POV: Red

As I sat there, on a chair in the middle of Green's dining area, I had to wonder how I got here so quickly. One minute I was opening the door to an astonished Green, the next, I was sitting here waiting for coffee.

When I opened the door not so long ago, he took a long time just staring at me. He then straightened up, pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, saying "come have some coffee."

Now, I'm gonna be real with you here. I was expecting the whole hugging tell-me-you-love-me scene, but of course that's not what I get with Green.

He directed me towards his dining table, which seats about three people since one of his chairs seems to be gone, and motioned for me to sit.

"I have a lot to say to you, Red. A lot has changed since you left, and the fact that you're even HERE again, jesus…" He told me, one hand on his forehead.

He walked over to the cabinets and pulled out the coffee beans and filters. While sitting on a chair watching your best friend make you coffee is the most interesting thing in the world, surprisingly, there isn't much else to do. I looked over to my left, at his homely living room. There was a red couch next to the wall, and a glass coffee table in front of it, followed by the TV. Next to his couch was a small desk with his laptop and an office chair. On the other side of the red couch was a matching couch-chair.

It appeared as though he didn't go out of his way to get everything in the world. Something the old Green would have done. I guess things really did change…

The Green I knew was very loud and obnoxious, and only wanted the best and everything. He was fifteen back then. Looking at him now, I can see the maturity in his face. He looks worn out beyond his years.

I'm not sure how long I must've been spacing out, because Green was now sitting at the table opposite of me, handing me a cup of coffee.

All the lights were off, yet the sunlight shining through the porch window behind me was more than enough to illuminate the apartment.

"…Nice place…" I said quietly, looking down into my cup of coffee; anywhere but his amazingly flawless face.

Since I was looking down, I didn't see his expression when he laughed slightly and said "Is that really the first thing the Ghost Champion will say to me after three years?"

"Please, call me anything but that," I slightly groaned.

I heard him react to that, so I looked up from my hands. He was reclined into his seat, one arm over the back of the chair, not a care in the world. The silence that stretched, I don't think he noticed it.

"… I should get going, you seemed to be leaving before I showed up," I started, feeling the awkwardness of this entire meeting full force.

"No, I was just heading to the gym," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "It can wait, though. Not like there's gonna be many challengers on a Thursday, anyway."

"…I heard about that…" I started, hoping he'd continue his story. He sat up straight in his chair and looked me in the eyes.

"Okay, Red, lemme bring you up to speed on the last three years…"

It was going to be a long story.

"Your mother stopped by the house three days after we last saw each other in front of Celadon," he started with, raising three fingers to emphasize. I remember that day all too well. That was when I decided to protect Green…

"She was worried, and asked if I knew where you were. I told her I haven't seen you in a while, although I DID see you at the store. She nodded with a slight smile and she left. At first I thought nothing of it, you being missing, I mean, thinking you were visiting someone.. Looking back at it now, though, there really isn't anyone else you WOULD visit," He teased, with that smirk I grew up hating and learned to love.

"A week after that, I got a call from the League saying there was an open spot for the Viridian Gym, since Giovanni was gone and all, another thing thanks to you. Lance told me you talked to him about the whole championship battle and everything. Said they reviewed our battle video and determined that I really was a 'marvelous champion'. They immediately felt guilty for the way they cast me aside previously because of my first and final loss holding the championship. I mean, really, they would do that to Green Oak?" He said, pointing at himself with an incredulous look on his face, as if this was recent news.

"When I heard you helped though, I felt guilty for ever saying those horrible things to you. It wasn't your fault, and you wanted to make it up. I understand that now. But I never knew before, I was just angry… I said to you it was all your fault I would never make anything of myself ever again," He fumbled, repeating the same sentence in different ways. He wasn't looking at me anymore, and that mocking smile left his face.

"Those were the last things I ever said to you, before you left, remember? Of course I was upset, but that loss made me realize something: I never wanted to be the champion. It was the goal my guardian wanted me to achieve. I mean, It would look really good for a Genius Professor to have the Kanto Champion as his grandson, right?" He scoffed at this, as if it was the most amusing thing in the world to him. He must still feel resentment towards it.

"of course someone like Oak would have only publicity in mind. He even wrote books, for Arceus' sake." He turned his head to the left slightly and stared out the window.

"You'd think someone who offered to look after his dead daughter's children would think more about them than himself, right? Not this guy. He couldn't even-" He gasped, turning his head sharply to look at my outstretched hand covering his. I bet my cold hands felt new to his warm ones. I knew all about his family. He smiled apologetically and continued on, not before moving his hand away from mine and turning pink in the face.

"Anyway, after that phone call, I ran over to your house hoping to thank you for turning my life around, that everything would be alright once again. But when I got there, your mother opened the door, looked awfully stressed, repeating, 'Red never returned, Red never returned.' Once it became apparent you were definitely missing, we called alerted the League."

