As soon as he stepped outside, he was overwhelmed by cheers.

All around him, a crowd of people were rapidly gathering, pushing and shoving one another in an attempt to get closer to him. Eager fans reached out to try to touch him, while some waved around various objects, imploring him to sign them. Children look up at him in awe, as if amazed that such a person really existed and that he was just mere inches away from them.

This is for me, he thought in disbelief. All of this is for ME.

People were chanting his name, congratulating him, patting him on the back. This was it. The moment he had been waiting for all his life.

But all of it was ruined when he saw them.

There they were, standing among the crowd, not cheering, not applauding, only staring. They seemed to stand out, almost as if the entire crowd had parted just to make way for them. Their faces were blank, not showing even the slightest hint of any emotion at all. Then, almost as if his body was acting on its own without any input from him at all, he approached them.

He had recognized them the second he saw them. Standing there were his sister, his grandfather, and his greatest rival, all waiting for him in the midst of the crowd. Something told him that they had been waiting there longer than everybody else, almost as if they had sensed that this would happen.

Without realizing it, he was in front of them, looking at them with the faintest of smiles. Deep down inside, however, he felt something he couldn't quite understand. Was it fear? Awkwardness? Desperation? He didn't know.

He addressed the tallest figure first. "G-gramps, I-"

"So you did it." the old man interrupted, looking down at him with cold, emotionless eyes. "You finally did it."

His voice died in his throat, and he held his tongue. The man sounded just as devoid of feeling as he looked. He looked down at his feet, allowing his elder to continue.

"You are now the Pokémon League Champion of the Kanto region. How fantastic. I always knew you'd achieve great things."

He doesn't mean it. I know he doesn't mean it.

"I'm so proud of you, Blue."

He's lying. He has to be lying.

He hadn't noticed, but the noise of the crowd had died down, to the point where it seemed as if there was nobody there but him and the three people he had been the most scared of showing up.

Professor Oak put his arms around his companions, his gaze somehow growing even more icy as the scenery around them slowly began to change. Everything went dark, except for them. They were the only things he could see in this horrible, shadowy place.

"Why?"

The question pierced through his mind like a bullet. He wasn't sure who had asked it. Hell, for all he knew, it could've been him. All he DID know was that the same question kept repeating through his head, the three people in front of him chanting it in unison.

"Why, Blue? Why did you do it? Why couldn't you just accept things the way they were?"

Fuck, he was crying. He tried to hold back his tears, but his efforts were useless as he silently felt them stream down his cheeks. He knew this was coming. He hid his face as they repeated their queries, their tones sounding more and more angry as time went on. Their voices seemed to blend together as they pelted him with a barrage of insistent questions.

"Why did you have to go beyond?"

"Why did you have to replace me?"

"Why did you have to leave?"

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "I-I thought you wanted me to succeed!" he screamed out, fury rising in his heart. "I went above and beyond for YOU! Why aren't you proud of me, huh?! No matter what I do, it never seems to be good enough for you!"

He looked up, coming face-to-face with his angry grandfather. Instead of asking a question, though, he said the one thing that Blue knew was coming for a long time. Unfortunately, despite expecting it, it still hurt him even worse than the others.

"I could never be proud of someone like you."

He jolted awake in his bed, breathing heavily as sweat ran down his forehead. Looking around wildly, he gradually calmed down as he realized that he was in his own room, the alarm beeping loudly. Still shaky, he looked over at the clock, wondering idly what time it was. He had set it to go off at 6:30, hoping to get up as early as possible in order to get to the lab first.

Funny, he thought. I can't believe I slept through that.

He jumped as he saw the time written on the digital screen. "7:30?!" he exclaimed. "I slept in for a whole HOUR?!"

Cursing to himself, he scrambled out of bed, rushing to his closet to hurriedly put on his clothes. Shit, shit, shit, shit...

He was going to be late. He was going to be late and then he wouldn't get the first Pokémon and then Red would get the one he wanted and then he would beat him and-

No. He had to focus. As quickly as he could, not even bothering to brush his messy brownish-red hair, Blue Oak got dressed and ran down the stairs.

It was finally time, and he wouldn't let this opportunity go to waste.

He was going to be the very best, like no one ever was.