"I can't believe it!" Ethan cried for what Crystal assumed to be the fiftieth time that afternoon.
"Come on, Ethan," she sighed. They'd been over this enough times already. "It's been three years. Let it go!" Lowering her voice she added, "Please, people are staring."
"Huh?" Looking around, he realized that his outburst had indeed drawn the attention of the people seated at the tables surrounding theirs. Even more embarrassing was the fact that most of them were in the 'upper class of society'; Ethan could feel their eyes burning into him, scrutinizing every pore on his body.
"Behold, the esteemed champion of Johto," Silver added dryly, drawing a laugh from Crystal, which led to Ethan sinking further into his seat, his hat, surprisingly enough, facing the right way to hide his flushed face.
It was a clear day, good weather for the SS. Anne, and the Johto trio were seated at the dining area above deck, enjoying the cool sea breeze along with most of the other passengers. Or at the very least, trying to enjoy the weather. Ethan, for the past ten minutes, had been repeating the same complaint over and over like a broken record, leaving poor Crystal to try to calm him down while Silver watched, silently relishing in Ethan's anguish.
"But still…"
Crystal groaned. He really wasn't letting this go?
Ethan continued unperturbed. "That had to be the greatest Pokémon battle ever! And no one's there to watch it. Or even agree to acknowledge that it happened!"
Silver nodded. Despite his constant squabbles with the navy blue haired trainer, he had to agree with him on this one. After all, if he had battled against the best trainer ever, and won too, he'd be beyond mad if no one chose to acknowledge it.
Ethan's head dropped unto the round table in front of them, his eyes glazing over as he began to reminisce his battle on Mount Silver.
The climb to the top hadn't been easy. The snowstorm that threatened to erase him from existence certainly hadn't helped matters either. And it almost succeeded too. The last thing Ethan remembered before his fall was the terrified look on the Teddiursa he'd jumped to save before blacking out. Next thing he knew, he was lying on the floor of a cave looking up at the face of his childhood hero, Red.
Getting Red to battle him was a lot harder than the actual battle itself. After all, it only took him four tries in a week. It had taken Red two weeks and far too many dogezas to agree to Ethan's challenge, but it had definitely been worth it. The joy he felt that day was incomparable to anything else he'd ever felt. Clear as day in his mind, was the deciding move that had finally put an end to the struggle.
"Typhlosion! Let's go, full power! ERUPTION!"
"OUCH!" Rubbing the spot on his forearm where he'd just been punched, he turned to the culprit. "What was that for?!"
"We'll be arriving at Vermillion City in five minutes. Do you still have the address?" Crystal questioned, emptying the glass of lemonade in front of her as she stood with her hands at akimbo.
"Yeah yeah, it's in my backpack down below."
"Good. Let's get ready then. Wouldn't want to leave anything behind now would we?"
Unfortunately, her words only reached the ears of her red-haired companion, Ethan having gone back to his fantasies; this time of a rematch with the Kanto champion. As the Vermillion harbor came closer into view, Ethan excitement grew and grew. He'd been to Kanto more times than he could count, but this time he'd been invited by the champion himself. There could only be one reason.
Failing miserably at hiding his grin, Ethan flipped his hat back, the brim back to the back with part of his hair sticking out in its signature style.
"Soon."