I own no Pokemon characters. Credits to Game Freak.

-Chapter 5: Brock Hard Abs-

Pewter City, 'the stone gray city', was tucked between rugged mountains. It was more compact than Viridian City as a result of this. The one thing that the citizens prided themselves in were their rock gardens. In front of nearly every house and store that Red and Leaf passed by was an assortment of stones on rocky ground. They were arranged in such a way that alpines could grow. However, there was the occasional rock garden that was comprised of an arrangement of rocks surrounded by gravel that was raked into a certain pattern.

Being one of the nearest cities to Mt Moon, Pewter City was popular among explorers, collectors and scientists, most of whom could be found at the north of the city. One of the biggest landmarks in Kanto was situated there: the Pewter Museum of Science. Before taking the Gym challenge, Red and Leaf decided to make a visit. The tickets were surprisingly cheap, but the exhibits were amazing.

"Woah! Look at that, Red!"

In the middle of the ground floor, a large skeleton was displayed. Its mouth was wide open, revealing serrated fangs, and razor sharp claws jutted out of its hands, which were at the bend of each wing. Its talons were just as sharp, while its tail was tipped with an arrowhead. All of these knife-like features seemed to be pointed towards one central spot, as if the skeleton was ready to come to life, swoop down and scoop away the first victim it sees. Just looking at it gave Red, Leaf and Pikachu goosebumps!

There was a small information sign, which detailed what this Pokemon was like.

With its large wings, Aerodactyl soared through the skies in prehistoric times. It is often thought to have been an extremely vicious carnivore, using its saw-like teeth, claws and talons to shred its prey. Interestingly enough, coprolites that are linked with Aerodactyl contain traces of not only meat, but also plant matter. Therefore, it can argued that Aerodactyl was in fact an omnivore.

"Sounds like Aerodactyl were really strong Pokemon," Red mused. "Imagine seeing one right now..." Pikachu, too, was intrigued by the idea of an Aerodactyl flying around in the present day. Its supposed speed and strength must have made for a challenging opponent.

"Well, think about what's going on at Cinnabar Island," Leaf said, eyeing an odd looking fossil next to the Aerodactyl skeleton. It was amber in color. Remains seemed to be trapped inside it (a piece of a claw, to be specific). "They've been able to revive a few Pokemon out of fossils. If we happen to find a fossil and bring it to Cinnabar, we might have a 'Fossil Pokemon' in our hands!"

"That's awesome! But imagine the process of actually reviving the Pokemon... It must take a long time, right?"

Leaf giggled. "Of course. Science is very intricate!"

The ground floor of the museum was scattered with all sorts of fossils and remnants from prehistory. At the east wing, the main attractions were the Helix Fossil and remains of Omanyte and Omastar. Over at the west wing were the Dome Fossil and skeletons of Kabuto and Kabutops. There were other ancient Pokemon that were shown off and talked about, but not in as much as detail as the Omantye line, the Kabuto line and Aerodactyl were. Those five were native to prehistoric Kanto, so naturally, a museum in Kanto focused on them more.

The upper floor was also quite a sight. The exhibits there were about space. The majority of people at the upper floor gathered around a replica of the space shuttle that was used by the first astronauts to land on the Moon. According to some, it was made of the exact same material as the original! The other display of major interest was that of meteorites that fell from outer space. They were discovered on Mt Moon and were associated with celestial Pokemon, thus they came to be known as 'moon stones'. The ones on display were some of the first to be found in Kanto, although people from all over the world have found stones of their own. According to a few of them, some of their Pokemon have evolved via prolonged physical contact with their moon stone!

Satisfied with what they've seen, Red and Leaf decided to leave the museum. Before they stepped foot outside, however, they couldn't help but overhear a conversation that two people. They stopped and listened, but tried to make it look like they weren't being nosy. The conversation was about the Gym Leader of Pewter City, Brock. Apparently, he lost against his most recent challenger in a battle, as said challenger was able to overcome Brock's Pokemon's 'rock hard defenses'. This led Red and Leaf to the conclusion that Brock was a Rock type Gym Leader. In hindsight, it made sense, given the city's reputation with its museum and the sheer number of rock gardens. However, this discovery brought a problem to Red.

