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Red suddenly stopped and looked curiously at Miss Jenny in front of him.
"Huh? Did I trigger some kind of event?" he wondered to himself before speaking up.
"Excuse me, what's the matter, Miss Jenny?"
"Well, it's like this..."
Despite being just an NPC, Miss Jenny's expression was unexpectedly vivid. She suddenly pulled out a Squirtle with a smooth head and a thick shell from behind her.
"This is a mischievous Squirtle I recently caught," Officer Jenny explained. "I'm looking for a qualified trainer to entrust him to..."
She then glanced at Red. "The number of badges you have is... two!"
"It seems you're already a strong trainer! In that case, I'll leave this Squirtle to you!"
Without hesitation, she pushed the Squirtle toward him. Then, just as suddenly, her expression turned blank, and she resumed her usual role—standing there like a cold, expressionless police officer in a short skirt.
"So it's just a free Pokémon?"
A flash of joy appeared in Red's eyes as the Squirtle in front of him transformed into a light blue glow and entered his backpack—just like the Charmander from before!
"Charmander, Squirtle..."
"If that's the case, does that mean someone's going to give me a Bulbasaur next?"
Looking at the newly acquired Water Gun in his backpack, Red was thrilled, even though he wouldn't be able to use it right away.
But what excited him even more was—
Just as he took a few steps, he triggered another event where an NPC approached him on their own.
This time, it was a strong, muscular man dressed exactly like Ryu from Street Fighter!
He had been sitting on a bench but immediately ran up to Red with an eager expression.
"Do you like Growlithe or Meowth?"
A dialogue box popped up, displaying two choices: [Growlithe] or [Meowth].
Red: ???
"What kind of weird question is this?"
After hesitating for a moment, he recalled the Growlithes he had encountered on Route 6 and finally chose [Growlithe].
But the strange fighter simply waved his hand dismissively.
"Hey~ You don't have to tell me! Isn't the answer obvious?"
"Come see me after you've caught five Growlithes!"
"I'll give you an amazing Pokémon when the time comes~!"
"So this city hands out rewards like candy?"
Watching the fighter return to his bench, Red couldn't help but sigh.
If he had known there was a hidden quest like this in Vermilion City, he would have caught those defeated Growlithes earlier.
Oh well.
The unexpected quest helped him make a quick decision—
For the next in-game time, he would grind levels on Route 6.
First, he and Nami stopped by the Pokémon Center in Vermilion City to heal up. Then, without wasting time, they headed into the tall grass on Route 6, beginning a productive training session.
To speed things up, Red even used a Lure Module.
[Item: Lure Modules]
[Effect: A module that attracts Pokémon to a PokéStop for 30 minutes. The effect benefits other people nearby..]
This module was something Nami had picked up in the past few in-game days using her Pick Up ability.
In fact, thanks to her, Red had collected plenty of useful items—Escape Ropes, Repels, Potions, status-healing medicine, and more.
Honestly, Nami really lived up to her title as the pirate world's number one miser. Just the items she had collected so far could be sold for thousands at friendly stores.
Red figured that the ability to pick up items had to be an actual Pokémon trait—it wasn't like Nami herself could just grab things out of nowhere.
Of course, among the items Nami had picked up, various kinds of candies appeared frequently.
Red had already let Nami use some of them, helping her improve stats she wasn't naturally strong in, like Special Defense and Speed.
With the effect of the Lure Module, wild Pokémon encounters were noticeably more frequent this time.
The moment they stepped into the tall grass, four Pokémon immediately jumped out from the depths.
One of them just happened to be a Growlithe—the one they were looking for!
"Good luck!"
A smirk formed at the corner of Red's lips as he immediately commanded Nami.
The two worked together and quickly captured the first Growlithe.
With the primary goal being to complete the quest, Red ignored the other Pokémon and focused solely on finding more Growlithes in the grass.
It didn't even take half an hour for them to capture all five.
However, seeing that the only item the five Growlithes dropped was a Aspear Berry—a berry that cures the frozen condition—Red completely abandoned the idea of farming wild Pokémon for rare items.
The reason Abra had dropped a TM earlier was that it naturally had a chance to hold one.
Normally, berries were the most common items found on Pokémon.
Back in Vermilion City, Red immediately went to find the Fighting Man.
"It seems you've successfully captured five Growlithes. In that case..."
"I'll give you this handsome and elegant Persian!"
Red: "..."
"So what was the point of making me catch Growlithes?"
Feeling slightly exhausted from the nonsense, Red sighed and reached out to take the Poké Ball containing Persian.
Just like with Charmander and Squirtle before, the Persian instantly transformed into a strange light and entered Red's backpack.
And just like that, he got himself another TM!
Counting the Water Gun one from before, he had now acquired two in a single day.
But unlike Water Gun, which only had 40 base power...
The Move Tutor he got this time was unexpectedly useful.
[Move: Switcheroo]
[Type: Dark]
[Category: Status]
[Power: —]
[Description: The user trades held items with the target faster than the eye can follow.]
Just reading the short description immediately raised Red's expectations!
In the game, this move might not be particularly useful—after all, even Gym Trainers usually only carried basic healing items.
But in the real world...
This move was basically a melee version of Expelliarmus!
"Switcheroo, huh... Just from the name alone, it feels like a move tailor-made for thieves..."
With that thought, Red tapped the Learn Move button.
Immediately, on his Pokémon list, the word Learnable appeared under both Buggy and Nami's icons.
Of course, since Pokémon had to be inside the game world to learn moves, Red could only teach it to Nami for now.
And with that, Nami's four-move slots were officially full: Zippy Zap, Buggy Buzz, Pay Day, and Switcheroo.
"Oh~ If only there wasn't a limit on the number of skills..."
"I wonder if Pokémon move slots will reset when the next version of the game is released..."
Red pondered the thought while waiting for Nami to fully grasp Switcheroo. Once she did, they returned to the Pokémon Center to recover their energy.
Even though they still had a bit of stamina left, there wasn't enough time to do anything significant, so Red simply saved his progress and logged out.
The moment he returned to the real world, loud snoring filled his ears.
It was Luffy and Zoro, completely exhausted after a full day of training.
Seeing the scene, Red and Usopp—who had also just logged out—exchanged a glance and grinned before immediately lying down and falling asleep.