VS, Red!

The red training uniform, red cap, and a Poliwhirl as his starter Pokémon—put those key details together, and a name was almost on Xia Chen's lips.

Red!

The man hailed as the God of Battle, known to Pokémon fans in his previous life as Master Red.

Xia Chen did not know whether the world could truly be this coincidental, so he did not rashly go over to greet him.

For one thing, he was not certain. Those three conditions alone could not completely confirm the boy's identity.

For another, even if he really was Red, what then? Was Xia Chen supposed to go ask him for a photo?

Still, if this really was Red, would Blue, Leaf, and Erika also appear?

And if Red lookalikes existed, would there be other Ashes from different works as well?

As Xia Chen pondered, he failed to notice Eevee's eyes light up upon spotting a certain Pokémon before she quietly slipped away.

"Contestants number 61 and 62, please take the field. Contestants number 63 and 64, prepare for battle!"

The emotionless electronic announcement jolted Xia Chen out of his wandering thoughts. His number was 63.

He rose from his chair and prepared to head backstage at the battle arena, calling to his companion beside him as he went. "Eevee, we're getting ready to go on."

Yet he received no response.

Xia Chen froze, then looked around, but Eevee was nowhere to be seen.

Huh? Where was my Eevee?

Where had my huge Eevee gone?

"Vee~" Eevee's voice drifted over from afar. Xia Chen looked in its direction, only to see Eevee chatting with a... Poliwhirl?

Looking up at Poliwhirl's Trainer, wasn't that the boy suspected to be Red?

Why had Eevee run over there?

Xia Chen stared dumbfoundedly as the boy waved at him from afar. Then Eevee scurried back to his feet, puffing and panting.

Xia Chen had a whole lot to complain about, but he did not know where to begin.

Seeing Xia Chen standing there in a daze, Eevee looked up at him in confusion. "Vee? (The match is about to start. Why are you still standing around?)"

Xia Chen slowly produced a question mark. You randomly went over to strike up a conversation with someone, and now you were blaming him first?

"Forget it. I'll deal with you after the battle. Come on, let's go to the preparation area."

Strictly speaking, this was Xia Chen and Eevee's first official battle.

But what he had not expected was that their first official match would be against... Red, the man universally acknowledged by Pokémon fans in his previous life as the number one battler?

Xia Chen looked at the smiling boy in the waiting area across the field, feeling a little dazed.

This luck was incredible!

Though calling him Red was not quite right either. Strictly speaking, he was Red—youth edition.

As a typical growth-type protagonist, Red had taken plenty of beatings when he first started out. He had only gradually become absurdly powerful during his later travels.

It could be said that early Red and Master Red standing atop Mt. Silver could not be considered the same Trainer at all.

Thus, Xia Chen was not too worried. Instead, he felt a faint thrill of excitement.

Coming back to himself, Xia Chen took a deep breath and looked down. "Eevee, give it everything you've got!"

For some reason, Eevee's fighting spirit was especially strong as well. "Vee! (That's exactly what I was thinking!)"

The previous match ended quickly, and the emotionless mechanical announcement notified Xia Chen and Red to take the stage.

The two climbed the steps and stood facing one another.

Perhaps because Eevee had just run over to strike up a conversation, Red greeted him first.

"Hello, I'm Red from Pallet Town. This is my partner, Poliwhirl."

So he really was Red from Pallet Town. But wasn't Pallet Town in the Kanto Region?

Why had he come all the way to the Donghuang Region for the Baby Cup? Xia Chen silently grumbled.

But on second thought, it was not all that surprising. For an adventure-loving Trainer like Red, starting his journey with a Poliwhirl was hardly something shocking.

He just wondered what things were like with Team Rocket, the group that had such a love-hate relationship with Red.

Lost in random thoughts, Xia Chen replied, "I'm Xia Chen from Zhijiang City. Sorry, Eevee ran over and bothered you just now."

Red scratched his head. "Not at all. This is Poliwhirl's first friend in Donghuang. I should be thanking your Eevee."

Before the two could chat any further, the referee at ringside blew his whistle.

The battle officially began!

"Eevee, use Baby-Doll Eyes!"

The instant the referee's whistle sounded, Xia Chen gave his first command.

For this battle, Xia Chen was more serious than ever before. He wanted to first probe what sort of battling style Red currently had.

Eevee's gaze instantly sharpened, and within a few breaths, her pupils shifted into a mysterious pinkish-purple.

As one of the Pokémon moves Xia Chen had her practice most often, Eevee's mastery of Baby-Doll Eyes had nearly reached the peak of her current strength.

Before Red and Poliwhirl could even react, the effects of Baby-Doll Eyes had already landed on Poliwhirl.

"Poli?"

Poliwhirl's eyes flashed, and he immediately sensed a strange energy affecting his body, draining away some of his strength.

As a travel-focused Trainer, Red had never even heard of the move Baby-Doll Eyes. He had even less idea what effect it had.

He looked at Poliwhirl with slight concern. "Poliwhirl, are you okay?"

"Poli! (I've still got endless strength!)" Poliwhirl shook his head and forced himself to answer his Trainer energetically.

Red clenched his fists and shouted passionately, "Great, Poliwhirl! Then let's charge in and answer with Double Slap!"

Watching it all, Xia Chen shook his head with an amused, helpless smile. Poliwhirl had just had his Attack lowered by Baby-Doll Eyes, yet Red still wanted to force a physical move through.

There was no need to probe any further. This was probably Red's early stage, when he charged headfirst at the heavens, the earth, and the very air itself.

Fine then. Today, Xia Chen would play the great demon king on the protagonist's path.

"Eevee, use Fake Tears!"

There was no rule in the real world that each side could only use one move at a time. While Poliwhirl charged over, Xia Chen shamelessly continued piling debuffs onto him.

In a one-on-one battle like this, where switching Pokémon could not remove lowered stats, unless there was a move like Haze...

Wait, didn't Poliwhirl have Haze among his inherited moves?

Xia Chen froze inwardly, only to see Red's lips suddenly curl into a triumphant smile. "Poliwhirl, Haze!"

Damn, this Kanto youngster really had no sense of sportsmanship!

He had tricked and ambushed a newly started Donghuang rookie like Xia Chen.

Clearly, the moment Haze emerged, the advantage Eevee had built through Baby-Doll Eyes and Fake Tears instantly collapsed.

That alone would have been fine. It merely meant both Pokémon had returned to the same starting line.

More importantly, Poliwhirl had not stopped moving while using Haze. The distance between them was steadily shrinking.

For Eevee, who was at a disadvantage in physical confrontation, this was undoubtedly a massive threat.

It could be said that with Haze alone, Poliwhirl had instantly reversed his disadvantage.

Yet Xia Chen was not worried as he watched Red's acting suddenly improve. A faint smile rose at the corner of his mouth.

This was the kind of Red that made battling interesting!

(If anyone has an image that would suit the cover, please post it in the comments~

I'm already tired of the default cover that comes with the system._)