Chapter Text
Rain poured down heavily outside his house, battering against the windows with monotonous thumps. The sky itself was mostly pitch back, save for the occasional flashes of lighting that revealed the thick rain clouds above.
Green quietly went about his usual nightly routine, washing the dishes and picking up around the house with some calming music in the background. His Pokemon were outside their pokeballs, laying peacefully in his living room asleep with only the occasional snore or grunt coming from one of them.
It'd been a while since he'd gotten a chance to have a night like this; one where he wasn't coming home in the dead of night or early in the morning from work, whether it be gym or laboratory related, or being exhausted from his duties as a dex-holder. But it wasn't like he could really do anything about it. After all, it was his job, not to mention his source of income.
He knows his friends and younger dex-holders have similar issues, heck, Red and Crystal alone could outweigh his daily struggles, with Red being the Champion and Crystal's seemingly never-ending research tasks from his Grandfather. So he knows he can manage his own work just fine if they can.
Sure, it's not an ideal way to live. He didn't fully understand at the time, when he had gotten a pokedex, that he'd be forced to carry responsibilities most 11 year old's couldn't even dream of having, but he ended up fine. He managed to get through that whole journey, and even got two of his closest companions out of it, so it wasn't all that bad.
Although his sister adamantly disagrees with him, and any of the other dex-holders when they try and say it's fine. She'd told him on numerous occasions that it was wrong of their Grandfather to be sending out children into this line of work, and that it was unfair for all these major catastrophes to be left to them to fix.
She wasn't wrong, in a sense. But it didn't matter to Green anymore. It was in the past, and now this is how his life is.
For better or for worse.
He finished drying off the last dish and placed it in one of the cupboards above, which wrapped up his last chore of the day. One of the few perks to being a Gym Leader at his age was that he was essentially viewed as an adult in the eyes of the law, meaning he could buy and live in his own house without any need for Guardian approval despite being 16.
It was one of the first things he did once he got the role as Viridian City's Gym Leader, the newfound privilege giving him the opportunity to finally move out of the laboratory. He and Daisy had been wanting to since they'd started living there, uncomfortable in the bleak and generally sterile environment, and he immediately took the first chance he got at getting out of there. Daisy had also moved out a little while later, opting to go live with Bill once the two of them started dating.
Moving towards the living room, planing to lay down for a bit and maybe watch something on T.V., a knock came from the front door.
Arcanine's head shot up from where it was previously laying, eyeing down the door like it was a threat. Green sighed at the sound, wanting nothing more than to just relax after his busy day. Begrudgingly, he turned around a went over to the door, but his hand stopped a few inches away from the handle.
Why was someone at his door, at this hour?
Another knock came, this one sounding quieter than before, despite him being closer.
It was 11 P.M. at night. No one should be out right now, especially in a town as small as Pallet Town. Not even desperate salesmen or overzealous Dialga and Palkia missionaries would be out by now.
A third knock. This one sounding more like the person outside had just tapped to door lightly.
But what if it was someone dangerous? A member of Team Rocket?
He hesitated, his own paranoia making him question if he should open the door or not.
Gritting his teeth, he finally placed his hand on the handle and slowly opened the door, his body ready to move out of the way if it was an attack.
But it wasn't.
It was worse.
Outside, in the freezing rain, with no umbrella or any sort of cover, stood a shaking Gold, his eyes shot wide as he pulled the sleeves of track jacket closer in a desolate attempt to keep warm. He was completely soaked, his usually bright red eyesore of a jacket was now a deep red, making him somewhat blend into the darkness of the outside. Green could see the boy's body trembling, teeth audibly clattering as his eyes, usually a bright gold, now a dull copper, met Green's.
"H-hey Gr-green," Gold stammered, his voice sounding strained. "Uh, d-d-do you th-think I c-could crash here f-for the n-night?"
Gold question snapped Green out of his head and get back in touch with what was happening.
"Yeah, come inside. Just give me a sec, I'll grab you a towel," Green said, trying to keep his voice sturdy to not further panic the kid. He opened his door to Gold, who gingerly walked inside with a slight limp in his left leg. He'd have to check on that later. "Wait here for a moment." he told him.
He speed walked towards his laundry room, but carefully went over to Arcanine, who was still sitting upright, and motioned the Pokemon towards Gold's direction. Hopefully she could help warm him up just a bit. The Pokemon leapt off the couch and headed over towards Gold, leaving Green with the task of getting a towel.
Arceus, why on Earth did he come over to Green's house? It wasn't like the two of them were particularly close, their relationship more business related than an actual friendship. Heck, he found the kid to be somewhat annoying on more than one occasion, his brash and snarky attitude clashing with Green's calm and serious. It made no sense as to why Gold came to him for help instead of someone like Red or Yellow. Even Blue or the other two Johtonian dex-holders would have been better options, although he'd rather not have the youngest members of the group be up at this hour, even if it was to help a friend.
It didn't matter right now though. He had to put his own feelings aside to focus on the current issue: Gold standing at the front door, still soaking wet.
He found a light blue towel above his dryer, a grabbed it as he turned back around to get the kid dried off. He saw, as he rounded the corner, Gold huddled up to Arcanine, who as actively trying to drown him in her fur. He could feel the slight, yet steady, emission of heat radiating off of her body. She probably noticed he was freezing.
"Here you go," he said, handing over the towel. Gold's hands slowly moved from Arcanine's fur and trembled as they took hold of the towel.
"T-t-thank yo-you..." Gold quietly replied. It was odd seeing him like this, so vastly different from the boy's usual attitude.
In the handful of times they've worked together, whether it be for an assignment from Professor Oak or a simple get together with the two regions dex-holders, Green hadn't been to fond of Gold. The kid was loud, cocky, impertinent, and generally an annoyance to be around. He didn't act like someone who had the privilege (was it really a privilege?) of having a Pokedex, and tended to do things out of selfishness rather than because it was right. Whenever they worked together, Gold had always tried be showy in battle, get distracted by someone who caught his eye, or just didn't care enough about the task to put any real effort into it.
It reminded him of himself a bit
Red had tried to get him to warm up to Gold, saying "He's just acting like a normal teen" or "He's good underneath it all, you just have to work to find it!" But Green couldn't. Couldn't see a world where Gold could ever be anything but the spitting image of arrogance in the form of a black-haired teen.
But, right now? All those past thoughts and feelings about him were suddenly swept under the rug like it had never happened. His usual cold and indifferent glare he gave Gold was replaced by one of worry, one of gentleness like his sister's. Because now? Now he had a shaking, wet, and scared kid in front of him. One with very visible injuries on top of his older scars, which he could now see in the light of his home.
What had even happened? Who could have possibly been cruel enough to beat up a kid? Did Gold say something to the wrong person and get hurt because of it?
He had begun to helped Gold stand back up, the boy's legs wobbling as he rose. "Alright, we need to get you warmed up and out of those clothes. You can take a shower upstairs, and I'll lend you a pair of my clothes." Green explained, carefully maneuvering him upstairs. "Then, we'll get a look at those injuries and you can tell me how it all happened."
Gold stopped in his tracks, eyes shot wide with fear. He casts a nervous, yet badly disguised as casual, grin up to Green. "N-nah you don't hafta do a-all that, I'm fi-fine! Just got a-a little banged up b-by some Pokemon-n is all!" His voice trembled with a mixture of anxiety and his body's temperature.
"Why were you outside this late at night then? In the Kanto Region as well?" Green countered. Johto and Kanto are extremely close to each other, with New Bark Town and Pallet Town only being a 20 minute flight with a Pokemon away from each other. But that still didn't explain why Gold had been in Kanto even. If he got hurt by a Pokemon (which Green was starting to doubt), then he should've just went back to his home. Not flown 20 minutes over to Green house.
His questioning caught Gold off guard yet again, almost tripping him up the stairs as they kept moving. "I-uh-I was getting some...uh....some training in! Yeah, training! A-and a wild Heracross came outta n-nowhere! And s-so I, uhm..." he trailed off, clearly trying to think of a way to keep his story up. "I- I just thought, y'know, you've p-probably got more first-aid stuff than m-me, so I flew over real q-quick."
Gold eyed Green with a questioning glare, as if he was trying to see if Green believed him or not.
Unfortunately for him, Green could see through the lie a mile away.
"Really? I didn't know Heracross lived so close to New Bark Town. Pretty sure the closest one could be is Route 29, but even then that's a pretty far distance."
"Y-yeah, I know, right? That's why it c-caught me so off guard..."
"And I'm also fairly certain Heracross's don't leave bruising like that on your face. And definitely not without any signs of major tearing from their horns."
