Note: Sorry this is late; had wisdom teeth surgery last week and it kinda mucked up the update. ^^; But we're back now, so let's get to it.

Follow Me

A Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver Story

Chapter Thirty

Substitute

"So, what are you making for dinner tonight, Soul?" Red asked as the two trekked down the road on Route 28, he and Chocobo carrying Soul's shopping bags from their late-afternoon trip into Viridian City.

"I was thinking about making that stew again," Soul said with a smile, handing a cookie from her bag to Red's Pikachu, who was perched in his usual spot on his trainer's shoulder.

Red shifted the bags to carry them behind his head instead; his Pikachu, thrown from his shoulder, leapt to Soul's instead, where he settled to enjoy his snack, grumbling a bit at his master. "I was hoping that's what you were buying ingredients for," Red said with a grin. "Can't wait for tonight, then."

"Well, since the Center will be closed starting tomorrow for Christmas Eve, I thought I should make it again," Soul said, smiling.

"Oh yeah, that's right..." Red said, looking up in thought. "I'd almost forgotten, since most Center's don't usually close on holidays."

"Nn, yeah," Soul said, nodding. "But since this Center is small and doesn't get a lot of traffic, it's fine for them to close for two days."

"Yeah, I guess that's true."

Soul looked up at the evening sky. Christmas Eve...It was hard to believe it was that time already. The days since she'd met up with Red had passed so peacefully; she'd spent most of that time with him, training Chocobo and just enjoying his company. Red seemed to like to have someone to talk to, since he was usually by himself, and Soul would be lying if she said she didn't like talking to him, too. But...anytime she felt herself drawing closer to him with her heart, she felt a deep stab of pain, and Silver's face swam into her subconscious. She liked Red, but she just couldn't allow herself to feel anything more toward him, which frustrated her, to be frank. Why should she still care about a man who had abandoned her? And yet she couldn't erase him from her mind, no matter how much she tried. It bothered her. She was truly starting to wonder if she'd been pining after Silver for so long that he'd damaged her emotionally, and that the prospect of a "normal" relationship with a straight-forward guy like Red was just too "simple" for her heart that was so used to things being far more complicated than they needed to be.

A PokéGear ringtone roused her from her thoughts; it was Red's, and he fumbled in his jacket pocket for the device. Red glanced at the caller ID and sighed. "Ah crap..." Raising the phone to his ear, he answered it with a bored expression on his face. "What do you want?"

"Don't you smart off to me right off the bat, you jack-ass!" the woman's voice shouted from the receiver. The voice was oddly familiar to Soul.

"Jeez, you don't have to yell..." Red muttered, digging in his ear.

"Where the hell are you?" the female voice demanded.

"The same place I always am. Where are you?"

"You know damn well where I am! I'm where you're supposed to be, in Pallet Town!"

"Is...Is that Leaf?" Soul asked, pointing at the phone.

"Oh, you met my noisy cousin, Soul?" Red asked, surprised. "Here, I'll put her on speaker then..." He hit a button on the PokéGear, and Leaf's voice magnified in volume, not that it had been very difficult to hear her prior.

"Wait, Soul? Soul is with you?" Leaf asked, her voice aghast.

"Hey, Leaf, good to hear from you again," Soul said with a smile, waving; she wondered immediately after why she'd done so, since it wasn't like Leaf could see her waving.

"Soooooouuuuulllll! Why are you skulking around Mt. Silver with that jack-ass? I thought you said you were staying in New Bark Town!"

"Yeah, love you too, bitch," Red muttered under his breath.

"Well, yeah, when I talked to you last, I was staying with my mom, but that was a few weeks ago..." Soul explained. "I left there after a few days."

Leaf moaned on the other end of the line. "Dammit, now my directions were all wrong..." she muttered, more to herself than to either of them.

"Hm? Directions? What are you talking about, Leaf?"

"Er...Never mind that, Soul. I'm sure it'll work itself out. Now, Red," her voice became more bossy and assertive, "get your ass home to Pallet Town, pronto!"

"I don't want to if you're going to be there..." Red mumbled, shooting a grin at Soul, who smiled only slightly. "Besides, can you and Green afford to be slacking off like this, anyway? You're supposed to be the Tower Tycoon, and Green's a Gym Leader, and yet you're both abandoning your positions at the drop of a hat. The two of you will never beat me if you take off every little holiday."

There was a loud clattering noise accompanied by Leaf screaming profanities and the sound of banging on a hard surface. They heard Green faintly cry out in the background, "Leaf, it's not like he can feel it if you beat up the phone!"

Red laughed loudly. "It's so easy to get her riled up," he said to Soul, snickering. "She's such a hothead."

"Still, you shouldn't tease her so much," Soul said with a weak smile. "She'll grow to hate you if you keep that up."

"Oh, it'll be fine," Red said with a dismissive wave. "It's how she and I keep our rivalry going."

"Soul!" Leaf's voice boomed from the device. "Are you listening to me, Soul?"

"Y...Yes..."

"Don't you dare use this asshole as a rebound, you got me? He's not worth it, so don't even think about it!" Soul could hear the accusational finger pointing in Leaf's voice.

"Rebound?" Red asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's nothing," Soul said, her face flushing. "Ah, look, here's the Center..." She was right; the Pokémon Center at the base of Mt. Silver was only a few yards ahead.

"Right...well, I'll let you go for now, Leaf. Tell my mom I'll be there tomorrow," Red said.

"Hey, Red, wait a minu—" Red hung up the phone, and Leaf was disconnected.

The two took the remaining steps toward the Center in awkward silence, Soul fidgeting with the strap of her bag.

"...So...I'm a rebound?"

Soul blushed a deep scarlet and faltered. "N-No! It's not like that at all! Besides," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear out of nervous habit, "you and I are just friends, anyway, right? I mean, I'm so much younger than you and all..."

"Right..." Red said, staring off into the distance. He turned to her and held out the bag. "Well, Pikachu and I are going to go do some training for now. You're going to start on dinner, right?"

"Mm-hmm," Soul nodded, taking the bag from him. "It'll be ready in an hour or two."

"Sounds good," Red said with a grin. "Come on, Pikachu."

Red's Pikachu clung to Soul's hat for a moment in protest, but after a stern glare from his master, he begrudgingly leapt from her shoulder and followed after him into the tall grass.

Soul watched him walk away, lost in thought. Rebound...Maybe...Maybe that was why she couldn't bring herself to have feelings for Red. She liked him, and she could probably love him, if the timing were right. She knew, however, that if she allowed herself to do so, a part of her would always wonder about how it would have been to have a relationship with Silver. And also...she just couldn't shake the feeling that her attraction to Red stemmed only from her recently-broken heart, and she was just, as Leaf warned, using Red as a substitute for how she wished Silver would treat her. She hated it. She hated that her weak heart was so fickle. She felt the familiar pain in her chest swell, and she stiffled her thoughts.

Shouldering her shopping bag, she turned to Chocobo. "Come on, Chocobo; let's get in out of this cold and get started on dinner."

Soul added the last of the chopped vegetables from her cutting board to the pot filled with bubbling liquid and turned down the heat. "And now we let it simmer!" she said with a smile to Chocobo, who crowed happily in response. Soul rather liked cooking; it was something she could focus her whole self on and forget about all her troubles and worries. No fretting about Silver and her unshakable attraction to him, no pondering about her growing feelings for Red, just complete immersion in her recipe and in the process of preparing the ingredients. It was very therapeutic, and it put her in a good mood. She strolled to the kitchen exit and back toward the main lobby, humming to herself as Chocobo followed behind her. Perhaps she'd go help the nurse decorate the front desk so it would look more festive. Yes, that sounded like a good idea. As she approached the main lobby, however, she heard a different voice. A visitor, all the way out in the middle of nowhere?

"...Sorry, but I'm looking for someone; I was told she's been here. She's about this tall, usually wears a white hat with a red bow, and carries around a Torchic."

Soul rounded the corner and froze, Chocobo bumping into her back.

The young boy at the counter continued his explanation to the nurse. "She has brown hair, usually in pigtails, and her name is—" The red-headed boy saw movement in his peripheral and turned. The two stared at one another for what seemed an eternity, and then Silver swallowed. "Soul..."

Selected quote from the next chapter:

"She couldn't forget all the pain he caused her so easily...could she?"