..
( just like every time )
It was your older sister. Daisy never called you.
You remember scowling, you remember answering in a rude manner. You remember your scowl slip off your face and your eyes go wide. You remember running out of the cafe, returning arcanine at the same time you released pidgeot from your belt, and shouting Pallet Town
hastily.
You do not remember this, but apparently you had dropped your pokegear on the ground in the cafe before running out.
You do remember sobbing into your pidgeot's feathers from atop it's back, and screaming in agony alone with your pokemon.
You do not remember getting to Pallet Town, running akin to a zombie into your grandfather's lab, or returning pidgeot to her pokeball. You do not remember your grandfather's hand on your shoulder, or Daisy telling you that she was so sorry, but you do remember staring at Leaf's body on the bed, her pokemon's wails from the other room, and crumpling down beside the bed in shock.
You remember Red, kneeling across from you, hat covering his eyes. You remember the sound of tears hitting the ground, somehow audible over the sound of Leaf's Blastoise shrieking in the other room.
You spoke to her, in hushed words, telling her that you were there, even though they fell on deaf ears. You told her that you missed her, that she needed to wake up, that you needed her; all of the things you could never say to her when she was with you.
You curse yourself every day for not telling her when she could hear you.
"Leaf is in a coma," Daisy's words as clear as they were when you first heard them in your mind. "We don't know what happened. She may never wake up. I'm so sorry, Green."
..
The day after you had frantically flown to Leaf's side, Red left. You didn't know why. You didn't know where. But he had left you -- and Leaf -- a letter.
Two words were on the now crumpled piece of paper, that lies somewhere in the corner of the room where Leaf resides. Two words that made you want to track down your best friend and strangle him.
I'm sorry.
That was all he said, and he didn't even say it to your face. He ran away from you, he ran away from his duty as Champion, and he ran away from Leaf.
That was almost three years ago.
Leaf was still in her sick room, and you visited just about every single day. You had a job as a gym leader, now, the strongest in Kanto, but that didn't matter to you. You didn't take your job very seriously. At least, not as seriously as you took Leaf.
You would talk to her, hoping that she would respond. You would tell her about the challengers at your gym, the battles you would have, the small number of people who actually beat you.
When you weren't with Leaf or at your gym, you were trying to figure out how Leaf had put herself into this predicament.
You went all over Kanto, sometimes going into Johto or Hoenn, twice even Sinnoh, looking for clues. You had yet to go to Unova and Kalos, but they were on your to-do list. Where could she have gone? What could she have been doing? You had no idea, but you were determined to find out.
You would tell Leaf these stories, hoping she'd stir or something, giving you clues as to where to look. But nothing ever happened.
Your grandfather told you to give up hope after it had been almost three years. He told you that she mostly likely wouldn't wake up at this point. It had been too much time without any signs, he said to you.
But you refused. You wouldn't give up like Red had.
To other people, you were still the same over confident Green, one of the best trainers in Kanto. Nobody knew what had happened to you.
Nobody knew anything about you anymore, and the only person who did was apparently on the highest mountain in the area, refusing to talk to anybody but his beloved pokemon.
..
You were at Cinnabar island, looking for the old mansion that had been destroyed when you, Red, and Leaf had been touring Kanto for the first time. You knew for a fact that Leaf loved the island, and you came here often, trying to put together the missing pieces.
It had become almost an obsession, at this point. Trying to figure out what the hell had happened to Leaf. The brown haired girl had been in a coma for over three years now and it was driving you mad.
Without her and Red around, you realized how little you really had.
Without her around, there was no you and Red. The two of you cared about each other, but she was like a glue. She kept the three of you together. With her out of commission for awhile -- three fucking years, your mind screamed at you -- Red didn't know how to handle it. He had only come down from Mt. Silver on one day a year.
Leaf's birthday.
You sighed, as you picked yourself up off the ground. Yet again, your search had come up empty. You dusted off your pants and went to sit by the ocean. Maybe if you thought enough, the answers would come to you. You did a lot of thinking silently while petting your arcanine these days.
"Hello!" A cheery voice said to you, snapping you out of your thoughts.
You looked up, startled, to see a girl with the most ridiculous hat you had ever seen. You snorted as you checked her out.
She was obviously a trainer from Johto, the giant Typhlosion next to her said that much, and obviously a pretty impressive one at that. Not many people came out here, really, especially if they weren't strong enough to handle it.
The girl adjusted her hat, which was reminiscent of a marshmallow, as she waited patiently for you to respond. You noted with surprise that her bright smile did not once falter as she continued waiting. Decked out in overall shorts and a puffy red shirt, the girl appeared to be about ten. Though the pigtails probably didn't help the age appearance, you knew in Johto they had raised the legal trainer age since Team Rocket had made itself known to twelve, so she must've been at least that old.
