CHAPTER SIX – Until We Meet Again
The team of professors Oak, Rowan, and Birch, along with Aurea, stood in the lobby of the Viridian City Home for Children. Aurea was holding the boy's right hand, his left grasping the Gemini Ball when she suddenly looked frantic and bolted out of the orphanage as quickly as she could. The remaining members of the team were left scratching their heads in confusion as to where she could have run off to.
"Perhaps dropping off the boy is too much for her. She's scarcely left his side since we first found him and they've become quite attached" offered Rowan.
Professor Oak looked saddened by this. He by no means wanted to separate the two of them, but the boy needed a real home, and Samuel was positive that someone would come and take him in before long.
Several moments later, a representative from the home came out. "Hello, sirs. Is this the newest addition to our home?" she inquired, gesturing to the boy.
Oak gently put his hands on the child's shoulders. "He is indeed. I hope you'll take great care of him and find him a home as soon as you can."
"We most certainly shall." The woman, dressed in an indigo suit with a white dress blouse, knelt down a few feet away from the boy. "We're going to take good care of you, young man."
After a few moments of silence, the woman turned to Professor Oak. "Has he been through some sort of trauma? Why is he so quiet?"
"We assume he has been through some sort of an ordeal, but to what extent we are still unsure. Rest assured he's a very well-behaved boy; he just isn't used to these new surroundings." He looked down at the boy, with a warm smile. "Well, son, this looks like farewell for now. Before we leave you in the care of these nice people, we all have some going away presents for you." He reached into a duffle bag that was slung over his shoulder and pulled out a golden-yellow backpack with red lining and silver zippers. The pack was a bit large for the boy, but he smiled as the professor handed it to him. "This is from me. It's a little big for you right now, I know, but something tells me you'll have need of it in the future."
Next, Rowan reached into the bag and pulled out a small picture frame with a portrait in it. The photograph showed professors Oak, Rowan, Elm, and Birch, and Aurea with the boy in her arms, wide-eyed and smiling. It was the sole picture they had taken the day before, just prior to boarding their train. Rowan handed the boy the portrait, telling him, "This is from me, but you should think of it as being from all of us, to remember us all by." and he held it in his hands, staring at it. Birch then reached into his messenger bag slung over his left shoulder, and pulled out a pair of black, fingerless gloves and gave them to him. The child immediately put them on, despite being quite large on his hands, very apparently amused with how his fingers still showed as he wiggled them about in the air.
"Elm is very sorry that he could not be here today, but he wanted me to give you this," said Oak as he handed the boy a small, shiny, plastic card. "It's a Rail Pass, for the train that goes between Johto's Goldenrod City and Saffron City here in Kanto. This way, you can visit him someday when you're old enough to do so." The boy took the Rail Pass card and nodded understandingly.
"That's very kind of you all, to give such nice gifts to a boy you hardly knew. We'll be sure to take good care of them," assured the orphanage representative.
"If it's all the same to you, Miss, I would prefer that you allow the boy to hold onto all of his own belongings. That would go double for the Poké Ball he is carrying," said Professor Oak.
After a moment, the representative sighed and smiled. "Very well," she said, "I will personally see to it that it happens."
"Thank you," said Oak with a slight nod.
"Of course, Professor. Well, I guess it's time for him to come with me now." The representative reached into a bag and pulled out some legal documents. "I'll need whoever would be considered his primary guardian to sign a few of these papers, stating you're handing the care of the child over to the orphanage."
Oak, Rowan, and Birch looked at each other. Each of them was thinking the same thing: none of them would truly be considered the boy's guardian. They all knew that the boy's real guardian these past few days had been Aurea; no one else had spent as much time with him nor put so much thought and care into him. Just then the front doors to the orphanage flew open and Aurea, clutching a bag, hair a mess, and out of breath, burst into the lobby.
"Wait!" she exclaimed and stood up straight, walking over to the boy as she attempted to haphazardly fix her hair. She knelt down in front of the boy and reached into the bag she was carrying. "This is for you," she said as she pulled out a hat. The hat was almost all bright red, with the front above the brim being white with a sole green circle that was an emblem in Viridian on the bottom right-facing corner. "I know it's a little big for you right now…Well, maybe more than a little, but I'm hoping that you'll keep it long enough to be able to wear it when it fits, and to remember me by." She ran her fingers through his dark hair, ruffling it a bit before sticking the oversized hat on his head as tears started to well up in her eyes.
"We'll take good care of him, young lady," assured the representative," What is the boy's name? I will need to write it on the legal papers here before he is turned over into the home's custody."
The professors were silent. In the entire three days since finding the boy in the wilds of Johto, none of them had even given thought to what the boy's name was.
"Goodness," Oak said as he scratched his head, "We haven't the slightest idea. I don't think any of us have even thought about it."
"My name is Red," the boy said in little more than a whisper, with the first words he had spoken since being found. Oak, Rowan, and Birch were incredulous; none of them had heard a word out of the boy in the entire time he'd been in their company. They looked at one another, very visibly astounded and confused. After several moments, Professor Oak cleared his throat and spoke up.
"Red?" he said, turning to Aurea, "Did he tell you that or is that the name you came up with for him?" inquired Samuel.
"I gave it to him," replied Aurea, "It seemed appropriate, considering his crimson eyes, and he really seems to like it."
The orphanage representative nodded. "'Red' it is then. That is what I shall put on his papers." She filled in the necessary information on the documents and marked two lines for guardian signatures. "That's that, then; all I need now are two signatures - one from you, young lady, and one from you, Professor."
Professor Oak signed one of the lines and handed the clipboard over to Aurea. She held the papers tentatively, hesitating with the pen in her hand as she stared at the document that would sign the boy's care over to the orphanage.
"Aurea…"
"I know, Professor…I know." She quickly signed the papers and handed them back to the woman. Aurea looked down, Red clinging to her leg. She started to tear up again at the thought of letting him go.
Red started to speak, tears welling up in his eyes as well, "When will I see you again…?"
"I don't know, sweetie," Aurea replied as she knelt down and started to cry, "but I promise that you will."
The entire group felt heartbroken, but they knew that there was no other plausible way for him to have a good home right now. Aurea hugged him for a long time before the woman told them it was time for him to go. She put her hand gently on Red's shoulder as she took him into the orphanage proper and Aurea and the rest of the research team watched them go. Red turned his head once, to look back at the professors and Aurea and she stared back at his fiery crimson eyes until he was out of sight.
