Pedal to the Metal
"As the authorities complete a thorough investigation of the devastated casino, they have figured out so far that this was in fact the headquarters for the infamous Team Rocket's operations," the male news anchor informed. He was dressed in a gray suit with a black tie. He had brown combed hair with blue eyes and a million dollar smile which was being projected towards thousands to people.
The female news anchor spoke up next. "It has been confirmed that there have been at least 7 casualties which were Team Rocket's members that couldn't escape the fire in time and 20 injured also from Team Rocket. The Celadon Police are still looking for the root cause of the fire that luckily happened when they were closed."
"Yes Barbara, that was lucky or was it," the man said still facing the direction of the camera. "The casino usually is opened on late night Wednesdays, so it was too much of coincidence for a fire to start on the day they chose to close the doors to the public."
"I see your point Frank," Barbara said. ""For that same reason many people are speculating that perhaps Team Rocket was conducting some sort of experiment in their hideout that could have caused this. Also, there have been incoming reports of people claiming that they witnessed a bright, blue light shoot straight into the sky before the casino exploded into flames."
The camera switched over to Frank's grinning face. "Well, it's been an eventful day so far in calm Celadon City which also happened to harbor the headquarters of a large criminal organization," he said. "We will keep you updated on the situation as the investigating continues and probably figure out on how they managed to go undetected this long." Before the screen went straight to a commercial, an overhead shot of the destroyed casino building was shown for a couple of seconds. Then a commercial for bikes began to play.
Red tuned out after that and tried to make figure out his own theory on what could have happened. He sat in a couch close to the T.V. in the Pokemon Center of Celadon City. Other trainers were around him getting in on the news but they began to leave once the news went into a commercial break.
He failed to come up with one but he did come up with a good few more questions.
I remember Giovanni was going to somewhere for something but why wasn't he found in this building? Did he die in the fire or did he escape the explosion? Did he even go to this place in the first place? And how is it possible that the entire Team Rocket managed to stay hidden for so long?
"Ughh!" Red rubbed his throbbing head. He was getting nowhere with these questions. He figured it was time to go since there wasn't much else he could do here. Of course he would investigate the wrecked Team Rocket hideout, but the police aren't letting anyone within 500 feet of the area.
Red left the Pokemon Center and headed towards the end of the city until he stopped to realize he needed to restock on supplies. He asked a man on street where was Pokemart and was given the answer that the only way to get supplies was at the Celadon Department Store. He followed the directions of the kind man and found himself in front of an enormous building. Above the entrance were the words "Celadon Department Store" in black, block letters.
He stepped through the automatic doors and was simply taken back by the inside for it was something he has never seen. Different stores were literally everywhere. They all were aligned each other creating a perfect square each with their fronts was made of thick glass to allow potential customers to see what merchandise they had to offer. The middle of the whole madness was a giant statue of what depicted a fierce battle of three different birds. A fiery bird was sculpted in a way that it seemed like there were actually on fire. The artist of the masterpiece also managed to make yellow bird with jagged feather appear as if it was actually producing electricity and have the blue avian to shine brightly in the lights of the many stores to give it an icy cold feeling as it released snow white particles.
The impressive sculpture went through the floors through the square hole that was in the middle of each floor. This also allowed Red to see the many stores that awaited him on each level which made Red's head feel quite nauseated. This place was definitely every shopaholic's dream: a building with floors and floors of stores.
"How am I going to find the Pokemart in this monstrosity," Red whimpered. He started with the first floor which proved to be not that useful with it being only full of stores with clothes and other outerwear accessories. He took the escalator to the next floor.
The place was full of people and almost every person he has come about where in a group friends laughing their way as they picked up their shopping bags to continue to explore the building. This made Red feel quite lonely for his by himself, wandering through what seemed like a nice place to hang out with friends.
"Well, at least you're not like that loser boy who is all by himself," a brunette teenage girl said to her sobbing blonde friend pointing to Red. That simply made him feel worse but he didn't even attempt to talk back for it just wasn't worth it.
It seemed like he has been wandering about for hours and the Trainer was getting frustrated for he was wasting precious time. He needed to get what he required and get out of here as soon as he can. The change of pace happened when he looked through the window of a store that had a whole line of new shoes similar to his own on show.
"Is that really you, Red?" Red looked up from the new Devon green and black sneakers to see that it was the daughter of Silph Co.'s CEO. She had blue jeans with a light gray t-shirt that had a bunch of dark-type Pokemon on it. Most of the design was hidden for in her arms Emily held what seem to be the remains of an egg after an omelet with stubby white legs and feet. The shell was decorated with red and blue triangles and the broken shell didn't cover the small white head with three spikes.
"Of course it's you," Emily said with a smile. "What other person in this place could be so alone and lost in a place like this?"
"Hey! What is that suppose to mean?" Red interjected. "And what I see is another person who is also walking around by themselves."
Emily's smirk turned into a slight frown. "Hey I got my Togepi with me so I'm not all that lonely," she said tightening her grip on her Pokemon.
"A Togepi huh...," Red needed to learn more about of this exotic Pokemon so he took out his Pokedex. Emily was about protest but it was already too late. The device managed to identify it and relayed the information out loud.
