EDIT: thanks to TsubameTrebleClef for pointing out my errors (as she always does :3). But the motivation for actually bothering to fix them goes to another friend – I don't want her getting mad at me or she might do… evil things.
So this pairing can be called Namelesshipping as well. Stahp u guise. I guess this can be considered a prequel for So, Surprised Yet? (maybe? idklol), another fic I wrote. Ten-year-old-me would be appalled and ashamed to find that it's taken six years for future her to write something containing badmouth!Pikachu (it's rated T for several reasons lol). She'd also be weirded out that this fic is about who she once knew as Ash and Gary (Palletshipping ew). She'd be even more weirded out that future her wants to draw Stuart Little in a Pretty Cure style dress… Eheheh, moving on! *sweatdrop* Anyway! This fic is pretty dialogue heavy!
This fic is RedxGreen (the guy) and as such boyxboy! Don't like, don't read. Or read and be disgusted/weirded out. Your call.
I don't own Pokémon!
Red and Green had always shared a close relationship in some way. When they were very young, they were neighbours who glanced at each other shyly as their mothers spoke animatedly. When they were slightly older, the brunette grew bored of this and ran off into the woods. The other, intrigued, ran after him.
They played long into the night, worrying their mothers and causing them to cry with relief when they finally returned. They had ventured quite deeply into the nearby woods, running into streams and climbing up trees. They eventually lay on the grass, staring up into the sky, laughing almost breathlessly.
"Imagine if we could stay like this forever," sighed Red.
Green turned onto his elbow and looked at Red pensively for a minute before answering. "So why don't we?" he sat up and motioned for the other to do the same. "We'll be friends forever!"
"Promise?" asked Red shyly.
"Promise!" declared Green, twining their pinky fingers together. They walked back home by moonlight, their hands never leaving the other's. From that point onwards, they were quite inseparable.
When they had turned ten not so long after, their friendship dwindled somewhat to be replaced by rivalry. It was like when they first ran off on their own, Green first with Red not far after. The frequent hugs and happy laughs would eventually be replaced by smirks and wild declarations. They were racing for more badges, more recognition and more Pokémon. This had eventually lead to hostility between the once close boys. They spoke and fought with real spite.
It had reached a certain point where Red, a normally non-violent boy, punched Green. He landed on the floor.
Green sat up with a look of malicious intent on his face, but upon seeing Red's shock, he instead said, "Red… what's happened to us? Did we break our promise?"
Red helped the other up, his eyes watering somewhat. "Of course not; we're still friends… aren't we?"
Green's replied was hurried and vehement: "Yes! Yes, of course we are! Yes!" He then gave Red a hug. This surprised Red greatly. Though Green would never reject a hug from him, he was never one to initiate them either. They pulled apart and smiled. "We just got distracted and forgot, that's all," Green said while nodding.
They told each other they'd make the other proud and went their separate ways. Though cities were more often than not between them, they were as close as ever.
Green recalled his last Pokémon, thanking it for its efforts. That was it. His Pokémon had all fainted. Red's had not. He lost the battle. The battle.
Red ran over to him and held his wrists. "Green, Green, it was a great battle! I can't believe –" he stopped when Green looked up, his normally bright eyes dull. He was smiling in a defeated sort of way.
He chuckled, but it was a hollow sound. "You've single handedly crushed my dreams. My grandfather will pay even less attention to me. All my efforts were basically for nothing. And yet, I'm not angry at you or even at all." He fell forward, clinging to Red. Burying his head into the crook of the other's neck, he continued, "I'm just disappointed… I couldn't make you proud."
Red nudged Green up and held his face. "No way! I'm so proud of you, you couldn't possibly understand! It was spectacular, I can't believe I won, really! You work so hard and train your Pokémon with such special care… you truly care for them. I'll always be proud of you, no matter what happens!"
They walked into the Hall of Fame together (Green was previously Champion, after all), their hands twined for the first time since they first left on their journeys.
Green hopped off of his bird onto the soft snow. Thankfully it hadn't been very windy, so it was safe enough to simply fly to the cave which Red currently resided in. He walked in to find Red and Pikachu huddling in front of the fire. Evidently they weren't that used to the cold – they'd only been there for a few weeks.
"Red," Green began, dropping his things and huddling next to the other, "I don't know what you hope to achieve from this, other than getting frostbite and dying."
Red rolled his eyes and turned to Green, their foreheads bumping. They pulled away, both clutching their heads. "I'm training, Green. I've got to make you proud, right?" His voice wavered slightly towards the end. A pensive look went across his face.
