Trapped in the Darkness – Chapter 8
A Pokemon Fanfiction
No author's note this time.
Just enjoy!
Pearl: The author owns nothing!
~000~
Green coughed as he tried to sit up, his muscles refusing to work as dizziness overtook him and he stilled himself. He shut his eyes to try to blot out some of the pain, but opened them again as he felt Red freeze beside him. He smirked, glancing up at the trainer accusingly.
"I'm not going out this easily," he murmured softly, wincing at a spark of pain that bit at him. He took in a shaky breath and closed his eyes again to try to fall asleep.
"What happened?" Crystal asked. Green grimaced, as it hurt to try to move his head to face her.
"Venonat venom," he mumbled. As Red took a fistful of his jacket tightly beside him, he quickly decided to add, "Not lethal, I'll be fine in a few hours."
Ruby frowned, looking up from the still sleeping Sapphire. "That particular type of venom is still extremely painful."
Green arched his back as a flash of pain he didn't expect ran through him abruptly. As he fell back against the ground he groaned. "Tell me about it," he hissed.
Diamond made his way over to the Viridian leader before taking a seat beside him. "Where'd it bite you? I don't have anything to put on it, but..."
Green tried to lift his arm he couldn't feel anymore, not reacting as Diamond started pulling back his coat sleeve, sliding it up his arm. The Sinnoh boy didn't flinch as he took a look at the swollen lump of skin and muscle. It was a sickening shade of violet red, and Green and a few others cringed as they looked at it.
"Eww," Green stated simply. Feeling his stomach lurch, he looked away. "That's nasty."
Diamond shrugged, shifting in his seat so his was sitting Indian-style. "Well, it needs to breathe. The oxygen will be good for it. Plus, it's not the worst thing I've ever seen. The swelling and color change will go away in about an hour."
Gold seemed to suddenly become genuinely interested in Diamond. "What was the worst thing you've ever seen?" Diamond scrunched up his nose.
"Frostbite case. Seemed some skier got caught in a blizzard," he said, shuddering. Platinum and Pearl both nodded like they understood, but Ruby looked completely lost.
"Frostbite? Snow?" he asked. The Sinnoh and Unova trainers looked at him strangely.
"Yeah," Platinum said. She started fiddling with the fringe at the one end of her scarf, looking down. "All Snowpoint City gets is snow."
"And Irricus and a few other cities get snow during Winter in Unova," Black added. He looked confused. "Doesn't Hoenn get snow?" Ruby shook his head slowly.
"Nope. We have thunderstorms though. It so hot there all year, we even have really bad sandstorms in the desert during the summertime. We need goggles to get through them,"he said.
Gold pouted, crossing his arms. "Well, we don't get snow either. The closest thing to snow we get is going to Icy Cave, and that gets boring after a while." Crystal blinked, turning to Gold.
"Wait, what? It gets boring after a while? Does that mean you go there a lot?"
Gold looked disinterested but nodded, drawing a smiley-face on the floor in the grime with his finger. "Yeah. When it get's hot enough, at least. I don't want to waltz into someone's air conditioned house or the Mahogany Town gym. That's pretty awkward."
"Really? You actually go to-"
"Shut up, Crystal!"
Crystal laughed, and Gold rolled his eyes, flipping his bangs out of his face. They ended up falling back into their original place and he sighed.
Red looked down at his friend to discover he had fallen asleep during the conversation about snow. He was still twitching ever few seconds or so because of his poisoning, but the swelling already seemed like it was going down. Red sighed, but took off his hat and ran a hand through his raven hair.
"If you guys are going to sleep..." he began quietly, but he trailed off, not sure how to say what he was thinking. He glanced over at the others, noticing they were all looking at him, attentive. Blinking, he shut his mouth and didn't speak.
"Yeah? What is it, Red?" Gold asked, titling his head to the side. Red looked at Green for help but remembered he was asleep. He put his hat back on, pulling it low on his face.
"If you guys are going to sleep, I suggest you move to the back of the cell," he finally murmured, pointing to the back of the cell. Gold blinked, but nodded.
"That's actually a good idea," N said. He stood up, grabbing Black by the hand. "Come on, let's go. We all need sleep too."
The rest of the trainers murmured words of agreement. They stood, making their ways back. Gold looked conflicted as he glanced at Silver's sleeping form.
