Hey readers, here we are with another new chapter : )

I'm quite excited about this one because we finally get to see Brock, so it won't be long now until the whole gang is finally travelling together : )

But enough about that for now. Instead, let's talk about the winner of last week's evolution vote. Unfortunately there isn't a clear winner yet, but I'll talk more about that in the footnote when the chapter is done.

Other than that, I'd just like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone that has reviewed, favourited, and followed this story. I really appreciate the support so thank you : )

Please remember that Pokemon is not mine, only my OCs are.

I hope you enjoy this chapter : )

Showdown in Pewter City - Part 2

Nolan and his friends ended up staying at the Pokemon Centre for about two hours in total, and in that time, they managed to get quite a number of useful things done. True to his word, Nolan had called his father back in Pallet Town, and had ended up staying on the phone with the man for almost half an hour as they caught each other up on everything that had happened whilst they had been out of contact with each other. Naturally, Nathaniel had been very proud of his son when the boy had told him the story about how he and his friends had helped the Pewter City Police Department with their official investigation, and even more so when he had told him about how he had offered Iris the Venonat a loving home, an offer which she had graciously accepted. The man had told his son as such, which had left a warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of Nolan's stomach. It felt nice to know that his dad was proud of him.

They had quickly wrapped things up after that, with Nolan promising to call his father once again after he had had his match against the Pewter City gym leader. Nathaniel was very excited to hear the result of his son's first official gym battle after all. The man had wished his son the very best of luck in his upcoming battle, told him that he loved him very much, before the call finally ended.

After that, Nolan had gone off in search of his friends, and exactly as expected, he found them sitting at a table together in the Pokemon Centre's cafeteria. As promised, they had kindly purchased Nolan some lunch so that he didn't have to wait in the long queue, and the three of them had quickly devoured their individual meals. As they did so, the topic of conversation quickly turn to their imminent gym battles. As they talked, Misty had very kindly offered to allow the boys to use some of her Water Type Pokemon, which no doubt would grant them a very strong advantage against the gym leader's Rock and Ground Type Pokemon. Nolan and Ash were both very quick to turn her down though. At first, Misty had been slightly offended by their rejection of her offer, a situation which Ash didn't help with his rather blunt and tactless responses, but Nolan had quickly calmed things down before an argument could break out. He explained to his female friend that whilst her offer was very kind, and that they both really did appreciate it, he and Ash simply wanted to use their own Pokemon against the gym leader. That to borrow somebody else's was actually kind of disrespectful to their own teams. After all, what better way could they prove that they were serious about becoming the very best if not by rising to such an intense challenge. Misty had understood after that, though she also told them that the offer would remain open should they change their minds. Nolan and Ash both thanked her, and the conversation drifted back into more pleasant topics.

After their appetites were appeased and their stomachs were full, the trio of young Pokemon trainers then went off in search of the shower rooms that Pokemon Centres made available to all travelling trainers in order to freshen themselves up. They also handed their dirty clothing off to a couple of helpful Chansey that were waiting outside so that they could wash them for the young trainers. The three youngsters would be able to pick their clean clothing up at the laundry room later.

Honestly, Nolan couldn't remember a time when he'd ever enjoyed a nice long hot shower more in his entire life. It was nothing short of wonderful to be able to wash all the dirt off of himself, and he stood for nearly twenty minutes under the boiling hot water, just allowing it to cleanse him all the way through.

Finally feeling clean again, Nolan had used his towel to dry himself off before he had stepped out of the shower facilities and into the male locker room again. From out if his backpack, he had pulled out his secondary outfit, which was an exact match to his usual clothing. Pulling them on, the golden haired boy had then gone off in search of the laundry room to retrieve his freshly washed clothes back from the assistant Chansey. He had also retrieved his friends' clothes for them at the same time for efficiency's sake. He then met up with Ash and Misty again, both of whom quickly got dressed, right before Nurse Joy had come striding up to the trio. She had informed the group that all of their Pokemon were in excellent shape, and that they were ready to be collected. The pink haired nurse had then kindly given them directions to their next destination. And that was how Nolan came to be in his present situation - stood on a sidewalk with his friends surrounding him and Meadow in his arms, all of them looking up at the building that was the Pewter City Pokemon Gym.

The golden haired boy arched a somewhat incredulous eyebrow as he silently surveyed the place that would hopefully be the site of his first major victory in his Pokemon Training career.

Whenever Nolan had pictured the setting of his first major victory in which he earned himself one of those most coveted gym badges, the golden haired boy had always imagined a highly impressive building, something that aptly fit with the status of a highly impressive competitor such as a gym leader. His mind had always immediately jumped to things like castles, palaces, or even temples; or at least a building fashioned after one of those things. What he had never pictured though, was a collection of large boulders all precariously balanced atop one another to form what could only be described as a medieval-style hut. True to the ancient traditions that surrounded Pewter City and its mining history, the gym had perhaps taken the concept a little too far, and Nolan couldn't help but wonder how the whole thing didn't come crashing down if a battle got too intense. The golden haired boy could only hope that an actual building resided beneath the gigantic grey stones, and that they were merely piled around it for pure cosmetic effect. Either way, this was not what Nolan had had in mind when deciding to come here, and it left rather a lot to be desired if he were honest. If it weren't for the simple letters forming the words 'PEWTER GYM' engraved upon the largest stone, Nolan might have even thought that he and his friends had arrived at the wrong place.

Needless to say, the golden haired boy wasn't impressed.

Still, Nolan knew that appearances could be deceptive, so he wasn't about to let his guard down. To do so would be a grave error on his part. After all, regardless of what the exterior of the building looked like, Nolan knew that it was the gym leader inside that he really needed to be concerned with right now. Stop pushing his somewhat uncharitable thoughts out of mind for the moment, Nolan turned to his friends with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Well, here we are" he announced, swallowing hard, both from nerves but also excitement as he thought about his imminent battle inside, "The Pewter City Gym".

Ash and Misty both stared up at the less-than-impressive building, just like Nolan was, with somewhat dubious expressions on their faces.

"It's a lot more... old, than I was expecting" Ash commented dryly.

"Don't let your guard down Ash" Misty cautioned him in a serious tone, "I know that this place doesn't look like much, but earning a badge here won't be easy".

Ash nodded seriously as he took in her wise words of warning.

"That's certainly true" the raven haired boy was forced to agree with her assessment of the situation, before a new thought suddenly struck him, prompting him to turn to his best friend uneasily, "But wait a minute! How do we decide which one of us gets to challenge the gym leader first?"

Nolan swallowed hard at the question.

This was a subject that had never really come up during all their years of daydreaming about their Pokemon journey together, which looking back, might have been an error on their part. And whilst the kind, polite, and thoughtful side of Nolan knew that the right thing to do would be to offer to allow his best friend to go ahead of himself, the ambitious young trainer part of him that wanted to be the very best didn't exactly relish the idea of giving up the chance to take on the gym leader to try and earn his first badge right now. And judging by the somewhat uneasy expression on Ash's face, the raven haired boy was having similar thoughts. A heavy silence fell over the group for a moment.

Misty, realising that neither of the boys were willingly going to give up the opportunity to challenge the gym leader first, snapped her fingers as an idea came to her.

"I've got it!" she exclaimed in a bright tone, before she began quickly rummaging through the pockets of her denim shorts. Moments later, she withdrew a penny from her pocket and held it up triumphantly, "You guys can toss a coin to decide this! The winner gets to challenge the gym leader first!"

Nolan and Ash looked at each other, and having no better ideas, they both just shrugged their shoulders.

"I guess that's fair" Ash said begrudgingly after a moment of deliberation. He didn't really like the idea of settling this with a coin toss of all things, but he saw no other option.

Nolan was of a similar opinion.

"Okay, that would settle this issue for now" the golden haired boy admitted, a thoughtful frown etched into his face, "But what about when we arrive at the next gym? We do a coin toss again? What if the same person wins again? That doesn't seem very fair".

Ash and Misty were both forced to admit that Nolan had a valid point there. They each pondered the conundrum for a couple more moments.

"Okay, well how about this..." Misty spoke up, bringing both of the boys' attention back to herself, "We toss the coin and the winner gets to go first this time. Then, whoever lost out this time gets to go first next time. You guys could just keep taking it in turns after that".

Nolan and Ash both beamed at her. It was the perfect solution.

"That's a great idea Misty" Ash said gratefully, and Misty smiled warmly at her friend.

"Yeah" Nolan nodded his head in agreement, "That sounds fair to me".

"And now that that's decided, should we get started?" Ash asked, and having no further reasons to delay, Nolan and Misty both nodded, "We don't want to keep the gym leader waiting after all".

