Finding Red

25

"So wait, you're really saying that's true?" Crystal asked. "I mean, I'm obviously not in the gym leader business but how do your gym trainers feel about it?"

Her and Blue had found their way into the elegant executive box, having perched at one of the many tables in the luxurious area. Crystal sipped a glass of champagne, along with Blue, and glanced at Red who was standing by the glass railing that overlooked the stadium. Although he had said he was more interested in watching the game, Crystal figured he wanted to give her and Blue some privacy. She couldn't help but keep an eye on the world around her, though. Even though her Pokémon had been put up, giving her no obvious reason to stray her attention from Blue, she cared about what Red was doing and had to keep an eye on him.

"Well," Blue responded, "I don't really care how they feel. She's my Eevee and if you work in my gym that's one of the things they just have to deal with."

Crystal shook her head. "Don't you think that's a little harsh towards your gym trainers?"

He began to laugh. "Oh, not at all. Eevee has pulled all kinds of crap with me too. I mean, the little rascal will get one of my trainers to wake me up in the cruelest ways possible if I ever fall asleep."

"What was the worst Eevee has done?" She asked.

Blue grimaced and bit his lip. "Well, there was this one time Eevee got Lickilicky to wake me up. Uh, that time it may have accidentally paralyzed me. Let's just say the gym ended up closed for the rest of the day and Eevee got a big scolding."

"Okay, but that sounds like fun," Crystal said. "I mean, you guys are like one big family."

The trainer rolled his eyes. "Right, you try chasing ace trainers day in and day out. See if you call them a family then. I swear if I didn't need them..."

Crystal shook her head. "But you do."

"Technically I don't," said Blue, "but they treat it like they're my students of battle, so I can't help keeping them around. All of them are good kids, and they're certainly not pushovers by any means, but they need help. It's like they're missing the kind of battling identity that you'd find out of a top tier trainer."

"Battling identity?" Crystal asked.

"Yeah," said the gym leader. "Have you ever noticed how every great, renowned trainer is really unique? They stand out, have their own style, and their own team that's had thought into its organization."

Crystal couldn't help but glance at Red as Blue explained. The battle legend stood out, gazing at the baseball game that happened in front of him with a distractedly pensive posture. It was as if he watched the game with a weight on his mind. But that was Red in general -- as both a trainer and in his personal life he was thoughtful and wise, goofy yet rooted in a deep philosophy about the world around him. He seemed to understand her Pokémon within the core of his soul. Even though she was the only one who could see him, he had a presence in a crowd of people. Something about Red just stood out. Did that make him a great trainer, or was it something else?

In the same regard, she wondered, as a trainer did she have a presence? Crystal couldn't think of any particular strategy that was unique to her. She just felt like a speck of dust being swept through a stream, where trainers like Red and Blue were pebbles -- moved yet sturdy of their own accord. Yes, she was on a journey, but that didn't mean she was destined for greatness. In fact, the only thing that she felt made her remotely noteworthy was the service she was being asked to do, to follow in Red's footsteps and find a way to free him. Intrinsically, Crystal felt as though she had no place in the sphere of training Pokémon. She had never wanted, had never asked to be here, and yet, by some cruel twist of fate, she'd been forced on a path that was not correct for her to take. She wasn't special, nor would she ever be any form of battle legend.