"Hi, mom."
Red felt like he had said these words an enternity ago, but it couldn't have been more than two or three seconds. The silence that followed made him forget he had a heartbeat and that he had to breathe to keep it beating, and everything around him suddenly seemed to move in slow motion. Especially his mother, who had frozen in her spot, gasping for air. He would later describe this as the longest moment of his entire life. Practically, every reaction was possible now. Crying, laughing, feigned indifference, violence... he didn't have time to decide which would be the worst one.
Then she spun around and stared at Red for what seemed like another eternity, her eyes wide open, her hands clasped over her mouth. He had almost forgotten how much he had missed her, but now all he wanted to do was to feel her motherly hug again and cry in her arms like a baby.
She looked different, even though it had only been three years. He could have sworn she used to be bigger, and it seemed like she lost more weight than it was healthy for her. Her face was marked with worry lines. Some of her hair was grey, and her eyes (already watering) had lost their joyful spark. His guilt almost outweighed his happiness. He knew that he was responsible for this.
"Oh my god," Delia whispered with a shaking voice, tears already falling. She dropped her watering can and the tiny rake as she swiftly and almost reverendly walked over to him, as if he was an illusion that would disappear if she went too fast.
As she grabbed his face into her hands, she looked like she could barely believe that this was real. He tried a smile, but he was too overwhelmed and nervous. He so badly wanted to hug her, but he wasn't quite sure how angry she was. And then she actually started crying, sobbing "You're home!" as she pulled him into her arms so tightly that you would think she never ever wanted to let him go again. And he hugged her back, trying to hide his tears as best as he could, but damnit, if a grown man couldn't cry for his mom, what else could he cry for? "You're home, you're home," she kept repeating, interrupting the hug every now and then to inspect and touch his face, only to pull him back into her arms seconds later, and he was sure they had been standing here for over five minutes already, but that was fine with him.
When she finally let go once and for all to look at him yet again, there was so much undeserved love and relief in her face that he wanted to kick himself. She stroked his cheek with her right hand.
"This isn't a dream, right? You're really here, right?" She didn't even let him answer because she was already squeezing him again. "Oh, my boy. My Red! I can't believe you're back."
He took a breath to start his apology that he had been going over and over in his head ever for literally months, but Delia interrupted him: "You don't need to say anything right now." She wiped away her tears, keeping her look fixated on his face as if she didn't want to waste a single second not looking at him. "I'm just happy you're back. You can explain later. Please just let me have this moment."
She snuffled and took a tissue from her pocket to clean her nose. "You have no idea how often I imagined this moment, I...I didn't think it would ever actually happen, and especially not today." She blew her nose again. "When I woke up this morning, everything was so normal and I...I thought on special days, you should feel that they're going to be special, you know?" Delia shook her head and wiped her eyes again before taking a deep breath. "I'm so sorry, I'm blabbering. I feel so confused right now. Oh, Red!"
Another hug. Red felt a million pounds lighter. He had thought this was gonna be a disaster, and he definitely would have deserved a diferent reaction. Delia took a few steps back to properly look at him. "Dear, what happened to your arm?"
Red looked where her eyes had fallen and realized that he hadn't washed the blood off after Evee had bitten him. „Evee bite," he sheepishly said.
„Maverick creatures," she noted, then she looked at him again and said: „Oh my, but you have grown so much." She sniffled now. "Last time I saw you, you were as tall as me, and now I have to look up when I'm talking to you." Then she sobbed again. "You've become a man! And such a handsome one, and I missed all of it, you jerk."
She jokingly slapped him up his head. Even in moments like these, she was exactly how he remembered her, and he had never loved her more. Now he was the one who pulled her into a hug, and after endless I Missed Yous and I'm Sorrys they had finally calmed down to a point where talking normally was possible, and only then Red remembered that Green was still standing there, next to his Pidgeoto, with that wide, smug smile on his face. He expected him to do something for this moment totally inappropriate, like bragging how he was the one who convinced Red to come down for example, but to his surprise, he let him have this moment without commenting about it. In fact, he actually looked a bit shy. This was new. So many things about him were new. How long had he been gone again?
"Let's go inside," Delia said, drying her face with another tissue. "We have so much to talk about."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Green said now, grandiloquently as if he had been adressed or invited, "but this mushy stuff really isn't for me and gramps is waiting. You'll have to do without me."
He turned around in one quick terpsichorean movement and threw in a "Smell you later!" before he went on his way. Red looked after him, fondly shaking his head. Green had a way of being tactful by being absolutely obnoxious. He wanted to let Red have this moment with his mother alone, but he couldn't do that without making a big deal of himself and reminding everyone of his existance.
Green was about to cross the street in front of the yard, when to both of their surprise, Red's mom ran after him.
"Wait, Green!" When she reached him, she pulled him into a warm hug.
"Thank you." She kissed his cheek before squeezing it. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you."
"Huh?"
"You took care of him, and you brought him back. Seriously: thank you. I owe so much to you."
"Um, I...no...problem?"
Smiling, she gave him a look of sincerity and squeezed his face one last time before returning to her son. "Send your grandpa my best wishes! And tell him the both of you are invited to dinner tomorrow! I'll cook your favourite meal!"
"Uh...thanks, Delia!" Then he was on his way, and Delia turned to Red with an only half-jokingly stern look on her face and her hands on her hips. "And now", she said, "I'm ready for apologies and explanations."
When Red stepped inside the small house, he couldn't believe how little had changed. The familiar scent of his mom's vanilla candles mixed with the wood from the fire place sent him back three, no, ten years, and he felt himself beecome even calmer.
But at the same time, being here was strange. He had grown up here, and his host was his mom, yet he felt like he needed to ask for permission to sit down. Despite the way she had welcomed him, he felt like a stranger in this house.
She noticed his hesitation and pointed to one of the chairs. "Sit", she said. "I'll make you tea."
Red thanked her, then he took the time to look around his old home. Not a single object had moved from its original place. If he had to point out a difference, it was the fact that everything seemed a hell of a lot cleaner and neater.
He remembered the only times his mom had become this accurate with her house work: when she was severely stressed. She had never been the type to just resign and drink tea on the couch when things got tough, instead she tried to distract herself from problems by being productive. Red wondered for how long the house had looked this clean already. When he looked at the table, he noticed that some parts of it were bleached out a little, as if someone had scrubbed a little too often and a little too roughly.
There was another difference, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it right now, and his mom didn't give him much time to think about it because she was already done with the tea and gently put it down in front of him before sitting down.
The euphoria had worn off, and now finally she had time to grapple with the more exhausting emotions. With clear eyes, she looked at her son. "I'm listening."
Her voice still had traces of relief and happiness in it, but also made it clear that she was ready to talk serious and no-nonsense now.
Red looked down at the table. He didn't know where to start. His whole apology speech was suddenly forgotten, and right now, he wished he actually was mute.
After five minutes of not talking, his mom did the part for him. "Red, I'm happy you're back. You don't know what it means for a mother when her long-lost child finally returns to her. I can confidently say that this is the happiest day of my life, right after the day of your birth. But..." Sadly she stared a her fidgeting hands. "You also don't know what it means for a mother when she loses her child. I thought you were dead or kidnapped for an entire year until Green, god bless him, finally found you."
Red still didn't say anything because he didn't know what. No amount of Sorrys could ever make up for what he did, and the reasons why he left suddenly seemed silly and insignificant compared to what his mom went through.
"After that, I was relieved, and so mad. I begged Professor Oak and Green to let me get up there, but they wouldn't let me. Pokémon League rules and all that. Apparently there was no way to make an exception, not even if I accompanied one of them. I had two years to let out all my anger. I have imagined myself yelling at you and shaking sense into you just as often as I have imagined myself clasping you in my arms and never letting you go. And during all of that, I had only one question in my mind: Why?"
There was so much hurt in her voice and her eyes now that he felt his shame in the form of physical pain. He squirmed in his chair.
