No matter how many times Sam tried to approach Redi, she always found some excuse to slip away.

  “Oh, sorry, Ursaring got one of his claws chipped, so I have to go fix that!”

  “Dragonair got a little dirty, so I have to go polish her scales!”

  “Porygon was super interested in... something else, so I’m definitely going to go do that right now!”

  She ran off every time, avoiding Sam, not answering his questions, and, quite frequently, she’d be gone from the Pokémon Center before the sun was even up.

  Sam’s Pokémon were just as concerned as he was, and they tried several times to approach Redi and ask her what was wrong. However, she’d been traveling with them for a while. She knew their tricks and knew when to run away. They never had a proper chance to have a real conversation since Redi always knew how to avoid everything.

  There was only one solution to this problem, and that solution came in the form of an opportunity Morty presented to them a few days ago. Though Redi might have been avoiding Sam, he knew there’d be one place she was guaranteed to be:

  The upcoming festival.

  Specifically, she’d be at the entire reason they agreed to stay in town. If Sam couldn’t reach Redi anywhere else, he would reach her there. If not, then, well...

  No. He would reach Redi.

  He just needed a proper plan.

  The festival itself was hosted by the Kimono Girls, a group of skilled performers named after the clothes they always wore. Their performances were always in the style of old Johto, and they performed with such authenticity that they were known region-wide.

  ...Although, they weren’t technically an independent group but a cross-section of the Ecruteak Theatre Company and the Johtonian Historical Society. However, they carried enough influence and renown to be known separately from those two. Even Mr. Pokémon had connections to them, and they were so well regarded that festivals tended to spring up whenever they had a major performance scheduled. That was the story behind today, and that was the story of this festival that occurred every few months.

  Booths and stalls were constructed along the road as several city blocks became closed to anyone but pedestrians. Bright lanterns with text painted onto their sides were thrown onto strings that crisscrossed the growing night sky. Though the festival was yet to fully enter its most populated time, it had already started. From where he stood in the shadows, Sam could already smell the spice in the air and hear the music begin to play. People laughed and pointed as they took in the sights, and in front of the Kimono Girls’ very own theatre, an Espeon draped in rainbow fabric and an Umbreon dressed in whirlpool-themed robes sat on a pair of cushions placed at the sides of the door. The two Pokémon welcomed everyone who stepped inside.

  Though a crowd was building, people had only just started to show up. There were enough gaps in the throng that Sam could still see down the road, but there were also enough people that no one paid him any mind.

  They didn’t notice the boy leaning against the wall, nor did they notice how his old-fashioned robes let him blend in with the outfits of so many others here. They didn’t hear his sandals scuff against the ground, and they certainly didn’t hear the many Ghost Types floating above them in the night sky.

  While most of the floating Pokémon were curious, wild individuals, many more belonged to the Gym. Sam’s team had their own positions, however, with Misdreavus lingering in the shadows beneath his feet, Haunter sending him a thumbs up from a gap between two stalls, and various Gastly positioning themselves to form a grid to keep watch.

  “Sorry for not sending you all out, too,” Sam whispered to the three full Pokéballs still at his waist. “I know you’d want to explore this place yourselves, but it’d cause too much trouble. Still, this gives us plenty of reasons to come back here again in the future. I promise you all that we’ll return to Ecruteak to experience this properly once we get the chance.”

  Typhlosion was stuck in her Pokéball due to her species—her unique evolution meant she’d attract far too much attention if Sam sent her out in a public place like this. He could feel her Pokéball shake as she expressed her agreement, but the other two Pokémon, Primeape and Trevenant, didn’t bother to respond.

  Those two had been kept back because they weren’t sneaky when it came to subtly moving around a human city. A big, angry monkey and a spooky, haunted tree were pretty obvious even in the middle of a crowd. Thankfully, the festival hadn’t appealed to them that much anyway, so they were content to use this time to rest, instead.

  Sam fell back into silence as his eyes scanned the crowd, and no one sent him a second glance as they passed by. Children ran to and fro, men and women took in all of the sights, and Sam finally found his target cautiously entering this closed-off city street.

  Though he and so many others had dressed up in the style of old Johto, Redi hadn’t bothered to dress up—she’d rather jump off a cliff than put on something like a kimono. Still, even in modern clothes, she wasn’t out of place. She fit in right with the crowd as she took in the sights and looked for somewhere spacious enough for her to send out her team.

