Me: First day of school. Again. Yay...

Gardevoir: But I thought that was last week?

Me: ...I moved.

Gardevoir: Oh. ...So no Max and Carlos?

Me: *tear* No Max and Carlos.

Gardevoir: Oh.

Me: Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way. And that just seems to make my day worse.

Chapter Ten: Yellow

I shook my head as I exited the lab Tuesday morning. There was no way that pendent had a fingerprint scanner. I really needed to stop saying such silly things all the time. Chuchu jumped up from her spot on a bench outside the lab and climbed up my arm, happily chattering in my ear as we set off on Dody to meet Amber at the Pokemon Center. Blue was being totally overrated with this whole bodyguard thing. I mean, does she think I can't take care of myself?

The Pikachu had made her way to the top of my head by the time I returned my Dodrio, and we entered through the sliding doors. I looked around, expecting to see Amber somewhere, but found no head of spikey ebony hair so similar to Red's. I sighed. What was I going to do? I hoped Red wouldn't be mad at me for telling him no, but I just couldn't bear to see something like that happen to him again. I would've loved for him to come along with me on my patrols—I could never say no to spending time with him—if it weren't for these mysterious fiends who seem intent on kidnapping me.

I sat down on one of the couches, imagining what it would be like. Walking through the trees, the sunlight streaming through the canopy and glistening on his night-black hair. No training to be done, no people attacking us, and especially no Blue trying to do something devious along the way. Just him and me. I sighed again. It was a wonderful but impossible thought. I was Red's friend, and that's probably all I was. Nothing more, nothing less. And I couldn't say that I minded being his friend. It was great to be close with him and all; it's just that, I wished things could be different between us.

"Yellow! Ready to go?"

Chuchu perked up from her relaxed position on my hat as I glanced up to see Amber sitting on the arm of a chair. Nodding, I stood up, and we left the Center for the forest. We had only broken the beginning of the tree line when he gestured at my bandage-free head beneath the straw hat. "You're looking better."

"Yeah," I said happily. "I was feeling well enough that I could take it off for once, and I don't have Blue on my back any more telling me to put in on."

Amber looked up for a second in confusion. After a moment, he asked, "You have healing powers, right?"

I shook my head slowly. It surprised me how easily and straightforward he talked about them. I mean, it's not like it was a touchy subject everyone walked on eggshells around—it just usually isn't the center of the conversation like he's making it right now.

"How come you didn't just heal yourself? Blue wouldn't have been on your case so much."

"It doesn't work like that," I told him. "I can read the thoughts and emotions of Pokemon and heal them along with people, but I can't use it on myself. I do in fact heal naturally much faster than the average person, but my powers have no effect on my body." As he nodded, I glanced at a nearby tree and by chance saw an injured Pidgeotto trying to get back to her nest of Pidgeys. "Here, watch."

I motioned to him to wait, and slowly so as not to alarm the Pokemon, I walked up to it with my hands held in a friendly gesture. Hurt as it was however, it lashed out at me with its one good wing, cutting a nice clean gash through my black sleeve and skin beneath.

"Yellow!" Amber starting coming forward, but I held up a hand to stop him. Reluctantly, he stayed back.

Again I reached out, and this time, Chuchu jumped down and helped, chattering softly with me as I coaxed the Bird-type into letting me look at its wing. It resisted for another moment before seeing the sincerity in our eyes and allowing us to approach. Gently, I probed over it and felt the snapped bone beneath the soft brown feathers. My eyes closed, and I called upon my powers which were enhanced when I took a moment to connect myself with the forest as I did at the shrine with Silver. The warmth flowed up through my fingers and into the wound, knitting the bone and tissue back together. As the magic did its job, I sensed the Pokemon's fear and stroked its downy feathers, calming it bit by bit until I was done. When I looked at it again, the Pidgeotto was stretching its wing and making sure it was well again before lifting off to the nest above. Nuzzling its little ones, it gave a cry of appreciation to us before turning back to its young.

I stood up and turned to Amber who was still watching with worry. "Did you see that?" He instantly ran up to me and grabbed my arm. Holding up a finger, I placed my hand over it and let the warmth pour out again. This time, however, when I opened my eyes, the cut was still there. "I told you. It doesn't work on me."

"But are you okay? That looked like it hurt."

I waved him away. It did sting a little and some blood was starting to seep through, but I said, "It's fine. Just a little scratch." Nevertheless, he rolled up by sleeve, tightening it around the gash to stop the blood from coming more.

"Sorry. I didn't bring a bandage with me." He conked his head. "I'll remember that next time."

"I said I'm fine," I sighed. Great. He was turning into Blue. "Come on. We're only in the eastern quarter. We've got the whole rest of the forest to go through yet."

Chuchu hopped on my shoulder, and we made our way steadily through the east part, me taking care of the Pokemons' injuries and problems and he watching my back for anything that may be lurking in the trees. The northern section wasn't much different, but a good part of the western portion had been consumed by a forest fire in my absence. At the core of the damage, Rattata were running wild, Caterpie and Kakuna were wailing in sorrow for the loss of their beloved trees, and the Butterfree were frolicking in the air like crazy. I tried calming them down, but it did no good.

Walking to the center of the area, I sat down, and Amber asked, "What should I do?"

"Just wait." Chuchu stood patiently by Amber as I closed my eyes and bonded my mind with the forest. When I was finally connected, I almost recoiled and lost my link as a blast of death and decay hit me full on. There was no sense of life and growth anymore here. I took a deep shaky breath. This was going to take a lot more power than I normally used. Tapping into the energy of the forest outside this destroyed place, my whole body began to heat up as I let it flow out and into the burnt plant life.

Outside my closed eyes, Amber watched in amazement as streams of golden light snuck out from me and entered the forest. Impossibly, the energy poured over the grass and leaves and left behind a trail of green wherever they went. They twirled and sauntered through the trees, wrapping themselves around the trunks and climbing higher and higher until the whole thing was enveloped in a bright light that burst into sprinkles and revealed renewed life. He spun around, watching everything with an air of awe. Then the ribbons of light gathered at the center with me and began to whirl around the clearing. Soon there was a tornado of light that exploded outwards, causing Amber to shield his eyes. When he could see again, he jaw dropped in shock when he saw the entire area that had been victim to the fire was new and green and fresh as a daisy.

His gaze fell to the ground where I was sprawled on the grass, softly breathing. As the Pokemon started gathering, Amber and Chuchu rushed up to me, and he dropped to his knees. He quickly saw that I was breathing normally, and the apprehension faded from his system. It was then that he noticed the Pokemon hanging back at the edges of the clearing. Trying to imitate what I had done with the Pidgeotto previously, he called to them and even brought out Ki to encourage that he meant no harm. Gradually, they came forward, and when they were even more comfortable around him, they began jumping around in joy that their home had been restored.

After a while I woke up, blinking my eyes and laughing at the sight before me. Amber was being hounded by Ki and Chuchu and a herd of wild Pikachu they had befriended. They chased the boy, chattering merrily and bouncing on him in triumph when they felled him. He just laughed, begging for mercy when they started tickling him. Ki and Chuchu, however, were enjoying this and told them to continue. I watched in a fit of giggles as they overpowered him and climbed all over his sprawled body. He looked up at me, noticing I was awake and smiling. I grinned, too, and got up from the ground. Moving toward them, I swiftly snatched up Ki and twirled him around, laughing at his bewildered expression. Ki's eyes went wide then, and my smile disappeared at his serious look. My feet came to a stop. I kept staring at him as his eyes seemed to search mine, finding something in them that he hadn't seen for so long.

At once, his happy voice returned, and so did mine. I spun him around again, and he cried out in joy. Behind us, Chuchu and the Pikachu herd continued to swarm Amber, but finally he was able to convince them to let him up. Ki jumped out of my arms and raced after them with Chuchu as they started to leave, and I walked up beside Amber. They waved good-bye as the others shoved through the bushes and back into the forest.

"You're a good person, Amber."

His golden-orange eyes grew wide. "What?"

"I'm surprised they took to you so fast," I said picking my hat up from the grass. "They normally don't approach humans like that. Only ones they deem good and even then not so abundantly as they did with you. That means you must have a pure heart to be recognized that way by them."

A frown came to his face, and I stared after him as he went to pick up Ki and place him on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I'm okay." He looked to Ki on his shoulder and sighed. "Let's get back to work; we've got to remember what we came here for."

I glanced at him and nodded my head uncertainly, waiting for Chuchu and starting off into the trees with him close behind. As we made our way through the southern section, his spirit lifted and was back to normal by the time I healed a baby Rattata and gave the area one final sweep of my eyes. "I think that's it for today." I searched for a clearing to rest in, seeing a thinning in the trees ahead. "What time is it?"

He took out a black Pokegear and clicked a button. "A little after two."

"Great," I said happily. "I think we'll have some time for those lessons if you want."

"Sure!" He exclaimed.

He ran up by my side as I exited the trees and stood on the edge of a long valley with a hill jutting out to the right. Seeing the tall oak tree standing on top, I asked questioningly, "Isn't this…"

Amber and Ki looked over the place and nodded. "Yup."

"Well," I said with a click of my tongue. "Come on then!"

He grunted in surprise as I took his wrist and ran up the hill. At the summit, I let go and sat on the grass trying to catch my breath. He leaned against the tree which Chuchu began to climb. Ki stayed on Amber's shoulder watching as she disappeared into the leaves.

"So what's first?" He asked.

Chuchu came scrambling back down the trunk with a sketch pad and pencil in paw. Giving them to me, she scampered down the hill and vanished into the forest with Ki following her. "Show me what you can do. Draw…oh I don't know. Whatever you want."

He got up and sat down next to me. "I don't know…"

I pushed the paper and utensil at him with stern eyes. He gave me a look before sighing and accepting them. Taking a few minutes to make something, he put down the pencil and showed me his picture. I stared in surprise. There was a large circle at the top of the page hanging from…I think it was a tree? "It's…an Oran Berry?"

"See?" he said sarcastically. "I can't sketch worth nothing."

"No, no it's…" I turned my head.

He chuckled lightly. "Don't even try to make it seem better."

"It's not that bad, really," I told him. "I can tell you're very good at curves by the way you drew the berry. You just need some help with straighter lines." I turned to a fresh page and copied his drawing. It only took a few minutes and wasn't my best work, but I showed him my sketch.

His jaw dropped. "That's amazing."

I blushed at the compliment. "Not really. But look here at the trunk. See the way this line connects with the others?" He craned his neck to look at it and nodded. "Now, you try." He looked at me uncertainly again but took the sketchpad and flipped the page. Slower this time, he started with the Oran Berry since it was the easiest for him. His hand pushed the pencil hard on the paper, and I picked it up. "Don't press down so much. It doesn't help you draw any better. All that does is promise you the chance to put a hole in the paper."

He nodded his head again, his hand movements lighter and airier. The berry came out much smoother than the last time, and I said happily, "There you go! You're doing better already! Just look at the curves!"

"Yeah!" His smile was so full of pride that I couldn't help but do the same.

"Okay, now try the leaves," I suggested. "They should be the next easiest part for you."

The pencil hovered above the Oran Berry and began sketching again. Watching him, I saw his eyebrows scrunch in frustration as he rubbed out his first leaf and tried to get the arches right. After the fifth swipe of the eraser, I stopped him again.

"You're focusing way too hard. Just imagine what you want to draw, and let the pencil do the work."

"Easy for you to say," he muttered. "You can paint a masterpiece without even thinking about it."

My face flushed again. "Just do it. And I draw, not paint."

Amber rolled his eyes but went back at it anyway. This time, he let himself relax, and his strokes were surer with fewer mistakes, though he still seemed to believe the eraser was his best friend. I witnessed his expression become absorbed in concentration once more, but I had no need to stop him. His hands moved fluently without putting too much force on the paper, and when he showed me the picture, the leaves were bursting forth from the top of the page, the beginning of the trunk showing at the end of the tree branch.

"This is where I messed up; I can't seem to get the lines right."

I looked back at his first picture and noticed the off-kilter way he tried to make the trunk perfectly vertical. "Well, first off, you need to know that a tree is not straight. If you look at the one behind us," I turned and pointed at the great oak towering next to us. "you can see that it curves up from the ground and fans out when it reaches the branches." I showed him my sketch as he nodded his head at this observation. "See? There's no straight line. So quit trying to make a monorail instead of a tree."

"Okay." He glanced at his previous sketch before setting to the new one. Letting his wrist drag down the page, he resisted the urge to erase it and draw a straighter line. Once he'd made it to the bottom of the page, he took back the pencil, and I grabbed the pad from him before he could make any changes. My finger traced down the line as I critiqued his new trunk. It was definitely more realistic, not so toothpick straight anymore. There was still some work to be done on keeping it neater and smoother, but over all, it was a big improvement.

I smiled at him. "Much better."

At that moment, Chuchu and Ki came running out of the trees. As they crested the hill, we saw that they were overloaded with berries they had found in the forest. Setting them on the ground, they went back to pick more. I turned around to the tree and set down the paper before I started climbing the branches. Near the top, there was a hollow in the trunk where I kept stuff I might need when I came out on my patrols; extra sketch pads and pencils, another fishing rod in case I forgot mine at home, and…I riffled through the supplies until I found it laying at the bottom and smiled. Lunch preparations.

I was halfway down to the ground when Amber's voice came from below. "What are you doing?"

Leaping off the final branch, I showed him the checkered blanket full of utensils hanging over my shoulder. "Making lunch."

I placed the blanket on the ground, and it fell open to reveal some bowls and plates and other things needed for eating. I took out a knife and picked up the berries, slicing them into pieces to make a salad. Amber tried to sneak his way behind me and snag a Pecha Berry but I saw him coming and tapped his hand with the hilt of the knife.

"No berries for you," I said to his astonished face. "Until you get that drawing right."

"But, that could take…forever!" He started reaching again. "Just one."

I moved the bowl of berries away and shifted from him. "No."

He ran around and kneeled in front of me. "Just a bite?"

I looked up at him. "No."

"Come on. I'm still learning, remember?"

Seeing the gentle pleading in his eyes, I sighed. Grabbing a Rawst Berry, I sliced into ten tiny bits and held one up. "Okay. Every time you make a sketch better than the last one, I'll give you a piece, deal?"

"But—"

"It's that or nothing."

He glanced at my raised eyebrow and huffed in defeat. Bringing the sketch pad and pencil over beside me, he set to finishing off the last few details on the trunk and beginning a new picture. As his hand moved across the sheet, mine continued cutting the berries and mixing them into our lunch. Pika and Chuchu had come and gone with more berries when he showed me it and held out a hand. The drawing was much better so I held up to my word and gave him a piece of berry.

"Now again."

His mouth dropped open, and his eyebrows scrunched together.

"You want to get better, right? Do it again."

He scowled and sat back down with a rough thump. The pencil scratched against the paper, and he started all over again. By the time Chuchu and Ki arrived with the last load, Amber had drawn multiple Oran Berries, and the Rawst Berry had disappeared. The salad was finally ready, and I was looking over his final picture as he waited for permission to eat. I giggled at his fidgeting and eager face. You'd think he hadn't eaten in weeks. He was just like Red.

I smiled to myself and nodded my head. "Alright."

Immediately, he started making himself a plate, and I stood up reaching for my belt. Throwing my Pokeballs in the air, I released my Pokemon and watched them gather around me. I went back to the blanket and picked up seven plates. "Lunch time, everyone!" They started eating alongside Chuchu and Ki, all of them quickly finishing off their dishes and running to play in the valley.

I turned back to find Amber paused mid-bite. Sensing his uncertainty, I grinned and said, "You can let yours out, too. I made enough for everyone!"

He put down his plate and thought for second before reaching for his belt. Four pops of light soon followed, and I stood in awe looking at his Pokemon. It was much different than viewing them from their Pokeballs as I'd done with Red the night of the Reunion or in the middle of a battle like last week. They all stood staring around them, taking in this new unfamiliar atmosphere. I scooped up the four plates I had made them up and set them in front of them. I smiled to make them feel more comfortable and declared, "Don't be nervous. Eat up!" They looked to Amber for confirmation, and only when he shook his head did they begin. It was a matter of minutes in which I had sat beside Amber and started eating myself that they finished and went off to play with the other Pokemon.

As I picked through my salad, I kept glancing from Amber to his Pokemon as they acquainted themselves and chased the others around in good fun. Soon enough he noticed and set down his empty plate. "What?"

"Nothing," I said taking a bite. "I just noticed how well you raised your Pokemon. You must have spent so much time working with them."

"Yup." He looked up at me. "Would you like to meet them?"

I grinned and put up my salad. "Sure!"

Returning my smile, he took my hand and chased down the nearest of his Pokemon which happened to be his Houndoom, Hound. Catching the fire dog's attention, I watched as he trotted over to us with his head held high. I was surprised to find that he showed no sign of nervousness at my presence being that he'd never truly met me before.

"Alright, first up," Amber said putting a hand on his Pokemon's head. "This is Hound. I caught him when he was only a tiny Houndoor during my travels in Johto. I've known him longer than any of my other Pokemon. Well, besides Ki."

"Ah. He doesn't seem shy at all."

Amber shook his head. "That's 'cause he's not." He smiled at the Dark-type. "Hound here's our bold and dashing fellow. Isn't that right?" Hound gave a small roar and blew some fire into the sky.

I started reaching out a hand to pet him then paused when I remembered he wasn't familiar with me. I turned to Amber. "May I?"

He nodded. "Of course."

Hound leaned forward to sniff my hand before looking up at me and pushing his head under it. I giggled as he began licking it and stroked it over his velvety neck. When I left his sight, he turned around and crouched down—apparently, he wanted to play. I laughed again and ran back to the tree to find a good sized branch. When I got back to them, I held it in front of him and watched his eyes follow it wherever it went. With as much strength as I could muster, I threw the limb off into the meadow the Pokemon were playing in. Hound immediately dashed after it, amazing me with his speed as he jumped in the air and caught the branch. I waited for him to come back, but instead he sat down and started gnawing at it before Ratty came along, and the two engaged in a game of tug-o-war.

Amber answered my surprise. "Oh, I forgot to mention. Hound can do pretty much any trick. Sit, heel, roll over, he can do it all. But tell him to fetch a stick…" he smirked. "Well, I've basically given up on that."

I laughed. "That's alright. Gravvy's just like that. He doesn't fetch or anything, but it takes a lot to make him listen to you." I looked out at the Pokemon running across the valley in front of us. "So who's next?"

He glanced around, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion before he searched the sky and sighed. "It was going to be Baga, but I guess he decided to go for a fly. How about Snowy? You remember her?"

I nodded as he ran off to track down his next Pokemon. It was only a few minutes before he came back with her hovering calmly above his head. As he stopped in front of me, he said proudly, "Yellow, I'd like you to meet Snowy, although I believe you've already seen her before."

"Yes, I haven't had the chance to express my gratitude yet." I smiled up at her. "Thank you for saving us before. I don't know what we would've done without you."

The Froslass floated down to me and gave a small cry that sounded like someone sliding their fingers over a wet wineglass. Gently picking up my hand, she softly blew on her fingers and traced them across my skin. I shivered in shock as a clear swirling pattern appeared before slowly evaporating into the warm summer air.

"What was that?" I asked as Snowy lifted her graceful arms and flew off.

"Don't be alarmed," Amber said. "You heard what she sounds like when she tries to speak. It makes it hard for her to communicate with humans. So instead, she makes ice images on people's hands to express herself. I believe the one she made for you meant friendship."

I smiled to myself as I watched her sneak around pelting the others with small snowballs behind their backs. "How did you come across her?"

Amber smirked. "Strange enough, I rescued her from an avalanche on Mt. Coronet as a Snorunt, and ever since then, she's been following me around."

