FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Mark’s battle with Blue had taken many twists and turns thus far. Blue had proven to be able to see through all of Mark’s opening strategies at first, allowing him to decisively defeat not just one, but both of Mark’s most stalwart defenders, Tanker and Siren, by Pokémon whose attack types they were both specifically trained to be able to withstand. Mark had been forced to change up his tactics, going after Blue’s mighty Alakazam with Coal for a distraction, and at the right moment, swapping him out for Fang to soundly defeat Alakazam.

Now the battle was getting into the next round; Blue was to choose his third Pokémon, with Mark anxiously awaiting to see what he would be facing next. Across the room from the Viridian Gym Leader, he stood with his Blaziken, Vitesse, both of them watching intensely, with Fang standing before them, teeth bared and growling with anticipation as he awaited his next opponent.

“Arcanine, you’re up!” Blue called as he threw the Poké Ball in his hand to call forth his next choice.

From the ball emerged an Arcanine; a huge, quadrupedal canine Pokémon with a body of blazing red, covered with several black stripes, and a mane of beige fur around its head and down its front, running over its chest to between its front legs, with a matching tail growing from the hindquarters. This Pokémon was big; easily twice as tall as Fang –even though he was quite large for a Mightyena he was still utterly dwarfed by this Arcanine.

Mark narrowed his eyes as he considered how to respond. ‘Fang’s strong, but he’s way too slow to take on an Arcanine,’ he thought. ‘Without Tanker or Siren, the only way to win here is to match speed with speed.’ “Fang, come back!” Mark called out.

Fang, who had been growling at Arcanine, let his mouth close as he heard Mark’s command, and began to back away, promptly returning to Mark’s side and standing on his left, looking up at his trainer expressionlessly.

“Good job, Fang,” Mark complimented him for his battle against Alakazam, before he turned to Vitesse, who nodded back and stepped forward onto the battlefield, taking Fang’s previous position and huffing with readiness as she faced the Arcanine.

“So it’s Fire-type against Fire-type,” Blue commented. “You know I don’t think I’ve ever battled against a Blaziken before.”

“Then you’re in for a treat,” Mark stated as he lifted up his left arm –the arm on which the bracelet that housed his keystone was worn.

Randy, still recording the entire battle on video, looked up in alarm as he saw Mark’s keystone. “Oh, shit just got real,” he said.

“What’s that?” Blue asked, noticing the stone on Mark’s wrist. Suddenly, his eyes widened. “Hey... I’ve seen a stone like that before!” He exclaimed, and then noticed the mega stone housed in the harness Vitesse wore, shining from her right shoulder. “One like that too, but a different colour!”

Mark was about to touch his keystone when he heard Blue say those words, his fingers stopping in just a low hover over the stone. “You have?” Mark asked. “Where? These kinds of stones aren’t found in Kanto.”

Blue’s eyes narrowed. “Well someone found one. And that is the one trainer who can beat me,” he replied. “Red.”

Mark’s eyes shot wide open, as did Vitesse’s. “Red?” Mark echoed, holding up his wrist to give Blue a better look. “You’re sure of that; Red has a stone just like this?”

“Without a doubt,” Blue replied. “I even saw its power once, when I last challenged him. He used it on his Charizard, and...” Blue grimaced. “The change it underwent; it was like another evolution.”

“It basically is,” Mark replied. “It’s called ‘Mega Evolution’; when used, a Pokémon ascends to its final form, reaching the very limits of its power. Unlike regular evolution, it doesn’t last; overtime the Pokémon reverts back to its previous form.”

“It’s only temporary?” Blue asked.

Mark nodded to him. “Yes. There are only a few Pokémon known that can use this power, but those that can are often coveted by trainers,” he explained. “I knew Charizard was one such Pokémon but I had no idea Red actually had a Mega Stone.” He looked attentively at Blue. “What was Charizard like when it changed?”

Blue’s gaze fell slightly, that question seeming to strike a nerve with him. His answer was slow, emphasizing their meaning with tone alone as he spoke. “Like I was staring at the very rage of Dragons themselves, given form,” he replied. “Black as night, with eyes like a ruby, and breathing flames the colour of a blue sun.”

“Blue fire?” Randy asked. “Holy crap... now I want to see this thing!”

Mark narrowed his eyes after hearing Blue’s explanation, picturing a black Charizard in his mind and feeling a chill creep up his back, as the image he conjured made him feel like he would be going up against a truly monstrous Pokémon when the time came for him to face Red. “And you battled this new form yourself?” Mark asked.

“I did,” Blue replied. “It was possibly the strongest Pokémon I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Mark nodded, and then looked at his keystone. “I’ve seen some amazing Pokémon take on enhanced forms of their own,” he said. “And let me tell you, no matter how many times you see it, it always takes your breath away.” He turned to look at Blue again. “But enough about that; we’ve still got a battle to finish. You’ve seen a Mega Charizard...” He tapped his keystone, which began to glow as he continued speaking. “Now you’ll get to see a Mega Blaziken.”

Mark had not used Vitesse’s Mega Evolution in a long time, he realized; not since his battle with Randy nearly a year ago, when she had fought his Sceptile. Now she would finally be able to battle at her full power again. As the stone on Mark’s wrist and Vitesse’s shoulder shone brightly, a crystalline sphere formed around the Blaziken, engulfing her in its mass and shining brightly until it shattered, and unveiled her in her ascended form; red and black, with her crest having angled itself straight upward in a V-shape, and ribbons of fire trailing from her wrists, intensifying as she clenched her three-fingered hands into fists and threw them outward as she let out a shriek of power towards the ceiling.

Blue watched in stunned silence shared only by his Arcanine as Vitesse ascended to her Mega Evolution, watching as her form changed. Although it was nowhere near as drastic as the one he described for Red’s Charizard, it was still quite the transformation, and he could just feel the power radiating from her. “Never thought I’d hear myself say that... but that is simply amazing.”

“Alright, Blue,” Mark called. “You ready to get back to our battle?”

Blue grinned widely, his brow furrowing; even he was starting to show some excitement for this battle, despite having initially being disinterested. But Mark was reminding him what it was like to have a challenging opponent, and now was starting to really enjoy the battle. “Okay then, but no matter how strong your Blaziken is, let’s see how she matches up to my Arcanine’s speed!” He chimed, with a bark of acknowledgement from Arcanine.

“We’ll show you what speed really means!” Mark declared, with Vitesse crowing in agreement.

“Arcanine, Extreme Speed!” Blue called.

Arcanine charged forward, his body a blur as he suddenly boosted forward as though propelled by a jet engine, rushing at Vitesse too quickly for her to get out of the way. She braced herself, taking the incoming super-speed tackle, sent skidding as Arcanine slammed into her but managing to keep her balance. In retaliation, she charged forward, swinging her leg at Arcanine with a mighty Blaze Kick, which he dodged, and struck back with Fire Fang. Vitesse jumped away from him before he could bite her, and then lunged back at him to land a punishing left hook across his face, which she followed up by ducking low and delivering a Low Sweep to his legs, knocking them out from under him.

