Wow this title sucks, but I can't come up with anything better so I'm going with it. Anyways, I hope ye enjoy
It was now late into the afternoon and things had settled down after the Gyarados incident. But some of the tension was still lingering, mainly among the people involved. Hilbert was currently with Hilda at the store in town gathering the last few things they needed for the mixer tonight, mainly alcohol and cups (A/N: in Kanto, the legal age is 18, and yes I know Hilda got drunk underage a couple of chapters back). Hilda wasn't there during the incident so Hilbert was telling her all about it. "So yeah you missed quite a bit of excitement today," said Hilbert.
"Sure sounds like it, is Red doing OK?"
"Yeah, he's gonna fine. I'm still surprised he was able to get up and battle like that after almost drowning. He was really strong too."
"It's always the quiet ones you have to watch out for," Hilda joked.
"Yeah, I see that now," Hilbert laughed.
"So what happened to Gyarados?" asked Hilda.
"Red sent him over to Professor Oak's lab, apparently Red has pokemon there that can keep him in check. I still wonder if that was really a good idea."
"If that Gyarados was taken down by Red's Pikachu alone then I bet he's got some real powerhouses in store."
Hilbert couldn't argue with that kind of logic, "That makes sense. There's really nothing we can do about it now, we'll just have to trust him," he said. The two walked into the parking lot and out to the truck they came in. "I can actually drink legally this time around," said Hilda.
"Just please don't get too wasted," Hilbert replied.
"I never took you for a drunk."
Hilbert and Hilda turned and saw N walking towards them. "Who's this guy?" Hilbert whispered.
"This is N, the guy I've been running into at Hill Valley," Hilda replied with a sigh.
Hilda also felt insulted by that earlier comment, "For the record, I'm not a drunk, all this is for the Mixer tonight," she said. N said nothing and walked up to them examining their haul. "OK then my apologies," said N. He then pulled out one of the bottles of alcohol, "With this much crappy vodka there are going to be two massively hungover camps tomorrow."
"Just one actually," Hilbert said irritated by his presence, "we of the Professor's camp are used to the bottom shelf." Hilbert usually wouldn't act like this to most people but he was really paranoid. It was clear that Hilda thought this guy was a weirdo but the possibility that his 'weirdness' could somehow charm his girlfriend and cause her to leave him was floating around in his mind.
"What if I point you in the direction of some top shelf, just sitting there collecting dust?" N asked. His attention was clearly directed at Hilda. Hilda liked the idea but was unsure if he was going to try something, she looked back towards Hilbert who grabbed her hand causing her to smile. "Then I guess we could save this stuff for a rainy day," she said. N smiled, for some reason it made him feel really good when she smiled. Hilbert noticed the way he was looking at her and scowled at him.
xxxxx
At the camp, the sun was going down and most everyone was getting ready for the mixer. In Leaf's cabin, the other girls were huddled around a mirror trying to apply makeup. Leaf rolled her eyes at them before leaving the cabin.
Everything in the dining hall was finally set up, even after the setbacks and craziness of the last two days they managed to pull it off. It looked really nice, Professor Oak even felt like they did better the second time. Red arrived at the scene early, his ankle injury severely limited what he was able to do so he had nothing better to do. It did nothing to ease the boredom though cause there was next to no one there except for a few counselors who were setting up the finishing touches. Red had to admit the place looked really nice, it was full of green and yellow and it really captured the woodsy image they were trying to convey. Lucky for him, Yellow wandered into the building, guess she didn't have anything better to do either. A big smile came over her face when she saw Red, "Hey Red!" she called running over to him. Red would never get used to the amount of energy she had. "How's it going Yellow?" Red asked.
"Going great! I heard about what happened with you and that Gyarados are you OK?" asked Yellow.
"Yeah, I'm fine thanks," Red said with a smile.
That smile quickly faltered when he realized how much the story spread about him. He supposed that was to be expected with such a surprising turn of events but he still hated that it was going to draw more attention to him. Yellow noticed his quick change in mood, "Is something wrong?"
"Kind of, I just know this is going to bring me more attention than I want," said Red.
"Oh OK. So has anyone caught on yet?" Yellow whispered that last part.
Red nodded no, "Not yet, but I'm worried that's going to happen soon."
"Does Ethan or Leaf know?"
"Not yet."
"If anyone should know about it, it's those two, they are your friends."
"Yeah I know," said Red, "but I have no idea how they are going to react when they find out."
At that moment, Ethan and Lyra walked into the building. Ethan had his hair slicked back and had a pair of sunglasses and a black T-shirt. He was ready to be the DJ. "Hey you two, how's it going?" Ethan asked.
"We're doing good, you look like you're ready to go," Yellow replied cheerfully.
"Heck yeah, I'm gonna blow the roof off this place!"
"Just remember this is a mixer, not a rock concert," Lyra said.
"Don't worry Lyra I've got it covered," Ethan replied with a grin.
Meanwhile, Professor Oak had walked into the building and was admiring the work done by everyone on the dining room, this was going to be a great night. People slowly began coming in, one of them was Kevin who came in looking as smug and slick as ever. "Great little setup you got here Professor. Did the 99 cent store have a closeout?" he asked.
"You don't have to have top quality food and entertainment to have a good time," Professor Oak replied irritated.
"Whatever you say, It's just it's kind of embarrassing for me when I build up the hype of a mixer hosted by a boring old researcher only for it to flop."
"This mixer has not flopped, it's only just started."
Kevin just maintained that smug expression as he walked over to the food and drink table. Red's group noticed him walking up, "Who's that douche?" Ethan asked.
"That's Kevin, the owner of Hill Valley," said Lyra.
"From what Hilda and Tracey said that guy's a massive pain," said Red.
"I hate him already, walking around like he owns the place I'm gonna knock his teeth out," said Ethan.
"Ethan..."
"I'm serious, if not tonight, I'm gonna make it my goal to punch his face in by the end of the summer."
Red looked at the guy as he walked around, "You know what, I'd like to see that."
Red held his hand out and high-fived him, "I definitely won't disappoint," Ethan replied. He looked at his watch, "Looks like it's my time to shine, wish me luck guys," he said as he walked away.
"Welp, I'm gonna wander a little bit, have fun you two. Oh and Red, I know you're the camp's dancing queen but you are injured so you better control yourself," said Lyra teasingly.
Red chuckled, "yeah whatever Lyra, you have fun too," he said.
So she walked away. "Hey Yellow, do you have Chuchu on hand by any chance?" Red asked
Yellow saw where he was going with this, "I do actually," she said pulling out Chuchu's Pokeball. Red likewise pulled out Pika's Pokeball and the two released their pokemon. The two pokemon materialized in front of them and became ecstatic when they saw each other again. They wasted no time and began conversing, playing, etc. "Awww you two are so adorable!" Yellow swooned while Red happily watched his little buddy. "So you two, tonight is the camp mixer. It's like a dance thing so when the music starts you can jam if you want to," said Red. The two rodents cried out in unison voicing their approval.
xxxxx
Leaf finally entered the building. At this point, the mixer was in full swing with everyone talking, eating, whatever. She liked how it looked at the onset so she hoped it would be a fun night. Off in a corner, she saw Blue talking with a few other guys and as was the case with Red she found herself briefly observing all his different features. Her thoughts were interrupted by her roommates. "Hey, you look really pretty," said Kate.
"Yeah, totally," Chloe followed up.
"Maybe we could all dance together later," said Ally.
Leaf was suspicious, they never EVER spoke nicely about her. "Uhhh sure, see ya later I guess," she said. "Alright!" Kate said wrapping her arm around her back in a side hug. Leaf smiled and pulled away, leaving them to do their own thing. The three girls smirked at her devilishly, she didn't even notice what they did.
Some loud sound effects suddenly played over the speakers and the lights around the DJ booth lit up, revealing Ethan. Ethan knew that in order to appeal to everyone he was going to have to play some tunes that most everyone liked, so he started off with Don't Stop Believing by Journey. Everyone gave out a cheer as the song got going. All of Ethan's friends looked on in approval, especially Lyra. Now that he was up there actually doing his thing she had to admit he looked really cool up there. She got a dreamy look on her face as she stared at him some more, her heart rate steadily increasing. "Are you OK?" one of the other girls asked breaking her out of her trance. She blushed when she realized she had been staring at him, "Y-Y-Yeah I'm fine," she said sheepishly. She looked back up to him admiring him some more.
With Red and Yellow...
"I never knew Ethan had such great taste in music," said Yellow.
"Yeah, guess he's quite the rocker," said Red.
Red turned and saw Leaf wandering around the building. As Lyra did with Ethan, Red found himself drifting off as he admired her beauty. Yellow turned back to Red and she developed a knowing smile, giggling at Red's lovestruck expression. When she turned away, Red's smile fell from his face as he noticed a note attached to her back. "Hey Yellow could would you mind keeping an eye on Pika for a bit?" he asked as he stood up and walked away. Yellow didn't get a chance to say anything and just watched as he left her.
As he came closer to her, he was able to make out what it said. It said: "I've got crabs" Anger began welling up inside of him as he saw Leaf's roommates looking at her devilishly. He came up to Leaf, "You having a good time yet?" he asked as he discretely pulled the note off her back. He wasn't discrete enough though, "What did you just do?" she asked as she turned to face him.
"Nothing, I just came to see how you were doing," Red replied. Leaf looked at his hand and saw he had the note which was now crumpled up hidden in his grasp. She thought it was some kind of game or joke he was playing on her so she grinned as she reached for it. "No wait Leaf don't," he said trying to keep it away from her. But his efforts were in vain as she snatched it out of his hand and began unfolding it. All Red could do was wait for the inevitable distress that was going to happen. Her smile immediately fell when she read the letter and she looked over to see her roommates laughing at her expense. She tilted her head down, the brim of her hat covering her upset face, and she walked out of the building.
Red was really pissed now, he really wanted to do something drastic but right now he needed to be there for Leaf. So he settled for an alternative. He grabbed a cup of soda from the snack table and walked by the girls. Kate let out a gasp in shock when Red splashed the soda in her face and then pushed her to the floor. Her head was wet and sticky and her dress was now wet with soda. The girls looked at Red with a mixture of shock and anger while Red glared back at them as he limped out the door.
xxxxx
Over at Hill Valley, N was leading Hilbert and Hilda presumably to the location of some top shelf alcohol. Both were a little anxious because they had no idea what to expect from him. Although it wasn't like they couldn't hold their own should things go south. Then again, they could also be completely misjudging this guy.
The three came upon a big storage building, N opened up the doors and the lights flickered on. OK so far so good. There were all kinds of things being stored there from lawn maintenance equipment to dining supplies. But the thing they were most concerned about was right in front of them. Multiple boxes of top-shelf alcohol were stacked up on the back wall collecting dust. Hilbert and Hilda's faces lit up when they saw them, this was perfect. "I haven't seen sunsets this pretty!" said Hilda.
"Hehe you got that right," said Hilbert.
Hilbert grabbed one of the cases off the shelf and Hilda piled on another one and Hilbert hauled them out to the truck. All the while, N found himself staring at Hilda again; everything about her was just so attractive and alluring and he felt the desire to be closer to her. So he decided to do just that, he walked up behind her standing very close to her, and it felt really good. Hilda, however, felt his presence and wasn't feeling it. She turned around to face him, clearly uncomfortable, "Uh haven't you ever heard of personal space?" Hilda asked.
N then realized how close he was to her and backed away slightly, Hilbert reentered the scene moments later and wasn't pleased with when he saw him standing really close to his girlfriend. He quickly walked over and stood between them, grabbing Hilda's hand and staring into N's eyes. N didn't seem to fully grasp what he was doing wrong but the looks on their faces told them he was definitely doing something wrong. "My apologies you two," he simply said.