  But there was more than that. Her gaze seemed to possess a barely suppressed edge as if she had some gut feeling about what was yet to happen.

  It was when she stopped in front of a booth containing a pond full of Magikarp that Sam made his move. Too occupied with watching a child use an enormous spoon made of rice paper to fish out a Magikarp, she didn’t see Sam push off from the wall.

  She didn’t notice the shadows move in behind her either, but with an almost unnatural perception, she did notice when Sam took a single step forward.

  Without any delay whatsoever, Redi turned on a dime and immediately ran. She’d been traveling with Sam for long enough to detect when even the smallest details were off, and it seemed his barely-started approach had been far too targeted for her to not notice what he’d done.

  Sam cursed under his breath before quickly taking off after her. He was not wearing the right outfit for a run, but he kicked off his sandals to have them be caught by a Ghost Type lingering in the wall. The only thing he had on were socks as he ran across the ground, but he didn’t care because he knew this was his chance to finally reach Redi and get her to talk.

  “Not yet!” Redi shouted as Sam ran after her. “Not now!”

  Desperately, she zig-zagged through the crowded street, weaving through groups, between couples, and even unintentionally pushing several people to the side. For Sam, a certain shadow helped to guide his path—Misdreavus left a dark circle on the ground that most people avoided, and she was fast enough to direct him to easy gaps he could use to slip through.

  “Look, everyone! It’s the Gym Leader! Wow, Morty’s here!” Redi shouted in an outright lie.

  She looked over her shoulder to send Sam a smirk as she withdrew her hands from where she had cupped her mouth. All around her, people gasped and looked around for that famous man who wasn’t actually there. The crowd’s movements slowed, and in her shadow, Misdreavus pulled back.

  The gaps in the crowd had all but disappeared, and she didn’t exactly want to get trampled by strangers.

  Though Misdreavus wasn’t sure how to deal with the sudden change in the crowd, Sam pushed through. He started to squeeze through whatever gap he could find to get past the clamor and not lose Redi.

  Fine. If you want to play it like that, then we have plans, too.

  “Haunter!” Sam shouted.

  Like what he had done with his sandals, Sam withdrew a sack of coins from his pocket and tossed them into a shadow on the wall. They sank into the darkness like disappearing into a puddle of water. Ahead, a tired-looking vendor jerked awake when the large sum was dumped onto his table, and then Haunter and a few Gastly burst out from behind to spill several baskets of fruits and berries onto the street.

  People gasped and pulled away, but Redi didn’t even slow. Though the variety of fruits should have blocked her path, she just took a deep breath and picked up speed.

  A single push off the ground. She leaped across.

  Completely clearing the obstruction, she landed on the other side and stuck her tongue out at Sam. Her smug grin made it seem as though she planned to walk away from here, but when Sam prepared himself to jump as well, she gasped and turned to keep running away as fast as she could.

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  “Come on!” Sam shouted as his feet entered the air, and a sea of heads turned to track his leap through the air.

  He didn’t make it.

  A large Grepa berry burst when one of his feet came down hard. Thankfully, as he flailed and began to topple backward, a hand left a shadow to grab his robes and help stabilize him before he collapsed.

  “Thanks, Haunter,” Sam mumbled before continuing his mad dash forward. He did his best to ignore his now-soaked socks.

  Sam finally saw Redi try for one last thing as she grabbed a certain Pokéball with an almost guilty expression. Whispering to it as fast as she could, she then tossed it into the air with a single, final yell.

  “Check out how cool my Pokémon is!” she shouted.

  And that sealed the fate of this chase.

  There, in the direct middle of the road, Dragonair appeared with a loud, melodic cry. The crowd of people taking in the festival fell into a hush before crying out in amazement at the incredibly rare species.

  Dragonair preened under the attention, and people started to gather around her. Some of Morty’s Pokémon dipped down from above the lanterns to maintain a perimeter around the potentially dangerous Dragon Type, but that only added to the show. They might have been “scary” Ghost Types, but they also clearly belonged to the local Gym. The scene was far too attractive to the average festivalgoer to do anything but stare.

  Sam was forced to come to a stop. There was no way forward. Dragonair’s regal presence was far too effective.

  Redi got away.

  ...And then, almost as an insult on top of that, a hand was placed on Sam's shoulder. Cringing, he looked up to see an Ace Trainer staring right back at him.

  “You’re cleaning up all of that fruit,” the woman said, her voice leaving no room for arguments.

