Gina Oak's intention to have her first badge be the Earth Badge fell short the moment she learned the Gym was closed. It was due to renovations according to the local Nurse Joy. And the date as to when it would be completed was more than a week. She couldn't wait that long when she still needed to get further ahead of Ash and prove herself as quickly as possible.

So she set off after having her pokémon healed and went through the Viridian Forest on her way to Pewter City, where she'd get her first badge instead. Though, not before she caught a few more pokémon to both round out her team and help her Grandfather's research, knowing the latter would be taken care of and later released back into the wild. The only real challenge they happened upon as they made their way through the forest was a trainer who dressed like a Samurai and had a Pinsir, but they managed to deal with that guy easily enough.

Now she stood across from the leader of the Pewter City Gym about a week later, rested and ready to claim the Boulder Badge for herself. The Gym Leader, a young man who was probably only a few years older than her but cut an imposing figure, stood with his arms crossed and mouth set in a stern line. It felt like he was sizing her up, judging her worth before she mentioned it would be her first badge and he declared it would be a two-on-two match with substitutions allowed.

"Let's go, Geodude!" Brock said before calling out his own pokémon. The moment his poké ball opened what looked to be a small, gray boulder with arms emerged. Its rocky lips were folded into a frown and its digits were curled into fists. It was ready to fight.

Easy to see it's a Rock-type, but I might as well see what Gramps' device has to say about it, Gina thought to herself as she pulled out the pokédex.

Geodude. The Rock Pokémon. Commonly found near mountains where it can bury its body into the ground, they have incredibly high defensive power. Proud of their sturdy exteriors, they will often bash against others of their kind to prove whose is hardest.

It was about what she expected. Even so, she had no intention of backing down as she enlarged a ball and then tossed it out. "Eyes front, Nidoran!"

It burst open and light shot forth, taking shape on the rocky battlefield that filled the space between them. The small, rodent-like female pokémon was only slightly larger than her Rattata, but she was far more stout with a light blue shade of fur that had patches of darker spots. The moment she finished materializing the Poison Pin Pokémon fixed her gaze onto Brock's own in anticipation.

"Then let the match begin," Brock announced. "Geodude, use Tackle!"

The prompt signaled a change in pace as the Rock Pokémon slammed its hands into the ground in order to fling itself forward, using the added momentum to supplement its ability to somehow float. Throwing its hard body towards Nidoran, it attempted to crush her in a single strike. It threw up a spout of loose earth as she narrowly avoided the blow and put several paces between them—even with a surprise attack, she was still faster.

"Double Kick, now!" The Poison Pin Pokémon squeaked in compliance before she darted forward, a shroud of energy coating her hindlegs mid-step. The Geodude quickly brought up its muscular arms and crossed them as she bound off the ground and brought them forward, but the impact still knocked it for a loop and sent it flying backwards. "Don't let up, Nidoran!"

She rushed in as Geodude bounced off the ground once before wedging its stone fingers into the dirt to act as a brake for the momentum, stopping it from skirting off further. But that already brought it within striking range. With her legs already enshrouded for a second kick, Nidoran lunged to deliver a decisive blow.

"Defense Curl!" Brock's order was carried out by the Rock Pokémon crossing its arms around its round body, shielding its eyes and mouth as it tucked into a ball before the kick could connect. The impact was lessened substantially as the Geodude tensed its muscles beneath its stony exterior and weathered the hit. "Now, Sand Attack!"

It unfurled its' arms in a flare, flinging handfuls of sand right into Nidoran's red eyes. She let out an agitated shriek before desperately wiping at her eyes with her paws in an effort to get the rough grains out. The Rock Pokémon didn't hesitate to chamber its fist and then deliver a punch hard enough that she was left knocked back onto her flank.

"Don't panic!" Gina commanded as she managed to get back up with tears falling from her eyes from being effectively blinded and hurt. "He's coming from just ahead of you. Use Growl and brace for the hit!"

The Poison Pin Pokémon opened her mouth wide, revealing her buck teeth before she let out a loud squeal in a tightly focused series of soundwaves towards the Geodude floating towards her. Its body shook as they passed through it, attempting to loosen the muscles beneath its rocky exterior. It, along with Nidoran tucking her head low, worked just enough to soften the blow of the unprompted Tackle that she remained in place as her head rocked from the impact.

"Now, whirl around with Double Kick while its close enough for you to hit!" Nidoran spun on her forepaws at the command, bringing her hindlegs around as they were shrouded in energy. But credit where it was due. The moment that it saw the kick coming, Geodude brought its right arm up to guard and blocked the worst of the attack as its floating body was knocked away from her. "Good job. You've almost brought it down!"

"Not likely." Brock said. "I commend you for having a technique that covers a weakness of my Gym, but a non-fighting type pokémon using a fighting technique will naturally be inferior. More than enough for Geodude to handle."

