Battle at Peweter City Gym

(Peweter City Gym.)

Noah stood in front of the gym. He had arrived at the city the day before but decided to let his Pokémon get checked over in the centre and have a full night of rest. This was to make sure that they weren't mentally exhausted from their journey through the forest and that they didn't have any hidden injuries – since potions can only repair so much.

Noah took in a deep breath and pushed the heavy wooden door open. The room inside was dark, but he shrugged it off and walked along the thick slabs of stone that led to a small, lit area.

A teenager with dark-skin, spiky brown hair and closed eyes sat on a small pedestal. Noah recognized him as Brock and walked to the edge of the empty field.

"Who goes there?" Brock asked in a deep voice.

"My name is Noah Oak from Pallet Town and I'm here to challenge the gym for the Boulder Badge."

"Very well, I accept your challenge." The teenager replied and pressed a button next to the pedestal. Suddenly, the entire gym lit up and an arena that was littered in rocks slowly replaced the plain ground.

When the field was completely replaced, a referee walked into the field and announced the rules. "This is an official Pokémon League gym battle between Noah Oak from Pallet Town and Brock from Pewter City. This is a two-on-two battle; only the challenger is allowed to substitute his Pokémon and there will be no time limit. When both trainers are ready, please reveal your first Pokémon."

"Geodude, I choose you!" Brock called out as he threw a Pokeball into the field.

"Horsea, stand by for battle," Noah said as he too threw his Pokeball. Horsea appeared on the field and stood opposite a rock-shaped Pokémon.

"Geodude versus Horsea. Begin!" The referee slashed his hand down.

"Smokescreen, follow it with Bubble Beam." Noah decided to get things rolling.

Horsea cried out as she opened her mouth and released thick black smoke. As soon as the battlefield was covered in smoke, Horsea shot a powerful torrent of light-blue bubbles at the area around Geodude.

"Geodude, immediately use Rock Throw to shield yourself," Brock shouted in return. His opponents battle process had surprised him. Most new trainers with the type advantage would immediately rush in and forget about strategies, but the trainer in front of him did not.

Geodude punched the ground, making rocks fly up to form a rough barrier in front of him. The stream of bubbles collided with the rocks, and after a couple of seconds, immediately broke through. The weakened Bubble Beam struck Geodude and sent him flying back into the wall, but it managed to keep its consciousness.

"Nice strategy!" Noah complemented before he swiftly ordered his Pokémon. "Horsea, take him out with a Water Gun!"

"Hooor!" Horsea released a spiral of water from its mouth at the already injured Geodude. Brock tried to order his Pokémon to get out of the way but it was too late, Geodude was hit with the Water Gun and lost its consciousness.

"Geodude is unable to battle, Horsea is the winner. Gym Leader, please send out your last Pokémon." The referee called out from the side.

"That was impressive, Noah. Most trainers would focus on attacking and completely ignore moves that are intended to support your Pokémon. You, however, are the opposite and for that, you have earned my respect." Brock commended sincerely and hurled his next Pokeball high into the air. "Now prepare yourself, Onix finish this."

A tremor shook the ground as a massive serpent of solid rock landed on the arena. Onix let out a deep bellow that reverberated through Noah's whole body. Noah stared up at the behemoth with wide eyes and couldn't help but look forward to the upcoming battle.

Horsea gazed at her new opponent with narrowed eyes and let out a screeching cry of excitement as she readied herself for battle.

The referee looked from Noah to Brock and announced. "Onix versus Horsea. Begin!"

"Horsea, let's finish this quick. Use Twister Beam." Noah ordered with a wide grin. Twister Beam was a simple combination of Twister and Bubble Beam, he had created it with Horsea to take on larger opponents.

Horsea's eyes shone brightly. She looked up and spun around quickly, making herself into a twister whilst simultaneously shooting a torrent of light-blue bubbles. The twister engulfed half of the field and kept increasing by the second.

"Onix, tank the hit and use Screech afterwards."

The twister engulfed Onix's body and sent it crashing down into the field. As it went down, it released an ear-bleeding screech which stunned Horsea out of its move.

"This is your chance, Onix. Bind it and Slam it hard into the ground." Brock ordered after seeing the stunned Horsea.

"Oaaar!!" Onix roared as it launched its tail towards Horsea.

"Horsea, snap out of it and use a full powered Water Gun on the ground!!" Noah roared in the hopes of breaking Horsea out of her daze, he hadn't expected Brock to use Onix's Sturdy ability for a chance at taking down his Pokémon.

However, Horsea failed to break out of her dazed state. Onix's tail wrapped around her body and slammed her into the ground.

"Horsea!" Noah shouted in worry as a cloud of dust engulfed the field.

The dust cloud continued to linger around, so Noah decided to gamble with his chances. "Horsea, if you can hear me then send out one last Water Gun towards the darker shades in the dust."

Brock hadn't expected Noah to issue a command in this situation and immediately returned one of his own, "Onix, use Dig!"

"Oaar!!" Both trainers heard Onix's roar, but they weren't sure what it signified.

Noah held his breath as the dust cloud cleared to show an unmoving Onix with its head stuck into the ground and right next to it, stood a wheezing Horsea.

The referee checked the state of both Pokémon and announced. "Onix is unable to battle. Both of the Gym Leader's Pokémon are have been defeated. The winner of this battle is the challenger, Noah Oak from Pallet Town."

Noah rushed into the arena to check on Horsea. After realizing that she was exhausted and had minor bruises, he immediately hugged her in celebration. "You were amazing, Horsea!! You don't know how proud I am of you at this very moment."

"Seaaa!!" Horsea chirred weakly but her eyes radiated happiness.

Brock walked over to Noah and held an open box with a badge inside. "Congratulations Noah, it's been a while since I've struggled against a single Pokémon. I present you with the Boulder Badge as proof that you have defeated this gym."

Noah took the badge from the box and placed it into his badge case. "Thank you, Brock. That was probably one of the best battles I've had so far."

"I'm glad, but don't let this win get into your head. The rest of the gyms will be a lot more challenging than this one." Brock warned him out of respect. "Anyway, feel free to come back here for a rematch once you get eight badges. There are still ten months until the League Tournament and I'd be more than happy to battle you with my real team before then."

"Don't worry, I won't underestimate anyone and I'll definitely take you up on that offer, Brock." Noah grinned at his proposition.

"Good. Well, Noah, I'd love to chat but I have another challenger waiting on me." Brock glanced up at the stands where an orange-haired boy was waiting patiently.

"I'll see you around then, Brock." Noah smiled and turned to leave for the Pokémon Centre. The smile never left his lips as he made his way out.

He had just won his first badge!