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Chapter - 21
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"Leaf! I caught a Lotad!" Red was thrilled with the fact that he now had a Hoenn Pokémon in his team. Leaf was sitting on the lower half of the bunk bed while Red danced in front of her on the carpet. She was happy that he was excited about something in a while.

Red jumped around in the room, part of him was glad that he was able to get out of the Petalburg Woods during such a dark hour. He threw his bag on the study table next to the window while Leaf's bag rested on the chair.

"That's amazing." Leaf smiled gently, her expressions then changed to anger. "But why would YOU GO TO THE FOREST AT THIS HOUR?!" She was concerned about her friend, she wanted to accompany Red to the forest just in case, but he did not even inform Leaf about it. "Atleast you could've told me that Leaf, I'm going to a forest."

Red was not used to Leaf being mad at him, but he knew what she was like when she was angry and that he feared very much. He looked down at the floor, frowning, as if he was being scolded by an elder. "I'm sorry." Red apologized. "Next time I'll- I'll tell you before I go somewhere like that."

"NO!" Leaf snapped. "That's not even the point- nevermind Red."

Leaf was cold, she lied on the bed and covered herself with a sheet. She then turned towards the wall, to show she was mad at Red.

Red knew exactly what she was doing, he climbed to the upper bunk and lied down. He looked at the ceiling as he thought about how he was going to defeat Roxanne the next day.

"It is cold." He whispered to himself, pulling up the sheets and covering himself.

"Um, Leaf? Can you turn off the-" Red began, he stopped as soon as the lights turned off. "Thank you." He closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

The following day, Red woke up early, as early as he could because that day, he needed to practice. He wanted to win. He wanted to become the person his father always hoped he would be.

Sure, he had made mistakes, mistakes that could not be reversed. But he was not the kind of person to hold onto those mistakes instead of learning and improving from them.

He was sitting near the reception in the Pokécenter, planning his team for the Hoenn Region. According to the rules, he had to carry his weaker Pokémon along with new Hoenn Pokémon. He hated these rules, Kanto was much better at handling experienced players.

He decided to change his team, but not now, he wasn't ready to say goodbye to some of his Pokémon. He walked towards the front door of the Pokécenter.

"Red!" A familiar face walked into the Pokécenter. She had black long hair and purple eyes. She wore tight pink crop top and white jeans. She waved at Red and walked to him. "I wasn't hoping to see you here."

"Sabrina?" Red smiled. "It's been a while, how are you?"

"I'm perfectly fine." She smiled. "Been busy for a while but now I'm free as ever."

"That's great, glad you're doing well." Red hoped she was telling the truth. He then noticed her green cuffs on her wrists, he stared at them for a moment.

"I'm alright, don't worry." She said, smiling. "As long as I have these cuffs on, ofcourse. It's good to see you, you've grown up."

Sabrina slipped out her smartphone from her pocket and sent a text. "I've been travelling for days, so just here to get some sleep."

Red noticed dark circles under her eyes. "You should, yes." He stepped out of her way. "See you." He waved at her and walked outside the Pokécenter.Familiar faces always made Red happy.

The morning was cloudy, he trained for an hour or so, and went straight to the Rustboro City Gym.

"Hm. I wasn't expecting you to come here so fast." Said Roxanne. "Did you manage to catch a Hoenn Pokémon?"

"In fact, I did!" Red placed his hand on his belt, about to choose a Pokémon.

"Impressive. Then, I think I'll be using regular Pokémon." Roxanne said, smiling. "Don't underestimate me though."

Roxanne handpicked three Pokéball from her drawer. "This would be a three versus three." She walked slowly towards the battle area. "Go Geodude."

"Go Lotad!" Red sent out the Pokémon he caught recently.

"A Lotad?! Good choice." Said Roxanne. "Geodude, use Rock Throw."

"Lotad, use Absorb." Geodude was badly hurt, most of it's energy was drained.

"Geodude, use Rollout." Commanded Roxanne. Lotad was critically hit.

"Lotad, use Absorb." Geodude fainted, Lotad was now more energetic than ever.

Roxanne called Geodude back and looked at the other two Pokéballs in her hands, she seemed to be confused. She looked at the first one and murmured something in her mouth, she did the same for the other one.

Finally, she decided which one she was going to use. "Go Geodude." She sent out a second Geodude. Red was curious about what the third Pokémon could be, better not be a Geodude.

"Lotad, use Toxic." Red was certain to win, he was determined to win the Hoenn League and this time he was not overconfident like before.

Geodude was poisoned, it was hurt by it's poison. Roxanne had given up, she knew it was hopeless against an experienced trainer like Red. Her weaker Pokémon stood no chance against him.

Somehow, this kid knows exactly what to do in order to win — Roxanne thought. It's almost like he has a built-in god mode. No, I should probably stop playing video games.

"Geodude, use Rollout." Lotad fainted, it was critical hit. Attaboy! Well, I am just lucky now — Roxanne thought.

"Lotad, you did really good." Red called Lotad back. "Go, Espeon."

"Geodude, use Rock Throw." Said Roxanne.

"Espeon, use Psychic." The attack was too powerful even though Espeon was one of his weakest Pokémon. Geodude fainted.

"Argh!" Roxanne snapped. She then looked at the last Pokéball. "Go Nosepass."

Red pointed the Pokédex towards the Nosepass, a Pokémon he had never even heard about before.

"Nosepass, a Compass Pokémon. Its magnetic nose consistently faces north. Travelers check Nosepass to get their bearings."

"Espeon, use Psychic." It wasn't as effective against Nosepass.

"Nosepass, use Thunder." Red was not expecting the attack. The thunder striked Espeon, and it was a one-hit-knockout.

"Come back, Espeon." Red held his third Pokéball. "Go Pidgeotto."

"A flying type?" Roxanne was confused. "Nosepass, use Thunder." Nosepass' attack missed.

"That's why. You can't use Thunder with full accuracy the second time." He told Roxanne. Roxanne was completely unaware of that. "Something, I learnt from Pikachu. Pidgeotto, use Steel Wing."

Nosepass fainted. It was a critical hit.
Red won the Gym Battle.

"Nosepass, come back." Roxanne was impressed, but also believed that Red was a little lucky. "Well, well, well. You got a pretty good skill, unlike others you learn from experience. Honestly, it's quite rare."

"And I'm just curious about how young students become Gym Leades." Red asked. "You're an honors student?"

"Yeah." Roxanne smiled. "It's really not a big thing, just win the Hoenn League and sign up. Or maybe, my dad was the in charge of Gym Leader assignment, who knows?"

"Ah." Red frowned.

"Anyways, here is your Rock Badge, along with the TM39, or was it TM29? Ugh, it's Rock Tomb, whichever TM number that is-"

"Thank you." Red was handed the items and he placed them quickly in his bag. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Roxanne smiled and waved.

Red stepped out of the Gym, feeling alive again. He gets frustrated when he's not winning. He promised himself for the last time, to not be overconfident, and win the Hoenn League.

Winning the Hoenn League mattered to him more than anything at that particular moment.

"Two down. Six to go."