Chapter Text
If I could carry out his wish, I will live with no regrets….
"We're here," I whispered as the cool breeze brushed my face.
Typhlosion barked in agreement.
"Can you believe it? We're finally in Pallet Town!" I stroked his head.
Typhlosion and I have been traveling since our first meeting back at New Bark Town at Professor Elm's lab, where I met him as a Cyndaquil. Ever since I was a kid, I've wanted a Pokémon companion to take with me on a journey. After a year I defeated all the gym leaders, collecting eight badges and finally went to the Pokémon League. In no time, I became the Johto champion. Knowing I wanted to further my travels, Professor Elm gave me a ticket to the SS Aqua to Vermilion City in Kanto, a region next to Johto. I remembered being so eager about a new region and challengers that I invited my best friends Lyra and Silver on the cruise. Lyra and I joked and laughed at poor Silver who got seasick.
I traveled throughout the Kanto region; collecting all their badges as well. However, I wasn't the first champion of Kanto. Throughout our journey we often heard stories a boy who was the first to defeat all eight gym leaders. After traveling for less than a year he made it to elite four and won with barely a scratch on him; becoming the first champion of Kanto. And to top it off, the boy was only about twelve years old.
Typhlosion nudged my leg.
"Ahaha…sorry for daydreaming so much." I smiled and rubbed his head.
Typholsion trotted away quickly.
"Hey you little-wait for me!" I hollered, trying to catch up.
I caught up with Typlosion and walked to the famous Professor Oak lab. I've met him on a few occasions, and like Professor Elm he always admired me. I was surprised to see him after I defeated Lance at the Pokémon league. Because of Mary's constant pestering of questions, Lance dragged me away before I could say much to Professor Oak. Afterward Professor Elm called me saying that Oak wanted me to visit him once I defeated all the Kanto gym leaders.
It was a sunny mid morning with a bright blue sky. Pallet Town was quite simple but pretty. The houses were all very small and similar, with two stories at most. The lawns were lovely and some people were watering their plants. Children were playing on the streets, with the sound of their laughter enveloping the area. A few older kids were racing on their bicycles.
"I should bike here with Lyra and Silver," I thought out loud. "Oh crap! That reminds me! I gotta call em to meet here first!" I quickly grabbed the PokeGear around my neck and dialed their numbers. Typholsion stopped running and looked back.
"Hello, Gold?" Lyra's childlike voice answered.
"Yo whatsup? You there already?" Silver answered.
"Yeah I'm already at Pallet Town. Where are you guys?" I asked, looking around.
"We're at route 1 so we're almost there." Lyra replied.
"Yeah don't go in without us! We wanna see the old man too!" Silver panted like he just ran.
"Alright I'll be right in front of the lab. It's a huge building; you can't miss it with all these little 1950s looking houses." I said.
"Got it." They responded before hanging up.
I didn't have to wait long before I saw Silver and Lyra running towards me. I waved my hand.
"Hey!" Lyra stopped in front of me. "Hi there Typhlosion!" Lyra patted Typlosion's head affectionately.
"Dude, how the hell did you get here so fast?" Silver said as he caught up behind her. For someone with short, skinny legs, Lyra was always a fast runner. She impressed all the boys in our hometown.
"I walked here," I smiled.
"Show off." Silver responded, still panting. "Anyway, are we on time?"
"We should be. The Professor didn't exactly give us a specific time." I said.
"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go inside!" Lyra pushed passed us. I returned Typhlosion to his pokeball and followed her inside.
"Huh? Where's the Professor?" Lyra said looking around as we walked in.
Suddenly a familiar spiky brown-haired guy appeared in front of us.
"Oi! You guys looking for Gramps?"
"Hey Blue! It's been awhile, man!" I said joyously.
"Eh? Blue why are you here? Shouldn't you be at the Viridian Gym?" Lyra tilted her head.
"I'm off for today. By the way did Gold tell you guys? The little runt managed to defeat me. Man and I haven't even been running the gym all that long." Blue scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Heh…" I didn't know exactly what to say because it was true. I heard the former gym leader was gone, so I was curious to know who the new gym leader was. I was surprised to see it was Blue, the former champion of Kanto. However, I heard he was defeated by the true champion easily, making his title lasting only a matter of minutes. I couldn't imagine the frustration he must have felt. Not to mention humiliation. Still, Blue was a cool guy despite his attitude.
"Hey! Who the hell you callin' a runt?!" I snapped at Blue.
"You've always been short," Silver snickered.
"But it's okay! That makes you adorable!" Lyra put her arm around me and ruffled my hair.
"Sh-Shut up! And cut that out!" I tried pushing her off while Silver and Blue cracked up.
"Well hello everyone!" an older voice said. "I didn't expect so many guests."
We all turned to see Professor Oak coming in with a ton of paperwork in his hand.
"Professor!" Lyra and I said in unison. Silver slightly bowed his head to him.
"Hey Gramps. Oh here lemme help you with some of that." Blue took most of load in his arms.
"Thank you Blue. Okay kids, come over here so we can sit and talk." Oak gestured to the seating area with two couches and a coffee table in the corner of the lab.
After we settled down, Blue offered to make us coffee while we spoke with the professor.
I noticed a picture to on top of a desk drawer next to the couch Silver was sitting on. It was Professor Oak and Blue in what looked like a garden. Oak had a proud smile on his face with his arm around Blue. Blue wore his usual smirk in the picture. Then I noticed someone else in the picture. To Professor Oak's right was another teenage boy around Blue's age. Only he had a completely different expression. He had silky black hair covered by a red hat. The shadow of his hat that nearly covered his mysterious red eyes. Unlike Professor Oak and Blue the strange boy showed no emotion in the picture. He looked familiar but I couldn't remember where I've seen such a person. I didn't know why, but I was drawn to the red-eyed boy in the picture.
"Gold! Long time no see. You've seen to have grown even more the last time I saw you as the champion." Professor Oak snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Oh- uh yeah, seems so long ago. Nice to see you again, sir." I said.
"And Lyra and Silver, was it? Nice to see you again too. You drag these guys everywhere with you, don't you Gold?"
Silver chuckled. "We only follow him around for our personal entertainment."
Lyra giggled. "We only came with him cuz we wanna see the famous lab in Pallet Town".
"Hey!" I quickly turned to them.
Professor Oak smiled. "Anyways, how's your Pokedexes coming along? Any new discoveries?"
"Oh yeah! We saw a lot more Pokémon we've never seen before in Johto! I tried catching them all but half the time I ran out of Pokeballs… Lyra said sheepishly.
"More like you ran out of money for them..." Silver side glanced her. Lyra pouted.
"Well let's have a look at your progress so far. You've all come a long way on your journey since New Bark Town, so I'm sure you've made remarkable progress." Professor Oak said hopefully.
Blue walked in with our coffee mugs as we handed our Pokedexes to the Professor. While he looked over each one, Blue spoke up.
"I still can't believe how far you guys traveled. And I thought I was impressive when I was a traveling rookie. And this one here collected 16 badges! This midget is a freaking tank!" He pointed at me.
Lyra laughed and Silver shook his head.
"You must be feelin' proud, runt." Silver said sarcastically.
"What? It's nothing really! I mean… And quit making fun of my height!" I growled.
I couldn't deny it though. I was always one of the shortest amongst the other children. While some of the shorter kids had sudden growth spurts I didn't. At sixteen I was only 5'4. Even the petite Lyra was barely shorter than me.
"Alright so aside from Gold's short stature I have further things to discuss." Professor Oak said humorously to my annoyance. "First I'd like to say congratulations to the three of you as you are all nearly complete with your Pokedex. I know some Pokémon are rare but I am proud in what you've accomplished in your travels."
Lyra and I smiled proudly.
"So what now? Do we keep searching 'til we complete our Pokedex?" Silver asked.
"Well there is…" Professor Oak trailed off.
"Gramps! Were you about to say what I think you were gonna say? I think not! Those kids will get their asses killed!" Blue suddenly shouted.
"The hell are you freaking out about? I can handle just fine on my own!" Silver said irritated.
"Hey relax you two! Anyways, Sir what is it you were going to say?" Lyra said.
"Well, given how much you've traveled so far, I'm sure you all heard of Mount Silver right?" Professor Oak rubbed his chin.
We all froze. Indeed, we have heard of the infamous Mt. Silver. It was a mountain that stood in between Johto and Kanto. It was known for its below freezing weather and being home to incredibly powerful wild Pokémon. Hardly anyone was allowed to enter. Awhile back I remembered passing the gate on my way to the Pokémon League. Curious, I went up to the gate but a guard stopped me saying it was too dangerous. At the time I had eight badges, so I thought I was invincible. But hearing that not even trainers at my level were allowed to enter humbled me from further curiosity.
"I really don't know, Gramps…" Blue rubbed his temples. "Only trainer strong enough to go there was him. But that little bad ass defeated Team Rocket, all eight gym leaders, and became the champ within a year."
"Yes well wouldn't you say Gold is nearly his level?" Professor Oak challenged.
"Huh..? What are you talking about?" I gave them a puzzled look.
"Gold became the champion and defeated sixteen gym leaders. Not to mention Team Rocket did in fact return to try to make a comeback. But Gold here stopped them before they were officially reunited. And he eventually became the champion in about a year. Pretty impressive I say, don't you think? Sounds like a bad ass to me." He said with humor and confidence.
Silver rolled his eyes at the older man's remark.
But it was true. Team Rocket did in fact make a return. Lyra and I were exploring Goldenrod City when we decided to check out the famous Radio Tower. However, we could not go pass the 2nd floor since one of the employees told us there was something wrong with the director. We shrugged it off and continued on our adventure. It wasn't until we reached Mahogany Town when we encountered Team rocket. They were forcing the Magikarp to evolve at the Lake of Rage for profit. Lyra managed to catch a red Gyrados who was their main target at the lake. We then met a mysterious dragon trainer named Lance and the four of us headed back to the shop to reveal a secret hideout underneath the floor boards. After we defeated them in their hideout we got a call from Professor Elm saying there might be something going on in the Radio Tower back at Goldenrod. We headed back and the rest of the team was waiting for us. Together we defeated Team Rocket for good and saved the Director. It was a crazy adventure, but in the end we were glad to have worked together. Word spread, and we were celebrities. Even some people in Kanto recognized us as heroes. I often heard, "It's just like years ago, when another young hero saved our region…"
"Well… I guess you're right." Blue said in defeat. He crossed his arms and looked at the floor, with a troubled expression.
"Wait," Lyra interrupted. "What was the favor you wanted Sir?"
"And who's this him guy you mentioned about disbanding team Rocket earlier?" Silver raised an eyebrow.
After staying in silence for a few seconds, Professor Oak spoke up. "Well I'm sure by now you've heard of him. He became the champion of Kanto a few years back. He was quite young, but as Blue said he was able to do all of that within a year. Blue was his rival at the time."
"Wait, you don't mean…" Lyra said as Silver and I leaned forward.
Blue turned away, a pained expression on his face.
"The legendary Pokémon Champion five years ago, Red." Professor Oak finished.