Red Potter

by DainoChild

Red is a wizard and so-called Chosen One everybody wants to destroy the evil Team Rocket. All he wants to do is play with his pokemon and get away from his mean uncle and weird cousin, but destiny calls.

21. The Hunt

Thank you for your patience waiting for this chapter! It's later than I expected because I spent days agonising over deciding certain details, but I'm fairly happy with it and hope you will be too.

Replies to reviewers without accounts:

Midiruu: Aah thank you! I've got cunning plans to get Ruby more involved in everything. At least for a chapter. As any PokeSpe fan knows, it takes a lot to get Ruby active, and I do take almost all aspects of my Ruby from Spe, so…

Meep: Thank you for so many reviews! I hope you don't mind me rolling my replies into one section. I'm so happy you like my fic so much, and that you enjoyed last chapter so much! I dunno if I'm the best Pokémon fic writer on this site but I'm happy to pretend to be :'D And I guess my writing's fun because I have fun doing it, and I read a lot of trashy (yet witty) young adult novels so that probably helps… Thanks again and I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's not as fun, but… um… lots of plot progression.

Tiffany: Aww thank you! :'D Your excitement at my story makes me excited to write it so thanks so much for sharing it! I hope this chapter's worth the wait.

Rainy: Fuckwit is one of my favourite words, and luckily it's extremely common where I live. Ah, well, Red being open with Green is the dream, but he's got a way to go yet.

Guest: My version of everything encourages queer couples and identities because I manage my constant distress at the lack of queer couples in mainstream media through my own writing. And my writing is better as a result of, not in spite of, this — it's pretty much the entire reason I ever started writing, actually, so… I'm happy you like it though c:

Hope you all enjoy the chapter!

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The Hunt

True to his promise, Oak had kept Red informed with what he'd found out about horcruxes. The receptacle hosting the horcrux had to be destroyed beyond physical and magical repair (news Oak delivered with a pale face and Red was too numb to care about), it was highly unlikely Giovanni would feel the destruction of any horcruxes, horcruxes were made stronger through attachment to a life-force (what did that make Red? He couldn't even think about it), a horcrux that became too powerful could possess humans who became emotionally invested in it (so that explained Yellow), a horcrux that has not had contact with a living creature would be weak and less capable of defending itself. Apparently they would try defending themselves if they could.

None of it sounded particularly good, but it was Giovanni.

Oak also tried to explain how to find horcruxes, but he clearly didn't know himself.

"You'll be able to feel a dark magical aura," he said.

"Does that mean people —"

"No," Oak interrupted before Red could even finish asking. "You don't have a dark magical aura because your own goodness cancels it out."

That sounded pretty bullshit to Red.

"I didn't feel one with the diary," Red pointed out.

"You were twelve, and if I remember correctly, not very interested in magic," Oak replied. "But now you're more experienced…"

"What if I can't?" Red asked. "How else can I tell? Sensory spells?"

"I have no doubt it would be protected against most Sensory spells, but perhaps not ones to detect magic itself," Oak said. "However, it's extremely difficult to get a meaningful reading from such spells."

Oak was so fixated on his bullshit You'll Know It When You See It theory that Red had to look up the spells himself. They were complicated, and rambly, but Red needed to do it, so he'd find a way to do it. He took advantage of all the wizards hanging around Pallet and practiced the spell a few times around the town with varying results. Red honestly didn't know what to expect if he did do the spell right, but usually his wand would jerk to point in a specific direction, and he'd feel a strange tingle down his spine. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, just strange. Maybe it'd be unpleasant if the magic was evil?

Probably the most useful of Oak's theories was that Giovanni would hide his horcruxes in places he cared to remember.

"He's not sentimental," Red said as soon as Oak gave his theory. "He'd just hide them places people wouldn't find them."

"But he would also need to be able to locate them in case he felt the need to check on them or relocate them," Oak replied. "I do think he would choose places that are difficult to reach, and even more difficult to search, but they would be places of some value to him for whatever reason."

At first, trying and think like Giovanni pissed Red off, but he found it was pretty easy if he turned off all positive emotions. Giovanni would want a place that was difficult to reach, all the better if he was taking advantage of some social taboo in the process (thus potentially humiliating his enemies), somewhere well-protected, difficult to search, somewhat dangerous… so somewhere like Hogwarts. Or, better, the Forbidden Forest.

"There's a possibility," Oak said when Red suggested it. "I like to think that I would've noticed a horcrux in my school, but I'll admit I don't go into the forest myself and there are places inside the castle even I can't access."

"I'll search the forest," Red said. "And I'll check the Chamber of Secrets again when I'm done."

Oak clearly didn't like the idea, but he didn't refuse. He even begrudgingly admitted they'd cover more ground and save more time if Red searched the school grounds while he, Oak, was searching the city of Viridian. He only told Red to be extremely careful.

So on September 2nd, the first thing Red did was visit Brock. Brock looked surprised (or as surprised as someone can with their eyes closed) and said, "Been a while, Red."

"Few months," Red agreed. "Got hard to leave the castle with Cyrus around."

"I know what you mean, got hard to go in, too."

"I thought you just preferred your own cooking."

"That's true, but I never like to miss a par-tay," Brock said, grinning widely.

No matter what happened in the world, it was good to know Brock would always be a loser.

"Anyway, you wanna come in?"

Red nodded.

Two hours later, Red left with a map of the Forbidden Forest. It was enormous, charting every nook and cranny of the forest with notes about the creatures to watch out for. Red was very surprised to find there were centaurs in the forest, their territory towards the centre marked as extremely dangerous and best not to approach ever. There were also herds of extremely rare and dangerous pokémon, like hydreigon.

Red usually didn't go very deep in; the pokémon around the thinner areas of forest were tough enough to give his pokémon the tough-but-not-too-tough battles they wanted. So he wasn't too surprised to find from the map alone just how much he didn't know about the forest. It'd take weeks to do even a quick search, and months to do a thorough one. He'd probably have to cast the magic identifying spell on every inch of the place, and he'd have to do it all between classes, with only the vaguest hints of how to find a horcrux, and avoiding involving his friends and boyfriend all the while.

It was pretty easy to sneak away, what with Green stubbornly enduring the Slytherin dorms and Gold not even noticing Red existed any more. Red kept reminding himself that both of those things were for the best, but it still made him bitter. He wanted to constantly hoard as much of their love and affection as he could get, because he would be dying soon. Maybe a year soon, maybe two, hopefully not more than three. Giovanni could definitely take over the world within three years.

It wasn't easy dealing the centaur. Red managed to avoid detection until the first time it snowed. He'd never thought snow would betray him, until he turned to leave the forest and found a herd of five centaur aiming arrows at him.

"For what purpose are you invading our land, human?"

Red looked up at the brown centaur who'd asked, meeting its golden eyes, and trying really hard not to stare at the horn on its head. "I didn't know this was your land. I thought your land was further in."

"Typical ignorant arrogant humans," the black one growled. "This entire forest is ours!"

"I'm trying to find something that'll help destroy Giovanni," Red added, resisting the urge to say it louder. It wasn't like he had any chance of threatening five centaurs all pointing arrows in his face. "If I'd known this was your land, I'd've asked if I could look. I don't know why nobody told me."

"Your ignorance is not our problem," the black one snapped.

The white one started to say, "I doubt the human was trying to suggest —"

"Mars says shut the fuck up Firenze."

"The human is certainly old enough to be held accountable," the brown one said. "His ignorance betrays the true depth of his kin's crime."

Red didn't know what to say to that, so he didn't say anything.

"Human, were you also unaware of your Ministry's restrictions on our access to our own land?" the brown one hissed. "Were you unaware that your Ministry has attempted to steal our land several feet per a year for the past half-century?"

Red blinked in surprise. "I didn't know. You'd think they'd tell us more about you, since our school's right next to your forest."

"Yes, you would," the black one said. "But humans think of nothing but themselves."

Red couldn't really argue with that, so he didn't. "I don't mind if you wanna kill me," Red said. "I mean. I mind, but I'd understand. I am trespassing, even if I didn't know."

"We are in no rush to spill blood on our forest," the brown centaur said. "You say you are looking for something. What in our forest do you believe would have anything to do with Giovanni?"

"I think he left something in the forest, back when he was a Hogwarts student," Red replied. "Though I guess you could say I have something to do with him, since we're both human and um… other… stuff…"

The centaurs eyed him suspiciously.

"What is your name, human?" the brown one asked.

"Red Potter."

They immediately lowered their bows. Red was a little disappointed.

"You are an unusual human, Red Potter," the brown centaur said. "I can now understand why the stars speak of you so."

"What do they say about me?" Red asked.

"We do not share our wisdom with humans," the centaur said. "All you need know is that you have our blessing to seek whatever it is you seek in this forest."

"Thank you," Red said. "And, er, sorry I asked. About your wisdom."

"Curiosity is the trait of youth, not humans," the centaur replied. "We have our own problems with the matter."

"Yeah, Firenze," the black one sneered.

"Can I do anything to repay you?" Red asked quickly. "I just. I'm very grateful that you're doing me this favour, so…"

"You have influence on other humans, do you not? Including your Minister for Magic?"

"I, um, know him," Red replied.

"Which is more courtesy he has extended to you than to any of us," the brown centaur snorted. "You humans are sickening. But if you would be able to inform him of his crime on our behalf, and demand he speaks to us…"

"I can do that," Red said.