Gina only smirked. "Sure, it can take a few more hits. But I'm pretty sure that no matter how hard its body is, that poison in its system will work all the same."

A mild raise of Brock's brow was the only indication that he'd been surprise before he looked closely at his Geodude. It was right then that the Rock Pokémon began to cough and from its mouth purplish bubbles emerged, a near-universal sign that a pokémon was poisoned. He then looked back to Nidoran to see the slight glimmer on the tip of her horn and it clicked. "It was poisoned in that last exchange."

"Got it in one," Gina said as Geodude's breathing grew heavier from the poison working its way through its system. "Her horn is too short for her to use it as a regular attack like a male would, but if a pokémon just rams into it and she has enough poison stored away then that's another story. That's why I had Nidoran brace instead of dodge, while using Growl to soften the hit. The moment your Geodude hit her head-on to make up for Growl's effect, she managed to scratch into it and the poison managed to seep into the nerves."

The Pokédex had helped her realize that and come up with a strategy. She really did have to thank her Gramps when she got in touch with him. Once she'd earned this badge, of course.

"Clever, but risky," Brock noted. "If Geodude had been more careful then that probably wouldn't have worked."

"Maybe, but by then Nidoran would have cleared her eyes and we could have kept up the pressure until it eventually made a mistake. Between the blows it'd taken earlier there was little chance it'd last for long. Speaking of which, Nidoran finish it!"

The light-blue small figure darted forward towards the poisoned Geodude until she was within striking range. Then she leapt and delivered yet another Double Kick, backed by her full weight and the momentum of her sprint. "Nii!"

The Rock Pokémon tried to weather the blow with a hastily thrown guard using both of its arms. But between the poison and its existing damage there was no fight left in it. It succumbed to its wounds and fell to the ground, unconscious and defeated.

"The first match is yours," Brock announced as he recalled his first choice into its ball and then pulled out another. "However, you'll find that this one will not be so easy to deal with. Let's see if you have what it takes to earn my badge!"

What emerged from the ball eclipsed the battlefield. A towering series of stones that were interlocked into a serpentine body that cast a shadow beneath the overhead lights and swallowed up both Gina and her Nidoran. They were both reminded of just how small they were as it tilted its head and stared down at pair with a set of narrowed eyes, while a low rumble bellowed from its throat.

Brock didn't hesitate to make the first move. "Onix, Tackle attack!"

And neither did the Rock Snake Pokémon as it opted to throw itself headfirst towards Nidoran, who'd been caught by the instinctive terror of being in the wake of such a large pokémon for the first time in her life. The sound of rough stone scraping as it moved reverberated around the Gym, snapping her out of her stupor and leaving her to try and scurry off from the battlefield. But the collection of boulders strung together descended and she was swallowed up in the resulting dust cloud the moment its head hit the ground.

By the time it raised its head and the dusty shroud cleared, Nidoran was on the edge of the battlefield. She'd been carried out by the shockwave in the wake of the crash, leaving her bluish body covered in dirt. She was unconscious.

"Your pokémon is no longer able to battle," Brock announced. "Now, choose your next one to face my Onix."

"Don't think it's over just yet," Gina said, putting on a brave face as she recalled the Poison Pin Pokémon into her ball. In truth she was hoping Nidoran would at least whittle his second pokémon down by a bit or poison it, but it seemed that in the end it came to down a one-on-one as she tossed out her second choice. "Don't let me down, Squirtle!"

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon emerged from her ball and took shape in front of her trainer, facing down the Rock Snake Pokémon with a nervous gulp and slight shiver. But unlike Nidoran she wasn't frozen in fear. Instead, she made a small, inquiring sound while waving her tail towards her trainer, refusing to let her gaze waver from her foe. "Squirr?"

Gina smiled a touch. Her Squirtle had learned with each battle a bit more, moving far past where she was with Rattata. "You've got type-advantage, so we'll use it! Water Gun!"

"Squirrr—" She reared back on her toes as she inhaled until her cheeks puffed out and her lungs swelled beneath her under-shell. Then she let out a gurgle as the blast of water emerged from her puckered mouth. "—tleeeee!"

The tightly focused spray of water shot through the air as she aimed for the massive, serpentine boulders strung together that made up the Rock Snake Pokémon. But it proved to be a lot quicker than one would expect, given that it immediately threw its head into the battlefield with its maw agape, resulting in a spout of loose dirt that blocked their view while the ground trembled. The shot of water pierced the dirt cloud only for the massive target they'd aimed for to have gone missing, leaving both Squirtle and Gina to be taken aback.

"Type-advantage is the basics when it comes to battling," Brock said in a louder voice. "However, against Gym Leaders that isn't enough to win. Isn't that right, Onix?"

The ground began to shake violently beneath Squirtle, leaving her to try to maintain her balance frantically. She fell onto all fours when two legs failed her and passed a worried look to her trainer. "Squirtle! Squirt!"

"It's coming from below!" Gina warned. "Use Withdraw!"

She responded swiftly, tucking her head and appendages into her shell while focusing on strengthening it similar to how the Metapod and Kakuna that they came across in Viridian Forest could do so by instinctively drawing their own energy towards strengthening their carapace. Her shell became softly aglow before the ground erupted in an earthen geyser and the fountain of dirt encompassed her utterly. She was lost within the shroud as the silhouette of the Rock Snake Pokémon came into view, the dirt cascading down from between the edges and crevices of the Onix's body.

"I'll give you both credit for that response," Brock said. "Most new trainers don't know how to respond to an attack from below, and newly caught pokémon still have their instinctive response to run in the face of a larger predator rather than fight. That response, to have her do what comes naturally to her species while she strengthened her shell to withstand the worst of it, was the best that a pair of beginners could make. But it's over now that she's bound by Onix."

At the prompt, Onix brought its tail around, revealing that between the curled tip was Squirtle, nestled in her softly glowing shell. She was bound between the smaller string of stones, wrapped tightly around the holes in the shell where her arms and legs would emerge. That meant she'd be unable to move or escape.

"Surrender," Brock warned. "Otherwise, I'll have Onix slam Squirtle into the ground until she passes out. That Withdraw won't hold up forever."

"Squirtle, use Bubble from your holes just like that!" Gina ordered in defiance, fingers balled into tight fists as she fixed her gaze on Squirtle. Frothy, foamy suds began to pour out of every opening in the shell, blanketing the hard ivory until it overran to the point of even the tail being covered in foam while Onix squeezed harder. Eventually the shell slipped right out of its grasp and into the air. "Now, this time attack with Bubble!"

Squirtle emerged from the safety her shell and let loose a tightly packed stream of bubbles, cloistered together into a dense stream. They overran the Onix before it could react, leaving it covered in the suds as they burst apart and spread out. It may as well have been acid considering how it started writhing in place as the slippery fluids rolled down its hard body and it cried out with a thunderous voice. "NNNNIIIXXXX!"

"Don't back down, Onix!" Brock said. "Strike that Squirtle down!"

Onix glared at the aerial Tiny Turtle Pokémon and then whipped its tail around, white foam flying everywhere in the process. The tip came about and slammed into her shell as she tucked back in upon seeing the blow coming, leaving her to hit the ground. She rebound twice before she popped her head and limbs out of the shell—a little hurt and shaken up, but not down.

"Brace yourself and hit it with your strongest Water Gun!" Gina said, commanding her partner to let loose her strongest attack. "Now!"

Squirtle fell onto all fours and then used her limbs to brace herself before she fired out the powerful spray of water with as much force as possible. The blast hit the Rock Snake Pokémon square between the eyes, the impact strong enough that it cried out with a pained sound and recoiled as if it'd been punched hard. Wavering upright before its eyes fell closed, the towering stack of living boulders tipped over and toppled unceremoniously onto the ground.

A long, dragged out silence permeated the Gym as they waited to see what would happen next. Squirtle was panting, her shell expanding with every heavy breath she took. Gina was tense as she ran over what strategy to use next and how far she could push Squirtle to keep going. Fortunately, after a moment, they all realized that Onix wouldn't be getting back up again—it had been a critical, decisive hit.

"Onix is unable to battle," Brock declared as he held his poké ball out. The moment it popped open, the massive Rock Snake Pokémon's body was converted into an energy state and pulled into the small ball before it sealed itself shut. "As your Squirtle is still able to battle, and as stated by the rules of engagement prior, I declare victory to the Challenger—Gina Oak."

Worry gave way to a budding sense of jubilation. She'd won her first Gym Battle. Jumping for joy, she ran over to her Starter Pokémon and then fell onto her knees so that she could scoop her up and embrace her in a crushing hug. "We did it! We did it!"

Brock's stern expression softened as he crossed the battlefield and came to a stop in front of them. "Since Gym battles are for Pokémon League participants' authorization, we have to test the resolve of those who challenge us. New trainers who win a few battles tend not to consider strategy and freeze up in the face of a real challenge or unpredictable situation. However, the competency you displayed with your Nidoran and your Squirtle's capabilities resulted in your victory."

It was high praise considering how shortly ago she'd started, but all the same she accepted it with a confident smile as Brock reached into his pocket and pulled out a small case. The moment he opened it she found there was a small, grey pin that was shaped like an octagon. It was the Gym Badge they'd come here to claim.

"Thus, I award you this Boulder Badge as proof of your victory," Brock finished. "Take it and continue on your journey."

She took it gingerly as she carefully cradled Squirtle in her arms and then showed her partner the pay off towards their hard work. But they wouldn't stop there. After all, they still have seven more badges to go.

The moment they left the Pewter City Gym she decided on which one she'd claim next. "Next stop, Cerulean City!"