Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Days when Ash visited were the best. Red sometimes knew when to expect them — birthdays, New Years, if a Professor Oak called him or Team Rocket was nearby — but Ash was unpredictable. Sometimes he’d shown up with little notice, and Red would wake up to a disgusting smell from the kitchen, and excitement would follow. The disgusting smell wasn’t Ash, no matter what jokes that jerk Gary would make; it was just meat. Red couldn’t even smell it without feeling sick. So the only time Delia cooked any meat was when Ash was coming over. Red stumbled out of bed, opened his bedroom window, hung his head out breathing heavily until the nausea passed, and got fully excited. It was only a few weeks after Ash’s visit for Red’s eleventh birthday, and he was already back from Paldea.

Ash was sixteen years older than Red. He’d been to every country in the world, at least for a bit. He’d become the youngest ever Monarch, aka Champion of Champions, a few years before Red was born. And when he was ten, there were so many times Ash had saved the world or defeated Team Rocket. When Red turned ten, he hadn’t even been brave enough to go on his own journey. You’d think all that success would make someone arrogant or mean, but Ash was so nice. He always pretended Red’s boring life in Pallet Town was cool too. And he always acted like Red could be as good as him, and he never called Red a wimp, even though everybody thought Red was a wimp. He couldn’t even smell meat without getting sick. To say nothing of the nightmares. Or how he froze up when people expected him to talk.

Aunt Delia was nice, but she worried about Red all the time. She acted like he could never be better. Ash knew he could, and that was what made him the best.

After pulling on jeans and a long-sleeved jacket, Red ran down the stairs, disappointed to not see Ash in the living or dining rooms. He glanced to the kitchen. Aunt Delia and Mimey walked with a spring in their steps as they cooked all of Ash’s favourite foods.

“Oh, morning Red,” Delia called over her shoulder. “Sorry about all this.” She inclined her head towards the bacon Mimey was frying.

It’s fine, Red wanted to say, but the words died in his throat, so he just nodded as he ran towards the front door.

“Hey!” Delia had turned towards him, hands on her hips. “Put your gloves on!”

For a moment, Red frowned down at his sleeves. They were long enough to cover his stupid birthmark.

“Gary’s out there with his arcanine, I don’t want you getting burnt again,” Delia explained. “Or cutting yourself patting his golem. Or electrocuting yourself getting a piggy-back ride from his electivire.”

“They’re sorry,” Red replied. He was the one who got carried away. Gary’s pokémon were surprisingly well-trained, and they were all more upset at hurting Red than Red was to be hurt.

“I’d still feel better —”

Red ran back upstairs, grabbed his gloves off the nightstand, and made sure to pull them on in front of Delia.

“I know I’m a nag,” Delia sighed, “but you’re really good at finding trouble.”

Red nodded. He pulled the front door open and stepped outside. It was cold, even with a long sleeve jacket on. There had been almost a whole week of rain, and the ground was still squishy, but the sun was breaking through the clouds. Hopefully everything would dry soon and stop smelling so muddy. He took a moment to send out Aero, watching as the little aerodactyl flew onto the roof. He was always a bit cranky when Red woke him up.

“— ratata in the fields,” a deep voice around the side of the house said. Red ran towards it.

“What’s got you worked up, huh?” Gary Oak’s shrill voice asked. It was probably supposed to sound soothing. Red wondered if Gary could ever truly sound like anything but a screechy cartoon bully.

Gary was standing by his arcanine, hands moving in long strokes on his side. His arcanine growled slightly, nose pointing towards the long grass beyond their fence, before it suddenly turned its enormous head to look at Red.

“Hey,” Gary said, “hey, don’t —”

Arcanine bounded over, tongue dangling out, and jumped on Red, licking his face. Even as he hit the ground, Red giggled, scratching deep into the fur around Arcanine’s neck.

Gary grumbled, “Bad dog.”

“Good dog,” Red whispered.

Gary whistled and his arcanine backed off. “Sally didn’t see that, did he?” He glanced up at the sky nervously.

“He’s on time-out.” Sally liked to bite kids who were mean to Red. He’d bitten Gary a few times too.

But Gary nodded and looked Red over as he pulled him to his feet. “You’d better not be muddy. Your aunt’ll kill me for that one.”

“I’m fine.” He wanted to hug Arcanine again. “What’re you looking for?”

“Nuthin’,” Gary said.

“The guy with the yellow rat,” Arcanine said. “Wanna chase ratata though.”

Red stared at Arcanine. “I dunno when Ash is coming.”

“Hm?” Gary scratched the back of his neck, laughing. “Oh, Ash’s comin’ home? Funny coincidence. We were just walking.”

“We’ve been walking in a circle around your house for twenty minutes,” Arcanine said.

Gary scratched Arcanine’s neck like he was trying to calm it down. “Gee, you’re growling a lot today, buddy.”

Not everybody understood what pokémon said. Delia told Red not to say anything. Pokémon weren’t used to people understanding them, and humans got jealous of people with special abilities. Red’s mum understood pokémon too. That’s why Team Rocket killed her.

“So! Hey, Red, how’re you doin’?” Gary asked loudly. “Haven’t seen you at the lab this week.”

Red shrugged. He wished Arcanine would jump up on him again, because it was funny, and meant he didn’t have to talk. “Went with school. Saw your grandpa.”

“Huh, he didn’t mention that.” Red wasn’t sure why Professor Oak would tell Gary about yet another school trip to the Pallet Pokémon Lab, but he wasn’t sure why people said most of the things they did. “What’d he show you this time?”

It had been more about the PokéDex. It was always about the PokéDex, and how some of them could become Trainers when they were ten, and Red tried not to think about how he’d just turned eleven. But Red was saved from figuring out how to say that by the roar of a charizard. He looked up at the sky, grinning as Charizard circled them. Aero took to the sky to circle in the opposite direction, which made Charizard huff angry embers at him.

“Heeeeeeey!” Ash called, waving.

“Heeeeeeey!” Pikachu also called, from Ash’s shoulder. Charizard landed next to Red, and immediately nuzzled his chest so hard, he was lifted off the ground for a few seconds. It was impossible not to laugh.

“Aw, you never liked me this much,” Ash said, patting Charizard’s neck as he slid off its back. Charizard huffed, not really saying anything. It rarely did.

Pikachu cried out his name, leaping from Ash’s shoulder to Red’s. It nuzzled against his cheek as Red scratched its head. Red’s hair was probably starting to stick up on that side, like Ash’s. As Pikachu nuzzled Red, Aero landed on Ash’s shoulders, one leg on each. Ash shouted with alarm. Aero cackled to himself.

