Journeys: Red, Green and Blue//ON HOLD//

Chapter 7

The sun had begun to sink quite low into the sky by the time Red finally left the hospital. The first streaks of pink and orange were slowly painting their way across the sky from where the sun was sitting in the west. Riza, curled up tightly in Red's arms, let out a small growl as the sunlight struck her. It had almost sounded like a purr, more of a feline sound that could come from a Meowth or a Delcatty than a reptilian one from a Charmander. It made Red grin to think of a strange thing like that. It was frankly adorable. As per usual, Piyo was comfortably resting in Red's hair. He'd decided to go hatless for the day because of her, providing a more comfortable nest than his hat would be.

"Brr. It's a bit chilly, isn't it? That's April for you," Red said to his Pokemon, shifting Riza to his left arm so that he could try to grab a light coat from his bag. He had to be careful balancing both Pokemon as well as his bag in a way that no one would be dropped. Once he actually had his coat, it was much easier to put it on. Just a bit of shifting Riza around was involved. Sure, he could've just stopped and put Riza down to do that, but she seemed so content, and he didn't want to disturb her. Thankfully, the chill wasn't so much that it took away from the beautiful day. The high up clouds were nice and puffy, there was just enough breeze to stir the cool, crisp air and there weren't so many people that the streets were clogged. Red knew that it was different in the middle of the day, when people were all out and about. Even with all the beauty around, it still wasn't enough to lift Red's mood completely. Satoshi was still in a coma in the hospital after all. Red wouldn't cry anymore-- the time for tears had passed long ago-- but he also couldn't help certain morbid thoughts that wanted to flit through his mind, unwanted for sure but never leaving. They overshadowed many of his other thoughts, leaving him to wonder if he'd ever see his brother awake and whole again. It had been over ten years since they'd lost their father, but it would still be devastating to lose someone else. He instinctively brushed his hand over the ring hidden under his shirt on its chain. Along with Akira, two of his Pokemon had died. Only his closest partners, Arky and Mystic had survived. They'd barely made it home themselves, and Mystic had died soon after coming home

Riza seemed to notice Red's crappy mood and let out a chirping sound of concern, burrowing a bit beneath his jacket. It hadn't even been a week since they'd met yet, and already fierce loyalty twinkled in her blue-green eyes. It made Red wonder what he'd ever done to deserve Pokemon like her and Piyo. The more devoted they were, the more Red wanted to return that loyalty and devotion, being a trainer that they could rely on for trust, love and comfort. After all, without the Pokemon, a trainer was nothing.

"I'm fine. Don't worry. Just a bunch of thoughts flying around is all," Red responded to Riza's concern. He scratched underneath her chin a bit, and she gave her purr-like growl again. All curled up like she was, it was hard to imagine the immense power that she carried.

As Red was walking, he came to a rather stunning realization. He had absolutely no idea where the gym was. Having to juggle his Pokemon around again, he carefully pulled his town map out of his bag. It was a traditional paper map as opposed to the Poketch map that most of the people he knew used, and the maps for larger cities unfolded outwards to prevent users from having to flip back and forth between the various pages. Of course, none of that helped him when he tripped on some stray garbage and nearly fell on his face trying to pull the damn thing out, but it did have its uses. The alarming almost fall did cause Riza to let out a shrill chirp, almost painful to the ear. It was an intentionally attention grabbing sound. That and some other clues had led Red to believe that the chirping meant Riza was in some sort of distress, whether it be fear or concern or some other emotion.

"Sorry Riza," Red held onto his partner more tightly, hoping his grip wasn't too tight. He didn't want to hurt her at all. Then, he zipped up his bag and held up the map in front of him, flipping through the pages to the back where Viridian City was. The cities and towns were in alphabetical order to make it easy to find the right ones. Red was able to see quite a few of the other cities on the way. As huge as Viridian City seemed, it was practically a dwarf compared to most of the other cities. Navigating the next few, Pewter and Viridian Cities, would be even harder.