Ambition

by StandingMan

The Indigo Conference. Held each year in gilded stadiums beneath Mt. Silver, it is a gathering of the trainer elite. Ash stands among the most promising rookies of the season, and his starter – a Vulpix as white as snow – is a prodigy herself. Together they have one year to earn entry to the tournament, yet their ambition is far grander. Together they have one year to win.

3. The Stone Gray City

Ash stretched and took a long shower to try to relieve the stiffness and aching pain in his back, his arms, and his legs. Unfortunately, both the shower and stretches failed to relieve any of his pain.

He figured it wouldn't be that simple.

The human body wouldn't recover from nearly a week's worth of traveling overnight. It took time for strained muscles to heal from prolonged use and he had certainly used them.

Ash shuddered at the memory of Viridian Forest.

He and his team spent five days in the forest, desperately searching for a way out from the endless maze of trees. Fortunately, they managed to find their way out of the forest even if it took far longer than any of them desired.

He was glad to be back in civilization. As much as he enjoyed exploring, Ash needed a respite from the wilderness and above all he needed rest. He could only push himself so much and he was beginning to find those limits.

Even after a night's rest in the Pokemon Center, he still felt like he was comatose.

"Mr. Ketchum," a petite woman called out upon emerging from the rear corridors of the Pokemon Center.

He glanced over to the front desk.

Ash shuffled over to the front desk and flashed a smile to the pink-haired physician running the facility. "How are they?" he asked, gesturing to the red and white orbs laying on a tray that Nurse Joy had set on the front counter.

"Your Pokemon are in good shape, although they still seem a bit fatigued. I'm assuming that you traveled quite a long distance,"

Ash chuckled inwardly. She didn't know the half of it.

"Yeah, we spent a few days in Viridian Forest,"

Flashbacks of stumbling through dense underbrush appeared in his mind.

"Well, that would explain the fatigue," Nurse Joy replied with a sympathetic laugh before changing the subject. "Your Vulpix appears to be in good shape despite her fatigue; however, your Ponyta had a minor cut on his leg that showed signs of infection. Judging from the information registered in your Pokedex showing that Ponyta was a recent capture, I'm going to guess that this was a wound that Ponyta had prior to you capturing it or one inflicted when trying to capture it."

"That would be correct," Ash confirmed. "When I caught Ponyta I noticed that he had a cut on his leg, I applied some potion to the injury but I didn't know how long he had the wound or if the wound needed any further treatment."

"The incision doesn't seem to be anything major and I applied some potions and full restore to the injured leg to help repair the damaged tissue. I also gave Ponyta a few doses of potion that is taken orally to help fight off the infection. Ponyta's leg should be completely healed up in a day or so, but I still suggest that you administer a daily dose of potion just as an extra precaution against the infection."

"I'll make sure to do that." Ash replied.

Nurse Joy smiled and handed Ash a small sheet of paper. He gave her a perplexed look as he took the paper from her.

"It's a prescription," Nurse Joy explained. "You should be able to turn it in at the Poke Mart for a vial of max potion."

Ash nodded, neatly folding the paper up and shoving it into pocket.

He definitely didn't want to lose the prescription. Max potions were impossible to acquire without a prescription. Apparently, medicine as potent as max potions were expensive to manufacture and the league felt that the use of the medicines as potent as max potions needed to be monitored to prevent health defects.

Besides, Ash didn't want to risk having Orion's infection get worse or hinder the fire type's health in any manner and the potion would definitely aid in making sure the Ponyta was one-hundred percent healthy.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," Ash muttered as he clipped Aurora and Orion's Poke Balls to his belt.

"Of course," she smiled, turning her attention to one of the shelves near the wall. "You asked about a package?"

"Yeah, I was told that a package would be waiting for me here at the Pokemon Center," Ash answered.

The physician shuffled over to a row of bookcases near the wall that functioned as mail organizers and glanced over the packages on the shelves before settling on one of the packages on the top shelf. "Here we are!" Nurse Joy chirped, pulling the package off the shelf and setting it on the counter in front of Ash.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" Ash examined the label on the box to verify that the package Nurse Joy had given him was the correct parcel. The trainer from Pallet Town scooped up the package and raised his brow out of curiosity – whatever had been sent to him inside the notebook-sized box was incredibly light.

He couldn't wait to open it.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Nurse Joy asked.

"What can you tell me about the Pewter Museum of Science?" Ash replied, tucking the package inside his backpack.

Nurse Joy smiled. "Where should I start?" she asked.

/

People had nicknamed the town "The Stone Gray City" and now that he saw the place for himself, Ash understood why.

Most of the buildings in Pewter City appeared to be constructed from stone or a derivative of stone; and were gray. The forms that the gray stone took, however, varied tremendously from building to building.

The majority of the buildings were cobblestone cottages and brick buildings, but several tall office buildings towered over the houses and businesses of Pewter.

Fortunately, the building that Ash was searching for was easy to distinguish from the other buildings. Not only was the Pewter Museum of Science one of the largest buildings in the city, but its beige exterior also made the museum stand out from the drab grays of Pewter City.

Ash hesitated upon reaching his destination. Judging by the crowds of people entering and exiting the museum, the museum was fairly busy.

He was certain the place would be packed.

Ash frowned.

Nurse Joy had told him that the museum was a tourist attraction and that it tended to be busy, so he wasn't completely surprised by the crowds. That said, Ash began to wonder if he had picked an optimal time to visit the museum and if coming back at later date would make the experience more enjoyable.

He shrugged off the idea virtually as soon as it came to him. He doubted that a tourist attraction as large as this would have a period when it wasn't busy. He didn't really mind the crowds either. Since he spent so much time away from civilization, some normalcy was a welcome change.

And he had time to kill.

He completed all his errands.

He picked up Orion's prescription from the Pewter City Poke Mart and did some light shopping. His only remaining task in Pewter City was challenging the Pewter City gym, and he wasn't ready to take on the gym quite yet.

He and his team had a lot to work on before they were anywhere near ready to take on the gym.

Besides, there was more to life than just wandering the wilderness, training, and battling. What was the point of stopping in a town if not for sightseeing?

He planned on visiting the museum during his stop in Pewter City since his mother had mentioned it, but desired to visit the museum even more after Nurse Joy told him more about it.

There was tons of stuff to see that stoked his interest ranging from the space exploration exhibits to the fossils, but above all else he was excited to visit the Mt. Moon meteorite collection. He certainly hadn't expected it to open so suddenly, especially when the project was so recent.

However, Nurse Joy had beamed about it during her conversation with Ash and an email he received recently from his mother informed him that the findings of the Mt. Moon excavation were to be displayed for the public immediately.

He knew he had to go. He had to look at what the expedition had accomplished and see what his mother had been a part of.

Judging by the long line of people waiting to get in the museum, he wasn't the only person that wanted to tour the museum.

The thirteen-year old found a spot in line and tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. He took a deep breath, he was going to be waiting for a while.

He just hoped that the museum exhibits were worth the wait.

---

The museum wasn't at all what he was expecting, if anything, it far exceeded his expectations.

Ash expected the ticket prices to be high, but received quite a pleasant surprise. Instead of the usual rate of fifty dollars, the museum was only charging half the usual rate to encourage people to visit the newly installed Mt. Moon meteorite collection.

He was surprised by how nice the museum's interior was.

The beige marble floors, fancy decorative tile ceilings, and the spacious halls indicated that no expense had been spared for the museum's interior. However, those surprises paled in comparison to the next surprises in store for him, for they were far bigger than just aesthetics of a building and price of admittance.

The faint squeak of his tennis shoes echoed through the hallway until he came to a halt upon entering a large, open room. He felt his heart skip a beat from excitement and a grin formed on his face.

The first exhibit alone was worth the price of admission and worth the wait.

Ash's eyes fixated on the statues in the middle of the room and found himself unable to pull his attention away from the statues. The tall, bronze statues were amazing, not merely because of the material that they were made of or their height; but because of who and what they represented.

Ash eyed the first statue on the far left from head to toe. The bronze figure stood in a dignified posture with its right arm extended out to its side.

The statue looked exactly as Ash pictured him when reading about him in history textbooks at school and in novels. His posture oozed confidence, his grin made him appear confident, and he stood exactly where Ash expected the man to be – in the midst of his Pokemon.

Ash shook his head as his eyes shifted to the golden plaque in front of the statue that explaining who the statue was built to honor and the historical background of who the statue represented.

Haruko Saito, the Shodai Champion and founder of the Indigo League, did not need an introduction. His life story was passed down from generation to generation and would continue to be passed down as long as there were people alive to talk about his exploits.

Schoolchildren were educated about how Haruko worked to unite the quarreling territories of Kanto, created a government to establish order in the region, fought alongside his brother to squash a violent coup started by the very people that he entrusted to help him govern, and was one of only two champions that had been elected to the position of champion.

Ash's eyes darted over to the three Pokemon standing beside the statue. Each of them exuded confidence just like the Shodai himself.

The first Pokemon, a reptilian quadruped, towered over the rest of the team to reflect its importance to the group.

Ash found that it was only proper that Tsukene be elevated to the status that he was since the Venusaur was the Shodai's closest companion and the cornerstone of his team.

Tsukene was the first Pokemon that the Shodai had befriended and was the first to utilize the Frenzy Plant technique. In fact, the Venusaur had done far more than merely create the technique – Tsukene turned Frenzy Plant into an art.

While many modern "masters" of Frenzy Plant studied the technique and taught Pokemon the ancient technique, the modern Frenzy Plant was nothing more than a cheap knockoff of Tsukene's technique.

Tsukene didn't just cause roots to spring up from the ground and crash into an opponent like the modern variation of Frenzy Plant, he generated plant life and controlled the plant life to turn it into a weapon.

And unlike the Pokemon of the modern era who were only capable of using their watered down Frenzy Plant a few times before tiring out, he was capable of doing so endlessly.

Ash's eyes shifted to the second Pokemon statue standing to the right of the Shodai. The bronze statue resembling a living mass of tangled vines didn't appear very significant or intimidating, but those that knew the story of Haruko knew that Tsuru was not inferior to any Pokemon.

The Tangrowth was a ruthless fighter whose strength rivaled that of Tsukene. While the creature didn't have the ability to wield Frenzy Plant like Tsukene, Tsuru's ability to utilize his vines to bind and throw foes more than made up for his inability to wield Frenzy Plant.

Tsuru often toyed with his opponents by dousing them with various spores before binding them and tossing them around like ragdolls. The grass type treated his battles like a cruel game and dished out attacks with sadistic pleasure more commonly affiliated with Magmar, Weavile, and packs of Mightyena.

Ash's eyes shifted to the left of Tsuru, fixating on the final member of Haruko's team. He snickered at the dismayed expression sculpted on the statue's face. As comical as the expression looked, he wouldn't have been surprised at all if the portly, egg-shaped Pokemon had scowled many times at the rest of the team.

Chunsainin, the peacemaker, was a pacifist at heart that despised the brutality of war.

While the other members of Haruko's team focused on pulverizing their opponents, Chunsainin generally focused on healing the wounds of both her comrades and those that they subdued. Ash could imagine Tsukene and Tsuru brutally beating their opponents into submission and Chunsainin staring at the carnage in dismay, inwardly hoping that the grass types would stop.

