Thalidomine
Title: Thalidomide
Author: solarpillar
Rating: PG-13?
Verse: Gameverse
Characters: Red, Green. Mention of Johto characters.
Summary: Solution to one problem is actually poison to more than one life.
Red had lost track of days. How long had he been here? Months? Years? He didn't want to check. His phone's battery had been plucked out in order to save energy, even though Green told him that batteries lose energy over time anyway. He had a watch, but it was smashed in a match, and now Red relied on the sun for time. The paper calender was burned for heat and the liquid crystal one was broken.
It was boring here.
From the mountain top, Red could see that trees leaves had turned yellow, red and brown. Must be autumn. Harvest season.
He wondered how Green was doing, down there, with other humans. And Ethan. That kid was pretty cute. Reminded of himself sometimes, full of energy and dreams, with a rival who loved and hated him.
Unlike Red, Ethan chose to stay near other humans. He was attached to all the friends he made, sacrificing privacy for staying human. He stayed active as the Champion of Johto, sharing the load with Lance, the Champion of Kanto. When he appeared on TV, he always had someone with him; usually Silver or Lance; occasionally Lyra or Whitney and rarely, Falkner and Bugsy.
Ethan had waited through the pain. He waited and fought through the abuse from Silver, the obstacles of traveling and the initial monotony and suffocating aspect of being a Champion. In the end, Silver admitted that Ethan was strong and liked him. The travel came to an end and he returned to his family and friends. And as a Champion he was inexperienced, but responsible and gave his all.
Red, on the other hand, gave up his Champion title as soon as he got it. He chased his once-friend rival across the land, only to hear, once Green had finally opened his heart to Red again, that Green had wanted to leave home because he could not accomplish anything anymore. His childhood dream was, so to speak, put between his fingers for but a fraction of second before it was yanked away, shattered on the ground before his eyes and stepped on. He had always wanted his Grandpa's love, but as long as Red was there and was better than him, he would not be able to get it. He had once believed that becoming the Champion could win the approval of his grandfather, who was once a trainer himself, yet Red defeated him there before Oak could see it. Worse, Red didn't even want the title. The childhood friend only wanted his attention, not his dream. The one thing Green had fought so hard for was taken away by the same boy who stole his grandfather's love... in the name of friendship, no less. And discarded carelessly, as if worthless, in the same name of friendship. And not give him any privacy for days, always in the name of friendship.
Green left Kanto after their last encounter at Sevii Islands. Red left him go that time, and did not follow. Instead, he went to Mt.Silver, an area that was once off-limit because of dangerous landscape and Pokemon, opened to him once he showed them that he was strong enough, to the guards and the Pokemon alike.
And Red hadn't returned to civilisations since then. Over time, he learned to depend on his Pokemon more than on Green. He wondered if what he did with Green was right. He wondered if staying here was like taking Thalidomide, relieving personal pain only to hurt the one he suffered for in the first place, the distance crippling and deforming their friendship more than jealousy and envy. He wondered if Green would miss him, now that he was not following him like a shadow anymore.
Red thought he was thinking too much for a boy, but what else to do? There was nothing but snow and Pokemon, except maybe few trainers strong enough to climb all the way up. Ethan, Cal...
...Green.
"Yo. Or should I say 'bonjour'? Whatever."
"......................"
Green stared at him. Red was surprised as well. He tried harder, yet no sound came out. The best he could do were mere hoarse grunts and growls, not words.
"...Did you forgot how to talk during those three years?"
Three years? Red had no idea he had stayed that long time away from the cities and towns.
"Or maybe you caught cold. Listen at how hoarse your voice is. Here, have some throat candies. Always useful on snowy mountains."
Red kicked Green on the ankle, then took the candy and nodded in thanks.
"By the way, I brought some people over. Wait, actually, it appears to be one person, but whatever."
Red wanted to scream. It was his mom. She looked unhealthily thin, almost skeletal, and her skin yellow as old wax, with hints of purple and green. Her lips were purple from the cold and her hands trembled as her teeth clashed against each others. She was wearing nothing but the usual dress and apron.
"M........"
Red rushed to hug her, to warm her body with his, to say sorry for leaving her behind and never even called back to tell her that he was safe. He felted cold on his face and realised that it was his tears, frozen in the subzero temperature.
Then the dress became fur. Red look in confusion as his mother's skin turned purplish black and her hair lengthened, fiery red and tied into a low ponytail by a pierced bead.
A Pokemon. Its eyes were lit with mischief, wariness and motherly kindness.
"Sorry, but this is actually Zoroark." Said a young voice. Ethan. "It's Hallow's Eve, and I heard from Green that the only thing you are afraid of is your mom, so..."
Red wanted to feel outraged. Yet he simply collapsed, burying his face in hands. No, he was not angry at Ethan and Green. He was glad. Grateful that they reminded him of his duty as son, as a human being, that of holding the threads of affections so they will not break or tangle.
