With Courage I Will Face

Arc I: Viridian

Chapter Six: Brick Broke


"It looked a lot smaller from on top of that hill." Ash noted as they walked the streets of Pewter City.

"Yeah, I didn't think we'd lose the Pokemon Center so easily." Misty agreed. "I think that's it over there, does that roof look orange to you?" She pointed to their left.

Through two stone grey buildings, Ash could see a fleck of color. But in all the grey, it was hard to tell if it was orange or some mixture of orange and grey, as the greys had already started seeping in to his vision.

"It's the most orange thing we've seen so far, we should check it out." Ash agreed and they changed directions.

"I didn't think I'd miss the green of the forest so soon." Misty said, squinting ahead at the building with the orange roof. "But at least we're away from those bugs, and we can take nice hot showers."

"And have a real dinner, I'm starving after today. What about you, Pikachu?" Ash asked his companion on his shoulder.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed strongly.

"Hey Ash, why doesn't Pikachu ever go in his Pokeball?" Misty asked curiously.

Ash and Pikachu glanced at each other first before Ash shrugged. Pikachu held tighter to not be disrupted.

"He doesn't like it. Hated it from the minute Professor Oak showed him to me. I told Pikachu and Professor Oak that day that if Pikachu didn't want to get inside, he didn't have to. So, he doesn't, he rides along with me." Ash smiled. "'Sides, it's more fun this way! We get to know each other better and he helps keep me company. Ain't that right?"

Ash scratched Pikachu's cheek and saw some static come out, but he felt no jolt. Pikachu rubbed their cheeks together and Ash could feel the static build. They both smiled the whole time, and Misty couldn't hide hers either.

"Fair enough." She said finally. "It's not uncommon for trainers to walk around with their Pokemon, especially the more famous ones that get followed everywhere. I've never heard of a Pokemon refusing to go into one though."

"Me neither." Ash admitted. "But there's a first for everything, right?"

He had no idea how right he was.


The building they had been walking towards had, luckily, been the Pokemon Center. They quickly entered and got keys to their room before quickly deciding the priority was dinner.

In the cafeteria, Ash and Pikachu sat on one side of a small round table with Misty on the other.

"So, we should probably make a plan." Misty started between bites of her salad. "It's gonna be light out for another few hours, we made great time today."

"That's what happens when you start the day at five thirty in the morning, I guess." Ash grumbled a little. He had already finished his salad and moved onto a bacon cheeseburger. "I want to train before I challenge the gym." He announced. "We've battled a little bit, but I haven't had time to do any proper training, let alone preparing for the gym."

"I want to go shopping too, make sure we aren't too strapped tomorrow. Is there anything specific we need?" Misty nodded along with Ash.

"I don't think so. Maybe some repels would be nice, but hopefully we won't be chased around by anymore flocks or swarms of Pokemon." Ash suggested. Pikachu nodded decisively as he ate his own fries.

"That would be nice." Misty said it in such a way that she didn't think that would happen. "I'll look and see what they have. Maybe they have maps too, or something to help with your gym battle."

Ash took a sip from his milkshake before taking his Pokedex out of his pocket. He flipped it open and pressed the green button on the keypad, causing a small slot on the outside to pop out. He pulled on it, disconnecting it from his Pokedex and handed the small flash drive to Misty.

"We can talk shop about that after tonight and I get an idea of when I want to challenge it." He said. "Use that to get whatever we need." Before Misty could even open her mouth to protest, Ash continued. "I owe you for saving us, besides we shouldn't need a lot yet. We'll probably be in town a few days."

Misty sighed and nodded. She stood up from the table, slinging her drawstring over her shoulder.

"Okay, I'll hit the PokeMart and maybe a few other shops. How long do you think you'll be out?" Misty started.

"I dunno, I was gonna head back to the edge of town and stay out of anybody's way. Just want to scrap together a training plan tonight and maximize time for real training." Ash said with a shrug. "I'll meet you back here around eight? But I'll be close to where we came in if you need me."

Misty nodded and wished him good luck before she retreated out of the cafeteria's sliding doors. Ash turned to Pikachu, who was finishing up his own milkshake in a cup.

"Alright Pikachu, let's get some Pokemon food for you and the others and we'll head out." Ash stood, taking his and Misty's trays over to the return window.

