บท 79: Red has a plan(?)
"UGAH!"
"IYAAA!!"
"NO WAY!!"
Each defeated Rocket member fell to the ground, and Red looked around before moving forward.
A few members stared at him in fear, trying to avoid making any noise.
Suddenly, one of them accidentally kicked a small rock, causing a sound.
"...Shit."
Lightning struck, hitting him directly and shocking him.
"UHHHU!!" Some of the members screamed like girls, extremely terrified at the sight of their teammate being electrocuted to the point of fainting.
Then, they heard the sound of a Pokémon just above them.
It was Pidgeotto.
"...Fuck."
Another lightning bolt shot at them, electrocuting them and making them collapse onto the ground, unconscious.
Pidgeotto then returned to Red's shoulder, enjoying his affection.
'Looks like there are no enemies left.'
Red then took out a map he had stolen from a Rocket member, examining it carefully.
According to the map, there were about 500 members, divided into five separate areas in a circle.
Currently, he had defeated 50 people, while the other 50 were gathering elsewhere.
'This is getting a bit tough…' Red thought to himself.
The ones Red had defeated so far were weaker, but the remaining 50 were surely equipped with strong Pokémon.
Should he keep using sneak attack?
"..."
Seeing Red in deep thought, the Pokémon started talking to each other.
Pika? (I wonder what's he thinking?)
Pidgeotto (Probably he just thinking about something.)
Char! (I want to fight!)
Pikapi... (You're such a bother, muscle-brain...)
Then Pikachu turned away and yawned a little... only to see a bunch of Voltorb staring right at them.
PIKAAAA!?! (WHAT THE HECK!?!)
Pikachu's scream snapped Red out of his thoughts. He looked over and saw a group of Voltorb.
'...Are these Voltorb following me? But why?'
The Voltorb noticed Red looking at them and exchanged glances, as if discussing something, before one of them rolled over to him.
Seeing Voltorb approach, Pikachu and Charmander jumped in front of Red to protect him.
Pikaaa? (Hey, who the heck are you?)
Char? Charmander? (Are you spying on us? You want a fight?)
They were acting like gangsters...
The Voltorb explained that they were only following because they wanted the tasty food that Red had shared with one of the Voltorb from their group.
They'd been drawn in by his battle and wanted to keep watching, especially since it was rare to see a 10-year-old taking down adults one by one. (...Even though I'm the one writing this, I feel a bit attacked.)
"..."
Looking at the group of Voltorb, Red suddenly got a brilliant idea!
So he approached them and "said" something.
After listening, the Voltorb looked furious. It nodded at Red and returned to its group.
They all seemed angry, but turned to thank Red and rolled away.
Pika? (What did you say to them?)
"..."
PIKA?!!! (WHAT DID YOU SAY?!!!)
Red just smiled.
***
"Ugh... I'm s...sorr... uhh," a Rocket member, his face bruised and bloody, begged.
But no matter what he said, another punch landed squarely on his face.
"I don't want to hear any more bad news. Men, take him somewhere else," said the figure, kicking the battered member away like trash.
"Y-Yes, sir!"
Four others quickly came over and carried the injured member off.
The man took out a cloth to wipe the blood from his hand, then threw it on the ground.
"Annoying pests disrupting the plan, even defeated a captain and rendered two teams useless. Ugh... what kind of unlucky day is this?"
The young man tossed a device to the ground, which projected a screen revealing a woman with glasses — none other than Boss Giovanni's secretary.
"What's the matter, Proton?"
"I want to report to the Boss."
"Tell me, I'll relay the message."
"No, I WANT to speak with the Boss directly."
Hearing that, the secretary frowned in disgust.
"...Fine, but try not to waste his time."
With that, the screen flickered briefly before revealing a man shrouded in darkness, petting his Persian.
"My apologies if I'm disturbing you."
"It's alright. What's going on?"
"Sir, a few pests are sabotaging our plan to capture Zapdos, and they're doing quite a job of it."
"Oh? You're actually praising them? That's rare," the Boss chuckled, though his face was cloaked in shadows.
"So, I assume... you'd like to handle them yourself, correct?"
"Yes, so I'm requesting permission to use some powerful Pokémon."
"Go right ahead. If you'd like, I'll even provide a Mega Stone."
"No need, sir. I wouldn't want you to waste such a valuable item on me."
Proton stood up, his arrogant gaze fixed on the Boss.
"Besides, they're no match for me."
***
Hilda cheerfully looked around the outside of Red's house, as if to memorize it carefully.
Her mother sighed, while Professor Oak chuckled slightly.
It seemed Hilda's crying had indeed succeeded in convincing her mother to agree.
"Let me ring the doorbell; I have a few things to tell her anyway," Oak said, walking over to press the doorbell.
Ding dong~
"I'm coming!!" Instead of an adult woman's voice, it was a child's voice.
When the door opened, a young boy, around Hilda's age or maybe a bit younger, appeared in front of them.
"Oh! Professor Oak!!" the boy greeted him with a big smile.
"Hello there! Where's your mom?"
"She's in the kitchen, please come in!"
Hilda, hearing this, happily walked right in, causing her mother to sigh again at her daughter's carefree attitude.
"Mom! Professor Oak and some guests are here!" the boy called out to his mother.
"Alright, alright, I'll be there in a moment!" came a woman's voice, sounding quite young.
When Professor Oak, Hilda's mom, and Hilda sat down, a woman came out to greet them.
"Hello, Professor Oak! And who might you two be?"
"Oh! My daughter and I are the ones your son helped!"
"WHAT?! RED DID?!" the woman exclaimed in surprise.
"Didn't Red tell you anything?"
"No, he never stays in touch."
"Ah... Red, as always..." Oak scratched his head.
"E-EXCUSE ME, MAY I ASK SOMETHING?!?" Hilda raised her hand and spoke loudly, drawing everyone's attention to her.
"Yes? Feel free to ask."
"What's your name?" Hilda asked cheerfully.
"Oh, I guess I forgot to introduce myself," the woman said, putting her hand to her cheek.
"My name is Delia, Delia Ketchum."
*****
If you're wondering whether Red will have "Ketchum" as his last name, the answer is no. The reason? Well, I just don't like it.
And in Japan, Ash Ketchum is only called Satoshi without any last name, so it's definitely fine, I guess?
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