Journeys: Red, Green and Blue//ON HOLD//

Chapter 6

Red woke up to someone knocking at his door. With a grumble, he slowly rolled out of bed. Everything seemed blurry and distorted. He was still so tired despite how long he'd probably slept.

"Mom, I did the laundry yesterday!" he shouted at the door as he tried to get his bearings.

"Last time I checked, I wasn't your mom weirdo!" Green's voice came through the door, leaving Red wondering why Green was in his house for just a second. Then, Red realized everything that had happened in the two days since they had left home, also remembering that he was not at home but rather in a rented room at a Pokemon Center. He looked up to see Riza curled up in the bed still and Piyo perched on the headboard before yet again going to fly onto Red's head. She seemed to like it even better now because he wasn't wearing his hat yet.

"Right. Viridian City. I'll be in a second," Red mumbled at the door. He slowly picked himself up off of the floor and walked into the bathroom. It was shared with the room next to him, but the other room was empty. Looking into the mirror, Red saw how much of a mess he was. Dark circles under his eyes, limp hair falling across his face, scabbed over cuts and scratches covering his exposed face and arms. He hadn't even remembered to change into some pyjamas before dropping into bed.

"I look like crap," he muttered to himself, though Piyo nodded in agreement. "Hey! I wasn't asking for your input!" at that, Piyo flew to the pole holding up the shower curtain with a chirp of mirth. "Hey Riza, is my hat in there?" there was a growl in response, but Red wasn't sure whether it meant yes or no. "Alright then. I'm gonna take a shower, so don't come in unless you absolutely have to." he called back out, turning on the shower. He'd leave the door open in case his Pokemon needed something, but at least the door to the hallway was locked. Red was in and out of the shower as fast as he could, so he wouldn't leave Green waiting too long. He was just in time, as Green started getting impatient and banged on the door just as soon as Red had finished getting dressed.

"I'm coming!" he called, grabbing his hat and shoving most of his spiky, black hair up underneath it. He grabbed his bag and picked up Riza before going to get the door. Once again, Piyo found her way onto his head. Then, out of the room they went to see an annoyed Green standing just outside. He had his right pants leg rolled up still, and his leg was splinted tightly, but the rest of his wounds seemed to be mostly healed. The bad one on his arm had already scarred over, courtesy of whatever amazing healing prowess the nurses and doctors had.

"Finally, you've arrived. You look like Hell. Did Giratina get to you or something," Green smirked.

"I could say the same about you," Red shot back. Riza and Piyo both cried in defense of Red.

"Yeesh, can't you keep those two in their Pokeballs?" Green started walking back to the first floor, and Red scrambled to keep up. How could someone who had broken their leg the night before move so fast.

"I don't have Riza's ball. If I remember right, I was too busy saving your sorry butt to remember to grab it," Red grumbled.

"Don't remind me. My first day as a trainer, and I colossally fuck up. I shudder to think of what Gramps will see. He's counting on me," Green made a rather unpleasant face. He had rather unreasonable expectations of himself at times and tended to worry about how his grandfather would react.

"Us. He's counting on both of us. I don't think it'll be as bad as you think. Professor Oak is pretty laid back," Red tried to reassure his friend, only to get a death glare in return. "Anyway, why did those Spearow attack? Cause I don't think it was because of anything I did."

"Nah, that was definitely me. I think I knocked a nest over when I ran into that tree. Not my best moment," Green admitted.

"Seriously? Not your best moment? You nearly got us killed!" Red said with an exasperated tone.