Chapter 3: Rustboro Gym Leader Clay
As Steven entered the Rustboro Gym, a cloud of dust swirled around his feet, drawn by the sudden shift in air pressure. Roxanne followed on her father's heels, casting occasional timid glances back at the stranger. Clay stopped suddenly, and Roxanne, diverting her eyes back at him, walked into his legs and fell backwards.
Steven stifled a chuckle, and the little girl's face grew red and she climbed back to her feet and dusted off the bottom of her dark blue dress, flustered.
"Stay here," Clay said. "I'll send Roxanne back here to tell you when we're ready."
Steven nodded, understanding, and Clay turned to a door to the side of the main entrance, and disappeared through it, Roxanne in tow.
Steven took a deep breath, taking in the cool air and the dry scent of sandstone. He stood, looking out into the gym from his position in the entrance hall. The floor was checkered with black and white tile, which reflected the light from the main area of the gym. On either side of him stood a stone slab topped with a tiny carved statue of a Salamence. The broad, axe-blade shaped wings were lifted back and up, and the wide jaws were wide open, ready to attack. A front paw dug into the top of the slab. A shiny black plaque had recently been installed, reading, "Rustboro Gym Leader Clay. Victors: Jo-" Apparently, the name hadn't been finished being engraved.
Steven looked up as he heard footsteps echo ahead, in the main chamber. He couldn't see whoever was out there; they were probably obscured by the rock walls which apparently formed a small maze that Steven would have to traverse before he could face Clay.
He shifted his attention to his watch, noting the time: "3:24". He had just over an hour and a half before his father left the office, and a few minutes longer before he could get home. He was confident that he could defeat Clay with time to spare, but he couldn't help but feel like it was taking too long for the Gym Leader to ready his trainers.
At last, Roxanne peeked out from behind the door. "Daddy says you can go now," she said, smiling shyly at him.
"Thank you," Steven replied. Roxanne instantly turned and shut the door behind her. Steven could hear her footsteps echo as she hurried back to watch her father.
He took a deep, calming breath, feeling his muscles relax. He tapped the single Poké Ball at his waist, a sort of reassurance to himself and his Pokémon.
He stepped out into the maze, and sighed in relief, seeing that it was much more straightforward than he'd expected. It was simple: there was one main path bordered on both sides by high rock walls, with two more paths that curved around two Gym Trainers.
Steven decided that Beldum could use the experience, and decided to take the straight path, easily defeating both trainers, who both used only a single Geodude. It was pretty easy, Steven thought. Beldum, being a steel-type, had an advantage over Geodude, which were partly rock-type. Iron Head was a relatively powerful steel-type attack, and because of the type advantage, did twice as much damage to the small, boulder-like Pokémon.
Clay smiled wisely when Steven stepped strongly into his division of the gym. The arena was a sandy rectangle with rocky outcroppings scattered at irregular intervals. Steven noted to himself that these were probably there to provide both cover for Clay's Pokémon as well as to provide ammunition for attacks like Rock Throw.
"You've made it here quickly. I'm impressed. Only the Champion has made it here faster," Clay commended.
"Thanks... I think," Steven said, returning the Gym Leader's grin.
"I may have given you some leeway at the Trainer's School, but at this gym, I show only the utmost respect to my opponents, so I'm afraid you won't be given any charity here!" From his end of the arena, Clay tossed his first Poké Ball, the sphere snapping open to reveal the rocky, spherical Geodude. With one powerful fist, Geodude pounded the ground beneath it, sending up a small cloud of dust. The intensity in its eyes only fueled Steven's ambition more, and he released his Beldum onto the field.
"Geodude, Rock Polish!" Clay said.
Geodude nodded, and did nothing. Steven thought that maybe it had become more streamlined, but he couldn't be sure from this distance.
"Beldum, use Iron Head!" Steven commanded.
Beldum lined its body up in the air, angling it toward the rock-type, and zipped forward. Geodude darted to the left, barely avoiding the attack. Beldum slowed and turned, waiting for its next command.
"Geodude, use Rock Polish again!" Clay shouted.
The Geodude's surface smoothed ever so slightly; this time, Steven was sure of it. "Beldum, use Iron Head before it gets away!"
Beldum spun in mid-air, and rocketed forward, landing a glancing blow on Geodude, which cried out in alarm, floating backwards with the blow's inertia.
"Geodude, Rock Throw!" Clay commanded.
Geodude immediately darted to a pile of rocks, grabbed one, and tossed it. The rock struck Beldum in the head, lodging itself in the Pokémon's eye socket. Beldum cried out in pain and jerked back and forth blindly.
"Beldum, get it out of your eye! Use Iron Head!" Steven said.
Beldum obediently shot itself into a pile of rocks, some of which shattered upon impact. The rock had been loosened, but it wasn't out yet.
"Geodude, use Defense Curl!" Clay said. Geodude's outer shell began shifting, the stronger plates moving to cover up the Pokémon's weak points.
"Beldum, aim a Take Down upward!" Steven said. He had to get that rock out of Beldum's eye, or it wouldn't be able to aim accurately! Beldum began to build up speed as it moved upward toward the high ceiling of the gym. "Now stop!" Steven commanded. Beldum suddenly halted, tossing the rock out of its eye socket.
"Geodude, use Defense Curl again!" Clay shouted. Geodude braced itself as Beldum descended once more to the battlefield, its view unobstructed.
"Now Beldum! Use Iron Head!" Steven said.
"Geodude, Rock Polish!" Clay countered.
Beldum shot toward Geodude, but the rock-type easily avoided the attack. Was it faster?
"Beldum, chase Geodude down!" Steven said.
"Geodude, Rock Polish." Clay seemed calm now, almost disappointed.
Geodude easily outsped the steel-type, avoiding its every attack with a grace uncharacteristic to most rock-type Pokémon.
"Gotta think," Steven mumbled to himself. There had to be some way of catching that Geodude, but how? It was so agile at this point, and Beldum simply couldn't keep up. Whenever Beldum chased Geodude to a pile of rocks, the rock-type simply maneuvered around them, leaving Beldum to stop and regain its bearings before continuing the chase.
The rock piles made it impossible for Beldum to successfully corner the opponent. Wait- no, they made it just possible to catch it!
Steven returned his focus to the battle, finding Beldum once again chasing Geodude toward a pile of rocks. "Beldum, use Iron Head on that rock pile!" Steven shouted, feeling excited at his realization.
Geodude bounced effortlessly over the stack of boulders, but Beldum smashed head-on into them, launching them after the rock-type Pokémon, which cried out as several stones struck its body.
"Beldum, use Iron Head again before it can recover!" Steven commanded. Immediately, Beldum raced forward, colliding with Geodude and sending it crashing to the ground. The Geodude struggled to recover, but was unable to do so.
"Great job, Beldum!" Steven said.
"Good work, Geodude," Clay said, returning his Pokémon to its Poké Ball. Replacing the sphere on his belt, Clay tossed out his second Pokémon.
The Pokémon that appeared from the red flash of light was a small, angular rock-type with black splotches over its eyes, which appeared to be shut tight. Tiny limbs sprouted from the head, each having a small hole in either the palm or the foot. Its most noticeable characteristic, however, was its nose, which was disproportionately large, and was red in color, contrasting heavily with the blue coloration of the rest of the body.
"Nosepass," the Pokémon declared, somewhat unexcitedly.
"Nosepass, use Harden!" Clay commanded. Nosepass stood completely still, and the movement along its outer shell was either invisible or didn't occur at all, because Steven couldn't see any movement.
"Beldum, use Iron Head!" Steven shouted.
Beldum's head gave off the familiar gray glow, and shot toward the small blue rock-type, but was stopped in mid-air without warning. In fact, Beldum seemed to be still trying to land its attack, struggling against something. But Steven couldn't see any physical object preventing Beldum from carrying out its orders.
"Rock Throw," Clay commanded.
"Beldum, retreat!" Steven said.
Beldum's tense body seemed to relax slightly as it gave up on the effort and turned to put some distance between it and its opponent. Nosepass lifted up an arm, and fired a small stone from the hole in its palm, which shattered the instant it smashed into Beldum's back. The small steel-type was obviously getting tired, having spent much of its energy chasing down Geodude, and it made its pain known, squinting its eye and uttering a pitiful sound.
"Beldum, come on! You can do it! Iron Head, one more time!" Steven shouted, trying to keep not only Beldum's morale up, but his own. If this attack failed like the last one, Steven would have to think up a new strategy.
"Nosepass, use Harden!" Clay repeated.
Once again, Beldum was repulsed by some force invisible to Steven. Was Nosepass's Harden actually repelling Beldum?
"Nosepass, use Rock Throw," Clay said. Nosepass aimed carefully at Beldum, and fired another rock, which knocked it backwards.
Steven knew he had to figure out a way to fight Nosepass without Beldum being repelled again, and fast. Even though it wasn't a very effective attack, Rock Throw would inevitably whittle down Beldum's energy levels and cost him the battle.
"Rock Throw."
"Beldum, move out of the way!" Steven called.
As Nosepass raised its arm to fire another stone, Beldum dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding the blow.
"Rock Throw, again." Nosepass aimed carefully once more, taking the time to ascertain Beldum's location, and fired another rock.
"Dodge it!" Steven said. Beldum immediately repeated its actions, avoiding Nosepass's attack for a second time.
"Rock Throw." Nosepass concentrated, aiming carefully at Beldum before firing off another attack.
"Move out of the way again!" Beldum dodged a third time.
It seemed to Steven that Nosepass was taking longer to line up its attack each time Beldum moved. And then he saw it- Nosepass itself hadn't changed its position! But why? An idea occurred to him- he didn't know if it would work, but it was worth a shot.
"Beldum, get around to Nosepass's back and try another Iron Head!"
Beldum raced in a wide arc around the rock-type, and Steven could swear he saw Clay flash a smile, if only for a split-second.
Now directly behind its opponent, Beldum lined itself up and executed its attack.
"Nosepass, Harden!" Clay shouted quickly, an instant before Beldum's attack connected with the back of Nosepass's head. The startled Pokémon stumbled forward, and fell onto its side, and struggled to return to its feet.
"Beldum, use Iron Head one more time!" Steven said, now confident and fully in control of the battle.
"Nosepass, Harden!" Clay commanded, trying to preserve his Pokémon, but it was in vain. The attack hit accurately, and Nosepass fell silent.
"Nosepass, great job. Return," Clay said, returning the rock-type to its Poké Ball and then reattaching the sphere to the belt on his waist.
"Yeah! Beldum, that was awesome!" Steven shouted, elated. He approached the defeated Gym Leader, passing Beldum, who followed loyally, hovering over his shoulder.
"That was a great battle, Steven," Clay said. A smile was plastered on his face from ear to ear. He reached out a hand to Steven, who took it firmly in his and shook it.
Roxanne tugged on Clay's jeans. "Daddy, how could you lose?"
"Hush, Roxanne. It's okay," Clay told his young daughter. He looked up at Steven, reached into his pocket, and produced the same stylized rectangle that Wallace had shown him earlier in the day. "This is the Stone Badge. It allows your Pokémon to use the move Cut outside of battle, if they can manage to learn it, that is." Clay chuckled to himself.
"Thanks, Clay," Steven said, taking the badge and shoving it into his pocket.
"Now let me see your Trainer Card."
"My what?" Steven said.
"Your permit. In official Pokémon League institutions, your Trainer's Permit is known as your Trainer Card. They're the same thing," Clay explained. "The nurses at Pokémon Centers just tend to call them permits."
"Oh, okay," Steven said, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his wallet. He thumbed out the laminated card and handed it to Clay, who took it and reached into his other pocket, and brought out a small metal hole-puncher. He clipped a hole in the first of a series of squares along the bottom of the card, in the shape of the badge.
"Let it be known that you, Steven Stone, have defeated me, Clay of Rustboro Gym. I have to say, I thought you were simply going to use your type advantage alone to defeat me, rather than strategy. That's what another young man who came in yesterday did. His Feebas defeated both Geodude and Nosepass fairly handily, but displayed an utter lack of strategy. There are just some situations when you have to think creatively to win."
"Thanks, again," Steven said, taking his card back from the Gym Leader. "I gotta ask though- how did Harden keep Beldum from hitting Nosepass?"
Clay chuckled. "Harden only increases a Pokémon's physical defenses. That force that kept your Beldum away was just Nosepass's magnetic nose. It repulsed the metal in your Beldum, keeping it from striking. When you went around to Nosepass's back, Beldum's attacks did increased damage because Beldum was attracted to the opposite end of the magnet. Nosepass's magnet is so strong that it can only face north, but I had high concentrations of metallic alloys embedded in the rock maze so that Nosepass could face its opponents."
"Wow. I never would have thought about something like that." Steven paused for a moment, thinking about his next move. "Where should I go from here?"
Clay paused for a moment. "Well, first you should heal Beldum at a Pokémon Center. After that, you have two options: you can go to Petalburg City, where the gym is headed by Christina, who uses grass-types, or you could head to Dewford Town, where the gym is led by Silva, who uses fighting-types. You'll have to find a boat to get to Dewford, though."
"Okay. Thanks for everything, Clay," Steven said, turning to leave the gym with Beldum in tow.
"And Steven!"
"Yes?" Steven said, turning around.
"Be careful out there! Your father may seem imposing, but he cares about you a lot," Clay answered.
Steven nodded. "All right. I will!" And with that, Steven departed.