Chapter 5: Invitation
Red signaled Aero to land on the grass outside Professor Oak's lab. He slid off the bird's back easily, feet touching the ground in a practice that was so familiar it may have been second nature to him. The sky was a deep blue with dark grey winter clouds floating listlessly across. The warmth of the sun sometimes fell on him and sometimes didn't; when it didn't Red vaguely noticed it. The cold of Pallet's winter was nothing compared to the snowy peak of Mt. Silver, after all.
Beside him, Aero let out a soft screech. Grinning, the Champion turned and patted the prehistoric pokemon on the snout. The pterodactyl growled, pleased, before being consumed by the all-encompassing light of its pokeball. Clipping Aero's ball back to his belt, Red made his way toward the entrance of the lab, Pika following closely at his heels.
I wonder what Professor Oak wanted to talk about with me? he thought to himself.
The cool of the winter air disappeared into the warmth of a comfortable lab as he walked through the automatic door. Red loudly declared his entrance, not caring if anyone was around to hear him or not.
"Holy—!" came a squeak from the back of the lab. A head peaked out from behind the sea of cabinets full of documents and beeping instruments. Dark blue hair so rich it shined almost violet underneath the fluorescent lights, with matching eyes that glared daggers at the newcomer.
Crystal huffed, "Couldn't you have announced yourself more calmly? Geez, you and Gold, both…"
Her grumblings got lost from behind the stuff in the lab. Red chuckled amiably. "It's good to see you, too, Crys." Pika hopped onto Red's shoulder and squeaked cheerfully in greeting.
Crystal's stern gaze softened at Pika's greeting. "Hey, Pika!" She moved through the maze of objects crowding into Oak's lab to greet Pika with an affectionate scratch behind its ears. He squealed happily.
"So, Professor Oak called me earlier today to stop by the lab to talk to me? Any idea what about?"
The capturer shrugged her shoulders. "Honestly, Red? I don't know. He received this packet earlier this morning and when I came to give it to him, he just kind of…froze up."
Red frowned. "That doesn't sound like him."
"Right. I thought the same thing," she admitted, stepping away from Red's pokemon to look him more squarely. "When I asked him what was wrong, though, he just said that he was going to call you."
Red's mind reeled with the possibilities. "You don't think... A team?" he asked, brow furrowed.
She just shook her head. "I don't know. If it was, it would be the first that I'm hearing of it. Kanto has been relatively safe in terms of evil organizations."
Red frowned. "Well, recently there was that uprising in Alola…"
But the blue-haired girl raised her hand to stop him. "Stop. Instead of speculating I think you should talk to him yourself. You'll get faster answers that way."
Red couldn't help the grin that split his face in two. Leave it to Crystal to stay on task: efficient, organized, and blunt. "You're right. Is he in?"
She nodded, gesturing to a door in the back. "He's in his office."
Grinning his thanks, he moved toward the door, watching as Crystal went right back to work. Always hardworking, that one. He got to the door.
Walking into Oak's office was the difference between night and day. On one side of the threshold was the comforting sounds of a sleepy town in the midst of its day. On the other was a silence so big, it seemed to swallow the whole world. When Red let himself into Oak's office, the lighthearted atmosphere he had brought with him from the winter air disappeared into the void, replaced by a heaviness that was so palpable Red nearly choked. Concerned, he stared at Oak, who was seated behind his desk. The professor's face twitched at the sound of Red entering his office and emerald eyes glinted within the gaunt face of a man Red had known for ten years. The Battler met the intense glare in Oak's gaze, so similar to the piercing stare of his childhood friend and rival. The resemblance was striking: the intensity, the arrogance, right down to the shade of green, a perfect circular pupil embedded in pearl white.
Oak's elbows rested heavily on the desk in front of him. There was nothing on the desk, only a single, lone manila folder.
"Red," Oak greeted without smiling. "Welcome."
Red didn't feel welcome. He frowned. "What's wrong, professor? Sorry it took me a while to get here. You called me so suddenly."
But the professor shook his head, waving away the apology as insignificant. He gestured toward the seat across from him. Red obediently took it, facing the professor with the wooden desk stretching miles between them. There were no shadows on Oak's face, illuminated so perfectly by the artificial light in the room. It was a gaze so ferocious it reminded Red of the first time he had ever met the formidable man. He was only ten years old and the professor had towered over him like a skyscraper. His green gaze had pierced his younger self, appraising, doubting.
It was the same here. And Red tensed up. On his shoulder, Pika felt his distress. Static burst from the mouse's fur, and made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
Oak began speaking. "I need you to know that after all these years, I do not regret giving the Pokédex to any of you."
Red didn't expect those words from Oak's mouth. But it felt like a precursor to something else. Something big.
"You, Green, and Blue were the first holders of the Pokédex and each one of you have accomplished things the average person could only dream of." The professor's trademark fierceness softened as his gaze swept over the Battler. Red shuddered at the display of affection. Maybe it was Pika, so close to his cheek, making him more sensitive to the atmosphere in the room.
Red frowned once more, understanding that Oak was prone to rambling. "Professor, I'm glad you think that way, but why did you call me here?"
An unreadable expression descended upon the professor's face for a brief moment before he closed his eyes thoughtfully, leaning back in his chair.
He opened his eyes. "The Pokédex was my pride and joy. The culmination of my life's work. It's my dream made into reality. I could not be more proud of what I had created. So, giving it to you…you must understand that I had my doubts.
"For you and Blue both, I had conducted extensive background checks in the event that either of you were unsuitable for the Pokédex."
Immediately, Red's heart jackhammered in his chest. Background checks? He had known Professor Oak had conducted them on Blue. That's how he had ultimately triumphed over her in the semi-finals of their first League tournament. But for him? A resident of backwater Pallet Town?
Oak's soft gaze once more fell upon him leaving Red feeling more uncomfortable than ever. The professor continued his speech. "Finding the names of your parents was a simple task. But finding your parents? Nigh impossible."
Red's hands gripped the sides of his chair so tight that his knuckles turned white. Noticing his trainer's distress the pikachu upon his shoulder jumped down lightly into Red's lap and clawed gently at the fabric of his shirt. Automatically, Red's arms encircled the electric mouse and cradled it to his chest.
"Professor," came his voice, shaken like the ocean upon Cinnabar's beach during a hurricane. "What are you—?"
Oak interrupted him, sliding the folder lying innocently upon his desk over to his side. "You may be interested in what this document has to say."
Red eyed it as though staring at the ocean under a cloudy night, an expanse of black waters with no end in sight. A void of nothing and everything hiding in its depth.
The professor's voice, usually so gruff and blunt, became gentle as it drifted lazily from his side of the desk to Red's. It sounded so far away.
"Red, we were able to confirm without a shadow of a doubt that your father is dead. I think you've known this for a while already, so I doubt you're surprised." Red nodded, numbly. He hadn't talked about his father in so long. It's been years and years.
Oak's voice continued, suddenly becoming as clear and sharp as a knife. "But, after nearly a decade, we finally found your mother."
Red sat there, for a moment, unable to speak. Emotions whirled in the pit of his stomach and clawed its way up his esophagus. They threatened to burst out of his ribcage with such intensity that all Red could do is remember what it was like upon the peak of Mt. Silver, training. For what? To be the best. To be stronger. Why?
In his house stood the only framed picture he had kept around, faced down upon the mantel, haphazard and neglected. Dust gathered upon it in thick layers, a rousing testament to the years he had left it all behind.
Red barely registered the squeaks of concern emitted by the rodent in his arms. The blankness of the folder set before him mocked him in its simplicity. Reflected in its emptiness were ruby red eyes staring after him from the door way of his home. One foot out the door, the other in. A gaze so heavy, it contained the whole of the universe in it.
Red stared at the professor, conflicting emotions flitting across his features like a thunderstorm. He sought out the familiar wrinkles of the researcher's face, seeking…seeking what?
Oak nodded toward the document. "If you'd like, all of the information about your mother is in this folder. Where she lives, her occupation, what she's been doing after all these years.
"It's all in there."
It's all in there.
It was all in her gaze, too. He had only been eight years old and he knew nothing of what it meant when she gazed at him, blood red eyes shimmering from the tears flowing gently down porcelain skin. Thirteen years later, and he was none the wiser. That watery gaze remained as enigmatic as the day he first saw it.
Red's voice trembled as he forced himself to meet Oak's gaze and the only thing he could choke out was, "Why?"
