First Gym Battle/ Steven Stone

A week into training, Vali decided to give her pokemon a half-day and headed to the Pewter city museum with Steven. The museum was two stories high and huge. They ended up spending most of their time in the exhibits from Mount Moon and the one about fossil pokemon. She ended up pointing out a few specimens that either Professor Oak contributed or Sirius did through the Ranger union. She found out more about Steven's love of all things stones and his rather vast knowledge on them though he supposedly still had a lot to learn. She also ended up telling him about her wish to actually have a Aurorus. While she may love fire-types to death, she absolutely adored the ancient ice-type.

Vali was able to get experience battling against rock and ground-types thanks to Pewter being a hub for them. She won and lost an equal number of battles though each one proved to be a learning experience that would only help her in the long run. Smaug learned Smokescreen near the end of her two week deadline while Balto was struggling heavily with Reversal. While she had wished he would've learned it by now, she understood that the move was very hard for him to learn because of his lack of arms. He still had Iron tail which would definitely help with their gym battle.

Steven scheduled his gym battle the day before hers and she went to go cheer him on as well as get a look at Flint's battling style in person. Seeing videos was nice, she would feel better watching in person. It would give her an even better understanding of his battling style which would only benefit her pokemon more. The Pewter city gym was a bit lackluster on the outside since it just looked like some boulders piled onto one another, but the inside more than made up to it. The field was perfect for rock-type pokemon while also allowing for other pokemon save for water types to have an even ground. It wouldn't exactly help, but it wouldn't hinder either. As they walked into the gym, Vali spotted a man that she recognized due to the videos she'd been watching ever since Viridian City. Flint was an imposing man with tan skin and spiky brown hair. Flint's eyes were closed which made her wonder how he saw anything. He wore a yellow t-shirt with rolled up sleeves, a black belt with a silver buckle, dark teal cargo pants, and black shoes. Flint spoke as they reached the battlefield, "Which one of you is the challenger?"

"I am, Sir," Steven said as they stopped, "My friend is only watching the battle today,"

"She will be coming in tomorrow for a battle, won't she?" Flint asked looking at Vali earning a nod, "I see. Head into the stands,"

"Good luck, Steven," Vali told him.

"Thank you," Steven replied and she headed to the stands.

Taking a seat, Vali watched as a referee appeared. The man spoke, "This is a gym battle between Pewter Cities Gym Leader Flint Slate and Steven Stone of Mossdeep City in Hoenn. The battle will be a two on two with only the challenger being allowed to switch."

"It's time to battle Squirtle," Steven said sending out his Squirtle as Flint sent out a Goedude that looked bigger than normal and had a few scars on its body, "Start off with Water Gun,"

"A type advantage? While smart, it won't win this battle for you," Flint called out with a smirk, "Geodude dodge and use Rollout,"

Squirtle let loose a powerful stream of water that Steven had managed to make powerful enough to shatter small boulders. While Geodude had managed to dodge it for the most part, the rock-type let out a groan of pain as it was clipped by the very edge of the attack. That didn't stop Geodude before curling in on itself and rushing towards Squirtle at a speed that the rock-type shouldn't be possible. Squirtle wouldn't be able to dodge in time and Steven knew it so he called out, "Squirtle hunker down and use Withdraw! When it hits, hit it point blank with a Bubble Beam into Water Gun."

Squirtle withdrew into his shell just in time, but that didn't save him from the powerful attack. Squirtle was quick to follow Steven's instructions and managed to hit Geodude with a Bubble Beam that clearly hurt it though the rock-type managed to get away before it could be hit by the Water Gun that followed. Flint chuckled softly, "You're not doing too bad, Kid. Geodude, hit that Squirtle with Rock Throw."

Geodude dug into the ground and pulled out some rock chunks before beginning to throw them at Squirtle. Squirtle dodged them as Steven called out, "Squirtle, keep dodging as best you can and use Withdraw when it becomes too hard. When there is a break in his attacks, use Water Gun again."

Vali's heart was beginning to beat harshly in her chest as the battle continued. Despite being a younger pokemon, Squirtle wasn't doing that bad. He was doing pretty damn good. From what she can tell, Flint's strategy with Geodude was mostly hit hard and fast. If she had to face Geodude, it might be best to send out Smaug first if only because Smokescreen would offer the best benefits. Squirtle did as his trainer asked though it was clear dodging wasn't his favorite thing in the world. He would need a lot of stamina training which she didn't doubt Steven was now noticing.

Geodude had a lot of attack stamina, but even it had to take breaks. Squirtle managed to hit it with a powerful Water Gun which sent the Geodude skidding back. It wasn't enough to knock it out, bit a few more would probably do it as the water was clearly taking a toll on the rock-type. Geodude let out a grunt as it pulled itself up and Flint called out, "Geodude use Rock Polish and Defense Curl!"

"Squirtle hit it with as powerful a Water Gun as possible!" Steven called out with a slight frown showing that he didn't like the combination Flint was trying.

Rock Polish would make it faster while Defense Curl would raise its defense making it harder for Squirtle to hit the rock-type much less deal damage to it. Squirtle managed to disrupt its focus, but only after it had used Rock Polish. Flint looked a bit displeased by the disruption, but went with it as he called out, "Rollout again, we need to knock that turtle out."

"Squirtle wait and hit it with Bubble Beam!" Steven called out.

