Chapter 37
After the sudden and heated battle, it seemed as though Prince the Infernape was on agreeable terms with Scythe. Well, to a point. There was still resent in the old Scyther's eyes whenever their gazes met, though his anger wasn't quite there anymore. Char was thankful for the resolution, though he was still puzzled about what threat or problem the Infernape posed in coming to Temporal Tower with him. He knew it hadn't gone away, but after the fight he'd just witnessed, Scythe seemed far more willing to accept its presence than before.
And if Scythe was willing to accept it, Char decided, so was he.
Having not moved an inch from the place he watched the battle, Char sat on the sidelines of the courtyard. Scythe's punishment by Lucario was still far from over, so he invented some game to further pass the time. Char watched as Scythe engaged in some new exercise with his two best friends, and as Saura tried to stand his ground and dodge patterns of attacks Scythe would present.
"I'm surprised you won," Char said to Prince, who stood beside him. "Scythe is hard to beat."
The Infernape hummed a sigh, pressing his fingers lightly against the healing cuts and wounds he sustained under his fur. He crouched down to rest, watching Scythe's movements.
"He didn't want to win," Prince said solemnly. "It was a test of my character. He wanted me to win. But he knew he couldn't make it easy, or it wouldn't have meant anything. Being his partner for years, I came to understand some of the ways he thinks. But now… I just wish I knew what's wrong with him this time."
"Me, too," Char said.
"Knowing him, he'll probably get everything under control in some way or another," Prince said. "He is one who doesn't often fail to get what he wants. I wouldn't worry…"
A shout arose from the opposite end of the broken pillar as Saura missed a jump and got pummeled with Scythe's arm. Scythe took a moment to scold him for his mistake, before turning to attack Ray without warning.
"Your friends are strong," Prince said thoughtfully. "You've been training well, it seems."
"We've had good trainers to push us," Char said. "Team Remorse taught us everything we know. They didn't even let us join a training team. They just sent us out into dungeons and we started getting better at being a resistance team."
"That's good," Prince said. "You're lucky to have him watching out for you. I used to train Pokémon for a living, before I joined the Gold Division. As a child, I was trained to fight, and to lead, but I lacked the experience of fighting in a war. I see Scythe now… and I know that he is not a trainer, but he has much to teach. And I must wonder… if he is a better trainer than I ever was…"
Char watched amusedly as Ray played some sort of tug-of-war match with Saura's vine. Scythe was barking instructions in his ear, telling him how to position his feet and hold his body. He held it at a standstill for a few moments, until Scythe leveled his blade with the vine as if threatening to sever it. Saura winced violently, jerking Ray several feet forward in panic.
"So… tell me," Prince began, turning his attention to Char. "How much do you know about fire?"
"A bit," Char answered. "I know how to breathe fire… And I know about my Ember…."
"Hmm, you said a fire-type trained you?" Prince asked skeptically.
"Yes, and no," Char answered. "There's Daemon. He gave me a few tips, but nothing intensive. Scythe taught me some things from a Charizard he knew once. But a Ditto taught me most of my techniques."
"Ah, Domo," Prince sighed, nodding at the memory. "He's respectable. But there's no replacement for training with a Pokémon who spends every minute of the day as a fire-type. We have little time, but I will help you as much as I can in the time we have. For starters… have you learned about blazing?"
"Yes, I have," Char recalled. "When you reach the end of your energy, the Ember flares and gives you one last chance to survive. It's happened to me more than once. It's very powerful."
"Good, good," Prince said. "That's important to know about. If you're fighting a difficult battle and taking heavy damage, you must learn to see it coming and factor it into your strategy. In fact, if Scythe had been more observant during our battle, he would have known that I was only acting injured because my fire had not blazed. And also, not all fire-types are able to experience the blaze reaction. You and I are lucky in that regard. Now, then… I assume you've been taught by Domo how to call upon your Ember to prepare you for battle?"
"First thing he taught me," Char said with a nod. "It's instinct now every time I see a fight coming."
"And how, may I ask, did he tell you to do it?" Prince wondered. "There are several reliable means for a fire-type to rouse their fire. Which method did you learn?"
"He taught me to act selfish," Char explained, amused at how strange it sounded to say. "I focus on things hurting me and things I don't like. When I focus on those things, I start getting angry. And when I get angry, my fire grows."
"So… you feed your fire with rage," Prince said. "A reliable tactic. But there are better. And among them, one is superior to all the rest. Shall I teach you that one?"
Feeling a tingle of interest, and wondering what secrets his Pokémon nature still held, Char nodded in reply.
"Hmmm," Prince sighed, eyeing Scythe. "Then we have our first lesson."
Prince led Char out of the courtyard, giving a word of acknowledgement to the Ninetales and the Smeargle on the way out. Char took a final glance at Scythe as he disappeared back through the great doors into Rayquaza's Clutch, only to find that his back was turned as he spoke to his two remaining students. Char thought nothing of it, though; it was Scythe who finally gave Prince permission to approach Char and talk with him personally, to help with his training in whatever way he could.
Turning his back on his close companions, Char put his full trust in the Infernape and followed where he led.
… … …
"You must make your Ember as obedient as your arm, or your leg," Prince lectured to Char as they walked down a hall in Rayquaza's Clutch with large marble tiles. "Just as your arm or your leg must not fail you in a time of great need, so must your Ember be. It must move when you say, it must flare and it must dampen when you say. And if you say that it must flare completely, or one-third of the way, or two-thirds, it must also obey you. It is not enough to feebly plead to it for assistance when you need it. You must learn to stay in command of it."
Char stayed at the Infernape's side, listening intently to him and trying not to distract himself by staring at the new surroundings. The far branch of the fortified complex, at least what he'd seen of it, was different than the one at the main enterance. The halls were still wide, the walls still made of the same monotonous stone bricks, but the sky windows were gone here, replaced with a consistent ceiling lined with steel support beams. Some weakly-glowing blue stones hung from the walls and provided a dim light source, letting he, Prince, and several other Pokémon who traversed the hallway see where they were going. Char felt a little disappointed that the shelter didn't seem to insulate the building from the cold as much as he hoped, though he felt much better than when he first set foot in the northern land. He figured his nerves were adjusting to the temperature.
"It is important to learn to control your Ember, or it could betray you," Prince continued, leading Char around a corner. "If an enemy pays close attention to your fire, they might tell what you are planning, or what you are thinking. You must never let your Ember betray your secrets."
"But, it's hard," Char responded. "My fire is based on my feelings. And sometimes I can't change my feelings…"
"That is why we have thoughts, to trick our feelings with," Prince told him with a small, wry smile. "And that is why we have art, to guide both our feelings and our thoughts. Here… behold."
Gesturing toward a wide open doorway, Prince paused so that Char could go on ahead.
Stepping inside, Char found the room was a communal planning center of some sort. Part if it appeared to be a dedicated library with rows of tall bookshelves, while the other part had something like seats, or desks. It reminded Char of the library at the Cliffside Academy, where he had stopped to plan his adventures with his team once or twice. The floor was made of raised, polished wood, which Char found slippery to walk on at first. The walls were short, but the ceiling slanted upward on both sides until it reached a point many stories high in the very center. Glowing gems, much brighter and more numerous here, provided ample lighting for the room's inhabitants, currently just a Swellow and a Parasect chatting in the corner. All in all, it seemed cozy enough. There was nothing too notable about the room.
...Except for one thing.
It was so big, Char didn't see it at first. On the far wall, there was a giant, unframed painting. The light had touched it oddly, making it blend into the background. Char took a few steps forward, now hypnotized by the patterns and brushstrokes of the image, trying to decipher their meaning.
The painting depicted a scene atop a snow-covered cliff. The snow shimmered beautifully with flowing shades of white and blue underneath the light of the clear, starry sky. Upon the edge of a cliff, there stood a Glaceon, tensed, poised in a battle stance. It focused intently up into the sky. There, hovering in the air above it, was a majestic, stunningly beautiful bird. Compared to the tiny little Glaceon, it was a godlike being. A legendary. Its fierce stare and gorgeous blue feathers were exaggerated heavily by the artist; its wings spanned over half the length of the massive canvas as they were stretched open to slice through the air, riding the currents of wind as if it owned them. Its tail streamed wildly behind it, and the tips of its feathers sparkled like icicles wherever a star would twinkle at their edge. Char could not help but hold his breath at the striking detail of the piece.
"The Flight of Articuno, it is titled," Prince explained, entering the room behind him.
"It's beautiful," Char commented, still panning his eyes over the scene and trying to take it all in. "So vivid. It looked like it took a year to paint."
"Not nearly," Prince said with a little chuckle. "But I will tell you a few things about the painting. First, it was not drawn by reference. This was not a scene which the artist witnessed with her own eyes. The two Pokémon you see depicted on the painting, while they are real kinds of Pokémon, are fictional. The artist imagined them this way, and painted the scene she had created in her mind."
"Uh-huh," Char responded absently, still fixated on the image.
"The artist was a Smeargle, naturally," Prince told him. "Though I have never met her personally, she has made very clear the meaning behind the work, and her inspiration for it. Can you guess at the meaning?"
"The beauty of a legendary Pokémon," Char guessed. "And the hopelessness of trying to fight one…"
"As it would appear at first," Prince said, "but what if I were to tell you… that the two Pokémon depicted in this scene are the same person?"
Confused, Char looked closely at the great arctic Pokémon as it swooped down for its kill, and at the Glaceon as it prepared to stand its ground. He shook his head.
"I don't get it," Char admitted.
"They are the same Pokémon," Prince said again. "Think of one… as a product of the other."
Char looked again, taking great notice of the Glaceon's eyes. While they appeared differently at first, Char realized that there was not a shred of hate in them. Or even fear. Just intensity. Focus. Perhaps something also like hope, or longing. And the Articuno… its claws were not outstretched, not aiming for prey. It simply swooped down, perhaps to meet the other…
"I think I get it," Char said after a moment of thinking. "The Articuno is imagined. It's in the Glaceon's mind."
"Correct," Prince said. "One is the imagined, the other is the imaginer. The Articuno is the representation of the Glaceon's spirit, her hopes and desires, manifest before her eyes. Yet… to the Glaceon, the Articuno is as real as she is. Her intimate friend, giving her company and strength in times of need. In this picture, she calls upon it for help, and she finds comfort in its presence."
"An imaginary friend," Char said, still searching for all the minute details which hinted at this meaning. "I like it. But… what does this have to do with my Ember?"
"Just as the Glaceon in the painting, you must learn to see yourself as two spirits in the same body," Prince instructed, illustrating his point with some hand gestures. "For that is what you are. And that is what every Pokémon is, in the end. Two entities in command of one life, each just as real as the other, though one might be intangible and invisible. When you learn to understand this, you will learn to be in full control of yourself."
Char thought about it for a moment, wondering what in the world it could mean. Like the painting, it was certainly not obvious at first. He searched his soul for a second spirit, but didn't seem to find any, except for perhaps the spirit of the primal Charmander he sometimes fought for control. Could that be it?
"Think of it this way," Prince continued, sensing Char's confusion. "There are two facilities that are important to your everyday life. There is the facility that acts, and the facility that thinks and plans, which directs the other on how to act. The world can see your actions, but your thoughts are invisible… to put it another way, in the story of your life, you play two different roles: you are both the author of the story, as well as the primary character. The character acts out the will of the author, while the author is invisible. Does that make any sense?"
"Not really, but a little," Char confessed, staring at the floor awkwardly as he tried to piece together the point.
"On one hand, you are a Charmander. You eat, sleep, and live. You have friends and you fight in battles. Correct? That is you, Char, the Charmander. On the other hand… you are also a human."
Char froze in surprise. He cast a wondering, fearful glance back up at the Infernape.
"You know… like a Pokémon trainer who commands his Charmander into battle." Prince specified, confused at Char's sudden reaction. "He has hopes and dreams for himself and for the Charmander, and commands the Charmander with wisdom and foresight which the Charmander lacks. For a moment, try to think of yourself as that human."
Shouldn't be too hard, Char sarcastically told himself, calming his startled heart.
Char imagined a life that could have been his, for all he knew: the life of a Pokémon trainer. He didn't remember very many specifics, or even any images, but he know how they worked. A human cared for his Pokémon friends and trained them for the greater good of the whole team. Though the human did none of the fighting. The human was only the commander. The Pokémon acted as extensions of his will. This worked well, since most Pokémon could not understand the trainer's master plan. Each knew their strengths, their weaknesses, their mastery of their elements… and it was those things on which they had to consistently focus in order to succeed. It was up to the trainer to see the bigger picture and to utilize the Pokémon's strengths. And it was up to the Pokémon to place their trust in their trainer.
I'm a trainer, Char told himself. I'm a trainer. And I'm commanding… A Charmander? Me?
He imagined crawling through some dungeon, and meeting some enemy. He pictured himself as a disembodied spirit of a human floating above the Charmander which was him.
Char, you have to fight! he told the Charmander, who looked back to him for directions. These are rock Pokémon, so use your Metal Claw technique! You're the only chance we've got!
He pictured himself standing in the Glaceon's place atop that snowy cliff, again, as the disembodied spirit of a human. Above him, swooping through the air, a giant Charizard approached.
I need help, he told the Charizard, who listened intently to his cry. Take me away from this place! It's cold! Fly me to safety!
"And that is how it is done," Prince said, noticing the change in Char's flame. "To call upon your fire, place yourself in the mind of the Charmander. To quell your fire, become the human who commands the Charmander. As the situation demands, allow them to cooperate, and regulate how much of an influence one has on the other. It will take some practice before you can begin to rely on it, as everything does… but it's something for you to think about."
… … …
As Char followed his instructor to their next destination, he amused himself by stepping out of his own persona and pretending he was a Pokémon trainer. Though he didn't yet understand the correlation between this mindset and his Ember, it intrigued him to view himself in this light – especially since, ironically, he was a human and a Pokémon at the same time in the first place.
Stay with him, Char told himself. He will teach you more about your fire. Listen to him.
As Prince kindly took the Charmander by his side, something stirred deep within his heart. This was his long-awaited opportunity to instruct a youngster. He had planned for this moment, after all, since the first stages of his ploy to draw the Charmander to the Emerald Division. What an honor, it was, to be of assistance to the Pokémon who had the Call! Especially since the last time the Call had happened, circumstances were less than ideal…
Looking down upon the budding little child, faint memories floated before his vision. Days long past gone, such as one late summer afternoon spent teaching a young but world-weary Growlithe to spit her first tongues of flame…
This was something, he felt, he had to do.
After guiding the little one up a narrow case of metallic stairs, Prince flung open a trapdoor set in the ceiling, causing the chilly late-afternoon air to sweep inside. It was a passage to the roof of Rayquaza's Clutch.
The afternoon was no longer young, though evening was still hours away. Upon emerging onto the rooftop, Char cast his gaze onto the uninterrupted view of the sky, finding it hard to believe that, a handful of hours before, he was up there. The cloud blanket which filled the sky and dampened the light of the sun still remained there, motionless, casting the same dreary atmosphere over the land as before. The roof of the building, he saw, was mostly just an endless sea of reservoirs filled with bright white gravel with some raised walkways crisscrossing them. Careful not to trip and fall into the gravel, or worse, through a sky-window and into the floor below (he didn't see any, but wasn't going to take any chances), he tread lightly upon the walkway as Prince led him to the edge.
Peering over the raised guard-wall, Char found a vast yet surprisingly uninteresting view of the city open up to him. He saw how the mostly-empty streets of Fort Emerald formed the spokes of a wheel with Rayquaza's Clutch as its center. Interspersed with them, the same-looking buildings seemed like only a pile of bricks. The outer wall of Fort Emerald thoroughly blocked any view of the horizon line.
"You tremble," Prince noticed.
Char glanced down at his arms which held tight to the corner of the stone wall. Indeed, they were shaking slightly.
"I'm cold," Char said. "It's really cold here up north. It's taking me a while to get used to. Even inside, it's cold. Out here, there's a breeze, too."
"Would you like me to teach you how not to be cold?"
Char nodded, barely managing to contain his raving eagerness as the suggestion.
"There are two ways," Prince explained. "The first, which you probably already know because of what your instincts have told you, is to flare your fire to drown out the cold. Correct?"
"Of course," Char said. "Especially when I'm in battle. When I was back in the courtyard training with Scythe, I felt fine. And even when I was watching you and Scythe fight, I guess it was a little scary, so I still forgot about it being cold. But right now… I won't lie. It's not comfortable up here."
"In the wild, fire-types do not make their homes in cold places," Prince said. "And so, this is the reaction they developed, to shield themselves from the cold with a greater intensity of fire. Though it drains energy, it works to a degree. It can offer temporary relief when you need it, but in the end, it is simply that: you are hiding from the cold, rather than adapting to it. You are hiding from the problem, rather than fixing it. Do you know why fire-types are super-sensitive to cold?"
"Because heat and cold are opposite elements?" Char guessed. "They balance out one another?"
"Close," Prince told him. "Fire-types feel cold because their bodies are warm. It is not the true temperature of the air which you feel; rather, you feel the difference in temperature between your skin and the air which touches it. Hmm… this brings to my mind a funny old dilemma my human friends would always refer to. Many humans enjoy taking showers with hot water. It makes them feel comfortable. But when they try to leave, they get horrible chills all over, even if the air around them is normal in temperature. And so, many of them find it difficult to even leave a shower because of the awful cold. They joke that they become trapped in there."
Heh, heh, that is pretty funny, actually, Char thought to himself. I… I think I even remember something like that…
"So, while you could drown out the cold in your own fire, you might just be making things harder on yourself when your fire calms down again," Prince continued. "The second way of keeping yourself warm… is to try to lower your Ember's intensity. Calm yourself. Bring your heart down to a calm, complacent simmer. It will ease your discomfort."
"That's good to know," Char replied, smiling. "Thanks for telling me that. But I'm not sure that I can do it just yet. I still have to work on controlling my Ember like you said… making it go back down has always been subconscious to me. It's hard to do it willingly."
"Yes, you should practice," Prince said. "And again, that is only one of the two ways. You must choose between them. There are some times when the other way is the one you want to do, such as in the more intense cold. Now, in those cases, there is a way to raise your body temperature quickly…"
Prince then went on to teach Char another new technique: how to overheat his body.
He explained the nature of how the air he breathed affected his Ember, comparing it to the wind against a campfire: while a powerful gust of wind could blow the fire out, gentler, concentrated gusts feed the fire like billows, letting it thrive and grow. He instructed Char to breathe slowly but deeply, pushing his lungs as far in and as far out as they could go. After fourteen breaths, as his head was starting to tingle from hyperventilation, Prince instructed him to hold his breath hard.
The result was a strange, fiery tingling feeling sweeping across his whole body. A shiver of warmth. For the moments ensuing, he felt something intense under his skin, almost as though his own skeleton was trying to burst out from its fleshy prison. Pressure flooded all his nerves and muscles, searing with heat as it pulsed through him. He felt his tail flame leap marvelously in size. Most importantly, though, the cold of the breeze was completely lost upon him.
"Well done," Prince said to him, noticing the result. "You fed oxygen to your fire, as though you were in the heat of battle and preparing to expel a pulse of flame from your mouth. But instead, you absorbed it into your own body, trapping all that excess heat inside of you. Not only will that keep you warm for a few moments, but right now, your skin is far too hot for any other creature to touch! Just one brush against you would sear their flesh!"
"Hmm… so I could use it as a weapon?" Char wondered. "It could be a battle technique?"
"Certainly, if you find enemies surrounding you, grappling with you, then yes, by all means, use it to keep them away," Prince answered. "I know I've used it to that effect more than once. It's a helpful technique."
"I like it already," Char said. "I think I'll use it from now on!"
"Good," said Prince. "If you master the technique, it is even possible to send out dangerous waves of heat in all directions when you use it."
"Wow," Char sighed. "So… all this time I was afraid of the cold, I could have avoided it? I never have to feel cold again?"
"Well… not completely true," Prince said after a short hesitation. "There is such a thing as cold that is too intense for your body. Char… did Domo teach you about smoldering? Did he mention it at all?"
Char hesitated to respond. He searched his memory, trying to recall if Domo had ever mentioned "smoldering"… but his mind was blank.
"I don't think so," Char finally told the Infernape. "I don't know what that means."
Prince paused for another moment, staring down at the city with a blank gaze. He was facing a dilemma, Char sensed. Something pertaining to him. He looked displeased.
"Domo should be ashamed of himself, for thinking he can properly train you," he said finally, shaking his head. "Come. That will need to be our next lesson. You must learn to smolder."
Fort Emerald
"It can indeed be difficult to learn all the aspects of being a fire-type," Prince told Char as they walked down the street a block from Rayquaza's Clutch. "There are so many things to learn. Other Pokémon have simple natures. We, on the other hand, are not animated by the same life force or aura. Our fire animates us, a very physical and tangible force, and we must learn how to protect it and control it. As you said, your fire is closely linked to your emotions. When you feel angry, your fire grows bigger."
"And when it's strong, I feel less pain, and more strength," Char added. "It makes me keep pushing on. And when it gets small, so does my willpower."
"Your fire behaves the way it does for a reason," Prince said. "All of these things about your nature which I teach you, they're all driven by one central motive. To understand it, you must understand that when Pokémon came into being, the fire-types were given a special task which no other Pokémon shared. And to accomplish this task, we were each given a tongue of the sacred Ember to harbor inside of us. Our task… as dictated by the gods who placed us down upon the land to live with the other Pokémon… was to destroy the world."
A strange tremble of surprise ran down Char's back as he heard the words. His fire flared, as if he was being called to some grand purpose, but confusion set in just as quickly when he remembered that the world wasn't that bad of a place and that he really didn't want to see it go.
"I'm meant to destroy the world?" Char repeated, scanning his own feelings. "How… how am I supposed to do that?"
"You hold the Ember, so yes, it is your task, inherited from the ancients and handed down to every living fire-type," Prince said. "Of course, nobody is asking you to accomplish it. But that is why you exist. That is your purpose in nature. When Arceus formed the universe, he deemed that it should be held in balance. For every force, there must also exist a force to fight it. For every life, there must be a predator. And so as the world fills with life and beauty and majesty, there must also be a cleansing force to destroy that life and tear down that beauty, so that the world might be held in the balance. That is why he created the Ember and all the Pokémon who carry it, so that we may spread it far and wide and turn the world into ash. Of course, we will eternally fail, as we are also balanced by that same life we are driven to destroy… Even today, fire-types are growing scarce, since the nature of the world thrives to eliminate us…"
Char felt his fire flickering strangely as he listened to the words. It had a very different taste now, a significance to it that held him in awe. He felt strangely proud to accept his Ember and the reason it burned.
"Fire-types are proud by nature," Prince said, catching the gleam in Char's eye as he reflected on it. "As we are controlled by the Ember, we are narrow-minded, self-absorbed, and quick to anger. But things should not be any other way. For with our anger comes the Ember demanding to be expelled so that we may burn our enemies and survive in a world that is opposed to our existence by instinct. With the Ember at our cores, we should never underestimate what it can make us do."
"Heh. Hahah… wow," Char laughed nervously. "That's a lot to accept. I almost don't know what to think of myself now…"
"But doesn't it raise your spirit?" Prince chuckled. "Legend was the one who told me that for the first time. A long time ago, back when I was putting my team together, my pride had gotten me into a difficult situation with the division. He told me that story to raise my spirit, that whenever I made a mistake or made an enemy, it was my birthright to do so. The next morning… I let him join my team."
Char found himself paused in the street at the front of a windowless building. It stood only one floor in height, but it stretched in length, flat and square, back across a couple of blocks. Though it was made with the same kind of thick, sparkling, white-and-gray bricks as Rayquaza's Clutch, this building did not have an intrinsic sense of dignity to it. It was built with function in mind, not honor. Char guessed it was an underground warehouse or attack shelter, judging by how it looked so sturdy and reinforced. After a brief moment of pause, Prince ascended the ramp to the entrance and let himself in. Char followed.
"Wait… Legend? The Ninetales?" Char asked, the name suddenly clicking in his head, as he stepped through the doorway and felt the hollow echoes of far-away sounds resonating down the halls. "Was that the one we passed back in the courtyard? Was that him?"
"Yes, that was him," Prince answered, looking at a couple of doors before him as if trying to remember which way to go. "He's here because he has an event in town tonight. He still tells stories to the division every now and then. It's his passion in life, after all."
"Will I get to be there?" Char wondered. "I might want to meet him…"
"You'll probably have to talk Scythe into it, but otherwise, there's no reason you can't," Prince said. "But for now… come. This way."
A few paces away from the entrance, Char found himself staring down a long, huge hallway that converged down to a point in the distance as if it were endless. There were numerous doors and windows along the walls, some of which cast dim yellow light onto the silvery floor paved with some sort of metallic substance. He heard as more tiny echoes resounded down the long corridor, but more than that, Char suddenly felt distracted by something. There was something in the air that he couldn't place. It made his heart race to sense it, yet it was totally invisible. He tensed his muscles, wondering what the feeling could mean…
"Quickly," Prince tried again, his voice louder. "We do not have very long."
Char jumped and ran after him.
… … …
Prince passed the long hallway completely, moving quickly through a narrow side-hall and then down a flight of stairs. Char kept up to the best of his ability, afraid of getting lost in the unknown establishment.
After descending a couple floors, Prince held a small door open for Char. Stepping out from the stairwell, a feeling of tininess sank into Char's heart as he stared down a long, dark, silent corridor. It resembled the same one Char had seen in the upper floor, except it was much wider, and the ceiling was twice as high, and there were no lights. Char felt himself tense even more; it was like a dungeon, or a deserted mine shaft, or perhaps a giant the size of the earth had pounded a stake down into this building and then pulled it out quickly. The hall had a very distinct shape to it, the walls and ceiling sloped and formed something like an elongated pentagon.
And that scent… yes, a scent, it had to be… it was stronger here. It made his claws tingle, his throat tighten, his tail twitch. What was it? What was calling to him so?
Char wondered this as he stared down the horizontal shaft, watching how the shadows swallowed the tiny light from his flame like a bottomless pit. A measure of comfort came to him as Prince entered the room and came to stand at his side, the blazing mane atop his head dwarfing his own flames and reflecting strongly from the dull steel surfaces which surrounded him.
"I'm going to show you this the same way my father showed me," Prince told Char gravely, walking him down the huge cavern-like hallway. "It is something every fire-type must understand about their Ember. Before I do this, I must warn you that I am about to put your life in grave danger. You will nearly die. In truth, if you do not do exactly as I say, you may die. But this is something you must learn. You must experience this and never forget what I am about to show you. Understand?"
Char didn't know what the Infernape was about to commence, but standing in the digestive tract of such a large, steel beast, feeling the constant tingle of the cold that seemed to define every corner of the Emerald Division, he couldn't help but feel a sense of brotherhood with the fellow fire-type. He stood tall and held his form courageously, looking to his new mentor with respect and trust.
"I understand," Char answered as confidently as he could manage.
"Good," Prince said with a nod. "Now, you say you have experienced the blaze reaction before. You may have come to rely upon it when all hope seems lost. Indeed, it's a very moving force, and you should never underestimate what you can accomplish under its influence. But understand this: the blaze reaction is a response to physical trauma; it happens if you are injured or if you are losing in a battle. But there are times when it will not come to your aid. If your only enemy is the cold, the blaze reaction will not help you, as your fire itself is challenged."
Prince stepped to the wall of the hallway. Char made out the handle of a door near his form. Prince approached it, gripping a hand on the latch.
"This is cold storage," Prince explained. "In here, we keep our meat from decaying. Do you eat meat?"
Meat! Char realized excitedly. Meat! That's it! That's the smell!
"Uh… uhm…" Char mumbled, a little ashamed to answer the question. "I uh… I've tried it before… But I… I don't eat it very much."
"You are ashamed," Prince guessed, seeing Char's reaction. "You enjoy meat. But you are ashamed of eating another living Pokémon. So you instead feast on seeds and berries. Am I right?"
"Y… yes," Char said. "Actually… I had meat once or twice. I didn't tell anyone. But I really liked it."
"Well, I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are a carnivorous Pokémon," Prince said distractedly, undoing the latch on the door. "Eventually you will have to learn to live with the guilt. You may enjoy your seeds and berries now, but as a Charizard, you will crave meat and meat alone. Learn to hunt and kill before you learn to consider it an offense to your morals. Now…"
Prince gripped the door handle tightly, preparing to open the chamber. Before he did, he sent Char one last glance.
"These freezers are colder than the harshest temperatures of Zerferia," Prince announced. "Do not use the techniques I taught you to stay warm; they will not work here. The cold is too much. Most Pokémon bodies were not meant to weather a temperature this extreme for more than a few moments. But to a fire-type, it is especially deadly. If your body temperature drops too far, your Ember cannot be sustained, and it will be put out. And your life will end."
A chill descended Char's back as he felt his knees turn to jelly. Fear flooded his body, and his fire rose to help him. Prince was going to freeze him alive?! He considered bolting for the door and never looking back.
Though Char was now uncontrollably cringing, imagining this fate worse than death, he stood his ground. Prince smiled upon him.
"Courage, little one," Prince told him warmly. "I will suffer with you. And I will not let your fire die. You will emerge from this a stronger Pokémon. It is a promise."
Prince extended his hand. Clenching his teeth, Char reached out and took two of the Infernape's fingers in his tiny grasp, holding them hard.
With a metallic creak, the heavy freezer door was opened.
It seemed like a horrible void had swept over Char as the first subzero draft engulfed him. It was as though he felt nothing, yet it hurt with such surprising intensity that he felt his breath taken away. He managed to produce a whining cry as he tried to pull away, but Prince held his hand firmly and dragged him forward.
As the cold enveloped his whole form, Char felt every muscle in his body weakening, the strength draining from him like a burst bubble. Again, his instincts retaliated and he struggled for freedom from the Infernape's grasp, but his struggle was weaker this time. He felt his legs give out. He closed his eyes tight, the sensitive nerves in his face pinching and burning. He felt the Infernape tug him forward, picking him up to carry him the rest of the way.
He heard the mighty door slam shut and click in place, sealing him in.
He felt himself being set down on the metal, frost-covered floor. He felt how the floor bonded to the skin of his feet upon contact.
He opened his eyes.
In the light of Prince's fire, he saw a dark, pitiless dungeon, running the entire length of the outer hallway. Glowing icicles hung from the ceiling, dusty frost was piled along the corners. A meat rack ran along the back, huge slabs of naked, dead Pokémon hanging from the ceiling as far as the eye could see, all stripped down to their muscles and completely unidentifiable. Char knew he should have been drooling at the sight of them. But he wasn't. Not now. They meant nothing to him.
Such agony he felt, unlike anything he ever thought he knew before. He knew his body had gone totally numb, yet he still felt an excruciating sting across every inch of his skin, as though the first few layers had been ripped off and he'd been left to bleed. Underneath that skin, a pounding headache formed, spreading to the rest of his body like a destructive venom. His arms shook uncontrollably. His jaw quivered. Tears bled from his eyes, but soon hardened into tiny droplets of ice. He felt no strength. No will to fight. In the face of this pain, there was only hopelessness.
"EAAAAHUGHHHHHHAAAAH!" Char sobbed loudly, his body convulsing forward in Prince's direction. "AUUUUUUUhhhh! ARUUGHHHHHH!"
With a burst of energy, Char launched his feeble body at the Infernape.
"P-p-p-p-p-plleeeeeeeeeease…" he managed to gasp, struggling just to make contact with his flailing arms. "P-p-p-p-pleeeeeeee…."
"No, Char…" Prince said sternly, giving Char's body a push and sending him flailing backwards. "You aren't done yet. Endure. Endure, Char. Fight the pain."
Char flailed weakly as he stumbled backwards. He tried to stay standing, but his sense of balance failed him as he could only give his legs meaningless commands. With a soft thump, his body plopped onto the floor, where he tried to curl up into a trembling little ball.
As the dying Charmander lay curled up, Prince saw one broken little eye was still staring at him. Asking why. Pleading for relief, for mercy. Crying at this betrayal that had brought him down to his knees, and lower, in mere moments. And he felt pity.
Though he, too, suffered, his fire gradually dimming in the ungodly cold, Prince could endure. Years of trudging through Zerferia had hardened him, made his fur coat thick, made him understand his enemy - the cold - and how to best face it. But what he did not tell Char was that his father had not stayed with him in the cold when he was young.
… … …
The little Chimchar watched in horror as his father set the latch that would lock the hatch from the inside. Watched as the light cast by his father's flames faded from the room, leaving him to die in the searing cold with no company but the shadows.
"You will escape from here on your own," his father decreed, standing in the doorway, speaking down to the helpless little chimp Pokémon huddling his knees against his chest for warmth.