They both stopped. The bathroom door was slightly ajar, it's light illuminating Gold's panicked face with large amounts of bruising across his face and a busted lip.
"So why don't you tell me what really happened Gold?"
They made the compromise of talking after Gold showered.
This gave Green a solid 30 minutes, at the very least, to work on a plan to handle this. Obviously Gold's wounds needed to be properly checked and dealt with, but that could be done after letting him calm down for a little bit. He also needed to get the true story behind Gold's injuries, which was going to be the longest part of this, frankly, already to long of a night. Even for Green's standards.
But all that could be done after his shower. Right now, he had to focus on finding some dry clothes that would fit Gold. The kid's own outfit definitely needed a wash to get rid of all the grime and stains scattered across it.
He dug through his closest, hoping to find an old set of clothes from his earlier years of travel. He was about the same height as Gold is when he was 13, but Green definitely had (and still does) a more muscular frame, meaning he'd have to hope to find something from when he was probably 10. Digging through, he found several pieces of clothing he had long since forgotten about, like his cropped green jacket and the... vibrant blue zip-up Red had gotten him to match him and Blue at a tournament a while back.
Finally, his eyes found his old purple turtleneck and black joggers. The shirt had a few holes, mostly around the bottom, and still looked like it would be to large for Gold, but it would have to do for now. Reaching for a separate dresser, he pulled out a pair of socks and boxers to add to the growing pile of clothes on his bed.
He folded the clothes up and walked back over to the bathroom, knocking before opening the door to quickly set the clothes down and grab the soaked ones to through into the wash.
Now all that was left for him to do was wait. Which was much harder than anticipated, no thanks to his anxious thoughts making it hard to rest. Was there anything else left for him to do? Gold was getting warmed and cleaned up in the shower, his clothes were getting dried, so what else?
His anxiety began to build up. It'd been a while since Green had gone through one of these moments, the feeling of his lungs wanting to gave in from an unseeable pressure; the jitteriness beneath his skin, his breathing came out in short, quick breaths. His eyes fluttered over to his Pokedex, which rested atop his coffee table next various books. Looking at the device, he realized what he could do to get through this.
Red.
He could call Red up, and despite the hour, he would pick up and be able to guide Green. Plus, Red is definitely better at figuring out what needs to be done in more delicate situations like this.
Reaching over and grabbing it, Green scrolled down to where Red's contact was saved, and hit the dial button. His heart raced with each drawn-out ring of the Pokedex, each unanswered second fueling his anxiety.
Finally, the ringing stopped, and he was greeted by a very tired voice.
"Mhm, Green? What's up dude?" Red asked, exhaustion evident in his tone.
"Good evening Red, sorry for the late call. There's just something I need your help with." Green replied.
"...You need help. With something. At, uh, lemme check, practically midnight?"
"Yes. And you were the only person I could think to call."
"Heh, now your making me nervous. What's the problem?"
Green paused for a moment, now realizing he'd have to explain what was going on fully to Red, and somehow hope to keep the Champion from coming here. Arceus knows how protective he gets when it comes to the younger trainers.
"Green? Y'a still there dude?" Red asked, pulling him back to reality. He took a deep breath, and decided it was now or never.
"Yeah, sorry. Listen, it's a bit complicated, but I just need a general idea of where to go next."
"Uhm, yeah, sure. I can do that." Red worriedly assured. He was not doing a good job masking his nervousness.
"Earlier, about an hour ago, I heard someone knocking on my front door. I opened it and found Gold standing outside with various injuries, and brought him inside. He's taking a shower now, but I feel like there's something else I'm missing, or- or just doing wrong..." he paused, giving Red a moment to fully understand everything. "I thought you'd know something, since you've had the best track-record when it comes helping people around you, especially the juniors."
A heavy silence drew out for a little while, only the sound of Green's fingers tapping against his knees and Red's quite muttering to be heard. Green was beginning to think that this was a bad idea. He shouldn't have called Red, he should've been able to figure this out by himself. Should he have called Daisy? Should he have-
"Okay, I-I think I've got a plan," Red softly announced, a hint of nervousness in his voice. "First, you should make something light and warm, like some aka miso soup or something. It'll be good to get something simple in his stomach, and hopefully help him from getting sick after being in the cold rain for some time."
