After leaving the nature-filled Safari Zone, Red arrived alone at a city. This bustling city connected to Sunnytown on the opposite shore, which could be reached by crossing a 20-kilometer-long bridge.
At a glance, Red saw the bridge that was still under rapid construction. Ordinary people could not even see the other end of the bridge with the naked eye; even Red could only vaguely judge the general direction.
The bridge had not yet been completed, and part of the far end was still under expansion. It was a bridge exclusively for motor vehicles, but a special lane for bicycles had also been opened, allowing travelers passing by to ride across on bicycles.
Some stubborn trainers who insisted on walking were stopped by the administrators. If one tried to walk, it would be nightfall before reaching the other side of the bridge, which was extremely dangerous. If anything troublesome happened, it would also affect the administrator's position.
"Excuse me, can I ride my Pokémon across the bridge?"
Red walked to the bridge entrance and asked the administrator.
(Another hotheaded kid…)
Seeing that Red was not riding a bicycle, the administrator covered his face helplessly as if already used to such situations, then explained to Red,
"This is a bridge exclusively for motor vehicles. There's a special bicycle lane beside it. If you want to cross this bridge, you must ride a bicycle."
"Isn't a Pokémon faster than a bicycle? Or does this bridge not support a Pokémon's weight? Or is it that I must buy a bicycle from an officially certified bicycle shop before I'm allowed to pass?" Red questioned.
"Th-That… isn't what I meant…"
The administrator was instantly stumped by Red's words. What Red said actually made sense, leaving the administrator unable to think of any rebuttal.
"If anything really happens, report my name. I'm Red from Pallet Town!"
As soon as the words fell, Red threw the Poké Ball at his waist. A robust Tauros appeared before Red and the administrator. Red leapt up and landed on Tauros's back, intending to ride Tauros across to Sunnytown on the other side.
"Let's go, Tauros. Let's race across this 20-kilometer bridge together!"
Upon hearing Red's command, Tauros let out an excited moo, snorted heavily through its nostrils, and charged toward the bridge, completely ignoring the administrator trying to stop him.
"Young people these days are really wild…" the administrator sighed. "A racing cowboy in the bicycle lane? That's not a bad news topic either…"
With the refreshing sea breeze blowing past, Red rode Tauros along the wide bridge surface in high spirits, completely ignoring the astonished gazes of others.
"Wow, riding a Tauros is so cool!" a boy riding a bicycle exclaimed. Why hadn't he thought of that idea? Instead, he had foolishly spent money buying a bicycle from a bike shop.
The boy vaguely remembered the shop owner looking at him with a grin, saying that the bicycle was the lowest price in the shop. Yet after the transaction was completed, he turned around and said the exact same thing to another customer, leaving the boy completely stunned.
Although Red didn't want to cause trouble, trouble still came looking for him. After all, riding a Tauros made him far too eye-catching, and it inevitably attracted the disturbance of a delinquent gang.
"Are there bicycle street racers nowadays too?" Red said speechlessly. He told Tauros to stay where it was for the moment and watched the delinquent group perform around him, strangely feeling as if he were watching circus tricks.
"Red-hat cowboy, you don't seem to be a local, do you?" the red-haired delinquent leading the group said. "Trying to cross the bridge without greeting us first—aren't you being a bit naive?"
"What? You've got a problem with that?" Red replied unhappily, annoyed by the delinquent's teasing.
"Hmph—"
Seeing the delinquent provoking its master, Tauros angrily stomped the ground. The tremor nearly scared the delinquent into falling over. Everyone stared in shock at the section of bridge surface that Tauros had crushed under its hooves.
They were locals and naturally knew how sturdy the bridge was. Yet Tauros had easily stomped a visible crater into it. For a moment, everyone fell into panic.
"Please don't misunderstand! When we say greeting, we mean having a Pokémon battle. We don't have any bad intentions!"
Another leader—a green-haired delinquent girl—said timidly, looking at the furious Tauros in fear, worried it might suddenly launch an extreme attack.
"Alright. Let's treat it as a warm-up. Tauros is yours."
The delinquent leader regretted challenging Red a little, but to maintain his status as the boss, he still resolutely sent out his Pokémon, Golem.
"Isn't this shiny Tauros way too huge?!"
The delinquent exclaimed in horror. Only after sending out Golem did he clearly notice the difference in Tauros.
An ordinary Tauros was only 1.4 meters tall, but Red's Tauros had reached a shocking 1.9 meters. Its horns were exceptionally thick and long, covered in scars. This was a symbol of pride for the Tauros tribe and the mark of Tauros as the leader of its herd.
"Golem, don't be afraid! We're the undefeated champions of this bicycle lane!" the delinquent encouraged, hoping to suppress Tauros's intimidating pressure. Unfortunately, things were not as easy as he imagined.
"You can attack first. It's just a battle—no need to be so scared," Red said calmly.
"Golem, use Rollout!" the delinquent ordered.
Golem curled into a ball and rolled toward Tauros.
Since Red had called this a warm-up, Tauros understood it was free to fight on its own. Without waiting for Red's command, it decisively used Horn Attack to confront Golem's Rollout.
The two sides continuously tested each other's strength. For half a minute they remained locked in stalemate, while the delinquent group nervously watched the two Pokémon battling, awaiting the result.
Seemingly feeling it had played enough, Tauros snorted heavily, unleashing the full force of its body. Step by step it pushed Golem backward, completely stopping the momentum of its Rollout.
"H-How is this possible? My Golem actually…" the delinquent said in shock, not even reacting in time to give another command.
Tauros's three tails simultaneously glowed with white light. Triple Iron Tail struck Golem's body, and with the Sheer Force Ability boosting its power by 30%, Golem was knocked down in a single blow—Tauros hadn't even properly finished warming up.
"Continue," Red said calmly, urging the delinquent group to send the next challenger so he wouldn't waste time.
"This time it's my turn! Cloyster, I'm counting on you!" the delinquent girl shouted, throwing her Poké Ball and sending out Cloyster.
"Cloyster, use Aurora Beam!" she ordered.
A rainbow-colored beam shot from Cloyster's horn and rushed toward Tauros.
Seeing this, Tauros snorted disdainfully and countered with Stone Edge.
The two moves collided in the middle of the field. Aurora Beam was completely defeated, and the remaining Stone Edge continued toward Cloyster. Seeing this, the girl hurriedly ordered Cloyster to use Withdraw to defend against the attack.
"It's over," Red said calmly. Although Cloyster could block this attack, it had also sacrificed its ability to move.
Using the same move again, Tauros unleashed Iron Tail once more. Its three tails shining with dazzling white light swung toward Cloyster. With a violent cracking sound, Cloyster's shell fractured, and it collapsed to the ground with spiraling eyes.
"Instead of wasting time here acting as bicycle street racers, you might as well switch careers and become local medicine couriers. That way your riding skills could actually be useful," Red suggested.
After saying that, Red rode Tauros away. The fame of the "Red-Hat Cowboy" quickly spread throughout the area, and many trainers passing by began to imitate him.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo