Chapter 34: Mountain Moon
"Everyone, be careful; there are a lot of Zubat here, I mean a whole lot,"
"So please be cautious."
After saying that, the guard allowed us into the tunnel.
Red looked around and saw that there were many other trainers here, either searching for Pokémon or battling.
And overhead, there were countless Zubat.
"Zubat is a weak Pokémon but extremely annoying; they often use a strategy of overwhelming you with numbers rather than quality," Brock explained about Zubat.
"You know quite a lot," Leaf remarked.
"Well, I do have one, after all."
Brock threw a Poké Ball and summoned Crobat.
...
Wait, I thought he was talking about Zubat?
"When did you get this one?" Misty asked, surprised to see Crobat.
"Since I first became a trainer," he explained simply.
Red, hearing this, checked out Crobat.
[Crobat lv 67
Gender: Male]
...
Isn't that a bit too strong?
No, more like, isn't that a bit too much of an advantage?
Red began to question his life choices as well as the gym battle between him and Brock.
"Crobat, if any Zubat decides to bother us, please tell them to stay away."
Crobat obeyed, flying around the group.
"Now we're safer!" Brock said cheerfully.
So, the group continued their journey. Along the way, they encountered quite a few Geodude and Trainers blocking their path. Luckily, Zubat was not among them.
However, inside Mount Moon, it was truly difficult to determine which way to go.
There were even many ladders leading downward, leaving them unsure of which path to take.
Fortunately, there were clear signs directing us out of the mountain.
At least, there should have been...
"I think we're lost..." Leaf said, looking at the map of the mountain.
There was no one around except for them.
Seeing this, Red looked at the ladder leading downwards.
Red called everyone over, pointing to the wooden ladder.
"Red, are you sure it's safe to go down there?"
"..."
"Try it just to be sure? Hmm, okay then."
So, the whole group went down.
Suddenly, they all heard a familiar voice crying out for help.
"HELP!!!"
"DAMMIT, IT'S YOUR FAULT, MEOWTH!"
"WHY ARE YOU BLAMING ME?!"
'Oh, it's the foolish trio,' Red thought, seeing the two people and the talking Pokémon.
Oh, and they were accompanied by a bunch of Zubat, a whole lot of Zubat.
DAMMIT!! RUN!!!!
The whole group tried to quickly climb up the wooden ladder, but the hasty climbing caused the ladder to break right there on the spot.
The entire swarm of Zubat flew towards them, using Leech Life on Meowth.
"AGHHH!!"
"MEOWTH! ARE YOU OKAY?!"
"DO I LOOK OKAY?!"
Meowth was very weak, even weaker than the others of his kind.
The reason was that Meowth had used up his evolution potential to develop another ability—
The ability to speak.
Normal Pokémon would never do such a thing because it was useless.
Thus, Meowth was comically weak.
The Zubat continued using Leech Life, but this time their target was someone else.
This time it was the boy in red—Red!
Seeing many Zubat aiming for him, Red pulled off his jacket, revealing Pikachu lying underneath!
Red's Jinchuriki, PIKACHU!!!!
Sensing that Red was in danger, Pikachu immediately jumped out.
She used Thunder Shock, attacking the Zubat.
Due to the conductivity and the fact that Zubat is a Flying-type, the Zubat were electrocuted, and many of them fell.
Those that weren't hit were attacked by Brock's Crobat, which swiftly dealt with them.
The Zubat were defeated quite easily.
Afterward, the group turned to the culprits who had caused them to waste energy fighting all these Zubat.
"What? What are you kids looking at?"
"Calm down, Jessie, we were saved by these kids!"
"So what? We're the bad guys; we don't need any help!"
"But..."
"But what? Besides, the kid's Pikachu is right here—why not take the chance and capture it?" Jessie stood up, taking out a Poké Ball.
But before she could do anything, all three of them were shocked by Pikachu.
"ALRIGHT, I'M SORRY, STOP SHOCKING US!!!"
They really weren't much different from the players—quick to change their attitude.
"Why is Team Rocket here?" Brock approached, staring intently at the trio.
"Why we're here is none of your busin- AAAAAAAHHHH STOP SHOCKING ME!!"
"ALRIGHT, I'LL TALK, I'LL TALK!"
The three explained.
Recently, a cave full of Clefairy and a massive Moon Stone had been discovered in Mount Moon, along with two Pokémon fossils found by some nerdy guy.
So, their Boss quickly assigned them the task of kidnapping all the Clefairy, thoroughly mining the Moon Stone, and taking the two fossils.
The person assigned to this task was one of the four commanders of Team Rocket.
As for James, Jessie, and Meowth, they weren't part of that group.
The reason they were here was to steal the glory and hand it over to the Boss to earn some praise.
After all, none of the three of them were particularly liked in Team Rocket, and the other members considered them fools.
Red's group listened to this and then glanced at Brock.
Brock was the oldest and most mature in the group, so trusting him was only natural.
"I'd love to stop them, but I'm no longer a gym leader, and you all shouldn't get too involved either."
"Remember, Team Rocket is a top criminal organization, highly wanted and operating from Kanto to Johto. Some of their members have even started sneaking into Unova. "
"They're very dangerous. You all are still young and have your future ahead of you, so let's not get involved."
This was Brock, the big brother who loved his family dearly.
He knew that just because you see something wrong doesn't mean you should jump in to enforce justice immediately.
It's simple—he was scared.
Scared that the younger ones might get hurt.
His big brother instinct wouldn't allow them to get involved in something dangerous (Is it a big brother instinct, or is it more like a mother's instinct?)
So the group decided to follow his advice, leaving Team Rocket behind, still smoking from Pikachu's electricity.
However, Red didn't like that.
Red knew that Brock cared about them, but he didn't like the idea of Pokémon being kidnapped and sold on the black market one bit.
So there was only one thing left to do...
His trump card, his strongest weapon.
***
Rey looked at Lukas, who seemed soulless.
At that moment, he had asked the new players, but they were just as lifeless as Lukas.
Except for Oceanlover.
"They were defeated by Red and had all their money taken. Those who didn't have money ended up in debt."
... What did you guys do to provoke my sugar daddy?
As soon as Lukas heard the name Red, he started shaking violently, foaming at the mouth, his eyes spinning uncontrollably.
"STOP IT!!! DON'T MENTION IT AGAIN!!!! THAT MUSIC KEEPS HAUNTING ME!!!!" Lukas stood up, clutching his head.
Why does Lukas have PTSD now???
Sugar daddy wasn't that strong at first... was he?
"It looks hopeless," Bob scratched his head.
Rey thought for a moment, then came up with an idea and smiled wickedly.
He approached Lukas, who was kneeling, and whispered into his ear.
"Tatakae"
"!!!"
"Tatakae"
"Tatakae, Tatakae, Tatakae, Tatakae, Tatakae, Tatakae, Tatakae, Tatakae, Tatakae, Tatakae, Tatakae, Tatakae"
Hearing this, Lukas couldn't take it anymore and fainted.
"You're evil," Bob said, looking at Rey, who was laughing joyfully.
"Come on, it was just one loss, why so serious—"
Before he could finish, a notification screen popped up.
[Urgent Mission: Defeat Team Rocket in Mount Moon
Location: Mount Moon
Reward:
-Depending on your accomplishments
-Increased reputation
-Red's gratitude (+50 Red's intimacy)]
The players looked up at the mission board, and their expressions changed completely.
Among them, Lukas was the most changed.
Lukas stood up, his eyes now like that of a certain Eldian.
"Tatakae"
Tatakae.
*****
I have an idea for a new novel, but I'm afraid I'll give up halfway through, just like I did with my previous two novels (not counting the Deadpool fanfic—I have no intention of continuing that one).
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone