Chapter 10

Author's Note: This is word emphasis

-this is telepathic conversation-

Celadon City:

Blue stretches as he wakes up for the day, finding Citrine curled into Red. The crimson eyed male had one hand running up and down her left arm while Pika, ChuChu, and Espeon were curled up at the foot of the bed. Haunter and Misdreavus were floating around while Saur, Dor, and Poli were resting, ranged throughout the room. Zu, the newly evolved Golbat was on the in room perch that was in a corner where the sunlight couldn't touch him. " She all right? "

Red sighs, " Yesterday was a bit too much for her, she's also not a morning person. If I have no real reason to get up before she's ready then I just lay in bed, letting her get the rest she needs. "

Blue nods, " I'll wait to leave until she wakes up then. "

He also wanted to get the number to her new Xtransceiver since Red had a PokéGear for himself. He never would have dreamed that Citrine's parents would push her so hard to become the next coming of her grandmother. " How much about her family did she tell you? "

Red looks at him, " Only that Elite Four Agatha is her grandmother, I don't know whether that's on her maternal or paternal side though. I do know she was barely given the necessities she needed to live, and that she is absolutely terrified of her parents finding her. "

Blue nods at this, " Do you even know how to take care of a Pokémon Egg? "

Red sighs, " Could you go buy me a book about that, I'll pay you back? I can read while 'Trine sleeps. "

Blue shrugs, he could do that. He suspected Citrine would sleep a lot longer today after yesterday. Psychic powers exercised the brain which was another muscle, so mental exhaustion was entirely plausible for the blonde. He just wondered when Red and Citrine would transition from friends to couple. Even Blue could see that Red happened to have actual romantic feelings for Citrine. That much had been obvious during that pseudo date the night before last. Now the question was, Blue muses as he makes his way to the Celadon City Department Store, how long would it take Red to actually realize this, and then do something about it. He grabs one of the easier to read guides to raising Pokémon Eggs on your own. One that was written with easy to understand language that didn't send you to a dictionary every second or third word.

Blue may be smart, but even he liked an intellectual read that didn't make him feel like an idiot while reading it! Why some intellectuals wrote their books with bigassed words that most people would avoid on principle he would never understand. He browses the books a bit more to find some reading material for himself, and decides to grab a book about the Sinnoh Region. He checks out, and then makes his way back to the Pokémon Center. He enters the room he was sharing with Red and Citrine, handing Red his new book, " One thousand Poké Dollars. "

Red grabs his PokéDex and swiftly transfers the funds before setting the Dex down, and reading his new book one handed. He'd picked a few tricks up by watching Citrine for the last four years. His left hand never stopped it's motion though, and Blue realizes why that is. Red happened to be a kinesthetic learner, he did better with practical lessons. Keeping some part of himself in motion allowed for Red to retain the information easier. Blue was partially right about that, it was also something that Red just did automatically on a subconscious level. " Oh, by the way, 'Trine's birthday is tomorrow. "

Blue swears under his breath at this, before promptly making his way towards the shopping district of Celadon City. He should probably get a birthday present for his older sister while he was thinking about it. So what if she got it early, at least he wouldn't forget! He bypasses the earrings that look like Lunar Wings, instead he picks out a jewelry set for his sister that looked like Charmeleon. How he and his sister picked the same starter he would never understand. After ensuring it would be gift wrapped and delivered to Daisy Oak he meanders around, looking for inspiration for a birthday gift for Citrine. Other than Red no one would have really celebrated her birthday in years. Probably why Red mentioned it to him to begin with. " Well, if it isn't Blue. "

Blue stiffens, " Green, to what do I owe this meeting? "

Green sighs, she supposed she couldn't blame him for being leery of her, " I just wanted to thank you for helping me out. What are you doing in this part of Celadon City? "

" Looking for a birthday present for an acquaintance. Her grandmother and my gramps have a rivalry going on, and it's been a while since she's had a proper birthday celebration. " Blue answers.

Green cocks her head to the side, he must be referring to the blonde that had stuck close to the crimson eyed trainer she'd tried to con. " Long blonde hair, blue eyes, sticks close to crimson eyes? "

" Yeah, that's the acquaintance. " Blue admits.

