Koga

**Koga** is a recurring character in Pokémon Red (Animation Series). He served as the Fuchsia City Gym Leader and specializes in Poison-Type Pokémon. His title was "The Poisonous Ninja Master!". At the end of series, Koga was promoted to become a member of the Elite Four.

## Personality

Being trained in the way of ninjutsu, Koga understood the nature of Pokémon and how to communicate with them without the need to give them verbal commands. This is best shown with his team as Koga can give orders to his team during Gym Battles, keeping challengers on their toes. Part of this is Koga's understanding of the Pokémon's inner heart, and he can also notice whenever a Trainer has that bond with their Pokémon. This was why Koga trained Red in this, having seen it during their Gym Battle.

Another key aspect of Koga's personality is his resilience. Whether it was losing a battle or being rejected by the Elite Four, Koga never waivered and continued to appreciate the life he had with Janine and being a Gym Leader.

## Biography

### Early Life

Years before the series began, Koga served as the Fuchsia City Gym Leader and taught his daughter not only the ways of ninjutsu, but how to accept failure. This was due to him constantly applying to become a member of the Elite Four, but was rejected several times for unknown reasons. Nevertheless, Koga never let the rejections bother him as he continued to raise Janine and serve as a Gym Leader.

### Meeting Blue

Years later, Koga met Blue as the latter challenged him for the Soul Badge. After Blue won, Koga trained the young man way of ninjutsu, alongside with the former's newly evolved Blastoise. As Blue trained, Koga told the former how he tried to enter the Elite Four countless times, but his applications were denied each time. Knowing what it was like to be second best himself, Blue continues to train out of respect.

### Meeting Red

Days later, Red came to Fuchsia City to challenge Koga for the Soul Badge like Blue did. Koga accepted the challenge, and managed to keep Red on his toes by poisoning most of the latter's Pokémon and using X Speed to make some of his own too fast to be hit. As Red knocked out his two Koffings and Muk, Koga began to sense the bond between the former and his Charizard as their hearts beat the same. Koga brought out Weezing and had the latter poison Charizard with Smog. Also, with Smokescreen and an X Speed, Weezing became too hard for the fire Pokémon to hit it. Once Red realized that Charizard would not defeat Weezing, the former recalled his partner and brought out his Snorlax. That time, Red had Snorlax use Rest whenever Weezing poisoned him, and attack whenever he was awake. The strategy kept Weezing from inflicting too much damage onto Snorlax, and the battle went well into the night. Eventually, Weezing ran out of PP for its physical attacks, and Koga realized that the battle was lost. Quietly, Koga orders Weezing to use Self-Destruct, taking it and Snorlax out. But, with Red having at least two Pokémon left, Koga lost the battle.

After the battle, Koga gave Red the Soul Badge and the prize money, while explaining that he noticed how Red gave his Pokémon commands without saying anything. Koga took Red under his wing and trained him how to communicate with Pokémon without the need to say anything, giving the latter TM-06 Toxic. As part of his training, Koga took Red to the Safari Zone. It took Red days, but eventually, the former understood Koga's lessons and successfully learned how to communicate to Pokémon without saying anything. Impressed with Red's results, Koga said goodbye to the former as he took off for the next adventure.

## Trivia

* Koga is the third person to be promoted from Gym Leader to Elite Four, following Bruno and Agatha.
* He is the second Gym Leader after Misty to keep his Gym Pokémon outside of their Poké Balls. In this case, he keeps his Pokémon up in the rafters of the Fuchsia Gym.
* He is the first Gym Leader to use two of the same kind of Pokémon on his team.