Hellooo, all you wonderful readers! Chapter time!

Today's chapter emerged from a combination of suggestions from FangirlHikari, Enter Name, and a guest reviewer. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way shape or size.

Television Stars

(Summer after) Kindergarten

May (6), Gary (6), Leaf (6), Ash (6), Drew (6), Paul (6)

It was on one rainy summer day that May and her friends found themselves confined to Gary's house.

Normally, they would all go outside and enjoy the sunny summer weather, usually heading for the park. But today, dark grey clouds occupied the sky, blocking out the sun and letting icy droplets pour incessantly onto the world below, drenching it in glistening water. They couldn't even go out to splash in the puddles since it was raining too hard and the wind was sweeping through the air, sending shivers running through anyone who dared to step outdoors.

Fortunately, Gary knew exactly how to combat boredom. He declared that they could all watch TV, because that's what people did when they were bored. Unfortunately, the existence of remotes was making life more difficult for them, as all six of them found themselves battling one another for control over the little device.

"Ha!" Paul said victoriously, smirking as he held the remote he'd snatched from Gary's grip, claiming it for himself. "I got it!"

"No fair!" Gary yelled. "I was distracted! Drew, you distracted me!"

"No I didn't!" Drew protested indignantly.

"Well, Paul has it now," Leaf said, frowning. "That means he gets to choose what we watch. So what're we gonna watch?"

The five unhappily turned to their purple-haired friend, who stood there, remote clutched in his grasp. His triumphant expression transformed into a bored one.

"I don't know," he said, shrugging. "I don't even wanna watch TV that much."

With that, he placed the remote onto the coffee table and then sat down on the sofa. And thus the fight for power over the television by use of its controller recommenced, though this time, among five.

"What is going on here?" Daisy, Gary's older sister, said exasperatedly as she entered the room. "I have final exams, and I have to study. But it's impossible with all of you making this ruckus!"

"Huh? Why do you have to study?" Ash asked, confused. "School's done."

"Not for Daisy," Gary said quickly. "Kindergarten finishes before the big grades."

"That's right," Daisy confirmed. "Your classes may have ended a few days ago, but mine are still ongoing. And final exams are extremely important. So tell me what's wrong so we can settle this right now."

"Gary won't share the remote," May whined.

"I wanna choose what we watch!" Gary explained.

"But a great show is coming right now!" Ash said. "It always comes when the small clock hand is on the two, and I wanna watch it!"

"I think we should take turns," Drew reasoned logically. "I can go first, and then—"

"Why do you get to go first?" Leaf said, folding her arms. "It's not fair!"

"Guys," Daisy said sharply. Once she got their attention, she sighed. "Okay, I think that Drew's idea is a good one. All of you can share."

Drew held himself up proudly and flipped his hair fringe. "Yes," he said with a nod. We'll share."

"But why does he get to go first?" Gary complained sourly. "I wanna—"

"Gary," Daisy sternly interrupted her brother, causing him to fall silent and sulk. She turned to the rest of them. "Now, to take turns, we'll pick someone randomly, and they will choose who goes after them. And second turns can only be had after everyone's had a turn once. Okay? I'm thinking of a number between zero and eleven, and you guys guess what it is."

"Why?" May asked curiously.

"Whoever guesses closest to the number I'm thinking of gets first turn."

"Oh."

"Okay, I have a number. Now, guess!"

"Seven," Gary said immediately.

"Ten," Ash guessed.

"Um... three?" May said hopefully.

"Four," Drew said with confidence.

"Hm... It's eight, isn't it?" Leaf said, grinning.

"Okay, what's the number?" Gary asked eagerly.

"Wait, doesn't Paul still have to guess?" Daisy pointed out.

"No, he doesn't wanna watch TV," Ash said. "So, what is it?"

"It's... eight."

"I win!" Leaf cheered, raising both fists in the air. "I knew it!"

"What? How did you know?" Gary asked, astonished. "Daisy always picks seven!"

"I know," Leaf said, grinning as the remote was handed to her. "But sometimes, she suddenly picks a number that isn't seven. And that number is eight!"

"It's not fair!"

"Guys, please," Daisy said, quieting them down. "Okay, I guess I do do that a lot, what Leaf said. But I did say whoever could guess the closest number gets the remote, so Leaf gets first turn. Now don't fight, and don't keep the volume too high because I need to study. Okay?"

With that clear, the older girl left upstairs to her room. The remaining five joined Paul on the sofa.

"So whatcha gonna watch?" Ash asked.

"You'll see!" Leaf chirped as she flipped through the channels. But she frowned when she couldn't find the show she wanted. "It's not coming on right now. Aw..."

"My turn," Gary said, reaching for the remote.

"No it's not. I get to choose who's next!" Leaf reminded him. "And I choose... May!"

May delightfully giggled in glee as she took possession of the remote. She flipped through the channels, searching for something to watch, when suddenly, Leaf shouted out.

"Wait! Go back to the other channel!"

"Why?"

"Hurry! Or else it'll be over!"

May was puzzled, but she still obeyed and went back a channel. It was some talk show. There was a group of people, all sitting on chairs with a hostess.

"And now," the hostess said, "it's time for the Celebrity Hour! I'm your hostess, Rhonda, and for today's celebrities, we have... the Dexholders! "

There was a cheer that went through the audience, and the camera began focusing on whom Rhonda had called 'Dexholders'. They all looked like they ranged from mid to late teens.

"Yay, itt's the Dexholders!" Ash exclaimed. "They're so cool!"

"They're not THAT great," Gary said, pretending it wasn't that impressive.

"Who are they?" May asked curiously.

"These prodigies completed their Pokemon studies and became first class trainers at young ages. Of course, there are more Dexholders than the ten we have here today, but for now, let's introduce Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, aaaaand Emerald!"

Cheers from fans erupted, and it was so loud, May felt the need to turn down the volume.

"So who are they?" Drew repeated May's question.

"You don't know?" Leaf said in surprise. "They're the Dexholders!"

"Yeah, they're so cool!" Ash chimed in. "My favourite is Red!"

"Who are the Dexholders?" May asked curiously, bemused at her friends' reactions.

"Them." Leaf pointed to the people in the screen. "And one's even related to Gary!"

Yeah, he is." Gary pointed to one of the Dexholders, one who had green eyes, spiky hair (which was spikier than Gary's) and bore a slight resemblance to the boy. "He's not very related to me; just a bit. And he calls my grandpa 'Grandfather' too. And his name's Green. Or maybe Blue? I don't remember."

"How don't you remember?" Leaf asked. "You even met him!"

"Just a few times," Gary said defensively. "And he's always with that girl." He pointed to a girl with long brown hair and blue eyes who was sitting in the seat next to Gary's apparent relative. "He came to meet Grandpa with her a few times, and Grandpa looks at both of them and says, 'Hello, Green, Blue,' so it's hard to tell who's he calling 'Green', and who he's calling 'Blue'."

"Oh."

"But I know which one's Red!" Ash exclaimed. He pointed to one of the Dexholders who had black hair, red eyes, and was wearing a baseball cap, like Ash did. "He's so cool! I wanna be just like him when I'm a trainer!"

"He beat the Pokemon League," Gary interjected. "You're not that good, Ashy-boy. You can't be cool like him."

But, for once, Ash didn't even try to retaliate. Instead, his eyes gleamed with excitement, transfixed on Red, whom Rhonda was questioning right now.

"He wears clothes like you," Drew noted.

"Yeah," Ash said. "I wanna be just like him, so I ask my mom to make me clothes like the ones he wears. She didn't make my hat, though. I got that from a special draw. It's kinda like Red's though. And I even bought gloves like him!" Ash held up his hands to show off his finger-less gloves. "They're green, though, but they were the last ones, and someone else was gonna buy them, but I got them first, and then I buyed them, and so I won, so my gloves are winner gloves! They're my favourite!"

"Wow," May marvelled.

"That one looks kinda like May," Drew said thoughtfully, staring at one of the Dexholder girls.

"That's Sapphire," Leaf informed him. "She's a strong battler, and she's friends with Ruby. Ruby's a coordinator."

"You think Sapphire looks like me?" May said, examining Sapphire more closely.

"Yeah, kinda," Drew said, tilting his head.

"Which one do you you like best, Paul?" Leaf asked, turning to their purple-haired friend.

"Silver," he answered immediately.

"Why?"

"Because."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Why?"

"Wait, you know the Dexholders too, Paul?" Ash said excitedly. "Who's your favourite?"

"Silver."

"Why?"

"Because."

