Advice: Play Type: Wild during the appropriate part of this chapter for possible increase in enjoyment. You'll know when.

Pokemon Tales: Red Chapter 12: Vermilion City Blues.

It was almost the end of summer but the temperatures were still high. It was a day after Blue arrived in Vermilion City. She arrived rather late so she couldn't go to challenge the Gym right away, as she would have preferred. Instead she spent the night at the Pokemon Center.

When she woke up she moved through the building carefully, afraid that she would meet Red, which could lead to an awkward situation. To her relief he wasn't there. However, a downside of her travelling alone was that she had to provide the food for herself.

She took out her inventory pad, a device based around Bill's research which instead of Pokemon could store items and allowed trainers to carry a lot of stuff without being bothered by their weight. The one belonging to Blue contained two spare sets of the same clothes she was usually wearing, underwear, pajamas, a one piece swimsuit, healing items, pokeballs, her tent and various things which helped with hygiene when not at a Pokemon Center. Another thing she would usually store there were berries and bottles of water gathered by Red. Since they were transformed into data they would never go bad. But sadly, Blue consumed all her reserves.

She decided to go find some restaurant to eat breakfast at. On the way to the center of the city she got quite thirsty because of the burning sun. Fortunately, she stumbled onto a vending machine. When she has chosen a beverage she took out some coins from her wallet but the sweat caused her hand to slip and drop the money.

She carefully kneeled down and started to gather it but some of it went under the machine. She moved to the right side, thinking it would be easier to get it out. The position she was in was uncomfortable but she didn't want any of her money to go to waste. Suddenly, she heard some clicking sounds and then something falling down. She looked up and saw a boy about her age. It was no one other than Green. But at that point in time she didn't know it yet.

"Here." he said while taking out a can of peach soda from the machine and handing it to her.

"Huh? Uh... Thanks." she took it in her hand.

After realizing that she was practically laying on the ground, she got embarrassed and quickly stood up while trying to get the dirt off her skirt.

"Why did you give it to me?" she asked.

"It was sad seeing someone who was so poor that they would roll in the dirt to find some coins. I'm sorry that I can't help you more."

"What?!" she yelled while a vein popped up on her forehead.

She threw the can at him, and the boy barely managed to dodge it.

"What are you doing?! Do you want to kill me?!"

"I'm not homeless or whatever you thought! I don't need your charity!"

"Okay, okay. Sorry for the mistake. I'll leave you be." he said while slowly beginning to walk away.

"Crazy lady." he added so quietly that she couldn't hear him.

After he left, Blue saw that the can she threw landed on soft grass and wasn't damaged, so she picked it up while making sure that no one could have seen her and mistake for a poor person again. She wondered however how the boy figured out that peach soda was her favorite.

. . .

At the same time as the encounter between Blue and Green took place, Red also finally arrived in Vermilion City. His nose twitched a little so he decided to focus on the smell that got stronger the further he went. He didn't know what it was yet, but it was the first time in his life he was so close to the sea so the air around him was a little different to the one he was used to.

Because of the smell, he passed the map of the city which was right by the entrance he went through to get there. But he soon started looking around when the smell mixed with another one. He realized that he was walking through a fish market. Red smiled when looking at crowds of people haggling over prices and shopkeepers trying to woo potential customers by saying how good they products were.

When he finally passed all of the stands, having to shoo away a man who insisted that the boy try some of his goods, he arrived at the port. He had to hold onto his hat when a strong gust of wind hit him. After that, he wandered around while looking at containers and various people walking around in a hurry. As he went further he started seeing glimpses of the water, but the port was full of boats, which, while impressive, were hiding from him the thing he wanted to see the most.

Red noticed a crane which was about 12 meters high and using the fact that no one was around, he climbed onto its arm. After getting to the very top, he looked at the vastness that was spreading in front of him. The sea was calm and the sky was clear. At that moment, there was only one thing Red could see.

"Everything is blue."

"Hey! Get down from there!" a male voice came from below.

Red looked down and saw a sailor with a big package held beside his head by one of his arms. The boy slid down the arm of the crane and did a somersault before landing in front of the man. He looked surprised by this acrobatic feat.

"I... I wanted to say that it's dangerous but after that... Anyway, you shouldn't do that. There have been news of some suspicious guys who want to sneak on St. Anne and if you do stuff like that, they make take you for one of them."

"St. Anne?"

"It's that big ship over there." the man said while pointing with his free arm to an enormous cruise ship.

"Ooh! I didn't notice it!"

"You didn't notice? Are you okay in the head? It's the biggest thing here."

Red quickly looked up and then to side before replying "Third biggest."

The man looked confused but before he could ask the teenager what he meant by that, the boy already ran in the direction of St. Anne.

. . .

Meanwhile, Blue managed to find a restaurant that seemed like a nice place for a breakfast. As she reached for the handle of the doors, they suddenly swung open, almost hitting her. She jumped a little but then let out a sight, glad that she wasn't hurt. Immediately, she decided to scold whomever it was that opened the door. She stopped herself after seeing what they looked like.

It was a pair of men in their 30's, both rather tall and muscular. They wore black leather pants and vests. One of them had dark skin and an eyepatch while the other was wearing a black cap and had a chain wrapped around his waist. Additionally, both of them had large moustaches. If she saw them on TV, she would probably laugh out loud, but when seeing them in real life, she immediately realized that they were the types that one should not mess with.

Seemingly ignoring her, they walked forward. The dark-skinned one didn't avoid her, even though she was in his path which caused the girl to be knocked aside. Before she could tell what has happened, she had her bottom on the ground and the two men already disappeared inside one of the alleys.

"Why does this have to happen to me?" the girl lamented while standing up.

Even though her day was already ruined, she didn't suspect that soon it was going to get even worse. She went into the restaurant and after getting a menu from the waitress, she selected a Spaghetti with Octillery ink, whatever an Octillery was.

When she finished eating and informed the waitress that she was ready to pay the bill, she arrived at a grim realization; her wallet was missing. She frantically searched through her bag and checked to make sure that she didn't accidentally put it in her inventory pad. She grabbed her head with both hands and looked down in despair, thinking about how she would go to jail for not paying and how she would be locked up with various criminals. This train of thought led her to recall the encounter with two men which transpired around 30 minutes earlier. It had to be them. The man bumped into her un purpose and used her fear as a distraction to steal her wallet.

She got up, full of anger, but after remembering her situation, immediately sat down. Even though she had her suspicions, she couldn't prove that she was robbed until she found these men, and she couldn't do that without leaving the restaurant which was impossible without her paying the bill.

She heard the doors of the restaurant open and decided to look in that direction as if she was hoping that some sort of salvation would appear in them. To her surprise, the person that arrived there was the boy she met earlier. Immediately, she formed a plan in her head. It was a gamble but she didn't see any other option.

"Excuse me, waitress."

"Yes?" the woman said while walking over to her.

"I have to go but my boyfriend will pay my bill."

"Boyfriend?" the woman asked with a puzzled expression.

Blue pointed to the boy who was still hanging around the door, probably trying to decide on where he wanted to sit.

"Hey!" Blue yelled to him while waving her hand.

At first he didn't realize that he was the one being called but after seeing her, he instinctively put up his hand and waved back, although a little confused why the girl would welcome him happily after how she acted before. Blue stood up and took her bag before she started walking in his direction. He wanted to say something but she was quicker "Thanks for paying my bill. Just wait here. I'll be back."

She said these words very quickly and before Green could process what just happened, she was already gone. He wanted to go after her but a whistle from the waitress stopped him. He turned around and saw the woman tapping the floor impatiently with one of her feet.

"You have to pay for your girlfriend before you leave."

. . .

A little earlier, while Blue was still waiting for her meal, Red managed to reach the St. Anne by carefully squeezing between containers and ducking whenever someone was about to accidentally hit him with a beam or some other thing they were carrying.

He has been staring at it for about 20 minutes. The ship was so tall that he felt a little pain in his neck when he had to look up to see it. He also had to look to the sides because he was too close to have its entire length in his view. Just as he was amazed at the sea before, he couldn't find words for how excited he was to see this machine.

He started approaching the ship when he was noticed by a sailor who quickly ran over and tackled him. Red was confused for a couple seconds, not entirely sure what just happened.

The man got up. He had short brown hair, a big round nose, really hairy arms, and it was hard to determine whether he was chubby or muscular. He looked to be around 30 years old. After standing up her reached his hand towards Red to help him.

"You really should look where you're going."

After hearing that, Red realized that he was so close to the boat that he was about to fall into water.

"Oh man. That was close. It's just... this thing looks so awesome."

"I know. I've been part of the crew for 5 years and I'm still amazed every time I get to look at it from the outside. But when I'm on-board, I completely forget about it since I'm surrounded by something that's much more impressive."

"The sea."

"Yeah."

And then came a period of silence when both of them were just staring at the ship while inhaling the sea breeze.

"Soooo... Can I get on?" Red asked finally.

"Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's still a little early but just go over to the ramp and show the guy your ticket." the sailor answered with a slight smile.

Red looked at him with a worried expression "My ticket?"

"Uh? Yes? What do you mean? Don't tell me you wanted to get on-board without your ticket."

"You keep saying "your ticket" like it's supposed to mean something. I don't have a ticket."

The sailors eyes widened as he took a step back.

