What he could do

Heath jerked his head up and saw a burst of searing flame erupt ahead of him to the right, followed by a plume of black smoke shooting into the sky.

"Oh no! That's the Viridian Chemical Plant! Everyone, move out now!" Officer Jenny Feng sprang to her feet, her expression grave as she looked toward the flames. She shouted the order, then sent out her Arcanine, climbed onto its back, and raced away.

The other Officer Jennys, who had been laughing, joking, and teasing one another moments earlier, immediately put down their barbecue and beer. They called out their Growlithe and Arcanine and swiftly followed Officer Jenny Feng. Before long, the entire barbecue party had emptied out, leaving only Heath standing in the food truck.

"Sigh..." Heath let out a sigh, took off the apron tied around his waist, and left it in the food truck. Then he headed outside with Farfetch'd and Zorua.

"Trainer, what just happened?" Zorua looked curiously at Heath, then at the deserted grounds ahead, and asked in confusion.

"Something exploded. Sister Feng and the others went to rescue people." Heath watched the flames raging in the distance. It looked as though tonight was destined to be a sleepless night, and there wasn't much he could do.

Heath had heard Officer Jenny Feng say more than once that everyone had their own responsibilities in society. Rather than recklessly meddling in a field they knew nothing about, they should think about how to do their best in the areas where they could help.

Heath looked down at his hands. There was no way he could rush into the fire to rescue people. Although Farfetch'd had the Wonder Guard Ability, the chemical plant's blazing fire and collapsing buildings still posed enormous risks. Heath didn't want Farfetch'd to take those risks.

Heath clenched his fists. There were specialists responsible for the rescue at the chemical plant, while he was an ordinary person-a cook, at that. What could he do?

"Looks like all I can do in the end is be a cook." Heath smiled. There were still some ingredients in the food truck, but they certainly wouldn't be enough.

Heath climbed into the food truck. His concern now was that he didn't know how to drive it, but fortunately, once he entered the cab, he discovered that the damn thing actually had a self-driving feature. All he could do was put his hopes in it.

"Hopefully it won't malfunction like a certain brand." With a nervous heart, Heath pressed the self-driving button. The food truck rumbled, then slowly began to move.

A route map also appeared on the screen in the cab. Heath hesitated for a moment before setting a grocery shop as his destination. He remembered that it usually stayed open until around eleven at night.

Soon, the food truck was speeding toward Heath's chosen destination. Meanwhile, Heath pulled Farfetch'd over to help him quickly prepare the ingredients aboard the truck. Beside them, Zorua quietly supplied water to wash the ingredients. She wanted to do her part, too.

Once the food truck stopped, Heath pushed open the door and jumped down. He spotted Uncle Luo Shu watching the nearby flames with a worried expression.

"Uncle Luo Shu!" Heath called out. Only then did Uncle Luo Shu turn to look at him. He froze for a moment, clearly not expecting Heath to appear here.

"Little Heath, what are you doing here?" Uncle Luo Shu glanced at Heath, then looked back toward the flames.

"Uncle, I'm here to buy ingredients! Please get these for me, quickly." Heath took out the ingredient list he had come up with aboard the food truck and handed it to Uncle Luo Shu, who accepted it and took a look.

Then Uncle Luo Shu frowned. He looked at Heath hesitantly, as though trying to confirm something.

"Are you planning to..." Seeing Uncle Luo Shu's hesitation, Heath hurriedly explained his idea. In the end, he received an entire food truck's worth of ingredients.

Uncle Luo Shu patted Heath's shoulder with great delight, then told him that he was getting old and didn't know how to cook. He would leave the task of giving the rescue workers a filling meal to Heath.

Heath agreed without hesitation, then set a route to the area near the chemical plant. The fish Uncle Luo Shu had given him saved him quite a bit of work. When Heath reached the vicinity of the chemical plant, he was stopped.

"Little Heath, what are you doing here?" Officer Jenny Ling looked at Heath sternly. Her face was black with soot, and hole after hole had been burned into her clothes.

Heath looked behind Officer Jenny Ling. A large group of Water-type Pokémon were busily using all kinds of Water-type moves to extinguish the flames, while Flying-type Pokémon occasionally flashed across the sky. Officer Jennys, Nurse Joys, and the Viridian City firefighters were all hard at work here.

"I want to give the rescue workers a hot meal." Heath looked at Officer Jenny Ling with determination. That was exactly why he had come.

Officer Jenny Ling looked taken aback for a moment. Then a faint smile appeared on her face, though she still shook her head.

"Captain Feng said no one who isn't League personnel is allowed past this line. Do you understand?" Officer Jenny Ling pointed to the cordon holding back the crowd outside and spoke seriously.

Heath smiled knowingly. In other words, as long as he didn't cross that line, he could do whatever he wanted, and no one would stop him. He nodded with a grin. Officer Jenny Ling nodded back, then resumed her station inside the cordon.

Heath parked the food truck outside the cordon and busied himself preparing the ingredients at hand. There wasn't much he could do, but he still hoped to do his part and help these rescue workers somehow.

Only after he had prepared all the ingredients and set them aside did Heath glance outside the truck.

More and more people were gathering around the cordon. Most were residents of Viridian City: office workers, Trainers, and even Poké Mart clerks. All of them watched worriedly as the flames showed no sign of dying down.

Among them were several Trainers who wanted to lend a hand, but Officer Jenny Ling refused to let them through. Only League personnel were allowed inside!

Some Trainers were allowed through after showing their Gym Trainer Certificates. Although most of their Pokémon were Ground-type, they could still contribute to the disaster relief efforts under Giovanni's leadership.

"Mr. Giovanni really is a good man. I heard he rushed over from home to rescue people shortly after the explosion. Even his Nidoking suffered burns." Listening to the conversations in the surrounding crowd, Heath couldn't help rubbing his nose.

Giovanni really was a strange man.

This is purely fictional. Please do not apply it to real life.