He struck the ground on his side, and Vitesse backflipped away from him, staying away from the fight as Arcanine stood back up, his eyes fixing upon her with a fierce stare. “Take Down!” Blue called, sending Arcanine chasing after Vitesse again, but his sprint was slower this time, affected by the Low Sweep he had suffered before, slowing him down ever so slightly, but enough to make him slower than Vitesse. She avoided his oncoming charge, and retaliated with Dual Chop as ordered by Mark, striking him once across the cheek, and when he retaliated by trying to Bite her, she jumped over him, arcing over his head and striking him with the second chop to his neck.

The strike sent Arcanine careening onto his side, battered by her onslaught; she was too fast, even for him –engaging Vitesse at close range was too difficult, for that was where she excelled. Noticing this, Blue tried a different strategy, ordering Arcanine to use a non-physical attack. “Dragon Pulse!”

Arcanine barked at Vitesse, and with that came a powerful blast of violet energy, catching her off guard and blasting her clear off of her talons, but she recovered quickly and somersaulted as she hit the ground, landing back on both feet again. “Bulk-Up!” Mark ordered, prompting Vitesse to channel her energy to strengthen her body, before the next order for a Blaze Kick came, and she was off again, faster this time –her Speed Boost ability was progressively making her even faster, and when Arcanine fired two more Dragon Pulses, she was able to avoid them, eventually closing the distance between them and delivering a powerful roundhouse kick straight to his cheek.

Finally when Arcanine fell, he stayed down, knocked clean out by the kick to his face and forcing Blue to begrudgedly recall him to his Poké Ball. But he didn’t let up, immediately reaching for the next and tossing it forth. From the confines of the ball emerged a large humanoid Pokémon with an abnormal number of limbs, standing easily as tall as Vitesse but utterly dwarfing her in overall girth, sporting thick muscles along four long arms, and between its legs it had black markings resembling a pair of wrestling shorts along with a belt worn around its waist. Its legs were rather short for its size, but still densely packed with musculature. It had gray skin covering most of its body except for a tan area around its mouth, two red eyes, and ridges atop its head resembling a cornrow-style haircut.

“Machamp,” Mark muttered softly. ‘Although I’m pretty confident in Vitesse’s close-range combat skill, going head-to-head with one of these goliaths is a death sentence. We’ll have to play it cool and focus on outmaneuvering it instead of overpowering.’ As Vitesse returned to her position, Mark relayed this idea to her as discreetly as he could. “Don’t try to square off with him; even Mega Evolved that Machamp is still going to be much stronger than you; use your speed and agility to wear him down and wait for my signal.”

She nodded to Mark without argument, turning back to face Machamp as the battle resumed. Past the four-armed giant, Mark could see Blue at the other side of the arena, standing wide-legged and with his hands clenched into fists; Mark could just see the excitement on his face even from this distance. He was enjoying the battle as much as Mark was. Perhaps more as, by his own words, he hadn’t had a challenging opponent for quite some time, and was eager to keep it going.

“Machamp, attack with Karate Chop!” Blue ordered his Pokémon.

Machamp growled in compliance and charged forward, running at a surprising speed for a Pokémon of its size and quickly closing the distance between himself and Vitesse, holding his hands up in knife hand fashion as he attacked, attacking Vitesse with his lower left arm. She banked out of the way, the next attack coming from Machamp’s upper right arm, under which she ducked, and then sprang away, landing on her hands and flipping back onto her feet a safe distance away as Machamp pressed the attack.

“Keep up the pressure; Cross Chop!”

Machamp surged forth, attacking Vitesse with both of his lower hands at the same time. She had only just returned to her full height and couldn’t get out of the way before they reached her, forcing her to put up her own arms in defense. The force of which Machamp struck her was bone-jarring, even as powerful as she was, but she stood her ground, the eyes of the two meeting as they fought to overpower one of another.

“Machamp, Submission!”

Hearing his trainer’s command, Machamp grinned, and shifted his arms to seize Vitesse by her shoulders, yanking her off of her feet and swinging her around before grabbing her from behind with all four of his arms, holding her in a tight bearhug that nearly forced the air out of her lungs. With that, he jumped, high off of the gym floor, nearly reaching the ceiling in that one leap. With that, Machamp then threw his head back, adjusting their trajectory to drop head-first back towards the floor, falling into a spin-dive as they dropped.

‘If they slam dunk like that, it’ll knock Vitesse out cold!’ Mark thought hastily, trying to figure out what to do. There was no way she could pull herself out of Machamp’s grasp with the few precious seconds she had before impact; her only way out was to somehow force Machamp to let go of her, and there was only one thing he could think of. “Flare Blitz!”

Hearing her trainer’s command, Vitesse’s body ignited, immolating herself and letting Machamp feel the sting of her flames, and then was blown clear away from her when the attack combusted, catching both of them in the blast and sending them flying away from each other. Vitesse flipped forward, managing to land on her feet while Machamp caught himself on his four hands, both managing to break their falls without suffering additional damage as a result..

“Pretty slick there,” Blue complimented. “Using the blast from Flare Blitz to break Machamp’s hold, but also pretty risky –I bet she felt that as much as Machamp did.”

“It was all I could think of to break free,” Mark admitted. “Sheer strength alone wouldn’t have gotten her out of that one.”

“No, probably not,” returned Blue. “Let’s get back to it, then! Machamp, Bulk-up!”

“Roost!”

Machamp’s muscles bulged visibly as he followed his trainer’s directive, making himself stronger and sturdier as he channeled his energy into his limbs. Vitesse adopted a calmer, more refined stance, using her energy to heal herself and undo the damage that had been done by using Flare Blitz; even if she hadn’t attacked Machamp directly with it, the act of immolation and combustion had still taken its toll. Thanks to Roost though, it was quickly washed away, and she was ready to get back into the fight.

Machamp received an order from Blue to try Karate Chop again. “Bounce!” Mark ordered Vitesse, sending her into a mighty jump into the air as Machamp rushed at her, soaring high over his head.

“Got you now!” Blue chimed, before giving his next order. “Machamp, Smack Down!”

“Oh shit!” Mark cursed.

Machamp reached down, digging its hands into the soil before it pulled out a large stone, gripped between two of its hands, which it carried up with it as it sprang, launching itself after Vitesse and then hurling the stone at her. At first, it seemed to miss, until it dropped back down and struck her from above, sending her hurtling back towards the ground with the rock trailing behind her. Fighting through the pain, she tucked her arms against her chest and rolled, narrowly moving out of its way before both her and the rock reached the ground, but unlike before, she couldn’t correct herself before hitting the ground, landing painfully against the sandy floor.

Mark breathed a sigh of relief when she stood up again, though; she still wasn’t out of the fight. But now, he could sense that she was reaching her limit. ‘If she hadn’t healed herself before that attack, she’d be toast,’ Mark thought. ‘But one more hit like that and she’ll be down for the count; got to finish this now_.”_

_ _ “Machamp, Cross Chop!” Blue called, sending Machamp back into the battle again, aiming to finish off Vitesse now.