She continued: "You know, in my mind, I was always sure that a good person wouldn't possibly be able to do this to someone they loved. So for the longest time, I wondered if you just weren't a good person, or if you didn't love me enough. But life isn't that black and white, right? I'm sure you had your reasons. And I demand to hear them. You owe this to me."
Her voice had a certain tone whenever she reprimanded Red for what he did. It was quiet and calm, and it almost made him shit his pants every time ever since he was a kid because this voice meant business.
Seeing it from the new, adult perspective, he suddenly had a new kind of respect for his mother; he had never ever seen her become violent or loud in any way, yet people knew not to mess with her. How did she do that?
Finally, he dared to speak. "I love you, mom. I just...didn't think of that at the time. I mean, really think of it. I knew it just like you know today is Monday-"
"It's Thursday."
"Oh. Well, I knew it just like you know today is Thursday, so I wasn't...aware of it I guess. I took you and everything around me for granted."
"Reasons, Red. I want reasons, not apologies."
He sighed nervously and stared up at the ceiling. That's when he noticed what was different: his mother had gotten a new lampshade. It was orange and made the room look warmer.
"You got a new lampshade," he noted, and she gave him a deadly look.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "I guess..."
He thought about what he wanted to say very carefully. "Do you remember when I was eight years old and won the Kanto writing contest for kids?"
She seemed impatient, so he didn't wait for her answer and quickly continued. "It was in our newsletter and everything. It wasn't a big thing, but for Pallet standards, it was huge, and all the kids in school knew about it. Remember what happened?"
Delia sighed. She remembered. "The teachers gave me a heart attack when they called me and said they couldn't find you."
Red smiled at the memory. "I had hidden in the school's basement all day long and lost track of time. Green found me, just like he did this time."
"Red...what's your point?"
He shrugged. "It was the first time people suddenly started making a big deal out of something that I just liked doing. I loved writing, and suddenly, I was the center of attention for it."
Delia rubbed her temples. She seemed exhausted. "You are constantly the center of attention. I've seen you at parties and family gatherings."
"That's different. At parties, people don't expect anything of you. You don't have to live up to a standard, and you don't need to justify yourself for anything. The only thing you need to do is having fun. And if you're not having fun, you might aswell leave. Being a Champion was fun at first, but after a while, I got tired of it, and I couldn't leave. Also," he continued, "I used to go to parties maybe once a month, that was enough. But as a Champ, I didn't get to catch a break, ever. In the rare moments when the paparrazzi wasn't all over me, there were all these newspapers calling me a terrible person for things I did and for things I didn't do. All these people that came by every day and wanted to battle me...all the news articles...and then the moderator of this damn talkshow...I guess I just...snapped. And the more time passed on that damn mountain, the harder it was to just come back. I would have rather died than go back into the media hell. I know it was selfish."
She was silent for a few seconds, then she quietly said: "Yes, yes it was." Then: "Red, have you...have you ever felt like I put too much pressure on you?"
Surprised, he looked up at her. She was worrying that she had done something wrong?
"It's just...I've always had the impression that you were really scared of disappointing people. Whenever you didn't do so well on a test, you apologized and almost cried."
Red thought back and clearly remembered it. He himself had often wondered why this was the case. His grandfather in particular had held him to an incredibly high standard, and Green's grandfather was even worse, putting him even above his own grandson.
He was Red, the Golden Boy of Pallet town. The kid who had won a regional writing contest at eight years old even though it was for ten year old kids, the kid who could talk at age 1,6, the kid who was just "such an angel and such a pleasure to have around", the kid who was naturally gifted with pokémon, and everywhere he only ever heard that people loved him for those exact reasons. Would they not love him anymore if his perfect fassade got a little scratch? Would he be worth less as a human if he wasn't a good writer, a good trainer, or a 24/7 nice person?
Had this been the problem?
"Not you," he finally said. "But others maybe."
She nodded slowly, then shook her head with a sorrowful expression. "I always thought that. I tried my best to make you realize that it's okay to make mistakes, but look where it got me."
"You did great," Red just said, because he didn't know what else to say.
"No. No, Red, I didn't. Don't get me wrong, I'm upset at you. What you did was selfish and wrong, no matter what you were going through. But I still feel sorry that I couldn't do more for you. All of this must have been so much pressure for just a kid."
"Mom, seriously, none of this was your fault," he assured her, hoping she would believe him. "Really, mom! You're the best mother in the entire universe. I mean, come on, you still haven't beaten me into a bloody pulp even though I would so deserve it. Other moms wouldn't have so much self control!"
"Patience, young one. We're only just getting to that part."
Red laughed despite the strained situation. He was glad that his mom still hadn't lost her snark even after these troublesome three years.
Delia chuckled too for a second before she got serious again. "I'm gonna prepare dinner for today. Potato stew. Ever since Green told me you were fine, I made sure to always have the ingredients for it in the house in case you came back."
"But I hate potato stew."
"Exactly." She got up, but then she hesitated for a second. She put a warm hand on his shoulder. "Don't expect me to forgive you on the spot, Red. I love you more than my life, but this is really a lot to process."
"I understand," Red quickly said. "Can I...is it okay if I...I don't know, stay here? Because I totally understand if you don't want me here for now."
At that, Delia laughed. "You think after three years I let you walk out that door just like that? You're not getting away that easily, young man. You're grounded for eternity."
"But I'm twenty!"
"Three years, Red! See it as subsequent punishment."
He groaned. "Aalright..."
"Do you want to go to your old room until dinner is ready? I left everything the same way as it was before."
"Actually, can I go visit Green and professor Oak?"
She shot him a stern look. "Grounded."
"I know, I know, but it's for a good cause, really! He needs me to distract his grandpa from him."
Delia's expression suddenly got sad and a little regretful. "Oh... oh, yeah, of course. God, sometimes I do feel sorry for that poor boy. Go support him! And you desperately need to apologize to him too!"
"Already did."
"Sorry bro lol doesn't count. I know how you men talk to each oher. I want a real apology, and I will ask Green about it next time I see him. He deserves it after the treatment you gave him back then."
She had a point there, but he still rolled his eyes. Didn't matter if it was during warzones, icy winters, starvation times, or forest fires; moms would never ever stop being moms.
Green knew that his welcome in the lab would be nowhere near as pleasant as it was in Red's case, but right now, he didn't care. Calmly he strolled along the street, his steps bouncy and light, his face still feeling warm from where Delia had squeezed it, and his heart feeling full and contented. What just happened was part of a very small collection of moments where he felt like he and his presence mattered. He hadn't even realized how badly he had missed Delia looking at him like...well, like he was actually there. In the past three years, their only interactions had consisted of Green nervously and desperately trying to keep the news about Red short so he wouldn't annoy her, and her tiredly saying "Thank you, Green", making it clear that his presence was neither required nor wanted. Whenever he saw her, the only thing that seemed to radiate from her was "Get away from me".
He had told himself that she didn't hate him, and now he could finally put his restless mind at ease with proof of it. She had genuinely smiled at him, pinched his cheeks, and hugged him. Why had he ever worried?
And it wasn't just that. Red had returned. Officially. He was back. Voluntarily. Green still couldn't believe it; his friend was back. Sure, he had seen him every day on MT. Silver, but that had been him visiting Red, Red giving no sign of whether he was annoyed or happy to see him. Now that Red was here, maybe their friendship would become less...strained. Less forced. That was, unless Red was soaked up into the show business again and started ignoring him.
Green shuddered for a second, and his good mood seemed to darken, so he quickly shook the thought off. He hadn't been this happy in a long time, and he really didn't want his toxic mind to ruin everything. A pretty girl walked by, and he was glad about the distraction. He smiled and winked at her, and she blushed into a deep dark tone of red while giggling shyly. Cute. Not as cute as Red though. He couldn't help but wonder what it would take to make him blush and giggle. Red, the most legendary trainer in the world, awkwardly giggling like an airhead because of some flirty comment he made. Green stifled a chuckle at the thought. Maybe one day he could try to make it a challenge.
