Going at the speed they were going, the trip to Goldenrod didn't take very long at all. Maybe three hours at most. "The Magnet Train's real fast," said the woman, "but the ship goes a bit roundabou', and then ya still need ta get ta Goldenrod. I prefer jus' ta use my own means of transportation." She said all this as they were riding her speedboat to Goldenrod. Ciara could barely hear her over the wind and the water.
Ciara was having so much fun! She had never gone so fast before, and she loved it! And she could already see the city - it had appeared over the horizon about half an hour ago. There was a giant tower with a sort of needle on top. Maybe that was what the others had meant when they said that humans built towers that could touch the sky.
When they reached the shore, the woman hopped out lightly and said, "could ya han' me the end of tha' rope there? Yeah, tha' one." She looped it around a post, the other end already tied somewhere on the boat, and called, "All righ', come on ou' now!" Ciara climbed nervously onto the dock. Feeling very glad that she hadn't fallen in, she turned to the woman, who smiled at her again, and said, "Thanks fer the company! Mos' of my trips are rather lonesome, ya know?"
"Oh, it's... it's no problem. Thank you for bringing me here."
The woman smiled again, but the laughter in her eyes had disappeared. When she spoke again, her speech was more formal, and her accent had shifted to something Ciara could never hope to place. "I never told you my name, did I? I'm Sarah." Then she said, "Your friends - their names were Blazaria, Mitch, and Alex, weren't they? Well, they'll probably be at the PokeCenter. Can you get there on your own? It's the building with the orange roof." Ciara knew this from Pewter City. "I have to go somewhere. Meet with some colleagues. Good luck!" She turned, and as she went, she dropped a pair of sunglasses, with lenses that were pure black.
"Oh, um, you... you dropped these!" Ciara hurried up to her to return them.
The woman glanced at her over her shoulder. "Keep them. You might need them."
"Oh... alright. Thanks again!" She hurried off towards the PokeCenter, a bit confused and worried. I never told her the others' names, did I? She put on the sunglasses, mostly so she would have her hands free. To her surprise, she could see perfectly fine through them. I wonder what these are? I saw a sign in Pewter City that called these sunglasses, but those mostly had brownish... lenses is what they're called. I need to remember these words!
Ciara looked up at the PokeCenter. The ground floor was the same as the one in Pewter City, but, if possible, more crowded. She skipped the floor in between, as all the curtains were closed. The top floor seemed to be some kind of dining area. Two humans about her age were sitting by the window, one with a Pansage on his shoulder, another with an Absol on her lap. Two adult humans were sitting at the next table, and a young child was running around playfully. And there - at the third table by the window - were Mitch, Blazaria, and Alex, sitting with a girl she didn't recognise.
She dashed through the door. One of the pink haired women came up to her. "May we help you?"
"No, I'm just meeting my friends!" Ciara went right by her, at a quick walk. She went to the staircase. Going two steps at a time, she headed for the top floor. When she reached it, she ran up to her friends' table.
"There you are! It's me, Ciara!" She took off the sunglasses. "See? How'd you all get here? What happened exactly? Why did the Scientists let us go?" Then, with a mistrusting glance at the girl, "Who's that?" She refrained from giving them all a big hug. Something told her that Mitch had had enough of that already.
