Chapter 53 – The Rock Snake Showdown
"That's it, Flamefox! Incinerate that stun spore!" I ordered. Flamefox launched his flamethrower attack, burning up the stun spore emanating from the wings of the Butterfree we were battling! After the powder had been destroyed, the flames hit Butterfree in mid-air, knocking the large, butterfly-like Pokemon to the ground. "Pokeball, go!" I shouted, as I tossed an empty pokeball at it. The Pokemon was engulfed by the white light of the pokeball, which then closed up, and was immediately transported to Professor Oak's lab! "Good work, Flamefox!" I exclaimed, and he leapt into my arms for a hug. "Good catch, Joe!" May said, as she held a bouquet of wildflowers, her latest gift from Kadabra. I said, "Thank you, May!" Then I said, "Come on, everyone! Let's get to Pewter City so I can win my Boulder Badge!" I mounted back up onto Tauros, and May onto Fierymane, and we were off.
We reached Pewter City by early afternoon. The first thing I did was head for the Pokemon center to call Professor Oak and switch out Fearow for Onix. Then I just had my Pokemon checked out to make sure they were ready for battle. After that, May and I walked to the Pewter City Gym, accompanied by Inferno, Redfur, and our fire foxes. The building was made of rock. We opened up the 2 central doors and walked in. Inside, there was a rock hallway, and sitting in a meditative position was a guy who looked to be not much older than us, about 13 or 14, with spiky brown hair, a green vest, orange shirt, brown pants, and his eyes were closed. "Who goes there?" he asked. I answered, "My name is Joseph Ehlle. I'm a Pokemon trainer from Crimson Town, and I've come to challenge you for a Boulder Badge." He responded, "I've heard of you! You were the Johto League champion last year!" I said, "That's right!" May said, "It's nice to see you again! I guess you know that I was this year's Kanto League champion." He said, "Yes. You've both done well for yourselves! Okay, I accept your challenge, Joseph!" At that, he snapped his fingers, the ceiling lights came on, and the walls opened up on either side of the room. A floor of rocks and boulders came out from each side of the room and connected together, forming a rocky arena. I exclaimed, "Wow! Impressive! I'll have to do something like this when I open my gym!" Brock said, "You want to be a gym leader, huh? Well, let's just see if you've got what it takes! This will be a 2 on 2 battle, okay?" I answered, "Fine with me!" May stood at the sidelines with Amber, Inferno, Redfur, and Kadabra, who decided to materialize. I stood with Flamefox and Firestorm. Brock took out his first pokeball and shouted, "Geodude, go!" and released the 2 armed rock-type from his pokeball. "Geodude!" it said. I responded, "Vaporeon, go!" and released her from her pokeball. "Geodude, use defense curl!" Brock commanded. I ordered, "Vaporeon, use water gun!" She shot a stream of water at Geodude, who braced himself by blocking the attack with his arms, holding them in front of his face! After Vaporeon's attack, he still floated there, and Brock shouted, "Geodude, use tackle!" Geodude thrust at Vaporeon in a blur and slammed into her, knocking her to the floor! "Vaporeon!" I shouted. Then he shouted, "Geodude, while she's down, use body slam!" As Geodude came down at her, I shouted, "Vaporeon, use bubblebeam!" She turned her head to face the oncoming Geodude and shot out the stream of bubbles from her mouth! The bubbles exploded upon impacting the Geodude, pushing him back, as he tried to protect himself with his arms again! At that, I ordered, "Vaporeon, use tackle!" Vaporeon launched herself from the floor, and slammed into Geodude, crashing him against the wall! He fell to the floor, and I shouted, "Vaporeon, finish it off with hydro pump!" She shot out heavy torrents of water at Geodude, and he did not get up off the floor! Brock said, "Geodude, return!" and recalled his rock type. I shouted, "Great job, Vaporeon!" and she ran to me and leapt onto me and knocked me down, while she licked my face. I said, "Take it easy, girl!" Brock said, "Touching. But we're not through yet!" He took out his next pokeball and shouted, "Go, Onix!" The large, rock-snake materialized from his pokeball. As I petted Vaporeon, I said, "Oh, I have one of those, too!" Then I took out my Onix's pokeball and released him. He materialized and towered over Brock's Onix by several feet! I exclaimed, "How about that! Mine's bigger!" Brock's Onix looked slightly intimidated by mine, but Brock said, "Size isn't everything, Onix! Use your tackle!" Brock's Onix slammed his head horn right into the belly of my Onix, knocking him back, as he roared in pain! My Onix was bigger in size, but Brock's Onix, belonging to a gym leader, was much more experienced! My Onix was knocked to the floor, but stood back up, and I shouted, "Use slam, Onix!" My Onix hurtled his body at Brock's Onix and slammed him to the floor. Brock shouted, "Onix, use strength!" His Onix forced my Onix off of him, hurtling him across the arena and slamming him against the wall. Brock's Onix then stood back up, and Brock ordered, "Onix, use fissure!" His Onix slammed it's large body against the floor, causing a fissure to open up, which raced towards my Onix, who was still lying on the floor! "Onix, get up!" I shouted. I watched as my Onix was engulfed into the fissure! "Onix, no!" I shouted. The area where he fell in stirred up a lot of dirt and dust, so I couldn't see anything on his side of the arena. As Brock's Onix stood tall, Brock said, "Looks like your Onix may have been bigger, but still wasn't experienced enough to beat mine!" Suddenly, we all felt a rumbling, like an earthquake. "What's going on?" I loudly asked. Brock, his Onix, May, and I, and our Pokemon, all looked around the room, wondering what would happen. Suddenly, my Onix burst up through the ground underneath Brock's Onix! He had done a dig attack! Brock's Onix and my Onix were both in the air, and I shouted, "Onix, use one more slam!" My Onix twisted around in mid-air and slammed his tail directly in the chest of Brock's Onix, sending it crashing to the floor and sliding to the wall! My Onix landed with a crash, still standing! Brock's Onix was defeated! Brock recalled his Onix and said, "Congratulations! You won the match!" I shouted, "Way to go, Onix!" and hugged my large rock snake (as well as anyone can hug a large rock snake!) Brock walked over to me and said, "You've trained your Pokemon well. Here is your Boulder Badge! Good job!" I replied, "Thank you!" and took the badge in my hand. My first Kanto League badge! May ran over to me and said, "Great battle, Joe!" and hugged me, and Flamefox leapt into my arms afterwards. I recalled my Onix and May and I walked our Pokemon over to the Pokemon center so I could have Vaporeon and Onix treated. Brock came over shortly after that for his Pokemon to be treated. Once we had our Pokemon back from Nurse Joy, Brock asked us, "So, where are you guys heading now?" I replied, "We were thinking of going to Mount Moon." He said, "That's a nice area. Maybe you'll run into some rare Pokemon, like Clefairy." Then he said, "You 2 are both very strong trainers. My battles with you were something else!" I said, "Well, I'm trying to make my Pokemon as strong as they can be, since I'm planning to open my own gym someday." To that, he replied, "You know, it really isn't my dream to be a gym leader. I've always wanted to be a Pokemon breeder." May said, "That's my dream, too! In fact, we already bred our Vulpixes once!" He said, "That's great! Your Vulpixes look like real champion material. I'm sure their children will be, too!" May said, "Thanks!" I asked, "So, if you want to be a breeder, why do you stay here as gym leader?" He answered, "I have to stay. It's my responsibility to raise my 10 younger brothers and sisters. Our father left us years ago to be a Pokemon trainer, and our mother died years ago." May said, "I'm sorry." Brock knelt down to pet Flamefox, Firestorm, and Amber. It was ironic, because just over a year later, Brock would have Suzy's Vulpix, Flamefox and Amber's son, in his care. May said, "It's too bad you can't come with us! We could both learn about becoming Pokemon breeders." And I said, "Yeah, and you could give me all kinds of tips about being a gym leader!" Then May said, "But family has to come first. You take care of them." Brock said, "Thanks, I will. And hey… if you really do want tips on being a gym leader, you can call me anytime you want. I'd be happy to help you out any way I can!" I said, "Thanks, Brock! I might just do that." Then I said, "Well, we better get going. It was good to meet you." He said, "Good luck in your journey. I hope to achieve your dream of becoming a gym leader someday!" I said, "And I hope you'll be able to become a Pokemon breeder someday!" With that, Nurse Joy told Brock his Pokemon were all healed up, and May and I, and our Pokemon left the Pokemon center, mounted on our riding Pokemon, and left Pewter City. Our destination… Mount Moon!