Green was going to say that if Red could always be proud of him, he would return that. But he realised, Red knew he was proud of him. It was someone else. His Pokémon, his mother, Professor Oak… perhaps even a girl. "Red, who –"
Red turned to him in a hurried way, making sure to not knock heads again. He had apparently not heard Green. "My mum's worried about me." He paused as if waiting for a query, but then as if he decided it would take too long, continued. "She thinks that Pokémon and training are all I care about, that I've – I've become obsessed." His words grew more and more hurried, as if he wouldn't have another chance to say them.
"Red – you – she wouldn't know –"
"I'm worried she's right."
They sat in silence for some time, before Red shuffled closer to Green, apparently cold. "We're best friends who'd do anything for each other," Red stated. Green nodded. "Anything at all," he continued.
Green nodded again. Not even hesitating, he said, "Anything at all."
"So you'll help me prove to myself that my mum's wrong," said Red, starting to sound skeptical.
"Yes, Red," huffed Green, getting impatient.
Red took a shaky breath. "O – okay." Red tugged on Green's jacket, signalling him to turn towards him. He leant forward, causing Green to be confused until he felt the ruby-eyed boy's lips press upon his. Then he wasn't confused anymore – well, not about what was happening, but rather, the motives behind it. A random part of him welcomed it, said it was meant to happen and that nothing had made quite as much sense in the history of ever… and then it was over.
Red turned away, hands covering his face. "I'm sorry, Green, I – "
"That's okay, Red, please don't freak out. You asked and I gave you my permission, and I'm – I'm glad to help." At this, Red slowly turned back, but Green had to pry his hands from his face. They sat there in silence for some time yet again, feeling only somewhat awkward. Red eventually broke out into a smile, and Green did too, and they fell into normal conversation as if nothing abnormal had happened prior.
When Red had taken Pikachu into his lap, he glared at Green before smiling up at his owner. Green thought his mind was playing tricks on him, because Red didn't seem to notice.
Green hiked up the mountain. It was tough work, and he was getting more and more tired by the minute. Not to mention the bitter cold. Unlike that day, which was coincidentally exactly one year ago, the gales were strong enough to bend trees in abnormal ways. It was impossible to fly. The rational part of his mind said that Red wasn't going anywhere and he ought to come back when he wouldn't risk getting blown away. But he was sick of thinking of that when he was trying to sleep or at random points in the day.
Red didn't know what he had done to him, and for a long while, Green hadn't even noticed it himself. Not until one day Leaf had said it wasn't boiling and it wasn't freezing so red blood cells were surfacing at his face because he was thinking about someone in a questionable way. Green had, of course, vehemently denied it… until he realised it was actually true, causing his nose to erupt in a nosebleed. And that was also when he realised, he wasn't just recalling what happened on that day. His mind was manifesting fantasies that would surely make Red go redder than all his possessions.
Green had made it to the cave. He stopped in there, breathless and bright red, due to a number of reasons. He strode over to Red, almost strutting, in the most purposeful of ways.
"Green, hi –"
"Red, I've been reading a lot of manga lately to distract myself from – uh, that's not important – but I think – I think that I should give you an equivalent exchange."
"You what –"
"Remember when we kissed?" They both paused for a moment. Red went red, yelped and spun so he was facing away from Green. Green was not going green, but also red. "Despite what you may think –" he managed to smirk despite his blushing, "– that was… my first kiss. And – and… I owe you."
At this, all Red could do was turn around, yelp again and turn away again. Green could hear him taking deep breaths. "You – you don't have to, y'know, Green, that was –"
"I want to!"
Red stopped dead, before turning around very, very slowly. "You."
"Yes."
"Want to kiss me."
"Yes."
"Because…?"
"Goddamn it, Red, I don't know!" Green stamped his foot. He went even redder, and trying to look at anywhere but the other, took a long breath. He said in that single breath, "You're-always-there-and you-care about me-and-you-don't-just-want-to-fuck-me-or-whatever- and-you-make-me-feel-what-Gramps-warned-me-about-w hen-he-gave-me-The-Talk!" He paused, took a deep breath and said very quietly, "Shit. I didn't mean to say that much."
Red stood dead still for a single second before sprinting to his pack and rummaging within before taking out a napkin and pressing it to his nose. "Uh. That's – that's an acceptable reason, I guess." His voice was slightly muffled.
Green walked over to the other and held his wrists, Red's blood-soaked napkin falling to the floor. He moved extremely close to him. "So, I can kiss you, and you'd be perfectly okay with that."
Red looked to the side and hesitated before reluctantly grumbling, "I'd welcome it."
And with that, they were both gone. It wasn't anything like the first one they shared, it was far hungrier and more demanding. Red's hands were in Green's hair and Green's hands were up Red's shirt and why did it remind them both so much of Leaf's romance novels and why, oh God why did it feel so right? It felt like they'd been doing this all their lives, which, Green thought, would've made both their lives less of a waste.
