A/N: Whew, sorry for making you guys waiting for so long, here's chapter 2!

#157: Typholsion

What does it feel like being part of the strongest team in the world?

Well, there are plenty of reasons why I wanted to be part of it.

One: You get the chance to travel all time, collecting badges and beating the hell out of the bad guys.

Two: ...err, it just feels awesome? I mean, everyone wants to be the part of the strongest team in the world. That being said, why are we hiking up an Arceus-forsaken mountain of death where nobody has dared to set foot on?

Well, my trainer received an information from Professor Oak that the current strongest Trainer is training here. Without a second thought (and permission to pass the guards), he waltzed into the mountain to challenge this Trainer. After collecting all 16 badges of the Kanto and Johto Pokémon Gyms, he felt like he can take on any trainer around the world.

We've heard the rumors that the Pokémon around these areas are stronger than any other. They weren't wrong, even I was having problem with a Tangela despite having the type advantage. So we decided to train a bit on the foot of the mountain before heading up there. One question still remained, if we can't last for one night here, how are we supposed to go against that Trainer who resides on the peak of the mountain? We're going to get our asses whooped.

My name's Typholsion... well, as you can tell, I'm a Typholsion. I know, it's rather uncreative to not nickname your Pokémon and leave them to their original name. But I can't blame Ethan, he gave a nickname for me, once, when we first met at Professor Elm's lab. As a Cyndaquil, Ethan noticed that I can flare up the flames on my back whenever I intended to, so he figured out that "Explotaro" would be a perfect nickname for me.

...I immediately threw an Ember at his face, and he decided to not give me a nickname since then. I mean, come on, that was the most horrible pun ever used as a nickname. Just because I looked like an exploding taro out of all things as a Cyndaquil, doesn't mean he can just name me like that! If he ever come up with another pun-induced nickname, he'd better be ready for an Eruption on his face.

Other than me, Sparks was one of Ethan's most trusted Pokémon in our team. She was a Mareep when Ethan caught her at Route 23. Now she's an Ampharos capable of handling a Dragonite by herself. It was a reasonable nickname for her, as she nearly shocked our trainer a few times before she was able to take control of her own electrical powers. Whenever there are some wild Water type around, or swimmers, she saw no reason to not go and challenge them to battle. That's why she decided to go by the name "Sparks". An utterly fitting nickname for a reckless Ampharos.

We've been wandering around Mt. Silver's cave for at least a day, and we're already halfway through it. Ethan's sense of direction is amazing.

Just kidding, it's actually hopeless. Did I fool you?

Not even an hour into the cave, and we're already lost. An impressive record. He put me and Sparks into patrol duty in case if some wild Golbat or Graveler ambush us while we're walking. I know it sounds crazy putting a Fire- and Electric-type against something like a Graveler of all Pokémon, but hey, not everything about my trainer is bad, despite all my complaining earlier.

I also wonder why Ethan couldn't ask Skarmory to fly us up there instead of wandering around the cave with no idea of where we we're going. but judging from the height of Mt. Silver, even an armored bird probably couldn't stand the freezing temperatures up there...

While most of people would look down on Ethan as a snobby, bratty, yet overconfident kid who goes around Johto to collect Gym badges and kick some criminal's ass, you gotta trust me when I say he's a brilliant strategist in battle. Whenever we were pushed into a corner, he always had some crazy ideas to turn the tides in our favor. Whether it's against someone stronger than us, or when we're in a pickle, he's gotten us out of trouble many times. While he didn't have a perfect record in his career as a trainer, evidenced by one or two rematch against Whitney and Claire, he learned quickly from his mistakes, and made sure to cover every weakness he had. That was his way of getting stronger.

So, what was really the point of our journey and training? Some people asked us that question as we traveled. I can could that Ethan was tempted to answer "for money and girls" at some point. In the end, he resorted to the most logical answer for it. To get stronger.

It seemed as if there wasn't a specific answer for that. My only guess is that Ethan looked up to a certain Trainer long ago, and dreamed of doing the same, or better than them, as his goal. It was a possible reason why he was motivated to start his own Trainer adventure in the first place. Heck, if it wasn't for him, nobody would stop Neo-Team Rocket wreaking havoc in Johto.

Well, there's another person who tagged along with Ethan during the course of his journey, Lyra. She's Ethan's childhood friend back in New Bark Town. Ever since she was given Chikorita to take care of, she stuck with us throughout the adventure after an incident involving a kidnapped Totodile by a certain red haired guy... err, what's his name again? Assface? Buttsex?

Like I care about his name. One thing's for sure, Ethan finally unclogged the guy's heart (and brain) and make him think about what his Pokémon felt during battles. The bond between Trainer and their Pokémon is just as important as training them to become strong. I think Lyra called it "Friendship Power".

Well, aside from the red-haired boy, there are quite a few people who were just as annoying as him. On the top of my list is that caped Dragon-type Trainer, Lance. Back at Mahogany Town when we're investigating the sudden forced evolution of Magikarp inside the Lake of Rage, he found the secret stairways that leads to the secret Rocket hideout, then said something like, "we should split up to check this place. I'll go first."

I think I can roughly translate that as "follow me and do all of the work."

Why? Well, because he freaking triggered ALL the alarms inside the hideout! Who knows what he was doing with his Dragonite that time, and it left us having to fight countless grunts with their Raticates and Golbats until we deactivated the security system. The only time he helped us is when we're about to get ganged by Ariana and her grunts, by joining us in a Multi Battle, then shut down the machine that powered the transmitter. Lance should be thankful Ethan was more forgiving than I am, if I were in my Trainer's position, I'd feed him to the pack of Gyarados at the Lake of Rage and hope Arceus would forgive the poor bastard's soul.

Oh, and there was the Goldenrod Radio Tower takeover, perhaps you've heard of it?

...Of course, it was the incident that put an end to Team Rocket once and for all. Now, I have to admit, that was more of a troublesome situation than dangerous. Lyra somehow gotten into the midst of it, along with her Meganium and Marill. So both Ethan and Lyra had to disguise themselves as the members of Team Rocket to sneak into the tower, I'm rather surprised they didn't suspect us for anything (especially because both of them were a little too short for a Rocket grunt, not to mention they're walking with a pair of fully evolved starter Pokémon beside them), I'm just gonna assume that Team Rocket doesn't have the brightest lackeys, and admins. That's for sure.

That's not all, that ginger boy was still out for revenge, and he decided to lash it out on us... by ripping our disguises off. Thus, we were forced to rush into the building, take out the grunts one by one, and freed the real Director who were held captive inside the basement. I wonder why Feraligatr haven't bitten his head off by now...

After it was done and over with, the Director came in and handed Ethan a sparkling, silver feather. He didn't know what it was, but he also told us that the Kimono girls at Ecruteak City might know about it. We finally found out the true purpose of the silver feather after earning our eighth and final Gym badge from Blackthorn City (which is a pain in the ass). I was surprised to see that it was a feather of a Legendary Pokémon that resides deep within the Whirl Islands.

Well... given the circumstances that Ethan was the Trainer with "pure heart", he earned the privilege to battle and capture that Legendary Pokémon directly.

Certainly, a boy his age couldn't resist that kind of offer. That was a reward or some sort for saving Johto from Team Rocket, that clearly overwhelmed me, I don't know if I should feel happy, or shocked upon hearing it. I mean, what did that Red guy from Kanto got from getting rid of Team Rocket three years ago?

Nothing. Just his eighth Gym badge, and finally the permission to challenge the Pokémon League. At least that's what I heard. In the other hand, we got ourselves a Legendary Pokémon. Lugia to be exact, the guardian of the seas, one that able to expel powerful Aeroblast from a flick of its wings. Such a majestic, yet powerful bird...

I went a little overboard with the description, didn't I? Sorry, I couldn't resist it.

We could've swept the entire Elite 4 effortlessly with Lugia, but Ethan decided to challenge the League with the team he had trained and raised throughout our journey, and he truly earned my full respect that time. I nearly shed a tear of two from his resolve, it was really heart warming.

So, the Legendary Lugia ended up being put into a reserve Pokémon, or the nonexistent seventh Pokémon of Ethan's team. Or in a more fitting phrase; "will be used in case of emergency". Yup, that sounds about right.

"Are we there yet?" Sparks asked, her head hung low while we trekked behind our Trainer, still having zero sense of where we are heading right now. "My feet is sore, I can't feel anything with it..."

"Quit complaining, we're almost there, Princess." I teased, earning myself a hateful glare from the Ampharos. Because we got assigned into (yet another) patrol duty, she would go to complain about the cold air, the creepy atmosphere, the wild Pokémon... anything that practically bothered her. I'm tasked to ward off any wild Sneasel and Misdreavus that has the potential to harm our Trainer, while Sparks shocked any wild Golbat that attempted to suck our blood dry. Easy task. But it's getting really tedious and repetitive because we're still lost within the cave. "You felt it? The air is getting thinner and colder, I can tell we're close by now."

"Yeah, and maybe three years later, we'll finally be out of this forsaken place." There goes her sarcasm again, she's clearly in cranky mood. From my past experiences, I should really keep all those teasing to myself for time being, I don't want to have another Thunder straight to my ass. Seriously, that hurts. We might not be the best in behaving, but we're still the best combination in battles nonetheless.

Earning all 16 Gym badges of Kanto and Johto Pokémon Gyms is no small feat, that was the reason that brought us here, to Mt. Silver. It was all the endeavor we've done so far, aside from taking down Team Rocket. And right now - as I said earlier, we're going to challenge the so-called strongest Trainer in the world. His Pokémon wasn't the ordinary ones you'd see in regular Trainers off the street, they are champion materials, a hardened veteran team trained in the harshness of the mountain for who knows how long.

"The bet is still on, right?" Sparks asked, breaking the momentary silent that befell us earlier.

"Yup." I simply answered. "My lunch is yours if we can beat that guy in one try." Sparks had her smirk returned, that escalated her mood a bit.

Truth to be told, I wasn't so sure about going toe-to-toe with the Indigo League Champion from three years ago, even if we are able to bring him down to his knees, it won't be in an instant. To put it in other way, it's like you're going to challenge the final boss of a game while under equipped, then you just failed so miserably for dozens of times until you have memorized the boss's moveset, leveled up enough, and earned a better equipment to beat it.

And we're betting our lunch in this, marvelous.

Once we stepped outside the cave, the howling blizzard greeted us. I wasn't too affected by the sudden drop of temperature, but Ethan and Sparks in the other hand, wasn't faring well in the cold, they went into a sneezing fit just a few seconds later. But thankfully, it didn't last long. And we began our search for the Trainer we're looking for.

If this is where the strongest Trainer train his Pokémon, we have to come up with a plan other than cunning strategy and sheer power to overcome him. He might use the weather for his advantage, and the snowy terrain may also hinder our movement during the battle. Then again, this is his battleground, our chance of winning was shrinking the more we venture through this blizzard. But we won't going down without giving our opponent a hard time, Ethan's strategy was to restrict the opposing Pokémon's movement, driving them into a tight spot where we can finish them off, paralyze or freeze them, or cutting the distance between us and the opponent to exploit their physical weak point. It's rather difficult and risky, but they worked... well, most of the times. So it's not just about type advantages and sheer power to win. But considering our opponent is the undefeated Indigo League Champion, he will come up with something to counter our strategy.

Speaking of him, the Trainer we're looking for stood at the very peak of the mountain. Staring at the distant Kanto and Johto region below, he seemed unfazed by the strong wind and snow blowing at his face. He only wore a short sleeved jacket and a pair of baggy pants, just how did this guy didn't suffer a hypothermia by standing here all day long? Ethan was snorting because of the cold, and yet, this guy didn't even flinch a bit. Is this the result of the seemingly restless training he endured?

"Hey!" Ethan managed to find his voice between his clattering teeth, the guy turned his head slightly, I can feel his eyes staring at us over his shoulder from the shadow that covered his eyes. Is this guy supposed to be that creepy? "You're Red, right?"

We received a nod. Yup, he's definitely Red. Because no one else in the world relinquished their Champion title and went on a solitude training at the mountain of death for a few years.

"I want to challenge you to battle, would you battle me?" Ethan asked with solemn stare, he's always straight to the point without blabbering first, just how I like it.

Red turned to face us, I still couldn't see his eyes, but I could've sworn I saw a smirk formed on his lips. But he still looked silent and emotionless, despite that, I can feel something flickered inside him. Something that he has put out for a long time...

...a passion. Or something along that word.

But yeah, I can tell nobody has ever gone this high just to challenge him, most people given up halfway through the cave. And we don't. Now, Red seemed to found a worthy opponent after all these years in his exile. Believe me, we're going to give him more than just trouble in battle.

He raised his hand in the air and snaped his fingers, the sound reverberated through mountain. Silence followed after it for a few seconds, we thought that something isn't going to happen, but when a loud growl emanated from the clouds, a huge fireball dived down and landed in the front of Red. Forcing us to cover our eyes from the strong wind it created.

When the flames faded, a Charizard stood proudly in the place where the fireball landed, the blizzard seemed to slow down before disappearing completely, with the sunlight dispelled the thick mist and clouds covering the peak of the mountain. Hmm, he used Sunny Day, that's a plus for both of us I guess. I can barely see in the blizzard, anyway.

The Charizard crossed his arms, puffing a small steam from his nose. "You know, you're the first one to made it here. It's kind of dull up here. I don't see why my Trainer had to drag me here and train for three years straight." He deadpanned. "Well, not that I can complain about that to Red, he's silent as ever. I barely had anyone to talk to."

"I can see that." I smirked, not the greeting I expected. I was thinking of 'alright, punk' or some other rude welcoming, perhaps a simple congratulations would suffice. This was better than I could hoped for.

"So, you want a battle, huh?" He asked, cracking his knuckles and flexing his wings. "After finishing my full day training, I was hoping to get some break by battling or relaxing, but only to start the same routine every day in morning, over and over again. It's getting tedious, but I'm glad you came to give me something I longed for years."

Huh, I'm liking this guy already. Can't say Sparks felt the same, this Charizard seemed to be a pretty straightforward Pokémon, he doesn't brag or boast about how "strong" he is like those Trainer's Pokémon we've ever battled, or trying to look intimidating. He just a type of Pokémon who enjoy battling as much as we do. We'll be sure to give him a wake up slap to train harder.

"But, enough chit chat, let's get started now, shall we? I expect you to not give me a yawn-inducing battle."

Red tipped his hat and smirked, simply pointing his finger at us as Charizard launched himself with blue energy surrounded his claws, it's like they trained themselves to form a mental bond that allows Charizard to figure out what Red ordered. We haven't gotten that far yet, but Ethan can 'cheat' by using hand gestures to signal his Pokémon in battle rather than yelling loudly like others would. It took us a while to memorize everything, but everything just sort of synced in our mind. For me, it was fist for Thunder Punch, a snap of fingers for Flamethrower, and the list went on and on. There was no rule that prohibited us from doing that, so we took advantage of it.

Ethan was taken aback that Red suddenly initiated the battle without his knowledge, so he promptly gave me the first order. "Quick, Thunder Punch!"

I nodded, balling up my fist as electricity charged around it, and without further ado, I leaped up in the air and aimed my punch at Charizard. Just as our moves about to collide with each other, we both smirked.

This is gonna be one hell of a fight.