"Then we will leave you be," the brown centaur said, starting to turn away.

"Thank you, I'll try not to bother you," Red promised.

They left without another word to Red.

Since Green was in the common room that night (while Gold was not, yet again, which was good, Red reminded himself, he was winning over Silver) Red decided to ask him, Black and N about centaurs.

"Did you know the Ministry's stolen land from the centaurs in the forest?"

"You've been talking to them?" Green asked, alarmed.

"They only tried to kill me once," Red reassured him. "Did you know about that, though?"

"I heard they kept killing people so the British Ministry started restricting their access to the castle," Black said awkwardly. "But, um…"

"They only tried to kill me because I was in their forest without their permission," Red said. "Seems fair to me."

"You don't exactly have a normal perspective on the world," Black retorted.

"No kidding," Green muttered.

Red frowned. "What's the normal perspective, then?"

"Something horrible, no doubt," N said. "And no doubt the Susekidou Ministry has restricted the land they can access even more since then."

"Yeah, I remember my dad whining about how detrimental to a safe and secure environment centaurs are," Green said. "And if they tried to kill you…"

"It's not a big deal," Red insisted.

"Can you take anything seriously?" Green snapped.

"I am, that's why I'm asking."

"I mean about you almost dying!"

Red shrugged. "Haven't you gotten used to it yet?"

"No, and you shouldn't either!" Green said. "Why do you do this?! They tried to kill you and you're thinking about helping them?!"

"They were just defending —"

"It doesn't matter if they tried to kill you!"

Red looked helplessly at Black and N.

"He's got a point," Black said. "You should probably stay away from the forest."

"But they need help —"

"You shouldn't try to save them," N said. "They're capable of fighting their own battles."

"They asked —"

"Stay away from the forest," Green said firmly. "And you'd better start taking death more seriously, you loser."

Green grabbed a pillow from behind N, threw it at Red, and stormed off.

"They asked me to help," Red insisted. "And they didn't actually —"

"Red, stop it," Black said. "You can't save everybody."

"And not everybody wants you to," N added.

Red wished he knew how to tell them this was different, or make Green think about somebody other than them, or that it was as simple as talking to Elm about it. He wished Gold was there, because Gold would listen, Gold wouldn't just assume Red was fixated on helping them for any reason other than they needed it, and he wouldn't get too caught up on a little arrow pointing to actually bother thinking about the centaurs. But Gold was off with Silver, probably trying to make Silver realise they were soul mates, just like Gold said when he was pretending Silver hadn't just watched Steven die.

Red couldn't stand by and just watch the centaurs get everything taken from them. Plus, it'd been a condition that he talk to Elm. Red just didn't know how to get in contact, and Oak wasn't around to ask, and clearly Green wouldn't be telling him.

So Red took to sneaking off to the forest, lying about checking the dungeons. The centaurs didn't bother him as he walked around the forest slowly, feeling kind of stupid as he tried to sense the horcrux and a little relieved when the spells didn't uncover anything. Sometimes he saw the centaurs (particularly the white one apparently called Firenze) watching him, but usually he just felt a prickling sensation like he might be being watched. Red wished he'd been able to ask if they might know anything, but he didn't want to tell them about horcruxes and he didn't want to risk asking after more of their wisdom. He had no idea how much wisdom they had, but he definitely knew it involved high quality bows and arrows.

After about two weeks (by which time Red was a bit less concerned with bows and arrows due to Gold's increasing habit of not returning to Gryffindor Tower at night and Green's of avoiding Gryffindors in general) Firenze did walk out to speak to him. Red almost didn't see him due to the snow, but it was kind of hard to miss a three metre tall half-rapidash, half-human. (He made a mental note never to actually call a centaur that to their faces. It was probably rude.)

"Have you found what you seek?" Firenze asked.

"Um, no," Red said nervously. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No," Firenze said quickly. "I am only being curious."

"It mightn't be here," Red admitted. "But it might be."

"Mars has been growing brighter these past few years," Firenze replied, like that answered all Red's problems. "But Venus remains the brightest light to guide those who seek."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Red said.

"Humans rarely do," Firenze replied. "It is a curious quirk of your kind. You see all that we see, yet you do not see at all. Bane would say you are blinded by gazing internally, but I am not sure that is so. It may be that you all simply do not understand. Perhaps your lives are too short to gain any comprehension."

"That might be it?" Red replied, uncertain. "I kinda feel like that?"

"What do they teach you of the stars?" Firenze asked.

"How to recognise them." He struggled to think back to Divination classes. "And that what planet's doing what to your star-sign impacts… stuff…"

"The usual self-flattering nonsense your kind attempts to pass off as Divination, then," Firenze concluded. "I'd hoped for some more enlightened changes in recent years."

Red shrugged. "To be honest, I don't pay too much attention in class."

"The wisdom of elders is important," Firenze said, "but it is equally as important to be critical of what they teach."

"It's hard to know what to think," Red said awkwardly. "Except that Giovanni sucks."

"Sucks," Firenze repeated. "I see. Is this linked to what he is doing with our forest?"

"He's not doing anything with your forest," Red replied quickly. "I think he hid something when he was a student here. Something that could be used to stop him."

"Very few students come near our forest," Firenze said. "There were more before this land was taken from Scotland."

"I think he was here after that."

Firenze looked away, ears twitching slightly. "I must leave."

"Uh, okay, goodbye then."

It was a pretty weird conversation, but Red quickly went back to focusing on covering as much ground as he could before the sun went down. He'd already searched the entire forest, and hadn't found anything more remarkable than five metre ariados Snor and Pika enjoyed fighting. It seemed a bit underrated for a forest called 'forbidden', and Red didn't think it was called that because of the centaurs.

Two days later, Firenze came up to him again, immediately asking, "Are you any closer to finding what you seek?"

"I think so," Red replied. "I've been pretty much everywhere, I think."

"Perhaps if you told me about it I could help," Firenze said.

"I don't know myself," Red admitted. "All I know is that Giovanni left some Dark objects around and there's a high chance at least one of them could be the key to destroying him for good. I could've passed it and not noticed it, I dunno what kind of spells he's protecting it with. All I've got to go off is 'you'll know it when you see it'."

"An astoundingly large piece of information," Firenze said. He sounded completely sincere. "It is better than needing to verify everything it could be through magical means. The eye is far more difficult to fool, Red Potter. That is where you humans go so wrong."

Red stared, stunned. "Oh. I guess you're right."

"Now that is something rarely heard in these woods," Firenze said.

"I don't think it's in your forest," Red said. "But I should still check —"

"You should trust your instincts," Firenze replied. "Those who are Blessed will be led down the right path by instinct."

Red couldn't think what to say.

"And Magorian will not commence our Yuletide Gazing until you have left the forest for good," Firenze added in a far less mystical tone. "As it is almost Yule, it is in all our best interests that you conclude your search as soon as possible."

"Thanks," Red said, more out of habit than sincerity. "I guess I've been all over the forest and nothing stood out to me as um... evil."

"Then you have your answer," Firenze concluded. "And I am certain we would have noticed an object of human evil within our forest."

"Yeah," Red said. "I thought you would've, but it's pretty Dark magi—"

"We are fully capable of communication with you, when you choose to listen," Firenze said. "You have learnt, but your kin…"

Red nodded. "Thanks for everything, especially your patience and forgiveness. And um... I'll definitely ask the Ministry why you're being confined to such a small part of this enormous island. It's the least I can do."

"You are very wise, Red Potter." Firenze said. "For a human."

Red knew he was being mocked, but he didn't really care. He was wasting everybody's time and only making the centaurs uncomfortable. Plus it was almost Christmas break and Green promised to spend the entire time in Gryffindor Tower. Red hadn't asked him if he was gonna sleep in his bed yet, but he was going to, when Green was a bit less twitchy.

Red went from the Forest straight to Oak's office and was relieved to find the old man actually there, offering a strained smile as he greeted Red.

"I'm afraid I haven't found anything helpful yet," he said. "How is your search going?"

"I just finished checking the forest," Red replied. "I didn't find anything, except how pissed off the centaurs are that we're stealing their land."

"Ah, well…"

"Did you know about that?" Red asked.

"I knew there have been restrictions placed on them, yes," Oak said. "I hope you weren't in any danger because of it."

Red shrugged. "I promised I'd talk to the Minister for Magic about it, to start repaying them for letting me look there. I don't really know how to contact Elm though —"

"Oh, Elm isn't the Minister any more," Oak said. "He was replaced in June."

"Whoever it is, then, I need to at least write them."

"I haven't met him yet myself, but if you write to the Ministry, Colress will most likely read it."

Red tried not to roll his eyes. He'd expected Oak to be more useful, but he didn't seem particularly sympathetic. "Well, I'll do that, then. Anyway, I was thinking about checking the Chamber of Secrets next."

"It would probably be far too cold this time of year," Oak said.

"Sir, I can handle a little cold."

"You already found Mewtwo in there. I doubt Giovanni would hide two very precious items, as he views them, in the same place," Oak replied. "Especially a place he cannot access."

Something about that sounded off to Red, but he didn't know what, so he didn't say anything.

"Perhaps Hogsmeade…?" Oak suggested.

"Perhaps," Red said. "Best to check, I guess."

