44 Chapter 043

"Brock... he... he is smiling!"

When one of the gym trainers muttered that, the others also looked towards Brock's face. And yes, for the first time in their life, they were seeing Brock smiling during a battle.

Normally, Brock would deal with the trainers with a stone cold face, even inciting nonsensical rumors like Brock was a cold, young gym leader and even the reason he trains rock Pokemon was because they resemble him.

That's why, the gym trainers were stupefied when they noticed that Brock was smiling.

"Brock never smiles during a battle. What's going on?"

"How will I know?"

"Maybe he's happy about something."

The gym trainers discussed and amidst that discussion, one of the gym trainers who looked like a teenage version of Brock suddenly opened his mouth.

"I think Brock is smiling cause he's enjoying the battle."

"What? What are you trying to say, Forrest?"

"Brock normally doesn't enjoy his battles cause that's simply not the thing that excites him. But for the first time in his life, he's enjoying a battle."

The gym trainer named Forrest explained and the others nodded their heads. They still have questions to ask, but they didn't want to lose out even a moment of the ongoing battle.

They just decided to focus on the battle and leave the questions for later.

On the battlefield, the clash between Geodude and Mankey was still going on. No one was willing to back down and both Pokemon could feel each other's willingness to win the battle.

"Mankey, don't back down!"

"Geodude, look for a lose spot and aim there!"

Arthur and Brock also kept commanding their Pokemon, every second was heating up their blood more and their hearts were beating with a quick pace.

'This way, the battle would never end.'

Arthur thought bitterly as he looked at the ongoing battle.

Mankey's attacks were powerful, but they would always be met with an even stronger blow from Geodude. It was not like he was not in command of the battle.

Mankey still hadn't taken any big blows while Geodude wasn't able to recover from the earlier attacks he had suffered. There were even signs of him getting completely exhausted, but he was just holding on with his sheer will.

Still, he can't be sure.

It was still a situation from which Brock could seize control.

That's why Arthur acted without wasting any more time. He focused all his attention on each blow that was being traded between the two Pokemon.

He waited, just waited... until he got the right timing.

Suddenly, he shouted.

"Mankey, hold Geodude's fist and spin him round."

Mankey's eyes shone with a glint hearing that command and he acted promptly. He took a step back, preparing himself for the impact of mega punch.

"Duddde!"

The moment Geodude punched, he felt his fist getting grabbed. It was too sudden for him to react. Mankey had braced his attack, in order to grasp his fist.

"Geodude, shake him off." Brock shouted, but it was too late.

Mankey's grasp was too solid for Geodude to be able to shake it off and soon, he found his surroundings spinning.

He was getting spinned around by Mankey and with each spin, the current of air brushing past his face was getting more and more fiercer. Geodude was losing his senses and his eyes had already lost focus.

At that moment, Arthur's decisive voice came.

"Now, throw him off!"

Mankey threw Geodude to one of the bigger boulders lying across the battlefield with a grunting noise.

Crash!

Dust rose around as Geodude crashed into the boulder. A loud, painful scream appeared from his mouth, before soon dying down.

Geodude had fainted!

"G-Geodude can't continue the battle. The winner is Mankey!"

The gym trainer who was posing as a refre shouted with a slightly shocked expression on his face. He had never seen Geodude getting dominated like this.

Throughout the battle, Mankey was on the top with the help of Arthur's strategies and even when they came face to face, Mankey didn't back down and in the end, won the battle with minimum amount of injuries.

It could very well be said to be a great accomplishment, considering that Arthur was a rookie.

"Geodude, you did a great job. Come rest now!"

Brock called out Geodude back with a frown and hoped that the injuries on his Pokemon would heal soon. Then, he raised his head to look at Arthur.

"Great job. You are the first trainer in a while who has been able to defeat Geodude this easily."

Brock congratulated with a bright expression, but Arthur retorted with a wry smile on his face.

"I don't think it was that easy."

"Haha, well, it only seemed easy because of how smooth things went. You certainly are great in thinking up unique strategies."

Brock said and brought out another pokeball from his pockets. Arthur already knew which Pokemon Brock was gonna use next and he had already prepared himself for that.

There was only one Pokemon which was Brock's ace — Onix.

"Let's see how you will deal with this."

Brock threw his pokeball while saying that cliche anime line. The next second, a giant rock, snake monster appeared on the ground with a bright light.

His giant, rugged stone body shone under the lights of the gym and his body looked as hard as a diamond.

"Onniixxx!!!"

Onix's face was fierce and just his roar was able to create subtle shockwaves in the air. Onix eyed Arthur and Mankey with a smug grin, confident in his abilities.

'Let's see how good you truly are.'

Arthur thought and began scanning the status of the Onix in front of him.

* * *

Pokemon: Onix (Blue) (Evolution possible) (Trade)

Gender: Male

Level: 25

Type: Rock and Ground

Holding items: None

Ability: Rock head (Protect the Pokemon from recoil damage)

Moves: Bind, Dragon breath, Sandstorm, Iron tail, Stone edge, Defense curl

* * *

'A Blue aptitude!'

Arthur almost wanted to scream as he saw Onix's status. It was the first time that he was seeing a Pokemon having a higher aptitude than green (Other than Ash's Pikachu and Charmander).

He bit his lips, wondering how he was gonna handle this sturdy, giant snake made up of rocks.

...

WEEKLY MASS RELEASE!

Extra chapter = 200 Power stone!