Red's POV

Bugsy was very weak, as a Pokemon Trainer, he had a Scyther, Charizard could easily deal with it. Heracross was also a bug-type, again, Charizard is overpowered in front of them.

Well, that's what I thought. You must be thinking - Why is he telling all this ?

The reason lies within the battle between me and Bugsy.

'Red is left with only two Pokemon. Bugsy still has his three Pokemon in good health', said the Referee.

'Charizard, come back', I said, looking at the Pokeball. 'You fought well, it was a tough challenge'.

One Hour Earlier...

'Ethan, quick, we need to reach the Gym before noon', said Lyra. 'I want that badge, hurry up'.

'Almost...', said Ethan, zipping up his bag. '...Done !'.

'So Bugsy specializes in Bug types, very convenient looking at his name. It's gonna be simple'. I walked outside the Pokecentre.

Ethan and Lyra followed. 'Ah, fresh air. Cold too, today's a big day'. Ethan twitched his nose and continued walking, counting his every step.

He looked into his Pokegear for Town Maps, we followed.

Bugsy's POV

I was getting ready for the Gym Battle. Red, Lyra and Ethan were coming. After battling a few trainers a day ago, something clicked me.

Red was a powerful trainer, so needed more than Heracross and Scyther to beat him. Ethan and Lyra would be easy to battle, but not Red.

I walked home, for improvise my team a bit. And the first thing that came to my mind was, Red had Charizard as his strongest Pokemon. If I could just make my own Pokemon stronger, I could win, easily.

'Suzie ?', I said. 'Looking at my younger sister. A quick description of my annoying sister, she was about four feet three inches, had short blonde hair that fell to her shoulders. Her face was almost identical to mine, and she was a menace.

'Bugsy ? What do you want now ?', asked she. 'I'm not doing your homework again, it's your problem you're home schooling'.

'Not that. This is about the Gym Battles'.

'Gym battles ?', she asked, excited. 'You want me to battle for you, that's so sweet, thank you'.

'No !', I said. 'Suzie, just hear me out, okay ?'.

Suzie zipped her mouth with the gesture.

'You still have your Corsola ?'.

'I have, Bugs', she said. Putting her hand in her pocket and grabbing about a Pokeball.

'And the metal coat ?'.
'That too'.
'I want to evolve my Scyther to Scizor, I need you to trade your Corsola for my Scyther'.

Suzie's facial expressions went haywire. I knew she felt bad, hearing that she had to trade her first Pokemon.

'I am not trading Corsola', said she, with a commanding voice.

'Listen !', I shouted. 'Once Scyther evolves, we'll trade them back'.

'Oh, that's fine. But, I have a condition'.
'What condition ?'.
'I want to come with you, where ever you go with your research team'.

I wanted to say no but I had no choice. I couldn't take her with me for the expeditions, after what happened in Ruins of Alph. It was too dangerous for even me to be there.

'Uh, Suzie, I-'. I was interrupted.

'Bugs, you're back', said Dad, entering the house. He had a box in his hands. 'You mind helping me with this ?'.

'What's that ?', I asked.

'A personal P.T.M for you', he said.

'P.T.M ? Mister Denver wants to talk to you through that ?', I asked.

'He's not talking about parent teacher meeting. You're full of shit, Bugsy', said Suzie.

'Suzie, language'. Dad put the box on the dining table.

'Spencer ? Put that thing off the table', interrupted Mom, coming from her room.

'Maeve, please, this is important', said Dad. He starting unboxing.

'What is it ?', I asked again.

'Pokeball transferring machine, how are you even my brother ?', said Suzie.

Mom laughed. 'Suzie, stop teasing him'.

'Really ?', I hugged Dad. 'Thank you'.

Red's POV

Lyra, Ethan and I entered the Azalea Gym. It wasn't as big as the other gyms. It was the size of a house with a twenty feet ceiling. Unexpected but impressive.

The interior was a cuboidal room with no doors but the entrance.

It had grass flooring, hopefully the grass was real. And had plants all around.

'Is this a gym ? Or a garden ?', asked Ethan, walking further on the slushy grass. It looked soft, when Ethan put his feet on it. 'Wow, feels like I'm walking on a cloud'.

'You know how it feels like to walk on a cloud ?', Lyra asked.

In the centre, was an open patch of grass, the size of the battle area in a Gym.

I walked forward to get a closer look. It was a battle area, but the floor was not sand or rock, it was grass. With lines made with flowers.

'That's my sister's work', said Bugsy, entering the Gym.