Misty couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. Carefully placing the glittering penny on the top of her thumb and balancing it there, the Water Type Pokemon Specialist then looked up at her friends.

"Call it in the air" she ordered, before with one swift manoeuvre, she flicked the coin upwards, and the shiny piece of metal was sent spinning through the air.

"Heads!" Ash immediately called out.

"Tails!" Nolan exclaimed at the exact same moment as his best friend.

The three young trainers watched, almost mesmerized, as the coin spun through the air. As it began its descent back down to earth, Misty quickly snatched it out of the air, and opened her palm to reveal the outcome of the coin toss. She smiled at Ash.

"Well then I guess I should say, 'Good luck Ash', because you're going first" she said brightly, showing the two boys the penny in her hand, the 'Heads' side of the coin looking up at them.

"YES!" Ash couldn't help but cheer in delight, fist-pumping the air excitedly.

Nolan on the other hand let out a small sad sigh. The golden haired boy was no doubt disappointed by the result, but was still happy for his best friend, who was still cheering and celebrating at his side. And, Nolan silently reasoned to himself, this may actually be a good thing for him and his Pokemon team in the long run. After all, by watching Ash take on the gym leader first, it gave Nolan a perfect opportunity to observe the other trainer's battle style, giving the golden haired boy something of an advantage over his friend. Nolan smiled. Perhaps that wasn't such a bad loss after all. Either way, the result had been decided, and he would get to go first next time, so he felt no bitterness on how things had played out.

"Well I guess that's that then" Nolan said, and Ash stopped celebrating and glanced over at him, a little worried that his best friend might be upset. Nolan smiled at him to show that that wasn't the case, "Best of luck Ash! I'm sure you'll show that gym leader a thing or two!"

Ash smiled warmly at him.

"Thanks Nolan" the raven haired boy said gratefully, before he finally turned his focus back to the large stone building before them. Nolan did the same, as did Misty once she had returned the coin she had used back to her pocket, "Do we just go inside? I don't see a doorbell or anything?"

It was only natural that Ash didn't really understand the protocol here. He'd never challenged a Pokemon Gym before after all.

"I think we can just go in" Misty informed him.

Nodding, Ash led the way up to the main doors of the building, and without any further hesitation whatsoever, he promptly threw them open, revealing a dark and ominous-looking room beyond.

"HHHEEELLLLLLOOO!"

Ash's voice echoed throughout the room as he stepped into the gym, causing Nolan to frown slightly. That echo had sounded like it was passing through an underground cavern, it was so loud. He couldn't help but wonder how a room was capable of doing that. Unless it was actually the size of a cathedral, but the gym hadn't looked quite that big from the outside. Nolan quickly shook the thought away. It was hardly important at a time like this after all. The three friends all stepped further into the gym, looking around curiously whilst also trying to see through the thick darkness that seemed to loom over them all.

"Who goes there?" a softly spoken but somehow still stern voice suddenly demanded, startling Nolan and his friends and making them all jump.

Suddenly a bright spotlight shined down from the ceiling overhead, illuminating a stone pedestal upon which sat a young teenager. As soon as Nolan's eyes adjusted to the harsh streak of light, he saw that the person who had spoken out was a young male, perhaps maybe thirteen to fifteen years of age, with tanned skin. The older boy was wearing a green armless jacket over an orange T-shirt and brown jeans. His dark hair was gelled into jagged spikes, and his eyes were all but slits as he carefully regarded the three younger trainers before him. Immediately, Nolan felt very tense. The older boy's gaze was very intense, which caused the golden haired boy to squirm uncomfortably.

"So you must be Brock" Ash declared as he peered up at the older boy with scrutiny, having responded before Nolan and Misty even had time to recover from the presumed gym leader's sudden appearance, "My name is Ash Ketchum, and I'm from Pallet Town. I've travelled here to challenge you so I can earn one of your gym's official league badges".

Brock, the Pewter City gym leader, narrowed his eyes even further as he looked down at Ash. He did not seem particularly impressed by the younger boy's bold declaration.

"Is this your first gym match?" Brock questioned sternly, and Nolan couldn't help but think that his tone sounded slightly patronising. Apparently Ash thought so too, because he glared angrily back at the older trainer on his pedestal.

"Yes it is" the raven haired boy confirmed through gritted teeth, "But don't let that fool you into thinking that I'll be a pushover".

