Distant

It was only once every few years that the young brunette would come down from Mount Silver. One free hand fiddled with the orbs strapped to his belt, while the other gloved fingers tapped idly through the buttons on the Pokedex given to him by Professor Oak. Once every months was probably not healthy exposure to the world for a boy at Red's age…but he cared far too much about his Pokemon to be dwindling around in town all of the time. There was very little towns could really offer him anymore, anyways, with all of the badges of Kanto gleaming brightly from his jacket and the Champion title well earned.

When he did come down to town, though, he dropped by to speak with old enemies.

A cup of tea offered by a young, sharply dressed maid had been exactly what Red had expected when he first came upon Giovanni's home—but he hadn't been expecting to be invited to the dwelling of the prior Gym Leader and past mob lord at all. It had just been one fine day when the boy had stepped out to get a breath of fresh air, when a massive Honchkrow had all but slammed into his head and knocked him over to scratched at his face and thrust the note tied on its leg at him. Needless to say, Red's own Pokemon had not been pleased with the aggressive display but the boy himself found his curiosity piqued by the invitation to come down from 'wherever he was hiding' and visit the Gym Leader that had disbanded Team Rocket.

The first time was awkward—the tea too bitter and unpleasant for his young and unrefined palette, and the conversation too limited and distant to actually be comfortable. Giovanni seemed more content to look out his window and sip at a cup of rich coffee than listen to the brunette Trainer. Eventually it had led Red into silence, until Giovanni looked at him with irate eyes and questioned his silence.

A difficult man to read. Easy to irritate, without question.

Despite the initial awkwardness of their first non-battle meeting, Red found himself coming back upon invitation (with the stipulation that Giovanni's Honchkrow not attack him on sight next time he had a note for the boy). It continued to, at first, be very awkward. The meeting would leave Red wondering why he was coming down from Mount Silver at all. Then he'd sip politely at the tea that the maid had given him and noted that it was sweeter someone. The perkier expression and slight lift of his lips was noted by the man across the table from him.

"You mentioned that the drink was too bitter for you. I told the maids to add honey to your tea." Giovanni said, still not bothering to make any form of polite eye contact with the teen. Red was quiet for a moment as he stirred the small spoon around in the dark liquid. Then he smiled slightly.

"That was soft of you."

"It is hardly soft to want to listen to you complain." Giovanni replied smoothly, but the slight hiccup in his tone gave away his concern. Red didn't bother to point it out. He simply filed it away in the back of his mind along with the day that Giovanni disbanded Team Rocket so the boy would take the Earth Badge. Memories of the strange respect that the ex-mobster had for the young boy, he supposed he could call it. Even if I do drive him crazy sometimes?

It was definitely surreal, though, knowing that for the past few months the only time he had come down from Mount Silver was to see Giovanni. A man who by all means, Red had considered his enemy and…if he really thought about it….a man who Red didn't know that much about. It was true they were now talking much more now during these odd meetings (mostly about Pokemon and battling strategies, to Red's utmost vigor) but to his shock, Red was quickly realizing that he knew very little about the man that he would come down from Mount Silver to meet with. It was almost alarming, too, considering how willing he now found himself to be in meeting with the ex-con.

So Red found himself quietly considering during one of these afternoon chats what little he knew about the man who abandoned his Gym. Well, okay, he knew that. He knew Giovanni had told the Rockets to disband so that Red would accept the Earth Badge—the boy felt his face heat up at that thought. It was a bit flattering, even to a Champion of Pokemon. Red also knew that Giovanni had been the leader of Team Rocket, using Pokemon for financial gain…but had disbanded the organization because of his battle with Red.

…He wasn't so sure he really wanted to think about this too much, anymore.

…But it wasn't like he knew much beyond that, did he? What a disappointment.

"You aren't being very vocal today, Red." Giovanni spoke up suddenly, interrupting the Champion's thoughts. Red flinched visibly.

"No? I guess I just have a lot on my mind today." Red replied slowly as his eyes slipped to the large window that was aside the table. Outside it was still very early, with dew still clinging to the stalks of grass. Several of his own Pokemon, free of their Pokeballs, wandered around in the fresh morning air; Snorlax lay sleeping against the wall surrounding the area while Lapras was comfortably resting in a small nearby pond with his Blastoise. It was nice to see them so relaxed—it nearly made him relax.

"Something is bothering you, boy. Don't make me ask over and over. You are aware that I don't enjoy wasting my time." Giovanni pressed, eyes flashing dangerously. Red's eyes immediately slid away from the serene scene of relaxing Pokemon and back to the older man. He stared, wordlessly and fearlessly, right into the ex-con's face.

Then he snorted rather derisively.

"You're well past scaring information out of me, Giovanni." Red replied as he crossed his arms in annoyance. "It just won't fly."

"…You are quite the little brat, aren't you?" Giovanni sighed irritably. But no menace bothered to enter his tone. "It really becomes frequently more and more difficult to deal with you and your meetings here, I have to admit."

"Me? What about you?" Red blurted out unconsciously. The older man raised an eyebrow. "Uh, well. I mean. I'm coming here a lot lately, and the more I have tea here with you and hang out with you…the more I feel like...well…I just don't know anything about you, really? Like you're a friend who is a total stranger."

"…I suppose that could be menacing."

"There's a lot of things about you that are more menacing than the fact that I don't know stuff about you." Red said bluntly, setting his tea cup down. "I guess it shouldn't even bug me that I don't know that much…but I guess if I'm going to be coming down here to be around you and if I'm gonna be spending my time with you, I oughta know about you too. It just feels kind of weird that all I know about you is that you ran Team Rocket once."

