Bugs Time, First Gym Battle

After the brief stunt by Team Rocket, the night passed peacefully and we woke up to a fresh start. Starting our day early, we greeted Nurse Joy and left the Pokemon center to give our greetings to Officer Jenny before leaving Viridian City.

After leaving the city, we were passing through Viridian forest when,

Ash-"Hey Robin! Do you want to catch a bug-type Pokemon?"

Robin looked at me confusingly-"Why do I need to catch a Pokemon? You are a trainer who's going for the League! Why me?"

Ash-"Because you'll be visiting ruins where you can encounter dangers like traps, angry Pokemon, or even people like Team Rocket from last night. You need to be able to defend yourself...wait a minute! You tried to catch a Spearow when we began our journey! What's happening Miss Robin?"

Robin looked away from me and I could see that both Robin and Misty looked a bit scared.....OK..Very Scared.

Ash-"Could it be that you're scared of bugs?"

I knew Misty was afraid of bugs, but Robin as well? It'd be difficult to catch a Pidgey now.

Robin-"It's not the bugs,....but....."

Ash-"Are you perhaps scared of what happened when you tried to catch the Spearow?"

Robin gave a nod to my query.

Ash-"Hmmmmm. Don't worry too much. Even if such a thing happens, we have Raikou now! And there's no bike to be destroyed now."

Misty-"Ummm! Can we avoid the bug types?"

Ash-"Why? You scared of 'em!"

Misty gave a shy nod, which earned a giggle from Robin.

Ash-"Not all bugs are scary Misty! Can you call a Butterfree ugly?"

Misty got my point, but I guess she may have had a traumatic experience with bugs.

Anyway, Robin decided to get a bug type and I wanted a flying type, most probably Pidgey. Why Pidgey? Coz it looks so cool as a Pidgeot!

We ventured deep into the forest and soon came face to face with a Caterpie. It stared at us. We stared at him. The confrontation continued for a few minutes.

Until.

.

.

.

Pikachu decided to check him out. Turned out the Caterpie had passed out while standing. It got too scared to see us and fainted due to fear. That was anti-climatic.

Ash-"Robin! Capture him!"

Robin-"But I didn't battle him!"

Ash-"He got defeated without a battle! Don't waste time now!"

Robin threw her Pokeball and captured Caterpie.

She then took Caterpie out who looked at us shivering with fear. It looked too cute to resist and Robin just hugged him like a plushie. When he found out that we didn't plan on hurting him, he got attached to Robin and climbed onto her head, sitting on her hat. Robin and Caterpie looked quite good together.

But, Misty was still scared of him. When Caterpie tried to get close to her, she was about to scream when I covered her mouth with my hand and Robin picked up Caterpie, before I told him, "She's quite pleased to meet you as well Caterpie. But you see, She's allergic to Bug-Pokemon and she could get sick if you get close to her. She likes you though."

Phew! I prevented the Caterpie from getting emotionally hurt.

Ash-"Misty! You can't call a Pokemon ugly or scary on its face. Particularly to young Pokemon like Caterpie. They're kids you know. They get hurt as well. Won't you be hurt as well if someone calls your Staryu ugly?"

While, I don't know if she got rid of her fear or not, but she wasn't apprehensive of Caterpie's presence. Caterpie however, acted quite well and guided the girls to a place full of flowers. I left the girls in the flower field with Pikachu to accompany them and ventured into the woods.

I chanced upon a Pidgey, who looked at me curiously.

Ash-"Hi there Pidgey! I wanted to ask if you'd like to join my team on my journey?"

Pidgey looked at me for a bit and then flew a small distance away from me and stared at me from there. Getting its point, I took out Skyreon again.

Pidgey fired a Gust which was swallowed by Skyreon, shocking Pidgey, The Pidgey stirred up a sand attack, which covered up the entire area in a small sandstorm. Skyreon was unable to see anything but was still able to judge that Pidgey was charging up a quick attack which was dodged by Skyreon. Pidgey was taking turns using Sand attack and quick attack, showing that he didn't know any other moves yet. Skyreon was definitely more powerful than Pidgey as he avoided the attacks with ease.

Ash-"Skyreon! wing slash! Follow with an iron fist!"

