Chapter 9

Author's Note: This is word emphasis

-this is telepathic conversation-

Celadon City:

Red sat, meditating, on the bed he and Citrine would be sharing at the Pokémon Center, working on his Aura once more. Citrine had her head on his lap, working on her mental shields, layering them in subtle ways, so as to keep unscrupulous psychics from having a direct line of access into her mind. She was also, with Espeon's help, working on shoring up her empathic defenses as well. Red had one hand running through her blonde hair, he did better with meditation if some part of him was moving. Citrine had her hair down for the moment, she relaxed better around Red. Nurse Evangeline Joy had told them about a tournament that would be taking place in Celadon City in two short days. The prize would be a pokémon egg from Sinnoh. The instant Red had heard that he had signed up, as every instinct he had was blaring at him that he needed to enter that tournament.

It wasn't hard for Celadon City to organize tournaments and the like since they did happen to host Contests. Mew had decided to go through with the tournament Cresselia suggested to get Red an actual Riolu. Red comes out of his meditative state first, and keeps his fingers running through Citrine's hair. How she kept it feeling so silky soft he would never know. He knew she was working on her shields, empathic and telepathic. The really good psychics continually worked on their shields, and if they were smart kept them in place as well. The only person Citrine never blocked was Red himself. He anchored her in a sea of jumbled and disjointed thoughts and feelings, she needed to keep that anchor in place. He can sense her stirring, he was getting better with his Aura through trial and error.

Citrine stretches as she sits up before she snuggles back in, and Red's fingers find their way back into her hair. Citrine's head was now tucked up under his chin, and his left arm was holding her in place. Having her cradled against him just felt so very natural. Red doesn't question why that is, he just accepts it, and moves on. " 'Trine, will you be okay watching the tournament from the crowd? "

" I'll have Espeon to help me, plus Haunter to dull my power as well. I said it before, Red, you have to live your life too. I'm getting better at being able to defend myself psychically, and I have ChuChu whom can unleash Electric Hell on Idiots. " Citrine answers.

" What would you say to possibly getting a saddle for Fearow that would seat the both of us? " Red asks curiously. He'd been mulling the idea over ever since he caught Fearow.

Citrine angles her head just enough so she can meet his inquiring gaze, " It would be fun, and we could cover more distance. We'd both need some more money though. "

" I'll get plenty for winning the tournament, and we'll both be challenging Erica, the Gym Leader here in Celadon City. " Red points out, " There's also pick up battles as well. "

" True enough, " Citrine admits, " I suppose we should go get dinner. "

It was at that very moment that Red realized that his feelings for Citrine may be more than platonic. The mere thought of anyone other than him seeing Citrine with her hair down like this raised his hackles. He knew that even at eleven Citrine turned male and female heads alike. Citrine was actually wearing a pale silver dress at the moment that made her blonde hair really stand out. Red suddenly felt underdressed, and he just knew they'd be going out to a restaurant. He slips away from Citrine, -Give me fifteen minutes.- Red grabs his backpack, and heads straight for the ensuite bathroom. Nothing could be done about his hair, but he did have a few semi-casual outfits along. Why he'd packed them he didn't know, but he was glad he had now. Had anyone told him he'd be going out on an almost date before he hit his teens he would have scoffed.

At the same time Blue has just reached Celadon City, and he gets spotted by Green, whom cleverly picks his pocket to find three gym badges now in her hand. Blue had the Boulder, Thunder, and Rainbow Badges, he had yet to challenge Misty. It took Blue ten minutes to realize the girl whom had bumped into him had stolen his badges, and then he spies some Team Rocket Grunts chasing her. He finds another grunt, knocks him out, and steals his uniform and pokémon. He had to get his badges back, dammit! He would never live this down!

It was a very annoyed Blue that makes his way back to Celadon City just before curfew, sure, he got his badges back, and got to save Mew from Team Rocket, again, but dealing with Green was exceedingly annoying. His eyes practically pop out of their sockets when he sees Red and Citrine, especially Citrine. He had never seen her in a dress before. He also hadn't quite realized how long her hair actually happened to be either. Blue had ditched the Team Rocket uniform, and he makes his way over to his fellow Pallet Town natives, he was adding Citrine simply because he knew she would never leave Red, " Blue, why do you look so annoyed? " Citrine asks him.

Blue sighs at this question from Citrine, " Can we talk about that inside, please? I'd also like to be able to crash out in your room. It's be a long day. "

Once inside the room he was temporarily sharing with Red and Citrine he gives Red his PokéGear number, and then explains everything that had happened with the girl named Green, from getting his badges stolen, to infiltrating Team Rocket to find out more about her, to the Pokémon Team Rocket was attempting to clone, to saving Mew from Team Rocket, and getting his badges back. All told he had, had a very long and irritating day. " Her name is Green, she tried to con Red as only a girl can, I stopped her from doing that. Blue, she was raised to be a thief, and she may have larceny in her soul, but she's not all bad. There was one other thing I got from the surface of her mind, and that was just barely. She's terrified of birds because she was kidnapped by a bird pokémon when she was five, and the surroundings, what little she could remember, they remind me of Pallet Town. Anybody go missing in Pallet Town around six years ago? "

Red and Blue both pause and think at this question, " Come to think of it Gramps was more attentive to me around that time, but I never knew why. " Blue admits.

Red just shrugs, " My parents have hardly ever been around, I do remember there being something that the adults talked about in hushed tones, but that's it. "

" I'll call Gramps, if I'm right then this might actually explain the stolen Squirtle and Pokédex. Green could have found out she was from Pallet Town and decided she deserved them. Can't say as I blame her, the only reason Gramps had four was because he suspected he'd be giving them to you two and myself. He told me after I met Citrine just outside of Viridian City, he had one extra made just in case there was someone else he wanted to give one to. He was always going to be giving one to me, his grandson. "

Citrine cocks her head to the side, " How long are you staying? "

Blue smirks, " I heard about the tournament, but I have no interest in entering. I suppose, to put Red's mind at ease, I could join you in the stands. "

With as powerful as Citrine could end up, there was no way Blue was going to allow the unscrupulous to get their hands on her. The mere fact that she could up her pokémon's power like that...there were plenty of immoral people in the world that would love to get their hands on her. Blue knew Agatha would not allow harm to come to her granddaughter if she could help it, but at the same time he suspected Agatha was up to something that would not be good, to say the least. For the moment watching Red in a tournament while acting as a discreet guard for Citrine was something he could do. He did wonder if Citrine would actually be able to hold her own with Sabrina in a psychic on psychic fight. It was why she'd spent those two weeks in Viridian Forest training up her telekinesis and telepathy. Now that she had Espeon she could work on all of her psychic powers, especially her mental shields. Still, he knew it was better if Citrine trained well away from Celadon City.

It was bad enough they had confirmation of two Gym Leaders working for Team Rocket, it would make things even harder if they found out there were more. Misty and Brock were cool, thank Mew for that. With those thoughts Blue allows his mind to shut off so he can sleep. He would need to be at his best tomorrow in order to properly protect Citrine. Red would kill him if anything happened to her on his watch. Blue did not want to find out exactly how capable of kicking his ass without pokémon Red happened to be. He'd seen how agile Red was in just a normal pokémon battle. In an actual physical confrontation with another human...Blue would rather pass on learning that first hand.

Citrine was yawning in the Pokémon Center's cafeteria the next morning, she had her usual traveling outfit on, and her head was leaning on Red's shoulder as Blue goes to get them food. From dint of experience with his older sister Blue knew damned well better than to interfere with Citrine's snuggling. He also brought Citrine her Komala Coffee, having followed Red's instructions precisely on how to make it. The blonde female psychic yawns again, " Why is this tournament so damned early in the morning? "

" So it can get done in one day, 'Trine. " Red murmurs softly, his voice at just the right cadence to keep her calm.

Once Citrine has been fed and caffeinated ChuChu and Espeon take their places on her before Blue guides her to the venue the tournament is being held at. Haunter and Misdreavus were both in her shadow, all the better to protect their mistress. Once the Pallet Town natives have found their seats Citrine yawns again, but places her attention on the field. Down below Red is double checking his supplies to make sure he has enough healing items for the tournament while also checking over his pokémon. Saur, Dor, Poli, Pika, and Zu were all ready to go. Red could use Zu thanks to the fact that they were indoors, and the lights would be far enough away to not bother any member of the Zubat line while still allowing the humans to be able to see what was going on.

Red knew damned well he could and would win this tournament. He wanted that egg, dammit! Every instinct he had was clamoring, telling him that he needed to win this tournament! His red eyes narrow in determination as the commentator explains the rules. The preliminaries were one on one elimination matches, the rest of the rounds were two on two until the semi-finals which would be three on three. Items and substitutions were allowed. Loss was when a pokémon fainted, and no fatal moves were allowed. Red keeps the rules in mind, and takes in the battle field, trying to find ways to use it to his advantage. Once the tournament starts Red lets himself lean back against the wall, his cap tipped downwards to hide his eyes as he relaxes. Pika had consented to going in his ball for this, but wanted to be let back out after the tournament was over. Red knew he could have called one of his other pokémon onto his team, like say Bellsprout, but that just didn't feel right to him.

He calmly makes his way out when his name is called, and waits for his opponent to send out their chosen pokémon for this round. He blinks at what he sees even as he scans it with his PokéDex. " Lickitung, the Licking Pokémon. Its tongue can be extended like a chameleon's. It leaves a tingling sensation when it licks enemies. " Red quickly sees that Lickitung is a Normal Type pokémon making it weak to Fighting Type moves.

" Poli, let's go. "

Poli comes out of his Pokéball ready to battle, and once the ref begins the match Red twists his cap around so it's backwards, " Poli, Seismic Toss! "

" Lickitung, Defense Curl. "

" Use Water Gun on the ground! " Red commands, and Poli takes his cue, beating Lickitung rather easily. Red steamrolled through his opposition easily enough, each of his pokémon on hand getting a chance to fight, and he healed them after every tough battle too. In the stands Citrine and Blue are watching Red battle his way through the tournament. The furor of excitement the crowd that was watching the tournament was having a detrimental effect on Citrine though. It hadn't been noticeable at first, but then as the tournament went on the crowd watching got more excited, and now Citrine's temples were pounding. The blonde was just grateful the finals had finally arrived, and Red was one of the two finalists. The other finalist was an Ace Trainer from Littleroot Town in Hoenn.

