"Ah!" Ash said as the gang walked into the city. "It feels so good to be out of the forest!"

The gang looked around, all impressed by their new surroundings. Pewter City was very different from Viridian, being slightly bigger, and a lot rockier. Being located right next to a huge rocky mountain, the city was famous for its many rock formations, rocky hills, and the fossils that were frequently excavated from said rocks. Even the local snack food, Pewter Crunchies, were known for being rock hard, making them difficult for tourists to eat.

Speaking of rocks, the gang decided to take a break, resting on a bunch of rocks.

"So, you're going to challenge the gym, right?" Mikaela asked Ash.

"Oh yeah!" said Ash. "I can't wait to get my first badge! Especially since I couldn't get it at Viridian City."

"Yeah," said Meowth, "that gym won't know what hit them!"

"I still think you're lucky the Leader wasn't there," said Maria. "But yeah, I kind of want to see how this will turn out."

"Me too," said Mikaela. "So, what plan do you have for the gym, Ash?"

"I dunno," said Ash. "But I'm sure we'll figure it out!"

The rest of the gang fell over in bemusement.

"Well, you'd certainly better have a plan soon, otherwise you're going to suffer."

The gang looked up, and were met by the sight of an older man with a thick brown beard.

"What do you mean?" said Ash.

"I mean Gym Leaders are no laughing matter," the man said. "If you're not prepared, your Pokemon will have a terrible time."

The man stroked his beard.

"What Pokemon do you have, young man?"

"Well," said Ash, "I have my buddy Meowth, and I also have a Spearow and Caterpie."

"You don't stand a chance," the man said.

"What?!"

"You know," said Sam, "I think it might be good to take some time to train your Pokemon before-"

"Not you too, Sam!"

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to train your Pokemon a bit," said Maria. "It might make it easier to win when you have your gym battle."

Ash opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Meowth interjected.

"You know, Ash, it would definitely be good to know what we're up against before we try anything. Maybe we should watch a gym battle or something before we try it out. See what we need to do to win, and whatnot."

"Did that Meowth just talk?"

The raven haired trainer groaned. He really wanted to challenge the gym right now. But his friends, and even his starter, were all urging him to be cautious.

As much as he hated to admit it, they were probably right.

"Okay," he said finally. "I guess being a bit more prepared can't hurt."

"Now that's more like it!" Meowth said as he patted his trainer on the head.

"You know," the man said, "I heard there was a trainer who was going to challenge the gym today," the man said. "We could go watch."

"That sounds fun," said Mikaela. "Let's go!"

"Yeah," said Ash, "I guess I could learn a thing or two."

"Great," the man said. "Before that, though, you all owe me money."

"What?!" said Sam. "Why?!"

"You all sat on my rocks," the man replied. "I charge for that, you know."

This time, Ash joined his friends in falling over.

While all the gyms in the Kanto region were notable in one way or another, the Pewter Gym was particularly noteworthy. The gym was, in many ways, a reflection of the city, being made almost entirely of rock, and being the home of several rock type specialists.

The most notable, of course, was the Gym Leader.

It had been a big surprise when Flint Johnson had announced his intention to step down and leave the gym to his son. Many had been skeptical that his son, wrestling champion Dwayne "The Brock" Johnson, would be as capable a Gym Leader as his father. However, in spite of his youth, The Brock had quickly proved to be as effective as a trainer as he had been as a wrestler. His Onix, in particular, was known for being incredibly powerful, and nearly impossible for a rookie trainer to take out. And his other Pokemon were nothing to sneeze at either, being very strong in their own right. Many speculated that The Brock continued to hone his skills by wrestling with his Pokemon, which said a lot not only about his Pokemon, but also about the man himself.

Ash, being Ash, had forgotten all of this.

"So," he said as the gang sat down in the stands, "we're watching a gym battle, huh?"

"Yeah we are," said Meowth. "Should be interesting to see."

They watched as a trainer walked onto the battlefield. Ash looked on in curiosity as he watched the brown haired girl take her place, ready for battle. On the other side of the field, The Brock walked up, the thick muscles on his bare chest on display for all to see.

"This will be a battle between The Brock, leader of the Pewter City Gym, and the challenger, Verity of Twinleaf town," the referee announced. Each trainer will be allowed to use two Pokemon, and only the challenger will be allowed to switch Pokemon. The battle will be over when one side has no more Pokemon left to continue."

"Okay," the girl who was apparently called Verity said. "Let's do this, Buizel!"

She tossed out her pokeball, which burst open with a flash. From there, a strange, orange colored Pokemon with two tails emerged.

"Bui! Buizel!"

"Who's that Pokemon?" Ash asked as he consulted his Pokedex.

"Data not found. Pokemon may not be native to Kanto. Consult your local professor for more information."

"I really need to talk to Professor Oak about getting Pokemon from other regions into this dex," said Ash.

Down on the battlefield, The Brock was looking at the foreign Pokemon with fascination.

"A Sinnoh Pokemon, huh?" he said. "We don't see one of those every day."

"Yeah," said Verity. "I get that a lot."

"Well, this should be pretty interesting, Valerie."

Verity blinked.

"Actually, my name's-"

"It doesn't matter what your name is!" The Brock roared, causing Verity to jump. "So you better be ready to fight, 'cause otherwise The Brock will lay the smackdown on your candy ass!"

"Language, Brock," the referee said.

"You wanna come up here and say that to The Brock's face?!"

