56 The Poncho Man!

Gan slept comfortably until the sun appeared through his curtains from the Horizon. He stayed asleep until he heard his alarm go off. With that, he slowly rose from his bed while stretching and yawning.

Gan stepped out of his bed to eat breakfast. Growlithe looked up and gazed at Gan before putting her head down and closing her eyes again. Machop was still asleep like the rest of his Pokemon around the room.

Gan stood and stretched his body before doing some pushups and sit-ups. Machop was getting up at this time, so he saw what Gan was doing. Machop looked interested and wanted to try the workout for itself.

As Gan was making breakfast for himself, Machop could be seen doing Gan's workout. Gan was going to eat some eggs and Tauros sausage he picked up at a store. (Not the kinda sausage you're thinking about.)

Growlithe turned her head and watched Machop lazily while barking something at him. If one had to guess, she was counting the number of pushups and situps Machop was doing.

Gan walked in and was stunned at the scene. Even Abra was up, he was sitting calmly in the corner of the bed. Most wouldn't be able to tell if it was sleeping or not because its eyes were always closed.

"I should have had Machop doing something like this before." Gan nodded as he sat his food on the table while taking a seat. He recalled the other Pokemon who were still fast asleep in the room.

Gan's breakfast was small, he was still somewhat full from yesterday's meal. His Pokemon felt the same, they weren't hungry from yesterday's experience. After eating breakfast, he took a bath before brushing and flossing his teeth.

The day was still young, very young, it was still around 9 am. Gan was thinking about a few things, things that just randomly crossed his mind. For instance, he wanted to complete his Pokedex but finding Mew was simply impossible in his mind.

Gan could only think of one solution to find Mew, and that was by getting Mewtwo. Every time Mewtwo did something big, Mew wasn't too far behind. This was evident with Pokemon The First Movie and Pokemon Origins.

This also got Gan thinking about the Master Ball. However, he didn't want to waste his Master Ball on Mewtwo or any legend he felt that he could catch. For example, he would definitely use a Master Ball on a Giratina rather than a Moltres.

After eating, Gan pulled out a bottle of pills before going over to Growlithe. She needed to take these pills every day, so he gave her two in one sitting. Afterward, he gave her some water once she swallowed the pills.

Machop also drank some water after his workout, he did more situps and pushups than Gan! Gan was decently muscular because of this, but he was outclassed by Machop who had done it for the first time.

Gan didn't sweat it, this was to be expected by something like a Machop or just a Pokemon in general. Next, Gan recalled all of his Pokemon and left the room to do what he planned to do.

It wasn't even 10 am yet but he could see a few people setting up their stalls for the day. Before heading to Viridian Forest, he went to buy some more First Aid Kits. Gan walked through the entrance to Viridian Forest, but there were no kids like yesterday.

Gan could see a group of people talking to a few Rangers about something.

"Are you here to join in the search?" Suddenly, one of the Rangers gazed toward Gan and asked.

"Search? Search for what? I'm only here to train my Pokemon in this forest." Gan said in reply.

"Hmm, I see. Ah, I remember, you pass by here yesterday." The Ranger was enlightened.

"You said a search, what are they searching for?" Gan was curious and asked.

"They're searching for a missing rich kid, his father resides in Viridian City. His son and his two friends hadn't come back from the forest since they ventured in."

"Everyone already knows the three are dead for sure, but some people went to search anyway because of the money." The man got closer and whispered to Gan.

"Oh... okay." Gan nodded, but he secretly shook his head. The rich kid had to be that guy that died to poison back then. The rest of the people here were only here to visit Viridian City, they were coming from Pewter.

Gan waited for these people to clear out and get out of his way. The Rangers found that these people weren't here to participate. Apparently, there seemed to be no one else who gave two craps about this search.

Gan showed them his identification since it was mandatory.

Suddenly, a man walked over. He was wearing a fiery patterned Poncho with a red shirt underneath it. The Poncho man wore brown pants and brown cowboy boots. His hair was fiery red and so were his eyes, his expression looked laid back and relaxed while sporting a cowboy hat.

"Are you here for the search?" Another Ranger asked him the same question.

"Yes, I'm perfect for this little job. However, if I find nothing then I'll still have to get paid for wasting my time." The man said with a smile.

"Of course, but if you find any clues, you'll be paid far more and rewarded. The Family head has already sent a task force inside, so you may run into them."

The man nodded and looked toward Gan, who still had his identification card out. With a glimpse, the Poncho man was able to inspect it swiftly.

"Oh, you're a trainer. At that, you've already landed your first badge. I could use a partner, why don't you join me in the search?" The Poncho man said with a wide smile.

"I just came here to train, not search for someone who's probably already dead," Gan said bluntly.

The few people around gasped in shock that he would say something like that. To dare talk about the young master of that family!

"Ahahaha! He is indeed dead, but why not search? That's free money, how could I pass that up?" The Poncho man laughed and agreed with Gan.

"You two! How dare you talk about my young master like that!?" The man that spoke was a donut-hair-styled old man with white hair, he was dressed like a butler wearing a suit.

