"Pika Pika!"
Pikachu excitedly jumped down from Red's shoulder, hopping up a tree and casually picking a berry, happily stuffing it into its mouth.
As a Pikachu born in Viridian Forest, Pikachu could easily distinguish which berries were edible and sweet and crisp.
If it weren't for its love of sweet food, Pikachu wouldn't have run off to Pewter City to steal food.
But the people of Pewter City were helpless against Pikachu, which only encouraged its reckless behavior, subconsciously turning theft into a daily habit. The shop owners who were robbed could only laugh in anger.
Fortunately, Red compensated them generously, and ironically, those who hadn't been robbed began to secretly regret why their food hadn't attracted Pikachu.
Of course, Pikachu didn't forget about Red. After enjoying the sweet and refreshing berry, it immediately wrapped its tail around another one and tossed it toward Red.
Seeing this, Red smiled helplessly and raised his right hand to catch the berry, savoring it carefully.
Watching Red enjoy the berry, Pikachu revealed a happy smile, gradually understanding the joy of sharing and the meaning of companionship.
Only now did Pikachu understand why some Pokémon liked staying with trainers.
Perhaps companionship is the best remedy for the soul… who knows…
Before Pikachu could enjoy the brief peace any longer, a sudden shout shattered its pleasant thoughts.
"Hey, you over there! How about a Pokémon battle with me!"
A boy wearing a straw hat, carrying a bug-catching cage and holding a net, popped his head out of the grass. He excitedly ran up to Red, taking out a Poké Ball, eager to challenge him.
Noticing the excitement in the bug catcher's eyes, Red guessed that the boy's Pokémon had probably just evolved, and he wanted to immediately battle a passing trainer.
"I'm counting on you, Pikachu!" said Red.
"Ka-cha!"
Pikachu swallowed the berry in one gulp, patted its chest, and leapt in front of Red, electricity crackling around its body as it prepared for battle.
"Ugh, it's an Electric-type Pokémon…"
The bug catcher groaned in frustration and angrily threw his Poké Ball.
"I'm counting on you, Butterfree!"
"…" x2
Red and Pikachu both looked speechlessly at the obviously underdeveloped Butterfree in front of them.
"Hahaha, what's wrong? Scared by my Butterfree?" the bug catcher bragged, mistakenly thinking they were stunned by his well-trained Pokémon.
Red casually waved his hand. Pikachu immediately understood and lightly released a current, striking Butterfree with a single Thunder Shock.
"Zzzzt—"
Butterfree collapsed to the ground, its body charred black, while residual electricity occasionally made it twitch.
The bug catcher stood there dumbfounded. Before he could even give an order, Butterfree had already been defeated.
"Your Butterfree is clearly underdeveloped. Instead of chasing battles blindly, you should focus on improving its condition first," Red criticized, looking displeased at the irresponsible trainer.
...
After parting ways with the bug catcher's farce, Red began planning a training regimen for Pikachu.
Because Pikachu favored aggressive tactics, Red intended to focus on strengthening the power of its moves.
First, enhance the power of Iron Tail, allowing better use of the battlefield environment.
Second, develop Electric Ball further to master the use of Electro Web.
Electric Ball gathers electricity into a sphere, increasing damage through friction as it travels toward the opponent.
Electro Web, on the other hand, serves more as a support move, allowing Pikachu to restrict fast opponents. This not only conserves Pikachu's stamina but also limits the opponent's mobility—a very effective technique.
As for which Pokémon would serve as the training partner, it was naturally Scizor, who was extremely familiar with Viridian Forest.
As the white light faded, the black-and-red Scizor with its sharp pincers appeared.
Just the aura it emitted made Pikachu clearly realize that this Scizor was a master—far beyond the likes of Dratini and Marowak.
"Pika!"
The moment Red announced the start of training, Pikachu launched an attack.
Its tail glowed silver as it swung fiercely at Scizor.
"Boom—"
The ground was smashed into a deep crater, but Scizor had already vanished, turning into a black flash to evade the attack.
Sensing Scizor's killing intent, Pikachu tried to flee, only to see Scizor already within sight, its silver-glowing Bullet Punch about to strike.
Instinctively, Pikachu used Iron Tail to clash against the incoming attack.
In an instant, Scizor's bullet-fast and hardened fist sent Pikachu flying several meters into a tree—without the slightest hesitation.
(Why does this one have such a similar aura to that electric mouse from before?)
Scizor glanced at Red, seeming to guess something but not yet certain.
The reason Red had sent out Scizor was because he wanted it to settle matters with the Scyther tribe here.
After all, Scizor had once belonged to that group. No matter what, it couldn't just leave as if nothing had happened.
After understanding Red's intention, Scizor reluctantly went to its former territory to settle things with its old tribe.
...
The strongest members of the Scyther tribe were utterly crushed by the suddenly appearing Scizor. They couldn't even land a hit before being defeated by its lethal Bullet Punch.
Due to Scizor's evolution, none of the Scyther recognized the former leader's son, assuming instead that some reckless member had provoked Scizor.
After finishing its business and returning, Red clearly noticed the satisfaction in Scizor's eyes—it had comfortably fulfilled its wish.
Red didn't ask much, assuming Scizor had simply visited old companions.
"If this is all you've got, that's disappointing, electric mouse!"
Scizor beat its wings at high speed, releasing countless sharp wind blades toward Pikachu.
Seeing this, Pikachu immediately released electricity, using Thunderbolt to destroy the incoming blades, then followed up with Agility, circling around Scizor to look for an opening.
"Tricks like this are useless!"
Scizor scoffed.
Its figure suddenly blurred, and countless afterimages split off from its body.
In moments, Pikachu found itself surrounded. The Scizor clones unleashed Air Slash, sending continuous wind blades toward it.
Pikachu immediately used Double Team to evade the attack, then leapt into the air and unleashed Discharge downward, sending branching currents that successfully struck Scizor's true body.
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