Late in the night, Yellow had already caught a Pidgey, a Bellsprout, and an Oddish. It was worth mentioning that when they encountered the Bellsprout, the little fellow was sitting on the ground meditating, possessed quite formidable martial arts skills, and even managed to gain the upper hand against a fully powered Charmander. It took two Poké Balls just to capture it.
By this time, all the Poké Balls given by Professor Oak had been used up, and both Charmander and Spearow had reached level nine.
As for these newly caught Pokémon, Yellow had no intention of training them right away; he simply tucked them into his pockets. He planned to catch Pokémon with high base stat totals and different types later on—after all, moves could be learned through TMs, so he wouldn't bother with these weaker Pokémon.
He had started feeling tired an hour ago and hadn't thought about resting, but now his eyelids were growing heavier and heavier. He was still about a kilometer away from home and simply couldn't hold on any longer.
If he passed out here and someone carried him off, it would be dangerous. After all, he was still just a child, and his looks were fair, tender, and utterly irresistible—he needed to hurry home!
He forced his legs to move. The Speed Shoes were indeed comfortable, making running effortless, but doubling his speed like that was a bit absurd.
Halfway there, Yellow's vision began to black out, and a sense of foreboding washed over him. But no matter how hard he pinched himself or tried to force himself to stay awake, it was no use. Everything was turning darker and darker...
"Is this the limit of this body?"
His body pitched forward, hitting the ground with a sore nose, but he couldn't even open his eyes.
He had no idea what happened, but when he woke up again, he was already in his own bed, with Linzi and all the Pokémon he had caught guarding him.
"What's wrong with me, Auntie?" Yellow asked instinctively.
"Auntie?" Linzi was taken aback.
Realizing his slip of the tongue, Yellow quickly covered for it. "I just woke up and was talking nonsense. What happened to me, Mom?"
Linzi brought over a cup of warm water and explained, "You passed out outside. I don't know if you dropped your Poké Balls or what, but somehow Charmander and the others carried you all the way back. Rattata couldn't hold on toward the end, so it just used its front teeth to scrape and push its way along the ground to get back."
Rattata: Returning good for evil, bro is seriously reliable.
Yellow looked at Charmander, Spearow, Bellsprout, Oddish, Rattata, and Pidgey. A surge of emotions welled up within him, and he couldn't help shedding tears.
These were Pokémon he would usually look down upon in the video games, at best using them as transition fodder during the early game, without even giving them a chance to battle. But this was the Pokémon World! Having lived through a cruel vanity fair in his past life, he found himself all the more moved by such pure things.
They were no longer cold lines of data, but living partners he could touch and who could respond to him. A Pokémon like Rattata was one he would normally just toss straight into a PC box, but looking at the dirt-stained front teeth of the purple little mouse, he actually found it rather cute.
On an inexplicable impulse, Yellow gave Rattata a light smack on the head, knocking the little mouse into a daze with a blank stare.
Rattata: Seriously, bro? Do you really have to single me out?
"The tactile feel is so real. Thank you, Rattata—no, I should thank all of you." Yellow opened his arms and embraced these tiny Pokémon with his small body.
"Anyone willing to be caught by me is a partner who trusts me and is worthy of my trust," Yellow muttered to himself.
"Of course. Pokémon aren't just meant for battling; they're our friends, our family," Linzi said earnestly.
Yellow nodded and told Linzi to go back to sleep in peace. He would max out these Pokémon's individual values and effort values, and then they would be partners ready to fight together.
However, Linzi went and fetched a box containing a tape measure and a scale. "I noticed that Charmander looked exceptionally large just now," she said. "Let me measure its height and weight. It looks much stronger than an ordinary Charmander. We can have a Pokémon Breeder analyze it later."
Yellow waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, Mom. I'll take good care of my own Pokémon. By the way, what exactly does a Breeder do?" Yellow had never quite had a clear understanding of that profession.
"Breeders are responsible for studying Pokémon growth. They compare a Pokémon's height and weight against others of the same species to check its talent. Mostly, they research Pokémon food, snacks, nutritional supplements, energy cubes, and study simulated environments suited for different Pokémon. Anyway, it's very complicated. Trainers have to wait three years before they can take the certification exam."
"Oh, oh. You should go back and get some sleep, Mom. I'll keep a close eye on things." Yellow shooed Linzi away.
He slept soundly that night, fragments of memories from his past and present lives flashing through his mind. He missed home, but he had to press on.
***
The next morning, before he was fully awake, something began tickling the tip of his nose. No matter how much he scratched, it didn't help. He opened his eyes to find Ash sitting right in front of him.
"You're awake, Yellow!" Ash beamed, full of vim and vigor, with Pikachu resting on his shoulder.
"How can I not wake up when you do that? Back up a bit, this is getting a little too intimate. What's going on?"
Ash stood up and said, "Hurry up and get dressed! Red and Green are both waiting downstairs. Our journey starts today!"
Yellow instantly snapped to full alertness, hastily threw on his clothes, and ran downstairs.
After Linzi gave them a thorough round of parting instructions, the four of them headed out. Red and Green released their Charmander and Squirtle.
"Can't your Pokémon stay put either?" Yellow asked, knowing that Pikachu refused to enter its Poké Ball simply because it wanted to keep Ash company.
"Not really. Pokémon are naturally comfortable staying inside their Poké Balls, but letting them out to hang out together makes them grow much closer to their Trainer, you see." Suddenly, Green delivered a sweeping low kick that knocked Squirtle tumbling to the ground.
Squirtle landed flat on its shell, looked dazed for a second, and then started chasing after Green.
"Look, Yellow, isn't it fun? Squirtle is having a blast."
