Chapter 2: Seeing Red!
Ash Ketchum, along with his new friend Peter and his new partner Pokemon Scorbunny were walking along Route 1 in relative silence. Peter had explained to Ash how to use his Rotom-Phone, and after that the two hadn't uttered a single word to each other, mostly because they were taking in and admiring the beautiful sights to be seen along the first route of the Kanto Region.
"So, Ash, now that you're a trainer, what do you plan on doing first?" Peter Parker asked, breaking the silence that had formed between the trio. "Y'know, what are your goals?"
Ash simply grinned at his older friend and jabbed a thumb at his chest as he continued walking. "I'm going to be a Pokemon Master!"
"Right..." Peter replied, slightly amused by Ash's response. "Everyone says that, but what exactly IS a Pokemon Master?..."
This question puzzled Ash, who at first thought Peter was a complete dunce for asking it. However, the more he thought about, the more he realized that the question actually made sense.
What WAS a Pokemon Master?
The younger boy brought a hand to his chin for a moment, before grinning at Peter. "I think a Pokemon Master is to be the best trainer that I can possibly become! That means becoming the strongest trainer in the whole wide world, you know?"
This answer REALLY amused Peter, who couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, why aren't you catching any Pokemon, then? You've only got Scorbunny at the moment!"
Ash looked down at his fire-type starter, who nodded in agreement with Peter's statement. "Scor Bun Bun..."
"Huh, I guess you're right..." Ash muttered as he stopped in his tracks, causing Peter and Scorbunny to stop as well. The younger, raven-haired boy looked around a bit from left to right.
"Uh, what are you doing, Ash?" the brown-haired boy asked, genuinely confused by his friend's odd behavior.
Even Scorbunny couldn't understand his trainer's motives, and raised an eyebrow as Ash continued to search for someone or something.
Eventually, a grin spread across his face and he yelled "Aha! I've found it! Come on, Scorbunny! We'll be taking a slight detour!"
Ash ran into some nearby tall grass, leaving his partner Pokemon as well as the professor's assistant behind. The two looked at each other, shrugged, and ran after Ash, who was now crouching.
Scorbunny ran to his trainer's side, and crouched alongside him, leaving a very confused Peter to try and guess their motives.
"Uh, guys? What are you-" the brown-haired teen began, but was cut off by Ash who put a finger to his lips and made a 'Shh!' sound. Peter looked ahead of himself, and then noticed a Pokemon!
Standing there, pecking at its body to try and remove some fleas from it, was a wild Pidgey!
Pidgey was a small, plump-bodied avian Pokémon. It was primarily brown with a cream-colored face, underside, and flight feathers. On top of its head was a short crest of three tufts. The center crest feathers were brown and the outer two tufts were cream-colored. Just under its crest were its narrow eyes which had white sclera and pupil along with its black irises. Angular black markings extended from behind its eyes and continue down its cheeks. It had a short, stubby beak and feet with two toes in front and one in back. Both its beak and feet were a grayish-pink. It also had a short, brown tail made of three feathers.
"Alright, a Pidgey!" Ash exclaimed as he took out his Rotom-Phone and pointed it at the bird Pokemon. "Let's see what the Pokedex has to say about it..."
"Bzzt! Bzzt! Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokemon, a normal and flying type. Among all of the Pokemon that can fly, they are the gentlest and easiest to capture," the orange-colored Rotom-Phone in Ash's hands explained. "As such, they are perfect for beginning Pokemon Trainers! Bzzt! Bzzt!"
Ash put the Pokedex-like device in his pocket, before grinning from ear to ear. "In that case..."
The raven-haired boy looked down at Scorbunny and pointed at the flying-type Pokemon. "...Let's catch it, Scorbunny!"
"Bunny!" the fire-type excitedly replied, ready to have its very first battle under its new trainer.
Realizing that his friend was going to try and catch the Pokemon, Peter immediately took out his notebook so that he could make some notes of the battle. He did, after all, promise Professor Oak that he would send him some reports regarding Scorbunny's progress!
Ash got up to his feet, prompting Scorbunny to do so as well, and pointed at the bird Pokemon. "Scorbunny, I choose you!"
"Scorbunny!" the fire-type cried as it hopped out of the grass and in front of the wild Pidgey, who tilted its head to the side since it just now noticed the trainer-owned Pokemon. The wild Pidgey was watching Ash's Scorbunny very carefully.
"Alright, Scorbunny! Let's make the first attack!" Ash exclaimed, excited for his first Pokemon battle. "Use..."
A brief silence followed.
"...Uh, what moves does Scorbunny know?" Ash asked Peter sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.
Peter, along with Ash's partner Pokemon, Scorbunny, both fell down comedically due to the question.
"Y-You can check your Rotom-Phone," Peter explained as he stood up and dusted himself off. "It has information regarding everything about your Pokemon, including its moves..."
"Oh, right! Thanks!" Ash exclaimed as he turned his head back in front and towards the battle. He unlocked his phone and swiped through it a bit before reaching a page regarding Scorbunny's available moves. Once he was well acquainted with them, he put the device back into his pocket and grinned from ear to ear. "Scorbunny! Use Tackle!"
The rabbit Pokemon nodded at its trainer before turning its head at its flying-type opponent. A whitish-silver outline appeared around its body before it dashed at the Pidgey, attempting to tackle it. Unfortunately, the flying and normal type Pokemon dodged the attack by flying upwards.
"What was that?..." Ash muttered, ignoring the fact that his attempted attack missed, and rather focusing on the odd aura that had surrounded his partner Pokemon for a brief second. The raven-haired boy was about to check his Rotom-Phone, but Peter cut him off, causing Ash to look at him.
"I can tell you what that was," Professor Oak's assistant grinned. "He has the Hidden Ability Libero, remember? Since Tackle is a normal-type move, Scorbunny's turned into a normal-type for the time being!"
"Oh wow, that's pretty cool..." Ash muttered, looking back at the battle. Pidgey was now flying in the air, looking down at Scorbunny.
"Pidg...Ey!" the bird Pokemon cried as it began flapping its wings faster and faster, before unleashing two tiny tornadoes at Scorbunny by using its Gust attack!
"Oh no!" Ash exclaimed as the two tiny tornadoes rushed towards his only Pokemon. "Uh...Scorbunny, dodge it!"
The little Pokemon did as its trainer commanded and jumped back, just barely managing to get out of the way of the flying-type attack in time. Although he really loved Pokemon, it was clear that Ash wasn't the best trainer!
"Hm...What should I do?..." Ash thought to himself intensely. In the corner of his eye, Ash spotted Peter jotting down some notes in a notebook that he had brought out from absolutely nowhere. It was quite obvious that he was studying the battle so that he could submit a report to Professor Oak later. But that wasn't what was important right now. How was Ash going to catch the Pidgey?...
Ash shook his head and decided to command his Scorbunny to try and use another Tackle attack. "Hm...Alright, Scorbunny, use-"
Suddenly, out of absolutely nowhere, a Pokeball flew past Ash's right side and hit the Pidgey in the head. The Pokeball opened up like a capsule and converted the Pidgey into pure blue energy, which it promptly sucked up. It then fell down to the floor, much to the confusion of everyone present.
It wiggled once.
It wiggled twice.
Then it wiggled a third time...
And three little stars momentarily appeared above it, signifying that the Pidgey had been caught!
"Scor...Scorbunny?" the fire-type asked its trainer, turning around and tilting its head to the side. The fire-type Pokemon had assumed that Ash had thrown the Pokeball. Also, as a side-note, Scorbunny's typing had reverted back to the regular old Fire-Type that it once was, since the battle had come to a conclusion.
Peter Parker had also assumed that Ash was the one who had thrown the ball. "Did you throw that, Ash? If so, that was pretty lucky, since you didn't deal any damage at all!..."
"It wasn't me..." the raven-haired boy muttered, looking around from left to right, trying to catch a glimpse of who had thrown the ball. However, his face then turned comedically red with anger. "But when I find out who really threw that, I'm gonna make them pay! That was totally my catch!"
As Ash began to rant, Scorbunny and Peter noticed a boy who appeared to be about Ash's age walk up to the Pokeball and pick it up.
The boy had spiky black hair, red eyes, and was wearing a red and white cap, and adorning a red sleeveless jacket with a white collar and stripe, black undershirt, baggy blue jeans with black, red, and white running shoes. He also had two Pokeballs attached to his waist.
He glared at the trio, specifically Ash, who failed to notice him in the midst of his childish rant, and simply made a 'Humph' sound.
