Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Pokémon or any of its parent companies. I am merely a humble storyteller. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this journey with me.
Note: I am English, so some of the wording, spellings, and expressions will be those commonly used in England.
Chapter Fifty-Nine: Overcoming the Toxic Terror!
Invisible walls. Invisible walls! Who would have ever thought of such a thing? Oh, that's right: Koga!
Why could Red not have simply entered the Gym and proceed to have a battle with the Leader? Why did he have to manoeuvre through an invisible maze when he could already see Koga from the entrance? And what was with all the Gym Trainers popping out of nowhere, scaring the living heck out of him? What about the number of times he walked face first into a wall? It was a miracle his nose was not broken. Still, it was not as bad as the Vermilion Gym.
Nevertheless, at long last, he found himself standing before Koga, the Gym Leader standing still, radiating an air of serenity.
"I am pleased you are finally here, Red," Koga said. "I have been looking forward to this for a while, after your battle with Surge to be exact. And your battle with Janine only served to heighten my anticipation."
"My battle skills impressed you?" Red asked.
"Battles are more than just Pokémon hitting each other with attacks."
"Er… okay," Red said, scratching the back of his head as he tried to make heads or tails of where Koga was going. "Anyway, I'm ready to win my fifth Badge. Bring it on!"
"Very well," Koga said, and a ninja appeared from the shadows, even though there was not a shadow to be seen from whence he might have emerged from. "Renn here will act as referee."
The competitors took to their stations, and as they were about to call forth their first Pokémon, a cloaked figure appeared next to the referee, face hidden by their hood.
"Er… who's that?" Red asked.
"This is someone who would very much like to witness this battle," Koga replied. "You do not mind, I hope?"
"Doesn't bother me," Red said, shrugging. "This battle's just between you, me, and our Pokémon anyway, right?"
The corners of Koga's lips turned upwards. "Exactly."
Lo was Red's first battler, its black sphere within its hexagonal nut head swirling around as it tried to get to grips with the fact it was having a true competitive battle for the first time.
"You've got this, Lo," Red said, giving it a thumbs up.
"What a curious little thing," Koga said under his breath, calling out his choice, a purple moth-like Pokémon with a crest on its head, bulbous eyes, and wings decorated with intricate venations.
Venomoth, a dual Bug and Poison-type Pokémon, and the evolved form of Venonat. The powdery scales on its wings are hard to remove. They also contain poison that leaks out on contact.
"Battle begin!"
"Venomoth," Koga said. "Toxic."
From its mandible, Venomoth spat out a vicious, viscous liquid that was blood-red mixed with oil-black. It splatted on Lo, hissing as it dripped off and sizzled on the floor. Fortunately, Lo merely seemed nonplussed, as though saying 'What was that meant to do?'.
"Ah, I see," Koga said, barely regarding Venomoth taking a heavy hit from a Flash Cannon. "This strange thing is a Steel-type. It does seem obvious, but with all the Pokémon in the world, one cannot be too certain." His eyes flashed in the Gym overhead lights. "You've studied the Poison-type well, Red, but I have ways of getting over the Steel-type."
Red gulped yet stood strong, as did Lo, heartened after landing a successful Flash Cannon.
"Venomoth!" Koga called out to the giant insect. "Silver Wind!"
Venomoth flapped its wings hard, creating a gust of wind. But not just any gust of wind, oh no: the zephyr it bore was sparkly, as though it was a breeze that picked up tonnes of silver glitter. It ravaged Lo.
But what did it matter? Silver Wind was a Bug-type move. Steel-types like Lo could take not very effective hits all day.
Well, not in this case it seemed. The Silver Wind bombarded the tiny liquid metal creature and blew it across the battlefield, leaving it splattered on the floor.
"Ah, Lo!" Red shrieked. "What the heck?"
What the heck indeed, and there was no time to catch their breath as a Psybeam followed, extracting a squeal of pain from Lo.
"No way, no way, no way!" Red shouted. "Silver Wind and Psybeam shouldn't being doing that much damage to a Steel-type! Pokédex, explain, quickly!"
Came the reply: "Venomoth has two known Abilities: Shield Dust and Tinted Lens. Shield Dust prevents the added effects of moves, while Tinted Lens increases the power of not very effective moves."
Red puffed out his cheeks and shouted to Koga, "Now I see why you're as good as they say. No wonder Lo didn't worry you."
Koga simply smirked and ordered another Psybeam, which was met with Flash Cannon.
The two combatants exchanged attack after attack, scoring direct damage on each other. But something had to give soon, something needed to happen to give one the advantage. What about a status technique? Thunder Wave would work amazingly, wouldn't it? If they could get if off, then –
"Supersonic, Venomoth."
Oh. Oh no.
A disconcerting, strident noise filled the Gym, making Red's teeth itch and his head hurt and even Pikachu winced as he tried to block his ears. However, Lo had it worse, being Venomoth's target. The Supersonic rattled around in its brain and suddenly Lo's world became distorted, all noise sounded different to it, and it could barely remember what it was doing.
"Darn it," Red said through gritted teeth. "Come on, Lo. Use Headbutt."
Luckily, Lo did use Headbutt. Unluckily, it used it on the floor, hurting itself.
Red called out for more attacks, the only one getting through to Lo being Acid Armour, a random swing of the bat, and in response all Lo got was multiple strikes from Silver Wind and Psybeam.
"Come on," Red pleaded. "Try Thunder Wave. Please use Thunder Wave, Lo."
Nothing doing.
"This is how it is to battle me, Red," Koga said. "I will make you suffer and appreciate the true terror of status techniques, at how vulnerable they can leave you, at how they can quickly drain the hope from you. Perhaps this is presumptuous, but would you prefer to retire? Maybe return after some more training?"
The cloaked figure cocked their head to the side.
"No chance," Red said. "If Lo goes down, I've got others who'll battle with their all too. But Lo's not going to go down just yet."
The cloaked figure nodded their head, as though impressed by Red's words.
"I would expect nothing less from you," Koga said, smiling. "Very well, we shall continue. Venomoth, Silver Wind."
"No, you don't!" Red roared. "Lo, Thunder Wave!"
In Lo's dazed state, Red's words came through, at first quiet, so quiet, scarcely a whisper, before becoming so loud it was as if something was using Boomburst.
Lo snapped out of confusion, and it used Thunder Wave.
The electric current travelled along the shimmering draft and danced around Venomoth, an army invading another country, weakening it, forcing Venomoth to the floor, wings twitching.
Koga tutted and asked for a Psybeam, but Venomoth could only just raise its head, paralysis a frontier too far for it to overcome.
It could not avoid the next Flash Cannon.
Lo had claimed a victory in its first ever Gym Battle.
"What were you saying about status moves, Koga?" Red asked with a cheeky wiggle of his eyebrows.
Koga shook his head and sent out his second warrior, one that took Red back to the horrific events at Pokémon Tower: a Weezing.
Well, he would just have to take out this one too, wouldn't he?"
"Get it with Thunder Wave, Lo," he said.
Yes! Defeat it the same way they defeated Venomoth. It was the perfect plan.
"Weezing, Substitute."
Or maybe not.
Before the electric currents could do their thing, Weezing produced a copy of itself that floated in front of it, a motionless, lifelike replica. The substitute absorbed Thunder Wave, saving Weezing from the numbing paralysis.
Red bit the inside of his cheek in frustration. He had seen this move used loads of times, and there was now nothing he could do except destroy it and hopefully pummel Weezing before it could get another one up. His kingdom for a sound-based move. If he had to look at a bright side to this situation, he supposed that Weezing sacrificing a portion of its health to use Substitute was the brightest one he could find.
And destroy the Substitute is what Lo did, its Flash Cannon obliterating it into a puff of smoke. Unfortunately, that came at the cost of Weezing having an opening to respond with Flamethrower, fainting Lo with a stream of flames it had no hope of withstanding.
"You did so well, Lo," Red whispered to it once it was safe inside its Poké Ball. "You can rest now. We'll finish what you started."
Red gazed at Koga, whose visage was as impassive as it was during his battle with Janine. Weezing floated, spewing wisps of its toxic gases with each one of its little coughs, both faces looking as unhappy as a standard Weezing's tend to do, yet emitting a warmth of pride that it had come through successfully for its Trainer.
Nevertheless, Red had the perfect Pokémon ready for it. All their training would have been for naught it he was not.
Out popped Cubone, twirling his club like a baton, trying to exude a confidence it desperately desired to feel.
"Hmm," Koga said. "First a Steel-type and then a Ground-type. You really did prepare well for this battle, didn't you, Red? However, Weezing is probably one of the worst Poison-types for a Ground-type to face considering he is immune to their STAB techniques. What are you going to do against his Levitate?"
