Chapter 4

"Alright, now Chewy, you sit right here and Rattata you stand like this and lower your tail a bit! Chewy, turn your head this way! Wait— right there. Perfect!"

"Do you have to do this now? I mean I'm kinda in a hurry here."

"Oh hold your horses, I'm almost done, I just need to put the finishing touches on it."

Ryan rolled his eyes and released a heavy sigh as he watched Nina sketch a picture of Chewy, her newly captured pikachu, and Rattata. They were lounging about inside the Pokémon Center in Pewter City with an extremely anxious Ryan trying to hurry over towards the Gym to challenge the Gym Leader for his first badge. Sadly Ryan had to wait until today to challenge him and not yesterday, because by the time they got out Viridian Forest, Ryan and Bulbasaur got lost again because he decided to run around fighting random Caterpies, Pidgey and Pidgeotto that crossed their path, it had gotten too late and the Gym was closed for the evening so they stayed the night at the Center, with Ryan stating he'd be up bright and early to face the Gym, but Nina decided to lollygag and used this time to start sketching Chewy and Rattata, because she found the two adorable as they sat back to back munching on the fruit left over from their breakfast.

Skrtch. Skrtch. Skrtch.

"Are you finally finished yet?" Ryan growled, tapping his foot irately, while Nina rolled her eyes and huffed before stuffing her sketch book back in her bag "yes mister impatient," slinging it around to rest on her hip. Nina allowed Chewy to clamber up on one of her shoulders and Rattata climbed onto the other one "great, now let's go!" Ryan then rushed out of the Pokémon Center, with an exasperated Nina following at his heels. It didn't take long to get to Pewter Gym, it was a large building with the outside made entirely out of stone. Upon entering Ryan and Nina were greeted with darkness "HEY IS ANYONE IN HERE?" Ryan shouted squinting his eyes in the darkness gradually he was able to make out a figure sitting atop a stone pedestal located on the opposite side of the Gym "are you the leader here?" The silhouetted figure gave a short bark of laughter before jumping down off the stones he was seated on and the lights of the gym turned on, revealing a young brown haired boy wearing a green shirt and brown pants, his arms were crossed stiffly as he gazed at Ryan, or at least Ryan thought he was gazing at him. He couldn't really tell the difference since the boy's eyes seems to be closed.

"Greetings challenger, I am Forrest, leader of the Pewter Gym!"

"You're the leader?"

Forrest nodded and Ryan paused before glancing back at Nina with a confused look "he's just a little kid... I was kinda expecting someone bigger." Forrest glowered at Ryan's words "I am not a little kid! My big brother Brock left me in charge of the Gym, so I'm more than capable! Now are you here to battle or what?" Ryan gazed at the boy thoughtfully before nodding "Yeah."

"Alright, this is a 3-on-3 battle, only the challenger is allowed to switch their Pokémon. First to have all Pokémon unable to battle, is the winner." Forrest recited while glancing at Ryan, who had a nervous look on his face "t-three Pokémon? But, I only have two. . ." Nina blinked from her spot behind the two boys "two?" She repeated before glancing at Rattata "but I thought Rattata was yours..." Ryan shook his head and Nina hummed thoughtfully "well, I don't believe there's a rule about battling with a Pokémon that hasn't officially been caught by the trainer. Why don't you use Rattata?"

"Use Rattata?" Ryan glanced back at said mouse, who sat back on Nina's shoulder, blinking at the boy when his gaze fell on her "would that be okay, if I used Rattata?" He turned back towards Forrest, who shrugged "as long as the Pokémon doesn't mind, sure." Ryan looked back at Rattata questioningly and the mouse smiled slightly before leaping off Nina's shoulder and onto Ryan's "Thanks Rattata" said mouse nodded in response and Ryan stepped forward onto the battle field, while Forrest took his place on the opposite side of the large jagged rock filled field "YOU CAN DO IT FORREST!" – "MAKE BROTHER PROUD!" – "CRUSH HIM!" Came a sudden shout from the stands high above the Gym's floor, Ryan glanced back to see a bunch of little kids he hadn't seen before huddled together, cheering for their older brother, while Nina made her way up the stairs to stand beside them.

They each gazed at Nina curiously, before looking at Chewy, who blinked back "whoa, she has a pikachu, just like Ash does!" one of the boys exclaimed and Chewy felt a bit of pride swell in his chest so he smiled down at the kids "but I think Ash's Pikachu looks cuter," one of the younger girls mumbled and Chewy's smile turned into a frown and his ears drooped "Pi-kachu." He muttered while Nina chuckled before turning her gaze back towards the battlefield. "Alright, I'll choose first. Geodude lets go!" Forrest tossed out the living rock's Pokéball and it appeared on the field in a flash "Geo!" it cried, flexing its arms "a Geodude huh" Ryan pulled out his Pokédex and scanned it "Geodude, the Rock Pokémon. Geodude has incredibly high defensive power, making it virtually resistant to any physical attacks." Ryan grabbed his own Pokéball and tossed it down "I'm going with Bulbasaur!" The Seed Pokémon appeared opposite of Geodude, yawning slightly as he was called from his ball "Bulbasaur!"

"Bulbasaur, going with type advantage huh?" Forrest asked and Ryan nodded in conformation "No matter, Geodude's gonna beat your bulbasaur regardless! Now go on, challengers get the first move."

Ryan scoffed before clenching his fist "alright, Bulbasaur use Leaf Storm!" Bulbasaur grunted and the bulb on his back was soon outlined in green, before a twister of glowing green leaves appeared, shooting out from the sides of its bulb and swirling around him once before they were quickly fired at Geodude "Bulba!"

"Block, Geodude!"

"Geo!" Geodude did as told, crossing its arms in front of it, allowing the leaves to hit it full force, Ryan and Bulbasaur watched as the rock stayed levitating in place while it was being pelted by the glowing green leaves. Once the attack had finished, Geodude uncrossed its arms and smirked smugly at Bulbasaur "Geo," Ryan's eyes widened "no way! That should've been super effective!"

"Heh, don't underestimate us! You don't think you were the first trainer to try something like this? Geodude has withstood even strong attacks like Water Gun, so you'll have to do better than that if you wanna win!" Forrest rubbed at the bridge of his nose before pointing dramatically at Bulbasaur "Geodude use Tackle!" Geodude grunted in response, before charging at Bulbasaur, throwing all its weight into the tackle, the floating rock rushed the Seed Pokémon, sending Bulbasaur skidding backwards "Bulbasaur! You okay?" Bulbasaur nodded before growling at Geodude "Bulbaa…"

"Okay, let's try Vine Whip!"

"Dodge with Dig!"

Bulbasaur fired his twin set of vines at the floating rock, but before Bulbasaur even had a chance to attack Geodude disappeared underground, clawing away at the earth with its large hands until the only thing Bulbasaur could see was the top of the hole. "Bulba?" Bulbasaur glanced around the area, curious as to where Geodude might pop out. "Mega Punch Geodude!" Forrest smirked when he saw Geodude pop up from the far left of Bulbasaur, startling the Seed Pokémon, and then cocking its glowing fist back slightly before swiftly uppercutting Bulbasaur, with enough force to send the grass starter flying and rolling to a stop right at the feet of its trainer "Bulbasaur!" Ryan glanced at Bulbasaur and a look of devastation crossed his face upon realizing the Pokémon had fainted "Bulba... saurr" he groaned with swirly eyes and Ryan recalled him frowning.

"I can't believe Bulbasaur lost to Geodude, it clearly had the type advantage. . ." Nina murmured in awe "Bulbasaur should've won. . ." one of the kids beside her spoke up "that may be so, but our big brother's Geodude has been trained well enough to overcome those type advantages, that's why Bulbasaur's Leaf Storm in the beginning was ineffective. Type advantages are great in battle, but it won't matter if the Pokémon is strong enough conquer its disadvantage. I mean, our brother has a friend whose pikachu is strong enough to take out ground type Pokémon with just its electric attacks."

