The Real Challenger

Red had never wanted someone to beat him in battle more than he did on this day.

Things had been very quiet for him for some time now. Ever since the multitudes of voices in his head had given him back control of his body at the end of his journey around Kanto things had been peaceful. His team had been through so much that they deserved the rest they were getting with Professor Oak back home. A new team came to him in the form of gifts. Red happily accepted them and, taking things as a fresh start, began to train.
Tirelessly he and his team fought. They made their way into the grassy hills surrounding Mt. Silver past Victory Road where they could easily make the trip to the Pokemon Center when needed. His team grew incredibly strong, and this time he could say with confidence that he was the one responsible. Finally he could feel proud. He’d known he’d had potential to be a great Pokemon trainer, but after seeing how far his current team had come he knew for sure that he was.

Besides the nurse at the Pokemon Center, there weren’t really any other people. After all of the noise he’d had to deal with before, the quiet was warmly welcomed. Once he and his team felt confident with scaling the mountain to train however, even the nurse’s soothing voice was seldom heard.
The mountain was silent. Red relished that fact. The ever-falling snow seemed to blanket out even the occasional noises of wild pokemon. It was just him, his team, and the pokemon they would face in training.

Then the challengers began appearing. Red hadn’t considered that people might hunt him down to challenge him, but seeing as how he was the current champion he should have expected it. And in a way, it excited him. Finally, he would really get to see what he was made of. The challengers that came were wiped out effortlessly. He didn’t want to seem too happy about his victories, but he couldn’t help but feel proud and accomplished. After all, he hadn’t gotten to earn his championship title. The “twitch” had earned that. As long as he could uphold his champion title though, he felt like that made it okay. There was a new thrill with each new challenger that faced him. Victory gave him purpose. Victory gave him confidence. Victory gave him reassurance. And for a while, he almost thought he could put the days the twitch had controlled him behind him.

That was, until the Twitch was right in front of him instead.

At first glance he didn’t want to believe it. His stomach sank as he watched the erratic movements of the challenger who had just entered his cave to face him. He didn’t want to believe that it could possibly be happening to that poor boy. Perhaps he had just gotten confused in the darkness? Just checking out the area? No, there was no mistaking it. The way he checked his bag and pokedex seemingly at random brought flashes of memories back before Red’s eyes.

Watching this challenger get pulled around in such a way, Red could almost hear the voices in the back of his own thoughts. Except that he didn’t; because they were with this boy now. Whatever the Twitch was, which Red had never really come to a full conclusion about, it had this boy in its grasp.

This challenger needed to complete his journey, and Red was possibly the final obstacle.
Red pulled his hat down over his eyes, a mix of horror and pity swirling within. He said nothing. He knew no words that would be right. This trainer needed to defeat him. No, Twitch needed to defeat him. Twitch needed to win if the poor boy standing before him wanted any hope of ever living without their thousands of voices penetrating his spirit. Red’s hand reached for the pokeball containing his Pikachu. Even if he did feel pity for the possessed challenger, he wasn’t going to take it easy and let him win just to free him. In fact, Red was going to take this battle more seriously than any other battle he’d ever fought in his life. This was him against Twitch.  Red brought out his first pokemon. It was time to show Twitch what he’d become without it.