The crowd erupted into screams of sheer terror as the beast roared menacingly. All Red could do was stare at its sheer size. He had never seen a pokemon this big before and never this close. He was too small to be noticed as the massive sea monster took in its surroundings.
Then he saw his Mother burst through the thrings and grab him by the shirt, lurching him away from the Monster.
"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE! KEEP RUNNING!"
Amidst the screams and the forceful tugging on his turned back towards the beast. Its angry eyes seemed somewhat calmer now, as most of the ruckus was moving away from it. The the Police came.
"ALL UNITS, ENGAGE PROTOCOL 11! IMMOBILIZE THE POKEMON NOW! SET A PERIMETER!"
He heard pokeballs crack behind him, as different roars and battle cries filled the huge plaza as it became a massive battlefield.
"Vaporeon, ICE BEAM!"
"MAGNETON, THUNDERSHOCK!"
The two farthest away from them moved forward with their attacks, lightning flashing behind them.
Red and his Mother were some of the last on their way out, while a Venusaur and Chancey attacked from the other side.
Meanwhile, they had shut the doors remotely, unable to let the rest out. All the rest of the shoppers could do was hide behind a barricade. Only Red peeked out to see what was happening. He never saw a battle this close.
But the Gyarados was too powerful, and their attacks weren't doing the damage they expected. The thundershock rolled off, it broke out of the ice beam, dodged the Venasaur's solar beam and deflected Chancy's hyper beam. Then it got mad and let loose.
A massive ball of white and green energy flowed from his belly to its mouth. The policemen didn't know whether to command them to brace for impact or dodge it.
Red had seen enough battles to know what that was. And as he ducked, he knew what damage it could do.
The Gyarados let loose one of its most powerful attacks on the whole plaza. The dragon rage sliced through the stores and ground like they were made of sand. It swung up and shattered the glass and knocked out Chancy and its trainer, the one nearest the people. As it recharged, Red peeked it out and saw the damage. The dodging took a toll on all of the pokemon there, while the plaza was almost completely destroyed.
A gyarados like that must be a high enough level, so direct attacks won't do any good. The only way was for them to make it slower in status. He looked around the area for something other than a policeman's pokemon to use as a weapon. Then he saw a pokemon store across the way.
"Mom, I have an idea."
"Red, I have another one. We stay here."
"But Mom, we have to-"
"No. I forbid you from doing anything to help. They can take care of themselves."
Meanwhile the Gyarados froze the Magnaton and knocked out Venusaur.
As he watched the others losing, Red got an idea. He turned to the rest of the crowd, crouched behind the long and narrow barricade. He knew policemen had no other Pokemon, and they were seriously outgunned. But what about the strangers behind him?
"Does anyone here have a-"
Mom tugged his sleeve down to where she crouched.
"Red! Stop interfering!"
He shook her grip off and asked again-
"Does anyone here have any Pokemon? Raise your hand, then."
Some raised their hands, but refused to come out and battle.
"Not battle, to weaken. I- We need to just weaken it to stop it. Who's with me?"
Then one of the men got a surge of bravery or something, because he immediately stood up, and with a "he's right! Let's go!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out an expanding pokeball.
He launched out his butterfree, to Red's dissapointment. Then others joined in. There was a diglett, Fearow, electrode, another butterfree, persian and scyther. A weird mix, but it will do.
"Guys!" Red called out to them.
"Just distract him while you inflict status weakeners. Use your Butterfree's sleep and poison powders, Fearow's sand attacks, and the rest of you just keep its attention.
They nodded in unison and began their unified attack. Gyarados got over whelmed almost immediately; it didn't know which one to attack. Fearow got sand in its eyes while the Butterfree dived around it spreading blankets of powder. Electrode, Scyther and Persian attacked it from behind, joining the weak Vaporeon in overwhelming it even more.
Red got the attention of one of the other men watching the melee.
"There's a PokeMart on the other side. You'll find a pokeball there to catch it!"
"Right," The man replied as he bolted to the other side, dodging the rubble that got in the way.
