POKEMON

Chapter Three:

Brock and the Rocks

Danny and Pikachu looked up at the Pewter City Gym. It was a huge building. Danny said, "Well, here goes nothing." He entered the gym, and met up with a guy in one of the corridors.

"STOP RIGHT THERE, KID!" he yelled at Danny. "You're still light years from facing Brock!"

Danny argued, "No I'm not, he's through those doors."

But the Junior Trainer wouldn't listen, and he wound up battling him anyways. Danny had to rely on his Mankey to defeat the Trainer's Diglett and Sandshrew. But he won. "Darn! Light years isn't time! It measures distance!" the trainer shouted.

"I tried to tell ya," Danny said.

Now Danny was ready to face the Gym Leader. He walked up.

"Gym Leader, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle for the Boulder Badge!" he boldly said.

The Leader introduced himself, "I'm Brock! I'm Pewter's Gym Leader! I believe in rock hard defense and determination. That's why my Pokémon are all the rock-type!" He then eyed Danny's Pikachu and said, "Your Pikachu can't win against me. Electric attacks are NOT effective against the Rock and Ground type!"

Danny proudly said, "That's why I've got THREE other Pokémon to help me defeat you!"

"Fine then!" Brock cried out. "Show me your best!" He pushed a button and a rocky battlefield came out from the walls in front of Danny. "Pokéball, GO!" he then shouted. Out of the Pokéball came a Geodude, a Rock-type Pokémon.

Throwing a Pokéball, Danny shouted "Go, Mankey!" Out came Mankey, and they began to battle.

Mankey's Low Kick was able to take down Geodude in two hits, even with Geodude trying its Defense Curl technique.

"Fine start, for a novice trainer," Brock said, recalling Geodude and getting out another Pokéball. "But you will be no match for my Onix!" He sent out his Onix, which Danny knew was the largest Pokémon to date.

Danny also brought back Mankey, and said, "For a gigantic Pokémon, I shall choose Butterfree!" Then he sent out his butterfly Pokémon.

Butterfree was easily able to defeat Onix by using its Confusion attack. And it was able to fly higher than Onix's height, making it easier to aim. Onix had then fainted!

"I can't believe I lost," Brock said. "I took you for granted. As proof of your victory, here's the Boulder Badge." He handed it to Danny. "That's an official Pokémon League Badge. Its bearer's Pokémon become more powerful! The technique 'Flash' can now be used anytime, but you'll learn about that later."

Danny couldn't believe it! He got his first Pokémon League badge! This brought him one step closer to becoming a Pokémon master.

Brock also gave him a Technical Machine. It was labeled "TM34." He told Danny, "A Technical Machine, also known as a TM, contains a technique that can be taught to Pokémon! A TM is good only once, so when you use one to teach a new technique, pick the Pokémon carefully! TM34 contains Bide. Your Pokémon will absorb damage in battle, then pay it back double!"

"That's cool," Danny said with a smile.

Brock continued, "There are all kinds of Trainers in the world. Some raise Pokémon for fights. Some see them as pets. I'm in training to become a Pokémon breeder. If you take your Pokémon training seriously, go visit the gym in Cerulean and test your abilities!"

Danny knew where his next stop was among hearing that.

…

So after exchanging contact information with Brock, Danny went back to the Pokémon Center and healed up his team again, bought a few extra supplies, and left for Cerulean City. Brock told him that there was a gym there, too. So he was off on Route 3. He came across quite a few trainers, but he was able to defeat them all. It was mostly Bug Catchers and Youngsters, along with some cute Lasses. One young kid named Ben walked up to Danny, saying "Hi! I like shorts! They're comfy and easy to wear!"

"Huh?" Danny asked.

Regardless of the shorts smalltalk, Danny still beat Ben's Ratatta and Ekans.

A little while later, Danny saw a sign that said, "ROUTE 3 – MOUNT MOON AHEAD." Danny heard that the mysterious Clefairy Pokémon lived in Mount Moon. There were also other kinds of Pokémon there that could only be found in caves. He couldn't wait! But first he had to heal his Pokémon again. So he was lucky to find a nearby Pokémon Center near the Mount Moon entrance! Danny went in.

Inside the Pokémon Center, while yet another Nurse Joy was healing his team, Danny came across a strange man. The man said, "Hello there! Have I got a deal just for you! I'll let you have a swell Magikarp for just $500!" He opened a Pokéball and a large orange fish Pokémon began flopping around.

"Why would I want a Magikarp?" Danny asked.

The man told him, "Between you and me, a Magikarp is like a Pokémon gold mine!"

"That's ridiculous."

"No, it's true!" he insisted. "A Magikarp lays a thousand eggs at a time, and each one of the baby Magikarp lays another thousand more, and that makes a million Magikarp. Everyone of those Magikarp then lays another thousand eggs, and doing the math results in having a BILLION POKEMON!"

"A billion?" Danny asked.

"Yes! You can sell each Magikarp for $500, and at three generations you will have tons of money! Billions! Why, you'll be so rich, you won't have a care in the world!"

