Apologies for the wait, Finals and other unimportant things kept me from writing. Anyway, enjoy this unusual pairing. Second-last chapter, let's go!
If one were to ask anyone in the Unova region: "Have you ever been to Aspertia City?" the common consensus would entail a confused look, a shrug of the shoulders, and the following question: "What the heck is an 'Aspertia City?'" Hence the happy, close-knit community of the newest town in Unova. And the result of having such a tight community, is an innate sense granted to the villagers, of being able to detect the slightest stirrings and issues at any point in time within the town.
So it should come to no surprise that after witnessing a dragon swoop down and snag a couple off the main street, that several elderly men and woman were admitted to the nearest hospital.
Anabel was not amused.
"When I said, 'somewhere to chat,' I did not mean using your Charizard to take us away from town!" She heard a low rumble below her, which she assumed was the red dragon chuckling to itself; she received no answer from the man in front of her, he was too busy fighting with himself.
'I need to make it up to her before we can part ways. But...this stupid mouth of mine...' He sighed outwardly. 'I should have known something like this would happen.'
Admittedly, Red was still concerned with one plaguing question.
'...why?' Why was it that, after being assaulted by Red, Anabel would willingly seek him out the very next day? Also, she had not sought him out to exact revenge, but to apologise and have a 'chat.'
It made absolutely no sense to him.
The next ten minutes or so of the flight stayed relatively quiet for the man in the red cap, aside from the occasional sneeze when Pikachu's nose was tickled by air currents, but they were swallowed up in the whistling wind, anyway. Eventually, Red's mind kicked into gear again.
'She obviously has another motive. Maybe she'll explain herself after we find a place to stop. Speaking of which...' He craned his neck over the body of his Charizard. 'Perhaps here?' He turned to face his passenger for approval.
If the icy-stare and tightly-folded arms were anything to go by, Anabel had made it fairly clear that she was quite finished with her airborne experience. Red swivelled around.
'Definitely here.' He guided his Charizard to a nearby cliff top.
A flash of light later, the couple were left alone atop a windy lookout. Anabel sat her camera down tenderly on a rock before releasing a sigh and flopping onto the ground. Red stood where his Charizard has once been, analysing the horizon as if looking for a threat. The couple remained silent, waiting for the other to start speaking.
Eventually, with a huff, Anabel spoke up.
"Fine, I'll start. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were frightened of me or something."
Red flinched at the inadvertent truth of that line.
"Funny, when you think about it. You. Afraid of me. After all, I was the one who was struck..." Anabel bit her lip. She suddenly became aware of her fidgeting hands; they were like mice fighting over the last scrap of food. She threw them to her sides and clenched them into fists.
"I saw them that night. Your eyes. The fabled eyes of Red, The Legend of Mt Silver."
Said man grimaced at his title.
'I'm hardly worthy of that title any more.' Red's mind drifted away, robbed by nostalgia. He thought back to the years of when there were less than two hundred known Pokemon – a time where he was aspiring to be the greatest of all trainers. He could feel the warmth of the fire he had constructed in Viridian Forest. He could hear the faint sounds of snoring being emitted from beside him. He smiled at the memory of Pikachu using his hat as a blanket.
And he could still remember the thought that had crossed his mind as he had gazed into the stars that night.
It was the same thought he was thinking now.
'I'll never be that lucky. I'll never be lucky enough to experience that.'
Red held back a tear. He had to add one more word to that sentence now.
...again...'
The image of his younger self evaporated with a smile.
Red felt something slip between his fingers. Something warm. He looked down, only to be greeted by another hand intertwined with his.
He felt odd, like achieving something for the first time; never being too sure of what he was feeling, but it felt good. Anabel continued.
"But when I gazed into them a second time that night. I couldn't feel the frostiness of your eyes. What I felt was a hollow wetness – and not because of the rain either." She touched his other hand and drew it towards her. "I knew that's what it was because I've felt it too. That very same feeling."
Red was shocked at her sudden closeness but Anabel pressed on, regardless.
"After that incident I did some research into you. And I...realised..." Her mouth was starting to become slack. She stopped and allowed herself a couple of breaths. It didn't help.
"...w-we're one and the...same."
Silence. An eerie, bone-chilling silence.
Anabel felt the surrounding area drop in temperature. Her eyes widened quickly as she realised what was going to happen next.
'Crap.'
She fled the area in an instant, sliding down the hill and running through the trees.
It was not complete deja-vu for Anabel, however. Red was broken from his stupor as the image appeared slowly in his mind, as if softly telling him to rethink what he was about to do. He ground his teeth.
'But to compare herself to me.' He shook his head violently. 'She has no fucking clue...' His gaze traced the trail she had made in her wake. 'Still... I have to tell her one way or another. But...' Red growled and slammed his fist into the ground. Hard.
'I scared her off. Again. What if that was my last chance?' The image began to pulsate in his mind, growing more clear and twisted with each throb.'If I can't stand it now, I could never last a lifetime.'
