Nurse Joy, as loving as she was, took great care in healing Aeris's pokemons before returning the two pokeballs and Pikachu back to him on a tray.
"Here you go Aeris, your pokemons are fine and healthy."
"Thank you Nurse Joy," Aeris says before retrieving his pokeballs and attatching them onto his belt while Pikachu jumped on his shoulders.
He was soon about to leave. But, on second thought, he didn't.
"Hey, Nurse Joy, I was just wondering, but do you know the way to the Pokemon Gym?"
Nurse Joy raised her eyesbrows out of curiousity. "Are you a challenger?"
"Yup," Aeris nods. "I'm from Pallet Town, and it's going to be my first gym battle."
"Oh, I see. In that case, the gym will be right around the corner if you take two turns directly from this road."
"Thank You, Nurse Joy," Aeris thanked, and quickly fixed his jacket before hurrying on towards the Pewter City Gym.
On the way, since he was running without control, Aeris bumped into someone.
"Sorry," Aeris apologized, and looked up, only to meet with the eyes of his childhood friend and long-time rival. "Gary."
"Yo, Aeris, fancy meeting you here."
"Uh, huh," Aeris nods. Its weird really. Its been a while since the both of them left Pallet Town and has seen each other. Before, they were so used to seeing each other every day. But now, they seldom talk due to each being in their different roads.
"You gonna challenge the gym?"
"Yup," Aeris nods his heads.
"Cool. I already finished mine," Gary says before he reaches out to his pocket and grab his badge case before showing it to Aeris. The shiny rock-like octagon was in display for everyone. "Here's the Boulder Badge. It's proof for beating the Pewter City gym leader. You can't get into the league without these."
"Awesome!" Aeris and Pikachu's eyes were literally twinkling in awe. "So, that's what a gym badge looks like!"
Gary immediately closed his badge case and returned it back to his pocket afterwards. "Well, that's all there is, Aeris. I'm heading to Cerulean City next. Make sure you get your own badge and then catch up with me. It'd be boring if there wasn't anyone to match my awesomeness!"
"Hah!" Aeris scoffs at him. "As if I'd let you get ahead of me. You just wait and watch, I'll be taking the lead in no time."
"We'll see about that," Gary tells him and nods his head before stuffing his hands inside his pockets and walking away. "Smell ya later, Aeris, Pikachu."
"You too Gary."
"Pika pika!"
The Pewter City Gym was a Rock-type gym. As such, the gym's exterior was covered with designs of pebbles and boulders with the sign 'Pewter City Gym' on its head.
Aeris took a deep breathe before clenching his fists. "Here we go Pikachu. It's our first Gym battle."
"Pika pika!"
Aeris grabbed the handle of the Gym's door before pulling it open, meeting with nothing but darkness.
"Hello! Is anyone here?" Aeris calls out.
"Pika pika!"
"I'm Aeris Blackwood from Pallet Town, and I'm here to challenge the gym leader."
"I see, so you're here to take on the gym battle, then."
A sudden, hoarse voice causes Aeris to turn around and look for the source. However, at that moment, the lights of the gym lit up and there was bright light shining from everywhere, illuminating the gym's interior.
Aeris noticed that there was a young man standing opposite of him. His hair was spiky olive, and his skin was tanned. He was wearing a brown t-shirt underneath a cut-open vest jacket, and dark olive pants.
"Are you the gym leader?"
The man nodded with his arms crossed. "Yes. I'm Brock, and I'm the leader of the Pewter City gym."
"Cool. I want a gym battle, then."
"Is this your first gym challenge?" Brock asks him out of curiosity.
"Yeah," Aeris answers. "I'm a new trainer, and I just received Pikachu from Professor Oak a while back."
"I see," Brock holds his hand to his chin and thinks deeply for a moment before turning his gaze back to Aeris. "Well then, I think we should commence with the Gym battle."
"Alright!"
A man in yellow t-shirt and black shorts with a flag in hand immediately entered the gym room in that moment.
