Chapter 15
Japanese Names:
Minaki = Eusine
Disclaimer: We do not own pokemon in any shape or form. We only own the OCs and the plot of this fanfiction. This fanfiction is written for entertainment and as stress relievers. Be sure to buy Nintendo's merchandise and support the guys who created pokemon.
Route 47
"Here we are," Green announced over the high gusting winds.
His Charizard roared in relief as they finally reached for the cliff they were looking for. They landed on the top of the cliff, not too far from the cave's entrance that was only slightly visible to an outsider's eye. If they didn't know what they were looking for, they could have easily missed it. Waterfalls pounded into the ocean that surrounded the few cliffs on route 47. It was a new route discovered by a few curious travelers that was traveled by few as there was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Flying... Is so convenient..." Chiharu sucked in a breath of air. In truth, flying was not at all what she had expected. Half the time, she thought that she was going to lose her grip on the gym leader and plummet to her demise. Chiharu slowly climbed off of Charizard's back and stared at her surroundings. It was so quiet. There was nothing except the sea and the cliffs.
"I hear something..." Green turned his head towards the cave's entrance. He and Chiharu carefully walked to the cave's opening and walked through the short tunnel, trying not to let their footsteps echo inside the entrance. The gym leader leaned his head towards the tower's inside and heard a sound of roars and cries mixed with the sound of waves. "Is that... A Dragonite I hear..? Is Wataru here?"
"The dragon champion?" Chiharu asked behind him. What was the tower's name? The hiker dubbed it the 'Embedded Tower' where the sea, land, and sky meet.
"Kaipyon, Dragon Claw!" Dragonite's trainer cried.
The trainer looked around the same age as Chiharu and had her blue hair tied into pigtails. The girl wore the most ridiculous looking outfit of overall shorts with a red hooded shirt underneath and knee length socks. The white hat she wore was big and fluffy with a red ribbon tied around it. Her yellow bag had a teal colored Pokegear tied around the strap. Her Dragonite was a human sized orange dragon with a beige underbelly and small wings. The goofy dragon wore a happy expression and its wings were green, guiding the dragon pokemon through the air with its claws glowing.
"What... Why is she wearing that in the middle of summer?" Green asked no one in particular. Who wore overalls anymore? He thought of the farmers he sometimes saw in Johto tending to their cattle. The way she wore those overalls didn't say that she was from the farmland. She looked like a city girl.
"Beats me, ask her yourself later," Chiharu replied. Dragonite slashed its glowing claws at its opponent, a man sized yellow pokemon that stood on its legs. The pokemon had a hooked nose and narrow eyes. It had a white mane around its neck and carried a pendulum in one hand.
"Hypno, stand on your guard!" The psychic pokemon's trainer called out. The man looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties, the same age as Matsuba. He wore a purple tuxedo with diamond patterns on the front with a white cape and gloves. His light brown hair was slicked back with hair gel and he wore a determined look. "Hypnosis!" Hypno rubbed the injured area where the dragon had struck it and leaped forward with its pendulum at hand. The psychic pokemon stared intently into Dragonite's eyes while swinging its pendulum at it.
"Avoid his gaze!" She yelled a second too late. Dragonite began to rock back and forth before finally crashing onto the ground with a loud snore. The trainer recalled her pokemon and tossed another pokeball, "Here's the evidence you wanted." Red light shot out of the pokeball. A tall blue pokemon landed on its fours with its red eyes glaring at the man.
Minaki... Not you again, Suicune groaned. Its violet mane flew in its face as the legendary pokemon tried to avoid the man's gaze. Suicune remembered his trainer telling him that they would meet...that guy again, but the legendary didn't want that to mean meeting him personally. As in having to battle him and dealing with his comments.
"Suicune! My beautiful beast, how are you?" Minaki literally cried out tears of joy before his face suddenly went sour. "Why did you let yourself be recaptured by this brat? It's destiny that we partner up, my dear Suicune!" He swung his arms out, as if to say 'come to me'.
Ugh, why are you asking me to fight him...?
"He wanted evidence, didn't he?" The girl in the overalls said, "Go use Ice Beam on Hypno before it gets to you."
"I followed you for months! Years!" The man was in tears, "Why don't you come to me? All that effort I put in this! You don't have to make it so hard!" The man in the cap caught sight of the girl near a city a week ago, riding on the majestic water pokemon's back. They arranged to meet in the tower near the Safari Zone to discuss about the legendary pokemon without having to worry about attracting attention from the public. The sudden appearance of the aurora pokemon would cause havoc and too much attention.
