A/N Thanks to everyone who reviewed and voted in the poll, this is the last chapter to vote for this one. After this I'll be putting up the second part of it.
(Notice) (not sure what i'm supposed to put to let people know this is important) the rate I update this at will be fairly random for a while, since I just moved and right now my computer is in storage. not sure if this means much to that many people, but I thought you should know.
Thanks to uranium235 for beta reading this as always.
Reviews
Kitsune of dark fire - personally I didn't really think about it at the time and had to reread it to see, but now that I think about it, the unavoidable moves seem to be extremely unrealistic, even in pokemon logic. For example, aerial ace has the user diving then appearing right in front of the opponent, but gloom was in the middle of the woods, surrounded by trees and bushes, so that would definitely have some kind of effect on aerial ace's accuracy. Thank you for pointing the slip up out to me though.
Disclaimer – is there really a need to do this every time I make a chapter? I clearly don't own pokemon L
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"Insert words here" telepathy
Ch 7 finally out of the forest
After waking up and going through their morning routine to prepare for the day, Ash, Cynthia and Pikachu were sitting in the cafeteria finishing their respective breakfast. (A/N from now on I'm just going to leave it as is so I don't keep having to put in these author's notes, so unless otherwise, just imagine what you please for their meals)
After they finished their food, the three began to head out for the Pewter City Gym when Ash remembered that Cynthia told him he needed to register for the league first. He made his way over to the main desk, where Nurse Joy stood at attention to help any trainers that might need assistance.
Nurse Joy looked at the two trainers as they approached her, "Good morning, how may I help you?" she asked while smiling kindly. Ash returned the smile, shocking the nurse when he didn't comment on meeting her in Viridian City like just about every new trainer did when they came through. Ash had already been given a short warning about the bizarre situation with the Joy family and the Jenny family.
"Good morning, I was hoping you might be able to register me to compete in the Pokémon league," Ash asked. 'I really hope I'm not too late,' he thought, since he knew he was behind schedule for most rookie trainers.
"You're cutting it close, but yes I can register you, today is the last day that registrations are being accepted for the league this year," Nurse Joy said as she was typing something into the computer. After a couple of minutes of typing, she looked up from the computer, "I'll need your Pokédex for a moment to register you please," Ash handed over his Pokédex, which the nurse took, opened it, and proceeded to hook it up to the computer. After another minute, she disconnected the Pokémon scanner and handed it back to Ash.
"Thank you" Ash said before he started to head back out of the common Center with Cynthia.
As they walked out Cynthia couldn't help but sweat drop at the scene that had just unfolded, 'They didn't even acknowledge that I was there,' she thought somewhat depressed as she followed Ash as he headed towards his destination, which was the Pewter Gym.
"CLOSED?!" Ash yelled, startling Cynthia from her thoughts, and almost making Pikachu fall off his shoulder in surprise. Sure enough there was a sign that said closed on the door to the large building that had seemingly appeared in front of her. Looking at the sign, she read more after the closed part, 'For cleaning, will reopen at noon,' again Cynthia had to sweat drop while she thought to herself, 'It's an arena where Pokémon will hurl boulders and fireballs at each other, what's the point of cleaning it?'
While Cynthia was questioning the intelligence of the Gym staff's actions, Ash finished reading the rest of the sign once he had finally calmed down (AKA been Thundershocked by Pikachu) "Well now what do we do until noon?" he said out loud.
Seeing that Ash had no plans, Cynthia's eyes lit up with a fairly large amount of excitement before she spoke up, "Well, we could go take a look at the museum at the north end of town," she said hopefully. Cynthia had always been fond of history and archeology on account of growing up with her grandmother, who was a widely respected researcher. Her grandmother had told her about the museum in Pewter City, and how she had enjoyed every second of her tour, something that Cynthia herself was determined to experience.
Ash, seeing the enthusiasm that his friend had towards the museum, smiled as he replied to her suggestion, "Well, that sounds like it could be fun, let's go!" he said before he suddenly found himself being dragged by the blonde girl to what he guessed was the museum. Thinking to himself as he heard Pikachu yelling in shock and fear, 'I hope she won't be like this every time we find a museum.'
10 minutes of dragging later…
Ash was relieved when Cynthia finally stopped long enough for him to stand up, before he looked up to see where she had decided to stop. He was fairly impressed with the building in front of him. The building seemed to have a look that was similar to a mansion, while having a few characteristics of a warehouse, with an archway leading to the doors. Taking a look at Cynthia, Ash noticed something, "…Are you crying?" he asked, though mentally he was saying something different entirely, 'Note to self: never make any mention of history or anything else that can be related to a museum.' He, honestly, was a little freaked out by her actions since mentioning the museum.
