Viridian City was so similar to how it appeared in the anime it was actually a bit eerie.

It looked precisely like a painting or something, a still from a 90s anime of Gunma, Japan, from my childhood. The pale green mountains surrounding the town, the moderately sized city with buildings of all sorts stretching decently high.

Violet, Inoru, and I, collected our Pokémon and left the train station, surprised to see Professor Oak standing in the lobby.

"Hey, it's good to see you again Nico." he shook my hand.

"Likewise Professor. Are you going to take us to the Gym?"

"I'd have offered to hail you a taxi, but luckily, it's just in walking distance from here. Congratulations on winning your first Gym badge, you again made the news." Oak said with pride.

"Thank you Professor." I said kindly.

"If I may," said Inoru. "What exactly are the parameters of Nico's training this weekend?"

"Well it's Blue's firm belief that this upcoming generation of young Trainers stands more of a shot of beating Leaf for the World Pokémon League title than he currently does. He wishes to see what Johto's new Trainers can bring, while giving some tools of his own."

Violet smiled. "I'm really looking forward to seeing a world champion in action."

"Well I'm afraid that's just the thing." said Professor Oak warmly. "My grandson only wishes to allow Nico to participate."

"But, we're his mentors." said Inoru.

"Blue is aware of this. For this weekend's purposes, he wishes to see how Nico would act in new competitive environments he previously wasn't used to."

Violet and I made eye contact really quickly.

We had expected this.

Viridian City Gym was for Trainers of such a high skill level that they only had between fifteen challenges for an entire year. It was the Gym champions from other regions came to compete against first before qualifying to compete in several tournaments.

And several of those ended up with Blue winning within Pokémon League rules.

We all knew Leaf was as good as Blue, the only difference was, that Leaf didn't have a Gym, and trained mostly on her own.

"That's fine." Violet said after Inoru nodded.

"Thank you." Oak bowed his head. "Nico, follow me."

"I'll catch up with you guys after training."

…

I never in my life would've expected to have been walking around Viridian City with the Professor Oak as he led me to Blue's gym.

A young delivery man on a bicycle rang his bell at Oak as he smiled and nodded back to him.

"So how's Mark? What's he up to?"

"He's visiting his family in Vermillion." said Oak as we waited for the crosswalk light to change.

I was confused. "He won't be training with us this weekend?"

"Gary and Ash are Blue's closest students, he tutors them personally. The rest of the team are technically still Youngsters. You'll be practicing with others who recently got their first few gym badges earlier this year."

I smiled. "Oh, well that makes sense."

"Are you excited to train with Blue?"

"I'm sure he'll be tough but not too tough on us."

"Blue's many things. But light on his trainees, I don't think so." said Oak.

I looked at Oak. "So how did Blue decide I deserved to be invited?"

"He watched all the sparring footage of your last three competitions. He never thought much of the Order of Sprout Sage's style, until he heard of you. I sent him your profile over the PokéNav app, and he agreed shortly afterward."

"But I'm still wondering, what does he get out of all this? Shouldn't he be focused purely on Ash and Gary?"

"Well, on the world stage at least, Johto and Kanto are largely considered the same region. Blue has a bit of a vendetta against Leaf at this point from how many times they traded Rank 1 in WCPL."

Oak sighed, smiling and speaking in reminiscence. "I've known them both for almost twenty five years by now, and as much as they both wanted to keep up with Red. After he disappeared, they both dedicated themselves to proving their style was better than the other's like no one I've ever seen."

"Did they help Red with his other endeavors outside the Pokémon League?"

"Here and there." Oak shrugged a bit.

"So then, it's true what they're saying about Team Rocket? That they might come back?"

Oak's expression changed from wistful to worried.

"Where did you hear about this?" he looked over his shoulder at me as we crossed the street.

"The Elder at Sprout Tower told me."

"Did your Masters send you on a mission against them?" Oak put his hands in the pockets of his lab coat.

I shook my head.

Oak looked at me with a serious but kind tone. "Listen closely Nico, I don't want you going near Team Rocket no matter what. If you spot any activity you suspect to be related to Rocket, notify myself or the Pokémon League immediately."

"I will."

"Red never listened to me when he battled Giovanni for the first time. Luckily, I was right in assuming he had the skill to remove that twisted man from power. I do not wish to disparage your abilities nor those of those you'll meet today, but please. Never challenge Rocket directly."

"Yes Professor."

"Ash and Gary are too headstrong to ever listen to me about such things, I expect Crystal and Gold to be rather neutral when it comes to intervening potentially. But you Nico, I will always place my faith in you, having come from the most important monastery known of, to always be responsible."

The Viridian City Gym was in sight.

Oak smiled. "I'm sorry for speaking to you in such ways."

"It's your job. I imagine the Pokémon League owes you and Red more than anything."

"Oh you have no idea." Oak said exhaustively, shaking his head thinking of what I assume were memories.

Viridian City Gym was a lot humbler than I was expecting for a World Pokémon League Champion like Blue.

All that was there was a very ornate orange building with some marble pillars and a fountain out front.

We walked in, and instantly I heard a nasally voice shout.

"Gramps!"

The sliding doors hissed closed electronically behind us.

Two kids looking about a year or so younger than me, Gary Oak, and Ash Ketchum rushed up to us.

"I thought you wouldn't be in town until next week Professor." Ash said.

Gary's hair was a spiky dark mess, similar to Ash's, but his was hidden under a hat.

"I have business in Pewter City for the next few days so I thought I'd stop by. Nico here probably could've found his way here but I thought it'd be best to introduce you three in person."

Gary crossed his arms, unimpressed. "So you're supposed to be the guy everyone's been talking about huh? The most overrated thing Johto's had since Ampharos?"

"Don't listen to him." Ash said in a kinder, albeit lighter voice. "I'm Ash from Pallet Town, this rude guy here is Gary, my teammate here in Viridan City's Gym's comp team."

We shook hands.

It was actually a bit weird to see Gary and Ash apparently supposed to be teammates. They were even wearing the same black matching Oak Competition Team jacket. Gary's had a G. Oak stitched in white on it, and Ash had A. Ketchum as well.

The two other teens in the simple lobby of the Gym slowly walked up to us two.

"You've met Gold already of course. And this is Crystal."

Crystal was a girl that looked exactly as I was expecting. Similar to Ash and Gary, her appearance matched precisely what she wore during the anime and games. She had deep blue hair in a sleek ponytal, and a white top and shorts. Gary and Ash's exception were that they wore clothes showing that they were Blue's students.

Although, it was clear, Gold, Ash, Gary, and Crystal were just a few years older than I remembered them.

"Hi." Crystal said in a kind tone.

"Hey there." I turned, looking back at the number of trophies, medals, and awards Blue had been given, displayed around the Gym's lobby.

I kept feeling the ground shake for some reason.

There was a muted yelling sound, and Oak seemed to smile.

"Well I'll leave you in the hands of my grandson. Er, my older one here at least." Oak turned to me. "If you need anything, just give me a call. Enjoy your stay in Viridan City Nico."

"Thank you Professor."

The second he left, Gary spoke in his nasally voice again. "Dang, he gets the key to the city just from getting a single badge. Wish he was that excited when I got my first."

"Well how many do you have?" Crystal asked.

"Probably more than you."

Gary reached for his belt. "Wanna test that?"

I sighed, walking past them.

"Where are you going?" asked Ash.

"To focus on what we're all here for." I said respectfully, walking forward.

I opened a glass door and entered a small arena.

There were three rows of stands lining an area above a huge rocky field.

In the middle of a field, was a gigantic Blastoise slamming its fist repeatedly into a machine.

The machine should've been knocked clean off its hinges from the power of the Blastoise, it was using Aqua Jet repeatedly, accelerating at full speed with its front hand extended. Using its Water type abilities to fly forward like a rocket and pound the machine as hard as it could.

Blastoise's roar every time it struck was almost deafening, as well as the shaking that accompanied how powerfully it could land such a simple and direct technique like Aqua Jet.

"Took y'all long enough." a much calmer, deeper, and smoother voice similar to Gary's said.

Blue Oak pressed a button on a console he carried with him and the machine soon folded itself into the arena floor.

I blinked, realizing just what being a World Champion in the Pokémon League meant:

Presence.

Blue's voice was unique and strong, although still a bit familiar.

Blue was a man approaching his twenty fifth birthday, with a cleanly shaven face, wearing a black tank top a noticeable amount of muscle, and the same cut of messy hair as Gary's. Except his hair was a far lighter shade of brown. He wore a silver necklace, and didn't appear to have a single Pokéball on his belt despite owning some of the Pokémon with the highest skill level around in WCPL.

Gary smiled widely, "Sorry bro, I got carried away by-"

"No excuses, front and center, all five of you."

Instantly, all of us lined up directly in front of Blue and his Blastoise, hurrying our way down the stands.

Blue put his hands into his jeans, glancing at us five. "For the next few days, you five, will be a team. Some of you may already know each other, or just met. But the team I want to propose, is meant to last through all the tournaments you'll see each other at."

"After this training is over, most of you might not see each other again. Except in competition. Cynthia, as well as other top Gym Leaders in each region are probably doing what I'm trying to do right this very second. Offer her wisdom and advice in order to better prepare local, and younger trainers in her region the best she can to make her region the most competitive."

In other words, if Sinnoh is teaming up momentarily when it comes down to the World stage specifically, we should too.

Blue turned slightly. "This, is Blastoise. He's been my partner for the past fifteen years, and he's the only reason I've gotten as far as I have in my career. This entire training will focus you all on your basics, on your entire strategy, and how you battle at all."

Blastoise looked terrifyingly powerful enough to casually punch a hole through steel with either its limbs or its water cannons.

"It's based on your starter. I already know which starter all of you have, but for this training, your starter is all you will be using. So go ahead, let's see them."