"Zorua: the Tricky Fox Pokemon. It likes to hide its true form by changing its shape into people or Pokemon, and loves to surprise people."
Red was shocked by this and thought in the back of his head that it was probably broken when he saw the profile picture. It was a gray furry fox-like cub creature with red tipped feet. It sported triangle ears with a large, whorled tuft of hair in between with a red tipped. It appeared confident with its teal-colored eyes and raised head to reveal a ruff of black fur around his neck as well as a bushy tail.
"Umm... Emily that is definitely not a Togepi," Red said unsure. "What are you playing at?"
Togepi squirm in Emily's arms; alarmed to have been discovered. She pulled him closer to her body unsure to how to respond to this.
"Well...umm..." Having no choice but to tell the truth, she sighed. "Zorua is a very timid little guy and doesn't like to show his true form in public."
That was all she said but Red felt like there was more. "And why is he so shy that he has to hide himself from everyone else?" he pressed for more info.
Emily composed herself after being surprised by the Pokedex being able to see behind disguises. "Well, it's from years of being hunted by many people around the world that he led him to do this. You see, he is a rare Pokemon from Unova, a region far away from here. All of his life he has been sought by people and it has pushed him into hiding all of his life." As she talked, Emily held Togepi closer to give him a more sense of security. She slowly rubbed his head with a gentle hand as to provide him comfort and managed to calm him down.
Red read Togepi's face now knowing it was foreign creature in disguise and saw it glance at Red with kind and intelligent eyes but he quickly broke eye contact and clung to his trainer.
"Now please stop scaring my poor Zexal with your ugly face," she barked at Red cuddling the fake Togepi.
"What? I wasn't even trying to scare him!" Red snapped back.
"Just hide your face under that stupid hat of yours and follow me quickly," Emily said it like an ordered. She looked around to see a few people were sneaking glances towards them and some of the people looked quite questionable. She briskly walked away to lead the way before Red could even object.
Red walked alongside her with no idea on where she was going and hoped it wasn't some sort of clothes store for that is what girls usually look for in these kinds of places."And so what brings you here?"
Emily slightly tilted her head to Red, her spiky ponytail fluttered in the corner of Red's eye, and gave him a sort of confused look. "Oh you know to get myself a yacht and a new maid for my new island I got," she said and the young teen nearly believed her until he realized that she said it her sarcastic voice that Red knew.
"Very funny," he remarked letting his eyes wander and saw a place selling all the new technology from pc to mobile phones. "I just wanted to ask so I know where you're going."
"Fine, if you really need to know since not knowing might actually kill you," she dramatically said annoying Red a bit who displayed it on his face, and it didn't went unnoticed by Emily; she cracked a smirk. "I need to restock on my inventory before I head in the world and return to my Pokemon journey."
"Wait, you're a Pokemon Trainer?" Red said quite surprised as if she just might have said that she was queen of Kanto.
"Hump!" Emily pouted. "Why is so hard to believe that I'm a trainer? Is it because you don't want to believe that there is an attractive female far more powerful than you boy?"
"Whoa, it's nothing like that!" Red said defensively. "It's just that-it's just-" he couldn't remember the reason while he was under Emily's glare. He then recalled why he was quite surprised.
"You're the granddaughter of an incredibly rich man and I just thought that you would be in some sort of private school prepping you up to become a successful person in today's business market."
Emily looked quite offended by his reasoning and Red cringed expecting a sudden outburst.
"Hah, I will never go back to that career pathway," The red head said in a disgusted tone, getting on the escalator before continuing. "My father once imprisoned me in one of those schools known as hell. He pressed me to become an expert in the market business. He forced the work on me leaving me little to no time to spend time with my friends or even myself. He didn't even spend time with me so I was by myself most of the time and so made it seem as if I was just a bother to him." Zexal struggled in Emily's tightening arms as she stormed off the moving stairs.
Red saw anger in Emily's eyes but it wasn't directed towards him, it was meant for her own father; the man who made her life terrible.
"Then how did he let you become a trainer in the end?" Red asked. He felt sympathy for her but was more worried for the Zorua in her crushing grip.
"He'll never let me become trainer. In fact, even the thought of me becoming a trainer enraged him," she said with a satisfactory smile. "Once I became fourteen, I fled from him and came here to be with my grandpa and to fulfill my dream of becoming a great trainer. Away from his nagging, away from his reach, and away from his arrogant self."
-"Gah!"- A dark purple glow engulfed the white egg Pokemon that soon disappeared and in his place was now a blue turtle with a shell more than strong enough to resist Emily's chocking grip. Luckily no one even saw his transformation for when Red looked around, he saw no one stare at them.
"Oh sorry, Zexal!" Emily was quick to apologize for her tight hug. She was lost in anger to realize what she was consciously doing.
"Wow," was what Red could muster to say. He didn't know anything about her a few days ago but now she just spilled most of her life to him. That gave him much to think about.
"Wow? That's all you have to say after I told you how must of my life have been living hell because of my bastard of a father," Emily said in a dangerous tone. She looked like she was about shout at him but Red managed to save himself.
"Hey, it's the Pokemart!" Red said alarmed lifting a finger. The store with most of the needs of a Pokemon trainer and travelers was right in front of him after looking for what seem ages.
