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“Sorry, I haven’t seen anyone like that around here.”
Touko sighed. Her search for N had now brought her to the Kanto region, where she so far was having no better luck than she’d had anywhere else. She’d arrived by boat in Vermillion City and, not finding much help in the port town, had somewhat aimlessly headed north. That had brought her to Cerulean City where Kasumi, the city’s gym leader, had at least been willing to help. Unfortunately it seemed as though, just like everyone else Touko had sought out, she couldn’t.
“The thing is, as leader, I have so many responsibilities here in Cerulean that I don’t get out much. Even if he’s in the area, if he hadn’t come right through here I wouldn’t know it.”
“That’s okay.” Touko replied, downtrodden. ‘Thank you anyway,’ she was about to add, but Kasumi suddenly burst out before she had the chance.
“Oh! You know who you should ask? Viridian City’s gym leader, Green! He still travels all of the time,” Kasumi couldn’t hide the disapproval in her voice or, if Touko wasn’t mistaken, the hint of jealousy either, “plus, he’s a gym leader so he has clearance to go just about anywhere he wants. If anyone would know where to look for that person, it’s Green.”
The trek from Cerulean to Viridian, although lengthy, hadn’t been too difficult. In fact, with her sights set on this Green character, the person who was certain to know where she could find N, it felt almost effortless. She’d had so many close calls, hit so many dead ends, but Touko had a feeling this time; for the first time since she’d left Unova, she really felt in her gut like she was on the right track.
So, when she’d arrived at the Viridian Gym and found it totally empty, that had been a bit of a let down.
Not that it was really fair of her to be surprised. Green was supposed to be helpful to her because he travelled frequently, so she should have considered the possibility he’d be travelling now. But she’d gotten herself so worked up, been so sure this was where she needed to be, been ready to find Green and then find N…she’d given her mood a long way to fall when that ultimately didn’t work out.
The question now was, what next? Travelling around aimlessly in an attempt to find Green, who could be anywhere in Kanto or probably even most of Johto, so that she might eventually know where to go to find N didn’t seem particularly logical, not when she wasn’t even sure Green would have seen N at all. But she didn’t know how long Green would be gone. Did she sit around and wait for him? Or did she continue on trying to find N on her own?
Touko was in the Viridian City pokemon center, weighing her options. She’d spent the night there after arriving in the city and finding it distinctly devoid of Green; now it was almost noon and if she was going to continue on she really should get started.
A young man suddenly entered the pokemon center—more accurately, he swaggered into the pokemon center; Touko could only roll her eyes before turning her focus away from him. She wouldn’t have given him a second thought at all, except a young boy a few benches away from her turned to his friend and excitedly, maybe even a little nervously, whispered, “Look, it’s Green.”
That got Touko’s attention. She watched as Green all but slammed his pokeballs down on the counter, and it might have been her imagination, but it almost seemed as if he was trying to look as bored as possible as the nurse worked to heal his pokemon.
And then he was on his way back out of the center as quickly as he’d entered. Touko suddenly remembered herself and went hurrying after him.
“Green, wait! I have a question for you.”
“Gym’s on the other side of town,” Green answered without stopping or even turning to look at her, “It’ll be open in the morning. If you’re sure you won’t be wasting both of our time by showing up.”
Wow, rude. For a moment Touko wished she did have the requisite gym badges to challenge Green, so she could knock him down a notch or ten, but that was beside the point for now and if he thought he was getting rid of her that easily he was wrong. She followed him right out of the pokemon center and down the road.
“It’s not about a gym battle. I’m looking for someone.” She picked up the pace, undeterred, as Green walked a little faster, “I was told you might be able to help me find him. Arceus, would you just listen to me for one minute?!”
Frustrated, Touko had grabbed hold of Green’s arm and yanked, forcing him to at least face her finally. He tried to look angry, but mostly he just looked shocked that she’d actually had the gall. He groaned, “Fine. You’ve got one minute. Whaddaya want?”
“I’m looking for a friend,” Touko started quickly. She couldn’t help but feel that when Green offered her one minute of his time, he meant one minute and one minute only, “He’s tall, long green hair, always wears a ball cap, talks really fast. I think he might be in Kanto.” Or Johto. Or Hoenn. Or Sinnoh. But Green didn’t need to know that part.
Touko searched Green’s face for a sign of recognition, any reaction to her description at all, but he was back to just looking bored. Maybe Green just hadn’t seen N, but something in her gut was telling her not to let this chance go. So she found herself admitting to Green what she’d yet to tell anyone else.
“He’s sort of…odd. And. He talks to pokemon.”
“Yeah, him, me, and every other trainer,” Green replied with a roll of his eyes. Touko had definitely lost him now, and he was already moving to leave the conversation, “I don’t think I can help you. Haven’t seen anyone like that.”
“No!” Touko grabbed Green’ arm again, preventing him from leaving, but this time she just clung to it. She wasn’t even sure why she wasn’t willing to let go, there was no reason to assume Green was lying or even that he was wrong about not having seen N, but she just couldn’t, “I mean he talks to pokemon. And they talk back. He can understand them.”
Green took about five seconds to look shocked by her revelation before he burst into laughter, “You’re joking, right?” Obviously the look on Touko’s face conveyed how much she was not joking, because Green’s expression turned serious again, “Oookay. Look, I definitely haven’t seen anyone having conversations with pokemon. And when you do find him? You should probably get him some help because that’s not possible.”
That was it, then. Touko had pushed for an answer from Green and she’d gotten it. The excitement that she had felt upon finding him, the desperation to keep him talking drained out of her, and it was as if she could feel herself hitting rock bottom. She’d followed so many false leads, and hit so many dead ends, but this one hurt more than all of the others combined.
Touko sunk to the ground right where she stood. “What an idiot.” She mumbled. She wasn’t sure if she was talking about N, for running off without saying so much as a word to her, leaving absolutely no closure in his wake, or herself, for running after him on a whim, no plan of action, no chance of finding him in this incredibly vast world.
There was nothing keeping Green with her anymore, of course, and he did turn to leave, but he didn’t move. There was a moment during which Touko sat hunched upon the ground and Green stood stonily beside her, neither saying a word, both apparently lost in their own thoughts. Then Green finally broke the silence, letting out an audibly exasperated sigh.
“You really believe your friend understands pokemon?” His voice had softened considerably compared to the curt way he’d spoken to Touko since they met.
Touko nodded. Realizing Green wasn’t even looking at her, but had his eyes shut and the bridge of his nose pinched in frustration, she added, “Yes.”
“Better even than he understands people?”
“Yes!” Touko replied again, and she felt the tiniest spark of hope alight within her once more. Green already said he hadn’t met anyone fitting N’s description, but how could he know or even guess something like that about N without having met him. “Do you think—”
Green cut her off, “I’m still sure I haven’t met him. But I think I know someone who might have. I guess I could take you to him.”
“O…kay.” Touko wasn’t sure what to think of Green’s vague explanation. But something about the way he described N. He had to know something he wasn’t telling her.
“Good.” Just like that, Green was back to the clipped, irritated tone Touko had already come to expect from him, “Meet me outside the gym first thing tomorrow morning.”
Green gave her a once over, as if he was stopping to properly look at her for the first time. He chuckled to himself and added, “You might want to dress warmer.”
Touko stood outside the Viridian Gym the next morning, feeling increasingly unsure of her decision. She’d come to Viridian because Kasumi had told her Green might know where to find N. Now she was waiting for Green to take her somewhere, to someone else who might know where to find N. Would this mystery person just pass her along to someone else? How long did she keep going from one person to the next before admitting maybe none of them knew where N was?
Besides, Green didn’t exactly come off as the type of guy who went out of his way to help people. Yet his abrupt change of heart the day before had seemed sincere. Touko considered herself a people person; she could get a good feel for what a person was like in a short amount of time spent with them in most cases, but Green was hard to read. The only person who had ever confused her more was N.
Green wandered out of the gym then, grumbling to himself. He had a backpack slung over one shoulder and was holding it out in front of him as he tried to stuff a few last items in. Curiously, Touko noticed that it was filled almost entirely with food, mostly canned and non-perishable stuff.
“Should I have planned for a longer trip?” She asked, nodding at the backpack.
“It’s not for us.” Was the semi-cryptic response she received. Green zipped up the backpack and swung it around, easily slinging it over his other shoulder. He gave Touko a critical look, “I told you to dress warmer.”
Green certainly had. Yesterday he’d just worn a polo shirt over a pair of jeans. Today he wore a hooded sweatshirt and a jacket on top of that. Touko wore her vest, which she hadn’t bothered with the day before, but even that was sleeveless. She shrugged, “Not from around here; don’t exactly carry my entire wardrobe with me.”
“Suit yourself,” Green replied ominously. He just started walking after that, and Touko assumed she was supposed to follow; he still hadn’t given her the slightest indication where they were going.
After a few paces Green looked back over his shoulder at her, “Uhh, sorry. What did you say your name was again?” He looked sheepish, apparently legitimately sorry that he’d forgotten. Which was hilarious, because Touko had never offered her name and until now he’d never asked for it. It would be cute, except really it just meant this guy was such an ass even he assumed he hadn’t paid attention when she introduced herself.
“It’s Touko.” She couldn’t help but grin; in spite of herself, she liked Green.
They’d headed west from Viridian City and started their trek up a mountain apparently called Mt. Silver. The guard at the gate had given Touko a bit of trouble—she didn’t have a single badge from Kanto or Johto, after all, and apparently this way a restricted area. A few sharp words from Green had gotten her through, however.
Most of the time since they’d left Viridian had been spent in companionable silence. Green certainly could talk once you got him going, but apparently he wasn’t one for pointless small talk. After a few minutes of travelling through Mt. Silver’s lower cave, Touko finally built up the courage to say what had been on her mind all morning.
“Thanks, by the way.”
“What, for talking to the guard? Pshh, whatever, I shouldn’t have even had to say anything. He saw that I was with you. What a nuisance.”
Touko rolled her eyes, but Green was still walking a few paces ahead so the gesture was lost on him, “No, I mean for helping me at all. You answered my questions yesterday, you haven’t seen N, that’s all you had to do.”
“Well I couldn’t just leave you there to have a breakdown in the middle of the road.” Was Green’s answer. Then, because this was Green, who was apparently incapable of just having something nice to say, he added, “I’m the gym leader, after all, once someone else found you there they would have just called me to deal with it anyway.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You already thanked me once, no need to say it again. Overdo the graciousness and you’ll start to sound insincere.”
Ok, that had to be sarcasm. Touko looked up and sure enough Green was looking back at her again, a cheeky grin spread across his face.
“You still haven’t told me where we’re going, by the way.”
Green didn’t see fit to dignify that with a response.
Halfway up the mountain Touko had a very clear idea of why Green had criticized her choice of clothing. Green had been taking the lead and fending off the wild pokemon that approached them, relying primarily on, of all pokemon, an Eevee; if Touko had been the type to judge a creature by its size she would have been cured of that notion today. Touko was following stiffly behind him, trying to will heat back into her toes. And her fingers. And everywhere else, for that matter. At least she had boots on. That was the only thing she had going for her at the moment.
Green stopped a moment to let her catch up with him, and apparently noticed her shivering. Or maybe it was her blue-tinted lips. Or the arms wrapped tightly around herself. He looked her over, groaned out an “honestly,” removed his backpack, and shrugged out of his jacket.
He held out the coat at arms lengths, and Touko just stared at it. Green rolled his eyes, “You think I took it off ‘cause I was hot? Here.” He waved the article of clothing in her direction a few times to further prove his point.
Green couldn’t have put more effort into looking annoyed about giving up his jacket. For the briefest instant Touko’s pride battled with her with her desire to take it. But there was no contest—she was freezing. She snatched the jacket and quickly put it on. They kept moving.
