While walking through Viridian Forest, Summer was able to save a Pichu who later joins her team. Now that Summer and Samir have arrived in Pewter City, they decide to visit the Pewter City Museum. While looking at a new exhibit, they meet someone who tells them about an ancient tablet. What does this tablet show?

Chapter 7- A Rocky Start

We arrived in Pewter City, hot and tired.

"Yes! We did it!" Samir exhaustedly cheered. I wanted to collapse in exhaustion, but I took a deep breath and steadied myself. We saw the Pokémon Center and slowly ran inside. The Center was similar to the one in Viridian City, but this one shows performances of singing Jigglypuff. After healing our Pokémon, we rented a room and dashed over there after quickly thanking her. We dropped our things in the room, grabbed our Pokéballs, soaps, shampoos, and towels, and ran to the showers. After 20 minutes, we and our Pokémon came back fresh and relaxed.

We unpacked a little and groomed our Pokémon, who needed a good amount of brushing. Blaze and Lightning enjoyed the brushing while Errol combed himself. Swirls just let her skin dry off.

After the grooming session, I asked Samir, "When's the orientation?"

Samir looked at his letter and said, "It starts tomorrow afternoon, but we're free to explore the museum beforehand. How about you, ready for your first Gym battle?"

"Well…" I said hesitantly. "I'm a little nervous about it. I'm still new to battling."

"Hey," Samir reassured. "The Gym Leaders know the status of the challenging Trainers and will adjust their teams. There are even websites that discuss Gym Leader strategies. You can go look up the Pewter City Gym Leader on the Center's computers."

"Sounds good," I said. "Want to go to the museum now?"

"How about in fifteen minutes?" Samir suggestedd. "Let me get my things sorted for tomorrow."

"Okay," I said, "I'll go to do some research on the Gym Leader. See you in the lobby." Samir waved goodbye, and I headed to the computer lab.

The lab had ten computer stations. Some Trainers were on them, either reading online manga or watching Pokétube videos. I found a free station and looked up the Pewter City Gym Leader on the SRI website. So, I thought, analyzing the website. The Gym Leader's name is Brock, a Rock-type Specialist. For new Trainers, his battle conditions are 2 on 2 singles battles. His main Pokémon in every battle is Onix. His interests include cooking, healing Pokémon, and trying to woo older girls with corny pick-up lines. Wow, some Gym Leader… I then thought hard about my strategy. Swirls is the best choice since she has the type advantage, but who should my second Pokémon be?

"Hey, Summer, ready to go?" I snapped out of my thoughts and saw Samir standing at the door.

"Yeah, let's go before it closes," I said. We left the Center and walked a few blocks north to the Pewter City Museum.

The Pewter City Museum was a large two-story yellow building dedicated to archaeology and Kanto history. We entered into the lobby and ran into a gate. We looked at the information booth and saw a 50 PokéDollar entrance fee was needed to enter the museum. A sign said the fee would benefit the management of the museum. We promptly gave our fees to the female receptionist. The receptionist thanked us and said, "We acquired a new artifact upstairs, so please take a look." We thanked her and entered the rooms on first floor.

A banner read, "Kanto History", and the exhibits showed battle artifacts, fossils, and artwork of Kanto Pokémon. Lightning became excited and asked, "Summer, can I look around?"

"I think you should stay with me," I calmly said. "I don't want you to break anything."

"I'm sure it's okay, Summer," Samir said. "The glass cases protecting the items are strong enough to endure physical damage."

"Okay…" I relented. "Be careful. Okay, Lightning?"

"Okay!" Lightning happily said. "Can everyone else come out too?"

"Fine…" I said with a small smile. I let everyone out and said, "Feel free to look around. Just stay together, okay?" Everyone nodded and they split up: Blaze and Lightning in one group and Errol and Swirls in the other. I looked at the battle artifacts and saw Red's, the Kanto Champion, cap and a complete set of ancient Gym badges.

Samir also let out his Pokémon, but they stayed close to him. We looked at a fossil of a flying dinosaur Pokémon with sharp teeth and a fossil of a Pokémon with large claws and a wide head. "Aren't these Aerodactyl and Kabutops fossils?!" I heard him say ecstatically. He then went to every fossil exhibit with joy and reverence. I was surprised to see him react that way, but I knew it was because of his love of archaeology.

Lightning came to me and asked, "Can we go to the second floor?"

"Sure, I said. "Come on, team. Let's go upstairs." Blaze, Errol, and Swirls came to me. "Samir, we're going upstairs."

"Hey, wait for me!" Samir said, running to us. We went upstairs to the second floor.

This time, the second floor featured the main exhibit, "Treasures from Mt. Moon". Mt. Moon? I wondered. Isn't that the famous Kanto mountain known for their Moon Stones? We went inside and saw meteorites and Moon Stones in glass cases, pictures of some light pink Pokémon, and a space ship model hanging from the ceiling. The space ship had a sign that said, "Model on loan from the Mossdeep Space Center in the Hoenn Region".

"Hey, Summer!" I heard Samir shout. "Come to the middle of the room!" I headed there and saw Samir staring at a mysterious stone tablet mounted on the wall. The tablet was a medium size and featured a painting of a large white bird and carvings of three smaller birds at the top. The bird on the left was light blue, the middle yellow, and the right orange.

"Are these Pokémon, Samir?" I asked. I waited for a response, but he kept staring at the three birds on the tablet. "Is everything okay, Samir?"

Samir then blinked and looked at me. "Sorry, Summer" he apologized. "I was analyzing the tablet, because…because…"

"Because what, Samir?" I gently asked.

"Just that…" he said slowly. Then, a tan man with black spiky hair and wearing a green and orange shirt and green outdoor pants walked towards us. Hey, I've seen his picture on SRI earlier! I thought. That's Brock, the Pewter Gym Leader!

"So," Brock said. "Do you two have any questions about our new stone tablet?"

"I do have a question, but it's not about the tablet," I said. "Why are you here? Aren't you the Pewter City Gym Leader?"

Brock grinned and said, "I may be the Gym Leader, but I volunteer here during my free time." He then looked at Samir and said, "Hey, I know you! You're one of the new museum interns, right?"

Samir was surprised and said, "Yes. How do you know, Brock?"

Brock gave a big smile and said, "I occasionally help with some archaeological expeditions here, so I work with the interns. I read a lot of good things about you, so I'm looking forward to working with you."

Samir sheepishly smiled and said, "Thanks, Brock. I'm looking forward to it too."

Brock then looked at me and asked, "What's your name?"

"Oh," I said, a little surprised. "I'm Summer, from the Hoenn Region."

Brock whistled and said, "That' pretty far away. Are you participating in the Indigo League?"

"Yes I am." I said, a little nervous. "I'm planning to challenge the Gym tomorrow. It'll be my first Gym challenge."

"Is it now?" Brock said, stroking his chin. "Well, I look forward to our battle, Summer. Is 9:30am okay?"

"Sure, that sounds great!" I said. I sounded excited but it hid my nervousness.

"Great!" Brock said with a smile.

"Hey Brock," Samir pointed to the tablet and asked, "Can you tell us about that tablet?"

"Sure!" Brock stood by the tablet and said, "A few days ago, some of our archaeologists discovered this tablet in Mt. Moon. After a quick analysis, we believe this depicts the Legendary Birds of Kanto and their rarely seen leader."

"What are the Legendary Birds?" I asked. I've only heard about them briefly in my history class, but we focused more on the Hoenn Legendaries.

"The Legendary Birds in Kanto control different weather patterns in the region," Brock said. "They constantly fly around, bringing the weather with them. The tablet shows the birds in the order they were first recorded. The blue bird is Articuno, the bringer of snow and hail. The yellow bird is Zapdos, the bringer of thunderstorms. And the orange bird is Moltres, the bringer of heat waves."

"I see," I said, taking in the new information. "Thanks, Brock."

"You're welcome, Summer," Brock said. "I should get back to work. After that, maybe I'll ask that receptionist out for dinner. I'll see you two tomorrow." Samir and I waved goodbye to Brock, and he went downstairs.

"Ready to go, Samir?" I asked.

"Actually, Summer…" Samir said slowly. "I'm going to keep looking around, if you don't mind."

I was a little surprised, but I said, "Sure, no problem. We're going to train. See you at the Pokémon Center."

"Okay, see you then," Samir said with a small smile.

I hope everything's okay with Samir, I worriedly thought. He seems pretty interested in that tablet.

My Pokémon and I left the Museum. We saw the sun was starting to set. "Looks like we still have time to train for tomorrow," I told them. "Where should we go train, Blaze?"

Blaze looked to the east, then the south. "Let's go by Viridian Forest, Summer!"

Errol looked at him and disagreed. "I believe the east will be the best place for enrichment."

I sighed and said, "Errol, we agreed Blaze was going to pick where we're going next. Remember?"

Errol grumbled, then said, "Can we at least look to the east anyway? We have to travel that way later."

"Okay," I said firmly. "Just to look, not go, okay?" Everyone agreed. We quickly went to the entrance to Route 3, but a boy blocked our path.

"Hey, you!" he yelled, pointing at me. "Have you been to the Pewter City Museum yet?"

"Yes, I have," I said. "I just want to look at Route 3."

"Wait!" the boy yelled. "You should go to the museum!"

"Why?!" I shouted, slightly annoyed. "I was just there!"

"Oh…" the boy said with a slight pause. "Want a tour of the city?"

I froze and thought, Oh no, not again! "No thanks! Bye!" I ran towards Route 2. My Pokémon followed suit.

After we caught our breath, I smiled and said, "Okay, guys. Let's all train together. We need to help Swirls first, since she has the type advantage. But I'm not sure who'll be the second Pokémon."

Everyone looked at each other. After a minute, Blaze stepped forward and said, "I'll battle, Summer."

I knelt down and asked, "Are you sure, Blaze? You'll have the type disadvantage."

Blaze nodded and said, "I know. But I'll be better than Errol or Lightning."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Errol said angrily.

Lightning said, "Errol, don't take it so hard. Blaze's right. I don't have enough experience, and you don't have any moves that'll do enough damage."

Errol calmed down and said, "You are right, Ms. Lightning. I apologize, Blaze. Let us help you and Ms. Swirls."

"Okay," I said. "Ready everyone?"

"Yeah!" they cheered. We entered the grass patch by Pewter City and started training. Swirls and Blaze worked on their power, accuracy, and dodging. Errol and Lightning helped by attacking them with physical and special attacks. I saw Swirls and Blaze improving, and I knew they really wanted to win tomorrow. I felt really happy and I promised to win for them too.

I saw the sun setting and said, "Let's call it quits, guys! It's getting late." Everyone stopped and nodded. I returned everyone and headed back to the Pokémon Center. After I healed my Pokémon, I went to the cafeteria for dinner. There weren't too many people around, so we had a large table to ourselves. I just finished making Pokémon food when Samir came in. I gave Banksia and Terry their meals, and they ate with my Pokémon.

"Hey, Samir," I asked, sitting down at a table. I remembered what happened at the museum. "Is everything okay? You seemed really focused on that tablet at the museum."

"Oh. Sorry if I worried you, Summer," Samir said with a slightly sad tone. "I just wanted to make sure about something."

"Oh. What is it, if you don't mind me asking?" I asked, slightly curious.

Samir took a deep breath and sat down next to me. He said, "I've seen that yellow bird before. The one on the tablet."

I was surprised and asked, "Really, when?"

Samir paused and said, "It was back when we were in Viridian City. Remember when I was waited for you because you took so long?"

"Yeah…I remember," I said, a little embarrassed thinking back to what happened that day."

