Farewell Giovanni and the Rise and Fall of Gary Oak

I flew into Veridian City on the back of my Pidgeot and went straight to the gym. I was determined to get my last badge and head to the Pokemon League. The gym was full of trainers of various types, my Pokemon were stretched to their limits putting them all down but I had faith that they could do it. After a long and bloody battle through the gy I made my way to the gym leader. I stood, frozen in shock, the Veridian gym leader was none other than Team Rocket Leader Giovanni! I was snapped out of it when he drew his first Pokeball. I had battled Giovanni before and I knew he relied heavily on ground Pokemon. Between Venusaur, Poliwhirl and Dragonair's surf I knew I had it all over him.

Vines and waves were flying everywhere, sweeping away Giovanni's Pokemon left and right. My team reduced his to dust without even batting an eyelid. When the air had finally cleared Giovanni threw the Earthbadge at my feet, I now had all of the badges I needed to enter the Pokemon League. I quickly scooped up the badge and by the time I stood back up Giovanni had disappeared. Once again the leader of Team Rocket had gotten away from me.

I left the gym and dropped by the PokeCentre for some healing then set out West from Viridian, this was the path tot he Pokemon League. As I walked I passed through several security gates, each one with men to check the authenticity of my badges. Each gate checked a single badge, with experts on the production of that badge making sure no fakes got through. Eventualy I had passed through all eight gates and was now on the Victory Road, a deep cave full of powerful Pokemon and trainers. My last test before the League.

I decided to play it smart through the cave, hiding behind boulders and sneaking past some of the trainers, I would need to save my potions for the League. After many Pokemon fights I saw daylight. I had reached the end of Victory Road. I ran out into the sun and smiled, here I was, Indigo Plateau, home of the Pokemon League. I entered the League building and found it had it's own PokeCentre. I healed my Pokemon and after checking I had everything I needed I went into my first League Challenge.

The Elite Trainer Lorelei was my first challenge. my Pokemon didn't stand a chance against her icy Pokemon. I was beaten soundly and turfed out on my ear. Determined not to make the same mistake twice I knew I had to train and research. I found out what type of Pokemon each of the Elite Four was likely to have and changed my team slightly, putting my Pidgeot into Bill's PC and replacing her with Articuno. Then, with the aid of some Rare Candies and the Exp. Share I set to work training my team. after ten hours of training I was finally ready to challenge Lorelei again. By then my Pikachu had been evolved into a Raichu and he killed every single one of Lorelei's Pokemon easily, she barely had time to even use a Full Restore.

After Lorelei was Bruno, the fighting trainer. My newly evolved Dragonite and Articuno took care of most of his team. Poliwrath took out his two Onix. This was going better than expected. My next challenge was Agatha, an old lady that specialised in Ghost Pokemon. I pulled out my Arcanine and he used his amazing Bite attack to take her team down. With Lorelei, Bruno and Agatha down I only had one more challenge to become the Pokemon Champion! I stepped into Lance's room, not knowing exactly what to expect other that that he specialised in Dragon type Pokemon. I knew my Pokemon were probably under leveled to face him but I had come prepared to out-Type him and had Articuno and Dragonite with great Ice attacks. I needn't have worried. Articuno used it's Ice Beam and zapped each of Lance's Pokemon into oblivion. As the last of Lance's team fell I let out a whoop of joy, I was the Pokemon Champion! lance shook my hand and congratulated me on my success but told me I wasn't yet the Champion!

What was this? Had I done all this work for nothing? No, Gary Oak had challenged the Elite Four only minutes before I had. he had become the Pokemon Champion and if I wanted that title I would have to beat him for it. GARY FUCKING OAK!

I stepped through into the final room, offering up a small prayer that my team could beat Gary's. if I was going to win this I would have to be very careful. The first Pokemon Gary threw out was a Pidgeot. Raichu hit it with one Thunder and it fell out of the sky. Next Gary tried to use a Rhydon but Venusaur used Frenzy Plant to rip it to shreds. Then Gyarados came out and my Raichu was back front and centre. Gyarados almost killed Raichu but ended up losing, JUST. A breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew Raichu. Next Gary used Alakazam and I sent out Arcanine, hoping his Bite attack would save us. It did. When Alakazam fell Gary sent out Exeggcutor. I threw a max Potion on Arcanine and then had it Flame Wheel until Exeggcutor was nothing but a pile of ash.

Finally Gary sent out his final Pokemon, Charizard. I sent out Dragonite to challenge it. The two dragons flew in the air, attacking and countering each other. Draconic blood rained down on Gary and I as our Pokemon traded blows. Charizard used Fire Blast and I countered with an Ice Beam I'd taught Dragonite earlier. The beam caught Charizard full in the face and encased him in a bloc of ice. The giant block of ice plummeted to the ground and shattered, Gary's last Pokemon was down. I WAS THE POKEMON CHAMPION!

It seemed a dream as Prof Oak came in behind us, telling Gary how disappointed he was that his grandson couldn't even hold onto the Championship for an hour. Oak husteled me hurriedly into another room where I could put my Pokemon into a computer to register as the Champion. I did so and was shocked when my Pokemon did not come back out of the machine. I turned to Oak and asked his what was going on. He told me I was in trouble. Giovanni had disappeared and Team Rocket thought I had killed him! I tried to protest but Prof Oak told me there was no time, I was being shipped away into a witness protection program for my own good. I was going to live somewhere called Johto. My mother would be given protection and a "dummy" version of me would be set up on Mount Silver to distract the Rockets. I could not take my Pokemon with me, they were too distinctive, Oak would look after them until I could return one day. I said a tearful and hurried farewell into the machine, hoping my beloved Pokemon would hear me and then I was whisked away into the night. I remember sitting and wondering if they had Pokemon in the Johto place...

And thus ends my journey through Fire Red. Yes, yes, I know there's the rest of the Sevii Islands and Cerulean Cave to do but I completed the Elite Four and that was my main objective on this game. I will return one day soon to complete Fire Red but for now I am moving onto Heart Gold.