The Long Road

Dribbling fountain water splashed rhythmically over stone fixtures, coating the central seating area in a fine mist. Pokémon of all kinds meandered and chased one another while their trainers either shopped or relaxed on nearby benches.

One such trainer sat on the edge of the fountain, polishing his spiffy new badge from the Celadon City gym leader, Erika. It was stunning, and cast a rainbow in the sunlight. Red ran a cloth over it once more before tucking it back in his badge case. His Charmeleon almost purred in satisfaction. He had practically swept through the grass gym on his own, and was not afraid to show his immense pride. His trainer patted his head and pushed himself up from the fountain seat, his reptilian companion following him loyally. Red tapped his chin in thought. He had wanted to go shopping with his newfound riches. His Pokémon deserved some nice treats, and he had his eye on a new, bigger backpack. The young trainer pondered quietly for a moment, basking in the scent of the flowers and the warm spring sunlight.

That is, until he heard frantic shuffling coming towards him.

Red pivoted to where the scratching was coming from, and saw a Raticate bolting at him. He was about to order Charmeleon to defend him, until he saw the other Pokémon's face. Its fur was smeared with blood, and it carried with it what looked like its own poke ball. Once it arrived in front of Red, it stood on its hind legs and spat the ball out into its paws. The creature hissed at Red. Its tail twitched, and its body language made Charmeleon stand at attention himself.

"How did you get like this?" Red's voice was hoarse. He had never seen a Pokémon in such a state. What he didn't realize is that the situation the Raticate had come from was far more dire. It hissed at him again, motioning for the trainer to follow it. That was when Red noticed something else. This wasn't just any Raticate.

It was Green's Raticate.

Red wasted no time following his rival's Pokémon wherever it took him.

Once the trio reached the entrance to Celadon City's Game Corner, Raticate couldn't muster any more strength to hold itself up and collapsed. Red gasped. He attempted to pick the creature up himself, but it shoved him away. The Raticate was in a frenzy now. He was being urged inside by the Raticate's desperate screeches and his own Charmeleon pushing him. The trainer's lip quivered.

"I can't… I can't leave you alone out here." Red fetched a poke ball from his bag and clutched it tight. "Green would throw a fit. Go! Pikachu!"

With a toss of the ball, the small electric mouse sprang to life next to Green's Raticate. He looked between the other rodent and his trainer, fear evident in its beady black eyes. Red sighed. "Please defend Raticate. I'm going inside."

"Pika?!" Before Pikachu could protest, Red had already bolted through the casino doors.

Waiting for Red was a lone man standing next to an empty Game Corner counter. He was dressed head to toe in black and gray, with a large red letter "R" on the shirt. Red had heard rumors of these strange people through his travels, but had yet to encounter one in the flesh. He had heard that they were criminals, and to stay away. But his friend was in here somewhere, so that really wasn't an option to Red at this point.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" The man sneered down at Red, his tone terse. "Listen, if that silly little Raticate brought you here, you'd better leave now while you still have your Pokémon. Or you'll end up like the last brat that waltzed in here thinking he could stop us."

A chill went up Red's spine. He thought about Raticate, the blood on its fur, and where Green could be now. He clenched his fists. "What did you do to my friend?"

The grunt huffed. "He's your friend? Hmph. In that case, I might as well squash you here while I have the chance."

Red had no opportunity to react. Before he knew it, he was slammed to the ground by the grunt's Golbat. The thing was trained on him. He screamed and attempted to shove the Golbat, only to get battered harder and harder each time. He was too frightened to direct his Charmeleon, so the lizard took matters into its own hands. It blasted a stream of fire directly at Golbat, the flames just barely kissing Red's already bruised skin. The giant bat hissed in pain, whirling around to deal with the other Pokémon. In the meantime, Red hardened himself and tossed out another poke ball. If this bastard was going to fight dirty, then Red would, too.

Following the flow of the poke ball, a brown star-shaped creature emerged and cascaded directly into the grunt's side with a crash of water. The force was enough to knock the grown man over the Game Corner counter, followed by his Golbat pinning Charmeleon down. Red yelped for his Staryu to intervene, but it was smacked away by the terrifyingly large wings of the bat. Red recalled both of his Pokemon, sparing them from any more of this. He needed a plan. He wanted to avoid as much collateral damage as possible, but if he was in a corner, he only had one option that he thought could at least buy him time. With a groan of pain, he tossed out one more ball.

As the grunt yanked himself from the floor, he was met with a beastly figure lunging for his Golbat. Red's Nidoking grabbed the bat by its wings and threw it down, slamming himself onto it with such force that it smashed several slot machines and most of the tile floor around them. Red had protected himself by running to the main entrance, and decided to take this opportunity to rescue Green's Raticate. The second he opened the casino door, his Pikachu attempted to drag Raticate inside. Red held the creature around its battered body and lifted it from the ground. His Pikachu retrieved its poke ball, which Red promptly used to call the Pokémon back to safety. Now in a rush to return to his Nidoking, he simply had Pikachu follow him.

Once Red returned to the rear of the casino, the grunt had already withdrawn his Golbat and was cowering under the fearsome poisonous beast. "Alright! I don't have any other Pokémon! Back off!"

Red stepped up behind his Nidoking, placing a hand on his spiny back. He frowned down at the grunt. "Before I let you go, you need to tell me where Green is."

"Urgh… There's a switch behind the poster on the wall. If you press it, you'll be led down to our Rocket hideout. He's down there but I don't know where." The grunt refused to look Red in the eyes. "We took his Pokémon away because he figured us out and challenged us. That damn Raticate was the only one we couldn't grab."

Hesitating a bit, Red eventually accepted this response and ordered his Nidoking to lift the grunt up from the ground by his torn shirt.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" He cried, pounding on his captor's thick scales. Red smirked.

"Oh, just taking out the trash." He opened the casino door once more to give Nidoking enough room to hurl the Rocket grunt into a nearby flowerbed. "Someone call the cops! This Team Rocket guy kidnapped my friend and stole his Pokémon!"

Red dared not waste any time watching the ensuing commotion. He had to save Green.