So Red dug out his Invisibility Cloak, pulled it on and started searching Hogsmeade. The first few times there was a novelty factor in being the only student there, but it got boring quickly. The stores were boring without people he actually knew in them, storage rooms were boring in general, and the Shrieking Shack was just sad. Red didn't bother asking Green to check out Hogsmeade with him because he knew there was no way Giovanni would have even considered hiding a horcrux there, and he'd kind of used up favours convincing Green to sleep in his bed during Christmas break. He hadn't figured out what Green's problem was yet, but he'd managed to get Green to admit, "Father gave me some really weird ideas about some things, okay? Just shut up and let me deal with it."

"You don't have to deal with anything alone," Red told him.

Green snorted. "Yeah, right, hypocrite."

But whatever it was, Green got over it enough to let Red cling to him every night of winter break, which was more than Red had managed. He still couldn't even think of telling Green 'By the way, I'm a horcrux and I've got to die soon' without freaking out.

After Hogsmeade, Oak suggested the cliffs around the island. It sounded even less likely to Red: what kind of person would hide a part of their soul in some cave on a cliff? Still, he looked. It was better to be safe than sorry, and it was way better than hearing Gold agonising about what to get Silver for Valentine's Day. That was the kind of things real couples worried about, Red thought, but he knew if he asked, Green'd say he didn't care about Valentine's Day, but he would care. Especially with Gold carrying on so much. By February 12th, Green was getting so snappy with Gold it was impossible to believe he'd forgive Red for not doing something. But Red didn't know what to do. Green didn't really like anything — he didn't even like chocolate.

"What do you get people other than chocolate for Valentine's Day?" Red asked Gold.

"Flowers," Gold immediately said. "Uhm. But for Green, I dunno — science books?"

It was too late to get those, so Red skipped classes on Valentine's Day and spent the whole day climbing the cliffs. By the time he scrambled back up over the cliffs, the sun was down and his arms ached so much he could barely move them. Unfortunately, he'd climbed up near the Forest, so he had a long walk back to the school to avoid it. On the way, Red found a little growlithe puppy limping through the long grass. His first thought was helping it, obviously, and his second was 'Green would look good with a growlithe'.

"Would you like help?" Red asked it.

The growlithe looked at him sceptically. "How?"

"Um, if you lemme catch you, I'll take you to my friend who'll be able to help you."

The growlithe closed its eyes. "Okay."

Red didn't really have the upper-arm strength left to throw a PokéBall, so he kinda just rolled it along the ground to the growlithe and pressed the button. The growlithe disappeared inside, not fighting to escape. Red picked the Ball up, placed it on his belt, and hoped that'd be good enough to keep N from shouting at him. He knew N would still have plenty to say about giving pokémon like presents, but Green would be better at looking after it than Red. And if Red happened to scribble a heart on the top of the PokéBall with a permanent marker, well…

Predictably, Green was leaning against the castle wall when Red stumbled over. He ran forward and wrapped an arm around Red, under Red's arms.

"Are you crazy, you look like you're gonna collapse!" Green scolded. "Can't you do anything to look after your damn self?!"

"Nah, I'm the Chosen One," Red replied. "I found something."

"Seriously? One of those —?"

Red shook his head. "A pokémon. Growlithe. It's hurt." He pulled the PokéBall from his belt and handed it over. "I thought you'd be better at looking after it. So."

Green stared at it, jaw hanging. Red tried to hold out the PokéBall, couldn't quite manage to raise his arm enough, so Green took it. He stared at the heart on it, smirked at Red, then said, "Yeah, I would be, thanks. First though, I've gotta drag you back to your dorm, don't I?"

"That'd be nice."

As he helped Red up to the dorm, Green asked, "Aren't you done with these bloody cliffs yet?"

"No, there's a lot of them."

"Gramps seriously told you to check here?"

"Yep."

"He's going senile, isn't he," Green muttered. "They always say the best ones get it young."

Red shrugged. "After this, the only place I can think of is the Chamber of Secrets."

"Didn't you almost die there?"

Red nodded. "So'd Yellow."

Green huffed. "Well... well. Be careful."

"You could come with me," Red suggested. "Then you'll know I'm fine. And… I'll probably need your help even more then."

"Okay," Green sighed. "Since you asked so nicely and all."

Red smiled.

"By the way," Green said, "have you tried using Aero? With the cliff search?"

Red hadn't even thought of that.

Thanks to Green's brilliance an Aero's excited assistance, searching the cliffs became much easier. Aero was easily big enough to carry Red and Pika now, but often much too big to fit in the caves along the cliffs. It didn't save time, but it saved Red's arms a bit of effort. They weren't done until late May, by which point only the now-healthy and very energetic Growlithe could distract Green from exam revision without getting snapped at. Red thought potentially finding a horcrux was worth the risk, though.

"I was gonna go check the Chamber, if you're still interested," Red told him at breakfast the next morning, before Green could get into studying.

"We've got class," Green scoffed.

Red shrugged.

Green rolled his eyes. "Oh, fine. Let's go."

Green muttered a few complaints when Red led him to the girls' bathroom but he quickly shut up when Red whispered to the sink and it sunk to reveal the entrance.

"That looks really slimy," he said.

"It is," Red replied. He clutched Pika to his chest. "C'mon."

Red slid down the tunnel first, throwing out a hand to slow him as he reached the end so he didn't end up falling in a pile of bones this time. Green wasn't so lucky. Red probably should have warned him — he did scream a lot at the bones.

"C'mon," Red said, pulling him to his feet. "It's this way."

He pulled out his wand, lit the tip and led the way. Pika perched hyper-alert on Red's shoulder; Green followed a few steps behind. Red tried to ignore the shivers going down his spine with every step. They got worse the closer he got to the Chamber proper, and he couldn't help wondering if this was what Oak had meant by sensing a horcrux. It could just have easily been trauma, or whatever, and Red wouldn't know.

"What's with all the rocks?" Green asked.

"There was a cave-in when Eusine's wand backfired," Red replied. "N cleared the way a bit, though, don't worry."

"Oh, great, yeah, that was my biggest concern," Green muttered.

Sometimes Red almost forgot what a spoilt rich kid Green was, then he started sulking about barely risking his life to help other people. Red was positive there'd be a horcrux in the Chamber. Where better to hide one, if not all of them, than a place Giovanni thought only he could access?

Pika leapt down from Red's shoulder to climb over the rocks first, which made it a lot easier for Red; they were far slipperier than he'd remembered, and the ankle-deep water flooding the Chamber didn't help. Red stopped before the Chamber entrance to hold his wand out so Green'd be able to see better.

"Chivalry should stay dead, Gryffindork," Green whispered when he joined Red.

"C'mon," Red said, jerking his head after Pika. "It's just through here."

They followed Pika towards the dimly lit Chamber. Pika suddenly tensed, sparks forming in his cheeks.

"What's wrong?" Red asked.

Pika didn't answer, just pointed ahead. Red squinted, but it was too dark to see. He took a few steps forward carefully, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Green was following.

"What now?" Green groaned.

"It's here," Pika said.

"Something's here," Red translated. "I don't know what?"

"That pokémon," Pika clarified.

"What pokém—?"

Green suddenly pulled Red down to the ground, just ducking a black energy ball crackling with purple lightning. Red quickly looked up again, watching as a large, white and purple vaguely feline pokémon stepped out from the shadows, wearing a cape.

"Mewtwo," Red gasped, jumping back to his feet. Green quickly stood beside him, knuckles white on his wand.

"You again," Mewtwo said.

"Hi," Red replied quickly. He grabbed Green's hand behind their backs. "Um, thanks again for last time?"

"What do you want?" Mewtwo demanded. "I owe you nothing any more."

"Didn't Red save you from Giovanni?" Green asked, scowling.

"And Mewtwo saved me from Rockets, we're even," Red replied. At least in Mewtwo's eyes they were, but Red couldn't stop thinking about Ash.

Mewtwo looked at Green with narrowed eyes.

"Uh, I didn't know you were here," Red said quickly. "I'm checking if Giovanni hid anything else here."

"Then you are also aware of his fragmented soul," Mewtwo concluded, turning his gaze to Red.

Red nodded.

"Are you aware of how to destroy the objects he has concealed them in?"

Red shook his head. "I think Professor Oak is, though."

"Of course he is, Gramps knows everything," Green muttered irritably.

"Then I will allow you to find it," Mewtwo said.

"Thank you," Red said, tightening his hand around Green's. "Do you know anything about the others?"

"Not in manners that would concern a human."

With that, Mewtwo disappeared. Red was glad. Pika climbed back up onto Red's shoulder and patted him on the cheek.

"What the hell?" Green demanded. "Is it always that fucking annoying? And how does it talk without moving its mouth?"

"Psychic powers," Red replied. "Mewtwo just kinda hates people."

Green sighed irritable. "We'd better go tell Gramps about that damn horcrux."

"No, we should find it," Red said.

"It's not going anywhere, and you just said you dunno how to get rid of it."

"So we'll find it and take it to him."

Green pulled his hand away from Red's. "Get real, imagine the spells Giovanni's protecting it with! And you can't even do non-verbal spells yet, dammit!"

Red stared up at the enormous statue of Salazar Slytherin. "I bet it's up there."

"Are you listening to me?!"

"That's where Mewtwo was, and he was probably using Mewtwo to protect it," Red continued. "He made Mewtwo to be the most powerful pokémon of all time, and only people who can speak to pokémon and know the password can get in this Chamber, so why would he need any other protection?"

