Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Pokémon or any of its parent companies. I am merely a humble storyteller. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this journey with me.

Note: I am English, so some of the wording, spellings, and expressions will be those commonly used in England.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Lo and Behold!

Red sat on the shore of the river, fishing rod in hand, the floater sleeping on top of the water's silky-smooth surface. Okay, now he would do it. Now, he would capture a Water-type. Considering the Hikers he had to battle all the way through Route Nine, a Water-type would have been a lifesaver. One would have had an easier time against a Hiker's Graveler, the evolved form of Geodude (a giant, jagged boulder with four arms and two legs) than Clefairy did. To be fair to Clefairy, she fared better than Charmander.

If he could catch a Water-type, or anything for that matter, then it would make having to take a detour worth it. Honestly, what were the odds of Saffron City being on a temporary lockdown the moment he wanted to head there? Going through the Underground Path again was not his idea of fun, but at least he got to revisit Cerulean for a little bit before making his way to Rock Tunnel for the recommended detour to persist with his journey.

Something pulled on the line. The floater bobbled and sunk. Red's eyes lit up.

"Are you ready, Pikachu?" Red asked his partner.

Pikachu gave a 'so-so' gesture.

"That's good enough for me!" Red exclaimed. "Here we go!"

Red reeled in his line with lightning speed, anticipation building within him like heat in a furnace as the hidden Pokémon came nearer and nearer to shore.

Droplets dotted Red's face as the Pokémon burst from the river, hitting the saturated grass beside Red. It was a yellow Pokémon with a cream-coloured bill and webbed feet, strands of hair sticking up on its head, a stumpy tail, and a faraway expression on its face.

Psyduck, the Water-type Pokémon. Always tormented by headaches. It uses psychic powers, but whether it intends to do so is not known.

"Psychic powers!" Red repeated delightedly. "Okay, you're going to be part of our team, Psyduck. Definitely!"

The Psyduck merely held its head and responded with a confused quack.

"Pikachu, let's do this quickly," Red said. "Shock Wave."

Red would consider Shock Wave a very good move, considering it never misses, and would want to go back to Vermilion to thank Gregory and Mareep for involuntarily showing Pikachu how to perform it during their battle. Granted, Thunderbolt may have been the better technique for Pikachu to learn, but Shock Wave sure outshone Thunder Shock.

The electrified pulse engulfed Psyduck, rendering it unconscious, leaving it at the mercy of Red's hungry Poké Ball.

Thus, Red captured Psyduck…

… is what one would like to write. The truth of the matter was that Red was unable to toss the Poké Ball on account of something huge emerging from the river which such ferocity a tidal wave almost washed him and Pikachu away.

Brushing his damp hair out of his eyes, his hat lying several metres away, Red gazed at the creature that glared at him, a familiar creature who radiated fury like the heat of a Sunny Day-powered Overheat: the wild Gyarados from Vermilion.

It roared and spat at them, water cascading off its body back into the river. From its ajar mouth a purple flame formed, growing into a boulder-sized fiery sphere. It fired off its attack.

Red and Pikachu barely avoided it, leaping off to the side as the attack burnt some of the grass on the riverside, its effect mitigated by the waterlogged earth.

"That was Dragon Rage!" Red exclaimed, double-checking his clothes in case they had been ignited by a stray spark or two.

Indeed, it was. And what followed was the Gyarados lunging at Pikachu, its teeth bared, eager to chomp into the electric rodent meal.

Pikachu evaded the Bite and, without waiting for Red's command, sent the same electric pulse he obliterated the Psyduck with through the Gyarados' serpentine physique. The Gyarados screeched and hissed as it barely endured the doubly effective volts, the water it was half submerged in, its element, becoming its torturer.

For no other reason than to be a little jerk, Pikachu smacked Gyarados with Rock Smash. He stood ready to unleash more electrical punishment upon his foe, on his toes in case the Gyarados tried another attack.

But the Gyarados did not. It merely stared daggers at Red and Pikachu.

It then started a slow descent back into the river, its eyes never leaving Red and Pikachu. If it had hands, it would have done that thing when you point your index finger and middle finger at your eyes before pointing them at someone else, basically saying 'I'll be watching you'. You know, don't you? That gesture that can be super effective and cool in certain situations? Yeah, that one.

