A/N: Hey everyone! So, I have been meaning to post some stories for Pokémon as it is practically my life. Gotta catch 'em all afterall! Although I have been wanting to write for Pokémon, I must admit I am really nervous as I'm not sure how good I will be at it , so please bear with me? In all honesty, this is actually going to be a completely new experience for me because unlike my other fics, this is actually going to be a series kind of deal. I already have the summary rough drafts for the companion pieces written down in my trusty fic binder! For now, however, I just want to see how this fic goes before I write the other pieces. Anywho, on with the story!

Warning: Green and Red will probably be OOC.

Pairing: Originalshipping

Disclaimer: All I own is this mediocre fanfiction.

Progression: A Mistake Worth Making
(First Installment In The Progression Series)

Green sighed as he unlocked the door to the apartment he was currently residing in. It wasn't really anything to brag about considering it was small in size and the walls were a plain off-white, but Green didn't mind. He was well aware that he could easily afford a nice house with the income he received as a gym leader, but Green simply did not feel the need to.

With the gym being in walking distance and the only other occupant being Eevee (she preferred to be outside of her Pokéball), he considered his current residency more than enough.

Realizing he had zoned out, Green quickly opened the door and watched as Eevee rushed in, disappearing around the corner. Smiling a little at her antics, he silently followed the normal-type, only stopping once along the way to kick off his shoes.
The small smile quickly disappeared, however, as he let another sigh pass through his lips. Green's day had been less than good and now all he wanted to do was sleep.

Throwing himself on the bed, he quickly went over the events that had taken place that day.

Ten young and aspiring trainers had shown up to the Viridian gym that day with hopes of leaving with the famous Earth Badge. They had all been so eager, but unfortunately not all of them received the badge.

Out of that ten, three had lost and five had never even made it to him and if that wasn't bad enough, two of the trainers that lost had left his gym with tears rolling down their face.

He supposed that it really shouldn't have upset him as much as it did (he was a gym leader after all and things like that happened more often than not), but he knew, more than anyone, what it felt like to have come so far only to be disappointed in the end.

He hadn't even been the Champion for more than an hour and a half before Red showed up and challenged him for his title. In a matter of minutes, Red was champion and all of Green's hopes and dreams had been crushed before his very eyes…

Quickly shaking his head to rid himself of the dark thoughts that had suddenly appeared, Green turned on his side and began stroking Eevee's soft brown fur (she must have jumped on the bed while he was distracted). Yawning softly, he pulled the young Pokémon closer and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Green had been asleep for about two hours, when a quiet buzz disrupted the peace of the darkened room. Groaning quietly, Green sat up and looked around the room while rubbing his right eye. He had always been a light sleeper so it really was no wonder that the soft sound was able to rouse him from his slumber.

Glancing at the Pokégear that was resting on the desk beside his bed, Green quickly deemed it the dastardly villain that woke him up and reached over the slumbering Eevee to grab it. He didn't have to look at the name that lit up the screen to know who it was.

Leaf and Green had begun to talk again about two years ago after she had gotten Daisy to give her the gym leader's number. He had been cleaning the gym when his gear had gone off and alerted him to the new mail. He had expected to find a message from one of his previous challengers demanding a rematch but was greeted with an unknown number instead. He had been so surprised to find out that it was Leaf that he nearly choked on the water he'd been sipping at the time.

It had been awkward for Green at first because he had developed anxieties about talking to the girl again after he had been so cruel to her and Red in the past. He feared she would simply erase him from her life and refuse to befriend him again.

Even though Leaf had been the one to re-establish contact between the two, years of painful silence and no contact had left doubts within Green that he just couldn't shake. This led to many short and awkward conversations between the two, but one day Leaf had become fed up with the short conversations and so she decided to pay the man a visit and within a day or so things fell into place and slowly, but surely Green's doubts receded and the two's friendship became healthy and stable again.

Grinning at the memory, Green quickly hit the 'read' option and let his eyes begin to dance over the words.

"Green when are you going to visit Red? He misses you just as much as you miss him. You know he is waiting for you, don't you? It's the only reason he is still on that stupid mountain despite losing to Gold. It's been years Green. What are you afraid of?

-Leaf"

Almost instantly, the grin became a troubled frown.

Red…

Green hadn't spoken to him in what felt like forever. It wasn't that he hated the boy, in fact, it was the complete opposite. Green was well aware of his feelings for the silent man (so was Leaf much to his embarrassment), but he felt like it was hopeless.

Green would love it if they could fix what he had stupidly broken between them, but he feared that the situation with Red was worse off than the situation he had been in with Leaf. He felt that he had pushed Red too far away and no amount of repentance would ever be enough.
Green was discouraged and did not think he could handle it if Red rejected him and wanted him to leave.

Green bit his lip and tried to fight off the wave of sadness and loneliness that suddenly overtook him. Through his tears he typed up his response and quickly selected Leaf from his contact list and pressed sent.

Once it was sent, he wiped the tears away and read over the message one more time hoping he'd find no mistakes.

As he approached the end of the message, he suddenly stopped as a wave of panic washed over him.

He looked at the name highlighted on his device once more as he felt his heart sink.

The name read clear as day: Red

Oh. My. Arceus.

Red sighed as he leaned against the rocky wall of the cave. He had just got done training with his Pokémon not too long ago and he was about to fall asleep. Right when he closed his eyes, however, he heard his Pokégear go off.

Wondering who could possibly be messaging him, he picked the electronic up and glanced at the name shining brightly on the screen. Crimson eyes immediately widened and he stopped breathing for a second.

'Green' he mouthed silently as warmth spread throughout his system. It had been too long since he had last heard from the man he'd known since childhood. He had even gone as far as to ask Leaf about Green the last time she had visited him atop his wintery palace. Red had wanted to know how he was doing and he had even asked Leaf to get Green up here one way or another. She had agreed and promised she'd have the object of Red's affection up Mt. Silver in no time.

Red had believed her immediately because if he knew one thing for certain it was this: Leaf never, ever broke a promise.

Red wasn't embarrassed at all about asking Leaf for this favor because he knew that it was no secret to Leaf (or himself) that he had developed feelings of love for the leader of the Viridian Gym. He had been in love with Green since all three of them had been children after all.

The only one who seemed oblivious to this little fact was Green himself.

But maybe that was about to change and fast.

Blinking, the former champion felt the curiosity inside him grow overwhelmingly. Why was Green texting him? Was he coming to visit? Not able to handle the suspense any longer, Red quickly (and with barely contained excitement) clicked view.

"Leaf, as much as I would love to visit Red I can't! He probably hates me now because of how I treated him when the three of us were kids. I miss him so much Leaf I really do, but to him I'm probably someone he regrets meeting… You already know I love him, so you should already know what I'm really afraid of… I'm afraid he will reject me or tell me to get lost. I'm afraid I have messed things up so bad between us that no matter how much I apologize to Red, he will never forgive me… Never accept me… I couldn't handle that Leaf. It would kill me. That is what I'm scared of… I'd kill to be able to see him again… But it's hopeless…

-Green"

After reading the message, Red finally understood.

Green's lack of contact wasn't due to anger or resentment, it was due to fear.

Green was suffering silently and had been too afraid to seek Red out because he feared the outcome of their meeting.

Determination took root in the silent boy and he quickly began gliding his fingers across the keys in a response. Once satisfied with his message, Red pressed the send button and began to gather up all his belongings and his Pikachu that had been sleeping on the makeshift cot in the corner.

After looking around the cave once more to make sure he grabbed everything he needed, he grabbed the ball on his belt that housed his Charizard and headed out of the dark cave.

As soon as he informed his Pokémon of the plan, they left the ground.

Red smiled as he realized that he wouldn't miss Mt. Silver.

Not at all.

It was time to go home.

Green couldn't suppress the whimper that spilled from his lips as he heard his (stupid, dumb, crappy) Pokégear begin to buzz.

His face was a ghostly pale and his hands were shaking terribly. Green really, really, really didn't want to look at the object that had just ruined his entire life. He half way wondered if it was too late to close the gym and disappear for the next few weeks (or possibly forever).

Realizing that now he was just being ridiculous and what's done can't be undone, he took a deep breath and opened the message.

"Green, I'm on my way. Your message… Green, you are an idiot. I never ever hated you and I never stopped being your friend. I've missed you these last few years and not once have I ever regretted meeting you. Sure you did become an asshole for a while there, but Green I knew that wasn't the real you. You forget, I've known you since we were little. Dumbass, you should have told me sooner! I thought I was the only one Green. I would never reject you or tell you to get lost. You should know that by now. See you soon.

-Red"

Green blinked as he tried to make sense of it all. What did Red mean by that whole he thought he was the only one line? Green didn't have much time to ponder on that though because suddenly there was a loud knock on the door.

Green jumped at the harsh sound and even Eevee jumped up startled by the sudden noise. Green took a deep breath and shakily made his way to the door. Eevee followed looking up at her master with concern.

When he reached the door, he took one last breathe before quickly pulling the door open. As soon as the door was out of the way, emerald and crimson eyes met.

"Red…" Green mumbled and before he could say anything else, Red had entered the apartment and shut the door behind him. Red then proceeded to take Green into his arms and smiled.

It took Green a few minute, but finally he hesitantly wrapped his arms around the shorter man as well and buried his head in Red's shoulder.

Red and Green both realized that things wouldn't just fall back into place and they both knew it would take time for them to adjust. Apologies still needed to be said, explanations still needed to be give, and there were still many obstacles and trials they had to work past, but as they watched Pikachu and Eevee greet each other from the sofa as they both muttered (or in Red's case signed) 'I love you' , they knew that somehow it would all be okay.

A/N: I warned you. Anyway, for those who may be wondering I decided that I am going to name this series progression because it will probably be Green-centric and I intend to show how Green learns how to stop standing still and move towards the future, progresses forward in his new life with Red as a lover, as he learns how to forgive, and just how he continues to mature. Anyway, please read and review. It would mean so much to me, especially with how worried I am about how this series idea of mine will play out. I really don't want it to suck lol. Hopefully, this will be a series I feel like I can continue and that will make my readers, you guys, happy. Till the next installment! See you! :)