Pokemon were said to reflect the personalities of their trainers the longer they traveled with them and despite the vast differences in personality between the three Pokemon, the close-knit family reflected their patriarch with each of the Pokemon holding to a particular aspect of Haruko.

Tsukene embodied the first champion's honor, levelheadedness, and courage; Tsuru embodied Haruko's forcefulness and impatience; and Chunsainin embodied the Shodai's kindness, tranquility, and desire for peace.

Alone they were strong, but as a group they were unstoppable. They knew each other's strengths and covered each other's weaknesses. The group had fought together for so long that they had memorized each others movements and tendencies, and moved in sync with each other in battle. Each member of the group knew where they needed to be and when they needed to intervene on one of their teammates' behalf.

Whenever the Shodai and his family fought, they literally fought as one.

Ash glanced down at the Poke Balls clipped to his belt. He wished that he could let his Pokemon out of their Poke Balls to look at the statues. He wanted his team to be able to see the statues themselves as a teaching moment to show them what he desired that they become.

While he doubted that he and his team would likely never face anything even remotely close to the perilous situations the Shodai had faced in his lifetime – Ash definitely doubted that he would have to stop a coup against the league anytime soon – he and his team would still need to work together well if they were going to win their first gym battle, let alone win the Indigo League.

His thoughts gradually shifted to exploring the rest of the museum as he finally managed to pry his eyes away from the statues of the first champion and his team.

Ash skimmed over the various maps of Kanto and artwork depicting early Kanto while meandering his way towards the next exhibit room, pausing occasionally to further examine particular pieces that would catch his eye.

The differences between ancient Kanto and modern Kanto were rather striking. He had learned of the differences between modern Kanto and ancient Kanto, but reading something and seeing the differences were two entirely different things.

And the differences were quite noticeable.

Besides the obvious influence of technology upon society, there were many other noticeable differences between the Kanto that he had grown up in and the Kanto region of long ago. The size of the towns stood out heavily.

Ancient Kanto lacked the infrastructure and metropolises of modern Kanto. Whereas modern Kanto was composed of bustling suburbs, crowded urban shopping centers, and tourist attractions, ancient Kanto consisted of small villages that operated separately from one another.

Even the larger towns with economies that revolved around trade and business like Celadon, Vermilion, Saffron, and Cerulean City were much smaller compared to their modern counterparts and their attention was focused on local interests.

The cities were also surrounded by untamed wilderness.

With the towns being focused on local interests and having little to no interaction with each other –outside of feuds and wars over territory – there simply wasn't a need for paths and roads since travel to another town was rare.

In historical context, it made sense, even if the pictures were surprising. The bulk of the Kanto region's growth didn't happen until Haruko united the region as a nation-state, gave the region a new identity, and helped the region to discover its economic potential beyond territories.

The tapping of footsteps, both Ash's own and of the other tourists wandering about, echoed through the corridor as he reached the next exhibit room.

Ash raised his brow.

He knew that the museum had a collection of fossils, but he hadn't expected anything like what he was seeing. Glass cases spanned the room as far as the eye could see. Everything from skeletal remains to Pokemon fossilized in stone had been placed inside the display cases.

Ash weaved his way though the crowds as he made his way to the next exhibit, occasionally peeking into the display cases of fossils and skeletons.

Skeletons of Pidgey, Spearow, and Ratatta weren't terribly exciting no matter how old they supposedly were.

A quick glimpse into the one of the cases made Ash freeze in place. Were the rocks really what he thought they were? Further examination confirmed his suspicions. Several plaques inside the display case helped further identify what the chunks of rock were and more importantly what was embedded inside the stones.

Ash whipped out his Pokedex and skimmed through the data entry in the Pokedex contained on the creature. Satisfied with the information, he tucked the tablet back into his pocket.

For the most part, information about prehistoric Pokemon was sketchy at best and the field of paleontology hadn't reaped that many rewards over the years. Most considered the history of prehistoric Pokemon to be a mystery, and a mystery lost to the ages at that.

What little was known was constantly in flux and was heavily debated by the scientific community. And that wasn't even counting the debates on when prehistoric Pokemon roamed the earth.

Scientists had argued for years about the age of fossilized Pokemon, each of them arguing a different length of time ranging from a few thousand years to a few hundred thousand years all the way to millions upon millions of years.

To be completely honest, even the Pokedex's entries on prehistoric were really just limited facts and the latest flavor of the day hypothesis.

Regardless, what Ash did know was that the creature preserved within the stone was very old. Kabuto were anywhere from a hundred thousand to three hundred million years old depending upon the scientist that you asked.

If the information on Kabuto was to be believed, Kabuto were territorial Pokemon that treated anything that entered their domain with hostility that easily matched Krabby and Kingler.

The dome Pokemon were said to be amphibious and supposedly lived by the sea. Their shells provided them with natural armor that defended them against attackers and would be predators.

Ash's eyes darted down to a chunk of limestone inside the case containing a spiraled shell with thin spikes protruding from the top. He smirked, he assumed that the case was organized to contain both rival Pokemon. While Kabuto had few predators, Omanyte were the exception to the rule.

Omanyte were allegedly the reason Kabutops became a species. Omanyte were the ideal predator of shellfish Pokemon. Omanyte would ensnare its prey with their strong front tentacles and their jawed beaks allowed them to break even the strongest of shells.

Now that he gave it more thought, Ash found it miraculous that there were any Kabuto fossils left. Predators of Omanyte's status could have easily lowered the population of its prey. Whereas Aerodactyl ruled the skies of prehistoric Kanto, Omanyte ruled the seas.

Ash briefly wondered how the creatures hold up against Pokemon in the modern era. He imagined that the shellfish could at least hold their own against species like Wartortle. He supposed if the scientific community was serious about their of claims of reviving prehistoric Pokemon trainers would soon see the strength of the ancient Pokemon.

He continued through the museum. There were still plenty of things left to explore.

He stopped upon reaching a museum directory and skimmed over the map of the building. Ash pointed at the museum directory and traced an imaginary line in the air to the rooms he had been in and the room he was standing in.

He supposed that he could visit the next exhibit in the room adjacent to the fossil exhibit, although there wasn't much in an evolutionary stone exhibit that Ash hadn't already seen at least once in his life. Professor Oak constantly received shipments of evolutionary stones at the lab for various research projects.

He checked the directory again and looked to the complete opposite side of the building. The space exhibit was a tad bit more interesting, but he didn't feel like backtracking.

He figured that the space exhibit was something he could visit on his way out. That left him with one more place he could visit. Ash glanced over at a hallway over by the far left side of the room that led to a flight of stairs.

The Mt. Moon meteorite exhibit awaited him.

He followed a few other people that were thinking what he was and grinned as he climbed up the stairs. The second floor was just as eloquent as the first floor and there were no noticeable differences in decor.

He smiled at the sight of the meteorites. Glass cases full of dull gray stone were scattered about as far as the eye could see.

To the average person, the jagged chunks of space debris weren't much to look at and wouldn't mean a whole lot; but to Ash they were as valuable as chunks of gold.

The rocks inside the case weren't just meteors, but meteors excavated by his mother. She had the opportunity to participate in a landmark discovery pertaining to mega evolution.

Not much was known about mega evolution, since the process was only recently discovered while archaeologists were investigating sites connected to the war in ancient Kalos.

Professor Sycamore of Kalos practically dedicated his life to research on mega evolution. However, even after three to four years of investigation, Sycamore had very little information and even fewer discoveries.

Aside from the fact that the process allowed certain Pokemon to temporarily access more advanced forms of themselves, not much was known about the process. So far the scientific community's findings and conclusions were shoddy at best.

He wondered how long the mystery surrounding mega evolution would last in light of this discovery.

If nothing else came from the discovery, the fact that the energy signatures weren't exclusive to Kalos would shed more light on mega evolution; but the energy signatures and the meteor's place of origin couldn't be a coincidence.

If he thought of that theory, he imagined researchers far smarter than himself had already made the connection, especially with reports of similar findings in Hoenn.

He smiled at the random thought that popped into his mind as he stared at the meteors inside the glass case.

In theory, each species of Pokemon were capable of mega evolution. It made him wonder if he would ever be able to see a mega evolved Alolan Ninetales firing blasts of ice or a mega evolved Rapidash darting around.

He shook off the thought as he did one last pass through the meteor exhibit and made his way back down the stairs. Visiting the museum had definitely been worth his time.

---

Salty. Spicy. Too salty, too spicy! Boiling hot!

Hot tears ran down his cheeks and fell to the ground. He huffed and puffed to try cool off his mouth. It wasn't working.

Ash fumbled for his water bottle and gulped down some water, causing the burning sensation in his mouth to subside if only by a small amount. The trainer eyed his bowl warily. Definitely not a pleasant experience, and not one he wanted to ever experience again.

Stupid miso ramen – he hadn't expected the stuff to be nearly as spicy or as salty. It certainly wasn't anything like the stuff his mother made. His mother's spicy miso ramen had a nice kick to it, but wasn't like eating the flames of Moltres.

He glanced over at his cafeteria tray. He hoped that the grilled fish would be better.

Ash glowered, placing the bowl of ramen on the ground beside him. A set of sky-blue eyes stared up at him in concern.

He waved Aurora off. "It's okay, the soup was just a little hot."

The snowy fox puffed out a wisp of cold air from her mouth aimed at the bowl of soup before nudging the bowl towards him with her nose.

He laughed. "Thanks, but I don't think just cooling it off will make it better. It's really spicy and salty." Ash paused. "You can try some if you'd like."

Aurora sniffed the bowl of soup and flinched.

Chooo!

The ice type recoiled from her sneeze and backed away from the dish.

"So I'm guessing you don't want any either?"

Aurora shook her head and scampered over to her food dish.

Ash smirked as she returned to the game she had created to amuse herself. A faint snap echoed from inside Aurora's food bowl as she pressed her left paw into the dish to break the ice she had created from freezing the water in her food dish.

Coming to discover that the fox didn't like dry Pokemon food, he had started to add water to her food. Being the curious Pokemon she was, Aurora had taken a liking to toying with the water.

Every few seconds she would blow wisps of arctic air into the bowl to create a thin layer of ice on the water's surface only to break the ice and tap the water underneath the ice with her paws. She also began to experiment with various ways to crack the ice.

Occasionally she would pounce on it and other times she would simply slap the ice with one of her front paws.

Watching her break the ice in the bowl was fun to watch and he found the habit adorable. Plus, she wasn't really doing anything wrong so he couldn't bring himself to correct her and spoil her fun.

He actually wished he had a video camera. It was a shame that the Pokenav couldn't take photos or video. This was the second perfect photo opportunity that he was missing out on – the first involving the exhibits at the Pewter City Museum that he wanted to show Aurora and Orion.

Speaking of the Ponyta...

A flicker of orange light circled the perimeter of the battlefield. Aurora wasn't the only one who found a game to stay occupied with. After finishing his Pokemon food, the horse had taken to sprinting around the outside perimeter of the battlefield like it was a racetrack.

Ash noticed that Orion definitely liked to run. The fire type took the opportunity to do so every time he let out of his Poke Ball. His running speed was incredible to watch. He looked like a star in the night sky.

It was certainly fitting given his name. The Ponyta burned just as bright as the constellation after which he was named.

