The wind was sharp as I sped on through the check point and onto Cycling Road. The fresh air of Fuchsia was beginning to fade out and be replaced by the smell of tire rubber and sweat as my surroundings were replaced with fellow bikers, training hard and working their way up the steep slope of the road.
I watched the trainers around me as they fought each other's Pokémon and searched the grass to find creatures to add to their rosters. I was fairly content with my current party, even if it was a bit small, and made my way on up the hill. It seemed a lot of trainers were using invisible Pokémon, much like Abby, and it raised a number of questions inside of me. I came upon a fairly large thicket and parked my bike for a moment to catch my breath. I sat on the ground to dump out my backpack and rummage through the various junk food I had stashed inside of it.
Once I had settled on a premade peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bag of chips, I felt Abby nuzzle her way through the loop in my arm and take a small bite out of my sandwich. I laughed and rubbed her head before turning my attention to a nearby battle taking place. Their Pokémon seemed to be completely immune to the fact that no one could see who they were fighting. I looked at the trainers who were holding some strange scope up to their eyes. From where I sat, I could make out the word "Silph" written across the side. Intrigued, I watched as the trainer fought an unseeable opponent with their Flareon; a fire type evolution of the Pokémon Eevee, which was a small creature resembling a dog without a snout and a much more bushy tail. He didn't seem to have any problem winning against his opponent; much to their disappointment. Perhaps the scope was something that could allow a person to see invisible Pokémon, but it didn't really matter to me: I didn't have enough money to afford one and I couldn't keep my opponents from using them.
I let Abby finish off my sandwich and packed up my other belongings. The sun was bright overhead, but slowly descending towards the horizon and I looked forward to getting back on my new bike and continuing the uphill climb. I wondered how Abby was able to keep up with me given the steepness of Cycling Road when my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a man groaning. Confused, I looked around to see a figured hunched over by a small patch of bushes. I approached the man and stood to the side, watching him to see if he was alright.
"Take a phota', it'll last longer," he growled as he rubbed his stomach in pain. He wore his greying beard short and a mustache that connected to it. He was a stocky man, with matted hair that was glistening with sweat. It looked as if he had been wearing a hat for quite some time prior to being here.
"I… I'm sorry sir. Are you okay?" I stammered. I hadn't intended to stare at him, but I also hadn't expressed concern up until that point, so I understood why he was upset.
"Oooh… just a captain that gets seasick a little ta' easy. Poor choice of profession huh?" He chuckled before wincing at the growing pain in his stomach. "Usually the fresh air of a bike ride calms me down, but not ta'day it seems." I thought for a moment before digging through my backpack and pulling out some ginger ale and handing it to the captain. He gave it a skeptical look and I nodded at him reassuringly.
"My mom says it helps," I told him. Seemingly convinced enough, he popped the top and slugged down the can as fast as he could muster. With a belch and a sigh, he slumped to the ground from his hunched over position.
"Thanks, kid," he grumbled, finally moving his hands off of his belly. It seemed his pain had eased a bit already but he wasn't quite ready to continue his ride. His bicycle was a shiny white color with subtle flat black highlights. A clip in the back held a captain's hat on tight, brandishing the letters "S.S. Anne" in bright gold lettering. My eyes widened as I realized I was looking at the captain of the famous S.S. Anne: a large cruise liner that departed regularly from Vermillion City: just east of where we stood, across the lake.
He must have taken note of my unspoken excitement because he already had a finger held to his lips in a hushing motion. He grinned and held out another HM for me. "It contains cut. It'll help you get through this forested area when your trying ta' dodge people." He chuckled at my confused look and shook his head in response. "Not everyone wants ta' sail with a captain prone ta' getting seasick. Can't have that kind of attention drawn ta' myself." I nodded in understanding, thanked him, and went on my way.
Once I got back on my bike, I lowered my arm as close as I could to the ground, leaning the bike to the side by crouching my right leg. A few moments later, I felt a quick flurry of fuzziness as Abby clambered up and onboard. I giggled as I felt her settle gently in my lap, tucked tight to my chest.
Together we took off uphill as fast as I could pedal. My feet were sore from all the walking I had done. I originally thought the bike would help take pressure off of them but standing on the pedals as I scaled the slope was proving more painful than I originally thought. Regardless, it didn't slow me down any. I was determined to get to the next city and continue my quest for all eight gym badges. If memory served me right, the city on the northern end of cycling road was Celadon. It was a bustling city of commerce, right at the heart of the Kanto continent. I could hardly wait to see the skyscraper department store. Since the sun was about to start setting, I would be arriving just in time to see the building's light illuminate the night sky. The amount of power that had to be required to pull off the light show had to be astronomical.
It also housed the Grass gym leader, Erika. I wasn't sure how I planned to beat her since I didn't have any kind of type advantage against grass type Pokemon. In fact, both Brick and Patrick were actually weak to grass types. Countering my previous thoughts, I felt it was about time look for a new party member.
As I pondered the thought, another bad revelation came to mind. Celadon was also the home of the Police Headquarters. After Abby's stunt at the Pokemon Mansion, and the fact that I'm a missing person back home, I would be walking right into the police's hands by going to Celadon. My heart sank, and not from the exhaustion of peddling uphill. I needed a plan to get around Celadon but there weren't many options. Cycling Road only had two exits. I could go back from where I came but that has me right back at Fuchsia, and I already used both exits from there.
I could feel my cycling pace slow in correlation with my mood. I had no idea what to do. I didn't want my journey to end so soon, but I didn't want to just hide in Fuchsia City until the police eventually found me. Going to Celadon was out of the question, so I had to bypass it somehow and go straight to Saffron City. There was also a gym leader there, Sabrina, who fought with Psychic type Pokemon: a trip to Saffron would not be a waste of time. I looked around as I continued to climb, hoping to find an answer nearby when I felt my newly acquired HM pressing into my back from inside my backpack. An idea finally hit me.
I hurriedly shuffled my bike to the next flat patch of land designated for resting and emptied the contents of my backpack onto the grass, again. I called Sandshrew out and affixed the HM to his head before he gave me a confused but trusting look. The machine whirled about for a few seconds before coming to a stop. Unsure if it worked, I pointed to a close-by tree and nodded. Brick gladly bounded over and cut it in half with one quick swipe. My face lit up with excitement. I didn't have to go through Celadon City; I could go around it.