"Hmm…" Danny was thinking seriously.

The man asked, "And normally you just get the Magikarp for $500, but I'll also throw in an egg-laying kit, childcare kit and training manual for no additional cost! So, what do you say?"

Danny remembered how weak and useless Magikarp were. "No thanks. I can always catch one when I get a fishing rod."

"No?" the man said. "I'm only doing this as a favor to you!"

By then, Danny's Pokémon were healed, so he was back on his way.

…

Danny entered the dark Mount Moon. For some reason, there were lights strung around the place. He knew that wasn't right at all. But at least he was able to get around. He did run across a few Pokémon trainers, along with a bunch of Zubat and Geodude Pokémon. Danny did catch one of the Zubat and Geodude to add to his collection. But a little later through the trek, he came across an unusual sight…

"Clef… Clefairy!" the pink Pokémon was saying.

"A CLEFAIRY!" Danny said. "That's a Rank-A Pokémon! Maybe that will help our training. Let's catch it!"

Pikachu knew what to do. It used Quick Attack on Clefairy a few times, until the Clefairy was weak enough for Danny to capture in a Pokeball.

Moments later, Danny checked his Pokédex on his new capture.

"Clefairy," Dexter explained. "These impish Pokémon are adored for their cute looks and playfulness. They are thought to be rare, as they do not appear often."

Danny chuckled. "We sure bagged a rare one!" He then treated the Clefairy with potions so it could be fighting fit, and then they were on their way once again.

…

A little while later, Danny saw some men wearing black uniforms, hats and eye masks, with a large red letter "R" on each of their uniforms.

"I think I know what that 'R' stands for…" Danny said.

He and his Pikachu tried to sneak by one of the men, until he noticed Danny. "Hey! Little kids should leave grown-ups alone!"

"I'm NOT little," Danny said. "YOU'RE a Team Rocket member, and you are up to no good."

"Ain't that the truth?" the Team Rocket grunt said, tossing out his Ratatta. Once again, Pikachu was able to zap the Rocket grunt's Ratatta and Zubat.

"I'm steamed!" the Team Rocket guy said, as Danny and his Pikachu took off.

A little while later, they approached a nerd of some sort with two large prehistoric-looking fossils. "Hey, stop!" the nerd yelled. "I found these fossils. They're both mine!"

The next thing Danny knew, he was in another Pokémon battle. Pikachu was able to beat the nerd's Grimer, but for his Voltorb, Danny had some help from his Mankey. Finally, Butterfree's Confusion attack managed to knock out the nerd's Koffing.

"OK! I'll share!" the nerd said. "We'll each take one! No being greedy!"

Danny rolled his eyes and chose what appeared to be a Dome Fossil. Once he picked that, the nerd chose the Helix Fossil for himself.

"Far away on Cinnabar Island," the nerd explained, "there's a Pokémon lab. They do research on regenerating fossils."

Danny could see he was nearing the exit to Mount Moon. But halfway there, he heard a woman's voice shouting "STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Danny turned and saw two more Team Rocket members arrive, except they looked different from the others. Not only did they wear silverish-white Rocket outfits instead of black, and lack the caps and masks, but one of them was also a girl with long red hair, Jessie. The other guy, James, had short purple hair. With them was a catlike Pokémon – a Meowth, Danny recognized.

"That fossil is Team Rocket's!" Jessie said.

"Oh, not more of them!" Danny groaned.

"But not just any Rocket grunts…" James said. As if that were some kind of cue, they began some kind of chant…

"Prepare for trouble!" Jessie announced.

"Make it double," James added.

"To protect the world from devastation," Jessie said.

"To unite all peoples within our nation," James said.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" Jessie was finishing.

"Surrender now," James added, "or prepare to fight!"

Their Meowth Pokémon jumped in and said, "MEOWTH! That's right!"

"A TALKING Meowth?!" Danny said in total disbelief.

"Not just any talking Meowth," the Pokémon said. "I'm the top cat around here! We're da boss's favorites!" He had a New Yorkese accent to his voice.

Jessie then tossed out a Pokeball. "Go Ekans!"

Danny had his Pikachu battle Jessie's snake Pokémon, and it was a breeze to knock it out, as Danny had battled an Ekans before.

"Now it's Meowth's turn!" Meowth said.

Danny managed to have Mankey beat Meowth. The next thing they knew, Meowth was on the ground, moaning, "Why do I have the feeling this happened before?"

"Because it did," James answered. "Now it's my turn!" He sent out his Koffing, to which Danny's Buterfree managed to beat using it's Confusion attack.

"A brat beat us?" Jessie couldn't believe it.

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" the three repeated before running off.

"Well, that's a relief." Danny said to his Pokémon. "And look, there's the exit!"

…

Back in the sunlight, Danny noticed a sign. "Look, this is the way to Cerulean City! And what's this note on the bottom? 'Gary was here. Ash is a loser?' Must be an insult to some other trainer…"

TO BE CONTINUED