Saffron City

You look between Jack and the strange man. “You’re right, we should go check out the gatehouse,” you smile when Jack takes your hand guiding you down the southern path.

You and Jack enter the Saffron Northern Gatehouse. You see the guard behind the desk and you call out, “Are you thirsty?”

The guard gives you an odd look before saying, “Um, yea.”

“Uh oh, he was right,” you whisper to Jack.

“Or maybe he’s just thirsty?” Jack whispers back chuckling, “Look over there.” She points across at someone coming in the other side of the gatehouse. The man walks through the gatehouse and out the door you and Jack came in. The guard says nothing about the man passing through.

You and Jack walk through the gatehouse and come out the other side in Saffron City. The towering buildings seem to reach to the sky. A large billboard across one of the buildings features Yuruki staring down at you. When you look around, you spot a couple other Sirens. People in suits walk through the streets bustling from one office building to the next.

You and Jack do some window shopping, looking at the various clothes, bags, and shoes featured in the large store windows. You spend a longer moment watching one window where instead of mannequins, the lingerie is being displayed on real women. The two women strike poses walking around the display area. Your attention is broken when Jack says, “Is that Blue?”

You stop for a second, the women are wearing red and white lingerie. You turn to Jack, about to ask what she means, when you see her pointing at a head of dark blonde hair sticking up through the crowd. “Maybe we should get out of here, just to be safe.”

Neither of you want to face Blue anytime soon. Jack pulls you into a building. You see the sign on the door that reads “Pokemon Trainer Fan Club.” The lights are off when you enter the building. A tv shines in the darkness, Sabrina is giving a speech. You recognize the video, you watched it live. It’s her victory speech from the Gym Leader Tournament 3 years ago, or was it 4?

You and Jack take a seat at the back of the crowd. Nearly 2 dozen people sit in the chairs watching the tv. Sabrina talks about the beauty of Saffron City, and then goes on about her efforts to stop the criminal organization known as “Team Rocket.”

“I had a huge crush on her growing up,” Jack leans in whispering in your ear. “My walls were covered in posters of Sabrina, my gym leader swimsuit calendar was always turned to her month. I tried so many times to dye my hair black, but my mom didn’t want me too. I got grounded once because I got a friend to dye my hair while I was at her house.”

You laugh hearing Jack go on and on about her crush on Sabrina. You stifle your laughter when people start looking back at you. When Sabrina’s speech ends, the lights turn on and a man walks to the front of the crowd. “Alright, so next on the agenda is to hear some presentations on up and coming trainers. I think MaryJo has one ready for us.”

The crowd lightly claps before a short blonde takes her spot at the front of the crowd. MaryJo starts talking, “So today, I wanted to talk about a trainer that I think shows a lot of promise.” She holds up a remote in her hand clicking a button. The tv changes starting her slideshow presentation. You read the name on the first slide, and it says . . .