Red and Pikachu waited several minutes before deciding the Gyarados was done for the day. Only then could they breathe a sigh of relief.

"Did Gyarados follow us all the way here?" Red asked Pikachu. "Or is this just a coincidence? Or maybe it's a different one and all Gyarados naturally hate us now? What do you think, Pikachu?"

Pikachu shrugged, wordlessly stating that he would simply shock anything that came his way to attack him. If he saved Red while doing so, then that would be a pleasant bonus.

"Well, at least we can catch that Psyduck now…"

Red's eyes fell upon where the Psyduck was, finding only emptiness. He groaned. "Of course. Why wouldn't it regain consciousness and run away?"

Red marched over to his cap and plopped it on his head, muttering darkly.

"It's just one thing after the other. We're never going to get a new teammate, are we?"

Pikachu yawned.

"I'm done with fishing for now," Red said. "I think the Town Map says there's a Pokémon Centre nearby. We'll just follow the river, er, south, I think?"

Packing up his Fishing Rod, Red and Pikachu headed south, using the river as their guide.

o~o~o~o~o

Run. It had to run away. Its poor siblings, left behind as it escaped. But it could look for help! There had to be someone who could! Oh, if only it had the power, then it would save all its siblings and vanquish the evil who arrived out of nowhere to plague them!

It travelled through the tall grass, the sounds of the river's waves lapping against the shore telling it that it was not too far from falling in.

Where was their protector? Where was their guardian who had been keeping them safe for so long? If their protector was there, then they would all be safe. It would not be making this journey, abandoning its siblings.

All it could do was hurry along and hope for the best…

It was suddenly knocked back. Oh no, it had not been looking where it was going! Was this it? Were its efforts to search for help already over?

o~o~o~o~o

"Wait. Are you a Pokémon?"

Red stared at the odd organism that walked into his shin. It was only around eight inches in height, its silver body metallic and liquid, its head a golden hexagonal nut with a floating black sphere in the middle, and a red tail which reminded Red of a wire.

The odd organism backed away, shivering, creating minute ripples along its body.

"Hey, there's no need to be scared," Red said softly. "Pikachu and I aren't going to hurt you. Look, I'm just going to look you up and see what you are exactly."

What that odd organism was exactly was left unknown as Red's Pokédex could make neither heads nor tails of it.

"Whoa, you're not indigenous to Kanto, then," Red said. "Unless you're a never before seen Pokémon. I doubt that because then you'd be rare and why would a rare Pokémon be wandering about? Right, Pikachu?"

Pikachu sniffed the odd organism. The odd organism cowered.

"Don't worry, little one," Red said, gradually getting to his knees. "We're just a boy and his Pokémon on a journey. We're not bad guys." He held out his hand. "Here. Touch my hand."

The odd organism looked over its shoulder(?) and sensed nothing but a river that would claim it and send it to its bottom. It could not flee; it was not fast enough. It could not fight; it was not strong enough.

But the boy's words were so kind, so soothing, he could not possibly desire to bring it any harm. But what if it was a ploy, an elaborate trick to get it to lower its guard and trap it along with its siblings? It backed away further.

"Aw, don't do that," Red said. He softened his voice more so until he sounded like his own mother. "Come over here. I want to be your frie –"

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Red bristled. He shot to his feet and swivelled around, finding himself face-to-face with four people. People who were dressed in black. People who had red 'R's on their chests. People whose mouths were contorted into malicious smirks.

And if you do not get that they are Team Rocket by now, then a little bit more hope in the world has died.

"How's it going?" one of the Team Rocket members asked.

Red lips did not part a millimetre.

"How rude," the Grunt said. "You kids don't know manners nowadays." Her eyes flickered to the odd organism behind Red. "I think you've got something that belongs to us."

"What?"

"Oh, so you can speak? Yes, that thing there is property of Team Rocket. We have its fellows with us, and it no doubt wants to be reunited with them. Silly thing probably got lost."

Something pressed up against Red's ankle; the odd organism held on to him, trembling even more violently. Red clenched his fists.

"You're not getting anywhere near this little one," Red said, his voice level. "You're Team Rocket. I know what you criminals are like."

