"Mommy! Daddy!" from a distance I watched, Blue stringing just behind me, as a haunted smile veiled over my expression for a moment. A child at the age of six with jade hued hair was running at her top speed across the grassy pain of Fortune Island with arms spread. Across from her were two average looking adults with tears welling up in their silver eyes. The mother collapsed to her knees as she enveloped her arms around the little girl, breaking into sobs. Though, before, there was a pause by the parents to recognize the girl.

"Copycat! Oh my Arceus, Copycat, you're okay!" She cried out, calling her child the nickname the girl was dubbed for her unique talents. The pale girl giggled though the streams that ran down her cheeks as she changed from to look like her mom. The dad stood over with pink tinting the whites of his eyes as he rubbed his wife's back tenderly.

I let out a gentle breath, "Finally," I was happy for the girl, yet the feeling was a bittersweet upsurge within me.

Blue cocked his head to me, speaking almost too gently, "You know the kid?"

My head snapped back with a shock, forcing a fake smile forth, "Ah, yeah. I met her on the islands now and then. The entire time she was searching for her parents who she had been separated from," I wasn't exactly lying. "It's nice to see she found them."

"Well now it's time for you to find Mew," He spoke dryly. "Pattern Bush is filled with wild pokemon. If I were a mirage, I'd rather hide amongst pokemon than humans."

"True," I spoke, the two of us continuing though the town. I took a quick glance up to the hazed skies, rippling ashen clouds covering any blue to be seen. The sun barely fighting its way through the clots of water and air, "So, why is it called Pattern Bush?"

The ginger spiked teen looks down to me with his eyebrows angled crookedly, "They say that the grass patches there is shaped in a unique pattern. But rarely anyone has seen it."

"Uh huh," I hummed, my eyes starting to catch on Red who trailed us in a nonchalant manor, his shoulders relaxed as he took stance behind few tourists as their casted shadows. Swiftly, I shot back my gaze to blue and gave a twitched smile, "How about you go on ahead? I want to take my Pidgeot up so I can see what the pattern is. See ya!" I gave my exit, taking a shallow run from the trainer and over to where Red glanced.

"Hey," He greeted curtly, my arm linking with his so that I would tug him away from the broken crowd.

We waited quietly, exchanging long stares in the dark looming of pines which bordered the forest we were about to enter. It was odd, Red rarely ever broke eye contact. "So, good job finding Eos' parents," I began quietly, quickly transitioning into the next subject. "We will be searching a nearby forest for Mew. Since it's a forest, you could still tag along in the same area while being hidden or you could stay in town."

The boy simply shrugged, an airbrushed flush spreading across his ghostly pale skin as his rufescent eyes poorly hide a sort of conflict. I began to part my mouth to ask if anything was bothering him, but I was beat to the punch. Red suddenly lurched forward, his surprisingly tepid pair of lips pressing with the softness of a feather into my right cheek. A smooching click hushed to the ear closest as he pulled back, both of our faces turned a matching scarlet, "From Eos," he muttered hastily, his oculi tearing off to nervously stare away.

"Ah..." I stuttered, my insides feeling weightless while the air I took in sent gentle pulses though my entire body. The spot he kissed still tickling with what felt like electricity spreading farther across my face, "I'm going to go to the forest now," I followed with uneven pauses between each word that passed my lips.

I bolted off, like time and time again, already releasing Pidgeot from his capsule. The large bird had his wings prepared for takeoff as I hopped onto his back, his angelic plumage that whipped into my face though the winds not as soft as what I had just felt. Even as we took off into the skies, the ethereal manifestation within me crushing the comparison with flying.

Why do I feel like this? Why? What is this even? I asked myself erratically. It's familiar... No. It can't.

"Gdoit?" the large avian cooed, circling with minor flaps over the forest I was to explore. I simply gave him a ruffle of the feathers that coated his wound chest, muttering assurances. My stare rolled from the top of my pokemon's head and down to the forest, a narrow angle of depression from me to the forest. My jaw slowly unlatched itself as I saw the pattern.

The exact design of the inside of a Red cartridge. You know all those odd circuits that would show though the plastic? You know, the lines and loops at the end? Yeah. Well, I used to take a part my pokemon Red game and put it back together. This Pattern Bush was built in the exact same way. Well, the space between the tall thickets were more of the actual circuits. Staring at it, my vision blurred slightly but clarified in a moment.

So we've reached the core of the game, I mused before instructing my Pidgeot to descend. His claws crashing into the upturning dirt with a hissing while the pokemon's beating winds send the insectoid pokemon scampering off.

"What did it look like?"

"Ah!" I jumped, turning to look at Blue who waited close to the entrance, the shadows casted by the trees covering his expression, "The forest. Well, it's all flat, obviously, and shaped like the insides of a pokemon Red game cartridge. So, right now, we are in the core of the system. I would be surprised if we didn't find Mew here."

Blue nodded, releasing is pokemon from their pokeballs, "Might as well let yours out too. They deserve some fresh air and time to see one another."

I smiled, letting my pokemon out. With no impending disintegration of this forest, it would be nice for them. As the light dimmed from the bright flash of five pokemon emerging, each had different reactions.

Vaporeon glared at me with annoyance about the lack of water before upturning his nose. A Caterpie soon caught his attention, and that's all he focused on after. His tail flicking about the air like a cat ready to pounce on its prey.

Hitmonchan shrugged, giving a grunt before going off to practice his jabs against a few trees.

Need I say that Marowak followed?

Pidgeot nuzzled his hardened beak gingerly into my neck to brush his plume into my face playfully before he alone took to the skies for an uplifting soar.

My crimson furred cutie, Vulpix, blinked to me with her muzzle twitching oddly. With a stern nod, she scampered off deeper into the plains with an unusual silence to disappear from my vision.

"Hey, Venusaur, why don't you go play?" I asked my starter whose leaves spun gently in the wind, soaking the little sunrays that shown though the clouds. Her Jurassic petals waved to me as her cranberry eyes spoke to me, saying: I'm sticking with you. I couldn't help but slip out a chuckle to her, "Fine."

Blue's pokemon took off in their own ways, leaving our small trio to wander about. Really, all we found were low level bug types flittering away at the sight of us. Hours had passed and I never saw Mew in that time interval.

But, seconds pass oddly. When you think about giving up, something always happens.

I exhaustedly fall back against Venusaur, her head though ushering me to keep going, "Just a moment. I'm tired," I sighed, rubbing my head against her teal forehead affectionately. It had only been little awhile, but my energy felt nonexistent.

"Leaf!"

"What is?" I groaned, rolling my head over to where Blue pointed. Following the line of his finger, it wasn't far into the sky, just grazing the brisk needles of the tree tops with its mauve skinned body. The end of the creature's Ekans like tail snapping back and forth in a way to say either hello or goodbye. "Mew..."

No. Please, no.

In the sudden midair, the creature froze. Numbers starting to engulf the psychic type as it cried out with utter pain, the air shattering all life. Colored bars sparked across as the cat-like creature's pixels were torn from its body. Just to return back to where they were.

It horrified me to watch, Blue forcing me back to the predicament at hand, "Now's your chance. It's weak!"

"Mm," I agreed, summoning my near pokemon to follow as we ran across the forest clearing, the tall grass splitting at my wake. I had no time for roll call, only seeing that five heads were with me. It didn't matter though, Mew was weak and I had enough of a team. One of them was probably just too far away to hear me, I believed then.

Blue's back to me and my pokemon at my flank, I had already began to reach for my floundering lemon bag to snatch out my laptop when I froze. What I spotted started a bubbling up of acid from the pit of my stomach, crawling up my throat with a burning sensation, my tongue able to taste the horrendous flavors. I thought if I kept moving, it would go away. But I no longer had control of my actions.

All the muscles in my body froze, pulling stiff like they had never moved before. My hand. Oh Arceus, my hand.

I could only stare with intense dread while my hand shot about randomly with the bars I've seen before. Numbers and codes running about with strange symbols thrown into the mix. I couldn't even turn my back, like my spine had become paralyzed. I've been like this before... I reminisced from what felt like eons ago when I just had defeated Red and returned home. So it's been like this for a long time. The codes crawled further up my arm, my fingers pulling from their true positioning and then back.

It hurt. It hurt, oh Arceus, it felt like the world was taking me from every angle and pulling. But what really killed me was this gnawing fear which I had shrouded for the slow passing seconds. Like sluggishly moving blurs, my pokemon raced past. Blue just starting to notice my absence. Tears began glossing over my chocolate hued eyes. My head shot up, finally able to tear away to let out my own terror infused scream. The tears couldn't fall as long as I stared up. My knees collapsed down into the cold dirt, the grass crushed by my weight as I curled over myself finally. No more tears. No more tears. No more tears. Just screaming.

My own howls.

I slashed my fingers though my greasy locks as I saw the discoloration spotting my legs, static sizzling over my elbows and pulling me apart. And back together. And apart. And back together. I wouldn't have doubted that my profile transformed into Red for strobing moments.

I could barely make out the sound of Blue speaking, running closer, over my own voice.

"No! No! Stop!" my head shot up with a rampant quail of my, what seemed to be, fragile body. Blue's hand scarcely started to extend out, causing me to collapse backwards. "Don't! Don't touch me, d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-don't touch me!" Maybe I didn't want to infect him with this Glitch. Maybe I was afraid of breaking. Like a drop of water destroying a still pond.

He obeyed my words, fleetingly taking his steps back. He and all the creatures stared at me. Just stared. Horror. Disgust. Pity. I was a monster in their eyes.

"Stop staring! Don't look at me, don't come near me-me-me-me-me, leave me alone!" I started to go hysteric feeling a numb sensation overcome physique. Slowly seeping into my brain. "Stop!" My words then resorted to primal screeches, unable to form syllables anymore. My fingernails were sinking so far into my scalp, I could feel the cuts they were beginning to form, my hat tumbling off my head as I could no longer even look to my friends. Just scream and pray for an end.

And I found one.

The nostalgic warmth of a pair of arms embraced around me. A tepid head slowly pressing into the top of mine, gentle whispers reaching only my ears. "It's alright. It's alright, Leaf. It will be okay." Each word slowed in his comforting tone. "Come on, you will be okay. It's okay."

"You're--- alive?" Blue voiced from a distance in disbelief.

I didn't care. My hands had already balled up in the front Red's shirt, my face shrouded by the way his jacket fell. I wasn't crying. Just trembling like a child. That's what I was, wasn't I? A child. The time was not measured nor could be for how long I sat in Red's arms. My breaths finally becoming regular, I stole a glance up at him, my body beginning to stabilize once again.

I don't think once that his flaming eyes never severed their stare at me. I gave a shaken smile as a lump in my throat formed, the weightlessness returning. It's impossible. I like Blue. It's Blue I like.

So how come I feel such a strong attraction to you?

Why do I feel like this feeling has been there?

When did I feel it first?

These questions danced though my head as silent conversations were exchanged between Red and me. My front teeth beginning to nip at my lower lip. "Told you." He finally spoke, cracking a crooked smirk to me.

I just broke down in dry chuckles, pressing my head into his shoulder to catch some breath. "I know." Chills spun though my body, I couldn't stare at him. Just close my eyes and laugh. I know. I know everything. But I won't admit it. And that I wouldn't until the end.

"Hate to break such a sappy scene but," Blue broke through with an added annoyance to his tone, "we should get to Mew."

Separating, I rose back to my feet and inquired. "You aren't mad at Red for not being at Mt. Silver?"

Blue's stare turned flat and his eyes sympathetic, "I don't blame him at all for getting out of dodge when he did. The entire place was in pieces. At this state, that banishment is lifted."

My eyes shut with a kind-of joy, turning to Red, "I guess I was worried for nothing."

Yeah. I just had a break down and I'm completely changing the subject. I think that was a good way to handle it.

An inhale of one about to speak was shockingly cut off by the heavens above us beginning to play the drums. Thunder grumbling to warn a coming storm. I shot a stare to the sky, able to taste the soon torrent, a brisk salty-bitterness with a moisture to it. I slowly tried pulling myself back to my feet, but pain still trembled my being. I began falling back down again, Red catching me. I shot him a smile as he kept me standing straight.

"We should get to shelter," Blue switched gears, calling his pokemon back into their proper pokeballs. "You've heard the rumors right? This Island caught in a constant, repeating storm by the Glitch causing a loop effect? Well, that's just about right. But it was the least damage to what the true Glitch does, so we opened the ports for Fortune Island. We just really don't want to get caught in a hurricane." Looking at Blue, though, I still could feel the stirring emotions that were there originally. This only confused and bewildered my heart further.

Returning back my five pokemon, I realized it was Vulpix who was absent. A fire-type caught in in a tempest wouldn't sound good to anyone. "Vulpix!" I crowed, hoping she would hear me while Blue began his way to the shelter. Red looked torn between his friend and I as he continued to keep me perched up.

From a break of trees nearby, a little fox ran out, her orange tinted curls bobbing around as the pokemon leapt into my arms. Which sent me falling away from Red and onto the ground, "Pix!" she cried, scraping her sandpaper tongue against my cheek. I messed her fur up a bit as a greeting before I recalled her into the little girl's pokeball. Red, growing impatient, swept me up in his arms and ran with me out of the forest to where Blue waited. My heart felt like it was swelling in a small box that would burst any moment.

"They've built a hurricane shelter here for times like this." The former champion explained, ushering Red and I in. Upon entering, I saw the people already building up on top of one another. Young children curled close to their mothers, or in some cases, one another. Men standing against the earthen walls and rusting orange iron support beams of the underground bunker.

It was dismal scene, but all the tired people seemed practiced in this. Experienced as they glumly waited the storm out.

And I found that almost tragic.