After Being Blue
Poke-ball 13: Conspiracy
Celadon City was the next gym, but last time, he'd taken quite a few detours to get there. He'd obtained the HM Cut, which meant he could finally get into the back room Pewter Museum of Science. That's how he'd gotten his Aerodactyl regenerated.
And then there was Lavender Town, the town of ghost pokemon and the tower where every trainer buried their dead. Not that he had any dead. He bypassed it this time. There were no rumours floating about this time to prompt him, no ghost of Marowak wrecking havoc because Team Rocket had seperated it from its child in the worst possible way.
And he didn't fancy another walk by the ocean, either.
He went on straight to Celadon.
.
Celadon City was muted. It was strange, because even when Team Rocket had been in control, the city had been one of the liveliest he'd come to know.
And there was no-one on the streets this time at all. No pokemon in the grass and he's searched, because while he'd caught his Arcanine as a Growlithe in the area, he never did find a Vulpix. But forget Vulpix. He couldn't even find a Pidgey in broad daylight.
He knocked on the door of the first house he saw. No answer, but the curtains on the second story twitched. Something had frightened the citizens, then.
He tried the Pokemon Centre next. It was closed, but the door to the house behind it was unlocked. He thought it suspicious at first, but it turned out the old man inside was simply getting along in years and didn't know the meaning of "untrustworthy."
It also turned out he talked a lot. Which turned out to be a blessing in a city with every other door locked. Though Blue wondered as to his sanity, at first. Team Rocket back and trying to take over the town? But then he remembered the port. There'd been Rockets there too, and somehow, it had entirely slipped his mind to question why.
Team Rocket had been defeated. He helped, but it was mostly Red. Red beat them all, and thanks to him, Giovanni had turned over a new leaf and disbanded.
Maybe Red had been too naive, then. He was tempted to go straight back to Viridian City and peek in at the gym there. But he was already in Celadon. He should clear Team Rocket out of there, shouldn't he?
Or maybe it wasn't naivity. But that was ridiculous. Red had no reason to cut Team Rocket loose. Except he had one. His complaints about the Champion seat. About the league. But would he really go this far?
He entertained the Know-it-all man until he'd gleaned their location from them. Taking up roost in their old hide-out, beneath the Game Centre. But going around to the gym every day.
He could knock off two birds with one stone by going to the gym, then. And the next time he met Red, he was going to beat some answers out of him.