Hey, remember when Blue wasn't being an asshole? I don't remember either!

At the end of the day, mom said her farewells as the Hospital was locking down for the night. Alone, sitting in bed, waiting for the night to roll by. Oh, how was this tedious. Lifting the sheets off of me, I decided to sit up. Staring at nothing in particular, I painfully slipped on my blood-soaked, worn out black t-shirt waiting for me beside my bed. It was nice of the doctors to leave my stuff right where I wanted it. My trade-mark jacket was in an even worse state, and there was really no point putting it on. I fidgeted impatiently.

I really didn't want to wait for my injuries to heal. All I wanted now was to make sure Mom got the message to get her shot. I guess I could tell Professor Oak to tell her- oh, but he might forget!

Out of the blue, a tapping noise could be heard. At first I assumed it was just the clock, but I don't remember seeing any clocks in the room. Turning my neck around, which was a pain to do, I could see a Pidgeot tapping on the window sill. Ah, here we are, Blue's apology has come around the corner. I got up from the bed, and slowly limped my way down to the window. I slid it open- there was no Blue.

Instead, I could see his Pidgeot holding all six of my Pokeballs in it's talons. The Pidgeot handed each of them to me one by one, as I clicked them back into place on my belt, every now and then wincing at the effort of having to move. Ugh, now I can't throw a Pokeball in a dramatically awesome fashion for a little a while. Once I had every ball in place, I nodded thankfully to the Pidgeot.

Hold on! I lifted my hand up to make the bird Pokemon wait. It nodded, waiting patiently on a hanging-statue just outside the window. I rushed around the room, finally managing to find a pen and a piece of scrap paper with faint scribbles on it. I began writing something down for Pidgeot to give to Blue:

"Dear Asshole, I mean- Blue. Thanks, at least you have a little decency left in you. Now seeing you didn't exactly say sorry to my face, I'm still pretty peeved about you, so here's the deal. I want you to tell my mom that I'm okay, and she doesn't need to worry about me at all- and tell her to make sure to get an immunization injection for the disease Tuberculous. This may not make sense at first. You see, I came from the near future, where she actually gets it. But if you make sure to actually bloody tell her to get her shot, you assbutt, then we'll have a happy ending! I hope you have fun knowing that I broke almost every bone in my body, and nearly had myself killed. Asshole."

Now I know what you're thinking- "Red, stop calling Blue an asshole, he's not that bad". But I just need a little venting after this frustrating adventure this has turned out to be. And I barely got to see any action with my Pokemon!

Handing the letter over to Pidgeot, it spread it's wings out wide, and lifted off of the statue it was perched on. I watched it fly away, no doubt heading back to it's ass of a master, Blue. Why he didn't come himself, I don't know- nor care why. Guess he was too scaredy-Skitty. At least he had the decency of giving my Pokeballs back. Speaking of which!

I release Charizard from his ball, just outside of the window. He glared grumpily at me, hovering in midair.

I know, I know, you're grumpy too, my fault I never release any of you from my Pokeball in the first place, I'm an idiot, now take me over to Viridian Forest, you grumpy flying lizard, you.

Heading all the way over to the dark forest, it took me a while to convince to Charizard that it really was okay to put him back in the Pokeball. As soon as he returned into his ball, I wandered around the forest, until I finally came across the old Giovanni. He was sitting down beside a tree, eyes closed, no doubt meditating again.

"Welcome, Red. Are you sure you don't want to wait in the Hospital for those injuries to heal?" He queried. I shook my head, and pull out the ball that had Celebi in it. Giovanni smiled, and stood up, shaking his head slightly.

"I understand. Let's go back to our own time already." He said, standing over, waiting for me to release Celebi. I throw the ball rather pathetically seeing I could barely move without feeling pain. But instead of Celebi being released, both me and Giovanni stared as we found a flopping Magikarp appear on the ground instead of a Celebi. It was attempting splash, and like always, it did nothing.

Oh, this was- nice joke, Blue! Har har, see me laughing?

Yeah, I'm going to kill this bastard. I throw the Pokeball away, leaving Magikarp to flop around- it appeared to be having fun there. Giovanni followed after me.

"I assume there was some kind of mistake." He said. I stopped, turn back to him, and raised both my hands.

Just wait here old man, I'll be back. And possibly with the head of Blue impaled on a steak. I turned around, and continued onwards, leaving Giovanni standing, watching me go.

"I trust you wont be taking too long." He called out.

Oh believe me. I wont be taking too long at all...

I stormed my way to the Viridian Gym. I knew Blue would probably be waiting for me there. No doubt, he obviously wanted a battle. Then again, maybe he doesn't- after all, we both knew who would win. Pikachu was running along beside me, both his red electric-sacks sparked dangerously. He was feeling my anger.

As I entered the Gym, the doors slammed shut behind me. Was that supposed to unnerve me?

Everything was quiet, the only thing that could be heard were my careful, light foot steps as I made my way across the maze in the gym. Normally trainers would demand a battle from me, but no trainers could be found, seeing they'd all probably be asleep by this hour.

Eventually I arrived at the final area of the Gym. Before was Blue- he was sitting down at a chair, a throne to him, no doubt. He was tapping his shoes on the floor, arms crossed impatiently.

"I expected you to get here sooner." Blue said, still sitting down like a King. Oh, he was a royal pain in the ass, alright. I leaned my good arm on one hip, unspeaking, and glared over at him.

Yeah well, being injured kinda slows you down, you know.

Eventually Blue got to a stand, walking towards me. Pikachu tensed up, but I stood my ground calmly. I assumed he had a Pokemon out somewhere, hiding and waiting to attack.

"Thanks for the little note you had my Pidgeot send me. Really? You're from the future? Did the Celebi over here help you do that?" He held out a Pokeball he had hidden behind his back. I remained still, simply watching him without any emotion. Had to stay composed, even if you're just about ready to collapse at the agonizing pain of even just standing. That was proven difficult- I hope Blue couldn't see me quiver.

"Why don't you tell your own mother to get her shots then, huh? Why me? Why do you think I'll actually do what you want me to do?" He was nearing me with each step he took.

Because I know you love my mother. You'll tell her no matter what I did. Was what my reply would have been. There was something off about Blue- that's right, he didn't have that cocky-look anymore. His voice was a lot less controlled and confident than it was before, as well. The cocky ass finally cracks! Now this was something to see.

"Oh, I see how it is, silent-but-violent. What, you think your own mother doesn't deserve to hear your own voice? What kind of son are you?"

If only I could punch him in the face, because I would have had the chance right now. I tried to remain composed and calmly gazed back at him. Every breath I took was rather painful, and I couldn't let signs of pain show through my features. Not in front of this Pansy.

"At least you have a mother who's willing to talk to you, to worry about you, to actually acknowledge that you exist. You take her far too much for granted, you know that? Why couldn't I have a mother like yours!" Blue grabbed both my shoulder, and began to shake me vigorously. Despite all the pain he's been inflicting on me through shaking me like a damn soda pop, my thoughts wondered onto Blue's mother.

I never really saw her. She was far too busy training Pokemon of her own. Leaving on trips. She barely spent that much time with her son, Blue. She'd always send pretty gifts to Daisy, but she didn't really even look at her son when she passed him by. She'd tell Professor Oak to care for both her daughter and Son whenever she leaves for long periods of time. Was this what it was all about? Why he's given me hell all these years?

Because every time, after we'd play together, my mother would come by and pick me up... She'd smile, and embrace me as I left, while Blue was left with a mother who didn't even so much as give a single word to him. Was that why Blue was driven to turn against me? Simply because I had an actual mother to call 'mom'? He wasn't jealous that I became Champion. He purely became jealous that I was loved, and he wasn't. And usually, kids would either turn this sadness into crying- or take their sorrow out on others. Blue, it seemed, chose the latter. No wonder why he couldn't become champion- his mother never showed him how to offer compassion, trust, and love to Pokemon, because he never received any. And I knew his sister or Professor Oak couldn't show him that. My mother failed too- sometimes, you gotta have your own biological mother teach you these things of being human.

"Say something, Red! Tell your yellow rat to electrocute me, anything!" I blinked my eyes back into focus as I heard him shouting.

I could see he was struggling to keep tears from blurring his vision. He was always stronger than me, physically and mentally. It's so strange how that's been reversed. Well, the mental part. I guess he's always been angry at me because I simply always ignored him, or never spoke to him. Like his mother. I was even obsessed with Pokemon, and left for years on end. Like his mother.

Was that why he'd always give me those sad eyes... I reminded him of how unloved he was as a child. Eventually Blue stopped shaking me, as I began wincing in obvious agony. Ow, my ribs were really going to take ages to heal, now. Slowly, Blue let his arms fall. Pikachu was going to zap him away from me, but I gave him a look- not now, buddy.

"I always wanted to be better than you at everything. And now look. I'm the one getting all emotional." Blue sniffed slightly, rubbing his watery eyes, giving an embarrassed laugh. I scratched my head, showing him that I offered what little condolences I could give.

"I'll- I'll tell your mother, Red, don't worry. Sorry for getting you into trouble like that, I didn't know you'd walk into a van like an idiot. At least I'm the smarter one out of the two of us." He laughed quietly at me, and I grinned and shook my head, shrugging.

I hold my good hand out to Blue. He stares at my hand, and then at me. He then smiles, and grabs my hand rather roughly, and we both shake hands. Afterwards he hands me the ball with Celebi dwelling inside, and waves at me.

"Now hurry up and get back to your own time. You better visit your mom more often now, okay? Hell, visit us all. Us rivals gotta watch out for each other." I nod and we part ways. I paused, watching him out of the corner of my eye. Pikachu rubs it's yellow-fur up against my leg. Yeah, you're right, Pikachu. There was no need to say thank you- Blue already knew I would have said that. I guess despite us being arch-rivals, we always sort of cared about each other maybe a little. After all, if it wern't for him, I would have never strived to become a stronger person than I was so long ago. And I think I've had the same affect on Blue as well.

He also would have know that I said sorry, even if there was really no point in saying so. Sorry that he was so unloved. But hopefully him having a girlfriend could help him make up for that. Leaf was, after all, a very loving, and caring girl. Those two were rather cute together.

Well, now. I glance down at the ball with Celebi. Pikachu looks up at me. 'Pika!'. It's high time we time-traveled back to our time, Pikachu. Man, that was a lot of 'times' in that sentence. I chuckle silently, as we were both on our merry way.

Come to think of it, I never traveled through time. It was never really that necessary. And quite frankly, I can see why people haven't come up with ways to travel through time yet, because the process of going back to our original time is really, really lame. Well okay I didn't use a particularly appropriate word, but it's the best I could think of in what I was going through right now. Think of it like this: you've just poked your finger through the surface of a pool of water. By just simply poking the water, you create a rippling, spreading wave across the whole surface. Now try to fit that terrible analogy onto what I did.

I just prevented my mother's possible death, and may have quite possibly solved my rivalry with Blue through a simple encounter. Knowing that stubborn ass though, I'd say I just made him three times more irritated at me, seeing I now knew his emotional weakness. It's only a matter of time before he figures out mine. Hell, even I don't know what it is, so this should be interesting. But no, what really takes the cake at time traveling back to your own time is that you have to some how 'slip' back into your current life. Usually we'd just randomly appear and become a completely different entity, but Celebi was luckily kind of getting where me and Giovanni were getting at here.

Anyway, enough about time, geez my head's already spinning badly enough as it is due to the whole time-traveling shenanigans. After seeing a few pretty timey-wimey swirls and feeling that sense of displacement again, I finally begin to form back into reality. Voices, memories, and emotions suddenly forced itself into my head. The events that occurred to me due to my tampering with time. Not much of a difference, really; I just seemed to be sending letters to mom a lot of often, but I still remained in Mt. Silver. Training. Again, and again, and again. There's no telling how many times that place nearly drove me insane. Or maybe it already has. Why am I so drawn to it!?

Whatever, let's see where I am now. Uh huh, there' snow. Mt. Silver!

… Why did I automatically assume that? Stupid mountain. But I was- unfortunately, correct. I was back at Mt. Silver. At the very top. Don't get me wrong, I love the mountain, it's almost become my secondary home. But I really need to stop having my mind wander to the stupid thing, it's not a good sign.

