"Flood above, bathhouse below—solve this riddle and you'll know the location of Cinnabar Gym."
After speaking, the middle-aged man turned and left, leaving only Red still chewing the rice grains remaining at the corner of his mouth.
"A bathhouse? Perfect, I was just thinking of trying the therapeutic effects of the hot springs here."
A moment later, Red arrived at the bathhouse not far behind the inn, comfortably soaking in the hot springs. Since only Red had come to this place, the hot springs weren't divided by gender, allowing Red to have the entire area to himself.
Red glanced at the Gyarados statue beside him that was spouting warm water—this statue was the switch to open the path to Cinnabar Gym's location.
But Red didn't immediately head to Cinnabar Gym for the match. After all, he had plenty of time, and Red also wanted to properly relax his body to prevent fatigue from affecting his battle condition.
"I'll have to trouble you four for the upcoming match," Red murmured, playing with the four Poké Balls in his palm.
After Red finished his comfortable hot spring soak and adjusted his condition for the challenge match, he changed back into his clothes and pressed the Gyarados statue switch. The rock where the Gyarados statue was located slowly sank, and the huge rock behind began to move, gradually revealing a dark passage with faint firelight.
Red leisurely walked down to the passage below. The walls were occasionally interspersed with candlelight, and following the stone steps' guidance, Red finally arrived in front of a large iron door.
As he approached, the temperature gradually began to rise, causing ordinary people to feel briefly uncomfortable.
Red looked at the iron door before him. Due to long-term exposure to high temperatures, this iron door had become so scalding hot that ordinary people would get burned with just a slight touch.
Seeing this, Red immediately used his psychic powers to forcibly open the iron door before him.
At a glance, an unusual Pokémon battlefieldappeared before Red's eyes. This battle field was suspended above boiling lava, with its four corners firmly secured by iron chains to the stone walls above. The high-temperature lava below the battlefieldoccasionally bubbled and boiled, making anyone who saw it tremble involuntarily.
Scorching air permeated every corner of the battlefield, making people with weak constitutions feel uncomfortable and even experience adverse reactions like oxygen deficiency.
"Welcome to your arrival, Lord Red!"
Bright lights illuminated from the stone walls above, and the middle-aged man who had left earlier appeared on Red's opposite shore, standing in the trainer position facing Red.
"Good thing I arrived in time—your speed truly is unmatched by ordinary people!"
"What can be said easily when you don't know it but becomes unspeakable once you know it?" the middle-aged man once again posed a riddle to Red.
"A toupee, just like your exquisite disguise, Mr. Blaine!" Red teased, looking at the middle-aged man before him with battle-ready eyes.
"I suppose I exposed my true identity early on."
Blaine said helplessly, quickly tearing off his disguise, removing the toupee on his head, the sunglasses and beard on his face. Blaine's middle-aged image instantly transformed into an elderly man with a receding hairline.
"After all, wearing toupees and loving riddle games are both your specialties, Mr. Blaine," Red said leisurely.
"The gym challenge match format is 3 vs 3. During this time, you as the challenger can freely switch Pokémon, and there's no time limit for the match."
Blaine explained the rules of this match to Red across from him.
"I've long been prepared to battle you, a former Fire-type Elite Four member!" Red said with slight excitement.
"Good! My first contestant is this one!" Blaine shouted, throwing the Poké Ball in his hand.
As the white light faded, a Ninetales appeared on the battlefield—covered in cream-colored fur with bright red eyes, a well-proportioned body that appeared noble and elegant, with nine smooth and slender tails that had golden highlights at the tips.
"It's been a while since I sent you out—go wild, Gengar!"
With that, Red threw the Poké Ball in his hand. A white light faded, sinister laughter echoed around, and then the figure of the thousand-year-old Gengar gradually appeared in Red and Blaine's vision.
"Boss, I missed you so much!"
The thousand-year-old Gengar immediately started acting up upon appearing, excitedly floating to Red's side and telling Red about the various 'abuses' it had suffered at Professor Oak's laboratory, with every third sentence containing a 'complaint' about Professor Oak.
The thousand-year-old Gengar also complained to Red, saying Professor Oak was an elderly man who was extremely kind to Pokémon—so why was he so abusive when it came to treating itself?
Due to Pokémon haiku, the thousand-year-old Gengar had gradually developed training for its mental strength, otherwise it would eventually be annoyed to death by Professor Oak.
"So you could say you've turned misfortune into a blessing, right?" Red teased.
"What do you mean, Boss! How is this turning misfortune into blessing—it's clearly a narrow escape from death!" the thousand-year-old Gengar retorted, getting so angry its face darkened, though the thousand-year-old Gengar's face wasn't that good-looking to begin with.
"Not only can it learn human language, but it's also a rare Shiny Gengar—truly a troublesome opponent," Blaine said cautiously.
"Alright, hurry up and get on the field. I'll use this battle to make up for neglecting you during this time, so you won't keep complaining about being tortured while staying at Professor Oak's laboratory," Red said leisurely.
"Oh, didn't expect it to be a beautiful 'vixen'—wonder if it can charm me to death?" the thousand-year-old Gengar said with a grin, floating in front of Ninetales with a teasing tone that successfully angered Ninetales.
Cinnabar Gym was a battlefieldbuilt above lava, so the surrounding temperature was very hot. But as a Ghost-type, the thousand-year-old Gengar wasn't affected at all—instead, it acted like a heat absorber, lowering the surrounding temperature by about 5 degrees Celsius, because the thousand-year-old Gengar's presence could take away heat.
"Ninetales, use Fire Spin!" Blaine commanded.
At the start of the match, Blaine's side took the initiative to attack. Blaine knew Red's strength wasn't simple, so he didn't yield the right to attack to Red as he would when battling ordinary challengers.
"Use Psychic to return the Fire Spin to Ninetales!" Red said calmly, his eyes seeming to contemplate something.
After receiving Red's command, the thousand-year-old Gengar didn't hesitate at all. It decisively released azure light from both eyes, using psychic power to control the incoming fire pillar in place. Then the Fire Spin floating in mid-air, under the thousand-year-old Gengar's control, instantly turned around and engulfed Ninetales' body.
"Red, you're still too careless—my Ninetales has the Flash Fire ability," Blaine said calmly, not worried about Ninetales being engulfed by the Fire Spin.
Under Red and Blaine's calm gazes, Ninetales' body wasn't burned by the Fire Spin but gradually absorbed it. The incoming flames covered Ninetales' skin surface without causing any fire damage to Ninetales.
"Nice ability. Gengar, put on your performance!" Red said leisurely.
"You got it, Boss!"
The thousand-year-old Gengar looked at Ninetales before it with a playful grin, and a strange phenomenon occurred.
Suddenly, a mysterious scene resembling scales appeared above both the thousand-year-old Gengar and Ninetales, with the scales above both Pokémon tilting in different directions.
Then Ninetales' body underwent a wonderful change—the flames that had originally covered its skin surface suddenly blazed fiercely and actually began attacking Ninetales' body.