Distasteful pokemon, and so is his trainer. I rather die a painful death and then be reborn in Sinnoh than to have to work with you for even a second! The legendary dog-like pokemon roared as a beam of ice erupted from its mouth. The ice attack hit Hypno squarely in the chest and made the pokemon freeze into a block of ice. Suicune pounced off the frozen pokemon and aimed another Ice Beam at the pokemon before knocking it out. The hypnosis pokemon fell to the ground with swirls in its eyes.
"Why do you have to be so harsh on him...?" Its trainer asked, looking at the legendary pokemon that was usually more carefree and more concern about his looks in other cases. It was safe to say that Suicune usually aimed more for beauty and elegance than battling.
Years, I spent avoiding this man. You don't understand the depth of his unhealthy obsession. The pokemon tossed his head in the air, His taste in clothes is simply atrocious and how long has he been wearing that?
"Is that, Suicune..?" Green asked as his eyes grew wide in realization.
"Wow... It's beautiful," Chiharu gazed upon the pokemon with awestruck eyes.
Did someone just call me beautiful? The legendary perked up to see the two peeking over from behind a rock. Indeed my ears did not deceive me.
"Oh dear, not again..." Its trainer groaned. The girl in the overalls had to stop herself from face palming at her quirky pokemon's behavior.
Finally! The aurora pokemon exclaimed, Someone who appreciates my beauty! Suicune pranced over to Chiharu with a smirk, I am quite gorgeous, don't you agree? Its voice echoed in the two newcomers' head.
"Whoa..." Green's hand immediately grasped his head. The sudden intrusion of the legendary's natural abilities left his mind spinning into a headache.
"Sorry about that," She apologized. "It can give you a migraine if you're not used to it. Him talking to you I mean."
"No, that's fine." Chiharu said, thinking of how her Espeon did something similar. She was used to hearing her pokemon's voice in her head now with the occasional embarrassing slip ups.
"Golbat, bat, golbat..." So the rumors were true... Chiharu's Golbat was flying silently beside her trainer when they snuck into the tower. "Bat, bat, gol, bat." The legendary Suicune was said to be a stuck up guy. The bat pokemon was nearly the same height as her trainer and didn't appear as surprised as the humans to see the legendary pokemon stand in front of them.
Stuck up? The aurora pokemon gasped, Why that's absurd! It shook its head and said, You mean graceful and humble! Suicune held its head high into the air and replied, Which pokemon told you that?
"Golbat, bat, gol, bat, golbat, bat." Then it must have been a mistake with all those Seel telling me so outside, was Golbat's dry reply to the quirky pokemon.
Analyzing Golbat. Green's Porygon-Z was also with its trainer when Green and Chiharu were inside the ancient tower. Name: Kera. Detecting sarcasm in subject's statement. Status: Affirmative. The pokemon talked in robotic voice that was understandable to pokemon and humans alike. Porygon-Z was an odd pokemon where its head was detached from its body, similar in appearance to its pre-evolution Porygon2 and had a blue rounded bill. It had yellow target like eyes and had a pink body with a blue ring on its belly. The blue arms and tail came out of its body and the normal type pokemon was floating in the air.
Those Seel are just jealous of me, Suicune chuckled. Its laugh echoed inside of the humans among them. After all, I was the one who showed them what a real Surf attack looks like, it held its body up with pride.
"Golbat, bat, golbat..." You would think a legendary pokemon would take its title more seriously... The poison type pokemon groaned,
You can't deny that water pokemon are the best, the aurora pokemon smiled.
Negative, Porygon-Z's voice went down an octave. Normal types are scientifically superior. It says so right here, NORMAL TYPE SUPERIOR. The virtual pokemon formed a hologram from its lit up eyes with a complex chart popping out with various colors and incomprehensible math equations. Red letters in caps saying: NORMAL TYPES SUPERIOR.
"Bat, bat, bat!" Poison types can jab you for its worth, Golbat argued before turning to Porygon-Z. That picture was tweaked by you! She glared at the virtual pokemon.
"That Suicune belongs to you!" Green was confused. "What is it doing under your possession?"
The brunette man stared at the legendary pokemon, who was still glaring at the man in purple. It was shocking to be so close to a legendary pokemon, a powerful one at that. The last time Green was that close to meeting one was years ago in Victory Road. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, he woke up the legendary in the cave and was pursued by it for quite some time before finding the exit. By the time he made it to the front of the Indigo Plateau, his clothes had burn marks and he was out of breath. Never again.
"Suicune chose me as its trainer," The teenage girl said in a serious tone. "You look familiar, have I met you before?" She raised a brow at the man. Up close, Green noted that her eyes were a light blue color.
"I'm the gym leader of Viridian City," the tall gym leader said with annoyance. "Green Ookido?" Before she could reply to his statement, Green continued, "You say that Suicune chose you as its trainer. So you claim. Or did you force it against its will and caught it?" He glanced at the legendary and its trainer.
Why on earth would she do that? The legendary beast flipped its long mane to one side. Of course I had chosen her, I wouldn't choose just anyone. She is far from the average, mediocre trainer. In fact, I believe she is quite excellent if I do say so myself. Studying to become a professor, I don't think I would have chosen anyone else to be able to wield my power. He said with a rather fond tone.
"Aw, how sweet!" The trainer grinned from ear to ear. The gym leader thought he saw the girl wipe a tear from one eye. Really? Green's eyes narrowed.
If I am correct, I believe that you are talking about that one young child? The one my brother had chosen? I hope Celebi had managed to escape. Suicune turned his nose towards the sky. That pokemon can be quite the stubborn one. Refusing my help, hah! I don't have all the free time in the world!
"You act like you've known her for years," Chiharu chose her words carefully in the legendary pokemon's presence.
Celebi? Of course! I come by every few weeks to help clean up her lakes. Humans can be such inconsiderate creatures.
"I meant your trainer..."
Not that she should be the one to judge, but the legendary pokemon seemed to enjoy listening to itself talk. A lot. As Suicune continued to talk, the pokemon paced back and forth on the old floor of the tower. Chiharu realized that the tower had no ceiling with the sun coming down on them. There was a weak pair of stairs crawling up one side of the tower with broken pieces dangling from the end of it. The catcher glanced at the gym leader and saw that he was fidgeting either from being near a legendary or from being unused to telepathy and was having a headache.
Ah, but I have. He turned to the blue haired girl. When did I meet you? Four, five years ago? I'm afraid my memory is quite a blur from constantly running at my top notched speed. Those poor trainers who never understood that travel with the winds can make everything go by so quickly.
"Five years Suicune," she replied with a sigh, her usual reaction to the pokemon's antics.
Yes, I love to travel with the winds. He continued to spout. I can just feel the air leave trails through my thick mane and glide over my fur. It's a beautiful feeling, though you humans seem too sensitive to weather climates and temperature. I remember Crystal forcing me to stop once because she was becoming a bit too cold.
"So this guy has been chasing you for how long?" Green rubbed the side of his head, unaccustomed to having another being stay in his head for so long. Chiharu's Espeon did the same, but the bond was usually short, nothing compared to Suicune's long speech.
I don't recall, Suicune's expression turned into a growl as it refused to even glance at its stalker. If I wasn't so generous, I would have led him off a cliff by now.
"Crystal?" The Golbat's trainer repeated, "Is that your name?" Her eyes lit up, "I remember watching you fight the Elite Four a few years ago!"
"It's actually Kotone, but thank you and your name is...?" the trainer chuckled, slightly blushing. She had tried to use her first name more often, but had failed as most people remembered her by her nickname. It also helped that her friends still referred to her as Crystal. Even the teachers at school still called her by her nickname.
"I'm Chiharu," the blue haired trainer introduced herself and cried. "Your Dragonite was so strong! It must have taken you so much time to get it to evolve! I can't believe the champion pulled a trick and had three of them against your team!"
"I? I AM THE GREAT MINAKI. I am the one that Suicune will one day recognize!" The older man blurted out. Green found himself gawking at the man's choice in attire. A purple cape. The suit even shared the same diamond pattern Suicune had. Did the man dress like that on purpose for that reason? Why? What was it with Johto trainers and their weird sense of fashion?
"Um, but we didn't ask you who you were..." Green gave the man an odd look as Minaki posed with one fist over his heart and his head turned far to his right.
"But of course you would ask, so I just introduced myself earlier!" He swung his cape so it looked like the wind blew right through it. "I met Suicune at the same-"
"I caught Suicune in Cerulean City," Crystal answered Chiharu's earlier question. Minaki began to fume as he noticed that no one had their attention on him. "He followed me around Johto and later Kanto."
"He refused to acknowledge the hard work I put into finding him!" Minaki sobbed, "Why can't you see how much we were met to be together, Suicune?" The capped man cried and pointed at the girl in the overalls, "What did you see in her? To follow her all the way to Kanto!"
Never. Never, ever will I acknowledge you! The water legendary snarled.
"You're a gym leader," Crystal said. "So you're here because of the legendaries too?" She guessed as if this wasn't the first time the topic was brought up.
"You know what happened to them?" Green asked.
"Entei and Celebi are already gone," she said and took out her Pokedex. The Pokedex was pink and looked similar to Green's. The device was slimmer and had a pokeball symbol on the front that opened up to show the screen with Entei and Celebi's entry. Entei's red dot was gone and was replaced with a red pokeball symbol. The same pokeball symbol appeared with Celebi, although it was green.
A young child is catching them all. From the sounds of it, I'd say you still haven't had a clue to what she is planning to do. It was hard to read the water pokemon's expression. It looked like its expression was somewhere between a smile and a look of disapproval. Chiharu watched the aurora pokemon stretch out its four legs with a long sigh. Ridiculous what this child can do, yet not a single adult in the past couple of centuries had been able to have more than just one in their possession. Both of my brothers are gone. I don't know what happened to the rest of them. I couldn't find father, so I came back to my trainer as it was the safest place to be.
"Father?" Chiharu was puzzled. "You mean to say that you were free before this?"
My father is Ho-Oh, Suicune explained. I came to Crystal five years ago but she released me shortly after. I came back to her again when I failed to find father. Father always likes to fly around to see the world. A tad boring to stay in one place all the time in my humble opinion. The aurora pokemon wore a mysterious expression when he talked about the rainbow pokemon.
"Raikou is gone too?" Green asked in shock. "Doesn't this trainer have an identification number?" The gym leader asked the man who created the PC system a week back and got nothing in response to the disappearance of the legendaries.
"A child you say?" Minaki scoffed. "What is this child going to do with these pokemon? Reenact the Manuscript?"
"She was never registered as a trainer," Chiharu said softly.
"So you know who the legendary hunter is," Crystal wore a troubled expression. The blue haired trainer mumbled. Her eyes averted away from the other trainers and put her thumb under her chin in deep thought. She snapped her head back to Chiharu, "Wait, did you say she?"
"What Manuscript?" Green darted his eyes at Minaki. "What are you talking about?"
"It's just a tale," Minaki sighed. "It's a document that explains how the universe was created. I'm sure most of you have heard of it. It's what that nursery rhyme was based off of. Twenty one or twenty two legendaries assembled together to create a new universe under a new ruler."
"Yeah," Chiharu said. "And it explains each of the pokemon's traits and how it played a part in the world's characteristics. Like how Latios and Latias are men and women. Articuno is death and Moltres is life." She carefully avoided eye contact from the other blue haired girl, who was giving her a hard look.
"Are you avoiding my question?" Crystal questioned. "Did you say that this unregistered trainer is a girl? How is this possible?"
When children become ten years old, they are able to register for their trainer license after taking a national exam. The exam included basic questions of pokemon care and battling. Other parts of the test asked questions concerning survival skills and how to act in emergency situations. It would be foolish to send ten year old children out in the wild without understanding how to take care of oneself or how to care for their pokemon. The trainer license had the child's identification number that would label all of the pokeballs under the child's ownership. Unlabeled pokeballs were disqualified from pokemon leagues and official championships. When a pokemon is caught, it is instantly registered under the trainer's identification number.
"What's up?" Green's gaze slid over to her direction.
"The other day, my friends and I had met the legendary hunter." She spoke up. The gym leader and his companion's eyes grew wide as she continued on. "The trainer had Entei in his possessions. And I am sure that he is a guy."
I believe you are mistaken, The legendary sat down with a yawn. I'm fairly certain that the child is female. Quite on the thin side too.
"Why would she want to reenact the Manuscript?" Minaki questioned to no one in particular, "Back then, those politicians were foolish and thought that catching enough legendaries would give them more connections and power over the people. It only brought destruction to the land," his eyes narrowed.
"Is this hunter a guy or a girl?" Green pulled at his hair. "Keigo thinks it's her, Chiharu and Mirei know this girl well, and now you're saying he was a guy? I saw the person too, and the person does look like a guy, but then Keigo said it was her. And now even Suicune thinks that this trainer is a girl, so who is this person?"
"So someone is out there to catch the legendaries again," Crystal repeated. "Could this person even know how to perform the ritual? There are hardly any copies left in the world because the government attempted to burn all of the copies."
"I don't know what the Manuscript looks like," Chiharu said slowly. "But I do remember an old scroll in someone's house when I was little." The scroll was yellow from aging with the pieces almost falling apart. "It disappeared when she left."
