Bulbasaur wasn't having a good day.
First she had to wake up at 7 in the morning. IN THE MORNING! It was just enough to get her to sleep like her usual. All this because Oak wanted to make sure she was in perfect condition before the big day. 'I'm always in perfect condition.' She thought, mocking the idea of needing such controls.
So she had to wait. And wait. And wait. This was while Oak set about checking out that simpleton Charmander, that nuisance Squirtle and the creepy and spooky newcomer. The idea that one of them could be on her level was offensive to say the least. Sure, Charmander could defeat her with Ember, but that was type advantage, not true skill. Squirtle and Gastly couldn't even get close to her during the training sessions they had the week before they were delivered.
And now her new trainer. Or rather, the ugly imitation of a trainer. She looked at her. The tomboy girl had no style or charm. 'I thought my trainer would be elegant, someone who deserved a great starter like me, not ... this one.'
No, Bulbasaur certainly wasn't having a good day. She charged at the Rattata who had dared to challenge her. The girl said something, but she was ignored. 'I know how to fight, I've always been the best. I don't need a girl just out of school to teach me how to win.' She thought and then hit with Tackle, followed by a Whip. The Rattata fell defeated. Bulbasaur smiled and July walked over. Bulbasaur turned, expecting her deserved praise for her glorious victory, but the tomboy lowered herself. She made sure Rattata was okay! The Rattata! Was she ignoring the victorious Bulbasaur for a big defeated rat? 'I can not stand it!' Bulbasaur thought in frustration.
She definitely she wasn't having a good day.
-x-
'Best day ever!' Charmander thought, smiling without anyone noticing. He had just met his trainer, and he was fantastic. He had faced Rattata and Pidgey, and his trainer gave the right instructions on a couple of occasions when he'd otherwise be hit, or attacked at the wrong time and missed.
Fantastic indeed, maybe he was lucky. He was sure that Squirtle hadn't taken the defeat of his first fight well, and Bulbasaur... She probably wasn't doing well, as her temper had suggested the week before.
'I wonder how Gastly is doing.' He wondered as a Pidgey leapt in front of him in search of a challenge. The Ghost Pokémon was fun, at least for Charmander. A little too heavy with jokes at times, but nothing dangerous, and in any case he was the funniest of the bunch.
'I hope he's doing well.'
-x-
Gastly studied his trainer. First of all he wasn't afraid of him. It was new. Usually people instinctively took a step back when seeing a ghost, or ignored it, but Raziel tried to stroke it. And he looked sad when his hand passed through his gaseous body. Gastly did his best to look happy, even though he didn't really feel anything. So when Raziel tried again he pulled out his tongue and then laughed when his hand went limp. To his surprise, Raziel laughed too before grabbing the Antiparalysis kindly granted to him by Oak. 'Yes, I can train with him.'
The main problem was how to train. For some reason even the human professors couldn't explain it, but his paralyzing tongue had no effect on the so-called "Normal types," which meant he had no way of attacking them. Of course, that was also true for them, but the problem persisted, as that part of the region was filled with only Normal-type Pokémon, such as Pidgey, Rattata, and sometimes a few Spearow. It was their encounter with a Caterpie that gave his trainer an idea.
Raziel decided that the best choice was to cross Route 1 and head to Route 2 and the Viridian Forest, where he could train against the insects that infested the area.
And so they headed for Viridian City, which was a few hours away from there.
-x-
Blue entered the gym looking around and passed a boy of his age with straight brown hair intent on turning off some switches, perhaps the ones that kept the mechanisms active. As soon as he noticed Blue he looked pissed off.
"Are you closing?" Blue asked.
"Yup. The Gym Leader has work commitments for the next few weeks. " He said that while continuing to turn off the switches.
Commitments for the next few weeks? Was the gym going to be closed for weeks? This could cause an abrupt slowdown on Blue's climb "It's not possible to challenge."
"I do not think so." He continued that.
"Shouldn't ... you ask to the Gym Leader?" He asked, and the boy looked even more annoyed, at which point he took what appeared to be a walkie talkie from his pocket.
"Boss, there is a challenger here, he asks if a challenge is possible before closing." He waited for the answer, the boy took a few steps away, enough so that Blue could not clearly hear the Gym Leader "Wait a minute ..." he said and then turned to Blue "Badges and years of experience." He asked.
"No badge, I became a trainer today." He said fearlessly.
"No badge, he's a newbie trainer." He replied to the walkie talkie "Okay ... I turned off the traps, what do I do, turn them on again?" He asked. Then he waited for the answer "Okay." And he closed "You were damn lucky. The Gym Leader has decided to accept your challenge and spare you the maze. " He explained.
Blue nodded and walked down the empty corridors. In the end, running so hard to reach Viridian City had worked out in his favor. On the street he had also trained Pidgey and Squirtle, he was sure he could do it, on the other hand his grandfather had taught him everything, he couldn't fail.
