PoV:
1: Rhea (Our Blonde, Awkward Bombshell MC!)
I loosely follow this map as a visual guide; the creator made it in paint?!?! It’s insane! Some errors here and there, but I follow its design for the most part. Areas can be further apart, some cities are in the wrong places or not listed, and the regions aren’t nearly so close. The best map I’ve found, though!
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6:55 p.m. July 16th, Thursday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event)
Events: The Joint Kanto and Johto Indigo Summer League have concluded. Saria Surge has become the new Vermilion Gym Leader, converting it to a Fairy Gym. Our girl started her journey on the 9th of June—she’s been a Trainer for 37 Days (36 officially; 37 since getting Maya and Nova).
Stepping past Saffron’s intake gate, Rhea was the last to meet with her party outside the building, a little blown away by the number of people moving about the massive, modern-looking city.
The paved roads and planted greenery gave a totally different vibe with the colossal skyscrapers dotting various parts of the city; it wasn’t quite as open and accessible as Viridian—likely due to Giovanni’s forethought—nor seemed to follow its grid system, but it was likely over six times the size as the more recently developed City of Evergreen.
Although the walking path they were on seemed to go straight through the entire city, an underground rail system appeared to provide the bulk of the transportation around the metropolis, allowing access to anywhere in the city.
Joining her friends, she saw Amira with her map out, complaining how annoying cities were when they had random names for every street rather than relying on a numeric grid system like her home.
Ash motioned for them to follow him; he’d been to the city quite a few times, and the Gym had been moved to be near the center. They wouldn’t need to head to Sabrina’s haunt until tomorrow to schedule Lori’s match on Monday, and it was a good time to grab some dinner.
Rhea fell into line, a tad overwhelmed by the number of people; it looked like Cerulean when Lori started Kanto’s first Fire Festival, just without the noise and dancing. It wasn’t quite as business-like as Viridian, with its high volume of working and middle-class.
There appeared to be quite a few tourists that flew in, but that made sense since Sable National Park was to the west and the high-speed train’s primary hub was in Saffron, connecting to nearly every major city as the heart of research and development in Kanto.
Saffron City-State covered a massive amount of land, which included Sable and its national park, Lavender City, Silence Bridge—owned and maintained by Saffron—half of the Meadowview Village Farmsteads, and the peninsula that covered the Ancient Woods to the east of Power Bay. There was some debate on its borders at Fennel Valley—Amira was convinced it was Viridian’s since her grandfather provided most of its current infrastructure, but that wasn’t the case historically.
Saffron had everything, Gyms—including non-official—businesses of all industries, a world-class Contest Hall, and easy access to everywhere in Kanto; it was a popular spot to live since the train fare had a discount to reach most places in Johto and Kanto, which made it a big retirement location for those who love to travel.
The city was also extremely safe, and Rhea could see why with the Gym Leader in charge of its protection being a psychic that could detect threats like bombs or terrorist activity. It was not a popular criminal location due to Sabrina’s zero-tolerance, and the fact she could read minds gave most people the creeps—at least, that’s what Rhea had heard.
On their journey along the sidewalk, Amira kept explaining—Rhea smiled; it was a bit unlike her to go into so many details. Of course, everything was compared to her home City-State, and it was clear she held pride for her family’s establishment, and that came with contention to this city hub.
It was true that Saffron may have a much higher population, the city had been around for almost two centuries, and Viridian hadn’t begun its rapid expansion until her grandfather took it as his base of operations.
Fun fact—according to Amira, though apparently, they were all fun—Rocket originated in Saffron as a gang, under her great-grandmother, before moving its base of operations to Celadon, where it created the first ‘league-recognized’ gambling ring, which, admittedly, had been a front and sparked quite a bit of trouble in the early days, yet that had been under her great-grandmother, so the redhead waved it off.
Lori was certainly interested in the gambling bit, wanting to get in on the activity tomorrow. As Rhea figured, she wanted to rebuild her funds to purchase a TM for Miky, which wasn’t cheap, but if they were going to be competing in Silver-tier, her little Impidimp needed every advantage he could get.
A short sigh came from Rhea as Ash prompted her to try and navigate without sight again, relying on her Aura Sense; her practice in Blue Forest, when they’d been swarmed, made it a lot easier to slip into and maintain, especially when not attempting to play the ball game.
