Brock was furious.
Brock: "This is ridiculous! Let's end this meaningless battle right now! Onix! Coil your body and gather strength—Head Smash!"
Onix's massive body instantly coiled tightly, whipping up a powerful whirlwind in the center of the battlefield.
From within the vortex, its enormous rocky head shot forward like a cannonball, carrying overwhelming momentum as it smashed toward Pikachu.
Seeing that Pikachu was about to be hit, Red's pupils shrank.
He controlled Red to leap into the battlefield.
With a desperate sliding tackle, he barely managed to grab Pikachu just before the massive stone head struck.
Looking at Pikachu in Red's arms on the screen, Red felt a wave of guilt.
"Sorry… I forced you into a battle you didn't even need to fight…"
He took a deep breath, preparing to concede.
"Brock, I forfeit this—"
Zzzzt—!
A pillar of golden lightning—far more violent and dazzling than anything before—crashed down from the sky.
It instantly drowned out Red's voice.
Pikachu's eyes turned cold and sharp.
It lightly jumped from Red's arms onto his shoulder, then leapt toward Onix—whose head was still extended after the attack and hadn't yet pulled back.
Using its own body as a lightning rod, it guided the massive bolt of lightning straight downward.
Thunder!
The blinding lightning completely ignored type effectiveness.
Onix's enormous body looked as though it had been struck by divine punishment.
It didn't even have time to scream before collapsing heavily to the ground.
Its body was charred black, electricity crackling between the cracks of its rocky body.
It had completely lost the ability to battle.
The terrifying strike split the entire rock battlefield in half.
Stone fragments scattered everywhere.
The audience fell completely silent.
Brock stared in shock.
The referee finally snapped back to his senses and rushed onto the battlefield.
Referee: "The battle is over! Red wins!"
"Red defeated Gym Leader Brock!"
While everyone was still stunned by the lightning strike—
In reality, the Pikachu sitting on Red's shoulder—which had been watching the entire match—nodded in satisfaction and casually walked out of the room to play.
Only then did Red react, controlling Red to approach the in-game Pikachu, who was staring at him with a look of disdain.
Pikachu gave a faint smile and extended its little paw.
But the moment its paw touched Red—
Electricity flashed.
Red was instantly electrocuted until he was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
Seeing this scene, Brock helplessly shook his head and walked over.
Brock: "Congratulations. As proof that you've passed the Pewter Gym challenge, take this— the Boulder Badge of the Pokémon League."
"Red received the Boulder Badge from Brock!"
Pikachu didn't even glance at Brock or the badge.
With a flick of its tail, it simply walked straight out of the Gym.
Looking at Red's exploded hairstyle on the screen, Red gave an awkward laugh.
Left with no choice, he followed the "young master" out of the Gym.
"We got the first badge! Next we'll head to Cerulean City…"
Red began planning excitedly.
"Don't forget Team Rocket."
Blue suddenly interrupted, sounding certain.
"Let's go to Mt. Moon first and see what they're planning. It's on the way anyway."
"Right! I'll never tolerate any evil!"
Red immediately agreed and controlled Red to set off.
However—
The moment Red left Pewter City and stepped onto Route 3, a dialogue box suddenly popped up on the screen.
Handsome Researcher:
"That's all for now! Why are you playing so fast? When the full version releases, remember to pay for the official copy! And don't come rushing me for updates! (An angry pixel emoji)"
Red scratched his head awkwardly and looked at his companions.
"Uh… Brother Rei Akagi already said when he gave us the update patch that the progress only goes up to the first Gym…"
"Not surprising. But…"
Blue looked calm, as if he had expected this all along. He glanced at Red.
"If you shamelessly go ask him, I'm sure he'll give you another update patch."
Yellow didn't say anything, but the disappointment on her face was obvious.
She really enjoyed this warm feeling of everyone playing the game together.
"Tch!"
Blue clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Stopping right when things get exciting—Brother Rei Akagi definitely has psychological problems!"
Blue pushed up a pair of imaginary glasses and revealed some insider information.
"Relax. In a few days, Brother Rei Akagi will hold a preview livestream. After the stream, the game will officially release. No need to rush."
"Wait!"
Red immediately caught the key point.
"How do you know that?"
Facing Red's questioning, Blue rolled his eyes indifferently.
"Idiot."
Eterna City Research Institute Dormitory
Rei Akagi rubbed his sleepy eyes.
With heavy dark circles under them, he slowly shuffled out of the bathroom.
It was the weekend.
He had decided to work from home today—which really just meant not going downstairs.
Last night, he had been intrigued by the system's positive feedback notifications and secretly sneaked into the player group chats to lurk.
Unfortunately, he was caught immediately.
For the sake of the game update patch, Red had bombarded him with messages nonstop, harassing him until late into the night.
And today, his schedule was still packed.
In the morning, he had to finalize the livestream plan and process documents.
In the afternoon, he had to accompany Cynthia to investigate the local gray-market forces.
His timetable was completely full.
"So annoying."
He muttered.
After preparing breakfast for the Gastly floating beside him and staring eagerly at him, he sat down at his computer desk and began another day of work.
Tap.
Rei Akagi typed the final sentence of the livestream plan.
After carefully checking everything, he sent the document to Professor Oak.
Just as he stretched his body—his bones cracking loudly—and prepared to relax for a moment—
Gastly floated over with a puzzled expression, carrying the military strategy book it had been studying.
There went his break.
Gastly asked:
Gastly: "Gastly? (Can Ally Switch swap positions with an opponent?)"
"Yes, my friend! Yes, it can!"
Rei Akagi answered instantly.
"The core mechanic of Ally Switch is that the target being swapped must not have strong resistance or be on high alert. That's why the move is usually used in chaotic double battles. But if your opponent lets their guard down, it can still work in a single battle as a surprise tactic."
Gastly asked again:
Gastly: "Gastly? (How can Hypnosis improve its accuracy?)"
"Hypnosis…"
Rei Akagi rubbed his chin.
"The move is slow to activate. Normally, trainers use Hypnosis to force the opponent to react, not necessarily to hit. But if you want higher accuracy, you need to hide the casting motion—like releasing it from smoke or launching it during a sneak attack."
Gastly continued questioning.
Gastly: "Gastly? (What about Destiny Bond?)"
"The principle of Destiny Bond is that when the user faints after being hit, the opponent is dragged into fainting as well."
Rei Akagi frowned slightly and looked at Gastly with surprise.
"It's essentially a one-for-one trade strategy. It requires extremely strong battlefield awareness and information processing from the trainer."
He paused.
"But I'm not going to let you learn that move."
Gastly froze.
Gastly: "Gastly? (Why?)"
"Don't ask. The answer is simple—you don't need it."
Rei Akagi reached out and ruffled the smoky "head" of the floating Pokémon before looking out at the blazing sunlight outside the window.
"Let's go. I'm meeting Cynthia for lunch, and we have an investigation this afternoon."
"Maybe you'll get a chance to test your skills."
After all—
Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles.
Gastly had studied military strategy for so long.
It was time to take it out for some real-world practice.
Investigating the local underground forces…
Or rather—
Cracking down on organized crime.
Hearing this, Gastly immediately became excited, spinning and stretching through the air like a chaotic black cotton candy cloud.
Rei Akagi sighed with a helpless smile.
How should he put it?
Did he just raise a vengeful ghost?
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