Pokemon Cobalt, Nickel, And Lead / the Kanto Tales - Kidnapped (Part 1)

[pherronboy]

[spoiler=Tale 1]

Pokemon Cobalt, Nickel, and Lead

The Kanto Tales - Kidnapped

Tale 1

Freedom, Almost

It was the last day of school before Christmas vacation. Five minutes left. No detention. No afterschool activities. I was as free as a bird.

 

I shifted in my seat. I was ready to get home. There was no way I would let anyone stop me.

 

Rii-ii-iing! The bell! I ran out faster than lightning. I wasn’t going to let anything mess this up. I had only one destination: home. There were no obstacles, not a teacher in sight. But there was one teacher that was out to get me. And, of course…

 

Thud! Uh-oh. “Cobalt Mallend, What is the meaning of this?!” yelled my Pre-Algebra teacher, Mr. Corners, whom I noticed was in a puddle of mud from last night’s rain. He was wearing his large, round glasses, a sweater that looks like his mom knitted it when he was ten, khaki jeans, and brown dress shoes. All that splatter-painted with mud. Just my luck, I was the one who knocked him down.

 

“I-I-I-I … I give up,” I couldn’t think of anything. There was a feeling in the pit of my gut that my Charmander, Blaze, wasn’t going to see me as soon as he thought.

 

“Don’t stutter, Mister Mallend. You know I hate stuttering. And you just ‘give up?’”

 

Okay, not the best thing to say. He was the kind of teacher that pushed his students, the kind that doesn’t let his students have a break, and he definitely doesn’t let his students give up. I had to come up with something. He would expect me to. So I said, “Well, I know that I’m just going to get detention anyway, so why not just suck it up and go?”

 

“You’re just going to go, without even a fight? You are different, Cobalt, you’re older. More mature. So, because of your cooperation, I won’t keep you that long.” He seemed mildly impressed with me.

 

“Really? Than—”

 

“Under one condition: there is a Rattata in the heating ducts. I need you to go get it.”

 

“Just tell me where to go through, and I’ll have you a Rattata in no time, Mr. Corners.” I had to get home. I just had to. A Rattata isn’t that big a deal, anyway.

 

“Follow me.”

---

He led me through a corridor, his classroom, another corridor, and finally to the teacher’s lounge. He opened a small gate at the base of the wall, just my size. “I’ll be back soon,” I said as I bent down into the heating duct.

 

“You’ll get too hot in that jacket. Take it off,” said Mr. Corners. I nodded my head, handed him my “Johto Beat” jacket, and took my first step in the long adventure that would await me in the Pokemon world.

 

The Duct was hot and humid, so after the first few steps I was drenched in sweat. I took a hard right about twelve feet in. After a few more minutes, I heard scampering to the right. As I headed that way, there was a small hill in the heating duct. I scrambled up, and kept on crawling.

 

I saw the Rattata. It wasn’t the kind you’d expect, though. It was green. At first I thought it was the lighting in there, but then I realized it was shiny. I crept up behind it, opened my arms, and then closed them as fast as any twelve-year-old could, but the shiny Rattata had ran away. I chased after it.

 

Ding! Just as I was about to bag it, I bumped my head. For a scary second, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to go home, but I shook it off and started crawling again. “Are you alright, Mister Mallend?” asked Mr. Corners. His voice echoed through the duct, so even from that far away, I could still hear him.

 

“Yeah, I mean yes sir. I’m fine,” I answered.

 

I went faster. And faster. And faster. I needed to get home fast. I wanted to get home fast. My mom was probably worried sick.

 

The duct seemed to get hotter and hotter as I went farther in. I was just getting tired. I almost fell asleep once. But I knew the Rattata was close. I could hear it again. This time I wouldn’t fail. I would catch it and go home. I could hear both of our heartbeats echoing through the heating duct, a tinny, fast-paced tip-tip, and a strong, booming thump-thump. They were racing, trying to keep up with one another, although they were even in different ways. They couldn’t go faster if they tried, but they wanted to. There was one flaw: they were too tired. They were beating faster that they should have, though they kept a constant speed.

 

The heating duct got taller and wider, so if I crouched I could stand. I started running. After a while, I got a stitch in one side. Then the other. I was in pain and I could barely breathe. Luckily, the shiny Rattata slowed down and I could see its tail. I ran faster. I got behind it. I reached out and grabbed it. I couldn’t believe it! I actually caught it! But I couldn’t run anymore, so I walked. It took me a while to realize how long it took me to get there. To walk back would take me longer that I would have to stay in detention.

 

Then, as I was thinking that, I passed out. Mr. Corners heard me fall. He sent a detention student’s Trapinch in to drag me out. When I made it to the teacher’s lounge I woke up. I handed the Rattata to Mr. Corners, he let it out the window, and thanked me. I said, “See you in January!” and ran out the door.

 

As I walked home I relayed what just happened in my mind. Did I really do all that just to go home? Maybe, but maybe it was because I just wanted to free that Pokemon. More likely, something I never thought I would do, it was to help Mr. Corners.

 

When I got home, my mom and sister both hugged me and asked why I was late. I said, “I … I was helping out a friend.”

 

[spoiler=Tale 2]

Pokemon Cobalt, Nickel, and Lead

The Kanto Tales - Kidnapped

Tale 2

A Nickel for a Dollar

My sister, Nickel, was about as … dynamic as they come. Her school records said this:

 

Name: Nickel Mallend

Age: Nine Grade: Fifth

Achievements: Varsity Softball Captain, Beauty Pageant Winner 2012, Junior-Varsity Basketball Region-wide Champion 2014, School Clean-up Club Leader

 

Yeah, it says “Varsity Softball Captain.” She skipped a grade, too. That’s just all I knew by heart, but there’s a lot more. Nickel made me want to puke. And why that tomboy ever entered a beauty pageant, I don’t know.

 

 

“Fa-la-la-la, la-la la-la!” Great. Another talent. Wait a second, I taught her that. Okay, I won’t hate her for that. I went to see what was going on. I almost tripped over Blaze, who was standing in the middle of the kitchen. I went over to the living room door, and opened it just a crack. My grandparents, Jewel and Paul Mallend, were watching her sing. I shut the door, turned around, put on some warmer clothes, and stepped outside.

 

I looked like a walking bargain bin. I couldn’t have looked tackier. I was wearing a green toboggan, a red scarf, a red and blue striped sweater, orange under-armor, faded and ripped blue jeans, and big, furry moccasins. People walked by me as I dragged my feet across the sidewalk, and stared. One group of girls giggled, and an old man just frowned and shook his head. I didn’t care.

 

Then a hopeful little face darted from behind a bush near me. It was the shiny Rattata from yesterday, and by the look on its face, he was happy to see me. I walked toward it, and it came closer. “Hey, li’l guy,” I said warily. It squeaked merrily and ran into my open arms. I loved Pokemon, so I was happy to see it liked me after I cornered it in the heating duct. It was furry and warm, despite the fact that it was thirty-four degrees here in Viridian City.

 

I took it to my room, careful to take the back door, so I wouldn’t pass Nickel. The last thing I wanted today was my little sis making me feel like crap. I closed the door to my room and locked it. I sat down on my bed with the Rattata and pulled one of my pillowcases over it to keep it warm.

 

It started shivering so I held it, and it stopped. I walked over to my desk and opened my laptop. Johto Beat was playing softly on the radio pop-up that instantly came up on the screen, so I turned it up, not bothering to put on headphones. The more noise I made, the more of Nickel’s singing I drowned out.

 

Just then, the music stopped, the song on my laptop, too. Then I heard a scream. It was Nickel’s. I ran into the living room yelling, “Nickel!” but no one was there. It’s just a blackout and they went outside to check the power lines, I thought. No need to pan--

 

Chk-chak-clack!

 

“What the--” but I was cut off by an even louder noise.

 

Krakle-krakle … Fffffsshh!

 

“Ahhhhh!” Nickie! She’s in trouble! I’ve got to help her! I thought. I ran as fast as I could out the door, the Rattata following me, but not Nickel or my grandparents were outside. I started to run toward a fire in the distance. That must’ve been the sounds outside. I had to slow down after a few minutes, though, because the fire was too intense.

 

“Ugh,” I groaned. I was getting heat-sick. I could feel my eyes drying out, and, trust me, you wouldn’t want to be there.

 

Finally, I got close enough to see what was going on. “Nick…” I didn’t finish. It wasn’t Nickel. It was birdlike and huge, twice the size of a bus, easy. It might’ve been the shroud of flames behind it, but its wings looked like they were on fire!

 

A wisp of flame reached a power line behind the bird-thing, and the power line was instantly enveloped in white-hot fire. I noticed another charred pole closer to my house, which was probably the cause of the blackout. “Yow!” A spark flew off the second pole and landed on my right hand, but it didn’t hurt as much as I thought it should. But It still burned like heck.

 

Just then, a column of ice jutted into the fire. Lightning struck the ice, and all three elements vanished. I could still see the afterimage of my sister cowering behind the fire.

 

My eyes stung with sadness and rage. “Nickie?” I said. I tried to yell, but it came out as more of a squeak.

 

There was only one thing left from that incident. A single Poke-dollar.

 

[spoiler=Tale 3]Pokemon Cobalt, Nickel, and Lead

The Kanto Tales - Kidnapped

Tale 3

Hard as Lead

My whole body was shaking. Could you blame me? I’d just seen my sister get taken to God-knows-where! She could be dead. There was only one place I could go. My best friend, Lead’s, house.

 

Lead was a ninja trainer wannabe. He wore a red bandanna, a jet-black full body suit, and metal-studded knuckle bracers. Please don’t get me started on his shoes. Mainly, because he usually didn’t wear any. But when he did, they were black leather boots, faded to a sickly yellow, and the soles were … soles? There were none. Just cardboard. They were passed down for generations in his family, and they stunk. I could see why he went barefoot.

 

“Chaar. Erf.” I nearly jumped to the moon, but It was just Blaze.

 

“What’s wrong, Blaze? You know where we’re going, don’t you?” I asked.

He burped again, and I took that as a yes. He was larger than most Charmander, so his voice was deeper, meaning his belches were more like tiny explosions.

 

When I got to Lead’s house, I hesitated. There was no one in the whole city. Usually it was bustling with people. Were Nickel and my grandparents the only ones who were abducted? Was Lead even home? Was there anyone left in Viridian City?

 

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. No one came, so I just walked in. Dear Lord, I thought. Lead was rocking back and forth on the living room floor, in the fetal position, and I’m pretty sure he was sucking his thumb. He was emotional like that. Once, he cried over, get this, spilled milk. Normally I would smile and shake my head, but I knew how he felt this time.

 

“Lead,” I asked, “you there? If you’re in this world, uh … scream.” I waited a few seconds. Nothing. But then, “Sniff, sniff. Wu-wu-wu-waaaaah!” I checked the room. No milk stains. After a while, I cried too. Sometimes you just need to get things out.

 

I wiped my eyes with the back of my good hand. Lead got up, still bawling like a baby, and checked the door. Slow reaction. He turned on his heels and nearly fainted when he saw me. “Y-y-y-you’re alive? You’re alive! Coby!” He ran and tackled me, but he was so light he barely pushed me, and he staggered back and tripped over his Poliwag, named Ninja. My head sure hurt, though. He may have weighed, like, only seventy pounds, but his head was as hard as his name. I couldn’t help but smile. He was alive and here.

 

“Lead, It’s good to see you’re alive,” I said, “but I can’t say the same about Nickie.”

 

“You mean…?” His eyes got wide. Nickel was his protégé. He still hated that she fell and bumped her head on the monkey bars when she was four. I couldn’t imagine what he felt like this time. My best bet was that he was having a heart attack. He started crying again. Well, not a heart attack at least.

 

“It’ll be okay. Listen, she’s not….” I couldn’t force it out. I couldn’t think about that word, but there was one other word on the tip of my tongue. Nope, nothing, it was gone. “She’s alive. She was abducted by the fire, not killed. No one was. Stolen, not killed. There’s still….” There it was again, running away from me. It was like I needed a key just to say it. “We’ll find them.”

 

“Thanks, Cobalt. I needed that.” His voice was still choky, but I knew he was fine. He had that … darn word. Anyway, he was grinning like he’d just won a contest.

 

“Char. Char!” cried Blaze.

 

“Blaze, what’s up? Hey, Lead, I think he’s trying to lead us somewhere. See, he’s walking down your hall. Ah-ah-achoo!” Great. On top of the disappearances, I was catching a cold.

 

Suddenly, static fuzzed my vision, a searing pain engulfed my hand, and I got a migraine. And just as fast as it came, the pain was gone. I noticed I was breathing heavily. “You okay?” asked Lead.

 

After my breathing calmed down, I answered, “I’m okay. I was burned by the fire. Maybe some air got to it.”

 

“Yeah, maybe. But look.” He pointed toward Blaze, who was jumping up and down in front of a glowing picture in the hall. “It’s yours, remember? You gave it to me one year for Christmas.”

 

“Yeah, I do. What’s happening to it? Is it, cough, major? Like, will it ex-- I see. Only one place is glowing.”

 

For a moment, there was just silence. “Victory Road,” we said simultaneously.

 

I said, “One of the hardest-to-get-to places in Kanto.”

 

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I don't take requests, because I would like to keep this a "1-author" Fan Fiction. I'm also not doing bios on the characters in this story, but if i write a different story on a different subject, I might. This is not meant to be copyright infringement. It is solely a creation for entertainment. Pokemon is a trademark of Nintendo, and not me. Original concept from axrider625, he's my neighbor and he told me to finish it.

PG-13 = Death (in the future)

Challenge: So, can you guess the unknown word?