"You'll see," was all Red said, and the battle recommenced with Cubone rolling out the way of a Flamethrower.
It was funny how such a simple dodge put Cubone into such a great position. Koga, perhaps in a minor state of overconfidence, did not have Weezing use Substitute, rather going for the straight up attack, and Cubone retaliated with that new move he and Red had spent so much time working on…
"Smack Down!"
Cubone swiped his bone through the air, launching a golden sphere that had materialised from the end of it. The golden sphere conked Weezing in between the eyes of his larger head. As though he was metal and the floor was a giant magnet, the Poison Gas Pokémon dropped like a stone. He tried to hover but came straight down again. All he could do was bounce.
"You taught your Cubone Smack Down?" Koga said, his jaw twitching.
"Yeah," Red said gleefully, aware he could now sense the Gym Trainers who had done so well to hide their presence until now. "Hope you like it. We sure do. Now, Cubone, Bone Club!"
Cubone, whose legs had become more powerful since Red had caught him, charged across the herringbone flooring and whacked Weezing in the side of the head. He followed that up with another, only to recoil and choke as Weezing emitted billowing black smoke from his mouths and protrusions.
The smokescreen covered the entire battlefield, and Red could see neither Cubone nor Weezing, even their silhouettes disappearing within the murky veil. Fortunately, the Gym was well ventilated, perhaps for this reason in particular, so the smoke started to quickly vacate the premises, but to Red it was not just fast enough.
"Cubone!" he shouted. "Just keep using Smack Down! Keep your distance and just keep firing!"
Through the smokescreen, Red could barely make out tiny golden shimmers. However, he could not hear the cries of a Weezing taking damage.
Then, Koga's voice called out: "Weezing, Sludge Wave!"
As Weezing's Smokescreen faded, a tidal wave of purple crashed down on the battlefield, taking Cubone's feet out from under him and drenching him in poison. Reeling, Cubone managed to heave himself up with his bone, no shadows under his eyes making Red breathe a sigh of relief.
"Go for another Bone Club," he said, hoping beyond hope Koga would not withdraw his Weezing and rid it of Smack Down's effect.
Cubone brought his club down brutally on Weezing's head, which was the wrong one, instead striking a fake one that the Poison-type swiftly conjured, obliterating it just as rapidly as it arrived.
Yet it was enough of an opening for Weezing to engulf Cubone in fire, making the poor thing squeal as he fled from the licking flames.
"Set up another Substitute," Koga ordered.
Weezing did so, creating another faux version of himself, a shield born from his sacrificed health. However, he was breathing a lot harder.
Red clenched his fists so tightly his fingernails left imprints in his palms. That Substitute was continually saving Weezing, and he had to find a way around it. Yes, Weezing was getting more and more fatigued for it, but Cubone would go down before the Substitutes ended Weezing's run. Maybe it was time for…
"Bonemerang, Cubone!"
Responding to his Trainer's wishes, Cubone hurled his club at Weezing, just as the two-headed Gym Pokémon took a deep breath, ready to unleash another Smokescreen, adding to the slow-winded torture Koga desired to inflict upon Red.
The bone was faster.
It vanquished the substitute and spun towards the other side of the Gym.
Now, Weezing had no protection.
The bone returned with a vengeance.
It walloped Weezing in the back of the head and bounced into the air.
"End it with Bone Club!" Red screamed.
Cubone leapt sky-high. He caught his club. He brought it down upon Weezing's head with a sickening crunch.
The cloaked person gasped.
Koga's eye twitched.
Weezing could not get back up, even without the effects of Smack Down.
"Wahoo!" Red whooped, hopping from one foot to the other in ecstasy. "All that training paid off, Cubone! Man, what a finish!"
Cubone mimicked his Trainer, he too hopping from one foot to the other, waving his club like a magic wand.
"You have done well thus far, Red," Koga said, stowing away Weezing's Poké Ball. "You are everything I like to see in a Trainer: skill, luck, training, belief, all that and more. You keep countering everything I throw at you and have disrupted my usual battle flow." From within his robes, he drew out his third and final Poké Ball. "Now, let us see how you fair against this one."
Red's eyes watered and bile threatened to spill from his throat as the stench of Koga's last fighter overwhelmed him, so powerful it was as if it was physically assaulting him. It was obviously the evolution of Grimer, just a bigger pile of purple sentient sludge.
