Here's chapter 1.

Note of clarification: this fic will focus more on the interactions between characters, including POV changes and whatnot. The first fic may have been a bit boring because I was trying to stick to the storyline of "The Outsiders", so hopefully you'll find this more exciting.

"We're actually here..." Gold whispered to himself as he and the rest of his friends walked through the doors of the Pokemon League. The big glass double doors slid open, and the foyer seemed to stretch toward infinity on all sides. For Gold and his closest friends, this was a welcome distraction from the horrifying events of the past week.

Just two days ago, Emerald and Silver, two friends of the group, had died. Emerald's death had come from injuries sustained during a fire in Cherrygrove City, and after he died Silver ran out and provoked the Goldenrod City police into gunning him down. The memory of Silver collapsing in the National Park after five gunshots hit him was still fresh in everyone's mind. Emerald had only been fourteen, and Silver seventeen.

Gold was eighteen, six feet tall and stocky in build, and almost never seen with long pants on. His hair was jet-black, long in the back, and a short strand coming out from underneath his black baseball cap which was always turned backward. He had a red sweatshirt on with the sleeves cut off at the elbow, and the shirt he wore underneath was a dark green. As always, he wore golden yellow shorts and black sneakers, and his gray eyes often reflected his joker personality. He had been one of the three boys from New Bark Town who had rescued a group of children from the burning Pokemon Center in Cherrygrove, and that incident had made him a lot more sensitive to what others were doing and thinking.

Three other boys were with him. All three were lean, tough, and ready for battle. They had shared Gold's experience in that they had felt as he did when Emerald died, and had seen Silver gunned down, and were determined to keep their memories alive forever.

Ruby was seventeen going-on eighteen, with dark hair often covered by a white hat he'd designed himself. He was a bit shorter than Gold, but with the same build. He wore a black jacket that he'd repaired several times, and his black pants were in the same shape. He was often trying to get the other gang members to voice their feelings, but usually it was to no avail. It was, however, well-publicized that he was in a tight relationship with Sapphire, but he tried to avoid it.

Green was the second-oldest of the gang, but was also the unofficial leader. He was around six feet three inches tall with spiky brown hair and a seemingly permanent scowl. He had a tendency to wear too-small black t-shirts (Ruby once cracked that it was to show off his muscles) and his dark jeans were covered in grass stains. On his left wrist was a black band with Silver and Emerald's names stitched into them, so as to remind the group of their losses and to remember them. He was second to Red, his old friend and rival, in battling, but best at keeping his head, so he was the leader.

Red was the oldest of the group, and also the joker. He was just under six feet tall, with short black hair and sparkling green eyes. His face bore a long gash from a fight, and he was always wisecracking about something any of the gang, usually Green, did. He, too, wore a baseball cap, but he wore it forward, unlike Gold, and it was red with a lightning bolt on the front. In his mind, life was just one big joke, so it was only natural to tell it to everyone to bring color into other people's lives. At least that was how he explained it.

The group headed for the registration counter, and saw a brown-haired trainer walk away. He looked familiar to Gold, but he couldn't place him. Meanwhile, Green was talking to the receptionist, and his yell of "GOLD!" jerked Gold out of his mind freeze.

"Gold, honestly, you need to pay better attention," Green told him with his usual scowl. "I told you to put your Poke Balls into the reader to be registered five times already!"

"Sorry," Gold muttered as he placed all six balls into their slots. A faint bluish glow emerged from the machine used to register Pokemon, and the receptionist entered the data into the competition archive. "I was distracted. That trainer that just left seemed familiar."

"Yeah, I noticed him too," Red chimed in, with a similar expression to Green. "He looked like that kid you beat up during our fight two days ago. Paul what's-his-name..."

"Even so, that's no excuse to be keeping the girls waiting," Green snapped, pointing to Blue and Sapphire (Yellow and Crystal were checking the rankings board), and Blue promptly stuck her tongue out at him in response. "They've got to register too, you know."

"I know that," hissed Gold as he fitted his last Poke Ball into his belt. He was sure that the mystery trainer was Paul, but it didn't seem to be right. Then again, he seldom was about these things.

A guide took the eight fighters to the Trainers' Village, and showed them their small apartment. It was simple in layout, and soon arguments began to break out about who slept where and who didn't. Eventually Green had to knock Ruby and Red's heads together because they were fighting about who should have to sleep on the couch, and that shut both of them up. The girls had gone out to see what the rest of the competition looked like, so the boys were alone in the small front room.

"So." Ruby said with a mischievous grin. "How's about we go meet the girls in the Poke Center? It'll be much better than sittin' around here doin' nothing."

"Shut your trap," Red grunted from the table. He and Green were in the middle of their usual pastime, arm-wrestling, and Red was straining to keep Green from slamming his hand down. If there was one thing Red loved more than battling (and Yellow, though he wouldn't admit it), it was beating his rival at arm-wrestling. "You're just looking for an opportunity to start something up between us."

"Both of you keep it quiet." snarled Green as he slammed Red's hand down with unnecessary force, causing Red to yell in pain. "Oh, whoops," he said, looking at Red with wide, concerned eyes. "I forgot that you were using your stitched-up hand."

"Don't worry about it," Red reassured him, looking at his hand with a grin. "It'd take more than that to bust it open again. That Rocket I knocked out a few nights ago sure had a hard head." He extended his arm for another round, and Green sighed and grabbed it, signaling the start of another round.

"A few nights ago..." Gold whispered to himself, and he thought back to the time that Red had indicated....

So that's that for the first chapter. Hopefully more people will read this than the last one, and I hope it's good enough...anyways, Read/Review to help me improve the story.