Pokémon The 'Unown' You [ Red & Green face the Ruins of Alph ]

[Redenne_Moon]

“When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for you to stand upon or you will be taught to fly."
― Patrick Overton

Red and Green have become known as an inseparable duo. However, they weren’t always so in sync. Many wonder how Green went from butting heads with the quiet and reserved Red at every turn, to understanding him so well that Green now seems to know what Red is thinking before he has even said a word. This is the story of how that eventually came to be.

When Red had returned from Mt.Silver and reunited with Green, the divide between them was as insurmountable as the mountain itself.

Green will learn how one wish and a ruin full of Unown can change everything.

Status: Ongoing (Currently up to chapter 6)
Tags: Game-verse, Supernatural & Psychological themes, Angst, Drama, Action/Adventure, Hurt/Comfort, Romance ( Unresolved Romantic Tension & Slowburn )

WARNING for non-graphic violence and mentions/themes involving death

This is Part 2 of my Reguri (Red x Green) series called "I'll Always 'Pikachoose' you!"
(But all parts can be read and enjoyed on their own)
This particular adventure is inspired in part by the third Pokémon movie.
[ AO3 Series Link ] [ Ship Playlist ]
[ Part 1 ]

Open to feedback :3 <3​

 

[Redenne_Moon]

Chapter 1: The Unbreakable String
Prelude

A small young boy sat alone on the playground, silently playing pretend with a couple of his Pokémon toys - a Charizard and a Caterpie. His clothes and hands were all dirty from his engagement in the imaginary battle he’d constructed.

Not too far away, another boy also sat alone. He was reading some sort of pictorial Pokémon guide. Every so often, he would glance over at the other child, mildly amused by the way his oversized red cap would tip over his face.

These two weren’t strangers to each other, despite how it may have looked. They were actually neighbors and, thanks to their parents’ influence, had been together since before they could remember. They were too young to have a choice in the matter but, as kids did so easily, they went with the flow and decided they were best friends.

That was how the duo of Red and Green originally came to be. Nothing but the workings of fate and circumstance. It fell into place rather fortuitously though, because neither of them fit in very well at school, so they were very much in need of the company.

Green was incredibly smart and a natural talker, but his know-it-all attitude and affiliation with his famous grandfather didn’t attract much more than opportunistic, surface-level friendships. Meanwhile, Red's academic struggles and social ineptitude made him stick out like a sore thumb. He was easy to pick on or take advantage of - so many did.

In nearly every way, they were opposites. But something tied them together beyond all their differences. Pokémon. More than anything else, they loved Pokémon. Though how they expressed their love for them differed, both had a burning passion that could give anyone a run for their money. Because of this, Green’s grandfather often described them as being ‘destined rivals since birth’.

“What are you doing?” Green asked

Red looked up in wonder to see him approaching inquisitively with crossed arms. “… Um. Charizard and Caterpie are having a battle.”

Green did not appear at all impressed by that explanation, and he was quick to show off his knowledge. “How could a battle like that last more than two seconds? Charizard’s stats are way better than Caterpie’s and it’s weak to fire.”

“I like Caterpie,” he slowly replied, as if his adoration for the Pokémon would grant it strength. “Do you want to play?”

“Me? No, I’m too old for that sort of thing now.”

“Oh…” Red blinked and stared down at his toys. Weren’t they still only kids?

“I get to see the real thing at Gramps’ lab now anyway. That’s way cooler than any toy!” Green was bragging again, but was very clearly hoping to impress his friend.

Immediately, Red forgot all about his game of pretend.

“Really? You do? That’s so cool!” He beamed, eyes lit up like Christmas morning. The way he fawned over Green made the boy puff up in a giddy sort of way.

“Heh… Yeah, it is! I’m basically a Pokémon expert now, so maybe I can teach you some things.”

“Yes, please! Oh, what do you know about Charizard?”

Green huddled down next to Red and took the Charizard from his hands as a prop in his informational ramblings. He became quite animated, waving the toy around passionately, despite claiming to be too old for them. The two spent their entire recess time like this. All the while, Red had his face cupped in his hands, completely captivated.

 

[Redenne_Moon]

Chapter 2: The Walking Enigma
In which our tale begins, and much is left unsaid

Green pinched the bridge of his nose.

‘That weirdo has always been obsessed with Charizard, hasn’t he?’ he thought to himself.

It was anyone’s guess as to why that particular memory of their playground days resurfaced in the Gym Leader’s mind when Red’s Charizard dealt the final blow to his Arcanine and ended their battle.

He stood there, stunned for longer than he should have been, before recalling his partner.

“Tch. I even used a new strategy, too.” Green’s brow was knitted together as he stared indignantly at his Pokéball. Maybe he was too distracted this time, since he allowed himself to get caught up in dumb memories like that.

Those simpler days were ancient history now. The journey changed everything between them, and it's only become more apparent since his rival came out of hiding from Mt.Silver. A couple years of distance would do that to anyone, he supposed. But it was more than that… there were just way too many things left unresolved. Even though it had been months, they had yet to truly face each other and have a serious conversation about anything.

Red wore a soft, almost somber expression now. It wasn’t particularly joyous, like how a real winner should look, and it was certainly a far cry from the fiery and intense gaze he wore during the heat of battle. That was nothing new though.

Somehow, he could always share a smile with his Pokémon, but anytime he turned to Green after a match, it would fall. It was hard not to see it as pity, which annoyed him to no end. It was exactly that sort of expression which Red wore when he beat Green and became Champion. The biggest accomplishment of any trainer’s career, and the guy wouldn’t even openly cheer!

In fairness, Green was sure his expression had been far worse. It was no doubt some mixture of shock, resentment, rage, and devastation. It was impossible to keep up his usual cocky facade when everything he worked so hard for all added up to yet another loss to… him.

After trusty old Gramps poured salt in the wound by telling him what a disappointment he was, Green took off. He ignored Red’s concerned stare and outstretched hand, instead opting to hole himself up off the shores of Kanto to train alone.

Little did he know, that would be the last he saw of his rival for years.

“Mm, I noticed. I was really surprised. It was a good battle.” It was clear that Red was struggling for the right words to say, which didn’t make his delivery very convincing.

This was usually where things got really awkward.

Since they’d reunited they had only managed to meet up a handful of times, and most of those instances were just by chance since Red didn’t have a Pokégear. They would first have a battle because… well, that’s just what they always did, but after that was out of the way, they’d just pathetically flounder around with poor excuses for conversation until one of them left. It was a painful dance to partake in, yet they persisted.

This time, they happened to cross paths in Johto, thanks to some arrangements from that girl named Lyra who seemed to fancy herself as Red’s newest friend. They met on Mt.Silver, so he heard. By that time, Red had been hiding for so long on that mountain that it was hard to imagine him ever coming back to civilization. But after the plucky new Johto champ caught wind and went to challenge him, something must have happened up there because he returned soon after. Meanwhile, Green knew all along exactly where he was and didn’t do a thing. But if he had gone, would he have been able to make a difference like Lyra did? Green somehow doubted it.

Now here she was again, meddling. Lyra had called Green to tell him that Red had been hanging around Violet City and to come by and visit him. The whole thing felt a bit strange and orchestrated, so he wouldn’t be surprised if Lyra had ulterior motives. And if this was Red’s doing… then get your own Pokégear already, idiot!

But that didn’t stop Green from going anyway. The change of scenery didn’t offer any relief though. Same shit, different day.

With anyone else, Green oozed charisma. He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind and chat up complete strangers. So why couldn’t he show that same level of command with Red? Why was it so hard to tell someone he’d known for his whole life that he was sorry for being a dickhead to him for most of their childhood and ultimately not being there for him when he really needed it? Ah, nevermind. That was the answer right there, wasn’t it? It was just too vulnerable.

The Gym Leader could admit that he wasn’t good at apologizing, nor bearing his soul for heart to heart talks. He could admit that, but he would challenge that Red didn’t make it easy for him either! That guy gave absolutely nothing for him to work with, and to this day, Green had hardly a clue what was going on inside his head at any given moment.

So, yet again, Green would ignore the Donphan in the room and continue this stupid dance.

“Yeah? You haven’t seen anything yet. A real strategist keeps his cards close to his chest. Next time I’ll blow you out of the water,” Green said. What a lot of words to say absolutely nothing. Whatever. “Make sure you don’t slack off now.”

“I won’t.” That made Red smile, just a little. Green couldn’t tell if it was at his expense or not, but he ignored that nagging in his mind and waited as the other gave a stilted pause before continuing. “Ah… Right. Would you like me to heal your Pokémon?”

Green raised his eyebrows slightly and shrugged. “… Sure. Knock yourself out.” His pride wouldn’t have allowed an offer like that to slide a few years ago, but it felt silly to refuse now. It was Red’s supplies, not his. No point in turning down something that was free.

“Okay. There’s a nice spot to rest… over here.” Before waiting for a reply, Red was already walking away, though he turned back after a few steps to make sure that Green would follow. And, as confused as he was, he did.

They quietly headed south of Route 36, which soon brought them to the Ruins of Alph. Green thought that they might keep going, but his rival stopped there and surveyed the dilapidated structures before turning around to face him. It almost looked like Red was seeking his approval.

“This is your idea of a nice spot to rest?” Maybe his tone was a bit blunt, but he had been expecting a park or cafe, or even just a simple bench with a view. He should have known better. This was Red he was talking about, the guy who actively sought out haunted locations in the same casual manner one would visit the grocery store. He was rarely caught up in ordinary things, always chasing lofty adventures and getting dragged into other people’s problems - or dragging them into his.

“I passed by them earlier. I thought that... maybe, we could explore one of the ruins.” Case in point. “Once our Pokémon are healed. If you want to.” Red tacked on the last bit clumsily and avoided Green’s eyes.

“You want to explore them, huh?” Green echoed as he shoved his hands into his pockets in feigned nonchalance. He didn’t like the dark, and he’d heard plenty of eerie stories about what mysterious Pokémon lay within those ruins. Spooky environments were his weakness, and Red was one of the few who was aware of this. Then was this invitation some sort of sick joke?

To give Red some credit, it had been years since their ghostly misadventures in Lavender Town, and one might assume he was over it by now - especially since Green always vehemently denied any fear on his part - but come on, read between the lines!

‘Damn you, Red,’ he thought, ‘Now I have to say yes or I’ll look weak.’

“We’ll have Char and Chu for light. So it won’t be dark.” Char and Chu being Red’s infamous Charizard and Pikachu. Green narrowed his eyes at the offer. So Red did suspect that the darkness would be an issue. Then why…?

“I wasn’t worried about that. Here. Focus on one thing at a time.” Brushing off his words, Green picked the Pokéballs off his waist one by one and released his partners by Red’s feet.

Blastoise, Arcanine, Exeggutor, Rhydon, Pidgeot, and Umbreon were all gathered now, looking rather tired and worse for wear. Green had a bigger selection of Pokémon since becoming a Gym Leader, so he always carefully picked out a unique team for each battle to keep Red guessing. It obviously hadn’t worked as intended, though.

Red nodded in understanding and started looking for a spot off the walking path to set up his healing station. The trainer shrugged off his massive, trusty backpack and it landed on the ground with a hard thud that kicked up a small cloud of dirt around him. The thing looked so ridiculously heavy that Green often teased Red by saying it must be full of rocks (and he still wasn’t entirely convinced that it wasn’t). He knelt down to start digging around for Potions and Revives, not showing any reservations about his clothes getting dirty in the process - which was fair enough because, as Green duly noted, his clothes were already covered in dirt and grass stains anyway. That was pretty par for the course with him.

Once he had gathered what he needed, Red got to work right away, tending to each member of Green’s team as if they were his own. It was a bit too hushed for Green to understand, but he could tell that Red was talking to them. He gave each one a treat and a pat on the head after he’d healed them. Green leaned against one of the old pillars and watched. Arcanine in particular seemed to be enjoying the attention, he noticed. In fact, it wasn’t long before the big furball started drowning the boy in slobbery kisses. Red wouldn’t push him off, so he got pretty gross and, for the first time in what might as well have been forever, Green was able to witness Red letting out a genuine laugh. It was softer than he remembered.

His Pokémon had always liked Red, despite not having many opportunities to spend time with him outside of battle, given their trainers’... 'unique' relationship. Even the ones who were only able to meet him since they’d reunited seemed to warm up to him quickly. It was a bit frustrating, if only because it reminded Green of what his Gramps had said he was missing.

‘Plus, he’s hardly got anything to say to me, and yet around these guys he won’t shut up,’ the Gym Leader thought bitterly. Perhaps that could be chalked up to jealousy, but he would never say that himself.

When all of the Pokémon seemed to be perking back up, they eagerly circled around Green to receive his affections as well. Of course their trainer was happy to oblige. Meanwhile, Red brought out the Pokémon he’d used in battle this time around. Charizard, Pikachu, Butterfree, Raticate, Espeon, and Marowak. Even those who hadn’t fainted looked exhausted, so each of them was grateful to receive the same amount of care and pampering.

A stark contrast to the reception that Red received from his rival’s Pokémon, Char and Chu regularly made a point to give Green the stink eye. Red’s starter was fiercely protective of him and he had been there to witness the worst of their rivalry first-hand, so it was hardly a shock. As for his Pikachu… well, Green was pretty sure he was just a brat who had it out for anyone who wasn’t his trainer. Considering all that, it was bizarre to think that Red thought traveling with those two in the ruins would be a convincing selling point.

That wasn’t to say that all of Red’s Pokémon didn’t like him, though. The rest of his current team actually went out of their way to seek him out - that being, his Butterfree - Fee, his Raticate - Sniffy, his Espeon - Eve and his Marowak - Bone. (Could you tell that little Red was very ‘creative’ with his nicknames?)

Sniffy wandered over to smell Green’s shoes while Fee tried to nibble on his hair. Eve stared up at him with an all-knowing look that made him uneasy, and Bone followed up last only to hide behind her shyly, offering a shifty stare of his own. Green didn’t know why the rest were interested in him, but he and the Marowak certainly had a history.

He was the very same Cubone whose mother was killed by Team Rocket. During their journey, Green and Red were involved in getting those goons out of the Pokémon’s resting place and settling his mother’s spirit, as well as saving the man who had been raising Cubone since her passing. Though it hardly needed saying, their success was mostly Red’s doing. The ghost scared Green so bad that he became an embarrassment, making his appearance all but useless. That’s why it was Red who was able to make a special connection with Bone, and inspired him to want to leave the Daycare and travel alongside him to become strong and bring justice to Team Rocket. Yet, here he was, staring at Green expectantly.

“I think Bone has always wanted to thank you.” Only when Red spoke did Green realize there was another pair of eyes locked on him.

“There’s nothing to thank me for.” He scoffed and crossed his arms, unsure of how to deal with this realization. “And what about the rest of them?”

“They just like you.”

“Right.” After shooing the Butterfree away from his head and analyzing the lot of them long and hard, Green crouched down to give them each a rough but affectionate pat on the head. “You all have personal space and staring problems, but I guess I get it. I’m pretty dazzling.” He smirked despite himself before addressing Bone lightly by saying, “Don’t sweat the small stuff, okay?”

The acknowledgement seemed to satisfy them, and the group chattered at Green briefly before breaking away to see his Pokémon. Bone was the last to leave, taking a moment to give his shin a quick, hesitant hug before rushing to join the others. Green huffed and covered his mouth self-consciously in response, averting his gaze so that he didn’t have to see Red’s gushy reaction. Instead, he directed his focus onto the social event now taking place around them.

It was rare for both teams to get the chance to mingle, and most of them were pretty eager to check each other out. Gradually, the Pokémon strayed further from their trainers and started getting up to mischief around the ruins. That left Green and Red looking like parents waiting around for their children at the playground.

“We’ll let them catch up, and after that we can go explore the ruins or whatever.”

“Really?” Red looked up in wonder, as if it wasn’t his idea.

“Yeah. That’s what you wanted, isn't it? Can’t hurt to have a quick look since you dragged me here anyway.”

There was a span of silence that followed due to Red’s lack of reply. He fiddled with his wristbands while staring at the floor. Their Pokémon’s chatter filled the emptiness until he finally said, “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Green waved him off with one hand. Aside from protecting his sense of pride, he wasn’t sure why he bothered agreeing. It was probably just as easy to lie and make up some excuse as to why he couldn’t stick around, but he didn’t. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that this was the first time Red had explicitly invited him anywhere since they lived in Pallet Town. Whatever it was, he had committed to it now and there was no turning back once Green had made his mind up on something.

So, while he fretted internally over what he had just signed himself up for, Green found some respite in the fact that his partners were enjoying themselves. It almost made him envious to witness how much easier of a time they had connecting with each other, but that bitterness slowly dissolved into a much more gentle, forlorn nostalgia. This rare moment of peace allowed for the trainers to relax and, for once, it didn’t feel awkward that no one was talking.

The weather in Johto was pleasant this time of year, comfortingly warm with near clear skies and a gentle breeze. The ruins were out of the way of the busier main routes and it was a weekday, so no one was around except for them. At that moment, the rest of the world may as well have not existed. Even Green found himself losing track of time, letting the minutes go by until Red’s quiet voice eventually brought him back to the present.

“It’s nice… seeing them together,” Red said. Green turned to look at his childhood friend, sitting on the ground with his knees tucked close to prop up his chin. His scarlet eyes didn’t meet his own, and instead fixated ahead on their Espeon and Umbreon playing tag. Somehow, he looked lonely.

It was always clear that Red got along better with Pokémon than with people, but surely having such limited contact for years must have been difficult…

Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, Green swallowed and turned away.

“Yeah, it is,” he agreed, “but we should probably get going now.”

With a clap of his hands, he called for all of the Pokémon to return. The day wasn’t getting any younger and he wanted to get this whole ‘exploration’ done before dinner.

It didn’t take long for their partners to loyally gather around, though he got the sense that they wanted to play for even longer. Red finally stood up from the ground, not even bothering to wipe his pants, which now looked more beige than blue, and greeted each of his Pokémon before calling them back to their Pokéballs - All except his Charizard and Pikachu, as discussed.

Now that the group had whittled down to a much more modest number of four, Green surveyed Char and Chu up close. They looked as stern as ever. “Hopefully your Charizard’s giant, clunky wings don’t ruin any of the historical artifacts,” Green teased, trying to break the ice, only to earn himself a cloud of smoke to the face. He coughed into the inside of his elbow before letting out a drawn out groan of defeat. “You really can’t take a joke…”

He tentatively squinted one eye open while the smoke dissipated and caught Red staring at him with that dumbfounded look of his as he moved to stand between himself and his Charizard while mumbling several apologies. Seeing as his lame joke fell flatter than a Stunfisk, Green decided he would keep the quip he’d saved for the Pikachu to himself. Wasn’t worth getting electrocuted for the driest crowd on the planet.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Green decided, and urged the others to lead the way to one of the ruins. Sure, it would probably suck in there - but like Red said they’d have plenty of light and it was still daylight outside. What was the worst that could happen?

Famous last words, Oak.

 

[Redenne_Moon]

Chapter 3: The Melding of Minds
In which everything unravels

The whole world grew quiet as Red and Green stood before the entrance to the ruins. A gust of wind blew from behind them and continued through the dark passageway, beckoning them inside.

《 ⴰⴰⴰ ഡჩმԷ ᕷ𝜎 ሃ𝜎ป ሥმ𐒐Էᕈ 》

The wind whispered, ever so quietly, and a chill rippled down Green’s spine. The fact that Red didn’t show any trace of a reaction was the only reassurance Green had to try and convince himself that he was just hearing things.

Red sent his Pokémon ahead to light the way and started walking in with an eager stride. When Green didn’t follow right away, the boy turned around and made an inviting gesture with one hand to encourage him.

‘You’re just being a big baby. You can’t let him show you up again!’ he told himself. And with a sigh of surrender, Green shook the paranoia from his mind and followed the rest of the group into the mouth of the decrepit, rocky structure.

Tiny pieces of scattered rubble crunched underneath their feet and echoed against the walls around them with each step they took deeper into the darkness. They were surrounded by carvings of exceptional detail, which was still evident despite the hundreds of decades of wear that dulled and cracked certain areas beyond recognition. The mysterious Pokémon called Unown were consistently represented in texts and visuals, filling up the entire entry chamber with countless peering eyes.

“Woah, these are amazing…” Red’s sense of awe couldn’t be further from Green’s reception to the skin crawling scenery.

“Amazing is one word for it,” he replied flatly.

《 ⴰⴰⴰ ഡჩმԷ ᕷ𝜎 ሃ𝜎ป ሥმ𐒐Էᕈ ⴰⴰⴰ ഡჩმԷ ᕷ𝜎 ሃ𝜎ป ሥმ𐒐Էᕈ 》

To Green’s dismay, the whispers returned. However, before he could freak out about that, the very ground they stood on began to shake.

He thought his heart would leap out of his throat from the sound of the ruins' violent rumbling. Rocks crumbled and crashed behind them while the trainers and Pokèmon struggled to maintain their balance. All of a sudden, the warm sunlight that had been streaming in from the outside disappeared, prompting a startled scream from Green. Everyone quickly turned around and found themselves facing a perfectly sealed wall. Just like that, the entrance was gone.

The severity of this development quickly took hold and Green’s stomach lurched with dread. His eyes darted around in a panic as he subconsciously drew in closer to Red’s Pokémon, who now provided the only source of light that saved them from succumbing to the pitch black void that lurked in the umbra.

Char’s flames made their shadows dance against the walls and pillars like ghosts. This trick of the light gave the uneven surface created by the carvings a similar dynamic effect. The Unown’s eyes appeared to shift, following Green’s most subtle movements. As anyone afraid of the dark would know, any fuel for an imaginative, paranoid mind was a poison.

“What the fuck is going on?” Green asked through gritted teeth as he bit back tears. “Red, if this was some kind of dumb prank, I swear to Arceus -”

Red looked back at him like a Stantler caught in the headlights. It was hard to tell whether he was more shocked about the predicament they were in, or Green’s accusation, or something else entirely. Whatever the case, his only response was to shake his head in denial and mumble something so quietly that it was completely unintelligible. Green watched as Red turned away from him and began inspecting the wall that had been closed off, running his hand over it in a contemplative silence.

“What are you doing? Just get one of these two to blast the thing open. Nevermind, I’ll just-” Green fumbled around for his Blastoise’s Pokéball and sent him out right behind Red, who had to rush out of the way to dodge an oncoming Hydropump. Mysteriously, despite the fact that Red had been able to physically touch the wall, the move simply absorbed right through it, leaving no sign of it ever being touched.

Without needing a signal, Red’s Charizard stepped up to try using Flamethrower, but again, nothing happened. His Pikachu’s attempt with Thunderbolt was no different.

The three Pokémon all looked at one another and nodded before shooting off all of their attacks at once.

Still no dice.

Green felt the need to confirm this contradiction for himself, so he took a crack at hitting the sealed wall in several places with the sides of his fists. It was completely rock solid, despite how it absorbed moves like a sponge. As he tried again, he caught a glimpse of the Pokégear on his wrist and got an idea.

“Hang on, hang on… I’ll call someone for help,” he said. Green then pressed the button on the device to awaken it from Sleep Mode, but it was unresponsive. “What? It was working fine just before!” However, no matter how many times Green spammed the buttons and shook the Pokégear around, it didn’t react. The screen stayed blank.

This was seriously too much.

“Okay, this isn’t funny. How are we supposed to get out of here?” Green pressed, almost pleading with the ruins more than he was with Red.

“I’m sorry,” was all his companion could say in response, which only made Green more irate.

“Why are you just apologizing? Are you saying you had something to do with this?”

“N-No! I didn’t… I was just…” Red trailed off as his voice died out.

“Forget it. Let’s move. There has to be a way out somewhere.” Green turned on his heel and took a moment to breathe deeply in an attempt to keep himself together. Blastoise groaned sadly at the sight and his trainer patted his shell to reassure him. “Thanks for trying,” he told him, and recalled Blastoise to his Pokéball.

This time, it was Green at the front, with Red lingering behind sullenly as his unimpressed Pokémon eyed daggers into the back of Green’s spiky head of hair. He pointedly ignored them until he noticed their footsteps come to a stop and, most importantly, the light source falling behind with them. Not at all keen to be left alone in the dark, Green was quick to backtrack. He opened his mouth to ask what they were doing, but Red spoke up first.

“ ‘To find the light we seek, we must first find faith within and trust those at our side.’ ”

“What?”

“That’s what the carving says,” Red explained, pointing at the large framed words written in Unown that he’d translated with his Pokédex. “It could be a clue.”

Green rolled his eyes. Leave it to Red to get distracted by the strangest details. “Sounds more like a useless motivational quote than anything,” he said. “And what’s there to trust, anyway? It’s not like either of us actually knows the way out.”

“I guess so,” Red conceded.

Though there was some reluctance, Red didn’t put up a fight and continued to follow Green’s lead until they reached the end of the entry chamber. Three archways stood before them, each with stairs leading underground in different directions. Nothing about their appearance gave away any hints about where they might lead, as everything beyond the first few steps was too dark to make out. Red dutifully inspected each entrance for airflow, but came up with nothing to go on.

“Let’s start here, then,” Green said, as he decidedly steered them to the far right tunnel. All they could do for now was guess blindly and narrow down their options. That wasn’t the kind of game that Green liked to play, but he saw no other choice.

Together, they began a deep descent down the flight of stairs before winding down a long, and seemingly unending tunnel. The walkway was so narrow that they had to walk in a single file line to fit between the walls, with Red’s Pikachu at the front and Charizard at the back to maintain the light.

With each passing moment, Green felt himself becoming more and more claustrophobic. Chu kept tripping Green up with his tail and weaving through his feet while Red occasionally stepped on the back of his shoes. But possibly the worst part of being crammed in a tight, dark space with his estranged rival was the tense silence. In an echoing environment, every minute sound was amplified, which only made the lack of talking even more noticeable.

Compared to this, that peaceful moment of comfortable silence they shared just outside of the ruins seemed worlds away.

Eventually, they reached a fork in the road with two diverging paths.

“Notice anything?” Red asked Chu, who had stood on his little hind legs and perked his ears to compare their options.

“Pika…” Chu shook his head with a frown.

“Then let’s just continue this way,” Green said, pointing forward.

Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be the only time they’d find multiple paths to choose from on their journey. In fact, there were enough tunnels to make anyone dizzy. This wasn’t just a road from A to B. This was an entire labyrinth.

When the group finally reached a staircase leading upwards, they breathed sighs of relief at the prospect of progressing their escape. Green couldn’t get himself up those stairs fast enough, but once he reached the top, his hopes quickly dashed.

“Do all the rooms in this place look the same or what?” Green narrowed his eyes skeptically at the chamber they found themselves in, taking in all the features that were indistinguishable from where they had started.

“The words on the wall here are the same,” Red offered as they passed the same spot he had stopped at before. Char and Chu were contributing in his own way by sniffing the area. They each tugged on Red’s clothes to let him know their findings. “And these two can recognize the scent.”

“Chaar!”

“Pika pi!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Green said. But their suspicions were only confirmed further once they continued walking and found an identical set of the three large archways.

The Gym Leader rubbed his face with his hands in frustration. This had creepy Psychic or Ghost Type energy written all over it. “Let’s try the middle one this time,” he suggested.

The middle tunnel was no different. It was just as long, narrow, and winding, complete with all the off-shooting paths to choose from. To call it déjà vu would be putting it lightly. Walking through such a nonsensical maze was an experience most akin to the sort of nightmares Green recalled getting when he was stressed or ill, where the same frustrating loop played over and over again, trapping him in a hopeless cycle of trying to get somewhere that didn’t exist. That maddening thought began to toy with Green’s mind as they walked, making him start to doubt whether there was any way out at all.

Nonetheless, the only way forward was through, and the group pushed onwards with the chance of finding something new dangling like a shiny carrot in front of them. Unfortunately, all they would find when they climbed the final staircase was disappointment.

The same carving. The same smell. The same archways.

“It has to be the left one then,” Green said. There was a desperate edge to his voice as he urged everyone onward with an added sharp, “Hurry up.”

Red seemed to look through him when their eyes met, like he wanted to say something, but Green avoided his gaze. He knew inside that there was no reason for him, or anyone else, to believe that the last tunnel would be any better than the last two. He knew this, yet he could not move onto other possibilities without trying.

Thankfully Red was the cooperative one, so he followed along without a word as they took on their third attempt. Needless to say, however, that it got them absolutely nowhere.

Green cursed under his breath and began to pace in front of the archways once they’d returned to them. His already small amount of patience had worn down to a thin shred that threatened to snap at any second. Whatever composure he held was a smokescreen to veil the very real fear that had his heart pounding incessantly in his chest since the moment he stepped foot into this horrible place.

“There has to be a logical way out of this,” Green said. “Maybe there’s a pattern, like a certain order we have to go down each path, or a particular set of turns. We’ll have to eliminate each combination one by one.” He pulled out a small, pocket-sized notebook and a pen to draw a simple map where they could mark off all of the turns. His slightly trembling hand, which refused to be controlled, betrayed his true emotions.

While he was scribbling away, Char nudged Red to try and encourage him to speak up about his idea. The boy swallowed and took a deep breath.

“Um… Green?” Red piped up sheepishly.

“What?” he snapped.

Red hesitated for a moment before continuing on to say, “Should we maybe try what the carvings said first?”

“Oh come on , Red!” Green groaned in exasperation. “Do you just expect us to suddenly hold hands like we’re best friends and that we’re going to be magically let out of here if we believe in sunshine and rainbows?” The words came out like a shot, before he could even think. After seeing Red flinch from his temper, he faltered for a moment. Green waited, begging for any kind of outward reaction - anger, sadness, annoyance, reassurance, a rebuttal, anything! - but instead he was met with the usual silence.

Green inhaled sharply as he felt his whole body start to shake, and he soon found himself unable to stop his deep seated frustrations from boiling over. “You know, it’d be a hell of a lot easier if I could trust you. But let’s be honest with ourselves! We haven’t had a normal conversation since… Arceus, since forever! ” He turned away, face scrunching regrettably. “Frankly, we’re more like strangers than rivals at this point, let alone friends.”

Those last words were like razors on his tongue. It hurt to admit it, even if it was the truth, but it wasn’t until he glanced back and caught the flash of horror reflected in Red’s eyes that he felt the worst pain of all.

This wasn’t right… This wasn’t what he wanted to tell him. He had wanted to build up the courage to apologize, to talk things out, to fix things. But once again, Green was pushing Red away. Old habits really die hard, huh?

Char and Chu appeared just about ready to end him right then and there. It was lucky for Green that looks couldn’t kill. The loyal Charizard had taken a defensive position near his trainer to create a barrier, partially obscuring him, while the haughty Pikachu lashed his tail back and forth and readied himself to attack.

Green felt his face grow hot with shame. His jaw clenched down so tight that it hurt, begging him to stop talking. But rather than backing down, he panicked and dug his heels in further.

“I mean, look at it from my perspective, it’s just too coincidental that Lyra called me to meet you near these ruins and then you claim to have this idea to just ‘go and check them out’ .” Green gestured helplessly to their bleak surroundings. “Then this happens, of all things! And you know how I… I… Ugh. Forget it.” Defeated, he balled his hands into fists and threw them down to his sides. Green glared at Red, even when his gaze wasn’t met in turn.

Of course, he got no reply. Green could just rip his hair out, but instead he added one last nail to the coffin.

“Sometimes… I just wish I knew what was going on in that damn head of yours.”

As if brought to life by those words, the Unown carvings flashed with a bright white glow, illuminating the entire space in its blinding light, and making Green scrunch his eyes shut. The strange voices came back, much louder this time.

《 Ⴘ𝜎ป ሥį𐒡ჩᕈ Ⴘ𝜎ป ሥį𐒡ჩ Է𝜎 ᶄ𐒐𝜎ሥᕈ ഡჩმԷ į𐒡 ဌ𝜎į𐒐ဌ 𝜎𐒐 į𐒐𐒡įᕷᕦ ჩį𐒡 ჩᕦმᕷᕈ ഡᕦ Ͼმ𐒐 Էᕦしし ሃ𝜎ป ሥᕦ Ͼმ𐒐 𐒡ჩ𝜎ሥ ሃ𝜎ป ሥᕦ Ͼმ𐒐 Էᕦしし ሃ𝜎ป ሥᕦ Ͼმ𐒐 𐒡ჩ𝜎ሥ ሃ𝜎ป 》

The ominous, overlapping chants rose in intensity until they came to an abrupt stop. The view from behind Green’s eyelids went dark again, so he hesitantly squinted his eyes open and came face to face with several Unown. They twirled freely in the air, circling around Red’s head as they stared at him. Completely entranced, he didn’t even think twice when Red spoke uncharacteristically without moving his mouth.

〖 I’m so stupid. He must hate me... 〗

“I don’t hate you! Jeez, forget about that, are you seeing what I’m seeing?!” Green exclaimed.

“Huh?” Red and his Pokèmon looked genuinely confused, and in an instant, the Unown disappeared.

〖 What is he talking about? And how did he know I was thinking that? 〗

… Thinking?!

Green’s eyes widened when he heard Red’s voice again, finally noticing the disconnect between the other’s words and his closed lips. His mind swirled as he questioned his own reality, and then the whole room began to spin with it.

A foreign pressure pulsated between his temples. It was as if his brain had swelled beyond its means, with two minds forcefully squeezed together into one skull.

“Uhh...” Green clutched his head as his body swayed to find its balance. Red tried to reach out to catch him, but he was too late.

The last thing Green saw was the ceiling before everything turned to black.

Unown voice transcription:
"... What do you want?"
"... What do you want? ... What do you want?"
"You wish? You wish to know? What is going on inside his head? We can tell you we can show you we can tell you we can show you."

 

[Redenne_Moon]

Chapter 4: The Edge of All Light
In which they take the next step

Green blinked his eyes open. A field stretched out before him, blanketed in a starry night sky. Countless Gardenias and pink Camellias were blooming as far as the eye could see. They swayed in the breeze, so vulnerable that the most delicate touch could cause them to crumble.

An icy chill rippled across Green’s skin and he rubbed his exposed arms. Despite the low temperatures, he was only wearing a shirt and shorts, but he was resigned to the fact that there was nothing to be done about it. Home was somewhere far away.

He felt inclined to turn around, so he did. Green would find that there was a path of crushed flowers behind him. How careless he must have been to step on them. The boy crouched down and cradled the dying flowers in his hands. He tried to reattach their crumpled petals but they only floated back down to the ground. Still, he kept trying. Trying. Trying. Trying.

Plip! … … Plip!

Beads of tears fell to adorn Green’s hands. He watched as they melded together, becoming larger and heavier until they rolled off of his skin and onto the flowers. They quivered.

More and more droplets began to fall, not just from his eyes, but from the sky as well. Green looked up, allowing himself to be showered in the pouring rain as it soaked through his clothes and made the fabric stick to his skin. Dark thundering clouds had covered all the beautiful stars. The sky rumbled and flashed with cracks of lightning.

With a sudden harsh gust, the dead flowers he held were quickly whisked away before he could even think to save them. Green then watched on in dismay as all around him thousands of petals ripped from their stems and scattered through the air.

Green dove desperately to reach the living flowers closest to him and blocked the wind from reaching them with his body. All the while, lightning struck the field again and again, scorching all it could touch until there was nothing left.

Nothing but Green and the single Gardenia and Camellia he had managed to save.

But the storm was not yet satisfied. Another rumble sounded and lighting was never too far behind.

It struck Green, and he screamed.

---

〖 He’s still not waking up. Why isn’t he waking up? 〗

〖 …This has been a disaster. 〗

Before even becoming cognizant of his regaining consciousness, Red’s omnipresent voice was flooding Green’s mind.

“Ngh…”

〖 He’s moving! Oh, thank goodness. 〗

Green’s body twitched and stirred as he became aware of a few things: One, his head was cold. Two, there was something heavy on his chest. Three, everything hurt.

When he finally opened his eyes, his vision was dominated by yellow. Two beady black eyes stared unblinkingly into his.

“Ack—! Ow…” Green jolted up in fear, but quickly came to regret it. Red was right there to support him by the shoulders and secure the makeshift cold compress on his forehead.

Chu, who had been sitting on him, rolled backwards and, after getting a look at Green, started laughing with a series of, “Pipipi”s .

“Sorry,” Red quickly apologized in the rodent’s stead. “He gets… hyper when he shocks people.”

“Shocks people…?” Green echoed in a daze.

“I wasn’t sure how else to wake you.”

“… Oh.”

That was when everything started to click.

Green reflexively reached up to check his hair. As he feared, it was a completely frizzy mess. No wonder Chu was giggling it up over there, that little stinker . Even Red’s Charizard couldn’t hold back a snicker. Green flashed them a pointed glare and, with his cheeks blazing pink, tried to use his fingers to undo the damage to his iconic style.

〖 You guys… Please. 〗

He couldn’t see what Red did behind him after that, but he felt the other boy move, and suddenly both of the Pokémon went quiet.

“Jeez,” Geen huffed. Not only did he faint out of the blue in front of Red, but now he looked even more ridiculous with a head full of static shock hair! But his wounded ego wasn’t the only issue with the recent turn of events.

〖 If they’re relaxed enough to laugh, maybe Green will be okay now. 〗

〖 That was so scary… 〗

That’s right, he was still hearing Red’s voice inside his head. And something to do with that, or the Unown, or both, caused him to faint and lose consciousness. The worst part of all of this was that Green couldn’t even be certain of what was real and what wasn’t anymore. Who was to say that he hadn’t entirely lost his mind? And if he had, when exactly did he first lose it?

With his and Red’s worries intermingling simultaneously in his head, it was impossible to think clearly. Green nursed his aches and pains in defeat while Red helped him sit up against the wall and passed over a water bottle. He took it and sipped the water slowly.

As he took some time to reorient himself, Green avoided looking at Red and instead inspected the bottle as if it was the most interesting thing around them. He recognized it as the same plastic bottle Red used to bring to school for as long as Green could remember. After years of heavy abuse it was incredibly banged up, and the Poliwag printed on it was pale and patchy from sun damage and friction.

“Are you okay?” Red finally managed to ask.

“… I guess.” Green shrugged..

〖 I’ll have to make sure he goes to a hospital after this. 〗

Red nodded thoughtfully before offering a granola bar he had put aside. “You should have something to eat.”

Green took the snack without complaint and ripped open the wrapping. There were tiny pieces of chocolate inside that brought a little bit of joy to this otherwise grim situation. He savored each bite.

As he ate, Red sat beside him and watched on silently.

〖 This is all my fault. 〗

‘Could that be a confession?’ Green found himself wondering.

It was a small, intrusive thought. But it was also the kind of thought that was hard to let go of once you’d had it. And as long as he had to listen to this voice, Green had a feeling he would start getting more and more thoughts like this, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.

Despite Green’s inclination to be skeptical, he couldn’t help but entertain the possibility that he really was reading Red’s mind. He’d met psychic people before, like Sabrina the Gym Leader, and between him going crazy or becoming a mindreader, the latter would definitely be the preferable option. But he couldn’t afford to just trust it at face value, either. For the sake of his sanity, he needed to find out the legitimacy of this voice as soon as possible. And the only way to do that was to test it.

“Red, can I ask you a couple things?” Green spoke up quietly in between bites of the granola bar.

“Of course.”

“What happened to me just now?”

Red’s lips spread to a thin line, his eyes searching Green’s.

〖 I wonder if he doesn’t remember? 〗

“Um… Well, you… you were upset. At me. And then you saw something,” he explained. “You were acting a bit strange and wobbly, and then you fainted. I made a cold compress and tried to wake you up. Then Chu shocked you, and you did. That’s all.”

“Did you see anything?”

Red shook his head.

〖 I wish. 〗

“What was it?” Red asked.

“There was a group of Unown,” Green said.

〖 That’s so cool! I wasn’t sure if any would show themselves. 〗

Red lightly touched the tips of his fingers to his mouth, like it was helping him to keep down a smile. His reply was measured. “Oh. Wow. Well, that makes sense.”

〖 Maybe Green was so scared that he fainted from shock? 〗

Green bit his tongue to stop himself from jumping the gun and protesting that he wasn’t scared.

He cleared his throat and asked carefully, “Did you plan to bring me here on purpose? Because of the Unown?”

Red’s surprise was subtle, but because Green was looking closely for it, he caught on to the way that the other trainer’s eyes widened, just a little, and how he pulled back, ever so slightly.

〖 This again... I can’t tell him the reason now. I can’t. I just can’t. 〗

“... Well, kind of. Sort of… Not exactly, though,” Red mumbled and looked down.

Green tried to play it cool, but the anticipation was killing him. Everything the voice said so far seemed to align with what Red was saying aloud, even when it was before Red had even started to speak.

This could be the real deal.

“Is it or isn’t it?”

“... I didn’t know we would get trapped.”

“That’s not what I asked,” Green pointed out, but Red didn’t speak after that. Normally, this was where Green would get frustrated and talk over the silence, but instead he waited with baited breath to see if the answer might reveal itself in Red’s thoughts.

〖 I feel like he thinks I was trying to hurt him. But why…? 〗

〖 I’ve probably just been bothering him this whole time. 〗

〖 Green will never want to see me again after this. 〗

〖 We never should have come here. 〗

Thoughts following a similar narrative began to overlap one another in chaotic streams of consciousness that made the pain at the back of Green’s head throb. Red’s voice sounded desperate and lost, in a way that was far more vulnerable than he ever shared aloud. Unveiled to him was a side of his childhood friend that Green had never seen before, and he wasn’t even meant to be a witness to it.

Unease weighed like lead in his stomach.

For once, Green was at a loss for words. And with nothing to say, all he could do was observe.

The first thing he noticed was Red’s posture, and the way he had now drawn further into himself to become even smaller. From there, he glossed over Red’s eyes, of which Green could only see his down-turned lashes, as Red had stopped maintaining any eye contact altogether. He was gnawing at the inside of his lower lip. Green’s gaze then trailed down to Red’s chest, which was rising and falling visibly through his clothes from pointed, heavy breaths. Finally, he noted how Red fiddled with his wristbands in a rhythmic, repetitive pattern.

The silence that Green had become quick to dismiss as condescending, spiteful, or apathetic, now appeared to be anything but. In that moment, he didn’t see a rival. He didn’t see the “legendary Champion” who stole his dream, or even the stupidly brave martyr who always scared him half to death. He just saw the shy, weird kid who used to need Green to stand up for him on the playground.

When did he stop trusting Red at face value?

When did he stop listening?

---

“You want to give Red and Leaf a Pokémon and Pokédex too?!”

Gramps’ didn’t turn to look at his fuming grandson, he just kept sorting his papers. “Of course. When the time comes and you’re old enough, I think I’d like to give them the opportunity. The more data we get the better, so it will be best to have you all out there meeting lots of Pokémon.”

“That’s not fair! I should be the one to carry your legacy, that’s what you said! Don’t you trust me enough to do it? I know the most about Pokémon! I could complete the Pokédex easily, without any of their help.”

“Now, Green, mind your temper,” he said. “They might not be as experienced as you, but I think they have a lot of potential. They might even help you improve and gain some new perspective. Red, for instance, has that quiet and gentle demeanor which will be great for befriending and catching Pokémon and-”

“Red this, Red that! You’re always comparing me to him and it’s so annoying. I don’t have to be like Red to catch a ton of Pokémon and become Champion! That’s what I was born to do!” Green decided he wouldn’t hear any more of it and stormed out with a final promise. “I’ll prove it, just you wait and see!”

On his way out of the lab, Red and Green crossed paths.

“Hi, Green,” Red greeted with a small wave. “Is the Professor inside? He said he’d show me the new Pokémon eggs.”

Green muttered, “What a suck up.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing,” Green said. “Yeah, he’s in.”

Red nodded and went ahead to the entrance. Green watched from a distance as Gramps opened the door, welcomed Red with open arms, and ushered him inside.

‘He thinks he’s so much better than me, but I’ll show him. And I’ll show Gramps too,’ he thought bitterly as he slunk away.

---

“... Whatever. You don’t have to answer.” Green couldn’t bear to look at Red any longer. He averted his gaze and shoved the Poliwag water bottle into the other boy’s arms. “Here. You should drink some water too. We’ve been walking a lot.”

Red fumbled to catch the bottle and, after gawking at Green for several painstaking seconds, started to take a few tentative sips. Just as Green was hoping, it forced Red to regulate his breathing.

Chu crawled onto Red’s lap and Char sat next to him with a thump.

For a while, they just sat there.

Gradually, Red’s thoughts slowed down, but the nagging of Green’s conscience did not.

He cleared his throat.

“Red?”

“Mm?”

“You should forget everything I said. I’m just frustrated. You know, from this whole… situation.”

Red blinked up at him, stunned. He still didn’t speak, instead looking to his Pokèmon as if they might have the answer for him.

〖 What does he mean by ‘everything’? 〗

“Don’t make me spell it out!” he groaned, pleading with Red to connect the dots for him but, after he got a blank stare in response, it was clear that wasn’t going to happen.

Green sighed.

“I’m…” He took a deep breath. “I’m saying I’m sorry. There.”

〖 What? 〗

〖 Green never apologizes. 〗

Green’s words hung in the air for an awkwardly long time. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Char and Chu’s expressions turning annoyingly smug. He tried to ignore them.

“... It’s okay.” Red smiled weakly.

He was always terrible at faking a smile.

“It’s not really,” Green said.

〖 Maybe not… but maybe we can make it okay. 〗

“I promise I never meant for any of this to happen.” Red extended his pinky finger and held it out towards Green.

“A pinky promise? What are we, five?”

He shrugged innocently. “Maybe.”

There was something so simple and nostalgic about Red’s solution that it made Green smile despite himself.

“Alright. You’ve convinced me, I believe you,” Green said as he linked his pinky with Red’s. “… How about we try this your way then?”

“Really? You mean it?” Red sounded uncertain.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s worth a try.”

Red’s eyes lit up with hope, as Char’s blazing tail reflected within them.

“Okay… The thing is, to do it, I’d have to put my Pokémon back into their Pokéballs.”

“Woah, woah, woah, hang on.” Green held his hands up to put the breaks on. “You’re saying you want us to go through these ruins in pitch black? ”

〖 I knew he wouldn’t like the sound of the idea, but if I can just get him to understand… 〗

“ ‘To find the light we seek, we must first find faith within and trust those at our side,’ ” Red said, reciting the words on the wall once again.

“… Yes, and?” Green waited expectantly.

Red took a deep breath to gather his thoughts. “I think it means there’s a secret light that will only show in special conditions.” He looked up and eyed Green warily. “I think we have to trust each other, and the ruins, and not try to create our own light.”

“And what if you’re wrong?”

“Then I’ll bring them back out.” Red stood up and held out his hand. “Right away. I promise.”

〖 Please… I won’t let anything happen to you. 〗

…

“Alright. Fine,” Green conceded, before reluctantly grabbing Red’s hand and hoisting himself up.

“Thank you.” Red’s calloused hand clasped around his securely. It didn’t seem like he was going to let go.

“You know, I was kidding before… about the hand holding.”

〖 I thought it would help him with the dark, but I probably got ahead of myself. 〗

“Oh. Sorry. We don’t have to.”

His grip quickly loosened to let go, but Green held it in place.

Man, he hated when Red was right.

“I was just teasing you,” Green said flippantly, putting on that usual smug smirk of his. “You’ve always been slow, so it only makes sense that we stick together so you don’t get lost.”

As he felt the warmth of Red’s hand close in around his again, Green swore he saw him smile.

〖 Green is so strange sometimes. 〗

‘That’s rich, coming from you!’ Green thought.

“Chu, return.” Red recalled his Pikachu first, and the ruins grew a bit darker.

Green took long, quiet breaths in and out, trying to play it cool. Once he had adjusted, Red held out the final Pokéball towards his Charizard and counted down.

“On one… two… three.”

On three, Char disappeared in a flash. In that very instant, the ruins became black. Not a single shred of light was left. Green squeezed Red’s hand, hard.

〖 His hand is warm. And kind of sweaty. 〗

Rude and embarrassing commentary from Red’s thoughts aside, there was silence between them as they waited with baited breath.

After a few excruciating heartbeats, a faint purple light flickered weakly behind them. The pair turned to see that the wall carvings were lighting up one by one, continuing down the wall, up onto the ceiling, and reaching all the way to the archways, illuminating the middle path. The light grew in intensity until the entire chamber was bathed in its cool glow.

〖 It really worked! 〗

With his sight returned, Green practically gasped for air in relief.

“Are you okay?” Red asked.

“Better than okay if we’re finally going to be able to get out of here,” Green said.

“... I’m sorry, for all of this.”

“You apologize too much.” There was a softness to Green’s scolding as he dismissed Red’s words, but with a sudden indignation he became quite energetic. “There’s one thing I can’t let slide though... When you count down, you’re supposed to specify whether you’re starting on three or on go, just FYI! ”

“Oh. Sorry,” Red said.

The two looked at each other and, despite everything, they burst into laughter at the irony.

As Red and Green disappeared down the middle staircase together, a small group of Unown followed them in the shadows.

 

[Redenne_Moon]

Chapter 5: The Eclipse
In which opposites attract

The violet lights of the ruins were cold in their mystique. Green missed the warm glow of flames and electricity as he walked through the maze of tunnels without any Pokémon in tow. Only the warmth of Red’s hand remained, tethering the pair to their newfound resolve.

"Feeling okay?"

"I told you, I'm fine , you don't have to keep asking," Green huffed, "I'm not a baby."

"Okay." Red went quiet again.

〖 I just don't know what else to talk about. Ahhh... Jeez. 〗

Was Red trying to... start a conversation?

Green peered at the other boy out of the corner of his eye. Something had definitely shifted between them, even if just a little.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try.

"How does it feel? To, uh, be back," Green said. It wasn't smooth but it was something . Something he should have asked months ago, actually.

Red didn't speak up right away.

"... Good. I think," he began. He stared down at his feet absentmindedly as he walked. "But everything's different."

〖 You're a Gym Leader now. Leaf's joined the Interpol. Daisy re-entered the Contest scene. And I'm... I'm not even sure what I'm doing. 〗

Green let that thought sit with him as well. He wondered how it must have felt, knowing the world was moving on without him. His own life standing still in ice while the outside commotion of his success and sudden disappearance slowly faded to obscurity.

"Yeah, a lot's changed." Green’s tone came out more blunt than he intended. He saw Red's head lower even more, and he hastily continued. "But a lot of things are the same, too."

Scarlet eyes met emerald.

"Like, for one thing, my sister is still just as annoying! She's always calling and fussing over me. The other day she dropped in unannounced to make sure I was buying groceries for myself and not just living in with a 'bachelor fridge', as she called it." While the Gym Leader was shaking his head as he spoke, his smile was undeniable. "And Leaf's not around to punch me for saying this but she totally still has a crush on her."

"Leaf has a crush on Daisy?" Red asked, shocked.

"Why are you acting like you don't know? We've been over this!"

"I thought you were just teasing her. She always told you she didn't."

"... Red. You know, for an ex-Champion you can be really dense sometimes."

"..."

"Anyway! The point is, not everything has changed."

"What about you?"

Green frowned. "Well, that's sort of a loaded question." This would have been the perfect time to tell Red the feelings he'd been holding onto, but his throat tightened like a vice. That small, scared, and childish version of himself that he loathed so deeply screamed for him not to. He sighed. "... What do you want me to say?"

〖 I don't know... 〗

Red shrugged. It was hard to see his expression, but he seemed to regret saying anything at all.

"Do you like being a Gym Leader?" he asked instead.

"I actually love it," Green replied confidently, if not a little defensively. Being a Gym Leader was the only thing in his life that made sense anymore. It gave him purpose and stability. "I do a damn good job of it, too. Sure, some people think I'm just settling because I lost the Championship, and I know even more people think I'd be better off following in Gramps' footsteps as a researcher, but it's my choice - not anyone else's."

When he looked at Red, he half-expected to met with a look of pity or judgment, but Red was smiling. It was a soft, fond smile, like the ones he usually directed at his Pokémon.

"I'm glad."

〖 As long as you're happy... then I'm glad. 〗

Green's cheeks went hot, but thankfully the cool toned lighting didn't give it away.

At last, they reached the stairs.

Green peered up hopefully, but would regrettably not find daylight pouring out of the exit to welcome them. He glanced at Red, who was furrowing his brows thoughtfully.

〖 No sign of an exit yet… I wonder if the ruins have more puzzles for us. 〗

He prayed for Red’s instincts to be wrong.

They marched up the craggy steps, the soles of their shoes echoing as though there were others trailing behind them.

Shaking the thought, Green soaked in the massive chamber he and Red now found themselves in. Carvings of suns and moons embellished tall ceremonial columns that framed the room’s center, bathing the barren space in a shimmering violet. Gazing up at the distant ceiling made him feel impossibly small and insignificant, and he decided he preferred claustrophobia to the vulnerability of being completely exposed.

While this was unmistakably different from where they started, marking some sense of progress, it only took a glance to see that aside from the entryway they came through, the rest of the walls were sealed.

“Of course it wouldn’t be that easy,” Green grumbled. If he didn't complain, he'd have no choice but to cry, and he wasn't going to let that happen. He knew better than to take out his frustrations on Red this time, but Green couldn’t help throwing a bit of a stink eye his rival’s way.

'You jinxed us' , he thought.

“Yeah…” replied Red absentmindedly. He frowned as he analyzed the columns, completely oblivious to Green’s petty inner dialogue.

〖 There must be a trick. A secret door? Maybe there’s some hidden buttons. 〗

Red pulled Green along to get a closer look. He braced himself for the worst, glancing behind warily at their surroundings while Red ran his hands over a sun symbol.

Just as he was thinking it was far too quiet for comfort, there was a strange scuffling sound. Impish giggles reverberated against the walls.

Green yanked Red back instinctively. Their back and chest collided, they stumbled noisily, and the giggling stopped.

“They found us,” whispered one.

“Quick, let’s go,” whispered the other.

Green caught a brief glimpse of two children running out of the corner of his eye. They soon disappeared behind one of the columns. Red and Green tried to pursue them, but there was no one on the other side.

“Ghosts…?” Green whispered. He felt his chest squeeze.

“They left something,” Red said, a little too casually.

A muscular action figure and a well-loved Caterpie doll lay discarded in the middle of the room.

“That looks just like the wrestling figure my Sis bought me, and that Caterpie…” Green swallowed, hesitating as the words struggled to form, “That’s yours, isn’t it?”

Red nodded, eyes glued on the worn seams and dirt stained fabric of his favorite childhood toy.

Uneasy silence followed.

“There’s no way I’m touching that,” Green declared. He crossed his arms with a tone of finality. "That's a trap if I've ever seen one."

“I could do it,” Red offered.

He scoffed incredulously. “Do you want to get possessed?”

“No? But…”

While they went back and forth, the toys on the ground started to shake.

“ Shit .” Green backed them away as the toys contorted and convulsed. Their plastic and fabric ruptured to reveal new flesh and skin that encased their growing forms. They doubled in size by the second, stretching high above the boys’ heads. Their eyes opened, wide and glowing. Their chests heaved as they sucked in their first breaths.

Jaws slack, they stared helplessly.

Two monstrous creatures now towered before them, vaguely resembling a Machamp and a Caterpie. Their colors were dark and dull, their movements puppet-like in the way they wielded their unnaturally colossal forms. Whether they were real Pokémon or not became irrelevant as soon as the Machamp powered up a Close Combat.

Green didn’t need mind-reading abilities to know what Red was thinking this time. As trainers, the next move was obvious. Umbreon’s Pokéball shook, asking to be chosen, but Green had other plans. They both grabbed a Pokéball from their waists and threw them into the air. Their Arcanine and Espeon cried out as they landed onto the battlefield.

The usual warmth of Red’s eyes ignited in fiery passion.

〖 Use Confuse Ray! 〗

The Psychic type had no need for verbal cues. She swiftly followed commands, her shrill screech sending the Machamp into a complete daze. It stumbled and swayed, eyes vacant as it repeatedly struck its own body in a flurry of punches.

“I can’t believe they chose your Caterpie of all things!” Green scoffed, amused despite himself. “I guess I should be grateful. This should be a piece of cake. Arcanine, Flamethrower!”

His loyal Arcanine surged forward, its normally impressive size easily dwarfed next to the monstrous Caterpie. Flames roared alive within the canine’s jaw and engulfed the insect in hues of hot vermilion.

Red acted in turn, and Eve followed up her previous attack with a potent wave of Psychic energy that sought to undo Machamp from the inside out.

That should have been all she wrote, but neither creature fell. With a shake of its long body, the Caterpie shook off Arcanine’s flames as if they were no more than a splash of water. Machamp merely stumbled backwards, only to snap out of Confusion more enraged than ever. Red gaped in shock. Green’s short lived confidence wavered.

“... W… What are these things?” Green clenched his fists. “Use Flare Blitz!”

Arcanine’s fur grew into a blazing fire and he charged full speed at Caterpie. The beast reared its tail and swung, knocking the air straight out of Arcanine’s lungs and sending him flying into a pillar. His paws shook as he tried to push himself back up.

"Damn it, no!" The Gym Leader’s face turned white. “Arcanine! Watch out!”

Not a moment sooner, Caterpie launched at Arcanine with its fangs bared and ravaged the poor, battered Pokémon with a shower of Bug Bites. Completely drained of power, Arcanine fainted.

〖 This is really bad, they’re too strong! Eve, keep your distance! 〗

To save his partner any more pain, Green recalled Arcanine to his Pokéball. He held it in his trembling hand and watched helplessly as Caterpie moved its sights onto Red’s Espeon. Eve was fighting off the Machamp to the best of her abilities, the back and forth already demanding Red’s complete attention.

“It’s coming for Eve now, Red!”

His rival sucked in a sharp breath.

〖 Use the pillars! 〗

The Eeveelution darted behind one of the pillars just in time to shield herself from a Mach Punch and Bug Bite. It absorbed the attack without taking damage, just like the sealed door in the first chamber. Red’s eyes lit up in interest, and Green could hear the gears turning.

〖 Good, keep going! Keep them distracted. 〗

Eve artfully weaved through the ring of pillars, baiting and dodging their opponents with the grace of a ballerina. But this couldn’t last forever.

Green slapped the sides of his face to force himself to focus. He swapped Arcanine’s Pokéball for Pidgeot’s, but before he could press the button, Umbreon burst out of her own ball and forced her way onto the battlefield in Pidgeot’s stead.

The sun and moon symbols twinkled in delight.

“Umbreon, what are you doing?” Green spluttered in a panic, “Your Typing won’t work here, and I need to help Red and-”

“Eve!”

Before he could register what was happening, Red bolted into the middle of the chaos towards his Espeon. The Caterpie had chased her into Machamp’s range, who struck her as it bellowed with a deep, gravelly laughter. Red dove to catch her, and Eve crashed into his arms. They fell together, skidding across the hard, rubbled ground.

“Red!” The name caught in Green’s throat and he thought he would choke. For a moment, everything slowed. The Machamp pursued its injured prey with Caterpie crawling just behind to close them in.

'This is all rigged! I just wish-,' Green's eyes widened, memories from before he fainted hitting him like Machamp's Mach Punch, 'Wish...'

Umbreon looked up at him with a sparkling and urging expression.

There was no way to know if it would work but...

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Green quipped, projecting his voice loudly to draw the attention of both their opponents, "I wish Eve and Umbreon were as big as you!"

《 ⴰⴰⴰഡį𐒡ჩᕈ 》

Thousands of eyes snapped open all around them. The puppet Pokémon stilled as if their master had abandoned the cross braces.

《 ሥჩმԷ ᕷ𝜎 ሃ𝜎ป ሥმ𐒐Էᕈ ሃ𝜎ป ሥმ𐒐Է Էჩᕦጠ Է𝜎 ဌᒋ𝜎ሥᕈ ሥᕦ Ͼმ𐒐 ጠმᶄᕦ Էჩᕦጠ ဌᒋ𝜎ሥⴰ ሥᕦ Ͼმ𐒐 ጠმᶄᕦ Էჩᕦጠ ဌᒋ𝜎ሥⴰ ᑰป𐒡Է ሥმԷϾჩⴰ ᑰป𐒡Է ሥმԷϾჩⴰ ᑰป𐒡Է ሥმԷϾჩⴰ 》

With the rising chants, the room flooded in a bright white light and the two Eeveelutions shot up like beanstalks, going from standing at their trainer's knees to towering up close to the ceiling. Red had to scramble away in a hurry to stop from being crushed under foot. He gaped in speechless shock.

〖 What? Huh? What the heck? What is...? What? 〗

The eyes fluttered shut when the light faded, disappearing entirely. Slowly, Caterpie and Machamp started moving again. Their janky limbs readied to attack.

If this was their last chance, they had to do it right.

“Umbreon, Protect!” Yellow rings shone brilliantly as Umbreon joined the fray. She cloaked herself, Espeon, and Red in a frosted white shield. The enemy attacks knocked against it, the whiplash of the blocked momentum sending them backwards in a cloud of dust.

"Hurry, Red, we have to end this together!"

It was almost frightening how quickly Red went from dumbfounded to guns blazing. "Right!" He rushed to Green's side with a slight limp, teeth gritted. Umbreon and Espeon touched foreheads before raising their heads to challenge their opponents.

“Ready?” Green asked.

“Ready,” Red replied.

Together, they called for their Pokémon to join forces.

"Foul Play!"

"Psychic!"

In perfect unison both Eeveelutions launched their attacks at the puppet Pokémon. The impact resulted in an explosion of dirt and debris that obscured the enemy from sight for a few, agonizing heartbeats.

Red grabbed the back of Green’s shirt for stability.

Ghoulish wails and groans filled the air, then, and last, the large shadowy Pokémon fell to the ground and scattered the lingering dust, revealing their defeat. Their bodies stiffened as they slowly shrunk back down into the form of two broken toys, the entire ruins rumbling and shaking along with them. Two exits revealed themselves in the crumbling rock on opposite ends of the chamber.

Umbreon and Eve shrunk back down to their usual size and breathlessly ran to their trainers. The two kneeled down to reach them, offering the expected amount of affectionate pats.

"Good job, Eve," Red said.

"Great work, Umbreon," Green said.

The two Eeveelutions glanced at one another, which prompted their trainers to do the same. Red’s voice fluttered into Green’s mind, and he realized they were thinking the same thing.

〖 This is the first time we’ve had a victory to celebrate together... 〗

"... You did good too,” Red managed to say, though he didn’t quite make eye contact.

Green cleared his throat. “Yeah, right, you too. Not that you need me to tell you that.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, telling you you’re a strong trainer is pretty overdone at this point, right?” He gave a wry smile.

“... You’ve never told me that before.”

“Oh.” Green’s smirk fell. “... I haven’t?”

Red shook his head.

“Well, now I have.” Green shrugged as he tried to make it sound like it was no big deal.

“You’re a strong trainer too.”

“I know. You don’t have to repeat it just because I said it.”

“No, I mean it.”

“Okay… Thanks, I guess.”

Eve and Umbreon smiled at each other.

"And you... are you okay?" Green's expression scrunched in concern as his focus dropped to Red's ankle.

“I’m fine."

“Like hell you are… You were limping."

"Well, it hurts a little but I can keep going," Red assured.

"Oh no you won't." Green stopped him right there. "We're not going anywhere until everyone, you included, is fighting fit."

〖 That could take a long time. I wonder if Green would give me a ride on his back? No way, what am I thinking? That would never happen… 〗

“Okay, I guess.” Red plopped down and slumped, rubbing the back of his neck with both hands as he admonished himself for the thought.

Meanwhile, Green was hating himself for envisioning it.

“So do you have any more Potions and Revives in that bag of rocks or what?” he demanded, ignoring the sickening way his stomach flipped.

“O-Oh, yes, of course.” Red removed his bag and started fishing for supplies.

Green brought his wounded Arcanine back out and together they got to work, tending to everyone until the only one left out was Red himself. All they had to work with was a roll of old bandages, but it would have to do.

“This’ll at least keep your ankle secure until we get out,” Green said. His eyes narrowed when he saw Red take off one of his shoes. “Your socks are full of holes.”

“Yeah…?” Red gave a slightly embarrassed smile.

“A lot of things about you haven’t changed either, huh?” With a shake of his head, Green got on his knees before Red and hiked the pant leg on his injured side. There was a smattering of old scars there he’d never seen before. Arcanine rested his head on Red’s lap while Green securely bound his ankle and foot with an efficient hand. Red slipped his shoe back on carefully, fingers grazing over the bandages.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.” Green waved dismissively.

Neither spoke for a moment, and Red busied himself with putting the rest of his things away. His brows were knitted together in thought.

〖 That battle was nothing like anything I’ve seen before. Green hasn’t bought it up yet but I feel like I have to ask. 〗

“Hey, Green?”

He hesitated. “What?”

“Um. Do you know what happened during the battle… You know… when our Pokémon became huge?”

〖 It was like he just wished for it and it came true. I’ve heard that Unown respond to people’s desires but... 〗

"Oh. Right. That was really crazy, wasn't it?" Green shifted uncomfortably. The thought of Red somehow finding out that he had been reading his mind the whole time mortified him. Things were just starting to get better between them, but what if this ruined it? "I got frustrated and just said what was on my mind… I don’t really know what happened.”

"Did the Unown show-?"

Green abruptly stood up and quickly changed the topic to pretend he didn't hear him. "Alright! Now that we're all good, we need to get moving. We can have Arcanine carry you."

Red deflated as he was forced to swallow the rest of his words. Green could hear him deliberate on speaking up again, but he ultimately did not. “...Okay.”

〖 Eve… Do you feel like Green is acting a little weird? 〗

The Espeon and her trainer shared a look together that Green tried not to openly stare at by keeping his back turned to one of the newly opened exits.

Suddenly, Eve’s ears perked and she scampered off to the right exit, opposite of where Green was headed.

“Eve?” Red scrambled to get up and follow her without thinking, limping as he tried to keep the weight off his bad ankle. Arcanine trailed behind with a whine, eager to fulfill his task of carrying Red.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to be walking!” But before Green could join them, Umbreon bolted to the left exit. Green spun around in confusion. “Umbreon, what is with you today?! Come back!” He went after the Dark Type impatiently.

Within seconds, the ceiling caved in with a crash and split the chamber in half. Where they had just been sitting was now covered in a wall of rubble.

“Red!” Green called, “Are you okay?!”

There was no reply, nor could he hear any thoughts.

“Red!… RED!”

Nothing.

“Arcanine! Eve!”

Still nothing.

“Fuck! Damn it.”

Green desperately tried to pull the rocks away, but to no avail. The barrier was impenetrable, with chunks of rock too big and jammed together to move. Their sharp split edges were painful against his skin, daring him to give up hope. All the while, Umbreon looked oddly calm. She was seated next to the exit, not moving a single paw to help.

“What’s gotten into you? Can you try using a move on this so we can break through?”

“Reee…”

She pointed to the exit.

“Are you crazy? We can’t just leave them behind.”

She pointed again.

“There’s something you know that I don’t and it’s creeping me out.” He turned back around to the rubble briefly. “Are you really sure about this?”

She nodded.

Green pursed his lips and paced back and forth. He didn’t want to go at this alone. He didn’t want to walk away when he didn’t know if things were okay on the other side. He didn’t want to see what was waiting for him ahead.

He didn’t want to. But he trusted Umbreon.

“Okay… Fine.”

Against every fiber of his being, Green left the destroyed chamber behind with only his Umbreon at his side.

Unown transcript:
"...Wish?"
"What do you want? You want them to grow? We can make them grow. We can make them grow. Just watch. Just watch. Just watch."

 

[Redenne_Moon]

Chapter 6: The Last Word
In which Green faces himself

A long, dark corridor stretched out before Green and Umbreon with no end in sight. Staring into it, Green felt a distinct pull that threatened to swallow him whole.

At his feet, Umbreon stood with her ears raised and twitching.

Whispers beckoned from afar.

《 ഡჩმԷ ᕷ𝜎 ሃ𝜎ป ሥმ𐒐Էᕈ 》

《 ഡჩმԷ ᕷ𝜎 ሃ𝜎ป ሥმ𐒐Է ጠ𝜎ᒋᕦ Էჩმ𐒐 მ𐒐ሃԷჩį𐒐ဌᕈ 》

"Shut up!" Green snapped, finally giving the Unown a piece of his mind. "All I want is to get out of this shithole!"

《 ഡჩმԷ ᕷ𝜎 ሃ𝜎ป ሥმ𐒐Էᕈ 》

Nostrils flaring, he sucked a sharp breath before shouting at the top of his lungs, sending a last ditch plea echoing down the corridor, “I WISH FOR YOU TO LET US GO, DAMN IT!”

The ruins were still and quiet, unfeeling.

“Oh, so that’s the one wish you won’t listen to?” Green quipped with a tone of superiority, making sure to posture himself on top in this one-way argument. "Umbreon, do you know what their deal is?" He looked down at his Pokémon pleadingly.

She nodded, a sadness reflected in her large red eyes that he hadn't noticed earlier in his panicked state. Taking a few steps forward, Umbreon sighed and lifted her head to the ceiling. The yellow rings on her pelt gleamed a radiant gold. When she looked back to her trainer, she flicked her tail for him to follow.

Green walked close behind.

As they carved through the shadows with Umbreon's light, a hidden figure was unveiled further down their path. Green froze in place, all air turning to ice in his lungs.

"So you finally caught up," said the child with a taunting laugh.

Youthful emerald eyes saw right through Green with a sharpness that was unbecoming of a child so small. A constellation of freckles and unruly ginger hair framed his ghostly pale face. Recognition struck like a bolt of lightning.

"What is this? Why are you pretending to be me?" Green's voice was low and cold. He knew, deep in his gut, that this was the Unown's doing once again. They were toying with him, and he was sick of it.

The child turned on his heel without warning and ran away. Rage made Green forget all fear, and he broke into a sprint after him. Umbreon kept up beside him, lighting the way.

"Get back here and gimme some answers! What's this all for?! Why won't you leave us alone?!" Green fought for each breath as he barked demands.

All he got back was boisterous laughter. "You're so slow!"

Green's younger self was effortlessly quick, keeping ahead of the pack with ease as he ran and ran, leading them all the way to a mysterious door. The young boy burst right through it, the warm daylight of an early sunrise splashing out and blinding his pursuers. Green staggered, blinking rapidly until he was able to make out what appeared to be the inside of his house in Pallet Town.

Dazed and disoriented, Green walked through the entrance cautiously, watching the child stomp towards the stairs and sit himself down as loudly as possible. Umbreon was on high alert and kept herself pressed against her trainer's leg.

“You can’t go!” he suddenly protested, cheeks now red and hot as he blinked back tears he refused to spill. “You were supposed to stay for another week to see me in the play.”

As though someone had plunged a hand right through his ribs, Green could feel a memory he'd locked away long ago ripping out of the depths of his heart.

Wait - No, no, no...

“I know, Green, but a conference has come up unexpectedly and it’s very important for your father and I to be there. You understand, don’t you? These things are important for adults.”

Green's body shook with tremors as he dared to turn towards the source of the voice. Two faces he hadn't seen in years were now right before him in perfect clarity. His mother and father. They looked right through him as they gazed upon their youngest child, suitcases in hand.

He knew all too well what this day was.

He didn't want to see it.

“But this always happens! You’re never here!” Little Green glared as he stood up and confronted them, hands balled up. “If… If you go, then I’ll never talk to you again!”

Stop.

“Excuse me?” Pa looked up from his suitcase.

Stop showing me this.

“You either choose me or your stupid work meeting!”

Please!

“Son, we’re not choosing one or the other. This is just something we have to do. When you’re older you’ll understand.” He ruffled Green’s hair, which only caused the child to puff up further in anger. “I used to feel the same about your Gramps going on work trips when I was younger. And look at me now!”

Green shirked him off and stumbled back. He looked between his parents with wild eyes.

His present self sunk to the ground and covered his ears, willing himself not to hear what was coming next. Umbreon licked and nuzzled him comfortingly.

“I’ll never understand! You… You… I hate you!”

“Green…” Ma sounded both hurt and angry. She opened her mouth to say more, but then Pa, who looked equally vexed, let out a pained sigh.

“The cab is here.” His tone was not unkind, but slightly strained. “Let’s not fight before we go. We love you very much and I know you love us. Come on, who wants a big Ursaring hug?”

“NO!” The refusal escaped him like an eruption, louder than intended. “Just leave already and stop pretending to care!” Green spun around and ran up the stairs while concealing the tears that he couldn’t stop from falling any longer.

Ma had started to follow him, but Pa grabbed her gently by the arm.

“We really have to go.”

“I know, but…”

“I’ll tell Pops to check on him. And we can call the home phone later when we’ve reached the hotel. I’m sure he’ll have calmed down by then.”

“Alright… Yes, you’re right.”

The cab driver started honking his horn from outside.

“It'll be alright, I promise.”

With a solemn nod between them they grabbed their suitcases and headed out the door.

At the sound of the turning lock, Green broke into sobs. His childhood self cried with him from upstairs.

If only he had known back then that he would never see his parents again.

He would have apologized. He would have told them he loved them.

But reality was not so forgiving.

"No more... Stop..." Green begged. His strained heart felt as though it had been shattered and laid bare, discarded on the floor for all to see. Desperately, he tried to pick up the pieces.

As he wept, he felt someone approaching. Green looked up to see his younger self at eye level. The tear-stained child tried to reach out to him, but he smacked his hand away.

"Don't touch me! I can't stand you!" Green spat venomously, which only served to poison himself. "Why do you always ruin everything?!"

His younger self let his hand drop. Umbreon whined as she watched him turn and slowly walk back up the stairs, leaving Green alone to cry.

All the while, seasons cycled rapidly through the windows. Days and nights lasted mere seconds at a time. The home around them gradually changed to reflect the Oak household as he knew it in the present day.

The television in the living room turned on by itself. A news segment blared loudly from the speakers that made Green's growing headache throb, but he refused to fall for another trap by engaging with it.

"A body was discovered today on Mt.Silver by a Kalosian tourist who scaled the dangerous mountain for training purposes. His Slurpuff caught the scent which was otherwise undetectable under massive amounts of snow following a recent avalanche. Authorities have unearthed the victim and identified him as a young boy named Red Nishida, former champion of the Kanto region -"

With a crash, the remote pierced the television screen and sent splinters of glass flying. Green panted heavily from where he now stood, stance wide and shoulders slumped.

It was a fake broadcast, that was obvious, but it was one he'd imagined many times over. Even now, his body couldn't tell the difference. Green's stomach lurched, and a sour taste filled the back of his throat. Red wasn't by his side anymore, so he couldn't even assure himself that he was okay.

"You're the worst," he whispered to the Unown, "For showing me these things, you're the absolute worst."

Green stumbled backwards onto the couch. He stared at the destruction and then at the ceiling.

'And so am I,' he thought.

The electronics sparked and sizzled, almost as though they were speaking.

《 ഡჩმԷ ᕷ𝜎 ሃ𝜎ป ሥმ𐒐Է ጠ𝜎ᒋᕦ Էჩმ𐒐 მ𐒐ሃԷჩį𐒐ဌᕈ 》

At that moment, he knew the answer.

"I have to find Red."

With a rigid abruptness that took Umbreon off guard while she was trying to nestle in his lap, Green got up and strode to the front door. He reached to swing it open with the usual amount of confidence he would at home, only for his shoulder to yank uncomfortably in its socket when the door didn't budge. He fiddled with the locks, but everything was sealed in place.

"Maybe the back door," Green mumbled. There was a far off look in his eyes. Umbreon weaved between his legs to get his attention. Usually that would just annoy him, but this time he nearly toppled over. At the very least, it briefly distracted him from his descent into madness. "Jeez! What is it?"

Umbreon pointed towards the stairs with her tail.

"… Up there? Okay, if you say so."

Once they reached the second floor, Green followed Umbreon to his bedroom. He swallowed heavily before opening the door, which quietly creaked on its hinges and made his skin crawl. The curtains had been shut, leaving his entire room in shadow except for the strip of light they'd let in through the hallway. At the end of that strip, where Green half-expected to find the child from earlier, a teenager sat hunched on the floor instead.

Gradually, the figure raised his head and revealed a spitting mirror image of Green. That child he'd told off before had now grown up, leaving no way to differentiate the two.

The hair on the back of Green's neck stood on end, unsettled by the uncanny resemblance. He carefully stood his ground while feigning disinterest. "What, you're still here?"

"That's my line," the copy shot back with unrestrained bitterness. "Are you here to beg for my help?"

"I'm not begging anyone. If you're the ticket outta here then let's get this over with."

"I'm not helping you."

Green's eyebrow twitched. "Huh?"

"I only ruin everything anyway."

"Give me a break!" Green said. "You're just the Unown's illusion. You're not gonna make me feel sorry for you - not after everything you put me through."

"So now it's the Unown's fault." He laughed mockingly. "That's so like you! But admit it - isn't all of this your own fault? You're the one that said those things to Ma and Pa."

"Don't even go there-"

"Because it's the truth? You can't hide anything from me, because I know you better than anyone."

"You don't know a damn thing about me! You're not real!"

"Really?" The shadow stood up, his wide eyes raw and bloodshot from crying. "Because I know that you never apologized to Red." He took a step closer. "I know that you never replied to a single one of his letters." Then another step. "You didn't even have the guts to try and visit him." And another. "Isn't that because you know you don't deserve to be forgiven?"

A small, shrill whine left Umbreon's throat. Her fur prickled anxiously as she tried to create distance between the two using her body.

Green's bravado faltered. "Th-That's…"

"And now you're lying to him, pretending you can't read his mind. You're the one that no one should feel sorry for!" Now he was right in front of Green, their identical faces only inches apart. "You weren't good enough for Ma and Pa. You're not good enough for Gramps. You're not even good enough for yourself."

Green forced Umbreon out of the way by closing the rest of the distance. He grabbed his shadow by the collar, teeth gritted. "Shut. Up."

"So what makes you think you'll ever be good enough for Red?"

"I said shut up!"

Overtaken by emotion, Green surged forward, pushing the copy backwards into his bookshelf. With clangs and thuds, his neatly displayed collections scattered at their feet. Green felt a sharp, unexpected pain in his spine.

The shadow lunged back, taking Green down with him and knocking their bodies against the hardwood floor. The displaced figures and small toys dug into him on impact, making Green gasp in agony. Umbreon cried in distress. Like starving beasts, they began to grab and pull and punch in a desperate struggle for power.

If the only way to save Red was to get through himself, then so be it.

Song rec for this chapter: HYACINTHUS by Aidoneus (It's in my Reguri Mix playlist :3)

Unown transcripts:
"What do you want?"
"What do you want more than anything?"
"What do you want?"
"What do you want more than anything?"