Kageyama handed them the exact disguises that Blue had come up with; she stared at him. "How did you find these so easily?"
In response, Kageyama simply opened a door in the side of the room; Blue ran to it and let out a cry of amazement. Piles upon piles of clothes, all kinds of clothes, neatly organized by color and type, filled a room that stretched all the way down from the second floor to ground level. A small elevator operated with cranks and pulleys would allow someone to reach any of these clothes at any time.
"This is awesome!" gasped Blue. "So this is why you live here."
"I love this house," said Kageyama. "Good for business. Not leaving it anytime soon. Anyway, you people should get changed and be on your way. Green is first priority, not relaxing." He walked out of the room.
Looker and Red followed him, and Blue sighed, picking up her bundle of clothes and shutting the door as they went downstairs. She'd picked out thick dark blue pants, a white turtleneck shirt, and a black jacket. She tied up her hair and tucked it into a dark blue newsboy cap.
After changing, she stepped out and the other two males took turns putting on their disguises; Red emerged first, looking quite uncomfortable in the charcoal-gray and light-blue ensemble that Blue had chosen for him. Pika looked at him and shook its head disapprovingly.
Red seemed to agree. "Why these colors?" he muttered, pulling at the light gray buttons of his snug coat. "So dull."
"That's the point," said Blue. "If you're wearing red, that's going to make you stand out."
He nodded quietly, still looking a bit like a fish out of water, but there was nothing Blue could do about that.
Looker was wearing shabby-looking clothes that made him seem a lot older than he actually was; a few days without shaving and he'd be unrecognizable.
Blue grinned. This would work.
"All right," said Kageyama. "Get outta my house."
"Thank you for having us over," said Blue, attempting a smile. "You were a big help."
He nodded.
As they walked out of the house, Blue caught Kageyama mumbling, "Thanks for coming."
She smiled a little and went out after Looker and Red.
"We are headed to the Pokémon League," said Looker outside. "We will, there, contact every Gym Leader in the region and send out search parties. I have already sent a message to Skyla to perform an air search. Unfortunately, we cannot fly to the Pokémon League, as air travel there is not permitted. Ever since Team Plasma infiltrated two years ago…the place is under very tight surveillance. So, we will be traveling by foot."
"Can't we just fly to the nearest city to the League and walk the rest of the way?" Blue asked.
"There aren't any other airfields, unfortunately," sighed Looker. "And the Pokémon cannot fly to any city they do not know. It will be a long journey. Come, let us begin."
Blue sighed as well, and walked after them.
°º°º°º°º°º°
Red stared off into the distance as he walked, his mind far away. Was Green okay? What was TSU planning to do with him? What if they were—
"Red," said Blue. "Snap out of it. You're going the wrong way."
With a start, Red realized that he'd taken a wrong turn and was now heading into a dead-end patch of tall grass. He turned around and rejoined the others, one hand rubbing at his temples. He nearly stumbled and fell off the raised walkway, but barely managed to keep his balance.
He didn't like this region. It was too new, too clean-cut, without the wild simplicity of Kanto. The weather was cold and dry, and even the rain and snow brought no humidity. He wet his chapped lips.
Goosebumps rose on Red's skin, and he shivered. There was something bad on this route. Something not quite physical, and with a dark, smothering heaviness about it. It reminded him of the Pokémon Tower, but a little different.
"Wait," said Blue as the heaviness grew stronger. "We should stop at Celestial Tower to pay our respects."
Celestial Tower. That must be it.
They reached what seemed to be the northern end of the route, and Red shuddered again. The serene, spiraling tower loomed up before him, clouds swirling around the very top of it. Small blue flowers bloomed around its base, their petals encrusted with fine frost and their leaves wilted in the cold.
"Well," said Looker. "Let's go inside."
As they entered, Red reached down and picked a few flowers, holding them gingerly to his chest.
The air was cold and still, heavy with grief, with the voids that once-living companions had left behind. None of them dared say a word; it was far too silent.
Graves, so many graves. Pika came quietly out of its Poké Ball, sensing its trainer's fear, and nuzzled his cheek as it climbed onto his shoulder. I'm here, it seemed to say.
"Pika," whispered Red, his eyes prickling with hot tears as he gently lifted the little creature into his arms. "Please don't leave."
It made a soft, comforting noise and nuzzled him again.
They ascended the tower quietly. Red laid flowers by the entrance of each floor, and when they reached the top, he had only one left.
The clouds swirled coldly around him, leaving condensed drops all over his arms. Red was abruptly reminded of when he decided to come down from the mountain.
So much had happened since then. A pang of dull pain shot through Red's chest. Green, Green. They had to save him.
"Let's ring it," said Looker quietly, "together."
They stepped forward silently. Red, Blue, and Looker all wrapped their hands around the rope, then pulled back.
A strong, resounding G reverberated through the air. Red felt it deeply, vibrating through his bones. A quiet harmonic floated above, a B-flat to temper the happiness. Green's favorite key. "G for Green," he'd laughed.
"Why minor?" Red asked. "Why not major?"
"Ah, I don't know," the nine-year-old Green muttered. "I just like sad tunes more than happy ones."
"You're weird." Red looked away, then lit up in excitement and turned back. "I like all the keys! Except C. C's boring."
"You're right about that." Green snickered. "If you were a musical key, you'd be C."
"Oh yeah? Well, you'd be D! D for dumb!" Red stuck his tongue out.
"F for freaky!"
"B for butthead!"
"G for genius!"
"I thought we were insulting each other," muttered Red.
"I'm just stating facts." Green harrumphed and looked away.
Red grinned so wide that Green began smiling as well.
G for genius. Red let himself smile, just a little bit.
And you, Green, you're my favorite key. A, for amazing.
The bell's sound faded, and Red stepped back, laying his last flower underneath it.
"Let's go," said Blue. "We don't have any more time to spend. We'll cross Twist Mountain and Icirrus City, and then we'll get to the League. The faster we move, the faster we get to Green."
"Understood," replied Looker. "Let us go!"
°º°º°º°º°º°
They spent a while inside Twist Mountain (which was aptly named), but finally managed to get out later in the afternoon. After quickly healing their Pokémon and exiting Icirrus City, they traveled through the confusing Route 8, crossed the vibrating Tubeline Bridge, zoomed across Route 9, and, at last, entered Opelucid City.
"Whoa," whispered Blue. "What an amazing city."
"It is certainly very beautiful," agreed Looker. "It reminds me of a time long past."
"Long past?" frowned Blue. "What do you mean? This is one of the most technologically advanced places I've ever seen."
"Much to the contrary," said Looker, perplexed. "I see a beautiful, ancient town that seems to have been around for hundreds of years."
"Red," asked Blue, "what do you see?"
"Both," said Red quietly. "Moving makes it change."
Blue and Looker exchanged a glance, then looked around again and shrugged.
"Anyway," said Looker, "we should go to the local Pokémon Center, yes? It is already dark, and attempting to venture into a route at this time can only lead to trouble. Tomorrow, our destination will be Humilau City, which is quite far from here, so we must get rest."
There was a strange heat in Red's chest, and he shook his head. "I'll keep going."
"Red, no," said Blue. "We need to stay together."
"Why?" asked Red. "We'll meet at the League."
Blue's fists clenched. "Red, you can't just keep leaving us behind like this!"
"I'm not!"
"You've always done this!" Blue was already beginning to cry and she hated it. "Now, three years ago, the St. Anne, the Indigo League, it's always been this way! We try to join you and you just leave us in the dust!"
"Calm down," boomed Looker. "Both of you are arguing like little children. You're fourteen, for heaven's sakes, get ahold of yourselves! Red, you must stay with us. This is a new region. You don't know your way around, and neither do we. Getting lost is absolutely not an option."
"I want to save Green," whispered Red, his own eyes stinging. "That's all."
"And we will," Looker said quietly, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's better to go after Green with a clear mind and a rested body. What if TSU fights you? Going without rest, the way you're planning to, will only lead to defeat and tightened security."
Silently, Red nodded, and they headed to the Pokémon Center. His fists balled at his sides as they walked. I'm sorry, he thought, over and over, but when he tried to say those words his heart seized up in fear. They wouldn't forget the pain he caused them. Of course they wouldn't.
Saying sorry wouldn't fix anything.
A/N: Hey guys! I'm currently out of town at the moment, and running out of data, so I can't post anything until late July when I come back. I'm so sorry for these long delays. Writer's block has had it in for me these past few months, and I've been focusing on a lot of other things. Thank you so much for sticking around all this time. It's been just over a year since I posted Chapter 1 and I've gotten so many follows, favorites, and helpful reviews. It really makes me feel good to know that so many people read and like my writing. I'll see you all next month, and until then, take care :)