Muk, a Poison-type Pokémon, and the evolved form of Grimer. Their smell is so awful, it can cause fainting. Through degeneration, they have lost their sense of smell.
Muk yawned and Red's nose went through new realms of agony previously thought to be non-existent. Cubone waved his bone through the air, as if trying to waft away the horrid odour. Pikachu crept away and took a handkerchief from Red's rucksack.
"How do you handle that smell?" Red asked Koga. "It's making me dizzy."
"This is Muk's Ability, Stench," Koga explained. "While Muk tend to not have the most fragrant of scents in the world, Stench is on another level. I should mention he can control when he activates it, so we do not have to endure it constantly. It can be useful when patrolling the Safari Zone; it keeps many of the wild Pokémon away, so there is no need to battle them."
"Ah, okay," Red said weakly, his nostrils begging for mercy. "Are we all right to start?"
"Yes," Renn said. "State your attacks when ready."
"Don't mind if I do," Red mumbled, shaking his head to rid it of the stinky cobwebs that had formed there. "Bone Club."
Koga almost smirked as he said, "Muk, Shadow Sneak."
The hulking heap of muck instantly melted into the floor, becoming a blurry, dark shadow that sped across the floorboards as quickly as Pikachu's Zippy Zap and collided with Cubone. Muk reformed from the shadows, arms out wide as though celebrating meeting a new friend.
But Muk was right there, totally in the open, susceptible to a super effective bump from Bone Club! All Red needed was for Cubone to complete the attack…
… yet all he did was stumble backwards, holding his nose, cringing.
"Cubone?" Red said, body awash with sweat. "Cubone, I said Bone Club."
"A pity," Koga said, folding his arms and staring sternly over the battlefield. "Muk, Poison Jab."
Type resistance or not, a thumping punch from Muk threw Cubone back to Red's side, where he stirred feebly, gone the same way as Lo.
"Why didn't you attack?" Red whispered to Cubone as he picked him and his club up. "Muk was right there." Despite the questions, Red smiled. "It doesn't matter, you fought so well, Cubone. You pulled off everything we did in training and then some. Have a good rest. We're going to bring this Badge home."
It was even between him and Koga once more. Despite all his training and preparations, Koga was proving why he was a Gym Leader, why he was in consideration for an Elite Four membership. Red clutched his last Poké Ball tightly.
"That was unfortunate, wasn't it?" Koga said. "Your Cubone not attacking, that is. That was luck shining on us; Stench's other effect is causing the enemy Pokémon to sometimes flinch when overwhelmed by the smell. It works well with priority techniques."
Red smiled wryly. "Good to know. Explains why Cubone didn't attack. But it's fine. My last one's up for the challenge too. I choose you, Snorlax!"
Snorlax's belly wobbled as she dropped onto the floor, making the Gym itself shake. She looked around, mouth watering, stomach growling. She peered disappointingly at Red.
"Don't complain, you just had a big meal before we got here," Red groaned. "This is a Gym Battle, you know, the thing we've been training for? Let's win this and you'll get an awesome meal, what do you say?"
A river of saliva cascaded from Snorlax's mouth as she nodded enthusiastically, and she faced down Muk, stomping one foot and then the other, like a sumo wrestler.
"A Snorlax?" Koga said. "That wouldn't happen to be one of the Snorlax that has been blocking parts of Kanto?"
"Er, yeah, she is," Red said, patting Snorlax on the back proudly. "There were two, and my friend got the other one."
"Really?" the cloaked figure said, voice telling Red he was male. "Snorlax are powerful. You have quite the exhilarating intensity, young man."
"Um…" Red said. "Thanks, Mr… cloaked deep voice guy dude."
The excited susurrations of hidden ninjas tickled Red's ears. He ignored them. He instead focused on Koga and… wait a minute. What was that flicker across his face? There was definitely something there. It lasted less than half a second, but it was there.
Did it matter though? Probably not. He and Snorlax simply had to focus on felling Muk.
Which was made much more arduous once Snorlax got a face full of Toxic.
Now, Red was no stranger to the poisoned status, but Toxic seemed to make Poison Gas look like flatulence. That grisly red and black goop that had no effect on Lo made Snorlax fall on her rump, retching and gagging, her entire face adopting a shade of green, more green dripping from her mouth.
"Snorlax!" Red shouted, wringing his hands. He glared at Koga. "Hey, what the heck kind of move is that? What did you do to Snorlax?"
Koga raised his eyebrows. "You have not heard of the status known as badly poisoned? Not even at school?"