Emily quickly turned around and saw it as well. "Yeah I knew it was somewhere on this level," she coldly said and steadily walked towards it.
Red followed after her but she went into the area where there were selling pokeballs. Red sure didn't need those so he left to get the items that was missing or had less off. He also wanted to give her some time calm down before he got back to her.
He had a mental list on what he needed and since most Pokemarts were constructed in similar design, Red had no problem finding what he needed. He carried all of the items in the basket that the store provided for their customers. Going past the isles, Red found Emily in the Pokemon Food section and was not alone.
Having her blue plastic basket at her side full with enough supplies that it would be a problem to carry in her Pikachu travel bag, she was having a conversation with guy a few inches taller than her. He leaned on the arm that was on the store shelves as he talked back to Emily with interest. He looked at her with blue eyes and with a confident smile that showed his white teeth. He wore a white polo shirt with some loose khaki pants to compliment he pretty boy look.
Red felt a pang of irritation for a split second but realized this was where he and Emily parted ways. Both of them needed to continue their journeys so this was the way to leave their separate ways. He accepted that fact; turned around to leave.
Emily grabbed a fancy can of Pokemon Food and in the cornered of her eye caught sight of the red clad boy who just turned around to leave. She turned to the boy she just met and apologized to him for she had to go. The teen looked quite disappointed but nodded and left as well.
"Hey wait up Red," Emily exclaimed placing her basket of goods onto the cash register counter. Red was already paying for his supplies and was placing them into his yellow book bag.
A bit startled, Red recovered from it and backed away to allow her to stand in front of the cash register.
"You should have told me that you were ready," she said looking at Red from the corner of her eye. "Or were you planning to leave me already?"
"Umm- No! I mean well," Red objected. "It's just that I thought that you may want to go our separate ways since we are both going in different directions."
"Well, it just so happened that I'm also going to Fuchsia City," she stated as she slid her golden credit card in the slot to pay for her stuff.
"How the heck did you know I was going to Fuchsia City next?" Red asked in a surprised tone.
"It's not really that difficult when you think about," she said as if it was common knowledge. "You probably defeated Celadon's Gym and also Saffron's as well as Vermilion's so Fuchsia is the next city with the Badge. I need to pass through that town to make it to my next destination." She crammed all of the supplies into her bag and in the end had a plump Pikachu resting on her back.
"Sorry to overhear your conversation," interrupted the young man who ran the cash register of this store. "But the road from here to Fuchsia City is closed at the moment."
"What?! Why is that?!" Emily exclaimed nearly jumping onto the counter to force the information out of the guy.
"It's just that their hosting a bike race around two o'clock and they need to use the route; closing it off to the people who aren't in this race."
Not another setback, Red grumpily thought. "I guess we have to wait another day or so."
"No we don't have to," the hot-headed girl said thinking for moment. "We are going to enter that race no matter what!"
Red thought about it and to be honest, it didn't sound such a bad idea. "That will be great but…," he realized a huge flaw in her idea. "We both don't have any bikes to ride on."
"If you want bikes then you get yourself some from Miracle Cycle shop which is on the next level," the nice guy told them.
"Alright, to this Miracle store where we would get new bicycles," Emily made it her first priority. "Come one Red. Let's not waste time since we only got an hour to get into the race."
"Uhhh-" Red seem to have a different set of priorities for his stomach loudly growled telling him he was running low on food. "Hehe, I forgot to eat breakfast this morning for I was in a hurry to get to Fuchsia as quickly as possible."
"Boys," Emily rolled her eyes but also admitted that was feeling a bit famished.
Luckily for the both of them, on the next floor their also happened to be a food court. Red and Emily went to different fast food restaurants and met at a small table that was closest to the bicycle shop. The store was full of bikes on the walls, in the windows for display and a few outside for people to see without having to go in.
"Is that all your eating?" Red question Emily when he eyed her tray. It was just a slice of pizza, a cup of celery, and a small cup of soda.
"Well, I did say I wasn't really that hungry and I don't want to seem like a slob," Emily hissed staring at Red's enormous burger with fries and a large soda cup. Having her arms free from Zexal's body, she took her first bite from her slice of pizza and looked away to see the television that hung on a thin metal pole. It was depicting the pictures of the wreckage at the game center.
"Do you think he survived?" Emily said in a curious tone turning back to Red who had a large mouth full of fries. "And please chew before you answer." She crossed her legs as she sipped from her carbonated drink.
Red thoroughly chewed before answering. "Giovanni, right?" He continued when she nodded. "I don't know since there could have a possibility that he couldn't have been his headquarters…"
"But when he left, also all the many Rocket Grunts went with him, so how could so many people have gone undetected by traveling across the region? The city Celadon was near enough for them so they didn't have to worry of being caught, so that place got to be their hideout," she made a good point.
"Yeah, but that still leaves the option that he could have escaped before the whole explosion," Red said going back to pigging out.
"Wipe your face with this napkin," Emily said annoyed handing a paper napkin with two fingers. Red accepted not appreciating her rude tone but still did so as she said. "Well, speaking about Team Rocket, did you hear what they are calling the siege they did to Saffron City?"
Red raised an eyebrow putting his food. "What are they calling it?"
"The Great Siege of Saffron City!" she exclaimed.
