Chapter 33
STOKE THE FIRE
Feel my pain and your whimpers of broken mind
And slow I fade as the darkness inside you shines
I promise not to fight if you say you don’t like it
I'll bet you can’t, I'll bet you can’t
- Seether
I
The waves of the ocean crashed around the boat as it sped along against the current south. The Kanto Gulf laid behind them. The only thing ahead of Seth, Emily, and Red was the open water that surrounded them on every side. Red stood on the walkway of the small boat, pushed by a Dondozo and carried by the strong sea wind colliding with the Lateen sail.
Seth and Emily sat in the cockpit, watching in fascination as Red trained at the bow of the ship. Another long, piercing whistle rang out, and a ball of water surrounded Lapras, who was floating in the ocean beside the sailboat. Charizard broke through clouds being commanded by 2 short bursts from Red’s whistle, followed by a pillar of flames that slammed into Lapras' defenses before disappearing into the clouds again.
"What the fuck is he doing!" Emily yelled out as Red jumped off the boat. She made her way to the left side to watch Red swim up to Lapras and climb on its back.
Seth saw the joy gleaming in Red's face. His smile was huge as he pressed his hand against Lapras’ neck to support himself. His eyes seemed so full of life rather than the empty rage he saw both in Saffron and Vermillion. The joy that Red was emanating seemed almost blinding to Seth's empty heart. Even more blinding than the summer sun bearing down on him.
Red light illuminated next to him as a Hitmonchan emerged on the back of Lapras. Two short bursts tore out of Red’s whistle, and Charizard emerged once again, darting toward them. repetitive whistles rang out, and Hitmonchan sprang into the air with a fist cocked back, yellow lightning crackling around his hand. Charizard was closing the distance, only feet away until Hitmonchan's fist blitzed through the air but hit nothing as Charizard dodged out of the way in a blur. Two more short whistles encompassed the air of Lapras as Hitmonchan and Charizard went at it again and again, but he was never able to hit his target. Finally, two more whistles rang out, but Charizard appeared out of the clouds to an empty sky as Hitmonchan remained rooted towards Lapras's back.
Seth couldn't see what Red was doing with him, but the two stood still looking at each other for more than a few moments as Charizard circled above them. Finally, Red blew through the whistle again, resetting the attack by Charizard as he disappeared and then reappeared out of the clouds, and Hitmonchan sprang into the air.
His fist was cocked back, and electricity ripped and crackled through the air. Charizard began going left to avoid, but at the last second, flapped his wings hard, dodging right. However, Hitmonchan saw the evasion, and his fist collided with Charizard’s chest, sending the giant Pokémon rocketing into the ocean below. Hitmonchan fell on top of Lapras’s back, jumping up and down, along with Red, whose dimples were so pronounced that both Emily and Seth could see them from the sailboat. Charizard emerged out of the water, the stone reflecting the sunlight as it was snuggled in a metal bracelet, and flew close to Lapras. Seth thought he would see anger in his eyes, but they were wide, prideful, as the group celebrated.
The red light sprang out from Red’s belt as he climbed up the ladder, while Lapras, Hitmonchan, and Charizard disappeared into their respective Pokéballs.
“How often do you fucking train like that?” Emily asked, fascinated by what she had just witnessed.
Red held up his index finger and twirled it in the air a couple of times as he looked at Emily and Seth’s confused faces. He then reached into his bag and wrote down the word "always" in his notebook.
II
The food was becoming blander on their last day of the journey, but they all sat in the cockpit of the sailboat as the captain, who remained silent pretty much the entire trip, kept moving forward.
“How old are you?” Emily asked Red as he ate his sandwich, with the gust of wind blowing the hair out of his eyes. He held up his hand with the three middle fingers sticking up, with both his thumb and pinky touching. But after looking at Emily’s confused face once more, he got out his notebook and wrote sixteen.
“Why are you out here and not at home?” Seth asked before getting slapped in the arm by Emily for being insensitive.
He shrugged and began writing furiously. Seth was so shocked by the boy's appearance; he had seen him on more than one occasion bring down a storm of fire on anyone who opposed him, but he looked so young and innocent as he scratched down his backstory in the notebook. His tongue poked out of the side of his mouth as he absentmindedly scribbled down words on the page before handing it to them.
“My dad disappeared when I was young. I don't really know too much about him, but my mom took it hard. I doubt she even realized I left. My neighbor’s grandpa was Professor Oak and he raised me, officially taking me in when I was 10. He showed me everything I know. After he died, I started completing the League challenge because I didn't really know what else to do so I followed my friend Blue, the neighbor and collected badges. Lt. Surge recruited me after I beat him to get my 3rd badge.”
“When I was young, my mom sent me away when I was about your age. Loneliness… I know…,” Emily began without really knowing how to continue. “What do you plan on doing after the league challenge?”
Red started writing again, but the innocence was gone, only replaced by a deep-seated hatred that both Seth and Emily empathized with all too well. “I don't really care about beating the Pokémon League,” he wrote. “I just want to destroy Team Rocket for taking Professor Oak from me.”
“You really miss him,” Seth added, knowing the pain of wanting so badly to be with the person you love most, to know you can’t see them, physically touch them, or even just smell them while standing in their presence.
Red simply nodded before putting up his outstretched hand to his forehead and then began writing again, the innocence returning slightly to his demeanor. “He taught me to read, write, and talk with my hands. He gave me Charmander and well everything.” Tears began to run down his cheeks as he smiled at Seth and Emily.
“We're coming up to Cinnabar Island,” the captain called down to them on the deck. “Get all your stuff ready.”
III
“The first thing Seth noticed was the tall cone volcano that pierced the sky. The village lay underneath its shadow, surrounded by greenery that spilled into the ocean. As the buildings grew taller on their approach, they noticed the swarm of sentries of flying Pokémon circling over the waves that washed up on the short beach.
A trainer situated on a Braviary swooped down low next to them as they made their final approach to a dock that stretched out just hovering above the high tide.
“Fucking finally!” Emily said, stepping off the ship while cracking her neck and stretching.
A man in khaki shorts and a flowery button-up shirt was making his way towards them as Ninetales followed Seth and Red off the boat. The wood was worn, and Seth noticed a slight bend as he stepped on one of the boards.
“Let me see your badges,” the man said curtly. Both Seth and Red pulled out their cases that held their six badges each. They sparkled in the intense heat that bore down on the group. The strong sea breeze only seemed to push more hot air on top of them rather than give them any relief. “Good. Ma'am, are you challenging as well?”
“No, I'm this guy's plus one,” she said, punching Seth’s shoulder.
“Great, if you would follow me to the gym, then.” He turned around, and the group followed up the creaking pier. Krabbys, Kinglers, and Pyukumuku lined the beach. The formers scurrying this way and that while the latter stayed situated on the coast with the waves flowing over it and then pulling away.
Seth, Emily, and even if they didn't know for sure, Red’s face demonstrated that Cinnabar was like nothing they have ever seen. The expressions in the highly dense city were joyous. People were laughing as their Pokémon helped attend to their shops or business. Kids were riding on top of their Pokémon and playing with them down the streets. A restaurant that was adorned with bright radiant colors had a server bringing a happy couple a meal that looked like Krabby legs as both sat giggling over their drinks. Not a single person was dressed in black with a red R embedded on their shirts lurking with a menacing stare.
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“How are you guys so self-sufficient only being limited to the Island?” Emily asked as they walked past another brightly colored restaurant.
“The volcano has created fairly large copper deposits that Kanto has used for their Pokéball production.” He didn't turn around at the words but kept hurrying south to the city inching closer to the large towering mountain.
“What's your name?” Seth asked.
“Jeff,” The street curved east at a clothing store that presented brightly colored shirts. The city began to gradually shift towards a dense forest that trapped the heat inside of it. Thirty minutes of walking on the road towards the Volcano and Seth, Emily and Red were struggling in the unbearable heat. If it weren't for the trees that were numbering on infinite, Seth would have guessed that they were not walking outside but in an oven cranked up to cook at the hottest temperature possible.
Other than Jeff and Ninetales, who seemed completely unfazed by the heat, sweat was drenching their clothes. Seth’s pit stains were now covering the majority of his shirt. Emily kept begging Vaporeon to spray water at her but had to stop by the painful look Vaporeon wore. Red’s jacket was now tied around his waist, and sweat was dripping off his hair and running down his young face.
“Hey, can I trade you Torterra and Metang for Haxorus and Cereuledge?” Seth asked, dropping back towards Emily who was panting hard.
“You don't want Vaporeon for the fire gym?” She responded back, trading the Pokéballs.
Seth didn't respond but simply pointed at her trailing behind Emily. Vaporeon looked miserable, as if the sun was literally beginning to boil her.
“Yeah, fair point. Come on Vaporeon, take a break.” The grateful Pokémon disappeared from the forest as they now started their ascent towards the volcano.
IV
It was already odd enough, Seth thought, that the gym would be sitting on this volcano. But as he approached the hole with a flame symbol sitting above it two-thirds of the way up the mountain, he was completely baffled.
“The gym is inside the Volcano?” Seth asked Jeff, who was taking his first steps into what, in the loosest terms possible, could be seen as an entrance.
“Yes, you will soon find that Blaine is… Well, he is a little eccentric. He hardly ever has challengers anymore. He got really excited when Lt. Surge sent word of you two,” Jeff said.
The tunnel opened up to a giant cavern. The first thing Seth noticed was how much cooler it was inside the volcano than outside in the overgrown wilderness. A red glow in flickering intensity crept up the walls, and despite its clear indication of the bubbling fire that lived beneath, the room was just so cool.
Sunlight dropped down from the ceiling above, spilling sunlight onto the red steel battlefield that hovered suspended in the center of the room, nestled inside the red lights that danced on the walls. Eight steel chains bolted on the corners and centers of each side snaked toward the walls around them.
At the center of it all, an old bald man stood, resting on a wooden cane that looped at the top under his wrinkling hands. A white mustache stood so pronounced against his face that Seth found it hard to look at anything else. It sat under his nose and stretched off like Blaine decided to wear it for the purpose of whiskers and alert him when anything was close to his face.
“Welcome to the place where firefighters can never win!” Emily, Seth, Red and Ninetales stepped up on the battlefield, confused at the man's words as well as his energy. He walked up to the three of them and energetically shook each of their hands. “Do you get it? The place where firefighters can never win.”
Emily and Seth looked at each other with puzzled expressions before turning back to Blaine with unchanged facial features. He looked down at the boy who had a twisted smile of triumph on his face. He put both hands, which started from a low wide position, together, gradually rising before taking another hand and acting as if he was ripping through the top of his pretend cone.
“Yes, excellent volcano! Well done, kid, at least someone is intelligent in this group,” Blaine said before breaking out into a roaring laughter.
"So, you two gentlemen are here to battle me." They both nodded, but Blaine's eyes turned towards Ninetales, who was standing observant behind Seth. "What a beautiful coat on that Ninetales."
To Seth’s surprise, Ninetales, without hesitation, walked into Blaine's open hands, allowing him to run his fingers through her grey fur. "Truly spectacular. I see she has some age with her. Don’t worry girl I do as well. How old?"
Did Seth even know that answer? He never knew Sarah without Vulpix. Was Ninetales older than her? "My wife would have been thirty, and she had Vulpix the whole time I knew her since we were young."
"I see, did she recently evolve? Ninetales lifespans are significantly shorter based on their type and size but Vulpix metabolisms are slower giving them more longevity." Blaine asked, still analyzing Ninetales closely.
"Almost 2 months ago." Has it really been that long since Erin? His voice cracked a little, and he felt Emily’s soft touch on his arm.
"I see, where is your wife now," Blaine said ignorantly.
"Dead, by Team Rocket. Over a year ago," Seth said, with the pain roaring up inside his stomach.
“I see, I was delighted to read Lt. Surge’s letter, but let's not pretend I don't know your true intention. The answer is no. I will not send my citizens to death for a pointless war that doesn't concern them.”
Seth just hung his mouth open, unable to find the words to even remotely form a counter-argument. What hope did he have to gain Blaine’s help if he had already deduced why they were there and made up his mind?
“Your citizens are already a part of this fucking war. Kanto is still your home, even if you cut us off like we're worthless pests deserving of death,” Emily said, breaking the awkward silence that grew in the middle of the cool volcano.
