Me: Before I start off the third part of this fanfic, I would like to personally thank all those who have read my story so far. In just one week, I already have over 100 pageviews! Might not seem so much, but then again, I'm quite new here and I have to admit I'm not that used to getting attention on my works… A special mention goes to Dewritos Blos for being the first to follow this story and xxHinaAngelxx for being the first to favorite! The special thanks for first reviewer is still open!
Yellow: That aside, do you think you can make this chapter a bit happier than the last one? I got really sad with Red-san leaving Kanto and all…
Blue: Aww, look at our little Yellow now~! Already missing Red huh~?
Yellow: BLUE-SAAAN! Not like that, it's just that it's so quiet without him around. And besides… Chuchu misses Pika!
Green: Blue, you've meddled enough, now you're coming with me and we'll leave everybody alone.
Me: Green, before that, do you mind-?
Green: *sigh* Falneou17 does not own Pokémon or any of its related materials, and if he has any ownership of the doujinshi "How Far Are You?" then the pesky girl over there is Iron Man (which, by the way, is not owned by Falneou17 either).
Blue: Hey! … wait… did stoic Green just tried to make a joke?
Green: Pesky girl…
Me: Here we go again… while those two bicker like an old married couple, read on to find out what happened during the same time frame as when Yellow woke up in the Viridian Forest in the last chapter!
Memories (Part 2 – Red's POV)
"Lax! Use Hyper Beam and Saur, you use SolarBeam!"
My Snorlax, Lax, fired a condensed orange colored beam from his mouth, straight for my grass type starter, Venusaur, whom I affectionately had named Saur. Said grass type absorbed energy from the sunlight, before firing a white beam at Lax. The two beams collided and caused a small explosion. I quickly dived out of the way to try and avoid getting blown away.
When I looked up, the smoke had cleared, and the collision of my Pokémon's attacks had created a deep crater in the ground. The offenders had both slumped down, obviously tired from their two hour training session. I sighed, as I took out two hyper potions to patch my Pokémon back to health.
I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. I knew we were in a faraway region by the name of Sinnoh, wherever that may be. This morning we left a place known as Veilstone City. Pretty nice place actually, kind of reminded me of Pewter City for some reason. I shrugged and took out a map of the Sinnoh region.
"Alright… according to this map, we're currently on Route 214," I mumbled to myself, holding the map at arm's length away from me, trying to pin point my position, "So where to go now…? Hahaha, even though I don't really have a destination, I guess I've been wandering around with no clear goal for a bit too long. Now what to do… what to do…?"
Before I could think anything else or answer my own question. Something else already answered my question for me. That something else being my stomach.
"Guess that answered my question," I laughed sheepishly. I fiddled around my belt before I finally took out four more Pokéballs, releasing Pika, Aero, Vee and my Poliwrath, Poli. As I gave all my Pokémon some food as well, we moved to sit under the shade of some trees before I took out a sandwich and started eating myself. Staring at how Lax was rocketing huge amounts of food at a time, my thoughts drifted to my friends. I let myself fall backwards on the warm, soft grass, as I wondered out loud, "I wonder how everybody's doing… Green's probably busy with his Gym Leader duties and Blue is enjoying a vacation with her parents at the Sevii Islands. But how about Yellow? It's been two weeks now and she didn't exactly took the news well when I told her…"
Flashback
It was right after we left the new restaurant in Pallet Town. It was a great restaurant with even better food! I mean… you have good restaurants and you have great restaurants, but that restaurant… it was awesome! Anyway, Yellow and I had just exited the place and started our walk back to Viridian, where I would drop her off at her home.
"I've been thinking lately and I've decided… to go on a new journey," I began, talking in a tone as serious as I could. I took a deep breath before I continued, "I wanted us to be all together tonight before I left, as I'm leaving tomorrow."
"Tomorrow huh? That sure is a surprise… Red-san,"Yellow replied, a bit taken off guard. Honestly, I could not blame her, considering that my announcement was a bit sudden. I could feel her tremble a bit, but I decided to ignore it, thinking not much of it, "It sure will be lonely and quiet without you around Red-san, but I'll look forward to hearing all about… all about your journey when you're back. H-How long do you think you will be gone, Red-san?"
I had stopped walking, instead I found myself staring at the ground in front of me, thinking about my journey. What was it that I wanted to find? I wanted to explore the world! I knew that I had gotten quite a good share of what the world had to offer, but I knew it was not enough. I barely heard Yellow calling out to me, but I did, and I was hesitant. The biggest reason why I should not go on that journey is standing in front of me right now! I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down, took a deep breath and opened my eyes to see a very worried girl in front of me, "This time, I don't know how long I'll be gone, so I can't tell you."
I knew I had shocked her to the core this time around. Even though so many people had called me 'dense' in the past, the fear in her eyes was so obvious. I felt so bad for making her feel like this! She did not deserve this! I gritted my teeth, as I realized that I had never actually said that I 'don't know how long I'd be gone' before. I always said 'don't worry, I'll be back' while smiling reassuringly. I could see her freak out as she barely managed to ask "B-But s-someday… someday you'll be back right? Right?!"