"What's wrong?" Crystal asked him. Gold bit his lip.
"Should I leave him there?"
Crystal rolled her eyes, a light smile tugging at her lips. "No. I can get him if you don't want to, though." Gold shook him head.
"No, no. I can do it..." he said, trailing off. He approached the red-head cautiously, like he was afraid he was going to wake him up, before he picked him up gently and took him to the back. Crystal laughed into her hand at her friend's sudden shyness.
"What about you, Red?" She asked finally, noticing the trainer had taken his hat off and was using it as a pillow, lying down next to his rival. When she received no response, a sign that either the boy had fallen asleep or was ignoring her, she turned to the others, noticing Gold, Pearl, and Ruby had fallen asleep instantly. She laid down next to Gold and Silver and drifted off as well.
~000~
Harsh banging made Red wake with a start. Shooting up from where he was lying, he noticed Proton standing with a metal pole, slamming it against the bars of the cell.
"Good morning, ladies and gents!" he sang, throwing the pole behind him so it landed on the floor, abandoned.
Red rubbed his eyes. He was used to waking up early, but not this early. He groaned. Glancing over at Green, he noticed the gym leader's bite wound was completely healed, two small scars remaining. It was almost inhuman how fast it healed!
Proton picked up on this. "Yeah, yeah. Your precious Green managed to live through the unbearable pain of a Venonat bite. They heal extremely fast, you know."
Red did not know that. He held back a harsh comment about him not being the Pokemon professor's grandson and instead grit his teeth. Proton smiled.
"Gold? Are you there? It's your turn!"
Gold, who was rubbing his head, turned to face the Rocket executive. He wore an annoyed expression. "Why the fuck do you think I'd come over there?"
The Rocket smile didn't falter. "Because I can make any of your nightmares a reality."
This seemed to panic Gold for a moment, but he didn't budge. Proton seemed to fake pout.
"But that's such a pretty face you have there, Gold. It'd be a shame if you lost it."
Gold looked scared now, but he tried unsuccessfully to mask it as he stayed where he was.
"Or... the beautiful faces of all your loved-"
"Proton!"
The voice was hoarse from disuse, but it maintained a level of sharpness. Proton grinned. "Yes, my dear puppet?"
Green made a disgusted face as he staggered to his feet, stumbling a bit getting up.
"Hmm. You still haven't broken yet."
"Fuck you!"
Proton sighed, rolling his eyes. "What else is new? Anyway, what am I supposed to say to Giovanni when Gold doesn't show up?"
Green stepped forward, tripping slightly over his own two feet but he caught himself almost immediately. "Tell him this!" he said, grasping the cell bars. "Tell him that all you won't touch any of them as long as I live and breathe!"
Proton grinned. "Well then, you'll have to come with me to tell him, Green darling."
Green nodded, wincing as his headache pulsed, and fell into blackness after a short spark.
~000~
The next few days, Green would return to the cell in a different state of distress. He had come back with burn scars, electric shocks, and slices from, what looked like and what the others guessed as, blades of grass.
Red grit his teeth as Green left yet again, walking up the steps with his hands behind his back. He sent a grin back in Red's direction before he left completely, the door shutting behind him. Red frowned, pulling the brim of his hat down lower over his eyes.
"Goodbye again," he murmured almost silently. He pressed his back against the wall and slid slowly down until he reached the floor. He pulled his legs against his chest, wrapping his arms around them as he rested his head on top of his knees.
Another day of not knowing whether or not Green will walk down those steps with a smile on his face, almost as if he was saying, "It's okay, I'm alright."
Red took a look around the room, trying to stay out of the sunlight filtering in through the barred window. Black and N were sitting against the wall, White in front of them, and they were all talking quietly among themselves separately. Sapphire, who had woken up shortly after Green left the first day, was talking animatedly to Platinum. The Sinnoh champion looked a little overwhelmed by the Hoenn Champion's energy, but she was keeping up with her. (Red seemed to think this because Platinum was friends with Pearl.) Ruby was talking with Diamond and Pearl about Professors and such, and Gold, Silver, and Crystal were arguing.
Red was left alone. Again.
Red's thoughts began drifting as he sat alone. What would happen if they didn't want to play with Green anymore? What is Green didn't come back this time?
Red shook his head to try and dismiss the thought, as his heart felt like it was being squeezed when it invaded his mind and he wasn't sure why. He hugged his legs tighter against his chest and buried his face into his knees. He countered those thoughts with some of his own.
Green would come back. He always did. He always marched back down into those stairs- okay, maybe he didn't march. It was more like he was dragged down them and thrown back inside everyday, but Red didn't want to word it that way. So Green marched.
He would march down those stairs and get back inside the cell, as quick to return anything Proton or Shelly or Tabitha or Mars threw at him with more gusto.
Red thinking about Green being deceased was giving him chills similar to the ones he got in Lavender Town whenever he heard the town's anthem on the radio. It seemed... impossible for the auburn haired boy to literately be gone.
Red couldn't help but remember when they were still kids and they would play Hide and Seek. Green was just too damn good at that game. Red could spend hours looking for him, but he would never pop out from wherever he was hiding. Red, who got bored pretty easily, would just go home then. After another ten minutes, Green would come speeding in the door, demanding why the raven had given up so easily.
So Red couldn't help but think this thing about Green leaving was just another game of Hide and Seek. If Red didn't look for him, Green would come back and tease him about not trying hard enough to look for him.
And considering Red wasn't going anywhere for a while, this was a good plan.
"What's a Pidgeot doing here?"
Red snapped out of his thoughts and looked up from where he was sitting to see the large bird Pokemon tugging at the bars on the window, crying out in exertion. Red recognized it immediately.
He got up and crossed the cell, reaching up as far as he could to try and caress the agile creature outside of the barred . The Pidgeot took a second to try and recognize the trainer who was trying to touch him, and once he did bent down so Red could reach better.
"Green's Pidgeot?" Red murmured under his breath. "How the hell..."
The sound of alarms going off startled the trainers in the cell, and Red understood what they meant after glancing again at the escapee bird Pokemon.
"Go home," he whispered urgently. "Green wants you to go home."
The Pokemon ruffled its feathers, not excited with this plan. Red bit his lip, looking down and thinking about how to get this Pidgeot out of here. When the idea came to him, he glanced back up.
"He's safe with me. I promise. I won't let him die," he said firmly. "Please, go home to Pallet Town and Daisy."
The bird Pokemon was still for a minute before it understood and leaped up, flying away from the cell window quickly. Red sighed in relief, smiling.
So the Pokemon weren't to happy about their entrapment either? These grunts better look out, because they might not understand that Pokemon have teeth and claws.
"That was Green's?" Ruby asked.
Red didn't have time to answer because the door to the cell opened up and Green was being dragged to walk down the steps again.
Today's method of torture? Green was soaked to the bone.
Red narrowed his eyes.
When he was safely back inside the cell and the grunts were gone he turned around, a confused look on his face.
"Alright, what happened? They suddenly stopped doing stuff and threw me back here. But not before alarms started going off. What did I miss?" he asked.
"You're Pidgeot is a lot smarter than the grunts," Silver said simply, crossing his arms. Green still looked confused. "He escaped and came down here to look for you."
"I told him to go home, Green," Red said quietly.
Green blinked, a grin replacing his earlier look of confusion.
"Really?" he asked. He pumped his fist. "I told them my Pokemon were smarted than them! And damn them, they thought I was bluffing!" He stopped to cough into his elbow and he wrapped his arms around himself. "Now is it just me, or is it freezing in here?"
"You're completely soaked," Sapphire said bluntly. "Of course you're gonna be cold."
"And it actually feels pretty average in here," Pearl added.
Green shivered and sat down. "Man, I feel old like Gramps! He's always cold now!" he complained. When Red snickered into the back of his hand, Green turned to face him. "Shut up, Red!" He coughed again into his elbow, this time more violently. He caught the concerned looks of a few of the trainers and scowled. "I'm alright. It's really dusty in here."
Red narrowed his eyes again.
Oh, so he was going to play this game again, was he? Well, Red was going to keep an eye on him, just to see if it was actually dust.
If it wasn't, Red wasn't so sure he would be able to keep his promise to his friend's Pidgeot, because he would kill the gym leader himself.
~000~
Oh Green. Why can't you see that Red can see through your lies? Red is a very sensitive guy deep down, you can't fool him you dork. Sigh.
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