Nothing much happens in this chapter, but I wanted to write a happy filler, so I hope I did well! Anyway, thank you everyone for all the reviews! It really appreciate them and it makes me excited to keep writing :)

Alsoooo, my chapters are getting longer! Yay!

There was something else I was going to say, but I forgot :|

Oh yeah! They have phones with screens because they do in the anime!

Chapter 21: Dreams

"Someone once told me that you never really get over a death, no matter how big or small, or what impact it made on you was. I always kind of dismissed it, thinking that if you weren't strong enough to get over it, then you just had to be stronger. But now I know that they were right, that it is always just there at the back of your mind. I miss Raticate everyday, and I don't wish what I went through on anyone," Green said, his eyes downcast.

After years of being avoided and talked about, Red had somewhat grown to accept being an outsider. He didn't let what people said about him get him down, as that just wouldn't be clever and result in him being unhappy. But this was different. It was the first time in about eight years he had cared about what had been said, and the Rockets had left him emotionally crippled for a day or two. He just couldn't fathom how someone could take advantage of someone like that, just because they were spiteful. Mister Fuji was one of the kindest people in the whole region, and now he thought that he was a bad trainer. Whenever he was reminded of that, it made him want to curl up into a ball and just stay like that.

After the incident, he'd wandered back down to the Pokecentre and suddenly felt the need to talk to someone. Well, not just anyone, but someone that was familiar. Green or his mother, or anyone that he could just vent to. Since Green wasn't around, and there was a phone in the Pokecentre, his mum seemed like the best bet. He pushed the number of his home into the keypad and watched as the screen brightened up. It scrambled a little bit, and then she was staring back at him through the screen.

"Red, I'm so glad to hear from you!" Her face broke into a smile when she saw who it was.

'Hey, mum,' Okay, this had been a bad idea. He felt stupid and sad and couldn't stop that from showing on his face. He knew that she'd pick up on him being unhappy straight away, and even though at first he'd wanted to talk with someone, now he didn't want a big fuss made over him. He could deal with it himself, he always did. Red was much happier when he was by himself anyway, not with other people.

She appeared to be studying him through the screen for a moment, and he sighed. He knew what was going to come next. 'Are you okay, baby? Your cheeks are really red like you've been crying,' She frowned, looking worried for her son's wellbeing.

'I'm fine...' He mumbled, wiping his cheeks to try and get them to a normal colour again. With them being red, it probably meant that his eyes were like that too, blatantly showing that yes, he had been crying. He didn't want anyone to see that, it was embarrassing. She raised an eyebrow at him, not believing a word he was saying. 'It's Team Rocket, mum,' He admitted. He'd never been able to lie to his mother, he always ended up blurting out whatever he didn't want to say, which usually got him in trouble. She could always see through him anyway, being able to tell instantly if something was on his mind. It bugged him sometimes, but in the end it was a good thing.

'Red, please don't let them get you down. They're terrible people and I don't want you feeling upset over them, they aren't worth your time,'

'You know them then?' Deep breaths, Red. Don't get upset now, it won't help.

She nodded, and he noticed that she looked quite upset when she mentioned them, which was a little strange. Was she just saying that because he mentioned he hated them in his letter? 'Of course I do, and I think they're evil and should be jailed. But I don't want you doing anything reckless, okay? Don't get hurt,'

'Okay, mum,' He said. He knew that she was just being protective like a mother should be, but he wasn't going to do nothing if they were trying to take over Kanto (which he suspected they were). 'I'm not really upset over the whole organisation, it was just that I was up in the Pokemon Tower here and, um...' He trailed off, not really sure how to keep going. He didn't want to worry his mother, but he wanted to get it off his chest.

'Yes?'

'I was going to see Mister Fuji, but there were these two members of Team Rocket there, and they told him I abused my pokemon and didn't care about them!' His signing was becoming more frantic as he felt himself getting worked up and upset over everything again. He was so hot-headed, it was bound to be his downfall one day. 'And he believed them! He's supposed to be a good man!'

"Red..." She answered slowly, her voice quiet. She was trying to keep it steady for his sake. "There are a lot of people in the world that are bad, intolerant and judgemental. You know that better than anyone, and for fourteen years you've been able to ignore them. Now, these people are awful, and it really hurts me that they used you just because they were angry you defeated their boss. I am very upset, and I know you are too. But try to put it out of your mind, think of all the good and happy things in life. Don't be unhappy, you're a strong person. You can move past this,"

'Thank you,' He nodded, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. Even if she could tell he was lying, she always knew what to say to make him feel better.

It was her time to smile now. "I'm so proud of you,"

'I'll talk to you soon, mum,'

"Stay out of trouble," And then he clicked down the red button to hang up, and her face disappeared from the screen. He walked away from the phone, feeling strange. His chest still ached a little, but it was feeling better. But for the first time in the six months he'd been away from Pallet, he felt a little homesick. It wasn't terrible, but he would have liked to be going home to his own room, his own bed, and dinner cooked by his mother (or him if she wanted a break). He closed his eyes and saw his home, and himself when he was seven playing in the front yard with Green. They used to do that every afternoon until it got dark and Green's mother would call him back for dinner. He smiled to himself, it was such an easy time.

He opened his eyes again, finding himself once again in the Pokecentre. His life wasn't bad now, in fact, he had it pretty good. He was getting there as a trainer, and people were starting to recognise who he was. It was just Team Rocket that made him unhappy. So he had to get up and move on from what had happened, it wouldn't do him any good if he just sat and thought bad of the world.

Red had decided that there was no use being unhappy, and was now strolling down the route that led from Lavender Town to Saffron. He was glad to be leaving that place, he held ill feelings towards it now. Maybe it was haunted like people said? Oh well, he didn't have to go there for a while now. Well, he might not have to go back ever, but he had a feeling that he would eventually.

He felt a drop of water land on his nose (he'd taken his hat off inside the Pokecentre and had forgotten to put it back on), and looked upwards. The sky was ominously grey and sending down more rain onto his face. When had that happened? It had been sunny when he'd left Lavender and there wasn't a cloud in sight, so where had all this come from? Actually, the last time he was walking along this same path it had rained, so maybe it was one of those weird places where the weather was always bad. He'd heard that in a place called Sinnoh, there was this one path where it continually rained and no one had any idea why.

Or it could just be that summer was coming to an end in Kanto.

This time he didn't run though, he just kept walking at the same pace, letting the rain fall down on his face. It felt nice. Charmeleon didn't really think so, and when it felt the first few drops, it grumbled in discontentment. Red chuckled silently at the creature who had crossed it's arms over it's chest. 'Come on,' He stopped and unzipped his bag, finding it's pokeball. 'This will keep you dry,' He recalled it and put the ball back inside his bag.

Pikachu didn't seem too keen on the rain either, as it had jumped onto Red's shoulder as he was walking and whined quietly. 'Oh, hush up,' He chided. 'A little water won't hurt you,'

They'd been walking for about twenty minues or so through the rain (which was continually getting heavier the further they travelled), when Red felt a little nudge against his back. He ignored it, figuring that he'd just bumped into a tree branch or something. But a few minutes later there was another nudge, larger this time. He stopped and pulled his bag off his back, unzipping it as he did so. Straight away he was able to source the movements, they'd been Squirtle's pokeball. Red smiled into his bag, the poor thing had probably heard the rain and wanted to come out. It was a water type, after all.

He quickly pulled the ball out, fearing that if it opened while it was still in the bag that it would tear said bag and he'd be forced to carry all his things through the rain. Mind you, most of them were getting soaked now anyway, the bag wasn't waterproof. He held it in his palms, watching the ball twitch from side to side. He knew it would open at any moment, even without his command.

It was still a bit of a surprise when it did though. It just sort of cracked open in his hands, a white light flashing briefly before Squirtle appeared on the ground in front of him, grinning sheepishly. 'Well, hey there, buddy,' Red said. 'You like the rain, hey?' It nodded, it's smile getting wider.

For a little while, they walked happily along the grass. Red was content in getting soaked, it was nice to let go like this once in a while. Pikachu wasn't so happy about it, still curling up towards him, hissing every so often at the rain. And Squirtle, well, it was in it's element. Upon realising that the creature missed the water, Red felt a little sorry for it. He hadn't taken it to any water the whole time he had it, which was about two months, so it must have been feeling quite dehydrated. It was nice to see it so happy, he hadn't seen it look like this at all. It was always alright with being with him, but he'd never seen it skipping along in joy.

Red was feeling a little like a child again. Whenever it had rained in Pallet Town, he would always rush into his front yard, calling down the street for Green to come and join him. The two of them would spend the whole time it rained playing outside, until they were called back into their houses. Usually his mother would worry about him catching a cold, but he always seemed okay afterwards. Being outside like this brought back happy memories for Red and it was nice that he had a few moments of familiarity when everything around him was so unknown. He loved his travelling so far, but it was nice to be comfortable once in a while.

He stopped in the middle of the grass and looked around for any other people. When he found none (as no one else wanted to be out in such rotten weather), he put his bag down onto the soggy ground and pulled his cap out of it. It was soaking wet and pushed his hair down into his eyes and onto his face, making him shiver slightly, but he didn't mind. He found a tree stump just to the right of him and jumped up onto it, placing his hands on his hips. Pikachu - who had been forced off his shoulder when he took his bag off - was looking at him curiously from the ground with Squirtle. He just grinned in response.

'And the new champion of the Kanto region is Red!' He announced, making large exaggerated gestures. He took a little step forward on the stump and raised his arms slightly in the air, a big grin still plastered on his face. 'Red defeated the current champion with his team consisting of Pikachu, Charmeleon, Ivysaur and Squirtle,' He continued. 'He is the youngest trainer in the history of Kanto to defeat the Elite Four and become the Champion. He's also triumphed in the face of adversity, raising his pokemon using only sign language,'

He closed his eyes and saw himself standing in a giant arena, his pokemon surrounding him. An announcer was beside him, talking into a microphone. He couldn't see the Champion's face, it was obscured by shadows. It was always like that when he imagined himself winning, he could never quite picture who he'd defeated. He wanted this more than anything, and he was going to try his hardest to have even a shot at the Elite Four. He wanted to be the best, but he couldn't see it actually happening.

He opened his eyes again, but kept the picture of the giant arena in his mind still. 'Pikachu, use Thunderbolt! One more hit should do it!' He fake-commanded. Pikachu didn't quite understand and looked at him, confused. He ushered it to play along, and it finally got the idea. It smiled and hopped up on the stump with him. It pretended to use Thunderbolt, and then cheered when it "hit". 'And we win, Pikachu!' Red exclaimed. 'We're the best in all of Kanto! Squirtle too, come up here with us,' It hopped up with them and Red pumped his fist in the air. He knew it wasn't real, but whenever he thought about winning against the Champion, he was excited. He hopped up and down in a dance of sorts, unable to keep still. He just wanted this more than anything!