Pokemon Tales: Red Chapter 45: Hot Chocolate on a Cold Day.

It was still early in the day but Red and his group had to do their shopping sooner rather than later in order to have more time to prepare for the party. Since other people also wanted to buy the presents early they agreed that if two or more groups wanted to use the same exit they would do it in 5 minute breaks. Since Alex decided that he will be the one to pick their way of passage, they had to take an elevator that led to a door in a back alley near the center of the city. He was in such good spirits that he didn't even mind that there were two groups using it before them, causing them to have to wait.

The group prepared regular clothes beforehand, although Alex and Blaine were wearing the same winter jacket provided to every Team Rocket member.

"Did something good happen?" Red asked the Admin once they were outside and made sure that no one would look at them with suspicion.

"Oh. You could say that. I didn't realize that for a long time I've felt kind of lost. I started taking steps, like writing, in order to get closer to my true self. I don't feel like I'm there yet but I think it's been going great so far."

"That makes it sound like you're changing yourself."

"Well, not as much as you'd think after hearing that. I'm still me. Rather than going back to how I was in the past, I'll allow parts of me that I've hidden away resurface and see how they blend with the person I've been for the last couple years."

The Admin could feel Green's gaze on himself so he turned to him in order to reassure him "Don't worry. I don't plan to become all buddy buddy with you guys. I still think that helping the boss reach his goal will be beneficial to me. I'll keep an eye on you as long as necessary. Besides, I don't think the two of us could become friends even if you met the me from the past. That being said, I plan to enjoy myself. It's been a long time since I bought someone a present so this could help me in rediscovering myself."

"Don't care. Didn't ask for any of that." Green replied as he quickened his step in order to get Alex out of his view.

That was easier than admitting that there was something similar to jealousy in him when he considered that a potentially insane criminal had a better hold on who he was than Green did.

Red took the time when the Admin was distracted by Green and looked at Blaine, trying to figure out what the scientist wanted to talk with him about.

"I'm probably worrying too much." he let his thoughts slip but then only one who heard him was Nets.

"What do you mean?"

It was easy to bluff his way out since Red did have a couple other concerns which to anyone else would seem less important but to him were the more pressing matters at that point in time.

"There's something else I want to buy besides a present for the person I got, but I'm not sure what it would… should be. Am I just trying to leave a good impression? No, I don't think so. I have two different reasons. Does that mean I should buy two? Does it matter which reason is more important?"

"I can't really help you since I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't worry. I'm sure I'll figure it out once I see it. Getting this present for someone I don't know is probably going to be harder. Do you have something in mind for yours?"

"I figure that instead of trying to buy something that anyone would like, it's better to think about something that I like and try to figure out how someone who wouldn't normally buy it could get enjoyment from it."

"I guess you're right. If everyone were to try and buy a perfect people pleaser… They would all buy pizza, wouldn't they?"

"What if someone has a yeast allergy?"

"I don't even know what that is but yeah… There's nothing perfect. You'll always find someone who won't enjoy a certain thing. Trying to connect to someone through something you like… That sounds nice."

"I don't want to interrupt…" Green said to the rest of the group "...but I just thought of something."

"What is it?" asked Red.

"Blaine has his disguise but isn't there a chance that someone will recognize the two of us?"

"I guess we could be recognized by Erika or her friends but what's the chance of running into them in a city as big as this?"

"Hey. Aren't those your faces?" Nets interrupted them while pointing towards two pictures taped on a board on the side of a building.

Among various posters and advertisements were missing posters with the boys' faces.

"Yeah. Looks like we'll need disguises." Red decided after seeing that.

The rest of the group, besides the confused Nets, nodded in agreement.

Soon after that, both boys were wearing scarves and hats that made it so the only visible parts of their faces were their eyes.

. . .

In another part of the city, Roger, who also wanted to take part in the gift exchange but didn't have anyone to go shopping with him, encountered the same set of posters as Red's group and, just like Nets, didn't understand what he was looking at.

"Missing posters? Did they run away from home before joining Team Rocket? That doesn't add up. I met Red all around Kanto."

"Excuse me." someone said to him.

He turned around and saw a middleaged man, with a bag of groceries in his hands, looking at him with a mix of hope and worry in his eyes.

"Y-Yeah?"

Since he was taken by surprise, Roger was worried that the person might have been an enemy hoping to take him out.

"Why were you looking at these missing posters?"

"Are they… missing? It's hard for me to wrap my head around this."

"So you know them?"

"Maybe I do. So what?"

"Do you know where they are right now?"