"Uh. That's the referee, I guess..." Aeris says as Pikachu nods from his shoulder.
"This is going to be a two-on-two gym battle between the Pewter City gym leader Brock, and Aeris Blackwood from Pallet Town. Only the challenger is allowed to substitute their pokemon. The winner will be decided when either side's pokemons are unable to battle."
Aeris was in complete awe, as this was his first time seeing an official referee in real life.
"May the challenger bring out his pokemon." The referee commended.
"Oh, yes," He had almost forgotten that he had to bring out his pokemon. After a moment of thinking, Aeris decided to smile at the pokemon sitting on his shoulder.
"Hey, Pikachu. Since this is our first gym battle, I want you to be my first pokemon. Why don't we take the first step together, buddy?"
"Pika pika!" Pikachu responded as it jumped down from Aeris's shoulder and into the battlefield.
"A Pikachu, huh? Very well then, I'll go with this pokemon." Gym leader Brock presented a pokeball before throwing it at the battlefield. The pokemon opened up to reveal a pokemon that was shaped like a boulder with strong, muscly, rocky arms.
Aeris brought out his Pokedex.
Geodude, the Rock Pokémon. A Rock and Ground Type,
Geodude has incredibly high defensive power, making it virtually resistant to any physical attacks.
"I see, so that's a Geodude."
"Geoooo!"
"Alright then Pikachu, let's start with Quick Attack!"
"Pikka!" Pikachu jumped forward as a white light trailed behind it before dashing towards Geodude.
Brock smirked at the action.
Eventually, Pikachu hit Geodude, however, the rock pokemon did not seem to even have a scratch.
"Wh-what happened?"
"Pika pika?"
"Geodude is a rock type pokemon Aeris. Attacks like Quick Attack won't do much to it."
"Ugh! Okay then Pikachu, use Electro Ball."
"Pika pika pika pika!" Pikachu jumped high as the ball of electricity started rotating on its tail. "Pikachu!" The electro ball was released towards Geodude. And, as it crashed onto it, the attack was rendered ineffective with absolutely nothing happening except of the gathering of dust around the rock pokemon.
"Electric type attacks don't do anything to a ground-type like Geodude, Aeris."
Aeris clenched his fists. Of course, he knew that. However, he still believed that it would do at least something.
It was then that Brock decided to attack.
"Geodude, Rock Smash!"
"Geooooo!" Geodude's hand glowed white before the rock pokemon tumbled towards Pikachu and delivered a solid rock punch to its cheek.
"Pikaaaaa!"
"Ugh! Shit! Damn it!"
Aeris was in a real pinch. He didn't know what to do. Only two of his Pikachu's attacks would work now. And, one of them would do almost nothing. It was then that a strategy entered his mind.
"Alright Pikachu, go with Tail Whip."
Brock was slightly confused. As such, he let Pikachu run towards the rock pokemon, and let it smack Geodude a few times with its tail.
"It's useless. Tail Whip doesn't do any damage."
"I know. But, it can lower Geodude's defense," Aeris says with a confident smirk before commanding Pikachu to perform a Quick Attack.
Much to Brock's surprise, Pikachu ran towards Geodude and smacked heads before smashing the rock pokemon into the wall of the gym.
"Alright!"
"Geodude is unable to battle," the referee announced as Brock returned his pokemon before glancing at Aeris who was celebrating with Pikachu.
"Interesting, it's not everyday that I see trainers like him," he thinks before smirking and revealing his next pokemon. "Let's see how you deal with this one, Aeris."
What came out of Brock's pokeball was a large, giant snake that was about 30 feet tall and had a body which was of boulders.
"Woah! What is that?"
Meredith and Sylvia were resting on the sofas of the Pokemon Centre when they spotted someone familiar with blonde hair and brown eyes entering through the sliding doors.
"Stephan!" Sylvia called, out of surprise, as the blonde turned heads to meet the gaze of Sylvia and Meredith.
"Woah! What are you guys doing here?"
"It's surprising to see you here, Stephan," Sylvia says, eyes gleaming with joy.
"Yeah, we like, totally didn't expect to see you here. It's been a while," Meredith exclaims.
"So, I see that you guys were able to pass through Viridian Forrest."
At the sound of Viridan Forrest, Meredith sighs in agony.
"Ugh! Don't remind me. That place is horrible, I'm never going there again."
"Good thing we had Aeris with us."
At Sylvia's statement, Stephan raised his eyes in suspicion. "Aeris?"
"Yeah, Aeris Blackwood, he's the one you battled back in Pallet."
"Oh, that Aeris."
Aeris's memory was ingrained in Stephan's brain. He'd been winning it all his life. Finally, when he's tasted defeat, he swore to get revenge on Aeris.
"Is he with you guys now?"
"Nope," Sylvia shakes her head. "I think he's challenging the gym."
"Okay," Stephan. "I think I'm gonna head to the Gym for now."
"Ugh! Don't tell me you're planning to meet him."
That was the last thing Meredith wanted to hear. More like, it'd actually be really weird if they see Aeris again after saying such an *ahem* emotional farewell.
"Onix, the Rock Snake pokemon. A rock and ground type.
It tunnels through the ground which shakes when it raises its thunderous roar. It can move the ground atfifty milesper hour."
Aeris's Pokedex read, at the giant snake in front of them.
"Woah! That pokemon is so big!"
"Let the battle continue," the referee spoke and slid down his flag before the match between gym leader Brock and Aeris resumed.
"Alright Pikachu! We'll have to be a little tricky with this one. So, let's start with Quick Attack!"
"Pikka!"
"What is he planning now?" Brock muttered as he saw Pikachu charging towards Onix.
As expected, when Pikachu collided with one of the giant rocks that made Onix's body, the Quick Attack did little to no damage. It was as if Onix was just scratched.
"Use Tail Whip now Pikachu!" Aeris commanded, and Pikachu jumped up on the ground before slapping Onix on the face with its tail.
Onix was enraged, and a little bit humiliated to see that a little mouse was ruining its face. However, since Brock kept patient and was observing rather then countering, Onix kept still and let Pikachu do all the slapping it could to Onix's face.
At one point though, Brock did give a command.
"Alright Onix, we had enough! Give em a shot of your Rock Tomb."
"ONIX!"
Onix flapped its tail on the ground before swinging it onwards at Pikachu, causing boulders to appear out of nowhere with their direction being Pikachu.
"Pikachu use Electro Ball!"
"Pikka!" Pikachu jumped up as the ball of electricity started rotating on top of its tail. "Chuuu!" Pikachu flung the electro ball at the incoming boulders, causing them to break into pebbles before returning back to Onix's direction.
Although the pebbles didn't do anything, Onix did feel a certain twitch somewhere in its body, though it was too powerful to feel it clearly.
"Let's go Pikachu! Use Quick Attack once again!"
"Pika pika pika pika pika!" Pikachu ran towards Onix as a flash of white light trailed behind it. "Pikachu!" It smashed its head on Onix's body.
"Now Onix, use Wrap!" Brock commanded, and Onix instantly spread its tail before engulfing the little mouse with it.
"No! Pikachu!"
"Pikka!" Pikachu's face expressed distress as it tried to use its little hands to get out of Onix's grip.
"Come on Pikachu, you can do it!"
Brock saw Pikachu struggle for a while. Finally, he sighed and directed his gaze at Aeris.
"Enough is enough Aeris! You're Pikachu is at danger here. Don't you think it's best to recall it? The match isn't over yet, you know. You'll still have 1 more Pokemon."
Aeris clenched his fists. He saw Pikachu struggle, the little mouse struggling helplessly to remove the grip on its neck while Onix wrapped its tail tighter around the electric rodent.
"Alright!" Aeris exclaimed finally with a sigh. "Come back did well."
"Pikka?"
While Pikachu glanced at Aeris in confusion, Onix released its tail from Pilachu and let the little mouse walk towards its trainer.
"You did well, buddy, take a good rest," Aeeis said, and patted Pikachu's head before taking out a pokeball from his belt.
"You're the next one!" he exclaimed while throwing the pokeball. "Let's go get em Nidoran!"
"Nidooo!" The pokemon growled right after coming out of its pokeball.
"A Nidoran, huh?" Brock smirked while observing the pokemon that was drastically smaller then his Onix. "This should be interesting."
"Alright Nidoran, let's start with Poison Sting."
"Nidooo!"
"Onix use Rock Throw!"
"Oniiii!"
As Nidoran kept going towards Onix with its purple-glowing horn, the rock snake pokemon flapped its tail and made several boulders appear out of nowhere, disturbing Nidoran's path.
"Keep going while dodging them, Nidoran!"
"Nidooo!"
Nidoran increased its pace. It swiftly took sharp turns in order to avoid the incoming boulders.
Jumping left, jumping right, again jumping left, and again jumping right, Nidoran avoided all the oncoming rocks and landed in front of Onix before delivering a powerful blow of its horn to Onix.
"Oniiii!"
"Good job Nidoran!"
"Nidooo!" The pokemon growled. However, in all their celebration, both Aeris and Nidoran had failed to notice that Onix had already recovered from the attack and was now towering above Nidoran.
"Use Slam Onix!"
Onix raised its tail before slapping Nidoran hard on the cheeks.
The attack was so powerful, that not only Nidoran took serious damage, but it also flung on the air and back towards Aeris's side of the battlefield.
"Oh! No! Nidoran!"
"The battle is over," Brock stated boldly while smirking in delight. In truth, he felt like the battle was too easy. Pikachu was a challenge. However, it seems like all of Aeris's chance of winning went down with Pikachu. Nidoran seemed nothing but a dessert to Brock's victory.
"Nidooo!"
Nidoran's body was covered in bats and bruises. It tried to stand up on its forelimbs, but it fails to do so continuosly.
"Nidoran! You have to get up buddy! Come on!"
"Pika pikachu!"
"Nidooooo!"
Suddenly, taking both Brock and Aeris by surprise, Nidoran's skin started glowing.
"Wow!" Aeris exclaimed with sparkling eyes as he saw Nidoran turn into something different.
Its body shape turned larger, its limbs grew taller, its horn grew longer, and more sharper.
Amongs all that, it seemed as if Nidoran had become into something more powerful then before.
Aeris immediately took out his Pokedex to observe the new sudden change in Nidoran.
"Nidorino, the Poison Pin pokemon, and the evolved form of Nidoran. A Poison type.
Its highly developed horn is extremely powerful."
"Awesome! So, you've evolved Nidoran!"
"Nidooo!" The newly-evolved Nidorino growled at its own trainer, as if angry at something, and Aeris seems to understand why.
"Oh. Sorry! It's Nidorino now."
"Nidoo!" It moaned happily before turning its gaze at Onix, a dangerous gleam to its eyes and a fury like never before.
Without even waiting for a command, Nidorino started charging towards Onix while its back legs started shining brightly.
"Awesome Nidorino, you learned Double Kick!"
"Get away from there Onix!" Brock commanded, sensing the danger.
Onix was about to move. However...
Twitch.
A part of Onix's rock-alligned body stopped from moving. On closer inspection, Brock noticed that a small pebble had stuck between the rocks that made up Onix's body.
His eyes widened upon realization. "It must be from that time when Pikachu..."
"Alright Onix, we had enough! Give em a shot of your Rock Tomb."
"ONIX!"
Onix flapped its tail on the ground before swinging it onwards at Pikachu, causing boulders to appear out of nowhere with their direction being Pikachu.
"Pikachu use Electro Ball!"