Ash had yet to begin any "official training" with the horse Pokemon such as honing techniques and going over gym battle strategies since he wanted to help the horse open up to him and Aurora before getting Orion involved in training and battling.

That being said, Orion took the initiative to train himself through long sprints.

His exercises clearly demonstrated three things: His leg injury wasn't bothering him even without having yet used the antibiotic, he was a very fast Pokemon, and he had a high work ethic.

All three of those things were positives that Ash could work with.

It also helped that Orion meshed well with him and Aurora. The fire type was at ease around him and Aurora, and seemed to enjoy playing with Aurora. He would spend hours playing tag with Aurora, even if the ice type didn't enjoy it quite as much as her teammate.

While Aurora liked to play, she simply didn't have anywhere near the stamina that Orion had. The fire type was a big ball of energy. He simply didn't seem to get tired. He could run for hours and hours. Ash was convinced that Orion could run a Vigoroth ragged.

Despite them being on good terms, Ash still hadn't broached the subject of Orion's previous trainer. Although at some point he planned on asking Orion about his previous trainer once he felt Orion was ready to talk about it.

Ash figured it wouldn't hurt to know the story behind what happened. Not only would it give him more perspective into Orion's personality so Ash could understand the fire type better, but it would also give Ash an idea of how much battling experience Orion had.

Orion had a handful of techniques that could only be learned by TM or extensive training, which either hinted that Ponyta had experience battling or techniques that were way too advanced for him were given to him by an inexperienced trainer.

Of course, Ash didn't even want to think about the third possibility. Incompetence wasn't the only reason Pokemon were given TMs that they weren't anywhere near ready to handle. If you were a trainer that only viewed Pokemon as a weapon...

He shrugged off the depressing thoughts and called out for his Pokemon. Now was not the time for that talk.

Prying themselves away from their games, Aurora and Orion shuffled over to their trainer and looked up at him attentively.

"Alright, I know I promised that we'd start going over some things for our first gym battle, are you guys still ready to do that?" Ash cleared his throat. "I mean, I don't want to push you if you both aren't ready to face the gym or aren't ready to start training. That trip through Viridian Forest was long. I was thinking we could run through some light exercises and start the rest of the training in a day or two."

Orion snorted at the idea. The restless fire type stomped his hooves on the ground and voiced his disapproval with a sharp whinny. Aurora followed suit by voicing her own disapproval with a loud growl and an indignant look on her face.

Ash sighed. Nurse Joy had told him that the two needed a day or two of rest, but it appeared that they were having none of it.

He supposed that psyching his team up for the gym battle and setting their focus on future goals of becoming champions while wandering about the forest hadn't helped. They hadn't really gotten a chance to battle while they were traveling through Viridian Forest and now both of them were likely itching to hone to show off their skills.

In the end it worked to his favor, they had a lot that they needed to figure out before the gym battle. "Alright, let's get started! I want you to start with warm-ups after that we'll gradually work our way up from there!"

Ash motioned for his team to follow him as he jogged towards the chalk line of the battlefield. "I know you'll enjoy this one," he said, grinning at Orion. "We'll start with a light jog to get our muscles loosened up."

Orion whinnied his approval before trotting alongside Ash. Not willing to be left behind, Aurora scampered towards them using Agility to enhance her running ability. "Five laps!" Ash exclaimed, leading the way for his team and making a right turn at the first corner of the battlefield. "After that we'll start on strategy and work on techniques!"

---

Bright flickers of light manifested themselves in the form of stars around a violet feline-like creature and whizzed towards its opponent. Despite the Jolteon's attempt at dodging the technique, the energy constructs turned and locked onto its opponent once more before slamming into the canine's side.

"Biometric tracking," he muttered under his breath.

Ash replayed the video, carefully examining each second of footage. He tucked away his Pokedex in his pocket and looked up at Orion. "Try it again, if you would."

Orion tensed up and channeled an immense amount of focus into trying to generate an attack. Flickers of light no larger than a marble formed from Orion's mane of flame. Before the fire type could push the star-shaped constructs of energy forward with a weak pulse of telekinetic power, the stars fizzled out as quickly as they had formed.

Ash frowned and crossed his arms. It still wasn't working. Orion could generate the energy constructs needed for Swift, but maintaining them and launching them was another story.

Ponyta simply wasn't ready to handle the technique.

Then again, Swift wasn't a typical technique. Generating the energy constructs was the easy part for a Pokemon. It was adding the biometric components that allowed the technique to lock onto a foe and firing the attack off that was the difficult part.

While all Pokemon had some sort of rudimentary ability with the art of telekinesis in some form or another, trying to hone telekinetic abilities was much more of a challenge for some Pokemon. Pokemon that were physical attackers often had slight difficulty learning the mental arts.

Orion brayed in frustration and stomped his hooves like a child throwing a tantrum, clearly upset at his inability to use Swift. Ash reached his hand out to the disgruntled fire type, only for the fire type push his hand away. "Don't worry, you'll get it eventually. It takes time to learn a new technique."

Orion let out an irritated whinny, refusing to look Ash in the eyes. "Come on, you did pretty good. It took you a while, but you eventually figured out how to form the energy constructs. I'd say that's solid progress. We just can't figure out how to use the telekinetic abilities needed to launch the attack."

Orion snorted. Bright star-shaped constructs of energy formed from Ponyta's fiery mane. The fire type voiced his excitement as he tried to fire off the energy blasts. Much like during the previous attempts, the energy constructs disintegrated instantly upon Orion's attempt to launch them.

The fire type grumbled again and thrashed about in fury.

Ash made a quick mental note. Orion wasn't patient and didn't handle adversity all that well. It would be something to file away for future reference when training with Orion in the future.

Trying to get Orion to perfect Swift wasn't going anywhere good. It was only making the fire type frustrated and Ash didn't want to find out just exactly how riled up Orion would get if he got completely enraged. "How about we try something else?!" Ash suggested. "We haven't tried Flame Charge yet."

Orion huffed at the trainer and scraped the ground with his front hoof in protest. Ash crossed his arms and sighed.

He sympathized with Orion. Learning a new skill wasn't easy. He had substantial difficulty learning chemistry and algebra during his time in school. It took lots of time studying with Professor Oak and his mother before he finally understood them.

He definitely understood why the fire type was upset. Not only had Orion failed miserably at using Skull Bash, which looked like nothing more than a basic tackle attack, but he had failed at Swift. Most of the attacks in Orion's arsenal were unusable to him so far and require much more training before they were even remotely viable in battle.

It also didn't help that only a few feet away Aurora was firing off Moonblasts and blasts of cold air while Orion struggled to use anything stronger than an Ember attack. Despite Orion and Aurora's friendship, the fire type was more than a little jealous of how effortlessly Aurora was able to learn and perform attacks if the Ponyta's glares at the fox were anything to go by.

"Come on, we haven't tried Flame Charge yet."

The fire type grunted, watching Aurora fire a pink sphere of light up into the air out of the corner of his eye. Orion stomped his hooves in determination and charged forward, ready to move onto the next task.

Ash smirked.

He knew for sure that the no matter how long it took that Orion was going to master Flame Charge. The fire type had too much pride not to at least succeed in using one of his advanced techniques.

A bead of sweat rolled down Ash's forehead. The air was beginning to heat up. Orion's mane burned brighter and a multitude of crackling embers sparked to life around the fire type while he sprinted forward.

It wasn't much, but it was a start. "Alright, try it again!"

Orion veered to his left and turned around to give himself a chance to pick up speed. Unlike his first try with the technique, his second try was much more successful. Small plumes of flame roared to life and shrouded Orion as he charged forward with his blinding speed.

Ash felt his heart flutter in excitement. He didn't need his Pokedex to tell him that Orion was performing the attack correctly. The wisps of flame spoke for themselves. "Good job, you've got it!"

A bright orange blur of light streaked past Ash towards the other side of the battlefield. He shielded his eyes. It hurt to look at Orion while the flames engulfed the fire type's body.

Orion slowed to make another U-turn once he reached the other side of the battlefield. The horse let the flames around him die down. Orange embers floated up into the air like sparks leaping from a sparkler. Galloping back towards the other end of the battlefield, Orion's cloak of fire sprung to life again.

"Again!" Ash exclaimed.

As Orion turned to make another mad dash for the other side of the battlefield, Ash flipped through the apps on his Pokenav before settling on the stopwatch function. Watching the fire type run made Ash want to see just how fast Orion was running.

The moment the fire type took off, Ash tapped the start button on the touchscreen of the Pokenav.

One, two, three...

Ash blinked, mouth agape. It took him moment to process what had happened, but once his mind processed the information he reached out and tapped his Pokenav's touch screen to stop the stopwatch. Orion had already finished his sprint.

Ash knew that Orion was fast, but three seconds was too fast a time even for Orion. He tapped the Pokenav again to reset the stopwatch and prepared to time Orion again. The second Orion turned around to run back towards the other side of the battlefield, Ash tapped the start button again.

Seeing Orion skid to a halt at the other side of the battlefield, Ash tapped the touch screen to stop the timer and glanced down to see the time on the stopwatch.

His eyes widened. The trainer shook his head, barely able to believe the numbers on the screen.

It simply wasn't possible. It had to be some sort of operator error. Orion shouldn't have been able to move at that fast a speed. He shouldn't have been able to tie his past mark, let alone beat it.

2.5 seconds?

That was the type of speed that prize Ponyta and Rapidash ran at the track in a one-hundred meter dash. It definitely was an improvement. The fastest time Ash had clocked previously was six seconds, give or take; although during those runs Orion hadn't been using Flame Charge.

He suspected that the technique had something to do with the increase in speed, but he couldn't confirm his theory without looking into Flame Charge more. He would have to check his Pokedex for more information on the technique.

Ash grinned at Orion. "Nice work out there, you've really got the hang of that."

Orion bobbed his head, letting out a soft grumble to express his pride. Ash reached out and stroked Orion's side.

His team was making progress and that was all that mattered. He couldn't guarantee the outcome of challenging Brock, but he would do all that he could to make sure his team was ready to give Brock a run for his money.

"I want you to continue working with Flame Charge while I'm working with Aurora, later we'll work on your accuracy with Ember."

Orion brayed in acknowledgment before returning to his training.

Ash turned to look at Aurora and snickered at the ice type. The ice type scampered back and forth, sliding across a patch of ice on the battlefield. He smirked at her game. Aurora definitely knew how to keep herself occupied.

He raised his brow – now that was something he could use.

---

Ash halted in front of the door of a building and gave the building a once over. The Pewter City gym wasn't much to look at and the building didn't stand out from the rest of the town's buildings. If anything, its slate gray exterior helped the gym blend in and made the gym appear boring.

Ash chuckled. The design reflected the Pewter City gym leader perfectly. Brock wasn't flashy, boisterous, or "exciting" like other gym leaders; however, it was his stoic personality that made him dangerous. Brock's maturity and calm demeanor made it easy to underestimate him.

Underestimating Brock was a big mistake. While the gym leader tended to hold back against rookies and avoided using his strongest six Pokemon, even his secondary Pokemon were tough.

Brock was more than capable of reminding trainers of why he had finished in the top eight at the Indigo Conference in his first year as a trainer. Beneath his facade was a burning competitive spirit and unwavering determination.