"Because it's a bit of his soul?!"

Red walked towards the statue.

"Red, dammit…!"

Pulling Aero's PokéBall from his belt, Red threw it. Aero roared as he flew a couple of laps around the Chamber before landing next to Red. Last time they'd been in the Chamber, Aero was barely as tall as him. Now, Aero dwarfed him. Red found that even more unreal than Mewtwo's dorky cape.

"You coming?" Red asked.

Green growled in frustration before nodding.

Red turned to Aero. "Can you take us up to the statue? Near the mouth?"

Aero roared approvingly.

They climbed onto Aero's back and flew up to the statue. Red pulled Pika off his shoulder, handed him to Green, and jumped down onto the statue's nose.

"You all stay there, okay?" he called to them. "I dunno what's gonna happen."

"Fine, if it makes it easier," Green shouted back. "But don't die!"

Red thought back to what the horcrux had said to make the statue open its mouth. It hadn't been anything long or melodramatic; he'd've remembered that in a heartbeat. Red gripped the grooves in the statue's nose tightly as he loudly said, "Come out."

The statue shook slightly as the mouth opened. Red carefully slid down into it. It was pitch black, but a surprisingly large space; nearly the size of his dorm room. Red pulled out his wand, muttered "Lumos" and held it out as he walked further in. Green was shouting something, but Red couldn't hear him over the pounding of his heart. A few steps ahead, there stood a stone pedestal. On top of it, there was something small and shiny. Red walked over, scar tingling more and more with each step, and picked it up.

Around him, the statue started to shake.

"Oh, fuck," Red groaned.

Red ran as fast as he could back to the mouth. Stones crashed around him, behind him. Without pausing to check where Green and Aero even were, Red jumped from the mouth. He fell quickly, holding the horcrux tightly, thinking it'd be really painful to die like this but Green wouldn't let him die, Aero wouldn't let him die, Green'd shout at him and Aero'd find it kinda fun…

Red landed on Aero's back with a thump that was bound to hurt both of them.

"Are you fucking INSANE?!" Green shouted at him.

"Uh… yeah," Red replied slowly and clearly. He looked back at the statue, watching it fall to pieces, as Aero landed on the opposite side of the Chamber.

Red rolled off Aero's back, dropping the horcrux. He was shaking a lot, considering how calm he felt.

"That's it?" Green said, scooping up the little horcrux.

Red nodded.

Green threw it at him. Red caught it in his hand. "I hope that was worth it, fucking hell."

"'Course it was," Red replied. He turned it over in his hand. It was light and dark green, just as he'd thought, and shaped a little like a leaf, or a tree. "Hey, does this look familiar to you?"

Green brought his wand closer, and in the light, Red recognised it.

"It's the Earth Badge," he realised.

"The what?"

"One of the Kanto League Gym Badges. The Viridian City one."

"Seriously? Why the hell would Giovanni put his soul in a muggle thing like that?"

Red clenched his fist around it. "I dunno."

"Whatever, let's get out of here already," Green said. "That thing creeps me out."

Red clenched it tightly the entire way to Oak's office. He didn't know why he couldn't put it away, or even loosen his grip, but he couldn't, even when it meant risking falling off Aero or dropping Green. He swore it was beating against his hand, like a pulse, that it was trying to talking to him…

Green pulled Red into the office, dropped his arm and shouted "Gramps, we got it!" as he walked towards Oak's empty desk. Oak quickly down from the tower, looking them both over.

"He hid it with Mewtwo, but there wasn't any protective magic, so it was pretty easy," Green said. "Except the statue fell apart when Red grabbed it."

"That sounds like protective magic to me," Oak replied. "Well done all the same. Where is it?"

Red looked down at his fist.

"C'mon loser, get over here and show it to Gramps," Green said forcefully.

Red swallowed, walking over quickly. It took all his effort to uncurl his fist and put the horcrux on Oak's desk. Oak walked over, picked it up and examined it.

"It's the Earth Badge," Red said.

"So it is," Oak replied.

"You said Team Rocket was started in Viridian, right? By his muggle mother?" Red frowned. "And Giovanni was a Trainer for a while, wasn't he? Did he really gather the badges and care enough to make one into a horcrux?"

"I heard rumours that he was the leader of the Viridian Gym for a brief period, and was dismissed by the Champion," Oak replied. "I guess they were true."

"Who cares? Let's just destroy it and get this over with," Green said loudly.

"If we can figure out why Giovanni used this as a container for his soul it'll make finding the other four easier," Oak explained.

"Wait, four?" Green stared at Red in confusion. "You've found another one?"

"The diary," Red replied.

"Yeah, that'd leave five."

Red could feel Oak's eyes on him. "We know what another one is. We dunno what the other four are. So. Focusing on that now."

"But —"

"Why would he've wanted to be Gym Leader?" Red asked.

"It could've been part of some evil scheme," Green suggested. "Except it clearly failed. Like he always does."

Something clicked in Red's mind. "He took a failure and turned it into a success."

Oak was still staring at the badge.

"Shit, yeah, and he was gonna turn Silver into one too, wasn't he?" Green realised. "And look at how much of a failure Silver is!"

"Symbols of his failure, not the actual failures themselves," Red clarified.

"Boys," Oak said sternly.

"Gramps, c'mon, we mean from a Rocket's point-of-view, from everybody else's that's not that much of a failure," Green sighed, rolling his eyes at Red.

"Silver probably knows something that'll help us find the others," Red said.

"I don't doubt that," Oak said.

"What about that one?" Red said, gesturing at it. "How do we destroy them?"

"Their container has to be destroyed beyond magical and physical repair, right Gramps?" Green said.

Red felt nauseous. How much would he have to destroy his body?

"For this one, fire should probably be enough," Oak said. "It doesn't appear to have many enchantments on it. I suspect Giovanni believed the Chamber of Secrets would be protection enough."

Red nodded.

"Let's destroy it then," Green said eagerly. "The sooner we can get rid of them all the better, right?"

"Right," Red choked out. He nodded at Oak. "G-go on, then?"

"I'm not going to do it at my desk in the middle of a school full of children," Oak replied. "Let's take this outside."

Red walked quickly from Oak's office. As he walked through the corridor several steps ahead of Green and Oak, he drew in deep breaths. They didn't calm him down. Neither did Pika patting his cheek reassuringly. It didn't matter, as long as he could appear composed when they caught up to him, it'd be fine. He used to be good at that as a kid, but he sucked at it as a teenager. Maybe because nobody had actually cared when he was a kid, so emotions had been a waste of time, and he'd shut them off. Then Brock had to come along and make him feel again.

Oak decided a spot about half a kilometre away from Brock's hut and near the edge of the island was appropriate. He placed the badge on a stone, had them back away several metres, then wordlessly sent a burst of flames at the badge. The badge started screaming. Green jumped at the sound, grabbing tightly onto Red's arm. Pika jumped from Red's shoulder the same moment. Red kept his eyes fixed on the screaming horcrux until a large crack formed across it and dark liquid oozed from it, onto the rock. Oak withdrew his wand, the flames disappeared, and the screaming stopped.

Green quickly let go of Red and stood up straight. "That was easier than it sounded."

"It took a year to find it, that's not easy," Red snapped. "And it would've been much harder to destroy if Mewtwo had still been there and under Giovanni's control, and if Giovanni had bothered to cast protective spells on it, and if it hadn't been Professor Oak doing it!"

Green stared at him in horror. "Calm down, I just meant —"

"I don't care!" Red shouted. "The sooner this is over, the better! Don't you ever forget that!"

Red ran away as quickly as he could. He couldn't stand to look at Green, not with how scared Green had gotten from a badge screaming. How was he going to handle finding out Red was one? And how was he going to handle even talking to Red after that outburst? And he'd left Pika behind.

Red collapsed on the stairs to Gryffindor Tower, burying his face in his hands. He couldn't help hoping that Green wouldn't talk to him again, or even come near him again. But even if Green did hate Red again, he wouldn't stay away. He'd never stayed away.

Pika ran up to Red a few moment later. He glared at Red, but didn't electrocute him. "Never leave me behind with him again," Pika ordered.

"Got it. Sorry."

"Fireplace. Now."

Red stood up and walked the rest of the way to Gryffindor Tower. He gave the password, climbed inside and sat down by the fireplace. Pika jumped down from his shoulder and sat in his lap, watching the flames with a bit too much glee for an Electric-Type.

"Hey, what's up?" Black's voice asked.

Red glanced up at him. N wasn't with him. That kinda made him feel worse. "I wanna drop out of school."

"Oh." Black sat down beside him. "Well. Duh."

"Duh?" Red repeated, stunned.

"Obviously you were gonna decide that after you ran out of places to look," Black said. "But you know, Susekidou's a big place. It'd be easier if you had people helping."

"I can't ask you to do that," Red muttered.

"You're not, I'm offering," Black said. "I mean. Hogwarts isn't going anywhere. We can always come back and finish later, when people aren't dying."

"You're so much smarter than Green."

Black snorted. "Well, duh."

"We found one of them in the Chamber," Red said quietly. "And Oak destroyed it already. All he had to do was set it on fire. So Green started acting like it was easy…"

"What was it?" Black asked.

"Gym Badge."

Black frowned. "Um, those little badges muggles give out to some Trainers…?"