They pulled apart, staring into each other's darkened eyes and panting before they both realised Red's hat was several metres away and that they'd somehow ended up on the floor, the emerald-eyed boy basically straddling him. "What… does this mean… then?" said Red, supposedly still breathless.
"That we're horny teenagers, I dunno?" Green said, nonplussed. At Red's no-nonsense look, he continued, "Okay, this is going to be so clichéd, but I want to be with you. And not just for sex and stuff."
Red laughed and said, "You'll get your sex, you pervert. Not so soon, but eventually. Right now, this is plenty, right?" At Green's nod, he held the brunette's face and pulled it closer to his. Their lips had barely touched Pikachu bit Green's leg. He yelped and fell to Red's side, cursing.
Nooooo way! Screw that! Fuck you guys! I am not sitting through that twice. Isn't sucking on his face once enough? No, you're gonna freaking deflower him, aren't you! No! I am goddamn done!
"Pikachu!" exclaimed Red, jumping up and pointing at the yellow mouse. "I'd expect that kind of language from Green, but never you! I'm gonna have to put you in your ball, okay?" Red pulled Pikachu's ball out. As he was being called back, he seemed to realise the magnitude of what he had done and squeaked.
"What? What'd he say?" asked Green, dusting himself and sitting up.
"He just swore he head off, that's all. He's never sworn before, it's really weird." Red pondered it for a minute more. He then went over to Green, pinned him down and grinned. "Now, where were we?"
Red became gradually more expressionless throughout the year since they got together. Leaf wouldn't have noticed it, but Green certainly did. He didn't know if it was because of the cold or lack of human contact, or something else. It got the the point where his face was always blank. To most people, Red's face was always devoid of emotion, but Green could almost always tell what he was feeling.
So Green was surprised when he entered Red's cave, because the other boy was laughing like the previous year hadn't happened. But it wasn't like any laugh of his he had heard, it was almost delirious. When Red noticed the other boy staring at him in shock, he stopped and smiled the same smile that Green did when he lost to Red.
"Hi, Green. It wasn't windy, so it's safe to assume you flew here. Since you didn't trudge up, you wouldn't have noticed the footprints leading to and from the cave that weren't mine."
Green walked slowly towards the other, not entirely sure what he should do in this situation. "Red, what –"
"A boy. I think his name was Gold… Yes. Anyway, he reminded me of you… He was cocky, chauvinistic… had this flare when he battled." He stopped to laugh again in that hollow way. "It was fantastical, you know! He…" Red turned his back to Green. "He won. I battled against him with my all and he won."
Green pulled the shorter boy to his chest, though Red remained limp. "Red, I've no idea what to say. I wish I did." He wasn't lying. He surely should have known what to say, if Red knew what say to him without having ever been in that situation at the time. And yet, though he had been in this very position two years prior, he was speechless. He was shocked. How could a young boy beat Red?
"I am so, so –" he took a shuddering breath, "– so happy for him. He – you should've seen the look on his face, Green! And the way he thanked me! He looked like – like I had made his dream come true! I couldn't… didn't…"
"What, Red?" Green asked quietly.
Green was surprised when Red looked up, because his eyes were wet. "I'm just a kid! I'm barely older than him! How am I… how could I possibly make someone's dream come true?" He buried his head within the taller boy's jacket and practically shouted, "How?! Tell me!"
Taking Red's face as Red had held his and wiping away the tears he said, "You're really isolated from society, aren't you?" He chuckled. "Everyone regards you as a legend, Red, at a higher rank than Champion. Even meeting you will fulfill many people's dreams. I'm lucky, you know." Green laughed and pressed his forehead to Red's. "So lucky, you couldn't even understand."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Pinky promise?"
Green responded by twining their pinkies, and as expected, it felt extremely familiar.
"Green, I… don't want to be here anymore. I want to go home."
"Nobody's stopping you. We can leave right now, if you want." Red replied by rubbing his eyes and nodding his head vigorously. Green took his hand after Red had gathered his things, and on Green's Pidgeot they flew away. For the first time since that chapter of their lives had started, they were inseparable. Pikachu had eventually grown to accept it, though this might or might not be because of his growing relationship with Green's Eevee.
Which also meant they still bickered and acted like little kids a lot, as well as people who were a little older in a certain sense. Although, that's alright because they still acted overemotionally in secret and acted like jerks to each other in public; it was almost as if nothing had ever changed.
OMG I ACKNOWLEDGED GOLD BEATING RED MY CHILDHOOD IS OVER GAAAAAAHHH – Uh. Sorry! Holy crap this fic ended up being so sappy ._. There was something else I was going to say but I can't remember it for the life of me because my brain derped and broke and I should stop thinking and I'm tired and bleeeehhhh
Thanks for reading! *bow*
-Aisusoudo