Pokémon Heroes of Johto

Missing Out

I easily got my Cascade Badge from Misty and my Thunder Badge from Lt. Surge over the next few days. Sure I was happy to have three Kanto badges under my belt, which is eleven badges total, but the news Gold, Silver, and I received this morning gave me mixed feelings.

"What?!" Gold, Silver, and I yelled in unison.
"I said that I'm going to go back to Professor Oak's Lab...." Crys stated softly, shielding her ears from our booming voices.
"But why?" Gold asked, a shocked look on his face.
"I finally figured out what I want to do now. I want to be a Pokémon Professor. I want to study Legendary and Mythical Pokémon! Professor Oak offered to help me get started the other day, and I gladly took him up on the offer." Crys stated with a starstruck tone.
"So.... this is it? You're leaving us?" I asked hesitantly.
"Of course I don't want to leave you guys! But I..."
"But you want to follow your dreams of uncovering the myths and legends of Pokémon." Silver finished for Crys, who nodded in response.
"Yeah.... I hope you'll all understand...." Crys murmured nervously.
"Of course we do, Crystal! Besides, if your gonna be in Pallet Town, that means as soon as our journey is over we can see you first thing!" I exclaimed cheerfully.
"That's right. And you're welcome to call me anytime you'd like." Crys stated with a small smile.
"You're gonna call us if you here something about a Legendary Pokémon, right?" Silver asked with a wink.
"For sure! And if I find the location of one, I'll meet up with you guys to find it!" Crys exclaimed with a light chuckle.
"Then I guess we'll see ya around...." Gold murmured softly, staring at the ground.
"Yeah.... bye guys." Crys murmured as she turned to head for Diglett Cave. After we all called out our final goodbyes to Crys, we headed for Lavender Town in an awkward silence. As we were crossing a bridge that's a well known fishing spot, Gold stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the wooden planks and sniffling a bit. Silver and I turned to face him as he balled his fists. I gave Silver a worried look as he slowly approached Gold, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Gold.... you know, this may sound weird coming from me, but.... sometimes it's good to cry." Silver stated softly. Gold jolted his head up, golden eyes locking onto silver ones, and then the floodgates opened. Gold began to sob uncontrollably, falling into Silver for a brotherly hug. He was crying so hard, his whole body began to shake. I placed a hand on his back, a few tears streaming down my cheeks as well.
Gold and Crystal were best friends. Anyone with eyes could tell you that. They were completely inseparable. And the fact that all of that just picked up and left Gold like that must've been really hard for him to take. Gold isn't spoiled or anything like that, he still has problems just like the rest of us.
He told me once that he never had a father growing up, but other than that, Gold had a pretty normal life. He never had to go it alone like Silver did three years ago, or go through depression like I did for two years. He was never bullied like Crystal was either. Sure he grew up with only his mom and Professor Elm, which granted, is pretty darn rough, but Gold's never been left the way Crys just left him. I imagined it hurt a lot.
"I.... I'm sorry.... I know I... I shouldn't be..... acting this way. We're all gonna leave eventually, right? I just.... I didn't think it'd be so soon...." Gold said between sobs.
"It's alright, Gold. We understand." Silver murmured softly.
"Yeah..." Gold muttered as he pulled away from Silver and I. "You guys wanna know something? I just remembered something my mom told me one time." Gold said with a light chuckle as he brushed away his tears.
"What?" I asked curiously.
"She used to say that the people you care about the most will always find a way back to you." Gold stated softly, his breathing stable once again.
"I think I would have to agree with your mom. Come on, let's get to Lavender Town." Silver stated calmly, patting Gold's back lightly.

...

