Excalibur – Charcadett (f)
Cú – Hisuian Growlithe (m)
Fatalis – Charmander (m)
Cookie – Metapod (f)

Chapter 13:

With their first night in the forest over, and a rather groggy Jessie in tow, the group continued their journey to Pewter City. While Arthur wanted to reach the city quickly, he was well aware that his newest team members needed some more battle experience. Keeping that in mind, he chose to have Cú remain in his ball and had Fatalis challenge every pokemon they came across.

To prevent any accidents and work on his claw training, Arthur had him refrain from using any Fire type moves. That way he'd get more close quarters experience and could put the lessons given by Meowth to use. As expected, the handful of Weedle and Caterpie that challenged them weren't much of a challenge, so they progressed nicely through the forest.

After lunch it was Cookie's turn to fight and she once again proved her proficiency in using her strings. Once she'd immobilized her opponents, she used her String Shot on branches above her to pull herself up and then throw herself through the air and land with a Tackle boosted by her fall. That worked perfectly against the grounded pokemon she faced, but against the odd Pidgey and Spearow they had to get even more creative.

"Use short bursts of your String Shot! Don't hold onto it for long!" Arthur ordered after the opposing Spearow had easily dodged a basic String Shot, followed by a sweeping whip. Cookie at first struggled to cut he string short, but was quick on the uptake and changed her pattern after a handful of tries. While the Spearow weaved around the initial attack, it was quickly overwhelmed under the flak-like barrage of sticky strings and fell to the ground. Once it too was finished by a falling Tackle, Arthur picked up his pokemon and rubbed her cocoon affectionately.

"That was amazing Cookie!" he said and gave her some berry juice as reward. She hummed in response and watched as Meowth cut free the poor Spearow that had challenged them so it could fly off, but not without squawking angrily.

"It was impressive indeed. Never have I thought I'd be reluctant to face a Metapod, but yours …" James mused. "That one's quite crafty."

"Yeah, and she'll only get more impressive from here on out. What do you say Cookie, want to help the others train how do dodge later?" Arthur proposed and couldn't help but chuckle when James's sweat dropped at the idea.

Jessie on the other hand groaned loudly. "Really? Isn't chasing after your Growlithe enough training already?"

"Training pokemon is more than just doing the same thing again and again, Jessie." Arthur responded as he looked at her over his shoulder, where she was a good distance behind them. She'd been staying behind the whole day. "And I've got a feeling that you'd profit from some training as well. Sleeping in a tent for a day shouldn't get you like this."

"We've been walking all day yesterday! And today we'll do too!" she whined and brushed her hand through her hair. "And my hair's a mess too!"

James rolled his eyes. "Then move your big butt faster so we can get to town. Otherwise we'll have to stay in here for another night."

That had the intended effect of making Jessie move faster, but it also made her get in James's face, shouting. "What did you say?!"

"Not just slow but deaf too?! I said move your big butt!" James shouted back and the two went off at each other.

Arthur took a step back, knowing their antics well enough. He leaned down to Meowth and asked. "Found a way to stop that?"

"Other than scratching their faces? No." Meowth answered with the flick of a claw and a wide grin. "If they used all the energy they waste arguing for properly doing their job instead then we wouldn't struggle with our budget."

"Doesn't help that Jessie is so easy to trigger. All you got to do is say anything that isn't a hundred percent positive about her appearance …" Arthur sighed and looked at the two 'grown-ups' stretched each other's faces out. "It's not even that big."

Somehow, through the sound of them insulting each other, Jessie heard that comment. In the blink of an eye, she was free of James' grasp and at Arthur's side, leaning on his shoulder with a smug look on her face. "Eh, what was that, Arthur? Did you look at my butt? How naughty~" she teased before laughing when he turned away.

"It was hard to miss when we went shopping yesterday. Anyways, you shouldn't react to a comment like that." He coughed in annoyance. Ignoring her teasing would be easy if his body wasn't working against him. "You know, so that you wouldn't get angry when you hear something like that from strangers we may come across."

"Mhm, I'm sure that's the reason why." She said and poked his cheek playfully.

"So, are you done fighting so we can get back on track?" Arthur made a step forward. "If we pick up the pace a bit we should arrive in Pewter before nightfall."

