Renny: I swear, the only person who hasn't had a POV so far is Blue. But I can't really figure out how she works, so I guess she won't be doing much in that way anyway.

Green: The most used is mine, and second is probably Red if you count this chapter now. Then it's Ice, and Twin and Amethyst have the same amount really.

Red: Um, why are you two discussing this?

Renny: To show that the readers won't bother with this AN, and that Blue's not gonna get a POV anytime soon.

Red: . . . Right . . .

Renny: It's mandatory.

Green: Do you even know what that means?

Renny: No, and I can't look it up because the internet isn't on yet. When it is I'll probably have a quick look or something.

Red: Wow, is this what it's normally like when it's just you two?

Renny: Pretty much. Except he's on his best behaviour because you're talking more than normal.

Green: Hey!

Renny: He likes listening to you. Anyway, Red's turn for the disclaimer!

Red: Renny doesn't own pokemon!

Renny: On with the show!

OOOOOO

Hello, my name's Red Hawks. I'm currently the pokemon Champion of Kanto, but I think you already know that. But I'm not using the pokemon I used at the league, though. Oak sent me, Blue and Green on a new journey, and so far . . . it's been really bad for Green.

It's not like he hasn't made any progress with his team, they all love him. They all wanna protect him, and they're the ones he trusts most right now.

The problem is that Kanto and Johto had been watching the battle between me and Green. I actually sort of regret the words I said back then, about how Green doesn't know what friendship is. Mainly because that's what set people off really. It's probably because of those words that people decided to look into what Green did and 'does', and now they've all decided that he's the bad guy and he needs to be punished.

The trouble is, he's already been punished. People talked at him day after day in Kanto, and each time that happened he got more and more . . . depressed, I think. I don't know how me and Blue even missed it. The first time it happened he didn't seem to realise the man was talking to him, but after he did, Green told him to shut up. And the next few after that as well.

But eventually he just stopped trying and just listened to them, or pretended to. I guess at the time I was sort of smug about it, thinking that Green deserved to be told off and punished for abusing his pokemon.

But . . . he didn't even know he was abusing them. In fact, compared to Team Rocket or some other moron, what he did was actually not that bad. I'm not saying he was right to just discard pokemon because they were 'weak' in his eyes, but at least he didn't experiment on the pokemon or just abandon them or even hit them. I know he probably did abandon a pokemon once or twice, but I remember Oak telling me and Blue something about a Butterfree that put him to sleep, so maybe those abandons weren't really his fault.

But Johto and Kanto don't see it like that. Whatever he did they tried to amplify it until they'd all gotten a warped version of what he did, and now they're all . . . trying to hurt him. I heard about what happened in that school he went to for a few days. Every single one of the students there hated him and constantly tried to make the teacher use status alignments on him, because he 'deserved' it. I know the second day the Head sort of sat in the class and no one said anything, but I also know that if he weren't there someone would have said something and Green would have given up entirely.

He's close to giving up now. After being tortured like that, I think anyone would. It's a wonder that he didn't give up after whatever gave him that scar attacked him.

Or . . . maybe that's the reason why he wasn't able to think of others? Maybe whatever attacked him didn't just scar him physically, but mentally as well?

Grandpa can't really tell what did it, the scar's . . . really bad, and he's been torn up so bad that we can't know what did it. Green hasn't told us, and Ice said that he probably won't ever tell us. I wonder how he knows that?

But still, I'm worried about Green. It's been two days since he was tortured, two days since Grandpa bandaged him up, and he hasn't said a single word nor has he made a single sound. I asked his pokemon if he's spoken to them yet, and they all shook their heads. The trouble is, I don't know what goes on in Green's mind. For all I know, he might be trying to hold back a scream or something.

Or he could be terrified of us, thinking that maybe we'll hurt him or something if he says or does something he shouldn't. But I wouldn't ever hurt him, not like that. Never. Grandpa says he's been through a lot, but I don't think Grandpa even cares.

I remember what happened when I brought Green in . . .

