Chapter 66 – The Other Gym
After our battle with Sabrina, we took a much needed rest. Because of my lack of experience with strong psychic connections, like the one I had with Flamefox during our battle, I came down with the worst headache I ever had, and really needed to lie down and relax. Flamefox was fine, though. I have to say, it was most fascinating being able to see through his eyes and look down at his little brown paws as though they were my paws. And to feel the heat of the flames pouring out of his mouth – that was, as I had told May, most intense! As much fun as it was, I was in no hurry to do it again if the price was such a nasty headache afterwards. However, now that I was aware of this ability, I did occasionally try concentrating on my Pokemon and tried to go into their consciousness to see what they saw and feel what they felt, but the experience was never as strong as it was between Flamefox and I during our battle with Sabrina. I half wonder, at times, if Sage Li's presence had something to do with it – or if it was just the adrenaline of the moment.
Anyway, the next day, I felt much better, so May and I decided to continue through town, accompanied by our 6 fire Pokemon. As we were walking, we saw a man walk out of the local Pokemart, and May exclaimed, "Joe, that's Kiyo!" I asked her, "Who?" She replied, "You remember – the karate master we met at Mt. Mortar who you battled and won." I immediately remembered and said, "That's right, he has a dojo here in Saffron City! Maybe he'll be up for a rematch!" We ran over to him to say hi, and he said, "Joe, May, it's been a long time! You've both done pretty well for yourselves with your League wins." We thanked him and I said, "I almost forgot you had a dojo here. I don't suppose you'd like a rematch?" He laughed and said, "No, not today. However, maybe you could challenge one of my students. I'd consider it a favor, actually." I asked, "Really? How so?" He answered, "I have this student, Andrew, who is very good – a little too good, in fact. He always defeats his peers' Pokemon in battle. He's a good trainer and his fighting Pokemon is strong. But unfortunately, he's letting this get to his head. And with every victory, his ego grows bigger. What he really needs is to be humbled." May asked him, "Why don't you battle him?" He answered, "I could, but that wouldn't prove anything, for I am the master. If he was defeated by another trainer, he would realize that he can't always win. Joe, with all your experience, I think you have a very good chance of winning." I said, Okay, I'll do it!"
We followed Kiyo through Saffron, until we reached his dojo and we all entered, accompanied by our fire Pokemon. Inside, there were several students, some practicing their own martial arts skills by competing with each other, and others training their fighting types, including Primeape, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, and Machoke. When they saw Kiyo re-enter the dojo, they all stopped and bowed. He said to them, "I would like for all of you to meet two good friends of mine, Joseph Ehlle and May Redfield. You might remember them from the League championships they each won." Most of the students seemed very impressed to meet us, some even saying it was an honor. Kiyo then asked, "Where is Andrew?" A student with short black hair and a headband came out from the next room, with his chin up, eyes closed, and a smug smirk on his face. "Well, well, what have we here?" he asked, upon seeing us. Kiyo replied, "These are friends of mine, Joe and May. Joe won the Johto League championship a couple years ago and May won last year's Kanto League." Andrew said, "Yeah, yeah, a real pleasure." Kiyo continued, "Joe has come here to challenge you." He laughed, "So my reputation proceeds me, does it?" I said, "It's nice to meet you, Andrew. I heard that you're very good and so I came here to challenge you to a battle." I put out my hand to shake hands with him. He walked over to me, put out his hand, then pulled it away and brushed back his hair with it. Then he turned to a mirror on the wall and said, "Gosh, I certainly look good today!" I looked at May and she rolled her eyes, and muttered "Oh brother" under her breath. I was really looking forward to this battle now, for the chance to bring this guy back down to earth. One of the other students whispered to me, "I hope you have a strong fighting type on you, because Andrew will put up a good fight! And we really want you to win this!" Scyther was really the closest thing to a fighting type I owned, but he wasn't in my party. I decided Tauros would be an acceptable substitute – he was not a fighting type, but he was the strongest, toughest Pokemon in my party. Andrew finally said, "Okay, I'll accept your challenge. I could always use another easy victory under my belt so everyone can see how good I am." So, everyone headed for a battlefield that was right behind the dojo, outside. I said, "Okay then. Go, Tauros!" and I released my mighty buffalo from his pokeball. He stood battle ready. Andrew laughed and said, "A Tauros? That's small time." Then he took out his pokeball and shouted, "Go, Machamp!" The 4 armed, muscular, humanoid Pokemon stood before us, flexing his muscles – he was as full of himself as Andrew! A sweatdrop appeared on the side of Tauros' head, so I encouraged him, "You can beat him, Tauros! You beat an Onix and an Ursaring – I know you can beat a Machamp!" Tauros, shifted his gaze at me, nodded, and looked more confident. Then I ordered, "Tauros, use tackle!" As Tauros ran at Machamp, Andrew nonchalantly said, "Machamp, use seismic toss". Machamp held out his four arms and grabbed Tauros by the horns just as he reached him, swung him around by the horns several times, then let go, hurling him across the arena and slamming him against the wall of the dojo! Tauros stood right back up, angrier than ever! "Ha! It'll take more than that to subdue my Tauros" I told him. He just replied, "Confident, aren't we?" Then he said, "Machamp, use body slam!" Machamp leapt at Tauros, but he moved out of the way, and Machamp hit the floor. I shouted, "Tauros, use horn attack!" Tauros then ran at Machamp, who hadn't stood back up all the way just yet, and rammed him with his horns, sending him crashing against the wall. The other students began to cheer. Andrew remained aloof and said, "Machamp, use dig." Machamp began to dig under the battlefield, and I responded, "Tauros, use earthquake!" Tauros reared up, and stomped his front hooves down on the ground, causing a huge fissure to open up in front of him, which the digging Machamp fell down into. Machamp climbed out of the large opening in the ground, and stood up straight, flexing his muscles. Andrew laughed and asked, "You really think you have a chance against my Machamp? Ah well, I suppose you'll just have to learn the hard way." Then he ordered, "Machamp, use low kick!" Machamp jumped at Tauros, his leg out, and I ordered, "Tauros, use stomp!" As Machamp came at Tauros, Tauros reared up and hit Machamp with his front hooves, knocking him down, midair!" The other students laughed and made remarks like "How the mighty have fallen!" and "Not so tough against a League champion, are you?" Andrew actually started to look angry, and said, "All right. That does it!" Then he ordered, "Machamp, use take down!" At that, I ordered, "Tauros, use your tackle!" The two Pokemon charged at each other and met in a lock of hands and horns! The two pushed against each other as hard as they could, both looking somewhat worn out, but they continued. They each had sweatdrops on the sides of their heads as they pushed each other with all their might, until… Tauros collapsed. "Tauros, no!" I shouted. The students looked down and sighed. Andrew said, "Well, well, well, look at that! I told you there was no way you could possibly win against me. I rule!" and at that, he began posing and flexing his muscles. His Machamp walked over and stood right next to him, and also began posing and showing off his muscles. Tauros, who was lying on the ground behind them, shook his head and looked up. Andrew said, "Your small time Tauros never stood a chance!" As the two of them continued posing, acting very high on themselves, Tauros slowly and quietly stood up, even angrier than before, whipping his three tails about. Then he charged at Machamp from behind! Andrew turned around and shouted, "Gah!" Tauros hit Machamp as hard as he could with a horn attack to his behind, sending him sailing across the arena and falling flat on his face! Machamp stood up for about two seconds, as Tauros came at him with a body slam and pinned him to the ground! Tauros stood right back up and walked over to me, but Machamp lay down, defeated! I shouted, "Good job, Tauros!" and hugged my big buffalo. Andrew said, "I… I don't believe this!" and recalled Machamp. The students were all laughing and rubbing in the fact that the unbeatable, almighty Andrew had been defeated! He looked angrier and angrier, and Kiyo said, "That's enough. Andrew, I hope you have learned a lesson from this. You let your ego take over, underestimated your opponent, and let your guard down. I expect a change of attitude next time I see you." With that, Andrew stormed off. The students all congratulated me, but I felt kind of bad for the guy. I asked Kiyo, "Will he be all right?" Kiyo said, "In time. He needs some time alone to realize the error of his ways. I thank you and your Tauros very much for a battle well done." May said, "That was an excellent battle, Joe. I think you showed him up." I said, "Thanks. But I hope I didn't hurt his pride too badly." May replied, "If you did, he needed it. If he's really a good trainer, he'll grow from this experience rather than feel sorry for himself." I said, "That's true."
After Kiyo treated Tauros' battle injuries, which were actually rather superficial, May and I decided it was time to move on. We said goodbye to Kiyo and the students, and left the dojo grounds. As May rode on Fierymane's back with Amber and I rode on Tauros' back with Flamefox, I heard Andrew yelling after us and turned to see him running our way. I dismounted from Tauros and he said, "Listen, I know I was a little bit rude to you back there, and I want to apologize." I said, "That's okay. I just hope you're going to try to be a better trainer from now on." He nodded and said, "I will. It's just that my father always expected me to be the best and pushed me hard. I've just been trying so hard to live up to his expectations and be the best. I've done so well, I tend to let it get to my head." I said, "You are a strong trainer. But you need to remember that a truly good trainer is also humble and respectful of other trainers. You can't go around pretending that you're better than everybody else, because you're not. None of us are. We're all in this together. Pokemon is not just about becoming the strongest trainer – it's about good sportsmanship, personal growth, and making new friends." He said, "I see that now, and I thank you." Then he said, "Your Tauros is a force to be reckoned with! He's very strong and you've trained him well. You're lucky to have such a great Pokemon on your team!" I said "Thanks", patted Tauros on the head, and said, "I know." Then I said, "Your Machamp is also very strong. Keep up the training and I'm sure you'll stay on top. Just please don't let it get to your head again." He said, "I'll try. Thanks again. It was nice meeting you guys." He returned to the dojo and May said, "Not bad." I asked, "Really?" She said, "I don't think Sage Li could have said it better!" I replied, "Why, thank you, May!" She smiled, nodded, and began to gallop Fierymane forward. I mounted back onto Tauros, with Flamefox, and we caught up with them, accompanied by Inferno, Firestorm, Redfur, and Fiona. We headed in the direction of Route 7, which would lead us to Celadon City! This was a gym battle that I, personally, was greatly looking forward to!