Red shivered as he felt a cold breeze sweep through the empty plaza. It was early in the morning, only twenty degrees outside- not counting wind chill- and despite wearing a light blue windbreaker and warm scarf, he could still feel the crisp winter air sweeping across the wide, open space.

That wasn’t why he was shivering, though.

Unsurprisingly, no one visited a casino at nine a.m.- which meant that he was all alone, apprehensive as he waited for the street vendor he had met yesterday to finally arrive. Everything he had said about the situation before, while true, didn’t do much to calm his nerves. Even though it was unlikely that he would actually undergo some gruesome fate, he was still scared. And why shouldn’t he be? He was only ten, after all.

“You’re pretty tense. Try to relax, okay?”

“Gah!” Red yelled, swinging around in surprise. “What the- how-”

“I said calm down,” the girl behind him hissed, clamping down on his shoulder and pulling him closer. “We don’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves.”

“W-what? I don’t…” Red sputtered, as she led him over to a nearby street that was basked in shadow.

“Understand? I thought you were smarter than that! We’re making a deal, see? I need help with something, and you need your badges and your friend’s money back.”

“But… why, though?”

“I saw something in you yesterday. Couldn’t put my finger on what, but I copped a tape of your gym battle last night and watched it. You’re a pretty interesting guy, Red. And let’s face it. Do you really have any other options?”

“This is extortion. A criminal offense. I could report you to the police,” Red growled, glaring at her.

“Perhaps so. But if you run to the police, well… I’ll just disappear into thin air, and take those badges of yours with me. Trust me, I’m very good at this kind of thing.”

“I- well- fine, I guess I can hear you out,” he muttered, sighing.

“Good. Then we can agree to work together for now. Capiche?”

“What do you need help with?” Red asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. “Because I’m not stealing anything for you.”

“Ha!” the vendor laughed, waving her hand in dismissal. “Nothing like that. Let’s walk and talk, shall we?” She let go of Red, then began to move down the street at a brisk pace, motioning for him to follow along- which he did, though he lagged behind a bit, remaining on-edge as every footstep echoed between the silent rows of buildings.

“What do you know about the legendary pokémon Articuno?”

“I- huh?” Red asked, confused. Where was she going with this?

“Surely you’ve heard all the stories,” the girl responded, looking back at him. “The flapping of its wings chills the air, creating blizzards. It lives deep in the heart of Cerulean Cave, and very few people have the chance to catch even a glimpse of it.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard plenty. What does this have to do with anything, though?” Red grumbled, somewhat annoyed. Was she trying to waste his time, get him killed, or what?

“We’re only a stone’s throw away from those mountains, right?” she said. “And imagine how much I could make for even pictures of the legendary beast!” At this, she sighed wistfully, stars filling her eyes.

“Anyways,” she continued, “the area in general, let alone Articuno itself, is going to be pretty dangerous- though I do have some maps and intel to go off of, so it’s a little bit safer- but anyways, I need someone to be my ‘Chatot in the coal mine’… so to speak. If we run into any trouble, you’ll see it first, and it’ll be you that dies, instead of me. I can’t make bank off of this if I’m dead, after all!”

“Chatot in the- um- I… don’t like the sound of that.”

“Pfft, you’ll be fine. Or not. We’ll see~”

Red grimaced. “That’s reassuring.”

“Need I remind you that I’m the one with leverage here? So I’d stop complaining if I were you. I’m not obligated to give you your badges back, remember.”

‘Well that’s that, then,’ he thought, as he began walking faster to match the girl’s pace, still somewhat conflicted on the situation- though he clearly didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, so he could only hope he wouldn’t end up dead by the end of this. Or kidnapped. Or any number of unsavory things.

Actually, now that he thought about it, the Cerulean Range wasn’t too far out of the way on the route to Vermillion City- so maybe this wouldn’t be a particularly long diversion. Certainly shorter than the time it would take to obtain two more badges if he refused to help her.

“Well,” he sighed, his mind made up. “I’ll help you. But if you trick me in any way-”

“I won’t. The only thing these badges are good for is blackmailing you, anyway. Can’t try to sell them or the cops will be all over me immediately.”

“Yes, I definitely trust the person who stole the majority of my friend’s money.”

“Eh,” the girl said, shrugging. “Doesn’t matter to me either way.”

“Whatever. Let’s just-”

“Hey! Wait!” a familiar voice cut in. Red immediately paled, and whipped around in shock.

“Ritchie?! What are you doing here?!”

“I- um- well…”

“You know what, no, just… no. Ritchie, are you an actual idiot?!” he hissed, glaring at the trainer. “The letter said for only me to come! Not you! Not Phoenix! No one! I don’t know why you decided to come here, but you could have at least told me in advance so I could have talked you out of it! How am I going to get my badges back now?”

