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Poison Master Mission Stage 1
Honor and Worth
Poison, a nasty type which only knows two things; death and destruction. Poison does not protect, nor does it save lives, it only brings ruin and misfortune. You who wish to harness the deadly power of poison are literally tempting to tame the powers of death and decay and make them your own. It should go without saying only a disciplined soul can successfully do such a thing. Fear not, for I know exactly who can teach you to become disciplined enough to master the art of the Poison type.
Head for Fuchsia City, it is there where you will travel to the gym and tell the gym leader, Janine, that you need to speak with her father. Do not worry, for you are expected and Koga should be there to meet you. Once you have your audience with Koga he should be prepared to explain things to you. You see, Koga and Janine are part of an ancient clan of Poison Channelers, however, they no longer harness the power of Poison Channeling and there is a good reason as to why. After the Great War their clan have splintered and fell into chaos, an inter clan war taking place over who should lead the clan now that their leader had perished. The destruction was not limited to just the clan members but also innocent people and Pokemon. After the fighting stopped and the now much smaller clan was reunited under a single leader. This new leader decided that their people were no longer worthy of such powers, their family's honor forever tainted. As such the ancient knowledge of Channeling was sealed away in scrolls and future children born to the clan were forbidden from learning of Channeling and those Channelers that still existed were forbidden from using their abilities, many of them releasing their bonded partners into the wild.
The descendants from that point on were charged with protecting the scroll containing their people's secrets, to ensure that such destruction would never occur again. They were given a second job and that was to one day find someone worthy of taking on this knowledge and create a new lineage of Channelers or Hybrids worthy of their abilities. That is where you come in, you must convince Koga that you are worthy of reading the forbidden scrolls and absorbing their knowledge. In order to accomplish that you must pass a rigorous test, a test of your resolve, discipline, and worthiness.
First you will be enrolled in Koga's ninja school in order to prepare yourself for the test. Here you will be taught the ancient ways of the ninja and most importantly discipline. It's pretty straight forward, you will be ran rugged alongside your most faithful Poison type partner and live at the gym for a timespan of one month to prepare for the test and learn their people's ways. Once you are deemed ready you will be given your own uniform which lacks of a clan symbol as that is to be earned later, and also given a peculiar gem that looks similar to a Toxic Orb except it seems to be empty on the inside.
The Test of Honor is what they call it, to prove you are worthy of the ancient art of the Poison type. The test begins with you and your partner Poison type infiltrating what is now the Safari Zone in Fuchsia City, just the two of you and no other Pokemon or items so you better use your ninja training to know which berries to seek out to heal with. Long ago that land used to be filled with toxic marshes and many Poison type Pokemon. Nowadays there are still some Poison types there but it's now a much less deadly place. There is however, in the far back of the Safari Zone, in a forbidden area, a small toxic marsh where a very peculiar type of bamboo grows in the poisonous sludge. This is your target, you are to gather a nice sized piece of bamboo and return to Koga with it. However this is not so simple as the marsh is home to the descendant of a rogue clan member's Channeling partner, the White Snake, an Arbok that is white instead of purple with piercing red eyes and a partner that some say is the face of death its self. The White Snake defends the marsh fiercely which is why the area is off limits. Do not underestimate the power of this Arbok, you would be better off trying to avoid a direct confrontation with it.
Once you obtain the bamboo and make it back to Koga he will show you how to fashion it into a bamboo sword. With the sword you will under take the final challenge. You will be thrown into the gym's maze which is filled with many traps and Poison type Pokemon waiting to jump out of you. You must proceed through the maze by yourself and your trusted Poison Pokemon and just the bamboo sword. You will notice the sword is particularly sturdy, more so than it appears. At the end of the maze you will find Koga and the first of the forbidden scrolls. He will leave you to read the scroll writte and left behind the last Poison Channeler, the Gallant Jiraiya. The scroll will tell you the story that Koga told you, from Jiraiya's point of view. It will also warn you of the dangers of the Poison type and insist that you should turn back while you can. But if you choose not to it details a ritual which involves the bamboo of the White Snake and the Marsh's Eye, the gem you received which you will now notice is filled with some sort of flowing purple substance, chi gathered from you and your Pokemon as you went through these trials. The ritual will join the gem and the bamboo sword together in order to form an artifact. If you are a hybrid when you grab the new bamboo sword you will absorb its contained chi and unlock your latent power, if you are a human it will become your new artifact to be used for channeling, the Marsh Sword. While it may not be sharp now you feel as if it has yet to reveal its true form. With it, you have begun to unlock the secrets of the Poison type.
-Objective:
---Meet with Koga in Fuchsia City and join his ninja academy for one moth to prepare for the test.
---After the month you will be sent into the Safari Zone with just your most trusted Poison type Pokemon and nothing else. There you are to seek out the White Snake's marsh and collect a piece of the bamboo that grows there.
---Once you return with the bamboo you will make it into a sword and undergo the second part of the test, the gym's maze which you must go through with just your sword and trusted Poison type. At the end of the maze you will finally be able to read the forbidden scroll left behind by Jiraiya.
-Opposition:
---The wild Pokemon of the Safari Zone.
---The White Snake, a powerful white Arbok.
---The gym's Poison type Pokemon will attack you in the maze, they include; Weedle, Kakuna, Beedrill, Ekans, Arbok, Weepinbell, Gloom, Nidorino, Nidorina, Koffing, Weezing, Grimer, Muk, Zubat, Golbat, Spinarak, and Ariados.
-Pokemon:
---You may capture one Poison type Pokemon in the Safari Zone, which includes: Nidoran (male or female), Nidorino, Nidorina, Venonat, or Venomoth.
---You may not capture the White Snake, Pokeballs won't work on it.
-Rewards:
---Five Snag coins and one Snag Emblem if you did very well.
---One move of the Pokemon you are a hybrid of or one skill from Stage 1 Poison if you're a Channeler (plus your new artifact).
A few months in the past, but not many…
Allen had left Snagem. He never did anything and when he got up to do things, he was always holding everyone back. It seemed pointless to just sit in his room and collect… were they even paid? He didn’t know how to move forward, but he knew he couldn’t be there any longer until he had gotten his act together and could do something to help the group out. He was the weakest link. So he had spent the last few days at the HQ researching for something he could do once he had finally left.
He found himself in the Research Facility, reading up on channelers and hybrids. Hybrids were… no. Allen was not going to turn himself into a furry. But the channeler thing seemed pretty sweet. Though, deciding what type he wanted to focus on was the harder choice. Going with fire seemed to make the most sense- until he realized that as much as he loved Zest he had none of her Fire typey attitude. Then Steve and Frigus were out as well. Steven and her trainer were apprehensive at best and Frigus was more of a companion than a battler. He was not a battler. But Beck?
The boy sent out his Koffing, his first and only Snag. “So…,” Allen started as he looked down at the lore behind Poison channelers “,fancy being ninjas?” Apparently Koga and Janine’s family came from some powerful Poison channelers, but stopped the tradition after a really bad family conflict.
“Koffing.”
“Oh really?”
“Koffing.” This time Beck seemed amused at his indecision. A long time ago they were very much on opposite sides of a conflict between Team Snagem and Team Rocket and now here he was asking if the Koffing would be his channeling partner.
Allen pat his Pokemon’s head and closed the book. “Alright, just, this isn’t going to be easy you know. Only you and me, the others will probably have to go to Cinnabar Island until we finish. Or die. You know how it is.” He said, his Koffing agreeing to go through it with him. His Pokemon was returned to his Pokeball and Allen went to go collect his things. He left a little note to the boss man, saying he’d be back when he wasn’t completely useless and until then, well, don’t expect him.
He sighed and sent out the other three to give them the news. It wasn’t easy, especially for Zest, but she eventually understood. As for Frigus and Steve, they were disappointed but weren’t as nearly as moved as the boy’s starter Pokemon. She had hatched a day or two before being given to him.
[][][][]
Zest, Frigus, and Steve went to his cousin. Allen had gone to his parents, but the moment he said he didn’t come back to apply for a college they swiftly sent him packing. Whatever he was doing wasn’t important if it didn’t involve going back to school.
“You sure she’s gonna be fine?” Tsuki asked, lounging on the beach with a pina colada in his hand. “I mean Mags is gonna be ecstatic to see her sister, but you’ve never really had time apart with Zest. She’s still a baby Pokemon.”
“Yeah, yeah… I know. I just- I need to do this.” Allen asked. His cousin had given him the suggestion to join Team Snagem despite leaving it himself. Said it was good for people who wanted to know what was ‘out there’.
Tsuki sat up. “Why the sudden change of pace? Bluh, that sounds so fake but you know what I mean.”
Allen shrugged. “I want to do something that has meaning. You know? I don’t want to wake up when I’m an adult and be the same person I am now. Can you just watch them? Please?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Tsuki said, taking the three Pokeballs. “How long will you be gone?”
“Uh, mission thing said a month so I give it two?”
“Mhmm, wanna spend the night with the family or-?”
Allen promptly had Claydol teleport him to Fuschia City, leaving his cousin on the beach.
[][][][]
“…what?”
“I’m here for that secret ninja training school your dad does.”
“You know that’s for kids, right? Elementary School kids.”
“Just get your dad!”
“Alright, alright don’t throw a hissy fit. Also I’m not the gym leader, this is a disguise. Come on in, and be careful with the glass walls. We got a lost challenger and they’re too stubborn to give up.” The Janine lookalike said, raising her voice so as to get the attention of a Youngster.
“I WILL NOT SURRENDER!” a squeaky voice screamed from within the maze.
“Anyways. He should be surprised.” The gym trainer said as she led Allen to a seating area for guests to look at the gym battles.
Koga stepped in from the back room, his eyes glaring at Allen like he had insulted his ancestors… probably. He always seemed to be scowling. “No.”
“Koga say what?”
“Koga said no. You are not worthy.” Koga reiterated for Allen, putting his hand on his back and waiting until he had walked them into the back room to continue. “You are here to learn how to channel Poison chi, yes?”
Allen blinked. Was that a trick question? “Yes?”
“No, you are not. You are here for power and nothing more. I cannot take a pupil who only seeks what he can take.” Koga said coldly, arms crossed.
Allen’s face burned red. It was a trick question! If that wasn’t enough, Koga reminded the boy of Chaos, this big scary guy who had pretty much left a permanent impression on him after their first mission together. Allen had barely changed since then, but he wanted to! He balled his fists and said back “Okay? Then just take me into your ninja school thing then and you won’t need to teach me any magic voodoo s**t!”
Koga paused and allowed Allen to continue.
“I mean… yeah I want to be stronger. But that’s just because I’m useless right now. I don’t want to be that. Useless I mean.”
Koga paused, but gave way to the boy. “Very well.” He said, giving up though only to an extent seeing as the boy was unmoved by the rejection. “You may receive your uniform from my daughter once Youngster Mikey is dealt with. We train every weekday evening from five to ten. I spend my Saturdays serving the Elite Four and Sundays are my days off so I expect to not be bothered. You may house at the gym until your training is complete, which will be in one month’s time. Is that understood?”
“Y-yes.”
“Then go. I have other things which require my attention.” The ninja sent Allen on his way before leaving himself.
Allen walked out of the gym once he received his uniform- a ninja suit which lacked the symbol that Koga and Janine had along with some weird necklance thing with a gem on it. He sent out Beck and showed it off. “So I mean, I failed getting Koga to agree to the channeling thing but, this is good enough. Right?” he asked. His Koffing made a cheery cry before they both set out to finally get some food.
[][][][]
The first day was not easy.
“You look like my big brother.” Some sweet looking nine year old girl said, fists raised as soon as they were told to find sparring partners.
Allen grinned. “Aw that’s nice.”
Shame would be cast down upon as his family, for Miss Judy Lawbern grabbed his arm and flipped him onto his back. “I hate my big brother!” she yelled, giving his left eye a punch.
Allen spent about half an hour tending to that black eye from the nasty nine year old, who Janine would later reveal to have excessive anger issues. Her parents sent her here to work out that frustration. It was not the teenager’s shining moment to say the least. “Why didn’t any of you tell me!?”
“We didn’t think you’d get beaten up by a little girl!” Janine cackled.
But the day got a little better. The best part was when they all had training battles. Beck, at least, could hold his own against the Weedles and Spinaraks that the little kids had at their disposal.
Though when it came to the actual gym trainers, they both got to struggle. Koga had this nice little idea that trainers had to fight with their Pokemon. So not only was Allen expected to battle gym trainers, but he was also expected to actually fight them at the same time! Amazing! Because people can strategize another fight while having their own!
Allen didn’t know how many times he had landed on his back by the time ten came around but by god was he grateful for that.
In his temporary room, the boy and his Koffing sat on a mattress and made a collective groan. “Why… why would people do this to themselves?” Allen asked, Beck not being able to give a reply. If he had arms, he wouldn’t be able to lift them up.
Janine let herself in and poured the two of them tea. “It was a good first day Allen… besides your run in with Judy. Shall I talk to her? We can ask your bully to leave you alone you know.” She said, weighing heavy on sarcasm.
He sat up and in front of the table, continuing on keeping an icepack on his black eye. Allen took a moment to think. “I got beat up by school children.”
“And it was very funny. But you didn’t walk out after that and that impressed my dad. Probably.” Janine snorted, taking a sip of the tea. Allen tried his and put it back down. Coffee was much better. “At the very least, you looked serious about staying here after the training ended.”
It got a little easier once Allen hit the one week mark. He was finally outpacing the smaller kids, though the thirteen to fifteen year olds still had the upperhand on him. Beck was dealing blow for blow with the gym Pokemon finally, having stopped training on the younger student’s Pokemon now. He still hit the floor as much as he did when he first started, but he got up faster.
Koga broke the clamor of the training. The ninjas in training quieted as the man said four words. “Janine, ready the swords.”
“Yes father.”
Soon they were all given bamboo swords and were sectioned off into training groups. Electricty filled the air as they were finally allowed to use weapons instead of just sparring with their own arms. “Now this will help hone your senses and steady your minds. One must master themselves to be proficient with the blade. Allen, with me.”
“Koga say what.”
And so it began. Koga played defensively, parrying every strike with the skill of a master. Meanwhile, Allen tried hitting him in the head over and over. If he tried swinging his sword as hard as possible, eventually he’d hit the Elite Four member! It did not work. The ninja waited until Allen had tired himself out to sweep his sword beneath his legs and knock him over, tip of the wooden sword being placed on his chest shortly after. Dead. The fight had taken only a moment once Allen had tired himself out.
Koga helped him up, arm on his shoulder as Allen brushed himself off. “You did better than I thought you would. Everyone, class dismissed.” He said, walking off with his daughter.
Allen walked back off to his room, sore after another day’s worth of training. As glad as he was that Koga hadn’t beaten him senseless, he was frustrated that he couldn’t even get though to him once! After spending that entire week running and jumping and fighting and training, he wanted to see something out of it.
“Koffing…” Beck voiced reassuringly to his trainer. Allen pat his Pokemon on the head. Alright. Another go at it then. But first sleep. After a long day of training, he couldn’t think of anything but good old sleep. Once he got home, he hit the mattress and didn’t wake up until the morning of the next day.
Two weeks later and Allen had really begun to pick up the pace on his progress. He was finally ahead of the younger students when it came to racing through the gym maze and the sparring got easier once he started to use his weight against his opponents. Allen still wasn’t able to land a hit on Koga, but he could at least go toe to toe with the gym trainers. Whenever Koga ranted about the potency and power held latent within Poison type Pokemon, Allen couldn’t help but agree. They didn’t use brute force. They didn’t need to use brute force. As someone who was never able to do that, he appreciated that that kind of mindset could be valued. He wasn’t weak, he was just different. That was okay.
Once Koga had called for the training swords again, Allen felt a little prepared compared to before and quickly paired up with a trainer who had a Venonat.
Allen swung his bamboo sword upwards at the gym trainer who took a step back and swatted it away. He didn’t take long to bounce off of that and swing back from an arc and hit their thigh, knocking them over. Koga said that most fights ended in a few moves, that anime had let an entire generation believe that fights could take ages and involved screaming and duel wielding large blades. But nope. The boy sighed a grateful sigh and helped the trainer back up. This was going great. Even if he hadn’t learned how to channel Poison chi here, he could at least focus now and possibly do… some…. ninja stuff. He was still a novice! They hadn’t even covered smoke bombs yet, just basic martial arts. Despite that, he was very eager to start working on smoke bombs- that would be amazing given his Koffing. They could put hit smoke into little pellet. Koffing smoke bombs had to be stronger than your average smoke bomb. They just had to be!
