Chapter 25: Careful Planning!
Both Gan and the Fatman made their way over to the battlegrounds. The place wasn't far nor was the battle area that big. In fact, it wasn't nearly as spacious as a Gym Leader Field. Upon arrival, they spotted the cage Grimer was in.
Of course, before coming here, he had to pay by going to a Reception Desk. They took inventory of what was being sold and what was being brought in, and how many there were. Gan paid ₱12,000 for the 2 pokemon, which he saw as a good deal.
Two men were on standby with a Pokeball each attached to their waistline. If things didn't go so well, they would intervene and put a hold on the situation. They were wearing gas masks to cover their faces, they were ready for the Fatman's queue to open the cage.
"Are you ready?" The Fatman asked.
"Yeah, open it up." Gan wanted to get this over with. He needed to head to the Pokemon Center soon after.
The two men with masks looked at each other and nodded before opening Grimer's cage. Once Grimer's cage was opened, in no time, its horrible odor spread across the area.
"Grimer!" Emerging from its cage, its big white eyes leered in all directions. At some point in time, this Pokemon was to be hunted and exterminated because of how hazardous it was. Polluting waters, it had hundreds of different poisons inside of its body, which acted as its vitality.
Gan didn't say anything and tossed his Pokeball nonchalantly. There, emerged Koffing, this was the best choice to fight against Grimer. Grimer was faster than Koffing and it had a level advantage against it, but Koffing could float out of Grimer's range.
All of its moves weren't effective against Koffing, and it could most likely just dodge them. Grimer saw the challenge, it didn't waste time and launched a Sludge attack against Koffing.
Koffing spun away from the Sludge attack, and dodge acrobatically.
"Will-O-Wisp!" At that moment, Koffing puffed and blew a blue wisp of fire out of its mouth. It quickly flew towards the target that is Grimer.
Grimer didn't just sit around, but just when it wanted to dodge, Gan had Koffing follow it up with a flamethrower. Grimer was hit, it wasn't the fastest but it still had high sp. defense. Flamethrower came in contact with the will-o-wisp and pushed the attack faster towards Grimer.
A purple fire pillar sprung up, causing the temperatures to jump. The fire cleared but Grimer was still standing strong. However, its body was suddenly engulfed in flames for a second before diminishing.
"Hmm, what was that, the fire had already cleared. It must be what I think it is, right?" Gan unconsciously asked.
"What you're probably thinking is right, it's suffering from a status effect. You burned it." The Fatman suddenly said.
"I thought so." Gan nodded and looked back at the battlefield. He could see fire effects coming from its body, but it only did the damage once Grimer was engulfed in the flames. These effects only showed that it was burned and that was all.
Grimer's eyes went wide seeing itself, then it looked at Koffing and spewed out poisonous gas!
"Oh, s**t!" The people from before hurriedly cleared the area after seeing the poisonous gas.
"Go right through it and attack it head-on!" Koffing wasn't afraid of poisonous gas, nor was it affected by the odor of Grimer.
"Once you get into its face, use another Flamethrower at point-blank!" Koffing rushed over as fast as it could in order to attack. Grimer didn't show any sign of stopping, it was letting out large amounts of poisonous gas.
This caused many of the people around to have distorted expressions. Grimer wasn't stupid, it probably knew it was going to lose, so why not poison the few people around here while it could?
Koffing emerged from the poisonous purple cloud and shot a flamethrower directly into the face of Grimer. Grimer tried to switch its attack by tackling Koffing, but the Flamethrower was already upon it.
Koffing continued to spew flames until it shrunk and had to catch its breath.
Koffing backed away, but Grimer was still able to fight. However, it didn't look like it would last long. Gan had to wait for at least 5 to 7 seconds to use another flamethrower, so Koffing backed away.
Grimer's body lit up in fire again, indicating that it was suffering from its burn. It took the time to shoot a sludge at Koffing while it was floating away.
"Protect!" Gan called out hurriedly.
A barrier formed around Koffing's body that completely blocked off the Sludge.
"Hehe, give it another flamethrower!" Gan laughed at Grimer's seemingly desperate assault. It was once again engulfed in flames; this time it looked like it was turning into a pool of mud waste.
