Base of Mount Mortar, September 20th, 1997

“Croconaw, use Aqua Tail !”

“ Counter .”

Charmander twisted his body in turn with Croconaw’s tail, allowing the attack to roll off of him without major damage. Charmander spun in place, knocking Croconaw back with his own tail, using the momentum from the crocodile’s attack to boost his own.

Red looked over the field of rocks to see Salvare grit his teeth, “ Screech and rush him again!”

Croconaw shook off the dust of his minor injury, shrieking loudly in Red’s direction. He grimaced, but remained standing tall, which Charmander mimicked. Upon seeing Croconaw stomp his way towards Charmander, he called out, “Outrun him, and avoid looking at his face.”

Charmander waited a moment before obeying Red’s command, side-stepping Croconaw’s attack as he began darting around the battlefield.

While not nearly as agile as Pichu and Froakie, Charmander was still slightly faster than Croconaw. Of course, Salvare could have fixed this by using Scary Face earlier in the battle, but with Red’s command to avoid Croconaw’s gaze, Charmander remained able to outrun the pokemon.

It was a lesson that Red had learned in his travels as Ash, which were only reinforced in the time after the Source Wave. Not every battle was won by brute force. Sometimes speed, defence, finesse, or a number of other things could be the determining factor in a battle.

This was how, despite continuously using non-evolved pokemon in tournaments, Ash consistently placed well despite facing opponents with objectively tougher pokemon.

However, while Ash may have lacked somewhat in raw strength, he more than made up for it in speed and strategy.

Since then, with both the Storm and The Chariot looming over him, he had learned not only to be proficient with that battle style, but to perfect it.

Oh, his pokemon could still pack a hefty punch, and they knew how to take them too. Still, they excelled in situations where they could use speed and deceptive tactics to their advantage.

Perhaps that was why he was so proficient in battling with multiple pokemon at a time?

“Damnit!” Salvare cried from across the battlefield, seeing that Croconaw was getting out of breath, “Use Watergun to stop him!”

Red watched somewhat dispassionately as Charmander easily dodged the streams of water, not needing any commands. After a moment, Red saw Croconaw’s attacks weaken, prompting him to command, “ Ember to the chest.”

With the speed and precision that echoed Charizard, Charmander spat a blue fireball directly at Croconaw’s chest, startling the water pokemon rather than hurting it.

Still, Red decided that it was enough, “Break!”

Croconaw gave a disappointed sigh, unknowingly mimicking his trainer as he ambled up to him. Salvare patted him on the head before allowing the pokemon to wander towards camp. He walked towards Red with a strained smile, “I guess that could have gone better?”

Red shrugged, walking side by side with Charmander as he remarked, “You have a very aggressive fighting style.”

Salvare crossed his arms, “It hasn’t worked against you, though.”

“Why was that?” Red asked hypothetically, unwittingly stepping into the role of mentor.

Salvare hummed, cupping a hand to his chin, “You used Croconaw’s slow speed against me, and you prevented me from using Scary Face by commanding your Charmander to avoid Croconaw’s face.”

Red nodded, glad that Salvare merely lacked experience rather than intuition, “What does that mean?”

Salvare thought for a moment, before sighing, “That I should have used that move at the beginning of the battle to prevent you from doing that.”

Red nodded sagely, “Correct. You do well in taking advantage of Croconaw’s physical strength with your aggressive fighting style, but you also have to take into account his main weaknesses, one of which being his slow speed,” Red paused for a moment, thinking to himself, “You may also consider teaching Croconaw a move like Aqua Jet . While it may be weaker than Aqua Tail , it may be a good way to catch up to a fast opponent if all else fails.”

Salvare nodded, already setting aside time to teach Croconaw that very move, “How do you know these things?”

Red smiled. It was stiff . “Experience,” He said in lieu of answering fully. Salvare grumbled to himself but refrained from pressing for more information.

“Say that you ran into this situation elsewhere, outside of the League ,” Red emphasised, leading into one of the lessons he took particular care for in repeating as they neared camp, “What is one thing you could have done instead?”

“Use my other pokemon,” Salvare said solidly, pointedly not grumbling. He had a firsthand lesson of this principle when he grumbled the first time.

“Correct,” Red answered, “I cannot emphasise this enough. Never restrict yourself to one pokemon at a time when you are in genuine peril,” Red elaborated, “While the League may have rules minimising injury in battle, there are people out there who do not care. They will not hesitate to gain every advantage over you, and you must not hesitate to do the same.”

“I understand,” With any other, that tone would have sounded exacerbated, but Red knew that Salvare understood, at least to some degree. He was already utilising more advantages in battle that he missed previously.

Call it dirty. Call it dishonourable. Red had yet to find a need to use these tactics since awakening on Mount Silver, but his time fighting The Chariot had permanently ingrained the lessons the man had taught.

It was only a matter of time before he had to drag himself down to that level.

The three of them reached camp in silence to see Croconaw munching away at a snack while Froakie shook his head at the mess. Pichu was nowhere to be seen, though Red wasn’t worried of him being lost so much as him returning with a broken tail, and maybe some broken teeth from picking a fight (or several).

It was too bad that Pichu detested leashes. Sometimes, Red felt that such an item would be a necessity to avoid Pichu from somehow starting a gang war across the world.

“Why does it seem like fighting you is more difficult than when I’ve faced off against Gym Leaders?” Salvare asked as he prepared his own meals.

Red scrunched his brow, pausing in his own preparation of food, “What do you mean exactly?”

“Well,” Salvare waved a hand in the air while he thought, “Their battles have seemed more straightforward. I attack them. They attack me. Whoever attacks harder wins. So on and so forth,” He leaned forward, “There hasn’t really been any sort of strategy I’ve seen involving status moves or anything outside of straight attacks.”

Red hummed to himself, recalling his own experiences as Ash. His brow only scrunched further when he recalled how, unlike his two previous Gym matches, most of his battles against Gym Leaders were as Salvare described.

“Maybe it has to do with age?” Red questioned, spitballing ideas as they came to him, “The older you are, the more complex their strategy?”

Salvare seemed disgruntled by that explanation, grumbling to himself, “I’m not a kid.”

Ignoring his initial instinct to point out how childish that sounded, Red asked, “How old are you?”

“Seventeen,” Salvare responded lowly, before casting a considering glance at Red, “How old are you? You don’t seem too much older than me.”

“I recently turned twenty,” Red answered back before frowning, “You’re right, though, that isn’t much older.”

Salvare stayed silent for a moment, finishing the meals for his pokemon, before posing a possibility, “Maybe it depends on how many badges you’ve earned?” He then shook his head, “No, nevermind. I have more badges than you, and none of my matches were nearly as crazy as the one you had at Blackthorne.”

Red hummed as he acquiesced. Salvare had looked up Red’s trainer profile when they took a pit-stop at Mahogany a couple of days ago. Aside from learning that his application had been processed while he was at the Lake of Rage, he and Salvare also saw that the recording of his match against Clair had been released to the public.

Red was somewhat surprised to see that he had gained a bit of notoriety from his match. Compared to other new trainers, his first Gym match had a considerable amount of views and comments about it.

He also looked up Ash Ketchum’s profile to see that he had earned the Boulder Badge from Brock about a week ago, meaning that those two, along with Misty, were currently on the way to Cerulean.

After seeing Red’s feats against Clair, Salvare had only doubled down on his desire to learn under Red. Red was somewhat bemused about the kid (even if he was only three years younger). One moment, Salvare was silent and oddly introspective for his age. The next moment, he was passionate and driven, primarily in battle.

Returning his thoughts to the conversation, Red noted, “I did decide to do Clair’s challenge as my first Gym Badge, which may have driven her to fight harder than she usually does,” He then pursed his lips, “She also told me that she would contact the other Gym Leaders about me for potential sponsorships, which may have alerted them to go harder against me.”

Salvare sighed, before brightening up a bit, “Well, at least I have you to fight against to improve. That’s better than nothing.”

Red shrugged before motioning Froakie over for dinner, whispering to the frog, “Which way did Pichu run off to?”

Froakie dutifully pointed up towards the mountain. Red nodded to himself, imagining that Pichu was bashing his tail against some rocks.

As he handed Froakie and Charmander their meals, Salvare released the rest of his pokemon to share in their own supper. Zubat and Gastly hovered around his head as Magnemite floated lazily by his leg. Meanwhile, Croconaw happily threw its empty bowl into the air, ambling towards Salvare for seconds.

Red watched the scene in front of him play out. Gastly called its own name as it taunted Croconaw while it ate. The crocodile gave the ghost the stink eye, but refused to be let away from his food. Meanwhile Zubat fluttered around, occasionally nibbling on Salvare’s red hair amidst eating its own food. Magnemite, in contrast, stared unblinkingly as it absorbed its own unique meal - an energy chip with a side of batteries.

It was the sort of carefree chaos that Red hadn’t seen since his time in Kalos. Even in the days before the Wave, he and those he travelled with were on edge due to the constant upheaval of the world around them.

He almost wondered if the world would have ended even without the Source Wave.

He and his pokemon still had fun together, but there was always a shroud of gloom that held over them. The memories of friends long passed, of enemies surrounding them, of goals insurmountable weighed them down.

Here, Red saw that, despite the shadows hidden within Salvare’s eyes, he felt safe in that moment.

Red longed for that feeling.

