Sup guys I am back with another chapter of If I Was In Pokémon! Now as you all know, Nicholas now has a new companion named Alex Rose as well as a new Pokémon, Spearow. Now both trainers are on their way to Pewter City so Nicholas can challenge the Gym Leader Brock, in hopes of gaining his first Gym Badge. Does Nicholas have a plan to beat Brock? Who will the new OC be? You gotta read to find out!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Pokémon!

Chapter 10: The City of Stones!

"So... this is Pewter City?" Nicholas asked in slight wonder as they stood on a small cliff-like hill and looked down at a small town. At his sides were both Charmander and Alex, who were panting heavily. Nicholas blinked and looked back at them with a raised brow. "What's wrong with you guys?" Nicholas questioned and Charmander glared at him while Alex tried to talk and breathe at the same time. "We had... to keep up... with you... when you started running..." She went back to balancing out her breathing while Nicholas had a tiny sweatdrop.

He didn't even realize he was running halfway out of Viridian City. "Oh, sorry girls. I guess I got a bit carried away." Nicholas sheepishly chuckled. Charmander wanted to curse him off so badly if it weren't for the fact that Alex was right next to her. "Can you just... let us catch our breath first?" Alex asked. Nicholas did just that and sat on top of a large boulder. He looked back down at the town and turned back to Alex. "Yo Alex, are you sure this is Pewter City? It doesn't look like much."

Alex nodded after she had finally slowed down her breathing. She pulled out a book and flip through some pages. "Yes, it says here by our location that the town in front of us has to be Pewter City..." Alex stopped looking through pages and pressed her finger against a single page. "And look at this, Pewter City is a worldwide known place because of their studies and collections of priceless historical items! They found special rocks, minerals, fossils, even books about the history of nature." Alex looked up towards towards the small town. "And down there awaits your Gym Badge."

The second those words reached Nicholas' ears, the teen jumped up with his fists in the air. "Then let's go get it!" No second later, a small blast of fire made contact with his face causing him to cough out a small puff of smoke. Alex smirked and looked down at the 'culprit'. "Thank you Charmander." The flame lizard blew out a small flame from her nose and grinned as well.

"Now Nicholas, we know that you want to get a Badge, but why don't we take our time to look around? I for one want to check out the town's Museum!" Alex exclaimed in excitement. Nicholas rubbed the soot from his face and frowned.

"But I wanna battle Brock..." He whined childishly and Alex put her hands on her hips. "All for the Pewter City Museum raise your hand." Nicholas blinked at both female had their hands raised high into the air. "Sorry Nicholas, majority rule." Nicholas crossed his arms and pouted while Alex gave Charmander a victorious High-Five. "Don't worry Nicholas, I'm sure you'll love it until your battle with Brock." Alex promised before she placed the book back into her bag.

As she knelt down to zip her bag, she gave a kind smile to Charmander. "I'm sure you'll like it too, right Charmander? We're gonna learn a lot more about Pokémon and maybe the history of how Pewter City was founded." Charmander tilted her head in thought. Sure, even though she was going to a place to learn about history, human history, it didn't change the fact that she had gotten just a bit interested to learn. She might even learn about Pokémon that even she never heard of! Then Charmander's head perked up in realization. Maybe she'll learn a bit more of Rock Type Pokémon, especially Brock's Pokemon.

The flame lizard hummed to herself before giving a reassuring nod of agreement back to Alex. The teen girl stood tall and gave a toothy grin. "Now... who's ready to learn about history?" She exclaimed before jumping forward and taken to sliding down the hill to reach Pewter City. Nicholas rolled his eyes and gave an unenthusiastic "Whoo..." before jumping down along with Charmander, who had an entertained smirk on her face at the two humans.

Nicholas, however, slid all the way down the hill with his arms crossed and his pout still clear. "This better be good..." He mumbled before a small bump in the ground caught him by surprise and caused him start rolling.

"Ugh... I'm so dizzy..." Nicholas groaned as he held his head. He wobbled on his own two feet, trying to find any sort of balance in his steps. Only to accidentally bump into Alex, who was currently busy surveying the layout of the town. After fumbling with the book in her hands in an effort to not drop it, Alex breathed in relief before she glared at Nicholas in annoyance. "Mind watching where you're going?"