Eventually Blue reached the arena. In addition to some people, who probably worked there in various assignments, he noticed a room beyond the arena. The Gym Leader was sitting in a chair with a cell phone in his hand while talking to someone. Only the lights from the screens of the computers beside him illuminated the area. It wasn't enough to make him visible, but his silhouette was clear.
"Oh, there you are. No badges you said, right? " He asked hastily, while he reached over to the other side of what looked like a desk and grabbed a couple of Balls. Blue noticed his voice coming from the speakers. The Viridian Gym Leader was more known for keeping his identity hidden than anything else. On the other hand the Gym Leaders became like celebrities, keeping their identity anonymous to the public was allowed by the League so that they could maintain a normal private life. Something otherwise very difficult for people like them. Still only a few bothered, which made this one a peculiar man surrounded by countless rumors.
"Yup." Blue answered with a firm tone.
"Very well." He said quickly and then resumed talking on the cell phone that held it between his shoulder and head, while with one hand he sent out his first Pokémon while using the other to tie the second Poké Ball to his belt.
The female Nidoran entered the field with a yawn and a tired expression. Much to Blue's annoyance, she didn't seem to care much for the fight she was facing, like the Pokémon was already sure of her own victory.
He sent out Pidgey. The Flying-type seemed somewhat out of his depth, and Blue could understand why, considering they had only trained enough for him to be suitably strong for the match and didn't have yet much of a strategy ready.
Then again, he had discovered that the Gym Leader was leaving, so it was either today or never again, he supposed.
"Are you ready?" the man asked, half paying attention to the match and half to the phone in his hand, "Forgive my manners, but as I explained the gym will close for a few weeks. Should be open again in three weeks or so, so people don't lose their chance, but you got lucky."
"I guess…" He nodded, and the Gym Leader after sending out another message gave an order for a Growl. The Pokémon did so in a lazy way, almost yawning, and Pidgey ignored it, keeping the distance and launching a Gust toward the Poison-type.
"Right, young Pidgey, what a bother. Attack Nidoran, usual thing." The Gym Leader said, while motioning to one of the people working at the Gym to take a box away.
"Could you… Focus on the match?" Blue asked, a bit of annoyance starting to boil. The Gym Leader clearly didn't care at all, and even the tactic him and Pidgey had roughly developed, pulling a Sand Attack whenever the opponent got close and then using Gust from a distance, was doing wonders against the bored Scratches and Tackles of the Nidoran.
In the end, Pidgey won the match as expected, though Nidoran had clearly not done her best, if she even had a best to offer. Blue scowled and looked at the man, who took several second before noticing the fight had ended.
He glanced at Pidgey next, noticing that despite his opponent's apparent disinterest, he had still received a few powerful blow. Not unexpected, Pidgey was likely weaker than the Pokémon he had fought, racking his brain as he considered
'Still, that's one down. If there are only two, now should be the time of his final Pokémon. A stronger Pokémon similar to Nidoran… Well, Janine is the Poison-type Gym Leader, so it must be a second type, which is Ground. So assuming he is a specialist and hasn't stolen Brock's main Pokémon, it should be a male Nidoran, a Diglett, a Geodude…'
The Gym Leader opened a Ball, and a large, rocky Pokémon emerged. The single horn on its snout was small, but behind it was an imposing body of stone. The Rhyhorn roared his challenge.
'Or that, I guess.' "Overkill much?" He asked out loud.
"Mh? Oh, he isn't that strong." The man waved his hand, before going back on the phone, "Yes, I have already submitted all the documents for the – start the fight – temporary closing, please make doubly sure they are all signed. Look, I explained already…"
Blue bit his lip. This was the kind of respect he was getting from a Gym Leader? Alright, he technically was a nobody, but come on, this was ridiculous!
He called back Pidgey, knowing the Pokémon had no reason to stay in the fight, and sent out Squirtle.
-x-
Squirtle entered the field, grinning. "Alright, who do I have to fight?" He asked in an amused tone as he turned to blink at his trainer. Who was next? A Rattata? A Pidgey?
"That would be me." A deep voice said from behind him. Squirtle turned and looked right in the eyes of a large Pokémon covered by what looked like natural armor. A Rhyhorn, that glared at him, "Ready, little guy?"
Squirtle gulped, and then the Rhyhorn charged. The Horn Attack hit Squirtle square in the chest, but that had been his plan anyway. He wasn't fast enough to dodge at such a close range, and the Rhyhorn on the flip side wasn't strong enough to finish him in one blow. Not to boast, but his shell was quite solid.
"Alright Squirtle, it's time to use your main move!" Blue shouted, and he nodded, opening his mouth and unleashing a rain of Bubbles. Rhyhorn groaned in pain as the exploding spheres of water and air impacted his side, sending him skidding back. Now with some distance between them, Squirtle was feeling confident again.
