Koga was a bit surprised by Kazuki's declaration. Most rookie Trainers would jump at the chance to get an easy win from a Gym Leader, just to show off their badge afterward.
But Kazuki, despite having the advantage, insisted on a one-on-one battle with only a single Pokémon.
Koga couldn't help but wonder—was Kazuki just trying to look cool in front of his two beautiful girlfriends?
After all, guys sometimes do this kind of thing to show off how strong they are.
Well, whatever the reason, since he had already beaten Aya, he must have trained his Pokémon well. No need for a standard rookie guidance match anymore.
Sorry, kid.
I already gave you a fair shot—if you're going to be cocky, don't blame me for what happens next.
"Ah! Youth! So full of confidence and energy!"
"Well, if you insist, I won't try to talk you out of it!"
"But let me remind you—what I'm about to use is an elite-level Pokémon!"
"Are you ready for that?"
Though Koga was a member of Team Rocket, perhaps because he had a daughter, his attitude wasn't as nasty as Lt. Surge's. He still fulfilled his duties as a Gym Leader responsibly, especially when it came to mentoring rookie Trainers.
"Gym Leader Koga, feel free to use any Pokémon you see fit. I trekked all this way to Fuchsia Gym—I'm more than prepared!"
The Pokémon Koga used for Gym Challenges were, of course, Poison-type, but many of them also had Flying-type traits.
So even without the earlier skirmish with Aya, Kazuki had already planned to use Pidgeot to take on two opponents.
"Alright then! The passion of youth always gets me fired up! Let's go!"
"Hold up a second, Gym Leader Koga!" Kazuki called out just as Koga was about to release his Pokémon.
"Can we battle in the courtyard instead? This room's way too fancy! I'd hate to accidentally wreck your place!"
"You're only using one Pokémon, and that's all you ask? Of course it's fine! Let's go!"
Koga didn't bother setting up his usual terrain—he was confident battling anywhere, so he agreed without hesitation.
"Big bro, about Kazuki's Pokémon..."
Aya was just about to whisper some info about Kazuki's Charmeleon when—
"Hey now, Aya! The guy already said he's only using one Pokémon!"
"If you spill any more info about his team, that'd make me, the Gym Leader, look like I'm bullying a rookie!"
"Besides, don't you know how strong I am? Relax—there's no way he can beat me!"
After reassuring Aya with his confidence, Koga headed to the courtyard.
"Kazuki!"
"Alright, let's make our entrance! Go, Pidgeot!"
Kazuki tossed his Poké Ball into the sky.
Pidgeot burst forth, spreading its massive wings, casting a shadow over the courtyard. With a powerful flap, it stirred up a gust of wind, kicking up a cloud of dust as it landed.
Aya instinctively stepped back at the sight of the enormous Pidgeot. Her thoughts raced—wasn't Charmeleon supposed to be Kazuki's ace?
I thought... I thought he was going all-out against me. Turns out, he was just playing around!
This Pidgeot looks even stronger than my brother's Golbat...
Is he really a rookie Trainer?
Koga was also stunned for a moment when he saw the size of Kazuki's Pidgeot, but as a Gym Leader, he quickly regained his composure.
"Kazuki, that's one impressive Pidgeot you've got there!"
"Looks like you're quite the Trainer. I'm excited for a real battle today!"
At their commands, Pidgeot and Golbat took to the skies, staring each other down as the air grew tense.
Koga made the first move: "Golbat, use Supersonic to disrupt it!"
Golbat let out a sharp, piercing cry, sending waves of sound toward Pidgeot.
Kazuki calmly countered, "Pidgeot, gain altitude and use Agility!"
Pidgeot's wings beat fiercely as it shot upward, vanishing in a blur.
"So... so fast!" Koga's eyes couldn't keep up with Pidgeot's movements.
"Golbat..!"
Golbat crossed its wings and emitted ultrasonic waves to locate the rapidly moving Pidgeot.
But just as Pidgeot swooped in from behind, Golbat narrowly dodged the incoming strike.
"Good! Now's our chance—Golbat, go in for a bite!"
Golbat recovered quickly and lunged at Pidgeot.
"Pidgeot, use Quick Attack!"
Pidgeot was even faster—blurring past Golbat and dodging its fangs with ease!
"Now, use Twister!"
Pidgeot flapped its wings violently—
Its massive form created an overwhelming sense of pressure, and Golbat's eyes filled with fear.
Then Pidgeot grabbed Golbat midair and began spinning at high speed.
The powerful force of the Twister whipped up a sandstorm in the courtyard, uprooting nearby trees.
When the storm cleared, Golbat plummeted from the sky, clearly dazed and unable to continue.
"Pidgeot vs. Golbat—Pidgeot wins!" Aya, acting as referee, announced with robotic precision.
Koga let out a long breath and recalled his Golbat.
He approached Kazuki and patted him on the shoulder in praise. "Kazuki, your Pidgeot really surprised me!"
"For something so big to move that fast—that's impressive!"
"And I didn't expect you to handle a Poison-type so effectively!"
"This Soul Badge is well-earned!"
With that, Koga handed over the Soul Badge to Kazuki.
Watching from the sidelines, Aya had complicated feelings. Her earlier doubts about Kazuki were completely gone, replaced by something... different.
She bit her lip and stepped forward. "Kazuki, you won this round! You're strong, and you really know how to command your Pokémon!"
"But next time we meet, I'll be even stronger!"
Aya didn't want to let go of their connection so easily, so she used the idea of a rematch as a reason to see him again.
Kazuki accepted the badge and smiled. "Sure, I'm looking forward to our next battle!"
