After the call ended, Stacy carried me another few miles. We traveled without incident, watching the waves crash underneath us, watching the sun climb into the sky, listening to the increasing traffic above, until I felt Stacy falter slightly. The moment she did, I told her to carry me up to the bridge. She did so without argument and set me down on the walking trail. As she rested, keeping as much dignity as she could, I took out the rest of the Moemon.
As the others took in their surroundings, Christine came up to me and pulled me into a hug.
"How're you feeling?" She whispered into my ear.
As I hugged her back, I said, "I'm fine. I had plenty of protection."
"You're damn right you do," she said with a wink. As she pulled back, she pointed up the bridge. "How far are we?"
"A few miles, right?" I said, looking to Stacy. She nodded slightly in confirmation, holding back her exhaustion. I took attention away from her. "Yeah. We flew for at least a half hour. We're long gone."
"Did you get spotted?" asked Olivia.
"Do you know what happened to the Hunter?" asked Rose.
"We didn't, and we think he got arrested by someone from Fuchsia." I pointed down the bridge at the city far in the distance. The tops of the tallest buildings crested just over the treetops. "Sirens came from and went down there."
As they followed my finger, the others realized they could see parts of the city now. It took me a moment to realize that I could as well. We all eagerly leaned along the railing to get a better look. The Safari Zone was what I most looked forward to. I could see a massive – absolutely massive – plateau that broke up the giant river that flowed through Kanto. Even though we were half a day's journey away, we were as far south as the tip of the Safari Zone. And Fuchsia was still far in the distance and barely visible.
"Any lore about that?" I asked, pointing at it.
"That's Fuchsia Village," said Bailey. "A Moemon community."
"Fuchsia Village?" I repeated. I couldn't see any houses down there. I felt we were close enough to see some. Then I checked my watch, scrolling to the list of locations we had to travel through. The Safari Zone was one of them. I showed my watch to her. "Ever heard of that?"
"That's Fuchsia Village," Bailey repeated, slowly raising her eyes to meet mine.
"Okay, the Safari Zone is the Fuchsia Village," I said.
Bailey started scrolled through the list of locations, holding my arm steady with one hand with the other. "This list is outdated. No mention of Cycling Road Bridge, of Fuchsia Village, of Seafoam City."
"Seafoam City?" I repeated. "Wait, how outdated?"
"A decade or so, I believe." She met my eyes again. "Don't you know about Seafoam City?"
"Didn't know it was a city," I admitted. I looked at the others, who had torn their gaze from the plateau to watch Bailey curiously. "Weren't we just discussing traveling to Cinnabar? Cinnabar Island, right?"
The others nodded. "Yes, it's easy to get to Seafoam City," said Olivia. "Ferries travel from the mainland daily. Nobody travels to Cinnabar Island anymore."
"Why not? Because of the volcano?"
"The still active volcano, yes," said Stacy. "It constantly spews lava. But, judging from that list, we'll have to visit there, correct?"
"You guys know about the list?"
"We've seen your watch many times, yes," said Christine. She eyed Bailey. "Those of us who paid attention."
"Quinton's Moemon have discussed plans with us as well," added Rose.
"Ah." I slowly pulled my hand away from Bailey and scrolled down. "Yep. Cinnabar Island right in between Routes 21 and 20. And Seafoam Islands – not City – right before them all. The list intends for us to travel from Fuchsia to Seafoam to Cinnabar."
"Via ferry," said Christine.
"If that's easier. Then, what, according to you guys, we'd take a ferry or swim?" I asked.
"That is something I'm less confident about," said Stacy. "We've learned that the trip to Seafoam is easy and well-traveled, but after the volcano on Cinnabar Island exploded eight years ago, few travel anymore."
"Yes, we would hope there would be ferries, but we've little clue how willing they'd be to travel so close," said Rose.
"Ah." Times like that, I wished I looked at my map more. Quinton used to be the map guy. Maybe he mentioned Seafoam City once in passing, and I just brushed it off. "Maybe it's a good tourist destination."
"For suicidal tourists, maybe," said Christine.
I grinned at her. "Isn't that basically what I am?"
As we continued down the bridge, occasionally we'd be flagged down by a passing car, questioning us about the hole in the bridge. My excuse was always that we heard it miles away in the distance, but we decided to run away from the explosion. That convinced most of them, but a few of the more suspicious stared at me until I pointed out my team. None of them could learn Explosion. I had all six out. That line of reasoning – the logical one – convinced everyone else, and we could continue without further interrogation.