Awkwardly, we started getting a Pokéball out and then released them.

I would never get sick of the sound of Pokéballs crashing open.

Gary released a very confident looking Wartortle, Crystal a tough and shorter than average Crocnaw, and Gold the same silent but deadly Quilava I was used to.

After I released my Vigoroth, I noticed something.

"Pikachu!"

While raising Slakoth from a baby was certainly something, nothing compared to the adorableness of Ash's Pikachu.

It was clearly male, and from what I could gather likely possessed a tremendous amount of energy. But I remained my composure, especially at how incredibly adorable this Pikachu appeared to be.

"Alright, I don't know a whole lot about you three." Blue turned to Gold, Crystal, and I. "But I know enough to see whoever chose these starters made the right choice at least for the superficial stuff. Now it's time to see if you five are really meant for your starters."

Blue walked aside, his Blastoise almost making the earth shake with each step.

"Go ahead, get warmed up. Run laps, spar, and do what you must. I will merely observe, give suggestions where I feel needed, and then will give you today's challenge."

…

I was trying to focus on Vigoroth's practice with Pikachu, over the sound Crocnaw battling Wartortle made.

"Do you mind!?" Ash asked in annoyance.

Wartortle's Bubble attack kept interrupting our drill.

Gary merely gave him a shrug and kept battling Crystal.

Ash turned. "Sorry, anyway, back to it. Pikachu, Quick Attack again!" he pointed forward with a fingerless blue glove covered finger.

Even going at a fraction of its usual speed to help Vigoroth time it, Pikachu was barely giving Vigoroth an inch. The drill we were working on was maximizing Vigoroth's timing, reflexes, and counters.

Pikachu was supposed to strike first, and be able to cleanly land an attack. Pikachu moved so quickly, and hit so hard, and its fur was so static prone, that Vigoroth would either recoil, miss, or outright get hit every time.

"Not bad." I admitted.

I heard Blue give advice from what would've been the arena's Judge's Box. "I see what you two are going for, but let Vigoroth strike first now."

"Fine. Fury Swipes." I ordered, hoping Vigoroth would catch the seriousness in my tone.

Ash's Pikachu wasn't like I was expecting. The fact that it was willing to get into a Pokéball and take training very seriously at such an early start in Ash's journey probably showed the degree to which Blue had influenced his upbringing.

Pikachu was forced to use Thundershock at close range from how close Vigoroth got to clawing its face.

"Piiiii!" the mouse roared.

Vigoroth was able to slip his head out of the way at the last second and then spin into a wheel kick, catching Pikachu right on the jaw with Scratch as it angled out.

"Huh?" Ash looked confused. "How did it do that?"

I didn't blame Ash for his response, it was unusual for Pokémon to pick up karate how I taught them.

The electric type mouse bounced away, able to recover with the balance its tail offered and then release another Thundershock.

Vigoroth blocked with its claws, both strong and skilled enough with its guard to barely take a hint of damage compared to a slightly rattled Pikachu.

Giving a Roar, Vigoroth fixed its stance and kept bouncing like a karateka, we were just drilling here but I was glad Vigoroth was able to realize just how much Pikachu was holding back to keep this at a practice level and not a live match.

Crystal and Gary on the other hand were basically treating this like World Championships even though they just met.

"Rapid Spin!"

Wartortle tried to crack Crocnaw in the jaw by withdrawing into its shell and spinning off the ground, but Crocnaw merely used Bite and caught it mid attack.

"Smash it down Crocnaw! Get her girl!" coached Crystal.

Wartortle did not appreciate being slammed repeatedly into the ground by Crocnaw's powerful jaws and then made Crocnaw spit her out with a Water Pulse inside her mouth. Being a Water Type, the attack had almost no effect but was annoying enough for Crocnaw to clean her tongue and shake her head, getting right back in the fight then after.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

I turned back to my match, not that Vigoroth needed much help.

Ash and I silently agreed that I would go first with some sort of Normal type attack, Pikachu would counter, and then we'd switch. It was purely based on timing and speed, not looking for anything nuts.

I heard Blue's stopwatch beep.

"Alright guys, rotate."

We moved clockwise, now it was my turn to practice with Crystal.

"So you wanna drill, spar, practice a move, or what?"

I shrugged, confident enough in her style.

"Vigoroth, return whatever Crocnaw gives you."

Crystal smiled across the small rings we set up. "I like the sound of that. Crocnaw, Ice Fang!"

Attacking Vigoroth with anything but long range attacks was a really bad idea, and Crystal soon figured out why.

As Ash had realized and adapted too very quickly, Vigoroth's style was entirely karate based. And because it was naturally much faster, stronger, and sharper than most Vigoroth anyone could find being from Takujimi, Vigoroth looked like it was playing with Crocnaw.

The moment Crystal realized how hard her Pokémon walked right into a counter Slash to the body she reconsidered, and focused on timing Water Guns.

I could tell Crocnaw had an absurd degree of power in her jaws, but I had trained Vigoroth way too well to get caught with basic biting attacks like Crunch, Bite, or Ice Fang. His reflexes were just too good.

It helped keep Vigoroth's blocking and evasion sharp, and kept him light for when facing other long range special moves.

"Switch!" Blue called out a few minutes later.

"Great work." Crystal said.

"Thanks."

Then I drilled with Gold.

It was a bit awkward and odd to become training partners with someone I was actually just competing with a few days ago, but Gold was casual about it.

"Quick Attack."

Gold seemed to stop relying so much on Smokescreen.

Unlike Crystal, Gold fought a whole lot smarter. Not just because he knew my style better having fought me twice before, but Quilava was a better match up. I could still tell when Crocnaw learned a wider variety of attacks she could become trouble for my team though.

Vigoroth and Quilava were keeping their match casual, always listening to our orders, not trying too hard yet until we said so while still staying in the fight.

"Okay, now I defend, you attack."

"Right," I said to Gold with a nod. "Vigoroth, Rock Slide."

It was technically an attempt at Rock Throw but I didn't know if it was one still. Vigoroth very roughly dug chunks of earth out of the ground around him and then hurled them at Quilava. Like in their last match, they missed by a lot, but I was just trying to improve the move at all.

"Switch!"

Already? Man I was just getting started.

Gold and I bumped fists and we rotated again.

Now I faced Gary, and as I was expecting this was a lot of fun.

If we were testing if these were meant to be our starters and if we understood them well, then Gary certainly was supposed to have a Wartortle.

Wartortle was cocky, quick, mean, and above all: slippery.

Wartortle would Rapid Spin for one minute, make Vigoroth change angles and throw Slashes while getting hit right in the chest with Water Gun. It wasn't hard enough to remotely stagger Vigoroth, but was successful in distracting Vigoroth long enough to quietly roll behind a rock still withdrawn into its shell.

"Bite!" ordered Gary.

Wartortle popped out from behind a small boulder as Vigoroth unsuccessfully smashed a few others apart trying to find her, when Wartortle latched onto his arm.

It looked a bit painful but all Vigoroth did was Slash her away hitting her right in the face, and then use Faint Attack, sending the turtle flying across the ring.

Wartortle hissed in annoyance at Vigoroth, when she tumbled onto her back, before withdrawing into her shell and rolling away behind another rock to time another attack. Yet again, Vigoroth overwhelmed Wartortle's next strike with perfect timing and much superior physical strength.

I could tell Vigoroth was certainly winning by the time Gary's brother called out again.

"Okay everyone last round."

I was then using all the equipment Gary set out for us to use.

I had Vigoroth run laps around the third ring he made out of the small arena Viridian City gym had for battles, and use a training machine for conditioning his Physical machines as well as cones and stuff for footwork that Blue was nice enough to set out for me after I asked.

Vigoroth and I paused when Blue hit the buzzer between rounds for the last time for practice before the challenge.

"Alright everyone, gather round."

Blue had all five of us and our Pokémon stand around him in a semi circle when he used the elevator from the judge's box to lower himself into the arena.

"Today's challenge is simple." Blue crossed his arms, it was actually a bit funny how much Gary tried to imitate him earlier. "Land a hit."

"I'm sorry?" Crystal asked.

"That's right." Blue said. "Land a hit." he repeated.

"Land a hit?" Ash was confused. "On who?"

Blue smiled. "Who do you think?" I immediately got what he implied. "Blastoise." I eyed the veteran of fifteen years of Pokémon League battles at the highest possible level standing right next to Blue.

"But that's like." Gary's eyes widened. "Impossible."

"Leaf does it all the time," Blue said casually with a slight shrug.

"Well Leaf's a world champion and we're not sooo…" Gary looked aside.

"Look, some of you were going too hard during these warm up matches." Blue looked at Crystal and Gary. "And some of you too lightly." he looked at Gold and I.

I didn't like how he said that, however, he was a world champion and I was in his gym so I didn't say anything.

"This will find a good middle ground. You five have to learn and adapt to any situation. To keep things fair, Blastoise will only be permitted to use Withdraw and Rapid Spin." said Blue smoothly.

So? Blastoise could literally just use Bubble and we'd still be toast.

In fact, trying half as hard with just Surf would knock out all five of our Pokémon in one clean go.

"You five can use whatever you want. Combined attacks, Special, Physical attacks, whatever you feel is necessary. If you land cleanly and hard enough to clearly deal damage to Blastoise, you win the challenge."

"What do we get if we win?" asked Gary.

"That's not the point." I muttered, trying to strategize at all how we were supposed to even get close to landing a hit on one of the best Pokémon for battling in existence.

This Blastoise grew up battling Red's Charizard from when they were raised right out of Oak's lab. Blue had gotten several gym badges with this Pokémon before any of us were even born.

"Whoever lands the hit gets their choice of a Growlithe from the litter I know all of you want to adopt from." said Blue quietly.

Crystal's eyes perked up.

I could tell Ash was staring at Pikachu with a look like 'this is what we've wanted for a really long time.'

"I'm in," Gary said confidently.

"Me too. You ready buddy?" asked Ash.

"Pika!"

Crystal and I nodded to each other.

Gold was about to say something when Blue just muttered. "I wasn't giving any of you a choice in the matter but yes, I'm glad to hear you're in. We're ready when you are."

Blue didn't even give any orders to Blastoise, merely nodding to him and walking to his Trainer's box.

…

We spread out through the stands.

Technically, we were about to battle a world champion. Five on one, and he was using an extremely minute amount of Blastoise's total abilities, but still.

Blue called out. "You guys get the first move, the point of the exercise is to make Blastoise work! Not the other way around!"

How were we even supposed to touch this thing?

Blastoise's shell was marked from hundreds of battles including facing people like Cynthia at her best. I'm pretty sure there were matches when Blastoise damn near Surfed through one or two of Red's best Pokémon when they were younger.

He used the same buzzer he'd been pressing to indicate the end of a round or start of a round to indicate the match had begun.

"Crocnaw Bite it!"

"Pikachu! Go!"

All of our orders just seemed to yell over each other, but from what I could tell our Pokémon got the picture.

Pikachu used Quick Attack to time an Electric attack, Quilava Dig, Crocnaw and Wartortle Water Gun while attempting to close the distance to Bite, and Vigoroth wisely began to draw nearer slowly under my coaching attempting to see an opening.

The precision and speed with which Blastoise countered or dodged absolutely everything we did to it was like nothing I'd ever seen.

Before Pikachu was able to Thundershock Blastoise at close range, Blastoise had countered and sidestepped its Quick Attack and hurled it aside. Blastoise appeared to see Quilava fly out of the ground within a second, arrive in its peripheral vision, not even looking at it when he just Withdrew his head a little, redirected it with his right hand, and let Quilava fly right at Crocnaw and Wartortle's combined spray.

"Whoa! Not cool! What's the big idea guys!?" Gold was not happy over how badly Quilava got drenched.

Crystal and Gary argued over each other, not even noticing how Blastoise was about to send their Pokémon flying about like bowling pins when Blastoise began to fly around in his shell.

I was able to yell loudly enough to catch their attention. "Vigoroth! Slash!" I yelled desperately, at the top of my lungs. "Now!"

His Roar split the air of the Viridian City Gym arena, launching across the air.

Vigoroth leaped in time and saved a confused, Quilava, Crocnaw, and Wartortle from getting smacked by Blastoise's Rapid Spin with a lunging overhead Slash. It was random but direct enough to prevent the attack, but Blastoise still was able to seriously stagger Vigoroth with ease, no small feat.

Blastoise instantly was about to pop right out of his shell and right onto his feet, this time his eyes focused on Ash's Pokémon.

"Pikachu get out of there!" Ash yelled.

Despite Pikachu's energy and speed, Blastoise just barely missed hitting with a Rapid Spin against the wall of the arena right behind Pikachu.

Blastoise had to reposition after the impact, but it didn't count. Technically the Blastoise hit itself, and it really looked like it felt nothing at all.

Again, Blastoise merely turned and waited for us to do something.

"Crocnaw, Bite it again!"

"Guys wait-" I shouted.

They didn't listen, I suspect they took such a walloping of their Pokémon personally. "Thundershock!"

"Dig and Flame Wheel!"

Again, Blastoise was just playing with us.

Crocnaw almost got knocked right out when Blastoise grabbed it by its open jaw and flung it into Pikachu's Thundershock.

Wartortle was about to hit Blastoise right in the leg with some sort of quick Bite or Tackle but used Rapid Spin at the last second to send Wartortle flying away, smacking the arena wall.

"Wartortle!" Gary yelled in surprise.

Vigoroth was left alone to deal with Blastoise, and Vigoroth knew he'd meet a similar fate if he attacked, but was able to deal with the ensuing Rapid Spin if necessary. We needed a plan, Vigoroth was the only Pokémon not getting outright bodied or thrown into friendly fire every four seconds.

Was my strategy just better? It was my first day practicing at this gym but that might've been the case.

I sighed. "Time!"

I looked over to Blue. "Time! Is it- Can we, can we call time-"

Blue boredly hit his console in his pocket and a buzzer rang out. "Whaaatever." he called out with another shrug.

I began to cross the edge of the stands over the arena and approached Gary and Ash, Crystal and Gold appeared on the other side.

"You guys need to give me a freaking opening." Gary said. "Wartortle almost had him."

"Yeah before he kept getting smacked." Crystal taunted.

"How's your Crocnaw liking that electric sandwich? Tasty?" asked Gary sarcastically.

Crystal looked angry enough to punch Gary in the face.

I raised my voice slightly. "Stop it!"

Their attention snapped to me, Ash fixed his cap. "We need to change our strategy."

"Right." agreed Gold.

Crystal and Gary stopped bickering, gave each other a death glare, and turned back to me.

"Well Johto boy." Gary snorted. "What's your suggestion?"

I knelt drawing in the gravel near the red side Trainer's box in the arena. "Look."

I explained. "Blastoise keeps positioning himself in an area of the ring where we can't attack it. He makes sure he constantly has his back to the arena wall, where sure, he has less room to maneuver from when we engage, but doesn't have to deal with being attacked from behind."

All four of them looked at the rectangle I drew of the ring, as well as dots indicating Blastoise, Wartortle, Pikachu, Vigoroth, Quilava, and Crocnaw.

"How are your Pokémon doing guys?" I looked up at them.

"Umm…" Crystal winced.

We looked over at the arena below.

Quilava wasn't tired, but clearly was wondering if attacking Blastoise again was a smart choice after it was thrown into an allied attack. Wartortle looked pretty hurt after being thrown right into the wall by its older counterpart, but looked too eager to get payback on Blastoise.

Pikachu and Vigoroth looked fine, but Crocnaw was damn near out from that last hit, it looked decently dazed and exhausted.

"Yeah. Either we win this next attempt, or we're going to lose a Pokémon, one by one until we fail the challenge." I admitted.

"And then no one gets that Growlithe." Ash said sadly.

"Okay here's the plan." I began.

I drew a V shape towards Blastoise from the edges of the ring. "Ash, Gold. Simultaneously use Quick Attack to draw a counter from Blastoise."

"Won't he just use Withdraw?" asked Gary.

I shook my head. "He knows that's game over. At that range, if Pikachu slams right into its shell, it can just use Thunder Shock, the only super effective move we have on the table against Blastoise. He has to move forward with Rapid Spin."

Crystal nodded, watching me draw a line forward with an arrow.

"Wartortle and Crocnaw will bathe Blastoise in Water Guns, they won't be effective, but it won't matter. All we have to do is pin down Blastoise for long enough to get behind it. By that point, Vigoroth will slash it in its back."

"Wait." Ash was confused. "How did it get there?"

"Unless Blue tells it to turn around, which will be pointless since it'll expose its back to the others. Vigoroth will have already snuck around during all this and attacked." I drew a circle in the gravel from the shape indicating my Pokémon. "His Slash is strong enough to probably knock Blastoise off balance to let Wartortle hit it in the face with Rapid Spin."

"You want," Gary frowned. "The biggest, brightest, and most obvious Pokémon we have. To be our stealthiest one here?"

"Haven't you been paying attention?" I asked. "Blastoise knows Vigoroth has been playing defensively this entire time and doesn't engage unless he sees an opening, which, hasn't happened yet. There's no way he'll care about him during any of this."

"Time's up!" I heard Blue shout.

I stood up, drawing the plan away with my foot. "Trust me on this guys, it's all or nothing here."

We spread out, checked up on our Pokémon real quick, and then Blue hit the buzzer.

Gold and Ash shouted in unison. "Quick Attack!" they said.

From either edge of the ring, Pikachu and Quilava began to sprint towards Blastoise at full speed.

Blastoise saw this coming from a mile away and already began to advance, drawing into its shell to use Rapid Spin. Only to be met with another combined Water Gun from Crocnaw and Wartortle.

This time, they must've listened to their trainers and tried as hard as they could, all or nothing here indeed. These Water Guns resembled very low level Hydro Pumps.

It was strong enough to make Blastoise stop and leave his shell. Water Type moves were about as effective against Blastoise as a fly against a bus windshield, however, the combined water gouts were able to redirect the spinning of his shell and reposition.

This entire time, Vigoroth had done his job properly.

"Blastoise look out!" Blue said the first thing he did during the entire challenge.

"Oro!"

Blastoise barely began to turn around when suddenly, I saw Vigoroth draw every ounce of strength he had in him and hit him right in the shell with a huge Slash.

The hit wasn't remotely effective, but it didn't need to be. Wartortle was drawing close enough from the other side of him to strike.

The smaller turtle Pokémon flew forward as Blastoise had to turn around again to see the incoming Rapid Spin.

Blastoise began to Withdraw its head back into his shell, trying to block and redirect the Wartortle away with its hands when Wartortle flew through.

Its shell smacked directly into Blastoise's eyes as it drew its guard up around it.

Combined with being hit from behind at full power from Vigoroth, it was enough to stagger Blastoise, get him off his legs, and fall forward. Did it really damage Blastoise though? Certainly not.

It should've been a hit effective enough to draw a response from Blue still, but I guess in terms of effective and countable WCPL damage it wasn't enough.

Blastoise fell onto one knee, and I didn't realize how much of an opportunity Ash had this entire time.

"Now Pikachu! Thundershock!"

Blastoise couldn't Rapid Spin away this time, not after being knocked off balance and needing more than a second to get back on both feet or into its shell.

"Piiiii!"

Blastoise was fried at mid range and like that Blue hit the buzzer.

And a good thing too, because Blastoise was actually looking a bit angry at what just happened. His eyes had widened and even Gary's cocky Wartortle took a step back, and all the younger Pokémon in the ring, except for my own, were wondering what would happen if the match suddenly became for real.

I doubt Blastoise would've hurt the rest of them, but one solid Surf certainly would've resulted in all of us recalling our Pokémon or having them knocked out.

Blue spoke out. "Hey!"

Blastoise looked up at him.

"You did fine. Great job."

Blue recalled his starter back to his Pokéball.

With a very long sigh, Blue shook his head. He actually seemed to smile for a second.

"All five of you, my office."

…

Blue's office was like nothing I ever saw.

There were pictures of Leaf, his sister, and of Blue with his original team.

As well as. What appeared to be a picture of Red and Blue at the very first World Championships at maybe thirteen or fourteen over a decade ago in the finals.

Blue appeared and the five of us stopped chatting, watching Blue enter his own office.

Blue took a seat in his chair and we all looked at him quietly.

He cleared his throat, looking at Crystal. "Alright, first off. I wasn't expecting that much from you today. You can come back tomorrow bright and early, I have a lot of advice."

"Thank you." she bowed her head.

"You four are something else entirely." Blue turned to us. "Gold. Your Quilava didn't do a whole lot, I could tell how hesitant you and Nico were in the warm up rounds to save up energy for the challenge. And that being said, when the challenge came you two really weren't as aggressive as you should've been."

"And as I was expecting too." Blue admitted. "You two."

Gary and Ash looked a bit ashamed.

"Fought way too aggressively. Especially you Gary."

"Hey man, I'm not used to their styles and-"

His older brother shook his head instantly. "I don't wanna hear it. You should've known better."

"Well I'm the one who got the hit in! I won the challenge."

"No. I did." Ash said.

Gary raised his voice slightly. "Neither of you won the challenge. The only person who performed at the standards I set today was Nico."

Even I was confused.

"How?" I asked.

"Yeah, how big bro? This is like, weird." Gary muttered.

Blue explained calmly. "Crystal. I can tell you're a nice girl, but you shouldn't have responded to my brother's immaturity. Gold, as I've said, until everyone assured you they had your back, you didn't fight as aggressively as you should've. Ash, you overall did fine but could've held back in some places."

Blue shook his head at Gary. "And you."

Gary couldn't say anything.

"Just because Nico let you get the winning hit doesn't mean he didn't come up with a better strategy than you had. He was the only one today who was here to train, and kept his head clear, very important for League battles. He was willing to let someone else get the prize, so long as it meant the team won the challenge."

Blue slightly raised a finger. "All of you need to know this. There will be moments in competition where you have to make sacrifices, to adapt, to think outside the box even when things look hopeless. It took you landing a weaker hit today to land the one that mattered."

I nodded in a deep understanding of what he meant.

"Nico, was the only one today who was willing to catch the subtleties of battling in order to achieve victory. That's why he'll be the one I've chosen to train one of my newborn Growlithe."

Gold looked a bit disappointed but ultimately seemed okay. He already had a very powerful Fire type as a starter.

Crystal looked devastated, but humbly accepted Blue's decision.

"I knew my Pikachu was better."

"Well I was the one who let it land a hit in the first place!"

Gary and Ash started blaming each other, outwardly upset until Blue shut it down again in seconds.

"I don't wanna hear it." Blue said quietly and they stopped instantly. "You four can go home, I'll see you again in the morning. Nico, this way please."

…

Viridian City Gym actually had a small Pokémon Center, or at least, a healing station where Blue let me put my Pokéballs containing Vigoroth, who more than deserved some rest, and Teddiursa.

"Congratulations."

Blue led me to a small nursery.

"Take your pick."

It almost brought tears to my eyes when Blue drew a key and opened the door.

If Blastoise was one of the best fighters competitive Pokémon ever knew, then Arcanine was the same thing but for a few Fire types. This was one of Blue's staple Pokémon, and he would always be second best to only the best of all time.

Arcanine, and his mate, were some of the most impressive looking Pokémon I'd ever seen.

They had a bright orange-ish white mane filling their hide, along with red fur with deep black spots. Gorgeous dark eyes, and then. Seven of the most adorable Growlithes I'd ever laid eyes on. I'd only seen a couple between here and Mount Takujimi, but these felt special, just by looking at them.

"Can I, can I touch them, can I-"

"Yeah of course, go ahead." Blue spoke out. "This is Nico, you can trust him."

Both Arcanine merely kept panting despite their Trainer's words, nursing their newborns.

I knelt down, one of the Growlithes stopped playing when I reached down to pet them.

"Hi."

"Arf!" The Growlithe chased its tail in a circle and put its paws up on the material of my pant leg.

"How old are they?"

"About six weeks. They won't have the teeth nor paws to even do drills for another month or so, but you can still train them in listening and obeying and such." Blue sounded like an expert, which, he most certainly was. "After another week or two, I'll have the one you pick transferred to your PC."

His two Arcanines seemed to trust Blue more than well enough to let me go near their children.

I looked around the room, all the equipment, toys, and wallpaper.

This was hands down the best Growlithe nursery on the planet. I felt luckier than so many people I didn't know how to feel right now.

I sighed. "This, doesn't feel right." I said guiltily. "There are enough pups here to give to everyone who helped me win today."

"I know." admitted Blue. "But this is part of the lesson too. Part of the lesson I want them, and you especially to learn. Losing today, helps you win tomorrow."

I nodded a bit sadly.

Blue tilted his head slightly. "Hey. This is another important lesson too. If I had never lost to Red, again and again. I never would've become the Trainer I am today, I never would've become Viridian City's Gym leader. There can only ever be one winner from a competition."

"So, does that mean you miss him? Miss Red I mean? If it's too personal I can-"

Blue paused.

He looked back up at me. "Do you miss your temple?"

"Honestly yeah," I admitted. "I was really lost at one point, and the temple gave me clarity, direction, everything I needed to start my journey."

"So your temple is your home?"

I nodded quietly.

"Well, Pallet Town is my home. After Red disappeared, I didn't go back and visit it, because, without Red there." Blue shrugged. "It felt like a part of that home was gone. Almost like losing a family member."

"Is that why it's closed off to tourists?"

Blue was the one who nodded quietly too.

"I'm sorry he's gone."

"Can I see your necklace?"

I showed him my carved pendant of Mew.

Blue seemed to smile a bit. "I don't consider myself a particularly religious person. But after seeing the amount of maturity and wisdom you had, that I really wish my brother could have sometimes. I want to learn more about this."

"I'm sure Elder Li would be more than happy to accommodate you at Violet City."

"I'm undecided," admitted Blue. "But I want you to know you're welcome to train here whenever you like. You were leading that Vigoroth through hellfire tonight, and cause it trusted you well enough, your entire team won."

I played with one of the Growlithes when Blue spoke, just humoring it by rubbing its head when it kept leaning its paws on my shin. "Um, anyway. I can tell you about each one of these, I've raised them myself. Despite Gramps and Daisy insisting, I wouldn't let anyone else touch them until they were old enough."

Wow.

I knew Blue took this Kanto Johto pseudo team seriously but still. Especially because at any given tournament I'd have to give Ash, Gary, and the everyone else my best same as I'd need them to give me theirs.

"Tell me about this little guy." I said, pointing to the Growlithe that rushed up to me first.

Each had a small collar with a number, I assumed Blue really cared about figuring out how they played together and how they could grow differently to each other.

"This is one of the middle daughters of the litter. Nothing too significant about her, a bit playful but nothing notable besides her friendliness."

"That one?"

"That's the youngest. Plays well with the others, a bit shy, she has a huge appetite, biggest I've ever seen in Growlithes."

This Growlithe seemed a bit smaller than the others.

"And that one?"

"One of the older ones. His favorite game seems to be the same one my own Arcanine had growing up as a puppy."

"Aaand. That Growlithe?"

"The oldest. Biggest of the bunch, doesn't like to play too much, but stays closest to his parent's side more than any of his siblings."

Despite being larger than the rest, the oldest Growlithe appeared a bit coddled by its parents. His mother's tail was curled around him and protected him from the wild playfighting and chasing of his siblings, the entire time, he observed.

I sighed, not knowing which one I liked. The others seemed just as fine a pick too.

"Can I have some time to think about it?"

Blue smiled. "Honestly I'd prefer you do. Shows you take competing even more seriously than I was expecting. Your team is still mostly in its infancy, even if your Slakoth just evolved, and your Teddiursa is about to."

"How'd you-"

Right. He'd watched footage of all my competitions.

"Any advice from seeing all my stuff?"

He shook his head. "Not really. You're going to hit a wall if you don't branch out and try to figure out heavy special attackers or other types besides Normal Pokémon. Growlithes are a great place to start so I get why you want to think so much about this."

Honestly, this was the hardest decision of my life so far.

Blue checked his PokéNav. "I'll send you detailed files on each part of the litter. I've run some preliminary tests on how I think they could do in the ring. But honestly, performance wise they're all pretty much the same."

"Really?"

"I made sure of it." Blue said simply. "However, it is really important you pick one that you feel matches you, your personality, and your team the best. I have to head out, you go ahead and leave, I have to lock up the gym after I get everyone fed."

"Thanks for everything Blue. See you tomorrow."

He gave me a small nod before getting to work.

…

Outside in the lobby, Crystal was leaning on a couch side as Gold, Ash, and Gary all were talking on it.

I think they were expecting me to come out with a Growlithe in my arms.

"Well?" asked Gary as the four of them approached me.

Ash nudged him but I shrugged. "I couldn't pick one yet."

"Look Nico, you, kinda saved our behinds today." Gold admitted.

"I was doing fine." Gary puffed his chest out.

"No. You weren't." Crystal said.

Ash smiled slightly. "I know you three are from Johto so um, do you want to get something to eat before you all have to leave tomorrow?"

Become even closer friends with people who I might have to face in tournaments like the Pokémon League and others and such? Sure why not?

"Sounds fine to me." I nodded a bit in return.

…