  Sam hung his head, knowing he had no choice but to agree.

  Though Sam had been defeated, it was only Sam who hadn’t been able to follow. He might have been stuck in the festival for a bit longer, but he didn’t miss Misdreavus’s shadow leaving the safety of his own to chase after Redi even as she ran further and further away.

  So he cleaned up the fruit, and Dragonair eventually flew off. The festival went back to normal, save for the short period he had to walk around and apologize to everyone he bothered while causing such a massive disturbance.

  But, the Ace Trainer eventually determined he’d been “punished” enough, and he was able to leave with a promise to not do anything similar again. He immediately left the festival to meet up with a Gastly waiting for him, and the Pokémon led him to others in a trail that followed Misdreavus and Redi all the way out of town.

  He also made sure to put on his shoes.

  Sam soon found his friend on a grassy hillside that overlooked all of Ecruteak. The night was deep at this point, and the bright lights of the city were distinct from the few visible stars in the sky.

  Dragonair coiled behind Redi, who had her arms crossed on top of her knees. Misdreavus floated over to Sam, looking pleased with herself, and Sam patted her head in thanks before bringing her back into her Friend Ball.

  Finally, he reached his friend.

  “I only realized Misdreavus was following me when I was halfway here,” Redi said quietly as she stared out over the city. In the distance, the sounds of the festival were faint, but they were audible from even this far away. “I didn’t really have a way to escape, so I figured I’d just wait for you, instead.”

  Sam nodded, saying nothing, and sat down next to her. Dragonair briefly brought her head up to check on the two of them before letting it fall back down so she could return to her rest.

  “You’ve been avoiding me,” Sam said after sitting there for a while. “Why? Is there something wrong? Is there anything I can do to help?”

  He didn't expect it, but to his question, Redi let out a short laugh.

  “That’s the problem. You’re already helping me too much!”

  He sent her a questioning look, but she looked away from him, rubbing her eyes out of something that was only partially frustration. After taking a moment to get herself back in order, Redi breathed out and returned to staring out over the town.

  “You’re always helping. Constantly. It’s not that I’m not grateful, it’s just that... How am I supposed to pay you back? You helped me learn about Pokémon. You got me that Hyper Beam TM. You’re the reason I knew I could seek out Porygon, and then there’s everything with the New Pokédex! Without that, I would have never got my sponsorship, and then I would have never got as far as I did without you, either.”

  “But you sold your Beginner’s Tournament medal to get Typhlosion her Curse TM,” Sam replied. “Without that, she would have never gotten so familiar with the Ghost Type and she would have never evolved.”

  Redi shook her head.

  “That’s just one thing. What else have I done?”

  “You helped me figure out how to actually train my team. You gave Primeape the perfect sparring partner in the form of Ursaring. You’re constantly breaking me out of dumb ideas and downward spirals. And you’re always there to support my plans, no matter how stupid I might be.”

  She went quiet. It took her a long time to reply.

  “That’s all stuff anyone would have done anyway. It still doesn’t match everything you’ve done for me,” she mumbled.

  “Doesn’t it?” Sam said, immediately countering her words. “Because it definitely feels like it’s enough, but that doesn’t even matter. Redi, I don’t help you because I want to be repaid. I help you because we’re friends.”

  There was a pause, an almost infinitesimally small pause. Sam didn't know what was going on with Redi, but he wanted his friend to be okay.

  “That’s not going to change,” he continued. “It’s not going to change, right?”

  “...Right,” Redi answered, but her voice was kept uncomfortably low.

  “I don’t get it. What’s going on? Wanting to help more can’t be why you’ve been avoiding me so much,” Sam said as he turned to face her.

  Redi slumped. She took a deep breath.

  “No. That’s not why,” she said reluctantly. “It’s just... It’s just that... Ugh!”

  She furiously scratched the sides of her head.

  “It’s just that I don’t want to say goodbye.”

  For an instant, Sam felt the world grind to a halt. Redi didn’t look away from the city, and he didn’t look away from his friend. Yet, no matter how hard he stared, he couldn't find any hint that’d reveal her words to be a lie.

  “Say goodbye?” he repeated.

  “Where are you going next?” Redi asked, her voice flat as she turned to look at him. “I know your plans, but I want to hear them. What city do you want to head to next?”

  “Olivine,” Sam answered carefully. “I want to rematch Jasmine, and I want to see if the sailors there can help me get a sixth Pokémon, too.”

  To that, Redi just sighed, leaning back and stretching out her legs. The sudden seriousness that had overtaken her vanished. She stared up at the night sky.

  “I can’t do that,” she said, almost in a whisper. “Not because I’m banned from Olivine or anything like that, but just because there’s somewhere else I need to go.

  “Mr. Pokémon called me,” she continued, still leaning back. “He gives me updates a lot, and I talk about my team. Right before we left Mahogany Town, he called me about Porygon. There, he told me he managed to get me a meeting with Bill about Porygon’s evolution.”

  Sam froze.

  “Bill? The Bill? That’s great! He's an expert with computers! He can help Porygon evolve, right?”

  “Yeah. Maybe,” Redi said solemnly, but a slight smile did appear on her face. “The thing is, we don’t know for sure. Everything he’s going to do is experimental, and we’re volunteering to help him just as much as he’s volunteering to help us. But...”

  She breathed out again, her faint smile fading alongside the mist formed by her breath.

  “But Bill lives in Goldenrod. Not Olivine. We won’t be able to go to two places at once.”

  Sam immediately found fault in that. He didn’t hesitate to counter.

  “I don’t see how that means a goodbye,” he said. “We just go to Goldenrod first, and then we catch a boat to reach Cianwood. Once we both earn our eighth badge, we can then swing back around to Olivine so I can face Jasmine’s core team and then we’ll still have time before the Conference to do what we want!”

  Redi glanced over at Sam out of the corner of her eye. The expression on her face said everything.

  It wouldn’t work.

  “I need to catch Stantler before going to Cianwood if I want to earn my eighth badge. And I don’t know how long I’ll have to stay in Goldenrod to get Porygon to evolve so we can teleport further. And there are also a few people Mr. Pokémon wants me to visit to maybe help with Ursaring’s evolution, so when I account for all of that...”

  Sam fell back down. The plans he had for his team didn't line up with any of that.

  “...We really have to split up here, don't we?” he said quietly.

  Redi unhappily nodded her head.

  For a while, they said nothing, choosing to just sit there and stare out over the city. At one point, fireworks were launched from the rooftops surrounding the festival, and Dragonair’s eyes sparkled as she took in the show.

  Sam didn’t enjoy it. He couldn't enjoy it. He felt like he’d just been punched. He never considered that he and Redi might need to split up before the Conference. They’d been taking on the entire Gym Challenge together every moment before now.

  We would have gone to Olivine, then Cianwood, and then taken a boat back down to Goldenrod before going to Ilex Forest. It could have worked out so well, but that’s only if we prioritized what I want.

  Redi is right. For her team, she has to go to Goldenrod as soon as possible if she wants them to succeed. And the same is true for me when it comes to Olivine and my team.

  When it came to Porygon, Redi desperately wanted them to evolve. Sam knew she prayed that an evolution would help them become more independent. And then when it came to Sam’s journey, re-battling Jasmine was only a loose desire, but he had promised himself he’d do it. Also, Typhlosion deserved to visit her grandfather again, who lived along the way, and Sam had a gut feeling that traveling back toward Olivine was something Primeape needed to do.

  It felt as though they could have made it work if anything was ever so slightly different. But it wasn’t. And that meant they couldn’t keep traveling together once they left Ecruteak.

  “Well...” Sam started, but he stopped himself as he made his expression serious. “Well, whatever! Who cares if we won’t be traveling together for the last bit of the season? The Conference is coming up no matter what! We’re absolutely going to earn our last badges, and we’re absolutely going to compete! So! We just need to promise to meet back up in Silver Town, and we’ll both be there when the time comes!”

  Sam pushed to his face, now properly facing Redi. Dragonair watched him as he stood up, and he could feel the eyes of a few of his Ghost Types staring at his back.

  “Agatha, and then Morty, both told me that I need to get better at managing how Ghost Type energy affects me,” he said, talking quickly. “I know I can get angry or annoyed or bothered easily, but to stop that, they said I should make some kind of rules for myself so I always have something to fall back to. I might have been avoiding it because I didn’t want to think about it, but let me make my first rule here right here and now!”

  He held out his hand.

  “I will never betray my friends, and I will never break my promises,” he declared. “And I promise to you that we’ll meet back up in the Conference. You’ll promise me that too, right?”

  Redi stared at his offered palm before finally letting out a snort. A sharp grin of her own appeared across her face.