Yep, today was a good day. Even the annoying little voice inside his head criticizing him on every step he took shut up for once. He would do anything in his might to keep it that way.
A look at his watch told him it was already 11 AM, and now finally, he involuntarily grimaced. So much for that. Ignoring text messages was one thing, but experiencing the consequences was another. He had hoped he could bring Red with him, but of course that had been a foolish thought. It was only logical he would spend time with his mom first.
When he reached the lab, he hesitated. He really didn't want to face his grandfather right now, but what choice did he have? Now that Red was back, he couldn't and didn't want to just disappear, so he opened the door to find the lab inside abandoned. He frowned. His grandpa didn't just take days off. "Gramps?", he called into the darkened room. "Graaamps!"
For a second, everything stayed quiet, but then he finally heard steps. Based on how they sounded, Green could already tell he was in for a hell of a lecture. And indeed, when Samuel Oak appeared, he did not look amused. In fact, Green had never seen him this angry.
Oak was a calm man, even when he was upset, but right now, he looked like all he wanted to do was strangle Green.
He already braced himself for what was to come now, and hated himself for it. How often had he told himself not to care about what the old man said, to just stay nonchalant?
Too bad emotions didn't work this way.
"You!" Oak pointed accusingly at Green. "How dare you?"
Green just shrugged, although his lung felt like it was pinched into a vice. "I'm happy to see you too, Gramps."
He expected Oak to explode at the snarky answer, but then the weirdest thing happened: he said something nice.
"I was worried about you! You can't just ignore my texts for three days straight! If whatsapp didn't show that you read my messages, I would have went straight to Veridian City already to check on you!"
Taken aback, Green didn't know what to say for a moment. Whatever he had expected, it wasn't this.
"Would you look at that, he's speechless for once. Well, at least that would be one achievement for today," Oak ranted on. "Do you ever think about anyone but yourself, Green?"
Green was indeed speechless. He just stared at Oak with an open mouth. "You're not even gonna say sorry?", Oak scolded.
At that, the fight in him came back. Apologizing to professor Oak, or well, anyone, was his least favourite thing. Usually when you say sorry, even when you truly mean it, it triggers another lecture with personal attacks about how incompetent and idiotic he was, and for some reason, it makes the discussion partner even more angry and dismissive. In his experience anyway. But he was neither incompetent or idiotic, at least that's what he stubbornly told himself despite everything that proved otherwise, so he would definitely not apologize and make himself look like that.
He crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked away. "I get busy, I can't just reply to your messages all the time," he mumbled, knowing what a weak excuse this was.
"Oh, one little text would have killed you?"
"You never reply to my messages either!", Green revolted.
"Yeah, but I'm actually busy and you don't actually have too much of value to say."
Of value, that meant it had to be strictly work related. Not Green's work though, because that wasn't work in Oak's eyes. Personal messages weren't welcome. Professor Oak wanted to hear about pokémon studies, not about how his grandson was doing.
For some odd reason, whenever Daisy texted him, he didn't think of it as a bother to reply her back.
Impatiently, Green sighed. He didn't want to talk about this anymore. "So, why did you want to urgently see me? Do you need someone to clean your test tubes?"
"Not today." The fact that Oak hadn't even noticed that Green had been sarcastic and that "cleaning test tubes" was a legitimate reason to him to call his grandson out of his busy work day at the Gym baffled Green. He didn't know why it did, after all, he knew his grandfather, but still.
Oak turned his back to Green now, his hands clasped behind his back and his nose so far up that Green was concerned for his neck. Typical. This old bastard was cockier than him and that was saying something.
"As you know, I'm working on a project together with the Silph Company."
At that, Green did perk up. His grandfather had mentioned this before, but he hadn't told him any details. Understandably, of course. Green knew that telling literally anyone details about this project before it was made public would make the Silph Co. drop the cooperation immediately and never work with him again, and that would, to put it lightly, suck.
When the Silph Co. wants to work with you, you'd be an absolute idiot to say No.
And you'd be an even bigger idiot if you ruined that chance by angering them and betraying their trust.
If his grandpa told him about this now, and if he needed him for this…that would actually mean he did take Green seriously and trusted him and thought he was competent enough. As much as he was annoyed by the old man, he absolutely couldn't deny that he wanted to make him proud more than anything in the world.
Pathetic.
But then Oak continued: "This information somehow got leaked. Do you happen to have any idea who may be responsible for this?"
His vigor wore off. So it actually was urgent. He felt like he got three sizes smaller under Oak's stare even though he hadn't even done anything wrong. Three seconds ago he had still thought Oak was about to trust him with secret information, and now the complete opposite was the case. He felt sick.
"I…I don't…I don't know…," he stammered.
"Really? You don't? Green, do you know how many words you say in just one minute? Do you know how talkative you are? Do you even know what you say when you chatter the way you do?"
Green didn't have time to think about that because the stern look of absolute disappointment in Oak's face was knocking the air right out of his lungs.
He was used to his grandfather being disappointed in him, but this was a new level.
"I…"
"I, I!", Oak mocked. "It's always just 'I' with you, Green, isn't it? I am waiting for an actual answer, and please choose one that considers my position, not just whatever excuse will save your sorry butt. Did you talk? Because I have no idea how else this information would have gotten out. I'm lucky that the president of the Silph Company let me get away with a warning."
Green didn't even need to think about that; no, he did not. He knew he rambled on and on sometimes without even noticing what he was saying, but what he was absolutely sure of was the fact that he was extremely careful about the important stuff.
The things he talked about usually weren't that significant; they were hollow words to fill the silence and to empty his head. His grandfather working with Silph Co. most definitely hadn't been on his list of conversational topics. Hell, his grandfather hadn't been on his list of conversational topics! He didn't want to think about the old man more than it was necessary. If he was annoyed when people brought him up in conversations, why would he keep it going by bragging about what great things Oak did?
"No! No, I didn't!", he practically yelled. "I promise!"
Oak gave him a long stare. Green knew what he was doing; he tried to get him to talk by not saying anything. But the trick was old and Green didn't have more to say, so he stubbornly stared back.
Eventually, the professor averted his gaze. "Alright. Then how can you explain this?"
He grabbed a news article from the table and shoved it in Green's face.
"The professor Oak and Silph Co. collaboration; how the professor and the company working together could change our world", Green read out loud.
Oak raised his eyebrows, implying the question "Sooo?"
"I have no idea, gramps! I swear! It definitely wasn't me!"
Oak nodded sternly, still not fully convinced, but willing to let it go for now. The look of disappointment didn't change though. Green decided to ignore it. "We'll come back to that. Trust me." Oh, Green absolutely did trust him on that. "Another reason why I wanted to come you here is that I'm at a vulnerable situation now that this information is leaked. Team Rocket's comeback is rumored. "
Green made a "Tsk" sound. "You don't believe that, do you?"
"I know it from a safe source," Oak said. "And the risk is too high. The project I'm working on is an important one, I have too much to lose. I can't take the chance."
"Is that your way of saying you're scared and need me to protect you?", Green taunted, slightly amused. Seeing Oak in a weak position for once was a pretty rare sight.
"No," the professor said with force, "This is my way of saying that I want to be able to look out for you."
"Wha…graaaamps!", Green whined indignantly. "I'm the ex-champion! I'm the strongest Gym leader in Kanto! I can look out for myself!"
"You're underestimating Team Rocket, kid."
Green grimaced at the way he said "kid". Other parents used this nickname in a loving way, but with Oak, there was always an undertone that revealed how it was really meant; that Oak thought of Green as a helpless, immature child and that he didn't have what it takes. He only ever used it in a negative context to remind Green of the fact that he was young and inexperienced and not as good as the Great Samuel.
"First of all, don't call me that," he snapped. "Second of all; I fought against Team Rocket, and…"
"And it was Red who defeated them while you left because it was too big of a challenge for you."
Green flinched. If Oak noticed, he didn't show it. "You know just as well as I do, Green, that you tend to overestimate yourself. I tried my best to raise you with a realistic and healthy sense of self estimation-", Green laughed at that, but Oak still continued, "but you still keep trying to go bigger and bigger, and then you fall and wonder why."
How else could I possibly get your approval, Green bitterly thought while staring at the ground. If he didn't go bigger and bigger, there was no possible way to reach Red's standards, and it was clear how highly Oak thought of him.
"I'm leaving," he said now.
"You absolutely aren't," Oak disagreed. "Unless of course you have a death wish."
"Then I'm definitely leaving."
"Green…" Oak massaged his temples like he was getting a headache. "You have no idea about the extent of Team Rocket's power. Allegedly, people have been getting attacked by their pokémon. People, Green. They have learned. Team Rocket aren't what they used to be. They don't just engage in pokémon fights anymore, they are becoming physical as well. And we don't even know what kind of pokémon they have."
"Okay then, gramps, if you're so worried, why isn't Daisy here?"
"Because she is on vacation in Alola with Bill."
"Bill? You don't believe that I can defend myself against Team Rocket, but Bill can?!"
"I trust Bill."
"Wow, what do you say about me when I'm not here?", Green complained.
Bill, Daisy's husband, was the other golden boy of professor Oak. Not quite as much as Red, but definitely more so than Green.
"Did you miss the part where I said they are in Alola, Green?", Oak reminded him. "And also, I haven't told her anything about the project. I don't even think Team Rocket will be interested in her because she's not as famous as you are, and she hasn't been in Kanto for a long time."
"Gee, I wonder why," Green mumbled.
"Drop the attitude," Oak snapped and harshly slapped the back of his head.
Green rolled his eyes again. "Gramps, I have a job, do you realize that? What do you want me to do- stay here cooped up in my room while the challengers camp in front of my Gym?"
"Running a Gym can hardly be described as 'work', Green. You do a little bit of paper work, that can be done here too. And the rest of the day you're waiting for people to battle you. Lots of people battle for fun. If that's so important for you, then just go to the Gym once a day or something."
"Thanks for explaining my job to me," Green dryly said. He had already given up on telling his grandfather why his job was actually exhausting, so he continued: "Yet I'm still a pretty important part of a big and integral system. You seem to forget that challenging the Elite 4 and the Champion is a big deal, and Gym leaders are essential for that."
Oak made a scornful face. "I'll tell you what people choose to be Gym leaders: people who weren't good enough to be Champions."
Green took a breath to reply, but Oak cut him off: "And no, you do not count. Red defeated you five minutes after you got your title because your pighead didn't treat your pokémon right. And I assure you, if he was still here, he wouldn't choose to be a Gym leader."
"No, instead he chose to rot on a snowy mountain away from society!", Green revolted. He wasn't actually mad at Red, but at the same time, he kinda was.
"Boy's taking time to meditate and reflect on himself. That will only make him stronger and better." It was so like Oak to find something good in literally everything Red did. "He's always been such a thinker. You should take a page from his book. You're always so impulsive."
"Noted. See you in three years."
"You're a strong trainer, Green, but you wouldn't last two days on that mountain." When Green was about to give him a piece of his mind at that, he raised his hand. "But we're derailing," he said, matter of factly, and with that, the topic was done. That was also so like Oak; insulting Green and denying him the chance to defend himself. Or starting a heated discussion and ending it so abruptly that Green didn't even have time to process it emotionally. These discussions always ended with Oak having the last word, and with the consensus that Green was basically a failure.
"There's a third reason why I asked you to come here, and I didn't want to tell you over the phone."
Green raised his eyebrows, unimpressed. "Thrill me."
"Someone wants to see you. She came here three days ago. I wanted to tell you sooner, but you didn't respond, so…"
Now he had his grandson's interest. "Who are you talking about?"
"Will you stay here?"
"Wow, emotional blackmail. Nice one, gramps."
"Will you stay here?"
"Oh, for Arceus' sake. Yes, I'll stay here, now tell me who it is!"
But he didn't need to wait for an answer, because the door behind Oak that lead to the staircase to his apartment opened at that instant, and a squeaky voice exclaimed "You're here!"
And Green nearly passed out.