I was actually a bit disappointed.

Not by Falkner's Gym, it was actually very nice, even compared to Clair's gym back in Blackthorn City. It had very ornate architecture commemorating Falkner's family's love, respect, and skill with Flying type Pokémon, and was largely made of bricks, wood, and stone, more like a giant cabin instead of a Pokémon gym.

There were four main mats like last time, except there was a far smaller crowd, and two floors in the cabin like gym to watch the Pokémon battles.

The main issue I had with the tournament was the actual competition itself.

Somehow, only Gold was the only person able to find a tournament and win it in order to compete today between today and the several weeks prior during Blackthorn City.

And, the first rounds were extremely easy.

Teddiursa was actually a bit confused when I threw him out of his ball and he had to match against anything that wasn't a Hoothoot, Bellsprout, or even Vigoroth.

When he realized it was a real match he appeared to think 'oh, we're fighting' and the match was over about four short exchanges later.

Houndour, as solid as a Pokémon as that was, barely lasted two hits before being bashed and thrown agains the side of the ring. His Trainer was actually decent, a respectably ranked guy from Olivine City, but it was over in the first minute.

Houndour was completely unable to connect with its Ember, and at short range, its jaws were totally unable to overcome Teddiursa's raw strength. A single Scratch to the ribs and Houndour had the wind knocked completely out of it.

It went down, the judge paused the match, and Teddiursa ended it with Fury Swipes uncontested to Houndour's snout as soon as the fight began again.

Despite an Ekans and a tough Geodude requiring some tricky uses of Counter, Teddiursa barely took even a hint of damage.

I was already in the semi finals when I was starting to get a bit bored, until I realized just how well Gold was doing.

I could see Violet, never approving of him like always, pouting in the stands as the same Buneary who once beat her at Blackthorn City, bounced around the mat and kicked a Pidgey in the face, right out of the air.

Again, the white barriers around each ring did their jobs, catching Pokémon or fire or whatever the battle sent around before they could slip into the galleries.

Buneary ended up winning the round three judge's vote to none, and Gold was so confident he actually switched out his Buneary even though it was fine.

It was there when I saw him using Quilava for the first time.

And if I thought Buneary was good the first time I battled it with Slakoth, this Quilava was even better.

Solely using Smokescreen, and Quick Attack, Quilava absolutely annihilated an Aipom. It was just playing with it the entire round, scaring it with random weak Embers to move it into a perfectly timed Quick Attack, and then dissapear right back into the smoke.

It was hard to see through all the smoke, but Quilava appeared even faster than Buneary, which was quite an accomplishment.

Quilava then disobeyed Gold's orders instead of playing it safe, and knocked out the Aipom with Flame Wheel, where I realized the true extent of Quilava's power. And that, this was the Pokémon that lead Gold's pacing in Red's footsteps in the previous series. Buneary was more than fine, but this Quilava was a powerhouse.

Its Flame Wheel was so strong that the Aipom was injured, and one of the walls making the indoor hockey rink looking ring scorched completely black.

The arena only had around fifty spectators in it, Trainer events were a lot more private unless they were big name tournaments with bigger name people, and everyone who lost had mostly left. But everyone was quiet after Quilava knocked out that Aipom.

Everyone knew Gold was good, but not good enough to injure a Pokémon. Injuries were common in Trainer battles, they were of course never intentional but nonetheless a possible result in matches.

The Aipom was fine, it just had a rather burnt tail, but it was clear that Quilava was no joke. It was better than I was expecting, and I had played Pokémon Crystal using Quilava when I was younger in my previous life.

My own semi final match wasn't nearly as eventful.

The girl opposing me had to tearfully recall a Sunflora and Zubat within a minute and a half of Teddiursa Scratching them nonstop.

Teddiursa dominated the fight the same way he dominated the previous rounds.

First he hit his opponents fast and hard, they typically couldn't prevent it, and if they did, they only prolonged the inevitable Fury Swipes or Scratches. Their own attacks were typically not quick or strong enough to be remotely effective against Teddiursa's sheer strength.

Even though it blocked everything head on, if it wasn't quick enough to dodge for some reason, Teddiursa's stance and body was so strong that enemy attacks didn't seem to affect it at all. Physical or special, of any type or from any range.

After hitting his opponents very hard, it was clear to both my opposing Trainer and her Pokémon that it'd be best to keep their distance.

And from there, it was clear Teddiursa was winning by judge's decision, and all he had to do was wait. And then he attacked again, and again, he was attacking uncontested pretty much the entire match.

These were very hard shots that just kept landing, the girl in the other chair had no choice.

Teddiursa won the match by the first capitulation, I ever saw. I had made my opponent forfeit by switching out both Pokémon.

Then there was the final.

…

Violet had too much to say, yet again.

However, yet again, I had my own strategy.

I knew Teddiursa could beat Buneary any day of the week. Buneary could slip some shots in, but she only held a tiny advantage in speed, and Teddiursa grossly outmatched Buneary in strength.

These were two purely Physical attacking Normal types with more or less the same fighting style.

Unlike Slakoth, Teddiursa was far more aggressive, timed his attacks worse, but made up for it with sheer physical power and ruthlessness. He had a controlled rage to his battling that as was shown prior, even made people quit.

Then I realized that the size of the crowd had more than tripled, and the reason why made sense.

Most of the Trainers here today were either young, inexperienced, or unskilled, a strong mix of all three. Granted I wasn't that old or experienced either, but my skill level, along with Gold's put us a step ahead of the rest of the thirty or so people competing.

A few people were even recording the match on their PokéNavs.

Gold and I then lined up to begin the final of the tournament to challenge Falkner's Gym.

The center judge gestured forward, and Gold threw out his first Pokémon.

"Go Buneary!" he shouted.

The bunny Pokémon punched the air rapidly when she landed on the mat, doing a sudden backflip.

"It's all you Teddiursa!"

He growled when I sent him out from his Great Ball onto the mat.

"Ready!?"

The center judge then yelled, gesturing with both hands to begin the match. "Begin!"

Buneary struck first, attempting uses of Quick Attack, but I had drilled Teddiursa prior on how to deal with it.

After Slakoth's match with Buneary almost a month ago, I realized that in the event Buneary was able to use Quick Attack, Teddiursa's best bet was to time her with a reverse punch to the midsection.

The tiny bear's knee dropped as he transferred all his power into a perfectly timed Counter.

As his claw created a super effective hit, Buneary had the wind knocked clear out of her from the punch right to the center of her chest.

Buneary dropped, but had the agility to bounce away before Teddiursa could follow it up.

"Shake it off, you're just getting started Buneary!" said Gold.

After that initial blow, Buneary was hesitant to try and land anything after that, and Teddiursa was just doing his thing.

He controlled the mat, sure Buneary moved just a tiny bit faster around the ring, but his positioning, and his decision making was far superior.

Teddiursa was in complete control of the match after the first thirty seconds. Buneary was practically driven out of the ring from how well Teddiursa faked and repositioned himself, I had worked on his footwork for weeks and now I could see how well it had improved.

I checked the timer from my Trainer's box.

There was only a minute and a half left on the clock.

"Do something Buneary, go after him!"

Teddiursa easily dodged spinning round kicks to the face, the last one glancing harmlessly off his claws when Buneary attempted a follow up spinning back kick to his midsection.

Teddiursa circled her around the ring, planted his feet and then struck.

Buneary took another massive hit, this time four Fury Swipes all to the temple as Teddiursa timed her Jump Kick.

Buneary covered up and tried using her head movement, to no avail. Teddiursa landed flush with both hands repeatedly, and she barely staggered away.

A minute to go, Buneary had no answers. She was down, two hits to nothing, and so far, it appeared only if she knocked out Teddiursa she might win.

But that wouldn't happen.

"Dizzy punch let's go!"

Nope. Teddiursa just barely moved back, parrying with his front paw, and Buneary missed entirely. She bounced away in time again to avoid getting countered, but it didn't matter, nothing she did was connecting at all.

It took me a moment, but I figured out that Gold likely had spent far more time with Quilava than with Buneary. Buneary wasn't a weak Pokémon by any means, it's just I had determined just exactly how to counter her fighting style and maximizing Teddiursa's timing and strength advantages.

With fifteen seconds left on the clock, I could tell the rematch the crowd was waiting for wasn't really there yet.

But it was certainly brewing in the next round.

Teddiursa had utterly dominated this fight, Buneary's speed and skill placing her out of knockout territory for the duration of the match. But she was barely close to touching Teddiursa.

Eventually, the buzzer rang, and I could see Gold shaking his head.

The electronic whistle blew, then it blew again and all three judges voted in favor of me.

"Round one. Red side, winner." The center judge raised a hand to his right.

Gold called Buneary over to his chair, seemed to talk to her patiently but reproachfully for a bit. After he gave his advice, he dissapointedly sighed and recalled her to her Pokéball.

It might've only had a bit of action, but this match told me Teddiursa was more than capable of fighting Quilava. He was just going to have to try a lot harder.

"Remember what we worked on okay?"

The bear Pokémon nodded to me, wiping his chin with his left paw.

After winning the first round, the judges let Teddiursa rest for a minute and a half. But I don't really think he needed it.

More than anything, I just let him walk around the mat, trying to review our strategy in his head when it came to Quilava.

If it wasn't for my previous knowledge of how Quilava fought and moved, from the anime, games, and seeing Quilava fight a bit. I think even Vigoroth would've had his work cut out for him.

The judge gestured forward to begin the fight.

"Pick up the pace tonight Quilava!"

Gold threw out a Pokéball and out popped a Quilava a bit larger than the average ones for his size according to the Pokédex function I'd read earlier on my PokéNav.

It circled its tail for a second and then sang. "Laavaaaaa!" the plumes of fire on its back glowed for a second.

Teddiursa was already still on the mat, lowering himself into his stance.

"Begin!"

Teddiursa found himself in a thick plume of smoke after Quilava instantly activated Smokescreen the second the match began.

We had worked on this, I wasn't nervous.

Rather then stay in the middle of the mat, Teddiursa backpedaled to the corners of the ring where the Smokescreen was at its weakest.

Quilava, and Gold, wanted this, for Teddiursa to move to a position where he still couldn't see Quilava strike.

In the darkness of the smokescreen, appeared a spinning flaming ball, giving Teddiursa under a second to dodge. As he did so, Teddiursa blocked to protect his face from an Ember.

Quilava was so fast and skilled it could pull out of a Flame Wheel mid air, and bask Teddiursa in flames from his mouth.

Teddiursa likewise knew Quilava would temporarily be out of the Smokescreen he created, and took advantage of the split second opportunity.

Using Tackle, a move that Teddiursa a decent amount of time to learn effectively considering he typically couldn't do it, Teddiursa overwhelmed Quilava with its superior physical strength and pinned it to the mat.

Whether it was Slash or Scratch, I couldn't tell. I could see Teddiursa load up his claw in the air and then dig it directly into Quilava's flank. The Fire Type howled loudly, spinning onto its front paws to push Teddiursa away with its back legs almost like a donkey kick, or a back kick.

Teddiursa blocked easily, but the stagger was strong enough to allow Quilava to slip back into the smoke and shake off the power of the massive hit to its torso.

I smiled, even though the match just started.

Judging from the fact that Quilava seemed to be hiding in the smoke for a moment, allowing Gold to give advice as Teddiursa was more or less unable to attack, I realized just how hard Teddiursa had Scratched its flank.

Any harder, and Teddiursa might've actually cut Quilava.

I was right.

A few seconds later, and Quilava shot out Embers from inside the smokescreen like a fiery machine gun. However, because Teddiursa could easily discern the bright red fire from all the black smoke, it gave him more than enough time to start closing the distance from Quilava's location while dodging.

From how fast Teddiursa was moving and how many Embers were shot, by the time Teddiursa reached Quilava, all the smoke was gone.

And I could see that Teddiursa had Scratched Quilava so hard, that his right claw had left a massive mark in the right side of his body. Its blue fur had three clean cuts in the shape of Teddiursa's claw.

Returning the favor, Quilava barreled into Teddiursa's stomach at full speed with another Flame Wheel. While Teddiursa blocked, it didn't matter, Quilava got what Gold wanted. He was able to light parts of Teddiursa on fire.

Not wasting a second, Quilava used the opening Teddiursa's distraction at being lit aflame temporarily caused, and used Quick Attack.

Teddiursa had to tear up the mat underneath him so slow down the severity of his slide under the strength which with Quilava had hit him.

"Swift!" shouted Gold, trying to land another hit.

Again, I said nothing. Teddiursa knew what to do.

Teddiursa ran forward towards the heat seeking stars Quilava shot at him as fast as his little legs could carry him, and somersaulted beneath them at the last second.

With Tackle, Teddiursa grabbed and turned Quilava before he realized what was happening.

"Break free-"

Quilava's own Swift struck him very hard, sure Teddiursa took some damage from the flames on Quilava's back, but it wasn't nearly as bad as being grabbed and shoved directly into his own attack.

Teddiursa then instantly moved away, despite the blow, Quilava was more than capable enough to ignite his back and make Teddiursa run or get seriously burned at close range.

Teddiursa still fought smart though, flinging Quilava away to create some distance and then center himself back on the mat again.

Gold seemed to be in deep thought, and I spoke for the first time in the entire match.

"Hands up, but let him come to you."

Teddiursa barely looked over at me, ready for whatever came next.

The slight pause the match was over almost as soon as it started.

"Embers! As many as you can!"

Teddiursa's ability to strafe incoming firebolts while closing the distance between him and his opponent still impressed me. It was if he considered weeks of avoiding Vine Whip to be the same thing, when the attack came in completely differently.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Quilava was able to see Teddiursa coming and about to evade in time, but Teddiursa hit him with a spinning back kick.

"Irraaaa!" the bear roared when activating Slash with his back foot.

Quilava went flying back, but was able to use Flame Wheel to recover from the blow and then accelerate towards Teddiursa, burning the mat completely black in the process in its wake.

Teddiursa did not have the time nor the mat space to dodge in time, only able to block. And wow, I realized what a bad idea that was.

Because Teddiursa then got hit so hard he was knocked off his feet, tumbling with tiny flames all across his body and struck the mat even harder.

I could hear the crowd gasp.

"Stop!" the center judge said.

I watched as Teddiursa leaned over, blinking repeatedly.

He got his feet out from under him when I thought the match was already over.

Teddiursa picked his hands up, getting back into his stance, clawing the air repeatedly while growling.

"Continue!"

Quilava tried the same Flame Wheel again, but measured his distance incorrectly and gave more than enough time for Teddiursa to counter. I get why he did it, Teddiursa got dropped, and it looked like he was finished for a second.

But still, Teddiursa merely side stepped at the last second, and reached into the Flame Wheel, grabbing Quilava by the leg.

The strength and power by which Teddiursa slammed Quilava right into the mat made the floor almost shake. I heard Quilava again shriek in pain and then tumble over, spitting furious Embers to make Teddiursa reposition.

I glanced at the center judge, luckily he said nothing because I didn't want them to stop the fight.

Quilava's back left leg was at least sprained, probably broken from how hard Teddiursa had thrown him into the mat. His right flank was slashed down past all its fur, and it was still releasing so much fire that Teddiursa had to keep its distance in attempt to recover.

Quilava seemed to get his strength back just momentarily enough to barrell past Teddiursa one more time.

Teddiursa dodged, too confused at dealing with the severity and quantity of fire Ember and Flame Wheel was producing in the entire ring. The mat had become a mini oven, slowly heating up more and more making Teddiursa sweat while Quilava was in his element despite his injuries.

With under a minute left to go in the match, I saw Teddiursa get knocked clean out for the first time ever.

Quilava attempted another Flame Wheel, knowing he'd get countered, at the last second he timed when Teddiursa would try to grab him or hit him with Scratch or Fury swipes and then basked Teddiursa in flames.

At close range, with the fury and quantity of Embers Quilava spat onto Teddiursa, this more resembled a mid level Flamethrower to me.

And Teddiura could not get up.

He dropped to his knees from the fire, and before Quilava could strike again, the center judge stopped the match for a second time.

"Stop!" he roared.

Teddiursa couldn't move, it was panting, hurt from the blow. He had patted away enough fire to be safe, but his entire front was scorched.

The center judge walked forward from his box as Gold called Quilava right over and spoke to him very quickly.

After checking on Teddiursa, the judge made a call I completely agreed with. I was actually about to recall Teddiursa to his Great Ball as there was no way he'd be able to fight at all after being Burned and hit that hard.

"Teddiursa is unable to battle! The winner of this round is Quilava!"

Barely.

I could tell there were small moments here and there where Teddiursa had connected with a Fury Swipe or two, or a small Scratch between exchanges.

The crowd applauded and cheered, and I nodded in respect across the ring to Gold when I recalled Teddiursa.

Then, I released Vigoroth.

Gold's Quilava turned around, and the entire crowd instantly went quiet.

The Roar Vigoroth released was powerful enough to send wind through Quilava's fireproof, slashed, and blue fur.

It didn't shake, not even for a moment, but I could tell Gold had a decision to make.

"Can you continue?" the center judge turned to Gold.

I don't think Quilava had any fight left in him. He most certainly appeared to have some, but he had gotten hit so much, and so hard, that there was no way Vigoroth wasn't just going to beat it with ease.

Even under normal circumstances, I was sure Gold knew even Quilava would struggle against Vigoroth.

Then Gold made a decision I think I'd forever respect him for.

He humbly stood up and bowed and returned Quilava to his Pokéball.

"Winner!" the center judge turned towards my chair and raised a hand.

I looked to the crowd, and never saw Brody from CFG look so upset in his life.

…

Violet however, was ecstatic.

"That's two times we showed up CFG." she hugged me after we all got our medals on the podium.

Inoru chuckled at her words. "A job very nicely done Nico."

"Thank you." I bowed to him.

I looked at the Pokéball in my hand.

I was unbelievably proud of Teddiursa. He did his job. Vigoroth was only let out of his ball for a moment and he didn't even have to fight.

Moreover, Teddiursa was basically nearing a stage in his growth mature enough to begin getting ready to become an Ursaring. After scanning his ball with my PokéNav, I found out that he was just now reaching the young adult stage of his development.

And it showed just how much he had grown tonight.

"Congratulations."

I shook Gold's hand. "Dude. You did so well today."

Gold laughed, raising his gold cap and passing a hand across his jet black hair. "Thanks man, I was actually hoping to get a rematch with that Slakoth of yours. But I guess I missed my shot." he said in a calm, but strong voice.

"You'll get another chance."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

I looked around the arena in Falkner's gym. There were a few other Trainers chatting nearby, the judges had already packed up everything from the tournament.

"I'm all ears."

"You're the first person to really beat me. I've been doing this for a very long time, and all my losses were some very close decisions, or, myself on my worst days."

I'd been there when I competed in karate myself in my previous life.

Gold sighed, shrugging and speaking in exasperation. "Until you. You don't have a Gym behind you, until last month, I heard you didn't even have a 'Nav."

"So what're you trying to say?"

"Brody and I got into an argument. And I wanted to let you know that you proved something to me I didn't expect to see from anyone, well, ever." Gold chuckled, shaking his head. "All CFG's simulations try so hard to emulate Red with numbers. That we never realized how he became world champion in the first place."

That was a bit of irony I never realized either.

"On his own, doing what you're doing. Making a strategy, changing it if it doesn't work."

I was still a bit confused. "Why're you letting me know this."

"What am I hoping for here, that the third time's the charm? I don't think you're that much better at battles than me. It's just a matter of strategy and training, and the mindset you bring to competition."

Gold sighed. "My parents are gonna kill me for this but um, this past month of training when I got Quilava back on my team. It was the best I felt in the ring after a very long time, since I first started Training and competing actually. And I brought my old starter back suspecting correctly you didn't use simulations or techniques from Gyms at all."

Yes. Gold improved in one month, more or less how much I did with my own team in the same amount of time.

He smiled at me, still speaking respectfully. "I'm going to find my own path to becoming the best Pokémon Trainer I can be away from CFG. I think I can beat you someday, but I'm going to do it on my own."

"Looking forward to seeing you again."

We shook hands.

Violet spoke to me smugly after she watched Gold walk away. "You think Clair's gonna hate you even more now?"

I wouldn't blame her. Gold walked away from a very close final match and a silver medal, as well as likely coming back to win this tournament and definitely secure the Zephyr badge next month with ease.

"No, actually. I think Gold made the best choice stepping away from doing exactly as she always said. That," I gestured toward Gold in the direction he left. "Is how you make a rivalry. No bad blood, no name calling. Just pure respect for each other as Trainers."

What really impressed me is how after not using his starter for such a long time, how Gold was able to compete so goddamn well with it.

"You think you'll see him again?" she asked.

"Definitely."

"He's not as good as you though." said Violet proudly.

It didn't matter.

Canonically, Gold beats the return of Team Rocket, Lance, and finds Red on Mount Silver and defeats him. From what I can tell, he's probably even better than the avatar of the second generation of Pokémon games.

Because here he's a person capable of making his own decisions, he's not a video game character. Gold has the skills to use a Pokémon he didn't compete with for several months and instantly bring it back to fighting shape in a matter of weeks.

I saw Brody finish chatting with a few other coaches from a pair of Gyms before he left the stands.

"Hey man, great match today." I shook Brody's hand.

"Thanks, but I don't think you'll have to worry about me hovering around Gold at tournaments any longer."

"I heard."

Brody ignored Violet smirking at him as she talked to Inoru behind me. "You've made Clair and I." he gave a very long and tired sigh. "Reconsider our entire strategy actually. We'll still use simulations, but losing our star student."

Brody looked off at the black carpet leading out of the arena in Falkner's Gym. "That shakes teams to their core. I hope to see you one day bring pride to Johto in competitive battling."

"I'll do my best Brody."

We bowed to one another.

As I saw him walk away, I realized something.

Falkner was probably going to be an easier win than Gold. Not that Gold was remotely easy, in fact he was the only person tonight who technically made me use Vigoroth.

Which made me realize something, it was Vigoroth's turn.

…

Over three hundred people attended the monthly Gym challenge to Falkner. Several Trainers qualified to challenge Falkner for the Zephyr badge, but I was the only person scheduled to match.

Even still, people knew I was there.

"The rookie all star from Kama Valley." I heard someone in the crowd murmur when Violet, Inoru, and I all walked past them.

I signed in with my PokéNav's digital Trainer Badge function at the luxurious hotel front desk type lobby, and a staff member of Falkner's gym arrived.

The entire arena had changed overnight, I suspected machinery similar to those in Clair's gym was used.

A huge completely glass sealed skywalk replaced the galleries, replacing the second floor of the cabin looking arena from last night only about twenty feet high in the air.

The bottom of the arena had the standard green and white Pokémon League ring, including two Trainer's boxes.

I was told to stand and wait next to one of the pillars holding up the skywalk.

Across the ring, I could see a young man at least around two years older than me wearing a white sash, and traditional blue Johto robes and jacket. Judging from the look on his face, despite how calm he looked, I could tell Falkner was dealing with quite a situation on his hands.

This was his home court, but everyone knew this was probably his first real challenge since inheriting the Gym from his father.

