Day 71:

My muscles tensed with pain as I pushed my chest away from the ground, holding for a moment before bending my arms and letting my chest fall again.

"27…"

The sun was up, and I'd left my room before everyone else to get in some extra training with Yeller. I was happy to assist Blue with his preparations for the Vermillion Gym, but the time I'd been able to spend training with Yeller had been reduced as a result.

The golden Rattata was busily assaulting a tree, training to increase his attack power. From Tackles to Quick Attacks, he slammed his body into the tree as hard as he could. Each time he bounced off without dealing significant damage, he'd recoil back to his starting position and try again.

Yeller was already deceptively fast. Even with his missing foreleg, the Rattata was very acrobatic and surprisingly well balanced-particularly in woodlands environments such as this battlefield behind the inn. Sometimes his ability to turn or stop was hindered, but Quick Mode largely made up for that fault.

But it would only take one nasty blow to his other foreleg, and his mobility would be ruined.

Keeping that in mind, it was unwise to train Yeller to be a defensive fighter, trading and receiving blows was a losing battle for him. Yeller worked best as an aggressive fighter who got out the moment things got dangerous. His agility was already great for that, but he needed to be able to hit harder for it to be as effective as I hoped.

The less attacks you need to defeat your opponent, the less time you have to spend dodging.

"Cyan!"

A voice called out from the inn, a woman in her thirties waved at me. She wore one of the same red and white ceremonial robes as the elderly woman who'd rented us our rooms, and her dark hair was tied up in a ponytail. Her name was Polly, and she was the actual owner of the inn.

'Pat' was her grandmother, apparently.

"The breakfast you paid for is ready, your friends are waiting for you!"

She called out to me, and I hopped back to my feet.

"Alright! I'll just be a moment!" I called back.

An exhausted Rattata turned his gaze to me, then leapt up onto my shoulder. I gazed back at the tree he'd been attacking, and saw that the bark had been beaten off in a few places.

"Good job, Yeller."

…

The table was quiet when I arrived, as neither Blue nor Chee seemed willing to meet the eyes of the other. Three plates were set out, loaded with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages and a healthy serving of baked beans. I took a curious bite.

The beans exploded with a beautiful mixture of flavours, which caused me to smile. The bacon and sausages were similarly delightful.

"It's delicious, thank you Polly."

She nodded and, with a smile, left back to her desk at the reception. Apparently her grandmother only manned the reception during the afternoon.

Blue stirred his food about for a moment, taking a few bites before speaking.

"We'll leave for Vermillion not long after we eat. Make sure you're ready."

I nodded, considering for a moment as I shovelled food down my throat.

"I'll need to go restock at the local market first, is it alright if I meet up with you two later on?"

"Whatever. Just don't be too long.

I agreed and the two of us finished eating-But as I stood up to leave, I noticed Chee was still staring at her plate, stirring it in circles with a fork.

"Chee? Your food is gonna get cold."

Hesitantly she took a bite, and chewed it down, though I didn't think she looked too thrilled about the whole experience. Perhaps she doesn't like eggs?

I'll catch up.

Her eyes told me, so I smiled and turned away.

…

"…And three of these, please."

I stowed the beautiful carrots into a container in my bag with a smile. The local markets were absolutely full of delicious home-grown crops from various sellers. It wasn't as convenient as a Pokemart, but there was something wonderful about the open markets like this.

It had only been an hour or so since I left the Inn, and I'd already gathered what I needed for the next leg of our journey and the associated meals at a bargain-worthy price. There was some haggling involved of course, but I was able to leverage my appearance as a child to make it easier. That was one benefit of my return to the past.

I glanced down at my right arm for a moment, raising and lowering it a few times.

And that's another.

I pushed the thought aside, getting ready to return to Blue and Chee, when I heard the ragged breaths of an elderly woman over my shoulder. I jolted and turned to see Patricia, the old lady from the inn, huffing and puffing while resting on her knees.

"Oh… Dearie!" She wheezed, looking like she might pass out at any moment. "I caught up, thank the stars!"

"Miss Pat?!" I almost dropped my groceries in surprise, lending her a shoulder to lean on.

After a minute of catching her breath, she got off my shoulder, her squinting eyelids pointed down at me.

"Oh, I'm alright thank you dearie… I'm not the one you should be worried about."

She grabbed my hands and held them tightly in front of her.

"Your companions are in grave danger, please, won't you help them?"

I looked up at her for a moment, then let out a sigh.

