[Pokémon] Journeying Mage Trainer Of Origin

Crimson

My brother Red and I were watching an old battle on his computer when we heard Mom calling our names. I had a feeling I knew what that meant. Professor Oak had been developing some sort of encyclopedia that he wanted us to complete because he was too old to do it himself, and I thought that maybe, just maybe, it was finally done.

"Crimson, Red, are you there? Kids!" She called. "I ran into Professor Oak and he gave me a message: he wants you to go to his lab as soon as possible."

"Professor Oak?" Red echoed.

"He said he finally finished that thing he was telling you about, so—" Mom continued, only for Red to burst out of the room, so excited that he forgot the stairs were there for a minute.

"Alright!" My brother cheered, but then he promptly clenched his teeth and grunted as he tried to keep himself from falling down the stairs. However, it was a losing battle and he fell down the stairs, kicking up a small dust cloud and knocking his hat off. Red could be rather clumsy sometimes, although part of it was that he needed to be more careful.

I sighed. "Honestly. Haven't you learned to be more careful by now, brother dear?"

"You should really be more careful." Mom agreed.

Red jumped up and brushed himself off. "Alright." He agreed before dashing out the door.

I rolled my eyes. "We're going to Professor Oak's lab. We'll see you soon." I tossed a little wave over my shoulder before I dashed out the door, hot on my brother's heels. We hurried to Professor Oak's lab, and not long after we left, we ran into my brother's longtime rival and arch-nemesis, and my pseudo-friend, Blue.

"Hey there, Red." Blue greeted, smirking. "Wait a second, let me guess. Did Gramps call you, too?" Gramps was what he called Professor Oak, his grandfather.

"Yeah." Red replied. "I heard it's done."

"Sorry, but," Blue didn't look sorry at all. Knowing my pseudo-friend as I did, he was probably going to try to make this into a competition of some sort. He loved nothing more than getting a rise out of Red. "I'm gonna go in first." And with that, he ran towards the door.

"Wait! I won't let you!" My brother shouted, running after Blue.

I rolled my eyes. Boys. I thought. I don't know why they feel the need to fight over everything. Maybe it's just because they're Red and Blue.

The two of them had been rivals since they were just little kids. I didn't know what caused the rivalry or how it got started, but they'd been rivals since we were six. The two of them got into a fight about something— I don't know what it was about because I wasn't there— which was somehow so huge that they broke their friendship and became rivals. Blue and I had stayed friends, kind of, but the fact that I was Red's sister made it kind of strained.

I sighed, bringing a pendant out of my shirt and holding it in front of me. "Teleportation." I announced. "Coordinates are as follows," I rattled off a short stream of letters and numbers. "Open up, door of invitation. Open to Pallet Town, to Professor Oak's lab." I disappeared into a crimson flash and reappeared in front of Professor Oak. Thanks to a series I saw on TV, I could now use magic in a sense. Of course, it required me to be able to do advanced mathematical calculations in my head, but that wasn't a big deal. I was no math whiz, but I could do it.

"Crimson, welcome." The aged Pokémon Professor greeted. "What made you decide to teleport today? Usually you feel it's cheating."

I jerked a thumb backwards towards the lab's entrance. "You'll find out in three, two, one . . ."

"Get off of me, would you?!" Blue shouted.

"You're the one who's pushing me!" Red retorted.

"Gotcha." I sighed. The two feuding rivals tried to grapple with eachother and push eachother back so that they would be the first one in, but they were too evenly matched. I wasn't sure why they felt the need to fight eachother, but I supposed it was just how they were.

"What's all the ruckus about?" Professor Oak asked, amused.

"Professor/Gramps!" My brother and pseudo-friend cried, running up to us. "Is it done?" They asked together, not quite in unison.

Their answer was a noise to the affirmative. We were each given a small red device which we were told was the Pokédex. Apparently, it automatically recorded the data on all the Pokémon we caught, being a high-tech encyclopedia. Professor Oak wanted us to make a complete guide to all the Pokémon in the world. It had always been his dream, apparently.

However, he was now too old, because it was quite difficult to travel around the world, especially at his age. That was why he wanted the three of us to help fulfill his dream. He finished by asking if he could count on us. Red immediately gave his enthusiastic yes.

"Now, Gramps," Blue began urgently. "You haven't forgotten your promise, in exchange for us helping you out?" In exchange for helping him complete Pokédex, Professor Oak had promised to give us each a Pokémon so that we could travel without worrying about being attacked.

His grandfather smiled. "I haven't forgotten." He responded. A light flicked on and a table with four Pokéballs was revealed. "As you can see, there are four Pokémon here. I'll give each of you the opportunity to choose one."

A spotlight shone down on the center right ball. We were told that this was the Fire Pokémon, Charmander. The same happened for the center left ball, and the Professor told us that this was Growlithe, another Fire Pokémon. The far left ball was Squirtle, the Water Pokémon, and the far right ball was Bulbasaur, the Plant Pokémon. We were told we could choose the one we liked. I already knew which one I wanted.

"I don't need to be greedy like you are, Red." Blue teased. "You can go ahead and choose first."

I rolled my eyes. "Hold on. Don't you know the rules? Ladies first, boys. I'll choose first." I picked up the center left Pokéball. "I want Growlithe. It seems like it'll be a loyal companion, and a good friend." I tossed the ball up into the air and in a burst of flames, Growlithe appeared. I reached out and caught the puppy-like Pokémon, smiling.

Red nodded and picked up the center right ball. "It wasn't really a tough decision. The thing is, my dad named me 'Red' hoping that when I grew up it would help me have the passion and energy of a red-hot fire. So now I've decided that my first Pokémon should be a Fire Pokémon that will help me live up to the name my father gave me." He tossed the ball up into the air, and similar to Growlithe, Charmander appeared in a burst of flame. Red reached out his arms and caught the lizard-like Pokémon. "It's my Pokémon!" He exclaimed happily.

I rolled my eyes. Only my brother would choose a Pokémon based on his name.

"I see." Professor Oak turned to his grandson. "Then, Blue, are you going to choose Squirtle because its blue color is perfect for someone with your name?"
Blue scoffed. "I would never choose my Pokémon for such a ridiculous reason. But since Red chose Fire, I will choose Water!" He picked up the far left ball and tossed it into the air, Squirtle appearing in a burst of water. Like Red and I, he held his arms out to catch his new Pokémon.

"You realize you can give your Pokémon its own nickname if you so choose." Professor Oak told us. Red and Blue decided that they wouldn't, but I thought a name was a good idea.

I looked at my new Growlithe. "Harmonia." I decided. "Let us work together in harmony to take this world by storm."

Blue challenged Red to a battle, but then took it back, citing that he wouldn't want the memory of his first battle to be against 'a measly beginner like Red' before he challenged me. Red shot back that Blue and I were beginners too, to which Blue replied that his ambitions were far greater than Red's. He said that as for me, I actually knew a thing or three about how to battle, so I couldn't be considered a mere beginner.
I rolled my eyes, but accepted Blue's challenge.

It was a slightly difficult battle, since they were roughly the same skill level, and Harmonia only knew Bite and Roar while Blue's Squirtle only knew Tackle and Tail Whip, but we managed. For a while it seemed like I was going to lose, but Harmonia hung on and we managed to force a draw. Blue recalled Squirtle before he rushed off, proclaiming that he'd be the best Pokémon Trainer in the world.

"So, sis," Red began. "Should we travel together?"

I considered it. "Alright. Why not?" I shrugged. "Just don't try to drag me into your rivalry with Blue. So help me, if either of you drag me in the middle, I'll blast you both with a Reverent Buster and drop a Ragnarok Breaker on both of your heads."

