When trainers saw him, the same things were always said: Snorlaxes will eat you flat broke. Initially, Red's own had never understood what that meant. He simply knew he liked to sleep, he liked to eat, and it never really mattered where he chose to do either of these things. Or at least, he assumed it had not mattered. Then, one day someone woke him up, had the nerve to wake him up. Naturally, he attacked. What kind of fool woke a perfectly content Snorlax from sleep? A dead one, that's what kind. But instead of following the natural laws, the person who had woken him, Red, did not end up a dead fool. Instead, Snorlax had made the mistake and was captured. His body was not easily bruised, but his ego was an entirely different matter. Working with Red after awhile though, Snorlax felt that it wasn't so bad. He could sleep as much as he wanted to, and was fed regularly. Initially he had not been fond of the diet he had been put on, but then he noticed he was becoming more… energetic. He still loved to eat and sleep, but he had more time and will to do and pursue other things.
One of these was what humans called, 'hobbies.' Snorlax was particularly fond of crocheting. It required patience, but not a lot of effort. It required thought, but not the kind that made his head hurt like when Blastoise was reading, or when Red was doing numbers. He liked making different things, most of which no one could figure out its purpose… but he always left them hidden around the cave, waiting for Red to find them. He always did, and always gave his Snorlax an extra-long scratch behind the ear to show appreciation. Even if he had no idea what it was, or what it was supposed to be.
And then one day things seemed… different. Red seemed more tired. Less inclined to go out and do things, but he always did so if any of his team requested it. Venusaur was the one to figure it out – the numbers looked different. Why? What was happening? Why were the numbers different? Pikachu thought it was obvious. There had been hardly any challengers lately, and Red's funds from traveling across the region were probably getting low. He was trying to conserve money – and he was not cutting any funds in the Pokemon's hobbies.
It all made a horrible kind of sense. What those trainers said, all those years ago… all those times. Snorlaxes will eat you broke. Red couldn't provide for them forever, but he could try for as long as he could… even if it meant not providing properly for himself. Snorlax decided he would help. But how? He could try to eat less, but how much less could he eat before he was hurting himself as well? Then Red would be angry with him, he just knew it. Maybe if he shared his food with Red? Could Red even stomach a Snorlax's food? When Snorlax tried, Red patted him but accepted nothing.
Then Snorlax had a brilliant idea. Once a week, he left for an entire day. Once a week, he took his crocheting supplies to the bottom of the mountain, where he would work and sell his creations. It went… surprisingly well. Apparently there weren't many Snorlaxes that crocheted, as the trainers all marveled and complimented him. They didn't know what he was making either, but they were always excited to make a purchase to prove to their friends it was real. It took awhile. Snorlax did not quite understand supply and demand, but eventually from the help of Venusaur and Pikachu they were able to figure out prices, and with Blastoise's assistance they even made a sign. A crude sign, but it was enough. They were helping. And more challengers were even showing up! And even between the training, the crocheting, and all Snorlax still left his trainer gifts. But he was much more inclined to hugging now, because Snorlax understood what all those trainers had meant…and knew that his, Red, didn't care. It meant the world to Snorlax.
Of course, Snorlax didn't realize that these challengers had been appearing more frequently because they followed him back up the mountain.
...
...
...
"…and then Leaf smashed his face into a window." Green finished, shaking his head at his final words. Most of Red's team (minus the trainer and Blastoise who were training, and for some reason Snorlax) stared in wide-eyed fascination, except Espeon who happily nodded to confirm that yes, Leaf did do that. She had been defending his honour, after all. "And that's about it." Once he wrapped up the story, Venusaur and Lapras made some whining sounds, and the grass-type even nudged the brunet with a vine. "Okay, okay… another one. Fine." He gave a theatric sigh, though the smirk dissolved anything that may have remained of believability. Tapping a finger to his chin, he tried to think of any really good stories to share about him and Leaf. That was what these guys wanted. When he woke up, Espeon trotted over and nudged him in the face before he could even sit up. It took a few rounds of charades (Green tried to not be surprised the Pokemon even knew how to play), but finally he got the idea.
