The usually quiet army barracks were abuzz with gossip as they awaited their new commander. The rumours had been pouring in since that morning, that their new commander would be the hero of the Kanto region.
Red.
There wasn't a single person in the ranks who hadn't heard his name by now. The man who had singlehandedly fought off the Johto invaders, crushed Team Rocket beneath his heel, and the sole reason anybody had survived the Pallet town massacre.
But the appearance of the man who walked in with the vice-commander was a surprise to everybody. Where I had expected a man with rippling muscles, instead I was faced with an almost sickly-looking boy who could hardly be a year older than myself. His skin was pale, almost ghostly. His red jacket and cap hung loosely over his body, almost as if they were too big for him. His arms were thin and weak-looking, and he had enormous bags under his eyes as though he hadn't slept in months.
But his eyes alone were exceptional. They almost seemed to glow with a strange crimson hue, making them shine even past the shade of his cap. I met his gaze.
Somehow his expression felt sad to me.
"Are you kidding me?" A man growled-An older soldier who had been in this regiment for some time. "THIS is Red the Hero? I don't believe it."
The other soldiers began to murmur similar sentiments, calling out in boos and general disapproval, as I sat in stunned silence.
"..." Red's expression was blank and lifeless. The soldier got up and stormed towards him.
"What do you have to say for yourself?! How can you expect to lead us if you don't even have muscles?" The soldier growled.
Wordlessly Red reached to his belt, drawing three balls. In a flash of blue light, the entire building went silent as three monstrous creatures appeared behind him, each taller than every member of the room.
An orange lizard with enormous wings, a fire burning on it's tail as flame oozed from it's breath. Charizard, the final evolved form of Charmander.
A large blue turtle with pipes coming out of it's back, like some kind of giant weapon. Blastoise, the final evolved form of Squirtle.
A deep green quadruped built like a truck, with an enormous flower blooming on it's back. Venusaur, the final evolved form of Bulbasaur.
They were all exceptionally rare and powerful Pokemon. There was no mistaking it, a trainer capable of taming all three of these beasts was undoubtedly Red the hero.
The sight of the glaring crimson-eyed man silencing the room with his three Pokemon remained seared into my eyes. A sight I would never forget so long as I lived.
...
I felt myself blink involuntarily a few times. "Chee likes battles?" I found myself saying with surprise.
She'd always struck me as overwhelmingly shy, so the idea that she engaged in Pokemon battles was a surprise to me. Chee seemed to pout at me.
I don't like battling. Her eyes said.
"Well, I don't know about 'likes'." Oak admitted. "But all the kids here are skilled battlers."
Right. I'd suspected it before, but Oak was most likely training the most talented kids as battlers for the upcoming war. I'd already theorised that much, it just came as a shock to me to consider that Chee could be a part of that with how quiet she was.
"What about you?" The professor enquired. "Are you interested in battling?"
"Ah yes, somewhat." I answered half-heartedly. "I think it's a skill I'll need to develop for the future."
He cocked an eyebrow at me. "That's an interesting reason. Why do you feel that you need to be good at battling?"
I stopped short, realising I didn't have a good answer for that without saying something crazy like: I'm from the future and we end up in a huge war. In truth, I don't think I took much interest in battle in my past life until it was absolutely necessary.
"...Just a feeling." I dodged the question, directing my gaze at the floor.
"What an Loser." A brash voice called from a corner of the room. Glancing over, I spotted a brown-haired boy I was beginning to become familiar with. Blue.
He wandered over with his hands in his pockets, looking frustrated that I was here. "If you have no interest in battling, why are you even here?"
"Well Chee-"
"I don't actually care." Blue cut me off. "More importantly..."
He pointed accusingly at Chee. "Green, I'll beat you today for sure! It won't go like yesterday."
Wordlessly, the black-haired girl ducked behind me, using me as a wall between her and the boy. She looked very annoyed. Oak put his palm to his face in frustration.
Ah, so her real name is Green?
"Don't run! I refuse to accept the results of that battle!" Blue exclaimed.
I suddenly realised this was a good opportunity. Chee had forbidden me from pursuing Red, but based on what Professor Oak had said, Blue must be a talented trainer as well.
I coughed into my fist to get his attention. "If you're desperate for a battle, I'll fight you."
Blue's face seemed to scrunch up in frustration. "Out of my way loser!" He threatened, stomping towards Chee with a glare on his face. However, Oak thankfully came to my rescue, stepping between us and holding Blue back.
"Well, I think my grandson here could use a bit of time to calm down, why don't you two go play in... Chee's room?"
Chee nodded enthusiastically, then grabbed my arm and started dragging me away. "But-" I started, but Chee's infectious smile was too much for me to argue with.
"...Alright, let's go."
...
Chee's room was pretty tidy and simple, a bed, some plushies at the end of the bed, a desk with notepads and pencils, and a wardrobe filled with clothes and other odds and ends. The walls were green, with several Pikachu posters on the walls .
On closer inspection, almost all of the plushies were Pikachus as well.
How much does this girl love Pikachu?
I met her gaze as I examined the room, and her eyes were sparkling with excitement. What should we do first?! I'm so excited, I've never had a friend over before!
"Well, ever since Oak mentioned you were a battler I've been curious-What's your Pokemon?" I asked, curiosity overwhelming me. I'd never heard of either Blue or Green in my past life, so this was new information to me.
Chee seemed to be conflicted for a moment, but she nodded. Right... I'll show you!
She hopped up and quietly pulled a Pokeball out from her desk drawer. Pressing the button, in a flash of light a blue and green quadrupedal Pokemon appeared, with a plant-like bulb on it's back. A Pokemon known as Bulbasaur.
"Oh! A Bulbasaur! Those are pretty rare, and it evolves into-"
I felt my heart catch in my throat.
Bulbasaur evolved into Venusaur. But that's not all, Squirtle evolved into Blastoise.
I knew that because Red had used them both, alongside his starter Pokemon Charizard.
But right now, the Bulbasaur and Squirtle I had seen didn't belong to Red. They belonged to Green and Blue.
Which led me to a terrifying possibility, as I remembered the sad eyes of the man I had met that day.
Oh... Neither of them made it.
The pallet town stampede, sometimes referred to as the pallet town massacre.
Over two hundred Tauros had burst through the town perimeters, attacking indiscriminately. Only a small handful of survivors had escaped, led by Red the hero. Even Professor Oak had died in the chaos.
I'd already wondered, but now I had all but confirmation.
Blue and Chee had both died that day.
I hadn't known either of them for very long, but it was still a crushing realisation. The knowledge that they both died... And I still didn't know if it was possible to change the future. I've been working with the assumption that I could, but when I tried to get a different starter, I was unable.
What if the same was true of life and death? What if everyone that died in my last life was destined to die again, no matter what I did?
I was brought back to reality by an urgent tapping on my shoulder. I took notice of the world again, and found Chee sitting in front of me, staring with concern. Are you okay?
"Ah, sorry. Just zoned out a bit there." I replied quietly.
...I didn't mean to upset you. She looked up at me, hiding her mouth behind the pokeball.
It was at that moment that I realised tears were forming at the corners of my eyes. Quickly I rubbed my eyes, drying my face. "A-ah, no. It's not your fault. It's just a coincidence." I stammered.
She shivered in concern, and I could tell she wasn't buying my excuses. Yet it felt like more than being upset that I was sad, she was worried that it was her fault. "It's a really rare Pokemon you know?" I said with a cough. "It evolves into Venusaur, so if you focus on training with it, you'll definitely become a really good battler!"
I don't wanna be a battler. She pouted.
"Ahaha, sorry. I don't mean to push you." I glanced down at the cute Bulbasaur I'd been ignoring, and I gently rubbed it's head. It was completely unresponsive to my touch, and it was continually staring at Chee with an almost glassy look in it's eyes.
"Is... Your Bulbasaur okay?" I asked, frowning at the creature. "It's not reacting to me at all."
Chee reached over, and gave it a pat. Unlike with me, it immediately reacted with extreme affection, nuzzling back into the hands, almost like it was trying to dig through her gloves.
"Nevermind," I sighed. "I guess it just doesn't like me."
In a flash of blue light, Chee returned the monster to it's ball, which she quietly deposited back into her desk drawer.
I couldn't help but wonder why she didn't bring it out more. She seemed to be incredibly attached to Yeller, whom I had retrieved into his own Pokeball before entering the lab. When she'd seen the Rattata, she'd been all over him.
...Could it be because Bulbasaur isn't yellow...?
I shook the thoughts off as Chee grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the corner of the room. Come on! Let's go play! Her eyes sparkled.
"Alright alright, what do you want to play?"
...
I collapsed onto the floor in an exhausted heap. Chee leaned over me, her eyes still filled with the same excitement that they'd had the past few hours.
What's wrong?! You still haven't caught me you know! She taunted.
Her endurance and speed were rather incredible. I couldn't keep up with her at all, and I'd been chasing her around the building all afternoon. I only caught her once, when she thought she'd hidden from me successfully.
After that she started running even faster.
"...Ugghhh, I can't catch you. You're too fast." I replied.
She just grinned in response, crouching down next to me. She reached out a finger and poked my cheek. I caught a Cyan~
Well, at least she was having fun. I slowly sat up, and she made a strange sequence of squeaking noises that I could only assume was her chuckling at the situation.
"...You really can't speak, can you?"