"Think you can beat me, little turtle?" The Rhyhorn asked.
Squirtle shrugged, "Can't know until I try." He replied, and Rhyhorn's eyes flashed red as he charged once again. "Oh god he knows Rage…" Squirtle gulped and jumped to the side, his Bubble hitting Rhyhorn in the side, though merely grazing him since he passed by fast enough to avoid the bulk of the blow. Planting his feet, the large rock Pokémon turned around, and then charged forward again.
"Use his charge against him!" Blue shouted, "Aim at the ground next time!"
Squirtle took a long moment to ponder why his trainer thought he was smart, or if he just thought his order was completely understandable. He was a bipedal turtle that spit bubbles, just aim him in the general direction dammit! He dodged the next charge, launching more Bubbles that this time however wildly missed the mark, and then made sure there was a large distance between them. "Olé." He said with a grin.
"That's for Tauros fighting." The Rhyhorn replied as he turned around, not stopping but making a u-turn – not the move – charging at high speed.
Finally, a lightbulb went on in Squirtle's head. That was it. As the rock-type charged once more, he aimed Bubble at the ground in front of him, and the Pokémon stepped right over the mix of water and natural gel that formed the explosive spheres. And he did so at quite the speed.
The ultimate result was that he completely lost his footing, finding himself completely out of control as he stumbled forward at high speed, Squirtle moving aside and letting him impact the wall of the arena. "Olé." The Water-type repeated.
"You think that was enough?!" The Rhyhorn angrily shouted, comment a bit slurred.
"No, but this is." Squirtle replied, launching more bubbles.
It was enough. "
-x-
Blue snorted with a pleased tone recalling his Pokémon, but the Gym Leader did not seem to have realized the end of the fight, so Blue coughed loudly. The man took a quick look at the arena and then at the board that indicated the status of the Pokémon in battle.
"Oh, congratulations." He said gesturing to one of the men, who placed some Poké Balls on some nearby boxes, and then approached Blue giving him the Earth Badge and a TM.
"Fissure?" Blue noticed, remembering the various complaints when Silph released it. He expected the Gym Leader to say more, but he was totally taken by ... whatever he was doing, so Blue left annoyed, even ignoring the guy he met at the entrance.
'Well ... I still got my first Badge on my first day.' He mused, setting off for the Viridian Forest 'If I can get into the next League challenge, in a month's time, I'll definitely beat those losers and the one with the Ghost. But to do it I have to be fast.' He knew it usually took about two months to defeat all the Gyms for the most skilled challengers, but he would only do it in one. 'Then everyone will see who is the best. I will prove it.'
-x-
Once the boy left, the Gym Leader moved the phone away from his interlocutor, and took the walkie talkie "Jak." He simply said.
"Yes boss." He answered the boy on the other side.
"Did you take care of the guard duty?" He asked worriedly.
There was a couple of seconds of silence. "Yes, the shifts have been divided and transmitted to those in charge, including those in charge of replacing their roles if needs arise. Can I ask why we are being so attentive this time around" He asked.
The man was silent for a while; "No boy. It's just ... a precaution. " He finally said, closing the conversation.
-x-
Arriving in town, Gastly noticed that it was much larger than Pallet Town or Lavender Town, the only two human cities he had ever been to. He felt a little intimidated by all those people. After all, it was harder to scare a large group of people than just one. Raziel seemed to notice his discomfort and called him back to the Poké Ball. 'Definitely a good trainer.' He thought.
-x-
After little over a couple hours, I arrived in Viridian City, following the Route indicated on the Dex map. There wasn't much in town to tell the truth, the usual Pokémon Center and Market, but Lavender Town also had both. I knew that the main reason for the city's fame was its Gym and the fact that it was the closest to the Indigo Plateau, home to the Elite Four and the Champion. The monthly League tournament was a major source of entertainment in the region, so the neighboring town was almost always full of tourists, so much so that the Pokémon Center rooms were reserved only for licensed trainers, unlike others in the region, anyone who had at least one Pokémon could stay there, which made hotels thrive.
I went straight to the gym... and I realized it was closed. Odd given the hour. Unable to do anything else, I decided to take a look at the structure.
The building itself was a large arena for what I was able to see from the outside. I knew the Gym Leader specialized on the Ground type, but beyond that I didn't know anything else, so I shrugged. I knew next to nothing about the Western Kanto Gym Leader, having been born and raised in Lavender Town. At the Academy, History of the Regional Leagues of Kanto and Johto was a subject I didn't choose, so I could only try to guess it on my own. Surprisingly, a quick phone search yielded no results - the Viridian Gym Leader was said to be an experienced trainer, but there was no fight uploaded online and no discussion of him on any site.