"Pikka!" Pikachu jumped up as the ball of electricity started rotating on top of its tail. "Chuuu!" Pikachu flung the electro ball at the incoming boulders, causing them to break into pebbles before returning back to Onix's direction.
Although the pebbles didn't do anything, Onix did feel a certain twitch somewhere in its body, though it was too powerful to feel it clearly.
"Damn!" Brock clicked his tongue, and watched in frustration as Nidorino jumped from the ground before kicking one of Onix's rock with its left backleg, and propelling itself using the rocks to jump higher and use its right backleg to kick Onix on the head.
"Oniiii!" Onix groaned. The attack was super effective. It immediately received serious damage and failed to stand up before falling on the ground with its eyes shut close.
"Alright!"
"Onix is unable to battle," the referee announced. "Nidorino wins. Therefore, the winner of the Pewter City gym battle is Aeris Blackwood from Pallet Town."
"You did it Nidorino!"
"Nidoooo!" The poison pin pokemon roared in victory before returning to its trainer's side as Brock approached Aeris- he had already returned his Onix back to his pokeball.
"Well done, Aeris. It was a great battle."
"Thanks Brock," Aeris grinned. "But it's all because of my buddies."
"Of course," Brock agreed and smiled with his eyes closed. "Nothing is possible without your pokemon friends. After all, without them, I wouldn't be giving you this."
Brock handed Aeris a sparkly stone that had the shape of an octagon.
"Here's the proof of your victory Aeris- the Boulder Badge."
"Alright!" Aeris exclaimed before jumping and shouting out loud. "We got the Boulder Badge!"
"Pika pikachu!"
"Nidoooo!"
A while later in the Pewter gym...
Stephan opens the door of the Pewter City gym, only to be met with darkness as Meredith and Sylvia trails behind him.
"Hello. Is there anyone here?"
Suddenly, bright light flashed all across the room before illuminating the gym, revealing the battlefield and the gym leader.
"Welcome to the Pewter City Gym. You're another challenger, I presume?"
"Another?" Sylvia quirked his eyebrows.
"A challenger just passed by right now."
"A challenger?"
"Was his name Aeris Blackwood?" Stephan cut Meredith off.
"You know him?" Brock asked, smiling while Stephan nodded at him.
"Did he win?"
"He did, actually," Brock informed him. "It was interesting battling him," he said out aloud before a serious expression masked his face as he revealed his pokeball. "Aeris won the battle kid, but can you?"
"Hah! Bring it on!" Stephan urged as the referee entered the arena before the battle commenced once again.
"I guess this is the road, Pikachu," Aeris stated before looking at the two roads in front of him.
"Pika pika..." Pikachu was again doubting his trainer's choices.
In front of them were two path. One was a bridge that led to what looked like a jungle, while the other was a steep path that went along the mountainside of what was known as Mt. Moon.
"Pikka." Since the last time Aeris had chosen a path they had to walk in circles, this time Pikachu chose to go towards the opposite direction of what its trainer had told- the mountain path.
"Just how badly do you think of my directioning Pikachu?"
"Pika pika." Pikachu chirped, spreading its two frontlimbs wide apart, as if to say 'a lot'.
Ah! This is my first Author's Note!
Shit! I'm shaking!
Anyways, a bit of info for everyone who's reading my story.
Yes- Aeris is going to travel alone.
I know most of you guys would want Aeris to go around in Kanto with Sylvia and Meredith- or just Sylvia, but I don't particularly like that part.
I mean, in almost all the pokefics I've read, the MC travels along the region with 2-3, sometimes 4, people.
And, I find that kind of annoying.
I mean, yeah, I get, introducing characters are important, but it's pokemon for God's sake. Rather then focusing on the characters that are humans, you should focus on the pokemons.
Another thing, this story will follow a semi-double plotline.
Aeris's one will be the main one though.
The semi plotline will mostly feature Sylvia and Meredith, and sometimes Gary and Stephan.
Again, character intros are important. So, cheers!