The smell of sweat. The sound of padding being stricken. The grunts and growls of Fighting-Type Pokémon could be heard about as they trained beneath the lamps hanging high.

The Fighting Spirit Gym was located around the southern edge of Celadon City, a large structure filled with equipment as various trainers and their pokémon refined their fighting abilities. The first floor alone had a wrestling area filled with mats as a pair of Machoke proceeded to grapple one another, their massive might being pitted against each other, while in a solitary area near a corner there was a standing dummy being worked over by a Hitmonlee. The way it shuffled around, lashing out from different angles with a variety of kicks, naturally drew the eyes.

Brock and Primeape had come there as part of the agreement made between them if the latter remained on his best behavior. Brock hadn't let him out around the others or their pokémon yet, since he didn't want to risk it until he was sure that Primeape had a solid enough grasp on his temper. But the Pig Monkey Pokémon had been keeping his side of the agreement so far, so turnabout was only fair.

"Hello there," a young, feminine voice called out to the pair, drawing their attention over to the side of a counter. It was a young woman with long, red hair that fell into a single braid draped over her shoulder while wearing what Brock assumed to be the uniform for the place. "I don't recognize either of you. Are you newcomers looking to get in training before the tournament?"

"I'm a traveling breeder who just so happened to catch Primeape a little while ago and I promised to bring him to a place like this," Brock explained. "But what's this about a tournament?"

She gestured towards a poster against the wall, one that was framed in a glass case. "It's called the P1 Grand Prix. It's a yearly battle tournament sponsored by Silph Co. that takes place here in Celadon City. Since the date of the tournament is coming up, a lot of Fighting-Type Specialists tend to enter one of their own."

"I had no idea about that," Brock admitted before noticing Primeape's eyes were fixed on the belt on display, practically glistening with desire. Considering how he had stolen Ash's hat before he'd evolved, it might just be a quirk that he had for certain accessories. "What are the entry requirements?"

"It depends on the number of applicants, but they'll go through a series of one-on-one matches until the final two are left. You can sign up at the City Hall at the moment, and the tournament will be held at the arena."

Brock turned to Primape and asked, "Interested?"

The simian pulled his glimmering gaze from the belt to nod at Brock. "Ape."

"Then we'll register later today," he promised, before turning his attention back to the young woman. "For the time being, can we use a space for Primeape to work a punching bag?"

"Certainly." Once things were in order, the young woman introduced herself as Rebecca and led them to one section of the gym where they passed by a few others occupying the workout area. It was once they reached on in the very back that the smile she wore faded upon coming to a stop where a well-built man was currently holding a bag being thoroughly punched by a pokémon. "Father, you promised not to hog the equipment for personal training."

"We're just getting in a little more training for the Prix," he said with a grunt, holding the bag steady over the rhythmic punching coming from the tan, bipedal pokémon that looked to be a natural boxer. Brock recognized it as a Hitmonchan, having seen them before as Fighting-Type Pokémon were one of the main counters to his Gym Pokémon and he'd run into more than his fair share of them.

Her eyes turned from the bag to the device hanging on the top of it, which appeared to be a combination of a timer and counter. It must have been measuring the length of time the bag had been in use and the number of punches, the value of which were both high enough that her frown deepened. "That's nowhere near a little and you know it."

"Well, it's not like anyone was using it," he counterargued, barely paying her any attention. His focus was instead on the Hitmonchan, its body glistening in sweat and its eyes narrowed as it trained in to focus on punching the bag between heated breaths.

"Well, someone has arrived to use it now," she argued. "Let me prepare the area for them."

He still brushed her off without a glance. "One of the others will clear out soon enough. Just offer them an extension in exchange for the wait."

Rebecca softly bristled in a way that reminded Brock a little of how one of his younger sisters would when they wanted his attention, but he was unavailable due to work. It was an unfortunate reality that there were pressing matters that sometimes required you to spend time elsewhere at the expense of time you would prefer to spend with your family. But, in this case, it seemed that the man's circumstances were different.

After regaining her composure, Rebecca turned to Brock and apologized. "I'm sorry. It seems we'll have to delay your Primeape's session until one of the others finish. It shouldn't be too long, and I'll give you an extension on the time. Is that okay?"

"We can wait a little while without any problems," Brock assured her before turning to Primeape. "How about we go have a snack for the time being?"