Vali looked at Squirtle and understood why he wasn't ordering his pokemon to dodge. The turtle was panting hard and was probably having trouble moving too much. Even with the training he'd been put through, Squirtle had the lowest stamina outside of Bulbasaur between the three Kanto starters. Squirtle grunted and watched the blur that was Geodude approach before releasing a a beam of bubbles that rushed towards the rock-type. Geodude powered through the attack and rammed into Squirtle sending the turtle flying. Squirtle landed roughly on his side and laid there panting as Geodude stopped rolling around. Both pokemon looked a little worse for wear, Squirtle was the worse off than Geodude. Squirtle struggled to his feet and managed to stay there though it would probably only take another good hit before the turtle passed out.

Flint chuckled softly, "That Squirtle of yours is well trained for such a young pokemon."

"Thank you, but it's all Squirtle," Steven replied before looking at his pokemon, "Do you wish to continue?" Squirtle grunted and nodded as his body gained a blue aura to it that looked like water, "Very well,"

"Geodude," Flint called and the rock-type glanced at him, "That turtle activated its ability, we need to end this quick. Use Rollout once more!"

Geodude grunted in reply before doing as its trainer bid. Squirtle glared at Geodude as it blurred towards him and Steven called out, "Use Bubble Beam with as much power as you can muster!"

The Bubble Beam Squirtle unleashed was far more powerful than any that he'd released before which only proved how strong a pokemon's attacks were if abilities like Torrent were involved. An mini-explosion of dust was kicked up and took a few minutes to clear. When it did, Squirtle was passed out on the ground with Geodude barely managing to stay conscious long enough for the Referee to say, "Winner Gym Leader Flint! Challenger release your next pokemon!"

Squirtle was returned and Steven called out Aggron, "Squirtle was taken out. I need your help, my friend."

Aggron let out a metallic growl as Flint returned his passed out Geodude and released an Onix which was by far the largest pokemon she'd seen. It was a dark almost black grey showing that it was an older pokemon and covered in scars from a past battle. Steven would have his hands full with this one, but she knew he would win. Aggron was definitely more than enough to beat that monster. Flint let out a whistle, "An Aggron? It's been a long time since I've seen one of them. Well, Mr. Stone, you just turned into an even more interesting opponent."

Steven smiled lightly before turning his head towards Aggron as the large steel and rock-type roared out a challenge towards his opponent, "Aggron, I want to start off with Metal Sound."

Vali quickly covered her ears which didn't exactly help much to block out the horrible screech that left Aggron's throat. If there was one move she disliked, it was that Metal Sound. Onix roared in agony as Aggron charged up a Flash Cannon which only increased the Onix's pain as the silver and grey beam slammed into it as it tried to recover from its exposure to Metal Sound. Flint looked displeased, "Onix, shake off the pain and immobilize that Aggron with Rock Tomb!"

Onix created a ball of rocks above its head before sending it at Aggron. Aggron let out a grunt as he was hit with the rocks and subsequently became trapped. Steven frowned slightly, "Aggron break out with Iron Tail and hit that Onix with Ice Beam. Trap its tail!"

While Aggron was breaking out of Rock Tomb, Onix headed underground with dig. Aggron let out a cry of pain as Onix appeared under him, but got revenge by hitting the rock and ground-type with a point blank Ice Beam causing Onix to cry out again. The battle between the two giants continued along that vein for a while before Aggron managed to hit Onix with a Brick Break right where its head boulder connected to the rest of its body. Onix went down with a grating groan and didn't move after that. Aggron let out a roar of victory and turned to Steven. Steven smiled warmly at his pokemon as Aggron walked over. Vali rushed down from the stands and said, "That was amazing, Steven! I was kind of worried when Onix hit Aggron with that Dig, but then Aggron managed to use Ice Beam on it!" Vali looked at Aggron and beamed at the giant, "You were awesome, Aggron! That was the best battle I've seen in person so far!"

Aggron let out a pleased growl at the praise as he lowered his head and allowed her to scratch underneath one of his horns as he wagged his tail slightly. Steven let out a laugh, "You aren't wrong. Nicely done, Aggron."

Aggron let out a contented growl that changed into a slight snarl when Flint cleared his throat. Steven shushed Aggron as Flint said, "The girl is right, Mr. Stone. The battle was one of the best I've had so far this season."

"Well, you can thank my pokemon for that," Steven said as he returned Aggron, "They've trained very hard for every battle we've fought,"

"I do not doubt it," Flint inclined his head before holding a badge out to Steven, "Here is the Boulder Badge. I hope that when you finish collecting the badges this season that you'll return so that we can battle on even footing. I'd like to see what you can do against my real league team,"

Steven nodded and shook Flint's hand after taking the badge, "I would mind though I hope you don't mind me coming by to pick your brain about Mount Moon while Vali and I are in town."

"Of course not," Flint smiled at Steven before turning to Vali, "I hope you and your pokemon put up a good fight, Miss..."

"Vali Potter," Vali answered earning a nod, "I hope we do, but you shouldn't expect too much since I've only been a trainer for a month and a half give or take a few weeks,"

"Well, I'm still looking forward to the battle," Flint replied before shooing them, "You should get that Squirtle checked out. I have another challenger today that should be arriving within the hour,"

They said their goodbyes and headed out of the gym. Steven looked at her as they left the gym, "So how do you think you'll do tomorrow?"

Vali was silent for a little bit before replying, "I think we can manage it. While we might not put on much of a show, we should be able to win."

"If not, we can always come back at a later point," Steven said earning a nod, "Though I'm sure you'll win,"

Vali grinned at him, "You bet we will! By the way," She looked at Aggron's pokeball as well as Squirtle's, "You really were amazing out there. I really can't wait until my team and I reach your level."

"I look forward to our battles when you guys reach that level," Steven told her with a slight grin, "My team is too,"