The Ace Trainer sends out a Swellow and Red sends out Pika. Pika wastes no time in shocking the everloving hell out of Swellow when given the go ahead. Once Swellow is declared unable to battle the Ace Trainer sends out a Shroomish. Citrine watches as Red cocks his head to the side, then he calla Pika into his Pokéball, and calls out Zu. " What pokémon is that? " Blue asks Citrine.

" Shroomish, a Hoenn native pokémon. Shroomish are Grass Types to begin with upon evolution to Breloom they gain Fighting as well. " Citrine answers.

Zu surprises everyone by using Gust, and Citrine has to cackle, " Egg move, sweet. Zu's sire is of the Pidgey line then. Zubat can only learn Gust through breeding. "

Citrine can see Red smirk as he takes in this information and recalculates accordingly even as he continues to direct Zu in battle. Once Shroomish was declared unfit to battle Zu started to glow and soon evolved into Golbat. " Wonder if Red can get the Friendship levels high enough with Zu for him to evolve into Crobat? " Citrine murmurs.

The Ace Trainer recalls his Shroomish and then sends out Mightyena, a fully evolved Dark Type pokémon. Citrine can see Red thinking quickly even as he recalls Zu, his new Golbat. His fingers tap along his Ball Belt until they rest on Poli's ball, he grabs the ball, enlarges, and calls Poli out. Citrine outright laughs at this, " Dark Types are weak to Fighting Type moves. I haven't covered Hoenn with him yet, this is sheer instinct on his part. "

Blue blinks at this, " He's going to be a formidable foe once he truly comes into his own, isn't he? "

Citrine nods, putting all of her concentration on Red's battle to drown out the sea of emotions that were threatening to drown her at the moment. " Mightyena, use Crunch! " the Ace Trainer orders.

" Poli, Ice Beam, then use Seismic Toss. " Red orders in return.

Due to having to dodge the Ice Beam Mightyena gets caught by Poli whom uses Seismic Toss immediately. Poli leaps away before Mightyena can use Bite against him, and Red's crimson orbs flick from side to side as he quickly formulates and dismisses several plans to proceed in this battle. " Double Team, and then use Double Slap. "

" Mightyena, Protect. "

" Submission the instant Protect goes down! " Red snaps off. He had never been more grateful for Citrine's habit of teaching him about Pokémon attacks while he was training his Pokémon. Even he knew he retained information easier while he was in motion, and Citrine capitalized on this for him. Mightyena receives a lot of damage from the reckless full body throw attack, and Red then has Poli take the next attack knowing damned well the recoil damage Poli received would be mitigated by doing nothing immediately afterwards. The Ace Trainer has an assessing look in his eyes as he takes in Red. The kid may be a rookie trainer in comparison to himself, but he was damned good. Most trainers did not know that doing nothing after using Submission actually mitigated the recoil damage.

Red tosses Poli a Persim Berry when Mightyena uses Swagger, which causes confusion in opponent pokémon while also raising their Attack stat. Red smirks at this, " Seismic Toss once more, Poli. Let's put that raised Attack to good use. "

The Ace Trainer swears under his breath at this, whom would have thought the kid would have Persim Berries on hand to deal with the affliction known as confusion. " Mightyena is unable to battle, this means that Red from Pallet Town is the winner of the tournament. " the ref announces.

Red won not only the Pokémon egg from Sinnoh, which had a Luxury Ball on the top of the Egg Case, there was also 3000 Poké Dollars along with ten Max Potions, ten Max Revives, and an Xtransceiver from Unova as a promotional deal. Like Red's PokéDex it too happened to be a Prototype. He places his new egg safely into his backpack, along with the Max Potions and Max Revives, which went into the medicine pocket, leaving the Xtransceiver out to give to Citrine. The blonde was waiting for him just outside along with Blue. Red was not too surprised when Citrine buries her head in left his shoulder. ChuChu just transferred to his head while Espeon deigned to perch on Blue until they could reach the Pokémon Center. Pika was back on Red's shoulder, Red had let him out as he was making his way out of the tournament venue. The crimson eyed Pallet Town native just slowly guides her back to their room at the Pokémon Center.

Red was torn on how to feel, he knew Citrine needed to be able to handle things like excited crowds, but at the same time he hated to see her suffer as well. Instead he opens up his shields more to allow Citrine to center herself. He was an anchor she very much needed as psychic abilities only got stronger with age and training. He would also be her shield if not for Haunter and Espeon. Citrine was getting better at shielding herself, but a few months training would not make that much of a noticeable difference so soon. Hours around excited people in a somewhat confined space had gone beyond what she could handle, but Red knew it was a psychic growing pain, so to speak. Sometimes getting hurt was for the best. Didn't stop Red from wanting to protect her as best he could though.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Pokémon Adventures.