The Red Ascendant 2 (Patreon)

The Red Ascendant 2 - or ‘It is now my duty to protect' (Pokémon, Zirca 2036 OC-I)

This is… not what I thought when I asked to be taken to the nearest ‘settlement’.

This was a big city- just not modern in terms of what I would expect from a Pokémon one. It was developed horizontally, but not through skyscrapers, but tall condos in bad shape and… a large temple-like structure in the middle of it.

A bit of a surprise, but I knew I still had important questions that needed answers before I tackled the whole ‘religious building’ situation. So, I wandered inside town, surprised at the lack of people keeping track of newcomers. No guards, no garrison- the place felt more like a rundown town than a proper place fitting for what I learned to be a ‘gym-city’.

The first Gym-city at that. Santa Devante was the main location of the Temple of Reflection, once the main residence of the Legendary Pokemon Lustrorious. Said Pokémon disappeared recently as of the passing of the 41st Lorekeeper, Shizuen, seven years ago.

This was something most citizens knew from the shopkeeper I interrogated on the matter. Since I didn’t have any ‘usable’ money on me as Dollars were not registered as a ‘thing’, I had to sell a small silver ingot that I bought with me in case I needed to make cash in the eventuality of being robbed.

Surprisingly enough, I was given 5k Poké-dollars through this exchange, more than enough to buy six Pokéballs priced 150P each, get some snacks and buy Poké food for the trip that I was meant to undertake.

Am I really meant to do this…?

I mean, I had yet to fully grasp the full meaning behind my situation. Before entering Santa Devante, I took a chance to check on my Pokemon.

As the Trainer Card had shown, I do have a full six Pokemon team from my latest run in Fire Red, but it was the team I used specifically against the Elite Four and Lance- it was not good if I decided to fight Electro and… it was too ‘OP’ by the classic meaning of it.

I couldn’t start a gym run with these strong Pokemon, even though they were loyal to me due to my previous badges. So… Here I was, using one of the Pokeball I had bought to capture Dreepy.

It wasn’t my first idea, but it was one that the Dragon/Ghost-type wanted for itself. It literally didn’t budge on being ‘set free’ and wanted to tag along. Surprising, but a welcomed development as this was technically good news.

I needed a ‘Starting’ Pokemon in this region, Zirca, that was meant to be good at handling the Gym’s type, which was Fighting. Being a Ghost-Type, Dreepy was excellent for that, but his current attacks, from what I could attest from the ‘Lil Dex’ device that I was able to buy for the occasion which was only meant to analyze and provide data on Pokemon ‘by the moment’, were quite limited.

Astonish and Quick Attack. A bit awkward of a combo, but not bad at all considering the Ghost-type was still geared to be immune to Fighting-Type attacks. I just had to ‘train it up’.

Before doing so, however, I decided to take this situation with a degree of caution. This was Pokemon, but not like the games- no, it was different. I could tell from the gritty appearance of the poor sections of the city that this felt closer to home in some aspects but… worse due to the Pokemon. I mean, what I have seen with Charizard and those Thievul confirmed that Pokemon can and will kill if necessary.

My ‘Starter’ was not a killer, but it was quick to switch to brutality for the sake of protecting me. So… this was going to be something to keep in mind while handling this unexpected life change.

So, my first stop was at the gym to try and gain some indications on what rules I had to keep an eye on. After all, things could have gotten either more lax or more restrictive to prevent unwarranted deaths during challenges.

This plan soured up when I realized that the large crowd of trainers grumbling at the closed door that led to the Gym was caused by a small message on paper glued to the Gym’s door.

Out for important Temple’s duties. All Gym appointments are delayed to indefinite notice.

Well, crap.

It made sense that someone like the ‘Lorekeeper’, considered to be the highest religious entity within the region, would have chores at the temple but… that was a bit sudden.

Instead of just waiting, I decided to check at the temple. I thought I would have learned some more about the Gym Leader if I prodded there but- I was equally surprised by a very unexpected response.

“I am sorry. Lord Suzuen is currently involved in Gym-leader’s emergency duties in the Second Outskirt Area. So he will not be available until after he is done there.”

“Oh,” I hummed thoughtfully. “I guess I will just… wait until he is done.”

I am so going to check on the guy. This sounded like the classic ‘Pokemon gang causing havoc and requiring extra assistance’ and-

“No dumb moves, kiddo. Remember what Eric told you about not being reckless.”

I paused in my thoughts over what Chief Robertson told me before leaving. While it was true that this sounded like a cliche situation to this particular world… It was also true that drugs and criminal activities were far worse. I had to be careful or I could end up facing a threat I am truly unprepared for.

So, I decided to keep Dreepy out and be ready to switch to someone else in my team in case things got too odd or risky. I had to be vigilant, and I knew this mere ‘disturbance’ was more than just that when, as I started to approach the area mentioned by the temple’s member, I noticed loud explosions unfolding from afar.

The police were involved, but their limited numbers failed to fully encircle the full area. I literally found a way in by circling around until I found a spot where there was no active firefighting and carefully moved through the ruined section of the streets.

While I was wandering through, I stumbled on a scene that left me dreading- an oni-masked man was chuckling while approaching a terrified temple’s female member while she was tending to an unconscious a masculine looking member on the ground.

“So, will it be pleasure for me or… dead for you both?”

The two didn’t have any pokemon on them, while the masked bastard had his Swoobat out and was ready to cause issues to the two. The implication was clear, and I glared at the bastard while giving Dreepy an order.

“Dreepy, use Quick attack to rush around and then target the Swoobat with Astonish for as much as you need to make it unconscious.”

Dreepy double-nodded at the order, bolting swiftly around to avoid detection right as I slowly approached the distracted thug. While I wouldn’t define myself a ‘professional fighter’, I did entertain some boxing and wrestling back in highschool as I was advised to ‘always be on your toes’ while handling self-defense and to never be unprepared for physical altercations to go too far.

“T-The fuck you are going?”

“Putting you to sleep, buddy,” I replied truthfully, tightening the hold despite his efforts to break free and… soon he was unable to keep his consciousness up, faltering and fainting due to the lack of air to breath.

Once I was sure he was out of commission, I looked into my bag and retrieved one of the four cuffs that I was given by the Chief. It was a ‘memento’ to never let violence get too much and be ready to use those to restrain rather than hurt.

Cuffing the criminal, I used his Pokeball to return the unconscious Swoobat and… I sighed at Dreepy’s victory aerial dance before turning to the two Temple Attendants.

“Are you two alright?”

“I-I am, but-”

“If he needs medical assistance, bring it that way,” I gestured, interrupting her. “There is no one there and you should be able to reach police and paramedics once out of the area.”

The girl nodded thankfully, and gave me a soft ‘thank you’ before helping her friend up and slowly making her way to where I had pointed. With that dealt with, I resumed my exploration. I expected to stumble on some rooms or buildings and then face off the ‘lieutenant’ sent by the Poke-gang of the region but-

KA-BOOM!

I didn’t expect for one of the buildings to suddenly detonate as a groaning young man fell on some trash bags. Heavily bruised and bleeding a lot, I frowned at the sight as I recognized the horn-headband he was wearing was the one I heard the Gym-leader was meant to wear. That was Suzuen!

And as I turned from the hole where he was hurled from, I saw a lone figure with Pokemon behind him suddenly descend to the streets, having yet to notice me as he focused on the gym-leader.

Violet hair that formed like a mane over his masked face- he looked like a devil or something and… for some reason, this punkish appearance felt fitting with the vibe he was creating by merely being there.

“Dreepy, return,” I muttered, knowing that this was not a fight for the small Dragon noodle. There was no complaint from Dreepy itself as it happily accepted the return call.

The tall man with the demonic mask frowned with his only eye, his attention now claimed towards me and away from the bleeding Lorekeeper as he nodded at one of his Pokemon behind him.

Krookodile answered, stepping forward and growling angrily in my direction. I offered a flat look, but felt unnerved by the intense glare I was getting… but I couldn’t stop now! There was someone injured and my team was more than ready to handle this Devil punk guy.