Grandpa didn't want him in the house. Grandma, although she's always been nice to everyone, said the exact same thing. It was only through the combined effort of me and Blue that we actually got Grandpa to agree to help him. I don't know if Grandpa's opinion has changed at all after seeing that scar of Green's, but if it hasn't, I'll probably take Green into the city.

He doesn't deserve what's happening to him. I know some people might think he does, but he never did. I know I pretty much hated him as well, but after all this, it's hard not to just want to take him back home and make sure he's safe.

It doesn't actually help him the way conversations between me and Grandpa, or Grandma, come to a halt whenever he walks into a room. Maybe that's one of the reasons why he isn't talking? He might be waiting for someone else to try and help him, but I don't know.

He's just sitting at the kitchen table, trying to eat with his left hand. I know he's probably right-handed, so it's difficult, but I can't really do much since Grandpa says he needs to get used to doing things on his own. I think Grandpa just means that Green should be punished even more.

"Hey, what's for dinner?" Blue asks carefully. She knows as well as I do that we need to be careful around Grandpa and Grandma when Green's in the room.

"Maybe chicken." Grandma replies shortly.

Green drops his fork and stares at her for a few seconds, and then shakes his head slowly.

"You'll have what's given you and like it." Grandpa mutters. Green flinches and looks down at his plate.

Ice huffs angrily, and starts scribbling on the paper he's taken to carrying around nearly full-time. After he's done, he gives the paper to me and I read it for everyone else.

"Green is a vegetarian." I say. "Oh. Well, that explains why he doesn't eat meat or anything."

"I'd have though he would have liked eating pokemon." Grandma says. I sigh at her as Green shrinks back again. The food in front of him doesn't have any meat in it, luckily, but he's not touching it now. He probably thinks it's got meat or poison in it.

"Green, eat." Blue tells him gently. Green almost speaks, but before any sound comes out he stops himself and stands up. He walks out of the room and his team follows, Ice and Twin glaring at Grandpa and Grandma.

"Grandma!" I snap. "What's wrong with you? A couple of days ago you and Grandpa were . . . nice to him. Sort of."

"He was unconscious." Grandpa mutters, gulping down the rest of his food. "Also injured."

"He's still injured." Blue tells them.

"No, he's healing. There's a difference." I snap. I stand up and walk out of the room.

I can't stand to be in that room anymore. Grandma sounds like she wants to be nice to Green, but she isn't doing anything to help. Grandpa's only restraining himself from saying that Green should just go home and not be a Trainer anymore because he's probably scared of how I'd react, or how Green's pokemon would react.

Before I even know where I'm going, I end up at Green's temporary bedroom. Twin's outside, and she stares at me as I push the door open. I try to ignore her but it's hard when a bird can just stare and never blink if they want to, and then I tear my eyes away and see Ice and Tick sitting on the bed with Green, and Amethyst is watching me with careful eyes.

"Green?" I quietly call, closing the door. Green almost squeaks, and looks over at me as I sit down in the chair that's sort of near the bed, but not exactly close to it.

"Croc cro?" Ice says. I think he's asking what I want, but I'm not sure.

"Hey, uh . . . ignore my Grandparents." I tell Green, trying to ignore Twin, who comes in after Amethyst opens the door. "They're not usually like this."

I can see the look on his face. It's clear he's nearly saying 'it's because of me they're acting like this', but he isn't. I don't know why.

"I know you probably don't want to talk to me, but I need to know if you're ok." I whisper. I'm not looking at him, in case he thinks I'm trying to demand that he speak. "Green, I'm worried about you, really. After everything you've been through, you of all people deserve a break. If I could stop people from doing this, I would. I swear."

I finally look up and see Ice smiling at me, like I'd done something good. Maybe now they'd stop staring at me like I'm going to attack him?

" . . . W-why . . ."

I jump and stare at Green. It's surprising how clear his voice is after two days of not speaking, but he still sounds like he's having trouble.

"Why do they . . . Why do they do this to me- . . .?" Green asks quietly. He cuts himself off abruptly, and I know that's all I'm getting from him.

"I don't know." I tell him. "It might be what happened in Kanto, it might be because of what I said, but I don't know for sure. All I know is that you've already been punished for it enough, and they're only carrying on because they're like that. I'm so sorry."

Green shrinks into himself and curls up, and I can hear his breath hitching like he's crying. I stand up, and after a nod from Ice, I wrap my arms around him and settle down on the bed, rubbing his back gently. After a few minutes, Green turns around and clings to me, burying his face into my chest. I know his scar's probably burning a bit, but it doesn't seem like he's in pain, probably because of the bandages.

"I'll do everything I can to help you." I whisper to him. "I swear."

Before, I didn't realise how vulnerable Green is. He's sensitive to stuff like this, takes it to heart, even though he doesn't show it much. I guess I sort of made him a heartless person in my own mind because of how we met the first few times, but now I don't think he's heartless at all. In fact, he might have more heart than even I do, and Blue says I wear mine on my sleeve.

"Croconaw." Ice murmurs, sitting down next to Green's other side. He pats Green on the shoulder, and I realise that his right shoulder is actually pressing into my chest, but he isn't complaining.

I'm not sure if he doesn't want to complain because he's still scared I might do something if he does, or if he's not in pain anymore. But I try to make it a bit less pushy and soften up the hug, and he seems grateful even though he says nothing to me.

He doesn't have to.

oooo

-Later-

Blue comes in after an hour or two. Twin and Amethyst have migrated from the floor to the bed, and are now sort of flanking me and Green. Ice is still in the same position and Tick's wormed his way between me and Green, and he's mumbling something that only everyone but me can understand. Judging by Ice's expression, it's probably something that's funny, but he doesn't want to disturb the peace so he doesn't do anything.

"Hey." Blue says. Her voice breaks the quietness that I'd gotten used to, and I try to get Green to calm down when he tries to back away from her.

"Hi." I murmur.

"Um, your Grandparents wanna see you." Blue tells me.

"Tell them I don't want to see them until they start trying to nice to Green." I growl at her. "He's had enough, and I don't wanna see him like this anymore."

" . . . Yeah, I know." Blue sighs. She sits down in the chair that I was in an hour ago, and watches me and Green quietly. "I think maybe we've been going about this the wrong way. Maybe he didn't need to go on a new journey with an ability that . . . sort of freaked him out."

"He's sort of fine with it now." I say. I look at Ice and he nods. Thank Mew I got it right.

"Even if he is, we should have just tried actually being nice to him." Blue says. "I keep thinking of every single opportunity that we've had to help him become a better person, and we wasted every single one of those."

"We've still got this one." I say. "If we can help him now, then we won't have a repeat of what happened last time."

"No, but it doesn't help that no one else wants to help him either." Blue sighs.

"Bugsy seemed nice." I remind her.

"He probably doesn't know what happened."

"He does. Misty once said that she and the other Gym leaders always keep tabs on each other, and that means that all the Gym leaders here know who Green is and everything. They also know what he's doing here, since Oak's probably told them." I explain. "Bugsy was nice to him because he could see that Green's changed. Oswald was mean because he's a grumpy man who didn't want to see that Green is different. I think the only people who are actually nice to him are us, his pokemon and maybe a few Gym leaders if we get lucky."

Green looks up at me and he looks sad, and I tighten my grip to try and say that I'm still going to help him. He seems to understand, and he goes back to cuddling into my chest.

"If we're lucky." Blue echoes. "Yeah . . . Whitney as well. I know Whitney is sort of . . . a drama queen, but at least she has some sense. Maybe when I challenge her I can try and give her a heads up?"

"Could you do it today?" I ask her.

"Sure. Bailey wants to fight someone and what better someone ti fight then a Gym leader?" Blue shrugs. "I'll go and tell your Grandparents that you're not gonna talk to them unless they be nice to Green, and then I'll go out and find Whitney's Gym, ok?"

"Right. Just . . . try and not be as blunt with my Grandparents." I sigh. I look at Green and then back at Blue. "I know they're sort of mean, but they're still my Grandparents."

"All right then."