Samir continued his story and said, "I was about to go to Indigo Plateau when I heard some thunder from inside the Pokémon Center. I debated about whether to go out, and I decided to. When I went outside, I saw a yellow bird flying in the thunderclouds. Strangely, the clouds nearest the bird didn't have any rain. The bird saw me and stared at me for what felt like a long time. Suddenly, it just flew away, causing the sky to rain. Then you showed up, wet."

"How strange," I said, thinking about it. "Actually, I had a similar experience before I left Hoenn."

"Really?" Samir asked, also a little curious. "What happened?"

I told him about the large Pokémon I saw at Uncle Roberto's ranch. Samir thought about it and said, "Based on your description Summer, I think you saw Entei, one of the Legendary Beasts of Johto."

I was surprised and said, "How's that possible?! I thought the Beasts stay in the Johto and Kanto Regions."

Samir said, "Sometimes, there can be multiple Legendary Pokémon depending on what their job is. For example, there can be several Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres to control weather in several regions, but they all report to the one leader Lugia, the guardian of the seas."

"I see," I said. "Do you think there's a reason why we saw these Legendary Pokémon?"

Samir gave a solemn face and said, "I'm not sure, Summer."

I decided not to push it any further and said, "We should eat. We both have big days tomorrow."

Samir smiled and said, "Okay, let's hurry and get the specials before the restaurants close!"

"Dibs on the spaghetti!" I yelled as we got up and ran to the restaurants.

After dinner, we went to the lobby and watched the Kanto TV news. We watched about the some upcoming Trainers in the different Regions and updates about a boy named Ruby challenging the Hoenn League by following his three self-imposed rules. The newscaster said Ruby made it to Dewford Town and obtained his second badge, but at the loss of two Pokémon along the way. After that, we headed back to the room. We quickly went to bed. I was excited and nervous about the Gym battle, but I knew I needed sleep to do well. I felt asleep, dreaming about winning the Badge at the Pewter City Gym.

A man and a woman left the Pokémon Center under the cover of night. They quickly scanned the quiet city and headed to a small flower patch near the Pokémon Center. When they got there, the two took out small black microphone earpieces with an R design and put them into their right ears. Both of them pressed a button on the earpiece and said, "Boulder and Raven contacting HQ."

A woman on the earpiece said, "HQ here. Status report, Raven."

Raven said, "We just overheard a conversation at the Pewter City Pokémon Center between two Trainers. They said they each saw a Legendary Pokémon."

"Really?" the woman said. "Are you certain?"

"Positive, miss," Boulder said. "A boy saw Zapdos and a girl saw Entei."

"Interesting news. This may change some things, but it should not affect the overall outcome," the woman said. "We'll keep a close eye on those two. Meanwhile, we need you two to go to Mt. Moon and find our new targets."
"Understood," Boulder and Raven said.

"Good," the woman said, "Over and out." Boulder and Raven then put their earpieces away.

"Who knew those two could be that important," Boulder said. "Especially since they're noobs when we first saw them."

Raven smiled and said, "Can't underestimate kids, Boulder. Just like what happened to the boss."

Boulder became angry and said, "Yeah…he'll pay, that's for sure."

"Patience, Boulder," Raven said, calming down the upset man. "Boss will have his revenge soon enough."

The two Grunts looked at the waxing moon's outline over Mt. Moon. Raven said, "Let's go, Boulder."

Boulder nodded and the two ran silently to the mountain.

Pokémon: Blaze (Torchic): Brave Nature, moves: Scratch, Growl, Ember

Errol (Hoothoot): Rash Nature, moves: Tackle, Growl

Swirls (Poliwag): Relaxed Nature, moves: Bubble

Lightning (Pichu): Adamant Nature, moves: Thundershock, Charm, Iron Tail, Sweet Kiss

Questions for the Chapter:

How will Summer do in her first Gym battle?

Would you like to me to write more about Team Rocket's plans? (They'll be separated by page breaks)