"…Your curiosity will be the undoing of you one day, you know." Giovanni stated. "What business even is it of yours? You are a simple person who comes by and talks to me about Pokemon—you are not my wife or any such thing and therefore not privy to that kind of information about my life."

"W-wife?"

Giovanni grinned humorously. "Or are you? Are we dating, boy? These numerous meetings, are they akin to dates? Is that why you are so curious? You ARE a very adorable individual, my dear little friend, though certainly a little younger than my usual tastes."

Red flushed a color dangerously close to his namesake; he couldn't even imagine why. Had he really become that attached in the past few months, just by talking to and interacting with this man over hastily arranged breakfasts? Giovanni's grin shrunk a bit and he sipped a bit from his coffee, head shaking back and forth noncommittally. Red felt his chest tighten with a nasty grip and he looked down to his lap. Humiliation wasn't a feeling he was familiar with and yet he was suddenly overcome with it.

A shadow fell over him quickly.

A large hand rested on his hat, causing a shudder to run down the brunette's spine. The fingers caressed locks of brown that stuck out erratically from under the cap, musing on the coarseness of it all. A dense flush overtook the boy's face—why was he allowing this? Giovanni was a good twenty, maybe thirty years older than him. That wasn't fair, it wasn't right, Red wasn't even sure if it was legal…

"Your face betrays everything you think. And I must warn you, Red…" Giovanni's voice was quiet, almost difficult to hear. "…I may not be a career criminal anymore, but I still do not always abide by the rules if they don't suit me. And if you are indeed willing to have me, as you seem to be, then I will bend the rules right in half."

"…Tell me. About you." Red muttered, unabashedly. Without shame. Without remorse.

"…I started out similar to how you probably did. With a Charmander, going out on a Pokemon journey. I challenged all the Gyms, though I never became the Champion like you did. By the time I got to that point it seemed…superfluous. Because I was involved in crime by that time." Giovanni began, running his hand through the youth's hair. "But you reminded me that a piece of myself has always stayed attached back to that challenge of Gyms and fighting against trainers for fun. That I didn't just keep myself in the Viridian Gym as a cover—I did it because Pokemon really was a pursuit I intended on doing for fun and game at a point. It was just a route I lost when I went into crime and formed Team Rocket."

"How did you…get where you got?" Red said weakly. He wasn't sure he wanted the answer.

"The sort of behavior that you saw at the Silph Company is how I got where I got…but it's also why the grunts of Team Rocket always would stay grunts." Giovanni leaned backed to scratch his chin thoughtfully. "They never respected their team. The power behind their Pokemon. And though I used them for financial gain…part of having that team is also respecting their power. I've dropped it and returned back to the childhood ambition, of course…"

"…Because of what I said."

"Yes. You are an inspiring boy." Giovanni mused. "You shouldn't be surprised, really."

"I…uh, just…you…and…" Red faltered.

"My age, you mean."

"Yes."

"I don't care much, to be honest. It's not legal. But it's your debate to have with yourself. I will warn you that I am old enough to have a child of my own." Giovanni warned the brunette. Red flushed; a child? Giovanni had helped spawn a child? "You look surprised at that. I'm a healthy man in my early forties. It was a relationship with one of the Executive women of Team Rocket—after all, I'm attracted to power. But it didn't work out. She was too clingy, and the child…well, I have people keep tabs on him but he strayed far away from myself and my organization. He's very ill tempered."

"I…I just guess I was never expecting to be discussing…" Red looked to the side. "…this sort of thing with someone who had kids already. Do, you, uh…what's his name?"

"Silver. He's a young boy a few years younger than you who is wandering around the Johto region." Giovanni replied; the man's eyes seemed to glaze over slightly at the boy's name. "Last I heard he started journeying with Pokemon of his own…by stealing them, apparently. He's having a rough time from what my informants have said. He tends to frequently lose against a child that rivals him in his battles."

"Who?"

"I'm not sure about the name. He's young as well, about the same age as Silver…with black hair. A cap, a yellow one, and a red jacket. Apparently he touts around a Typhlosion, but I don't know much more about this boy." Giovanni replied absentmindedly. "After all, he's not the one I'm keeping tabs on. Silver is hard enough to keep tabs on with how frequently he moves about and evades the eyes of the watchful."

"….I think I battled someone like that recently, who had a Typhlosion." Red commented.

"Really now?"

"Yeah. Gold." Red smiled fondly at the memory. "It was a tough battle. He beat me, but it was by the hair of his neck. I told him…to come up and visit me sometime again. Not many trainers come up to Mount Silver to train. Maybe…he'll bring Silver one day."

"Oh, I doubt that." Giovanni chortled. "They don't seem too fond of each other."

"Hmm. Well, you never know." Red smiled weakly up at the older man. Having such an intimate conversation about the ex-con's past and family was strangely revealing, and it made him feel closer to the man…in a warm, comfortable way. "It's…nice to know more things about you, Giovanni. It really is."

A rough hand ran across the smooth, pale skin of the boy's cheek. "You are welcome here anytime, Red. You may even stay here if you like."

Red flushed again at the implications but smiled slightly. "Nah. I think I should get back to Mount Silver….who knows who might show up to challenge the Champion, you know? But…I'll come back, y'know? And maybe take you up someday, on that offer…y'know…"

"…When you are ready, Red." Giovanno took a deep sip of his coffee, now almost cold and bitter. "When you are ready."

Red figured, watching his Pokemon playing outside, that he somehow felt closer to being ready sooner.