Not having much luck on PokeCommunity, so I'm going to try it out here...
-----Rated 'PG15' For Violence and Swearing in Later Chapters-----
THIS FICTION IS RATED 'PG15' FOR VIOLENCE AND SWEARING THAT COMES IN LATER CHAPTERS
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON OR ANY OF THE POKEMON IN THIS STORY, I ONLY OWN THE ORIGINAL TOWNS MADE UP BY ME AS WELL AS THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS CREATED BY MYSELF
1
Te-chih. Te-chih. Te-chih. Te-CHIH.
Fred heard these cries, spilling out of the flames. The bright embers flew out. The long flames danced their intricate dance, and the smaller ones gave their own performance before dying out. Whispering. Dancing. Breathing. You never know how eerily amazing it is until you see a fire. Pallet’s own library was slowly readying its collapse. Wood splintered, and the large crowd drawing stepped back.
Te-chah! SU-CHAH!
More violently, the flames spread onto the ground, eating up the grass that had taken so long to grow and become near perfect.
Having managed to get to the front of the crowd, for a horrible moment Fred saw his own awful, twisting image appear in the flames. He blinked. And Fire-Fred had left him, and after that he knew it hadn’t been there at all. “Fire plays tricks on us,” somebody near Fred told nobody in particular. It was likely something similar had happened to him.
Not even ten yet, and not what you’d call tall, Fred quickly found himself pushed around to the edge of the crowd. He saw nothing, only the smoke rising into the air. A flock of Pidgey, he saw with wide eyes, had scorched their fine brown feathers, and had flown into the air in a huff.
After a moment watching the stocky birds, reality set into him. This is dangerous, I want mom. I want dad. Need to get home. They will be worried. Won’t they?
Te-chiha! Te-CHAH!
The building was finally beginning to collapse, and screams broke out. The police had finally managed to get the crowd to step away, but only after the building had began to fall. The few onlookers closeby jumped up and ran. It would have almost been funny if not for the circumstances.
No, Fred thought. Not funny.
His short legs carried him further than most would have thought possible, and he ran faster than he remembered ever before doing. For one ridiculous second he found himself wondering whether or not he had hung up his jacket after school.
Fred breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his house. In retrospect he almost laughed. For some reason he had thought his house, quite a safe distance away from the library, was also on fire. But of course it wasn’t. Looking in, he saw his mother and father staring out the window, which desperately needed to be cleaned. The wind had carried dirt onto it, and dust rested near the bottom.
Smiling, Fred leaped up the steps. Another thing he never remember doing before, normally he got frightened of falling. After all, the steps were made of stone. Little things like that didn’t matter anymore. Right now all that mattered was somehow never leaving the house again.
Until he turned ten, of course.
2
Several months later and several inches taller, Fred sat on the couch, his father on one side, his mother on the other. The local news had just informed Pallet that due to the town’s budget becoming less, the rebuilding of the town library would be delayed for what they estimated to be another year. “Until then,” the newsman said, flashing a smile of large, pearly white teeth, “be sure to take your family for a little trip down to Pallet Mall! All your shopping needs including books WILL be available for ONLY, and hear you this, ONLY twenty-two dollars and twenty-two cents for the August 22nd sale!”
Ignoring the latest of the increasingly lame ‘bargains,’ Fred looked to both sides when he saw his parents sharing a laugh. “The 22 thing wasn’t that funny, was it?” Sometimes, he found, he didn’t find the same things funny as his parents.
His dad laughed harder at that. As he began coughing (“Smoking’s never a good idea,” he told Fred repeatedly), his mother stepped in. She looked like a once attractive woman who had undergone various transformations in size. Loose skin hung off her arms, and her face seemed bony and permanently miserable, despite the fact that she was one of the few people that always seemed to be happy.
“Newsguy advertising the mall, Freddy-eddy.” He groaned at her nickname- she had called him that since he was four. “Pallet Mall hasn’t been popular since we were your age. They’re using the library burning down to advertise it.”
Fred realized it had been more of an angry laugh than anything.
Not letting the news distract him, he quickly sat still as the 6:30PM program came on. One of the most highly-rated shows, Trainer Talk was easily Fred’s favorite show. The hosts traveled around Kanto, interviewing experienced trainers from Viridian to Cinnibar. Fred never missed it, and because he never missed it, his parents never missed it. With it being the only decent television in the house, they liked watching just about anything on it.
