Here comes another chapter of Holly Rising! No prompt this time, because it ties into the last one.

As always, see the author's notes for details, and I do not own Pokémon. All prompts are the property of The Artist Zone's Wizardmonfan, and are being summarized with permission.


6. Rock and Roll

Even with her enthusiasm, Holly knew that going to the Gym without proper preparation was not a good idea.

At least she could stop and heal her Pokémon.

Thankfully, the wounds didn't take long to heal, and she was soon on her way. The doors of the Gym swung open, and in the center she could see a man.

Or rather, an older boy.

But there was no question that he acted older than he looked, as his eyes were full of maturity. Holly found his tan skin odd, as she didn't think of Pewter as a place with a lot of sun. Perhaps it ran in his family.

Her opponent wore simple clothing, yet it looked like it could withstand even the greatest distances. The green shirt with its orange underclothing already looked like it had seen many travels.

To say nothing about the bottom half of his clothing. Even though it was a darker brown, Holly thought she could still see the scuffles on it from many a hard journey.

She may not have known what types of journeys the person in front of her had gone on, but she knew his name.

He was Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader.

Brock looked her up and down, before calmly replying.

"Hello, my name is Brock, and welcome to the Pewter City Gym! I take it you are a challenger."

Holly nodded.

"I am."

"Then, why don't we get right to it?"

He started into the Gym, and Holly followed.

She momentarily thought it odd that Brock didn't address her as Erika's adopted daughter. They were both Gym Leaders, after all.

Then again, just because she was a Gym Leader's adopted daughter did not mean that she was known outside of Celadon. She hadn't been to this area before, after all.

The area got noticeably darker as Brock led her to the very back of the gym. Holly could still make out the white markings of a battle arena. Straining her eyes, she noticed the arena was just as dark, and jagged rocks were everywhere.

Holly wondered if he could make the type he used any more obvious.

But she had to stop her wonderings as she almost tripped on the way to the arena. She took her place at the right of it, while Brock stood across from her. She noticed another man in the middle. He was probably the judge.

Holly zoned out as the man rambled on about the rules. She'd seen enough Gym matches with her adoptive mother to know what they were.

An official gym battle... Gym Leader will use two Pokémon...

She'd heard it all, many times.

Some walked away with Badges. Some without.

Holly wondered which one she would be.

However, she was so into her own thoughts that she hardly heard Brock say "Are you ready?"

Holly nodded.

"Then let's go." He replied.

Brock picked up a Poké Ball, tossing it into the air.

"Go Rhyhorn!"

A Pokémon appeared and roared across from Holly.

Its red eyes darted around, observing everything. Its rugged body carried what looked like spikes on its back, and as its name implied, a giant horn.

The Pokémon pawed at the ground, anxious for a challenge.

Holly grinned.

She would certainly give it one.

She threw her own Poké Ball, shouting "Go, Tangela!"

Her blue Grass type Pokémon appeared in a flash of light. It stared curiously at the foe.

But Holly wasted no time.

"Tangela, Vine Whip!"

At her command, the Pokémon shot out blue vines.

The blue vines smacked into the Rhyhorn, and it roared again.

Only this time, Holly knew it was pain.

Holly winced. The poor Pokémon…

She couldn't imagine how much pain it was in from that last strike…

And it was a direct, powerful, hit too…

But a battle was a battle, and a badge was a badge.

And both were important.

Holly knew this well.

So the battle had to go on, regardless of who was in pain.

However, it didn't look like the Rhyhorn was ready to go down just yet.

It stared back at Holly, determination lingering in its eyes.

Holly resisted the urge to clench her fist.

Of course Rhyhorn would survive one hit. Weakness or no, it was much stronger than her Tangela.

And that meant Brock had the next attack.

He pointed. "Horn Attack!"

The Rhyhorn charged at Tangela, its horn gleaming bright.

It smashed into Tangela, and the blue Pokémon was sent flying backward.

Its eyes were squeezed shut, and it wouldn't stop wobbling even as it got to its feet.

It looked like it would faint right there.

Holly gritted her teeth.

If Tangela fainted, there may not be a lot of other choices. Mawile could defend, but it didn't have much in the way of attack. And who knew what type of strategies Brock could use. Surely, he would come up with a defense against hers!

And Pikachu and Torracat did not stand a chance.

Luckily, Holly didn't have to remain pessimistic for long.

Tangela opened its eyes, staring back at the opponent. It may have been injured, but it clearly wanted to win.

And Holly wasn't about to deny it that chance.

"Tangela, Vine Whip!"

Tangela shot out its vines again and smacked the Rhyhorn. The Rhyhorn let out a roar so loud that Holly had to cover her ears.

Yet the noise was cut short when Rhyhorn crumbled to the ground.

It was clear there was no getting up.

Holly smiled as she heard the familiar sound of the judge calling her Pokémon the victor.

Yet Brock stayed calm as he recalled his Pokémon in a red flash of light.

"Hey, you're pretty strong."

"Thank you." Holly replied quickly.

"You're welcome." Brock smiled back.

But his smile and politeness did not prevent Holly from seeing the Poké Ball in his hand.

Before she could inquire about what it contained, he replied, "Since you are so strong, let's see how you handle my next Pokémon!"


Author's notes

On to the beginning of the Gym battle! Gym Leaders are given certain Pokémon that they can use in the RP, and the player can select which ones the battle against. In this case, Brock has three Pokémon, and he brings two into battle. I chose Rhyhorn because I felt it wasn't seen as often, and therefore, it was a bit more interesting.

-Originally, I was thinking of having Tangela defeat Rhyhorn in one hit. However, Rhyhorn had a significant level lead over Tangela, so I figured that would be unlikely even with it being double weak to Grass. Furthermore, Tangela was using move that did physical damage, and Rhyhorn has good defense against physical attacks. So, I went with a two-hit knockout instead.