The Pig Monkey Pokémon bobbed his head. He enjoyed Brock's cooking more than the food from the forest. "Pri—"

"Don't stop now, Hitmonchan!" But then they heard her father's voice and turned to see that the Punching Pokémon was huddled over and panting with his hands on his knees, catching his breath. "You're going to need to do better than that to be Grand's Hitmonlee this time!"

"Hi…Hitmon…!" The Hitmonchan slowly stiffened up straight at that, forcing himself back into a fighting stance. Then he began to hit the bag once more.

"…If you keep that up, your Hitmonchan won't be in any condition to participate in the tournament," Brock said after observing him for the moment. "You're sabotaging yourself."

That caught the man's attention. "What's that?"

"Your Hitmonchan is going to collapse if you keep it up and, unlike if he were just sustaining normal battle fatigue, the recovery period will be longer," Brock elaborated. It was an assessment made based on Brock's own experience as a Gym Leader and his private studies on being a Pokémon Breeder. "At that point, you may as well throw in the towel because he wouldn't be able to beat any well-trained opponent. He needs to rest until then if he's going to have any chance of being able to fight at his full potential."

The man with a powerful build rose to his full height as he looked down at Brock from above and then over to Primeape. "I might buy that coming from someone who actually knows what they're doing. But coming from someone whose pokémon hasn't been trained in the slightest makes it ring hollow. But if you really want to back that claim up, then we can take it over to the ring. Hitmonchan could use a moving target."

"Father, don't be rude," Rebecca said as Primeape caught the underlying insult and bristled until Brock held a hand out in silent warning. "And he has a point. You've been training him for hours on end for weeks now, and not getting nearly enough sleep. Even I can tell he needs to rest."

"He's got no complaints about my training," Anthony claimed. "He wants to beat Grand too, so he's willing to tolerate going at it a little harder until the Prix."

He wouldn't listen to reason. Brock had seen it too often in some of the trainers who came to his Gym when they were desperate to win. The point had to be proven to get it across. "If you're so confident in the condition of your pokémon then I'll take you up on your offer for a match. But I won't use Primeape. Instead, I'll use this pokémon."

He pulled out a singular ball from his belt and, once it opened, the Rock Pokémon emerged. Geodude's small, levitating form with his muscular arms drew their eyes for a moment. Then a rather unpleasant grin appeared on Anthony's mouth.

"You gotta be kiddin' me," he said with an unrepressed smugness. "Don't tell me ya don't even know the basics of Type Advantage."

"I'm fully aware," Brock told him in a calm, confident tone. "But in your pokémon's current condition, Primeape would run the risk of over-injuring him. Geodude will have an easier time ensuring that doesn't happen."

He knew very well Primeape was still newly caught and poorly trained. Even on his best behavior, there was still a chance where he could fly into a Rage after being insulted. In Hitmonchan's less than prime condition, there was little chance of coming out of that still capable of moving before one of them recalled their pokémon.

But Geodude was a Gym Pokémon who had gone against a variety of different kinds other pokémon. He also knew to manage how much damage he inflicted. He was the better choice to avoid going overboard, while also proving a point.

Ignorant of that fact, Rebecca's father willingly bought into the fight. "Fine then. We'll see how smug you are when it goes down in a single hit."

And with that they were pulled into a Pokémon Boxing Arena, likely meant to be a reproduction of what the Grand Prix's stage would be. The burlier older man held down the ropes so that his pokémon could climb into one corner while Rebecca tried to warn her father against going through with this again. It proved to no avail as he called out to Brock. "Last chance to back out. Otherwise, that rock of yours is going to be turned into gravel."

"Just don't overdo it," Brock confirmed with Geodude. The Rock Pokémon gave him a thumbs-up and then floated into his corner of the ring, putting his arms up into a fighting stance. He then turned to the pair and asked, "Would Miss Rebecca be willing to act as the referee?"

She looked between Brock and her father with uncertainty. It was clear she would rather they not do this. But, with everything in motion, she would be the best person to act as a referee. "Tournament rules then—ten count or knockout."

Anthony consented. "It's not like it's gonna be us lyin' on the mat."

That said, Rebecca looked to Brock and asked once more if he was ready as Primeape stood off to the side and watched. Once he confirmed that he was, she declared the start of the match. "Very well. Begin!"