Suddenly, the conflicting emotions that had immobilized him previously broke apart, shattering into a billion pieces, replaced by a single force so strong that it burned up to his very nostrils. Anger—pure, red-hot anger—flared in the pit of his stomach.
He glared at Oak, accusatory. "Why did you do this?"
His rage was slow, burning slowly beneath the pressure of thirteen years, bubbling up like the steady flow of lava. It hardened his expression, tensed his muscles.
Oak seemed taken aback. "Red, what—?"
"She was dead, professor," came his voice in rapid fire hysteria. "She's not… She couldn't be…"
His voice broke and he clamped his mouth shut for fear of losing ever more control. He closed his eyes and calmed down, like he would in a long, frustrating battle with no end in sight. This was just like that.
No end in sight.
Red stood up, so quickly that Pika tumbled out of his lap, squeaking in protest. "Sorry, professor. Thanks for doing this, but I really… I don't…" He took off his cap, ran a hand through his unruly hair, took a deep breath.
When he put his cap back on his head, the shaking in his voice, the flashing in his eyes disappeared, replaced with the cold hardness of a ruthless battler. It was in the same tone he ordered Saur to unleash Frenzy Plant on the mega-Kyogre. The same tone that called Mewtwo to his side to face off against Deoxys.
"I won't need it."
Pika stared at his Trainer as Red moved toward the door, yellow head cocked to the side.
"Wait! Red!" Oak clambered up from his seat. Swiping at the folder and moving to stop the battler from exiting. He pushed it into Red's chest.
His gaze was fiercer than Red ever saw it before, an expression that seemed to cut right to the heart of him. "Take it, Red," came the professor's voice, old and wise and stubborn as his grandson. "You don't have to open it, but take it anyway."
Red's hand instinctively grabbed hold of the object shoved against his body and Oak backed off. Red searched the professor's eyes one more time before the old man's hardened face relaxed into a smile, gentle as the sea breeze. "Good luck, Red."
He and Pika were out of there as fast as their legs could carry them.
Oak stared after the door, opening and closing shut with such force it would have made any timid person jump feet into the air. He heard loud footsteps, a yelp from Crystal, and indignant shouting before the swish of the automatic door at the entrance of his lab made him sure of their exit. It was only then that Oak slumped in his seat, burying his face in his hands.
Moments later, Crystal burst into his office, clearly peeved. "Professor, why in the world was Red so—!"
Her voice was cut off as she took one look at the wizened professor and his slump form, so contrary to his usual confident, upright posture.
"Professor, what happened?" The question this time was considerably calmer.
Said man sighed before lifting his head to meet Crystal's questioning gaze. "Red…will have a very difficult next couple of weeks."
Crystal didn't understand, but one look at the professor… She clasped her hands at her chest and hoped for the best.
Red stepped out of the lab and into the winter air, facing the sleepy town of Pallet. He stopped briefly right outside the sensors of the lab doors and stared at the folder that had already started to crumple in his hands. Beyond the folder was the dirt road that led to the rest of the town. A look of violent disgust crossed his features before he turned his back on the town, shoving the folder deep into his disorganized backpack, and headed straight for Route 1.
Circling around his legs was PIka, chittering almost angrily at him, but Red refused to stop. His hands were shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans with the bill of his cap pulled low over his eyes. His jaw clenched tightly.
After a few minutes of heavy silence, Pika gave up trying to catch his attention, opting to trot beside him instead. He kept on a lookout for wandering wild pokemon, but found none. Some low-leveled rattata peeked out from the swaying tall grass, but Pika need only to let out a few intimidating sparks and the rats ran away with their tail between their legs.
Beside him, Pika's master marched mercilessly through the hills of Route 1, sneakered feet trudging heavily on the well-worn path. It seemed that there would be no end to Red's trek into the wilderness, when suddenly a ringing in his pocket cut through the brisk winter air. It rang for a full minute; Red was hesitant to pick it up. But after a moment, he pulled out his pokegear and brought it to his ear.
"What?" he hissed, uncaring who exactly might have been on the other end.
A low, sharp voice came through the speakers. "I take it you saw my grandfather."
It wasn't a question. Red stopped in his tracks, surprising Pika, who immediately grasped at his pant leg in concern. The Battler frowned. "How'd you know?"
"Because I was the one who found her."
The wind blew through the trees and sent a shiver down his spine. Clouds moved overhead, hiding the sun, plunging the day in darkness. At his feet, the grass swayed to the wind. Pika sensed its trainer's increasing distress. It squeaked anxiously in response.
Red clenched his pokegear so tight, his knuckles turned white. "What?"
The voice on the other end didn't miss a beat. "I was the one who found your mother, Red."
The rage he felt sitting in Oak's too-bright office came back to him full-force. He stamped his foot, forcing Pika a few paces back to dodge the sudden motion. "I never asked you to ever— "
"You didn't need to ask me. Grandfather did."
Red had known Green ever since they were both kids, going off on their very first adventure as all ten-year-olds did. He knew how Green thought, how he battled. He knew the man's heart almost as intimately as he knew his own. He knew the words that were hidden in words, and the meanings lurking ominously just beneath the surface. If he had been anyone else, he would never have picked up on it.
"So, what, you didn't trust me?" was Red's eerily calm reply.
Green sighed, a sound that made Red want to throw a punch. "It's not about trust. It's about finishing an investigation that started ten years ago. An investigation that you needed, whether you thought so or not."
Red clenched his teeth and growled, "What gave you the right—?"
Green's voice was infuriatingly calm. "My grandfather had every right to inquire about you. You were given the Pokedex, the pinnacle of everything he worked for in life. A background check is the least he's entitled to."
"A background check that lasted ten years?!" Blinding rage was bubbling in the pit of his stomach. He needed an outlet and he needed it now.
The level-headed tone flowing from the device in his hand only served to agitate Red more. "The investigation ended a year later when the results came up with nothing. You proved yourself to my grandfather at that point, too, so he believed the investigation would close. But a year ago, he received information that piqued his curiosity and made him re-open it. He thought you needed it. And I think he's right."
Alarm sounds blared in Red's head. There was something about the shift in Green's tone. He was hiding something. Red's eyes narrowed.
"You're not the only one who knows."
The silence on the other end was all the answer he needed.
"Who else knows, Green?" he demanded.
"Red, would you just—."
He roared with a desperation that he hadn't felt in a decade. "Who else knows?!"
A pause. "Blue."
Red punched the trunk of the nearest tree, causing the leaves to sway. The spearow alighting in its branches immediately took flight. Pika was dashing to and fro in the tall grass, clearly sensing its trainer's emotions. Electricity from the rodent's fur sparked into the sky as the wind picked up and the sun peeked in and out of view from behind the clouds.
The Battler scoffed. "Of course she knows."
There was silence on the other end and Red knew Green. He fingered the pokeballs on his belt.
Red didn't want a reasoned discussion. He wanted a battle, a fierce one. "I'm coming to Viridian right now and you better be ready inside that damn gym of yours, Green Oak."
"No chance. I'm meeting you at the edge of Route 1."
A beep and a flash of light later and Red soared upward with Aero's scaly wings spreading across the sky. Tucked safely against his stomach, Pika curled into a ball, static emanating from the rodent's fur like sparks. Red urged the prehistoric flier forward with the viciousness of a man on a mission. They streaked across the sky like a meteor, Aero's powerful wings catching the winds and following it forward, its aerodynamic head slicing through the air like a knife.
Red didn't care if he was being unreasonable. This was his past, damn it! No one else's. He had left it behind, inside that house he hated, filled with memories that were best forgotten. And even though just looking in the mirror reminded him of the genes that made up his DNA, he was able to make a name for himself, craft his present and create his own future. By himself, without his parents.
They were gone. They were dead. He had lived his life believing in that and he had done well, hadn't he? He became Champion. He had mentored other Champions. He conquered regions, decimated competition, and proved time and again that he was the best.
Ten years. Ten years! Who the hell did they think they were, digging into his past like that?
In the distance, Red saw the silhouette of a pokemon that seemed too large to be one of the wild pidgeotto roaming the skies of Route 1. Green's face flickered in his memory and even though there was every chance he could be wrong, Red pulled Aero back in a fit of rage and screamed.
"Hyper Beam!"
Particles gathered around Aero's mouth for a brief moment before bursting forth in a beam of blinding white light. It streaked through the air, toward the dot in the distance as precise as a bullet and was met with the impossible force of a five-tongued flame. The attacks met and shattered in an explosion of smoke and heat, dissipating the heavy clouds overhead with its intensity.
With a ferocious grin, Red reveled in the realization that he was right to think it was Green before flying headfirst right into the smoke. Aero's talons glowed silver and even though he could see nothing but smoke and steam and the too-bright blue of the sky overhead, Aero tackled downward, talons spread and glowing.
"Crush Claw!"
"Steel Wing!"
Rock hard talons met the steel of scaled wings and the force of their meeting cleared the smokescreen around them and could have knocked Red completely off the back of his aerodactyl if not for the stamina of years of practice. He held Pika close to his stomach to ensure the rodent didn't fall off.
Verdant pupils glowed like lanterns atop the scaly orange of a flying lizard. The thought of the manila envelope in Red's bag set his blood ablaze.
The Champion didn't hesitate, spurned forward by the force of his emotions. "Thunder Fang!"
Aero's long neck elongated and shot forward, burning electricity sparking from its jaw as it reached for a bite of the orange lizard's wing, but missed by millimeters. The force of the attack shot Aero forward and past the charizard, wings spread wide to catch the warm currents of the updraft. It shot Aero and his trainer upward at least 50 meters in the air.
The aerodactyl turned sharply and dive-bombed toward Charizard with the speed of a comet. The whistling wind screamed around Red's ears, forcing him to secure his cap onto his head with one hand while holding on desperately with his other. It ignited a thrill in the pit of his stomach that momentarily allowed him to forget the rage that had been creeping into his heart only minutes before.
"Iron Head!"
The attack grazed Charizard's underbelly, just enough to send the lizard roaring in pain to the side. Green held on for dear life as his mount fell several dozen meters. A set jaw and a sharp command righted the charizard in seconds.
But Red was ruthless. "Sky Attack!"
Chartreuse orbs glared at the rapidly glowing aerodactyl and forced Charizard to face it. "Flamethrower!"
But Aero's streaking trajectory cut right through the flames. Barely one foot away from the lizard, and Charizard thrust out a single claw.
"Dragon Claw!"
It came from the right and Red had to jerk Aero just barely out of the way, and the interrupted attack dissipated from Aero's aura. Red almost laughed aloud at Green's lucky strike before realizing that he was supposed to be angry. But the pounding of adrenaline in his ear, the dizzying acrobatics in the air, and the cool sensation of wind streaming across his face made him feel light, airy, and giddy.
The slash grazed the scales of the pterodactyl's armored chest and sent them rolling backward in mid-air. Red was disoriented but only for a moment and if his opponent was anyone else, they would have taken advantage of the momentary confusion to scream across the distance to talk sense into the aggravated battler. But Green was not just anyone.
"Fire Blast!" the gym leader commanded, a command that delighted Red far more than he bothered to admit. A stream of flames burst from Charizard's mouth aimed for the chaotic trajectory of the aerodactyl. But a flick of the wing and a clever dive and the dinosaur and its trainer were safely out of harm's way.
"Thunder!" was Red's reply.
"Shit!" Green just barely had time to say before a wicked bolt descended from the cloud that he didn't realize had formed above them.
With the ruthless instinct of a battler who knew his opponent through and through, Red ordered another hyper beam from his pterodactyl aimed at the spot Green had been before taking on Pika's thunder, but was blind-sided by the series of air slashes that shot toward them from below. Glowing blue-white eyes of a porygon2 and its protective shield was all that was left of Pika's devastating attack.
Red just couldn't deny it anymore. He was having fun. The anger that had been boiling away beneath his skin had all but evaporated and only the intoxicating thrill of battle was left in his veins.
Aero took the first, the second, and the third air slash before rolling out of the way of the blades and Red was nearly thrown off, but his grip on the jutting bone on Aero's back stayed true. Pika clung fiercely to Red's shirt and chittered angrily in Red's ear as though reprimanding him for almost falling off his mount.
Red couldn't help it. He burst out in laughter at the prospect that he nearly died. He knew that Aero never would have let him fall, or Green for that matter, but the thought struck him as funny anyway.
The gym leader's gaze met Red's laughter unflinchingly, calling off the attack he was just about to command charizard to execute. His sharp voice cut through the whistling wind as he yelled toward Red. "Are you done yet?"
Red grinned at Green, trying to control his laughter before nodding his head. "Yeah!" he confirmed. Aero flapped its wings, gliding easily around Charizard and Green, who glided gently beside them. The bubbling laughter in Red's throat died down leaving him feeling a lot more peaceful than he had in what seemed like ages.