Since Crystal left, our journey has been going by faster, but it's been rather uneventful. I got my Rainbow Badge from Erika and my Soul Badge from the original Gym Leader's daughter, Janine. I was a little disappointed to hear Koga was no longer the Gym Leader of Fuchsia City. After hearing of all the cool Pokémon he has from Red, I really wanted to battle him. Janine assured me that I would battle him very soon, so I just rolled with it. I practically cried my eyes out after hearing the Safari Zone that Red told me about was closed and Silver had to basically drag me off the scene as I whined loudly about it.
Afterwards we headed for Saffron City, where I got the Marsh Badge from Sabrina. Next we headed to Cinnabar Island.
I was devastated to hear from Green that a volcano had burned the whole island to a crisp. Luckily, it was predicted to erupt soon, so everyone on the island headed for the Seafoam Islands for safety. I got my Volcano Badge from Blaine, and now we are currently off to Cerulean City so we can go to Viridian from there. The Sea Route to Pallet Town was closed off do to Cinnabar Island's safety hazards, so we had to take the long way around to Cerulean City so we can cut through Mt. Moon, Pewter City, and Viridian Forest to get to Viridian City. All of this just to get my Earth Badge from Green seemed pretty ridiculous. We would take Diglett Cave like Crys did, but there's been a report of a Snorlax blocking the way, and I don't have a Poké Flute. We finally reached the southern outskirts of Cerulean City, where we decided to take a rest.
"Man, all of this just to get to Viridian City! This is such a pain!" Gold exclaimed in exhaustion as he threw himself into the grass.
"I'd have to agree. It would be much easier if we could just cut through Pallet Town." Silver stated as he stood leaning against a nearby tree.
"Yeah, and then we could pay Crys and everyone else a visit." I sighed out, sitting in the grass beside Gold. We rested there in silence for a while before Silver suddenly jolted up, his eyes scanning the surrounding area frantically. "What's the matter, Silver?" I asked, watching his tense movements. Something suddenly flew at me and before I could tell what it was, it  wrapped around my arms and waste, zapping me mercilessly in the process. I cried out in pain, causing Gold to jolt up, and Silver to gasp.
"Fire!!" Silver called, but when he tried to race over to me, a rope hit him as well, Gold soon to follow. My friends cried out in agony, and the screams only made it worse for me because I couldn't do anything to help them. The electrical pulses stopped soon enough, causing us to fall to our knees, weakened by the attack.
"Wh-who's there?" I asked in a low, raspy voice.
"Oh, I'm sure you remember me." the shadow of a man began to appear from behind a nearby tree. I gasped sharply as I recognized the green haired man before me.
"P-Proton?!" I gasped out, struggling to breathe normally.
"That's right, so you do remember me. Very good. That makes it all the more fun to crush you." Proton stated with a smirk.
"You coward....." Silver growled, glaring up at the green haired Rocket Executive who didn't even spare him a glance.
"Now then, Fire, was it? You've caused me a lot of trouble with all of your meddling. It's because of you that our boss has not yet returned to us. I think it's about time I've finished you off for all the problems you've put Team Rocket through." Proton stated calmly, releasing his Golbat from its Pokéball.
"Don't hurt her!!" Silver cried out, struggling against his restraints. Proton barely smirked over his shoulder at Silver before staring back down at me.
"Leach Life." Proton ordered bluntly. I gasped, squinting my eyes shut to prepare for impact. Instead I heard a loud roar, and the flapping of large, heavy wings. I heard something slam into the ground and the sound of flames engulfing the surrounding area. I hesitantly opened my eyes, but I could only see smoke.
What... happened?
I glanced around frantically, looking for any sign of Gold or Silver.
"Fire!" Silver called, rushing to my side, he ducked down beside me, putting a protective arm around my back. He had gotten out of his restraints somehow, but I haven't. I searched for Gold, the smoke making me cough as I did so. I saw a large silhouette through the smoke. It looked like some kind of Dragon Pokémon. It flapped its heavy wings slowly, brushing away the smoke. I noticed the dark orange skin of the Pokémon, and my eyes went wide.
It couldn't be.... there's no way...
Silver managed to break my restraints and I pushed myself off of the ground as best I could. I groaned as I struggled, trying to force a better view of the Pokémon before me.
"It can't be.... you..... you're..." I groaned out, staring on in shock. The Charizard turned slightly towards me, and I recognized those seafoam blue eyes and darker than normal skin tone anywhere.
"B-Blaze!" I exclaimed, earning a glance from the Charizard. But.... if Blaze was here, then that means that-
"Stop!! I am Clinton of the International Police! You're under arrest, Proton of Team Rocket! Make one move, and the Charizard burns you." the all too familiar voice stated warningly. Proton slowly raised both hands to the side of his head, an unalarmed look on his face. The officer I longed to look in the eyes cuffed Proton and left him by the tree Silver was previously leaning on. He froze for a moment, before approaching us cautiously. "Are you kids alright?" he asked warmly. I finally got to see him clearly. Wine red eyes, his raven hair, a warm smile, and everything I remembered him to be.
"Y-Yeah, I think we're ok. How about you?" Silver asked me, pushing himself to a sitting position.
"Hey wait a minute, didn't you call my Charizard by name earlier? How'd you know what I nicknamed him?" he asked, keeping his calm, warm tone, but with more curiosity in it. I forced myself up onto my hands and knees and smiled at him with mixed emotions. He looked deep into my ruby red eyes, and his own wine red eyes grew wide. His lips gaped in shock as he began to recognize me. "F-Fire....?" he squeaked out, his voice cracking as he tried to gather his thoughts. Tears began to stream down my face as I nodded in response.
He threw his arms around me, the waterfall of tears pouring down his face was stronger than my own.
"Fire!! I'm sorry!! I'm so sorry.... so sorry...." he repeated consistently as he held me close, sobbing roughly. He pulled back after a while, cupping my cheek with one hand as his breathing stabilized a bit more. "Look at how big you are now... I can't..... I can't believe that I... I missed it.... all these years..." he murmured between returning sobs.
"Dad..." I called softly, placing my hands on his shoulders. "It's okay, dad, I forgive you." I murmured softly, embracing him like I'd wanted to since I was four. Blaze joined in the embrace, wrapping his wings around us lovingly.
This.... I missed this..... this feeling.... of security.
"Gold!" I heard Silver call from behind a tree. He helped our weakened friend up, holding him by the arm and chest so he wouldn't fall again. I assumed Gold had collapsed by the trees when trying to run from the flames.
"The Rocket Executive!" Dad exclaimed, realizing he had vanished.
"Proton..... he escaped." I stated softly. Dad growled as he stared off into the distance.
"We should get to a Pokémon Center. I think we could all use some physical and emotional rest." Silver suggested calmly. I nodded, letting Silver lead the way as I helped my long lost father along.
I kept staring at his lost expression as if he was the only person in the world. I didn't know how to feel anymore. I was emotionally and physically exhausted, and I couldn't agree more that we all needed a Pokémon Center desperately.

Deep in my soul I hear a voice telling me that somehow, no matter what.... everything's going to be ok.