Aubrey travelled all day, reaching Pewter City at dusk. Pidgeotto was flying up above her head a few meters or so and had been all day, looking awfully exhausted. Aubrey decided without hesitation that it was time to visit the Pokémon center; she had time to challenge Pewter Gym tomorrow. Quickly finding their way through to the Pokémon center, Aubrey recalled Pidgeotto and healed up her Pokémon straight away. It was then, when she observed Nurse Joy feeding her Pokémon, Aubrey decided to create her own Pokémon food to the tastes of her individual Pokémon. With her mind set and nothing changing it anytime soon, Aubrey raced off to the shops to find herself some flavors of every kind, ingredients of different varieties and plain Pokémon food to test everything on. Not to mention, Aubrey also thought it wise to invest in a lovely little grooming kit for breeders; the heads were interchangeable between scales to fur and metal to rubber.

Aubrey returned within half an hour, putting her food in her rented room and proceeding to go back to the foyer to read the pamphlets about Pokémon breeding. Even if Aubrey had no interest in becoming a breeder, she realized learning the skills are worth the effort in helping her Pokémon become the best they can be.

'Discovering what kinds of food your Pokémon likes is difficult as different Pokémon types often have different tastes eg. Fire types tend to prefer hotter and spicier foods than other types. However, this being said, different Fire types will most likely prefer different tastes among them eg. Growlithe and Vulpix, despite being very similar Pokémon, often prefer different foods. This may be because Vulpix are generally difficult to please and take care of...'

The following morning, Aubrey woke with gusto. She wasn't going to waste the day away, she was going challenge the Pewter City Gym Leader. Collecting her Pokémon from Nurse Joy, Aubrey headed out. She wasn't going to test their preferred flavors just yet because she wanted them all to be in top shape and not accidentally poison one of them; she couldn't concentrate on battling if one of her Pokémon were sick and in the Pokémon center because of a stupid mistake she made. So instead, she brought Squirtle to an open park to practice her BubbleBeam, it was the only hope they had of winning.

"Go Squirtle, BubbleBeam!" A well-aimed, powerful BubbleBeam streamed into a tree, full force and looking good. "Well, I think you got that down."

"Squirtle squirt!" Aubrey and Squirtle decided to just go ahead and battle as Squirtle's BubbleBeam was well under control despite its power for a young Pokémon.

Off the duo went, without hesitation, without doubt, reaching the Pewter Gym in no time. The Pewter Gym seemed to be a big rock, a bunch of little rocks with wooden doors; Aubrey supposed it really was a rock-type gym. Aubrey opened the wooden doors and announced in a big voice,

"I wish to challenge the Gym Leader," Squirtle nodded her head bravely, trying hard to ignore the large scary, dark, rocky room surrounding her.

"Who goes there?" A sudden light flashed on revealing a dark skinned teenaged boy, with small eyes and spiky brown hair, sporting brown pants, an orange t-shirt and green vest.

"My name is Aubrey," Aubrey was calm as she spoke, her soft voice carried with a subtle demand for respect, giving Squirtle more determination to battle.

"I'm Brock. Is this your first gym match?" Brock spoke as he stood, mentally preparing for what seemed a strong battle. Aubrey nodded simply in response. "A gym match is different from other battles, this match is for Pokémon League Authorization, and there are special rules."

"I'm well aware. I've been wanting to try the Pokémon League for quite some time now, I did my research." Brock tilted his head slightly, understanding she knew what she was in for.

"We will use two Pokémon each, understood?" When Aubrey gave a small 'hn', Brock snapped his fingers, a rocky terrain on wheels appearing from nowhere and threatened to crush Aubrey and Squirtle if they didn't move. Aubrey's many years of martial arts kicked into action as she swooped Squirtle into her arms and flipped out of the way at the speed of light!

"Let the match begin!" Brock announced, Poké ball at the ready.

"Squirtle, let's go!"

"Go Onix!" A large, rocky serpentine figure at nearly 30 feet appeared on the field, roaring tremendously. "Use Tackle, quickly!"

"BubbleBeam, full force!" The beam of bubbles forced the large Pokémon back as it roared in pain. The non-stop attack kept the Onix at bay, aggravating its trainer. "Use BubbleBeam on the field while it's down!"

"Onix, Bind it now!" Squirtle had managed almost the entire field before Onix's powerful bind snaked its way around her.

"Squiiiiirtleeeee!" The little Pokémon cried.

"Stay calm! BubbleBeam now!" Squirtle opened her little mouth a fired a BubbleBeam, hitting her target dead on in the face, forcing it to release Squirtle as it fainted with swirls in its eyes.