The man in the poncho dug into his ear nonchalantly, ignoring the old man while keeping his gaze on Gan. Gan's expression fell, all he said was the guy was probably dead, why was this old man getting so upset about the 'possible truth.'

"So, what do you think, you wanna group with me?" The Poncho man continued to smile and asked again.

"Hey, don't ignore me! Did you 2 hear me!?" The old man kept hollering before he walked over with some guards wearing black suits and glasses. They looked like those special agents he saw back in his old world when he watched those action movies.

"Old man, can you s**t the f**k up!" The Poncho man turned and said coldly. This old kept yelling for his age, was he trying to die quicker?

"H-How dare you? Do you know who I am? I can make you disappear with a single word." The old pointed at the Poncho man and said threateningly, clearly even more infuriated.

"I don't like being threatened! Go! Destroy this Oldman, Infernape!" The man tossed a Pokeball with a chilling expression.

"Roar!" Infernape roared as its body flashed red like it had gone Kaio-Ken!

Gan was shocked, it was an Infernape! This caused Gan's mouth to open wide, just who was this guy?

"Knock them away and slapped them butler silly!" Infernape acted on his command, it punched the 2 bodyguards flying before slapping the butler silly.

The Butler was even more shocked, but not until he was slapped up and fainted.

"T-this..: The Rangers all around were speechless, but the old man tossed out threats first.

'How defiant!' Gan's eyes flickered with admiration for this Poncho man. Then, he scanned Infernape, it was his first time seeing a Pokemon from a different Region.

|Name: Infernape♂

|Type: Fire + Fighting

|Level: 53

|Ability: Iron Fist (Hidden Ability)

|Potential: ★★★★

|Nature: Jolly

Infernape turned around and flexed its muscles. All the while, the other Rangers ran over to check on the butler.

"You see that? Anyone that threatens you, you show them what pain is!" The Poncho man turned to Gan and said. Gan just slowly nodded, but he couldn't just beat people like that in the open. He was new to this world, he couldn't just offend people.

However, secretly, he wouldn't have a problem ending someone like that; at least in this world.

"Now, what do you think about going on a little search with me?" The Poncho man smirked.

"Uh, sure." To Gan, this guy wasn't simple. That was a butler from a prominent family, but he didn't fear him.

"There, it's me and him. So, he can sign his name as well. We expect payment after our hard search in Zone 2." The Poncho man turned to a Ranger, he was the one who gave out the payment to volunteers.

"Huh?" Gan's expression changed when he heard him talking about entering Zone 2.

"Uh, right! Trainer, sign here." The Ranger came out of his stupor before turning to Gan.

Gan had already agreed to go, this wasn't what he was expecting when he came here. So, he signed the paper with a strange expression.

"Don't worry, if you go with me I'll be sure you don't suffer any losses. You'll be protected, I just need some company when traveling through such a place." The Poncho man laughed and patted Gan on the back.

Gan scoffed in his heart, he was here to power train, but in this case, power level. He thought about the pros and cons.

There were very few cons, but could he trust this guy? Was he setting him up or something? The guy clearly had some powerful Pokemon and this was Gan's first time meeting him. There was no reason for him to plot against him, he thought.

After signing the paper, they were both given a rainbow flower insignia that they attached to their shirts. Afterward, they both went on their way with Infernape following next to them.

"I know, you think I'm up to something, but I'm not. I'm only here to make a quick buck and afterward, I'll be on my way." The Poncho man stretched and kept walking.

"You involved me in a dangerous situation, I hope you can help me with a few things later." Gan thought about it and decided to take advantage of this strong trainer.

"Oh, and what would that be?" The Poncho man narrowed his eyes and asked.

"I don't know yet, but it'll probably be soon." Gan knew well what he wanted.

"Oh, excuse my manners, my name is Royce. I'm from a different Region from here, I come from Sinnoh." Royce formally introduced himself.

"My name is Gan." Gan wasn't surprised to hear this as he continued, "By the way, why would you be here of all places, so far away from home?" Gan wondered.

"This is a part of my training, so I've come to explore other Regions before challenging them again." Royce sighed deeply when recalling his experiences back then.

They were unknowingly entering deeper into Viridian Forest. They were also secretly being watched by a Ranger. He was being sure that they were entering the beyond Regions of this Forest. After seeing them enter, the Ranger waited a while before leaving to confirm all of this to his superior.

Meanwhile, Gan asked him who he was talking about when he mentioned challenging someone. Royce stated that he challenged the Elite 4 back in Sinnoh, but he lost to one of the Elite members.

"Which one?" Gan was stunned and asked.

"It was that Birtha. That damned old lady keeps defeating me." Royce's expression fell after recalling every failed attempt against her. Royce even went on to say that he challenge the Elite 4 here in this Region.

At first, they said he couldn't without the 8 badges of this Region. However, Lance gave him the green light to try. Unfortunately, he ended up losing to Lorelei on the first attempt!

Gan was speechless, it truly sucked to suck, he thought.

At this point, they had entered Zone 2.

"Help... Ahhhh~!!!" Right as they entered they heard some screaming.

"Ah s**t, here we go again!" Gan gazed in the direction where the screaming could be heard.

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