“Don’t bully me!” Ash cried. “Red! You promised you’d train him!”

Red shrugged.

“He’s still pretty small, for an aerodactyl,” Gary observed. “This is the one that hatched, right?”

“Uh-huh, the one Goh bred for Red’s mum,” Ash said. He raised his eyebrows, like he expected more of a reaction from Gary when he brought up Red’s dead mum who was definitely murdered. But maybe Gary, like Red, wondered why nobody used her name anymore. Especially because he’d had two mums.

“I’ve never seen one that wasn’t resurrected from Old Amber before, I’m not making it a thing,” Gary said hastily. He looked at Charizard. “Thought you were travelling with your pidgeot again.”

“Pidgeot wanted to check in on the Viridian Forest,” Ash explained. He didn’t even look at Gary, he was grinning at Red. “Pikachu’s real happy to see you too! Do my pokémon like you better than me?”

“Yes,” Charizard and Pikachu joked.

Red didn’t get a chance to say anything before Ash was hugging him, too. Ash was really strong. He didn’t look it, but his hugs were so powerful they usually made Red’s bones pop. Then he’d start with — “Whoops! Sorry, buddy, I’m just happy to see you too!”

“’S okay,” Red said, though he was winded. Aero flew over to his side, cooing as it nuzzled him.

Ash pulled away and turned to Gary. “Didya wanna battle Pidgeot?”

“Haven’t had the chance in years,” Gary replied. Arcanine growled behind him, wordless but not unfriendly. “How’s ’bout we see what you’ve learned right here, right now?”

Pikachu jumped back onto Ash’s shoulder, sparks at its cheeks. Charizard huffed at Arcanine. With a grin, Ash pulled out a PokéBall. “I’ve been in Paldea, y’know.”

“Ooh, how scary.” Gary smirked. “You won’t be able to do that tacky gem stuff here, Ashy-boy.”

“So? Wait until you see what my primeape evol—”

“Ash Ketchum!”

Of course Aunt Delia had to ruin everything. She was standing on the porch, still wearing her apron, hands on her hips.

“Hi Mom!” Ash cried.

“You’d better not be having pokémon battles in my garden again!”

“Of course not.” He clipped the PokéBall back onto his belt. “I was just telling Gary he’s gotta wait until later to hear about Paldean pokémon.”

“I’ve been to Paldea,” Gary muttered. “I’ve even been to Area Zero.”

“Liar,” Ash whispered.

“Gary is welcome to join us for breakfast but no pokémon battles.”

“Okay, Mom! Promise!” Red could see Ash crossing his fingers behind his back.

Gary cupped his hands around his mouth, like he wasn’t loud enough already. “Thanks, Mrs Ketchum, but I gotta get back to Gramps!”

“Yeah, we’re just saying hi, Red ‘n’ me’ll be in soon!”

Aunt Delia looked sceptical, but went back inside.

“Yes I have been to Area Zero, like ten years before it was cool,” Gary insisted. “Professor Sada personally invited me due to my expertise in ancient pokémon, as a matter of fact.”

“Pretty sure the professor down there is Turo —”

“Turo?! Are you kidding?! He’s a stay-at-home dad, not a professor!”

“What? Their kid goes to this awesome boarding school, I met him and his best friend the Min—” Ash replied. He glanced down, like he was just now noticing Red peering up at him. “I’ll see ya later Gary, I gotta show Professor Oak my PokéDex anyway.”

“And Gramps won’t yell at us for battling.” Gary waved to Ash, said, “Come by later too Red, okay?”

“Okay,” Red said, wishing Gary would move back to Sinnoh already.

Ash recalled Charizard, and Pikachu dashed ahead to the door. Red offer Aero his Ball, put it away when he didn’t want to go in, and followed behind Ash, barely remembering to hold his breath before they went in.

“Ta-da!” Delia cried, gesturing at the table covered in dishes. “All your favourites, Ash! Even croquettes!”

“Mom, you don’t have to make all this for me,” Ash said. He clearly meant because it made Red sick. They’d talked about it before.

“It’s fine,” Red managed to say this time.

Delia still said, “I just get excited to see my baby!”

“Mom, I’m twenty-seven…”

While Delia hugged Ash, Red took his gloves off and washed his hands. That was what she’d tell him to do next anyway. Then he took Aero over to his perch (in the window, Aero loved to watch people go by and scare them) and went and sat at his place at the table, staring at all the food. It was easier when the food was already cooked and it didn’t smell so much like death, but he still couldn’t eat it without getting sick. Ash told him outside of Kanto, there were so many places where nobody ate meat. Delia said it was another reason Red wasn’t ready to go on his Pokémon Journey.

Ash talked excitedly about all the pokémon he’d met in Paldea, particularly a ‘purple bike-lizard type pokémon’ called Miraidon he’d apparently helped a prince save. Red tried to ask if Paldea actually had princes, but even around Ash his voice would fail, so he’d look it up later when it sounded like less of a dumb question.

“And, the prince with Miraidon, Florian, he told me some great news, that’s why I’m back already! They’re starting a school,” he looked at Red, “for people with special abilities.”

There was a clattering sound that made Red jump, staring at his aunt. She’d dropped her rice bowl, but was too busy staring wide-eyed at Ash.

“It’s part of Uva — no wait, Naranja — uh, what was it, oranges for the history school and grapes for the science school, the whole academy is called Sagrada even if it should be called Fruit —”

The really old school in Paldea with a crystal PokéBall built into it. Everybody knew it. But why was Ash continuing to talk when his mum was being so weird? Pikachu had jumped across the table to help clean up. Mimey was usually right on things like that, but he was clearly upset by how emotional Delia was getting. He’d stopped miming and everything.

“Anyway, I told him you can talk to pokémon —”

“Why would you do that?!” Delia cried.

“Because he can,” Ash replied. “Mom, it’s not like Team Rocket has anything to do with Paldea.”

“You don’t know that,” Delia said. “They weren’t supposed to be in Sinnoh.”

She glanced at Red in the apologetic pitying way that meant she’d referenced his dead parents. He knew what’d happened, he knew it’d happened in Sinnoh where he was supposed to have grown up, he knew Team Rocket were evil and still popping up around the world. But he also knew nobody had seen Giovanni in eight years. Red had checked every night since he was first allowed to use a computer.

“Mom…” Ash sighed.

“Red, please go upstairs to your room,” Delia said, “Ash and I need to talk about this.”