No sooner than the words had left her mouth did Anthony declare the first move. "Mach Punch!"

In response, there was a blur of purple and brown. An explosion of movement left the wind to howl and hair to rustle as Hitmonchan closed the engagement distance between himself and Geodude in the blink of an eye. Then, with his fist chambered, he delivered a punch that carried the momentum from a twist in his hips. "Hit!"

It should have been a powerful blow for an opening move. But the Rock Pokémon had anticipated it and simply turned his body, allowing for the blow to pass right by where he had been while leaving them both eye-to-eye. Then his rocky hands reached out and grabbed the outstretched limb.

"Seismic Toss," Brock ordered calmly, putting the muscles beneath the stone exterior of those slender, yet powerful arms to work.

Hitmonchan was pulled into a violent whirl as Geodude jerked him off his feet and spun him around to build up momentum. Then the world inverted as the Punching Pokémon was slammed right into the surface hard enough that the mat shook. "Hitmon!"

Anthony looked on in silent surprise for a moment as his prized pokémon was left flat on the ground. Then Rebecca began to count, marking how long it would be before he lost, and he snapped out of it. "Get back up! You still got fight left in you!"

Hitmonchan scrambled to get back on his feet before retreating, getting into a fighting stance while working to get his breathing under control. "Hii. Hii. Hii."

"Mach Punch is too predictable of an opening move for this kind of opponent," Brock said, taking a moment out of the match to speak. It was a habit from when he was running the Gym, addressing his opponent to enlighten them about their flaw. "It's a straight shot and Geodude is a smaller target, which means that dodging it is as easy as turning at the right time. That opens you up for a counterattack."

It was the same weakness that Gina had pointed out to Ash when teaching Pikachu Quick Attack. Any technique that offered a quick burst of speed like that had issues when it came to how predictable they were. That was why Rattata and Pikachu had to spend time working out how to get around that, but they had dedicated Trainers who expected them to go against a variety of opponents in the future and versatility was mandatory.

For someone training for a specific tournament with specific rules and a singular typing, it wasn't likely he'd done the same. Instead, they would reserve a technique like that for either the beginning of the fight, when they weren't expecting it, or at the end, when they were too tired to avoid it. He'd seen that same kind of tactics many times from many different trainers, and so had Geodude.

The lecture did little to smother the competitive fire within the man. "Fine, try this on! Get 'em with a barrage of punches!"

"Hiiiitt!" Taking a short, powerful exhale, the Punching Pokémon darted forward. Those fists that were akin to punching gloves shone with power, intending to hammer away at Geodude with a flurry.

"Defense Curl," Brock ordered in response. The Rock Pokémon covered his face as he tucked his limbs inward and tensed his muscles to their limit. No sooner than that did the flurry of blows come down upon the stone bulwark.

Hitmonchan lacked the raw muscular power of most other Fighting Pokémon like Machoke or Poliwrath. Instead, they made up for it with raw speed when it came to their punches and nimble movement. Pushing that concept to its limit, those fists shrouded in power were thrown at speeds that made them look almost like streaking comets that burned through the night sky—but the thing about comets was that they burned out quickly.

And so, the first barrage of Comet Punches ended after five hits in the space of what would be one, the user panting fiercely and desperate to catch his breath. It was a well-trained and perfectly executed barrage that undoubtedly surpassed some of the attempts that Brock had seen in the past against his pokémon meant to be challenged by those possessing multiple badges. It was clear the pair had trained well to execute it even when Hitmonchan had been suffering from the fatigue of a prior workout.

Yet… it was all meaningless as Geodude shot forward. The stone body propelled through the air and delivered a brutal Tackle to his opponent that had stopped to catch its breath before it could retreat. The result was an unmitigated blow that caused his body to bend before the Rock Pokémon unfurled its arms and slammed the Punching Pokémon into the ground. "Dude!"

Back arching as he hit the ground for the second time, Hitmonchan reflexively doubled over and clutched where he had been struck. "Hi…Hitmon…"

"Exchanging power for speed is all well and good when the opponent lacks the defenses to weather such an assault," Brock began again as Rebecca counted once more. "But well-trained Rock Pokémon are durable enough that without enough power you'll never get anywhere doing chip damage like that. Especially once those defenses are pushed even higher."

