Journey of a Thousand Miles

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."

—Lao Tzu

Mt. Silver is cold and unrelenting, lashing and numbing my skin below the three jackets I have donned in preparation. My hands are freezing even under the shelter of my pockets and gloves and I feel my jaw ache terribly from my chattering teeth. Even so, I press on, slowly trudging up a stone staircase on the side of the mountain, unable to see any ground below due to the heavy swirls of white and grey snow. I've heard more than a few stories of Trainers and Hikers that have misjudged a step or moved too quickly on a sheet of ice and ended up pierced by rocks hundreds of feet below, but I can't bother my mind enough to be concerned, never mind scared. Now, every ounce of my concentration is on Pokémon Master Red.

I am not a Pokémon Trainer—at least, I don't work to challenge the Pokémon League. Be that as it may, I want to talk to Red, and if he refuses to speak without a battle, then I am prepared for the situation. Although Red has been on Mt. Silver for twenty years, in every news story, including the live ones, he has not appeared any older. Moreover, no one has ever seen him leave Mt. Silver, not even once. My friends and even my father say I'm overthinking things as always, but I know that something is going on, and I will do what I must do to find it out.

I reach a cavern at the mountain's peak, and through the hole at the end, I can see a silhouette in the snow. I run across the clear stony ground, quickly clearing the difference between us until I am back in the piercing cold. He turns to me, his eyes bright beneath the brim of his cap, and gives a breath—relief or trepidation?—that instantly freezes into a small white cloud of wonder.

"You want to battle?" he asks.

"I want to ask you some questions."

"You know how it works: can't talk without a battle."

"I expected as much." I remove the glove from my right hand to draw a Pokéball from my Trainer's belt, releasing Charizard onto the field; similarly, Red releases his own Charizard. "Charizard, Flamethrower!" we order in unison. Our Pokémon release dual waves of red and gold fire that meet in the middle, the heat so great it melts away all the snow in a thirty-foot circumference and forces me to remove two of my jackets. The twin flames soon burst into a shower of embers, forcing our pokémon apart. "Charizard, Aerial Ace."

"Charizard, use Dragon Pulse!" Again, the attacks meet in the middle, but this time there's a visible struggle between our Charizard. They are neck-and-neck, evenly matched but losing hold with each second, but finally, Red's Charizard falters, allowing mine to slash him down onto his back.

"Do you want to know something, Pokémon Master Red?"

"Huh? Charizard, recover with Solar Beam!" His Charizard pushes mine away to soar into the air and spreads his wings with a furious roar to summon the power of the sun.

"My name is Sean Isaac DiCaprio. I am not a Trainer—rather, I am an intellectual that seeks the answers to questions that many refuse to ask. Many times, my quest for knowledge takes me places that I need protection, hence my team." I gesture to my pokéballs on my utility belt. "And you are the latest question, one that I have been training this entire year for."

"That so?" Red asks with raised eyebrows. My Charizard falls to his attack and I return him.

"Umbreon." I release her and she immediately leaps onto Red's Charizard, digging her fangs into his left wing. The pain of it causes him to plummet to the earth with a jaw-loosing thud!