"Hey, I recognize that kid!" Peter mentally exclaimed as he found himself realizing that he had seen the boy before. "He came to the lab directly after Gary did! I had assumed that he would have made his way to Viridian City by now...What's he doing all the way back here on Route 1?..."
"Scorbunny?..." Ash's fire-type starter asked, raising an eyebrow at the new arrival.
Ash, noticing that his Pokemon had noticed something, stopped and looked at where Scorbunny was facing. Standing there, in the exact spot that Pidgey was standing in, and holding the Pokeball that Pidgey had been caught in, was a boy that Ash did not recognize.
However, Ash was immediately on bad terms with the boy, since he immediately understood that he was the one who stole his catch!
"Hey, you! That was a real jerk move stealing my catch like that!" Ash angrily told the boy, who listened half-heartedly. He then stomped his foot on the floor and continued. "How would you feel if I stole one of YOUR catches, huh?!"
The red-eyed boy remained silent, which caused a cocky smirk to appear on Ash's face, as the raven-haired boy assumed that his silence was because he was thinking over what Ash had said. Scorbunny had a similarly cocky look on its face as well. Like trainer like Pokemon!
However, when the red-eyed boy simply turned around, Ash and Scorbunny comedically fell over.
"H-Hey! Can you hear me?" Ash angrily asked as he stood up, a tad bit annoyed with the boy's behavior. "Are you deaf or something?!"
"Quite the contrary, actually," Peter finally cut in with a smile, catching the attention of Ash, Scorbunny, and the mysterious trainer. The red-eyed boy seemed to recognize Professor Oak's assistant, though he continued to remain silent. "His name is Red, and he's mute. He's also one of the other trainers who obtained a Pokemon from Professor Oak!"
"Red?" Ash asked, looking at the boy, who stared back at him. "Hey...Now that you mention it...I think I HAVE seen this guy back in Pallet Town..."
The mysterious boy, now revealed to be named Red, turned his body so that he could face the trio.
"From birth, Red's found that he couldn't really talk. No matter how much the doctors try, he just wouldn't budge! However, although he lacks the ability to speak, he makes up for it with his skill in Pokemon training!" Peter explained. "Since he was young, Red would always borrow his mother's Pokemon and use them in a battle against some of the older kids. Surprisingly, he would always win!"
"Wow, you must be strong, huh?" Ash asked Red with the same cocky grin adorning his face. "Hey, what are you doing all the way back here on Route 1? A 'talented' trainer would already be at Viridian, haha!"
Red, ever silent, took out his Rotom-Phone, which looked exactly like Ash's with the exception that it was red in color instead of orange, and opened up the Pokedex page. He then showed it to Ash, Peter, and Scorbunny.
"Wow, you've already got three Pokemon in your Pokedex?..." Peter asked, genuinely surprised by the amount of Pokemon that Red had managed to obtain. "...Ah! I get it! You're trying to complete your Pokedex, aren't you?"
Red nodded and put his Rotom-Phone away, causing Ash to comedically roll his eyes.
"Show off..." the raven-haired boy muttered.
Scorbunny looked up at Red with a determined look in its eyes, and the red-eyed boy looked down at it with his signature stare.
"Hey, Scorbunny. What's up?" Ash asked, noticing that his partner Pokemon was glaring at Red.
Scorbunny continued to growl angrily at Red, who simply glared back.
"If I didn't know any better..." Peter started. "I think Scorbunny wants to get revenge on Red for you, Ash!"
"Really?!" Ash asked, turning his head to look at his partner, who flashed a grin at him. Seeing this, Ash immediately got excited and pointed at Red. "Aha! Alright! Red, I don't care how talented you are! I challenge you to a Pokemon Battle!"
Red simply shook his head and took a few steps back before taking out a Pokeball. It seemed that the red-eyed boy had accepted Ash's challenge!
"What a go-getter..." Peter muttered as he simply rolled his eyes and walked to the area in-between the two boys. "But fine. A Pokemon Battle would be some great practice for you two, anyways! I'll act as the referee. Is that okay with you two?"
Ash nodded and grinned. "Yup! That's fine with me!"
Red gave a simple yet sophisticated nod at the Professor's assistant, signifying his approval.
Peter smiled. "Alright, then! I want you two to call forth your Pokemon on the count of three, alright?"
Once more, the two boys gave a nod to Peter.
Professor Oak's assistant grinned in response and began to speak. "Alright! One...Two...Three! Let the match begin!"
"Scorbunny, I choose you!" Ash exclaimed, pointing his finger at the battlefield as his beloved partner Pokemon happily jumped in front of him.
"Scor Bun Bun!" the fire-type exclaimed as it intensely grinned at Red.
The silent trainer simply took a Pokeball from his waist and tossed it in front of him. The device landed onto the ground and opened up, releasing some blue energy that morphed into a Rattata!
"Rattata! Rattata!" the purple-colored rodent screeched in a horrible voice.
"A Rattata, huh? That's cool!" Ash exclaimed, ever the one to be excited by seeing a new Pokemon.
"So he's starting off with Rattata, eh?" Peter thought to himself with a grin on his face. "However, I wonder how he'll command his Pokemon, considering how he's mute..."
Almost on cue, Red took out his Rotom-Phone, and began using it to command Rattata in the fight!
"Bzzt! Bzzt! Rattata! Use Quick Attack! Bzzt! Bzzt!" Red's Rotom-Phone buzzed in a monotonous voice that pretty much matched his extremely serious facial expression, much to the amusement of Peter Parker.
Peter smirked as he saw what was going on. "Oh, so that's how... Red sure is talented..."
Immediately, Rattata zoomed towards Scorbunny at a speed that the little Fire-Type starter from Galar didn't expect and rammed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to stagger back a bit.
"Agh! Scorbunny, are you okay?!" Ash asked, genuinely worried about his Pokemon's health after the blunt attack that he had just taken. That Rattata sure was strong!
"Hngh...Scorbunny!" Ash's partner shouted back, not removing his attention from his opponent.
Ash grinned, relieved that his starter was alright. "Right...Okay, good! Now let's show Rattata your Tackle attack!"
Scorbunny grinned and nodded, with the silver outline once again surrounding his body, signifying his change to the normal type, before rushing at Rattata and hitting it in the face with its right arm, a grin present on its face.
Rattata staggered back a bit, and Ash was pretty excited.
"Great job, Scorbunny!" Ash exclaimed, congratulating his partner. "Let's try that one more time! Use Tackle!"
After giving his trainer a grin and a nod, Scorbunny proceeded to ram into Rattata, hitting it with another Tackle attack. This one seemed to do a lot more damage, and pushed Rattata back by quite a bit, causing it to fly and crash into a nearby tree that was behind Red!
"Bzzt! Bzzt! Critical Hit! Bzzt! Bzzt!" Ash's Rotom-Phone buzzed, causing a smile to form on his face. Critical Hits were special and rarer versions of attacks that would sometimes appear at random, and would do more damage than normal attacks!
Peter ran over to Red's Rattata, and crouched down to see if the tiny normal-type Pokemon still had enough energy to battle. However, it seemed that Scorbunny's Tackle attack was able to do the trick and knock it out!
"Rattata is unable to battle! Scorbunny wins!" Peter exclaimed as Red simply returned the Pokemon to Pokeball before placing it back to his waist. He then took another Pokeball and held it firmly, a deep and determined look was present in his eyes as he stared at it. The battle wasn't actually over just yet, since Red still had some more Pokemon that could fight!
"Scor...Bunny!" Ash's fire-type starter exclaimed as it jumped with joy, happy that it was able to defeat its opponent.
"That was great, Scorbunny!" Ash exclaimed, congratulating his partner. "You did great! That Critical Hit sure was lucky!"
Scorbunny smirked cockily at its trainer and gave it a thumbs up, though the fire-type only had three fingers so it looked a little bit weird.
"Bzzt! Bzzt! Level up! Attention, Trainer Ash! Your Scorbunny has now learned the Fire-Type move 'Ember'! Bzzt! Bzzt!" Ash's Rotom-Phone randomly exclaimed while still in his pocket, causing the raven-haired boy to grin from ear to ear.
"Wow, Scorbunny! That's cool!" Ash exclaimed, impressed that Scorbunny was able to gain enough experience to level up from defeating a measly Rattata that was so weak that it went down in two hits. "Do you think you could show me one before we battle Red's next Pokemon?!"
Scorbunny smirked and clutched its fists, leading Ash to believe it was getting to ready to attack! However...
"Scor Scor," the fire-type rabbit stated as it turned around, causing Ash to comedically fall over.
"O-Or you could just show me later..." Ash muttered as he got up to his feet and dusted himself off.
"Alright, trainers! Let's continue the battle! Red, please send out your next Pokemon!" Peter commanded Red, who gave a small smirk and nodded.
The red-eyed boy threw his Pokeball, which opened up like any other Pokeball would. The blue energy that came out of the Pokemon-capturing device quickly formed into the fire-type Pokemon: Charmander!
"Woah...He has a Charmander!" Ash exclaimed excitedly as he took out his Rotom-Phone to scan it. "That's so cool!"
"Bzzt! Bzzt! Charmander, the lizard Pokemon! It is said that Charmander has a preference for hot things, and that its life would end if the flame on the tip of its tail goes out! It is also one of the three Pokemon that beginner trainers in the Kanto Region can choose from! Bzzt! Bzzt!" the Rotom-Phone buzzed before Ash put it back into his pocket.
Charmander was a bipedal, reptilian Pokémon with a primarily orange body and blue eyes. However, its underside from the chest down and the soles of its feet were cream-colored. It had two small fangs visible in its upper jaw and two smaller fangs in its lower jaw. A fire burnt at the tip of the Pokémon's slender tail and had blazed there since Charmander's birth. Red's Charmander, specifically, had a very serious look on its face that could probably scare the living daylights out of someone if they were caught by surprise by it.
"Haha! Don't let it scare you, Scorbunny!" Ash exclaimed with a grin, noticing the intense look in Charmander's eyes. "Let's win this! Use Ember!"
Scorbunny nodded and puffed up its chest, a red outline briefly appearing around its body as it did so, signifying that it had turned into the fire-type. The rabbit Pokemon then let out a barrage of multiple small fire balls from its mouth!
Red simply shook his head as he put his Rotom-Phone into his pocket and pointed his finger at the opposing Pokemon. It seemed that Red was able to command his partner without the use of words!
The reptilian-looking fire-type immediately swung its tail, which Scorbunny's fireballs crashed into, causing them to burst into a brilliant display of flames! Although the attack did successfully make contact with its target, it seemed that it wasn't very effective since Charmander was a fire-type, just like the move that Scorbunny had attempted to use. Fire-type attacks were not very effective against fire-type Pokemon!
"Ash! You've gotta remember, Fire isn't very effective against fire!" Peter shouted, causing Ash to nod in thanks.
"Man, I didn't know that...Thanks, Peter!" Ash shouted back before turning his attention to the battle at hand. "Well, if we can't use fire-type moves, then let's use Tackle, Scorbunny!"
Scorbunny, who was a very obedient Pokemon, zoomed towards Charmander with the intent of hitting it will a full-force Tackle attack! Its typing, once again, changed to match its attack.
Unfortunately, it seemed that this was all part of Red's plan, as the red-eyed boy simply smirked as Ash commanded his Scorbunny. He gave a silent nod to his partner, who nodded back.
Charmander proceeded to simply side-step out of the attack, easily dodging it and causing a surprised look to appear on Ash and Scorbunny's faces. Then, it stuck its leg out, causing Scorbunny to trip and fall. Charmander then used its own Ember attack by spinning around and hurling some flames at Scorbunny from its tail, causing immense pain to the rabbit Pokemon.
"Scor... Scorbunny!" Ash's partner shouted as it was inflicted by a burn and fell to the ground in intense pain due to the damage that it had taken.
"What?! But how's that possible?! Fire attacks shouldn't be very effective against fire type Pokemon!..." Ash exclaimed exasperatedly, not understanding how Red's Charmander was able to land such a powerful blow on his partner Pokemon. However, it seemed that Peter had an answer for him.
"You've gotta remember, Ash! Scorbunny has the Libero ability!" Professor Oak's assistant told the raven-haired boy. "It can be used to your advantage in some situations, but here it's affecting you negatively!"
"W-What?! Then how am I supposed to win?!" Ash exclaimed as he helplessly watched Scorbunny, who was laying on the floor. The rabbit Pokemon was doing its best, but the lizard Pokemon was unleashing a barrage of Scratch attacks on it, and Scorbunny was finding it difficult to defend itself from these powerful, physical attacks! "If we use Ember then we'll be dealing not very effective damage, and Scorbunny will eventually just faint due to the burn that Red's Charmander inflicted on him...And if we use Tackle then they'll be able to deal some powerful Ember attacks!..."