Snapping out of her museum induced trance, Cynthia shook her head for a moment before replying. "n-no," she stuttered with her face red in embarrassment.
"Right…" Ash replied, clearly not believing her but not pressing the issue any further as he turned towards the doors of the museum, which had many people walking in and out, "Well, we should head in now right?" he asked, causing the blonde trainer to perk up and nod her head in agreement.
Making their way to the doors, Ash and Cynthia took a look around the interior of the museum and both were impressed by the sheer size of the building. Seeing a desk with two women standing behind it with people walking over, both walked over to it realizing that this was where they would pay admission.
When they arrived the woman on the right smiled at them, "Hello, and welcome to the Pewter City history and archeology museum, would you like to buy a ticket? It is $50, though it only lasts until you leave," she asked both of the trainers.
Cynthia spoke up before Ash could accept, "We'll take two tickets please!" she then blushed when she saw several people look at her, many smirking in amusement.
The woman giggled before she started to ring up the total of the two tickets she soon paused as she looked back to the two trainers, "Will you be paying for these separately or will one of you be paying for both?" At this, the two trainers looked at each other for a moment.
Cynthia was about to speak up, but she was beaten to the punch when Ash spoke up first, "I'll pay for them both," he said as he handed his Pokédex to the woman for her to make the transaction. Cynthia was slightly embarrassed since she was going to pay for herself, since she thought that Ash had the same idea.
After receiving their tickets, the two made their way into the museum, but stopped when Cynthia looked at Ash with a slightly irritated look, "Ash, I could have paid for myself," she said. She felt bad that he had used more of what little money he had on her.
"Don't worry about it. I just thought it would be faster than waiting for the two transactions. Plus I wanted to say thanks for all the help you've given me over the past few days." Ash's response surprised her, since she hadn't felt that there was much need for thanks. 'All the same, I'll enjoy the museum,' she thought with a smile.
For the next hour, the two trainers were looking at the different exhibits that were scattered around the museum. Cynthia took a fairly great interest in a few old tablets that depicted scenes from a few old civilizations. Ash hadn't really been interested in that many of the exhibits, until he saw a sign that mentioned fossils of ancient Pokémon that were on display. As a Pokémon trainer, Ash instantly took interest in the Pokémon that had been around long ago, though this was more along the lines of "what would it be like to battle that Pokémon" than anything else.
As the two trainers began making their way to the fossil exhibit to finish up their tour, they both noticed that two people were standing beside the fossils, seemingly arguing. As they got closer they began to hear more of the conversation.
"…And I'm telling you the answer is no," the man on the left side said, who was wearing what looked like a scientist's lab coat, 'Probably one of the researcher's that works here,' Cynthia thought.
The person on the left, now looking to be a kid barely older than Cynthia herself, spoke up, "I've already told you I'm willing to pay for them." As he said this Cynthia began to feel a fair bit of dislike towards the boy. As the boy was refused once again, what he said next made her very angry, "These things are just collecting dust like the rest of this useless crap, I don't see any point in wasting these fossils when they could be made to be a powerful Pokémon for any trainer to use in the league."
Cynthia immediately knew why she didn't like the boy now; he was someone who felt that everything should be used for gaining more power for oneself, otherwise it was useless. She hated people like that, because she had been that selfish not so long ago. Walking up to the arguing pair, Cynthia spoke up, cutting off the scientist who was about to make his own response, "How dare you insult the history stored here! Those fossils are an important part of history, not some tool to be used for you to satisfy your own bloated ego in battle."
The boy grew an arrogant sneer on his face before he responded to her rant, "All they do is just sit there. If you ask me they should be put to actual use instead of being wasted for the 'precious history' that these scientists are so concerned with."
At his statement Ash also was getting angry at the boy's attitude, since it reminded him far too much of his former friend Gary, who felt that whatever he knew was best and that he was right no matter what. "And what makes you think that you know any better about how to use them?" Ash spoke up, drawing the boy's attention to him.
Seeing that he was being cornered, the boy started to get an angry look on his face, "If you think you're so great why don't you prove it instead of talking all big?" the boy said, as if starting a fight would make him right.
Normally, Ash would have accepted the challenge regardless of the consequences, but he really didn't want to be around the kid since he was starting to bring out some memories of being humiliated growing up by Gary, 'It's bad enough I have to deal with Gary all the time, but this guy is worse.'
Seeing that Ash was moments away from getting into a fight with the boy that was insulting his profession, the scientist intervened, "I'm afraid that battles aren't allowed in the museum, and I'll have to ask you to leave since you are disrupting the other visitors," he said as he sent a look at the gathering crowd that was looking on at the scene.
Not to be deterred, the boy spoke up again, "Well then I guess we'll take this outside," he said as if Ash had already accepted his challenge.
Cynthia again spoke up, seeing a chance to close the conversation, "Well, I'm afraid that we would then have to pay for another pair of tickets, and I don't really think that you would be worth it, no offense," she finished with clearly false politeness.
Angry about being spoken too in such a way, the boy started to reach for a Pokéball, when he was grabbed by the shoulder. Looking up he noticed that someone had sent for a security guard to deal with the troublemaker, "I believe you were asked to leave, out of courtesy I'll ask you once more, please leave the building," the guard stated with very little emotion.
Knowing that he lost the argument, the boy huffed and walked away, causing the crowd to start dispersing seeing the incident was over.
The scientist turned back to look at Ash and Cynthia, and sighed in relief, "Thank you for helping me deal with that situation, I'm sure he would have gotten out of hand a lot faster if it was just me talking to him," the man said gratefully.
"It's no problem, I can't stand people who have no respect for the history held in places like this," Cynthia said with a smile.
"Yeah, that guy reminded me of someone I don't like anyway, always thinking that he is right about everything," Ash started with a normal tone of voice that descended into an angry mumble by the end of his sentence.
"Well I really do need to thank you though, it gets tiresome dealing with people that want to try to purchase our exhibits, almost always wanting the Pokémon fossils," the man said with a tired sigh as he thought of all the incidents that he had dealt with in the last week alone.
Ash was then reminded about something that the boy had mentioned, "Um… excuse me sir," he spoke up.
The scientist interrupted him though, "Please, call me Chris, it always makes it easier if you know someone's name when you're talking, you know."
"All right, Chris, what was that boy talking about when he said that the fossils could be made into a powerful Pokémon for the league?" Ash asked curiously.
"Well, it was recently discovered that the fossils of Pokémon that have been extinct for years…" at this he noticed the look on Ash's face at the word extinct, "It means they were wiped out a long time ago." Getting a nod of understanding Chris continued, "it was discovered that with the right equipment and a scientist that has the right know-how can bring a fossil back to life as a genuine Pokémon." At this both Ash and Cynthia's eyes widened at just what could be done with this knowledge.
"Well anyway, I was planning to give you this as thanks for helping me with that annoying brat." At this, both Ash and Cynthia laughed with Chris. After the three were done laughing, Chris pulled a rock from his pocket that had what looked like a small bug frozen inside, which he then handed to Ash. Seeing Ash's confused look, he explained, "It's called amber. See the bug there, it's what's called a mosquito, a bug that would suck blood out of humans and Pokémon to feed itself." At this both Ash and Cynthia shuddered at something feeding on their blood. "This amber is extremely old, it used to be tree sap believe it or not, but after the bug got stuck in it, the sap hardened, turning it into a makeshift fossil."
Realizing that the stone he was holding was more valuable than it first seemed, Ash made sure to keep a firm grip on it, causing Chris to laugh at his care, "Well it's nice to see that you can appreciate the history behind it." Ash smiled good naturedly in response.
Cynthia spoke up at this point, "Are you sure you can just give something away like that? Isn't it important?" At this Chris waved her off as if to say not to worry.
"It's not really museum property, it's something I found a while back while I was going through a shop to kill some time. Though I gave it to you for another reason." At this he got curious looks from both Ash and Cynthia, upon which he continued what he was saying, "There have been a few rumors going around that amber like this can be used in the same way a fossil can, but none of them have been confirmed. I figure that maybe at some point you might run across someone who can restore that for you." As he finished both Ash and Cynthia had wide eyes at just what that meant.
One of the few facts that were well known about ancient Pokémon was that even when they were young they showed insane potential for becoming extraordinarily powerful if trained correctly. Ash then thanked Chris for such a generous gift, which he wave off once again. "Don't mention it, I just want to know whether those rumors are true or not, it would mean a lot for the scientific community, though I don't know why nobody else has looked into it yet," Chris said offhandedly as he bid the two trainers farewell and walked off.
Looking at one another, Ash nodded to Cynthia before he placed the amber carefully into his backpack, making sure it would be kept safe from harm. After re-securing his backpack, Ash looked at the clock in front of the entrance to the museum and saw that it was almost noon. "Hey Cynthia, I think we should start heading to the Gym now," he said.
Cynthia gained a disappointed look on her face for a moment before looking at the clock and realized that they should get going. Reluctantly, she nodded in agreement, "Let's get going then," she said.
The two then made their way back to the entrance, and proceeded out the doors with the women at the counter wishing them a good day. Once outside, both trainers made their way to the Pewter City Gym, for what would be Ash's greatest challenge so far.
