Episode 11: "Koffing and the Toxics"
"How do you feel, Niko?" Warren asked, looking at his roommate, who was sitting up on his bed after waking up the following day.
"About the gym?" Niko simply shrugged. "I guess I'm fine. I don't know what to expect, like with Cheren."
"Alright, fair enough. Do we know where the gym is?" He asked, turning to Charlotte, who was sitting on the bed opposite their individual ones. She shrugged as well, indicating that she has no idea. "Well, let's grab some breakfast and then go find the gym. Shouldn't be too hard, right?"
In the lobby of the Pokémon Center, they asked Nurse Joy where the gym was before grabbing something to eat. She mentioned that it is in an alleyway near the port. Despite the answer being vague and slightly frightening, Niko and his friends accepted this without argument or visible confusion. After eating—Niko watched Rufflet finish his meal ravenously—the trio took off towards the Virbank City Gym. It was late in the morning in Virbank City, and the fog was still sitting low to the ground. To be sure, it was a thin fog, but it gave the streets a cold and eerie feeling.
Finding the exact location of the gym was difficult. The trio reached the port, and then immediately began looking around for any alleyway entrances to a Pokémon Gym. After what seemed like half an hour—but was actually only ten minutes—Charlotte found a thin building smashed in between a diner and a hair salon with a pokéball symbol on top of the door.
"I think this is it…" she said, pointing to the pokéball. Niko and Warren nodded, walking up to the door.
"Thanks, Charlotte!" Warren said, lightly tapping her on the shoulder before following Niko through the door and down the steep set of stairs.
At the other end of the set of stairs was a…club. A dancing club of the kind Niko usually saw in Castelia City. However, this one was a little dirtier, he noticed. On the stage stood three young people, each practicing with different instruments and presumably in a band together. To the left of the club was a battlefield. On the back of the stage was a massive picture of a koffing—an all-too familiar Pokémon to Niko.
It took a moment for the band to realize Niko and his friends were there. Once they looked up and revealed themselves, the trio immediately recognized the one in the middle. It was the girl that yelled in Charlotte's face the previous day. The angry one.
"What do you three want?" She asked, looking back down at her guitar and continuing to play it.
"My friend Niko wants to challenge the gym leader of this city." Warren said, pointing to Niko.
"Err, yeah. I'm Niko from Pallet Town, and I challenge the gym leader to a battle." He said, more decisively.
"Oh?" She said, looking back down at Niko. "Well, it just so happens that I'm the gym leader. Name's Roxie, lead singer in 'Koffing and the Toxics' and leader of this gym. I accept your challenge." She briefly eyed Charlotte and smirked. "I see you're the people we ran into yesterday. Didn't defend your girlfriend I see."
"She's not my girlfriend." Niko said with a frown, which seemed to amuse Roxie.
"Whatever you say. Gym battles are two-versus-two. I used to use three Pokémon and have challengers use as many as possible, but I've recently gotten weaker trainers with only a single badge." She motioned for Niko and his friends to join her on the battlefield. While Niko and Roxie took opposite ends of the field Warren, Charlotte, and the members of Roxie's band sat in seats off to the side, each group sitting at different tables. Smeargle, Poliwag, and Swadloon each sat outside of their pokéballs to watch the match.
Niko pulled out his first pokéball. He knew exactly what Roxie's type specialty was now. It was a matter of which Pokémon she chose first.
"Koffing, I choose you!" She shouted, throwing out a pokéball onto the battlefield. Out of it erupted a small, spherical Pokémon with green gas emitting from it.
"Snivy, let's go!" Niko shouted, throwing out a pokéball of his own containing the Grass Snake Pokémon. "Let's start off with leer!"
"Koffing, smog!" Roxie commanded. The Poison Gas Pokémon emitted black and purple gas from the holes in its body towards Snivy, who managed to move out of the way of the cloud of poison gas and dash forward towards koffing at a faster pace than Niko knew she was capable of.
"Snivy! Tackle!"
"Assurance, koffing!" Roxie shouted. Koffing began to emit a gray aura and promptly slammed into Snivy, knocking her backwards onto the field. She rolled across the field before coming to a stop near Niko. She slowly got back to her feet, but the assurance seemed to be too much for her to handle.
"You can do this, Snivy." Niko said. "We just need to be smarter about this. Use vine whip!"
"Koffing, smog!" Roxie called out. Once more, koffing released a black and purple cloud of gas, directing it towards Snivy, who once more evaded the attack and slapped the Poison Gas Pokémon with her green vines. Koffing, who looked furious with the attack, whipped around to Snivy and used tackle, knocking the Grass Snake Pokémon to the ground.
"Snivy's having a lot of difficulty with this." Warren said. "Which is expected, right? Grass type versus poison type."
"Roxie never deals in type advantages." One of her bandmates said. He was bald with a crocodile on his black leather jacket. "She has beaten countless Pokémon with that koffing, even psychic and ground types."
"Really now." Warren said. "Then this'll be more difficult for Niko than we thought."
Niko bit his finger lightly. He was nervous now. Snivy was taking a beating from this Koffing, and he had no idea how to respond. He was just glad, above all else, that she was able to dodge the smog attack. However, he knew that wouldn't last.
"Koffing, assurance!" Roxie shouted, and her Pokémon rushed forward to slam into Snivy, who was still on the ground. "Now, smog up close!"
Koffing opened his mouth and bathed Snivy in a cloud of black and purple gas. The Grass Snake Pokémon began coughing profusely as Koffing floated backwards, giving space between it and Snivy.
"Snivy are you alright?" Niko shouted out. The Grass Snake nodded before having another coughing fit. "Are you sure?" Snivy nodded again, and proved it to Niko—or tried to, rather—by unleashing a vine whip at koffing. However, the smog clearly weakened her, and the vine whip barely reached the Poison Gas Pokémon, only lightly tapping it. Just then, Snivy collapsed onto the ground in defeat.
One of Roxie's bandmates stood up. "Snivy is unable to battle, Koffing is the winner! Challenger Niko will now send out his second Pokémon!"
"Is there no judge for this battle?" Charlotte asked the bandmate, again the bald one.
"No, you just showed up out of nowhere. We'll act as referees for this, if you don't mind." He said, smirking. "And, by the looks of it, we won't have to referee this for much longer."
"Whatever you say. Niko's going to win." Charlotte said, huffing a little before crossing her legs and watching the battle.
"Snivy, return. You did great, buddy. We'll heal you up as soon as we win this." He exchanged pokéballs, and called out his second Pokémon. "Rufflet, I choose you!"
"Hmm, a Rufflet? Alright then. Koffing, use smog!"
"Dodge it, Rufflet, and use peck!"
Rufflet—like Snivy—agilely dodged the cloud of poison gas by launching himself directly into the air and then diving at an angle towards Koffing, his beak glowing bright white. The two collided, with Rufflet driving Koffing into the ground, with a cloud of dust erupting in the wake of the collision with the floor of the battlefield.
"Assurance!" Roxie commanded. Koffing spun a little and then slammed into Rufflet, who retaliated with fury attack on Niko's command. The Eaglet Pokémon managed to knock back Koffing, disrupting the assurance and knocking it back to the ground.
"Use peck!" Niko shouted. Rufflet began to dive down once more when Koffing blew out a smog attack. "Dodge instead!"
Rufflet, who knew he had the win in the bag, decided to ignore Niko and instead crash into Koffing, engulfing himself in the smog but defeating his opponent in the process.
"Koffing…is unable to battle. Rufflet wins!" The same bandmate—who Charlotte and Warren identified as Nicky—declared.
"Rufflet, you have to listen to me!" Niko said in a slightly scolding tone. "You wouldn't be coughing so much now!" He continued. Rufflet glared at Niko, as if blaming his trainer for this. He then looked away, eying Roxie with a vengeance.
"Whirlipede, I choose you!" Roxie said, throwing out a pokéball containing an insectoid Pokémon encased in a gray and pale pink shell. There were two pairs of gray, horn-like feelers with dark gray stripes, with one pair extended upward from its front and the other pointing downward from its lower rear. It had one yellow and black eye on each side of the shell.
"Whirlipede, the Curlipede Pokémon. Bug and poison type. Storing energy for evolution, it sits. But, when predators approach, it moves to stab them with poison spikes."
"Alright Rufflet, let's go. Use fury attack!" Niko shouted, thrusting his hand forward. Rufflet charged forward, ready to strike Whirlipede with his talons. However, he began to glow a bright purple color, indicating that he was poisoned. To this, Niko nervously bit his finger again. So now our time is limited—Rufflet won't be able to handle this poison much longer. He has no experience with it. "Rufflet, you have to listen to me, or else we will lose this. Can you do that?"
The Eaglet Pokémon turned to Niko, halting his fury attack. He looked almost worried—the first time Niko ever noticed that kind of expression. And he felt bad for Rufflet. Despite all of the problems he's had with the little bird, he knows that Rufflet wants to get stronger, and cares deeply about this.
He nodded. "Are you ready to win this, buddy?" Rufflet, seeing Niko's own determined expression, changed his own. "Good. Rufflet, use fury attack!"
"Whirlipede, protect!" Roxie commanded. A spherical force field surrounded the Curlipede Pokémon, blocking Rufflet's attempts at attacking it. "Now, poison sting!"
Purple barbs shot out from the horns on Whirlipede's shell, striking Rufflet and knocking him backwards and onto the ground. Roxie commanded her Pokémon to repeat the attack, keeping the Eaglet Pokémon at bay.
"Rufflet, stay strong. Remember, it's a bug type. We have the advantage here. We just need to exploit it, alright?" Rufflet nodded, slowly getting back up, flapping his wings as a way of stretching. Niko smirked. "Roxie, good luck taking on this guy—he will never give up."
"We'll see about that. Whirlipede, venoshock!" Roxie shouted, strumming her guitar, which emitted a loud electric sound. Whirlipede spewed liquid poison towards Rufflet, dowsing him in it.
Niko paused. He remembered Hunter once using that on his Pokémon. He frowned a little, balling up his fists. Warren and Charlotte, sitting on the side of the field, both looked worried, as they didn't understand what was happening.
"Rufflet, can you continue?" Niko asked again. He began breathing heavily. Rufflet nodded. "Alright then. Use wing attack!"
Rufflet's tiny wings began to glow white, and he started to flap them to get the liquid poison off of them. He then began running before leaping a little into the air and flying low to the ground, colliding with Whirlipede, who shot out a poison sting upon contact. Niko noticed the bug type wince a little from the attack. He knew it worked.
"Rufflet, wing attack again!" Niko shouted, thrusting his fist forward. Rufflet spun through the air before diving back down at Whirlipede, who used protect on Roxie's command. Rufflet, bouncing off of the protective shield, returned once more with fury attack, thrusting his talons downwards on the top of Whirlipede's shell relentlessly.
"Venoshock!" Roxie shouted.
"Fight through it, Rufflet!" Niko called out. "We're so close! Let's win this for us! Win this for Snivy!" He shouted out. Rufflet nodded, launching back directly into the air and promptly diving back down, wings spread out. He dove through the liquid poison aimed at him and crashed onto Whirlipede's shell before rolling off and landing on his feet. Turning to his opponent, Rufflet glared into Whirlipede's yellow eye, watching it slowly close and fall to the side.
"Whirlipede is unable to battle, Rufflet is the winner! And the victory goes to Niko from Pallet Town!" Nicky declared, slightly upset by the results.
"Whirlipede, return." Roxie said, turning to the third band member. "Billy Jo, get Niko a Pecha Berry, will you?"
Billy Jo nodded, rushing off to a fridge and grabbing a small pink berry. She tossed it to Niko, who was at Rufflet's side.
"Here, Rufflet. This'll help." He said, force-feeding the berry to his bird Pokémon. "You did amazing today. I'm very proud of you, buddy."
Rufflet nodded, finishing the berry before weakly cawing to his trainer. Niko then picked Rufflet up and held him in his arms as Roxie and her bandmates approached him. Warren and Charlotte joined Niko on his end.
"Niko, that is some Rufflet you've got there. Color me impressed." Roxie said, her expression matching her words. She then pulled out a small badge from her pocket. The badge was shaped like a smoke signal, with four small purple circles lining up to a poison mark. Niko took the badge and showed it to Rufflet, who smirked in response. "Here is the Toxic Badge, as proof that you've defeated me in battle. As I say to every trainer who beats me, I wish you luck."
"Thanks, Roxie." Niko said with a weak smile of his own. "This was a good battle, but I need to get to the Pokémon Center quickly."
"Of course. I wish your Pokémon the best in recovering. Poison types aren't easy to fight, so kudos to Snivy and Rufflet. They'll be stronger because of it, I think."
Back at the Pokémon Center, Niko and his friends ate a quick meal while Snivy and Rufflet were healing up. He sat in silence while Charlotte and Warren were talking about how great Rufflet performed in the battle.
"So, Niko…" Warren said. "I guess this is where we head back to Castelia City, right?"
"Well, yeah. What happens now?" He asked, looking up at his friend.
"I'm going to continue my journey, I know that. I'll probably head north of Castelia now that I've gone west and east. You're more than welcome to join me, since there's more gyms that way."
"Maybe, I don't know yet."
"What's holding you back?" Warren asked, looking a little concerned. "You've won two gym battles now! Your Pokémon want to battle! Plus, there's a gym in Castelia City. You can challenge that one too!"
"Well, maybe. I still need to think about it."
"What about you, Charlotte?" Warren said, turning to the brunette. "Do you want to continue with us?"
"I don't think I can." She admitted. "My mom probably wants me to find a job. Plus, I only told her I'd be gone for a week or two, anyways. I think I have an interview when I get back, too." She shrugged, expressing a look of concern. "But if you're challenging the Castelia Gym, Niko, I'll gladly come and watch it."
"Thanks, Charlotte. I appreciate that." Niko said. Suddenly, Nurse Joy summoned him. His Pokémon were ready for pick-up. Walking up to the front desk, Nurse Joy gave him two pokéballs that he picked up. "Thanks for checking on them."
"No worries. I'm used to dealing with poisoned Pokémon by now. Most of the trainers that come to me battled Roxie." She said with a smile. "Glad to know someone beat her. Her win rate is higher than most gym leaders."
"Good to know." Niko said, looking at the two pokéballs with pride. He then sat back down with his friends, the smile still etched on his face. "Anyway, let's get some tickets to Castelia City. The boat ride shouldn't take too long, right?"
"Nope!" Charlotte said. "Since it's closer to Castelia City than Aspertia City is. We could get there by the end of the day if we left soon."
"That is true. I'm ready to go home if you two are." Niko replied, looking at his friends. They both nodded, indicating that they were ready to finish their journey—or, in Warren's case, pause it.
An hour later, they approached the port, eventually finding the building where they could purchase tickets. Getting the earliest trip to Castelia City was slightly more expensive but Niko, Warren, and Charlotte didn't mind it. They'd be home sooner than they thought.