“We’re only about a day away from Ecruteak City,” Salvare remarked, breaking Red out of his thoughts, “I was wondering if we were planning on doing anything outside of getting your Badge.”

“I don’t have any plans, outside of the battling ring, if there's a waitlist for the Gym match,” Red said, “It could be a good place for you to see some different battle styles.”

Salvare seemed interested, “I haven’t paid too much attention to those. Are they good?”

Red shrugged, “I’ve only really used the one at Blackthorne, and that was decent. Granted, many of the trainers there are of a higher calibre than the average traveller.”

Salvare thought for a moment before nodding, “Sure, I’ll do that,” He grinned down at Croconaw, “Maybe he can evolve while we’re there. I imagine it’s not too long before he does.”

Red thought so as well. Given another month or so, Red wouldn’t be too surprised to see him evolve into Feraligatr. Such a pokemon was considerably powerful, especially in the right hands.

Which only made it more suspect that the Gyarados from the lake seemed to explicitly attack the poor creature.

One of the first things Red had asked Salvare upon travelling together was whether or not the kid had made any enemies, and if so, how powerful they were.

Salvare had been surprisingly tight-lipped about that, not giving any specific details outside of ‘I have it handled.’

Red had asked him about his origin in small, subtle questions in an attempt to determine how and why he seemed to have attracted someone with that level of power. However, all he could get out of Salvare was his home region of Orre, his starter being the Croconaw, and that he was apparently estranged from his parents.

How fun.

Salvare seemed to be just as lost as Red was in regards to the Gyarados, which was both relieving and very concerning. It both said that Salvare wasn’t being completely dishonest (which was more than he could ask for, given his experiences leading up to the Source Wave), but it also said that Salvare did not know who had attacked him.

Red was certain that it was a trainer who had commanded the Gyarados, because the beast seemed too composed, too focused, too disciplined to be wild.

In the end, though, Red couldn’t do much to help Salvare with an enemy he knew nothing about. While the fact that the kid did seem to have enemies was disconcerting, Red wasn’t entirely certain how many enemies he gained as Ash by the time he was seventeen.

So, for the time being, Red allowed Salvare to keep his own cards close to his chest. Red was only doing the same . If it truly became detrimental for the kid to do so, Red would be more forceful in his questions.

“How long do you think it’ll take for your pokemon to evolve,” Salvare asked, eyeing Charmander as the lizard nibbled on the remains of his meal, “Given their strength, I imagine you’ve had them for a while. I would think they’d have evolved by now.”

Red frowned, having thought of why that was himself. At the very least, Pichu should have evolved. It was exceedingly rare to find a Pichu who had fought anything tougher than a Caterpie without evolving into Pikachu. “I don’t know,” Red eventually answered, keeping the rest of his thoughts to himself.

Salvare pursed his lips, likely aware that Red wasn’t answering fully, but elected not to pursue it. He instead cast a look to the sky, which had darkened as dusk moved to night, before saying, “I think I’m going to turn in for the night.”

Red raised his hand a few centimetres, “You have a good night.”

Salvare nodded, “You as well,” Before recalling his pokemon to their pokeballs and heading towards his sleeping bag.

Red remained sitting for a few minutes longer until his ears twitched as rustles of dry grass alerted him to Pichu’s presence. Turning towards the bruised and irritable rodent, Red handed him his now-cold meal, “No luck?”

Pichu growled lowly and shook his head, dejectedly nibbling on bits of kibble as Froakie patted him on the back in sympathy.

“You’ll get it eventually, I’m sure,” Red murmured, eyes drooping as he let slumber overtake him. He could hear the lingering sounds of Pichu’s growls as he drifted off to sleep.

…

Ecruteak City, September 21st, 1997

“Hey! You guys looking for treasure?”

Red and Pichu growled in sync as they were ambushed by a clown-looking man who appeared around the corner. Salvare, meanwhile, startled before shoving the chubby man away, yelling, “Arceus! Who the hell are you?!”

The man bounded back up towards them, slyly grinning as he answered, “My name’s Infernando! Fire-breathing clown and street performer extraordinaire!” The man stepped back before placing a hand next to his mouth as he emitted a breath of flame.

Red merely blinked, vaguely remembering having met this individual years ago when he had first travelled through Johto. To his side, Salvare hastily took several steps back, releasing Croconaw from his pokeball, “Listen, guy. If you’re looking for a fight, we’ll give you one.”

Red turned his head slightly to give Salvare an eye, silently telling him that he had it handled. Salvare minutely relaxed as Red turned back to Infernando, saying, “We don’t want your product. Will you please let us pass?”

Infernando sputtered, “Now hold on! My treasure detector is a-”

“ Move ,” Red commanded impatiently, the edges of his vision turning a slight red. Infernando snapped to attention and side-stepped away, disappearing into the alley in a brink of sweat.

Behind Red, Salvare whistled, “Remind me not to piss you off,” He patted Croconaw on the head as the crocodile gave his trainer a confused look.

Red sighed, blinking away the red haze, “It’s nothing. I’m just… not exactly feeling the best.”

Truthfully, he wasn’t feeling well. While Red didn’t exactly feel sick , he felt as if something was… missing .

Instinctively, Red turned his gaze to the Tin Tower, rising over the horizon of the City. He hadn’t thought about it much, given his other more immediate worries, but over the past few days, something has nagged at him.

He didn’t see Ho-Oh.

He could remember it as if it was yesterday. After meeting Pikachu, fleeing from the Spearow, and stealing Misty’s bike, there had been a storm. Yet, after the storm had passed, Ash looked up into the sky and saw a rainbow.

And flying ahead of the trailing rainbow was Ho-Oh.

He didn’t know it at the time. In fact, it had taken him a few years to even realise that he had seen Ho-Oh in the first place.

However, this only begged the question.

Why didn’t he see Ho-Oh this time?

It almost seemed petulant to him that he was so hung up over not seeing a legendary pokemon that, had anyone else seen it, would have been the most defining moment of their life.

Yet, he couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t see it. Maybe it was because it didn’t consider him pure-of-heart? Which wasn’t entirely wrong. Or maybe it was just preoccupied with being seen by this time’s Ash.

Red didn’t know, and he didn’t like not knowing. Not knowing what was going on was what led the world to ruin. Not knowing what was going on was a death-sentence when facing off against The Chariot.

Unlike Ash, who could live without knowing exactly why things happened, Red almost felt a compulsive need to know why things happened.

Red was shaken from his thoughts by Salvare snapping his fingers in front of him, “Are you listening? Oh, yeah you are. Do you need to go to the doctor?” He asked.

Red frowned, before recalling what he had just said, “No, it’s not that I feel sick,” He paused for a moment, choosing the right word, “I’d say I’m more disgruntled than anything.”

Salvare rolled his eyes, “Anyone would be after getting jumped by that weirdo,” Salvare turned around to point at the Pokemon Center at the end of the road, “We’re almost there, though, so we can get you signed up for your Gym match and be on our way.”

“Alright,” Red nodded, once more shoving his thoughts into the corners of his mind.

…

Pokemon Center, Ecruteak City

Red returned from using the PC to find Salvare leaning forward on the public couch, staring intently at the television screen. Red turned to see a news network giving an interview with Giovanni.

Red stood behind Salvare, crossing his arms as he watched the leader of Team Rocket adjust his dark orange suit in just the right way to appear both formidable yet strangely approachable. Red tuned his ears in order to hear the television just as the interviewer gave a light laugh after Giovanni presumably said something witty.

“Now, Mr. Giovanni, the people of Indigo, and particularly Viridian City, want to know what you think about the upcoming Summit with the Sinnoh Region, given your experience with them in the past.”

Giovanni cupped his hands together, “Now, Leslie, what happened in the past isn’t important. It’s always good to look ahead,” He unclasped his hands as he leaned forwards ever so slightly, “I personally think that the World League, along with the people of Indigo, have a lot to gain by allowing Sinnoh into our ranks with open arms.”

The interviewer, Leslie, asked a follow-up question, “Do you mean to say that you’re willing to forgive them for their attacks on Viridian City?”

“Leslie,” Giovanni returned with a smile, hiding the danger in his tone, “Kanto did the same with Johto all those years ago. I see no reason why we can’t do the same with Sinnoh.”

Leslie scribbled something down off-screen, “Do you believe they will feel the same way?”

“Do we not already have proof?” Giovanni returned, leaning back against his chair, “The fact that they are electing to join the World League tells me that they have.”

“Do you have any assurances for the people of Viridian that Sinnoh will not break its word?” Leslie asked sharply.

“Why would they?” Giovanni asked in return, one eyebrow rising in an elegant display, “I do recall us having the same reservations when we joined with Johto to become the Indigo League we are today, yet they have kept their word, as have we,” Giovanni turned a sharp eye to the screen, “I believe that the people of Viridian have nothing to worry about, even in the off chance that I am wrong. We are a strong people, after all.”

There was a moment’s pause, in which the noise of Leslie flipping through notes could be heard. Eventually, she asked, “Moving on, you have recently confirmed that you will be part of the Kanto contingent that will travel to Sinnoh for the Summit. Do you have any plans for maintaining your Gym in your absence?”

Giovanni cast his eyes off to the side of the camera, “I have security in place to prevent any robberies or vandalism. In regards to Gym matches, I have yet to accept any requests. It is rather early in the Season for any challengers to realistically meet the prerequisites.”

“And what exactly are those prerequisites?” Leslie asked quickly.

“The challenger must have at least four badges to even challenge my Gym, though I give priority to those with more than that amount,” Giovanni hummed, “I only offer one challenge, though, which is specifically catered to those holding seven Badges,” He chuckled ruefully, “I have yet to be bested by anyone with less than six Badges already on their person.”

Leslie returned with another question, “Some have criticised you and a few other Gym Leaders for having these restrictions. Amongst their arguments, chief among them is that you are gatekeeping prospective trainers from furthering their careers. What do you have to say to that?”

Giovanni frowned, “I would say that these critics do not truly understand the structure of the Gym challenges,” His frown was replaced with a manufactured grin, “Gym challenges are meant to teach trainers the basics of what it means to be what they are. However, the way this is done varies by the Gym,” Giovanni extended one hand, “Some Gyms are meant to act as beginner challenges, such as Pewter or Cerulean,” He extended the other, “Other Gyms are better served towards trainers of a higher calibre, such as my own. It is not my fault that my strengths as a Gym Leader fall more into this category.”

Red’s interest began to wane as the interview moved on to more inane topics before wrapping up. In the meantime, Red noted how intensely Salvare seemed to be watching the interview, face impassive as he listened to Giovanni perfectly answer every question without fail.

Still, there were a few things that Red learned from that. The first was that Giovanni was eerily good at masking his identity as the leader of Team Rocket under the guise of being a business-oriented Gym Leader.

This only served to remind him of the leaders of Team Source.

Secondly, Red learned about some sort of Summit with Sinnoh. Red didn’t have any memories of this from his time as Ash, though he could easily chock that up to him being hyper focused on ‘being the very best’.

Still, it was interesting. Given the small amounts of history he had gleaned from bits of research he did on the PC, it seemed to relate to the peace efforts that had been led by Charles Goodshow over the past decade and a half. Given that he had only known the man as one of the top coordinators for several Conferences. It turned out that, not only was the man highly involved in many of the international tournaments taking place every year, but he was also one of the heads of the World League.

It seemed that the upcoming Summit was the most recent goal of the World League, as having Sinnoh join into the League would make it the most expansive alliance the world had seen in nearly one hundred years.

Which seemed utterly amazing to Red, given how much he had taken the interconnectivity of the regions in his past life for granted.

Red returned from his thoughts when Salvare abruptly stood up as the news channel began running ads. Salvare cast a quick look at Red before shaking his head, saying, “Sorry ‘bout that. It was… interesting.”

Red took note of the pause before shrugging, “It’s fine. I signed up for the Gym challenge, so we can head off to the battling ring for the day.”

Salvare nodded his head, visage brightening up a small amount, “Alright,” His mouth quirked into a cruel grin, “I can’t wait to see you flatten someone other than me!”

Red almost replied that he never ‘flattened’ Salvare. He would know if he did. Still, he allowed the kid to be excited. Besides, given the lack of wild pokemon he had seen, he was keen on battling someone other than the same trainer he had been travelling with for the past week.

…

Professor Oak’s Laboratory, Pallet Town

Professor Samuel Oak hummed as he analysed the readings that were just shared with the research group he hosted.

On his X-Transceiver, the faces of Professors and other researchers from across several regions made several comments as they each perused the document.

“Unfortunately, I have been unable to perform any live experiments to confirm my hypothesis,” Lorelei, the individual who shared the document, explained, “Given my other responsibilities, I have been unable to do so.”

“I’m not sure if I’m seeing this right, but are you saying that there are type energies in this wave that are not documented?” Professor Rowan asked in a gruff voice.

“I don’t see why this couldn’t be the case,” Professor Birch added in a chirp, his boyish face grinning, “I’ve read a few theories about the potential of a new type on the horizon.”

“Are you talking about the one from Kalos?” Rowan asked harshly. Completely oblivious to the man’s less-than-happy tone, Birch nodded, prompting Rowan to growl, “Then I refuse to believe it.”

“That’s rather short-sighted, Rowan,” Professor Juniper sniped with a scowl, pushing down her Minccino that had popped its head into the screen, “Professor Sycamore is a uniquely talented individual.”

“How did you find this out?” Professor Ivy cut through the rising argument to address Lorelei, “This isn’t exactly my area of expertise, so I would highly appreciate it if you could explain it to me.”

“Well,” Lorelei began, perking up, “The main thing that drove me was that we couldn’t identify certain energies from the wave. So, I simply went through the sensors we have at the Plateau and separated each unique energy.”

“And you found hundreds?!” Rowan interrupted her explanation, “I can accept maybe a couple , but to have hundreds of new types-”

“Allow her to finish,” Oak commanded sharply, prompting Rowan to sputter for a moment. Rowan glared at the screen before grumbling as he sat back. “You may continue,” Oak told Lorelei.

“Thank you, Professor,” Lorelei said, though she didn’t seem extremely bothered by the interruption, “In regards to each unique energy, well… I find that to be the question.”

“How so?” Juniper asked, though Oak had a suspicion as to what Lorelei meant.

“If each unique signature in that wave corresponded to entirely new types, then we would have hundreds of new types that we have never seen before,” Lorelei explained.

“And that would mean hundreds of entirely undiscovered pokemon, each with unique types,” Oak murmured, mind already brimming with the possibilities.

The others on the call displayed varied amounts of thought. After a moment, Ivy piped up, “Would that even be possible?”

“I would hesitate to place anything outside of the realm of possibility,” Juniper stated, drawing nods from the others.

“Maybe there are types outside of earth,” Birch proposed, “There are several stories about extraterrestrial pokemon across Hoenn.”

“Perhaps,” Oak murmured, once more drawing attention to himself. He thought for a moment, enjoying the silence that his murmur brought, before asking Lorelei, “Is it possible that - rather than each energy frequency corresponding to an entire type - the energy readings correspond to different type combinations that we have yet to see?”

“I’m not certain,” Lorelei answered with a pursed lip, “Again, I haven’t been able to do any actual tests using this data.”

“So this data sheet is worthless?!” Rowan piped up incredulously, “Is this merely conjecture?”

Lorelei’s face remained cold, though Oak could see the beginnings of her losing her patience. Oak bent forward to unmute himself and speak, but was interrupted by the irate voice of another.

“Professor Rowan!” Juniper yelled, causing Rowan to visibly pale, “You’re overstepping your bounds! Ms. Lorelei is doing us a favour by giving us this data!”

Oak began to tune out as Professor Ivy tried and failed to quell Juniper and Rowan’s argument. As it began to devolve into other topics, Oak’s Transceiver buzzed with a message.

Minimising the visual for the meeting, Oak checked his messages and sighed to himself when he saw who it was from.

Opening his message, Oak raised an eyebrow at Professor Elm’s message.

(7:16 P.M.) - ProfessorHenryElm: Sam, I don’t know if you’re still looking into it, but I triangulated the rough location of the power surge. It was somewhere within a 20-km range of Silver Town. I sent one of my aides to record any findings, and I wanted to let you know.

Oak leaned back as he pondered this new information. He’d have to let Lance know about it as soon as his current meeting wrapped up, given how close to the power wave - they renamed it, Elm - the Indigo Plateau was.

It was sure to give the Champion conniptions.

Still, Oak would have to send his own people down to that area to confirm Elm’s guess. Even though he seemed to fully believe his theory, Oak was more sceptical.

Before turning his attention back to the meeting, Oak typed out a quick response.

(7:20 P.M.) - ProfessorSamuelOak: Understood.

After sending out the message, Oak closed his chat with Elm and returned to the meeting, only to see that Juniper and Rowan were still at it. Somehow, they had even roped in Birch and Bill - who presumably joined the meeting just a moment ago - while Lorelei and Ivy remained silent.

Taking a moment to catch his breath - Oak wondered if he should rename his profession ‘babysitter’ rather than ‘professor’ - Oak ordered in a clear voice, “Each of you will stop this instance!”

As if a magic spell had struck them, the four of them snapped their mouths shut and became silent. They were well aware of Samuel Oak’s reputation before he became a Professor, and were wise enough not to push his limits.

Oak exhaled out of his nose, pinching his brow as he said, “Good evening, Bill. I’m glad that you could join us.”

“Professor Oak!” Bill seemed to be bursting at the seams, “You wouldn’t believe what I’ve got!”

The others showed varied expressions of curiosity, while Rowan still seemed grouchy. Oak raised an eyebrow as he asked, “Would you care to enlighten us, Bill?”

Bill chuckled like a maniac and procured a small glass container. The inside seemed… clear . No, that wasn’t quite right. There was something in there, but Oak couldn’t tell what it was.

“What are we supposed to be seeing?” Rowan asked, more grumpy than aggressive.

“This,” Bill started dramatically, “Is a capsule containing trace remnants of the energy from the power wave.”

Bill gave a manic grin as everyone burst into questions, overriding one another in a rising cacophony of noise. Oak muted everyone but himself and Bill as he weakly asked, “wha-?”

“Like I said,” Bill stated smugly, “This is a sample of energy from the power wave,” He jumped a bit in his seat, “It may be a miniscule amount, but it’s still enough to do some tests with it.”

“No!” Oak yelled before composing himself, “We do not know any of the properties of this energy. Testing it in anything less than the safest environment possible practically begs for it to explode.”

Bill seemed shocked, “I’m perfectly safe!”

The man only cringed as he saw not only Professor Oak, but Juniper, Ivy, and Lorelei give him identical doubtful looks. “I’m… safe,” He croaked.

“You’ve accidentally fused with a Jigglypuff in a past experiment, Bill,” Oak said drily, “You can deliver it to me, and I’ll take it from there.”

Ignoring the squawks of protest from the other Professors, Bill whimpered, “But I was the one who got it…”

Oak sighed as Bill cradled the capsule like a father would an infant. He was well aware that Bill wouldn’t part easily with something this big, especially when he was legitimately the one to achieve it. Still, even after a decade of retiring as Champion, Samuel Oak still knew how to negotiate with a tough customer.

“Bill,” He cut across the man’s whining, “I’m aware that you are proud of your achievement, as am I. But, above everything else, I am more concerned with your safety than I am with getting fast results.”

He held up a finger as Bill was about to pipe up, “I’ll allow you two weeks before I send an aide to pick up the capsule. In that time, you are allowed to record any passive readings from the energy, but you must not release it in any way. After I get it to the lab, I can coordinate times for you to teleport to the lab so that we can perform experiments in a safe and controlled environment. Does that work?”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Bill still seemed put out, though eventually he relented and sighed, “That works, I suppose.”

“Good,” Oak nodded, internally relieved that he wouldn’t have to actively pry it out of Bill’s hands, “I’ll send a heads up when the aide is on the way.”

“If I may,” Juniper began, “I’m sure the others would agree that we would appreciate it if you didn’t hold a monopoly on this research, Professor Oak.”

Oak sighed as he leaned back, listening to the argument that he had stopped earlier begin to pick up once more, this time directed at him. He belatedly noticed the freshly made tea on his counter, mentally thanking Alakazam as he began to fend off the others.

…

Ecruteak Battling Ring, September 23rd, 1997

“Quit screwing around, Pichu.”

Pichu paused midair to stick his tongue out at Red, dodging past the Graveller’s Rock Throw with ease.

Red shook his head at Pichu’s antics as the opposing trainer panicked upon seeing the pitiful mouse somehow overwhelm and overpower the quaking Rock/Ground type. Pichu performed a small jig as Graveller groaned, slumping into the ground in defeat.

As Red collected his winnings from the match, he looked across the battling ring to see Salvare and Croconaw fending off against a duo of travelling partners using Plusle and Minun. Red nodded, impressed, as Croconaw used Aqua Jet to evade attacks that would have otherwise landed on him.

Red watched for a moment, eyeing Salvare’s smirk as Croconaw’s Water Gun launched Minun into Plusle. A dull memory planted itself into the back of his mind upon seeing the smirk, vaguely remembering an almost-familiar face from the time of the Storm.

Tipping the red and white hat he recently purchased as the chronic headache returned, Red walked over to the screen overlooking the plaza. It showed the rankings of every registered contestant within the ring, both locally and globally, along with the amounts of wins, losses, and draws they had.

As the screen automatically shuffled through the myriad of contestants, Red took note of Salvare’s profile as it flashed by.

Salvare Razzo

Local Ranking: Top 10%

Global Ranking: Top 50%

Local W/D/L: 7/2/1

Global W/D/L 10/3/2

Red hummed, not having kept particular track of Salvare’s progress. To him, it seemed like the kid was doing pretty well, all things considered. While Salvare’s aggressive style didn’t work on Red, it seemed to do the trick on most opponents.

Turning an eye back to the ring, Red caught the tail end of the battle as Croconaw dashed towards a lone Plusle with a Bite , causing it to faint.

As the spectators watching the battle began to cheer, Red turned back to the screen to catch his own name scrolling by.

Red Satoshi

Local Ranking: Top 5%

Global Ranking: Top 30%

Local W/D/L: 8/0/0

Global W/D/L: 18/1/0

Red raised an eyebrow at seeing his statistics. He racked his mind for a moment, trying to recall when he had drawn with someone else, before remembering the Donphan that Pichu took down.

He could’ve sworn that it was considered a loss, though. He had even forked over the money for it, and nobody said anything against it.

It seemed that he was ripped off.

Red grumbled as Salvare bounded up to him, “Phew! That last one was tough. Croconaw really got a workout from that.”

“I saw,” Red grunted, forcing his thoughts away from the meagre amount of cash he lost, which stung nonetheless, “You seem to have taken my advice to heart.”

Salvare nodded, “I wouldn’t have won without it. Thank you.”

Red raised his hand in acknowledgement, noting the approaching woman coming up to them. He tapped Salvare’s shoulders as he turned, “Can we help you?”

The woman with flowing silver hair grinned as she placed a hand on her hip, “Is that how you greet a beautiful lady, handsome?”

Red didn’t care about whether she was pretty, and calling him ‘handsome’ was pushing it. Before Red could ask again, Salvare broke in with a sputter, “Handsome?!”

The woman’s grin widened at Salvare’s sputter, turning to him, “That’s what I said, spitfire.”

As Salvare sputtered once more over the ‘nickname’, Red asked again, “Is there something you want?”

The woman sighed theatrically, “You’re ruining my fun, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Brooding,” She perked back up, punching a fist into her palm, “I’d like a battle.”

As Red raised a slightly intrigued eyebrow, Salvare interjected, “With who?”

She turned to Salvare, teeth on full display, “You first. I’d like to save the boss for the end.”

Salvare’s face briefly went blank at the word ‘boss’ - Red took note of that - before scowling, “You’re on.”

“Hold on,” Red raised a palm in Salvare’s direction. He turned to the woman, “Why exactly do you want to battle us?” While such a thing wasn’t against the rules at the battling ring, most just used the randomly generated matches created by a computer.

The woman shrugged, examining her nails, “I watched your battles earlier today, and you both seem like a good challenge,” She grinned, though it seemed slightly more genuine to Red, “I’ve got to find tough opponents if I want to rise to the top.”

Red thought over that for a moment before nodding. It was an acceptable reason, if a bit generic. Granted, he employed the same reasoning on many of his battles as Ash, so he was not one to judge.

Salvare, meanwhile, seemed more interested, “Are you looking to compete in the Silver Conference?”

The woman struck a pose, surprising Red as a visible aura of dark energy began to emanate from her, “Yup! My name is Karen! And you better remember it when I become one of the elite!”

Karen, huh? Red could vaguely remember mentions of someone by that name rising to replace Agatha as one of the Elite Four - a dark type specialist to be exact. Just to be sure, though, he asked, “Does that mean you’re looking to become a part of the Elite Four?”

“Of course!” She exclaimed, ignoring Salvare’s sudden doubtful look, “Agatha herself is pushing for me to be her replacement by sponsoring my journey for the past few years. This year, I’m looking to win the Silver Conference!”

Red hummed as he turned his eyes toward an empty arena, snapping his fingers as he said, “In that case, I’ve found an empty spot for you two to do your battle.”

Karen gave a slightly crazed grin as she stepped to one edge of the arena, while Salvare stood uneasily at the other. A flash of light appeared next to the woman as she called forth her pokemon, synchronising with her radiating dark energy as Umbreon gracefully stepped into the ring.

Red froze for a moment at the sight of the pokemon, flashes of light, noise, smell, pain, death-

Pichu pulled his cheek, causing Red to curse as his mind focused on the physical pain rather than the alternative. This was fine. He was fine.

Giving a small murmur of thanks to Pichu, Red raised his voice in a monotone, “This is a 1-on-1. No items allowed. Forfeit will result in defeat. Begin.”

Salvare, who had grown somewhat used to Red’s nigh-fatalistic tone with battle, yelled out, “ Scary Face into Aqua Jet! ”

Croconaw’s face contorted into a monstrous glower, causing Umbreon to tremble slightly. Karen clicked her tongue and called out, “ Protect and confuse him!”

A pale shield rose around the Umbreon as it Protected against the Croconaw’s attack. Red noted to himself to set apart time to reteach the move to his pokemon. It would be a great boon for future League battles, even if it was largely useless when facing large-scale attacks.

Umbreon’s eyes glowed red as it glared at Croconaw, causing the crocodile to blink away stars as it began to stumble.

Salvare swore softly to himself before commanding, “Use Low Kick! ”

Red hummed as Croconaw spun around in a full circular kick. Umbreon had narrowly avoided it, given how close they were together, but if it had been propelled with an Aqua Jet , Red had no doubt that it would have hit.

He would have to teach Salvare about combining moves.

“ Sand Attack , keep away from it, Umbreon!” Karen called from her end of the stadium.

As clouds of sand were launched at the confused crocodile’s eyes, Salvare growled, “Use Watergun and get away from it!”

Croconaw, who had been rubbing his eyes, paused to blindly shoot bursts of water in random directions. Red hissed as the hairs on his arms went static as Karen drew the dark energies surrounding her into a focal point with the Umbreon. The pokemon weaved through the scattered jets of water with ease, aided by Karen’s aura.

It was eerily similar to how Chariot drew on his own dark aura to aid Hades.

“ Dark Pulse , Umbreon! Give it everything you got!” Karen cried triumphantly as Croconaw fumbled in joint confusion and blindness. Salvare seemed desperate, calling out his pokemon’s name in a last-ditch effort to reorient it.

It was all for naught, though, as the Dark Pulse pierced Croconaw’s side, enveloping it in suffocating dark energy as the Croconaw cried out before slumping to the ground.

Salvare gawked before jogging to Croconaw’s side. After confirming that Croconaw’s injuries weren’t major, he levelled a glare at Karen, “How’d you take him down in one attack?!”

Karen sniffed, flipping her silver hair behind her head as Umbreon rubbed against her legs, “Sometimes all it takes to end a battle is one well-placed attack.”

“It’s true,” Salvare whirled to stare at Red as the man gained a dark, faraway look in his eyes, “Even the might of legendaries can be brought down by one lucky shot.”

“Hey! Are you saying that was luck?!” Karen hollered as she rushed back towards them, “That was 100%, unfiltered, unabashed, infallible skill!” She exclaimed jokingly, striking a pose next to her Umbreon, who had also struck a pose on its hind legs…

Before it fell over.

Karen squawked as Umbreon tumbled into her, nearly knocking her off balance. Red ignored their antics as he focused on the subtle warp that twisted the air around her. It darkled. It tinct. It told caressing lies to his ear.

He acknowledged it.

It acknowledged him.

Red ignored the words spoken between Karen and Salvare, only noting the tones of their voices as being teasing and grouchy respectively. Instead, he reflected both on the dark aura exhibited by Karen and that reflected by himself.

In the past - or the future, he supposed - Ash had solidly defined his aura as mixing both fighting and electric type energies. It had become apparent after finding out how grating dark energy was against his psyche, as if it was asking, begging, existing to be fought. Destroyed.

This was part of the reason why The Chariot weighed so heavily on his soul.

Now, though, while there was still a part of his aura that screamed against the dark energies, another part seemed to welcome them.

It would be one thing if this simply meant that his aura changed to mix fighting and dark energies. While such a dramatic shift in one’s aura was rare, along with such a volatile combination as fighting and dark, it could have been argued that the bloody battles he faced during the Storm could affect him so deeply to shift him towards a darker nature.

What didn’t make sense was that he retained his electrical aura.

He knew that he still retained his electric aura. Throughout the weeks of travel, this had been proven multiple times whenever stray bolts of electricity escaped Pichu and struck Red. Given his devolution, Pichu had far less control over his latent electrical stockpile, and whenever he lost control and struck Red he had apologised profusely while insulting him for being slow - in more ways than one - in the same breath.

Red hadn’t been harmed, though. He hadn’t been for years. If he had truly lost his electric aura, he would have thought that he would at least feel some sort of pain from those occasions.

The only possibility he could think of was that he now had three aura types: fighting, electric, and dark. This didn’t make sense, though . From the limited amount that he had learned, Red was made to understand that most people only had one aura type, sometimes two.

Never three.

Red scowled to himself as he filed it away with everything else that didn’t make sense after travelling back in time. When he had the time, he would have to do research on why certain things kept on happening, such as the red eyes, his pokemons’ devolutions, the Shiny Gyarados attack, the aura typings-

“Earth to Red? Hellooooooo?” Karen snapped her fingers in front of his face, snapping him away from his thoughts.

Red batted her hand away, cringing as the latent dark energies seemed to synergise with his own, only to shred apart. Karen growled in response, though Red could see within her eyes the desire to fight, to test her mettle.

Red nodded back towards the arena, murmuring distractedly, “C’mon.”

Karen’s expression flipped back into a gleeful grin, sidestepping Salvare as he fumed over his loss. She pumped a fist into the air, “Alright! Who am I gonna be fighting? Is it going to be that foreign pokemon of yours? Or maybe the blue Charmander?” She paused to flash a goading grin at him, “Or does the little rat want to play?”

Red shook off the tendrils of dark energy that rose from her last words, remaining silent as he took his position at the edge of the arena. Pichu growled at her words and hopped off his shoulder.

If Karen was disappointed at the lack of a verbal comeback, she didn’t show it. She took her stance as well, her eyes narrowing in concentration.

Salvare called the opening of the battle, prompting Karen to command, “ Screech! ”

Red’s eyes widened for a moment as the sound reached his ears. He reflexively called upon his own aura - which felt wrong - to dispel it.

Except it didn’t.

Rather than fending off the dark aura like his aura had previously, it seemed to absorb it into his own, magnifying his senses as the shadows surrounding the battling ring seemed to become much more defined, much more real, tangible, as if he could reach out and twist it-

Electricity raced against his skin, not hurting him - never hurting him - but bringing back to reality. The red haze surrounded his vision, compounding the dull pressure that he felt in his head.

Yet, staring at Pichu dodging arcs of concentrated Dark Pulses , Red felt the overwhelming desire to keep holding on to the pressure. His aura. He hadn’t used it in any major fashion since waking at the top of Mount Silver. Anytime he tried, his chronic headache only got worse. He should check on that. Now, though, there was an almost foreign desire to hold it in .

Red closed his eyes for a moment, cycling through his mind the few lessons he had learned about controlling his aura, before opening them. If he were to look at her, he would have seen Karen turn several shades paler. He could feel his aura surrounding him, like it always had.

Yet it was different.

Whereas before, it seemed to almost mirror the aura shown by Lucario, now there were a multitude of senses joining, warring, yelling, leading, destroying, creating-

He grasped at what was familiar - Lucario had always said to start small - and connected with those small aspects that seemed pure, whole. The red edges surrounding his vision shimmered as gleams of blue crept in.

A blast caught Red’s attention, however far away it was, as Pichu rocketed back with bruises littering his small body. Immersed within the cacophony of noise that was his aura, Red couldn’t do much more than direct feelings of hope, love, appreciation, encouragement towards Pichu.

It seemed to do the trick, though, as Pichu stood up, slightly wobbly, before shaking off his injuries, giving a feral grin as he rushed back towards the battered Umbreon in a mad Volt Tackle .

Seconds before it happened, though, Red seized up, falling onto his knees as his vision shattered into shadows of red and black. The foreign voices, always drifting in the back of mind, ever murmuring, ever sighing, crashed against his mind.

“BY THE TURN OF THE CLOCK, YOU SHALL KNOW YOUR DESTINY.”

Red eyes tore into his soul, judging him.

“WHETHER IN DESTRUCTION OR CREATION, YOUR FATE WILL MEET ITS END.”

Ash snapped his head up, staring into the vast expanse of emptiness. In the darkness, he could see a single egg.

Within it held red eyes.

“GO FORTH, MY CHARIOT. GO FORTH, AND PREVAIL.”

Red returned to the world of the living, vomiting onto the ground. Waves of aura rumbled around him, creating cracks in the ground as they receded back into him.

The red haze didn’t leave his eyes.

Someone was shaking him. Small paws pulled his cheeks as coos reached his ears. His eyes refocused as he peered in front of him, seeing Pichu’s bruised form fretting over him.

The dull chimes ringing within his ears began to lessen as voices broke through the haze. Salvare was kneeling next to him, wrapping Red’s arms around his neck to aid in bringing him standing.

Voices and shouts broke through the din in his mind, soul , “-you alright? Red, can you hear me?”

Salvare’s voice was remarkably calm, as if he had experience with this type of thing.

“I’m fine,” Red croaked out, biting back bile as he stood on shaking legs, “ I’m fine. ”

The ringing was still there, however low. The red haze was still there, however light. Pichu gave a low growl at his words, not believing them for one moment. Red could see in the corner of his eye - where the red haze was most pronounced - that Salvare was much the same.

“Uhhh, so I don’t know if you noticed, but your eyes are glowing .”

Red snapped his eyes towards the voice. Karen stood a few paces away from him, watching him with concern that was well-hidden beneath a very genuine layer of intrigue.

Red belatedly realised that she was carrying Umbreon, unconscious. It seemed that Pichu won the battle. Figures.

“We can worry about that after getting him help!” Salvare snapped, his tone being mimicked by Pichu behind him, “Are you gonna help me or not?”

“ I can walk on my own, ” Red’s voice came out as a harsh whisper - a rasp - as he stumbled away from Salvare’s grip, “ I’ve dealt with worse. ”

“Okay, fine. You’ve dealt with worse. Wonderful,” Karen gave a smile that wasn’t truly kind, “Now would you kindly explain what the fuck just happened?” Once more, the edges of darkness surrounding her reached out in agitation.

This time, though, Red’s aura remained neutral, neither repelling or absorbing Karen’s own. Red hoisted Pichu onto his shoulder, wincing slightly from the pain in his abdomen, and answered in simple monotone, “ No. ”

Karen fumed silently, throwing her hands into the air. Red didn’t pay any mind to this as he absently pet Pichu on the head, who allowed the contact in a far more docile manner than usual. Red took a few moments to breathe, listening to the growing sounds of Salvare and Karen arguing, before realising something.

“Oh, you won, didn’t you,” He turned to Pichu on his shoulder, who perked up with a proud, or smug, “Pichu!” before flexing his nonexistent muscles.

Red nodded - he felt oddly buoyant - and whispered, almost to himself, “I’m glad you’re with me.”

Red and Pichu remained silent for a moment, listening to the shouts thrown around by the red-haired boy and silver-haired woman. The red haze around his vision shimmered, then faded, but remained.

His headache was far better than last time.

Eventually, he deemed it time to intervene in Salvare and Karen’s argument before it devolved into fisticuffs, “Stop. Both of you.”

While he kept his voice low, Salvare seemed to snap to attention as if he received a military order. Karen, meanwhile huffed and growled, “No, I don’t think I will,” The ever-present darkness surrounding her jittered at her nerves, “Just who the hell are you?”

“I’d ask for you to ring in your aura before I answer that,” Red responded drily, noting that the look Karen shot him was not one of surprise, but of curiosity. Meanwhile, Salvare was whispering to himself, “ The hell is aura?”

“You’re able to sense that?” She asked, pulling in her aura, before clicking her tongue, “Of course you did. After that stunt, I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Red paused, furrowing his brow, “What stunt?”

Karen gave him a disbelieving look, “Your eyes were just glowing a moment ago. That rings of aura business to me.”

Red shook his head, “I only know the basics.” It was the truth, in a sense.

Karen hummed, becoming far less aggressive than before. She leaned forward and asked in a conversational tone, “So what’s your type? Or do you have two?”

Red mentally sighed. He was of a mixed mind when it came to sharing this particular set of abilities. If word were to reach Team Source - The Chariot - it would only make things more difficult. However, given that his main source of knowledge on the subject was from the scant time with Aaron’s Lucario and the moves learned from his own Lucario, there were several key aspects about aura that he lacked knowledge on.

Karen did say she was sponsored by Agatha. Given Karen’s apparent knowledge on the subject, he could assume that Agatha was her teacher.

“I’m,” Red paused for a moment, picking his words carefully, “Fighting… and Dark.”

Karen perked up, before wincing, “Ohhh, that explains a lot . Having that combination must suck .”

“Yeah…” Red muttered, keeping the extra headache of him having the additional Electric typing to himself. She was already more interested than he was comfortable with.

“I’m Dark type, as you probably could have have guessed,” She smiled sheepishly, “Sorry ‘bout that, by the way.”

Red shrugged, trying to think of ways to move the conversation elsewhere - and to figure out what the hell was up with his eyes, they were glowing?!

“Okay, wait,” Salvare proved to be Red’s unasked for salvation as he turned to Karen and asked, “What the hell is aura?”

“Well!” Karen clapped her hands like an excited teacher, “Aura is-” She stopped, before turning slightly pensive. She shot a look to Red, “Is he trustworthy?”

While Red expected Salvare to raise a fuss over this question, the kid only turned to him with an inquisitive expression, as if he genuinely wondered about Red’s thoughts.

Red silently cursed Karen’s name once more for putting him on the spot - He had yet to decide on the kid - and responded in a clipped tone, “I don’t-”

Red didn’t get the chance to finish when a small shockwave shook the arena, blowing the hat off of his head.

Trainers all around the battling ring began to shout and scream as smoke began to rise a few blocks away, towards the direction of the Ecruteak Gym.

“Oh shit! ” Karen yelled, smacking her hand to her head, “I forgot I had my Gym match today!”

“Arceus, woman, that’s what you focus on?!” Salvare shouted to match her volume.

The ensuing shouting match buzzed around Red as his vision returned to its red hue. However, this time the crimson veil didn’t distract him from the world outside, instead honing it, focusing it, towards a single point.

A small shadow in the sky. A hot-air balloon with an ‘R’ on its side.

“...Of course it’s Team Rocket,” He sighed as the red haze diminished slightly.

Salvare ground to a halt beside him, batting Karen away as he growled out, “Team Rocket?”

“Yup,” Red’s eyes narrowed as he tracked the balloon’s movement against the sun, “...They seem to be heading northwest of the Gym.”

“That’s where the Burned Tower is,” Karen piped in, slumping against Salvare’s outstretched arm. She wriggled free of his grip, “I say we head there and kick some ass!”

“ I’m going to the Gym to see if anyone is injured,” Red began to sprint towards the road, calling out, “Feel free to do that, though!”

“Wait for me!” Salvare stumbled slightly before trailing behind Red at a slightly slower pace. Karen huffed, sending out her Murkrow, muttering as she climbed on, “I would’ve stopped there first. ‘M not completely heartless.”

…

Ecruteak Gym

Karen clicked her tongue after dismounting Murkrow, silently marvelling how Red ran fast enough to outpace her flying by over a minute.

“Are you a triathlon runner on top of everything else?” She asked as they both stepped through ashen wood.

“No,” Red murmured, effortlessly hauling a wooden beam out of the way as rangers swarmed into the Gym. “Hold on,” he muttered to her before raising his voice to the rangers, “Was Morty here?”

“No!” One of the rangers called back, “He was at the Tin Tower, last we knew of!”

“Alright,” Red muttered to himself, though Karen could hear him, “So assassination’s off the table.”

“Wait. You were expecting assassination?!” Karen yelled.

Karen stopped abruptly as a veritable wave of despair, rage , settled over her. Her own passive aura seemed to reach out and grow - and not in a good way.

Her shock gave way to a muttered voice reaching her ears, “ Remember who you are. Remember Why you are here. ”

The suffocating pressure began to lessen as the man in front of her repeated the mantra, his glowing red eyes slowly dimming to their usual dim gaze. She reeled her own aura in, shivering as Red’s trace amounts of darkness multiplied against hers.

Who in the hell is this man?

“Not assassination,” Her attention snapped back to Red, as he seemed to affirm himself of something. The man called out to the rangers once more, “Are there any dead?”

“None yet! We have several wounded!” Red’s face grimaced as one of the rangers called out in response. He turned to Karen, unaware, or uncaring, for her scrutiny of him, “I’m going to help heal them, then we can go to the tower.”

Karen shook her head to herself as Red slipped through the collapsed wooden beams with ease, following him while muttering to herself, “I’ll figure out your deal. Just you wait.”

…

“Arceus! How do you run that fast?”

Red grunted as he pushed forth another Heal Pulse on one of the injured. Thankfully, aside from a number of stolen pokemon, nobody had gotten injured beyond bruises and lacerations.

Still, Red felt the need to help.

“A consistent diet and exercise, fat boy,” Karen jeered at Salvare. The skinny - almost too skinny - redhead stepped up and watched in wonder as pink energies wrapped around Red’s arm as he healed a young girl.

Karen whistled in appreciation, “Y’know, for someone who ‘only knows the basics’, you sure know a lot about how to use aura.”

“ Save it ,” Red growled out, patting the small girl on the back as she hiccuped small tears. He turned towards the rangers, who were wheeling the healed victims to the ambulances that arrived, “Are there any more?”

“No, sir,” The ranger wiped away a strand of sweat from his brow, “Thank Arceus there were no deaths. Morty would’ve been devastated.”

“Where is he, anyways?” Karen asked, her tone clashing against the sombre atmosphere, “I would have imagined that he’d be here by now.”

“He’s probably hung up at security for Tin Tower,” The ranger answered, “Ever since it was broken into in ‘78, Ecruteak’s been hard on it.”

Red’s interest was piqued, “What was stolen?”

The ranger waved a hand, “I dunno, a girl’s body? Unidentified, but being dragged from the bottom of a lake would do that to you,” He shook his head, “Doesn’t matter. On behalf of the local ranger corp, I wanted to thank you.”

Red’s face was nonplussed, “What for?”

The ranger arched an eyebrow, “For healing the victims. What else?” He sighed to himself, before flipping open a pad of paper, “Either way, we have to report on everyone involved for when this inevitably reaches the Champion’s office, so if you could give me your name.”

Red paused for a moment, deliberating on whether to create another false name to avoid drawing interest to his endeavours, before sighing, “Red Satoshi.”

“Alright,” The ranger nodded after writing the name down, “I’d offer compensation, but I neither have the authority or the budget to do so. So…” He shrugged, scratching his hair awkwardly, “Thank you?”

“It’s nothing,” Red murmured, getting up as Salvare pulled the ranger aside to ask a few questions.

“Soooo,” Karen grinned at him, “ Heal Pulse , huh?”

Red didn’t deign her with an answer, instead scratching Pichu behind the ear in just the right spot .

“Y’know,” Karen’s words danced from behind, “I didn’t go to town here expecting to meet a rogue Aura Guardian.”

Red’s eyes snapped up at her - she held back a flinch, for they glowed crimson - “ I’m not an Aura Guardian .”

He clamped down on the memories of Aaron’s Lucario, for they reminded him of his own.

Karen put her hands up in a placating gesture, “Alright, fine. Not an Aura Guardian,” She brought down her hands, now frowning, “Still, I’ve only ever seen that level of control in fully-fledged Guardians.”

That’s interesting. “You held considerable control over yours as well,” Red pointed out, “By your own admission, wouldn’t that make you a Guardian?”

Karen’s grin was devilish, “I may be. I may not be,” Then it became brittle, “But that makes it obvious that I am,” it turned into a scowl, “ Shit , Agatha’s going to be pissed!”

Red took a moment to process that… turn of events. “So you are-”

“ Forget I said anything ,” Karen gave an easy grin as she waved a hand away.

Red’s train of thought seemed to wilt away, becoming nothing more than erroneous ideas that really meant nothi - wait a minute .

“ You tried to use Amnesia on me, ” Red spoke in a voice not his own. He didn’t even consider that moves such as that could be used to warp the mind for the implications were absolutely staggering that people could just forget and-

“Hey, I’m bac- oh, for the love of …” Salvare physically pulled Karen away as Red reigned back in the urge to rip, tear, destroy . Salvare stood in front of her, blocking her from Red’s view as he asked him, “Are you alright?”

Red took a moment to breathe through his nose, “ I’m fine, ” he breathed out of his mouth, “I’m fine.” Arceus, what was with his control recently?