"Wait just a moment! You want to get on the ship without a ticket?! We were warned that some thugs may want to sneak onto the ship to steal the stuff that's up for auction but I never thought somebody would have the gall to do it in the open!"

"Wait! It's a mistake!" Red put his hands up as a sign of protest but it was already too late to change the sailor's mind.

"I won't let you get away! Go, Kangaskhan!"

A large, brown Pokemon appeared before Red. The boy quickly checked the Pokedex to learn that it's a normal type. But he was slightly confused as to why the image shown in the Pokedex included something that looked like a smaller version of the Pokemon sticking its head out from the pouch on the belly of the bigger one. The one standing in front of him didn't have anything in its pouch.

"What are you waiting for?! Call out your Pokemon!" the sailor yelled.

"But... What? Why would you allow me to do that?"

"I'm a proud warrior whose goal is to win the Pokemon league. I will always allow an opponent a fair fight, no matter who they are. I'll warn you that I have 5 other Pokemon besides Kangaskhan."

Red smiled. The sailor was a little rash but the teenager liked his honesty.

"I'll take you up on that. Go, Charmander!"

After being released mid-air, the lizard performed a somersault before landing on all fours. He started looking around to see where its foe was but something huge was obscuring his view. He looked up to see what it was and finally saw that it was the one he was about to fight. He got a little frightened by the size of his opponent but put on a brave face and growled loudly.

Kangaskhan lifted one of its leg, pretending that he was about to step on Charmander. The lizard hid his head behind his hands, only to realize that the enemy was just making fun of him. This caused all his uneasiness to be replaced with anger. His mouth was fuming with smoke as he was getting ready to use Ember as soon as he was given the command.

"By the way, my name is Michael."

"I'm called Red."

"Okay, Red. Let's begin! Kangaskhan, Comet Punch!"

Although his opponent began the attack, he was fairly slow, so Charmander had no problem with avoiding the punch which instead hit the ground. But he got too confident in thinking that it was the end of the attack. Instead, Kangaskhan continued on punching with each of his arms. Finally, the lizard had nowhere to escape and the massive fist knocked him down to the ground where he was hit by another one.

The normal type Pokemon stood proudly after showing off its power. Charmander got up slowly and massaged his hurt back with one of his hands. He bit his lip and closed the left eye while dealing with pain.

"Charmander, back off!" Red commanded.

The lizard listened and retreated to what he assumed to be a safe distance.

"For now let's try Ember!"

Charmander had to gather the energy needed from the start as the one he wanted to use earlier quickly went back to its source after he was hit. But it didn't take a long time for him to shoot out a volley of flaming balls. To both his and Red's disappointment, Kangaskhan shrugged off the attack like it was nothing. It continued to stand there while giving them a provocative look.

"What Kangaskhan lacks in speed he more than makes up in strength and stamina." Michael praised his partner.

Charmander looked at its trainer, waiting for a command but Red was swallowed by his thoughts until he heard the Pokemon's cry.

"Ah! Sorry. I'm just trying to come up with something. Even though Ember did barely any damage, it's the only option we can go with for now. Using Scratch would be too dangerous and Smokescreen is useful only when you want to occupy a fast enemy. I will try to come up with something while you just do your thing."

The Pokemon looked unsure about his trainers decision but he still followed the order he received and kept showering his foe with fiery bullets, but even when Kangaskhan finally started to feel the attacks being effective, it kept up its proud stance, going as far as gesturing with one of its hands that it wanted Charmander to continue. That was the final incentive that the lizard needed to stop this farce and to go for some up-close offensive.

"No! Stop!"

Red's shout was too late. The lizard already managed to approach its foe only to meet a powerful Double Hit which yet again sent it onto the pavement. Kangaskhan didn't make any unnecessary moves and allowed the lizard to slowly get up just so it could hit him with another 2 Comet Punches. The second one was an upward strike which sent Charmander flying. Red ran over to grab the Pokemon in his hands.

"That's enough. I'll let Pikachu handle it." the boy said as he took out a pokeball.

Upon hearing these words, the lizard bit one the teenager's hands and fell down.

"Ow! What the hell are you doing?!"

The Pokemon looked at him with a more angry look that Red ever saw him with. That's when the trainer realized that he was going wrong about the whole thing. He was so focused on finding a way to win the battle that he forgot that Charmander wanted the same thing as him. There were many thoughts going through the fire Pokemon's head that he didn't know about but could have if he sometimes decided to look into what it was thinking.

Charmander was a natural fighter. After learning that Eevee and Pikachu both played parts in Red obtaining his 2 badges, the Pokemon started to feel worse about himself. He wanted to prove himself even though he didn't know how. He wasn't bright enough to come up with a strategy of his own so all he could do was give his best and hope that Red would appreciate it and find a way to win.

"Dammit!" the boy yelled while punching his open hand with the other one.

The lizard looked up with him, seeing that the trainer finally understood him.

"I'm sorry, Charmander. I never wanted to make you feel worse than the others. I never wanted to have you feel useless. Instead of having you hang back I should have allowed you to fight up-close since that's your specialty. But... I don't have any plan. I don't know if there is any way to win this fight... But the one thing I can do is let you give it your all, so in the end there will be no regrets. How about it?"

The Pokemon nodded with a confident look.

"Okay! Charmander, attack!"

The lizard began running towards its opponent and as it was getting closer, the flame on its tail began to grow. What Red didn't realize at that time was that it was caused by the activation of Charmander's ability, Blaze. That was because of what it caused to happen seconds later. The fire grew so large that it finally enveloped Charmander's body. In this state, the Pokemon decided to run straight into Kangskhan's belly. Although the massive Pokemon stood its ground, ready to receive the full force of the attack, it soon learned that it was the mistake. The move used by Charmander proved to be several times more powerful than Ember. Kangaskhan grabbed onto its belly while coughing because of the difficulty to breathe.

"It's not over! Keep attacking, Charmander!"

The Pokemon listened and again began running at Kangaskhan. Although the sailor's Pokemon tried to avoid, its foe somehow seemed to be faster than before and easily avoided the Comet Punch which was about to hit him, on his way to deliver another blow. The massive Pokemon was still standing but before Charmander got a chance to repeat its attack a third time, it was called back by its trainer.

"Okay. That will be it." said Michael.

The flames around Charmander's body disappeared and Red ran over to grab before it collapsed from exhaustion.

"You pass the test." declared the sailor.

"The test? I'm not sure I follow." replied Red.

"I took you for a criminal but no matter if you are one or not, I can't see someone who cares about his Pokemon so deeply as a person."

Red's face shone up with excitement "Does that mean I can get on the ship?"

"No."

"What?!"

"The rules are the rules. Even if you are not a criminal, nobody can enter without a ticket."

"Oh man. What am I gonna do? It's not like I know anybody who would just give me a ticket."

"Well... Maybe it's not much of a consolation but it's still pretty early, and the short cruise during which the auction will take place won't start until 2 o'clock. As long as you don't get in the way, you can stay here and keep me company."

"Okay! Hmm... I'll visit the Pokemon Center but I'll be back as quick as I can!"

"Goodbye for now."

"Bye."

The next chapter is here. First off, the title for this one was probably the hardest one to come up with and I'm still not sure I like it. I had to hit myself like 5 times when thinking about it, because somehow my mind just stopped and it took me too long to realzie that I was just sitting there, not thinking, writing or doing anything else. It's like some song titles and a phrase that appears in various places. Blank City Blues. Here, besides the usual meaning, it refers to the three blues appearing in the chapter; the sea, the sky and the trainer Blue.

And since I'm already talking about Blue, I should mention how excited I am for this meeting. In the original plans Blue and Green don't meet until much later on. I thought that it was a weird place for their first meeting. You'll realize what I mean when we reach that point. But I'm really glad that I came up with this story. Even though bad things happen to Blue, from the readers points of view it's just funny(I hope) antics. That whole plotline was supposed to play out in this chapter, but I didn't have time to write more and that way I wouldn't release a chapter till around the next weekend. But I guess it works since Vermilion City is really much more of a story arc than Pewter or Cerulean(which were both around 2 and 1/3 of a chatper). Seeing how it's going, Vermilion City will take 4-5 chapters, not counting the Special one.

The Special Chapter. Yes. I mentioned it previously so it's time for some explanation as to why it's special. It's gonna be a feature. What the hell does that mean? It will be a longer story that will play out in its entirety in that one chapter. It will be like what Pokemon movies are to the Pokemon anime, with 2 major differences. It will have its place in the story, meaning that I won't end a chapter with a cliffhanger and the suddenly have characters in a completely different place in the Special Chapter. And also, although the story will be kinda self-contained, meaning that it won't affect the Team Rocket and Mewtwo storyline, there may be(by which I mean, there definitely will be) some things that happen there that will later be brought up so it's not like it's skippable. Besides this one, I have 2 other Special Chapters planned. All of them will be connected by a new character. So far, I can say that the character is inspired by me watching a lot of Detective Conan recently.

If anyone is wondering how Michael wants to win Pokemon league while he's a sailor, I'll proably explain it later on. That's all for now.

Red. Team: Eevee, Charmander, Pikachu, Oddish.

Badges: 2

Green. Team: Ivysaur, ?, Jigglypuff, ?.

Badges: 2

Blue. Team: Bellsprout, Squirtle, Zubat.

Badges: 2

Alex. Team: Ditto, ?, ?, ?.

Angie. Team: ?, ?.

Peter. Team: ?, ?, ?.