His fears of getting lost seemed to have been vastly unfounded, however, as a few days later, Tony and Delia found themselves at the northern border of the forest. Once they arrived in Pewter City, they were immediately greeted by a man that attempted to sell them souvenirs that would forever remind them of their time spent at the rocky city.
"N-no, thanks." Tony said with a hint of nervousness. "The only souvenir I'm interested in acquiring is Pewter Gym's badge."
"Well then, you've met up with the right guy. I could take you there right now."
"Really? That'd be great, thanks!" Tony exclaimed as a grin was plastered on his face. "By the way, I'm Tony."
"And I'm Delia."
"Pleasure meeting the both of you. My name's Flint." The older man replied.
Flint practically gave them a full course on the history of rock Pokemon and the ways to work with them. Tony wasn't sure how much of what Flint was telling them was true or not, but before he knew it, Flint had led them to the Gym and had taken out the key to unlock the double doors. Entering the Gym seemed like such somber thing, considering that other than themselves, the building appeared to be completely devoid of life.
"It's so quiet. I wonder where the Gym Leader is?" Delia vocalized the very question that Tony had been swimming through his mind.
"Right here, actually." Flint replied as he lead them to the battling arena. He then went over to a table upon which, a number of pokeballs were placed. "You didn't think they'd just give the key to the Gym to just anybody, did you?"
"You're the Gym Leader?" Tony was mildly surprised. Suddenly it clicked over for him; the way Flint went on about rock type Pokemon and he alone seemed to know the nuances of battling with them. "It makes sense, I suppose."
"Shall we begin the battle?" Flint asked Tony with a small grin as he took his position on one end of the rocky field of the Pewter City Gym.
"Sure." Tony agreed, eager to have his first Gym battle in the Kanto region. "How many Pokemon?"
"Two each. If you win, the Boulder Badge is yours." Flint replied as he noticed movement from behind Tony.
"Hey, Dad." a young boy's voice called out. The boy, from what Tony guessed as he turned around, couldn't have been more than four or five years of age and nearly the spitting image of Flint. "I thought I saw you come in here. You aren't trying to sell more rocks to unsuspecting travelers, are you? You know how Mom gets when she finds out."
Tony could almost feel Flint's embarrassment from across the battle field.
"Not now, Brock." Flint said through gritted teeth, before facing Tony again. "Tony, this is my oldest son, Brock. Brock, this is Tony and his lovely friend, Delia."
"Hello." Tony and Delia chimed in unison.
"Hi." Brock replied to them before returning his attention to his father. "Are you having a Pokemon battle? Can I watch?"
"By all means..." Flint let the sentence fade off.
"I'll join you." Delia fell in step behind Brock to the grandstands. As they sat down, Delia decided to strike up a conversation with the boy. "This is an impressive place."
"Yeah, and someday I'm going to be the Gym Leader." Brock smiled as he looked up at her.
"Sounds like you're excited about it."
"Mhmm." Brock nodded, before returning his attention to the arena. "Looks like they're starting the battle."
"Chikorita, use Magical Leaf!" Tony commanded the plant Pokemon into action towards Flint's Graveler.
"Use Rollout, Graveler." Flint called out to the rock type Pokemon.
The two attacks collided with Chikorita's Magical Leaf bouncing harmlessly off of Graveler's rapidly blurring Roll Out.
"Watch out." Tony called out to Chikorita.
"Chiko-chiko!" Chikorita exclaimed as it did something totally unexpected. With fluid movement, the grass type Pokemon leaped up and landed on top of Graveler as it went by. It didn't even seem to break a sweat as it kept a steady balance on the still rolling rock type Pokemon. Graveler sped up as it attempted to shake off its opponent.
"Show off..." Tony muttered to himself as he watched Chikorita wave its head leaf at Delia as if it were performing at a circus instead of battling in a Gym. "Enough fooling around! Let's finish this with Poison Powder."
"Speed it up, Graveler! Roll Out once more!"
Chikorita jumped off of the still rolling Graveler and upon landing on the closest rocky outcropping, the plant Pokemon released a cloud of purple powder. Unable to stop in time, Graveler plowed right through the attack. The rock type Pokemon's rolling came to a halt as the poison took effect.
"Graveler's unable to battle." Flint called out as he recalled the Pokemon into its pokeball.
"All right!" Tony happily exclaimed before calling out to Chikorita. "Are you ready for your next opponent?"
"Chi!" Chikorita replied with an affirmative nod, though it appeared to be somewhat winded.
"In that case," Flint called out as he tossed up his second pokeball, releasing the Pokemon from inside it. "Let's go, Onix!"
The giant snake-like rock type Pokemon bellowed as it looked down at its diminutive opponent.
"Chikorita, use Magical Leaf." Tony called out.
"Quickly, Onix. Wrap up your opponent before it can launch its attack!"
Before Chikorita could tell what was happening, it found itself wrapped up with Onix's tail.
"No way! That Onix is fast." Tony exclaimed in disbelief.
Overcoming its own surprise, Chikorita freed its head leaf from between its own body and Onix's and managed to execute its Magical Leaf attack. The attack hit Onix head on, which caused the larger Pokemon to loosen its grip. With some effort, Chikorita squirmed out of Onix's clutches and landed a short distance away.
"Chikorita, use Synthesis!" Tony commanded the tiring plant Pokemon.
Chikorita closed its eyes and slowed its breathing as it concentrated on recovering its health. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the battle itself was indoors, Synthesis didn't do Chikorita much good. Taking advantage of the brief lull in the battle, Flint commanded Onix to Headbutt Chikorita, which caused the plant Pokemon to faint.
"Chikorita, return." Tony called out as he recalled Chikorita to its pokeball. "You did very well for your first Gym battle. And now, let's go Seaking!"
"King, seaking!" Seaking called out upon release.
"Let's get going with Horn Drill!" Tonly suggested to Seaking.
"Onix, use Headbutt once more." Flint called out.
The two Pokemon launched their attacks simultaneously, which seemed to have canceled each other out - though Onix was a bit more rattled than it let on.
"Sea, king seaking." the water Pokemon appeared to be a bit too eager to release its next attack - which it was determined to do with or without Tony's instruction.
"Let's end this with Water Pulse!" Tony exclaimed, not aware that that was the attack that Seaking would have used even if he had mentioned any other attack.
Seaking sent the attack flying like there was no tomorrow. It hit Onix directly in the face and caused the rock type Pokemon to faint.
"Onix can no longer battle. You've won." Flint said as he recalled his Pokemon.
"All right!" Tony smiled broadly as he had Seaking return to its own pokeball.
"Congratulations." Flint called out.
"Thanks. It was an interesting battle." Tony replied as he accepted the Boulder Badge from Flint.
"I couldn't agree more." Flint concurred as Brock and Delia joined the two of them near the sidelines.
After leaving Pewter Gym, Tony and Delia made a pit stop at the Pokemon Center before continuing on their journeys.