Rapture

Exile

A crisp warm breeze blew through the trees of Cinnabar Island. A young trainer was playing with his Growlithe in an open field of the southern island. “Go fetch Growly!” He shouted as he tossed a ball high into the air.

“Growl growl!” The Growlithe barked as it chased after the ball.

As the ball flew through the air, a low rumbling noise was heard in the distance through the trees. The bass of the noise caused the ball to vibrate in midair.

The boy and his Growlithe stopped for a moment and looked in the direction of the noise. Two more quick rumbles echoed from the trees in rapid succession.

The Growlith returned to its master with the ball in its mouth and looked up at the boy questioningly. The boy shrugged and took the ball to keep playing.

Deeper into the woods of Cinnabar, a bald man with a long white mustache sat on the back of his Rapidash as he watched his Pokémon train.

“Camerupt! You’re letting your guard down again, be more observant! Magmorter, you’re looking good. Just be a little more mindful of your footing while attacking!”

The two Pokémon continued their spar in the field. Magmorter launched Fire Blast from its hands as if they were cannons. Each shot shook the area with a deep bass sound and caused heat to spread through their battle ground like a shockwave.

Camerupt countered by launching Eruption from its humps having much the same effect.

The two Pokémon continued their battle for several more intense minutes before their master called it to an end, “Getting better you two! Rest up now.” He called them back to their Poké Balls and patted Rapidash on the head, “Let’s head back to the lab now then.”

The horse whinnied in confirmation and began to slowly trot down the hidden paths of the island.

The man on the horse was preoccupied with a book he was reading, not concerned as his Rapidash knew the way home quite well enough on its own. The quick pattering of steps not belonging to his Rapidash broke his focus away from his literature. Not just one set of steps… there were more just a little further off of the first set he heard.

“Let’s see what’s going on, but try and stay out of site ok Rapidash?” The Rapidash nodded and very quietly moved in to watch the incoming sounds.

Taking cover behind the foliage, the man watched as the running footsteps reached the top of a nearby hill. It was a boy; he looked as if he were being chased. He tripped at the top of the hill and began to roll the rest of the way down, grunting as he rolled.

At the bottom of the hill the boy sluggishly pushed himself back to his feet, “There he is! Get him!” At the top of the hill now were several men dressed in black clothes with large “R”s on their chests.

“Team Rocket…” the man on the Rapidash noticed.

The boy began to run again, running right past the hiding man apparently without taking notice. The man watched the boy closely as his features became momentarily clarified by the light shining through the canopy of the trees.

“Red…” The man gasped recognizing the missing boy who had helped him several times in the past.

The Rocket goons were right behind the boy and gaining on him now. Not about to let anything happen, the man quickly commanded, “Rapidash, FIRESPIN!”

The Rapidash jumped from behind the trees and shrubbery startling the Rocket soldiers with its sudden appearance. Flame erupted from its mouth encircling around the chasers, trapping them within the blaze. “That should hold them for a few seconds at least…”

The man pulled on the reigns of the Rapidash and began galloping toward Red. The boy had stopped and was watching having heard the commotion happening behind him. As the man approached his eyes widened, “Blaine?!”

“Take my hand!” Blaine called as he galloped up to Red. Red grabbed on and was swung up to take a seat behind the man on the Rapidash. “Red, what is going on?”

Red seemed to be shaking, “I… I got away from them… They’ve had me prisoner on an island to the southeast of here for the last three years… I… I was able to steal a Lapras and escape… Now they won’t give up chasing me though.”

“My word…” Blaine realized Red must have been captured shortly after the League Tournament he never appeared for. It was right after that tournament that Blaine began his isolation himself. “Don’t worry, you’re safe now… I won’t let them take you again!”

Red rested his head on the man’s back, “Thank you so much…”

The Mew cells on Blaine’s arm began to react causing the man to violently flinch.

“What’s wrong?” Red asked.

Blaine clutched his arm, “I’m not sure… The Mew cells I was injected with years ago have been mostly dormant for the last few years… Some terrible imbalance is making them active all of a sudden.”

“It must be Team Rocket! They’re up to something terrible!” Red cried out.

“What is it?” Blaine had barely asked when the foliage around them ended and the two of them found themselves surrounded on both sides by several Drapions and Skuntanks. “Poison types… and they’re fast… This must be Koga’s group…”

The Poison Pokémon jumped at the Rapidash hoping to gang up on it, “No you don’t, Rapidash, FIREBLAST!” Rapidash needed only a moment to charge and jumped into the air. It twisted its body around in mid-jump, and let loose the attack on the approaching Pokémon. The Drapions and Skuntanks took the full barrage of the hit and were knocked back.

Though the delay was minimal, it was enough for the Rocket grunts to sweep in on their Golbats and face Blaine directly. Blaine jumped off his Rapidash to accept the challenge. Red hopped off the large horse and stood behind Blaine.

“You should retreat while you’re able; you stand no chance against the likes of me…” Blaine warned the Rockets.

“Yeah right old man, show us what you’ve got!” The one in front, apparently the leader smarted back.

“Very well…” Blaine threw two Poké Balls into the space between them and called out his Torkoal and Magcargo. “Magcargo, offensive plan three! Torkoal, use shadow tactics set two!”

The Rocket goons were taken aback by the code in which Blaine delivered his instructions. His Pokémon teamed up and carried forth the orders perfectly; Magcargo launched a Lavaplume burning the surrounding Pokémon while Torkoal used Smoke Screen to give them more cover to attack from.

Red couldn’t help but whistle as he watched Blaine’s tactics unfold.

“Torkoal, switch to offensive plan five, Magcargo keep it up!” Blaine’s Pokémon continued their assault on the Rocket’s Pokémon launching more Lava Plumes and Flamethrowers from behind the smoke.

“Clear the smoke away Golbat, Aircutter!” The Golbat was successful in blowing out the smoke as well as dealing a strong gust blow to the two Fire Pokémon.

The Rocket’s Pokémon began to close in, “This doesn’t look good…” Red looked panicked. Shifting his gaze to Blaine, he caught a glimpse of the Master Ball at Blaine’s side with a large “M” engraved on the top, “You’re going to have to use Mewtwo!”

“I doubt that…” Blaine tossed another Poké Ball adding Camerupt into the battle. “Overheat and EXPLODE!” He shouted at the Camerupt while grabbing Red and ducking behind Rapidash.

The Camerupt turned red as incredible heat built up inside it. The ground beneath its feet started to melt and combust. Once it reached critical mass, Camerupt combined the power of Overheat into Explosion and a gigantic shockwave erupted from the volcanoes on its back, engulfing the area in a blazing fire. The non-Fire Pokémon were blow away by the force of the blast, and the Rockets who hadn’t had the chance to shield themselves were burnt. They dropped to the ground trying to roll and put out their clothes.

The Camerupt fell to its side, exhausted from the stress the move placed on its body. Blaine recalled it to its Poké Ball as he came back around from behind Rapidash. Two of the grunts made it through the powerful attack relatively unscathed. They stared Blaine down angrily before throwing in a few more Pokémon.

“Oh man… it’s like it didn’t affect them at all! I really think you’re going to have to use Mewtwo to beat them!” Red urged Blaine from behind.

Blaine raised an eyebrow to the boy but tried to ignore it, “Not yet… I still have a few other moves left! Let’s go Rapidash!” The large horse whinnied and trotted onto the battlefield. “Formation 1, 3, 4!”

Rapidash took point in front of its partners, its tracks set aflame as it sped into a charge. The Rocket’s Pokémon, mostly a combination of Sevipers, Dustoxes, and Wheezings prepared Sludge Bomb to counter the oncoming Fire Pokémon.

Instead of attacking directly, Magcargo and Torkoal launched their fire attacks upwards into the sky. Rapidash leapt into the air above the Rocket’s Pokémon and absorbed the attack from its partners.

“Now you’ll see the true potential of a Flash Fire! Go Rapidash!” Taking damage from its team mates willingly, Rapidash used Flare Blitz. The sky turned orange as the flames took mass and the air surrounding the poison Pokémon began to boil.

The Rocket grunts were screaming, unable to take the extreme heat. They quickly recalled their Pokémon and turned to run. “Retreat!” the leader called running into trees and shrubs as his eyes were blurred from the intense light of the fire.

In a disorderly retreat, all of the Team Rocket soldiers ran away in any direction they could.

Rapidash landed and trotted back to its master, shaking its head quickly to help it negate the side effects of using such a strong attack.

“You did well Rapidash, I’m proud of you,” Blaine put his hand up to rub the horse’s muzzle. As he petted his horse, his arm began to pulse, and he pulled his arm back as a wave of pain washed over his entire body. “What in blazes… Why are the Mew cells still reacting so strong…?”

“You really should use Mewtwo still you know…” Red stated very calmly.

Blaine took a look over his shoulder and saw the boy standing a little ways off with a wicked smile planted across his face, his arms crossed defiantly.

“Red… What… What’s going on?” The wind picked up a bit and blew through Red’s vest revealing a full set of Poké Balls at his side. “Your Pokémon are with you… you could have… wait…” Blaine stared at the boy beginning to understand what was happening, yet finding himself not wanting to believe it. “You could have fought them off yourself… Those goons… they were just… a decoy… a trap?”

Red reached into his back pocket and pulled out his black “R” cap, “Now you got it… But what I don’t understand is why you haven’t called out Mewtwo yet; nothing else you have stands a chance against me…”

Blaine stared in shock at the once sweet boy who now stood before him in a provocative challenge…


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