2: Welcome to Unova

Pikachu

There was no question about my trainer's feelings towards his rival. Red and Blue hated each other and it seemed like nothing would ever change that.

Wherever they met, there was always something to argue about—who caught more pokemon, how many trainers they defeated, what they had for lunch, and other stupid shit that was so insignificant in their daily lives, it wouldn't have mattered if they argued or not since they would forget what they even argued about the next day when they fought about something else entirely.

They consistently challenged each other to battles like any rival would and had more than one fistfight us pokemon had to break up before either of them got hurt. Once they fought over a wild growlithe they wanted to catch though Blue sneakily caught it after we had been stopped by a passing trainer looking for a battle and arrogantly made it one of the main battlers on his team just to show off to Red that he was the one who caught it and not him. Their disputes reminded me of Charmander and Squirtle when they first met each other with all the fights they had.

It was only until after the incident at Saffron City they could stand to be in each other's presence for more than a few seconds. We had been sitting on the curb of the sidewalk in the middle of the night, trying to process what the hell we'd just been through, and he had come up to us and simply sat down right next to us, looking just as frazzled as us. They didn't say anything at all but I was sure their presence comforted each other, even if it was very slight.

The next time we met was the first time I saw the two of them talk civilly to each other without coming close to blows and to say we—as in both teams—were surprised is an understatement.

After the championship match, of course, Blue hated Red again for taking his heard-earned champion title and I think Red was more annoyed than angry when the other trainer accused him of always stealing the spotlight from him. They only started to make up with each other until six months later when we were preparing to leave for Mount Silver.

We had been hiding on a rooftop after escaping throngs of over-excited fans who had been waiting for us until we got out of the pokemon center. I was slowly starting to get used to it but Red's anxiety won over and we fled the scene to a nearby rooftop rather quickly. We were startled when Blue greeted us but said nothing else until he sat down beside us. It was tense for a few minutes as we tried to rack our brains for reasons why he was up here on this blistering hot roof since we were waiting for the fans to leave.

Blue was the one who initiated a conversation to fill the awkward and painful silence, refusing to look at us as he spoke. He revealed he was out shopping for a new jacket after Jolteon tore a hole in his and he'd been bombarded by people just after he left the store. He admitted he relished the attention at first and even did an interview for a news station but when they wouldn't let up, he had Pidgeot fly him out and now needed a place to hide for an hour or so.

Eventually, Red also told him what had happened to us and they agreed to put their anger aside to figure out what to do to avoid unwelcome crowds that wanted their picture, autographs, interviews, or whatever in the future. We left that awkward roof shortly after they exchanged each other's numbers.

As time passed, so did their dislike for each other. They began talking more and more and the first time I saw them smile at each other that didn't hold anger or contempt for each other and that was friendly, I fainted and promptly got laughed at by my teammates.

When Blue became the gym leader of Viridian City, Red even helped him figure out what kind of puzzle he should put in the gym but it was Espeon who gave Blue the brilliant idea of moving tiles. She convinced him he would have the best time watching trainers fall straight on their asses as they tried to navigate the course and he accepted without question. Blue was already laughing about it as Red tried to tell him no, don't do that, moving tiles were a bad idea (but he was trying not to laugh as well) and through tears of laughter, Blue said to him that he would take his opinion on the matter and think about it. He had the moving tiles installed later that same week.

If younger me were to see their relationship today, I probably would have thought it was just a dream. I probably would have had a heart attack when I saw the two give each other their first friendly hug after Blue was officially inaugurated as the eighth gym leader.

Red and Blue were like oil and vinegar; they had their own ways of teaching the teams, their own strategies, likes and dislikes, and they especially had different attitudes and personalities but shake it up a bit and they work extraordinary together.

After all, opposites attract.

-x-

I was pressing my face against the window in our first-class seats as we flew over the open ocean a few days later, my eyes wide with amazement. I had never been in an airplane before and even though I knew we were going to be flying I shouldn't have been so excited since I always went flying with Charizard on a near-daily basis. Maybe it was because we were traveling so far from Kanto and we had never flown so far at once, much less gone to another region other than Johto (which was literally on the other side of Mount Silver) or perhaps it was because it was my first time in an airplane.

