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sanguine
Red and the six people who mattered most to him
his rival
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haven't seen you for quite a while
I was down the hole just passing time
last time we met was a low-lit room
we were as close together as a bride and groom
we ate the food, we drank the wine
everybody having a good time
except you
you were talking about the end of the world
Green remembers the good times, the times spent with Red and Leaf in the hot summer. Those were the days, the days when he didn't have to worry about a thing in the world except dancing through endless sprinklers and teasing his buddies like they meant nothing to him.
Things change.
In the last summer before they all split apart like dice from fate's hand, Red is pulling away from their little group and Leaf isn't acting quite the same. Perhaps it's the fact that they're all ten, eleven, twelve, and they all dream of different things.
Leaf wants a prince. Red and Green just want to be heroes.
Either way, they leave with those big dreams of theirs and head out to the road. For once, Green has a delightful head start born from long legs and a burning spirit that tells him to go, go, go!
And so he mercilessly crushes the gym leaders with that eevee of his, warning them about Red after each victory. He's not sure why he even mentions Red, except that Red is his former best friend (not sure what happened to that kid, but he changed) and former best friends get the attention that enemies and lovers get, because they know you better than either and can hurt you more than both.
By the time he gets to Lavender Town, Green's fought Red a few times, and he's frustrated. All that training, wasted, because even though Green's one step ahead, Red's behind him and that drives the kid like nothing else. And it's all for nothing, because now Red's won five times and Green's won no times.
He blames his Pokemon, at first, for being weak. Later, though, he realizes that, no, it's got nothing to do with them, because they still crush gym leaders, no trouble. He realizes it's him, and he does this by defeating everyone in the Team Rocket – controlled Silph Co.
He's halfway to the boss when he realizes that he's not the only one beating mindless minions in that building.
"Red," he sneers at his rival, then gets crushed again. Good, he tells himself. Red's strong enough to take down the boss here. He lies about having all the badges already, simply because Red will believe him. He leaves fast, because there's nothing else to do in the stupid building.
And the next time he meets Red, he's just reached his dream. And in ten minutes, Red has ended it.
Maybe it was a nightmare after all.
The good times are long over, Green decides as he goes to Pallet Town. There's nothing left for him. Sure, Leaf is there, but she was never really in love with either of them. And there's Gramps, another person who never believed in him.
He goes to Viridian City. He gets a new dream. He becomes the last one in line before anyone can go see Red (who's vanished into thin air, not that Green knows anything about Mt. Silver or anything like that).
Now it's just good times and bang, bang, try again, baby. Because you'll need more firepower than that to defeat a former Champion.
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Author's Note: Sad, really, the way Green and Red are to each other. Maybe it's just me.
"Until the End of the World" by U2. Go listen to it. It's a song about redemption of former friends. And it has some religious roots, if you're into that sort of thing.
Last chapter coming up here, guys. Review? Por fave?