  “Of course! Gah, why am I acting like this? It’s like I’m becoming you or something!”

  She clasped his hand, and Sam yanked her to her feet. Their eyes then met in what could only be a challenge between trainers.

  Their eyes met in a challenge between friends.

  “We’ll face each other in the Conference,” Redi promised.

  “We’ll face each other in the Conference,” Sam promised right back.

  Some trainers would have a battle to say goodbye or even exchange gifts. Sometimes, in rare scenarios, trainers would even trade a Pokémon to encourage one another to meet back up in the future.

  But Sam didn’t need to say or do anything else, and the same was true for Redi. Both were only one badge away from their goals with future schedules that saw little potential for an overlap. They both had the same goals, but they both had different paths. Yet, eventually, they’d be in the same place no matter what.

  The Silver League Conference was a mere month and a half away, so for now, they’d be parting.

  However, they both knew they’d meet back up soon enough.

  Sam’s Team:

  Badges Earned: 7 (Mineral, Fog, Plain, Hive, Zephyr, Rising, Glacier)

  Approximate Team Strength: 7 Stars

  (Fire / Ghost Type, Female, Timid Nature +Spe/-Atk)

  Abilities: Blaze

  Held Item: Charcoal

  Moves: Tackle, Leer, Smokescreen, Ember, Flame Wheel, Curse, Will-O-Wisp, Incinerate, Detect, Quick Attack, Swift, Flame Charge, Flamethrower, Double Team, Infernal Parade, Confuse Ray, Hex, Shadow Ball, Night Shade, Shadow Claw

  (Fighting Type, Male, Impish Nature +Def/-SpA)

  Abilities: Anger Point, Vital Spirit

  Moves: Scratch, Leer, Low Kick, Karate Chop, Fury Swipes, Assurance, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Cross Chop, Curse, Brick Break, Rock Smash, Rock Slide, Bulk Up, Rage, Rage Fist

  Haunter (Ghost / Poison Type, Male, Naive Nature +Spe/-SpD)

  Abilities: Levitate

  Moves: Hypnosis, Lick, Confuse Ray, Spite, Mean Look, Hex, Shadow Punch, Night Shade, Acid Spray, Ominous Wind, Shadow Ball, Dream Eater, Nightmare

  (Ghost Type, Female, Hasty Nature +Spe/-Def)

  Pokéball: Friend Ball

  Abilities: Levitate

  Moves: Growl, Psywave, Astonish, Confusion, Confuse Ray, Mean Look, Night Shade, Shadow Sneak, Shadow Ball, Nasty Plot, Psybeam, Will-O-Wisp, Psychic

  Trevenant (Ghost / Grass Type, Male, Quiet Nature +SpA/-Spe)

  Pokéball: Moon Ball

  Abilities: Harvest, Frisk (Developing)

  Moves: Horn Leech, Tackle, Confuse Ray, Astonish, Growth, Ingrain, Leech Seed, Forest’s Curse

  Redi’s Team:

  Badges Earned: 7 (Mineral, Plain, Hive, Zephyr, Rising, Glacier, Fog)

  Approximate Team Strength: 6 Stars

  (Normal Type, Male, Adamant Nature +Atk/-SpA)

  Abilities: Guts, Quick Feet

  Moves: Scratch, Fury Swipes, Fire Punch, Baby-Doll Eyes, Slash, Ice Punch, Focus Energy, Thunder Punch, Hyper Beam, Rock Slide, Swords Dance, Giga Impact, Shadow Claw, Sleep Talk

  Porygon (Normal Type, Genderless, Quirky Nature +-n/a)

  Abilities: n/a

  Moves: Tackle, Sharpen, Conversion, Psybeam, Thunder Shock, Charge Beam, Discharge, Tri-Attack, Charge, Teleport, Recover, Thunder Wave, Magnet Rise, Lock-On, Zap Cannon

  (Dragon Type, Female, Rash Nature +SpA/-SpD)

  Abilities: Shed Skin

  Moves: Wrap, Leer, Thunder Wave, Twister, Slam, Agility, Aqua Tail, Dragon Rush

  Auxiliary Pokémon: x2 (Tibia and Fibula), a decent number of wild (variable)

  At Home (non-battlers): ,

  Pokémon (and people) included in this chapter:

  Espeon

  Bill

  huge thank you to everyone reading! Your support keeps this story going.