Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

Disclaimer 2: I realized AFTER I had posted the last chapter that I had committed one of the biggest mistakes in fan fiction and that was telling you what happened in the time gap. Oh well. It happens. Life moves on.

Chapter 9

Copper's POV

"Um, Copper? Your PokeGear is ringing."

I turned away from my cooking to find Red holding my ancient PokeGear up. Its screen was glowing vividly as it rang out with Planetary GO! by My Chemical Romance. I've been listening to them for a long time despite the fact that I am not an emo kid by any means. Quickly, I rushed over and answered it.

"Hey, booger."

"Can you stop calling me that?"

I laughed. AJ will always be booger to me. I spent a good chunk of my adventure with him, and he was like my younger brother. He calls me at least once a week to check up on me, and he and Lance send me Christmas and birthday cards every year. Speaking of birthdays, mine was a few days away. The big eighteen. I can legally smoke, vote and buy porn now. "I missed you too, kiddo. How are things up at the Den?"

"They're pretty great, actually," AJ croaked out. His voice cracked in the middle, showing that he is in his years of awkward puberty. Oh how much I never want to go through that again. "It's your birthday on the seventeenth, right?"

"You remembered!" I glowed, and the teapot started to whistle. I came over, took it off of the burner, and placed some teabags in it. Today, I decided to drink my favorite, Strawberry Paraiso. It was a light strawberry tea, but it had popcorn in it to give it a buttery texture. I know, it sounds weird, but it is really decadent.

"Well, duh, I remember," AJ chided, "I only send you a card every year. But since it IS your eighteenth birthday, Lance and I decided to invite you over for dinner. Don't worry, Clair's not cooking."

I laughed. "She can't be that bad, can she?"

"Ketchup on alfredo."

"Nevermind," I answered in a deadpan. Ouch. How did they survive every time Clair even attempted to cook. "Okay, I'll be over. Are we doing this on my birthday?"

"Yup, if that's okay with you. Do you still like pink poffins, by the way? We're making poffin cake for dessert and we need to alter the recipe depending on what your tastes are now."

"I love them," I smiled, knowing that he can't see me, "Is it ok if Red comes too?"

"Copper, he's like your dad. Of course he can! Oh, I gotta go, Lance is being all mom-ish to the younglings again!" He hung up the Pokegear connection really quickly…as if he wasn't actually helping the younglings.

"Hey, Red," I came back into the living room, where he and Pikachu were watching Doctor Who. Thankfully, it was David Tennant, and not Matt Smith. David was SO a better Doctor. "That was AJ. We're going to the Den on Thursday for my birthday. Do you want to come?"

Red smiled at me. "Sure," he said, "I kind of want to catch up with Lance again. He's probably got so many stories to tell, what with the kids training there. Of course, I handle you on a daily basis, so-"

"Red, you're such an ass," I punched him in the ribs as I plopped down next to him. Pikachu came over and laid straight across my lap, making it impossible to move away from the couch. Thankfully, it was the comfiest couch I had ever sat or lain on. I have fallen asleep here numerous times.

"So when are you gonna leave here? I don't want to lose my daughter anytime soon," he sighed as if he were an old man.

"Red, you know better," I came back, "No man has caught my eye in a long time. Besides, I'll probably never see him again." I have no idea what he looked like now either. For all I know, he could have a beard and act all zen and I wouldn't recognize him as the hotheaded youth I remember him as.

He's probably still a ginger though.

The thought made me smile.

"You never know what will come your way," Red said as he glanced towards Pikachu, "Pikachu, get up. The lady needs her beauty sleep!"

"I'm not your lady," I said, sticking my tongue out, "I'm thinking about telling Misty about your-"

"Blahblahblah I can't hear you!" Red interrupted as he put his fingers in his ears and pretended not to hear me, "Go to bed, kid!"

"Fine," I planted a kiss on his cheek, "Night, Red. Night, Pikachu."

….later on…..

Lance's POV

It was 2:07 AM. I know because my PokeGear tells the time, and it screamed at me at this bastard hour. I grumbled and looked to see who it was before I hit the ignore button.

It was Red.

Oh boy.

"Herro?" I mumbled into the phone as soon as I hit the answer button.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO MY DAUGHTER, YOU CRUDE BASTARD?"

Oh. That. Ugh, it was way too early in the morning to deal with Red and his paternal antics. "I simply wanted to reunite the two. That was all."

"That's ALL? That's a lot! He's going to take her innocence away! How am I going to explain that to her mother? How would I live with myself?"

"Red, chill. I taught him everything he needs to know about women. I told him that sex won't get him what he wants out of a girl, and as far as I know, the boy's still a virgin. He told me that he only got kissed twice, and by the same girl," I schmoozed as I sat upright.

"Lance, I'm just worried that he'll think with his dick and not with his brain," Red pleaded.

"I think we've all been there, Red. Frankly, I'm more worried about AJ than Silver. AJ's having puberty issues that don't need to be discussed. Raging teenage hormones. Oy."

"Can you keep an eye on those two?"

"Swear on my Gyarados," I said, "Now can I go back to bed? If Cynthia wakes up, I'll get crazy fiancée syndrome attacked."

"Yeah, go to sleep," Red muttered, "Goodnight."

"Night." I hung up the PokeGear and placed it next to the statue of Dialga on my night stand. Cynthia had bought that for me when she was in Sinnoh about seven years ago. We've been together for over ten years, and are now finally engaged.

Arceus, the wedding's only a month away.

Never thought that day would come.

I looked over. Sleeping soundly next to me was my world. She curled up in a little ball when she slept, and it was just so adorable that I hope I don't have to wake her in the morning.

I curled up next to her. "Goodnight," I murmured as I conked out once more.

END

Whew BIG CHAPTER! By the way, Red isn't Copper's dad, because they're two years apart in age. He's twenty at this point. He's just very protective of Copper.