"But... I don't really like Silver," Ash said pensively. "I saw him battle once, but he looks kinda mean... I like Gold better."

"I don't like Gold," Paul said. "He's dumb."

"No he's not!" Ash protested indignantly. "He's awesome! I like Red first, and then Gold!"

"But Gold's dumb."

"No! Gold is—"

"I KNOW!" May shrieked suddenly, causing everyone to look at her.

"What's wrong?" Drew asked.

"I got a great idea! Remember when Drew said Sapphire looks like me? I looked at her, and she does sorta look like me, and I felt like I was in the TV, and then I thought, I wanna be in the TV! Let's be in TV!"

"How are we gonna come on TV?" Leaf asked.

"We can make our own TV show," May said excitedly, standing up. "And we'll all make our own show, and be famous, and everyone'll think we're cool too!"

"But what kinda show will we make?" Ash asked.

"I don't know," May said. "But let's go! Gary, do you have some place where we can make our show?"

"I think the basement. There's no one in the basement."

"Let's go to the basement!"

"Wow, there's a lotta stuff down here," Drew commented as he looked at all the boxes stacked against the walls.

Boxes weren't the only occupants of the basement. There were also old cupboards and drawers and tables and chairs. Some things were covered with a thin layer of dust, while others looked like they'd been recently used.

"Yeah. When we don't use something anymore, we just bring it down here," Gary explained.

"We can make our TV show here and use all this stuff!" May exclaimed. "Okay, what kind of show should we make?"

"A cool one!" Ash said excitedly. "I wanna be like Red! I already have a hat and gloves like him."

"Something with a lot of cool people!" Gary put in.

"With lots of funny stuff," Leaf added.

"And smart people," Drew said.

"And strong fighting," Paul said.

"First, we need to make the place look like we're on TV," Leaf said.

"Yeah! We can use the boxes!" Ash exclaimed.

They spent some time rearranging boxes and old chairs (basically anything they could move) to create the surrounding scene. In one of the boxes, they found a pile of old clothes that were slightly shabby but mostly intact. Of course, these made the perfect costumes, despite being too big for them.

Gary picked out a brown coat, as well as a belt that was way too big, but Gary still thought it was like having a pokeball belt. Ash found a black umbrella and a blue t-shirt which he wore over the one he was already wearing. It had half-sleeves, but because of its size, the sleeves covered most of his arms anyways. Drew slipped on a grey and white checkered knitted vest, which did make him feel rather warm, but he felt it suited him. Leaf found a button-up sweater that was her favourite colour—green. Paul put on a baggy black hoodie that seemed to be the only thing that caught his eye. And last but not least, May discovered an old, broken camera.

"Let's start!" May announced, both hands in the air. "I'll do the recording. You guys start making the show!"

A Cool TV Show with Lots of Cool People, Funny Stuff, Smart People, and Strong Fighting

It all started on a stormy, rainy afternoon. Ash-Red was bored. But he was very strong and cool, so he didn't look bored. But he still was.

"I'm gonna go use my Pokemon to fight strong people!" he decided. And off he went, into the raging rain, his hair (whatever much of it that was sticking out from under his hat) flying in the gales the storm threw at him, his shoes walking steadily, like cool people walked. But he used an umbrella, because he didn't want to get wet.

"Hello!" he said to someone whose silhouette he saw through the darkness. The other person looked up. It was Gary, another very cool person. But he didn't have an umbrella, so the rain poured down on him, making his spiky hair drip as he continued just standing for no apparent reason. The way cool people did on TV.

"Hello," Gary greeted in return, smirking. "Don't talk to me again. I'm too cool to talk to you."

"I'm cool too, though! Cool people have battles together!"

"Cool people don't go around with umbrellas, and they don't ask for a battle. The uncool person does, and then the cool person says yes."

"But I'm cool too!"

"No you're not, Ash."

"My name is Ash-Red!"

"Nope!" A girl popped up out of nowhere. "Ash-Red doesn't sound that cool. You should change your name to Red-Ash. Or mix it together and make it Rash!"

"Yeah! I'm Rash!"

For some reason, the girl burst into giggles, clutching her stomach as she laughed. And 'Rash' couldn't fathom why.

"Who are you, anyways?" Gary asked.

"My name is Jade Leaves!" she announced.

"I thought it was Leaf," said Rash.

