Cashe pulled Emilia back, letting Lindon run ahead as they made their way towards Vermillion City. The harbor city was visible in the distance, the road downhill all the way to the coast. Cashe could see Wingull soaring through the air above ships and even the occasional Bombirdier dropping Shellders onto the coastal rocks below.

Cranes dominated the harbor, unloading huge cargo ships that floated along the massive dock. The city was large and familiar to Cashe, looking upon it felt like viewing any coastal city from his past life. A smattering of warehouses and low lying buildings dominated the harbor side of the city, the buildings gradually becoming taller and more modern as his eyes swept away from the coast.

“What is it?” Emilia said, having the good sense to keep her voice low as Cashe held her gently by the arm to slow her down. She glanced up the road at Lindon, who was attempting to float through the air by dangling from Magnemite’s magnets. The little pokemon was trying, but didn’t have the strength to keep Lindon in the air for more than a fraction of a second.

“Since when were we looking for a kid?” Cashe said, glancing up the road to make sure Lindon wasn’t listening in on the conversation.

Emilia raised an eyebrow, “You would let a twelve year old child start his journey with nothing but a Magnemite to support him?”

“I wouldn’t let a twelve year old start their journey at all,” Cashe whispered harshly, “But I do feel like I should have been consulted on the decision.”

“What decision?” Emilia said with a flat expression, “I don’t know what the culture is like where you come from, but here in Kanto, if you see a child in need, you help. A kid alone on the road like Lindon is a dark, black mark on the soul of every adult trainer who he met on his way to Campton.”

Cashe bit back his retort. Emilia was right. There wasn’t a choice when it came to children. If they needed help, they should get it. No exceptions.

He sighed, “I just didn’t see myself having the responsibility of taking care of a child.”

“Hey, at least this one’s toilet trained,” Emilia said with a grin, “If you got one the traditional way, it might be more fun, but think of all the trouble that comes up along the way. Plus, you can’t say our way wasn't fun.” Emilia frowned, “Well, you can’t say it wasn’t exciting.”

Her words were lighthearted, but they hit Cashe like a truck, thrusting him back into the state he was in shortly after arriving in Kanto. It was a dark, lonely place. It would be years before he saw his wife again, if he ever did. Jen would mourn him, but she wouldn't stay single. Not forever. She was too amazing for that. She wanted kids, she wanted a family to raise and grow old with. She wanted a life.

It would be a life Cashe missed, one from which he was absent. Her kids would not be his kids. Her life would not be his life.

Cashe sat down on the road, right in the middle, and stared down at Vermillion City in the distance. Emilia was saying something. He could hear the concerned tone in her voice, but he couldn’t make out the words. Something nudged him on the shoulder and Emilia sat down beside him.

Cashe didn’t know how long he sat there, dazed and away from the world, but when he returned, Lindon was sitting across from him, staring up at him with his pale blue eyes. The sun was low in the sky, painting it a deep red as it dipped behind the horizon.

“Mr Cashe?” Lindon said.

“Just Cashe, please.” Cashe said. His voice was low and raw, as if he had been shouting. Or crying.

Lindon made a face, “Cashe is your last name. It feels weird calling you Cashe.”

“My first name is Apollo,” Cashe said, “That is weird.”

“How?”

Cashe frowned. Maybe in a world where people were running around called Red and Blue, Apollo wasn’t so strange.

“Fine. You can call me Apollo if you want.”

“Okay. Apollo?”

“Yes?”

“Are you alright? Miss Oak says-”

“I told you to call me Emilia,” Emilia interrupted. She was still sitting beside him, leaning into his shoulder.

“Emilia said you were fine but I don’t know if she’s right,” Lindon glanced at Emilia and bit his lip. He leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially in Cashe’s ear, “People don’t normally sit in the street and cry for a long time. I think she might be a bit dumb.”

Despite himself, Cashe couldn’t help but smile, letting out a tired snort of amusement.

“What’s so funny,” Emilia said, narrowing her eyes in suspicion, “What did he say?”

Lindon pulled back from Cashe, glanced at Emilia, and blushed, “Nothing,” he squeaked.

Cashe managed a soft smile for her, “He was just saying that I’m probably not alright,” Cashe took a deep breath and sighed, “He’s probably right.”

“I am?” Lindon said, blinking out of surprise, “You’re not alright?”

“Not really, no,” Cashe let his smile fall away.

“Why?”

Cashe glanced at Lindon. His question seemed earnest. Was this really what having a kid was like? Question after question, prying into your life like a knife into an old wound?

Maybe it was a good thing he would never have kids with Jen.

Oof. No. The thought was painful. He wasn’t ready to joke about that, even with himself.

“I’m from a long ways away, like I told you ear-”

“Like Unova?”

“A lot farther than that-”

“Dad says that’s the farthest place away from us on Earth.” Lindon interrupted again. Beside him, Emilia covered up a cough that sounded a lot like a chuckle.

“Well, I'm so far away, I might never be able to go home,” Cashe said, “That’s why I’m not okay. Sometimes it's hard to accept and it makes me sad.”

“Oh,” Lindon frowned, “Whenever I’m sad, my dad challenges me to a pokemon battle. He says it’s impossible to be sad in the middle of a battle. Do you…”

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“My pokemon need their rest, remember?” Cashe said with a faint smile, “But thanks. I’ll remember that next time I’m sad.”

“Why don’t you run ahead and see if you can get us a room for the night?” Emilia said, “You’ll know the city better than we do.”

Lindon immediately brightened now that he had something to do. He hopped to his feet and dashed off down the road, a long shadow trailing behind him.

Emilia grunted and pulled herself to her feet, offering a hand to help Cashe back up. He took it, groaning as his stiff muscles flexed.

“Are you alright?” Emilia said once he was up. She was standing only a foot away from him, speaking quietly, “I know some things are sensitive for you. I didn’t mean to trigger any bad memories.”

“It’s not your fault,” Cashe said, “I thought I was past freezing up like that. I guess some things are always going to bother me.”

“It’s only been, what, six weeks?” Emilia said as they walked towards Vermillion, “Of course you’re not over it. I keep forgetting what you have gone through, myself. You seem at ease, most of the time. But then…”

Cashe nodded. “It really wasn’t your fault. I realized that even if I do make it home, Jen and I would have led separate lives. We would be different people. I don’t even know if we would recognize each other." Cashe sighed and rubbed his face with his hands, “It makes me wonder if I should even be looking for Jirachi.”

Emilia bit her lip and glanced down at her hands. They were clenched into tight fists. “If you found Jirachi, would you still go back?”

“Yes.” Cashe’s answer was immediate.

“Even if it meant leaving everything here behind?” Her voice was quiet, almost choked. Emilia glanced at his hips, where his pokeballs sat, “I saw how you ran after Bulbasaur yesterday.”

“I-” Cashe looked down at Bulbasaur’s pokeball, “I don’t know.”

“Maybe don’t make finding Jirachi your primary goal,” Emilia said. She waved her hands as Cashe opened his mouth to object, “I don’t mean stop looking, just-” Emilia set her features in a determined cast, “-just don’t make it your whole life. If you chase something like that and fail, what is left? What has your life become? An endless search with nothing to show for it? Nobody wants to live like that. Nobody wants to see you live like that either.”

Cashe frowned and looked down at Emilia. Her face was still set in its determined cast, but there were tears in her eyes. Shit.

“I’m sorry,” Cashe said, “I didn’t mean-”

“I know,” Emilia sniffed, wiping away her tears with the tips of her fingers, “I shouldn’t have asked. It wasn’t fair.”

Cashe nodded, walking beside Emilia in silence for several minutes. Besides the occasional sniff, neither of them made a sound.

The sun set and the moon rose, lighting their path to the city. Even this close to the unnatural light pouring out from Vermillion, the sky was brilliant in the dark. Nocturnal pokemon cried as they woke for the night and the air began to chill, becoming cool and fresh.

“You know,” Cashe said, breaking the silence with a soft whisper, “I’ve been considering seeing a therapist. It might be a good idea.”

Emilia burst out laughing, “You think?”

***

“That was not a normal person!” Daryl said as they got out of the flying taxi and entered the hotel. He had been holding back his complaints the entire trip from Viridian. Arguing in a confined space was never a good idea. “You could have mentioned her sister was one of the most famous trainers in the world! Or that she was incredibly single and attractive! Incredibly single! I met her wearing week old clothes!”

“You always say you aren’t interested in trainers,” Connie sniffed, “You didn’t want to meet my friend Janice because of that.”

“Your friend Janice is fifteen years older than me and four times widowed,” Daryl said, “I’m not taking any chances there.”

“She’s a nice lady.”

“She’s a ghost type specialist and she gets another pokemon when each new husband passes!”

“They help her cope with the loss!”

Daryl harrumphed, standing in line behind a - was that a twelve year old child paying for a room? What the hell?

“You act so high and mighty whenever I try and set you up, but as soon as miss flat stomach big boobs shows up, suddenly-”

“I’m not really upset about that,” Daryl said, cutting her off before she got herself going. Connie was passionate when she wanted to be and the kid was already looking over his shoulder and making a funny face. “You know I’m not comfortable around famous people. You should have told me.”

“We’re pokemon researchers from the Mossdeep Space Center. Ninety percent of the people we will ever speak to will be famous, so you’d better get used to it.”

“Really? Ninety percent?” Daryl shook his head, “All I’m saying is that I would appreciate a heads up.”

Ahead of them, the child finished booking his room and left the hotel. Weird. Daryl checked his watch. It was almost 10pm. Really weird. What was that kid doing?

“That kid is weird,” Connie said, reading his mind, “What was that about?”

“Who knows?” Daryl shrugged as he stepped forward to book their own rooms. There was a Mr Mime at the front desk instead of a person. It began miming an invisible wall in front of him as he approached. Daryl sighed and waited for it to finish. Some pokemon you had to just let do their thing.

“I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before,” Connie said, narrowing her eyes at the hotel exit.

“Probably another one of the famous people you apparently keep meeting,” Daryl grumbled.

“Maybe,” Connie turned her frown upside down as she perked up, “What do you think about the call? I forgot about it in all the excitement.”

“You mean how you forced me to challenge the third circuit in Viridian?” Daryl muttered.

“Don’t complain, you beat her, didn’t you?” Connie said.

“I’m not a pokemon trainer.”

“That’s not what your Trainer ID says,” Connie said in a singsong voice.

Daryl sighed, “We can’t know for sure until we get back to the lab, but yes, it sounds like another wish.”

“That makes two, maybe three,” Connie said, “Did you ever hear back from your famous friend to confirm it?”

“I met him once at a book signing,” Daryl said, “He is not my famous friend. And no, he has not responded to my email.”

“Who would even wish for a giant berry tree?” Connie said.

In front of them, Mr Mime finished his performance. Both Daryl and Connie clapped. Mr Mime beamed and took their IDs. It always paid to be polite.

“A pokemon, maybe?” Daryl said, accepting his ID and room key from Mr Mime, “There’s no rule that says Jirachi has to be friends with a human.”

“That does make some sense,” Connie agreed as they walked to their room. Daryl opened the door. It had two beds and a small bathroom. Just enough for their purposes.

“Which one do you want?” Daryl said, yawning.

Connie kicked off her shoes and hopped on top of a bed, bouncing on it for a few seconds before hopping on the other one and repeating the process.

“This one is more bouncy,” she declared, flopping onto it and pulling off her clothes. She tossed them into a pile in the corner of the room and scurried under the sheets of the bed.

Daryl turned away to be polite, “So how are we going to find Mr Cashe and Miss Oak now that we’re here?”

“They are entering the True Rookie Tournament,” Connie said, snuggling down into her bed and closing her eyes, “We can just hang out there and wait for them to show up.”

“The tournament is on a cruise,” Daryl sighed.

“Then I guess we’ll have to get on the cruise then, won’t we?” Connie grinned.

“I can’t.”

“You can,” Connie said, opening her eyes, “This is all paid for by the Space Center. Work expenses!” Connie shook her hands with glee, “Even if you don’t have any travel allocation left or credits, we don’t have to worry.”

“No, I can’t,” Daryl said, “I’m a trainer. The only trainers allowed on the cruise are those participating in the tournament.”

“So join the tournament,” Connie shrugged, “It’s easy.”

“I can’t,” Daryl growled, “It’s for True Rookies. Which I am not because you made me challenge that Gym Trainer!”

“Oh,” Connie offered an embarrassed smile, “Oops.”

***

In the hall of the hotel Lindon found for them, Cashe paused. Emilia turned around, “What is it?”

Cashe pointed a thumb at the door beside them, “I think someone in that room just shouted something about true rookies.”

“Probably someone excited for the tournament,” Emilia said.

Lindon stopped in the hall and looked back at Cashe and Emilia, “Come on,” he urged, impatient, “Our room is right down the hall. I got us a big one.”

*****