"Well, that was anticlimactic." Red said as the three Team Rocket Grunts ran away from him in defeat.

"Yeah." Yellow agreed as she walked over to him. "I thought for sure they would at least be a challenge. There Pokémon looked strong, at least. But on the bright side, it looks like Paras is evolving."

Sure enough, the Grass and Bug-type Pokémon glowed bright white and grew slightly larger, the two mushrooms on its back combining into a single large mushroom.

"Neat." Red called both of his Pokémon back into their Pokéballs and turned his attention to the old man the Rocket Grunts had been harassing. "Anyway, are you alright?"

"Yes." The old man responded. "Thank you very much for saving me from those ruffians."

"Wait a minute…" Said Yellow, "They just ran back down the tower, but isn't the ghost still there? In fact, how are we supposed to get back down?"

"Don't worry about that." The old man said as he gestured towards a differently colored tile off to the side of the room. "We had this installed just recently. It's a state of the art teleport tile, straight from Silph Corp."

"Wow!" Red did nothing to hide his surprise. "I've heard of these things but I've never seen one in person."

"Follow me." The old man walked towards the teleport tile. "I have something I want to give you as a thank you gift for saving me."


"Well, this is it." Said as she and Gary stood outside the Lavender Town Gym.

Gary hesitated before entering the light purple colored decrepit old building that looked like it hadn't been used in a very long time. To his surprise, the Gym's interior was lit entirely by candlelight and he could faintly see the form of a short old lady standing in the center, keeping herself propped up with an old, gnarled cane.

"I had a feeling someone would be challenging me today." The old woman said as Gary cautiously approached her. "I am Agatha, the Gym Leader here. And who might you be?"

"I-" Gary's voice cracked as he spoke. "I'm Gary Oak."

"Ah, yes." Agatha muttered to herself. "Oak. I used to train with your grandfather, you know. Sam and I had a rivalry that drove both of us to our limits to try and outdo each other. But that was a very long time ago. Your grandfather decided to pursue a more academic lifestyle, leaving me to train alone. Now, let's see if you have even half of the battle prowess that Sam had at your age."

Agatha tapped her cane against the floor and the shadows around her twisted and turned as a Ghastly rose up from them. Gary grabbed a Pokéball from around his waist and called out his Nidorina. Ghastly's eyes lit up as it used Hypnosis to try and lull Nidorina to sleep, but Nidorina was able to look away just in time and avoid the effects of the move as she rushed forward and used Bite. A dark aura surrounded her jaw as she clamped down her teeth hard on Ghastly's face, which allowed the attack to effect the Ghost-type, who flinched, leaving it open to another Bite.

"If only I could have done this against that ghost." Gary muttered to himself.

Ghastly was able to back away from Nidorina before being hit by a third Bite and attacked with Nightshade. A dark flaming wave of energy radiated from the Gas Pokémon and knocked Nidorina back. Ghastly then sped towards Nidorina to try and use Lick on her, but she was able to prevent it by using another Bite just as it reached her. Ghastly flinched again and Nidorina was able to finish it off with one last Bite.

"Very good." Agatha said as she recalled her Ghastly to its Pokéball. "But just using the same move over and over again isn't a very good strategy in the long run, is it."

She pulled out a black and green Dusk Ball and called out her second Pokémon, a bluish gray ghosy with a string of red pearls around its neck.

"Hey!" Gary called out in anger. "I thought Gym Leaders could only use Pokémon native to the Kanto Region!"

Agatha chuckled back at him. "It is a common mistake to think that Misdreavus cannot be found here, but the truth is that a Ghost can be found anywhere if you know where to look."

"Yeah, whatever."

Misdreavus opened with an Astonish, fading out of view and and reappearing in front of Nidorina with a terrifying face. Nidorina was caught off guard by the attack and was stunned long enough for Misdreavus to follow it up with a Psywave, blasting Nidorina back. Nidorina quickly got back up to its feet and launched a Poison Sting from its mouth. The tiny purple dart struck Misdreavus right int eh center pearl of its necklace inflicted it with poison.

Misdreavus tried to use Astonish again, but this time Nidorina was prepared and used Bite as it appeared in front of her, leaving Misdreavus stunned long enough for another Bite. Misdreavus backed away and started floating in circles around Nidorina.

"That Bite of yours is becoming quite the nuisance." Agatha said. "Let's fix that, shall we? Spite!"

A shockwave flew out from Misdreavus. At first it didn't seem like the shockwave did anything, but then Misdreavus flew back within Nidorina's range and she tried to get it with another Bite, but the dark aura didn't appear and her teeth passed harmlessly though Misdreavus and her jaw clamped together as if there were nothing there.

"What will you do now?" Agatha taunted Gary.

"More Poison Sting, obviously."

Nidorina launched another purple dart from her mouth which stuck Misdreavus exactly where the first one had. The Screech Pokémon was now showing signs of fatique, which Nidorina took as an opportunity for another Poison Sting. As the dart hit Misdreavus' pearl, it began to crack and Misdreavus fell to the floor.

"That was better than I was expecting, but there is no way you will be able to defeat my final Pokémon."

"We'll see about that." Gary remarked.

Agatha recalled Misdreavus and sent out a Haunter. Meanwhile, Gary swapped out his own Nidorian for his Wartortle. Haunter attacked Wartortle with a Sucker Punch, its hand moving through the air independently from its body and striking Wartortle right in the face before he could react. Wartortle shot a furious look at Haunter as the evolved Gas Pokémon's hand returned to it and used Bubble. A stream of water bubbles shot out of Wartortle's mouth and struck Haunter, slowing down its movements. Haunter tried to swoop in closer to hit Wartortle with a Shadow Punch, but just as it was about to get in range, Wartortle jumped up and used Bite.

"You just love that move, don't you." Agatha said bitterly.

AS Wartortle fell back down to the gorund, he retreated into his shell with Withdraw. Haunter hit the shell with Shadow Punch, but was unable to do much. As Wartortle hit the ground, a Water Gun shot out from his shell and hit Haunter, causing it to drop down closer to the ground and leaving it open for Wartortle to jump forward and get it with another Bite. Haunter flinched, leaving it open to another Bite, and the battle was won.

"You did a lot better than I was expecting." Agatha said. "Perhaps there is still hope for the Oak family after all. Take this Spectre Badge. You've earned it after all."

Gary took the badge, which resembled a dark gray Yin-Yang symbol.

"Thanks." He said as he turned to walk away. As he left the Gym with Kat, he turned to his cousin. "Did you know about her and Grandpa?"

"No." Kat answered. "I've never actually met Agatha before and I've never heard Grandpa mention him. It was definitely news to me."

"Huh." Gary shrugged. "I mean, I knew he was a trainer at one point, but I've never really thought about it before. I wonder if he had any other rivals."

"Who knows? Maybe we should ask him when we get the chance."

"No thanks. It's not really all that important."

"Yeah, you may feel that way, but I want to learn more. I'm going to get Grampa to tell me about his time as a trainer whenever we finally get back home."