Hi friends. I know that I haven't posted any stories on here in YEARS and that I have a habit of never finishing stories, but I promise that this story will be different! :) I just started college, so there may be a time where a chapter may become a little late, but I promise that this story will be completed! My plan is to try to post an update every Monday so that you have something to look forward to on those dreadful Mondays if you end up enjoying this story. :) I am very open to critique, so please help me make this story better! Enjoy!
P.S. I don't do warnings for my stories. I shouldn't have to warn people over love. :))) So no disclaimers.
Chapter 1
"I… I did it… I finally made it to the top… I am the champion… Green Oak, Pokémon League Champion of the Kanto region! Nobody out there can defeat me!" At least, that's what I thought. I was so caught up in my self-proclamation that I had completely forgotten about the fact that I was about to face an opponent like no other in just a few short minutes.
Just as suddenly as my reign began, I felt my heart sink as I heard the door behind me open. I was facing the back of my chamber, but I knew exactly who was there to challenge me for the championship title.
"Red.", I turned around, "You're too late. I've already defeated the Elite Four and became the Pokémon League champion! You don't stand a chance at being the champion anymore. Get ready to battle the strongest Pokémon trainer in the entire world!"
"…", Red didn't reply. He just pulled out a Pokéball and sent out his first Pokémon.
"God damn it, why doesn't he ever fucking answer me!?", I sent out my first Pokémon and the battle began.
I'm gonna spare you the details and just let you know that the battle, obviously, ended in my defeat.
"No…", I was in shock, "There's no way that I lost. I should have won this battle. I'm supposed to be…the best trainer in the world…and I lost…" Red took a step forward, about to comfort me, but was interrupted when the door my – …no…his chamber opened. In walked Professor Oak, my grandfather.
"Red! Congratulations!", he beamed, "You've done it! You've become the Pokémon League Champion of the Kanto region! I'm so proud of you!" He then turned to face me. "Green…", he began, "What a shame. I'm very disappointed in you. You must learn how to properly treat your Pokémon." I turned to face away from Gramps. One of the worst feelings in the world is to listen to your own grandfather give praise to your rival and then voice his disappointment towards you. I was crushed.
I could see that Red was looking right at me in the corner of my eye. Now I know that he was very sorry, but at the time I was only able to justify myself. I thought that Red was out to take everything I had. I mean, first it was my Raticate, then my pride, and then finally the biggest accomplishment I've ever made in my entire life.
Ever since Red and I began our journeys as Pokémon trainers we were rivals, and it was never friendly competition, at least from my point of view. The most upsetting part of our rivalry was that I always wanted to be friends with Red. The fact that I hated him, and I mean hated him, was completely due to a huge flaw in my personality. I was completely full of myself. I needed to be better than everyone around me, including Red. As if that weren't bad enough, it turned out that Red was way better than me at almost everything, especially as a Pokémon trainer.
Red and I were best friends until the week before we left for our journey around Kanto. We would always hang out at each other's houses, play out in Route 1 away from the tall grass together, and everything else in between. We were still competitive back then, probably because of me, but it was way less than it became when we left on our journey.
As we drew closer to the day that we would receive our first Pokémon from Gramps we were filled with excitement. We would talk for days about which Pokémon we were gonna pick when we got to Gramps's lab. It seemed that the both of us were completely torn on which Pokémon we would choose.
As those days progressed, we began to become more competitive than ever before. The reason for this spawning rivalry was because we began to talk about becoming the Pokémon League champion. It was then that we realized that one of us would have to be better than the other to gain the title.
I was one-hundred percent sure that it would be me who would gain the title. We started to argue every day over this nonsense to the point where Red would usually just get up and leave hours earlier than he usually would.
The day before we left for our journey I had time to think alone out in the area of Route 1 that Red and I would hang out in. My mind was filled with thoughts of Red. For the first time in weeks I thought about Red rather than the Pokémon League and our journey that was about to unfold. I realized that our friendship was the most important thing I had in my life and how much it would suck if our friendship were to fall apart over this new rivalry.
My mind went to really deep places that it had never gone before. I thought about Red beyond what would be considered normal to my standards. He was always such a great person. He was calm and reserved, caring for his friends and family, and overall just a really great person.
I was suddenly brought back to reality when I began to think about how beautiful his eyes were.
"No…", I thought, "But he's a boy… This isn't right… I need to end this. It's the only way. I can't let something like this get in the way… I need time alone to think."
My thoughts were interrupted when I heard some rustling in the bushes. Out walked Red. I knew what I had to do.
"Hey Red.", I said, "I was just about to go looking for you."
"…"
"Silence. What else is new?", I thought, "You know, it's only polite to actually respond to others when they try to talk to you.", I snapped.
"…", more silence.
"I just wish that you would actually respond to me when I try to talk to you.", I began again, "It always feels like I'm in some one-sided conversation whenever I try to talk to you!"
"…", Red looked shocked.
"Fine, well, starting tomorrow we're gonna be rivals anyway, so we might as well break off this deadbeat friendship anyways.", I heard my voice crack as I held back my tears.
"…", Red turned pale. All his bright skin flushed to an almost gray color.
"As of right now we aren't friends anymore.", a single tear ran down my right cheek, "We're only rivals from now on." I removed the red bracelet that Red gave to me when we were younger and threw it to the ground. I ran off to leave a devastated friend all alone in Route 1.
"I will be the strongest Pokémon trainer in the world."
Please favorite, follow, and rate if you'd like! Thanks for reading! -Jack