Ash’s ruthless training regiment seemed to have really paid off because now that she was in another city, she could see quite a few differences compared to what she could perceive before. People and Pokemon had unusual shades of color she couldn’t explain. It wasn’t necessarily a hue; it was more like raw emotion that translated into a general feeling that each color mentally represented to her.
The general vibes she received from everyone uplifted her; they weren’t necessarily super happy, but every so often, she felt something more potent that cut past the difficult-to-perceive emotions that tickled her heart like sugar on her tongue.
She had to curb herself from filtering everything out to look for it since it was somewhat like a drug; the beautiful part was if she opened her eyes, she could see the small smiles and glow on their faces as they passed. It was like she could gaze into a whole new world that resonated with herself to cause a rush of endorphins.
Ash said it wasn’t a natural occurrence, which meant it was unique to whatever combination of abilities her mother had given her. Whatever the cause, her mood improved as she listened and observed the many Auras passing her like smoke before disappearing out of her focused radius.
Time passed like a blur as she moved between Aura signatures that each had their own poetry to reveal, yet she couldn’t quite perceive their secrets.
After thirty minutes on their journey, Rhea slowed to a stop upon seeing a dark Aura around one person that was like smog, and light touched her pupils as she followed a slow-moving young man that seemed to be lost in his own mind.
The blond boy’s clothes were a tad disheveled, as if he hadn’t changed them in a day or two, and the shadows under his eyes. Rhea had the urge to understand why he was different than most of the other people she’d passed—it didn’t feel like he was dangerous.
“So my grandfather—”
“Ahem.” Rhea interrupted Amira, forcing a smile and pulling out her phone to tap against the redhead’s to transfer the directions; they were close. “Sorry, but I’ll meet you guys at the restaurant. I’ll be right back.”
“Huh?” Lori glanced around, scanning for whatever had drawn her interest. “Caught some deal ya can’t pass up?”
Ash’s small frown moved from her to the boy, still shuffling further down the sidewalk, going in the opposite direction, and Pikachu’s mouth tightened. “Hmm. Alright. Explore those new abilities you’re coming into but be careful, Rhea… Danger doesn’t always come from outside.”
“Well, that’s not ominous,” Lori mumbled, looking down at Miky in her arms as he nodded.
Amira followed the legend’s gaze. “You… sure you don’t want us to join you—did you sense something?”
Rhea waved her off and shook her head, backing away with Nova and Alice jogging after her. “I’m good. We can talk about it when I’m done.”
“Okay… Want us to order you anything?” Lori shot back.
“Whatever Amira gets!”
“It’ll probably be spicy,” Amira returned.
“Eh, not too spicy for me, but the same!”
Turning away from her friends, Rhea repositioned her backpack and darted around the people to enter the opposite flow of traffic; Alice and Nova darted around the feet to reach her, and Rhea bent down to scoop them up. The Buneary transferred to her shoulder, and the Eevee remained in her arms.
She caught up to the young man before he turned the corner. “Umm… hey.”
“Hmm?” His light-brown irises turned to her, confusion showing within as he shifted his head to make sure she was speaking to him. “Me?”
“Yeah,” she chimed, holding Nova in one hand while repositioning her bangs behind her ear. “Do you have some time to sit down and talk real fast?”
He forced a chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck as the crowd moved around them; he was probably as old as her big brother. “Eh… is this some kind of school-girl prank? Sorry, but I’m not really in the mood.”
“Not a prank,” she said, Nova chirping after.
“Pwee-pwe-pwee.”
His eyebrows drew together before a forced, half-smile curved the corner of his mouth, but his focus was on her Eevee’s wagging tail. “Hmm-hmm. I guess you wouldn’t be in school if you had two Pokemon, and they do look adorable… Umm, sure. Where…”
Rhea nudged her head to a random business to her left, guiding them toward the sparse office space with a lobby. “We can go in here.”
“Sure…” he weakly agreed, puffing out a long stream of air as his gaze returned to the floor.
Curiosity budded within her to discover what she’d sensed; she saw a bit of his depression be replaced by bewilderment, though it didn’t do much to help his heavy eyes.
Going inside, she sat across from him in an area far away from anyone else; a receptionist gave them a critical stare but didn’t say anything as the door closed. Alice transferred to the comfy seat beside hers as Nova settled in her lap.
“Umm, I know this is kind of out of nowhere, but… why did you agree to talk to me?”
He chuckled and sloughed in his chair, arms folded. “A pretty blonde girl that I’ve seen on the news randomly asks to talk to me out of the blue… I don’t know; I just said yes… Doing a social experiment or something?”
Hmm. He’s seen me on the news but doesn’t really know who I am. I guess that’s why we get looks recently; it’s probably the same thing. People recognize our faces but can’t really place where they’ve seen it.
“Nuh-uh. No, I wanted to ask you… are you okay? You don’t seem okay.”
The young man’s eyes grew a bit wider as he blinked, seemingly fighting tears upon hearing her words, and he slowly shook his head with a cough. He couldn’t get the words out, throat constricting and sniffing as he fought the emotions welling up in his chest.
“I’ll listen,” Rhea whispered, hand tightening a bit against Nova’s side as her Eevee began to cry; Alice was trying to fight the feelings passing through whatever connection Rhea had established. “I don’t know if I can do anything, but… I’ll listen.”
“Hah… Huu-haaa… The time I thought that we’d have… how could it just be taken like that? The things I said that I can’t take back now… and I don’t know how to live with that—some rare genetic dysfunction… My mom just… just… I can’t.”
Rhea cleared the liquid that touched her own cheek; it resembled the darkness she’d known from her mother, yet different. She got up, setting Nova down to sit beside him. Rhea held out her hand with an encouraging smile, clearing her own stained eyes.
He hesitated, quivering arms crossed, but after a second, he took it, focusing on her hand as if seeing someone else’s. “What’s wrong with me? I just… sat there and watched her leave, and how is it fair that I lost Sammy the same week? How could I not let them see that they meant… meant the world to me?”
The man breathed in deeply, letting it stutter out with a low cry. “I don’t feel anything… I try not to—I was just afraid… How could I have not cried with her that last day when she said she loved me? Why… I’m so sorry… I’m sorry I could never show you just how much of me you held… I’m so sorry, Mom…”
Rhea squeezed his hand, sharing in the man’s sorrow as he confessed his heart to the aether, free fist held tightly against his forehead as he leaned forward and wept. It felt cleansing to Rhea to be able to help him in his time of need when no one saw him breaking down; he’d been near suicidal, yet just having someone there to listen, to hold his hand, and feel that warmth was enough to bring him back.
After five minutes, he managed to regain enough composure to whisper how deep the pain was in his hidden bleeding heart. He’d been contemplating going onto one of these skyscrapers to fall off and end the suffering within his soul, which was when she’d approached him.
Five more—with minimal input or words from her—and he cleared his cheeks, coughed, and released her hand, forcing himself up. “Thank you…”
Rhea rose and closed in to hug him, making his chest heave a second as he weakly placed a hand against her back.
“You’re… too kind. Thank you… Heh, I don’t even know your name… I haven’t even given you mine. How embarrassing.”
“It’s fine. It’s Rhea, and I think your mom and Sammy knew you meant the world to them… You were there for her. Weren’t you? You let her cry on your shoulder, even if you couldn’t let yourself feel at the time; you showed her with your actions, and Sammy knows that, too.”
Pulling away, he wiped a tear away from his puffy red eye and choked a laugh. “Maybe you’re right… I don’t know. It’s just… so hard to live without them. I just see all the things I thought I could do with them…”
“You can still do it with them… for them,” Rhea whispered, lightly pressing her fist against his chest and showing her own puffy-faced smile. “They live in here as much as they lived out here, and you can do those things while carrying their memories with you… they live on in you.”
Mouth pulling in, he rubbed the place she’d touched and nodded. “Huu-haaa. You’re right. Yeah… I do carry a piece of them around with me. Thank you, Rhea. My name’s Jamison. Thank you for stopping and asking if I was… if I was alright… for seeing me.”
“No problem. Next time you’re feeling low, I’m sure your mother and Sammy will be there in your memories to cheer you up… I’m sure they want you to be happy, and it would make them happy knowing they’re on your mind.”
Breathing out, he nodded and gave her a waving smile before preparing to leave. “The world needs more people like you, Rhea… You really helped me. I hope you have a nice day.”
“You too.”
Seeing him off, she streamed out a long puff of air before jumping as a hand gently touched her back, and turning, she saw the front receptionist wearing a soft look while offering her two big wads of paper towels, one wet with cold water and the other dry.
“That was really sweet to see.”
“Heh. It just felt right. Thank you!”
Accepting them, she followed her to a bathroom to clean up before heading to the ramen shop with her Pokemon walking beside her; they felt light as air after experiencing the heavy emotions dispersed from the man like a parting hurricane.
Rhea didn’t know exactly what she had said in the moment; it just came out instinctively, and after experiencing the storm firsthand, the emotional state of others’ Auras became somewhat easier to perceive.
Her eyes closed as she moved through the city, using her spatial perception to reach the restaurant—it was the first time her senses were so clear and natural—easily navigating the gradual waves of Aura weaving around her.
Every addition brought a fresh note to the musical strum of interactions everyone made when encountering one another; a passing word or glance, recognition of some item that pulled on someone’s heart, each new string plucked carried with it a ripple which changed the picture she experienced.
Rhea wasn’t so much reading their Auras to determine anything specific but witnessing an artistic play that washed over her in colors beyond description, and none of this would be possible without Ash’s guidance throughout the last week and a half; she knew she probably looked crazy to everyone else, but she didn’t care for once.
She opened her eyes when reaching the restaurant—Kyle Hamm’s Noodle Shop—and all of the unexplainable sensations faded with her inner high. Blinking a few times with light dancing before her vision, Rhea used the door as a support before heading inside.
The area was half-full, and Lori waved at her as she entered.
“Aye, girl, eh… you good?”
“Eh-heh, yeah… yeah, I’m good. I’m just a little light-headed.”
“Have you been crying?” Amira whispered as she moved to sit next to her; the ramen was already on the table, and it still looked hot. “What happened?”
Ash forced a chuckle, and Pikachu hopped over the table to pat Rhea’s arm. “She’s coming down from an Aura high, from what I can tell. I sensed that dark Aura beginning to purify with your touch, Rhea; it’s not something you want to do often, but it certainly did help you further adapt to the sense. No more today, okay?”
“Uh… huh? Oh, yeah! Yeah, heh, I feel a bit off.”
“You’ll be dead to the world in two hours when the fall really hits,” Ash laughed between bites. “We’ll need to find you a decent hotel you girls can afford before you drop, which is where Kyle comes in.”
“Before I drop?” Rhea mumbled, finding it hard to concentrate as Alice, Mya, and Alice spoke their concerns through their bond. “Is it really that draining?”
Ash shrugged. “Not when you get more attuned to it and build up your Fortitude, but absolutely… Let me see if I can explain what you just did, which, by the way, I haven’t done because that’s not my specialty; you Aura Bonded to that man and, through those feelings, touched him in a way no one else could…
“It’s an advanced form of Aura Resonance which I’ve rarely seen done—and never so naturally—even by Masters in Aura. That being said, it has a drawback in how all-consuming it is because Aura Resonance is generally a fairly simple, fundamental task that you’ve been practicing.”
It clicked in Rhea’s head. “When I’m sensing Aura… I’m acting as radar, sending pulses of my Aura out to resonate with the other Auras around me?”
“If you want to simplify it,” Ash mused, finishing his bowl and placing his chopsticks on top of it. “Perceiving the Aura around you at the beginner level requires that kind of interaction because you’re only accustomed to your own, yet as you grow, you’ll be able to sense the Aura of the world, which touches everything, and thereby not leave yourself open when sending out those waves yourself.”
“So… she did something dangerous?” Amira mumbled, shooting a light glare at her. “You didn’t have a second thought about jumping into that, did you?”
“He needed help,” Rhea whispered before slurping up ramen; the spice was very mild, but there were plenty of flavors that tingled her tongue, and she was surprisingly hungry after the Aura Bonding experience.
“Progress is progress,” Lori grinned. “You’re growing way too Mukin’ fast, girl; we need to step it up.”
“I’m beginning to see a pattern that Rhea likes to take risks, though,” Amira huffed, nearly finished with her own food.