"Well, I saw them leaving… Ah! I almost spilled the beans!"

Concerned that he nearly told this mysterious person about Team Rocket's base, Roger felt it would be better to run away rather than try to lie his way out of this one, since he never felt too good at mind games.

"Ah!" the other man exclaimed before dropping the bag of groceries.

He wasn't sure he could keep up with someone who looked two times younger than him but he wanted to do it at least until he could call for a back up since it was clear that Roger knew something Red and Green.

"Hello?!" the man shouted into his phone "Put Erika-sama on the phone! I've stumbled upon something!"

. . .

Red's group arrived at one of Celadon City's biggest malls. It soon became clear that they couldn't keep their disguises because it was too warm inside. Nets still wasn't sure what was the reason of them hiding their faces but he was eager to help them out. He pointed out a shopping stand selling various trinkets for tourists. Red picked up a kitsune mask and asked Green to wear something similar but his friend felt that it was even more suspicious than having no disguise at all. Instead he put on a pair of yellow sunglasses and used some oil to slick back his hair which because of its length resembled a mullet.

"These are certainly unique looks." commented Blaine.

Alex was trying to stop himself from bursting into laughter after seeing Green's disguise.

"Enough of that already." Green demanded while turning his face away so it wouldn't be obvious that he was embarrassed "What's your plan?"

"My plan? Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. I was talking to Red earlier about how knowledgeable I am about wines. I know a place around here where we can get some good ones. I thought that I would buy a piece of fine cheese so the person I gift it to will get even more enjoyment while drinking the wine."

"That does actually sound nice."

"So I'm not sure if we're going to all go together or if you have different plans. Either way, the two of you will have to always stay near me or at least Doctor Humane, so decide that now."

"I don't really know anything about alcohol." stated Red.

"Then I guess I'll go with Alex and you with Blaine." said Green "How about you, Nets?"

"I'll need to find a costume shop. I guess I'll search for it on my own but I'll join up with one of the groups as soon as I get the costume."

After taking a couple steps in random direction, Blaine glanced behind in order to make sure that they were far enough from Alex's ears.

"Does Green know?"

"He doesn't know. He's just very perceptive. He probably noticed that I wanted to talk to you for whatever reason and decided to help me out. But he does like wine so there is that too."

"I see."

"Are we going to a specific place? I assume you don't want to have this conversation out in the open."

"No. First, let's buy the presents. We can talk after that."

Red wasn't sure if what the scientist said was a sign of good things or the opposite but he couldn't do anything besides going along with it for the time being.

"So, do you know a good place around here to buy a gift?"

"Unfortunately no. I come from Cinnabar Island and I didn't do a lot of shopping since arriving in Celadon City."

"That's right. I keep forgetting that you're a Gym Leader. I'll need to fight you for your badge at some point, won't I?"

"If you were to visit my Gym right now, you could get it without a fight since the person replacing me isn't a Pokemon trainer."

"But where's the fun in that?"

"I can see that if I agreed to you would be willing to fight me this instant but unfortunately I don't have any badges with me. I did bring the original one with me but I left it in my room in the base."

"That's a shame. But I… Wait a second. This looks like something interesting."

Red stopped in front of one of the stores.

"This place?" Blaine questioned the boy's the decision "Whom are you giving a present to?"

"To someone called Davis but this is about something else."

"If you say so." the scientist replied while looking with worried eyes at the name of the shop.

He hoped that none of Team Rocket members would see him entering a place called "Lovely Princess Paradise".

. . .

"Erika-sama! Please wait up!" Sumire was shouting towards the Gym Leader while following her together with Kanna.

As soon as the grass type expert learned that she may be able to get a clue about Red's and Green's whereabouts, she abandoned the Gym battle she was participating in and ran off towards the center of the city.

"Rather than follow me, you two should go separate ways and try to be on the lookout for that suspicious person! You have his description. Just let me know if you see him!"

"But…"

"It's an order from the Gym Leader!"

Sumire wanted to say something but Kanna put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head to inform her that nothing she could say would be able to stop Erika.

After they split up, Kanna tried to reassure her friend "The last time she was dealing with another Gym Leader but she won't have trouble against a regular person."

"What? That's not why I was worried. I just don't like how much concern she's showing for some two random guys she barely knew."

"The fact that she's speaking about them in the past tense is a little worrying." Kanna thought "I'll need to have her spend some alone time with Erika once this whole thing is over."

. . .

"You really are a good person." Blaine told Red while getting a hot chocolate from a vending machine.