It felt good to know he was… kind of missed. Though as he went through some of the better stories, the brunet noticed a trend of Leaf being the main attraction in each one. He always seemed to be… more on the sidelines, even though he had been there. She was a rather take-action girl, so he shouldn't have been surprised. Still, there was something uncomfortable about being in the background of his own memories. When Red left, to say Leaf and Green became closer friends was stating the obvious. Of course they did – they had grown up as a trio, and then suddenly they were a duo. Rather than drift apart they clung tighter together, and on a multitude of occasions the same question always arose, "Are you two dating?"
"Why would I date him?" Leaf sneered, before playfully shoving the brunet. "I like older men," and then she would wiggle her brows at some poor passing man, who often would get so flustered or confused by being introduced to the conversation they would just cover their face and hurry on. Green was never offended by these responses – he gave his own fair share. If she didn't get to it first, he would.
"That's not a woman, that's a man in drag. He's very convincing, isn't he?" Became one of Green's personal favourite retorts to the question. The punch was always worth it, mostly because she put so much force into her attacks that it suddenly made his claim believable. There was nothing between the two, a fact that consistently surprised Daisy and Professor Oak, and made Leaf's father stare at her with eyes that were clearly wondering if his daughter was interested in other women. She was awfully masculine for a girl… not that her father was judging or anything. The man would love his daughter no matter what, he just, you know, wanted to know.
Calling Leaf a lesbian was the equivalent to intentionally antagonizing an Ursuring. By now, Green was accustomed to her breaking into his home to crash on his couch, because she would leave her own house after getting into a nasty fight with her father over that subject. Green? He just didn't ask questions. Whether she dated men, women, or both on her own time was technically her business, and he would only be savvy to it when she was willing to share. Which hadn't happened yet, but he was patient. She spoke with him about everything else. As for Green himself… well, not to boast or anything but he had enjoyed a great many explorations. Some of these on nights Leaf chose to break into his house.
But he wanted to keep his stories at least semi-child friendly to his listening audience (the Pokemon, because Red certainly wasn't one of them), so those were definitely staying unspoken. Where was he? Oh, right – another story for these creatures. "Okay, so one day Leaf and I were in this little dining place… do any of you remember that restaurant in Viridian? With the green trim?" There were a few unsure nods, as there were a lot of green things in that city. One of those annoying ironies in Green's life – yes, yes he was aware he shared a name with a colour… but Viridian Gym had been the only one with an opening and that job was better than working at the stupid Trainer's School as a teacher, which by the way, was still in the same damn place.
"So anyway, Leaf and I were in there eating one day. Eevee was with me, and we were working on getting Espeon used to walking around again so he was also with us," The two nodded their heads as confirmations, "So I have witnesses. Leaf's Venonat was also there, so that is another one – just not here. We were talking about something, I don't know, probably the weather or stocks. It was boring, because I don't remember it at all. This girl walks in – she's cute in a little sister sort of way. Pigtails, big white hat complete with a bow… the kind of little girl you would ask if she's looking for her mommy.
Leaf and I don't pay her any mind, because we're talking about how the price of Johto's tea is affecting the population of…" He paused, trying to think of a random Pokemon that wasn't staring expectantly at him, "Of… Poliwags. Then there's a cute voice yelling really loudly, 'Will the lazy bum running Viridian Gym please actually do his job? I've been waiting three hours, and I think that's ample time for a lunch break.' Leaf and I look at each other, and then look to where the yelling is coming from. This petite, pigtailed girl is standing on top of the service counter, hands on her hips with a Marill tucked under her arm and desperately trying to escape.
The man at the counter is asking her to please, please get down and she is refusing until 'the idiot running that place shows.' Naturally, Leaf and I feel bad for the guy because we go there regularly, and Espeon looked embarrassed to be seen with us." Here the psychic-type nodded again, as though being embarrassed by the two brunets was a common occurrence. Green ignored that implication. "We get up together and walk over to her, and the girl jumps down. She says she was told there was only one Gym Leader, but if we thought we needed two of us to beat her, that was okay – a lot of people felt that way. And then we head over to the Gym, and decide to do a double-battle. Now, I've never actually faced Leaf in anything but mortal combat between us two.
I know her Pokemon are strong, and you guys know that… but we've never really seen her in battle. She's secretive that way. We end in a draw, though that's mostly because Leaf's Venonat is a little beast in a cute and furry disguise. This goes on for a couple of days, the girl coming in to challenge us continually until she wins. I know, I know… you're waiting for the punchline. Just wait for it. Leaf gets fed up with this, and tells me to handle my own stupid Gym Battles, because she isn't a Gym Leader and this isn't her job. I try, the girl flat-out refuses. 'I've been losing to both of you – winning against only one of you only earns me a badge, not respect.' I can see where she's coming from with that.
So then I have to track down Leaf, relay the message, and bribe her into dealing with this for a bit longer. Another week goes by, and the girl finally wins. Offers to take us out to dinner, with money she won from us that we had been winning from her, to show her gratitude for letting her do that. Whatever, kind of-sort of free food, I'm down with that. We go to the place, start eating. Girl's name is Kotone. Ring any bells?" The Pokemon stare at Green flabbergasted because yes, yes that name did sound familiar. The girl had screamed when she realized that Red was not actually the Champion, her friend Gold was. She had gone through all that work to challenge the wrong person. Yes, they remembered her quite clearly. Only one of the two people to have defeated their trainer these past eight years.
"The punch line is that Leaf sent the girl your way." Green winked, because he knew they expected as much from him – but Leaf? Red's team looked to Espeon for confirmation, because surely the Gym Leader was joking – Espeon shrugged and made a few sounds. The Pokemon gave a couple bewildered blinks, but there was no reason for the psychic-type to lie to them about that. Give them something to chew on for awhile… Green reasoned. In the meantime, he was tired of telling stories and needed to find a certain trainer. Last night's resolution was not forgotten, and today he would not let silence or shame drive him back into the mancave. The one creature that could probably, without a doubt, always find the exact location of Red was currently discussing something with Eevee. Perfect.
Approaching the electric rodent, Green squatted down to be on eye-level with the creature. "Mind if I ask for a favor?" Green began, and Pikachu paused in his conversing to listen. "Would you mind taking me to Red? Promise, not trying to learn any of his secret techniques. I think I've seen enough of them the past couple of days." If he discovered anymore of the Pokemon's quirks, the brunet was going to be tempted to just assume Red had gotten this far because his team was so absurd no one could take him seriously long enough to beat him in a battle. Ignoring the fact Red had beaten him several times when they were eleven, and during those days the hobbies… well, if there were hobbies they weren't as obvious. Pikachu stared at the brunet, thoughtful. He then turned to Eevee, the two sharing a brief exchange. The second their dialogue finished, Pikachu began hopping to the outside – and then paused, ears twitching as he waited for Green to follow. That was surprisingly easy… maybe the creature was impressed with the brunet's mad story telling skills?
He followed. There were no distinct paths on the summit, just the occasional clearing. The top of the mountain was never intended for human residence, and the only human that did bother to live there seemed to choose to let the wilderness grow as it would naturally. There were thickets in various patches, coiling vines, and wild flowers. While the flowers were not necessarily the prettiest, they were fairly hardy blooming in the recently recoated landscape of snow. Determined to live even in the ice. On occasion a particularly thorny bush or plant would catch Green's pants, sometimes only snagging and other times ripping the fabric. Knowing the landscape so well, the rodent dodged and weaved around any potentially threatening plants with a grace from years of practice.
Green was simply developing tattered jeans, and a few cuts – some deeper than he cared them to be. "Not to bother you… but do you guys have anything for… slightly deep scrapes?" He asked, cautiously removing a vine that had managed to wrap around his leg and dig in a little too deeply into his skin for his tastes. Some blood started to flow out, not heavy enough to justify stopping and applying pressure. It was just deep enough for him to want to it clean out, as infection was equally disgusting and unpleasant. Stopping, Pikachu cocked its head to the side as it thought. The two stood there, Green waiting as he gingerly patted down the cut and inspecting it for lack of anything better to do.
With a nod, Pikachu sniffed the area around him before bounding over to some underbrush. The creature carefully grabbed the stalks of some plants, and hopped over to the brunet. Leaves. Leaves were going to make everything better. Green sighed, and accepted one before rubbing it around the deeper cuts. Probably some kind of aloe plant that killed bacteria. Leaving up here for so long with Red, who knew what kinds of useful plants they had found? So long as it prevented infection, he was fine.
Ten minutes later they found Red with Blastoise in a clearing, slightly sloped. There were scattered trees, and with only his hand Red was making motions and guiding the large water-type through the obstacles. Being inside his shell, Green wondered how the creature could even see the motions. Thus far, that had to be one of the most normal things the Gym Leader had witnessed – and the most expected. Nice to see something familiar out here in the woods. Not wanting to interrupt, he waited until Blastoise reached the spot at his trainer and poked his head out – only to stare at the visitors. Following the gaze, Red's eyes trailed to where Green and Pikachu were.
"Hey." The brunet nodded, and as usual received no response other than a stare. How typical. "So… I've been meaning to ask you about some things…" What a way to start. Nice and vague. He reached down and itched his leg a little, and tried to think of where he wanted to take this. Like the original plan, or was he scrapping that idea? Standing there and looking stupid was accomplishing nothing, and he was interrupting the regularly scheduled training sessions again. If Red were a woman, this would have been much easier and -
Without warning or word, Red took quick strides over to Green and abruptly crouched down – then pulled up one of the Gym Leader's pant legs. He stared at the scrapes and cuts, and then let go until the fabric fell. "What was that for?" Green demanded, brows furrowing. What, he was trying to avoid conversation now? Ignoring him, Red stood back up and peered at where Pikachu and the brunet had come from. Still stoic, though now the Champion was grabbing Green's hand and pulling him to the side. "What? Let me guess, can't talk here?" Green asked, rolling his eyes. This was just his luck. Finally got the nerve to talk about things, and now the other was trying to distract him. "Red, I'm not –"
"Toxicodendron radicans." Red stated flatly, and the brunet stared. He spoke, the other spoke. And those were… awfully big words Red used. The brunet shut his mouth, effectively silenced but further confused. "Poison ivy." Red added, and if Green didn't know any better the statement sounded almost like a question. But not quite. The wheels were not quite turning, as the brunet was still in temporary shock that Red had said something. Noticing this, the ravenet tilted his head to the side before it snapped back. Blastoise walked over, and more than happily lifted Green up.
"Whoa, wait!" The brunet yelped, and found himself being carried off by the creature. Red led the way, Pikachu hopping after and Blastoise following with a somewhat unwilling person in his arms. From his slightly higher perch, Green did get to witness Red glancing over at Pikachu with eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and the rodent looking away to avoid the indifferent gaze. Then everything clicked into place.
The little bastard gave him poison ivy on purpose.
The little bastard knew better.
And that was Red's version of a scolding.
If nothing else, it was reassuring to know that the other at least cared enough to scold his Pokemon when they did something wrong and knew it was wrong. But being carried by a Pokemon? That was a little low. No, it was still easier to say nothing and get Blastoise to drag Green to wherever than to actually say what he wanted the brunet to do. The walk was brisk, as the Champion could walk pretty fast when he wanted to – and Green was pleasantly surprised by how little he felt of Blastoise's own movement. For something the size of the creature, the fact it could make the ground shake slightly, and seemed to amble rather than much else… for the brunet to barely register they were moving quickly was a pleasant surprise. They arrived at the wash area.
Saying, "Take a bath – it helps," still would have been easier than all of this. Leave it to Red to go through extra hoops to avoid saying excessive words. On the other hand, Green did kind of shut down when he had been spoken to… so maybe this was not entirely unnecessary. Unceremoniously Blastoise dropped Green, who scowled at the sudden roughness. Red made small motions, and Pikachu ran off while Blastoise aimed one of his canons at the tub – and began filling it. Walking over, the ravenet motioned for Green to get up. "You're lucky that's a universal sign…" The brunet grumbled, and stood as requested. Taking his hand again (at this point he might as well throw a collar on me with all of this dragging… the brunet thought with a sigh), Red led him over to the tub.
