Disclaimer: Olih: I never finished it, either, but I Googled it : )

Question: What was your first starter pokemon?

My Answer: Charmander, from the FireRed game I rented from BlockBuster.

Characters: Leaf X Red, as requested.

Summary: What if Leaf was your in-game mom?

Inevitable

And it was inevitable, you know, the way this all ended up.

But between the splashes of greenbluered of the television, you can't help but wonder where Red is now: whether his skin smells like snow, or feels like sunburned sand, or tastes like-

No. Redirect your eyes back to the greenbluered, and don't think of things like that. Instead, focus your eyes on those colours; those colours so intermingled, so alike, that you can't tell where one starts and the other begins. Redirect your eyes back to a time when there was a hope that he would stay, that you could go with him, that-

No, no. Don't go back there. Soak the present up into your pores instead: the way the blankets of your bed don't smell like him anymore, not really, but the way you pretend they do anyways. Soak up the way you sit by the television, propped up on tired cushions, and scan the news every day for any sign of him. Soak up the way you just can't seem to get motivated anymore, just stare and stare at the -

No, no, no. Even if life's colours are blending into those three, even if you can't get motivated anymore, even if-

"Mom," says your son, tearing your eyes away from the greenbluered of the TV screen.

"Yes?"

"I'm going out on my pokemon adventure."

"All boys go out on adventures. It said so on TV." Your voice is hollow as you recite the words Red's mother said to him when he walked out that door and never came back, and you find you can't look at your son: at his spiky dark hair, and his eyes- eyes that are the wrong colour, all the wrong colour, but it would be so much harder if they were the same colour, don't you know that by now?

"Okay, Mom." His tone is brimming with unease, and he comes to press his lips to your cheek: you let him, your nails digging into the side of the sofa until they splinter.

And you think, as your tears cause the greenbluered to shimmer and you hear your son walk out that door, just how inevitable this all ended up.