A quick recap: The Choosing Ceremony of the Inferno Clan is underway as all the pokeball offerings are in place and the candidates are lined up for selection. Emberwilde, the clan's chosen Champion, is tests the offerings with his fire, those deemed unworthy shattering under the heat. The Main Character watches anxiously with the other candidates. Only 2 pokeballs have currently survived the Charizard's fire...
I locked my gaze upon my pokeball sitting in the flames, willing it to stay intact against the onslaught of fire and knowing at the same time that nothing I did from the time I placed my pokeball on the alter would change what was happening at this moment. I couldn't tell if the sweat starting to run down my face was from the heat of the fire or the nervousness I was feeling as this competition was coming to a close. Judging from just the residual heat rippling off of the alter and spreading all around me, I knew that this contest would be over soon. It didn't matter what kind of special material either of us put into our offerings, there was nothing that mere children could afford that would stand up to anymore punishment, especially from a Charizard as strong as Emberwilde. So, I did the only thing I could - I clenched my teeth and willed my strength and resolve into my offering.
Bang! went the final pokeball, breaking under the pressure and heat of Emberwilde's flame. So focused was I upon my own offering that I didn't even notice until I heard the roar of the crowd all around me. The outcry broke my focus on my still intact pokebal. My still intact offering. I turned my head to see my final competitor leave the line and return to where the others were standing. I turned back to the alter, eyes wide and smile big as my pokeball still stood strong within the flames.
I stepped forward, pride in my chest, triumphant. My dream for as long as I could remember was finally realized - that I would be allowed to bear our champion into the Kanto Region, to battle the elite of trainers, and to return Emberwilde stronger than before to challenge the other 2 clans in the Isle's yearly games.
I moved toward the alter just as a wave of unbearable heat slammed into my face, forcing me to stagger backwards. Even though my pokeball was the only one left, Emberwilde still hadn't relented with the fire. In fact he'd made it stronger, the fire on his tail now almost as tall as he was and all that energy now focused upon the one object still left upon the alter. Attacking the sphere, flames unrelenting, as if it were his personal mission to see it destroyed.
It was then that I realized what was happening - Emberwilde wasn't testing the offerings to find a worthy bearer amongst the candidates, he was trying to break all of them. It hasn't happened for decades, but every so often a Champion decides that it doesn't need a Bearer to take it into Kanto. Usually these matters are decided by the Clan Leader beforehand to avoid embarrassing that year's potential candidates. Those years, from what I've heard, the GodKing would just announce the Champion to the rest of the clan and we would cheer as the chosen Pokemon departed on the journey. No big ceremony and no Choosing Ceremony. I'm not sure if Emberwilde didn't tell the GodKing his wishes, or if the GodKing had turned him down. What I did know was that Emberwilde was making a spectacle now. And spectacle was just another word for embarrassment - to the potential Bearers, to Emberwilde, to the GodKing, and ultimately to the Clan.
I looked around to see the other candidates staring warily at what they were seeing. The Pokemon and other humans in attendance, those with a better understanding of the situation than I, glared with anger in their eyes. I tried to spot if I could find anyone who smiled at this scene Emberwilde was making, at least to point out the spies in attendance. The Choosing Ceremony is supposed to be another way we show our unity as a Clan. To let show even one crack or chink in that facade would bring shame and give the others a weakness to exploit. There was really only one way to save us all.
Fighting passed the heat, I got to my feet and stepped forward. "I withdraw," I said, though too soft to be heard above the roar of the fire. It hurt to say but I needed to do it. I felt an ache in my chest as I took a deep breath, this time letting the scorching air burn my lungs as if, at the same time, it burned away my dreams. "I withdraw!" I shouted with tears already streaming down my face. All I ever wanted was to bear our clan's champion across foreign lands, spreading the pride and glory of our people. But of course, what were the hopes and dreams of a child when compared to the pride of an entire clan? When did the piece deem itself greater than the whole?
To my surprise, Emberwilde didn't stop. In fact, the flame grew even hotter, burning blue-white as it started to melt the stone alter. Even more surprising, my pokeball still sat strong against the blazing inferno that now engulfed it. "I said 'I withdraw!'" I shouted again but the flames continued. I looked over to the GodKing, sitting high above with a look of disappointment on his face. "Char!" I shouted, this time in the language of the Charizard, "Charizard Charizard Chaar, Char Char Chaaarizaaard!" Even in his tongue, Emberwilde ignored my pleas, pouring an even hotter flame upon my stubborn offering.
I looked to the crowd again to see many of their heads hung low, some had even turned fully around, unable to bear witness to the spectacle Emberwilde was putting on for what they saw as his own amusement. I needed to do something, so I did the only other thing I could think of to do.
I approached the alter slowly, hoping Emberwilde's gaze wouldn't turn from the pokeball to myself. I fought through the heat of the now almost pure white flames, my skin feeling as if it were drying out with every step closer. Eventually, I managed to get close enough that loose strings upon my clothing would randomly spark and burn for a second or two. I took a deep breath and then plunged my left hand into the fire. If there were no offering, I reasoned, he'd have no reason to continue this madness. Luckily, I was right-handed so at least I'd still have that one if my left arm couldn't be saved after my own act of madness. The flames scorched my skin as I reached for the pokeball. As hot as I knew the flames to be, it wasn't as painful as I thought it should be. I'd reached in just passed my elbow when I finally felt the pokeball at my fingertips. Only then did I brave a look into the fire. Through the flames, my arm was blackened completely, small embers dancing upon it. I let out a scream from a place within myself that I don't think I'll ever find again, a place of pure terror and horror it's actually amazing I didn't collapse.
It was at this point that Emberwilde finally noticed the small child with an arm in his fire. Abruptly, the fire stopped, though my arm continued to glow for several more seconds. There was a commotion in the crowd, the entire court whipped into a frenzy by my actions. I was immediately doused with water. Soaking wet, with my charred arm cradled in my good arm, while still clutching my intact pokeball, I looked up at the giant Charizard. "I withdraw," I said with what little voice I had left before collapsing to the ground.
So that took longer than expected. Not that I've been busy but I just never got around to typing it out. As I said in the previous post, this has been sitting in my notebook and, actually, I wrote this part out before the previous section... and I finished while on my trip to Seattle. So, basically, it's been sitting in my notebook for almost a month. I think I covered a lot about how I wrote this in the previous section. And yes, I stole your Goblet of Fire idea with "testing their worthiness by putting their hands in the Charizard's tail." Umm... I hate to say this (because I wish I couldn't say this next part) but there's more... I've actually already thought up 2 more scenarios for how this story could continue. As I've already mentioned, I don't have a great relationship with fan-fiction (it feels like I'm wasting my time building in a world that can never be mine) and so I don't like the fact that I've got 2 more story ideas already that are going to eventually need to be written or they'll just continue to annoy me. And, as I said, the burned arm means that I'm going to need to go back to the battle with Brock as well and redo that section as well. And as I said, I've already got something that interests me with the protagonist's now charred arm as well as introducing members of the other clans (the protagonist's rivals, I guess). I'm going to try to work on some new stuff for now but I'll definitely be getting back to this.
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