Saffron was an enormous, modern city. Skyscrapers glinted on the horizon as the sun reflected off their glass surface. The train sped through the surrounding lands, zipping by fields of wheat, farms full of Miltank, and tiny towns.
As they entered the city, Cashe saw things that could never be possible without the presence of pokemon, and the strange advances in technology that came with them. He saw hovering platforms, people teleporting from one place to another, appearing and disappearing out of nowhere. He saw pokemon acting as vehicles - a sight much more common than actual personal vehicles - and students as young as five battling each other in school, using platforms much like the ones he saw in the Viridian City gym.
The buildings were white or blue, futuristic and pristine, made of metal and glass. Trees lined the streets and pokemon were everywhere, often accompanied by trainers, but just as often not, many wild pokemon adapting to city life.
It was a city Cashe would have loved to explore; it was almost an adventure in itself. But it was not to be. The stop for the train station was at the southernmost end of the city, just a few minutes away from the start of Route Six.
It was a gorgeous morning and a pleasant walk to the route. A thin layer of dew had formed overnight and the brisk morning walk left Cashe feeling refreshed after the night in the small cabin. Bulbasaur was enjoying it too, ecstatic to be let out of his ball again. The little pokemon was pacing around the road like a dog, running up to tufts of grass and bushes, giving them a good sniff, or sometimes a munch, and moving on.
The entrance to the route was busy, even in the early morning, which was to be expected, given that it connected two major cities. The route was even paved, unlike the route from Pallet Town to Viridian, although the ‘road’ was only just wide enough for two parcel bound vehicles or pokemon to pass. Most people walked on the grass along the sides of the road, anyway.
“A lot of kids on this route,” Cashe commented as he watched several people battling in the fields that ran alongside the road. Most were school age kids and didn’t seem to be taking the battles too seriously. All of the pokemon he saw were unevolved and the kids just seemed to be having fun. Most of the attacks weren’t even coming close to connecting. Bulbasaur watched the battles with a disapproving eye. Cashe had shown him the recording of Selena’s battle that morning, and he had been raring to fight ever since.
“It reminds me of my school days,” Emilia smiled. She hadn’t let Charmander out of his ball. The fire lizard was still a little too shy to be comfortable around so many people, “It’s what we used to do for fun before school started. We’d run around pretending to be real trainers, dreaming of being in the Gym Circuit.” She sighed, watching the children play with a wistful look in her eyes, “None of my friends from then ended up making it to a proper trainer school. Most gave up.”
“Hey, look at the bright side, now you get to chaperone a clueless old guy around,” Cashe joked, giving Emilia a friendly nudge with his elbow.
Emilia smiled, “You’re right. That’s a great trade off,” Her eyes flicked down the road, “Watch out, looks like we’ve got a couple of actual trainers ahead.”
***
‘Actual trainers’ was a bit of a generous term, in Cashe’s opinion. The first trainer who challenged Cashe was a sweet looking girl of maybe fourteen. She was clearly just on her way to school, wearing an overstuffed backpack and her uniform, but she and her friend stopped to challenge Cashe and Emilia, nonetheless. She had a single Buneary and asked Cashe to make the battle “to first knockdown” since she didn’t want ‘Floofy’ to get hurt. Cashe accepted. Bulbasaur was quadrupedal and the Buneary didn’t look like it could knock him down even if he wasn’t.
The battle lasted all of thirty seconds, the bright morning sun just enough to allow Bulbasaur to activate his Chlorophyll ability, ensuring he did not take a single hit. Emilia’s match was much the same, only she found herself up against a Bunnelby. It was a cute combination, and it was clear that the girls were more interested in having fun than actually winning. Upon defeat, they were all smiles, thanking Cashe and Emilia for the fun battle and continuing on their way to school.
It was a stark contrast to Cashe’s first two matches, and not an unwelcome one. He didn’t particularly like leaving children in tears after a match, and the positive attitude of the girls left him feeling refreshed.
The pattern continued, Cashe and Emilia getting two more challenges each as they made their way away from the city. Cashe faced a Rockruff and a clever little Spearow, the latter of whom actually managed to get a hit in on Bulbasaur. Emilia also faced a Rockruff (the Rockruff trainers were apparently siblings) and an Azurill, dispatching them both with ease.
Cashe waved after the young Spearow trainer as he left. The kid actually laughed out loud at how outmatched his Spearow was, even after getting in a hit. He didn’t seem to mind the loss at all.
“Hey, Emilia,” Cashe said, staring at his Trainer Profile on his pokedex as they continued down the road, “What if those had been actual battles?”
“What do you mean?” Emilia said, giving Charmander a little shove in hopes he would walk with Bulbasaur, who was marching happily just up the road.
“I mean what if in each one Bulbasaur had to give it his all? What would happen if I got challenged again?” Cashe said.
“That’s what potions are for, right?” Emilia said, “You would just heal up.”
“Sure, but what if I were out of potions?” Cashe frowned, “I would be at a huge disadvantage if I had to battle.”
Emilia’s brow furrowed, “So don’t battle?”
“But then I’d take a loss,” Cashe said.
“And?” Emilia said, “Wouldn’t you lose anyway in that situation?”
“So that’s it? I just have to take a loss?” That didn’t seem fair, even if it was basically the same thing as what happened in the games.
Emilia leaned back as she walked, putting her hands up and behind her head, “Ah, I see what’s going on here. It’s your irrational male pride.”
“What?” That was not accurate. Probably.
“Cashe,” Emilia said slowly, as if talking to a child, “What happens when you lose?”
“I lose, and, uh,” Cashe paused. He actually had no idea what else happened when he lost.
“Your loss column goes up by one,” Emilia said, “Maybe your rank decreases. But that’s it. And those things are for fans. Spectators. The whole entertainment industry surrounding us. But they don’t actually change anything for the trainers.”
“But I’d still lose,” Cashe frowned, "I'm not some sort of poke-scrub."
"Poke-scrub?"
"You know, a scrub, but with pokemon."
“Like I said, irrational male pride,” Emilia grinned. She pointed back down the road, where their previous challengers were just disappearing into the distance, “Be like them. Those kids had the right attitude for beginner trainers.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I don’t even understand why they challenged us,” Cashe said. Those kids had no hope of winning, “I thought you said most trainers didn’t start until after they finished school.”
“I said most serious trainers don’t start until then,” Emilia corrected, “Did those kids look serious to you?”
“No,” Cashe said, “But why become trainers at all, then?”
“It’s fun?” Emilia gave him an incredulous look, “You get a trainer page on the Pokenet and some pokedollars and a cool device that tracks your wins and losses. Plus you get a lot of experience. Not to mention that if you manage to win a few battles you get some nice pokedollars for when you actually start your journey.”
“Huh. That makes sense,” Cashe said, looking over at Emilia as she played around with the straps of her backpack, “But what if I don’t want to lose anyway?”
Emilia gave him an understanding smile, “You’re in a bad situation right now with only Bulbasaur. If you are the challenged party, you can insist on single, one on one battles, but that doesn’t do much if your only pokemon is completely exhausted.”
“So I need to get another pokemon,” Cashe nodded. Or more than one. That much was obvious. He took out his pokedex.
“And to train them up,” Emilia agreed, “Want to check what pokemon are on this route?”
“Already on it,” Cashe said, flicking through the functions until he came to the map, “Is this what you did, by the way?”
“What I did?”
“You know,” Cashe jerked a thumb over his shoulder, “Get your Trainer ID early so you could make a bit of extra money, and practice?”
Emilia shook her head, “No one in my family did that. We’re kind of old school. Plus, you don’t need to be an official trainer to battle,” Emilia grinned, eyes sparkling in amusement, “Besides, that would leave my win loss ratio completely out of whack. If nothing else, a girl has to have some pride. What do you take me for, some kind of poke-scrub?”
***
“What about that one,” Emilia whispered, turning her head ever so slowly so as not to be noticed. She lifted her chin off the ground to indicate who she was talking about. “He looks good.”
Cashe eyed the pokemon. It was a spherical ball of fur, rage, and hate that some uncaring god had given the agility of a New World monkey and a fighting type. He was seriously regretting his choice to capture a Mankey.
Emilia and he were well off the beaten path of Route Six. After leaving the immediate area surrounding Saffron, the open fields transitioned to sparse forests. Trees lined the sides of the road with little brush between them. Wild pokemon became more common, often appearing and disappearing just out of sight.
Upon reaching his decision to catch a Mankey, they had followed the river. It ran the length of Route Six, draining into Vermillion City’s bay. The river was not particularly deep, nor particularly wide, but it was a water source. All pokemon needed to drink, after all.
They crept alongside the river, keeping to trees and stayed careful not to disturb the nearby pokemon. They gave wandering groups of Oddish and Bellsprout a comfortable berth at Emilia’s insistence. She did not want to risk frightening them and getting poisoned. Pidgey, Abra, and even the occasional Meowth were all ignored, but taken as bad signs. None of the pokemon would stick around if there were a troupe of Mankey about.
Eventually they came to a small waterfall. It ran over a cliff, about twenty feet high and splashed down into a calm pool at the bottom. It was there that they spotted the Mankey.
Cashe saw the troupe first, getting yanked to the ground as he pointed it out to Emilia, who slammed him into the forest floor with a hiss of breath to shush him. Inching their way forward through the wet muck that lined the river, they eventually rounded the edge of the cliff and were able to peer down at the pokemon below.
The troupe was milling about the small pool at the foot of the waterfall. Several Mankey chased fruitlessly after Magikarp that came to the surface of the pool to snap at leaves and seeds floating upon it. Others lounged in trees, sleeping on branches or hanging by their tails, swinging back and forth in lazy arcs. Even at rest, they all looked deeply angry.
The Mankey Emilia pointed out was large, slamming the water where a Magikarp deigned to poke out its head. The Magikarp darted away, causing the Mankey to screech in rage.
“I don’t know,” Cashe whispered back, ignoring a branch that was sticking painfully into his gut and the mud that found its way into his clothes, “He seems kind of angry.”
“All Mankey are angry,” Emilia frowned, “They fight over anything and everything.”
“Must be tough for the local pokemon,” Cashe grunted.
“Not as bad as you think,” Emilia whispered, slowly turning back to face Cashe, dragging her long brown hair through the mud, “They mostly fight each other until they pass out.”
“Really?” That gave him an idea.
“It’s apparently pandemonium personified,” Emilia said. Her eyes widened, “What are you doing?”
Cashe had his hand around a smooth river stone, which he slowly brought to his chest. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Cashe no!” Emilia whispered. But it was too late, Cashe had already thrown the stone. Emilia’s eyes tracked it as the stone arced through the air, missing all the Mankey but landing in a splash by the large Mankey who was terrorizing the Magikarp. The stone plopped into the river and the troupe went silent, turning in unison to stare at the Mankey. “Cashe, what have you done?”
The Mankey screeched. All hell broke loose.
***
Blue soared through the air on the back of his Dragonite. How long had it been since he had last flown her? A decade? Maybe two? He didn’t even have a saddle that fit her anymore. He wasn’t even sure his flying license was still valid. Not that anyone would care. He was Blue Oak, after all.
Blue tightened his grip around Dragonite’s shoulders, “You’ve gotten big over the years, haven’t you?”
Blue felt Dragonite rumble in response, a deep warning growl coming from her belly. Blue laughed.
“I was not calling you fat!” He rubbed her affectionately as they sped through the air, “I’m just surprised you kept growing.
Dragonite were fast. Blue knew they were supposedly able to circle the globe in just sixteen hours, and though he doubted Dragonite could repeat that feat with his old bones on her back, she was still plenty fast enough to bring him to their destination.
Dragonite descended from above the clouds, revealing the landscape below. A broad mountain range rose up beneath them, separating Kanto from Johto. The tallest mountain in the range by far, Mount Silver, loomed in the distance.
Even at this time of year, the mountain was cold and passes were still closed with snow. Blue spotted Poke Rangers on their own flying pokemon as they descended, patrolling to keep the dangerous pokemon of the region in check.
As they neared the mountain, they passed groups of Gravler and Golem, shaking the earth with their movements. Fiery Rapidash ran through snowy fields with Ponyta at their side, sending trails of billowing steam high into the air. Gyarados clashed in deep rivers and Dodrio postured at the water’s edge, eager to take advantage of a pokemon injured from the clash.
Mount Silver grew closer and closer, Dragonite flying straight at its peak. She brought them in, easing up on her speed and landing gently at the very apex of the mountain. Blue hopped off Dragonite, shivering even through his warm clothes. The flight was freezing and the mountain was hardly better, the thin air leaving him out of breath from even the small exertion of dismounting.
Blue looked around. The view was magnificent, the world sprawling out beneath him, but the peak was tiny. There was no chance his old rival was training up here. Still, Cashe had mentioned a cave system near the peak. He may as well check for one.
Blue returned Dragonite to her pokeball and brought out Gogoat. The surefooted pokemon immediately understood his role and bent down to let Blue mount him.
“Goooo,” Gogoat bleated.
“I know, it’s been a while since we were in the mountains,” Blue said, taking a firm grip of the pokemon’s horns, “We’re looking for someone today.”
“Goat?”
“No, it’s not a rescue,” Blue said as Gogoat began their descent, “Just searching for an old friend, of sorts. We are also looking for a cave system, so keep an eye out, if you can.”
“Gogoat.”
Blue smiled as he bounced on Gogoat’s back. The ride was rough, but he knew Gogoat would never let him fall. The path from the peak was steep, but it quickly flattened into a low angled plateau. As they descended, rocky outcroppings rose to each side, leaving them in a canyon, the sky all but invisible from sight.
“Goat.” Gogoat slowed.
“I see it,” Blue said. Ahead was a dark hole in the side of the mountain. Nothing more than a shadow hiding beneath a rocky outcropping. But unlike a shadow, the hole only got darker as they approached. It was a cave.
“He was right,” Blue muttered.
Gravel crunched behind him.
A footstep.
Blue turned. His eyes widened.
“Red?”
“…”
*****