“Strafe!” Mark called. “Get away from him!”

Vitesse complied, dashing left and avoiding Machamp’s attack; she was off so suddenly that she actually left an after-image of herself. Her speed had climbed to its peak, but she was still limping as she skidded to a stop. “Use Roost, then Bulk-Up!” Mark called, aiming to take advantage of the precious seconds she’d bought from her evade.

Channelling the energy through her body, she healed most of her bruises, and then her muscles swelled as she strengthened herself further. Now at the height of speed and power, Mark ordered her to close in on Machamp, who at Blue’s command, thinking she was coming in for a direct attack, used Counter, but at the last second before reaching him, she sped off to the right, darting to his flank, and then lashing out with a roundhouse kick to his face.

“Low Sweep and Bounce!” Mark called hurriedly, coaching her onward as he saw the opportunity.

Machamp managed a clumsy hook punch just as Vitesse responded, grazing the top of her crests as she ducked down below, and then spun herself about with an outstretched leg, knocking Machamp off of his feet before she brought both of her talons under her again and jumped, launching herself into the air before Machamp had even hit the floor. Blue called out in warning to Machamp, who looked up in time to see the Blaziken dropping back towards him, but he could do nothing, not even put up his arms in time to stop her before she landed, both feet first, on his stomach, emptying his lungs of air and leaving him stunned and groaning in pain sprawled out on the floor. When he failed to get up, the outcome was decided.

“Machamp, return,” Blue said, half-heartedly, as he recalled his Pokémon to its ball, letting out a sigh. “Starting to wonder if I’m a tad rusty,” he stated. “You beat two of my Pokémon with just one and she still looks ready to brawl.”

“I’ve fought with Vitesse in more battles than any of my other Pokémon, the closest second being Fang,” Mark commented, looking at the Mightyena standing by his leg. “She’s got a ton of experience, and knows how best to execute every attack I direct her way, while I know the right attack to use at the right time. Thanks to that –at the risk of sounding smug, we make a damn good team.”

Blue actually flashed a genuine smile at that, shaking his head and chuckling. “You’re so much like him, you know,” he said.

“Like who?” Mark asked.

“Like Red,” Blue explained. “He formed such a strong bond with his Charizard it was like they could read each other’s thoughts; he used him in every battle, even at type disadvantages, and yet somehow they always pulled through together in the end. It didn’t matter what challenge was thrown his way; Team Rocket, the Legendary Birds, battling for the Kanto Championship, he overcame them all, and completed the world’s first regional PokéDex to boot.”

Mark chuckled. “Well, I’ve never done anything like that,” he admitted. “I became the Hoenn Champion, but I’ve never battled a Legendary Pokémon, or defeated a big gang or completed a PokéDex. I’m just an ordinary trainer –a good one, maybe, but still just a trainer.”

“Hey, Mark!” Randy called. “Don’t go selling yourself short; come on! You’re ruining my video!”

“Then pause the recording you ditz!” Mark called back.

“Nah, he’s right,” Blue chimed in, reaching along his belt to select his next Poké Ball. “Friendly banter’s never been my thing, and I’ve still got two Pokémon left to your four so I’ve got to make up for some lost ground.”

Mark grinned back at him. “Bring it on,” he stated.

With that, Blue sent out his fifth Pokémon. Mark watched intensely as he saw the ball fly through the air, wondering what was coming out next. ‘Will it be his Blastoise, or his Gyarados?’ He thought. ‘I’m ready for either one; Vitesse’s beaten Water-types before, she can do it again, especially against slow ones like those.’

_ _ Much to his dismay, however, the Pokémon that emerged from the ball was neither one of what he was expecting. With a shrill cry, a brightly coloured bird emerged from the Poké Ball, taking wing within the wide open expanses of the gym interior. The bird had light brown feathers with an even light undertone, almost cream-coloured, with a yellow and pink plume growing from the back of its head, and black eye sockets with matching eye colour, surveying the battlefield before fixing upon Vitesse.

‘Crap, a Pidgeot!’ Mark cursed in his mind. ‘I didn’t see anything about him having a Pidgeot!’

_ _ “Pidgeot, use Quick Attack!” Blue called.

With a shrill cry, Pidgeot folded in its wings and plunged towards Vitesse, opening them again only when it was close to the ground before soaring at her. She narrowly managed to get out of the way, her own speed allowing her to evade even a high-speed attack, but Pidgeot ascended back into the air again before she could even turn around. Before Mark had time to come up with an idea, Blue called out his next attack.

“Now, Hurricane!”

Pidgeot wheeled about, facing Vitesse’s direction before it reared back and opened its wings wide, beating them feverously to generate a powerful gust of wind. Vitesse put up her arms to cover her eyes from the blowing dust, the flames trailing from her wrists snuffed by the wind. She struggled to maintain her balance, but as the wind began to form a circle around her, she was quickly losing ground. Mark tried to call out to her, but the wind was so fierce, she couldn’t hear him, and he could only watch helplessly as it began to swirl around her.

And then, she was yanked off of the floor, the spiralling windstorm carrying her up off the ground. She flailed in midair, trying to gain control, but there was nothing to grab onto or kick off of, and she was sent cartwheeling and tumbling through the air, finding it harder to breathe inside the vacuum of the hurricane. When Mark saw the flames of her wrists going out completely, he knew that there was nothing more she could do.

“Vitesse, come back!” He called, brandishing her Poké Ball and using the recall function to pull her out of the hurricane before more harm could be done, drawing her back into the safe confines of the ball and ending the round for her.

The hurricane subsided, and the dust finally settled. Pidgeot circled around through the gym interior before landing on the floor in front of Blue. “And the tides have turned,” the gym leader stated.

Mark scoffed at himself, cursing under his breath. ‘If only I’d known he had a Flying-type, I’d have saved Siren for taking on Pidgeot; I came here thinking he had a Gyarados.’ He began to think again, trying to come up with a strategy to turn this back in his favour. ‘Only other Pokémon I have that knows an Ice-type move is Fang, but Pidgeot’s got the advantage in the air not to mention Hurricane’s a Special Attack and Fang can’t handle those; even getting hit once by it could knock him out. Palm Tree’s too slow –besides the fact he’s a Grass-type. I could use Coal but Blue’s not going to fall for that Smokescreen trick again.’

_ _ Mark looked down at Fang. ‘If I can at least get Pidgeot with Snarl and Torment, Coal might have a chance... but will Fang be fast enough?’

The Mightyena looked back up at his trainer, meeting his gaze before very suddenly barking at Mark, making him jump slightly. The look Fang was giving him showed he was willing to do whatever Mark had planned to win the battle, even if he couldn’t be the one to take down Pidgeot himself. His determination filled Mark with pride; Fang had always been his most reliable partner next to Vitesse, always doing his best to come through for him, whatever it took...

