4780 | - Pokemon Heartgold -u--xenophobia-

But Lyra noticed the whispers. The way Mr. Pokemon locked his door when Gold passed. How the Day-Care couple charged him triple. The ugly curl of a fisherman’s lip as Gold fished on Route 42: “Go back to your Celadon City high-rises, city boy. These waters are for Johto blood.”

“The war was twenty years ago. We were babies. Gold wasn’t even born. You want to blame Kanto? Blame their government. Blame the old syndicates. But this kid? He beat Team Rocket. He saved the Slowpokes. He—” Her voice broke. “He’s my friend.”

The “war” was a hazy thing—trade sanctions, a few ugly skirmishes near the Indigo Plateau, twenty years cold. But in Johto, it was still a warm ember under the ash. 4780 - Pokemon Heartgold -u--xenophobia-

He was from Kanto. That was the first strike.

“I stopped it,” Gold said, rising. His voice cracked. “I helped .” But Lyra noticed the whispers

Gold had just defeated the Red Gyarados—a monstrous, shimmering thing driven mad by forced evolution. Exhausted, he knelt at the water’s edge, washing the crimson scales from his arms. Lance, the Dragon Master, clapped him on the shoulder. “You’ve got the heart of a true Johto trainer.”

The crowd turned on her. Her own neighbor, Mrs. Fennel, shook her head. “You’re young, Lyra. You don’t remember the embargo. The poisoned berries. My brother still can’t walk straight.” How the Day-Care couple charged him triple

“Only when you steal my experience points,” she said. And for the first time, he smiled like he meant it.