Prologue

June, 22nd

Red has been gone for nearly two months, and I am still sad that he had to leave so shortly after our first kiss. I hope he is alright and will return soon. He said his trip was important, but did not give me many details. I trust he knows what he is doing. Probably just training, but he said something about a rumor...

July 15th

There are rumors that two different Team Rocket factions are resurfacing. One here in Kanto, one in Johto. Nothing more than rumors so far, though.

September 19th

I found out from Blue that one of the Team Rocket factions is lead by Karen and Will, former apprentices of The Masked Man! She let her tongue slip, talking about the other faction. Silver has gone to investigate if it is lead by his father, and she is worried about him.

September 23rd

Blue told me that Silver has joined his father in Team Rocket. He wants to help stop the other faction, now called the Masked Rockets. The Masked Rockets have been abducting children to train for them, like the Masked Man did. Blue is still incredibly worried about Silver. After all, he is like a brother to her.

October 4th

Red returned home yesterday! I am on my way to Pallet Town to meet him, right now.

The above were excerpts from the diary of Yellow Caballero.

Chapter One

A surprisingly blue sky and a soft, cool autumn breeze greeted Yellow as she entered Pallet Town, riding on her Dodrio Dody.

"Thank you for carrying me," she told him, slipping off his back and recalling him to his Pokeball. She turned to the two other Pokémon that were following her. "Pika, Chuchu, how do I look? Do you... Do you think I should show off my hair more?"

Both Pikachu nodded in unison. Hesitantly, Yellow removed the straw hat she always wore. She felt nervous and exposed without it, being so used to wearing it. Like a protective shield had been taken away.

"Alright then!" she said, straightening her back, turning towards Red's house. "I'm ready!"

A thousand thoughts ran through her head as she knocked on the wooden door. What if he did not like her anymore? What if he had found someone else? What if-

"Hey Yellow!"

She winced a little and, looking up, met the eyes of the boy she was so in love with. Even though it had been six months since they last met, he had not changed a bit. Then again, she admitted to herself, neither had she.

"Red!" she replied, giving him a wide smile. "Welcome back home!"

"Thanks," he replied, returning the smile. They stood there for a while, watching each other in awkward silence. Pika and Chuchu ran past their legs, entering the house. "Oh, come in."

"Right," she said, following him in through the door.

"You can leave it open," he told her. "It's not too cold, and the house could use a bit of fresh air."

"Haven't your mother been letting some in?" Yellow asked, instantly regretting the question. She did not want to seem too intrusive. Red simply shrugged.

"Well, she's been away for a couple of weeks," he explained. "For work." She nodded, following him into the living room. He sat down in the sofa, indicating for her to join him. After a moments hesitation, she sat down next to him.

"So... Did anything happen while I was gone?" he asked. He was looking at her, giving her a strange feeling that he was examining her, looking for flaws. She shook the feeling off. It was just her usual, anxious self.

"I assume you've heard about Team Rocket returning to Kanto and Johto?" she replied. He frowned and nodded, looking troubled.

"Yes, I saw it on the news. Also, Blue sent me a letter about it," he told her. "She wrote that she's talked to you about it."

"Yes, I told her that Silver can take care of himself. To be honest though, I'm worried too. I know he's mostly there to prevent Giovanni from doing anything too bad, but he also wants revenge on Will and Karen."

Red looked thoughtful for a while, then stretched out his arms and leaned back in the sofa, giving her a smile.

"I hope you haven't been worrying too much about me while I've been gone?"

"Just a bit," she admitted. "I trusted you can take care of yourself. What were you doing on your trip, by the way?"

"I'd rather talk about that later," Red replied, his smile faltering a bit. Yellow frowned. Had something bad happened, that he did not want her to know?

"Pika and Chuchu seems to be in good health," he said, changing the subject. The two Pikachu had fallen asleep in the armchair next to the sofa, and it did not look as if they were about to wake up anytime soon.

"They insisted on running all the way here from Viridian, while I rode on Dody," Yellow replied, smiling fondly.

"Yellow," Red said, suddenly serious. "About what happened with us, before I left.."

She went cold inside, feeling dizzy and nervous. Scared, even.

"Were you serious about what you said?" he asked, glancing at her. "How you feel about me?"

"Red, if you don't-" she started, but he interrupted her.

"How do you feel about me, Yellow?"

"Like I said back then," she whispered, blushing, "I've always admired you, since the first time we met. You are so strong, you always keep your promise, and you never lie. Over time, these feelings... They've grown."

He looked straight into her eyes, smiling.

"My feelings," he said, taking her hand in his, "are the same. Very much so, in fact."

Yellow felt as if a great weight fell from her shoulders. As if the air around her had been heavily polluted, but now cleared up enough to breathe again. She squeezed his hand and smiled, relieved beyond words.

"I have some business to take care of," he told her. "But only here, in Kanto. I don't think I'll be going further away anytime soon. I hope we can meet more often, now?"

"Yes!" Yellow almost shouted, waking Pika from his sleep. The yellow rodent glanced at her, then curled back into a ball and went back to sleep. "I mean yes, of course."

"I have to go meet Bill in Cerulean City tomorrow," Red told her. "How about we get some dinner in Viridian City on Saturday?"

Cerulean. Yellow's insecurity came flooding back as images of a certain gym leader flashed through her mind, but she shook her head mentally. Red had said he liked her, not Misty. Her.

"Sure," she said, leaning against him, her head on his shoulder. "When are you going?"

"I was planning on going tomorrow, at lunch. You can stay until then, if you want. In the spare bedroom, of course," he added quickly. "Then we can travel to Viridian together, and I'll take the bus from there. What do you think?"

"I think, she said, closing her eyes, "that sounds perfect."