Chapter Text
Bzzt. Bzzt.
Blue glared daggers at his X-transceiver, willing it silent so that he could eat his dinner in peace.
Bzzt. Bzzt.
Unfortunately, his X-Transceiver did not get the message, and continued to buzz. With an exaggerated sigh, Blue set down his bowl and reached across the table to check it. He didn't know why he felt the need to check the caller ID; he already knew it was Lance. He had known it would be Lance for the past two days, seven hours, and thirty-seven minutes, ever since Red had made his final statement as Indigo League Champion. Blue paused, took a deep breath, and answered.
"Hello, Bl--"
"No." Blue pre-empted Lance's question, the question he had known Lance would ask for the past two days, seven hours, and thirty-seven minutes.
"I'm doing well, Blue, thanks for asking. You didn't even let me get my question out."
"Didn't need to. Blue, will you go to Mount Silver and convince Red to come down? No, Lance, I won't. I wouldn't even if I thought I had a realistic chance of winning, which I don't. You of all people should know my 0-9 record against him, it's the only one worse than yours." His miserable imitation of Lance's voice went unnoticed by the re-throned champion, or, at the very least, unacknowledged.
"Wait, what? That's not what I was going to ask you at all. I was going to ask if you would be willing to lead a re-opened Viridian Gym."
It took Blue a moment to process the words that Lance had just said, and another to actually realize what those words meant.
"Okay, two questions: One, why now? And, more importantly, why me?"
"Well, I'm asking now because Red put no particular effort into finding a replacement for Giovanni while he was champion. As for why I asked you, to put it bluntly, you're the only one qualified. After all, the league tournaments don't have badge requirements, so those went off without a hitch with only seven gyms operating. But to run a gym you need to have eight badges. And it's been seven years since anyone received an Earth Badge."
"Why not Whitney? I mean, she's Johtan, sure, but Indigo spans both regions, and I know for a fact that Falkner is Kantonese."
"If you'd follow the news, you'd know that Whitney took over Goldenrod Gym after Will joined the Elite Four. And don't even think about asking about inter-league transfers; Cynthia'd only approve one for an Elite Four member, and even then, the last one I remember took about a year of daily tooth-pulling. I'm not opening that can of worms."
"What about that chick that was, like, a year or so younger than Red and I? Didn't she get a challenge in against Giovanni before he got arrested?"
"Leaf's in Kalos now. Studying Mega Evolution with her Gengar. Blue, I know you can keep coming up with names for the next hour or so, but do you really think you can come up with somebody I haven't already considered? No offense to you, but I'm pretty sure I keep my fingers on the pulse of the Kanto battle scene a bit more often than you do. Do you really think I'd call somebody who wasn't my best shot first?"
Blue gave a rather forceful exhale before responding. "I'm honored, really, that I'm the first one you thought to call. But I need some time to think about this. I'll call you tomorrow." He flicked off the X-transceiver a bit too forcefully to convince anyone that he was completely calm. But he was finally going to get to eat his dinner. He stopped with his first bite about three inches away from his mouth. Slowly returning his chopsticks to his plate, he reached down to his waist and released a Pidgeot.