For The Longest time

Chapter 16: The Flames of Determination

It was a warm day on the shorelines of Vermillion city as two individuals argued on the boat docks.

"What do you mean the boat's not running today!" One yelled.

"Sir, I apologize but it isn't." The other replied.

It had been a few weeks since the exhibition battle at the Indigo Plateau and Red had finally discovered the whereabouts of moltres, the final legendary bird. Turns out, the legendary pokemon was residing in Mount Ember, a mountain in the Sevii Islands and he would need a boat to get there. Unfortunately for Red...

"The boat was damaged the other day when it scrapped against some rocks near the shore." A sailor explained "It's going to take at least a month to get it repaired."

"A month?! Moltres might be gone by then!" Red thought to himself.

"Don't you have any other means to get to the Sevii Islands?" He asked.

The sailor shook his head "I'm sorry sir....you're just going to have to wait."

Red gritted his teeth in disappointment "FINE!" he yelled as he turned around "Let's go pikachu!"

The two walked back over to Leaf who was playing with jigglypuff.

"Oh! Red! How'd it go?" She called out as she saw him walking towards her "Remember, don't bother buying any tickets. I can find a way to stow us aboard this boat for free!" Leaf said as she nudged him in the shoulder.

Red quickly glanced at her and then glanced away "Even if I wanted to do that.....we can't! The boat's not running!" he stated.

Leaf looked at him shocked "WHAT! WHY?"

Red shrugged "Something about repairs....." he replied.

"Well that's stupid! You'd think they'd have a spare boat in case something like this happened!" Leaf yelled as she stomped her foot on the ground.

"You'd think huh...."

Leaf scratched her head "Well...why don't we just fly there like we do everywhere else?" she asked.

Red shook his head "The problem is Leaf, we'd be flying over open water for a long distance and if our pokemon got tired, there would be no place for them to land."

"Oh...I never thought of that...." Leaf sighed as she and Red walked away.

Fed up with what just transpired, Red and Leaf decided to sit on a nearby bench to relax and figure out their next move.

"Ugh! If only I could get in contact with the pilot from the Unova region! She would help us!" Red stated as he stressfully rubbed his temple.

He then looked over to see Leaf curiously looking around.

"What's up?" Red inquired.

"Red....this place.....doesn't it look familiar?" Leaf asked in awe "I think....this is where we first met."

Shocked at what she had just said, Red looked around as well. Sure enough it was the same bench with the wooded area behind it that the two first encountered each other.