"Oh!" Gan took a Luxuryball and tossed it at the Grimer, it seemed to be at its limit. Grimer was quickly encapsulated, it shook once, then twice before eventually shaking one last time... being caught.
Gan quickly recalled Koffing but he didn't go to pick up the Luxuryball right away. Many people came running in with hazmat suits, but they were of good quality this time. Their job was to clear this poison out, no one could see it but it was still there.
Someone came over and handed Gan his Pokeball. He had already left the place once Grimer was caught. His mask wasn't of good quality, so he could get poisoned if he wasn't careful.
Gan was guided out of the Black market afterward, he was rushing out but he had seen many items on his way out. What really stuck out was a pink orb, Gan identified it as a [Life Orb]. You could attach these types of items around your Pokemon's neck in order for it to use it.
Gan exited the worn and torn-down house, there was no telling how long he was down there. The sun was setting at this point, so he quickly left for the main part of the city. Gan made it to the Pokemon Center before night.
"Oh, my, that's a really pretty Pokeball!" Nurse Joy complimented the Loveball, it had a large heart over the button of the Loveball and it was pink.
"Thanks but the Pokemon inside needs serious treatment, tell me how much it's going to cost." Gan went straight to business due to Growlithe's situation.
"Oh?" Nurse joy's eyebrows lifted, then Gan handed her the Loveball.
The nurse at the front desk handed it to another nurse to do a quick check on Growlithe. As for the others, he just had Nurse Joy heal them with the machine she had in the back.
Gan waited in the lobby of the Pokemon Center, there were some trainers going through the Pc in the Pokemon Center to withdraw their Pokemon. He suddenly recalled his last wait in the Pokemon Center in Celedon City.
He had read up on the Elite 4 and learned quite a few things. There was no Champion for the Kanto Region, just an Elite 4. Some of the Elite 4 members like Bruno and Lance were working two jobs.
Bruno was also an Elite 4 member of Johto, while Lance was the Champion of Johto. The team Lance and Bruno used for both Leagues was different. Lance seemed more serious about being the champion in Johto—rather than an Elite 4 member in Kanto.
"It's reasonable." Gan understood as much. Lance being champion was a serious, and important job.
Koga had yet to become an Elite 4 member of Johto, he was still currently a Gym Leader.
"Have you heard? I heard Professor Oak is setting up some prodigies to challenge the League, they leave from Pallet Town in a week!" A teenager around the age of thirteen or fourteen said excitedly.
"Yeah, I know one of the guys, he's pretty arrogant but he's Professor Oak's Grandson." One of the boys nodded and said.
"Dang, you said one of them? How many of these Prodigies are there?" One of the boys asked in surprise.
"I heard there're 8 of them, 4 girls and 4 boys, they're all 15 and ready for adventuring!" The boy smiled, he couldn't wait for his adventure.
"Just one more year and I'll start my Pokemon journey and become the Champion of Kanto!" The boy raised his head with pride.
"Haha, you probably won't even beat the first Gym Leader near this city, what a joke!" The group of boys started to laugh at him, those were some big dreams he was having!
Gan listened, he was surprised, there were 8 trainers coming out of Pallet Town to travel Kanto? They were tasked with completing the Pokedex—while beating Gym Leaders and eventually challenging the League.
"So who is it, is it Red, or will it be lame old Ash?" Gan wondered to himself. This didn't change his plan to rob Professor Oak, he just needed to wait for his Team Rocket Uniform.
"Hmm, I need more than just my Pokemon for this job, I'll need some tech as well." Things were changing, he wanted to purchase a jet pack to escape more easily.
This meant he would actually have to head back to Celedon City. He needed to turn these Pokemon in and get his Merit Points to buy such tools.
Gan continued to wait, he just browsed through a few magazines about the latest fashion. Nurse Joy called him over since his Pokemon were fully healed. Gan looked at his Pokemon with a smile, he now had 3 Pokemon added to his Team Rocket Party.
"Hmm, I should head to Lavender Town after robbing Professor Oak's lab, this will do." Gan smiled thoughtfully to himself, as he put the magazine back onto the bracket.
"Sir, we need to talk to you about your Pokemon's state." Suddenly, a nurse with green hair came out and called Gan over.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone