AN: So you know how the regions in Pokémon games are, like, small? Pallet Town has less than ten inhabitants and Saffron, the largest city in Kanto, has less than fifty. Of course this is just due to hardware restrictions and RPG mechanics, but I wanted to preface this chapter with the assurance that I'm taking the Pokémon world a tad more realistically.
With that said, hope you enjoy chapter 2!
"Alright, here's the deal: Gramps pulled a few strings with his colleague in Kalos so we could go incognito. A car's gonna take us to the Vermilion Airport, straight to a League-owned jet. We take that to Lumiose, then - well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
It had been a month since Red's descent from Mount Silver, most of which had been taken up by shopping and meeting back up with friends and family - though that really only included Blue, his sister Daisy, Professor Oak, and of course his mother. She had been the hardest to greet, but he did admit that he had missed her during his time away from civilization. She had cried surprisingly little, having accepted Red's decision long ago, and now they stood in her living room, at six in the morning, waiting for the car - just Red, with his pikachu on his shoulder, his mother, Blue and his sister and grandfather. There was an awkward silence hanging in the air, until the sound of screeching tires was heard outside.
Blue jumped to his suitcase, pulling it and Red's outside with Daisy. Red's mother walked to him, looking at him sadly before pulling him in for a hug. Red's pikachu jumped off of his shoulder, onto his mother's, purring into the corner of her neck as if saying goodbye in its way.
"Don't forget to call every other day. Wear clean underwear, brush your teeth twice a day… I love you, son." She pulled away. She looked like she might tear up any second.
"...I know, Mom… I love you too." Tears were definitely forming in both of their eyes now.
"I'm proud of you, Red. I… I wish you could stay a bit longer, but… I understand. Have fun, honey. Show Kalos how it's done for us."
She turned away, letting Red's pikachu jump back to its trainer, only for Professor Oak to step into her place.
"Make sure Blue doesn't get into too much trouble, if you can - and if anyone can do it, it's you. But do enjoy yourself, Red. Kalos is a beautiful region, full of strong trainers and rare pokémon. You'll love it. In fact, if I could make one request…" Red nodded.
"...Anything, Professor…"
The researcher reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out a small, red device.
"This is the National Pokédex. Blue has one too - it contains data on all currently known pokémon. You see, as I said, Kalosian pokémon are very rare in Kanto, and because of this we have very lacking information on them - notably the type that was recently discovered there, the Fairy type. My colleague, Professor Sycamore, can brief you on those when you meet him. Brilliant presenter, that one, very charismatic and friendly. He gives the best lectures - but I digress. I would like for you to catch as many Kalos pokémon as you can. That is already part of your goal, if I understand correctly, so…"
"...Of course...just...like the first time, I guess..." At these words Professor Oak beamed, handing Red the device and patting his unoccupied shoulder.
"Yes, just like your first journey! Thank you so much, Red. On behalf of Kanto, really; not only were you the first to ever complete the Pokédex, you're going out to Kalos to do it there for us too! Well, once again, enjoy your trip. You deserve it." With that he rubbed the pikachu between its ears and stepped back.
Red grinned shyly at the compliments, nodded goodbye, and stepped outside. Blue and Daisy had finished putting the bags into the car's trunk - a simple black taxi like any other - and were saying goodbye to each other. Red's eyes caught his lifelong friend's and, with a simple nod, they both knew they were ready. Red bade Daisy farewell, and he and Blue entered the car. Just two legends of Pokémon battling, headed to an airport.
As soon as the pair sat in the leather seats, however, they heard bombastic laughter from the front of the car.
"Well I'll be damned, you really are back! Looks like I owe Brock fifty pokédollars, though…" Both former champions' eyes snapped to the driver's seat. Sitting there with his hands on the wheel was none other than Lieutenant Surge, the Lightning Unovan, Gym Leader of Vermilion City. His ever-present sunglasses gleamed devilishly in the car's mirror, matching his side-grin as he looked Red over.
"Surge?!" Blue yelped. "They didn't tell me you were driving us!"
Said Lieutenant's grin dropped.
"Good to see you too, Oak. You're headed to Vermilion, aren'tcha? Us Leaders were all told Mr. Legend here had gotten off his high horse. Then I hear you two are headin' for frog - sorry, Kalos -"
"'There a problem with Kalos?" interrupted Blue, his eyebrow raised. Red was simply staring at the abrasive Gym Leader, slightly frowning.
"Ah, you Kantonians wouldn't get it. Anyway, I heard you were goin' there, through Vermilion's own airport, and I just had to know!"
"...Satisfied?" asked Red. He was staring into Surge's eyes now, almost defiantly, his pikachu's cheeks sparking as it sensed its trainer's rising tension. For a long, awkward moment, Surge held his gaze, his sunglasses lowered. Then his cocky smirk returned and his eyes slipped back to the road ahead.
."Ya got spunk, kid. Always liked that about the two of you. You and that blasted pikachu a' yours…"
At that, Red stopped staring at the Lieutenant and directed his gaze out the window, smiling lightly as he caressed his pikachu's fur. He thought back to that battle. His pikachu had always been a matter of pride to him, as well as a very close companion. It was the only pokémon of Red's that hadn't evolved (as he had caught another pikachu and used a Thunderstone on that one for the sake of the pokédex), and yet it was one of the most dangerous members of his team. It was, in fact, his very victory against Lieutenant Surge that had led him to never evolve the electric mouse - that and its own lack of desire to.
Pikachu as a species were objectively inferior in almost every way to their evolved counterparts. Their electricity generating abilities weren't as strong, refined, or controlled, they weren't as physically strong or resilient (though that wasn't of much importance to the 'chu line anyways) or even as fast. Red's pikachu was to him an important symbol and reassurance of his own strength, proof that his power and victories as a trainer were as much his own as they were his pokémon's: an unevolved pokémon capable of defeating legends through years of training, willpower and trust in his commands.
Red was shaken out of his daydreaming by the car's sudden stop. He shook his pikachu awake and stepped out of the car.
He was, as expected, in the middle of an airport landing zone. From here he could see Vermilion Bay, gleaming with an orange light fitting of its name in the sunrise. The salty tang of the sea was soft here, but still noticeable. Wingull cries rang from overhead, mixing with the distant wails of schools of wailmers getting a quick breakfast before Vermilion City's heavy industry awoke.
In front of him was a luxurious looking jet, resplendent with the colors of Kalos' flag - blue, red and white in the middle. The entry ramp had already been lowered for him and Blue, and Surge had pulled their luggage out of the trunk for them. He was now standing, almost as if at attention, next to the car.
"Well, I'll see ya round, I s'pose. Have fun, kid. Oh, an' if ya happen to battle this kid, Clemont - electric Leader in those parts, a real nerd - give 'em a good wallop for me, huh? Then tell 'em I still won that one."
Red nodded. Surge grinned, then reached out to pat Red's pikachu. In response, the Electric Mouse pokémon gave the Gym Leader a light shock - mostly absorbed by his rubber gloves, of course, but the intention was clear.
"Yeah, yeah,' Surge drawled, "I'll get ya next time. See ya, kids. Oh, and, Oak?" Hearing his name, Blue, who was already halfway up the ramp, froze in his tracks.
"Y-yeah?"
"I haven't forgotten. But, considering the occasion and how long it's been… I guess I can forgive."
Blue relaxed, letting his shoulders drop. For once, the former champion didn't look confident. Instead, the look on his face was...apologetic.
"Thanks, Surge. I...you won't regret it. I -"
"Yeah, yeah, well, maybe, maybe not. In any case, I gotta head to the Gym, so…" With that, the Lightning Unovan saluted crisply, got into his car and drove off. Red took his suitcase, put his pikachu back in its pokéball (electric types and planes tended not to mix), and with one final look at Vermilion Bay, stepped into the plane.
It was indeed luxurious. The pilot, awaiting him at the entrance of the jet, informed him of all of its facilities - minibar, television, smoking area, you name it - and of the time it would to to arrive at Lumiose Airport. He thanked the man with a nod and headed to the seating area. Blue was waiting for him, still with that look in his eyes.
"So, Kalos, huh? I can't wait! Even learned the language - well, mostly, anyways -"
"What was that about?...with Surge?" A bitter smile spread on Blue's face.
"The longest sentence you've said in years and it's to ask that." Then his face fell and he said nothing. In response, Red stared pointedly.
Blue managed to hold that stare for about six seconds before breaking.
"Alright, fine, geez! I... may or may not have insulted Surge's honor as a Leader."
Red's eyes widened. Blue sighed and looked away.
"Look, it was - it was right after you beat me. I was a stupid, immature kid, I was wounded in my pride…Surge was with some other Leaders, there to hear about your victory, and he was being the loudmouth he is - but he wasn't boasting or waxing lyrical on his time in the Unovan military like usual, no, he was talking about how easily you beat him - with a pikachu!"
There was a fire in Blue's eyes now, one that Red had seen all too often at times in their childhood whenever Blue's parents had been mentioned, his sister bullied, or anything else that might set him off. He especially remembered it from those months before and during their journeys after their falling-out. Jealousy, pain, loathing, it was all there, only now it didn't have anyone to be directed against except Blue himself. His shoulders sagged and the fire went out.
"So I went up to him, and...well, I said that maybe there was a reason for that. That maybe he was just so much hot air, like he'd demonstrated when I wiped the floor with him. I challenged him to a battle, three against one - just my pidgeot against his electric types. It was around the time where he stepped into the arena that I realized what I'd done, but then it was too late. I don't think even you beat me that badly. So, yeah. I screwed up. That's probably what made me into...well, less of a jackass."
Well, that certainly answered a bit. Red had been wondering whether his former rival had just mellowed out with age - though that was certainly still part of it, as Red wasn't sure the old Blue could have even been able to see he'd been in the wrong.
The plane was starting to move, so Red sat down facing his lifelong friend.
"...Glad you're less of a jackass."
Blue looked at him, and, after a few seconds, a small grin appeared.
"Yeah. Me too. I'm also glad you got off your mountain. 'Part from Lance and Ethan, you're the only real challenge I've ever had, and Lance is too aloof, and Ethan's, like, fourteen or fifteen, so...yeah."
They spent the rest of the trip with Red's favorite sound: comfortable silence.
The plane landed smoothly. Due to the time zone difference and length of the flight, they arrived relatively late at night; from the sky, Kalos looked beautiful, all rolling fields with châteaux (Blue had said that that was the Kalosian word for a castle, though in Kanto castles looked more like fortresses than the extravagant palaces on Kalos's rivers) dotting the darkened landscapes between villages, burgs and cities with small blotches of light. Lumiose, from what Red saw of it at first, seemed quite different from Saffron, its assumed Kantonian counterpart due to being that region's largest city: Instead of the modern, glass-and-steel rectangles, cheerily glowing billboards and smoothly tarred roads stood rustic houses and shops, ornate windowsill or shop facade-based flower arrangements and simple wide, cobble roads on which Red could almost imagine horse-drawn carriages. Saffron City - and Kanto along with it - was constantly evolving, always ripping out the old and withered to make room for the new and shiny, while Lumiose and Kalos kept to their roots and history, occasionally letting in bits and pieces of modernity. Red could see now why this had been Blue's dream destination.
The pair emerged from the plane, thanking the pilot on their way out. They walked down the provided ramp and looked around for the man who was supposed to introduce them to this new region. They didn't have to search for long as a suave, lightly accented voice rang out from behind them.
"Ah, parfait! Messieurs! Over here!"
The former champions of Kanto turned around to see their host. He was tall and thin, dressed in a white lab coat with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a blue shirt and black dress pants. He wore an inviting smile that showed off his brilliant white teeth, surrounded with very light stubble. His green eyes twinkled with excitement, and his fashionably messy hair seemed caught in a constant gust of wind.
"I am Professor Sycamore! Bienvenue, as we say, to Kalos!"
AN: can't guarantee that every chapter's gonna be this long. Hopefully this didn't stretch on too much, the Surge encounter could only happen in Kanto and I definitely wanted it to. No, this isn't gonna be a Red/Blue shipping story (though if you like those, I'd recommend At Week's End by Plasma Pegasus). Once again, feedback is much appreciated.