Again, Brock did not seem impressed by the boy that stood before him.

"A gym match is different from other Pokemon battles" Brock stated in a surprisingly patient manner given his somewhat gruff exterior, "This match is for Pokemon League authorization. There are special rules".

An expression of confusion briefly flashed over Ash's face.

"Err... What do you mean by 'special rules'?" the young raven haired trainer wanted to know.

"We will use two Pokemon each, understood?" Brock explained as he clambered to his feet and dusted himself off. He walked down a small flight of stone steps from his pedestal and down to Ash's level. He still towered over the younger boy though.

"That doesn't sound too different from a regular trainer battle" Ash remarked in a slightly perplexed manner.

Brock smirked sardonically at him. It was clear that he was not yet finished explaining the rules, but he also seemed to be amused by Ash's impatience.

"The difference is that only you as the challenger may exchange your Pokemon. I, as the gym leader, do not have that luxury" Brock continued his explanation, and Ash's eyes widened slightly in surprise, "There will also be no time limit for our match. A trainer loses when both of his Pokemon are unable to battle any further. Is all of that clear?"

"Yes Brock" Ash vigorously nodded his head, clearly eager to get started, "I understand".

Brock silently nodded his head at the younger boy, before his attention was finally drawn down to the small yellow Electric Type Pokemon at Ash's side.

"How long have you been with that Pokemon?" the gym leader asked curiously.

Ash blinked up at Brock, wondering why the older boy was inquiring about such a thing. Nevertheless he felt compelled to answer, so the raven haired boy paused to think about it.

"Err... about two weeks I guess" he finally responded. It was hard for him to know for sure. The days had all seemed to blend into one, the longer they'd been out in the Viridian Forest.

"Seventeen days" Nolan chimed in from behind his best friend. Unlike Ash, who had marched further into the darkened room once Brock had initially spoken out, Nolan and Misty had both lingered by the doors. Meadow was cuddled up in her partner's arms, "It's been seventeen days since we left Pallet Town to begin our Pokemon journey".

Brock turned his attention to the golden haired boy for a moment, silently nodding his understanding at the words that Nolan had spoken. The gym leader then glanced at the small Grass Type Pokemon in his arms for a brief second, before turning his attention back to Ash. Something of a sneer twisted its way across his face.

"Yes" Brock drawled in a manner that practically oozed with condescension, "Your Pikachu is in its cutest stage".

Pikachu apparently missed the gym leader's sarcastic tone, for the small yellow creature happily preened under the words he had spoken. The next ones would quickly put an end to that though.

"It can't win!" Brock announced in a tone that spoke of absolute certainty.

Furious at the perceived slight against his beloved Pokemon partner, Ash angrily glared up at Brock, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles immediately turned a stark white.

"I'll worry about my Pokemon and you worry about yours, all right?!" the raven haired boy snapped indignantly.

Nolan couldn't help but grimace slightly to himself upon hearing those words from his best friend's mouth. He was starting to get a little bit worried that Ash might be a little too overconfident about this match. He hoped that that confidence wasn't misplaced. Nolan knew just how crushed Ash would be if he lost this match after all. He hoped that things wouldn't come to that.

Brock on the other hand had no qualms about seeing Ash get defeated. In fact, he merely shrugged his shoulders in response, as if the overall outcome of the match was of little consequence to him.

"Suit yourself. As the gym leader, I have to accept every challenge so let's just get this over with" the teenager replied.

Squinting across the darkened room, Nolan watched as Brock then turned away from Ash for a moment, and instead walked over to the back wall of the gym. He threw a switch on the wall, and suddenly the whole room was bathed in light. Nolan yelped in surprise, and immediately shielded his eyes. Once he could see again, he hesitantly removed his hand from his eyes, and got his first proper look at the interior of the Pewter City gym for the first time.

The golden haired boy was pleased to see that his initial theory that the stones outside were only there for cosmetic purposes was indeed correct. The inside of the gym was actually a fully renovated room, with a high arched ceiling secured with criss-crossing metal beams. The two long side walls of the room had corrugated metal doorways like those more at place on a warehouse, and the floor was covered in dark marble tiles. All in all it was much posher than Nolan had expected, but it was still nothing like he had initially imagined it would be.

