By the time the trio had entered Chufisa City and arrived at the Pokémon Center, the sun was really starting to set, and it was starting to get dark. Red, Orange, and Violet wasted no time in healing up their Pokémon. While the nurse was tending to them, they grabbed some dinner in the cafeteria. Once Orange had polished off his fried nines, the doors to the center burst open.
Two Chansey were pushing a stretcher, which was carrying an obviously badly hurt Hypno. Following close behind was a young boy, obviously Hypno's trainer. Concerned, the trio made their way into the lobby as the Hypno was wheeled into another room.
"What happened to that Hypno?" asked Orange as the nurse was handing them back their Poké Balls.
"Oh, the trainer had just come from Chufisa Gym," sighed the nurse. "It's like this all the time, every time someone goes and challenges Vanna."
"Really?" Red remarked. "She must be pretty good."
"That's an understatement, I'm afraid," the nurse replied. "Vanna's been the Gym Leader for three years, she gets challengers every week, and I think she's only given a total of five badges."
Orange gave a low whistle. "Wow," he remarked. "So, guys," he added, turning to Red and Violet, "Am I the only one getting totally pumped up for this?"
"Yeah, kinda," Red nodded. "Judging from what we were just told, somehow I'm not liking our odds here."
"Well, Gym Leaders aren't supposed to be weak," laughed Orange. "A good challenge is my idea of a good time! C'mon, let's get some sleep. I want to get to the Gym already and win me badge number six!"
Sighing, Red and Violet followed the excitable Orange to the room the nurse had given them for the night, and due to the tiring nature of their day, it wasn't long before they were all asleep, complete with earplugs in Red and Violet's ears to drown out Orange's usual snores.
The next morning, Orange was the first one up, and was already raring to go by the time Violet and Red had woken up. "Come on, guys!" Orange exclaimed.
"Orange, can we have breakfast first?" asked Violet.
"Right!" nodded Orange as he wheeled around, now leading them to the cafeteria instead. "Most important meal of the day, breakfast, can't forget that!"
Several slices of whole wheat zero toast later (and some fried nines, in Red and Orange's cases), the trio exited the Pokémon Center, Orange leading the way. Twice Violet had to correct him, as she had thought to ask directions from the nurse beforehand, though finally, they arrived at a large building that seemed to be covered with (or perhaps made out of) poison ivy. Mercifully, the doors appeared to be made out of large eights, so they could be safely pushed open.
As they entered the Gym, the lights turned on, revealing the usual large dirt battlefield which appeared to be the norm in most Pokémon Gyms, surrounded by very high wood-paneled walls. At the end of the battlefield, there stood a girl who looked older than Violet (though not by too much- she couldn't have been too much older than 22). She wore a purple t-shirt with a yellow skull-and-crossbones design on the front, with matching purple pants, and her black hair flowed down to her waist.
"Well, well, well, three more victims to be rushed to the Pokémon Center," smirked the woman. "Welcome to Chufisa Gym. I am, of course, the lovely Vanna, the Gym Leader around here. Now, how about I get the names of those I'm about to utterly destroy?"
"No, but how about we give you our names instead?" retorted Orange. "Orange McPixel. This is my good friend Red Vershunn, and this is the lovely Violet Scramble. We all come from Talpel Town and we're here for Gym battles."
"Hah!" cackled Vanna. "You three actually think you can win against me? We'll just see about that, won't we? How about you first, redhead?" she said to Orange.
"Works for me," Orange stated as he stepped into the challenger's box. "Ready to lose?"
"I could ask you the same thing," smirked Vanna as she enlarged a Poké Ball she was holding in her hand. "Rules here are simple. One Pokémon each."
Orange nodded. "Got it," he stated.
"Good luck, Orange," Violet said.
"Yeah, you can do it," nodded Red.
"Ha ha ha," laughed Vanna. "If you think your little cheering squad is gonna help you out, then you are sorely mistaken. Go, Poké Ball!" she yelled as she flung the sphere onto the battlefield, which sprang open, unleashing in a flash of light a hovering creature composed almost entirely of two lavender heads of different size.
"Weezing," it groaned.
"A Weezing," muttered Orange. "All right, then let's get started!" he exclaimed as he threw a Poké Ball. "Q! Go!" he yelled as the cube-shaped form of Orange's starter materialized. As the two Pokémon faced each other, Vanna made the first move.
"Weezing! Sludge attack now!" Vanna commanded.
"Q, Water Gun!" Orange ordered.
Simultaneously, Weezing and Q blasted forceful streams of sludge and water respectively, though the Sludge attack was able to cut right through the Water Gun. Q cried out in pain as the Poison move met its mark.
"Whoa!" Red exclaimed. "That's some power there!"
"A minor setback!" scoffed Orange. "Q, use Confusion!"
"Weezing, use your SmokeScreen!" said Vanna.
"Weezing weez," groaned Weezing as it forcefully sprayed a thick, dark cloud of smoke from the various pores on its body. Though Q's Confusion blasted right through the cloud, Weezing made no sound. Instead, the smoke cloud just got bigger.
"Come on, Q!" called Orange. "BubbleBeam attack!"
"Weezing, Tackle it now!" Vanna shouted.
"Kyuuuuu," trilled Q as it sprayed a forceful stream of bubbles from the front of its body. However, Weezing emerged from another part of the cloud, and rammed Q hard.
"Q!" Orange exclaimed, for the Water/Psychic-type was now wobbling in midair unsteadily.
"Weezing, Toxic attack!" ordered Vanna.
"BubbleBeam!" Orange yelled.
As Q unleashed another spray of bubbles, Weezing flew above Q, unleashing a black fog from both mouths which briefly engulfed the Deep Sea Pokémon before fading away. As this happened, however, Q was now groaning in pain.
"Q's been poisoned- badly poisoned!" Violet stated. "Toxic is a sinister Poison-type move. The poisoning it induces gets worse over time! Orange, you gotta take that thing out now!"
"Right," nodded Orange. "Q, use your Confusion attack!"
"Weezing, Thunderbolt now!" yelled Vanna.
"Weezing WEEEEZ!" bellowed both of Weezing's heads as the Poison-type crackled with electricity before blasting a powerful lightning bolt. Q was firing off a light blue ray of Psychic energy, but was unable to fend off the Electric move- screeches and squeals of agony could be heard from Q as the electricity from Weezing's Thunderbolt coursed through its body, and as the attack finished, Q landed, smoking slightly, on the floor and ceased any further movement.
"Looks like we win," smirked Vanna as she withdrew Weezing and placed its Poké Ball on the nearby healing machine. "Next victim."
"Q, return," Orange said as he held out the Poké Ball, withdrawing his starter. Dejectedly, he walked off the battlefield. Violet watched this for a moment before dashing out into the challenger's box herself.
"Alright, now it's my turn," stated Violet. "And you're the one who's gonna go down, Vanna."
"Oh, we'll see about that," smirked Vanna as she took the Poké Ball off the healing machine and threw it. "Show time, Weezing!" she exclaimed as the Poison Gas Pokémon appeared once more.
"Violet, why not use your own Weezing?" suggested Orange.
"I have a better idea," Violet smirked as she threw a Poké Ball. "Tombstone, I choose you!" she shouted as the h Poké materialized.
At this, Vanna cackled. "I see, you think just because you're using a Poison-type that my Weezing will be at a disadvantage. Toxic can't work on Poison-types, after all. But you'll see there's much more to Weezing than just poison. Weezing, use Thunderbolt!"
"Weezing WEEEZ!" bellowed Weezing as it fired off a sizzling bolt of lightning.
"Tombstone, Night Shade!" Violet ordered.
"h Poké!" exclaimed Tombstone in its eerie, echoing voice as a black energy bolt burst forth from the front of its body, colliding with the Thunderbolt. The attacks struggled against each other for a moment, though Thunderbolt won out, lighting the Ghost/Poison-type up for a moment.