"Wait… wait, no, dad! No!" the chimp cried in terror. "I can't… I can't lift the latch on my own! My fingers are already frozen! Dad…! I can't do it!"
"Then… you will die," his father said, turning his head and slamming the door closed.
"NO! DAD!" the Chimp cried, bounding forward on his weakening little legs and pounding on the closed door, feeling the cold drain his Ember away. "DAD! COME BACK! DAD!"
He looked at the complicated door latch in disbelief. It was impossible! His fingers had lost all feeling. They were nothing but numb stubs that wouldn't follow his orders. He placed them on the hard metal, desperately, so desperately trying to yank it in place, but his fingers just slid off.
Finally, he threw himself at the door, feeling the brunt of the concussion as it rippled through him, the pain halfway dulled by the numbness. He gave a final cry from the deepest recesses of his heart…
… … …
"S…. Saura…" Char muttered, his body growing still, his voice now barely a whisper. "S… Saura… help… me…"
"Peace," Prince muttered. "Take it easy. It's almost over. We're going to get there together."
Char did not hear him. Char was beyond pain now. The cold had won. It was claiming him. He could feel his Ember, the life-blood of his body, simply giving up. He could hear nothing else, feel nothing else. He could not remember who he was, where he was, or why he was suffering. The whole world had disappeared. All he knew was the feeling of the tiny little Ember in his heart, the only warmth he had left, struggling so hard for survival but slipping away…
Time seemed to slow down for Char as his final moments ticked by. Every breath, every heartbeat took an eternity in that dark void of loneliness he had created for himself. It felt like a nightmare, but try as he may, he could not wake up from it. He knew he was dying. In his delusion, he welcomed death. He forgot his mission, his friends, his promises. He only yearned for death, to escape from the cold. He was done.
At last… it came. He felt the last little tongue of his inner flame dissipate, sizzling away. With a long sigh of relief, Char breathed his last, resting his spent body against the floor of his metal tomb…
*Pop!*
It felt like a bubble had ruptured in Char's head. He recognized the feeling – he'd felt something like before, when his body had started to burn as he tried to sleep inside of the torch at his bedside—but this time, he knew something else had happened.
Char's eyes blinked open.
He was in the same place, the inside of the freezer. At the Emerald Division. With Prince. As Scythe, Ray, and Saura were elsewhere. He was on his way to meet Dialga.
Char blinked again. Everything had suddenly come back to him.
Not only that, but in an attempt to climb to his feet, Char realized that he felt no pain. None.
It was like one of those spring mornings in the Goldenrod Meadow, where the temperature found that perfect equilibrium where it was neither hot nor cold. It was just there. Char looked at his hands, turning them over, wondering how it could be that was no longer feeling the harsh cold he knew still surrounded him.
"Am I dead?" Char blurted out, turning to Prince for an answer.
Prince's smile was wide, even as his own fire struggled to keep its dominance over the cold. He shook his head.
"No, you're not dead," he responded. "But look at your tail."
Char did as instructed, gathering his tail in his hands with a reflexive movement that he had learned, holding it before his eyes.
There was no flame.
Char blinked in confusion. His flame was out. It seemed like it should have been surprising. Horrifying, even. But for some reason, it wasn't. It was just interesting. Char took a closer look at the very tip which used to constantly expel his flame, and saw it riddled with a barely visible pinecone-like formation of holes, a spout that let the fire escape. Except, the fire wasn't there. It didn't seem right.
"What does this mean?" Char asked oddly to the Infernape, turning his tail around in his hands.
"You're smoldering," Prince explained. "Your Ember is now burning without flame. It is still alive, though the cold has defeated it, and it has retreated to its innermost sanctuary, where it will glow for as long as it can manage. But it is still there for now, and so, you are still alive."
"…Oh," Char simply said, shrugging. "Does that mean I'm about to die?"
"Yes," Prince said. "Smoldering means you're on your very last thread of life. If you cannot save yourself now, your Ember will cease to burn, and you will fall dead."
"I see," Char said, dropping his tail and looking to Prince. "So… when I start smoldering, I stop feeling the cold. But… um… should I be concerned about this? I'm about to die. That seems a little serious. Why don't I feel concerned?"
"Because it is your Ember which regulates your feelings. Even your emotions," Prince explained. "Since the flame has disappeared, your feelings have run dry. You shouldn't be able to feel anything right now. It could be a good thing, or bad. Good because it gives you some clarity of mind in your final moments and some relief from the pain, if that's what you need to escape death. Bad because, like you mentioned, without your feelings, it can be hard to feel motivated to save yourself."
Char studied himself amidst this very odd condition his body was experiencing. Indeed, none of his emotions where there. His mind felt blank, like a robot. He could still see, feel, think… but he couldn't feel pain, or excitement, or fear. It all felt very distant, as if it was happening to someone else.
"That explains a lot," Char said, pacing in place. "Huh. Actually, I think I might have smoldered before. Or maybe I was about to. I think I felt something like this."
"Really, now?" Prince asked. "When was this?"
"Once, I fought a Steelix. But Ray used this orb that made it rain in the cave," Char recalled, his mind strangely clear. "The rain was really cold. And then I beat the Steelix because I was blazing. But then the blaze ended, and I started feeling kinda weird. Like this. Like I should have felt happy, but I didn't really. I don't know what happened after that because I passed out and the dungeon expelled me."
"Could be," Prince said. "Water can sometimes put out the Ember enough so that it smolders. It's been known to happen before. I'd imagine it's more likely with Charmander, since your tail is easy to get wet."
Char began to wander into the back area of the freezer to inspect the meat, but a thought occurred to him. He turned back to Prince.
"Uh… hey, Prince? I have a question."
"Yes?"
"You're not really going to let me die, are you?" Char asked awkwardly. "I've been smoldering for two minutes now. I was just curious. I mean… if you're trying to kill me, I probably couldn't fight you anyway…"
Prince chuckled. "Oh, heh heh, no, little one. This is just a lesson. It's not over yet. But you're going to survive. After all, I promised you that I wouldn't let you die, didn't I?"
"…Oh, right," Char answered. "…That's right. I forgot about that. You did promise. Hmm… Well, then, how much longer?"
"Almost all fire-types can smolder for four minutes before they die," Prince explained. "That's somewhere around four hundred eighty heartbeats for a Pokémon of your size, if you feel you have to count. Stronger Pokémon can smolder for longer, depending on how strong they are. Me, I could probably survive for twenty minutes at my age. But you should consider four minutes your maximum. After that… you can't tell when death will strike."
"So… I'm waiting for my limit to be up?" Char wondered. "Is that it?"
"Yes," said Prince. "I need you to see what happens when you reach your limit. You need to experience it, and never forget it. I could explain it to you, but it will remain in your heart more powerfully if you see it for yourself. If this ever happens to you, you cannot take time to think about words you once heard me say. You have to recognize it."
"Alright…" Char said with an emotionless nod. "I trust you."
Char waited patiently for his near-death experience to arrive. He glanced around at the architecture of the freezer, which he could only see by the dimming light of Prince's flame now. Pipe-like bars ran across the ceiling, and above them, he thought he could see some sort of vent. Around him, it appeared that the freezer held only meat, but he caught sight of a shelf with opaque white bags stacked upon it. On his other side, there were some boxes on the floor, but they were half-covered in a mound of snow. Char started twiddling his fingers and playing with his flameless tail, having run out of things to look at…
And then, after six and a half minutes, Char felt different.
"I think… it's coming," Char reported, standing before Prince with a dazed look in his eye. "I'm… I don't know. It's like I'm getting pulled somewhere. But I'm not moving."
"Alright," Prince said, standing over him. "Now… I want you to tell me exactly what you see, and what you feel. Describe it for as long as you can."
"I feel lightheaded," Char said. "Like I'm about to float away…"
Prince took a deep breath.
"Your fire… it's shining," Char rambled. "Brighter. It's getting brighter. And it's shining, like diamonds… My heart. I can feel my heartbeat through my whole body. Like an earthquake. But it's slowing down."
Char's eyes glazed over. Prince knew that he was no longer using them. He took another deep, steady breath.
"It's bright." Char said. "I'm looking right at the sun. It's bright. I… I can't see anything. I'm… blind… Prince…? Are you still there…? Prince…?"
The golden light swallowed Char, and he felt himself drifting off… perhaps into the spiritual realm.
… … …
The Chimchar could feel his fingers now.
He wasn't angry at his dad anymore. And he wasn't scared. He didn't know why.
But his fingers worked. They were clumsy and they flopped around, but he could understand them underneath the numbing pain. The numbing pain wasn't even there anymore.
It was dark. There was no fire to light his way. But he could feel the door. He knew it was the door. He knew what the latch felt like. He knew how to work it.
He grasped the latch with his tiny fingers. He lifted the latch. It flipped over onto itself with a little clank. Then he grabbed the deadbolt mechanism, pulled it down, over, and then up…
One, two… no, there was one more. What was it? He tried to remember.
The little metal thresh-hold. The one that kept the door closed completely. He grasped it and yanked, pulling it out of place.
He pushed the door open, free of the freezer.
He found himself staring face-to-face with his father, who'd been waiting for him just outside. The old Infernape smiled warmly, lovingly upon him.
The little Chimchar was at a loss for words. He tried to say something, but no words seemed to fit. Nothing meant anything. Still he stood, halfway in the freezer, halfway out, staring at his father.
His father, the great Infernape, said something. He was proud of him. Was he talking to him? Or was he talking to some other Pokémon? He couldn't tell, it seemed so far away…
And then… there came a light.
The sun seemed to descend down into the hallway. The little lamp-lights next to the stairwell flared in brightness and never stopped growing. His father's mane grew brilliant and beautiful, swirling in miraculous patterns, as if Moltres were playing within it.
As the light brightened, he saw his father crouch down to embrace him. He felt the embrace. His head was pressed against his father's chest, his father's strong arms squeezing his back. He felt his father's heartbeat against his ear. He felt his father's breath against his forehead.
The light became overpowering, until he couldn't see anything. It started to dissolve him, carry him away somewhere. But he still felt something. He still felt his father right next to him, holding him down, holding him tightly, not letting him escape.
And just when that started to fade away, too, disappearing into the great light…
There was a roar…
… … …
Fire.
Sweet, blessed, divine fire!
It erupted everywhere, covering him. Like food to a starving belly, like relief to relentless agony, it came, filling his withering body with a new wave of life. He writhed in joy as fire returned to his being, his reality, crying tears of happiness as he felt its intensity, its warmth, its dance against his skin. He had missed it so dearly.
He clung to the Infernape's chest with all his might as Prince allowed his whole body to combust, engulfing the little Charmander in his arms with a blanket of his own fire.
Char shivered as he felt his Ember thawing, melting like a little ice cube in the great blaze.
"You see," Prince told him, "when you find yourself smoldering, there is only one way to save yourself. If you want to live, you must find warmth at all costs. It is the only thing that can save you."
"Thank you…" Char whispered weakly, letting his body go limp in the Infernape's arms.
The two fire-brethren remained there in the freezer for three more minutes, their flames roaring in glory long after Char's Ember had caught again.