Pokémon Center

Red is dreaming.

He dreams about many things: Pokémon, people, big cities, and other players.

There's even himself.

Red sees himself dressed in very different clothes, looking more mature than he does now.

Pikachu is perched on his shoulder, looking at something in the sky.

Not just Pikachu, but nearly everyone here is staring.

Their emotions are diverse—fear, anger, excitement, joy.

Though excitement and joy seem to come mostly from the players...

Then he also looks up at what everyone is focused on.

It's... a Pokémon.

The Pokémon has white skin and a purple tail.

But something is wrong with this Pokémon.

This feeling... it's similar to Spearow.

The Pokémon raises its hand, using its power to shatter all the glass of the buildings.

The psychic energy is so strong that all the Poison-type Pokémon faint on the spot.

Yet the players still approach, summoning their Pokémon.

Red suddenly notices what they're wearing on their hands:

Keystones.

"Mega Evolution!!" they shout in unison.

Red also sees himself call out another Pokémon, a powerful one named Charizard.

He too takes out a Keystone, pressing it into the stone.

The Pokémon in the sky isn't backing down either; it also starts gathering energy that looks like Mega Evolution.

Red doesn't get to see much more before a whispering voice speaks behind him.

"That is your future, Red."

The voice sounds... divine.

Red turns around and sees a large creature with red eyes staring at him.

How should I describe it?

It looks like a white horse trapped in a fence made of gold.

"Fate has been set, you will have to face it."

"The important thing is how you handle it—kill? Or forgive?"

"In the end, it doesn't really matter. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing you."

"Don't disappoint me."

Red's consciousness gradually fades, as he looks closely into the red eyes that match his own.

***

Red wakes up.

He's lying in bed, his body covered in bandages.

He's wearing patient clothes.

He looks around, then notices Pikachu lying on top of him.

'Since when did she relax like this?'

Red doesn't remember doing anything too important, but seeing Pikachu's sleeping face makes him forget whatever he was thinking.

Because she's adorable!

Totally worth getting beaten up by Spearow!

It seems that sitting up caused Pikachu to wake up too.

She also looks around and then at Red.

The two of them stare at each other in silence.

...

...

"PIKA!!!"

Pikachu suddenly jumps up and hugs Red's face.

Her eyes are wet; she thought Red would take a long time to wake up, maybe even never wake up at all!

Even though the people here reassured her that her trainer was fine, she didn't believe them.

Red is stunned, looking at Pikachu crying while hugging his face so tightly it's hard to breathe.

Since when did you develop Leaf's personality??

Oh yes, Leaf always hugs him tightly when she's sad, almost suffocating him.

Even Blue used to tease them, calling them the "dumb couple."

Of course, after that, Blue's money mysteriously disappeared.

Back to the main issue—why has his Pikachu gone from a Tsundere to a Leaf?

He tries to pry Pikachu off, but she just hugs tighter.

So, he pats Pikachu on the back, trying to reassure her.

Somehow, Pikachu understands, and she stops hugging his face but hugs somewhere else instead.

Red breathes a sigh of relief, thinking he was about to pass out again.

He's pretty surprised by how much his Pikachu has changed; it seems that saving her from the Spearow flock had a significant impact.

He silently thanks the Spearow for helping to improve his relationship with Pikachu (Spearow: Are you kidding me?).

"YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE AWAKE!!"

A punch lands squarely on his head, and he rubs it as he looks up at the girl in front of him.

It's that orange-haired girl.

"Even though you saved both me and Pikachu, that doesn't mean you can sacrifice your life like that! You idiot!!!"

"Pika pika!!"

Why are both of you calling me an idiot too??

If I hadn't done that, they definitely would have gone after both of you!

"Next time, don't do that! You have no idea how guilty I felt seeing you all bruised and injured!"

"Pika!"

Both of them are like my mom...

After a while of being scolded by both of them, everything finally settles down.

The girl introduces herself as Misty, she seems to be around his age.

Apparently, she was searching for a Pokémon she liked near a lake when it started raining, so she hurriedly grabbed her bike and headed back.

Though now, the bike is just a pile of scrap metal...

'I'll have to repay her for that later...'

"Don't even think about repaying me!"

It seems like she knows what Red is thinking, so she immediately rejects the idea.

"The fact that my bike got ruined isn't your fault, so don't feel guilty about it!"

"Instead, focus more on taking care of yourself! No one wants to get hurt, right?"

'She's right...'

Red sighs and reluctantly agrees to listen to her.

"Oh! You're awake now."

A pink-haired nurse approaches, holding a tray of food.

"You don't know how well this girl took care of you while you were unconscious~"

"Nurse Joy!!"

Misty blushes, scolding Nurse Joy, who is smiling mischievously.

"And by the way, your Pikachu really loves you. When Chansey and I tried to examine her, she fiercely resisted, even threatening us with electricity."

"Luckily, we figured out that your Pikachu just wanted to stay by your side, so we managed to convince her~"

Why does her voice sound so ominous??

But whatever, I should thank her.

Red thanks Nurse Joy, and she happily accepts.

"Nurse Joy, when do you think he'll be able to leave the Pokémon Center?" Misty asks the nurse.

"It won't be long. Chansey has healed most of his injuries, so he should be good to go by tomorrow."

"But you'll have to pay~"

Her mischievous tone is just like Leaf's!!

"I'll pay," Misty says, standing up and pulling out her wallet.

Red nearly pops his eyes out when he sees that Misty has over a million Pokédollars in her wallet.

Why is everyone rich except me??