"Who are you?" You asked, but before the girl could answer, you cut her off. "I'm Green. I was once the Kanto Champion, although it was short lived thanks to Red..." You paused, looking at the sky, and the girl looked at you in awe.
"Anyway, take a good look around you," you gestured to the island, your voice turning hard as you thought of Leaf. "A volcano erupts, and just like that, a whole town disappears. We can go on winning and losing in pokemon, but if nature so much as twitches," you trailed off, gulping before continuing, "we can be overwhelmed in a second. That's the way it is," you finished your rant, all thoughts on Leaf and none on the girl in front of you.
"But anyway," you looked at the girl's brownish green, moss like eyes, "I'm still a trainer. If I see a strong opponent, it makes me want to battle."
She looked a little bashful, and you found a false smirk making its way onto your face. "Your grandfather told me I might find you here. You're the last leader I have to beat. before I've sweeped this region, so..." She trailed off for a moment, and you felt your heart swell with pride. You will never get over the confidence boost being a top gym leader in Kanto gives you, no matter what happens in life.
"Also," she started after her pause, "I've also really wanted to meet you."
"Oh? Why's that?" You asked, trying to hide the confusion in your voice with over confidence.
Her grin turned up another watt of brightness. You almost shivered at the look in her eyes. It reminded you too much of someone you had not talked to in far too long.
"Your grandfather has told me a lot about you,"she said, absentmindedly rubbing her Typhlosion who purred in delight. "He says you're a wonderful trainer, and I love a good challenge!"
Memories of a little girl in a white hat and a red skirt challenging you every time she could flooded your mind.
"I always love a good challenge, Green!"
You did shiver, this time, but the girl either didn't take notice or was too polite to point it out.
"Besides," she said, grin turning into the most genuine smile you'd seen in years, "I'd love to become friends with you."
You quickly told this girl -- Lyra, she shouted her name at you -- that you would definitely battle her at your gym, but only if she was ready. You swiftly pulled your pidgeot from your felt and returned your arcanine in one fluid motion, and flew away, sobbing into pidgeot's feathers once again.
Just like every time someone reminded you of Leaf.
..
You made your way into your gym, tears long dried by the wind flying into your face from earlier. You would take this girl, Lyra, on, and then you would plan your next trip. You needed a vacation, and badly. Maybe you could go to Kalos, under the pretense of researching that new eeveelution that had appeared.
You sighed, thinking of what you could look into next. Somewhere out there had to have the clues behind Leaf's coma, you just hadn't found them yet.
You were lost in thought when the door to your gym were pushed open, revealing Lyra fixing her puffy hat. She had a different pokemon behind her now, an Ampharos, and the same determined look in her eye that you had seen earlier.
You attempted a smile but the motion was out of practice and felt uncomfortable for your face.
She smiled and waved at you, easily finding her way to where you sat.
"Yo! Finally got here, huh?" You smirked, falling into your mask of bratty over confidence. "I wasn't in the mood at Cinnabar, but now I'm ready to battle you."
"Great! I'm so happy I finally get to battle you, Green! As Johto's Champion, I've been really looking forward to this match," she told you, and you were at a loss for a minute.
Johto's Champion? This little thing?
Images of Leaf flooded your brain again, but you shook them off. "You're telling me that you conquered all the gyms in Johto?"
She nodded enthusiastically in response. "Sure am!"
Secretly, you were quite impressed. Johto was no walk in the park, you knew, and Lance, the ex Champion, was no pushover himself.
Outwardly, though, you laughed out loud, causing the girl to blanch.
"Johto's gyms are that pathetic?"
She scowled, and you switched your tactic. If she was anything like you suspected her to be like, you did not want to piss her off.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I'll know if you are good or not by battling you right now!" And as you spoke your last few words, you threw out a pokeball, not bothering to check which you were going to start the match with.
It turned out to be Exeggutor, and you smiled.
Lyra started the match with her arcanine, which you were surprised she had.
"Two fire types on your team?" You asked, before starting the match with Trick Room.
She smiled and nodded. "Yup! Fluffy, Overheat!" She called out, body and mind focused on the battle like it was what she was born to do.
It reminded you of your two best friends, but once again you shook it off. Overheat was a fantastic choice, nearly knocking out your Exeggutor with the one move. It stood up, and you knew it was going to get to go first if you could think of a move first.
"Exeggutor, Hypnosis!" You yelled, hoping to put her arcanine to sleep so you could take it down with Psychic.
"Move, Fluffy, dodge!" Lyra shouted, but to no avail. The Trick Room had made her arcanine too slow to be able to dodge your move, especially after performing Overheat. Arcanine was fast asleep, and you smirked widely.
"Psychic!" Exeggutor did as you were told, putting the arcanine down to about half it's hit points.
"Fluffy, come on, wake up and use Flame Charge!" Arcanine's eyes snapped open at the sound of its trainer, and you had to say you were impressed. Usually Hypnosis can keep an opponent asleep for a few turns.
She must have a really good relationship with her pokemon, you thought, as the arcanine knocked out your exeggutor with its attack.
You recalled your pokemon, sending out the next one on your belt, being your own trusted arcanine. You smirked, and waited to see if she would go for the type advantage again. She returned Fluffy, and out walked her ampharos onto the field from behind her.
She glanced at it curiously. "You wanna play, Amphie?"
The light pokemon responded enthusiastically, reminding you of its trainer. Lyra smiled.
"I was going to send out Kingsies, but if you're sure, let's do this!" She wasted no time on her first move, pointing directly at your awaiting arcanine. "Amphie, Thunder Punch! Hit it in the muzzle, like in practice!"
You smiled despite yourself. You should've known she would know what an arcanine's weak points are. "Extremespeed," you said calmly, knowing your attack would go first.
And you were right. Arcanine tackled the ampharos at an alarmingly fast speed, before jumping back close to you to hear your next instructions.
"Discharge, try to paralyze it! If we can paralyze it, we'll be faster!" She spoke quickly, but her ampharos powered up the move just as fast.
"Crap, arcanine, Dragon Pulse!" You called out, but it was too late. Discharge had hit, and arcanine's fur sparked with electricity. He was paralyzed.
You were attempting you rummage a full restore out of your bag when Lyra shouted out her last command, another Thunder Punch. Before you could even dream of telling your arcanine to dodge, it had fainted.
You sighed, returning your pokemon, as she praised her ampharos giddily, before asking it to step behind her again.
"It's Kingsies' turn this time, Amphie!"
"Go, Rhydon!"
The pokemon came onto the field engulfed in the red light from their balls. Her Kingdra, looking as majestic as a water dragon could without water, and your rhydon, looking comfortable and confident on a battlefield it was quite familiar with.
"Hydro Pump!"
"Thunder Fang!"
Both moves were good choices, but it was very obvious who was faster. Your Rhydon couldn't get close enough to execute the move, being slammed against the gym wall by the powerful water move. It was a one hit knock out, and the girl cheered.
You begrudgingly returned your powerful ground and rock type duo, taking out your next pokeball.
You sent out your Gyarados, as she returned her Kingdra to send out another pokemon. The red light formed a shape you'd never seen in person before, and you almost gasped in the presence of such an incredible pokemon.
"Metagross, let's show Green how it's done! Start off with Psyshock!"
"Gyarados, Return!" You shouted, hoping that you were faster. Both attacks hit, unfortunately for you, and while metagross looked like nothing happened, gyarados was worse for wear.
You groaned. This was your fourth pokemon, this battle was not looking good. You were beginning to understand how such a young girl could so easily become Champion of an entire region. It was a lot like how Leaf and Red were -- like they were born to do just that.
"Why don't we give Waterfall a try!"
"That new move you just learnt, Grass Knot! Finish it off, Metagross!"
And her metagross did just that. Your gyarados passed out after sending off a powerful Waterfall attack, and she gave her metagross a hug. The pokemon did not look like it belonged with such a happy go lucky person, but you could tell how happy it was to please it's trainer.
You smiled to yourself as you sent out your machamp. Her metagross disappeared into its pokeball, and she sent out another very rare pokemon.
"You have some team, Lyra!" You called to her from across the field, as the red light from the common pokeball took its form as a togekiss.
She smiled. "Thanks! Your team isn't half bad either! Begin with Sky Attack, Toge!" The togekiss shaded itself in a bright, harsh light, making
it impossible to see.
You moved your left arm up over your eyes to shield them, and tried for an attack anyway. "Machamp, if you can find it, Thunder Punch!"
It shot off the punch randomly in the air, failing to find it's target. "That's okay, buddy, just try to dodge the --"
You didn't get to finish your sentence as a powerful attack came out of seemingly nowhere and sent your machamp flying backwards. As he struggled to get up, you tried to order off another Thunder Punch, hoping to hit the rare pokemon with a super effective move, but Lyra wasn't having any of it.
"Dazzling Gleam while it's down, then follow up with an Air Slash!" The odd looking egg with wings used an attack you thought only existent in the Kalos region before creaming your poor machamp with Air Slash.
You sighed in a huff, down to your last pokemon. Your beloved pidgeot.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
