Janna had some things she wanted to quickly do before heading over to Goldenrod, one of which was in this very area. She had thought long and hard on how she wanted to build her team, and finally decided on a fifth party member. She released Claude out of his Poké Ball and asked him to Surf with her along the edges of the water of Olivine. Less than a minute later, a bubble formed on the water and Tentacool jumped out! Janna immediately commanded Claude to weaken the Pokémon with Surf and then Water Gun. She then threw an Ultra Ball before it could retaliate with too many attacks, and captured it successfully. She decided to name him Lorenz.
Then, she suddenly remembered she had the Red Scale in her inventory. She recalled hearing from someone that Mr. Pokémon liked to collect rare items related to Pokémon, so she figured she'd pay him a visit. His eyes sparkled when she entered his home, and he offered to trade his Exp. Share for the Red Scale Janna was carrying. She happily agreed, having no use for the scale herself. She gave the Exp. Share she had just received to the newly-caught Lorenz. Lastly, she flew to Mahogany and headed north, speaking with the gatekeeper. Thanking her for driving Team Rocket from the Lake of Rage, he handed her TM Sludge Bomb. She taught this move to Lorenz, knowing he would make good use of it.
Finally ready, Janna hopped on her bird Pokémon and made the flight to Goldenrod, where she saw many Team Rocket grunts loitering and harassing passersby. She gasped. They had to be stopped! She rushed towards the Radio Tower, where even more grunts were wandering about, threatening everyone to stay indoors and not make a sound. She huffed angrily, and challenged them with her team. She rotated her party, being careful to give everyone an equal amount of experience while Lorenz stayed on the sidelines to earn some shared experience. He was growing steadily.
Defeating everyone that stood in her way, she climbed the stairs and was met with the director....or not? He revealed himself to be an impostor and immediately challenged her to battle. Not showing any mercy, Janna made quick work of him, and he flinched, knowing he could not stand up to her. He handed her the Basement Key and directed her to the underground, knowing he couldn't do anything to stop her and her team.
When in the underground she unlocked the closed door, and was immediately met with her rival. He grunted and challenged her, desiring to show her his newfound strength. Although the critical hit from his Meganium's Razor Leaf was a slight bother, Janna managed to take the win thanks to her team's trusty Ice Punch. He looked down at his feet and muttered something about lacking love and trust, then exited the area. Janna felt a little bad for him, but continued on.
She challenged some grunts along the way and pressed some buttons to shuffle around which doors were opened and closed. When making her way to the end of the basement, she defeated who looked to be the last Rocket grunt in the area before meeting up with the real director. He thanked her, and handed her a Key Card for the locked room in the Radio Tower. This sure was a lot of back-and-forth.
Janna felt tired, but she went back anyway after healing her team. There was yet another grunt waiting for her when she entered, and Janna defeated his Raticate with Claude's power. Then, Lorenz began glowing. He evolved into Tentacruel! Another evolution to add to the list. This made Janna even more excited to pick up her final party member.
Deeper in the Radio Tower, she was now being challenged by admins rather than grunts. They were stronger, but still no match for her. The final admin was adamant to take her down, but sadly his Houndour and Houndoom were bad matchups against her water team. Gritting his teeth in frustration at the loss, he considered the operation disbanded and ran off with his teammates. The Radio Tower had now been freed of Team Rocket's takeover.
Oh, it was the director again! He ran up and bowed profusely in thanks once again, and gave her the Clear Bell. Apparently, it had connections to the Bell Tower in Ecruteak, and he suggested Janna go there. However, she decided to put it off until later, too excited about the prospects of earning her eighth badge. She hopped on her bird Pokémon and flew to Mahogany.
Many more strong trainers awaited her on the east route. A trainer even attempted to use Solarbeam on her Pokémon, but she did not let it complete its charge before fainting the Bellossom with Lysithea's Ice Punch. She shivered as she entered the Ice Path, feeling like a popsicle the entire way through. Fortunately, Lysithea was taught HM Strength to help out for this very reason.
Finally, she made it out, rubbing her shoulders and absorbing the afternoon sun. She healed her team at the Blackthorn Pokémon Center and headed south to train. Janna was happy to encounter so many trainers and strengthen her team in preparation for the strong dragon-type gym leader. Finally, she took down every trainer she could find, and returned to the city, heading to the gym.
There, dragon trainers awaited her. She struggled slightly against the foe's Dratini; being hit with Thunder Wave and Dragon Rage was not fun. The Dragonair deeper into the maze proved to be an even bigger challenge with their increased bulk. Still, she emerged victorious. Making her way to Clair, the two locked eyes. It was time for a battle.
She sent out Dragonair, who was met with Janna's Marianne. Thunder Wave unfortunately paralyzed Marianne off the bat, but Janna managed to get the knockout with Ice Punch. Clair countered with another Dragonair, which took advantage of the paralysis and fainted Marianne with Thunderbolt. Janna thanked Marianne for her hard work and recalled her, sending out Claude. He worked hard and defeated the remaining two Dragonair with Ice Punch.
Kingdra was the last Pokémon remaining, and Janna was a bit anxious. She decided to swap to Ignatz and use the paralysis strategy herself thanks to her own Thunder Wave. Kingdra avoided the first hit, but couldn't prevent the status effect on the second. Janna ordered Ignatz to attack with Spark as it proceeded to try and Hyper Beam her while paralyzed, giving her an opening to attack during turns where it needed to recharge. In the end, she emerged victorious! Normally she would have been happy, but Clair refused to hand her the badge and instead ordered her to take a trial at the Dragon's Den behind the gym.
Janna pulled her sleeves back, ready to take on this challenge.
The team:
Marianne ♀ Lv. 35
Surf, Bite, Ice Punch, Whirlpool
Lorenz ♂ Lv. 34
Surf, Sludge Bomb, Bubblebeam, Acid
Lysithea ♀ Lv. 35
Surf, Hypnosis, Strength, Ice Punch
Claude ♂ Lv. 35 @ Amulet Coin
Surf, Earthquake, Slam, Ice Punch
Ignatz ♂ Lv. 35
Surf, Spark, Thunder Wave, Waterfall