None of his Pokemon could do much damage to Rock types.

Leaf had an idea, though. "You could borrow someone else's Pokemon to use against Brock," she suggested. "Maybe a certain someone's Squirtle...?"

Red was silent for a moment. Slowly, he shook his head. "As much as I appreciate your offer, Leaf, I... I can't take it. It's my battle, after all. It just wouldn't feel right to use someone else's Pokemon only for that purpose."

Leaf understood where Red was coming from. If he used her Squirtle in the Gym battle, the victory wouldn't be as rewarding, simply because he felt that it wouldn't be his own victory if he didn't use his own Pokemon. With that in mind, she smiled and nodded, before following Red as he headed for the Pewter Gym.

Upon taking a step inside, neither Red nor Leaf could help but think that they were teleported to the inside of a cave! Though it was well lit, the few stalagmites here and there gave off an ominous feel and they protruded out of a stone floor. In the middle of the large room were the outlines of the battlefield. On the right was a sort of board. There were also seats on the left, which Leaf assumed were for spectators of the upcoming battle. Her guess was correct, as children of all ages filed in. Seeing Red take one end of the battlefield, she rushed over to take a seat.

A figure stood opposite where Red stood.

"So, you're here." The teenager wore a brown jacket with an orange collar. Under it was a green undershirt. Perhaps his most prominent feature was his tanned skin. "I'm Brock, Pewter City's Gym Leader! My rock-hard willpower is evident, even in my Pokemon. They're all rock-hard and have true grit determination. That's right. My Pokemon are all the Rock type!"

Certainly a dramatic opening speech, Leaf noted, as Red stepped forward to introduce himself.

Initially, nervousness laced his voice. "My name's Red. I'm from Pallet Town." One look at Pikachu sparked some confidence in him. "I've come to earn my first Gym Badge. To do that, I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"

Brock looked at Pikachu. He was still in a relatively cute stage. How would this beginning trainer hold up against his Rock types?

He gave a hearty laugh. "Given that you know what Pokemon I use, will you still challenge me, knowing that you'll lose?"

"I... My Pokemon and I will pull through! I believe in them!"

"That's the Trainer's honor that compels you to challenge me," Brock said, nodding his head. From his pocket, he took out a Poke Ball. "You said that you were going for your first Gym Badge, correct?"

"Yeah."

"In that case, we'll just have a two on two battle."

On the board, a display was revealed. There was a Poke Ball in the middle, the two trainers' faces on opposite sides and two smaller, grayer Poke Balls next to each of them, all in front of a dark brown background.

"The first person to knock out the other's two Pokemon will win. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Good. Now, show me your best!" Brock tossed the Poke Ball upwards and out onto the battlefield. From the red light came a gray, plated rhinoceros. It stomped on the battlefield with one foot and waited for its opponent.

"Rhyhorn: the Spikes Pokemon.

Although Rhyhorn isn't too bright, it is very strong. Its bones are much tougher than human bones. Because of this, it can knock over trailers and break down skyscrapers with its charging tackles."

Red had to weigh up his options. Considering that neither of his Pokemon would be able to do much damage to Rock type Pokemon, he had to think of another way he could win. Despite Rhyhorn's rocky plating, there might have been a weak spot on it that he could exploit, even with a not very effective move. Its underside, perhaps? But what were the odds of it being exposed in the middle of battle? Rhyhorn looked primed for battle and was ready to tank any incoming attack.

"Metapod, I'm counting on you!"

As the Cocoon Pokemon appeared, Brock raised an eyebrow. "You're going to use a Bug type Pokemon?" he asked skeptically. "Don't you know that Bug types are weak to Rock types?"

"Let's just battle," Red replied. From the side, Leaf noticed a certain fire in his eyes. "I already told you that my Pokemon will pull through." Rhyhorn and Metapod appeared on the scoreboard next to their respective trainers. They were in full color, since the Pokemon themselves were active in battle. Switching out would display them in a slight grayscale, while a knockout would display them in black.

"Confident, are we? Alright. I'll let you have the first move."

"Thanks. Metapod, use Harden!"

The Bug type's body tensed and shined. Leaf watched on, clasping her hands. Metapod may have had the type disadvantage, but hopefully, the increase in defense made up for it.

"If you won't try to do damage, then I will," Brock said. "Rhyhorn, use Horn Attack!"

The Spikes Pokemon's horn glowed white as it burst forward. It stomped across the battlefield so loudly, it was like a deep sounding drum roll. Normally, beginning trainers would have been scared out of their pants to see such a beast charge into their precious little Pidgey, but Red did his best to keep his composure.

"Stop Rhyhorn with String Shot!"

A sticky string was fired, wrapping itself around the charging rhinoceros. Rhyhorn's stampede was put to an end... temporarily. As soon as Red ordered Metapod to use Harden again, Leaf caught onto what he was up to. Keep buying time with String Shot to raise Metapod's defense with Harden! Playing keepaway would surely tire Rhyhorn out, right? Red was elate. He could work his way around a type disadvantage!

Little did he know, Brock saw through his strategy.

"Break out of it, Rhyhorn!"

While Metapod toughened up his defense, Rhyhorn tensed, until the strength of its own body caused the trap to break apart.

"String Shot again, Metapod!" Red called out.

But as soon as the move was launched, Brock smirked. "Use Horn Attack to cut that string!"

Rhyhorn charged forward once again, its horn glowing. Despite not being too clever, it was able to listen to the Pewter Gym Leader's orders. Before the string could circle around its target, the Spikes Pokemon stopped moving and sliced apart the string with Horn Attack. The satisfaction on Red's face then turned into shock. Now that Brock put a stop to the 'buff and debuff' cycle, he planned to go all out. And he did!

"Rock Blast!"

A gray energy sphere formed at the tip of his Pokemon's horn. From it, more energy spheres were fired, morphing themselves into jagged hunks of rock.

"Metapod, you can take it!"

Red's hopes were then shattered, as each of the five rocks smashed into the cocoon. Brock was silent, though he had to hand it to the challenger. None of the bug catchers thought to use any form of strategy, instead resorting to petty Poison Stings from Weedle. However, a weakness to the Rock type was still a weakness to the Rock type, no matter how much defense was pumped into the Pokemon receiving the attack. Metapod ended up taking much more damage than Red hoped and the shaky rocking motion he made showed that he was worn out already!

"M-Metapod...?"

"It's over for your Bug Pokemon," Brock said. "Horn Attack!"

Rhyhorn pointed its glowing horn at its opponent at it stomped on. Desperately, Red called for another String Shot, but the move was cut through easily. With the target in range, Rhyhorn lunged forward, sending Metapod flying with a Horn Attack. The Cocoon Pokemon flew past Red and dropped on the floor behind him.

"Metapod!" Red turned to Metapod, whose eyes were swirled. "No..."

"Your efforts to stall were fruitless," Brock told him. "In fact, look at the position you're in now." He motioned to the scoreboard. Just as programmed, the image of Metapod was blacked out, signaling that he was no longer able to battle. However, Rhyhorn was still going strong.

Shaken up, Red returned Metapod. "I'm sorry... Just rest for now."

Pikachu looked at Red with concern. What would he do next? Was Brock simply too strong for his trainer? Meanwhile, Leaf looked crestfallen for her friend. Both of them were so sure that the 'buff and debuff' cycle would work and it seemed like the perfect plan in both their heads! In practice, though, it fell apart.

"What now?" Brock asked, before facing Pikachu. "I'm assuming that you'll use your Electric type next? Let me warn you in advance that Electric attacks will do nothing to Rhyhorn, who's a Rock and Ground type. If you have nothing else, I suggest you quit while you're behind."

Red clenched a fist. "No way...! If Pikachu's all I've got, I'll fight to the end!" With that said, Pikachu jumped forward. If Red was willing to give it one more go, then so was he!

The Gym Leader sighed. "Very well," he then said. "Rhyhorn, use Rock Blast!"

Hunks of rock were shot out once more, but Red wasn't about to stand there and let his Pokemon take the hits. Pikachu sprang into action, leaping to the side and away from the attack. Brock didn't call off the assault, though, for he ordered for another wave of projectile attacks. Rock Blast was dodged again, but Red was getting nowhere by constantly avoiding. He saw a third Rock Blast barrage head Pikachu's way and knew what he had to do.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack, but jump on each rock!"

The Mouse Pokemon shot forward in a burst of speed, leaving a while trail behind. Nimbly, he pounced from the first rock, to the second, to the third, and to the fourth. From there, Pikachu charged at Rhyhorn. Rhyhorn was a tough Pokemon to crack, so Pikachu had to put a lot of force into Quick Attack. Unfortunately, the impact was only able to budge Rhyhorn and it wasn't enough to do any real damage. Rhyhorn gave a look at Pikachu, who stepped back. Slowly.

"Rhyhorn, use Stomp!"

The rhinoceros reared up on its hind legs. Then, it slammed its front feet down. Luckily, Pikachu jumped back in time, to see a cloud of dust around where Rhyhorn stomped.

"Back up some more, Pikachu," Red said. The Mouse Pokemon obeyed, scurrying away from Rhyhorn. "Okay. Now, use Growl!"

Just like he did against Blue's Eevee, Pikachu yelled aloud, releasing shockwaves at his opponent. Rhyhorn winced as they soared across it, but it managed to get back its composure. Before the growl ended, Brock told his Pokemon to use Rock Blast once more. A volley of rocks was headed Pikachu's way again. He hid behind a stalagmite to protect himself from the first, and he nailed the second and third with Thunder Shocks, but he couldn't muster enough energy to do anything about the last two. They slammed into Pikachu and sent him flying across the battlefield. Red felt his heart beat faster and faster, while Leaf became increasingly anxious for her friend. The children around her, who she assumed were Brock's family, eagerly awaited the final blow. After all, no one should be able to beat Brock with a measly Metapod and Pikachu!

"Finish this, Rhyhorn, with Horn Attack!"

Pikachu struggled to get up and could do nothing about the incoming Rhyhorn, despite Red shouting for him to get out of there. With one final jab from the Spikes Pokemon's horn, Pikachu was knocked out.

"You did it, big bro!" one of the spectators called out, confirming that they were all Brock's siblings.

"You really are the best, Brock!" another added.

The scoreboard may have illuminated as it displayed the fact that Brock won the battle, but the world seemed to freeze around Red. He walked into the Gym, confident that he would win his first Gym Badge, but he couldn't even knock out Brock's first Pokemon! As Brock's siblings cheered the Gym Leader on, Leaf got out of her seat. The defeat must have been heart-crushing for her friend, so she had to go up and comfort him. At the same time, Red slowly walked up to Pikachu. He reached down for him and cradled the Pokemon in his arms. They shared the same look of disappointment, not in each other, but in themselves.

"You did great, Pikachu," Red said. "It's... my fault that we lost."

Pikachu shook his head. "Pika. Pika pika. Chu..."

"No, Pikachu. I-"

"Red." And there he was: the Gym Leader, standing in front of Red. What would he do, chastise him for being so foolish? Tell him that he was only fighting a losing battle? That he was weak? "That was a fine attempt from you."

"W-What...?"

"All my previous challenger did was use Steel Wing and Double Kick over and over. It won him the battle, but not without being so reckless. You... Instead of using brute strength all the way, you used strategy. Attempting to boost your Metapod's stats and lower my Rhyhorn's was something that most new trainers wouldn't have even thought to do!"

The pep talk was nice, but Red knew that Brock didn't come here to give him a gold star for effort. "It wasn't enough, though, was it?" he asked, looking downwards.

Leaf placed a hand on his shoulder. "Red..."

Brock answered the boy's question by shaking his head. "What good is a strategy if you don't have the strength to back it up?" he added. "It's like constructing a building, Red. Your foundation was there, but you didn't have the power to build on top of it, so it couldn't yield a good result. It was a good idea to raise your defenses and lower my offenses, but none of your Pokemon could take advantage of it because your attacks weren't very effective against Rock."

Red remained silent, taking in all that Brock was saying.

After allowing him time to think, the Gym Leader said, "Go out and train some more. Then, when you're ready, we'll have a rematch."

For a while, it was silent at the Pokemon Center's sleeping room.

