Sumi walked up to the large gym, the roof looking like it was made of rough stone. She stood in front of the doors, looking up curiously.
{So this is the Pewter City Pokémon Gym? It's not as big as I thought it would be.} Zee said, sitting down at Sumi's side. From the Zorua's expression, he wasn't too impressed.
"Zee, be nice. It's big enough for the Gym Leader. It probably looks a lot bigger on the inside, anyway." Sumi said. She looked at a small plaque next to the doors.
Zee hopped up onto her shoulder, looking at the plaque next to the doors. {The Rock-Solid Pokémon Trainer.} he read out loud. {So he uses rock-type Pokémon? I don't think I've even seen one in person before, but isn't that going to be kind of difficult with the team you've got?} he asked.
Sumi looked down at her belt, at the Pokéballs that held her fire-type Firefox, and her ground and rock-type Prince. Definitely not a type advantage there, but the only real disadvantage was against her Fire-type.
"Get ready you guy. I'm going to beat Brock, and you guys are going to help me." She said, smiling down at her Pokémon.
{Just be careful. Our only other trainer battle until now was just against those stupid Rocket people. We're not exactly a shining example of experience.} Zee said, starting to look more nervous than anything.
"Don't worry, Zee. Everything will be fine, I promise." Sumi said, walking up to the door.
{You say that now, but you won't be the one being crushed by rocks…} Zee complained, mumbling to himself as he followed her.
Sumi put both hands on the doors, pushing as hard as she could. She assumed it was a push, mostly because there were no handles to make it a pull. She pushed, grunting with the effort, but they weren't opening.
Seeing she was having no luck, Zee stepped forward, putting his front paws on the doors and pushing them himself.
"They must be locked!" Sumi complained.
{No! I can feel them moving a little! We just need to push harder!} Zee said loudly, redoubling his own efforts.
Sumi pushed even harder, trying her best to shove the doors open.
With a small pop, they finally came loose. Faster than Sumi'd expected, actually.
She fell down face first into the dirt with a small cry of surprise. Zee had managed to jump out of the way, looking surprised as he watched the doors swing open and Sumi fall flat on her face.
{You okay?} Zee asked with a small snicker, an amused look on his face as he walked up, pawing at her shoulder lightly.
Sumi picked herself up out of the dirt, dusting herself off. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking, Zee." She said. She looked up at the doors. "But why did it take so long for the doors to open They look heavy, but they opened rather quickly…" she said, looking confused.
"Because, that was kind of a test. A test that I'm happy to say that you've passed." A deep voice called from inside the gym.
Sumi gasped, kind of taken by surprise at that. She smiled, steadying herself on her feet and walked inside. "What kind of test?" she asked the disembodied voice.
"I was using one of my Pokémon to hold the doors closed. I wanted to see how you'd deal with opening them. You two work together pretty well." The voice said.
Sumi stepped farther in, breathing in a light gasp of surprise as she heard the doors close behind her.
The gym looked larger on the inside than it did from the outside. There was a large stadium-like area set up in the middle, the bottom covered in dirt with various-sized boulders set around it. The outside as rimmed in boulders as well, with a large platform on either end. The lights were kind of dimmed, but had more than enough light to see everything clearly.
On the platform opposite the doors, a man sat cross-legged on a mat on the floor. He had short, messy brown hair, going well with his tanned skin. His eyes were squinted, almost shut, and he wore a stern expression on his face. His clothes consisted of an orange V-neck shirt over a black undershirt, and some pale green cargo pants with the end of the black belt hanging down a bit loose in the front. A pair of light brown shoes completed the ensemble.
"Are you the Gym Leader, Brock, that I heard ran the gym here in Pewter City?" she asked as she came inside, Zee at her heels.
"I am. And you're my newest challenger I'm assuming?" Brock asked her, not moving from his spot.
"Yes!" Sumi said excitedly, climbing the small staircase onto the raised platform opposite him. "I am Sumi from Pallet Town! Gym Leader Brock? I challenge you to a trainer battle!" she said, pointing at him dramatically.
