Chapter 6

It was a long while before anyone said anything after they buried Klecer. Red didn't see any use in taking him out of his Pokeball considering it couldn't be used again. Cinder and Leta were noticeably sad, the Charmander unable to look at the pile of earth they put him under while the Butterfree was on the ground and not flying happily as usual. His Nidoran was standing off to the side and looking rather apathetic.

They sat on the edge of Pewter City where Red had fled to after the battle. The place they buried Klecer had a great view as it was at the top of one of the mountains at the east eastern fringe of the city. Below them was a slope that led to a grassy valley surrounded on either side by sheer rock cliffs.

Honestly, Red's emotions were someone in the middle of the Cinder and Hurzer but leaning towards his Nidoran's. He didn't know Klecer very well and what little he did know just made him seem quite arrogant. But as single minded as he was with the pursuit of strength it still felt like he wanted something outside of just being a subservient doormat.

However, the same arrogance of his couldn't be attributed to the Poliwhirl. Every time she would talk to him, all she would say is about how she knows her family was missing her and how they needed her, both emotionally and as a protector. She seemed like she would have been a good friend to Red if she was human.

Were they my...wards, my charges under my care? He thought. Was it my duty to be their guardians? No, that's absurd. As wild animals they die in the wild all the time. No difference in dying in trainer battles.

Cinder walked up to Red and hugged his side, a gesture he did that always cheered him up.

"Don't beat yourself up, Red," the Charmander said. "You tried your best. These things...they can't be avoided."

The trainer smiled a little.

"I just wish you had sent me out in their place," Leta said. "I know my wings would have prevented them from hurting me. They couldn't touch me no matter what type they were."

The Nidoran groaned.

"I can't believe you guys are getting all teary eyed over those two," she said. "Fighting-types live for battle so Klecer died how he lived. And that Poliwhirl was just too soft for her own good. She was strong but her naivety would have gotten her killed."

Leta gasped.

"That's horrible!" the Butterfree said. "That's despicable to say! Don't say that...Red just lost them! We lost them!"

"There is no we," the Nidoran said. "Not really. He uses us like humans use the tools they make. Except we're not comrades or friends. Only objects."

Red scowled at the Poison Point Pokemon.

Pokemon are lower than humans. He thought. We have the right to use them if we want to as we are the only truly civilized creatures.

"But-" Leta said.

The trainer gestured for her to stop.

"There's no point in arguing," Red said. "Let him think what he wants."

"Good way to avoid questions you don't want to answer," a voice said.

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Red turned to see Brock behind him. The Pewter City gym leader stared him down with his arms crossed in front of him. The young man looked away from his stoic gaze, too angry to face him.

The way Red saw it, the gym leader was nothing more than an obstacle in his way to not being mocked. If he could, he would have paid Brock to lose the battle so he could go home without being bullied by his peers. But no, this man put up a real fight and ruined that idea.

"Whose that?" Cinder asked.

"Brock," Red answered. "Why...why did you come here?"

"To request you reconsider why you lost," he said. "Why is it you think you lost?"

The question made the trainer too tense to answer, his lips sealed with fear.

"Well?" Brock demanded.

"I'm-" he said. "I'm not as experienced as you?"

"Wrong," he said. "Blue, the other trainer from Pallet Town, was not as experienced as I am. Yet he defeated me. And the reason he defeated me was because, in the midst of battle, he never lost his head."

Brock shook his head.

"For example, you were too afraid of my first Pokemon to give an order at first which allowed me the clear advantage," he said. "Trainer battles are fundamentally different then wild encounters for the reason that the Pokemon under the trainer's care rely upon the trainer for orders. In the wild they act on instinct but spend enough time with the Pokemon and that instinct to act on their own dies. In this way, Pokemon become helpless as they're too used to replying upon trainer orders to do anything."

Red turned to glare up at him.

"I know that!" he yelled.

"Then you have a horrible battle instinct," Brock said. "Hypnosis is an unreliable move, especially to a Pokemon that's fast or aware they have to stare at the user to be put to sleep. You should have used a Water move as you were just wasting time."

Red sighed angrily.

"In fact," Brock said. "I think you knew to use a Water attack but second guessed yourself and decided not to."

"How did you know?!" he demanded.

"Because there were several times in the battle you just seemed to pause and do nothing," Brock said. "As if waiting for some ideal time I'd just casually let me guard down or try to find the perfect logic. Your mistake wasn't just not using a Water move sooner but which one to use. You should have used Water Gun to counter the Sand Tomb as, even though it's not as strong as Bubblebeam, you might have been fast enough to actually both intercept my attack and hit Onix with it. And you made the grave mistake of using Bulk Up when your Mankey was most vulnerable. I'm sorry Red, but considering that trainers have to reliably plan good, logical tactics in mere seconds means you are a long way from joining the Kanto military."

The trainer continued to glare up Brock.

"So what you're saying is," Red said. "I should give up because I'm not good enough."

"Red he didn't say that at-" Cinder said.

"I'm saying reconsider your career choice," Brock stated. "You seem to have this...this aura of timidity about you. You have no backbone, no spine...Pokemon training is not for the faint of heart and to take the gym challenge with your mental fortitude...I weep for your Pokemon as I can tell you that you will not win a single badge with your lower than average amount of guts."

"I can overcome it!" Red cried. "I know I can! Just keep your eyes on Channel 59 over the next few months! I might have lost to you but I'll win against the Cerulean Gym!"

"Don't," Brock warned. "Not only is Misty too strong for you but Team Rocket has been repeatedly spotted in Mt. Moon conducting illegal activities. Mt. Moon being necessary to travel from Cerulean to Pewter City, everyone has been warned not to travel through the area for fear of the Rockets. I was supposed to go there but you showed up and I had to postpone my confrontation with them."

"Team Rocket?!" Cinder shouted. "Red...we'll be killed if we encounter them!"

"We'll be careful," the trainer said.

Red shook his head. He gestured for his three Pokemon to follow. Leta and his Nidoran sprung into action as he walked down the hill of the mountain to enter the valley. His Charmander, however, lingered a little bit as he stared up at Brock. Red stopped before turning around and glaring.

"He has a point," Cinder said. "I told you the same thing. Maybe you do need to reevaluate your priorities."

"We'll get stronger," Red said. "I know we will. Champions of Kanto...that's what I have to be before Blue can be it."

The Charmander looked up at Brock whose stoic gaze met the Fire-type's. They looked at one another for a moment with some amount of understanding. Red felt uncomfortable at the sight before Brock shook his head and headed back to town. Cinder ran back towards his trainer with a slow gait as though he were wounded. The sight made Red's heart grow heavy as he hated seeing his only friend sorrowful.

I guess it's not just the confidence of my hometown I'll have to win back. Red realized. It's my Pokemon's as well.