He clicked his fingers. Pikachu, who had been napping nearby, snapped to attention and almost flew to his master's side.
"Pika!" he exclaimed, sparks emanating from his cheeks.
'Let's go.'
Anabel gripped the trunk tightly, unaware of the rough bark cutting her skin. She attempted to glance around the thick tree but quickly pulled back, stopping herself.
'I need to let him cool down. I don't think he'll come after me...no...I don't think so. He seemed more confused than anything else.' A snapping sound made her freeze; her throat tightened. 'Then again, a couple minutes of alone-time never hurt anyone.'
She closed her eyes and focused on her surroundings. Nothing. She sighed and opened her eyes.
Nothing. She laughed nervously.
"Funny, if this were TV show, or an amateur story, he would've -"
Thoom!
"-been right there..."
Anabel felt the slightest amount of respect loosen and topple off its mountain as she watched 'The Legend of Mt Silver' loosen and topple of his perch in the tree branch above her and land face-first in a pile of leaves. Any and all tension that was present had since fallen over laughing and gasping for breath.
Red bolted to his feet and immediately regained his demeanour, an icy spell fell amongst the trees. Anabel swallowed and let her foot trace itself backwards.
Suddenly, Red made a quickened stride towards her. She turned to bolt but his hands flew out and gripped her shoulders, locking her in place. Anabel gave out a shrill yelp and squirmed wildly, sending a few random fists into Red's blank expression. She felt her body yanked around and pulled firmly towards him, causing her to yelp again. She was about to unleash a scream, when her brain kicked in.
'He's...warm?'
She stopped moving and allowed that warmth to encompass her; she returned the embrace she found herself in, resting her chin on his shoulder.
"You're hopeless, you know that?"
After some one-voiced apologies were exchanged, Anabel and Red made their way to the cliff top once more. Anabel sat herself next to her camera, Red voted to remain standing.
"So, before I was so rudely interru-" A drop in temperature indicated that she should halt that line of thinking; Anabel cleared her throat quietly. "As I was saying...um... I know that feeling...of hollow wetness..." She shuffled her feet.
"Red: the fabled trainer of the Champion Village, Pallet Town. Unmatched, unbeatable, defeated all eight Gym Leaders in one fell-swoop...stopped a criminal organisation on the side. Reigned supreme Champion of Champions for years, atop of the most dangerous mountain in the world." She stood up. "You couldn't have written it better if you tried. You were loved by all, despised by those hated, and everyone across every region would kill at a chance to meet you..." She took a step towards him. "And you know what?" She took his hands in hers.
"You were the loneliest, saddest person on Earth."
Red's eyes widened as Anabel's eyes dropped.
"Not to mention...you lost. Twice, even. And those boys who defeated you have gone back to their villages hailed as 'heroes.'"
"But what about you? The title still stuck, meaning you could never rest, meaning you could never stop battling, meaning that you, forever until you died, would be the limit for Pokemon Trainers everywhere; once they had beaten you, that was it for them. But not for you."
Anabel gripped his hands harder and forced herself to meet his dumbfounded gaze.
"How do I know this? Well, because I know what it feels like to be a benchmark. In all my years of battling, I've only ever lost twice...same as you; to a boy who went back to his village hailed as a hero. But my title stuck, and I could not leave. So I stayed in isolation, on the top of one of the tallest things in my region." She laughed, albeit with shimmering eyes. "Same as you."
Anabel felt her legs shaking. Instinctively, she gripped his shoulders for support; Red still stood with his arms locked to his sides.
"So, I, the little prodigy girl, alone in the universe with not a person to connect with, no family or friends to fall back on, began to wonder: why? Why...why...why!" She shoved Red away and flew to the cliff edge. She started shrieking to the horizon, a miserable, wretched cry, waiting for an answer.
"Why birth me into a world where talent and its appreciation is overruled for people's selfish sense of accomplishment?! Why make the talented and intelligent suffer whereas the simple live in blissful ignorance?! Why give the talented no family or friends to comfort them, when they are the ones who need it the most? Why me?!"
She let her head hang as her lungs filled with air once more. Red's mouth had since opened in disbelief. He was about to make his way over, but Anabel spoke again.
"Of course," she murmured as she looked over her shoulder towards him, "words such as these are taboo, as the talented should appreciate the gift that they have been given..."
She turned to face him, face wet.
"But then I found you... And I thought: 'perhaps he'll understand...' But, I had already messed up, being the selfish, arrogant person I am... I turned you to strike me..." She dropped her head. "That's why I said sorry, on the off-chance that...you'd..."
Anabel made to turn away but she was gripped firmly on the shoulders. She lifted her head slowly to meet Red's eyes.
"So, apology accepted...?"
The touch of their lips assured her otherwise.
So as always, R&R, and if you didn't enjoy, feel free to message me! Criticism is always welcomed :D