Whitney's Team
Miltank
Loudred
Jigglypuff
Hoothoot
The New Normal – 5-7 – INTERLUDE - Whitney
Whitney and Sabrina, fully rested from their long trek from Celadon City, made their way to the Fuschia Gym. They had arrived at Fuschia City the evening before and had managed to reserve an appointment for their 5th badge Gym Challenge for the next morning, which was where they were heading to now.
Fuschia City was quite far away from all the other cities, especially compared to how close Vermillion and Celadon City were to each other. But speaking of the 3rd and 4th Gyms, Whitney was pleased to at least found them relatively challenging, at least compared to the first 2 Gyms.
However, for one reason or another, Whitney actually found them a little easier than she was expecting. And ironically, despite how different Surge and Erika were, they had surprisingly similar styles of fighting.
During her battle against Surge, Surge had apparently looked down on her and tried to force a quick knockout with his Jolteon, using a quick Thunder Wave to paralyze and shut down her Loudred. As soon as the Thunder Wave hit, he followed up with a swift assault of powerful and quick electric attacks. At first, Loudred struggled to handle his faster Pokémon especially after he got paralyzed, but then Surge's Jolteon reckless attacking meant that, as soon as Loudred broke through the paralysis, she was able to land a critical Uproar against his Jolteon and knocked it out of the battle.
It was a different story with his Raichu. This time, she wore it down using her Jigglypuff with a quick Sing to shut down his Raichu. Surge's Raichu was certainly fast and hard hitting, but just like Karen's Pokémon, it wasn't very tough and couldn't take hits. Thus, as soon as it was put to sleep by a Sing, her Jigglypuff was able to spam it down with repeated Echoed Voices.
Then, against Erika, Whitney actually found it to be the easier fight compared to Surge. Not because Erika was a bad trainer, but that her tactics to stall out her opponent wasn't very good against her Loudred. Her standard strategy involved putting your Pokémon to sleep with Spore before wearing them down slowly with various Grass type moves like Giga Drain and Leech seed.
If you weren't able to find a way to either remove her inflicted status conditions from your Pokémon or couldn't overwhelm her defensive Grass types as they slowly drained you, then Whitney could see how it would be a hard fight.
However, for Whitney, Loudred seemed to be the perfect counter to Erika's team. Loudred refused to be put to sleep by using Uproar, which gave her the freedom to bash down her Pokémon without needing to be worried about being affected by status conditions. Unlike Surge, her Pokémon weren't particularly fast or able to hit hard either, preferring to wear your Pokémon over time with a mixture of restorative moves, so Loudred alone single-handily won her the battle with the Flamethrower TM that she bought for him in preparation for the fight.
Still, now with both battles successfully won, that meant that she and Sabrina had secured her 3rd and 4th Gym Badges. Now, they sat down in the stands of the Fuschia Gym, preparing for their upcoming battle against Koga.
As they waited, Sabrina began whispering to her.
"I am wary of Koga." Sabrina said as they watched a trainer step up to fight against Koga. "I believe him to be the hardest challenge we've faced so far."
"Why'd you think that?" Whitney asked curiouslys, "Surely your Kadabra would be enough to overcome any challenges. I mean, you hardly struggled against Erika as well."
Sabrina shook her head, "Erika and Koga are on very different levels. My parents have great respect for Koga, and him and Giovanni have always been regarded to be the strongest of the Kanto Gym Leaders."
"Oh. Well, John never said anything about Koga." Whitney admitted, "But, then again, he did say that I would find things challenging in the future, so maybe this is what he meant?"
"Just watch." Sabrina said, gesturing to the trainer fighting against Koga. Whitney nodded and turned her attention to the match.
The trainer currently matching up against Koga was, to put it politely, not doing so well. The trainer's Marowak was being blinded by a cloud of poisonous smog from Koga's Weezing. And despite being resistant to Poison attacks, that resistance proved futile when the Marowak was utterly incapable of landing a hit on the extremely agile Weezing, a Pokémon that was not normally known for its speed.
And to make matters worse, as Marowak was slowly brought down by the overwhelming onslaught of Poison, Koga began setting up the battlefield for whatever the trainer sent out next by scattering a minefield of Toxic Spikes everywhere.
In a last-ditch effort before it succumbed to the Poison, Marowak threw out a Bonemerang that broke through the poisonous clouds. But Koga ordered Weezing to use Double Team to avoid the Bonemerang, dodging the final attack from the Marowak before it fell to the effects of Poison.
And with the battlefield completely covered in Toxic Spikes, Whitney didn't have much hope in the trainer's victory. Indeed, the trainer's next Pokémon was a Flaffy who immediately got badly poisoned from the Toxic Spikes. With the Flaffy badly poisoned as soon as it was released, it was child's play for Weezing to simply stall out the fight with its evasiveness and a barrage of Sludge Bombs knocked it out of the fight. Finally, the trainer's last Pokémon succumbed to the same tactic, and they lost the fight.
From that fight alone, Whitney could see why Sabrina was being wary. Koga's fighting style was basically a combination of the strengths of the Surge and Erika put together. He hit hard, and had fast and nimble Pokémon, but at the same time slowly wore you down with Poison and forced you to commit to bad moves until you lost.
He applied a lot of pressure on both the trainer and their Pokémon to react quickly and decisively, which seemed to test the trainer's ability to make decisions in battle and adapt to unfavourable circumstances. It was no surprise why Sabrina said that Koga was likely one of the strongest amongst the Kanto Gym Leaders.
However, the realisation of the challenge ahead did nothing to deter or frighten Whitney. Instead, she became even more excited to finally be facing off against a truly strong and difficult opponent to test herself and her team against.
Maybe finally this was the battle where she didn't need to hold back her Miltank.
Suddenly, a young girl dressed up as a ninja descended from the ceiling in front of Sabrina, almost causing Whitney to shriek in surprise. Sabrina, however, was unaffected by the sudden intruder, probably having already sensed her with her Psychic powers.
"Challenger! Gym Leader Koga calls the two of you to the front! He has something special to say to you, so please make your way down!" The girl announced, before backflipping away from the stands and disappearing out of Whitney's sight and into the crowds.
"Do not be alarmed, she is just moving back to her hiding spot in the ceiling above." Sabrina stated calmly, but her lips were twitching in amusement at Whitney's surprise. "Come, let us make our way forward. I believe that the Gym Leader has something to say to us."
Curiously, the two of them made their way down to where Gym Leader Koga was standing. As they arrived, he greeted the two of them with a stoic nod before speaking.
"Welcome to my Gym. I have an offer for the both of you." He said, "I know that the two of you are far and beyond the toughest challengers that I will be facing off against today, and so I have a request for you."
"The two of you will not need to fight against my Gym Trainers, as I know that will not be educational for you. Instead, you will fight me directly, at a level higher than what I normally fight at for a 5th Gym Badge challenge." He explained, "Furthermore, whichever of you isn't about to fight me, please step away from the arena so you cannot witness the battle. I would like for you to go into the battle as blindly as possible, to properly test yourself and your ability to react on the spot to whatever comes your way. I will not force you to do this, but I believe that the both of you are seeking a challenge, no?"
"Yes, we are." Whitney replied for the both of them, "But what do we get if we win?"
"Nothing but the challenge that you seek." Koga answered, "And if you lose, you will not be able to gain the 5th badge that you seek until you rechallenge me and beat me. Yet, if you truly are here to test yourself and your Pokémon's limits, then I would seriously suggest taking me up on my offer."
The two of them shared a look for a moment before they replied at the same time, "We accept."
Koga nodded, "Good. Now, Sabrina, please come up first. Whitney, please make your way to the visitor's office for refreshments. It's the least I could do for you. Janine, please escort her there."
As soon as Koga finished speaking, the same little girl from before descended from above and landed next to Whitney, eliciting another squeak of surprise from her. Then, the girl patiently escorted the surprised Whitney to a small room in the side of the Gym, where they would be waiting.
As Whitney sat down, the little girl, who she now knew was called Janine, passed some hot tea to her.
"Thank you." Whitney said, receiving the tea with both hands. Janine simply nodded silently and remained silent. Whitney herself sipped her tea in silence. But as the silence stretched on, she was getting increasingly unnerved by the silent studying stares from Janine. Wanting to break the tension, she spoke up.
"So, uh, Janine, why did Gym Leader Koga make this offer to the two of us?" She asked, hoping to start a conversation.
Luckily for her, Janine was quick to respond. "I asked Fath-Gym Leader Koga the same thing. However, he simply told me that his sources informed him that the both of you were powerful up and coming trainers that easily went through the previous Gyms and was interested to seeing how far you could go when pushed."
"Oh. Hehehehe, thank you!" Whitney smiled at the compliment, "I didn't realize he was so interested in us. That makes me very happy to hear."
Janine nodded, "Of course. Gym Leader Koga has always been prudent in checking up on promising trainers. I was…curious to see why he was so interested."
"But how did you find out about us?" Whitney asked, "We haven't really been on the news or anything."
"We are ninja. We have our ways." Janine said, trying to be mysterious, but the slight smile that she had made her seem like she was childishly bragging more than anything. "We know that Sabrina is the daughter of the Saffron Gym Leader, while you are the sister of Elite John. That explains your strength, which may be why Gym Leader Koga wanted to test you."
Whitney nodded at her words, then remained silent as she started formulating a plan in her head. If Koga wanted to test her, then she would be sure to bring her best.
The minutes silently ticked by, with Whitney almost unaware of the passage of time as she concentrated on coming up with a plan based on how little of the fight she saw and from her previous research. Yet, she had seen many of her brother's battles, and she was going to copy how he had dealt with evasive fighters that were reliant on status conditions.
And moments before Janine tapped her shoulder to let her know that it was her turn, she successfully formed a plan.
With a silent nod towards Janine for the tea and the silence, she made her way to the arena where Koga was waiting with crossed arms. She briefly looked around the stands to see if she could spot Sabrina but failed to find her.
"Your friend has been taking somewhere else." Koga stated, understanding who she was trying to search for. "I did not want to spoil the outcome of her battle, so you will find out after our fight."
She gave an understanding nod, and he continued, "Good. Now, take your positions. Get ready."
Whitney slowly made her way to her side of the arena while forcefully clamping down on her nerves and excitement. This was it. Her time to shine.
"Trainers, this will be a 3v3 5-badge match between challenger Whitney and Gym Leader Koga! There will be one switch available!" The referee announced, and Whitney grabbed hold of her chosen Pokémon.
"Trainers, are you ready?!" Both trainers nodded. "BEGIN!"
"Muk, you're up first."
"LOUDRED, COME OUT AND UPROAR!"
Her Loudred emerged with a deafening roar, immediately unleashing a powerful sonic wave that caused Muk's mucous form to vibrate uncontrollably. She knew that she couldn't afford to give Koga any time to set up his stall strategies and needed to constantly pressure his Pokémon so that they didn't have space to do so.
Here, offense was the best defense. And hesitation was defeat.
"Keep up the Uproar and get closer, Loudred! Don't let up!"
"Toxic! And fall backwards, Muk!"
Tanking past constant barrage of sonic waves, Muk spat out a huge globule of poisonous sludge, drenching the approaching Loudred as it continued blasting the Muk with its incessant Uproar. She could see her Loudred wince as her skin took on a sickly purple complexion, a tell-tale sign that Loudred had become badly poisoned.
But that was fine; she didn't have any intention of allowing the battle to go on for much longer. And now that Loudred had gotten close to the Muk, she went for the kill.
"Bulldoze, Loudred!"
"Interrupt it with a Brick Break, Muk!"
Loudred cut off its Uproar and began stomping up and down, causing powerful tremors to spill out towards Muk as the ground shook violently. In response, one of Muk's arms transformed into a solid hand that viciously chopped down on the stomping Loudred.
Both Pokémon winced in pain as they endured through each other's attacks. She had hoped that the supereffective Bulldoze would have finished off Muk, but it seems like she had underestimated Muk's endurance. From appearance alone, Whitney felt like the Muk was more injured, but her Loudred was still on a ticking clock as she slowly succumbed to the powerful poisons coursing through her.
She didn't have any time to waste. There was only one correct move for her if she wanted her Loudred to come out on top. It was all or nothing.
"Loudred, TAKE DOWN! GIVE IT YOUR ALL!"
"Brick Break, Muk! Bring it down."
With a defiant roar, her Loudred determinedly ignored her injuries and rushed straight towards the Muk, who was preparing to deliver another brutal chop to the head of its own. The two attacks savagely slammed against each other as the two struck each other with whatever power they had remaining.
There was no victor. Both Pokémon almost instantly collapsed against each other as their attacks landed, succumbing to the injuries that they had accumulated throughout their quick fight.
"And both trainer's Pokémon are unable to continue battling! Putting the score at 1-1!" The referee announced, "Each trainer has 30 seconds to send out their next Pokémon!"
Whitney withdrew her Loudred with a complex expression. On one hand, she had hoped to achieve more with Loudred before she fainted. On the other hand, taking out Koga's powerful Muk was still an acceptable outcome. For some reason, a part of her felt like the Muk could have achieved more than that, but she didn't want to think about that now.
Instead, she realized that this left her Miltank as the only viable option of her team to fight against Koga; her other two Pokémon weren't strong enough to match up against Koga's threats.
That was fine. Miltank would destroy them both. That, she was sure of.
"Golbat. Take flight."
"MILTANK! ROLL THROUGH YOUR ENEMIES!"
Once again not wasting time on posturing, her Miltank rolled out from her Pokéball as she began picking up speed as she rolled around the area. Seeing that Miltank was seemingly not looking to attack, Koga made the first move.
"Air Slash, Golbat!"
But that was a mistake. As soon as Golbat slowed down to fire off an Air Slash, Whitney made her move.
"Miltank, BOUNCE INTO THE AIR!"
As they had trained, her Miltank suddenly did a small hop and slammed into the ground powerfully, creating a small dent in the arena, then used the reverse momentum of the attack to leap into the air.
Gasps of surprise were heard from the audience as her Miltank leapt into the air. Even Koga, famed for his stoic nature, had his eyes widen in stunned surprise at the feat before him.
As her Miltank bounced towards the Golbat, she ordered the coup de grâce.
"Thunder Punch, Miltank! KNOCK IT OUT!"
"PROTECT! NOW!"
Her Miltank's fist crackled menacingly as lightning began to form around them. Koga's Golbat valiantly tried to dive out of the way while attempting to form a Protect shield, but it was too late.
Miltank critically smashed its lightning infused fist straight into the Golbat's large mouth. The Golbat screeched in pain as the supereffective lightning coursed through it, and it started to fall out of the sky.
"BODY SLAM, MILTANK! END IT!"
Chasing the falling Golbat, Miltank grabbed hold of Golbat, trapping in an inescapable hug underneath her, before brutally slamming the two of them into the ground. Golbat was knocked out.
Silence descended on the crowd for a moment before the crowd burst out in applause at the brutal takedown of Koga's Golbat.
"And the Gym Leader's Golbat is unable to battle! The challenger now leads 2-1!" The referee stated, "The Gym Leader now has 30 seconds to send out their next Pokémon!"
A stunned silence descended on the battlefield, but Whitney simply shot them all a pleased grin. THAT was what she was talking about!
"An impressive display." Koga admitted as he withdrew his fallen Golbat, "I can see that my eyes did not deceive me. You truly are one to look out for."
"Thank you, Gym Leader." She replied, still very pleased with herself. "But I know I still have a long way to go."
"You do." He said, as he took hold of another Pokéball, "But, first, you still have one more Pokémon to get past. And I have no intention of making it as easy as my Golbat."
"Come, Weezing."
Another Weezing appeared on the battlefield. But even with a quick look, Whitney could tell from its solemn expression that this Weezing was different than the one he sent out before against the trainer.
It had a more observant and experienced gaze in its eyes, subtly hinting to the much larger level of training that it must have had.
But no matter. Her Miltank would crush all in her path. She had no intention of hesitating and playing into Koga's hands.
"Start your Rollout, Miltank! Circle around it!"
"Poison Gas, Weezing. Flood the arena."
Her Miltank immediately rolled herself into a ball and started speeding around the stationary Weezing, who was busy expelling a thick cloud of poisonous gas everywhere. Fortunately for the spectating audience members and her, the seating area and trainer platform was properly protected from any toxic gases.
But as the toxic smog began spreading, Whitney was beginning to find it difficult to see through the smog and accurately direct the battle. She couldn't see what was happening!
Panic began to settle in as she started anxiously running through her options in her mind. How was she going to win if she couldn't order her Miltank to fight?! How would her Miltank know what move to use?!
But, as if sensing her trainer's distress, a comforting Moo came out from within the poisonous clouds. Another set of calming Moo's came out from her Miltank, reassuring her that there was no need to panic, and that she could handle it on her own.
Understanding what her Miltank was trying to tell her, Whitney took a few calming breaths to stabilize herself. Yes, there was no need to panic. After all, didn't she have full trust in her Miltank to deliver her victory?
Let Miltank have her fun. Let her show the world her own abilities. Let her bring in the victory.
"COME ON, MILTANK! YOU GOT THIS!" She shouted out through the Gym.
As if resonating with her trainer's thoughts, her Miltank let out a defiant Moo before Whitney could just barely make out the silhouettes of large rocks being thrown from within the purple cloud.
A foreign grunt of pain notified Whitney that her Miltank had landed a hit with one of the rocks. Immediately afterwards, a slight pink glow suddenly began shining through the thick cloud, telling Whitney that her Miltank was charging up a Zen Headbutt.
Another pained grunt sounded out from within, hopefully meaning that Miltank had successfully landed the supereffective Zen Headbutt on Koga's Weezing. Whitney also noticed that toxic sludge was beginning to leak out from within the cloud, which probably meant that Weezing had clearly not been standing idle.
The battle continued in a similar fashion, with her mostly unaware of what was going on from within. The only hints of the battle even happening was the odd grunt of pain from both Pokémon, as well as the small flashes of light and silhouettes that occasionally appeared.
But, as the battle raged on, she noticed that the cloud of smoke was beginning to disperse, and visibility was slowly returned to the fight. Her own eyes narrowed as she waited patiently for the cloud to fully disperse and for full visibility to be restored.
And suddenly, a large rock thrown from her Miltank managed to disperse the last of the poisonous clouds, revealing both battered Pokémon. Her Miltank panted heavily, was covered head to toe in a poisonous substance, and had an unhealthy purple complexion. On the other hand, Koga's Weezing looked like it was barely able to keep itself afloat, and one of its heads had its eyes sealed shut from its injuries.
She could have ordered her Miltank to play it safe and use Milk Drink to heal up, but with Koga's Weezing on the ropes like this, she stuck to her strategy of all-out offense and commanded Miltank's final move.
"Giga Impact, Miltank! Blast that thing!"
Her Miltank let out one last Moo of determination as she shot forwards in a burst of orange light, seemingly ignoring the poison inside her as she charged unfalteringly towards the enemy Weezing, who seemed to be watching idly as the Miltank rushed towards it.
But then, moments before collision, Koga sprung his trap.
"Destiny Bond."
"WAIT, STOP!"
But her cries came too late as Weezing's eyes flashed a haunting purple just as Miltank slammed unstoppably into it, knocking out the Weezing. But then two swirling purple lights came out of the fainted Weezing and surrounded her Miltank with a creepy purple aura, promptly knocking her out as well.
"Both trainers' Pokémon are unable to battle! The challenger is the victor!" The referee declared, to the sound of applause and cheers from the crowd.
But Whitney didn't feel much joy from the victory, whatever celebrations she might have held was ripped away from her as her Miltank went down to a Destiny Bond. An attack that she SHOULD have foreseen and anticipated, but she was too eager to end the fight to realize until it was too late.
"Do not beat yourself up over this." Koga said, as if reading her mind, "It was a grand victory for a trainer of your age. You cannot be expected to remember everything."
"But I should have." She said petulantly.
"Yes, you should. Let this be a reminder to not be overcome with emotion during a battle. Defeat can easily be snatched out of the jaws of victory, and vice versa." Koga replied sagely, "However, I battled you at a level much higher than what should be expected of a 5th badge battle, so while you should reflect on your mistakes, be proud of your achievement."
Whitney took in Koga's words before she nodded to herself, understanding what he was trying to say to her. Seeing that she had resolved whatever ills in her heart, Koga took out a heart shaped badge and passed it to her.
"Congratulations, trainer Whitney. For your victory, I hereby award you the Soul Badge. And I wish you the best in the future." He said with a slight smile, before gesturing towards one of the office rooms with his head. "Come, I have a gift for you and your friend. Please wait a while in the office while I finish up here."
"Thank you." Whitney remarked as she carefully received her latest badge before she then made her way to the spare office where she found Sabrina sitting and chatting with Janine. Sabrina's head turned to hers as she entered.
"Congratulations on your victory, Whitney." She said with a smile, "It was a well-fought battle."
"Indeed, both of your battles were remarkable performances!" Janine added with a nod, before seemingly shrinking into herself. "…I wish I could give my father a performance like that."
"Oh, Koga is your father?" Whitney said excitedly, finally understanding why Janine looked so familiar to her, "That's so cool! Your father's such a cool guy! He's definitely the strongest Gym Leader we've met so far!"
Janine seemed to flush, both in embarrassment at revealing her relation to the Gym Leader and with pride at Whitney's words. Overall, it was a very complex, yet amusing expression.
"You do not need to compare yourself with us, Janine." Sabrina suddenly said as she stared at Janine piercingly, "It is not healthy to do so."
"How did you- right, you're a powerful Psychic. How could I forget." Janine lamented with a shake of head, "Anyways, stop reading my mind! And that's not the point. Father said he wanted me to go on a journey to explore the world, but I felt that I could get stronger staying at the Gym and learning from him…"
"But now you're not so sure anymore." Sabrina finished for her, causing Janine to nod her head.
"…I think your father is right, Janine." Whitney remarked, "I once thought the same as you with John. He was the greatest trainer I knew, and he was so strong and smart. I wanted to learn everything from him and stay with him until I was as strong as him."
"But he always insisted that I had to go on my journey, that there were plenty of things that I could only learn when I experience it myself." She continued, as her voice took on a reminiscent tone. "And now that I've been on my journey for some time, I completely agree with him. Sure, I was able to train a lot with my Miltank and learn some powerful attacks that I might not be able to if I was by myself, but I learnt more overall ever since I went on my journey than compared to the years I spent just training with my brother."
"Yes, I think I can see that now." Janine replied as she nodded, "I think I was just being wilfully blind to the fact that I was slowly starting to stagnate, and it might be why Father told me to experience new things and to explore the world."
"Going on your journey is best done with a friend." Sabrina added as she directed a smile towards Whitney, "Whitney and I have learnt and improved a lot by spending time together."