My brother winced. "Right, got it. No dragging you into my rivalry with Blue." They'd tried to drag me in the middle numerous times.

I wasn't sure why they did it, but I usually responded by using magical force. It was typically just a small, basic shooting spell which I called the Reverent Shooter, but they had been trying to more and more recently, so I figured I'd go up in severity the more often it happened. Red should have been thankful I gave him a warning at all— I didn't owe him anything, and I didn't have to warn him if I didn't want to.

After stopping home to grab anything we might need, we started down Route One, the path that led to Viridian City.

As I looked ahead at the path, I couldn't help but smile— at long last, I was a Pokémon Trainer, and nothing was going to stop me from being the very best.

With Harmonia at my side, together we would be the best team to ever grace the world of Pokémon. We'd become the strongest together.

Crimson

We had been walking for a few minutes when we came across a Pidgey. Red immediately stepped forward to challenge it. "Charmander, go for it!" He shouted, tossing Charmander's ball. Charmander appeared and charged at the small bird, but Pidgey retorted by using Gust. "Ember!" Red ordered, but Pidgey took off before Charmander could. "Hold on!" He shouted, throwing a Pokéball at it, only for it to escape.

I snorted. "Nice work, Mr. Master Trainer." I muttered under my breath.

Red looked at his Pokédex and both he and Charmander sighed. "Oh great." He grumbled. "The data's not recorded unless I catch it." However, my brother soon managed to catch a Rattata, a Caterpie, a Spearow, and a Pidgey. As for me, I managed to find a Meowth, a Caterpie, an Ekans, and a Weedle. Red battled another Trainer, a boy a few years younger than Red and I, and tried to capture his Nidoran.

I groaned. "My brother is a total moron." I told Harmonia, who I had walking outside her ball in case we got ambushed by wild Pokémon— something that was always a possibility from what Professor Oak said a few times.

"Agreed." The Growlithe agreed with an exasperated sigh and an eye roll in Red's direction. I could talk to Pokémon for some reason, though I didn't know why or how. I didn't mind, though, because I could talk to Harmonia without needing a translator. Looking at Red, I smacked him upside the back of the head.

"Hey!" Red protested. "What was that for?!"

"Don't you know better than to try to catch a Pokémon someone else has already caught?" I grumbled. "Honestly. Even Blue isn't that much of an idiot!"
He opened his mouth to protest before he closed it. "Alright, alright, I'm an idiot." He conceded grudgingly before he turned back to his opponent. "Where can I catch a Nidoran?" The kid told him, and we made our way to where the kid caught his Nidoran— Red caught a male. I caught one as well and put an add up on the web looking for someone to adopt it. Teaching Harmonia magic was going to be a full time job. And then as we continued onto Viridian, who should we run into but Blue, who promptly challenged Red to a battle.

I sighed. "This is going to be a massacre." I murmured. Sure enough, while Blue's Squirtle responded quickly to his commands and was able to dodge without needing to be told, while Charmander was completely out of synch with Red and could hardly dodge a simple Bubble attack. I hoped that when I had my next battle with Blue, it wouldn't turn out this way.

I shook my head, seeing that all Charmander could do was try to get out of the way of Squirtle's Bubble attack. This would be over soon. And that was why training was necessary. Granted, I hadn't been doing a ton of training, but that was mostly because I had been trying to keep up with the blistering pace my dear idiot of a twin set.

"Don't just run away!" Red protested. "Come on, use Ember!" Charmander stopped, probably to try to use Ember, only to get nailed by a Bubble attack. Squirtle leapt onto Charmander and, upon Blue's command, used Bite on Charmander. Just as I predicted: a massacre.

Red wasn't concerned with training at all, just with completing the Pokédex. However, what he didn't realize was that in order to complete the Pokédex, he would have to make his Pokémon strong enough to battle Pokémon who were stronger than the ones around here. Besides that, Log only knew what surprises we might run into on the road. We needed to be strong, and our Pokémon needed to be strong, so that we could watch eachother's backs. Because the way I saw it, if our Pokémon couldn't trust us to watch their backs, how could we trust them to watch ours? And besides that, there would probably be times when I needed to fight myself, when I couldn't just rely on Harmonia to fight my battles. Call it a hunch, but I had a feeling that I needed to get stronger on my own so that I could fight without Harmonia. I had no idea why, but I just really felt like I needed to.

And I always paid attention to my feelings. Because it was definitely a bad idea to ignore what had gotten me out of so much trouble in the past. If I had a penny for every time my feelings had helped me avoid the trouble that Red managed to get himself into . . . Thankfully, my magic was a good first step towards helping me fight on my own without Harmonia's help. I could already deal out some decently damaging attacks with my magic, but nowhere near what Harmonia would be able to do in the future. I needed to find some way to make my attacks faster and more powerful so that they could rival Harmonia's. I had to do it, and I had to do it soon. No matter what it took. And that was why I'd started running simulations while we were traveling. Of course I'd done this before, but for the most part I'd only ever done it after school when I was done with my homework so that my teachers wouldn't catch me. But now I'd stepped it up considerably. Something about the dreams I'd been having lately, about a white and gold city on the moon named for the god of the sun in the old myths, made me uneasy. There was something about it that gave me a need to get stronger. Something about it filled me with an urgency I couldn't explain. But Red was on the move, so I shook those thoughts off as I followed my dejected twin to a nearby cliff overlooking a river.

Suspecting that he was probably calling himself a million kinds of idiot, my brother sat down. Amusingly, Red began hitting his head Charmander's Pokéball. I knew I shouldn't have been amused by it, but I couldn't help it. After all, Red had lost that battle because he didn't train his Pokémon at all and unlike Harmonia and I, he rarely battled until his opponent had fainted— he just battled until the Pokémon he was facing was weak enough to capture. Me, I was a bit more picky about the Pokémon I captured. Oh, sure, I did capture the ones I came across for the Pokédex, but I was admittedly planning to let most of 'em go, possibly give them to other Trainers I met. I only planned on keeping Harmonia. If I found another one that I thought would fit well I'd add it to the team, but I got the feeling that it was better just to stick with Harmonia.

I listened to Red mutter about how he and Blue should have been at the same level because they started at the same time. Too bad for him he was sorely mistaken.

"No." A voice said behind us. "Clearly the guy who used Squirtle had more experience." We looked behind us to see a man with spikey brown hair and slit eyes that made it impossible to tell whether they were open or closed wearing a brown-ish orange shirt and brown cargo pants. Red asked who he was, and the man ignored him, asking if he knew the type and characteristics of his Pokémon. Red wanted to know what he meant. "To start, it's obvious that you and your Pokémon are not in synch."

"Not in synch?" Red repeated, and then protested "That's a lie!"

"No it isn't." I chimed in. "Blue's Squirtle was able to dodge and attack without having to be told. You, on the other hand, were barely able to command Charmander to do anything. How many times did Charmander get nailed by Bubble?"

"Oh, yeah, like you're so much better." Red snarked. "You've only had two battles, too."

"I never said I was." I replied calmly. "But unlike you, I train, and I make a better effort to actually bond with my Pokémon." I paused for a moment. "And actually, now that I think of it, a bit of training isn't a bad idea." I released Harmonia and ended the simulation I was running so that I could focus fully on her training. "Okay, Harmonia, it's time to do a bit of training. Now, this is going to be just a little bit different than the sort of training that we've been doing so far. Today you're going to learn magic, my friend. The real thing like you've seen me using, and something that's actually useful in battle. No parlor tricks."