"Yeah, Ash is so cool!" One of the girls said, her eyes sparkling in admiration "Pika-chu" Chewy gasped and Nina glanced at the yellow mouse on her shoulder "His pikachu beat a ground type? That's unheard of!"

"Perhaps, but Ash did it and that right there just proves that type isn't everything. . ."

Nina hummed thoughtfully while processing the child's words "No, Geodude!" however, since she and the kids were busy talking, Ryan had already called out his Beedrill and the giant bee had quickly done away with the floating rock, resulting in Forrest's first loss and the two boys to be even in terms of remaining Pokémon. "Good job Beedrill!" Ryan gave his Beedrill a thumbs up and the bug just buzzed in response, flexing its stingers proudly.

"Alright, you managed to knock out Geodude, but that's where your winning streak ends. Crobat, go!" Forrest tossed down his second Pokéball, in a flash of light, a large purple bat like Pokémon appeared, with stubby tiny feet and two pairs of wings that were purple on the outside and had a greenish blue underside. Ryan pulled out his Pokédex and scanned it "Crobat, the evolved form of Golbat. With its two additional wings, Crobat is able to fly much faster than Golbat." Ryan blinked at the Crobat, briefly wondering why a Rock Gym Leader would have a Pokémon that was nowhere near his preferred type and then pulled out Beedrill's Pokéball "Return! Okay Rattata, you're up." From her spot on Ryan's shoulder, Rattata nodded and leaped down onto the battlefield, raising her head to peer at Crobat, who was hovering high above.

"I'll start, Crobat Wing Attack!" Crobat cried out and then flapped its wings once before swooping down towards Rattata, its top wings glowing a bright white. "Dodge Rattata and use Shock Wave!" Rattata nodded and flattened herself to the ground, causing Crobat's attack to just narrowly miss her as it passed, she then whirled around and fired a beam of blue electricity at Crobat's unprotected back from her tail "quickly, counter with Whirlwind!" Faster than Ryan or Rattata could imagine, Crobat spun around and flapped its four wings in rapid succession, creating a powerful gust of wind directed at Rattata, this caused the mouse to break her concentration and falter in the attack, it also sent her flying "Now, use Wing Attack!" Crobat screeched in conformation before it darted at the falling mouse that flailed helplessly in mid-air "Cro!" Crobat struck with its left wing, slashing Rattata harshly in the torso and then followed up with the right. Left, right, left, right, left! Rattata cried out every time she was struck in mid-air "Croo!" With one last powerful slash, Rattata was sent flying back at Ryan's feet.

"Rattata! Are you okay?"

With a grunt, Rattata weakly made it back to her feet, panting slightly, she glared up at Crobat. Ryan sighed in relief and then pointed at the giant bat "okay, try Double-Edge!" Rattata nodded and charged at Crobat, a trail of yellow light following behind her "Wing Attack!" Crobat's wings started to glow and it swooped down low towards the field, picking up speed the closer it got to the ground "Cro!" Rattata and Crobat's attacks hit head on, causing a loud explosion and dust to erupt on the field. Ryan squinted his eyes attempting to gaze past the thick smoke, but eventually it cleared and Rattata and Crobat were glaring at one another.

"Good, your still standing!"

"A resilient rattata you got there, but no match for Crobat, finish with Wing Attack!" Crobat flapped its wings once before they began to glow and it zoomed towards Rattata, Ryan grit his teeth "Dodge it!" Rattata lowered herself flat towards the ground in hopes of it flying over her and missing again "Uh-uh, we're not falling for that again, tilt Crobat!" Crobat did as told and tilted its body sideways, so the tips of its glowing wing span would brush against the battlefield kicking up a trail of dust and leaving a visible line across the dirt as it did so "No! Rattata!" Ryan watched as Rattata got hit with the Wing Attack, but instead of flying backwards like the two trainers assumed, the mouse latched on tightly with her teeth, holding out until the attack wore off "C-Cro!" Crobat was a bit astounded that this mouse was now literally hanging by her teeth on its wing, as it soared high above the Gym's field "Shake it off!" Forrest shouted "Cro! Cro! Cro!" Crobat flapped its right top wing, in an attempt to shake it off, but Rattata stuck it out "impressive Rattata, nice thinking! Now use Shock Wave!" Gritting her teeth, Rattata made sure to clamp down harder on Crobat's wing, before her body and soon Crobat's, were covered in blue electricity. Crobat cried out loudly in pain and then it suddenly stopped flapping its wings. With nothing keeping to two Pokémon high in the air, they were soon plummeting to the floor at a fast pace and hit the ground with a loud thud. "Crobat!" Forrest and Ryan looked at their two Pokémon, shock etching on both their faces.

