The unknown array of lights was actually a bit father than Tenmei first guessed, about three times farther. It also took three times longer than it admittedly should have due to the lack of light that managed to permeate through the treetops, limiting the youths movements to slow methodical steps. Wandering through an unknown terrain was already questionable, but doing it in the middle of the night while holding fragile cargo was a completely different issue.
Environment aside, the main reason it took so long to reach the intended destination was the possibility of running into wild animals.
Mainly insects. Tenmei was terrified of most insects.
Bears. Coyotes. Wolves. Tenmei wasn't worried about any of those animals, willing to die by teeth any day of the week, but an insect would cause instantaneous death the moment contact was made. Sidestepping foliage and clumps of trees that could house said creepy critters, the trip to the lights was made much more difficult than needed because of this very fear.
It was only after a half hour had passed that Tenmei managed to exit the forest, breaking through the treeline without having met a single living creature.
To say he was lucky felt like an understatement.
After quickly collecting himself, breathing sighs of relief as if he had experienced something traumatic and life threatening, Tenmei refocused on the task at hand. Securing a water source, food supply, place to live, and learning about his current location were all on the to-do list, a list he had formulated during his anxious trek through the bug infested trees. While he had initially been very confused about the entire situation and had no information to actually learn why he was alive, he still knew the very basics about keeping oneself alive. The youth couldn't exactly get the answers to his inquiries if he kicked the bucket a second time around.
Luckily, the place he had been looking for was just past the forest.
It was a city. A vibrant one at that.
Though it was around the middle of the night, the area felt alive and vibrant, similar to how New York had felt, only much quieter and definitely a lot cleaner at an initial glance. The buildings weren't as large as the ones back home, but they definitely held their own beauty, built a bit differently than what he was used to. Just ahead, there was a checkpoint that Tenmei assumed cars would go through, a sort of toll stopping anyone from coming in and out. Beyond that, an assortment of buildings could be seen with numerous individuals milling about. The lights that Tenmei had seen earlier were from one of the billboards, of which had a few advertisements referencing terms the youth had never heard before in his life.
"Huh, I guess this is the place," Tenmei said, again speaking to the egg-shaped mass in his arm. "Think we should just head on in?"
Silence.
"Yeah, I think so too. We might be able to learn something."
Without missing a beat, the red eyed teen pushed ahead, making his way towards the toll booth. Just to the right of the treeline, maybe some dozens of yards away, was a beaten path that looked to be made for vehicles of some sort. Moving towards it, Tenmei used this path freely since there was a distinct lack of cars on the roadway.
There was one guy situated inside the booth when the youth arrived, a young man around the age of twenty dressed in a blue uniform reminiscent to that of the police.
Only one slight problem occurred when Tenmei approached.
The man was asleep. Completely knocked out, snoring away on top of the desk, drool escaping from the side of his mouth. Nothing was gonna wake him up, Tenmei was able to affirm this by banging his hand against the thick glass window that separated the 'officer' from the road.
"Welp, wouldn't wanna disturb you." The youth simply shrugged and moved under the toll booth in question. "Keep up the good work, officer."
Moving on, Tenmei set his sights on the buildings ahead where people were going about their business, the street lights illuminating each and every square foot of the intersection. The only thing that threw him off, a trend that the individual was already getting tired of, was the animals wandering beside some of those said passerbys. Instead of dogwalkers, rabbits, cats, hamsters, or even exotic squirrels, everything Tenmei had either grown up with or seen, these critters were beyond anything seen before. Large purple rats with huge frontal teeth, orange bipedaled lizards with flaming tails, a blue ninja turtle spitting a whole stream from its mouth.
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Tenmei wasn't so much afraid as he was confused by it all. While it was still far from the most bizarre thing that happened in the last few hours, it was still enough to cause him to falter.
But only for a brief moment. He still needed answers.
Stowing aside his own confusion and plethora of other emotions, Tenmei steeled himself and walked over to the nearest individual, a young girl around the same age as him, maybe a year or two younger than him. By her side, a turtle looking creature with a kind of plant on its back glanced up at him.
"Hey there," Tenmei greeted warmly, shifting his egg to his other arm.
"Oh, hi." The girl in question looked slightly perplexed at first, but her eyes fell onto the giant oval clutched in the youths arm and it immediately vanished. "Oh. That's cool, you have a Pokemon egg!! Do you know which Pokemon it is?"
(("Poke....mon?")) Tenmei repeated the term carefully in his head. (("Maybe some kind of creature?"))
"Oh, sorry. I'm Autumn June." The girl smiled brightly, holding out her hand. "By my side is my partner Bulbasaur."
"Buuuullllb"
"I'm Tenmei Hugo," He responded, trying his best to ignore the plant creature for the time being. He was already starting to feel overwhelmed. Acknowledging too many things at once would definitely send him spiraling. "This is my partner, Egg Giant."
The girl laughed softly. "You named your egg?"
"Don't ruin the bonding process," Tenmei said, pretending to look offended. "Do you know how much me and this egg have been through together?"
"And please do elaborate," the girl replied, humor in her eyes, greenish blue hues locking onto his red ones.
"I walked through a forest."
Silence.
"And?"
"No, that was it." Tenmei shifted the egg in his arms. "I think I walked about a mile, maybe less."
The young lady burst out laughing at the young man's remark, unable to keep a straight face at what she probably assumed to be a joke. Tenmeit had no plans on correcting her as he, for the first time, actually looked at her.
The girl was on the smaller side, standing at 154cm or somewhere within the general area, a whole 13cm shorter than he himself was. Her hair was black and bushy, all of it being tied in ponytail that fell to the middle of her back, a flower was positioned just to the left of her bangs. She wore a white top with a red collar and red tie built into the same colored collar along with closer fitting pants that matched the red. With leggings and pink-red shoes, she had a better fashion sense than even Emilona, someone who styled clothes as a hobby.
As if sensing Tenmei's drifting gaze, the young girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a small red box.
"In case you were wondering, I had to go pick up some Pokemon food," Autumn flipped open the top of it and pressed some buttons. "That's why I'm not in my pajamas."
"I wasn't wondering that."
"Than why you staring?" The girl seemed to he having fun with the conversation, something Tenmei hadn't actually planned for but wasn't exactly against.
He had only wanted to gather some information yet here he was, the only thing learned was that his egg was a 'Pokemon' egg, the girls name was Autumn, and the weird plant turtle was known as a Bulbasaur. Or at least that was its name according to her.
Wasn't a very good name.
"I mean.....when you stop to stare at a flower, do you need a reason to stop and admire it?" Tenmei wasn't even sure what he was saying, merely regurgitating something Markus would say in the situation. In truth, his ability to socialize with strangers was absolute dogwater. "Obviously, the flower is me...or you. It's somewhere there -"
The youth was halted in his tracks as Autumn unleashed a fit of giggles, which greatly confused Tenmei to the point of him touching his face, assuring there wasn't something on it or food stuck between his teeth. When he found nothing, he simply stared at her until she finished laughing, her eyes slightly teary eyed and her hand clutching the sides of her stomach.
"Hey, I'll tell you what." Autumn grinned from ear to ear, tucking the red contraption back into her pocket. "I still haven't gotten the Pokemon food. How about you tag along?"
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At the same time that Tenmei was talking to Autumn, a group of three garbed in black clothing moved stealthily through the dark alleyways of Viridian City. No sound could be heard as the trio traveled swiftly down the intersecting blocks where not a single soul bothered to roam. As this maze of alleys contained nothing substantial or lead to anything in particular, it was widely deserted and became a popular spot for drug deals and gang meeting points. As of this moment however, there wasn't anyone but these three figures who, after scanning the area, took up root in the area.
"This spot should do," The lead figure said, the feminine voice and bright red hair were all that was discernable, every inch of her covered from head to toe. "Spectre #3, radio in the boss. Relay our coordinates and get the go-ahead for the mission."
The smallest of the three, standing a foot and half tall, nodded before reaching into the bag that the taller one beside him carried. What he pulled out was a device akin to a high-tech laptop with three buttons on the outside. Setting the device on the floor, Spectre #3 pressed a few keys, turning on the screen.
While the small figure was powering it on, the female figure stood near the alley entrance, her head poking around the corner every so often. A sort of killing aura permeated the air around her, bloodlust so thick that it was almost tangible. If some unfortunate soul were to find themselves walking down the alley at this moment, it would be safe to assume their life would be forfeited, their breath stolen before they even had a chance to register.
After about a minute of fiddling with the laptop, Spectre #3 pulled up a picture of an unidentifiable man. No details about the person could be made out as the majority of his face was blurred and distorted, preventing the figures from clearly pinpointing his shape or form. When the man talked, even his voice came out in a way that no possible human could ever sound, deep and low, with an intimidating echo. "Team Alpha, I assume you have located the target that we have discussed previously?"
"Spectre #2 reporting in with Team Alpha," The figure beside Spectre #3 said, kneeling down to the screen. Besides the blue roots of the mans hair, there were no visible marks to pick him out from a crowd. "We have indeed aquired the coordinates for item #203. According to our spies, the item was shipped here from the Pewter Museum of Science located in Pewter City. A man by the name of David Babao, an up and coming professor in the tutelage of Professor Oak, purchased it in hopes of studying it."
Spectre #1 walked away from the alley entrance and knelt down by the screen, showing her face as well. "Said item has been kept at the local Pokemon center for about a week now. We can retrieve it at any given moment. The most optimal time would be tonight. Awaiting your orders, Sir."
The distorted man was silent for about a minute before he finally responded. "I want that item at any cost. If someone gets in your way, then feel free to eliminate them if the need arises. You know how I feel about mistakes. As to how and when you retrieve the item, I shall leave it up to your discretion."
The three Spectres gave a bow to the man before the image disappeared and the screen of the laptop went blank.