True enough, everyone there could tell that Geodude was largely unharmed. For as fast as those punches had been, they had only served to exhaust Hitmonchan further. And nowhere else was that more evident than how he barely managed to get to his feet before Rebecca finished the count, left gasping for breath.

Anthony's fist clenched in frustration. "Fine then! Hitmonchan, put everything into your next punch and knock that pebble down!"

The Punching Pokémon obeyed. It dedicated its concentration entirely into its right fist that glowed with a similar radiance as before. Or rather a far brighter glow, indicating how much effort it was putting into its next attack—a Mega Punch.

"Prepare yourself to receive it, Geodude," Brock said. He could have ordered him to intercept the hit before the charge was finished. But that wouldn't get the message across. "Then end it once and for all."

The Rock Pokémon acknowledged the order before crossing his arms in anticipation. "Dude."

Hitmonchan bristled as the glow in his fist grew brighter, sweat dripping down from his brow as every muscle in his lower body tensed like coiled springs. Then, putting all of its strength on the line, he launched himself forward. Bringing everything it could muster into a single blow, the Punching Pokémon slammed its empowered fist into the stone bulwark with a shout. "HITMONCHAN!"

The unmoving wall. The unyielding fist. The two met and when they did a bright flash was followed by the discharge of energy as the punch of destruction left the air itself to quake on impact and forced everyone to squint from the eyestrain. Yet, when their vision cleared….

Geodude was still there. Still floating. One arm had taken the full brunt of the blow and, to the Punching Pokémon's credit, there was notable damage. But he was still floating there and perfectly capable of fighting back—as he made clear when he used his other limb to grab hold of the extending wrist once more.

They all knew what was coming. But, at this point, Hitmonchan had exhausted his strength and was thus unable to resist as Geodude took advantage of the fact he wasn't ground-bound to pull the Punching Pokémon into the air. Then the Rock Pokémon spun him around in a loop thrice before slamming him headfirst into the mat.

There was no need to count. He was unconscious.

Rebecca called it. "Hitmonchan has been knocked out. The match is over."

"… That Mega Punch was something," Brock began after observing the damage done to his Geodude in the silence that had overtaken the room in the wake of the match. "I can tell you both worked hard to refine your movements and techniques. But that wasn't its full strength, was it?"

"Not by a long shot," Anthony said, frustration clear in his voice as he rubbed the back of his head that he hung in shame. "If Hitmonchan had been in prime condition, things probably would have been different. That's what you're gettin' at, right?"

"I would have preferred if my words reached before then," Brock pointed out. "But they wouldn't. After all, I've seen trainers who've lost so many times that they become so desperate to win that they'll push their pokémon beyond their limits and ignore the signs that their pokémon just can't keep going until it's too late. So, before anything else, ask yourself if winning is worth the price you have to pay."

His piece said, Brock turned to leave the Fighting Spirit Gym. "Let's go, Primeape."

Primeape, who had been absorbed in the bout with cautious curiosity, took a moment to gather his senses and began to follow Brock and Geodude out. He looked over to the Rock Pokémon, whose arm had cracks from the point of impact with the Mega Punch, and muttered an inquisitive, "Pri?"

The Rock Pokémon responded to the inquiry with a shake of the head. He'd taken far worse and, despite its exterior looking like stone, it was actually organic enough that it could mend so long as it supplemented its food with enough calcium. And since his Trainer was aware of that, it wasn't the reason for his soured mood.

It was instead the fact that the fight had to happen to get the message across. He had effectively acted as a Gym Leader should and crushed a trainer and their pokémon for their own benefit. So that they would learn from their mistakes and grow.

Even so, he wouldn't let the mood linger after they were outside the Gym. "Sorry that you won't get the chance to workout there, Primeape. We'll go sign up for the Grand Prix and then work something else out. That okay?"

The Pig Monkey Pokémon nodded. "Ape."

"Hold on!" a voice called from the entrance of the Gym. They turned back to see Rebecca coming over to them. "Wait, please don't leave. I want to thank you for trying to reach out to my father about Hitmonchan, so I've arranged for you to have a free pass to use the Gym as much as you like until the Grand Prix."

"I didn't think we'd be welcomed here after what happened," Brock pointed out. "He was the owner of the place, right?"