I went to the door and knocked. No one answered. I took a look at the sign next to the entrance. "Viridian Gym currently closed". No clue about its reopening, nor about the identity of the Gym Leader.
'But ... when did it close?' I thought.
"Hi boy." Said a voice behind me. I jumped, caught by surprise. I turned to find myself in front of a perplexed elderly man, perhaps in his sixties or seventies. "I'm sorry for the scare young man. A new trainer?"
I nodded "Yes, I was just trying to see if there was a chance to get my first badge."
"Ah well, that's unfortunate.. The Gym Leader left today work-related reasons"
I was perplexed "Don't they usually appoint temporary Gym Leaders or something like that for these cases?"
The man shook his head "Not always. It is allowed, but it is not a must. If a Gym Leader does not find anyone they deem worthy of replacing him, in case of absence they simply close for a limited time. But… our Gym Leader is known to be a reserved man, I guess he hasn't appointed a replacement for fear that they will leak something about his private life if someone else has access to his private data."
'So the Gym Leader is a male, still an information.' I thought. "Always the same bad luck… Well, that means I'm going to Pewter City, and I'll figure out what to do from there. Thank you sir."
"No problem boy, really." The old man said, as we took opposite directions from the gym.
-x-
In the Viridian City Pokémon Center, July looked out at the moon. She calmed herself by looking at it. When she was a child she thought she would fly there one day, until... that happened. She shook her head and glanced at Bulbasaur, her biggest concern at the time, who was currently sleeping at a safe distance from her. Because she wouldn't listen. To tell the truth, it seemed that she was carrying out the opposite order to that given to her only out of spite, even if she did not make sense. She used Whip rather than Tackle against Flying-types, such as Pidgeys. Sometimes she even got hit on purpose if it meant disobeying a command from July. 'My usual luck, a stubborn Starter.' She knew there was a simple solution. Free her, catch another Pokémon, and start over. That was the cowardly solution, and she refused to consider it. Releasing a Pokémon was supposed to be an extreme act, not something done just because her Starter was simply throwing a tantrum.
'Well, tomorrow is another day.' She thought, before noticing the two trainers who had just entered. Andrew and Raziel were arguing about something quite animatedly. They noticed her too and walked over, sitting at the same table.
"Hello July, how are you?" Asked Andrew.
July glanced at Bulbasaur "Good enough." She finally said. A pretty big lie, but she wasn't going to say how bad these two were. At least not until she thought the situation was unmanageable.
"Good to know!" Andrew said cheerfully, making her die a little inside.
July decided to change the subject "So, what were you arguing about so heatedly?" She asked Raziel.
"He was saying that Dragon and Fire are the coolest types, and I was insisting that the Ghost is better than both of them."
"There is, like, only one Ghost in all of Kanto." Andrew said taking a bottle of water from her backpack.
"And a Dragon." Raziel answered. She noticed that the Gastly who was following him before they entered the Pokémon Center had disappeared. Strange, perhaps he had stayed outside to avoid the room light.
"Yes, but the Dragon is cool." Andrew answered.
"It's literally a fat lizard!"
"Harsh words spoken by the one who trains a gas ball." That said, Andrew started drinking ... then spat out the water, hitting July full in the face.
She just stared at him, boiling inside. If it had also happened outside, the water would probably have evaporated on contact.
"I'm sorry it's got a weird tast ... tt ... te ..." And then his tongue went limp. The Ghost Pokémon emerged at that moment from under the table crossing it, and laughing out loud, if only it had it.
July noticed Raziel looking at him, then Andrew trying to speak with his paralyzed tongue, and then he burst out laughing. After a second, July couldn't help hermself.
"Whatch... arch yhou twuh... lahugh... ingh... atch?" Andrew asked.
Raziel held his breath, then grinned, "He… licked your water across the table. I think his tongue goes through plastic and wood. You just drank a mix of water and numbing agents. I bet your Dragons wouldn't be able to do that. "
July was simply laughing at the scene. Andrew tried to put his tongue back in his mouth, looking like some kind of human Lickitung, Gastly laughed and laughed, ignoring the looks of the brown-haired boy. Raziel obviously intervened by sprinkling Antiparalysis on Andrew. The young man immediately put his tongue back in his mouth.
"Okay, I get it, Ghosts are cool too." He said coughing to remove the flavor of the Antiparalysis from his mouth and keeping his gaze on Gastly while he took another bottle of water. "And for the record, it didn't taste that weird. Sorry if I spat on you July. "
July looked at her clothes, but the water had already evaporated, it would not have ruined them. "No problem, it was ... fun, Androtung." She said.
"Oh please, that's the best joke you could come up with?" Andrew said, grinning "Guess you really Struggled to come up with it."
July made a noise, but at least stopped thinking about her problems.