A scroll? You humans still use old fashioned written scrolls? Are they not hard to read? I find the writer's handwriting to be, often, infuriating.
"I believe that it is nearly impossible to read," Minaki recalled. "The scroll uses ancient Japanese that is hardly taught in school anymore and some of the kanji is no longer in modern day use. Deciphering it can take years without the proper knowledge."
"So Matsuba's prophecy was correct again," Chiharu said. "Wait, would Matsuba be able to decipher it...? Maybe his ability can guide him to the knowledge."
"What prophecy?" The capped man turns his head to the girl. "What did he say this time?"
"You know Matsuba?" Chiharu felt uncomfortable from the unwanted attention.
"Know him? I'm friends with him!"
"Then I think you have the right to know then," the Kanto gym leader sighed as he stretched his neck. "Matsuba was attacked three days ago, by a person who owned an Entei."
"What? Are you pulling my leg? There is no way Matsuba would fall to anyone!" Minaki snapped. His previous expression of smugness was replaced with a look of fear, "Matsuba's team is nothing to reckon with!"
"His back and shoulder is badly burnt, probably from a fire blast," he explained. "It was a surprised attack. His back was turned when it happened."
"When did this happen?" Minaki demanded to know. Why didn't he hear anything about this? He struggled to focus on the conversation.
"I just said three days ago!"
"Heh," the Suicune chaser smirked at Crystal. "I thought our meeting could last longer so I could talk about Suicune, but it looks like I'll have to cut that short." He stepped back and looked up at the ceiling less tower, feeling the sun's rays pouring down his face. "They say this tower used to be worshiped by people from another region. If an object from that region was brought to this tower, they said enlightenment would occur."
As he said those words, Chiharu looked down at the floor to see that the floor was glowing with different patterns of symbols the whole time. Just like the hiker back in the Safari Zone said. The patterns switched from red to blue to green and back to red again. It was mesmerizing to stare at. Despite the glowing patterns being there, it felt like something was missing. It felt like an incomplete puzzle. It was almost done but there were still a few pieces left.
"What...?" It was Crystal this time that looked at the man with confusion.
"Well, NOW I AM OFF! Good bye to you all and Suicune! I swear we shall meet again in due time!" He shouted before he raced out of the building, his cape tailing behind him. They heard the sound of a pokeball opening to release its inhabitant. With the pokemon's cries and the sound of flapping wings fading away, it was assured that the man was leaving for another destination.
Don't count on it.
"I better get back to my friends," she sighed. "Gotta update them on the situation. We may see each other again." She leaped onto the water pokemon's back, who had stood back onto its four legs. "Have a good day!" The gym leader and blue haired girl watched Crystal's Suicune dash out of the abandoned tower and heard it crash into the waters below.
"To stop that hunter from catching more legendaries," Green said when she left. "We'll have to catch them ourselves."
"What?" Chiharu was startled from his voice.
"She has Suicune, so now the hunter can't get him. It's quite simple actually."
"What is so simple about catching legendaries?" She questioned his logic. "Legendaries are dangerous, and they are very strong. You can't just proclaim that we should catch them too, I mean, my pokemon aren't even high leveled!"
Due to pokemon thievery in the past, pokemon are registered under the pokeball's individual bar code and trainer's identification number. This is so that even if another person stole the trainer's pokeballs and attempted to catch that pokemon, the catch would still not work. When attempting to catch other people's pokemon, the pokeball recognizes that the pokemon's number combination doesn't match the barcode and trainer id of the pokemon thief. The pokeball would instantly break in response to the mismatch codes to avoid repeated stealing attempts. If the pokemon's pokeball breaks, it is required for the trainer to go through paperwork to get a replacement pokeball.
"That's fine," Green tried to reassure the girl. "We all have to start out somewhere. With some time and training, you'll be strong in no time."
"It's still very dangerous! When, when I saw Satsuki that night," she choked. "She had blood running down her arm. It was practically flowing out of her, bright red blood!"
"I never said it was easy," he corrected her. "Nothing in life is easy."
"That's true," she said. "You really think it's possible for me and Mirei to become strong in so little time?" Training was never a first priority for her as she preferred catching and research pokemon, but for the first time in years, she felt an urgency to make her team stronger.
"If she can catch legendaries, then I'm sure you and your friend would be able to too." He reasoned.
"I'll make sure they go back to their homes when this is over," Chiharu said in a quiet voice, looking away from Green. "It's better if they go back and forget this ever happened."
"When this mess is over," the gym leader shook his head. "We can release them ourselves."
