Abby, Abba, and Jayleno headed south out of Cerulean city, toward to heart of Kanto, to Saffron City. Here, all the best fighters and academics gathered. This was the city where young hearts could pursue their dreams and become superstars. But the city was known to be well protected, and at the north entrance a guard stopped them. The city was partially in turmoil due to an ongoing election. The Rocket Party was seizing power, but there were a number of defectors protesting the results.
They opted to take an underground path to Vermillion City, a port town full of sailors and fisherman who couldn’t care less about politics. They were immediately out of place. They found nothing of interest other than to watch a league of various hockey players playing on the docks all through dusk and into the night. The players were an even rougher bunch than the sailors, and Abby learned a few tips on how to dodge attacks by sparring with them.
Other than enjoying a bit of recreation, they found themselves at an impasse. They could try to venture east or west, but all they heard from the local townspeople was that more roads were being locked down. Even the S.S. Anne, the luxury cruise ship that had been waiting to depart for weeks, was docked until further notice. Jayleno, with another one of his cunning ideas, suggested they spend some time around the sailors, sing their merry songs with them about putting in a day of labor, and when the time was right they could convince the captain to take a quick day trip west. From there, they could jump down to the coastline and take a discrete path into Saffron City. But the sailors proved to be a bitter bunch who didn’t take kindly to outsiders.
Blue had caught word that the squad was basically hiding out on the S.S. Anne, and, hungry for revenge, barged into the ship with his goons. He didn’t just have plans to fight them, but was going to hijack the ship and take it to a port belonging to the Rocket Party. He had become nothing but a Rocket crony, in pursuit of his own political power, and a successful heist on the S.S. Anne would have granted him enough status to become one of their top members. A massive brawl broke out in the ship’s dining hall, leading to half the dishes and tables being broken, and most of the staff fleeing the ship. The captain feared if the fight went elsewhere, the ship’s engines would be permanently damaged. A few of the hockey players saw the brawl from the docks and rushed to aid their new friends. One of those players was the captain of the best team. Of the rare Farfetch’d species, he was often called The Mighty Dux. He was a bird who had never fought a fair fight in his life, and didn’t care to let that ever change. His metallic hockey stick had been sharpened to have a lethal edge, and he wasn’t afraid to spill blood with it. He and his companions quickly slayed two of Blue’s goons, and the rest of them fled. For the first time, Abby and Abba both saw a Pokémon die before their eyes.
As they recovered from the fight and the captain thanked them, the power to the ship went out. Night had fallen, and they had to weave their way through the dark halls, out to the town, where they found the power to the entire city had been cut off. Dux knew the city well from his many nights of scuffling with hustlers in back alleys. He led the crew down a path and used his hockey stick to hack through the thick brush blocking the path to the basement, a rust-covered warehouse that served as the city’s power plant. From what little he knew, he could see that they’d have to rewire some of the switches, but a single wrong move might cause a surge through the gym and kill some of their best electric Pokémon. None of them had the faintest knowledge of wiring, but Abba trusted the indications of the Helix Fossil as it shook in Abby’s bag. “It’s this one,” he said. “The Helix is telling us so.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Abby said. “You’ll get us killed just for thinking that way.”
“It’s not just a thought. I can feel it.”
Before she could stop him, he pulled a lever to a switch and told Abby to cut the cord on the one she was standing by. She had little faith, but went with his instruction. There was a loud clunk, then a generator came back to life and light spread across the room. They only had to defend themselves from a few Voltorbs and Magnemites who had been thrown into a fit of rabid aggression due to an unnatural surge of electricity. When they emerged, Dux led them to his wooden bungalow by the docks, where they rested in damp hammocks until dawn.