"Whoa, double knock-out!" Nina exclaimed as she watched Ryan pick up Rattata off Crobat and Forrest recall said bat "So, that's two for two, but there's no way you'll beat my final Pokémon. Steelix I choose you!" Forrest tossed down the last Pokéball on his belt and in a bright flash of light a large, silver snake like Pokémon appeared. Rattata squeaked at the sheer size of the thing, while Ryan pulled out his Pokédex and scanned it "Steelix, the Iron Snake Pokémon. Steelix is the evolved form of Onix. It has been compressed underground, making its body harder than diamonds." Ryan reached onto his own belt and pulled out Beedrill's Pokéball "Beedrill, come out!" In another flash of light, Beedrill took to the field again, buzzing rapidly at its opponent "Drii!"

Steelix roared loudly, causing the battle grounds to shake "Steelix, use Iron tail!" Steelix growled and the tip of its tail morphed into a shining black color, Steelix then swung its tail around and quickly slammed it into Beedrill, the giant bee Pokémon didn't even have a chance to dodge, but instead bought up its stingers in front of it, which glowed white, like a shield. Beedrill tried to hold off the attack, stingers struggling against the weight of Iron Snake's attack, before its arms gave out completely and Beedrill was sent crashing onto the ground, with Steelix's tail flattening its body.

"Beedrill!" Steelix lifted its tail and Ryan saw that his Beedrill was down for the count, swirls replaced the bugs normally red eyes. Ryan frowned slightly before recalling his Beedrill "You did good Beedrill, thank you." Forrest also recalled his Steelix and then made his way over to Ryan "That was a great battle, but better luck next time I guess." Ryan looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding "Yeah, next time I'll win. I'll be back for a rematch in 3 days, so be prepared!" Forrest smirked and then nodded "sure, I'll see you then." Ryan then whirled around and began walking towards the exit, with Nina and Chewy in tow.

"Sorry about your loss..."

"It's cool." Ryan replied with an indifferent tone as he folded his arms behind his head, Rattata had hopped off his shoulder and walked beside him after he did that. His destination was the Pokémon Center, Nina blinked "it's cool?" She repeated slowly "you just lost your first gym battle and your shrugging it off with indifference!"

"Well, I don't think it's that big a deal and I'm gonna battle him again anyway…"

"How are you gonna beat him?"

"Dunno yet, but first I gotta get these guys healed and then we're gonna train!"

x-X-x

"Now I need some sort of attack strategy against his Steelix..." Ryan was sitting on one of the benches on the PokéCenter's training grounds, Bulbasaur, Beedrill and Rattata were healed up nicely and the former two were released from their Pokéballs, keeping close to him as he studied the information on his Pokédex about said Iron Snake. "Grass attacks seem to be the only thing that can affect it normally, since you guys don't know any attacks that could heavily damage it..." Bulbasaur and Beedrill lowered their heads in shame and Ryan laughed sheepishly "b-but it's cool you guys, don't look so bummed! We'll beat Forrest without super effective attacks. I'll just need you guys to be able to hold out until Steelix is the last one standing."

"But how are they gonna do that? You've seen how strong Steelix is! It took out your Beedrill with just one move!"

"Well then, I'll just have to make them tougher." Ryan smirked and Nina just looked confused "tougher? I thought the term was stronger..."