Her smile faded slightly. She opened her mouth and made a quiet noise somewhere between a squeak and a sigh. A moment later she leaned forward and made the same noise again. Then she started shaking, and the noise got a little louder.
"Ah no, it's okay. I was just curious!"
That's the best I can do. She tilted her head up to look at me. I haven't been able to speak for as long as I can remember.
Her eyes began to tilt downwards, taking on a sad tinge. All the other kids treat me as a weirdo and won't talk to me...
"It'll be alright. I'm sure they'll understand someday." I reassured her. "And even if they don't, I'll still be your friend!" I slammed a fist into my chest, forgetting for a moment how winded I was. "Kgggghhh..." I leaned forward as the air left my chest.
Chee made that same squeaky chuckling noise from earlier and smiled at me.
At that moment Oak walked past us. "Oh, you're still here? It's getting pretty late you know." He mused, taking a long sip from the juicebox he was carrying. "You should head back home before your parents get worried about you."
I stared out the window to see the sun beginning to set. "I didn't even realise it was getting late." I exclaimed. I knew it had been a few hours, but I didn't know it was already sunset!
"I better get going! Thanks for playing with me Chee!" I called as I ran to the door. She reached out to me, but I didn't have time to stick around and see what she wanted. If I wanted to train against wild Pokemon with Yeller, I needed to be home before the sun finished setting.
And thanks to hanging out with Chee today, my determination to save everyone was rebuilt.
...
[Log:
Type Proficiency: Normal: +5%
Type Proficiency: Normal: +5%
You defeated a wild Rattata!
You completed a quest!]
I nodded with satisfaction as Yeller defeated another wild Pokemon. The combat training was going well-I'd expected him to have more trouble with the weirder instructions, but he'd picked them up very quickly. The training methods Red had taught me were just as effective as I had remembered.
With the latest Pokemon defeated, it seemed that I had completed the quest.
[Quest: Defeat 5 Wild Pokemon
Defeat 5 Wild Pokemon (5/5)
Reward: Pokemon Status
{Claim Reward}]
I carefully placed my pointer finger onto the word 'reward', and the window disappeared, replaced with a notification.
[Pokemon Status added to skills!]
Status.
[Cyan Hughs
Status:
HP: 17/17
Atk: 5
Sp. Atk: 0
Def: 5
Sp. Def: 5
Spd: 10
Stat Points (10)
Skills:
Eye to Eye
Regression System
Pokemon Status Lv 1
Type Proficiency 5% {Tap to Expand} ]
I tapped the Pokemon Status and got an explanatory window.
[Pokemon Status Lv 1
Allows the user to see Status information about their Partner.]
Okay, that's great. How do I do that though? I thought, as I pressed the window over and over with no luck. I spent a few minutes trying to find an explanation of how to use the skill, but I eventually gave up.
This 'Regression System' did seem like it had the potential to be useful, but it could really use a manual for first time users, or something of the like.
I dismissed the system and leaned down next to my Partner, who was tilting his head at me curiously. What's up? His little eyes seemed to ask.
"Just trying to figure something out, lemme try something real quick." I murmured, staring intently at my little friend. I tried placing my hand on his head, but nothing happened. I tried to appraise his condition myself, in case it was more of a mental ability, but I couldn't really tell anything more than usual.
But unlike Eye to Eye, this was a skill given to me by the windows belonging to the regression system. I could only imagine they worked the same way.
"Pokemon Status" I murmured, directing my gaze back to the air in front of me, but alas only my usual status window appeared.
I furrowed my brow in frustration, trying to think what the keyword could be if it wasn't the skill title.
Information! Stats! Report! Recon! PokeStats!
No luck. That left me with one last idea to try.
When I interacted with the system windows, intention was important. That meant the system could tell more than just the words I was thinking. I turned my gaze to Yeller and focussed on him for a moment, making him the target of my attention.
Status!
And in an instant, a brand new window opened itself in front of me.
[Yeller
Rattata* (Lv 5)
Status:
HP: 9/18
Atk: 12
Def: 9
Sp. Atk: 7
Sp. Def: 9
Spd: 13
Skills:
-Empty-
Moves:
Tackle
Tail Whip
Quick Attack]
I silently made a gesture of success. "Alright. We can go home now." I told Yeller.
Yeller raised his arm, as if giving me a thumbs up. Let's do it boss!
...
As Yeller and I were sneaking our way home from our nightly expedition, I came to a stop suddenly. "Ah, this might be bad..." I muttered.
We were close enough now to see my house, and standing just outside of the house, arms crossed, was my mother. "Cyan Hughs!" She exclaimed as she spotted me. "You go back to your room right now young man!"
I stood there in silence for a moment, wracking my brain for some excuse to use. Ultimately, I sheepishly went to my room without a word.