10 minutes later (outside the Pewter City Gym)…
By the time that Ash, Cynthia, and Pikachu arrived at the Gym they realized that they still had a couple minutes to wait. During this time, Ash took in the design of the building and realized that he had no real idea how to deal with a rock type Pokémon since he had no type advantage. 'This might end badly,' Ash thought to himself as he began to think on what he could do to beat the Gym leader. He was startled from his thoughts when Cynthia tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.
"Ash, the Gym is open, aren't you gonna go in?" she asked, though she was simultaneously thinking, 'He must be nervous, and he doesn't have a type advantage against rock types either.' She knew that he would have a hard time, but she hoped he would remember the first thing she taught him regarding Pokémon, typing was an advantage, but it wasn't everything.
Taking a deep breath, Ash pushed open the doors of the Gym and stepped inside, only to be greeted by darkness. "Hello? Is anyone there?" he said loudly, hoping to get an answer from someone in the place.
His prayer was answered when a voice shouted out in response, "Who goes there!?" The suddenness of the voice startled both Ash and Cynthia as they couldn't see anything.
Ash calmed himself enough to reply, "I'm Ash Ketchum from pallet town, I've come to challenge the Gym leader to a battle." In response to his statement, the lights suddenly flicked on, causing both Ash and Cynthia to grab their faces to help their eyes adjust to the insane change in brightness.
Across from them, the Gym leader sweat dropped when he saw the two trainers reactions to the light switching on, 'Maybe turning on all the lights at once was a bad idea,' he thought to himself.
After a few minutes, Ash and Cynthia finally were able to see clearly and looked to see the Gym leader sitting across the Gym from them. He was a young man that looked about 15 with dark skin, he was wearing an orange t-shirt that was covered by a green vest. He was wearing a pair of dark orange pants that had a small pouch on the right side. The thing that caught their attention most was his face, he had short slightly messy, spiked brown hair, his eyes were seemingly closed but if one were to look closely than they would see that he had extremely squinted eyes.
After taking a moment to take in the Gym leader's appearance, both Ash and Cynthia felt they had to ask a question that was fairly relevant at the moment.
"What was the point of turning off all the lights like that?!" the two trainers shouted, causing the Gym leader to scratch the back of his head and laugh sheepishly.
"Well, you see, I didn't get the chance to turn them on before you walked in," he said, making Ash, Cynthia, and Pikachu all sweat drop, "Anyway, my name is Brock Harrison, I believe you were looking to challenge me, Ash was it?" the now named man asked as he started to stand up.
"Uh, yes sir, I was hoping to battle you for the league Badge so I can compete in the Pokémon league," Ash said somewhat timidly since he had no idea how to approach the situation at hand.
Brock, seeing the unease in the younger trainer gave a good natured laugh and put a hand on Ash's shoulder, "No need to be so nervous, I'd be glad to accept your challenge, but please, just call me Brock," he said, causing Ash to calm down quickly. "Now Ash, the rules for a Gym battle are slightly different from normal battles. In this case, it will be a 2 on 2 battle with me being unable to switch Pokémon until they are defeated, but you have the right to switch at will." Ash nodded to signal his understanding.
Both trainers took their places at the opposite sides of the Gym's battlefield, which Cynthia was looking over from her position on the observation deck above the field. The field itself looked somewhat like the terrain of a mountain, with multiple rocks scattered here and there with a rocky floor. She looked to her right when she saw movement and took notice that there were several young children huddled around the railing, she immediately noticed that they all in some way had a resemblance to Brock, leading her to the conclusion that they must be family.
Down in the Gym the two trainers stood across from each other as the referee began to state the rules and conditions of the match, which both understood clearly.
"I'll be starting this off then," Brock said as he threw a Pokéball into the air, "Geodude, go!" he shouted as the ball released the Pokémon in the expected flash of light.
The light began to take shape, and when it was finished the Pokémon stood before Ash. It was clearly a rock type, on account of the Pokémon simply being a rock with two arms and a face. Removing Dexter from his jacket, Ash scanned Geodude and was given the familiar mechanical lecture on the Pokémon:
"Geodude, the rock Pokémon. Geodude uses its sturdy arms to steadily climb mountain paths. Geodude are known to bash against each other in a contest to prove whose body is harder. This Pokémon has incredibly high defensive power, making it virtually resistant to any physical attack," the Pokédex recited, causing Ash to feel nervous since he didn't really have anything that wasn't physical.
Ash knew he had to send out a Pokémon and made his choice, "Pikachu, you're up." The mouse jumped off his shoulder with a small cry and took his place across from Geodude.
"The match between Pikachu and Geodude will now begin," the referee stated, and Brock snapped into action.
"Geodude use Tackle!" The rock Pokémon complied and sent itself hurtling towards Pikachu with its powerful arms.
"Pikachu, dodge it and use quick attack!" Pikachu hopped to the side letting Geodude soar past him before he rushed at the rock Pokémon. The attack connected and for a moment nothing happened until Pikachu moaned in pain. Geodude smirked at the attempted counterattack.
"Geodude, grab Pikachu and throw it." Pikachu was unable to react as the rock type's arm shot out at surprising speed and seized him. On reflex he let out an electric charge that he knew from the look on Geodude's face, as well as his rational thinking, had no effect whatsoever. The mouse then found himself flying through the air on a collision course with a rock on the field.
Ash was at a loss as he saw that Pikachu's only non-electric attack had no effect on Geodude due to its insane defense power. As Pikachu was flying through the air, he made a desperate call, "Tuck in and try to minimize the damage." He hoped it would work, which thankfully it somewhat did. Pikachu was clearly still hurt, but he could still fight.
Brock was watching the fight, which he knew would most likely end in his victory. He knew that Ash wouldn't have any possible advantage since he had met three trainers with the starters that professor oak was offering for this year. He was standing by for the moment to see how the trainer would cope rather than pressing the advantage, since he knew his role was to test trainers and see how they would react to situations, not outright crush them and end any hopes they might have.
Ash was taking the time that he knew Brock was giving him to think of how to deal with Geodude, 'Quick Attack had no effect, and from the looks of things Thundershock and Thunder Wave wouldn't work either,' Ash thought. He made a mental list of the attacks that Pikachu could use when he suddenly remembered one of the moves that had completely been forgotten, "Pikachu use Tail Whip!" he called out hoping the move would help.
Tail Whip was a deceptive move, since it had only recently been figured out how hitting something with ones tail would make them more vulnerable to subsequent attacks. The Pokémon gathered up a bit of energy at their tail that was released at the point of impact, causing it to become more sensitive due to the point seeming to relax itself involuntarily and becoming incapable of tensing in response to an attack. The researchers were still trying to figure out what the energy was, but it seemed it was a fairly universal kind that almost all Pokémon possessed.
Pikachu managed to cross the gap between him and Geodude, and smacked the rock Pokémon in the face with his tail, causing the rock type to sputter for a moment due to the surprise of the attack.
Brock, from his position, knew that Ash had discovered a way around the high defense of rock types, so he decided to step up his game a bit, "Geodude, use Rock Throw!" he commanded.
The rock Pokémon complied by ripping small but still dangerous chunks of earth from the ground, which he then tossed at Pikachu, which the mouse narrowly avoided due to the obvious danger of the attack. But was surprised after the attack ended to see Geodude hurtling towards him in another vicious Tackle.
"Pikachu use Quick Attack into another Tail Whip!" Ash said, since he knew that outright dodging the attack was impossible at this point. Pikachu shot forward at the highest speed he could with so little time and swung his tail at Geodude's face again. As the attack made contact Geodude flinched, but kept going and hit Pikachu again, sending the mouse flying before he collided with the Gym floor. Ash was nervous when this happened but breathed a sigh of relief when Pikachu staggered to his feet.
Over with Geodude, the rock type was clearly disoriented, which surprised Brock, 'I guess the Quick Attack must've made the effect of Tail Whip that much stronger, and it hit the same spot again. We have to avoid getting hit there again,' he thought while he waited for Geodude to be a bit more coherent to issue another order, "Geodude, use Tackle with Defense Curl!" he ordered as Geodude again launched himself at Pikachu, only this time he tucked his arms around his face, causing him to start picking up speed faster than before.
"Pikachu get out of the way!" Ash yelled in panic, seeing how Tackle alone almost knocked Pikachu out, but this one was even stronger than the first two. Pikachu shakily dodged to the right as the rock Pokémon shot past him, only to smash into a rock on the field face first, shattering it but surprisingly making him cry out in pain when his face hit the rock. Ash was then reminded of the two Tail Whips that hit the rock type in the same spot, and grinned when he realized he was just given something to work with. "Pikachu use Quick Attack and Tail Whip again!" he yelled as the tired electric type began to move towards Geodude, steadily picking up speed as he approached the stunned rock type.
"Geodude, use defense curl!" Brock yelled urgently to try and save his Pokémon, though it failed as Pikachu smashed head on into Geodude, sending him crashing into the floor and knocking him out.
"Geodude is unable to battle, Pikachu wins!" the referee called as up in the observation deck, all of the children groaned in disappointment at their big brothers Pokémon being beaten.
"Geodude return," Brock said as he recalled the unconscious rock type to its Pokéball, "Well done Geodude," he complimented as he put the Pokéball back on his belt and grabbed a different one, "Ash, that was a great battle on your part, but I doubt Pikachu will be able to stand against this next Pokémon. Go Onix!" he finished with a shout as he tossed the Pokéball into the air, which made Ash go pale as he saw the Pokémon inside take shape.
Onix was a giant snake made of boulders with a large stone horn on top of its head. Onix stood itself up to its impressive height and released a massive roar that unnerved Ash even more than his size already did.
Ash took his Pokédex out with a slightly shaking hand and pointed it at Onix, and waited for the box to scan the rock-type.
"Onix, the rock snake Pokémon. Onix rapidly burrows through the ground at up to 50 mph by twisting its massive body. As it grows the stone portions of its body harden to become similar to black diamonds," the Pokédex finished.
"The battle between Pikachu and Onix will now begin," the referee stated as he noticed Ash was done with scanning Onix.
"Onix use Dig," Brock stated in a calm voice, which was followed by the massive rock type diving head first into the ground and kicking up a lot of dust and dirt as the rock snake quickly vanished under the arena.
Seeing their opponents' strategy made both Ash and Pikachu pale severely since both knew that they already had little chance to win this fight with the shape Pikachu was in.
After looking around nervously for a few moments trying to find Onix, the task was done for them when Brock called out, "Onix use bind," The command was followed with the giant Pokémon bursting from the ground inches away from Pikachu, who was promptly grabbed and squeezed by the rock snake.
Pikachu cried out in pain and tried to release an instinctive electric charge that wildly shot around the Gym, unknowingly hitting the sprinkler system above the arena, which, if one were looking, would have seen it loosen slightly and begin to leak a bit. Down below Pikachu was again squeezed by Onix, causing him to cry out in pain that was starting to make his vision go blurry.
Ash, upon seeing his friends obvious pain was about to forfeit, when Pikachu stopped him with a loud cry of anger before he forced his eyes open to meet Ash's gaze, as if to say 'we can still win.' Ash was then reminded that he still had one more Pokémon to choose for battling against Onix after Pikachu was defeated. Ash reluctantly nodded to Pikachu as the mouse finally gave up the fight and lost consciousness.
Seeing the mouse faint, Brock called for Pikachu to be released, which Onix did, making sure to gently place the tiny Pokémon on the ground, allowing Ash to step out onto the field and pick up his friend. As he walked back to his side of the battlefield, Cynthia walked over and took Pikachu from Ash.
"Don't worry Ash, Pikachu will be fine. Besides, you did great out there," Cynthia said as she saw the sad look on her friend's face.
Ash looked up and smiled gratefully for the encouragement that the blonde girl gave him and nodded before walking back to his place on the field.
"Will the challenger please send out his last Pokémon," the referee said as Ash returned to the field.
Ash was thinking about his only remaining Pokémon and how he could take on Onix with either one, 'Pidgeotto isn't exactly much of a choice since her typing and the fact she's a bird won't help much against something like Onix, not that Metapod is much better for this,' he thought as he then made his choice with a sigh. Taking a Pokéball he called out "Metapod, I choose you!"
Brock was surprised at the young trainer's choice since Metapod were known to be nearly immobile, making them easy targets for Pokémon like Onix. Up above, Brock's siblings were all chuckling at the challenger's choice of Pokémon while Cynthia was just watching, since she knew that Ash and Metapod had surprised her several times already.
"The battle between Onix and Metapod will now begin," the referee declared finally starting the match that would decide the victor.
"Onix use bind," Brock called out since he knew Metapod would be easy to capture, though he was surprised by Ash's next move.
"Metapod dodge it!" he shouted, which surprisingly prompted a string shot from the cocoon Pokémon's mouth and connected with the ceiling to drag him out of harm's way as Onix crashed to the ground where Metapod had been standing. The building shook with the force of the rock snake's collision with the Gym floor, rattling the already damaged sprinklers, which still had gone unnoticed by everyone.
Seeing his opportunity, Ash called out another order, "Metapod, swing into a Tackle and use Harden!" His shout brought a shocked look to the Pewter Gym leaders face.
"Onix counter with Tackle!" Brock shouted urgently, since Metapod and Kakuna were known to be among the most sturdy users of Harden, which made them rival rock types and their impressive defenses.
The rock snake rushed towards the cocoon Pokémon that was swinging towards it, coated in a light sheen that accompanied the use of Harden. The two Pokémon collided head on and the impact caused Onix to visibly wince in pain, but eventually, it managed to send Metapod flying through the air to crash into the floor and slide away.
Ash looked at his injured Pokémon and then was horrified when he saw a faint crack in Metapod's skin, which worried him as Metapod was a cocoon so he didn't know what would happen if he was broken open. All action in the Gym halted at the sight of the crack starting to spread and a faint glow that shined through.
