Captain's Quarters.
Lucas sat in the soft captain's chair—which originally belonged to the ship's actual captain—casually lighting a cigarette as he stared at the screen in front of him.
Displayed on the monitor was a live feed of the S.S. Anne's grand hall.
Standing beside him were Marnie and Archer, while Surge was off to the side doing bicep curls with a dumbbell. As for the real captain...
Well, he was curled up in a corner, trembling with fear.
"The original trio with Ash, huh… what a blast from the past."
Out of nowhere, Lucas narrowed his eyes slightly as his gaze settled on a familiar figure onscreen—a delicate-featured youth who was busy stuffing his face at the banquet table.
A slight smirk tugged at Lucas's lips. "Looks like it's his first year on his journey."
Lucas's impression of Ash was still quite vivid. Although eighteen years had passed since the original timeline, perhaps due to transmigrating to this world, Lucas's memory in this life was unbelievably sharp.
He could recall many details from the original story with impressive clarity.
Still, after watching for a while, Lucas looked away. After all...
Ash was still far too green—full of naive kindness and simple dreams. Admirable, yes, but not someone Lucas considered worth his attention.
And unlike Yellow, Ash's talent...
While Ash was modeled after Red, his aptitude wasn't actually weak—but Ash and Red were fundamentally different types.
Red was a pure, natural genius. A S-tier if you will, or rather, a monster. His talent was nearly unrivaled.
Ash, on the other hand, was the type who grew stronger through battle, accumulating experience and foundation over time. Though their eventual peaks might be similar, Ash was destined to need far more time to reach Red's level.
And Lucas had no intention of waiting that long.
What's more, Ash's kind, sincere heart and unshakeable will made him quite hard to manipulate.
"We've already set sail, but for now we're still within the waters of Vermilion City—it'll take a bit more time before we're far enough out."
Archer glanced at the densely packed figures on the surveillance feed, a rare smile creeping onto his usually gloomy face as he spoke to Lucas.
To his surprise, the name S.S. Anne had worked out exceptionally well—more people boarded the ship than even he had expected.
He was itching to begin… but Archer knew this wasn't the right moment to act.
They were still too close to Vermilion.
"You take over here for now. I'm going to take Marnie for a walk around the ship."
Lucas nodded and stood up, stretching. Staying cooped up in the captain's quarters was just too boring.
It was time to take a stroll through the main hall.
"Leave it to me," Archer replied after a short pause, though he didn't think too much of it.
"Let's go, Marnie. I'll show you where the good food is."
"Mhm~"
--------------------------------------
"Ahhh~ I'm finally full."
Ash collapsed onto a sofa with a blissful expression, rubbing his round belly with satisfaction.
"You really are something else. You started eating the moment we boarded the ship…"
Misty's forehead twitched with frustration, but she managed to keep her temper in check and just rolled her eyes.
"Eh? What's that over there?"
Ash didn't seem to hear her at all. His eyes suddenly lit up as he stared toward a crowd gathering not far away.
"Oh, that's a Trainer battle," Brock explained, recalling the S.S. Anne's promotional pamphlet. "After all, the whole theme of this cruise is a Trainer Festival. I heard the ultimate winner will receive a mysterious grand prize."
"But most of the people joining are elites, so Ash, you probably don't stand a—wait, Ash?"
Misty, who was mid-sentence, suddenly realized there was no response from Ash. She opened her eyes—and sure enough, the boy had vanished.
What the hell?! Did you just teleport or something!?
"Idiot…" she groaned, slapping her forehead. It wasn't hard to guess—Ash had clearly run off to find a battle.
Meanwhile, Ash had dashed all the way to the edge of the battle area, only to find it swarming with people.
"Excuse me, pardon me—sorry, coming through!"
He squeezed his way forward in a hurry, offering quick apologies as he used his smaller build to push through the crowd, eventually making it to the front.
In the arena, the match was reaching its conclusion—a Venusaur launched a final Leaf Storm, sending a Nidoking crashing to the ground.
"That was awesome!" Ash's eyes sparkled in awe—until they landed on the Trainer behind Venusaur.
His expression froze.
Tall and slender, wearing a red-and-white short-sleeved shirt and teal jeans, with a duckbill cap on his head.
A handsome face, crimson eyes, and a youthful appearance—he looked about seventeen or eighteen.
"Red!"
Ash lit up like fireworks, staring at the boy with pure admiration.
"He really is strong. From level to strategy, the two weren't even close."
A young man's admiring voice entered Ash's ears.
"Well, of course! That's Red! He's the best!"
Ash didn't even hesitate to reply, pride blooming on his face.
Yes—to Ash, Red was the ultimate Trainer. Both a beloved idol and a goal to surpass.
"It seems you know him. He's been winning nonstop—unless something unexpected happens, he'll probably be the champion of this cruise celebration."
Lucas gave Ash a sideways glance, a little surprised to run into him here.
But Ash wasn't the focus.
Lucas turned his attention to the calm-faced youth with red eyes, his gaze sharpening.
Red.
He hadn't expected to run into him here—but after thinking it over, it wasn't all that surprising.
After all, in both the games and the anime specials, Red and Ash had gotten involved in the S.S. Anne incident.
Things were getting interesting.
A slow grin crept onto Lucas's face. His first encounter with Red… and they were on opposing sides.
"If I'm not mistaken, both Blue and Red are planning to challenge the Indigo League this year. Meaning, one of them will eventually face Lance."
His eyes sparkled even brighter as he pondered the implications.
Very interesting indeed. But this was the real world—he wasn't sure if Blue or Red would be able to dethrone Lance from his champion position.
As for Lorelei, Bruno, and Agatha, Lucas didn't even bother considering them. While the three Elite Four members were far stronger than their counterparts in other regions, they simply wouldn't be able to stop monsters like Blue and Red.
"Of course! Any match with Red in it—he's definitely not going to lose!"
Ash beamed brightly, but there was no denying the sheer fanboy worship in his voice.
Yep. Ash was, in essence, a hopeless Red fanboy.
"Oh? You two must be brothers. You look very much alike," Lucas said with interest, raising an eyebrow at Ash.
"Of course! Red is a year older than me, but a lot of people say we look like twins," Ash said proudly, wiping his nose with a grin.
"Are you a Trainer too? You look pretty strong. Want to battle?"
Ash blinked up at Lucas and casually extended a challenge.
That was just the kind of person he was. A rookie Trainer, yes—but never one to fear an opponent.
When in doubt? Battle it out!
Marnie looked at Ash in surprise, giving him a once-over. He gave off full-on newbie vibes from head to toe—and yet he had the nerve to challenge Lucas?
Even Lucas couldn't help but laugh. This kid was genuinely entertaining.
"A battle, huh? We can talk about that later. But for now…"
Lucas chuckled softly—and without anyone noticing, he had already grabbed someone's shoulder.
"Young lady," he said, turning to a girl with chestnut hair and a white hat, "it's very rude to take things from others without permission."
That's right—just moments ago, this girl had bumped into him seemingly by accident and slipped his wallet out of his pocket.
But now that he spoke, the girl froze instantly.
And it wasn't the typical stiffness from being caught.
It was the kind of paralyzing fear that came from recognizing someone's voice.
This girl… knew who he was.
(End of Chapter)