Chapter 4

"Bubblebeam, Poliwhirl!" Red shouted.

She blasted the Beedrill backward with a stream of bubbles emitted from her hands that burst upon impact. The Bug and Poison-type's body exploded into pieces. The Water-type looked virtually the same from its evolution, only growing longer, stouter legs, new arms and no longer having a tail. Other than that, she only looked bigger.

Red looked to the right to see his Nidoran's horn had a Weedle impaled on it. The horn had grown considerably since he caught him by a few inches, meaning it was close to evolution. The Poison Pin Pokemon shook off the Bug-type that had attacked them so that its impaled body fell to the ground. They stood at the edge of Viridian Forest, the exterior of the forest visible from the tree line.

"Nice job you two," Red said. "I see you've both improved. I just wonder where-"

"We're back!" a familiar, feminine voice could be heard.

The trainer turned to find Klecer traveling through the canopy overhead. Below him was Cinder, racing as fast as his short legs could carry him while a large butterfly with a purple body and black and white wings flew toward them. The Butterfree flew toward them before hovering above Red.

"I still can't get used to these wings!" Leta said. "It's just so amazing! I feel like the wind itself!"

He sighed. The Bug-type had told him her name as a Caterpie, apparently meaning "summer blessing". He wasn't sure how long she was going to live considering how fragile most Bug-types were but figured she'd be of some use until her possible demise.

"Yeah, yeah," Klecer said. "You haven't shut up about it since you hatched out of that cocoon or whatever. Give it a rest already."

Despite his dismissive words, Leta did somersaults in the air.

"I just couldn't imagine being anything but a Flying-type!" she said.

The trainer sighed.

"Alright guys," he said. "The time to take on the gym approaches. Feels just like yesterday that you were nothing but weaklings. Now...I feel you can defeat Brock."

"Let's get this over with," the Poliwhirl stated. "The sooner this challenge is over with, the sooner we can leave you."

"Shows what you know," Klecer said. "Coward. I can't wait to see how strong I am."

He nodded. Red gestured for them to follow him as they left the thick canopy of the forest and crossed the short field in front of them. Upon leaving the meadow and being exposed to the morning sunlight they entered the city.

The entire city was surrounded by rugged mountains made from sheer cliffs or craggy stone, the towering land formations dwarfing everyone and giving a sense of helplessness to you. The paths were cobblestone and it made a hard, loud noise as they walked. Every house in sight was at least partially constructed from stone, usually black or gray in color.

He passed by the Pokemon Center that he'd visited many times before to heal his Pokemon before walking past the Poke Mart he'd bought items from just yesterday. The only thing Red looked directly at was the Pewter City gym. He took the Pokeballs from around his waist and returned all but Cinder. Upon reaching its doors, he opened them up to find a lobby where a receptionist was behind a desk. She looked up from her paperwork as Red approached.

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"Trainer looking to challenge Brock, eh?" the woman with a blond bun asked.

"Sure am," he stated.

"Well," she said. "I can schedule you for an appointment at noon today against two trainers. If you beat them you can face Brock, say...before the week is over?"

Red nodded.

"I'll try my best!" he said.

"Good," she said. "Just try not to leave the gym in as much mess as that other kid did about your age."

Red raised an eyebrow.

"Other kid?" he asked. "What was his name?"

"Blue," she said. "He won against Brock, oh...I think it was a month or so ago…From Pallet Town I think. Did you happen to know him?"

He gritted his teeth, desperately not trying to pound the desk in front of him.

So focused on my own training in the wild that I've lived under a rock the past few months. Red thought.

"Red," Cinder said, recognizing he was angry. "Calm down. Better yet save that anger for the battle."

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There wasn't much need to. Both trainers' Pokemon were weak to his Poliwhirl's Water Gun to such an extent it nearly killed them. Red had gotten better at handling pressure in the recent months of training and the idea of type advantage was enough to keep him calm. The second trainer seethed in anger after he was forced to recall his Pokemon.

"Brock will destroy you," he said before walking off the battlefield. "As a gym leader, he rarely loses."

Red returned his Poliwhirl to her Pokeball before leaving the battlefield. After entering back into the lobby he turned away from the receptionist while Cinder, the only Pokemon he had out with him at the time, walked with him to head back to the edge of Viridian Forest. There was an encampment there where a few local trainers in the area slept and offered free tents.

"Did you win?" the receptionist asked.

He turned to nod before walking out of the gym.

"That went pretty smooth," Red said after leaving. "I have a good feeling about this. Blue might be ahead of me but not for long."

"Red," Cinder said. "Just...just don't lose your head when you fight Brock. And no matter what...I'll always be your friend."

Red smiled and shrugged.

"You make it sound like you'll leave me after the fact," he said. "Did you see how that guy crumpled before Poliwhirl? We'll be okay."

"I know," he replied. "But...I know you have this tendency to...you know."

"What?" Red asked.

"Say you don't win," the Fire-type suggested. "And you think that because you lost...you're a failure to your father."

"Not to him," Red said. "I don't care about him. He wasn't home most of the time and his legacy only brought me shame. I want to show those kids in Pallet I'm not a failure."

"But don't you think it's pointless?!" Cinder cried.

That made him stop in his tracks to which Red looked down at him, exasperated.

"Here we go again," Red said with an eye roll.

"You'll still be the same person whether you win or not!" he said. "If you can't beat your father or Brock then shouldn't you just move on?!"

"And live known as the weakling who couldn't even beat Blue?" Red asked. "No way. We've had this conversation before and-"

"Red," Cinder said. "You don't even like Pokemon battling. You dislike combat. I can see it in your face. You hate violence. You're a kind, nice person. Don't you want to give this up? Maybe...maybe release some of them-"

"No!" he shouted.

The Charmander cringed in fear. Noticing the sharpness in his voice, Red tried to regain control of himself. He shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I-I lost my temper. I...I needed-"

"You need to think about people other than yourself," the Charmander said. "Leta and Klecer don't mind but Wisa and Hurzer wish to leave and go back to their original home."

"You know everyone's name?" Red asked.

"I do my best to listen to everyone," Cinder said. "But I'm the only one you listen to. Red, remember how all those years ago you promised to never throw me away because you thought 'what right does a person who's been cast aside have to cast aside others'? Well...why can't you apply that logic to your other Pokemon?"

The trainer looked away from his Charmander, unable to face him. His face was contorted with guilt and he was struggling to throw up a reasonable answer. He was struggling to justify himself, unable to find the words he thought would convince his Pokemon.

Instead, Red took Cinder's Pokeball from his waist and enlarged it before calling him into it. The Lizard Pokemon was swallowed in a flash of light just as an expression of shock spread across his face. Red looked at him through the transparent red half of the Pokeball, his gaze somber.

"Because you were my first friend," Red said. "I could never treat you like that."

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