Long Live the Nidoqueen?!
Long Live the Nidoqueen?! (Japanese:VS ニドクインVS Nidoqueen) is the 38th chapter of thePokémon Adventures manga.
Plot
WithRed revealingAero,Giovanni is barely given time to recognize the boy's trick as Red commands aHyper Beam, faintingGiovanni's Beedrill in one hit and creating a fog that blankets the field. As the fog clears, Red is shocked to see Giovanni gone, the foundations of theViridian Gym rumbling and shaking as the building begins to collapse. Just before the building crumbles to the ground, Red is able to rescuePoli, a large rock striking him in the back on the way out.
As he lies in the grass, beginning to recover, he looks up to notice aNidoking and reasons hisEarthquake must have destroyed the Gym. Suddenly, Giovanni and the rest of hisGround-type Pokémon are in front of him, and he congratulates Red for forcing him to use his strongest Pokémon after dispatching Beedrill andCloyster. Red calls on Aero, but Giovanni'sRhyhorn easily dispatches him withTail Whip, which is followed up withFissure as an attempt to trap him inside the deep crevices formed by the attack.
Barely hanging on to the edge, Giovanni stands over him, discussing the previousGym Leaders he's battled and their type proficiencies, announcing himself as master of Ground-type Pokémon. He lists off his prized Pokémon, calling them the gems of the Viridian City Gym, acknowledging that Red must have heard of his prowess before. Red mulls over his situation, being caught in battle with the most powerful Gym Leader while hisPoké Balls sit at the bottom of the chasm below him. Glancing over, he notices two of his Poké Balls resting on a quickly crumbling segment of the landscape, and quickly makes his move for them.
Just before he can grab onto them, Giovanni hasDugtrio useDig to break the opening mechanisms of the Poké Balls, preventing Red from sending out either of the two Pokémon. As Red drops to his knees in frustration, Giovanni begins to explain what he's been up against this whole time, every place he visited and fought at was already under his control. He reveals the steps of his master plan, sending all Pokémon captured by Team Rocket toCeladon City for experimentation and bio-engineering, then toSaffron City for battle training. The Pokémon were then shipped viaVermilion City toCinnabar Island by theS.S. Anne, the transportation by sea being required due toBrock,Misty, andErika watching all the travel routes passing through their cities. Finally they were brought toViridian Forest to reawaken their primal instincts, creating an unstoppable Pokémon army for Giovanni in his supposed absence.
Red suddenly regains his confidence, refusing to lose after having learned of Giovanni's evil plans.Pika from inside his Poké Ball bounces up to Red's hand, his only remaining Pokémon left to defeat Giovanni andTeam Rocket with him. Giovanni taunts him, laying out exactly how the fight will end. Red will have to spend five seconds commanding Pika to useThunderbolt, which gives him plenty of time to strike first withNidoqueen'sPoison Sting.
Giovanni is suddenly left in shock as Pika's speed proves itself more than he could have anticipated, a Thunderbolt striking both the leader and his Pokémon with two seconds left to spare. They collapse to the ground as Red explains he had Pika charge up his electricity in preparation for the attack inside his Poké Ball, shaving two seconds off Giovanni's estimations. Giovanni sputters, astounded anyone could hold a Poké Ball charged with so much electricity, until he notices Red's electric-proof glove thathe stole off ofLt. Surge. A vacant expression comes over Giovanni's face as he collapses back to the ground, unable to believe that his own technology could lead to his downfall. Red pats Pika on the head, letting him know his real downfall was due to the pain he sensed in the Pokémon he attempted to turn savage. Suddenly, Red collapses as well, completely passed out.
Red wakes up a while later back at a medical facility, much to the relief of Pika andthe girl he helped previously. Happy that he's alive, she explains he was found at the edge of the Viridian Forest, and that the townspeople had gone into the forest to calm the raging Pokémon there. Red begins getting dressed, preparing to offer his assistance, as the girl instead suggests he should stay in the city and help teach people about Pokémon, now that the Viridian Gym has collapsed and the position of Gym Leader is vacant. Red is flattered, but decides to leave, promising to come back after he's achieved enough to become the best Gym Leader ever.
Major events
- For a list of all major events in the Pokémon Adventures manga, please see thehistory page.
 | Spoilers end here. | |
|---|
Debuts
Pokémon debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
Trivia
- The English title of this chapter is based on the saying "Long live the queen!"
Errors
- Pika'sThunderbolt should not have had any effect onGiovanni'sNidoqueen, as it is aGround-type.
- In theFinnish translation,Red incorrectly refers toNidoking as Nidoqueen.
- In allVIZ Media editions, there is a glaring mistake in the translation ofGiovanni's explanation of his master plan, with the translated text stating that the stolen Pokémon were sent to Viridian City via Cinnabar Island andthen to Vermilion City to be placed on the S.S. Anne. As the picture graph in the panel itself shows, it is in fact the other way around, as the Pokémon were brought to Cinnabar Island by the S.S. Anne after they had been transferred from Saffron City to Vermilion City.
In other languages
