Meanwhile in the Galar Region, 1 week later

A week has passed since the outbreak in Cerulean City and the virus was slowly spreading around in Cerulean… and unfortunately no one knew of what had occurred, since no one was allowed in there anymore, which made many become confused once they heard that Cerulean was closed. Of course, this didn't mean that the virus was gone. No on the contrary, it was still spreading due to both Leafeon and Brock being out in the open. Pewter City was slowly suffering the same fate and so was Vermillion City

However right now we find ourselves with Ash, Gou, Pikachu and Scorbunny. Currently they weren't in Kanto at the moment. Instead they were in the Galar Region, which was a plane ride away from Kanto and the virus wasn't being broadcasted on television, since it isn't something that's public yet, so they had no clue what was going on back home…

Today had been going great for Ash Ketchum. He and Gou had arrived in the Galar region to watch the match between Champions Leon and Lance. There, they got to see something called Dynamax and Gigantamax as both champions had used them in their battle. In the end, Leon was victorious and Ash had to say he was interested in the whole giant Pokemon thing that happened

As luck should have it however, after the battle, Ash and Gou, both found themselves in some trouble. During this Ash's Pikachu was able to Gigantamax without one of the wristbands needed for this to occur. Luckily Leon was there to help both teens out of this mess. After that whole ordeal, Ash got a change at battling Leon himself. The Pallet trainer had decided to use his trusty partner Pikachu, while Leon went with his Charizard. In the end the victor was obviously Leon, but either way Ash still had to admit it was one of the best battles he ever had

"I still can't believe you got to battle Champion Leon himself Ash! That was one of the coolest battles I've ever seen" Gou said excitedly, even though he wasn't too into battling like Ash was, didn't mean he couldn't enjoy watching them. His partner Scorbunny also seemed to agree with his trainer as he cheerfully nodded

"It sure was fun to battle him alright! I can't wait to battle him again one day and this time we'll win right Pikachu?" the raven haired teen asked his starter

"Pika!" declared the mouse, agreeing with his trainer as he held up a paw

Gou and Scorbunny laughed lightly at how hyped up the two were, but that was to be expected from Ash after all. While walking towards the Pokemon Center to get Pikachu healed up, Gou noticed a crowd of people near one of the electronic shops

"I wonder what's going on?" asked Gou as Ash turned to look at what his friend saw

"Probably a tournament, but we don't have time to stick around. We need to get Pikachu to the Pokemon Center and heal him up so we can look around more this time" Ash told Gou, who hesitated, but in the end nodded and soon both boys were off to the Pokemon Center again, just as the TV started to play a report on Cerulean City and what had become of it seen 2 weeks had passed since the outbreak there…

Meanwhile in Kanto, Viridian City Gym

A teenage boy around the age of 17 was currently watching a little bit of TV from one of the many available in the gym. The teen wore a pair of green boots with some black on them, white pants and a black shirt underneath his opened up green jacket. He had brown spiky hair and green eyes. This was none other than Blue Oak, grandson of Professor Oak and cousin of Gary Oak. Gym leader of Viridian City, Kanto dex holder and runner-up in the ninth Pokemon Indigo League

Suddenly the TV started playing a news report about Cerulean City with a young woman named Donna, reporting at the scene and how no one was allowed to enter due to a number of incidents happening there. The teen looked the TV in disbelief, but soon realized that they were serious as a picture of Cerulean was seen. The city looked as if it had in a terrible fight and seemed to be completely deserted. Glass windows were seen to be broken in multiple areas, the Pokemon Center looked as if it was no longer operating, many buildings looked to be in bad shape and one of the fountains was shown to have a sick red and green colour, instead of its clear blue colour as usual

Blue turned off the TV, not wanting to watch anymore of this. He sat down on one of the chairs and sighed. He couldn't believe what had happened. He had visited Cerulean City 3 weeks ago and everything had been running smoothly. Whatever had caused this… it better be gone or else everyone would suffer the same fate as Cerulean did… something Blue didn't want to see happen anywhere else

His thoughts however were interrupted by the approach of one of the many assistants in the gym "Sir, a new challengers has arrived and wishes for a gym battle"