Wisps of new memories slipped through my mind. On pushing past them, I gave a sigh with relief as I discovered none of my memories contained mom getting sick with TB. My sigh created warm vapor, which quickly disappeared into the cold air.

"Thank you for taking me up here, dear."

Widening my eyes, I swerve around- mom!? What is she doing up here! Well, at least she's wearing winter clothes. She wont be too happy finding me up here wearing my usual outfit. It's not too well suited for cold climates- but the coldness almost embraces me. I know, I'm weird, shut up. I'm still trying to bloody figure out what the hell I was doing now. Hell, where did Giovanni and Celebi go? Celebi must be back in it's Pokeball, that would be where I'd last place it. As for Giovanni... Who knows. But I hope he's for the better himself.

"This place is magical, isn't it? I can see why you like to be up here all the time."

She stood up right beside me, overlooking the impressive view the mountain overlooked. Snow, the sky, the lower part of the mountain, and a little bit of Johto. I glanced over to her with mild concern- did I take her up here, or did she walk all the way up here? She didn't look tired, so I maybe I did fly her up here with Charizard. My memories were still being rearranged like crazy. Hm, I only just now realized that I had no bodily injuries. I was back to my normal self! Well, abnormal-normal self. I still really need to look in a mirror.

"To think, I would have been sitting in the Hospital bed, if you didn't turn back time to tell Blue to take my shot."

I turned my head over to her in a stare. Blue told her!? I only told him to tell her that I said to take her shots! I knew that ass would do something stupid. I thought mom would go crazy at me for doing something so stupid, time-traveling, but then again- times have changed. I blink as I find myself wrapped in mom's arms. It was good to see her look so healthy, and well again. I hugged her back.

Mother and son, embracing on a deadly mountain. Typical day for me.

"I know I shouldn't tell you off for trying to save me, and I've already given you enough trouble for nearly being killed by a van. But just- next time you do something adventurous, could you please try to make it as safe as possible? Always make sure at least one of your Pokemon are out to rescue you, okay? What about Pikachu, or Espeon? They're small enough to follow you around without much trouble."

I nodded with a smile, but I've already considered the idea even before I caught Pikachu. I don't like to bore my Pokemon by having them follow after me all over the place, and I don't make the most comfortable of seats for my Pikachu, and Espeon was more of the kind to get herself into trouble far more than I do. Sometimes I'd have Charizard fly overhead a few miles up in the sky watching over me, but even he can get bored of doing just that. I really do need to find a new adventure.

I can't promise you that they'll be safe, mom, but I can promise you that I'll always be in one piece. Quite possibly a very bloody piece, but still one piece... And I was glad mom was in one very healthy piece herself. I would have held her hand, but I'm too old for that now, aren't I? A hug is more than enough.

As we watched a rather beautiful morning at the very summit of Mt. Silver together, my thoughts wondered onto Giovanni. Has things turned out for the better, now that I saved his wife? I was thinking of curiously checking up on him at the Celadon Hotels, but he might not even be living there anymore. Heck, he could have moved all the way to Sinnoh, for all we know.

Ah well, alls well that ends well, right? Even though I was sourly disappointed that I didn't get at least one decent Pokemon battle. Heck, I didn't shout one move command to either one of my Pokemon! But for some odd reason, I couldn't help but feel that this was only the beginning of a long trail ahead of me.

Now before you start shouting at me for sounding awfully cleche about the end of this little adventure of mine, I'd just like to remind you who I am.

"…..."

The more you say nothing, the more stuff seems to happen before your eyes. A dandy gift of mine. Anyway, after peacefully standing and enjoying the lovely snow that was falling so gracefully, we eventually left the mountains. Me, being the courteous son I am, rode my mom back home on the back of my fire-breathing dragon. Why Charizard wasn't classified as a dragon type, I'll never know.

"Red, dear?" Mom queried. It's a good thing Charizard wasn't flying too fast, the wind was a bother when you tried to listen to somebody while flying. I glance back at her, curiously listening to what she was had to say.

"Have a shower when we get home, honey."

Oh, come on, mom!