"Aha, there it is!" Trace leapt onto a boulder where they gang could see their next objective: Pewter City. A city as grey as stone and lodged in between Viridian Forest and Mt. Moon, home of where Elaine's Clefairy came from.
"Whoo, Pewter City." The girl wiped the sweat off her brow. "Training in that forest sure took a while." Her Clefairy agreed, mimicking her eyebrow wiping.
"But it was worth it!" Trace laughed. "I managed to acquire a whole bunch of Pokemon, including a Pikachu and a Weedil which evolved into Kakuna!"
"I just hope it'll be enough to win against Brock." Ash expressed. "You don't have anything that's super effective against him."
"Doesn't matter, I'm confident I'll beat him anyway!" Trace laughed, but he was interrupted by an old man's voice.
"Pewter City is grey, the color of stone. This town's always been famous for stones.
"Huh, what the? Who's he?" Ash asked, noticing there was disheveled, dirt covered man in a yellow shirt and green pants, the shirt sleeves rolled up.
"I don't know." Elaine answered.
"The name's Flint, and you're standing on some of my merchandise young boy."
"Huh, you mean this rock?" Trace looked down at the rock he was standing on, but didn't see anything special about it. He jumped off it, only to realize something. "Hey, who are you calling boy?! I'm 16!"
"Yet you step onto someone's wares without a second thought." Flint pointed out.
"Well Trace didn't mean to." Ash defended his friend. "So... you sell rocks?"
"Yeah, and at such criminal prices?!" Trace gasped. "This $600 rock looks the same as this $200 dollar rock!"
"Only those who have the right eye can distinguish the worth of a stone, young boy." The old man gently reprimanded him. "They're Pewter City souvenirs. Wanna buy some?"
"I don't have the time for a pet rock, I need to challenge the Pewter City gym leader for a Coronation challenge!"
"Oh, so you youngsters are in the World Coronation Series?"
"Yeah, and we want to be the best like no one ever was!" Ash attested. Pikachu, however, yawned. So did Clefairy and Eevee.
"Well, your Pokemon look pretty worn out. Follow me, I'll show you the Pokemon Center." Getting up, he started to walk them to the city.
"Thank you so much kind sir!" Elaine expressed her gratitude.
"Oh, and that'll be a $2 charge for standing on my rocks." Flint charged, to which Trace flinched.
"You've got to be kidding me." The teenager sighed.
"So, you plan on beating the gym leader?"
"Yeah, he's going to be my first challenge to rise out of the 10,000 range! It'll be no sweat!"
"Eevee!" The old man laughed, although really awkwardly, like it was the first time he laughed in his life. To a bad joke no less.
"Hahaha. Someone like you? Beat him?" He walked away laughing sardonically. Ash's stomach then growled, causing him to laugh, more sincerely this time.
"Ah... can we get something to eat?" Later, while they were eating at a diner while their Pokemon were healing, Elaine was talking to Trace.
"Do you really think you can win? Even if he's the second lowest gym leader, he's stronger than most Pokemon Trainers at this level, and stronger than Viola.
"Hey, I've been training." Trace proudly proclaimed, lightly pounding a fist into his chest. "What could he throw at me that I can't handle?"
"Boulders for one." She answered, amused.
"Than Eevee will use Quick Attack to dodge them. All I need are hit and run tactics."
"That won't work if his Pokemon can tank them." Ash pointed out. "Like I said, you don't have any moves that are super effective to rock types."
"Hey, with Eevee's Eviolite, she's just as sturdy as they are." Trace told them. Ash and Elaine rolled their eyes. Once their Pokemon were healed, the three went to the gym which looked like a giant stone slab on the outside.
"The Pewter Gym." Ash marveled at the thematic appearance of the gym.
"I see subtlety isn't Brock's thing." Elaine remarked, unimpressed by the obvious look.
"Why would you from a rock specialist?" Trace chuckled. That's more of a... actually any type could be as obvious as this. It's just dependent to which gym leader wanted the place to look like this in the first place."
"Good point." Ash acknowledged.
"Pikapika." Pikachu agreed. Using his Rotom Phone, he signed up for a battle which got accepted by Brock, to Trace's delight. Opening the doors, Trace and Eevee walked in, which looked really dark and foreboding.
"Hehe, looks like someone forgot to pay the electric bill, am I right Eevee?" He and his partner laughed at his joke.
"Haven't you heard of dramatic effect?" A voice called out before a light shined down upon the gym leader, Brock.
"So you're Brock." Trace grinned.
"Is this your first match?"
"Yes."
"You're lucky I had the time to accept your match. I have to accept every challenge, and frequently people try to schedule more than I can handle every day. I hope you're ready. How long have you had that Eevee there?" Trace wondered why he needed to know that.
"Uh, about four days."
"I see. Your Eevee is certainly cute. It lacks the long experience of battle. It can't win." He stated coldly. Eevee growled from the insult.
"Hey, let me worry about my Pokemon and you worry about yours!" Trace defended his Pokemon.
A grey Rotom Drone dropped down, and began to speak.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome! You have been approved for an official Pokemon World Coronation Series Normal Class battle! The challengers here are Brock Stone from the Pewter City Gym vs Trace Keen from Pallet Town! For today's battle, you can choose two Pokemon! When a Pokemon on either side are unable to battle, that side loses! Both challengers bring out your Pokemon!"
"Let's get this over with." Snapping his fingers, a rocky field appeared from the side walls, and took up the floor between Trace and Brock.
"Eevee, let's go!" Trace let his Pokemon pounce onto the field.
"Eevee!" The Normal Type Pokemon was confident she could win.
"Onix, go!" Brock sent out his first Pokemon, which was a giant, intimidating Pokemon because it was a nearly 30 ft. long snake made of boulders. It growled and Eevee panicked as she ran to hide behind Trace.
"Eevee, we have a plan!" Trace complained. Picking up his Eevee, he put her back onto the field and pushed her. "Use Quick Attack!" Gulping, the Evolution Pokemon ran with all she could muster in a speedy attack, until she collided head first into Onix's stony body and fell down, crying out as she clutched her head which felt like it was just split. "Huh?!" No effect?!"
"Of course not!" Brock boasted. "No normal type attack like that will break our stone wall defense! Use Tackle!" Rearing back, the Rock Snake Pokemon smashed its head almost where Eevee was, sending the normal type flying into a boulder from the force it exerted. "Bind it with your tail!" The dazed Pokemon found herself caught in Onix's tail, and proceeded to get crushed as she was caught in its strong tail.
"What are you doing?!" Trace called Brock out.
"I notice your Eevee has an Eviolite. Normally that's a pretty good item to have for matches." Brock's stony look became even more grim. "But not when it can't do anything. Bash it against the rocks!" Onix proceeded to whip his tail around, smashing Eevee through the rocks. The Eviolite was helping reduce the damage taken, but that didn't mean the pain was lessened as she was ragdolled by the Rock Snake Pokemon, like a kid abusing the doll. Trace, couldn't take it.
"Stop it please!"
"Do you surrender?" Brock asked his spiritually broken challenger.
"I... I do." The Rotom Drone called it off.
"Trace Keen has forfeited. Which means the victory goes to Brock Stone of the Pewter City Gym!" Onix let Eevee down, to which Trace ran to her and cradled her injured body, covered in dirt and scuff marks. Carrying her out, he was soon followed by Elaine and Ash.
"Weird, as much as I want to rub it in your face we were right, that's not sitting well with me." The female brunette commented, wondering why she felt the way she did while carrying her Clefairy.
"He suffered a major curbstomp. And on his first try." Ash told her. "It was really pitiful."
"I don't need either of your pity!" Trace told them off in irritation, before calming down. "It's just... I need to think of something."
"Don't sweat it. Everyone loses, some earlier than others." Elaine shrugged. "You just need to train for next time."
"Next time..." Trace left off at that. Eevee, who has been woken up, heard her owner's solemn tone, and decided to do something. Even if she was suffering a headache, she jumped out of Trace's hands and ran into the forest.
"Eevee! Wait!" Trace called to his Pokemon as he chased after her. He and his friends kept pace with the normal type as she eventually found a sizable boulder, and started to kick at it with her hind legs. Albeit not very well.
"What's she doing?" Elain wondered.
"I think she's taking her frustrations out on that rock." Ash replied.
"Come on Eevee, I know we were beaten bad, but there's no need to beat yourself up over it. We can-" Eevee shook her head at him before resuming to kick at the rock. "Huh?"
"It's trying to learn Double Kick." They turned to see Flint coming around from behind a tree. "In case you're unaware, it's a fighting type move."
"But... aren't Eevee incapable of learning Double Kick?" Trace was confused about that.
"Professor Oak did say our Pokemon were special." Ash reminded him.
"Do you have a bug Pokemon on you?"
"Uh, yeah. A Kakuna."
"Why don't you bring it out so I can show you something?" Trace wondered why he needed to do so, but did it anyway as he let his Kakuna out. "Now, I want you to use Poison Sting on that other rock." Flint pointed to a rock near the one Eevee was kicking. Figuring this old guy had a point down the line, he went for it.
"Kakuna, use Poison Sting on that rock." Kakuna fired a barrage of purple lines at the rock, and most of them bounced off harmlessly. "Yeah, that's what I expected."
"That's the thing though. You can't always attack. There's other means of weakening it."
"Like confusing it or putting it to sleep?"
"Yes. Use String Shot."
"But String Shot's so bad!" Trace complained. "Any Pokemon worth its speed is able to dodge it with no problem. Even just rolling down a hill would give that rock the means to avoid it!"
"Maybe when you're talking about high level gym leaders and the Pokemon League, but at your point of the game, anything should be used to your advantage. Use the move."
"Ugh, alright." The young trainer sighed. "String Shot." Kakuna spewed out a flurry of webbing at the rock, covering it in sticky strings.
"Now, what would happen if you got his Onyx with that?"
"It'd be slower?" That seemed obvious.
"And vulnerable to Double Kick." Flint told Trace. That's when it hit him.
"Ooooo. I see now!" Trace turned to his friends. "Ash, Elaine! Help me train so I can beat Brock!"
"Sure thing/Will do!" Elain and Ash agreed immediately. Turning to his Eevee, he said,
"Eevee, let's heal up up first, then we can give it our all!" He gave his partner a thumbs up.
"Eevee!" She cheered at her master's restored spirit.
"I'm ready for my rematch!" Trace yelled out, pushing the doors open quite forcefully.
"So, you come back for more, huh?" Brock questioned. "If you think you've gotten that much stronger that quickly, then you must've not learned your lesson yet."
"I've learned enough!" Trace pointed at the gym leader. "Enough to beat you!"
"We'll see about that." Once the field was started up and the Rotom Drome started the rematch, Brock sent out a Pokemon first. "I'll start with Geodude!" He sent out a rock with a face and arms.
"Eevee, let's go!" Trace let his partner run up onto the field, more ready this time.
"Making the same mistake. Use Tackle!" The Rock Pokemon tried to slam into Eevee, but Trace was able to counter.
"Dodge then use Double Kick!" Brock gasped when Eevee jumped over the rock/ground type and delivered two kicks with her hind legs into its back, sending it rolling into a boulder, cracking it in half. It grunted from the pain it experienced.
"How did your Eevee learn Double Kick? They don't learn that move naturally!" The gym leader questioned his challenger in disbelief.
"I've just learned how to better utilize my Pokemon's special uniqueness!" Trace responded with a smirk.
"Well then, show me how you've learned! Rock Throw!" With each hand, Geodude picked up the cracked halves of the boulder it was kicked into, and tried to throw them.
"Quick Attack, then Double Kick!" Both times Geodude tried to hit Eevee, the Evolution Pokemon disappeared in a flash, before proceeding to jump over the Rock Pokemon and kick it into the floor, burying it halfway into the ground. It grunted even more from the pain, and thus fainted from taking enough damage.
"Alright, that's the way to do it!" Elaine cheered for her friend.
"Nice Double Kicks!" Ash encouraged them. Their Pokemon also cheered for Eevee.
"Geodude, return. Well, I guess you have trained it something useful, but mere Double Kicks won't help against my Onix!" Brock sent out his Rock Snake Pokemon, but to his confusion, Trace decided to switch tactics.
"Eevee, come back for now!" With no hesitation, she ran back to his side. "I've got just the thing for this! Beedrill, let's go!" Trace sent out a giant bee with huge stingers for front legs.
"Now why would you switch to a Pokemon weak to rock?" Brock questioned. "I'll take it down in one go. Onix, Rock Throw!" With a swipe of its tail, it swatted a boulder out of the ground towards Beedrill.
"Counter with Harden!" Beedrill's body glowed white and hardened with density, using its huge stingers to take the blunt of the attack as it was pushed back, buzzing from how strong the attack was anyway. But the fact remained that it managed to survive. "Time for our counterattack! String Shot!" Flying above the Rock Snake Pokemon, it got showered in sticky, silky white string. It roared as it tried to escape its confines.
"What the-?!" Brock gasped.
"Now continue with Twineedle!" With two stabs from the bug/poison type, it delivered a good amount of damage given how much Onix squinted its eyes in pain.
"Onix, break those strings!" Brock yelled out, and the Rock Snake eventually did. "Now smack it down!" With a swipe of its tail, Beedrill was smacked into a boulder, shattering it into pieces and rolled onto its back, buzzing weakly in defeat.
"Thanks Beedrill, you did a great job." Trace thanked his Pokemon as he returned it. "Eevee, it's up to you now!" His partner ran back onto the field, fearless of Onix unlike before.
"He's completely handling this now!" Elaine remarked with a joyful smile.
"That our Trace, he never gives up!" Ash laughed.
"Use Rock Throw!"
"Quick Attack, then Double Kick!" Even with the faster speed of its snake like body compared to Geodude, the launching of a boulder out of the battle field did not hit its mark as Eevee vanished, only to appear along its side and kicked it twice, delivering super effective damage as it roared.
"Swat it away!"
"Double Kick!" Onix tried to crush the normal type with its tail, but Eevee jumped to the side, letting it smash into the field before climbing up its body, jumping to deliver two kicks to its chin. Onix groaned as it fell onto its backside, defeated. Brock couldn't believe Onix had lost, but once he returned his Pokemon, he saw some string left over.
"So, there were some strings left, making it slower than normal." The gym leader smiled. "Excellent work. You've proven yourself."
"As a result of today's battle, there has been a change in the WCS rankings effective immediately!" The Rotom Drone announced. Trace checked his phone, and saw his lowered ranking then shoot up past 9,600.
"Yeah, we did it Eevee! Great job!" Trace celebrated as Eevee ran into his arms.
"Eevee!" She yipped with joy. Ash and Elain looked at each other, smiling and nodding. Walking up to Trace, Brock offered Trace a welcoming hand.
"Sorry for being hard on you. It's my job as a gym leader to push my challengers, and make sure they come out as tough as stone so they can beat me." Trace smirked as he took it and shook his hand.
"Well it certainly worked. You ticked me off to the point of being motivated. Actually, I've even gotten help from some old guy named Flint." That made Brock's face turn stone grim.
"My-my father?!"
"Yes." They turned to see the old man, removing his beard and cap to reveal his face, which looked nearly identical to Brock's own face! Just about 20 years older.
"He's Brock's dad?!" Ash and Elaine gasped.
"Son, I'm sorry. I couldn't become the great Pokemon trainer I wanted to become. But because I was such a failure I was too embarrassed and ashamed to return to my family."
"But... why did you help me... instead of Brock?" Trace inquired, out of confusion.
"You reminded me of myself at your age. Determined, headstrong... unfortunately rather arrogant and foolhardy." The young trainer was not appreciating the comparison as he spoke. "I was unable to learn from my mistakes back then. But being able to teach you and your friends, along with seeing you win, finally gave me the courage to return want to take care of my family."
"Father, there's something I need to tell you." Brock told his dad.
"After all these years, I understand how you must feel about me so I want you to get everything off your chest."
"You three might want to leave and go meet your next Coronation challenge." The gym leader told the three. "I'm going to teach my dad how to be a responsible father for my nine siblings."
"Nine siblings?!" The trio gasped before falling over.
After hearing that Flint will be taking over and Brock will then become a Pokemon Breeder, the three teenagers were heading for Mt. Moon to look for some interesting Pokemon, Ash asked Elaine,
"So, who's the next gym leader?"
"Let me see." Scrolling through her Rotom Phone, she lightly gasped. "Oh, it's another rock type specialist!"
"So who is it?" Trace pressed for an answer.
"Roark Blair of the Sinnoh region."
A/N: Haha, I was able to combine the two things of episode 5 of the Indigo League and the first Pokemon Origins special. I think I'll have Trace cover the next one. I want to keep the coverage of our three protagonists equal but he'll be able to handle Roark quicker. Oh, and you guys still haven't replied to my request about how much EXP a level 6 Pikachu would win against a level 12 Vivillon. I need an answer please if you can find it. It would certainly help on how good Pikachu would do next time she's in.