"That's it? No fancy made up world to represent it?" Red said sounding quite disappointed.
"Hey, at least this event will go down in history and you might appear in future history books," she said a bit cheerful than usual.
"Pff!" Red nearly choked on his hamburger. "They already know I was part of it!"
"Well, not exactly…," Emily trailed off biting a bit from her tough celery. "My grandfather finally released a statement on why Team Rocket did this and he mentioned of a "hero" who bravely fought the leader of Team Rocket."
"Well, it wasn't just me," Red said flattered. "But I'm glad that he didn't release my name for that will definitely put other people's lives in trouble." He said thinking of his dear mother back home.
"Well, they will find out sooner or later because they have began to press him for more information and they been snooping around to find the hero who they will praise," Emily took her time to talk between bites. "Plus, I think Giovanni is going to figure out who you are because you keep shouting you name to everyone you meet."
Red sheepishly smiled. "Well, let's just hope he won't figure out who my other friends are," he smiled as he took another bite out of his greasy hamburger. "Or at least he won't find out who you are so he can't harm you," He absentmindedly said and only realized what he said out loud after a few seconds.
Emily slightly smiled. "Well, at least I know that you have a good heart Red," she sweetly said. "But that could definitely work against you if you get too soft." Her sudden tone change into a colder one left Red baffled.
"Yeah," Red simply replied looking down and picked up the pieces of onions he dropped and ate them. He felt a short vibration in his pants.
Red pulled out his PokeGear and saw that he got some sort of mail icon on his screen next to the number "2."
"Hey, you never told me you had a Pokegear,'" she cried out snatching the device from his hand.
Red wanted to get it back but she pulled back as she went to look through his phone. "I don't use it much so I tend to forget that I even have it," he explained shooting her a dirty look. "I have only used it to call my mother…." He said quietly.
"Heh, just your mommy?" she scoffed venting Red's frustration. "Then who is this cute girl right her." She held Red's PokeGear into his face. The top screen depicted a small thumbnail which had Leaf's face on it but without her trademark white hat. Next to her picture was the message that she just sent him through text.
It read, "Hey, Red. It's me, Leaf! Just wanted to say hey and see how you're doing on your Pokemon Journey so far. Also, how has your Charmeleon been? Has it evolved yet? It should be close then but my Ivysaur isn't close to evolving since I hardly used him for battle. However, I still enjoy my new career!"
Red grabbed it back and also read the part that said this message was sent to him about two days ago! Red's heart sank feeling a bite ashamed that he didn't wrote back sooner. He probably has made her feel unwanted and that he didn't really care what she did.
"Is that your girlfriend young Trainer Red?" she asked in a mocking tone as Red quickly began to compose a response as well as an apology for not responding sooner.
"No, she's just my friend from Pallet Town that I grew up with," he answered, clicking send. He checked the other message and it was from her mother.
"I just found out how to text, honey! This will surely make things easier but it is nice to hear your voice once in a while to know you're okay. Love, Mom!"
Red didn't even know he could send messages from his device.
"And here is my number to add your small list of friends," Emily smirked before reciting her number to Red.
"Thanks, I will surely contact you often," Red sarcastically said after he saw Emily punch his number into her purple PokeGear.
"Yeah, yeah," she said. "Let's just hurry up and finish because the race is going to start in about thirty minutes." They quickly ate the rest of their remaining food and threw away the trash into the provided trash cans placing the trays on top of a counter.
Both teens entered the bike shop which had stacks on stacks of bicycles. They could barely see the counter to pay for the many bikes where in the way.
"How may I help you two young adults," an elderly man approached them. His balding head shone in the store's light as if it was just glazed. He had on a uniform with the Miracle Cycle logo on it.
"We want your best and fastest bikes!" Emily spoke for the both of them.
"Ahh so I think your both going to enter the big race today," he said, receiving nods from both teens. "I see…then you will be most interested by our new line of racing bikes." He led them to the back of the store which had the newest models hanging on the walls. He pointed to the bike closest to the ground.
"This is the Jolteon PVX 90, the latest model that is design for speed and mobility," he said.
"Sold," Emily announced as if that single speech hooked her on and made the old man smile.
Red's jaw nearly dropped when he saw the price of it.
"One-one-one million dollars for this bicycle!" Red said pointing to the sign that was under the good as if to prove to anyone who thought he was crazy. "Isn't that a bit much for a bike, old man."
"Hehe, you can't put a price on victory young lady but we did!" he said smiling brightly.
"Screw that! I'm going to look for a much cheaper bicycle," he said ready to leave, but Emily pulled him back the neck of his shirt.
"Then I'll pay for you," she offered.
"No I can't let you that," Red began to object.
"Nonsense! You know I have the money so why back down form it," she sternly replied.
"But I don't like to take advantage of people like that. It's against my morals," Red protested.
"Fine then let's just say this my way of saying thank you for saving my grandfather. This bike as my thank you gift," Emily said. Red wanted to protest again but Emily glared at him telling to not say another word. Red wordlessly accepted her proposal.
"That will be two Jolteon PVX 90's for the both of us," she perkily said taking out her golden credit card. Red could see the money signs appearing in the man's eyes grinning like a fool.
