The ceremony went smoothly as Red nodded and smiled while the mayor gave a speech and presented the new Kanto Master an award. After the news outlets each had a couple minutes interviewing Red, he'd excused himself to the refreshment table to speak with people he felt more comfortable around.
"Red, my boy!" Professor Oak clasped him on the shoulder, "Look at you. Seems like only yesterday I introduced you to Charmander,"
Red involuntarily brushed against the Pokeball that held Charizard. "I know what you mean,"
"I realize you're a Master and all now, but I don't want you to forget the task I gave you all those years ago," Oak said with a wink.
"Filling the Pokedex? Of course I haven't forgotten!" Red exclaimed. "I haven't been able to find all 151 yet, but my hope is to continue searching as soon as possible,"
"Where do you think you'll go to next?" Daisy, Blue's sister, asked.
"I'm thinking about heading to the lab on Cinnabar," Red replied, "Then making my way over to the Safari Zone in Fuchsia. I didn't have as much time to search there on my initial visits as I would have liked,"
"A wise plan," Oak agreed. "I only wish my grandson showed as much initiative as you,"
"How has Blue been?" Red asked as he helped himself to some punch. "I haven't seen him since…well, since our last battle," In truth, Red hadn't given much thought to his rival. The two had always been stark opposites, save for their enthusiasm for Pokémon.
"Last I'd heard he was visiting Celadon City," Daisy said.
That didn't surprise Red at all. He could imagine Blue drunk with a group of women at the casino trying his hand at slots.
"Red Akai," a deep voice said from behind, "It's good to see you again after all these years,"
Curious as to who was speaking, Red turned to find himself in the presence of Gym Leader Lt. Surge, along with Leader Sabrina.
"Lt. Surge and Sabrina," Red shook both their hands, "It's wonderful to see you both again. I'm glad you could make it,"
"How could I not?" Lt. Surge grinned. "The trainer with the spark, the one that kept coming back until he earned that Thunder Badge,",
"I recall staying in Vermilion City for quite some time. A few months if memory serves me correctly," Red admitted.
"The sign of a good trainer," Sabrina said. "Many become disillusioned after a few defeats,"
"Red has had an interest in Pokémon from a young age," Professor Oak beamed. "He received his first Pokémon almost immediately after turning ten. After a couple years of training, he begged his mother to take him to Pewter City one summer during break so he could battle Brock. Needless to say, he had his first Pokémon badge before he even began middle school,"
"Very admirable," Lt. Surge said. "Most kids don't earn their first badge until they're about sixteen,"
"Some even later than that," a woman next to Daisy said.
Red turned his attention to the newcomer. The woman appeared roughly his age, with long black hair fell a few inches past her shoulders, giving way to tips that were a subdued green. Red didn't recognize her, and by the looks on Oaks' and Daisy's faces they didn't either.
"Life can get in the way of being a Trainer sometimes," Red admitted.
"You could say that," The woman extended her hand. "My name's Jade. I've seen some of the stories the news printed about you over the years, very impressive what you've accomplished,"
Red felt himself blush at the mention of his so-called heroics. At least Jade was giving him an earnest compliment as opposed to being some crazed fan.
"Red," he introduced himself as he shook her hand ("Not that she doesn't already know," he thought), "And thank you,"

"Jade has made contact with Red," one of the attendees said into his communicator when he was out of earshot. "I repeat, Jade has made contact with Red,"
"Good," the voice of Giovanni replied to all the open channels of the undercover grunts at the event. "Hopefully the introduction will result in an informative conversation. The rest of you, continue trying to introduce yourselves to Red as time permits. We need any information we can about how to bring him down,"

[Thank you all for reading! I have ideas for where this series can go, though I am not sure if I will continue it. I will update this chapter if I do.]