บท 76: Red in his way
"..."
Magnemite (So, why did you come here?)
"..."
Magnemite? (Did you come here because Pikachu told you to?)
"..."
Magnemite (Alright, as long as you don't harm us, we're okay with it.)
After saying that, the Magnemite made way for Red, allowing him to pass through. The Magnezone also ignored him and did nothing.
Red walked through, glancing around before looking at Pikachu, who was nestled inside his jacket.
"...?"
Pika! (This way!)
"..."
Pikachu! (Trust me! I'm super reliable!)
So Red continued forward, but as it got darker, he decided to take out a Poké Ball and summon Charmander.
Charmander? (Battle?)
Seeing Charmander turning his head to look around, Red just patted its head and said to it, "..."
Char... (Not a battle...)
It seemed like Charmander was still upset after the battle with Blue and wanted to fight to improve its skills.
Pika pika (Instead of being upset about the lack of battles, why don't you do something more useful?)
Hearing that, Charmander angrily glared at Pikachu. Charmander!! (What do you want? If you've got guts, come here and face me!!)
Pika~ (I won't stoop to arguing with idiots~)
Charmander?! (What did you say?!)
Seeing the poor relationship between the two Pokémon, Red quickly intervened, trying to calm them down.
Pika~ (I just hope that fire lizard does its job well.)
Char (Hmph.)
Charmander moved forward, and its tail flame shone brighter than usual, with stronger fire.
Char? (Is this enough?) Red nodded and patted Charmander's head.
Charmander enjoyed it, but when it looked over at Pikachu, who was still snug inside Red's jacket, its mood quickly soured.
Pikachu felt similarly – although she had a prime spot (in her own opinion), she couldn't help but feel annoyed and jealous seeing another Pokémon getting Red's attention.
Red noticed the tense silence between them and decided to follow the direction Pikachu had pointed out.
Some Voltorb rolling around spotted Red casually walking and looked at each other.
Voltorb? (Isn't that the guy who gave you food?)
Voltorb! Voltorb voltorb! (Yeah! Although it didn't help us since we eat electricity, I can't deny it was delicious!)
One of the Voltorb at the front thought for a moment, looking at Red up ahead.
Voltorb (Maybe he still has food. Even though we have plenty of electricity here, it's pretty tasteless. Let's follow him.)
Voltorb!! (YEAAA!!)
And so, the group of Voltorb started following Red.
After walking for a few minutes, Red began to hear footsteps.
It had to be said… a lot of footsteps.
Red slowed down, then took a peek at the source of the sound.
There was a whole crowd—an overwhelming number of people.
They were all dressed in black, with purple and green hair, and large red R's on their shirts.
Needless to say, their appearances were distinctly different from Jessie and James.
Seeing this, Red seriously observed them.
"Have you pinpointed the location yet?"
"Yes, since Admin Archie is here, the plan will succeed sooner or later."
"Heh, even if it's a legendary Pokémon, it's just a title when facing us!"
"Hahaha!"
'A bit arrogant, aren't they,' Red thought to himself, noticing Charmander gritting its teeth at them.
Still holding a grudge?
He was about to stop Charmander but, seeing it remain patient, he let out a sigh of relief.
Red observed Team Rocket and devised a strategy.
Once Team Rocket finished discussing their plan, they spread out.
'This is my chance!'
Red silently followed the smallest group, stealthily trailing behind them.
***
This was an important mission assigned to them by Boss Giovanni.
The number of people here was about 500, with even an Admin leading the operation.
Each group had 100 members, and they were part of Group 4.
Group 4 had split up: 30 people were scouting and providing support for the main assault force, while another 50 were standing by to attack as soon as the order came through their radios.
The remaining 20 were tasked with guarding the scouts.
One member of Team Rocket yawned, sighing at his assignment to protect the scouting team.
Boring work, despite the hefty reward.
"Do you think anyone's gonna try to stop us?" one of them asked.
"Heh, no way. Even the Gym Leader got stalled by the Pokémon around here."
They were well aware that Surge had shown up, and they didn't take him seriously in the slightest.
A single Electric-type Gym Leader, planning to stand up to 500 of them? Ridiculous!
"Hey, I heard Jim's team killed a Marowak while they were stealing skulls from the Cubone."
"For real? What did they do with the Marowak's body afterward?"
"Isn't it obvious? If the meat can be sold, they'll sell it; the black market always accepts Pokémon meat, haha."
They chatted lightheartedly, until one of them sensed something off.
"Hey, why does it feel like we're missing people?"
Hearing this, another member counted.
"14, 15, 16... 17? What? Three people are gone?"
"Who knows? Maybe they went to the bathroom?"
"Are you kidding? There's no way—"
Before he could finish, a sudden chill ran down both their spines, and for some reason, music started playing in their ears.
Before they could comprehend the situation, an Iron Tail struck the nuts of the guy next to him.
"UAGHH!!"
"What the hell—OUGHHH!" The other was electrocuted, then punched in the face out of nowhere.
Their screams drew the attention of the others.
In front of them stood a boy with black hair, wearing red with some white accents. Pikachu was on his shoulder, and Charmander stood by his side.
The boy turned to look at them, his blood-red eyes locking onto theirs, with lively music still playing in their ears.
"KOFFING, GO!!" One of them, sensing the danger the boy posed, immediately called out his Koffing.
But before he could give any orders, the boy summoned a Magikarp, picked it up, and threw it at Koffing.
Then he rushed forward, landing two punches before Pikachu leapt and struck Koffing down with Iron Tail.
Koffing was knocked out!
"WHAT THE—?!" They were horrified. This was the first time they'd seen a Trainer literally join in the fight alongside their Pokémon.
This kid wasn't playing by the rules!
"Ekans!!"
"Koffing!"
"Geodude!"
They all summoned their Pokémon, and a few of them even drew whips.
Suddenly, Pidgeotto swooped down, attacking the ones wielding whips.
"AGHH, WHAT THE—?!"
"WHERE DID THIS WRETCHED BIRD COME FROM?!"
Red ordered Pikachu to attack, and Pikachu jumped up, sending powerful electric shocks at the enemy Pokémon.
Geodude, being a Ground-type, was immune, but Charmander took charge of that.
It dashed over, repeatedly striking Geodude's face with Metal Claw, overwhelming it, and then kicked Geodude aside.
Red then directed Pidgeotto and Charmander.
Pidgeotto flew over to Charmander, gathering as much air as possible to create a powerful Gust.
Charmander took a deep breath and unleashed a full-force Flamethrower.
The two attacks combined into a special move—a Firestorm!
"AGHHHHHH!!!"
The Rocket members, now terrified, tried to flee, only for Pikachu to knock them back with Iron Tail, sending them stumbling right into the oncoming Firestorm.
The inferno inflicted massive damage, leaving the Rocket members unconscious, sprawled across the ground.
One member remained, staring at the boy in fear.
The boy walked over and grabbed the unconscious Ekans.
"Y-You're not human!!"
Those were his final words before Ekans constricted him, the boy's red eyes glaring at the now-pale man.
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