After several days of travel, Red arrived at a city now known as Vermilion City. It used to be called Umber City. Vermilion City used to be very prosperous due to its many factories, but the pollution caused by the wastewater and residue discharged from the factories contaminated the sky, rivers, and sea, leading to its abandonment and thus earning it the name Vermilion City. The wind blowing from the sea in Vermilion City carried the smell of sludge, affecting the mood of passersby.
Red's reason for passing through this place was only one: rumors of Zapdos appearing in Vermilion City! Zapdos often resides in thunderclouds and can control lightning and change the weather, which led to it being revered as the Thunder God in ancient times. The only thing that could attract Zapdos to the abandoned Vermilion City was the Kanto Region's largest power plant—the Vermilion Power Plant. The Vermilion Power Plant had a tall chimney that reached into the clouds; if the seawater inlet was blocked, it could also generate thermal power to ensure industrial production, which was one of the main reasons Vermilion City became shrouded in black clouds. Recently, to avoid further pollution, Vermilion City also stopped thermal power generation, but this also led to the predicament of frequent power outages due to Grimer blocking the water inlet.
Red arrived at the Pokémon Center and entrusted his Poké Balls to Nurse Joy. This particular Joy had a bit more personality compared to her many sisters; her work style was slightly lazy, and her tone was often blunt, frequently drawing complaints from passing trainers. Fortunately, she was equally meticulous in caring for Pokémon. To await Zapdos's appearance, Red decided to rest at the Pokémon Center for an afternoon, as Zapdos rarely appears during the day.
As it neared midnight, Red sensed a powerful presence from afar within the Pokémon Center. To confirm Red's suspicion, the entire Pokémon Center suddenly lost power, startling the still-drowsy Joy awake. If the Pokémon Center couldn't restore power promptly, the Pokémon still healing would be in trouble, and some severely injured Pokémon could even be in life-threatening danger. Due to Vermilion City's foul environment, few trainers were willing to stay there. Now, Red was the only trainer left in the Pokémon Center, and Joy looked at Red with pleading eyes.
"Don't worry, Joy, I promise Vermilion City will have its power restored as soon as possible!" With that, Red left the Pokémon Center, and guided by his internal map, he quickly reached the Vermilion Power Plant.
"Come out, Abra, Cubone!"
The Vermilion Power Plant often suffered from Grimer harassment. The appearance of Grimer was a good opportunity for the two Pokémon to train their abilities. Once Abra and Cubone's strength was sufficiently honed, Red would add new abilities for them.
"Battle on your own!"
As soon as he spoke, several Grimer 'sensibly' appeared before Abra and Cubone, preparing to attack the two who had ventured in uninvited. Seeing this, Abra used Teleport to leave its spot. In the brief moment before the Grimer could react, it used Confusion to control them in the air, then slammed them to the ground. Cubone's method was more brutal. After waiting for the Grimer to approach, it swung the Bone Club in its hand, using Bone Barrage, each strike hitting the Grimer's vital points. Both Psychic and Ground-type moves are doubly effective against Grimer's Poison type. Soon, the few Grimer before them turned into battle experience for Abra and Cubone, unable to even launch a single attack against the two Pokémon.
"Well done," Red praised.
Upon receiving Red's praise, the two smaller Pokémon simultaneously showed joyful smiles, especially Abra, who had been furious for days after being mocked by Hitmonchan, who had received the Champion belt.
To be cautious, Red first ran to the power plant's seawater inlet to check if the accidental power outage in Vermilion City was due to a buildup of Grimer. After Red's inspection, there were only a few Grimer lingering at the seawater inlet, posing no threat to power generation. Seeing this, Red chose not to harm the Grimer and turned to head deeper into the power plant.
Not only was Red interested in Zapdos, but another duo had already arrived at the Vermilion Power Plant, and successfully witnessed Zapdos absorbing electricity from the power plant.
"The legendary Pokémon, as expected, its strength is extraordinary!"
Cassidy, dressed in a black Team Rocket uniform, looked at Zapdos in the sky with dread, unable to imagine how her superiors had made the decision to send her and Butch to capture Zapdos. Capturing Zapdos was one thing, but the Pokémon assigned to her were only Raticate and Houndour. These two Pokémon posed no threat to Zapdos at all.
"This is just asking for a beating!" Butch grumbled. The Pokémon assigned to Butch were only Primeape and Drowzee. How could they possibly withstand Zapdos's electricity?
Zapdos, controlling lightning and soaring in the sky, looked disdainfully at Cassidy and Butch below. Zapdos's presence at the Vermilion Power Plant was to conveniently absorb electricity to quickly restore its stamina. It never expected to accidentally encounter two humans today who didn't know their place, daring to try and capture it. This thoroughly enraged Zapdos's arrogance as a legendary beast. Zapdos was determined to show Cassidy and Butch its immense power as a legendary beast.
With a deterrent shriek, Zapdos released all its electricity, using Discharge to strike at Cassidy and Butch. Just as the two were resigned to their fate and prepared to face Zapdos's high-voltage current, the electricity striking them was suddenly controlled by some force and diverted elsewhere.
Seeing this, Zapdos turned its head in confusion, looking behind it, wanting to know what creature could snatch control of the electricity from its grasp.
"You're that red-hatted brat from Silph Co.!" Cassidy exclaimed, looking at Red who appeared from behind.
"I can't believe you actually saved us!" Butch said, moved.
"Death is avoidable, but punishment is not," Red said calmly, throwing out his Poké Balls, releasing Charizard and Millennium Gengar one after another.
"Gengar, watch them carefully for me. Don't let these two sneak away!" Red instructed the Millennium Gengar.
"Don't worry, Boss, I'll handle this small matter perfectly!" the Millennium Gengar said, patting its chest.
Although Red saved Cassidy and Butch's lives, the process of sending them to the League prison was unavoidable. Hopefully, this duo was already accustomed to their encounters with Red.
"Zapdos, because you privately absorbed electricity, the entire Vermilion City has fallen into panic due to the power outage. I came here to stop you!" Red said.
After hearing Red's words, Zapdos continued to absorb electricity nonchalantly, completely disregarding whether Vermilion City was in crisis. Zapdos had traveled all this way to the Vermilion Power Plant to absorb electricity for the convenience of restoring its stamina.
"It's simple. Lose to me, and you'll become my Pokémon!" Red said calmly, signaling to Charizard beside him that it was ready for battle.
Zapdos gave a disdainful smirk in response. Zapdos had battled Charizards' many times before, and they had always been defeated by its proud electric currents, so Zapdos didn't take Red's Charizard seriously.
But Zapdos didn't realize one thing: Red's Charizard was completely different from ordinary Charizard; it wasn't afraid of electricity at all!
[Chapter Complete]
***
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