Extra Story - What it Means to be Strong
What it means to be Strong.
The silence that surrounded the desolate mountain peak was deafening as Ignis stared out at the world. It had been almost two weeks now, since Arceus brought them all to Equus, and since Ignis abandoned his family.
“Tch! What am I supposed to do? I told them that I wouldn’t come back until I was the strongest… and I now realise what a lofty goal that is.”
A few days ago, Ignis had fought and made a worthy rival out of a Blastoise by the name of Eclipse. And he’d also remembered the embarrassing battle he had given a spry Noivern named Edge. He’d battled a few other Pokémon here and there, but those two battles in particular had been ones that really stuck in his mind.
Then yesterday, he had made the biggest mistake of his life. Overconfident of his own strength, he’d picked a fight that had left him utterly outclassed and now his blazing spirit was just a few dying embers. So he’d taken wing to this desolate mountain peak, but after getting here, he wondered why he’d even come in the first place.
So colour him surprised when the sound of powerful wingbeats brought him out his introspection and he glanced at the Pokémon that landed in the soft snow next to him. It was a fellow Charizard, but he was a little taller and his skin was a dark grey, almost black. The insides of his wings were a blood red, but most notably, was the intense pressure of someone powerful. It was almost suffocating.
The newcomer said nothing, beyond giving Ignis a courteous nod and the two dragons simply sat and watched the clouds roll by.
It took about a half hour, but Ignis finally got impatient and spoke up.
“So uh… come here often?”
The other Charizard gave him an incredulous look before bursting out laughing.
“No, can’t say that I have,” he replied, taking note of Ignis’ lingering injuries. “So what happened to you? You look pretty beat up.”
Ignis frowned and winced, the temporarily forgotten wounds still stung, even though they were a few days old now.
“Haaahh… I picked a fight that I shouldn’t have. Got a little too confident in my own abilities.”
The black Charizard nodded, “I see, pride before the fall huh? Mind if I asked what happened?”
If Ignis was right about this guy, then who knows, maybe he could help with his current dilemma. He shifted and burned away the snow at his feet, leaving slightly glowing stone beneath him. He sat down and sighed as the hot rock eased his wounds somewhat.
“Well, it was about three days ago now. I had just left the Crystal Empire, a place far to the north of here. I wanted to test my new strength and what I have learned since being in Equus so I decided to fight someone strong.” Ignis looked out at the rolling clouds, “So I picked a fight with Moltres.”
“The Legendary Pokémon Moltres!?” the other Charizard exclaimed. “That’s a pretty gutsy move, is that the reason for your current appearance?”
“Hah! Hardly!” Ignis chuckled, before wincing again and deciding that laughing was a bad idea. “No, I beat Moltres, barely, but still beat her.” It was a spectacular fight, though Manaphy and Suicune had to douse a good deal of the area that they fought in. “I couldn’t believe it, I’d finally beaten a Legendary Pokémon!” Ignis felt his blood boiling and jumped to his feet, just remembering that fight gave him a rush!
“But then…” Ignis deflated and sat back down with a pained groan. “I got cocky, and made a huge mistake.”
“What happened?”
Ignis leaned his head back to stare at the clear, blue sky above them. “I thought I could take one any of them, and I fought against Lady Reshiram…”
The black Charizard’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Reshiram?”
“In a dominating performance, I was flattened, rolled up and tossed aside!” Ignis said dramatically. “She was ruthlessly strong. I think it was all over in about two or three minutes, that’s all I could handle… in fact, if it wasn’t for Shaymin and Celebi’s Synthesis healing, I doubt I’d have walked away alive.”
“That… sounds intense,” Charizard replied. “I’ve gone up against all sorts of Pokémon, but never against Reshiram… she’s really that powerful?”
“Like nothing I’ve ever come up against… and yet there’s ones that still outclass her. Gods forbid if I’d gone up against Zekrom, or perhaps Dialga or Palkia.”
