Chapter 4

Even though it wasn't late, Leaf decided she was done for the day. She sat with Bulbausar in the Pewter Pokemon Center, waiting for Spearow to be healed. Bulbasaur had received treatment as well, but since his condition was nowhere near as bad as Spearow's, he was returned to her quickly.

Leaf got her and Bulbasaur lunch in the cafeteria. Bulbasaur munched happily on his meal, but Leaf found her appetite didn't quite match his. Her mind was completely occupied by Spearow. She knew Spearow was never in critical danger and was now in good hands. She knew the bird Pokemon would be discharged soon. And as a new trainer, she shouldn't expect herself to know everything. But Leaf still couldn't help but mentally kick herself for her ignorance. She couldn't help but think that if she had had an antidote on her, Spearow would be eating lunch with them right now.

Leaf thought about all the Pokemon battles she watched on TV. Whenever a Pokemon fainted, their trainer would send out the next with barely a grimace, as if they had simply stumbled and needed to regain their balance. Leaf wondered how those trainers could brush it off so easily. She didn't believe she could, given how she was feeling about Spearow, who hadn't even fainted. Maybe this was something she just needed more experience in, but that meant losing battles which Leaf did not intend to do.

A brown shape suddenly appeared in Leaf's vision. Blinking, Leaf realized that Bulbasaur's vines were holding a piece of Pokemon food in her face. She looked down at Bulbasaur, gazing at her with such earnesty, then at her plate which had barely been touched, and laughed.

"Thanks Bulbasaur, but I can't eat Pokemon food."

Bulbasaur put the piece back in his bowl and with his vines, pushed her plate slightly closer to her.

"I know, I know. I'm just not that hungry." Bulbasaur chirped and pushed her plate once more, causing Leaf to laugh again. "Alright, I'll eat. Don't push my food off the table."

Leaf bit into her burger and all of a sudden, her body remembered that she had just walked through a giant forest and was famished. She finished her lunch quickly.

Professor Oak had told Leaf that Red and Blue were able to choose their first Pokemon. Leaf hadn't been given a choice, but she could not have been happier to have Bulbasaur by her side.

Spearow was reunited with Leaf not long after lunch. Leaf hugged the small bird and apologized for being so unprepared back in Viridian Forest. Spearow gave Leaf's hand a light peck, which Leaf interpreted to mean What are you apologizing for, dummy? I'm fine, see? It made Leaf feel better, but she was not going to make the same mistake twice. After she returned Spearow and Bulbasaur to their PokeBalls, she exited the Pokemon Center and headed for the PokeMart.

The PokeMart in Pewter City was larger than the one in Viridian. There were more items to choose from, including a Great Ball which supposedly had double the catch rate of the standard PokeBall. It looked cool, with its ocean blue surface and red markings, but Leaf deemed other items as more important. She bought four more potions, an antidote, an awakening, and a paralyze heal.

Leaf stepped out of the PokeMart and for the first time since arriving at the Stone Gray City, got a good look at it.

Pewter City lived up to its slogan. Surrounding it were rugged mountains. The tallest, which Leaf could see in the distance, was called Mount Moon and was east from the city. Fossils and rare stones were frequently excavated from there and displayed in the Pewter Museum of Science. Leaf could see the museum northwest from the PokeMart. It was the grandest building in the city, with a metal dome for a roof, and stood at the top of wide stone stairs.

Across the museum was the Pewter Gym.

Gyms were places where trainers go to train their Pokemon. The most powerful trainer in each Gym was known as the Gym Leader. If a trainer defeated the Gym Leader in a battle, the trainer would receive a Gym Badge. There were eight Gym Leaders in Kanto. In order to qualify for the Indigo League, Leaf would need to challenge and beat all eight.

Leaf stood in front of the Pewter Gym now. On the outside, it was identical to the Viridian Gym: a metal structure with a PokeBall sign at the front. But when Leaf stepped inside, she saw a rocky terrain with trainers all over, battling each other. Pokemon of all shapes and sizes were wrestling each other, spitting out fire and water at each other, slamming into giant rocks. Leaf couldn't follow everything, so she raised her head to see what lay past them. At the end of the building was a young man sitting on a slab of stone, silently observing the chaos.

This young man was Pewter's Gym Leader, Brock Harrison. The sign outside the Gym called him the Rock-Solid Trainer.

Brock's gaze seemed to land on Leaf and she looked down, feeling awkward. Her plan was to rest today and challenge him tomorrow, but she wasn't sure if she was ready. How many trainers had she battled so far? Six? Was that enough? How would she go about challenging Brock, anyway? She couldn't imagine walking through all these battles to get to him.

"Hiya!" Leaf looked to her right. A black-haired man wearing a blue t-shirt and glasses had come up to her. He grinned. "Are you here to challenge Brock?"

Leaf glanced at Brock again. The Gym Leader was back to watching the battles. "Not today, maybe tomorrow."

"Maybe? Why do you say maybe?"

Leaf gestured at all the other trainers. "Well, for starters, I'm not sure how it works."

The man replied in a sympathetic voice, "No new trainer does. It's not as intimidating as it looks. There's only one trainer other than Brock that you'll need to face. His name is Liam. He's not hard to find; he always wears a green hat. Once you defeat him, Brock will allow you to battle him." In a more sly tone, he added, "And here's a tip: you may or may not already know this, but Brock specializes in rock-type Pokemon. If you have a grass or water-type, you'll be all good."

Grass-type! That means with Bulbasaur, Leaf had the advantage. She couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face.

The man laughed. "I guess that means you do have one."

"Yes, thanks for letting me know!" Leaf said. Then she asked, "Um, who are you? And why did you tell me that?"

"I'm the guy who handles Gym registrations. Before you throw yourself out there, you have to sign in on this form." The guy held up a clipboard with sheets of paper attached to it. "And why did I tell you?" He gave Leaf a kind smile. "Not completely sure. It's a mix of things. I could tell you were nervous. Could also tell you had big dreams and I wanted to help you achieve them." The man extended his hand. "The name's Grant. Yours?"

Leaf shook it. "Leaf."

"It's nice to meet you, Leaf. I hope I see you tomorrow."

The uncertainty Leaf felt earlier had been replaced by a fire. "You will."

Leaf didn't quite rest. As she walked around, she overheard a group of trainers talk about battling outside the city. Leaf couldn't help herself and joined them. She battled three trainers, beating all of them. If there was any doubt left about challenging Brock, it was gone now.

Right after finishing breakfast the next morning, Leaf headed for the Pewter Gym. Grant beamed upon seeing her.

"Hey, Leaf! Glad to see you here."

Leaf returned his smile. "I said I would be."

She wrote her name and the time––7:45AM––down on Grant's clipboard. Grant wished her good luck and Leaf stepped onto the terrain. The Gym was nowhere near as crowded as it was yesterday. There were only a handful of trainers. Most of them stretched with their Pokemon. Up ahead, Brock sat on his stone slab.

Grant had told Leaf that in order to challenge Brock, she would first need to beat a trainer named Liam. Tying his shoes at the base of the stairs that led to Brock was a boy in camping attire. On top of his head was a green hat.

Leaf approached him. "You're Liam, right?"

The boy stood up and grinned. "Yes. You?"

"Leaf. I'm here to challenge you and then Brock."

Liam smirked. "You're ten-thousand light-years from facing Brock, but sure."

Liam reminded Leaf of Green Pig. She was going to relish crushing him.

The two trainers moved several feet apart from each other. Leaf sent out Bulbasaur and Liam sent out a floating stone with a face and arms, a Geodude. Leaf scanned it with the Pokedex.

"Geodude, use Tackle!" The Geodude charged.

"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip!" Bulbasaur launched his vines at the Geodude, knocking him out.

Something flashed in Liam's eyes as he returned Geodude. Leaf smirked as she remembered Grant telling her that grass-types had an advantage over rock-types. She had a good guess on what Liam's next Pokemon was.

Liam sent out a Pokemon that looked like a rodent with a yellow, brick-patterned hide. Its muzzle and underbelly were white and it had cute, almond-shaped eyes. The Pokedex said it was a Sandshrew and to Leaf's surprise, it wasn't a rock-type, but a ground-type. Not that that made a huge difference. Leaf could tell from the sweat rolling down Liam's face that Sandshrew was also weak against Bulbasaur. With one smack from a Vine Whip, the Sandshrew was down as well. After receiving her prize money, Leaf glanced over at Brock and saw that the Gym Leader had been closely watching them. Brock looked younger in person than on TV. He had dark skin, spiky brown hair, and eyes so narrow they almost looked shut.

"So, you beat Liam. You said your name was Leaf, right?"

Leaf swallowed and nodded.

"I'm Brock. I'm Pewter's Gym Leader. My Pokemon are all rock-type because I believe in rock-hard defense and determination. Do you still want to challenge me?"

Leaf nodded, this time more confidently.

"Fine then! Show me your best!"

All the other trainers stepped aside as Leaf made her way to the other end of the terrain. Her heart thundered in her chest.

Brock's first Pokemon was also a Geodude. He ordered it to tackle Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip!" Bulbasaur's vines shot out, but they didn't make contact with the rock Pokemon. The Geodude expertly dodged them and rammed into Bulbasaur, sending him tumbling into a large boulder.

"Geodude keep tackling Bulbasaur into the rocks!"

Leaf thought quickly. "Bulbasaur, use your vines to push yourself off the rock!"

Bulbasaur did what he was told and jumped high into the air, avoiding Geodude's attack.

"Now use Vine Whip!"

With the boulder behind Geodude, he couldn't move around as much. The vines hit the rock Pokemon and knocked him out.

"Great job, Bulbasaur!" Leaf called out as Bulbasaur landed on the ground and Brock returned his Pokemon. Bulbasaur turned to her and beamed proudly.

Leaf looked at Brock. To her surprise, the Gym Leader was very calm. In fact, there seemed to be a small smile on his face.

Brock threw another PokeBall. "Go, Onix!"

There was a giant flash of white, making Leaf shut her eyes. When she opened them, her jaw dropped. Standing nearly up to the ceiling was a snake-like Pokemon, made entirely out of stone. On top of its head was a rocky spine. It let out a mighty roar that seemed to shake the building.

Leaf shakily pulled out the Pokedex. She couldn't fit the whole thing into the camera, but it knew what it was. An Onix, the tallest and heaviest unevolved Pokemon in the world. Leaf couldn't imagine what the Onix would evolve into, how it could get any bigger.

Onix's hard, black eyes zeroed in on Bulbasaur, making him shrink. "It's alright, Bulbasaur," Leaf said, trying to sound as calm as possible. "Remember, we have the advantage."

"Onix, use Tackle!" Brock commanded.

The Onix lunged, dust and debris exploding around it. Bulbasaur tried to jump out of the way, but the Onix was too large. The side of its head slammed against Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip!"

Bulbasaur whipped at the Onix's head. Leaf almost breathed a sigh of relief when the Onix roared and pulled away. A part of her had been worried that the Onix wouldn't feel any of Bulbasaur's attacks.

"Onix, use Bind!"

The Onix whipped its tail around, destroying all the boulders in its path. When the dust cleared, Leaf's eyes widened in horror. The Onix's tail was wrapped tightly around Bulbasaur, holding him up to the Onix's face. Bulbasaur was making raspy sounds, as if he was being strangled.

Leaf's mind was spinning. What should she do? The Onix had its tail around Bulbasaur in a way that his vines would not be able to come out easily. In addition to his head, it mostly was the top of Bulbasaur's bulb that was exposed.

Actually, that might not be so bad.

Yesterday, against one of the trainers, Bulbasaur had picked up a new move. It wasn't as offensive as Vine Whip, but Leaf had a feeling it could be just as useful.

"Bulbasaur, use Leech Seed!"

A seed sprouted from the bulb and fell onto the Onix. It was so small that for a second, Leaf thought it wouldn't be able to do anything. But then, leafy vines broke out and wrapped around the Onix's tail. The vines glowed and with a roar, the Onix released Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur, use your vines to grab the top of Onix's head!"

Bulbasaur had been about to faint when it was in the Onix's clutches. But with Leech Seed, Bulbasaur was regaining his energy by sucking out the Onix's. Bulbasaur's vines tied around the spine on the Onix's head. He swung around as the Onix tried to shake him and the glowing vines off.

"Onix, swing Bulbasaur against the wall!"

"Bulbasaur, get on top of Onix's head!"

Bulbasaur pulled himself securely onto the rock snake Pokemon's head before it could throw Bulbasaur into the wall. The Onix bellowed again when the Leech Seed continued to sap its energy away.

"Onix, break off the vines!"

But it was too late. The vines glowed once more and the Onix became very still. After a moment, it fell, a booming crash that sent more debris flying.

Bulbasaur tumbled towards Leaf. He looked a bit shaken, but Leaf could tell he was alright.

Brock returned the Onix. With the massive Pokemon gone, Leaf could see the extent of the damage the battle caused. All the boulders had been smashed and there was a giant indent in the ground where Onix fell.

The Gym had suddenly gone quiet now. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of Brock's footsteps as he made his way towards her. Once he reached her, he smiled.

"You were better than I expected. As proof of your victory, I confer on you this...the official Pokemon League Boulder Badge."

Leaf held her breath as Brock lifted up a silver, octagonal badge. Its texture resembled the Onix.

"You can put it wherever you want. Go on, take it. You won it."

Slowly, Leaf took the badge from him. She stared at the small badge for a moment, speechless.

Then, there was clapping. Leaf looked to her side and saw the trainers, including Liam, were cheering. Grant gave her a giant grin.

That was when it all sank in.

"Oh my god!" Leaf yelled. Smiling as if she had just won the lottery, she looked down at Bulbasaur and began jumping in place. "Bulbasaur! We did it! We won! We just beat our first Gym Leader!"

Bulbasaur was jumping now, making loud sounds that she interpreted as laughing. Leaf laughed along with him. She was absolutely ecstatic. With this win, Leaf felt that she truly was a trainer now. And she was one step closer to becoming Champion. The day could not have gone any better.

All of sudden, Bulbasaur began to glow. He glowed brighter and brighter, until the light suddenly vanished. Leaf gasped.

Standing there was not quite Bulbasaur. He looked like him, but he was bigger and on his back was a large pink bud supported by leafy green fronds. He lifted up his forelegs, examining himself.

"Looks like your Bulbasaur evolved," Brock said.

Evolved. Leaf quickly pulled out the Pokedex, nearly dropping it in the process.

Ivysaur. There is a plant bulb on its back. When it absorbs nutrients, the bulb is said to blossom in a large flower.

"Ivysaur," Leaf said to herself. Then, louder, "Ivysaur!"

She began to laugh again. Ivysaur did as well. The sound he made was deeper than when he was Bulbasaur. But he still had the same red eyes and Leaf knew that whatever challenge lay ahead, they would face it together.

Leaf won her first badge and Bulbasaur is now Ivysaur! This was my first serious battle, I hope you all enjoyed it. As always, I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks for reading!