The Ghost Specialist

Sam walked out of Goldenrod Library holding a few sheets of paper he had printed for ten cents a piece. Redi exited next to him, having returned a few books a nurse had recommended to her a few days before.

“Huh. Instructions for Hex?” she asked, leaning in and stealing a peek.

“Shh!”

He quickly looked around to check if anyone had heard. Thankfully, there weren’t many people around, and they were all too busy in their own business to bother listening in.

“Yeah. From Morty,” he said. “I messaged him for help, and he sent me a whole bunch of advice. I’ve got a dozen different tips to help Gastly figure out Hex—which is surprisingly similar to Spite, I guess? He also added tips for a few other Ghost Type moves, like Shadow Punch, Shadow Claw, Astonish, Ominous Wind—”

“Gonna teach those too?” Redi asked.

“No, I think he just wanted to be helpful. Make sure I’m learning a lot about Ghost Types, you know? Those other moves are either physical attacks or are too weak to bother learning. Hex is the best we have for now, and Shadow Ball will probably be a step we take later.”

It was a bit of a surprise to find out that Morty knew of so many other Ghost Type moves, but it made sense to Sam. Morty had Ghost Types from other regions in his Gym—like the Duskull and Shuppet Sam had fought during the Gym Trial—so why wouldn’t he know the attacks those species could learn?

The problem was that those moves weren’t worth bothering to teach to most Ghost Types. Astonish was like Lick, in that most Ghost Type trainers ignored it due to its minimal power. Shadow Punch and Shadow Claw weren’t the most useful since they were physical instead of special attacks. The only stand-out option sent to Sam was Ominous Wind, which carried the chance of empowering a Pokémon if conditions lined up just right. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to guarantee that boost, and Shadow Ball was still a better attack in most one-on-one battles.

Sam still appreciated Morty’s advice. While he didn’t plan on teaching any of these moves at the current moment, just knowing the mindset required for them helped him better understand the Ghost Type.

There was an intent required to manipulate Ghost Type energy—an intent that was different than just a will to control. Ghost Types needed to want to harm to best use their attacks. It's why knowing Spite was so helpful; Spite was all about wanting to “spite” an enemy with a curse. For Hex, that mindset translated into malicious, Ghost Type flames.

Sam felt a chill as he continued down the street and skimmed through the instructions. All Pokémon tended to be friendly, but there was a level of malevolence to these descriptions of Ghost Type moves. Dark Types usually had a bad rap for being Pokémon most aligned to punching down. Ghost Types, however, actually seemed to carry a much crueler potential.

“Hey, so Shadow Claw—”

“Weren't you going to work on Teddiursa's elemental punches, first?” Sam interrupted.

Redi huffed and crossed her arms.

“You don't have to be so direct about it,” she mumbled. “But can't he learn that attack?”

“Yeah,” Sam said grimly, still glancing at the papers. “It’d be a decent attack for coverage.”

“Great! Can you help me teach it to him once he’s got his punches down? Pretty please? Oh, that, and any Ghost Type moves to Porygon, too! Porygon needs Tri-Attack, but I think we'll focus on the Gym First.”

And that was a good thought for distraction. They had back-to-back matches scheduled in just two days. Gastly would need to learn Hex by then, but Sam felt confident about his odds of being prepared.

There wasn't an audience for Redi’s battle. Well, there was, as all Gyms tended to have a handful of locals that stuck around to watch every match, but the size of the audience wasn't anywhere close to the size of the audience back during the battle raffle. The battle raffle was an event. Redi’s match was just one of many that took place over the course of the week.

Still, that didn't mean Sam couldn't try to mimic that atmosphere.

“Yeah!” he hollered, cupping his hands around his mouth. “You can do this, Redi!”

Next to him, Cyndaquil shouted her name while Mankey hopped up and down on the stands’ railing. Their cries combined with Sam’s shouts created a cacophony of noise that solely supported Redi.

Gastly lingered half-phased into the ground, however. He chose to silently wait in the floor and watch the match where few could see him.

On the battlefield floor, Redi was already within her trainer box, and Whitney stood across from her. The Gym Leader had her arms crossed, a confident smile on her face.

“Just because I gave you advice doesn't mean I’ll go easy on you!” Whitney shouted.

“Better not! Morty used a Haunter when Sam fought in his second-badge Gym match!”

Whitney pulled back at Redi’s shout.

“Ah, uh, a Haunter?” she asked.

Redi just smiled.

“Looking forward to seeing whatever you got for me,” she said. “Come on out, Porygon!”

The strange, polygonal Pokémon appeared on the field right as Whitney hurriedly waved a Gym Trainer over. She whispered something to them before focusing back on Redi. Briefly, her stance wavered when she caught the sight of the unfamiliar Porygon, but she took it in stride and sent out her first Pokémon.

“Clefairy!”

Redi was one Gym Badge behind Sam. This would be a two-on-two fight, but Sam wasn't sure if Whitney realized the gap between Redi’s strength and the number of owned Gym Badges.

“My understanding of Redi's strategy...” Sam said quietly to his Pokémon as he sat back down. “I think she wants to use Porygon to give Teddiursa some breathing room. Porygon still only knows their initial four moves, but it should be enough that Teddiursa won’t have to do everything by himself.”

The referee didn't call for the match to begin right away. Instead, there was a brief period of awkward silence as Whitney waited for her Gym Trainer to return.

“Are we gonna fight or what?” Redi asked.

“Just give me a moment!”

Whitney bit her lip as she stared behind her at an open door.

Eventually, that same Gym Trainer came rushing out, holding a different Pokéball in an outstretched hand. Whitney smiled and clipped it to her waist.

“Ready!” Whitney shouted.

“Yeah? Need something?”

“...Huh? Wait, not you. I meant—”

“Begin!”

Redi smirked; her ploy worked. Whitney was caught off guard from the dumb wordplay.

“Sharpen!” she shouted, capitalizing on the delay. “Into Psybeam. Then, raise up three feet higher off the floor!”

As if flexing a muscle, Porygon’s angular body became even sharper, and they released a pink beam from their beak. Clefairy just barely managed to dodge the Psybeam by leaping to the side.

“Why, you—! Use Metronome, Clefairy!” Whitney shouted.

“Clef!” Clefairy cheered.

The pink Pokémon waggled its arms while keeping an eye on the rising Porygon. Metronome called up a random move:

One of Clefairy’s fists began to glow with Fighting Type energy, and the Pokémon dashed across the battlefield floor.

“Conversion!” Redi yelled.

Pixels erupted across Porygon's body, twisting around to give the computer Pokémon a pink tint. With Psybeam being its last used move, Conversion converted Porygon into a Psychic Type.

And at the perfect time, too, as Clefairy brought its fist up into a jumping punch that carried it into the sky. Sam recognized the attack as one common to Blaziken in Hoenn—Sky Uppercut.

Porygon didn't receive a command to dodge, so the Clefairy's fist impacted its body with no problem at all. However, the Psychic Type Conversion turned that super effective attack into a resisted attack, and the move Redi called out next—

“Psybeam!”

—now shared a Type with Porygon, which let the attack come out that much stronger than before.

The Psybeam blasted Clefairy into the ground. The arc of its Sky Uppercut meant it had lingered in the air at the very peak of the jump.

“Minimize, Clefairy!” Whitney shouted.

The pink Pokémon pulled itself in an attempt to shrink in on itself and dodge. Unfortunately for it, Redi gave a command of her own.

“Drop into Tackle!”

Porygon's passive floating ceased. Like a brick, they dropped out of the air, but they made sure to angle their body to smash into Clefairy.

Clefairy wasn't able to dodge in time as Porygon's full weight crashed into it from above. Porygon clattered to the ground, no longer floating because it didn't receive a command to resume its floating, but Clefairy wasn't moving.

That Sharpen-boosted Tackle had taken it out.

Whitney looked crushed, but she quickly straightened herself out and forced a confident expression back onto her face.

“You might have taken out Clefairy, but you won't take out—”

“Return!”

The Gym Leader sputtered for a second when Redi immediately recalled Porygon.

“Leave it to Redi to do whatever she can to throw off her opponent,” Sam mumbled.

Gastly cackled quietly beneath his feet.

Teddiursa replaced Porygon on the field, and across from him, Whitney quickly released a Miltank from that Pokéball she received at the last moment.

There weren’t any words shared between the two trainers, as Sam was pretty sure Whitney had caught onto Redi’s mind games.

“Begin,” the referee said.

“Let’s go, Miltank! Same strat as usual!” Whitney called out.

Miltank rolled up into a ball with Defense Curl before using that to continue forward into a Rollout.

Teddiursa, however, didn’t move, and Redi had a grimace on her face.

