At dawn's first light, Koga, Ash, Blaine, and Lt. Surge left Professor Oak's lab. Ash's mother had woken up early so she could make them a good breakfast. She also packed a large lunch for all of them and doted on Ash even more than she usually did. Ash was clearly embarrassed, but Koga was more impressed at how much restraint his mother was showing. Koga was a parent too, and if his daughter came home with a bunch of strangers and injuries that she refused to explain, Koga would refuse to let her out of her sight for at least a month. The fact that Ash's mother was letting him leave, trusting three men she barely knew to keep him safe, it was quite admirable of her.

Saffron City was a fair distance from Pallet Town, especially when someone stayed on the paths and travelled from one town to another. However, they weren't planning on going the conventional route. With all the skill and experience between Koga, Blaine, and Lt. Surge, there was no doubt that they'd be able to handle whatever wild pokémon they came across in the forests. They also had some pokémon who were large and fast enough to transport them rather quickly to Saffron City.

The four of them returned all of their pokémon except for Ash's Charizard and Blaine's Arcanine and Rapidash. Koga had thought that the riding arrangements would be that he would be on Rapidash, Blaine would ride with Ash on Arcanine, to better watch the boy, and Lt. Surge, who was the best at getting the occasionally rebellious Charizard to behave himself, would fly.

As they were getting ready to go though, Blaine surprised Koga and announced that Ash should ride his Charizard and get to know him better, while Lt. Surge would ride on Arcanine with him. Koga knew that if Blaine said that his Arcanine was strong enough to carry two grown adults on his back for a few hours, then it likely was completely capable, but Koga didn't know why they were taking the risk. What if Arcanine gave out, or Charizard got in one of his moods and decided to disobey Ash.

When Koga had asked Blaine what he was up to, the scientist had looked pointedly at Lt. Surge. "Just in case," He had said quietly, not letting Lt. Surge hear. "If something were to happen and he were to get...confused, I wouldn't want him to be in the air or riding his own pokémon." Koga's first instinct was to be upset on his friend's behalf. Lt. Surge was one of the toughest men that he knew, he didn't deserve to be treated like a fragile child, but...Lt. Surge still needed help sometimes, and Koga did appreciate that Blaine recognized he could do something to help.

So Koga hadn't said another word on the matter. He'd just got on the Rapidash as they began their journey to Saffron City. They four of them travelled all morning before they finally stopped for a quick lunch. They probably could have stopped for longer, except there was a train leaving Saffron City that night, and they wanted to be sure that they made it, otherwise they would have to wait until tomorrow morning.

Blaine had estimated that at the speed they were going, they would reach Saffron City with nearly two hours to spare, so they did technically have time to have a battle, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Once they reached Saffron City, they could do whatever they wanted until the train left.

After lunch they started up again. Their pace was slightly slower than it had been that morning, as Arcanine was starting to get tired, but they still made decent time. When they got to Saffron City and made the arrangements to be aboard the next train, they still had more than an hour before departure.

Ash wanted to explore Saffron City. Blaine decided to stay at the Magnet Train station. With Mewtwo in the Master ball, Blaine couldn't afford to let it out of his sight or risk it getting stolen. Lt. Surge said that nobody should be on their own, so somebody would stay with Blaine, and someone would go with Ash. Koga was sure that Lt. Surge, who was so protective of Ash, would want to go with the boy, but then Lt. Surge paused and brought a pokéball out of his pocket.

"I've gotta stay here," Lt. Surge said. "This guy's not happy about being in a pokéball. If he decides to come out, the pokéball won't contain it, and I don't think we want a Lugia running around the city."

"Lugia?" Koga's eyes widened as his breath got caught in his throat. "You...you caught that thing?" Even Ash was looking at Lt. Surge in concern now.

"Just until we get off the train in Johto," Lt. Surge said. "Then he's coming right out,"

Koga knew that Lt. Surge still didn't want Lugia anywhere near Ash, even, or maybe especially when Lugia was in a pokéball. However, this did not mean that Lt. Surge should have to be the one to watch over Lugia's pokéball. Of all of them, Koga thought that Lt. Surge should be the last one to handle that job.

Koga stepped towards Lt. Surge and extended his hand towards him. "Please, let me handle the pokéball, you go with Ash,"

Lt. Surge flinched and scowled at the pokéball. "Would you knock that off, I said I'd keep an eye on you, and I will," Lt. Surge tightened his grip on the pokéball before turning to Koga. "Lugia's barely tolerating this situation. There's no way he'll be okay with someone handling his pokéball."

Koga seethed. If Lugia liked Lt. Surge so much, why was it so determined to be at his side, even though it should know that Lt. Surge was anxious around it. Lugia was not only childish and powerful, it was incredibly selfish.

