Now that the man wearing the sunglasses has moved, you get a chance to talk to him. This man is willing to offer you advice to help you through the Johto Gym Challenge. This time he offers some very simple advice, that Grass Type are weak to Flying Type. To progress onto the challenge itself, walk onto the wooden platform just past the stairs, near the fencing inside the Gym.

You are then launched upwards into the heights of the gym. You can see a few trainers in front of you and another who appears to be far away. The clear tiles you can see coming off the wooden flooring around you can be walked on, possibly helpful if you want to avoid some of the trainer battles.

The first trainer who is just a little ways up ahead of you is Bird Keeper Abe. He has a Spearow, lvl. 9. It has Peck and Leer. Peck can be devastating to a Pokemon that is around or less than this Spearow. It will use Leer repeatedly as well to lower your Pokemon's defense, so keep ready to take advantage of it just using Leer to simply attack.

The second trainer along the way to Falkner is Bird Keeper Ron. He starts with a Pidgey, lvl. 7. It may start with Sand Attack and keep at it to lower your Pokemon's accuracy. It also knows Tackle, so it has some teeth. After that, he will send in another Pidgey, same level, same attacks. Both are very simple to deal with but the Sand Attack makes it harder to land a hit if it hits you enough times.

The final trainer is Falkner, the Gym Leader. This is going to be a decent fight, so make sure you are not leading with anything weak to Flying. He has two Pokemon, a Pidgey lvl. 9 and Pidgeotto, lvl. 13. The Pidgey likely will open with Sand Attack, so much like you encountered before, it is aiming to ensure you cannot hit it. After that, it will use Tackle or Gust. Gust is one to worry about more, as it will be boosted by the fact Pidgey is Flying Type. The Pidgeotto has Gust, Sand Attack, Roost and Tackle. With Roost in its arsenal, this is a much tougher Pokemon to take down as it can restore its own health and it will only really use it when it is low on health. If a Pokemon had been hit with Sand Attack repeatedly earlier in the battle, take a moment to switch them out, as this will restore their abilities to their default level. If the Pidgeotto gives you a lot of trouble, try to inflict it with Poison or Burn status, as they both do damage every turn or use moves like Harden to boost your defense while healing your Pokemon so they can take a beating and win. After the struggle with the Pidgeotto, you have completed your first Gym Challenge!

Falkner will be a bit irate at losing, but will admit to losing. He gives you the Zephyr Badge to note your victory over him. This badge will have Pokemon, up to lvl. 20 (including those from trades), listen to you. It also enables you to use the HM move Rock Smash outside of battle. He also gives you TM 51, which contains Roost, and tells you a little about TMs. These can only be used once, so think about what Pokemon you want to learn the move carefully. After all this, he suggest that you head for Azalea Town. Time to step outside and get ready for the next part of your journey.


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