My face slowly became squished against the cold window and pulled away to rub my nose. With another glance outside, I realized that I never knew just how enormous the ocean truly was until now. Sure, I'd seen maps and saw bodies of water but I thought nothing of it until now when they, being the captain and the stewardesses, told us we would be flying for seven hours over the ocean to Castelia City, Unova. I had previously thought to myself maybe Charizard could have just flown us but after hearing that and seeing for myself just how vast the ocean is, I highly doubted Charizard would be able to make even a third of this journey without getting exhausted.

I finally turned my head from the window to look up at my trainer when Red shifted in his seat for the millionth time. It didn't take a genius to figure out he was nervous. He was unable to sit still and he hardly even made eye contact with Blue while the low hum of the plane's engines stayed steady as we soared in the sky.

Blue had made fun of him earlier but then told us that he had been nervous for his first airplane ride as well. He also reminded us that his first plane ride had been to Kalos which itself was an eleven-hour flight without the layover in Sinnoh and there had been screaming children on the same plane that gave him a migraine.

Red finally relaxed after almost three hours into our long flight and stared outside as well. He had his white earbuds plugged into his pokegear, with his music no doubt blasting in his ears so he couldn't hear the hum of the engine but I knew that wasn't the only reason. It was distracting him from all the eyes of other trainers around us that were staring at us for an uncomfortably long time before they would realize they were gawking and quickly look away to be polite.

I knew they didn't mean to but then they would start to stare again and the process would repeat itself. We were hardly ever in the public, as Red adamantly told us he hated doing interviews and would, to his utmost ability, avoid reporters and cameras. I suppose seeing us in person was a shock.

Eventually, whatever music that was playing in his ears had lulled him to sleep and his grip on his pokegear loosened enough that it nearly fell to the ground. I caught it before the earbuds would rip out of his ears and woke him but I sighed with relief before any of that happened and tucked it safely into his vest pocket, giving a tap with my paw for good measure.

When the other trainers stopped staring at us or fell asleep themselves, Blue went out of his seat to greet another trainer that he recognized as a strong trainer that had gone through his gym recently and accepted a challenge from him for a later date when we would return to Kanto.

Of course, he gloated that he and Red were the better trainers and I laughed when the trainer sheepishly reminded him that he was a gym leader now. The trainer asked about Red and looked at us two alongside Blue. I pointed up to Red's sleeping face and motioned to them that he was fast asleep and made little snoring noises.

I swore I heard Blue say he wanted to take some pictures for blackmail later on but with a few minor sparks from yours truly, he was discouraged from doing so. At least I did my duty and allowed the starstruck trainer to scratch my head a few times before I returned to my seat in Red's lap.

It was pretty quiet the entire flight and I knew I had fallen asleep since I woke up to someone gently patting my head. I made a whining sound and even considered going back to sleep when I heard Blue's amazed, "Wow, that place is bigger than Lumiose City!"

That sounded so un-Blue-like, that I had to open my eyes to see what he was so astounded by. I lifted my head and uncurled from my tight ball in my trainer's lap and saw that he was also staring outside into the afternoon city skyline. Whatever city this was, it was huge and all of the buildings were nearly twice as tall as the Silph Co. building in Saffron City with huge glass windows reflecting the sun away from us.

Suddenly a voice overhead us said, "We are currently making our descent into Castelia City, we ask you to begin placing your items back into your bags and putting them in the overhead storage compartments or underneath your seats."

Neither of the boys were paying attention to the voice as they stared at the city far below us as we made our way inland. One of the stewardesses had to come over and remind them that they needed to sit down and buckle in and they both obeyed right after she gave them the stink eye for not listening earlier.

I was grateful when we finally landed and I quickly learned that being stuck inside a giant metal tube thousands of feet in the air was stuffy and uncomfortable. There was no room for anyone to run around and stretch, children in the economy class were extremely loud and someone had something to complain about, even Red and Blue.

Once we were off of the plane, I took a deep breath of air and let it out slowly. Unova air smelled completely different than Kanto and didn't have that calm aura our homes did.

Red and Blue stopped at a small restaurant at the airport for lunch and all three of us devoured our meals in a few minutes. I hadn't realized I'd been so hungry, but when they avoided the gates that led outside, they simply went to another part of the airport despite my shouting at them, trying to tell them that the gate was the other way.

I felt devastated when we were simply getting onto another plane. It was a small one, probably fit thirty or so people and surprisingly, it was just us and a couple of other tired passengers so it gave me space to run around for forty minutes or so. I was giddy since it was finally our last plane and there weren't any kids on it however, there was turbulence halfway that made me squeak, and instantly I ran back to Red, who smiled and gave me a pat of encouragement to keep me calm.

I decided that I never want to go on another airplane even if my life depended on it.

I yawned when the plane finally landed, suddenly feeling exhausted. I even thought about having Red put me into my pokeball as he carried me in his arms but with one look up at his face, I saw that I wasn't the only one affected by the jet lag with dark circles under his eyes and tried to stifle his yawn. Blue wasn't much better beside us, groaning with relief when we got off of the plane.

We had to wait until everyone else was off for security reasons, as the captain told us, but the passing people wished us all good luck in the tournament and a few even said they would be rooting for Red and me to win while a couple of others wanted Blue to win, including the trainer that had been on the other plane.

After they left, both Red and Blue shot a challenging glare at each other and I sighed at the two. Wishing either of them luck when they were in each other's presence woke up their 'rival side,' as Espeon liked to call it. They would have battled then and there if they could have had it not been for a stewardess informing us that it was safe for us to get off.

"I hope I get the chance to finally kick your ass," Blue said right after we got off the plane and walked through the enclosed gray hall.

Red rose a brow.

"You wouldn't stand a chance against us!" I declared, language barriers be damned.

We were stopped halfway through the strange hallway by security again—I was starting to get annoyed with this airport business. Blue seemed to have expected it and slung the backpack he had been carrying over his shoulder.

The security guard motioned behind himself towards a set of doors. "Once you exit the PBB, follow the yellow markers to the front door and look for Wesley," the burly man informed us. "Older man, has a ridiculous tailcoat on all the time. He'll take you two to the Driftveil Chateau Hotel where you will be staying for the next two months."

I went still. Exactly how long did he say we would be staying here? I shot a glare at Red that my trainer ignored. He failed to notify us that we would be in this foreign region for so long. Two whole months away from our mountain home?

Then horrifying thoughts struck me such as: how am I going to survive this tournament so far away from home? When we get back, Red will find out how many berries we've picked and hidden as treats for ourselves! They'll be rotting in our cave and we're going to get into so much trouble! And then a ghastlier thought hit me. Or worse, what if another pokemon manages to sneak in and eat all of our hard-picked berries? I know that stupid Sneasel is going to eat them! Damn her!

As these thoughts rapidly ran through my brain, I barely realized that we were already walking to the door. The guard followed us and placed his hand on the door handle and said before he opened it, "There's a whole lot of people out there that want to see you two. Just follow the marked path and you can meet Westley without any trouble. Good luck in the tournament!"

-x-

Westley was a butler of many talents—or so he claimed—and he worked for the Driftveil Chateau Hotel, which was one of the best five-star hotels in the world. He also added that usually, he wouldn't even come out himself to greet guests however it had been a personal request from 'the most extraordinary and astounding' Professor Oak that he could do it.

I didn't know if he was being sarcastic or not since all he talked about for a few minutes after was how he had other work to do back at the hotel. Red and Blue didn't interrupt him, too tired to complain.

It was almost an hour's drive from the airport that was located just north of the city and he told us that Driftveil City had grown exponentially since the pokemon world tournament began a few years ago. I was amazed at the city. It had looked so small from the sky, but now that we were on the ground and driving around, the area looked incredibly modern and it was clean, quite unlike Saffron City which was old, and more than a few buildings needed to be remodeled.

The car we were riding in finally came up to a white gate that automatically opened up when we pulled in close to it. As we drove through and got closer to the front doors, I was in awe at the sheer size and elegance.

Is this really a hotel? I thought, gaping at the white building in front of us. The large hotel lived up to its chateau name, the yard itself looked like a king's courtyard, complete with hedges trimmed in various pokemon shapes, a large fountain in the center, and two smaller ones at the edge of the yard. After we got out of the car, I noticed a stone brick path led from the glass front doors, through the gardens, and towards another side of the fence that led out to the city.

"Oh wow…" I said to myself. I'd never seen anything like this before and with one glance, I could see Red and Blue gaping at the sight, also amazed.

Westley seemed to be amused at their awe and walked to the doors as a bellboy went to the trunk to unload their suitcases. He stepped aside as the doors opened automatically and said clearly, "Welcome to Unova!"

If this was how people welcomed foreigners to Unova, or even other regions, then I certainly wasn't complaining. I could get used to this.

After we stepped inside, I realized that it was just as clean and the elegance never left: a bit of red carpet served as a road for guests leading up to stairs that curved outwards from a fountain that had three carved faces of pokemon I didn't recognize spouting water from the mouths. There was a chandelier hanging directly above us, shimmering as Westley lead us through the chateau towards a pair of silver metal doors next to the reception desk.

The butler pressed a button after we all stepped inside the elevator, a bellboy came in with our things on a tall rolling cart. As the doors closed, Westley said, "You will each have separate suites and while your pokemon are more than welcome to remain outside of their pokeballs, we ask that you please stay with them. Pokemon have been known to wander off and cause problems among other guests and staff."

Red pointedly looked at me and I couldn't help but snicker for a few moments. There was one time when we first started our journey and it was just myself, Squirtle and Ivysaur when Red stayed at a pokemon center, he let us loose to have some fun and it ended up with Red doing lots of apologizing and brutal training within the hour. Good times, good times.

The elevator doors suddenly dinged and opened as we reached the fifteenth floor. The carpet was the same dark red as the first floor and the ceiling was slightly curved in like an egg, though the top was flattened so it could hang a lamp between every door. We walked down the bright hall near the stairs when Westley finally stopped at a door and pulled out two card keys from his tailcoat's pocket and gave one to each trainer.

"One of you may take this room," he said. "The other room is right across from us." He motioned with a hand to the door straight across ours. "I was also informed to give you both these. They are the passes you will need to enter the stadium for the meeting tomorrow morning." He pulled out two laminated cards with barcodes on the bottom and their trainer pictures stamped on them, then bowed politely. "I wish you both luck in your matches." With that, the bellboy handed our suitcases to us and turned around, and headed back to the elevator with Westley.

Red glanced at Blue as he yawned. "I'm going to take a nap. See you later, Red," he mumbled as he went to the door right across the hall.

I rolled my eyes at him. He was the one who called us lazy just the other day for enjoying sleeping in and he was the one who wanted to nap. Red approached the other door and slid the key inside until the light turned green and he opened it. We stood there frozen in the door for a solid ten seconds before we finally walked inside, gawking at the sheer size of the room.

The room felt larger than Red's childhood home, so much so that there was enough room for all six of us to move around freely, even Snorlax wouldn't have any trouble waving his arms around. The suite came with a living room that had a tan three-cushion couch with matching loveseats a few inches away from it and all three were facing a glass-topped coffee table with a wooden shelf beneath it full of magazines.

The couch also faced a decently sized fireplace with light granite in front and around it and above that was a large flat-screen television that I was sure would be used when we weren't training. To our right directly after entering and closing the door to the room, a small dining room sat beside a full-size kitchen with a small round wooden table large enough to fit four people sat in the middle of the dining room with another vase of yellow flowers on top.

There were two separate doors leading to closed-off rooms and by the time we finally made it inside and closed the doors, I noticed the glass wall behind the couches that started from the edge of the kitchen and turned the corner towards the wall. There was a sliding glass door that led to an outdoor balcony beside the couches with a couple of gray rattan bar chairs and a tiny table between them. At least there were red-orange curtains we could close to block any light that would pour in. Red opened the door to the left that revealed the bedroom, a surprisingly simple king-size bed with white sheets on a brown four-poster bed with the headboard solid up to the top of the posters, connecting the two rear and open poles. The bed itself faced the glass wall, showing off the beautiful city scenery.

There were two separate mahogany doors in the room that caught my curiosity and by the time Red opened one door, it left us both to gape once again at the bathtub large enough to swim in, a double sink and a shower beside the tub. Even the toilet looked like it would be the most comfortable one Red would ever use. The other door had a walk-in closet with a dark cushioned bench in the middle of it and a mirror on the other side.

My trainer suddenly took his hat off and ran a hand through his dark hair, something I've noticed he does when he's in disbelief. All of this? Just for us? It did feel a tad overwhelming, and with so much extravagant furniture and details in each piece scattered all over the room, I was afraid to touch anything.

He looked at me after looking around at our new home for a couple of months and I grinned. Despite my disbelief, I could get used to it. This kind of thing probably wouldn't happen to us again, after all. After he set his bags down, he took out the other five pokeballs and released them one by one, allowing them to explore our new home as he went into the closet, where he opened his simple suitcase to put his things away.

Espeon was sniffing the bed before she cautiously jumped on it. "This place is fancy," she said simply after she sat down.

"Is this how all champions are treated here?" Venusaur asked, moving towards the nearest window to soak up the sunlight pouring into the room.

"You should've seen the entourage in the airport!" I said excitedly. "Like, all of Unova came to see us and say hi! There were a lot of cameras too, so I think we'll be on the news again."

"I'm not surprised," Blastoise replied, opening the empty cupboards in the kitchen curiously.

Snorlax was carefully making his way behind the couch, where the space was the largest, and sat down with a loud, "Laaax…" He stretched as he spread out. "This place is amazing, I can stretch and nothing will fall," he told us.

Charizard didn't say anything, but I saw him exploring the entire room as well, finding a pamphlet for room service, and tossed it onto the table. I knew we would probably use that later.

A loud, shrill ringing noise coming from the closet caught my attention and I poked my head in as Red sat on his knees in front of his open suitcase and dug out his ringing pokegear from his pocket. "Hi," he said simply, his low voice echoing between the walls. He was quiet for a few moments, and I could hear another person speaking on the other side and easily recognized his mother's voice. "No, unpacking… Yes… Yes… Maybe later… Dunno."

"Does he not know how to speak in full sentences anymore?" Blastoise said with a roll of his eyes from the kitchen.

"It's his mom. She's probably asking him how the flight went," I told him, jumping up onto the table with a single leap. I wanted to have a look at that pamphlet for myself.

"Long. It would've been easier to fly with Charizard."

I wanted to laugh as Charizard rolled his eyes at our trainer. Even he knew he wouldn't be able to fly over an entire ocean.

Red sat on the couch for a few silent moments before he sighed in annoyance. "I know, I will. No, we won't this time… Yes, Mom, I promise."

I couldn't hold back anymore laughter, whatever they were talking about, it was highly likely that his mother was getting onto him about doing his laundry or something along those lines. She did complain about the lack of clothes he'd packed for our trip before we left. "Okay, I love you too." He hung up with an exasperated sigh. When he saw our amused expressions, he simply rolled his eyes and went back to the closet to finish putting his things away.

It wasn't long before we took a nap, the jetlag had affected us more than we thought and I wasn't surprised to see that Red had fallen asleep within seconds of his head hitting the pillows. An amazing talent itself. I sometimes wish I could do the same thing. It took me hours to get comfortable most times but I was tired enough to do the same.

By the time I woke up, the sun started to set and Blastoise had entered the bedroom and seemed happy that I was awake. "Good, you're up. It's getting late and we need to adjust our sleep schedule," he told me as I yawned.

"Yes, Mom," I said and laughed as he glowered at me.

He then turned to the lump of blankets that no doubt held Red inside. He pulled the covers down a little to reveal his sleeping face and he winced as the sunlight hit him directly. He turned around to avoid the light and Blastoise sighed when the covers were pulled up and over his face one more time.

It was extremely difficult to get our trainer up when he was this tired, we would have better luck waking Snorlax up from a deep sleep at this point.

Blastoise turned to Espeon next. "You know what to do," he told her.

The lavender pokemon grinned mischievously at the request and I immediately felt sorry for our human when she pounced on the lump of blankets that was Red. He coughed as she jumped onto his chest with a quiet, "Oof!"

"Get up, lazy," she said, the gem glowing.

I am up.

Red's thoughts used to come to us as a shock, we hadn't started hearing them until Eevee evolved into Espeon and it used to tire our psychic so much she almost fainted the first time she tried. Now full conversations came easily to her and it was more often in a battle that the two would communicate telepathically rather than Red directing her with his hand movements.

