"Pokémon Endless Journey - Volume 1: Red, Green, Blue and Yellow - The First Legend"
Chapter 3 – The Rock-Solid Pokémon Trainer:
Exiting the swarmed forest, Red sighed in relief. Both he and his Pokémon were exhausted from fighting so many opponents, who, unfortunately, all had the same kind of Pokémon: bug-types. One trainer actually had a Rattata, deviating from the norm, much to his surprise.
But the distress was over. They had reached Pewter City, and had gone to the Poké Center in order to rest and heal up.
"Here are your Pokémon, sir." The nurse in charge of healing the Pokémon came back to Red, handing him his two Poké Balls.
"Thank you." Red accepted the Poké Balls gladly.
The nurse smiled and bowed. "Please come again soon."
"Alright." Red started walking away and exited the Poké Center. And that's when a though occurred that made him slightly shaken up. "Wait, what's that supposed to mean?!"
While it wasn't as big as the one in Viridian City, the Pewter City Gym was quite a sight to behold. Why he didn't feel the same kind of emotion when facing the Viridian City Gym was probably because it was closed.
Red could feel his hand shaking upon placing it on the door. After all, this was his very first true challenge in order to face the Pokémon League. A first step. A first determining factor in his journey.
"Alright… Bulbasaur and Weedle are ready. And so am I!"
Red charged in, opening the door and walking in, but he then noticed that darkness surrounded him.
"What the…? What's up with the lighting?"
"Don't close the-!" The light seeping in vanished. "…door."
"S-Sorry!"
"It's okay, don't worry, it's my fault anyway."
"What happened?"
"I lost track of the light's switch."
"How do you-?"
"It's a long story…"
"…Would you like some help?"
"Yes, please." The two laughed awkwardly as they started searching for the switch. "What's your name, by the way?"
"Oh, I'm Red."
"My name is Brock."
"Are you by any chance the Gym Leader?"
"Yeah, actually. Are you here for the badge?"
"You bet." Red's hand touched an object on the wall, and pressing it vanquished the darkness. Mainly because it turned the lights on. Upon such happening, Red found someone right in front of him. Actually quite close.
The two boys jumped back, due to the surprise. Brock was a little taller than Red, possessing spiky brown hair, tanned skin, and wore green baggy trousers, along with a short-sleeved black and orange jacket.
"Umm… hi."
"Red in live and colors, uh?" Brock snickered at his own joke, but then noticed how Red constantly loked up and down, apparently examining him. "Is something wrong?"
"No, no, it's just that you sounded… older. But you seem to be the same age as me."
"I'm 13."
"Just one year older than me!?" Red was quite astounded.
"But don't let my age make you underestimate me. I've been training for a long time now. Defeating me won't be easy." Brock warned, crossing his arms with a determined look. The overall look of a Gym Leader, even if a young one, was overwhelming for Red.
But that didn't stop him. "It won't be easy to defeat me either."
Red and Brock stood on opposite sides of the rocky battlefield, prepared for the battle.
"The rules are simple: since you have no badges, this will be a two-on-two battle. You are allowed to switch out. The first to have both Pokémon knocked out loses. Any doubts?"
"None at all."
"Alright then. Geodude, let's rock!"
Brock threw his Poké Ball, letting out his first choice. "Geo!"
Red's Pokédex offered information.
'Geodude, the Rock Pokémon. The longer a Geodude lives, the more its edges are chipped and worn away, making it more rounded in appearance. However, this Pokémon's heart will remain hard, craggy, and rough always. It climbs mountain paths using only the power of its arms. Because they look just like boulders lining paths, hikers may step on them without noticing.'
"Alright… Weedle doesn't have much of a chance against Geodude. But I should save Bulbasaur for later… Weedle, let's go!"
"Wee!"
"The battle starts as soon as this coin hits the ground." Brock indicated, as he drew a special coin offered by the Pokémon League as one of the many signs that he was accepted as an official Gym Leader. Flipping it caused a sound to echo all around the room, making Red's brain think incredibly fast. Every passing second took an hour to pass for him.
"As soon as the coin hits the ground… I have to give a command! As fast as possible!"
*CHING*
"Weedle, Poison String, let's go!"
"Weedle!" the stinger on top of Weedle's head began to glow bright purple and he jumped in, aiming at Geodude.
"Tackle!"
Geodude hovered towards Weedle and tackled him with the bulk of his body. The attack was powerful enough to throw Weedle off, his attack making little damage to Geodude.
Flung against a rock, Weedle suffered further damage. "Are you ok?!"
"Rollout!" Brock didn't let a second go to waste. Geodude curled up into a ball and rolled over the ground in Weedle's direction.
"Dodge, Weedle!"
"Wee." Weedle jumped onto the rock and hid behind it. Geodude collided against the polished stone, which made him jump into the air.
Red's eyes widened and his mouth became slightly agape when he noticed that everything seemed to have started moving much more slowly, including himself. But not his thoughts. As he focused his vision, for some reason, it seemed like everything became tinged in red.
"What the…? What's happening? … Wait… Geodude has his arms crossed right now. Maybe…" As he figured out a plan, everything returned to normal. "Weedle, quick, use String Shot!"
"Dle!" Obeying his Trainer, Weedle quickly spat out a thread of white silk at Geodude, tying him up tightly. Due to having his arms crossed, Geodude didn't have a way to move them, since the thread stopped him from doing so.
"What the-?!"
"Now, Poison Sting!" After Red finished his command, Weedle crawled rapidly at Geodude and stung him with the glowing horn, pushing him away, but only slightly, since it wasn't a very effective attack. "Continue with a Bug Bite!"
"Weedle!" the stinger at the end of his tail began to glow yellow and he used it to scratch Geodude multiple times.
"Geodude, cut the string with his own attack!"
"Geo!"
Moving his body, Geodude took use of Weedle's barrage of attacks, making him cut the strings that tied his arms up.
"Wee!"
"Oh no!"
"Now, Mega Punch!"
Brock wasn't wrong about being skilled. For Geodude to know such an attack, a special sort of training would be required.
Geodude moved and stopped right in front of Weedle while charging his first with energy, seen in the form of whitish-yellow glow. Before either Red or Weedle could react, Geodude punched the opponent, sending him with great force up against a rock in the field. Weedle was heavily damaged, but still able to fight.
"Weedle! He's too damaged right now… Return!" Red withdrew his Pokémon and sent in his only other option. "Bulbasaur, let's go!"
"Bulba!" Hopping out of the Poké Ball, Bulbasaur was ready to battle. "Bulbasaur!"
"Rock Polish, quick!"
Geodude's eyes flashed red and his body flashed in white, reflecting the lights in the room.
"Vine Whip!"
Bulbasaur's vines came out and he attempted to lash at his opponent, but Geodude had become faster, dodging the attack easily.
"Defense Curl!"
"Geo!" Geodude repeated the same status attack as before, though much faster.
"He's strong even when fighting Pokémon he has a weakness to…" Red noted, seeing how confident Brock was in his own power.
"Rollout!" Geodude used the same attack as before, but now being much faster and stronger, the power was completely different. "This is our Mega-Rollout attack!"
"A combination of attacks?"
"Geodude!" he quickly approached Bulbasaur.
"Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf and when he comes closer use Tackle!"
The Seed Pokémon fired multiple razor sharp projectiles in a spinning fashion. They hit Geodude head-on, but did little damage, despite slightly slowing him down. Bulbasaur then charged in and tackled the opponent straight on, holding Geodude's bulky body the best he could.
"Bulba…!"
"Don't give up!"
"Saur!" Firmly planting his feet on the ground, Bulbasaur managed to stop Geodude in his tracks.
"Mega Punch!"
"Geo!" Jumping back a very short distance, Geodude charged his fist for another powerful attack.
"Use Vine Whip!"
Before his fist could make contact, Bulbasaur held it with the use of the vines, surprising both Geodude and Brock.
"What?!"
"Arm Wrestle him!"
Bulbasaur leaned his body to the left before throwing all of his weight to the right, slamming Geodude against the ground. "Bulba!"
"Razor Leaf!"
Bulbasaur jumped back and released another set of leaves, all of them slashing Geodude. Due to his type combination of Rock and Ground, types both weak to Grass, he was defeated rather easily.
"Geodude, return." Brock withdrew his Pokémon but grinned, strangely enough. "Impressive. I wasn't expecting for your Pokémon to be so powerful. But beware." Taking his second Poké Ball into his hand, he prepared for the final round. "Let's rock, Onix!"
An amazingly large Pokémon appeared, intimidating both Red and Bulbasaur. "ONIIIIIX!"
"W-W-What!?" Information was necessary.
'Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. Its large body is over 26 feet long. Despite its size, it can squirm its way through the ground at 50 miles per hour. There is a magnet in its brain that prevents an Onix from losing direction while tunneling. As it grows older, its body becomes steadily rounder and smoother.'
"Oh crap…" Red and Bulbasaur both looked up at the fearsome Pokémon, wondering how exactly they would win. "They look much smaller on the screen…"
"Onix, use Rock Tomb!"
"O-Nix!" The giant Pokémon opened his mouth and fired a glowing gray projectile against the ground. Then, multiple rocks emerged from the ground trapping Bulbasaur.
"Bul!"
"Now, Iron Tail!"
The final segments of Onix's body flashed white and turned into pure iron. He then raised them up after positioning his body correctly and moved it down against the opponent.
"Bulbasaur, return!" Red quickly withdrew Bubasaur into the Poké Ball, just before Onix slammed his tail. "That was close… But I can't run away forever. Weedle, let's go!" Red sent in his only other Pokémon, who upon entering the battlefield looked up and froze in fear from Onix. "Weedle, I'm counting on you!"
"Wee?" Weedle turned around and found a smirking Red, full of determination. Even if they had only known each other for a good handful of hours, a bond was complete at that moment. "Wee!"
"That's the spirit! Now, String Shot!"
Weedle released a spray of white silk, determined to cover Onix the best possible.
"Tackle!"
"Dodge!"
Onix charged his head in, but Weedle managed to jump and dodge roll the attack.
"Don't stop!"
"Keep using String Shot!"
As Onix chased Weedle, the Hairy Bug kept spraying the Rock Snake with sticky string, slowing it down.
"Poison Sting, now!"
Weedle's horn began to glow once more and hestarted piercing Onix with it, though making little to no damage.
"Dragon Breath!"
Onix turned and opened his mouth releasing a powerful stream of air from it, hitting Weedle and knocking him out with ease.
"Weeee!"
"Return!" Using the Poké Ball, Red withdrew Weedle. "Good job, buddy. Take a rest. … It's up to you now." He stared intently at Bulbasaur's Poké Ball. "Bulbasaur, let's finish this!"
"Bulba!"
"Onyx, use Iron Tail!"
"OOO!" Repeating the previous attack as before, Onix was about to slam his tail against Bulbasaur, but the Seed Pokémon grinned and dodged the attack with ease. "O?"
"The String Shot…" Brock figured out Red's strategy.
"Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf!"
"Bulba!" launching a swarm of razor sharp leaves, Bulbasaur attacked Onix, causing massive damage.
"Onix, hold on! … Uh?" Brock noticed how tired Onix looked. Not from the damage, but from something else. "What the…? Is he… Is Onix poisoned from the Poison Sting?!"
"Hehe! Guess you saw through it."
"You're quite talented. Onix, Dragon Breath!"
"Solar Beam, go!"
Bulbasaur charged the light present in the room inside its bulb as Onix charged his attack as well, but due to having been slowed down. After some seconds, both attacked, Onix firing the stream of air while Bulbasaur fired the beam of energy.
The attacks collided, but one overwhelmed the other with ease, defeating the opponent.
The Pokémon that fell was withdrawn into his Poké Ball and the Trainer walked forward.
"I underestimated you, Red."
"I… won?" Red was far too stunned to believe it. He actually won the battle. "We won! Bulbasaur, we won!"
"Bulba…!" Falling due to exhaustion, the Pokémon laughed, content. Red picked him up into his arms and they smiled at each other as Brock approached.
"Here. As proof of your victory, I give you the Boulder Badge." Brock offered Red a simple gray octagon. However, its simplicity hid a much greater value behind it.
Red obtained his very first Gym Badge.
Pokémon of the Day:
Geodude – Geodude can be most often found on mountain trails, fields, under rocks, or in caves. It will sit still in these areas, which is why it is often mistaken for rocks. It is often stepped on, and will sometimes swing its arms in anger when this occurs. When Geodude sleeps deeply, it buries itself halfway into the ground. Once buried, it will not awaken even if someone steps on it. In the morning, Geodude rolls downhill in search of food.
Onix - Onix tunnels under the ground at over fifty miles per hour, which causes tremors and a terrifying roar that echoes a long way. The massive, winding tunnels it leaves behind are used as homes by Diglett. Onix loves to eat the large boulders it encounters while burrowing underground. Onix is capable of rotating its head, or any part of their body, a full 360 degrees.