"No, it's Jade Leaves."

"Oh."

"Anyways, Jade Leaves," said Gary. "Who do you think is cooler. Me? Or him?" He said 'him' as if it disgusted him to say it.

"Hm, I don't know," Jade Leaves said, shrugging.

"I know how you could find out," a voice came. "I'm Drew, the smartest person in the world!" Drew arrived, flipping his hair proudly.

"So how are we gonna find out?" Gary demanded.

"You two have a Pokemon battle. Whoever wins is the coolest!"

"Then I'm cooler," Gary said, grinning smugly. "Because I'll win!"

"Oh yeah?" Rash pulled out a pokeball. "Then battle me!"

"Okay, then!" Gary pulled out a pokeball too.

"GO!" they both yelled in unison as they unleashed their Pokemon.

"Mine's Pikachu!" Rash announced.

"Then mine's Onix!" Gary said, smirking.

"Pikachu, Electric Attack!"

"There's no such thing as Electric Attack," Drew pointed out.

"Yes there is," Rash said. "Pikachu always do Electric Attack."

"I think you mean Thunderbolt."

"Let him do his 'Electric Attack'," Gary said. "It won't do anything to Onix anyways."

"Huh? Why?" Rash asked.

"Because electric-type attacks don't hurt Onix."

"Why?"

"Because he's a ground-type. Electric can't affect ground."

"No fair!"

"Too bad!"

As Rash didn't know what other non-electric attacks Pikachu could use, he found his Pikachu crushed to the ground fairly quickly.

"Hah!" Gary gloated. "I beat you, so I'm the strongest and the coolest!"

"You're not the strongest." A purple-haired trainer appeared. "I am."

"Who are you?" Gary questioned.

"The name's Paul, and I'm stronger than you."

"No you're not!"

"Yes I am."

"Then prove it! Battle me!"

"You're not cool anymore, Gary," Rash said. "You said the uncool person asks for a battle first. You asked Paul for a battle, so that means you're not cool."

"Yes I am!" Gary snapped. "If a person who's cool asks for a battle, then they're still cool!"

Couldn't argue with that logic.

"Okay, what Pokemon do you choose?" Gary asked, smirking.

"I choose Gyarados," Paul said.

"Then I choose Raichu!" Gary said, grinning victoriously. "Raichu, use Thunder!"

"It missed," Paul said simply. "Now Gyarados used Earthquake and Raichu fainted. I win."

"What? No!" Gary protested. "Raichu dodged it!"

Paul shook his head. "No. He couldn't dodge it."

"Yes he could!"

"No, he couldn't."

"Then Gyarados couldn't dodge Thunder!"

"Thunder sometimes doesn't hit. So it didn't hit, and Gyarados used Earthquake and Raichu fainted."

"That's not fair! Raichu didn't faint, right?" Gary turned to the others with furious eyes.

"Yes he did," Jade Leaves chirped mischievously.

"No! HE. DID. NOT!"

"He did so!" Paul was starting to get annoyed to. "I win, so I'm stronger than you!"

"And the cool guy always wins, so you're not cool, Gary," Rash reminded him.

As expected, this only led to more screaming, responded to by Paul's irritated contradicting yells, as well as attempts at reestablishing peace made by Drew, snickers from Jade Leaves, and occasional anti-Gary comments from Rash.

"What is going on down here?!"

The six friends stopped what they were doing to turn to the voice. Daisy was standing at the top of the basement stairs, looking exasperated.

"We're making a TV show," May explained excitedly. "See? I'm the camera person!" She held up the camera she had uncovered. "I'm doing a very good job," she added, proud that she'd been able to capture all of the drama.

"But what's all the fighting about?"

"Paul's being unfair," Gary said accusingly.

"No, it was fair," Paul claimed, refusing to back down.

"I thought all of that had been a part of the show," Drew muttered to himself, scratching his head.

Daisy ran a hand over her face before letting out a deep breath. "Okay, guys," she said. "You all are making way too much noise. I can hear you all the way upstairs! Now, isn't there anything you six could do quietly?"

"But we were having so much fun," Leaf whined. "Can't we make our TV show?"

Daisy looked like she was about to reconsider, but then her eyes landed on the knocked-over boxes that had fallen as a result of her brother and his friends' playing around.

