When Green had returned to Kanto after several years of traveling about, he didn't know what would happen.
Standing outside of his old home, Pidgeot next to him, Green had hesitated to knock. Before he could muster up his courage and do so, the door opened and Daisy stood there, shock written all over her face.
Green had smiled. "Hey, sis," he'd said.
Daisy stared for a few more seconds, then lunged forward and hugged him. Hard. Green gasped as his breath was punched out of him - even with how strong he'd become, his sister was still stronger.
"I've missed you," she'd said, half laughing half crying. "Don't ever do that again, Green."
Green could only nod. He hadn't really expected many people to miss him, what with how much of an arrogant prick he'd been.
"Come in," she'd said. "I've got some tea brewing."
And that's how he'd ended up sitting on their old couch, holding a mug of steaming hot tea, and listening as Daisy talked about how much had changed.
"Red is the champion - of course, you already know that," she'd said. "Giovanni left and there's some new guy as the eighth gym leader. The League is looking for a new gym leader, though."
She'd looked him up and down, then nodded. "You could apply, Green. You're definitely good enough."
"Me?" Green had said. "No way, sis! There's no way the Elite Four - hell, there's no way Red - would let me become a gym leader. I was a jerk, remember?"
Daisy nodded. "You were," she'd said. "But I can see you've changed. Go on, apply. There's no harm in doing so."
Originally, Green had disagreed. But his grandfather had told him to do it and Red's mom had told him to do it and Daisy just kept nagging him about it. Eventually, Green cracked and submitted an application.
Truth be told, he wasn't expecting anything. Sure, he was probably one of the best from a battling point of view, but his reputation as a kind and reasonable human being? Not so much.
Then one day, Daisy had barged into his room waving a slip of paper.
"Gah - watch it, sis!" he'd yelled, falling off of his bed. "Don't do that!"
Daisy laughed. "Sorry, Green," she'd said insincerely. "But - look."
Green looked at her sceptically and took the piece of paper from her hand.
The first thing he noticed was the word Congratulations in bold font. The second thing he noticed was on your successful application to be the Viridian City gym leader.
Holy s***
He won't admit that he screamed but, looking back, he probably did.
I'm the gym leader. I'm the new Viridian City gym leader.
"Congratulations, Green!" Daisy had said, a huge smile on her face. "You're the new eighth gym leader!"
That night had changed everything. Well, not everything. A whole lot.
The letter Daisy had given him had included an acceptance form, including all the duties he was expected to conduct. Green skimmed through the form quickly.
Create a gym puzzle and maintain it-okay.
Find gym trainers-alright.
Distribute badges to any trainers who successfully make it past your puzzle and defeat you-duh.
The one thing that worried Green was how he would make a puzzle and find new trainers. Sure, he could just keep the old puzzle. But that was Giovanni's gym. Not Green's gym. And he was definitely going to get new trainers. From what Green had heard, the eighth gym leader had just been a substitute guy who was never meant to be a long-term leader and the trainers there? Well, Green didn't have very high hopes.
The next day, Green had flown to Viridian City and entered the gym. The puzzle, Green noticed, was mostly unchanged, just a few extra sliding tiles and that was all. Green showed the Gym Guide his letter and the old man's eyes widened slightly.
"You're the new gym leader?" the man had said. "Hm. You look rather young… how old are you?"
"Doesn't matter," Green had said. "Where's the gym leader?"
"Right this way," the old man said. "You seem like a sharp young lad. You'll be good for this gym."
"Thank you," Green says politely. He feels a hint of pride upon hearing the old man's words.
You'll be good for this gym.
He will, Green tells himself. If he can't be the best trainer ever, he'll be the best gym leader ever. Green can do that, at least.
The gym leader, upon seeing Green, sighed. "I guess you're the new guy," he'd said. "You look very young. How old are you?"
"None of your business," Green said.
"You look about fifteen, sixteen, maybe. Are you sure you want to run this place? Did the old dragon guy - Leo, Landan - force you?"
No, Lance (not Leo or Landan and certainly not old) hadn't forced him. Yes, he did want to run this place.
"Alright," the (now former) gym leader had sighed. "Have fun, I guess. Good luck."
And that was that.
First order of business - gym trainers. Green interviewed each one of the current gym trainers there. Two of them - Arabella and Bonita - he decided to keep. The rest weren't good enough for his standards and were let off.
Green then distributed an invitation to apply for Viridian Gym trainer. He got several applications but two stood out - an Ace Trainer named Salma who apparently had been a trainer in Whitney's gym and surprisingly, an application from a so-called Double Team. They were named Elan and Ida and they came from Hoenn.
Green called them over for an interview and after battling them, decided they were good enough and hired all three.
Next order of business-gym puzzle. Green spent several nights creating an actual puzzle - and then a week working through the logistics of maintaining it. He then submitted his work to Lance, who approved it.
Trainers-done.
Puzzle-done.
Now to actually make his gym.
Green let out his newly evolved Sylveon and his Rhyperior and had them take down the maze. The ripped-out walls were sent to a recycling company, the tiles and elevated platforms he decided to keep in. He had a plan to incorporate the tiles into his puzzle and the platforms, well, they were standard for gyms.
Using the money from the recycling company(apparently recycling walls is a lucrative business), Green bought sliding tiles from AliBaba and with the help of his newfound trainers, installed them. It took approximately forever, the help of Salma's Spinda and Elan's Porygon2, and one phone call to the AliBaba company because how the hell does this thing work, where do these wires go please send help but after weeks of work, it was done.
Standing before his new gym puzzle, Arabella, Bonita, Salma, Elan, and Ida at his side, Green smiles.
"Anyone want to give it a try?" he asks, looking at all his trainers. "How about… you, Salma. Test it out."
"Okay, si-Green," she says hesitantly. Walking forwards, Salma steps onto the leftmost red tile and starts spinning. She spins left, up right, down, right again, and comes to a stop.
"It works?" Green asks. Obviously it does, but he just wants to make sure. You never know.
Salma beams. "It works," she confirms.
Silence for a moment.
And then Arabella, Bonita, Salma, Elan, and Ida cheer, laughing and smiling and slapping each other on the back and Green's laughing as well, overwhelmed. He's got his own gym, his own team of trainers, and, of course, his pokemon. For the first time in life, he feels complete.
At first, newcomers are sceptical about the new gym. Giovanni is still fresh in their minds, after all. But Green is nothing if not persistent. Gradually, the Viridian Gym changes from being a place of ruin and dishonor to being one of the finest gyms in Kanto.
Green battles and trains. His pokemon become stronger than ever before. After years of feeling lost, of feeling inferior, he's happy. Viridian City is his home now and Green won't let anyone take it away.