Hogoki and Foccai continued to walk along the rolling hills of Route 1 until they began to come across familiar buildings, and eventually an even more familiar signpost which Hogoki nearly walked into.

"Viridian City: The City of Evergreen..." Hogoki read, before he blinked in surprise. "...How'd we get here so fast?"
Foccai facepalmed before shrugging and then looking around, finally then pointing a flipper eastward and barking.

"That way to the gym..."

He paused for a minute. This was the final gym in Kanto, wasn't it? So that meant he'd have to figure out what to do after this...

...He'd do that later. For now, he began walking.

"Let's go, then!"
It was time to earn his eighth gym badge.

Hurrying through the small city, he eventually ended up in front of the Viridian Gym again, and the same man who'd kept him out before was standing at the door.
"Is the gym leader here?" he asked, walking up to the man.
"...He is, yes, but why ask now?" The man asked, looking somewhat confused.
"I'm here to get my eighth badge!" Hogoki declared cheerfully.
"In that case, go ahead on in..." he responded, shrugging and stepping aside.
Hogoki looked at him funny before walking into the gym. And at that point, a Nidoking on the other side of the battlefield began... talking to him...?
"Are you a challenger?"
"...I'm lookin' to get a gym badge?" Hogoki responded, looking immensely confused by the talking Nidoking.
"How many badges do you currently possess?"
"Seven."
"And how many Pokemon?"
"Three– Okay, I can't stay quiet anymore, how are you talking?!"
"...It's a costume."

"What kinda costume-"
"That aside! I am Sakaking, the Ground-type Gym Leader of Viridian City! This match shall be three-against-three! I shall begin with Nidoking!" he yelled, before throwing a ball out from his costume and releasing his roaring clone.
Hogoki proceeded to send out Kwaru and then looked to his seal. "...Hey, Foccai, which one are we supposed to attack?"
The Popplio shrugged, and both Sakaking and his Nidoking facepalmed.
"You attack the one that roars, obviously!" Sakaking roared.

"...In that case, Kwaru!"
Sakaking proceeded to get Water Gunned, to his displeasure.
"...Not me, kid."
"...Oh."
"I'll just have Nidoking Megahorn your duck for that..."
"Hydro Pump this time!"
Kwaru seemed eager to refuse to let Nidoking attack him using that blast of water.

And, well, it worked, mainly because the duck blasted it at close range.
"Poison Jab!"
However, there was a limit to how much water could stop an angry Nidoking, especially when it was Sakaking's.

And guess what, there was also a limit to how much damage Kwaru could take, especially from that Nidoking in particular... So when he was hit by the Poison Jab, he was sent flying and then crashing onto the ground.
"Now, Megahorn."
Kwaru proceeded to get nuked.

"One down and two to go, kid," Sakaking nonchalantly declared.

Hogoki sighed before recalling Kwaru... and then taking the other ball off of his belt.
"Hanako!"
Our friendly neighborhood grass hedgehog proceeded to be sent out, and she immediately got into a battle stance as Sakaking just stood there for a moment.
"...Poison Jab again."
"Quick Attack behind it!"
Hanako proceeded to start doing circles around Nidoking while it tried to attack her.
"Now, Razor Leaf! Charge a Solar Beam up, too!"
"Megahorn!"
"Just keep dodging!"
The grass-type managed to dodge the charging Nidoking, who had to run through some rather sharp foliage in the process, before unleashing a Quick Attack on it from behind on her own accord.
"Earthquake."
And then everything started shaking, and Hanako suddenly couldn't move while even Hogoki was off-balance.
"Now, Poison Jab."
"Solar Beam!"
The two attacks collided at almost the same time, and an explosion formed from the impact.

When the dust cleared, both Pokemon were knocked out.

"One down, two to go!" Hogoki cheered, even as Sakaking simply nodded and both recalled their Pokemon.
"...Next shall be Nidoqueen."
"Foccai!"
The Popplio barked while jumping onto the field as Nidoqueen was sent out.
"Super Fang."
"Bubble straight into its mouth!"
Nidoqueen proceeded to get a dental cleaning. Judging from its expression, it wasn't a very pleasant one.

"Earthquake!"
"Jump!"
Once Nidoqueen stomped and Foccai leapt into the air, the ground shaking below, the seal immediately started forming a giant bubble from his nose.

"...Double Kick where it lands."
"Throw the bubble!"
Nidoqueen proceeded to receive a bath, too. It was such a horrid bath that it fainted, but not before punting Foccai a few meters.

"...Quite clever, child. But you'll have some trouble against my Rhydon, now won't you?" Sakaking declared before throwing the ball and unleashing some kind of cartoon dinosaur thing– oh wait that was just a Pokemon.

"Let's keep going, Foccai! We've almost won!"
The seal landed with an affirmative bark, and with that, the final round had begun.
"Water Gun!"
"Rock Slide."
A torrent was interrupted by a barrage of boulders soon afterwards, and Foccai began being hit by them even as the Rhydon was struck with some water.

Foccai was starting to lose the battle.
However, since they'd come this far... Nope, they weren't losing now.
"Break through the rocks with Pound!"
Return: An attack that grows stronger with the friendship between trainer and Pokemon.
Foccai proceeded to slap a boulder away with the might of a thousand Primarina, and then he began rocketing towards the Rhydon using the same attack.

"Horn Drill!" Sakaking yelled.
"Bubble and Pound!" Hogoki shouted in kind.
Horn Drill missed due to the barrage of bubbles hitting Rhydon, and then... Foccai sideswiped the rock monster with the mother of all strikes using his flipper, and it proceeded to fall as the Popplio landed on the battlefield unharmed.

The seal had won. Hogoki had won.

And Sakaking simply shrugged as Foccai joyfully flopped over to his equally high-spirited trainer.
"I'll have to give you my Earth Badge now..."
Hogoki cheerfully nodded as Sakaking took out a pin and handed it to him.
"...and to explain the costume, it's simply for entertainment purposes and nothing more."
Hogoki blinked before nodding again as he took the eighth badge. "...Right! Well, in that case, I'll be off!"
"Yes..."
Hogoki proceeded to run out of the gym as Foccai frantically hopped behind him.
A half-hour later, they'd made it to the Pokemon Center, and the boy's team was being healed while Hogoki sat in contemplation.
He'd gotten eight badges... now what? He didn't really want to challenge the League... and he didn't want to battle Misty for her title...
Maybe he could head to Celadon and visit Tenshou? Yeah, that'd be a good idea... but maybe it'd be better to do that closer to Winterfest...
Sinnoh, then? Or maybe Johto, or maybe...
Hmm... come to think of it, didn't trainers usually call Professor Oak after milestones? Maybe that would be a good idea first.

There was a videophone right there, so he'd just dial what he believed Oak's number was, and–
"It is hereby declared that salutary utterances are to be issued–" Beep.
That guy again?!
Oh, wait, he was a few numbers off... Time to try again.
Okay, yeah, that was the professor on the screen.

"Ah, yes, Professor Oak's laboratory–" Oak nearly faceplanted in surprise as he noticed Hogoki. "Ah, hello there! Hogoki Taki, yes?!" ...Did he sound afraid?
Hogoki just looked confused by Oak's... interesting reaction to his existence before keeping his usual cheer at that point. "...Right! It's been a while, but I just got my eighth badge!"

"I see... Quite the shame that the League already happened earlier this year, then," the professor replied more calmly than before.

"...It did?" Hogoki replied. "Guess that settles it, then."
"However, there's other regional leagues that I'm sure you could compete in, such as Hoenn's, Alola's–"
Oak was interrupted by Foccai barking and running over, Kwaru investigating the monitor (he pecked it), and Hanako's very existence. Seems they were healed.
"Dear Mew, is that a Shaymin?!" Also seems Oak was surprised by something.
"...What's a Shaymin?"

"The- The Pokemon you're holding right now!"
"Oh, Hanako?" he said casually. "I've had her for about half my journey, caught her in Celadon–"
"No, no, listen, Hogoki..." Oak began, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Shaymin is a very special Pokemon. It comes from the Sinnoh region, specifically a place called Flower Paradise, and if you found one in Kanto, it probably got lost. Many people may try to steal that Pokemon, and I trust that you will prevent that..."
"...So Hanako was lost too when we found her?" Hogoki proceeded to reply.
Oak facefaulted before slowly rising up.
"Yes, yes she was... I would suggest you head to Flower Paradise and let her do as she pleases there. It is her home, after all."
"...Oh..."
...So he'd probably have to say goodbye to Hanako soon if he did that. He didn't want to do that, but after all the navigation Foccai had done, if he could help a lost Pokemon...

"...How do I get to Flower Paradise, then?"
"I'll book a plane for Sinnoh's Jubilife City. Once you arrive there, head west to Canalave City and use one of their boats to go there."
Hogoki looked at Foccai, who nodded.
"In that case, I'll do my best to get there! When's the plane gonna leave?"
"Five minutes. It was surprisingly cheap."
"W-What?!"
"Enjoy your flight!" he cheerfully said, and then the monitor went black.
Foccai immediately got the map out and started frantically barking, and Hogoki proceeded to run in a random direction and took a full minute to get out of the building.
When they got to the airport, they barely had time to get on the plane, but they somehow managed it.
Onward to Sinnoh!