"Sorry, but everything I see is still spinning." Nicholas muttered, regaining his footing and keeping a steady walk. As he walked forward, Charmander tapped Alex on the leg. The teen girl looked down in wonder before putting a hand over her mouth to hide her giggling. Charmander was rolling her eyes and swinging her fingers next to her face in a circular manner in mockery of Nicholas' little trip down the hill. The orange lizard snickered to herself until she abruptly stopped when Nicholas looked back.

"Hey Alex, where did you say the Pewter City Museum is?" Nicholas asked.

Alex continued to walk and look down at her book. "Well if we take a turn here," Alex said and started to jog forward. Alex looked up with a smile before turning the corner. "The museum should be right down the..." Alex paused and lost her smile. "...street?" Nicholas frowned and walked up to a stunned Alex.

"What happened, why did you stop-" Nicholas paused mid-sentence and his eyes widened in surprise. Charmander's face wasn't far behind.

Staring down the street was indeed the Pewter City Museum. The museum had to be by far the largest building in Pewter City with the stone pillars at the front entrance holding up the roof at a height of 20 feet. There were a wide range of glass doors at the front to allow easy entrance and leave. The windows were large and gave perfect view of the inside, which had sectioned area for different types of artifacts. In fact, most of the building was made of stone just to commemorate the tradition of Pewter City's history on rocks.

But the sight of the museum wasn't what got the teenagers and Pokemon awestruck.

It was the large crowd of civilians and police cars parked surrounding the building. Sirens were blaring in alarm and people were looking around in worry. From the center, policemen and women could be seen trying to barricade the museum while trying to push back the crowd.

"What's going on...?" Nicholas mumbled to himself. Alex shook her head. "I don't know, but we're gonna find out. Come on!" Alex ordered before running down the sidewalk. Nicholas blinked in surprise before he shook his head and looked down at his partner with a serious face. "Yeah, let's go Charmander!" The Fire Type nodded and ran alongside her trainer.

Upon reaching the group of people, Nicholas saw Alex squeeze through people to reach the front. He followed her actions and politely nudged people out of the way. Some people gave him annoyed looks at being shoved and Nicholas gave apologetic faces. Once he squeezed through the last few people, he stopped at Alex's side with Charmander not far behind him. "So what happened-" A loud whistle rang loudly, gaining everyone's attention for just a few moments.

"Please evacuate the area! This is an official crime scene!" A familiar voice rang in both Nicholas and Charmander's ears. Unconsciously, Nicholas' left eye twitched before a scowl appeared on his face. "Great," Nicholas muttered as he recognized a certain blue haired policewoman holding up her hands in a gesture to back away. "It's her..." Charmander crossed her arms. She had said the same thing in her thoughts.

Alex looked at Nicholas with a perplexed expression at his sudden mood change. "Wait, you know her?"

Nicholas nodded grimly and before he could say another thing, Jenny's eyes rolled towards both of them and blew her whistle again when she realized how close they were to the museum. "Hey you!" She called and Nicholas groaned in frustration. "...shit..." He whispered until he found Jenny walk up to him.

"I must ask that you two please back away from the perimeter! We need to gather evidence about the museum break-in!" Jenny requested.

"Break-in? What happened officer...?" Alex trailed off.

"Jenny." Nicholas finished.

"Officer Jenny, can you tell us what happened here?" Alex asked in curiosity. Jenny let out a long sigh and rubbed her forehead. "Long story short, a couple of thieves broke into the Pewter City Museum last night and stole the museum's artifacts."

"What did they steal? Money?"

"That's the thing, they only stole Pokémon Fossils." Jenny said in bewilderment. "We're trying to figure out why they didn't bother stealing the money and only old fossils." Alex blinked before putting a hand on her chin in wonder. "But what could they do with fossils? Surely if they wanted money, they would've taken the museum's funds and tried selling the fossils at the same time." She mumbled to herself.

Jenny only nodded in agreement and let the girl continue to mutter to herself until she looked over and saw Nicholas giving her a small glare. Jenny narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips in annoyance. "Is there something wrong young man?" Nicholas narrowed his eyes and his scowl got bigger. "Hello again, Officer Jenny."