Now I felt awful about leaving. I wasn't thinking about mom when I left. Just Green…

"We never found you, Red! Who would have thought you'd be all the way in that below Zero temperature area. We didn't, that's for sure! You always were a master at hide-and-seek!" he chuckled, in an attempt to brighten the conversation, fully aware of how much more dark it was becoming. I smiled too.

"After six weeks, everyone kind of assumed you were killed, or…" Green tried, but couldn't finish the rest of the sentence. Suicide. Soundlessly, without looking at my face, he reached over with both his hands to grab mine. I couldn't see his face, with his hair covering it. With my train of thought, I suppose suicide seemed like a possible result.

"It was on the news and everything… Kanto Champ, K.I.A. You've never seen so many reporters in Pallet town before this, Red. I'm glad you're not dead…" He whispered the last part, I almost missed it. "Everyone in the region knew about it, and offered their empty condolences. Oak, Daisy, Ma and I felt awful about the whole thing. I always had a desperate hope you were still alive, but after a year and a half I started to lose it…"

His voice was lower than a mouse's squeak, and I covered his hands with my own.

We stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, but was actually a few seconds. Once he regained his composure, he let go of my hands and continued.

"Well, eventually, it became official that I, Green Oak, would become the Viridian gym leader. I told sis and Gramps about it, and showed them my certificate. Gramps was thrilled. Said this way, I wouldn't 'sink into the darkness'" He recalled, complete with air quotes. "Of course he'd say that!" He started again, but shook his head and continued with the recap.

"At this point, Grand Champion Red was now a ghost, so they made Lance the champion. Another problem rose with that decision as well, though. With me gone, and Lance as the new champion, the line up for the Elite Four was pretty messed up. It was the most hectic days that league as ever known. Loreli decided to return home to the Sevii Islands, and Agatha wouldn't explain why she left. Yet Bruno agreed to say. Among the first choices asked to become Elite were gym leaders. All but one declined for various reasons, and that one was Koga. He gave ownership of his gym to his daughter, Janine." He said, smiling. At this point, I was already half way through my coffee.

"Even so, this still left two spots open. So many people applied for the Elite spots, and they also had a battle with the current members, then they were evaluated on what type they specialize in, It was an outrageous month, it was.

"Finally, Will the Psychic type and Karen the Dark type became official. And that's our current League, Red." He said smirking again, as if he wasn't self conscious a few minutes ago.

"Anyway, when I first arrived at Viridian gym, it was in a horrendous need of a renovation. I knew Giovanni was a boring person, but who knew! I've been there before yeah, like, ONCE, so I never took notice before then. All those walls up, then the 'leader's room' was like, totally boxed off. It drove me crazy my first week!" He laughed, obviously recalling the days.

"So we finally took all the walls down, 'we' being my five gym trainers, our pokemon, and myself. It was really tricky remodeling the place when all you got are Azumaril, Spinda, Stantler, Slowking, and a few more. Not exactly the renovating type, right? I mean, Eevee just sat there watching!" He was having a blast retelling this story. I'm glad he's been doing well… "We ended up added sliding floor panels, to get the place looking just a bit more interesting. They're symbolic of the way I go where my path takes me. Of course, I intentionally added paths that would take you somewhere farther than where you wanted, but…" He cheaply laughed at that.

He looked me straight in the eyes then, and said seriously, "In a way, I'm glad I didn't become the new champion. Most people nowadays can't even get past Will. And even when they do, they have Koga, Bruno, and Karen to face. I couldn't Imagine sitting in that big, empty room for so long, waiting for someone, ANYONE to show up. Who knows when's the last time Lance saw anyone! I have a lot more fun here than I think I would ever as the champion. If it weren't for everything you did, I'd still be following what my grandfather wanted me to do, living, but not to my fullest."

He reached over for my hands once more, but this time, it made my breath hitch. The look in his eyes made my heart beat faster.

"You saved me from that fate, Red. Thank you so much for defeating me. I couldn't be more grateful."

Finally guys, it's chapter two. I actually decided to not upload this one until I got X number of reviews. Sorry, didn't tell you ! I have another magic number in mind for the next chapter !

The part with the gym trainers was real fun to write. So much so, that they'll all be in it more often. They can be a troupe. Except not travelers.

Props to Chihuahua Bat and colapuppy for doin' a Fav + and a Alert ! :heart:

I got ma friend MoChroi to do some grammatical corrections ;D I had a Where/Were problem in there that I didn't catch but she did, and I raged. Also that living room of Green's is based off her last apartment.

Sorry for the kinda "filler episode", this was a three-years recap.

What'll happen next for our boys ? ;D

No, Really.