6 - Assistant Does Not Mean Weak

Daniel POV

"Before we leave, Brock, may I ask something of you?"

The Rock Type user turned to me. "Yes, Daniel?"

I smirk slightly. "I'd like to formally challenge you for the Boulder Badge. It'd be a good way for your father to be reminded how to run a gym."

Flint winced slightly, but nodded in agreement. "The boy has a point, son. Though you'll have to heal your Pokemon first, the Ketchum boy did a real number on them."

"Sorry…" Ash apologized, smiling in embarrassment. "I forgot you wanted the Boulder Badge too, Daniel. Are you going to get Xander watching too?"

I shake my head. "Nah, my intention is to fight him in the finals of the Indigo League. I can't give him any chance of understanding my strategy before hand. He's hard enough to beat when he's not really trying, but when the League's going on, he'll use every trick he knows and then some in order to win."

Misty harrumphed. "Sounds like a cheater to me."

Even Ash sighed with me at Misty's utter disdain for Xander. "Misty, Xander may not be the nicest person, but he's fair."

I nod at Ash's words. "He's also an utter genius, and a master of strategy. He doesn't need to cheat." I yawn. "But we aren't here to talk about Xander, we're here to battle! Brock, how long will it take for Geodude and Onix to be ready to battle?"

The squinty eyed teen frowned in thought. "Hmm… about twenty, maybe thirty minutes."

I nod. "Alright, I'll go psyche my Pokemon up for this, maybe get some light last minute training in." I begin to make my way out. "When everything's ready, I'll be in the field just before the city."

Brock and Flint nodded, while Ash went over to my side.

"Ash?"

"I want to know how you train your Pokemon," he said simply. "A true Pokemon Master should know many ways to train Pokemon!"

I can't argue with that logic…

"Alright then," I shrug. "Though my training is a bit harsher than most, though my Pokemon enjoy the challenge."

"Abra, keep concentrating all that psychic energy into one miniscule point and releasing it as fast as you can!" I instructed. "The faster the better, I want Psybeam executed far quicker before the week is out! Don't exert yourself too much though, I need you in good condition when we fight Brock."

I turn away from my concentrating Abra to Nova, who was practicing her rapid fire Ember. "Keep going Nova, but keep those blasts short and consistent, the more differences between shots the more energy you'll expend, and that spells nothing but bad news for us!"

"I thought you said this was going to be light training?" Ash asked from the rock he was sitting on. Pikachu nodded at Ash's question, probably wondering the same thing.

I snort. "This is light. Normally, I run my Pokemon into the ground before calling quits. Both Abra and Nova often end up passing out by the time they're done. On harder days, I make them keep going, despite them having practically no energy left."

Ash frowned. "Isn't that a bit too much? I mean, that's just going to hurt them."

"No pain, no gain," I shrug. "Besides, they all want me to push them, right?"

"Abra!"

"Mander!"

I gesture to my two training Pokemon. "See?"

Ash sighed. "If they like it…" His eyes suddenly brightened and he straightened. "A True Pokemon Master knows that all Pokemon are unique, and require special training just for them!"

Pikachu just looks at me as if saying, "Is he going to do that all the time?"

I sigh and mutter, "Just bear with it buddy, he'll grow out of it… I hope."

Third Person POV (All battles will be like this)

"This is a match between the challenged, Gym Leader Brock Harrison, and the challenger, Assistant Professor Daniel Wood," Flint announced. "Substitutions are allowed. Now, are both trainers ready?"

Daniel nodded, "Ready."

"Ready," Brock stated.

Flint nodded formally in response. "Then let the match, BEGIN!"

"Go Nova!"

"Geodude, let's go!"

The fire starter and sentient rock emerge with a flash of light, and immediately stare each other down. Both battlers were silent, each assessing the other's thoughts, wondering what the first move would be.

Brock observed the Charmander warily. Daniel is no green trainer, he obviously knows that his Charmander has a disadvantage to Geodude… so why is he using her? It's clearly a trap of some kind.

Daniel was trying to hold back his smirk. Just as he expected, Brock was wary at the sight of Nova. Nova may be at a disadvantage, and while type advantage could truly shift the balance of a match, it doesn't matter if no attacks hit…

"Nova, Rapid Fire Ember, now!"

The starter instantly began pelting weak balls of flame at the Geodude, who just chuckled and ignored as the attacks hit. They weren't doing any damage, after all, so why should he bother?

Brock frowned. "Daniel, you know that Fire is weak to Rock, so why are you-"

"Geo?!"

Everyone blinked in surprise as slight flames appeared on Geodude. Daniel smirked triumphantly at this, and decided to enlighten the others. "Nova wasn't trying to deal damage, Brock, she was trying to inflict burn. And now that she has, Geodude has a limited time until the burn damage saps all his stamina. Even better, the burn status not only drains stamina, but also strength, so Nova's low defense isn't such a problem now that Geodude's higher attack is practically halved."

Misty and Ash watched Daniel with wide eyes. Misty was in shock that Daniel was actually that good, while Ash was soaking up the knowledge, prepared to use it himself if he could.

"I thought you were up to something…" Brock sighed. "Guess that's what it was."

"Yep. I love status effects, they are so much fun. Paralysis, Poison, Confusion, Sleep, Burn… they're all so much fun to play with. And you know what's better?"

Brock tilted his head. "What?"