From beneath their hats, Team Rocket's eyes glinted dangerously. "Oh, do you?" the main one said. "You've encountered some of our colleagues before?"

"And I've beaten them."

Why Red said that, he did not know. Was it his frustration that people like Team Rocket existed? Was it his determination to help the odd organism? Or was it his annoyance at the fact he had missed out on catching yet another Pokémon? Maybe all three. Either way, the damage was done; the Team Rocket grunts whispered to each other and the second female of the group pulled out a sheet of paper from her pocket. She unfolded it and shared it between them.

"Red," the main one said, and the boy named after the colour felt his blood freeze. "Black hair… around eleven years old… a Pikachu outside its Poké Ball… you're the famous Red." An Arbok who spoke any human language would not be able to pronounce Red's name with such a hiss.

"So you have heard of me," Red said. "Then you'll know your lot dragged me into your nonsense and all I did was fight back." He pushed away the fact that he took on the thief in Cerulean on his own accord out of his mind. "Just go away and leave this little one alone."

A tug on his trousers. The odd organism stared up at with its faceless face and squeaked. Red sighed.

"How about you release its friends too?" Red said. "Knowing you lot, you haven't got anything good in line for them."

"Do you honestly have the gall to make demands of us?" the main Grunt said derisively. "No, you don't. We're keeping the Mystery Box and those weird metal things and we're taking that one too. And for good measure, we're going to show you why no one gets away with dissing Team Rocket. It doesn't matter who started it, you fought back against us. You've got to be punished."

Pikachu hummed with running electricity. Red's hand found Beedrill's Poké Ball attached to his belt. "Then, I'll just defeat you."

"Oh, so you rate your chances in a four-on-one bout?"

Red's knuckles whitened around the Poké Ball. Those dirty cheats! But he should have expected that. What was he to do? Send out one Pokémon at a time and hope they would do enough and weaken their opponents before another would take its place? Send them all out at once and try to issue commands to them all? Or send them all out and let them fight on their own? Or was running an option? If there really was a Pokémon Centre nearby then maybe they had a chance of escape.

The Rocket Grunts took out Poké Balls, their teeth on show as their grins promised a world of hurt for Red.

He had to decide quickly.

"Hold it!"

Or did he?

How none of them saw her coming up, he would never know. Maybe it was the Pokémon the redheaded woman was standing upon, an aquatic beast with a grey, knobbly shell on which the woman was perched, flippers visible beneath the clear river surface and a small horn on its head. It drifted silently upstream, its movement barely making a sound. Red gazed at her in awe and with a degree of recognition.

The woman adjusted her glasses and flicked her hair back. "Ganging up on a child," she scowled at the foursome, "I absolutely can't forgive that."

"Who the heck do you think you are?" the main Grunt snapped. "This doesn't concern you! Get out of here otherwise you'll get it too! And we'll take your Pokémon for good measure."

The woman placed her hands on her hips and glared at the Rockets; the Rockets unconsciously shuffled closer together. "So, you're all just fools, are you? Disappointing, but not unexpected considering your syndicate's reputation."

"You dare –" the main Grunt spluttered, but the woman ignored her, talking instead to Red.

"Are you okay?" she asked him. Her voice had a slight accent, most likely from the same continent where Galar was based.

"I'm good," Red replied. He pointed to the odd organism. "It's this little one I'm worried about the most."

"You don't have to worry now," the woman said. "I'm here."

If she was who Red believed she was, then it was only right for his confidence to skyrocket.

"Who cares who you are?" the main Grunt said. "We're going to take you down too! Prepare to suffer!"

Shouts. Poké Balls tossed into the air. Four Pokémon appeared.

"How annoying," the woman said. "Listen, I'll handle these three. Could you take care of the one with the big mouth for me?"

Red jumped to attention immediately. "Yes, ma'am!"

The woman nodded approvingly at Red. "Good answer. Now then, let's go!"

From a black Poké Ball with yellow markings the woman produced came forth a humanoid Pokémon. She was a few inches shy of being five feet exactly with blonde hair that fell to just below her chest, a purple face, pinks lips, and, amazingly enough, was wearing a red gown. Red knew enough about this Pokémon to recognise it as a Jynx.