He missed other humans. Living humans, who will talk with him and misunderstand him, who will dislike him, like him, love him, respect him, hate him, attempt to kill him, talk to him and understand him, stay by him, cry with him and laugh with him. He missed human interactions and how well two bodies fit together when they hug each other, how the arms reached and the fingers intertwined. He missed his own kind.
For the first time in over three years, Red cried.
When he finally came back to his senses again, he realised that Green was kneed before him, protecting him from the cold wind. Green's coat was all puffed up. Was it Farfetch'd down? Or Pigeot? Either way, it looked warm.
"Here."
A coat was dropped on Red's back. It was Silver, Ethan's rival.
"Staying on a mountain top with near-perpetual blizzard in short-sleeves? That's not strong, just stupid."
They all laughed. They all mocked Red's carelessness for some minutes before they took off on their flying Pokemon to Viridian, where the rest of the group were waiting. The lights were beautiful. It was said that the flames were to ward off evil and guide the spirit of deceased friends and family home, and indeed, the Legend of Kanto came back. In flesh and blood, no less. He felt as if he was born a second time, weak and stranger to the world, his arms numb from the cold and throat voiceless, but doubtlessly alive and there.
Red decided to not take loneliness as a remedy again.
Now, how to use chopsticks again? Red thought as he dropped them again and Green had to hand him a fork.
"Did you pay attention to your calcium intake? Or any food intake?"
"Calcium? You mean like for Special Attack EVs?"
Green glared at him. "That's Lysozyme mixture, and it was just a placebo that cost an arm and a leg. I'm talking about the essential nutriment, calcium."
"Aren't muscles more protein?" Ethan asked as he stole a piece of fish from Green's plate.
"Who knows? I'm a Gym Leader, not a doctor. Whatever. Red, promise that you'll get a check-up after this."
He did. Beside serious malnourishment, Red was perfectly fine.
Red considered himself lucky.
Green, however, was not so lucky. A week after Red's special diet, Green grew five pounds heavier from eating with Red. He freaked out as Red laughed at him and made the entire Viridian Gym laugh at him.
Like Thalidomine that eventually left the market, the loneliness left Red's life.
The happiness was like dopamine.
---
Author's note: The thalidomine line was rather tacked on, I know, but I wanted to stay true to the challenge. I should have picked 'treat' instead T_____T
Author: solarpillar
Rating: PG-13?
Verse: Gameverse
Characters: Red, Green. Mention of Johto characters.
Summary: Solution to one problem is actually poison to more than one life.
Red had lost track of days. How long had he been here? Months? Years? He didn't want to check. His phone's battery had been plucked out in order to save energy, even though Green told him that batteries lose energy over time anyway. He had a watch, but it was smashed in a match, and now Red relied on the sun for time. The paper calender was burned for heat and the liquid crystal one was broken.
It was boring here.
From the mountain top, Red could see that trees leaves had turned yellow, red and brown. Must be autumn. Harvest season.
He wondered how Green was doing, down there, with other humans. And Ethan. That kid was pretty cute. Reminded of himself sometimes, full of energy and dreams, with a rival who loved and hated him.
Unlike Red, Ethan chose to stay near other humans. He was attached to all the friends he made, sacrificing privacy for staying human. He stayed active as the Champion of Johto, sharing the load with Lance, the Champion of Kanto. When he appeared on TV, he always had someone with him; usually Silver or Lance; occasionally Lyra or Whitney and rarely, Falkner and Bugsy.
Ethan had waited through the pain. He waited and fought through the abuse from Silver, the obstacles of traveling and the initial monotony and suffocating aspect of being a Champion. In the end, Silver admitted that Ethan was strong and liked him. The travel came to an end and he returned to his family and friends. And as a Champion he was inexperienced, but responsible and gave his all.
Red, on the other hand, gave up his Champion title as soon as he got it. He chased his once-friend rival across the land, only to hear, once Green had finally opened his heart to Red again, that Green had wanted to leave home because he could not accomplish anything anymore. His childhood dream was, so to speak, put between his fingers for but a fraction of second before it was yanked away, shattered on the ground before his eyes and stepped on. He had always wanted his Grandpa's love, but as long as Red was there and was better than him, he would not be able to get it. He had once believed that becoming the Champion could win the approval of his grandfather, who was once a trainer himself, yet Red defeated him there before Oak could see it. Worse, Red didn't even want the title. The childhood friend only wanted his attention, not his dream. The one thing Green had fought so hard for was taken away by the same boy who stole his grandfather's love... in the name of friendship, no less. And discarded carelessly, as if worthless, in the same name of friendship. And not give him any privacy for days, always in the name of friendship.