A small smirk spread across his face as he finally moved, getting to his feet. "It's been a long time since I've had a good battle. I'm hoping you don't disappoint me." He said, the grin spreading.
"I won't! I've been waiting for this battle since I left Pallet!" Sumi shouted, getting a confident smile on her face.
Brock's expression turned to one of amusement as he noticed the small Pokémon at her side. "Is that your Pokémon? I've never seen anything like that before. Nobody's ever sent such a small Pokémon after me!" he said with a smirk.
"Are we going to start this battle? Or are we going to just sit here and talk?" Sumi asked.
"I was waiting for you to say that. I'll let you choose three Pokémon. If you're able to defeat my two, then I'll give you what you're after here." Brock said, holding up a small item in his hand. It was about an inch wide, looking like a grey jewel. It was the boulder badge, rumored to only be given out to those trainers that Brock deemed worthy enough.
"All right, then for my first Pokémon, I'll call out Prince!" Sumi said. She pulled her ball off of her belt, pressing the button in the middle to grow it to the proper size. She tossed it up into the air, watching it open and send out her Rhyhorn into the arena. He stomped the ground, roaring proudly.
"A rock-type for your first choice? You're not such a smart trainer, are you?" he asked, grinning. He pulled out his own Pokéball, tossing it into the air. In the flash of white light, what looked like a ball-shaped rock with a face, and a pair of large arms coming out of each side, appeared.
"What's that one?" Sumi asked, pulling out her Pokédex. She aimed it at the strange rock-shaped Pokémon, pressing the button to scan it.
Geodude. The Rock Pokémon. Found in fields and mountains. Mistaking them for boulders, people often step or trip on them.
"A Geodude. That one doesn't look so tough. You can do it, Prince!" Sumi shouted with a large smile.
"You'll regret underestimating my Geodude!" Brock shouted, pointing. "Go! Pound that Rhyhorn into the ground!" he ordered.
The Geodude flew towards Prince, levitating from an unknown force. As it got close, it swung its fists out, one of them connecting with the side of Prince's face!
Prince stumbled to the side, roaring angrily. He quickly moved forward, bashing his head into the Geodude.
"Prince! Hold on! I didn't say to attack yet!" Sumi said, starting to wonder if it was a good idea to send out the quick-to-the-trigger Prince.
The Geodude took the attack, but moved with it. The attack sent it flying, but that was just what it wanted, gaining some distance on the angry Pokémon to await further orders from Brock.
Brock smirked. "Your Rhyhorn doesn't seem to be very well-trained. It's attacking before you even give it orders?" he asked.
Sumi's face reddened in embarrassment. "Prince, please listen to me this time! We can only win if we work together as Pokémon and Trainer!" Sumi shouted. She knew she sounded confident, but that was actually a line she'd heard on the Pokémon Reporter program she loved so much. She'd been wanting to use that line for a long time.
Prince looked over at her, a guilty look one his face. He really was trying hard, but he was having some issues working together with someone else. Sumi could see that.
"This'll end quickly. Geodude, get him." Brock ordered.
Geodude nodded happily, rushing at Prince. It pulled its fist back on the way, bringing it forward suddenly in a punch.
Prince didn't have time to dodge it. He tried moving to the side, but all that ended up doing was moving the force of the hit from his head to his body. The force of the punch hit him with all of the Geodude's weight behind it, sending the poor Rhyhorn flying fast. He flew a few feet, letting out a roar of pain as he hit one of the boulders, his large body shattering it.
"Prince!" Sumi shouted, a worried expression on her face. She pulled her Pokéball out. "Return!" she said, the red beam of the ball flying out and hitting Prince. It enveloped the Rhyhorn in red light before pulling it back into his ball.
"You sure you're ready to take me on, little girl? You look like you still have a lot of training to do." Brock said, the smirk back on his face.
"I'm not out of the game yet! Firefox, show them how much our training's paid off!" Sumi shouted, tossing Firefox's ball up into the air.
{Firefox is really strong! You'll be able to beat him easily!} Zee said with a large grin.
"Again, you choose a Pokémon that has a definite type disadvantage? Geodude, make short work of that Vulpix." He said, his expression now unamused.