Oh, how he wanted to watch that woman and her Jynx battle, but he had his own to worry about. He released Beedrill out into the open, filling the air with a buzzing that became a declaration of war. The buzzing reached new levels of fervour when Beedrill spied the red 'R's.

"After I take care of this kid, I'm coming to help these guys finish you off," the main Grunt avowed to the woman.

"You talk too much," she replied. "Focus on one thing at a time."

The main Grunt gritted her teeth and set her glare on Red and Beedrill. "Fine, I'll deal with you quickly. Raticate, use Super Fang!"

Her ratty Raticate leapt at Beedrill, fangs bared. Beedrill hovered higher into the air, and Red breathed a sigh of relief; he did not need Beedrill to fall to half of her health with that Raticate's first move.

Setting up a Focus Energy would be a swell idea. Or it would have been if it was not for Raticate's repeated Quick Attacks preventing Beedrill from getting the time she needed to pull it off. Status moves were off the table. They would get stuck in with an old-fashioned physical brawl.

Twineedle blocked a Quick Attack followed by a Hyper Fang, and a Fury Attack wrecked Raticate as Beedrill paid back with interest. But it was not enough to leave Raticate down for the count. Could this be it? Beedrill failed to pull it off against Gregory, but she had been practising all the time since then. Well, it was time to test it out.

"Beedrill!" Red said. "Use Poison Jab!"

Beedrill bared her fore stingers, their tips shining with the vicious pinkish-purple of poison. Only a Poison Sting. Disappointing, but they were getting there, and it would be enough to finish off Raticate.

The Bug and Poison-type darted at Raticate, ready to end it with the increasingly out of its depth Poison Sting, when the pinkish-purple spread across its stingers completely. Red almost giggled in ecstasy as it brought him back to Misty's Goldeen; Poison Sting had indeed become Poison Jab!

"Yes!" he cried exultantly as Beedrill drilled the Grunt's Raticate into the ground, ending any hope of a comeback they might have had.

Beedrill raised her stingers to the sky, the buzzing of her wings now the horns of victory over evil.

The main Grunt returned Raticate but did not attempt to thrown out another Pokémon. It was quite possible that Raticate was her only Pokémon. In that case, did it not make sense for Red to lend his Pokemon's power to the battle the woman was having against the three other Grunts? You would think so, wouldn't you? However, the thing that was not already mentioned was that during Red's battle against the main Grunt, he turned around for a couple of seconds and spied the woman's Jynx blast a Koffing, Zubat, and Ekans with a raging blizzard from her mouth (funnily enough, simply called Blizzard). The three Poison-types hit the ground, encased in ice, not even having the chance to perform a single attack.

"Good work," she said to Red when the main Grunt fell. "Great performance."

"Thanks," Red said. "But now we've got to get that Mystery Box they have."

"You won't get anything from us!"

The main Grunt glared at Red and the woman, standing a good ten metres away with her comrades. She bared her teeth at them. "We've got your number, kid, you know that? Don't think you're going to stay safe. You may have won, so we'll take the Mystery Box for now, but we'll come back for that metal squirt." Her fiery eyes tried to sear the woman but failed to penetrate her icy aura. "And who do you think you are? You had no business to interfere!"

The woman sighed. "I'm disappointed. You four are obviously uninformed, aren't you?" She pressed her glasses to the bridge of her nose, put her hands on her hips, and declared: "I am Lorelei of the Pokémon League's Elite Four and master of the Ice-type!"

The four Grunts' mouths opened and closed like a Magikarp gasping for breath. The main Grunt, face as pale as snow on a mountaintop, said, "No, you can't be…"

But the evidence was there. The Pokémon, their typing, that battle expertise, it all pointed to the fact that she was –

"Lorelei," Red whispered. "I knew it."

"Shall I freeze you all solid too?" she asked the four Grunts with the air of someone asking another if they wanted sugar in their tea.

Now, being frozen is not all it's cracked up to be, and the Grunts knew that. They were also wise to the fact they had still obtained something that could be useful to Team Rocket and, while vengeance is a delightful little delicacy, cutting their losses and fleeing with what they had also had a fine tang to it. Which is what they did, absconding as quickly as their legs would allow.

"Hey, come back here!" Red shouted. "Let's go, Bee –"

"Young man, stop!"

Red froze, Lorelei's sharp voice cutting right through him.

"You must let it go," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "For now, at least. You wouldn't be able to catch them and what would you do if you did? What if you chased them so far that you found yourself in an ambush?"

"But what about this little one here?" Red said, pointing agitatedly at the odd organism. "They have his friends. It found me and wanted my help. I can't fail it."

"You haven't and won't," Lorelei said, her voice soothing. "You saved it, and that's still a big victory. You stood up where most others would have sat down or turned away, and that's a brave and commendable act. Yes, they have its friends and family, but I am certain they will be saved."

Red sucked in his lips and breathed heavily out his nose. Lorelei had a point. The odd organism was still with them. He had blocked Team Rocket's path once more.

"What… what do I do with it?" Red asked. "Team Rocket will come back looking for it."

"Why don't you catch it?"

"Huh?"

"Yes," Lorelei said. "Catch it and keep it safe with you, train it to become powerful, give it a new family until it reunites with its old one."

"Do you really think that's the best thing for it?" Red asked. "Why don't you catch it?"

Lorelei smiled. "Because it seems to have already chosen you."

Red peered downwards. The odd organism was hugging his ankle, and it occurred to Red that this creature was a tiny bit heavier than he first thought.

He and the odd organism gazed at each other (as much as one without a discernible face could gaze). The zephyr raced around them, almost taking off Red's hat, whipping Lorelei's and Jynx's hair, rocking the motionless Pokémon on the river. Red clenched his fists.

"Okay, little one," he said, reaching around and taking out a Poké Ball from his rucksack. "If you want to join me, then you can. I'm sorry for not being able to do anything about your friends, but I promise I will rescue them with you. Until then, we'll be a family, okay?"

The odd organism released his ankle. It nodded.

Red dropped the Poké Ball on the nut that made its head and it disappeared inside. Red's Pokédex emitted a victory jingle and on the screen, once he pulled it out, showed a minute Poké Ball next to the word 'UNKNOWN POKéMON'.

"Good work, er… sorry, I did not catch your name," Lorelei said sheepishly.

"I'm Red, from Pallet Town," Red responded.

"I see," she said. "Anyhow, good work. That strange little Pokémon is in good hands. Now, I am quite curious: what will you name it? Until you discover what it truly is, you must refer to it as something."

Red frowned. What could he call it? A metally sort of name? Something to do with the shape of its head? Wait, what had he been referring it to as? Little one? Could he call it 'little one'? Or how about…

"Lo."

"Sorry?" Lorelei said.

"I'll call him Lo," Red said. "I know it seems random, but that's why I never planned on nicknaming any of my Pokémon. Otherwise Pikachu was going to be called Lord Pikachu of Pikachuington the Fourth."

For a split second, Pikachu imagined himself going by that name. It ended with him being on the run after electrocuting Red in his sleep.

"Lo," Lorelei repeated. "You know, I like it. Short, simple, and easy to remember."

"Yeah. And who knows, maybe I'll use it in a few Gym Battles."

"Oh, so you're collecting Gym Badges," Lorelei said. She returned Jynx to her Ultra Ball and strode back to her docked Pokémon, one that Red's Pokédex quickly revealed as a Lapras, the perfect blend of water and ice. "Well, you are a pretty talented Trainer, so it's no surprise. It was plain to see during your battle." She jumped upon Lapras' shell and gave her nose a gentle caress. "I look forward to seeing you compete in the Pokémon League."

"So do I," Red said, his new friend housed snugly in the Poké Ball he held.

"I'm going to inform the law enforcement of what happened here," Lorelei went on. "But that's all I can do, unfortunately." Lapras started drifting away. "Remember, Red, to keep giving it your all. Now, until we hopefully battle at the Pokémon League, see you!"

Red and Beedrill (Pikachu held more interest in sniffing Lo's Poké Ball) waved goodbye until Lorelei was out of sight down the river.

"Well," Red said. "Today was an eventful day. This journey's not getting any easier, is it? But did you see how simply Lorelei's Jynx destroyed those Team Rocket goons? They stood no chance! We've got to get even stronger so we can compete with Trainers like that. And we've got Lo to help us now, and we'll help it in turn." Red rolled Lo's Poké Ball in his hand. "Okay, you two, how about we find that Pokémon Centre?"