"But next time, don't try any sneaky tricks!"
He made a playful gesture that startled Aya enough to clench up, her face turning red and green all at once.
Then Kazuki cheerfully left with his two companions.
"Ugh! That Kazuki!" Aya stomped her foot, fuming as she watched him walk away. "Next time... next time I'll use ninja techniques to strip all your clothes off!"
"Huh?" Koga gave her a puzzled look. "What did you just say, Aya?"
"Ah! Nothing, just a little rivalry between me and Kazuki!"
"Sigh…" Koga heaved a sigh and began lecturing. "Aya, you're not a kid anymore. You really need to grow up."
"When I'm gone, you'll be running Fuchsia Gym with Janine."
"Gone? You're leaving the Gym?" Aya's childish frustration instantly turned serious.
"I've received a new mission. After this, I'm aiming to challenge the League Elite Four!"
"Eventually, the Fuchsia Gym will be left to you and Janine."
"Janine's got talent with Pokémon, sure."
"But she's still young..."
"And you! I caught that Venonat for you ages ago and it still hasn't evolved!"
"How can I trust you to run the Gym if you're not even raising your Pokémon properly?"
"I-I've been focusing on my ninja training!" Aya replied sheepishly.
"I promise—I'll start training my Pokémon seriously from today!"
"Next time, I'll beat Kazuki for sure!"
"Good! As long as you're determined!" Koga nodded. "But... you seem to care a lot about that Kazuki, huh?"
"Well, he is a solid rookie Trainer."
"I'd say he's got a good shot at making Top in the Indigo Conference."
"I don't care about him!" Aya dodged Koga's gaze. "I'd love to sit on his face and smother him!"
Aya muttered to herself, cheeks puffed in frustration.
"What kind of weird fetish is that?" Koga gave her a bewildered look.
"Alright, big bro, I'm off to train!"
"I won't let you down. I'll take good care of Janine and the Gym!"
With that, Aya ran off toward the Fuchsia Gym's training room.
Unknowingly, Kazuki had once again left a deep impression on another girl.
But since their affection wasn't high enough yet, Kazuki didn't dwell on it. After leaving Fuchsia Gym, he checked his mission rewards.
[Mission Complete: Avoid all of Aya's traps, earn the Soul Badge, and give Aya a small lesson!]
[Psychic Power +50% | Current Total Bonus: +100%]
As soon as the Psychic Power reward activated, Kazuki felt his senses sharpen.
Feeling refreshed, he moved on to claim the next reward.
[Ding! Mission Complete: Please select one Poison-type Pokémon to level up!]
Poison-type, huh?
Who should I give this to?
Don't tell me I have to give it to Muk?
But I don't even carry Muk around much.
Wouldn't that be a waste?
Wait—doesn't say main or secondary type!
That means I could choose Gastly... or Bulbasaur...
[Bulbasaur | Lv. 39 | Holding: Everstone, Legendary Miracle Seed]
Kazuki compared the Poison-type options.
If Gastly leveled up 5 times, it'd hit Lv. 29—grind a bit more and it could hit Elite level. That's a solid power boost.
Then I'd have my entire core team at Elite level.
But the final two Gyms—Cinnabar and Viridian—are both high-level.
And wild Pokémon from now on will mostly be Elite-tier or above.
If my team's power is too evenly spread, that might make things tougher for those high-level Gyms.
If I give the 5 levels to Bulbasaur, it would reach the threshold of Quasi-Gym level.
At that point, it could handle nearly any wild Pokémon we encounter without trouble.
And if I grind a bit more before Cinnabar Gym, maybe I can push it to full Gym level.
Plus, I still have 8 Intermediate Rare Candies—those could boost Bulbasaur at a moment's notice.
Once it hits Gym level, even Cinnabar Gym wouldn't be a problem.
After careful thought, Kazuki decided to give the Poison-type level boost to Bulbasaur.
[Pokémon: Bulbasaur | Level: Lv. 39 → Lv. 44]
With the EXP released from the mission, Kazuki's team officially entered the Quasi-Gym level era.
After checking Bulbasaur's updated stats—
Kazuki knew full well that Cinnabar Gym wasn't like the six before it.
It was more like a final exam for rookie Trainers. He planned to level up as much as possible before getting there.
After all, once they reached the Pokémon Reserve, he wouldn't be able to catch anything—those Pokémon were protected by law. Catching them would land him in serious trouble.
Once they left the Fuchsia Gym area, the number of wild Poison-types dropped significantly.
Before entering the Pokémon Reserve, the team's backlog of EXP finally got processed.
[Pokémon: Pikachu | Lv. 36 → Lv. 37]
[Pokémon: Pidgeot | Lv. 38]
[Pokémon: Primeape | Lv. 32 → Lv. 33]
[Pokémon: Wartortle | ???]
[Pokémon: Bulbasaur | Lv. 44]
[Pokémon: Gastly | Lv. 24 → Lv. 26]
[Pokémon: Charmeleon | Lv. 34 → Lv. 35]
Kazuki had intentionally let Charmeleon grind a bit more—it was almost at evolution level.
Once it evolved into Charizard, it would gain the Fire/Flying dual typing—
Not to mention it would learn some powerful new moves.
As Kazuki browsed through his team stats, he realized they'd unknowingly walked out of the forest and onto an open plain.
"Yay! We're finally out of the forest! No more worrying about stepping on bugs!"
The happiest of the group was, of course, Misty.
"This should be the Pokémon Reserve marked on the map!"
"Once we're past here, we'll reach the open wild zone where we can catch Pokémon freely!"
[Ding!]
As soon as Kazuki mentioned catching Pokémon, the system chimed.
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