Outside the rear courtyard wall of the Pewter Gym, Jessie gripped an oversized pair of hydraulic cutters, trying to snip through the high-voltage electric fence atop the wall.
"Hurry up, James! That monster just burned that Onix badly! This is our chance to grab it, meow!" Meowth rubbed his paws together below.
"I know, I know! This fence is too tough!" James was drenched in sweat.
"If we catch that Crystal Onix and give it to the boss, we'll be rich!" Jessie stared at the top of the wall.
"Oh? Really?" A lazy voice came from behind them.
All three froze. Meowth's tail shot straight up.
That voice, that slacker drawl... Their necks stiffened as they turned around.
Under the streetlight, Lin Hao stood with his hands in his pockets, his gaze sweeping over them. Beside him stood that troublesome Kanto Investigator, May.
"Mommy! It's that-that terrifying monster, meow!" Meowth screamed, rolled his eyes back, and collapsed.
"Meowth!" Jessie grabbed him by the tail and hauled him up.
James promptly dropped to his knees. "B-big guy! We were just passing through! We really were!" His back teeth chattered.
Lin Hao glanced over the three of them. "Can't you Team Rocket types come up with some new lines? You're always just passing through."
Jessie stared at Lin Hao's side. No burning bird, no giant green armored beast, and no Charizard that had just burned Onix into glass.
On his shoulder sat only an ordinary Pikachu that looked completely harmless.
Jessie puffed out her chest. "James! Don't be scared! He didn't bring those monsters!" She slapped James on the head. "It's just a lousy Pikachu! What's there to be afraid of?"
James stopped what he was doing and took a closer look. "You're right! It's just a lousy yellow rat!" He scrambled up and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Koffing! Go!"
"Ekans! Crunch it!" Jessie threw her Poké Ball too.
"Ekans~"
"Koffing~"
A snake and a floating ball blocked the middle of the alley. May reached for a Poké Ball.
"Lin Hao, get Charizard out! This alley's too narrow for my Pokémon to fight properly!"
"No need." Lin Hao signaled for her to stay put. "They aren't worth the trouble." He turned his head and pursed his lips at the Pikachu on his shoulder. "Pikachu, someone's looking down on you."
"Pika!" Pikachu hopped onto the ground. It stretched out its two stubby paws and patted its cheeks, sparks crackling from its electric sacs.
"Hahahaha! You're killing me, meow!" Meowth wriggled free of Jessie's grip and pointed at Pikachu, laughing nonstop. "That Pikachu can't even shoot electric sparks! Are you trying to be funny, meow?"
"Pikachu." Lin Hao cleared his throat. "Quick Attack."
"Pika!" Before the cry had faded, Pikachu vanished.
"What?!" Jessie's laughter cut off.
The next second, bam! A heavy impact rang out, and Ekans was blasted away by a powerful gust.
It slammed into the brick wall, which instantly cracked apart.
"Ekans?!" Jessie stood rooted to the spot. Meowth's jaw dropped.
May stared without blinking. "You call that an ordinary Quick Attack?!" She pointed at the huge hole in the wall. "It just broke the sound barrier, didn't it?!"
"No, no," Lin Hao replied. "It just runs fast. Practices on a treadmill all the time."
"Koffing! Hurry, use Smokescreen to blind it!" James stood frozen.
"Koffing!" Koffing spewed black smoke, engulfing the passage.
"Pikachu, sweep it away with your tail," Lin Hao said.
From within the thick smoke came a cry of "Pika~chu!" A silver flash streaked past as Pikachu's tail hardened, taking on a metallic sheen.
Whoosh! It swung its long tail, whipping up a blast of air.
The gale dispersed the black smoke. Then that steely blue tail slammed into Koffing's face.
Bam! Koffing screamed as it was smacked into the air.
It also bowled over Jessie and James along the way, leaving the trio tangled in a heap on the ground.
"What was that now?!" May shouted. "Iron Tail?! It's never even used a TM! How does it know Iron Tail?!"
"That move has nothing to do with Iron Tail," Lin Hao bluffed casually. "It's called Static Tail Swing," he invented without batting an eye. "The electrical charge on its tail attracts iron filings. Don't you understand physics?"
"Bullshit! Iron-ion coating, my ass! Do you think this is a physics textbook?!" May stamped her foot.
Lin Hao walked up to the Team Rocket Trio. Meowth shrank into a corner, pressing himself against the walls. "Y-you stay away, meow! You monster, meow!"
"I'm not going to hit you." Lin Hao crouched down and stared at Meowth. "Go back and tell your boss not to bother me. I'm just an ordinary person. Got it?"
"G-got it, meow!"
"Get lost."
Jessie and James scrambled up and threw a smoke bomb. "This feels awful!"
"This feels awful-!" The trio clambered into their hot-air balloon and, amid their wails, dwindled into a star on the horizon.
May looked at the sky, then at Pikachu, which was licking its paws on the ground. "Lin Hao." She stared at him, lowering her voice.
"Huh?"
"You'd better pray you never fall into my hands." May ground her teeth. "Or I'll dissect you and find out exactly what ridiculous excuses you've got stuffed inside that brain!"
"Come on, Investigator. Don't be so violent."
Lin Hao picked up Pikachu and set it on his shoulder. "Let's go camp outside the city. The inns in Pewter City are too expensive. Can't afford them."
Late that night, in a clearing on the edge of Viridian Forest, the sound of breathing came from May's tent. After running around all day, she had long since fallen asleep from exhaustion.
Lin Hao sat beside the campfire, stirring it with a twig. Insects chirping were the only sounds around him.
Suddenly, the hand he was using to stir the flames stopped dead. The insects fell silent. The wind and the rustling leaves vanished into silence too.
Everything was so quiet he could have heard a pin drop. The campfire's flames froze in midair, no longer dancing.
Lin Hao stared ahead. In the darkness before him, space rippled. A streak of purple light sprang out, illuminating a slender figure as the surrounding chill bored deep into his bones.
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