3

[3:44 AM. Cerulean Cape. Outside Cerulean City. One year ago.]

It was about to rain.

"I didn't think you would come," an older woman said. She looked out toward the sea. The clouds were beginning to darken. The woman ran five long fingers through silvering hair and sighed. A wave crashed on the dark rocks of the coast. The air was saturated with salt. She breathed freely.

A younger man with a traveled face and brown hair walked up behind the old woman. The man adjusted his coat to shield himself for the wind as it picked up.

"Of course I came, Lorelei," he said. "Anything for an old friend."

Lorelei shifted and smiled to herself. "I'm sorry it took something like this to see you again, Blue." Blue cracked his neck and shivered. He was cold, despite his coat. It was too dark for this time of night. Blue was uneasy. "It was the nature of your call that intrigued me."

The woman laughed. "The Krabby and Kingler are gone from the shore, look you can see where they left their nests."

"Fascinating, Lorelei," Blue rubbed his hands together.

"They know that something's wrong." Lorelei took a cigarette from her pocket, and Blue shot her a look that she simply shrugged off. She blew smoke into the night air. "Have you talked to Red lately?"

Blue took the cigarette from her old hands and took a small drag before throwing it over the shore. "No." Blue lightly tapped Lorelei on the shoulder and pointed out to the horizon. A faint purple haze hung over the ocean. "I assume you know something about this."

Blue looked into Lorelei's eyes. Where once he saw life and vigor, he now saw a grey tiredness; the same eyes that had once terrified him oh so many years ago when he first met her in the Indigo Plateau now looked more like a concerned mother. "Not as much as I'd like. This is the third night, and Misty is away on business."

"Well, I guess it's a good time to find out." Blue released a monstrous Blastoise into the water which had intensified since last he checked. Deftly, he leapt from the cliff onto the back of his Blastoise. He held out a hand to Lorelei, still on the cliff. "You coming?"

"Oh, Blue, you make me feel so young again." There was a wicked grin on her face and she set free her Lapras and landed on her back as she had done countless times. The rain started to fall. "Let's go," she said, and they both raced toward the purple horizon. The haze turned into a cloud and the farther away they were from the shore, the harsher the maelstrom became. Lightning connected the clouds and the sky, and in the middle of it all there was a tiny island. Blue could just barely see the silhouette of a man on the island, coat billowing.

"Professor Oak? Professorrrrrr?"

[8:00 PM. Olivine City. Inside the Olivine City Hospital. One year later.]

The voice pulled Blue back from that night. He stood next to the bed where Lorelei rested. The nurses had told him what they could; she was in a coma now. Blue gripped the rails attached to the bed till his knuckles were white. She looked peaceful—halfway between sleep and death. Her brown hair had been shaved to treat the burns that covered her body. Her shattered glasses rested on the nightstand next to three perfectly silent pokeballs.

"Professor are you in here? Where are you?" a girl's voice echoed from the hallway.

Blue sighed. You're the only one left who saw this happen. He thought to himself. You have to wake up. "In here, Mia. Lorelei's room."

The girl rounded the corner. She was a tall girl, yet stood firm. When they met, Blue thought she might topple at the slightest gust. He was wrong. The girl had spunk; several months ago, she had trekked by herself from Olivine to Viridian City in the hopes of learning from Blue as a master of the ground type. In his youth, perhaps, Blue much preferred battling other trainers, but now, as he approached his sixty first birthday, he felt it better to devote more time to the family business down in Pallet. Mia would one day make a formidable Gym Leader, she simply needed guidance.

"There you are, Professor."

"Did you say hello to your family?" Blue asked.

"Yes. They asked about you. I told them you were doing fine. You are doing fine, right? You've been in here since we got here this morning…"

Blue released his grip of the rails and rubbed his eyes. "Yes, Mia. I'm fine."

"Who was she?" Mia asked. Barely thirteen, she still had much of her childlike curiosity, a trait that Blue admired.

"A dear friend."

Mia glanced at the burned body of Lorelei covered in gauze. "Will she be okay?"

Blue placed a hand on Lorelei's forehead. She did not respond. "I hope so, Mia. I hope so."

"Did you love her?"

Blue couldn't help but chuckle. That was a typical Mia question—straight to the point, even when she did not know the point herself."

"Yes, I suppose I did love her, once. A lifetime ago."

Mia looked distraught. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry," Blue said as he ruffled her long brown hair. "She's tough. She'll make it. Olivine has a wonderful hospital."

"My older sister's a nurse here!"

The old man smiled. "That makes me feel much better, little one. Thank you."

"When are we leaving for Indigo Plateau?" she asked.

"In the morning, if that generous offer from your parents still stands."

Her face lit up and she grabbed his arm. "Of course! Come on! They're making dinner!"

After dinner, and after Mia and her family had gone to sleep, Blue stepped out from the house to enjoy the night air. Olivine City was quiet at night; the only noise was the soft, rhythmic beat of the waves against the harbor. The lighthouse stood steadfast, combing the sea for anything dangerous. Now, Blue was alone.

Except for the man in a hat and coat walking slowly towards him.

"You're out late, stranger," Blue said. The years had dulled his harsh exterior.

The man continued walking. As the beam of the lighthouse caught him, Blue saw he was an older man, about his age, with a scruffy mustache, brown hat and coat, carrying a leather briefcase.

"You weren't supposed to bring the girl."

Blue tensed. There was something sinister about the man, something malignant. Blue reached instinctively for a pokeball at his waist. In a second, a large black bird dove from the night sky straight at Blue. The bird connected and sent Blue tumbling to the cool ground. The bird let out a deep caw and ascended into the night once more. Blue's entire body ached. Now, switched in the mindset of a former League Champion, he could hear the bird's massive wings beat against the sky. He called forth his Golem, a hulking brute of a Pokemon.

"You do not wish to fight me," the man said evenly.

"That was a dirty trick you pulled there. But I won't fall for it again!" As he said this, the lighthouse illuminated the dark bird mid-plunge as it rocketed towards Blue once more. "Golem! Clip that bird with you Stone Edge!"

The Golem leapt into the air, catching the bird scant inches before it connected with Blue again. The bird cried and flew back up. Golem spun in mid-air, adjusting its weight to return to its trainer's side. Before it could land, a thorny green lasso caught the stubby leg of Golem and hurled it into the ground, utterly pulverizing the street. The Golem moaned, and Blue flinched.

"A Grass Knot?" From the shadows behind the house, a mischievous Heliolisk slinked out towards the man.

"Stay close to that girl of yours, Oak," he said. The bird swooped down once more, only this time, it came for the man and he disappeared into the night.