"Actually, I think it best that you guys do something else. Weren't you all watching TV or something? How about you do that. And... try to tidy up a bit."

Grumbling, they began straightening out the basement the best the six-year-olds could. They put away their costumes as well, because, admittedly, they were becoming somewhat uncomfortable in them, especially because they were too big and they were wearing them over their clothes.

Finally, the disappointed kids went back upstairs and flopped in front of the television while Daisy went back to her room to study. May quickly took the remote, as she remembered it was her turn before they'd gone to play.

"Hey, it's my turn now," Gary said, still in a bit of a sour mood.

"Now, I'm not done."

"Yes you are. We watched that Dexholder show in your turn, so now you have to give it to the next person."

"But Leaf told me to watch that show..."

"Too bad. You have to give it to me now."

"No I don't! I get to choose who goes next! And I choose... Drew!"

"Thank you," Drew said, taking the remote. He smirked as he flipped his hair. "Okay, I want to watch..."

Drew picked a cartoon that they all had to watch for quite some time. The second it ended, Gary demanded for the remote. But usually, Gary was the one who had his way, and being in charge of the remote, something that Gary really wanted, gave Drew a feel of power. And, just to spite him, he handed the device over to Ash, who took it eagerly.

"No fair!" Gary said furiously. "I asked for it first!"

"But it was my choice," Drew said, shrugging. "And I said Ash gets a turn."

Gary faced the black-haired boy. "Give me the remote."

Ash hesitated, but gained courage from Drew's shaking head.

"No. It's my turn."

"What is going on?!"

A very bewildered Daisy arrived at the absolutely chaotic scene. Ash's refusal to forfeit his turn to Gary had resulted with the already moody Gary erupting in fury! Both were in the middle of a serious game of tug-of-war, each attempting to claim power over the remote. Drew ended up slightly regretting his decision as he tried to reason with Gary, but ended up having to yell to be heard over all of their shouts (though he ended up being ignored anyways).

In the meantime, Leaf had decided it was more entertaining to cheer them on rather than watch television, and May had gone into panic mode, running around, shrieking at them to stop as if it would somehow bring peace. And Paul just sat on the sofa, ignoring the whole commotion and staring blankly at the television screen.

"Enough! Enough!" Daisy finally succeeded in snatching the remote away from the two.

"Daisy, Ash was—" Gary went into tattletale mode, but his older sister paid him no attention and promptly pulled the plug of the TV so it turned off. She faced the youngsters, struggling to keep herself from blowing up.

"The rain has stopped," she said, keeping her voice steady. "Get your boots and raincoats and go play outside in the backyard. All of you. Now."

Somehow, her tone of voice caused everyone to fall silent and quickly and quietly obey. Once they were outside, Daisy sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger.

"Those kids..." she muttered, heading to her room to study.

Hopefully Daisy can get more peace of mind, now that those six are outside. Now she can get to studying. Don't worry, Daisy, I know how you feel.

Oh, and for those of you who're curious, I purposely made Gary get mixed up on who's Green and who's Blue. The reason for that being in the Japanese version, Green is the guy, and Blue's the girl, while in the English version, it's the other way around. Sometimes people get mixed up with who's who, so I thought it made sense to have Gary reflect that confusion.

If you're confused as to why the Japanese and English version names are mixed up, here's a 'brief' history lesson! (You can just skip this part if you want.)

The original Pokemon games that came out in Japan were called Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green. So the protagonist's name became 'Red' while his rival's became 'Green'. Later, a better 'updated' version came out called Pokemon Blue. There originally was no female playable character in existence, but in some Pokemon game promoter magazine, there was an unnamed girl character used. Each of the characters (the protagonist, the rival, and the girl) was used to stand beside one of the three starters, so that was probably why they created the girl (to stand beside the third starter Pokemon). This girl was then taken to be used in the Pokemon manga under the name of 'Blue'.

Then the games came to other parts of the world, like North America. However, the games that were released were NOT Pokemon Red and Green. Instead, they were Red and Blue, as they released the updated versions rather than the old ones. So it made no sense to call the rival 'Green' when there was no Pokemon Green, and thus, he became 'Blue'. In the manga, for the girl, there was no other colour name left except for 'Green', and so, she became 'Green'.

And that's why Green's and Blue's names are switched up depending on which version of manga you read.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Bye bye for now! Have a great day, and smile all the way! :)