She’d barely given the instruction before Red got up and went to the stairs. He knew if he crouched on the landing behind the handrail, he’d be able to hear what they said without being spotted. Red had spent a lot of time eavesdropping on Delia talking about him with other people.

“Mom, it’s like the school I went to in Alola, remember?”

“Paldea is a lot bigger and further away than Alola,” she replied.

“Which is why Team Rocket —”

“You can’t tell people about his powers,” Delia interrupted, in a frantic almost-whisper. Red leaned closer, frowning with focus to decipher what she was saying. “We can’t risk it, Ash.”

“When’s he gonna learn how to use it right? He’s great at it but he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“He’s still too young,” Delia insisted. “It’s too much.”

“Mom, when I was his age, you let me —”

“It was a very different world back then, Ash.”

“Uh, not really Mom… And this is just a school.” From his voice, Red could picture the confused frown on Ash’s face. He was probably remembering all the times he’d saved the world. Maybe even the time Aunt Delia had been kidnapped by an entei.

“You need to talk to me about these things first,” Delia said. “Red isn’t like you.”

It was just a basic fact, but it still hurt every time Red heard it. And he heard it a lot. People would look at him and see either his amazing cousin (hero, five time Monarch, beloved by pokémon and people alike everywhere) or his dead mother (archaeologist, the longest reigning Champion of Sinnoh). Then they’d be disappointed by how short Red fell. He was too quiet, too weird, too easily scared.

“I know, Mom, he’s way smarter than me,” Ash said with a hint of laughter in his voice. “He won’t go running into trouble like I do.”

“You say that, but he does all the time when you’re not here. And if you’re both away, getting in trouble… My heart can’t handle that.”

There was the sound of chairs moving. Red backed away, but realised they must be hugging.

“Sally’ll look after him too,” Ash said. “You can always count on that.”

Delia sniffed. “He’s on timeout.”

Ash didn’t ask. You never really had to ask why Sally was on timeout.

“The director of the school wants to come talk to you about it, see what you think,” Ash said. “See? I can be an adult sometimes.”

Delia laughed. Red was relieved to hear it.

After a few moments of silence, Red snuck down the hallway to his room. He stood outside, staring at Ash’s room opposite for a few moments, before deciding it wasn’t worth going inside. Ash would come find him when he was ready. In the meantime, Red would read about Sagrada Academy on Bulbapedia. He’d never thought about going to a Trainer School, because it would mean going. It would mean more strangers who met him and were disappointed. Or maybe there would be people just like him. That’s what Ash seemed to be implying. More people with special powers Red wouldn’t need to keep secrets around.

Ash knocked, and Red had to go to the door to let him in because his voice failed yet again. But Ash still grinned at him like he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Hey buddy,” he said, “sorry about all that.”

Red looked at his computer, with a picture of the Uva Academy science lab still visible in all its sterile glowing white glory. He managed to say, “’S okay.”

Ash closed the door behind himself and walked over. “Hey, it’s that Fruit School!”

Red nodded.

“It’s a really cool place, I wish I could’ve gone there, I went to a few classes they kept asking me to teach people stuff and you know I’m no good at that,” Ash said as he sat at the chair, scrolling quickly through the page looking at the pictures. “I wasn’t a very good Trainer before Pokémon School.” From his head, Pikachu made a noise and Ash laughed. “Okay, I was fine, but I got way better. Sometimes I wish I’d gone there first. But I’d never trade my journey with Brock and Misty for anything, of course!”

Red didn’t know what to say. He’d heard a lot about Ash’s journeys, but not a lot from Ash himself. Ash’s friends would visit to say hi to Aunt Delia (who they still called Mrs Ketchum even though nobody was sure if Mr Ketchum had ever existed) and they’d say a lot. The Professor Oaks would mention things when Red checked up on Ash’s pokémon. But Ash himself would only talk about the latest journey he’d come home from.

“And y’know, Mom’s just scared, if you really wanna do something she won’t stop you,” Ash said, smile still on his face, eyes still on pictures of the school.

“Won’t she?” Red muttered.

Ash looked at Red with a frown. “All she wants is us to be happy.”

But that wasn’t true. Red had heard it over and over. Aunt Delia wanted him to be safe because she’d promised her dead younger sister. Safe and happy are different.

“The director of the school, Clavell, he’s gonna come talk to us, you’ll see, it’s a great place,” Ash said. He smiled again. “Only if you want to go, though.”

Red stared at the computer screen. There was a picture of the library in the entrance hall. Students in purple and orange uniforms hung around, some sitting on chairs, some on the ground, laughing and talking together.

“I want to go,” Red decided.

Ash cheered, jumping up and pulling Red into another tight bone-cracking hug.

“But,” Red gasped, “but, the special abilities.”

He was lifted into the air in a full spin before Ash set him down again, grinning ear to ear. “I dunno much about that! Some people can use magic and some people can’t. What matters is how cool Paldea is, Red!”

Red frowned. He asked Pikachu, “Is this magic?”

“Who cares?!” Pikachu cried excitedly, “Paldea is cool, Red!”

Maybe it was magic behind Ash and Pikachu’s hivemind.

Ash laughed, scratching Pikachu’s head.

It wasn’t the weirdest idea. Red had seen a human psychic before. And sometimes spirit mediums would show up insisting they had messages from his dead mothers and Aunt Delia would sic Mimey on them. Also, Ash had Aura, but he never really used it outside of battles. Apparently Red’s mum had it, too. He didn’t know if he had it, but he did sometimes get a strange feeling around certain people. Plus it would just make sense for it to be magic behind Ash’s insane strength.

“Let’s go finish breakfast, okay?” Ash suggested. “We’ll talk about all this later, when Director Clavell comes over.”

Red’s thoughts were chased away by the anxiety of how upset Aunt Delia would be, but when they returned to the table she was humming happily and chatting with Mimey. She was acting like nothing had happened again. Red was relieved but also tired all of a sudden.

Three days later, Red opened the front door to see an old man in a purple-and-white suit. He was clearly a lot younger than Oak but his hair white and lanky, his face lined, and something about his overly stylish teacher look made Red sure someday the man would ask him what ‘poggers’ meant.

“Hello,” the man said, “you must be Red, correct?”

“Yeah.” He noticed the PokéBalls attached to the man’s blazer and wondered what was inside. “Um. Ash is —”

“Director Clavell! Hi!”

The man turned to look behind him. Ash was running up, waving, Pikachu a few paces ahead.

“I was just in the Viridian Forest checking on my pidgeot,” Ash explained, “d’ya wanna go have a look? Pidgeot is so cool, his ‘treasure’ is the flock of pidgey and pidgeotto there, but also exploring with me. Red, you could come and translate!”

“As interesting as that sounds Ash, I think I had better start by speaking with your mother and cousin,” Clavell replied. “Where is your mother?”

“Uhhh…”

“Upstairs.”

“Upstairs! I’ll go get her,” Ash declared, “Red, show Director Clavell to the living room.”

Red would much rather it be the other way around, but he showed Clavell the way as Ash bolted inside and up the stairs. Clavell probably could’ve seen the couches and TV from the doorway and figured it out for himself. He sat on the couch nearest with impeccable posture, and Red felt embarrassed trying not to sink into the one opposite. Clavell was staring at him, or maybe over his head?

“Is that an aerodactyl?” he asked.

Red glanced over at Aero, who was fast asleep on his perch. “Um. Yeah.”

“How remarkable.” Clavell smiled at maybe Red, but probably Aero. “I haven’t seen one in person for a very long time. Are you his Trainer?”

“Um, he was supposed to be Cyn— my mum’s,” Red replied, “but, I hatched him.”

Clavell’s eyes widened, but before he could say anything else, Ash and Aunt Delia came down the stairs.

“Oh, Director, I’m so sorry, Ash didn’t tell me when you’d be arriving!” Delia cried. She looked over at Red’s left arm, and Red lifted it slightly so she could see the sweatband in place, covering his birthmark as always. “Can I get you something to drink? We have Pallet’s famous banana green tea.”

“How can I say no to trying a local delicacy?” Clavell sounded like he really wished he could say no. Delia didn’t pick up on that at all, and beamed. “I was just talking with Red about his aerodactyl.”

Red was about to clarify again when Ash excitedly cut in, “Isn’t it the coolest?! My friend Goh bred it for Red’s mum, and we had it in an incubator for like ten years and it still didn’t hatch but when the incubator broke Red started looking after it and it hatched right away. Gary said it’s probably because aerodactyl had such long life spans but something similar happened with me and Lucario so I think it’s because of Red’s —”

“Ash, can you come help me?” Delia called.

On one hand, Red was glad he didn’t have to carry tea around while being stared at. On the other, he really wished he’d heard Ash finish that sentence. Aero had hatched about six months ago, and Red didn’t know what he’d done that’d been different to anything else people had tried.

Pikachu climbed onto Red’s lap, and he was happy for the reassurance.

“You seem to have quite a way with pokémon,” Clavell observed.

“I guess,” Red mumbled. Anyone would be the same if they could understand pokémon.

Ash set the tea tray on the table before sitting next to Clavell. Aunt Delia set down a plate of cookies, arranged carefully on top of what had to be the commemorative plate from one of the times Ash was declared Monarch of the World Coronation series. There was a distinct pattern of pokémon type symbols and crowns on the outer rim. If Ash realised Aunt Delia was using that plate, he’d be mortified. Luckily Red’s stomach hurt too much to eat.

“Ah, thank you Mrs Ketchum,” Clavell said, accepting a teacup. “You’re far too kind.”

“Nonsense, you came all this way to talk to us, it’s the least I can do.”

“I must apologise, Minaji Florian wanted to come as well,” Red barely had time to get caught up on the unfamiliar word before he became alarmed by, “but there was an incident involving a group of students who call themselves ‘Team Star’ — nothing to worry about, it’s a support group for troubled students, and Florian has been assisting them.”

“Florian’s really nice, Mom,” Ash supplied. “I was helping him and Arven with those Titan Pokémon, remember?”

“Oh, yes, I remember.” Aunt Delia looked a bit dazed. “I suppose not all teams are bad, are they.”

“Team Star’s just like Team Skull, remember them, Mom?”

“Yes, dear, I remember.” She smiled sadly at Clavell. “I’m sorry, Director. Cynthia was my younger half-sister, so I was always protective of her even when she didn’t need it, and I can’t help being the same with Red.”

“Of course, it’s perfectly understandable,” Clavell agreed. “I will admit, I haven’t been Director for long, but I’m doing my best to ensure Sagrada Academy is a safe place for all students — those who are there full time, those who are only learning about Pokémon Training, those who attend our adult education seminars — all of them.”

Yes, yes, adults waffling as usual. But what was that word they’d called this Florian guy?

Clavell took a sip of the tea and did an amazing job not flinching. Delia smiled like she was looking at another satisfied customer in the restaurant. Clavell sounded slightly strained as he said, “I understand you would be concerned, but we would do our best to make Sagrada Academy a safe place for Red.”

“I’m sure your school is wonderful, but Red is a very special boy,” Aunt Delia replied. “Oh, of course all children are special, but… He looks just like Cynthia, don’t you think?”

“The resemblance is uncanny,” Clavell agreed, “though I think our students are more likely to recognise him as Ash Ketchum’s cousin.”

For a moment Red was worried Aunt Delia would hear the underlying meaning — that most people had forgotten Cynthia by now — but she smiled tearfully and nodded, beaming at Ash. “My Ashy does a lot of good in the world.”

“Mooooom,” Ash groaned, “we’re talking about Red going to that fruit school.”

“Yes, of course.” Clavell set down his teacup. Red wondered if he’d drink from it again or find some excuse not to finish it. He’d decide how much he liked Clavell based on what he chose. “Sagrada Academy has a range of enrolment options, but for an eleven-year-old, I believe the most relevant would be our secondary education course.” To Red, he explained, “You’ll learn everything you would at a top-tier Trainer School such as Indigo Academy or the Viridian Trainers School, while getting your high school diploma.”

Red frowned. Did he know anyone who had bothered getting a high school diploma? Except Gary, but Gary didn’t count for anything. Maybe Brock? But Brock was weird too. Had Goh gotten it? Goh was almost as cool as Ash but about a million times smarter (usually). And Goh wasn’t normal either.

Ash scratched his face with a nervous laugh. “You should probably get your high school diploma. It’s useful for… Most stuff.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah, like being a doctor… or nurse… or a real researcher… or Gym Leader in some regions… or anything but a professional battler… Maybe even then, I dunno…”

There was a far-off thoughtful look on Ash’s face that really didn’t belong there. Ash didn’t think about things, he did things. It was a way better way to live than getting so stuck in your own brain you can’t always speak.

“There are many options opened up by having one, and it never hurts to get,” Clavell explained. “Particularly if you are learning battling and pokémon raising at the same time.”

Red nodded. It made sense, he’d just never thought about it. You either stayed in Pallet forever, or became a Trainer at ten and left. The wider world was a theoretical blur of Ash’s stories and things Red knew about his mothers. Well, Cynthia. Nobody ever said much about his other mother.