“Heh, even Arceus himself?”
Ignis thought for a moment and then grinned wildly, “Psh, naw… I could totally take him.”
The Charizard laughed with him and then held out a claw. “My name’s Red, what’s yours?”
“Red?” Ignis pondered for a moment, why did that name sound so familiar. “Wait! You mean the Kanto Champion, Red!?” The black Charizard nodded and Ignis realised why he felt that pressure coming from him.
“Well then, My name’s Ignis Crescent, nice to meet you, Red.”
*~*
Red offered to assist Ignis with his training, specifically, on how to perfect Dragon Bullet.
“So this Noivern could use this attack, without sacrificing speed or power?” Red had to admit, that was pretty impressive. The timing needed for that was incredible.
“So where am I going wrong?” Ignis growled in frustration. “I either make it powerful, but too slow, but if I try and fire it faster, it becomes too weak.”
“The problem is with the timing, it’s all about condensing the energy and firing it at just the right moment.” Red frowned as he finished his sentence, “But if you condense the energy too much and wait too long…”
“It blows up in your face,” Ignis concluded as he rubbed his jaw. “Yeah, I found that out the hard way.”
“Y’know, the easiest way would be to just ask this Noivern to teach you,” Red suggested, but Ignis crossed his arms in an ‘X’ pattern and shook his head.
“Ye~ah, that’s not gonna happen.” That mark on his neck had finally healed, and he wasn’t looking forward to seeing the dragoness’s reaction, though it would pale in comparison if ‘she’ found out.
“Well, I’ve never seen the attack used like that before, so I’m afraid I won’t much help to you.”
Red scratched an itch on his wing. “But, I can offer some advice.”
“And that is?”
“Well, there’s no need to mimic the attack perfectly, if you want a re-match with her, then it’d probably be best not to use an attack that she herself created. You seem to have the basics down from what you’ve described, so now make it your own.”
Ignis tilted his head, “Make it my own… what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, try and put your own unique spin on it. Rumours have it that that’s how half the current known attacks were born. Flame Burst was from someone messing with an Ember attack, Bubble Beam is essentially a more powerful Bubble. You understand?”
Ignis nodded, at least, he think he got it. “Put my own spin on it huh?”
“The next question,” Red continued, “Is what do you think it means to be strong?”
“That’s an easy one, to be on top, stronger that everyone else around.” Ignis said proudly, puffing up his chest.
“Are you sure that’s it?” Red said, letting out a small sigh. “And what then? What happens when you’re the strongest?”
Ignis opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. He had no answer.
“Well,” the black Charizard said. “Let’s see if we can find the answer together.”
*~*
The two dragons trained and talked through the night, only stopping to eat and sleep. Ignis told Red about his family and the battles he had won and lost. In turn, Red had told him what he had accomplished in his life, saying that Ignis was impressed would have been a massive understatement. But unfortunately dawn brought about a new day all too soon.
“Have you figured it out yet?” Red asked his new friend. “What does it mean to be strong?”
“I still don’t know,” Ignis replied. “But… I guess that’s just one more goal to achieve.”
“Becoming stronger in order to discover what it means to be strong? I guess that’s one way to do it.”
“I’ve been wrong up until now, fighting only for myself when I have a family that needs me. When I fight next, it will be for them, and for me.”
“That’s a good answer, so what’s next for you?” Red asked, stretching his wings.
“I think… I think I’ll go home, back to my family.” Ignis replied. “I think I have accomplished all that I could on my own, and I owe them an apology.”
Red nodded. “Best of luck then, and say hello to your brother and give him my best wishes.”
“I will, thank you for the training and the advice. I’ll put it to good use.”
Red smiled as he spread his wings. “Good to hear, and maybe we could have a battle one day?”
“After you’ve trained yourself up a bit,” Ignis grinned cockily. “We wouldn’t want the fight to be too one-sided.”
“Indeed we wouldn’t,” Red said, shaking his head in amusement. “Well, good bye for now Ignis. May your Flame Burn as Bright as the Sun.”
That caught Ignis off guard, when and how the heck did a human learn a traditional Fire Pokémon saying?
“And May Water never Dampen your Spirits!” Ignis finished, clasping Red claw in his. “I’ll pass on the message, good luck to you as well.”
The two dragons shook hands and then flew off in different directions, both happy for the friend and possible rival that they both made.
“I’ll see you soon, brother!” Ignis said, his words carried off into the wind.
Little did he realise that his help was already needed, though he might not make it in time.
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Interesting.
... I think 'Sadisteon' is going to make another appearance very soon
Could Ignis really beat Moltres? I know Legendaries have been beaten before but in this universe they seem to be far more powerful. Zygarde managed to tie with Discord and he's only a base 600 stat. Or is Ignis just that strong?
5097933 - He mentions that he barely wins, and yeah, Ignis is pretty badass.
But I'm going more from the anime here, Ash's Charizard managed to beat Articuno and his Sceptile beat Darkrai and Regirock.
5097609 - Maybe... what makes you say that?
5097964 True, but Charizard had a type advantage and still won just barely. His Sceptile only beat Darkrai after it had been whaled on by Gible, Heracross (who knew sleep talk) and Torkoal. And if you're referring to Brandon's Regirock, Sceptile actually lost that one.
Why does Rika not remember or even act like she remembers being Sadisteon?
So awesome !
Love this, so much happen in so little time, I am kind of jelous. Bravo !
Now to wait for more.
I thought Zeus made Red a charizard Y?
5097964 Rika is currently trying to court Seth, Ignis caused him the emotional pain of losing a family member. She beat the crap out of Titania for calling her a pet, it's quite logical that she would beat the crap out of the person (or Pokémon) that that hurt her family.
5098341
Nope, the inner side of Red's wings are red, not blue. He's a shiny.
5099318 - Ahh, now I get it. Hmm, maybe... something completely different might happen during the reunion though~
5097933
But if you think about how even the legendaries are ranked, Molltres is the low tier, on the same level as Suicine, but higher than Manaphy. I can see winning against her as a possibility.
Now Zygarde and the Mortality Duo, they are the next level. Bringers of Life, Death and Order. They would be out of almost everybody's league.
And if can take anything from the anime it is this,
Even a legendary can be beaten.
5099731 - Honestly, I only see Arceus in this particular universe as unbeatable... at least by a single Pokemon. It's also stated in the games that a Pokeball limits a Pokemon's power, so now that they no longer exist, most Pokemon could become much stronger than they were before.
5099731 Statistically, Zygarde is actually a tier lower then Xerneas and Yveltal. Zygarde is 600, Xerneas and Yveltal are 680. But you're right about the Legendary birds, they're just 580. Which is technically weaker than a Pseudo. Whether or not that means most wild/trained pseudo's would be able to beat them is probably up to Zeus. This is his universe after all.
5099763 By a single opponent? With the stuff Arceus can do in this universe, I'd say it's just flat out impossible to beat him. I kinda like that though, one of the main plots of this universe is Arceus learning that just because he can do practically anything he wants, doesn't mean he should.
5099763 Exactly, the pokeballs limited them to level 100, now they can reach... OVER 8000!!!!!
5100410
....
You had one chance. You cruel bugger.
5100521 You're very welcome
Especially since the original translation was actually supposed to be over 8000 instead of 9000
5100849
I know, but the internet made its mark with the number.
5101404 At least I went with the translation-accurate number
I CALLED IT
Doesn't make it any less awesome.
I would never question Red's knowledge. He's probably pen pals with Arceus anyway.
5116480 - Aww, sorry. Those pictures are cute, but I won't be shipping them.
I like the new pic.
5128891 - Thanks, be sure to leave a comment on the artists page too!
Gonna kill him...I love Absols...wanna strangle him....
Red!?! Wasn't expecting that. Nice little chapter there.