"Don't worry so much," Blaine said. He looked at Koga, sending an unspoken message of 'I'll keep an eye on him'.

Koga wasn't happy, but Lt. Surge seemed to have made up his mind, and he was an incredibly stubborn man. If he said he was going to keep an eye on Lugia, there would be no convincing him otherwise. So against his better judgement, Koga let Ash pull him away.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Ash said as the two of them began to walk down the streets of Saffron City. Lugia wouldn't hurt Lt. Surge," At Koga's harsh look Ash gave him a sheepish grin. "I mean, he wouldn't do it on purpose,"

"We'll just have to agree to disagree about that," Koga muttered. He didn't know Lugia as well as Ash claimed to. Koga was willing to admit that he hadn't seen many signs of malicious behavior from Lugia, but that didn't mean that there weren't any.

The two of them walked around the streets for a bit before they came across a crowd in the square. Ash brightened immediately. "I think there's a pokémon battle going on over there," Ash ran towards the crowd and pushed his way through so he could get to the front and see what was going on for himself.

Koga made his way through the crowd just in time to see the end of what seemed to have been a fairly one-sided battle. A boy who seemed to be about Ash's age was dominating the battle, using just an Eevee. Looking at the pokémon, Koga could tell that this Eevee wasn't just unnaturally powerful, but well trained. However, when Eevee knocked out its opponent, its trainer smirked and began to boast loudly.

"Ha! It'll take more than that to take me on," The winner grinned proudly. His eevee jumped onto his shoulder as the two of them looked out over the crowd. "Does anyone else want to take a shot?" The trainer watched smugly as the previously eager crowd began to shake their heads almost nervously. It seemed this wasn't the only battle this young trainer had won. From what little Koga had seen, it was clear the boy had talent, but it took more than raw skill to be a good trainer. This boy's attitude was out of hand.

The proud boy wasn't discouraged by his lack of challengers. If anything it seemed to stroke his ego even more. "Yeah, I thought so," The boy was about to leave, but he stopped when he laid eyes on Ash. "No way, is that you, Ashy-boy?" Everybody around Ash backed away.

Ash scowled, seething angrily. "Gary, what are you doing here?" Koga frowned at Ash's tone. This Gary boy seemed to really get under his skin. Their interaction had only just begun, and Ash had already begun to lose his temper. It wasn't like him, to have so little control of himself.

"Calm down," Koga muttered as he stepped closer to Ash and put a hand on his shoulder. Ash looked at Koga and took a deep breath.

"Sorry, he just gets to me," Ash said before he looked back to Gary. "Your Eevee's really strong," There was still angry reluctance in Ash's tone as he tried to address Gary more civilly, but at least an attempt was made.

"Yeah it's strong," Gary scratched behind Eevee's ears. He still looked proud, though it was more proud of his pokémon than proud of himself. "All of my pokémon are. You should see them in a real battle,"

Ash flinched and reached for his pokéballs, but stopped himself when Koga gave his shoulder a slight squeeze.

"Don't rise to it," Koga said. "You're better than this." Koga didn't have a problem with Ash wanting to have a friendly battle, but the boy really shouldn't battle in an attempt to prove himself, especially not to this child.

"Yeah, Ashy-boy, don't even bother trying," Gary said smugly. "We both know you'll just end up losing,"

"You don't know how strong I've gotten," Ash growled.

"I know you've been back at Pallet Town for a while," Gary smirked, making Ash freeze. "Gramps told me so. He asked me if I had any idea what had happened since you left. I told him I haven't seen you since we left Pallet Town."

"I've been busy," Ash deflected. "I thought it was weird that Professor Oak didn't really ask me that much. I guess he decided to ask you instead," Koga looked at Gary in slight shock. This arrogant child was the grandson of Professor Oak? Koga couldn't see the resemblance at all.

"What have you been up to anyways?" Gary frowned, looking genuinely curious. It was the first time Koga had seen him show any emotion other than pride. "I haven't seen you around, and nobody I ask has either." Gary looked at Koga. "And who's this guy?"

"I am Koga," He introduced himself.

"He's the gym leader at the Fuchsia City gym." Ash said. Koga nodded to confirm. Gary's look of confusion and slight suspicion became one of slight awe and respect.

"I wondered where the real gym leader was," Gary reached into his pocket and pulled out a case. He opened it to show an impressive number of gym badges. Koga's eyes were brought to the small heart shaped badge. It was definitely from Fuchsia City. "The girl I fought, she was the easiest gym battle I've had. It was almost pathetic,"

Koga's gaze darkened. It was one thing to be pleased with one's accomplishments, and yet another to belittle those that you may have bested. Arrogance was not an appealing trait on anybody. Especially not people who talked badly about either Koga's daughter or his younger sister.

"If it was that simple, then it couldn't have been much of a challenge for you," Koga said darkly. Ash paused and looked at him cautiously. Ash knew him well enough to recognize this type of look from him. Over the years Koga had gotten good at keeping a hold of his emotions and remaining calm, it was something he'd had to learn when he'd started raising Janine. He hadn't wanted his Team Rocket agent persona to scare her, so he'd tucked it away. Sometimes though, it slipped out, like now.

"It wasn't," Gary shrugged like it was no big deal.

"If the gym challenge wasn't challenging for you, do you honestly think you deserve that badge?" Koga grabbed the soul badge from Gary's collection and pulled it out. Gary shouted in protest and reached for it, but Koga held it out of his reach.

"Hey, that's mine!" Gary glared at him.

"No, it's not," Koga said sternly. He held up the soul badge. "This is a symbol of a gym leader's acknowledgement in your skill and strength. Skill, I can see plenty of, but strength, from what I've seen, you're lacking a lot."

"I was given that," Gary reached for it again, but Koga held it away from him.

"And as the gym leader, the true gym leader of Fuchsia City, I'm revoking the recognition you earned from my gym, and thus, taking back the badge." Koga said as he pocketed the badge. The crowd stiffened around them. Ash let out a small gasp.

"Koga?" Ash grabbed Koga's arm, but he ignored him.

"I earned that," Gary almost pleaded. He held out a hand, asking. Seeing a little humility was nice, but it certainly wasn't enough.

"Not in my eyes you haven't," Koga said.

Gary stiffened, a new look of determination coming into his eyes. "Let me battle you then. Let me prove myself to you,"

"A pokémon battle, then," Koga pulled out one of his pokéballs and tossed it, letting out Golbat. It may not be his strongest pokémon, but it was one of his most trustworthy. For what Koga wanted to do, for what he wanted to prove, Golbat was his best choice. "You look like you've been battling for awhile now. Do your pokémon need to be healed?"

"Nah, they're fine," Gary pet Eevee before grabbing a pokéball of his own and letting out a Rhydon. The boy looked so confident, so he probably was well aware that he had the type advantage. The boy wasn't just a skilled battler, he was smart, but that still wasn't enough, in Koga's opinion, and he intended to teach him so.

"Golbat, use haze," Koga said. The actual effect of haze was useless at this point in a battle, but attacks were more than just their literal effects. He filled the air with an icy cold wind, which could slow Rhydon down and possibly distract Gary.

"Counter with sandstorm," Gary said immediately. It wasn't a bad plan, but having a plan wasn't always enough.

"Fly under the cover of the haze and sand." Koga said. Golbat screeched and obeyed his words, disappearing into its surroundings.

Gary clenched his teeth. He couldn't see or hear his opponent, and Gary seemed to be too impatient and desperate to win to properly come up with a solution. "Get in there and chase golbat out!"

Koga kept his face neutral, but internally he was smirking. Gary had just sealed his fate. You really shouldn't run into an unknown situation where your opponent had the advantage. Rhydon couldn't see a thing, but Golbat still had its supersonic to help it navigate.

Neither Koga nor Gary could see their pokémon, so they couldn't give proper commands, but the battle continued anyways. They could hear Rhydon roaring and growling, but not a sound came from Golbat. Gary seemed to take this as a good sign, but Koga knew that the boy would be disappointed. When your sight is blocked, you must rely on your other senses, such as hearing. Rhydon's roars of frustration were just making it more vulnerable of a target.

After a few moments, Rhydon's roar changed from one of frustration to one of pain. Koga grinned triumphantly. Gary didn't know it, but the battle was over. "Golbat, blow the haze and sand away," Koga said simply. Gary looked at him in confusion.

"If you could do that this whole time, why are they fighting like this?" Gary asked irritably. Koga smirked.

"Because you commanded your pokémon to battle in the haze," Koga said simply. Golbat used his wings to use a variant of razor wind to clear the field. They were able to see Golbat, completely unharmed, and Rhydon on the ground. Rhydon wasn't knocked out, and it was struggling really hard to get back to its feet, but they all knew that it was no good. The battle was over.

Koga held out his arm and Golbat flew back to his side. Gary glared at Koga before running to Rhydon's side and looking his pokémon over.

"What happened?" Gary asked. Rhydon growled weakly before collapsing. Koga could see Gary's hands shaking as he returned his pokémon.