"Tombstone, use HM02!" Violet commanded.
Though nothing seemed to happen, Weezing began to show signs of slight fatigue. All four eyes started drooping, and its floating became increasingly wobbly.
"Snap out of it, Weezing!" snapped Vanna. "Use Fire Blast!"
"Weez weeeeez!" bellowed Weezing as a tremendous plume of flame erupted forth from the mouth of the larger head, the flames taking the shape of what seemed to vaguely resemble a stick figure of some sort. Before the h Poké or its trainer could react, Tombstone was struck by the Fire move, and once it was over, several nasty burns could be seen on Tombstone's body.
"Uh-oh," murmured Orange. "Tombstone's burned."
"Tombstone, blast it with Psychic!" Violet ordered.
"SmokeScreen!" shouted Vanna.
As a brightly colored wave of energy emanated from Tombstone's body, Weezing unleashed another thick cloud of smoke, this time blanketing the entire battlefield in seconds.
"Tombstone, come on!" Violet called. "You can do this!
"And now, Weezing, Mimic attack!" cackled Vanna.
Weezing emerged above the cloud of smoke, the skull-and-crossbones design on its larger head glowing brightly.
"Get out of there, Tombstone!" Violet shouted. "And use your Confuse Ray!"
"Weezing, Psychic now!" Vanna commanded.
As Tombstone warily flew up and out of the SmokeScreen, it was instantly met with a wave of Psychic energy from its two-headed adversary. "Po! Poké!" grunted Tombstone as it reeled from the super effective hit. However, Tombstone was not down just yet, and the patterns and designs on the front of its body seemed to melt and distort as a ray of light shined off of it. Instantly, Weezing's eyes became unfocused- all four of them- and it started to fly about erratically.
"We got it, Tombstone!" grinned Violet. "Take Down now!"
"Weezing, Psychic attack once more!" shouted Vanna.
As the Spirit Pokémon charged forward, Weezing began to send waves of Psychic power in multiple directions, though none of them in Tombstone's direction. Tombstone then slammed into Weezing, though seemed to reel from the blow.
"Direct hit!" Violet exclaimed. However, at that point, Tombstone collapsed to the floor. "What?!" Violet exclaimed, this time in shock and anger. "What- but- how-"
"Poor judgement on your part," sneered Vanna as she withdrew Weezing. "Your h Poké had already taken so much damage from Weezing's attacks that the recoil damage from Take Down was sufficient to knock itself out."
Speechless, Violet wordlessly withdrew Tombstone and stepped back as Vanna placed Weezing's Poké Ball on the healing machine.
"Red," Orange said to his friend quietly, "Do me a favor, OK? Take that Weezing out."
"You got it," nodded Red. He gave Orange and Violet a confident smile as he stepped onto the battlefield.
"Three victims this soon after breakfast," remarked Vanna. "It's gonna be a good day, I can tell. Weezing, let's go!" she exclaimed as she tossed her Poké Ball once more.
"I choose you! Charizard!" Red shouted as he also threw a Poké Ball.
In simultaneous twin flashes of light, Vanna's Weezing and Red's Charizard materialized on their respective ends of the battlefield.
"Charizard, stay alert," Red advised his starter. "That Weezing is good. You'll have to stay focused and avoid its attacks."
"Let's get started," smirked Vanna. "Weezing! Thunderbolt!"
"Evade it, Charizard!" Red called. "In the air now!"
As Weezing crackled with electricity, Charizard gave a great flap of its wings and was airborne within seconds. The Thunderbolt struck the ground just below Charizard, right where it was standing seconds ago.
"Charizard! Flamethrower!" Red ordered.
"Weezing! Smog attack now!" Vanna yelled.
"Weezing," groaned Weezing as it began to emit thick clouds of poisonous gas from its mouths. As Charizard unleashed Flamethrower, the flames reacted with the cloud of gas, causing them to explode back at Charizard, knocking the Fire/Flying-type to the ground.
