Who I Am - Lightning99

Chapter 52:

Red's Secret

Red, it seemed, had been correct. They hid behind the tree until midnight ambled by, and even a while after that. The grunts flew overhead all that time, searching and yelling, their voices muffled against the distance. Some of them even landed and started searching the forest. Red had tried to discern what they were saying, but the most he could hear was one or two grunts insisting they keep searching – none of them happened upon the small area they were hiding in. What he did notice, however, was that they seemed a lot more organised than any grunts he had encountered before.

In the time they hid, Red thought of several possible next steps, shifting every so often to alleviate the discomfort of the rough bark on his back. Meeting up with the other group was the inevitable first step, but after that, he wondered just what the best idea would be.

Immediately taking to the skies again seemed foolish, at least for a little while. The grunts would probably linger for longer than Red had thought. Though it appeared that even the leaders' patience was waning by now, they were more than persistent. Even if most of the grunts left, a few would stay behind to continue searching. They might even hide or set up a camp, two options they could not risk.

Red's second idea was to use the forest as cover for a little while. They could continue their journey on foot. The farthest they would reach was the edge of Johto, but there wasn't even a need to go that far. They could continue through the forest until they hit the coast, where they could start flying again. Moving away from the forest and taking off with a vast expanse of sea to escape across seemed like a better idea. Not only would it distance them from the grunts, maybe they could blend in with some other trainers taking off.

But that plan would mean they had to avoid detection the entire time, and in a group as large as theirs, that might be a more difficult task than it sounded. The likelihood that the grunts were scouting the forest and that more were posted throughout Johto was high. They could try travelling to Alola separately to lessen the chances of being seen, but if the grunts discovered them in smaller numbers, would they be able to fight them off? Given their determination, Red had to wonder just how far the grunts would go to capture them.

That, then, led Red to his next thought: why exactly were these grunts following them? Ash was his first guess. The woman had eavesdropped on a conversation about Ash being alive a few hours before they had turned up. They were definitely the same group that made Oak enact his convoluted plan, that wanted Ash removed from the picture – or rather, dead – so it made sense it would concern him.

But if it was something regarding Ash, why? Did they merely harbour such a hatred for him that they would want him gone? Or was there more to it? Red thought it likely that he wasn't privy to a lot of information.

He knew he was right not to have fully trusted that man.

For now, Red left their motives to speculation. He typed his ideas for what to do next onto his Pokégear, showed it to the group to start a discussion, then switched it off in case someone could track it.

"Moving separately would be stealthier, but you're right. The grunts might catch us more easily," Leaf said, brows furrowed. She looked at the sky. "I… think we should do as you suggest: walk to the coast and fly from there as a group. Although, I wonder if we should stop off periodically during our flight."

"That's a wise suggestion, yes," Delia said.

"Yeah. For one, our Pokémon will probably appreciate a nice break. And two, it gives us a chance to make sure we're not being followed."

"What do you mean?" Misty asked.

"Say we take off from here and fly straight to Alola – let's pretend our Pokémon don't get tired from a cross-world flight for now. Even if we keep watch behind us, what's to say we'll see people following us the entire time? They could be lagging far behind with a Pokémon with good eyesight so that they can still see us. Or maybe they have some sort of binoculars, or they're flying lower or higher than us. Maybe we'd see them, but on the off chance we don't, stopping in different regions will let us get our bearings, avoid people if necessary, and maybe even trick them as to our destination."

"That's a good idea," Misty said. "That way, we gradually make our way there without… compromising ourselves?"

"That's a good way of putting it," Leaf said.

"In that case, we have our plan. We find Yellow and the others, walk to the coast and then fly out to Alola periodically," Delia confirmed, and Red nodded his agreement. "Where are we going to land along the way?"

Red gestured towards himself, then Delia.

"Yes, I was thinking the same thing," Delia said, reading him with ease. "Red and I have only just returned from a cross-region trip, and a lot of the distance covers the regions we visited. I think following a similar route will be our best bet."

"It's settled, then. We'll set–" A rustling of leaves nearby cut Leaf off. Reacting faster than a Ninjask, Leaf and Delia reached out with their opposite arms, pushing Bonnie back against the tree protectively. Red slid down, hiding further behind the tree as a grunt grunted on the other side, probably searching for them.

The grunt lingered for about five minutes, searching. Luckily, they were half-hearted in their efforts, and they looked exhausted. They overlooked the space they were hiding in. The grunt moved on, and Red was glad they hadn't needed to knock her out.

A few minutes after the grunt left, Red let himself relax. He looked at the others and saw that Bonnie looked startled. He would've laughed aloud if he could.

Leaf and Delia sighed.

"Yes, we mothered her. Get over it," Leaf said, huffing. Red continued smirking.

Red's group started moving when dawn arrived. Since the grunts wore black, the night would only have been their enemy. Now, under the gentle twilight, as the world coloured itself – and the grunts had vanished – they slipped between the trees, over bushes and around sleeping Ledyba and Rattata. They only knew a vague direction toward which the other half of their group had escaped, but Red trusted that Misty's estimations were accurate when he had asked the group.

After all, where would they be without trust?

Red glanced at Delia ahead of him, and he nearly lost his footing on the slight, root-covered hill they were climbing. A feeling of guilt as heavy as a Rhyperior crashing against his heart. Suddenly, the need to tell her what was happening behind the scenes grew all too urgent, but looking at the others around him, he decided now was still not the time.

Or was that just an excuse? If not now, when would the time arrive? And it was as he contemplated that thought that the guilt was suddenly as heavy as a Copperajah – until he stepped around a tree and headbutted another person, causing both of them to collapse to the floor, grasping their heads. It was as if the other person knocked the thoughts of out his head.

"Watch where you're going, Red," Blue's voice said, and he seethed while rubbing his temples.

"Thank Arceus, we found you," Yellow said, stepping forward to hug Delia and Leaf, then Misty and Bonnie. "Blue was worried."

"Hah, yeah, right."

"He was," Gary said.

"Ah, shut it, kid!"

Gary just laughed.

"We were worried, too," Delia said. "We didn't know if the grunts had found you."

The reunited groups exchanged a few more pleasantries, ensuring that they were alright. Then, after Blue provoked the topic, which was honestly inevitable, they started complimenting each other's flying and mid-air fighting.

A few minutes after that, in which they sat upon the grass for a short break, and the world's colour had changed from the pale twilight into the morning glow, Yellow enquired about their next step. Delia detailed the plan they had concocted earlier to the rest of them. They agreed with the idea. Even Blue agreed. Only one person opposed the plan, and they made it seem like they used Skill Swap on their and Blue's personalities. Their opposition was obviously a joke, however.

"And here I was hoping we could storm their hideout and take them out," Yellow said, tutting to herself.

"Hah! That's unlike you," Blue said, laughing.

"Well, they did bust down our front door. Who knows how much of the house they destroyed?"

Blue recoiled as if he had only just realised that. "You know what, you're right. Let's go stick it to the bastards."

"My, Yellow, I didn't expect that," Leaf said. "Well, you know what they say. You become like the things you love."

Yellow's expression fell, and she dropped her head into her hands.

"Please help me," she said, earning a wild 'Hey!' from Blue and a round of laughter across the group.

After the slight reprieve, they asked one of their Flying-Type Pokémon – Noctowl, a Johto native so she could be mistaken for wild – to scout the area. She returned a few minutes later, nodding as confirmation that there seemed to be nothing or nobody nearby. Just to be safe, they sent her away again, and this time, she returned a long while later, pointing towards the West. So, they set off in that direction, for Noctowl's directions meant that the nearest coast was to the West.

The first few hours of walking passed without incident – without detrimental incident, at least. Barry grew impatient and fell over a few times, and Leaf and Blue could not stop making jokes to lighten the mood. They made the walk a lot more fun than it would have been alone.

Upon their third hour of walking, it hit Red just how long travelling the routes took. From above or a map, it appeared you could walk a route in a few hours, but nature was deceiving in that way. Sometimes it took days to walk, sometimes longer if you decided to venture off the trail to explore areas not yet mapped.

Viridian Forest was the smallest named forest Red could think of, and even that had taken him four days. Most of that was because he couldn't stop catching Pokémon, but that was beside the point.

When mid-day hit, they settled in a clearing for some lunch, of which Delia, ever prepared, magicked from her bag. How she fit clothes in there too baffled him. Creating a seemingly infinite bag space was the one thing Red had never been able to do on his journey. He did fit a bicycle in there once, somehow, which he thought was quite the feat, but he had stored most of his items in his PC.

"Hey, no! Don't touch that!" Delia cried as she prepared the food, swatting at Barry. He had been sneaking towards the food like some naughty natured Dedenne, trying to get in early.

"Aww, c'mon! I just want a bite," Barry complained.

"Nope. I know what a bite is like for you young men," Delia said.

"Can I have a bite?" Bonnie asked.

"Nope, rules apply for all of you. You don't get special treatment just because you're younger," Delia said.

Bonnie groaned, giving up, but it seemed Barry wasn't going to be.

"It'll only be a small bit! Trust me," Barry said.

There it was again. That word. Trust.

Red looked down at his shoes and stared at them for a long time. As Delia came over to hand him his food, he looked into her bright, cheerful eyes, and he decided. After eating, he had to tell her the truth. He had to trust her.

She settled her slim trembling fingers into the soft yellow fur, and Ash, who sat across from her, started counting upward. At one, she started brushing her hand to the left, and at three, she moved it right. She repeated the gesture until he reached six, then she stopped. It was like her hand hit a Reflect. By the time he reached ten seconds, her entire hand was trembling, and she flinched back, drawing her hand into her chest, cradling it with her other.

Ash sat back and looked up at Lillie with a grin.

"That was ten seconds," Ash said.

"It was?" Lillie asked. She could hardly remember him counting that high.

"Yep," he confirmed. "A new personal best."

A grin broke through the unease on Lillie's lips, and she confirmed with him once more that it had been so long. Lillie thanked him for his efforts in helping her, then. She assumed he had been expecting it because he deflected the praise back at her, and she blushed and looked down at her bed.

Lillie sat quietly as she processed the news, and as she did, she saw Ash glancing around the room. Though he had drawn the curtains across and couldn't see it, she knew it was dark outside, which made the amber glow of the bedside lamp even warmer. How long had they been training?

Ash looked at his Pokégear, then. It was midnight. He told Lillie as much, and they both decided to sleep.

Lillie did not sleep right away. She never did. She never had, really. But rather than terror, she lay awake out of hesitance to convey what had been on her mind lately. She didn't have to toy with this one for long, however. She had already told Ash about her fear. There was no reason to keep anything from him anymore. Well, anything that she wouldn't explode into a stuttering, blushing mess trying to tell him.

"Are you still awake?" Lillie asked about ten minutes later after they had switched the lamp off, and Ash was staring up at the ceiling in the dark, somehow blueish light.

"Yep. Did you need something?" Ash replied.

Lillie dismissed that possibility with a quiet mumble, shaking her head. She rolled onto her side and looked over at him. She had the quilt wrapped up to her chin.

"I was just thinking, is all."

"What about? Can I help?"

"Oh, it's nothing bad," Lillie said. "You are helping me to overcome my fear."

"Yeah."

"And that's the most important thing for me right now. But it's – I wonder if I'm doing enough to be who I want to be."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked, rolling over to face her. Lillie felt her heart start beating faster.

"Umm – Kiawe finished his post as a temporary trail captain earlier today. That means that, when Mallow has finished, we will move on from Akala Island. That might happen very soon, yet I don't think I have experienced much of the island. We visited Treasure Island, but I didn't really do anything."

"That's not true. Just because you didn't ride a Mantine doesn't mean you weren't involved. Did you have fun that day?"

"Oh, no, I did. I really did. I love spending time with you all. And the same with when we visited Konikoni and watched the performance. I even enjoyed visiting the market with Mallow. Now that I'm listing things, it sounds like I've done a lot, but I just–" Lillie paused.

"You wanted to do more?"

"Yes, thank you. I have been held back the entire time I have been on Akala and Melemele, but now that I'm not, I want to do more."

"Ah, I get what you mean. Well, what do you want to do specifically?" Ash asked.

Lillie thought for a moment.

"I suppose… I want to go for a walk in Lush Jungle, maybe. I want to thoroughly explore the Ruins of Life – Tapu Lele's ruins. I want to see what the Battle Royal Arena is like. But most of all, I – I want to go to the beach and actually experience it."

"Alright, let's do it," Ash said without a moment's hesitation.

"W-What?" Lillie asked.

"Let's do it. Starting tomorrow, we'll start clearing your list."

"Really?"

"Of course," Ash said. "I couldn't think of anything else I'd like to do with my free time," Ash said. Then, he smirked and added, "Other than battling, of course, but I'm currently taking a break from that."

Lillie laughed and thanked him, trying to ignore how his words made her chest lighter. With that decided, they bade each other goodnight and rolled over. Ash's smile was the only thing on Lillie's mind as she fell asleep.

Red repeatedly tapped his heel against the grass, jostling his knee and the elbow that rested on it. Some laughter reached him through the trees from such a distance that only loud noises would reach him. From what he could see, Blue and Barry were on their feet performing the kind of actions one might when telling a story, and everyone else was laughing. He tried to guess what story they were telling. Given the ideas that popped into his head, he might have laughed too if it were any other occasion. But the weight of his approaching reveal disabled any capacity for amusement that he had.

Red looked away from the camp to the treeline opposite him. Then he looked to his left at a cluster of berry bushes; at an old campfire that was nothing but charred wood to his right, then between the leafy canopy and the grass, before closing his eyes and breathing deeply, forcing himself to stop looking around.

Now that he had decided to tell Delia the truth, all sorts of thoughts were bouncing through his head, making him more confused than he had been in a long time. And it wasn't just with regards to Delia's reaction. Suddenly, the fact that they were heading to Alola was all too real. Travelling to Alola meant they were that much closer to finding Ash. That meant he would meet his son for the first time.

Delia had helped alleviate his worries about the meeting before, but for how much longer would they remain a mild concern? Doubt and worry did not vanish that easily; his journey had taught him enough times. It was a healing process, and he was already feeling those worries revitalising themselves cell by cell, gnawing at the corners of his contentment. He only hoped he could properly overcome them in time for their reunion.

Red couldn't tell what it was that decided to suddenly bring forth all of his worries, but he decided it must be stress, so he took another deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves. He told himself meeting Ash was not necessarily important at that specific moment and willed the thoughts from his head.

The important issue was how he would inform Delia of the goings-on behind the scenes. He had to tell her, though, no matter what. He had resolved to do that much. He had to believe in her. But that didn't stop him from fearing every possible reaction.

A bush rustled beside him, and Delia stepped through, brushing her ponytail back over her shoulder.

"You wanted to talk about something?" she asked sweetly, brushing down her clothes.

Red nodded. This time, it wasn't that he couldn't find his voice. He couldn't find the words. He took her hand and guided her to sit on a log opposite him.

"Red? What is it?" Delia asked, sitting opposite him.

"This is…" He paused. Or, rather, something in him made him pause as if something had gripped his words by the tail and yanked them from his tongue.

"Red?"

"It's a difficult thing to talk about. Will you give me a second?"

"Of course," Delia said.

Red pulled in another deep breath, as shaky as if he were freezing, and he started assembling his thoughts. Where was the best place to start? Did he come right out and say it, or did he explain it?

"You're worrying me," Delia said, shuffling around a little, tugging at the frills of her clothes. "Is it something that bad?"

"No, no, it's…" Red paused, looked away, and then locked on to Delia's eyes. "This is… a weird place to start, but it'll make sense, so please bear with me, ok?"

Delia nodded, and she took his hands between hers, leaning closer.

And so, Red began his explanation.

"I'll start with what May's parents were discussing when they returned home. Do you remember?" he asked.

"The crimes in Hoenn? You did seem interested in that."

"Right. I had good reason to be, too."

"How so?"

"I… met with someone while we were in Hoenn, and I confirmed who the criminals are. And by confirming that, I was able to confirm who has been causing trouble in the other regions, too."

"Wait, do you mean the people involved in Cynthia's search and why Drayden employed Iris?"

"So, you did notice that."

Delia smirked. "Of course. I used to be your partner, you know. Although, I will admit I didn't think of it either situation as anything too sinister. You made a connection between them, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Cynthia's description of the people she was chasing was the biggest hint. The style is more of a bowl cut than a bob, but–"

"I didn't know you were so well versed in hairstyles."

Red chuckled, which was a seemingly impossible task at that moment. Then again, Delia had always helped him with the impossible, hadn't she?

"Whatever style it is, their hair is green all the same. It's the staple of any Team Galactic grunt."

Delia's brows raised. "Yes. Ash mentioned that a lot too."

"Team Galactic is back in Sinnoh. We can be almost certain of that. While talking with my contact in Hoenn, I learned that somebody escaped prison in Unova, and everything started to make some sense. Nearly two years ago, the admins of Team Plasma were arrested. It's a wild guess, but I think one of them escaped somehow, and that's who Drayden is searching for."

"If I'm following your reasoning, then the people causing crimes in Hoenn are also a similar group?"

Red nodded. "Yeah. Team Aqua, Team Magma, whoever. They may not all be the same as sixteen years ago, but some of them are part of the group that hunted me down."

Delia inhaled sharply. Whether voluntarily or not, she flinched back an inch or two. "What – do you mean?"

"You already know what happened. The incident tore our family apart, of course, you know. But the one thing we were always unsure about was who exactly took part. What I mean is, who set the whole plan up and carried it out? I had my suspicions for years, but recently, somebody confirmed it for me. It was a coalition of sorts. It wasn't just one group."

Delia inched forwards again, leaned closer to Red, shoulders hunching slightly, and drew their joined hands just in front of her lips. Her eyes assumed a wary expression.

"A coalition of who, exactly?" Delia asked.

"As I – as we – suspected, of all the groups I, you, Blue, and Yellow helped stop throughout our travels. Every region we visited brought with it another battle against some villains, right? The early Team Rocket where Giovanni had just taken over from his mother, the beginnings of Team Aqua and Team Magma in Hoenn–"

"Team Galactic before that was their official name, before Cyrus… You, Blue and Yellow fought a lot of them."

"You did, too."

"Not as many as you."

"Maybe, but that doesn't–" Red shook his head, getting himself back on topic. "Oak told me it was an act of revenge. They temporarily banded together to get us out of the way, even though we hadn't seen most of them in years. It worked, though, and I was forced to stay away for years. And now they've built themselves up again. Team Rocket, Team Galactic. All of them."

Delia remained still for a while; her gaze had fallen to the short grass beneath them. Red couldn't blame her. It had taken him a while to process the idea of a coalition, too, especially given the individual goals and single-minded selfishness most of the groups exhibited in their efforts to reach their goals. Team Aqua and Team Magma were the perfect examples: how had they decided to work together?

Eventually, Delia asked, "You believe this coalition is causing all the crimes throughout the regions?"

"I do. But it's not the same as before."

Delia tilted her head to the side, curiosity creasing her brow.

"I know now that Ash experienced something similar to what we did. He and his friends fought these teams during his adventures, and some new ones, like that Team Flare group. Because of that, the coalition might be even bigger than we think. What I don't know yet is what their motive is. A likely story is that they banded together to get rid of Ash as they did me. But I think it's something else."

"Something else?"

"They're too organised for it to be such a simple goal. Breaking someone out of prison, organising heists, eluding a Champion: it can't be a one-time thing, so what are they doing? Why are they working together, and what are they planning? This coalition is dangerous, especially if it's bigger than it was last time." Red paused. "And what worries me is that the man in charge has no idea what is happening inside this coalition either."

Delia's eyes widened, and she stared into his eyes. He found it hard to maintain the gaze.

"Red…" Delia breathed, "you know who is running the operation?" she asked warily.

"I do. I need you to trust me, ok?" Red asked.

Delia grasped his hands tighter. "I always do."

"Alright." Red paused and took another deep breath. "I just said someone recently told me the truth. And by that, I mean – I've known this coalition existed for a little while. I would have told you after I talked with Oak, but I kept quiet because I had to confirm that they were the ones involved with Ash. Then I had to confirm that they were the ones causing these crimes."

"You knew?"

"Yeah. A few years ago, their leader found me on Mt Silver. Apparently, they had started this coalition even then, enlisting the trust of some groups that had their names tarnished. But he told me he has a secret agenda for assembling this coalition. I didn't trust him– nor do I trust him now – but I agreed to take part in this plan.