"I don't feel like anything I do is really that… I had a talk with Angie about it. She didn't seem to understand but maybe…" the boy responded before taking a sip of his drink.

"I'm not surprised. It was just an observation. I'm wondering if that's enough. I can see that you'd help anyone if you saw they were in trouble. How much did Giovanni tell you?"

"I would say that him and I are pretty similar but… even if he goes through with his plan, it won't work out. Maybe to a degree but it seemed like he's someone who won't be satisfied until things go perfectly according to his plan. And they won't. The reason you want to give me a chance is that you also realized it."

"You could say that. When I first started supporting him, I did it because I wanted to be part of something great but through all these years I came to see him as a friend. I'm worried about the consequences of his actions but even more so… I'm worried about my friend."

"Excuse me for being nosy but do you know the reason for him putting all of this into motion? Is it something that can be addressed? Ummm… dealt with?"

Even though they were standing on a fenced roof of a building and there was no one there besides the two of them, Blaine felt like he needed to look around.

"You can't talk about this to anyone else. I doubt you'll have a solution for something like this but even if you'll think at some point that you came up with one, I'm the only person you can discuss it with. I don't care about anything else but you have to be able to keep this a secret if you want me to keep believing that you're someone worth of my trust."

The scientist looked very serious. Red didn't feel like words would be enough to convey his belief to be able to keep this secret.

"I don't have any paper. Give me your hand."

Blaine didn't understand but he did as he was told. Red lifted his mask a little and bit his own thumb. He left a bloody mark in the scientist's palm.

"If I reveal this secret, you can have the rest."

"On one hand I appreciate how much you're willing to bet, on the other, the fact that you're betting so much makes it hard to believe and makes this look like a stunt. Or it would if it were another person but from all the things I've heard about you I can deduce that you are serious about putting your life on the line."

"Kinda. I think keeping the secret is going to be easier than dying."

"An easier way, huh? I… I'm not really good at telling stories but I'll do my best. I don't know how much you managed to learn about Giovanni since he's very secretive but the first thing I should tell you about is probably that before he created Team Rocket he had a family."

"Isn't that normal? Mother, father. Was I supposed to think he was an orphan."

"No, no. Think about how old he is. The type of family I mean is more like a wife… and a son."

"You said "had". That makes it sound like something happened to them. Something big enough to make him create Team Rocket as a reaction. Did… Did you know them?"

"No, no. I've heard things about Giovanni but back then I didn't even know his name, let alone know him or his family."

"Okay. Sorry for interrupting. Continue."

"During his youth Giovanni inherited a nice amount of many and he was smart enough to make a couple good investments and soon found himself to be the owner of a couple big companies. I'm not even sure how many of them. He felt vulnerable. There was so many things he had to worry about and he didn't feel like there was anyone he could trust enough to support him. That is until he met his wife."

Blaine took a sip of the chocolate before continuing.

"She was a secretary of a board member in one of his companies. She noticed him one time and seeing his tired face, she tried to cheer him up. He was so exhausted that he didn't feel like defending himself from her charms. One thing led to another and the two of them fell in love, married and had a son. The new family was a good distraction from work. Perhaps a bit too good. Without asking Giovanni for approval, one of his partners laid off a large number of people. Even though that person took the responsibility for doing it, many people heard some things about this mysterious person who was above it all and some preferred to blame him."

Blaine took another sip.

"A small group of vengeful ex-employees kidnapped Giovanni's son, demanding a large sum of money. Although his wife wanted to pay them, Giovanni was too busy blaming himself, thinking that if he paid more attention to the company, something like that wouldn't have happened. The police was able to track down the kidnappers but they acted too hastily and one of them fell into a river while holding Giovanni's son in his hands. The man survived and was fished out but the boy, who was still too young to speak, was never found. He could have drowned or washed ashore somewhere far away only to starve to death. Either way, this incident and the subsequent divorce were what caused Giovanni to change and led to him creating Team Rocket."

"He seems weirdly hopeful for someone who went through something like that." said Red.

The boy wondered how he would have reacted in a similar situation.

"I do think he's a good person. Otherwise I wouldn't have helped him for all these years. But after a recent meeting with him, I feel like waiting for so long caused him to become not only impatient but also more angry, even though he's good at hiding that."

"He has an idea for world peace. Putting aside whether I agree with him or not, I don't see it working out. And I'm guessing that you feel the same way."

"For the longest time all I cared about was competing the creation of Me… of Cross. Giovanni's plan is to bring about a perfect world where no human will be treated worse than another. While he may be celebrated as a savior by people similar to those ex-employees, if he wants everyone to be on the same level, he will not only give to many but take from many."