He turned to his right and reached out quickly, snagging the fur of whoever had been passing by. "And while he's nearby…" He faced me again with a cream and blue colored Pokemon whose eyes never seemed to open. Amber took the fork it had been trying to conceal behind its back before saying, "Say hello to my rascal, Pour." The Semipour smiled sweetly at me.

"Rascal?" I questioned him. "He doesn't look like that at all."

Amber narrowed his eyes at the Water-type. "He never does at first." Directing them at me, he smiled. "I got him as a gift from someone I knew who worked in the Dream Yard when he was still a Panpour." He saw the confusion on my face and explained, "It's this place outside Striaton City in Unova. Anyway, I think my friend was more trying to get rid of him instead of giving me a present. He's quite mischievous, and sometimes when you're not looking—" I jerked around in surprise as my hat left my head in the clutches of the giggling Semipour, and he ran off to avoid Amber's wrath. The dark-haired boy sighed. "He'll pull something like that."

"It's alright!" I told him merrily. "After everything that hat's been through, I swear, it's indestructible."

Amber just smiled as a gust of wind buffeted us, and the last member of his team arrived. My eyes widened as I took in the enormous Salamence towering over us beside him. "And finally, my little friend Baga!" Baga gave out a roar of happiness as Amber started rubbing him beneath the neck. The boy gave out a yelp as he was lifted off the ground and onto Baga's back. Looking down at me from where he was perched high up, Amber reached out a hand and grinned. "Baga seems to want to go for a ride. Care to join us?"

I stared up at him and Baga's encouraging expression before stepping forward and accepting their offer. Amber set my smaller form in front of him as the Pokemon beat its giant wings and propelled us high into the atmosphere. My mouth opened in awe as the valley soon grew small, and the buildings of Viridian City were visible from where we hung suspended beneath the clouds. Baga didn't take us anywhere, just steadily flapping and keeping us poised in the same spot over the crowd of Pokemon below.

My face broke out into a smile, and twisting around to face Amber, I saw I wasn't the only beaming. His golden-orange eyes watched the world with an air of wonder, and the wind tousled his hair in mess of shiny black. He turned his grin to me, and I could feel mine grow even wider. As he went back to the forests and land spread out before us, I told him, "It makes you feel small doesn't it?"

He looked to me in confusion as I closed my eyes. "Like, you're only a part of something so much bigger. We can't perceive it from our little places in the world, but at times like these, you can somehow feel that it's there."

When I opened myself up to the sky again, I found Amber studying me with that unreadable expression I'd seen him wear before. It was quiet for a moment, no sound but the beating of Baga's wings, before he broke the silence. "You know Yellow, you're different."

I just stared at him, a faint blush creeping into my cheeks. It was then that Baga chose to descend, and we paid attention to holding on as he swept towards to ground and landed at the top of the hill. Dropping us off, he went to converse with the other Pokemon as they frolicked in the meadow.

Looking from his five Pokemon to the boy next to me, I asked the question that had been bugging me ever since he first let his Pokemon out today. "Why don't you carry six in your team?"

His eyes were downcast then, and he whispered, "I used to."

I tilted my head. "Why not anymore?"

The bangs fell across his face and shadowed his eyes. "Things happened."

I saw how similar he looked now to when Blue asked him about a girl at the poker game last night. Something invisible clicked, and I realized that these two things were somehow connected. That girl hadn't just left Amber; something more had occurred. It was a little inconsiderate of me right then, but without thinking, I said, "What was her name?"

His face hardened, and he stalked off to a spot a good fifteen away on the sloping hill where he laid down and stared up at the sky. Following, I lay down beside him and watched the clouds roll by. We didn't say anything for a while, instead gazing up in silence. Guilt finally getting the best of me, I bit my lip. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that."

He didn't turn away from looking up, but his face softened just slightly.

"But."

That seemed to grab his attention. He was still aimed at the sky; however, I could see the shadow over his eyes barely lift.

"You can't just draw yourself from people and push them away."

My eyes closed as I let my thoughts out. "When I was seven years old, I still lived with my parents in Viridian City. We were always near the forest, and they always encouraged me to accept my powers. But one day, our house caught fire in the middle of the night." I shuddered as I remembered the paralyzing flames that had seemed to end my life even when they really hadn't. "We were trapped. I watched my parents…burn…right before…my very eyes."

By now, my breath had hitched; the warmth had started to gather. "And I couldn't do a thing. We managed to make it outside but not before my parents had been burned trying to protect me. I used my powers over and over, but they have no effect on the…dead." The first tear fell. "At the funeral, I distanced myself from everyone, silently watching over my deceased parents. The question soon arose of where I would go, but after seeing my tight and fragile aura, no one was willing to accept me. They didn't want to risk it in case when I finally broke, I lashed out with my powers and hurt them."

I evened out my breathing before I went on. "Because of that, because of my relatives' reaction to me, I withdrew into myself. When my Uncle Wilton took me in, I pushed him away. He tried to make contact with me, tried to bring me out of my world of darkness and pain and back to everyone, but I just pushed him away all the more. Nevertheless, he was never unfriendly to me. He wasn't home very much, but whenever he was, he always showed me as much kindness as possible. But even then, I just fell farther into my dark reality each day that passed."

I opened my eyes to the bright world and saw that Amber was finally watching me with serious golden-orange. Looking back up at the clouds, I sighed. "One day, I went for a walk in the forest, filled with my sorrow and such. Seeing all the happiness and life in the trees around me, I finally broke. Everywhere I ran, I left behind a trail of destruction as I took out my fury. It was hours before the last tears were shed, and I realized just what had happened. As I took in what I'd done to my beloved home, I was finally able to let go of my grief. I ran back along my path, healing the damage I had caused and apologizing to the Pokemon I had scared. Of course though, there's always the one that never takes sorry for an answer."

Suddenly, I was eight again, in the forest running from the angry Dratini. "It was blinded by fury, chasing me through the forest and intent on capturing me. I tripped on a rock, and when I looked back up, it was there, preparing for the final strike. However, out of nowhere, a boy jumped out of the trees and saved me." I smiled slightly as I remembered seeing those red eyes for the first time. "He fought off the Pokemon and taught me the importance of treating them with love and care, even going as far as helping me catch my first one." I glanced at Ratty who had finally gotten the branch and was being chased by Hound through the meadow. "That boy, he changed my life."

I stared right at him. "So you see? No matter how much you want to succumb to the despair and run away from the past, you just can't. You can't cut yourself off from the world and push everyone away. Because there are people out there, Amber. People who will enter your life and do something amazing." I knew my eyes were bright and glassing over as a picture of Red came to mind. "People who will alter your life and who you are as a person—forever. And if you don't open yourself up again, those people will unknowingly pass you by. And that…well, that I believe is the greatest tragedy of all."

He didn't say a word. He just turned back to look at the sky. My tears starting to dry, I did the same, randomly glimpsing a Pikachu-shaped cloud go by. It was quiet again, and we could hear the cries of the Pokemon below. The breeze blew through the oak tree and forgotten lunch, scattering the uneaten berries and blowing a few leaves around us. I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath, the calm mood soothing my soul.

"Jade."

My eyes snapped open. Turning to him, I saw that he was still watching the sky.

"Her name was Jade."

And after that, we said nothing more. Even as the sun fell farther in the sky and I packed up the supplies, not a word was spoken. Even as we called our Pokemon and headed back to town, it remained silent. Even as we parted ways and I went to the lab to check on Red and Green, I was mum. Even when I found out the disc was bugged, I uttered nothing. Even as I shut my front door behind me, tended my arm, and went upstairs to bed with Chuchu, my mouth stayed shut.

Like all the other nights before, as I settled down and drifted off the sleep, I dreamed of Red. But for the first time, he wore a gold-rimmed black shirt and silver-striped running shoes. For the first time, he had a necklace of a gold and silver yin-yang. And for the first time, his eyes were golden-orange instead of red, shining as bright as the late-afternoon sun just before it begins to set and turns to crimson.

Gardevoir: ...

Me: ...

Gardevoir: Okay, so just because the end of the chapter is serious, we have to be serious?

Me: ...yes.

Gardevoir: *sigh*

Me: Reviews please! Very much appreciated!