"That too, but they can't be stronger if they can't take attacks. I mean, like you said Steelix managed to KO Beedrill without even trying and then Geodude took out Bulbasaur after like two attacks then with Rattata and Crobat it was a double knockout and even then, that was pitiful you guys are weak."

"Hey, now that's just rude!" Nina glared at Ryan as she watched the faces of his Pokémon fall at his harsh words "they tried their best!"

"Well, their best obviously wasn't good enough!" He snapped returning her glare before smiling "But that's okay, because with training, they can become better. Now, how to go about training... " Ryan scanned the training area briefly, watching as other trainers battled it out against one another.

"Hmm..."

"Use Gust, Butterfree!"

"Stand your ground Mankey, then use Focus Punch!"

Ryan watched as the boys Mankey stood strong against the forceful gust of wind the Butterfree had produced and then, once the attack show signs of slowing, Mankey attacked, charging at Butterfree and then slamming its glowing fist into the butterfly's torso. Ryan turned his head, for he was no longer interested in the battle, instead he'd gotten inspiration "I got it! I know how we're gonna beat Forrest and his Steelix!"

"You do?"

"Yeah, follow me!"

Ryan led Nina and the Pokémon to a more secluded area on the other side of the Pokémon Center "What's the big idea! What do you have planned Ryan?"

"Oh nothing, just this… Beedrill I want you to use Twinneedle on Bulbasaur!" Beedrill nodded and its stingers started glowing white "Dri!" Beedrill zoomed at Bulbasaur, who tensed and whipped out its vines to block "No! Bulbasaur, put your vines away." Bulbasaur paused, looking confused at Ryan's command and was unable to block itself from Beedrill's attack, causing the Seed Pokémon to get hit right between the eyes "Bulba!" Beedrill began to panic and started buzzing in apology, while Bulbasaur rubbed at the spot where it was hit "Beedrill, Twineedle again!" Beedrill turned its head towards Ryan, a questioning look appearing on its face.

"Ryan, what are you doing? Bulbasaur just got hurt! And what were you thinking, telling him not to block, how is he supposed to protect himself if he doesn't block?"

Ryan sighed and shook his head at the spazzing girl "the whole point of this training exercise is to not dodge. I want them to get hit, because that's just step one to my two part strategy."

"Two part strategy?" Nina echoed weakly and Ryan nodded "yep, the strategy that's gonna help us beat Steelix and make these guys stronger. Now Beedrill I want you to keep attacking Bulbasaur with everything you've got, while every ten minutes you guys switch roles, okay. Beedrill and Bulbasaur I want you two to do nothing but take these attacks until one of you either faint from exhaustion or I tell you guys to stop, alright?"

". . ." Bulbasaur looked at Ryan unsurely, confusion and doubt clearly on the starter's face "Bulba..." Ryan moved closer to the Seed Pokémon and bent down on one knee, placing a reassuring hand on Bulbasaur's head "I know this sounds really sketchy Bulbasaur and you might not like it, but trust me when I say this is gonna work." Ryan raised himself back to his feet and looked at Beedrill and then Bulbasaur, smiling softly "I promise, when you guys are done, you won't even recognize your own strength! Now, get to it you two, I'll be back in a few hours. C'mon Rattata" Ryan beckoned the purple mouse to hop onto his shoulder and then glanced back at Nina "Could you, do me a favor and watch over these two while they train? If Bulbasaur or Beedrill faint before I get back, can you get Nurse Joy to heal them?"

Nina gave him a weird look.

"Why? Where are you going?"

Ryan grinned mysteriously at her "well, I can't let Beedrill and Bulbasaur have all the fun, while Rattata here gets left out. She's a part of the team too you know, even if it is temporarily." He then walked off, with Nina watching his back curiously as he disappeared beyond the view of the Pokémon Center.

"What the heck is he up to?"

The reason why Iron Tail is written differently, is because now in Best Wishes, the animation for it has been updated, making it look more like steel.
Edited on 2/5/11: Just fixed up the grammar issues.