Onix stood by as he understood what was happening and waited as it was considered dishonorable to attack a Pokémon during evolution, due to the fact that they were unable to move, and any injury could become permanent if inflicted during the process. This was something that no trainer had ever been able to convince a Pokémon to do, since all attempts were met violently at best.
The entire Gym watched as the cocoon that was Metapod slowly broke open and a white form began to make its way out of the now hatching cocoon. At this point Ash's fear had left and was replaced with excitement and joy as he finally realized that the Caterpie he had caught two days ago had achieved his dream. Caterpie had finally become a Butterfree.
Brock was amazed at the fact that the Metapod had evolved, but then shook it off as he realized that he still had to finish the match. "Onix use Tackle on Butterfree," he ordered, which the rock snake complied with, now that the evolution had finished.
Remembering that evolution could give new moves to a Pokémon, Ash quickly grabbed his Pokédex while he made sure to have Butterfree dodge the attacks that Onix was launching at the butterfly. When he first scanned Butterfree, the Pokédex entry came up, which the box started to recite, before Ash pressed a button that skipped the entry and brought up a notice:
Pokémon: Butterfree
New moves learned:
Confusion
Sleep Powder
The sight of the newly learned attacks left Ash overjoyed, he finally had an effective weapon against Onix. "Butterfree use Sleep Powder!" he shouted hoping to end the match quickly, which Butterfree complied by flapping his wings, and flying past Onix several times, scattering several spores over the giant Pokémon.
Before Brock's eyes, his Pokémon slowly fell asleep as his orders to use Dig to escape fell on deaf ears as Onix fell to the ground. Brock tried repeatedly to call Onix to wake up, but each attempt was futile, and the referee decided to call the match.
"Onix is unable to…" the referee started to say before one of the sprinklers that was directly above Onix was set off from the built up pressure, and finally a jet of water fell onto the sleeping rock snake, washing away any lingering spores while shocking the rock type awake with a shout of discomfort bordering on pain.
Brock saw that he was still in the match and gave Onix another order, "Onix use Rock Throw!" The snake responded by smashing his tail into the ground at an angle to send rocks flying towards Butterfree.
"Butterfree dodge it!" Ash yelled urgently as he saw the stones flying towards Butterfree. The butterfly Pokémon flew out of the way, but now Ash was concerned since he really didn't know what to do about Onix if sleep powder wouldn't work. He had Confusion, but he knew that Onix was too heavy for Butterfree to pick up. The answer came to him when he noticed Onix wince slightly like Geodude had after being hit with Tail Whip, it was then he noticed that Onix was still soaked which was probably the reason.
"Onix use Bind!" Brock shouted, hoping to end the match, though he had personally felt that Ash deserved the Badge for his efforts so far. The rock snake shot towards Butterfree in attempt to grab the butterfly Pokémon, though both trainer and Pokémon were shocked when Onix was blindsided by a rock that smashed into the side of Onix's head, making him cry out in pain due to the sensitivity of his body right now.
Moments earlier…
Ash saw Onix moving in on Butterfree and knew that if it got a hold of Butterfree, the match would be over. Deciding that he might as well take a chance, he gave an order and prayed it would work, "Butterfree use Confusion on the rocks!" Ash said pointing at the stones left over from Geodude's rock throw, which lit up in a faint blue in response.
He watched with his breath held as the rock soared through the air and connected with Onix's head, and was rewarded with the intended reaction as Onix toppled over with a cry of pain.
Currently…
Ash looked as Onix started to get up, though it was looking somewhat worse for wear after taking a hit to its already sensitive head. "Butterfree use Confusion again!" The butterfly Pokémon picked up another rock with its telekinetic powers and sent it flying at the rock snake which barely dodged it by moving to the side.
Brock was amazed at the idea that Ash had come up with. He had never had someone use something like this against him, and already knew in his mind that he was only still in the fight because of a lucky moment with that sprinkler. "Onix use Dig!" The rock snake was about to comply when another rock smacked into his back, courtesy of Butterfree. The hit stunned Onix for a moment before he slowly started to slump over.
On the opposite side of the room, Butterfree looked exhausted, he had already pushed himself with using Confusion as many times as he had, but the size of the rocks he was throwing made it that much more taxing, and it showed as he started to slow down, and he was drifting down towards the floor. Ash noticed this and was worried, since he knew Butterfree was using all his energy to not faint from exhaustion.
Both Pokémon hit the ground at the same time, one from pain, and the other from fatigue, regardless, neither one was getting up anytime soon so the referee made the call.
"Both Pokémon are unable to battle, this match is a draw!" the referee announced shocking everyone.
Both trainers recalled their Pokémon and walked out into the middle of the field. Brock put out a hand in a gesture of good sportsmanship, which Ash took and the two then shook hands. As Ash pulled his hand back, he was surprised that he had a small gray octagon that was also a type of pin. In Ash's hand was an official Pokémon Gym Badge. Ash was shocked by this, "I can't take this!" Ash said in surprise.
Above, Brock's siblings were offended while Cynthia smiled knowingly at what Ash meant.
"And why not?" Brock questioned as Ash tried to return the boulder Badge that he had given to him.
"Well, I didn't win the match," Ash tried to reason, since he felt he didn't earn it unless he beat the Gym leader.
This made Brock openly laugh, though not in a mean spirited way, "Ash, the whole reason for Gyms is for trainers to be tested, it was never about you winning, you just had to prove to me you were ready to move on to the Pokémon league, which I'd say you will be ready for as long as you keep getting stronger," Brock explained as he gently pushed away the hand that held the boulder Badge that Ash had been trying to give to him.
Ash was surprised by the revelation that Brock had given to him that moment, "You were testing me?" he asked as he was still trying to wrap his head around the way the Gym leader worked.
"Yes, otherwise, at least half of the trainers that go through a Gym wouldn't be able to advance due to failing to win," Brock explained as he saw the look of understanding on Ash's face.
"Thank you Brock, it means a lot to me that you think I deserve this," Ash said gratefully as he looked at the Badge in his hand.
"Don't mention it. Like I said, you earned it," Brock said as Ash continued looking down at the Badge in his hand.
"My first step to becoming a Pokémon master," Ash mumbled to himself as he stared at the Boulder Badge for a few moments before he started to laugh in joy for the accomplishment he had just made towards achieving his dream.
Everyone in the Gym couldn't help but smile at the happiness of the ten year old trainer and even Brock's siblings couldn't help feeling happy for the boy who had faced down their big brother.
Cynthia, still holding Pikachu, smiled as she watched Ash down below with a fond smile as she remembered herself in a similar position back when she won her first Gym Badge a couple years ago.
After calming down, Ash bid Brock farewell as he made his way to the door and met Cynthia there, taking Pikachu the two were about to set out when Brock walked up to them.
"Hey Brock, what's up?" Ash asked curious about seeing the Gym leader again so soon.
"Well I still need to take Geodude and Onix to the Pokémon Center to be treated," Brock explained, receiving nods from both of the younger trainers.
"Yeah I need to check Pikachu and Butterfree in too," Ash said as the three trainers then decided to walk to the Pokémon Center together.
Before long the three were sitting in the lobby talking while waiting for Nurse Joy to treat their Pokémon. The kind young woman was apparently a good friend of Brock's, which when asked caused Brock to explain a bit.
"Truthfully, I don't really have much taste for being a Gym leader, but it's been in the family for so long that I can't let it go to someone else, you know?" Brock said somewhat sadly, "Ever since I saw my first Gym battle when my father fought a challenger about 8 years ago, I've wanted to learn how to take care of Pokémon," Brock explained with a fond look on his face.
"Well why isn't your father taking care of the Gym then?" Cynthia questioned at this.
Brock became visibly depressed at this, "Nobody knows, he left on a journey to become a master Pokémon trainer a few years ago and he disappeared, no one's seen him since. My mother left to try to find him not long after he was reported missing." The atmosphere was visibly depressing at this point.
Cynthia picked up where this was going, "So you are staying here to take care of your little brothers and sisters on account of neither of your parents being here." It was a statement rather than a question.
"Yeah, mom sort of fell out of touch after a couple of months of searching. She still calls, but for the most part it's just my siblings and I," Brock said before Nurse Joy brought out the Pokémon and returned them to their respective trainers, with both thanking her before Brock headed out to return home.
Both Ash and Cynthia couldn't help but feel bad for the Pewter City Gym leader, but both couldn't fault him since they would probably do the same in his position. They knew that there was nothing they could do in this situation, though their hearts went out to the young man. Having no further business in Pewter City, both trainers left the Pokémon Center and began to head east towards the exit of the city to continue their travels.
That's all for chapter 7, I was asked by uranium235 about when Ash would start improving when he finished betaing this chapter, for anybody else wondering that, I honestly am trying to avoid making him go from a complete moron to a tactical genius within a couple of weeks, since stories like that are hard to keep interesting, and I don't really think i'd be able to do that. if you have any other complaints or questions, pm me with them so I can answer them.
as always constructive criticism is welcome if you have actual tips, and also, ideas for pokemon to be caught by both Ash, Cynthia and team rocket are welcome.
Thanks for reading,
Akkeiton
