We entered Celadon City around midafternoon. Quinton, the lone classmate who still supported me, was by my side keeping his Moemon close by his. His Melody was latched onto his arm, her face filled with fear; she could sense pain and misery all around. His other Moemon craned their necks looking up at the giant skyscrapers that completely dwarfed us. Their eyes were filled with wonder.

My own Moemon surrounded me. Christine walked by my other side, pulling my arm to get my attention and pointing at everything she saw. Stacy walked ahead, her eyes pointed at a single building off in the distance. Rose was a step behind me holding little Annie in her arms and keeping an eye on Olivia, who was unconsciously rubbing her eye and struggling to keep in step. Bailey was trailing behind, disinterested with everything.

Eric walked awkwardly behind us, his lone Moemon safely in her ball to keep her from being seen by unwanted eyes. He couldn't walk with Mayor Porter, who was at the front talking joyfully with Chief Harmen, so he simply kept as far away from the rest of us as he could.

Surrounding us were a dozen policemen, all of whom wore identical blue uniforms and marching neatly in step. Guns were in their holsters and radios clipped on their belts. They were all strong, tall, and imposing men. Their eyes were darting around looking for suspicious behavior. One must have seen something, because as soon as we entered the city he whispered into his radio, his eyes focused on his target.

Most of the city was filled with rows and rows of buildings aligned in grid pattern. Numerous side streets branched off from the main road piercing through the center of the city. Nearly every building was several stories tall, although a half dozen buildings scattered across the city completely dominated the others. One in the distance was the city's Department Store; another was a massive hotel; several others seemed to be the headquarters of the region's important corporations. Walking underneath them on ground level gave an unpleasant feeling of inferiority.

Where there weren't buildings, there were sidewalks and streets and little room for anything else. The sidewalks were filled with people, and the streets were filled with cars. Everything sans a few select buildings were various shades of red, blue, and green. Everything was grouped according to color. People in blue were with people in blue; red cars were parked next to red cars. There was so little overlap it was unsettling. Celadon City's three distinctive gangs were so powerful that they influenced the personalities of their districts.

At the entrance, we were immediately hit with blue cars, blue clothes, and blue buildings. This was the territory of the Mewtwo's Apostles. As if not obvious from the name, this district was the most like a religion. People wore blue robes that covered their entire bodies, smiled pleasantly at us as we passed, and made small hand gestures as they passed beneath the city's cathedral. The dark-blue gothic, archaic structure was one of the most imposing; several stone statues of rock Moemon stood on its four barbed towers and watched over all corners of the eastern part of the city. As we passed underneath it, I felt as though I was being closely observed. Not by the statues, although their soulless eyes certainly didn't ease my suspicions, but by something inside.

Moving through the city, the hues of blue shifted immediately to hues of red. Clothing changed from robes to hoodies and torn jeans. Several walls were marked with graffiti advertising the Celadon Saviors and their… radical beliefs. Messages were sprawled proclaiming that humans were the superior species and Moemon should remain subordinate like they've been throughout history. The buildings were worn down, the streets dirty and rough, the trash cans overflowing. We gathered closer together protectively, trying to avoid the judging eyes following us.

The most unique building in this territory was the casino. Its bright neon sign was shining even before the sun began to set, producing a pink glow that illuminated the gamblers below. Right next to the casino was a small shop with a single man sitting behind a barred window protected by bulletproof glass. A single slot at the bottom of the window allowed goods to be exchanged. The man himself looked bored, surveying the streets for potential customers.

Then just as soon as the red began, it ended and was replaced with green. The territory of the Kanto Kings covered nearly half of Celadon City, and a lot of the more important buildings were under its reach. Mayor Porter recommended that we all wear shades of green, so I felt more comfortable here than in either of the other territories. The rebuilt police station stood near the eastern edge of the territory, close to the center of the city. The Department Store was further west, its front entrance packed with green suits and ties. A large parking garage was next door, although it was one of the few locations where a variety of colored cars were parked. Even the parking garage was sectioned off; green cars were closest to the store, blues were in the middle, and reds were farthest away.

Although we passed hundreds of people on our short tour through the main street of the city, they were insignificant compared to the giant crowd we were approaching. The noise was unbearable; the cacophony of constant shouting and arguing and screaming forced us to cover our ears before we had even seen the audience. When we turned the corner, and the nearest in red turned around and saw us, they started to boo. Then more and more turned, and cheers quickly covered the objectors.

Thousands of people crowded a giant park. They were surrounded by dozens of police officers keeping people from fighting and causing trouble. They had looked calm the few seconds before the crowd noticed us, but when it started to cheer and boo and bounce in excitement, the police noticeably panicked. A few kept hands at their sides hovered over their pistols.

Chief Harmen, the tough black chief of police whose grizzled features and tired eyes gave him the impression of wanting nothing more than for this event to be over, led our escort into a nearby building quickly, practically running to get us away. I was forced to follow, absolutely dumbfounded why we were so terrified of the crowd. They were loud, sure, but they were excited to see us!

The doors closed behind us, somehow muffling the shouting to a dull roar. Chief Harmen took off his hat and wiped sweat off his brow. The other officers fanned out and checked the other rooms. We found ourselves in a thin corridor with a pair of rooms on each side. A wooden staircase took up most of the corridor. Another door to the outside stood in front of us, no doubt leading to another side street.

"That was a shit show," he muttered, shaking his head. "I wasn't expecting a crowd that large this early. Speech isn't for another hour."

"Another hour?" Eric repeated in disbelief. "What are we supposed to do until then?"

"The plan," Chief Harmen replied, annoyed. "Was to give you all a tour of the main square and a debriefing of the speech. Of course, with so many people gathered already, the tour can't happen. You'll be staying here until the speech begins."

"Why can't we leave?" I asked.

"No Moemon are allowed," he replied. He noticed my confusion. "You saw all those people. Those Kings, those Saviors, those Apostles; they're always fighting. Always trying to control this city. We're doing our damnedest to stop them, but there are so many of them it's impossible to get them all. Those are some of my best men out there, and even they won't be able to keep the peace for long.

"Moemon are a touchy subject to these gangs. Some want them to be equals, some want them to be servants, and some want them to be superior. Nobody agrees on anything, and when they disagree they get violent. To prevent that, to keep this thing as peaceful as it could possibly be, all Moemon – no matter what – are banned. It wasn't popular, but it was necessary.

"So yeah, your Moemon can stay here in this building if they want. If they can somehow sneak past my guards and disguise themselves as human, they can hide in the crowd. Or they stay in their balls. I don't care what, so long as they're out of sight and out of danger."

I stood processing this information. None of our Moemon looked pleased. Mayor Porter placed a hand on my shoulder, and when I turned he was smiling understandingly.

"He's just doing what he thinks is best," he explained. "I know it's a sacrifice, but it will only be a temporary one."

I felt someone else tap my other shoulder. Stacy still looked determined. "How long will we be staying here?"

"Until the speech is over, I guess," I said. "I'd come back here as soon as I could, and then we'd be gone."

"I'll treat you all to dinner afterward," said Mayor Porter. "As thanks for accompanying me."

"Can we not leave through the back entrance?" Stacy turned to Chief Harmen.

The Police Chief looked at her suspiciously. "It's being guarded by three of my men. Are you planning on leaving?"

"No," she replied thoughtfully. "I wanted to be sure that this building was safe."

"It's safe," he confirmed. "There's a television in the room over there if you want to watch the speech here. My men will keep you safe, prevent anyone from entering."

A crackling voice came from his radio asking for him, so he held a finger up to quiet us and walked into another room. I turned to Mayor Porter once he'd gone.

"Be honest, how bad is this place?" I asked. "Is it worse than Cerulean City?"

"It is bad in its own way," Mayor Porter replied. "It does not have the corruption of Cerulean City; its police are some of the most hard-working men I know. Chief Harmen in particular only wants peace. It is not as unanimously Moemon-hating as Cerulean City is, either. This city has some of those people, but they are the minority.

"Celadon City's problems lie in its diversity. The three gangs dominate all aspects of society, censoring those who suggest alternatives and fighting those who disagree. They resort to violence constantly; there are reports of attacks every week, although those are limited to small raids on existing territory. They have been fighting for nearly a decade, and the fighting has never stopped."

He noted the concern on my face, and he chuckled to himself. "They do not unanimously hate you Challengers. In fact, I would say that Challengers are somewhat celebrated here. I use that term loosely. They all see Challengers as spokespersons for their ideas. You will no doubt garner some attention, but it would not be enough to get you in trouble. You'll be safe here."

That was what I wanted to hear. I nodded. "You're sure we'll be safe."

"If you want, I could suggest to Harmen to provide you with a constant escort while you're in the city. It would make you more conspicuous, but it would be safer."

"Thanks, but we don't want an escort. Just as long as we're safe here. We won't be here long, anyway. A few days at most."

"Of course," Mayor Porter nodded. "I'm going to see if Chief Harmen has any other concerns. I'll leave you with your Moemon." He disappeared into the other room, leaving just us and our Moemon.

Quinton sat at the foot of the stairs patting Melody's shoulder. "My Moemon have all agreed to stay in the building until the speech is over. What about yours?"

"I haven't asked," I admitted. I smirked, noting the touch of nervousness on his face. "Aren't you excited for the speech?"

"I don't do well in crowds," Quinton sighed.

"Neither do I. Good think we'll be on stage for all of them to see."

"I don't know if I'll be able to handle looking at them. That is the largest crowd I've ever seen."

"They don't care about us," I reminded him. "Don't draw attention to yourself, and you won't even be there."

"How many people will be on stage?" Quinton asked. "Very few. A lot of people will be watching us the entire time because there won't be much else to look at."

"Ignore them," I shrugged. "I can't help you there, Quinton. I'll be trying to listen to his speech. I'll be too busy to care about people watching me."

Quinton didn't look pleased with my lack of sympathy, so he changed the subject. "This is a terrible city."

"It is," I agreed. "I don't want to stick around and get involved in its politics. I want to fight Erika and leave."

"We need to get money, too," Quinton reminded me. "We're nearly out. Everything we eat here is paid for by Mayor Porter, but we'll need supplies."

"Wonderful," I muttered. "I'm sure you have a ton of ideas."

"We just got here," he replied. "I'll look into it tomorrow. We may have to spend a few more days here than we'd like. It'll be a long road to Fuchsia City, whichever path we take. We need to make sure we have enough for the journey."

"Right," I nodded, walking past him. "We'll talk more about that after this is all over. I'm going to talk to my Moemon."

My Moemon were sitting in a corner of the room watching me. When I approached, they stood up and stared at me with expectant faces. I told them the news and watched as their faces dropped.

"We should be by your side," said Christine. "We shouldn't be so far away from you."

"I know, I know, but there's nothing I could do."

"Do we have to listen to the speech?" asked Olivia.

"You don't," I replied. "I do, out of courtesy."

"But do we have to stay here?" She asked.

I repeated the options to her. None of them seemed appealing. She sighed. "I suppose I'll stay here, then."

"We'll keep you company," said Rose, smiling and rubbing her shoulder.

"There are so many people," mumbled Annie. "It's scary out there."

Christine and Stacy hadn't responded. I didn't need them to; I already knew they were planning on sneaking into the crowd. They couldn't stand being cooped up unable to help. It was Bailey I was most concerned about. She was staring silently at the wall, clearly deep in thought.

"Bailey," I said carefully as I approached her. She didn't move a muscle to acknowledge me. "What are you planning on doing?"

"I don't know, trainer," she muttered. "I don't want to be here. I want to go home."

"You're part of us, now," I said. "It doesn't matter what you want."

"I want to go home," she repeated more sternly. "I'll never be part of you."

"Maybe I'll take you home when this is all over," I said, annoyed. "Until then, you're stuck with us."

"Not for long," she muttered.

I paused, contemplating throwing her back in her ball. Her face contorted in confusion, and she glanced at me as if she wanted to ask me something. The moment passed; she turned back to the wall, and I walked away. It'd only make things worse between us. I tapped Rose on the shoulder and whispered in her ear: "Keep an eye on Bailey. I'm worried she might try to escape when I'm gone."

Rose didn't look surprised. She nodded and replied, "Very well. Do not be gone long."

"I won't. I'll be the first one back when this is over."

I said goodbye to the others and walked over to Quinton. He and I entered the other room, a small office, where several policemen were standing around. Most of them were watching Chief Harmen, still on the radio, waiting for him to finish. Mayor Porter waved us toward him and invited us to sit in one of the empty sofa chairs facing the desk.

"Harmen is coordinating with some of his lieutenants," he explained. "There are some preparations he needs to finalize before he's ready to explain."

"He looks like he's going to die from stress," I noticed, observing the sweat pouring from his red face as he practically shouted into the radio.

"He's handled worse," Mayor Porter replied. "He was Chief during the Celadon War, and that was nearly a month of civil war. It was the only time I'd seen him cry."

"Poor guy," said Eric.

"He's one of the best men I know," he continued "He's one of the pillars keeping this city standing. I'd dare say he's the only pillar left. He works harder than anyone else here."

Harmen put the radio back on his belt and gave a long sigh, leaning on the desk. When he looked up, his eyes were filled with rage directed at Mayor Porter.

"You just had to have your damn speech in person, didn't you? Give me and everyone else on the force more stress than we can handle."

But Mayor Porter wasn't deterred. "You and I both know you enjoy the challenge. I'll buy you a drink as thanks."

"You'll have to buy the whole damn bar to make it up to me."

He didn't waste any more time. He told us exactly what we'd be doing, who we'd be doing it with, and when. We'd be escorted by three men – the four of us – around the park and behind the stage. There'd be a large curtain to prevent anyone from seeing us until we revealed ourselves. We'd wait there until the signal was given, then Mayor Porter would go through the curtain. While the audience was focused on him, the rest of us would enter quietly and sit on three seats directly behind him. We'd be obscured, and few would be able to see us. Mayor Porter would give his speech, stay for a few questions, and then we would all be escorted out the back the way we came back to the building.

"Nothing goes wrong," Chief Harmen concluded gruffly. "No one gets hurt. No one sees you come or go. They just know you arrived and left. We keep those people out there calm for as long as possible. Any questions? No? Good, now let's go."

The officers in the room closed around us, forced us out of our seats, and walked us quickly out the front of the building. I stuck my arm out above their heads just before we left to wave goodbye, although I didn't see my Moemon's response.

It was much darker out. The park was illuminated by light poles around the perimeter and searchlights hanging from the nearby roofs. There were so many people that the massive park couldn't contain them all; they spilled into the streets. Traffic had built up behind them, and a few cars had parked to enjoy the show. They had quieted down after that burst of excitement earlier, although it was still incredibly hard to hear anything else.

We were led along the sidewalk until we reached the next intersection at the corner of the park. We crossed the street and walked behind the stage. To our left was the park and to our right were the ruins of the school.

I didn't get a good look at the ruins as we were led through town, and even at that moment I couldn't look at it for long as we were hurried along. All I could see was that the entire building was nothing more than rubble. The façade had completely disappeared, the walls had crumbled, what was left was scorched and seared. Yellow police tape wrapped around it, and a few officers stood guarding it and watched us pass by.

I was shocked when I saw the extent of the damage. It was a fairly large building, yet the bomb had destroyed nearly all of it. Only the back wall, a few lockers and a couple classrooms remained. I never thought that a bomb was capable of such a powerful explosion, yet the evidence was right in front of me. This looked like a terrorist attack. It was a miracle that no one was killed. No wonder people were so urgently wanting to know who the culprit was.

We reached the stage, a dark purple curtain blocking our view. We climbed up the wooden steps and waited just outside. I touched the fabric, watching it flow in the breeze, and enjoyed the softness. The officer next to me slapped my hand down, warning me not to touch it again. It stung.

A while later, Chief Harmen had his radio to his ear. He nodded a couple of times and then stepped through the curtain. We heard his voice a bit later as it echoed throughout the park. He sounded friendlier than I had ever heard him before.

"Hello citizens of Cerulean City! Tonight, we have a special guest speaker. He's the mayor of Vermilion City and a good personal friend of mine. Mayor John Porter!"

The stage shook from the cheers. Mayor Porter put on a bright smile and stepped through the curtain, and the cheers got even louder. I felt a rough hand on my shoulder and was pushed through. The lights were blinding, and I struggled to keep my eyes open to see where I was going. I managed to stumble my way to one of the three small chairs directly behind him. Quinton and Eric sat to my left, looking equally blinded.

If I thought there were a lot of people before, I was completely overwhelmed by the amount that I saw. Even though Mayor Porter blocked much of my view, I still saw thousands upon thousands of people to my right. Oceans of blue, infernos of red, fields of green, all of whom staring directly at us. I knew many eyes were on me, wondering who I was and why I was so close to this important man.

"Hello, everyone," Mayor Porter said, his voice booming throughout the park. The one thing that rose above the crowd. "I'm glad to see you all together. It's a humbling experience. Vermilion City is no small town, but I doubt we could match the numbers you've all pulled here today. Give yourself a round of applause!"

They applauded, their clapping like a quake that vibrated my entire body. Mayor Porter knew how to play to the crowd.

"Of course, this is a sad time for us all. There was a terrible tragedy that occurred earlier this week," he continued, his voice suddenly somber. "Of course, I am talking about the attack on the school and the loss of Jennifer Gordon."

I felt my heart stop. I heard a gasp to my left. The audience fell eerily silent. I saw confused and scared faces all around. I heard a ruffling above me, looked up, and saw a poster unfurl just above my head showing the smiling portrait of a young teenage girl.

Mayor Porter wiped a tear. "It was previously believed that no one was harmed. I arrived only a few hours ago, and I was told that nobody knew. Her remains were found in an otherwise empty classroom. She'd gone in over the weekend to catch up on some homework, and she was…" he swallowed. "…she was caught in the blast."

He paused, letting it all sink in. A girl… a girl was killed. Whoever did this… intentional or not… was a murderer. I heard frightened whispers. I heard angry whispers. I heard a buzzing as the audience grasped the gravity of the situation

"I happened upon these three boys during my journey to this city," Mayor Porter gestured to us, and suddenly all eyes were on us. "They're outsiders, and they witnessed the atrocity that occurred this week. Look at the surprise on their faces, the shock, the horror. This city fights amongst itself, and innocents are killed nearly every day.

"The impression that this city gives is one of chaos, of destruction, of war. You are all one people, but you do not act as one. You all have to work together to change this city, or it will not recover."

"It was the fucking Celadon Saviors!" Shouted a shrill voice near the front.

"It was those damn Mewtwo's Apostles!" Came a deep voice farther down.

"It's always the Kanto Kings!" Came a high pitched man's voice.

"It does not matter who the culprit is," Mayor Porter said quickly, maintaining his composure despite the growing resentment from the audience. People were starting to point fingers at each other and shout at each other, and he had to raise his voice to be heard even with the help of the speakers. "It does not matter who killed Jennifer. It does not matter who is innocent or who is guilty. This happened because of the feud that has been going on for over a decade. It happened because this city fights against each other rather than work together.

"It happened because this city is close to a civil war. You are all guilty. No one is innocent."

Mayor Porter was beginning to sweat. The crowd was growing anxious, angry. They were moving like a wave, trying to attack. They were barely listening to him anymore.

"People of Celadon City!" Mayor Porter said loudly. "I want you all to come away from this knowing that you could prevent this by working together! No more bloodshed! No more death! No more-"

And then the back of his head exploded, spraying the three of us with blood.

Arthur:

Christine the Charmeleon

Stacy the Staravia

Rose the Roselia

Olivia the Dewott

Annie the Aron

Bailey the Banette

Quinton:

Melody the Metang

Wendy the Quagsire

Lucia the Lucario

Willow the Sudowoodo

Mary the Flaaffy

Eric:

Helen the Drowzee