Red nodded.

"How would you even protect one of those from fire," Black wondered. "He wouldn't — don't they come in sets? He wouldn't put his —?"

"No," Red agreed. "They'd be other things."

"I've been thinking about it for a while, and I haven't run this by any of the others, I dunno if they'd even wanna do it, but I think I know how we can go all over the country without being found out," Black said. "It's actually really simple, but we'd —"

"We should probably talk about it with the others, all together," Red interrupted. "I'm kinda. Tired. Right now. Is all."

"Oh. Right." Black sounded a little disappointed. "Of course. That'll be for the best. You should go to bed, if you want, and when Green turns up I'll send him away."

Red nodded. "Thanks." Pika jumped from his lap as he stood up, curling up in front of the fire. Red left him there and went up to the dorms. He was tired, but he couldn't sleep. He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the others scurrying in and out of the room and the muffled noise from the common room, as the hours went by. He must've fallen asleep at some point, because one moment he was reliving the horcrux's screaming and the next he was sitting up breathing heavily with Pika by his pillow.

"Whaaat," Pika groaned.

"Nothing," Red replied quietly. "Sorry."

How could something with no a mouth scream anyway?

Green was waiting in the common room next morning. Gold gave Red a warning, with a side of "I have no idea why you're angry at him or why he's angry at you but he already stole your Invisibility Cloak so I dunno how you'd sneak past him, sorry bro." Green glared at Red as he walked down the stairs.

"What the hell was that?" Green demanded.

"You pissed me off," Red replied.

"All I meant was —"

"I said I don't care."

Green growled. "You're unbelievable! Shouldn't you be happy?"

Yes. "Don't tell me how to feel."

"Hey, can you two please stop arguing in the middle of the common room before you say something you shouldn't in front of the entire house?" Black called, sounding very tired.

"Yeah," Red said, glaring back at Green. "I need to talk to Professor Oak anyway."

"Oh, great, more of you two scheming behind my back," Green spat.

"Actually, you should come too," Red replied through gritted teeth. "Black, you too. And N. And Gold. And I guess Silver."

Green suddenly looked worried. "What's going —"

Red turned away. "You'll find out."

He heard Green muttering irritably as he turned away and started towards the portrait hole.

"I think Gold's at Ravenclaw Tower with Silver," Black called. "Go get him while I get N?"

"Uh-huh," Red called back.

He used most of the walk there to breathe deeply and wonder what the hell was wrong with him. He'd never actually been to Ravenclaw Tower, but he knew vaguely where it was and that there'd probably be a few Ravenclaws emerging to actually go to class. Luckily, the fifth group of Ravenclaws he noticed walking towards him included Silver and Crys, with Gold walking between them laughing. Red felt bad dragging him away from happiness, but Gold spotted him almost immediately and ran over. Red hated how quickly the happiness faded from Gold's face at the sight of him.

"What's up, bro?" he asked.

Red glanced hesitantly at Crystal and Silver before replying, "I have to see Oak, and erm, the others are coming too, so… if you want…"

"Yeah, of course," Gold said. "Can Silv —?"

"That'd be best."

"Okay." Gold dragged Red back over to Silver and Crystal. "C'mon Silv, it's world-saving time."

"We've got Transfiguration in half an hour," Crystal said. "If you're not there I'm showing everybody your Proteam Omega t-shirt."

"No you're not," Silver replied.

Red explained what had happened with the horcrux on the way. He watched Silver's face closely, but it didn't reveal much.

"— and I'm gonna leave school to find the others," Red concluded.

"Seriously?" Gold gasped. "Right now?"

Red nodded.

"Well, shit," Gold said.

They met the others by the stone gargoyle blocking the stairs to Oak's office. Green still looked sulky, so Red quickly averted his gaze. He gave the password and led the way up to Oak's office.

"Good morning, boys," Oak said. "I was expecting you'd all come to see me today."

"I wanna drop out of school," Red announced.

"What the HELL Red?!" Green shouted.

"I'm not gonna find any more horcruxes here," Red told him, "so there's no reason for me to be here any more."

"What about education or safety, huh?" Green snapped.

"I can't take five more years," Red said firmly. "It'd be six if I came back here after summer, and there's nowhere on this entire island I haven't searched. I've gotta go out there and find the others as soon as I can, to y'know, save lives."

"Well, we can't just leave," Green replied. "We've got exams in four weeks, and we haven't graduated and —"

"You can stay," Red said loudly. "I can't."

Green stared with his mouth hanging. Then he stomped a foot, turned to Oak and shouted "GRAMPS!"

"I think Red's right," Oak said. "It isn't fair, and he should finish his education first, but under current circumstances, Red's right."

"Why does he have to do it?!" Green shouted. "What use is the Order if —"

"I want to do this," Red interrupted. "I want to watch every single piece of his soul being destroyed."

Green bit his lip. Probably to keep from cussing Red out in front of his grandpa.

"That's great and all, but if you do suddenly drop out of school Giovanni might start actually paying attention to you," Silver said.

"I have a plan for that," Black cut in quietly. "But it'd take a while to get everything ready."

Green rolled his eyes. Red forced himself to look at Black.

"What's your plan?" Oak asked, actually sounding like a teacher for once.

"We pretend to be Trainers," Black explained. "And obviously Red'd have to go for more of a disguise. Gold too."

"He doesn't have a clue what Gold actually looks like," Silver muttered.

"I'm still all for that," Gold said. "My little bro's a genius."

"Yes, that would work very well," Oak said. "But it would take several weeks to prepare, depending on how many of you will be accompanying Red."

"Obviously all of us!" Gold said. "Right, guys?!"

"No question about it," Black agreed.

"I've already been a Trainer," N reminded them. "It's a good way to find things."

"Yes, Gold, stop elbowing me," Silver said.

Red tried not to look at Green, but he couldn't help it. He didn't want Green to come; he wanted Green to stay as far away from him as possible, but he didn't know if he could pull it off without Green either.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," Green said.

Red couldn't help smiling.

"But seriously, if we leave now it'd be bad," Green added quickly.

"Yeah, I said that," Silver muttered.

"Yes, you should finish this year, if not only to avoid raising Giovanni's suspicions, but to have longer to prepare yourselves," Oak said. "Some of you will have to do a great deal of research to pass as muggle Trainers."

"Fine," Red said.

"We should go start then, shouldn't we," Black said.

Red nodded. "Thank you for your time, Professor." Awkwardly, he added, "And… everybody else, too."

It turned out Black really had been thinking about this possibility for a long time. When they arrived back at the common room (all silently and unanimously willing to ignore that they were missing class yet again), Black pulled out a collection of books and brochures from the five regions of Susekidou about being a Pokémon Trainer.

"Damn, little bro," Gold said, flicking through the nearest book. "You gotta stop out-cooling me."

"Like that's hard," Silver said.

"It's not as useful as it looks," Black insisted. "Red, I know you wanna go as soon as possible, but it'd probably be good if we could talk to Ash again before we go."

Red blinked. He hadn't even thought about Ash. He definitely had to see Ash one last time. "Yeah. Okay."

Of course, Green dragged Red off when the others were properly engrossed in the books.

"What the hell's going on with you?" he asked. "Why're you so angry?"

Red stared at the ground. "I don't know."

"Something's changed, hasn't it," Green said.

This was it, Red thought. The perfect chance to tell Green, before he was committed to following Red around the country and throwing himself in danger.

Red drew in a deep breath and released it again. "I'm just tired of all this."

"So you take it out on me?"

Red shrugged. "I don't mean to. Sorry. I'll, I'll try not to."

Green stared at him in disbelief. He sighed and pulled Red against him, hugging him tightly. "Well, whatever, you've always been an idiot."

"That's not nice either," Red muttered. "And you keep calling me loser."

Green kissed his forehead, close to his scar. Red tightened his fists on Green's shirt, thinking that if love was as powerful as Oak said it should be enough to save him and keep Green safe.

While the rest of their year was revising for their exams, they were pouring over the books about being Trainers. Red wasn't used to being treated like an expert on any topic, but compared to Gold in particular, he really was. Answering questions took up all the reminding Red needed about being a Trainer, so he spent a long time reading about protective magic and the Dark Arts. He finally went through his mother's notes, but he didn't find anything helpful in there. What good was exploring creation mythology when everything in Red's life was about destroying? Red found himself way more interested in the love-letters she drafted to his dad. Usually she wrote them in Ancient Runes, and N had written careful translations of those too. Cynthia compulsively dated every thing she wrote, circling them in boxes so it was clear when every word was written. The little notebook held way more pages than it appeared to, probably because of some expansion magic, so it covered from her fifth year at Hogwarts to about a month before she died. She wrote Red's dad love letters the entire time. She wrote about Red too, but never in Runes. They were the messiest scribbles, his first words (boringly 'mama'), about his first steps (surprisingly early), his sleeping habits, how often he cried, even the first time she suspected she was pregnant with him and the names they'd considered. If he'd been a girl, they'd've called him Leaf, and Steven would've been his godfather instead of Alder. Cynthia underlined the name 'Leaf Stone' five times and circled it, right next to 'Red Fuery' given similar treatment. Red wasn't sure why he found it comforting, but he did.

Amazingly, as exams grew closer, Black didn't have a panic attack and suddenly swap his focus to them. In fact, he snorted at the very idea.

