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"Channeler, huh?" A middle aged man called out to Leon as he approached the gym, the man leaning up on the side of the nearby PokeMart. He didn't appear to stand out much with his male pattern baldness, beer gut, and cheap mass produced clothing. Whatever he was doing hanging outside of a PokeMart was a mystery but a forgettable one as the fact that this seemingly unexceptional rightfully called out Leon as a Channeler just by apparently looking at him. Who was this man?

"She is." The man simply stated, going silent as if that's all he was going to say until he finally spoke again. "Heh, call me Toma I guess." He said, giving his own name but for whatever reason keeping his gaze upon Leon, never letting it drift. "So. What does a Channeler want with the gym leader? If I was a betting man I would say it wasn't for a battle."

Middle aged Toma just continued to lean up on the building and watch Leon walk away. Something told the Poison Channeler that this wasn't the last time he would see the strange man but for now he would ignore it.

"Yo! Champ in making! Fuchsia Gym is a tricked up place. It's riddled with invisible walls! You here to fight Janine? Take a good look around you. The trainers all look like the Leader, Janine!" The typical gym guide immediately bombarded Leon as soon as he entered the gym. A little too enthusiastic about his job he is.

"Oh! An emergency you say? Okay then! But if it's not really one Janine won't be happy." The man said with a frown before rushing off, zigzagging and dogging invisible walls, having memorized the correct path a long time ago. Eventually he would come up to a specific Janine and speak to her for a bit before the woman waved him away and threw a smoke ball down, a puff of smoke covering them both but as it cleared on he stood there.

"Yes? What is the emergency?" Janine asked as she now stood behind Leon, arms folded and a scowl on her face.

Janine continued to scowl, her arms remained folded as she visually sized Leon up and down, ending her assessment with a scoff. "He sent two others before you to learn as well you know. Both are gone. What makes you different? How do I know you won't be another waste of time?" The woman asked.

Janine would stare at Leon for a good while before she finally unfolded her arms and sighed heavily. "Alright, fine, you convinced me." She relented, then walking a few feet to the side before stomping her foot on a hidden switch in the bamboo floor, causing a door to open in the wall behind Leon. "Follow me. Also, I hope your Pokemon trusts you and you trust it. You'll both need it." She said cryptically as she passed through the hidden doorway, leading Leon a series of steps and into a Japanese style dojo beneath the gym, all sorts of 'ninja' weapons hanging on the walls.

"Battle me? No, at least not in the way you're thinking." Janine said, dismissing Leon's idea. "You'll be battling alright, and it will be something I throw at you, but it won't be me directly. What you'll be fighting is death, both of you will be." The gym leader said as she walked over to the wall and took from a small rack what looked like a very long needle.

"These senbon are coated in a unique strain of venom created by my father. While deadly it was designed in an inherent cure to its self. The cure, ironically, is to inject even more of the venom within a relatively small window of time. My father designed it to test the willpower of those who seek our help, as the process of being afflicted by and then cured by the same venom is very painful. My own conscious won't allow you to die but do know if you fail to cure yourself in time you won't be the same again. If you can cure yourself I will tell you everything I know about what you seek. Channeling, right? That's why you're really here. So what will it be?" Janine asked as she flipped the needle over her knuckles back and forth.