I put an actual conversation I had with the editor in this chapter. If you've seen Brock's spontaneous shirtless scene in the Sun and Moon anime, you'll understand.

When they emerged from Viridian Forest, they could see the outline of Pewter City. This was, of course, a big step in the right direction - Pewter City held the first Gym, and they needed the badge to continue to the next location, as well as get Red into the Pokémon League. But before they could go and beat the Gym Leader, they needed to make plans.

"So the guidebook says that Brock uses Rock-types," Red said as Leaf, Sheldon, and Weedle played in the grass on Route 2, looking for more battles. "Which means that I can rely on Ralph alone, or I could borrow Sheldon and hope he does what I want him to."

"Tough choice," Leaf stated, as Sheldon gave him the most deceptively innocent expression a Squirtle could manage. She ignored this. "Or you could waste all your Pokeballs catching things here."

"Later. I want to make a second trip around Kanto to complete the Pokedex, but my first one will be getting all the badges."

"So you want to borrow Sheldon."

"As a last resort," Red promised.

Leaf looked over at her first Pokémon, as if trying to decide what to do. "And that means I'll have Rattata."

"Just for an hour or two." When she still looked thoughtful, he handed her the map. "There's a fossil exhibit at the museum here. Maybe you can try talking to the dead or something."

Leaf smiled a little. "That would be cool," she said, and Sheldon, momentarily, looked concerned. "All right, I'll do it. But if you try to leave Pewter City without going to the museum, I'm telling Mom."

"Have I ever broken a promise before?" Leaf gave him a 'You do not want to go there' look. "I meant when I care."

She let him have that one. "No."

"Then let's go and trade. I have no idea how long that museum is open."

Pewter Gym was very clearly designed for Rock-types. Even if it wasn't decorated with boulders, the entire building was gray and brown, leaving very little room for interpretation.

"This should be easy," Red announced, only to cover his mouth and sneak around both warm-up trainers. He wanted to get to the museum and watch Leaf fail at necromancy, and the practice battles were only there for people who weren't sure that their chosen Pokémon were strong enough to face the Gym Leader first.

So, Brock saw them tiptoe around his building, and he struggled not to laugh as he imagined them going through the Psychic-type Gym in Saffron. Sabrina surrounded herself with other psychics, and all of them would notice the two children sneaking around. Or even Cerulean, where they would need to swim to even attempt to avoid the trainers.

But he managed to keep a straight face, and he noticed how the girl stood back and looked expectantly at the boy. So she wasn't a challenger, just an observer. Still, she stood behind him as he took the challenger's stand, not moving to the side at all.

"I hope you're aware that my Gym specializes in Rock-type Pokémon," Brock told them, and Red nodded.

"I have the guidebook," he promised. "And your name and decorations made it even more obvious."

"Good. I was worried I wasn't being obvious enough." And without further warning, he...yanked off his shirt and threw it into a corner. "Let's do this!"

The kids stared for a moment, both of them more than a little concerned. "How dramatic," Leaf said flatly.

"And entirely unnecessary," Red added.

"I liked him better with his shirt on."

"We all did."

Brock didn't pay attention to their conversation. Instead, he prepared a ball for throwing. "I hope you've come prepared, challenger, because a Gym battle is nothing like you've ever faced before!"

And he sent out a Geodude. Red didn't waste any time.

"Ralph, let's go!"

Clearly surprised that a challenger had come prepared, Brock took a moment to choose his first move. "Defense Curl!" It was probably better than Tackle, anyway.

"Vine Whip!" Red ordered, and Geodude was sent flying across the battlefield.

Still, it managed to roll itself into the proper position, before lifting itself up on its arms and hand-walking back to the proper position. "Close," it told Ralph, "but not close enough."

"I guess I'll just have to try harder," Ralph agreed.

"Tackle!" Brock commanded, and Geodude made a motion that Red could only call 'jumping' before slamming into Ralph.

This small victory was ruined when the Bulbasaur barely waited for his trainer's order before repeating his attack. This time, Geodude fainted.

Brock didn't plan on only using one Pokémon, of course. As soon as Geodude was returned to the ball, he sent out an Onix.

This time, Ralph looked afraid.

It didn't take long before Red was holding his shiny new Boulder Badge, twirling it around instead of putting it in his case like he was supposed to. "This isn't what I expected at all," he said after a moment of silence. "I heard that Gym battles were supposed to be hard."

"Maybe it was because both of us chose starters super-effective against Rock-types," Leaf suggested. "I mean, it's not like you brought a Pikachu in here and tried to wet the Onix down with a sprinkler."

"That is a stupid idea," Red agreed. He stopped to consider. "Hey, Brock? Can we have a rematch sometime? I want to try that now."

"You want to try beating my Onix with a Pikachu and a sprinkler?" Brock did not have expressive eyes, but the pair could tell he was staring at Red like the boy had lost his mind. "Why?"

"Some kid did it on TV."

"No," Brock said, as soon as Red finished the sentence. "The League already put a don't-try-this-at-home disclaimer on that episode."

"Really?" Leaf was interested now. Brock clearly had no idea what he'd done, and Red wasn't going to tell him. "Why? What have Gym Leaders done that made the disclaimers a thing?"

"It's not us," Brock insisted, though there was something in his voice that implied otherwise. "Not all of it. It's the challengers."

"So do you have any stories about nightmare challengers?"

"None I'm willing to share." Brock did seem to know when to back out, however. "But there was a kid who came in yesterday with a Charmander."

"Poor guy," Red laughed. "How did he do?"

"He won. With a Charmander."

Of course. At this rate, Blue would be in the Hall of Fame before Red even got his second badge. "So I guess you've seen more than enough this week?"

"You can say that." Brock stopped to watch Red carefully. Sabrina had told the other Gym Leaders that there would be two legendary trainers traveling Kanto this year. These could be the ones she was speaking of. "You'll keep an eye out for trouble, right?"

"I'm a Pokedex carrier," Red pointed out. "How much trouble can I get into?"