'Don't you have something, like security ? Anyone can walk inside', said Ethan.

'To do what ? There's nothing in here', said Bugsy. 'And no thief steals grass and trees'.

'I challenge you, Bugsy', said Lyra.

'I accept your challenge, all of you. But I want to battle Red first', said Bugsy.

Ethan looked confused. 'Well, if I were at your place, I would battle Red in the end. Lyra and I would make good warm opponents'.

'No, I have something in mind', said Bugsy. 'Let's get started'.

'Okay', I said, nodding. I walked to the other side of the battle area.

Bugsy stood opposite to me. As for Ethan and Lyra, they stood behind me.

Bugsy clipped off a Pokeball from his belt and threw forward. 'Go Scizor'.

A Pokemon that looked like Scyther came out. I was sure it was Scyther's evolution. It was Red in color with U shaped crab hands instead of leaf blades.

I grabbed out the Pokedex. 'What's that ?', I asked, pointing it.

'Scizor, a Pincer Pokemon. Its wings are not used for flying. They are flapped at high speed to adjust its body temperature'.

'Okay, I choose Ditto', I said, throwing Ditto's Pokeball. Ditto jumped out and the ball bounced back into my hand.

'Ditto, Transform'.
'Scizor, use Bullet Punch'.

Scizor's arm glowed white and he ran towards Ditto at his maximum speed. He punched Ditto with an extraordinary force. Ditto smashed into the wall.

Ditto walked forward, leaving an impression of a Scizor on the wall.

'Ditto, use...', I said, then looked at the attacks he could use. 'X-Scissor'.

Ditto ran towards Scizor with his arms in a position as if he held swords in both hands. Then slashed, making an X movement. Scizor fell down to his knees.

'I guess that was enough right ? Shouldn't be too hard on your Scizor', I said.

'Haha', Bugsy laughed. 'That's all you got ? It's showtime, Scizor'.

'You'll regret asking that', I said.

'Okay, Scizor', said Bugsy. 'Use Metal Claw'.

The attack overpowered Ditto. Scizor was more leveled up than Ditto.

'He will lose', said Ethan, trying to whisper.

'Just see', said Lyra. 'My cousin will beat his -'.

'Ditto, use Bullet Punch'. Scizor refrained the damage and stood with no such damage.

Ditto was exhausted.

'Red, you're forgetting', said Bugsy. 'Your Pokemon's a fake'.

'What ?', I thought. 'What is he talking about ?'.

'It's about time. Scizor, use-', Bugsy continued. 'Hyper Beam'.

Ditto fell to ground and Scizor jumped upwards for more damage.

Ditto fainted. Scizor landed on his feet, looking at Ditto.

I ran forward to heel Ditto. 'You did great', I said, kneeling. I touched Ditto but my hands went through him. He was like jelly. 'You did really great, Scizor was more leveled Pokemon. Guess we gotta train'.

I called back Ditto to his Pokeball.

'Bugsy, I underestimated you, a lot'.
'That's your problem', said Bugsy.
'What has happened to you ?'.
'That's my Gym Leader mode, turned on'.

Ethan giggled and Lyra glared at him. 'What ? It was hilarious'.

'I choose Wartortle', I said, throwing the Pokeball. I trusted Wartortle alot, he was my companion since Vermillion City. And now, I trusted him to defeat Scizor, or at least weaken him to critical health.

'Scizor, X-Scissor'. The attack seemed powerful, but on the other hand, Wartortle seemed unaffected.

'Wartortle, use Rapid Spin'. Scizor took the attack intentionally, it didn't really affect him.

'Scizor, use Fury Cutter', said Bugsy.

'Wartortle, use Water Pulse', I said. Scizor was pushed towards the wall, but he tried his best to not smash himself into the wall.

'How is that possible ?', asked Lyra. 'That's un-Pokemon-ish'.

'Is that a word ?', asked Ethan.

Scizor stood straight, probably without any taken damage.

'Scizor, use Bullet Punch'.

Wartortle was pushed to the wall. He suddenly turned towards the wall and used Water Gun on the wall to stop himself. Well, yes, he stopped.

'Wartortle, use Bite', I said. I thought it was a bad idea as Scizor was made of steel, and Wartortle could've broken his teeth. Scizor fell down on the ground, not because of the attack, but because Wartortle but his leg.

It was the time I went forward to hug Wartortle. But the battle was not over yet. Bugsy marched forward. 'Scizor, use Hyper Beam'.