“Most of my citizens now have lived a large portion of their life never concerning themselves with the mainland's problems. Why would we? We are no more a part of your country than the Orange Islands are. Your imperialism for centuries over our land does not instill loyalty from us.”
The seriousness of Blaine’s face was so sharp that Emily found it hard to believe laughter was just reverberating out of him. “Enough politics, I did not invite you to my home to discuss Kanto but to enjoy a Pokemon battle that has been severely lacking from my life.”
He took another step forward and began staring at the details of both Seth and Red, as if he was trying to discover every story inside of them from each blemish, facial expression, or body posture.
“Blaine…” Seth said quietly.
“Hush, I'm thinking,” Blaine responded. A few more moments went by as the old man continued his study. “Well, then I am ready!”
“Who is facing you first?” Seth asked.
“Well, that depends on you, who can solve their riddle first?” The old man responded.
“Riddle? What are you talking about?” Seth demanded. He was tired of this game. He just wanted to know if this hindrance of a man would help him or not.
“Yes, a riddle. If you don't have the mind to conquer wordplay, then you don't have the mind to beat me in a Pokémon battle.” Blaine began rubbing the top of his bald head and smiling cruelly.
“With all due respect,” Emily added in. “We don't have fucking time for these games. People are heading into a slaughter pen. One that you could help stop.”
“Then you better hurry and answer the question. Now then, boy.” Blaine’s face got so close to Red's that the boy could smell every part of his last meal on his breath. “No legs have I to dance, No lungs have I to breathe, No life have I to live or die And yet I do all three. What am I?”
Red sat down with his legs crossed on the cool steel floor that should have been heated from the liquid inferno collecting below it. He put his hands together and fell into silent thought.
“Great, now you, good sir.” Blaine turned Seth, rotating on his wooden cane, the sunlight from above reflecting off his white vest and eleven Pokéballs fixed on his belt..
“In solitude, my presence swells, An insatiable hunger within me dwells. A commander I am, but virtues evade, For noble causes, I have never paved. A companion to all, though some turn blind, In the shadows, my influence is entwined. Endlessly expanding, I feed on disdain, In the echoes of turmoil, I shall remain. What am I?”
“What the fuck was that?” Emily asked, astonished by its length.
“A riddle, one that I know Mr. Conklin here can answer as his face has been carved so carefully with its chisel,” Blaine responded while still looking at Seth's facial expression of discontent.
Seth had had enough; he walked past Red, who was still crouched in a sitting position, to the edge of the battlefield away from Blaine. He was worried that his anger would simply rage out, and he would strike the elder down. He looked down, expecting to see lava flowing below him, but the red light that crept up the cavern walls were simply lights with a red lens overtop of them. Everything this man said or presented was a lie. He wondered if any of the positive stories Mr. Fuji once said about Blaine even held an ounce of truth to his character.
Breaking Seth away from his rage, Red jumped up with a suddenness that drew everyone's attention as he reached down and threw one of his Pokéballs from his belt, releasing Charizard, the flames of his tail mixing with the light across the walls. Blaine stood in the presence of Charizard with a small smile at the end of his mouth and a pleasing expression in his eyes.
Red took out his whistle and blew two short bursts, and Charizard responded by bellowing out a flamethrower that collided with the ceiling and the smoke escaping from the top of the vent.
“Very good, Red,” Blaine was smiling as ecstatically as Red was. Emily simply stood next to them, puzzled by the exchange which Blaine apparently noticed. “Fire has no legs but is in a constant dance. It has no lungs but always breathes and can both live and die. Well then, boy, let's go!” Seth and Emily cleared off the battlefield and hung around the cave's entrance, the sunlight creeping in from outside, and Blaine and Red took their opposite positions.
"In solitude, my presence swells," Fire was the first thing that came to his mind as it has an insatiable hunger. However, fire cannot lead anyone, nor does it have shadows. Plus, Seth was quite sure that Blaine, who seemed to adore word puzzles, wouldn't use the same answer for both.
Seth pondered these words in his head, pushing out the need to recruit Blaine, the idea of him only pissed him off more. Or why this gym battle was so pointless to him now as the thought of Erin’s safety broke him into a thousand pieces that he didn't even have the desire to piece together. He simply began getting lost in the riddle and his anger hopelessly attempting those two things would push the pieces of his being forward.