Red woke promptly at six, a habit ingrained by years of training, intending to start his team's daily regimen. But this time, he frowned. Outside his tent, a thick blanket of snow covered everything. If not for his own exceptional constitution, he would have frozen solid overnight.
"Who on earth is being so reckless?" he grumbled, throwing Charmeleon's Poké Ball. The fire lizard appeared, and the ambient heat from its body immediately began to melt the surrounding snow.
To prove its strength, Charmeleon let out a proud roar and used Fire Spin, carving a dozen-meter circle of clear ground around them. It then put its hands on its hips, puffing out its chest as it waited for praise. Red just playfully tapped it on the head.
"Don't use your fire so casually," he reminded it. "Even if the weather is strange, we're still in a forest. You don't want to get arrested by Officer Jenny, do you?"
Red was joking, but Charmeleon took it seriously, nodding quickly. It never wanted to be separated from its trainer.
As they began their day, the snow continued to fall, but the flakes sizzled and vanished before they could touch Red, repelled by an invisible barrier of his psychic power. After a simple breakfast, he packed up his camp and, with Charmeleon at his side, went to investigate the source of the bizarre weather phenomenon.
A short time later, they stumbled upon a strange scene: five teenagers in lavish school uniforms interrogating another boy who was so covered in snow he resembled a snowman. The five nobles had plastered themselves with "cold-proof" warming patches, stubbornly refusing to trade their fancy uniforms for practical winter coats. It was a sight Red found utterly ridiculous.
They were grilling the snowman-boy on Pokémon knowledge.
"What Pokémon is this?" one of the red-haired bullies asked, holding up a blurry photo. Only a wing was visible.
"A Pidgey?" the boy, whose name was Joe, answered timidly.
"Even in this weather, the difference is obvious!" the green-haired one snapped.
"Then... a Spearow!" Joe corrected himself.
"Correct, but that's basic. What moves does Spearow learn?"
"Peck, Growl at level 3, Leer at level 8..." Joe recited the information fluently, as if from memory.
"Too easy!" the red-haired leader sneered, clearly intent on stumping him. "At what level does it evolve, what is its evolved form, and what is its Hidden Ability?"
This question finally stumped Joe. He fell silent, his body trembling in the freezing wind.
"Joe, and you call yourself a student of Pokémon Tech? We'll see if you can answer this in tomorrow's rainstorm practical!" The five bullies, dissatisfied with their victim's performance, turned to leave.
"Spearow evolves into Fearow at level 20," a calm voice cut through the snowstorm. "Its normal ability is Keen Eye. Its Hidden Ability is Sniper."
Red stepped out of the blizzard. The five nobles stared at him, their expressions a mix of annoyance and surprise as they took in the powerful physique of his Charmeleon.
"Hey! How much for the Charmeleon? Name your price!" the red-haired leader said, completely oblivious to the dangerous chill in Red's eyes.
Before Red could even react, Charmeleon unleashed a furious Flamethrower. The bully's disrespect had touched a nerve. If Red hadn't intervened with his psychokinesis to control the flames, the boy would have been hospitalized. As it was, Red deliberately let a few embers ignite the boy's uniform, forcing him to strip naked in the snow to escape the fire.
"You just wait! No one who offends Pokémon Tech gets away with it!" the bully shrieked, fleeing with his cronies, leaving Joe struggling in the snow.
"Don't be nervous. I'm not a bad person," Red said, gesturing for Charmeleon to melt the snow off the boy. But after its violent display, the approaching fire lizard was too much for Joe. He rolled his eyes and fainted.
'It wasn't my fault!' Charmeleon seemed to cry, pointing at the unconscious boy. Red chuckled, using his powers to splash Joe's face with melted snow. He woke with a start, then slowly breathed a sigh of relief when he realized Red meant him no harm.
Red now understood. He had stumbled into the grounds of the infamous Pokémon Technical Institute. The "school" focused on book knowledge over practical experience, and this bizarre weather was just one of their "field classes." It was a place for the children of the wealthy, and Red knew from his time with Professor Oak that its graduates could pay their way into the Indigo League Conference without earning a single badge, a practice that devalued the entire competition.
"You knew the answers to those questions, didn't you?" Red asked. Joe, stunned, gave a slight nod.
"What they did... it's called the 'Whip of Love'," Joe explained, his voice suddenly clear and confident. "Thanks to them, I learned that Fearow can learn high-damage moves like Drill Run and Foul Play!"
"So you pretend to be stumped so they don't ask you even harder questions," Red deduced.
"That's right," Joe admitted. "My parents worked so hard to get me into this school. I can't disappoint them by getting expelled."
A broadcast suddenly sounded. "The snow practical is now over! Tomorrow's practical will be held in the rain!" The snow on the ground melted instantly, revealing the true campus of Pokémon Tech.
Red followed Joe into the school. Joe, eager to show off, pointed to a senior studying frantically under a tree, a student who had been held back for years, obsessed with theory. "How foolish," Red scoffed. "That person is beyond saving."
Joe wanted to argue but wisely held his tongue. Instead, he boasted, "I already have the strength of two Gym Leaders!" Red just laughed, ignoring the boy's embarrassed blush.
"If you have three badges, you can challenge our top student, Giselle!" Joe declared. "She's stronger than a three-badge trainer! You probably couldn't beat her!" He then pulled out an autographed photo of a beautiful girl, holding it like a sacred treasure.
"So," Red said, an amused smirk on his face, "this 'Whip of Love' is allowed by this Giselle, and you don't even resent her?"
"It's fine!" Joe said earnestly. "It doesn't matter if she bullies people, as long as she's cute and pretty!"
Red just shook his head. He had never met such a hopeless simp. Giselle's photo was indeed stunning, but he felt nothing but disdain for the culture she represented.
***********
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