"They're not even real exams," he said. "They're just a formality so we don't forget how to do exams before our NEWTs."

"But what if you fail them?" N asked, tactless as ever.

"I don't care."

Green did, but Red didn't think it was so bad for Green to blow off studying how to be a Trainer. Sure, Green was pureblood and raised by a supremacist fuckwit, but he had been raising Eevee for years now. Plus Red had seen him working to maintain Oak's lab only a year ago.

"We have to at least go to the exams, and I'm not gonna fail anything," Green said. "Not that I'm even capable of that."

Red scribbled through the exams, thinking about a disguise. His scar would obviously have to be hidden completely, his eyes were too noticeable, and it'd probably help to change his hair. A fake name would be best, too. Red hadn't ever heard of anybody else with his name. Gold'd need a fake name too, especially if Silver was right and Giovanni only knew him by name, and Gold could probably actually think of a name to use.

Because it would completely defeat the purpose of disguises to talk about them in public, Red didn't get a good opportunity to raise the question of fake names until they were back in Pallet Town for the summer holidays and all gathered in his room.

"Not just you two," Black immediately reply. "I mean, you and Gold are obviously the highest concerns, but the rest of us are a little notorious too."

"So you've thought about it too?" Red asked.

"Yeah, I've already picked mine," Black said. "It wasn't that hard, actually."

"Is it what Mom wanted to call you?" Gold asked. "Is it Hilbert?"

"No!"

"Hey, Hilbert'd work really well as a fake name, I mean, who'd pick that."

"It's what my dad was gonna call me," Black said loudly. "You know, Touya?"

"So, by that logic, I'd have to go with Hibiki…?"

"If you want," Black replied. "N was thinking you should go for something a bit less obvious."

"How is Hibiki obvious?" Gold scoffed, looking over at N.

"You could be much less obvious if you disguised yourself as a girl," N replied. He looked over at Red. "You, more so."

Gold blanched. "As great as I'd look in a dress, I don't think —"

"I've noticed quite a few things about how female humans are treated over the years," N interrupted. "They're underestimated. Considered weak. Only regarded a threat due to sexual attraction. I don't understand the reasons why, nor exactly what it is like, but as nonsensical as it is, we can use it to our advantage not only to keep you and Red safe, but to keep all of us unnoticed as we leave this town."

"That's so…" Gold shuddered. "I don't feel right taking advantage of that."

"People who would assume based on gender deserve to have those assumptions used against them," N replied. "Just as Ghetsis did for believing it'd keep me from foiling his stupid plans."

"Think about it," Black said. "Nobody says you have to do it. If it makes you uncomfortable, it won't work anyway."

"You guys've really been thinking about this a lot," Gold said. "But what about pokémon?"

N glared at him. "You've already got one."

"I dunno if Eggy'd be any good for battles," Gold replied. "Plus, d'ya even know if Silv has any pokémon, huh?"

"No, but —"

"Cos he does, he has five even, which is almost a full party I know, so —"

"So you could always borrow some of his and spare more pokémon entrapment," N concluded.

"Not happening," Silver said. "They trust me, not him."

"You said before it's fine so long as people get the pokémon's permission first," Red pointed out. "Even the PokéBalls."

N grumbled to himself.

Red looked at Silver. "What're your pokémon?"

"Mostly from Kanto," Silver replied. "That's all that matters, isn't it?"

Red shrugged. "Just curious."

"That's the other thing," Black said quickly. "I think we should split up."

"Are you crazy or what?" Green hissed.

"Think about it, Trainers don't travel in big groups like this," Black said. "And we'll cover so much more ground more quickly if we're all in different regions."

"So like, you mean, travel in smaller groups?" Gold concluded.

"I dunno," Black admitted. "It might be safer to travel with at least someone else, but it'd definitely be faster if we're all alone, wouldn't it?"

"Depends how easily anyone of us'd recognise horcruxes," Silver said.

"Oak keeps saying I'll know them when I see them," Red said. "Something about a Dark aura."

"That probably just applies so you," N said. "For obvious reasons, re-mem-ber?"

Red glared at him. "If we try to figure out what they'll probably be before we split up, that should be enough, shouldn't it?"

"And if you teach us whatever Oak's taught you —"

"Basically nothing," Red interrupted. "Few detection spells. He's very big on the 'you'll know it when you see it' thing."

"What do you think they might be?" Black asked.

"Symbols of his failures," Red replied.

Predictably, Black pulled out some parchment and a quill and started writing on it. "So, there's seven horcruxes? The diary, the badge, and you know about one more…?"

Red nodded.

"So, what's that one?" Black asked. "If there's a pattern —"

Red shut his eyes tightly. "I don't. I don't… really know, I know Oak's handling it."

"That's putting a lot of faith in the old man," Silver said.

"You saying he's not worthy of it?" Green growled.

Red opened his eyes in time to see Silver rolling his. "You can be such a Hufflepuff."

"Oh, just shut up!"

"I'll just put down a question mark and cross it out too," Black hastily amended. "So, what else are Giovanni's failures?"

"Well, Red is obviously the biggest one," N pointed out.

N's little betrayals were getting really annoying.

"Giovanni was obviously too dead to make a horcrux then," Green said. "Aren't you meant to be smart?"

"Infinitely smarter than you," N hissed.

"Can you please stop fighting?" Black groaned. "This is more important than your pissing contest."

"Know about any of Giovanni's other fuck-ups, Silv?" Gold asked.

"That's not really a popular topic with a cult trying to martyr him," Silver replied. "Or the asshole himself."

Gold nodded, frowning as he said, "I remember something about my dad fighting Gio personally —"

"Yeah, don't call him Gio."

"— but I don't really remember where, and I remember something about diamonds but that might be cos Dia told me the story."

"Wasn't that the story of how Dia got his name?" Black added, frowning. "It was your dad's big success, he saved hundreds of muggles Team Rocket was holding hostage or about to murder or something. And there were diamonds involved, and Dia still needed a name, so…? That was it, right?"

Gold shrugged. "Ah, where's Dia when you need him?" he groaned. "Fuckin' Sinnoh sulking about Volkie."

"Can't you ask your mother?" Silver suggested.

Gold winced. "Yeah. No."

"It's still something to go off," Black said, writing something down. "Green? Any ideas? Maybe stuff your dad was involved with?"

Green scowled, but he didn't snap, thankfully. Red reached over carefully for Green's hand as Green started to say, "Nobody talks about failures unless they don't want their kids to be Rockets. It's like Silver said, it was all pretty cult-y."

"Then it's a good thing my cult was so obsessed with abuses against pokémon and Giovanni committed so many," N said. "I know they were responsible for the mass abuse of slowpoke in Azalea Town nineteen years ago, attempts to steal the evil Master Ball from Silph Co when it was still in development twenty-two years ago, and a few days after Red beat Giovanni for the first time, a number of Rockets hijacked the Goldenrod Radio Tower pleading for Giovanni to come back to them and make water pokémon all over Johto and Kanto, especially at the Lake of Rage, freak out and evolve, which backfired by killing a lot of Trainers, and I think they may have been the ones who angered the Forces of Nature into nearly destroying Unova about twenty years ago."

"Forces of Nature…?" Black asked hesitantly.

"Tornadus, Thundurus and Landorus. Three pokémon who together maintain the balance between the land and air," N explained impatiently. "Any legendary pokémon would be appealing to people like Giovanni."

"Aren't Zekrom and Reshiram —?"

"Shut up," N snapped. "My point is, after I came here I started researching Team Rocket to see how much threat they would possess to pokémon. The answer is a lot, due to their constant exploitation of them as both a means to lure in muggles and muggle-borns and as a means of obtaining greater control over the world that even magic can't give."

"Makes sense to me," Red said. "Especially since Team Rocket started as a kind of yakuza thing for trafficking pokémon."

"Seriously?" Green gasped.

Red nodded. "Giovanni's muggle mother ran it."

"My father must hear of this," Green smirked.

Black scribbled down a couple more notes. "So that gives us at least Kanto, Johto and Unova."

"Three regions, three couples, how perfect!" Gold said brightly.

"I don't think it's that simple," Black said. "I mean, won't they be expecting you with Silver?"

"That's what disguises are for," Silver deadpanned.

"Giovanni'll probably recognise your face," Black retorted. "And Polyjuice Potion would be way too complicated to brew while travelling, way too difficult to maintain, and way too illegal."

"Yeah, but Giovanni himself won't be looking for me," Silver said. "And I've got a sneasel, which you can't catch in Kanto or Unova."

Red was pretty sure that you actually could, but instead of pointing that out he said, "Gold and Silver work way too well together to split up anyway."

"That's definitely true," Black amended. "Okay, fine. But —"

"You need to go to Unova," N said.

Black stared at him with an uncomfortable mix of shock and betrayal. "But… but I've never been there before, and you have. You've been all over it."

"And I didn't notice anything unusual the entire time because I was too distracted by Team Plasma," N said. "I'm not saying that will happen again as it won't, but Red needs my powers."

"I do?" Red asked.

"Yes, you do," N insisted. "And Black needs to go to Unova."

Black frowned. "Did you see something?"

"Yes, but if I tell you what it'll probably change it. And it was definitely good."

Black studied him for a moment before nodding. "Okay, I'll go to Unova, then."

"Thank you," N said.

"Well, I'm not leaving Red," Green said. "I don't care what any of you say."

"Nobody's trying to make you," Black replied. "Um, so… I guess we should tell Professor Oak all of this?"

Red nodded.

"So, factoring in getting clothes and probably some muggle money and packing…" Black muttered, scribbling more. "We should be able to leave by next week."

"Damn, little bro, you're really pulling through," Gold said, grinning.

Black smiled slightly and shrugged.

"Well," Green said suddenly, standing up. "I'll go check if Gramps is at the lab and catch him up." He looked at Red. "Wanna come?"

Red shook his head. "I need to see Ash."

"Leave me your Invisibility Cloak and I'll see if I can sneak into the Order's notes," Black said. "If they have any."

Red got the Cloak out for Black before finding Ash in the backyard. Ash greeted him as brightly as ever, and Red could barely speak. He wanted to tell Ash so much, but at the same time, he had no idea what to say. He couldn't tell Ash he was leaving soon for a Trainer journey, Ash would want to come. And he definitely couldn't tell Ash that he'd be dying soon. So for the next week, Red mostly hung out with Ash and his pokémon, repeatedly showing Ash how they liked to be groomed, reminding him of the food they liked best, their best moves… Ash took it in much better with actual pokémon than with Vernon shouting at him.

"When I die, will you help keep Ash safe?" Red asked Pika one afternoon while Ash was distracted by Aero.

"If that happens," Pika replied.

"Thanks."

Red agreed to pretend to be a girl for the duration of the horcrux hunt, which seemed to make everybody feel better about his safety. Gold started to agree, then changed his mind when N started talking about 'feminine behaviour'.

"It's simple," N sighed. "Girls don't take up as much space as boys. They sit to take up as little space as possible, they always dodge around people on the street —"

"You're blowing my mind!" Gold shouted. "I — I mean, White doesn't do any of this!"

"But most girls do, and White makes a deliberate effort not to," N replied. "She told me."

"And me," Silver added. "She and Blue used to talk about it all the time. Loudly. Especially about how they hate instinctively smiling whenever boys talk to them because it's expected of them."

"Oh my god," Gold groaned. "I — shit! I can't do this, I'm freaking out!"

So Gold decided he'd best stick to 'presenting as a dude, thanks N-ster', and decided to dye his hair blue like Crys'. Red didn't see what Gold's problem with the whole thing was, it just meant being more consciously aware of how he responded to people and what was going on with his skirt.

"What about fake names?" Black asked. "The rest of you picked any out?"

"I'm stickin' with Hibiki," Gold announced. "Or I could call myself 'Gold Star' and steal Crys' whole star thing and —"

"You're stopping that thought right now," Silver interrupted.

Gold huffed. "You're like, the ultimate killjoy, honeybuns."

"Don't —"

"Why're we talking about fake names when we're splitting up anyway?" Green asked. "Knowing each other's aliases will just make it easier for any Rockets who capture one of us and torture the information out of him."

"Okay, now you're just being morbid," Gold said.

"It's a good point," Silver said. "They would definitely do that."

"Aw, shit, now I gotta think of something else," Gold whined.

Red hated the idea of not even knowing what his friends' names were gonna be, but he didn't say anything. He didn't want to risk any of them dying. He could stand dying himself if he knew they were all coming out of it alive.

Green's feedback from Oak had been approval, with a promise to secure the traditional starter pokémon from each of their regions and PokéDexes. N's reaction had included a lot of shouting at Green and Oak, then finally begrudging acceptance when Oak explained they would be upgraded to include information about Team Rocket, Giovanni and all the Order had discovered about them and their activities over the years, with promises of regular updates.

"If any of you try to complete it…" N warned menacingly.

Red kinda wanted to see what N'd do.

"So, what do we do?" Red asked.

"You, Green and N leave from my lab in disguise, heading for Viridian on foot," Oak replied. "Floo connections will take Gold and Silver to Elm's lab in New Bark Town, and then Black to the Juniper's lab in Nuvema Town."

It was a very simple plan, but it also felt unreal. It wasn't until the night before, when Black and N were dragging him to the bathroom to change his hair and eyes for his disguise, that Red realised why. He hadn't been away from Black or Gold for longer than a few months at a time. Now, he was leaving for what could be years apart, if he ever saw them again. Red didn't know when he'd have to die.

"First, we're gonna make your hair longer," Black said. "And a different colour."

"Blonde?" Red asked.

Black shook his head. "You already look a lot like your mother. Basically, anything else."

Red shrugged.

"Go with brown," N said. "Light brown."

Red scrunched his eyes shut as they pulled out their wands. Watching them hold wands at his face was a bit distressing, especially when he could feel an incredible heaviness on his head with each wave.

"Done," Black said. "You wanna look? So we can change your eyes?"

Red reluctantly opened his eyes. Black wasn't as close now, but N still was, and he could see the sparks from N's wand way too well for comfort. He tried to flinch away, but N was holding him firmly in place.

"That's it," Black said happily. "You wanna look?"

Red stood up. His head felt incredibly heavy, and when the curtain of light brown hair fell forward, he knew why.

"Why do you have long hair?" he asked N. "It weighs a tonne."

N rolled his eyes. "You're not exactly an expert on looking good."

Red flicked it back again with some effort (it felt kinda nice, maybe that was why Blue flicked hers so much?) and looked at his reflection. His face looked so different he had to ask if they'd cast some spell on it too, but Black promised they hadn't. His irises were blue-grey, which kind of made him cringe a bit, and he was pretty sure Green was gonna laugh at him.

"You can't go yet," N said. "I need to teach you how to shave your legs."

Red blinked. "Uh. Okay."

"I'm, gonna go wait with the others," Black said quickly, walking to the door. "Have… fun?"

N went to the cupboard, pulling out a razor and some cream. "Do you even have to shave yet?"

"Um. No." He bit his lip. "Do you?"

"Mm-hmm," N shoved the cream at Red. "You don't need to use this, but at least use soap, or you'll almost definitely cut yourself."

Red nodded, staring at N in horror.

"Well, go on then," N said impatiently.

"Um. Right." Red rolled up his jeans and started spreading the cream on them. His hair kept falling in his face and against his legs.

"You might wanna tie that back," N said.

"…how do I do that?"

Instead of explaining, N pulled out his own hair-tie and used it to tie Red's back. "There. Now go for it."

Red dragged the razor up his calf. It felt kinda like fingernails dragging up it. "This isn't… too bad," he admitted.

"Mm-hmm. So, we're leaving tomorrow. You're not gonna see Black and Gold for a long time."

Red had a bad feeling about the direction of this conversation.

"Are you gonna tell them about the horcrux?" N asked.

Red shook his head.

"But this could be your last chance," N said.

Red rolled his eyes, pausing. "I'm trying to concentrate here."

"It doesn't take that much concentration, you're not that stupid."

Red sighed loudly and kept shaving.

"I'm sick of being the only one who knows!" N cried. "It's so hard to act like I don't know and Black's definitely suspicious and he gets very crazy ideas when he's nervous and you're making him nervous and me keeping your secret is making him nervous, I don't know what he's even thinking about us, but it would be a lot easier on everybody if you would just tell them what's going on." He handed Red the showerhead. "Wash that off, you're just making a mess."

Red washed his leg off, then the razor. "Do I have to put more of the cream on?"

"Obviously," N groaned. "Maybe you actually are that slow. Maybe I should tell the others for you."

"No," Red said. "No way."

"Why not?"

Red quickly went back to shaving. "Because I need to tell them. When I'm ready."

N sighed irritably. "Can't that be right now?"

"No, right now I'm shaving my legs."

N started sulking. Red was a little relieved; it made it easier to finish off his left leg and move on to the right. Halfway through, he realised N wasn't going to talk to him again unprovoked, so he asked, "Have you found anything that might help?"

"No, I haven't."

"Neither's Oak."

"I've started looking into mythology, and there's some interesting stuff there, that could be useful, I swear, mythology is always based on reality, but — but…" For the first time in memory, N's voice faltered. "I… I think there maybe not be a way to save you."

Red nodded. He'd thought that all along, but it was different hearing it from someone else.

"But that doesn't mean we're giving up until it's absolutely necessary," N added quickly. "Magic did this, so there has to be a way."

Red would've shrugged if he weren't running a razor along his calf. He didn't know what to say or do.

"You need to tell them soon," N said. "You're not the only one this is hurting."

"Fine, I will," Red muttered. "But stop pressuring me into it."

N snorted. "At least you're pretty."

After he finished shaving and washed them, Red's legs were freakishly smooth. It was hard to stop himself touching them, or from telling the others to try it.

"Why is this just a girl thing?" Red asked. "Everybody should do this, it feels amazing."

N looked at Black smugly. "See, I told you so."

Black shrugged awkwardly.

Green kept laughing at him, but Red didn't mind too much. It was better than Green getting shrill about Red being in danger.

As usual, Black was the responsible one and suggested they go to bed. They did, but Red couldn't sleep. He knew he had a long day tomorrow, they'd have to walk as far from Pallet as they could, but he couldn't sleep. He kept mentally going through things he'd packed, where he might find horcruxes, how long it'd take, how he'd tell the others he was going to die, how he'd die…

But he did eventually fall asleep. Gold pulled him out of bed, loudly saying, "Bro, don't make me wait any longer!"

Red sat up with a groan, and immediately felt his hair. It was a giant tangled mess. "Why is this happening?"