"Ma'am, I was the one who stopped Chee from buying-."

"No." She cut me short. "She wouldn't have bought it regardless, she was not fated to."

I frowned at this comment. The lady continued without waiting for my retort.

"Neither was I fated to sell this fate relic, much as I've tried… The chains of fate bind us too tightly, and I am no more free than your friends. Even with the relic, I could not change that."

I shook my head and turned to leave, but she still gripped my hands.

"But I see the chains around you are loose. Your guardian holds them away for you."

I froze in place. My guardian…

Come to think of it, the lady had seen the hand, which my guardian had referred to as their own. If she could really see my guardian-Was it possible she wasn't being ridiculous after all?

"I can't do anything more than this. But perhaps you can achieve more with the relic than I."

Finally she relinquished my hands, and I felt something cold and ornate within my fingers.

"May the stars guide you."

She nodded curtly at me, and began to walk away. I glanced down to see that wrapped with cloth in my fist was the crystalline bulb on a string, the ornamental 'relic' she'd attempted to sell us.

"Wait. You're not gonna charge me for this are-"

I looked back up as I spoke, but the elder woman was gone.

…Again? How does she disappear like that?

I scanned the crowd furiously, but there was no sign of her. Instead, after a few moments I caught sight of a timid black-haired child wandering through the streets, hands clutched nervously to her chest.

Cyan! I caught her eyes, and she dashed over to me.

"Chee? Why are you here?"

Her silver eyes peered up at me sheepishly. Blue sent me to get you because you were taking a long time.

"…He sent the mute girl to fetch someone?"

She hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. Actually… He was getting antsy, so I came to get you myself…

I shook my head in dismay.

"We better hurry back before he gets worked up, then."

…

Route 12 consisted of a large set of wooden bridges traversing several small isles along the east coast of Kanto. The billowing seawater far beneath the bridges was absolutely teaming with life, schools of more Goldeen and Magikarp than I could count swimming through.

The wood creaked beneath our steps, but showed no signs of wear yet. It was well maintained, as was to be expected of a route so heavily travelled.

Blue silently led us forward, but I noticed Chee hesitating and stopped beside her. She gazed down at the Pokemon with an air of longing, her eyes soft and curious.

"There's so many Pokemon…" I mused, hoping to prompt her to express herself. The black-haired girl nodded absentmindedly, and remained intently focussed on the depths of the water.

"Yeah, it's an incredible sight."

To my surprise, I managed instead to engage Blue in conversation. He'd wandered over to my side, staring down at the Pokemon himself.

"This time of year you can see thousands of Goldeen flowing through here, it's part of their mating ritual. The strong currents in the water make it difficult to swim, and the males try to prove themselves by challenging the flow and getting as close to the land as possible while they swim past…"

I looked a little closer at the water, and realised he was right. For every 5 goldeen that swam past, at least one would veer off, pushed out into the sea by the currents and out of sight.

"The males will race along the coast here, and the females who fancy them will follow behind. The pairings that make it to the end will stay together, and the females whose male is forced to sea will typically return to the start and try again."

Blue's tone was far softer than usual, and I thought I could see a hint of a smile on his usually unreadable lips. His eyes seemed to shine with interest. Even his posture, leaning against the railing, was far less aggressive than he usually seemed.

"What about the Magikarp?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Blue leaned back a bit, waging his finger in the air.

"The Magikarp aren't very clever, and they find themselves caught up all over the aquatic kingdom. Many of these Magikarp may even think they themselves are Goldeen, a member of the school. They've been swept up by the motions of the others, and are simply following through."

"Wow, I had no clue." I smiled. "You sure know a lot about water type Pokemon."

"Well, I-" Blue cut off without warning. He shot me a dirty look, then thrust his hands in his pockets and turned away from me, shoulders hunched.

"Blue…?"

He didn't answer me, and I found myself confused. Why did he stop?

I gazed down at the waters, and found myself asking another question instead.

"But if they're always so plentiful this time of year, why aren't there tons of trainers lined up to catch them? It'd be almost impossible to miss one with how many there are."

Blue snorted in response to that.

"You got a Pokeball? I'll show you why."

He held a hand out to me, and I swung my backpack over my shoulders and dug inside for a Pokeball. I very soon found one, but as I went to pull it from the bag, I froze. The ball was covered in scratches, and even had a few dents I noticed as I brought it closer to my face. This ball had been worn from years of usage, almost like Yeller's Pokeball had been in my past life, by the time I died.

Why on earth do I have a Pokeball this badly damaged? Where-

"Cyan?"

Blue prodded me with a look of annoyance, breaking my train of thought. Hurriedly I stowed the strange ball in a side pocket, and handed him a pristine red and white ball.

Blue stepped up onto the railing of the bridge, and threw the ball forcefully straight down. It splashed into the water, but barely made it a few inches down before being flung out towards the sea. It never got even close to one of the Goldeen, and was soon bobbing near the surface.

"See? They can't penetrate the current."

He climbed down from the railing and gave a self-satisfied smile.

"You'll never catch any of those guys with a ball. Though if you're lucky you might be able to distract a Magikarp with a fishing rod."

I turned my attention back to Chee, who was still gazing with vacant longing towards the water-type Pokemon. When I looked into her silver eyes, I couldn't help but feel that she desperately wanted to reach out and touch them.

But, isn't she terrified of touching Pokemon?

I knew why she was scared of flying type Pokemon, and my first assumption would have been that the two fears were related… But she'd been perfectly fine with petting Yeller, so long as she was wearing her gloves.

"Why are you so scared of touching Pokemon, Chee?" I blurted out, before my brain had a chance to stop my mouth.

That got her attention, as the meek girl straightened with a jolt. Her eyes clouded over with panic, then fear, then she turned away from me.

"Idiot." Blue hissed softly, jabbing me in the shoulder. "Do try not to turn her into a quivering mess, won't you?"

I winced, rubbing my arm where Blue had struck me.

"Sorry." I whispered back. I hadn't even intended to ask, but it had just burst past my lips.

As if I were a curious child, unable to resist the urge to ask…

I shook the thought aside, and focussed instead on the figure who had hunched up into a ball with her face pressed into her knees, facing away from me.

Cautiously, I sat down beside her. She flinched as I sat, but made no motion to pull away. We sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, only her rapid breathing interrupting the sounds of crashing waves beneath us.

Once I was confident she had settled her nerves somewhat, I spoke.

"Chee, I'm sorry. I was insensitive."

The girl shook her head ever so slightly, lifting it up to glance at me. Her face was stained with tears running down her cheeks, though she tried to hide that by moving as little as possible.

It's my fault…

"No, it was mine."

She shook her head slightly, then pulled her knees tighter to her chest.

I deserve to die, just like that fortune teller said.

"That's not-"

I cut off, stunned. I'd seen Chee upset before, but this was a new level. Less fear, more regret… But why?

She began to shake a little, her head drooping.

I'm going to die…

"Chee-"

Don't look at me!

She jolted her head to the side, slamming her eyes shut.

Hesitantly, I turned my gaze firmly forward, my head swimming with confusion. I'd thought she'd been getting better, now she seemed to be feeling even worse. Was there anything I could do…?

I thought for a moment, then dug into my pocket, withdrawing a small packet. After unfastening it, the ornamental necklace Granny Pat had given my sat on the cloth in the palm of my hand.

Without turning to look at her, I held the item over to her.

"Here."

I heard a rustling noise, but I didn't turn to look.

"You were worried about it, and I… Somehow ended up with the trinket." I half-mumbled, resisting the urge to turn over and look for her reaction. "I don't buy into this fortune-telling nonsense, but if it makes you feel better, you should take it."

There was a long silence, and I sat waiting tensely-Only to be caught completely off-guard when she tackled me into a bear hug, burying her face into my side. The sudden attack nearly knocked the wind out of me, and we both fell to the bridge with a clatter.

I couldn't see her eyes, but I didn't need to. I placed a hand on her head, the other embracing her in a hug.

"I'm glad you like it."

Blue watched us with an unreadable expression, tapping his foot against the bridge.

"If you're feeling better, we should keep moving."

The girl atop me nodded against my chest, and after a sniffly breath, got up and started following Blue. I rolled over onto my belly to get up, when something caught my eye.

I hadn't seen it before, but from this lower angle at the edge of the bridge, I could make out something in the water below. A small space in the water where the light refracted in an odd way, bending just slightly away from where it should. It wasn't the water, but a set of jagged lines of bent light connected together almost like-

My thoughts were cut short as a pair of fingers pinched my ear and tugged sharply.

"Damnit Cyan! We're losing Daylight, I'm not waiting for you again!"

"Ow! Ow! I'm coming, let go of my ear!" I protested, leaping to my feet.

I glanced back as we walked away down the bridge, but I could no longer locate the anomaly I'd seen just seconds ago.

What was that…?