"So, this is what it feels like…"
"This is what what feels like?"
"Being home."
It took us a while, but we've finally made it back to Pallet Town. Now that we're here... it really feels like it's been forever since the journey began. Being dropped by Mew, crashing down, and meeting Red. All of that feels like forever ago.
"I guess you're right. I've never been gone for such a long time in my life… Really, I've never been gone period. I've always stayed right here, at home. Although I'll miss our adventures, it's good to be back." Red states.
We both walk into the house, Delia following behind us. We dropped Yellow off in Viridian with the ones who take care of her, much to her disappointment. She wanted to stay with us, but we couldn't do that to her. Even if she'd be better off with us. Mew said it was a good thing to do, wanting to keep to the mainstream, but to me it was more "Keep her as far away from Red as possible." I guess I'll never really get over that, heh…
"So!" Red shouts, putting his hands on his hips.
"Now that everything's settled and done with, I can really introduce you to your new home!" Red and Delia have agreed to let me stay with them for a while. I haven't told them that I don't have any other place to go, so they just think that it's temporary. Which, really, it is. I hate to admit it, but… Sooner or later, the letter's going to come in and Yellow and I will have to start our journey.
"I'd like that a lot." I say. He shows me around the two rooms downstairs, the kitchen/living room and the bathroom. I'm still wondering where Delia sleeps… If Red sleeps in his room, that would leave the kitchen-living-room room to her. Does she sleep on the couch? My mind hurts…
"Red, where does your mom sleep?" I build up enough courage to ask.
"Don't ask. I've tried to, but she's never told me." He says. He brings me back upstairs, where I slept the last time I was here, to his room.
"I don't really think you saw much the last time you were here. We just came here to sleep and eat before leaving again, right?" Red asks.
"Yeah. We stopped by just for a rest, then went to Saffron." We both cringe at the name, knowing what memories lie there.
"Well, there's nothing much more than what you saw, but I'd still like to show you around." He shows me his dresser and his closet, both of which combined contain a grand total of two different outfits. His day outfit, the outfit he's wearing right now, is on one half, and his night outfit, which is basically a much more comfortable version of his day outfit, on the other. They both look so alike that I must've thought they were the same last time. But, really. Get some variety.
"Aren't you tired of wearing the same outfit day in and day out?" I ask.
"Nope. And why are you asking? You do the same thing!" He exclaims.
"That's because we were traveling the entire time! There was no need for more than one outfit! Besides, how would we have carried them all?" I ask.
"I'm now terrified by how many outfits you might own…" One, if we're talking about just on this planet.
"I don't really know myself." I say.
"Anyways, besides the closet and dresser, all that's really left to show is the T.V., the Nintendo 64, the bed, and… that's pretty much it. It's a sad room, I know." I'm a bit shocked at the fact that Nintendo's even in this world. That now raises another question… Which came first? Pokémon or Nintendo? Something to think about, I guess.
"I kind of like it. It's nowhere near as messy as mine." I compliment.
"Not for long!" We hear a shout from downstairs.
"Looks like mom's finally made it in…" Red grumbles to himself.
"I heard that! Remember! I'm the one who had to lug in your trophy!" But… she was the one who didn't want to hand it to Red…
"That's no excuse!" Red shouts back.
"What did you just say?!" Uh-oh…
"Nothing!" Good boy.
I decide to let Pikachu out to explore what will be his home for the next several months. He scampers around, across Red's floor and his bed, curling up and falling asleep immediately.
"Awww…" Delia says from the doorway.
"Mom! Haven't you heard of knocking?" Red shouts.
"And haven't you heard of a lock?" Buuuuuuurn.
"It's up to you if you want to put a lock on my door or not!" Red shouts back.
The two continue staring at each other. They go at it for a couple minutes, so I turn my attention to Pikachu. I get up on the bed and curl around the mouse and stay there until the two arguing finally take notice.
"Should we do something?" Red whispers.
"Yes, you should. Go to sleep!" Delia whispers, although much louder than Red.
"But Philippe's taking up most of the bed, along with Pikachu!" Red complains.
"Then curl around him." She simply states. Red looks at her oddly for a couple of seconds, then sighs. I guess Delia usually has her way.
