Red felt like he was flying. Today, he thought, was the best day of his life. His first Pokemon, his first Pokemon battle… It felt like nothing could dampen the almost unreal happiness he felt today.
Except the fact everyone around him looked as if they had no idea what was going on. And considering they were the professor who gave him his Pokemon and said professors grandkid, that was a worrying sign that, in hindsight, Red would beat himself up about for thinking it wasn't as important as it was.
"Uh, Red?" Blue was calling to him in a voice less aggressive than he usually used. "The battle?" Oh yeah, thought Red. The battle. He always tended to be caught up in thought, mainly when the subject was Pokemon. He couldn't deny spending hours he should have been sleeping just thinking about them, whether it was fantasising about his own adventure or confusion how a species so close to human in appearance was used as pets.
"Quagsire! Use Mud-Slap" Red yelled (though as much as he hated to admit it, his yell was generally about the same volume most people talked in). Quagsire looked at him, confused. She blinked and went to attack on her own.
Spinda moved first, before Blue could even order him to do anything. A beam of green and red grazed at Quagsires side, barely damaging her before, much to the confusion of all onlookers, she pecked at him. The attack must have hit hard, though, as Spinda fell unconscious to the ground.
"Um," Blue said. Red had never seen him uncertain of anything before, and he had to admit it was kind of cathartic on some level. "What." Blue stared ahead blankly for a few seconds before he said "Red… I need to talk". Blue was acting so unlike he usually did that Red was worried until he grabbed onto his arm and practically dragged him out with him.
As soon as Blue had managed to find a place he thought was private enough (which wasn't hard, considering how Pallet Town was less of a town and more of a hamlet) he spoke "Something's wrong." he said, barely above a whisper. Red didn't particularly need telling that, though he wasn't the most intelligent or social of people even he could tell something was up when his Quagsire grew a beak to attack Spinda.
"Look, those Pokemon weren't there yesterday. They replaced the original starters. And even someone like you would know something's up when a aquatic Pokemon pecks another half to death!" Red didn't know whether to be happy or upset Blue was acting like himself again, but the information concerned him.
Blue walked off without another word, leading Red to guess something was very wrong with him today as he'd only acted as he usually did to him once. He decided he didn't have any reason to stick around either, and headed off into Route One. It was eerily quiet; it seemed almost as if all the Pokemon had just disappeared and never came back. It was so quiet that Red nearly jumped out of his skin when a Pokemon jumped out of the tall grass.
It was a Zubat. Just a Zubat. No need to worry, stupid! thought Red, ordering his Quagsire to use Peck, as it was the only move he knew she had. Zubat shrugged off the attack, and as it finished turned the attack back around on Quagsire. The battle went on in this vein for a long time, until finally, Zubat retreated.
He turned to put Quagsire back in her Pokeball, only to see her nearly start crying as soon as he touched it. He put it back down and let her follow him outside the Pokeball. The route was still quiet, and apart from a few Zubat he got to Viridian quickly. Red had never been outside Pallet in his life, and he was surprised at how busy it was, despite it not being too much bigger than Pallet.
After healing Quagsire, Red checked the time on the clock in the Pokemon centre. It was getting late, and he decided to book a room for the night. The room was plain and small, but there was enough room for him. Quagsire fell asleep near instantly at the foot at the bed, but Red was never a good sleeper, especially when he was excited.
Red had barely got even a hour of sleep before he was awoken roughly. "Wake up! It's mooooorning!" a small voice rang out, and Red quickly sprang up, wildly looking around to look for an intruder. "What? It's just me?" The voice was coming from Quagsire, suprising Red.
"You… you can talk?" he said, almost without realising. He never knew Pokemon could talk, outside of childish baby speak and their own names.
"O' course I can talk. Why couldn't I?" said Quagsire, looking up at him with confusion behind her mane of hair and- wow, Red never realised how raggedy her little onesie-dress thing was. He swore to get a new one as soon as he could. "Names Mia." she said, staring at him. "Do you have a name?" she asked.
"Red." he said. He barely talked at the best of times, and it surprised him how easy it was to speak with Quag- Mia. Her name was Mia, he reminded himself. He wouldn't like to be called Human, so he should call Mia Mia.
"You ready to go?" asked Mia. "I wanna beat up more things!" she exclaimed, and she laughed the most precious laugh Red had heard. He'd barely packed up before Mia was racing out the door, repeating to herself "IgettabeatupstuffIgettabeatupstuffIgetta-" and laughing. Red was sure she was disturbing the neighbours, but he didn't particularly care. He never really liked people.
As Red was looking through the city, as he entered the closest shop a voice rang out. "Hey! Did you come from Pallet Town?" asked the clerk at the shop. "Do you know Professor Oak?" Red nodded. Mia was pulling at his coat and looking up at him.
"Reeeeeed." her small voice rang out in a whine. "I wanna beat up the bad guys."
The clerk looked at him in frustration. "Keep your Pokemon in the Pokeball while you shop if it's going to be so disruptive." Something inside Red flared up in anger when he referred to Mia as an "it", but he tried to restrain it. "Anyway, Oak's order came in. Can I get you to take it to him?" Red forced a smile and nodded, taking the parcel. He left with Mia in tow.
