"Blue...!"
He continued to walk away.
"Blue, wait up!"
He still walked away.
And when he turned around?
He was different.
Red shot awake, his eyes blinking in the flickering light from his TV.
What was he doing last night? Oh, a game controller. He must have fallen asleep playing the NES again. He dropped the control and forced himself to move towards the television, turning it off manually before climbing into bed. The soft quilt embraced him like a hug from his mother.
What about Blue's mother...?
Red shrugged it off, he knew not to think too deeply into his friend's personal life, especially such a touchy subject as that...
Red just settled into sleep, like his mother told him to, dreaming and thrashing away at the past he shared with Blue.
He woke up to his mom's shouting. Red jumped upright in bed, his hat swiveling round as he lacked the common sense to take the stupid cap off to begin with; after all, it was a birthday present from Blue.
After scrambling out of bed with little delay time, changing into his common white shirt with a zip-up red vest top and some jeans, he ran downstairs to greet his mother whole-heartedly who had her eyes on the ground floor television set, with her breakfast – which smelt delicious to the boy – beside her on the table.
"I see you finally woke up, young man..."
Red chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck where the dark brown-black strands of hair were attached. His only response was his mother's common sigh, as she motioned towards a plate on the counter.
Red grabbed the plate, and seated himself across from the dark-haired woman, and ate quietly, focusing on the TV.
"Oh yes... Professor Oak, next door, was asking for you."
Red looked up at his mother.
"Really?" – "Don't chew with your mouth full, young man!"
Red smiled faintly, so his mom couldn't see, and chewed his mouthful before shoveling another portion of cereal on his spoon.
"So...?"
His mom returned back to reality from her daze and turned her head towards her son.
"Oh, yeah, he did... something about obtaining your first Pokémon."
Red almost choked on his cereal.
"S-Seriously?"
His mother nodded, laughing faintly. She always thought her son's enthusiasm was a charm, and the thought of him going away for so long was heart-breaking; especially when her husband had gone missing a long time ago.
"Mom... do you... I mean, do you want me to leave?"
She stared at Red, thinking intently before shaking her head.
"No. No, I don't Red, but this is your life and you can't spend it in Pallet Town forever... You deserve a Pokémon to travel the world."
Standing up, she pulled out Red's chair and wrapped her up in her arms, cuddling her son and taking in his warmth.
She'd miss him.
Red, hat on forwards, walked swiftly towards the lab, his shoes not exactly fit for running in any sort of environment with a lack of friction and holes in the bottom of his sneakers.
He pushed open the door and shouted a friendly hello only to lock eyes with an unsuspecting brunette.
"What...? Oh, it's only you..."
His tone was blunt, and Red's mood dampened a little.
"Look, my gramps isn't around so how about you go do something useful?"
Red shuffled a bit, and meekly nodded trudging out of the lab and sighing.
He kicked a small rock, huffing in short breaths as he headed towards the entrance of Route 1.
'Where is that Professor Oak?'
He took a small step towards the jade green blades of grass, all swaying like how that Jynx dances on the opening of one of his favourite television shoes.
"Hey! Wait! Don't go out there!"
Red jumped in surprise, spinning round to see a panting old man with greying hair and a lab coat over his red shirt. He stopped abruptly, clutching his kneecaps as he took deep breaths.
"I-It's... unsafe... Wild Pokémon... live in tall grass; you need a Pokémon for your own... protection..."
Red raised an eyebrow and helped the elderly man upright, and smiled.
"Hi, Professor...?"
Professor Oak stared at Red momentarily, grabbed the boy's wrist and guided him back to the lab, almost like he was inspired by something in the boy.
"I know! Come with me, my boy!"
Red followed willingly, it's not like he had much choice to begin with.
Red stood side by side, with an irritated Blue who ran his slender fingers through his spiky, chocolate-coloured hair as they both listened to the researcher's explanation for their been here.
"There's three Pokémon here, choose one, Red!"
Blue narrowed his amber eyes at his grandfather. Red gulped slightly at the fear of making Blue angry.
"Hey, Gramps! No fair! What about me?"
His anger was flared when Samuel Oak told his grandson to be patient; Red could see it in his reddening face.
The dark-haired boy made his way to the table and scanned each pokéballs carefully and accidentally released out the grass-type, Bulbasaur, which stared at him with curiosity.
"I guess, I'll take this little buddy."
Professor Oak nodded, eyes closed in thought.
"Ah yes, Bulbasaur, it's quite easy to raise and very energetic. Good choice, Red, my boy."
Blue grumbled, mocking his grandfather's voice under his breath as he stormed towards the table, checking between the two final Pokémon, and picked up the fire type, Charmander.
Red went to leave the lab after giving his thanks, but was interrupted by an arrogant sounding voice.
"Hey, Red... Let's test our Pokémon, come on, I'll take you on!"
Red grinned; he was keen to test his new friend's strength against the new-found rival in Blue. Red accepted the challenge.
"Go, Charmander!"
"I choose you, Bulbasaur!"
The lab echoed with cries from the two offending Pokémon, causing lab assistants to gather nearby. Samuel sighed, shaking his head as he explained some basic points of battling to the two boys who blatantly ignored his gestures.
Red studied up on Pokémon in the past month, ever since he heard he was of age to obtain one, and attempted to remember in his scattered brain what moves he could use. Blue laughed at his facial expression, like the jerk he was.
"U-um... Bulbasaur, use... use... Use growl!"
The Bulbasaur growled, it terrified the small fire lizard to an extent of it backing off a few steps, but Blue retaliated with commanding his Pokémon to scratch at the bulb of the grass type.
Red hissed slightly as he saw his partner shudder.
"Use Tackle, Bulbasaur!"
The Bulbasaur head butted into the stomach of the Charmander, knocking it over dealing heavy damage.
"That's good, now again, tackle it!"
The Bulbasaur backed off slightly, and then charged into it, bashing its side into the weakened Charmander. It stumbled again and this time, couldn't get back up. Red won his first ever battle.
Red cheered, picking up and spinning the exhausted Bulbasaur; he stopped when seeing the annoyed look on Blue's face.
"I can't believe I lost... did I choose the wrong Pokémon?"
"Red! Gramps! Smell ya' later!"
Red watched as Blue ran out, and determined to understand his old friend, followed him.
"Blue, Blue, wait up!"
Blue stopped momentarily outside Route 1, engaging in what now was an awkward silence.
"Well?"
Red managed to control the impulsive urge to jump in surprise, and rubbed the back of his neck.
"I h-hope we're still friends, I mean, you've been distant lately and the whole battle thing, well you seemed to have taken it the wrong way so I..."
Red was cut off by a chorus of laughter.
"You and I aren't friends, Red. You're a rival, that's all you are to me now. Our friendship is over."
With that, Blue left Red to stare after him in shock and heartache.
'...'
'...'
'How could Blue say that...?'
That was my first chapter, Rosewood, and each chapter will be a shade of Red so any suggestions. I also answer questions about the story and I will be following the game including the part about Blue's Raticate on the S.S. Anne and I will most likely manipulate the story to how I want it. I'll be trying to get the story similar except with differences.
So review, subscribe, whatever - I just appreciate a bit of feedback.
NOTE: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS HERE, THESE ALL BELONG TO NINTENDO AND THE CREATOR OF POKÉMON. THEY ARE ALSO NOT TO BE MIXED UP WITH GREEN AND RED FROM POKÉMON ADVENTURES AND NOT TO BE MISTAKEN FOR ASH OR GARY. THANK YOU.