Like father, like son, he supposed.

Ash stiffened his jaw and stepped forward. He wouldn't be like the trainers that underestimated Brock. He and his team had put in far more work than the average trainer in preparation for this moment. He was not going to lose because he was ready.

A loud hum echoed through the air as the automated doors opened up, allowing Ash to enter the dimly lit gym.

He eyed wisps of mist wafting through the air from his breath. The inside of the gym was colder than he expected to the point that he felt goosebumps forming on his skin.

His footsteps echoed through the room as he walked up to a desk in the corner of the room. A boy younger than Ash with spiky brown hair and narrowed eyes flashed him a quick smile. "How may I help you?"

"I'm here to challenge the gym leader." Ash answered, his voice exuding a stoic tone.

The boy glanced down at a sheet of paper on the desk, absentmindedly rubbing his chin while he examined the document. Ash tapped his foot on the floor waiting for the boy to explain himself.

The young boy perked up. "You're the first trainer to visit us today, the gym leader should be able to take you up on your challenge right away!" The boy pointed to a dark corridor. "Head down that hallway and you'll find the gym arena."

"Thank you," Ash replied with a smile of his own.

Ash held his breath in anticipation as he strolled through the hallway.

He hesitated momentarily – the sound of his footsteps had changed as had the texture of the floor beneath him. Ash glanced down at the floor, straining his eyes to try to see the floor.

He raised an eyebrow. The floor was no longer flat and smooth, but bumpy and jagged.

Bright lights lit up the room, blinding Ash momentarily as he lost his night vision. Once his eyes started to adjust, he focused his gaze on the teenage boy standing across the room from him with his back turned to him.

"So, I'm going to guess that you're a challenger!"

Ash frowned. The gym leader's tone was harsh – far harsher than he expected.

"Well, don't you have anything to say?!"

He clenched his fists, feeling a familiar surge of adrenaline pumping through his veins. "I am Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and I'm here to challenge you!" he exclaimed.

"You're here to challenge me?" The man echoed. "What makes you think that you won't fail like so many others before you?"

"I don't know if I'll fail to beat you; but I do know that I and my team have been training hard to prepare for this battle. Win or lose, we're going to give this battle our all." Ash said, an unwavering conviction in his voice.

The gym leader turned around and glared at Ash. He recognized the man instantly by his spiky brown hair, squinted eyes, burnt orange top, and olive cargo pants.

He was about to face Brock.

"We'll see just how well you've trained!" Brock declared as he reached down to his belt and unclipped a Poke Ball from his belt before tapping the button on the front of the orb to cause the device to expand. "How many Pokemon do you have?"

"Two," Ash retorted.

"Then this will be a two vs two battle! Traditional Indigo League rules – no substitutions." Brock declared. "Rhyhorn, go!"

Before Ash could blink, a stocky rhino emerged from the orb and stomped its feet. The trainer from Pallet Town flailed his arms as he wobbled back and forth from the shockwave that Rhyhorn had sent through the ground from stomping its feet.

After regaining his composure from almost falling over, Ash reached into his pocket for his Pokedex and pointed the device at Rhyhorn after pulling it out from his pocket.

Rhyhorn – the spikes Pokemon. Rhyhorn are strong, but not very bright, this Pokemon can shatter even a skyscraper with its charging tackles. It is inept at turning because of its four short legs. It can only charge and run in one direction.

Ash smirked at the tidbit of information. It would definitely come in handy since he could use that to knowledge to his advantage.

In fact, Ash already had a lot of knowledge he could use to his advantage. He had studied rock types extensively, trained with his team extensively over the last three days, and researched Brock's Indigo League records in hopes of learning the gym leader's tendencies.

He could handle Rhyhorn. Its brute strength was intimidating, but strength would only get you so far. The trick to beating Brock was fighting smarter and that was something he could do.

He wound up like a pitcher. "Orion, you're up!"

A familiar glowing figure appeared on the battlefield and voiced his pride with a loud whinny.

Brock crossed his arms. "A fire type, huh? Interesting choice, but a foolish one. Fire types have very little that they can do against an armored Pokemon like Rhyhorn, especially one like Ponyta. Rhyhorn is not a Pokemon that can be blitzed."

Ash snorted.

Did Brock take him for an idiot? He knew that Orion had no chance at winning via a blitz. He had a strategy and it didn't involve sweeping Rhyhorn. They would be in this for the long haul.

"So who gets the first attack?" Ash asked, anxious to begin.

---

Two humanoid Pokemon looming in the shadows caught Ash's attention. The trainer reached for his Pokedex before a protective barrier of light flared up around the battlefield, bathing the battlefield with a neon yellow glow.

Ash winced and rubbed away the stars in his eyes. He recognized the glow of the mental barriers from years of watching Pokemon League matches to know what the walls of light were and their likely source. Brock apparently had some powerful psychic type Pokemon keeping an eye on the battlefield.

It wasn't terribly surprising, most gyms and other league sponsored battle events kept some Alakazam on hand for the very purpose of creating barriers.

Ash shook off his wandering thoughts and refocused on the upcoming match. What was taking Brock so long? Was the gym leader waiting for Ash to attack first? Was Brock even going to attack? All doubt of whether or not Brock and Rhyhorn were ready to battle was dispelled by Brock's booming voice. "Horn Attack!"

Whump, whump, whump!

Rhyhorn's thunderous footsteps rattled the gym and the rock type rumbled towards Orion.

"Don't let Rhyhorn hit you, it's practically a living battering ram. Use your speed to avoid Rhyhorn's attacks, it can't change directions very easily so your speed gives you an advantage. If you see an opportunity, hit it with Ember. It won't do much, but it's better than any of our other options. If it gets too close use Flame Charge to get out of its way." Ash instructed, keeping his voice at a dull whisper to prevent tipping off his strategy to Brock.

Orion whinnied in reply. Ash held his breath and counted the seconds mentally. He hoped to get some sort of gauge on Rhyhorn's speed. Rhyhorn weren't speed burners like Ponyta or Rapidash; but Ash heard Rhyhorn were used in races. Rhyhorn supposedly had straight-line speed; and Ash wanted to know how much time he and Orion had to react.

He counted the seconds mentally. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven...

Orion coalesced himself in a cocoon of weak flames and veered out of Rhyhorn's path. Ash frowned at Orion's knee-jerk reaction. Flame Charge wasn't necessary in that situation, Rhyhorn still had ground to cover before it would ram into Orion.

Orion shifted gears, picking up speed from the surge of adrenaline pumping through his veins from using Flame Charge. The fire type changed his approach from defensive maneuvers to offensive attacks and spewed orange coals from his mouth at Rhyhorn's side.

The coals bounced off Rhyhorn's rugged stone armor and fell harmlessly to the ground. Orion's Ember attack did very little to the rhino. While expected the technique to be nearly useless against Rhyhorn, Ash figured it was worth trying. The only way to figure out what Rhyhorn's strengths and weaknesses were was by testing the rock type with various situations and attacks.

The rhino veered left and made a wide, looping U-turn, confirming the information contained in the Pokedex. Rhyhorn definitely weren't known for great lateral movement and agility.

Brock nodded at Rhyhorn in what Ash assumed to be a command of some sort. The rhino lowered its head as it charged towards Orion again. Orion hesitated momentarily to draw the rhino in closer before he sprinted towards Ash to put some distance between him and his opponent.

Orion shifted direction and charged straight towards his foe before making a quick cut to his right to evade his attacker. The fire type lost his footing on the uneven terrain, but stabilized himself shortly afterwards. Ponyta slowed down momentarily to let Rhyhorn pass him. The horse changed tactics and pursued his foe, trailing behind him and waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Orion capitalized on his opponent's inability to change direction. The fire type's mane of flame and fiery tail burned brighter as he exhaled another barrage of glowing coals from his mouth. Much like the first attempted barrage of embers, the hot coals bounced off of Rhyhorn's stone armor and fell to the ground.

Rhyhorn dug his feet into the ground and slowed down and made another looping turn. The rock type hemmed and huffed at the horse, clearly irritated that it hadn't trampled Orion yet. Rhyhorn lowered its head and charged forward, preparing to ram Orion with its horn.

Orion sidestepped the charging rhino a third time and pelted Rhyhorn with another blast of glowing coals, this time aiming for the rock type's head. Rhyhorn shrugged off the hot ashes and barreled past Orion.

Ash frowned, he expected a bit more of a challenge and some strategy from his opponent. Brock was a top tier trainer when he competed in the Indigo League and an experienced veteran gym leader.

Surely, he had more tricks up his sleeve than simply having Rhyhorn charge Orion endlessly.

"Rhyhorn, change tactics, show them what you're really capable of." Brock stated as if he had read Ash's mind and realized that Ash was underestimating him.

Radiant sparks of silver light pulsed through Rhyhorn's body. Ash winced and raised his hand over his eyes to shield his eyes from the light. He wasn't familiar with the silver light shrouding Rhyhorn, although he imagined that it couldn't have been anything good.

Rhyhorn turned around and barreled towards Orion a fourth time. The Ponyta opted to sprint towards his foe instead of running away and attempted a quick cut to his left. While he narrowly avoided being skewered by the tip of Rhyhorn's horn, he hadn't managed to get out of the rhino's path entirely and the rock type's jagged body scraped Orion's side.

The fire type staggered forward, nearly coming to a complete halt from the sharp ache in his front shoulder. Ash felt his stomach churn from a combination of anxiety and disgust. He hated seeing his Pokemon in pain and Orion was clearly in pain after bumping up against Rhyhorn.

He eyed a large, black mark located on Orion's right front shoulder. If simply brushing up against Rhyhorn produced a bruise the size of a grapefruit, Ash didn't want to know what a direct collision would look like.

Rhyhorn made another looping turn and scraped his front feet across the ground. Ash got the impression that Rhyhorn was going to charge Orion again, but his suspicions were revealed to be incorrect.

"Rhyhorn, Stone Barrage!" Brock stated. His tone was forceful and blunt, but it had an air of certainty to it. By his demeanor, it was clear that Brock was used to his job. Taking on challengers was as natural to Brock as breathing air. It was exactly what Ash had come to expect from a veteran like Brock.

Grrr-rhhhr!

Rhyhorn's furious roar caused the protective barriers around the battlefield to flare up, casting neon light onto the battlefield for a few seconds. The armored rhino stomped the ground with its front legs, causing the ground to tremble in its wake.

Ash grimaced, he found it nearly impossible to stand. He held his arms out, hoping to balance himself; but it did little good. The tremors were too strong and he wound up falling forward, forcing him to use his hands to catch himself.

The battlefield began to shift and two columns of stone rose from the battlefield in front of Rhyhorn. Before Ash could begin to comprehend what was happening, a loud crack echoed through the gym. The pillars of earth lifted from the ground, snapped like toothpicks, and shattered into a million shards of jagged rock in an instant.

Pebbles, dust, and chunks of rock rained down around Orion.

The gimped fire type zipped around, trying to avoid being pelted and crushed by the falling debris; however, it proved to be futile for Orion. There was just too much stone flying through the air. Typically falling rocks were bad, but the shards of rock unleashed by Rhyhorn smashing the stone columns he created was far worse.

Many of the splinters of rock were sharp and the sharper stones cut into Orion's flesh, causing the Ponyta to whinny in agony. Ash's face contorted with disgust. He dug his fingernails into his palms. He couldn't stand to see Orion beaten and bloodied like he was; and he certainly did not like the brutality of Brock's "Stone Barrage" technique.

He was surprised that such a technique was even considered legal.

The trainer's hand hovered over Orion's Poke Ball. He heavily considered returning Orion to his Poke Ball. Orion didn't seem like he was in any shape to fight. Blood was dripping from the cuts on his body and the fire type was gasping for air, clearly tired from his mad dash to avoid being hit by the shrapnel of rock.

Brock noticed both Ash's reluctance to continue and Orion's wounds. "Do you give up?" The gym leader snapped, his voice as cold as the stone his gym's battlefield was made of.

"C-Can y-you still fight?" Ash asked, his voice wavering from a combination of excitement and anxiety. Orion stomped his hooves on the ground and whinnied. Ash glanced at the fire type with a skeptical look on his face. "Are you sure?" Ash asked, hesitant to let Orion continue.

Orion huffed in annoyance at Ash's questioning and held his head up in pride. Instead of backing down and accepting the offer of rest inside of his Poke Ball, the fire type stiffened and scraped his front hooves across the ground. Orion made it clear–he wasn't going to quit anytime soon.

Ash sorted through the battle strategies racing through his mind. He had limited options. Ember simply bounced off of Rhyhorn's body; and Orion wasn't capable of using Swift and Ash doubted that it would do much against Rhyhorn anyways. He supposed that he would have to beat Rhyhorn in a physical battle, which was practically suicide since Rhyhorn were practically living tanks. Unfortunately, Ash had little choice in the matter. Nothing was working against Rhyhorn, much in part due to how heat resistant Rhyhorn's armor was.

Unless...

"Heat Rhyhorn up, really heat Rhyhorn up, make it feel like it's standing in a blast furnace." Ash whispered.

The horse glanced back at Ash with a perplexed look on his face that Ash waved off. Reluctantly, the fire type focused on the battle again and tensed up, anxiously awaiting Ash's next command.

"Orion use Ember and don't hold back!" Ash shouted, pointing his index finger straight at Rhyhorn. Although the attack was all but useless against the rock type, taking down Rhyhorn with the attack wasn't his intention.

Orion spewed a plume of flaming ash from his mouth at Rhyhorn's head. The rhino Pokemon grumbled in frustration as the cloud of glowing embers engulfed him and blinded him momentarily. Taking advantage of Rhyhorn's hesitation, Ash shouted out another command.

"Flame Charge!"

An orange cloak of fire sparked to life around Orion before the horse lowered his head and bull rushed his foe. Rhyhorn stamped its feet on the ground and tensed up, not even bothering to evade Orion. A wave of orange and red flames cascaded over Rhyhorn's body and the force of Orion's tackle pushed Rhyhorn backwards.

Rhyhorn shrugged off the technique as if nothing had even happened. Rhyhorn's armor wasn't going to make the battle easy. Ash hoped that Flame Charge would do more. While he hadn't expected it to obliterate Rhyhorn or force the rock type to its knees, he expected it to at least wince from the heat of the flames. Apparently, he would have no such luck.

"Rock Polish," Brock grunted. "Follow it up with Fury Attack!"

"Flame Charge, get in close, then use Ember," Ash stated.

Fire bathed Orion allowing him to pick up speed. The horse spat flaming coals from his mouth at Rhyhorn's face. Rhyhorn shrugged off the glowing ash and flooded his body with bright blue sparks of light once more. Ash flinched slightly out of surprise and took note of the small piles of silt gathered around Rhyhorn's body.

He certainly hadn't noticed silt around the rock type the first time it used the technique.

He didn't have much time to dwell on the thought, Rhyhorn's deafening footsteps forced his mind back into planning what he and Orion would do to counter their opponents' strategy. After the flickers of light surrounding Rhyhorn ended, the rhino charged towards Orion like Rhyhorn had already done multiple times before.

Ash counted the seconds it took for Rhyhorn to reach Orion in his head. One, two, three...

He felt his heart sink. "Look out!" he exclaimed, his heart racing in his chest.

Orion took a single step forward and made a quick cut to his left. Rhyhorn thrust its horn forward, only to find that its target was now standing a few inches to its right. Ash let out a sigh of relief. That had been way too close, Orion only avoided being speared by Rhyhorn's horn by the narrowest of margins.

He swore he had more time. Rhyhorn hadn't displayed that sort of speed in the fight earlier.

Ash's eyes widened.

Was Rock Polish a speed enhancing technique? It wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Why else would the rock type have gotten faster?

A flood of other questions raced through his mind. Was Brock's setting up a larger end game? Was Brock toying with him? Was Brock's initial strategy to lull him into a false sense of security?

Ash glanced at the charging rhino again and the silt trampled underneath Rhyhorn's feet. The wheels in his mind began to turn as he took time to think everything over. "Orion, Flame Charge!" he exclaimed as Rhyhorn drew close again.

The fire type executed the command and cloaked himself in flame before darting away from the charging rock type, forcing the rock type to make another looping turn. Ash glanced at the silt on the ground. He took a deep breath.

What exactly was he looking at?

The silt was too fine to be remnants of Orion's Ember. The hot dust was larger than the silt and the hot ash was still burning brightly on the battlefield. Brock's shouts from across the battlefield forced Ash to divert most of his focus back on the battle.

"Rock Tomb!"

Rhyhorn promptly stomped the ground and ripped up a chunk of the stone battlefield with the sharp horn on his head.

Grhhrhr!

The rock type roared and flung the chunk of earth up into the air with a flick of his head. Orion zigzagged back and forth waiting to determine where the where the boulder would land as the falling clump of rock plummeted down from the sky. Once a tangible shadow formed over the spot where the boulder would fall, Orion cloaked himself in fire and sprinted as far away from the landing sight as possible. Dust and debris flew everywhere like a mortar shell had hit the battlefield. Pebbles crashed up against the protective walls of the barrier surrounding the battlefield, blinding both trainer and Pokemon alike.

Ash rubbed the stars from his eyes, only to find a thick cloud of dust obscuring the battlefield. He gritted his teeth. Was Orion still standing?

He was nearly positive that the attack hadn't scored a direct hit, but he couldn't help but wonder if the shrapnel from the falling boulder managed to hit the fire type.

A tiny flicker of orange light caught his attention as the dust cloud started to settle. Ash smirked at the sight–Orion was sullied with dust; but he was still standing. His joy was short-lived as Brock repeated his previous command. Rhyhorn followed the order and hurled more chunks of rock, this time throwing them directly at Orion.

Having seen the first Rock Tomb attack Rhyhorn had launched, Ash determined two things–the chunks of earth Rhyhorn threw were heavy and he didn't want to see what type of damage the rocks would do to a Pokemon.

"You know what to do!" Ash exclaimed.

Orion whinnied and cloaked himself in flame once more. The fire type became nothing more than an orange flicker of flame as he sprinted about the battlefield. Orion scurried back and forth, dipping and ducking occasionally to avoid chunks of rock whizzing past his head.

"Rock Polish," Brock repeated, causing Rhyhorn to channel a plethora of bright cobalt sparks through its body. Fine silt and small pebbles fell from Rhyhorn's body onto the ground, catching Ash's attention once more. "Horn Attack!"

Rhyhorn thundered toward Orion with long strides before the creature lowered its head and prepared to ram the fire type with its horn. Orion made a sharp cut to the right to avoided the charging Pokemon only for the rock type to make a quick turn and charge towards Orion again.

Ash's eyes widened. That was certainly a surprise. While there was no doubt that Rhyhorn was faster after using Rock Polish, Ash hadn't expected the rock type to gain agility.

As Rhyhorn closed in on Orion, Ash realized that they wouldn't have time to react this time around. Rhyhorn was too close to shake off this time around, they only had one option.

Ash frowned. He hated resorting to jumping, but given the circumstances he didn't have much choice. While Ponyta were natural athletes and were more than capable of leaping obstacles more than three times their height, Orion hadn't practiced jumping before. It was risky, especially given the fact that Rhyhorn could now make sharp turns.

What stopped the rock type from simply turning around again and ramming Orion once he landed his jump? Ash couldn't afford losing Orion without at least doing something to Rhyhorn to it down. Orion had yet to make Brock's Rhyhorn so much as sweat; there was no way Aurora could take on Brock's Rhyhorn near full strength and another one of Brock's Pokemon at full strength.

Ash waited for the rock type to draw in closer before announcing their change of plans. "Orion, jump over Rhyhorn!" He shouted. A small trace of desperation leaked out in his tone of voice.

Orion whinnied and tensed up. Pushing off the ground with his strong legs, the horse propelled himself up into the air and over the top of the charging rock type, leaving Rhyhorn nothing but air to thrust its horn into. Unfortunately, Rhyhorn did exactly what Ash expected it to do.

Rhyhorn made a sharp turn to its right and rumbled towards Orion again. The trainer cursed under his breath. Judging by his deep breaths, Orion was starting to tire and Rhyhorn was closing in. He had good endurance but Orion was just not prepared for Rhyhorn to be this relentless in battle.

Orion attempted to shake off the rock type like he had done many times throughout the battle, but Rhyhorn anticipated his movement. The rock type grunted and thrust his horn into Orion's chest. Ash winced upon hearing an audible crack. Orion groaned in agony from the hit and tumbled across the battlefield.

A flash of yellow light blinded Ash as Orion slammed into the protective barriers in front of him.

"Orion!" Ash shrieked with alarm.

A battered and bloodied fire type, now sporting a large gash on his chest, lay on the ground mere inches from his feet. He could only imagine what Orion's internal injuries were from taking a direct blow from Rhyhorn's horn.

The trainer from Pallet Town fumbled for Orion's Poke Ball. He hated his chances of winning against Brock down two to one, but Orion's health mattered far more than winning against Brock. Orion was too injured to continue. Ash imagined that Orion had to have broken bones after taking a direct hit from Rhyhorn and the horse was bleeding profusely.

In addition to his chest wound, the wounds from the sharp fragments of stone had been reopened after Orion tumbled across the ground. The trainer aimed Orion's Poke Ball at the fire type and pressed the button on the front of the orb. A bright beam of crimson light spanned from the orb and engulfed Orion.

The fire type fought the pull of the beam and broke free from it. Ash's eyes widened in disbelief. "What are you doing?!"

Orion whinnied his disapproval and glared at Ash with fury in his eyes. The fire type mustered up all his remaining strength and staggered onto his feet. Orion wobbled momentarily and his knees buckled under his own weight. If he wasn't concerned for Orion before, he was practically panicked now. "You don't have to fight anymore." Ash assured, pointing Orion's Poke Ball at him again.

Orion voiced his annoyance with the trainer again, seemingly reemphasizing his refusal to quit. He was bound and determined to finish his fight with Rhyhorn even if Distortion itself stood in his way. Orion grunted and willed himself to stand. The fire type glared at Rhyhorn and scraped his front hooves on the ground like an enraged Tauros.

Orion poured more of the internal fuel from the pyro sacs in his body into his flames, causing his tail and mane to burn even brighter.

Ash relented. He knew it was pointless to try to talk Orion out of fighting from firsthand experience. Ash recognized Orion's determination and stubbornness in himself, if he got an idea in his mind to finish something he would finish the task no matter what.

Ash noticed Brock's lips quirk upwards in a smirk, even the gym leader was impressed by Orion's resolve. "I've seen a lot of things a gym leader, but I've never seen a Pokemon prevent itself from being returned to its Poke Ball like that. Your Ponyta has determination, that's for sure. Win or lose, no one can say you two didn't try against my Rhyhorn." Brock complimented.

Ash smiled at the compliment. It seemed a bit out of character considering how stoic Brock had been throughout the battle, but he appreciated it regardless.

He nodded to Orion to signal he was ready when the fire type was. Ash had been saving an ace up his sleeve for the match with Brock and he figured now was as good a time as ever to use it. "We're putting everything we have into this next attack, hit Rhyhorn head on with Flame Charge!"

"Rhyhorn, Horn Attack!" Brock countered. "Finish this!"

Ash felt his heart flutter from excitement. Brock had taken the bait. "Double Team!" The trainer from Pallet Town cried out.

The fire type whinnied. Two flame cloaked duplicates of himself formed beside him and sprinted ahead of him, causing Rhyhorn to hesitate for a split second. The rhino was unsure about which Ponyta to attack first.

"Stone Edge!" Brock shouted, switching tactics.

Rhyhorn skidded to a halt and stomped the ground. A shockwave ripped through the ground and two columns of stone erupted from the battlefield underneath the sprinting Ponyta. The duplicates dissipated into wisps of smoke that momentarily shrouded the battlefield in a hazy fog.

Rhyhorn grunted in confusion before the real Orion burst forward from the dissipating veil of smoke and slammed into Rhyhorn. Bright orange flames burst forward from Orion's body and engulfed the fire type, leaving the rock type's armor charred.

Ash inwardly thanked Professor Oak for his gift. The trap had worked. While Rhyhorn had been focused on the copies of Orion, the real Orion managed to score a hit on the rock type and expose the armored Pokemon to flames.

Flame Charge wasn't just useful for gaining speed. Not only did the technique help get the circulation going, warm up a fire type to invigorate them, and release adrenaline into the bloodstream; but Flame Charge turned the user into a living fireball. Anything that it made contact with or crashed into would be engulfed in flame.

And above all else–the more Flame Charge was used, the stronger the flames became and the faster the user became.

"Rhyhorn, Horn Attack!" Brock repeated like he had many times before.

Rhyhorn charged Orion once more and lowered its head. Orion channeled his remaining strength into a massive plume of flame around his body that made him glow brighter than any star in the sky. The fire type charged towards Rhyhorn at full speed; instead of sidestepping his opponent, Orion lowered his shoulder and took Rhyhorn's hit head on.

The fire type cried out in agony.

Another loud snap, likely more bones snapping, echoed through the gym; but not before a cascade of flame washed over Rhyhorn. Even with his thick stone armor protecting him from the fire, Rhyhorn roared in agony as he was engulfed by fire. Ash winced, even though Rhyhorn was their opponent he hated seeing Rhyhorn suffer.

There was an odd tint of orange on Rhyhorn's armor, the heat scorched his stone hide to the point of warping it.

Ash glanced down at Orion's bloodied and beaten body. He felt a twinge of guilt for allowing his friend to get hurt. He questioned whether or not he should have been more forceful with the fire type. Ash pressed the button on the front of Orion's Poke Ball to return the Ponyta to the safety of stasis.

There was no time for second guessing himself now. Orion had put everything on the line to give the team a chance to beat Brock and his plan had been set in motion. They had come too far to back down now. "You fought well, Orion, you didn't quit. You should be proud of yourself." Ash whispered to the red and white orb in his hand.

Ash clipped Orion's Poke Ball back to his belt and unclipped a second Poke Ball from his belt. He glanced at Rhyhorn. The rock type didn't look like he was in too good of shape. He was panting heavily and his craggy, stone armor was charred badly.

He almost felt bad about what he was going to do next. "Aurora, I choose you!" The trainer declared, throwing the Luxury Ball in his hand. A crimson flash of light lit up the gym for a split second as the Luxury Ball opened to reveal the Alolan Vulpix.

Aurora held her head up with pride.

"Aurora, be careful, Rhyhorn has thick armor so physical techniques won't do anything against it," Ash warned. "Rhyhorn also used Rock Polish to enhance its speed to the point where it managed to take down Orion."

Aurora's eyes narrowed at the mention of the horse being defeated by Rhyhorn. She knew just how fast Orion was from firsthand experience. The games of tag she played with Orion and the races she had with Orion proved his speed. She wasn't going to take Rhyhorn lightly.

"You ready?" Ash whispered. Aurora responded with a brisk nod. "Powder Snow,"

Aurora sprung into action and drew air into her lungs before releasing the air from her mouth in the form of icy wind gusts. Rhyhorn grunted and veered out of the way of the blast of snow flurries and whipping winds.

Unlike the previous times where he had been caught off guard, Ash wasn't surprised the slightest bit that Rhyhorn managed to escape the blast of chilled air. He nodded to the fox again, prompting her to suck in more air and puff out more streams of cold air at her foe. Rhyhorn danced out of danger, zigzagging back and forth to dodge the blasts of cold.

Ash grumbled under his breath. He shouldn't really have been surprised, but the rock type's agility still managed to catch him off guard again. It just seemed to get faster and gain agility the longer the battle continued.

Brock apparently hadn't revealed just how much agility and speed Rhyhorn gained from Rock Polish, but now Rhyhorn was starting to show off his full ability. The rhino was far more nimble than Ash imagined it could be.

Fortunately, even the missed shots were helping to a certain degree since they were cooling the air around Rhyhorn.

Ash hadn't forgotten his classes back in school. While stone was very durable and difficult to wear down, rocks didn't respond well to rapid temperature changes. Sudden and extreme temperature fluctuations could chip and break rock from the expansion and contraction of the rock.

He imagined that Rhyhorn's stone armor wouldn't respond to the temperature changes any better than stone found in nature. Orion had practically exposed Rhyhorn to the heat of a blast furnace only a few minutes ago; rapidly cooling the rock type with Powder Snow would warp its armor further, if not outright crack it.

Countless snow flurries whirled about from Powder Snow whizzing through the air, usually finding a spot where Rhyhorn had once been.

"Rhyhorn, Stone Barrage!" Brock ordered, apparently tired of watching Rhyhorn placed on the defensive from the blasts of cold.

The rhino snorted in acknowledgment and barreled forward like a freight train rumbling down the tracks; however, instead of rushing towards Aurora, Rhyhorn thundered towards one of the patches of raised earth in the battlefield where Rhyhorn had used Stone Edge.

Crack!

The stone didn't stand a chance. Shards of stone flew out in countless directions and a thick cloud of dust cloaked the battlefield in a gray haze. Shrapnel from the flying rock pelted the protective walls around the gym's battlefield, causing the barriers to flare up again.

Ash shielded his eyes and waited for the dust to clear. His eyes locked onto the fox standing at the far end of the battlefield. Although her fur was sullied by the dust, she didn't appear to be injured from the attack.

If anything, Rhyhorn seemed like it had been shaken up by the the technique more than Aurora. Rhyhorn wouldn't have had any problem smashing into stone under normal circumstances; but after its armor had been weakened by heat the stone was made fragile. It wouldn't have been noticeable to the untrained eye, but Ash had been around Pokemon to notice the differences on Rhyhorn's body. There were cracks and chips in Rhyhorn's stone hide as a result of crashing into the raised earth.

That was another weakness that Aurora could exploit.

"Rhyhorn, Horn Attack!" Brock shouted.

Having had hardly any time to regain her bearings, Aurora found herself staring down a bulky rhino charging towards her headfirst. Rhyhorn snorted and thrust his horn into Aurora's shoulder and pinned the ice type against the psychic barriers.

At least, Rhyhorn would have pinned Aurora against the barriers had she been standing there. The fox dispersed with a puff of smoke, leaving both Rhyhorn and its trainer in shock before a blast of cold air struck Rhyhorn in the back.

Hiss!

Billows of steam rose from Rhyhorn's body from the sudden change in temperature and beads of condensation dripped from Rhyhorn's hide.

Brock's stoic facade broke and a scowl formed on his face for the briefest of moments. The gym leader was clearly annoyed. Ash smirked at his opponent's reaction. Who would have thought that the same trick could work twice?

"Freeze-Dry, Aurora!" Ash exclaimed.

A second white fox darted forward from the opposite end of the battlefield and fired swirling winds from her mouth that lashed out at Rhyhorn's body. Rhyhorn let out a roar of agony in response to the cold air.

Another thick cloud of steam wafted off of the rock type's body from the sudden change in temperature and ice clung to his body likely a result of condensation freezing during the rapid temperature change. The rhino hit the ground with a loud thud and remained there, its joints locked up as a result of the condensation freezing.

Ash his heart flutter in excitement, his plan had worked. He had evened the match up.

Brock reached to his belt for Rhyhorn's Poke Ball and aimed the orb at the rock type. A faint whirring hummed through the gym as a red beam of light pulled the battered rock type into the safety of stasis.

"Interesting, I see that your Ponyta isn't the only Pokemon you taught Double Team to." Brock praised before clipping Rhyhorn's Poke Ball back to his belt. The gym leader rubbed his chin in thought. "I'm impressed, you've shown a lot more battle knowledge than most of the trainers I've faced lately."

Ash grinned in response to the second compliment given by the otherwise stern gym leader. He felt like he was on top of the world.

Brock unclipped another Poke Ball from his belt. "However, let's see how you handle this!" Brock shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice wavering just slightly.

Brock's stoic demeanor faded entirely and was replaced by genuine excitement. The gym leader tossed the orb up into the air after pressing the button on the front of the orb. Crimson light lit up the gym before a giant, gray serpent made entirely of stone emerged from the orb.

Ash's face paled. All of his excitement and confidence from winning the first half of the match disappeared in an instant. Brock's second Pokemon was gigantic, it looked more like a skyscraper than a Pokemon. Aurora wasn't much more than a lowly Caterpie in its presence. Even with a minor typing advantage from her ice type techniques, winning against the stone behemoth seemed improbable at best.

The stone serpent let out a menacing roar, forcing Ash to cover his ears. Judging by the irritated look on Aurora's face, the ice type wasn't very appreciative of the sound either.

Ash frantically reached for his Pokedex to scan the rock type hoping to learn more about it. Once he pulled the tablet out of his pocket, he pointed the lens on the front of the device at the serpent to allow the device to identify the snake. The Pokedex spoke in its typical cold monotone.

Onix, the rock snake Pokemon–usually live underground and are known for their ability to travel underground at speeds up to fifty miles per hour. Onix never get lost because its brain is composed of magnetic material which functions as a compass and helps guide Onix while they are burrowing underground.

Armed with the information about Onix from the Pokedex, Ash surveyed his surroundings and looked for anything that could be used to his advantage or things that would prove to be a disadvantage. He knew that he wouldn't be able to beat a behemoth like Onix by brute strength alone; strategy and tactical advantages in the terrain would be needed to even out the odds.

Well, that and luck – lots and lots of luck.

The trainer eyed the sprinklers on the ceiling. He wished Orion was available for the fight against Onix. A single Ember attack aimed at the sprinklers would trigger the sprinkler systems. While water would be detrimental to Orion, the water would have proven invaluable for Aurora. Onix's body wasn't much different from Rhyhorn's body.

Both Pokemon had craggy bodies made of stone. Ash imagined that the water from the sprinkler system would drench Onix and fill the crevices in its stone hide, making the serpent even more vulnerable to ice. A single Freeze-Dry or Powder Snow was capable of freezing water, and Ash could only imagine how Onix would react to having its entire body frozen.

He shrugged off the thought. It was useless to dwell on the idea since he couldn't use that strategy. Orion wasn't available for the fight and wouldn't be launching a cloud of hot dust to trigger the sprinkler system.

He supposed that he would have to find a way to get ice to form in Onix's vulnerabilities without water.

His mind shifted to the second abnormality in the gym. The gym's battlefield was an absolute wreck from the battle with Rhyhorn. Chunks of the battlefield were missing in many places and other spots of the battlefield were uneven as a result of tremors running through the battlefield. The uneven battlefield wasn't exactly beneficial for Aurora. She would likely have to watch her step during the entire fight to avoid tripping or falling in a crater.

"Your move," Brock declared.

Ash nodded to Aurora, prompting her to draw air into her lungs. He figured that it wasn't necessary to get her to change tactics. They needed to test Onix before they could make adjustments. Wisps of cold air rushed out from Aurora's mouth and whizzed towards Onix.

"Onix, Screech!" Brock retorted, emphasizing his command with an outward sweep of his arm.

The serpent announced its acknowledgment of the command with a deafening shriek. A powerful wave of sound erupted from Onix's maw and rebuffed the wind gusts aimed at Onix. Aurora cringed and staggered backwards, nearly blacking out from the intense sound.

He gave the ice type a sympathetic glance. Ash could only imagine how bad Onix's cries sounded to Aurora. Onix's screeches put enough pressure on his eardrums that it felt like they would burst; but Alolan Vulpix and their traditional counterparts had even better hearing than humans.

Brock showed no mercy. Noticing Aurora was disoriented from the soundwave, he took advantage of the situation and shouted out another command. "Tackle!"

Onix lunged forward and flung his head at the ground. Aurora scampered away from the serpent's head, avoiding the serpent by the narrowest of margins. Dust erupted from the battlefield and slivers of rock rained down from above.

Ash blinked. Was he really seeing what he thought he was seeing? He hadn't seen anything quite like the destruction Onix inflicted upon the battlefield. A simple lunge by Onix left a crater in the battlefield reminiscent to the craters around Mt. Moon left by meteorites.

He would have to approach Onix with the utmost caution, a single hit from Onix would likely incapacitate Aurora. As Ash gave the situation more thought, he realized that a direct blow from Onix wasn't his only concern.

Even Onix's misses were devastating.

Onix didn't have legs and slid across the ground or tunneled through the ground. The serpent didn't have to worry about tripping. The more marred and craggy the battlefield became, the more the scales tipped into Onix's favor. At the very least, uneven ground would slow Aurora down and in the worst case scenario it would trip her up allowing Onix to score a direct hit with Tackle. It threw off his battle strategy entirely. He had planned on trying to overwhelm Brock with Aurora's long ranged attacks while keeping his distance.

He had planned to outmaneuver Onix by keeping it off balance, but his primary plan of dealing with Onix had just been taken off the table. There would be no icy battlefield today.

He would have to change his approach. "Double Team!"

Aurora woofed her acknowledgment of the command before five duplicates of herself formed around her. Onix hesitated momentarily, caught off guard by the sudden increase of Alolan Vulpix. The rock type's charcoal-colored eyes shifted back and forth, seemingly analyzing the pack of Alolan Vulpix charging forward with a burst of speed.

All five of the Vulpix inhaled and spewed out a mighty gust of cold air.

Brock shook his head, familiar with the technique enough to counter it. "Not this time, Onix, Bulldoze!" He shouted.

Onix lifted the tip of its tail up and slammed it on the ground. Shrapnel from the battlefield flew up into the air and intercepted Aurora's attack. The rest of the shards of rock sprayed the protective walls and caused the barriers to glow from strain. A powerful tremor shook the earth and threw Aurora and her duplicates halfway across the battlefield. Gray puffs of smoke wafted through the air, marking the spots where the copies had landed.

A lone fox – the true Aurora–lay on the battlefield in a daze from the powerful shockwave. Ash gritted his teeth, Onix wasn't quite done yet. Before Aurora had a chance to get her bearings, Onix thrust its head at Aurora.

"Look out!" Ash warned with a trill screech.

Aurora let out a startled yip and rolled to her right. A strong tremor threw Aurora across the battlefield and fragments of stone and dust rained down upon her. The ice type staggered to her feet and shook herself off. Onix roared and barreled towards Aurora again, once again preparing to ram Aurora.

Ash inwardly chuckled. Brock was getting predictable, he'd make him pay for using the same trick twice. "No retreat, Moonblast, let's go!"

Aurora stared down Onix in defiance. She trusted her trainer and her own abilities. Onix wouldn't have a chance to hit her. Aurora opened her maw. Beads of fluorescent pink light coalesced inside her mouth and took the form of a small sphere. It still wasn't anywhere near the strength of a "true" Moonblast attack, but it would suffice. Aurora growled as she fired the golf ball-sized projectile at her foe.

Boom!

A bright flash of light lit up the room. The sphere of lunar energy detonated as it struck Onix between the eyes. Chips of stone and fine sediment flaked from Onix's body where the blast had hit. The blast staggered the serpent enough to cause it to veer right. Instead of hitting Aurora, Onix smashed the ground several feet away with its head. Ash felt the momentum of the match shifting, he had Onix on the ropes.

"Hit it again!"

Beads of pink light flickered inside mouth and took the shape of another golf ball-sized sphere. The orb of energy grew to the size of a small tennis ball. Emptying herself of all her stored lunar energy, Aurora fired the orb at Onix.

Another flash of light. The second blast of energy hit Onix in the side, and caused Onix to recoil in pain. Ash couldn't blame the rock type for crying out in agony. Onix's body had spiderwebbed in several spots. While the cracks appeared to be superficial, Onix had cracked armor from Moonblast's damage nevertheless. It hardly seemed significant, but to Ash that was a victory. The crevices on Onix's body where they were fused together were vulnerabilities where ice could buildup. Ice buildup, at the very least, would help immobilize Onix; and if enough ice built up in the crevices of Onix's body, its stone hide would crack and chip.

But the cracks on Onix's head and side gave him additional targets to hit. Not only would freezing those weak points have a similar effect as freezing the spots where Onix was fused together, but any cold or ice that seeped into the other cracks on Onix's body would likely freeze internal tissue and nerves.

The vulnerabilities in Onix's body gave Ash some leverage against the rock type, if only he could capitalize on it.

"Onix, Harden," Brock stated, his stoic tone of voice returning for the briefest of moments.

Onix answered the barrage of attacks with a quick surge of energy. A pulse of white light lit up the gym momentarily as Onix channeled energy through its body. Ash imagined that Brock's decision to use Harden was threefold. Not only did the technique enhance defensive capabilities by tempering the user's body with energy, but it helped solidify the stone around the weak points in Onix's stone hide to help prevent further damage around the chinks in Onix's body. He also imagined that Onix's body was much more dangerous when tempered, giving the serpent better offense.

"Onix, Tackle!"

Onix grumbled and thrust its head towards Aurora. Aurora channeled a flood of adrenaline through her body and scrambled away from Onix's head plunging towards the battlefield.

Aurora yipped. A shockwave swept her off her feet, sent her tumbling across the battlefield, and left her buried in a pile of pebbles and dust.

Ash cringed. Onix's size and physical strength were quickly becoming a problem. Aurora depended upon ranged attacks and the ability to keep her foes off balance. Onix was taking away her battle strategy. The rock snake had marred the battlefield, making it difficult for Aurora to flee and its sheer size made it difficult for Aurora to keep her distance from Onix.

Onix had practically stayed in the same spot throughout the gym battle so far. It only needed to make occasional adjustments in direction to strike Aurora.

Ash and Aurora barely got any chance to regroup before Onix lurched forward like a Arbok striking its prey. Aurora let out a squeak as she regained her bearings just enough to see Onix's head plummeting towards her.

Ash panicked. "Powder Snow!"

Aurora spewed bursts of chilled air from her mouth aimed directly at Onix's face and the cracked stone between his eyes. The stone behemoth paid little attention to the gusts and thrust its massive head down at Aurora.

Aurora rolled out of the way, only to get caught up in the shockwave of Onix's head hitting the ground. Aurora let out a startled yipe as she was flung up into the air. It took her a brief second to get her bearings. Regaining her composure, Aurora twirled through the air and landed on her feet.

Aurora took a deep breath to draw air into her lungs before firing off several more wisps of cold air from her mouth aimed at Onix. Onix grumbled, shrugging off each of the bursts until one of the icy gusts struck the cracks in its head. The serpent writhed in agony as cold air, ice, and snow filled the crevices.

"Bind!" Brock repeated, prompting Onix to action again.

Instead of the usual lunge, Onix contorted its body and made a sharp turn to chase down Aurora. The serpent closed in on Aurora and coiled its lower body around Aurora to prevent her from escaping before attempting to wrap her up with its lower body. Aurora leapt up into the air and climbed up Onix's craggy body.

"Shake it off!" Brock ordered.

"Freeze-Dry!" Ash countered.

Aurora scampered further up Onix's body. The ice type inhaled before expelling blasts of arctic air from her mouth onto every inch of Onix's body to fill the crevices on Onix's body with ice. Onix roared in defiance and shook in an attempt to throw Aurora off of its back.

Aurora squeaked.

Finding it difficult to hang onto Onix, Aurora channeled a burst of adrenaline through her body and leapt off of Onix's back to safety. Ash smirked at Aurora's handiwork. Frost and snow covered most of Onix's back, thanks to the icy gusts of Freeze-Dry from Aurora. He would have been hard pressed to tell the difference between Onix and the snow-covered peak of Mt. Silver.

"Onix, Bulldoze!" Brock was changing tactics again. Onix grunted and lifted the tip of its tail up in the air.

Crack!

Rippling tremors rattled the battlefield, shaking both trainer and Pokemon to their very core. Aurora's knees buckled and fell flat on her stomach despite trying her best to withstand the earthquake. "Freeze-Dry!" Ash exclaimed.

"Bulldoze, follow it up with Tackle!" Brock declared.

Aurora forced herself back up and took in a breath of air. Channeling all of her mental fortitude to ignore the tremors in the battlefield, Aurora puffed out more wind gusts of supercooled air and aimed the blasts of air at the cracked stone on Onix's head. Snow flurries formed in the air and plummeted to the ground where the wind whizzed through the air. Another sharp bellow from Onix echoed through the gym. Onix flailed about in pain as cold air filled the crevices. More sediment flaked off of Onix's body.

Ash felt his heart flutter in excitement, his plan was working. The crevices appeared to be widening from the cold air permeating the cracks land Onix's movements appeared slower. Powering through the agonizing pain, Onix swung its tail at Aurora repeatedly.

Aurora zigzagged back and forth, dancing out of danger and retaliating with blasts of cold air aimed at Onix's weak points.

"Don't let up!" Ash shouted. Aurora fired several more volleys of cold air at her foe aimed at both Onix's head and side. The first few volleys missed the flailing Onix entirely before the second wave of icy gusts struck both of Onix's vulnerabilities, sending the serpent into another frenzy.

"Onix, Screech!" Brock exclaimed frantically.

Onix opened its massive maw. An earsplitting roar accompanied with a powerful soundwave echoed through the gym and overpowered the blasts of cold air. Ash winced as Aurora was thrown across the room by the soundwave and left in a daze by the sound. Onix sprung into action again.

Onix repeated its previous trick and barricaded Aurora in by coiling its body around Aurora. Aurora let out a yipe of agony as the serpent wrapped its body around Aurora and squeezed her as tightly as possible. Ash gritted his teeth, he didn't like how quickly the situation changed. Brock wanted to end the match quickly and Bind was his preferred method. An opponent couldn't fight any longer if they couldn't breathe.

Ash shouted out another command, hoping that the technique would be enough to force Onix to loosen its hold on Aurora. "Freeze-Dry!"

Aurora released the remaining air from her lungs and aimed for the cracks up by Onix's head.

Onix flinched and loosened its grip on Aurora, unable to handle the icy burn from the gusts whipping against his face and creeping into the cracks in his stone hide. More stone and dust flaked off from Onix's head as the cold caused its stone body to contract further. Taking advantage of Onix's loosening its grip, Aurora fired another blast of cold air at the cracks on Onix's head. The serpent thrashed about in agony, forcing Aurora to flee from the writhing serpent to avoid being hit by the flailing snake.

"Freeze-Dry," Ash repeated.

Aurora exhaled another blast of arctic air at her foe. The bitter winds lashed out at Onix's face and filled the crevices on Onix's forehead with even more ice and snow. Onix convulsed even more, the sting of the winds seeping into the cracks and likely wrecking havoc the rock type's rudimentary nervous system.

Rock types generally didn't feel the effects of pain quite as strongly as other Pokemon since they were protected by their thick stone hides protecting their nerves. However, if a rock type's armor was compromised in any way, it left them vulnerable; especially to the cold and ice which they already struggled with. Once the cold and ice sunk down into the second layer of their body, much more serious complications like nerve damage could develop.

Aurora, despite starting to feel the effects of fatigue on her body from her barrage of attacks, continued to unleash wave after wave of cold air upon the already gimped Onix. Onix repeated its usual pattern of trying to wrap up Aurora with Bind or slam into the ice type only to get a blast of cold air in the face, side, or crevices adjoining its body.

Ash frowned. Even though they had Onix on the ropes, Aurora's attacks were losing potency each subsequent time they were used. She was clearly getting tired, and even her body language showed it. Aurora was running on sheer willpower and Ash imagined that Aurora couldn't last much longer. While his recent training with the team had improved her endurance, she wasn't quite ready to take on a physical behemoth like Onix in a prolonged battle.

Fortunately, if Onix's body language was any indication the ice and snow had slowed the rock type as well. It was only a matter of time until Onix was exhausted as well. The serpent was sluggish due to the amount of ice and snow stuck to its body, and its breath was labored.

"It looks like our next few attacks will decide the outcome of this battle." Brock said, voicing the unspoken thoughts racing through Ash's mind. "I've definitely enjoyed this battle and you've proven to be a very capable trainer, but I'm afraid this battle is over."

Ash snorted. He was thinking the same thing. It was time for another Freeze-Dry, one that would hopefully be enough to put Onix down.

"Onix, Dig," Brock stated, his lips quirking up in a grin.

Onix followed the orders of its trainer and burrowed into the ground, leaving a giant hole in the battlefield where Onix had tunneled into the ground. Ash felt his heart skip a beat and practically sink into his stomach. Brock had saved one last trick up his sleeve–a trump card that few trainers had answers for. Onix tunneling into the battlefield not only gave Brock an advantage defensively since it was virtually impossible to hit Onix while it was underground, but it also gave him an offensive advantage.

Ash had no idea where Onix would resurface, giving Brock the element of surprise and allowing him to go on the offensive immediately after Onix resurfaced. And if he really wanted to, Brock could have his Onix resurface underneath Aurora.

Truth be told, Ash felt he would be in the majority of Brock's opponents. He didn't have an answer to Onix tunneling under the battlefield. The battlefield was too damaged from Onix and Rhyhorn to effectively turn the place into an ice skating rink like he had planned to during their preparations for the gym battle against Brock, there wasn't much left Aurora could do offensively, and Aurora's Double Team feints could be neutralized by Bulldoze.

He shouted out the only command he could think of to try to predict where Onix would resurface. "Listen closely for tremors and wait for the ground to shake, the moment you hear something or feel vibrations through the ground give Onix another dose of Freeze-Dry!"

The entire battlefield quaked momentarily, catching both Ash and Aurora off guard. Neither of them expected tremors of that magnitude since they thought that the tremors would be limited to the spot Onix would resurface at. The ground beneath Aurora began to shift. It took a moment for the thought to register in Ash's mind, but once it had it was far too late. "Aurora!" He shrieked in a panic.

Onix sprang up from the ground, launching Aurora and a cloud of debris up in the air. Onix lurched forward and thrust his head at Aurora, preparing to ram the airborne ice type. He had adjusted to Brock's strategies and given his best effort, but it wasn't enough. Dig had proven to be the deciding move. Ash felt his stomach churn as he watched Aurora up in the air and Onix lower its head.

"Freeze-Dry!" He repeated like he had countless other times throughout the battle.

Aurora took a deep breath and drew as much air as she could into her lungs before firing bitter cold wind gusts at Onix's head. The attack was far weaker than any of Aurora's previous ice attacks and did little more than make Onix angrier.

A sickening thud echoed through the battlefield. Aurora yelped in agony from the initial hit and shrieked even louder as Onix slammed the ice type against the psychic barrier ceiling of the gym and pinned her against the barriers. Ash gritted his teeth, he hated seeing or hearing his Pokemon suffer.

They had come so close. Wasn't there anything they could do? Onix pressed its head tighter against Aurora causing an audible snap. Ash winced. Aurora's white fur was stained a bloody crimson as blood trickled out of her chest and legs. He subconsciously reached for Aurora's Poke Ball.

Ash hesitated and his eyes widened, an idea entered his mind. They still had one more card they could play. "Aurora, Confuse Ray!" Ash exclaimed, faking a grin to hide his insecurities about using the technique.

Confuse Ray was virtually unproven in battle, energy-consuming, and outright risky since it could harm both the victim and its user; but considering the circumstances Ash couldn't bring himself to care. He couldn't bring himself to give any less than his best. He owed his team that much, especially after the effort Orion and Aurora put forth. Win or lose as long as he gave the battle his all, he would be satisfied with the outcome.

Aurora focused her gaze and locked eyes with Onix for one last stand with the rock type. Aurora's ice eyes shifted from their usual sky blue color to an unnatural and ominous red hue. Ash frowned–Onix wasn't stopping, it still had Aurora pinned against the barriers.

Suddenly, a horrific shriek reminiscent of a ghost type echoed through the gym. Onix backed down and released Aurora, allowing the battered fox to land on the ground safely. The technique took and it was powerful.

Whatever illusion Aurora had inflicted upon Onix was definitely something akin to its worst nightmares. The behemoth that tore through the ground like a hot knife through butter, overpowered Aurora's icy breath with a roar, shook the battlefield with earthquakes, and pinned Aurora against the barriers of the battlefield, now thrashed about on the ground like a Magikarp out of water.

The barriers surrounding the battlefield flashed repeatedly as Onix crashed into the wall and buffeted the wall with its body. A bright flash of red light engulfed Onix momentarily before it was whisked away into a red and white orb.

It took a moment for him to comprehend what happened from the adrenaline clouding his mind and the millions of thoughts racing through his mind; but his lips quirked up into a smile once he finally figured out what had happened.

He had beaten Brock.

His excitement was short-lived upon glancing over at Aurora. The ice type panted heavily and her legs trembled making it appear as if it was difficult to stand. Her white fur was stained crimson with blood from the gashes around her shoulder and chest likely from being hit in mid-air and pinned against the barriers of the gym.

She, like Orion, had given her all. Ash was proud of his starter, she hadn't given up in the face of the toughest adversity and hadn't backed down. She was tougher than anyone gave her credit for.

He smiled at the wounded fox and knelt down beside her. "You were amazing out there. Take a rest, you've definitely earned it." Ash whispered, reaching for her Luxury Ball. Aurora whimpered and tapped his hand with her icy nose.

The trainer from Pallet Town blinked. He swore that the ice type was smiling at him. A dark crimson beam of light flickered from the orb and pulled her into the safety of her ball. Ash let out a sigh of relief.

A heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders – he had won his first gym battle. While it wasn't likely a "true" win since he doubted that Aurora and Orion had faced Brock's official team, he had still emerged victorious over his opponent and it was a good feeling.

"You're pretty good, you know that?" Brock chuckled, shuffling over towards Ash as he navigated the demolished battlefield.

"I kind of lucked out, I was just surprised Confuse Ray worked. My Vulpix doesn't have a lot of experience with it." Ash downplayed with a nervous laugh.

Brock shook his head. "I underestimated you a bit there, I've seen a lot of trainers come through here; but only a handful were capable of matching what you did. Only a handful of trainers have managed to defeat my Onix, you've earned it."

The gym leader extended his hand, holding out a shiny, gray octagon in his hand. Ash glanced at the object and reached out for the item. A manic grin formed on Ash's face as he picked up the emblem evidencing his win over Brock. The badge felt lighter than he imagined it, but the emotional weight that it carried wasn't any less because of it.

He could officially prove he beat Brock in a gym battle and he was one step closer to the Indigo Conference.

"Thank you, I really enjoyed our battle!" Ash beamed, staring at the gray octagon as if it was a precious gem.

Brock nodded. "I did too, feel free to stop by again for a rematch in the future. Judging by your performance today, I think that you'll be ready to face my official team once you and your team get stronger."

"You can count on it!" Ash declared before turning to leave. Brock placed a firm hand on Ash's shoulder to get his attention.

"Hold on just a second!" Brock exclaimed. Ash spun back around and noticed Brock's outstretched hand holding out two plastic cases, one containing blue felt inside and the other containing a silver cartridge reminiscent to the long since obsolete floppy disks used in old computers. "For your win."

Ash gave Brock a perplexed look and reluctantly grabbed the items from his hand so he could examine them further. Brock chuckled, noticing Ash's confusion. "It's not a lot, but I usually hand out the TM for Rock Tomb to those that win at my gym. Also, I customarily offer my challengers a badge case just in case they don't have one." Brock clarified.

Ash grinned again. Those would definitely come in handy. "Thanks!"

Brock nodded. "Get ready, because this is just the beginning. There will be plenty of challenges awaiting you. Only those that put in the effort will be able to succeed in those challenges."

Ash gave the gym leader a brisk nod and filed the quick lesson away in his mind for later. As he turned to leave, he tucked his new gear into his pocket. His Pokemon had been roughed up badly after fighting Brock. He imagined that they needed medical attention

Once again, the Pokemon Center awaited them.

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Author's Note: Fun facts – Tsukene means root in Japanese, Tsuru means vine, and Chūsainin means mediator.