"And if someone doesn't comply…"

"...They will most likely be erased. He wants to create an army of creatures just like Cross who will obey his every command and keep humanity in check."

"He needs to be stopped before things go too far."

"I agree. I want to stop him in order to avoid bloodshed, but also to save Cross from becoming his slave."

"And to help Giovanni too, right?" the teenager asked.

"I don't know if there's anything we can do. Maybe I'll be able to focus his negative emotions on myself but it's hard to tell if he'll be ever happy again."

"Do you have a plan of action?"

"Not yet. I should make contact with the other Gym leaders but since it's Bonding Day and then New Year's Eve right after that, I imagine they'd rather spend that time resting and having fun. Giovanni can't do anything until we complete the two devices needed for his plan so as long as I avoid acting suspiciously I should be able to talk with the Gym leaders and come up with a plan."

"Then that probably means that we shouldn't spend anymore time together after today."

"Yes. I don't think that Giovanni would trust someone else enough to keep an eye on me but there's a chance that one of the Admins will start suspecting something. We'll only contact each other when necessary. I was considering using Nets as an in-between but I don't want to put the boy at risk."

Since neither of them had anything else to say, they finished their drinks and headed towards the elevator in order to get to the ground floor. The building they were in was another shopping centre so it wasn't too surprising that they met other Team Rocket members although it was impossible to tell them apart from regular people when they weren't wearing their uniforms. The only clue was that some of them recognized Blaine, although there were also ones that had no idea who he was. While passing a trio of such people, Red and the professor overheard a part of their conversation.

"What? Roger is being chased by the Gym leader? What did that moron do this time?"

"I don't know. Probably something stupid like tripping and spilling soup on her."

"Why would he have…"

They couldn't hear any more but what they heard was enough.

"Is this bad?" Red asked.

"It has the potential to be. I can't be seen by Erika. At the same time it would be bad if Roger found his way to Alex. We'll need to do something and do it fast."

"We find them and you bring Roger back to the base. I'll distract Erika. She shouldn't recognize me when I'm wearing this mask. I'll look for a chance to run away and I'll meet up with you."

"Sounds like a plan. The biggest problem will be Roger. Did he learn about anything that happened or did he get into trouble due to a completely different reason? We'll have to see."

. . .

It was obvious that on such an important day the city would be swarmed with people preparing for their own parties, so even though one would expect Erika and Roger to stand out, it wasn't easy to find them. Red and Blaine accidentally split up while searching for them and, what's worse, the teenager spotted Green which meant that Alex also had to be somewhere nearby. It would be trouble if he saw what was going on but even seeing Red on his own would most likely arouse his suspicion. When Red's and Green's eyes met the first one quickly crossed his arms, hoping that it would be enough to clue his friend in on the fact that things were out of control. After doing this, he immediately started running in the opposite direction. Alex noticed Green staring at something and looked that way but Red was already out of sight.

"What's up?" the Admin asked.

"I just thought I saw someone I knew but I was mistaken."

"Did they see you?"

"No. They didn't."

"Alright then. Maybe we should…"

"Actually, there's this one place I hoped to check out... If it's okay with you?" the boy bluffed, hoping that he would be able Alex away from whatever was going on.

"Well, it is Bonding Day. I guess I could allow that. Lead the way."

. . .

"I see him trying to escape around that corner! Tangela, use Vine Whip!" Erika shouted and her Pokemon performed exceptionally well.

Other people stepped aside after seeing Roger being dragged through the snow from behind a building after getting a green tentacle wrapped around his ankle. Even though he had his own Pokemon with him, he wasn't confident enough to try and take on the Gym leader but when it became obvious that he wouldn't be able to just run away, he saw no other choice than to try at least to distract her with it.

"Go, Koffing!" he yelled.

Before he could throw the ball, Tangela used another tentacle to grab his arm and drop it. Erika quickly came up to him and grabbed him by his jacket. She wasn't thinking completely rationally but the way this man behaved was definitely suspicious and so far the only possible clue about the whereabouts of Red and Green.

"I won't let you leave until you spill the beans!"

"I can't tell her about Team Rocket." the man thought, wrongly assuming that somehow the girl knew that he was part of the criminal organization.

"I won't tell you anything! Even if you torture me!"