The blue haired policewoman blinked in surprise. "Again?" She asked and Nicholas rose a brow. "Have I met you before?"

"You sure you don't recognize me?" Nicholas rolled his eyes when Jenny shook her head. "We met in Viridian City remember?" The officer's eyes widened in surprise before she raised a finger at the teen in front of her. "Wait a minute, YOU were the boy that were involved with my sister-in-law in the Jack Daniels incident?" She said, causing Nicholas to blink in surprise. Sister-in-law? He went to say something until Jenny narrowed her eyes and pointed her thumb behind her to the museum. "How do I know you weren't part of this robbery after being involved with the Jack Daniels?"

After seeing her other hand reach for her handcuffs, Nicholas didn't hesitate to bring out his Pokedex and press the on button. The teen kept a straight face towards the accusing officer while his Pokedex turned on and began giving his ID.

Name: Burton, Nicholas

Age:15

Sex: Male

Residence: Pallet Town

Application: Pokémon Trainer

Nicholas turned off Dexter and slid it back into his pocket before crossing his arms. "So does that clear anything up?" Nicholas asked flatly. Jenny nodded slowly and turned her eyes towards Alex. "What about you, young lady?" Alex pointed to herself before reaching for her Pokedex as well. She pressed a button and like Dexter, it began giving her ID, except with a female voice.

Name: Rose, Alex

Age: 15

Sex: Female

Residence: Cerulean City

Application: Pokémon Trainer

"Well then... I guess that's enough evidence for me," Jenny said before she retracted her hand from her cuffs and rubbed her neck sheepishly. "I'm so sorry for accusing you!" Alex gave the officer a kind smile to say it was alright while Nicholas crossed his arms and tilted his head. "Putting that aside, what did you say about the Jenny in Viridian City being your sister-in-law?"

Jenny reached inside her jacket and pulled a photo from her pocket. "It's exactly what I said. Here look." Nicholas and Alex leaned in to look at the photo, only for their eyes to widen. Charmander could see the picture perfectly as well and her jaw dropped. The picture was unbelievably true. Sitting row for row, were females of identical blue haired police officers. Each one were exactly the same looking in smile and hand salute. Jenny put the photo back into her pocket and smiled. "And the funny thing is, we're all named Jenny!" She laughed. Alex thought it was funny and giggled a bit while Nicholas looked down at Charmander with a gaping mouth.

"Oh my God..." He mouthed and Charmander face palmed herself. Jenny saw something orange out of the corner of her eye and knelt down. Charmander took a step back in surprise while Jenny gave a kind smile. "Aww, what a cute Charmander. Is she yours?" Jenny asked, actually making Charmander's jaw to drop slowly. She didn't call her an it and bothered to actually say hi. The edge of Charmander's lip curved upwards, even if she didn't realize it.

The Pokémon had actually found someone she liked. Even though the person looked like a person she loathed.

Nicholas gave the officer a nod. "Uh yeah, Charmander's my partner... but Jenny, weren't we talking about who robbed the museum?" The officer's eyes widened and she stood straight. "That's right!" Jenny exclaimed before she pulled out her whistle and started to blow a loud ringing sound. Nicholas, Alex, and Charmander covered their ears while Jenny walked around with her hands up. "Okay, everyone needs to leave now! There's nothing to see here! Please go back to your homes!" Jenny ordered all the while her whistle ringing in everyone's ears.

As the crowd began dispersing, Nicholas had been picking his ears while Alex tried to block out the ringing. "Freakin' whistle..." Nicholas muttered in annoyance before looking at Alex with a raised brow. "So Alex, what are we gonna do now? The museum is currently unavailable..." Nicholas hinted with a anxious grin. The teen girl looked at Nicholas with a blank stare before rolling her eyes. "Yeah, sure go ahead. I'll catch up." She sighed.

Nicholas gave Alex a victorious grin and a thumbs up. Without hesitation Nicholas bolted down with Charmander trying to catch up. Alex turned around and looked at the museum. She frowned and stared through a window where an exhibit of an extinct Kabuto should be. Alex crossed her arms. 'Now why would someone steal just fossils...?' She thought to herself before finally shrugging and turning back around to run after Nicholas.

