1.Ash's Story (Part 2: Johto)

Chapter 42

Now we are at Route 36, and we see Koga and his daughter, the Fuchsia City Gym Leader, Janine, are training. I greet them and Janine says, "Ash! Nice to see you again."

"Same here, Janine. What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I'm training with my father." Janine says. Koga then comes and says, "Indeed, I heard from my daughter that you saved the gym from Team Rocket. You have my gratitude."

"Well, it was mostly Misty's Psyduck that did the trick." I say. "I'm here to challenge you since I beat Will."

Then he suddenly laughs, he says, "I live in shadows-a ninja! My intricate style will confound and destroy you! Confusion, sleep, poison... Prepare to be the victim of my sinister techniques! Fwahahahaha! Pokémon are not merely about brute force-you shall see soon enough!"

Like Will, it is going to be a five-on-five match. He goes for Ariados first while I decide to go with Forretress. Forretress uses Iron Head first while Ariados uses String Shot to dodge it. Then it uses Sludge Bomb, but it has no effect and then Forretress uses Signal Beam, which is deflected by Poison Fang. Then it uses Pin Missile to defeat Forretress.

"Looks like this is going to be tough..." I say as I go for Shuckle, and by using the Rock Blast, Ariados is defeated.

"Now let's see if you can face one of my non-Poison Types. Forretress!" Koga using Forretress is something that I'm not expecting, and it goes for Toxic Spikes to set up the field, so all of my Pokemon that come in will be Poisoned. Shuckle is then defeated by Forretress' Explosion, but that also means we both lose two Pokemon.

His third Pokemon is Muk, while I go for Gligar. Muk uses Defense Curl and raises its defense, while Gligar goes for Sand Tomb, letting Muk trapped. Much to my horror, Muk goes for Body Slam and Gligar falls to the ground and gets poisoned by the attack.

"Gligar! Hang in there and use Fury Cutter!" I yell, but Gligar's move is countered by Venoshock, and in the end, it is defeated by Gunk Shot.

"Well, here goes nothing." I decided to send out Wobbuffet, and it is also poisoned because of Toxic Spikes.

"A Wobbuffet? Is he serious?" Janine asks.

"Well, I'm not worried about it." Lillie says.

Wobbuffet's Counter attack knocks out Muk after being hit by the Body Slam, so Koga sends out Venomoth next. It is his mistake because the Mirror Coat from Venomoth's Signal Beam deals a lot of damage, but Koga still reduces that amount of damage by using Psychic.

"Quiver Dance." Then he tries to raise the stats of the Pokemon and hopes to finish Wobbuffet before it can use Mirror Coat, but good thing Wobbuffet can learn Destiny Bond, Venomoth is also taken down.

"One Pokémon left? Ha ha ha! I've been counting on this one from the very beginning!" Then he goes for Crobat, and I go for Ho-Oh to battle.

"A Ho-Oh? You sure are filled with surprises." Koga says.

I have Ho-Oh use Sacred Fire, but Crobat dodges and uses Cross Poison, poisoning Ho-Oh. Then I have Ho-Oh use Ancient Power, which is super effective against Crobat. Crobat shakes off the damage and uses Wing Attack, Ho-Oh counters with Brave Bird. Then it fires Sacred Fire again, defeating Crobat.

Koga says, "Ah! You've proven your worth!"

He gives me the Poison Medal and I thank him. He adds, "I subjected you to everything I could muster. But my efforts failed. I must hone my skills. Go to the next one and put your abilities to the test."

"We will." I say as we bid farewell to them.

On our way to the Whirl Islands, we notice a shadow watching us, and then it runs off. "Suicune again..." I mutter. "Just when we're going to capture him?"