The brown haired boy nodded and got up from his seat "Alright. I'll be there in 5 minutes" Blue replied as the assistant nodded and left, leaving Blue to his thoughts once more. However the 5 minutes went by to quickly in his mind and soon he found himself facing the challenger. Hopefully a gym battle would help lift his spirits and make him forget about what he had seen. Once this gym battle was over, he would call Red and tell him the news, since he probably had no way of knowing

Between Johto and Kanto sky, later Indigo Plateau

Lance sighed as he ran a hand through his red hair and thought back to what Agatha had told him. Cerulean City; wreaked and looked like a ghost town. He didn't know what to make of this or what could have possibly happened either. It was hard to believe when he heard it, but that was before he had seen the news report and rushed out of the Pokemon Center

Dragonite looked at his trainer, who held a hard expression on him. The dragon type decided to continue his course towards Kanto, knowing it was urgent that Lance get their soon

Soon after an hour of flying, Lance finally saw Indigo Plateau and commanded Dragonite to land near the entrance. Once landed, the dragon trainer returned his Pokemon and made his way towards the League building

Mount Silver

Everyone who climbed up the mountain knew of the mysterious trainer who trained up here. He was well known in Kanto after all (other than Ash, Blue, Professor Oak and Gary). He wore a red vest with a white shirt underneath, blue jeans and white running shoes with some red on them. He had spiky black hair with a red cap on top of his head and brown eyes. This was none other than Pokemon trainer Red, winner of the ninth Pokemon Indigo League and one of the Kanto dex holders too alongside his rival Blue.

He was currently in the middle of training when he heard his pokegear suddenly ring. Red sighed and motioned for his team to take a break, while he took the call. He looked at the caller and tilted his head confused "Blue, you called me 2 days ago, what happened this time?"

"You wouldn't happen to have a TV anywhere near you up on that mountain would you?" Blue asked him ignoring the question

At this Red got a confused expression on his face "You know that I don't, only the Pokemon Center down there does" he responded and heard Blue sigh. Something was definitely wrong and not in a good way

"So you don't know then" Blue said and Red once again became confused; had something happened since he last stepped foot in a city "All I know is that something happened in Cerulean City… and Red it looks really bad over there. It's like all life just disappeared. The whole city is a mess, with many buildings destroyed and some weird glowing red and green specks here and there"

"What- b-but how is that possible?" he asked his longtime rival

"I don't know really… I only just found out myself today before I had a challenger. She was kind enough to tell me that she had been in Cerulean 2 weeks ago and heard from many of the residents there that they had heard screaming coming from one of the research areas multiple times"

The red themed trainer couldn't believe the information he was getting; a city destroyed, screaming from a research building, residents missing or dead… it was all too much, especially since the gym leader there had been one of his friends too "I-I have to go se-"

"NO! Red no one is allowed in there anymore. It's been blocked off to people. You would only be going there to be kicked out. So don't go"

"But-

"I mean it Red. You'll only be putting yourself and Pokemon at risk and I know you don't want that on your mind"

Red let out a deep breath as Blue hung up. As much as Red wanted to go towards Cerulean City and find out what happened himself… he knew that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. He would be running into a risky area after all, since no was allowed for reasons not shared to the public it seemed. He didn't know if whatever had caused this was still there or how dangerous it could be. He may be putting his entire team in danger even, and he wouldn't want anything to happen to them

He looked towards his team, who all looked at him with worried expressions. Red must have guessed that they may have heard what he and Blue talked about…

"Pika chu chu pika?" asked his Pikachu nicknamed Pika as he ran towards his trainer

"I don't know what to do Pika… I really want to find out what happened over their… but I'm worried that maybe Blue is right and I should wait until I know more… ahh nothing makes sense anymore" Red said throwing his hands up in the air

"I'll listen to Blue this time around. I just hope that whatever this is doesn't continue to spread out across the regions" Red thought to himself. He finally made up his mind as returned his team and decided he should head down towards the Pokemon Center and find out some more information. Little did Red, Blue or anyone know that the infected people of Cerulean had moved out and about… the question now is; how long will everyone stay safe for?

So I decided to introduce Red and Blue in this chapter since they will be important later on. I used the manga version of Red should any of you be wondering, since I like the manga version more. In the next chapter, Ash will start to get suspicious about why he and Gou can't retun to Kanto and someone important makes an appearance