博士

   Now that… That broke Folly’s heart. Here was someone she had looked up to for a long time now. He had done so much in his time as a trainer and she thought he was the greatest for a long time. 

 But not right now. 

   To be disappointed by someone you considered a role model was surprisingly hard to deal with. Folly could physically feel it crash in her heart with each word. Stressed 11-year old? Did he really not believe in what Red said? About the investigations by the police? She frowned, stood up, and placed her hands firmly on her hips. 

   “I am… disappointed in you,” Her words held no malice, no real will to argue or yell or fight. Just sadness, completely directed at the gym leader sitting before her. 

  “How could you say this when Team Rocket has already come back in the years after it was supposedly over? They hurt people—- They killed pokemon! He wasn’t stressed— he was traumatized!  Just like my friends were in my home region! It happened there too, you know. 

 They wanted to abuse and torture legendary pokemon in order to wipe out everyone that stood in the way of their goals. You’re talking to me as  if it was some scene caused by a little kid, but Red was so deeply upset by it… 

 His hands were nearly shaking by how upset he was just talking about it.” 

  “I always looked at you as the best…”     Folly’s shoulders slumped. The sadness in her voice was only getting heavier. Were those tears in her eyes? 

  She took out her notepad nonetheless and started to write   down ‘just a theory’ under Green’s name. 

And there it came: the same counterargument that EVERYONE always brought up. The same BASELESS CLAIMS that people always made when he corrected them, EVERY SINGLE TIME, as if they somehow knew the situation better than he did, as if he somehow WASN’T fully educated about the weight of the situation. 

Because RED’S WORD always held more weight than his own, because RED was so much smarter than him, because RED dealt with it first-hand, right? Because people who DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW Red will always assume he has the higher ground, because they don’t understand what he’s like or how he feels. Because they NEVER DO. 

Because RED is some kind of idolized hero-enigma who is NEVER WRONG, who has a LEVEL-HEAD, who is CUNNING and CAREFUL, right? Except no one ever stops and realizes that he’s NONE OF THOSE THINGS, and NO ONE HAS ANY RIGHT TO MAKE THOSE TYPES OF CLAIMS EXCEPT FOR HIM: GREEN.

After she stands, he does the same.

“Listen, I understand it’s difficult to take in, especially when you weren’t HERE when it was happening and you rely mostly on news casters to relay information to other regions. I never said ANYTHING to demean the level of atrocity that is Team Rocket; all I said is that Team Rocket has NOTHING to do with this Gym. Investigators found nothing here except an 11-year-old with a VIGILANTE COMPLEX and a missing gym leader— which makes sense considering there was a completely valid chance that this Gym could have been a place for sleazy, disgusting, vile, terrible, gross, EVIL THINGS.”

                                   Deep breath.

“But there WASN’T. There were NO LEADS, there were no CLUES, there was NOTHING IN THIS GYM. Red’s trail ran cold at Silph Co., and it is NO ONE’S FAULT that he took the logical jump to conclusions when he came here. But at the end of the day, the Giovanni that worked here was NOT the Giovanni that attacked MY friend or my region; it isn’t his fault that it’s difficult to accept that he couldn’t help the Police track the ACTUAL Giovanni down.”

                                                                    DEEP BREATH.

“So I ask two things of you—” He pointed his thumb to his chest. “PLEASE don’t put words into my mouth or make extraneous assumptions about my thoughts, and DON’T do the same thing to Red; not in MY gym, not to MY face. I tolerate idolization and assumptions from news reporters and children, but NOT from people who claim to have a job in research and investigation. Don’t come to me acting like you know more about what happened here than I do, and don’t come to me acting like I’m SHRUGGING OFF Team Rocket because I corrected your misinformed mistakes.”

How disappointing. A pretty girl who seemed to put so much love and care into these types of things, yet she’s just like EVERY OTHER curious child or eager journalist. If there was anything Green regret today, it was... well, a tie between having high expectations for this girl, and having milk during breakfast instead of coffee.

  Folly spotted his grin immediately and pieced it together with his questions—- Oh, he was about to be disappointed. Her smile fell to a more sympathetic one as she flipped a page in her notebook and showed him her notes from a certain trainer she knew Green was more than familiar with. She even doodled his Pikachu in the margins. 

   “It’s my job,” She said softly, surprisingly unaffected by how close Green was sitting to her. “Your gym used to be the front for Team Rocket and was run by Giovanni for a very long time. I’ve already read your reports, of course, so there’s not much more to know about what it used to be—” 

  Folly glanced around for a moment, looking at the gym around her. 

 “But… I tend to come back because it really helps to see how you could take something that was used for such awful things and turn it into something amazing. It, uh…” 

  Her cheeks burned as she looked away.   “It probably sounds pretty cheesy but… It gives me motivation to keep going,”  

Aw, she’s talked to RED? Maybe she was one of the girls that he had mentioned? Let’s see: Red met an orange-haired girl, an American girl with a KLEFKI, a pretty woman who refused to communicate with him, and a little girl who had lost her way home. THIS GIRL didn’t have orange hair, nor was she a little girl. She was certainly PRETTY, but clearly she had no trouble communicating with his friend. That must mean she has a Klefki hidden somewhere.

He was pulled deep into his thoughts for a good while, but as soon as he heard those string of words put together— YOUR GYM, TEAM ROCKET, GIOVANNI— his eyes snapped to her and locked with her eyes. Of course she’d say those things: every article said those things, every PERSON said those things, RED SAID THOSE THINGS. Of course she was just another parrot who believed stupid baseless lies.

But he laughed, his smile never wavering, his POSITIVE ATTITUDE filling the large room like the sun itself had made its home at the center. He couldn’t blame someone for only being as informed ( or rather, MISINFORMED ) as the world allowed.

“I’m glad to hear that! Motivating people is my MIDDLE NAME!! But—”

He sighed. At this point, he had been conditioned to DROP the subject whenever it came up; it was fruitless to keep arguing and arguing about something that, he guessed, didn’t REALLY matter all that much. And yet here he went: stubborn and determined.

“Team Rocket never has and never will step any of their feet into this Gym. People like to think Viridian Gym was some kind of, of— some kind of HIDEOUT or HEADQUARTERS for them or their leader, but that’s just not the case! There’s been no concrete evidence about Viridian Gym having any connection to Team Rocket, aside from, from... from the word-of-mouth of a STRESSED 11-YEAR-OLD? The only reports I’VE ever made about Team Rocket were made when I was 14 and the whole situation here in Kanto had been over for YEARS.”

Well, you haven’t been around here in awhile…

Red had recently been discharged from a hospital over in Safferon city due to frostbite. Maybe he should invest in winter clothes or going into a mountain…

Red looked to his pikachu, whom was rightfully displeased with what had happened. The electric type had warned Red of this but of course the stubborn trainer didn’t listen and kinda wanted to look cool.

He looked about Varidian City before his eyes settled on the gym. Wasn’t it a bit late? Who runs their gym so late at ni–

…

Red squinted through the gym windows and his eyes settled on a familiar figure. That’s..Green isn’t it? Wow, he was a gym leader now..?

Before he knew it, the Champion found himself gravitating to the building and walking through the doors. Maybe he should have thought this through first; as much as he wanted to see his old rival and friend, Green may not be too happy to see him. After all, he did snag the Champion title from the boy after an hour or so of Green being Champion…

“…”

Go on, say something. You know you only use sign language when others are around.

“H–” his voice cracked horribly before he gave a cough. “Hey, Green.” Red said casually. “What’s going on..? It’s been awhile.”

Finally— everything Green worked so hard for had come to fruition. After MONTHS of convincing, of debates, of arguments, of paperwork, of CONSTANTLY TRYING TO PROVE HIMSELF, Green finally had it. The floor panels were OFF at the moment, allowing him and the various ACE TRAINERS to walk the main floor freely, but it was still his. Every panel, every wall, every trainer, every room, every table or chair, EVERYTHING.

VIRIDIAN GYM BELONGED TO HIM.

Stood in the middle of the main floor, Green stared up to where he would normally reside: the back, the top, the STAGE. Hmm... it needed a better name. He wasn’t running a THEATER, even if the raised platform was technically called a stage. That didn’t feel right.

When the automatic doors at the front of the building slid open, Green was already turning to walk that way. The GYM wasn’t open yet, however bright its lights shone or how populated the floor looked. As willing as he was for a POKéMON BATTLE, he wouldn’t legally be able to consider it official until the next morning.

“Sorry, we aren’t—”

“Wait, RED? Red! Where have you been?” Breaking into a jog, Green RUSHED to his friend, almost tackling him in his excitement. His arms wrapped tight around the other’s body, squeezing squeezing SQUEEZING as if he could pop all his organs out of him. “Where have you been? You just— you just DISAPPEARED, you asshole; why didn’t you say anything?" As he went on, Green laughed and laughed, filled with ecstasy to see his best friend again. “Did you even tell your mom? What if you DIED, you idiot— where were you?”