Red looked out the window, hoping to see the moon shining down. Unfortunately, he found that it was obscured by clouds. Just what he needed... And if that wasn't enough, shortly after, he couldn't help but hear a pitter-patter on the window. There was a slight drizzle. Typical. Typical that the weather would reflect on Red's mood right now. It was as if the Pokegods themselves decided to toy with him and literally rain on his parade! That was what Red thought, anyway...

...though he knew that he was exaggerating, all because of one loss.

Remember, my son. Never give up, no matter how many times you stumble, whether it be once, twice or even a thousand times. Learn from your mistakes and become stronger from them.

Those were his father's words, which happened to come to mind at this time. Red shouldn't have been so worked up over being defeated by Brock, since he knew that he was going to face losses at some point during his journey. But having been swept in a battle so easily, having to face defeat so soon... That was what truly got to Red.

However, the more he thought about it, the more it hit him that he fought an uphill battle. He knew that neither Pikachu nor Metapod could do much damage against Rock types, yet he didn't take up Leaf's offer and borrow her Water type. And for what? Just to uphold his beliefs about using his own Pokemon to win? Admirable, perhaps, but it didn't yield much success. In fact, it yielded zero success. During the battle, as soon as Red thought of a strategy, he relied on it too much. Brock was a Gym Leader. He must have known about all sorts of tricks that any opponent would pull on him.

'I'm so reckless... What was I thinking...?'

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door.

"Red? It's me, Leaf."

Pikachu knew that Red didn't feel like talking. "Pika pi!" he yipped, allowing Leaf to enter.

As soon as she walked in, a spicy, yet aromatic scent filled the room, getting Red's attention. She placed two plates on the desk. They both held... rice with meat that was covered in a golden sauce...? Curry rice? But of course! It was one of Red's favorite dishes, so he could recognize the smell of it from a mile away! Leaf pulled up a seat next to her friend and gave him a small smile. With that done, she dug in.

Next to Red's plate was a bottle of ketchup that Red had been left for Pikachu for a while. Until now, though, the Mouse Pokemon couldn't lick away, since his partner felt so down. However, it seemed that the magic powers of curry rice cheered the human up. There was no doubt that he wouldn't mind Pikachu having his own dinner alongside him!

But it wasn't magic that made Red feel better. It was the fact that Leaf took a little bit of her time to pick him up when he was down. The gesture made Red feel warm inside. It was at this point he told himself that wallowing in disappointment would get him nowhere and that reprimanding himself would only make things worse. He kept his father's words to heart and vowed to train, train for the rematch with Brock and to get his first Gym Badge. But in order to gain an advantage against Brock, what could he do?

Hmm...

Eh, that could wait. There was dinner to be eaten!

Author's Notes

Probably the most important chapter so far, folks. And you read it correctly. Red lost against Brock. Now, before you guys swarm me with hate PMs, please hear me out.

I felt that if Red won every battle he took part in, it wouldn't leave much for him to learn from. The adventures of a 'God Mode' protagonist is not what I have in store for you all because I don't think there's much to take from it. Mistakes wouldn't be made, since Red would have been perfect from the get-go, so there would be little sense of character development. Ultimately, this novelization wouldn't have been so interesting. Also, in my head-canon, Red is not a 'top tier' battler and even he faced his fair share of defeats. Because of this, I believe that he earned the title of 'Living Legend' for rising up the ranks, starting with being a novice trainer from Pallet Town.

However, that's not to say that Red is clueless. He knew what he was getting himself into during this chapter, but because he wanted to earn the Gym Badge with his own efforts, he went in with what he had. As he's now realized, going with his gut is not the only thing that matters when battling against a Gym Leader. It also takes strength and a strategy. He had the latter with Metapod, sure, but how would he have capitalized? Have Pikachu set off the sprinklers? XD

Sorry for the rambling. I just had to get that out there, in case I offended anyone by having Red lose. ^^

Another thing. Brock used a Rhyhorn, when he doesn't do this in the Kanto games. I wanted to mix up the Gym Leaders' rosters a bit. Be on the lookout for any other differences. You might be pleasantly surprised! Or not. I might set off you purists' rage! I'm not deviating that far from the source material, am I? XD

-Have a great day, week, month, whatever, and stay upbeat, y'all!-