Chapter 112

"Zaaaar" cried Charizard as it faced off against the Rhydon. Rhydon, which looked moderately injured tensed up as it faced Charizard.

"A Shiny Pokemon? That's something you don't see every day" said Giovanni, appearing interested.

"Charizard use Dragon Breath" yelled Alex.

Charizard breathed out a jet of purple flames.

"Block with Rock Blast. Then Rock Slide" said Giovanni.

Rhydon accurately intercepted the Dragon Breath with a Rock, and then conjured up rocks above Charizard and dropped them on it.

"Dodge, and use Metal Claw" yelled Alex.

Charizard dodged most of the rocks, except for a couple that connected. But they did not do any major damage. Charizard took this opportunity to close into Rhydon and struck it with Metal Claw.

"Counter" said Giovanni.

Rhydon took the Metal Claw, and then roared and pushed back at Charizard. Charizard was sent tumbling by the force, but thankfully it was not harmed much as it resisted the Fighting type attack.

But unfortunately, the air borne Charizard landed on the ground and was prickled by some leftover Toxic spikes. Charizard was poisoned, but it could still fight.

"Use Flamethrower" yelled Alex.

Charizard breathed flames towards Rhydon. Unlike the Dragon Breath, Flamethrower was too fast for Rhydon to intercept, but it resisted the attack without any problem.

"Get closer" said Giovanni. Rhydon stomped through the flames and started advancing towards Charizard. As soon as it got sufficiently close, Giovanni said, "Thunder Punch"

"Use Dragon Tail to block the attack and fling it across the battlefield" said Alex.

Charizard used Dragon Tail to intercept the Thunder Punch. The whipping motion of the Dragon Tail had more force than the Thunder Punch used by Rhydon, hence Rhydon was sent flying.

"Use Dragon Rush" yelled Alex.

Charizard cloaked itself with a purplish halo and charged towards Rhydon with reckless abandon. Rhyhorn did not manage to stabilise itself before Charizard collided with it.

The impact seems to disorient Rhydon and cause it to flinch.

"Now, use Seismic Toss!" yelled Alex.

Charizard grabbed Rhydon roughly and started ascending. It reached the roof of the stadium, whereupon it abruptly descended, and tossed Rhydon just before it reached the ground, and flew away.

Rhydon crashed into the field heavily, sending dust everywhere. After the dust settled, Rhydon could be seen lying on the ground with circles in its eyes.

"Yes!" thought Alex happily, seeing Rhydon unable to battle. He has just won his first gym battle. He looked up at Giovanni, half expecting him to send out an even stronger Pokemon, or attack him directly.

Giovanni impassively recalled the fainted Rhydon, and tossed something at Alex.

Alex caught it, and looked at the object tossed to him. It was a dark green metal badge in the shape of a leaf, with a few glowing gems attached to it.

"The Earth Badge" thought Alex. He then returned Charizard and looked at Giovanni.

"You have completed your mission I assume? Those folks now know my return then. You can leave now. Also, tell Oak I said Hi" said Giovanni with a poker face. He then got up, turned around and walked deeper into the Gym. The lights of the Gym went out, and Giovanni was hidden under the shadows.

Alex stared at his back for a moment, before quickly deciding to get out of the spooky looking Gym and its general vicinity as soon as possible.

"Whew. That went okay. I not only got my first badge, but I didn't have to deal with some kind of attack from Giovanni. Did he notice the camera? He seemed to know I would be meeting the Professor soon considering he asked me to greet him, but then again, I said I am from Pallet Town, that shouldn't be too surprising" thought Alex.

He was now in the Pokemon Center, waiting for his three Pokemon to be healed. He had already texted Professor Oak about the completion of the mission, but considering that he was probably watching the live feed from the camera, it was probably moot.

Alex's Pokedex buzzed, signalling a notification. He took it out and looked at the message he had just received from an unknown number. He opened it. It was just a single sentence. "After you are done, come to the Blue Blossom cafe next to the Pokemon Center" was the only thing the message said. No other information, or anything to show the identity of the sender was visible.

Alex thought for a moment, and ran the number of the sender through the Corellation app. He got a match. The number was registered to the Corellation, but the identity was not visible even with his permission level in the app.

"Only 5 people have the same level of permission as me. Who could this be?" thought Alex.

Still, deciding that he probably wouldn't harm him, he decided to go and check it out.

He then heard the announcement that his Pokemon were fully healed from the speakers. Alex went to the front desk and received his Pokemon.

After thanking the Nurse Joy , he then walked out of the Pokemon Center and started searching for the Blue Blossom cafe.

After a few minutes, he found it. It was a quiet, upscale looking cafe, that seemed occupied to capacity. Alex took out his Pokedex and texted the unknown number, informing that he was outside the Blue Blossom cafe.

"Second Floor, Room 12. Come straight in" came the reply.

Alex walked in to the shop and ascended to the second floor. He walked to Room 12, stood outside and then decided to knock, as he felt it would be rude to walk straight in.

"Come in" came a voice from the inside.

Alex walked in, and saw only one person in the room. He looked at the young man in his early twenties, with short brown spiky hair, and recognised him instantly.

"Blue Oak?" asked Alex with shock.