Finding Red

24

Blue took off in the direction of the Radio Tower, leaving Crystal to run with her backpack behind her. According to him he was late, very, very late. Crystal barely heard him as he let his Arcanine loose and mounted it. He looked majestic atop the Pokémon, like he was focused and in control. Crystal barely caught up to him before the creature and the man began to run.

"Meet me at the Global Trade Station in an hour," Blue shouted as he was off.

"What was that?" Crystal said in astonishment.

Red, who had caught up to her, shook his head. "That's classic Blue. Always off somewhere. Though, I have to tell you, I don't know what's going on with him."

Crystal glanced at Red, and hugged Nuria to her chest. "Oh? Elaborate..."

Red opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Crystal heard the massive wave of screeching female voices that assaulted her ears. She looked at Red in disbelief as he laughed and shook his head. She covered her ears, being sensitive to the large volume of decibels that she did not want to deal with. For a moment, Crystal wondered how in the world Blue put up with it.

"Want to tell me while we're on our way to the GTS?" Crystal asked.

"Sure," said Red.

As they passed under the train tracks for the magnet train, Red began. "Blue gets cocky sometimes. As you know, he was like that a lot while we were on our journey. But, that's just to protect himself, and I know for a fact that he stopped doing that after we became friends, because I worked with him on opening up to the world. He's hurting but won't show it."

"And when his Blastoise..." Crystal said, trailing off and becoming silent as they neared the radio tower.

Somehow, the massive crowd of girls seemed ominous to Crystal. They seemed to shadow over the tower like a murder of Murkrow, waiting to pick on poor Blue. Again, she thought of how unfortunate it had to be for people like gym leaders to deal with so many people trailing behind them. She recalled how it was the same on Blue's birthday, when she first met him and when he was working. Just what kind of responsibilities did he have?

"You know," said Crystal, as they passed the crowd. "The day I met Blue was on his birthday, and he was working. You could hear the screams across Viridian City; they were so loud. I feel bad for him."

"Don't," said Red. "He enjoys it. Or, at least, that's what I figure. It allows him to hide the fact he's only a scared little boy."

"So insulting of your best friend," Crystal said.

He rolled his eyes. "Only because he deserves it."

The two made their way to the Global Trade Station, and Crystal found the desire to go look out at the sea. Though the day was only at noon, the waves sparkled as she looked across to the great landmass on the other side of the water. She wondered what could be all the way across the sea, and if it was somewhere she would go on her journey. Probably not, Crystal figured, she would have to be on her way to Kanto after visiting Ecruteak, to try and free Red.

"Cianwood City is what's over there," Red commented. "I'm not sure why I remember that, but all I remember was it being calm, peaceful on those shores."

"I'm probably not going to get to go there, huh?" Crystal said, reiterating her thoughts. "We have to take care of you and who knows how long that will take."

"I mean," Red said, "you still have to have something for that firm you're going to work for when it's all over. Some kind of trainer product, right? Maybe you go over when you're finished, and the magic appears to you there."