He walked by the display window, plucking out a few cans of brand name Pokemon food and stuffing them in his bag. Everything in Pokemon Center's was complimentary for trainers during their stay so he had no qualms about taking one for each of his Pokemon. Pikachu leapt onto his shoulder, and they made for the door. Ash hesitated for a second, glancing at Pikachu.

"What do ya say we get a couple more milkshakes for the road, huh?" He suggested.

Pikachu chirped, and they headed back up to the counter.


"Lookin' good on String Shot's, Metapod! Pidgeotto, great pace with those laps! Pikachu, your aims getting better already!" Ash cried out.

Ash was currently reading through his Pokedex and trying to formulate a strategy, both for training and for their eventual gym battle. It would be a rough go of it right now, with Metapod and Pidgeotto being weak to rock-types. Even for Pikachu, since most rock-types in the region had a dual ground-type, making them immune to Pikachu's best attack.

He knew he wanted Metapod to evolve first, so a few more battles were definitely in order. And they could use more variety, they wouldn't do very well going after Pewter's rock-types with only normal-type attacking moves. At least, not without a semblance of a strategy. Which he was trying to concoct as he watched his Pokemon train.

Most of the time was spent looking at the different attacks Pikachu and Pidgeotto could learn as well as Metapod upon evolution. They had plenty of options, but a lot of them were a ways away still. Teaching an attack was more than showing it to them or having a TM, it took practice and patience and experience to fully master an attack, especially from scratch. And the Pokemon's body had to be suited and ready for it, otherwise more harm could be done than good. Just because, logistically, Ash could see the steps to teaching Pidgeotto Steel Wing didn't mean Pidgeotto's wings were ready to jump straight into it.

Of course, different circumstances existed for different moves and Pokemon, and varied not only from species to species but individual to individual. While Pidgeotto might not be ready to learn Steel Wing, Ash was heavily contemplating starting Pikachu on learning Brick Break.

That would be a major advantage for the team and Ash knew it could be the one-up they needed on the Pewter gym.

There was one major hurdle to overcome before even considering the idea though, that came down to how TM's worked fundamentally. TM's, and things like them like HM's and TR's, were discs that contained what was essentially the blueprints of a move, the rough edges. It would implant the steps, physically, that needed to be taken towards learning a move and making it loads easier and able to learn attacks in comparably much quicker amounts of time.

The way it did this was by inserting the disk into a Pokedex, or a PC at a Pokemon Center, and holding the Pokemon's Pokeball underneath it. The data would link, and the Pokemon inside the Pokeball, being stored as data, would emerge more or less with part of the TM data. They would be able to use the move at a beginning level, although obviously more practice and experience would be needed to properly master the move as with any attack.

Having Pokemon learn moves through other means usually took a lot longer, hence why move tutors were both so sought after and so expensive.

"Okay, everyone come over here!" Ash addressed them. They all made their way to stand before their trainer and Ash sat down on the floor in front of them all.

"The gym here uses rock-type Pokemon, so this'll be a real challenge for us. Metapod, I want to help you evolve before challenging it- the moves you'll learn as a Butterfree would help us out a lot. That sound good?" Ash wanted to confirm with the bug-type before he made further plans. Metapod nodded as best he could, very determined.

"Good, so experience will be your priority. Pidgeotto, I want you to learn Wing Attack, that'll be great for us in the long run. And we're gonna up your speed and make it as difficult as possible to nail you with those rock-type moves. Does that work for you?" Ash waited again. Pidgeotto responded kindly, nodding her head numerous times as she chirped and flexed her wings.

"Pikachu, we've got our work cut out for us with you. I really want you to learn Brick Break for this fight, that's the TM that Professor Oak gave me back in the lab, remember?" Ash started. "But to really use the TM I would have to scan you while you're in your Pokeball."

Pikachu nearly felt dread creep into his heart, but the way his trainer was looking at him he knew better now than to let it take hold. His trainer was different, after all.

"So, we'll work on teaching you Brick Break another way. We'll study the basics of the move ourselves and learn it old school! It'll take longer and be a lot more work, so you have to tell me now you'd rather do it that way, okay? But I'm sure we can do it." Ash offered.

