Redefining Priorities

The trio continues through the mountains with Ryback toward a Ranger Outpost. They dispatch wild pokemon efficiently, taking no risks—a geodude instantly killed, a swarm chased off by Ember and Sleep Powder. Red receives the Witnessing form to confirm Yuuta's execution, signs it, and tries to rest at the outpost. But his mind churns. He audits his grief again, noticing a surprisingly sharp pang at the mere thought of losing his pichu or charmander, but ultimately his thoughts drift to Yuuta. He wonders if it's normal to feel sympathy for a Renegade, and what that says about him, yet the societal taboo around the question stifles his curiosity. A CoRRNet message confirms the execution is complete, and Red's sleeplessness turns productive. He confronts his procrastination regarding his Spinarak research and admits his motivation lies in discovery, not publishing. To bridge the gap, he decides to start a new, more exciting project to alternate with the dull paperwork: studying psychic pokemon. To do that, he needs to catch an abra.

They arrive in Cerulean City, sprawling and rich with holograms and tourist traps. Leaf's museum article has blown up, her following skyrocketing to rival Blue's. Blue plans to take on the Cerulean Gym but knows he needs to evolve his pokemon, especially his shinx, first. Red pitches a "clever experiment" to catch abra: since they teleport away from danger in unpredictable directions, he plans to place six speakers playing mightyena cries in a circle, herding the skittish psychics inward toward Leaf's singing wigglytuff. Professor Oak forbids testing it publicly without oversight. When Red asks the Cerulean Rangers for help, they refuse, unwilling to commit resources to manufacture an emergency hazard zone. Red stews over the double standard that accepted dangerous practices are fine, but new, safer ones are blocked.

That night, Red tries meditating to explore his "sensitive" powers, frustrated by the patronizing tone of psychic websites. Just as he attempts a session, Leaf sends him an article: the Pewter Museum was vandalized by religious extremists in response to her open letter.