Chapter Text
“Alright, and here you go.” The nurse Joy (Joy Mayu. She has a name.) took the Pokéball tray from her Blissey and set it on the counter. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. Are you holding up okay out there?”
Red nodded. Pikachu popped out of her ball and leapt into his arms.
“That’s good, dear.” Joy Mayu smiled warmly at him. “Did you run into a strong Pokémon out there? The blizzard riled a lot of them up, I’ve had tons of reports of stampedes…”
Red shook his head.
Joy Mayu looked surprised. “Oh, really? Then a trainer?” At Red’s nod, her eyebrows rose up more. “Was it that sweet blue-haired girl? She stopped by, made a few calls.”
Red nodded. The loss still stung, and apparently not just for him. Pikachu made a face at mention of Kris. (She was the last to be knocked out. She feels guilty. Give her a treat when you can. Give everyone treats.) He hesitated before pulling out a small and empty bag out of a pocket in his backpack. It had a little cookie symbol on it. Hopefully Joy Mayu would understand. “Do you have any treats?”
“Oh, is that a treat bag?”
Red nodded.
“Do you need some?”
Red nodded again.
“Blissey, run to the back and see if we have a spare bag of treats, please.”
“…thank you,” he said softly. The words felt almost foreign. Not right. He didn’t know why, though. He spent so many nights up saying them, practicing them, until he could say them without stuttering. Practicing with—
Blue.
He bit his lip harshly. Pikachu made a noise. He was holding her too tightly. He hadn’t seen Blue in about four years. He was fourteen. They were both fourteen, now. Kris would talk about him, sometimes. Update him on what was going on. Relay messages. Red really wished she wouldn’t.
Blissey came waddling back in carrying two bags of treats, humming lightly. “Ah, thank you very much, Blissey!” Red watched as Blissey came around the counter and up to him, holding out the bags for him to take. “I think she missed you a bit. I think the last time you were here, she was still a Chansey.”
(Chansey evolves into Blissey with friendship. Kris taught you that.) He slowly took the bags, putting one in his pocket. “Thank you,” he said again, feeling like a broken cassette tape.
Blissey closed her eyes and swayed happily, turning around and waddling back around the counter. “Well, dear, I’m guessing you’ll be taking off again.” Joy Mayu gave him another inviting smile. “Will you be back?”
Red hesitated before shaking his head. Pikachu squeaked in confusion. (I made this choice on my way here. I’m sorry for not telling you.)
“Oh, well…” Joy Mayu gave him a bright smile. It made him smile a bit. “Thank you for choosing the Pokémon Center, and I still hope to see you soon. Good luck.”
They were just outside of the gate to the Indigo Plateau when Pikachu hopped off his head and looked up at him. “Uh…”
Pikachu tilted her head before pointing back the way they came from. (What does that mean, I don’t—) She stopped pointing and hopped up to snatch the treat pouch from his pocket. (Oh. The Center. This is about not going back.)
He released Charizard, who yawned. He still had a scar on his belly from where Kris’s Feraligatr attacked. Charizard snuggled up against his palm as soon as he held it out, the warm breath stinging his numb fingers. After a moment, he took out his map. He pointed at Mount Silver and shook his head. (We’re moving on.) After another moment, he pointed at Pallet and nodded. (Take me home.)
It was late. His watch said almost two in the morning. He could only pray he wouldn’t run into Blue at all.
Charizard thudded down in front of his house, and Red quickly reached around to clamp his snout shut. He had a habit of “cheering” with a roar whenever they landed successfully. He couldn’t risk it. Not when he could still see a light on in Blue’s house. It looked like Daisy’s room; hers was on the bottom floor. Either way, he didn’t want anyone to see him.
No one but his mother.
He jiggled the doorknob and sighed in relief when it opened. Of course, it was unlocked. No one locked their doors in Pallet. No one but the Professor, but that was because it was a lab. Even then, all the folks around Pallet knew the pass-code. He withdrew Charizard and slowly let the door swing open.
