Red to Crimson
Poke-Ball 26: Bane

Blue was very glad Sabrina had caught up with them, because neither he nor Red had any idea what that thing was. Those things. The faces behind their overwhelming victory over Johto. The twisted fruits of years of research.

'Once they were pokemon,' Sabrina explained, her Venomoth dipping to drop her onto the shore, before flying up again to counter Gengar's continued assault. 'Or humans. But the experiments made them into something…else.'

'Else?' Blue, dripping wet, clamoured onto shore with Blastoise. Red was still above them, on Charizard. And it wasn't the worst strategy. He might spot something they couldn't. Sabrina might sense something. Blue… Well, he offered no advantage of being on the ground at the moment, but he was the best strategist amongst them and hopefully that would come into play later on.

And finding out as much as he could about these… anomalies came first.

Unfortunately, Sabrina wasn't actually involved in the research and she could only glean so much from her history and psychic powers. 'Those twisted forms… They're grief, pain and anger. All the negativity living creatures are capable of feeling, together creating a miasma so strong they drove Johto's army to self-destruction.'

'Self-destruction?' Blue repeated. He'd heard about that. Johto had apparently injected their pokemon army with some sort of chemical that made them stronger, but at the cost of their longevity. 'So it wasn't Johto who did that?'

'Who knows what Johto did,' Sabrina shrugs. 'The winners write the history of the war.'

.

Red had landed in front of the mansion and was waiting for them. 'They're inside,' he said. 'I'm sure of it.'

'They're waiting for us,' Blue mused, when Sabrina confirmed it. 'It's definitely a trap.'

Red looked up at the mansion. 'It doesn't matter. We need to stop this.'

'Stop a phenomenon none of us truly understand and has been festering since before you were born?' asked Blue. 'Calm down, Red. We need to be sensible about this.'

'I know.' He closed his eyes. 'We need to rescue Pikachu, and Erika. And we'll need to go through Agatha to do it. But what will that mean? When Espeon knocked down that fake, I thought…' He shook his head.

'You're not a soldier,' said Sabrina calmly. 'However angry you are at the system, you can't bring yourself to kill on purpose. The Celadon gym was an accident, wasn't it?'

Red opened his eyes, only to stare at his shoes. 'Yes. I just wanted to make Blue understand why I had to fight the League.'

'And I was just trying to make him understand why charging like a wild Taurus wasn't any good,' Blue added. 'Or I think I was. I wasn't too clear on what I was doing at the time, to be honest.'

'Your instincts serve you even when your mind fails to see the road,' said Sabrina cryptically. 'But yes, attacking a system that has been in place for so long head on is futile, and Agatha too is trying to show you that. So is Lance, in his own way. But that doesn't mean we are all on the same side. Some want Kanto to continue to grow as is: an idyllic paradise atop of twisted shells of ghosts. And others want to bring the sort of peace that can never be achieved by sacrifice.'

'Everyone tries to tell me my way is wrong,' said Red, staring up at the mansion again. 'But no-one actually tried it, you know. I realise I'm not strong enough. Even if I'm the champion, I can't rip down this veil on Kanto on my own. I need more than allies. I need the people to believe me. I need the people to be willing to change. I need to know the truth to show them all –'

'And to that end, you dug up Rockets and stirred up trouble and now you're here to see if Agatha will tell the entire tale,' Blue sighed. 'Though I can't give you that much credit. You didn't confuse Arcanine on purpose. I know you too well for that and you've just confirmed you didn't. And you did gather allies, in a sense.'

'Not for this.' Red snorted. 'And then there are those like Lance who'll only join in on the fight when there's a chance of winning.'

Blue was like that too before, but once and now again, Blue and Red were friends and that trumped all.

And this time they were going to storm the building together, and with a powerful psychic on their side.

.

Agatha watched them from the window. Two kids and an adult and several quaking pokemon, talking in a huddle outside the door.

It was time for the main event to begin.