The head judge from last night's tournament, a man who I believed help run Azalea Town's Gym a few years ago, stepped foreward between either side of the ring along the edges and spoke into a microphone attached to his chin.

Falkner and I stared off as the judge spoke. "This official Pokémon League Gym challenge will not have a timer nor scored judge's decisions. Only two Pokémon of no stage higher than second evolution will be permitted to be used. When I deem a Pokémon can no longer battle or has been switched out, it has been removed from competition."

The judge looked between us. "When one Trainer has lost both Pokémon from competition, the other Trainer will win the challenge. Bow, shake hands."

"Good luck." Falkner said.

I shook his hand calmly. "Thanks."

The crowd applauded.

I was pretty sure I was going to win, the only annoying part were all of Falkner's fangirls in the stands making so much noise.

The center judge gestured forward and I released my Pokémon first without a word.

"Oro!"

Vigoroth pounded his chest, walking forward on his front paws like an ape, getting ready for the match.

"Let's go Fearow!"

The great Beak Pokémon spun forward after being released from his ball, crowing loudly.

"Begin!"

"Whirlwind!" I heard Falkner shout.

Crowing, Fearow began to create giant gusts of wind throughout the arena.

I was forced to dig into my Trainer's box and hold on tight.

Vigoroth knew what to do.

He dug his claws into the earth floor of the arena to tether himself, and emitted his massive Roar.

I could see the crowd gasp as Fearow shook in the air for a moment under a blast of air from Vigoroth's mouth so powerful it pierced through its Whirlwind.

Vigoroth launched so hard off the ground through the whirlwinds he Tackled Fearow to the ground.

Its claws glowing white, he buried Fury Swipe after Fury Swipe directly into Fearow's neck and face.

The Beak Pokémon wriggled free with a blocked smack with its beak for good measure.

"You okay Fearow?"

The Flying type Pokémon responded with a quick crow and then dove in sharp with Drill Peck.

Vigoroth merely side stepped, grabbed Fearow by its long neck and flung it hard against one of the galleries.

It shook it off, only to see Vigoroth flying through the air throwing a Slash launching off its powerful legs.

Vigoroth dug its claw right into the gallery post, shaking the entire skywalk in the process.

Roaring again, Fearow wisely began to keep its distance.

Vigoroth launched off the skywalk, bouncing from skywalk glass to skywalk glass like I saw its kind do back on Mount Takujimi.

Vigoroth proceeded to nail Fearow right in the beak at full power, with a beautifully timed flying Slash to the jaw.

"ORO!"

Fearow fell out of the air, and Vigoroth was still directly on top of it, its claw raised, ready to strike.

"Stop!"

The judge waited to see if Fearow was knocked out or not yet, and when it rose back into the air weakly, he spoke.

"Continue! Continue!"

"Get it together Fearow! Snap out of it!"

I egged on Vigoroth, there was no way I'd tell him to calm down with Fearow on the ropes. "More aggression! Go after it come on!"

Vigoroth didn't need to be told twice.

Desperate Whirlwinds and Drill Pecks had absolutely no effect, if anything they just put Fearow in closer range of its very sharp, powerful, and quick claws that seemed to scratch and slash Fearow a million times per hour.

Fearow was just desperately trying to regain its bearings, but Vigoroth refused to stay in spot on the ground.

In fact it leapt around the arena explosively, either throwing Slashes right to its beak, timing Counters every time Fearow foolishly attacked and tried to get in range, or just outright running around the ring at the bottom of the arena.

Vigoroth was strong enough to dig its claws into the ground beneath it and start hurling chunks of earth right at Fearow.

A very crude and admittedly ineffective Rock Throw or maybe Rock Slide, but if a single one hit Fearow's wing super effectively, it was game over.

"Come on Fearow! Combinations!"

Again, its Whirlwind was completely ineffective.

While Vigoroth could definitely just Roar through with its claws dug into the ground to avoid being knocked off balance into a Drill Peck, Vigoroth had gotten so used to the Whirlwinds he had timed their patterns.

He determined exactly the rhythm of Fearow's wings beating the air to leap right onto it.

Vigoroth jumped about twenty five feet right through the air and connected with a leaping Slash again, this time right in Fearow's chest.

Fearow tried to dodge but its own Whirlwinds spun it right into Vigoroth's claws.

Fearow collapsed, and crumpled against the arena floor.

I could see Falkner wince and shake his head with an annoyed groan when the judge spoke. "Fearow is unable to battle!"

The crowd was cheering, his fangirls shouting from the stands inside the skywalk.

Falkner seemed to cycle through several Pokéballs, likely picking which one to choose before he haphazardly threw one out.

"You got this Pidgeotto!"

No, no it didn't.

By this point, as a Slakoth, and even in the last month as a Vigoroth, Vigoroth had gotten so used to battling flying Pokémon such as Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and especially Hoothoot and Spearow, that this Pidgeotto was just a quicker, larger, and better trained version of Pokémon he understood like the back of his hand.

"Wing Attack!"

"Counter." I said calmly from my Trainer's box.

As fast as Pidgeotto was, it just worked to Vigoroth's advantage. As he was quick enough and his timing good enough to more than use Counter with ease.

Turning with the direction of Pidgeotto's swooping strike, Vigoroth turned and spun it, flinging the Pidgeotto directly into a karate block I had taught it.

It was the equivalent of a bird's momentum being redirected into a brick wall out of a very fast dive. Pidgeotto's outstretched wing struck Vigoroth's structured forearm, that with its stance, it cracked against it the way I saw birds smack windows in my previous life.

Pidgeotto's wing was clearly injured, and before the center judge could do anything, I heard Falkner audibly gasp as Vigoroth picked up the bird and hurled it right against one of the gallery pillars.

I winced, almost feeling the impact from my Trainer's box right down to my own feet.

The dust settled, and a knocked out Pidgeotto laid completely knocked out.

Without even so much as a scratch on it, Vigoroth turned and beat its chest, Roaring again victoriously at the top of its very powerful lungs.

I was so proud of this Pokémon right now I had no idea what to say.

The judge actually stuttered.

"T-The winner of this Gym challenge. Nico, of Takujimi!" he raised a hand to his left, to the blue Trainer's box I sat in.

"What!?" I clearly heard a girl from the skywalk say.

Falkner almost seemed to need a second before drawing his Pokéball and recalling Pidgeotto.

He seemed to mutter to it for a second, and like that, I had earned my first Gym badge.

…

Similar to Clair, he invited me to his office through one of his staff members after our match.

"Impressive stuff." he managed to say.

I looked around his office.

There were pictures of his father, a man who looked very similar to Falkner, in his twenties, battling what looked like Professor Oak in a photograph still in black and white.

Falkner shook his head, chuckling. "I heard you were good but um, I didn't think you'd be this good."

"I always do my best."

"Here."

Falkner opened his desk drawer and pulled out a small box. He opened it, and offered a small piece of metal with his hand.

"You more than earned it."

It was a silver medal with the WCPL logo on it, made in the shape of a bird's wings. On the back was written today's date.

"Why is there a date on it?"

"Some people have figured out how to fake badges and such."

I scanned it with my PokéNav, and sure enough, my ranking changed. Making a bit of sense.

"My father raised a lot of these Pokémon since they were quite young." Falkner muttered, placing said Pokéballs in a glass case on a cabinet in his office. "He told me Bird Pokémon, and Flying types, weren't exactly superior to all others."

I nodded quietly.

"But they possessed a beauty and a style that surpassed most. Your Pokémon appear to have a different kind of beauty. A raw degree of speed, power, technique, and timing I've rarely seen elsewhere. Never in those seeking to challenge their first gym."

He seemed to be thinking of what to say next.

"Wherever you go next, you have my respect Nico. I had literally never even heard of Kama Valley before we met today."

"Thank you, Leader Falkner."

"I understand you've been invited to challenge Blue Oak's team in Viridian City."

I was surprised he knew what Professor Oak had told me. "How did you-"

"Gym Leaders like to talk." he smirked slightly. "Jasmine, Blue, and I are among the few Gym Leaders across regions close enough to stay in touch despite how busy we might get. My advice to you is to go as soon as you can to Kanto and learn what you can."

Falkner went on kindly. "You are still." he paused. "A solid year, maybe more, from ever challenging Blue directly. But all the kids on his team would be amazing work for you to spar with. A couple of them even earned a badge or two already, and are most certainly on your level."

"Can I ask something of you?"

"Sure." Falkner said.

"I talked to Violet about this but she never had a solid answer."

"Your coach?"

I nodded and then answered quickly. "Mhm. I wanted to know, why are there so few quality trainers in Johto? I've only seen one or two outside of all the Gym Leaders?"

"I've asked myself that a lot recently. You can consider me an authority on this since, well. It's my job to know who's up and coming in the Pokémon League."

Falkner shifted in his comfy looking desk chair. "Other than yourself, and of course Gold who I know will likely be challenging me next month. There is only one Trainer I've heard from with a shred of notable talent."

"Her name is Crystal, I think she also goes by Kris or some such. She's from New Bark Town, trains a very strong Crocnaw. I think there might be one or two more, but I haven't heard of them."

Falkner cleared his throat. "You have three Pokémon League gold medals from tournaments, as well as your first Gym badge. Considering you've only been training for, four months I think. People are going to talk about you."

He paused, seeming to stare off blankly. "Because with four months, no one can get that far."

"People already have started talking about me."

"I know, but, having been there when I was growing up. Block out all that noise, focus on your training. And you'll always be better than you were yesterday."

