"Young man, your Bulbasaur is trained very well."
An uncle fishing leisurely by the stream spoke with a meaningful tone.
The man was a forest ranger stationed in Viridian Forest. He seemed to enjoy fishing, and Sam had already seen him here more than once over the past few days.
"You flatter me too much," Sam replied modestly. As a Trainer, being praised for his Pokémon still made him feel quite good.
"But," the uncle continued calmly, "you have too few Pokémon. One Pokémon alone can't deal with every kind of opponent. I think it's time you expanded your team."
Expand the team?
Capture more Pokémon?
Sam immediately became alert.
A fishing uncle… recommending that he add Pokémon to his lineup?
Wait a second.
Wasn't this suspiciously similar to those guys who went around the Pokémon world selling Magikarp?
"Uncle," Sam said seriously, "I don't have any money."
"Huh?" The uncle froze. "What are you talking about?"
"Aren't you trying to sell me a Pokémon?"
"What nonsense!!!" The uncle nearly jumped up.
"I'm a forest ranger! How could I do something like that?!"
Seeing Sam's suspicious expression, the uncle quickly explained, afraid of being misunderstood any further.
"I want you to tame a Scyther."
"…Scyther?" Sam was stunned.
Scyther was an extremely rare Pokémon. If word got out that one lived here, countless Trainers would rush over to try and capture it.
Why would such a good opportunity fall to him?
There was no way the uncle was opening a back door just because he thought Sam was handsome… right?
Seeing Sam still hesitating, the uncle didn't bother explaining further.
"Just follow me. You'll understand soon enough."
With Tyranitar by his side, Sam wasn't afraid of the uncle trying anything suspicious. Besides, he was genuinely curious about what the man was planning.
Under the uncle's guidance, Sam followed him deep into the forest, eventually arriving at a small wooden cabin.
This was probably where the uncle lived.
"Yellow! Yellow, come out for a moment!"
Yellow?
As the uncle called out, a young girl stepped out of the cabin.
She had yellow hair, wore a straw hat and jeans, and looked a few years younger than Sam.
Her features were delicate. Though she hadn't fully grown into her looks yet, it was obvious she would be a great beauty in the future.
But what truly drew attention wasn't her appearance.
It was her temperament.
She carried a gentle, natural aura that made both people and Pokémon instinctively feel close to her.
"Seed, seed!"
If Sam hadn't been standing there, Bulbasaur would have already rushed over.
Sam's head started to hurt.
According to the original storyline, he should have transmigrated into the anime world.
So why was Yellow, a character from the manga, appearing here?
What was going on?!
Yellow was known as the child chosen by Viridian Forest, someone who possessed the mysterious Viridian Power.
Once every ten years, Viridian Forest would select a child and grant them this ability, allowing them to sense Pokémon emotions and heal their wounds.
Seeing Sam staring at Yellow without blinking, the uncle immediately became alert.
Regret flashed through his eyes.
Yellow was still a child. He couldn't let her be abducted.
Fortunately, Sam quickly realized his indiscretion and withdrew his gaze.
Only then did the uncle relax slightly.
Now it was time to talk business.
"Yellow, take us to that Scyther."
"Uncle, you mean Midori?" Yellow nodded.
"Okay… but Midori has been in a very bad mood lately."
As she spoke, her own expression dimmed.
Because she could sense Pokémon emotions, their pain and sadness often affected her as well.
"Uncle," Sam finally asked directly, "can you tell me why you want me to tame Scyther?"
The uncle sighed deeply.
"Midori is the Scyther I want you to capture," he said slowly.
"As for why… you'll understand once you see it."
Still not explaining anything.
Under Yellow's guidance, the group pushed through thick undergrowth and eventually arrived at Scyther's territory.
And finally, Sam saw the Scyther the uncle wanted him to tame.
The moment he laid eyes on it, Sam wanted to refuse.
This Scyther wasn't very old, but even without using the Eye of Detection, Sam could tell,
Its potential was extremely poor.
So poor that Sam had no desire to capture it at all.
There really was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
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