Strong—
Red wakes up to the sound of a voice calling him back to consciousness. He opens his eyes carefully, hoping that he wasn't still in the danger he had recently gotten himself into, or worse, in a new kind.
The image of another human being was beginning to materialize before his eyes, but before he could make any features, he was interrupted by a stream of water hitting his face.
"Okay, stop, Poli. I think he's awake."
He carefully sat up, wiping his face. Poli's hypnotic body met his eyes as he went.
"P-Poli...?" he mumbled, and then a splash of reality hit him.
The cave. The high tide. The wild water-types.
"The kinglers!" he cried, throwing his torso forward, accidentally hitting something with his forehead. He winced, his hand flying to his forehead.
"Dammit', Red of Pallet Town!"
Red opened his eyes for the second time and saw Pink, her hand also on her forehead, scowling at him two times more intensely than usual.
"P-Pink..." Then he looked around.
"Why am I in Pallet Forest's entrance?" He neared himself towards Pink, using his two arms as support. "Did you save me?"
"...This is the fifth time this week..."
Red's brows furrowed. "W-What? Speak a little louder, will ya'? I can't hear anything..."
"I SAID THIS IS THE FIFTH FUCKIN' TIME, YOU IDIOT!" The words flew out of her mouth so fast it took Red a moment to understand what she meant. But she didn't just stop at that.
There were more to come.
"What part of 'Stay the fuck away from these parts of Pallet Forest' do you not get?!" She tapped her index finger to her temple. "What? You hit your head too hard that time you fell from trying to fly that stupid pidegeotto?! Arceus..."
Red just looked at her, half-listening. He still couldn't get his mind off the goldeen he was so close to catching, if it weren't for those kinglers that came out of nowhere. He wondered how that much water can accumulate in a cave, and at a fast rate too.
"Are you even listening?"
Red blinked. "H-Huh? What?"
"Honestly..." Pink shook her head with disgust. "You're not gonna stop, are you?"
Red just stared at her, slowly smiling.
"Any good suggestions for tomorrow?"
Pink huffed, but before she could say anything, she just let it go, and started for the warning sign, mumbling: "Go home, Red of Pallet Town."
"Hey!"
The girl stopped.
"Maybe next time, you can give me a tour of the forest instead so I won't get lost anymore?"
Pink turned, looking annoyed. Red only grinned.
"Obviously, you don't get it," she said, crossing her arms in front of her. "Fine. Treat this place like a playground, and see for yourself. I don't care if you end up as bird food for the Flying-Types."
She started for the sign again.
"You say that you don't care," Red called out to her as she climbed up the metal board.
"Yet why do you keep saving me?"
Pink was already on the other side of the sign when Red stood up and walked towards it.
"Has it really been a week?" he asked, resting his arms over the cold iron panel. He whistles. "Wow, time runs so fast!" Then he lights up.
"Hey! We should celebrate!"
"Celebrate on your own, kid," she replied wearily, not taking the time to look back.
"Aw, come on! Pretty good timing, too! Mom just came home from working in Sinnoh last night, and with some treats! Ever heard of these little things called 'Candy Sticks'? They're surprisingly good despite the blandness of the name!" He cupped his hands over his mouth and called out:
"Want me to bring you some?"
Pink just kept on walking. Red smiled.
"Okay, see you tomorrow!"
-...-
Red stared at the two legs that dangled over the sign, covering the "NOT" on the "DO NOT ENTER".
"DO ENTER," it now says.
He lifted his gaze and saw Pink staring at him monotonously, her face resting on her two hands, elbows on her knees. She stared him down for a few seconds before straightening herself.
"Took you long enough," she said. "Usually, the sun's not directly over us yet, and you're already here..."
"W-Well, I was—HEY!" Red's face lightens up as he ran towards her.
"YOU WAITED FOR ME!" he rejoiced. Pink slid off of the sign, lowered herself and extended one leg and dragged it forward to make herself spin, tripping Red, making him fall headfirst towards the sign.
"You really don't learn, do you?" the girl sighed, bending her extended leg back under her, placing her face on her two hands again.
"I gotta hand it to ya'," Red groaned, lifting his face from the sign. "You sure are creative when it comes to telling someone to 'fuck off'..."
"Oh, gather up your shit and let's go." She stands up and begins climbing up the sign again.
Red looked up. "Wait, where are we going?"
Pink stopped for a moment, and looked back at him.
"You wanted me to give you a tour right?" she asked, and then turned again. "Now, move your ass before I change my mind."
She pushed her weight forward and slid off the sign once more, landing gracefully on the other side.
"Hey, wait up!"
She turned around.
Red grinned again, holding up a plastic bag in his hands.
"So..." Red began when they were already walking. He pulled out three candy sticks and began munching on them at once. "What made you suddenly oh-so-welcoming to me? Just yesterday, you seem like you wanted to set up traps just so I'd never set foot on these premises again. Why the sudden change of mind?"
Pink nibbled softly. "I figured someone who spends most of his time throwing himself to danger's loving arms has nothing better to do with his life..."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Forests inhabited by dangerous wild pokemon are not the most appropriate stamping grounds for ten-year-old boys..." she replied straightforwardly.
"They're not really the most appropriate for ten-year-old girls, either," he retorted. "Even if they're kinda outrageously strong and can run fifteen miles per hour."
"Sixteen, actually..."
"Also," he trotted a little faster so he'd be walking next to her. "May I just boldly announce to current audience that I do have a life outside of these woods and, yes, I have friends outside of you." He pulled out three more pieces and began munching away.
"Then why are you endangering your life ANDyour dignity HERE?"
"Simple; because I like hanging out with you more..."
Pink rolled her eyes. "Let me guess: You can't defeat the trainers back in Pallet Town."
"Quiet, you."
The girl snorted. "As if there's a difference whether you get your butt kicked here or there."
"But, there is." Red jogged ahead of her turned, and began sprinting backwards. "There, I just get my butt kicked. Period. Here, though, I get my butt kicked BUT I still get to be toured around one of the most quote-unquote dangerous forests by a cute and smart superhuman girl."
"You're giving me too much credit; I'm not any of that..." She swatted him away gently and walked ahead. "Especially the smart part... I'm not smart. I just know something you don't."
"And that just means you're smart..."
"Or that you're just stupid..."
"I like to look at things in a more positive light, thank you very much..."
"Sure, you do."
Pink pulled out another candy stick and placed it between her lips.
"Besides," she continued. "I don't get how you can get tossed around by those weaklings... Those people are losers. And to actually let them topple you over just like that..." She stole a quick glance before she could catch him.
"Only proves what I already know..."
"HEY!"
"It all makes sense now," Pink drawled, looking to her side. "The poor little native who can't even recognize the dangers of his own hometown's forest can't possibly be someone who has the capacity to defeat even the most pathetic of beginners." She shot him a look.
"And you said you'd one day defeat me, and be crowned as one of the strongest there is."
Red pouted at her, but he easily let it go. He's heard worse from her on a bad day—nothing he couldn't handle. Besides, knowing Pink, talking empty words won't get him anywhere. If he wants to prove this girl wrong, he has to show it rather than just proclaim it.
But for him to be able to do that, he needs to be strong enough to defeat her, and that's already a pressing matter altogether.
"Well, if you think you're so hot, why don't you teach me proper battling techniques so I won't get into so much trouble, and I can finally kick those kids' butts for once?"
To his surprise, Pink suddenly whirred around and threw a candy stick towards him. Before he could know what he was doing, he stirred his body to the side. The stick came zooming past him, squarely missing his temple, all the way to the tree behind him.
Red watched it obliterate before his eyes. Then he stared back up at Pink.
"What was that about?!"
Pink looked slightly astounded.
"You strayed...?" she muttered under her breath. Then she noticed that Red was still watching her.
"Say, Red of Pallet Town," she began. The annoyed look in Red's face disappeared.
"Why do you want to become the strongest?"
Red blinked at her confusedly. "Weren't we just talking about that just now? Because those kids...?"
"And if you defeat them?" she interrupted, reaching out her hand to pull him up. Red was taken aback by the amount of force she used that he found himself stumbling forward the moment Pink was able to hoist him back to his feet. His hand involuntarily grabbed Pink's other arm, stopping himself from crashing face-first towards her.
Red was so close to her that he could hear her breathing.
Cautiously, he looked up, afraid of how Pink would've reacted, but to his surprise, Pink only retained eye-contact with him, her two pupils riddled with a strange amount of sadness.
"Pink...?"
"What's the point of becoming stronger, even?" She looked at him like she was expecting an answer, although as he was about to open his mouth to say something, Pink's face reverted to its original scowl as she pulled her arms away roughly from him, and walked a few steps away.
Then she paused again.
A great amount of silence loomed over them.
Then Red snickered.
"Really?" he laughed, placing his two hands behind his head. "That was pretty creepy right there... Are you sure you're not the one who got her head hit badly by trying to fly some wild flying-types?"
Pink sighed, and turned to look at him. The smile in Red's face waned.
"Was that question serious?"
Pink returned her gaze forward. "It was an honest theoretical question... Something that occurred to me somehow..." She looked up. "I've been hearing too much of that card for quite a while now, and not just from you. It's just... peculiar."
Then she turned her head again to give Red a knowing smirk.
"But then again, why am I asking you? As if I'd get anything meaningful from the likes of you..."
"Wow, do you actually try to meet a quota of daily insults intended specially for me?"
"Let's just keep going and that conversation never happened..."
Red sighed as he dragged himself forward.
"Gets all quiet and mysterious and begins asking me odd questions out of the blue, and then disregard everything like a lark all of a sudden..." He snorted.
"And you call me weird..."
Pink didn't respond.
"Well, what about you, then?" he called after her. "What's your take in this? What do you think about this whole 'strongest' business, hah? I bet you have something 'meaningful'..."
"I think it's useless..." she replied. Red paused, watching her back from where he stood.
Pink, however, did not do the same.
"I don't think becoming the strongest is necessary," she explained. "You just need to be strong enough to survive until that day comes..."
"Day...?"
Pink turned to him, for the last time.
"...until that day comes for you to die."
Red watched her look up yet another time, before looking forward.
"Let's go."
-FIN-