“You’re welcome.” Green chimed sarcastically after a few minutes of silence.
Touko sneered, “Sorry, I would have said ‘thank you,’ but I thought it might seem insincere.”
Three-quarters of the way up the mountain Green still showed no sign of slowing down. Touko was starting to doubt how wise her decision to trek blindly into the wilderness with a guy who was a virtual stranger had been. Supposedly they were meeting someone who could help her find N. But who in their right mind would be all the way up at the top of Mt. Silver, in the middle of nowhere, during a raging blizzard? Green’s credibility was being called into question here.
Maybe the cold was getting to her, but Touko started to panic. What if Green was actually crazy? What if his plan had been to lure her out here and do something unspeakable? No one knew where she was right now, or who she was with.
Just in case, she started to formulate an escape plan. Green was a bit bigger than her, but he wasn’t huge and Touko had grown up playing a lot of sports; she was pretty tough. Throw in a little bit of adrenaline and she could probably take him in a fight. But Green also probably had six pokemon on him, and that Eevee alone was a force to be reckoned with. Besides Zekrom, Touko had left all of her pokemon in the care of Professor Araragi before leaving Unova. Its legendary status aside, she didn’t care for their chances one versus six against someone who was obviously a very formidable trainer.
Not that it mattered, because Touko was obviously the crazy one here. Green wasn’t a psycho. But his behavior had been odd during this last leg of their trip. Like he was getting antsy about something. And the companionable silence they’d spent most of their time with had turned into Green completely closing himself off. Where had all the nervous energy come from? Probably not Green psyching himself up to commit murder, because that was completely nuts. But what if?
The debate between ‘oh no, I’m going to die’ and ‘even Green’s not that horrible’ raged in Touko’s head. She’d been back and forth on the issue about half a dozen times, so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t noticed Green had stopped walking and she plowed right into him. Green face-planted in the snow, and when he turned around to glare at her for once she thought his anger might actually be sincere.
Touko barely even noticed Green, though, because her eyes had fallen upon his reason for stopping. Just a few yards ahead of them was a cave, and from within the cave Touko could see firelight burning.
“Holy crap.” Not the most eloquent possible response, but Touko was at a loss for words otherwise. Green hadn’t been lying; there really was someone up here. But that answer only raised a million more questions. How did Green know they would be here today? Did they live here? That was impossible, right? Who could live in a place like this?
Green stood up and brushed himself off. Whatever had been bothering him before, he seemed to have steeled himself against it. He deadpanned, “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.”
Touko wasn’t sure exactly what, or who, she was expecting to find inside that cave atop Mt. Silver, but the skinny, pale boy sitting there waiting for them was certainly not it.
Green strolled right in like he owned the place (but wasn’t that how he did everything?) and dropped his backpack down in front of the boy. “Hey.”
“You’re early.” Was the greeting he received.
“Yeah, well, something came up.” Green removed his wet sweatshirt and laid it to dry across a rock by the source of the fire, which Touko now realized was a large, orange dragon pokemon…Charizard? That sounded right, although she’d certainly never seen anything like it in person.
“I brought…a friend.” Green explained, nodding his head toward Touko. For the first time since they’d arrived the boy’s eyes left Green and he noticed Touko standing at the mouth of the cave. “So, this is Touko. Touko, Red.”
This whole situation was too bizarre for Touko to handle. Red apparently lived in this cave, Touko and Green had just scaled a treacherous mountain path which, by the sound of things Green did fairly regularly, and the weirdest part of it all was they were both acting like it was completely normal. Like Green had just stopped by Red’s house for a cup of afternoon tea.
Plus, now that Touko had Red’s attention he wasn’t just looking at her, he was staring at her. Red’s eyes were dark and intense, and it was sort of unsettling. And he wasn’t making eye contact, which was odd. It was more like he was looking at something on her rather than looking at her. Touko shot Green a pleading look; she had no idea what to do or what to say.
