"Who the hell is Butch?"
The man with slicked-back hair blinked rapidly, his polite smile waning.
"I beg your pardon?"
Blue pointed to the stone pillar behind the guide, at the last name carved on the list of gym champions, his finger quivering with silent indignation. The man's frown deepened.
"Why, he's the most recent trainer to earn the Boulderbadge. Surely..."
He swallowed the rest of the sentence and hid behind the carefully crafted smile of someone used to dealing with kids.
Blue let his hand fall, bile rising up his throat. He knew what the name meant – everyone on the planet knew unless they lived in a cave. Only it didn't make sense. It had to be the wrong name. Not that the guide could have known the real reason for his cry: in his dismay Blue had merely let the exclamation fall from his lips without remembering his interlocutor couldn't read his thoughts.
He scanned the sign through once more, until names and letters blurred together: Reese, Clara, Heather...but no Red.
"Is he really the most recent?" he asked, with a fierce turn of head. "Are there any new people who just haven't been listed yet?"
Smiling sheepishly, the man shook his head.
"We update the list nightly. There have been no new victors today."
Blue chewed his lip. Red must have entered the forest before him. Where on earth had he disappeared? Had he gotten lost in the woods? The idea tickled Blue, he had to admit. He imagined Red stumbling around in the dark undergrowth with a grouchy growl in his face, and barely suppressed a grin.
Still, it was odd. The Viridian forest was large, but Red had never been one to get lost easily, and if he was still in there, it had been quite a coincidence Blue had never crossed paths with him…
"Will you challenge Brock?" the guide asked, waking Blue from his reverie.
"Uh, yeah." Blue straightened his back and grinned cockily at the announcer. "Of course. Get ready to carve a new name on the sign."
The man flashed another polite smile.
"Excellent, I have high hopes for you. Now, Brock uses mainly rock-type pokémon, so—"
Blue stomped forward with his head held up high before the guide could finish his sentence, eyes fixed at the raised platform on which Brock's imposing figure waited, arms crossed.
He needed no merciful hints. He only needed himself.
He cradled his pokéballs in his hands. There were three now, as he had captured a particularly tenacious rattata on the outskirts of the town. Still, he'd only need one pokémon.
He met Brock's eyes with absolute certainly. His first step to the way of recognised glory was here, and he wouldn't hesitate to climb it.
Blue kept his arm perfectly straight as Brock pressed the Boulderbadge firmly onto his waiting palm. The badge weighed more on his hand than he expected, and it was cold on his hot palm. Blue pressed his fingers around it, and savoured the coolness.
"You've done well."
Blue smiled. Of course he had.
As soon as Blue emerged from the caves beneath Mt. Moon, he took a deep breath of the fresh air and sat down on the patch of relatively short grass next to the entrance.
After a moment of consideration, he released Squirtle from its pokéball. It shook its head and looked at him questioningly, and after replying a nod of approval, trotted off to frolic in the grass by. Blue followed its movements lazily with his eyes, not really paying attention. The afternoon sun of late August was boring down on him, but he wasn't uncomfortable enough to seek shade just yet.
He took off his sneakers and rubbed his aching feet. The day had been a long one; he and Squirtle had set off at the crack of dawn and walked nearly continuously since then, only pausing to battle trainers. Tet they were still miles away from the next town.
Blue removed the backpack from his back and pulled out a bottle of fresh water and a pair of cellophane-wrapped sandwiches he had taken with him from the Pokécenter. He started munching down on the first one, savouring every mouthful: he had difficulties swallowing the dry bread and the pungent cheese offended his senses, but he was hungry enough to ignore those flaws in light of being able to fill his stomach.
As he ate, he looked around himself, able for the first time to fully appreciate the beauty of Kanto. After the murky caves and endless droves of zubats, the perfectly blue waterfront and peaceful meadows around Cerulean City seemed like visions of paradise. He also couldn't help but spot several acres worth of tall grass on the other side of the lake, and checked his backpack for empty pokeballs. Plenty remained, and he swore to pay the wild pokémon of the area a visit.
After finishing the sandwiches, he took a swig from the water bottle, then poured the rest into a flat container and placed it on the ground. As he stashed the empty bottle he also pulled out a bag of treats and ripped it open. Squirtle immediately perked up at the sound.
"Squirtle!" Blue called out, despite knowing it was redundant. Already Squirtle was running towards him, eager to fill its belly.
As Squirtle dug into its food, Blue pulled yet another object from his backpack, a string-bound black notebook that served as his battle log. He opened it and jotted down his last few accomplishments.
He flipped back to the first sheet, where he had copied development charts in preparations for the journey, and began to count. He made one more note, then dug out yet another thing from the backpack: a small bottle with a light green cork.
"Squirtle." Squirtle looked up. Blue popped the cork open. "Drink this, too."
Squirtle peered at the bottle suspiciously, but waddled over all the same and held its paws forward. Blue handed the bottle over. Squirtle gave its contents a sniff and grimaced, but after another nod from Blue drank it all in one shot.
"Did it taste bad?" Blue asked as Squirtle shuddered.
Squirtle shook its head.
Just then, another trainer drove past on a brand new bike. Blue looked on with envy.
The trainer turned her head, meeting Blue's eyes.
"Oh, shoot."
She braked with a loud squeal from the breaks and hopped off her bike. "Ready to battle?"
Blue recalled Squirtle and stood up straight.
"Always."
The battle was short, but satisfying enough, his opponent's mankey and growlithe putting up a valiant fight against Blue's less-trained but well-commanded and superior numbers.
"Sharp-toothed rattata you've got there," the trainer said graciously as she shelled out the dough.
"Thanks," replied Blue, and pocketed the money. He had quite a nice nest egg tucked away already, all ready for some extreme spending at the next mart. "Got high hopes for him."
"Well, if it keeps biting like that, you might be able to take it to the top."
Rather than showing concern over her fainted pokémon, the trainer reached into her backpack and uncorked a bottle of fresh water. After a few gulps, followed by a satisfied sigh, she crouched down and dug deeper into her pocket, retrieving several satchels of revival powder. Blue raised his eyebrows. Rich kid, he supposed.
"Where are you from, anyway?" he asked, tone casual. He felt good after a reaffirming victory, and saw no reason to hurry on or to avoid chitchat.
"Cerulean, actually. Moved there last year."
The trainer didn't look at Blue as she replied, still tinkering with the powders. Satisfied, she weighed one of her freshly alert pokémon balls in her hands and looked up. "How about you?"
"Pallet Town."
"Oh hey, I passed through it once when we went on holiday to the Sevii Islands. Looked like a nice little town."
Blue snorted. "What, that dump? Where we've got like a hundred people and one water-cooler?"
"It can't be all bad. The other kid from Pallet seemed to like it alright."
The sardonic grin on Blue's face froze.
"What other kid?"
The trainer shrugged her backpack onto her shoulders. "This other trainer from Pallet. Battled him today. Black hair, has a badass charmander."
Her eyes narrowed as her hands curled around the handles of her bicycle. "You know him, right? Can't be many kids leaving Pallet at the same time."
Blue ignored the question as another strange incident occurred to him.
"What did he say to you?"
The trainer hopped onto her bike, feet still firmly in the ground.
"Nothing special, really. Mentioned Pallet, asked what I was about to do? The usual stuff."
She raised her foot to the pedal. "Anyway, I'm gonna go before I start gathering moss. Cheers."
"You too," Blue muttered, not really thinking about what he said. He watched on as the trainer made a U-turn and vanished behind a high ledge.
So. Red did in fact speak to people…
He shook his head violently. No. He refused to waste any more of his brain capacity on Red. New pokémon waited to join his team. The next gym leader awaited. He had to move on.
Two hours later, he was stalking in the grass by the river, lying in wait for the pokémon he had spotted earlier to appear. Squirtle waited patiently next to him, perfectly quiet.
After nearly ten minutes of stillness, something finally rustled in a bush near him.
He raised two fingers in the air, hoping the training had paid off. Squirtle inclined its head and braced its muscles, ready to pounce once more. Blue couldn't see Rattata from the undergrowth, but had no doubt it was where Blue had ordered it to go. Pidgeotto circled above, waiting for his command.
He lowered one finger. Squirtle tensed and pressed itself further down, its hardened shell brushing against the ground. The invisible circle Pidgeotto flew around and around grew narrower as the majestic bird began to hone down on the trembling creature in the bush. Annoyed, Blue waved his left hand in a whorl pattern, and soon Pidgeotto caught his drift and widened the circle.
Satisfied, Blue nodded. He looked at Squirtle and lowered the final finger.
Without a moment's hesitation, Squirtle pounced, diving head-first into the bush. A garbled cry rang out, followed by a strange light flash.
Blue stayed in place, desperately surveying the area, waiting for the blasted creature to materialise. Hopefully it hadn't vanished beyond his reach once more. He could try as many times as he liked, of course, but the sky was getting dark and he rather not waste any more time than necessary. He couldn't allow Red to outstep him again.
Finally, he caught a glimpse of the creature. It had descended roughly ten feet from its previous hideout, its chin firmly against its chest, its eyes squeezed shut. Squirtle still struggled in the bush, the creature continued to rest, no doubt preparing to teleport again. And unaware of the long purple tail only barely visible in a patch of grass right next to it.
Finally.
"Lunge!" Blue cried, and immediately Rattata emerged from the grass in a flurry of teeth and claws, sinking its fangs into the abra's tail. The pokémon cried out, and thrashed wildly to remove the tenacious rattata, but to no avail.
Blue gestured hastily at his Pidgeotto to keep circling the area just in case it somehow managed to escape his grasp once more as he threw his arm back and sent a pokéball flying towards the abra. It bounced off its narrow face and activated. Rattata let go a mere second before the light engulfed the creature.
Blue's heart pounded along with the pulses of the pokéball. He has wasted a dozen on the creature already, desperate attempts at capturing it moments before its escape and one unfortunate time after he had devised his plan during which Pidgeotto's swoop had missed its mark by mere inches. Now, however, he could exhale in satisfaction as the pokéball finally clicked.
He soon found himself absent-mindedly stroking Rattata's furry back as he examined his new capture and his pokémon gathered to him. He stopped as soon as he saw what he was doing and nodded at all three of them in acknowledgement.
"You did well."
Squirtle was on the verge of evolving but he decided to challenge the next gym first, simply because he knew they could win and it'd be fun to flaunt his skill like that. So instead, he spent some time training the bug pokémon he had caught in Viridian Forest, in hopes of making them evolve. Every evolution was a new Pokedex marking, after all.
He won, as expected, and smiled kindly at the Gym Leader as she handed over the badge. She had put up a good fight after all. Too bad that there was only one he considered a serious rival.
Then, as he was about to leave the town, he caught sight of a familiar baseball cap.
Speak of the devil.
"Finally got here?" he yelled and jumped in front of Red. "I don't know where you've been hiding, but don't think you can escape from this battle."
Red stared at him and reached for his pokéballs. Red. His eyes were definitely red.
This time, Blue fought more cautiously, going for a war of attrition and paying extra attention to elemental weaknesses. Yet all of his pokémon were struck down, one by one.
He managed to keep a straight face in front of Red, bragging about what he had accomplished so far, speaking like the loss he had just experienced was the first of its kind and not the third.
As soon as Red left, however, he grimaced. How could this keep happening when he easily trounced all other opponents? Somehow, Red had to be cheating.
Then again, Red's Charmander had already been a Charmeleon. Maybe he had just been training extra hard for the gym his starter was weak against. Maybe that was it. He could do that, too, and better than Red if necessary.
Blue knew he shouldn't follow Red. There was no reason for him to backtrack, no point in a side-path on his way to championship. He knew he should have just continued on towards Vermilion City, focus on his own journey, and banish Red out of his mind.
Yet, he knew he couldn't forget about Red until he got some light into the mystery of his appearances and disappearances.
And so, he had sauntered back to Route 25, hiding in the sidelines to elude Red's eye, and keeping a close eye on him. As far as he could tell, nothing was amiss about Red's behaviour, at least from a distance. While Red seemed to walk in perfect silence, and he never moved a muscle on his countenance, apart from that his journey down the route was no different from that of any other trainer. He faced everyone who challenged him, commanded his pokémon with skill, and pocketed the wins with neither arrogance nor interest. Apart from his still peculiar muteness, which Blue had already come to accept as a matter of course, nothing was amiss.
He grew frustrated. He was wasting his time with this childish game of spying. But just as he was about to turn away, Red defeated another trainer, a young girl, and quickly summoned his pokémon back.
The lass frowned. "I'm not so jealous."
Without further ado, she rummaged her pockets and offered Red the money. He accepted it mechanically.
Blue decided to retreat. Red was more than close enough to spot him should he turn his head. However, before he could move, the girl spoke again.
"You came from Mt. Moon? May I have a clefairy?"
Blue blinked rapidly, wondering if he had heard correctly. That was no opening to a discussion – that was a continuation. But why was the girl responding when Red had said nothing?
With no response but a shrug of shoulders, Red lowered his cap over his eye and walked onwards.
When he was beyond hearing distance, the girl sighed and took to the opposite direction, walking right past Blue's hiding spot. Seizing the moment, Blue stepped out in the open and accosted the girl.
"Hey," he said, trying to appear as casual as possible.
The girl stopped in place and blinked rapidly, then sighed in dismay and began going through her pockets.
"Sorry, I can't battle you. I just lost."
"Yeah, I saw."
The girl took out a packet of bubblegum and lobbed a piece into her mouth.
"What did he say to you?"
The girl shrugged. "Nothing special. He said he had been to Mt. Moon and that he didn't have a clefairy."
"Yeah, but did he actually say something?" Blue asked anxiously.
The girl gave him a long look. "What kind of a question is that? Of course he said something; how else would I have known to answer him?"
She held the pack of chewing gum towards him. "Do you want some?"
"No thanks."
And with that, Blue walked away, his mind wrestling with this new development. Red must have spoken, that was true. So, why hadn't Blue heard anything, even though he had been close enough to hear the other trainer's reply clear as bells?
Had Red simply spoken really softly? Was Blue making a mountain out of a molehill?
He shook his head violently, irritated. He'd have to keep an ear open whenever near Red. He needed to be certain.
A/N: Special thanks to thechinskyguy and TJ Robinson for beta reading this.