"Don't worry."
"As long as that person is still somewhere in Mossdeep City, I'll have someone help me find him."
Hearing Red's words, Shinji still found it somewhat difficult to believe.
After all, in Shinji's eyes, the status of a Gym Leader didn't seem all that impressive.
The very first Gym he had encountered—the Viridian Gym—
Had already been shut down entirely, with official seals plastered across the entrance.
Then the second Gym he visited, Cerulean Gym, had been an absolute disaster.
Rather than a Gym, it looked more like a stage performance venue.
Shinji had barely needed any effort at all to obtain the Cascade Badge.
As for Pewter Gym—
That had shown Shinji the absolute bottom line of what a Gym Leader could be.
At the time, the Gym Leader of Pewter City had been Brock's father.
But due to his years-long disappearance, his reputation throughout Pewter City had become utterly terrible.
When Shinji mentioned wanting to challenge Pewter Gym, the local residents all told him that the current Gym Leader was an irresponsible scumbag.
If Reiji hadn't been an experienced veteran Trainer who corrected Shinji's way of thinking in time—
Shinji might have ended up just like Clair, looking down on the title of Gym Leader altogether.
Afterward, Shinji continued challenging multiple Gyms.
And he gradually came to understand that the gap between the strongest and weakest Gym Leaders in Kanto was practically immeasurable.
Still, almost all Kanto Gym Leaders shared one common trait—
From Blaine to the Poison-type Gym Leader, they were all complete weirdos.
Because of this, Shinji couldn't help wondering:
Could his Master really get the residents of Mossdeep City to help search for someone?
Red didn't answer Shinji's doubts directly.
Instead, he had Shinji describe the man's height, appearance, and other details.
Then Red forwarded the information to Officer Jenny.
With Jenny's help, a suspect sketch was quickly produced.
And once they had a portrait—
Everything became simple.
Red directly distributed the sketch to the nearby residents.
The moment the locals realized it was personally handed out by Gym Leader Red, they immediately promised enthusiastically:
"Don't worry, Gym Leader Red! We'll definitely find this guy!"
"That's right! Just wait for good news!"
"Hey—I think I've actually seen this person before!"
...
Looking at the enormous crowd mobilizing all at once, Shinji was completely dumbfounded.
He stared at Red and couldn't help asking:
"Master…"
"How did you do this?"
Seeing Shinji's shocked expression, Red patted him on the shoulder and said:
"When you can bring fame and visitors to your hometown…"
"When the elderly can find jobs again…"
"When people working away from home return because there are opportunities locally…"
"When your city gains a true economic pillar…"
"Then you'll understand how I did this."
Hearing that, Shinji nodded in partial understanding.
After all, for wandering Trainers like him, discussions about economic development were simply too distant.
The only thing they needed to understand was this:
As the Gym Leader of Mossdeep City, Red possessed just a tiny little bit of prestige and influence there.
After issuing the citywide manhunt—cough, distributing the sketch—Red brought Shinji back to the Gym to await news.
While waiting, Red looked at the still somewhat immature Shinji and suddenly asked an extremely important question.
"Shinji."
"How do you view your Pokémon?"
Hearing that question, Shinji froze.
His mind filled with question marks.
After hesitating for a while, he finally answered honestly:
"I think…"
"For Pokémon, victory matters more than bonds or friendship."
"If you lose, then you have nothing."
"And bonds and friendship don't bring victory."
"Instead, thinking too much about those things only leads to defeat."
Hearing Shinji's speech, Red didn't answer directly.
Instead, he calmly took a sip of tea.
"That's actually a pretty interesting viewpoint."
Shinji looked at Red in confusion.
"Master…"
"Aren't you going to correct me?"
"My brother always says my way of thinking is wrong."
"But I don't think there's anything wrong with it."
"Weaker Pokémon simply aren't suitable for Trainers."
"Pokémon obviously have differences in talent, tactics, personality, and potential."
"I…"
Listening to Shinji's thoughts, Red remained perfectly calm.
After all, Shinji's mindset was the quintessential gamer mentality.
"Pursuing strength."
"Seeking out better Pokémon."
"There's nothing wrong with that."
"I may be your teacher, but that doesn't mean you must follow my path exactly."
"There's more than one road to becoming stronger."
"As long as your overall direction isn't wrong, I won't force you into making a particular choice."
Shinji looked at Red with immense gratitude in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Red held his teacup and suddenly thought of another disciple.
One who valued bonds with Pokémon, their emotions, and their feelings more than anything else.
"When absolute emotional bonds collide with absolute rationality…"
"These two philosophies really are fascinating."
"No wonder Cynthia loved watching Ash and Shinji argue and clash with each other in the anime."
"This is going to be interesting."
"Very interesting."
And now, both of them had become Red's disciples.
One thing was certain:
Under Red's guidance, they would become even stronger than they were in the anime.
But because of that—
The clash between their ideals would likely become even more intense.
After all, Ash and Shinji truly represented two complete extremes.
And Red was extremely curious about what kind of sparks would fly when the two eventually met again in the future.
Just as Shinji started feeling unnerved by Red's strangely amused stare—
Red's phone suddenly rang.
Good news had arrived.
After glancing at the call, Red said:
"Let's go."
"They found the man."
"But things turned out differently from what I expected."
"He doesn't seem to be a thief."
"Apparently he's an ancient civilization researcher."
"His funding chain collapsed, so he had no choice but to sell artifacts in order to continue his excavations."
Red brought Shinji and Ninetales along as he said:
"Come on."
"Let's go see what kind of discoveries this researcher has made."
Meanwhile—
Cynthia had already arrived in Kanto.
Looking at the map in her hand, she said to Garchomp:
"Garchomp, this way."
"Mossdeep City should be in this direction."
◇ You can read 60+ chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/ElaraVance1
✨ Bonus Chapter Goals ✨
10 Reviews = 1 Bonus Chapter
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter