Pokemon: Kanto Elite

Race You to Pallet!

Dodrio flew across Route 2, leaving Viridian with a strange line of footprints across the length of the city.

Her wind whipped behind her as each step Dodrio took rumbled underneath her.

The hills moved around her. Trees turned into flickering lights of brown and green. She felt the breath move through Dodrio's necks, the vibrations through the three throats, the feet slamming onto the ground and propelling them forward.

She loved this feeling of racing down a path, the slower acceleration up a hill, and the rewarding blast of speed downhill.

After months of teaching it how to carry her on its back and run, they were receiving the fruits of their labor. She took her hands off the necks and felt the air through her hands. It made her feel free- like she was running at breakneck speeds towards Pallet Town.

She loved that quaint little town. The people there seemed nice. Professor Oak had a laboratory she liked to visit. It was perched on a cliff overlooking the water like it was its own observatory above the horizon.

She couldn't wait to see the people again, to change into her bathing suit and ride Staryu over to Cinnabar Island-

Out of nowhere, a Pidgeot swooped low over Dodrio, almost clipping one of the heads with its wing.

Delia awoke and grabbed one of the necks. The third head slowed the whole bird down as it glared at its trainer. The dust caught up with the birds as the Pidgeot touched down a few feet away.

She jumped off of Dodrio in a huff, storming towards the Bird Pokemon with steam blowing out of her ears.

"IDIOT! Watch your pokemon, stupid! You almost got me killed!"

The other trainer stepped off and walked through a clearing in the dust. She immediately recognized the brown hair, the jagged freckles.

"That would have been a shame, y'know since we-"

Her hug shattered his train of thought.

"RAY! What a pleasant surprise! You-"

She immediately let go and narrowed her eyes.

"You said you'd wait for me."

His freckles turned red.

"You left first!"

"Did not!"

They circled each other like vultures.

"Yes, you did! I remember hearing people talking about how Delia finally left! That was the day before I challenged Blaine!"

Defeated, she shuffled her feet in annoyance.

"You could have waited anyway..."

"And what good would that have done?"

"I dunno..."

Dodrio broke the silence as it walked closer to Delia, sensing no danger. Pidgeot took one glance before preening itself.

"I see you got an...interesting way to get around."

One of the heads lowered to Delia's height, receiving a long-awaited scratch below the beak.

"Yeah. I can't stand flying, so the next best thing was this. You should see this baby run. I've raced across Kanto with this beautiful bird."

The other two heads began to fight over whose turn it was next for a chin scratch. Ray snickered at the three heads.

"What other pokemon do you have now?"

"Oh, and give you a chance to beat me by knowing all of my pokemon? Fat chance. You?"

"Really? Did you just ask that?"

Delia shrugged.

"Yeah. I didn't really know what to expect. Kind of hoped that you didn't remember what had just happened."

The two stared at each other in disbelief before they agreed to walk the rest of the way into Pallet. It was past one more hill, anyway.

"This town is lovely, Ray. Someday I'm going to live here."

"Here? But nothing is going on."

"Yes, there is. There's Professor Oak's lab..."

"And?"

"...Yeah, not much happens here. But the people here are so nice, and the view from the edge of town is just spectacular. No scary forests, no busy downtowns, no shopping malls, just a quaint town with just so much personality under the surface."

"So towns have personalities, now?"

She nodded as her Dodrio trotted behind.

"Yep. This one has warmth."

"Lavender's where I want to stay."

"But weren't you born there?"

He rested his arms behind his head.

"Yeah, but it's always changing. The Tower gets taller, the art gets better, but there's always someone new moving in...I love that place."
"Because it changes?"

"Exactly. It's always getting better. That's what I love about it."

"Feels like you can take the boy out of Lavender Town, but you can't take Lavender Town out of the boy."

He nodded in agreement.

"Doesn't seem that way from the Cerulean girl."

Her red hair whipped to face the smiling boy.

"Hmph. I just didn't like that lifestyle. Too posh and snobby. Trust me. You would hate it just like I do."

"Must be easy with all of that money."

She sighed as the town's small gate opened.

"I didn't want to be reminded of that. Believe me, if I could do it all over, I'd rather live here. My parents wanted me to marry a rich businessman in town before they recognized my love for pokemon. They wanted the best education for me, so I tried my best at it. I fought for it all because this was my chance to shine, and-"

Normally, she'd find tears welling up in her eyes. This time, she looked at her calloused hands, her shoes holding themselves together for dear life, and her favorite vest worn down with tree sap and wind rips. She breathed in proudly and wore her past on her sleeve.

"...And I did, without much outside help. I did it all myself. So yes, my family is still rich, but I'm even richer."

He saw it in her eyes. She definitely changed.

"But seriously, though, I've never made so much money in my life. I might be richer than them."

Or maybe not.

"At least they set up a bank account for me before I left their house again. We rich people don't like splurging on Super Potions and Rare Candies, you know."

Ray didn't even need to look at her face no notice that she smirked with a smug smile.

"We poor kids don't either."

Out of the corner of their eye, resting next to a fountain where a Ponyta found a drink, they saw a small boy with a big red cap covering a mop of hair and green gloves on his hands.

"We usually go broke on max potions and full restores."

"RED!"