A/N: Updates are rolling! We blame the chaos that is Celadon. We simply had to get it all out of our systems. This is it from my side though. I think there's one more from Light, and then break for Nano and exams. Enjoy!

After Being Blue
Poke-Ball 16: Uncontrollable

The fire was out of control. So was Arcanine, and that wasn't saying anything about Red who simply recalled his beaten Espeon with a grin. 'Here you are,' he said, simply. 'What'll it take to keep you this time, I wonder. My title?'

'Red,' Blue said with gritted teeth. 'You might be my best friend, but I'm this close to calling out Blastoise to knock you out.' And the fire. Of course the fire. That was why he had Blastoise's poke ball in his left hand, while trying to return Arcanine with his right. Except the fire that enveloped that canine – Flare Blitz, why Flare Blitz – made the red light fizzle out.

There was nothing for it. 'Blastoise! Hydro Pump!' Ignore Red. He's not stupid enough to call out another –

'Thunder!'

He was. And that damn Pikachu with the Light Ball as well. And the Thunder that never missed, even if it shouldn't have been possible without Rain Dance to augment it.

It hit Arcanine, Blastoise, and the Hydro Pump aiming for the heart of the fire. The Gym exploded and the force knocked him down.

When he crawled to his knees with the help of a charred Blastoise shell, choking on sodden ash and seeing in shades of red, Red was gone. There were only Rockets robed in black and covered with as much ash as he and something paler. Orange…or has the explosion damaged his sight?

No, it was orange, and the sky was orange with the setting sun as well. Blastoise was blue, and there were flashing lights in the distance. From Saffron? Vermillion? They sure as hell weren't Celadon's Police. And where even was Celadon's Police?

Orange powder. Stun spore, then. But not on him, nor his Blastoise. He brushed himself down just in case. Arcanine was paralysed though. Paralysed and unconscious. And after all of that power, that uncontrollable power…

Red was just the same as Arcanine, and some idiot had loaded the guy with the most powerful TMs on the market.

Oh wait. That idiot was him, losing the Champion's seat. But if it did this to Red who always stood up after being beaten down, what would it have done to him?

But Red wasn't here. Someone else was, or had been. Someone whose pokemon could use Stun Spore. He stood fully, knees shaking, and recalled Arcanine. Blastoise groaned. He left him out. He needed a pokemon around all of these Rockets and Blatoise could fire off a Skull Bash half asleep if he had to.

He caught a shadow in the trees. Long. Petaled. A Vileplume, but with the sun almost gone, there was no telling how big it was. And then it was gone before he could step towards it, and he'd never find out.

He hightailed it out of there instead. Got to Saffron after three days on the road and feeling the worst he'd ever felt (because burning a gym to the ground and seeing everything so out of control definitely trumped getting his backside handed to him by Red). And Saffron was playing news coverage.

He watched it till the end, because he owed them that. Over twenty Rockets arrested. Five dead. And Erika and a handful of her gym trainers were missing. Presumed dead.

Of course, they didn't know Red had been in the gym. Or him. They didn't know that Erika hadn't been…or maybe she had and he just hadn't seen her. The Rockets had stolen his eyes. Them and Red. Erika could have easily tucked herself away, out of sight.

Until her gym burned. Until there was no-where else to hide.

But why still hide, three days later.

Red was the one who wanted to shake Kanto to its core, but Blue had just killed a gym leader.