"Never," Red said, knowing there was a chance that it probably was mentioned once or twice.
"It is, I suppose you can call it, an evolution of the poisoned status," Koga explained. "Yes, it whittles away a Pokémon's health much like normal poisoning, but the damage doubles over time. It is quite brutal."
Red chewed the inside of his cheek. "Toxic does that?"
"Indeed. It is a technique that is over four-hundred years old, passed down through my family. However, it has exponentially spread beyond us the last few decades and is considered quite the popular technique. Perhaps a little too popular…"
Snorlax coughed up some green slime and moaned, her head swaying from side to side.
"Snorlax," Red said. "We're going to push through this, okay? Just for now."
Snorlax boomed a response and sluggishly pulled herself back into a standing position.
"Great," Red said. "Body Slam."
The Sleeping Pokémon bellyflopped onto Muk, one thousand pounds about to squish Koga's fighter into a stain on the floor.
But there came a shout from Koga ("Minimize!"), and Muk shrunk into something no bigger than Red's palm and quickly scurried away, avoiding the bulk of Snorlax, whose heavy collapse even made the surrounding ninjas lose their footing as a mini tremor took hold of the Gym.
Muk regained his normal size and thumped a venomous fist into Snorlax's belly. He then shrunk once more and streaked off in the form of a shadow, evading a Headbutt.
Rinse and repeat. Muk railed Snorlax with Poison Jabs and escaped with a combination of Minimize and Shadow Sneak, becoming that pesky fly that would buzz around your head, yet your hands would never connect with the blasted thing, chipping away at Snorlax's health, Toxic depleting her energy more and more with every passing minute, like an invisible vampire taking long, greedy gulps of her vitality.
"Body Slam!" Red shouted.
Snorlax flung herself towards Muk, who easily avoided the attack and responded with a Poison Jab to the head, the part of Snorlax's body with the least amount of fat, the least amount of protection. It was only with the most herculean of efforts that Snorlax pushed herself into a sitting position. Her eyes were shut and her breathing was shallow, the seductive voice of temptation telling her to fall, that she had a done a good job, that she could lose herself in the land of nod.
You know what? The land of nod seemed like a fine place for her to visit, at least for a very short time. Let us see how much her training paid off.
"Snorlax," Red said, trying to slow down his breathing. "Use Rest."
Red's words were like sweet, syrupy music to Snorlax's ears. At his command, she settled onto her back and drifted off to sleep, the intense discomfort she was in fading until it was nothing, and she descended into a dreamless slumber.
Was this a true Rest? It was meant to be a very short siesta, no longer than half a minute usually, and Snorlax had pulled it off in training a handful of times, but would she wake when she was meant to or would she want to stay asleep, forcing Red to forfeit the battle?
As Snorlax snored the world away, Muk attacked her with a flurry of Poison Jabs, its fists bouncing off her belly, her awkward sleeping position meaning her head was out of reach. If Red would have looked at Koga's face at that moment, he would have seen that same expression flicker across it again.
She awoke. Oh, sweet mercy! Snorlax blinked and she got up off the floor, her huge yawn sounding more like a trumpet of war, the Toxic vanquished from her body as though it was a curse banished by an ancient prayer.
Muk groaned as even its Minimize was not enough to avoid Snorlax's bulk as she collapsed on him, making him splat, yet managed to dodge a second with Shadow Sneak.
"Toxic!" Koga cried out.
Once more Snorlax began to suffer the horrid effects of Toxic, once more moaning in pain as the toxins infected her body. However, she fought on, taking several more Poison Jabs, even managing to land a Headbutt on Muk, before going back to sleep, ridding herself of the contagion.
Even as she slept, the Poison Jab was not doing much, not without the Toxic to supplement the damage. And with the only damaging move being Shadow Sneak, which had no effect on Snorlax, Muk quickly found himself in a hole that he had no possible way of climbing itself out of.
Koga smiled to himself, resigned to his fate. If Red had used a Pokémon other than Snorlax, would things have gone differently? If someone else had used that Snorlax, would he have still ended up in this difficult position? Maybe, maybe not. But that was another life, another reality. Here, he had lost the battle. But he would not throw in the towel. No, he and Muk would take the last attack and lose with dignity.
It had been fun.
Renn made the call after Snorlax flattened Muk. "Muk is unable to battle, Snorlax wins! The victory goes to Red from Pallet!"
"Snorlax!" Red screamed joyously, jumping on her back, and nuzzling his face against her furry cheek. "You did it! And Rest came in clutch, didn't it?"
Snorlax beamed and gave Pikachu a high-five, although a tail against a palm was not that much of a high-five. Still, the gesture of teamwork was there.
"Thank you, my old friend," Koga said to Muk, his horrid odour becoming something much more tolerable. "You fought well. Perhaps we should re-teach you Brick Break for the future."
Muk gurgled and gave his Trainer an exhausted smile before disappearing into his Poké Ball. Koga straightened up and glided over to Red, who was jabbering away to his Pokémon.
"Red," Koga said, interrupting the celebration. "You fought well, incredibly so. You came up with strategies to compete against me and try as I might, I could not come up with answers for all of them. It shows that no matter how experienced one is, we can always be caught unawares, but then we can learn from our losses. Thank you for a fantastic battle, to you and your team."
"Gee, thanks," Red said, rubbing the back of his head in an embarrassed fashion. "My Pokémon give their all for me, and the only thing I can do for them is go at it just as hard as they do." He grinned at Pikachu and Snorlax. "I'm lucky to have these guys."
"You have got a good head on your shoulders," Koga said. "And now I want you to accept this." Koga reached into his robes and pulled out a pink badge in the shape of a fuchsia petal. "This is the Soul Badge, proof of your victory here at the Fuchsia Gym."
Red plucked it from Koga's palm and held it to the lights. "Guys," he gushed, showing it to Pikachu and Snorlax, his grin incapable of being erased. "Guys, look. It's our fifth Badge. We got our FIFTH Badge!"
Yes, Red and his party finally won their fifth Indigo League Badge, and that was cause for plenty of merriment. But let us not forget there was someone watching the match. The cloaked man marched over, his aura of power like the heat from a furnace.
"Congratulations, young man," he said, his voice gruff but kind. "Lorelei was right to take an interest in you."
"Lorelei?" Red said, handing his Soul Badge over to Pikachu to inspect, who scurried onto Snorlax's shoulders and admired it with her. "You've spoken to Lorelei? Er, who are you?"
The man chuckled and pulled down his hood, revealing a tanned, chiselled visage and scruffy black hair tied back in a long ponytail. Red's jaw dropped.
"You're… you're… you're Bruno!" he exclaimed. "The Elite Four's Bruno! Oh man, oh man, this is so cool! What are you doing here?"
"Koga invited me," Bruno said, slapping the ninja on the back, who bristled but did not say anything. "I arrived a couple of days ago waiting for this fight. I can say you did not disappoint." He chuckled again. "It feels good to meet you in a non-dangerous situation. As well as Lorelei, Agatha mentioned the conditions under which you met her." Bruno nudged Koga. "Unless it turns out you're a secret member of Team Rocket, eh, Koga?"
Koga snorted. "Oh, how did you know? And it is not just me but Sabrina and Surge too."
Bruno roared with laughter. "I knew it. Anyway, Red, this is a bit of a spur of the moment decision, but seeing that you earned a Soul Badge, allow me to reward you with something too, for entertaining me so well today." He fiddled around in his cloak pocket, feeling around for Red's prize.
"You don't have to give me anything," Red protested.
"Nonsense," Bruno said. "Aha, here we are! And here you are."
Inside Bruno's huge hand was a tiny device, shaped like a shield, silver and blue with a button. He handed it to Red. "This is called a Vs. Seeker," he explained. "It makes it easier to find Trainers who want to battle, provided they have one too, of course. It's nothing vital for your journey, but it'll make finding battles against stronger Trainers that much easier. You'll need that practice if you get to the Indigo League."
"Ah, yes," Koga said. "I've seen more and more of them about. A Silph Co. product, I assume, Bruno?"
"That's right, Koga. So, Red, all you do it press the button and when you get close to someone who has one (and it's on) it'll start beeping. If you don't want to battle you simply turn it off. Oh, and avoid their line of sight too."
"I don't know what to say," Red mumbled. "Honestly, both of you are so awesome."
"You don't need to say anything, Red," Koga said. "You've done so much, especially for my Janine. Keep moving forward."
And that was what Red would do, together with his Pokémon.
Five Badges down, three more to go.
There would be no wall they would not smash through.
Except for maybe an invisible one.
Red rubbed his nose in shame as he hoped he did not embarrass himself in front of the two veteran Trainers on his way out the Gym.