I decided that I wasn't going to have the any of my other Pokémon learn to use magic like the Harmonia because I probably wasn't going to keep them. I hadn't really felt any sort of connection doing what little work I had with them, so I decided I'd give them to other Trainers who would appreciate them more. They would be great Pokémon for someone, I was sure, but that someone just wasn't me. So I would give them to another Trainer.

"I'm finally going to learn magic?!" Harmonia squealed, her tail wagging.

I chuckled. "Yes, Harmonia, you're going to learn magic." I lifted my hand and an orb of crimson magic (yes, yes, laugh it up) appeared on the end of my finger. Fishing around in my pockets, I pulled out an empty soda can I kept in my pockets for just such an occasion, and then tossed it as high up into the air as I could. I ignored the man's disapproving expression, I had the orb of crimson magic strike the can, and as it fell, come around for another strike.

"How are you doing that?" The young man asked, amazed. I couldn't say I blamed him— I was doing something that likely he'd never seen before and probably thought impossible.

I grinned. "Magic, naturally. Something from a TV show I watched." I looked at my faithful partner. "Alright, watch carefully. Focus your energy into a ball. Don't force it. That will only do more harm than good. Harmonia, your task is to do it without melting the can with your flames. The less melted it is the better your control. Do you understand?" Harmonia made a noise to the affirmative. "Great." I fished around in my backpack for more cans and brought out another two of them, deciding to test my control today. "Alright, ready?" I tossed the can up into the air, all the while, keeping half an eye on the one I had bouncing up and down in front of me, summoning another orb of my magic to strike my second can. "Do it!"

A dark orange orb came into existence and flew around to strike the can I had tossed for Harmonia, occasionally straying close to mine. Harmonia, it seemed, did not have the best control over her power. Which wasn't that big of a surprise considering she was a Fire Type. We'd have to work on that, because spells were only going to get more control heavy from here. If she was having trouble controlling a basic shooting spell, she had a lot of work to do before she could successfully control one of a higher rank, like the Divine Buster from the show I had gotten the inspiration to use my power as magic from.

Never once taking his eyes off of the bouncing cans (or at least I thought he was looking at them; it was rather hard to tell), the man explained to us that Pokémon could sense the power inside a Trainer, and wouldn't fight for a Trainer who had none. Blue's Squirtle obviously trusted in his Trainer's power and abilities. However, Red only ever battled to catch Pokémon for the Pokédex; Charmander wasn't going to have much faith in Red. As for Harmonia and I? Well, I wasn't sure. We hadn't been together long, and I hadn't done much battling with her, but I had been making an effort to connect with her and the others, and to train them.
Red had a brilliant idea: he was going to find everyone with Pokémon and battle them until Charmander got stronger. Moron. I smacked him upside the head for being an idiot.

"What was that for?!" Red demanded.

I smirked. "For being an idiot, what do you think?" I replied, as if it should have been obvious. "Charmander's too hurt to battle and needs time to rest." I turned my attention back to the fire puppy who I had working on her own Can Exercise. "Alright, I think that's enough for now." I called. "You did well, Harmonia. Bring the can back so I can see your results, please."

So she brought her can over, if you could even call it that anymore. The thing was so melted that it barely resembled a can at all anymore, so we were going to have to do a lot more work on the Growlithe in question's control. All in all, it wasn't a bad start to our Pokémon journeys, and now I was just a little bit closer to making myself strong enough to fight without Harmonia or the others. One way or another, I would find out what that dream meant, and figure out why it filled me with such unease— and such longing. My very future, perhaps not as a Trainer, but as a mage depended on it.

And come hell or high water, I would be ready for whatever that dream brought.

Crimson

The spiky brown haired man with squinting eyes who had talked about the power that Trainers had and Pokémon being able to sense it and trust in it told Red a bit about Gym Leaders and how they would help him learn what Pokémon battling really was. After that, he walked off. So Red and I went to the Viridian Pokémon Center and then continued onto Pewter City. We took a poke around the museum where we heard a pair of girls talking about the Gym Leader Brock, who had defeated the last trainer who came to challenge him.

Red and I looked at eachother, and, in a moment of twin-brain-sharing, nodded, deciding that we were going to go to the Pewter Gym and figure out what that guy meant. However, when we went to the Gym, we were stopped by a boy and a girl a little older than us.

They told us that we were a million light years away from being able to challenge Brock, especially because we hadn't even been with our Pokémon for a whole week.

And then we got the shock of our lives when the Gym's doors opened to reveal none other than the man we'd met yesterday who had talked about Trainers and their power, who told us to learn the basics of battling from Gym Leaders. Well, I could see why he told us to do that now.

He asked our names and we gave them to him, and after that, he asked us if we had an answer to the question he asked us yesterday: whether or not we knew about our Pokémon's type and characteristics. Red answered that he didn't know. I, of course, did; I'd done a bit of research on my Pokédex during the times we'd stopped to rest or get food and so I knew most of the type matchups (I was still shaky on a few of them). I was just thankful that Professor Oak had thought to program such information into our Pokédexes, because it sure was useful.

Brock led us inside the Gym, asking if we had any badges, which we didn't.

"Well, then," Brock began. "I'll battle you with these two Pokémon." A slot in the wall opened to reveal a tray of several Pokéballs, each containing a different Pokémon. If I had to guess, I would have to guess they were Rock Types based on the gym. Brock grabbed two of them, which were probably weaker, lower level Pokémon for Trainers who didn't have any badges yet. "Who's first? You, Red? Or will it be you, Crimson?"

Red and I looked at eachother.

"I'll let you go first, Red," I told my twin. "Since I chose my starter Pokémon first."

Red smiled. "Thanks, sis. Alright, I'm first." He announced.

Brock nodded. "Then I'll battle you with these two Pokémon." He repeated. He tossed one of the balls and out came a Geodude. "My specialty is battling with Rock Types."

I nodded. I thought so. With the way the Gym was laid out, it was fairly easy to guess.

"Okay," Red murmured, tossing Charmander's ball. "I'm counting on you." The first thing my moronic brother did was call from an Ember attack. Why, I had no idea since he should have known that fire wouldn't be very effective against a rock, but that was my brother. The battle continued, but Charmander didn't make much headway.

"What's wrong?" Brock taunted when Red froze, obviously wondering what Brock was going to do now. "Charmander looks kind of worried there." Red didn't say anything, obviously still panicking. "If you aren't gonna act, Tackle!" Geodude tackled Charmander, who took considerable damage. "You let your Pokémon take that." Brock taunted my brother.

The smirk on his face said it all, really. Brock was confident he was going to win. And with how terrible at battling my moronic brother was, it was really no wonder the Rock Type Gym Leader was so confident. Hopefully I could give him a better battle. Brock commented that Red didn't seem to have learned anything, because Red didn't realize that Fire Types were weak against Rock Types like Geodude. But, predictably, Red didn't get it. The elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors that was Pokémon Type matchups was complicated, yes, and I didn't know all of them yet, but it wasn't that hard to figure out that a rock was going to resist fire.
Brock told Red that he could switch Pokémon, and that switching was a perfectly valid tactic because relying only on Charmander was never going to win Red a match against Rock Types— or at least, not without a miracle or a massive skill level difference.

So Red switched to the Nidoran he caught. Using Double Kick, he was able to beat Brock's Geodude in one hit. But he was still in for the fight of his life when Brock sent out his next Pokémon, Onix, which would be even more difficult to defeat than Geodude.

Too bad Red didn't realize that.

I sighed. "This," I began, looking at Harmonia, who was, as usual, out of her ball walking beside me. "Is either going to be a victory for Red by the skin of his teeth, or a massive loss."

"The question is, which will it be?"

I shrugged. "Up to Red, I suppose." I murmured. "But at least he'll learn something from this. I hope. Red can be notoriously stubborn when it comes to learning lessons." Sure enough, Red tried the same Double Kick tactic, but it didn't work like Red hoped because Onix was at a slightly higher level and better trained than Geodude. What Brock did next surprised me: he had Onix use Bide, a move that made it so that Onix couldn't attack until it had been attacked twice.

I was pretty sure that there was a catch to it. Likely it returned the damage done with double the power or something. Why else would Brock try such a risky move? Unless he was desperate, which I seriously doubted because he seemed to be quite handily kicking Red's rear, there was probably a catch.

Red tried the Double Kick tactic again, except Onix was able to hold on with just a little bit of health and then came back and attacked the fully healthy Nidoran with double the damage, causing it to be knocked out with just one move.

Harmonia and I looked on in annoyance as Red sent out Spearow, and then Rattata, then Metapod, who my brother had use String Shot. However, Brock thwarted my idiot brother's plan by having Onix flex its body and break all of the strings. Metapod met the same fate as most of Red's other Pokémon, and Red was forced to recall the cocoon-like Pokémon. Finally, there was just Charmander left. By now, my brother was sweating and panting, as if he were the one battling instead of his Pokémon. Finally, he was beginning to get it! And here I thought he would never realize that he actually had to connect with his Pokémon. Will wonders never cease. I honestly thought that my idiot brother wouldn't ever realize that connecting with his Pokémon was important.

"I think he actually gets it." Harmonia grinned. "And here I thought he would stay an idiot forever. I pity whoever marries him."

I snorted. "You're assuming he ever wises up enough to figure out that Yellow actually likes him, and that he'll be smart enough to pop the question before she gets tired of his obliviousness." Yellow was a girl back in Pallet Town who had the ability to speak to Pokémon like I did, but she could also heal them if they were hurt. Physically, anyway. Ever since she met Red, she'd had a mega crush on him, but my idiot brother still had no idea, even though it had been more than three years since they met. I wondered if my brother would ever wise up to the fact that Yellow liked him as more than just a friend.

Brock and Red had Onix and Charmander clash for one last attack. Amazingly enough, it was Charmander who came out on top, just barely managing to beat Onix. As the massive Pokémon fainted and was recalled into its ball, my eyes caught a silken string floating down from the sky— a single string Onix didn't manage to break from Metapod's String Shot.

"I thought Onix tore off all the string, but there was one string left." Brock mused. "And that string was what made Onix a split-second too late. Excellent job."

"You mean . . ." Red smiled. "I won?"

I snorted. "No, Red, you lost even though you still have Charmander." I said sarcastically. "What do you think, nitwit?"

My brother sighed and looked at me in exasperation. "Are you ever going to stop insulting my intelligence, Crimson?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you think? Dimwit."

Red lunged at me. "Take it back!" He demanded.

"I won't!" I retorted, running away.

"Take it back!" My twin repeated.

"Dimwit, dimwit!" I sang cheerfully as Red chased me in a circle.

"That's enough, you two." Brock said mildly, walking over to Red with something in his hand. "This is or you." He handed Red a small gray octagon shaped badge. "That badge is proof that you beat me: the Boulder Badge."

My idiot brother bowed to Brock. "Brock, I, uh . . ." He stammered for a moment, rising from his bow. "Thank you. Thanks a lot, really."

"You realize that you've just started walking the path of a Pokémon Trainer." The Gym Leader warned. "It's not an easy path to be sure." And Red nodded. "I'll give you this too," He pulled something out of his pocket. "TM34."

"TM?" Red echoed curiously.

"That's right. The Technical Machine containing Bide, the move I showed you earlier. Take it with you so that you can teach some of your own Pokémon to use the move Bide as well."

"This is great, thank you."

"So then, Crimson, I'll see you tomorrow?" Brock confirmed. I nodded. He smiled. "I look forward to seeing what you can do. I hope you've already learned the lesson Red learned."

"Please," I scoffed. "I learned that lesson as soon as I got Harmonia. Because unlike a certain someone, I'm not a dimwit."

"Well then, let's have a good battle." The Gym Leader told me before another one of mine and Red's arguments could break out. "See you tomorrow, Crimson. Good luck."

I grinned. "See you tomorrow. Make sure you've got a badge for me." I joked.

The young man chuckled. "I will." He promised.

I smiled. Tomorrow I would have my first badge, and would be that much closer to my ultimate goal. And once I had done that, Harmonia would be strong enough the fight whatever it was that destroyed the great kingdom in that dream I always had.

But the real question was, would I be?

Crimson

My battle with Brock went both better and worse than Red's did. I had a bit of a hard time, because the only Pokémon I had was Harmonia, a Fire Type (I had given the others away to others who wanted them more than I did), but thanks to her Sun Bullet, her version of my own Valhalla Shooter, she was able to wear down Onix and Geodude's health a little bit at a time, using her small frame to dodge their attacks and minimize the damage she took. We'd have to figure out something different if she evolved but for at least for now now, the strategy worked well enough for us. If Harmonia decided to evolve, I would figure out a new strategy for her.

I won and got myself a Boulder Badge as well as another TM34. I couldn't resist teasing Red about the fact that I won my battle quicker than he had his.
After that, we continued on to Cerulean City. Red and I both caught several more Pokémon along the way, but unlike Red, I either released them as soon as I caught them or gave them to other Trainers, depending on what they wanted.

It was in the cape town of Cerulean City where Red and I beat the Water Type Gym Leader Misty. It was difficult as all hell for me, but we both managed to come away with a Cascade Badge. Red bought a Magikarp with some of his prize money, but I decided not to— Gyarados, Magikarp's evolved form, was a Pokémon that could pretty much only battle in the water. Besides that, it was super weak against Electric Types. Even if I did want to keep six Pokémon, one that couldn't battle very well on land was not much use to me. Sure it was a complete and utter powerhouse that not a lot of Pokémon in Kanto could match, but it was slow and clumsy on land, something that I couldn't afford if I was going to fight the threat my dreams showed me. So I decided to save my prize money for more useful things— like Potions, or Pokéballs.

Before we left Cerulean City, we took on a member of a shady group called Team Rocket and won back the TM that he stole. It was shortly after that battle that Charmander evolved into Charmeleon. Harmonia hadn't evolved yet because in order for Growlithe to evolve into Arcanine a Fire Stone was required, which I didn't have yet.

We continued on our journey, and on a cruise ship, we helped a captain who was suffering from seasickness and were given HM (Hidden Machine) 01, which contained Cut. After that we challenged the Vermillion City Gym and both won a Thunder Badge from Lieutenant Surge. After the battle, we visited the Pokémon Fan Club, where we received a Bike Voucher from the Chairman. Using it, we both got bicycles. Of course, I only planned on keeping the one I got until Harmonia evolved into Arcanine and could carry me on her back easily. Once she evolved, I'd probably just give the thing away. After all, it'd be great endurance training for Harmonia, or for any other Pokémon I caught that was large enough to carry me on their backs.

Using our bicycles, we went through the Rock Tunnel to Lavender Town, where we had quite the adventure and met a rather interesting man named Mr. Fuji.
At the Pokémon Center while we were waiting for our Pokémon to be healed, we overheard a man and a woman talking about what was likely the big tower in the center of town, the Pokémon Tower and there being a ghost inside of it. I wasn't sure what the tower was for, but I thought it seemed pretty important. And I didn't know if the ghost was real or not, but I had a strong suspicion that it was real. There were all sorts of legends about humans becoming Ghost Pokémon, so why couldn't ordinary Pokémon become actual ghosts?

"Excuse me," Red turned to the man and woman. "Is that thing you said about the ghost in Pokémon Tower true?"

"Uh huh." The man replied. "I haven't seen it myself, but everyone is talking about it."

"What exactly is the Pokémon Tower?" I wanted to know.

"I take it it's your first time in this town?" The man guessed.

Red and I nodded. "It is." We agreed in unison.

The woman studied us carefully. "You two must be twins, to look so much alike and be able to do what you just did." She smiled briefly at us.

We exchanged looks like how did she know that? We don't look that much alike.

The only thing we really had in common was our brilliant red eyes, the ones which had given us our names, and even then, mine were a darker garnet/crimson color while Red's were a sort of reddish orange color, like a flame.

The man continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, asking if we'd heard that Lavender Town was known as the Gravesite of Pokémon, which we had. Apparently, the graveyard was Pokémon Tower, where dead Pokémon were laid to rest. According to the rumors that had been circulating the ghost of Pokémon Tower was actually a Pokémon but no one really knew.

I frowned thoughtfully, wondering if it could really be the ghost of a Pokémon that was haunting the Pokémon Tower. If it was, what business did it have haunting the place? How did it die? And what made it come back as a ghost rather than passing onto the next life?

The woman asked us if we believed in ghosts. I did, but Red didn't. She then wanted to know if the white hand on my brother's shoulder wasn't real either.
Red looked at his shoulder and breathed out a sigh of relief when he didn't see one. And weirdly enough there actually had been one there just a minute ago. Just a hand though, not any other part, not even an arm, which confused the ever living snot out of me.

I frowned. What the hell? I turned to look back at the man and woman to see that they were gone, completely disappeared. Okay, seriously, what the hell was going on here? How in the world did they just vanish? I'd have to figure it out later.

The Pokémon Center nurse called us over— our Pokémon were healed and were fighting fit. She also recommended that before we go to the Pokémon Tower we visit the Pokémon House.

I had no clue why, but nonetheless, Red and I decided that we would go there.

Once there we were greeted by a young girl, a few years younger than us, and Red wanted to know what exactly the Pokémon House was.

"Oh, you mean that no one told you?" The girl questioned, confused. "The Pokémon House is where orphaned or abandoned Pokémon are taken care of."

"Abandoned Pokémon?" Red repeated.

I snorted. "Duh. It stands to reason that not all Trainers would treat their Pokémon with love and respect like we do. Not all Trainers are going to be good people— the world isn't divided into good people and Death Eaters. Even the world of Pokémon Trainers."

The younger girl giggled at the exchange. "I'll show you." She told Red. "This way." She turned and led us through a door to where a few people were taking care of a small number of Pokémon. Interestedly, I noted that the girl was leading us to one specific Pokémon's area. The girl, whose name I learned was Reyna, told us that this place actually used to be Mr. Fuji's own home before he had it remodeled and turned into a place to care for Pokémon. I wondered what had motivated him to do such a thing— people didn't just up and do things like remodel their homes into places to care for Pokémon without some kind of reason for it. So what was the reason? What had caused Mr. Fuji to turn his home into a place to care for Pokémon? Was there some sort of event in his past that he was trying to atone for or something? That was one of few things I could think of that actually made sense.

"All the Pokémon look very happy." Red commented, but then looked into one of the areas to see a young Cubone standing in the shadows, glaring daggers at any human who looked at him and wanted to know why that was.

Reyna looked sadly at the young Cubone. "That's a baby Cubone. Its only friendly around Mr. Fuji, but it's very nervous around anyone else. It acts that way because of Team Rocket." Apparently, one day Team Rocket was chasing Cubone— likely because they could potentially fetch a high price on the black market— when Cubone's mother, Marowak, got in the way. Using a high-voltage Taser or something similar, Team Rocket coursed electricity through Marowak's body until even she couldn't take it anymore. Even though Ground Types are immune to Electric Type moves, they aren't completely immune to electricity, I've found. You just have to get to a really high voltage, or course a shit-ton of it through their bodies, before they even begin to notice it. Also, get them off the ground and they were a lot more vulnerable.

Mr. Fuji found him and took him in, but since that day the baby Cubone had only opened up to Mr. Fuji. That was pretty damn sad, but not even remotely surprising.

Mr. Fuji had likely found Cubone shortly after it lost its mother and comforted it. After such a traumatic event, I could see why it would be reluctant to trust any human but that one.

Reyna showed us around more, and Red told her that now he understood why the nurse at the Pokémon Center told us to come here before going to the Pokémon Tower, because everything made a lot more sense now. I definitely agreed.

Smiling, Reyna told us that Mr. Fuji wasn't just kind— he was also very smart and knew a lot about Pokémon. He'd even taught the volunteers a few things.

"So, is there any chance we could meet this Mr. Fuji?" I wanted to know. "He sounds like a very interesting person. Since my brother and I are working on completing the Pokédex, he sounds like he'd be a really big help. Is he here, or is he out?"

Reyna shook her head. "Unfortunately, he's out. He left little while ago and hasn't come back."

Suddenly, a man burst through the doorway, breathing hard. "Everyone, I found out where Mister Fuji is!" He cried, clearly alarmed.

"Where?! Where is he?!" A woman demanded.

"He's in the Pokémon Tower." The man answered grimly.

"Pokémon Tower?!" Everyone shouted. I winced and dug a finger around in my ear. Good grief could they ever be loud. I got that they were worried, but would it really kill them to turn down the volume just a little? Inside voices and all that?

Apparently someone had seen Mr. Fuji heading towards it yesterday and had seen him enter it. One woman thought he had gone there to convince Team Rocket to leave. So Team Rocket had taken over the Pokémon Tower? But why? Sure it probably had Ghost Type Pokémon in it, and it was a graveyard for Pokémon, but what business would they have there? This made no sense.

As Red talked to a few other people, we learned that potential the Mafia-wannabe team had just suddenly showed up one day and declared the Pokémon Tower their base, and chased away anyone who tried to come pay their respects and wouldn't explain why they did.

As Red spoke to the volunteers of the Pokémon House, I briefly glanced at him. Our eyes met, and a promise was made: we would rescue Mr. Fuji from Team Rocket no matter what.

Crimson

Before we left the Pokémon house to begin chasing Team Rocket away, one of the volunteers told us that she'd seen a ghost; apparently, she'd snuck into the Tower late at night when Team Rocket wasn't looking, but when she got to one of the upper levels, some sort of ghost or something charged at her.

She told us that she was able to clearly hear this ghost say to her "Get out! Leave this place!"

One of the men in the group added that if people couldn't come to the town to pay their respects to deceased Pokémon, the town was finished. I imagined it was.

I suspected a big part of the town's economy depended on the Pokémon Tower. Even if the Tower itself didn't charge money to get in, a lot of times people wanted to stay overnight, because it was a good route between Vermillion and Saffron Cities. And there were several local flower shops where one could find flowers for paying their respects. And people coming meant there had to be places for them to stay, and for them to eat. So without the Tower, that meant that Lavender Town would be pretty much done for.

It was then that Reyna spoke up, suggesting that they all go to the Tower to rescue Mr. Fuji, making me pretty impressed with the kid.

The girl was younger than Red and I were and had every right to be scared, and yet here she was, acting braver than the adults here. She was the one to suggest rescuing the man who had taught them so much, not one of the adults, not Red and I.

This girl who was younger than me had beaten me to the punch in suggesting a rescue effort.

I was impressed— if nothing else, the kid had guts in spades.