Red watched with anticipation as he went in and began racing back with a whole carton of them.
At first he thought he was being an idiot, but with a Pokemon that powerful, why take the chance?
Then he tripped on the rubble, scattering Pokeballs across the floor. In a frightened panic, Red leaped out to catch some that fell. In that same momentum, he called out to one of the trainers, in a blue shirt.
"Hey, BLUE SHIRT!"
The man looked back to whoever called him.
Red raised his hand back, holding a fresh new pokeball.
"Catch it with this!" He launced it as fast as he could towards him...and missed.
I have to work on that.
"Hurry!" Blue Shirt replied.
Red tried again, launching another one in a low arc into the other man's hands. He then launched it at the disoriented sea monster, touching it and setting off a chemical reaction only discovered within the past century.
A Pokemon has white, solid energy, and red energy, maleable and shapeless like water. Only when its red energy is exposed is when it can fit into a pokeball.
Red saw as the monster's red form was exposed and pulled into the tiny, multi-colored ball.
And shook
And shook
And shook.
Then the whole crowd heard the satisfying clunk of the ball. It was all over.
...
It took a while for the dust to settle, and for everyone to realize that the coast was clear. The source of the chaos was now safely encased in a ball of re-enhanced steel, comprised of the most delicate wiring inside and the toughest berry-wood outside.
The trainers rushed back to the people behind the bariccades while the policemen called for medics and a messenger from the pokemon center. As sirens wailed outside, the sealers were opened and the previously- trapped crowd was welcomed with applause and expressions of relief.
Red and his Mom were some of the last ones out of the plaza, which was immedately closed for repairs until further notice. Then the policemen that were coming out with them began to applaud for the two.
Then an interviewer raced over, her abra in tow.
"Tell us what it feels like to be a hero."
They weren't asking a policeman. They were asking Red.
He just stood there, clinging to his Mother like a child. "M-me?"
One of the policemen moved next to him, his Vaporeon rubbing against his leg.
"Your quick thinking saved us all. You're a hero!"
"I- I- Well I..." He turned back to the camera. He never imagined himself a hero. A Master, maybe. But not a hero.
"He won't be answering any comments today," his mother interrupted. "This boy has to go to school."
"School? Send that kid to the Academy already!" Someone called out.
Yet they still went on their way back home, carrying nothing with them but an experience they will never forget. It wouldn't be long before Red was in his red and white uniform with a bag of lunch, a bag full of books and a kiss on the forehead.
He was in the middle of a learning the science of Gemini, the planet's name, before he was called out to the headmaster's office.
Everyone had known about his encounter with the Gyarados, but no one thought it would get him in trouble. At least that's what he thought he was in since that was the reason most kids were called there. He rushed down the hallway, passing murals of pokemon and messages of inspiration.
The light shimmering from the stained glass above his desk welcomed him before the Headmaster did.
"Ah, here he is. The hero! The boy of the hour!"
"Seems to be longer than an hour sir. I've been getting those praises all morning."- At least that's what he wanted to say.
He noticed another person in the room. He looked like a new teacher, with a fresh head of hair hair and shimmering eyes.
"Well, 'Red' Tajiri, this is Professor Samuel Oak. He is the Headmaster of the Pokemon Academy. Or at least he oversees it."
The man got up to shake the boy's hand.
"How do you do, young...Red. Is that what they call you?"
As shy as he was, he couldn't help but feel some pride. "Yep that's what they call me, Professor."
Professor Oak gave a look of admiration. He could feel that this boy was special while they all took seats around the main table in the room. He assumed it was because red was the color symbol of a pokemon master. They could challenge any trainer and gain respect from any pokemon in their possession.
"How very interesting."
The Headmaster interrupted Professor Oak's fascination with the proposal that seemed to take forever to get to.
"Professor Oak wants you to start training at his Academy in Pallet Town. After seeing your ability to manage a whole pack of pokemon, let alone a whole group of people, he felt it would only be fit to see you train to utilize those delicate gifts. He will be willing to open up space for you. What do you say?"
Red looked up at the older men and for the second time that day, he was speech