The mayor, Lt. Surge, honored Abby and Abba with a city badge for their valiant efforts. They had gained clout around the city, but still pondered for weeks about how to find a way into Saffron City. The answer for what they should do next came to Abby during a strange encounter one bright afternoon with a large and elderly Drowzee. He meandered toward her, staring blankly, with such a stern look on his face, Abby wondered if he had spoken a word in the last few years, though that wouldn’t be an unusual trend for a Drowzee. He walked with a small staff and had a gray beard full of beads and other emblems. Abby waited for him to speak or give a sign, but he gave her nothing, until she realized she could see an image of herself in his eyes, crossing a dry, mountainous landscape, then entering a dark tunnel.
Overwhelmed by both déjà vu and epiphany, she realized the way forward was to venture into the Rock Tunnel to the northeast, then into Lavendar Town. She went running back into the town to convince Abba of the trek they would need to take. The elderly Drowzee kept trudging along behind her footsteps, and Abba could barely notice what Abby was saying to him as he watched the figure silently approach the town plaza. He looked into the eyes of the Drowzee and saw his own premonition growing in the distance, one of fire burning all around him. He was filled with fear and nausea, and he suddenly had a desire to travel to a remote island to be surrounded by water.
Abby was saying, “Are you listening? We’ve got to travel to Lavendar town!”
Simultaneously Abba said, “We’ve got to travel to Cinnabar island!”
They looked in each other in confusion, wondering how they had come into this phase of agreeing with each other less and less. But Abby was pleased enough to hear him suggest something other than to return home, so she withheld her contempt and agreed that they should try to befriend a water Pokémon along the trek. Until then, they would head for Rock Tunnel. Dux resigned from his hockey team, packed his bags, and committed himself to joining the squad, though that meant he’d have to learn how to fight fair in the gyms. The four of them took off for the northeast. Just as they left town, Abba turned to see the Drowzee still trudging along, following the exact path of their footsteps, though he walked so slowly they’d be many fields ahead of him within a day.
Passing through Cerulean city for a couple of days, they saw Red meandering aimlessly about the town, chattering to himself. When he saw the squad as they made their way out, he shouted at them. At first his words seemed like nonsense, but Abba realized he was saying, “Eevee! Find an Eevee.”
He did not know why Red would suggest finding such a small, fluffy, and altogether harmless Pokémon on their trek. He asked Abby, and she shrugged. “Sure, he was right that we’re meant to be fighters. But that doesn’t mean he knows everything.”
That night, deep into the grass fields where they were beginning to enter rocky terrain, Abba had such a vivid dream of being at home that he was convinced it was real. He was in his bed, and none of his journey had happened. He spent a lovely afternoon playing a marble game with his siblings, and all was comfortable, though a bit disappointing. He woke up, happy to find Jayleno by his side, and when he told his buddy what he had dreamed, Jayleno laughed. “If you encounter a Drowzee and don’t have a crazy dream, then I’ll think something’s strange. Otherwise, don’t wake me.”
The night was quiet. No creatures were stirring, save for a couple of Sandshrew at a watering hole. He had made the firm decision to stop longing for home, only to have a Drowzee insert these nostalgic dreams of comfort into him, along with a lurking fear that they were about to be caught in a wildfire. But he had been on his journey for over two years, and he had no reason to turn back now.
He had no idea how gruesome the trek would be. For months Abby, Abba, Jayleno, and Dux tread along the thin trails through the mountains. Though Abba could fly above them, he was often tasked with swooping down to catch Jayleno, or Dux—who had wings but could barely fly—to save them from a perilous fall. On one unfortunate afternoon a pack of wild Spearows flew down to tussle with Abby. Their attacks caused her to lose her balance. Both Abba and Dux fluttered near her and kept hold of each arm with their beaks. Jayleno bit down on one strap of her bag and desperately clung to the edge of the path. But their efforts were futile. She was too large, and they collapsed onto the slope and went tumbling down to the bottom of a cavern. She tried several times to climb back up, but the slope was too steep. There was no way out other than backtracking several weeks’ worth of distance.