The opening was “over-stylish,” Fred’s father complained a lot. Fred had trouble disagreeing- the neon logo twisted, bent and morphed until it became ‘Trainer Talk.’ Then, the complete logo spun rapidly, decresing in size as the episode’s area was shown. Then, the spot the small logo was popped, and the hosts came into sight. “They always look so out-of-place,” his mother said at today’s episode.
Again, Fred had trouble disagreeing. Jonny and Sandra were the hosts, and they both wore expensive outfits that stood out from the worn clothes the traveler’s donned.
“TODAY!” The announcer boomed this, and then paused. “WE! ARE! AT! CEERRRULEAN!”
A grin escaped Fred- Cerulean was one of the family’s favorite yearly vacation spots. Every time they found the time –and extra money—to go to Cerulean they loved it, and several times Fred heard his parents discussing plans to move there. In the end, though, they always decided that even living in an apartment in Cerulean would be too expensive.
Lost in his thoughts, Fred failed to see the hosts were already with the first trainer. Obviously caught off-guard, he had a small bit of ketchup on his lip, which he hastily wiped off with a dark green sleeve. He adjusted the large sombrero he wore, which was lopsided. “Woah! This is banging.”
The trainer looked around fourteen, so he was obviously already experienced. That is, if he had, like most, went on his journey at age ten. Jonny flased a smile that reminded Fred of the newsman. “Woah indeed! This is Trainer Talk, and you are--?”
Momentarily lost for words, the trainer took a few deep breaths. “Erm, Parker.”
His hand was already on his belt when Sandra belted out the next question. They never changed their format. “Parker, it is fabulous to meet you! Would you mind allowing the audience at home a chance to see your Pokemon?”
Parker coughed, uncomfortable. “To tell ya the truth, five of my Pokemon are at the Center right now, I just had a battle….I’ve got one.” His expression had gone from star-shocked to disappointed, as if his fate were already chosen and he could only watch it.
“We would love to see your Pokemon!” Sandra.
“It would be great!” Jonny.
Parker soundlessly released it from his Pokeball. The bright red beam burnt into the ground, and a small form emerged. Fred immediately knew why Parker was uncomfortable, he himself had to hold back laughter. A Pidgey, not unlike the one’s he had seen that day of the fire, hopped on the ground, sticking its talons int the dirt.
Jonny immediately knew that they had gotten an unlucky trainer. Still, Fred saw, he didn’t seem to be allowed to quit just yet.
“And how long have you been training?”
Please let it be a few days. Please let it be a few days, Jonny must be thinking.
“Five years. I just turned fifteen a few weeks ago.”
Sandra stepped in, and now she had a grim expression. “What plan could she have to save this interview?” Fred looked at his father, who was chuckling in anticipation of how she’d attempt to distract the audience from the Pidgey. “Serves them right for having this as a live show,” his father added.
When Sandra spoke again, her tone was surprisingly somber. “Thank you for showing us your Pokemon, Parker. Now, I’d like to get to the topic of today’s episode. A controversy that is upsetting hopeful trainers all around-“
Fred sat up straighter.
“- how do you feel about the trainer deaths that have been happening lately?”
Parker shook his head absently. He didn’t know what she was talking about. “I, er, don’t watch the news too often.”
Sandra didn’t seem distracted. Now, she faced the cameras directly. “The percentage of new trainers dying within five weeks of their town leave has rised 20 percent. As you viewers must know by now, this has caused the age of leave to change from ten to a record-breaking fifteen, in what trainers are calling the most ridiculous law change in recent histor—“
Fred got up soundlessly and went to his room.
=====
Author's Notes about Chapter One
Let me begin by starting, as a great man once said. This section will be for small background snippets- some could be considered important to the story, and some things are just small ideas that ended up being cut fairly quickly. The idea for this story, I'll tell you now, was much more violent when I originally had the idea, which originated through a dream; in no random order, here are the things about Chapter One that you may end up finding interesting, although I doubt it.