Peter crossed his arms and watched the battle closely, raising an eyebrow at Ash's behavior. "Hm...It seems that Ash is in a bad position right now...To me, it's quite obvious that Red has spent most of his time training Charmander, and that Rattata he used earlier was most likely just caught to fill up his Pokedex...In other words, the battle REALLY began when Red sent out his Charmander. Ash and Scorbunny still have a long way to go in terms of strength..."
As Charmander continued to dish out attack after attack, the feeling of helplessness in Ash's heart grew larger and larger.
Watching his first and only Pokemon get beaten to a pulp was NOT a good feeling!
…
Eventually, the raven-haired boy simply decided to forfeit.
"Scorbunny, return!" Ash exclaimed as he took his partner's Pokeball out and pressed a button on the back. Immediately, a red light zapped the rabbit Pokemon, and returned it to its Pokeball.
Ash had lost his first battle.
"Ash has forfeit! As such, the winner is Red!" Peter exclaimed, formally finishing the fight. "Ash and Scorbunny were so out of sync!..."
Charmander pounded its chest with its comedically small arms and let out a roar. "Char! Char! Charmander!"
Red simply rolled his eyes at Ash and gave a small smile at his partner. He returned the lizard-Pokemon to its ball, and promptly attached it to his waist.
The red-eyed boy proceeded to take one last look at Ash, who wasn't making eye-contact with him, and made a 'Humph' sound before turning around and walking away with his hands in his pockets.
"Oh, uh, see ya later, Red!" Peter shouted as he waved his hand, but the red-eyed boy simply ignored him. Peter shrugged in response. "Huh. What a nice guy."
However, unlike Peter Parker, Ash Ketchum wasn't really paying attention to Red. He was looking directly down at the Pokeball in his right hand, and thinking about the match that he just had.
How did he lose so easily?! Was Scorbunny weak? Or was he just a bad trainer?! All of these thoughts were rushing through the boy's head.
Fortunately, Peter was able to cut his train of thoughts before he started thinking about some REALLY nasty things.
"So, that happened," Peter laughed jokingly. However, when Ash didn't respond, Peter raised an eyebrow, and noticed that his raven-haired friend was feeling a bit down. "Hey, why are you feeling so sad about it? We win some and we lose some. That's just how being a Pokemon Trainer works!"
"Yeah, but...His Charmander was so powerful compared to Scorbunny!" Ash exclaimed angrily, still staring at the Pokeball in his hand. "Sure, I woke up an hour late, but we both started our journeys on the exact same day! We should be equal to each other!..."
Peter smiled at his friend. "I don't know, Ash. Red's just a really talented trainer! However, you shouldn't let this loss bring you down, though. Use it as motivation so that you and Scorbunny can become stronger together! Pokemon battling isn't all about flashy attacks. It involves strategy too, you know! And since Libero's a pretty unique ability that can work either with or against you, you're going to have to strategize a lot!"
Ash slowly nodded, making sense of his friend's words. "I...I Think I get it, Peter! Me and Scorbunny are just going to have to trainer harder and stop relying on brute force and start working with strategy, right?"
The Professor's assistant nodded, glad that his friend was learning quickly. "Yeah, that's right. Now come on, let's get to Viridian City so that we can heal up Scorbunny at a Pokemon Center!"
"Pokemon Center?" Ash asked, tilting his head to the side. "What's that?..."
"A Pokemon Center is a special building that's located in most cities. They heal your Pokemon and make them healthy completely for free!" Peter explained, causing Ash to grin.
"Wow, really? Then what are we standing around here for? Let's go!" Ash exclaimed before he proceeded to zoom across the path that led to Viridian City, leaving Peter in the dust. The Superhero in disguise blinked twice before chasing after the raven-haired boy.
"H-Hey Ash! Wait for me!" Peter exclaimed, chasing after the energetic Ash Ketchum.
With his head filled with thoughts regarding his brand new rival, Red, our heroes ran towards Viridian City, where their next adventures awaited them
Little did they know, however, this next adventure was going to be VERY dangerous...
This chapter was fun to write. Red's design is inspired by his design in the manga, but in terms of personality I'd say he's fairly unique, with him being cold and uncaring for his opponents instead of being nice like as seen in Pokemon Origins or in the Adventures Manga. I also thought that it'd be pretty cool if he was just born mute, as in most stories, as well as in canon, he voluntarily just stops talking.
Anyways, in the next chapter they're going to go to Viridian City and meet a certain Marvel villain, but as to who this villain will actually be, you'll have to wait and see.
Until next time!