Ash had never flown on a Pokemon before, and Josh had never taken someone with him on Hermes before. At first, Ash tried to hang on to Hermes by gripping his body, but she accidentally yanked out a feather and the Pidgeot squawked sharply at her. So Ash tried to hook her fingers into the belt loops of Josh's jeans, but the higher they went the harder it became to hold on with all the turbulence. Ash gave up, and she wrapped her arms around Josh's waist, pressing herself to his back, and she felt his body heat up immediately. Ash would've been lying if she said it didn't make her face go red either, but she kept herself facing away so that there was no chance she would make eye contact with Josh. From what she could tell, Josh never turned to look at her, anyway.

They crossed the water quickly, and it wasn't long until the familiar sight of Pallet Town came into view on the horizon. Ash had never seen her own house from the sky before. Seeing Pallet Town start to approach gave Ash the sudden urge to tell Josh to just keep going, to not even land. She wanted to see Cerulean from the sky. She wanted to see Mt. Moon. She wanted to fly through Saffron faster than a Slowpoke's pace. It would probably take a long time before Ash was able to fly on her own, but Josh made it look effortless. She wondered if she would have the courage to try and mount Jabberwocky the way that Josh rode Hermes.

They landed in front of Ash's house. Josh hopped off of Hermes's back and held out a hand to help Ash dismount. She stumbled as she jumped off, but Josh caught her.

"Uh, thanks," she said as she flattened her hair.

"No problem," Josh said as he did the same with his own hair. "Sorry about that. Always happens, even when I'm not trying to go fast."

"That's okay," Ash said with a smile. Then, she wondered why she was smiling so much. She looked down. "You're good at that. Flying, I mean."

"Thanks."

"… Do you want to come in? We're probably about to have lunch," Ash offered, not knowing what else to say.

"Thanks, but not right now," Josh said, "I gotta get to Viridian as fast as I can. Tell your parents I said hi."

Ash nodded, and Josh hopped back onto Hermes's back. The Flying-type chirped at Ash, and she took a step back as Hermes unfurled his massive wings and took flight. In a moment, Josh had ascended into the clouds and was no more than a tiny dot in the sky, disappearing north, towards Viridian.

#

The Viridian City Gym was surrounded by a crowd of Trainers that Josh could see from the sky as he descended. He also saw other Trainers circling the Gym in the sky, riding Pidgeots, Fearows, and even a Charizard — although Josh saw immediately that Ryan wasn't riding that one. The crowd parted in order to give Hermes a spot to land, and many of the younger Trainers gasped as Josh landed and jumped off his Pidgeot like it was nothing. Josh took a quick look around. It looked like all of them were also looking to challenge the Gym. It would probably be a while before Josh got a chance.

"Josh! Over here!" a familiar voice called out.

A girl with brown hair and wearing a Trainer School uniform pushed her way out of the crowd and scurried over to him.

"Caitlin, hey," Josh said, "sorry I hung up on you, I was in the middle of another call —"

"Nevermind that now," she said quickly. Then she took him by the arm and started to pull him with her as she pushed her way back through the crowd of Trainers and toward the front door. "Move it, people! We got an Ace Trainer coming through, here! Seven Badges means he gets first dibs!"

One Trainer, a tall guy with a specialized jumpsuit, looked at the two of them and scoffed. "He's a kid!"

"Shut up, Seiji," Caitliln said before Josh could respond. "He's still got more Badges than you. And this is our city, which means we pick who goes first."

They reached the front door, where a phalanx of Viridian City Trainer School students were dutifully holding the crowd of Trainers back. Caitlin nodded to one of them, and they parted to allow her and Josh through. Now in the inner circle, just in front of the doors, Josh was joined by four other Trainers — and he recognized one immediately.

"Well, well, look what the Meowth dragged in," Ryan said with a smirk.

"Of course, you're here," Josh said.

"You know this guy?" Caitlin whispered to Josh.

"Yeah, he's my friend, we started Training together," Josh explained.

Caitlin rolled her eyes.

"Ugh," she said, "well, he's been here all morning, and I can't stand him."

"I know."

"Hey," Ryan said pointedly, "let's get one thing straight: I'm still going first."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Caitlin said. Then she mouthed sorry to Josh as she walked away.