The attack missed and hit a chair next to Lyra and Ethan. Ethan looked at the chair, which was completely destroyed, and then screamed.

'Now, I have a good chance of winning', I said. 'Bugsy, you didn't tell me how many Pokemon were you going to use'.

'Two, but I can switch Pokemon during battle and you can't', said Bugsy.

'What ? Only two ?', I asked.

'Yeah, two are enough for you', said Bugsy. 'I am sorry Wartortle is trying too hard, but he can't defeat Scizor'.

'Wartortle, use-', I said, interrupted.

'Hey, hey. Wait', said Bugsy. 'Scizor, come back. Go Heracross'.

Bugsy switched his Pokemon. That means Wartortle's energy was wasted. Scizor would probably rest for a while now and come back healthy.

Wartortle, being a water type would have a hard time defeating Heracross.

Bugsy took a loud deep breath. 'Things are about to get gnarly'.

'Yep, because Wartortle is going to-', I said. 'Just get over with talking. Wartortle, use Water Pulse'.

'Heracross, use Toxic', said Bugsy.

Wartortle was poisoned. He was hurt by his poison.

'Wartortle, hang on. Use Rapid Spin'. Heracross was critically hit.

'Heracross, use Earthquake', said Bugsy. Wartortle fainted.

It was a very disturbing thing for me. I was loosing badly. But I still had hopes from Charizard and Pikachu.

'Wartortle, you gave your best today. Good job out there. Com back', I said. 'I choose, Bulbasaur'.

Well, I chose him because he could easily resist Toxic attack. And wouldn't get poisoned in the first place.

'Heracross, use Aerial Ace', said Bugsy. Bulbasaur was critically hit.

'Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf', I said. Bulbasaur's leaf hit Heracross.

Heracross already had low health, so he fainted.

Bulbasaur glowed blue and grew in size. It was a very happy moment for me, but also sad as I was now used to Bulbasaur's small body, and of course - his name.

'He is', said Lyra.

'Evolving', said Ethan.

Four leaves grew around his bulb, and he looked a lot bigger. And of course, mature.

Finally, he evolved into Ivysaur.

'Go Scizor. Let's win. Use Bullet Punch'.

Ivysaur fainted. 'That was... quick', said Ethan. 'Bugsy is a good trainer'.

'Ivysaur, come back. Go Pikachu'.

'Scizor, use Metal Claw'.
'Pikachu, use Thunderbolt'.

Scizor was critically hit. Bugsy used a full restore. 'Scizor, use Bullet Punch'.

Pikachu fainted. I was frustrated and angry. I had to do something, Scizor was a tough challenge for me.

'Go Charizard', I said.

'Scizor, use X-Scissor', said Bugsy. Charizard's health decreased by 15%.

'Charizard, finish it with Flamethrower', I said, confident.

Charizard used flamethrower. All I could see around Scizor was the smoke after the flamethrower.

Scizor walked out of the smoke. 'Scizor, use Hyper Beam'.

Charizard fainted. So, my last hope was Eevee, and Scizor had critical health. My chances of winning were 90-10. Where 10 was my winning chance.

'Go Eevee', I hesitated.

'Scizor, use Metal Claw', said Bugsy. 'Let's play for a while'.

Eevee tried his best to fight Scizor. He ran under Scizor's legs. Scizor turned and attacked with his claw-y hands.

Unfortunately, Scizor hit Eevee and Eevee went flying into the wall. But didn't smash it due to light weight, and just fell to the ground.

'Eevee, you are the last option. You can do it. I know', I said.

Eevee stood up, with his legs shaking in pain. He looked at me and nodded.

Eevee ran towards Scizor, using Quick Attack. Scizor ran towards Eevee.

Scizor used Metal Claw but Eevee dodged easily. Eevee jumped up and did a front flip.

I was confused what he was doing. But then, his tail glowed silver and hit Scizor's head.

Scizor was forced to the ground and was knocked unconscious.

Scizor fainted.

In the aftermath, of the battle, Bugsy rewarded me with the Hive Badge and TM89 U-turn.

'Now, it's my turn', said Ethan.

'Sure, for you both, I will use weaker Pokemon. Same rules, I will use two Pokemon', said Bugsy.

Suddenly, something clicked my mind.

'Uh, you guys battle. I have to do Professor Oak's, uh, something', I said.

'What ?', asked Lyra.

'Yes, he asked me to do something. Uh, Bugsy, where does Kurt live ? If you know', I asked, in a hurry.

'Kurt ? North-west Azalea', said Bugsy.

'Okay thanks', I said, running outside.