“Lapras, go!”

The Water/Ice-Type was quickly deployed, eyes narrowing at the approaching Krookodile.

“Lapras, these people are dangerous- be rough but not too much.”

The Pokemon nodded and Krookodile bolted forward, its mandibles ready to hit with Crunch. It was quite fast, but I spoke faster.

“Lapras, charge up an Ice Beam and hold it until I tell you.”

The Pokemon did so, white-bluish energy channeling over its mouth as it braced patiently for the approaching Pokemon. I expected it to keep on running for its defeat, but the Krookodile suddenly stopped and it was all due to a quiet ‘grunt’. coming from its trainer.

I heard no order from our enemy and the Krookodile suddenly paused to slam its right foot down on the ground, causing rocks to propel above Lapras before fragmenting into Sand and then raining at it.

Sand Tomb, but… this was still doable.

“Lapras, hit Krookodile.”

No hesitation and I saw a bit of surprise by the Devil-masked guy as the Lapras disregarded the danger before unleashing a rather fast Ice Beam. The Dark/Ground-Type was surprised too as it barely reacted to the fast-approaching beam, ending up getting hit by it and being sent flying out of sight.

That’s not to say he was beaten with that attack without damaging my Lapras. The Sand Tomb struck, with rapid shards of sands cutting into the blue Pokemon’s skin and leaving tiny gashes all over it.

Not enough to hurt it massively, but enough to require medical assistance. The damage was enough to confirm my early assumption: this was not the same thing as a mere ‘first encounter’, this was the big boss and his Pokemon were strong enough to deliver that much damage despite the type-advantage granting Lapras more resilience to this sort of attacks.

Troublesome but, from the annoyed look mustered by the single-eyed tall man as he retrieved his Krookodile, turning around and then walking away with the rest of his Pokemon, I could tell it was over.

I could have given pursuit, but the Lorekeeper looked heavily injured and was bleeding a lot. I retrieved Lapras and rushed to the young man… who looked more to be a kid that was just going through puberty, really.

I picked him up in my arms in a bridal carry, rushing through the same path I took to come here and running to try and get to the paramedics. Turns out that the police had finally gotten to the area where I entered from and had formed a bit of a perimeter there.

After a brief encounter with an armed line of police men, I was allowed to get through the barricade as they realized I was carrying the gym-leader to safety. The medics took care of Suzuen while I was quickly brought to speak with some officers on the matter and… I was hauled to the local department for further questioning.

I wasn’t being arrested, but due to my close encounter with ‘the Devil of Lower Zirca’, I had to give them all the details that I could about the situation. It was awkward and lengthy, but they were kind enough to let me eat, drink and then also do the same with my team.

After roughly six hours of interrogation with a brief permission of sleeping for two hours by one of their offices’ couches, I was able to finally walk out of the department as a ‘free man’. Then again, I was never a not-free one during my stay there but… it sure feels good that my act of vigilantism was praised rather than rewarded with jail time.

But right as I walked out of the department, I was greeted by two familiar attendants.

“Mr. Morris, we are glad to see that you are finally out,” The soft-spoken girl that I had rescued back during the raid and… the guy that I had helped while he was unconscious.

“First, we are thankful for what you did to us and we owe you a great debt.”

“I-It’s alright. I didn’t do it for any gifts and I was trying to help-”

“Well, while we may be keen to accept this reasoning,” The girl interjected mirthfully. “Lord Suzuen requested your presence by his side at the hospital room he is currently… resting at.”

I slowly nodded, understanding it sounded awkward to summon someone from a hospital bed but… It was only fair he needed time to fully recover.

“I understand. Well, if he wishes to meet with me at once, I wouldn’t mind going now.”

“Let us lead the way,” The male temple worshiper remarked happily.

And thus my first (and far from last) act of helping around against this ‘revolution’ came to an end. I was bound to meet with the first gym-leader and… learn a bit more about the young guy than I could have expected.

—-----d-d-d-d—------

AN

Next time, two similar boys met. One that is trying to prove himself to others and one that wants to be the best possible for his own morality and sense of justice.