The Tale of a Charmander (A Pokemon Story) Chapter 2; Blast Castle

The castle was possibly the largest thing I'd ever seen. As I stood in front of the large door that would lead inside the castle, I gazed upward to see exactly how tall the towers were. Both towers appeared to be touching the sky, and I stumbled backward, disoriented. Sapphire turned to look at me, and shook her head smiling when she saw me stumble.

"You coming, Char?" she said, holding the right side of the door open for me.

"Yeah." I said, regaining my balance and entering through the door.

When I stepped inside, my heart skipped a beat. It was amazing! I was in a large room that could fit about 200 Pokémon. The walls were a marble in colour, as was the floor. There were two large rounded staircases on either side of the room, that extended to a second floor. In between these two staircases, was another large door. This one, however, had two brass knockers on either side of the door. Sapphire led me to the large door, and put her paw on the left knocker. She turned to me before knocking and said;

"When we get inside, just follow my lead, and stay silent as much as possible."

I was about to ask her why, when she knocked on the door. Three bangs resonated from the door, so loudly, that I could have sworn that they had been heard throughout the entire castle.

"Enter!" shouted a voice from the inside.

It was a deep booming voice. One that sounded like it came from a large monster. I instinctively jumped back at the sound, and received a look of confusion from Sapphire. She turned back to the door without a word, and slowly opened it. The door made a loud creak when it opened. Unlike that of a regular, squeaky door, this one made a deep groaning noise, as if the door itself thought it was a powerful being, unfit to be used for entrance and exit from room to room. With one last glance at the door, Sapphire and I stepped inside the room.

The room was slightly smaller than the last, however still large at that. On either side of the room, was an aquarium that stretched from wall to wall. They were large floor to ceiling aquariums, and inside swam a dozen or so mid-sized to large fish. These fish weren't Pokémon, however they swam as a fish Pokémon would. Some of them even looked like a Goldeen. The floor was gold in colour this time, with a golden wall behind it. On both sides of the far wall sat statues of Yveltal and Xerneas, Pokémon only spoke of in legend. In between these two statues sat a throne, golden as the wall behind it, and on the throne, sat a very impatient looking Blastoise. The Blastoise looked just like a regular Blastoise in colour, and nothing was very remarkable about him, except the fact that this particular Pokémon simply exuded power and importance. I instantly felt small and inadequate compared to him.

"Where have you been?" said the Blastoise rather accusingly to Sapphire. "You said you'd be back in an hour. Unless the position of the sun is lying, you're a half hour late!"

"I'm sorry." said Sapphire looking very innocently into the Blastoise's eyes. "I got a little sidetracked."

"By what?" asked the Blastoise.

Then his gaze fell on me. His frown deepened, and he asked another question before Sapphire had a chance to answer his last one;

"Who is this?" he asked, indicating me with a nod of the head.

"Oh! Right!" said Sapphire, remembering that I was here.

I was obviously doing a good job keeping quiet.

"King Blastoise, Char. Char, king Blastoise."

My eyes widened as I realised who I was talking to. How had I not seen it before? The throne, the look of importance, it would only make sense for this to be a king!

But does that mean I'm in a kingdom of some sort? I thought to myself.

I looked left and realised that Sapphire was bowing. I rapidly dipped my head down, to avoid being rude.

"Oh, come now Sapphire. You know I don't like it when you bow down to me. I may be your king but you shouldn't bow down to your father."

"Sorry dad." Sapphire said as she stood up.

At this, I almost gasped out loud, right in front of both Pokémon.

"D-dad?" I said, barely able to get the words out. "H-he's your dad?!"

I realised I was pointing, and quickly reeled my arm in.

"Is there a problem with that?" asked the Blastoise, looking very unimpressed with me.

"N-no! I mean, yeah no! I mean, what?" I stammered, incapable of gathering my thoughts.

"Relax dad, he's a bit nervous, as you can tell. Maybe go for a bit friendlier?"

"Do you mean to tell me that I've been hanging around a princess since I got here and nobody told me?!" I yelled, frozen in shock.

"What is he doing here?" the king asked, ignoring my question.

"You know how I went out into the storm last night to check on the condition of the path that led to the nearest human town? Well, I found this Charmander lying under an oak tree, barely alive."

"Oh, so this is the Pokémon you were telling me about." said king Blastoise, summing me up. "What were you doing out in a storm? Having a flame as a lifeline, that wasn't a very smart move, don't you think?"

I didn't respond. He was right, it was a stupid move.

But what else was I supposed to do? I thought to myself. I couldn't have stayed where I was, that's for sure...

"He was travelling." said Sapphire, answering for me. "Looking for a place to stay. And that's why I brought him here, to you! I thought you could give him a place to stay in our kingdom!"