Brock threw another switch on the wall and that's when things really started to get interesting. For quite suddenly and without any kind of warning whatsoever, the two corrugated metal doorways mechanically opened, and two huge objects began rolling into the room on sliders on the floor. Much to Nolan's surprise, he saw that the two things were actually equal halves of a makeshift artificial battlefield. Together they would form a rocky terrain, like you'd expect to find in the mountains. It would be the perfect field for Rock Type Pokemon to take advantage of. Nolan swallowed hard. He'd have to remember to take that into account when it was his turn to battle Brock. Right now though there were more worrying matters at hand to focus on, seeing as the two halves of the battlefield were about to slam into Ash and Pikachu from both sides!

"Aah!" Ash cried out in panic.

"Chu!" Pikachu whimpered, clearly a little frightened by this latest turn of events.

The two of them were so taken aback by what was happening before them that neither of them really thought that perhaps they ought to move right now. Fortunately however, Misty was there to help snap them both out of the reverie that they had both fallen into.

"Ash!" Misty called out to her friend anxiously, concern flooding her tone and expression, "Don't just stand there! Run back this way!"

She didn't need to tell Ash twice.

Whirling on his heel, Ash broke out into a frantic sprint with Pikachu following just barely half a step behind him. Within seconds, the two of them had made it back across the room and to their friends by the main entrance, miraculously unharmed. It wasn't a moment too soon, for Ash and Pikachu had just barely gotten out of the way before the two halves of the makeshift battlefield slammed into each other with a resounding crunch noise, leaving an impressive rocky crag-like environment filling the gym. And on the far side of the gym from them, Brock stood, clearly ready to get the battle underway.

Ash huffed indignantly, not appreciating that little maneuvre one bit, but he wasn't about to let that threw him off right now. So instead, the raven haired boy just climbed back to his feet, and glowered across the field at his opponent.

"Let the match begin!" Brock declared as he plucked a pokeball off of his belt. He held the red and white sphere in front of himself in an almost threatening manner.

"Alright!" Ash smiled darkly at the more experienced trainer, clearly eager to get this match underway as well, "Okay Pikachu! I choose you buddy!"

Pikachu nodded his understanding, and hurried out onto the battlefield.

Across from them, Brock smirked in obvious amusement. Due to Rock Type Pokemon being resistant to electrical attacks, it was clear that the older boy thought that he had the advantage. Only time would tell if he was correct or not.

Nolan jolted forwards slightly in surprise when he suddenly felt a gentle tap on his arm. Turning, he saw that Misty had silently been trying to get his attention. Once she had it, the girl indicated towards some seats across to the side of the room where spectators could watch the match. Nolan nodded his understanding, and quickly went with her over to the seats so that he could watch Ash's battle against Brock from a spot where he wouldn't be a distraction for his best friend. Once he, Misty and Meadow were all settled, they all returned their attention to the match which was about to unfold.

"Onix!" Brock bellowed, his voice carrying across the room like a trumpet as he hurled the pokeball in his hand high into the air, "Go!"

The red and white sphere burst open, and in a beam of crimson coloured light, something utterly monsterous appeared on the battlefield. Nolan couldn't help but gulp loudly at the sight in front of him, and he wasn't the only one. Ash, and not to mention Pikachu, looked aghast at the creature that was to be their opponent.

The Pokemon was, to put it mildly, gigantic. It appeared to be a serpentine creature that was made out of large jagged boulders, which seemed to be connected to each other through some unknown means. The large stone Pokemon reared back to its full height, almost brushing against the ceiling with its spear-like horn, before it let out a bellowing roar that rattled all of their bones. Pikachu had never looked quite so tiny in comparison to another living being before. Immediately, the small yellow Pokemon began to sweat profusely, and his whole body began to tremble with terror.

Behind his beloved Pokemon partner, Ash's russet colored eyes widened in alarm at the sight of his friend in such obvious danger.

"Wha... what is that?!" the raven haired boy stammered anxiously.

With trembling fingers, Ash reached into his pocket and pulled out his pokedex. He quickly pointed it towards the humongous creature that seemed to fill the entire battlefield as it coiled about.

"Onix - the Rock Snake Pokemon" the device reported once it had identified the creature, "By twisting its large and powerful body, Onix can quickly bore through the ground at fifty miles per hour".

From their position off to the side, Nolan and Misty both looked very alarmed as well. Even without taking type advantages into account, it was clear that Pikachu was seriously outmatched here. They both hoped that Ash knew what he was doing, and that Pikachu wasn't about to pay a steep price if his trainer did not. From her position in Nolan's arms, Meadow looked concerned for her Pokemon friend as well.

Still, it was too late for them to do anything about it now. The match was about to get underway... or at least it would be, if Pikachu hadn't suffered from what could pretty much be considered a panic attack at the sight of his behemoth of an opponent.

Immediately turning tail in fear, the small yellow Pokemon dashed back across the makeshift battlefield in a panicked frenzy, jumping up onto Ash's leg and scurrying up until he was at the boy's waist before his human partner could do anything to stop him. With a tiny paw, Pikachu frantically pushed at the button on one of the pokeballs hanging from his human partner's belt.

Across the field, Brock snorted in amusement as he watched the Electric Type Pokemon's antics, while Nolan and Misty both grimaced upon seeing just how afraid Pikachu was, not that they could blame him since he was faced with such terrible odds. Ash on the other hand just looked annoyed and embarrassed by his partner's somewhat cowardly behaviour.

"Hey!" Ash protested, reaching around and plucking a squirming Pikachu off of his own body with both hands, "This is your battle Pikachu! Not Pidgeotto's!"

The raven haired boy scowled as he placed Pikachu back on the ground. The little yellow Electric Type Pokemon whimpered, and looked up at Ash with wide begging eyes, which were firmly ignored.

"Go!" Ash gave his partner a gentle shove forwards.

Seeing that he wasn't going to be getting out of this, Pikachu sighed and begrudgingly accepted his fate. With reluctance and sadly drooped ears, the little yellow Pokemon looked back towards the huge stone creature that towered over him. Brock's Onix let out another guttural roar, causing Pikachu to squeak in fear once again.

"Onix! Tackle attack! Brock commanded without mercy.

"OOONNNIIIXXX!" Onix let out another tremendous roar as it immediately lunged towards the ground where the petrified Pikachu stood trembling in fear.

"CHU!" Pikachu screamed, rolling to the side in an attempt to escape. And whilst he was indeed able to dodge the initial blow from Onix's powerful Tackle attack, it did little to help his futile situation. Using its gigantic form to its advantage, Onix effortlessly coiled its elongated body around Pikachu, its large stone boulders forming a makeshift wall around the terrified creature, cutting off any chance of escape. With frightening ease, Onix then hoisted Pikachu high into the air, whilst the yellow Electric Type Pokemon was helpless to do anything about it.

Ash could do little more than look on in horror, whilst across the field from them, Brock looked on smugly, clearly pleased by this turn of events.

"Excellent work Onix!" the gym leader praised his Pokemon, who despite the rocky nature of his face, seemed to smile down at the teenager lovingly, "Now use your Bind attack on Pikachu!"

Onix didn't hesitate to follow through with the gym leader's order, and immediately shifted Pikachu across his rocky body so that his victim would be in a better position to take the full impact of the attack that he was about to use. Once satisfied that Pikachu wouldn't be able to escape him, Onix harshly began tightening his entire body around the small Electric Type Pokemon, squeezing him tightly and crushing all of the air from his lungs. Pikachu immediately let out a pained wail of anguish, which stirred Onix's sympathies, but not enough to cause him to stop. Pikachu struggled with all his might, but it was no use. Onix's grip on him was just too strong. There was no way that he was getting out of this.

Down below, Ash grit his teeth angrily but refused to back down, despite being able to see the pain that his beloved partner was in. He wouldn't give up though. His pride simply wouldn't allow it.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled to be heard over Onix's roars and Pikachu's agonised whimpers, "Fight back with your Thunder Shock attack!"

By some miracle, Pikachu actually managed to fight through the crippling pain that he was currently experiencing, and unleashed a powerful blast of electricity that illuminated the entire battlefield. The small yellow Pokemon glowed brightly with electricity, but despite this, Onix appeared to be totallyunaffected by the charge of electricity passing through his body. Realising this, Ash blanched, his face turning a stark white as all the blood seemed to drain out of it.

Over on the sidelines, Nolan couldn't help but slap a hand against his forehead in sheer exasperation. He couldn't believe that his best friend had made such a rookie mistake as to forget that Electric Type Pokemon were ineffective against Rock and Ground Type Pokemon, but really, he shouldn't have been that surprised. He knew that Ash needed to work on his studies more, and from now on, Nolan would be nagging him to do just that. Not that that would be of much help to Pikachu right now of course.

"You clearly haven't studied all that well, have you?" Brock shook his head across the field at Ash in an almost pitying manner, "Don't you know that Electric Type attacks won't have any effect on Rock and Ground Type Pokemon like Onix?"

Ash silently fumed, and clearly wanted nothing more than to be able to protest that statement, but one glance at Pikachu, and he knew that Brock was right. Furious by this point, the raven haired Pokemon trainer clenched his jaw angrily, and plucked off a pokeball that he had not yet used before from his belt. He quickly pointed it in the direction of his beloved Pokemon partner.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled as a beam of scarlet coloured light burst forth from the red and white sphere, "Return!"

But it seemed hopeless. It was like when Metapod had been abducted by the Beedrill back in the Viridian Forest. No matter how many times Ash tried using the pokeball, Onix's huge bulky body kept blocking the beam of light from connecting with Pikachu. There was no way for the young trainer to return the Electric Type Pokemon back to the safety of his pokeball.

"It's being blocked" Ash whispered to himself in disbelief, utterly horrified by how disastrous this battle was going for him and his faithful partner, "I... I can't call him back!"

All the whilst, Onix kept on gripping Pikachu tighter and tighter in his coiled up body, trapping him in such a crushing embrace, it was a wonder that the small Electric Type Pokemon had yet to fall unconscious from the crippling pain. His vivid yellow fur began to sweat heavily whilst the colour started to drain out of Pikachu's face. It was more than a little obvious that he couldn't take much more of this intense agony.

From their positions on the sidelines, Nolan, Misty and even Meadow all wanted to help Ash more than anything. They had no idea what they could possibly suggest to the young raven haired trainer that might help to get Pikachu out of this horrible and seemingly impossible situation though.

"Chu..." another broken whimper of intense pain escaped Pikachu's lips, and that was the final straw for Ash.

"CUT IT OUT!" the rookie trainer suddenly burst out, unable to bear the sheer scope of miserable pain on his Pokemon friend's face anymore as he kept on being crushed by the mighty Onix, "PIKACHU CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE!"

Across the field from him, Brock actually looked a little surprised by the younger boy's sudden exclamation. After all, he had sensed immediately upon meeting him that Ash Ketchum wasn't the type to ever willingly throw in the towel. It was nice to see that the boy was at least responsible enough to put the welfare of his Pokemon above his own desires. Still, the gym leader needed to be sure.

"Do you forfeit the battle?" the teenager called across the field to Ash, who practically went rigid with horror at hearing the question voiced aloud.

The boy's guts twisted painfully. Giving up simply wasn't something that was in Ash's nature... but then, neither was allowing a friend, or even any Pokemon, to be in such extreme pain if there was something he could do to stop it. Looking physically pained by the notion of giving up, Ash couldn't help but glance over to the sidelines where his friends were sat watching. He caught Nolan's eye, and he wasn't surprised in the slightest when his best friend gave him a sympathetic look, before silently nodding his head. Ash allowed a miserable sigh to slip his lips. Even without saying any words, Nolan was right. No gym badge would ever be worth seeing Pikachu in this kind of crippling agony. His decision made, Ash sadly turned back towards Brock, and uttered two words that ended the entire battle.

"I do".

And that's another chapter done : )

Yeah, I decided to go down the route of having Ash battle using Pikachu in his first match against Brock. I feel like that was a pretty important part of establishing that gym battles are different than usual trainers battles in canon, so I wanted to keep that in my rewrite of the anime. And yay! Next time we'll get to see how Nolan fares ; ) I also added the part where they established the order that they would get to challenge each gym in, because I felt that that was a realistic problem that the two friends would need to overcome by deciding between themselves, so next time Nolan will get to go first ; )

But enough about that, so let's move on to last week's voting topic. Unfortunately there were no votes for evolutions this time, meaning that it is a tie between Welkin the Pidgeotto, Iris the Venonat, Meowth, Poliwag, Voltorb, Graveler, Electabuzz, Kadabra and Scyther. Hopefully someone will break the tie this week, but if not I have another plan in mind if it becomes necessary. I hope it won't come down to that though - so please go leave your vote in a review and help break the tie : )

And that's all from me for this week. Thank you so much for reading my story, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please remember to leave your vote in a review or even just general feedback because I'd love to hear your comments : )

Until the next time, keep on reading : )