So finally the day that I have been waiting for for about three or four months now - my dissertation deadline :D I submitted and handed it in yesterday so I am free (...oh god what do I do with my life, this apparently) enjoy :D

People were beginning to file into the main room. Most of them were standing around talking, waiting to be told where to sit and some had already sat themselves down as Red greeted people and thanked them for coming. It was supposed to have been him and Blue doing this job but he hadn't seen Blue in a while and had assumed he had gotten into a heated discussion with one of the other Gym Leaders present. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Blue standing next to him.

"It's so weird being back here." he stated. "I feel so out of it."

"That's because you live in a different city." Red replied keeping the 'and you never come home to see your friends and family' to himself. "You loose touch with people."

"Yeah but who are all these people?" Blue asked. "I don't recognise any of them. Who's that guy?" He pointed to someone and Red turned to see a man, he must have only been about four feet tall at the most, standing next to Professor Oak's coffin looking solemn. Red shook his head.

"I have no idea." he replied. "Probably some friend of Professor Oak's from the lab." He paused for a moment waiting to see if Blue would say anything else but when he didn't he turned to him again. "So are you telling me that I have to pay for this entire funeral on my own?"

"Well I can't draw money out of thin air Red." Blue replied sarcastically. This was pushing Red over the edge.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" he muttered loudly. It was a lot louder than he realised.

"Red!" a voice said from behind him. He and Blue turned to see the vicar standing behind them looking more than a little shocked at Red's outburst. Red looked a little sheepish, while Blue tried to stifle his laughter as the vicar composed himself. "How's it all going?" he asked.

"Fine, thanks Reverend Davis" Red stated, feeling incredibly embarrassed. "We're just waiting for everyone to arrive and them we can start."

"Great," Reverend Davis smiled. "Thank you." He continued to stare at Red expectantly as if waiting for something else. It was only when he felt Blue give him the tiniest of nudges did he realise what he was waiting for.

"Have you met Blue?" he asked. "Professor Oak's grandson."

"The Gym Leader, of course." Reverend Davis said as Blue extended his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you." he added taking Blue's hand and shaking it heartily.

"Thank you so much." Blue replied smiling warmly at him. "And the same for yourself."

"Will you be reading the eulogy?" Reverend Davis asked. Blue shook his head.

"No, Red is going to be doing it." he said. Reverend Davis looked quite taken aback by this statement but seemed to collect himself quite quickly when he realised that Red was still standing right next to them.

"That's great." he said trying to sound upbeat and cheerful. "Let me know when you're ready to start and I'll make sure that I have everything I need." Both Blue and Red nodded at him. He excused himself and darted away. As soon as he was gone Red turned to Blue.

"Listen I think you should do the eulogy." he said. "Everyone's expecting you to do it and I'll just make a mess of it anyway."

"Don't be silly." Blue chided. "You do it. You'll be fine."

"Ok," Red said exhaling with relief. "thank you."

"Besides I wouldn't have time to write anything before I had to go on, you actually have a whole speech written out." Blue stated. Red clenched his teeth feeling as if shoving his face into a brick wall would be less painful right about now.

Out in the kitchen Green was having about as much fun as Red was. She had been doing everything she possibly could to help Red's mother with the proceedings and making her feel a little better about the whole situation but each and every time she had been shot down with some remark or another. She was very happy when she saw Red's uncle enter the kitchen.

"How's my little sister?" he asked putting an arm around Red's mother's shoulders and giving her a sideways hug. Red's mother smiled up at him before turning back to the plate of sandwiches she was unwrapping and sighing.

"Just very sad." she stated. "He was wonderful person; so devoted to both of the boys in every possible way he could have been and more and he was so devoted to me as well."

"Can I get you a cup of tea Sandra?" Green asked trying to be helpful. Red's mother sighed again.

"Tea can do many things, Green, but it can't bring back the dead." she stated and continued unwrapping plates of sandwiches. Green took a deep steadying breath. It's just the grief, she told herself, it's just the grief talking. She tried to rationalise Red's mother's snappy behaviour as she went out to find Red himself. He was standing on his own in a corner, pacing slightly, reciting his speech.

"Professor Oak was an exceptional man..." he was muttering to himself when Green appeared beside him and placed her hand on his arm.

"Red have you called about the deposit yet?" she asked. There was a definite edge to her voice but Red was so caught up in his speech and the strange four foot man who seemed to have been staring at him every single time he looked up that he didn't notice it. He shook his head.

"No I haven't." he replied.

"Well why don't you give me the number and I can do it?" Green asked, that edge still in her voice. Red opened his mouth to say something but he caught the eye of the four foot man again – he was still staring at him.

"Green, don't make a fuss but do you see that guy standing by the table." he said gesturing with his head in the direction of the man. Green cast a quick glance to see what Red was talking about. "Do you recognise him at all? He's really staring at me."

"Are you listening to me at all?" she asked. The man and whether he was staring at Red or not was of no concern to her. After yet another brush off from Red's mother she was feeling quite on edge. "We have to put the deposit down on the flat before it's too late."

"I know, I know." Red replied even though he was only half listening. He was momentarily ignoring the staring man and was glancing around the rest of the room to see if they were ready to begin. It was only then that he realised who was still missing. "Have you seen Sapphire and Uncle Alife?" Green just looked incredulously at him.

Outside Sapphire was struggling to push Uncle Alfie's wheelchair up the last stretch of Victory Road. Due to the amount of people actually coming to this funeral she had had to park practically at the very bottom. Then had come the hassle of unloading Uncle Alfie's wheelchair from the boot of the car and then unloading Uncle Alfie before beginning the steep climb to the Indigo Plateaux – the journey made all the longer by Uncle Alfie shouting grumpily that they were late at her the entire time. This was going to be a long climb to the finish.

Red was still nervously reciting his speech to himself. He was trying to ignore the man who he could actually feel staring at him. He paced the corner as he continued to read the first line over and over, trying to get the inflection just right, when he saw Blue sidle up to him.

"Kate has grown up a bit, hasn't she?" he asked.

"What?"

"You know, Katey." Blue said nodding over to a young, thin, very attractive girl standing in the corner. "She was a little girl when I left and now... well she's fit." Red shook his head. Blue was unbelievable – it was his grandfather's funeral and he was checking out the local skirt.

"Ok." he replied shrugging. He had gone past the point of listening or caring anymore.

"I'm going to go chat with her." Blue stated.

"Yeah, why don't you." Red told him trying to get rid of him. Just having him around was really irritating and Red wanted to be left alone. Blue gave him a clap on the shoulder and made his way over to the girl in the corner, hoping to engage her in conversation. Red turned back to his speech before he heard someone else approach him.

"Hello there." a voice said. He turned round to see the four foot man who had be staring at him standing next to him.

"Hello." Red said politely.

"I was really sorry to hear about Professor Oak." the man said. "He always talked about you; said you were a good student and a good champion."

"Thank you." Red said wondering where this conversation was going.

"Did he ever mention me?" the man asked. "I'm Peter." The man extended his hand and Red shook it.

"Peter..." he pondered on the name trying to work out if it was one that he did recognise. "I don't think so. Were you friends with Professor Oak?"

"Something like that." the man replied.

"Well it's nice to meet you, thank you for coming." he said. He caught sight of Reverend Davis coming towards them. "Would you excuse me for a moment please." He made his way over to the reverend.

"Red," Reverend Davis said. "I think we should be calling everyone in to start the service. I'm only supposed to be here till three."

"Sure." Red replied. "Do you mind if we wait for my Uncle Alfie though. He should be here soon and I don't want to start without him if possible." Reverend Davis nodded.

"Of course." he replied. Red gave him a gentle clap on the shoulder and made his way over to his uncle standing in the doorway. He was making his way over to him when he passed Blue, still talking to Kate. Red was about to ignore him when Blue excused himself from Kate and joined Red with his Uncle.

"Red." he said shaking his hand.

"Uncle Victor." Red greeted him. His Uncle Victor turned to Blue.

"Hello Blue." he said shaking his hand. How are you?"

"I'm... sad..." Blue replied. Red had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. Blue's eloquence was really astounding.

"So how are things in Viridian City?" Uncle Victor asked.

"They're great." he replied. "Really great."

"Listen what's all this nonsense I hear about you not doing the eulogy?" Uncle Victor asked. At least this time Blue had the good grace to look embarrassed for Red.

"That's right." he said. "Red is going to be doing the eulogy."

"Well that's a damn shame." Uncle Victor said. "I mean I'm sure Red will be fine but after all you are Professor Oak's biological grandson after all."

"Will you excuse me for a second." Red said and stalked away. He rounded a corner and bumped into Green.

"Are you alright?" she asked and he realised that he must look very angry. "What's happened?"

"Every single bloody person here wants Blue to do the eulogy." Red growled. He wanted to shout but he knew that he had to keep up some level of decorum. "He was my mentor too. I'm just as entitled to do the eulogy."

"Of course you are," Green said putting her arms round his shoulders and pulling him into a hug. "and it's going to be the best bloody eulogy that anybody has ever heard."

"Yeah." Red nodded. "I hope so."

"Did you hear that Blue won't be doing the eulogy?" someone asked from behind them. Red clenched his jaw and took a deep steadying breath. This was going to be a very long day.

"Look!" Silver exclaimed holding out a leaf to Gold and Crystal looking amazed. "Isn't it beautiful?" He carried the leaf like it was the most precious thing in the world and carried it off to show everyone else. Gold took hold of Crystal's arm and led her away from the crowd so that they could speak privately.

"Crystal..." he began tentatively. "Can I have a word?"

