“This is Squad 11, reporting on Subject One.”

Hidden in the deep shadows of the forest, a Team Rocket grunt whispered into a communicator, his eyes fixed on the distant clearing. He had recorded Red’s entire battle with the Blood-Red Gyarados and was now transmitting the footage to a secure research base, awaiting orders from the operation’s mastermind: Dr. Fenris.

“He captured it?” a voice crackled back. A holographic projection shimmered to life, revealing the blurry, gaunt face of the doctor. “Could this boy be…”

Dr. Fenris leaned closer, his eyes widening in recognition as he saw Red’s face clearly. This was the same boy who had single-handedly ruined their operation to collect Mew’s genetic material. To encounter him again, here and now, was an infuriating coincidence.

“Leave the boy for now,” Fenris commanded, a flicker of cold calculation in his eyes. “I secretly sent a team to abduct him before, but they failed. He’s not just Professor Oak’s assistant; he possesses significant psychic abilities of his own. Ordinary grunts are no match for him, so don’t waste your efforts. Besides…” A cruel, playful smile twisted his lips. “Giovanni seems to be very interested in this young man.”

“Understood,” the grunt replied, long accustomed to the doctor’s casual, almost disrespectful use of their leader’s name.

“I imagine the boy will make his way to Viridian City to challenge the Gym Leader soon enough,” Fenris continued, his tone dismissive. “Consider Subject One a… gift. Let him have it. Redirect the other teams to focus on forcing the evolution of Magikarp with the energy wavelength. It’s a pity to lose this modified Shiny, of course…”

Despite his words, he showed no sign of distress. He could create countless more monstrosities like the Blood-Red Gyarados.

“Report!” a captain burst into the room behind Fenris. “Subject Two has breached containment! It’s escaped the laboratory! We’re in full pursuit!”

Fenris’s fleeting good humor vanished. “You useless fools!” he snarled. “Get it back! I have no interest in re-modifying the same Pokémon twice!”

The data from Subject Two’s enhancements hadn’t been fully collected. That, more than the loss of the specimen itself, was what truly infuriated him. He cut the connection without another word, leaving the grunt in the forest staring at the empty air.

(I’d better get out of here,) the grunt thought, a bead of sweat tracing a path down his temple. After witnessing Red’s power, he had no intention of attempting a private kidnapping. He was a survivor, and his only virtue was obeying orders. Relieved that he wasn’t being sent on a suicide mission, he melted back into the forest and disappeared.

Back at the lakeside, Red was gently applying a healing spray to his new partner. The Blood-Red Gyarados, which had been a maelstrom of rage just moments before, was now uncharacteristically still, quietly enjoying his trainer’s gentle touch.

The sudden transformation from rampaging lake monster to docile child was a strange sight, and the other Pokémon watched in stunned silence. Sensing their gazes, the Gyarados shyly turned its massive head away, its former menace completely gone.

“Go, Poké Ball.”

After finishing the treatment, Red tossed a ball and formally captured it. Having already accepted Red, the Gyarados offered no resistance.

“Come on out, Gyarados.”

He released it again. A new wave of power settled over the great beast. The system’s voice confirmed the change in Red’s mind.

[Ability Overlay: Moxie. When this Pokémon defeats an opponent, its Attack will increase by one stage.]

The Gyarados sensed the change in its own body and looked at Red with a flash of alarm. If it didn’t trust him already, the feeling of being altered again might have sent it back into a rage.

“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you,” Red said reassuringly. He placed a hand on its head and focused, channeling his Aura and psychic energy into its body. He began to carefully excise the harmful, artificial genes that Team Rocket had forced upon it.

Droplets of viscous black liquid seeped from the Gyarados’s scales. Where they touched the lake, the water hissed and corroded, a testament to their toxicity. To protect the environment, Red used his psychokinesis to isolate the corrupted water, levitating the black sludge into a small, sealed vial. He would send it to Professor Oak from Viridian City for analysis.

As the last of the poison was expelled, the Gyarados let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief. The experimental fluids had granted it monstrous strength, but they had also been twisting its mind, slowly turning it into a beast of pure, mindless destruction. Now, for the first time in years, it felt clean. It felt free.

It nudged Red gratefully, its eyes telling a story of pain and suffering that words never could. Red held its massive head, silently sharing its burden. His other Pokémon drew closer, sensing their new teammate’s pain and offering their quiet support. A single, crystalline tear rolled down the great serpent’s cheek.

The heartwarming scene was shattered by a terrified shriek.

A girl with bright orange hair tied in a short side ponytail had stumbled into the clearing. The Gyarados, startled, glared at the intruder. The girl saw its terrifying form and collapsed to the ground, frozen in fear.

“I-I didn’t mean to!” she stammered.

Red was startled for a different reason. It was Misty, his brother’s future traveling companion.

“Gyarados, it’s alright. Don’t scare her,” he said calmly.

The Gyarados immediately softened its gaze, but Misty, who harbored a deep-seated phobia of the species, was still paralyzed. Red walked over and extended a hand, helping her to her feet.

“I’m sorry,” Misty said, brushing herself off. “I just heard a loud noise and came to see what was happening.” Her eyes drifted past him to his team, and her jaw went slack. The golden Pidgey, the colossal Onix, the fiery Charmander—they were all outliers. But it was the Beedrill that truly stunned her. She had arrived just in time to witness the end of the battle, to see that seemingly ordinary Bug-type bring the monstrous Gyarados to its knees. It was a lesson she wouldn’t soon forget: never judge a book by its cover.

(How are his Pokémon so strong? We look like we’re the same age!) she thought, a wave of inferiority washing over her. She had left the Cerulean Gym in a huff, vowing to become the world’s greatest Water-type Master, but so far, she had nothing to show for it but a string of failed attempts to catch anything other than Magikarp—a Pokémon she refused to train due to its terrifying evolution.

“Hello. I’m Red, from Pallet Town,” he said, breaking the silence. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Misty, from Cerulean City,” she replied, snapping out of her daze. “Nice to meet you, too.” When she learned he was a new trainer, she gave him a look of pure disbelief. She had started her journey before him, yet the gap in their strength was astronomical.

“Misty,” Red said, “if you’re looking for strong Water-type Pokémon, you should try the waterfall over there.” He pointed in a specific direction—the exact spot where she was fated to meet his brother. He couldn’t let her miss that encounter. As Ash’s older brother, he felt a certain responsibility to ensure his journey started on the right path.

(Ash should be starting his own adventure with Pikachu right about now,) he judged, a faint smile on his lips.

***********

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep