Kanto Region.
Pallet Town — Professor Oak's Pokémon Research Laboratory.
The original Pokémon Adventures protagonist group was once again curled up on the sofa, four pairs of eyes fixed on the television screen connected to the game.
While waiting for the loading bar to finish, Red spoke with a hint of emotion.
"Looks like Rei Akagi really has started raising a new Pokémon… I can't wait for the day I get to battle him."
"Yeah."
Green responded, his tone carrying his usual skepticism.
"Even though he keeps denying that he's a Trainer, that battle instinct and experience of his can't be hidden."
"Stop chatting! The game's starting—load the save already!"
Blue interrupted impatiently.
The screen had already switched to the load menu.
Red confirmed the selection, and a familiar scene unfolded—the small forest path just outside Pallet Town.
A wooden sign stood beside the road:
Route 1
Pallet Town — Viridian City
"Hopefully… it won't crash again this time?"
Red hesitated slightly before finally controlling Red to step onto Route 1.
The relaxed town music faded away, replaced by lively wilderness background music.
The screen was filled with lush greenery, and Pokémon could be seen everywhere.
A Caterpie wriggled among the leaves. Pidgey flapped across the sky. Several Rattata darted into the grass the moment Red approached, while a bold Spearow tilted its head curiously and observed him.
"There's a sparkle under that tree! Go see what it is!"
Blue's sharp eyes immediately spotted the glimmer in the corner of the screen.
Carefully controlling Red, Red circled around a Beedrill dozing in a patch of flowers and interacted with the shining point.
"Red found a Nugget!"
A Nugget that shines with golden light. It can be sold at shops for a high price.
"Hidden item hunting! And it can be sold for money too?"
Blue's eyes lit up, barely containing her excitement.
Red was also pleasantly surprised, though compared to selling it, he cared more about the thrill of treasure-hunting exploration.
His playstyle changed instantly.
Carpet-search mode: activated.
Ever since discovering the many actions he could perform, Red had never walked normally under Red's control.
Three steps—quick dash.
Five steps—combat roll.
In short—
Whatever was fastest and coolest.
The short Route 1 ended up taking Red over half an hour to finish.
The rewards?
A massive haul.
Under Blue's precise direction as a "human treasure radar," they obtained:
Rare Candy ×1Great Ball ×2Super Potion ×1Potion ×1Pearl ×5Big Pearl ×1Nugget ×2
They also encountered several NPCs along the way who offered basic gameplay guidance.
Just as they reached the final intersection—Viridian City's entrance already in sight—
"Splash!"
A blue Pokémon suddenly leapt out from the nearby stream and blocked their path.
"A wild Poliwhirl appeared!"
"Oh? A battle?"
Red grinned and sent out Charmander.
"Go! Charmander!"
Charmander took its stance against Poliwhirl.
But at that moment, Red suddenly performed a clean combat roll to the side.
Poliwhirl had just fired Mud Shot—
—and from behind it, a Great Ball shot forward like a cannonball.
It struck Poliwhirl squarely in the lower back.
Click!
Poliwhirl's body dented slightly before turning into red light and being pulled into the ball.
The Great Ball shook symbolically once in the air.
Ding.
Capture confirmed.
"Hmph. See that? That's the bond between me and Poliwhirl!"
Red snorted proudly, showing no guilt whatsoever about the sneak attack.
Nearby, a Poliwrath shot him a look of utter disdain.
Green simply shrugged.
He was used to it.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Red felt slightly embarrassed and immediately defended himself with a straight face.
"The wild is dangerous! Safety comes first! The game allows it—it's not like I'm being dishonorable!"
"Yeah, yeah… just get into Viridian City…"
Green replied absentmindedly—then suddenly stopped.
Because the screen changed.
Although Poliwhirl had been captured, the Mud Shot it fired hadn't disappeared.
The mud projectile missed Charmander.
Instead—
It flew straight past it and splattered directly onto the face of the Beedrill leader that had been napping in the flowers earlier.
Bzzzz—
In an instant, countless crimson compound eyes lit up inside the flower patch.
Not just one.
An entire swarm of furious Beedrill rose into the sky.
"The one hit was the leader! Red, run!"
Yellow reacted first, anxiously nudging Red's arm.
Red's scalp went numb.
He immediately controlled Red to grab the Poké Ball from the ground, scoop up the still-confused Charmander, and sprint toward Viridian City.
But the Beedrill swarm was terrifyingly fast.
In the blink of an eye, it formed a dark cloud that blocked the road ahead.
Just as Red and his two Pokémon were about to be swallowed by the raging swarm—
Red suddenly spotted the rushing stream beside the path.
Without hesitation—
Splash!
Red jumped straight into the icy water while clutching Charmander and the Poké Ball.
The rapid current instantly swept them downstream toward Viridian City.
The furious Beedrill swarm chased along the riverbank but could only hover helplessly above the shore, unable to reach their target in the water.
After a heart-pounding ride through the stream, Red finally crawled onto the bank near Viridian City, completely soaked and utterly miserable.
Charmander in his arms was dizzy, its eyes spinning in circles.
"Phew… As expected of me! That was easy!"
Red wiped away nonexistent sweat.
Blue rolled her eyes.
But Green's eyes lit up.
The Beedrill swarm's ecological reaction and tracking behavior in the game differed slightly from real Beedrill habits.
However—
The chain-reaction mechanic and environmental interaction brilliantly simulated the kinds of sudden dangers trainers might face in the wild.
This game…
Could actually be used to observe and think about Pokémon ecological behavior.
He glanced at Red, who was still celebrating, and suddenly felt the urge to grab the controls himself.
"Viridian City"
"The eternally green city embraced by forests."
The notification appeared as Red officially entered the city.
Red hurried straight to the Pokémon Center.
Under Nurse Joy's gentle smile, he placed Charmander into the healing machine and finally let out a sigh of relief before beginning to explore the forest-surrounded city.
Soon they arrived at the Poké Mart.
Red planned to restock some supplies after that near-death chase.
Poké Ball — 200¥
Super Potion — 300¥
Full Heal — 600¥
Silver Spray (Repel) — 500¥
Red's Money: 500¥
"Two hundred for a Poké Ball?! Why doesn't he just rob people? How much did my Nugget even sell for?!"
Blue slammed the table.
Before Red could react, she snatched the Pokédex from his hand.
What happened next left the other three completely stunned.
Blue began rapidly interacting with the shopkeeper NPC.
Dialogue boxes popped up nonstop.
Bargaining tactics, persuasion, threats, negotiation—
All kinds of tactics appeared in rapid succession.
After a dazzling series of negotiations—
The shopkeeper NPC finally happily agreed to buy the junk in Red's bag (Pearls, Nuggets, etc.) for a sky-high 30,000¥.
He even threw in bonus items:
Poké Ball ×10Super Potion ×3Repel ×1
Blue calmly handed the Pokédex back to the still-frozen Red, hiding her achievements like a true master.
"You… you can do that?"
Only then did Red notice the free dialogue interaction feature he had completely overlooked.
He quietly swallowed.
A thought formed in his mind.
Never argue with Blue.
They continued exploring.
After Red—acting like a professional thief and bandit—finished looting the cabinet of the last house in Viridian City…
He finally remembered the main objective.
Challenge the Gym.