Celadon truly was a city of a rainbow's colors. Through the transparent windows of the hotel room, iridescent hues of various colors shone through, painting the walls. On the balcony of the room, Shizuka Rin sat on a stool, watching the abundant activity on the streets below. The sound of cars and music resonated off the surrounding towers, perpetual though it was late at night.
"Apparently, Celadon is also a city that never sleeps," Rin commented.
There was a bark in agreement and Rin absently patted the head of her companion, settled by her feet. The growlithe watched the passing civilians below with his master, eyes pensive and black as night. Rin subconsciously played with the soft tuft of fur on his head, curling the strands between her pale fingers. The Pokémon nuzzled her hand with his broad snout, grumbling kindly.
"I know, Inu, I'm glad we made it here too," she murmured and continued to caress his head.
A playful ringtone sounded after she spoke, its tone almost drowned out by the street noise below. Rin gazed at her Pokégear, the screen alight with its message: MOM. She picked up her device quickly and answered it, flipping its top.
"Hello." Rin wondered why her mother would call her at this hour but was happy nonetheless.
"Hi, Rin." The sound of her mother's voice soothed her, despite the bothersome noise of Celadon. "Why is it so loud?"
"Oh, I'm outside. Hold on, I'll go in the room."
Rin hurriedly hopped off the stool and rushed inside. Inu followed her at her heels, running in the dark room and bouncing on the bed with a bark. "Hush, Inu," Rin whispered.
She slid the sliding glass door shut, muffling most of the noise. With a sigh, she sat on the plush bed and resumed her conversation. "Okay, I'm in. Can you hear me now?"
"Yes, much better."
"Good." Rin rolled to her side, letting her long blond hair spill across her shoulders. "Why did you call me?"
"I just wanted to check up on you. This house is so quiet with you gone." Her mother sounded choked up and the silence in the background confirmed her claim.
"I'm doing fine, Mom," she asserted. Rin's throat felt dry as her loneliness returned; she refused to let Mom know how sad she felt to have left her home, and her. Inu licked her cheek reassuringly.
"I know, I know. Just remember that if you ever have any doubt, you can come home."
"This is a wonderful opportunity, Mom. Not many people are able to go to Daichi."
"You sound just like your sister."
Rin's eyes began to water with tears at the mention of her elder sibling. "Have… Have you spoken to her lately?"
She could hear her mother sigh through the speaker, sounding both flustered and worried. "She won't return any of my calls, you know that, Rin. How about you?"
Now it was Rin's turn to sigh. "No, she hasn't talked to me since she passed the Exam Finale."
"Well, I'm sure she's busy… Maybe she will call us?"
It was a hopeless wish but Rin agreed, so long as it meant comforting her mother. "Yeah, soon, I hope."
"I'm going to have to let you go, Rin. The miltank need to be brought inside the barn. You stay out of trouble; don't let that nightlife in Celadon get the best of you."
Rin laughed. "You can count on me, Mom."
"Good-bye, I love you."
"Love you, Mom." Rin promptly shut the Pokégear.
With a heavy sigh, she rolled on her back and gazed at the dark ceiling. She watched different colors flash across the ceiling at sporadic intervals and became lost in a reverie. Her sister had placed first in the Exam Finale, the most competitive competition in the famous Daichi Academy. It was an end of year exam, an exam that every student hoped to pass if they were to graduate. Only three passed at the end of the school year, Rin's sister was one of those three. After placing second Shizuka Izumi graduated and was sent to post-secondary school in Unova, with the other graduates.
Rin had not heard from her since.
Izumi and she had been close, as close as sisters four years apart could be. Izumi's silence increasingly confused and worried Rin, so much that it drove her to apply for a scholarship and work hard to train Inu, her first Pokémon, at the very institution that drove them apart. Whether it was luck or fate, Rin was accepted into Daichi's roster and granted a full scholarship to attend in the autumn. As a farmer's daughter, a scholarship was the only way to get into such a prestigious school; tuition was far too expensive otherwise.
Rin gazed at her pink Pokégear, giggling gently as Inu sniffed at it with his big nose. There was one thing she left out in her conversation with Mom. Over three weeks after Izumi left for Unova, she left periodic voicemails. "I just want to hear them one last time," she muttered, "then I will tell Mom."
Reaching for the device, Rin flipped open its top and scanned through her various voicemails until she found the set of recordings saved from early summer. Izumi did not place a call; she simply left the messages for Rin to listen to later.
The first one read: June 5, 8:30am
"Hey, Sis! What a crazy Finale, huh? I can't believe I won! The administrators were so impressed they said I would be sent to the post-secondary school in Unova in July. Tell Mom I love her and I will visit soon." She sounded gleeful as usual, which made Rin smile. Her sister was always so cheerful and full of anticipation. She glanced over to see Inu's curled tail wagging.
The next message read: June 13, 12:00pm
"Hi." She was not as gleeful as she was in the last message; her voice was reserved and quiet. "The protocol they are initiating for us graduates is tough. My Pokémon and I are getting tired. But at least we will be leaving soon. I can't wait to see Unova."
The message after: June 20, 17:45pm
"I know I said I would visit, but things are getting weird around here." The anxiety in her voice still chilled Rin's blood, though she listened to the message countless times. "I can't leave campus and they won't let me see my Pokémon; I don't know what's going on! Sis, this doesn't feel right."
Her final message was left the day before she departed to Unova: June 30, 21:03pm
"I'm so confused." Izumi sounded frightened and congested, as if she had been crying. "They won't tell me anything or let me talk to anyone; I miss my Pokémon and my friends. I miss you guys! I know I'm leaving tomorrow but-" There was a sound of a door opening and shutting, loudly. Her voice became disturbingly calm. "I love you, Sis. Take care of Mom and Inu for me, okay? Please don't wor-"
The rest was static.
Inu whimpered and pressed his nose against the Pokégear in Rin's palm. "I know, I miss her too."
Rin did not realize until she spoke that she was crying. Tiny tears trickled down her freckled cheeks, dropping onto the pale comforter of the bed, leaving stains. Inu licked her nose, whining continuously. She hugged her arms around the growlithe, enjoying the warmth of his fur. Inu was all she had left of Izumi. He was a birthday gift from her older sister when she turned ten, just two years before Izumi left for Daichi on a scholarship.
The growlithe wriggled out of Rin's embrace and bounced off the bed. Rin watched with mild amusement as the puppy Pokémon scratched at the hotel door, barking playfully. Laughing, Rin sat up from the bed and followed Inu towards the door.
"Yeah, some fresh air is a good idea. How about we go off to the Game Center?" She pat the change in her short's pocket which made a clinking noise. Inu barked excitedly, jumping up and down. "Okay, okay. Come on, Inu."
The sidewalk in front of the Celadon Hotel was crowded with activity. When Rin exited the revolving doors of the hotel she was greeted with the loud noise of Celadon's infamous nightlife. Countless people crowded the cobblestone sidewalk, pushing passed one another mindlessly as the conversed and navigated through the illuminated city. Though it was her third day in Celadon, Rin still felt dazzled by the neon lights that advertised numerous company names and flickered messages on building faces. She gazed up, towards the sky, the towers seeming to reach beyond the skyline. There were no stars visible and even the full moon seemed outshined.
"Different from the ranch, huh?" Rin found herself almost yelling above the surrounding noise to talk to Inu. The growlithe barked in agreement, his tongue lolling out. "Let's go!"
She led her Pokémon across the street, shouldering through the crowd of strangely and vibrantly dressed city-dwellers. Even the people of Celadon were colorful. Rin wondered how out of place she appeared as she pushed through the masses and toward the crosswalk. With torn jeans and a pale plaid shirt, she stood out like a sore thumb among the various neon clothing everyone else seemed to wear.
The crosswalk sign flickered white and signaled all to proceed, including Rin. She followed the crowd of people before taking a turn on the cobblestone towards the small park. Inu bounced along besides her; his tongue flopping and tail wagging. They approached a park, not as crowded as the streets, but still occupied with people. Oak trees of various sizes sparsely surrounded the park, leaves of green and faint yellow crowded the branches and the concrete sidewalk. It was a warm night, a night perfect for enjoying the sights and attractions of the city.
Suddenly, Inu ran ahead of her, barking like mad at the flock of pidgey hopping around and bathing in the large fountain.
"Inu!" Rin gasped. She hurried after her Pokémon, almost plowing into a woman and her oddish in the process. "Sorry! Inu, come back here," she scorned.
The growlithe barked at the pidgey, sending them flying in a mass of feathers and fallen leaves. Frowning, Rin snatched up Inu into her arms, ignoring his squirms and continued yapping at the fleeing pidgey, now huddled in the surrounding trees.
"Never run away again, understand?" Anxiety caused her to hold him closer to her chest. Inu stopped his barking tantrum and whimpered. She scratched behind his ear. "What would I do if I lost you?"
"My, my." Rin spun around to see a woman watching her and Inu from her seat on the concrete fountain. The soft glow of the submerged lights illuminated her dark cheeks and frilly attire. The wrinkles on her face and the strands of gray hair escaping her straw boater hat indicated her elderly age, though her voice sounded very young. "It has been a long time since I have seen a young girl like you love a Pokémon so much."
Rin blushed lightly at the sudden attention from a complete stranger, but her smile was warm enough and contagious. "Inu and I are best friends."
"I can see that, and it brings me great joy." She patted the space next to her, her gloves concealed her hands.
Rin liked that she found someone in Celadon willing to talk to her, most did not even cast a passing glance. A little too compliant, she took a seat beside the elderly woman and instantly her nose was filled with the saccharine, flowery scent of perfume. Inu remained in her arms but jerked a sneeze at the scent.
The elderly woman continued, "Not many young people are as attached to their Pokémon nowadays. They only seem to use them for status or tools to benefit themselves."
"That's not how I was taught." Inu barked in agreement. "Pokémon are friends, not objects."
The woman laughed and her gray eyes full of whimsical nostalgia and amusement. "I wish there were more kids like you. Lord knows we need it." She gazed at Rin for a moment. "You aren't from around here, are you?"
Rin smiled and nodded, though she did not think of herself as a "kid". At fourteen, she liked to think she was well on her way to being adult. She laughed. "Is it that obvious?" Rin nodded and continued, "I'm from Azalea Town, in Johto. My Mom started a small miltank farm there."
"Sounds lovely. I always dreamed of travelling Johto out west."
"I came here to train," Rin explained, excited that someone was giving her time to talk and share. "Inu and I are going to try our best to succeed in Daichi." And figure out what happened to Izumi, she added in her head.
Her plump lips seemed to form a frown at the mention of Daichi but before Rin could decipher it, the woman sighed and bowed her head. "Just remember not to forget what is most important on your travels." The woman stood up and sighed, her floral-patterned dress ruffled in the warm evening breeze.
"Of course not!" Rin exclaimed a bit too loudly. "I mean, forgetting about Inu is like forgetting about family… I would never do that."
The woman smiled, causing the wrinkles on her face to scrunch. "Good luck, dear. It's a scary world out there, but your Pokémon will make it easier."
"Bye." Rin waved as she began to walk away, between the sparse oak trees. "Well, that was pretty random," she told Inu, "but what a nice lady."
Now it was Rin's turn to leave the park. She placed Inu on the ground hesitantly, not liking the idea of him running off again, but not wanting to strain her arms either. She pulled out her map and learned the location of the Game Corner; she was excited to see what it was like in the famous arcade and test her luck in the slot machines. Anything but returning to her dark hotel room sounded pleasant. Following her map, and Inu following her, Rin continued into the depths of Celadon City, the city of the rainbow's colors.