Red makes his way to the bed and slips in under the covers, moving the rest of his body out of the way of Pikachu and I, ending up half on, half off the bed.
"Not what I had in mind, but ok." I hear Delia say to herself as she walks out of the room.
"Typical mom. Always doing these kinds of things. You're not asleep yet, are you Philippe?" Red asks.
"Nope. Just didn't want to hear you two arguing. Even if it only started as a staring contest." I don't like people yelling.
"Don't worry; it's normal for us to yell at each other. It just shows that we care about each other." Red explains.
"Then you must care about Green a lot." I tease, although I can't believe I just said that. Red starts to sputter and I just laugh to myself.
"Alright. Well, your mom's right about one thing. You might not have noticed, but it's actually been a while since we arrived home. It's already dark outside, and it's getting darker. How about we go to sleep?" I suggest.
"Alright. But, I'd like to ask one favor of you." He says.
"What is it?" I question.
"Could you please get from the foot of my bed to under the covers? It's really uncomfortable." And so I do. I crawl over to the head of the bed, crawl under the covers, and close my eyes. I feel just like I did back in the Pokémon Center those many months ago, and fall asleep quickly.
"So, how's life been treating you?"
"I've decided that as long as my life isn't in danger, it's perfect." Back home I'd be nitpicky about every single detail of my life, but now I'm just glad to be alive. The last time I spoke with Mew was right after the entire thing with the Viridian Gym, what with me being busy due to the Championships, so it feels nice to have a chance to speak with her again.
"Mew, can you believe that it's been close to a year since we first spoke with each other?" Mew was the first person I had ever spoken to after being dropped off here; really, before being dropped off here, not including the "Red" I spoke with back on Earth. Anyways, she was the one to make sure that I wouldn't die immediately after arriving.
"No, no I can't. It feels like just yesterday that I was watching you while you slept in this very bed!" …That doesn't sound stalkerish at all.
"Anyways, looks like you've survived past the first part of your journey!" She congratulates me.
"It sounds like you weren't expecting me to." I accuse.
"Well, considering that I've never done this before, I really didn't know what the outcome would be. Whether you'd live or die, that is." Great, now she tells me.
"So, do you think I'll have more or less of a chance to survive with Yellow?" I ask.
"More of a chance than she has of surviving with you." She jokes
"Seriously… why do I have to be paired with her? Of all people, why her?" I mumble to myself.
"Because that's just how the story goes. Speaking of story… it's been a while since I last spoke to you about history. Do you want to hear some more?" She asks.
"Sure, it's been a while since you've last said anything about the subject. Speaking of which… why is that?" It's been, what? A couple of months since she's last spoken about it.
"Would you honestly have liked it if I had asked you if you had wanted to learn while almost being killed in the Silph Tower, almost being killed by Giovanni, almost losing Red as a best friend, and while Red was fighting Green in the finals? I don't think so." She has a point… a lot has been going on in these past months.
"Point taken. Anyways, I have no idea where you left off. Could you refresh my memory?" I ask.
"Sure. Basically, it was about the Guardians interfering with life on the planet after everything had been created. I had said we Legendaries were furious with the Guardians for doing so, but kind of stopped there. The reason why we were furious is because they were giving an advantage to the humans over our creations, the Pokémon. Although it wasn't a written rule that neither side was allowed to interfere, it was rude of them to do so without consulting us first. I mean, we both worked on bringing this planet to life!" She sighs.
"What the Guardians had done that infuriated us the most was create the one object that gave humans power over Pokémon: the pokéball. At first, there was only the pokéball, the basic, standard pokéball that you have today. Later on the humans began developing better and more accurate ones, but I'll stop there for now. Philippe, you remember the pokéball that I gave you a long time ago? That was one of the first pokéballs ever created. Some may even say that it is the first pokéball ever created, by the Guardians themselves. And by some, I mean we. No one's really sure if it is or not. I just thought that it'd help you out on your journey." Now I understand why she gave it to me… Well, not really. But, if it's to help, who am I to complain?
"That was the first in a long series of events that created more and more hostilities between us. First it was the pokéball, then… Nevermind. I'll be true to my word and stop there. I'll tell you more later. We still have quite a while before we have to say goodbye, don't we?" …Goodbye?