Mark nodded to Fang. “Okay boy,” he said, before pointing out to the battlefield. “Go!”

Fang charged out from the trainer’s box, running to his spot on the field and growling in anticipation for the battle. Pidgeot flared out its wings and cried out in challenge to the Mightyena, and the battle was back on.

“Fang, Snarl!” Mark called.

Obeying Mark’s command, Fang unleashed a feral-sounding Snarl attack at Pidgeot, the air seeming to shimmer in front of his muzzle as he did so. Pidgeot recoiled from the noise, but immediately took to the air following it; the attack had visibly shaken it but not stopped it, and at Blue’s command, Pidgeot began to stir up another Hurricane.

“Shadow Ball!” Mark called.

Fang opened his maw wide, a dark purple sphere of energy forming quickly between his teeth, which he summarily spat at Pidgeot. Unfortunately, he missed, but it was enough to make Pidgeot bank to the side, cancelling the Hurricane attack and buying Mark another second. “Now, Torment!”

As before, when Fang had used the attack against Alazakam, his eyes glowed brightly, and he elicited a bloodcurdling howl as a pulse of dark energy erupted from him. Pidgeot became enshrouded in the same dark energy, clenching its eyes and shaking its head side-to-side, trying to shake off the effects.

“Shoot! Not again!” Blue cursed, until he remembered the first Hurricane attack had failed, and so ordered Pidgeot to use it again. This time, the attack went uninterrupted, assailing Fang with the gale force winds; he ducked down low, hugging the ground and trying to brace himself against it as sand and powerful winds assailed him, digging his nails into the dirt as an anchor.

Of course, the floor was sand, and it did not make a good anchor. Eventually Fang was pulled off of the ground, flailing instinctively and letting out a surprised yelp as he was pulled up and started to get thrown around by the storm. Realizing the worst had happened, Mark quickly used Fang’s Poké Ball to recall him. Now he was down to only two Pokémon, the same as Blue.

‘Wasn’t able to land a single attack on Pidgeot... but it can’t use Hurricane for a little while,’ Mark thought as he reached for his next Poké Ball. ‘So I better make this one count...’

“Coal! You’re up!” Mark called, casting the ball forward and bringing out his Charmeleon once again, who growled with excitement as he materialized from the Poké Ball.

Blue’s eyes narrowed. “The Charmeleon again,” he said, and then, “You proved to be pretty tricky with him before; I won’t fall for that again,” he firmly stated.

“No tricks this time,” Mark returned. “I’m taking a simple approach with this one.” He looked up towards the skylight, and then called out, “Coal, use Sunny Day!”

Coal threw back his head and released a fierce growl towards the ceiling, and with his voice the sunlight outside seemed to intensify, becoming harsh and bright as it beamed into the building, bathing Coal in its light and somehow causing the flame on the end of his tail to intensify as well. He snorted a puff of smoke, and faced Pidgeot, ready for battle.

“Pidgeot, Quick Attack!” Blue ordered.

Pidgeot let out a shrill cry before taking flight again and launching itself at Coal like a missile, to which the Charmeleon dropped onto his belly, letting Pidgeot fly over him, before, at Mark’s command, he swung around and fired a Flame Burst at Pidgeot. The fireball missed, but its aftermath did not; as the sphere collided with the wall near Pidgeot and exploded, it showered Pidgeot with dozens of embers, searing the backs of its wings and making it fly awkwardly, allowing Coal to launch another Flame Burst at it, this one scoring a direct hit, sending Pidgeot careening to the ground where it crashed into the sandy floor.

Pidgeot struggled to get up, beating the sand from its wings and shaking it from its eyes as it stood, but it was too slow; Coal closed in, running full-speed at Pidgeot, and just as it opened its eyes, the little Charmeleon landed a Headbutt right on Pidgeot’s chest, knocking the wind of out of it and knocking it onto its back once again, where Coal stood triumphantly on top of the stunned Pidgeot.

Blue pulled out the Poké Ball for Pidgeot, recalling it. “Return,” he said, half-heartedly, looking at the ball briefly before tucking it away on the back of his belt. “Well... this is quite a surprise,” he said. “It’s been a while since I met a trainer that was able to push me this far, bringing me down to just one Pokémon.” At that, he produced the final Poké Ball on his belt, holding it in his hand as he continued speaking. “Far be it from me not to say you’ve impressed me. What did you say your name was?”

“It’s Mark,” replied the Hoenn Trainer. “Mark Taylor, from Taylor Farms.”

“A country guy, eh?” Blue asked. “You must’ve spent most of your life around Pokémon, I wager?”

Mark nodded. “I did,” he replied. “Spent pretty much my whole life on that farm, helping raise the Pokémon that lived there. I actually didn’t embark on my first journey until I was fourteen, when I decided it was time, then headed to Littleroot Town and received my Torchic from the Professor there. I was on my journey for about two years before I became the Hoenn Champion.”

Blue nodded. “Your experience definitely shows,” he stated. “So, ready to bring this battle to its conclusion?”

Mark smiled at him. “You bet,” before looking at Coal, producing his Poké Ball and calling the Charmeleon back. Coal was reluctant at first, clearly wanting to keep battling, but he compliantly let the beam strike him, converting him into energy and drawing him back into the sphere, putting it away inside of his vest before pulling out the last one. The one he had been saving for this very moment...

“Alright fella,” he said. “Let’s do this.” Pulling back his arm, he wound up for the throw, and at the same time as Blue, cast it forth. The two Poké Balls spun through the air, before popping open and releasing the Pokémon within.

Palm Tree emerged from his ball, landing on the floor an eliciting an excited hiss as he splayed out his palm leaf wings, flapping them a few times before staring ahead as his opponent emerged from their own ball and appeared on the field.

The Pokémon that appeared was, as Mark had expected, Blastoise. ‘I was right this time,’ he mused, looking back on how many times he’d been caught off guard in this battle. Blue had so far not done anything that he had expected, causing Mark’s opening strategies to fail him, but now that Blue was down to his last Pokémon, he was ready to carry out the strategy he had been saving Palm Tree for from the start.

Blastoise was a huge, blue turtle, with a downward covering snout with a hardened lip –likely meant for biting, Its shell was brown, with a tan underbelly, and he stared at Palm Tree with two brown eyes. It stood easily six feet tall –much bigger than the average Blastoise, and jutting out from his back over his shoulders were two metallic cannons, coming out of openings in its shell. Its head had a flat top, with a cream colours lower jaw, and two extensions –almost like cat ears, growing from the sides of its head.

“That looks like a Grass-type,” Blue commented. “So you’ve been saving that one all along for my Blastoise, huh?”

“I have,” Mark replied. “I read up on you; your Blastoise is one Pokémon you always have, which means it’s probably got the most experience out of all of them. The best way to take it down is with type advantage.”

“It’ll take much more than just that to beat Blastoise!” Blue declared. “You think I didn’t come prepared for Grass-types? Let me show you! Blastoise, Ice Beam!”

“Oh shi-!” Mark cursed, watching in terror as the Blastoise’s cannon barrels lit up with ice blue light, taking aim at Palm Tree. “Palm, fly, hurry!”

His excited tone was a mistake; his sudden hollering only served to cause Palm Tree to panic, and his reaction time was too slow to get out of the way of the twin Ice beams. He flew up, only to be stricken in the underbelly by them, falling onto his back with a pained cry.

Being both Grass and Flying-type, Ice-type attacks were the worst thing a Tropius could be subjected to. Were it not for Palm Tree’s high defenses, that attack would have defeated him in that one hit, but he rolled over onto his front, and rose back to all four feet, hissing in pain.

“Palm... I’m sorry; I panicked,” Mark said to the Tropius. “Are you okay?”

Palm Tree looked back at Mark, and nodded his narrow head to him. Mark nodded back, and they both looked forward as Blastoise was ready to continue.

“Taking a direct hit like that; that’s one tough Pokémon you got there,” Blue commented. “Blastoise, Ice Beam again!”

“Fly,” Mark said, calmer this time, and Palm Tree responded promptly, taking wing and avoiding the second Ice Beam from Blastoise.

The turtle didn’t give up yet, though, bringing around its cannons and firing again, but the Tropius banked away just in time; now that he was in the air, he was at his maximum mobility, but Blastoise was most mobile in the water, and they weren’t fighting in water. If Palm Tree could stay out of the aim of his cannons, he could win!

Palm Tree circled around Blastoise, with the turtle tenaciously shooting one Ice Beam after another at him, but failing to land a direct hit on his target. Finally, Palm Tree was behind him, and had his opening. “Leaf Tornado!”

Palm Tree angled himself towards Blastoise and began to spin in midair, performing an aileron roll and flinging leaves from his body, creating a twister around him that became filled with leaves, sending them swirling towards the Blastoise. The turtle turned round just in time for the attack to hit him directly, assailing him with the storm of leaves. The Blastoise growled, aiming with its cannons and firing, but he missed again –this time, no fault of his own but rather because the gust accompanying the leaves was causing his eyes to tear up and blurred his vision.

“Nice work, Palm!” Mark called. “Now, Synthesis while you have a chance!”

Palm Tree pulled up, angling towards the skylight and flying directly into the sunlight beaming through, still intensified by Coal’s earlier use of Sunny Day, filling him with energy. Synthesis grew more powerful in direct sunlight, and, the stronger the light the more powerful the healing factor. Palm Tree’s wings lit with a bright golden glow as he absorbed the nourishing rays of the sun, healing his earlier injuries almost bringing him back to the peak of health.

Blastoise blinked the tears from his eyes, clearing his vision, and eventually located Palm Tree. “Blastoise, you have to finish this now!” Blue called. “Ice Beam, one more time!”

Blastoise took aim with its cannons, but the light didn’t shine from them this time. The turtle looked at its cannons in shock, shared by Blue as it dawned on him; Blastoise had run out of power for the Ice Beam. “Crap!” He cursed.

“Leaf Tornado again!” Mark called

Palm Tree repeated his earlier attack, once more sending the cyclone of leaves at Blastoise, but this time Blue was ready for it. “Rapid Spin!” He called.

Blastoise jumped in a circle, quickly withdrawing into his shell and going into a spin as the leaves bombarded his shell, glancing off and dealing minimal damage to the turtle, who then spun off to the side to get out of the trajectory of the Leaf Tornado, emerging from his shell and extending his cannons once more. At Blue’s order, he fired a Hydro Pump, striking Palm Tree directly with two powerful streams of water.

The attack stumbled the Tropius; it didn’t do as much damage as it would have if he were another type, but the sheer concussive force of the water streams was still enough to knock him out of the air, knocking him back to the ground once more. He hit the sandy floor with a crash, but he defiantly rolled onto his belly and stood back up, turning to face Blastoise, still in the sunlight beaming in from above.

“Now Palm Tree, Solarbeam!” Mark called. “Finish this!”

Palm Tree reared back his head, once more splaying out his wings to catch as much sunlight as possible, drawing in all of the energy he’d need. Mark saw Palm Tree’s body reacting to his Solar Powered ability, with hot spots appearing on his wings and patches of red, like sunburns, appearing on his skin. The side-effect of Solar Power caused Palm Tree’s body to suffer harm when he drew energy from the sun, but the power it gave him increased his strength drastically.

The Miracle Seed he wore around his neck began to glow as well, reacting to the use of a Grass-type attack and filling him with even more power. Golden light gathered in his mouth, forcing his jaws apart as the Solarbeam began to form, charging up faster than normal thanks to the sunlight.

“Blastoise, Hydro Pump!” Blue called. “Give it all you got!”

Angling its cannons towards Palm Tree, Blastoise fired two powerful streams from his cannons, sending them straight at Palm Tree. At the same time, Palm Tree fired his Solarbeam, unleashing the destructive ray of sunlight turned deadly energy weapon. The two attacks collided in midair, but the contest was short; with Palm Tree’s enhanced power and the natural advantage of Grass against Water-types, the Solarbeam won out in the end.

Blastoise took the attack directly, and was blown backward, falling onto his shell and skidding along the floor until he was sent sliding head-first into the wall. Blue was forced to cover his face from the cloud of dust stirred up by the skid and the collision with the wall, calling out to his Pokémon.

But when the dust settled, Blastoise was down for the count. He lay there, motionlessly, on the back of his shell, knocked unconscious by his collision with the wall, and thus bringing about the end of the battle...

“I don’t believe it...” Blue whispered.

“YES!” Mark bellowed suddenly, throwing up his arms and cheering triumphantly. Without another thought, he ran out onto the field towards his Pokémon. Palm Tree turned to face him, hissing joyously as Mark threw himself at his Pokémon, swinging around his neck as he hugged the Tropius tightly in his glee. “You did it boy! You rock!”

Palm Tree hissed again, stretching out his wings proudly and holding his head high, but then winced, and Mark suddenly found himself holding up a large amount of weight as Palm Tree’s left right leg suddenly gave out from under him. Mark reacted quickly, bringing his arms around Palm Tree’s chest and grunting as he struggled to support the leaf-covered sauropod, easing him down onto his belly. Of course Mark couldn’t actually lift the Tropius; he simply added his strength to his Pokémon’s as he let him lay down, and then turned his attention to his leg, noticing a dark spot on the inside of the leg. Not dark like a bruise, though; blacker, like dead flesh.

“So that’s where the Ice Beam hit you,” he said, looking closely at the patch of frostbite on Palm Tree’s leg, not touching it as he had little doubt it was very painful. “Let me help you with that.” He shrugged off his knapsack, bringing it around in front of him and went immediately for the medicine pocket on the lower half, unzipping it and sticking his arm inside, rummaging around for an Ice Heal and a Super Potion. “Sorry, boy; you might’ve been able to dodge that if I hadn’t been so startled; I didn’t even think his Blastoise knew Ice Beam.”

He chuckled as he felt Palm Tree bump him with his crown, as if to scold Mark for damning himself in such a way. And then, Mark felt a touch on his shoulder, but it wasn’t from Palm Tree; he looked behind him, and found Blue standing there, holding something out to him; a box-like bottle with a green colour.

“Use this on him,” he said. “It’s a Full Restore; it’ll treat the injury way better than a Potion.”

Mark looked up at Blue as he gingerly accepted the item from him. “Thank you,” he bade the gym leader, and then turned his attention back to Palm Tree, finding the nozzle on the little green bottle and squeezing the sides to spray the contents over the frost bitten area.

“I have to admit, this Pokémon of yours was pretty tough; what kind is this anyway?”

“He’s a Tropius,” Mark replied.

“I’m guessing he’s a Grass/Flying-type, right? Kind of obvious by how he was flying around.”

Mark nodded. “You got it,” he replied. “I’ve trained Palm Tree here to be a flying tank; I knew he’d be the perfect Pokémon to take on your Blastoise.”

“I was surprised by how powerful and sturdy he was,” Blue admitted, and then looked closely at the Miracle Seed on the Tropius’ neck. “Aha, so that’s how your Solarbeam was so powerful; you gave him a Miracle Seed. Pretty clever.”

“Actually there was more to it than that,” Mark began as he finished applying the medicine to the frost bitten area, before going on to get to the burns left on Palm Tree’s body as well. “I assume you saw how strong his attacks became while he was in the direct sunlight coming through the roof?”

“I did; why?” Blue asked

Mark looked past Blue before answering, noticing Randy was coming over to join them, joining in on the conversation as Mark continued explaining to Blue his meaning. “In the PokéDex, Tropius are described as becoming stronger in direct sunlight; their leaf-wings absorb the sun’s rays like a rechargeable battery absorbs electricity, but at a much faster rate.” Finally finished with the medicine, he passed it back to Blue as he carried on. “Each one has a different ability but they all prosper in sunlight. Palm Tree here in particular has an ability called ‘Solar Power’; in strong sunlight, his special attack power increases.”

Blue perked up at that, suddenly realizing what Mark meant. “Your Charmeleon, when it used Sunny Day,” he said. “That wasn’t just to power up himself; you meant to use it to power up your next Pokémon too. And since Solarbeam can be fired instantly while the sun is bright, you also eliminated the need for time to charge up.”

Mark nodded. “Correct.”

“Their abilities vary; some Tropius have the Chlorophyll ability,” Randy added to the explanation, “while others, though much rarer, have the Harvest ability, and all three abilities benefit from sunlight.”

“So in any form, the sun is the best friend of a Tropius,” Blue commented before looked over his shoulder at the skylight, noticing that the sun was beginning to return to its normal brightness. “But what would you have done if your Charmeleon hadn’t been able to use it, or it expired before you could unleash Solarbeam?”

“In the event of that, Palm Tree also knows Sunny Day,” Mark replied. “If given the opportunity, he’d have used it to gain his power back. There’s just one unfortunate side effect to Solar Power.”

“What’s that?”

“The way that his absorbs and converts the sunlight into power causes him physical harm,” Mark returned, pointing out one of the hot spots left in Palm Tree’s leaf wings, where it had browned and crinkled as though it was wilting. “It heals eventually, but this makes it risky for him in battle; the more power he draws in the more harm it can cause him.”

“In just that one attack, you’ve got so much happening at once,” Blue commented. “Solar Powered, that Miracle Seed, plus the natural boost to Grass-type moves he’d already give, you essentially double the output of his attack. Throw in the natural weakness of a Water-type like my Blastoise, and you can almost knock him down in a single hit, even with his defenses.”

“That’s pretty much the idea,” Mark replied. “To keep the battle as short as possible.” He passed the bottle of Full Restore back to Blue; he’d emptied almost half of it treating his Tropius’ burns and frostbitten leg.

But Blue waved his hand dismissively. “Keep it; I got more,” he replied. “Owning a Gym has certain perks, like a store discount at Poké Mart.”

“...Wait, you get a discount?” Randy asked.

Blue, rather than answer Randy, turned his attention back to Mark, his brow furrowing and giving away that he was about to speak of something very serious. “Since you won, Mark, let me give you a piece of advice,” he began. “Although you’ve shown you’re a pretty tough trainer, if you plan to battle Red, don’t. At least not yet.”

“Why not?” Mark asked.

“Because there is no way you’d be able to beat him,” Blue returned, plainly.

“He beat you didn’t he?” Randy asked.

Blue shot him a dirty look once more. “That doesn’t mean anything,” he stated. “I’m a great trainer, yes; from the day I started I was always a great trainer –never lost a single battle from Pallet Town all the way to the Pokémon League. When Red began, he was clumsy and made a lot of mistakes, but overtime he rose to a level beyond what I could ever have imagined a dimwit like him could ever have achieved. He was the first trainer to ever beat me,” he looked at Mark. “And you’re the fourth, now.”

Mark tilted his head curiously. “Who was the second?” He asked.

“The current Johto Champion, Ethan,” Blue replied. “He’s also the only trainer I know of to have ever beaten Red since he left the league.”

“Ethan has fought Red?” Mark asked. “And he even beat you as well?”

“Wait, left the league?” Randy intervened. “You mean he simply walked away from his Champion title; no one took it from him?”

“No,” Blue replied. “He simply left; just gave it up.”

“It’s true,” Mark added, looking at Randy. “My bingo book says the same thing; Red was never defeated at the league. He simply abdicated from it, and so the next one made Champion was the leader of the Elite Four which, at the time, was Lance the Dragon Master.”

Randy looked at Blue. “So why didn’t you go back? If Red gave up the Champion title, why didn’t you go win it from Lance again? You’ve beaten him before, right?”

Blue looked away, scowling deeply as his gaze lowered to the floor. “I couldn’t,” he replied.

“Why not?”

“Because it wouldn’t have felt like a win!” Blue snapped at him, making Randy jump back slightly. “I couldn’t become the Champion again knowing that there was just one trainer out there who could always just come and take it from me! Especially not when it was someone who I swore I’d never lose to!”

Noticing the looks both Mark and Randy were giving him, Blue quickly calmed down, taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly to calm himself. “Sorry,” he returned. “But it just wouldn’t have felt right... You see, ever since Red and I were kids, we were always rivals. I was always the better of us, though; he always fought to surpass me, but never could because, back then, he was an idiot. All throughout the journey through Kanto, I was always two steps ahead of him. I thought he’d never catch up to me, especially not when I became the Champion.

“But then, sure enough, he walks into the Pokémon League, beats the Elite Four as I did, and moves on to challenge me as well. It was a hard-fought battle, all the way; eventually it came down to Blastoise and Charizard –I had every advantage. I was more skilled, and I had the type advantage. And yet, that didn’t matter; Charizard still won. He was so driven, and Red was so determined, that despite all of my skill and all of Blastoise’s strength, Red beat us, and in less than a day after becoming Champion, I was back to being just another trainer.”

