Chapter 3: Stone Cold
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon
"I need my Pokemon to be healed, please," Adrian asked Nurse Joy politely. He placed Diablo's and Venom's pokeballs on a tray and Zeus hopped on from out of his arms. They had just finished their last bit of training for the day. Adrian wanted them all rested up for the gym battle against Brock tomorrow.
Joy smiled back. "Of course. I'll have them ready for you shortly. In the meantime, please feel free to relax in the Pokemon Center."
"Thank you," he dipped his head and made for the room he'd be staying in while at Pewter City. Adrian had eaten earlier and wanted to go over his strategy against Brock a few more times.
According to all the information he'd heard about the Pewter Gym Leader, Brock used only two Pokemon when he battled new trainers- a Geodude and an Onix. Both were fairly low level, but Adrian had no doubt they were seasoned fighters. He was pretty sure he had them covered, though. It was just a matter of which one Brock sent out first. Against Geodude Adrian had full confidence that Diablo, through judicious use of Iron Tail, could pull through. As long as he could avoid getting hit by too many rock type attacks, Diablo would win.
Onix was literally a far larger complication, but it had to have a weakness- there was no way the Indigo League would let Brock fight against fresh trainers with the stone behemoth unless they had a decent shot at defeating it. Adrian figured that the best way he could defeat Onix was with Venom. His Sand Coffin combo would be useful against such a large opponent that had limited mobility to begin with. Once Venom trapped Onix, it would just be a matter of time until the Gligar whittled their opponent's health to zero. With that said, Adrian wanted to try and weaken the beast first by attacking it with Dig. He worried it might be able to escape if it wasn't tired out first.
He was as prepared as he could be for Brock. Adrian felt like he had a fighting chance. He would win. _
Adrian stood in front of the Pewter Gym the next morning. The building looked old, but suited the rustic atmosphere the rest of the city possessed. Taking a deep breath, the boy raised his hand and knocked on the doors a few times. Several seconds later, a buzzer sounded and the doors opened towards the inside.
He walked inside and found that the gym basically consisted of just a battlefield covered in rocks and a series of stands in case someone else wanted to watch. Adrian saw a dark-skinned figure walk out of another set of doors and stopped when the young man began to talk.
"Welcome to the Pewter City Gym. I assume you're here for a gym battle?"
Adrian nodded. "Yeah. My name is Adrian. I'm from Pallet Town."
"Nice to meet you, Adrian," the teen replied. "I'm Brock. Are you ready to…oh? You brought someone with you?"
Adrian frowned and turned, blinking in surprise when he saw another boy about his age walk through the doors. He had deep red hair and intense blue eyes that bordered between stern and angry. Quite frankly, the expression didn't suit someone so young.
When Brock made his comments, the other boy looked across the field and shook his head. "I'm not with him. I came here for a gym battle as well."
"I see," Brock nodded and gestured to the stands beside the rocky battlefield. "Well, feel free to watch. Forrest!"
At his call, a boy that looked very similar to Brock hurried out of the same door the Gym Leader had come from. He quickly ran to the referee post between either side of the field and cleared his throat. "This gym battle will now commence. Both sides will use only two Pokemon and the battle will be over when either side is unable to continue. Furthermore, there will be no substitutions. The challenger will have the first attack. Send out your Pokemon!"
Brock threw a pokeball onto the field and just as Adrian had expected, a Geodude appeared. The rock type was little more than a spherical boulder with two strong arms that it used to hold itself up. Going according to plan, Adrian grabbed Diablo's pokeball and threw it.
The Rockruff appeared and let out a ferocious bark into the air. He caught sight of Geodude and hissed aggressively, though the rock type looked unfazed by the threatening rock puppy. As the trainers prepared themselves, Zeus leaped down from Adrian's arms to stand beside him and watch. The little pokemon was trembling eagerly- apparently, he couldn't wait to see how the fight would unfold. In the stands, the trainer that had arrived after Adrian settled down and paid rapt attention.
Forrest slashed his hand down. "Rockruff versus Geodude- begin!"
"Diablo, rush it," Adrian ordered.
Diablo began to run towards Geodude, giving no hint as to which attack he would be using. That was part of Adrian's plan- he didn't want to alert Brock to the knowledge that Diablo could use Iron Tail until his Pokemon was actually close enough to use it. If he gave away his trump card right off the bat, there was a chance that Brock would have Geodude fight from a distance, thus crushing any hope Diablo had of defeating it.
Brock was no fool, though. "Geodude, Rock Throw!"
"Counter with your own, then leap to the side," Adrian counter ordered.
Geodude's strong hands crushed some of the stone field and then hurled the chunks at Diablo. Adrian's Rockruff responded by sending his own chunks back at Geodude before quickly leapt aside, doing his best to avoid the rocks that were send astray while continuing his charge. Geodude crushed more stones in his other hand and launched another Rock Throw, but now Diablo was close enough to attack.
"Iron Tail! Aim for its body!"
"Brace yourself- Defence Curl!"
Diablo's tail flashed a metallic silver as he ripped apart the Rock Throw to get at Geodude. The rock type quickly wrapped itself into a ball, bracing itself just as Diablo swung his tail at it. Adrian heard a grunt of pain from their opponent as it was sent rolling away into a nearby boulder, three distinct gashes along its rocky body.
Geodude unravelled itself, wincing after being hit by the super-effective move. Brock whistled. "That Rockruff of yours is pretty well trained. Usually all the freshmen trainers we get with new pokemon take a while for Geodude to feel their attacks."
"Thanks, but don't expect Diablo or I to let up on you for the kind words," Adrian grinned back.
Brock smirked. "As if! Geodude, Rollout!"
"Iron Tail! Knock it off balance!"
Geodude curled back up and spun with unexpected speed for such a heavy creature. Diablo only just managed to jump out of its way before it could smash into the rock type and wasn't able to get in Iron Tail. Growling, Diablo waited as Geodude turned and made to charge him again, anticipating the timing better the second time around.
Adrian was also keeping an eye out for the perfect moment to attack and called at the very last second. "Do it!"
Diablo leaped to the side, out of Geodude's path, and swung at the rock type with Iron Tail while still in the air. Geodude let out a groaning sound and lost control, smashing into another boulder with a painful sounding impact. It tiredly pulled itself up and glared at Diablo.
It was ready to fall. Adrian could see it from the way Geodude's arms struggled to hold up its heavy body. Just a little more, and Diablo could take it down.
"One more Iron Tail , Diablo!" Adrian exclaimed. "Finish it!"
Diablo lunged and swung at Geodude again, but Brock suddenly barked. "Mega Punch!"
Adrian's Rockruff yelped as the heavy attack collided with Iron Tail and overpowered it, launching the small puppy up into the air. Diablo hit the ground hard and scrambled back to his feet, wincing from the blow. Adrian gritted his teeth. He hadn't really gotten the chance to work on Diablo's endurance yet, so any hit was going to hurt. He hadn't been aware that Geodude could use Mega Punch, but he was kicking himself for it now- Geodude's huge arms were perfect for using punching attacks. It should have been obvious.
He decided to change tactics.
"Rock Throw. Circle Geodude and keep it guessing."
Diablo swiftly went into action, running in a quick circle around the rock type while launching small rocks. Geodude shrugged off the rocks like they were nothing, but it had trouble keeping up with Diablo's quick movements while Rock Throw blocked its vision.
Brock apparently knew Adrian's game and gave another order. "Magnitude."
Adrian's eyes widened. "Diablo, jump!"
He barely got the command out before Geodude used its strong arms to throw itself into the air, then smashed down on the field to unleash a small earth tremor. Diablo managed to avoid it by jumping over the ground type move, but it forced him to stop running around.
"Geodude, one last Mega Punch!" Brock snapped.
Geodude propelled itself towards Diablo with its powerful arms and clenched a fist, ready to clobber the rock type. However, just as it swung, the Rockruff ducked under and caused Geodude to overextend. The rock type clumsily tumbled over its opponent and landed heavily.
Adrian knew Brock wasn't going to give him another opportunity. "Finish it, Diablo!"
Diablo lunged at the stunned Geodude and slashed at it furiously with his metallic tail. Geodude scrambled to get away, but Diablo just snarled and dug his claws into it with one hand while continuing to tear through the rock type's armour with his tail.
Brock recalled Geodude when the stone creature stopped flailing around. He muttered something quietly to the pokeball and then looked up at Adrian. "I'm impressed by your Rockruff's perseverance. It didn't take long for it to recover from Geodude's Mega Punch. That doesn't happen often."
"Thanks, but to be honest I'm just as surprised," Adrian admitted. "I haven't really had much time to work on his defence yet."
Diablo snorted and grinned at his trainer. Adrian smiled at him and nodded, pleased with his starter's hard work.
"You've done well with him thus far, I'll give you that," Brock praised as he unclipped a second pokeball from his belt. "That being said, you'll need more than brute force to beat my second Pokemon."
Adrian's eyes narrowed. "Get ready Diablo. Here it comes."
Diablo let out a hiss and steady himself, ready for the second round of the gym battle.
"Rock and roll, Onix!" Brock hurled the pokeball up and it released its contents a second later.
A tremor went through the ground as a massive serpent of solid rock landed on the battlefield. Onix let out a bellow, a deep sound that reverberated through Adrian's whole body. He stared up at the behemoth with wide eyes. He'd looked Onix up in the Pokedex and knew that they were big, but reading about their gargantuan size and actually seeing it in person were two very different things indeed.
Diablo was gazing up at his new opponent with narrowed eyes. He let out a barking sound that was probably the closest thing he could get to a roar in his current form. Onix snorted and looked down on the rock puppy with something along the lines of amusement.
Forrest looked from Adrian to Brock and shouted. "Rockruff versus Onix- begin!"
"Iron Tail," Adrian ordered. "Use your speed to keep away from it and attack its flanks."
Diablo darted forward at his command and immediately hardened his tail. Onix watched him approach and let out another deep rumble.
Brock smiled. "Adrian, one thing you should learn about gym battles is that the same tricks never work twice. Onix, Rock Polish and Bind it."
Onix's body suddenly glowed, blinding Adrian for just a moment. When the light faded, Diablo was lunging in to slash at Onix, but the rock snake suddenly whipped away with speed that no creature of its size had the right to possess. Adrian gaped as Onix bolted around Diablo, stunning the rock type with its unexpected speed. It threw stone coils around the puppy and squeezed. Diablo let out a cry of pain as the Bind began to crush him.
He gritted his teeth. They were completely unprepared for Onix's speed. He had anticipated Onix to be a slow, lumbering behemoth that only possessed high attack. That it could move so quickly threw a monkey wrench in his plans to defeat it. Diablo had no way of escaping Bind, either. Fortunately, Onix hadn't been able to crush Diablo's tail too tightly to his body.
Adrian saw the chance and he decided to go for it. "Use Iron Tail! Slash at it until it lets you go!"
Diablo had his fangs bared in pain, but he managed to harden his tail even as Onix squeezed tighter and furiously cut the stone behemoth's body. Onix winced in pain. Apparently, the stone armour wasn't completely full-proof. It was obvious that it would take dozens of Iron Tail for Diablo to have a chance at severely weakening the rock snake, but luckily it seemed like the move's attack boosting properties were starting to take effect. Now and again, Diablo's slashes would start to cut deeper into Onix, making it twitch uncomfortably and loosen its grip.
Brock must have seen it too, because he decided right then to end the fight. "Slam it!"
Onix roared and lifted the coiled tail which was bound around Diablo, then brought it down on the field like a hammer. Adrian winced as the force made him unsteady and actually knocked Zeus off his feet beside him. The little pokemon got up and stared at the debris cloud with wide eyes.
He wasn't surprised when the dust settled and Diablo was unconscious. Adrian recalled his starter and gently ran his thumb over the pokeball. "Great job, Diablo. I'm proud of you."
Adrian took a look at Onix and smiled with satisfaction at the deep gouges in the stone behemoth's thick hide. It was obviously uncomfortable and he couldn't imagine it would take much more punishment. Maybe this Onix was relatively young and had armour that was thinner than an adult's. That would explain why Brock was allowed to use it for low-level gym battles.
He grabbed Venom's pokeball and set the scorpion like pokemon loose. Venom immediately locked his onyx eyes onto Onix and let out a ferocious hiss.
Brock looked surprised. "A Gligar? That's a rarity. I can't say I've ever actually seen one outside of my study book on Pokemon Breeding. Where did you get that?"
"He was a gift," Adrian replied. "And he's already one of the best Pokemon in my team. Don't underestimate him, Brock."
Venom hissed agreement, eyes gleaming eagerly to take on the mountainous serpent in front of him. Adrian grinned at his excitement- he was pumped up too. The two of them were completely in sync for this fight.
Their opponent only had to look at Venom's powerful jaws to take Adrian up on his wise suggestion. "I don't think I'll be underestimating teeth like those. Slam it!"
"Dig!" Adrian ordered.
Venom wriggled into the ground in the blink of an eye, just in time as Onix's tail came from the side and pulverized several boulders. Brock frowned. "Move around. Keep it guessing your actual position. Rock Polish once again."
Onix's body glowed again and then it darted around the field even faster than before. It was just ridiculous how quickly the massive serpent could move. Adrian felt like they were fighting Ekans again- if Ekans was like twenty-five feet long and made of solid rock.
He knew Venom could move quickly underground, but this was pushing it, even for him. Adrian didn't think the scorpion could accurately predict Onix with how fast it was moving and decided to go straight into his plan to trap the behemoth rather than weaken it at first. Maybe the damage Diablo had done would make up for the abandoned part of his strategy.
"Sand Coffin," he said clearly. He didn't have to be very loud about it. Venom's senses underground were impressive, and Adrian had no doubt that his Pokemon could hear him just fine even if he was several feet below the battlefield.
Onix continued to dart around the field for several more seconds. Adrian simply waited for Venom to make his move. Brock seemed slightly confused by how apparently unworried his opponent was, but then he hadn't heard the last command Adrian had given.
As he watched Onix come around again, Adrian noticed the ground start to dip and smirked. Venom had laid his trap.
Onix came around one more time and the battlefield immediately sank under its colossal weight. It bellowed in surprise as it sank into Sand Tomb and wriggled in an effort to escape, but its own heavy build made it nearly impossible. Onix just kept sliding into the pit.
Brock was shouting something, but Onix suddenly roared in pain and the Gym Leader paled. Venom had erupted from the pit and punched his hard fangs into the damaged section of Onix's body- the same place that Diablo had slashed at with Iron Tail. Cracks extended along Onix's armour, causing the beast's roar to rise into a shriek of grating stone.
"Slam!" Brock shouted frantically. "Get it off of you!"
"Let it go and use Dig!" Adrian retaliated. "Unbalance it!"
Venom let go immediately and wriggled back underground before Onix could crush him. He swam through the sandy pit as if it were liquid and tackled the behemoth's midsection. Onix bellowed as it was unbalanced and wobbled in an effort to regain its balance. However, the movement brought its head low to the ground and that was plenty good a target for Ash.
"Bite its head!"
There was another furious roar from Onix as Venom leaped out of the ground and snapped his jaws into the rock serpent's crest. The Gligar heaved with all the strength in his massive head and managed to yank Onix to the ground. Adrian grinned as the behemoth thrashed its body to get loose, but it was well and truly trapped in the Sand Coffin pit while Venom's teeth were making its crest shatter. He didn't care if Onix was made of stone armour- Venom had bitten through a steel katana in the Viridian Forest. That had to hurt.
A few seconds later and Venom snapped right through the stone crest. Onix roared in pain again and slumped to the ground, groaning heavily. Venom spat out the chunk of rock and hissed at Onix threateningly, but Brock recalled it a moment later.
Forrest called it. "Onix is unable to battle! Both of the Gym Leader's Pokemon are incapacitated! The challenger wins!"
Brock pocketed Onix's pokeball and smiled across the field. "Well done. It takes a lot to do that much damage to Onix."
"Thanks," Adrian frowned worriedly. "Um, its crest will grow back, right? I read that Onix can regenerate, but…"
"It'll be back to normal within a week or two," Brock assured him. "I appreciate the concern, though. Onix has taken worse, but that was impressive. I didn't think Gligar's jaws were that powerful."
Adrian grinned at Venom, who had calmed now that the battle was over and merely smirked toothily back at his trainer. "Well, Venom's got the best teeth in the business."
Brock laughed and nodded. "I don't doubt it. He punched right through Onix's armour like it was Styrofoam. I haven't seen that in a long time. Anyways, here's your Boulder Badge."
He handed Adrian a simple silver badge with an octagon pattern. Adrian took the badge and pocketed it for the time being, though it would go into his badge case once he left the gym. He smiled at Brock and held his hand out. "Thank you. It was a great battle."
"It really was," the teenager agreed with feeling. Brock shook his hand and grinned. "By the way, feel free to come back here for a rematch once you get all your badges. There's still two years before the League Tournament, y'know. I'd be more than happy to fight you with my real team once you get stronger."
Adrian grinned back wildly and Venom hissed with anticipation. "I think we'll definitely take you up on that."
"Good. Well Adrian, I'd love to chat some more, but I have another challenger waiting on me," Brock glanced up to the stands where the red-haired boy was waiting patiently. He called over to him. "I'll be right with you! Come on down to the battlefield!"
The boy nodded silently and got up. Brock turned back to Adrian and gave him one last nod. "Get to the Pokemon Center and let your team get healed. I know Gligar didn't take much damage, if any, but Rockruff has got to be feeling the Mega Punch and Slam it took. Geodude and Onix are low level, but when any rock type hits something, they hit hard."
"I will. See you around, Brock," Adrian dipped his head and turned away to leave for the Pokemon Center, recalling Venom and calling Zeus back into his arms on his way out.
He couldn't stop grinning. He'd won his first badge! _
Joy took his pokeballs and smiled at Adrian when he showed her the Boulder Badge. "Congratulations! It's not easy for new trainers to beat Brock's rock types. That Onix of his is particularly tricky."
"Yeah, it was a lot faster than I thought it would be," Adrian agreed. "But in the end, Venom managed to trap it and beat it down. I'm really proud of him and Diablo. They worked really hard."
"I can tell," she agreed. "I'll have your Pokemon healed in no time. What will you be doing in the meantime?"
Adrian glanced at Zeus, who was practically wriggling with excitement. His energy had been through the roof ever since the battle ended and Adrian knew he should probably help him work some of that out. "I think Zeus and I are going out to the practice field to work on Wild Charge."
"Alright. Remember, we have a charge station here in case Zeus starts to run low on electricity. You're welcome to use it anytime!"
"Thanks, Nurse Joy," Adrian smiled and scratched Zeus's ears fondly. "We'll probably use it a few times today." _
"That's it, Zeus, keep running!" Adrian called to the electric type.
Zeus was currently running back and forth across the training field behind the Pokemon Center. Adrian was working on improving his speed while at the same time trying to get him used to releasing a steady discharge on the move. So far, Zeus wasn't doing too badly. He could consistently unleash electricity when he ran as fast as he could, but Adrian wasn't sure if it was enough. It was impossible for him to tell if the electricity Zeus discharged was from his primary electric organ or the secondary one necessary for Wild Charge. He figured the only way to find out for sure was to ask Nurse Joy if she could find out.
Adrian thought Zeus was getting close to learning the move- far from perfecting it, but just learning it was enough. Besides, practicing Wild Charge kept Pichu busy and the busier he was, the less likely he was to try and shock Adrian for a prank. He smirked at the thought. Zeus had a habit of zapping him awake and then laughing when his hair stuck up even more than normal.
He adjusted the hat on his head and paused when the speakers outside the Pokemon Center announced that his Pokemon were ready to be picked up. Adrian smiled and called Zeus over, letting the electric type rest from his nonstop running.
Zeus was panting when he skittered over to Adrian. He knelt down and scratched the Pokémon's fur behind his ears. "Good boy. You're working really hard."
Zeus leaned into his touch, then snickered and gave Adrian a mild shock. It wasn't meant to hurt or even paralyze him, but it made every hair on his body stand on end. Adrian rolled his eyes, though he couldn't find it in himself to be annoyed with the electric type.
"Yeah, yeah, very funny. C'mon, let's go get Diablo and Venom, okay?'
The electric type clambered back into his arms as Adrian walked back into the Pokemon Center. He made straight for the desk and saw Joy waiting with his pokeballs. She smiled cheerily as he came over.
"Your Pokemon have been fully restored, Adrian. Neither of them had any serious problems from the battle," Joy informed him.
Adrian nodded. "Thank you."
"I assume you'll be heading for Cerulean City next?"
"That is the plan," he admitted while clipping the pokeballs to his belt. "I want to try and get through Mt. Moon in two days. I won't be leaving until tomorrow, though. Diablo and Venom deserve a short break and I want to keep working on Wild Charge with Zeus- by the way, do you know if there's any way to tell if he's actually using his secondary charge organ?"
Joy looked at Zeus, reaching across the counter to scratch the little electric type under his chin. Zeus chittered happily at the attention. "I can do a body scan on him, if you like. It should only take a few minutes."
Adrian nodded politely. "I'd appreciate it."
Zeus hopped onto the counter and Joy passed the little pokemon over to her Chansey. "Right, Chansey will get him ready."
He was about to say something else when someone walked up beside him. "Excuse me, Nurse Joy? My Pokemon need to be healed."
"Of course," Joy smiled at the newcomer, taking the pokeballs he placed on the counter.
Adrian looked at the stranger and blinked. "Hey, you're that kid I saw at the gym, aren't you?"
The boy shrugged. "I guess."
"Did you win?"
"Obviously. Brock's Pokemon aren't that strong. Anyone with a good strategy can win."
Adrian frowned. The guy had an attitude, but maybe he was just having a bad day? He shrugged. Either way, the kid was strong enough to defeat Brock. That gave him points in Adrian's book.
He felt his stomach growl and figured lunch was in order. He nodded to the kid as he left. "Well, maybe I'll see you around. Let's have a battle sometime, alright?"
"Whatever."
Ignoring the snappy remark, Adrian left for the cafeteria with intentions to feed himself and his hard working Pokemon for a job well done. _
That evening as Adrian was getting ready to sleep, he reflected on the events of the day. Diablo and Venom had won him the Boulder Badge- that was obviously the highlight of it all. Both of them had fought well, each of them managing to win one of the battles. When he released them following their recovery at the Pokemon Center, Adrian noticed that Diablo's fur was larger than before and his coat had darkened further. He was so close to evolving, so close. Adrian felt like he would reach that milestone before they got to Cerulean City or right when they arrived. It was exciting to think about.
He had no idea where Venom stood as far as his evolution went. The scorpion was powerful, but his species was still brand new to Adrian. He remembered vaguely from reading the Pokedex that Venom would get more aggressive and his teeth would get larger, but Adrian had a hard time gauging the ground/flying type's aggression outside of battle. Venom was just mellow when he wasn't fighting- not lazy necessarily, but he was calm and preferred to relax. Whenever Adrian set him loose, the scorpion would find a tree or the nearest patch of sunlight or the warmest area he could get to and bask. If he stayed in one spot to heat up for long enough, he would open his jaws to release some of the excess heat. It was kind of funny to watch, especially when he fell asleep like that.
Nurse Joy had given him useful information regarding Zeus- the electric type was starting to access his secondary charge organ, but it wasn't yet enough for him to use Wild Charge. They would have to keep working on it every chance they got, because Adrian was sure Zeus would evolve at almost the same time as Diablo. Zeus as a breed just grew quickly and evolved fast- Baby Pokemon weren't meant to stay in their current form for a long period of time. He could already see Zeus's fur starting to darken slightly and electrical attacks were getting a fair bit stronger. Zeus was still the weakest member of the team, but he was the fastest. Adrian had no doubt that would continue when he evolved into Luxio.
His plan now was to get through Mt. Moon. The mountain pass harboured a variety of Pokemon he had yet to encounter along with many trainers passing back and forth between Pewter and Cerulean City. He would get many chances to battle with his team and make them stronger. Adrian was also debating catching another Pokemon while he was in there. It kind of depended on what he saw. Geodude and Zubat were known to be common in the caves and evolved into some powerful breeds, but he wasn't quite sure if he wanted one.
Geodude were strong when properly trained, but they had a whole myriad of weaknesses and very few counters to utilize. Moreover, many of those counters couldn't even be taught until they had fully evolved into Golem. Adrian wanted Pokemon with versatility. Zubat had the potential to be versatile when they evolved into Crobat. However, both Zubat and Golbat were very sensitive to sunlight and required special training to effectively battle during the day.
He shrugged at the thought. There was still two years to go before the League Tournament began. If Adrian decided to catch a Zubat later in his journey, he would. If not, then oh well. There were many other flying and poison types to capture around Kanto.
Mt. Moon wasn't filled with only Geodude and Zubat, though. There were supposed to be Paras and Sandshrew as well, though neither of them really caught his interest. Paras and Parasect were both fairly weak Pokemon, though he supposed their variety of spores would be useful for captures. He didn't want a Sandshrew because he already had a ground type- Venom. There was no need to capture a Pokemon of the same type as one he already possessed. At least, not at this stage in his journey. He didn't even have a full team yet. Adrian figured he would only go to the effort of capturing more than a single Pokemon of any type if the Pokemon in question really caught his attention.
There were also Clefairy in Mt. Moon. He had never thought about capturing a fairy type before, but he'd consider it. Clefairy and Clefable had a decent move pool and were quite rare. Adrian decided if he found one worth catching, he'd go for it. If he didn't, then he'd just keep traveling until he found one.
He shifted in his bed and a light grumble made him smile. Venom head was on his stomach- the scorpion apparently found his body heat to be quite comfortable when he slept. Adrian was glad Venom had gotten used to traveling with him so quickly. He had initially thought the Gligar would be difficult to work with, but Venom was laid-back and at ease around him. At least, he was when they weren't engaged in battle. That was when the infamous aggression of his breed gleefully came to life.
Diablo was nestled by his neck, keeping himself a safe distance in order to watch out for Intruders. The Rockruff was sleeping deeply now. He hadn't taken as much damage as Adrian had feared from Onix's powerful Slam, but the puppy was still tired from the accelerated healing process that Nurse Joy applied to him. Adrian smirked when Diablo made a little snore and twitched.
Adrian's little troublemaker was actually slumped over Venom. The reason for that was because Zeus had a habit of setting off little electric shocks in his sleep that would jolt Adrian awake. Venom's ground typing effectively nullified the small discharges and everyone got to sleep peacefully. Zeus was annoyed at first when Adrian asked him to sleep with Venom, but promised that he could sleep normally again once he evolved. The little pokemon was having difficulty controlling his power now that he was close to evolution, but he would regain dominance over his random shocks once he was a Luxio.
He smiled at how comfortable his team looked and decided to join them in dreamland. Adrian was pretty tired after all the action today. _
"Pidgey, Tackle!" Shouted the youngster. His small bird folded its wings and dove out of the air, aiming to take Zeus right in the middle.
Adrian smirked. "Jump on it."
Zeus snickered and waited until Pidgey was just a few feet away before leaping straight up. His fall brought him right onto the bird's back, leaving it well and truly surprised.
"Thundershock!"
Pidgey let out a shriek as its feathers stood on end from the discharge of electricity Zeus set upon it. The electric type giggled mischievously and leapt off his opponent, who struggled to stay in the air.
The trainer they were facing gritted his teeth. "Pidgey, use Gust!"
Adrian watched the bird unleash a whirlwind, but it was pretty weak now. He decided it would be best to put Pidgey out of its misery now. Considering the bird was fairly close to the ground, Adrian figured it was a good time for Zeus to try out the move they'd been working on.
"Wild Charge!"
Zeus started to run and built up a cloak of electricity, picking up speed as he got closer and closer. He leapt up at Pidgey and impacted it, but Adrian noticed that the charge had begun to break up just before the little pokemon made contact. He frowned. They still weren't there quite yet.
As it was, though, the makeshift Wild Charge was enough to defeat Pidgey. The tiny bird fell out of the air and collapsed. Its trainer recalled it and sulkily handed Adrian the prize money he'd earned. Adrian watched the kid stomp away and shrugged. He had won that fair and square. The kid could sulk or get over it.
Adrian smiled at Zeus when the electric type climbed up into his arms. He scratched the electric type's ears and smirked when Zeus let out a happy chitter. Zeus had gotten in several fights on their way to Mt. Moon, since Adrian suspected he wouldn't be fighting anything aside from the occasional Zubat when they got to the mountain. He wanted the electric type to get a workout in.
Wild Charge still frustrated them. Zeus could get the move started and run with the charge, but he couldn't maintain it long enough to make the impact as powerful as it needed to be. Adrian pushed that thought aside. They had made progress. Zeus would get it- he was certain.
He continued making his way towards the entrance to the mountain pass. They weren't too far away and Adrian wanted to get through part of Mt. Moon while there was still daylight. It would probably take him a couple of days given that there would no doubt be several trainers for him to battle. There was a Pokemon Center stationed on the Pewter City side of the pass, which trainers could use to heal their teams before they made the crossing.
Adrian had just spotted the building when he heard someone call behind him. He turned around and blinked- it was the same guy he'd seen at the Pewter Gym.
"What's up?" Adrian asked him.
The guy looked serious, just like he had when Adrian first met him. "I want to battle you. You were pretty good when you fought at the Pewter Gym and everyone else I've fought along the way here didn't even make my Pokemon break a sweat. I figure you'd be a decent enough challenge for them."
Zeus snickered with delight and Adrian grinned. "Those are some fighting words. I'm Adrian."
"That's the idea," the kid smirked. "My name's Craig. I'm from the Sinnoh region."
"Sinnoh?" Adrian echoed. He'd heard about Sinnoh- it was southeast of Kanto and a fair bit colder. The region was old, but only recently had developed a Pokemon League, and that was still fairly underdeveloped. Adrian had heard that the Elite Four and Champion for Sinnoh changed every year because there weren't any trainers strong enough to maintain the titles for very long. They kept getting usurped.
"Yeah. Their League Tournament isn't up to par with Kanto yet, so I ended up traveling here to start my journey," Craig shrugged.
That actually made a lot of sense, Adrian would admit. Kanto had an established Elite Four and Champion that ran the region smoothly. Moreover, more people competed in the League Tournaments and there was more experience to be gained by training there for now.
Adrian was interested to see if any of Craig's Pokemon were from the exotic region. He didn't know very much about Sinnoh. "Alright, you're on."
Craig smirked. "How does three on three sound?"
"Perfect, actually," Adrian grinned. "I've only got three Pokemon right now."
"I see. Shinx, Rockruff, and that Gligar, right?"
"That's right."
Craig nodded. "I'll start off then. Nidoran, to the battlefield ."
He tapped the release on a pokeball and out came a large, pink Nidoran. Adrian recognized it as the male variety of the species and made a note of the impressive horn. It was small, yes, but Adrian had seen pictures of Nidoran before and knew that the horn on this particular specimen was fairly large.
Adrian sent out Venom. The scorpion hissed when he spotted Nidoran and bared sharp fangs. Nidoran looked unfazed, though his ears twitched and his poisoned barb dripped toxins.
Craig made the first move. "Tackle. Get in close and use Poison Sting."
"Bite," Adrian ordered. "Watch out for that horn."
Venom waited as Nidoran rushed him, hissing all the while. When the small Pokemon impacted him, the scorpion used his low center of gravity to keep himself steady. He was pushed back a few inches, but then retaliated by snapping his jaws onto Nidoran's head ferociously.
Nidoran squealed and scrabbled to get away. Craig remained calm, however. "Focus Energy."
The poison type's ears twitched and it stiffened in order to focus its power. Adrian didn't know what game Craig was playing, but he wasn't about to let Nidoran stay that close to Venom while it had a heightened chance of scoring a critical hit. "Fire Fang, then toss it!"
Venom leaped into the air using his wings before descending, Embers seeped out of Venom's maw burning his opponent. Nidoran squealed in pain again before Venom pulled his head back and hurled the poison type into the air.
Craig's eyes narrowed. "Come down with Double Kick."
Nidoran righted itself in mid-air and aimed its large feet for Venom, who hissed at his foe. Adrian recognized the danger of being hit by the fighting type move, however, and responded fast. "Dig."
Venom scrabbled his way underground and disappeared a few moments before Nidoran's feet smacked the ground hard. The poison type's ears quivered warily as it looked around the field. Craig just stood by and watched, eyes narrowed.
Adrian also waited. It wasn't like Venom was going to take his sweet time.
That became abundantly clear when the croc burst out of the ground beneath Nidoran and smashed his large head into its flank. Nidoran was hurled away and came to a stop, ears drooping and looking pretty tired. Adrian frowned. It wasn't putting up too much of a fight.
"Long range Poison Sting," Craig ordered. Instead of using its horn for Poison Sting, Nidoran opened its mouth and spat a series of venomous needles at Venom. The scorpion wasn't far enough away to dodge, so he just took the attacks and hissed furiously. Venom was getting riled up. Adrian knew that he wasn't going to let Nidoran hit him again without knocking it out.
Craig appeared satisfied by the Poison Sting and grunted. "Double Kick."
Nidoran made another rush and this time leapt up to try and hit Venom from the flanks. The scorpion snarled and opened up his maw, which trickled fire. But Nidoran was apparently trained to aim better than that.
Venom snapped his fangs on empty air when Nidoran's foot collided with his lower jaw. The Gligar was initially surprised and in pain from the attack, but then glared at Nidoran with sudden fury. Before Adrian could even give an order, Venom rapidly snapped his jaws on Nidoran's body and shook it like a rag doll. When the scorpion finally threw his foe away, Nidoran hit a nearby tree and slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Adrian winced from the impact. Venom really did get incredibly aggressive in battle. If something attacked him and didn't back off quickly enough, it would pay the price.
Craig recalled Nidoran and glanced at the pokeball before setting it back on his belt. Silently, he picked out another one. "Round one to you, then."
"Looks like it," Adrian replied as he returned Venom. He scratched Zeus's ears. "Get out there, buddy."
Zeus leaped to the ground and sparked at Craig, snickering. The other trainer seemed to smirk at the small pokemon and released his second Pokemon. "Elekid, to the battlefield."
The Pokemon which appeared was a small yellow creature with short legs, two strong arms, and two prongs on the top of its head. It spun its arms while grinning and electricity charged between the prongs.
Adrian looked at it with interest. Elekid were fairly rare in Kanto, though their evolved form Electabuzz was only slightly easier to find. They were the kind of electric type which had traded incredible speed for brute force. When they hit, they could hit hard.
He stated things off this time. "Zeus, Tackle. Run around it and keep it guessing."
Craig smirked. "Charge. Thunder Punch."
Elekid began to whirl its arms again, charging electricity between its prongs. It had only gotten in a few seconds of charge though before Zeus rammed into it with Tackle. Elekid let out a growling sound and built up electricity around its fist, then punched the smaller Pokemon ferociously.
Zeus cried out and was sent flying, but he recovered before hitting the ground and landed safely. Adrian frowned. Elekid was a good bit stronger than Nidoran.
"Thundershock," he ordered. He knew Thundershock wasn't going to be very effective, but it would let him measure Elekid's strength without getting Zeus too close to it. He didn't think Zeus could take too many of those boosted Thunder Punches.
The small bolt of energy hit Elekid easily, but it just took a step back and whirled its arms again before launching a larger charge right back at Pichu. Adrian's Pokemon weathered the assault fairly well, though it was obvious who had taken the most damage out of that exchange. He frowned again. He didn't think Zeus would be able to win this with their usual tactics of running circles around the opponent and zapping them.
He decided to go for broke. "Wild Charge! Put everything you've got into it."
Zeus took a second to tense up and build electricity, then rushed Elekid as fast as he could. Elekid seemed surprised by the blur of speed, but its trainer wasn't so easily fazed.
"Meet it head on. Thunder Punch," Craig ordered.
Elekid quickly whirled its arms, then swung a fist at Zeus right as the small pokemon leapt up to crash into it. The resulting impact was rough on both Pokemon- Elekid ended up taking the full brunt of Wild Charge, (which appeared to have succeeded this time) but Zeus had been struck with Thunder Punch and took the recoil damage Wild Charge was infamous for.
Zeus staggered back with a whine and sat down hard. Adrian pulled out his pokeball and recalled him. He was just glad that Zeus had finally succeeded with Wild Charge. There was no need for him to get completely wiped out- besides, Adrian could tell that Elekid would have undoubtedly won that round. It was just stronger and more experienced.
Craig arched an eyebrow at his move, but Adrian called over to him. "It takes a lot of electricity for Zeus to use Wild Charge. If he doesn't knock the opponent out with it, he's basically empty on power. He can't fight anymore."
The other trainer nodded and recalled Elekid, which was grinning widely from its victory. Adrian would admit that the electric type had surprised him with its strength. Elekid weren't particularly strong, but that one had a lot of potential.
Adrian set Diablo loose and Craig gauged the Rockruff before sending out his third Pokemon. "Turtwig, to the battlefield."
His third Pokemon was one that Adrian hadn't even heard of before. It was a small green creature with a large head and a shell on its back. A small plant protruded from the top of its head. He noted the large mouth and decided that would be a good thing to stay away from.
Adrian watched Diablo swish his fluffy tail from side to side and muttered. "Rock Throw. Keep it at a distance and figure out what moves it has."
Diablo growled and started to run, sending small chunks of rocks at Turtwig as he moved. Craig narrowed his eyes. "Evade it. Use Razor Leaf."
Turtwig began to run away from the rocks and retaliated by swinging its head from side to side. The twig on its head started to launch sharp blades of leaves at Diablo, who just growled and leap to the side to dodge it. Both of the small Pokemon exchanged attacks like that back to back a little while until Adrian figured it was time to change things up a bit.
"Get in close. Iron Tail."
Craig smirked at that. He waited until Diablo was just a few feet away before barking. "Trip it! Pin it down with Bite."
Turtwig suddenly aimed a Razor Leaf at Diablo's foot and knocked the charging Rockruff off-balance. Diablo hit the ground harshly, shrieking a second later when Turtwig leapt onto his back and clamped those powerful jaws around his neck. He scrabbled to get free, but the grass type had him well and truly stuck in place.
Adrian gritted his teeth. There wasn't any way for Diablo to get Turtwig off of him. His arms just weren't long enough to reach the grass type clutching his back. He raised the pokeball to recall his starter.
Suddenly there was a flash of white light and Pyro's form glowed violently. Turtwig's eyes widened in surprise, matching his trainer. Adrian gaped as Diablo's shrieks deepened to a roar and his body became to change. More fur sprouted from his head and his snout became pointed. Diablo's arms and legs lengthened as he grew taller, and his claws and fangs grew larger. The light exploded away from him with a thrash of his tail, showing that he looked more dangerous than before.
The Lycanroc that replaced Rockruff form was his midnight form since the sun had already set and he was was easily twice the size of his previous stage. His fur were a deep red with a white underbelly and his blue eyes took on a very of bloodthirsty red with swirls around them . Diablo pushed himself to his feet with his larger, stronger arms and twisted his head to glare at Turtwig (who had clung to his neck all along) with blatant fury.
Adrian saw short bursts of electricity lurking behind Diablo's jaws and decided to try something. "Thunder Fang!"
Diablo's jaws lunged forward with a roar and his sparking fangs snapped into Turtwig's body. The grass type squealed and wriggled in an effort to escape, but even newly evolved, Diablo was too strong. The Lycanroc shook Turtwig in his mouth a few times and then threw him across the field. Adrian watched as Turtwig bounced along the ground harshly, eventually skidding to a stop. Turtwig slumped over and Craig recalled it, his face expressionless.
Adrian grinned wildly. "Diablo!"
Diablo turned and matched his grin with fangs bared in a smile. He roared into the air and growled excitedly, obviously thrilled to have evolved. Adrian ran over to him and threw his arms around the Lycanroc. He felt the warm, thick fur under his fingers and exclaimed to his friend. "Congrats, buddy! You evolved!"
The Lycanroc let out a pleased rumble. Adrian looked up as Craig walked over, looking unperturbed at his loss. The other trainer dipped his head. "It was a good battle. Congratulations on your Rockruff evolving."
"Thanks," Adrian nodded back. "Though we'll have to train harder than ever. If Diablo hadn't evolved just then, I'm pretty sure you would have won that."
"No point in worrying about what might have been," Craig grunted. "I'll just have to train Turtwig more. He's close to evolving as well- he should get there by the time we reach Cerulean City."
Craig was quiet for a moment. "You intend to participate in the Indigo League Tournament, right?"
"Of course."
"Good. In the event we don't encounter each other on the road again after this, I expect to meet you there on the battlefield," Craig gave him an even look. "You've got more talent than the other scrubs I've seen here in Kanto. Don't disappoint me. If you can't keep up, I'll knock you out of the tournament before it even gets started."
Diablo let out a growl and Adrian's eyes narrowed. "I don't plan on losing."
Craig cracked a smirk. "Good. I look forward to facing you again. Make sure you're stronger next time- and I suggest you capture some more Pokemon. The three Pokemon you have now won't be enough to get past any more than maybe three Gym Leaders."
"Don't worry about me," Adrian replied. "You'd better work on your own team."
"True," the other trainer agreed. Then Craig left without another word, making his way towards the Pokemon Center.
Adrian looked back at Diablo and smiled, scratching the rock type at his neck. It was the same spot he had liked as a Rockruff and that didn't change in his new form. Adrian decided to leave his starter out as they followed Craig to the Pokemon Center. Then it would be on to Mt. Moon and Cerulean City- where Adrian would challenge the water type gym and win his second badge. _
There you have it that's chapter 3 hope you enjoy it and stay tune for more Heart of a Champion.