The combo of Wing slash and Iron fist quickly brought Pidgey down. I threw a Pokeball and caught Pidgey. Then I returned to the group and saw a boy with a samurai helmet standing with the girls.

Samurai-"Are you a trainer from Pallet Town?"

Quite straightforward,

Ash-"Yes I am. Any problem?"

He took out a Pokeball and "I challenge you to a battle." and took out a Pinsir.

I recognized that Ash had met someone like that in the anime, but I didn't remember the exact situation. I just took out Skyreon again as all others were crazily strong and Spookeon would be an overkill definitely.

Samurai-"Pinsir! Bug bite"

Ash-"Skyreon! Air punch"

Skyreon dodged the attack of Pinsir's pincers and gave a solid punch at the back of Pinsir's head.

Ash-"Now wing slash!"

Samurai-"Harden"

The wing slash was bounced off the hardened Pinsir. Samurai was a bit confused as the moves displayed by Skyreon were unconventional and he didn't seem to recognize Skyreon. But, I gotta commend him for still battling without flinching a bit.

Samurai-" Quick attack"

Ash-"Sky tackle"

Pinsir seemed to approach Skyreon, who suddenly disappeared and above a few meters above Pinsir and dove onto Pinsir in a flash. A mini explosion occurred to reveal a knocked out Pinsir.

Samurai recalled Pinsir-"Good job buddy! Now Metapod!"

I facepalmed. I remembered now what had happened in the anime. Two Metapods had fought or rather hardened themselves for hours, only for one of them to be kidnapped by Beedrills. I love Pokemon but even I didn't want to be chased by a herd of angry Beedrills. I decided to end it in a flash now.

"Skyreon! SD Roar!"

And a powerful roar knocked out Metapod for good.

While our battle was underway, Caterpie, who was viewing the battle started shooting of string shot and covering himself, evolving into a Metapod.

Samurai returned his Metapod and looked at me questioningly. I mean, obviously he wanted to know about Skyreon. Well, he did try to battle despite not knowing anything about Skyreon and I gotta respect that.

Ash-"It's Skyreon, an evolution of Eevee. I don't know mu.."

Samurai-"Aaaaaaaaaaaah! You're the youngest researcher in Pokemon history!"

Seriously! Now you recognize me?

But still, to recognize me from the facts only, He got a good memory. Considering the fact that my work was only known to the scientific community. I guess he is someone who does his homework. Good for him.

I nodded to him and he looked too happy now, almost to the point of going on a celebration spree, which was odd, considering that he had lost against me.

Samurai-"Can't believe I battled my idol!"

Ok! That was a bit embarrassing. I didn't realize that a trainer would recognize me. But, it was a good feeling.

Ash-"I think we should leave this area. Beedrills would be curious about the noise we made."

We said our goodbyes to Samurai and parted ways, as he went to his cabin inside the forest and we moved away from the depths of the forest. Why we didn't get lost? Coz we had a map and a compass in our Pokedex. Seriously, somethings were too bad about the anime. At least a paper map and a compass could be given to the newbie trainers.

We made it to the outskirts of the forest where chances of being attacked by bug Pokemon were lesser and proceeded towards Pewter City. I took out my bike and Robin and Misty got onto Arcanine. Pikachu joined me on my shoulders.

And then I and Arcanine sped up.

Ash-"Hold tightly Pikachu! We're going against Arcanine!"

Man! It was so much fun, riding after so long. We did try a race and obviously Arcanine didn't go all out. But, it was so much fun. We didn't take a straight path to Pewter City. We had time as we were fast and often took a break, travelling to locations we thought were worth visiting, like a river coming down from the mountains, a lake backed up by a hill where a lot of Pokemon could be seen relaxing. We had our relaxing times as well, often having short parties with the Pokemon we encountered, except Beedrills of course.

The girls took turns riding on the bike along with me. Robin liked the feeling of riding the bike a bit too much and then I had to promise her to teach riding one.

We reached Pewter City before sunset and proceeded to the Pokemon Center. I didn't wish to meet Flint as I had mixed feelings about him. I didn't like him but couldn't get myself to hate him either. The reason? It's because he failed to become a champion and next, his wife deserted him for a stupid reason. Obviously, he had sort of a breakdown and was now somewhat afraid to see his own children, fearing that they would be disappointed with him as well.

Back to us, instead of challenging Brock straightaway, I planned to train my newly caught Pidgey and Feebas for a week. I couldn't have my newly caught Pokemon to be weak, could I?

I borrowed the training area behind the Pokemon Center for training them. I can say that training was a lot easier with psychic as I could project what I wanted to train them in, straight to their mind. Still, it was a slow process, simply because they didn't have access to the time chamber yet.

Also, I had discovered that legacy crystals from different species could make some Pokemon unable to evolve later, so I had planned to take it slow with legacy crystals, using only on fully evolved Pokemon.

Feebas knew of only water gun and aqua tail, that she had learned by copying others in the river and had practiced the heck outta them. Her water gun was quite strong and she had an agile body to use aqua tail very fast. But, Brock's gym doesn't have any water and I didn't want Feebas to be flapping on the ground. So, I first decided to teach her to levitate, and staying out of water for longer periods. By the end of the day, she could levitate....for 2 seconds. I decided to call it a day for her and recalled her back, sending her to space.

The next day, I made a training plan for her, which was very difficult to come up with, as training with gravity ring won't do much for her, as she's a fish. But still, I decided to have her swim under gravity and improve her strength and speed in the time chamber. I wanted someone to accompany her, but all of my Pokemon had legacy crystals except Steelix, who definitely couldn't accompany Feebas. So I had to leave Feebas with short video instructions for guiding her strength buildup.

The very same day, I began training Pidgey, along with Skyreon. I first training for Pidgey was to increase his speed and stamina. Also, I wanted Skyreon to have faster and more agile attacks, so I devised a training plan for both of them together.

Ash-" Ok now! Skyreon and Pidgey, here's the deal. Skyreon will attack Pidgey with wind blades. And Pidgey will have to dodge them and tackle Skyreon. Sounds easy right?"

Both of them nodded slowly.

Ash-"But there's a catch. Skyreon can't have a gap of more than 10 seconds between the slashes and Pidgey must try to avoid all of them. I have 10 candies for both of you. Pidgey, for every 5 slashes you receive on your body, you'll lose one candy and Skyreon, for every delay more than 10 seconds or a tackle you receive, you'll lose one candy. The loser will be the one who loses all candies. And the winner will get all the candies from the other one. Got it?"

They gave an excited cry. I know that the conditions were a bit unfair for Skyreon but obviously, he was stronger than Pidgey and if he got defeated by Pidgey, it would serve to destroy Skyreon's cockiness, which had turned full bloom after winning against Samurai. Well, he's a true wind type, fickle like the wind.

They practiced throughout the day like that.

Seeing that I had given my instructions to Skyreon and Pidgey, Misty and Robin approached me for helping them in training their Pokemon.

I helped out by providing exercises for increasing the base strength of the Pokemon, like basic strength training. For Staryu, I told her to practice psychic as it's evolution Starmie was a water-psychic dual type. I just told her to do what I did for myself-weightlifting with psychic.

As for Robin, she had a huge gang of Eevee Evolutions, but an untrained bunch. I told her to get them to practice the same strength training as Misty and

Ash-"Robin! Can you get out of books, please? Pokemon don't grow with anything, they need to be nurtured and trained. I can only give advice on strengthening their bodies or abilities. Their moves, you have to teach them. If you want information about the moves their type normally has, I am happy to give you the info. But you'll have to teach them yourself."

Robin-"Ummm! Ok, but can you show me one?"

Ash-"I guess I can do that. Ok! But just once!"

I then instructed his Skyreon about using wind blades. I gave him a reference by showing him the battle going on between my Skyreon and Pidgey and told him the basics about the wind.

After about half an hour he was able to fire off a wind blade, although a weak one.

Robin got interested and to make things even more motivating, I gave them an incentive.

Ash-"Whoever learns a new move by tonight, I will take him for 1-day exclusive training tomorrow."

Yes, I planned to use the time chamber to increase the strength of anyone who could learn a new move. Being the lone star isn't good for a team you know!

This got Misty and Robin riled up who proceeded for training with excitement. I gave Robin video samples of all kinds of moves for the types she had.