1) Guess what? Originally, "trainer deaths" weren't the reason at all for the age limit being raised. I knew that I wanted to make the Pokemon world as realistic as possible, and originally I think I may have taken that too far. You see, in the original first chapter (which I actually considered a Prologue- I debated whether or not to count this as an actual chapter for quite a while) trainer deaths had a part in why the age limit was raised, but it wasn't the main reason; you can probably guess what the reason was if you're old enough. To put it bluntly, after watching a few episodes of Dateline: To Catch a Predator, the idea that little kids could go out on a "journey" completely unsupervised freaked me out a little bit. In the original Prologue/First Chapter, I even had the beginning be a ten-year-old get abducted by a child molester, and this was going to be the entry into the age limit law. While it was still being roughly sketched out, though, I decided to cut that entire storyline out, although since Fred heard the news on a show for all ages, I don't think the whole "child abuser/abductor" thing went to a complete halt: it's still a presence, but not in this particular story. So, the reason I made them fifteen? Not because I live by that whole "only older kids for teh romance0rz!" thing that some writers like, but I have a sick, realistic way of seeing things.
2) After I cut out the plotline of "children aren't safe alone," I didn't go straight into the Chapter One you read. Hayull no. Originally, the first chapter was going to be much longer, and it would all recount the most memorable moments of Fred's young life before that fateful day watching television. I'd have him seeing a passing trainer with an Arcanine and being allowed to pet it; him at school learning about Pokemon and geography, and loads of other things I can't even remember. This all came from me, a pencil, and a piece of blank paper. Needless to say, this was all needless filler, and I think it was easily the right decision to cut that stuff out. It served no purpose to the plot, and I think it made Fred seem a little too unrealistic, and I already fear that in this chapter his personality might be a little dull. I could have expanded on it, yes, but I had one goal this chapter: get the age limit law passed, making Fred have to wait another five years. Sorry, Freddy-ole-boy, but you getting a personality needs to wait. They're overrated anyway, just ask any movie star.
3) The opening scene of the library burning down. You are probably wondering if this had any point in the slightest. And it does....but I'm not about to tell you.
4) Another 'realistic' thing I decided to do that eventually I cut was have Fred step on a dead Pidgey that had inhaled too much smoke and was burnt badly. I eventually thought that would probably scar Fred for life and end up putting him in an insane asylum, so instead I went for the much-less-exciting-but-still-kinda-fulfilling little bit where the flock of Pidgey get scorched and fly away to safety. Lucky pigeons should thank me and my kindness.
5) The last two sentences in '1' lead up to the rest of the story, in some ways. Fred nearly pisses himself in fright at the fire, but because he gets to be a trainer when he turns ten, he decides not to be afraid, because if he stays inside he won't get a Pokemon. Whoops! Thanks a lot, 20% increase, poor Fred's dream got ruined. If you haven't noticed yet, torturing this little kid is fun. It would have been fine and dandy to have him skip off to his little adventure at tens years, but ten chapters in (if that) I'd end up needing to have the rest of the story be his face on a milk carton because he's gone missing. Needless to say, I think I saved this imaginary bugger.
6) Enter '2'. And no, I have no idea if that period is in the right spot. I don't know if the scene where the TV guy announces the mall makes a lot of sense, really. I re-read the chapter about five times, and I just noticed now that 1) what would they have done for books during the time lapse between 1 and 2 and 2) why would the mall not be popular, and why would the library be popular? What is this, the Amish place from the Yankovic song? So, dear reviewers, let your minds fog up while reading this bit. Forgive the TV guy for the ramble of twenty-two. Forgive the citizens of Pallet for having no interest in malls. And if you can't do that, let me give a bad excuse and say that the Pallet Mall is a really, really bad mall. Which, asamatterofact, I could've done the first sentence. I just wasted your time and my time.
7) The TV show was a pain to write, but I tried to make it so that it would be a pain to watch if you had to. Let's face it, almost-ten-year-olds don't have the best taste in television. And as for Parker, he may or may not end up showing up again down the road....
8) With that vague hint that I may end up cutting, this is the end of my notes. I hope you had fun reading at least the episode, and if you actually got through this boring dribble of notes, I praise you. As you can see, a lot of chopping up went on in this Prologue/Chapter, and I hope you can at least appreciate the effort that I put into this, even if you completely hate the story. I don't know whether or not I'll have these notes at the end of every chapter-- it depends on whether or not I have much to say.
-----Rated 'PG15' For Violence and Swearing in Later Chapters-----
THIS FICTION IS RATED 'PG15' FOR VIOLENCE AND SWEARING THAT COMES IN LATER CHAPTERS
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON OR ANY OF THE POKEMON IN THIS STORY, I ONLY OWN THE ORIGINAL TOWNS MADE UP BY ME AS WELL AS THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS CREATED BY MYSELF
Chapter One
1
Te-chih. Te-chih. Te-chih. Te-CHIH.
Fred heard these cries, spilling out of the flames. The bright embers flew out. The long flames danced their intricate dance, and the smaller ones gave their own performance before dying out. Whispering. Dancing. Breathing. You never know how eerily amazing it is until you see a fire. Pallet’s own library was slowly readying its collapse. Wood splintered, and the large crowd drawing stepped back.
Te-chah! SU-CHAH!
More violently, the flames spread onto the ground, eating up the grass that had taken so long to grow and become near perfect.
Having managed to get to the front of the crowd, for a horrible moment Fred saw his own awful, twisting image appear in the flames. He blinked. And Fire-Fred had left him, and after that he knew it hadn’t been there at all. “Fire plays tricks on us,” somebody near Fred told nobody in particular. It was likely something similar had happened to him.
Not even ten yet, and not what you’d call tall, Fred quickly found himself pushed around to the edge of the crowd. He saw nothing, only the smoke rising into the air. A flock of Pidgey, he saw with wide eyes, had scorched their fine brown feathers, and had flown into the air in a huff.
After a moment watching the stocky birds, reality set into him. This is dangerous, I want mom. I want dad. Need to get home. They will be worried. Won’t they?
Te-chiha! Te-CHAH!
The building was finally beginning to collapse, and screams broke out. The police had finally managed to get the crowd to step away, but only after the building had began to fall. The few onlookers closeby jumped up and ran. It would have almost been funny if not for the circumstances.
No, Fred thought. Not funny.
His short legs carried him further than most would have thought possible, and he ran faster than he remembered ever before doing. For one ridiculous second he found himself wondering whether or not he had hung up his jacket after school.
Fred breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his house. In retrospect he almost laughed. For some reason he had thought his house, quite a safe distance away from the library, was also on fire. But of course it wasn’t. Looking in, he saw his mother and father staring out the window, which desperately needed to be cleaned. The wind had carried dirt onto it, and dust rested near the bottom.
Smiling, Fred leaped up the steps. Another thing he never remember doing before, normally he got frightened of falling. After all, the steps were made of stone. Little things like that didn’t matter anymore. Right now all that mattered was somehow never leaving the house again.
Until he turned ten, of course.
2
Several months later and several inches taller, Fred sat on the couch, his father on one side, his mother on the other. The local news had just informed Pallet that due to the town’s budget becoming less, the rebuilding of the town library would be delayed for what they estimated to be another year. “Until then,” the newsman said, flashing a smile of large, pearly white teeth, “be sure to take your family for a little trip down to Pallet Mall! All your shopping needs including books WILL be available for ONLY, and hear you this, ONLY twenty-two dollars and twenty-two cents for the August 22nd sale!”
Ignoring the latest of the increasingly lame ‘bargains,’ Fred looked to both sides when he saw his parents sharing a laugh. “The 22 thing wasn’t that funny, was it?” Sometimes, he found, he didn’t find the same things funny as his parents.
His dad laughed harder at that. As he began coughing (“Smoking’s never a good idea,” he told Fred repeatedly), his mother stepped in. She looked like a once attractive woman who had undergone various transformations in size. Loose skin hung off her arms, and her face seemed bony and permanently miserable, despite the fact that she was one of the few people that always seemed to be happy.
“Newsguy advertising the mall, Freddy-eddy.” He groaned at her nickname- she had called him that since he was four. “Pallet Mall hasn’t been popular since we were your age. They’re using the library burning down to advertise it.”
Fred realized it had been more of an angry laugh than anything.
Not letting the news distract him, he quickly sat still as the 6:30PM program came on. One of the most highly-rated shows, Trainer Talk was easily Fred’s favorite show. The hosts traveled around Kanto, interviewing experienced trainers from Viridian to Cinnibar. Fred never missed it, and because he never missed it, his parents never missed it. With it being the only decent television in the house, they liked watching just about anything on it.
The opening was “over-stylish,” Fred’s father complained a lot. Fred had trouble disagreeing- the neon logo twisted, bent and morphed until it became ‘Trainer Talk.’ Then, the complete logo spun rapidly, decresing in size as the episode’s area was shown. Then, the spot the small logo was popped, and the hosts came into sight. “They always look so out-of-place,” his mother said at today’s episode.
Again, Fred had trouble disagreeing. Jonny and Sandra were the hosts, and they both wore expensive outfits that stood out from the worn clothes the traveler’s donned.
“TODAY!” The announcer boomed this, and then paused. “WE! ARE! AT! CEERRRULEAN!”
A grin escaped Fred- Cerulean was one of the family’s favorite yearly vacation spots. Every time they found the time –and extra money—to go to Cerulean they loved it, and several times Fred heard his parents discussing plans to move there. In the end, though, they always decided that even living in an apartment in Cerulean would be too expensive.
Lost in his thoughts, Fred failed to see the hosts were already with the first trainer. Obviously caught off-guard, he had a small bit of ketchup on his lip, which he hastily wiped off with a dark green sleeve. He adjusted the large sombrero he wore, which was lopsided. “Woah! This is banging.”
The trainer looked around fourteen, so he was obviously already experienced. That is, if he had, like most, went on his journey at age ten. Jonny flased a smile that reminded Fred of the newsman. “Woah indeed! This is Trainer Talk, and you are--?”
Momentarily lost for words, the trainer took a few deep breaths. “Erm, Parker.”
His hand was already on his belt when Sandra belted out the next question. They never changed their format. “Parker, it is fabulous to meet you! Would you mind allowing the audience at home a chance to see your Pokemon?”
Parker coughed, uncomfortable. “To tell ya the truth, five of my Pokemon are at the Center right now, I just had a battle….I’ve got one.” His expression had gone from star-shocked to disappointed, as if his fate were already chosen and he could only watch it.
“We would love to see your Pokemon!” Sandra.
“It would be great!” Jonny.
Parker soundlessly released it from his Pokeball. The bright red beam burnt into the ground, and a small form emerged. Fred immediately knew why Parker was uncomfortable, he himself had to hold back laughter. A Pidgey, not unlike the one’s he had seen that day of the fire, hopped on the ground, sticking its talons int the dirt.
Jonny immediately knew that they had gotten an unlucky trainer. Still, Fred saw, he didn’t seem to be allowed to quit just yet.
“And how long have you been training?”
Please let it be a few days. Please let it be a few days, Jonny must be thinking.
“Five years. I just turned fifteen a few weeks ago.”
Sandra stepped in, and now she had a grim expression. “What plan could she have to save this interview?” Fred looked at his father, who was chuckling in anticipation of how she’d attempt to distract the audience from the Pidgey. “Serves them right for having this as a live show,” his father added.
When Sandra spoke again, her tone was surprisingly somber. “Thank you for showing us your Pokemon, Parker. Now, I’d like to get to the topic of today’s episode. A controversy that is upsetting hopeful trainers all around-“
Fred sat up straighter.
“- how do you feel about the trainer deaths that have been happening lately?”
Parker shook his head absently. He didn’t know what she was talking about. “I, er, don’t watch the news too often.”
Sandra didn’t seem distracted. Now, she faced the cameras directly. “The percentage of new trainers dying within five weeks of their town leave has rised 20 percent. As you viewers must know by now, this has caused the age of leave to change from ten to a record-breaking fifteen, in what trainers are calling the most ridiculous law change in recent histor—“
Fred got up soundlessly and went to his room.
=====
Author's Notes about Chapter One
Let me begin by starting, as a great man once said. This section will be for small background snippets- some could be considered important to the story, and some things are just small ideas that ended up being cut fairly quickly. The idea for this story, I'll tell you now, was much more violent when I originally had the idea, which originated through a dream; in no random order, here are the things about Chapter One that you may end up finding interesting, although I doubt it.
1) Guess what? Originally, "trainer deaths" weren't the reason at all for the age limit being raised. I knew that I wanted to make the Pokemon world as realistic as possible, and originally I think I may have taken that too far. You see, in the original first chapter (which I actually considered a Prologue- I debated whether or not to count this as an actual chapter for quite a while) trainer deaths had a part in why the age limit was raised, but it wasn't the main reason; you can probably guess what the reason was if you're old enough. To put it bluntly, after watching a few episodes of Dateline: To Catch a Predator, the idea that little kids could go out on a "journey" completely unsupervised freaked me out a little bit. In the original Prologue/First Chapter, I even had the beginning be a ten-year-old get abducted by a child molester, and this was going to be the entry into the age limit law. While it was still being roughly sketched out, though, I decided to cut that entire storyline out, although since Fred heard the news on a show for all ages, I don't think the whole "child abuser/abductor" thing went to a complete halt: it's still a presence, but not in this particular story. So, the reason I made them fifteen? Not because I live by that whole "only older kids for teh romance0rz!" thing that some writers like, but I have a sick, realistic way of seeing things.
2) After I cut out the plotline of "children aren't safe alone," I didn't go straight into the Chapter One you read. Hayull no. Originally, the first chapter was going to be much longer, and it would all recount the most memorable moments of Fred's young life before that fateful day watching television. I'd have him seeing a passing trainer with an Arcanine and being allowed to pet it; him at school learning about Pokemon and geography, and loads of other things I can't even remember. This all came from me, a pencil, and a piece of blank paper. Needless to say, this was all needless filler, and I think it was easily the right decision to cut that stuff out. It served no purpose to the plot, and I think it made Fred seem a little too unrealistic, and I already fear that in this chapter his personality might be a little dull. I could have expanded on it, yes, but I had one goal this chapter: get the age limit law passed, making Fred have to wait another five years. Sorry, Freddy-ole-boy, but you getting a personality needs to wait. They're overrated anyway, just ask any movie star.
3) The opening scene of the library burning down. You are probably wondering if this had any point in the slightest. And it does....but I'm not about to tell you.
4) Another 'realistic' thing I decided to do that eventually I cut was have Fred step on a dead Pidgey that had inhaled too much smoke and was burnt badly. I eventually thought that would probably scar Fred for life and end up putting him in an insane asylum, so instead I went for the much-less-exciting-but-still-kinda-fulfilling little bit where the flock of Pidgey get scorched and fly away to safety. Lucky pigeons should thank me and my kindness.
5) The last two sentences in '1' lead up to the rest of the story, in some ways. Fred nearly pisses himself in fright at the fire, but because he gets to be a trainer when he turns ten, he decides not to be afraid, because if he stays inside he won't get a Pokemon. Whoops! Thanks a lot, 20% increase, poor Fred's dream got ruined. If you haven't noticed yet, torturing this little kid is fun. It would have been fine and dandy to have him skip off to his little adventure at tens years, but ten chapters in (if that) I'd end up needing to have the rest of the story be his face on a milk carton because he's gone missing. Needless to say, I think I saved this imaginary bugger.
6) Enter '2'. And no, I have no idea if that period is in the right spot. I don't know if the scene where the TV guy announces the mall makes a lot of sense, really. I re-read the chapter about five times, and I just noticed now that 1) what would they have done for books during the time lapse between 1 and 2 and 2) why would the mall not be popular, and why would the library be popular? What is this, the Amish place from the Yankovic song? So, dear reviewers, let your minds fog up while reading this bit. Forgive the TV guy for the ramble of twenty-two. Forgive the citizens of Pallet for having no interest in malls. And if you can't do that, let me give a bad excuse and say that the Pallet Mall is a really, really bad mall. Which, asamatterofact, I could've done the first sentence. I just wasted your time and my time.
7) The TV show was a pain to write, but I tried to make it so that it would be a pain to watch if you had to. Let's face it, almost-ten-year-olds don't have the best taste in television. And as for Parker, he may or may not end up showing up again down the road....
8) With that vague hint that I may end up cutting, this is the end of my notes. I hope you had fun reading at least the episode, and if you actually got through this boring dribble of notes, I praise you. As you can see, a lot of chopping up went on in this Prologue/Chapter, and I hope you can at least appreciate the effort that I put into this, even if you completely hate the story. I don't know whether or not I'll have these notes at the end of every chapter-- it depends on whether or not I have much to say.
Last edited:
, but it's not the last we'll see of him. For the sake of spoilers, I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll say anything about Dean and Fred's future in traveling together.