Seeing Red drinking his tea with a nonchalant expression, the anxious Officer Jenny decided to bring out her trump card.
Under the stunned gazes of numerous police officers, Officer Jenny looked at Red with a pitiful, pouting expression. "Little Red," she said coquettishly, her voice hesitant, "please help this Officer Jenny!"
Red nearly dropped the cup in his hand. He hadn't expected Officer Jenny to pull this move, almost spitting his tea onto Officer Jenny's face.
After calming the goosebumps on his body, Red finally steadied his mindset and looked speechlessly at the mischievous Officer Jenny before him.
Secretly glancing around, noticing the numerous police officers grinding their teeth in indignation, Red reluctantly chose to agree to Officer Jenny's request and assist in this case investigation.
After all, the police beauty had made such a big 'sacrifice.' Red was afraid that if he didn't agree to Officer Jenny's request, these officers who constantly tried to curry favor with her might feel psychologically unbalanced.
After all, why should my daily efforts to care about Officer Jenny drinking more hot water be less effective than your sudden appearance as a 'perfectly ordinary' 10-year-old boy?!
Coincidentally, Red had been able to quickly reach Pewter City thanks to this Officer Jenny's police car.
Red simply considered this as repaying Officer Jenny's favor from that time.
"This is a photo our police were lucky enough to capture. Since this Pokémon mostly steals at night, we could only get a blurry shot of its back."
Seeing Red agree to assist in the case investigation, Officer Jenny excitedly handed the photo in her hand to Red, hoping Red could analyze the true identity of the Pokémon thief from it.
'Could this Pokémon be?!' Red thought with growing surprise.
Red accepted the photo from Officer Jenny and stroked his chin thoughtfully as he studied the shadow accidentally caught in the frame. This shadow represented the urban nightmare plaguing Pewter City: the mysterious Pokémon thief.
Analyzing from the blurry tail outline, the shadow had a jagged, lightning-shaped tail, suspected to be an Electric-type Pokémon.
Perhaps guided by fate, Red casually glanced out the window and discovered a yellow-furred electric mouse on a balcony, leisurely napping with cream sauce still stuck around its mouth that it hadn't finished licking off.
A few seconds later, seeming to notice Red's gaze, the electric mouse immediately woke up. After staring at Red in confusion for a moment, it actually showed a cute smile and enthusiastically waved at Red in greeting, then disappeared from its spot like a yellow lightning bolt, leaving only undissipated electrical current crackling in the air.
'What an interesting fellow...' Red smiled lightly, not expecting the 'notorious' Pokémon thief to appear right under his nose.
That's right, the true identity of the Pokémon thief spreading terror through Pewter City was the Electric Mouse Pokémon: Pikachu.
Red wasn't surprised by Pikachu's identity, because judging from the previous blurry photo, having a jagged lightning tail, only Pikachu-type Pokémon could possess such a distinctive feature.
However, Red didn't proactively reveal Pikachu's identity to Officer Jenny and the others, since a blurry photo alone wouldn't convince Officer Jenny.
According to Officer Jenny's explanation, Pikachu would definitely appear again tonight, and when that time came, Red could capture Pikachu red-handed.
Late Night
Many shops had already closed, their owners entering dreamland, though a few having nightmares were still muttering in their sleep: "Damn thief... don't let me catch you..."
Clearly, Pikachu's 'legend' had been deeply imprinted in these shopkeepers' hearts, lingering for a long time.
The alarm clock on the bedside table rang. The awakened Red immediately turned off the alarm, got dressed, and then used Teleport to arrive at the police station.
Red's sudden appearance clearly startled Officer Jenny, almost making her scream, but fortunately Red had told Officer Jenny about his plan beforehand to avoid unnecessary trouble.
To prevent too many people from exposing their operation, Officer Jenny decided to form a duo with Red alone to go to the destination and capture Pikachu.
Red followed Officer Jenny to a corner of an alley, with a food shop faintly emitting sweet aromas not far away.
"This food shop's cheese is often stolen by Pokémon. Based on the pattern of three times per week, that Pokémon will definitely 'visit' this shop tonight," Officer Jenny explained to Red.
"I see..."
Red nodded half-believingly, recalling the scene of encountering Pikachu in the evening. He suddenly remembered the cream remaining around Pikachu's mouth while it was sleeping, and comparing it to Ash's Pikachu's habit of licking ketchup, he judged that this Pikachu might also be a troublemaker who loved sweets.
A moment later
Red keenly noticed a yellow lightning bolt appearing in his field of vision. Just as Red was about to accompany Officer Jenny to capture Pikachu, he discovered his right shoulder felt inexplicably heavy.
Red turned his head and embarrassingly discovered that Officer Jenny had unknowingly fallen asleep, nearly dripping saliva from her mouth onto Red's shoulder. Fortunately, Red quickly used a tissue to gently wipe the saliva from Officer Jenny's mouth, avoiding an awkward situation.
After thinking it over, to prevent Officer Jenny in her current poor condition from making mistakes and to let Officer Jenny have a good night's rest, Red used his psychic powers to hypnotize Officer Jenny's subconscious into having sweet dreams.
Then Red used Teleport to bring Officer Jenny back to the police station, carefully covering her with a blanket. There was no need to trouble Officer Jenny with this matter, since she had been staying up all night for days dealing with this case. It was time for her to get a good night's rest.
When Red returned to the original location, he discovered that Pikachu had already broken through the window and was contentedly biting the cheese in its hands, not forgetting to lick the pried-open ketchup nearby, looking very satisfied.
"Hey, Pikachu, how does that cheese taste? Don't get cavities from eating too many sweets," Red couldn't help but tease.
Just as Pikachu was about to flee the scene, it discovered its body seemed to be under some kind of control. Under Pikachu's shocked gaze, Red's eyes released blue light as he used psychic powers to control Pikachu's body.
Seemingly accustomed to being chased, Pikachu showed no panic. In moments, it regained control of its body, manipulated its own electrical current to use Thunderbolt, forcibly breaking free from the psychic restraint, and then used Quick Attack to rapidly approach Red.
"Pokémon battles should be conducted with Pokémon. I'm counting on you, Dratini!"