My heart jumped in my chest. She wanted me to stay? Was she actually offering me a place in this kingdom?

"No." said king Blastoise, and I felt my heart sink down into my chest again.

"What?!" said Sapphire, astonished at this response. "Why not?!"

"Sapphire, can I please speak to you alone." he looked at me as he said this.

His gaze made me feel uncomfortable.

"Umm, yeah sure." she said, clearly confused. "Char, can you step out into the foyer?" she asked, pointing at the door we had entered from.

"Alright." I said, feeling worried at what they were about to talk about. I opened the big, creaking door, and stepped into the foyer. I sat on the staircase to my right, and put my paws on my chin, wondering what the two royal family members were saying in the throne room.

---

After Char had left, Sapphire turned to face her father, who was wearing an expression of firm commitment. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Why can't he stay?" she asked, frustration evident on her face. "You let every other Pokémon who stumbles across The Kingdom of Peace stay!"

"We can't trust him. I don't know what it is about that Charmander, but I know he's bad news. When I asked him why he was out in the storm last night, he didn't answer. You did. Did he tell you why he was travelling?"

"Yes, I told you, he's looking for a place to stay."

"Did he say anything about where he's from?"

Sapphire thought for a moment.

"No, but that's no reason not to trust him." she said. "Why would he tell me about it if I didn't ask?"

"Has he done anything strange before or since he got to Blast Castle?"

"He's a bit jumpy, but it's probably just nerves. This is a big castle, and you're not the friendliest looking guy, you know."

"So you know nothing about where he's from, or who he is, aside from his name?"

"Yes..." said Sapphire, searching for an excuse to give Char.

"This is why we can not trust him. We don't know who he is or what he's doing here. We don't know who he's been associated with, and we can't say for sure what his intentions are. What if he's a trained Pokémon?"

"No, he couldn't be." said Sapphire. "If not me, then somebody else would have smelled human on him. He's clean."

"Are you sure?" asked king Blastoise, unconvinced. "If humans were to find this sacred place, all the Pokémon that live here would be driven out and forced to find new homes. Many would be captured, and there would be multiple casualties."

"Dad, he's clean! Did you smell any human on him?"

"You know a Blastoise's nose is not the strongest one." said the king. "Even if he was human trained, I wouldn't be able to tell."

"Dad, you may have very accurate feelings, but so do I, and I have a feeling that this Charmander is going to do great things for this kingdom."

Blastoise considered something for a moment.

"Three days. I give him three days to impress me, and prove that he's worth keeping here. During this time, he will stay at the Pokémon Hospital."

"Dad, you know Chancey doesn't like housing guests."

"Well he can't stay in any of the habitats! We don't know what he would do!"

"Well..." said Sapphire, putting on her innocent eyes. "I thought that maybe he could stay here, at the castle..."

"No! Absolutely not!" said king Blastoise. "That's where I draw the line! I will not have a strange Pokémon staying here in the castle!"

"Come on, dad, there's plenty of rooms. You yourself said that they're never used, and if he doesn't stay here, where is he going to stay? I know for a fact that Chancey won't let him stay at the hospital."

King Blastoise appeared to be at his wit's end.

"Fine. He can stay. For three days only! Even if he impresses me, I want him moved out in three days. Do you understand?"

"Yes! Thank you dad!" she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Why don't you go show him around?" said king Blastoise. "Just be sure you don't show him anything too important."

"Okay!" Sapphire said, running to the big creaky door.

"And Sapphire!" yelled the king.

"Yeah?" she said, turning before she opened the door.

"Be careful." he said, watching her thoughtfully.

"Don't worry, dad. I can handle myself!" she said before opening the door and entering the foyer.

Blastoise thought about something for a moment, and then called two Pokémon to his side.

"Wing! Snap! Come in here!" he called.

A Pidgeot and a Scizor came running in.

"Yes my king?" they asked in sync.

"Follow my daughter and that Charmander and make sure they don't get into trouble. Be sure you're not seen. Should anything happen, you are to come tell me at once."

"Yes, your excellency!" they said, bowing to me. They then ran out into the foyer, to wait for Sapphire and Char to leave.

---

When Sapphire came out of the room, she looked very happy.

"What is it?" I asked, worried that king Blastoise had kicked me out.

"You can stay for three days." she said. "If you manage to impress my father, he'll let you stay permanently."

Yes! I thought.

I discreetly did a little fist pump.

"Come on," said Sapphire, waving for me to follow her, I'll show you around the kingdom."

We walked to the large door that we entered the castle from ten minutes ago. As we walked, I took notice of a Pidgeot and a Scizor that walked out of the throne room and casually went about inspecting the floor for any grime.

No doubt a couple of king Blastoise's servants. I thought.

I decided to forget them, and focus on the next three days that were to come, as I stepped outside the castle with Sapphire by my side.