He elevated his gaze again, looking at Mark and Randy intensely. “Then he went and just gave it up... he walked away from the Champion title like it meant nothing. You can’t begin to imagine how much that infuriated me; it felt like an insult. After that, I went to battle him again, and he was even stronger than ever –I didn’t even beat half of his Pokémon, especially not when he brought out Charizard and underwent that super evolution...”

“Mega,” Randy corrected.

“Whatever,” Blue replied. “But I didn’t go back to being Champion because I knew I wasn’t the greatest trainer in Kanto, and to me only the best should have a title. So, I never went back; I took over this gym after its last owner, Giovanni, disappeared, and here I’ve stayed ever since. Until I can beat Red, and probably Ethan as well, I won’t return to the League. That may seem stupid to you, but it’s what I’ve decided. I don’t expect you to understand.”

“I do, actually,” Mark said suddenly. “I’ve been down that road before. Hell, I’m on it now.”

Blue looked at him with some surprise. “You... are?”

Mark nodded back to him, and said, “when I became the Champion of Hoenn, I felt like I was on top of the world too –like I had become one of the greatest trainers of the generation. For a year I clung to that title, and beat every challenger, but then I found out the hard way that I wasn’t as great a trainer as someone else.” He gestured to Randy. “And that someone happens to be right here.”

Blue turned his head sharply, looking at Randy with mild shock. “You mean... this guy is the one who beat you and took your Champion title?” He asked. “But then does that mean you are the current Champion?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Randy replied, rubbing the back of his head. “I lost too, just over a week ago; a trainer showed up with a Legendary Pokémon and crushed me. So, just like Mark, I’m an Ex-Champion as well.”

“It tore me apart when I found out Randy lost,” Mark continued. “So soon after beating me, too; it made me feel like somehow I had only become the Champion as a fluke. I began to doubt if I had ever truly deserved to have the title, and soon I decided that there was only one way to know for sure; one sure fire way to know if I really am one of the best trainers in the world. So I set out on this new journey, to battle the greatest of all the regions. That journey brought me here to Kanto, and will take me across the world, until I find the answer. Then, and only then, will I know where I stand.”

Blue met Mark’s gaze for what seemed like a long, drawn-out moment, taking in all of the information he had received and seemingly gauging Mark’s truthfulness –or at least that is what he guessed Blue was doing. He had become oddly quiet, and it started to make Mark shift uncomfortably, until finally he spoke again.

“Alright,” Blue began. “Here’s a tip, then. When Red’s Charizard Su-... Mega Evolves, its sub-type becomes Dragon. If you want to win against him you have to be ready to face that.”

“I’ve beaten Dragon-type Pokémon several times before,” Mark commented.

“Not one like this, I guarantee it,” Blue returned, shaking his head at Mark. “Charizard has power like you wouldn’t believe, like the rage of a whole flock of dragons all in one body. But it’s not just that you have to worry about; there’s also Red’s other Pokémon. He changes them up often; it’s impossible to know what he’s bringing ahead of time. Remember, he was the first trainer to complete a Regional PokéDex, and to do that it means he had to capture one of every Pokémon in Kanto.”

Mark opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out, his teeth clicking back together as he realized the gravity of what Blue was saying. “So the only one I can truly prepare for is Charizard, but that’s going to be the toughest one no matter what I face; is that what you’re telling me?”

“Yes,” Blue replied. “Red has spent years training all of his Pokémon while travelling around –every single one of them is strong enough that Gym Leaders would love to have them. Your Pokémon are strong, but you need to make sure every one of them is ready for what you’d face. Tell me, what other Pokémon do you have?”

“Uh,” Mark began, not sure how to answer without sounding like a complete imbecile to the Gym Leader. Mark’s approach to Pokémon Training was not like most trainers –some were out to catch as many as possible just to boast about how many they have, others to build perfect teams. Mark liked to think his team was balanced, with defenders, attackers and speedsters able to tackle any situation.

Eventually, he had no choice but to come out and say it. “I... don’t.”

“You don’t what?”

“I don’t have any other Pokémon,” Mark replied. “What you saw today is all I have.”

Blue’s expression went completely flat, staring at Mark with a blank face and completely unmoving except for the occasional twitch of his eye or the need to blink. His expression soured, and he waved his arms frantically before he shouted. “Are you kidding me?! You’re an ex-Champion and you only have six Pokémon?! How... how did you ever make it to the title with only six?”

Mark could only shrug, not sure how to answer that question, and Blue started to pace, going into a rant. “So if those are your only six, you don’t have an Electric-type, you don’t have an Ice-type, you don’t have a Rock, Poison, Dragon or even a freaking Bug-type! What is wrong with you?!”

“They’ve seen me through every single Gym in Hoenn; I won all of them with just these six,” Mark returned. “Never switched them out for anything.”

“Then the Gym Leaders in Hoenn either suck or you’re just that good,” Blue returned.

“Hey, come on; it wasn’t like that,” Mark went on. “I taught my Pokémon moves they could use to take on other types as well, like your Blastoise knowing Ice Beam or Alakazam knowing Focus Blast. It never led me astray.”

“How did you deal with Dragon-types, then? I assume at least one Gym or one of the Elite Four contained a Dragon-type trainer.” Blue asked.

“Drake did, yes. And to answer how I dealt with them, Vitesse knows Dual Chop, Fang and Siren both know Ice-type moves, and Siren also knows Disarming Voice,” Mark explained. “And as of recently, I have my Charmeleon who knows Dragon Pulse, plus there’s Tanker who’s resistant to Dragon-type attacks. Besides that, there’s usually a sub-type I’m able to exploit. When it comes to Dragon-types I can honestly say I have nothing to be afraid of.”

“I see,” Blue returned, rubbing his chin. “Still, six Pokémon isn’t going to be enough. They may have taken you all the way to the Championship but eventually you’re going to meet a trainer who is the perfect counter to every trick you have with just those six –it may not happen today or tomorrow, but I speak from experience when I say, sooner or later, you’ll find yourself completely backed into a corner.”

“But I’ve always been able to beat every Pokémon I’ve ever fought,” Mark returned. “I’ve never needed any others but the ones I have.”

“You just admitted you lost to this guy right here,” Blue reminded, pointing at Randy. “You don’t think that’s a sign you need to change up your roster a bit, particularly if you ever battle him again?”

“I...” Mark paused, turning his gaze over to Randy, who stared back as well, their eyes meeting for a short moment until Mark finished his sentence, forgetting what he was originally going to say. “I never thought of it that way.”

