Chapter 2: Poison

a/n: I have read synopses for the Gold/Silver/Crystal series online, so I will include some characters from that series as well. In case anyone hasn't read these, I will provide a short lowdown on the situation at hand, although sometimes you may be able to understand things just by having played the game. Enjoy the chapter! I guess that inspiration struck and whether it was on-hold or not, I had to write! Enjoy!

"Red? Earth to Red…" Green waved her hand in front of Red's face.

"Wha-? Oh, sorry Green," replied Red. He'd zoned out, wondering who was watching him. Was someone watching him? He looked around, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Green watched him. "What is it?" she asked.

"It's nothing…" Red replied. Green knew that something was wrong, but couldn't put her finger on it. She decided to let it slide.

"Come on!" she exclaimed, grabbing his hand, "let's go find Blue!"

They weaved their way through the crowd until they found a very sulky Blue standing next to his grandfather.

"Professsor Oak!" Red said, grinning at Blue's expression.

"Red! Green!" Professor Oak replied, smiling widely, "here you are! Blue told me you were here, but I'm afraid I couldn't believe him until I saw you with my own eyes!" he chuckled, and they forced out smiles.

Instead of listening to Oak's rambling some more, Red said hastily, "Hey, uh, what rooms do you guys have? I'm in room 34!"

Green and Blue both gave him a surprised look.

"Room 32," Blue said.

"Mine is room 36," Green added.

"Wow," Professor Oak said, "you're rooms are all right next to one another!"

Blue glared at him some more for stating the blatantly obvious. What was this, an anime? With some weirdo named 'Ash'? He almost laughed at the thought.

A less obvious thought came to him… what if someone had planned it that way? What if this was some kind of trick? He'd been suspicious when he'd first gotten the ticket, and now… He'd have to tell the others at dinner.

"My room is room 27," Oak continued, not noticing Blue's glare, "I tried to get a room as close to Blue as I could, but most were already taken." Blue rolled his eyes.

Green, noticing Blue's discomfort, smiled devilishly and gushed, "Oh, Professor, Blue is absolutely thrilled that you're here for him!" Blue glared at her as well.

A bell rang shrilly. All four of them looked up at the ship. The captain was an old man and a cutting master who'd been working on the S.S. Anne since it had been taken over from Team Rocket. He came out onto the deck of the ship. There was silence.

"Passengers! I am pleased to welcome you all to the S.S. Anne's tenth anniversary cruise!" There was applause from every direction. "Please board the boat now! We will set sail in a half hour!"

There was a stampede to get onto the boat. Professor Oak turned and looked at the Pokedex holders.

"I'll see you later, all right? I don't think I'll be able to keep up with you, and kids such as yourselves should enjoy some time to themselves." He waved goodbye, and the Pokedex holders happily joined the stampede to get onto the boat.

Red, Blue, and Green were all in a good mood as they got their keys from the man at the desk and went to their rooms.

Green dragged behind Blue and Red, who both were carrying a large suitcase. Green, on the other hand, was carrying about five huge bags.

"Why did you bring so much stuff?" Red asked, "I mean, I've heard that girls pack lots of girly junk, but this is a bit much…"

Green smiled triumphantly. "It's not all girly stuff," she explained, "Some of it is very important!"

Red and Blue ignored her and continued their discussion about battling techniques.

They got to the hall that included their rooms. "See you later!" they all said, and walked into their rooms.

The rooms were all pretty much the same. There was cream-colored wallpaper, wooden furniture, and sea-blue sheets on the bed. A window, which had a gorgeous view of the ocean, was open and the blue curtains were billowing peacefully in the wind.

Blue smiled to himself and began to unpack.

Red smiled as well, and looked out the window.

Both of them could hear Green's shriek of delight as she flopped down on her soft bed.

All of them, through the open windows, could hear the ships horn going off as it set sail. They met in the hallway and ran up to see the ship depart, waving happily to the people onshore.

Later that night, they went to dinner. They were all dressed up for the occasion.

In the dining room, they found a table. Professor Oak wasn't there, and although it was certainly a good thing to Blue, he wondered where his grandfather was.

"He's probably with some of his colleagues," Green whispered, seeing Blue's troubled expression.

They sat down at a table. All of the tables had fine linen tablecloths, with expensive china set out before them.

"Hey! Isn't that the Azalea gym leader, Bugsy? You know where that is, it's in Johto." Blue said, looking curiously at Bugsy. He'd only met him once – briefly – during the gym leader battle-off a year or so ago.

"Doesn't she look familiar? And her dress is so pretty…" Green said, looking at a sophisticated-looking woman with red hair.

"Do you think that's actually D.J. Mary?" Red said, looking at the famous radio talk-show host with something bordering on awe.

"Red!" called out a small, high-pitched voice.

Red turned around and waved to Yellow. Last year, she'd been forced to take off her hat, revealing her true identity.

The fourteen-year-old girl was too shy to look Red in the eye. Instead she smiled and stared at her shoes.

Red wondered what was wrong with her. Just last year she'd been able to look him in the eye.

Green leered and looked from Red to Yellow and back again. He can be so naive sometimes, she thought, just like Yellow.

"Do you want to sit with us?" Green asked kindly. Yellow smiled widely at her and replied, "Oh, no, I'm sitting with my Uncle Wilton. I just wanted to say hi, and that I'll see you later!" She waved and quickly ran off.

"So Yellow's here, too," Red said, grinning.

Green was reflecting on Yellow's quick visit when a concierge burst into the dining room, panting and looking frightened. There was dead silence in the dining room.

"He's been hurt! It's Professor Oak, something's happened to him!" There was a collective gasp. People whispered nervously. Chairs scraped against the floor as people got up from their chairs, making sure that their friends and family were safe.

Blue got up from his chair and darted into action. As annoying as his grandfather was, he was his grandfather. He had worked to save him before, and he would save him again.

Blue felt at his hip for the pokeballs that he normally kept there, but cursed when he realized he'd left them in his room. He walked quickly up to the concierge who had announced this. Red and Green, looking concerned, followed behind him.

"Where is he?" Blue commanded, "Take me to my grandfather!"

The concierge, looking even more scared, took Blue down to the room. "It's room 32," he told Blue.

Red, Blue, and Green gasped in unison. "That's my room," said Blue coldly. The concierge looked surprised, but nevertheless opened the door.

There was a bit of blood on the floor, and a bruise on the Professor's head. But as soon as Blue saw it, he knew that it wasn't something external that might possibly kill his grandfather. It was something internal - poison.

Blue looked at the Arbok bite and it flashed through his mind that it could only be one person who did this…