He… wants me to get in, Green thought. The sudden possibility of the other knowing about him peeping yesterday flickered through his thoughts, and how this might actually be revenge… he shook his head. No, there was an easy enough way to get around this. He rolled up his pants, and stuck his feet into the tub – and gasped. "It's cold! What is your problem?" Yelling made everything better. He wasn't even itchy yet. Red didn't even blink at the tone, and then simply shoved Green into the water. Either Red had lost his patience, or Green was getting a rather musky odor after not having showered for close to three days now. Head emerging from the water, teeth chattering, Green couldn't manage any further verbal yelling – so instead he settled on a glare that had sent several of his own past challengers off running. The Champion was unimpressed. Finishing filling the tub, Blastoise retracted his canons and idly looked around himself.
Pikachu came bounding back with a book in his mouth, followed closely by a concerned Eevee with a bottle in her mouth and Espeon trailing after with a little knapsack around his neck. Red gently took the book from Pikachu, and began flipping through pages. Finding the one he wanted, Red held the book up for Green to read. It was a survival book, two pages dedicated to treating poison ivy. Shivering and little better to do, the brunet read. Much of his anger dissipated upon reading: if sap from a poison ivy plant gets inside open wounds, treat immediately and seek a doctor. If you do not, you are running a risk of suffering from more than just blisters and irritable skin. He had rubbed those leaves on his scratches. Rubbed poison ivy leaves. On open wounds. The other hadn't been acting that way for any other reason than concern.
Red was worried about him. Huh.
Blastoise came over and held up the book for him to continue reading, while Red turned to Eevee and Espeon to gather the items they had brought with them. The brunet continued going over the book's detail, all the other's actions quickly making sense. Within the first hour of contact, try to take a cold bath or shower. The cold causes the skin to contract, closing up pores and making it harder for the ivy's oils to get inside. Take this time to wash off as much as possible, and remove articles of clothing that may have also been contaminated. Hence why he was shoved into the bath. Through chattering teeth Green muttered an aggravated, "Don't look." And took off his own clothes. Red didn't argue, and simply didn't turn around when handing the brunet what looked to be baking soda and some creams.
Knowing the other wasn't going to explain to him, Green continued to read. Getting the basic idea, he quickly set to work. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have just waited for him to get back… "S-so…" The brunet coughed, trying his hardest to not stammer from trembling teeth. The water was freezing. As he scrubbed and washed, the brunet tried to keep his mind off of the growing itchiness and the low temperature. "This happen to you before?" He asked. Silence was his response, but he thought he saw out of the corner of his eye the other nod his head. An idea struck him.
"If you're nodding or shaking your head, I can't tell. Kind of watching what I'm doing." Green muttered in the gruffest voice he could manage. There was pause. And then,
"Y… yes." Almost sounded as if someone was trying to remember how to move his tongue, how to speak. But Red did respond, which was an improvement.
"How many times?" Green asked, his voice slightly more casual but he tried to keep an edge of annoyance in there. He was far from irritable at his current situation, mostly because he realized how easily it could be exploited: making Red speak. There was a silver lining to every thunderstorm, after all. Another pause.
"Three." One word answers were better than nothing.
"Any of them get really bad?" Green pressed, wondering how many more words he could get out of the other before the Champion caught onto the game.
"Once." The truth was slowly coming out, piece by piece.
"Bad enough to go the hospital? The book mentioned something like that."
"Third…" Another pause, and then, "Time."
The last time it happened. Made sense. But now Green wanted to know why he and Leaf had not been informed when this happened. That how it was? When Red actually did leave the mountain, he told no one about it? Was his mother in on this, or was she ignorant as well? How many people were in the dark about how many or few close calls Red had? At least the brunet was understanding the other's actions even better, though. The pamphlet could have been puffing smoke, but the Champion was proof there could be a fire.
"How long does it itch for? Days or weeks?" Green asked.
"Week." Red replied. The brunet assumed 'around a week' was probably closer to what the other meant, as exactly a week sounded a little questionable. There was also the wild factor of whether Green would need to see someone else about this. The idea of Red hovering after him once he finished up in the tub was a strangely appealing thought, and the brunet could not fathom why. And with this peculiar realization, he lost his trail of thought and fell silent himself. What else could he ask to keep the other talking? The basic questions were answered, and anything else required simple common sense to figure out. If this progressed into something worse, he could easily call out Pidgeot to take him to the nearest hospital. Red was probably taken by Charizard. Glancing up from rubbing cream on one of his cuts, an interesting sight caught his eye – one that he had seen more than once.
"Does Blastoise always… read?" Green asked. That was something that had been bothering him. A pause, this was noticeably longer than the others – hesitation? Why would the other hesitate to answer that? Basic yes or no question.
At length, "Yes."
"Did you teach him or something?" Green inquired further. This had no relation to the poison ivy, so he was not particularly expecting a response. There was silence, the brunet not minding it as he had expected as such. Shivering, wet, cold, and almost the last cream on him Green was about to ask if the other had a towel but before he could speak there was a sudden and slightly uncomfortable, "Yes," from the ravenet. Green paused, wondered if the other was in fact peeking and had known what was about to be asked. Turning to scold the Champion, Green realized Red was still facing away. He hadn't been looking. Going over the past few minutes, he realized that was the response he did not expect to get.
Yes, Red had taught his Blastoise to read. Why had Red answered? Especially if that hint of a tone in there was real, why did he reply if he was not comfortable with giving the response? Did he feel so guilty about Pikachu's actions and his need to take responsibility for it, he would answer any question?
"…that's… kind of cool." Green muttered, a bit uncomfortably. "Do you have a towel I can use? I'm kind of wet. And cold." There was emphasis on the last word. Change the subject, don't press any further. He was willing to take advantage of a situation, but not a person.
"Yes." Came another surprising verbal reply, this one the more common apathetic response. Making a small hand motion, Espeon nodded and trotted over to an area by the tub, and put one of his front paws on the tree. There were a couple of towels there.
"…right." Green muttered, and reached forward to grab the item. Red was still respecting his wishes – imagine that. "And while I dry off, would you mind getting my bag?" He added. There was a nod, and Red got up to hurriedly head back to the cave. Apparently he could not get away from Green fast enough. The brunet let out a breath, and glanced at the retreating form chasing after his trainer. So much for the idea of being worried over by Red… what a weird thing to be disappointed by.
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…
….
….
Snorlax had returned. Green was sitting outside the mancave, trying to concentrate on a book Blastoise had lent him and not on the fact his legs itched something fierce and so did one of his hands. Next to him sat Eevee, of whom scolded him every time he so much as looked like he was about to scratch. Charizard was placed on the other side of Green, letting his tail provide light in growing darkness of the evening. Red was off with Pikachu and Espeon, doing whatever those three planned on doing at this time of the day. One or two Golbats had already emerged from the cave, with a couple of young Zubats following after.
The return of the normal-type was fairly noticeable, as the ground shook with his approach. Venusaur ambled out to greet the creature, of who was carrying a bag. There were a lot of things Green could have asked or commented on, but he refrained from doing so. Venusaur chattered with Snorlax, probably asking the other how his day was, what he did, what was inside the bag, was he aware he looked kind of flamboyant carrying it…?
Whatever was actually being shared between the two, Green remained ignorant of and once more tried to concentrate on this book. The cover depicted rough sketches of what various legendary Pokemon looked like, and the entire book was thoroughlu detailed in the various sightings, what sightings had been hoaxes and which ones were debatable, the stories surrounding the legendaries… it was a surprisingly scholarly work, and the brunet was starting to doubt it was actually Blastoise's. Red had used a scientific name for a plant earlier and even taught his Pokemon how to read (or at least appear to be reading). The book was also well-read, and did not have nearly enough claw marks to have been opened frequently by anything other than human hands.
There was crunching sounds of feet on the snow, and Green looked up from the book to see the last missing three from the cave's main inhabitants coming back. Red had an armful of berries, Espeon walking at the trainer's side with his head held high and a basket on his back full of berries. Pikachu waddled next to them as well, the small creature only able to carry three berries in his stubby little arms. Hearing them, Snorlax and Blastoise hurried out of the cave carrying a blanket, and with their combined efforts set it on the ground. A picnic…? The berries were carefully set in the center to avoid bruising, and one by one the creatures began grabbing the kind that suited their taste buds best.
Except Pikachu and Eevee, because the latter preferred to stay by her trainer's side and the former because he was waddling over with a berry and a disgruntled expression. Pikachu set the berry down in front of Green, his face the perfect example of annoyed. A Pecha Berry. Judging by the creature's disgruntled features, this was not his idea. After what Pikachu did to him earlier, Green was more than happy to take the higher road. "Thank you, Pikachu. This was very nice of you." And then he petted the rodent's head, just to further annoy him.
The mutual hate was certainly growing.
Pikachu bolted off the second he did his deed, grumbling and griping along the way. Eevee's ears went down, and she looked to her trainer. He cringed – yes, he had forgotten about that. She was close friends with the stupid rodent. "Uhm… hey, you want to get one for yourself?" He asked, trying to cheer her up. Eevee's eyes strayed to the pile of berries, and then back to her trainer. "Maybe you can… split it with Pikachu? I mean, just because we don't like each other… you can still be friends with it. Him, I mean." She perked up at his words, quickly nuzzling her trainer. Giving a quick stern look, she hurried over to join in the… well, Green guessed the best word would be picnic.
At any rate, he set aside the book and took a bite out of the berry with his non-itchy hand. The pages from the earlier book on poison ivy had mentioned Pecha Berries helped, and recommended rubbing a slice on irritable areas. That did not mean he couldn't enjoy a bite or two – there some sweet things in life he could not deny. After eating half of the fruit, Red sat down next to him with Bluk Berries and a few already eaten. Going to keep me company now? Green wondered, but made no complaints. The two sat there in silence, watching the Pokemon and eating. There was still a healthy amount left. He chuckled softly, catching on. Taking out his Pokeballs, he released him team. No guidance was necessary, as they all immediately knew what they had been let out for – his team quickly joined in the snacking.
A hand held out another Pecha Berry the second Green's own was gone. "…thanks." The brunet muttered, grudgingly taking the fruit. Apparently he was going to have to waste a perfectly delicious snack on feeling better. That was just as well – the itch was starting to make him cranky. Red then offered him a pocket knife, which made slicing the berry that much easier. Rubbing one of the first berries in, the brunet realized what a perfect chance this was. Nothing could go wrong this time, nothing. Red was already next to him, his whole team was busy playing some kind of game with Green's own, and for a change he actually knew he had the other's attention. The brunet cleared his throat.
"Earlier, I mentioned I wanted to talk to you about some things… you remember, right?" A nod. Green licked his lips, rubbing another slice in. "Good. I've been meaning to talk to you about it for awhile, but just… never quite got around to it." He was delaying, that wasn't good. He needed to push forward, to ignore that stoic stare, and just say it. Stop beating around the bush. "Red… what do you say to another battle?" The brunet had not spoken any louder than usual, but apparently that was a magic word in this area – Red's entire team suddenly stopped what they were doing and looked at him.
Pikachu looked downright gleeful about the prospect – not the most promising sign.
Red was also watching him, but nothing on his visage changed. Instead, there was a shrug. An indifferent, careless gesture. Green let out an annoyed breath. "Not right now. Tomorrow, I mean. This isn't about being Champion or not being Champion. This is about…" He let go of the Pecha Berry, and made movements in the air as if those would somehow explain what he meant. "Communication." Red slowly looked back at his Pokemon, and then at Green again. The brunet sighed. "I'll explain it tomorrow." He added dismissively. Now there was no avoiding it. Tomorrow, they would have a Pokemon battle. Their first in… what, eight years? Was it really that long ago? The last time he could remember they battled, Red had been the one to challenge him technically, because he was the Champion.
Tomorrow would be interesting.
Meanwhile, a little further down the cliff a young individual set up camp.
A/N: The website is being stupid, so after work today I will try and fix some of the errors made in this chapter.