Dawn also ran toward Growlithe and tightly hugged the other side of its neck, burying her head into the fluffy beige fur as well.
Growlithe's tail swayed left and right while its eyes blinked repeatedly and its ears twitched twice.
Sapphire on the left. Dawn on the right.
Its happy dog life had once again reached the moment of being embraced from both sides, though unfortunately, it could barely move anymore.
"Growl~"
Growlithe watched as adults in white lab coats walked past one after another. Every single one of them wore relieved smiles and casually rubbed its head before leaving.
"Growl?"
Growlithe tilted its head slightly, completely confused.
* * *
Oak Research Institute, training grounds.
Oak walked in expressionlessly with one hand in his pocket while the red-capped boy followed behind him.
"Professor, your tests were too easy..." Red fiddled with the red Pokédex in his hands while curiously scanning the Pokémon around him. "But this reward is pretty useful."
The Pokédex continuously responded with emotionless mechanical female announcements:
[Dragonite. Dragon Pokémon. Type: Dragon/Flying…]
[Blastoise. Shellfish Pokémon. Type: Water…]
[Caterpie. Worm Pokémon. Type: Bug…]
Oak's eyebrows twitched as he listened. With a dark face, he pointed toward the battlefield.
"This is the final test!"
"Huh?" Red leaned forward and only saw a large battle arena.
The previous two tests had been choosing Charmander and then carrying Charmander with his bare hands while dodging Venusaur's attacks… So what was this supposed to be now?
Red looked puzzled. "What kind of test is this?"
"Hmph!" Oak raised the corner of his mouth and proudly pointed a thumb at himself. "Battling against me!"
The moment he finished speaking, Oak quickly ran to the opposite side of the battlefield and pulled out a Poké Ball he had already prepared. The smile on his face became even wider.
"As long as you use Charmander to continuously defeat my three Pokémon, you'll pass!"
"Alright!" Red pulled down the brim of his cap, completely fired up.
Oak's smile gradually twisted strangely.
'Hehehe... Shiro, I admit the boy you favor does have pretty good luck, and his strength is barely acceptable. But there is absolutely no way this foolish brat could win this battle!'
After all, Blue was the most talented boy in Pallet Town.
Even he could not accomplish this, so there was no chance this Red kid could either.
Oak was extremely certain of it.
Because when Blue was younger, Oak had personally trained him in battle until the boy cried… Of course, that was not some old Champion bullying a child!
He would never use high-level Pokémon to crush kids.
It was just that...
Oak took out a Poké Ball and glanced sideways at the researcher temporarily dragged over to serve as referee.
The researcher acting as referee shivered and hurriedly raised his hand.
"B-Battle start! Challenger Red wins if he defeats three Pokémon!"
Three against one!
Oak did not hesitate at all as he threw out his Poké Ball.
"Come out, Shellder!"
A fierce-looking deep purple Shellder appeared on the battlefield.
Red immediately raised his Pokédex to scan it.
[Shellder. Bivalve Pokémon. Type: Water…]
Fire against Water. A disadvantageous matchup.
But Red did not waste any words. He also threw out his Poké Ball.
"Go, Charmander!"
"Char!"
Charmander looked extremely spirited, its eyes filled with determination.
Across the battlefield, Oak kept one hand casually in his pocket.
He had not intentionally prepared anything difficult to trouble Red with.
As an old Champion, Oak disdained using rare Pokémon or overwhelming strength just to disgust people. So he had simply picked two Shellder around Charmander's level. The type advantage was merely reasonable battle strategy!
* * *
A short while later.
"R-Red wins! N-Next... the final Pokémon!"
The researcher's voice shook from the referee stand.
At the center of the battlefield stood a spirited Charmander full of energy. Small flames continuously puffed from its mouth while the fire at the tip of its tail burned more fiercely than before.
Not far away, two deep purple Shellder had already lost the ability to battle.
One against two. Fighting at a type disadvantage. A complete victory!
Red held the brim of his cap with one hand while a confident smile rose on his face.
So Mew from last night really had just been an exception. Ordinary Pokémon still were not his opponents at all.
"Professor Oak! Where's the next Pokémon?" Red slightly raised his chin and shouted toward Oak across the battlefield.
The researcher acting as referee trembled and did not dare urge anything further.
Across from them, Oak remained expressionless. Only the bulging veins and tightening fingers hidden inside his pockets revealed that he was practically trying to crush the Poké Balls inside them.
'Damn it... So there was actually this kind of battle style...'
Oak felt as though someone had stuffed over a dozen spicy berries into his mouth. His whole face burned painfully hot.
Who could have imagined it? The two Shellder he personally commanded had actually been swept by a single Charmander!
There was still one last Pokémon remaining...
After waiting for a long time without seeing another Pokémon appear, Red raised his hand and shouted, "Hey! Professor, stop spacing out! Is there still another Pokémon or not?"
Oak recalled the two Shellder from the field before quickly adjusting his emotions. Then he glanced toward the researcher at the referee stand.
The researcher instantly understood. He mimed zipping his mouth shut to promise secrecy before silently slipping away.
But as he ran farther away, his emotions became more and more excited.
Oh my god! Professor Oak defeated by a red-capped boy!
Professor Oak...
* * *
Oak called Red over in front of him and sighed heavily. "Red, you know... I'm getting old. Battling isn't as easy for me anymore..."
"Mm-hm, I understand." Red nodded sincerely. "Your command skills really weren't that great."
Oak widened his eyes but could not bring himself to say anything.
What was he supposed to do, expect this silly kid to say polite empty compliments? This dumb brat probably would not spread the story around anyway.
Oak sighed again. "Since things have already come to this, I won't send out the third Pokémon. We'll count it as your victory."
After saying that, he coughed and quickly changed the subject before pulling out a black League card from his pocket.
"This is your reward. Use it to buy Pokémon resources. You can use it for one year, until the Indigo Plateau Conference."
Red curiously accepted the card. After examining it for a moment, he nodded and put it into his pocket.
Oak raised his eyebrows sternly. "Make sure you keep it safe. If you lose it, I won't give you another one!"
"Mm-hm!" Red nodded seriously. "Thank you, Professor Oak!"
Oak shook his head. "If you want to thank someone, thank Shiro instead. Huh... His judgment really is good. And his courage is pretty impressive too..."
Red nodded firmly.
Of course he understood that this opportunity had been given to him by that man.
And also because of that letter and feather...
Although Oak had kept the letter, Red had carefully preserved the feather.
"Goodbye!"
Red bid farewell to the professor and set off.
Thus began his Pokémon journey toward the Indigo Plateau Conference…
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