“Only if it involves others.”
Amira’s mouth drew in as her red irises shifted to her. “Sam’s little adventure in Viridian Forest with the Nidorino, trying to get yourself shot to rescue me, and now this? We’ve only been traveling together for a little over a month, and… Haaa. I guess I’m just saying I don’t want to lose you either, Rhea,” she said with a forced chuckle.
“Aww,” Lori beamed with Pikachu and Ash. “You do care about us, Amira!”
“Heh. I didn’t say anything about you.”
“Oof! Cold, girl! Haha.”
“I’m joking, but seriously… take better care of yourself, Rhea… I don’t have many people I can call a friend.”
Her heart warming at the feelings she got from the redhead, Rhea nodded. “I don’t have many friends either… and I don’t want to make you guys worry either. I don’t want to become my mom… Eh—”
“Ouch!” Lori snickered. “I mean, I totally get it—I’m with you; look at my parents—but ouch!”
“Eh-hehe. Yeah, I love my mom, but, boy, does she make me worry about her… Thanks for caring, guys.”
“Better believe it,” Mallory said, reaching over to slug her in the arm. “You can blame the puffy cheeks on the noodles now, too. Hehe.”
“They’re not that spicy—good, but not spicy…”
Amira chuckled, finishing off hers. “You told me not to make it too hot. So… we’re burning light; what’s this about a hotel and this shop owner?”
Ash leaned back and pointed to the counter. “I’ve talked to Kyle; his grandfather used to own the Fighting Dojo before retiring. Some unfortunate accidents happened, forcing Terri—the previous Master of the Dojo—to temporarily step down, but I can get us two rooms in the place at a cheap rate, and they could use the funds.”
“Sounds good to me,” Lori said, stretching her hands over her head. “So, we done once Rhea’s good? Heh, Amira can get a good look at her competition, too! Feeling faint?”
“Eat a Muk.”
“Hehe.”
“I don’t need a lot,” Rhea mumbled through slurps, but that didn’t turn out to be the case; she finished the entire bowl, to her bewilderment, and grabbed a light snack off a street stand on the way out of the restaurant district.
She began to feel the drag as they left, eyes becoming heavy luckily though, the dojo wasn’t that far away. Rhea was impressed upon seeing the impressive 3-meter-tall stone walls and 6-meter, open gatehouse.
The walkway around the large facility’s grounds was composed of wood, and it appeared to be well-maintained, with greenery neatly placed along the trail. Stairs brought them above the four battle rings on either side of the walkway to the main facility.
In the fading light, they were able to see the packs of Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan on either side, practicing their Moves in unison; Ash explained that all of them were unbonded and practiced to be adopted by the Trainers that wanted to go down the route of a Black Belt.
Apparently, there was a pretty devoted branch of Trainers that wished to be Fighting Type specialists, spurred on by the image of the Fighting Gym Leaders across the regions, with the paragons that were Bruno, Marshal, Hala, and Masked Royal, among others.
Entering the main facility, they were met by Master Koichi, who was temporarily holding the dojo’s Master position until Terri recovered. Ash and Koichi skirted the topic, but once they were alone in a room and preparing for bed, Amira told them about the rumors she’d heard.
It was a hushed matter, but there had been a Martial Arts Master that was going around to the various dojos, challenging their leaders, and he’d left Terri in a critical state; rumor was she was currently on life support.
Through their trip, Rhea had started to see the pain caused across the region from different causes—both natural and unnatural—and could understand why people had expressed their frustrations about Ho-Oh only healing those in Viridian; she wished he had gone further, and managed to heal those hearts and bodies that were hurting.
Still, the blame was on this Martial Artist Master, but Terri had agreed to the terms—even to the level that she could lose her life in the competition; it was without Pokemon, which was odd—he reportedly didn’t have any, and left after without even checking on her condition.
It burned Rhea’s heart to think someone could be so cold, but that had been some years ago, which was how Amira had heard about it from her mother, who knew quite a few people at the dojo, having practiced here quite a bit when she was a teenager.
She couldn’t reflect on it long, though, because her mind blacked out the second she rested her head on the pillow, unable to even let Nova snuggle below the blanket before all thoughts washed away.
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