Faced with the old man's question, Yellow introduced them all together: "My name is Yellow, his name is Green, and her name is Baiyin. Some people from Team Rocket just captured you, but we've already beaten them off. What happened, Grandpa?"
The old man crawled out from the burlap sack, his white lab coat already covered in dust. He looked around and muttered to himself, "Still in Viridian Forest? Where's Lao Dao and the others?"
"Grandpa, do you have any other friends here?" Baiyin asked warmly.
"No, Lao Dao is the Scyther I raised. He must be worried sick after not seeing me for so long."
At the mention of Scyther, Yellow and Baiyin exchanged glances. Could it be those three they had just seen when they first entered Viridian Forest?
"Grandpa, do you happen to have three Scyther?"
The old man grew excited and asked, "Yes, yes, yes! Have you seen them?"
"I saw them. When I first got here, I ran into three Scyther flying around wildly in the forest," Green said.
"Oh dear, we need to find them quickly. The smell was trapped inside the sack just now, so now I need to walk around and leave some clues for them," the old man fretted anxiously.
"Do you have some kind of unique body fragrance, Grandpa?" Green suddenly asked out of nowhere, leaving everyone present stumped.
Yellow was speechless. Aside from the scent of cumin and barbecue seasoning from the old man's lack of bathing, what kind of fragrance could he possibly have?
The old man forced a smile and explained, "After Pokémon spend a lot of time with their trainers, they get used to each other's scent. It's not a body fragrance; it's just that this scent is quite sensitive to Pokémon."
With that, the old man handed Yellow a solid red square card and instructed, "If you see the Scyther, show them this card, and they'll bring you to me."
"Bring us to you? What do you mean?" Baiyin asked in confusion.
"I'll tell you after we find them. My chest feels a bit tight and my lower back hurts. Wait here for a bit, and I'd really appreciate it if you could help me find Lao Dao and the others. Sorry to be such a bother."
Yellow said nothing, merely waving goodbye. The despair of losing touch with a loved one is heartbreaking, and the bond between Pokémon and trainers who have spent a long time together must be just as deep.
Yellow and Baiyin circled around Viridian Forest, searching for a good half day without catching a single glimpse of the Scyther.
"I'm dead tired! Why are we wasting so much time helping that stinky old man find his Scyther? This lord is done looking!" Green sat down hard on the spot.
Baiyin didn't talk to Green—after all, they weren't close—and instead silently looked at Yellow. When Yellow's gaze met hers, she asked, "Should we keep looking? What if we find them soon?"
Yellow nodded. After all, the old man had it rough and had just taken a beating.
"Let's look a little longer, Green."
Green shook his head and walked off on his own. "This Viridian Forest is pretty boring. I'm heading out first, Yellow. You must be tired today too—let's have a battle next time we run into each other! This lord will definitely defeat your Pokémon!"
Watching Green's retreating figure, Yellow shook her head helplessly. This guy was pretty much just like his video game counterpart: way too overconfident.
Yellow and Baiyin set off once again on the quest to find the Scyther. Fortunately, after walking for twenty minutes this time, they once again heard the sound of flapping wings.
It was the Scyther flying low to the ground again. Yellow hurried to the center of the path and held the red card high in both hands.
The largest Scyther suddenly shot straight up into the air, flipped upside down mid-flight, and dove straight down, landing its feet firmly on the ground. The massive tremor almost knocked Yellow and Baiyin over.
The Scyther looked at the card and then at Yellow, suddenly lowering its body. Seeing this, Yellow climbed onto the Scyther's back.
The second Scyther landed in the same posture, lowering its body to let Baiyin board.
The third Scyther, perhaps lacking experience, failed to brake in time and crashed straight into the one in front of it, causing the second Scyther to let out a squawk.
Rear-end collision, full liability. Baiyin's body jolted violently as a result, scaring her quite a bit.
The three Scyther flew close to the ground. Yellow lay flat on the Scyther's back. *Deep green really does look great, the texture feels so comfortable to touch, and Scyther really looks so cool. That flying posture is so high-end—isn't this the Lamborghini of the Pokémon world?*
Yellow had fallen in love with Scyther purely based on its looks, and its base stats were quite good too. Its physical attack and speed were both stellar, and it could learn moves later—none of that was an issue. At the very least, it made for a great face of the team.
What's more, if you gave Scyther a Metal Coat, the King of Bug Types would arrive: Swords Dance and Bullet Punch, beating you so hard you'd have to take a taxi all the way back to Hoenn.
The three Scyther truly followed the reverse route back to the old man.
Lowering themselves again, Yellow and Baiyin jumped down and watched the old man embrace the Scyther.
According to the old man, his name was Yunliu. He ran a Bug-type Pokémon research institute at the junction between Viridian Forest and Pewter City. As a Pokémon breeding expert, he enjoyed Pokémon League subsidies and lived a comfortable life.
Recently, however, he had heard rumors that a trainer who specialized in brutally killing Bug-type Pokémon had appeared in Viridian Forest, though no one had ever seen what he looked like or whether he was a man or a woman.
That person was often accompanied by several bodyguards, making it impossible for ordinary trainers to get close. As a result, Yunliu had returned to the cabin he had set up in Viridian Forest back in the day, never expecting that when he went out today, someone would stuff him into a sack and beat him up—which led to the current situation.
"Grandpa Yunliu, does that mean that trainer might be connected to Team Rocket?" Baiyin speculated.
"Hard to say. I'll observe the forest for a few more days. Bug-type Pokémon are so close to humans, yet someone could actually do something so insanely cruel!"
Yellow nodded in agreement and said to Baiyin, "Since the Scyther have already met up with Grandpa Yunliu, should we get going?"
"Wait, wait!" Yunliu called out to stop Yellow.
"What is it?"
"This smallest Scyther was just born not long ago. You saved my life today and helped me out enormously. While it doesn't know much yet, I'll leave it to you to train—are you willing?"
Yellow's heart was filled with sudden, overwhelming happiness. Her mind went blank for a moment, and she simply pointed at herself and asked, "Me?"
"That's right, catch." Yunliu tossed a Poké Ball to Yellow.
"Of course, I also have to thank you, little friend. I'll give you five Poké Balls and two Potions, take them." Yunliu gave Baiyin some items as well.
"I have to stay here; I came here precisely to find that insanely cruel trainer, so this is the last gift I can leave you. Otherwise, I'd really love to go on another adventure with you, haha!" Yunliu laughed heartily, looking quite dashing.
Yellow let out Pidgey and said to it softly, "Pidgey, I know you're the most careful one, right? You know how to protect yourself, don't you?"
"Pidgey!"
"Now I'm going to give you a mission, okay?"
"Pidgey!"
"Follow Grandpa Yunliu and fly around the sky above the forest when you have free time. If you see anyone hurting Pokémon, go tell Grandpa Yunliu. Are you willing?"
Pidgey looked somewhat reluctant, glancing back and forth between Yellow and Yunliu, before puffing out its chest with tears sparkling in its eyes. "Pidgey!"
*Pidgey:* Big sis! Why me?!
Unfortunately, Yellow couldn't understand and simply assumed Pidgey had agreed for the greater good.
Yellow handed the Poké Ball over to Yunliu. The latter was also quite moved, his lips trembling without making a sound as he recalled Pidgey into its Poké Ball and carefully placed it in his pocket.
Yellow walked toward the smallest Scyther. For the first time, she was going to catch a Pokémon taller than herself. She reached out her small hand and stroked its exoskeleton—the texture was simply peerless.
"Are you willing to become my Pokémon?" Yellow raised her hand and pressed the Poké Ball against Scyther's forehead.
Scyther didn't care at all and walked straight toward Yunliu. However, Yunliu waved his hand to signal it not to come closer, leaving Scyther in a dilemma as it stayed put in its tracks.
"Go back. From now on, your trainer is her."
Encouraged by Yunliu's words, Yellow regained her confidence and once again held the Poké Ball high. "Are you willing to be my Pokémon?"
To her surprise, Scyther slashed directly at Yellow's forearm with a mantis scythe!
A quarter of Yellow's forearm was caught by Scyther's scythe. Baiyin covered her mouth in a gasp, and Yunliu sprang to his feet, walked right over, and smacked Scyther on the back of its head.
The other two Scyther raised their scythes, preparing to teach this brat a lesson as well.
"You scoundrel! How could you do that to my savior!"
Scyther couldn't understand a word. Seeing its scythe stained with warm blood, it simply pulled the sickle out in confusion. Seeing that Yellow was still holding the Poké Ball up, it lowered its head of its own accord.
*Scyther:* Why isn't this bro crying or screaming? Is she an iron man? I'm definitely no match for her, better yield.
The human and the mantis stared at each other eye to eye, and in a daze, a bond was formed.
A red beam of light pulled Scyther back into the Poké Ball. Yellow immediately took out a Max Potion and sprayed it on herself—it didn't do much. As expected, medicine for Pokémon and medicine for humans were completely different.
Yunliu hurried the two of them into his cabin and provided simple bandaging.
"I'm truly sorry. This child is ignorant and even cut your arm. Here, hurry off to Viridian City, or Pallet Town is fine too—those places are closest. Hurry to the Pokémon Center!"
And just like that, Yellow and Baiyin set off on their journey once again. Catching a Scyther in Viridian Forest was truly an unexpected and great blessing.
Pewter City, here we come!
Brock, my fists are getting itchy.