Trainers must release their pokemon only by PC. They used to release them manually, but that caused some environmental issues in the past. A well known incident occurred a few years ago when a young trainer released his Slugma in Viridian Forest and caused a forest fire. It took a team of firefighters and several teams of water pokemon to put out the fire. Unfortunately for the trainer, his trainer license was taken away. This was an odd case because most legendaries didn't have a permanent habitat. Some of them wandered the regions with no home. Releasing a legendary by PC may get complicated, especially when the main server finds that a legendary pokemon was residing in the computer.
"We should go back," Chiharu looked up at the sky. The sky was turning red and gold with a few clouds hovering around the sun.
"It's almost time six," the gym leader checked his Pokegear. "I suppose there's nothing else we can do much here."
So much for finding the tower. They found Embedded Tower, only to discover that it was an old building with glowing patterns. Green didn't know what to suspect. The patterns on the floor reminded the gym leader of a place he had once been to in Hoenn, years ago. Was there more to the tower than just a place of worship? These questions left the gym leader puzzled. Although they found nothing in the tower, talking to that Minaki character revealed more about this Manuscript. A nearly nonexistence document talking about the creation of a new universe. Green had a bad feeling about this.
Route 47
"Gold, I swear," A tall red haired teen clenched his fists. He stood before a large, thickly branched tree with a ton of leaves falling unnaturally. His tone was low and dark, as if poisoning each of his words with malice. "If you don't stop harassing that Fearow, before it finally decides to pecks your eyes out, I'm going to tie you up and toss you into the water at Route 41."
"Geez Silver, why are you so agitated?" The golden eyed trainer asked, poking his head out of the leaves upside down. He hung from the lower thicker branches of the plant, making even more leaves flutter towards the ground. His hat slipped off of his head and landed square onto its owner's rival's forehead.
The two of them were on route 47 on top of the waterfall. Despite the great distance between Cianwood City and the route, Gold had been to the Safari Zone before and flew there on his pokemon. Silver followed him closely behind. At the top of the waterfall were several trees and bushes where most of the pokemon were Dittos and Miltanks. The cows would roll on the floor lazily as they watched the two trainers argue. A few other pokemon included Glooms and Raticates, both scurrying quietly in the grass to find food.
A vein pulsed in his head as he answered, "You're here, bothering a giant bird pokemon, when we should be checking the whereabouts and well being of the roaming legendary pokemon. Why would I not be annoyed?"
"I mean, I don't know why, but it seems like you're trying to get too much done when there isn't much we can do right now. You switched from looking for Red and Green to trying to find Lugia and Ho-Oh in like a snap second," Gold tilted his head to his right. "What's up? Oh, and thank you for your concern, but this Fearow is quite playful." As if it was a cue, a large feathered head poked out from the tree, next to the trainer.
Hello there! It cawed with a happy expression. The beak pokemon swung its head side to side, as if to say that it was having fun.
"I can't shake a bad feeling in my stomach," Silver admitted. "Like there is something obvious right in front of us but we don't notice it."
"Are you constipated Silv?" He asked. A rock smashed right into face before he could say another word. Gold's legs lost their grip as he fell flat onto the grass below his head.
Silver's eyes snapped wide open in alarm. He rushed over to his fallen rival and asked, "Shit, I didn't think you would fall, are you okay?"
"Silver," the Johto champion breathed out. His voice barely a whisper. "Come closer..."
"Wait, what's wrong?"
"Closer..." he repeated. Silver leaned over to hear his friend's words. "You're so naive."
Without warning Gold snapped up leaned close to his ear, almost touching it and made a loud kissing sound with his lips puckered up. The redhead's face burned as bright as his hair as the supposedly injured Gold added in a normal tone, "I swear, I could have totally kissed you just now. You were just asking for it-"
The champion was flung into the river with an obnoxiously loud splash. Gold hit the cold icy water and threw his head up above the roaring waves. His eyes shot out as he narrowly swam to the side when he saw a Tentacool nearly hit him with its tentacles. The big blue jellyfish pokemon stood about a meter tall and had two long tentacles stretched out from its clear body. It had red crystals on its head and had its eyes below its body.
"I am going to kill you one day," His rival hissed, his face still bright red.
"Nyotaro!" Gold gagged on some water as he took out a pokeball and released his pokemon. Still in the river, Gold's pokemon caught his trainer on time as they approached the waterfall crashing down below. Politoed hopped in the water and dragged his trainer down the waterfall at surprisingly high speed. The green frog pokemon had a yellow belly and a blue curl on its head allowed Gold to hug around the body.
The gold eyed trainer held his breath and closed his eyes when he and his pokemon fell to the bottom of the running water with a crash. Luckily for him, there were no rocks or boulders at the bottom. Politoed bobbed its head and body to the water surface with Gold coughing out some water. When he finished clearing his throat, he thought he heard a gasp when he looked up to see who it was. A blue haired teenage girl who looked to be the same age (1) as him wore a white short sleeved hoodie with red pokeball symbols on the pockets and shorts. She was riding on the back of a Golduck, who was giving Gold a skeptical look.
"Am I in Heaven?"
"Um, no. You're alive, why would you say that?" The girl gave him a strange look. Her other pokemon, a Golbat, was making an annoyed sound and glared at him. The bat pokemon reminded him of Silver's Crobat, although Golbat seemed to have a shorter temper than Silver's.
"Then, you saved me right?"
"No..." She looked uncomfortable from the unwanted attention. "Are you alright?" Gold thought he heard both of her pokemon sigh from the interaction between the two of them.
"You're just so beautiful... I asked if I was in Heaven, because I was hoping that you were my Guardian Angel." He smiled brightly as if he saw the sun for the first time in years. His hair was drenched wet from the water, making his hair point out in different direction, similar to a certain trainer in Kanto. Drops of water dripped from his face like he was crying though his eyes were not anywhere near the shades of red.
"You're drunk," was her flat response to his poor pick up line. She had one hand on her hip with the other hand holding onto her Golduck's shoulder. The blue duck idly tread in the somewhat shallow water while Golbat floated in the air with a bored look.
"...but I'm underage." He stated, the smile twitching downwards.
"You look like those guys who pick up a different girl once a week," she gave him a blank unimpressed look as if this wasn't the first time this happened to her. Those class periods she spent trying to listen to the teachers were often interrupted by those guys in the back asking her out because of a bet of some kind. She had learned to ignore boys like them. The guy behind her choked out a cough.
"Eh? If it makes you feel better, I haven't dated anyone before," he replied.
"Sure you haven't." She snorted as her companion walked up to the two.
"Hey, aren't you Hibiki?" The tall brunette asked. His green irises glimmered from the sunset. "It's been awhile. The last time I saw you, you made me take a picture with you after fighting against him. (2)"
"Hey, it's been a long time Green!" Gold perked up as he rolled over and pushed himself off the ground. "How's life? Silv and I were looking for you and Red earlier, but then Red sent us a message saying that you were looking for something. Did you find what you were looking for?"
"No, but we did add more questions to this entire ordeal," the gym leader sighed.
"Hibiki?" The girl repeated his name, "So you're the one we were supposed to meet up with?"
"Ugh, please don't call me that," he groaned. He placed his hand on his chest. "Gold, call me Gold. I prefer my nickname over my real name."
"Like the Super Sentai?" Her eyes widened, "My name's Chiharu then. Um, sorry for acting cold like that to you. I thought you were one of those jerks I see at school a lot." The blue haired girl turned red from embarrassment and shook his hand briefly before pulling her hand back.
"You know Super Sentai?" His grin grew from ear to ear. "I used to role-play as Gold Ranger with some other kids in my hometown! He is so cool, I'm not afraid of admitting that I still love that show at my age." The teenage boy proudly boasted his obsession with a smirk.
"Of course!" Chiharu cried, "I role-played Blue Ranger as a kid because blue is my favorite color!" Her eyes were practically sparkling with stars and hearts flying out. "I watch it every weekend in the morning with my brother! My brother likes watching the newer ones because of the shiny mechas and suits, but I think the older series are cool too!"
"You're both otaku..?" Green's expression dropped as he listened to the two treat the show like it was a bible.
"The older shows had good story," Gold ranted on. "But the characters could use more development! I think it's unfair that the shows only have one or two female rangers for each season." The dark haired boy nodded his head.
"Same! Though I think it's because the market thinks that Super Sentai is mostly for boys. There are girls who like it too!" The two teenagers were now on fire and exchanged complaints and compliments of this superhero show Green had no knowledge or interest about. All he could hear from them were 'this ranger' and 'that ranger' with the occasional mention of 'mechas' and 'power ups'.
"I come down here to check on you, and I find this?" Silver asked with a questionable look on his face. He flew down with his own Crobat, concerned because his rival didn't come back up the waterfall.
"Hey! Silver, man, what took you so long?" Gold laughed. The redhead watched as water continued to drip down his hair.
"You idiot, how long are you going to let yourself soak? You're asking to get a cold!"