Green quickly walked over to his kitchen, rummaging for ingredients as Red talked. He found the aka miso and dashi he needed to get the dish ready, and began preparing it. He was lucky that aka miso soup was one of the few dishes he was fairly good at cooking, and managed to finish preparing it within 10 minutes. Just in time for him to hear the water turn off upstairs.
Red was still talking, going on about how Green needed to be careful when it came to talking with Gold, and how he'd be over in about thirty minutes-
He paused, his mind catching up to what Red was saying. "Hold on, what do you mean your coming over? It's past midnight!"
He heard Red laugh at his confusion. "Dude. I love ya, but there's no way I'm leaving you alone to deal with this right now. Your emotionally constipated enough as it is. Adding Gold's inability to talk about his feelings is just a disaster waiting to happen."
"I am not emotionally constipated Red, why would you even think that?!"
"...Really? Your seriously asking that?" Green didn't even have to be in the same room as Red to practically feel the deadpan stare. "Besides," he continues, "it's not to much trouble on my end. I definitely wouldn't be able to get back to work after knowing about all this."
Green had completely forgotten that Red was likely still at the Pokemon League, which now made Gold's decision to come here instead of going to Red's house make a lot more sense in hindsight. "*sigh*, fine, you can come over. Just don't make it to obvious that we had this call, make up some reason for coming over when you get here."
Light footsteps echoed down the stairwell as he quickly hung up, sending Red a quick message explaining the sudden end to their call. Gold looked a lot better now, his face was clear of the dirt and bits of blood from earlier, and his skin looked far less pale. The eye-bags were still apparent, but he supposed that couldn't really be fixed by a shower. And despite trying his best to get Gold an outfit that would fit him, his clothes still seemed to act more like blankets draped over the trainer.
Gold looked at him with a tired look on his face, his eyes looking a bit brighter than when he first arrived. "Thanks for, uhm, letting me use your shower." he said, looking far more shy than Green ever thought he could even be.
"It's no problem." he reassured. He motioned towards the kitchen area with a wave of his hand, drawing attention to the bowl of soup on the table. "I cooked up some aka miso soup while you were up there, it would do you some good to eat some."
The boys eyes widened in surprise at the gesture. "Ah- you didn't have to do all that, really," but Green just shook his head in response. "It's all right, It'd make me feel better knowing that you got something to eat before I check your injuries."
Gold, still eyeing Green with apprehensiveness, slowly made his way over to the kitchen table and sat down in front of the warm soup. He carefully scooped up a bit and slowly began to drink it, wincing every now and then when he moved to much. Seeing as he was fine on his own for the moment, Green headed towards the downstairs bathroom, and quickly found the well-stocked first-aid kit underneath the sink.
From the amount of injuries that come with being a Trainer, whether it be from battles, travelling, or fights with gangs and bad organizations, everyone within their group knew better than be unprepared in the event of an emergency injury. He still remembers the one time Blue and Yellow had managed to run into not one, not two, but fifteen Team Rocket grunts with only Blue's Nidory to fight back. The two came hobbling back with so many wounds that him and Red were convinced they weren't going to make it. It was only thanks to Red's preparation that they were able to patch the two up enough that they could go to the hospital without bleeding out.
Grabbing the large bag, he went back to the kitchen and set it down on the table across from Gold, who had almost finished his soup.
He let out a small smile, happy that he listened instead of just awkwardly sitting there. For as cocky and obnoxious the kid acts, he always does his best to do whatever others ask him to do, despite all the complaining and hesitance that comes before it.
Walking back to the kitchen, he set the bag down on the table, startling Gold a bit.
"Dang, that's like- a lot of stuff. Am I gonna need all that?" he asked, nervously looking down at the bag.
"No, I just thought it'd be best to bring the entire kit out rather than go back and forth, especially considering I don't know the severity of your injuries yet."
At the mention of his injuries, Gold sunk further into his seat, his eyes staring a hole into the ground. "Listen, I- it-it's all good, ya know? I'm fine, really, you don't hafta-"
A loud thumping sound from Green front door made Gold flinch back, and Green faked a sense of suprise. He, of course, knew this who this was. But he'd rather keep Gold in the dark about his ealier conversation.
He walked towards the door, and opened it slowly, showing just who had arrived. A tall figure with jet black hair and a red cap to go alongside.
It seemed like his night was about to get even longer.