I'm so glad that pretty much everyone agrees with me on the Gary being better than Paul note - because he totally is! And if you haven't voted on my profile poll, go vote for Gary because I can't stand the thought of Dawn beating Gary (I suspect it's my own fault for mentioning Dawn's name in a story summary and thus people apparently mistaking me for a Pearlshipper - no, and never, and not just because I'm a pokeshipper, I just don't find it convincing . . . RANT over).

Now, should mention I'm keeping track of the date for one very good reason . . . BIRTHDAYS! Cos everybody loves a good party and it opens itself up to various plot devices - alcohol, truth or dare, disapproving family members, exs. That and its convenient to plan it along a calendar.

_Recap_

Episode Title: Fun and Games
Closest town/landmark: Viridian City Pokemon Centre
Distance travelled: 30km
Pokemon mentioned: Five
Threats issued to romantic/professional rival: One
Husslers husseled: Three
Coming to the profound realization that you actually miss being pounded into the ground with a 10 foot mallet: Priceless

Ash: The Last Stand – O Brother, Where Art Thou?

It was the 11th of August when the foursome arrived in Pewter City around midday. Brock had put his foot down this time, refusing to let Ash push them into getting there any sooner than was entirely necessary.

As it was, they were making good time, at least, in the sense that Ash was comparing his timing relative to his initial journey. Thanks to a certain redhead, it had taken them quite some time to get themselves to Pewter – they had to stop every time they had seen a bug and wait for it to move far enough away that she could no longer see it. As Misty had ridiculously good eyesight when it came to bugs, this often meant that they were waiting almost half an hour before they could keep going.

He had almost felt disappointed when a weedle had crossed their path and his travelling companions simply ignored the bug and carried on.

He was actually surprised by how much he had been thinking about Misty lately. It wasn't like he had never thought about her before, but suddenly he found it almost impossible to get her out of his thoughts. It probably didn't help that almost every inch of Kanto reminded him of her in some way or another, but he couldn't escape the niggling feeling that there was something more to it.

"So this is like, your hometown?" Dawn asked Brock, interrupting Ash's thoughts before he was forced to really start attending to them and what they meant.

Brock nodded, a proud sort of smile forming on his face.

"It's kind of grey," she commented blandly.

Brock nodded again, un-offended by the dissatisfaction in her tone. "It's kind of our specialty," he replied, smiling to himself. "Pewter is both the largest importer and exporter of masonry.

"Don't worry Dawn, you'll like the gym," he added. "It's undergone some changes since I left. It's this way."

The three of them walked through the town, and it wasn't long before the three humans and Pikachu were standing outside the Pewter City Pokémon Gym. Brock was right about the changes that it had undergone – with both his parents back to take care of things, and Forrest taking over the gym leader duties, the gym had been subjected to some much needed repairs and renovations.

The front entrance was now done almost entirely in glass, jutting out of the building like an observatory and catching the sun invitingly. And the exterior of the gym itself had been crafted to look more like an actual building of some sorts rather than just a comically oversized rock. The barren open space before the gym was now littered with various rock sculptures and a stone path led to the front door.

"Looks like they've put a lot of work into it," Ash commented.

Brock agreed. "The league gives a grant every five or so years for the gyms to do themselves up," he explained. "Apparently it's so the trainers don't get bored the second time room. I just hope that Forrest was able to keep mom from making too many changes to the battle arena. I don't care what the league says, that room was perfect the way it was."

"Definitely," Ash said in agreement as he recalled the eerily lit battle arena, which had been the setting of his first gym battle. At the time, the room had seemed to compliment Brock perfectly, but somehow he felt that if he was to meet Brock in that room nowadays, that the older boy would look completely out of place.

"You know, I never understood why you guys had fire sprinklers in a room made entirely of rock," he added thoughtfully.

Brock shrugged as he replied simply, "League regulation."

The four of them walked into the brightly lit entrance where a pretty receptionist sat behind the desk. Brock ran up to her, taking the woman's hands in his own as he looked deeply into her eyes.

"Oh my darling beauty," he said dramatically, "you are the one to warm my heart of stone. Just say the word and I will break down those walls and whisk you away to a castle made of my own two hands."

The girl narrowed her eyes at him as she gingerly extracted her hand from his. "Is that you, Brocky Slate?" she asked incredulously, flipping her dark burgundy hair over her shoulder. "What happened to the shy little boy who wouldn't even hold my hand when we crossed the street after I picked him up from school?"

"G-Garnet?" Brock started, stuttering at the thirty something year old who sat behind the desk.

"I'm Garnet Pebble, I used to babysit the Slate kids," the woman said, standing out of her seat as so she could greet Ash and Dawn. "You must be little Brocky's travelling companions, Ash and Misty, right?"

Before anyone could correct the woman, she turned her head to Brock and muttered, "I thought the kids said that your friends were an item or something. They've got like, no chemistry."

Ash blushed, laughing awkwardly, while Dawn scowled.

Brock shook his head, returning to his usual self. A little Ash and Misty teasing, even when only one of them was present, was usually enough to get him out of girl-crazy mode. "I think the kids are a little behind the times," he laughed, taking a mental image of the look on Ash's face to share with Tracey later. "This is Ash and Dawn – they're just friends. Misty's in Cerulean City right now."

"Oh," Garnet said with understanding. "Thank god, because the age gap thing did seem a little creepy to me. So those two aren't the lovebirds. You must be lost without your other half," she commented to Ash.

Brock nodded as Ash blushed even brighter wondering why Misty was spared and not him.

"So are you guys just visiting, or did you have some other purpose?" Garnet asked inquisitively.

"Oh yeah," Ash said, the blush steadily fading from his cheeks. "I'm here to challenge Forrest to a gym battle."

Garnet nodded as she pressed a button and spoke into a microphone so that her voice was broadcasted over the entire building. "Forrest to the reception," she paged, winking at the trio. "A Mr. Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town is here to challenge you for the Boulder Badge."

Within moments, the pounding of nine pairs of feet (plus two at a more steady pace) could be heard echoing through the gym and rushing towards the reception. They all knew that if Ash Ketchum was here to challenge Forrest that meant only one thing.

"BROCK!" nine voice called out in unison as they stampeded towards him, clinging to his limbs. The sight was significantly more comical than it had been originally as they now ranged from ages eight to fourteen instead of two to eight as when they had originally met.

Brock cheerfully greeted each of them by name, quickly asking and answering questions almost in the same moment as he fussed around all nine of his younger siblings. His parents stood in the door way, beaming at their oldest son, clearly pleased to see him back for a visit and looking much more relaxed now that the children were old enough to be more self-sufficient.

Forrest was the first to extricate himself from his older brother and turned to Ash with a smile. "It's good to see you again Ash," he said with a grin as he shook Ash's hand. "Are you and Misty still . . ." he trailed off as Ash began to blush once again and laughed happily. "I'll take that as a yes. In that case . . ."

Forrest did not finish that sentiment, and instead speedily positioned himself in front of Dawn, taking her hand in his and planting a kiss on her hand.

"Forgive me fair maiden for being so forward," he said passionately, beaming up at Dawn, "but I do believe you to be the fairest creature I have ever seen. Has anyone ever told you that your eyes are as brilliant as two precious Lapus gems encased in a flawless marble sculpture?" he asked, smiling to him self as Dawn began to blush. The Slate men knew better than to hit on another man's girl.

In a strange twist of fate, Brock sighed and dragged his brother away from the young co-ordinator by the ear. It was bad enough that his brother had learnt his lecherous ways, but it killed him that he was so much better at it. He might have to use that one himself one of these days.

The oldest of Brock's sisters, Yolanda, wrinkled her nose at her second eldest brother. "Forrest she's like Cindy's age, which is like totally wrong," the twelve year old said with disdain. "That's sooo perverted," she added, rolling her eyes.

Brock shook his head at her. "'landi, what have I told you about talking like that?" he said warningly.

"But that's how the Sensational Sisters talk and they're like the coolest," Yolanda gushed in her defence.

"Come on guys," Flint piped up, interrupting the many siblings. "Why don't we let Ash and Forrest battle? And then you can remind your brother why he left after that."

The group moved towards the battle arena as Flint suggested. The arena hadn't really changed all that much, except for some extra seating and a huge glass skylight that covered the length of room so that the arena was brightly lit much like the entrance. Ash decided that the additional light seemed to fit the mood in the Slate residence much better than the original set up.

Brock got up to referee the match, but Flint quickly gestured for his son sit down. "You enjoy the match Brock," Flint smiled.

"This is a three-on-three battle," he said, looking between Ash and Forrest who had positioned themselves on opposite sides of the rock arena. "Only the challenger can make substitutions."

Both teens nodded. "Well I know who I'm calling first," Forrest said, smiling as he looked to his older brother for approval. "There's someone I'd like you to meet. Rhyme, I choose you!" he called as he tossed out his Pokéball.

Out of the brilliant glow of the Pokéball appeared an obviously well kept rhyhorn with a loud growl. Brock looked pleased with his brother's acquisition. It looked like Forrest had been training it for a while, and he probably would have had to travel to Mt. Moon in order to capture it. He smiled warmly in a way that said as much.

Ash made his choice, calling Grotle onto the playing field. He hadn't expected the additional Pokémon, although he knew there was a good chance that Forrest would have added to Brock's team. He had, therefore, picked his Pokémon based on Golem, Onix, and Crobat, but he hoped that this wouldn't affect his plans too adversely.