Hilbert and Hilda didn't say anything for a few seconds, "OK, well thanks for the alcohol N we've gotta get back now," Hilda said dragging Hilbert along with her. N didn't respond and just watched them leave silently wishing he could explore those things he was feeling more.
xxxxx
At the camp, everyone seemed to be having the time of their lives. Ethan was particularly happy because this just showed that he was doing a good job setting the mood and he was having a lot of fun. Hilbert and Hilda walked in the door with the crates of alcohol and Nate was there to greet them although he had a different motive in mind. "We're back," said Hilbert as he handed him a crate of the alcohol. Nate pulled out a bottle of the alcohol to examine it, "Awesome! where'd you two get this?"
"We have our ways," said Hilda.
"Well thanks a lot, guys," said Nate, "By the way Hilbert can I get some help with something?"
"Yeah man, what is it?"
"You'll see, follow me."
So Hilbert put down the box and followed Nate out of the building. Rosa came up to her, "Welcome to the party," she said cheerfully. Hilda placed the other box on the table and pulled out a few bottles to use. "Hello ladies," Kevin said walking up to them, "Well well Professor looks like you went all out this time."
"Oh, only the best for you Kevin," Professor Oak sarcastically replied.
Professor Oak picked up one of the bottles and raised an eyebrow when he realized the alcohol they had was top-shelf.
The next song ended up on stage and Ethan took the opportunity to rest for a minute. Lyra also took that opportunity and went up to him. "Is there a crappy DJ name I should call you by?" she teased.
Ethan rolled his eyes, "You can call me whatever you want," he replied.
"So if it OK if I call you DJ Golden Boy?"
"OK, maybe not WHATEVER you want." Lyra laughed in response then looked out at the crowd.
"I don't know how you do this," Lyra said, "it looks so stressful being in front of all these people."
"Well this is nothing compared to the pokemon league," said Ethan, "Plus they also don't actually pay that much attention to you."
"That's true, hey can I make a song request?"
"Whatever the lady wants."
So she whispered something in his ear, "Ooooh that's a really good idea," Ethan replied, "You've got it."
Lyra smiled, "Thanks Ethan, I'll let you get back to it." And with that, Lyra left the stage. As she walked away, Ethan stared at her not taking his eyes off of her until she disappeared into the crowd. Guess it's time to do her little request. So he pulled up the song and started playing it, everyone immediately cheered and/or started dancing again when they heard the unmistakable tune of Footloose. Ethan was never really into footloose but hey, he wasn't going to turn down a request from Lyra. Heck, it was easily the most fitting song he would play all night.
"Woooo now we're talking," Rosa said as she started to get into her jam, pulling Nate in with her.
Hilda then tugged on Hilbert, "Come on let's dance," she said as the two joined the crowd. Professor Oak was right, you don't need a full dance studio or five-star food to have a good time. OK, that was a given but tonight, Professor Oak's camp proved that they were more than capable of producing great fun and great memories.
xxxxx
Well, great memories for most people. Leaf, on the other hand, was sitting at the dock staring into the water and holding her knees up to her chest. Why did those girls have to be so cruel? Why did they have to make her feel like trash? No amount of answers could make her feel any better. They were slowly trying to break her down and for what?
Red found her sitting on the dock and sat down next to her. It was clear just how upset she was over the whole ordeal and he really hated seeing her like that. It was time to break the ice.
"You know, I've been going over the whole lollipop thing, and I don't think it's fair to use Lieutenant Surge as an example," said Red, "That guy could walk around with a pacifier in his mouth and still not look creepy."
Leaf laughed, "Well, it is nice to be able to take your candy out of your mouth without getting your hands all sticky," she said causing Red the chuckle.
The two remained silent for a moment. "It's been quite a day hasn't it?" said Leaf.
"Oh yeah, all things considered, I think it turned out alright," Red replied.
"Really? I think most people who almost drown don't have a good day."
"True, I guess that's what separates me from the rest." Now that she mentioned it, next to no one would jump into a pokemon battle straight after nearly drowning.
"By the way, what are you going to do with Gyarados?" Leaf asked.
"I'm going to train it, it would be a danger to everyone and everything around it if I didn't."
Leaf worried for Red because she saw first hand how aggressive and powerful that Gyarados was. But then again he and Pikachu took it down with ease, so it was safe to assume he could handle it. "OK then, if you're the one training it then we've got nothing to worry about," she said cheerfully.
Red averted her gaze with a slight blush, "I'm just doing what I can." he said sheepishly. The two went silent again, Red looked at Leaf out of the corner of his eye and saw her once again smiling happily as she stared at the water. She clearly feeling a lot better and it made Red really happy, it also made him feel good that he was the one to bring her out of her stupor.
His mind however quickly drifted back to his little identity issue. Maybe he was just overthinking it, but then again maybe not, people are often unpredictable.
Leaf took notice of Red's sudden change in mood, it was just like earlier today, "Red what's wrong?" she asked.
Red got nervous, he didn't want to lie to her but he was still afraid. But he realized that if he wanted any chance with her then he had to be honest with her. It was time to come clean. Red took a deep breath, "Leaf....can you keep a secret?"
Leaf looked at him worriedly, "Of course," she said.
Red stalled for a few moments before continuing on, "Y-You know how I told you I've competed in the Pokemon League before?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Well...a few years ago, I actually won it, and...everything else that followed."
Leaf's eyes widened as she realized what he was getting at, "Wait, are you saying you're-"
"Yeah. for the past 4 years, I've been the champion of the Indigo League..."
Silence ensued and Red just stared at the water in front of him, afraid of what was going to come next. But it turns out all his fears about her were unfounded. "Are you serious?!" she asked happily.
"Uh yeah of course," Red replied a little surprised at her enthusiasm.
"Red that's amazing! Not many people can say they've become cham-"
Red quickly covered her mouth just like he did with Yellow, taking her by surprise, "Sorry but could you please keep it down," he whispered as he took his hand off her mouth.
"Sorry Red."
"It's OK, sorry again I just really don't want this getting out."
"But why?" Leaf asked.
Red sat back for a moment, "When people know you're a Champion they treat you differently. It's essentially being a celebrity; the press never leaves you alone when they find you, other people see me as some kind of god among men, I've even run into people who wanted to use me for money."
Leaf continued to listen, starting to understand why he kept this locked up. "I don't want all that attention, out there it's so suffocating and I don't want to get stuck in it again. I guess with all that's happened since I've been here I've also been scared."
"Scared? Well, I guess I would be scared if I had to go through all that," she said.
"It's not just that," said Red. Leaf looked at him questioningly as he continued to speak, "I told you I've never had any real friends before this. Meeting and being friends with you guys has been one of the best things that have ever happened to me. And...with the way things have gone in the past, I was worried you guys would see me differently when you found out. Or worse, you guys would hate me for keeping secrets."
When Red finished, he went back to looking out on the lake. Leaf placed and hand on his shoulder, "Red, it's OK," she said with a smile. Red looked up at her, "I can't imagine how much pressure that must put on you. And for the record, there's no way I could ever hate you, you're way too great a person."
Red was surprised, this was the opposite of how he expected her to react. Guess he was overthinking it after all. "Guess it's my turn to say thanks, thank you Leaf," said Red.
"No problem, don't worry your secret's safe with me," Leaf replied happily. Red felt so much better after getting that stuff off his chest, plus it brought him a little closer to Leaf.
"So does anyone else here know about this?" asked Leaf.
"Yeah a couple of people, Blue mainly. He's actually one of the people I had to go through to become champion."
"Oh wow, so he's really strong too then."
"Yeah...he's pretty strong..." Red really wanted to get the conversation off of Blue. "Anyway, actually Yellow also knows. turns out she actually knew who I was when she saw me the first time."
"Really? How?"
"Apparently, she saw my final battle during the league where I became champion. She came to me about it before the capture the flag game, thankfully she was understanding about me not wanting this to get out."
"So you've got yourself an admirer," said Leaf with a smile.
"I guess you could say that."
Elsewhere...
Hilbert and Nate were ready to get on with what they had set up earlier. "Looks like everyone's heading out for the night, you ready?" asked Nate.
"You bet, everyone is going to love this," Hilbert replied.
The two of them lit up a lighter each and began lighting up several wicks. That's right, they are setting off fireworks. Why? Because why not. Who doesn't like fireworks? Especially on a crystal clear night like this. Anyway, the first fireworks shot off into the sky exploding into bright beautiful displays above. They caught everyone's attention; for some, it lit up the way back to their cabins/camps and for others, it just added to their nighttime activities after the mixer. Everyone loved the sight all the same.
Red and Leaf being right on the dock got the best view of the fireworks. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a more perfect picture," said Red.
"Yeah, it's amazing," Leaf replied dreamily looking at the display.
As she continues to watch, she scoots closer to Red to the point she is right up against him and then lays her head on his shoulder. Red's face becomes his namesake as he looks over at her, he was surprised by this small turn of events. But he hasn't really had this kind of opportunity yet (unless you count them riding on top of Blastoise together) so he just sat there, he was going to enjoy this time as much as he could.
A/N: OK this has been dragging on a while so I'm gonna try and keep this last part brief
The next day was just kind of a hang out a day, so just about everyone was doing their own thing. Red was hanging out with Ethan and Lyra near the lake while Leaf was nearby on lifeguard duty for the first time. Since she and Red were picked to become lifeguards, she didn't have to retake the test like the others. Her roommates all scowled at her when they saw her on duty while they still had to take the test again.
After last night, Red realized in regards to his friends knowing his secret he had nothing to worry about, so he decided to come clean about it with them too. They were understandably surprised when Red told them about this. "Wow, I'm friends with the Indigo League champion," Ethan said.
"Yeah, I never thought I'd be in a position like this, it's, awesome!" Lyra said, "Does Leaf know about this?"
"Yeah, I told her last night actually," said Red.
"Man you've got it bad for her," Ethan joked causing Red to blush and Lyra to laugh at his expense. Red didn't even try to deny it because he knew it was pointless.
"In all seriousness, I'm glad you're able to trust us with your secret," said Ethan, "I would like one thing though."
Red looked at him curiously, "I would like to battle sometime, show me the strength of a champion," Ethan continued with a smirk.
Red got a smirk of his own, "You got it, Ethan."
"What are you guys up to?" They turned to see Leaf walking towards them. "Not much just talking mainly," said Lyra, "How's your first day as a lifeguard?"
"Oh, it's going great! It beats any job in the kitchen," Leaf replied, "By the way Red, have you decided to join our ranks?"
"I think it's worth a try," said Red.
"Great! I'm sure you'll be a great lifeguard. Plus it'll be nice having someone doing it with me."
Red blushed a little, even if it didn't mean much romantically speaking it made him happy that she wanted him around. Ethan and Lyra meanwhile looked at each other with a knowing smirk. "Welp, I'm on break for a while how about we go cool off in the lake?" Leaf asked.
"I could definitely go for a cool down. Lyra?" asked Ethan.
"Definitely."
"I'm definitely in need of some refreshment," said Red.
"Alright, what are we waiting? for let's go," Leaf said happily as the three followed her back to the lake.
Allllllllllllright there's another one done. Good lord these chapters are getting longer and longer. On the bright side, I actually managed to finish this in a little less time than usual. I'm gonna try to improve on it but I still have a lot of trouble with motivation and focus so it's still gonna be trouble. Anyway, as usual vote, comment, if you like it let me know and if you didn't also let me know and please let me know what I could do to improve, a little constructive criticism is always welcome. Have a nice do you all, God bless :)