The day was drawing to a close in Viridian City and the night was slowly seeping in, its smothering blanket descending upon the landscape as it engulfed the city in utter desolation. The roads that had so few people even in daytime was emptier than ever, not a soul to be seen and a sound to be heard but for the sporadic howl of wind exuded from Viridian Forest.

The ambience matched exactly to how she was feeling now. Inane. The sense of emptiness that creeps in when one's efforts have all been for naught.

Yellow was half-consciously walking back the way she had come from the forest with seemingly no set destination. She had decided against riding upon Dody; she wanted to take her time to mull things over.

She could still remember distinctly, Red assuring her he was only going back to his home early because he was tired from dealing with all the outrage back in Hoenn. How would she have guessed, that this would be the last time she would see him.

Her temples were starting to throb again, with hundreds of different ideas as to Red's disappearance swirling in her head. For all she knew, Red might have just gone to train himself with his Pokemon. But what if he had been beaten down by a strong, unknown foe, just like the Elite Four had succeeded seven years ago? Yellow shook her head valiantly as she tried to dismiss these thoughts. She was way over-thinking this.

Yellow felt a sudden jerk on the down-layer of her clothes and stopped. Chuchu was tugging at her clothes, its small paws pointing at her home that was already way behind her. She looked between the Viridian Forest that was only a small distance away, and her home she had gone past beyond. Yellow exhaled, trying in vain to shake Red out of her thoughts as she tottered back across. All she wanted was to take up a space, however small, within Red's mind. But at the present, even this seemed an impossible task.

Yellow opened the door and went in. What greeted her was pitch darkness, which seemed to merge with the semi-darkness of outside as if to swallow her in its swath. This was odd. She was sure she had left a light on when she had stopped by to take her straw hat. Yellow scrabbled with her hands for the switch, and when she turned it on…

"SURPRISE!" As the light exorcised the darkness, a deafening roar was what replaced it in its wake.

Surprised by the sudden clamour, Yellow had jumped back, but she was coming round now, a smile spreading across her face as she realized who they were.

All of her fellow dexholders from Kanto, Johto and Hoenn had sprung out of the blue, and now together, they were preparing themselves for what it seemed like an outburst of a rapturous melody of a happy birthday song.

"Happy birthday, Yellow!"

For a moment, Yellow just stood there awkwardly, unsure of what was going on. Then she remembered, today was her birthday! Despite herself, Yellow smiled at the sight of her beloved friends… and at her absent-mindedness. She herself, the birthday girl, had not the slightest inkling that today was her birthday!

It had been quite some time her house had been this full. Everyone had come to celebrate her birthday: there were Crystal, who preferred to go by the alias 'Chris', the ever delinquent-like Gold, and the super aloof Silver who was loitering by the side of Blue as if he were her bodyguard. There were also Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald who had come all the way from Hoenn. And beside them was her city's gym leader Green who was sitting on a chair reading a book, looking totally disinterested about the whole situation.

And next to Green was – Yellow could hardly believe her eyes – Red.

Not for the first time, Yellow's cheeks became tinged with pink as their eyes met. Red smiled. It was a smile that Yellow had missed so much. And Red was coming closer to her, his arms opened wide. It was almost as if he was inviting Yellow in him.

Yellow could stop herself no more. Her sight blurring by the second by the tears of joy, she ran towards Red and dived into his open arms. Time stood still for a moment as they locked themselves in a tight embrace. Red patted her hair, still bearing his trademark smile.

In the backdrop, Gold and Emerald were shaking with uncontrollable laughter. Gold, as usual, had gone one step beyond, pounding on the floor simultaneously like a complete maniac. Crystal was shaking her head in disapproval at all this ruckus.

Ruby and Sapphire were smiling sheepishly in the corner, enjoying the spectacle. Blue was sniffing with a large grin on her face, uttering, "uh, how cute," at the same time.

And Silver and Green were aloof as ever, both opting to concentrate on what they were doing.

After what seemed like an eternity, Yellow and Red – especially Yellow – reluctantly broke up.

"So where have you been for the last two weeks Red?" Yellow asked rather breathlessly. She was still finding it hard to believe that she had been hugged by Red himself.

Red just kept on smiling at her, not saying a word. Yellow found this strange. Red's face had gone virtually unchanged since, well, since their eyes met.

"Red…?"

Then the impossible began to unfold before her very eyes. Yellow stared in horror as 'Red' began dissolving into nothingness. 'Red' was melting, like a candle wax melting into no more than a sticky fluid. His smile was the first to disappear, overlapped by the color pink that was spreading all the way from top to bottom.

Yellow closed her eyes in disbelief. Maybe she was just hallucinating. She had to be. When she opened them again though, 'Red' had turned into nothing more significant than a pink blob. Two black pupils and a thin line were all there were in the otherwise pink area that stretched over its tiny body.

Yellow realized then, with a crashing sense of feeling, that 'Red,' had actually been a Ditto all along.

"Yellow! How did you like my birthday present?" Blue said pleasantly, putting her arms around Yellow. "I wanted to give you something memorable for your birthday... looks like I succeeded, wouldn't you say?" Throwing back her head, Blue broke into a hearty laughter.

"SIS!" Gold cried out excitedly, poking his head over Blue's shoulder. "Your birthday gift was a blast!"

"Don't you dare call her Sis, you…" With remarkable agility, Silver positioned himself firmly between Gold and Blue, swatting at the air with his hands in a genuine effort to block Gold from getting to Blue. It was as though he was lured by Gold's mere presence around Blue. Sort of like a resonance effect.

"Bro!" Gold exclaimed loudly, as if noticing Silver for the first time. "Ya shoulda've seen straw-hat gal's face!" Gold did a mushy impersonation of Yellow being hugged by Red. "Uhh, Red. Please give me a smooch…"

Yellow's face suddenly became redder – though it had already been red enough in the first place.

"No worries straw-hat gal," Gold went on in a drawl. "I'll tell Red to give you a hug as your birthday gift when he gets here."

"Gold!" Crystal chose this moment to enter the out-of-control conversation. "How many times do I have to tell you – that's not how you talk to your senior!"

"Calm down, Chris." Gold shrugged. "It's not like I am hitting on her or anything. I would get spanked by Red if I did that. But hmm…" Gold gazed at Yellow with an altogether sly look, making Yellow squirm uncomfortably. "She does look cuter now she doesn't have her straw-hat on. Maybe I should ask her out and beat Red to the punch…"

"GOLD!" Now there was murder in Crystal's eyes.

"Jeez! No need to get all grouchy… It was just a joke." With that, Gold went to slump off to the kitchen table.

Crystal turned to Yellow who was looking down at the floor, at a loss of what to do.

"Are you okay, Yellow?"

Yellow tried to nod to show Crystal she was okay. It was difficult. Oh, how she had longed to see Red again. Just when she thought her wish had finally come true... trust Blue to put a damper on things.

"Yellow...?"

"I'm fine, Crystal! No worries!" said Yellow, forcing a smile on her lips to show she was okay.

Avoiding Crystal's worried gaze, Yellow went over to the table around which dexholders were gathered. She seized a couple of chips on a plate that lay among all the foods her friends had brought for the occasion. As Yellow nibbled on it, she could hear a loud slurp as Gold stuffed some of the biggest rice-cakes she had seen into his mouth. Sapphire was almost in the same league as Gold, picking a chop on the plate with her bare hands and biting into it without the slightest of shame. Crystal, who had been looking at Yellow apprehensively, immediately turned around at her heels at the sound, and launched a tirade on Gold's poor table-manners in a way that radiated dignity. The same applied for Sapphire, on whom Ruby was animatedly throwing snide comments about her being a barbarically primitive cave-woman. Funnily enough, it was all done in a strangely embracing way.

Yellow smiled faintly. Whether it was in enjoyment or envy, she did not know. With Crystal and Gold, and Sapphire and Ruby, she had seen this kind of scene many times; they had someone who cared for them initimately, who acted with their best interests in heart. What about her? Did she have that special someone who watched over her, and cared for her? Could Red be that special someone?

Then suddenly her heart sank. The dexholders were all here, and they had pulled a trick on her by using Red as a decoy. So that meant Red could have been watching her all along; not as her special someone, but in a very wrong way. Yellow felt redness mount on her face as images of fake 'Red' and her hugging each other flashed through her mind, with Red himself watching over her in the corner. Her face burning red, Yellow slowly looked up almost guiltily, and ran her eyes thorougly around the room. Red was nowhere to be found. Yellow felt both relief and disappoint cross her mind. So Red had not come. Then where could he be?

"Umm…" Yellow stammered, her face flushed by the thought. "Where is Red?"

The dexholders, who had been busy talking with one another and enjoying the festive mood in the house, eyed one another with a surprised look.

"That's strange." Blue replied, with a thoughtful frown on her face. "I tried calling Red with my poke gear, but his always seemed to be off. So we thought you knew where Red was, I mean, with you guys being close and all. And we wanted to ask you about him."

"What!" Yellow exclaimed uneasily as she looked around at her fellow dexholders. "But that means..." Yellow took a deep breath as horrible thoughts she had had while coming back from Red's home flashed through her mind.

"Has anyone seen Red after Battle Frontier?" asked Yellow rather frantically.

Everyone shook their head no.

"Well, that is a little strange. I was sure he would remember to come by for your birthday party," Blue let out a nervous laugh, adding in a clear undertone. "I even texted him about it."

"Maybe he is keeping himself busy, battling with other trainers," continued Blue. "He isn't a battle maniac for nothing!"

"Wait, Yellow. What are you doing?"

"I am going to find Red!" Yellow shot back, as she shuffled over to her refrigerator that was stationed at the far end of the kitchen. It might as well be that Red had not yet formed feelings for her. But it did not mean that to be a special someone the feelings had to be mutual. She had to find Red; the long interval of no news, his friends who did not know his whereabouts, and his poke gear turned off for weeks, they could only mean Red had gotten himself in danger.

Blue had followed inside the kitchen behind her, her mouth half-opened as she watched Yellow push in canned foods and supplies into a small bag. As Yellow slung the bag over her back, she reached out her hand for her fishing rod that was propped sideways against the wall. Everyone in the room had stopped talking and eating. Their eyes were all on her, too astonished to speak.

"Look here, Yellow," said Blue, struggling for words. "I don't think this..."

"It has already been almost a month since I last saw him," Yellow cut in determinedly. "He must be in some kind of trouble."

"Hold on!" Crystal interjected with a hint of alarm. "This is ridiculous, Yellow. Red is the most powerful trainer in the world. He doesn't go down easily." She paused. "Blue is right. I am sure he is just busy training his Pokémons and battling other trainers."

But Yellow was already making her way towards the door.

"The last time we thought that, Red was at the bottom of Mountain Moon encased in ice!" Yellow snatched the straw hat that was hanging on the wall and pushed open the door. "I am going!"

"Stop."

Yellow stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned around. There was something about the voice that made her skin crawl.

Everyone's eyes were on Green, who was taking no notice of the attention and still had his eyes glued to the book.

"Save yourself the trouble. Red has gone to find Sird."

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