Though he loves every part of himself, Green’s pride and joy is his BRIGHT ORANGE HAIR. Completely natural, it’s the tell-tale sign of him ( and his sister ) being MIXED. If you asked, Green wouldn’t be able to tell you exactly what genes he has, but he is very obviously NOT ENTIRELY JAPANESE. ( However, he may as well be. )

Because he cares so much about it, Green goes OUT OF HIS WAY to take extra care of his hair. The “luxury” part of his monthly budget goes frequently into HAIR PRODUCTS: protective shampoo, high quality conditioner, expensive hairspray, etc. ( Contrary to popular belief, Green HATES hair gel and mousse. He would never be caught dead with such atrocities! )

   Folly had already felt nervous going up to someone she considered a role model like this. He was so charismatic and unafraid— definitely something she aspired to be if she could. 

  His flirtatious behavior was infectious, however. Like the whole room lit up around him and focused on you. In the back of her head, Folly knew he did this for everyone, but damn was he good at it. 

  “ I-I — uh!!”      Well. She had already failed at hiding how flustered she was. 

   “No! You didn’t interrupt! I was just doing some research here at your gym.”      She held up a folder of papers in her hands.      “I know its probaby a weird place to do this but, I mean, if I’m being honest,   I really look up to you as a trainer and a person so its comforting to sit here!” 

 And there she goes, blabbing off way too much info.       Poor Green!

As the girl spoke, Green took the most comfortable option and SAT himself right beside her: he had been on his feet since the early morning and could CERTAINLY go for a talk with a cute girl. Especially a cute girl who seemed to have nice things to say. He let her talk and talk, his ears OPEN to all she had to say as his hands worked to empty his pockets. Sure, he had his admirers and his fans, but to have someone do their homework here? How STRANGE.

“Research, huh? For school, or do you have a job? Ooor,” he snapped his fingers, pointing to her as his opposite hand dumped SIX POKéBALLS onto the table. “You’re doing it for fun. Am I close? Is it research at my gym, or ABOUT my gym?” Oh, his gut was burning at that idea: a curious eye came fluttering into his gym with HUNDREDS upon HUNDREDS of questions for him, all about this fantastic thing he’s worked years to build. If his grin was any tell, he had his hopes for a specific answer from her.

“Hey, Miss!!” This HAD to be the one: an ORANGE-HAIRED girl who supposedly had a dragon that could level cities if it wanted to. ( At least, he THOUGHT it was an orange-haired girl. “Maybe it was someone else,” he had said. Red was SO unreliable sometimes. ) How many orange-haired girls were there around here? Not many, but if you asked Green, he’d say ORANGE is the best hair color. ( Of course, the only ones that count are the NATURAL redheads. )

“Ah— Sorry, Miss... I don’t do autographs anymore. You’re a couple years too late.” His hand, which had been held up to ‘STOP’ the girl when she passed, was waved as if to tell her to ‘shoo’. All these pesky fans, just DROPPING at his feet and GROVELING for his attention. So troublesome.

“BAHAHAH!! I’m joking, I’m joking, Miss!!” The same hand he used to wave her off came to pat her shoulder, rubbing in a way he KNEW would be comforting. Then, he leaned in, a finger pressed to his grinning lips. “Between you and me, I pull that trick to every sweet lady who comes to me.”

“AH! Kris Clarity? THE Kris Clarity herself? The one and only? The one that Red is always going on about? Is it really you?” Of course it was: who could ever miss that MESS of childish colors? It’s as if she was a video game character come to life! But Green meant no harm with such a thought. It was, of course, JUST A THOUGHT.

“Kris Clarity, we’ve MET before, haven’t we? You have my badge, don’t you? I’m sorry— I have a strange memory, and I can’t tell what I remember about you versus what RED does.” He gives a loud, full laugh, his head tilting back to PROJECT the beautiful noise into the air of CELADON CITY. With one hand on his hip, his smile spread to a GRIN at the young girl.

ooc;; every so often, my RED mentions his GREEN in his thoughts— if it wasn’t clear, green is a very influential person to red. however, that impact can go overlooked if the reader doesn’t actually KNOW who red’s green is. 

so, what better way to help than to make green himself ACCESSIBLE? what better way to understand him and his importance to red than to see him FIRSTHAND?