After Being Blue
Poke-Ball 17: Unlive
Blue didn't know what to do with himself.
Last time, Saffron had been crawling with Team Rocket grunts. But this time, it had been Celadon. Last time, it had been Giovanni on his throne. This time Red. Last time, it was Red running around trying to stop them. This time…
Well, he wasn't really trying to stop Team Rocket.
He wasn't trying to stop anyone, really. He was –
What was he even doing?
'That is something you need to decide, and soon.'
He jumped.
He'd avoided the gym. So Sabrina had come to him. Dressed in black instead of her usual red and green.
'I – ' he began, then stopped himself. He didn't know what he was asking. Or why.
'You're lost,' Sabrina said quietly. They both watched the busy city people blur by. 'Red pushed you too far.'
Blue glanced sharply at her. 'Do you agree with him?' he snapped. 'After –' What he did? What I did? What we did together?
'Fire and air are an interesting combination,' she replied instead. 'Fire needs air to burn, but air can just as easily blow fire out – or scatter the blames and make it grow, more and more… And as for fire, it can suck all the air out like a vacuum as its fuel or it can be choked by it. Which wins? Which is supposed to win?'
'…are you saying Red and I are like fire and air?'
'Aren't you?' Sabrina didn't smile as her eyes met his. Instead, they were stone: flat and tired. 'I want the world to change. These politics and this way of life that chokes us. It's already changing, but it hasn't changed enough. And truthfully, it doesn't matter which of you winds up on top of the world as long as the foundations sake.'
'If you're tired of being a gym leader, resign,' Blue said, after a pause. 'And that goes for Red as well. If he hates his mantle as Champion so much, then just drop the whole thing. He's the one who beat me and took it.'
Sabrina laughed. It was a chilling, empty laugh – and she and her gym had been plenty creepy before, when they'd first battled. When he'd first lost. 'Some things you can't escape so easily,' she said. 'Do you think anyone would respect the Champion who sat on a cold and empty throne? And do you think anyone would leave a Champion who absconded in peace? Isn't this a poor world who depends on its Gym Leaders, on its Elite, on its Champion – even if all of them are ultimately puppets of the current state.'
Blue frowned. No, the masses would never leave them in peace. He was okay because no-one knew. He hadn't sat on the throne for long enough. But Red… Everyone knew of Red. Knew he'd defeated Lance. Knew he'd taken the throne as one of the youngest leaders in history.
But Red had also said he was powerless. Lamented his powerlessness. Despised it – and cooked up this entire scheme to shake the foundations of Kanto so he could change it.
Sabrina shrugged her shoulders. 'You can have the world's power at your fingertips and still be powerless if people don't want to change. But people are opening their eyes now – even if Team Rocket has been amongst us for years. It's simply a pity… about Erika.'
'Pity?' Blue repeated. 'Six people die in a fire, including one of your fellow Gym Leaders, and you only call it a pity!'
'It is a pity,' Sabrina sighed, 'because it wasn't what anyone had planned at all.'