"Why, you…"

Suddenly, Erika felt something pulling her backward and at the same moment a green blur flashed before her eyes. Roger also didn't seem to know what happened but he quickly noticed that the tentacles that were holding him have been cut by someone or something. He grabbed Koffing's pokeball and quickly ran away. Erika wanted to follow him but something was still grabbing the back of her clothes. She quickly turned around and tried to swat it away, but the culprit managed to jump away and avoid being hit.

"What?"

Seeing that the one that stopped her was someone in a kitsune mask only made the situation that much more confusing to the girl. She immediately realized that this person wasn't alone and after scanning her surroundings she saw a Scyther that must have been responsible for Tangela's cut tentacles.

"What is going on here? Are this person, that man and Blaine all somehow connected? Blaine is most likely a part of Team Rocket but are these two also?"

"I could probably escape her without needing to fight but... I have to hide my identity and I instinctively used a Pokemon I didn't have with me before joining Team Rocket but… This may be good. If I fight her, maybe I'll find a way to convey to her my identity without revealing my face." the boy thought.

He looked at Scyther.

"It'll also be a good chance to test him out since we haven't been together too long."

"If I can't have that guy I'll defeat this one." Erika decided "Tangela isn't a good match-up. Return! To your opponents you bring doom! Flourish and bloom, Vileplume!"

"Oh. I forgot that she has catchphrases for when she picks a Pokemon. Maybe I should try that. I don't know what would rhyme with Scyther though… Umm… A green flash... the lightspeed fighter… it's time to clash… Let's go, Scyther! Or something like that."


Now that I think about it, it must be weird during these times. With everything that's happening you have no idea if the person writing a fanfic you're reading is alive and well. You may think that you're used to waiting for the next chapter but then you wait and wait and it never comes and it's impossible to know if they just abandoned it or if something happened to them. Well, at least you can be assured that I'm doing alright. I've just been really lazy when it comes to writing. I've been catching up on various shows, like rewatching Umbrella Academy before the second season comes out and giving Stargirl a try. I think the Pokemon anime returning from its break and that last episode especially helped me get back to writing.

Speaking of the anime, without spoiling for anyone who watches the dub, there is an unitended parallel between what happened there and in this fanfic. I swear, I'm not going like "This would be a good thing to do. I'll use that". Well, sometimes I do but not regarding the Pokemon anime. More like... fiction in general. For example, if I ever find the right time, place and idea I really want to try a longer story that takes place on a train since I always like when they do that in movies and anime. Cruise ship was one of my dreams and that was easy to do but a train story is something that probably won't happen in the near future.

I'm pretty proud of myself for two reasons. I made this holiday mini-arc as kind of a breather from story and development heavy chapters that I've been putting out for over a year and then I went ahead and dropped two big bombshells, Giovanni's backstory and Blaine's decision, right in the middle of it. The other thing I'm proud of is that I stopped myself from expanding on Giovanni's past. That could have easily been its own chapter, and longer than this one but what Blaine said should be enough to fill you in. I hope that it also clears up why Koga was hesitant to stop Giovanni. If you're not sure what was my intent or if there's anything else bothering you, write a review and I'll try to answer any questions in a future afterword.

Oh, I also think it was pretty clever how the title refers to one of the most important scenes in the story but you couldn't know that before reading that part of the chapter.

Since this chapter was a big moment for Blaine, here's a rundown of the chapters which focus on the relationships between him and Giovanni and also him and Red: 23(barely), 24, 33, 35, 40(barely), 41, 43.

I've been writing this for over two years already, although I was probably more productive during my first year. Thanks to anyone who kept on reading since the beginning but also to everyone else, even if this is the first time you picked it up and for whatever reason yo went to the latest chapter. I'm not going to say that I need your reviews for validation but while I can see that I'm getting views it would be nice to know if those come from people who are genuinely interested or if they are just random clicks. Even the simplest review gives me more motivation to keep this thing going. I obviously love this story and want to continue writing it but know that your thoughts and opinions could help make this fanfic into something better.

Red. Team: Eevee, Charmeleon, Raichu, Gloom, Pidgeotto, Nidorino.

At hand but not officially his: Scyther.

At Team Rocket Base: Gyarados.

Badges: 4

Green. Team: Venusaur, Jigglypuff, Nidorina, Hitmonlee, Vulpix, Horsea.

At Team Rocket Base: Jynx.

Badges: 3

Blue. Team: Weepinbell(Bell), Blastoise(Tori), Zubat(Ken), Graveler(?), Ponyta(Dasher), Electabuzz(Buzz).

Badges: 3

Alex. Team: Ditto, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon.

Angie. Team: Dragonair, Sandslash, Seaking.

Peter. Team: Dodrio, Haunter, Gengar.