A/N: And here we are, back in business without nano! And for those of you waiting for my update after Red to Crimson's ch 23, somewhere along the lines we dropped a chapter so Light wrote an extra chapter (24) to cover the difference (and explain a few things I'm sure some of you were curious about :D). Now we're all aligned in terms of chapters and timeline and heading head-first into the climax. Hoping to get through it this December, so we'll see how that works out. Enjoy!

After Being Blue
Poke-ball 25: Swerve

It's not a short trip to Cinnabar Island, but it gave them the chance to get themselves together. Red, one pokemon short, called Professor Oak to get another transferred over. Blue, taking the opportunity, got his Blastoise sent over as well. They were, after all, travelling by sea to get to Cinnabar.

And Professor Oak had known Agatha back in their younger days, though he didn't have much to add to their predicament. 'Agatha has her own way of doing things, even if her own allies don't approve.' Like Sabrina, perhaps, who'd rather save Erika than go along with Agatha's plan… or perhaps not all the Gym Leaders are on Agatha's side to begin with. Perhaps not all the Elite four are.

Blue pondered about that, then decided to throw caution to the winds and call Lance.

'So, she made a move after all,' was what he had to say.

'And what is the point of all this?' Blue snapped back. 'Back when we had our first journey, the only trouble out there was Team Rocket. Now there are ghosts of a war, battles that destroy cities and turn sensible gym leaders into vengeful ghosts, people and pokemon getting possessed and stolen off somewhere, and everyone seems to be trying to tell us that the idealistic paradise we grew up in is nothing but a fake.'

'That's drastic,' said Lance mildly, and continues before Blue can snap again, 'but true, unfortunately. 'The Kanto-Johto war left more scars than most people realise, but once you're a part of the League, you can't help but uncover it bit by bit, and feel more helpless every time.'

'Helpless,' Red echoed, from behind Blue. 'Yeah, everyone tried to tell me that. That I was just some stupid kid: a puppet of the League. But the League won't change if people don't try to change it. And besides all of that, I need to get Pikachu back. And Erika. That was my fault. The gym.'

'Perhaps,' Lance sighed, 'but you need more than just ideals to be rid of scars change a League. More than the power to beat them all individually… because Cinnabar Island isn't a stadium right now but a warzone and pair of you couldn't even handle a two on two.'

And, as far as Blue knew, no-one else had said they'd fight on Red's side in this debate.

.

Blue rode on Blastoise. Red flew on Charizard. Both of them knew the likelihood of anyone else coming to their aid was slim. Lance wouldn't. The young gym leaders like Brock and Misty who weren't around when the war was fought wouldn't want to rock the current League boat either. Surge, if he showed up, was likely to be on Agatha's side. Erika they already knew. Giovanni was gone to who knows where and the League was yet to replace him. And Blaine, whose gym was in the lava pits of Cinnabar Island… well, Agatha had picked that location for a reason. Koga, Bruno and Lorelei… who knew what they thought of this. Sabrina would fight to get Erika back and that was about all they could realistically expect.

Red and Charizard flew low. 'I'm sorry,' he said. 'I didn't think things would turn out like this.'

'Neither did I,' said Blue honestly. 'I was supposed to be working out where I went wrong, and now I'm neck-deep in League conspiracy. But I guess it's as Lance said. Once you're in the League, even if for less than an hour, you learn things that change your world perspective and you can't unsee them again.'

'And then what?' Red tightens his hold on Charizard. 'We're not at war with Johto anymore. Why are we still letting that dictate our League? Why don't people want real peace; the peace we thought we lived in these last years? And what else is Kanto hiding from us?'

What else indeed? Blue wondered, as Cinnabar Island came into view. What had made Agatha choose that place as the battleground?

And then he was forced to swerve to avoid a shadow ball from the shore and he pushed that thought out of his mind. They'd hear about it soon, no doubt, but first they had to get ashore in one piece.

And Agatha seemed perfectly happy to sink them before they reached her.