Note: S-EARL's Age Relations (Edition III) is confirmed to be inaccurate. However, S-EARL will continue using it due to their progress. SY and onwards will use the 4-Generations-accurate Edition IV.

This chapter is a moment taken from SA. Reading SA #028: Final Run is helpful, but not entirely necessary. Though I did say that this chapter will be postponed until SA progresses far enough, I changed my mind. Having SE updated once every 4 months is not going to help me achieve my goal of ending this thing before its third anniversary. So screw accidental SA spoilers! … I've filtered the chapter to have as little spoiling moments as possible. There still are some, but not THAT much.

Primary: Green & Blue.

After Image:

Green sat on a chair in his grandfather's lab, staring through the window. The calm Pallet Town weather was a distinct contrast to his mind, which had been thrown into chaos since… her death. No matter how many times he thought it over, he could not believe that Blue was dead. And no matter how many times everyone else told him otherwise, he knew that her death was his fault.

The fight he had with her the night before her death was his fault too. If he wasn't so damn focused on a stupid research project, he would've paid more attention to Blue and her feelings. He could've convinced her that he cared about her. He could've comforted her enough so that she wouldn't have launched an assault on the enemy's main HQ all by herself in order to prove her worth to him. Green let out a long sigh. Thinking about this was killing him. He had to stop. Someone had to try to comfort him. Green slowly walked into the main room where the other Dex Holders were gathered. Perhaps some of them would comfort him… But no one could.

White had tried to do so, but didn't accomplish much. But she was the only other person who heard Blue's last message. She could tell that Blue's last thoughts were bothering him, so she focused on properly delivering that message. But unfortunately, White was killed later that day, stopping her efforts short.

Green could feel that White had could have come close to achieving her goal. One of Blue's last thoughts was that she felt that he didn't appreciate her enough. That he didn't love her, which wasn't true. White almost convinced him that Blue actually meant it in longing, that she wished him to be closer to her than before. After White died, Green kept thinking. The more he thought, more he felt that he really hadn't appreciated Blue enough.

He never complimented her. He never thanked her properly. And worst of all, he never told her that he loved her. Because of his image as the calm and stoic Gym Leader, he had to keep some distance and make her come to him instead. But because of that same image, he couldn't allow himself to accept her. Instead, he always called her annoying. Pesky. He told her to go away so many times, he lost count. He could tell that she was hurt whenever he said that to her. She didn't show it. She never showed it. But she was hurt. She kept her smile and tried to brush it off like a joke, but she never succeeded. The fact that she actually left shortly after he told her to go away made it clear that his empty words weren't so empty to her. And he realized it too late.

After White's unfortunate death, Crystal tried to take her place. But Green knew that Crystal needed someone to comfort her as well. She took Gold's death quite hard, just as the Gym Leader took Blue's death hard.

Green could see it in Crystal when she talked to him. Her attempts at a comforting smile were hollow and instead, quite lonely. Every time she tried to comfort him, she ended up crying at the thought of Gold's last message and Green was the one who comforted her. Gold sacrificed himself as atonement for what he had unwillingly done to Crystal. But what did Blue die for? She destroyed the enemy's main HQ, but was killed while trying to escape. She didn't die instantly like Gold. She bled to death. So where was he when she was dying? He was at home, researching on something stupid for a Dex Holder that didn't need it. Only if that Dex Holder didn't recklessly charge into Violet City, forcing him to rush in preparing and providing the incomplete prototype…

No, he couldn't blame Platinum for Blue's death. The heiress didn't ask him to further research on the shielding system. It was his choice because he felt that completing the project would ensure the safety of the Dex Holders while they fought off evil. Three Dex Holders died. The project clearly wasn't completed in time.

Green kept his distance from the remaining Dex Holders, wishing that he wasn't so acutely aware of the ongoing relationships/attempts. Yellow still had her crush on Red. Everyone could see that, except Red for some reason. It was obvious that Crystal loved Gold and vice versa, but now that he died, she simply stared ahead blankly, having lost the will to even smile. Red had apparently talked to her, but not a whole lot changed. Ruby hadn't left the hospital since Sapphire's second set of operations. The girl survived again, somehow, and Ruby was there to ensure that nothing bad happened to her. Diamond still looked for his opportunity to tell Platinum that he loved her. The girl remained oblivious as a rock. Perhaps that was why she got along so well with Red… Black seems to have lost the will to do anything, just like Crystal. His situation may have been worse than hers, since White actually died in his arms. Either way, things were quite messy.

But personal and private issues should come after the public ones. The crisis wasn't over yet. In fact, it was getting worse. But the public mission priorities were what got Blue killed in the first place. If Green had put Blue in the top of his priorities just once, none of this could've happened. If Blue had survived, she could've either convinced Gold or devise some way to save him from himself. And she could've even saved White from getting killed as well.

The final showdown was approaching, and Green didn't know how many Dex Holders would survive. Though Green shared the role of the leader with Red, since the Kanto champion didn't seem to like the responsibility (he claimed that he had enough leadership/role-model issues with his team as is), the Gym Leader was acting as the absolute leader of the Dex Holders. And as such, he had a responsibility to ensure that the surviving Dex Holder relationships didn't end up like his with Blue. He had to do something. Crystal was going to hate him for this, but he had no choice. He couldn't let more of his juniors suffer the same issues as he was. The hell with mission priorities.

"The final battle is coming," he said to the gathered Dex Holders. All of the remaining Dex Holders were there, including Sapphire for unknown reasons. She should not even be sitting upright let alone stand on her own, but she was still fighting her injuries so she may actually fight the enemy. Crystal was like that too. She fought hard, staying out of the wheelchair as much as she could. Before Gold died, anyways. Now she lost the will to fight, and simply sat on her wheelchair, staring out the window. Green cast a glance at her before continuing. "I honestly don't know what will happen. We already lost too many friends. But it would be foolish of me to assume that nothing will happen to us. So I want all of you to spend today with your loved ones. Tie up every loose end, so to speak, and report back here tomorrow before 10 am."

Black didn't seem to hear. He wasn't paying attention. He never paid attention anymore. Not that he was particularly attentive to start with, but after White's death, it got worse. But Crystal turned to stare at her senior in disbelief. She looked as if he struck her across her face with her crutch. Green looked into her eyes and hoped that she would understand his reasons. He was not rubbing anything into anyone's faces. And he did not intend to remind her that Gold had left her all alone.

Crystal clenched her teeth as she practically glared at her senior. She tried to force herself to calm down and understand Green's intentions, but found it very hard. Instead, she simply got Emerald to push her wheelchair out of the lab.

Green sincerely hoped that Crystal would calm down and understand him, but it appeared that Gold's death had destroyed a part of her rational self. It was going to take her significantly longer than normal to calm down.

Green decided to let Emerald take care of Crystal for the time being. The Gym Leader turned his attention to Black. The boy was missing his rational self to begin with (or rather, buried under his endless supply of thoughts relating to his dreams), so he wasn't going to be any harder to talk with than before. However, White's death seemed to have destroyed him entirely. His mind didn't seem to be filled with dreams anymore. His Munna stayed away from him, occasionally eyeing the sky, as if it wanted to go somewhere else. Black's other Pokémon kept their eyes on it at all times, just in case. If Green had to guess, Black's mind was probably filled with his limited memories of White. If Blue had died in his arms, if she took her last breath while she was in his embrace, then Green assumed that his mind would be filled with his memories of Blue as well. It probably wasn't easy for Black to focus on anything after the girl he loved died in his arms. The Unova Dex Holder did focus at his tasks in order to exact revenge, but once that was over…

Green sighed and walked away from the other Dex Holders and headed back to his room. It relieved him to know that no one would follow him. He wanted to be left alone, even though he knew that he shouldn't. The others seemed to understand. Red and Yellow seemed to be trying to comfort Black and get him back to normal. Silver and Emerald were with Crystal. Silver's world was in pieces after Blue's death, and so was Crystal's after Gold's. The two remaining Johto Dex Holders would calm and help each other. And they would probably force each other to focus at the task at hand, namely dealing with the new threat. If they failed in their task, then Blue, Gold, and White would have died for absolutely no reason.

Having retreated to the safety of utter isolation, Green shut the door behind him and sat at his chair once again. He reached into his pocket and took out the sound recorder that Blue used to record her final message. With the device in hand, Green let out a long sigh before he played the recorded message once again.

… Blue resented him. She was begging for him to come and save her. But he didn't get to her in time. No matter how many times he listened to the recorded message, his final thoughts were the same. Blue died resenting him when he could've saved her. She died thinking that he didn't care for her. Only if she knew the truth… Only if he got to her 10 minutes earlier…

For several hours straight, Green remained sitting on his seat, listening to Blue's recorded message again and again. This was the only way he could hear her voice again. Even though the thought of her death was going to torment him forever. He wanted to see her again. He would give anything to talk to her one last time. But there was nothing he could do.

Green snapped out of his thoughts when someone knocked on his door. He set the sound recorder on his desk and opened the door. To his surprise, he saw Crystal seated on her wheelchair, staring blankly at him. Green held her gaze for a few seconds before he stepped away from the doorway. Emerald gently pushed the wheelchair into the room and parked it in front of Green's desk. As Green sat down on his chair, Crystal gave a hand signal to Emerald, telling him to leave. The Hoenn Dex Holder complied and silently closed the door on his way out.

"Sorry, Crystal," Green said quietly once he was completely alone with the girl. "But I couldn't let the others fall into the same situation as I am."

"… I know," Crystal replied equally quietly. "I… thought about what you said, and my reaction to it. I'm sorry. I know you didn't have any ill intentions. And I understand why you said it. But that's why I'm here right now. No one should be in the same state as you, including you."

Green silently stared at his junior for several seconds. He could see that the girl's eyes were slightly red, presumably from crying. He assumed that his eyes would be a little red as well. But either Crystal didn't care about that, or his eyes showed no difference than usual. Green contemplated whether he should just ask the girl to leave. Even though he welcomed Crystal's company, he didn't want to have to comfort her again. Every time she tried to talk to him about Blue's death, she ended up crying, and right now, Green wasn't in the mood to calm her down. But the girl seemed determined.

"You won't accomplish anything," Green said at last. "You're trying to do what White tried before her death. And you've already tried it many times afterwards."

"I know. But this time, I'm trying something different." With a slight sigh, Crystal reached into her bag and took out a folded piece of paper. She kept her eyes on it for a few seconds before she reluctantly gave it to Green. "This is… his letter to me," she said slowly and quietly. "He… left this by my bedside before… he…" Again, Green could see tears welling in Crystal's eyes. But unlike all the other times, the girl bit her lower lip and forced the tears away. "Maybe if you read it, you'll understand what I'm going through. And similarly, if I hear what Blue's message was, I'll be able to help you better. For everyone's sake, I need to pick up where White left off."

Green thought for a while before he quietly unfolded Gold's last letter. The details didn't offer any new insight on Gold's sacrifice, as he had already told him when he volunteered to take his place in the battle of Route 1. But Gold seemed to have picked words that would affect Crystal the most in his letter.

Once he finished reading, he folded the letter again and gave it back to Crystal. The girl took it and stared at it for a short while before putting it away. She then looked at Green expectantly. Green avoided eye contact and stared at the sound recorder on his desk. Having made up his mind, he played Blue's last message from the beginning.

Crystal silently listened to all of Blue's last message. Green noticed that the Johto Dex Holder showed far less emotions than White did when the Unova Dex Holder heard it. Probably because Crystal was currently suffering from a loss already.

The two Dex Holders remained silent for a few minutes once Blue's message ended. Crystal simply stared at the sound recorder, lost in deep thought. Perhaps she was comparing Blue's death with Gold's and trying to see whose death had a bigger impact. She suddenly shook her head a little.

"I see…" she muttered. She blinked a few times and looked at Green. "I see why you'd think Blue died while hating you. And I can also see that your situation is not any better than mine. Yet the way I've been reacting… it's shameful."

"Not really," Green said. "It's understandable. But what do you think? White tried to tell me that Blue said all these things in longing."

Crystal nodded. "She did. She never hated you. Always remember that. She loved you. Just like how you loved her. She never said it for the same reason you never did. Though I do admit that she could've been a lot clearer with her message. But she was in distress. You have to understand."

Green glanced at the sound recorder. 'Blue was angry at me from our fight the night before her death. She recorded some of her automated messages at that time. When someone's angry, they say whatever comes to mind. And these thoughts aren't bound by any social or rational bounds. These thoughts are the true thoughts of the person. What Blue said… she was completely honest.' He looked at Crystal, who was waiting for his response. 'Crystal, you don't know that I had a fight with her before her death. And you don't know our history as well as I do. My thoughts and my feelings about this matter… You can't judge me on those, just like how I can't judge you on how you're feeling about Gold's sacrifice.'

"Green, you can't dwell on her message for too long," Crystal said once she realized that Green wasn't going to respond. "Your juniors need you to stay calm and collected to get us through the final battle. Me included. So please, rise about this tragedy. I know I will… Some of our juniors look up to me and I won't let them down. Don't let us all down."

Green faked a smile and nodded. "Thanks, Crystal. For talking to me. Now go and comfort our juniors. Make sure they don't end up like us. And let them know that I will get over this soon."

Once Emerald returned and led Crystal away, Green stood in front of the windows and stared at the clear, cloudless, blue sky. Blue always wanted the best for him. But did he always want what was best for her? She had decided that it was best for him if she didn't tell him what exactly she was feeling. Did he wish the same thing for her?

Every time she came to him, he ignored her. He hurt her feelings unconsciously. He really never treated her the way she deserved.

Green let out a long sigh. Perhaps… just perhaps, the best thing for Blue would be if she had never met him at all. She deserved someone much better. He shouldn't have met her. But this was pointless now.

"Sorry, Blue," Green said while still looking at the cloudless sky. "I know you can hear me. Just know that I really do love you. And I do want the best for you, even if it means I suffer. I know I never showed my appreciation for you. I'm sorry. But at least I won't make the same mistake again." He let out another long sigh. "I really miss you. Maybe… maybe I'll see you soon…"

Honestly, this chapter's details should have been foreseen. It's based on SA, and it's still a part of Green & Blue. With Blue dead in SA, what moment could possibly be there?

Admittedly, this chapter was all over the place. Just like the only other tragedy chapter in SE, SE #004. Perhaps that's not just a coincidence. Oh well. No more tragedies, ever, in the rest of SE. Yay. It's not like there's any space left for that anyways.

Next up: the final part of the Green & Blue burst. Hopefully, this burst doesn't take a whole damn year to complete. 4 months between the end of the second Gold & Crystal burst and the start of the Green & Blue one, another 4 months between that start chapter and this chapter. If there's another 4 months between this chapter and the next, that's a whole damn year. Not acceptable! Blame SA/SR/SL/SY. Yes, SY exists. (Advertisement).