Viridian City was a lot bigger in real life than it was in the video games. Cashe probably should have guessed that a place with ‘City’ in its name was a proper city, and not just a collection of a few homes, a mart, a Pokemon Center, and a Gym, but that was what it was in the games and that was what Cashe pictured when he thought of the city.

Not anymore.

Now he thought of Vancouver.

Viridian City wasn’t as sprawling, it didn’t have the mountains or the ocean, and the city was clearly designed for pedestrians instead of vehicles. In truth, it was nothing like Vancouver at all. Except for the bustle. Except for the noise of people living their lives.

Cashe saw flashes of his own past. A couple walking arm in arm through a park. Children playing games in the streets. A man carrying a bag of groceries. Cashe shivered, forcing himself to look away, forcing himself to bring his thoughts from what he had lost.

But it was pointless.

Emilia was speaking beside him, but it was as if her words were coming from underwater. They were just muffled noises, lost in a sea of muted sounds.

Cashe held his head in his hands. It was too much. The tram bringing them through the city shuddered to a halt, but Cashe didn’t notice until Emilia gave him a firm nudge. He looked up. The tram was empty.

“Cashe, it’s time to get off,” Emilia said. A frowning transit employee stood in the open doorway, a mop and bucket in her hands, a Frillish hovering behind her.

Cashe got to his feet, surprised to find that his legs were shaking as he stepped off the tram, blinking as the evening sun entered his eyes. The tram had stopped at a large, elevated, open air station. An escalator was a few feet away, bringing the last stragglers to the ground. Cashe had never seen a tram station before, but it was similar to Vancouver’s train stations.

Cashe followed Emilia down the escalators and into the streets below. They were busy, almost crowded with people and pokemon finishing up their days and heading home. Cashe didn’t see nearly as many suits as he would in Vancouver, most people in some variation of business casual. The buildings were also different, with a lack of tower skyscrapers and an increase in small buildings, usually storefronts with apartment complexes above.

“I need to visit the Pokemon Center,” Cashe said, spotting the familiar red dome rising above the crowds of people.

“I probably should as well,” Emilia said, “Charmander and Omanyte are exhausted.”

Of that, Cashe had no doubt. He and Emilia had come across three more trainers as they approached the city, all of them battled by Emilia. She won each, the trainers thoroughly outclassed by Emilia’s skill, but it did not come easily. Though neither Charmander nor Omanyte were as injured as Bulbasaur, winning the battles took everything from them.

They made their way through the crowds and into the Pokemon Center. It was a far cry from the Center in Pallet Town, a whirl of activity greeting them as they entered. Cashe spotted several Nurse Joys moving briskly through the Center, but other nurses as well, with less colorful hair. They approached a desk and were greeted by a smiling, but harried looking Joy.

“Welcome to the Pokemon Center,” she said, “Here for a healing, or do you have an appointment?”

“Just healing,” Cashe said, handing over his pokeball, but unable to make himself return the smile. Beside him, Emilia did the same.

“Oh, Bulbasaur looks pretty beat up,” the Nurse Joy commented, after slipping his pokeball into a machine, by her desk. It buzzed and a screen lit up on it showing an outline of Bulbasaur and his injuries, “Are you a trainer?”

“Just starting out,” Cashe sighed, “Had a battle with a trainer and her aggressive Beedrill.”

“Beedrill can be nasty things,” Nurse Joy said. She took Bulbasaur’s pokeball and moved it into another machine that began to emit slow waves of soothing light, “It’s not surprising that you came out of that with a loss.”

“Didn’t lose,” Cashe managed a half smile at that.

“This is from a win?” She said, shocked.

“He’s a tough little guy,” Cashe said, glancing over at his pokeball in the machine, “You’re going to hear about him one day.”

“Hopefully, that is the case,” Nurse Joy said, “And that day will be tomorrow. We’re going to have to keep him here overnight, and he’ll likely have to stay light on activity for another day.”

“That’s fine,” Emilia said, “We’ve got plans for tomorrow, anyways.”

Cashe gave her a curious glance but she ignored him, a slight grin pulling at the corner of her lips.

“Well, your pokemon are a bit better off,” Nurse Joy said, “We only need to keep them for a few hours.”

“Can I pick them up in the morning with this guy?” Emilia said, giving her head a sideways nod to indicate Cashe.

“That will be no problem,” Nurse Joy said with a smile, “Can I help you with anything else before you go?”

“Do you know anywhere we can get a room?” Emilia said, “We just arrived and we don’t have any place planned.”

Nurse Joy nodded, “There is a little inn just down the street,” She said, pointing in the direction they needed to head, “It costs credits, so you should be able to find a room without much trouble.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Emilia said.

They thanked the Nurse and left the Pokemon Center heading in the direction of the inn. The walk was short and before long, a sleepy little building came into view. It stood out in the area, looking more like an overly large home instead of an apartment building.

“We have plans tomorrow?” Cashe said as they walked.

“We do,” Emilia said. She didn't look up to meet his eye, but Cashe could feel the smug grin forming on her face, “I have plans tonight, too, actually.”

“You do?” Cashe said, surprised.

“I do,” Emilia turned back and smirked up at him, “Don’t get your pants all twisted about it though, I’ll be back in a couple of hours. You can handle getting us a room, right?”

“Yes?”

“Great. I’ll see you later then,” Emilia said. She took a sudden turn away from the inn and walked across the street, heading in the opposite direction. Cashe watched her go until she was out of sight and walked into the inn.

***

Cashe frowned at the room they had given him. It was small, but that wasn’t a problem. He and Emilia would only be here briefly. No, the size of the room was not the problem. It was everything else that was the problem.

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The room was cute. Not just cute, but cozy as well. It had too many pillows, furniture just old enough to be ‘vintage’ but not nearly worn enough to be anything but an aesthetic choice. There were flowers on a table and chocolates on the beds.

Speaking of beds, they were asymmetrical. One was a queen sized, four poster, with thin, nearly transparent drapes hanging tastefully from the posters, while the other was a twin at best. The chocolates on the four poster bed were in a heart-shaped box while the ones on the twin were wrapped in decorative paper featuring Pikachu.

It was a room for couples who had a young child. This was not what Cashe was asking for when he requested a room with two beds.

Cashe sighed and lay on the smaller bed, moving the chocolate off of it first. Maybe Bulbasaur would like them. Cashe reached for his belt and stopped.

Right.

Bulbasaur was in the Pokemon Center overnight.

He was alone.

Cashe turn over and buried his head in the pillow.

For the first time since coming to this place, he was truly alone.

Cashe did not know how long he lay there, crying into the pillow. He didn’t notice the sun setting or the room growing dark. All he knew was he was a miserable, terrible person. He had abandoned his wife, leaving her just as alone as he. He had taken charge of Bulbasaur - a brave, loyal, and wonderful little pokemon - with the full intention of leaving this world forever. At every opportunity he made things worse. Both the trainers he faced, he left in tears. One of them he left weeping over her own mangled Beedrill.

Poor, kind Emilia was stuck with him as well. He knew Oak was forcing her to travel with him, to keep him safe, even if no one said anything. She should be traveling with her friends, going to the True Rookie Tournament for fun, not hanging around a miserable, old man.

Even the Professors Oak would be better off without him. He had cost them a significant amount of time, stress, and resources. How much of their lives were put on hold to take care of him for those three weeks?

But it didn’t matter. None of it mattered. He was here. He was alone. He-

The door to the room opened with a rattling of a key in the lock. Cashe heard it swing on its hinges, followed by a short silence and a quick burst of laughter.

Emilia bounded into the room and hopped onto the bed. Cashe looked up from his pillow. She was giggling to herself and sprawled out on the bed in a relaxed pose.

“Cashe,” she laughed, “Are you trying to take advantage of me? This room is cute, but you’re going to have to do a lot - oh! Chocolate!” Emilia popped open the box of chocolates and tossed one in her mouth. She made a delighted sound of happiness as the chocolate melted in her mouth, “Okay that was enough, you’ve convinced me.” She gave Cashe a teasing look, but her face fell when she saw his.

“I have a wife,” Cashe was glaring at her, his voice raw and low, “I have a wife, who I might never see again. Someone I love, someone I left behind and-”

“Whoa, Cashe,” Emilia sat up on the bed and scooted over to the edge, legs dangling off. She leaned forward with concern on her face, “I’m sorry. I was just teasing. I didn’t think it would upset you.”

Cashe glowered at her, but didn’t say anything. He took a deep breath. And another. In and out.

“I know,” he said, “Being in the city is a little tough. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

Emilia nodded and got up from the bed. She walked over to her backpack and rummaged around inside for a second.

“I have something that might cheer you up,” she pulled out a small envelope and handed it to Cashe.

He took it, opening it up. “Tickets?”

“For the gym,” Emilia said gently, “I wanted it to be a surprise for tomorrow, but since I, you know,” she looked away, “I thought you might appreciate them tonight.”

“Is this where you were?” Cashe examined the tickets. They were seated in PB1, whatever that meant, for an event tomorrow. Ace Trainer Til versus Gym Leader Selena.

“Kind of,” Emilia said.

“Still not telling me?” Cashe sighed, laying back down in the bed.

“You’ll figure the rest out tomorrow.”

***

The Pokemon Gym was enormous. Stadium was probably a more accurate term. It was at least the size of a basketball arena, probably bigger, since the actual battlefield had three stages.

The main stage was about the size of a basketball court. The battlefield was made of hard-packed dirt, with a few protruding boulders and banks of sand around the edges of the field. A faint shimmer surrounded the stage, indicative of the psychic barriers maintained by four Claydol hovering at each corner of the arena. The stage was empty of pokemon, not currently in use, but clearly being prepared for a battle. A maintenance crew was scurrying around the perimeter, taking a few seconds at various spots to adjust something here or balance something there. They worked on panels attached to the sides of the stage, opening them up to reveal an inscrutable mess of wires and screens underneath.

Flanking the main stage were two smaller stages. Both were in use, gym trainers battling challengers with varying degrees of success. To the left, the Gym Trainer was using a Drilbur to pick apart the defenses of her opponent’s Skarmory. It wasn’t a matchup that Cashe thought would be in the Drilbur’s favor, but the Gym Trainer clearly didn’t care. The poor Skarmory was battered and bruised, taking hit after hit from the agile Drilbur.

On the right, the match was more evenly balanced. A Gym Trainer’s Bastiodon was standing its ground against his opponent’s Camerupt. It was a tricky position for the Bastiodon. It was weathering a torrent of flame from the Camerupt and looked on the verge of defeat, but a flash of steel burst from the Bastiodon and the tables were turned in an instant. Cashe didn’t see exactly what happened, but the Camerupt now lay on the ground, a vicious gash rent in its side, molten rock pouring from its back. The Bastiodon looked worn, charred and exhausted, but it was still standing. A small cheer rose from the slowly filling stadium below.

Cashe could see it all, because, as it turned out, PB1 stood for Premier Box 1. Emilia had procured tickets to the best seats in the house.

The box was halfway up the stadium, high enough to have an excellent view of the stages below, but not so high as to take guests out of the action. The box was spacious and luxurious, with plush seating and full catering from a bar built into the back of the room. He and Emilia were not alone, joined in the box by a group of people, ranging from teenagers to a couple who must have been closing in on one hundred.

It was refreshing, in a way. Normally, seats like this would be exclusively used by the abhorrently wealthy, but with the credit system in place, most people could enjoy the experience if they so wished.

Still, Cashe didn’t want to think about the number of credits that Emilia must have spent on this.

“Nice seats, right?” Emilia said, noticing Cashe looking around the room in disbelief, “And we got them for a great battle, too.”

“Ace Trainer Til,” Cashe said, recalling the name from the ticket, “How do you know it’s going to be a good battle? Also what’s the difference between an Ace Trainer and Pokemon Trainer?”

“Ace Trainers have gym badges,” Emilia said, reaching into her backpack and taking out a slim laptop. She handed it to him. “And this is how I know it’s going to be a good battle.”

Cashe flipped open the laptop. The Pokenet was open and displaying the Trainer Profile of Ace Trainer Til. Cashe examined the page, his eyes immediately locking onto two significant numbers. Significant and small numbers.

“Twentieth in Kanto and top two hundred in the world?” Cashe exclaimed. He did a quick count in his head, “That makes him one of the strongest non-Gym Leaders or Elite Four members in the region.”

“The Gym Leaders aren’t necessarily the top eight trainers in the region,” Emilia said, “I think Til is actually ranked above three Gym Leaders.”

As she spoke, the stadium darkened, the lights going completely out. A voice filled the Gym.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to the Viridian City Gym!” The voice was deep and booming, echoing through the massive gym. It instantly hushed the murmuring crowd.

“Boy, do we have a special contest for you today,” A crash of noise and a spotlight flared to life on one side of the main stage, “Having conquered two Leaders already, and earning himself both the Volcano Badge and the Boulder Badge, he seeks the Earth Badge as his next prize.

“But can he overcome the harsh reality that is Gym Leader Selena? Can he stand against her expert tactics and battle hardened pokemon? We will soon find out! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Ace! Trainer! Til!”

The crowd erupted in cheers as a man entered the spotlight. He was tall, young, and good looking. A stylish mane of green hair swept over his head and he waved to the crowd with a confident grin on his face. Even in the darkness, Cashe could make out people holding hand made signs above their heads, the crowd screaming extra hard whenever Til glanced in its direction.

The energy was infectious. Cashe felt the need to move, to stand and cheer.

“But Til’s opponent will be anything but easy. She is the toughest Gym Leader in Kanto. She is the powerhouse that never quits. She is the former, undefeated Champion of the Indigo League!”

The crowd was already cheering. At least as loudly as they were for Til, and she wasn’t even on the stage yet. Cashe was on his feet, pressed against the glass of the box to get a better look. His hands were shaking, the entire stadium was vibrating.

“Walking in the footsteps of her father, ladies and gentlemen, your hometown hero! Give it up for Gym Leader Selena Oak!”

A woman stepped onto the stage.

The stadium thundered, the noise deafening.

Beside him, Emilia grinned.

*****