The next morning after breakfast I found a stream in the outskirts of Pewter City. It flowed out from the crevices of Mt. Moon, the old couple explained. The clean and plentiful water source from Mt. Moon was the biggest reason why Viridian Forest grew to be the massive forest that it is today.

This stream was about a yard in width, too small to be called a river, but had a nice steady flow of water. As soon as I brought all my Pokemon out, they started enjoying the natural area.

Rattata and the Nidorans were roaming around, and Pidgey flew around the area looking for worms. Caterpie climbed a tree and started eating the leaves. Bulbasaur and Squirtle both went to soak their feet in water. Charmander too, found a large nearby and started napping on it. He was a lizard, after all. Oh, did I mention you can carry more than six Pokemon? You just can't use more than six in official battles or tournaments. Did you think that the moment you caught a 7th Pokemon, that the Pokeball would magically teleport to a digital box? Get real.

Squirtle was in his element soaking his feet in the stream. Literally. The water seemed to physically energize and empower him.

"Squirtle, do you think you can squirt water on that really hard?" I said, pointing to a tree nearby.

Squirtle puffed up like he was inhaling water, then started releasing a thin stream of water at a very high speed. Basically, imagine a pressure washer. The water made contact with the tree at a speed so high that it started taking off sections of the outer bark of the tree.

"Woah! Nice, Squirtle!"

He went like that for a few seconds, but then stopped and panted. It seemed like there was a limit to his endurance, or a limit to how much water he can spray, or both. He didn't need to drink water to spray it, either. He could soak up the water into his body by making contact with water (standing on the stream in this case), storing a set amount of it. We spent a good few hours practicing different moves and theories behind how that worked.

I also set up a regimen for the other Pokemon. While I worked one-on-one with Squirtle, I paired up different Pokemon to spar and battle. One of the more special training exercises included trying to dodge and evade all of your sparring partner's attacks, and another was the opposite: letting your sparring partner take free hits on you to increase your endurance and pain tolerance levels.

Charmander was especially important, because his flame was threatening to most of the other Pokemon. I taught them to get used to the heat, to be wary but not afraid of it, and how to deal with it if the flame caught fire on their furs (stop, drop, and roll).

Thus, after a productive morning, I went to the Pokemon Center to heal all my Pokemon to tip-top condition, fed them, and headed to the Pewter City Gym.

There were a few trainers loitering outside, but none of them bothered me as I walked in. The door opened to a small office space inside. It had some information about rock type Pokemon and even a bit about Mt. Moon. There was a wall with a big picture of Brock (omg Brock in real life! weird!) and a list of those who earned the BoulderBadge. It wasn't a short list. Gary's name wasn't on it yet. Ha!

There was a reception desk so I lined up behind the queue. Most of the trainers were older than me. Uhh… older than this body. Well, I guess I have to accept the fact that I'm 10 years old now. So yeah, older than me.

The trainers all received a number and went through the doors into the gym space. I was getting excited and nervous.

"May I help the next person in line?" the lady at the reception was very nice, and when I told her I wanted to become eligible for the Badge Battle (as it was called), she explained the rules. I paraphrase below.

To become eligible to schedule up for the Badge Battle, you need to defeat one of Brock's coaches. They will be using two rock type Pokemon. You are allowed to use up to three Pokemon. Only one Pokemon from each trainer can be engaged in battle at a time. The battle ends when a trainer yields or all his/her Pokemon are incapaciated. One healing item is allowed throughout the entire match. If you break these rules, you're disqualified, obviously. Oh, and the sign-up fee is 10000 Pokedollars. If you get defeated by the gym coach today, you have to re-apply. Would I like to sign up for a battle today?

…

That's right. And it TOTALLY makes sense. How else will the gyms in the PokeLeague stop any noob to just come battle every day for free until they get lucky and defeat the gym coaches and leaders?

"Yes," I said. "I'll sign up for a coach battle today."

I handed over the cash to the lady and she gave me a number ticket. Lucky 13. Jeez.

"Go on through those doors there," the lady said, pointing to where all the previous trainers went through. "Good luck!"

Through the doors was a long and spacious hallway with a high ceiling. There was a staff member that checked my ticket and led me to the boys locker room (insert meme here).

"You can lock your stuff up here and bring the Pokemon you're going to use for the battle. Please remember: three Pokemon for this battle and one healing item only."

There were 3 or 4 other trainers also getting ready. They were all older than me. I guess we were all nervous or maybe trying to look tough, because no one said any friendly hellos to one another.

Then suddenly, another trainer came into the locker room from the other door, the door that led to the area where the battles took place. He was visibly upset, with tears of frustration coming down his face. He was also swearing under his breath. He sat down on one of the empty benches. No one had to ask what happened. He had lost.

After grabbing my starter Pokemons, went out the same doors the guy had come through. It felt like a highschool competition of some sort, the qualification stages (I guess technically this kinda was… exactly that).

The large gym was divided into 3 smaller battlefields, with referees placed beside each one. There was a gym coach at each of the battlefields, and when one battle finished, a new trainer would go to the vacant space. There were also gym coaches on the sidelines that would sub with one another. They were all wearing the brown/grey Pewter City Gym jackets. Brock was nowhere to be seen, but there were spectator stands with a few local visitors observing the battles. It was an efficient system designed to maximize profit.

Waiting in line, I could see the battles. Most of the challengers were using small Pokemon found in the local area: Rattatas, Pidgeys, Nidorans, etc. They didn't fare well against the toughened Geodudes that were experienced against these types. The Geodudes took the physical hits very well (their bodies are literally rock, guys…), advancing upon the smaller Pokemon until they were close enough to grab and pummel them with their literal rock fists. A simple and brutal tactic. The coaches sometimes switched to Sandshrews that used their sharp claws to attack and tough plating to defend against attacks. Everyone in front of me lost their battles.

I was finally the first in line, waiting for the next vacancy. A staff member came up to me, checked my ticket, and restated the battle rules.

Two Pokemon by the gym coach. Up to three by me. Fight until all are knocked out, or player submission. Battle court is clearly outlined with straight lines (about the size of a tennis court but slightly bigger). If a Pokemon goes out of bounds, that particular Pokemon is given one warning, then disqualified the second time. No time limit, but if a player does not instruct his/her Pokemon to fight, then it is seen as submission after a countdown. Pokemon substitutions must occur using Pokeballs

"The Rattata is no longer able to battle!" a referee shouted from one of the battle spaces. "The player has no more Pokemon fit for battle. The gym coach wins this match. Next challenger, please!"

I saw the player withdraw his Pokemon and shake hands with the gym coach. A different gym coach came down to the area and stood ready, looking at me.

It was time for my first gym battle.