More and more trainers scattered and fled. Yellow and Baiyin walked a few hundred steps before suddenly hearing a high-pitched flapping sound, like a fan, accompanied by a buzzing noise.
Yellow pulled Baiyin behind a large tree to hide, and they saw a gigantic Scyther flying low to the ground. It was truly huge, about two meters long, and its deep green exoskeleton looked remarkably striking.
The Scyther swung its massive sickle-like arms, slashing left and right seemingly at random, rushing through the air like a rusty shadow beast. While it looked quite cool in the anime, seeing it in real reality was genuinely intimidating.
As soon as the Scyther flew past and Yellow was about to step out, another Scyther flew close to the ground. Its body was slightly smaller, but it still carried a strong sense of oppression.
Yellow and Baiyin involuntarily held their breath, neither daring to make a sound.
The piercing roar of their flight disrupted the air, and the grass on the ground was still whipping back and forth wildly. The authentic Pokémon World had already made Yellow feel the danger; the scythes of the Scyther just now looked far too sharp.
A gentle slice could take off a head, and a cold glare truly gleamed across the surface of both blades.
"What's going on? What are two Scyther looking for?" Yellow muttered to himself.
Just as the words fell, a third Scyther flew over right after. Its body was noticeably much smaller, and after this one, no new Scyther appeared.
"Should we follow them and take a look?" Baiyin asked, hiding behind Yellow.
"No need. Our speed is nowhere near theirs—the gap is just too huge. Besides, all three Scyther went in different directions, and who knows what they're searching for. Let's get going. If we actually run into them, we're no match."
After all, Yellow was an adult pretending to be a child, so his mindset was mature, and he slowed his pace for fear of running into danger.
He turned his head to look left and right, but suddenly spotted a boy wearing green shorts and a white top. Holding a bug-catching net, the boy shouted, "Hey! Trainer over there, you look like you've got a head full of yellow hair that's just begging for a beating. Do you want to have a Pokémon battle?"
In the games, encountering NPC challenges was unavoidable, and Yellow now wanted to see what would happen if he refused.
"No thanks, I've got places to be."
Who would have thought that the little boy actually ran over quickly and pestered him, saying, "Just one battle! My name is Genta. Wasn't what I said just now begging for a beating? Battle me!"
Genta the shorts boy? Could this be the eternal newbie NPC? That made it all the more reason to try. After all, the trainers he'd encounter later would inevitably be strong, and he could run away if he couldn't beat them; as for Genta, a refusal was a refusal.
If the boy got angry, it wouldn't matter anyway, since he could win no matter what.
"Not battling. You really do have a running mouth, you little brat, but I don't feel like dealing with you."
Shorts boy Genta scratched his head and said, "Damn it, why is it that as soon as you open your mouth, you say things that are just as punchable?"
"Having a dirty mouth is way better than having a black heart. You should be grateful I cursed you right to your face so I could vent my anger. If I kept cursing you in my mind and wishing bad luck on you, you'd be in real danger."
With nowhere to vent his frustration, Genta could only give up. "Fine, fine, go on then."
Yellow was pleasantly surprised; this way, he could avoid a lot of trouble. In the game, every step you took featured an NPC coming up to challenge you with zero sense of personal boundaries, and face-to-face forced encounters were truly annoying.
"By the way, Genta, how come you don't have Charmander, Bulbasaur, or Squirtle? Aren't you a trainer too?" Yellow asked, since many NPCs only held some wild Pokémon.
"I'm not a trainer. Who told you I was a trainer?"
This answer left Yellow completely dumbfounded, unable to respond at all.
"I didn't pay any deposit. I only have a most ordinary trainer card used for self-defense that can't embed any badges—it's just there to fend off Pokémon attacks. Everyone has one."
"I just like bugs, so I came to catch some Bug-type Pokémon. Unlike you real trainers, I don't have the qualifications to challenge Gyms."
"If you don't become a trainer, what are you going to do? Catch bugs for the rest of your life?"
"Of course not. There are so many specialized academies in the world that you'll be spoiled for choice. It's just that I haven't decided yet, there's still plenty of time."
Yellow nodded. It seemed that being a trainer could only be considered a mainstream profession, and you paid your entry fee based on your interests.
Baiyin followed behind, suddenly raised her head to look at the sky, and said, "Yellow, look quickly! There's a huge bird in the sky. It's so pretty, and it's glowing!"
Yellow also looked up into the sky. A large bird with a red-and-yellow color scheme was soaring with the wind, a pair of colorful and brilliant wings carrying a stream of pure white light as it strolled leisurely through the heavens.
"That's a shiny Fearow," Yellow said.
"A shiny Fearow? It's actually this pretty."
"Just kidding, that's Ho-Oh. Is this on the way to see Ash?" Yellow couldn't help muttering to himself. In the real world, this Ho-Oh looked truly divine, making people unable to help stopping to gaze at it.
"Ho-Oh? Is it a very strong Pokémon?" Baiyin clearly had never heard of it.
"Yeah, Ho-Oh is a legendary Pokémon, and it's my first time seeing one too. It's said that Ho-Oh's feathers shine with seven-colored light under different angles of illumination, leaving rainbows in its wake, and trainers who see Ho-Oh will even be blessed with happiness."
"Of course, that's just a legend," Yellow added.
"A legendary Pokémon must be really powerful, right?"
Yellow nodded. He himself didn't know; while the base stat totals of legendary Pokémon weren't that far off from pseudo-legendary standards, the power of their actual bodies was worlds apart.
For example, Slaking and Groudon—although neither Pokémon could fly, their base stats were tied, and in the game they could trade blows back and forth evenly.
But if this were truly the Pokémon World, wouldn't a single Precipice Blades from Groudon cut Slaking right in half at the waist?
There wouldn't even be any need for Slaking to slack off; it could just go straight to its own funeral.
Because of this, Yellow was filled with anticipation to see just how far his own Pokémon could grow.
Just as Yellow was filled with longing, the rustling sound of footsteps treading on the grass came from behind.
Yellow turned back to look, but saw nothing at all.
"Did you hear a sound?" Yellow asked.
Baiyin also cautiously stared at the grass ahead and replied, "It was the grass behind us, right? Probably a Bug-type Pokémon."
"To me, it sounded like a person stepping on it."
Baiyin tugged at the corner of Yellow's shirt and whispered softly, "That's getting a bit scary."
Yellow moved closer to Baiyin, and a wave of floral scent slowly drifted into his nose. With no time to appreciate the smell, he leaned in to whisper: "We're going to turn back. When I hear movement, I'll cough once, and on the count of three, we'll spin around immediately."
"Got it." Baiyin made a hand gesture.
The two carried out their plan, and sure enough, the rustling sound appeared again right after they turned around.
Yellow signaled silently.
1, 2, 3!
The two swiftly whipped around, and the grass behind them suddenly produced a rather loud noise.
"Who's there!" Yellow abruptly threw out six Poké Balls, which released six first-stage Pokémon—[The Perfect Talent Baby Team].
"Whoa, Yellow, you actually have eight Poké Balls and a full six Pokémon!" Baiyin exclaimed in admiration.
"Don't just stand there, hurry up and release your Pokémon too! We don't know what kind of opponent we're dealing with, so if things look bad, we'll run for it."
Baiyin released Squirtle.
From across the way emerged a figure in a black robe, not very tall, followed by two more black-robed figures of adult height—and their hands were stained with blood!
"It's you again, you little brat!" a familiar female voice clamored. It was Jessie.
"Jessie, James, Meowth? What are you guys up to?"
The three pulled off their hoods. "Recognized, huh? Since you so earnestly ask to know—"
"Cut the crap! What shady business have you been up to!" Yellow relaxed slightly, recalling his Pokémon one by one and leaving only Charmander outside.
Kanto Region, Route 1.
"Damn it, we actually got interrupted, meow! This time we have a reason we can't back down from! Let's settle this! Jessie, you're up."
"Come out, Ekans!"
[Ekans, the Snake Pokémon, capable of moving silently through the grass to launch surprise attacks on unsuspecting prey from behind.]
Although Ekans looked rather dopey, when it reared its body up it stood a full two meters tall, resembling a thin, straight wooden stick that looked like it could be kicked right over.
"Man, that's so abstract. A pillar reaching to the skies," Yellow lamented.
Purple scales and smooth skin, with a flattened snake neck even more terrifying than a king cobra.
"Ekans, use Bite on Charmander!" Ekans's tail coiled tight like a spring, rebounding to launch itself forward rapidly.
"Charmander, use Ember!"
Charmander spat out a ball of fire. There was no time to dodge Ekans's attack, and its shoulder was bitten while Ember scorched Ekans's face black.
Ekans quickly retreated back along the ground, keeping its distance from Charmander.
"Even though Ekans is a Poison-type Pokémon, its Bite is a Dark-type move, which isn't super effective against Charmander. And Charmander's moves aren't super effective against Ekans either, so you just need to use your most powerful moves to dish out damage!"
Baiyin nodded repeatedly, listening patiently.
"Charmander! Ember!"
"Ekans! Bite!"
...
The two Pokémon unleashed their ultimate finishing moves, battling until the very paths were obliterated—no wait, battling until the grass caught fire.
"Baiyin, have Squirtle use Bubble to put out the fire, or the flames will get too big and both of us will become tragic fools who won't be able to run away!"
Receiving the command, Baiyin led Squirtle rushing over, but James tossed out a Koffing to block their path.
"The bigger the fire, the more favorable it is for our operations, meow! I'm retreating first, see you guys at the usual spot, meow!" Meowth hauled a huge sack as he struggled to shuffle away to the side.
Yellow tossed the Poké Ball containing Spearow into Baiyin's hand.
"Spearow is higher leveled and more useful than Squirtle. Use Fury Attack on Koffing!"
Baiyin nodded, took a deep breath as if having made a huge decision, and threw the Poké Ball onto the ground. A red flash released Spearow.
"Spearow! Listen to this girl first!"
Spearow looked back at Yellow and nodded heavily.
Spearow: Don't worry, compared to boys, I actually like girls a lot more.
"Spearow, use Fury Attack!" Baiyin commanded loudly.
Both sides engaged in battle, matching the double battles of the game.