Pokémon Red (Book 2)

Discovery (III)

Bugsy's POV

Three of us had walked past a hundred trees. The forest played an orchestra, an enchanting symphony one after another. The leaves danced to an unheard song, whispering it to the winds. The wind seemed to transfer the harmony to every kind of life around. From a humble Ledyba to a floating Hoppip.

I pandiculated and felt the cascading light, a dazzling white beam that illuminated the path ahead, taking us onward.

'Guys, stop', mumbled Lyra, bending down, holding her knees in pain. I could tell she was tired by her weary face.

'Wh-what happened Lyra ?', asked Red, stopping for her. 'You look exhausted. But we didn't walk that much today'.

Lyra took a deep breath and threw her bag on the ground. She unzipped it and grabbed out a water bottle and held it in her hands for a few seconds, then made a confound face, putting the bottle back inside.

'Ugh', cribbed Lyra. 'Boiling water !'. She slowly stood up and walked steadily. She was thirsty and probably needed some rest.

Then I thought about myself. I wasn't tired at all, I could walk ten kilometers no stop. I too needed water, especially cold. But it was difficult to find cold water in such balmy weather.

'Would you be able to walk ? Or should we take a break ?', I asked, waiting for confirmation from the two trainers.

Red wasn't tired, the way he stood, I could tell he wasn't going to be tired for hours. The boy had a determined fire in his eyes that craved triumph. Because of his own negligence and little knowledge of time travel, he made himself the second runner up of the Indigo League. Still, guilt couldn't be seen anywhere on his face, maybe because he knew that it could be undone.

'Red ?', I asked, confirming from the divergent boy who looked at me as I called out his name. 'What about a break ?'.

'Sure', he said, calmly. 'Let's sit under that tree'. He pointed at a tree, pausing to see it's silhouette, and then walking towards it.

Lyra managed a few steps and dropped herself under the tree. 'Do not disturb me. I require some rest'. She placed her head gently on her bag and closed her eyes.

Red and I stared at her in amazement. How could someone sleep like that in a forest ? I sat down with my legs crossed and unzipped my bag, taking out a few Pokemon food boxes.

'Send them out, they too deserve real air', I said. 'Pokemon food is better than what they get inside that ball'.

'Uh, right'. Red unclipped his Pokeballs and sent his Pokemon out. A Nidoking, a Hitmonlee,  a Pidgeotto, an Eevee and a Ditto came out.

A drop of tear, reflecting the sunlight to disguise itself as a diamond, slipped out of Red's eyes. He was crying, crying in joy.

'I can't tell how much I missed you', he said. 'All of you'. His expressions clearly said that he wanted to continue his journey with them, but he couldn't, a trainer always uses as much Pokemon he can.

Now, Red had about fifteen Pokemon. And he chose wisely what to use, instead of being partial toward any of his companions.

I wasn't a part of the reunion, so I sat in a corner with my laptop, caring more about the information I now had about Team Rocket.

I opened the SD card folder that was now made and browsed through it. My eyes looked for a something of interest. My fingers automatically selected a folder with the title Arrival.

'Arrival ?', I murmured in confusion. 'But whose ?'.

Red turned to me. 'Did you say something ?'. I wasn't sure what to tell him, I didn't want him to know about it unless I had the full knowledge of the matter.