I'm angry...my English teacher made me angry so I have to kill her now...(grabs hatchet) but first I'll put this on. Thank Latias for distracting computers.
I think for safety this chapter should be rated PG/13. That's 'cos I'm too cautious.
And...you don't have to read it. I put it up here because I like Championshipping and it's just kind of like chapter 7 but a bonus version. This was the original, but...I thought it was safer to put up a different version first. So really, the other chapter 7 is the one with edits.
Besides, they are only just hints, and they only really start from the end of the day where Lance and Yellow play guessing games. But I felt like doing it because I had a weird idea.
Yellow blinked and took the gym badge. She looked up at Clair, and saw a mixture of emotions reflected in the Dragon trainer's face.
"Why are you giving this to me, Clair? I don't understand..."
"And it's perfectly alright that you don't understand. Listen, Yellow. You didn't understand us. You and me both. We didn't understand you."
Yellow smiled. "Yeh. I think we both owe each other an apology. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too Yellow. I was too harsh, too protective..." she sat down suddenly. "I...I'm glad he's ok, it's just...I wish I knew where he was."
"I don't know either. He won't tell me."
Clair sighed. "He definitely won't tell me then. There's been a rivalry between us since we were about 9."
"We've both been Lance's rival since we were about 9..." Yellow said.
"That's true." Clair said. "You're a great trainer, in your own special way."
"So are you, and I'm glad we battled. I hope to see you again, Clair."
They shook hands and Clair watched her walk away.
"Bye cous." she whispered.
Now that all the stress had passed, Blackthorn seemed like a much more beautiful city. Yellow spent more time wandering around and sitting by the lake, sketching the occasional inquisitive Dratini. There was only one problem left lying.
Even after she had got the gym badge, and cleared up her arguments with Clair, there was still something bugging her. It wasn't the dream she had had that night when Lance had gotten so angry, but more that were turning the corner and making Yellow angry...
"FOR THE LOVE OF MEW!" Yellow screamed, waking her 'flat mate' up. "I know you like Hyper Beam, Lance, but that was stupid!"
"What..." Lance yawned.
"Hyper Beam, Hyper Beam, Hyper Beam! Dragonite used Hyper Beam! Lickitung used Hyper Beam! Yanma used Hyper Beam! MAGIKARP USED HYPER BEAM!"
"Sorry Yellow..."
"You damn well better be!" She rolled onto her side and tried to get more shut eye, only to have another dream about...
"Lance..." Yellow said the next morning. "Do you have a problem with Electrode?"
"Electrode? Oh, yeh. What happened was that there was this neighbor's Electrode and it didn't like me, so one day it tried to blow me up."
"Oh no, what happened?"
"I landed near the Cerulean Cape 3 hours later. I wasn't hurt, luckily 'cause I landed in the water."
"Why didn't it like you?"
"It was probably allergic to redheads." Lance said, "But I don't like Electrodes that much anyway. Don't talk about it."
"Sorry about that."
Yellow sunbathed the entire day and played guessing games with Lance. When sunset came around she stretched and wandered back to the pokémon center.
"Sweet dreams." Lance cackled. "Not that I'm gonna know what they're about."
"Not funny." Yellow yawned before darkness enveloped her vision. She made an educated guess that she had had all of Lance's dreams.
She thought wrong.
Yellow woke up later in the night and stared at the ceiling for about twenty minutes. There were pictures engraved into it that she hadn't noticed before. A Vulpix ran around playfully after a Jolteon. Several Natu clustered together in one spot to form a circle. Nearby a Jigglypuff looked like it was singing and some more pokémon leaned against each other in slumber; two Nidoran...a Sentret and a Clefairy...a Dragonair and a Pikachu...
Yellow stared at the last two she had noticed with a sense of Déjà vu. She groaned in disbelief and turned onto her side when she thought she saw the initials 'L & R' scratched into the plaster next to it.
Lance moaned and muttered 'Slowbro don't eat maps, Yellow..." in his sleep; SO innocent...not.
Yellow flicked on the light and grabbed her bag. She threw 7 potions which were unused for obvious reasons, a half eaten bar of chocolate and a Pokémon Pal magazine across the floor before she found what she was looking for: a scrunched up article from a 3 year old copy of The Daily Kantonian.
They there all were,squashed into a photograph positioned under the headline: Victory on Cerise Island.
Green was trying to look serious and with dignity, his eyes as sharp as ever.
Blue wore her common mischievous grin and her Ditto resembled a hat on her head.
Yellow was making a 'V' for victory and smiling broadly, obviously completely oblivious to what she would see in the future, or of what she had just done to influence what she would see.
And standing on the end was the Kanto League Champion, Red. His expression was slightly pained and his smile forced, as if he was hiding a dark secret.
"I hurt you too, Red..." Yellow breathed.
"Morning Yellow..."
"I have to leave today."
"Well, congratulations. You finally realized that the gym badge Clair put in your hand was for keeps." Lance yawned.
"Lance, I've found out a lot about you in the last few days, from how you joined the Elite Four to why you're such an anti philanthropist, to your fear of...Electrodes..."
"I told you not to mention that Electrode."
