"Venonat!" Koga shouted as the fluffy Bug/Poison-type materialized before him. Axel looked at the Gym Leader's first choice and sighed.
"All right, Sunny," he said, the Vulpix's ball in his hand. "Let's do this. Go!" he shouted, throwing the ball and unleashing his Vulpix into the fray. "Use Flamethrower!" Axel ordered- it was when his Vulpix had learned this move that he truly felt she was ready for this.
"Vuuuuuul!" shouted Sunny as she unleashed a horrifying stream of fire from her mouth. To Axel's delight, when the attack subsided, Venonat had fallen to the ground. Wordlessly, Koga withdrew Venonat, and threw another ball, this one sending out... another Venonat?!
"Another one?" murmured Axel. "Well, OK, then. Sunny, Flamethrower!"
"Vuuuuuul!" repeated Sunny as once more, a steady stream of flames flowed from her mouth. And as with the previous one, this Venonat could not withstand the incendiary assault. Koga said nothing, merely withdrawing his fallen Venonat. And then he threw another ball...
"Are you kidding me?" demanded Axel, glancing down at the third Venonat Koga had sent out. "OK, Sunny, Flamethrower again!"
"Vuuuuuul!" Sunny shouted once more as she blasted the Venonat with fire yet again. But this time, the Venonat was still standing when the attack subsided.
Koga smirked. "Venonat," he said. "Double-Edge."
"Sunny!" exclaimed Axel. Double-Edge, he knew, was an extremely powerful attack. And as Venonat charged forward, he saw Sunny defiantly standing her ground. He wanted to close his eyes, but sheer, morbid curiosity kept them wide open. And as Venonat rammed into Sunny... the Vulpix continued to stand her ground! The attack had caused major damage, true enough, but the Vulpix was still standing. And what was more, the recoil damage had proven too much for Venonat, who fell to the ground.
"Hmm," Koga smirked as he withdrew Venonat. "I must say, your Vulpix impresses me. In this land, it has reached the point where there are none of its kind remaining in the wild. Rather, Vulpix must be purchased at the Rocket Game Corner. It is not known for drawing particularly talented Trainers, so the Vulpix I am accustomed to seeing are... shall we say... less skilled than yours."
"Vul!" smiled Sunny. She may have been in the midst of battle, but that praise meant a lot to her nonetheless.
"But now, I get serious," Koga continued, a Great Ball in his hand. "Now it is time for the strongest Fuchsia Gym has to offer... Venomoth!" he shouted, throwing the ball.
Axel looked on as the purple winged creature emerged from its Great Ball. This, he knew, was Venonat's evolved form. And after seeing what that last Venonat did to Sunny in just one move... No. No. Axel had a lot more confidence in Sunny than he did before, there was no arguing that point, but he was no fool.
"Sunny, come back!" Axel called out.
"Vul?" replied Sunny, looking back at her Trainer.
But Axel shook his head. "You were great, you really proved yourself out there," he said kindly. "But now you've earned yourself a good rest, OK?"
Sunny looked like she was ready to argue with her Trainer, but she did not. Instead, she walked back over to Axel and sat as his feet.
Axel nodded his approval and smiled at Sunny, then turned his attention to Venomoth, and threw a Poké Ball. "Needles!" he exclaimed, the Nidoking emerging in a flash of light.
Koga smirked. "Nidoking? An interesting choice, for sure."
"Use Rock Slide!" ordered Axel.
Koga smirked, then said two words that made Axel's blood run cold; "Venomoth, Psychic!"
"Venomoth can learn Psychic?!" Axel shrieked. He didn't see this coming at all, and hoped against all hope that Needles could withstand it. The telekinetic assault was intense, especially to Needles, a Poison-type. And then, to Axel's horror, Needles slumped to the ground. His head did not explode, but blood was slowly flowing from the general vicinity of his face.
"No... Needles, come back!" Axel said shakily, holding out the Nidoking's Poké Ball. But to his horror, the ball had no effect. The recall beam did nothing.
Koga's smirk faded, his eyes softening somewhat. He said nothing, but he bowed his head somberly.
Axel was in shock. Needles... No... That Nidoking of his was always there to take the toughest hits enemies had to dish out. A force of pure destruction, a destroyer of worlds... now lay on the floor, unmoving, broken, destroyed... dead.
"Young man, send out your next Pokémon," Koga said quietly.
"Next... Next Po-" stammered Axel. The thought of the battle continuing was inconceivable to him right now. His Nidoking was dead!
"I am sorry for your loss," Koga interrupted, and he sounded as though he meant it, too. "But would he want you to put a battle on hold like you are trying to do? Would he have wanted you to let such accidents impede you, prevent you from reaching your goals?"
Axel hung his head. "...No," he quietly admitted. "Needles was the toughest of the tough. He'd be pissed if I let his death get to me like that."
Koga nodded. "I suspected as such when I first saw him," he replied. "Poison Pokémon have always been easy for me to read on sight alone. I was excited when you sent him out, I was expecting a fun, intense battle." Then, Koga bowed his head again. "However... it was I who underestimated my Venomoth's strength," he admitted. "And for that I am sorry. So... shall we continue our fight?"
Axel nodded. "...Yes," he agreed. "For Needles."
"Vul..." Sunny said sadly, gazing at the fallen Nidoking. She had just been getting to really know her teammates, and to see one of them die before her very eyes brought tears to said eyes. Venomoth used Psychic again, this time to gently move Needles's corpse off to the side, so as to allow the fight to continue.
"Remy!" Axel shouted, throwing a Poké Ball. The Hypno looked horrified to see his dead Nidoking teammate lying on the floor, and turned to face Venomoth, a fierce look in his eyes.
"Hyyyypnooooo!" Remy exclaimed ominously.
"Remy! Psychic!" ordered Axel.
"Venomoth, Leech Life!" commanded Koga.
Venomoth swooped down and bit into Remy, but the bloodsucking attack didn't do that much, in spite of the type advantage. Remy responded with a powerful psychic blast that threw Venomoth for a loop but didn't deter it any. On their Trainers' commands, each Pokémon repeated their previous attack, and this time, Remy's Psychic attack knocked Venomoth out.
"Hm," Koga smiled as he withdrew Venomoth. "You have proven your worth, young man," he said, approaching Axel, holding a pink, heart-shaped badge in his hand. "Here- the Soul Badge."
"Thank you," Axel said with a small smile- he had won the Soul Badge, true enough, but at what cost?
"Now that you have the Soul Badge," continued Koga, "the Defense of your Pokémon will increase. It also authorizes you to cross water on Pokémon that know Surf. Ah!" he added, producing a vile purple disc from his pocket. "Take this, too," he said, handing the Technical Machine to Axel. "TM03 contains Toxic- a secret technique over 400 years old!"
The victorious atmosphere was rather soured as Koga helped Axel bury Needles. The Nidoking was buried right next to where Itchy and Ozone were buried, after which Axel got on his Bicycle and started riding. He felt like returning home for the time being.