Palet Town was a small town, one of those towns where you walked outside and everyone knew your name, and knew your business. In this town of Palet, resided a group of young adults, eager and ready to begin a new day. It was a momentous day really, the group of youngsters were busy packing their suit cases with various trinkets and their favorite shirts and a grand variety of other crap from their rooms they could fit into a small portable bag. For they realized it would be their anchor home; this was no vacation, no. They were going to embark on a journey! These youngsters from Palet were on their way to the beautiful metropolis of Goldenrod City! The reason was as old as time itself.

Red, one of these youngsters, a mere 14 years old was currently sitting on his luggage, attempting to shove all the thing inside, possibly squishing and breaking several, however the apathetic look forever imprinted on his face gave the air that he cared not for these objects in the luggage. He hopped off and closed to irritating heavy thing and dragged it onto the floor with a heavy "WHUMP". He eyed it disdainfully before shuffling out of his room, abandoning it, looking back a bit to look at his more empty room. He would tell no one that he had taken his Pikachu pillow. He would tell no one.

"It's ready." He said in a level tone.

"Oh my gosh…" It was a female voice that answered from the kitchen. His mom, a pretty young looking woman with an apron and tears in her eyes greeted him and squeezed him. "I can't believe today is the day!"
From between her breasts Red awkwardly pried himself from his mother's grip and patted her a bit. "It's ok. " He offered quietly.
She sniffled. "Are you packed?"

He nodded.
"Ticket?"
Red patted his jeans.

"Don't forget your pokeballs!" She said quickly.

Red almost looked appalled. "Never."

She smiled, her eyes shining. "I hope you have fun ok? Don't forget to write!"

Red let out the smallest of smiles, something his mother cherished before the boy went to retrieve the dreaded heavy ass luggage.

Meanwhile across the way, well, across a few potted plants another youngster, Green, also a mere 14 years old, was finishing up on the ritual known as packing. He too was amongst those leaving for Goldenrod City; he could spot Red dragging his luggage across his bedroom floor from his bedroom window and puffed a bit. Throughout their childhood, both these two children, Red and Green had an unspoken rivalry. It showed up in the strangest of ways over the years.
Perhaps it was because they were both boys, the same age and lived next to each other, but Green always felt the infuriating need to be BETTER than the kid next door. Like being older, it was like an invisible point towards himself. He was older by two months and it was awesome. And he always got more Candy on Halloween. He chuckled slightly and zipped up the luggage.

He began the decent from his room, he large luggage behind him, thunk, thunk, thunking it's way behind him down the stairs and into the kitchen wherein sat his sister. She was a sweet mild tempered girl, cute. Green smiled at her. He would miss her; that much he would admit. A sister who would be his mother.

"He little bro." She shuffled over to him.

"I'm ready." He said simply.

"I made you lunch for the trip." She handed him a small bag. Within was a pleasantly delicious smell. It made him hungry.

"Thank you, but... how am I going to carry it?"

She laughed. "Have Red do it."

Green snorted. "Maybe I will."

His sister smirked devilishly. "Good, because I made him lunch too." It earned her a good pout from the 14 year old.

As the morning passed well into the lunch hour, Green's sister's lunch untouched as he would not give it up, the group of youngsters heading for Goldenrod had gathered outside a familiar laboratory in Palet Town.

Amongst Red and Green sat a few other kids and a childhood friend they knew as Blue. She sat on her things next to a girl with a straw-hat on her head.

"Green!" Blue had called casually, still sitting atop of her mountain.

Green merely raised an eyebrow, Blue huffing hair out of her face, "What's that bag? You're carrying it like it's your kid." She mocked with a grin.

Green turned slightly pink. "My lunch, idiot."

The girl in the straw-hat perked. "Lunch?"

Green nodded. "MY lunch." No one else's, not even Red's. A glance to his left to him that Red was hiding from the summer sun in the shade. He scoffed slightly. No wonder the boy was so damn pale.

The girl in the straw-hat smiled. "I like lunch, wanna share?"

Green tensed. "I only have enough for me. "

Blue snorted. "That bag is huge. You have enough for a picknick, did Daisy make that lunch?"

Green rolled his eyes at her. "Don't ask what you already know. So what?"

Blue smiled. "She makes good food." Standing she took a step towards Greens food bag and dug inside before the brown haired boy could protest, she picked the nearest food item and held it to the sun. "Rice ball?"

Green nodded. "Rice ball."

"Can I have it?" She smiled.

Green paused for a moment before making a distasteful face and taking it from her hand. "I'm going to eat it." Not that he ever did.

It was a few minutes afterwards that a bus came trekking down the unpaved road. Red from the shadows perked slightly. On the front of the bus was a sign that said Vermillion City.

Night had fallen on the youngsters after boarding the bus to Vermillion City. For most of them it was the first time out of their home in Palet, the region of Kanto that they had seen from the bus, explored on bathroom or lunch breaks was a diverse culture of Pokémon and man mixed together.

Green had admired the structure of Viridian city as they passed, placing a hand on his belt, feeling several pokeballs present, had there been enough space for them all he would have released them to share the view. Instead the pet the Eevee on his lap.
Red on the other hand had a Pikachu a top his trademark hat, not really looking out the window the majority of the time.
Now with the darkness and somewhere near Pewter city they lay their heads and rested, hoping that in the morning perhaps they'd be at the port city, with the ferry to take them to Goldenrod.

As the sun rose the moans of discomfort resounded throughout the bus cabin. Surroundings had changed; the Pokémon were mostly water type now. Behind them there was an excitable squeal as the sun rose higher and the port city was in full view.

"We're here!" it was a very awake Blue.
Red made no nose but threw a pillow.

The early morning start left most of the youngsters without energy, Green was halfheartedly dragging his luggage onto the ferry by the time noon had arrived, behind him Red was whomp, whompping his own. He dearly hoped that they would not share cabins.

Their lovely chaperone and very sleepy bus driver, a local fisherman from Palet, greeted them as they all boarded. In a hoarse grunt he handed them room keys.

"Two to a room, girls and girls, boys and boys. We'll be there in a day." He gruffed before pointing at a cabin in a corner of the boat, " 'das my room. Knock if ya need anything." He shuffled off.

The group of kids stared at each other before looking down at their cards. Green took note of the number 910 and began to "thump thump" towards that general direction, or so he hoped it was that general direction.

Upon reaching room 910, he noticed one of two things. The door was ajar, and the sun was beginning to set. Amongst that, his stomach was making odd noises at him. He sighed, wiping the sweat off his brow. He had climbed several stairs, gone down several stairs and he had finally found his room about two hours later.

"Hi." He said unfocused at the person who was currently immersed in a magazine. It was a trainer's magazine. Those that had all the current up-and-coming Pokémon Trainers who won various matches in the Pokémon league. The magazine grunted at him.

He shuffled off into the adjoining bathroom, leaving the luggage outside, it continued to include the bag that Daisy had left. All that remained of a supposed-to-be-shared lunch were two apples, a water bottle, and a Pb and J sandwich. Green was looking forward to that as he splooshed water on his face, groaning softly as the cool water tingled on his skin.

In the room, Red perked up from his magazine, he had scooted to the edge of the bed, stuck a hand in the bag and began munching on one of the apples. He knew. Daisy always made lunch for him. He took another bite as he read the next passage in his poke-literature. He figured that since Green had eaten so much of it, the rest of what was left was his; and so he turned the page.

As Green emerged, a small towel around his shoulders, catching the droplets of his now droopy hair, he scoped the room, specifically for the bag of food. Upon seen it rustled, and on its side, he rounded on the culprit. RED!

"HEY!"

Red merely turned the page. Oh, there was a new type of poke ball that seemed promising.

"Hey! You!"

He chomped on the apple core. Pikachu would like this type of poke-food.

"Red!"

He looked up. "Yes?"

"You're eating my food."

"No I'm not."

"That's my lunch."

"It's our lunch. " He stated calmly, his socked toes reaching out to pet a sleeping Pikachu.

Green sputtered. "No it isn't! It's mine!"

Red, still wearing his cap, glared at him from under it, a single eye visible while the other hidden by shadows. "Daisy always makes us lunch."

Green refused to flinch. "So? She only made me lunch today."

Red fished out a note from the bag. "Have fun Green and Red."

Green took the note and huffed. "The bento was delicious."

Docking in Olivine city was the height of the kid experience thus far. They had almost forgotten why they were on this trip! Blue was the first to take off out of the ferry, luggage behind and all as she fell straight on to the white sand of the beach.

"Soooo good!" She laughed and rolled, filling her dress, be hat and shoes with the powdery substance.

Green, Red and the girl with the straw-hat they came to know as Yellow disembarked at a much slower pace, Green unfortunately carrying what Blue had forgotten, and still with a sour attitude at Red. He was itching for a Pokémon battle. But no, there was a better time, a better place he could humiliate the younger boy. Much like he did when they were in Palet town.

As they stepped off the boat they were greeted by their fisherman-turned-guide. "We're not at Goldenrod yet, back on the bus."

There was a collective amount of groans, the loudest from Blue as she shook sand over the group.

Gruffly the fisherman responded with, "it ain't gonna be my fault if you miss registration." , as they all hopped back on a bus with the sign "Goldenrod City."

Goldenrod was huge. No it was bigger than huge it was massive, a true shining metropolis. The skyscrapers stood tall, each reflecting the sun, bouncing off each other creating a golden glow around the city. The trademark Goldenrod tower stood the highest amongst all and as they crossed the monorail, shimmering in all its glory the group was awestruck at their luck at landing in such a beautiful city.

Even as they passed the bustling center their spirits could not be dampered and as they reached their much sought after destination the excitement in the air was still abuzz.

In front of them was a gated large manor estate with a beautifully kept garden as a front lawn, a brick paved road in a semi-circle leading towards the front doors and many, many people and Pokémon alike bustling about. As their bus with the words "Goldenrod" still proudly displayed rode up the group poked their noses out the windows, eyes alight with wonder. It was as they passed the gate that a few noticed the prominent lettering on the iron gates; "Poke-cademy" .

Blue, in all her sandy glory pointed as she noticed a large silver looking statue at the peak of one of the large columns supporting the front entry way.

"Look!" She said quite loudly, "It's a Silver Lugia!"

Most of the group moved to look at the statue, with collective "ooh's" and "aah's". Green, who was also poking his nose out the window grinned,

"They say that statue comes to life." He said, the shit-eating grin ever present, but his tone was that of a passing comment.

Blue shivered. "You liar."

Green shrugged. "No it's true. They say you can hear a girl calling for her lost Pokémon on night of the full moon, and if you're on the second floor, you can see Lugia crying for his lost trainer." He gave them all a haunted look.

Red snorted softly in the back seat. "You read that in a book."

Green glared at him. "Besides," Red continued, "It's not the ghost of a girl." He looked up from his hat, the shadows once again covering half his face. "You can hear a flute play in the middle of the night if you stay up past 3, any night. If you're on the second floor, you can see Lugia … crying over the sea."

Blue shivered. "I-I don't care who read what I don't wanna go on the second floor…"

Green huffed and sat back on his seat. Pokemonbattle

The bus came to a half soon after in front of the large doors of the manor. Green was all too happy to jump off, the brick paving was hard on his flat shoes he noted in the back of his mind and as he let his eevee run off for a bit he began to take a look around.
It was like being in another country. He recognized no one, they dressed differently, they looked differently, hell they were wearing different shoes! However he refused to be the self-conscious one. Soon the Kanto-region group was behind him, with similar expressions as his own, except for Red; who seemed to be disinterested and was happier watching Pikachu play with Eevee and an Oddish in a bush.

Blue shifted slightly and looked to Yellow then Green, "Should we say hello?"

Yellow, short and seemingly the social type took this as a cue to amble away from the group, Blue soon followed and Green who was slightly mixed between staying and taking care of his precious cargo, or making sure the careless females were ok, ambled off in search of the two careless females. He found them soon enough rapidly chatting off a haunted looking boy with blonde hair and a scarf. Shuffling up behind them he gave the boy a pitying look which was returned.

"Oh and this is Green!" Yellow piped as she noticed his arrival.

"Morty." Said the haunted boy, holding out his hand.

As they shook hands, a small smile on each of their faces a loud static rung through the nicely paved garden, followed by a nasally female voice.

"Kanto region registration, I repeat kanto region registration."

Green let go of Morty's hand and took Blue and Yellow by their hats. "See ya around. " He departed.

As they made their way back to the bus area, they realized their group had meandered towards a growing line of people. As Green had come to notice Poke-cademy had divided the two regions, Kanto and Johto then had divided them by city. Palet town of such a low population had a mere handful of student, and thus stood in the shortest line. He felt oddly conspicuous.

Slowly they began to call names, slowly the lines began to shorten and as the sun began to set the inside of the manor was alive with conversation and with the stir of movement.

"Tajiri, Red" It was not his name but he perked nonetheless. He watched as Red, with the apathetic expression strode up to receive whatever information and disappeared into the crowed. He huffed. Pokemonbattle.

"Tokiwa, Yellow." Tomorrow, pokemonbattle.

"Ookid, Green." He stepped forward, luggage in tow, he gave the woman a tired smile which was not returned. "Your dorm room is 558, breakfast is served exactly at 8, this is your schedule, there are no exceptions to the uniform rule, there is a 10 pm curfew," she looked up to see Green's distasteful face. "But the weekends are free for you to explore the city." She added before lumping on a pile of books, a few papers and a schedule onto Green's already laden arms.

Attempting not to stumble on his own shoes and juggling several books and a suitcase he managed to enter the inside of what would be his home for several years to come. It had a vast high ceiling, with a chandelier in the center, the walls all had columns with intricate designs; several that reminded him of snakes of scales, and in a corner or two he could see a few pokemon statues. The marble floor that was so clean he could see his reflection in it, echoed his footsteps marvelously even in the noisiness as he traversed ever clumsily towards his small but patient group.

Blue had a massive smile on her face, as if she had met royalty. "I'm so excited!" She explaimed. "I know it's just school but I can't wait!"

Green humored her with a weak smile as they quietly overlooked their arrangments. 558. The fifth floor. "Goddamnit" He muttered.

Red who had been peaking over his shoulder tapped him with his paper. "What room did you get?" He said almost quietly.
Green looked down at the shorter boy, surprised the younger cared. "somewhere on the fifth floor..why?"

Red looked down at his paper. "Oh, I'm on the third… this place is big."

Green stared at him for a bit. He stared a little harder. "Do you need my help.. finding your room?"

He got a punch in the arm.

They loitered until it became uncomfortable to stand and to make small talk; they could all agree that it would be a strange new experience, without each other constantly nearby. As Green departed from his group, as he departed from Red it hit him. He would not be a few flower pots away from the boy he grew up around all his life.

And fuck. That felt weird.