P.S. All credit to respective owners.

Y.A.R.N

Noah was given a wait of a week and a half — which was a pleasant surprise — before his battle in the evening which he accepted with a smile. He returned Kezite and Stromm and made sure to tell them he couldn't be prouder of how his poison-type did. Stromm already began casting Wish on Kezite to help with the bruising on his stomach and general exhaustion. It wasn't much but it was something and while it helped Kezite, Stromm was also getting practice in so he wasn't going to complain about that.

"Do you mind if I watch my friend?" Noah inquired as he set the date in his calendar application.

"Go ahead, just walk the way your friend did." Liam replied with a rueful smile, "I got to get my pokemon to the center, you really did a number on them!"

He gave an apologetic smile and quickly made his way to the main arena, hoping to at least catch the tail end of Ash's fight. He had hoped Ash was doing well, but despite using his league rental, Brock knew the strengths and weaknesses of his preferred type in-and-out. Ash had gone through a couple of battles plans with his pokemon when it came for the upcoming match, so Noah took solace that Ash at least had a few plans in place.

He pushed through the doors to see Ash's Abra staring down an Onix as Ash watched, mouth a proud and focused smile as someone who could only be Brock pointed at the aspiring trainer, "Don't think that defeating my Geodude alone will be enough to win here, you've already used your Pikachu and Pidey to tire it out before Abra finished it."

Ash grinned, "I know, but I am ready for you. I haven't just rushed over here without any training."

Noah quietly slipped into the spectator stands, releasing his pokemon and murmuring, "This is a Gym Leader's fight. Watch."

He wondered if Poliwag had already been used and some sort of double-knockout by Brock's Geodude or Ash had managed to take down Geodude with his other team members and was keeping his pokemon in without switching. Brock hadn't mentioned the tadpole so Noah was reasonably sure Poliwag was still waiting for when it was the hail mary. While Pikachu and Pidgey may not have been able to do too much to the rock-types without the right moves, it wasn't outside the realm of possibility for them to actually win even though it would be tough. Abra — on the other hand — being able to defeat Geodude as rock-type pokemon was much easier as rock didn't have any advantages — or disadvantages — against psychic-type pokemon and Psyshock and Psyshard had been strong attacks. It was a valid strategy for a trainer to use a pokemon — even if it wasn't perfectly suited for the matchup — to wear down a pokemon to make it easier to handle before switching to a more effective type after. It was a tactic Noah used — involuntarily — quite often in his beginning years though that mostly had to do with the fact that his pokemon never really agreed with the concept of 'you've done enough and it's time to switch out.' They fought to the bitter end regardless of how tired or bad the matchup was as they were dragons after all.

"Rock Blast!" Brock ordered, voice clear.

Immediately the Onix began firing a salvo of boulders that put Liam's Geodude's Rock Throw to shame as they rocketed towards Abra. It was only to be expected though, Gym Trainers weren't weak — at leash Noah didn't tolerate weak gym trainers in his gym — but they generally weren't on the level of their Gym Leader otherwise the wouldn't stay as just Gym Trainers. The Gym Leaders usually had better pokemon than their Gym Trainers as they had time to work with them to make sure they would listen. Even in the wilds of Umbal City, Onix weren't pushovers and Noah had tussled with many of the species and their evolved form of Smeltix. It would be an uphill battle for Abra as he'd have to hit hard to make more than a few superficial blows on Onix and he was already tired.

"Teleport and Psyshock!" Ash cried out.

Abra vanished in a twist of its will, rocks smashing into the space it was just occupying the second before. Onix didn't let that shake him as he immediately began to swivel, eyes darting to find the psychic before it could retaliate. Pink spheres immediately formed around its head and swiftly crashed into's Onix's face in explosions of pink energy. The Onix roared in pain and irritation but locked eyes on Abra through the haze of pink energy that was still clouding his vision. The rock-type fired off another boulder and Abra vanished once again, but Brock had already been prepared.

"Dig! Then Rock Blast!"

Onix burrowed into the earth almost faster than Diglett had managed, the massive rock serpent safely ensconced in the ground before Abra could attack again.

"Don't let it tag you Abra! Sense it!" Ash called, "Psyshard barrage!"

Abra didn't seemed stressed and and patiently waited, the glow behind its eyes bleeding through its eyelids as it let its powers flare. It vanished just as Onix erupted from the earth but as Abra reappeared Onix eyes locked on it and roared, several rocks zeroed in on Abra even before the psychic could fully settle. Abra didn't let that slow him as he teleported out of the way and began launching Psyshard salvos at Onix. Several explosions of psychic energy erupted from where they hit Onix who large body was being shaken from the hits. The rock snake roared at the pain as he fired more rocks to try to force Abra to back off.

"Onix focus! Dig! Rock Polish and Rock Blast!" Brock ordered.

Onix burrowed underground and before Abra could tag it and the battle ground was silent as Onix began to use his move while protected underground. Abra let its power flare and waited but was completely out-sped by Onix who erupted from the ground much faster than before, sending the psychic-type upwards. Abra cringed in pain but managed to dodge a few boulders that were hurled at him, but the last one hit the area just beneath in front of Abra as it landed, causing it to flinch and cover his face with his arms.

"Another!" Brock shouted.

"Counter with Psyshard!" Ash shouted desperately.

Abra raised its arms, pink energy swirling to form a barrage of energy shards, but it was not enough to block the barrage. Some of the rocks shattered upon impact but even Abra's move variant just wasn't enough to stop all the boulders and they crashed into Abra, causing the pokemon to be sent flying and slam into the earth.

"Abra!" Ash cried out in worry.

"Sand Tomb, Rock Blast, and Rock Tomb!" Brock ordered in quick succession, "Bury it!"

The ground under Abra began to dip as sand rapidly formed into a cone beneath Abra, rocks pelted the psychic-type as they knocked him into the Sand Tomb. Immediately the sand began to drag Abra under as it slipped on the loose ground as rocks materialized above before they began to tumble down the quickly-forming pit to hit Abra before it realized what was happening. The Psychic-type struggled to pull itself up from the sand that was burying it, trying to pull itself from the pit formed from Onix's will while tying to block the rocks that were now tumbling down the sand from hitting it. Abra vanished in a twist of its will and landed back on the arena, shoulders heaving from the strain. It landed heavily on the ground, unwilling or unable to use it psychic power to even keep it afloat as it usually did.

Noah pursed his lips; even if Abra was strong for its relative age and acquisition, that Rock Blast nailing it had to hurt as its counter did little to mitigate it. And the panic and pain Brock had caused in an attempt to bury Abra had the psychic-type exhausted to the point it stopped floating as it normally would. That Rock Polish also made things trickier as now it was enhancing Onix's speed, Noah hoped he knew how to use Poliwag effectively to turn the situation around or he might have to give up here.

Ash grimaced and held out a poke ball, but his voice was soft, "Abra, you've done more than enough. Return."

Abra nodded tiredly and didn't fight it as he returned to his pokeball in a flash of light.

Brock nodded to himself, "Smart move, Abra was on his last leg. Still you have one more pokemon to use don't you?"

Ash enlarged a pokeball and threw it into the arena, "Go, Poliwag!"

Poliwag materialized and looked up to see Brock Onix glaring down at it with obvious aggression.

It let out a squeak of apprehension and surprise but quickly hardened its resolve, eyes flashing in defiance.

Noah couldn't blame it for its initial reaction, even when he first came across even a freshly made Onix when he started out, he had not wanted to look into those literally magma eyes promising violence. Sure, it hadn't taken long for the juveniles to realize that Noah's pokemon took exception to any threats against his person very personally, but the first few times had been rough. Then he ran across the Smeltix population an things were more fun by then as his pokemon had toughened up considerably by then. It was always fun for his team wrestle with the angry rock snakes when they came across Noah, they were all aggression and writhing coils.

"Tackle!" Brock called.

"Slide!" Ash commanded, a focus frown on his face, "Keep hitting it and keep moving!"

Immediately Poliwag blasted the ground with water and threw itself down as it slipped and maneuvered in the wet mud as swiftly as it did water. Onix chased after it, but Poliwag used precise bursts of Water Gun and manuvering to push itself out of the rock snake's path and deal out damage. It began dousing everywhere he could with water as more and more of the arena began to grow soft and slippery. Onix was getting frustrated from the multiple water attacks that were hurting it and the fact the little tadpole was outmaneuvering it so easily. It was used to slithering the earth to get to where it needed to go, but with the soft mud severely reducing its traction, it made it a lot harder to move considering it kept slipping. In fact Ash had managed to use Onix's own Rock Polish to his advantage considering that Onix would need a rougher body to move now.

"Rock Blast, cut it off!" Brock shouted, " Rock Smash to get some ground to move with and Smack Down when it's stuck!"

Onix began firing rocks into Poliwag's path, forcing the water type to use Water Gun to keep from crashing headlong into the boulders now in its path. It also fired some rocks around itself and smashed them into dust that began to coat the arena and mix with the slick mud. With the dust counteracting the slick terrain, the ground became firmer and created more traction allowing Onix to move once again. It roared in triumph and launched a barrage of stones, one clipping the tadpole as the hardening ground caused him to slow. Despite crying out, the water-type quickly focused through the pain and soaked the ground back to mud to slide away from Onix's follow-up.

"Dig!" Brock shouted, "Hit from underground!"

"Remember your fight with Pidgey!" Ash called, "Keep track and don't pause!"

Brock's move would've worked on someone less knowledgable but Poliwag had learned from his bout with Pidgey as he quickly began cataloguing where each boulder was in order to avoid being boxed in and made sure to focus on the slight ripples in the mud that were disturbed by Onix's tunneling. Ash had made sure his pokemon were ready and discussed the strategies he intended to use in advance. He gave both Pikachu and Pidgey to not have to fight if they didn't want to, but they both demanded to pull their weight. Still, Onix was no slouch and managed to erupt from the ground too close for Poliwg to completely avoid the force of it breaching sent it off course. Poliwag managed to reorient itself quickly and didn't let it become an easy hit for Onix by throwing itself back to sliding around the stadium. The rock-type had to be struggling with how this fight had been going so far, Abra may not have been able to beat it even with it's excellent application of its attacks, but it fought admirably and definitely hurt it. With the terrain already working against Onix — he hadn't been able to pack the ground hard like the rock-type would need for full mobility — Poliwag was at a clear advantage in this fight now. The multiple hits all over it's body also wasn't doing Brock's Onix any favors as it was beginning to feel the injuries taking their toll.

It was already over in Noah's opinion.

"Water Pulse!" Ash called, "We've almost got this!"

Poliwag used Water Gun to propel itself onto a boulder and blasted a pulsing sphere of water towards Onix. The rock-type tried to sway out of the way only for the attack to curve and explode into the side of its face. Onix roared in agony and fired a last blast of stones at the tadpole before falling onto its side and passing out. Poliwag managed to throw itself off the boulder it had perched itself on and with one last Water Gun launched itself out of Onix's final reprisal. Poliwag hit the ground hard but was cushioned on the mud that it had turned the floor into.

The announcer waited for the standard count and when Onix didn't rise, "Onix is unable to battle! The winner is Poliwag!"

Ash's grin nearly split his face in two as he cheered; Poliwag hopped in place while firing a triumphant Water Pulse skyward that exploded into a small shower. Brock recalled his Onix with a small sigh and he murmured softly into his pokeball.

"Fantastic work Poliwag!" Ash praised as he recalled his pokemon, "We'll celebrate later."

Brock strolled towards Ash with a smile and held out his hand for Ash to shake, "Good match Ash. Admirable use of terrain to enhance Poliwag's speed and you've trained Abra really well to get him to make his way out of a simultaneous rock and sand tomb. Even your Pidgey and Pikachu fought hard and did some decent damage to my Geodude despite the type disadvantage."

Ash shook his hand and smiled, "Thanks, they deserve all the credit though, I am just doing my best to keep up."

Brock smirked, "When you think you're really ready, come back here and we'll go another round. I think you won't find things quite as easy as they were before."

Ash's eyes lit with the idea of a great battle, "I will! I'll come back when I am way stronger and then we really will be able to fight! True team and all!"

Brock grinned, "It's a promise."

Ash grinned gleefully at the TM for Rock Tomb and Rock Slide as Noah walked with him out the gym.

"So?" Noah inquired, "How do you feel?"

Ash turned to him, beaming, "I did it! I got the first gym badge!"

Noah patted his shoulder, "The first step and you did it, but let's go heal our pokemon before busting out the party favors okay?"

Ash, Noah, Abra, Pikachu, Poliwag, and Pidgey, were all sitting contentedly after a small party for their respective wins. Kezite was actually demanding to train with Girac to help his power output while the Aggron was giving pointers to the poison-type on how to better mould steel energy. As an added bonus as he was immune to Kezite's poison attacks, so he was able to coach the Nidoran on more effective movement strategies and attacks as Kezite was dodging mud slaps. Noah had thought he would've wanted to take a break, but it seemed the poison-type was intent on getting stronger and faster before facing Brock. His evolution was so close he could practically taste it and he seemed intent on reaching it before he had to take on the Onix Brock had. Stromm was also working himself hard, playing tag with Deadary despite the ghost toying with him. The black on his ears and neck were receding and his tail was lengthening, a sign that his evolution to a Pikachu wasn't that far off either. He probably wouldn't evolve until after Brock, but it was good to see the baby beginning to grow up. Leaving his team to work out, Noah was deep in his map he had downloaded and was humming to himself. He wanted a team that had variety moving forward — as much as he was a dragon gym leader he was no longer in that position — a type-specialist never meant you were bound to lose to a team that had an advantage, but he preferred a wider team-pool now that he was running the circuit.

"What are you looking at?" Ash inquired.

"I was thinking of getting another pokemon." Noah replied, wincing as Kezite was knocked around by a mud slap, "Kezite's brilliant, but I feel like he needs some backup if I take on Brock. I don't doubt him at all but I was thinking of making a trip to Cerulean and fish in that area. I won't turn away any pokemon that I think can go the distance with me but I do have a particular teammate in mind. If get lucky I can catch a Horsea, it gets a dragon-typing once it evolves into Kingdra and Seadra is already a tough enough pokemon on it's own. I have a week and a half and Drakon would be able to fly me over in a couple of hours. I can work to at least polish out some of the flaws and get it to be a decent powerhouse this early in. Of course I don't intend to let any of my other family members languish, they're going to be scrapping with each other while I work with my team for this league."

Ash looked a bit put out at the thought of separating, "You don't want to go through Mt. Moon? That's what I was going to do."

Noah smiled, "You can if you want, I still have a gym match later, remember? Plus, I don't think Kezite would ever forgive me if I didn't at least visit the area, The Moonstone is revered by more than just the clefairy line. The nidoran revere it just as much as much especially since it triggers their final evolution. It's my best bet to find a moonstone and I refuse to take the easy way on my journey, this isn't me flying ahead, but building up my family."

Ash nodded slowly, "Would you be mad if I went ahead?"

"I'd be happy to tag along, but don't think that it means I'll just cruise alongside you. I am going to fight you when you think you can beat me, so you better make sure that you can challenge me." Noah declared, anticipation edging his tone, "I'll keep growing and getting stronger, so you won't win if you rely on chance, you need to know better, do better, and be better than the person you were yesterday! This is your journey, you're not obligated to wait. Whatever you decide to do? Do it. I won't hold you back. Just make sure you don't slack off, learn your family's strength, research your next opponent's weakness, and never stop pushing the limit, make sure you show the whole world that Ash Ketchum will be the best damn Pokemon Master to ever live!"

"I will! I'll show everyone I can do it!" Ash cheered with his determination burning in his eyes at the thought, oblivious to the stares of the confused people around him as he threw both his hands up at his declaration.

Noah smirked, "Well, that's enough on my end. Do whatever you think you should, just make sure you give it your all everyday and you'll find yourself among the pinnacle soon enough. Just don't be surprised when I will be there waiting for you."

He gathered his team and called Drakon before nodding and taking off with a blast of wind that would've left most flying-types green with envy.