Only to pause and think. "Wait, the Pewter City Gym is that way..." Alex mumbled, pointing down the street passed the museum. Finally realizing that Nicholas had indeed ran down the wrong direction, Alex chuckled and shook her head. She placed her hands in her hoodie and whistled a tune as she walked.

Nicholas' P.O.V

I panted heavily and dropped down onto a bench.

Damn, I'm so exhausted! I could feel the sweat drip down my forehead and my breathing was hard to balance out. "Ugh... where... where's the... gym...?" I wheezed. Next to me, almost exhausted to the point of passing out, was Charmander as she leaned against the bench for support. I felt kinda bad that she had to run after me for blocks with such small legs.

"I was trying to tell you..." She growled in annoyance. "That the gym... was just down the street... from the museum!" Charmander coughed out making me groan. Are you kidding me!? You mean to tell me I just ran in the total opposite direction and took a couple of turns here and there only to end up here at...? I looked around and saw people playing or having picnics. I was at the park.

I leaned back on the bench and coughed a little. Well at least I can relax for a bit, you know to rest my burning lungs and aching legs? But with the sun blaring down on me, I only sweated more. And speaking of heat, I looked back down at Charmander. She was still breathing hard and using the bench as support. She wasn't any better than I was. In fact, I think she's even worse than me!

And to think it's my fault that we're this tired because of my inability to be patient and stop to learn where the Gym was located.

"I knew I should've asked Alex for directions..." I muttered to myself just as my head fell back. "You think!?" I heard, making me roll my eyes. I didn't say anything back of course. I knew both of us were too exhausted, especially to argue about something like getting lost.

But seriously, I'm so tired! I didn't even feel like arguing with Charmander right now because right now all I feel like doing... is going... to sleep... My eyes were slowly closing on themselves just until...

"Rocks! Get some rocks here!" A random shout invaded my ears.

I opened my eyes and because my vision was turned upside down, it took me a while to make out the picture. But when I did, I believe I saw a bearded man with a red hat sitting next to a shelf of rocks. With... price tags on each rock? "Huh?" I sat up and turned back around to see the man clearly, just to make sure I was seeing this right. Was my mind playing tricks on me or is this guy really selling rocks right now?

"Charmander, are you seeing this?" I looked at her with a tired smile. But my partner sucked her teeth when she looked at the man. "So? He's selling rocks, nothing funny about it." I shook my head at her and sighed. Charmander, Charmander, Charmander, you have lots to learn about the entertainment that we humans have. "And maybe instead of getting distracted by weirdo we could, I don't know, look for Alex and learn where the Gym is?"

I wanted to say a comeback, but I knew she was right. "Ok," I stood up and looked around the park. "Let's go find Alex-"

"Rocks! Come buy some rocks!" The same guy called out, earning my attention once again. I wanted to sit there and watch this guy make a fool of himself, but I had to find Alex for directions. I was about to turn and walk the way we came until I looked back at the bearded man. I grinned. "Maybe I don't have to find Alex..." I said earning a confused look from Charmander.

Without giving her a warning, I quickly ran around the bench and made my way to the man with a smile. Why bother looking all over Pewter City for one person when I can just ask directions from a person that actually lives here? "Hey! Uh, excuse me?" I called for the man's attention, ceasing his calls for customers to buy his rocks. I saw him turn to me with a smile through his beard.

"Yes, what do you want?" The man asked before he gestured to the shelf of stones. "Are you here to purchase some Pewter City rocks?" I stopped in front of him, hands on my knees trying to catch my breath.

I panted lightly and shook my head. The man crossed his arms and tilted his head. "Well then what are you here for?" I could tell the man was going to tell me to beat it, but before I gave him a chance I stood straight and rubbed the back of my neck.

"Well you see my Pokemon and I," I saw Charmander show up just out of the corner of my eye, but I also saw that her breathing was still a bit heavy from the earlier run. I tried to ignore a glare that said 'Run one more time and see what happens' aimed at the back of my head and focus more on the person I was talking to. "We were on our way to the Pewter City Gym and we got a bit lost. Can you tell us where to go?" The bearded man blinked at me.

"Wait, you're going to challenge Brock?" The man asked, looking down at Charmander before looking back up at me. "With that kind of Pokemon?" I heard a small growl from Charmander and I frowned. For a moment, I thought the guy was trying to insult both of us, but it also sounded like the man was getting a bit nervous.

"Yes...?" I said slowly.

"Kid, I'm sure you're determined to win a Gym Badge, but I'm telling you now, don't battle Brock." The man suggested, almost like a plea. "His Pokemon are tough, trust me I saw them in action. There's no way you'll win with just a-"

"Look, do you know where it is or not?" I cut him off rudely, but it's not like I cared. I wasn't just gonna sit here and let some stranger trash talk us before we even tried to battle. And I could tell Charmander was ready to scratch his face off.

The man looked at me before giving a sigh and reluctantly nodded. "If you go down this path," He gestured to the sidewalk Charmander and I used to get here. "and take a left, keep walking 3 blocks and turn right. The Gym should be only a few streets down." I gave the man a nod out of politeness before walking away. As I walked down the path, I tried to ignore the small comment 'Kid's not gonna last more than 5 minutes'. I wasn't gonna let some guy psyche me out before my battle.

"Can you believe that guy?" I scowled just as I was out of hearing range from that guy. "Saying we can't win. Who does he think he is telling us we don't stand a chance?"

Charmander rolled her eyes and cross her arms. "While I don't like being insulted like that, he does have a point." She snorted and I gave her a look that said 'Really, you're gonna take his side?'.

I mean seriously, it did kinda hurt for my own Pokemon to say we'll lose without even trusting me.

"Brock uses Rock Type Pokemon. I'm pretty sure a Charmander, an Ekans, and a Spearow won't do very well." She did have a point there.

I frowned without saying a word. It's not that I don't want to argue back, but she was giving valid points that add up to a loss. I know that a Rock Pokemon can easily brush off Normal, Fire, Poison, or Flying type attacks and the only attack that could even make damage would be Fang's Dig attack. But there's definitely no doubt that Brock could come up with a counter-plan for Dig if I keep using it. I bit the inside of my cheek and looked down at Charmander.

Sure she was strong, in her own abilities, but she'll literally get crushed if I battle with her. Her moves are Scratch, Tackle, Ember, and Smokescreen. Ember would probably do a bit more damage then Scratch and Tackle while Smokescreen would distract the enemy for a short while. Still not good enough. I gave Charmander a sideways glance and saw that her breathing had yet to balance out. She was still tired.

Without a second thought, I quickly scooped her up in my arms and held her to my chest. Charmander squirmed a bit before looking at me with a glare. "What are you doing?" I smiled down at her and kept walking. Seeing that I wasn't doing anything wrong for that matter and wasn't going to tease her or anything of the sort, Charmander eventually decided to relax in my arms. She'd need the rest more than I do.

I trust my Pokemon, I really do and I'm confident in their abilities, but the facts add up.

We'll lose.

But hopefully by the time we get to the Gym, I'll have a plan ready.

... Hopefully...

I sighed in relief when I turned the corner like the stranger instructed and saw the Gym standing tall just down the street.

I didn't want to say that I wasn't thankful of stranger for giving me directions, even if he was a jerk, but... I looked up at the sky and noticed that the sun was beginning to set. I still couldn't believe it myself that time had went by so quickly. We had left the cabin at 11:10 and it took a few hours to navigate our way out of the Viridian Forest. It had already been 3 when we made it to Pewter City and after getting lost trying to find the Gym, which took 45 minutes, and trying to retrace our steps to the Museum, which took another 45 minutes, it had already been around 4:30.

So much time wasted because I got too excited to wait. Such irony.

I sighed and looked down to Charmander, who had her eyes closed as she rested in my arms. She had fallen asleep a few minutes after I had picked her up. I told her to get some rest in for our match. I wasn't surprised that she didn't hesitate to get comfortable in my arms and sleep, but the fact that she did fall asleep without resisting left me a bit unnerved.

And while I was happy that Charmander had been getting some sleep in before our match, it also gave me some thinking time for our upcoming gym battle. My mouth twitched downwards into a frown. It irked me greatly to admit that I couldn't think of a reasonably thought out plan to beat Brock with my current Pokemon. I bit the inside of my cheeks out of habit. Usually I tap my fingers to make music and to keep my worries under control, but with my hands currently occupied with holding a sleeping Charmander, my mind was running wild trying to think of something, anything, that resembles a plan to beat Brock.

"Hey, calm down will you?" I flinched and looked down with a now awake Charmander.

Charmander rubbed her eyes and yawned. "How come you're awake? I thought I told you I'd wake you up when we get to the Gym."

"Well, I wasn't really sleeping the entire time. Kinda hard to when your trainer keeps mumbling to himself and his arms shaking like a leaf." Charmander pointed to the Gym right in front of us and raised a brow. "Plus, what's the matter? We are in front of the Gym."

I smiled sheepishly at Charmander and looked back up to the Gym. "Sorry for keeping you awake. I was just so nervous about our match. I couldn't come up with a decent plan after that stranger said how strong Brock was." It was seriously embarrassing that the weird rock-selling guy had managed to unnerve me so much. But what could I do about it? It was my first battle with a Gym Leader! A Rock Type one at that!

"Don't worry about it. We don't need a plan." Charmander said. "All we need to do is try to win. Simple."

After hearing that I couldn't help, but stop walking and laugh. "What?" She said with crossed arms. I knew she wasn't annoyed because she had a grin on her face.

"It's just... nothing. Thanks for cheering me up."

"... You're welcome." Charmander nodded and looked at the Gym. "Now put me down, I don't need to be carried like a child anymore." She didn't even wait for me to open my arms before she jumped off. Landing on her feet, I watched as Charmander began to stretch in front of me. I crossed my arms and arched a brow of amusement. I didn't need her to tell me she was getting herself pumped for our Gym Battle. Why would she? After all, I should be doing the same thing

If anybody passed by, which some did, they would've seen Charmander and I stand in front of the Pewter City gym 'stretching out our worries'. Charmander bent over to touch her toes while I arched to the right, hand on my knee and left arm stretching overhead. Neither of us cared if we looked like weird street performers cause all we cared about at the moment was getting pumped for our match.

I placed my hands on Charmander's ankles and watched at my partner began doing sit-ups. "1... 2... 3... 4..." I counted automatically. "C'mon, keep going!"

"What are you guys doing?"

I looked behind myself and saw Alex with an ice cream cone in one hand and the other resting on her waist. I turned back to Charmander, who didn't even pause in her exercise. "We're getting ready for our match with Brock." I said before I started counting again.

Alex nodded slowly. "Uh huh..." She took another lick of her ice cream. "Yeah about that, Brock isn't here."

Charmander stopped doing sit-ups and we both looked at Alex with a face that said 'The hell are you talking about?'

"Yeah, after you ran off in the wrong direction," Alex snickered and I gave her a small glare. "I went to the Gym to wait for you to finally show up. While I was reading a book, some janitor told me that Brock was training somewhere." I let go of Charmander's ankles and stood up with a shocked face.

"Are you kidding me!? I just got lost, met some strange guy, finally found my way back to the Gym and now you're telling me he's not here!?" My jaw dropped and Alex nodded as she calmly ate her ice cream. My brow twitched in annoyance. How dare she eat her ice cream so innocently.

"Well did he tell you where he was!?" Alex nodded again and pointed passed my head. I quickly turned to follow her pointing and saw a couple of mountains just a bit up the hills in front of Pewter City. "I think he said something about Diglett Caves? That might be where he was training?" Alex said and without another word, I took off running down the street.

"H-Hey, hold on!" I heard Alex call, but this time I didn't need to ask for directions if my destination was right in front of me. I looked down to my side and saw Charmander running at my side. She nodded at me and I nodded back. Like me, she couldn't wait to fight Brock. That little tidbit of information Alex shared with us got us a bit peeved that we wasted so much time and got pumped for no reason.

But now that we know where he really was, there was no way we were going to stop. Not even when the sun was going down and it'll be dark soon. I continued to stare at the hills that were slowly, but surely getting closer the more I ran.

Just wait Brock, we're coming for you!

Sorry for the long wait guys. But I just finished the new chapter so be happy! I know I didn't add any sort of action, but I couldn't exactly rush into things so quickly. But the museum robbery must've left you guys a bit interested eh? Well hopefully you'll continue to read and see what happens next. Now, I gotta go and work on other things so ciao!

Please review and ask any questions that you might have!