Pokémon: Rebron as Red, The Strongest Champion

"Hey, do you guys know? They say the Pokémon Tower is haunted now!"

On a middle floor of the Pokémon Tower, three Team Rocket grunts were guarding the staircase. Their postures were lazy, their words arrogant, as if they believed no one would ever dare to break in.

"Hey! Don't talk about that stuff, I'm terrified of ghost stories!" one of the grunts said, his face stiffening with fear.

"Hmph! What ghost rumors? It's just the Ghost-type Pokémon that live in the tower!" another grunt scoffed. "The locals are just spreading lies to scare us off so they can come visit their dead Pokémon in peace."

"Speaking of which, has our captain interrogated that old man for the hidden information yet?" the first grunt asked.

"It's actually pretty funny," the second grunt explained. "As soon as that old man got here, he started yelling about how we abuse Pokémon and all that. It was so annoying! But then the captain recognized him as a researcher who used to work for Team Rocket!" Their mission in Lavender Town wasn't just to catch wild Pokémon for the black market; it was to find a researcher who had once been loyal to them but had mysteriously disappeared.

"It's a shame we didn't catch that Cubone. It would have sold for a good price on the black market!" the third grunt said regretfully. A sinister smirk played on his lips, as if he were fondly reliving the pleasure of torturing its mother, Marowak.

"That makes me angry just thinking about it," the first grunt complained. "How could you accidentally kill the Marowak? An adult Pokémon doesn't fetch a high price, but it's still decent money. You were too careless!" He had wanted to beat it half to death and then sell it. But because the Marowak had bitten the third grunt on the thigh, he had cruelly killed it in a fit of rage.

"Enough with the nonsense. I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about tonight," the second grunt said cautiously.

"You're not actually scared of those ghost stories, are you?!" the first one scoffed. Amidst a chorus of laughter, the three of them finally settled down and began their guard duty in earnest.

"So many tombstones… What a desolate scene."

Red arrived on the first floor of the Pokémon Tower. The air was heavy with sorrow. Each meticulously carved gravestone told the story of a Pokémon's life and the trainer who had loved it.

"Cubone!"

Seeing a dark shadow gradually approaching, the Cubone in Red's arms became vigilant, its teeth clenched as it gripped its bone club, ready to attack at any moment.

"I'm not a ghost, you know!"

A woman walked toward Red, her voice soft as she told him and Cubone not to be nervous. Seeing his puzzled expression, she explained, "I desperately wanted to visit my Nidoran♀, which is why I snuck into the Pokémon Tower late at night."

She glanced around nervously. "There are ghosts here, and Team Rocket is patrolling. I advise you to leave quickly!"

"Although you're just a child, you seem surprisingly mature. You're also here to visit your Pokémon, aren't you? You must have truly missed them. The ghosts only seem to appear on the upper floors, so it should be fine here," the woman said.

"There's no Pokémon I'm visiting here. I came for personal reasons," Red replied.

Seeing that Red didn't elaborate, the woman wanted to ask something else, but when she turned her head, he had already vanished, as if he had never been there at all.

"Could the Cubone in that boy's arms be…?" The woman seemed to have guessed something, muttering to herself before turning back to her own quiet mourning.

A short while later, Red arrived at the middle floors. Through his Aura, he knew the positions of the three grunts up ahead. Just as he was about to step forward, a blurry, purplish-black figure suddenly materialized in his path.

'Leave this place! Get out of here quickly!'

The figure that appeared was the rumored ghost of the Pokémon Tower. But Red and his Pokémon showed no panic. The Cubone in his arms seemed to feel a powerful pull. Disregarding the danger, it leaped from Red's embrace and ran toward the specter.

'Mother!'

"It's the soul of a Marowak…" Red released his psychic power, seeing clearly that the ghost before him was the un-dissipated soul of a Marowak. "Is it because of a lingering attachment that you can't ascend? The love of a mother…"

The Millennium Gengar, hidden in Red's shadow, floated out, looking at Marowak with a complex expression.

"Dratini?" Although Dratini didn't understand what motherly love was, it was affected by Cubone's sorrow and couldn't help but shed a tear.

'It's dangerous! You must leave quickly! You are not their opponents!' Marowak said frantically, wanting Red to take her child and flee.

"Even after being cruelly killed by humans, you still warn passersby to leave… Marowak, your soul is the most noble I have ever seen."

Red pressed down on his hat, his face grim, furious flames filling his eyes. This was not only sadness for Marowak's fate but also a feeling that the humans who caused it were unworthy of her spirit.

Cubone had already recognized the ghost as its deceased mother. It wanted nothing more than to throw itself into her embrace, but Marowak was just a soul. The small Pokémon burst into tears, its heart breaking all over again.

"So noisy! I thought someone had broken in, but it's just a brat!" one of the grunts said, annoyed. Then his eyes fell on Dratini, and he trembled with excitement. "It's a Shiny Dratini! We're going to be rich!"

"Cubone!"

Upon seeing the men who killed its mother, Cubone charged forward without a second thought.

'Danger! You must leave quickly! You are no match for them!' Marowak repeated in a panic.

"It's a ghost!" the grunt exclaimed, finally noticing Marowak's spectral form. The allure of the Shiny Dratini had been so strong it had completely consumed his attention.

"A ghost appeared?!" The other two rushed over, their eyes wide with panic. But in order to get their hands on Dratini and Cubone, none of them chose to flee.

"Come out!" they all shouted, throwing three Poké Balls. A Koffing, a Raticate, and an Ekans appeared, but their strength was ordinary. They could not stop Red.

"Take them down," Red said with quiet disdain, sending Dratini and Cubone into battle.

'It's too dangerous! You have to leave!' Marowak pleaded, trying to block Red's path, not wanting her child to get hurt.

"Don't worry, Marowak. Your child isn't as weak as you think. And…" Red slowly pressed down his hat, his left eye gradually turning a chilling crimson. "I will avenge you."

A terrifying pressure exploded from Red, a battle intent so powerful it slammed into the grunts and their Pokémon like a physical wall. They gasped for air, a phantom boulder crushing their chests, their minds reeling in terror. The enraged Red made no effort to suppress his anger, allowing the negative effects of his battle intent to fully torment the minds of his enemies.

"Scum like you… it's useless even if you're caught by the League," Red's voice was dangerously low, his left eye now glowing with killing intent. The fusion of raw pressure and murderous rage made even the Millennium Gengar tremble. It was the first time it had seen its master so furious. "Fight, for your final chapter."

"Don't look down on me!" the third grunt screamed. He pulled out a dagger and plunged it into his own thigh. The sharp pain temporarily cleared his head, and he charged at Red.

"Bone Club Barrage," Red commanded coldly.

Influenced by Red's power, Cubone's small body erupted with an astonishing aura. It held its bone club and fiercely struck the grunt's thigh again and again, the sickening cracks of fracturing bone echoing in the silent tower.

"Ah—my leg! You damn thing!" the grunt cried out, clutching his bleeding, shattered thigh. But Cubone had no intention of stopping, its eyes filled with an endless, cold killing intent. The blood-stained bone club had become a harbinger of death.

Red and the Millennium Gengar did not intervene. If Cubone couldn't personally avenge its enemy, its heart might never truly heal. Marowak, the mother on the side, didn't want her child to be stained with blood, but was helplessly restrained by Gengar, forced to watch as her child took its first, brutal step toward overcoming its trauma.

(My child… I can't watch you grow up anymore. I hope this young man can guide your growth and give you warmth…)

***

(End of Chapter)

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