"I'm impressed." I told her. "If nothing else, you've got guts in spades, Reyna. Keep that kind of attitude through life and you'll do fine."

Reyna blushed at the praise. "Thank you. But it's only right that we go rescue Mr. Fuji after he's done so much for all of us, taught us all so much."

"Look, there's no way we can battle against Team Rocket." One man protested.

This was met with agreement. "Some people challenged them to battle, but they're really strong for a bunch of petty thugs." A woman added. I wanted to scoff.

"Plus there's a ghost in there! I can't go in that place again!" The blond woman who had first told Red and I of the ghost she saw hugged herself.

"Then what are we supposed to do?!" Reyna demanded, the younger girl looking quite furious at the adults' cowardice and refusal to fight when push came to shove, cheeks still flaming— not from embarrassment this time but from anger. "Mr. Fuji went to Team Rocket's base to protect all of us! Are you saying we should just abandon him?!"

"No, we're not abandoning him!" Protested the red haired woman who had told us about how 'strong' Team Rocket was. Strong to people who had never done much battling, maybe.

But not to Red and I, who each had three badges.

"Look, I'm sure Team Rocket will eventually let Mr. Fuji go." A heavyset man tried to appease her. "We'll just have to wait and see that's all we can do."

Reyna's teeth ground, her violet eyes blazing furiously. Clearly, she wouldn't be appeased by an empty reassurance. Have I mentioned that I like this kid? "I can't believe you would act like this!" None of the adults would look her in the eye.

My twin and I exchanged glances, both of us having the same idea in a sudden and rare moment of twin brain-sharing. Possibly because we were fraternal twins or maybe just because of the differences in our personalities, but whatever the reason, moments of twin brain sharing was rare for us. But today, we both had the same idea: we would go to the Pokémon Tower and rescue Mr. Fuji from Team Rocket.

"We'll go." Red and I announced in unison.

Everyone looked at us. "But that's impossible!" One woman protested. "You're just children! Even the adults here didn't have the strength to beat Team Rocket."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, because you are all too afraid." I couldn't help but shoot back. "Besides, my brother and I have three badges and strong teams. I doubt that the people in the Tower are the strongest Team Rocket has to offer. They will be tough, but we can beat them. I am not afraid of them, nor will I ever be. With Harmonia, Hera, Bast, and Medusa at my side, there is no one we cannot beat, will not beat, if they get between us and doing the right thing. Which is certainly more than can be said for the lot of you. Reyna is two years younger than I am, yet a child is the only one who has any courage. You disgust me, the lot of you spineless cowards."

The adult volunteers looked at the ground. I couldn't say why I felt so strongly about them acting the way they were, but something about their attitudes really set me off.

"You sure told them." I could hear the smirk in Harmonia's voice.

I grinned, bent down and lifted her into my arms, ignoring her protestations that she could walk just fine. "You bet I did." Harmonia began squirming, pelting me with something that was in between a Sun Bullet and an Apollo Buster. "You know that's not going to work." I said mildly, not loosening my grip in the slightest. "Your Bullets don't pack enough of a punch from here to make me do anything and you're not using a full Buster so just give it up."

"I hate you so much, you know that?" Harmonia growled.

I laughed. "Sure you do. Next you'll be telling me that Red isn't a hotheaded idiot."

"Hey!" Red protested. "I resent that remark."

"More like you resemble it." Harmonia and I chorused.

Red glowered at us, but said nothing more, probably knowing that both of us would have a retort for anything that he said.

In the few short weeks Harmonia and I had been a team, we had both run circles around him in verbal spars more times than I suspected he cared to count. Even if he could only understand half of what was being said, he seemed to have a pretty good idea of what Harmonia was saying, or at least the general gist of it. Red might not have been able to understand Pokémon like Yellow and I could, but he came about as close as anyone without the ability could come to understanding them. It must have come from our father's side, because Mom never mentioned being able to understand Pokémon, even when I told her that I could.

With our new mission acquired, Red and I headed out to the Pokémon Tower that night.

"I said I would come," Red murmured, looking up at the tower which looked more than slightly eerie in the moonlight. "But now that I'm here, it's scarier than I thought."

I rolled my eyes and marched ahead of him, figuring I knew the way even though I didn't have a flashlight— there wasn't really a need for us both to carry one, and the tower was just up ahead so I probably didn't need to stay all that close to Red. "Don't be a baby. Are you going to keep your promise or aren't you? Because if you're not I'll do it alone."

Red glared daggers at me. "I'm not a baby." He growled. "And of course I'm going to."

"Good. Now come on." I said, brushing passed him to take the lead.

Red rolled his eyes but followed me all the same.

We made our way deeper into the tower, eyes peeled and ears pricked for Team Rocket activity, or anything that might hint at the mysterious ghost being real.

I didn't see anything so far, but that wasn't really saying much considering we'd been in here for all of five minutes at most. But still I kept my eyes and ears open. After all, it wouldn't due to get caught off guard.

Red shone the flashlight ahead, and it landed on a woman who must have snuck in under Team Rocket's nose. Brave of her. She probably came to pay her respects to a fallen Pokémon.

This was supposed to be the Graveyard of Pokémon, after all. That was Lavender Town's Big Thing, the town's main source of income.

At first my brother freaked out before I poked him on the back of his neck and told him that if she were a ghost she likely wouldn't look like a normal human woman. He just scowled at me, and told me that I didn't have to poke him. Naturally, I ignored him.

Besides, it was my twinly duty to do something him whenever he was being stupid. I wouldn't be a very good sister if I didn't at least try to keep him from doing stupid things.

And unfortunately, my hotheaded idiot of a twin was all too prone to doing stupid things.

"You don't have to worry, I'm not a ghost." The woman told us. "I came here to see my Nidoran. You care about your Pokémon too, right?"

Red and I looked at eachother. "Right." We agreed.

"Did you come to pay your respects?" She continued.

"Aren't you afraid?" Red wanted to know.

"Of course not." The woman smiled. "It seems the ghost only appears higher up." She looked thoughtful, turning to look towards the stairs to the upper levels. "It must have a grudge against Team Rocket." She added thoughtfully.

I frowned. "A ghost in Lavender Town that has a grudge against Team Rocket." I murmured. "Why does it seem like should I know the ghost's identity? Hold on!" I exclaimed as something occurred to me. "Marowak— it's the evolved form of Cubone, isn't it?"

"Err . . ." Red frowned. "Yeah, I think so. Why?"

"The ghost is Marowak— and it's Cubone's mother!"

Crimson

Red frowned at me. "Are you sure?" He questioned.

I nodded. "Very sure. Think about it. A ghost that supposedly holds a grudge against Team Rocket— probably one that recently died, and probably killed by Team Rocket. And what Pokémon do we know of that was killed by Team Rocket, would have a reason to stick around, died recently— it more than likely died recently if it only started appearing recently— and would haunt this place specifically?"

"That's a good point." The woman commented thoughtfully. "Well, good luck if it is Marowak."

I smiled at the woman. "Thanks. I have a feeling that we're gonna need it." We continued to climb the stairs, and it wasn't long before Blue of all people came tearing down the steps like a Zubat out of Hell, screaming bloody murder as he ran straight into Red.

Okay . . . just what the hell was going on? This was the first time I'd ever seen him act like this, and considering that we'd known eachother since we were five— about eight years now— that was certainly saying something. Was Blue actually afraid of something? He was sure acting like he was— another oddity. Normally if Blue was scared he pretended that he wasn't, acting even more annoyingly cocky than he normally did.

Whatever he saw must have really shaken him up. I wondered what it was.

"Blue? What are you doing here?!" Red demanded, startled.

"I saw a g-g-g-g-ghost!" My brother's rival stammered, face pale as he clung to Red. So he actually saw Marowak's ghost? No wonder his usual composure was shaken. If he got too annoying in the future, I was so going to hang this over his head.

"Get out! Leave this place!" A voice snarled. Some sort of purple fog or mist or something raced down the steps after Blue, and we all hastily backed up. There was no doubt about it— this was the Ghost of Lavender Tower, which was possibly Marowak.

"They were right, there is a ghost in Lavender Tower!" My brother gasped, taking a good look at the vague form. "So that means ghosts really do exist."

I nodded, reaching into my shirt and pulling my pendant over my head. "I call upon the forces of the day and the night." I incanted, holding it out in front of me by the chain. "Sun and darkness, unleash your might! Reinforce— set up!"

Before my eyes, the small pendant lengthened into a staff that was almost as tall as I was. Gripping it tightly with both hands, I began to run through the necessary calculations for a shield spell. I wasn't sure if I would need it or not, but it was better to be prepared. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I honestly didn't care.

I had no idea what this ghost was capable of; it was to that end that I skipped a weaker shield and opted for the strongest one I knew. The calculations for it were a pain in my ass and very nearly broke my brain, but somehow, within two minutes I had it up. I was going to need to work on that, so that I could have it up within one minute instead of two. I wondered if I should send Harmonia out yet. Did I need her?

"Come on, Red, Crimson, let's run away!" Blue suggested fearfully, trying to pull us in the direction of the Tower's entrance. I ignored him, continuing to focus on the calculations for the shield spell I had up, and Red told Blue that Blue could run if he wanted.

Red pulled out a Pokéball and sent out Charmeleon, while I sent Harmonia forward, having both of them attack the ghost as Blue snuck around to the staircase that led higher into the tower. What was he doing? Was my brother's rival Up To Something?

I debated hurling a magic attack at the ghost, even though I was pretty sure it wouldn't work (it was a ghost, so I had no idea if magic could effect it or not), but ultimately decided against it. A minute later, Blue returned (what was he up to?) and tossed something at us, telling us to use it. I managed to snatch it out of the air a second before my brother did. Closer inspection revealed it to be a Silph Scope, something used to make unseen Pokémon visible. So I put it on and looked through it at the ghost, and sure enough, just as I had suspected, it was revealed to be Marowak's ghost.

"Just as I thought." I declared, taking off the Silph Scope and handing it to Red.

He took it and put it on himself, and gasped when he looked through it. "Marowak!" He gasped. "So that means the ghost is Cubone's mother!"

"Get out! Leave this place. You shouldn't get close to them." Marowak's ghost pleaded, raising her club as if to drive us away. I braced myself, but it turned out that I didn't actually need to do anything because at that very moment Cubone, followed by a frantic and out of breath Reyna, appeared and ran into its mother's embrace. Anti-climactic, but in a good way.

"There's no need to keep fighting." Red decided, recalling Charmeleon. I wasn't really sure about that, so I kept my shield up for a moment more until Marowak's ghost floated upwards and disappeared. Heaving a sigh of relief, I let it drop. Hopefully I wouldn't need it again. I wasn't sure that I would actually manage to get it up again, for the second time in one day.

Letting my brother and Reyna lead the way, we continued up the tower to where Team Rocket was hanging out. I could only hope that I didn't need to use anymore magic today; I'd already used up quite a bit and I didn't know how much I had left in the tank, so to speak. I'd have to work on that when we finished with this mess.

I'd never had any reason to truly test the limits of my reserves before now, which was something I would really need to do when we were done with this whole Team Rocket thing. If only because of the threat from my dream wasn't going to wait around for me to make sure I was strong enough to beat it, whatever it was. I needed to be stronger. I was going to have to do so much training once this little incident was over.

We continued to climb until we found the floor where Team Rocket had been hanging out.

"And where's the Silph Scope?!" I heard one of the Team Rocket members demand.

Red tossed it at his feet. "This thing here," He growled. "This what you're looking for?!"

"Who're you?" One of the members asked, bewildered and startled.

"I'm the guy who's here to kick you out of this place!" My twin snapped back, extending a hand towards them and summoning his Jolteon.

I let Harmonia out, and she stood waiting by my feet. After a moment's consideration, I nodded to her. "Sic 'em." I ordered, jerking my chin at the grunts. My starter leapt for the grunts' ankles, intending to use her small size to trip them up and make them unable to give commands to their Pokémon. I had taught Harmonia to fight without me needing to give her commands, but it was very unlikely that the TR grunts had done the same thing, because their Pokémon might start thinking for themselves and wondering why they had to take orders from people who more than likely treated them poorly.
This was Team Rocket we were talking about.

As Harmonia sowed confusion and irritation among the TR grunts, Red's Jolteon was duking it out with the Koffing and not doing too badly. At one point Koffing covered the area with smoke, but Cubone threw its bone and cleared the smoke away. That turned out to be all Jolteon needed to rush Koffing and shock the ever living snot out it. I beckoned Harmonia back, and Reyna and Cubone started celebrating as the grunts growled some threats about remembering us and left. From there, the five of us (Red decided to recall his Jolteon, but I elected to have Harmonia stay on just incase we ran into anymore trouble) made our way to the top of the Tower where we found Mr. Fuji bound hand and foot.

"Mr. Fuji!" Reyna exclaimed, running up to him to undo the ropes.

"Oh, it's you Reyna, Cubone." Mr. Fuji said, relieved. "You came to save me. And who are the two of you?" He added as Red and I knelt to help with the ropes.

"My name is Red." My twin introduced himself. "And this is Crimson, my twin."

I nodded. "Nice to meet you, sir."

"That's right." Reyna agreed. "Red and Crimson are the ones who defeated Team Rocket in Pokémon battle. Well, I guess Red technically did, but Crimson had Harmonia distracting them so they couldn't give orders. Red did the battling, but Crimson was a big help too."

I shrugged. "Well I figured Team Rocket probably didn't train their Pokémon to fight without needing orders from their Trainers— they might start to wonder why they have to take orders from someone who treats them badly— so I had Harmonia keep them distracted."

"Well," The old man said gratefully. "Then I owe the two of you," Harmonia barked, reminding him that she had been the one actually doing the keeping busy. "Sorry, the three of you my gratitude." He looked at Cubone, who looked quite comfortable in Reyna's arms. It was a nice contrast to when we first met him, hiding in a corner glaring at everyone. "And I see that Marowak's restless spirit finally found the peace it desperately sought. We have you to thank for that as well Red, Crimson, Harmonia."

"It wasn't a big deal, but we should probably get out of here now. It's late, and everyone back at the Pokémon House is worried about you." I told him, and he nodded. We made our way back down the Tower and to the Pokémon House. I crashed almost as soon as my head hit the pillow of the bed Mr. Fuji let me borrow for the night. I couldn't say I was surprised, having used so much magic in one day.

The next morning, we met him in the Pokémon area of the house. We exchanged pleasantries, and then he said "Thanks to you, our town has returned to normal. And as you can see, Cubone has finally opened up to being with people." I smiled at the baby Pokémon, who was happily playing with Reyna. "Say, I hear you're working on a project, the Pokédex."

I shrugged. "More Red than me." I replied. "I'm just keeping Harmonia and not bothering with other Pokémon, because I want to devote my attention to her training."

The old man nodded. "An admirable goal if you intent to face the darkness of days long since gone by." He said, and I inhaled sharply. How did he know about that? I had never told anyone, not even Red, even my own twin, about the dreams. And I had never hinted in any of the few conversations I'd had with Mr. Fuji about the reason I wanted to devote my time and energy to Harmonia's training alone. Acting like he hadn't heard me, he continued "Remember to keep the light shining brightly in your heart, and you will succeed."

Red, looking very weirded out, cut in "I'm helping out Professor Oak in completing it." He looked between us, wondering what our exchange had been about, but deciding not to ask.

"I see. So you and Oak, huh?" Mr. Fuji murmured, closing his eyes for a brief moment. "Unfortunately I fear your quest to complete it may fail without love for Pokémon. I do believe I have something that may assist you, to help you complete that quest. And something for you," He added in my direction. "To help you battle the darkness of old."

How did he even know about the dreams I'd been having about the white and gold city and the darkness that destroyed it? As he led us to his room, I was side-eyeing him the whole time, wondering what he knew, how he knew it, and why he wasn't telling me. He rummaged around in his closet for a minute before he brought out a Pokéflute and a box with two stones in it for Red, and a small oval shaped pendant with the symbol of a crescent moon on one side and what appeared to be a musical note (one of those appeared before the actual notes in any given piece of music, the treble clef I believed it was called) made out of flames. Okay, interesting. Also fitting, though. Wondering just what this had to do with me, I picked up the pendant and put it on, and was slightly weirded out by how right it felt. Who the hell was Mr. Fuji and how did he know these things? And what was the pendant? It was somehow supposed to help me fight the darkness from my dreams, but looking at it, I had no idea how it was supposed to help. It was a pendant— how was a pendant supposed to help?

"What's this?" Red asked, picking up the flute.

"It's a Pokéflute." Mr. Fuji explained. "You'll find that if you play it around Pokémon who are sound asleep, they'll wake up full of energy."

"Huh." My twin said, for lack of anything better to say. Then, about the two stones in the box, he said "Are you sure you want to give me something so valuable?"

"These stones don't have any value as gems." The old man replied.

"Oh. So what are they?"

"You'll find out soon enough." He said cryptically, and then laughed a little.

I scowled as we made our way out. "Is he always that cryptic?" I asked Reyna as we left the Pokémon House to go back to the Center to make sure our Pokémon were in good shape. "Because if it's just us, I swear to Arceus, I'm going to drop a Mistletoe Buster on his head."

Reyna laughed. "No, it's not just you." She promised. "He's like that with everyone. He once told me when the time comes, listen to what the Earth has to say and you will know what to do. I'm not sure what that means exactly, but I guess I'll find out."

I scowled harder, going off on a muttered tangent about annoying old men who needed to stop being so damned cryptic and just explain themselves, making Reyna laugh and tell me that she knew how I felt. Since she seemed to come every day, she'd probably had to deal with his cryptic warnings even more than I did, since I just met the man. Just what the hell was he talking about, and how did he know so much about my dreams?

We had our Pokémon checked over, and once they were given a clean bill of health, we said goodbye to everyone at the Pokémon House and started to make our way to Celadon City when we heard a voice from the trees. "Hey, Red," Blue called down to my brother. Oh, joy. Here we go again. "I guess you owe me one."

"Huh?" Red said, bewildered. "What're you talking about?"

"Thanks to me getting the Silph Scope you were able to unveil the true identity of the ghost." Blue bragged, but for once, Red wasn't biting.

Instead, to my surprise, he grinned. "Heh. Which one of us said hey Red, Crimson, let's get out of here. Come on, let's run away?" He teased, making Blue blush and scowl.

"Your ears were playing tricks on you!" Blue protested.

"I don't think so!" My twin smirked. "I actually heard it loud and clear."

It took a few seconds for Blue to compose himself enough to shout "I never said such a thing! You hear me?! I did not say that!" as we continued down the road on our bikes with Harmonia running along beside mine.

Next stop, Celadon City and badge number four.

If I don't see Vivi, I'mma be sad.

But regardless, it's time for another beginning and I wanna start off the bat with something. I'm not sure how magic is really going to play out in this world or how it affects it so I'll sort of hold off on that point, but I do wanna bring up the point of how Crimson learning the magic and how she uses it sort of is giving me a few warning flags.

Now, I'm sure we all can agree being able to learn how to use magic from a TV show and even make complex math calculations in one's head quickly is very impressive, especially for someone at Red's age. I certainly hope to see if our protag will encounter some struggles, since she seems to have a lot of talents already. Though, there is a potential hint of that with how she was mostly losing against her battle with Blue, so maybe we'll get to see more of these struggles later.

But, there's a good reason I bring this up. Now, this probably wouldn't be as noticeable in the first chapter (since we've still got time) if it wasn't for how I feel Crimson is the least interesting of the three. While she does have some good moments, her rather laid back demeanor sort of takes sideline for Red and Blue's "in your face" rivalry and even their bombastic personalities. Not to say this is an issue, but considering how she holds a vast amounts of talents, seems to be the more mature one, and is our main character, I hope we get some more insight into her characterization since while it was fine for her this chapter, I want it to be explored further, since right now she seems to be just the person to shake her head at Red's antics and childishness, which a strong character doesn't make. However, this is the first chapter, so you've got plenty of time.

Now, Red and Blue in this work very well. Both are what I would expect from the kids and it was interesting to add some backstory to their rivalry that hints to some deeper tension even if neither focus on that in their scuffles.

One last thing I want to touch on. So, Crimson's narration can lead to some unnecessary repetition with information or even a "telling us right before it's shown to us". Example:

Knight Of Legendaries said:

"Alright!" My brother cheered, but then he promptly clenched his teeth and grunted as he tried to keep himself from falling down the stairs. However, it was a losing battle and he fell down the stairs, kicking up a small dust cloud and knocking his hat off. Red could be rather clumsy sometimes, although part of it was that he needed to be more careful.

I sighed. "Honestly. Haven't you learned to be more careful by now, brother dear?"

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As I'm sure you can see, the point of needing to be more careful is stated twice, one right after the other. Now, while it isn't a big deal, stuff like this adds up and I noticed at least three separate occasions of this on my first read-through. So, I would definitely recommend when writing chapters, looking at the sentences with the information indicated and checking to see if it is stated elsewhere. The purpose of inner dialogue or narration is to help us learn information we don't know or won't be stated to us directly. It's why it would be better if you would cut out her thoughts on him being clumsy and needing to be careful, when we see him being clumsy and her stating "Haven't you learned to be careful."

One more thing,

Knight Of Legendaries said:

Maybe it's just because they're Red and Blue.

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Meme tax:

Here's my review of JMToO, O Unyouthful Twin of Mine. I'll start with the usual spelling/grammar/formatting nitpicks.

1. Chapter Two: Crimson is putting an advertisement online. I think you meant *ad* with one D, not *add* with two. One is short for advertisement, two is the verb of addition.

2. Chapter Two: Red's brilliant idea. You missed adding an extra line for spacing.

3. Chapter Two: Crimson's not sure about the direction she and Harmonia are taking. It's Harmonia and me, not I. You wouldn't say as for I, so it's the other one and me.

4. Chapter Three: Red telling Charmander to use Ember. Did you mean call *for* an Ember attack, instead of from?

5. Chapter Four: The woman asks if they believe in ghosts. Line spacing.

6. Chapter Six: This is Team Rocket we're talking about. Line spacing.

Super cool story. I'm guessing this is also a SM crossover, and Reyna is going to be one of the Scouts, or whatever you decide to call you Scout group. Also, a treble clef isn't actually any not, it's just a designation of... well, I don't remember exactly, but I think it was the octave, the range of notes. What plot is it following, the Pokémon one I mean. Is Crimson the Moon Princess? Is Reyna going to join their group? What's the pendant for?