"Onix, no!" Brock gritted his teeth as he recalled Onix. In all honesty, he didn't expect Squirtle to be able to use BubbleBeam when she was bound like that but he still had one more Pokémon left and he was not about to give up! "Come on out Geodude!"

"Tackle Geodude!"

"Dodge it!"Geodude's very powerful Tackle missed but only just as Squirtle jumped in the air to avoid it, landing behind Geodude but with her back facing it too.

"Tackle again!" Brock ordered and with surprising speed, turned around and lurched forth.

"Squiiiirtleeee!" Squirtle had no time to dodge and was thrown to the ground mercilessly. Panting heavily, battered and bruised, Squirtle stood shakily, staring down Geodude with determination.

"Hurry Squirtle, use BubbleBeam and Tackle!" Using BubbleBeam as she ran kept Geodude unable to harm Squirtle as she tackled it to the ground, though unfortunately, Geodude's rock hard body left a red mark on her head next to all her other scrapes as she rubbed the spot on her head where a headache was forming.

"Get up Geodude!" Geodude struggled to do so as it had fallen into the muddy field Squirtle had created with her BubbleBeam during the battle against Onix. "Huh? No way!"

"Yes way! Finish them off Squirtle!" With one last mighty effort, Squirtle fired but not a BubbleBeam, a beam of what looked like blue electricity. It was an Ice Beam! It blasted towards the small boulder-like Pokémon and the battle was over. Squirtle danced with glee at her double victory, jumping into her trainers arms with an adorable smile on her face. Aubrey hugged her Pokémon as Brock called Geodude back to its Poké ball. "You did great Squirtle, I'm so proud."

"That truly was an excellent battle Aubrey, I'm proud to award you the Boulder Badge." Brock smiled at Aubrey, taking a small silver badge from his pocket and handing it to her.

"Thank you," Aubrey bowed, taking the badge with little hesitation, pinning it to the inside of her unbuttoned vest. "I had a bit of a hard time, you're an excellent trainer yourself."

"Thanks! You didn't seem to, but that's good, you kept a clear head and stayed focused. Also, your strategy with the field, it was excellent!" Brock smiled as he shook hands with Aubrey. "You're Squirtle has a lot of potential, and I think you do as well. I look forward to seeing you battle at the Pokémon league."

Aubrey nodded, returning the smile before recalling her fatigued Squirtle and heading back to the Pokémon center for some well earned rest and recuperation for the rest of the day.


For the next few days, Aubrey either trained with her Pokémon or tried different recipes of Pokémon food with them but she had yet to leave Pewter City. Aubrey was in the middle of training with Charmander.

"Charmander, use Flamethrower then use Scratch!" Charmander fired his blazing hot fire at the boulder the charged at the hot rock and scratching it fiercely, his claw marks showing on the surface.

"Char!"

"Jump back and use Flamethrower again but don't stop!" Aubrey was hoping to increase Charmander's stamina. Like most Fire types, his strength and speed were above average but only because he needed to defeat his opponent quickly before her ran out of energy. Charmander jumped back and used a nonstop Flamethrower as if the boulder was his ultimate nemesis. Charmander could feel himself tire but he maintained his Flamethrower, even as he felt the weird sensation in his body. He didn't know what it was but regardless, he ignored it. He felt his body widening, growing, the small claws on the tips of his fingers grew into sharp talons, the back of his skull forming into some kind of horn-like protrusion, he saw his mouth elongate into a snout but what he felt the most was his strength and power increasing! Everything was blank during this odd transformation of sorts but only for a split second. Charmander stopped his Flamethrower when he noticed the large crack in the middle of it and turned to his shocked trainer.

"Charmeleon!" Was that his voice? Did he say that?

"Charmander, you evolved into Charmeleon!" He watched as Aubrey's expression turned from shocked to ecstatic and she ran towards him, enveloping him in a hug. So that was it! He had evolved, that was the strange feeling he had, the reason he felt his body changing, his power growing. He was a Charmeleon, and boy was he strong now! Aubrey regained her composure and spoke to Charmeleon with her decision. "We should get moving for Cerulean City,"

"Char," Charmeleon nodded but when Aubrey started walking back to the Pokémon center and Charmeleon didn't follow, she was curious to know what he was doing. Charmeleon charged at the boulder, his claws glowing white and struck the boulder with as much force he could muster! The boulder split in half.

"Wow... That was some Slash... I guess you learnt it when you evolved..." Aubrey said slowly in awe of Charmeleon's new found power.

Finally, Aubrey had managed to get back to the Pokémon Center, pack up the remaining of her stuff and return her key card to Nurse Joy so she and Charmeleon could continue their way to Cerulean City. Aubrey and Charmeleon walked up the path, passing through Mt. Moon with little difficulty but it was the forest after that had the two stuck.

"Meleon," Charmeleon growled, glaring at a rustling shrub.

"What's wrong?" Aubrey watched the shrub in silence, wordlessly ordering Charmeleon to prepare himself just in case. The shrub rustled some more, putting the duo on edge, and out popped…

A Bulbasaur!

"Bulba bulbasaur!" And in a dash, Charmeleon breathed a blazing Flamethrower at the unsuspecting grass-type. With ninja skills, the Bulbasaur avoided most of it by hoisting itself in the air with Vine Whip, flames only grazing it.

"Charmeleon, Flamethrower then Tackle then Slash back to back!" Charmeleon followed his orders precisely, each landing a hit but then Bulbasaur countered using Razor Leaf.

"Saur!" It screamed as its body glowed white and grew, its bulb was now a pink bud placed in the center of open leaves. It evolved! Aubrey assumed because it wanted the extra power boost to help it battle Charmeleon...

"Perfect time to evolve..." Aubrey bit her lip in concentration. She had taken too long because Ivysaur had thrown itself onto Charmeleon, using its Body Slam attack.

"Char!" Charmeleon cried in pain as the Ivysaur flattened it as the seconds went by, holding Charmeleon's arms with its vines!

"Charmeleon!" Aubrey called out to remind him she was still there to help him. 'Charmeleon are heavier than Ivysaur so he should be able to push Ivysaur off but Ivysaur has his arms caught...then maybe...' "Charmeleon, Flamethrower at Ivysaur's face!"

The burst of flames hit Ivysaur strongly, the close range attack forcing Ivysaur back screaming. Charmeleon stood up, dirt covering his body and he breathed heavily and unevenly. Ivysaur was no better, probably worse because of the burns covering its body. Ivysaur charged in for a Tackle attack.

"Charmeleon, use your own Tackle!" The two Pokémon met in the middle, forming the battle of brute strength! It seemed as if both were even. "Come on Charmeleon, you can do it!"

With the support of his trainer, Charmeleon took one step forwards, then another, pushing Ivysaur further and further back!

"Ivy...saur!" Ivysaur grunted as it tried to force Charmeleon back intead but slowly, Charmeleon was overpowering it.

"Char...MELEON!" With one last push, Charmeleon won the battle of strength, Ivysaur falling backwards.

"Now, finish it off with one more Flamethrower!" The overwhelming flames engulfed Ivysaur viciously and Ivysaur fainted, the battle going to Charmeleon! "Alright, go Poké Ball!"

Ivysaur didn't put up a fight - not like he could - as he went into the ball with ease.

"Looks like we caught an Ivysaur, great work Charmeleon." Charmeleon gave her a thumbs up before she sprayed a Potion on his injuries and returned him into his Poké Ball. "You deserve a good rest Charmeleon."

Aubrey called out her new Ivysaur, who looked at her with confusion. Ivysaur didn't really understand what was going on, but he knew that it was really comfortable in the ball thingy. The girl knelt down in front of him, placing a belt buckle around his neck while speaking to him.

"I'm your new trainer, Aubrey. With my Pokémon, I go around from gym to gym in the Kanto region earning badges so I can compete in the Pokémon League. I aspire to one day become the Champion, and if you're willing, I'd like you to join and help me." Her voice was soft and relaxing to Ivysaur, he found it easier to just say yes, particularly when she scratched under his chin, it felt very nice. He nodded in agreement, making her smile, and she called out other Pokémon, who introduced themselves happily and kindly. There was a Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Squirtle and three Eevee and Ivysaur assumed the Charmeleon he battled earlier was also part of her arsenal. Aubrey treated Ivysaur's wounds and recalled him.

"It seems like it's about time to set up camp," Aubrey said to her other Pokémon as she looked at the darkened skies. After finding a soft spot set up just off the path, Aubrey fed her Pokémon and fed herself and they all settled in for the night. It was a long yet satisfying day, for sure, and she had a long day tomorrow as well but she really hoped for a satisfying day tomorrow, so good sleep was necessary – bad sleep means a grumpy Aubrey!

Waking up nice and early after a good night's sleep, perfect. Aubrey and her Pokémon ate well for their journey, especially since she planned on keeping all of them out for the day. The entire day was spent travelling, stopping only for lunch and a training session, and the group finally made it to the little signpost saying 'Cerulean City' with a large red arrow directing them. In the corner was a note scribbled,

'Gary was here!'

Aubrey figured it was the very same Gary Oak, son of Pokémon Professor, Samuel Oak.

'Ash is a loser!'

"I wonder who Ash is." Aubrey thought aloud, her Pokémon as clueless as she. Aubrey recalled all her Pokémon but one, Pikachu, and they walked ahead to the city. "It's just you and me now Pikachu. You and I will battle our way through this gym easily, know why? Cerulean Gym is a water-type and electric-types have major advantages over water."

"Pika pika? Pika pi Pikachu!"

"Yeah really, and yeah, you can't lose," Aubrey chuckled. "If you do lose though, you're eating plain Pokémon food for a week."

"Pikachu!" The electric mouse cried. "Pika pi!"

"Is my Pokémon food really so great? I'll keep that in mind."

The duo chatted like this, laughing light-heartedly, joking cheekily, Aubrey had only realized how she was only like this with her brother, someone she was close to. Aubrey smiled, realizing how close she and Pikachu had gotten in their short time together and could only anticipate how close they would be in the future. This didn't fuss Aubrey, as Pikachu had begun to rant about how she could take down any water Pokémon, no matter how strong, if they stood in her way. How did Aubrey know this if she didn't speak Pikachu? She had a hunch… and she was sure that hunch was right.


It wasn't long before Aubrey and Pikachu entered Cerulean City. Like usual, Aubrey checked into the Pokémon center, healing her Pokémon before finding an empty park to train in for a while. She trained with Ivysaur and Charmeleon to begin, as she hasn't had much training with her new Pokémon, Ivysaur and Charmeleon only just evolved and needed to get used to their new strengths. After hardcore training with both, Aubrey concentrated on Pikachu. Pikachu was perfect as usual, she was at the best she could be at that moment and Aubrey knew Pikachu would be ready for a Thunderstone soon. Unfortunately, Aubrey was all out of Thunderstones, or evolution stones for that matter. What can you do?

The following day continued with more solid training, focusing on all her Pokémon at this point. Retiring to the Pokémon center seemed wisest to Aubrey now, all her Pokémon were beat, exception for Pikachu, who Aubrey tried to keep off of to make sure she had all her energy for her battle only tomorrow.

The next day, Aubrey set off for the market, stocking up on supplies. She would be heading for an island where a flying-type gym was located and she wanted to get the next ferry there after tomorrow because another wasn't coming around for two weeks and Aubrey couldn't afford to wait that long. After stocking up, Aubrey headed for the gym, a merry-go-round like gym with a Seel on top. Quite pretty actually. Walking inside, there was a pool with three beautiful girls doing a synchronized swimming performance. Aubrey looked around at the crowd, noticing almost all, or just all, of the crowd were males. Sighing in exasperation, Aubrey waited for this little act to finish for she was only interested in her gym battle!

Time passed and Aubrey found herself listening to a young boy with black hair wearing a blue jacket, black shirt, light blue jeans, trainers and a red hat argue with the swimming girls – the Sensational Sisters – about having a gym battle. Apparently they had lost the past three battles and all their Pokémon were now at the Pokémon center. Aubrey was very annoyed, though she didn't show it. She stood up, ready to leave, ignoring the scene of the blonde simply handing over a Cascade Badge, until –

"Hold it right there!" A little red head shouted from above Aubrey, drawing attention not only to herself but to Aubrey as well. The girl jumped down to seemingly scold the sisters, and Aubrey decided to stop and listen, leaning on the railing. "Alright Daisy, if you don't want to battle him, I will!"

After much commotion, Aubrey found this girl, Misty, was the younger sister of the Sensational Sisters, and she's travelling with the boy, named Ash – presumably the same 'Ash' from the signpost. Misty was also the fourth Gym Leader of Cerulean Gym, deciding to battle Ash without hesitance.

"Hold up a minute," Aubrey called and she jumped down to level herself with sisters and the trainer. "I challenge this gym as well, and I'd like reassurance that I'll get my battle today. I'm on a bit of a tight schedule you see."

Misty turned to Aubrey with a smile.

"No problem, I'll battle you later on today, what's your name?"