" I suppose I could help you out, no strings attached. " Green muses out loud.

While Green helps Blue find a present for the transplanted blonde said blonde has woken up to find Red reading up on how to raise pokémon from eggs. Red lets her up easily enough, and the girl goes through her morning routine before settling back in beside him. -Where'd you get the book?-

-Had Blue pick it up for me, and I paid him back. He'll be back, he said he wouldn't leave until you woke up.- Red answers. He was getting better at holding a telepathic conversation and doing something else at the same time. Citrine allows herself to fall into a meditative state to work some more on her shields, and put order back into her mindscape. The tournament the day before had messed some things up. Espeon helps her trainer out as best she can as well. Pretty soon Espeon would be able to communicate telepathically on her own, which would allow her to translate for other pokémon. That was the one thing that humans had yet to overcome, the language barrier between human and pokémon. Yes, trainers did learn how to read their pokémon's body language, but true understanding was still far away.

Psychic types that could speak telepathically had it easier, they could make their feelings known. Espeon wasn't going to complain however. Her trainer had needed the help of a psychic type, and she was very good at brushing her fur as well.

Time Gates:

Sailor Pluto smiles as she checks in on her hime's new life once again. Seeing her snuggled into Red made the Time Guardian happy. She was even happier to see that her Hime's Eevee had liked the idea of evolving into Espeon, and that her Hime had caught ChuChu. At least that part of the timeline would remain intact as Pika in the other alternates similar to this one had mated with The Healer's Pikachu that had been named ChuChu. It was interesting to see that Red was actually training nis Nidoran male though in the other alternates Nidoran male had been Nidorino, the middle evolution of that line. Seeing that Red had also captured a Zubat that was now a Golbat was interesting as well. The really interesting deviations were the fact that Blue had caught the Snorlax that had been chasing Red, and the fact that Blue had been the one to get his badges stolen by Green, and then the subsequent adventures with the girl as well.

It would be intriguing to see what other divergences would come from having The Healer be the same age as The Fighter, The Trainer, and The Evolver. The effects of Red not catching Snorlax were still rippling out as it was.

Celadon City:

After getting through five chapters of his new book Red decides to stop reading for the moment, and get up for the day. After rushing through his usual routine, deeming his hair as a lost cause, though he did run a brush through it. They head for the cafeteria to eat, Red spotting Blue and the thief girl whose name happened to be Green talking to Nurse Joy. When Blue motions for him to keep Citrine from seeing them his eyes widen slightly. Citrine had never once mentioned as to whether or not she had ever actually had a birthday party. Once they've eaten Red returns Poli, Saur, and Zu. Pika and Dor were small enough to stay out yet. Time to distract Citrine until Blue told him to come back.

Espeon was curled around Citrine's neck once again, while ChuChu settled on Citrine's head with her ghosts in her shadow once more. It was just sad that Kanto only had the Gastly line of Ghost Types, as Citrine truly wanted to be a Ghost Type specialist. Red thinks over his other pokémon, he had sent Glet, his Diglett back to Professor Oak's lab after dealing with Koga in Lavender Tower. He did have Fearow and Bellsprout he could choose from. Before he and Citrine had saved and then helped Bill he had also caught Sandshrew, Oddish, Pidgey, and a Sunkern, which his Dex had not had information about. He uses his Dex to call his Sunkern, that he then names Kerry since Sunkern happened to be female.

He calls Kerry out and Citrine blinks, " Sunkern are Johto natives, but Johto is close enough that some could have set up shop in Kanto. Sunkern can have either Chlorophyll or Solar Power for an Ability with the Hidden Ability of Early Bird. Sunkern evolves with the use of a Sun Stone. Sunkern are also Grass Type Pokémon. "

Red takes that information in, " Espeon, can you ask her what attacks she knows, and what her ability is. "

Espeon does so and sends the impressions to Citrine, " Okay, her Ability is Chlorophyll, which boosts her speed in sunshine, and she knows Absorb, Growth, Ingrain, Grass Whistle, Mega Drain, and Leech Seed with the Egg Move of Nature Power. "

" Not bad, what does Nature Power do? " Red asks.

Citrine sighs, " Nature Power allows Kerry to use Swift in a building and surrounded by plain terrain while in say a cave it would be Shadow Ball, a ghost type move. You can read up about the move later. "

Red nods seriously at this. Nature Power sounded like it was a damned versatile move to have in one's arsenal. He'd have to start training Kerry seriously, though where the Hell was he going to get a Sun Stone anyhow? After window shopping, Red leads them back to the Pokémon Center since Blue gave him the all clear. Seeing Citrine's shocked look at an actual birthday party for herself made it worth the effort for Red, Blue, and Green. Sure, it had been thrown together in a couple of hours, but completely worth it. There was an Oran Berry cake with chocolate frosting, and Pinap Berry Juice as a beverage. There were also three presents placed on the table, as Red placed his gift wrapped present for Citrine there as well.

After singing the traditional birthday song to her Green pushes her present forward first. Citrine cocks an eyebrow at her, " Birthdays are sacred, I realize yours is tomorrow, but even I have lines I won't cross. "

" Fair enough, Green. " Citrine admits, and she opens the gift to find a Spirit Tag, which would increase the power of Ghost Type moves, she immediately gives it to Haunter. Blue nervously pushes his forward next, and Citrine opens it up next to find a note from Blue saying he'd gotten her an egg containing a new ghost from a different region. Red whistles at this, as he read it over her shoulder.

" Your grandpa's connections? " Red asks.

" Nope, found a catalogue that you could order eggs from at one of the outdoor stands, though I did check to make sure it was legitimate first. Your egg will arrive via Dragonite Delivery some time in the near future. " Blue admits even as Citrine opens her gift from Red.

The blonde blinks, looking at the earrings designed to look like Lunar Wings, to match her necklace. She exchanges her studs for her new earrings immediately, " Thank you, all of you. It's been far too long since I could actually celebrate my birthday. Now, I want my cake. "

Red laughs at this and cuts the first piece for her. Only Blue understood the cultural significance of this. In Pallet Town you would cut the first piece of cake for whomever you had more than platonic or familial feelings for. Hm, perhaps Red was slightly more aware of his own feelings than Blue gave him credit for. Red had moved very fast to cut the cake for Citrine, of course Blue would keep his silence about this, and let whatever would happen between the two of them develop naturally. Thankfully Red's parents were hardly ever around so his mother couldn't even begin to fuck things up for the crimson eyed Pallet Town native. Moms had this intrinsic need to interfere in the love lives of their children. Blue and Daisy had long since come to an agreement, they would only interfere if they had proof whomever they were dating was abusive or cheating. No blind dates, and by Mew no embarrassing the Hell out of one another!

Red knew Blue understood the significance of his cutting the first piece of cake for Citrine, and while Red had at least accepted the fact that he saw Citrine as more than a friend or sister he wasn't quite ready to do anything overt about it. Hell, he didn't even know if he wanted to do anything about it yet! He was content to be her friend for the moment. He made sure the next slice was his, then he slides the third to Blue, the fourth to Green, and cuts a fifth for Nurse Joy, with a sixth for Chansey. He hands these to Chansey, and explains his intentions. Chansey beams at him, and takes both slices, handing the one to Nurse Joy.

Citrine practically inhales her piece of cake while sipping her Pinap juice, -I'll have to ask Daisy when Blue's birthday is.-

Red keeps a straight face even as he snorts internally, -What would you get as a present for someone like Blue anyhow?-

-Probably some books on different regions, their cultures, traditions, and the kinds of Pokémon they have there.- Citrine answers.

Red thinks about that even as he eats his slice of Citrine's birthday cake. He generally preferred Rawst Berry cakes himself, but this was for Citrine. Once the small party winds down Red takes a look at the time, " Blue, up for a practice battle. I need to get a feel for Kerry, my Sunkern. "

" Sure, I can use the Elekid I caught recently. Haven't had time to really train with him yet. I had to get out of the Power Plant before his dam came looking. " Blue admits.

" Do you know if his dam was an Electabuzz or Electivire? " Citrine asks curiously.

Blue and Red both look at her, " Electivire? "

" Discovered in Sinnoh, if an Electabuzz is holding an Electrizer while being traded he/she will evolve into Electivire, same can be said for Magmar with a Magmarizer to evolve into Magmortar. " Citrine explains.

Blue shudders, " Don't know, though now I am hoping to hell his dam was not the final evolutionary form that I did not know about. "

Citrine smirks, " I've had four long years to read up, and Delibird Order Catalogues are useful. "

" How did you afford all the books? " Blue asks her curiously.

Red smirks wickedly, " The wonders of absentee parents that just put money into an account for you. I'd order them, and Citrine would read them. Didn't hurt that she'd teach me what she felt I should know in a way I would actually retain. My parents still haven't caught on to the fact that I had someone else living with me for four years, and no one in Pallet Town was actually going to say anything to them. They liked that I wasn't alone anymore, and whenever my parents deigned to show up Citrine would just stay with Daisy until they left again. "

Blue looks at the crimson eyed male, " I would not have expected that kind of deviousness out of you. "

Red rolls his eyes, " Just because I act like an all around good guy does not mean I do not have my own dark side. I'm creative in battle, what makes you think I'm incapable of applying that creativity to other areas of my life? "

" That is a very good point. You just always exude kindness, compassion, charisma...in short you're the hero type. Heroes generally aren't conniving, devious individuals. " Blue points out to his fellow Pallet Town Native.

Red cocks his head to the side as they head to the training field right outside the Pokémon Center. Pika was up on Red's shoulder while the rest of his Pokémon were in their balls for the moment. Citrine settles herself by a tree outside of the training field, but close enough for her to watch the battle. ChuChu was settled at her left side, Espeon on her lap while Haunter and Misdreavus were floating around, " Elekid, come on out. " Blue calls out.

" Kerry. "

Emerging onto the battlefield is a mostly yellow, seed-like Pokémon with a small sprout growing out of its top. It has triangular, spike-like protrusions on top of its head, encircling the sprout. Its body has three broad, brown, vertical stripes. Two of the stripes start jaggedly above this pokémon's dark eyes and continue downward. The other stripe is directly below this pokémon's mouth. Since this pokémon's eyelids are brown, the brown streak patterning appears uninterrupted when this pokémon's eyes are closed. This is Red's Sunkern Kerry. Sunkern are known to be very weak. Aware of its weakness, it only feeds until it evolves. However, it feeds on only the dew from under the leaves of plants. It tries to move as little as possible, since it tries to conserve all the nutrients it has stored in its body for evolution. If attacked, it shakes its leaves at the attacker. Sunkern occasionally falls from the sky on early mornings for unknown reasons. A year after a cold summer, the population of Sunkern explodes. Sunkern can generally be found in grassy meadows.

Red only knew what Citrine had told him. Across the field is a yellow, round-bodied Pokémon with black stripes. Elekid's arms are bulky in proportion to its body, and it has three claws instead of fingers. It has two stripes on its arms, which wrap all the way around. There are two horns on top of its head which resemble the prongs of a plug, complete with holes in their sides. These horns glow bluish-white when Elekid is fully charged. Elekid has a black lightning bolt marking on its chest. Two rows of stripes are near the marking, with the pattern continuing around its lower back. Its legs are black, and its feet are rounded and toeless.

Elekid tends to play out in the middle of thunderstorms. By rotating its arms, it generates electricity. However, it tires easily and can only charge a small amount. A weak electrical charge travels between its horns as well. It lives in the grasslands. Knowing that Elekid was apparently the pre-evolved form of Electabuzz let Red know that Elekid happened to be an Electric Type, so Kerry should have the advantage, but as Red knew type advantage wasn't everything. Over the course of his battle with Blue he learned that Kerry didn't move much, and that he really loved the attack Nature Power! Sure it was Swift where he happened to be with Kerry right now, but Swift never missed!

The boys called the battle once they got a good idea on what Kerry and Elekid were capable of. Red was already working out how to use Kerry staying put on the field to his advantage while Blue was thinking on methods of training his new Elekid. " Well, catch you both later, Red, Citrine. " Blue says, waving as he walks off.

" Later, Blue, be wary. " Citrine calls back in return while Red just nods before Blue turns around fully.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Pokémon.