Disclaimer: I own neither Pokémon nor its characters

Chapter 24: fighting poison

After breakfast, we flew back to Fuschia city. "Me, Leaf and Zain will go to the Safari zone while you two get the badge, ok?" Red asked. We nodded, and they headed off.

"I'll go first this time" I said.

"Ok" Aqua said.

We got to the gym and looked inside. The place was empty of pretty much everything except for a person in the middle of the room.

"Wow, this'll be easy" Aqua said. She started walking towards the man…and hit an invisible wall. "Ow"

I tried to hold in my laughter "looks like it's not that easy after all" I said.

Aqua sighed "how are we supposed to get around what we can't see?" she asked.

"Well, we could try feeling along the edge" I suggested. If I remembered correctly, this gym was designed like an invisible maze…frustrated the heck out of me when I tried it.

"Let's go with that." Aqua said.

We felt around, and after a few tries, got to the center.

"I see you made it through" the man said. "I am Koga, leader of the Fuschia city gym, and master of Poison type Pokémon."

Looking at him, I noticed he had what appeared to be a ninja suit on, but I disregarded it "I am Alex, and this is Aqua. We're here to challenge you" I said

"I assume you will battle me first" he said. He threw a poke ball "go Koffing!"

"Koffing!"

I threw a poke ball "Go Blastoise!"

"Blastoise!"

"Blastoise, use water gun!" I called out. Blastoise obliged, knocking Koffing out.

"Go Koffing!" Koga called, throwing another poke ball

"Koffing!"

"Water gun again!" I called. The Koffing was knocked out again.

"Go Muk!" Koga called, throwing another poke ball.

"Muk!"

"Water gun again!" I called. Muk avoided it

"Sludge bomb!" Koga called. Blastoise was knocked back.

"Use Swift!" I called. Muk was out.

Koga hesitated, as if he was thinking about something. "Go Weezing!" he called

"Weezing!"

"Use water gun!" I called. It missed completely.

"Use sludge bomb!" Koga called. It missed Blastoise, but I wasn't paying attention and it hit me. I blinked as I tried to shake the stars from my eyes.

"Blastoise, water gun!" I called. The Weezing was out in a moment.

"Huh…you beat me" Koga said, returning his Pokémon. "Congratulations"

"Thanks" I said, slowly getting up and returning my Pokémon.

He gave me the badge "here, you earned this" he said, "I will be back shortly" he walked off.

"That move didn't hurt you too badly, did it?" Aqua asked

"Relax, I've been through worse" I said.

Koga came back shortly "ready Aqua?" he asked

"I'm ready" she said.

He threw a poke ball "go Koffing!"

"Koffing!"

"Go Charizard!" Aqua called, throwing a poke ball

"Charizard!"

"Koffing, use Toxic!" Koga called.

"Charizard, wing attack!" Aqua quickly called. Charizard moved quicker, completely throwing off Koffings aim, and causing it to hit me instead. Since Toxic isn't a damaging move though, I couldn't tell immediately.

"Koffing, sludge bomb!" Koga called

"Charizard, flame thrower!" Aqua called back. Koffing was out as soon as the move hit.

I faintly heard Koga speak as the Poison started taking effect. "Go Koffing!"

"Koffing!"

I ignored the pain, thinking it was after effects from the sludge bomb. "Charizard, Flame thrower!" Aqua called. The Koffing was out.

"Go Muk!" Koga said, throwing another poke ball.

"Muk!"

"Charizard, use Flame thrower!" Aqua called. At this point I started having trouble breathing, and I stopped paying attention to anything…I soon passed out.

I woke up in the Pokémon center. My vision was blurry, and my head was fogy, but I felt ok otherwise.

"Honestly, it was a mistake!" I heard Aqua saying outside

"He didn't tell you that a move like that can easily hit a trainer?" I heard Leaf reply

"Shouldn't most trainers know that from trainer school?" I heard Zain ask.

"Actually, I only learned when a will o wisp burned Leaf" I heard Red say

"Well, at least he's fine now" Leaf said.

"Come on, let's go see if Koga will give you the badge now" I heard Zain say. I heard three sets of footsteps leave, and then saw the door open.

"Feeling better Alex?" Leaf said, walking in.

"Yea, thanks" I said with a weak smile.

"Toxic is one of the most potent poison moves, it's a really good thing some of Koga's students had walked in just then and saw you" Leaf said "you should have heard how sorry he was, he even told Aqua she could have the move to teach one of her Pokémon"

"Cool, I guess" I replied, not really sure what to say.

"Red told me you noticed he was upset when we had left" Leaf said

"Yea, but he wouldn't tell me why" I said

"Well, he told me, and it's because he feels like you catch Pokémon too easily" Leaf said

"So, he's jealous" I said

"No, he's actually worried. He thinks the Pokémon may somehow be a trap." Leaf said

"Aren't you the one who suggested he was jealous in the first place?" I asked

"I know Red, he doesn't get jealous of others because of how easily they catch Pokémon, I do" Leaf said

"So you're jealous of me?" I asked

"Alex, that's not the point!" Leaf said

"I probably missed the point, my mind isn't exactly clear right now" I said

"The point is, the Pokémon might be a trap set up by someone" Leaf said

"And you're sure it's not jealousy?" I asked.

"Ugh! You're hopeless!" Leaf exclaimed "listen, if either of us were jealous, wed battle you. This is serious!"

"Kind of hard to be serious with me right now" I said

"Fine, maybe I can convince Aqua" she said, she got up to leave. "See you in the morning Alex"

"Goodnight!" I said as she closed the door.

After dinner, my head finally started clearing, so I thought about what Leaf had said. I shrugged it off and fell asleep.

Yay! Another chapter done! I tried to stay true to Koga's personality this time. Remember: I love input, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now!