They descended the end of the route tired, hungry, and full of bite marks from wild Ekanses. They came upon a hut just outside the entrance to Rock Tunnel, an officially sanctioned Pokémon Center, though it had lackluster service. The people offered little more than a few serums and special balm they claimed was made from Chancey tears. And they refused to offer anything, “Until you take this Rattata off our hands,” they said. Two men who appeared to be ranchers had a Rattata about the size of Jayleno leashed to the table. Jayleno tried talking to him, but the tiny monster looked spooked and constantly distracted. “He’s harmless, really,” the men said. “He just doesn’t belong here. Take him back to the city, if you’re really determined to get there.” After agreeing to the deal, the men inquired further into why the Pokémon even wanted to travel to Saffron City. “That place is in turmoil,” one of them said. “The Rocket Party is going to ruin that place, if not all of Kanto.”
“All the more reason to go,” said Abba. And that was the first time Abby could recall Abba expressing enthusiasm about venturing further.
His renewed vigor was just enough to keep them going, now as a group of five. The small Rattata led the charge into the dark opening of the cave. He was hypervigilant and searching every surface, digging into small crevices and sniffing them. Every now and then his head would snap up and he’d be completely still, as if listening to a voice none of the others could hear, then he would return to digging, though his efforts never turned up anything useful. Abby and Abba figured they would tolerate his presence and find a willing family of Rattatas to take him in near the city. He soon became the least of their concerns as they made their way deep into the cave, which was so cold and foggy they couldn’t see for more than two steps in front of themselves. They took beatings from several Machops and a couple of Onixes who slithered across the ceiling and rained boulders on them. They spent months backtracking and arguing over which direction was correct.
Just when Abba thought they might never find the way, they noticed the Rattata digging through a thin wall and exposing an opening. Abba sighed in relief. “Praise Helix,” he said. Abby shook her head in disgust, but she followed along, as she was also desperate to explore a new path. As soon as she stepped onto the ground just in front of the opening, the entire floor collapsed, and they fell into a rushing river which took them back to the opening of the cave. They might have been heartbroken, but they weren’t even certain if they had lost much progress anyways.
Abba and Jayleno were put in charge with keeping the Rattata on a leash. Abby felt no responsibility for him, and she wouldn’t have cared if he ran off and got lost. She thought him a menace and only referred to him as Digrat. Her bitterness kept most of the squad silent through their long weeks of travel, until they erupted in argument at the bottom of a cavern, where their voices echoed through the darkness.
“You never should have brought us here. This was suicidal.”
“Your idea to go to Cinnabar Island was delusional.”
“You can barely even fight the wild Pokémon in here. How do you think you have a chance to compete in Saffron?”
“You’re barely brave enough to make the trip into the city. How do you think you have a chance to meddle with their politics?”
They trudged on in silence. Abba was contemplating whether he would apologize just before accepting his death in the depths of the tunnels when they finally saw the exit. They emerged into a blinding light, with a gracious view of the city on the horizon. Jayleno said, “Wait, I forgot something at the hut. We gotta go back!” And Abby laughed for the first time since they had left Cerulean city, almost a year ago.
They spent many nights resting in a quiet grass field. On the last night before making the push toward the city, Abba told Abby that it wasn’t really him who had lashed out at her in the cave. He had been possessed by ghosts. “I do believe you’re a fighter. You’re gonna be the best in all of Kanto.”
She smiled. “We’re going to be the best.”
Seeing she was at ease, he asked, “If we come across an Eevee, should we take it, like Red told us?”
She sighed. “Professor Oak used to talk about that Pokémon. He knows all about them.”
“What does he know? Tell me.”
“If you give one a water enchanted stone, it becomes a Vaporeon—a goddess of the sea.”
“So Red really is an oracle then. We have to find one.”
“Perhaps…if one falls into our lap we’ll take it.”