"Pi, Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed, jumping into Ash's lap. Metapod and Pidgeotto followed Pikachu's lead, crowding as on the floor as he laughed at the attention of his team.

"What's all this racket going on above my store?" A deep voice yelled out.

Ash's Pokemon stopped dogpiling him and he turned back in the direction of the city. There was a man there now, staring at Ash angrily. He was intimidating enough, being tall and having his entire face covered in a thick beard while a red knit cap covered the top of his head, coming down so low it almost covered his eyes.

"Sorry sir, we were just- "Ash started to apologize, but he couldn't help but ask. "What store? I don't see anything around but trees and rocks." He lamented as he got to his feet.

"The rocks are my store!" He snapped back at Ash, gesturing just behind him.

There was a drop off just behind him, which explained where he came from so fast. Ash stepped closer and peered over the edge, seeing stones of various shapes and sizes both scattered around and on display in wooden cases and shelves.

"Uh huh." Ash acknowledged vaguely. "Well, sorry. We were here training for my gym battle, I didn't know anyone else was nearby."

The man laughed loudly and suddenly, causing Ash to take a few steps back in confusion.

"You? You want to challenge Brock? With this lot here?" The man mocked, throwing his head back and laughing harder.

Ash could feel his Pokemon's anger at the comment. It was nothing compared to his own.

"I do, and what about it?" Ash replied angrily. "We've got just as good a shot as anyone!"

"Hate to break it to ya, kid, but not all Pokemon are created equal. You have to know the Pewter gym uses rock Pokemon, and you're setting yourself up for major disappointment battling him without a water or grass-type." He said, changing from laughing to stone-faced serious.

"Maybe every Pokemon isn't created equal, but any Pokemon can be strong with the right training. And the right training is exactly how we're gonna beat this gym!" Ash shot back. The man laughed again.

"That's cute, that's real cute. Just the other day a little girl came through with a Bulbasaur and still almost got overwhelmed. Y'know why? Because Brock is a rock-solid Pokemon trainer." The man paused. "Tell ya what, if you manage to beat Brock while I'm still alive, come find me and I'll give you something from my store." He said between laughing fits. "Just keep it down while you train, can't have you scaring away the customers." He turned back around and began to drop down into his store.

"Oh man, that's rich." Ash could still hear him muttering from past the cliff.

Ash practically growled the whole day back to the Pokemon Center.


"Y'know, he sounds like a real jerk. But he's right, you do have your work cut out for you." Misty agreed. She was sitting at the desk in their room wringing out her hair in a towel.

Ash spit out the toothpaste in his mouth so fast Misty heard Pikachu jump back.

"We know that! I never said it would be easy, I said we could do it! And it's not like I'm not taking this seriously, I'm not walking into Pewter gym tomorrow!" He shouted out of the bathroom to Misty. "I have a plan now, and we're gonna train like crazy!"

Misty heard the sink run once more for a few seconds before Pikachu scampered out of the bathroom seconds before Ash. He was in night clothes now, just a simple pair of blue shorts with a white t-shirt.

"Why not at least consider going to catch a water-type Pokemon first? There's plenty of creeks and rivers less than a days walk, not to mention the whole lake around Viridian Falls." Misty suggested. "Besides, water-type Pokemon are the best! You should catch one anyway just for how cute they all are!"

"I know you love water-types, and they're great, all Pokemon are. But I don't want to be a trainer who goes out to catch Pokemon just to win a battle." Ash argued. "Top or bottom bunk?" He asked Misty, who shrugged.

Ash climbed up onto the top bunk and flopped down. Pikachu jumped onto the desk Misty was sitting at, waving at her. She smiled and scratched his head for a few moments before he jumped to follow Ash onto the top bunk. Misty stood up and stretched, taking her hair out of the towel.

"You know that's what trainers do, right? Catch Pokemon? Use them to win battles?" Misty retorted dryly. She laid the towel over the back of the chair and sat down on the bottom bunk.

"I'm not gonna be like everyone else. That feels like seeking out a Pokémon for a purpose. Even when I caught Metapod and Pidgeotto, it wasn't just to make them battle for me, it was to grow the team, meet them. I felt a kind of… spark, I guess." Ash said slowly. "And I didn't feel it with that Weedle that samurai guy stopped me from catching." He added.

"A… spark?" Misty sounded more confused now than she was two minutes ago. "You get stranger and stranger by the minute, Ash Ketchum." she finally said with a sigh.

"Sorry." Ash sounded very not-sorry and could not even fight the grin on his face.

"Whatever." She said, more amused than annoyed. "Do you need any help training tomorrow?" she offered, playing with her sheets. Ash shifted to sit up and look over the edge of his bed at her.

"I think tomorrow I have covered; I want to see how we all handle goal-oriented training. But definitely after that! I'd love to battle against Staryu! What other Pokemon do you have? I know they're water Pokemon, because you love water Pokemon, but," Ash was only cut off by Misty fake-groaning.

"Don't make me regret offering to help you! You can't grill a girl like this past her bedtime!" Misty laid down in a huff. Ash just laughed.

"Sorry," He sounded much sorrier this time. "I get really excited about Pokemon."

"You don't say?" She muttered sarcastically. He ignored her with a sign, and she took pity on him. "Just let me know what you need, we'll be happy to help you out."

"Thanks Misty, you rock." Ash said happily.

"I know. Night Ash." Misty replied, finally curling up under the covers and flicking the light switch on the wall to plunge the room into darkness.

"G'night Misty." Ash rolled over to face Pikachu, who was already curled up with his eyes closed. "G'night Pikachu."

Then he drifted off too.


Day three of training was almost the magic number for Ash. It was on this day that almost his entire checklist was completed.

Pidgeotto was now faster than everything they had encountered thus far in Viridian Forest. She was tighter on turns, quicker on climbs and could maintain the speed double as long as she could three days ago. Through repeated uses of Quick Attack and getting her body used to reacting at priority speeds, they also increased her reaction time. It was not a struggle to learn Wing Attack, per se, for the bird, but she often relied more on Quick Attack than her wings. It took two days before she could use Wing Attack while not also using Quick Attack first. With stronger and faster wings, it went unsaid that her other attacks got stronger, like Gust. Ash was hoping to be able to work with that too.

Metapod's lucky day was also day number three, as he evolved into a Butterfree after just three battles that morning. Ash and Metapod had been focusing on battling trainers for experience to trigger his evolution, volunteering to train with the bug catchers that often passed the tree line they were training around. But it was against Misty that he evolved to his final stage, fighting against her Goldeen. Goldeen proved a tough opponent every time, beating out Ash and Metapod quite a few times due to its unique knowledge of Peck, but after his evolution Butterfree consistently emerged victorious over both Goldeen and Staryu the rest of the afternoon with its new set of attacks. Ash was quickly working on ways to best use them against the gym as well.

Even Misty was benefitting from the sparring, and that made it even more frustrating for Ash and Pikachu, who was not having luck yet with Brick Break.

Brick Break. A physical fighting type move. The user attacks with a swift chop. It can also break barriers, such as Light Screen or Reflect. It is purchasable as TM #43.

It went on to show the various Pokemon that could learn the move via level up and TM. Pikachu was in there; he knew they could do it. Together.

"Pikachu. Hey, Pikachu." Ash shook Pikachu awake.

They turned in early on day four, letting Butterfree and Pidgeotto celebrate a bit with some rest time. But Ash was restless, and so was Pikachu if the speed at which he woke was any indication. He looked up at Ash, questioning.

"We're gonna learn Brick Break. Right now, tonight. Together." Ash told him.

Pikachu stared into Ash's eyes. Ash's eyes were amber, only a shade of brown lighter than Pikachu's own. He could see his own eyes in Ash's. Determination. Hope. Trust. Fire. Lightning.

"Pika." He nodded back soundly, and they crept out of bed.

Ash left his belt behind, and his jacket and hat. He only paused to shove shoes onto his feet and pocket his Pokedex before they slipped out the door.


Ash and Pikachu stood in the clearing, looking at Ash's Pokedex again.

"I think we should start with the basics again. Maybe we got ahead of ourselves. Forget the energy, this says it starts with a chop." Ash read. He made a chopping motion with his hand that Pikachu imitated. "The chop has to be the key, the start."

Ash picked up a nearby twig and held it horizontally for Pikachu. Pikachu nodded and mimicked Ash's chopping motion, but his hand did not even break the twig in half. Ash nodded, and Pikachu repeated the action. Nothing. Three, four, ten more times and it wasn't getting better. Pikachu growled at the wood in Ash's hands.

"It looks like you're holding back at the last second, why can't you hit it with more force?" Ash asked.

Pikachu shrugged and lifted his arm up, stretching it out as wide as he could. Which was to say, not very. Ash paused, intrigued.

"I think we're going about this wrong, pal. Just because a Primeape or Machamp uses Brick Break with their hands doesn't mean everyone does, their arms are more built for it. There's a reason you don't learn it naturally, right?" Ash theorized. "Try hitting it with your tail."

Pikachu, skeptically but trustingly, swung his tail with as much gusto as he was swinging his arm. The twig snapped. Ash and Pikachu paused, but slowly smiled at each other.

"Alright, let's get you used to the feeling of breaking stuff with your tail. We'll start with more of that, light stuff you can just snap with some force." Ash said, and they both began to pick up twigs and branches from the ground.

Twig after twig, branch after branch, Pikachu swung at it and sliced it in half. Ash had begun changing the height, trying to get Pikachu used to adjusting targeting as well. When Pikachu started to pant, Ash smiled.

"Let's switch, I want you to watch me break them. Look at the force I use, listen to the sound of the snap. It'll give your tail a break." Ash suggested. Pikachu nodded and moved to stand on a rock, putting him closer to Ash's chest height, and held branches out for Ash.

Snap. Snap. Snap. Snap. With every branch Ash snapped, Pikachu's ears and tail twitched. He was focusing on the action, on the swift chop. Chop. Chop. Chop. Pikachu mimicked Ash's action with his tail now, bringing down his tail in time with Ash's strikes. Even hitting air, Pikachu could remember the feeling of the branch snapping around his tail.

Chop. Chop. Chop. Chop. Chop. On the next one of Ash's attempts, Pikachu's tail glowed as it cut through the air. Ash and Pikachu paused, surprised, but then smiled widely.

"Do you think you could do that again?" Ash asked. Pikachu glanced at his tail, moved it up and down, and nodded happily. "Good. Let's try it."

Ash was back to holding branches for Pikachu, the mouse breaking them with ease this time. His tail was glowing more often that not. Slowly Ash was grabbing bigger, thicker tree branches. Pikachu continued to make quick work of them. Chop. Chop. Chop.

"Let's try… the tree." Ash suggested, pointing. Pikachu nodded.

He planted himself on all fours, ran forward, jumped, and swung his tail around. He could see his tail glowing, the energy pooling, and feel the cut of tree bark against his tail, the snap under his own power. Pikachu sliced the tree clean in half.

"Pika!" Pikachu said excitedly as he landed. He was scooped up into a hug from Ash as quickly as he could turn around.

They laughed and cheered in celebration. They had learned Brick Break. It was far from mastered, hardly even practiced, but they had learned it. Together.

"We should call it there. We should save some training for tomorrow still, Butterfree and Pidgeotto do still need to train. None of us are quite ready to battle the gym yet." Ash suggested.

Pikachu nodded, but they both shared a look.

"Okay, one more time. We'll try it on a rock this time." Ash said giddily. He picked up a fairly large rock and held it out in the same fashion he did the tree branches. "Pikachu, use Brick Break!"

Pikachu lunged forward and swung his tail. It glowed and cut the rock in half. He sliced clean through the stone as if it were another measly twig. His tail ached a little after it and Ash must've noticed because he avoided touching it at all as he crouched down to pat him again.

"I hope that felt as good for you as it did for me, buddy." Ash said with a sigh. "Now we can go to bed."

This time they did retire back to the Pokemon Center, their sense of accomplishment unmatched.


"That's amazing!" Misty shouted, watching Pikachu break tree after tree, rock after rock. "Just yesterday you were at almost negative progress, now it's like he learned it over night!"

Ash and Pikachu both hid a smile.

"I think maybe another day or two and we should give the gym a try. Pikachu's been at it really hard, but I want his tail to get used to being used as a weapon. The others are doing great too, they're as ready as they're gonna get for this fight." Ash noted. "It's just perfecting Brick Break and I think we stand a chance."

"I hope so, if you lose against a gym in the big eight, they have the right to refuse a re-challenge." Misty noted. Ash shrugged.

"Yeah, but all I have to do after is defeat the gym trainers and work my way back." Ash rebutted. "It takes more time, but it's also more battles. I'm never gonna complain about that."

No gym was run single-handedly, all gyms in the region had a staff on hand to help run things in a more business-practical way. Most of the bigger gyms took on apprentices even, people to groom into gym leader roles- whether it was to start a gym of their own or take over an existing gym in the future. Gyms in the big eight had the most, naturally, being the biggest, strongest and most popular in the region.

They used this to their advantage often, having trainers battle their gym apprentices. It helped stave off the hoards of unprepared challengers they would receive otherwise, from people who were overly cocky or unqualified as trainers that just so happened to receive a Pokemon. Plus, it served as practical battling experience for the apprentices.

Unsurprisingly it was Viridian City's Giovanni, the strongest gym leader in the region and the head of the Big Eight, who started this practice as well. He did not wish to be obligated to accept every challenge thrown at him and had barriers put in place, and sooner or later other gyms followed suit.

Pewter, Cerulean, Vermillion, Celadon, Fushcia, Saffron, Cinnabar, Viridian.

Ash relished the idea of challenging them all, even their apprentices. He smiled as he watched his Pokemon train.

Butterfree was using his newly learned Confusion to move objects up and down, practicing how long he could hold the attack for, while Pidgeotto did vertical loops, practicing her climbing and diving speed. Pikachu still hammered away with Brick Break, moving on to large, stationary rocks and still cleaving through them like twigs. Already, the attack was more refined than it was yesterday.

They were almost ready; he could feel it. Tomorrow they would challenge this Brock at the Pewter Gym.


I'm back! There was a bit of a delay, but the holidays are rough. I hope this makes up for it, and I hope to have the next chapter (being the gym battle) up this week!

What did you guys think? I'm hoping to devlop Ash and Misty's dynamic a bit before throwing Brock into the fold. It's fun writing for them, but there's only so much we can play with for now - there's battles to be had! I hope everyone is also enjoying the sporadic worldbuilding I'm trying to do lol. Just my way of both trying to connect the games and the anime and also make the Pokemon world feel more like... well, a world than a game with hard limits and boundaries.

As always, don't be shy in the reviews!


RagingSceptile: It's just you today my friend, you get the whole replies section to yourself! First, thanks as always for your encouragment!

I haven't entirely settled on which parts of I Choose You! I'll be borrowing vs ignoring, but there WILL be more references to it than just the Spearow chase. I adore Ash's canon Pokemon a lot too, I think there's a lot to be said and done with them- but I will spoil here that nobody's team will be exactly how it was in canon. Do with that what you will :)


Ash's Team: Pikachu, Butterfree, Pidgeotto

Pikachu: Electric - Male - Static - Rash | ThunderShock, Tail Whip, Growl, Nuzzle, Charm, Thunder Wave, Brick Break

Butterfree: Bug/Flying - Male - Compound Eyes - Hardy | Tackle, String Shot, Harden, Gust, Supersonic, Confusion

Pidgeotto: Normal/Flying - Female - Keen Eye - Hasty | Tackle, Sand Attack, Gust, Quick Attack, Wing Attack

Misty's Team: Staryu, Goldeen

Staryu: Water - N/A - Natural Cure - Modest | Tackle, Rapid Spin, Harden, Water Gun, Confuse Ray

Goldeen: Water - Female - Swift Swim - Careful | Peck, Tail Whip, Supersonic

Jessie's Team: Ekans, Spearow

Ekans: Poison - Male - Shed Skin - Serious | Poison Sting, Bite, Wrap, Leer

Spearow: Normal/Flying - Male - Keen Eye - Hasty | Peck, Growl, Leer

James' Team: Koffing, Spearow, Weedle

Koffing: Poison - Male - Levitate - Bashful | Poison Gas, Tackle, Smog, Smokescreen

Spearow: Normal/Flying - Female - Keen Eye - Lax | Peck, Growl Leer

Weedle: Bug/Poison - Female - Swarm - Jolly | Poison Sting, String Shot

Meowth: Normal - Male - Pickup - Sassy | Fury Swipes, Scratch, Growl, Fake Out