Jessie gave him another teasing look before she straightened back up. "I guess. But if we manage to get there today I'm calling dibs on the first shower." Her stomach growled. "Oh, and a nice meal, please?"

Thanks to Jessie's renewed vigor, they'd managed to reach Pewter that same day. After a quick meal, the group retreated to the room they'd gotten at the pokecenter, where Jessie and Meowth had immediately claimed the bathroom for herself. Arthur put his backpack down, pulled out his notebook, and thought his plans with the gym and the training of his pokemon.

Fatalis hadn't learned Metal Claw yet, but given his progress it shouldn't take that much longer, so challenging the Pewter Gym in about a week should be fine. Aside from that, he remembered Fatalis showing something interesting when he'd battled Jessie and James. The darkish blue that had surrounded his mouth was undoubtedly draconic in nature. With that, they could train towards Dragon Rage or Dragon Breath, probably quicker than the move they were currently training for too. Then again, Fatalis had made it clear he wanted to train his Fire moves next, but perhaps they could find a compromise. The Dragon moves would help in their fight against the Cerulean Gym for sure, and he doubted he could manage teaching him Thunder Punch anytime soon.

Cookie did the best she could given her current form, which meant getting her to evolve would be the goal for now. Having her as a Butterfree would guarantee his badge, since he wasn't going to use his other two team members. Once she'd be more accustomed to flying, he'd have her and maybe James's Koffing help with training against airborne opponents. Aside from that, having her train her psychic powers, powder moves, and working towards the good Bug moves would take a while. She'd be of great help to capture new pokemon, and given her finesse with her String Shot, she'd certainly make a good psychic fighter too. He hadn't planned on catching a Caterpie, but he'd try and see how far he could take her. At the very least, she'd be strong enough for the preliminaries.

That left Excalibur and Cú. For the later he'd try and get Flint to give him some pointers regarding Rock type moves. While he'd learned Rock Tomb more or less by himself, the puppy had no idea how he did it. That and the fact that they'd spend most of their time on learning other moves didn't help advancing from that point onward. Lucky for them, their first stop was by just the right person to ask. It reminded Arthur that he'd have to call Blaine in the morning before he booked his gym battle. Flint had helped him with his research and he was going to repay it, even if he'd received some positive publicity already.

Excalibur on the other hand was … a different problem. She'd trained extensively and her offensive power was nothing to scoff at, but very limited in terms of coverage. Her species sadly didn't learn that many different moves before evolution, and said evolution was hard to come by. There wasn't much he could do about that but wait for any update from Team Rocket. Maybe he could find help in Saffron City or Lavendar Town, given they housed the most proficient specialist that matched the typings of Charcadets evolutions. The girl he fought back on the ship who'd taken the other Charcadet with her surely had an idea, but he hadn't heard anything about her or the pirates she'd been with since then either … Until they found a way to evolve, they were locked to the handful of moves and types available to them. Perhaps they could try for a completely new custom move? Or try and push the boundaries of what "game knowledge" really meant in this universe?

He wrote down the outlines of his pokemons training for the next week, along with workshopping a custom move with his starter, and then thought about what else to do while he's here. Pewter City wasn't that big a city, bigger than Cinnabar for sure but nothing compared to Viridian, which meant his options were limited. The museum would be a start, maybe a trip to Mt. Moon to help his pokemon get experience against Rock types, and that was about it. There just wasn't much going on-

"Hey Arthur, have you seen this?" James interrupted his thought and held out a flyer in front of him.

"Pewter City Junior Trainer Tournament?" He read out loud.

"Apparently it's to help young trainers get a monetary boost and maybe even find a sponsor if they perform well enough."

Arthur hummed at that. The earlier he got attention as a trainer the better. Sure, he did have the backing of Professor Oak and Blaine, but that was due to his knowledge and scientific success. He'd need to show he was a competent trainer early and consistently so that he'd have the chance to find support for going to the top. This meant that this little tournament would be a great start, but …

"I don't know …" he mumbled.

"Huh?" James blinked in confusion. "Your pokemon can get a lot of experience, you'll make a lot of money, and there's publicity too! Why wouldn't you want to participate?"

