The Kanto Journals: A Pokemon Crossover

Chapter 22: A Study in Bide

"Okay, serious question: where are we headed this time?" Lt. Surge asked Arndolfr and Lucy after the soldier and Officer Jenny finally left to return to their posts.

"Good question, Lieutenant," Arndolfr simply replied.

When Lt. Surge looked confused with Arndolfr's answer, Lucy started explaining, "You see, Lieutenant, last time we tried to go to Saffron City, the policeman didn't allow us to pass through the gate. Something was going on in there, but we weren't allowed to know since they said it's confidential, so we ended up in Vermillion City."

"Exactly," Arndolfr agreed. "Now we're not sure whether we can pass through the gate this time in order to reach Saffron City, or maybe take a detour through... where?" turning to Lucy.

"Lavender Town," Lucy reminded Arndolfr.

"Yeah, Lavender Town," Arndolfr repeated. "We're thinking of taking a detour there in order to reach another underground passage to go straight to Celadon City."

"Really now?" Lt. Surge whispered while rubbing his chin, thinking deeply. "I don't remember an order being issued concerning Saffron City, but if it's from the General, it might really be confidential. Either way, let's just focus on reaching the gate first. This is a pretty long route between Vermillion and Saffron without taking the underground passage. Once we reach that gate, let me handle everything."

All of them were about to walk through Route 6 when Arndolfr suddenly saw a hedge along the dirt path move. Arndolfr stared longer to see a silhouette of a woman hiding among the trees, careful not to be seen.

"Dolph, what is it?" Lucy asked when she noticed that Arndolfr was standing still.

"There's a woman watching us," Arndolfr answered.

Lt. Surge looked at where Arndolfr looked, but failed to see anything. "Can't see anything, kid."

Arndolfr turned to Lt. Surge and insisted, "Look closer, it's right –"

But when Arndolfr looked back where he saw the woman, the silhouette was gone. What's surprising is that a Noctowl suddenly burst out from the hedge and flew away. Arndolfr wasn't sure if he's seeing things, but he swore the Noctowl has something hanging on its talons; something that looks like a piece of paper.

"Kid, I think you're just seeing things," Lt. Surge said, still looking where the Noctowl flew away. "Although, I'm fairly certain that Noctowls aren't native here in Kanto."

The three then started walking through the dirt path that's supposed to lead them to Saffron City. "Maybe someone owns that Noctowl," Lucy suggested.

"I think so," Arndolfr agreed. "It looked like it was holding a letter, after all."

"I didn't see it quite well, but yeah, maybe," Lucy said, sounding as though she's already dismissing the thought of the Noctowl.

Arndolfr was about to retort about him not seeing things when he realized that the scenery around them changed all of a sudden.

"Does anybody feel like..." Arndolfr began, "it became foggy just now?"

"No kidding, I noticed it too," Lt. Surge confirmed.

"Good grief," Lucy gasped. "This reminds me of that walk to Cerulean Cape."

"Oh bother, this fog just keeps getting thicker and thicker," Arndolfr exclaimed as their visibility became less and less. "I feel as though I might bump into some random person or something if this keeps on – GYAAAH!"

Sure enough, Arndolfr did bump into something... or someone along the road, since the thing he bumped on also let out a cry of surprise. Arndolfr heard the boy's voice and he became certain that he heard that voice before. Arndolfr only confirmed who it was when he became face to face with the boy.