Shadow alley, to put it simply, was not the most attractive place in all of Kanto. In fact, very few people even want to visit there. For starters it was one of the poorest and dirtiest part of the region, tucked away somewhere in Vermilion city out of sight out of mind. The air was heavy, and it felt as if the entire world was crashing down upon you even if you stood in the middle of the street naked. The streets were filled with old washing machines, mountains of cardboard boxes and the occasional old couch that contained at least 50 diseases, half of them are unknown to man, and dumpster filled with everything from Accordions to Zucchini salad boxes.
The buildings were ugly as well, as if it was designed by someone who reads stocks for laughs and was painted by a color blind artist who was told to use 1,000,000 cans of paint. The buildings were mostly dingy apartment buildings, but there was a handful of convenience stores that sold cheap food that is guaranteed to give one diabetes, a laundromat here and there where single parents sat with their kids in rags as sat watching all of their clothes in the washer, and a rundown arcade that had machines that belonged in a museum.
Happy Noodles is one of the most popular restaurants in the area. It sat wedged in a corner, no bigger than a small hotel room, it was filled with cheap wooden tables, plastic chairs that would break at any moment, and the television was stuck on a news channel or mediocre movies.
However, the food was perfect, that just for just handful of pennies, one can get a bowl of noodles that tasted as if it was made by Arceus himself. It was popular among the poor residents of Kanto, with people even eating on the streets as it was so full of people and the chef made a fortune almost every day with his noodles.
Little did anyone know there was a secret room right below Happy Noodles. It was so secret that only a handful of people in the world knew it existed. The room was tiny, no bigger than an elevator in a 3-star hotel. However it was decorated handsomely, there was a fine red carpet on the floor, a tiny chandelier on the ceiling, a bunch of flower in a vase that cost over 10 digits long was on top of a table, that was carved out of wood and had over 1,000 Pokémon engraved on it, the chair was painted golden, almost like a throne and an priceless oil painting hung on the wall. There were only three things in the room that stood out. The first was the door that led into the room, as it looked so plain and dull that nothing more can be said about it, a metallic dumbwaiter delivered the food to the man who used the room, and there was a second chair, a plastic one as if it somehow fell from the cheapness upstairs into the luxury downstairs.
Giovanni was sitting on his chair slurping on the bowl of noodles in front of him. His face was completely devoid of emotion, as if he didn't know how to feel. He was dressed casually, he wasn't wearing pajamas, but clothes one would think twice about wearing when going outside. He was eating slowly as possible, eating one noodle at a time as he stopped every 30 seconds to look at his watch.
"It's been a while since we spoke G. How have you been?"
The voice hit Giovanni like a truck, even if it was spoken calmly and smoothly.
Giovanni looked up to see a brown-haired woman looking down at him with an expression that looked to be somehow sad, angry, ashamed, disappointed, and on the verge of tears at the same time.
"Fine enough, A." Giovanni said in a tone that sounded as if he didn't know to be happy, angry, or sad.
The woman sighed "You have changed ever since we helped you get your first Pokémon you know. You were a good man. Just like R was. And now…" The woman was firing daggers with her eyes even though she was speaking to Giovanni like how a mother would talk to her child after they had a bad day, Giovanni looked as if he just been slapped in the face as the woman continued "…You are becoming just as bad as…"
"I didn't have a choice you know!" Giovanni said in an overly restrained voice as he tried to control himself. "And don't you dare compare me to that…to that…cow of a woman!"
At this the woman made a small smile "I know that you are better than her. But that should not be a high bar to even cross eh G?"
Giovanni made a small smile "You and R were the ones that went to town on her and that thing all over the skies Kanto."
"Yes, and was it really necessary for you and Orville to make that cheesy music video?" The woman said with a small smile.
"Come on, we were kids in the 80's, of course everyone does stupid things before they turn 25." Giovanni said. "I mean, look at Lance, he is still parading around Kanto and Johto as if he is still a kid."
"And yet some of us mature, others keep on making immature mistakes a child would never do." The woman said looking down at the ground, but Giovanni can still feel the heat from her eyes.
Giovanni slumped down in his chair. "So why are you here?" He said sounding as if he just got out of bed or needed to get into it.
At this the woman took out her phone and pulled out a picture "You and I both know that you know what might be back."
Giovanni didn't even look at the picture. The image might as well be lasered into his skull that he can draw it perfectly from memory blindfolded.
"I know that. But what else do you want?" Giovanni said in a unreadable tone.
The woman pulled out another photo without saying a word and showed it to Giovanni. The moment Giovanni looked up at the photo it was as if all time had stopped. Not a sound can be heard. It was as if Dialga had decided to freeze time all over the universe except for in that one tiny room.
Giovanni stared at the phone as if he could not believe what he was looking at. "That's impossible." He said, his voice was unusually high pitched.
"And yet here we are." The woman said as she struggled to maintain her emotions as her bones turned to jelly as she lowered the phone.
"But…it's been…" Giovanni said as he tried to force the words out of his mouth.
"Nearly 30 years." The woman said. "And he looks like..."
"He has not aged so much as a day…In fact he looks younger…" Giovanni completed, still in complete disbelief "That's impossible…But then…that must mean…"
"Either he has succeeded in his journey, or that foul witch is coming back, or all three." The woman said her voice showing her fear.
"When did he appear?" Giovanni said standing up, his food clattered aside.
"4 hours ago." The woman said smiling "Poppy is taking care of him as we speak…and Kitty isn't with him."
Giovanni made a face as if he suddenly remembered something "What about R…"
The woman sighed "I have no idea where they are. Poppy, Lief and I are practically nuking their phones."
"I'm a terrible Godfather, am I?" Giovanni mumbled.
"Yes, you are. In fact, you were his third choice, but Big D and Prof Jr. said no." The woman said half laughing, half scowling at this moment she had been waiting to hear. "You know where to find us right?" She said as if her invitation was more of an order.
She turned, and with a small signature smile she said "Smell you later, G." as she left the room.