The lump in the sheets moved, successfully pushing her off and he yawned and rubbed his bleary eyes to glance outside towards the setting sun. Eat… then training… sleep? His stray thoughts came to us unintentionally as he finally got to his feet and headed for the restroom with a hand running through his hair.

I glanced at Espeon as the gem stopped glowing. "I hate night training," she mumbled, mostly to herself.

"That's just because I always beat you at any night training," I taunted and smugly grinned at her when she narrowed her eyes. She knew it was true, while she excelled during the day, nighttime was not her strong point.

"Please don't start arguing again, I don't think I can take it today," Blastoise said with a sigh.

"You're one to talk," Charizard mumbled under his breath. The water-type turned to face him from beside him, his stubby arms crossed across his chest.

"Oh, here we go," Snorlax said with a roll of his eyes.

As Blastoise opened his mouth to no doubt snap something right back at our favorite moody fire-type, Venusaur cut in with, "It would be best to follow your own advice, Blastoise, no matter who starts anything."

Blastoise huffed and glared at Charizard for good measure and I sighed at the starter pokemon. At least their love-hate relationship didn't matter when they were in battle. In double battles, the two felt like they were unbeatable and nothing could stand in their way. Socially, however, even Snorlax would be able to speak to others easier and not scare off any trainer or pokemon that wanted to talk to us.

Red came out with a washed face and we all looked towards the door when there was a loud couple of knocks on the door. He glanced at Espeon, who simply tilted her head and then nodded at him once. Times like this I wish I knew what they were saying to each other, I wanted to know who was behind the door, before everyone else as well.

He opened the door without looking through the peephole on the door and Blue stepped in before it closed in his face. The dark circles that had been under his own eyes after we had landed were gone and he smelled like shampoo that made my nose wrinkle from the strong scent. I doubted either of them could smell it as well as I could, the lucky bastards. "Red, you're coming with me," he declared.

Red tilted his head a little in confusion as he pulled his shoes on.

"You know where. You promised to come with me on the plane and I'm so hungry, I can eat an entire miltank by myself."

My trainer smirked with amusement and nodded. He turned, recalled the team, and pulled his vest on as he walked outside. After making sure he had the room key with him, he closed the door to the extravagant room and followed his rival to the elevator, who kept talking about how amazing the hotel was.

When we were outside and wandering around, I was surprised how many people were still outside as the sun barely peeked over the horizon. Perhaps it was because of the impending tournament that would start soon or maybe it was just tourist season, but when we crossed the street, it seemed like nighttime was when everyone came outside. People and pokemon crowded the parking lot that was used as a makeshift marketplace and there was no doubt in my mind that this parking lot would be full of cars by the time the tournament started.

Luckily, people and pokemon didn't look twice at us when we went in search of a food stall that the two could agree on. We finally stopped at the food courts then after a quick game of rock, paper, scissors, and Blue was grinning when he won the game and led the way to the ramen stand that had a long line, but at least it moved quickly. Red even gave me a piece of meat after I was done eating my bowl, happy the stall also sold pokemon-sized meals.

We explored well after the sun set but we climbed over a slightly steep hill and all three of us were staring at the stadium that was bright and extremely loud cheering was coming from it once we reached the top. The parking lot surrounding the stadium was full and Blue smirked. "They're finishing a different tournament tonight," he told us. "Trainers that have at least eight badges could compete against each other and the winner gets a whole lot of money, top trainer status, and top three even get a free trip to Alola for two weeks."

I had no idea where Alola was, but Red seemed to be impressed.

"Don't forget about tomorrow. Meeting is at nine."

Red sighed. It was his way of telling Blue that he knew about whatever meeting there was.

Blue suddenly grinned. "If we get matched up against each other, expect to finally lose. I'll prove to everyone that even you can lose a match!"

Red smirked, his way of challenging him to try.

He turned around with a backward wave and walked away, no doubt going back to our hotel home.

We face the stadium again once he'd disappeared into the crowds of the market. I looked up at my trainer curiously from my spot at his feet. He seemed to be pretty confident and I smiled when I saw his crimson eyes full of determination.

Our reputation as an undefeated champion was at stake and I felt more than ready to face whatever challenges this tournament would throw at us.