Blue let out a sigh. “Look, I’m not good at this kind of thing, but let me give you some advice. If you really want to make the most out of being a Pokémon Trainer, there are several things you have to remember. Firstly, keep training, even if you’re not on a journey; Pokémon get out of shape even faster than humans do but they can bounce back just as quickly too. Secondly, catch more Pokémon –even if it’s only one of every type –you’ve shown me you’re a strategist, and I guarantee you, the more you have, the better your strategies will be in the long run. You’re off to challenge the best trainers in the world; you can’t go about that as a one-trick Ponyta, or you’ll only end up getting schooled –especially by Red.”

Having been a Champion once, Mark felt a bit of a sting to his pride, knowing he was being lectured in such a way. Fortunately, he was not as hot-blooded or arrogant as other boys of his age –even though he and Blue were the same age, he knew Blue had begun his Pokémon journey years before Mark had and was more experienced. Furthermore, he thought back to the lesson he had learned after battling Randy; that if he wanted to remain competitive in an ever-changing world of Pokémon and Trainers, then he needed to be able to change with it.

Maybe Blue’s advice was one of the first steps to doing just that, he wondered. Maybe his small team approach just wasn’t enough anymore –especially not for what he was setting out to do. Blue was right; sooner or later, he would find an opponent that the six Pokémon he had with him would not be able to defeat.

Mark turned to Blue and nodded. “For someone who claims he’s not good at giving advice, that’s some pretty sound advice you gave me,” he remarked.

Blue averted his gaze, looking a bit embarrassed. “Don’t mention it,” he said. “No really, don’t.”

“One last question,” Mark began. “Can you give us any tips on where to find Red? We know he lives in Pewter City but we don’t know his exact address. Your grandfather also told us he’s not always there so who would we talk to?”

Blue brought his gaze back to Mark, considering the question only briefly before he answered. “You’ll want to talk to Brock, the Pewter Gym Leader,” Blue replied. “I don’t know Red’s exact address in Pewter, but I’ve heard he visits Brock whenever he comes back to town.”

“Are they friends?” Mark asked.

“Yeah, apparently when Red and I were rookies, Brock was watching us when we had our first battle against each other,” Blue explained. “He gave Red some sound advice, and since then I guess they became buddies or something.”

Mark nodded. “Thanks Blue,” he said. “And for what it’s worth, regarding our battle, it was a damn good one. Thanks for accepting my challenge.”

Once more Blue averted his gaze, but could not hold back his smile at the compliment. “Yeah... it was a good battle, I’ll admit.” He then looked back at Mark, giving him a two-fingered salute. “Seeya on the flip side, then; if you find yourself in Viridian again sometime, let’s have a rematch.”

Mark smiled back, nodding to Blue. “I look forward to it,” he said.

Outside, Mark and Randy left the Viridian Gym behind, making their way towards the Pokémon center. As they walked, Randy was reviewing the footage from the battle he had captured on his camcorder, particularly of the final clash between Palm Tree and Blastoise, when the latter took the powered-up Solarbeam directly and was sent flying. He whooped as he saw the turtle Pokémon knocked down, and looked at Mark.

“Anyone who ever said Tropius’ are weak clearly never saw yours in action!” He exclaimed. “That was freakin’ awesome, right?”

“Totally,” Mark returned, although it was in a half-hearted manner, which did not go unnoticed by Randy.

“Oye; what’s up with you? You just won the first match of your new journey; I’d think you would be more excited.”

“Oh I’m happy, no worries there,” Mark stated. “But... I don’t know; I’ve got this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that I’m missing something.”

“Like what?”

Mark shrugged. “I wish I knew,” he replied. “Over the course of that battle I felt like I could’ve done better. Do you think Blue’s right; that I need more Pokémon if I want this journey of mine to succeed?”

“Yes,” Randy returned.

Mark arched an eyebrow at him. “You didn’t even hesitate.”

“There hasn’t been a Pokémon master out there who didn’t have lots of Pokémon to choose from,” Randy returned. “You’re actually the first Champion I ever heard of whom stuck to just six Pokémon for use at all times. Even then, when I first met you, you only had five.”

“I figured that keeping a small team would ensure that all the Pokémon I had would have the experience necessary for me to win the Championship,” Mark returned.

“Which kind of worked, yes, but you’re going a much bigger step than that now,” Randy went on. “The six Pokémon you have are strong, yeah, but think about who you’re up against. You battled Blue almost to a stalemate, and that guy was only Champion for one day.”

“Yes,” Mark agreed, nodding his head. “He was just my first opponent, yet I think Blue could have given Steven a run for his money.”

“Steven Stone, the last Champ before you?” Randy asked.

“Yeah,” Mark replied. “Ironically, Steven lost his Champion title years back, to the very same trainer who beat you –Brendan. But at some point apparently Steven won it back, and then I won it from him, then you won it from me, and then Brendan took it again.”

“Where’d you find out about all this?” Randy asked.

“Professor Birch,” replied Mark. “He knows Brendan really well, through his dad, who is actually the Petalburg Gym Leader.”

Randy gawked. “You mean I got curb-stomped by Norman’s kid?” He asked.

“Yep,” Mark returned, but once more eyed Randy oddly. “Why do you seem so surprised?”

“Dude, Norman was the second Gym Leader I beat,” Randy replied. “Cairo was still only a Riolu at the time but completely crushed his Slakoth and Vigoroth. Slaking took a while but the thing spent so much time sleeping, Cairo barely even needed to dodge, and even when he did, the big ape was just way too slow to catch him.”

Mark grimaced. “Wish I could say the same. Among the Gym Leaders, Norman was actually one of the ones I had trouble with. I’d have to say Tanker is the one that gave me the edge.”

Randy shrugged, and continued. “Going back a bit; what was Steven like? I never got to battle him; I heard he was good.”

“He was,” Mark replied, nodding. “Up until I battled you he was the strongest trainer I had ever faced in my life. He specialized in Steel-types, and his fighting style was both tactical and patient. None of his Pokémon were particularly fast except for his Skarmory, who he always used first to cover the battlefield in Spikes. The rest, though, he’d utilize their defense to endure hits from his opponent, and during that time, he’d be so closely, and the instant he spotted an opening, he’d strike, hard, and take you down.”

“Whoa. Now I wish I had battled him,” Randy commented, rolling his eyes slightly, before looking at Mark again. “So where are we going next?”

“You said the Indigo Plateau’s a little closer than Pewter, right?” Mark asked. “I suppose we should head there, next. Lance uses Dragon-types and as I told Blue I can handle those, so I might as well get that one done first and then try to find Red.”

Randy nodded. “Sounds good,” he said, and then hummed in thought. “‘Mark Taylor vs. Dragon Master Lance’; sounds like the title of an action movie.”

Mark let out an amused laugh. “If I were actually some kind of action star,” he returned.

“With those karate moves of yours, you probably could be. Hell, you and Vitesse should go into business!” Randy chimed on.

“I may come across as a confident, calculative trainer, but if you can believe it I always got stage fright during school plays,” Mark returned, still chuckling as he and Randy followed the street towards the western road heading out of Viridian City.

“Wha-seriously?”

“Yep.”

“Never pegged you for being the shy type.”

“Only when I’m in front of an audience.”