Disclaimer: Why, oh why would I possibly want to claim the related characters of Super Smash Bros? Well, let's see here…it would prove that I am filthy rich, impress my friends, make obsessed gamers bow down before me…such glory. But that's why 'disclaimers' were invented. To keep people from becoming high and mighty through such tasty lies. Oh, well. We can do nothing but adhere. So I own nothing, except for my OCs.

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A giant yellow mouse picking pieces of china from the floor…

I awoke with a violent start, eyes flying open. I was met with a first-class view of my bedroom ceiling, as white and lumpy and mundane as ever. But relief surged through me as I realized I was lying in bed. It had all been a dream.

And yet…

I turned my head, glancing at the digital clock on my bedside table. Neon numbers flashed in a bored white pallor: twelve-thirty p.m. Now that's late, even for me. I blinked at the clock, but the time didn't change - on the contrary, it grew a little brighter, as though to prove me wrong. And…I stirred, suddenly realizing why I felt so odd. I was in my grey hoodie, and there were my blue fluffy bed slippers, still on my feet…but I never wore those to bed…

To top it all off, the cheerful ding of the house doorbell resounded through the air.

With a groan I sat up, feeling a headache rushing to catch me. This was definitely weird…could it be that…but no! Nothing like that could have happened. That had definitely been nothing but a dream. Right…? I stiffened when there was a creaking click, the unmistakable sound of the front door opening…that was always locked. Which could only mean that someone else was in the house…

I stood up hesitantly and approached my bedroom door, which was slightly open. The hall from my room led to the living room, and happened to have a good view of the front door from the entrance. Now I paused beside my door, peering through the open slit…

There was someone holding the front door open all right, and my stomach frankly disappeared as I spotted a red-and-white cap, splashed in bright sunlight that filtered through. Red took a step back and someone else entered, a tall girl with straight dark hair…but that was Alex!

I gathered my courage, preparing to take on the weirdness galore that threatened to drown me in a severe headache. And I had always liked Saturdays, too…

"Nice to meet you. You must be Red." Alex was already speaking when I stepped into the hall. She noticed the movement, turning to me. "Oh, Taylor, there you are! I see you're getting lazy like me…about time…"

Well, Alex had always been an odd person. Maybe it was something about the way she talked, the way her coal-black eyes flashed, but no one wanted to mess with her. My personally favorite experience with her was when a particular dumb fifth-grader had tried to challenge Alex, demanding she hand over every dollar on her body. Alex, myself, and my friends had been in second grade at the time. And she, in turn, had responded accordingly, and that same bully was found some time later mysteriously trapped in an unused locker within the middle school, across the road, whimpering like a baby. No one had dared to bother her since, or any of her friends. Which, I suppose, would be a plus for me. However, things like the Locker Incident didn't occur often around Alex - most of the time she liked to be extremely lazy more than anything else.

"Alex, I'm not getting lazy," I replied, trying to sound snappish and failing miserably. Alex had that kind of effect on you. "I just…overslept, I guess…"

"Um, actually, you passed out a few hours ago," Red interjected awkwardly. "I was wondering when you'd wake up, too…that vase must have been expensive. Pikachu and I are both really sorry about that…"

And, like magic, the yellow mouse popped up beside the guy, rubbing an ear and gazing at me as though it had never felt so regretful in its life. I couldn't stop the small shriek that escaped from me - I jumped backwards. Was this what it felt like to have a heart-attack?

"I - you - Alex!" I turned frantically to my tough friend, pointing at the baffled Red. "Now you see! I mean…this guy can't be for real…"

"Hey…" Red frowned at me. "What do you mean by that?"

I glared at Alex imploringly, but only felt myself sink deeper into despair as Alex merely frowned slightly, gazing at Red in mild interest. She took note of the balls.

"Oh, he's for real all right. He's the Kanto League Champion, no less."

I could only splutter, at an utter loss of words, as Alex turned to Red. "Don't mind her, she's just shell-shocked." My dark-haired friend smiled warmly. "She's a big fan of yours, you know. And there's only one Red around here, so she really couldn't believe it, I guess. I happen to be an admirer myself, which is why I came here. Your battles were quite impressive."

Red blinked, and then a small smile crept on his lips. "Uh, yeah, I suppose that hype is still going…" He sighed. "I really owe it to my Pokemon, though. I didn't do much. They should have the credit." He cast a glance at the mouse. "…To be honest, though, I was trying to travel incognito for a while, maybe scrape a few good battles here and there with old friends. But then I got lost…I guess stuff like that's just unavoidable."

"Oh, I understand completely." Alex nodded. Then she actually turned to me for the first time where I stood, frozen with disbelief. "Ah…I think it's just getting past her skull. All right with you if I have a private word? Get her brain going again, you know?"

"Sure, that's fine. Tell her I'm sorry for invading on her privacy like this…"

Red's half-hearted smile followed me all the way back to my room, guided by an incredibly calm Alex. As soon as the door swung firmly shut behind us, I rounded on her.

"What the hell was -?"

"Taylor, shut up for a moment."

I closed my mouth right shut then and there, instantly pacified. There was a dangerous glint in Alex's eyes that murdered the words of outrage I'd been about to spout. Yes, she has her methods of getting her way.

"Now, listen to me very carefully, my friend." Complacent, Alex drifted over to my bed and plopped down on the covers, idly fiddling with the edge of the faded purple quilt and gazing leisurely through my window. "…The last thing you need to do is tell him."

"Uh…yeah…tell him what, exactly?" I felt my outrage bubbling up again. "Tell him to get out of my house, maybe? To get a reservation at the weirdo asylum? This is -"

Alex held up a hand. Once again the words simply died away. "I did tell you to listen," she replied calmly. "This is serious. This is for real."

"What -?"

"I know what I'm talking about, Taylor." Alex fixed me with her cold stare. My tongue felt as though it had been turned to stone. Alex blinked, then resumed her lazy mannerism. "Since you dropped out of the chat when I was explaining it the first time, I suppose I might as well tell you again." Alex looked at me again, as though she were making sure I wouldn't utter a word. Her hopes were fulfilled. "The guy residing in your house right now is Red."

"Uh…yeah. I kinda already knew that."

Alex sighed, looking exasperated. "Taylor, he's the Red."

"…I don't follow."

"Then start following." Alex reached into the black jacket she was wearing, then pulled a box from underneath. It flashed red in the meager sunlight that poured from the window, and she deftly handed it to me. "Read that."

"O-kay…" Feeling disgruntled and nonplussed, I glared at the cover art. The top of the box read Gameboy Advance, and in the center was a swirling vortex of orange fire. Emerging from the middle was a dragon-thing of some sort, with blue wings and orange skin, fanged mouth open in a fierce roar. And emblazoned over its head was a title. "Pokemon FireRed," I read out loud, feeling bored.

Alex nodded. "A popular title among Nintendo gamers. Including myself."

"All right." I wasn't very interested. One thing I had always been mystified at about Alex was her taste for video games. "That's great, but what does this have to do with the maniac in my house?"

"Not a maniac," Alex retorted wearily. "Turn it over, tell me what you see."

I did what she said, just to make her happy, and skimmed the images displayed there…and then my eyes locked on two inserted pictures. One boy, and one girl, both striking poses. And the boy looked exactly like Red…right down to the weirdly-shaped eyes.

"You see it?"

I looked up and met Alex's eyes, though my brain still refused to believe it.

"Well, it's…coincidental…"

"Very."

There was silence.

"…Wait a minute. You're not saying…"

"Yeah?"

"That…he's…him?"

"What do you think?"

"…Truthfully? I think you're crazy."

"So did I. Until I saw him in there." Alex tilted her head at the closed door. "And he'll think you're crazy too, if you told him he was standing in the state of California, in the United States of America."

I stared at her, remembering all too clearly the way Red had looked at me when I had mentioned Japan. Alex stood up. "What I've been trying to tell you, Taylor, is that he's not in the Kanto Region anymore. He's got no idea he's on a totally different world, where everything he knows and believes is only the figment of Nintendo's imagination, a little game to play. We need to give him some time to adjust, to let him ease in. But the thing is that…I think there are more."

I slowly began to shake my head. "…No. No way. It's crazy. Impossible. Stuff like this just can't happen…" I bit my lip. "You're trying to tell me that…that this guy is actually, genuinely the character of this…videogame?"

"…Yeah."

More silence.

"…I don't believe you."

"Suit yourself."

I glared at Alex. I wanted to scream in frustration, to shake her, to make her say that it was all a joke, that she was just playing around. But…this was Alex…the intelligent, lazy girl I had known since first grade…

And she never joked. Ever.

Something snapped inside me. I sighed.

"…What are we going to do?"

"I don't know." Alex stood up. "But I've got an idea."

"Enlighten me."

"…There are more. Like Red. Stranded. That's my assumption." She fixed me with a look. "We've got to find them. Get them somewhere safe. Like that swordsman. In fact, he's already in Haley's mansion. So my thoughts are that we stow them away there."

I blinked, realizing what was happening fully and truly for the first time. That we were about to go on a hunt for video game characters. That we were going to hide them away from police, possibly FBI agents, or worse. It was crazy. But I could only believe.

"…And then?"

Alex looked back at me. "…I'm going to pay the game dealer a visit."

"Right."

Yup, it was official. This was the worst Saturday morning I had ever experienced in my life.