After his battle, Blue was on his phone sitting in the Pokécenter. "Hey Mom, I just got my second gym badge!"

"That's wonderful! Your Pokémon must have gotten really strong. I'd love to see them sometime," his mom said happily, "When do you think you'll be back in town?"

"No clue, I mean, I won't be able to fly until I get Wingstorm certified in Celadon City. Once I do, I'll gladly come to visit you," he said, rubbing the back of his head as he leaned in his chair.

"What about an Abra?" came a younger voice from the phone.

"Daisy? Is that you?" Blue asked, surprised a bit.

"Hi big brother," Daisy said excitedly.

"What were you saying about an Abra?" he asked.

"Abra can Teleport. If you catch one, you can come home again," Blue could practically hear the smile from her voice.

"Heh, well, I am near route 24, it's worth a shot," he said eagerly as he stood up to get his Pokémon back from Nurse Joy. Once was ready, he hung up the phone and walked out towards the bridge to Route 24.

"Blaze, you have to get up," Red was lying on the ground alongside his struggling Charmander. He winced as he saw the way Blaze shuddered from the sludge that was covering his body. He crawled over to Blaze and took off his jacket to clean the sludge off of his scales, "hey, you're okay buddy, right?" Blaze let out a weak cry of affirmation as Red hugged him. He then coughed a bit and accidentally created a small burst of flames from his mouth which caused the smoke that was hit to dissipate. Red's eyes lit up as he realized how they could get through the smoke. "Blaze, try making small bursts of fire, I'll hold you in case the Weezing attacks again," he said as he began running towards the source of the Sludge attacks. His footsteps echoed against the stone floor of the cavern which alerted the Wheezing to his location. Blasts of sludge kept shooting out at him and he would have to turn and dodge repeatedly as he got closer to the source. Red was actually glad that he was getting attacked, as it meant he knew where he had to run to catch his opponent. As he rushed through he accidentally crashed into the blue haired trainer and they both fell to the ground. Blaze jumped out of the jacket just before he could get crushed between the two of them.

"Watch where you're running, twerp! This is a Pokémon battle, not a street fight," James complained, "Weezing, give his puny charmander the same treatment he just gave me, Tackle attack."

"Dodge it Blaze!" Red shouted. The Charmander narrowly avoided being crushed by the giant floating heads. "Great job. Hit him with an Ember!" Blaze took a deep breath to get the oxygen for the blast and released his hot red flames.

"Blast away his feeble flames with your own, Use Fire Blast!" James commanded, shocking Red that such a possibility even existed. Gasses spewed from the small mouth in front of the big mouth as multiple other gasses mixed inside of it. The combined gasses were expelled through the cloud of gas from the little head and ignited to create a significantly larger fireball than Blaze's pitiful attack. Blaze's flames barely slowed it down as it blasted straight into him. The force of the impact sent him flying into the cavern walls.

"Chaaaar!" he said feebly as rocks began falling from the roof, burying him completely.

"Blaze!" Red said as he tried to sprint over only to be grabbed by James.

"You're not going anywhere, twerp!" he said as he held his upper arms to prevent him from running.

Green was glad to have managed to make it out of that smokescreen. It would have been a nightmare to fight Jessie's Arbok any longer in such conditions. She wiped the soot off her glasses and stood in wait for her opponent to make her move.

"You're gonna wish you stayed in that smokescreen brat, at least then you won't have to see your precious Pokémon get hurt," Jessie said as she and her Arbok emerged from the smoke.

"I don't believe I've seen an Arbok with that sort of pattern on its hood before," Green said nonchalantly, confusing Jessie quite a bit. "Oh right, we're fighting. Rose, use tackle." Her Bulbasaur obediently charged ahead and slammed her body directly into it, sending the Arbok flying backwards Jessie.

"You brat!" She spat angrily as she got hit by her own Pokémon. "Hit her with a bite attack!" The Arbok slithered along the ground, opened its mouth and prepared to bite down on Rose.

"Keep its mouth open with a Vine Whip," Green ordered.

"Bulba!" Rose replied as vines shot out of her bulb and began pulling apart the mouth of the Arbok. As she fought on, her body began to grow and the bulb on her back opened up to reveal a flowering bud as Rose evolved into an Ivysaur. "Vy-Ivysaur," she said, her voice slightly deeper.

"No way! That's so amazing, you've evolved." Green said, starstruck. She'd begun neglecting the actual battle in front of her as she began observing the way her Pokémon looked now.

Jessie took advantage of this distraction swiftly with a single command. "Arbok, wrap up that little Ivysaur." Before Green could do anything, Rose was being completely constricted by the Cobra Pokémon. She gasped as Jessie laughed. "Too bad you little brat, Arbok's wrap attack blocks your Ivysaur from attacking and you can't recall your Pokémon either. Now, why don't we discuss a swap?"

Red struggled in James's grip as he tried to rush over to his injured Pokémon. "Let me go!" he shouted as he failed to break free. His gaze was fixed on the pile of rubble that was covering Blaze.

"Face it, twerp, that Charmander won't be getting up. You've lost. Come quietly or I'll have to get even more physical with you," James said as he began pulling Red away. "A nobody like you shouldn't have been messing with us anyhow, not with a weak pokemon like that." Red's struggling started to falter as he thought about what James said. He looked back to the pile of rocks and thought about Blaze under all that, he couldn't give up could he? No, he has to keep fighting. He jerked his body and managed to break out of James's grasp and ran towards Blaze. As he ran he saw the rubble start to move. The rocks fell away and Blaze emerged from the rubble. He looked different, he was taller, and his skin was a darker red, he even had a more confident look in his eyes.

"Blaze? You've evolved!" he said excitedly as the Charmeleon exhaled a small plume of blue and white flames. Blaze then looked over at Weezing and beckoned it closer with his claws.

"Meeeeeel," he said with a slow and menacing growl. The Weezing took the bait and charged at him, and he released a much stronger ember than before which sent his foe flying backwards into a wall of his own.

"Good job Blaze!" Red said, affirming his Pokémon who looked back with a grin. "Keep it up with another ember."

"Grrr, Weezing, hit him with another fire blast," James commanded. This time, Blaze's embers were able to hit the igniting gas before Weezing could finish charging up. The gas ignited backwards, boosting the flames of the ember and causing the Weezing to accidentally let out a puff of mist from its pores as it blasted off into another wall. "No, don't use Haze!" James begged as the mist reacted with the smokescreen causing the smoke particles to stick to the droplets of water and coming down on them like a disgusting drizzle. The two men wiped the liquid soot off their faces as the smokescreen disappeared and they saw Jessie and Green's battle. Red ran over to try intervening, but he was hesitant to attack since Blaze's flames would hurt Rose too.

"You want a swap, what kind of a swap?" Green asked, still clutching the fossils she was holding.

"Your Pokémon for the fossils you tried to steal from us," Jessie said with a smile before spotting Red, "He has to withdraw his as well." Red looked at Green who gave him a nod. He took out his Pokéball and recalled Blaze while Green handed her the fossils. Jessie's Arbok released Rose and Green quickly recalled her as well.

"So, what's the plan?" Red whispered as he stood next to Green.

"We run!" She grabbed his hand and swiftly ran towards the exit of the cave.

"Wait, we still have other Pokemon left," he said as she dragged him out, "You're just gonna give up?"

"Don't worry," she said, panting as they made it out of the cave, "Next time we see those two, mind thanking the boy for the smokescreen?" she asked as she pulled the fossils out of her bag. "On the one hand, I paid a bit of money for those replicas, but on the other hand, I think the real ones are much better." She had a cheeky grin on her face.

"I know I said it before, but you're a genius," Red said as he went to hug her, but she put out her hand.

"No hugs right now, you're covered in dirt!" she complained. Red got a wicked grin on his face and began chasing her with his arms spread wide. "Red no!" she said giggling.

"Come on, don't you want a hug from your best friend?" he teased as he chased her all the way to Cerulean City.