The Ghost Specialist

The Onix was a towering snake made of boulders connected like a chain. Head to tail-tip, it was longer than a bus, and it had a dull horn on its head that looked capable of crushing that very bus. For a Pokémon so large to be the opponent of a first Gym Badge fight made it feel like Jasmine didn’t want anyone to win.

Sam thought back to the arena. He thought back to the promise he made to his team.

He would beat Jasmine one day, and he hadn’t been talking about a battle as low-level as this one. He had been talking about her core team, her team of elite Pokémon. If he wanted to beat her Steelix, he couldn’t let himself get caught up by a single, little Onix. It wouldn’t have been sent out in front of him if it wasn’t possible.

And he had promised to himself that he wasn’t going to lose ever again. This battle would not be an exception.

“Cyndaquil!” he shouted.

The little Fire Type flashed onto the field with a challenging squeak. Jasmine smiled, but Cyndaquil didn’t spare a single glance to the Gym Leader. Instead, she craned her neck up, and up, and up, until she was staring the Onix in its massive eyes. She fell back on her butt out of both fear and awe.

“This is our fight, Cyndaquil. We’re beating that Onix today,” Sam said.

She snapped her head to him. For a moment, she looked at Sam in complete disbelief. But the confidence on his face said he knew they could do this. He was already starting to piece together a plan.

“I have challengers who back out as soon as they see Onix,” Jasmine said. “It is good to maintain your composure before such a towering beast.”

Sam merely grunted, not bothering with a proper reply. Instead, he scanned every inch of the massive Pokémon’s body.

I’ll need to have Cyndaquil prod it for points of weakness. Maybe where its boulders connect. Or its eyes? Those don’t seem to be made of rock like the rest, but they look just as hardened—in more ways than one.

As Sam continued his search, Jasmine chuckled quietly.

“...I understand. You want to get this battle in order, yes?” She turned to the side of the field, where a referee in a silver-grey sweatshirt stood at the ready. “I believe both of us are prepared to begin.”

Sam turned to the referee and nodded, agreeing. He wouldn’t be able to figure out anything else until the fight actually started.

“Then...” The referee spoke in a voice loud enough to echo through the room and glanced between the two Pokémon. “This will be a battle between Challenger Samuel and Gym Leader Jasmine. The challenger will be permitted to use up to three Pokémon, whereas Gym Leader has limited herself to one. A maximum of two switches are allowed. The format will follow the standard Gym Battle format. And unless there are any questions...”

Sam stared ahead. Jasmine calmly took in the field.

The referee nodded once before shouting the one word to start the battle.

“Begin!”

The first person to speak wasn’t Sam, nor was it Jasmine. Instead, a voice cried out from the stands with a small, teddy-bear-like Pokémon crying out alongside her.

“You can do this, Sam! Beat her up!” Redi shouted.

And with that, both trainers called out for their Pokémon to move.

“Tackle, Onix.”

“Ember, all up and down its body! Run away as you do!”

The massive Pokémon roared—its voice sounded more like the rumble of an avalanche than a living creature. It lowered its head to jab at and smash Cyndaquil, but her back blazed with panicked energy while she scurried away as fast as she could.

The ground shook when Onix’s chin hit the floor, and Cyndaquil was knocked into the air. She squeaked in alarm and hastily turned around, not dropping her speed in the slightest while running along the edge of the field.

Flames left her mouth. She loosed an Ember over her shoulder. Onix was big, slow, and lumbering, but what it lacked in speed, it made up in its incredible defense. She pulled the attack across its body by angling her head, and black, sooty marks appeared in a line down Onix’s rocks.

Except, the Pokémon didn’t even react. Rock resisted Fire, and it didn’t even blink when Ember dug in between where its boulders connected.

So not a weak point, then.

The Onix’s tail pushed it forward, beginning to give chase. It was an impossible movement—at least two thirds of its body was raised into the air. Still, its balance was impeccable as its eyes did not leave Cyndaquil’s rushing form.

“Aim at its face!” Sam shouted.

“Screech,” Jasmine said.

Onix opened its mouth and let loose a new sound. Bits of gravel fell downwards as a noise akin to a scratch against a chalkboard filled the room.

Sam had to cover his ears to stop himself from falling.

Cyndaquil had it the worst. Onix faced her, with its open mouth perfectly aimed her way. She stopped running, cringing under the horrific noise, the Screech focused and that much stronger around her.

But, even with that move obliterating her defenses, Cyndaquil proved she wasn’t going to give up. Though shaking, she managed to aim her snout right at the Onix’s eyes to unleash one last Ember.

There was little reaction, but that meant there was a reaction. Even though it resisted the comparatively small move, the Onix still pulled back its head ever-so-slightly when the Ember hit.

Got it. Attack the head, but we’ll need a way to bring it lower. Mankey has the Type advantage here, we just need to position Onix to let him take advantage of that.

One problem with Sam’s plan: Cyndaquil had stopped moving, but the Onix was still creeping closer. It was slow but steady, and Sam knew Cyndaquil would be too busy with recovering from that Screech to properly dodge.

“Tackle,” Jasmine ordered.

Cyndaquil tried to drag herself away, but her head was almost visibly spinning. One move in her arsenal could save her, so Sam didn’t wait to call it out.

“Smokescreen!”

Not once in this fight had Cyndaquil’s flames dropped. Redi was onto something about working with what a Pokémon already had. Cyndaquil did not need to prepare; she was ready at a moment’s notice.

She opened her mouth and coughed out a cloud of smoke, obscuring her.

Onix neared and brought its head down.

The earth shook, and Sam clenched his fists nervously. For a moment, the only sounds in the room were Redi’s and Teddiursa’s continuing cheers of support.

Then, something rushed out of the smoke, and Cyndaquil sprinted away on all four limbs. She was shaken but not fainted; likely, the Onix hadn’t slammed on top of her, but the momentum of the slam had still let it push forward to hit her.

Each time a paw on the right side of her body hit the ground, she winced. She was hurt but still battle-capable. Sam’s chest swelled at the determination his Pokémon displayed and wasted no time at all to call out the next step of his plan.

“The sky! Fill the air above the field with smoke!”

She ran. Her mouth opened up, and smoke poured out of her throat. A shadow settled over the field as several of the lights were blocked out, but there was still enough to see what was happening.

Onix was effectively blinded. As more and more smoke filled the air, the level at which it usually kept its head became utterly obscured.

“Pause! I’m returning my Pokémon!”

The referee nodded at Sam, and Jasmine brought a hand down from where she was about to give Onix new orders. Cyndaquil returned to her Pokéball in a flash of light, and Sam whispered quiet praise to her before wishing her a good rest.

Then, he pulled out a new Pokéball from his pocket. This time, Mankey appeared ahead of him.

“Continue,” the referee stated.

Unlike Cyndaquil’s initial, scared reaction, Mankey was much more excited when he saw Onix. The primate hopped between his feet and pumped his arms with fervent glee. Fighting Type moves were super effective against Rock Type Pokémon, and this was a chance to actually demonstrate the strength he had cultivated.

Jasmine ordered a Tackle, and Onix started to rumble forward. Sam took one look at its slow movement and took advantage of this situation for what it was: time to talk.

“Mankey. This Onix hates you. It hates your small size, it hates your opposing Type, and most important of all, it hates how you have a chance to beat it,” Sam said. “If it hates you, we’ll hate it back. So you know what we’re going to do?”

Veins appeared on Mankey’s head. The Onix was almost on him. His red eyes burned with anger as he glared at the Pokémon that towered so far above his head.

“We’re going to take a page out of Redi’s book and punch it in the face!” Sam shouted. “Let’s do this! Use Karate Chop!”

Mankey screeched. His shout was a war cry that announced his own attack. Onix crouched—at least, it crouched as much as a snake-like Pokémon could crouch—since it was doing its best to keep its head underneath the smoke. As a result, it was no longer keeping itself as far off the ground as before, giving Mankey significantly more room to act.

He ignored that for now and instead rushed its body. Using his agility, he hopped forward to grab onto its uneven stone and fling himself right where its head was held low only a few feet away.

“Harden!” Jasmine shouted.

There was worry in her voice.

Onix gained a metallic sheen right as Mankey latched onto its face. The primate Pokémon grabbed onto the stone right under its eyes and smashed his hand downwards. Onix immediately reared back, its deep voice crying out in pain. It threw its head into the smoke clouds, air currents temporarily pushing them apart, and it flailed as Mankey held on throughout all of the movement.

“Again!” Sam shouted.

Mankey’s hand smashed into Onix’s face a second time.

Sam could see Mankey recoiling from the pain of punching a dense rock each time he struck, but the monkey’s furious rage pushed him through.

“Bind!” Jasmine called out.

She’s getting desperate. We’re close.

Onix fell back to land on its side and let the tip of its tail—the thinnest part of its body—reach up towards where Mankey was hanging on. However, the monkey climbed higher, moving to where the horn jutted off from the very top of Onix itself. Almost like a sort of game, he used Onix’s own body against it to prevent him from being grabbed.

Onix was an incredibly defensive Pokémon, but Sam knew that its fate was sealed. After the two separate Karate Chops, it was already struggling to move. Taking advantage, he called for a different attack, one that might have been weaker, but it was too ferocious for such a massive Pokémon to resist.

“Fury Swipes.”

Mankey swung himself down to tear at Onix’s face. It might have resisted the move instead of being vulnerable to it, but each swipe still did a minimum amount of damage, and after a few more seconds, it collapsed, utterly fainted.

“Onix is unable to battle. Leader Jasmine has no more available Pokémon. Challenger Samuel is the victor!”

The room erupted into cheers, though it was really just Redi. Sam ran onto the field as Mankey jumped off of Onix to be caught by him, and he swung the monkey around before clutching him close to his chest.

“Yes! That was amazing!” he said. “You took out that enormous Onix so well!”

Mankey coughed, and Sam had to lighten his grip. The primate was held up almost like a doll, but he still made sure to flex in Sam’s arms.

Sam put him down as he started to shake his hands to try to get some of the pain out. He returned him to his Pokéball to give him a comfortable space to rest.

Onix disappeared in red light. Jasmine smiled and approached Sam.

“...Well done. Onix’s size usually makes it difficult to attack with Fighting Type moves, but your use of Smokescreen solved that problem, didn’t it?”

Sam beamed.

“Yeah. Cyndaquil’s pretty amazing, isn’t she?”

The Gym Leader covered her mouth and laughed.

“Congratulations, Samuel,” Jasmine said. “With my defeat, you have clearly demonstrated the strength of both you and your team. You have more than earned the Mineral Badge, which serves as proof of your victory over Olivine Gym.”

She reached into her dress’s pocket and pulled out a shiny, metal octagon that fit in her hand. It was grey and lacked any details more than that, simply being a pin that emphasized how it was made out of metal. She passed it over, and Sam reverently took it. He held it up and let the light glint off of it in the air.

This was his first Gym Badge.

His first real proof of success as a trainer.

He needed just seven more to reach the Conference, and then he could show the whole world just how strong he and his team was.

Sam thanked Jasmine for the fight, speaking briefly about how he’s looking forward to a rematch, too. She said she would be open to such a battle, as long as he came in the middle of the season, when the rush wasn’t so intense.

He left, meeting Redi outside where she was already waiting for him.

“Let me see! Let me see!” she said.

He held it up but didn’t pass it over. She puffed up her face in annoyance, but he smirked.

“You’ll get a chance to earn yours tomorrow. How do you plan to beat Onix, anyway?”

“Same as what you did, just with a lot more scratching,” she said, smirking back.

He laughed when he pictured Teddiursa climbing on the big Pokémon like some sort of jungle gym, and he headed out to return to the Pokémon Center. He had a call to make, and he had news of victory to share.

This time, Sam was ready. When the video phone turned on, he didn’t jump when he was met with a close-up of Sableye’s face.

He stared forward, unblinking, and so did the image on the screen.

Neither of them spoke.

Neither of them moved.

The motionless silence of the cheshire grin lasted so long that Sam started to think the call had dropped, and that the screen had frozen on the very last thing it displayed.

“...Hello?”

“Bl-eye!” Sableye snapped, suddenly jerking forward and pretending to bite at the camera.

Sam screamed and fell out of his chair. Sableye had merely been watching. Waiting. Timing things just right to capitalize on the exact moment Sam let his guard down.

“...I hate you,” he grumbled, picking both himself and Cyndaquil off of the ground.

He placed her in his lap while Mankey climbed up to hang off his neck. Sam hated how both Sableye and Mankey were snickering at his brief fright.

“Hi sweetie!” his mom said from where she sat with Delcatty in her own lap.

“Hi, mom,” Sam said rather unhappily. Next to him, Redi called out “Hi, Mrs. Greyson!” but Sam grabbed her face and pushed her away.

His mother giggled.

Nothing good ever happened when his mother giggled.

“How are you, sweetie?” she asked with a sickly sweet smile.

“I’m... good,” he said, doing his best to send a stink eye to both Redi and Sableye at the same time. “I got my first Gym Badge! The Mineral Badge! I’m calling you to let you know and to tell you that we’ll be heading off soon!”

He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. Cyndaquil squeaked to cheer, and Mankey raised up a hand in victory.

“That’s amazing! And it only took you one attempt?”

Sam puffed up his chest.

“Yup! Redi’ll need to fight to get hers tomorrow morning, but we’ll be heading out afterwards.”

“Oh? Do you have a plan?”

“We do,” Sam replied.

Like other regions, Johto had eight gyms in it, so those were eight stops Sam and Redi absolutely had to make. Thankfully, the layout of all of the region’s cities and routes meant that they could follow a looping path to visit all of the region's different locations.

Their plan was to head east to Ecruteak, then south to Goldenrod, Azalea, and back up to Violet. From there, there were a few different ways to head to the north-eastern Blackthorn, and then they could visit Mahogany Town while traveling back west to finish everything off against Cianwood City’s Gym.

“Sounds like you have everything well planned out,” his mother said. “You’ll remember everything I taught you when you head onto your first Route, right?”

“I promise,” Sam said.

“And if he messes up, he still has me!” Redi butted in.

Sam just rolled his eyes, and his mother stifled a giggle.

“Then, Sam, I wish you luck. I’m so, so proud of you.”

“Thanks, Mom,” he said, blushing.

Redi started to make kissy-faces at him again.

“Could I get a sneak-peek, though, maybe?” his mom asked. “Like the details of your plan?”

Sam pulled his stool closer and leaned in. He had Cyndaquil and Mankey with him, but he could picture his next capture already.

“Yeah,” he said. “We’re going to Ecruteak City, where the region’s Ghost Type Gym is at! Not just that, but the Burned Tower is there, and the Burned Tower is filled with ghosts.”

His grin deepened.

“Soon as I can, I’m heading in, and I’ll be catching a new Pokémon! Just you wait, Mom! Next time you see me, I’ll have a brand new Gastly on my team!”