Red sat at the edge of a river, tossing pebbles he found on its shore into the water, and just mindlessly gazed into the distance. Red was unsure as to his exact location, he knew it was somewhere deep in the forest, but he didn't mind. He was just glad to be away from everything.

Red watched as a school of Magikarp swam upstream and thought back to what had happened; fighting back the tears he felt coming.

How could he do something like that, He thought. He must of known that it wouldn't have settled well with him. That the sight of the Charmander would upset him; bring back all the memories he worked so hard to suppress. He gave up fighting the tears and let them fall.

He had stopped throwing pebbles at the sight of the Magikarp and decided to just lie down and close his eyes; listening to the sounds of the forest that surrounded him. He listened to the sound of Pidgey in the trees, rustling the leaves as they flew from branch to branch, and the splash of the Magikarp as they jumped from the river. The sounds acted as a lullaby, soothing his mind and stopping his tears, and soon he found himself drifting off to sleep.

Red found himself standing there, gazing down at a boy lying on the ground. The boy whimpered in pain and seemed to try and move away from something.

Are you ok? He called out, but no sound escaped his lips. He tried calling out again, attempting to call out louder this time, but still no sound was produced.

He tried to move toward the boy and found that he couldn't move either. The boy moved again and this time he moved enough for Red to get a clearer image of the boy's face. Had some unknown force not held him in place he would have fallen backward at the sight of the boy's face. For the boy wore a face he knew all too well: his own.

He looked at the boy, the one wearing his face, and noticed the doppelganger was not looking at him, but at something in front of the doppelganger. Red turned to see what the doppelganger was looking at and saw a shape coming towards him. Red couldn't make out who or what the figure was, something seemed to obscure it when looking at it directly, but Red saw that whatever or whomever the figure was terrified the doppelganger.

Then it dawned on Red.

He knew this scene.

He knew this scene too well.

He had dreamed this scene countless times.

He had lived this scene.

The doppelganger was him, when he was a child, and the figure…

Red turned to look at the figure, expecting to see him standing there with that smile on his face, and found someone else standing there: Professor Oak. He stood there, wearing the same smile that the young man had worn, and turn to look at Red.

Red fell backward, the force that had held him before seeming to disappear, and watched as Professor Oak walked toward him. Red noticed that his younger self had disappeared, leaving just him and Professor Oak.

Professor Oak continued toward him.

"You are weak!" He said, his face turning to one of disappointment. He reached into his lab coat and produced a Pokeball.

"This world is not meant for the weak!" He released the Pokemon and it formed next to him: a Charmander.

Professor Oak stopped in front of him, his Charmander standing idly next to him, and stared down at him with that look of disappointment.

Red tried to move away from him, but it was fear that paralyzed him this time. Red stared up at his adoptive father.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!" Red asked, confused and hurt.

"You know why." Professor Oak replied, giving no further explanation.

"I DON'T! I DON'T UNDERSTAND! YOU KNEW THIS WOULD HURT ME! YOU KNEW AND YET YOU STILL DID IT! WHY?! TELL ME WHY!"

"I don't need to explain it to you. You already know why." Professor Oak no longer looked disappointed. He looked sad.

"Stop saying that…" Red no longer had the energy to raise his voice. He looked pleadingly at him. "Please just tell me…"

"You already know the answer Reginald," Professor Oak said, his face changing from sadness to compassion. "You and Augustus always say that I do nothing without reason, so think. What is that reason?"

He was right. Professor Oak, the real Professor Oak, never did anything without a reason. He and August had said that time and time again as they grew up. This time shouldn't have been any different. Up until then he had allowed his emotions to cloud his judgement instead of taking control of them and looking at the situation properly.

Red sat there and truly thought on everything.

"You knew I would react to the sight of a Charmander," Red said to the Dream Professor Oak, getting up and beginning to pace.

"Did I?" He replied.

"You did and you wanted me to react the way I did." Red continued, beginning to grasp something at the edges of his mind.

"Why would I do a thing like that?" He asked.

"Because," Red said, everything starting to come together. "You wanted me…"

"Are you ok?" Dream Professor Oak asked and grabbed ahold of him suddenly.

"I...what?" Red said startled and confused. "What are you…"

He began shaking Red, a look of worry on his face. "Reginald! Wake up!"

"What are you doing? Stop…"

"WAKE UP!"