"The fact that all this talking has just passed time," Daniel shrugged. "Geodude is probably about half stamina now, maybe less…"

Brock's eyebrows rose drastically as the information hit him. "Geodude!"

"Dude…" the rock type groaned. Brock sighed. "Return, you've done enough." He turned to Flint. "I declare that Geodude is unable to battle."

The father nodded. "Geodude has been declared unfit to battle, the first battle goes to Charmander! Gym Leader, please send in your next Pokemon!"

"Nice trick Daniel," Brock acknowledged, "but I won't let you use it again! Onix, let's go!"

With a flash of light, the huge rock snake Pokemon appeared.

"Onix! Start this off with Wrap!"

"Nova, evasion time!" Daniel shouted. "Don't let Onix even touch you! Use Rapid Fire Ember whenever you have the chance! Onix is too big and slow to dodge them all!"

"Char!" Nova cried in affirmation, as she jumped over Onix's curling tail.

"Onix, use Rock Tomb as much as you can on the field!" Brock called.

Onix roared as he summoned numerous falling boulders. Daniel grimaced, he forgot about Rock Tomb. "Nova, do your best not to get hit! Try using the rocks as cover for other attacks!"

"Onix, don't let them get the chance! Quit Rock Tomb and just smash the rocks!"

He's not letting up this time, good to know he's a fast learner, Daniel thought to himself. "Nova! Forget what I just said, stay away from the boulders, but try to keep out of Onix's vision! Don't reply to this! Onix has great hearing!"

So he knows about Onix's hearing… should've known, he is an Assistant Professor, after all. Brock thought to himself. There was a clear difference in ability between Daniel and Ash. While Ash blundered about with luck, Daniel had some sort of strategy in mind. The burn effect, along with stalling the battle by talking, was an indicator he had thought ahead.

"ONIX!" the rock snake roared in frustration, unable to hit the quick moving starter.

"Nova, you've done you're part! Return!"

Brock frowned. If he just kept it up a little longer, Onix would have worn himself out… but then again… He took a look at Nova just as she was being returned. Brock managed to catch some sweat and heavy breathing just before the light engulfed her. Onix wasn't the only one tiring out. The Rapid Fire Ember against Geodude already took some of Charmander's strength, and having to stay on her toes against Onix… it's quite impressive how much endurance she has, even though she hasn't evolved yet.

"Go Abra!" Daniel called out as he released his psychic type. "Time to wrap this up, buddy, Psybeam, now!"

A beam of pink colored energy fired off within a second of the command being said. Onix, Daniel knew, had a poor special defense while Abra, like most Psychic types, had a high special attack. With both a higher level and no disadvantage, Abra's Psybeam struck Onix hard.

The rock snake Pokemon was sent crashing into the wall, where it slid down to rest, fainted.

"Onix is unable to battle! The battle goes to Abra!" Flint announced. "With Gym Leader Brock having no Pokemon left, the match goes to Challenger Daniel!"

Daniel POV

I return Abra with a smile and a frown. I'm happy that we won, but I was a bit sad that Nova couldn't hold out the rest of the fight. Make no mistake, I am proud of how well Nova did, very proud. I was just hoping she would be able to take down both Geodude and Onix, but alas, Brock showed his colors as a Gym Leader and made sure that I couldn't distract him again.

"Well done Daniel," Brock congratulated. "I knew your Charmander would be skilled, as you aren't foolish enough to throw a disadvantaged Pokemon into battle without a good reason. I just didn't expect Charmander to be that good. It's clear you've raised your Pokemon well, so it gives me great pleasure to give you the Boulder Badge."

I smile in thanks as I take the Badge. "Thanks Brock. And you do this Gym proud," I comment. "Your old man's gonna have it rough trying to keep the same standards you put up."

"Aye, you have a point," Flint nodded. "You've really impressed me Brock, and I'm sorry you had to grow up the hard way. I promise you that I'll do my utmost best to keep the Gym's standards high, and to take care of the young ones."

Brock smiled at his father. "Thank you, dad."

I step away as the two rebuild their father/son relationship. I don't like butting into others personal business… and I regret looking into Xander's by peeking at that paper, so don't call me a hypocrite just yet.

"Daniel!" Ash cried. "That was awesome! You gotta teach me some of those tricks!"

"You're good… I'll give you that," Misty reluctantly acknowledged.

I chuckled. "Don't worry Ash, I'll teach you a thing or two. I'm not as good as Xander though, mind you. He's downright terrifying in battle," I comment, shuddering slightly as I remember the utter wipe from both the videogame Pokemon and the few mock battles I've had with him.

"What time are we heading out?" Brock asked as he made his way over, abruptly changing the conversation. I turn to Ash, and gesture for him to answer. He was the impromptu leader of this little team, after all.

Ash blinked. "Umm… I don't know?"

I sigh. "Let's go with after breakfast tomorrow…"

The others agree (though Misty was a little reluctant), and we head to the Pokemon Center to book some rooms. There weren't as many available rooms this time, so Brock, Ash, and I got crammed into one room while lucky Misty gets one all to herself.

As night hits and we hit the sack, I couldn't help but wonder how Xander was doing in Hoenn…

If the chapters start getting shorter, sorry. It's hard to write a lot about one side without it seeming like filler material, which while amusing at times, just makes me feel like I'm scrounging for straws on what to write, and I don't like that. I have a feeling that whenever Daniel and Xander are split apart, the chapters are going to be shorter…