"I know, but someone else might need it more than I …" That thought had been in the back of his mind ever since he received his regional starter from Professor Oak. That had been bigger than simply winning a small local tournament, but the professor had made it clear that no one else but him would receive it otherwise. It still didn't feel right to him, though.

With a sigh, James sat down opposite of him. "Then they'll have to work for it just as much as you do. Being a professional trainer is neither easy nor cheap, otherwise there'd be more of them around. You got a Growlithe and while I don't know if it evolves the same way the regular one does, Fire Stones are expensive. Like, really expensive. Not to begin with your starter, that you don't even know how much it'll take to evolve."

When he got no response, he continued with a sigh. "You must think about yourself too. You know better than I how hard your goal is to reach in such a short time, you'll need every bit of help you can get. Heck, you're not doing you or them any favors thinking like that."

"Then what should I do?"

"Do what you'll have to do to reach your goal. Be a bit selfish for Arceus sake, it's not like you're going to destroy someone's career over this." James pressed on. "You want to become the Champion to improve the regions and help people, don't you? How are you going to help them, if you can't help yourself?"

James was right of course, but that didn't stop Arthur from shifting uncomfortably on the spot. "You're right, but … I don't know, I'll think about it."

"Good, preferably before Jessie gets wind of this. Otherwise, it won't be your choice anymore." James stood up with a light laugh.

"Better hide the flyer then."

Unlike the other buildings in the city, the Pewter City Gym looked like it was built entirely out of rocks and stones of different sizes, with just a few metal beams here and there to support the structure. The building itself was to the far west of the city atop a small hill and surrounded by several larger boulders, and had a stone fence around the back. A narrow path surrounded by knee-high boulders led to the wide double-sided doors of the entrance.

While it didn't look as advanced and clean as the Cinnabar Island Gym, Arthur supposed it had its charm. He entered it on his own, having left Jessie, James, and Meowth to get some more sleep back in their room, and arrived at a small entrance room. On the sides, a few simple wooden banks were put up with similar tables between them, and with a water dispenser in the corner. Opposite of the door stood a simple desk made of wood and stone, manned by a young boy around his age with tan skin, spiky brown hair, and very narrow eyes. To the boys' sides, there were doors to each side of the desk, with the one to its right being wider and labeled 'Arena', while the other was regular sized and labeled 'Stands'.

"Welcome to the Pewter City Gym!" the boy greeted with a firm, yet slightly nervous voice. "Are you here to challenge the Gym Leader?"

Arthur stepped forward to the counter. "I am. My name is Arthur Anderson from Cinnabar Island and I'd like to challenge the Pewter City Gym Leader in one weeks' time." Since his first public appearance and several year-long stay was on Cinnabar Island, it was put on his trainer license as his home town. That and the fact he was illegally brought into Indigo in the first place. Now standing closer, he could see that the boy had a nameplate on his shirt which read as 'Brock – Assistant Gym Trainer'.

Brock perked up when he heard his name, but didn't comment on it. "I see. Is this your first visit to a gym?"

"No, I've been a gym trainer for three years under Gym Leader Blaine."

"Then I suppose you know how this works. Would you like to challenge the Gym Leader directly, or do you want to challenge the gyms trainer gauntlet?" Brock asked and put down two forms in front of him, showing the differences between the two options.

A direct challenge would limit the challenger to an even match depending on their number of badges, which would result in a two versus two for a first badge. The trainer gauntlet on the other hand allowed the challenger to bring up to six pokemon, but would force them to fight gym trainers before being allowed to challenge the gym leader. The challenger was allowed to use one healing item in between every fight, but all battles had to be fought in a row. In exchange for the higher difficulty, a skilled challenger could challenge the gym leader with more pokemon than they otherwise could, and receive a higher payout as well.

"I'll take the trainer gauntlet, thank you." Arthur replied and took the corresponding form and filled it out.

Brock received the paper and checked a clipboard to his side. "We've got three open slots left at Monday morning at 8, 9, and 10 respectively. Otherwise, Tuesday is a bit more open."

"Then I'll take the one at ten on Monday, I fear my travel friends won't be up much earlier." Arthur said, knowing full well that now that they're in the city, Jessie would be hard to get out of the bed. Especially with nothing to do.