"Why do you get to go first?" Josh asked.

"Why do you think?" Ryan said. "I got my seventh Badge two months ago. That's seven Badges in seven months. Means I'm the best Trainer here, by a long shot."

Ryan said the last part loudly, to make sure the other Trainers and even the Trainer School students surrounding them heard him. More than a few people rolled their eyes, but no one said anything in response, either.

"Well, I've got seven, too," Josh said, "and it doesn't matter how fast you get them. Eight Badges gets you into Victory Road, no matter how long it took you."

"Yeah," Ryan said, "but take too long and you'll be too old to make it through Victory Road, like Gramps. And what good do those Badges do you, then?"

"Professor Oak did make it through Victory Road," Josh said, "more than once. I know you know that."

Ryan shrugged, as if that meant nothing to him. Then, he looked at Josh.

"Getting two Badges in one day would be cool," Ryan said.

"Yeah, it would," Josh said with a grin. "Wait, how did you know I got a Badge this morning?"

Ryan looked away.

"I didn't," he said. "I just assumed."

"Uh, okay?"

"Just remember who got theirs first," Ryan said.

Josh looked around. The three other Trainers with them were all much older than him and Ryan. Seven months ago, when he had started his journey, they were the exact kind of Trainer that Josh avoided even making eye contact with. They were older, taller, and had expensive gear like Ultra Balls, special belts, and item holders in their bags. But when Josh looked at one of the Trainers, his eyes darted away, as if something in the distance had caught his eye. It had been a while since Josh had been around this many Trainers before — Cinnabar and Fuchsia had been pretty calm, for the most part. It wasn't until that moment, as even the other Trainers with seven Badges gave Josh and Ryan a respectable amount of space, that Josh realized something.

"Are these guys scared of us, or what?" he said jokingly.

"Oh, yeah," Ryan said with a nod. "All those hotshot Trainers we grew up watching? That's us, now."

Ryan held out a fist to Josh, and Josh bumped it with his own.

The doors to the Gym finally opened, and an Apprentice came out. He was wearing a gray jumpsuit, had three Ultra Balls pinned to his belt, and a leather whip hung from his side.

"These are all the Challengers with seven Badges?" he asked.

"Yeah, these five," Caitlin said. "My classmates are rounding up the ones with six Badges, it should only take —"

"Come with me," the apprentice said to Trainers, then he swiftly turned on his heel and started to walk back inside.

"Uh, you're welcome?" Caitlin called after him.

The apprentice ignored her. Ryan and the other three Trainers followed him. Josh turned around to look at her.

"Hmmph, jerk," she grumbled. But then she smiled at Josh, flashing her perfectly white teeth behind a set of braces. "Good luck. I want to hear all about it!"

Josh nodded and then hurried inside. He looked back one last time, just in time to see Caitlin disappear as the doors shut.

#

The interior of the Viridian City Gym was dimly lit and plain. The battlefield was sand with brown boulders strewn about, clearly marked with white paint. The walls were painted dark green. The spectators' area was empty. Only a handful of other apprentices — all men, all adults — were inside. They hardly acknowledged Josh and the other Trainers as they entered.

"No press?" one of the Trainers asked.

"Guess not," another remarked.

"Even Pewter's Gym is nicer than this," Ryan muttered.

One of the Trainers grunted in agreement, and even Josh nodded to himself at that. For such an in-demand Gym, they hardly seemed to show it. The apprentice leading them said nothing in response. Once they reached the battlefield, he stopped and turned around.

"Wait here. The boss will be with you soon," he said.

Then, he walked away and joined the small group of apprentices on the other side of the Gym. After a few minutes, the Gym Leader emerged from one of the doors in the back of the Gym.

The Viridian City Gym Leader was tall, broad-shouldered, and walked with purpose. He wore a black suit and tie and looked nothing like what Josh had imagined. Granted, almost every Gym Leader had a unique style. Koga looked like a ninja from the movies, Blaine looked like a doctor with his lab coat, and Lt. Surge didn't seem to wear anything that wasn't camouflage. But the Viridian Gym Leader looked like he belonged in a business meeting, not a Pokemon Gym.

He walked to the five Challengers and looked them over in silence. His steel-gray eyes surveyed them like he was inspecting a car lot. Then, he spoke.

"Which one of you is Ryan Oak?" he said.

"That's me," Ryan said immediately. "And before you ask — yes, my grandpa is Sam Oak; and no, he didn't teach me anything."

The Gym Leader didn't react. "And which one of you is Josh Dale?" he continued.

"Uh, that's me," Josh said.

"I'll face you two in five-on-five battles, free substitutions, Challenger opens," the Leader said to them. "As for you three: four-on-four, identical conditions. You first, Mr. Oak."

The Leader didn't wait for any response from any of the Challengers. He turned around and began walking to his side of the battlefield and Ryan immediately began to walk to his side. Ryan unzipped his bag, pulled out five Poke Balls, and tossed the bag to Josh.

"Hang on to that for me," he said with a grin, "this'll just take a sec."

Josh huffed as he carried Ryan's bag with him to the spectators' area. The three other Trainers walked with him, and they all sat down in the front row.

"What a jerk," one of the Trainers muttered as she sat down.

"Who, the kid, or the Gym Leader?" another one said. "Keeps his Gym closed for over half the year, and he just waltzes in like it's no big deal? No apology? No nothing?"

The Trainers nodded amongst themselves, and again, Josh couldn't help but agree. To him, it seemed like a Trainer with seven Badges deserved more than just a four-on-four Battle. Although the last time Josh had protested the conditions of a Gym Battle was also the first time Josh had lost a Gym Battle — so maybe it wasn't his place to complain.

"Are you ready?" the referee said to the Leader. Then, he turned to Ryan. "Are you ready? And… begin!"

"Go, Neptune!" Ryan said.

Ryan's Tentacruel emerged and landed with a plop on the sandy ground. He held himself up with his tentacles, and his large pincers snapped below him.

A fast Water-type, smart, Josh thought to himself.

"Go, Nidoqueen," the Gym Leader said.

The Gym Leader's Nidoqueen appeared and roared, beating her chest with her fists.

"Nidoqueen, Earth Power."

"Neptune, return!" Ryan said quickly. "Vulcan, Fire Blast!"

The Nidoqueen drove her fist into the ground, and the ground beneath Ryan's Tentacruel began to glow orange. At the last second, Neptune disappeared back into his Great Ball — and Ryan's Charizard appeared in the air. The ground exploded, sending sand and rocks in all directions, but Ryan's Charizard was well above the blast and completely unharmed. Vulcan's tail burned brightly as he opened his mouth and spat out a massive fireball which quickly morphed into a star shape and slammed into the Nidoqueen.

"Nidoqueen, Thunderbolt."

"Vulcan, return! Pluto, Earthquake!"

The horn on the Nidoqueen glowed yellow, and she sent forward a lightning bolt straight for the Charizard. But Vulcan disappeared into his Poke Ball and Ryan's Rhydon appeared. The lightning bolt arced in the air as the Rhydon appeared, and it struck the Rock-type on his horn. The electricity danced harmlessly along the Rhydon's horn. Then, Pluto brought a massive foot down and sent a shockwave through the whole battlefield. Josh felt the Earthquake in his chair, and he had to grab Ryan's backpack from the seat next to him before it fell off from the vibration. The Nidoqueen fell over as the shockwave reached her, and the referee immediately declared a knockout.

"Too easy!" Ryan declared.

"Perfect switches. I gotta admit, he is good," one of the Trainers with Josh said.

"He's got an answer for everything," another one said.

"You have no idea," Josh muttered to himself.

"Nidoqueen, return," the Leader said. "Golem, Earthquake."

The Gym Leader's Golem appeared in the air and landed with a crash, creating another shockwave that sent Ryan's Rhydon into a crater. The referee declared another knockout, and Ryan withdrew his defeated Pokemon.

"All right, Neptune, Surf!" he said.

Ryan's Tentacruel reappeared and immediately sent a massive wave of water that swept the Golem up and sent him limply rolling off the battlefield.

"Is this all you've got?" Ryan taunted.

The Gym Leader said nothing as he withdrew his defeated Golem. But Josh got an uneasy feeling as he reached into his suit pocket and pulled out another Ultra Ball.

"Dugtrio, Earthquake."

The Gym Leader's next Pokemon emerged from the ground. The three small, round creatures chattered amongst themselves. Then, in a flash, they created a third massive Earthquake that sent Ryan's Tentacruel flying into the air like a kicked can. The Water-type landed on the ground, his many tentacles spread out on the ground like a wet mop.

"Tentacruel is unable to battle!" the referee declared.

"Neptune, return!" Ryan said.

Two down, each, Josh thought, still an even fight, so far.

"Ugh, all these Earthquakes are making me want to puke," a Trainer next to Josh said.

"Get used to it," another Trainer said, "if we're going to the Indigo Plateau, you know it's going to be Earthquake central."

"Janus, Giga Drain!" Ryan said.

"Dugtrio, Aerial Ace," the Leader said.

The Dugtrio zipped across the ground with incredible speed and struck Ryan's Exeggutor just when he landed on the ground. But Janus's three heads cackled mercilessly as the leaves on the Grass-type's head began to glow green and the Dugtrio screeched in pain as bright yellow orbs of energy began to fly out of his body and into Janus's.

"Psst, hey," a voice next to Josh said. "Hey, kid!"

"Huh?" Josh said as he finally took his eyes off the battle.

"You know that guy?" the Trainer next to him said. The two other Trainers were leaning forward, craning their necks to look at Josh as well.

"Yeah, we grew up together in Pallet Town," Josh said.

"Pallet Town? Where even is that?" one of the Trainers asked.

Josh opened his mouth to answer, but the first Trainer waved the question away quickly.

"Forget about that — is it true he's only been a Trainer for seven months?"

"Yeah," Josh said, "me, him, and my friend Ash."

The three Trainers exchanged looks. Then they peppered Josh with more questions.

"You all started this year?"

"None of you went to any Trainer School?"

"Professor Oak must have taught you guys something, right?"

Josh didn't know how to answer. The more that people asked that question, the less normal it seemed to Josh. There were plenty of Trainers who never got any sort of training from another person — Josh's own brother was an example of that. But when Josh thought about it, he couldn't remember how many people with no, well, training in training, had ever gotten eight Badges.

Well, Professor Oak, Josh thought, that's one, at least.

A final, ear-piercing screech cut Josh off before he could even attempt to answer. He looked back at the battlefield. The Gym Leader's Dugtrio was sinking back into their nest, disappearing from view. Ryan's Exeggutor was bruised, but each of his three heads was smiling, and he bounced from one leg to the other.

"C'mon!" Ryan yelled. "I waited seven months for this? This should have been my first Badge, not my last!"

The Gym Leader withdrew his Dugtrio and stood motionless for a moment. Then, he clapped his hands twice. Somewhere in the building, a mechanical rumbling and creaking started, which reminded Josh of a garage door opening. The referee and the other apprentices immediately perked up and looked at their Gym Leader.

"Out, all of you," he said.

The referee dropped the flags, joined the other apprentices, and they all immediately hurried out of the Gym. As they made their way out, a massive section of the wall behind the Gym Leader began to rise, like a doorway in an ancient castle. The door revealed a massive, pitch-black opening. Then, a figure emerged.

It was tall, pale, and floated just a few centimeters off the ground. A large, purple tail trailed behind it as it moved. Its skin was gray and lifeless, and its tail was purple, but swayed gently as if it was underwater. The Pokemon was covered in strange, metallic plates that resembled armor, but Josh could also see thick, orange wires connecting each plate together, and each one had even more wires that wrapped around the Pokemon's body and connected up to the plate covering the Pokemon's head.

The face plate was large and covered the Pokemon's entire head, but there were openings at the top to reveal two short, flat horns. There was also a thin strip of dark glass where the eyes presumably were. At first, Josh couldn't see anything in the visor. But suddenly, two bright blue outlines appeared — eyes staring straight at Ryan. Josh and the three Trainers sitting with him jumped in their seats, and even Ryan took an involuntary step back.

"What… is that?" one of the Trainers murmured.

Josh heard a pair of beeps — one from his bag, and one from Ryan's. Josh reached into his own bag and pulled out his Pokedex. But the device had no information. The light next to the camera was blinking red, and the screen had the words "ERROR - UNKNOWN INPUT" scrolling across it.

"What's going on? Why did the referee leave?" Ryan asked.

"I'm testing this Pokemon," the Gym Leader said coolly. "It might be dangerous. But I'm sure a confident brat like yourself won't let that scare you."

"Tsk, of course I'm not scared," Ryan said, although Josh could recognize an unusual wavering quality in his voice. Josh also saw Ryan's eyes dart to the sidelines for a moment. "I better still get my Badge once I beat that thing. Janus, Psy—"

But the Gym Leader's Pokemon threw its hands forward, and a shadowy ball flew to Ryan's Exeggutor and blasted him away. Janus rolled limply to Ryan's feet, his body burnt and smoking.

"Janus, return," Ryan said. Again, Ryan's voice was a touch higher than usual, and Josh could hear it. "So it's a Ghost-type, huh? Well, I've got something for that, too. Apollo, Shadow Ball!"

Ryan's Alakazam appeared from the Poke Ball Ryan held out in his hand. The Psychic-type brought his two spoons together in an X shape in front of him and sent an another shadowy ball of energy to the Gym Leader's Pokemon. The Shadow Ball flew straight for the mysterious Pokemon's face — and then it disappeared. The Gym Leader's Pokemon didn't use Protect, or Reflect, or any move from what Josh could tell. It had remained motionless, floating just off of the floor, its tail swishing lazily behind it.

Then, the Pokemon lifted an arm. It reached out a hand, which only had three digits, and its eyes glowed pink from inside its visor. Ryan's Alakazam became surrounded by a pink aura, his spoons bent and twisted as if they were made of paper and flew out of his hands. Apollo's eyes rolled into the back of his head, he let out a strangled gasp, and collapsed. Josh heard a ping as one of his spoons landed on the ground near him. The spoon was shriveled up as if it had been stuck in a blender.

Ryan's jaw hung open as he stared in disbelief. From his seat, Josh was doing the same. He had never seen Ryan's Pokemon lose like this — the Gym Leader's Pokemon was taking them out like it was nothing. Josh watched as Ryan reached into his pocket — and then his eyes went wide, he looked over at the spectators' area, right at Josh. That's when Josh realized it, too:

Tentacruel, Rhydon, Exeggutor, Alakazamall he has left is Vulcan… Ryan's about to lose.

Josh never thought he would see the day. But he also never thought he would see anything like whatever the Gym Leader was using to do it. He never thought it would look so easy, either. But, strangely, Josh wasn't happy to see it. He wasn't even excited. His hand was holding his Pokedex, which still read the words "ERROR - UNKNOWN INPUT", and his other hand was in his own pocket, gripping the Poke Ball that contained Pan. An involuntary reaction that Josh had developed after months of being ambushed by Wild Pokemon all over Kanto.

It wasn't until now that Josh realized he was sweating in his seat, and his hands were shaking. It felt like that strange Pokemon might turn its power on Josh at any moment. Josh felt like if he made any sudden moves, something horrible would happen.

"What's the matter?" the Gym Leader taunted, his voice as cold as ice. "This battle isn't over yet. Send out your Charizard and let's finish this."

Ryan looked back at the Gym Leader. He tried to speak, but he hesitated.

Don't, Josh thought, somehow hoping it would reach his friend. You don't stand a chance.

"I…" Ryan began, but he could barely be heard. "… I can't…"

"You can't? Can't what?" the Gym Leader said with a thin smile. Something about the way he was speaking made Josh shudder. Nothing that any of the other Gym Leaders had ever said, not Misty, Lt. Surge, or even Koga, felt as cruel as what the Viridian City Gym Leader was doing. "You're the one who wanted this. Where's all that confidence from earlier? Maybe you need to be taught what happens when you taunt the wrong person."

For the first time, the Gym Leader's mysterious Pokemon moved its head. It turned, looking at the Gym Leader, and tilted its head. It looked almost confused. But the Gym Leader nodded to it.

"Finish him," he said.

The Pokemon turned back to Ryan, held out a hand, and gave the slightest twitch of its finger. Then, Ryan was thrown back as if he had been hit by a train — and slammed into the wall behind him.