"...No sir," the referee said as he lifted up a flag. "Battle begin!"

Not wanting to waste any time, Verity immediately called her first command.

"Buizel! Use Water Gun!"

"Dodge and tackle 'em!"

"Buizel! Bui!" Buizel cried as he squirted out a stream of water, only for Geodude to dodge and slam against the weasel Pokemon.

"Now squish that jabroni with a Rock Tomb!"

The rock type threw a number of large rocks which quickly surrounded Buizel, before crushing him with intense force. The sea weasel Pokemon cried out in pain, but was not knocked out yet.

"Buizel!" Verity called out. "Get out of there with Aqua Jet!"

"Buiii!" the little orange water type cried as his body was surrounded by water. He then shot forwards, breaking through the rocky prison that had formed around him and slamming into Geodude.

"Yes!" Verity cheered, before her face paper as she realized what had just happened.

"Grab him and Rollout all over his candy ass!"

Geodude grabbed Buizel before rolling all around the battlefield. The hapless water type was barely able to fight back as he was slammed underneath the rock Pokemon over and over again.

"Buizel!" Verity yelled. "Hang on!"

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a few seconds, Geodude stopped moving. He then proceeded to toss a now unconscious Buizel onto the ground.

"Buizel is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Geodude wins this round!"

Barely able to speak, Verity returned Buizel to his pokeball. Up in the stands, Ash and his friends were watching in awe and, in the case of Ash and Meowth, dread.

"Man," said Mikaela, "I heard that The Brock was crazy strong, but that was amazing!"

"I mean, water types should have been strong against rock types," said Sam. "But that Pokemon didn't stand a chance!"

"Yeah," said Maria. "I still think the Viridian Gym Leader would beat him, though."

Ash and Meowth didn't comment, but simply stared at the Gym Leader. They then turned to each other.

"Please tell me you got a plan," said Meowth.

"...Train a lot?" said Ash.

Back on the battlefield, Verity had called her second Pokemon forwards, a small blue and white avian. While the situation wasn't looking good, she didn't seem to be willing to back down.

"We can still do this, Piplup!" Verity declared. "Use Bubble!"

"Dodge it and use Rock Tomb!"

Geodude rushed out of the way of the bubbles, then tossed out a number of large rocks. Fortunately, Piplup managed to dodge the attack, and sent out another barrage of bubbles. This time, Geodude wasn't able to get out of the way, and some of the bubbles made contact.

"Don't let that stop you, Geodude!" The Brock yelled. "Rollout all over that chicken!"

"Geo!" Geodude cried out as he began to roll towards his opponent.

"Piplup!" Verity yelled. "Use Peck to flip him over!"

The penguin Pokemon charged as his beak began to glow. He then jammed it against the incoming rock type and tossed it into a nearby rock, trapping it.

"Now use Bubble again!"

Piplup shot out a huge barrage of bubbles, which slammed against Geodude. The rock Pokemon cried out in pain as the bubbles hit it, then went limp as the attack stopped.

"Geodude?" The Brock said, only to be met with silence.

"Geodude is unable to battle," the referee declared. "Piplup is the winner!"

Piplup and Verity sighed in relief as Geodude was recalled.

"Not bad," The Brock said as he grabbed a second pokeball. "But The Brock is not done yet! Now let's see how you do against Onix!"

He then tossed out a second pokeball, revealing a huge gray Pokemon. The rock snake Pokemon roared, causing his opponent to take a step back.

"So, Valerie," The Brock said as he crossed his arms, "tell me one thing: can you smell what The Brock is cooking?!"

Verity and Piplup began to sweat nervously. Up in the stands, Ash and Meowth turned to each other.

"We're screwed," said Meowth.

Despite the type advantage Piplup had, Onix had proven to be too much. Verity hadn't said anything as she recalled her Pokemon; she had just rushed out as fast as she could.

"So," the man said as he led the group out of the gym, "do you still think you're ready to challenge The Brock?"

Ash didn't speak, too shocked by what he had seen to speak. Meowth, however, had his own thoughts.

"I don't think we're ready yet."

"I thought not," the man said. "After all, you saw how easily The Brock can beat a team of water type Pokemon, which of course are well known for their advantage against rock type Pokemon. So if he is strong enough to overcome a type disadvantage like that, then what chance do you have?"

The man then smiled as he turned towards Ash.

"But if you want, I can give you guys some help."

At this, the raven haired trainer finally spoke up.

"What do you mean?"

"You're clearly woefully underprepared for the gym challenge," the man said. "Maybe I can give you some help?"

Ash looked at his friends, who seemed interested in what the man was saying. He then turned to Meowth, who seemed enthusiastic about the offer.

"We really should take the offer, Ash. It sounds like a pretty sweet deal."

Ash sighed. He would have preferred to take on the gym challenge without help. But he had seen how powerful The Brock's team was, and he had no idea how to defeat him.

With a sigh, he turned to the man and nodded.

"So, what do you have in mind?"

A/N: Well, things aren't looking good for Ash! Is he going to be able to overcome this challenge? How will mystery character be able to help win without a Pikachu to overcharge?

Well, they do have a Pikachu, technically. Although it isn't Ash's, so it's not like it would do them any good...

Also, something about wrestling? And something about a Sinnoh girl? I dunno.

(In all seriousness, though, I actually planned for Verity to appear even before Sinnoh was officially confirmed. As for Brock... I just have weird ideas like that sometimes.)