"You brat, what nonsense are you stirring up?!"
The foreman angrily glared at Gary, who had just talked back to him. He had humbly begged trainers to come help, not to attract a troublemaker like Gary.
"You can let the trainers send out their Pokémon and try," Gary provoked. He had already figured out why the Diglett were obstructing the reservoir construction.
"Diglett are pests that hinder the progress of human civilization. They're definitely no good!"
The foreman was still condemning the Diglett when sudden noises came from not far away. The Diglett living here had launched another round of resistance.
The trucks transporting construction materials were all dragged underground as the Diglett used Dig. None of the vehicles could be driven out anymore. This was something the Diglett had no choice but to do in order to stop the reservoir from being built.
However, the Diglett never harmed humans. They only left the drivers temporarily trapped underground, and later they would personally carry the drivers back up to the surface.
"Battle, Pokémon trainers! Four days and three nights of free hot spring tickets at the Hot Spring Village are waiting for you!"
To ignite the fighting spirit of the gathered trainers, the foreman waved the hot spring tickets in his hand, urging them to stop standing around watching the show.
After receiving the hot spring tickets, the trainers gathered here became excited. One after another, they threw the Poké Balls they had already prepared and sent out their Pokémon to deal with the Diglett.
Of course, the trainers who joined the battle did not include Red and the others.
Countless Poké Balls were thrown by the trainers, but the Pokémon inside resisted. Not a single Pokémon was willing to come out of its Poké Ball, clearly unwilling to become enemies with the Diglett.
"See? Because the Diglett are protecting the natural environment, everyone's Pokémon refuses to harm them. That's why none of them are coming out of their Poké Balls!"
Gary explained his analysis to the confused crowd.
"That's right. Building a reservoir here will only cause the land to erode even further. When that happens, no Pokémon will be able to live here anymore," Red explained, agreeing with Gary's view.
Under the shocked gazes of everyone, Red used his psychic power to lift the foreman into the air.
"Ahhh—don't do this!" the foreman cried in terror.
"Take a good look at the miserable 'scenery' around you!"
Floating in the air, the foreman could clearly see the condition of the surrounding mountains.
In order to build the reservoir as quickly as possible, the construction team had been abusing explosives, blasting apart mountain after mountain. Pokémon that once lived in the forests were forced to flee, driven out of their homes.
"So that's it... If the reservoir is built, this entire forest will sink underwater, and then no one will have a place to live!"
The foreman saw a Pidgey looking reluctantly at the forest that had been destroyed by explosions, tears falling as it silently perched on a rock. Behind it, the mountainside—damaged because the forest had been ruined—kept shedding loose soil, almost crushing the Pidgey.
"This world doesn't belong to humans alone. It belongs to Pokémon as well."
A heartwarming yet somewhat amusing scene followed. The Poké Balls thrown by the trainers were picked up one by one by the Diglett underground, and they politely returned them to their trainers.
"Thank you!"
"I'm sorry!"
After taking back their Poké Balls in shame, the trainers had no intention of fighting the Diglett anymore. They now understood the reason why the Diglett had been stopping the construction.
"Since the truth has been revealed, there's no reason for me to stay here any longer."
Gary jumped into his sports car and waved goodbye to everyone.
"Farewell, everyone. I look forward to meeting you all at the Indigo League someday—my future rivals!"
With that, Gary and his beautiful cheerleading squad disappeared from everyone's sight.
"Waaah... I didn't even get the girls' phone numbers yet..." Brock cried as he stared at the departing cheerleaders, unable to let it go.
"Hey, hey, they had nothing to do with you in the first place, right?" Misty said disdainfully.
After realizing the importance of Diglett and Dugtrio in maintaining ecological balance, the foreman voluntarily turned himself in to Officer Jenny and canceled the reservoir construction project.
To make up for his mistake as much as possible, the foreman vowed to take responsibility for restoring the natural environment here and further protect the mountain ecosystem.
...
Late at night
The trainers who had come here were all enjoying the comfortable hot springs for free. Red was among them as well. After all, with free hot springs right in front of him, he didn't want to miss the opportunity.
...
The next day
After crossing two mountains, Red arrived alone at a forested area. According to the map, the Fuchsia Gym wasn't far from here.
The Fuchsia Gym was different from other gyms. It stood independently deep within the mountains, so Fuchsia City didn't leave much of an impression on some trainers.
Taking a sip of cool mountain spring water, Red casually picked up a stone and lightly tossed it toward a large tree ahead. A crisp sound rang out.
A Venonat with a bump on its forehead fell down in front of Red, looking pitifully at him.
"Little guy, don't you know that spying on others is very rude?" Red teased, already knowing that the Venonat belonged to the Fuchsia Gym.
Seeing that Venonat was still stunned, Red pretended to pick up another stone as if to scare it.
Seeing this, Venonat immediately scurried away on its tiny legs, instinctively running toward the direction of the Fuchsia Gym.
"I hope you can serve as a useful guide," Red muttered. After filling his bottle with spring water, he quickly followed Venonat.
A short while later
After crossing a narrow wooden bridge, Red followed Venonat to a traditional Japanese-style building. This was the Fuchsia Gym.
The Fuchsia Gym had the largest area among all gyms in the Kanto Region. That was because it wasn't just a League Gym—it was also a ninja training academy, a ninja-style gym specializing in Poison-type Pokémon.
After entering the Fuchsia Gym, the interior was filled with various traps and mechanisms designed to test trainers who came to challenge it.
But for Red, it was all too childish.
After figuring out the layout, Red pushed open the mechanism door in front of him. To "welcome" him, several shuriken flew from the shadows. Red precisely caught them between his fingers one by one before casually throwing them back as a "return gift."
Immediately afterward, a girl's scream came from the shadows. Cursing under her breath, the girl who had been hiding stepped out into Red's view.
"Born in darkness, living in darkness—that is the fate of a ninja. Female ninja, Aya, has arrived."
Wearing a bright pink ninja outfit, Aya knelt on one knee and delivered her opening line.
"...?"
Red silently stared at Aya for several seconds.
(Doesn't this girl feel embarrassed at all?)
Seeing Red looking at her as if she were an idiot, Aya quickly stood up and coughed a few times, trying to ease the awkwardness.
"So you're the one who bullied my Venonat. I challenge you!" Aya demanded, standing up for her Pokémon.
"If you want to avenge it, I'm happy to have a Pokémon battle," Red said calmly as he slowly removed a Poké Ball from his waist.
"If you want the Fuchsia Badge, you'll have to defeat my Venonat first!"
With that, Aya sent out her Venonat.
"I'm counting on you, Cubone!"
As the white light faded, Cubone appeared on the battlefield holding its bone club, staring at Venonat with fighting spirit.
"Headbutt followed by Bone Boomerang!" Red ordered.
"What kind of tactic is that?!" Aya cried in shock.
Cubone immediately swung the bone club in its hand and then quickly advanced toward Venonat.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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