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Chapter 7

[Pewter Gym]

"Alright! Now it's my turn!" Ronnie Anne said with confidence, as she made her way down to the battlefield. Clyde meanwhile made his way to spot she was, all the while staring at his newly acquired badge. As he sat down, still focused on the Boulder Badge in his hand, Lynn couldn't help but smile and chuckle at the younger boy. She did something similar when she won her first badge in Hoenn when she started her Pokemon journey with Lincoln. She then returned her attention to her other student.

Ronnie Anne took the proper position with a grin on her face. After watching her fellow beginner trainer win his badge, she felt pretty confident about her match. Brock and the referee walked to get her name and scan her trainer license. Once both were done and everything was good, both went back into position to start the match. "I guess I should let you know as well, I only have one Pokemon." Brock and the referee nodded in acknowledgement and were ready to start the match.

"This is an official match between Brock of the Pewter City Gym and Ronnie Anne Santiago from Great Lakes City." The referee's voice was loud, clear, and echoed throughout the building. "Both trainers will be able to use two Pokemon, with only the challenger being able to switch out Pokemon. The battle is over when both of someone's Pokemon is unable to battle or one forfeits. The match begins now."

"I'll start with this, let's go Bonsly" Brock said as he threw his pokeball. The Pokemon that was released was small and resembles a bonsai tree.

"Let's win this battle Nidoran" the young challenger shouted, releasing her own Pokemon.

"Bonsly start things with Rock Throw" the Gym Leader ordered, so the little Pokemon obeyed. Its body started to glow before rocks were being ripped out of the ground, covered in the same glow and thrown at Nidoran.

"Dodge them and use Poison Sting" Ronnie shouted. The Poison Pin Pokemon was successful in avoiding the rocks flying towards her and landed a hit, only to see it didn't do much damage. Nidoran stood in shock, which let Bonsly recover and hit her with a Rock Throw. The attack sent her flying to the other end of the battlefield. "Wait, your Pokemon isn't poisoned from my attack?" She asked in shock and confusion.

"Using Poison Sting doesn't guarantee your opponent will be poisoned" Brock replied. Ronnie then had a look of realization and scratched the back of her head sheepishly. Lynn and Clyde had taught her that on the way to Pewter City, she simply forgot.

"When you battle against the Pinsir, you poison it with Nidoran's Poison Point Ability" Clyde shouted from the stands. Lynn only let out a sigh at the girl's forgetfulness, despite being the same when she started.

"Now Bonsly use Rock Slide" Brock commanded. Bonsly continued to glow, the rocks it was holding dropped to the ground. It then started ripping large boulders out of the ground and throwing them.

"Nidoran dodge them and use Double Kick" the little blue Pokemon managed to avoid the volley of attacks and got close. She then turned around and used both her hind legs to kick the Bonsai Pokemon 2 times in rapid succession. This knocked Bonsly back a short distance, but it slowly started to stand. "Finish it Scratch before it can recover!" Nidoran immediately was on the Rock Pokemon and was constantly scratching it.

Brock, seeing his Bonsly wasn't going to last long against the onslaught of attacks, decided to let the challenger have the win, but at a cost. "Bonsly use Self-Destruct!" Brock shouted, causing Lynn's and Clyde's eyes to widen in shock at the order. Bonsly body to glow a bright white light before it exploded. The large explosion sent Nidoran flying across the battlefield, she got up slowly and was severely damaged.

"Bonsly is unable to battle," the referee announced after seeing both Pokemon. "The winner is Nidoran." Unlike the other matches, there was no cheering after this victory. Ronnie Anne was shell shocked at what just happened and her Nidoran wasn't feeling that good. Clyde had a nervous expression on his face and seriously thought his fellow trainer wasn't going to win this battle. Lynn meanwhile leaned forward and focused intensely on the match, wanting to see if the younger girl could perform a miracle and win.

"My Bonsly wasn't going to last long against your constant attacks" Brock said, while recalling Bonsly to its pokeball. "Knowing this I made the statistical decision to use a move that would give the lost, but weaken your Pokemon for the next battle."

"But exploding your Pokemon?!" The younger trainer screamed with conflicted emotions. "Aren't they your friends? How could you do such a thing?!"

The Gym Leader frowned at her and spoke in a serious and passionate voice. "Of course they're my friends and it's because of that I can do such a thing." Seeing the young girl didn't understand, he explained further for her. "Bonsly and I have a bond of trust so strong that he knows I won't abuse that move. He knows I will only have him use that move in emergency or critical situations. If we didn't, do you think Bonsly would listen to anything I say? As trainers it's our job to train and bring out the best in our Pokemon, that's why many trainers use questionable move combinations and strategies. A good trainer can't only rely on brute force and overpower their opponent." Hearing Brock speak helped not only Ronnie Anne, but Clyde in the stands as well, understand more of what being a Pokemon Trainer means. "Now I believe we should start the next battle, come out Nosepass." What came out was an odd blue rock with stubby limbs and a large red nose.

"Nosepass use Thunder Wave!" Brock ordered, an electric charge surrounded Nosepass's body before releasing at Nidoran. It hit and the Poison Pin Pokemon found herself unable to move. "Now finish it with Rock Blast!" 5 Rocks were rocks from the ground and thrown at her at high speeds. Ronnie Anne shouted for her to dodge, but was unable due to Thunder Wave. As the attack made contact, Nidoran was thrown across the battlefield and was knocked unconscious.

"Nidoran is unable to battle," the referee announced after seeing both Pokemon. "The winner is Nosepass." He then holds his hand on Brock's side up in the air "Since Ronnie Anne has no more Pokemon, Brock is the winner of the match!"

Ronnie Anne immediately ran to her Pokemon when she fainted and barely heard the referee's announcement. Clyde stared at his friend with an expression of sadness and worry. Lynn meanwhile let out a sigh and stood up for her seat. "Let's go get her and head to the pokecenter" she said in a soft monotone voice. This snapped Clyde out of his funk and looked at her. "All our Pokemon need to get checked up, she can try again tomorrow." While Clyde felt Lynn was being a little too cold-hearted right now, he kept quiet knowing now wasn't the time to ask about that. Both walked down to get the young trainer and left to go to the pokecenter.