Then she leaves, and the quietness that was there before settles in again. It feels weird, but that doesn't matter. Green's probably not gonna talk for the rest of the day, and I don't mind if he doesn't. At least I know he isn't actively trying to avoid me in fear that I'll try and hurt him like everyone else.

"Hey, Green?" I ask quietly.

He looks up at me again, and this time his pokemon glance over as well. Tick's the only one not looking, but I can't actually tell since he's sort of squished between me and Green.

"When we're done with all this . . . do you wanna hang out?" I ask him. It sounds silly, but I never really asked him before, and I always assumed he just followed us for a battle or something.

Green stares at me like he's trying to figure me out. Like I'm going to try and go back on my word and tell him to get lost whenever this is all over, but I swear to myself, and him, on the inside that I won't.

Eventually he nods. I smile at him and cuddle him slightly, and Green grips me back almost as tightly. The only thing stopping him is probably his shoulder, even with Tick touching him.

oooo

-The next morning, kitchen-

Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa didn't get the idea of forcing meat down Green's throat, and they made some salad for him yesterday. I'm just sitting at the table now, eating some cereal and drinking some milk as well.

Quil is eating with Woop and Reep, who have both evolved. I got a big shock when Woop evolved into a Quagsire, but the look really suits him. And when Reep evolved, I was a bit confused because I thought that he was actually a she, but luckily Grandpa said that Flaaffy could be either gender and that the pink skin is just that, skin.

Apparently Woop can't evolve any further, but he's pretty awesome as a Quagsire, so I don't mind. And when Reep evolves, he'll be even more awesome, I'll bet. Same goes for Quil.

Blue had come back later yesterday evening, saying that she's told Whitney about Green. She also showed off her Plain badge, which sort of made me want to go and get the badge as well. I'll do it today, maybe.

After I'm done eating and drinking, I get some food and decide to go up to Green's room. He hasn't come down yet, so he might still be sleeping, so I'll go and give him some food. I reach his door and frown when I see both Twin and Amethyst outside, but neither of them stop me from entering.

Then I pause. Green isn't on the bed, and Tick's sitting in the corner. Ice is reading something from a piece of paper. Has Green gone to the toilet or something?

"Hey, where's Green?" I ask Ice. The Croconaw looks up at me and blinks, then hands me the paper.

I set down the food on the bedside table, and sit in the chair to read the note. I nearly drop it when I do.

'I'm sorry about doing this, but I just need to get away for a bit. Red, this isn't your fault, and it's not Blue's either. Ice and the others, I'm sorry if I worry you, but I'll be fine for a few hours without you. Green.'

"A-and you didn't go and find him?" I stammer, looking at Ice. He looks away from me and somehow manages to point at the paper at the same time, and I realise that Green basically ran away and told us not to look for him.

I don't care that he said he'd be gone for a 'few hours'. He can't be alone, not when he's like this. He needs someone at least.

I look back at Tick and wonder why Green didn't take the baby with him, but then I think that maybe Green didn't want Tick to see him like this. Not at this point, anyway.

"I'm going to find him." I say, standing up. I push the paper into my pocket, but stop when Ice puts a claw on my hip.

He shakes his head and I almost growl at him, but I try not to.

"Look, he's hurt and alone." I try to reason with the crocodile. "He needs someone to help him, and . . . and I don't want him to go through another thing like that torture."

Ice seems to realise that I'm not backing down. He pulls his claw away and then jumps off the bed.

"Are you coming with me?" I ask. He nods, and I feel Tick climb up onto my shoulder. "All right. Should we get Twin and Amethyst?"

Ice frowns, and then shakes his head. He grabs some paper and a pen and writes something down, no doubt a note for my Grandparents and Blue, and then puts it on the bed. I lead him out of the room and wait for him to speak with Twin and Amethyst, and then we go out.

Somehow I manage not to make a sound, and we get out of the house without anyone interrupting.

"All right, let's go find Green." I murmur.

OOOOOO

Renny: Heh. Thanks for the ideas, friend who gave me ideas! Read, review and comment.