"Since then, he's been gathering these teams into one group. Rocket, Galactic, loads of them. Honestly, he probably hasn't told me about everyone he's enlisted. Now that the coalition is so big, he and I were going to carry out a plan he told me about that day on Mt Silver. But then the situation in Pallet Town happened. He returned to Mt Silver as we had discussed, but he told me about the incident rather than starting our plan. That's why I returned, and we've put our plan on hold because he, even as the leader, had no idea they were planning to get rid of Ash. Supposedly, anyway. I'm not sure I believe him. Again, I'm going off of his word, but he didn't even know these crimes are happening. If I were to make some sort of guess, there's someone else involved that's orchestrating things in the background."

Delia didn't say anything for a moment. But Red could see her realisation, how her eyes became heavier by the second, how they looked upon him with a blend of sympathy and hurt, understanding and confusion. His heart held its breath as her lips parted, and it started hurting a little when she leaned back, away from him, and she looked upon him as a stranger for the first time since they met. It hurt more than he had expected. But that was about as much as he could have expected from her reaction. He had been away for nearly seventeen years. He may as well have been a stranger.

He took solace in the fact that she never released their hands.

"This leader," Delia began slowly. "It's Giovanni, isn't it?"

Red hung his head.

"Red…"

"I know how it sounds."

"Do you know the sorts of things he has attempted in the last few years? Ash was nearly hurt because of his plan in Unova. Luckily, he stopped it, but…"

"Ash was the one…" Red shook his head, dismissing the invasive pang of pride. "Would you believe me if I said some of it was a ploy to help with our plan?"

"Not really, no. What possibly justifies what he did?"

"That's what he insists. He said he enacted his plan in Unova to reaffirm his leadership qualities in the coalition."

"I still don't believe it."

"I don't believe it either," Red said. Delia's breath of relief seemed to blow the feeling through him too. "Delia, as I said earlier, I don't trust him at all, but this plan could be beneficial for a lot of regions."

Delia leaned forwards a little.

"Maybe so, but you just said it yourself. You don't trust him, so how do you know he isn't planning to hurt you? To hurt Ash? To use this coalition to hurt everyone?! That is what he does, Red. He hurts people."

"I know. I know," Red said.

"This is Giovanni. How did he possibly convince you?"

"Do you remember the battle Giovanni and I had on my very first journey? It was just Blue and I were on that journey, and we travelled separately because he was so cocky, but I told you about it, right?"

"I remember. Giovanni vanished after that, didn't he?"

"Yeah," Red said. "It turns out that battle gave his life a Refresh of some sort. He… When pitching his plan, he told me that he started a family a few years before we had Ash. He has a son, Delia. He said this plan is all for his son, the world his son has to grow up in. He said – he doesn't want his son to end up like him."

Delia's eyes widened again, and she looked suddenly speechless, just as Red had expected.

"I don't believe him, but that doesn't matter because I have my own plan," Red said.

"You… do?"

"Yeah. We have a lot of history, he and I. I know who he is, and he knows who I am. This agreement we've made – both of us know how fickle it is. Because I know him, I know how to deal with him. I've got a plan to stop him. We both probably have plans to stop each other when our alliance inevitably ends, but I…"

"Red…" Delia muttered, and she leaned forwards again, squeezing his hands tighter. "This is a dangerous game you're playing."

"I know it's just – it's not a game. Not to me. I'm hoping this will finally get Giovanni out of our lives. That's all I want. I know how scary this situation is, but I've been planning something for nearly seventeen years. I-I need to do this."

"No, you don't, Red."

"What if I do?"

After a pause, Delia leaned forwards and hugged him.

Red eyes widened, and he couldn't come to his senses quick enough to return the gesture before she pulled away, holding him by the shoulders.

"I think I already know the reason, but why do you need to do this?" Delia asked.

"I…" Red felt a warmth tingle the edges of his eyes. "For us, Delia. For Ash. I need to do this for our family. For our son."

Hi! Thanks for reading.

I only have one thing to say this time. Did you figure anything out/assume what was unveiled here? I know some people did. But is everything as it seems?

I hope you enjoyed, and let me know what you think! See you next time!