"Yeah… I promise Yellow"I did not want to lie. I will return to Kanto one day. I will return to all my friends one day and, I gulped, I will return to the blonde girl in front of me one day. I could feel Yellow looking at me curiously, as I looked at a bush about three meters to her left, "I just… don't know when that 'someday' is, that's all. I kept thinking about it for a while, but I truly realized it after my battle this afternoon."
"Truly realized what?"I heard Yellow reply. Her tone was a mix of curiosity and suppressed pain. If only I could tell her how much it hurt me to see her like this, "If you are worried that you're not as strong, you really don't have to wo—"
"It's not that Yellow,"I had to interrupt her. She looked at me a bit shocked, probably because I interrupted her. I tried to smile reassuringly at her, but I do not know if that actually calmed her down. I took a deep breath, and looked at the many stars above us. It was a clear night and the stars were really pretty up there, "I have travelled all across the Kanto region, and seen my fair share of the Johto and Hoenn regions as well. I thought I had seen it all, but I was wrong! Like that guy's Metagross… Even though it's native to the Hoenn region, I've never seen anything like it. The world is still expanding, and I want to go as far as I can!"
Yellow did not respond for a while after that. I looked down at her and saw that she was staring intently at the bushes a bit further up. After a while, I found myself staring at her… but who would not? In front of me was by far the nicest girl ever! I knew that she had a heart much bigger than anyone I know. I recalled every single time Yellow went out on a journey, and she never did it for any selfish reason whatsoever. Her journeys were always for someone else. I remember that she had risked her life in that journey she started in order to find me, right after the Elite Four had kidnapped me. She was only eleven! I do not want to be separated… I know it is selfish for me if I ask if she would come with me… and yet, I… I…
"Cheru?"
I sat up, startled, seeing that the sun had already moved to its position straight above us. Looking around, I saw that all my Pokémon bar Pika had fallen asleep. Chuckling lightly, I turned to see a small, cherry shaped Pokémon. At only forty or so centimeters tall, it heavily reminded me of Weezing, but in cherry form. Instantly, I had taken out my Pokédex and I thanked my lucky stars that Professor Oak had updated my Pokédex to give some information on Sinnoh Pokémon (thanks to a certain navy haired capturer).
"Cherubi, the cherry Pokémon. Sunlight colors this Pokémon red. When the small ball is drained of nutrients, it shrivels to herald evolution."
"Wow, you're a cute one! I know someone who would love to meet you!" I exclaimed gleefully, my mind wandering to a certain blonde haired girl living at the edge of Viridian City. I then noticed that Cherubi was staring intently at a pack of Pokémon food that Lax had not yet devoured (how I do not know). I laughed, realizing what it wanted; I opened the pack and offered it, "You hungry? Here, you can have it."
The wild Cherubi happily took the bag of food and dug in. I laughed seeing how excited it was with the food. I stood up and stretched, noticing a small pathway from where the Cherubi came from that I must have overlooked last time. I returned everyone but Pika, who jumped on my shoulder, and headed out.
"Hey Pika?" I asked the electric mouse some time later, as we were trying to find our way through the dense curtain of trees. I was used to being near trees seeing as I would often go to the Viridian Forest to spend time with Yellow, but this feels different… "Do you think it was a good idea to have come all the way here on our own?"
"Pi?" Pika seemed confused, and I knew that my question was too out of the blue for him to truly understand what I meant. I mean, I probably would not understand it just like that either.
"I mean how we just left for the Sinnoh region all on our own," I began hesitantly. A sudden mist rose and it made it even harder to see Pika, or anything else for that matter. It was then that Pika moved to my other shoulder and allowed me to pet its head, "Don't you feel like we left Kanto quite suddenly?"
A moment of silence followed, with neither of us making a sound other than the sound of my footsteps. I sighed and, as the silence was killing me, I tried to start talking to Pika again.
"You see Pika, we left Kanto quite sudden right?" I asked, as I found myself walking in what seemed like a cave. How we got here nobody knows. I felt Pika nod slowly, probably trying to figure out where I was going with this, "It's just… it feels like we left too sudden huh? We didn't really get the chance to properly say goodbye to Yellow, and we only managed to say bye to the others through a text message…"
"Chaaa…" Pika sighed, as he slumped down on my head, "Pi pi ka chu chupika…"
"I know you miss Chuchu Pika; believe me, I miss Yellow just as much, maybe more," even though I cannot read the thoughts of Pokémon like Yellow can, I am pretty confident with knowing what my Pokémon mean. I sighed, as the sound of my footsteps reverberated through the cave. It did not bother me that much as we came to a halt in front of three tunnels. I shrugged and walked through the left one, "I really wanted her to come with us, and I know it is selfish for me to feel that way… But more so than not being together, I was scared Pika… Even more scared than when we fought Deoxys on the Sevii Islands…"
"Pika?"
"You know I'm afraid she gets hurt Pika!" I snapped. I got annoyed, as Pika knew better than anyone how I felt about the Healer of the Pokédex Holders. I took a few breathes to calm myself down after I realized I overreacted, and apologized for snapping at him, "I know she's not weak, it's just… I can't just flat out tell her that I want to travel with her; or rather, that I want her to be with me. Yellow is… Yellow's the nicest person I know Pika, and she is willing to get hurt to protect someone else. I don't want to see her get hurt, and I'm sure she would if she had come with us."
"Pikaa!" Pika yelled, jumping off my head and onto a large boulder. I looked at him, slightly confused at his actions, "Pika pi Pikachu! Pi pi pikachupi!"
"Thanks buddy, I needed that," I grinned, as I ruffled my Pikachu, who made a content sound. Pika was right! I needed to focus on my journey and make it up to Yellow once I got back to Kanto, "Later help me think up a way to make it up to her alright? You'll get to spend time with Chuchu as your reward after all."
"Kachu!" Pika exclaimed happily, jumping back on my shoulder. We walked through the cave in silence for a while, but both of us being much more cheerful than we were just a few moments ago. I stopped walking.
"Thanks Pika," I said, stroking Pika's fur affectionately, "I could tell you all that 'cos I didn't have to try to act tough in front of you. Guess that's what happens if you've gone through as much as we have together, huh?"
"Chaaaa~"
We walked a bit longer, before I realized that it was getting awfully dark, and I had trouble seeing the path. Turning to my friend on my shoulder, I called out an attack, "Pika, use Flash!"
A blinding light filled the tunnel I was in, forcing me to shield my eyes from the light. A second later, I could open my eyes and the entire tunnel was as visible as if the afternoon sun was shining in the middle of it.
Big purple and blue Golbats were hanging upside down from the ceiling of the tunnel, most of them sleeping but some of them were watching me intently. I could also see some Haunter travelling about, surprised that these Kanto native Pokémon were out in the wild all the way here in Sinnoh. At one point, the wall of the tunnel seemed to have a blue circle. I wondered what it was until two yellow eyes opened and a blue, circular, metal plate like Pokémon came floating out. Curious, I took out my Pokédex.
"Bronzor, the bronze Pokémon. They are found in ancient tombs. The patterns on their backs are said to be imbued with mysterious power."
"Wow…" that was all I could say after hearing Bronzor's entry, "So this Pokémon is found in ancient tombs huh? Wait… that means that this is an ancient tomb! Oh boy! Hey Pika, now I'm even more excited to find out what's on the end of this tunnel! Maybe it's a legendary Pokémon! Or a rare item to boost the strength of my Pokémon!"
"Pika Pikachu!" Pika exclaimed happily, obviously as excited as I was. I started walking a bit faster and, before long, could make out an opening in the tunnel. I realized directly what it was.
"Look Pika, the exit!" I shouted excitedly. I ran up to the opening to, indeed, see the exit. When I left the cave, I was blinded a bit by the setting sun (who knew I spend that much time in the cave?) but quickly recovered. Once I got used to the light, I was shocked at what I saw in front me.
Me: Okay! That's the ending of the third chapter with a cliffhanger!
Red: So wait… you telling me that even I don't know what I saw when I exited the cave?
Me: Nope! Although there are heavy resemblances with the doujinshi How Far Are You? in this chapter, I promise what you saw in here is different from what you saw back there.
Red: aw… but what did I see then?
Me: You'll just have to wait and see Red! Oh, and while we're on the subject… if I don't update before the 23rd (next Thursday), I won't update until the start of August.
Yellow: How come? I was hoping to see what Red-san saw also…
Me: *shrugs* I'm going on a short one week holiday with no access to internet. I'm not even sure I get to update Specialventure Academy before I leave either.
Yellow: Oh… enjoy your holiday then!
Me: thanks Yell-
Gold (enter the room with Crystal): Of course it's gotta be senior Red! Why can't you see that Super Serious Gal?
Crystal: Gold, don't forget about senior Yellow! She isn't out of the picture yet either! And don't call me that!
Gold: Then stop being so serious! And besides, Straw Hat Gal is beat compared to senior Red.
Crystal: Respect your senior, Gold! Senior Yellow is a year older than you after all!
Me: What in the world are you two doing?!
Yellow: And why are you two arguing?
Gold: Super Serious Gal here's sayin that Straw Hat Gal will confess her love to senior Red first and I'm telling her that she is wrong and that senior Red will confess his love to Straw Hat Gal first.
Red and Yellow: *blush heavily*
Me: Oh for the love of… just be patient and find out later! One of you two… since you barged in here uninvited, make the closing statements so we can wrap it up.
Crystal: Um, okay, here goes… We hope you liked this chapter of Falneou17's Crimson Sunlight. We would also like to know what you, as the reader, think about how the story has progressed so far, and would like to invite you to tell us so, either privately or in a public review. Finally, as mentioned by Falneou17 himself before, there will be a short break until the end of this month where he will not be able to update any of his stories.
Gold: And don't forget to vote who you think will confess their love first! Psst, it's senior Red
Crystal: GOLD!
Gold: *grins mischievously* What?
Me: You two seriously bicker more than an old married couple *sigh*
Crystal: We're not married and we're not a couple, but most of all
Gold and Crystal: WE'RE NOT OLD!
Me: *sigh* until next time, take care!