Both Grotle and Rhyme sized each other up from across the field. Both were approximately the same size and reptilian in nature. Grotle had the advantage of type, which put Ash in good standing to win the first round, but he knew not to get ahead of himself – anything could happen.

Both trainers called out their first move to try and test the waters.

Ash called for a tackle attack, starting off with a simple physical attack. Forrest similarly called for a horn attack. Grotle charged at the rhino, which did the same, bringing down his head to inflict damage with his sharp horn.

Ash watched carefully. That horn attack had done Grotle some damage, but on the same note, Forrest's rhyhorn hadn't got off scotch free. Both had concealed the level of their Pokémon by calling on their starter attacks, but Ash could tell by the way that the two clashed that the Pokémon was likely to be around level 30 putting him at a slight disadvantage.

Both trainers called for their next move. Ash called for razor leaf, while Forrest called for Rhyme to try and dodge the attack. A vast array of deadly sharp leaves shot out of the air, aimed at the rhyhorn, who dodged a little too late and was caught by the razor sharp leaves, although they didn't seem to do a high amount of damage.

Forrest called a rock blast in return, confirming Ash's suspicions about Rhyme's high level. Ash called withdraw to counter and the large turtle Pokémon drew himself back into his shell as he was bombarded with several large rocks, receiving only minimal damage.

Ash called for another razor leaf attack, but Rhyme and Forrest were faster this time in dodging the attack. As Forrest called for a take down attack, Ash almost swore under his breath, calling once more for withdraw to try and reduce the damage. He then called for a bite attack, relying on the more accurate attack rather than the grass attack, which Rhyme was more vulnerable to. Forrest called for another horn attack at the same time, and the two Pokémon met in the middle, causing one another damage.

Forrest called for a second take down attack, and realizing that Grotle wouldn't outlast the attack, even if he were to use withdraw, Ash choose instead to call for one more razor leaf, hoping to at least significantly injure the rhyhorn before sending in his next Pokémon.

He was right in his supposition as Grotle fainted from Rhyme's take down, but not before Grotle had hit Rhyme with a direct razor leaf. Ash called out his next Pokémon, sending Pikachu into battle with a volt tackle. Pikachu launched himself at the rhinoceros, and in its already weakened state, it was enough to take the Pokémon out.

Forrest returned his rhyhorn and called for his next Pokémon. "I choose you Crobat!" he called, sending out his brother's former Pokémon. The indigo bat cried out as it was released, focusing on the battle in spite of its joy at seeing its former partner in the stands.

Brock looked pensive as he watched the battle. His loyalties were divided between the desire to see his family's gym defeat a challenger, and his desire to see his best friend receive a badge. For more than five years he had been cheering Ash on in battle, and it felt almost disloyal for him now to be feeling so unsure about which side he was supposed to root for.

Forrest called for a wing attack and Ash immediately called for Pikachu to respond with a quick attack. Pikachu easily dodged the attack that was bearing down on them and left Crobat somewhat disorientated. Ash called for a thunderbolt and Forrest for supersonic. Without needing to be commanded, Pikachu jumped out of the way of Crobat's attack and sent a powerful thunderbolt up at the purple bat.

Crobat took a direct hit and electricity coursed through its body before fizzling out. The bat began to drop to the ground and Forrest quickly recalled it before it hit the ground and was done even more damage. He called his final Pokémon, and Ash mentally chastised himself for forgetting about Onix's evolution. In spite of his faith in his oldest companion, Ash recalled Pikachu and sent out Buizel.

The little otter Pokémon sized up the large rock snake with an almost superior smile. This was clearly a battle that the Pokémon saw as worthy and was more than ready to face the challenge.

Forrest called for a tackle and in return Ash called for Buizel to use agility to dodge the attack. The small otter quickly dodged the rock giant who was much slower and unable to change direction with any speed. Ash called for a water gun from Buizel and Forrest countered with harden, which protected the Pokémon from worse damage from the attack which still managed to reduce its hit points.

Forrest called for another physical attack, calling for Steelix to use rock-throw. Once more Ash called for Buizel to counter with agility to dodge the rocks and combined it with another water attack so that Buizel hit Steelix directly with a powerful aqua jet before the rock type had a chance to harden.

Steelix was then called to use tail whip. Ash called on Buizel for another agility attack, but the otter was too busy congratulating itself for hitting the large snake that he wasn't fast enough to avoid the attack, and was struck hard by the powerful tail whip. Ash recalled the injured buizel back into his Pokéball and sent Pikachu back into battle.

Ash called on Pikachu's most powerful attack: Thunder. The stadium lit up brightly and Forrest's call for Steelix to harden almost seemed to be in slow motion. Everything seemed to be surrounded by blinding white, and when it finally died down, Pikachu and Steelix each stood their ground, staring at one another. Pikachu was panting heavily and Steelix was almost unmoving.

"Steelix! Tackle!" Forrest called, his eyes narrowing with worry as he called out what he was sure would be his last attack.

"Pikachu! Agility," Ash commanded, nodding at his Pokémon who knew what to do.

Steelix dived at Pikachu, who jumped back at the last possible moment. Steelix propelled itself hard at the ground where Pikachu had been standing, sending up a cloud of dust that obscured both trainers' vision for a moment. Steelix tried to pull itself back up, but fell back to the floor, fainting from the effort.

"Challenger wins," Flint called happily, calling the end to the match.

Ash and Pikachu cheered as they congratulated each other. Forrest consoled Steelix before recalling him to his Pokéball and joining Ash.

"The boulder badge," he said, handing over the object to Ash. Ash stared down at the badge in his hands. Instead of the dark grey gem he had been given last time, he was handed a chiselled fist made of stone. "Even the badges get redesigned," Forrest explained simply, assuming that Brock had already covered the groundwork here.

Ash nodded as he pinned the badge proudly into his vest. "You did great Forrest," Ash told him honestly. "When Steelix hit Buizel with that tail whip I thought it was over for me."

Forrest shrugged. "I think I just got in a lucky shot, but at least I'll be more prepared for next time," the boy replied wisely. "I'm going to have to come up with a way to counter those agility attacks. There aren't too many water Pokémon that are as fast as your Buizel, but Steelix was powerless against them."

Ash smiled as his friends joined them in their congratulation. He was now one step closer to the Pokémon league, which meant one step closer to his ultimate goal – to become the World's Greatest Pokémon Master.

'One down, just seven more to go.'

Forrest sighed as he joined his brother outside the gym, perched on the edge of a stone table looking up at the stars.

"You know, if you ever want to come back to it, I'll step aside," Forrest said, turning his own eyes to the sky. "You were always so much better at it."

Brock shook his head, turning to look at his younger brother with a proud smile. "You were great today Forrest," he told him. "I couldn't have done it better myself. I know the gym is in safe hands."

Forrest disagreed. "I bet you would have known to watch out for those agility attacks," Forrest countered. "I was sort of just flailing in there."

"The only reason I would have known about those attacks would be because I know Ash's battle strategy and I know his Pokémon, no other reason," Brock replied. "Forrest, you're a far better trainer than I could ever be."

"Your just saying that cos that's what big brothers are supposed to say," Forrest told him. "I don't have a clue what I'm doing."

"So what?" Brock asked him, standing up form his seat and wrapping an arm around his little brother's shoulder. "Neither did Ash when he first started and look at him now. You two have a lot in common; you both have the one thing it takes to really make it as a trainer and even though I knew all the moves and the battle strategies, it was the one thing that stopped me from ever getting to the level I know you'll reach one day."

"What was that?" Forrest asked, looking concerned.

"The heart. I didn't have the heart for battling," he explained.

"But you seemed so happy when you were the gym leader Brock."

"I was happy because I was with my family and taking care of you guys – because you needed me," Brock replied with a chuckle. "And now you're all grown up and can get on without me, I can finally follow my own dreams without feeling like I've abandoned the lot of you.

"Thank you," he added as he wrapped the young boy in a hug.

Forrest smiled as he hugged his brother back. Even though he was fourteen and really too big for hugs, he couldn't deny how much he had missed his brothers hugs when he was gone. The two stayed like that for a few minutes before Forrest interrupted the moment with a sly comment.

"So . . . " he drawled lazily. "Do you think Dawn likes me?"

~ to be continued ~

Oh yeah, totally just made up my own ship. I shall call it . . . hmmm . . . MorningWoodShipping (dodgy name right, but seems appropriate given the lecherous ways of the Slate men). I think that battle went relatively well – I think it worked better just to describe the commands rather than actually calling them, which I always feel quite awkward writing. A few bits of it did come out awkwardly, but I think overall I got a good flow.

What does everyone else think? Was that realistic battle? What do you think of the choice of Pokémon? And how was the characterization (mostly of Buizel – I kind of think of him as a lot like Charizard and yes I know Gortle was supposed to glomp him but it didn't fit)?

For those of you trying to keep track, this is Ash's team:

Pikachu – duh
Scooby Doo AKA Gastly
Pidgeot
Grotle
Buizel
& ? That's right. I'm not telling you yet. You'll have to hold out until the next, next chapter.

On that note, the next chapter is one of my favourites so far. We are taking a brief break (somewhat akin to the specials) to see how Misty is getting on in Cerulean with her latest challenger. . . Gary Oak (dum dum dum!). Will sparks fly? Will these two teetoring egos discover something they hold in common? Will Misty be forced to reveal her most treasured and (apparently) well kept secret to Gary Oak of all people?
You'll just have to wait and see now won't you.