A couple of days passed, and indeed an Eevee did fall right into Abby’s lap. They were on the outskirts of the city and were welcomed into the home of a seasoned Pokémon caretaker. He was an awkward man, with a mischievous smile, and he never looked them in the eye, but he was genuine enough to welcome them in for a rest. And he brought a cage to the table, telling them they should take this cute one with them, for her owner had abandoned her. He opened the cage, and a fluffy Eevee leapt out, straight into Abby’s lap as she was sitting on the open floor.
“Certainly,” Abba said. “We’ll find her the most eager owner in all of Saffron.” Of course, he was lying. He knew in his heart that this creature was destine to be evolved into a Vaporeon and take them to Cinnabar Island.
Abby still had her doubts. They had already taken on the pesky Digrat from humans, and he was still required to be kept on a leash. Now the Eevee wouldn’t leave Abby in peace. The fluffy creature could walk on her own four legs, but she preferred to climb on Abby’s shoulder or even cling to her tail. If any of the others tried to carry her, she fidgeted and squirmed out of their grasp and leapt back onto Abby.
When they sat to rest, she was particularly enamored with Abby’s tail, watching every flicker of its flame.
She said, “They have other forms, you know. Jolteon and Flareon.”
“Why should that matter?” Abba asked.
“Seems like this one likes fire.”
“Wait until she sees the ocean. Besides, if we buy a water stone, she’ll evolve how we choose.”
“Just gotta be careful,” said Jayleno. “I’ve heard merchants will cheat you—sell you a fire stone and say it’s a water.”
“We’ll rough up whoever cheats us,” Dux said. “Let them try it.”
Jayleno laughed. “They’re supposed to be afraid of a puny Farfetch’d?”
“They’re supposed to be afraid of this.” Dux fashioned the sharp edge of his hockey stick in Jayleno’s face.
Abba grew annoyed of their bickering and said, “Guys, it’s dawn. We’re only a couple of days outside the city. Let’s go.” And he led them onwards.
But the way forward grew disturbing. Along the path there was nothing but the signs of abandoned rural life: withered farmlands and broken down barns. A howling wind blew dirt and debris into their faces. A dead tree full of Spearows erupted, and the flock of squawking birds followed them for hours. Even though they were drawing closer to the city, there were no people, no Pokémon in the grass or along the road, until they came into the final stretch of road through several large boulders. There were two dead Growlithes on the edge of the road that had been bludgeoned on their skulls. A wild Mankey was running along one of the boulders, with a blood covered rock in his hand. He caught sight of the squad approaching him and ran forward to intimidate them with his outrageous chants. He was fearless and beastly—tall as Abby—and nothing caught his attention until the Eevee jumped from Abby’s tail onto her shoulder to look at the Mankey. At that, the Mankey broke his display of rage and stared at the Eevee, who was crouched on Abby’s shoulder not making a single squeak. But her pupils were fully dilated into black pearls.
After a moment, the Mankey made a cry of panic and ran. The wind picked up and the flock of Spearows disbanded. The Eevee began making sounds. Abby and Abba leaned toward her, only to hear her uttering a string of seemingly random letters.
A gush of wind ripped them apart. Abby and Jayleno went soaring with all the speed of a rail car, straight into the nearest boulder. The impact of Abby’s body hitting the rock was so loud that Abba thought the sound was a crash of thunder, until he looked up and saw the boulder collapsing, and a spew of molten rock erupted from the debris. Both of his life companions had vanished in an instant.
Abba cried out from the depths of his heart and flew toward the rock, but the surface was so hot he singed his feathers and beak as he tried to dig into the rock. The others wouldn’t even help. They only wanted to pull him away in order to save his life.
“She’s gone. She’s gone!” Dux said.
“No!” Abba cried. He kept flailing at the pile of half-molten rock, even though the heat was setting bursts of flame to his wings.
“Abba, why do you think these rocks are so hot? Do you really want to see what’s in there?”
Upon hearing that, he slowed to a stop. He looked down and saw a trail of thick, scarlet liquid, which may have been blood or lava, or both. The rocks collapsed further.
Just as he was realizing all hope was lost, a rock from the top of the pile tumbled off and went rolling across the street, bouncing several times but never losing momentum, until it landed on top of the Eevee.
Instantly she burst into flames and grew three times her size. When the blinding flash of light subsided, the squad was staring in horror at a fully evolved Flareon. She looked back with a mute, demonic stare, and she stomped the ground, sending a wave of fire in their direction. They scattered and fell down, and when Abba rose, he saw his False Prophet running toward the city.
Abba, Dux, and Digrat were left in a trail of char and flames. Abba was empty. He made no effort to keep moving. Digrat, tied to his talon, dragged him along while Dux pushed him. At the gate to the city, they found a security guard’s corpse covered in burns and many buildings damaged. They found the people of Saffron distraught by chaos. A frail woman overwhelmed with fear said the mayor had been assassinated that morning; the city’s government was fully overthrown by henchmen of the Rocket Party, all done with the help of a fiery demon that had befell them hours earlier. A young man named Blue had charged in and killed off the last of the defectors within the Party. Having risen to power, he announced to the city he would be instituting the system of democracy for all.
The Party members were corralling stragglers along the streets. Just as they grabbed Dux and Digrat, to bring them into the headquarters and brand them with new IDs, Abba spread his wings and made a break for the sky.
He was gone for three days. During that time, Dux and the others who had heard of him and his prodigy friend wondered if he was going to return.
Abba had no plan to return to Saffron City. But he had no ability to turn up back in Pallet town, after being gone for four years, without Abby alive. He had no will to go anywhere, other than into the wild.
He did return. But it is not well known what happened to him while he was away, for he would never talk about it. The only account was passed down by Erica, the mystic of the forest. She said the depraved bird had fallen into the meadow by her hut, bloodied and burned, tangled in vines, with a snapped leash tied to one talon, and a satchel tied to the other, with some heavy object inside of it that he refused to let her examine. He used his last morsel of strength to push her away as she tried to heal him, saying, “Let me die. I am not meant to be a fighter. I’m just a Pidgey.” But she would not let him die. She was a healer for her entire life and had never willingly let a creature in her hands die. As his strength waned, he could not keep her away, and he began to confess that he had killed for the first time—not just his opponents, but anyone in his path. He had ravaged the most sacred lifeforms he could find. He had gotten his soulmate and his best pal killed. He was too ashamed to live another day.
But just as she managed to apply a healing balm, his heart and panting slowed, and his eyes narrowed toward the sky. He said, “Look. Look up there. Do you see it?”
Erica looked at the sky and saw only tree tops.
“Do you see it? Abby said it wasn’t real. But it’s there. You see it, don’t you?”
She looked for the faintest object in the pure blue sky, but she didn’t see anything.
He whispered, “The legendary bird.”
He came to a serene stillness…then she felt a faint electric spark as he jolted back to life and took off with a renewed strength that none of her healing balms could have given so quickly.
On the third day he descended again. The people of Saffron City saw his shadow before looking up to see a fully evolved Pidgeot in the sky. Some were already saying his arrival was a sign that they would be saved. He landed with a forceful thud in front of Dux and Digrat as they were carrying out their delivery jobs assigned by the Rocket Party. They stood in awe at the strength and size of their friend. They almost didn’t recognize him. He was adorned in a red silk band. The Helix Fossil hung from his neck like a medallion.
He said, “Come with me, and we will save this land.”
Dux pulled his hockey stick off his back and began to sharpen the edge.
The people from all edges of the streets were gathering. Red, who had aimlessly stumbled into the city, began chattering a new name for him, calling him Bird Jesus, and the people chanted the name in unison. Abba did not mind, but he preferred to be known by his full name. Maybe by coincidence, maybe by fate, the full name his mother had given him at birth was Abba Jesus.