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A soft glow radiated in the darkness of the cave and half-illuminated the face of a young boy, perhaps not even fifteen years old. The sounds of water dripping, soft breathing, and electric fur crackling as it was petted produced dull echoes against the rock. He shifted under the blanket wrapped around his shoulders so that the creature in his lap could see the phone in his hand. A little black nose shrouded in yellow twitched in the light.
“We got another message from Mom,” the boy whispered with a sad smile. “She says ‘Everything is okay at home. The neighbors still ask about you sometimes, but I always tell them I don’t know where you are. I wish that were true. It might be easier if I didn’t know that you were living somewhere so dangerous. Even with your Pokémon, I worry about you, Red. I know you can’t come back right now, but I just wanted to remind you that if you ever decide to, you can always come home.’”
“Bii-gaah…”
“… I know. I miss her, too.”
There were several long minutes of silence between them again as the boy continued to read the screen. The phone’s connection was tenuous at best and its body had seen better days. His thumb caressed the glass carefully so as to avoid the places where it had cracked.
“Oh… Apparently, Green is a gym leader now. That’s good; I knew he had it in him. His Pokémon look really happy now, too. He must have really turned himself around since the last time we saw him, huh?”
“Chyaaa.”
There was a hint of a smile on Pikachu’s face.
“It looks like the professor’s radio show is getting popular, too,” Red mused as he scrolled a little further. “I’m glad; I was worried that once the Pokédex was complete, he wouldn’t know what else to do with himself.”
The boy’s words hung heavy in the still air while he waited for the next part to load. When Pikachu’s gaze lingered too long on his stone-faced expression, Red scratched behind his partner’s ears to distract him. He sighed a little to himself as he watched the pleased expression gradually spread over the mouse's features.
“Oh! Here’s what I was looking for. It says that no one was killed when the volcano erupted. Most of the island is uninhabitable now, though,” Red’s hand lay still atop Pikachu’s head, his attention drawn elsewhere. “The only thing they managed to save was the Pokémon Center, but everyone else is being relocated to Pallet Town for now. Blaine’s looking into setting up a new gym somewhere else, too.”
“Pi-ka.”
“Yeah. It seems like… they really are alright,” Red’s voice cracked as he pulled the brim of his cap low over his face. “Everyone is alright… without us.”