"So we can go find horcruxes, c'mon bro, get with the times," Gold said.

"No, my hair."

"You have to brush it," N explained sleepily. "How stupid are you?"

"I've never had to do that before," Red muttered. "This sucks."

N helped him fix his hair, but muttered about how he wasn't going to help Red get dressed and hopefully he could figure out how to do that for himself. Of course Red could, it was just a blue and black tank top and a red skirt, but the large, baggy blue socks were kind of confusing. It was all fashion, apparently, and Red had bigger concerns anyway.

"God, that's so damn weird," Gold said, staring at him. "You're like, a super hot girl."

Red found it way weirder seeing Gold and Black in Trainer clothes, though their clothes weren't actually that different from what they usually wore during the holidays. Red swore he'd seen Gold's red hoody before, same with Black's blue jacket, but the PokéBall holders were definitely new. Their PokéBall themed caps were classic, as were their bags, and Red was still wasn't used to them having any motifs beyond Gryffindor's arcanine.

"This is all pretty weird," Black said, looking around at them as he adjusted his hat. "Let's… get going."

Red ran his hands through his hair again before pulling on his own hat. "Okay. Yeah."

They walked over to Oak's lab together. Nobody said anything. Red didn't know what to say.

"I've got your PokéGear number," Black suddenly said. "I know they don't use them in Unova, but… um… yeah…"

"I've got it too," Gold added quickly. "So we can, y'know, let ya know if we find anything. Or anything."

"Okay, um, good," Red mumbled.

"Bro, after this is over, I'm gonna take you to all the best places we find in Johto," Gold declared. "All my bros. All over Johto."

"We should do that," Black agreed. "We should — yeah. All over everywhere, together, when this is over."

Red tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat, but he couldn't. He bit his lip, bowed his head slightly and nodded. Long hair, he discovered, was good for hiding a build up of tears.

"Yeah," he said, once he composed himself a bit. "Yeah. Sure."

He made sure not to look at N.

They walked into Oak's lab together. Green was waiting for them, looking extremely dorky in purple. Oak smiled at them.

"Well, you're all practically unrecognisable," he said. It was a bit of an exaggeration, Red felt, but it was needed. "First, Gold, Silver, you'll be heading to Elm's lab." He gestured towards the fireplace across the room.

Silver stepped forward first. He stopped, looking back at Gold.

"Yep, yep, I'm coming," Gold said. He started to walk forward, then turned and threw his arms around Red and N all at once. "God, you guys." He reached out and pulled Black into the hug. "You guys."

Red hugged him back tightly. He was crying, he didn't care, he didn't know if he'd ever see Gold again, and of course Gold was the one who stopped downplaying what a big deal this was. Gold always knew when to stop pretending.

"I'll see you soon, okay?" Gold said as he pulled away. Red clung to his jacket for a moment too long. "Real soon. And let Black know how I'm doing if you hear from me, got it?"

"And vice versa," Black added.

Red nodded, quickly wiping his eyes.

Gold patted Black on the head, and could only really reach N's shoulder, smiled at them both before walking towards the fire.

Silver went first, of course. He was probably uncomfortable with all the emotions. Gold saluted them one last time before the emerald flames took him away.

Oak went to the fire, waving his wand a few times. Black took advantage of the moment to turn to N, draw in a deep breath and say, "I don't care what's been happening lately, I still love you."

"I know," N replied. "I still love you more."

Red quickly looked away before they started kissing. He looked over at Green more closely, at the stupid purple jumper and black pants tucked into ridiculous boots that didn't look particularly practical, and forced a smile.

He felt a hand on his arm. Red looked back at Black.

"Take care, okay?" Black said.

"You too," Red replied. "I'm not gonna be there to save you."

Black snorted. "I'm not gonna need it. I'm gonna be fine. I'm most worried about whether or not my pokémon's gonna like me."

N sighed dreamily.

Red forced the cheesy words in his mind out. It could be his last chance to say them. "Look after it like you look after us and you'll be fine."

Black immediately blushed. "I — I, thanks. Thanks Red."

Red hugged him tightly. N hugged him too, one more time, before Black walked over to the fire without looking back. It surprised Red how tough Black was — how'd he become so strong after so long of being the nervous wreck who couldn't even handle heights?

"Well," Oak said with a slight sigh, "that just leaves you three."

Green walked over to Red's other side. "So, Gramps, how'd'we do this?"

Oak reached into his pockets and pulled out three PokéDexes. "First, you receive one of these each."

Red took his eagerly. It was clearly a much newer model than the one Green had given him; it was lighter, slimmer, shinier, but still followed the classic design. Green was clearly already very familiar with it, as he immediately started hitting buttons and doing who knows what. N, of course, took his with a look of utter revulsion, and pocketed it before he touched it for too long.

"You will have to register as Trainers using those, but it's really quite simple, isn't it Green?" Oak said.

"It's 'Shigeru Tajiri' now," Green replied, still pressing buttons. "Figured that was appropriate."

Red didn't get it, but Oak chuckled. Must've been an inside joke. He flipped open his own PokéDex and asked, "So, how do I —?"

Green reached over and hit a button. The PokéDex came to life, the screen asking him to input a name.

"I didn't pick a family name," Red said.

"Just go with Koishi," N said, pulling out his own with a scowl. "We all know you want to."

Red nodded and typed it in. "Leaf Koishi."

"Leaf?" Green repeated, smirking. "Really?"

"My mum was gonna call me that if I was a girl," Red explained. The smirk quickly fell from Green's face.

"I hate living a lie," N grumbled. "All the same, I've calculated the name least likely to draw suspicion for a child from this region born in the same year as I was, and it would be Daisuke Watanabe."

Red had to admit, he'd heard that exact name a lot when he was a kid.

Red finished entering his age and date of birth (lying about them both) before closing his PokéDex and looking up at Oak. Green and N did the same.

"Now you choose your pokémon," Oak said. He walked further into the lab, until he was standing behind a table where three PokéBalls stood. "There is of course, charmander, squirtle and bulbasaur."

"Shouldn't the pokémon choose us?" N said.

"However works," Oak replied.

Having apparently already exercised the full extent of his self-control, N ran to the table and pressed the buttons on each of the PokéBalls. The three pokémon appeared on the table, looking around at them, especially N.

"Hello," N said to them. "It is a tragedy that you have been enslaved and confined in those Balls for no reason but the comfort of humans."

Red bit his lip to keep from laughing as the charmander whispered "What?"

"There's no need for it, and I won't make you do it if you don't wish to," N continued. "I can hear the voices of your hearts, and I will —"

"Someone go with it to shut it up," the bulbasaur grunted.

Red snickered for a moment before turning it into a very fake cough.

"I'll go, it doesn't seem that bad," the squirtle said.

"You're so brave," the charmander sighed.

The squirtle walked forward to N, holding up its arms. N smiled warmly at it, picking it up and cradling it in his arms.

Green elbowed Red. "Y-you go next."

Red smirked at him, mouthed 'The voices in your hearts', and quickly turned to the charmander and bulbasaur before he saw Green crack up.

"Hey, I remember you," Red said to the bulbasaur. "I accidentally let you out last summer."

The bulbasaur grunted.

"I remember both of them!" Pika cried, jumping onto the table. "I didn't get to battle them!"

"I'm sure you'll get to later," Red said. "Right now, which one of you wants to train with me? We'll all be together anyway."

"Me," the bulbasaur said. It turned back to its Ball, jabbed the button with a foot, and disappeared inside.

Red picked the Ball up and fastened it to his belt.

"Green'll be a good Trainer," he promised the charmander. "He tries not to be, but he's pretty nice, even if he's a complete loser."

Red walked back over to Green, clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Go meet your charmander."

Green walked over and slowly reached out to pat the charmander. The charmander nuzzled against his hand. "All right, get in the Ball," Green told it.

"Fascist," N huffed.

The charmander obeyed, and Green picked up the PokéBall, cradling it close.

"Is that it, Gramps?" Green asked.

"That's it," Oak confirmed. "You can leave now."

"Cool," Green said, turning towards the door. "It won't be too long, so don't get worried, okay Gramps?"

"Okay Green," Oak chuckled. "Good luck."

N muttered some half-arsed thanks before walking towards the door too, holding the squirtle tightly the entire way. With some effort, Red made himself look at Professor Oak. It wasn't fair how much he resented the man just for being the bearer of bad news, or just for trying to protect him, but Red kept on doing it. It was probably because Oak was the closest thing to a parent he'd ever had, other than Steven.

"Thank you for everything, Professor," Red said.

"No, thank you for all you've given us, Red," Oak replied. "Don't give up yet."

Biting his lip, Red nodded. He turned, walked right past Green and N, and out the door.

---

If anybody named Hilbert reads this fic, I am so sorry.

On the aliases: I think everybody reading this knows why Shigeru Tajiri is appropriately funny, N's explanation for his choice is factual if you assume the part of Pokémon world's Kanto Pallet is in is the equivalent of Shizuoka-ken, and Koishi is a family name written with kanji meaning 'little stone'.

Oh, and PokeSpeBanette is writing their own Pokémon/Harry Potter crossover fic partially based on this one! I haven't had time to check it out yet, but you guys should if you wanna. I understand it's less on the angst and more on the originalshipping.

As always, thanks for reading, please let me know what you thought, what you liked, what you didn't, and I'll be back with chapter 22 as soon as I can!