"Young man, don't do anything rash! I'm not a bad guy!"
A middle-aged man wearing a hat and sunglasses stood behind Xiao Yan.
"Don't scare me like that, mister..." Seeing that it was just an ordinary middle-aged man, Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm actually a merchant who sells rare stones. Want to take a look?" The man laid out a pile of stones in front of Xiao Yan, making his eyes light up.
"I'd like two Thunder Stones, one Water Stone, one Fire Stone, one Moon Stone, and that stone glowing green under your butt."
"Much obliged. That'll be 45,000. You can have the stone under my butt for free." It's just an ordinary stone I picked up in the bathroom anyway.
"Thank you." An ordinary stone? Heh, that's a Leaf Stone. What a bargain. After paying and collecting the Evolution stones, Xiao Yan headed straight for the Pokémon Center.
There were so many people waiting to have their Pokémon treated at the Pokémon Center that Xiao Yan could only take a number and patiently wait in the lobby for his number to be called. As he waited, he witnessed a shocking sight. Many Pokémon were covered in wounds. Some had broken bones, while others had chunks of flesh bitten out of them during battle. The scene was gruesome. His own Pokémon had merely fought too much and needed to recover their energy. During the wait, he lowered his head and pondered what battle really meant, and what Pokémon truly were.
Time ticked by, and at last it was Xiao Yan's turn. A Wigglytuff came out and took the Pokémon he needed treated into the treatment room. Xiao Yan followed. Inside were a mature female doctor and a Wigglytuff.
The doctor had fair skin and glossy, curly pink hair. She was tall and curvaceous, and even her loose medical uniform could not hide her stunning figure.
"Nurse Joy, please treat my Pokémon."
Wigglytuff placed the three Pokémon Balls on a sophisticated machine nearby, then took them off a few seconds later.
The doctor took the Pokémon Balls from Wigglytuff and handed them to Xiao Yan with a smile.
"Don't worry. Your Pokémon were just exhausted. The machine has restored them."
After thanking Nurse Joy and Wigglytuff, Xiao Yan left the treatment room with his mind at ease.
"Ash, it took your father four days to reach Pewter City back then." Not far away, a vaguely familiar boy was talking to someone on a wondrous, high-tech telephone with a screen.
"Isn't that Ash and his mom?" Drawing on his memories from another life, Xiao Yan recognized the woman on the screen as Ash's mother. And there was no way he could fail to recognize the famous Ash himself.
"Professor, there's something else. I just saw someone catch the Pokémon in this mural." Ash pointed at a mural of Ho-Oh and the legendary beasts hanging on the wall nearby. Listening from the side, Xiao Yan broke into a cold sweat.
"That's Ho-Oh, a legendary Pokémon! Nobody has ever seen him before, so how could a silly boy like you have seen him? Never mind, my instant noodles are going to get soggy. I'm hanging up." Professor Oak ended the call.
"Why won't anyone believe me?" Ash moved away from the phone dejectedly, only to meet Xiao Yan's eyes as he stood nearby watching.
"Uh... you can't see me..."
"Aren't you the person who caught Ho-Oh?" Ash shouted, drawing everyone's attention to Xiao Yan.
"Didn't you mistake me for someone else? I didn't catch the Pokémon you're talking about!"
"All right, my mistake. My name's Ash, and my dream is to become a Pokémon Master."
"I'm Xiao Yan." With the misunderstanding cleared up, the two briefly introduced themselves.
"Hey! You, the Trainer with a Pikachu on your shoulder! You wrecked my bike, so hurry up and pay for it!" A girl with orange hair tied up in a side ponytail stormed over, carrying an unidentified black object on her back that she claimed was a bicycle.
"That's a bicycle? It looks like a lump of charcoal to me." Xiao Yan blurted out exactly what he was thinking. The girl rolled her eyes at him, leaving him no choice but to smile awkwardly.
That must be Misty. Xiao Yan remembered that she was the female lead of the first season of Pokémon, whose dream was to become a Water-type Pokémon Master.
"Sorry, I don't have any money. I can't buy you another bike," Ash said, looking rather lost in the face of someone so overbearing.
"I don't care. From now on, I'm following you until you pay me back for my bike," Misty declared forcefully.
At that moment, Xiao Yan almost seemed to see "Harem +1" floating above Ash's head. He could not help feeling a little envious.
"Still, when you think about it, we're doing pretty well on our own. Let's go, Charmeleon! We need to hurry to the Pewter Gym and earn our first badge." With that, Xiao Yan recalled Charmeleon and headed straight for the Pewter Gym.
"Finally here!" The Pewter Gym before him looked grander than it had in the anime.
"Are you the challenger? Come on in. I won't turn down anyone who asks for a battle." Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader, came outside and led Xiao Yan in.
"The Pewter City Gym's badge is at stake in this match. This will be a two-on-two battle. Only the challenger may switch Pokémon during the match, not the Gym Leader. Begin!" The referee waved his flag to signal the start of the battle.
"Come out, Geodude!" Brock sent out Geodude.
"Let's start with Charmeleon." Eager to fight, Charmeleon jumped onto the battlefield.
"Charmeleon, Dragon Rage!" Following the usual custom, the Gym Leader let the challenger attack first. Dragon Rage immediately hit Geodude, leaving him with only a sliver of health. After all, the Pewter City Gym was meant to be the first gym challenged by new Trainers in Kanto, so the Pokémon its Gym Leader used naturally would not be too high-level.
"Geodude, Tackle!" Charmeleon nimbly dodged the rock Pokémon's charge.
"Charmeleon, Ember! Keep up the pressure!" Charmeleon spat a ball of fire that struck his opponent, and Geodude collapsed with stars spinning before his eyes.
The Gym Leader recalled the defeated Geodude and sent out his next Pokémon.
"You're pretty good, but I won't let you get the badge that easily. Go, Onix!" A nine-meter-tall Onix appeared on the battlefield. Faced with such an enormous opponent, Charmeleon backed away a few steps in fear.
"This Onix was a birthday gift when I was a kid. I've raised him ever since. His strength speaks for itself," Brock said, looking proudly at his Pokémon.
"Onix, use Rock Imprison!" Brock immediately had Onix seize the initiative against Charmeleon.
After hearing his Trainer's command, Onix twisted his body and gradually closed in on Charmeleon. Because he was so enormous, the ground shook constantly as he moved, leaving Charmeleon unable even to stand steadily, let alone dodge the lightning-fast assault. An earthy glow flashed in Onix's eyes, and in an instant, rocks of every size rained down on Charmeleon from all directions.
"Charmeleon!!!" Having witnessed Rock Imprison in real life, Xiao Yan's expression changed drastically. He rushed toward Charmeleon in a panic. By then, Charmeleon lay motionless on the ground, covered in wounds.
"I'm sorry... Charmeleon, get some rest." Xiao Yan recalled Charmeleon, who could no longer battle, and picked up his last Poké Ball.
"I'm counting on you." Xiao Yan summoned the first Pokémon he had ever met, and the first legendary Pokémon he had caught: Arceus.
"That's... the mythical Pokémon of the Sinnoh Region, Arceus!!!" Brock stared wide-eyed at Arceus, who descended from the sky onto the battlefield, light radiating from his body.
"Draco Meteor." Before anyone could react, Onix had already fallen.
So strong!
"Onix is unable to battle. The winner is Xiao Yan from Pallet Town," the referee announced.
"You're really something. That last Pokémon was Arceus, right? I thought you were just a beginner. Here's the Boulder Badge. It reduces the Rock-type damage you take by 5%." Xiao Yan accepted the Boulder Badge from Brock, but he felt none of the joy that should have come with winning this battle.
"Thank you..." Xiao Yan said goodbye to Brock and hurried toward the Pokémon Center in Pewter City.
There were fewer people waiting at the Pokémon Center than there had been that morning, so Xiao Yan's turn came quickly.
"Nurse Joy, please examine my Charmeleon..." With a slightly trembling hand, Xiao Yan passed her his Pokémon Ball. Nurse Joy took it and immediately released the Pokémon inside. A severely injured Charmeleon lay on the treatment table, with several obvious signs of broken bones on his body. He must have been through a fierce battle. At the sight, Nurse Joy's expression grew grave. With several years of medical experience, she could tell that all the fractures were near vital organs. The flame on his tail, which symbolized his life and vitality, was so weak that it looked ready to go out at any moment. Seeing Charmeleon's injuries, Xiao Yan was filled with guilt.
"He needs immediate treatment. Please wait outside." Hearing Nurse Joy's words, Xiao Yan could only go outside the treatment room to wait.
As he waited, Xiao Yan's heart raced. He was terrified that something would happen to Charmeleon. He had underestimated this battle, believing that with his strength, he could easily win any fight. But this time, he realized he had been wrong, and he felt ashamed of his mistake.
Three years have passed, and I thought we'd become strong. But in the end, nothing has changed. I've let a precious companion get hurt again...
About two hours later, Nurse Joy and Wigglytuff brought Charmeleon out of the treatment room. Charmeleon bounded over to Xiao Yan, full of energy. At the sight, Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief, as though a great weight had finally been lifted from his heart.
"Your Charmeleon is all better now. Please don't battle so recklessly in the future," Nurse Joy said.
"Understood!" Taking this lesson to heart, Xiao Yan left the Pokémon Center with Charmeleon and headed toward his next destination.
Before you continue