffled through a stack of papers until he grabbed one and walked over showing it to Red.
"All that electricity. The only Pokemon capable of such power in Kanto is none other than the Legendary Pokemon, Zapdos".
Red took a good look at the paper. It showed a large yellow bird with a large beak and spiked wings flying. By the looks of it, the Pokemon looked extremely powerful.
"Zapdos? What is that?" Red asked.
"You don't know the legends? One of the three Legendary Birds, Zapdos?" Bill asked. Red shook his head. "Nope. I've been to trainer school as a kid, but never once did we learn about legends and all that".
"Well, to make a long story short there are three legendary bird Pokemon that are known for the creation of Kanto. Zapdos, the one we probably encountered, is one of them".
"Hmm. You say Zapdos is only capable of such electricity huh? I guess that would explain why those constant thunderstorms were happening lately", Red said.
"I guess that makes sense. But why is it doing that? And why did Zapdos attack us? How did it even awaken?" Bill asked.
"Don't know. Well, I guess that's all good so I'll be heading off now. Thanks for helping me out, Bill", Red said preparing to leave, but Bill stopped him.
"Oh no you don't! You're still hurt from that attack and it's still not safe to go yet! Stay overnight here and go tommorow!"
"But-"
"The other bed's right over here!" Bill exclaimed pushing Red over to the extra bed lying on the opposite side of the wall from Bill's bed.
"And ya might want some different clothes as well!" Bill added.
"Nah, these are Trainer clothes! They can easily be stitched!", Red said.
"Alright, as you wish", Bill shrugged. He walked over to his desk and sat down. "I'm going to be up for a while. The TV's right there and the food is in the pantry over there!"
"Alright. And Bill?"
"Yeah?" Red smiled. "Thanks".
"Yeah, yeah", Bill said smiling. Yep. Today was a really strange day.
TO BE CONTINUED
Behold, the first official appearance of our first legendary! Zapdos, one of my personal favorites! I thought it would be fitting to have a little sideplot about Zapdos causing the multiple thunderstorms in Kanto. And Bill also appears! Hmm, what did he mean about never seeing Daisy again?...
Next time, Red finally arrives in Vermilion City only to discover the city is being terrorized by a band of hooligans! Harry, Ken and Al also return as they have their time to shine in an epic battle against Looker and someone else! What will happen? And just what is Team Rocket planning to do anyway? Find out in the next episode of...JUST KIDDING! Find out in the next chapter of "Pokemon Saga: FireRed and LeafGreen!" Finally, a proper ending!
EPIC Out!