Route One was still eerily quiet, but some Pokemon still showed up, a Zubat and a Swinub (Something was definitely up if he ran into a Swinub, Red thought). Mia defeated all of them with ease, each win punctuated by a "Redredredred look I did it I did it I did it see I'm the best Pokemon everevereverEVER!" with what Red thought was the cutest little smile.
Soon they were back at Pallet, and Red delivered the parcel. "Oh! Red!" said Oak, with enthusiasm so blatantly forced even Red noticed it. "How is my… old Pokemon?"
"Do I know you?" said Mia, looking at him with evident confusion, which Oak seemed to ignore.
"Well, it seems to be growing more attached to you." Red decided he hated it when people called Mia "it", and he spoke up.
"Her name is Mia," he said, his anger only hidden by how quiet his voice was. "Don't call her it."
Red practically shoved the parcel at Oak, ready to storm off until Blue walked in. He looked as if he hadn't slept at all. "What did you call me in for?" Blue said, the tiredness in his voice confirming that.
"Oh, right! I have a request for you two," he said, gesturing to the desk behind him. "On the desk there is my invention! The Pokedex! It automatically records data on Pokemon you've seen or you've caught! It's like a high tech encyclopaedia! Red, Blue?"
"Yes?" said Blue. Red still stared ahead with barely concealed rage.
"Take these with you." He grabbed the Pokedexes and passed them to the boys. "You can't get detailed data on Pokemon just by seeing them; you must catch them to get complete data. Here are some tools for catching Pokemon." He handed both of the boys five Pokeballs and continued "When a wild Pokemon appears, it's fair game. Just throw a Pokeball at it and try and catch it! However, a healthy Pokemon can escape, so make sure to weaken them first!" Mia gave a yelp of excitement at that revelation.
"To make a complete guide on all the Pokemon in the world," Oak finished "That has always been my dream. But, I'm too old. I can't do that now. So I want you two to fulfil my dream. Now, get moving!" Red didn't need to be told twice, and was out of the door before either of the Oaks could get another word out.
"So," Mia said, "are you gonna find me a friend?" Red nodded and smiled. Sure, things weren't making much (if any) sense, but he was happy, and so was Mia, and somehow that mattered so much more.
Red had barely taken a step forward when a Zubat popped out of the grass. Mia went ahead and pecked at him before Red even had to command her, taking minimal damage from its vengeful thrashing. She pecked at it a second time, again shrugging off any damage.
From the looks of it, the Zubat was intensely damaged, with a large wound on its shoulder, and Red knew it was time to catch it. "Mia, stay back!" he commanded, and an incredibly confused Mia waited as Red threw the Pokeball.
It shook once, twice, three times, and clicked shut on the Zubat. Mia cheered. "I gotta new friend! IgottanewfriendIgottanewfriend!" She turned and shook Red ineffectually. "I wanna see him!" Red released the Zubat from its Pokeball, and Mia went up to greet it. "Hi!" she said, excitement clear in her voice. "You're my new friend! I'm Mia! What's your name?" The Zubat hid against the ledge, disliking Mia's boundless energy and being rather shy. "Do you not have a name?" Zubat stared ahead, while he could understand human language he could not speak it, but he did not have a name anyway. Mia squealed with excitement at the prospect of naming someone. "Your new name is Zach!"
Mia's endless babbling did nothing to help poor new Zach, as Red had decided to call him. The decision wasn't entirely because of Mia's suggestion, the name sounded nice to him in general, and he thought it suited the tiny shy boy. He withdrew Zach back into his Pokeball so he could get some peace and quiet.
Red and Mia continued their walk to Viridian; Mia slightly bummed out because her new friend didn't seem to want to stick around with her. "Red. Get me a better friend." she whined all the way until they encountered a Swinub. "Catch heeeeer." Mia cried melodramatically. Unfortunately for her, Red wasn't in the mood to deal with whiny little girls at this time. "Mia, stay out of this for now." he said.
Mia had decided this was her punishment for wanting more friends and started wailing in the most heart-wrenching fashion she could to try and get Red to let her fight, but in actuality, he was just training up Zach. He withdrew Zach to the Pokeball the second he was let out and called to Mia. "Go where Zach was standing, Mia" Horribly confused and still wiping crocodile tears out of her face, Mia agreed.
The day suddenly grew swelteringly hot, and it took every ounce of willpower Red had not to take his jacket off. He knew enough about how Pokemon can summon heat to realise it'd be gone in a few minutes (though it begged the question why an Ice-type was using it). Mia used Peck, and it was all over. They reached Viridian safe and sound, but it was only one in the afternoon. They had plenty of time to adventure for now, and the group headed out almost as soon as they came in.
Reds first thought was to head to the gym, but the doors wouldn't budge no matter how hard he pushed. His next thought was to head west to Route 22. To be honest with himself, Red didn't know Kanto outside of Pallet and he was going to be hideously lost most of the journey. It was there he encountered a Togepi.