Green spluttered, “Oh, that? Yeah, Touko failed to realize wearing a tank top to go mountain climbing was a poor decision. So. It was either lend her the jacket or let her freeze to death. Figured hauling her frozen body down the mountain would be both heavy and difficult to explain.”
Apparently Red had been staring at Touko wearing Green’s jacket (how did Green know that? Red still had barely said a word since they’d arrive). And apparently he accepted that explanation because he changed the subject, the look in his eyes a completely different kind of intense now, “Are you here to battle?”
“Umm,” Touko began, scrambling for something to say. She wasn’t there for a battle, of course, but Red looked so hopeful—in his own weird, intense way—she felt bad to turn him down, “I only have one pokemon with me. Wouldn’t be much of a battle. Sorry.”
That was all it took for Red to lose interest in her. He turned his attention to the backpack Green had brought for him, rummaging through its contents.
Green sighed, “Touko is looking for someone. I think you might ha—Hey, that is for you,” Green smacked Red’s hand away just as he was about to feed a cookie he had procured from the backpack to another pokemon—pikachu, Touko definitely recognized that one—perched on his shoulder. “The pokemon can fend for themselves. Jeez, no wonder you’re so damn skinny.”
This was going nowhere, Touko thought idly to herself. For some indiscernible reason she also had the sense that she was intruding on Red and Green just by being here. But what was she supposed to do, stand outside in the blizzard while they caught up? Not likely. Touko stepped fully into the cave and took a seat on the side opposite Red. If she was going to be here for a while she was at least going to get as comfortable as she could manage.
“Anyway, this guy Touko is looking for,” Green finally remembered why they were there in the first place. He paused a moment to remember the details Touko had given him about N the day before, “Tall. Green hair. And apparently he can understand pokemon speech.”
Green offered the last piece of information like he still wasn’t willing to believe it himself. Touko supposed she couldn’t blame him; if she hadn’t met N she probably wouldn’t believe it either.
“Seen anybody like that around here?” Green finished.
There was a long, pregnant pause. At first, Touko wasn’t sure Red would answer at all. Even though he obviously could talk he didn’t seem to fully understand the concept of conversation, and that it entailed one person saying something and another person properly responding to it. She was anxious for his response, though, because if she went through the effort of hiking all the way here for nothing at all she might just lose it.
“He was here.”
The meaning of his words didn’t set in right away, but when they did Touko’s reaction was immediate. She sprung to her feet, feeling unable to respond fast enough, “He was? Are you sure? When? Did he say where he was going?”
Red looked a little shocked by Touko’s sudden, forceful change in demeanor, and Green was quickly waving her off, “Relax, would ya? Red’s not going anywhere, jeez. I just knew that guy would have been here somehow from the way you described him, pidgey’s of a feather and all that…” Green almost sounded exasperated to have been right, not that Touko could understand what there was to be exasperated about. She had finally found N. Well, technically she hadn’t found him yet, but she’d found actual news of him, which was so much more than she’d come to expect.
“So, what is the story then?” Green asked, having turned his attention back to Red.
Red shrugged, “He came up here. He didn’t want to battle. We just…talked.”
Touko snuck a glance at Green, and was happy to find he looked just as incredulous as she felt about that revelation. “You talked?” Green asked, “Right. And I’m guessing he talked to the pokemon as well.”
“Yes.” Red replied with small smile, but didn’t offer any other details.
“How long ago was that?” Touko tried to keep her voice calmer as she asked the question again, but her whole body was buzzing with excitement and anxiousness.
Another shrug, “A month?”
That wasn’t the best news Touko had ever heard, but it still wasn’t the worst. Green seemed more upset about it than she was, “Why didn’t you say anything to me before now?!”
“You didn’t ask.”
That sent Green over the edge; he threw his hands up in the air and paced to the other end of the cave. Touko could just barely hear him grumbling to himself, “Of course…can’t believe I forgot to ask if any green-haired pokemon whisperers had stopped in for a visit recently. How stupid of me.”
Red didn’t seem even slightly perturbed by Green’s tantrum. He looked back at Touko and without being prompted, much to her surprise, said, “Didn’t say where he was going. Didn’t see him again. Sorry.”
Touko sighed. On the one hand, this little visit hadn’t provided her with any helpful information in terms of finding N. On the other, it had reaffirmed for her the knowledge that he actually was out in the world somewhere, and that somehow, eventually she could and would find him. It was a good feeling, standing in this space, knowing that not so long ago N had done the same. She wondered what he had learned from Red’s pokemon; Red was an odd one to be sure, but she couldn’t help but feel they’d all had very good things to say.
She finally smiled widely at Red, “Thanks!” He offered her the tiniest of smiles in return.
Awkward silence descended upon them. Green had composed himself, but even he seemed to have nothing else to contribute. And as helpful as he had been, Touko could tell that as far as Red was concerned her presence was a disruption in the natural order of things. There was no reason for her to stay, anyway, she supposed.
“Well, I won’t bother you anymore, then.” She began prepping to make the trek back down the mountain.
There was a pause, and then, “She’ll get lost if I don’t go with her.” Green sounded genuinely conflicted rather than his typical fake irritation at having to help her, but he was also almost definitely right, so Touko couldn’t afford to deflect the offer even though she felt guilty about it. It was then as Green stood there, glancing once more longingly across the cave and particularly at its sole human occupant, that Touko realized even though Green knew exactly where Red was, he understood Touko’s plight in searching for N better than anyone else could.
But he steeled himself, grabbed his sweatshirt, and allowed his typical standoffish exterior to return, “I’ll be back.”
All Red said in return was, “I know.”
More then ever, Touko felt as if her presence was an intrusion upon this moment. She moved to the mouth of the cave, looking out toward what little she could see of the mountain through the near whiteout conditions, trying to give them a moment of privacy as best she was able. Her thoughts returned to N and Reshiram, blending in with the snowfall as they flew away from here, unnoticed by most of the world. Where could he have gone next?
Green had come to stand beside her and, after one last glance back at Red, they departed.
At the bottom of Mt. Silver once again, Touko found herself at another crossroads. She could return to Kanto with Green and continue her search, or, having still left the eastern half of the region almost entirely unexplored, she could move on.
“So, what will you do now?” Green asked as they came to a stop together at the gate to the Pokemon League, unknowingly forcing her to face the very uncertainty weighing on her mind.
“I think I’ll head to Johto.” Touko replied, firm in her decision despite being, yet again, largely aimless. “I heard about a tower there where a legendary pokemon is supposed to live. That seems like the sort of place N would visit.”
Green nodded. “You’re headed to Ecruteak City, then. You’ll want to head west from Newbark Town, then north through Route 37. The gym leader there’s called Matsuba; he knows a lot about the history of that place. Maybe he’ll be more helpful than I was.”
“You were really helpful!” Touko blurted, surprised by her own outburst, but unwilling to let Green underestimate just how much this trip had meant to her. “Seriously. This is the first actual news of N I’ve had in months. And I know you went out of your way for me. So, thank you.”
Green sighed, his annoyed, put upon mask settling across his features, “I wish I could say that place was out of my way.”
Green’s gaze travelled sadly up toward the peak of Mt. Silver. Touko smiled knowingly.
“Anyway, smell ya later I guess.” Green continued. Touko chuckled at the strange choice of parting words, but before she could offer any of her own in return Green had added, “and good luck.”
“You too.” Touko replied, because somehow it felt like the right thing to say.
Green rolled his eyes, but the small smile that graced his features as he turned to head back through Kanto was genuine.
Touko couldn’t help but smile herself as she made her way toward her own destination. Even though she still had no clue how to find N she definitely wasn’t leaving Kanto empty-handed. The spark of hope within her that N was out there, that somehow she would find him, had been reignited.
Plus she couldn’t help but think, stealing a glance back in the direction of Route 22 despite Green being quite out of sight, she’d perhaps made a new friend or two as well.