No one knew how much time had passed. After Ash obtained the Orange Badge, Red accompanied Ash and his two companions as they left the Vermilion Gym, planning to head to the harbor and travel to the location of the next Gym.
A cool sea breeze blew toward them. In high spirits, Red and the others finally arrived at the docks. Several luxurious ocean liners came into view, stirring boundless imagination and dreams of one day enjoying such extravagant travel themselves.
Among them, one enormous luxury cruise ship caught the attention of the four. It was the most famous liner at Vermilion City Harbor—the S.S. Anne.
"I want to ride a ship like that and see what's on the other side of the sea!" Ash exclaimed.
"Yeah! That way we could meet even more kinds of Pokémon!" Brock agreed.
"Exactly!" Misty said excitedly. "I want to sunbathe on the deck and enjoy a relaxing cruise. That sounds amazing!"
The three of them stared wide-eyed, imagining the wonderful experience of boarding the S.S. Anne. Ash looked forward to battling the Trainers on board, Misty dreamed of sunbathing on the deck, and Brock anticipated which wealthy lady aboard the ship might take a liking to him and let him live a "happy" life of comfort.
Of the four, only Red remained calm. As a transmigrator, Red naturally knew that this luxurious S.S. Anne was actually part of an evil plan orchestrated behind the scenes by Team Rocket.
Over the years, the S.S. Anne had secretly been funded by Team Rocket. Now they were preparing to reel in their net—gathering Pokémon Trainers aboard, then once the ship sailed far from Vermilion City, Team Rocket members hidden within would emerge and seize all the Trainers' Poké Balls in one sweep.
"But you don't have that much money~" Red said lazily.
"Sigh…" x3
Red's words instantly dragged the three back from their beautiful fantasies to harsh reality. They cast one last lingering glance at the S.S. Anne, far less cheerful than before, and prepared to leave.
"Red!"
A sweet voice called out from behind. Red turned around just as a brown-haired girl ran up and threw her arms around him. A faint fragrance drifted from her as she hugged him. After sensing her enthusiasm, Red gently pushed her away. Only then did the girl notice Ash not far away, and she immediately blushed crimson and hid behind Red.
"Long time no see, Leaf!" Ash greeted.
The brown-haired girl who had hugged Red was none other than Leaf, one of the new Trainers from Pallet Town. The two boys hadn't expected to run into her here.
"Long time no see, Ash… and… Red!" Leaf said. Although she had calmed down somewhat, she still awkwardly tugged at the hem of her clothes. Seeing Red again after so long had made her so excited that she rushed over and hugged him without thinking.
That part was fine—but with Ash standing nearby and witnessing everything, Leaf suddenly didn't know what to do. Fortunately, Ash was as dense as ever and didn't notice anything unusual.
Red, on the other hand, was somewhat surprised by Leaf's attitude toward him. He had always thought she saw him as a rival she wanted to surpass. Now… it seemed a little different.
Under Red's gaze, Leaf's ears turned bright red with embarrassment. Luckily, Ash quickly broke the awkward silence.
"Leaf, what are you doing at the Vermilion City harbor? By the way, how many League Badges have you collected?"
"I defeated the Gym Leader Lt. Surge two days ago. I've collected three League Badges now!" Leaf took out an exquisite little box from her pocket. Inside were three badges—the Boulder Badge from Pewter City, the Cascade Badge from Cerulean City, and the Orange Badge from Vermilion City.
Leaf glanced at Ash's two travel companions and only then noticed Brock standing beside him. Since she had received her Boulder Badge from Brock, she was surprised to see him traveling with Ash. After a brief inquiry, she learned why Brock had left the Pewter Gym.
"Mr. Brock is really kind-hearted. If I had a father like that, I'd definitely give him a good beating!" Leaf said angrily, even waving her little fist as if determined to teach Flint a lesson.
...
"Ah-choo!"
Far away in Pewter City, Flint suddenly sneezed and rubbed his nose in confusion as he looked into the distance.
"Could it be that Brock misses me?"
...
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. At that very moment, Brock was sneaking glances at wealthy ladies boarding the ship, hearts in his eyes as he flailed about excitedly. Leaf stared at him in shock, unable to understand what had happened to him, until Misty promptly corrected him with her ear-twisting technique.
"By the way, Red, did you guys get tickets for the S.S. Anne?" Leaf took out a ticket and explained that she had won it as a grand prize from a purchase. She gazed longingly at the S.S. Anne in the distance. It was her first time in ten years boarding such a luxury liner—she had to enjoy it properly.
"Congratulations! You look like super lucky people!"
James and Jessie, dressed in school uniforms, suddenly appeared before Red and the others. Jessie looked fine, but James disguised as a high school girl truly left Red psychologically scarred. Leaf glanced at Red in confusion, not understanding why he kept covering his mouth and looking away.
"Here's the thing—we have complimentary tickets for this ship!" Jessie explained, producing four S.S. Anne tickets. Beside her, James pinched his voice and twisted his body, adding in a cutesy tone, "Super~"
"Cough, cough!" Red covered his mouth and turned toward the shore. He suddenly regretted coming to the harbor with Ash and the others. Jessie and James' poor disguises couldn't fool him at all. Right now, Red almost wished he hadn't seen through them—James' flamboyant performance was simply too much for the eyes to bear.
Using the excuse that they were going on a date with their boyfriends, Team Rocket half-pushed and half-forced the tickets into Red and the others' hands, then left excitedly, not feeling the slightest bit of pain over giving them away.
"Well then… please enjoy yourselves!"
With that, Jessie and James left, twisting their bodies exaggeratedly, once again assaulting Red's vision.
A few minutes later, hiding in the shadows, Team Rocket watched Red and the others head toward the S.S. Anne and celebrated the success of their disguise.
"I think I'm actually really suited to dressing as a little girl, don't you?" James said, still not fully back to normal, speaking in a shrill tone—only to be immediately smashed back to reality by a heavy punch from Jessie.
"Don't say stupid things, idiot! Hurry up!"
Jessie dragged the fallen James to a lookout tower. It was the secret base where the trio contacted Giovanni.
After pressing the communication button, Giovanni's image appeared on the screen, deliberately blurred to conceal his identity.
"Boss!" x3
"It seems you're all ready," Giovanni said calmly.
"Yes!" x3
At that moment, a Persian stepped forward to enjoy Giovanni's gentle petting.
"What! That's a Persian!" Meowth instantly broke down. "B-Boss, aren't I your pet?!"
"You've failed time and time again. I've grown utterly disappointed. Compared to you, this one is far more adorable."
"That's not fair…" Meowth said pitifully.
"If you want my favor, you must not fail this mission. Have you distributed all the S.S. Anne invitations?" Giovanni asked.
"We've handed them out! Anyone who wants to be a Trainer gladly accepted!" Jessie replied.
"But being so generous to them… is that really okay?" James asked doubtfully.
"I am the host of the party," Giovanni said coolly. "My subordinates have already infiltrated the S.S. Anne. I will take all the Pokémon from those Trainers lured aboard."
"As expected of Boss—so clever!" Meowth quickly chimed in.
"This time, you must succeed."
"Yes, Boss!" Jessie and James replied.
"I'll work hard!" Meowth shouted.