Allen woke up three weeks later with an entire month’s worth of training under his belt and for once he didn’t feel exhausted. He made his bed, made his and Beck’s breakfast (though the latter’s was just pouring some Poison type Pokemon food), got ready, and was out of the house by noon. Was it insane to try and get a few extra hours of training? Probably.
“You’re here early.” Janine noticed as she fed her Ariados from her hand. “You excited for your graduation?”
“Kind of… I don’t really know what I’m gonna do when this is all over though, ya know? Do I go back to my, uh, my friends? Or do I try and find something else?” Allen asked as he took out one of the bamboo swords to spar on a wooden doll. Thinking of the future made him nervous. He didn’t know what to do after this- he certainly couldn’t walk straight back to the HQ with only a half assed karate class and a slightly more trained Koffing under his belt.
Janine never got a chance to reply to him because Koga stepped into the room, a scroll in his hands. “Allen. It is time that we have discussed your future.”
They sat down and Allen glanced towards the door. “Yeah, so what’s up?”
“In your time here, you have grown admirably and I must admit that you are ready for the test.”
“Test?”
“You came here to learn how to channel chi, yes?”
“Um, yeah! I didn’t think-“
Koga interrupted him. “I needed to see how you would handle rejection. Everyone smiles when they get what they want, but rarely so when they do not. You expected nothing and yet you trained to better yourself and for that you are ready for the Test of Honor.”
Allen leaned forward as Koga began to explain what was expected for him to pass the test. He needed to infiltrate the Safari Zone, enter a locked off area (he was allowed in, but he would need to work his way there himself), and find a hefty piece of bamboo growing from the native toxic sludge. But that was not the complete challenge. Because entering a dangerous and poisonous area with no outside help wasn’t dangerous enough already.
“Back before my clan swore to never again use their powers, one of the rogue clan members released their Arbok into the marsh to plague the family with their descendants. It had children and there is one in particular that is a rather large threat… and it is one that has claimed the forbidden marsh area as their personal hunting territory.”
“Oh, fun.”
“It is a large white Arbok with red eyes that paralyze everything that crosses it’s path with it’s Glare. You are to avoid this monster at all costs- it can hardly be considered a proper Pokemon with that much hate in it’s heart. If you do cross paths, run. We haven’t been able to subdue the beast yet, but if you wish to become a channeler you will need bamboo from the tree in the marsh.”
Allen sweated, but nodded in agreement. “Right. So, when do I head out?”
“Oh, I’d say about now. You may only return when you have the bamboo and not a moment sooner. Good luck.” Koga replied as he shooed the boy out of the gym, handing him a kunai. “To cut the wood, please feel free to keep it.”
[][][]
Allen looked at Beck with an unsure look. A monster Arbok was out there in the marshes of the Safari Zone and all he had to his name to defend himself was a Koffing and a knife. That was not a whole lot to go with. Still, Allen walked up to the gate and was allowed freely in- though he was made to turn in his two Pokeballs to prevent him from catching anything.
He walked into the Safari Zone, sun beaming down and a challenge ready not two steps out of the gate. A Nidorino met his gaze and readied to charge the trainer, but set his sights on Beck when the Koffing was sent forward to fight. He leapt forward and shoved his front legs into the floating rock thing, using Double Kick to shove the Pokemon back.
“Beck, use Gyro Ball!” Allen called out as his Koffing fell to the ground and began to rotate rapidly like a spinning top before flinging itself at the Nidorino, who jumped and avoided the first attempt but was flung into a tree after being hit when Beck swirled around and hit it the second try at the attack.
The Nidorino snarled and readied to charge them, but Allen had returned Beck and was already running out of that area. Nope, nope, nope, he was not about to get distracted by some-
Allen was not as fast as a rampaging Nidorino. It followed from beside and knocked him over onto the ground. “Oh great… Smokescreen!” he mumbled as he sent Beck back out to fight. The Koffing hovered forward and spat a column of smoke at the weird rabbit looking thing! The Nidorino thrashed his head around to get the smoke out of his eyes and blindly charged forward to Horn Attack Beck- but Allen decided to cheat a bit and recalled him. The Pokemon went and crashed into the ground, having fainted by the force of his own attack.
“Smell ya later… ew. Never saying that again.” Allen said to himself, going back to running through the Safari Zone.
It wasn’t long before he got close to the entrance to the sealed off marsh- but of course he had caught the attention of a Pokemon. This time a Parasect, it’s claws pincing mindlessly as it approached the duo. “Smokescreen! Then use a Sludge from above.” Allen said, turning to his side to Beck.
“Koff, koff…” Beck zoomed forward and opened his mouth wide to let out the Smokescreen. The Parasect swung it’s arms, but once the smoke surrounded it it was pretty much blind. Beck spat a Sludge onto the bug Pokemon which made it run around with a screech. Allen covered his ears and got to work on jumping the fence.
Beck swung forward and hit the Parasect with a Gyro Ball square in the face- though that left him wide open to be hit by a Slash. Once Allen finished getting to the marsh he returned his Koffing and resent out him from the other side of the fence, to safety.
Eventually he’d find the back area and jumped the fence- it was sealed off for a reason. He had Beck back out and pulled out his knife. “So. Hopefully that Arbok is asleep…” he said to him, moving further into the actual marsh.
Allen’s legs were knee deep in mud once he entered the marsh and he made sure Beck stayed near him at all times while they walked. There were a few egg hatched egg clutches scattered around- which did not please the trainer one bit. Babies. Why did it have to have babies? He kept low as he waded through the sludge, one hand gripping the knife in his pocket. The Arbok was probably asleep. Yeah. No reason why they’d come across the insane murder beast in their little adventure in it’s territory oh noooo.
There was a shuffle in the distance, up ahead from Koffing and trainer.
“Ekansss.” A snake hissed, coiling up defensively. It looked like it wouldn’t run but it didn’t look eager for a fight either. Allen kept his distance and started to walk around the Ekans, though it wasn’t pleased by that and leapt at him with a Bite. Beck flung himself in front of his trainer and spun quickly to block with a Gyro Ball, sending the snake crashing into the mud.
Allen attempted to run but he could only really muster a slightly faster limp in the mud. “RAGH, I knew I should’ve kept that hoverboard! Beck!” he shouted, calling for his Koffing to come back. He grabbed his Koffing and had him lift him into the air with his Levitate ability.
“Thank god for that training. Onward!” He sighed. Being able to hold himself up was a life saver. Gotta love lifting. The Ekans leapt from the mud but didn’t even graze his shoe.
Beck complied and the two of them floated into the center of the marsh.
It was covered more in water, reeds, and tall grass but you didn’t need to be a genius to see the massive clump of bamboo sticking out of the group in the dead center of the area. The sludge that it grew out of stung his eyes from far away and it smelled… well pretty bad would have to suffice for a term. Allen let go of Beck and hopped down with a splash near it, knife soon at the ready. “Make sure nothing sneaks up on us alright?”
He aimed for an upper piece, cutting near the base would take longer, and worked on cutting the long piece of bamboo while his partner kept a look out. It was tough, Koga didn’t lie about it being a sturdy material. Eventually it was cut off and Allen had a piece that looked about a yard and a half- and it would have to do. Hissing, if it could even be called that, started to come from deeper in the marsh. It sounded a bit more like a Screech attack and it was clearly putting Beck on edge. “Alrighty roo, let’s get the hell out of here!” Allen hopped and grabbed onto his Koffing, who began to zoom.
“Arbok!” screeched from behind as Allen heard a loud crash.
“Let’s not look back!” Allen suggested. If Koga was right, it wouldn’t hesitate to Glare them into paralysis and eat them.
Okay maybe not the toxic rock ball of poisonous gas, but definitely Allen.
Ekans started leaping up from the marsh as they fled, one getting up enough to bite Allen in the lower leg. If it hadn’t been for the training, he’d probably have let go and died. Instead he screamed and almost died.
“Argh! Get! Off!” Allen barked. Kicking the snake off was nearly impossible and it only let go once they flew back over the fence. He let go again and hit the ground hard. Hoo boy. The boy started coughing and started to feel woozy- was he poisoned? It wasn’t time for him to consider if he could even have a status effect, he just started walking into a rest house so he could fall in front of a Safari worker, bamboo shaft in hand and a worried looking Koffing floating above.
Allen woke up a few days later in the Fushcia hospital and soon enough the former gym leader of the city was congratulating him on successfully getting the bamboo- even if he nearly died in the process. “With this you will be able to fashion a bamboo sword unlike any currently available. Nearly indestructible from it’s time soaking in the ancient toxins of the marsh, it will serve as a fine artifact for your channeling abilities. I must ask before it is done: why pick the Poison type? Surely you have other Pokemon to pick from.”
Shifting himself on the hospital bed, Allen came up with a simple enough answer. “Never been one for fighting head on. Poison is kinda like that too right?”
“That it is,” Koga replied, satisfied “,you may return in one week once you have healed up properly and we shall fashion your weapon.”
After Allen had spent a week in the hospital, he could finally walk without limping and the venom in his blood had been handled. On the bright side, he got a cool looking scar and apparently he would have a slight resistance against Ekans and Arbok bites in the future- assuming his body built up enough antibodies in time. Apparently that was how antivenoms were made according to one of the nurses. Sweet.
He walked into the back of the gym in his regular clothing instead of the ninja garb Koga had forced him to while training- though the Elite Four member insisted on him bringing the orb necklace. He arrived after the day’s training had ended and walked to the center where Koga was waiting. “Yo. So do I need to make a sword?”
“If you want to channel Poison chi, yes.”
“I mean- does it have to be a sword? I’ve never been into the whole anime katana thing ya know? Not really my style, and yeah that’s stupid, but that’s me.”
Koga took a moment before nodding. “Very well, I suppose I can assist you in creating another type of weapon as long as it is simple in design. What shall you be creating?”
Allen grinned.
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Once he was done, Allen slid his weapon into his backpack as the sheath Koga had prepared was not large enough for it. “Sweet. So what now?”
Koga gestured to the door leading to the gym. “You will find a scroll in the center of the gym. However, it will not be as simple as walking up to it and taking it. Standing in your way will be many traps and gym Pokemon so you will need to get past them in order to retrieve it with only your weapon and Koffing. Are you ready?”
Allen nodded and walked into the gym, Beck floating beside him.
“Bat Golbat!” A Golbat spoke the moment he entered the maze, readying a Bite attack at Beck.
“Oh don’t worry,” Allen said as he pulled out his baseball bat “,I’m not gonna hurt ya. He is! Gyro Ball!”
Allen swung his bat and hit his Koffing like a baseball, sending the Koffing flying faster than usual and ramming straight into the Golbat. Wasn’t fast enough.
It flapped it’s wings and blew Beck off with a Gust, but Allen didn’t want the fight to last any longer than it had to. “Tackle and let’s move.” He said. His Koffing slamming down to knock the opposing Pokemon back down, knocking it out. The two of them moved deeper into the maze when smoke rose from a grate below and an Ariados jumped onto Allen to hold him down.
“Beck!” Allen cried out. He couldn’t reach his bat- he had dropped it when the spider Pokemon had knocked him over. His Koffing had an easy time seeing through the smog and flung himself into the bug type with no problem. Allen? Not so much. He had to use his Pokemon, keeping one hand on him once he had felt around for his bat, to guide him. Though that only got them so far which ended up having him walk head first into a spider’s web. Should’ve had a sword, that way he could cut through the webs. Instead he was stuck. Yay.
“Uh, hold it off for now!” Allen said, reaching into his pocket for the knife Koga had lent him. Beck and the Ariados got into a scuffle, though the trainer put more effort in cutting the webs around him. By the time he had been freed, the smoke had cleared and Beck looked worse for wear. Dang it.
Running forward, Allen swung his bat up to knock the Ariados into a glass wall and started pushing Beck deeper into the maze. “C’mon, we can’t keep wasting time. It won’t follow us probably? Probably.” He guessed. It looked kind of hurt and he wasn’t about to smash a Pokemon’s face in.
Deeper into the maze a net fell from above. Allen shoved his bat up and caught it in time, though that was when two Weedles fell on the both of them and swung their stingers crazily. Koffing looked amused and Allen ran straight into a wall and fell down. Ded.
Allen tossed the Weedle off of his head and Beck started on spamming Tackle. All they could really do was use Poison Sting and String Shot- though it wasn’t like being slow was going to do anything and it wasn’t like he had limbs to be restrained. The boy took that time to get any leftover webs off of him and get a better handle on the net that some gym trainer had probably thrown at him. Once that was done, Allen found himself in the center.
With a Nidoking.
“Well, it was good knowing you Beck!” Allen said as he rolled to the side when the Nidokind charged them with a Megahorn. He tossed the net onto it’s head as it crashed through the glass wall (Much to the very loud displeasure of Janine. They had just finished cleaning them!)
“UM?”
“Good luck! Wish my dad some too!” Janine quipped before going back to shouting at her father for letting in a Nidoking of all things into the glass maze.
Allen scooted around and looked to Beck for ideas. Right, he was the trainer. Frick. “Smokescreen?” Allen suggested, the Koffing spewing out a stream of smoke to confuse the enemy further.
The Nidoking leapt from the smoke and though it wasn’t a direct it, he still struck Beck with a spinning Thrash attack from a Thrash.
“Again!”
More smoke. This time Thrash missed and the Nidoking tripped and hurt itself when it tried using Double Kick in it’s confusion. Beck looked hurt, Allen gave it one hit. Maybe two. The Nidoking landed a Peck, sending his Koffing into him.
Allen coughed on the ground when the smoke spread and got back up, Beck in one arm and his bat in his other. “You ain’t gonna like this.” He said as the Nidoking took a step forward. “Can’t win every fight. Self Destruct!”
Tossing Beck into the air, Allen used him like a baseball a second time and sent him flying into the Nidoking. He caught it and looked like he had won.
Then Beck exploded and Allen was sent flying from the explosion. He looked up when his ears stopped ringing and returned his fainted Koffing. The Nidoking looked knocked out too- so tie? Tie. If this was about being a channeler, the Allen figured that he didn’t lose as long as he was still conscious too.
He walked into the center and picked up the scroll. Some great sage named Jiraiya had written the story that the HQ’s books had said, but it had been from his perspective.
He, the sage, had been on the wrong side of the fight. Jiraiya was young and idealistic- but he hurt a lot of people in his path. Channeling wasn’t something he deserved and it was a power no mortal should have as far as he was concerned. However, those who were worthy could read on. They needed something called a Marsh’s Eye. Allen looked down and saw his necklace glowing a bright purple and it fit the description so…
Allen took off his necklace and started the ritual. He started by using his knife to cut the palms of the both of his hands and crushed the gem, letting the poison meet his blood. Once blood and poison met and began to fizzle, he began rubbing the mixture even further to make sure he had some enter his bloodstream. Proteins met proteins and Allen began taking in some power. But he stopped and made sure to rub his palms down the bamboo bat he had crafted to let it absorb some of the mixture as well. Allen felt woozy, but a new energy began to fill up inside of him. He waited- and waited. The bat began to glow and that was when Koga clapped.
“Allen… what is your last name?”
“Blake.”
“Welcome Allen Blake, the first new Poison channeler the world has seen in a long time.” Koga laughed.
Janine felt like ruining the moment. “Unless someone used another method! We might need to take care of them if they become a problem though. Maybe you too Allen, you aren’t-“
“Janine please. If Allen is not the first Poison channeler in many years then he is the first legitimate one. Our clan no longer channels and our methods are without a doubt the most refined.” Koga took pride in his heritage- surely no one else could achieve the same product?
“Mhmm, mhmm… very interesting. One sec.” Allen walked to the back and grabbed a first aid kit to wrap some bandages around his bloodied hands. At least the Nidoking had made a nice shortcut by shattering all of the glass.
Once that was handled, he approached Koga and Janine. They had dinner together and Koga was more lighthearted than usual- the knowledge that his clan had finally found a worthy heir. He was… different. But he had passed the training, faced the White Snake, and survived the initiation process.
“Where will you be heading? You may be a channeler, but you are still a novice. There is still much you haven’t yet learned.” Koga said before turning to his rice.
“I think I should head back to my friends. I’ll be back to continue once I update them on where I’ve been. Kinda owe them that.”
Koga nodded.
The morning after, Allen called up Claydol to teleport him back to Cinnabar Island. Zest broke down crying once he arrived and did not ever leave his side. Steve was happy- though Giratina be damned if she ever showed it. As for Frigus- uh Allen let Tsuki keep him. He was never a fighter and he didn’t want to drag him into fights.
Tsuki punched his arm. “Tell the others I said hi and that I’m well alright? I’ll keep your Glaceon occupied.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Allen waved him off. “Tell my parents I said hi when they get back from Unova.” And like that Claydol warped him back to the HQ on Mount Silver.
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