"Alright, then you're all set for your challenge at 10 in the morning on Monday." Brock wrote it down on the schedule.

"Thanks. There's one more thing, if you don't mind?" Arthur asked and continued when he received a nod. "I'd like to meet Gym Leader Flint beforehand, if that's possible. Given that he's helped me in the past, I wanted to thank him for that. And I might need some pointers with my own Rock type too."

Brock looked at him for a moment before he checked another schedule. "He should be free after the current challenger is done."

"Awesome." Arthur said. To fill the time, he decided to talk with Brock some more. "So, you're working here as a gym trainer? From the looks of it you're old enough to go on a journey yourself, right?"

"I might look old enough, but I'm only fifteen. That's why I'm helping my father at the gym, to gain some experience beforehand." Brock answered before he added with a smirk. "Which means you'll have to face me in the gauntlet."

"Looking forward to it. Are you the only gym trainer?" Arthur replied with a similar smirk.

At that Brock shook his head. "There are two others, for now, but you don't have to worry about that. Gauntlets for the first badge only have to fight against one gym trainer, and that falls to me."

"Not so different from Cinnabar, I see." Arthur nodded. They usually had up to three gym trainers for battles at the fourth badge or higher. "Say, what's the highest badge your father has been challenged for?"

Brock laid his head in his hand and hummed. "I believe the highest he's ever fought was the fifth badge. At least that I know off."

"I see … do you think he could battle at an even higher level?" Arthur asked further. Maybe he could try and re-challenge the gym leaders at their strongest as preparation to fight Lance in the future. That'd not only help him, but also promote the gyms, which in turn would help him solidify himself both to the public and to them. And given what he knew of Flint from his meta knowledge, the man could use a boost like that.

Before Brock could answer, however, the doors to the arena opened and out came Flint, who looked less stressed than he did in the show, and a young girl with a female Nidoran in her arms who marveled at the badge in her hand.

"If you continue like that, I'm sure you'll make it far." Flint said with a form, gravelly voice and shook the girl's hand.

"Thank you, Gym Leader Flint. I'll do my best!" The girl replied and left while praising her pokemon.

Arthur half-expected Brock to go in and flirt with her, but he was more focused on his father than the girl it seemed. "Dad, you got a moment? There's someone here to see you."

Flint got himself a cup of water from the dispense before he turned towards them. "Really? Oh, well if it isn't Arthur. Weren't you supposed to visit Professor Oak? I didn't expect you for another week." The man greeted him with an open hand. He was a lot more forthcoming in person than on the phone.

"I did. But you know how Viridians gym leader is, and there wasn't much for me in the forest either." Arthur answered and shook his hand. "Though you won't fight me until Monday, so you're not that far off."

"Taking your time to train properly I take. That's good, many fresh trainers try to challenge gyms too early. That lass had a pair of good pokemon with her, probably spent more time training than playing too." Flint nodded at and took a look at the schedule. "But I took you for more of an early bird."

He chuckled at that. "Oh, I am. But my companions aren't, and I'd like to have them awake at my match, not half-dozing."

Flint snorted at that. "So, if you're not here to fight me just yet, what else do you want?"

"Two things, really. The first is to ask for some help, since my Rock type struggles with learning new Rock type moves. The other …" Arthur puts down his backpack and pulls out two pokeballs. "- is to give you these. As a thank-you for your help with my experiment."

The man blinked at that, at least Arthur thought he did maybe it was just a twitch. "Are those …"

"Yep. Trained and child friendly, a boy and a girl in case you want to have your own pack." Arthur explained with a smile. "Whether you use them for the gym or as pets for your family is up to you, they can do both. I made sure of that."

Flint was at a loss for words when Arthur handed him the pokeballs. "Are you sure you want to give those to me? I didn't do much aside from answering questions that you could've looked up elsewhere."

"Of course. Without you, they wouldn't be here. I doubt I'd have succeeded otherwise. All I ask is that you take good care of them, Growlithe are known to become part of the family, after all."

The man stood silent for a while before he pocketed the balls. "Thank you, I'll make sure they'll be well and healthy." He sounded a bit off, emotional, before he loudly cleared his throat. "So, what was that about helping your Rock type?"