Squirtle: I curse your entire extended family!
Lost in thought, Yellow released his own Charmander.
Ash glanced over without paying much attention, but the next second his eyes went wide. "Good grief! Why does your Charmander look different? How did it get so tall?"
Red hurried over too, poking and prodding.
"Its skin is completely different from my Charmander's. Why does it feel kind of rough? And it's so muscular, even its belly feels hard! The flame on its tail is huge, and its arms are so much thicker," Red said, envy written all eyes.
"Did Grandpa give you the wrong one? Why does this Charmander look so incredibly strong? Yellow, are you hiding some kind of growth hormones at home?" Just then, Green got knocked flat on his back by Squirtle's shell.
"Stop making malicious guesses. Let's go. You have to take good care of your own Pokémon, right, Charmander?" Yellow looked down at Charmander.
Charmander looked back at Yellow and let out a cry.
Charmander: The yellow-haired kid is right. I don't know what he did while I was asleep, but when I woke up, my belly was bigger.
When the four of them reached Route 1, Red and the others all expressed their intention to catch some Pokémon. Yellow stood to one side and said, "Then I'll wait for you guys here."
Green's competitive spirit flared up, looking thoroughly unconvinced. "What do you mean, wait? Come with us! The wild Pokémon around here might be common, but they're plenty strong. Look at that purple, mouse-like Pokémon—I have a feeling it's going to turn out really powerful later on. Look at those front teeth, it must crack nuts in no time. Stop pretending, hurry up and come over."
Red chimed in, "Yeah, Yellow. I hear Trainers out in the wider world are super strong. If you want to win eight Gym badges and compete in the Indigo Plateau Conference, a single Charmander isn't going to cut it."
Yellow released all six of his Pokémon at once, causing Red, Green, and Ash to all drop their jaws in unison.
Red: Trying to out-grind me?
Green: Trying to out-grind me?
Ash: Trying to out-grind me?
???
"I had too much energy last night, went out for a stroll, and accidentally rounded out my team."
Red offered a smile and said, "Yellow, travels have their own pace, fast and slow. Go ahead and start your adventure; we'll catch up to you."
Ash grinned broadly as well. "That's right! Pikachu and I will catch up with you in no time. We'll see each other at Indigo Plateau!"
Green deliberately turned his back, speaking in a cool, detached tone. "Yeah, running off so fast... Even though it's super annoying, don't you dare forget about your good old friends. One of the four of us has got to become Champion! Though obviously, yours truly is going to be the first!"
With a tacit understanding, the four of them stepped in close, bumped their little fists together, and shouted in unison: "Let's do our best!"
Yellow waved goodbye to the three of them and ran off into the distance along the road.
He ran from daylight until noon before finally catching sight of a few tall buildings.
In Yellow's mind, the plot was running its course: the next location was Viridian City. The Gym here wasn't open to challengers; it only unlocked after one had earned seven badges, and it was presided over by Team Rocket's boss, Giovanni. When he walked past it earlier, he saw that the Gym was indeed closed.
Viridian City was bustling with people—far more than there ever were in the games. Cars bearing the unified Pokémon League logo sped along the roads, and high-rises stood densely packed, making it look roughly like a city in the human world.
Still, the development level fell somewhat short. Viridian City felt like a small, tier-five town with an exceptionally pristine environment, living up to its description: *A city that loves nature, where flowers bloom all four seasons.*
Yellow's goal was Gym badges, so he immediately prepared to head for the next city, Pewter City, to challenge Brock.
However, according to the game's storyline, there ought to be a shop event here where the shopkeeper would ask him to deliver a parcel to Professor Oak.
Yellow spent the entire day walking into eight or nine different shops, but the shopkeepers all looked completely baffled—there was no plot trigger to be found at all.
"Ah!" By now it was dark, and Yellow was sitting on a park bench in a Pokémon park. He had spent the entire day accomplishing nothing except hunting for plot triggers.
Yet after searching all day, he finally understood: games were games, and anime was anime. Right now, this was the Pokémon World—the real world. There was no scripted plot to speak of; everyday life was broadcast live.
Yellow suddenly let out a relieved laugh and got up to find an inn to stay at for the night.
"Don't run!" a woman's voice shouted loudly. Hearing the cry, Yellow looked over and saw two figures in black garments sprinting past in a hurry, clutching something to their chests. Right behind them, two Officer Jennys on motorcycles were in hot pursuit.
Yellow followed along to take a look and saw the two suspects dart into a Pokémon Center, slamming the heavy doors shut behind them with a decidedly larcenous air.
"Those two wouldn't happen to be from Team Rocket, would they?" Yellow muttered, jogging toward the Pokémon Center.
"Come right out! Do not hurt the people inside! We will handle the situation according to circumstances, but taking extreme actions will only make things difficult for yourselves!"
"Call for backup!" Officer Jenny shouted.
Another Officer Jenny was using her Pokémon Navi to contact additional personnel.
A growing crowd of onlookers gathered around. One thin, middle-aged man stepped forward and said, "Officer Jenny, I have a Golduck and a Pidgeot. I can have Pidgeot carry Golduck in from the rooftop to carry out a rescue."
Another kind-looking, plump man in a white shirt stepped forward and volunteered, "I have a Fearow as well. It can carry both of you inside for the rescue."
"I've got one too..."
Seven or eight bystanders eagerly volunteered. Seeing this, Yellow couldn't help being deeply moved. Pokémon possessed independent consciousness; they weren't mere tools to be bossed around.
Within five minutes, the entire makeshift army had lined up. However, with a single flap of its wings, the Pidgeot knocked the Golduck flat on the ground, and the two Pokémon nearly came to blows right then and there. Could this possibly work?