"I'm sorry about dinner," Red apologizes, as he sits on the floor outside of his room.

"It's fine. Your father is quite adorable," Crystal says, as she dresses in her night attire in Red's room.

"Adorable? Him singing the national anthem at dinner was not adorable. The only reason no one stopped him is because he is the king!"

"Haha! You say only because he's your father," Crystal says as she unties her hair.

"Maybe. But to be fair, that's the most fun I've seen him have in years," Red explains, stretching.

"That's good! You can come in now," Crystal says.

Red jumps up and opens the door. He spots Crystal wearing a white nightgown, with her hair spilling over her shoulders. Her eyes manage to sparkle in the low candle light.

"What? Is there something on my face?" Crystal asks, confused.

"N-n-no, I just, was thinking what I was going to wear!" He yells, as he dashes to his drawer and pulls clothes out of it.

"Do you need me to step out?"

"No, I'm gonna change in here!" Red yells, avoiding eye contact as he hides in the closet.

He's so weird, Crystal thinks as she lays in Red's bed.

But in a cute, gentleman-y way.

"Oh my Arceus!" Red groans.

Crystal looks over to the closet and a shirtless Red runs out and opens his drawer again. There, he pulls out a plain white shirt to go with his black shorts. He quickly puts it on and looks over to Crystal, who's staring at him.

"Uhh."

"I didn't know you had a six pack!" Crystal exclaims, slightly squealing.

"You never asked?" Red answers, slightly blushing.

He slowly makes his way over to the bed.

"Anyways, like I said before, you'll get the bed, while I'll just take a pillow from over here and grab an extra blanket and sleep on the floor in front of the bed," Red says, taking a pillow from the bed.

"Thank you Red. I really appreciate how you've been acting. You're a real gentleman. Your mother would be proud," Crystal says with a smile.

"I really hope so," Red says quietly as he lays on the ground.

Crystal mentally slaps herself.

"Red, I'm sorry I didn't mean-"

"It's fine Crystal. You're fine. I just, miss her a lot you know?"

Crystal shifts awkwardly in bed.

"I'm lucky enough to not know that pain. I can only imagine what your family went through Red," she answers.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry. I just haven't really thought about her until today."

"Really? Why's that?"

"I usually end up really upset afterwards. You do know what happened right?"

"Actually, I do not."

"Do you want to know?"

"Red, the real question is do you want to tell me?"

Red stands up, and sits on the bed. He looks into Crystal's eyes.

"I'll tell you."

"Ok."

Red lays next to me. He stares at the ceiling and sighs.

"My mother went out that day. She was going to the forest for her daily berry picking. She insisted on doing it with her best friend Nidoqueen. Well, one day I begged my mom to borrow Nidoqueen. I wanted to ride on her back around the courtyard. My mother gladly agreed, and she left by herself to berry pick. But she never came home. My dad left with a search and rescue team and they found her, dead in the berry patch. Someone had their Pokémon slowly wring out the air out her lungs."

Red's voice cracks a bit, and I look over towards him. A single tear falls from his eyes.

"I killed my mother. I left her unprotected, and that is why she's dead."

Crystal quickly sits up and looks over Red.

"Stop it! It wasn't your fault! You didn't know she was going to be attacked, it's not your fault! You can't be blamed for something you weren't a part of. It was just a freak accident, that's all Red," Crystal says, as she gently rubs his shoulder.

"Y-you're right. Sorry," Red apologizes as he wipes off his tears.

"Let's talk about something else. Tell me about that servant with the long blonde hair!"

"Yellow? What about her?" Red asks, lifting his eyebrows.

"You always specifically call for her to do things for you. I want to know why."

"You're really nosy, aren't you?"

"I prefer the word curious. I do consider myself an enlightened despot after all."

Red rolls his eyes, then smiles.

"Well, Yellow's my best friend."

"Really? Aw, that's cute! How did you two come to be friends?"

"My mother actually."

Crystal mentally smacks herself. Again.

"She was out berry picking when she found Yellow wandering the forest by herself. My mother walked up to her and saw she was only four years old. She had bite marks all over her arms and legs. That's when the Growlithe attacked."

"Growlithe? She was being followed?"

"More like hunted down. My mother interfered and fought them off with Nidoqueen. She tried talking to Yellow, but she simply led my mother to her house, which was on a lonely cabin on a hill in the middle of the woods. Inside, my mother found her parents dead."

"Oh no. Did you guys ever find out who did it?"

Red shakes his head.

"My mother didn't want to give Yellow up to adoption. She saw something special in Yellow, so she wanted to being her in as a member of the family. But my dad refused, saying she did not have our blood and refused to call her a daughter of his. So my mom made her a servant here. But honestly, all our servant here are like family, so it really wasn't terrible for Yellow, but then again I'm part of the royal family."

"That's so sweet of you guys. So you two just got along?"

"Yep. It was like we were brother and sister. No one could separate us, but things changed a bit once I left for my Pokémon journey. But we're still close friends."

"That's good! It's nice to have friends who aren't part of the family."

"I totally agree."

Red and Crystal turn to each other and stare for a brief moment.

"It's getting late, I should probably go-"

"No! Stay!" Crystal yells.

Red stops and looks over at her.

"I-I mean, if you want. You trusted me with some of your history, so it's only fair if I return some trust. And besides, this is your bed. It only makes sense you sleep in it!"

Luckily it was dark, so Red couldn't see Crystal's now bright red face.

"Fine. I won't leave."

Red slips under the covers and faces Crystal once again.

"Goodnight Crystal! Don't let the Leydain bite!"

Red turns the other way and gets comfortable to sleep.

"Goodnight Red," Crystal replies, still trying to figure out why she invited Red to sleep with her.