"What do you mean, 'goodbye?'" I ask.
"Well, we have quite a while before you have to leave with Yellow, and when you do you still have quite a while before you're heading off for Gold, Silver, and Crystal. When you do, I'll be handing you off to Celebi. Didn't I tell you this before?" That's right… I'll be handed off to a different Legendary for each region I enter. Which means it won't be goodbye for good; I'll be returning here for a little while after I'm done with everything in Hoenn!
"Yeah… Even if you don't finish telling me everything I need to know, can't Celebi finish it up? And if Celebi can't finish, then Jirachi can." I suggest.
"Yeah! But, I'd like to be the one to tell you all you need to know." Aww, how sweet.
"So, I guess that's it for now." She ends.
"Yeah. I find it odd how time seems to move much quicker while I'm with you… When I leave, I'll be waking up in the real world. It feels like only ten minutes have gone by while in reality, it's been several hours." I comment.
"Time for us Legendaries is nothing when you've been living as long as we have." She says. There's something about the way she said that that makes me feel like something's off, but I don't question it. Mew waves her hand and I begin to feel dizzy, eventually waking up.
"Philippe, would you mind getting off of me?" Are the first words I hear as I begin to open my eyes. Once my eyes are fully open, I see that I'm half laying on top of Red, squishing him.
"I'm sorry, but I can't control my actions while I sleep." I answer.
"Could you at least try to?" Red says from underneath.
"Red, do you honestly know what you're saying?" I say.
"Probably not, but it'd help if you'd get off so the circulation could get to my brain." At least he can still joke.
I get off of him and off of the bed, as does he.
"Well, that was one of the best night's sleep I've ever had." I tease.
"Same for me. We haven't really slept in a real bed since… Before going to Saffron." Such a long time ago…
"You two are finally up! I was wondering how long you'd be sleeping!" Was she watching us this entire time?
"Mom! I shouldn't even be surprised." Red laughs.
"Aw… it's no fun when you're not surprised! At least Philippe's not used to it." She grins.
"Philippe, is something wrong?" Red asks. During their exchange, my eyes had started watering. I've just… never been in a room where I've felt so wanted.
"Ah… it's nothing. Anyways, I'm hungry!" I exclaim. They both drop it and follow me downstairs.
"So, what would you two like?" Delia asks.
"You know what I want, mom." Red grins.
"I'll take whatever he's taking." I add.
"Alright! I'll be back in a bit!" She twirls around and heads to the kitchen.
"Red? Can I ask you a question?" I speak after moments of silence.
"Sure. What is it?"
"Is this what people call, 'Normal?' It's been so long that I can't even remember what it is! We've been running around Kanto for almost a year, and everything's been anything but. I just wish life could be like this forever…" I know that it'll all come to an end soon, but… it'd be nice to live like this for a while.
"Yeah. This is nice. Not having to chase around bad guys, not having a deadline to keep. I mean, getting all eight badges in a year is hard! It takes some people multiple years to do that!" Not Sapphire.
"At least now we can just relax." I slump in my chair.
"So, what is your favorite food?" I ask.
"…You mean, you didn't know what it was when you asked for it?" He says incredulously.
"Why the look?"
"I don't really think you'd like it is all." He chuckles.
"Should I be worried?" I think I should.
"Probably." Yep, I should.
"It's done!" Delia shouts as she walks in. She lays a plate of rice balls on the table.
"It's not really that they're 'bad,' it's more so that they're 'plain.'" Red says as he takes one.
I decide to try one myself and take a bite. He's right; they're not as flavorful as most of the other things that I've eaten, but they're not half bad. I take another and he stares at me.
"You… actually like them?" He asks.
"Yeah. They're not bad, actually." I take another bite.
"I've never seen anyone like them as much as Red does. Interesting…" Delia says to herself.
Once we've both finished eating, we thank Red's mom for the meal, then exit the house.
"So, what do you wanna do?" Red asks.
"I don't know… I mean, before, we've known what we had to do, but now…" I start. We've always had a set path lain out for us. Get the eight badges, stop Team Rocket. Now, we have nothing and it just feels weird!
"But now… we can do whatever we want to, right?" He finishes.
"Yeah… Whatever we want to."