“Teddiursa, use... Ugh.” The grimace deepened. “Use...!”

She didn’t want to say it.

She really didn’t want to say it.

Sam had recommended this move, and Redi had taught it to Teddiursa, but she absolutely despised the name it had been given in Sam’s book.

“Just look at it cute, alright?” Redi said, covering her face with her hand.

As Miltank hurtled towards Teddiursa, Teddiursa stood his ground, but he prepared himself for a defense—of sorts. He pulled his paws into his chest and let his ears flop down onto his head. Rather than attacking, he looked up at Miltank.

And he gave that cow the best Baby-Doll Eyes he could muster.

Redi groaned as the aptly-named move caused Miltank to waver. The move had come easy to Teddiursa—according to the New Pokédex, this was a technique even the weakest of Teddiursa could master.

The Rollout veered off to the side thanks to Miltank’s hesitation. It didn’t want to attack such a cute Pokémon.

“...Just finish it off,” Redi mumbled, no longer wanting to look at the field.

As the Rollout came to a slow halt, Miltank stood and turned Teddiursa’s way. However, it was unprepared for the Slash that came out. The move, a vastly improved version of both Scratch and Fury Swipes, tore across the Pokémon’s face, dealing critical damage.

“Stomp!” Whitney shouted.

“Fury Swipes!” Redi countered.

A hoof pressed forward, but Teddiursa side-stepped it. He then lunged at the proceeding unguarded stomach, and the damage of his Fury Swipes was too much.

Miltank fell back, fainted.

“I...”

“Great battle!” Redi interrupted. “Really got my blood pumping!”

Whitney breathed in and forced a smile.

“Yes. You’re a strong trainer, you know that?”

Her smile became genuine as Redi happily smiled back.

Challenger and Gym Leader shook hands, quickly speaking to one another as Sam looked at his Pokémon around him.

“We’re up next,” he said quietly. “That means we’ll finally be able to put our practice into a real fight. Gastly, you have Hex. Cyndaquil, you have Will-O-Wisp and Incinerate. Mankey—”

He paused as the monkey Pokémon glanced up at him.

“Well, your moveset is the same, but I’m pretty sure the super effective damage will grant you a win.”

Mankey huffed and smacked two fists together. He looked pumped and ready to rumble.

“Hey, Sam!” Redi suddenly shouted.

Sam turned to her. Both her and Whitney were staring at him.

“Don’t bother waiting, you’re gonna have your battle right away!”

Whitney started to whisper to a Gym Trainer that went deeper into the Gym to replace her current team with a freshly healed one.

As for Sam, he returned all of his Pokémon, heading down the steps to meet Redi on the field. She quickly took him to the side as Whitney repositioned herself in the Gym Leader’s trainer box. She had a curious look on her face.

“Alright. I had an easy match because Whitney underestimated me—I skipped a Gym, so she used a two-star team when she really should have used a three-star team,” she said. Then she blinked. “Except for the Miltank. That was a three-star Pokémon. Teddiursa is just really good at fighting.”

Sam nodded along, agreeing.

“So, ‘cause of that, I made a bet!” Redi said with her usual grin. “Double or nothing with both of our potential rewards, I bet her that you could win without a single member of your team fainting!”

Sam’s expression immediately fell, and before he could object, Redi leaned in closer for another whisper.

“And then Whitney— Oh, man, she made the worst mistake in the world. She accepted, but the format’ll change a bit. You’ll only be able to switch when her Pokémon faints so you can’t cheese it.”

“Redi,” Sam said, exasperated, “my entire team’s strategy is based on interplay between my team’s status moves. I’m all about switching! Individual strength is your strategy.”

She shook her head and stared at him.

“Look me in the eyes and tell me that’s true,” she said challengingly.

He tried.

While he didn’t want to admit it, the only form of interplay he had right now was Cyndaquil’s Will-O-Wisp setting up Gastly’s Hex, and Gastly’s Confuse Ray paired well with Mankey’s Assurance.

Except, Gastly could just as easily set up Hex with Hypnosis, and Mankey was much better off using Fighting Type moves against Whitney’s Normal Type team.

With Redi’s knowing stare, Sam could tell that she had recognized that before he had. The reality was that this match would be based around individual strength no matter how much he wanted to lie to himself.

“Double or nothing you said?” he repeated.

“Yeah. And that means the reward money will be just enough to let us buy some TMs. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?”

Sam reluctantly agreed.

“So!” Redi slapped Sam on the back, forcing him to catch himself before he fell over. “Go get her, partner! Can’t wait to see you beat Whitney without a faint!”

She grinned again as Sam lightly shook his head and walked to his trainer box.

“This will be a three-on-three battle between Challenger Samuel and Gym Leader Whitney!” the referee announced. “The standard League rules apply, with the following exception—Pokémon can only be switched when an opposing Pokémon faints. The battle will end once one side has no more Pokémon able to fight. Are there any questions before we begin?”

Both Sam and Whitney shook their heads.

“Then, trainers! Please, send out your Pokémon!”

Pokéballs sailed through the air.

“Mankey!”

“Furret!”

Mankey hit the field, balancing on one leg with his hands held high above his head. Across from him was a ferret-like Pokémon with a slender yet fluffy body that was decorated with brown and tan stripes.

One glance at all combatants from the referee, and two flags waved downwards.

“Begin!”

No mind games here. Sam and Whitney shouted their orders at the same time.

“Low Kick!”

“Quick Attack!”

Furret bounded across the field, its body resembling a wave with how it bounced with each step. It reached Mankey in a blink, slamming into him, but he used the impact to kick out his leg and cause Furret to trip.

“Karate Chop!”

“Fury Swipes!”

The ferret Pokémon jumped onto Mankey, all four of its paws tearing across his face, one catching him in the eye.

Furret’s lucky—or unlucky—strike filled Mankey with a furious rage. The edge of a hand slammed into Furret’s side. Then the other hand on Furret’s other side. Mankey was working on two moves as it stood—Cross Chop and Fire Punch—and while this wasn’t exactly a Cross Chop, he was still able to use Karate Chop twice in quick succession.

Fury Swipes only got a few scratches in before the power of the Fighting Type moves pushed it off Mankey’s body. Mankey was already exhausted, on the verge of fainting, but before either Sam or Whitney could call out a move, he lunged.

Mankey smacked Furret across the face with just a normal punch.

His fist sent Furret slamming into the ground. When it looked up to try to attack again, Mankey was right next to it, stomping a Low Kick into its stomach.

It didn’t get up.

Mankey’s shoulders heaved up and down from the rage from Furret’s assault. If Sam could guess, one of the scratches from Fury Swipes landed in just the right way to trigger his Anger Point.

The weak scratch had been the best possible trigger for his ability.

Whitney returned her Pokémon as Redi shouted from the audience.

“Whoo! Go Mankey! You destroyed that Furret!”

Mankey’s blush wasn’t visible with his fur, but he did look away to hide it.

While Anger Point meant Mankey was filled with furious energy, Sam still returned him. If he waited, he risked Mankey fainting against his next opponent even with his increase in strength. Sam wanted to win the bet, and he didn’t want to take an unneeded risk.

“You know, I thought Morty trained you?” Whitney called out.

“He gave me some advice when I went to his Gym. Why?” Sam asked.

“Uh...” She looked a bit sheepish. “I thought you’d be using Ghost Types? That’s why I sent out Furret. He knows Foresight. But why the heck do you have a Mankey?”

“It’s because I’m a Ghost Type specialist,” Sam said, not answering the question, much to Whitney’s annoyance.

She rolled her eyes as she sent out her next Pokémon. Sam did the same, matching her choice with a perfect counter of his own.

“Clefairy.”

“Gastly!”

“Wait, now you’re using a Ghost Type?” Whitney asked incredulously.

Sam just shrugged as the referee resumed the match.

“Continue!”

Orders started back up once again.

“Hypnosis!”

“Sing!”

Both Pokémon attempted to put their opponent to sleep.

As a Normal Type specialist, Whitney had a decent number of challengers try to counter her with Ghost Types, as those Pokémon were immune to Normal Type attacks. Clefairy showed off that experience by immediately closing its eyes—negating the chance for Hypnosis to work. Then, a peaceful melody left its mouth.

“Into the ground!” Sam hurriedly shouted.

Before the Sing could put Gastly to sleep, he dashed downwards to phase into the floor. Inside of there, the move would have a much harder time forcing him asleep.

However, Whitney looked smug. A slight smirk appeared on her face as her Clefairy continued its song.

“Use Metronome,” she said.

The melody rounded off to a halt as Clefairy waggled its arms.

“Gastly, I’m not sure if you can hear me, but get ready to unleash... your most recent attack?” Sam said, staying non-specific.

The result of Metronome’s random move was a mixed bag—Clefairy placed its hands into the air, and a faint shimmering screen appeared ahead of it. Reflect would have been a decent defense against any physical move—which meant it would have been decent against almost any Ghost Type other than Gastly.

Sam’s Gastly was different; he was one of the only Pokémon in Johto to know Hex.

The Ghost Type practically exploded out of the floor, phasing through it and bringing himself up high into the air. His Hex wasn’t anywhere as strong as the Hexes Sam had seen before, as the flames Gastly conjured seemed immaterial and in fewer numbers. However, those deep purple flames still rushed through the air, and they passed right through that translucent barrier.

Whitney scoffed. Sam could tell she could at least recognize the unknown attack as a Ghost Type move.

“Like that could—”

Clefairy was struck.

The pink Fairy Type—not a Normal Type—did not have an immunity to Ghost Type moves. The Hex dug into Clefairy’s flesh and caused it to cry out in pain.

“Wha— How?” Whitney yelled.

Sam capitalized on her bafflement by shouting a new command.

“Hypnosis!”

The damage of the previous Hex caused Clefairy’s eyes to snap open at just the wrong time. Looking up at Gastly in shock, their gazes met, and Clefairy started to wobble. Then, less than a second later, it fell backwards onto its butt with its head slumped forward in slumber.

“Finish it!”

“Wake up, Clefairy!” Whitney yelled.

A second Hex. More purple flames raced towards the Pokémon. This time, they took advantage of the lack of consciousness and dug, twisting into it.

The Pokémon squirmed and groaned in pain. Its eyes snapped open in one final cry before it fell backwards, properly fainted.

Whitney didn’t return her Pokémon right away. She stared at it in both shock and disbelief.

“What’s with this year’s trainers? How come everyone is so strong?” she whined.

She sniffed, but instead of crying, she seemed to take on an aura of defiance.

“Whatever,” she said, wiping an arm across her face. “I chose a good Miltank for this fight. One of the strongest in the herd. Don’t expect me to make the same mistake against you as I did your friend! You aren’t winning that easily!”

Sam returned Gastly. Clefairy was the only Pokémon the Ghost Type could reliably beat, as every other member of Whitney’s team would be immune to Hex. Replacing him was Sam’s last untouched Pokémon—Cyndaquil.

Her flames were already blazing. She held her head high.

Then, Whitney sent out her next Pokémon, and a brand new Miltank appeared on the field. It was larger than the one Redi had fought, and seemed to cast Cyndaquil into shadow even this far away.

“And now you’re back to not using a Ghost Type,” Whitney mumbled.

“I told you, I’m a Ghost Type specialist,” Sam said.

Redi laughed. Whitney glared.

“Ready when you are,” Sam said.

The referee glanced between the two of them before nodding.

“Continue,” she said.

The battle resumed in no time at all.

“Will-O-Wisp, full blast. Heat it up with Incinerate!” Sam called out.

The heavy Miltank’s movements were less like walking and more like lumbering. Each footstep it took made its fat jiggle, and a solemn frown formed on its face.

Will-o-Wisp—Cyndaquil sent burning motes of fire its way.

Incinerate—her strongest attack scorched parts of its body black.

The Miltank did get burned, and it did suffer the damage of Cyndaquil’s moves, but Whitney’s Pokémon seemed to have trained its ability, Thick Fat. Heat-based attacks did little to affect it.

The burn from Will-O-Wisp did at least cause a wince. But, as Cyndaquil ran away, it had the energy to continue a slow but consistent chase. Even with the difference in speed, reaching her was inevitable.

“Body Slam,” Whitney ordered.

When it neared, the Miltank lurched forward. It pushed out its stomach to slam into Cyndaquil’s side.

If it wasn’t for the burn, that one attack would have immediately taken her out. The power it held was so immense that Cyndaquil was quite literally sent bouncing across the ground.

“Again,” Whitney said.

The Miltank resumed its slow chase.

She wasn’t fooling around. There was no strategy involving Rollout, and there was nothing special involving any other moves. For her final Pokémon, she chose a powerful Miltank that relied solely on its devastating Body Slam.

Sam was briefly reminded of Redi’s single-minded dedication on offense.

The field isn’t large enough to let Cyndaquil run away forever, and that Body Slam can jerk Miltank right into her the second it's within range. We’re on a timer. Burn will eventually faint it, but it’ll catch up before then. How can we take it out?

Adding to the difficulty, Sam had a gut feeling Smokescreen wouldn’t work. There was something about the confidence in the Miltank’s stride that screamed hiding would only speed up the inevitable.

Desperation was clear on Cyndaquil’s face as she scurried away as fast as she could. Blaze was activated, but it meant little against the Miltank’s Thick Fat.

She only had Fire Type moves at her disposal, and there wasn’t any move-in-progress for her to figure out at the last minute. Cyndaquil was limited to what she already knew as the Miltank steadily reduced the distance.

“...Keep using Incinerate,” Sam said through gritted teeth.

Flames scorched Miltank. It kept moving forward.

“Body Slam!” Whitney yelled.

He closed his eyes. He heard Cyndaquil shout in pain.

When he peeked an eye open, she was still conscious, forcing herself to push back up.

“Cyndaquil...” Sam started.

She unleashed another Incinerate, refusing to give up.

“Body Slam,” Whitney ordered.

Cyndaquil was sent flying across the field, but she dug a paw into the floor to slow her down and allow her to land on her feet.

Another Incinerate. Another Body Slam. She should have fainted by now.

Sam wanted to cry out to get Cyndaquil to stop. He wanted her to not push herself through the pain.

But Cyndaquil, Cyndaquil was throwing her everything into this. She didn’t need that doubt right now. Rather, she needed his support.

“You can do it!” he yelled.

One eye was completely shut, but Cyndaquil still stood up straighter. Defiantly, she stared down the Miltank, who was now wobbling from the slow damage of the burn and Cyndaquil’s constant attacks. Despite all her pain, her expression screamed her dedication.

Cyndaquil could do this all day.

Sam glanced at the referee—she was supposed to call the battle if a Pokémon pushed itself to a dangerous level. Her eyes were locked onto Cyndaquil, and her hand was prepared to swing to call for a stop at any moment, but she didn’t do so just yet.

Sam clenched his hands and stared forward. One attack to finish it off.

“Incinerate,” he said softly.

Flames washed over the Miltank. The bovine teetered in place. Whitney opened her mouth to call out a command, but then she paused and stayed silent.

Without an order, the Pokémon fell, causing the field to shudder under its weight.

Cyndaquil won.

As a slight applause went interrupted by Redi’s fervent cheers, Sam rushed onto the field to scoop Cyndaquil into his arms.

“Why push yourself that hard? I could have switched you out! The bet didn’t matter that much. You didn’t need to get yourself hurt!”

Yet, as she weakly stared up at him, a smirk stretched across her mouth.

All of her training added up to this. She had to push beyond her usual level, but she had managed to win in the end.

Sam just chuckled and shook his head. He laughed, rubbing Cyndaquil’s neck.

“Yeah, you’re the best Cyndaquil in the world,” he said.

She squeaked her name proudly as he returned her. Whitney moved onto the field to meet him after returning her Pokémon as well.

“I could have ordered her to use Milk Drink,” Whitney said once she arrived.

Milk Drink was Miltank’s signature move. It healed the user’s health by a significant amount. If that Miltank had used it—

“You have a good Cyndaquil,” she continued. “I couldn’t crush her. Not in the face of determination like that. Gym Leaders... Gym Leaders are supposed to raise up trainers, not put them down. I needed to... I need to remember that.”

Whitney had a pained expression on her face. But, at the same time, the faintest of smiles peeked through.

She nodded at Sam, shaking his hand before stiffly walking away. No badge was handed over just yet—the surprise back-to-back nature of his and Redi’s challenges meant she hadn’t the chance to grab one for him. He would need to collect it at the Gym’s front desk.

“You did it!” Redi came running over, laughing excitedly. “Man, I knew you could crush that bet!”

“I want your share of the reward money,” Sam interrupted. “Cyndaquil deserves it.”

“But, I—” Redi huffed. “Fine. That’s fair, but I want at least one of those TMs moves to be an attack your Pokémon can teach mine.”

“Deal.”

Sam smiled. Redi rolled her eyes.

They collected their cash from the front counter as Sam picked up his Plain Badge. It was a yellow square with nothing special to it at all, but it still marked his team’s victory over Goldenrod Gym.

With these earnings, they had enough to buy two weak TMs or one major one. Once that was taken care of, it would be time to head south and pass through the Ilex Forest to reach Azalea Town.

There, Sam and Redi would take on the Bug Type Gym, earning them their next Gym Badge and continuing their journeys.