“Well, I- uh-” he stammered, taking a deep breath. “I only just decided… I wasn’t going to at first, cause I thought I wouldn’t be able to help much, but, well… First, it’s my money, so it’s really my responsibility to get it back. And second, I figured you could use the help, and I didn’t want you to end up dead…”

“I get the sentiment,” Red growled, looking between him and the girl, who was standing nearby with a flat look on her face. “But that doesn’t change the fact that the girl over there-”

“My name’s Green,” she cut in.

“Right, Green. Doesn’t change the fact that Green’s going to disappear on me, badges in hand, because you decided to follow me! Did you not, perhaps, consider that your presence here would be more of a hindrance?!”

“I… um, well… I didn’t really consider…”

“Of course you didn’t. What did I do to deserve this…” Red moaned, putting his hand up to his head in exasperation. Then he paused, hearing a sudden giggle coming from behind him.

“And why on earth are you laughing?!” he barked, turning back around sharply.

“Pffft…” Green snorted, “because it’s funny! You’re so mad at him and I haven’t even done anything about it yet!”

“W-what.”

“I mean, yeah, I did tell you not to bring anyone with you. But you didn’t bring him with you, did you? You’re so quick to jump to conclusions.”

“I- but- uh- I don’t… wha…?” Red sputtered, utterly bewildered. She was, technically speaking, correct, but that was all semantics. Wasn’t the spirit of the request that no one else should come with him, under any circumstances?

He wasn’t sure, at this point, and he was worried that if anything else pushed him over the edge, his brain would be at risk of imploding. As it was, he was rapidly developing a headache.

“Okay, okay, fine!” Green said, letting out a deep breath that collapsed into a long wheeze. “Oh, geez… Sorry, it’s just- oh, I’ll get to the point, okay. I just, well- It’s fine if your friend comes, okay? He’s not a cop or anything, I have just as much leverage on him as I do you, and, I mean… the less people who know, the better, but two Flash Cannon fodders are better than one!”

“I resent that,” Red grumbled, still somewhat confused at the whole situation- but deciding to just accept it for the time being.

“Eh. Deal with it~” Green said playfully, turning back around and walking away.

“Wait, what exactly am I getting into?” a concerned Ritchie asked.

“Put simply?” Red responded. “We’re going on an Articuno hunt.”

It didn’t take long for the newly formed group to leave Cerulean City- while Red was still hesitant about following Green, Ritchie had no such qualms, and he wasn’t about to leave him alone with her. The trek up the Cerulean Range was much more of an arduous undertaking than Red had expected, though. While they were able to follow the relatively safe Route 6 at first, after a few days travel, they were forced to split off into one of the narrower, less traveled, and much scarier side paths.

As had been the agreement, he and Ritchie were made to scout ahead; testing the ground for stability, checking for wild pokémon, and other things that put them in what was, in his opinion, unnecessary danger.

Green was the oldest here. She should be the one doing this, not them.

But as he thought that, he once again had to remind himself of the reality of the situation- if he wanted his badges back, he would have to cooperate with her for now.

Still, every second spent on the road made him feel more and more uncomfortable- despite Green’s cheerful demeanor, he just couldn’t bring himself to relax around her. This was most obvious whenever they set up camp for the night. While he had been traveling with Phoenix, the time had been filled with chatter and lighthearted banter- now, however, it was deathly quiet, the tension in the air running strong. Even Ritchie was keeping to himself, silently brooding for most of their journey. Occasionally he would perk up, and make attempts to lighten the mood- these, however, just made things even worse.

Despite this, they persisted; and after over a week’s walk, they reached their final stop before descending into the heart of the mountain- a small, comfortable settlement called Passover Town. It rested snugly on a large plateau halfway up the tallest peak in the Cerulean Range, dubbed Rhydon’s Horn, and a light dusting of snow that consistently fell gave the village a rather festive atmosphere.

It was a quaint place, with cheerful locales, and all manner of interesting establishments. In a rather paradoxical manner, however, this just made the tension between the three that much tighter.

“Ritchie, this was a stupid idea.”

“Really stupid,” Green echoed, looking down at a laminated menu embellished with imagery of lush green foliage. “This stuff is so overpriced!”

“Okay, you have no right to complain about that when you’ve been scamming people-”

“Public place,” she chided Red, prompting the trainer to trail off and stare down at the table angrily.

“Listen,” Ritchie said, taking a deep breath. “I want us all to get along a bit more, okay? It feels really weird, and I don’t like it. I thought a nice dinner out could help us bond a bit more.”

Red sighed. “I appreciate the gesture, but she’s a criminal and I’m only staying within ten feet of her because she’s coerced me into helping her. I get that you want everyone to be friends with each other, but it’s just not going to happen.”

“By the way, Ritchie,” Green said with a mischievous grin, “thanks for offering to pay for this. That was really nice of you! Appreciate it~”

“Wh- I didn’t- I just suggested that we go here not-” Ritchie sputtered, trying to protest.

“All right, that’s enough,” Red growled, slamming his fist on the table angrily.

“Listen, I’ve- I’ve had enough of this,” he decided, standing up and shuffling out from behind the table. “I just want to go back to the hotel. I- I can’t do this, okay?”

“But you can’t-” Ritchie protested, before Red cut him off.

“Ritchie. I am at my wits end right now, and so help me if I don’t just- I don’t even know, I feel… trapped and I’m really stressed out and I just can’t so please don’t.”

Ritchie sighed, looking down at the table uncertainly, then back up at Red, an awkward expression on his face. “I… okay.”

“Thank you,” Red responded softly, walking out of the restaurant in silence. He began to walk in the vague direction of the Pokécenter, still deep in thought, but found himself slowing down as the tension slowly began to drain out of him- leaving behind a quiet despondence and an empty stomach that continued to nag at him. He had walked out of the restaurant to get away from Ritchie and Green, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t hungry. Perhaps he should have at least held out until the meal was over before cracking under the stress.

As luck would have it, however, he found himself passing through a park where small concession stands offering cheap snacks were a poké aplenty, so he decided to eat at one of the ones close by that had caught his attention. He climbed onto one of the seats behind the counter and sat there in silence for a minute or two- finally looking up as he felt the owner’s eyes on him.

“I’ll have a slice of cheri pie, please,” he said, pulling three ₽100 bills out of his coat pocket and sliding them over to the balding man. He wordlessly accepted the payment, then walked to the back, returning a few minutes later with a piping hot slice of pie on a paper plate. Red murmured a few words of thanks, then began to eat, still quiet as he tried desperately to sort out his own thoughts.

He had hoped the food, and a bit of fresh air, would help. Instead, he had to resist the urge to throw up.

Suddenly, he felt someone sit down next to him. He recognized the teal jumpsuit immediately, but he didn’t have it in him to look up at the other trainer. Instead, he gave Ritchie a small nod of recognition, then went back to his food.

“... you’re right.”

Red blinked in surprise. ‘What?’

“I don’t think enough before I do things. And… sometimes I need to know when to let things run their course. I can’t try to fix every problem I come across.”

Okay, he really hadn’t seen that coming.

“I’m not always qualified to handle a situation well. And some things take time or energy I don’t have. The point is, I shouldn’t have tried to force you and Green to get along when you weren’t willing to try. Especially since it isn’t necessary for any of us to get what we want out of this; my money, your badges, her pictures… so, I’m sorry. Let’s get some rest, okay? We have a long day tomorrow.”

“Ritche,” Red said, standing up and looking him in the eyes. “Do you know what day it is?”

“I haven’t been keeping track. Why?”

Red sighed wearily, picking up the now empty plate and throwing it in a nearby trash can. “It’s December 24th. Christmas eve.”

“Oh- oh. I hadn’t realized.”

“This is the first time ever that I’ve spent Christmas away from my mom. I mean, it was never really a big thing for us in the first place, but it’s still… a reminder of the circumstances, you know? That I’m not at home anymore. It’s… weird. Especially with Green around.”

He began to walk around, somewhat aimlessly, with Ritchie following close behind. He wasn’t sure where he was going at the moment- he just wanted to get somewhere quieter, where the other parkgoers wouldn’t be as distracting. Finally, he found himself in a small, secluded corner of the park surrounded by a barrier of spruce trees, which gave a perfect view of the large towering peak above them. He sat down on the soft grass, stretching out a bit, and Ritchie settled himself next to him not long after.

“I miss her.”

“Your mom?”

“Yeah… I mean, kind of. It’s weird. She never really got pokémon battles, or the gym challenge, or any of that, and it always felt like we… didn’t understand each other very well. But I still miss her, you know?”

Red shifted a little, trying to find a comfortable position, then continued.

“There's so much I don’t know, too. I called my mom right before my gym battle- I think you had already left by that point- and she was… surprisingly unfazed when I told her about Team Rocket. I’ve been left wondering… why? How could she be so used to something like that that all she told me was to remember to call more, and let the police know? And Team Rocket, too. They completely disregard the honor in battling, and it’s just so confusing. I don’t know how to handle it.”

“I’ll be honest,” Ritchie admitted, “I don’t know either. But I think it’ll be easier if we try to handle it together.”

At this, Red sighed, unsure of how to respond. Ritchie didn’t press him for an answer, though, and the two of them sat there in silence, watching the sun go down.

Finally, as the last rays of light fell beneath the horizon, and the streetlights blinked on one by one, they stood up, and began to walk away.