"Aw, you do care!" The Johto champion's eyes sparkled with relief. "I was thinking that you threw me down into the river because you never wanted to see me again!"
"If I hadn't known you for long, I would have already left to go back to Cianwood." He growled as he launched a towel into his rival's face. The champion caught it with ease and started drying his hair.
"So you're...Silver?" Chiharu recalled the other name Red mentioned to her this morning. She looked at the trainer who had long red hair and wore a dark purple outfit, "Why are you wearing dark clothes in July? Wouldn't shorts be better for this weather?"
The teenage girl just stared as Gold coughed back a snicker. He managed to choke out, "Yes Silver, why aren't you wearing skirts or shorts in this summer heat? They're nice and comfy to wear."
"Shut up you fool!" Silver snarled as he slammed his rival back into the water. He twirled around to face Chiharu. "For your information, I AM A GUY. What I choose to wear is none of your concern and don't you dare mock my hair!"
Chiharu froze, unable to say anything more than a, "I'm sorry..." If it was even possible, her face went to a deep shade of red and struggled to keep a controlled expression. She turned her eyes down and avoided the redhead's eye contact.
"Silver! How could you? I thought that we had something between us. Why did you push me back into this river?"
"You really want to die today, don't you?" The redhead's hair seemed to flare up as his eyes glowed with a monstrous and dangerous aura.
I'm glad I didn't say anything yet, Green thought to himself as he watched the teen drag his rival out of the water and gave him a nice punch to his face. He saw Chiharu shrink, as if she wanted to dig a hole and die in it. The gym leader glared at his Pokegear and switched to the weather app. The device told him that the temperature in Goldenrod was 33 Celsius or higher (3) with the humidity over 70 percent in the afternoon. He found himself doubting the angry trainer's choice in clothing as well.
"Wait, didn't you only say shorts?" he asked her. He traced back to the comment Chiharu made a few seconds ago and realized, "Why did he get so mad?"
"Well, Gold did add skirts..." She mumbled more to herself than to him.
"Maybe today is just a bad day for him overall. Gold is known to push people off the edge." He sighed and shook his head.
Green already knew part of his personality before they even had a proper battle. Gold may have treated his pokemon kindly, but his interaction with other trainers was a whole different story. The gym leader remembered the teenage boy angering one of the ace trainers on his way to the gym leader. A female ace trainer hurled an Everstone at Gold and resulted in the trainer arriving with a bump on his head. Green was shocked to see that the boy from New Bark Town still had that same Everstone in his possession when they had a rematch later on. Gold threw him a grin and said that the Everstone was a 'souvenir' with Green staring at him like he was insane.
"Anyways," Gold cleared his throat, his left cheek as red as the clouds during sunset. His rival silently fumed off in the distance, facing the river while his Crobat tried to cheer him up. "I thought we were going meet up in Cianwood. Is Red there?"
"Yeah, he is waiting at the Pokemon Center. We should get going." Green gazed up at the high mountains surrounding them, "We shouldn't keep them waiting."
Extra Notes:
age (1) = In case you're still lost on how old everyone is, here are their ages. Red, Green, Blue = 19 years old. Gold, Silver, Crystal, Chiharu, Mirei = 16 years old. Satsuki = 15 years old. Keigo = 13 years old.
...take a picture with you after fighting against him. (2) = This actually happens in Pokemon HGSS. After you defeat Red, you can take a picture with Green (or Blue as he is called in the English games) at Cinnabar Island. Green genuinely shows happiness for your accomplishment and will gladly rebattle you if you call him on the Pokegear.
temperature in Goldenrod was over 33 Celsius (3) = For those who use Fahrenheit, that is over 91 degrees. The temperature is based off Osaka's weather because Goldenrod City in Johto was based off of Osaka, Japan.
Author Notes: We had this chapter be the end of chapter 14, but we found that it took up too much room and had to move it to this chapter instead. There is a lot of talking in this section, but we get to find out more about the legendary hunter and we learn about this mysterious Manuscript. Seriously, who wears dark clothes in the July? If you like this story, leave a comment below and follow us!
"RainSonata": I was told that Japan had very humid summers. After looking up the weather from several websites, I no longer doubt that. I'm wondering how so many NPCs got away with wearing what they wear in certain weather (ex. The female protagonist wears nothing but a shirt and shorts in the winter for Pokemon Black and White).
"LunarAbyss": Actually, I used to wear black jackets and dark clothing all the time. Especially in the summer. I'm the type of person to sunburn rather than overheat, and my wardrobe is full of black, silver, and darker colors.