[Bonus chapter]
The footage continued—
Green ran screaming until he collided head-on with Red.
Red rubbed his head and looked up.
"G-Green? Why are you here?"
"Red?! Forget that—run! There's a ghost!!"
"Ghost?"
While Red was full of confusion,
the purple ghost followed Green closely!
"Hurry and leave now!"
Red was startled, dropping his flashlight.
"A r-real ghost?!"
"Y-yeah! Let's go Red! It's not too late to run!"
But after the initial panic, Red's expression hardened.
"You can run if you want, Green. But I promised Reina—I will bring Mr. Fuji back!"
"Pikachu, I choose you!"
"Pika!"
To everyone's surprise, Red released a Pikachu!
"P-Pikachu?! Red also has a Pikachu like Ash?!"
"To be honest, aside from Ash's Pikachu, the others are all just wild trash…"
"But Red's Pikachu looks different… that face is way too round!"
"Actually, yeah… it kind of looks like Pikachu wearing Pichu's head!"
"Ugh—don't say creepy things!!"
"..."
No one took Red's Pikachu seriously.
Red and Green looked nothing alike, the way Ash and Gary did.
No one believed Red was Ash's alternate self…
And they certainly didn't expect this Pikachu to be anything special.
"Pikachu—Thunderbolt!"
A golden flash tore through the air—
The electric blast was thick as a water barrel!
Everyone was stunned.
This Pikachu… didn't look weak at all!
That Thunderbolt was way beyond what a normal Pikachu could unleash!
However—
The powerful electricity passed straight through the purple ghost.
Red tried move after move—
Quick Attack. Thunder Shock. Thunder Wave—
But nothing landed!
Then viewers suddenly noticed—
Green was missing!
Had Green run away again?
Uh…
"Red! Catch!"
A loud yell came from the staircase.
Green was suddenly back—
holding something that looked like a pair of goggles.
He tossed it to Red.
"What's this?"
"Put it on, and you'll know!"
Trusting his childhood friend and rival,
Red put on the goggle-like device—
And the purple fog-like ghost suddenly solidified!
It became a purple Pokémon wearing a bone skull—
"Ma… Marowak?!"
Red was stunned.
Why was the ghost Marowak? Could it be…
"Leave this place! They're here!"
"Kara!!"
Cubone suddenly rushed out from behind Red!
After Red left Pokémon House,
Cubone had sensed its mother's aura inside the tower and followed it.
Reina had followed as well.
Cubone leapt into Marowak's arms—
Marowak's body glowed gold,
and she vanished with a peaceful expression.
[Lance: So the ghost was Marowak!]
[Cynthia: What a pitiful yet respectable mother…]
[Prof. Oak: Even after death, Marowak was still protecting her child. She repeated 'leave this place' because she sensed Team Rocket was here.]
[Prof. Oak: Once she saw Cubone again, her final wish was fulfilled… and she ascended.]
Most people around the world fell silent.
Team Rocket…It
was truly a despicable organization.
Not all villains were like the comedic trio—
Most were cruel, ruthless, and indifferent toward Pokémon's lives.
Green stood still for a long time watching Marowak ascend,
then shrugged and slowly walked away.
"I've taken care of most of the grunts here, Red. If you can't handle the rest, don't call yourself a trainer from Pallet Town."
"You sure talk big."
Red silently returned Pikachu to its Poké Ball,
Then charged up the stairs.
On the upper floor, Red encountered three Team Rocket members sitting weakly on the ground.
Reina and Cubone had followed as well.
Seeing the Team Rocket trio, Cubone's eyes blazed with hatred—
These were the ones who killed its mother!
"Don't go, Cubone! Leave this to Red…"
Reina grabbed Cubone just in time.
She trusted Red to deal with them properly.
Plop.
"Take this junk and get lost. I don't want to see you again."
Red tossed the ghost-detector back at the Team Rocket members.
He had no intention of keeping their equipment.
"You brat! You think everyone is like that guy just now?! Let me teach you a lesson!"
One of the Team Rocket members struggled to stand—
…
Because the inventory skipped many of the scenes where Red caught Pokémon,
The viewers didn't know Red had caught a round-faced Pikachu.
As for why it wasn't shown…
Well, I honestly didn't know where to fit that scene in! Hahaha.
But Red doesn't feel complete unless he has a Pikachu!
Just as Green had said, he had already defeated most of Team Rocket's Pokémon earlier,
so the only Pokémon left to resist Red
was a single Koffing.
It was easily defeated by Red's Charmeleon!
Seeing that Team Rocket still refused to repent,
Red directly ordered Charmeleon to give them a blast of Flamethrower!
These Team Rocket grunts did not have the "Super Rookie" physique—
One Flamethrower left them heavily injured!
This could also be considered giving them a lesson on behalf of Cubone.
"...Still stubborn and unrepentant.
Take this as your warning—next time it won't be so simple!"
Before leaving, Red even helped them call an ambulance and the police.
Then he went upward and rescued Mr. Fuji!
[Lance: Red really has a kind heart! If it were someone else, they'd probably have executed them on the spot!]
[Diantha: Like you?]
[Lance: Cough! Don't slander me! At most I'd throw them into prison, okay?!]
[Cynthia: It seems from here on, Red's legendary path is starting to show.
He hasn't been traveling long, yet his Charmeleon feels as strong as a normal Gym Leader already!]
[Steven: Probably… only three to four months? That's very fast already!
But leveling up past this will not be easy.]
[Bruno: Yes. Especially the Elite Four level. That is a difficult barrier to cross.]
Champions all discussed Red's strength.
Everyone felt Red's growth was a bit too fast.
Only three badges in, and he already had Gym-level power.
But everyone agreed:
to reach the Elite Four level, he would need at least another year,
because the threshold of Elite Four strength is not something easily surpassed.
Oak Laboratory backyard:
Ash's eyes shone with a strange light.
Red's growth speed was much faster than his own back then!
At his third Gym, forget Charmeleon—
Even Pikachu back then was nowhere near as strong as Red's round-faced Pikachu!
Even now, Ash's current strength was only barely above Red's…
But he had something Red didn't have—
companions traveling with him!
"This child… traveling alone, doesn't he feel lonely?"
Delia looked at Red on screen and couldn't help but speak.
In Red, she felt something very similar to her own son.
She couldn't help worrying about a boy traveling so alone.
"It's okay, Mom!
Even if Red has no people traveling with him…
He has Pokémon with him!"
Delia nodded.
Yes… Pokémon were traveling with Red.
"Yeah! Even in the footage, I didn't have anyone traveling with me either!"
"Poor Gary~ fortunately in this world you have us!"
Gary's girlfriends said in unison behind him,
earning disgusted looks from Ash and Misty.
Brock was… purely jealous.
The footage continued—
After rescuing Mr. Fuji,
Red received Fuji's grateful gift—
a tool called the Poké Flute!
This tool could awaken sleeping Pokémon.
Besides that, Fuji handed him a small wooden box.
When Red opened it, the entire world gasped!
[Lance: A Mega Evolution Stone and Key Stone?!!]
[Bruno: Holy—! Is this even allowed?! Mr. Fuji even gives these away?!]
[Cynthia: Since Red saved him, the gratitude is understandable…
But giving away a Mega Stone and a Key Stone is still shocking.
I had thought Mega Evolution hadn't been discovered in that world yet!]
[Diantha: That Mega Stone… looks like Charizard's, doesn't it?]
[Steven: Yes, that pattern—
It should be Charizard's Mega Stone! I'm so jealous!
I want Metagross's Mega Stone too!]
[Lance: And I want Dragonite's!]
[Cynthia: Too bad—aside from Garchomp, none of your aces have confirmed Mega Evolutions yet~]
Cynthia delivered a fatal blow.
Garchomp's Mega Evolution was known to exist,
But Dragonite and Metagross…
had never been discovered.
Ash looked at the chat, troubled.
Should he tell Lance that the Heavenly Dao Shop also didn't have Mega Stones for Dragonite?
Metagross's Mega Stone existed, but Dragonite's…
If even the Heavenly Dao Shop didn't have it,
then Dragonite pretty much… had no Mega Evolution.
Lance might be devastated.
Maybe… better to wait until after the Masters Eight tournament to tell him.
Also, many viewers were confused—
How did Cynthia and the others recognize Charizard's Mega Stone?
Had Professor Sycamore already discovered many new Mega Stones?!
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