As you may have noticed from my last late update, I don't have as much free time as I did during the summer, so It'll be rare for me to upload two chapters a week. Nevertheless, the PokéGO adventures in Kanto will continue.

Chapter 32: Battles and Leaders (Pewter City)

Pewter City seems as rigid as its gym's Pokémon. The hills of stone are accompanied by rows of tall trees and gray cement roads. Although the trees are tall and numerous enough to cover the city's gym, the famous Pewter Museum of Science manages to rise above them and shine as a symbol of Pewter City's prosperity, even after all its years of harsh climates.

"We'll visit Brock, right?" Leaf asks with her Pokédex already out.

"Of course." Red smiles. "We'll have to hurry though."

And so we begin our PokéGO hunting.

Pokémon caught in Pewter City:

A Rapidash caught by Leaf, a Xatu by Krystal at the entrance, multiple Aerodactyl, Omanyte, Kabuto, Lileep, Anorith, Cranidos and Shieldon near the museum and Diglett, Sandshrew, Sandslash Onix, Rhydon, Rhyhorn, Geodude, Graveler, Golem, Omastar and Kabutops near the gym.

After our hunting session, we hurry to the Pewter City gym.

Pewter City Pokémon Gym
Leader: Brock
The Rock-Solid Pokémon Trainer!

Somehow, the actual gym is even rougher than the city. From the entrance, the first things we see are the Rhyhdon statues and the gym guide. He's about to talk to us when he notices the Kanto and Johto Legends. He then smiles and stands back with the statues.

Nate dashes for the statues, which normally display the trainers who have beaten the gym.

"Jimmy, David, Karen, Sun, Gary, Danny...where are you guys?" He looks at the ones who've beaten the Kanto league.

Black laughs.

"They erase the names after a while, how did you not know that? Did you think they'd keep every name since the gym was built? They'd run out of rock!"

Nate frowns.

"Oh. Well now I just feel stupid. Wait."

Now he's worried.

"Does that mean my name's been erased already?"

"Ooof! They've been gone for ages!" Rosa laughs as well.

Nate looks as if he just learned Santa wasn't real.

I shake my head, smiling, and look around the gym again. The ceiling is made of stone and has tons of stalactites hanging from them. To prevent accidents, multiple Onix are placed at the sides of the gym, ready to jump at a falling stalactite if it ever drops. In front of the Onix are pillars and mounds of rock, in front of which the gym trainers are stationed. As always, the mounds of rock are just wide enough so that you can go around them and bypass the trainers. Not too bad, considering there's only two trainers aside from the gym leader. The other rocks are too big to circumvent and the final step after the trainers is a small set of stairs, which leads to the floor Brock is waiting at. This provides a good atmosphere for the final battle, as the upper floor is just high enough for everything on it to be impossible to see from the lower one.

We decide to take advantage of the gym's clever positioning by going around the rocks and heading straight for Brock.

Arriving at the top floor, we notice Brock is in the middle of training with his Geodude. After blocking a tackle, Brock holds a hand in front of the Geodude and turns to face us. He smiles warmly and opens his arms, beckoning Red and Leaf to come closer.

The Kanto Legends comply and are brought into a tight hug by the rock-type gym leader of Pewter City.

"Red! Leaf! It's been so long! What are you doing here?" He asks, still not opening his eyes.

"We're only here for about a day. We heard about this new thing called PokéGO and wanted to check it out." Leaf answers.

Brock nods.

"Ah yes, I've heard of it too. Many young trainers have been flocking here recently because of it. It's a great opportunity for those who don't have what it takes to be a real trainer. They're having lots of fun."

Candela smiles and looks over to me.

"See? That's what I always wanted. That's what PokéGO is for."

"So, are we going to battle or what?" Brock goes for a pokéball in one of his back pockets.

Leaf and puts her hand in her bag.

"Yeah. Just with three though, we're kind of in a hurry."

We step to the side and watch as Brock releases a Golem and Leaf releases her Venusaur.

"Use Defense Curl!" Brock yells with confidence.

Leaf smiles and Mega-evolves Saur.

"Giga Drain!"

As it is super effective, Giga Drain would normally defeat Golem in one shot, but this one has Sturdy, so it survives and raises its defense in vain.

Brock frowns and then smiles again.

"Ah, I'd forgotten how skilled you were. Your Bulbasaur really gave me a beating back then. Earthquake!"

Leaf nods and commands Saur to finish Golem with Sludge Bomb.

Golem faints before it can move.

"Wow." Candela's eyes are shining.

"I've always wanted to see Leaf battle. It's amazing! How does she do it?"

I frown.

"She just used the type that's strong against Brock's Pokémon. Besides, Brock doesn't have any mega-evolved Pokémon."

Candela shakes her head at me.

"Yeah but she knows what to do so quickly! I'd take a lot longer before I'd realize using Grass-type Pokémon would be better."

I frown at her again.

"How? Isn't that instant to you? If you see a Fire-type Pokémon you immediately think you should use a Water-type."

This time Candela frowns.

"No? What, do you do it? I've never been able to associate them like that."

I'm absolutely astonished.

"How!?"

Red notices my plight and takes his eyes away from the battle to explain.

"That's what make us Legends." He says.

"Other trainers don't have the same skill we do in Pokémon battles. That's why we like battling so much. Even League Champions have trouble associating types to Pokémon."

I'm still taken back the realization. No wonder everyone's so bad. I always thought everyone was just being stubborn. Now the monotype gyms all make sense. They don't think having a whole team of the same type is a bad idea.

"Rhyhdon, now!"

The iconic Ground and Rock-type Pokémon appears and roars, spinning its mighty horn.

"Go! Lapras!"

The Water and Ice-type Lapras gets released and shows off its elegant horn as well.

"Earthquake now!"

"Hydro Pump!"

Once again, Leaf's partner moves first and blasts its foe with a fierce surge of water. Because of its typing, Rhyhdon would have fainted imediately if it had not been for its Ability, Sturdy.

Rhyhdon unleashes Earthquake, dealing 55% damage.

Both trainers look at their Pokémon once before commanding them to attack again.

This time however, Lapras beats Rhyhdon with a well-timed Ice Beam.

"Come back, Rhyhdon!" Brock retrieves his defeated partner and looks at his last pokéball.

"This is your chance, Onix!"

The powerful stone snake towers above everyone else, gathering the attention of the other Onix in the gym.

Leaf takes one good look at it and nods at Lapras.

"Use Stone Edge!"

Lapras starts charging Ice Beam but Onix moves quicker and finishes Lapras with a critical hit of Stone Edge.

Leaf smiles and switches in her Dragonite, who looks up at the towering Onix and frowns, determined.

"Superpower!" Leaf yells with a grin.

"Screech!"

Onix is yet again faster despite its size and lowers the Dragonite's defense by two.

The Kanto Dragon-type then retaliates by using Superpower. It's body glows blue before jumping at the Onix, slamming it against the wall with tremendous force. Its attack and defense then both go down by one as Onix is left with 1% HP due to its Sturdy.

"This it it" Brock grins, standing beside his Onix.

"Use Stone Edge now!"

"Superpower one more time!"

Because of Dragonite's -3 defense, Onix deals 82% damage but doesn't defeat it.

Dragonite then takes the opportunity to slam Onix, finally defeating it.

The cuddly dragon seems content as its being retrieved in Leaf's pokéball.

The two trainers take one look at each other and go in for another hug.

"I really enjoyed seeing you all again. However, the world is still huge!" Brock nods.

"There's still a lot to see." Leaf agrees and smiles again.

"See you later, Brock!" Leaf waves as we leave.

"Safe travels, my friends!"

He waves back atop his battleground, a geodude mimicking his movements beside him.

Red and Leaf smile at each other at the exit, surely remembering their first gym experience in Pewter City and how Brock was back then.

Speaking of...

"What was Brock like?" I ask, attracting the Kanto Legends' attention.

"I mean, most of us never met our region's gym leaders outside of their gyms. It's not like we were close friends. But you two and Brock look like you had a close relationship. How come?"

Leaf answers first, halting our march.

"Well, when we first got to the Pewter City gym we were pretty inexperienced. We had no idea what the Pokémon League was actually like. Brock, unlike others who had experience in competitive Pokémon battling, understood our struggles and taught us some very valuable lessons we still use today. For example, Brock was the one that taught Red that typing wasn't always the sole factor in battling."

Red shakes his head with a smile.

"My beloved Charmander learned Metal Claw, which is Steel-type and strong against Brock's Rock-types. However, I tried fighting his lv. 14 Onix with my lv. 13 Charmander. Sure, it doesn't seem like much, but Onix already has much better stats and has the STAB advantage with Rock Tomb."

The Unova2 and Kalos Legends collectively frown.

"What's STAB?"

Red shakes his head again and starts to walk again.

"It's sort of complicated. I'll explain another time."

I shrug and follow. Serena gives me a look telling me she's just as confused as I am.

Nevertheless, take one last look at the famous Pewter City and leave through the east exit, towards Route 3.

Done! It was fun thinking of a relationship between the Kanto Legends and Brock, kind of like in Pokémon Origins. I also made sure to keep a lot of stuff canon, like his Pokémon team (which is now all evolved except for Rhyhdon, because Rhyperior isn't Kanto) and the look of the gym, which was based on the HGSS iteration. There's also the look of the city, the gym's sign and Brock's dialogue after he loses.
As for the mention of STAB, I could have explained it right then and there but it would take away from the Kanto visit and I'd rather keep that for another chapter.
Last thing, I also enjoyed writing battle segments, even if it was just for a bit. I only did it to practice so that when S/M comes out I remember how to do stuff correctly. I'm still not writing full chapters solely dedicated for a battle, though.

Anyways, thanks for reading as always, and please remember to let me know what you think!