Finding Red

22

For once, she woke up without any nightmares. The dawn of the next morning was hazy, coated in the mist of Ilex Forest. She was the last one up, to her surprise. Ethan was packing up the tent he had, while the Kimono Girl watched him. Silver sat by a morning campfire that someone had built with Nuria's help. Crystal shivered without her Pokémon next to her. She was used to the Cyndaquil heating up her mornings.

Part of her watched the proceedings and decided she missed journeying on her own. Despite her enjoyment of having others around while she traveled, Crystal liked the normal solitude that just having herself and Red provided. It put her at ease, not being on her guard, and simply seeing the world with him.

Ethan cooked a breakfast for the group of Magikarp fished from the lake next to them, and then they were off. Once again, Crystal found herself next to the obnoxious silence of Silver, while Ethan chatted with the Kimono Girl ahead of them. Nuria snuggled in her trainer's chest, and for the sake of Crystal Red stayed silent. Which made her sad.

Soon the group found their way to a gate through which they left the forest. Once in the bright air again, Crystal was happy to see light hills and flatlands ahead of her. To her surprise, Crystal found that it was easier to traverse this route than it had been to traverse Route 29. She smiled at Red for a moment and then jostled Nuria.

"It's getting easier to walk baby," she said, "look at how far we've come on this journey, hey."

Ethan looked back at Crystal. "That tends to happen when you've been on the road long enough."

"He's right, you know," Red said in response. "After making my way from Cerulean City for the first time I really felt as though I could walk anywhere."

"Cyn! Da, da!" Nuria exclaimed in excitement.

Crystal looked down at the Pokémon in her arms and then over to the egg that continued to hang from her side. "I'm excited too, girl."

Red smiled. "Just wait until we reach Goldenrod City. If it's anything like Saffron City, you'll be amazed. I'm sure that when we get there I'll remember all this stuff and can help play tour guide for you."

All of a sudden Naoko burst out into speech. "Oh, Master Ethan, isn't that the day care you once worked at?"

"It is indeed," said the young man with an easy smile. "That's where Morty picked me up from. I used to breed his ghost types before he noticed that I had an eye for talent acquisition, so to speak."

"Well, you're certainly not a good ghost type guide," Silver mumbled. "Can't even show up on time."

He shrugged and looked first to Silver before turning to Crystal. " I was not meant to be there at that moment. A very potent cleanse tag had to be made. The souls of this world are very vulnerable to the vicious wills of ghost types. And I know, Silver, that this is something you care about."

"As if you knew," Silver said.

The trainer shook his head. "I know a lot more than you think I do."

"The two of you really should stop fighting," said Naoko. "There is no point in it right now. See, we're almost to Goldenrod City."

Beyond the fire shingles of the daycare Ethan used to work at, the group gazed upon the faint silhouette of skyscrapers. Even having been to Viridian City, nothing quite compared the grandiose of Goldenrod. The closer they got, the more the buildings began to loom over Crystal's head, shielding the group from the harsh whip of the afternoon sun. The city waved hello to them in the form of a massive gate through which the group passed to find themselves on paved streets once again.