It wasn't normal for Green to act more arrogant than usual, but today he was taking it to an all-time high. He avoided Red at all turns and even went so far as to death-stare him for a good twenty minutes. Red didn't think too much on it, at least he tried not to, for his own sake. Though, that didn't stop it from getting on his last nerve, putting them on edge; last time he acted like this bad things began to happen, things he didn't even want to begin thinking about.

It wasn't that he particularly showed it, but Pikachu knew; he always knew what bothered Red. Lately, since Green began acting up five days ago, Pikachu began to come out of his pokéball all on his own. He didn't mind it; after all, it was some consolation to him.

The tiny Pokémon looked up at him with sad, beady eyes. Red chuckled and stroked his head, the little mouse's ears folding down to the side only to make him look more pitiful. "You've been there for me through thick and thin, Pikachu…Thank you."

"Piiiika…" The little Pokémon nuzzled into Red's cheek with a look of the utmost concern. He knew there was something bothering his human companion, but as to what it was he wasn't entirely certain; his sense told him something, and that was more than enough for the little electric mouse.

"Hey, are you alright?" That's right; he could see his mom when he wanted to now, so of course she'd notice. He'd been sitting outside beneath the same tree all day, right at the brink of Route 1, and he hadn't thought anything about it until now.

He looked up at his bright-eyed mother and nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright mom."

She sat down beside him, saying nothing for a long while. As they did, she upturned her face to a flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto flying overhead, a single Pidgeot taking lead. "Look at them, Red. See them fly so freely? Isn't it amazing how they fly like that? To think that they fly where they want when they want without worrying about how reckless they are, or even what's in front of them beyond the present. It's something…" As she spoke, he noticed a sort of lonely sparkle in her eyes.

Just the same as her, he missed his father from time to time, or maybe just the presence of a man in his life, but he wasn't sure which one; to him, though, it all amounted to about the same either way. When he thought a little further, something began to click in his mind. Whenever Green was with him, it seemed that he could escape the pain and loneliness for just a little while. He chuckled a bit at his own thought that was entirely ridiculous by his own standards, and it caught his mother's attention.

Though, she figured that he wanted to be left alone. She stood up, dusting her dress off from the front to the back, cradled his cheek for a moment, and went back into Pallet town. He watched her, but the words she spoke on the flock that had passed lingered. The talk of freedom…It was something he hadn't heard from her in a long time. Maybe she wanted to tell him something? Something that she couldn't say to him forthright? He couldn't figure anything that she wouldn't say to him straight out, so the thoughts easily slipped from his consciousness.

Without notice, Pikachu had fallen asleep by his side, curled into a tiny yellow ball, nose kept snug beneath his tail. The sight warmed Red and he reached down to stroke him, but thought better than that; letting him sleep soundly suited better the sight than to touch it and wake the little thing.

Before he realized it, all sounds ceased and his eyes were covered by darkness. He could no longer feel Pikachu's presence and his own warmth was gone. He fought to move, but quickly realized that his ability to move had been drained. Frantic, his heart pounded inside his chest and felt as if it were pummeling against his bone. His lips parted, but nothing came out but a desperate release of hot air.

"Hey, you're going to make yourself sick if you sleep out here like that." It suddenly made sense why he couldn't move or feel certain parts of his body; he'd fallen asleep in his thoughts. Strange; he couldn't remember dozing off. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Green sitting there, a thin coat draped over one arm while the other held him up. He had a serious look in his eyes, but that kindness that had vanished when the strange behavior began was lurking there too. "Good; I was afraid something had gotten to you."

Red rubbed his eyes, reached onto his belt and removed a pokéball, then called the still-slumbering Pikachu back. He put the Pokémon back on his belt and sighed, closing his eyes; considering their separation over the past little while, it felt strange to sit and look at him or to even hear his voice again.

Suddenly remembering the coat over his arm, he passed it to Red. "Here; you looked cold and you forgot yours looks like, so I went home and grabbed one for you. Put it on. I hope it fits."

Red took it hesitantly and slipped his arms into it. "It fits pretty good."

"Glad." The tension rose in the air; neither boy said anything. The sound of a few settling Butterfree nearby rang through the air, but not much else. As time passed, they saw a pink Nidoran running behind a Rattata towards Viridian City, but neither of them commented on it. It almost seemed as if they both suddenly lost the ability to speak, and it even came close to an insinuated lack of sight. But that wasn't so; they chose not to acknowledge anything. The anxiety was high in them both, but only Green understood the reason. He'd been leaving Red out on it for so long and he had only confided in his Eevee the root of his frustrations; but what could the little Pokemon do? It could do nothing but listen and sit there, looking at him with eyes reflecting his melancholy. It painted his heart a deep blue and fraught his mind with various temptations, each one relevant only to the male sitting there silent now.

He remembered talking to him, battling most every day, fighting to prove himself, but what did it really get him? Satisfaction? A bit of money every now and then by some fluke? Or even just a bit of momentary company? But the more he thought, the less these things seemed to actually matter. Actually, something else mattered to him that he couldn't have named until now; then, when they were innocent to everything the world had to offer and to who they were, he could never have understood. But now he did. It all was clear, but the problem was his guts in the matter; he couldn't say it, and he couldn't do anything about it.

Red glanced at the dazed Green for a moment, then up at the night sky. The stars were shining brighter than anything, even more than a Charizard's flaming tail, and it made a smile come over his face and leak into his eyes. Green noticed this distraction and swallowed hard, making a barely audible sound; his heart raced wildly, no doubt about that, but he couldn't let the chance pass him by.

Before Red could react, Green cupped his chin and slammed their lips together. A muffled grunt was heard from the unsuspecting, but he didn't fight him. Eyes fell closed and warmth passed between both of them with the ticking time. Without note, Eevee and Pikachu came out of their Pokéballs respectively, crying out in joy in their own way. The boys separated with reddened faces and laughed at their Pokémon. Green lifted Eevee into his lap and took a deep breath. "Red, do you remember what you told me when we met again at Victory Road?"

Red thought and stroked Pikachu's soft fur a few times before lifting the mouse into his lap. "No, not really; why? Is there something special about what I said?"

Green nodded. "Yeah, there was something really important. You told me that there was someone you liked, a girl you'd met in one of the towns—I think it was Cerulean City?—and you said something about her that caught my attention. You mentioned a pendant she was wearing, one with an emblem on it like a red Cascade Badge. Well, you said that you wanted something like that one day, or to give one to the woman you wanted to marry…" Green went silent. Red watched him and stopped petting his Pokémon without knowing it.

"Where are you going with this, Green?"

"To somewhere very important," he answered with harsh breath; his voice was strained and eyes downcast. His left hand slipped into his pant pockets and removed a piece of string, black in color, and pulled it out until a crimson shimmer came from the top line of the pocket. "This took a while, but it's finally done. I haven't been with you…because I was doing this. I didn't want you to know; to see the paint on my hands, you would have gotten curious, and I didn't want to lie to you."

Red's eyes widened his blood and ran from the rest of his body to his cheeks and he lit up bright as the sun. "Ah…G-Green? You d-did this why?" In a way, he couldn't wait for the answer, but in another way he didn't want to hear it.

Green leaned forward and kissed Red quickly. "Red…I did this…because I love you."

Red stood up quickly, his open palm resting against the tree. "Green…" His breath caught in his throat as he looked at the boy sitting beneath him; his rival, yet his best friend, was now trying to become more. And there was nothing wrong with it.

Green stood up as well, wrapping Red in his arms. "I have for a while, but I never realized it until a while back. What you said to me compelled me to create something, to make a thing that would take you from my mind, but nothing worked. So, I sat down and worked, crafting item after item, but each one represented something in you; then, I finally made this before I even knew what it was. It was then that it hit me: I began to understand that I cared about you, but I'd been hiding it from myself the entire time."

It began to dawn on Red exactly what he meant and he began to feel almost like what he would imagine a young girl to feel like after her crush spoke to her. He sighed and reached out, taking Green's hand. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Green took his turn in acting like the giddy schoolgirl. "I was scared that you would shun me for it. Or…I mean, it's not exactly normal, is it?"

Red cupped Green's chin in his hand and cradled it, upturning his face so they would lock eyes. "I wouldn't shun you for the way I feel too…I just waited on you to realize it yourself, silly." Without another word, Red leaned forward and locked their lips as a warm breeze enveloped them and curled them in a world they could momentarily call their own, just as their Pokémon did on the ground below them.