Green left Kanto after their last encounter at Sevii Islands. Red left him go that time, and did not follow. Instead, he went to Mt.Silver, an area that was once off-limit because of dangerous landscape and Pokemon, opened to him once he showed them that he was strong enough, to the guards and the Pokemon alike.
And Red hadn't returned to civilisations since then. Over time, he learned to depend on his Pokemon more than on Green. He wondered if what he did with Green was right. He wondered if staying here was like taking Thalidomide, relieving personal pain only to hurt the one he suffered for in the first place, the distance crippling and deforming their friendship more than jealousy and envy. He wondered if Green would miss him, now that he was not following him like a shadow anymore.
Red thought he was thinking too much for a boy, but what else to do? There was nothing but snow and Pokemon, except maybe few trainers strong enough to climb all the way up. Ethan, Cal...
...Green.
"Yo. Or should I say 'bonjour'? Whatever."
"......................"
Green stared at him. Red was surprised as well. He tried harder, yet no sound came out. The best he could do were mere hoarse grunts and growls, not words.
"...Did you forgot how to talk during those three years?"
Three years? Red had no idea he had stayed that long time away from the cities and towns.
"Or maybe you caught cold. Listen at how hoarse your voice is. Here, have some throat candies. Always useful on snowy mountains."
Red kicked Green on the ankle, then took the candy and nodded in thanks.
"By the way, I brought some people over. Wait, actually, it appears to be one person, but whatever."
Red wanted to scream. It was his mom. She looked unhealthily thin, almost skeletal, and her skin yellow as old wax, with hints of purple and green. Her lips were purple from the cold and her hands trembled as her teeth clashed against each others. She was wearing nothing but the usual dress and apron.
"M........"
Red rushed to hug her, to warm her body with his, to say sorry for leaving her behind and never even called back to tell her that he was safe. He felted cold on his face and realised that it was his tears, frozen in the subzero temperature.
Then the dress became fur. Red look in confusion as his mother's skin turned purplish black and her hair lengthened, fiery red and tied into a low ponytail by a pierced bead.
A Pokemon. Its eyes were lit with mischief, wariness and motherly kindness.
"Sorry, but this is actually Zoroark." Said a young voice. Ethan. "It's Hallow's Eve, and I heard from Green that the only thing you are afraid of is your mom, so..."
Red wanted to feel outraged. Yet he simply collapsed, burying his face in hands. No, he was not angry at Ethan and Green. He was glad. Grateful that they reminded him of his duty as son, as a human being, that of holding the threads of affections so they will not break or tangle.
He missed other humans. Living humans, who will talk with him and misunderstand him, who will dislike him, like him, love him, respect him, hate him, attempt to kill him, talk to him and understand him, stay by him, cry with him and laugh with him. He missed human interactions and how well two bodies fit together when they hug each other, how the arms reached and the fingers intertwined. He missed his own kind.
For the first time in over three years, Red cried.
When he finally came back to his senses again, he realised that Green was kneed before him, protecting him from the cold wind. Green's coat was all puffed up. Was it Farfetch'd down? Or Pigeot? Either way, it looked warm.
"Here."
A coat was dropped on Red's back. It was Silver, Ethan's rival.
"Staying on a mountain top with near-perpetual blizzard in short-sleeves? That's not strong, just stupid."
They all laughed. They all mocked Red's carelessness for some minutes before they took off on their flying Pokemon to Viridian, where the rest of the group were waiting. The lights were beautiful. It was said that the flames were to ward off evil and guide the spirit of deceased friends and family home, and indeed, the Legend of Kanto came back. In flesh and blood, no less. He felt as if he was born a second time, weak and stranger to the world, his arms numb from the cold and throat voiceless, but doubtlessly alive and there.
Red decided to not take loneliness as a remedy again.
Now, how to use chopsticks again? Red thought as he dropped them again and Green had to hand him a fork.
"Did you pay attention to your calcium intake? Or any food intake?"
"Calcium? You mean like for Special Attack EVs?"
Green glared at him. "That's Lysozyme mixture, and it was just a placebo that cost an arm and a leg. I'm talking about the essential nutriment, calcium."
"Aren't muscles more protein?" Ethan asked as he stole a piece of fish from Green's plate.
"Who knows? I'm a Gym Leader, not a doctor. Whatever. Red, promise that you'll get a check-up after this."
He did. Beside serious malnourishment, Red was perfectly fine.
Red considered himself lucky.
Green, however, was not so lucky. A week after Red's special diet, Green grew five pounds heavier from eating with Red. He freaked out as Red laughed at him and made the entire Viridian Gym laugh at him.
Like Thalidomine that eventually left the market, the loneliness left Red's life.
The happiness was like dopamine.
---
Author's note: The thalidomine line was rather tacked on, I know, but I wanted to stay true to the challenge. I should have picked 'treat' instead T_____T