Red and Emily took their brand new bikes to Route 16 where the action was said to start. Many other people have also come to compete, Red calculated about thirty or so, and stood around in anticipation for the upcoming race. The diversity of people was quite astonishing for Red. There were young boys with energy to adult woman that acted very calm, nervous girls with pink bikes to tough acting punk guy with customized bikes.
"I think that's where we sign up for the race," Emily said heading to a long wooden table draped in a white cloth and also three people sat at with stacks of paper in front of them. Red followed her and took the man right to the woman that Emily approached to sign up.
It was a brunette man with a clean white dress shirt and a black tie. His thick rimmed glasses stayed still on his eyes as he greeted Red. "Hello there. How may I help you?" he asked.
"Well, I want to enter the race," Red simply answered.
"Of course you do," he said, pushing a stack of papers forward. "Then I'll just need you sign a few papers for me if you don't mind."
Red raised an eyebrow not understanding why he would need to do such thing but didn't ask him about it. He took the stack of papers which felt like a thousand paged novel.
"Alright, I need you to sign your name here and your initials here. Don't forget to write your signature here." The man began to guide Red through the large packet of papers flipping various pages and pointed to blank spots where Red wrote with the red pen that was provided for him.
"And that will be it," he said with jolly tone.
Red hand was hurting from the all of the writing, but was relief that the unnecessary paper work was finally done so he can compete in the race. He saw that Emily was just now finishing and turned up to Red with an annoyed look. He chuckled knowing well that she wasn't at all enjoying it so far like she initially thought she would.
They both finished just in time for the race was just starting when a adult man shouted threw a microphone for all contestants to make their way to the starting line. Red flashed Emily a cocky smile.
"Good luck to you too kid," Emily smugly smiled knowing how much he hated to be called that. Red did frowned but shrugged it off and accompanied her to the starting line. It was marked by a perfect white line across the dirt pathway which led to a steep hill that blocked the view for the rest of the race course.
"Welcome everyone who had come here fore the Annual Bicycle Race of the Cycling Road!" announced the man with the megaphone. He seemed more like a referee for a profession sport because he wore the attire of one.
"The only rule that we have is that please do not severely hurt one another and much less kill each other," the announcer guy said chuckling nervously. "Also, you must cross the finish line with your bike to win!"
What, kill each other?! Red thought hysterical.
"With that said, let's get this race on its way!" he shouted and pulled away from his megaphone finishing what he had to say. He gave the megaphone to his helper and received an air horn.
Everyone tensed as they watched him walk off the path being wise not to stand in front of thirty cyclists ready to move at any moment. He held the can up high for all to see.
The horn was sounded making a few cry in joy. Everyone got on their bikes and began to pedal.
Red was late on his start for when he tried to pedal away, his foot missed the plastic footing by an inch. He got it the second try and began the race with a quite of bikers ahead of him. People were already scaling the large hill once Red reached the base of it.
Ahead of the group and nearing the top was Emily and Red could tell because her fiery hair waved in the wind and so was like a beacon to Red. She turned back and caught his eye. There was a brief moment between them before she broke it by sticking her pink tongue out. She laughed as she turned back and pedaled harder. A few guys in behind her scowled and yelled at her believing the rude gesture was for them.
Red put in more work into his bike to be able to climb up the steep hill. It has been a very long time since he rode a bike but he wasn't weak in the lower body. All the traveling he has done on foot and running with a fifty ton book bag on his back left his legs quite in shape. The same couldn't say for other people for a handful struggled to go up the hill and Red flew right by them. He managed to get into the heart of the group.
Once he got to the top, which still took quite a bit of strength from him, the sight took Red's breath. Ahead of him lay a large bridge that span across the ocean disappearing into the horizon. He didn't have much time to take in the view because he could feel his bike leaning forward as gravity overtook it. He quickly gained momentum passing by more racers and felt quite relieved.
The wind pushed at his face; a refreshing feeling he got from it making him wish he should have took of his hat before the race to feel the air rush through his messy, brown hair. His eyes were fixed straight, to avoid any collisions with other racers.
He gained enough momentum to fly past many people once he reached the bottom. The bumpy ride came to an end once his wheels started to roll on smooth concrete which was the bridge. It felt like Red was flying across the bridge and for minute forgot he was even in a race.
He began to pedal when he started to lose speed. He saw ahead of him were a few people which said that he was probably in the front of the pack. He also happened to see Emily in front of everyone but was in danger of being out run by the two guys that were right on her tail.
Well, nothing can now stop me from enjoying race since it's straightforward from her- Flames soared to his right and with his instincts steered to the left. He spun his head back to see that a young boy had a Growlithe resting on his head and it was shooting flames at anyone who got to close.
He wasn't the only one with attacking Pokemon. Other began to release their own Pokemon in to their lap or head and the one able to fly flew close to their trainers. A boy was using his Spearow to fired gusts of wind while another was using his Pidgey to boost his speed with its wind attacks.
A jet of water was fired at Red this time from a small Krabby standing on the handlebars. He swerved to the right to avoid it.
"Why are people using Pokemon?" Red said. "Surely that must be a violation of the rules."
"Actually, using Pokemon to help you is not considered as breaking the rules in this race," said the bug catcher boy riding next to him. He had a Weedle on top his head spitting white string behind him.
Red looked back and saw that Emily was also in trouble for the two guys behind her have released their own Pokemon, a Golbat and a Koffing, ready to attack her. She had her Zorua in disguise ready to fight back for he sensed their aggressive intentions.
Red wanted to help her but first he needed to take of his own pests. He fumbled to retrieve the Pokeballs on his belt. Once he was able to get his hand on one while steering with his other hand, he enlarged it but a Flamethrower came near to his hand making him jump. He threw the Pokeball in the air and nearly became a victim to the sea if hadn't caught with his right hand.
Pressing the button on the round device, a small rodent appeared on the handlebars of his expensive bikes. Pikachu was quite perplexed of the situation he found himself in. Wind was blowing in his face, he was moving pretty quickly and he was also balancing on a thin metal bar.
-"What the heck!"- Pikachu jumped into Red's chest and grasp onto the t-shirt he wore under his red shirt.
"Pff!" Red blew out Pikachu's tuft hair that was on his long ear for it went straight into his mouth. "Pikachu, please get on my back and attack the flying Pokemon you see behind you," Red looked down to see his shocked electric type clinging onto his shirt for dear life. "And we are in a bike race and some people decided to attack me with their Pokemon. " He briefly explained taking a quick glance behind him to see they have begun to attack each other.
-"Grr, and I bet the name Pidgeotto didn't cross your mind when you thought on who to use for this kind of event," Pikachu muttered, thinking he wasn't quite suited for this job. He still chose to do what his trainer said and carefully crawled onto his back. He wanted to be safer and so plunked himself on the top of Red's back at the base of his neck.
Wind rushed through his fur as he poked his head above Red's hat. He could see that he was on a bridge riding on a bike with a large body of water underneath them. He did feel a bit queasy and "a little" scared at the beginning but his mood completely changed once he made himself comfortable on Red's back. He felt excitement run through every pore of his body and even released small sparks form his cheeks in exhilaration.
-"Alright, I deal with these jokers!"- Pikachu shouted turning around to see two purple butterfly-like Pokemon getting a bit to close to them. He fried them both with a Thunder Bolt from his trainer's back weakening them to the point they couldn't stay aloft.
Red shivered as he felt small shocks on his bare neck where his Pokemon sat to charged up his attack. He could feel the goose bumps form on his neck feeling a bit weird. He kept going knowing that was much safer know with Pikachu guarding his back.
He didn't how much longer he had before he got to the end for the bridge still kept going into the horizon. That gave him the safe feeling that he still had time to make it to the front. The few people that lay in front of him weren't that far. They were…were getting farther away from him. Red pedaled harder to speed up but it wasn't working for they got further and further away from him. He couldn't accept the fact they just happened to get some kind of speed boost. He turned around; Pikachu's claws dug into his cap, and saw his hunch was right.
Behind Red was a mischievous Magnemite that held its two large magnets towards him, pulling back on his metallic contraption that was quite pricey. Behind him was his trainer, who was a teenage boy with long, black hair flying behind him. He had on an arrogant smile and looked back at Red with menacing eyes through his glasses. He wore a neat white buttoned up white shirt with a black tie. He looked like a stereotypical nerd to Red but his character was more than that.
"Pikachu, you got to stop that guy!"
Pikachu fired a single Thunder Bolt to the magnet Pokemon floating behind them. The electric shock did little damage to the quad electric resisted Pokemon and kept following them as if nothing ever happened.
"Err you got to try harder Pikachu!" Red insisted.
"Shock them, Magnemite," ordered the guy behind Red.
Responding with weird machine noises, Magnemite raised its red and blue magnets to fire his own Thunder Bolt at the bike.
Red felt the electricity shock his body as it traveled through the conductive bike. He slow down quite a bit that Magnemite didn't seem to expect this for it didn't make an attempt to move out of the way.
A cough was forced out of Red when the cold, hard steel creature flew right into his back.
Pikachu, who wasn't that all affected by the earlier Thunder Bolt, saw this as his chance to do some heavy damage. He slid down his trainer's back with his tail glowing ready to attack. A dazed Magnemite dislodged himself from Red's back but then got an Iron Tail to the large eyeball. He was sent back to his nerdy trainer who quickly caught his Pokemon with both hands of the handlebars.
-"See you later, Magnet Kid,"- Pikachu smirked launching a second Thunder Bolt had charged up. The trainer and Magnetite both succumb to the powerful shock. They dropped on the ground quite burnt as other cyclists simply went around the burned duo.
Red was woken up from his shock by Pikachu slapping on his cheek once he got back onto his place of power.
"Huh?" Red looked back to see their attacker was now on the road emitting small sparks of electricity. "I think you might have over done it."
-"Well, they didn't take it easy on you did they,"- Pikachu retorted.
"No matter, time to catch up so hold on tight." The people in the lead were much farther away now and so Red slightly rose from his seat and began to pedal hard with the more room he had. He leaned forward as he began to pick speed for sure this time.
He went on like this for few minutes to be able to finally catch up with the leading group. A few people tried to stop him from reaching them but Pikachu easily took care of them. Even the boy with the Pidgey tried his luck on stopping him but electric attack were too much for the bird.
He rode next to a young boy who had two Zubats fluttering close to him. His eyes met Red's eyes for second and broke contact to try and speed up.
"Go after him, Zubats!" he ordered trying to pull ahead.
-"Come on this is child's play," Pikachu said getting ready to take that sucker down.
This Zubat however decided to do something more annoying and that was to use Super Sonic. They screeched at a super high pitched voice. The screams made Red feel that his eardrums were about to erupt.
Pikachu, who had very sensitive ears, didn't like it one bit. He tried his best to concentrate and shocked the life out of Zubats. The nuisance fell but was recalled back into their pokeball before it hit the ground.
The owner of the Zubat managed to pull ahead and was now very close to the two skinhead guys in front. One was a scrawny guy with leather jacket and ripped blue jeans while the other one was large, blubbery man with a sleeveless jean jacket and a black shirt underneath. Both guys were people you sure don't want mess with.
The one with the Golbat, who also happen to be the skinny one, took notice of the kid getting close to them. He gestured his hand and the Golbat understood what to do. The large bat swooped into the boy's face and released haze from its mouth.
Coughing and wheezing, the kid couldn't see for he was blinded for awhile. He tried to open his eyes but he could only manage to utter a squint. He didn't know where he was going but Red could see that he was going straight into side of the bridge.
Red passed the haze cloud and sped up to catch up with the blind boy. He was about to go off the edge but Red ran right beside him and grabbed his handlebars. He pulled him out of the way getting back on the track.
The boy coughed once and finally opened his eyes. He saw that Red saved him from falling over the edge off the bridge which only had a low concrete rail which he still could fall over.
"Keep your eyes on the road!" Red said making the boy jump. He quietly nodded and got his hands on the bars again with no words coming out of mouth.
Red let go and sped up once more leaving the distraught kid behind, debating if he should continue the race. He left that matter to him and Red continued to press on getting near to the two tough guys who have now begun to attack Emily but her Zorua in an Abra form attacked them both with his super-effective psychic moves that he knew.
"Hey Bane, take care of the chump behind us as I deal with this little girl," the big guy and who seemed like the leader of the two ordered in a gruff voice.
"Don't worry about it Romney, I got it," the skinny man replied in a wheezy voice. He snapped his fingers and the Golbat fell back.
"Go for that kid behind us with a Confuse Ray attack!"
-"Not another one of these guys,"- Pikachu whined remembering his last encounter with a Golbat. That also sparked anguish in him wanting some revenge and this Golbat would feel his thirst for vengeance. He launched a powerful Thunder Bolt.
-"Hah, you do have lousy aim,"- Golbat jeered dodging the electricity at the last minute.
"Weezing!" cried the stout man catching the large ball of gas after being hit by the stray Thunder Bolt. By sheer luck he has also became paralyzed.
"I told you to take care of that-!" The rough skinhead turned around to see where Red was and happened to notice the Pikachu he had. "Forget about the race, Bane. This punk seems to have a Spikey-Eared Pikachu! That will sale millions if we get our hands on it! WHY didn't you tell me he had one?!"
"I'm sorry Romney! I didn't get a clear view of his Pokemon," Bane quickly apologized.
"No time to make apologies, catch that kid!" Romney roared.
-"Oh no you don't, you cheeky bastards!"- Pikachu shouted firing another at the confused Golbat, using every ounce of power he had in him, knocking him cold.
"Quick take out another of your Pokemon," Romney ordered recalling back his paralyzed poison type.
"You guys are never going to lay hands on my friend!" Red angrily shouted. "Pikachu, show them no mercy for their selfish and spiteful acts!"
-"Didn't need to be told so,"- the furry rodent said angered that he was still being chased after for his rareness. He didn't give them a chance to attack him with new Pokemon for he showed them no mercy with his next Thunder Bolt.
Both delinquents were electrocuted by a single powerful electric move. Red rode right through them and glanced back to see a roasted skinny Bane next to a toasted stout Romney. They both lay on the ground completely unconscious as the other racers rode around them.
Red felt quite good even though he they weren't the first people he just attacked with a Pokemon on his order. He pedaled faster with new strength and finally caught up to the red-haired girl.
"You didn't have to help me you know," she said under her breath. "I had it under control."
"I didn't do it for your sake but because they attacked me with intentions to steal my Pikachu," he muttered back.
"Uh so you didn't…never mind," she acted quite surprised and a bit disappointed. She looked up to see Red's Pikachu sitting on his shoulder looking over his hat. He did seem quite please with himself and even flashed her a smug grin.
"The end is getting near," Red said seeing the large banner a head which also happened to be at the end of the bridge.
Red and Emily were now neck to neck but the finish line was still quite a longs way so they had time to try to outrun one another. Emily tried to speed up hoping she would get a little more lead than Red but her rival did so the same.
"Ladies first-is your norm- right," Emily breathed hard trying to get some more oxygen into her lungs.
"That is the case-if I'm not- in a race!" Red said between breathes. Both of them pedaled as fast as they could to push their legs muscles to the max.
"But you still wouldn't hit a girl during a race," Emily said and soon after that statement, her Zorua now in Charmander form spat a glob of fire at Red. Her undermined trick caused Red to fall back a bit to avoid the fire giving her now the lead.
"Hey, that wasn't fair!" Red shouted and Emily stuck her tongue at him in response. Red clenched his teeth.
-"Want me to zap her?"- Pikachu growled charging up electricity in his red cheek pouches.
"No Pikachu, don't attack her," Red said feeling him charge up. "Let's finish this the right way." He over worked his legs that where already screaming in suffering but he somehow managed to pushed them harder.
Pikachu was also feeling a bit thrilled seeing that the race was going to end pretty close as he felt his human friend speed up. His rival was still a few feet ahead but all was not all hope. He just needed a bit more motivation which was exactly what he has provided for him when it seemed like everything was gloom. It was his turn to be there for him.
-"Come on, Red! You can do this!"- He shouted words of encouragement. –"Don't give up on me now when I helped you so much so far. This is all up to you!"-
Red heard Pikachu's words but sounded like a bunch of gibberish yet he knew what he was saying. He didn't need words to communicate for Red could feel Pikachu's emotions. He sensed that he was rooting for him too.
"I won't fail you, buddy!" Red shouted increasing his speed. Gears grinding against each other much harder as they began to shift faster but the design of the bike could handle his strength. Turning the wheels, the gears lost their transferred energy giving Red the much needed speed as the finish line came closer.
"What the hell?" Emily blurted out seeing Red not only reach her but slightly passed her. She tried to accelerate but it was too late for her.
Red's bike flew over the white line on the road that was now the dirt road of Route 16 and the checkered tape wrapped around his body when he went through the finishing line. Applause and cheers greeted his victory as there was a large crowd waiting at the end. They all rushed to him.
Red smiled brightly but it slightly dim when he saw a news duo approach him. It so happened to be the same woman he met in Saffron.
"I don't why this counts as news but please try to smile," the camera man said holding up the massive news camera.
"I know, I know," the annoyed news reporter said clearing stray long hairs out of her face. She faked a smile as the camera came on.
"Hello Kanto, "she cheerfully said. "I'm here with this young man who just magnificently won the Annual Bicycle Race of the Cycling Road. Got any few words for the people at home watching this right now?" She stuck the microphone into Red.
Red didn't know what to say and was about to blabber some cliché stuff he knew but that was not necessary for an old man in his nice tux jumped into the shot. His gray beard took up most of the shot but the Camera man was wise enough to zoom out to get the full shot of the unexpected person.
"Hello everybody and I am Ignus Collin, the proud sponsor of this fabulous race as well as the owner of Miracle Bicycles!" Ignus blabbered into the mic.
The news lady wrenched the stolen microphone from his grasped and composed herself. She seemed quite aggravated by the rude interjection, but Ignus didn't pay any attention to her but to the camera that was focused on him.
"Hehe, thank you Ignus Collins," she said sounding as she was trying to control her anger.
"My bikes are the best!" he shouted. "Tell her kid what kind of bike did you use." He slapped Red on the back putting back in the spotlight.
"uhh…it's a Jolteon PVX 90?" Red sad unsure and felt a bit awkward.
"Haha," the strange man chuckled seeing as it was a joke before stealing back the microphone. "As you see, he is using our latest model. Our Miracle Bicycles are guaranteed to give victory so it was a no brainer he would win." The female reporter was glaring daggers at the man but as the camera fell back on her she quickly changed to a more kind character.
"Alright, that's all the time we have today folks," she interrupted and took back her mic. "Back to you Frank!"
Once the camera was turned off, the reporter and her partner stormed off in an over dramatic fashion.
"Hoho, Miracle Bikes are the best," the maker of Red's bike said to the crowd that still remained. He turned around and fished into his pocket for two items. One was a silver feather that was the size of Red's hand that also gave a weird shimmer in the sun's rays. Next was a blue bell that was on a small string that gave soothing ring when he fumbled to take it out.
"Here is your prizes young man!" he said placing them into Red's open hands.
"What am I suppose to do with these?" Red asked holding both items.
"Heh, that's the exact same thing I said when those odd yet cute kimono girls from Johto gave it to me," Ignus said shrugging."But here is something else to make it feel like a good prize." He dumped a dark blue stone into Red's hands which he recognized as a Water Stone.
Well, I can at least put this to some good use unlike the others, Red grimly thought bummed about the prize. He placed them into his book bag and carefully placed the feather in it as well.
"How does it feel to be a winner for once," Emily sneered pulling next to him.
"Good since I managed to beat you even if you tried to kill me," Red retorted.
"Kill you? I don't your aware but Zexal can't produce fire attacks," Emily notified him.
"What, then…then I guess that fireball wasn't real and part of Zexal's illusion," Red said to which the girl nodded. She was cleverer than he initially thought.
"Right, let's hurry up for Fuchsia City is close by and now we have bikes to get to it faster," Emily said turning away. Red didn't object and went right after her.
"Hold on Pikachu!" Red shouted. Pikachu wasn't however listening to him for he was stuck in his own thoughts.
-That feather…somehow I feel strange when I saw it, but why? And that bell sent shivers down my back when it rang. There must be more to those two items, - the rodent critically thought. He was brought back to the world on his trainer's shoulder when Red went over bump and he nearly flew right off. He clung tight to his trainer's head.
"Sorry, Pikachu," Red apologized. Pikachu smiled and decided to forget about the matter as he enjoyed the ride to this new place they were heading.