Eventually we crossed from the bridge to land, and our journey continued east. Route 18 took on a similar form to Route 16, in that the road took up much of the route itself. Some well-walked paths wandered across both sides, and these paths diverted into or away from large patches of long grass, but much beyond that was forest. Large trees that clumped together so close they threatened to block out the setting sun at points.
But we didn't get to travel long down Route 18 before the sun fell beyond the horizon, and night came. We camped far away from the road in a small clearing in the forest. There, we cooked and ate a large meal as celebration for our victory.
During the meal, I got distracted with my watch. I wanted to know if I was crazy, so I scoured the built-in map to determine how I missed so much. I figured it out and said, "I knew it!" I scooched over to the nearest Moemon and interlocked my arm with theirs. Then I held the watch in front of her face. "Look at this!"
Christine wiped the edge of the watch and smirked. "Oh, look, a bit of dust. Apparently, you never use that."
I nodded, soaking in her teasing, but tapped Fuchsia City. A small paragraph appeared which described the city. Underneath it was a picture of the gym. Tapping that gave a detailed description of Janine's team. "Given all of our strategy discussions, I definitely check it often."
Christine giggled and stuck her tongue out at me. The others set their meals down and crowded around me. I scrolled up to the plateau and tapped it, and it gave a detailed description of the Safari Zone. I read it along with the others.
"Catching Moemon like a game," Rose whispered quietly. "I have little doubt it was used for that in the past."
"Humans love their games," said Bailey.
Then I scrolled down to the Seafoam Islands, which described them as a pair of interlocking caves filled with ice-loving Moemon. Then over to Cinnabar Island, a bustling town with an important research facility and derelict mansion.
"As I said, a decade out of date," said Bailey.
"Exactly!" I said. "I'm not crazy. I just had shitty information."
The others nodded, but I didn't feel better. "Well," said Olivia. "I suppose you were put at a disadvantage, then."
I frowned. "How'd you all figure this out?"
"As I said, we discussed with Quinton's Moemon," said Rose. "I believe some of the others had more worldly Moemon."
"Yes, Penelope flew over the southern coast in her youth," said Olivia.
Annie nodded. "Lucie as well."
"Lucia?" I asked. "I thought she'd been in a tube most of her life. The poor girl."
I felt a tap on my head. I looked up to see Annie shaking her head down at me, upside-down. "Honestly, Arthur, you think you and Quinton are the only ones who name your Moemon? Penelope is Max's – I think that's his name – Pelipper. Lucie is Jack's Lumineon."
"Oh, sorry. I really don't pay attention to all of those names," I admitted. "I'm sure there are a lot of repeats."
"You humans aren't creative," said Bailey. "Take the first few letters of our final evolutionary form and change it a bit." She nodded at Olivia. "Except this one."
"I wasn't his to name," said Olivia. "If I had, I'm certain I would've been named Samantha."
At that, I flushed slightly. "You got me. I like that you're unique."
"Oh, I love my name as well," said Olivia. "I understand Bailey's point, though. Did you know Connor has a Staraptor as well? His is also named Stacy."
"Huh." I felt my own looking down at me. "Fair points, I guess. I think we've gotten a bit off topic."
"What was the original topic?" asked Rose. "Your information is out of date by many years. Is that such a disadvantage? You've learned as you travel."
"I guess. I'm just annoyed that I was given a disadvantage given that this is actually life and death. It's a miracle that the gym information has been accurate."
"That's the important information," said Christine. "A place being a city or a town, a set of islands or a town doesn't really matter."
"Well, you say Cinnabar Island is an active volcano, right?" I asked. "If we traveled there on Olivia and then attacked by a volcano, I'd feel that was something that mattered."
"Oh, yeah, I guess."
"I might complain," I said, chuckling to myself. "When we get to Pallet Town, I might have a talk with Mr. McDonald and get some answers. Maybe attack him for what he put me through. I dunno."
"Oh, he was nice," said Christine. "He gave us a lot of helpful supplies."
"He did. Those potions and antidotes saved us a lot back then," I said. "I'm only kidding, though. He raised you two, didn't he? And all of the other starters?"
Christine hesitated. "Well… raise is a word for it. He'd send us out to play with each other every now and then in a nice reservation. But I think, for the most part, we were kept in our Moeballs."
"For five years, right?"
Both starters nodded.
"What an awful existence," Bailey muttered.
"That was Arthur's reaction as well," said Olivia, smiling at me.
"It was all we knew," said Christine. "It wasn't so bad. We got to know the others."
"Most of them are dead, though," said Bailey.
That quieted Christine, so I gave Bailey a glare. "Easy."
"You aren't to blame," said Bailey. "You've treated us well. Your Mr. McDonald plucked children from their homes and stuffed them into balls for years, it seems. Neither of them has memory of their life before they were kidnapped."
"You said you wandered the world," I said. "Right?"
Christine tightened her grip on my arm. She let out a soft sigh. "I don't think so. I just wanted to impress you. I just don't remember."
I looked to Olivia. She shook her head. "I remember nothing."
"If you wish to attack your Mr. McDonald, I would gladly do it," said Bailey. "Whatever you want."
"It was just a joke, Bailey." My watch had long since idled off. This was not how I wanted this conversation to go. "Okay, guys, it might be time to sleep. We'll reach Fuchsia tomorrow. I think it'd be best if we sleep early so that we have plenty of time to explore the city."
"Will we all explore it, or just one of us?" asked Annie. "I'd really want to see it all!"
"All of us," I said. "I really have this feeling that, no matter what we do, we're going to get attacked soon. Whether by a Hunter or by a random person. I don't think staying discrete will matter anymore."
"We'll crush them," said Christine, patting my arm assuredly. "Even a Bounty Hunter can't beat us."
The night came and went. We ate breakfast the next day, packed up, and continued east. As we approached the city, the forest grew closer and closer to the road until there was barely any room between us and the nearest trees. We either traveled single-file or danced in between trees. There was so little sunlight that reached the ground that I had to rely on better eyes than mine to guide me safely along the trail. My guide switched hands several times.
We knew what to do. We would reach Fuchsia City by noon. We'd explore for a while, meet with any of the other Challengers we passed, and then head north to explore Fuchsia Village. Or Moemon Village. Whatever it would be called when we eventually found it.
Stacy and Christine popped up above the trees to give us status updates. We were near. When we were less than a mile away, and the sounds of a bustling city pierced through the forest, Annie bounced on her heels.
"Oh, can you take me up there?" She asked, smiling at Christine.
Christine grinned back, knelt down, and let Annie climb up. She stood up proudly. "Oh yeah. You're not that heavy, little Annie."
Annie frowned, looking at herself. "Why would I be heavy?"
Christine didn't answer. She leapt into the air, taking the Lairon with her.
It was then when we saw someone approaching. The five of us slowed to observe her, my Moemon keeping in front of me. The figure, a woman, waved at us.
"Hello!" She called. As she passed beneath one of the few rays. A soft, friendly expression on her face. She looked to be wearing a white frilled dress that ended in a tail that bounced along the ground. It was that and the horn on her head that clued me into what she was. "I'm sorry to bother you like this, but I'd like to formally welcome you to Fuchsia City." She stopped in front of us, bowing. Then she held out a hand.
I stepped forward and took her hand. It was freezing. I shook it quickly and let go, holding it in my shirt to warm it. "Hello. Uh, lovely city you have here."
She giggled. "You Challengers have such senses of humor. I'm sure that's why you've gathered such a wonderful team."
Of course she knew. Anyone would know. "You've met the others?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yes, I believe I've met three groups so far. You seem to be the only one traveling alone. Well, as alone as a Challenger can be, anyway. I will say, you're all so friendly to Moemon. It's refreshing!"
"Are Challengers not usually friendly?" I asked.
"Challengers rarely make it here. Let alone so many," said the Moemon. "But that's why I wanted to speak before you enter the city. I am a delegate from Moemon Village, more commonly known as Fuchsia Village. You may call it whatever you wish." She looked from Moemon to Moemon until her eyes fell upon Olivia. She gasped. "Oh, no, your poor starter. I'm terribly sorry to see that. That's… you're beautiful dear, absolutely, never think otherwise. I just… I can't imagine what happened."
"It's fine, really," said Olivia. "It was long ago. Thank you for your concern."
"Of course. Excuse my fluster. I always forget what lasting scars you Challenger Moemon can gather along your journey. Thankfully, most of you seem relatively unhurt." The Moemon looked back at me. "If it interests you, young Challenger - and I've told the same to the others – Moemon Village holds a special place in Challenger's roles. I would highly recommend that you go there as soon as you can."
She nodded and turned to leave. "Hold on," I said. "You're just going to say something vague and then leave? Why? What role?"
But she didn't turn back. She didn't acknowledge me. She just left, disappearing into the trees.
"Come on." I muttered to myself. "She's just going to do that? Why? I'm literally going to find out sooner or later. Why the myster- you know, it doesn't matter. That was a Dewgong, right?"
"That was a Dewgong," said Stacy. "Who took a special interest in Olivia. Not solely because of her scar."
"It might've helped," said Olivia, smiling sadly. "She said I was your starter. It felt nice not correcting her."
"I noticed," I said, smiling back. "You basically are, Olivia. I'm not going to say otherwise. But, Stacy, you're saying-" Christine and Annie took that moment to crash through the trees, landing heavily next to us.
Annie hopped off and hugged Rose. "Oh, it was amazing! I can't wait to show you around! It's so amazing!"
"It's certainly a special city," said Christine. She looked at me curiously. "Don't think I didn't notice that Dewgong walking away. What did she want?"
"You've been replaced," said Bailey, before I could respond. "Olivia is Arthur's new starter now."
Christine snorted. "Cute." She looked at me curiously. "Why?"
"The Dewgong directed us to the Moemon Village. Said it was important to Challengers and then fucked off," I replied. "That's about all I learned."
"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Christine. "It's just beyond those trees."
She took my arm, gave Bailey a side-eye, and led us through the trees.
Fuchsia City barely qualified. The buildings were few and far between, separated by a vibrant fuchsia brick road that spread across the entirety of the city. The majority were low to the ground as well, with just a few multi-story buildings, whether places of work or apartment buildings, resting close to the southern harbor. A steep hill blocked much of the south, and on top the Moemon Gym stood overlooking the forested entrance. We could see everything to the north, and aside from a few parks and pools scattered about, there was little to look at.
As we passed the hill to get a better look at the rest of the city, we saw the suburbs. Dozens of houses – each one Japanese-style with wooden, thatched roofs – lined up in row after row all the way to the harbor. The people dressed similarly as well, with groups in matching kimonos or individuals wearing traditional business suits. It was far less condensed than Celadon, but there were certainly enough people around to make agoraphobes uncomfortable.
That being said, I understood Annie's excitement. Seeing all of the houses identical in design but painted in extravagant, unique colors to stand out, seeing people dressed differently to anyone else in Kanto, seeing such a strangely uniquely-designed layout of a city, I was incredibly intrigued to explore.
So, explore we did. We climbed the hill first and foremost, on a completely random, totally not meta hunch that the Center was located next to the gym. Thankfully, it was, and – unfortunately – it looked identical to every other Center in the region.
Upon climbing the steep hill and close to exhaustion, I muttered, "Darn it. The one place where the Center should be interesting and unique. I'm disappointed."
My girls didn't have a smart remark for that. No answer as to why Centers were immune to change. I was tired and thankful for that. We healed up at the Center and got a map for the city. The pools were open. Parks were open. Apparently, there was a statue of Koga near the center. Seeing that, I had to ask the nurse whether he'd passed away. He hadn't. The statue was to honor Koga for his achievements as well as to thank him for growing Fuchsia City into such a vibrant place.
A stall located at the top of the hill sold varies types of dumplings, so I splurged on those for my team. As we ate at a scenic spot that overlooked the rest of the city, we overheard two older women gossiping loudly to one another. One held a newspaper and shook her head.
"The poor woman. I feel horrible for her brother."
The other one tutted. "Such a shame. How old was she?"
"Seventeen. So bright, colorful, cheerful. Always pleasant to be around. Don't you remember when Will brought her here on his tour of Kanto? She looked so awestruck at Koga's statue."
"Oh, yes, I recall Koga's embarrassment as well," the other giggled. "Of course, Janine had to rub it in as well."
Those names got my attention. I had a sinking feeling. They spoke too much in the past tense. They must've noticed because they stopped, motioned to me, and waved me over. I hesitated.
"Oh, come, Challenger, do you believe we're Bounty Hunters?" asked one. The other giggled.
"Yes, we must seem terribly frightening."
I walked over, giving them small waves. My Moemon stayed seating, although they watched me closely. "I'm sorry. I just overheard your conversation and-"
"Yes, that's a Challenger all right. Nosey."
"Well, dear, we're always so loud," the other whispered into her ear. "We get so many complaints."
"Bah, people need to keep to themselves." She smiled sweetly at me, however, and said, "But rest assured, dear, we love Challengers. You keep this world so interesting."
I'd heard that before. I brushed off that comment. "Just for my sanity, I guess, you mentioned a bunch of Elite Four members. Will? Koga?"
"Yes. You heard about Gigi, did you not?"
I shook my head.
"Oh, maybe you wouldn't know her." The woman handed the newspaper to me. "The poor girl."
There, on the front page, was Hunter G's smiling face. Smiling and happy, as vibrant as ever. And beneath her, the headline, GIGI FOUND DEAD IN SAFFRON CITY.
"Oh… no," I whispered. I read through the story, but there was nothing. Just her body found in the streets of Saffron. Will was distraught and had taken a leave of absence from his position at Indigo Plateau. No word about her killer. Or her history. "Poor… Gigi."
The woman took back the newspaper and sighed heavily. "Yes, it's always so tragic to see such a young, positive figure taken from us. We all wish her family well in these times."
"Give Will our best if you see him," said the other. "I hope he feels better if you ever reach him."
"Yes, and good luck, Challenger. We've seen a few others dotted around. You don't seem to be subtle anymore. Easy to spot. Be careful."
I nodded and went back to my Moemon. I gave my half-eaten dumpling to Annie and called Quinton. He rang immediately.
"Arthur, did you hear about Hunter G?" He asked.
"I just heard," I whispered. That heavy feeling in my heart wouldn't go away. "Oh… god what did we do?"
"It's my fault," said Quinton. "Not yours."
"I pressed her for that information too."
"She gave it to us willingly."
"God, how awful. She seemed so nice, too."
A pause. "Do you remember what we read about Hunter M?" Quinton asked. "How he looked?"
"Like shit, I think," I said. "He'd been beaten up."
"Yeah. He broke an apparent rule by challenging Maggie in Pewter City. He was beaten up for it. Hunter G… Gigi… she gave us information on everyone. How did they find out?"
"I don't know," I said. "I swear, I've told nobody what she did for us."
"Neither did I," said Quinton. "I still have those sheets in my backpack. They must've found out some other way."
"They followed us for a long time," I said. "Maybe… I don't know, maybe they were stalking her like they stalked us. She admitted something to someone. She said she quit. Maybe that's what they do to quitters."
"No. Otherwise no one would join," said Quinton. "No, they killed her because they found out what she gave out. It happened weeks ago, and she was killed last night. Something happened yesterday. That Bounty Hunter mentioned her, didn't he?"
Oh fuck. He had. "He said she was irrelevant," I whispered. "Oh god, he was being so fucking smug and coy about it, too. He knew. The piece of shit knew."
"Arthur," said Quinton sternly. "There's nothing to be done. We're partly responsible, and I feel awful that she's dead, but we aren't the ones who did it. Okay?"
I nodded. Then I noticed out of the corner of my eye that all of my Moemon simultaneously pointed at the watch. Like some sort of cartoon. "Yeah, I got it. Sorry. My mind's going."
"I know what that means. Hunter E is with you, right?"
"He's in Fuchsia, I think."
"Don't talk to him."
I wanted to know more. But I relented. "Okay," I said, against my better judgment. "Hunter G's dead. I can potentially talk to her killer. I'll ignore that."
"It's unlikely he killed her. He was far away from her when she was found."
"Doesn't mean much. He tried to blow up a fucking bridge. Used Explosion on a god damn Ghost type. He knew what he was doing. He's insane."
"And he's behind bars."
"Yeah." I felt no better. "Okay. Get here soon, Quinton, alright? Bye."
"Bye."
As I hung up, I saw all of my Moemons' eyes on me. I looked at each in turn. "Okay, girls." I couldn't fake enthusiasm. I needed a distraction. "Let's explore."
Arthur:
Christine the Charizard
Stacy the Staraptor
Rose the Roselia
Olivia the Samurott
Annie the Lairon
Bailey the Banette