He sounds like he was speaking from experience. "Fan girls distracting you?"

"You have no idea." Falkner sounded exhausted. "I have one more bit of advice, one that might become apparent when you actually visit Kanto."

"Yes?"

"Everyone who Blue Oak will be training when you arrive to practice with. They'll be the ones like Gold who actually have a shot of beating you someday."

"I already figured."

"Take care Nico. I look forward to hearing more from you soon."

I shook Falkners hand, tucking my new Zephyr badge into my pocket.

…

That night, we were already taking the high speed monorail to Viridian City. I had already earned more than seventy grand worth of Pokédollars from battling this past week so I was more than able to afford it.

In our compartment, Inoru had actually gotten so bored at listening Violet ramble excitedly non stop he had actually fallen asleep.

I had been on my PokéNav, again reminiscing at its similarity to the smartphone in my previous life.

Through its social app function, I realized Gold had started following me, as well as Viridian City's Gym official page.

I had been in touch with Professor Oak through the app and he told me that Blue's Arcanine, which was actually the son of his own Arcanine, had recently given birth about a month early.

While the delivery had been a success and everything was okay, all the resulting Growlithe in the litter were completely healthy. In fact, they were just as strong and healthy as Blue's and Professor Oak's had been when they were puppies too.

Falkner had been kind enough to tell the press to not bother me during my journey to Kanto, and to make an accepted request for Johto's up and coming trainers such as myself, Gold, and Crystal, as well as others he'd tell Oak about. To be allowed to train with Blue at Viridian City.

It was here where Samuel Oak made it clear to me just how seriously Blue took battling.

The difference between him and Leaf wasn't that he wanted it more than Leaf, he had wanted it too much. The rivalry between him and his childhood friends, including Red, was so great, it had completely shaped who he was.

Blue was a world champion, even if him and everyone else knew he was never as good as Red, he damn near was at one point. Leaf was barely better than him too, and she was currently ranked first in the entire world.

He didn't leave Viridian City, in fact, he hadn't stopped training except to go compete in World Championships, and no other tournaments really, since he took over its gym years ago.

In fact, he was rarely spotted outside the gym at all, even though he knew the locals there very well for over fifteen years.

Violet looked over at me, realizing Inoru had dozed off and fallen asleep. "What is it?"

"Blue might not even consider giving away any of his litter. Not even to his little brother." I put my Nav away.

"Yeah I heard Gary Oak was pretty decent, but I get where he's coming from. That line of Arcanine are basically the most experienced in battles of their kind. How'd the monastery feel about you leaving so soon?"

"Elder Li wasn't happy, but he agreed it was time for me to go."

Violet scoffed, rubbing her eye. "You're going to be training with the best Pokémon trainers your age in Kanto and Johto. And he wants you cooped up in Sprout Tower instead?"

"I've only just begun my training as a sage."

Violet shook her head, speaking kindly. "There are no trainers like you Nico, the monks know that."

"Still, if it wasn't for the monks, I'd never have gotten this far."

"Balancing being a sage and a trainer is tough, I get it. But at one point, they have to realize you've done more with their style in months than they did for the past two thousand years. The knowledge you'll gain about Pokémon from people like Blue is invaluable."

"I know."

Violet smiled. "You know what we're doing right?"

"What? What are we doing?"

"We're on the path to possibly make you Pokémon League champion someday."

"I wouldn't go that far."

She chuckled happily. "Think about it. Nico, you've gotten your first gym badge after only competing for a few months. That already puts you on the same level as people like Gold, and several others who've been doing it for years and are only now earning badges. At this pace, it will only be a matter of years, before you can take on the World Pokémon League itself and become the best anyone's seen for a while."

I looked at her. "I know I'm doing well but, how can you be so sure?"

"Only a few people have ever really done it. Red, Leaf, Blue, Lance, and Cynthia. Red had six world titles, Leaf two, Blue has two, and Lance and Cynthia are the only ones who ever placed at that level too with bronze and silver medals. They mostly started like you did, they had a type, and built a team around it. Their style was unique."

"How is my style more unique than anyone else's I've faced?"

Violet smiled. "You win! It's that simple."

I guess that made sense.

This trip to Kanto I actually looked forward to much more than challenging Falkner's gym.

Gary Oak, Blue, even Ash Ketchum. I'd be training with these people for an entire weekend, and I'd grown up as a child in my previous life living through their exploits.

Playing video games with them as avatars, watching cartoons of them.

And now they were very real people who'd be people with their own styles Violet mentioned.

With that in mind, I couldn't have felt more grateful. Every passing second that took me closer to Viridian City I couldn't wait.

I didn't even really want to raise that Growlithe pup we'd all want, I was just there to learn. Not to win.

As much as Violet went on about winning, that's how I felt about competition in general.