Alyssa's Adventures in the Kanto Region

Chapter 20

Koga smirked. "Toxic."

I flinched. Koffing turned a deeper shade of royal purple, and it proceeded to infect Kaen with the deep shade of purple. Kaen slowly started turning purple.

"This is bad..." I muttered to myself. "Flamethrower!"

Kaen managed to draw his breath one more time and seared the levitating gas bomb. Luckily, Koffing didn't have much HP left and it fainted after Kane's flamethrower.

Koga sent out a Muk. A blob of purple sludge with a pair of eyes and a gaping mouth that could swallow Kaen whole. Kaen started limping, and he eventually fell to the floor and couldn't get himself up.

Koga grinned. "Sludge."

Muk spat out a glob of purple sludge and it landed right on Kaen. I flinched as the sludge landed on Kaen's face.

"Kaen!" I shouted.

Kaen didn't wake up after getting hit with the purple poison, and I quickly called him back.

"I'm sorry, Kaen. I didn't realize Toxic had affected you so much..." I mumbled.

I threw out Spike's pokéball, and he was enraged. He glared at Koga and roared. Muk slightly jiggled due to the sheer impact of Spike's voice.

"Dig." I thundered.

Koga froze and turned pale, but it was too late. Spike was already underground, hidden until Muk made its next move.

I snapped my fingers. "Now! Spike!"

The ground thundered and broke apart as Spike launched himself straight into Muk. The purple blob splattered everywhere, and I suddenly felt sick to my stomach.

Koga clicked his tongue and called back his Pokémon. He sent out another Koffing, and I kept Spike out.

"Self destruct." Koga bellowed.

Koffing obeyed and started glowing a bright red, and it started shaking uncontrollably. Spike quickly ran in front of me and turned his back on Koffing.

An explosion happened in the gym, yet I hardly felt a thing. Spike shielded me from the impact of the sacrificial Koffing.

"Spike! Are you ok?" I yelped.

Spike uttered a low growl and slowly stood his ground. Koga lifted his eyebrow and chuckled.

"I'm impressed. I didn't think your Nidoking could withstand a full explosion." He grinned.

Spike growled at Koga. He laughed and sent out his final Pokémon: a Weezing. Koffing's evolved form had two heads, but one was slightly bigger than the other.

"Smokescreen." Koga thundered.

Weezing opened its mouth and a dark smoke flowed out. I couldn't see anything, and I started coughing.

"If you cannot handle this smoke, then you don't deserve to be called a trainer," Koga shouted.

I burrowed my eyebrows and swiped away at the dark clouds. "Thrash!"

Spike was fuming, he launched himself at the Weezing and began throwing himself around the floating Pokémon. Spike was going insane, hurting himself along with harming the Weezing too.

"Spike! Calm down!" I shouted.

Spike roared angrily and continued pounding on the poor Weezing. I glanced over at Koga, who looked terrified.

Before I said anything else, Koga called back his Pokémon. He was panting, sweating in his stance. I ran to Spike, he was panting heavily and wouldn't stop shaking.

I took a deep breath and put my hands on his claws. He stopped shaking violently and slowed his breathing.

"It's ok, Spike... are you ok?" I asked.

He looked at me with sorrowful eyes as if he were asking me the same thing.

I smiled. "I'm ok... the explosion didn't hit me."

He purred and rubbed his head in my neck. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Koga approaching us. I could feel Spike tense up with every step Koga took towards me.

Spike started growling, but I held him back with very little strength.

"You have proven your worth," Koga muttered.

My eyes widened a little because I didn't expect someone as proud as Koga to admit that. He gave me his hand, and with it, the Soul Badge.

The bright pink badge looked like a flower petal, a sakura petal to be exact. It was shining brightly in the light of the gym.

"Take this too," Koga announced, holding something else out to me.

It was a TM, a poison type TM. I eagerly placed it in my bag while grinning at Spike.

"Sealed within the TM is Toxic. It is a secret technique dating back four hundred years." Koga said, a small grin appearing on his face.

"Woah..." I mumbled.

"If it's you wielding it then I'm sure it'll be in good hands." Koga smiled.

I felt reassured by Koga's kind words, and I happily went back to the Pokémon Center. I gave the gang a feast, especially Spike since he protected me from that explosion.

Hi guys! Another chapter is out! Today I watched Trash Taste stream the crunchyroll anime awards! I was a little upset that Chizuru didn't win best girl, but overall it was alright. Anyway, have a great night! :)