"Aubrey." This made Aubrey think, how bad could it be? As long as she got her battle today it was fine. This also gives Aubrey the advantage, she can observe and conclude how Misty battles. Aubrey watched the battle, focusing intently on both Misty's battle style and Ash's battle style - who is possibly her new rival - however, midway, with a rumble and a crash, a large machine smashed through the wall! Two figures emerged, dressed in white uniforms with a red 'R' on their shirts, the girl with strange pinkish hair and the boy with purplish blue hair, and begun reciting a poem or motto of sorts,

"To protect the world from devastation,"

"To unite all peoples within our nation,"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love,"

"To extend our reach to the stars above,"

"Jesse!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light,"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!" A Meowth popped up too, a talking Meowth!

"That's new, I've never heard of a Pokémon that could talk." Aubrey furrowed her eyebrows as she scanned her brain for any record of this.

"The water Pokémon have the advantage," James started.

"But if we steal that water away," Jesse continued.

"The Pokémon are ours for the taking!" James finished.

"And Meowth knows just how to do it!" The Meowth smirked wickedly. Suddenly, a gigantic hose began draining the pool of all the water. After a series of events, Ash ordered a Thunderbolt from his cutie Pikachu and sent Team Rocket blasting off. In the end, despite not actually winning – nor losing for that matter – the battle, the sisters decided to give Ash the Cascade Badge for saving the gym but the day wasn't over.

"Misty, I would like that battle please." Aubrey said, full of confidence. Misty nodded, still annoyed with Ash having his Cascade Badge without actually winning. Aubrey and Misty stood on either sides of the pool, Pokémon at the ready.

"Two Pokémon only! Misty calls Staryu!" Staryu jumped onto one of the platforms, not in the water. However, Aubrey wanted it in the water so she could use one Thunderbolt to knock it out.

"Pikachu," Pikachu jumped out onto another of the platforms, wobbling slightly but quickly gathering her balance.

"Staryu, Water Gun!"

"Dodge it," With relative ease, Pikachu jumped to the next platform, dodging the reasonably powerful attack.

"Jump in the water and use Tackle!"

"Thunderbolt," Pikachu stuck her tail into the water and shocked with volts of power and that was the end of round one.

"Staryu, come back!" Misty seemed unfazed by the loss of Staryu but Aubrey could tell it was just a facade. Her worry was expressed in her eyes. "Misty calls Goldeen! Horn Attack!"

"Goldeen, deen goldeen!"

Aubrey purposely let Pikachu get hit, Pikachu flying to the other side of the platform. Aubrey's strategy was to let Misty think she was gaining the upper hand.

"Ha! Now use your Fury Attack Goldeen!" Goldeen stabbed and jabbed with its Pikachu until Pikachu fell into the water. "Water Pokémon always have the advantage in the water!"

"Unless you're facing an Electric Pokémon," Misty stopped and panicked when she realized, hitting her head in annoyance with herself for forgetting.

"Goldeen, quick, use your Fury Attack again and get it out of the water!"

"Pikachu use Thunderbolt," Aubrey commanded one last time.

"PikaCHU!" Goldeen floated to the surface with swirled eyes. With ease and grace, Aubrey won the Cascade Badge. Pikachu swam out of the pool, shaking the water from her fur before Ash's Pikachu ran over, saying hello in their cute Pikachu ways.

"Good work Pikachu." Aubrey smiled slightly to her Pikachu but around so many strangers, Aubrey couldn't help but let her calm, collected and reserved personality take over.

"What the? How could you have won so easily? I mean, I know electric-types have a strong advantage but you shouldn't have defeated my Pokémon so easily!"

"Don't get upset. As a Gym Leader, you should conduct yourself with pride, whether you win or lose. Besides, I had a strategy that you fell for, plain and simple." Aubrey told the fiery red head as she accepted her badge from Daisy. "Thank you for the battle."

With those words, Aubrey almost began walking off for her next destination, Pikachu by her side. Almost.

"Hey wait, Aubrey, why don't you travel with us?" Ash asked her with a smile. "We could train together for the Pokémon League!"

"I'd be honored to Ash, but perhaps the next time we meet. I'm making a detour before Vermilion City and I'd really rather get there on my own." Ash nodded as Misty fumed. It looked as though Aubrey and Misty didn't get along very well, straight off the bat.

"It's a deal Aubrey!"

"See you Ash," Aubrey waved before continuing on her way, Pikachu racing after her.

'Forest Edge Ferry Port, here I come,' Aubrey thought as she walked along the path, the path to the Pokémon League.

To be continued.


Some of you may have noticed, some may not have, but Aubrey now has eight Pokémon! How is she able to carry around eight Pokémon at once? If you want to find out, stick around for the next chapter!