The Ballad of Silver stone

Out for Togekiss did she Ampharos switch,
For she could not figure out which,
Pokémon would be at the least disadvantage,
And against this great Snorlax could manage,
To stay afloat against its defense,
And allow her victory to commence!
She heard the cry of her sweet Pokémon with a smile,
And knew that it's sacrifice would go for a mile;
But then she realized how easy it was to snipe,
At Snorlax and it's simple normal type,
Then to Crystal the attack soon became clear,
Togekiss needed to let off an Aura Sphere!

With a smile and a laugh so true,
She watched as Togekiss released a massive ball of blue!
In pain the Snorlax began to groan,
With another sphere all she could hear was it's moan;
Soon with the inability for the beast to hit,
Togekiss began to wear down on its impossible grit;
The fighting type moves put it through hell,
And after enough the towered best finally fell!
After that opponent was down Crystal was finally ready,
To conduct this battle in a manner more steady.
Yet, that was not the plan of our trainer Red!
For he would send quite a difficult foe ahead!
Lapras was the next Pokémon she would fight,
But Crystal did not know quite its' might!

Togekiss prepared once again to fight with aura,
And as it launched a sphere she gasped with horror,
Red was as devious as ever!
He let off an attack so cleaver!
To ice attacks was Togekiss so weak;
It went down with an ungraceful screak;
Crystal couldn't quite believe the other trainer's scheme,
Within an instant he'd taken down Togekiss with an Ice Beam!

She let out her Umbreon with determination in her heart,
For she knew that this battle was only the start,
This idea had not been had on her own,
For she knew what it meant for Red to be alone,
Many years had the great trainer roam,
And now it was time for her to send him home!
So for the sake of Red's family she needed to win,
It wasn't a matter of, it had to be a matter of when!

Yet the Lapras she faced just had too much power,
And within an instant it caused the battle to sour;
With another blizzard hit the Umbreon went down,
In the whistling winds of ice did it seem to drown;
Crystal seemed almost ready to cry,
As she bid yet another ally goodbye;
She had only three Pokémon that were not faint,
And yet he had four more with no constraint!
With each passing second she began to lose hope,
Wanting only to run back down that snowy mountain slope.

To her surprise out her Pokémon burst,
From its Pokéball it came with eyes full of thirst,
Ampharos would not let her give up this battle,
Her doubts were simply just mental prattle!
With no hesitance it gave out a great lightning bolt,
And it hit Lapras with the great fire of revolt!
The trainer's beast let out a great cry of challenge;
Crystal wondered if this battle was something she could salvage!
In awe she watched as it let off a great punch of fire,
Which left the part water-type in a condition so dire.
Red grimaced and she knew that Lapras was done;
For a second the war against Red was won!

The next Pokémon he let out was a surprise;
Surely he didn't think a Blastoise would be Ampharos's demise;
She laughed as she released the power of the sky;
Mentally she wished that Blastoise goodbye;
Yet, somehow, despite the electric power it still stood;
With the strength of her Ampharos she wasn't sure if it should;

Alas! As she called the next command she realized her mistake,
Thunder was not an attack that again she could make!
For that attack Ampharos had no more stamina,
Which meant she would have to go with something more classical!
She was ready to hit the Blastoise with a Thunder Punch,
But as the contact was made she heard a horrible crunch,
By the body of the foe was her star fighter crushed,
And every single Pokémon on the battle field was hushed.

Both trainers were forced to recall,
Their Pokémon for every single one had fall,
From the strength of the hideous war,
To which both of them swore;
Now Crystal was forced with a gamble,
At which her mind could only ramble,
Fire or water, which type should she send?
For the wrong move now could be her end!
She threw a Pokéball with a great legion of doubt
Waiting for her rare Red Gyrados to come out!

To her misfortune the Pokémon Red sent,
Was a Venusaur ready for her torment;
She took in a deep breath for she knew the trouble;
The weakness was her to fight on the double;
But she was equipped with a counter move;
All she had to do was get in the groove;
And so her Gyrados dodged a great leaf storm,
As she shivered trying to stay warm;
Her teeth bit down with a great cranche,
And through her freezing she called for an Avalanche!

The Venusaur cried out in great pain,
But it's attempts to stay conscious were ever in vain;
Crystal continued the battle with a great cheer,
For it seemed like victory were coming ever more near;
With a devilish smirk and a flick of his hat,
Red released the last Pokémon Crystal would combat;
The Charizard came out with a great roar;
Crystal's heart no longer did soar;
The thing was a beast all covered in scars,
Old as the dust, the dirt, and the stars;
Crystal knew that this Pokémon was his best;
Now was the time to put her skills to the test!

Gyrados let out a great Hydro Pump;
A great deal of water on the Charizard it did dump;
Yet the great dragon did not flinch,
It seemed as though it wasn't even a pinch!
With massive strength it swatted her Pokémon with its tail,
And ended Gyrados's time in this tale!
It was in this moment that Crystal began to panic,
Winning against Red now was no longer organic!
She had one Pokémon left to be her knight,
And she wasn't sure if he could win the fight!
As she let out her Typhlosion she remembered what to do,
She had to bring Red home with her too!

The boy had been missing for many a year,
And when they found him he insisted hiding up here;
For the citizens of Kanto had simply been cruel,
Treating an ten-year old as if he were a king to rule;
And so the great trainer Red ran away,
From civilization on one rainy day;
For days and days his mother and rival cried;
As less and less search parties tried,
To find the boy atop the silver mount,
A place that he refused to dismount!
Yet somehow it's been reasoned that battle is their only chance,
To break Red from his unreasonable and frightening stance;
And so she decided to face this human ghost,
For losing this battle is what he needed the most.

The fire atop the mountain would not desist,
Not even the blankets of hail and ice could resist!
Attack after attack she let fly,
She didn't know if she could win, but she had to try!
For the sake of his family and friends;
This was the day that his hiding ends!
Both Pokémon beat each other into steps so staggered;
For this battle had left all parties so battered;
This was a war indeed that should not be fought;
But something the evil of the world had brought.

Another attack Crystal did call,
Yet before it landed she saw Charizard fall;
Here, she had won on the mountain for peace,
And now hopefully his hiding would cease;
With a tip of a hat and a nod of his head;
He seemed to silently acknowledge what she said:

"Red! I've beaten you in battle today!"
He simply smiled and went on his way;
She was champion of the world, everything, it all;
And for that she should've been having a ball;
Yet despite her victory she was not filled with joy;
For she worried about what would become of that boy;
All Crystal could hope for was that he would not roam,
And for the sake of a Viridian Gym Leader, he would go home.

And this, is the tale of a ghost,
Whose return needed to happen at the utmost;
For when he arrived home he found,
Love in abundance and abound;
And see how the dethroning of a king,
Has so much love that it can bring;
Red no longer has to live so alone;
Since a hero took away his throne on silver stone.

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Thanks to ImberLapis for a wonderful cover!