Janine nodded, "Yes, that's what Father said too. But I didn't have anyone to go with-"
"Why not come with us then?" Whitney interrupted as she leaned forwards towards Janine with a bright smile, "Honestly, I think I want to get you know after speaking to you, and I won't turn down an opportunity to make more friends! Isn't that right, Sabrina?"
Sabrina didn't seem to share Whitney's enthusiasm, and she hesitantly looked between Whitney and Janine before eventually nodding with a sigh, "Yes. New friends are a good thing." Whitney squeeed and glomped Sabrina in a tight hug, causing Sabrina to let out a rueful smile.
"Um, are you sure it's okay?" Janine asked nervously, "I mean, I do want to go with you but-"
"It's fine, it's fine." Whitney waved her off, "Trust me. It'll make things more exciting if you come along!"
"Yes. You should go with them." Koga said as he suddenly appeared in the room, causing everyone but Janine to exclaim out in surprise. Was Sabrina not able to detect him?
Ignoring the commotion that he created, Koga turned to his daughter. "Janine, I am glad to hear that you have let go of your stubbornness and are willing to travel. I truly believe that you'll be able to grow as a person as you experience new things on your journey."
"…Do you think mom would be happy about this choice?" Janine almost whispered out, and Koga's eyes widened for a moment before he grabbed his daughter into a comforting hug.
"She would be happy if you are, Janine." He whispered softly as he patted his daughter.
"…Then I think I want to go, Father." She admitted, "I think I want to go with them."
"Good. I hope you enjoy yourselves then. And always remember that you will be welcome back to the Fuschia Gym at any time. And that goes to the both of you too." He said to Whitney and Sabrina, "Please take care of my daughter for me. And I hope you all become fast friends."
"We will, Gym Leader Koga." Whitney replied solemnly, "Thank you for your trust."
Koga simply nodded at that before he withdrew two black TM cases from his clothes and handed one each to Sabrina and Whitney. "Here, as a reward for your victory over me, and now for choosing to accompany my daughter on her journey. That is the TM for Taunt, please use it well. Normally, I would have given you a TM for Toxic, but I figured this would be more useful considering both of your Pokémon."
The two of them thanked Koga for his gift, and Janine shared one last hug with his Father, before they all made their way out of the Gym together.
"Hey, so what are we going to do first?" Janine asked, "I still haven't gotten any badges yet, so I'll be a bit behind the rest of you."
"Um, actually, we had planned to get our Flying Licenses after we beat the Fuschia Gym." Whitney admitted, "If you don't mind waiting a few days for us to do so?"
"No, that is fine. But after you do so, would you be able to ferry me to the previous Gyms so that I may also collect my badges?" Janine asked sheepishly, "It shouldn't take too long."
Whitney and Sabrina shared a look before Whitney nodded to Janine, "We don't mind. We also discussed having a break as well since we've been rushing through the Gyms pretty quickly. We could make use of the time to train up our Pokémon or maybe catch new ones."
Janine gave them a relieved smile, "Thank you. I intend to challenge Father for my second last Gym Badge if possible, just to show him how much I've grown."
"Then let us head back to Celadon right now. Since there isn't anywhere to apply for a Flying License here in Fuschia." Sabrina said as she began walking forwards, "Come, before it gets dark."
"Wait for us!" Whitney shouted as she chased after her, with Janine soon joining in.
And thus, the new trio started off on their journey together. It would be a start of a brand new adventure.
A.N. And yes, Janine joins the party! Hope you enjoyed Whitney's battle against Koga, it was the first proper fight of Whitney that I actually wanted to showcase. She's getting strong, but still has a long way to go!
I apologize for skipping over some of the Gym fights; I just didn't think they would be very interesting to see. Koga proves more of a challenge, so I wanted to highlight this fight in particular, and I hope I did it justice with this longer chapter. Things should slow down with Whitney now that she surpassed the 5th Gym.
BETAed by Allute! Huge thanks! And to anyone who wants to support me, please check out my p atreon at CartecTNN where you can read 8 advanced chapters! Thanks to those who have supported me already!