"Sorry. But it's taught me a lot. And I'm glad of that, because I thought I would have to live my whole life knowing I had made someone suffer and never tried to mend it. Now I've tried to help your family out. It's lifted a heavy load off my mind."
"I guess I know a bit about you now. Yeh...none of my dreams scared you too much, did they? That one of yours about the Rage Candy Bars wasn't that pleasant..."
"Oh, you had that one did you? Ehehehe...no, not that bad, the one last night though, um..."
"What about the one last night? Who was in it?"
"Never mind. But the one about Dratini...I cried through that one, Lance. Because I finally saw."
Yellow looked out over the lake through her window. A Dragonair jumped out of the glistening waters, curved in a great arc and splashed back into the depths. The Viridian trainer smiled, because finally she saw the beauty, she had finally seen why.
Yellow picked up her rucksack and began to walk out of the pokémon center. In the lounge the same person from a couple of days ago approached her with the phone.
"Er, it's that Red guy again." he said.
Yellow shakily took the phone. Oh no, not Red! What would she say to him? She noticed that Lance had fallen silent again...
"Hi...Red..." she shivered.
"Hi Yel...Yellow, are you OK?"
"Yeh...fine...why?"
"Um, you seem a bit nervous..."
"A little. I'm...leaving Blackthorn City...today!"
"Ok...what's wrong Yellow? Have you missed me?"
Yellow shook more. "Oh...yeh! Of course I have!" Lance sneezed as an evil thought landed in Yellow's mind. "I...I dreamed about you last night..."
Red breathed heavily down the phone line but he was drowned out as Lance began to panic extremely loudly. Yellow tried to block her ears but of course, it didn't work.
"Yellow? Are you still there?" Red said amongst the din, even though he didn't know there was a din, "I'm...I'm honored that you dreamt of me."
Yellow tried to speak at a normal tone but she couldn't hear herself speak above Lance's racket. "Well, it wasn't really my dream."
There was a confused pause.
"Lance, SHUT UP!" Yellow thought.
"NOOOOO! IT'S SO EMBARASSING! WHAT DID YOU SEE? Was there grass?"
"No, I don't think so..."
"Ok, so it wasn't that time...were there trees?"
"Uh...yeh! It was the Viridian forest."
"Were there engravings on any of the trees?"
"Yeah..." Then she remembered where she had seen the carving on the ceiling before. "They were of a Dragonair and a Pikachu."
"AAAAARGH!"
"You're giving me a headache, and you only cuddled."
"You damn well better have only seen that bit." Lance hissed.
"So you won the gym badge, hunh?" Red continued, "Second battle against the Dragons, not that bad, eh?"
"No, not that bad." Yellow switched back to the phone conversation as Lance took heavy breaths to calm down. "A bit surprising, but yeh..."
"Don't lie, Yellow." Lance heaved. "Lying is bad...was there a creek?"
"Shut up and NO."
"I guess I'll be seeing you soon then Yellow. You heading back to Viridian?"
"Yep. Home's good." Yellow chirped. "See you Red!"
"Bye!"
Yellow hung up and walked out of the pokémon center. She breathed in the morning air and set off down the street.
"I'm sorry you had to have that dream, Yellow."
Yellow sighed as she turned the corner. "Don't worry about it; I didn't see anything explicit."
"Oh that's reassuring." Lance said. "Come on...don't you think Red and I are kind of cute?"
Yellow raised her eyebrows at no-one. "Yeh...adorable."
"Ok, thanks...but still...I really hoped you wouldn't see that, Yellow...I'm not angry, just embarrassed, kind of..."
"Come on. You had to dream about the time I cried when Ratty evolved. That was embarrassing, and it was in front of someone I admire."
"Really, did you?" Lance laughed, "I didn't have that one."
"Oops." Yellow said, blushing. "Well, last night was one of those dreams you sort of forget what happened..."
"Good." Lance sighed. "I wish...I wish the Dratini dream had been like that..."
"No." Yellow shook her head, even though she knew Lance couldn't see her. "You shouldn't. Don't worry about that one. Your desire was strong, and had I not been there, as ignorant and uninformed as I was, you would have succeeded."
"So now you agree."
"No, I don't agree. But I understand."
"Can you do me a favour? Tell Red I'm not dead."
Yellow rolled her eyes. "Oh, ok then. I'll tell him, 'To Red, From Lancey'..."
"ENOUGH. And it's not funny, it's serious. This is as important as when I asked you to tell Clair, Yellow. 'Cause it's for someone I love. Deliver the message with care, OK?"
Yellow smiled as she thought about how much they both cared about Red. "I promise."
She looked around to see that she had passed through the city and was facing the mountains that lead to the Indigo Plateau, then the route to Viridian.
"Home." she sighed. "Time to go home."
"I wish I could go home, to Viridian city." Lance said.
Yellow suddenly felt a guilty pang again. "That's a point. You never told me where you are."
The trainer in yellow set off towards the Silver Mountains as Lance sighed and spoke to her one last time.
"I don't know. I think it's like a place people go when they're not dead or alive, and they just can't decide what they are." Lance said. "But I don't want you to feel bad for putting me here, because I've discovered so much. Because I finally saw."
Yellow smiled at the voice that faded gradually out of her head. "You and me both."
The Second End...