"Firefox! Make sure to dodge his Geodude's moves!" she said as soon as her Pokémon formed form the white light.
Firefox pawed at the ground a little, crouching down to show she was ready for battle.
"You know what? You can make the first move. Just to let you have a small advantage. Though I'm pretty sure it still won't be enough." Brock taunted across the stadium.
"Thanks! Firefox, go! Flamethrower!" Sumi shouted.
Firefox rushed towards the Geodude suddenly, leaping up into the air. With a loud cry, she breathed a huge blast of flame at it, landing back onto her feet at the end of the attack.
The Geodude seemed to just brush off the attack, the stone blackened from the soot, which the Geodude quickly shook off. It was trying to be strong, to pass it off as if the attack didn't do any damage to him, but it was obvious that just withstanding it was actually difficult for the Pokémon.
"Fire attacks won't work too well against rocks. Sumi was it? I don't think you'll be winning the gym badge today." Brock said. He pointed at her Vulpix. "Geodude, go take care of it. End this match quickly." He ordered.
Geodude bobbed up and down, its own version of a nod, and then rushed at Vulpix. It swung its fists, same as it had done with Prince. But unlike the large, bulky Rhyhorn, Firefox was small and lithe. It would take more than that to hit her.
{Wow, she's actually not too bad at dodging those attacks!} Zee said suddenly, an impressed look on his face.
She ducked and dodged gracefully under the attack, dodging each punch like she'd been training for it for years. Not even her tails were nicked by the fists.
Her tails actually seemed to have a silvery gleam to them. Sumi looked at it, really confused. She pulled out her Pokédex, pressing some of the buttons on it to try and get into Vulpix' entry. The little light on the top blinked a few times, obviously picking up the attack already, registering one of the Pokémon attacks.
Iron Tail. A steel-type move. Vulpix can be tutored to learn this attack. It gives it an advantage against Pokémon that it is week against.
"Tutored…?" Sumi wondered aloud. She looked up, remembering that she was in a battle. Her Pokémon was getting ready to use Iron Tail! That would be able to get past whatever rock-types Brock called out against her. "Firefox! Use Iron Tail!" she shouted.
Firefox nodded quickly, leaping up above the Geodude. Her tails glowed a bright silver suddenly, their texture seeming to shift from soft fur to hard steel. She spun in the air as she got close, slamming the glowing tails into the Geodude.
It flew across the stadium, smashing through a couple of boulders on the way. It came to a rest at Brock's feet, looking hurt and dizzy as it rolled to a stop. It no longer had the energy to fight!
"Iron Tail?" Brock asked, a shocked look on his face. "How did you manage to teach your Vulpix Iron Tail if you're just from Pallet Town?!" he asked, stunned that his Geodude was defeated.
Sumi put her hand behind her head. "To be honest, until now, I didn't even know that she could do that!" She admitted.
"Geodude, return." Brock said, calling it back into its Pokéball. "I have to say, you've impressed me. You may just win this battle yet." He said. He reached back to his belt, pulling out the second Pokéball, his only remaining Pokémon. "But that was just the warm-up. Now it's time to see if you've got what it takes to really fight me!" he called, tossing the ball. "Go, Onix!"
What came out of the ball was truly a sight to behold. It was a huge, grey snake, each segment of it a large boulder. It was gigantic, almost reaching up to the ceiling! Its head had a large bump at the back, almost like a large spike, though it was kind of dulled at the end.
"That thing is huge!" Sumi said with a shocked expression. She aimed her Pokédex up at it.
Onix. The Rock Snake Pokémon. Its large body is over 26 feet long. Despite its size, it can squirm its way through the ground at 50 mph.
"You were somehow able to beat my Geodude, but I doubt you'll be able to defeat my heavy hitter." Brock said with a smirk. He grinned. "Go, Onix. Crush that little Vulpix." He said in a confident voice.
Onix loomed over Firefox, looking menacing.
"You can do it, Firefox! Come on!" Sumi shouted.
Firefox leapt at the Onix, ready to fight. Sumi knew it would be tough, but she just had to beat it!