“Okay, good,” Salvare nodded, “I got authorization from the rangers to pursue Team Rocket, are you still up for that?”

He’s acting as if I might fall over any moment. Red couldn’t determine whether to be annoyed by that or grateful - though he was certainly grateful that he was blocking his view of the woman - “I’m ready.”

Salvare nodded, sparing Karen a moment’s glance before heading off with Red. It slightly worried him how pale she looked, as if someone had walked over her grave.

Once they were out of eyesight, Karen released the breath she was holding, “ What the fuck… ” She had felt trapped, as if chained down.

For a brief moment, she thought she had died.

“What the fuck,” She murmured again, once more releasing Murkrow, “You better be fuckin’ thankful that I found this guy, Agatha.” She shook her head, regaining colour on her pale form, before mounting on top of Murkrow to fly.

…

The Burned Tower

Brilliant orange trees danced with the shimmering sunset to shroud the ashen shell of the Burned Tower.

Looking over the top of the burnt remnants, Red could see the faint outline of the hot-air balloon. Turning his attention to the tower itself, Red focused his aura towards one of the abilities that came easiest to him when Lucario taught him.

Red blinked, and in his mind’s eye, he Detected two wavering outlines standing within the tower. He pushed his senses further out, ignoring the strand of sweat beginning to trickle down his brow, and felt two smaller presences within the tower. One seemed to be swinging amongst the rafters while the other scuttled about on the floor.

He held a hand out to stop Salvare as the kid caught up to him, huffing up lungfuls of air, “How - gasp - the hell - cough - do you run that fast?”

Red didn’t answer, instead sharpening his gaze as another presence landed in his radar, closing in on where the two Team Rocket members were.

It didn’t take very long for him to know who it was, “Of course she rushed in,” Red muttered, releasing Charmander and Froakie. The lizard blearily blinked his eyes as Froakie croaked a quick question.

“Team Rocket, two members, unknown strength,” Red listed off, falling into familiar habits of the time immediately preceding the Source Wave. He, along with other League trainers, busted numerous compounds and bases held by Team Source, which often required quick and precise communication. Red added, “One non-hostile, capable.”

Froakie nodded as Red felt the first wave of darkness burst from Karen. It seems the battle has started. While Red didn’t think that it was likely that the two grunts inside were any actual threat to her, he didn’t want to leave it to chance, even if he wasn’t exactly trustful of her.

“Salvare, go around the tower and secure the balloon. I’ll aid Karen in her battle,” Red commanded, opening the door to the tower.

Salvare faltered, his face scrunching up as if to argue against him, but ultimately decided against it.

As Red stepped past the blackened wood that had been eaten away through the years, he could hear the sounds of Karen battling the grunts.

“ Wing Attack , Murkrow!”

“ Counter !”

“Raticate, use Super Fang !”

Silently opening the bombed out door, Red walked along the balcony overlooking the central room of the tower. On one side of the makeshift arena, Karen stood, grinning fiercely as her Murkrow pushed back against a Raticate and Primeape.

On the other side, Red’s eyebrows rose as he took in the appearances of the familiar faces of Butch and Cassidy, the secondary group of Team Rocket grunts that had harassed him from time to time.

Pichu and Charmander seemed to remember them as well, based on the growls they both gave, though that could have simply been from the fact that they were both wearing a big red ‘R’ proudly on their uniforms.

Red raised a hand to stall his pokemon from joining the battle, instead electing to watch Karen as she battled two opponents at once.

It was one thing to battle in a League-restricted battle. Some strategies that worked then didn’t carry over when fighting dirty, and vise-versa. Red had already seen how Karen performed in the former, and now he had an opportunity to see the latter.

Though, Red supposed that even Team Rocket at least had some reservations in battle.

Normally, Red wouldn’t be so callous as to watch someone battle in an uncontrolled setting from the sidelines. Even if he didn’t particularly like a person, Ash never hesitated to help someone in need.

However - call him petty - he really didn’t appreciate her trying to wash away his memories earlier. While she hadn’t exactly endeared herself real well to either him or Salvare at that point, it was that moment of attempting to warp his mind that set him off.

He was wary of her. As an Aura Guardian, she had access to knowledge that he didn’t have, and he coveted that. Still, based on what he had seen, he didn’t trust her, and by extension, the other Aura Guardians she knew, one of which was supposedly Agatha.

Red had only ever met one Aura Guardian. However, Riley seemed different to how Karen acted. He wasn’t as secretive, nor did he have any special capabilities outside of raw manipulation of aura.

Perhaps he was an example of what Karen meant by ‘rogue Aura Guardian’.

As Ash, he had been aware of there being other Aura Guardians - Sir Aaron’s Lucario had said that he could become one as well, though he decided against it - However, he knew next to nothing about them.

He supposed he could at least understand the need for secrecy. Aura was a particularly powerful tool, and it could be easily twisted into something highly destructive.

It only made him wonder how Chariot came to control it so well. Perhaps he was once an Aura Guardian?

Red returned his attention to the battle below as a particularly powerful blast echoed as Primeape fell, defeated. Red could see that Raticate would soon follow.

Turning his attention to Karen, he noted the tendrils of dark energy caressing her, making her increasingly haggard appearance seem more feral. Murkrow was sporting a few bruises, but despite a few pauses in flight, the bird remained vigilant.

Butch recalled Primeape, sending out Cloyster in response, “ Ice Beam , shoot down the bird!”

Karen cursed as she focused her dark aura into aiding Murkrow dodge the attacks. Red pursed his lip as he sensed her heightened presence, shaking his head as his mind unconsciously drew up images of The Chariot doing the same.

And having far better control over it.

It didn’t take long for Murkrow to turn one second too late, enveloping one of its wings in ice as it crashed down with a squawk. Cloyster proceeded to hit it with another, freezing both of the bird’s wings before Karen recalled it, growling as she released, “Gloom! Stun Spore !”

Yellow puffs of fumes shook off of the pitiful pokemon, catching Raticate as it slumped to the ground, twitching. Still, Red could see that Gloom wouldn’t last much longer, especially since Cassidy called out Tentacruel to aid Cloyster.

Red cast a quick glance at Karen’s belt, nodding to himself that she still had other pokemo- except she doesn’t.

Red sighed to himself, preparing to motion his pokemon into battle before the doors below crashed open as Croconaw burst through with Aqua Jet .

It seemed that Salvare had a new favourite move.

The kid himself emerged, his other pokemon rushing into the battle beside him, and commanded, “ Low Kick the Cloyster!”

Red hummed as he finally gave the wordless signal for his pokemon to join the battle. While looking at Salvare aiding Karen in her losing battle was admittedly impressive - and why did Salvare almost seem fulfilled while fighting Team Rocket? - Red was losing what little patience he had left from the events of the day.

While Gloom and Croconaw focused on Cloyster, Red’s pokemon - oh, Tentacruel already fainted. Huh…

Red almost forgot how devastating his team could be when they fought together. They hadn’t been given any opportunity to do so since the Conduit, given that League-regulated battles only allowed for 1-on-1’s and the occasional 2-on-1 and 2-on-2.

Looking at the scene below, though… Red couldn’t help but give a somewhat cruel smirk as Cloyster was torn apart, ending the battle mere seconds after his pokemon joined.

Unbidden, a voice whispered in his mind, “You’re the only one I can call my equal.”

As if a bucket of ice splashed down his back, Red’s smirk vanished, and his face went blank. He didn’t pay any mind as Salvare cried triumphantly. He didn’t pay any mind as Butch and Cassidy were accidentally sent blasting off again by Pichu. He didn’t pay any mind to Karen as she yelled at him for interrupting his battle.

Instead, his mind asked two simple questions.

Why was that so… anticlimactic?

Is this what The Chariot felt when-

Red shook his head violently, adding to the encroaching headache.

He wouldn’t think of such things. He couldn’t.

They say it’s lonely at the top.

“Salvare!” Red barked, willing his mind away. Salvare snapped to attention - military? - as Red sharply asked, “Why aren’t you at the balloon?”

It was small. It was somewhat petty. It was a distraction . Salvare answered stolidly, “I sabotaged the balloon so that they wouldn’t be able to escape. I came in to aid in battle.”

Red breathed in and out, juggling a multitude of thoughts and emotions that he really wanted time to himself to sort through. Regardless, he asked, in a softer tone, “How much of the battle did you hear?”

“Just about all of it,” Salvare answered, remaining in attention, “The tower isn’t really soundproof.”

“In that case,” Red allowed his anger, confusion, frustration, hatred , burn into his smile, “What did Karen do wrong?”

Karen squawked, but was unable to get in a word as Salvare answered, a dark smirk growing on his own face, “She had two pokemon ready for battle, and she only used one at a time.”

“ Correct ,” Red hissed, repeating one of many mantras he adopted in the past years, “ Never restrict yourself to others’ expectations,” He ignored that he first heard that from Chariot’s lips, “If she did that, she likely would have been able to take them both on her own.”

“Oh fuck you!” Karen shouted, flipping Red off - He would deny gaining a dark satisfaction; Arceus, his new typing was messing with him, wasn’t it? - She whirled onto Salvare, who was giving a smaller, but no less smug, grin, “Can you believe him?!”

“Yeah,” Salvare replied easily, “He’s my mentor.”

Perhaps it should have been obvious, but upon hearing this, Red couldn’t help but hear a voice spiralling around his mind.

“You would have made the perfect protege.”

Red rubbed his head as Salvare and Karen started yelling at each other… again .

Arceus, this entire day has been fucked.

Red opened one of his eyes as he belatedly sensed another presence. His Detect had long since expired, but he could hear the encroaching footsteps of someone approaching.

Snapping his fingers once to signal his pokemon for a potential fight, he waited until the burnt door swung open and Morty stepped in to stare at the argument below.

Red minutely lowered his hand, allowing his pokemon to stand down, before calling out, “If you’re here for Team Rocket, we took care of them.”

Morty startled slightly, not having known Red was there. After huffing a breath, Morty bowed according to Johto custom, “You have my gratitude, and I ask that you extend it to your friends when they are done.”

Red scowled for a moment, thinking that he could maybe call one a friend, and the other a nuisance, at best. Still, he bowed back, “It was our honour to be of service.”

Morty nodded distractedly, looking at Red’s pokemon before blinking to himself, “Hold on a minute, you’re…” He paused for a moment, snapping his fingers in thought, “Red! Satoshi! Clair’s told me about you.”

Wonderful. “At your service,” Red murmured.

“I know that you scheduled your Gym Match two days from now, but you’ve helped a lot of trainers by saving their pokemon. The rangers are out back sorting through the pokeballs that were stolen,” Morty reached into a pocket, taking out a golden container containing rows of badges. Before Red could ask what he was doing, three Fog Badges were shoved into his hands, “I wish I could give you more than this, but regardless, you’ve done my Gym a great service.”

“Why, thank you,” Red said, somewhat surprised, “But I believe Salvare has already earned one.”

Morty eyed the red-haired teen before nodding slowly, “I remember, actually. His Croconaw was very strong,” He allowed Red to return one of the badges.

“I’ll be sure to relay the praise,” Red murmured, before Karen pierced his ears with her voice.

“HEY! You’re the Gym Leader, right!”

Red saw Morty wince from the volume, yet remain composed enough to answer, “I am, and I was just-”

He was cut off, “Don’t care!” She pointed at him, dark energies spiralling down her arm, “I’m taking you down tomorrow, you hear me?”

Morty paused for a moment, obviously trying to think of how to say that she had earned the badge already. Red took a small amount of pity and leaned next to him, whispering, “It’ll just be easier if you humour her.”

Morty caught his eyes and rolled his own, no doubt having experience with overzealous trainers - elsewhere, Ash sneezed - and replied, “Alright, I’ll meet your challenge tomorrow,” He turned back to Red as Karen preened in an overabundance of self-worth, whispering, “Is she with you?”

“ Arceus, no, ” Red whispered back.

Morty nodded, a faraway look entering his eye, “Good luck keeping it that way. She plans on following you, you know?”

“I’m sorry?” Red asked, a small pit of dread entering her stomach.

Morty tilted his head as he began to slowly step towards the exit, “She kept stealing glances of you, searching, challenging… I believe she finds you interesting, perhaps as a rival of sorts.”

Without conscious thought, Red couldn’t help but hear Gary’s voice sneering, “Ashy-boy.”

He sighed to himself as they stepped out of the Burned Tower, Salvare and Karen trailing them as they railed onto each other. He really hoped Morty’s words didn’t come true. Just a single day in her company was exhausting.

Truly, he couldn’t be that unlucky. Could he?

…

Outskirts of Ecruteak City, September 24th, 1997

“ Should’ve left last night. Might’ve saved myself the headache. ”

Red muttered to himself as he hiked west with Salvare stalking behind him.

And behind Salvare, Karen happily trailed them both .

“So…” Salvare came up next to Red, appearing somewhat uncomfortable, “Are we gonna be going our separate ways, now?”

Huh? Oh yeah, he did say that he’d decide if they kept travelling together after Ecruteak. Red sighed to himself as he said, “Don’t worry, you can stay. You’ve been a good student, all things considered.”

Salvare grinned, “Thanks, Red,” He nodded to himself, “And you’ve been a good teacher.”

As surprising as that fact is. Red kept silent as he scratched Pichu behind the ear.

He reflected on the past week, from the time he first took upon Salvare to now. It had been an adjustment, having to look after not only himself but also Salvare.

Not to mention the secrets they both kept.

Now, with Karen being an ever present shadow - much to Red’s and Salvare’s shared dissatisfaction - he’d have to keep a closer eye to what he said.

Intellectually, Red knew that, eventually, he would have to lie, cheat, steal, and manipulate to outmanoeuvre Team Source. But he had hoped that it would at least take a month before he had to do so.

Arceus, it hadn’t even been a month.

Red hummed to himself as Karen ran up to mutter something into Salvare’s ear, which had apparently been provocative enough to incite a verbal explosion. She seemed to relish in his anger, her dark aura flaring as she gave a devilish grin.

It was going to be a constant battle going ahead. If not physically, it would be with words, actions, what was revealed and what wasn’t .

Once more, his eyes took to the skies, and he wondered if this was the reason why Ho-Oh never appeared to him. Ash never had to lie about his purpose, his existence , to move ahead. Ash had been perhaps the most honest person there could be.

Red, however, was the opposite. Almost everything he said to others up until now had been a lie. His entire identity was nothing more than a forgery crafted by him and Herren.

This train of thought led to one, simple, revelation that caused Red to momentarily pause.

He shouldn’t exist.

Red automatically resumed his pace, face set in stone as the question that had been plaguing him was finally answered. The question beyond just why Ho-Oh never appeared. Beyond why certain things seemed to be just slightly off.

Why did the world around him seem slightly… warped ?

Because with every step he took, waves of change reverberated across the world.

…

Logged in as: The_Chariot

Opening Filename: Candidates_09_06_97

Name: Wally Hyde

Age: 13

Hometown: Petalburg City, Hoenn

Sponsor: Norman Haruka [Petalburg Gym-Leader]

Current Pokemon: Ralts [Male][Starter][Larger than normal → Upcoming Evolution?], Skitty [Female], Swablu [Male]

Current Location: Lilycove City (Mobile)

Psych Profile: Skittish; Very Passive; Enjoys company with Pokemon, particularly his Ralts; Naive; Wishes to gain independence from parents; Curious

Evaluation: Wally appears to be a child who is lost in multiple ways. From what I can gather, he had a sheltered childhood, due to his poor physical constitution. Because of this, he has developed an independent streak against his parents. He also shows a healthy curious side, as I have observed him researching aspects of the Gardevoir/Gallade line far more thoroughly than many professional researchers. With some persuasion, I believe he would be a valuable asset to our research.

Misc Notes: Given his age, I would recommend against placing him in any of the high-risk assignments (I’m talking to you, Chariot). While he is a capable battler, I believe that his use is best served towards our research goals. In particular, given his existing interests, I would highly recommend assigning him to Project A.N.E.M.I.A. One last note, I recommend taking a softer approach with Wally than the others. He is still a minor and has pre-existing issues concerning self-confidence. I’m well aware that you’re capable of subtlety, Chariot, so I would highly appreciate it if you could employ that with this case.

Name: John (Johnny) Kiru

Age: 19

Hometown: Fallarbor Town, Hoenn

Sponsor: [NONE]

Current Pokemon: Ariados [Male] [Utility; Minimal Battling Capabilities]

Current Location: Fallarbor Town

Psych Profile: Dreamer; Main passion is astrology; Shuts away from physical contact

Evaluation: This individual seems to prefer the cosmos more than human interaction. In all honesty, he probably fits in better with Team Galactic than he does with us (which is actually an interesting consideration. It would be nice not to have to rely on Chariot to spy on them for us). John seems particularly interested in the legends of the Delta Pokemon, apparently believing it to be from space. He has made a number of excursions to Meteor Falls to do research on the Draconite Clan (I think I spelled that wrong. Magician, could you do some research on that clan? I’m unable to find anything on it). Depending on whether we can sell our goals to his more space-oriented mindset, I think he could be a useful asset. (Chariot, I’ve seen you work miracles before. This guy won’t be too difficult).

Misc Notes: [NONE]

Name: Riley Claw

Age: 17

Hometown: Blackthorne City, Johto

Sponsor: Clair Blackthorne [Blackthorne Gym-Leader]

Current Pokemon: Seadra [Male][Starter], Shelgon [Male][Recently Evolved], Grovyle [Female], Dragonair [Female], Trapinch [Male]

Current Location: Lavaridge Town (Mobile)

Psych Profile: Exceedingly Proud; Enjoys battling; Somewhat vain; Respects her sponsor, has distaste for the greater Blackthorne Clan (Chariot and Magician, I believe you both have experience with them).

Evaluation: She placed in 3rd for last year’s Silver Conference, and has defeated three Gyms in Hoenn so far. Based on her track record, she has a decent shot at placing 2nd, or even 1st, in the Ever Grande Conference next Summer. She would be a highly valuable battler for the organisation, and I believe we could potentially play towards her qualms against the Blackthorne Clan to our advantage. Of course, I’ll defer to Chariot on handling this case.

Misc Notes: Avoid talking poorly of Clair Blackthorne. The rest of the Blackthorne clan is fair game (including Lance), so feel free to rail on them if you so desire (Though why you all hate that clan is a mystery to me).

I’ll let you all know if there are any major updates on these candidates. Either way, good luck on all of your projects.

-The_Tower