"Mia, stay out of this one too." As Mia sulked, Togepi sunk fangs deep into Zach's flesh, but it seemed as if it was breaking the teeth against a hard object. Zach was unharmed, and the Togepi came away with a mouthful of bloody, broken teeth. As Togepi lay on the ground bleeding, Red threw a Pokeball.
Like with Zach, it was an easy catch. Later, the trainer would meet his match- OK, I'm just going to stop that now. Anyway, Red sent out both the Togepi and Zach so Mia and they could get to know each other. Mia walked up to the Togepi, who was standing there with his arms crossed and a blank expression on his face, the stoic effect lessened by the fact he was the size of a teddy bear. "Hi!" said Mia. "You're my new friend, and your name is Tyrone now," The Togepi didn't protest this or seem to react at all, so Red decided to stick with Tyrone for his name.
Red headed to the Pokemon centre to heal quickly before heading back to Route 22. He could see the Pokemon League in the distance, and he wanted to get a better view. After all, he was going to become champion, no matter what. He wasn't giving up on his dream, ever.
"Hey! Red" Oh, great thought Red. Blue again. "You're off to the Pokemon League?" Red shook his head. "Well, forget ab- wait. Did you just say you're not going to the League?" Red nodded. "Of course you aren't. I had this cool speech and everything, and you just had to ruin it, like you always do. I don't even know why I try sometimes."
Apparently, ruining speeches is enough provocation for attacking someone out of the blue, as Blue ordered his new Pokemon, a Nidoran, to attack Mia. The attack missed, and Red sent out Zach. The Nidoran tried to copy what Zach had done, but as it was before Zach has moved, nothing happened, and Nidoran looked around confused as Zach tackled straight into Nidoran.
Red switched out Zach for Mia, as Nidoran launched a Thunderbolt at Mia. She fell to the ground, a burn scar forming where it hit. Mia was severely injured, so Red switched back out to Zach. Nidoran used Spark, and the attack glanced off Zach, though he was still severely injured. Red switched into Tyrone as Nidoran used Thunderbolt, and the attack hit hard. He was covered in burns, and he was moaning weakly.
And then it stopped. Tyrone lay there with glazed over eyes, not breathing, but Red couldn't convince himself his Pokemon had died, he just needed to get him to a Pokemon centre right now and he'd be completely fine, right? Red tried to signal for Blue to stop the battle until he realised something.
Their Pokemon were fighting on their own.
Mia had tears in her eyes, charging to attack the Nidoran. She rushed to him, hitting him with everything she had, but Nidoran wasn't reacting. He unleashed a stored burst of energy, and in a second, Mia was gone.
"Mia, no!" Red cried. He rushed up to cradle her dying body, not being able to deny she would die anymore.
"Don't… worry…" Mia choked out, and as the life left her eyes, Red couldn't stop sobbing. It felt like a horrible nightmare, but nightmares had never hurt this much. He was still holding her lifeless body as Zach fell dying next to him. Red only knew them for a few days, but they felt as if they were his- he didn't even have the words to describe it. He just felt he'd give anything to have them back.
And in what felt like both a second and an eternity, he was back on his feet. When he dared open his eyes, he was back on his feet in the lab again, like it was all a dream. Surely it must have been because the Pokemon he had undoubtedly wasn't Mia, it was instead an Arbok. And Blue was stuck with a Caterpie.
The only hint of any kind his experience wasn't a surreal dream was the look on Blue's face, as confused and upset looking as Red himself was feeling. Red himself was utterly done with anything related to Pokemon training, so he half-heartedly signalled his Arbok to attack.
After a series of a mix of snow and dirt hit Caterpie weakly, Arbok was hit by a small thundershock. Arbok lazed around for a bit, though Red wasn't paying much attention. The Arbok bit at the Caterpie, knocking it out in a single hit.
Blue wasn't really noticing what was going on any more than Red was, and as soon as the battle ended said in a quiet voice so unlike his usual persona "Red. We need to talk." Red followed Blue out to a quiet place, just hoping somehow that he wasn't crazy.
"Ok." Blue finally. "Am I crazy or did this all happen before? I mean, not this exact series of events, but we had Pokemon and everything, and now it's all happening again?" Red nodded weakly, not finding enough care in himself to speak. Blue paused awkwardly, before saying "I'm sorry."
At this point, Red didn't know what was stranger, seemingly going back in time or Blue apologising for anything. He started moving through Route One almost on instinct, completely ignoring anything and not even being sure why he was doing this. After arriving in Viridian, he headed into the Pokemart, took the package, and started heading back to Pallet.
It just felt like he was repeating the motions at this point, he felt so numb. The only thing he could feel at this point was tiredness. Oh god he felt tired. He felt like he could just fall asleep right there and then and never wake up.
He woke up- dear God, he didn't realise he actually fell asleep- roughly, feeling someone pulling on his collar. "Red! Wake up! It's mooooooorning!" a small voice rang out- oh God, he recognised that voice, but it was impossible. "It's me, Mia!"