Green let Charizard flap his wings to hover briefly, a brief but rare smile crossed his features as he nodded at Red before directing his mount downward. The Champion grinned back and followed his childhood friend and rival unhesitatingly to a clearing that allowed the two of them to comfortably land their mounts.
Green was already on the ground, next to his charizard, waiting for Red to land and slide off Aero's back.
As soon as he did, Red grinned at his friend. "Good battle."
Green frowned, crossing his arms at his chest. "You were sloppy."
The Champion scratched his head sheepishly. "Yeah, well I wasn't exactly in the right mind when we started."
The gym leader nodded before changing the subject. "So, are you going to read the folder or not?"
Red glanced at the straps of his backpack which held the aforementioned object and frowned. The high of the battle was quickly disappearing, replaced with the crushing reality he was confronted with not even hours before. He was no longer angry, but the thought of the information held in that folder twisted his stomach into knots.
"…I don't know," he answered honestly, unable to meet Green's eyes.
His friend sighed, a trademark of the overly serious gym leader that very rarely ever evoked shame in him, but seemed to succeed now.
"You'll have to someday."
Red grimaced. "No. I won't." There was a finality in his tone that didn't leave room for a challenge, but Green dared to step up to the plate.
"So you'll just keep pretending your whole life," Green scoffed.
Red clenched his jaw, the anger that gripped him before the battle coming back. But rather than the white-hot, boiling rage that simmered and overflowed in its toxicity, this anger was indignant, persistent, and stubborn as though trying to hold onto something that had no purchase.
"If I wanted to look for her, I would have done it myself. I'm not a kid anymore."
The gym leader didn't budge. "Then why haven't you?"
"I lived my life just fine without her, right?" He shrugged his shoulders and spread his fingers, though only briefly for the way they trembled in the winter air. "I turned out fine. I achieved my dreams and now I'm working hard to maintain them. I'm proud of the person I became and I did it without her help."
He held his head high, his Champion's poker face on display for Green to see. But Green knew him sometimes better than Red knew himself. His verdant gaze pierced Red to his bones. "You did and yet you're still hiding." Green shook his head. "For someone who's saved the world more than once, you aren't very self-aware, are you?"
Red had long since become accustomed to Green's harsh words, but he couldn't help but grow indignant. He opened his mouth to protest, but Green cut him off before he could.
"Why can't you just admit that you're scared?"
Red did a double take. Scared? Him? He's faced off against multiple legendaries intent on destroying the world! He's trained atop the fiercest mountain in the region for years and conquered it! The world knew his name and he knew the world.
"I'll be back before you know it. Don't worry, sweetie."
Red shoved the memory away roughly. He hadn't thought about that in years. He wouldn't think about it now. Red clenched his eyes and his fists and spat. "I'm not scared."
Green scoffed, but didn't say anything. His lack of response communicated worlds. Silence stretched between them. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds for a moment, washing the world in color. The winter air blew across their faces and played melodies through the surrounding trees.
Red refused to meet Green's eyes. His oldest and longest and best friend just watched the raven-haired Champion with a gaze that could break stone.
"Yellow…doesn't know," Green said haltingly, a hesitation that the stalwart trainer rarely ever expressed.
The name of his girlfriend made Red lift his head to meet Green's eyes. The gym leader's gaze was unreadable, his usually clear verdant eyes clouded with contradictions.
Green continued, "She's the only one who doesn't know."
Red didn't know what to say or think. Why did he bring Yellow into this? But he could tell the brunet wasn't yet done and had more to say. Red clamped his mouth shut and waited.
He wasn't disappointed. Green looked away from Red's gaze, another uncharacteristic action. "It's not that we don't trust you. Blue, Gramps, and I do everything we've got. I know you know that." A pause. Then, he shook his head as if shaking off a persistent fly. "Yellow loves you. Far more than you deserve."
Red bristled at those words, but he couldn't bring himself to disagree. Yellow was too good. Far too good for him.
"She'll be there for you especially when you don't want us there." Green's gaze slid back to meet Red's. "You should try to open it with her."
He saw and understood more in that gaze than he ever could with words. There was his trademark arrogance and stubbornness that often got the two of them butting heads. But it was mixed with hesitation, pity, and even shame. A testament that Green hadn't been in his right mind when they started either.
Red closed his eyes and he thought of Professor Oak and his trademark fierce gaze, glancing over him with a profound love that is always, always combined with a deep and well-hidden pity. Was that how Oak saw him? A poor orphan kid without a family and was starving for love, for attention, for affection?
Then, he thought of Blue and her laughing, mischievous eyes. The silhouette of her back as she raced toward her parents for the first time in years, reunited with people who loved her, worried for her, and never lost hope that they'd find her. Is that what she thought of when she joined Oak in his investigation of him? A hope that he'd be reunited with people who loved him the same way she was only years before?
He opened his eyes and looked at his longest friend. Emotion bubbled up his throat and caused his voice to waver. "Before ever going to your grandfather or Blue, you should have told me first."
An uncharacteristic expression crossed Green's face that left Red feeling emptier than ever. His voice was soft and gentle and conveyed more than any words ever could. "I know," he said.
"My mother is dead," Red declared, feeling like he's trying to hold on to something without knowing what it is.
"No," came Green's voice, clear as a bell. "She's not."
Red showed him his back. "She was. To me."
Green said nothing and the silence between them screamed.
Red thought of Yellow, and the emotion that was bubbling up in his throat almost burst forth. He looked over at Pika who was resting on Aero's back. The electric rodent gazed silently at his master. He placed a hand on Aero and jumped on its back, holding Pika close to his chest. The world seemed suffocating. Deep in the pit of his stomach the knots wound itself inside of him tighter and tighter and he found it a bit difficult to breathe.
But Red's jaw was resolute. He knew exactly where he was going.
Green watched as Aero spread its wings and rocketed into the air. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds, illuminating the entire world for only a brief moment before darkness once again shadowed the day. He turned around and recalled Charizard into its pokeball. In his other hand was a pokegear.
"Yeah, Blue? He got the envelope… What? No, I'm not an idiot, we fought over Route 1. …Yeah. Definitely two tickets."
Green paused and frowned into his pokegear as he listened to the soft timbre of Blue on the other end.
"Was it really the right thing to do?" Her voice trembled.
"That doesn't matter anymore. It happened and we can't change it."
"Yeah, you're right." A brief pause and Green could almost see the way Blue twirled a strand of her long hair in contemplation. "Poor Yellow, too. Pushing all this on her."
Green scowled though he knew she couldn't see it. "I was the one who wanted to tell her."
"It wouldn't have mattered until you gave it away that I knew."
The gym leader pressed a finger against the place between his eyes, trying to stay calm. They always ended up arguing. "I should have told Red first. Before Grandpa. Before you."
The silence on the other end was all the heartbreaking confirmation he needed.
It took a while but she replied, "As you said. It happened and we can't change it."
Her voice was soft, gentle. Briefly, he tried to imagine what Blue's face would look like in that moment. Maybe she'd be kind, sensitive like she usually is in times like these. A part of him hoped she'd be accusatory, though he knew that wasn't the case. She probably would have reached out a hand, clapped it comfortingly on his shoulder and said nothing in the way that he'd know she understood.
Green had hoped the image would give him some comfort, but he wasn't one to find solace in fantasies. He gave up before long.
"Well," the Evolver said, tone turning bright and bubbly as was her usual persona, "we'll just have to sit back and see. I'll let you know if anything changes."
They chatted for a few more minutes before Green ended the call and resumed his walk back to the city. The sun was beginning to set, signaling the end of a long day. A single shadow stretched for what felt like miles behind him and followed him all the way home.
It took only a few minutes in reality but felt like a hundred years before he found himself at her doorstep. In his hands was the manila folder he barely had the courage to hold on to. Two strong knocks on the door and a minute that stretched into forever. A girl with hair like the sun greeted him with a smile that shamed the twilight in its beauty.
One look at him shattered her grin and she reached out her arms as he leaned forward and into her, the smell of forest and nature and sunshine wafting from her hair.
"Red?" she asked him, concerned and seemingly in shock. But her arms wrapped around him as naturally as the sun sinking below the mountains.
Behind her, he heard the shuffling of playing pokemon and the melody of the wind rustling the branches of Viridian trees. He thought he could smell berry pancakes cooking in her kitchen. The twisting of his stomach churned more slowly until he felt the tension in his shoulders start to fade away. He held her close, close, and dared to think he was home.