"Damn!" grunted Red. "Charizard, come on, that's just a minor setback! Use Slash!"
In an instant, Charizard was in the air once more, this time with its claws glowing as it flew right at Weezing.
"Toxic attack now!" Vanna ordered.
"Blow it away!" was Red's order.
Weezing blasted a sinister black fog from its mouths, but Charizard came to a stop in midair and flapped its wings forcefully, preventing the poison move from making contact.
"Not bad," conceded Vanna. "Now, Weezing, Sludge attack!"
"Charizard, Flamethrower!" Red called.
At the center of the battlefield, the stream of flames met the jet of sludge, and both attacks struggled against each other for a moment. The two appeared to be evenly matched.
"All right, Weezing, you know what to do," smirked Vanna. In response, the mouth on Weezing's second head opened up, and another stream of sludge flew out of it. This smaller Sludge attack flew past where its larger counterpart was trying to get past Flamethrower, and struck Charizard in its right wing. Charizard exclaimed in surprise, stopping its Flamethrower attack involuntarily, which was all Weezing needed for its Sludge attack to connect.
"Charizard!" Red exclaimed. "Try a Mega Punch!"
"Weezing, Thunderbolt it!" Vanna ordered.
"Weezing WEEEZ!" exclaimed Weezing as it fired off a bolt of electricity. Charizard, flying towards the Poison-type with its right hand clenched into a fist, dove in midair to evade the Thunderbolt. However, Weezing didn't give up, and fired off more Thunderbolts. Charizard flew up to avoid the second one, but the third one hit it dead on.
"No! Charizard!" Red shouted as his starter collapsed to the ground, barely stirring.
Vanna laughed as she called Weezing back to its Poké Ball. "Well, any time you three need to have your rear ends handed to you again, I'll be right here," she said.
Ignoring her, Violet addressed the other two as Red withdrew Charizard. "We should get to the Pokémon Center," she stated.
"No objections here," Red replied.
"Yeah, let's go," Orange added as the trio made haste in exiting the Gym.
In the Pokémon Center, Red, Orange, and Violet were all sitting restlessly in the lobby as they waited for the nurse to return with Charizard, Tombstone, and Q.
"It's been fifteen minutes," sighed Orange. "This is unbearable."
"I know," agreed Violet. "But was that Gym Leader the rudest person you've ever met or what?"
"I know, right?" said Red. "Having confidence in your Pokémon is one thing, but the way she was talking, you'd think she was in command of a legendary Pokémon of some sort."
At that moment, they heard approaching footsteps, and the three Trainers looked up simultaneously to see the nurse approaching them with three Poké Balls.
"They're all fine," she smiled, which reassured them greatly.
"Thanks," Orange said as he took Q's Poké Ball.
"You know, from what you've told me, you three actually did a bit better against Vanna than most of her challengers. A lot of them barely ever manage to land a single hit on Weezing. I think that with a little additional training, you might actually be able to beat her."
"Really?" Red said. The nurse responded by nodding.
"Well, I guess we could stand to do some extra training," Orange stated. "Any good places around here to train?" he asked the nurse.
"Well, yes, actually," the nurse responded. "Just north of here, you'll find the Fight Zone, an area where Pokémon Trainers gather to train against one another. Each day, whoever wins the most battles is allowed to battle the Fight Zone's warden, too, and if you can beat him, he gives out a prize of some sort."
"Sounds cool," grinned Orange. "What do you say, guys?" he added, turning to face Red and Violet.
"I'm in," Red said.
"Same here," added Violet.
"Well, your Charizard, h Poké, and Q are fighting fit once more, so if you wanted, you could go right now," said the nurse. "Do you need directions?"
"Nah, we're good," Orange replied as he stood up. "C'mon, guys," he added as he led the way out the door.
"Coming," smiled Violet as she and Red stood up. Once Orange was out of earshot, however, she turned to the nurse and muttered, "We need directions. We need directions very badly."