"Leech life," Koga said. "You led your Rhydon into a battle that it couldn't win. Rhydon couldn't find my pokémon, but it was all too easy for Golbat to get close to Rhydon and attack." The crowd around them began muttering to themselves. There were a couple of snickers and mocking comments aimed towards Gary, but Koga paid them no mind. He hadn't defeated Gary to humiliate him, but to humble him. He was a skilled trainer, but Gary needed to learn that he wasn't the strongest, and the only way to do that was by making him suffer a one-sided loss.

Gary was seething quietly as he glared out towards the crowd, his eyes moving quickly from one person to another as he heard new comments. Koga walked up to Gary and put a hand on his shoulder. He waited until Gary looked up at him.

"You have passion and power," Koga said quietly. This was just for Gary's ears, not their audience. "I can easily see you becoming a great trainer, someday,"

"Yeah, right," Gary muttered under his breath.

"You still have a lot to learn," Koga said. "But that does not make you weak. It means you have the potential to become even stronger."

"How?" Gary asked. "How do I get strong enough for you to acknowledge I'm a good enough trainer to deserve the soul badge?"

Koga didn't think this boy should be so determined just to impress him, but if this was what it took to motivate the boy to improve himself as well as his pokémon, then Koga would allow it, for now.

"You need to recognize your limitations, and then figure out how to overcome them," Koga said. "The limitations of your pokémon, and your own."

Gary was quiet for a moment as he glanced towards Ash, who was watching them almost cautiously. Gary grimaced and turned back to Koga. "Have you been teaching that to Ash?"

"I've been teaching him how to recognize what his pokémon are capable of," Koga said. Ash loved his pokémon, but he didn't completely understand how strong they could be. Koga thought that Gary knew exactly how strong his pokémon were, but he refused to see their flaws, or his own.

"Can you teach me?" Gary asked earnestly, almost desperately. Koga usually enjoyed teaching youth and other people he saw strong potential in, but right now may not be the best time.

"Me and my friends are leaving Kanto tonight," Koga said. "They have work to do in Johto, and I have personal training to do."

"When you get to Johto, will your training begin right away?" Gary asked. Koga eyed him curiously. This boy was determined, he'll give him that.

"Not necessarily," Koga said slowly.

"Teach me," Gary said. "Let me come with you guys to Johto and train under you until you start your own training,"

"What? Gary, you can't come!" Ash said loudly. Koga held up his free hand to quiet the boy.

"That's not just your decision, Ash," Koga said. He looked at Gary, who stared at him with fierce determination. This boy was strong, not just in raw power, and it would be a shame for that to go to waste because he wasn't properly taught. "We're traveling with two other people. If they both agree to it, you can come,"

Gary's eyes brightened in an excitement that could almost have rivaled the look that Ash commonly got. Before Gary could get his hopes up too much, Koga continued. "If you join us, there are a few guidelines that you'll have to follow, no argument." Koga looked towards Ash, because at least this first one applied to him as well. "I will not tolerate fighting between the two of you. If you come, the two of you will put your differences aside."

The two boys glared at each other in almost a challenging way before they nodded in agreement. There was still tension between the two of them, but it would have to do for now. "Second, Ash and our companions have an important task to do. If they tell you what it is, that's their decision, but if they don't, you will respect that and stay out of their business, regardless of how curious you may be,"

"I can do that," Gary said.

"Finally," Koga lowered his voice even more, so Gary had to lean in to hear him. "We're traveling with some uncommon and powerful pokémon, and you will stay away from them. You will respect their privacy, and not tell anybody else about them."

Gary looked curious and intrigued, but he didn't hesitate to agree. "I'll mind my own business. I'm just there for my own training."

Koga nodded. "If you keep your word and follow these terms, I will be happy to teach you, at least for a time," Koga said. He looked up in the sky. It was still early evening, but it would get late quite quickly. "We should return to the train station soon, if we want to bring this up with Lt. Surge and Blaine," As well as have enough time to get a ticket for Gary, should the others agree, and Koga suspected they would.

"Come," Koga led the boys past the crowd, who parted to make way for them. "We don't want to be late,"


A/N: It wasn't until I got to the end of the last story did I realize that one of my favorite characters in the manga has an anime counterpart who is another favorite character of mine. Blue/Gary. Two characters that are incredibly different and incredibly similar, and I just really wanted to have him be in the story, so here he is, Gary Oak with elements of Blue thrown in.

And if I have Gary, and I have Koga, you know I gotta have the two of them have some kind of interaction with each other, because Koga and Blue's whole thing in the Yellow chapters of the pokémon adventures manga is one of my favorite parts of the whole series.

Next chapter, we'll get back to the plot itself. I just really wanted to establish Gary as a character for this story.