Chapter 18: Meet Misty
~Third POV~
[Kanto Region, Later, Route 3]
*HHYUUUUUU*
A loud, rushing wind of air rushed past Route 3. A young girl with orange hair was heavily bleeding, struggling for breath. The Pokémon in front of her was guarding her with all it could.
The Pokémon guarding her has a golden-brown echinoderm Pokémon with five appendages. These appendages surround an exterior organ called the core. The core resembles a golden metal casing with a red gem in the center, which is held in place by a golden ring looped around its lower left point.
The Pokémon Staryu guarded in front of the girl as she panted, mumbling to herself in worry of the Pokémon attacking her as she asked confused, "Why… what happened to you in those few days away?"
"Gyaoooo!!!!"
The Pokémon roaring at her is a piscine, draconic Pokémon with a long serpentine body covered in slightly overlapping scales. It is mostly blue with a yellow underbelly and a row of yellow spots down each side. Its mouth is enormous and gaping, bearing four pointed teeth and yellow lips.
It has one barbel and a small white fin on each side of its face, which is white on a female and blue on a male. It has small, red eyes, a three-pointed, dark blue crest on its head, and four white, spiky dorsal fins.
Gyarados looms over the girl preparing a Hydro Pump, making the girl gasp at the incoming attack. "Ah! It's the Hydro Pump! Staryu, get away!"
"Dooossss!!!"
*CLASSHHHH*
*Thud*
"Riii…"
The loud sound of the Hydro Pump attacked Staryu, causing significant damage to its body. The girl worried over her Pokémon, cradling it and yelling in a concerned tone, "Straryu!! Why, you…"
However, she was then interrupted by a young boy's voice, soon revealed to be Red coming out giving a helping hand in a chill tone, "Taking on a pretty big one, aren't you? Let me help."
The girl, however, tried to reason with the boy to get away, concerned that he might be in the crossfire. In an alarmed tone, said, "Stay back, you! This is dangerous!"
Red, however, merely laughed a bit before clocking his Poke Ball, sending out his Saur for battle against the Gyarados in a confident tone, "Heheheh. I'll be fine! I'm not just any kid! And by the way—the name's not 'you'! Specifically, it's Red! Okay, Bulbasaur, go!"
Saur got into a battle stance and roared, "Saur!"
The girl was soon surprised but then saw the Gyarados try to use a Hydro Pump attack at the Bulbasaur, getting the girl worried…
*Doooossss*
And yet, despite the attack, Saur shrugs it off and instead takes the water being soaked on him, even smiling with Red shrugging at the girl's concern, "Heh. No water attacks are gonna work on a Grass Pokémon! Now it's our turn! Bulbasaur attack with Leech Seed!"
*Blp*
Launching on the Leech Seed from the bulb on his back, it hit the Gyarados as it began to wrap around it, screeching in pain and letting the girl have a chance to command her Staryu, "Now's our chance! Recover!"
*Shiii*
"Hiyah!"
Recovering as instantly as if she were as good as new, the girl held her Staryu happily at its recovery and said, "Okay, Staryu… your injuries are healed!"
From another part of Route 3, Azure could be seen with Pikachu over his, sitting on his shoulder, seeing the commotion happening with wide eyes as he muttered, "Damn… is that what a Gyarados looks like? But seems like those two could use a hand. Ain't that right partner?"
Pikachu nodded his head happily. "Pika!"
Both nodding their head, they prepared to join the two, prepping their attack. Red and the girl turned their attention towards the incoming Gyarados as it roared out at the two of them, preparing their Pokémon attacks, being called out, ready to counteract the sea serpent.
"Saur Vine Whip!"
"Staryu Bubblebeam!"
"Pikachu Thundershock!"
Launching three attacks out of nowhere, Red and the girl soon looked towards Azure, who was with Pikachu, as he called out to them both, "Sorry for intervening, but I couldn't help myself when you guys are facing a Gyarados. A pleasure to meet you, miss, and nice to see you again, Red."
Red didn't mind as he saw the person before with a quick nod, as his focus remained on the Gyarados. Azure walked down towards them with bemusement on his face, gazing at Red as he thought, 'Definitely the Brawler, or was it Battler with this kid title? Whatever, it seems like he has everything handled.'
Readying his Poke Ball, he began to throw it at the Gyarados, capturing it with style and confidence in his voice in a confident tone, "And last but not least… the Poke Ball!"
*Pooom*
*Boom*
Throwing the Poke Ball at the raging Gyarados, managing to capture it inside as Azure came in, seeing the girl injured, brought out a first aid kit from his backpack as he says, "You alright, miss? You seemed to have some bleeding. Here, let me wrap those up. Come on, Pikachu."
Pikachu bobbed his head, assisting, "Chu!"
Rushing forward to Azure, helping him set up the medical aid with some bandages and medicine to stop the bleeding, she thanked the two as she finally responded in a confused tone, "Th-thanks a lot for the help and my aid… uh…"
Seeing this, the two boys introduced themselves to the girl respectfully, with Azure being first in a calm tone, "Oh, my bad. I'm Azure Sky, an up-and-coming Pokémon Trainer with my partner Pikachu."
Red next introduced himself as Azure helped the girl out, speaking out his thoughts, meeting the Gyarados in Route 3 of all places in a curious tone, "One more time, the name's Red. I didn't expect to see a Pokémon that big, and not here, of all places, on Route 3. Was it in the wild or was it…?"
That was when the girl began to explain to both where the Gyarados came from originally in a saddened tone, "Gyarados is a water Pokémon, and it's not supposed to live in habitats like this. And that Gyarados isn't wild. It's my Pokémon."
That caught Red by surprise, hearing the girl's voice that statement out as she continued to explain as she tried to clean off the blood on her in a calm tone, "I was raising it till last week when somebody stole it. When it came back, it wasn't the sweet Gyarados I knew anymore. I've been tracking it. Not hard to do since it's been destroying everything in its path."
Trying to stand up, the girl stumbles a bit before Azure manages to help her out, lifting her as he speaks, listening to her words, "Hold on there, Misty. You are in no shape to help yourself right now. Let's get you to a Pokémon center right away to help recover."
Looking surprised at being called her name, Azure merely smirked as he responded to her shocked expression, holding his Boulder Badge. He then explained himself cooly, "No need to be shocked now, miss. I did my research, and you being one of the three Good Gym Leaders made it easy to know online."
She blushed at that while Red nodded his head, a bit surprised seeing a Gym Leader, but her earlier words ignited a fire in his heart as he spoke out passionately, "It is not alright! It's never okay when a Pokémon goes berserk! Those guys who stole your Gyarados must be responsible for this! I'm going to kick their butts!"
Going off on his own only to be stopped by Misty's words, making him trip, fall anime fashion in a blunt tone, "Where do you think you're going? Do you even know where they are?"
Red, for his part, picks himself off the ground and sweats a bit with a shameless smile on his face, asking for directions in a sheepish tone, "Those thieves you said were… where'd you say they were?"
Misty, for her part, sighed as Azure laughed at Red's actions. She responds to Red's request in an annoyed tone, "Listen… if I knew, don't you think I'd be there?!!"
Azure, seeing this, sighs as he helps Misty. Being his support, he responds absentmindedly to them, "Maybe Prof. Oak might know something about this. He seems to be a knowledgeable fellow."
Red's eyes widened a bit before nodding in agreement. Misty could only look between the two trainers, seeing as they had seen each other before. All three of them took to Route 3, the Pokémon Center located on Route 4.
As they walked, Red talked with Azure in an excited tone, hearing news of him winning the Gym Battle, "Hey, Azure, I've heard you were one of the three that won against Brock, earning the Boulder Badge, right?"
Azure nodded and showed off his Boulder Badge with a smirk, although he reluctantly responded to the difficulty of winning the challenge, "Yup! But the Onix was a real challenge against my Pokémon. But we managed."
Red felt happy as Azure showed his Gym Badge. He asked the next question, curiously saying, "Say, Azure, how many Pokémon do you have in your main team? I never got to see any of them when I had to face the Gym. I heard you use a Dragon-Type!"
Overhearing the two talks, Azure, for his part, felt embarrassed asking that question as he calmly replied to Red in a sheepish tone, "Yeah… but the battle against Brock was intense. It was my first time battling with such intensity."
Azure looked a bit embarrassed when he told Red he only has four main members of his team in an embarrassed tone, "I was trying to see if I could find any Pokémon to be placed in my team in Route 3 when I heard a roar that followed the destruction probably belonging to Gyarados in my search. I heard the news about a rampaging Pokémon recently and thought to test myself. That was when I found you lot around fighting it."
Misty flinches at the damage her Gyarados caused, returning it to its Pokeball as he responds to Red in a chill tone, "But otherwise, I have three members, with the latest being a new edition. Pikachu, Dratini, and Growlithe. What you got, Red?"
Red smiles at that and reveals his main group for the time being as he speaks to Azure, happily saying, "Heh! I got myself some pretty good members for my main team. Only 3, same as you. Bulbasaur, Poliwrath, and Pikachu."
Azure nodded at this as the three of them finally got to the Pokémon Center. They all entered Route 4, eventually heading inside the Pokémon Center stationed there to have their Pokémon healed up.