A New Life Through The Eyes Of Kanto: An Autobiography

Cool Rush In

I ran through Route 1 at top speed, the trees and grass around me a complete blur.

*

"Gary, are you okay?" Prof. Oak asked me.

*

The rustling in the grass around me meant nothing as I continued to run as fast as was possible for me.

*

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've ever met," Shane said, squinting hard at me through the screen as we talked, me staring back at him in shock. "This battle you just described doesn't ring a bell to me at all. I haven't had a proper Gym battle in quite a number of months due to the troublemaking Ghost Pokemon in this city interfering in one way or another. This is the Badge I hand out to Trainers who do defeat me in battle." Shane held up the Dimensia Badge.

It was all black and had a purple swirl design in the middle.

It looked nothing like the Dimensia Badge I had been carrying all this time.

*

The sun beamed down on me as I ran, sweating, exhausted, but not slowing down.

*

"You never battled Shane," Prof. Oak told me. "I'm afraid you may have never even made it to Obsidian City."

*

I pounded into the grass with my sneakers, running hard, urgently, desperately.

*

"Your Badge was just a Gastly in disguise," Prof. Oak spoke in a low voice. "You never won the Dimensia Badge, let alone ever even met Shane."

*

I couldn't hear June calling my name as I ran, surely trying her best to keep up with me.

Nothing in the world was going to slow me down. I felt like I was running at top speed already, but I sucked in a deep breath and held it, desperate to move even quicker by any means necessary.

*

"Do you and June get into arguments often?" Prof. Oak asked.

June and I exchanged glances before turning back to Prof. Oak. We both nodded slowly.

"I suspect that Gastly was feeding off of the negative energy between you two, typical of Ghost type Pokemon."

*

I leaped over a log on the ground and continued running without missing a beat. I ducked under a large tree branch and snapped a twig under my foot, not stopping, hardly breathing.

*

"You only have seven Badges, Gary," Prof. Oak informed me.

*

Pokemon ran across the grass, near my feet, trying to get away from me as I shot through like a bullet.

*

"Back in Viridian City, there's a Gym," Prof. Oak stated. "Your best bet is to travel there and try for your final Badge before it's too late."

"There's a Gym in Viridian City?" I gasped. "You never mentioned that when I was there before, back when I had been attacked by the Mankey!"

"Yes, well, as I recall, when I asked where you were planning on going, you said that you intended on going to Pewter City," Prof. Oak replied. "After your experience with that group of Mankey, I figured maybe you weren't ready to go straight for a Badge in Viridian City. I thought you may want to take some time traveling through Viridian Forest. Maybe catch some more Pokemon and train before battling against a Gym Leader. There are so many Gyms out there. You can choose from any of them."