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Pokémon:

Quest of a True Master

Chapter 9

Red... the Legendary Pokémon Master of Kanto, the first trainer to ever complete a regional Pokédex, vanquisher of the Team Rocket gang and former Champion of the Pokémon League; all across the world, his name was known, spoken with great respect by the people of Kanto, and with high regard by the people of the other regions who knew of him. Argued to be one of the greatest Pokémon Trainers who ever lived, if not the very best of this time, and he was standing in that room just a few feet away.

Mark had never felt so overwhelmed before by the mere presence of another person, but he was standing right next to a living legend! Most shocking of all the legendary trainer was no older than himself; late adolescent years at the very least but he could not possibly be older then eighteen years if he was even that far. Mark also didn't expect him to look so... ordinary. He didn't know what he'd really expected to see when he met Red, but he had always imagined him as something else entirely -although now that he was looking at him, every imagined image he had of the trainer was more or less erased, since he now knew the real face behind the name.

As Brock and Red stopped shaking hands, Red turned to Mark and Randy, regarding them curiously, and asked "new friends, Brock?"

"Travelers," replied Brock, gesturing to the two. "They're from Hoenn."

"From Hoenn?" Red repeated, his curiosity rising in his expression as he nodded. "Heck of a long trip for sightseeing."

"I'm not here for sightseeing," returned Mark, offering a hand to Red. "My name's Mark Taylor."

Red tilted his head slightly. "I've heard that name before," he said. "I was in Hoenn about six months ago... you're the one who beat Steven, aren't you?"

Mark's eyebrows raised with clear surprise. "You know Steven?"

"Yes. I was in Hoenn on a journey of my own," explained Red. "I'd heard Steven had some knowledge about ancient Pokémon, so I went to meet with him." He chuckled. "We had a lot of stories to share, and he even showed me his Metagross."

"Quite something, wasn't it?" Mark asked.

"Oh yes," agreed Red, nodding happily. "Especially it's Mega Evolution, when it clashed with my Charizard."

This time it was Mark's turn to be curious. "You battled him, too?"

Red nodded again. "I did; couldn't see a rare Pokémon like a Metagross and not try my hand against it, now could I?" He said. "By far one of the strongest Pokémon I've ever seen."

Mark laughed. "Oh, I can speak from experience on that one; when Vitesse battled with it, I was honestly sweating beads; I may have had the advantage against Metagross as a Steel-type but with it also being a Psychic-type it was anyone's game. But she didn't let me down."

"Vitesse?" Red asked.

"His Blaziken," replied Randy. "I've seen her in action myself; she's something else."

"Oh, a nickname," remarked Red. "Yeah; was never my thing, giving nicknames."

"I consider it to be a name for her rather than a nickname," Mark stated. "Blaziken is her species, but Vitesse is her name; that's how I see it."

Red nodded. "I can respect that," he said, and then had a hopeful look on his face. "Do you mind if I see her? Your Blaziken, I mean? I've never actually seen one."

Here's my opportunity, thought Mark. He gave Red a winning smile, and said, "sure, but how about we show our Pokémon the old fashioned way?"

Red's expression remained firm as he replied. "Are you challenging me to a battle?" He asked.

"I am," replied Mark. "It's why I came to Kanto; I'm on a journey to challenge the top trainers of every region. Yesterday, I challenged Blue Oak, and I won. Now, I come to you."

"You beat Blue?" Red asked, his interest clearly seized by the Hoenn trainer.

"I did."

Red was silent, eyeing Mark for a moment as if he doubted the trainer's honesty. But after a moment, he grinned widely. "Then I want to see what you can do."

The lights of the Pewter Gym switched on as Brock led the trainers into the building, illuminating the inside and revealing a room covered in stones and boulders as a battefield; plenty of space to maneuver around and areas to use as cover. "You guys can have your battle here," stated Brock. "May not suit your type preferences, but it should suffice for both of you."

"We appreciate it, Brock," Red turned, before he turned to Mark. "So, one on one."

"Just one?" Mark asked.

"Your Blaziken is the only one I want to challenge," replied Red. "And, I'm a little pressed for time; I still have people to meet and dinner at mom's, so for now, just a one on one."

Mark nodded. "Okay," he said. "My Blaziken, against your Charizard."

"Why Charizard?" Red asked.

"Because I want to see your famous Pokémon," replied Mark. "It won't be the first Charizard I've seen, but I want to see what made yours legendary among Kanto trainers."

"You are aware Flying-types are strong against Fighting-types aren't you?"

"Of course I am. But it didn't stop me against Steven, now, did it?"

Red rolled his eyes. "Right... forgot. Alright then, I'm game," he returned. "My Charizard, against your Blaziken; this will be a battle of the ages." He actually looked quite excited, like a kid knowing he was about to go to a candy store with lots of money to spend on all the teeth-rotting sweets he could dream of.

"Randy, let's go stand over here," said Brock, gesturing to the dais normally reserved for the gym leader when they were awaiting a challenger.

"Okay, Brock!" Randy returned before he turned to Mark. "Let 'em have it, buddy."

"I will," returned Mark as he reached into his vest, picking out Vitesse's Poké Ball.

When the two trainers were off to the sidelines, eagerly awaiting the start of the battle, Red and Mark took positions on opposite ends of the battlefield, eyes fixed on one another as they stood with the Poké Balls of their stalwart companions in hand, ready to see who would be proven the strongest of both. Mark was first to cast his Poké Ball forward, releasing Vitesse from its confines; she materialized in her position, and shrieked in anticipation as she held up her arms, before taking a wide-legged stance, waiting to see her opponent.

"Wow..." Red breathed. "She's so awesome! You should be proud to have a Pokémon like that!"

"I am," returned Mark, smiling.

"Alright then," Red stated, adjusting his cap before he drew back his arm. "Let's get this show on the road! Go Charizard!"

The ball was cast; in the flash of white emerged a large reptilian Pokémon that closely resembled what any reader of fiction would call a 'dragon'; tall, muscular short arms and legs but large, broad wings, a long neck, two short, blunt horns growing from the back of its head and eyes the colour of sapphires, peering out from under a brow furrowed as if the Pokémon were angry. It had colour patterns similar to Coal; a body of red skin, only brighter in colour than Coal's, with a white undertone stretching from the chest and belly to the end of the underside of its tail, which was tipped by a red-hot fire that illuminated the very ground around it. But unlike other Charizard Mark had encountered, this one was big, almost up to the same height as Vitesse and just exhumed a feeling of power just by looking at it.

"There it is," Mark whispered, utterly awestruck by the sight of the world-famous Pokémon.

"The Charizard of Kanto's greatest trainer," Randy said, before he danced around giddily, flapping his arms. "Oh, this is so awesome; where's my camera?! I have got to get this moment on film!" Even as he spoke he was practically tearing his knapsack off and setting it on the floor, digging into its contents in search of his camera.

"I've waited a long time for this, Red," Mark called. "Thank you for giving me this chance."

"Let's make it a memorable battle," Red returned, brushing his thumb across the tip of his nose.

"I intend to," Mark stated, holding up his left arm and showing the keystone imbedded in the bracelet on his wrist. "I learned when I battled Blue that to fight the best, I can hold nothing back, so I'm going all-out from the get go!" He tapped the keystone with his finger. "Vitesse!"

And then came the lightshow, and the crystalline sphere that covered Vitesse, shrouding her for a few seconds before shattering, revealing her in her Mega Evolved state. She threw out her arms and screamed with fury and ecstasy at what was surely going to be an awesome battle, the ribbons of flame trailing from her wrists intensifying, blasting out from her arms like flamethrowers before she resumed her combative pose, ready to begin.

"A Mega Evolution," remarked Red. "You'll be the first trainer I've battled that has one as well."

"Are you going to use yours?" Mark asked.

"I don't know yet; I'll let Charizard be the judge of that," returned Red, before he pointed at Vitesse. "Go get her, big guy!"

Charizard roared deafeningly before he spread his wings and took to the air, flying over the stone and making a beeline right for Vitesse. She readied herself, and at Mark's command she attacked with a Hi Jump Kick, using the strength of her legs to propel herself towards Charizard; the flaming lizard took the hit but as the two collided the results were not as expected; rather than be knocked back, Charizard flew into Vitesse, seemingly unhindered, and crashed into her, sending both of them tumbling to the ground.

Vitesse was pinned under Charizard, who reared up and drew back one of his claws, about to get her with slash, but she brought up one of her arms and caught his claws before he could swipe her. However, his forearm still continued to inch towards her, even as she grabbed it with her other arm and tried to hold him back, Charizard was actually overpowering her! Mark, blown away by the sheer strength of Red's Pokémon, barely managed to keep his mind from racing away from him before he gave Vitesse an order.

"Hurry girl; hit him with Flamethrower and throw him off!" Mark called.

Vitesse exhaled a cone of flames from her mouth, blasting Charizard right in the face; he recoiled in surprise, and with all the strength of her legs she hurled him right over his head, leaping up and turning to face him again. Charizard, shaking his head to clear it, also turned back to face her, blowing smoke from his nostrils as he awaited Red's next command.

"Charizard, use Wing Attack!" Red called.

Charizard took to the air once more, and flew at Vitesse with impressive speed. However, the Blaziken was not without speed herself; she turned and leapt out of the way, evading Charizard's wing by only a hair. Charizard circled around, flying over the boulders before he went for her again, and this time she, at Mark's instruction, jumped over the Charizard, evading him completely with plenty of space between them.

But this turned out to be a mistake.

Charizard spun around in midair, soaring backwards for a moment before he hit a boulder, landing feet first and jumping off it with the power of his short, deceptively strong legs, launching himself back at Vitesse while she was airborne. Vitesse squawked in pain as Charizard struck her with his wing as he passed, the Flying-type attack doing impressive damage and sending Vitesse cartwheeling down to the floor almost comically, dust billowing around her as she struck ground.

"Vitesse!" Mark called out, concerned.

Randy, having recorded the whole battle on camera so far, blinked with confusion. "Something's wrong with this picture..."

"With your camera?" Brock asked.

"No, with this battle; Vitesse should be doing better than this," he said. "It took my Sceptile AND my Starmie to beat her back at the Hoenn League yet Red's Charizard, who's not even Mega Evolved when she is, is dominating her... Okay that came out wrong, but still! She beat a freaking Mega Metagross; this battle shouldn't be so one-sided!"

"Maybe there's something here we're not seeing," Brock stated.

Red was actually frowning a little, eyeing Mark. "I thought this battle would be a little more interesting," he said. "I've got to say so far I'm a little disappointed."

"It isn't over yet!" Mark shot back at Red. "Vitesse, come on girl!"

A second later, the Blaziken leapt out from behind the rocks she'd slid into after hitting the floor, shaking her head to clear it, and facing Charizard again, who was already back on the ground, watching her warily.

"Vitesse, Flame Charge!" Mark called.

She launched herself towards Charizard, her body ablaze, and slammed into him with her shoulder, making him stumble with her blinding speed; the Mega Evolutions abilities were kicking in, and her speed was being amplified by the moment. Before long she'd be faster than Red's Charizard could possibly hope to keep up with -Charizard were known for speed, but a Mega Blaziken, in form for a few turns, could outrun even a Skarmory that was in flight, and she had plenty of attack strength yet.

"Now, Blaze Kick!"

She dug one foot into the ground, twisting the leg of that foot slightly before lifting the other and spinning herself about, bringing her leg around to a kick that she aimed right for Charizard's chest...

She missed.

Charizard banked out of the way just in time, making her kick miss completely; the momentum of the kick disrupted her balance somewhat, leaving her completely vulnerable...

"Mega Punch!" Red called.

Charizard lunged at Vitesse just before she could recover, striking her in the stomach with a clenched right paw. Vitesse's eyes wide as every ounce of air in her lungs was forced out by the blow to her stomach, gasping for breath even as Charizard drew back his paw, only to bring his left around to strike her again, sending her reeling to the floor, coughing and holding where she'd been hit. The strike had actually left a noticable mark in her skin; through her feathers a flowering bruise could be seen, on both her face and her stomach.

This isn't right, thought Mark. It shouldn't be going this way; Vitesse's at her peak! She should be able to handle this! Yet Red's Charizard is not even Mega Evolved and it's clobbering her as if she were still green; how is this happening?!

"I'm starting to doubt you," Red stated.

"Doubt what about me?" Mark demanded.

"That you actually are Mark Taylor and not just some pretender," stated Red. "The man Steven told me defeated him was highly regarded as one of the best trainers he'd ever seen in his life, yet here we are with my Charizard barely even breaking a sweat and your Blaziken, Mega Evolved and everything, is on her knees already half-beaten. Yet you claim to have beaten Blue? I'm wondering if that was a fluke; if this is the best your Blaziken can do he'd have flattened her easily."

"Don't you dare insult Vitesse!" Mark shouted, taking a threatening step forward and raising a clenched fist. "You keep spouting that shit about her and I'll come over there and punch out every tooth in your head!"

"You're right," Red returned without hesitation. "I shouldn't be insulting your Blaziken; I apologize to her for that." He shut his eyes for a moment, silence following until he raised his arm pointed at Mark, reopening his eyes and sporting a sharp scowl. "The problem is_you_."

"Me?"

"I know about a Mega Blaziken and its ability; Speed Boost, making it faster with every passing moment," Red continued. "Yet I can still read her movements, and so can Charizard, because she's lagging and you're slow to give her orders."

"That's not true!" Mark shouted defiantly.

"Oh no? Let me show you!" Red barked. "Charizard, Flare Blitz!"

Charizard reared back, growling ferociously and exhaling flames from his nostrils, before he took one step forward... and suddenly launched himself with unknown force, his body going ablaze as he went spiralling towards Vitesse, roaring through the flames as he soared. Mark ordered Vitesse to dodge, and this time even he noticed a slight hesitation in his reaction time; Vitesse tried to jump, but the attack caught her in the legs; she went head-over-heels over Charizard's back before dropping back to the floor.

"Now, Mega Punch!" Red called as Charizard recovered from its attack.

Just as Vitesse got back to her feet, Charizard was coming at her again, arm drawn back to punch. She raised her own defensively, using a backhanded block to deflect the punch, but he followed it up with another, and another, and another, unleashing a flurry of punches at her that forced her onto the defensive, trying to back away from him to get some recovery, but Charizard stayed on her, never giving her a second to catch her breath.

"Vitesse, Fire Punch!" Mark instructed.

The moment she attempted it, she suffered a hit across the face, dazing her and breaking her guard. In that instant, all of the following Mega Punches hit home -another to the gut, one to the chest, then shoulder and finally one more to the face; she spun on her heel before she fell back against a boulder, propped up against it and too dazed from the beatdown to move.

"Now, Charizard," Red concluded. "Fire Blast!"

Charizard jumped back, taking in a deep breath and, in a manner identical to how Coal did it, spat out a ball of flame that burst open and turned into a five-pointed shape, soaring across the arena to where Vitesse lay against the rock. Her eyes widened as she saw the attack coming, and a pained shriek was the last thing heard from her before it struck, sending dust, smoke and fragments of stone flying everywhere, forcing Mark to put up his arms to protect his eyes as several stone fragments came his way; Brock and Randy ducked to the floor to avoid a particularly large chunk, and Red only put up one arm to protect his face.

The blast subsided. Slowly, the dust began to clear, revealing Charizard, standing with a blank expression on his face as he stared at where Vitesse had been. The dust around her began to clear, uncovering the Blaziken and showing her lying on the floor, the boulder she'd been propped against completely demolished and in pieces all over the arena. Her Mega Evolution had expired, and she was lying splayed out on the stone floor, and wasn't moving.

Mark strode across the arena, running past Charizard -who didn't even look at him as he passed and began to walk back to Red's side while Mark dropped to his knees at Vitesse's, on the verge of tears as he saw the condition she was in. "Oh Vitesse," he said, his voice almost breaking. "I'm so sorry..."

Red was right... Mark had not been fighting the way he should've been. And the one paying the price for his failure was Vitesse... He looked up as he heard Red recall his Charizard, and begin to walk over to Mark, staring down at him with a disapproving look -not in a manner that he was trying to express superiority, but like someone who was disgusted by a terrible performance.

"That was a lousy battle," stated Red. "I'm sorry that I had to take it so far, but you've lost your way as a trainer. I only hope this can help you get it back. If not, then if you go challenge the other Champions and high-ranking trainers of the other regions, without some dumb luck you'll keep losing, and eventually your Pokémon will lose all of their confidence in you, with only yourself to blame for failing them."

With that, Red turned away from Mark, tucking his hands into his pockets and glancing over to Brock as he headed towards the door. "I'm heading to my mom's place, Brock; let's meet up later, okay?"

"Okay Red," Brock replied, but his eyes were on Mark, briefly passing to Randy as he went to Mark's side before returning to looking at the former with consideration.

"Hey," Randy said softly. "Come on; let's take Vitesse to the Pokémon Center."

Mark nodded. "Right... I owe that to her, and a lot more," he whispered as he brought out the Blaziken's Poké Ball and recalled her.

Brock watched as Vitesse dematerialized and was drawn back into the Poké Ball, humming in thought as he put a hand to his chin, and then began to cross the gym to walk with the two over to the Center.

The nurses wheeled Vitesse into the medical ward and promptly went to work on her, putting her under the recovery machine and disinfecting any open wounds she had received in the battle. Mark wanted to be in there with her, but the nurses said they needed space to work, and directed him over to the waiting room, where he plopped down on a couch and sat staring at the table as he waited to hear anything about his Blaziken.

Randy and Brock were both sitting with him. Brock had remained silent and deep in thought throughout the entire time, while Randy was busy fiddling with his camera, watching the playback of the battle with the volume turned down to keep from disturbing the other patrons in the Center, although it was probably also to keep Mark from getting upset. He wasn't exactly depressed -more than anything he was probably disappointed in himself for losing so easily, rather than by the loss itself. He'd been looking forward to taking on Red, only to find out the hard way that he didn't stand a chance, and now it had put his Blaziken into the recovery room of the center for the next day or so.

Mark sighed in annoyance; he just couldn't figure out what Red had meant, by how he was to blame for Vitesse's lack of performance? Mark hadn't really noticed a difference in how she had fought before, so what could Red have meant? It didn't make any sense and was confusing him more than anything. He'd lost battles before; he'd lost to Randy, he'd lost his first battle with the Gym Leader of Oldale, Norman, and he had lost to several trainers early on in his journey, but this was different; it was like he was right back at square one and therefore back to learning the basics.

Could this be why he'd been aggravated since his battle with Blue; was it because he knew he was lacking but just couldn't see it?

"Mark," Randy spoke suddenly, breaking him out of his trance. "I know you probably don't want to be thinking back to that battle but, take a look at this." He said as he held out his camera.

Awakening from his deep thought as well, Brock also looked over at the camera, and both he and Mark slid up to Randy's sides to get a better look at the screen as he began to play back footage of the battle. The scene he played was on Charizard's attempted Slash attack on Vitesse, when she had been pinned by Charizard and caught his claw with her hands, only to have to use both and still failing to stop him from inching closer, until Vitesse breathed fire in his face and startled him enough for her to launch him off of her.

"Vitesse was getting overpowered by Charizard," stated Randy. "But that shouldn't be happening, not when she's Mega Evolved; her strength should be much higher than a Charizard, even one as strong as Red's."

"Did you remember to feed her this morning?" Brock asked.

"Of course I did," Mark returned scornfully. "Even if I hadn't, she knows how to feed herself and the other Pokémon too; she wouldn't go hungry, nor would any of the others."

"And then there's this," Randy went on, fast-forwarding to the scene where Vitesse had jumped over Charizard with Bounce, only for him to turn around and launch himself off of a boulder to get to her, striking her with his wing. "See that?"

"What?" Mark asked.

"Vitesse overshot that leap; she put way too much spring into that jump," replied Randy. "She went way too high and left herself completely vulnerable, giving Charizard tons of time to maneuver back around and strike her. Not a mistake I've seen her make before."

Mark blinked, seeing clearly that the distance Vitesse had jumped was indeed too high; some would argue that distance would be irrelevant as long as she had evaded the attack, but Mark knew better, and knew Vitesse better than this. She had almost leapt up to the ceiling, far more than was necessary to evade Charizard, yet as the Flame Pokémon hit the boulder and launched himself back at her to complete his attack, she should've been back to the floor via the inescapable power of gravity, but because she'd jumped up too high it'd given Charizard all the time he needed to get her before she could land and bring her guard back up.

"Now here is where she does the exact opposite," Randy went on to where Charizard had attacked with Flare Blitz. "She jumped too late to evade him, ended up doing a face-plant right into the floor. First she jumps too early -and too high, and then she jumps too late and too low, literally throwing her for a loop."

"What about in the trade of fists?" Brock asked. "Play that back."

"Okay," replied Randy.

Finally the scene where Charizard had been absolutely whaling on Vitesse, unleashing a flurry of punches, forcing Vitesse onto the defensive; she'd successfully blocked each punch until Mark had given the order to counter attack with a Fire Punch, but in that split second he'd caught her across the face, and that second had broken her guard; she was then swiftly subjected to several more, equally painful punches that eventually sent her right into a boulder, where the Fire Blast caught her before she could even move.

Brock looked at Mark. "Is this really how your Blaziken battles?" He asked.

"No... something's definitely wrong," said Mark. "Her timing's off, her attacks are off the mark, and her muscle control isn't what it should be."

"Do you think she's sick?" Randy asked.

"She seemed fine when I called her out," Mark returned. "But I'll check with the nurses when they come back out; I'll have them check."

"Mark," Brock began. "I want to ask you something that might seem personal."

Mark looked at Brock oddly. "Okay... what about?"

"How many battles have you had since you left the Hoenn League?"

Mark paused at that question, and had to take a moment to think back to exactly how many battles he'd had up to this point... and slumped as he realized there had only been a few. The most recent, besides Red, was his battle with Blue, which he'd nearly lost. Before that was when he'd faced Marvin aboard the S.S Julia, then his one-on-one against Randy at Slateport, and lastly, the Biker he'd beaten at Mauville City. But between that Biker and his battle with Randy at the Hoenn League...

"Just four," replied Mark. "And... all of those over the past few days."

"None prior to that?" Brock asked.

"No..."

Brock nodded. "And now, tell me; how often did you train with your Pokémon during your off-time?"

"Well I go for a run with Vitesse, Fang and Coal every day, Tanker likes to wander around by tunneling through the desert -a few times, he even came back with signs of battle on him. Siren spends all of her time swimming in the pond when she's not in the house, and I let Palm Tree out on clear days to go for a flight," replied Mark. "They all seemed pretty capable of staying fit on their own, so I guess... I didn't train very much with them."

"Train very much, or didn't train at all?" Brock asked, sternly.

Mark leered at him. "Just what're you implying?"

Brock stood up from his seat without answering the question, slowly and carefully, not looking at Mark until he was completely on his feet. "Come with me," he stated.

"Where?"

"Back to the gym," replied Brock, glancing at Randy. "You mind staying here in case they give an update on Vitesse?"

"Uh, sure, I can do that," replied Randy.

"Hell no; I should be here for her!" Mark returned. "She's my Pokémon; only irresponsible trainers just leave them behind."

"Only if you're leaving her alone," Brock assured. "She knows Randy and the nurses know he was with you; it'll be fine." His voice became harsh as he spoke again. "Now, come on." He practically commanded Mark, storming towards the Center doors and stepping through them as they slid open, waiting outside for Mark to follow.

Mark hesitated, turning once to Randy to get his opinion. Randy could only shrug helpessly at him in a 'Why not?' manner. Mark let out a grunt of annoyance before he followed Brock to the door, wondering what the Pewter Gym Leader had in mind...

Mark followed Brock through the doors of the gym, switching the lights on once more as they entered. It was then Mark saw the extent of the damage Vitesse's battle with Charizard had done; several boulders were destroyed, and an upper floor window, over the walkway above, was spider-webbed from what was probably the impact of a rock fragment, from when Vitesse had been hit by Charizard's fire blast. Beyond that the floor was littered with fragments, and Mark had to be mindful of where he stepped as he followed Brock over to the battlefield, facing him as he stopped and let Mark walk around him.

"Brock, what're we doing here? I should be back at the center, waiting for Vitesse," Mark inquired, wanting an answer.

"Randy will take care of her; right now, this is about you," said Brock, looking at Mark sternly as he produced a Poké Ball from his belt holster. "You and I are going to battle, right now."

"Me, battle you?" Mark asked. "Why?"

"Do you really need a reason?" Brock asked. "Now, bring out your strongest Pokémon."

"My strongest is currently lying in the Pokémon Center unconscious, in case you haven't been paying attention," Mark reminded, glaring at Brock.

"Then bring out your second strongest or whomsoever in your party you consider to be," Brock said, once more in that commanding tone he had before. "Or don't. Either way, I'll find out what I need to."

"Look, Brock, I'm not interested in having another battle," Mark retorted. "I need to get back to the Center."

Just as Mark turned towards the door though, Brock cast his Poké Ball forth, and out of its contents materialized a massive form; a snake-like body divided into sections by boulders, and a head, also oddly snake-like and smooth as if carved from solid stone except for two white eyes, the only visibly organic part of its entire body, that peered out from a pair of sockets, and a tall horn, resembling a double-edged sword, from the top middle of its large head. Even as it emerged, the large, boulder-y snake slid in front of Mark and blocked the door, stopping him from leaving.

"Move it, Onix," Mark said sternly.

"He'll only listen to me, Mark," Brock stated.

Mark glared at Brock over his shoulder. "Then tell him to move before I go bare-knuckle on you."

"I issued a challenge, and you're going to take it," Brock retorted. "Or are you so devastated by Red utterly crushing you underfoot that you don't think you can handle even a lowly Gym Leader like me?" He grinned mockingly at Mark. "So what's it going to be, Mark?"

Mark clenched his fists angrily, his blood ready to boil over as his gaze hardened further. "Alright Brock," he said, glowering as he turned away from Onix, approaching the battlefield again and walking over to where he had been standing when he fought Red. "This will serve as a good lesson for you."

"What lesson would that be?" Brock asked.

"Being careful what you wish for!" Mark retorted as he produced a Poké Ball and threw it out to the battlefield.

From the confines of the ball, a form equally massive, if not larger than Onix, emerged; a Steelix appeared, grinding its teeth together noisily as it faced Brock's Onix as the rock Pokémon dragged itself over to 'stand' behind its trainer, the eyes of the two massive serpents of rock and metal meeting just as the eyes of their trainers did. Steelix, being the evolved form of Onix, was slightly bigger and undoubtedly heavier, but professional trainers had been using Onix for a long time without ever evolving it into a Steelix, as it differed from its evolved form only by not having a Mega Evolution, being lighter and slightly less sturdy, but the same kind of attack strength and specializations.

"So tell me; did you use this Pokémon against Blue?" Brock asked.

"Tanker here is the one who beat his Blastoise," replied Mark.

Brock actually smiled at that statement. "Perfect."

The doors to the medical room opened as one of the nurses approached them; Randy recognized them as one of the ones who took Vitesse before. He stood up from his chair and stepped over to the nurse. "Excuse me," he began. "A Blaziken was taken back there a short time ago; it belongs to my friend. Do you mind telling me how it's doing?"

"The Blaziken? It's doing fine; a little battered up but after an overnight stay in the recovery room, it should be ready to go," replied the nurse.

"Good to hear," said Randy. "But, uh... may I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"When you were examining her, did you happen to notice if she was feverish or anything; any way to indicate if she was sick?" Randy inquired.

The nurse hummed as she held up her clipboard and leafed over a few pages before coming to one. "Aha, here we are; Female Blaziken, responds to name 'Vitesse'."

"That's her," confirmed Randy. "Registered trainer is Mark Taylor."

"Got it... and what's your name?" She asked.

"Randy Calvin; I'm a friend of Mark's."

"Okay, then," said the nurse. "According to our tests, she's perfectly healthy besides the battle marks she received; no indication of sickness or toxins." She looked at Randy. "She does seem to be a little out of shape though; the strain on her muscles was quite high for a trained Blaziken, almost like they haven't been used much." She lowered the pages and held the clipboard to her chest. "Was there some reason for this inquiry?"

"Just thought she seemed different today... but nevermind. Thanks for the info."

"You're welcome. When you see Mark, tell him that we'll have her back to normal first thing in the morning," the nurse promised.

Randy nodded. "Thank you, miss."

With that, the nurse excused herself and stepped away to get back to work. Randy watched her as she left before turning on his heel and walking back over to the couch with a hand to his chin, although he didn't sit down, now suddenly more concerned than ever with Vitesse; the simple answer to their problem, the question Mark needed answered, all in just one little diagnosis. Vitesse had not been exercising the way she needed to, and it was likely that very trait that had led to her having such a crushing defeat at the claws of Red's Charizard, not to mention it was probably what Red had been trying to tell Mark all along...

"I wonder how Mark is going to take this?"

Tanker roared loadly as he moved in to tackle Onix again, attempting to strike him with an Iron Head attack, but Onix lunged out of the way, avoiding the attack and sending the Steelix face-first to the floor, smashing a boulder with his head before Tanker began to rear back. Before he could turn, Onix tackled him again, the sound of rock hitting metal echoing deafeningly through the gym as Tanker was knocked back somewhat.

"Geez, that Onix is fast!" Mark exclaimed.

"People tell me it's the fastest Onix in the world," Brock stated. "Truth or not, he's been my most dependable partner ever since I first became a trainer." He pointed at Steelix. "Now, Onix, use Rock Smash!"

Onix lunged forward with a deep, guttural growl, swinging its tail about and bludgeoning Tanker across the face, sending the Steelix reeling and hitting the floor from the sheer force of the impact. Tanker didn't stay down long though; with some prompting from Mark, he began to rise back up, but Onix was coming again. Acting fast, Mark gave another command. "Tanker, use Iron Head!"

This time, Tanker rushed to meet Onix's charge head on, throwing his greater mass at his pre-evolved counterpart, while Onix threw himself towards Tanker with his greater speed backing his lesser mass, attacking with another Rock Smash. However, Tanker blew through his attack, bashing Onix's tail aside before slamming into Onix's middle full force and sending it tumbling back with a crash as the massive rock snake hit the floor.

"It's becoming increasingly clear to me that Onix may be too light to take on your Steelix head-to-head," Brock remarked as his Onix, once again, raised himself back up on his tail, damaged but still capable fighting.

"Then quit this pointless battle," Mark stated. "I may not have been able to beat Red but there's no way you can beat me; I'm beyond any gym leader."

Brock scowled. "I may not have known you for long, but I know you're not the arrogant sort," he said. "Is that just your frustration at losing to Red without knowing why you did?"

"His Charizard was too powerful; what more is there to consider?!" Mark exploded. "If you've got something to say to me, then say it!"

"If I merely said it in words, you wouldn't listen," Brock retorted. "I have to force you to see it, the hard way."

"We'll see who's having it the hard way when Tanker's done with you," Mark stated, his eyes furrowed with rage. "Tanker, Iron Head again!"

"Onix, Bide!" Brock called.

Tanker charged right for Onix as the rock snake braced itself, meeting Tanker's head with his own, and visibly hurt by the impact, but he stood fast, never losing his composure, and when Steelix struck him again, a blow that should've and would've finished any Rock-type if not for the sturdiness of Onix, he struck back, swinging his head at Tanker like a rock wrecking ball, bludgeoning him with such force that Tanker went careening into a wall. He stayed there for a moment before he slid down to the floor, moaning.

"Tanker?" Mark called.

"He's down and out," stated Brock. "Nice work, Onix."

"Grarrrrre..." Onix growled, but teetered somewhat, battered from the battle. Brock recalled him to his Poké Ball, before the gym leader turn back to look at Mark.

"So, want to keep going?" He asked, almost tauntingly. "Or do you not have any strong Pokémon left?"

Mark scoffed. "Do you? Last I heard, your Onix was your strongest."

"Onix may be the one I'm famous for, but I believe in all of my Pokémon," retorted Brock. "And they believe in me; I train with them all the time and I have never slacked in my care for them; can you say the same?"

"I..." Mark froze, suddenly beginning to feel that nagging sensation again; he'd been ignoring it until now, but now it was intensifying, refusing to be ignored. Some thought, some lingering thought that his subconscious would not allow to surface was trying to tell him something, but what?! The confusion was starting to become maddening, making his head itch as if his scalp was swarming with insects. He couldn't find words to retort to Brock with; everything he tried died in his throat.

"Mark... I can see you love your Pokémon very much," Brock began, his voice softening to a more gentle tone. "Especially Vitesse; I've known many trainers, and among all the ones I've met, the only one with as much love for Pokémon as you was Red himself, most of all being his Charizard. With you, I can see it with Vitesse; she fights for you, and you take care of her and speak to her like she's a person, not a Pokémon. I rarely meet any trainers who look at their Pokémon that way."

Mark was left without words; he could think of nothing to say to Brock, amazed by how well the gym leader knew him just after meeting him a few short hours ago. His attention was seized by the sound of metal grinding against stone, looking over as Tanker rose up from the rocks; he watched the Steelix as he slowly dragged himself over to Mark, lying down at his side and giving him an apologetic look. Mark gave Tanker a reassuring smile, rubbing the metal fin above his eye in reassurance; the touch prompted Tanker to close his eyes and rest, and with that, Mark recalled him into his Poké Ball.

The Hoenn trainer turned to look at Brock again. "So what is it exactly, you're trying to tell me?" He asked. "That there's something I've done wrong?"

As if on cue, the door to the gym opened, catching the attention of both trainers; they turned to the entrance, and spotted Randy entering the building. The third trainer paused as he saw the two, and the new damage done to the gym battlefield. "Did I miss something?" He asked.

"Not really," Mark lied. "What's up?"

"Well I spoke to the nurses," began Randy, approaching Mark. "Vitesse is actually quite healthy; she's well fed, no signs of illness or toxins, all in all a good hearty Blaziken."

"I'm sensing a 'but' here," stated Mark.

"But... she's out of shape," returned Randy. "She shows a lot more strain than she would if she were completely fit. I think that's why Red won, because she's not as fit as she should be."

A mental explosion went off in Mark's head... and suddenly everything was clear to him. The nagging feeling vanished just like that, and through his mind, he once more began to mentally play back his battle with Blue -it was there, after that battle, Mark had begun to feel wrong, and now he knew. Siren, when she fought Arcanine; she was no speedster but she was slower than she should've been, not to mention going down so easily; she may not have been the most solid close-range combatant but she had more stamina than any of Mark's Pokémon; nothing could've taken her down... at least the way Mark remembered her. Fang was more or less the opposite of Siren; physically buffed, much quicker on the ground, and although not strong against Special Attacks, nothing could've taken him down in one hit, not even a Legendary Pokémon; Fang was as stubborn as a mule and wouldn't allow himself to be beaten so easily. Coal was young and spry, but not quite at his limit; he could easily still become stronger even without evolving.

Tanker and Palm Tree were both sturdy combatants, able to take heavy hits and keep going but they had been slow -even for a Steelix and a Tropius that had not been fast enough, as Mark had just seen against Brock's Onix, which despite being the pre-evolved form of Steelix, unlike other evolutions Onix was no less powerful, being much faster at the cost of less defense, and by being a Rock-type it could challenge Fire-types, which a Steelix was vulnerable to. As for Tropius, they were not known for being powerhouses but they were hardy and had an even division between attack and defense with that of special attack and special defense; not strong, but balanced, and in the right hands, still effective.

But Vitesse was the big eye-opener for Mark.

She had never failed him; from the first battle out of Littleroot Town as a Torchic all the way to battling Sydney of the Elite Four at the Hoenn League, she'd always made him proud; she was his strongest Pokémon, but if even she stood no chance against Red then none of Mark's Pokémon would have any hope of defeating his Charizard, let alone whatever other Pokémon he'd been carrying with him.

Mark turned to Brock, then, eyeing him with a blank expression. "This is what you were trying to show me," he stated.

Brock nodded. "I was. But like I said, in the state of mind you were in, you would never have listened; my words would have fallen on deaf ears and you'd either return to Hoenn with no confidence, or you'd continue your journey, and you'd keep losing. There are trainers out there even Red can't beat; his track record is not perfect. Of all the battles he fought, he's lost four that he told me about."

"What four were those?" Randy asked.

"His first battle against Blue," replied Brock. "Then when he first met Giovanni -the boss of Team Rocket and then at the Pokémon League months after he won the Championship from Blue; he came back after going away to train, and he beat Red just as easily as Red bested you, Mark."

"He was beaten? Why?" Mark asked. "And how? How could Blue beat him after losing the Championship to him in the first place?"

"Because just like you, Red became complacent; he stopped training his Pokémon, spending most of his time researching Mew and searching for it. He also mistakenly thought his Pokémon were at the height of their strength," Brock explained. "But that's not true; it's never true. Just like people, Pokémon can always improve, but also just like people, if they do not keep up with their training, no matter how 'star athlete' they were before, given enough time they'll become out of shape, and thus become weaker.

"Your complacency rubbed off on them; you decided to live in quiet respite, and though you did keep fairly fit, a human has an easier time staying fit than a fully-evolved Pokémon does; merely jogging with your Blaziken each day would keep up her speed, but not her other aspects; her muscle control, her control of her fire abilities, and her upper body strength, all of this wanes without proper attention just like it does for a human."

"You sure know a lot about Pokémon anatomy and internal functions," Randy pointed out.

Brock smiled at that. "I've been a trainer for most of my life, and among my many interests was in the field of becoming a Pokémon Breeder; to become a good one, you need to understand how Pokémon function -their best living environments, the best food for them, and knowing how to nurture their individual natures and personalities." He looked back at Mark again. "I've only seen two of your Pokémon, namely Vitesse and Tanker, but you mentioned before that Tanker liked to dig around the desert and sometimes came back with battle marks, right?"

"Right."

"Well, then among all of your Pokémon, Tanker may be your strongest," Brock remarked. "Because he's the only one who stayed active, plus you're living in an area with ideal living conditions for a Steelix; the sand of a desert has millions of nutrients and minerals they can absorb, so by tunnelling around and battling wild Pokémon, in a way he was training without you."

Mark chuckled. "Tanker always has been rather independent... I guess that explains how he was able to beat Blue's Blastoise."

"That's quite possible," agreed Brock. "But now you understand what you have to do."

Mark nodded to Brock. "I do, yes... I have to go back to training. Otherwise, I'll never defeat Red."

"There's one good thing about Pokémon who have fallen out of shape," Brock mentioned. "They can actually get back into it fairly quickly. Find a secluded area; train them as they were before, until their skills are back to what you remember them being. But don't come back to battle Red right away."

"Why not?" Mark inquired.

"Because you're going to need to be absolutely certain you can beat him," replied Brock. "There's one trainer in Kanto stronger than Blue but has never beaten Red; Lance the Dragon Master."

"Lance?" Mark repeated. "He's the Kanto Champion; I was actually going to battle him last after I battled Red."

"If you're going up the list from bottom to top, then you're going in the wrong order," Brock stated. "Lance has never beaten Red, and now even Blue can't defeat him. He's as much Red's rival as Blue is, and Lance has never lost a battle for the Kanto title ever since he received it. If you want to battle Red, and win, then you need to beat Lance first. Only then will both you and your Pokémon know you're ready."

Mark let out an exasperated sigh. "But Red's leaving soon... there's no way I can train my Pokémon and defeat Lance before he takes off; how will I get another chance?"

"Red's not going to Sinnoh just yet," assured Brock. "He's staying for a week, but then he's coming back again, same time of next month. If you're not back before then I'll convince him to stay for as long as I can. You have six weeks; that should be enough time to get your team fit again. Take a month at least, and at the end of that, or longer if you need to, go to the Pokémon League and challenge Lance."

"How do I contact him?" Mark asked. "He is the Champion after all. And, I probably should've thought of this sooner; how do I know he'll even accept my challenge?"

"Lance never backs down from a challenge; you can be sure of that," replied Brock. "Whether you're there for a title match or not, he'll accept... and he'll come at you with everything he has, so do no less."

Mark nodded, and then had a thought, which brought another question to his lips. "One last thing."

"Yes?"

"You mentioned there was a fourth who beat Red before," Mark began. "I read somewhere that the current Johto Champion battled Red; was that the fourth?"

Brock nodded. "It was. Red and Ethan had a climactic battle atop Mt. Silver three years back, and Ethan was victorious."

Mark was silent, considering that for a moment. "So I'll know I'm ready for Ethan... if I can beat Red... it's like climbing a ladder."

"A ladder that's going to have caltrops waiting for you on a few steps," Brock stated. "It's going to be a pain to climb."

Mark grinned. "Then I'll make myself a pair of metal boots and climb with those."

"What do you mean you don't want me to come?" Randy asked.

"Just what I said," replied Mark. "It's better if I go train my Pokémon the way I did before; get them where they were... and further if I can."

"And how did you train them before?" Randy asked.

"Every way possible," replied Mark. "And I also train with them; to break their complacency I have to break my own too."

"Wait by 'with them' you mean you actually train right alongside them?" Randy asked.

"There's that... some of Vitesse's moves, I copied, and she even uses some of mine."

"You spar with your Blaziken?" Randy asked with clear surprise. "And she doesn't leave you bloody and battered?"

"You think I got as fit as I did by just jogging?" Mark asked, plainly. He reached down to his lower back and lifted up his shirt, exposing a scar on his back; three nasty-looking, but long-since sealed, jagged cuts over his hip. "Vitesse did that when she was still a Combusken; it was an accident, but she managed to get by my defense. Became easier -and safer for me when she evolved into a Blaziken, and had hands instead of talons."

"Yikes. I can imagine," returned Randy. "So what am I supposed to do while you're gone?"

"You've got a whole region to explore; you'll find something," returned Mark in assurance. "Think of it as a vacation; go to the slots or the big department store in Celadon or to the dojo in Saffron. You'll find things to do."

Randy shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I will," he admitted. "Still kind of wish I could go with you though; help you train."

"Oh, you'll help," replied Mark, grinning. "Because when you find me at that valley, at the end of the month, the first person I'm battling is you. You'll be my first test."

Randy grinned back. "I'll take that as a challenge."

The two shook hands for a moment, and with that, Mark stepped back, walking over to Palm Tree and climbing onto his back, seating on the hump between his wings and draping his legs around his neck, and holding him around the neck before he nodded to the Tropius, whispering 'go' to him. Hissing in confirmation, Palm Tree spread his wings and made a running start before jumping and flapping his palm-frond flight limbs, ascending high into the air, climbing until Pewter City resembled a model city assembled on a table.

Mark stared ahead as Palm Tree turned his direction west; they were informed of a valley in the mountains near the Indigo Plateau that was very secluded and had ideal landscape for all of Mark's Pokémon to practice in. Having purchased some camping equipment that was all stored away in his knapsack and some bags slung over Palm Tree's back, he was ready for a nature expedition, full of strain and thrills.

Mark grinned. "Well, when it comes to training, no time like the present, right Palm Tree? Show me how fast you can fly!"

"Hsssssoh!" Palm Tree returned, before he beat his wings harder, causing the wind to rush all around the two...