"My father acknowledged he was in the wrong for starting everything and approved it," she explained. "He promised that he was going to get Hitmonchan looked at by Nurse Joy and then spend the entire period until the Grand Prix away from the Gym so they wouldn't be tempted to keep working out. Mother will be happy about that considering how he gets, so please use the premises to your liking as our gratitude for reaching him where our words wouldn't."

Brock spotted Primeape looking eager at the offer as well and made up his mind. "Well, if you put it like that it'd be rude to refuse."

[-oOo-]

At the Celadon City Gym, Ash and Gina approached the Gym Trainer manning the registry. They intended to sign up for a match to receive the Rainbow Badge. However, to their surprise, they found that the available time slots were… limited, to say the least.

It seemed the Gym Leader's schedule was rather tightly packed. Aside from one time slot tomorrow, it would be another four days before they could find an opening for a second match—or a rematch, if they lost. "Even by the standards of other Gyms, this is pretty much the busiest I've seen for a time slot."

"Leaving aside the fact that Lady Erika has a busy schedule, Celadon is one of the most populated cities in Kanto and a lot of new trainers come flooding in. The only reason we have an opening tomorrow is because one of the Pokémon Trainers who was supposed to be taking it fell sick and canceled."

Celadon may have not been quite as large as Saffron, which acted as a hub to the Johto Region. But it held a lot more attractions depending on the district of the city. There was one of the most prestigious universities in Kanto located in the equivalent of an education district. The district that Brock wanted to visit that catered towards Pokémon Aesthetics was apparently a bigger deal than either of them thought too. Then there was the Casino and the Hotels that naturally bustled with life and drew people towards it—and more people also meant more Trainers as well.

"It also doesn't help that she's likely seen as one of the most approachable Gym Leaders within the heart of the region," Gina said rather bluntly. Sabrina had explicitly turned the Saffron City Gym into a roadblock for those who weren't prepared, making her one of the most difficult Gyms. And to the south of her was Lt. Surge, who seemed to share a similar opinion when it came to a difficulty spike. "I'm betting most of the trainers are slotted for two-badges or lower?"

The Gym Trainer's eye twitched at that. "I won't say that you're wrong, but just because Lady Erika is amicable don't think you'll have it easy. That being said, which of you is going to sign up for the slot?"

The question brought up another conundrum as Ash's brows folded inwards and stalwart silence was his response. He wasn't sure if he should take the first slot for himself. If he did and he won, then he'd be two badges ahead of Gina. Back when they had left Pallet it had been a race to best one another, and he knew how frustrated he got whenever he thought she was ahead of him. But since they were traveling together, and what happened in Saffron, he was still thinking about how to approach it.

On the one hand, Gina asked him to treat the whole thing with Sabrina's Shadow as if it hadn't happened. And if he was feeling as competitive as he had been before, he would have undoubtedly taken the slot for himself to get further ahead. That was what you did when there was someone who was supposed to be your rival.

On the other hand, a rival was supposed to be able to keep up. And if by some chance Gina didn't manage to win the badge, he'd be two ahead of her. Were they just going to keep moving on like in Saffron and leave her to catch up later? What if she fell behind too far? Would she resent him for it?

Then again, Gina hated being pitied. If she thought that he was doing that then she'd resent him for that too. So if that's the case he couldn't offer to go second then either, could he?

"Oh, really Ash," Gina said with a roll of her eyes before she let out a frustrated huff. Then she turned back to the Gym Trainer and registered her choice pokémon for the next available slot after the free one tomorrow. That pretty much only left the one that was earlier for him to take. "You went first in Vermillion and I went first in Saffron. Stop thinking about how I'd feel."

"…I wasn't," he lied. It was a poor one given she proceeded to walk off in a manner that left him feeling as if he'd done something wrong. He looked down to Pikachu, who stared up at him with black eyes that were just as confused as he was when it came to women. Then he sighed and took the time slot left to him.

Brock had warned him that after the fourth badge Gym Leaders began treating them like actual competitors and would tailor strategies against the pokémon they chose in specific. So, he gave it some thought and his choices to be registered were Charmeleon, Pidgeotto, and Bulbasaur. The first two had Type-Advantage, but the latter was one of his most experienced pokémon from protecting the Hidden Village since before they had met and could adapt to nearly any situation.

Between them, Ash was hopeful they'd be able to earn another badge.