"Hey!"
Richard jumped at the sound of a voice. He turned around to see another boy around his age.
"I see your Pokeball! We have to battle!"
"Alright! I won't lose!
Richard reached for his Pokeball and released Spud.
"Let's go, Spud!"
The opposing trainer threw out his Pokeball and a small orange bug came out. Richard was surprised a trainer wouold use such a small Pokemon.
"Hah! My Pokemon's going to beat your Pokemon!" yelled Richard, confidently "We'll see about that!" The youngster replied.
Richard Looked at Spud. He knew that normally new Pokemon didn't learn how to use their element until later. He'd have to settle with something else.
"Spud! Attack!"
Spud looked back at Richard before rushing at the small bug. He pounced onto it and grabbed it with his mouth. He raised it up to the air.
"Weedle! Use poison sting!"
The weedle wriggled around and jabbed Spud with it's horn. Spud quickly dropped it and winced.
"Spud! Finish it off!"
Once again Spud picked up the Weedle and bit into it. This time, it went limp in his mouth. Spud dropped it on the ground as the trainer returned it to it's Pokeball.
"I'm not done yet!"
He threw out another Pokeball, this time a small green bug with a little red antenna. Richard knew it wouldn't be a problem. He looked over at Spud and was surprised to see it puff out a little bit of fire. The opposing trainer noticed it too.
"Oh great! It can use ember now!"
Richard smiled.
"Alright! This means I can use a fire attack against your bug types! Spud! Use ember!"
Spud spat out a small flame that flew towards the small green bug. As soon as it made contact, the little bug rolled over and curled up. The other trainer gasped.
"No! I lost?!"
"Hah, that's right!"
Richard returned Spud to his Pokeball.
"Alright. Here's a few bucks."
"Why?"
"Because you won."
"I get money for winning?"
"You didn't know that?"
"I'm gonna be rich!"
"Come back here again and I'll beat you! My bug types will get super strong!"
"Whatever. Bye!"
Richard continued down the path. He went through the forest with ease, as his fire attack mostly took bug types down in one hit. He began fascinated with different types of Pokemon. At some points, he had no choice but to go through the tall grass and encounter wild Pokemon, but they weren't a problem. He saw some cocoon Pokemon, and even a Pikachu. When he left the forest, he was so relieved to see the sun shining on his face. A short walk along the path and he found himself in Pewter City.
As the name suggested, the city was grey. It felt grey. Looking at the buildings and structures - they all seemed to be square or rectangular in shape. From Richard's feet extended out stone pathways leading in different directions. Surrounding the city was a large range of mountains. Richard spotted a Pokemon Center, and headed in to heal Spud. After he left, he looked around for the gym. When he found it, he read the sign out the front of it that read: PEWTER CITY POKEMON GYM LEADER: BROCK The Rock-Solid POKEMON TRAINER!
Richard thought about the sign. Did it mean that Brock was a user of the rock type? If so, then that would be a big problem for Spud. Richard wasn't sure whether he wanted to go in or not. He didn't want his first professional battle to be a loss, so he left the city and battled Pokemon in a big patch of tall grass outside the forest. It was mostly just pidgeys and rattatas though. At the end of the day, he returned to the city. He stopped in at the first place that sold food and ate dinner. He checked in to the Pewter City hotel, and decided that in the morning, he would go challenge the leader, Brock.
Richard awoke in the morning and got ready to head to the gym. He was confident Spud was strong enough. He checked out of the hotel and entered the gym. He was right about the rock typing. There were rocks strewn all around the place. On top of a small stand stood Brock, a tall man that looked like a strong opponent.
"Hello there! I'm Brock! I'm Pewter's Gym Leader!"
"I'm Richard! I'm here for the badge!"
"Well aren't you jumpy? You should know that I believe in rock hard defense and determination! That's why my Pok mon are all the Rock-type!"
"It doesn't matter what type your Pok mon are! I'll beat them!"
"Fine then! Show me your best!"
Brock threw a Pokeball into the air and out appeared a rock with a face and arms.
"Go, Spud!" Yelled Richard as he released Spud.
"Using a fire type against a rock and ground type? I hope you know what you're doing."
"I know I can win because I believe in Spud! And we trained really hard! Spud! Bite!"
Spud launched towards the rock Pokemon and tried to bite it, but it wasn't very effective. Brock watched intently.
"Normal type moves won't work either. You should know that."
"Oh no. That's right."
"Geodude! Defense Curl!"
The geodude curled into a ball, whilst tensing.
"You see, even though I wasted an opportunity to attack you, it will now take more hits to bring me down."
"I'll hit you as many times as it takes! Use ember, Spud!"
Spud shot out an ember towards the Geodude. Once again, it didn't do too well.
"Geodude, defense curl again!"
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Strategy is just as important with power."
"Whatever. Spud! Keep hitting him with ember!"
Once again, Spud shot an ember that hit the Geodude. It was starting to how signs of damage.
"Alright, Geodude, use tackle!"
The Geodude threw itself towards Spud, but it's coarse was a little to the left, and it missed.
"Damn it!"
"Hah! You missed! Spud, keep the ember coming!"
Spud took a deep breath and sent out an ember that knocked back the Geodude quite a distance. Brock gasped.
"A critical hit?!"
"A critical hit?"
"Sometimes a Pokemon just uses an attack, and it turns out to be extra powerful. But we're not done yet! Geodude!"
Richard looked over at Brock's Geodude, who was collapsed on the floor. He grunted as he returned it to it's pokeball.
"Well, I'm impressed. A fire type beating a rock and ground type? Especially with it's defense? It takes a powerful trainer for sure. But don't get too cocky. Go, Onix!"
Brock released a new Pokemon, a massive snake like creature made out of large rocks. Richard was unsure if Spud would be able to defeat it.
"Onix! Use Rock Tomb!"
The onix roared as it slashed it's tail at the ground, sending a boulder flying towards Spud. It made full contact, and knocked Spud to the ground. Richard thought the battle was over, but Spud slowly stood back onto it's feet.
"Spud! We have to get him down with ember!"
Spud barked and sent out another ember towards the Onix, only slightly damaging it. Brock smirked.
"If you just keep attacking, you'll get nowhere. You need to learn to use strategy instead of brute force. That's why I like the rock type. It's high defense completely negates power. Now Onix, use bide!"
The Onix curled up and started to glow lightly. Richard looked at Spud. He started to think about how he could win.
If I keep attacking, it just won't be enough. The next time Spud gets hit, he'll be down for sure. I have to able to get a strong attack in. It's defense is too much.
Richard then had an idea.
"Alright Spud. Lower it's defenses!"
Spud looked at onix and leered aggressively. The onix then started to show signs of weariness. It started to glow brighter.
"Spud, it's working! More!"
Spud continued to glare at the onix, and it cowered a little.
"Well. You're starting to learn. Onix, use bide!"
The onix opened it's mouth and roared at Spud, but nothing happened.
"...You stored no energy?!"
"Alright! Spud! Now's the time! Use ember!"
Spud leaped up towards the onix, and as it flew up near it's face, released an ember right into the onix's eyes. It fell down to the ground with a terrible crash. Brock was shocked at this.
"Onix? But how?!"
"Alright Spud! We did it, we did it!"
Brock returned the onix to it's pokeball and walked towards Richard.
"It's because you lowered his defense that onix was able to be defeated. As proof of your victory, here's the Boulder Badge!"
Brock handed Richard a small gray badge shaped like an octagon. He looked at it and pinned it onto his shirt.
"Alright!"
Brock nodded at Richard.
"There are all kinds of trainers in the world! You appear to be very gifted as a Pok mon trainer! Go to the Gym in Cerulean and test your abilities!"
"Okay!"
Richard ran out of the gym towards the Pokecenter. After he healed up Spud, he decided to do some sightseeing around town. It seemed only slightly larger than Viridan, so he figure he couldn't get too lost.
The mian attraction of the city was the museum of science. Richard never had much admiration for science, but he figured maybe he'd see something cool. After paying to get in, the first thing to catch his eye was the large skeletal structure surrounded by a glass casing. The fossil had a long spine and a petruding tail, with a skull bearing a long jaw and sharp teeth. Out of the spine came two longer bone structures, which had to be the basis for wings. The sharp talons at the end of it's feet only added to the ferocious and lethal nature of the creature. Upon the casing was an inscription which read: AERODACTYL fossil A primitive and rare POKEMON.
Richard felt glad that these were rare. He hoped never to encounter one anytime soon. He started to feel a little scared, so he turned around and moved on. Upon doing so, another fossil came into sight. This fossil was also seemingly vicious. The first thing to note was the large scythe-like blades the creature had for hands. Like the previous fossil, it also had sharp claws at the end of it's feet. The head was more cirular and flar, with two psuedo-horns on each side. Richard looked at the insrciption, which read: KABUTOPS fossil A primitive and rare POKEMON.
Richard foudn this fossil even more frightening than the first, so he decided to head on to another exhibit, up the staircase.
Upon reaching the next floor, the first thing Richard observed was a miniature model of a spaceship. There wasn't much to it though, it pretty much encompassed the general idea of an interstellar shuttle. However, this did make him think about being in a real spaceship. Putting on a spacesuit and heading towards the stars sounded like the absolute pinnacle of excitement. Thinking about it made him wonder: Where would his travels take him? What opportunities would arise? The possibilities appeared to be endless. Left staring in awe and wonder, Richard snapped himself back into reality and headed for the next item of interest.
Unfortunately, that was pretty much it. The last schowcase just looked like a bunch of rocks that failed to interest him. He thought maybe the inscription would provide a reason, but all it said was: A meteroite that fell on MT. MOON. It is thought to be a MOON STONE.
Without thinking about it, Richard turned his attention away. After browsing around, he realise that what he had seen was all the museum had to offer. As he left, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable as the eyeless skulls of the fossils stared down upon him. Richard headed back to that same restaraunt for his dinner before settling back at the hotel. Pewter City didn't hold much more interest for Richard, but he decided to spend one more day in the city to see what was around. He slept well, satisfied with his victory over Brock. He wore his badge with pride. In the morning, he set off for moer exploration in Pewter City. He went as far as he could, but still found nothing of interest. After he decided he was done, he headed towards the exit of the city.