“Director, tell him the other bit,” Ash requested, “about the uh. Elves? X-Men? Dai-magic?”

The what? Clavell seemed just as confused as Red.

“Ash,” Delia said icily, “I don’t think —”

“Oh, do you mean the dainisa?” Clavell realised.

Delia gave a strange, strangled noise that made Red want to hide. He may have gripped Pikachu too hard, because the poor little rodent started tapping at his hands with a questioning, “You okay?”

“Yup, that’s it!” Ash cried. He laughed. “You’d think I’d remember what we are.”

You’d think Red would’ve heard the word before, if it is what they apparently are. What did it mean? People with special abilities? That’s what X-Men were, right? Red didn’t watch Unovan media, not since he was six and watching Joltik-man gave him nightmares about guns.

“Yes, you would think that.” Clavell laughed, good-natured but clearly concerned, before confirming with Red, “I’ve been told you have some remarkable abilities.”

Quickly, Red shook his head.

“Director Clavell, he’s a very shy boy,” Delia explained, “so you shouldn’t expect —”

Ash interrupted with an excited shout, “Clavell, sir! Send out one of your pokémon! Red’ll show you what he can do!”

Pikachu chirped just as loudly in agreement.

“Very well,” Clavell said, pulling one of the Premier Balls from his side and pressing the button. Red watched, awed, as the blue light came together to form a white duck. Atop its head was a swoop of blue hair, or maybe water? It flicked it back with a loud, “Here’s the star!” before posing facing Red.

“Quaxly!” Ash cried excitedly. “Red, say hi!”

“Um.” Red stared between Ash’s excited face, Clavell’s curious intelligent gaze, and Delia’s pale stern gaze. When their eyes met, she shook her head. But Ash looked excited, and Quaxly was staring at Red, so he said, “Hi.”

Quaxly peered into Red’s eyes. Its own were a deep, dark blue, like the sea after a storm,

“You, you said you’re a star…?” Red muttered.

Quaxly’s eyes widened. “Yes! You understand! I’m a special boy and I need you to tell that man I simply cannot continue to eat bland-ass oran berries when there are perfectly good pecha berries which are more worthy of me.”

“Um… Director Clavell, Quaxly doesn’t like oran berries anymore. He likes pecha berries.”

“Oh, my.” Red glanced up to see Clavell’s hand pressed to his mouth in astoundment. “So that’s why he hasn’t been eating as well lately.”

“That’s right!” Quaxly cried. He pressed a wing to Red’s knee, tapping it repeatedly. “Thank you for saving me from dying of mediocrity.”

“You’re welcome?” Red wasn’t used to pokémon being so… dramatic.

Clavell called Quaxly over. He reassuringly groomed its feathers as he promised no more oran berries, and recalled it. “You can understand the language of all pokémon?”

“Um… not…” Red glanced back at Aero, who was growling on his perch.

“Aero’s a baby,” Ash insisted. “Every other pokémon I’ve ever brought home, and all my friend’s pokémon, and all the pokémon at the lab, he understands them all!”

But Aunt Delia told Red to keep it a secret. She said that was why Team Rocket had killed his mother, because she spoke to pokémon too. Was something bad going to happen now? What was going to happen to him, if more people found out? And why didn’t Red know about any of this? Minaji, dainisa, what did any of it mean? Had his Aunt been lying to him? He was already so scared because of all the things she told him to lie about, like why he kept his wrist covered, his talking with pokémon, his birthday, but he hadn’t thought she was lying to him, and if she was, maybe the world wasn’t so scary. Maybe Team Rocket wasn’t around every corner. But why would she lie to him about that? What if Director Clavell was one of them, and they’d tricked Ash into sending Red to Team Rocket Academy or something? What if everything Aunt Delia told him was true and something awful was going to happen because Red had let a stranger know he could talk to pokémon just like his dead mum who Team Rocket shot?! 

Pikachu’s paw pressed against his cheek. Red hadn’t even noticed it climbing onto his shoulder. “It’s okay,” Pikachu said, “trust me.”

And Red did trust Pikachu. He breathed in deeply, did his best to smile at Pikachu, and was rewarded with their cheeks being rubbed together. The static was more reassuring than painful.

“Well, Red, I think Sagrada Academy would be the perfect place for you to hone your abilities and learn more,” Director Clavell said kindly. “From the moment I stepped into this house, you’ve shown how much you care for pokémon. This ability of yours, and how well developed it is, shows how well-suited you are.”

“Hang on,” Delia said, voice trembling. “Paldea is a long way away. How will you keep him safe? And —” She looked at Red. Her eyes were wet. “Red, do you even want to go?”

Red looked away, nodded, and said, “Yes.”

“I guarantee you, Mrs Ketchum, we will do everything we can to protect Red,” Clavell said gently. “We’ve had many students with famous relatives before, and some presently attending — such as the son of Professors Sada and Turo, the niece of Chairman Rose, and of course Florian — and will take similar precautions with Red’s safety. But we usually find students are not star-struck for long.”

Red hoped that was the case. He also hoped none of them remember Cynthia, so he wouldn’t hear more about how much he looked like her. Though his classmates in Pallet Town usually brought that up because it meant Red looked girly, not because they remembered Cynthia.

“Mom, it’s gonna be okay,” Ash squeezed his mother’s hand. “I can take Red there myself if it makes you feel better.”

“Of course we ensure new students are escorted from their homes to the academy,” Clavell said. “Mrs Ketchum, I would be more than happy to discuss any concerns you have, and introduce you to our staff.”

“I’ve met them all too, Mom, remember? I sent you that painting the art teacher Hassel did of Mimey!”

Delia sniffed, wiping her eyes. “It’s such a nice painting.”

There were still so many questions churning in Red’s head. But Clavell set about reassuring Delia, with supporting anecdotes from Ash, and Pikachu was still periodically nuzzling his cheek, so Red resigned himself to simply watching and listening for more clues.

Sagrada Academy was divided into Uva Academy and Naranja Academy, which meant grape academy and orange academy (hence why Ash kept calling it ‘Fruit School’). Uva Academy focused on medicine and sciences, Naranja Academy focused on history and social studies. Students could take classes from either, until they were fifteen and expected to pick one to specialise in. Both taught battling and pokémon care. Nobody was explaining what exactly a dainisa was, or why this Florian guy was such a big deal, or if Red was right in his deduction that they meant some people were literally magic and Florian was the prince of magic or something. (Ash did call Florian the ‘Prince of Speed’ at some point but that got a confused reaction from Clavell, and seemed to be an inside joke or outlier that shouldn’t be counted.)

Before long, Clavell stood up. “Well, if there are no more questions for now, I had best be on my way.” He took a card case from his pocket (it was covered in a pattern of grapes and oranges) and handed one of his business cards to Delia. “Please call if you think of any additional concerns.”

Delia shook her head, and in a very soft voice said, “Maybe this will be good for Red.”

“Please discuss it further as a family. Term begins in mid-September, but orientation for our boarders is a week earlier.”

That gave Red about a fortnight to prove he could go.

“Red, I hope to see you at school,” Clavell said. “Ash, do take care.”

“See you at Fruit School, Professor!”

Clavell sighed slightly but left without correcting Ash.

Nobody said anything. Delia started clearing things away without any comment. As she did, Red saw Clavell hadn’t finished his banana green tea.

Honestly? Respect.

Red didn’t expect Ash or Aunt Delia to pick up the topic immediately, and they didn’t. As they washed up, Ash kept talking about how nice and cool everyone at Sagrada Academy was, Delia kept saying ‘That’s nice dear’, and Red wanted to ask his questions but his tongue felt too heavy to move and they were in such a comfortable rhythm he wouldn’t be able to bother them anyway.

So Red took Pikachu out to the backyard. He meant to stop, but he just kept walking. Up the hill, away from the town. Pikachu followed dutifully without comment.

“Do you really like Paldea?” he asked.

Pikachu made a thoughtful “chuuu ka” noise. “I don’t like the Pokémon Centres or the really tall mountains.”

The mountains made sense, Pikachu never liked mountains, what with its little legs. Even if Ash would always carry it up them with no second thought. “Why not the Pokémon Centres?”

“We can’t sleep in them!” Pikachu cried. “It’s like, when the —” It started alternating between mining driving a car and pretending to be a car, with its ears bent back awkwardly in the shape of a car bonnet.

“A petrol station?” Red guessed. “Where cars stop?”

“That’s right!”

That was worrying. “Are there lots of cars?”

Pikachu shook its head. “The sandwiches are amazing too!”

Red didn’t particularly care about food, so long as he didn’t have to eat any pokémon. They came to the big tree at the edge of Professor Oak’s enormous yard. The fence used to be much bigger, but apparently Team Rocket had blown it up, and all the pokémon stayed inside. Now it was a little wire and wood thin, mostly decorative, and few pokémon hung out anywhere near it. Red still liked to sit under the tree and watch them in the distance. Sometimes pokémon would come over to talk to him. Usually the same one. Aunt Delia would get mad at him for wandering off, but he could still see her house down the hill, so there was only so much she could say.

Aunt Delia was annoying, but Red was still alive. And she probably wouldn’t be so annoying if he were stronger. If he could speak freely like Ash. If he could make friends with humans. If he could show more of his emotions. If he didn’t remind everyone so much of dead people.

Red sat under the tree. He peered up into the leaves. No bugs in sight. The metapod that’d been up there last week must’ve evolved and moved on. Pikachu climbed onto Red’s head, bending down to peer into his face up close. Its eyes were so brown, warm and inviting, like the trunk of this tree itself.

“Will I make friends?” Red wondered.

“Of course!”

Relaxing against the tree trunk, Red tried to remember the last time he’d had a friend of his own… His eyes were too heavy to keep open. The sun was streaming through the trees, falling across his face in patches of warmth…

He was walking down the street home, glancing carefully at the big road as a truck went by. The tall buildings got in the way of the mountain view and he wished they were up higher, like his classroom at school. He pushed his hat up so it wasn’t pulled so low; the blue and black pattern almost stopped him from seeing the traffic coming, and you gotta be careful in a city like Saffron while you’re holding hands with your little si— 

Red startled. Pikachu had crawled down into his lap, and peered up at him with curiosity.

“A weird dream,” he explained. He relaxed against the tree again, wondering what the city had been. Sometimes Red dreamt about places he’d seen in videos or heard about from Ash’s stories. Or Ash’s friends’ stories about Ash.

The sunlight was refreshing, or maybe the nap had been refreshing despite the nightmare. He hadn’t been out for long. He decided to walk back along the fenceline, peering into Oak’s field, wondering which tauros belonged to Ash. 

It didn’t take long for the bulbasaur to find him.

The bulbasaur found Red every single time he went near the Lab. Her body was a little small, but her bulb was big, and she always walked a little crooked as a result. Red paused, Pikachu perched curious on his shoulder, and waited for the bulbasaur to come to a stop by the fence and peer up at him. Their eyes were the exact same shade of red. Red knew, because his other mother had eyes that colour too, and one of the only pictures he had of her was close to her vibrant eyes as she tried to duck out of the shot.

“Does your back hurt again?” Red asked.

“Catch me,” the bulbasaur replied.

Red crouched down, reaching through the gaps in the fence. The bulbasaur stepped forward, butting her head against his fingers, before turning to her side. Pressing his fingers against the scaly skin nearest her bulb, Red moved them along, closing his eyes to try and focus on feeling the tension. The bulbasaur always had tight muscles, and she liked Red because he could massage them out easily. He’d focus, his fingertips would start to feel warm from his focus, and then he’d feel the bulbasaur relax. Red opened his eyes to once again find the bulbasaur lying sprawled out on the ground, murmuring in contentment.

“Catch me,” the bulbasaur repeated as Red stood up.

With a sigh, Red started to reply how he always replied, “You deserve a Trainer, and I’m not —” But he was going somewhere. So he corrected himself: “I’m gonna go to school. Wouldn’t that be boring for you?”

“No. Catch me.”

That was that, then. “I’ll talk to Professor Oak.”

The bulbasaur jumped to her feet. “When?”

Red glanced at Delia’s house up ahead, the Professor’s lab further up the hill, the fence, the bulbasaur’s bright red eyes… He separated the wire in the fence as much as he could and gestured for the bulbasaur to jump through.

“Red…” Pikachu had a rare warning tone.

Ignoring it, Red opened his arms for the bulbasaur to jump into. He held her carefully and walked quickly back to the house. As they approached he could see Ash on the small front porch, pacing back and forth, Rotom Phone following him as he ranted animatedly. If Pikachu weren’t with them, Red would’ve crouched down behind the hedges and snuck closer to eavesdrop, no hesitation. Unfortunately Pikachu was a good friend, and shouted, “Ash!” and ran ahead to him.

“Hey buddy!” Ash cried. Quickly Ash says to the phone, “I gotta go, Red’s here with a bulbasaur!”

“Wait, Ash —”

“Callbacksoontalksoonloveyabye!”

Snatching his phone out of the air, Ash turned to Red with a too-wide grin. “What’s with the bulbasaur?”

Red asked, “Was that Goh?”

Almost immediately, Ash’s entire face went pink. “Ha! What! Goh’s in Fiore!” Red stared at the phone in Ash’s hand, hoping he didn’t need to remind his cousin what it was used for. Maybe not, as Ash spluttered, “Hey, didya know, they don’t have Trainers in Fiore!”

“Uh-huh.” Ash had talked a lot about going there to try Pokémon Ranging as another step towards being a Pokémon Master. “The bulbasaur was hurt so I helped her and now she wants me to catch her.”

“Wow! That’s amazing! You’re so awesome, Red!” Ash crouched down in front of the bulbasaur. “Hey buddy! You’ve got a really special Trainer, you know that?”

The bulbasaur replied, “Get out of my face.”

“Uh, Ash —”

“It’s so cute,” Ash cooed, reaching to pat it. “You’ve got the same eyes, only it looks grumpy, hey, just like —”

The bulbasaur bit Ash.

Red pulled the bulbasaur back as Ash yelped, quickly explaining, “She doesn’t like people being close.”

“Aha, sure.” Ash tried to sound positive as he massaged his fingers. “Is it Professor Oak’s? Or another Trainer’s? Or a starter?”

“She’s a starter,” Red said.

At the same time, the bulbasaur said, “I’m a starter, dummy.”

“Rude,” Pikachu huffed.

“Yeah, he didn’t know,” Red agreed.

The bulbasaur huffed unapologetically.

“Let’s go talk to Professor Oak,” Ash decided, glancing back at the house. He was clearly deciding whether or not to let Aunt Delia know, and to Red’s relief, he decided against it. They started walking, Ash staying at Red’s slower pace.

“Can I ask you some questions?”

Ash beamed at him. “Of course, buddy!”

“Will you tell the truth?”

“Aw, c’mon, I never lie to you.”

Red raised his eyebrows. “Is Goh your boyfriend?”

“What! No! It’s complicated! I thought you meant questions about Fruit School!”

Biting his lip to keep from smirking, Red shrugged. He had meant about school, but he needed to make sure Ash would tell the truth first. “About school. What’s with the magic people?”

Blush vanishing, Ash more confidently replied, “Some people can use special powers. Powers like making fire or water and stuff, like what pokémon can do. Like how I can use Aura just like Lucario! And I think it gets better and easier the more we bond with pokémon, my Aura stuff got so much easier after I met Greninja and Lucario.”

Red nodded. “And those people are called dainisa?”

“Yeah, that’s what they call themselves.” Ash scratched the back of his head with a nervous laugh. “I dunno much about it. You’re basically an elf, Red.”

An elf? Red didn’t know much about Fantasy or Occult nonsense. “You’re not?”

“Nah, I guess I’m basically an elf too, but Mom doesn’t talk about it and…” He trailed off, shook his head, and said, “It’s not a big deal. What you are doesn’t change who you are.”

Sometimes, Ash said really cool things.

And then Ash kept talking. “But their leaders make a big deal about how they’re not humans and better than humans and I don’t like that. A lot of people are, I dunno, normal about it? But Florian’s the first one I’ve met who’s nice.”

Frowning, Red muttered, “Why would I wanna go meet more mean people?”

“Ah!” Ash jumped in front of Red, waving his hands insistently, “no, no, it’s not like that, I’m explaining it bad. A lot of bad stuff happened to the dainisa so they wanna stay secret, their leaders are intense about it, except Florian wants to change that, he’s the only nice one of their leaders I’ve met. He wants to build peace between humans and dainisa and pokémon. I just don’t think about stuff like this.”

“I guess…”

“You can ask Professor Oak more,” Ash suggested. “He knows about all this. I think.”

It seemed weird that Ash would have all these abilities that were apparently magical and didn’t really question them much. Well, okay, maybe not that weird, but… “Why didn’t I know anything about any of this?”

Ash’s face went from panicked to annoyed. He turned away and started walking again, and Red momentarily wondered what he’d done wrong this time, until Ash spoke again. “Mom didn’t want you to. I should’ve told you anyway, but I didn’t think about it much…” He gave Red a strained smile. “Sorry, bud.”

What could Red say to that? He looked down at the bulbasaur in his arms. He’d never really thought he was stupid, but maybe he was. Who realised they could talk to pokémon and never asked a question about it? Aunt Delia had told him he had to keep it a secret, and he’d asked why it had to be a secret, but not why it happened. He knew most people couldn’t do it, but it wasn’t completely unheard of, was it? Aunt Delia had always told him, ‘your mother could talk to pokémon too.’ He didn’t even know which one. And he couldn’t remember a time he hadn’t understood pokémon… How was it meant to be magic or a special power when it wasn’t special to him at all?

Suddenly Ash spoke again, and Red jumped. “Florian’s the Prince of Dainisa, so he can explain any of this too if you don’t wanna talk to Professor Oak about it.”

“Prince… Is that what Minaji means? Prince?”

“Oh, yeah, they have their own language.” Ash shook his head. “It’s actually kinda annoying.”

Honestly, Red was relieved when they reached the lab. He wasn’t understanding much more than he’d already guessed. It was hard to believe that Ash, who’d travelled all over the world, didn’t know more. Even saying he wasn’t interested in it… Was Ash really that oblivious?

Professor Oak called them into the back. Ash started animatedly explaining what happened, but Oak cut him off with a simple, “You’re ready to take it?”

Face warm, Red nodded.

“This bulbasaur has wanted Red as a Trainer since they first met last spring,” Oak explained to Ash as he searched the shelves of PokéBalls. “It’s refused to go with any other Trainer.”

Red pointedly ignored the way Ash was looking at him. If he validated it, Ash would be embarrassing in front of the bulbasaur, and that was the last thing Red needed right now.

“Bulbasaur is a good starter,” Oak told Red as he came over with a normal-looking PokéBall, “they’re easy to raise. They need lots of sunlight and water but that shouldn’t be a problem for you.”

Accepting the PokéBall felt like waiting for a rock to be dropped in his hand, but it was much lighter than expected. Maybe because Red was a bit distracted by how to keep holding the bulbasaur and the Ball at the same time.

“Are you sure you want this?” Red asked.

The bulbasaur glared at him. “Yes.”

Staring into those unblinking eyes, filled with confidence, all Red could say was, “I’ll do my best.”

The bulbasaur butted her head against the Ball and disappeared into it. Red held it in both hands, marvelling at how the metal felt warmer with a pokémon inside.

“Let’s get you registered as its owner,” Professor Oak suggested, leading the way to the computer. Trying too hard to be casual, he followed up with, “Do you want a Trainers license as well?”

Red nodded.

“Yeah!” Ash cheered. “Professor, guess what! Red’s gonna go to that fruit school in Paldea!”

“Ah, that explains why Clavell stopped by yesterday,” Oak mused. “It’s a great choice, Red. You and bulbasaur will do well there.” He had some kind of a form open on his computer screen and was filling it out. Red watched over his shoulder as Oak hesitated at date of birth.

“Erm, when was your birthday again, Red?”

“1996. July 31.”

Red said it automatically without thinking. Then he remembered — Aunt Delia told him to lie about his birthday. He didn’t remember the actual day. She told him to lie about it and he didn’t even remember the truth.

“It’s August 8 on his birth certificate,” Ash corrected. When Red looked at him, Ash explained, “I was there in Hoenn when you were born.”

But Red had always been told he was born in Sinnoh, where Cynthia was from… 

“Aw, Red, Mom said a lot of stuff she thought would keep you safe,” Ash said, “but she got carried away.”

“Didn’t she just,” Professor Oak muttered.

Red was too overwhelmed to say anything, or even know what to think, so he focused on the PokéBall in his hands. Aunt Delia did tell him to lie about a lot of things he didn’t understand, and he knew his birthday was one of those things. But why would it matter where he was born? Hoenn was a big region. There wasn’t any point trying to make sense of it. His aunt was scared for his life and she did a lot of strange things as a result and it was easier to just go with it than think about why. Including why Ash was telling Red stuff now.

“Would you like to give bulbasaur a nickname?” Professor Oak asked.

That was the kind of question Red preferred. He’d talked to the bulbasaur about it, before he realised he couldn’t go on a Trainer Journey. “Saur.” Because it was easier for Red to say shorter sentences and names.

“There we go.” Professor Oak turned in his chair, holding out an old-fashioned PokéDex. “If you get a Rotom Phone, you can transfer your credentials across to the PokéDex app if you’d prefer it.”

“Thanks.” But Red kinda liked the old-fashioned one. Bright red, no reliance on the internet, harder to hack unless you physically grab it off someone, and lots of buttons to push.

“Professor, have you heard anything about Prince Florian and the X-Men Elf school?” Ash asked, loud with excitement.

In a completely flat voice, Oak replied, “Not really.”

“But Florian said you’re from one of those big important families —” 

“I’m not involved in their activities.” Oak stood up and smiled at Red. “I’m just excited to see another promising young man leave Pallet Town with a pokémon.”

Why did so many people not want to talk about any of this magic stuff? It was making Red second-guess going to Sagrada Academy. Then again, he could always ignore all the magic stuff and stay in his dorm with Saur and Aero and maybe Sally… 

“We’ll get Florian to explain, I guess.” Ash gave the awkward laugh that meant he was trying not to get sad or angry. “Sorry Red!”

Professor Oak looked at Red thoughtfully for a moment before telling them to wait another moment. He left the lab entirely and Red wasn’t sure where to look, so he sent out Saur. Saur stared up at him, and padded closer when Red crouched down. She stopped herself from leaning into it when Red scratched under her chin.

“Is the Ball nice?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s it like?”

“Good garden.”

Well, that settled that then. Red gently scratched along Saur’s ear, trying not to be too rough. Her skin was thick and leathery but so was Aero’s, and Aero’s wings were super sensitive. He recalled Saur to her Ball when he heard Professor Oak returning, not wanting the old man to think he was spoiling Saur already. Oak was holding a book bound in purple leather. It wasn’t particularly long, and didn’t look special compared to all the big thick heavy books Red was used to seeing in the lab, but Professor Oak didn’t immediately offer it to Red like he usually would.

The Professor sighed heavily, like he didn’t want to, but spoke anyway: “Dainisa are very secretive people. Nobody but other dainisa are supposed to learn of our existence, supposedly to protect magic from being exploited by humans, and the leaders like to keep it that way.”

Red wanted to ask why, but he was afraid if he said anything Oak would stop speaking.

“You’ll find out more helpful information from interacting with people who live within the community, not from people who never learned about it, such as Ash and Delia, or people who rejected it, such as myself and Gary.”

Again, Red wanted to ask why — But Oak held up the book, and Red’s brain froze in shock. The symbol on the front was a sun, made up of four triangles, four squiggly lines, one of which connected with the spiral in the centre. The same as his stupid birthmark.

“There’s a young professor in Kalos who was researching the bond between dainisa and pokémon, as well as between humans and pokémon. His research was quickly defunded but I still have a copy of his initial findings. Perhaps the only copy remaining.”

Red accepted it, mind still buzzing too much over the symbol to really process what Oak had just said.

Ash asked, “Professor, what’s that symbol?”

Red wasn’t emotionally prepared for the answer, but he had to listen. Nobody had ever told him anything about his stupid birthmark, except he needed to keep it covered. He’d wondered a lot about it, even asked Aunt Delia if it was actually a tattoo multiple times, but it was in his baby pictures too.

“Hm? Oh, it’s the symbol of the Sun, from an old dainisan legend,” Professor Oak replied. “They say the Sun is an extremely powerful dainisa, something like a demi-god, born during a solar eclipse with the blessing of Arceus. I don’t remember the details.”

Red didn’t like the way Ash was looking at him. He quickly took the book with a, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Please keep it safe.”

Red nodded. “It’s rare. Got it.”

Ash didn’t push the topic, and thankfully, didn’t bring it up on the walk home. Extremely powerful magic? Chosen by Arceus? What a joke. Red couldn’t even talk most of the time. 

Everyone was giving Red scraps of information. There were magical people called dainisa. He was one of them and apparently they weren’t human or pokémon but a secret third thing. The dainisan prince was starting a school within a school. There were magic snobs and magic laws and a secret language? And Red’s stupid birthmark was on a book some French guy wrote as a symbol of power and destiny, things he didn’t have. He was just a lonely coward from a small town who happened to be related to special people.

All Red wanted was to go to school with Saur and Aero (maybe Sally too) and maybe make some friends, all in a place far away from any Team Rocket activity. If he had to put up with magic bullshit to get that, so be it.

That night, he dreamt of a big city again, but the details slipped from his mind when he woke up struggling to breathe. Hopefully it wasn’t a bad omen.