Head To The S.S. Anne

After a few moments of kneeling on the ground feeling sorry for yourself, the strong-willed, endlessly stubborn part of your brain pushes through your frustration. I can't just give in like this. Who cares if the gym is closed; you can still find the gym leader and battle him. You'll just have to find a way into this 'exclusive' party somehow. Hell, that's if Blue was even telling the truth about the party being difficult to get into; it wouldn't be the first time he's lied to you today.

Forcing yourself to cling on to your determined attitude rather than let this miserable day get you down, you pick yourself up off the floor and start heading towards the harbour, walking as fast as your tired legs will allow. As you reach the harbour, the S.S. Anne immediately catches your eye; it's a huge, luxurious cruise liner, dwarfing all the other boats that are docked in Vermillion's port. You see security guards checking people's tickets before allowing them onboard, and your heart sinks as you realise Blue wasn't lying to you about the kinds of people invited to this party; everyone who is being allowed onto the ship is either a lavishly-dressed, obviously wealthy individual, or a figure of some renown in pokemon training or research. You can even see a few Gym Leaders and other well-known people from different regions, this party clearly being a big deal even to people outside of Kanto.

Your eyes drift to the very back of the queue, and a familiar figure catches your eye; a man in his early twenties with messy light brown hair, wearing a light purple shirt, holding hands with another man as they wait to be allowed on board the boat.

"Bill!" you cry out, and start running towards him, the muscles in your legs hating your decision.

The man turns around to face you, and his eyes instantly light up. "Hey, Amber!" he says, waving at you, as the guy that you assume is his boyfriend also turns in your direction; he's got darker hair than Bill and is wearing glasses.

"Long... time no see..." you say to Bill as you reach the two men, panting a little as you try to get your breath back. I really need to work on getting fitter...

"And who might you be?" asks the other man, who's honestly pretty cute in a nerdy sort of way.

"This is Amber, from Pallet Town," says Bill, and begins to explain your connection. Bill is a Pokemon Researcher and programming genius, a prodigy who came up with major innovations to the Pokemon Storage System when he was still in his early teens. He had often come to Pallet Town to visit Professor Oak and exchange notes, and the pair of you had formed a pretty close friendship over the years, due in part to him being one of the only people you'd known to stand up to Blue's bullying of you when he witnessed it. It helped that he was, as far as you could tell, only interested in men, meaning he didn't spend any interaction with you ogling your body or committing casual sexual harassment like most males you had to deal with.

"Pleased to meet you, Amber," smiles the other man shyly, once Bill has finished his introduction. "I'm Celio, Bill's... colleague."

"You can say boyfriend, it's fine," says Bill, rolling his eyes irritably. "She saw us holding hands for fuck's sake." Celio blushes and you smirk at your friend's familiar blunt attitude. "First time in ages you've let me take you out and you fucking colleague-zone me," continues Bill, as Celio hurriedly mumbles apologies. "Celio's from the Sevii Islands," Bill says, turning to you. "He and I met when I went over there to help him set up the PC system over there. Mind you, he pretty much had it covered on his own. Guy's kind of a genius, like me." He smirks, and you nod at Celio.

"It's nice to meet you," you smile, and the quiet man returns your nod, adjusting his glasses and blushing at Bill's compliment.

"So, uh, anyway, how are you?" Bill asks. "Looks like you're finally a trainer now, huh? Everything you hoped it'd be?"

"Um... kind of," you say, truthfully. Traveling with your pokemon, building relationships with your team, and conquering the gym challenges has felt as incredible as you knew it would, but getting fucked by Blue on your first day was pretty much the worst start possible, not to mention the sex show and all of today's drama.

Bill nods understandingly. "I mean, you always knew it'd be tough," he says, before he smiles at you reassuringly. "But you're gonna make a real difference, like you always said you would. I believe in you."

"Thanks," you smile at him, before pulling the brim of your hat down over your eyes, not wanting to ask what you need to of your friend after all the kindness he's shown you over the years. "I... could kind of do with a favour..." you say, reluctantly.

"Fire away," says Bill, keeping one eye on the slow-moving queue up ahead of him. "You know I want to help you out however I can."

"Ok..." you begin, somewhat hesitant. "I... really need to get onto the S.S. Anne. The Vermillion Gym Leader's on there, and I haven't been able to challenge him yet. Blue's been rubbing it in my face like he does and I... I just really need to get on there, somehow, and find Surge..."

"Ok," says Celio instantaneously, catching you off-guard, before producing a ticket from his shirt pocket and extending it towards you. "Just take my invite and go on there with Bill. This really isn't my scene anyway, so-"

"Not so fast," interrupts Bill, pulling Celio's hand down. "You're not wriggling out of this party so easily; it's taken me months to talk you into this and you're not gonna ruin all of my hard work." He then looks at you with sincere regret in his eyes. "Besides, it wouldn't work, anyway. The guards are pretty strict about only letting on the specific people who have invites." It's now Bill's turn to avert his gaze, looking down at the floor. "I'm really sorry, Amber. I know how much this means to you..."

You **** yourself not to show how disappointed you are. "It's ok," you say. "I guess I'll just, um... figure something else out. It was nice to see you again, Bill." You wave at him and Celio, before turning to walk off back to the Pokemon Center, having no idea what your next course of action should be.

"Wait!" calls Bill, and you turn back around to face the researcher, his face looking uncertain about whatever he was going to say next. "There... is a way you could get on board the ship. I just... really don't think you're going to like it..."