Pokémon Red (Book 3)

Lotad's Birthday - I

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Chapter - 16
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September 12, 2023

It was a long flight, but Red had managed to keep himself occupied and entertained by narrating a story to the 10 year old boy sitting to his right. To his left, sat a girl about his age, listening to music and gazing out of the window most of the time.

"The double battles were fun back in the day. You should try those too sometime." Red looked at the boy and smiled.

"I can't wait!" Said the boy, excited. "I'm rushing to the lab as soon as the plane lands. I can't believe I'm gonna become a Pokémon Trainer today!"

"Look at you all hyped up." Red laughed.

"You created the hype for me." Said the boy, looking up to Red. "Listening to your life as a Pokémon Trainer sounds too good to be true, almost like a fictional story."

The girl on the left snickered, almost as if she knew that Red was making everything up to amuse the boy.

"Anyways, we'll skip a few days and return to the gym battle later. I have a story of a birthday party to tell." Red explained. "I had just caught my first Hoenn Pokémon - Lotad. Leaf and I were walking to-"

November 2, 2014

"To Mister Briney's Cottage." Leaf shouted at Red. "This is the third time you're asking me where we are going."

"I'm sorry, I just can't believe that old man walks this much. His house is in Rustboro, for god's sake." Red frowned.

"Apology accepted." Leaf smiled, her smile turned into a frown in a few seconds. "Why is this cottage on the other side of the forest? Butch told us that it was near the beach."

Red looked around, the beach was right in front of them, but they couldn't see the cotta- "Oh there it is!" Leaf screamed in excitement. She started running but ran out of breath. The cottage was right in front of them, yet quite far away.

"Red, can you hold my bag? I feel like I'll fall on the ground." Asked Leaf, panting.

"I'm also tired, and the cottage isn't even that far off." Red grinned in discomfort. Leaf was getting irritated by Red's behaviour lately.

"Hm. Okay." Leaf mumbled, walking faster, away from Red.

"That's it, I can't walk more." Red stopped walking, his legs were paining as well as his hands. He hated Hoenn, the region was boiling, the heat was too much to handle, and this was the month of November.

Leaf was about a hundred meters away from Red by now. She stopped as she couldn't hear a extra pair of footsteps behind her, she slowly looked around. Red was sitting on a big rock, drinking some water.

Suddenly, something tapped on Leaf's legs, she quickly pulled her leg away and looked down. It was a Lotad. She smiled at the little blue Pokémon with something similar to a lilypad on top of it.

Leaf pointed her Pokédex at the Lotad. "Lotad, a Water Weed Pokémon. It searches about for clean water. If it does not drink water for too long, the leaf on its head wilts."

"Hello." Said Leaf, waving at the Lotad like an idiot. She also jumped a little. Red looked at her and smiled.

Red stood up, his back muscle was already paining and his knees were half bent. He was exhausted. Leaf looked at him in pity as he stumbled.

The Lotad grabbed Leaf's attention again by tapping on her legs. It then ran towards Mister Briney's Cottage, away from the two.

Leaf looked back at Red again, he was struggling to even hold his bag, it seemed too heavy for him. Leaf suddenly felt more active and even her bag felt light. She smiled, jogging towards Red.

"Give me your bag." Said Leaf, gently removing Red's bag from his shoulders. "Just don't work too hard, you'll end up fainted."

"You don't have to hold my bag." Red revolted, pulling his bag back. Leaf was pulled towards him along with the bag and they tripped.

Leaf fell right on top of Red and quickly got up, as for Red, he fainted.

Red opened his eyes in a room, he placed his hands on his head, trying to resist the headache. He looked around, curious to know where he was. To his left, was a window, through the window he could see the beach and a boat. To his right, was a closed door. Right in front of him, was a wardrobe.

He placed his left foot on the floor, and quickly pulled it back. The marble floor was ice cold. "Ouch!" Red whispered.

The door opened and Red was greeted by an old man. "You're awake, come on out for dinner." He turned around. "And oh, your shoes are at the other side of the bed." The man closed the door.

Red instantly knew the man was Mister Briney, he had fainted on the way and somehow he ended up on the bed. I wonder who brought me here - he thought.

He wore his shoes and walked outside. Right outside the room was the dining area, with dining table in the middle and a small kitchen next to a window.

Mister Briney was sitting on the dining table while Leaf cooked some rice. Red slowly walked to the dining table and sat on the opposite side of Mister Briney.

Leaf brought a bowl of vegetable rice. "Red, you're very lucky, your girlfriend here even cooks."

Red and Leaf blushed. "Um, she's not my girlfr-" Red was interrupted by Mister Briney.

"I'm just kidding, so Leaf tells me you both want a ride to Dewford. Your friends Cassidy and Butch too took a ride to Dewford." Said Briney, serving the rice to Red.

"They had to deliver a parcel to someone there, we're going there for a Gym Battle." Red explained.

"Pokémon Trainers! This is amazing." Said Mister Briney. "I wanted to be a trainer too you know, even studied at the Trainer's school."

Leaf stopped the chopticks right in front of her mouth. "So why didn't you become one?" She asked, eating the rice.

"Oh well, the war was a thing back then, so I didn't risk leaving my family." Said Briney. "Family is too important."

Red was reminded of his father. "Do you have children, Mister Briney?" He asked.

Briney smiled. "I had a daughter." Briney suddenly remembered what happened to him recently, the girl he had saved looked exactly like his daughter.

Red and Leaf could notice the wrinkle on Briney's forehead as he thought about the mysterious girl.

"Everything okay?" Asked Leaf. "Mister Briney?"

Briney snapped out of his thoughts. "Yes, everything is fine. And tomorrow is Lotad's birthday, my Lotad is going to be 16 tomorrow."

"Woah, that's great!" Red and Leaf exclaimed.

"Anyways, thank you Leaf for the wonderful dinner. I'll go sleep." Said Mister Briney, leaving the table. "Leave the dishes, I do them on my own."

Red and Leaf were left alone in the dining room. Both of them quickly finished their dinner, Red was so happy he was finally eating something Leaf had cooked. The vegetable rice were tasty.

"Hey, Leaf. Can I pack these extra rice for tomorrow?" Red asked.

"Sure." Said Leaf, smiling. "Also dibs on the bed."

"What do you mean?"

"Mister Briney has only two rooms, so I'll sleep on the bed, you take the couch." Said Leaf, standing up.

"There is no couch in the room though."

"Impossible." Said Leaf, she opened the door of the room, the only furniture in the room was a bed, a side table with a lamp and a wardrobe.

"Now what?" Red blushed.

September 12, 2023

"Honestly, I do ship you and Leaf together." Said the boy, smiling. "You guys talk anymore?"

"Well, ofcourse!" Red agreed. "She doesn't really have time, you know, she's like a celebrity now."

"Yeah, my entire friend circle has a crush on her." The boy blushed. "She's cute. She's not your girlfriend, is she?"

Red was speechless.