"What is it?" she asked.

"I have to tell you something and I'm warning you in advance you're not going to like it."

"Spit it out Gold." Crystal snapped irritably.

"Ok." Gold took a deep breath. "The Valium that you gave Silver wasn't actually Valium."

"What did you say?" she snapped.

"That Valium wasn't actually Valium." Gold said again. "It's an hallucinogenic concoction. You know stuff like Acid, Mescaline, Ketamine and maybe a little X Speed in there too."

"This isn't funny Gold." she snapped.

"I'm not being funny." he hissed. "look at him, he's off his fucking tits!" The two of them turned to see Silver slowly shoving his head into one of the hedges, spreading his fingers through the leaves.

"You absolutely stupid..." she hissed wringing her hands at him. She was so angry she couldn't even finish her insult. "How can you leave stuff like this lying around your flat?"

"I didn't think someone was going to take it." he hissed back. "Who goes into someone else's flat and just takes random pills?"

"They were in a Valium bottle." Crystal hissed. She was so angry that she wanted to strangle him but, at the same time, she couldn't quite muster up the energy. "Fuck Gold what am I going to do? Should I tell him?"

"No don't do that!" Gold told her. "You'll freak him out completely. What we should do is keep a very close eye on him, make sure he doesn't get out of control and don't let him spend too long talking to one person."

"That sounds like a good plan." she nodded. She looked up towards the doors to the Indigo Plateaux and saw her father and her aunt coming out of the doors towards them. "Shit!" She ran over to Silver and pulled his head out of the hedge. She tried to straighten him up as best and as quickly as she possibly could and took him over to meet her father.

"Hi Dad." Gold said trying to sound cheerful.

"Hello Gold." Uncle Victor replied. "You're missing University today?"

"Nothing to worry about." Gold grinned. "I'll catch up." Uncle Victor chuckled.

"I know I'm not worried about you." he said. He turned to give Silver a look of pure disgust, although Silver was too busy staring with fascination at the feather on the top of Red's mother's hat and wasn't paying any attention. "I see you've brought your friend along."

"His name is Silver," Crystal replied flatly, trying to hide her anger. "and of course I brought him he's my boyfriend."

"Crystal it's so good to see you." Red's mother said.

"You too Aunt Sandra." she replied. "I'm so sorry, we'll all miss Professor Oak terribly. He was a wonderful man."

"Yes he was." Red's mother replied.

"Silver," Crystal said turning to him. "This is my..." She was about to introduce Silver to Red's mother but Silver had already thrown his arms around her neck and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry about the death." he said into her neck. "So sorry..."

"Thank you." Red's mother said and patted him on the back. "We should go back inside." she said to Uncle Victor when Silver had let go. He nodded and the two of them made their way back up to the doors. Crystal waited until they were out of earshot before she turned to Gold.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I don't know." Crystal replied. "I can't leave – Aunt Sandra will never speak to me again." She sighed. "Shit!" she muttered when she saw that Silver had wondered off and was now staring at the floor.

"I'll go." Gold told her. He damn well should, she thought, this is his fault after all. She shook her head – this was not the day that she had imagined.

"Hey Crystal." a voice said from behind her. She groaned. Ruby was the only thing that could make this day even worse. Why was he even here? "You look nice."

"I'm dressed for a funeral." she replied.

"Yeah but still..." Ruby replied. There was an awkward pause with Crystal trying her best to ignore him even though she could tell that he was gazing at her adoringly. "I heard about the engagement, what's that about?"

"Who told you that?" she asked angrily. "I haven't even told my dad."

"Is that the guy you're going to marry?" Ruby asked gesturing at Silver who was still staring at the floor. "You're going to spend the rest of your life with him?"

"Yep, that's him." she stated. "Now if you'll excuse me..."

"Crystal wait!" Ruby called after her as she went over to Silver and Gold but she wasn't listening.

"Ruby!" he heard someone shout over to him and saw Sapphire struggling with Uncle Alife up the last stretch of road to the door. "Ruby can you give me a hand?"

"Hi... Red." Peter said stopping him as he was about to make his way to the front doors to see if he could see Sapphire and Uncle Alfie.

"Hello." he said a little taken aback.

"There's something I'd like to talk to you about when you have a moment." Peter said.

"Great." Red replied. "Do you mind if we do it later though? It's just that I think my Uncle Alfie has just arrived."

"Sure." Peter nodded. Red pushed passed him and went to the door where he saw Ruby pushing Uncle Alfie up the last couple of metres to the door. He smiled at him.

"Thanks Ruby." he said. "Thank you so much mate but I can take it from here. I hope it wasn't too much hassle." He took the handles of Uncle Alife's wheelchair and began pushing him through the doors. "How are you Uncle Alife?"

"Terrible." Uncle Alfie grumbled. Sapphire just stared at Ruby in absolute disgust and annoyance.