It was dark. There was a slight glow, coming from the television. A late-night commercial was on. It looked kind of silly. There was a man dressed up in a Clefable kigu. He walked up and looked over the back of the couch. His mother was sleeping. The TV light accented her wrinkles.
Pikachu peered over with him, and after she bit his ear, he gently nudged his mom on the shoulder. She awoke with a start, yelling and jolting upright.
Red flinched and covered his ears, shutting his eyes tightly. Pikachu cooed at him and he slowly opened his eyes back up to see his mother staring at him.
“…Red?”
Red nodded, and Pikachu leapt from his shoulder. Just in time to avoid a desperate hug from his mother. She gripped him tightly, her arms completely wrapping around him. His hat fell off. Fingers ran through his hair. She was still yelling, but it wasn’t a yell. Sobbing. She was sobbing. She was wailing. Red had never heard his mom wail.
It was…jarring.
The lights were on now and his mom told him to sit on the couch and she would make him some of his favorite ramen. He sat cross-legged on the couch, staring down at Pikachu as his mom worried over the stove. He could feel her watching him, though.
“Are you okay?” She asked softly, but Red heard. She said it just over the hum of boiling water. “I just…I’m so sorry.”
(Why, why are you sorry? What did you do?) Red nodded his head, a confused look on his face.
His mom laughed sadly. “I’m sorry, I just…missed you so much, honey. I know you don’t like to be touched very much.”
Oh. That. That’s why she was apologizing. He shook his head. No, that was okay. That was understandable. That was acceptable.
“Well, you did always seem to be okay when…hm.” She was talking to herself. “I always wondered if it was me.”
She thought he meant no, it wasn’t okay. “No,” Red said as clearly and loudly as he could. “I-ii-i-it’s okay.” He bit his lip.
He heard his mom take a sharp breath and it hurt just to hear. “Blue told me where you were,” she suddenly said, and it felt like a punch. His grip on Pikachu tightened on instinct and she squeaked in pain. “I didn’t believe him at first. I didn’t. But then that sweet girl, Kris…she said you were really there.”
Red didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to think. Pikachu bit his hand and he released his grip on her. Right, Blue knew he was on Mount Silver. Because…because Kris told him.
“That boy…” His mom sighed. “I know he means well. Deep down. He’s just…selfish. And prideful. I’ve never seen a little boy with so much pride before.”
Oh, Red knew that. He knew it first-hand. Blue’s pride and selfishness led to their friendship ending. For a while, he was totally convinced it was all his fault, because of how Blue said how no one wanted to be friends because of Red. And Red understood that. He completely understood that.
What he didn’t understand was why he didn’t just try. They had tried to be friends with Yellow, and it didn’t work out. So what? There were other kids. And…those other boys Blue had talked about seemed nice enough, if they were willing to put up with Blue. It could’ve worked out.
It could’ve worked out.
“Come here, honey, it’s finished.”
He sat at the table and watched as Delia slowly poured out the broth into a bowl. It smelled…amazing. She set it down in front of him and he instantly grabbed his chopsticks and started shoveling it into his mouth.
A mistake.
He dropped his chopsticks into the bowl, and his eyes watered so much he couldn’t see a thing.
“Red, be careful! It was just boiling!” His mother yelped, and he heard the fridge door open. “Goodness, sometimes things never change.”
A clink on the table and he guessed his mom put something down for him to drink.
“There’s some milk there, to cool off your burns. Red, I’ve told you time and time again, don’t eat food the moment it comes off of the stove! I know—I-I know—I know you’re hungry—”
He gingerly sipped the milk and froze when he heard his mom sniff. She looked like she was about to cry.
“It’s been so long since I’ve scolded you.”
He was woken up by a doorbell and his mother’s voice. He pulled his blanket over his head and lay motionless as he listened through his open bedroom door.
“Oh, dear, I wasn’t expecting you so early! And—you brought help.”
A girlish giggle. That was Daisy’s laugh. He hadn’t heard that in a long time. “You know I’m always psyched to work in the garden, Miss Delia.” His mom laughed with Daisy.
“I’m taking a vacation, figured I’d tag along. Hope I’m not imposing or anything.”
Blue. Doing something as girly as gardening? Red almost snorted.
“Of course not, dear.” He could almost see his mom bringing Blue in for a hug. “Thank you.”
“Well, he’ll probably be more trouble than anything, honestly—”
“Hey! Give me more credit, Daisy—”
“As if! You killed the cactus I got you for your birthday last year!”
“That wasn’t my fault!”
“A cactus! Blue, you literally don’t have to do anything to take care of a cactus!”
“Well! Maybe the one you got me was defective or something!”
“As if, Blue! You’re totally tripping!”
He heard his mom laugh.
He wanted to see Daisy again.
He wanted to punch Blue in the face.
He stayed in bed.
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” he signed at dinner that evening. He watched his mother pause in her eating before she set her silverware on the table.
“…where?”
He shrugged. “Hoenn, I think. I want to explore.”
She stared long and hard at his face. So long, he started to squirm in his seat. “…okay, honey. I’m sure you’ll go even if I say don’t, right?”
He nodded, and his mom laughed.
“Of course. Thank you for your honesty.” She pursed her lips before sighing softly. “I didn’t tell them about you being here, if you’re worried about that.”
He figured, by the way he hadn’t heard any outbursts or seen anyone. He appreciated that.
“Blue mentioned he was going to try and finish school,” she said offhandedly. “Said he hopes to go and study abroad at some point. Daisy said she wanted to start studying medicine, since her at-home massages are going so well.”
He knew what that meant. That was a warning. She was warning him. Blue would be going abroad, somewhere, at some point, and they could run into each other. She was looking out for him. He knew his mom. He could tell when she was just saying something and when she was trying to say something without saying it.
“You might end up running into him,” she clarified.
Well, she could also just tell him straight up. That always helps, too.
“Now, listen Red.” He nodded. “I’m…not going to tell you what to do. But…if you happen to…argue with him, understand that I understand why.”
Well, now he was totally lost. His expression must have said so, because she gave a small laugh.
“What I’m saying is, he deserves whatever you want to give him.”
He was still lost. His eyes narrowed.
“I’m not advocating violence but if you feel he deserves it. Well.”
Ah. His mother was telling him to fight Blue. Well, she wasn’t. She just said she wasn’t advocating violence. She wouldn’t tell him to hit Blue in the face. Not directly, anyways. But this was basically her way of telling him to hit Blue in the face next time he saw him.
“I know he wasn’t…a great person to you. But I can tell he was—is—worried about you. He just won’t show it.”
(He was a bully and abandoned me.) But Red understood. He nodded.
“You two were such good friends…” She said wistfully, and a strange look crossed her face. “Do you want to be friends with him?”
He didn’t really have an answer to that. “I have my Pokémon,” he settled for, but his mom’s look didn’t change. That must have been the wrong thing to say.
“Well, of course you do.” She frowned. “If you’re going to be exploring, can you promise me you’ll make a friend or two? People friends.”
Hm. People friends. Red frowned. “People don’t like me.”
“Kris liked you.” His frown deepened. “You can make friends, dear. You’re capable. You’re a wonderful, sweet, smart boy.”
Well, so far, this has been the only thing his mother has asked him to do. Not since…he left for Mount Silver. He can handle one thing. He’d make a friend. “ Okay ,” he signed, and his mother’s face brightened.
“Thank you, Red.”
His mom was sitting on the couch when he made it downstairs early the next morning. Pikachu sat curled up in her lap, face blissful as Delia’s fingers massaged her head. The TV was turned to Kanto Weather, and the current map looked like Celadon. It was supposed to rain tomorrow and the day after, apparently. The second to last stair squeaked (it always did, ever since they moved in) and his mom looked over at him.
Red froze. She looked so…
Sad.
“Good morning!” She gave him a bright smile. “Are you hungry?”
Well, maybe she wasn’t sad. She was smiling, and she sounded like she was in a good mood. Red gave her a small smile and a nod.
“What would you like? You can have anything.”
The breakfast choice was pancakes, and as Red started digging into his stack, his mom set down a map beside his plate. The place didn’t look familiar. His eyes scanned over it, eyes locking on a place called “Littleroot.” He’d never heard of that place before.
“It’s Hoenn,” his mom explained, sitting down next to him. “I found it in some of our boxes we never unpacked, isn’t that funny?”
He didn’t really find it super funny; it was more ironic than anything. He shrugged.
“You know,” she started, a strange look on her face, “your father loved Hoenn. He loved the ocean, and the temperatures, and fishing. I think you got that from him, you know. The fishing. Do you still like to fish?”
Red stuck another mouthful of pancake in his mouth and nodded. He did like to fish. It was hard to do it on the mountain, though. Too cold.
“You could find some regional fish out there. Oh, but does your Pokédex cover abroad? You might have to take it by Samuel…” She smiled softly. “He’ll be glad to see you, I’m sure. Or we can invite him over.”
Red paused. He wanted to keep working on the Pokédex. It was the professor’s dream to have information on every single Pokémon in the world. He did have Blue, though…maybe Blue will finally get his chance to be relied on for the completion of the Pokédex. But his mom said Blue would be going back to school. Which meant he wouldn’t have the time to explore, at least for a while. Red frowned.
“What’s the matter, dear?”
He tapped his fork on his plate a few times in thought before putting it down. “I don’t want to see him.”
“Who, the professor? Why ever not?”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to see Blue.”
His mother hummed. “Well, then. I can invite Samuel over for some tea a little earlier than normal, today. You might not be able to take off for Hoenn quite yet.”
Red heard the front door open and his mother’s happy voice. He leaned his head around the corner of the staircase when he heard the professor’s voice.
“Well, this is a bit earlier, but my aides have been telling me I need a break anyhow!” Samuel said, and his mother laughed. “How have you been—OH!”
Red jumped when Samuel shouted. The older man was staring right at him. “Well, this is why I invited you a little earlier than normal.” His mom put a hand on Samuel’s shoulder. “Red?”
The professor seemed more than happy that Red was home. Red couldn’t help but think this must be where Blue gets his talkativeness. He’d never in his life heard the man say so much.
“So, Hoenn, hm?” Samuel sipped his tea as he sat across Red from the table. Red nodded. “A lovely place, really. Very tropical, very hot . It’s quite the change from here in Pallet, where we get windchill from the mountain and the lake. I suggested that Blue go to Hoenn for a while, since he was so adamant about not going to Johto for whatever reason, but he kept saying, ‘no, I’ll just stay here for now, maybe in the future.’ I think he wants to go to Kalos, but–”
Blue, not taking a chance to go traveling somewhere? That was weird. “Sc-scuh-school?”
“Ah, so you heard! Yes, he’s taking back up classes. I believe he said he’s looking into evolution. I’m…” Red watched the professor’s expression go a bit softer. “I’m proud of him for taking initiative. Most trainers don’t go back into school; it’s too claustrophobic being confined to a classroom, especially if they get as far as he did. But he’s always been a go-getter. I don’t think he knows how to slow down. I suppose he got that from me.”
The professor really cared about Blue. After what happened at the Indigo League, and watching Blue completely break down on his birthday, Red didn’t know what to think. He seemed so convinced that his own grandfather didn’t care about him. It was…sad.
“I told him just as much!” His mother was sitting on the couch, Pikachu laying next to her. She held her mug of tea close to her chest. “I told him good on him! First, the gym position, and now, going to school. He seemed happy.”
“…did he?” Samuel’s voice was quiet. “You’ve seen him, recently?”
“He stopped by with Daisy yesterday. He helped us with the garden!”
“He did?” Samuel sounded unbelieving. Red could understand why. Blue rejected everything and anything that could remotely be considered girly. “That’s…that’s good. Good. He’s…usually too busy to talk to me, but I understand. He’s got a lot on his plate, these days.”
Red cleared his throat, tapped on the table. “Um…” He put his Pokédex on the table. “...f-for Hoenn.”
“Ah! Yes, right, right. Right. Here, let me…” Samuel flipped it open, and stared for a moment. “...Red. This is completed.”
Red nodded. That was what he was supposed to do. That’s what he was tasked with. Why did he seem so…surprised?
“...Blue hasn’t finished his, yet. I suppose with school, and the gym, and his own personal dealings, he’s been…hm...”
…oh. He frowned, sat back slightly from the table. Blue? Hadn’t finished his Pokédex yet? After all the smack-talk he made during their journey? Were they really talking about the same person? Maybe it was almost done, and he only needed a few more before he turned it in, or he wanted to make sure it was perfectly up to standard, and was going through everything one more time.
Samuel brought his glasses up to his eyes, letting them sit perched at the end of his nose. “Is it alright if I take this back to the lab and upload the data to our servers? I can update it while I’m there, as well. It won’t take but a little while. Maybe an hour at most.”
Red really didn’t want him to do that, but he knew the professor really wanted to. He watched as Samuel clicked through his entries, mouth moving barely as he read them to himself under his breath. Red was suddenly very uncomfortable, and glanced over to his mom.
She caught his eye, and smiled. She stood from the couch, Pikachu jumping down with her. “Samuel?”
“Hm!?” He started. “Oh, I’m sorry. I got a little distracted there. This truly is fascinating. I’m a very statistical person, but your entries are more…from the heart. Your input is really going to help grow our database.”
“Maybe next time,” his mom said. She put a hand on Red’s shoulder gently. “I think you might be jumping the gun, a little.”
Red couldn’t help but agree, now that there were words to describe how he was feeling. Red wanted to help, but he also wanted to leave. Letting the professor take his Pokédex, even for a little while, would ruin his plans. Besides, he felt Blue’s Pokédex would be more helpful, in the long run. Most of Red's entries, while genuine, were a little silly compared to what they probably should have been.
And it wasn’t that he didn’t want Samuel to have his entries. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have accepted the Pokédex in the first place, or not made notes in it at all. Now just wasn’t a good time. He had plans. He dropped his gaze down to the table, focusing on his chewed-up fingernails.
“...I see. My apologies, Red.” He could hear Samuel fiddle with his Pokédex for another moment, and heard one final click. “...and, here you are, my boy.”
Red looked back up across the table. The professor was holding his Pokédex back out towards him. He took it gently, and opened it back up. His ten-year-old self looked back at him, wide-eyed and fascinated. It looked basically the same, but there was the new addition of "Hoenn" beneath “Johto” in the menu.
“That should do you for now. If you ever need another update, you know where I’ll be.” Samuel gave a small laugh. “Well, unless technology makes another advancement. Maybe it’ll all be online instead. Can you imagine that? It’s already taken me long enough to get used to the way it is now.”
That would be cool, Red decided. It’d make his life easier, that’s for sure.
“...Well! I suppose I’ve spent enough time taking a break. Thank you for the tea, Delia. Delicious as always.” Samuel stood, and Red could hear his back crack from where he sat. “It was wonderful to see you again, Red. It always is. Pallet will always be your home, don’t you forget that.”
Red knew that. It didn’t really need saying, but he appreciated the thought, anyways. He nodded. “...thank you.”
The front door was closed, and Red looked to his mom. She was chewing her lip, a similar habit he had. She seemed to notice he was staring at him, and jumped. Their eyes met, for a brief moment, before Red looked away again. She came close, hesitated, and gently wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He tensed for a second, then relaxed. “Well, I…I guess it’s time for you to go, isn’t it?” Her voice was soft. “Do you have everything you need?”
He nodded against her.
“You’ve packed a bag? Clothing, food, money, a map?”
He nodded again.
“You’ll be flying, right? Be easy on Charizard, okay? Make sure to give him plenty of breaks. Don’t fly at night.”
He nodded, again.
“Okay.” She was quiet, for a moment. She sucked in a big, deep breath, and let it out, tickling Red’s ear. “…okay.”
Slowly, ever so slowly, she let him go.