The training for Pidgey and Skyreon came to an end........without a proper end though. None of them could get the other one to lose 10 candies. But, it wasn't all for nothing. Skyreon had his gap between successive moves dropped to 3 seconds and Pidgey had greater improvement, he learned agility and razor wind while trying to copy the wind blade. Moreover, the speed of both of them had increased, particularly Pidgey who could not only fly fast but could also fly fast very gracefully. It had learned to minimize movement while avoiding and also an optimal way to avoid while charging up an attack.

The incentive strategy worked wonders for Misty and Robin.

Misty's Staryu learned Psybeam and Poliwag learned Bubble beam.

Robin's team wasn't far behind. Drageon learned dragon claw, Sylveon learned light screen, Toxeon learned Poison sting and toxic, Metalion learned steel roller and iron tail, Laveon learned fire punch and dig, Aereon learned Gust attack, Skyreon learned wind blade and Cosmeon learned gravity crush.

As promised I left the girls with Pikachu the next day and went towards the forest, where I entered space and sent all of the Pokemon belonging to the girls and started tweaking the chambers, coz I was now able to increase the time in time chamber by one week.

Btw, Raikou couldn't enter the normal time chamber, as he was a legendary and had t contend with the time chambers used by Pikachu, Arcanine, and others. Being a legendary doesn't allow freebies does it?

I returned to the city the next day and saw the infamous trio of Team Rocket giving an intro to a crowd, which was surprisingly lead by Brock while sitting on Giant Golem tank.

Seriously, I'm still amazed at their engineering skills. No one on earth could make such machinery in such a short time. Too bad that they were Team Rocket.

Jessie-"Prepare for Trouble"

James-"Make it Dou..."

"Arcanine! Flamethrower!"

BOOM

Jessie-"I didn't get to say my second line!"

James-"I couldn't complete my first line!"

Meowth-"Meowth! I didn't get to speak!"

Trio-"Team Rocket's flying off again!"

Seriously! How tough are these guys? They fly off, fall down somewhere, and still survive! Not just survive but ready for a comeback the next day!

Brock-"Thanks! Uhhh.."

Ash-"Ash. Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. You're welcome! But what was the idiotic trio doing?"

Brock-"You know them?"

Ash-"It's my second time dealing with them. All I know is their appearance and the fact they aren't up to anything good. So?"

Brock-"I think they were planning on taking on Pokemon center but got repelled by two trainers with a very strong Pikachu, so they were trying to catch Pokemon from the masses. Too bad I left my Pokemon at the gym. Oh! Where's my manners? I'm Brock, Gym Leader of Pewter City Gym. Btw, are you a trainer?"

Ash-"Yeah!"

Brock-" Sorry but I won't be able to have a battle today. I had 3 gym battles back to back and now the Pokemon are tired."

Ash-"No worries! I wasn't planning on challenging the Gym today. I'm still training with my team throughout the week. I can't disappoint the Gym leader of my first gym challenge, can I? Btw I would ask you to prepare your best Pokemon. I'm not being cocky but I think the Pikachu you were talking about earlier is the one from my team."

Brock-" Let's have an awesome match then!"

When I returned to the Pokemon Center I found out that what I had thought was indeed true, Pikachu was the one to repel Team Rocket.

The girls were amazed to discover the rise in strength of their Pokemon, which was quite visible as they had just started training and early effects are indeed great before the growth slows down later.

I spent the next four days with Feebas and Pidgey using the time chambers alternately with one-day training for moves and one day in the chamber. By the eve of my challenge, Pidgey was ready to evolve and I then decided to have a battle between Pidgey and Skyreon again.

I left them to themselves as both of them battled with speed and strength. Skyreon obviously had an upper hand until Pidgey glowed. He grew in height and then in his place stood a cool looking Pidgeoto, somewhat taller than his peers. The battle changed a bit and Pidgeoto began giving Skyreon a challenge. But obviously, Skyreon ultimately defeated Pidgeoto, with a lot of effort. Pidgeoto could now go supersonic in short busts and had learned Steel Wings upon evolution.

The next day, I strode towards the Pewter City Gym and before reaching there, I saw a middle-aged man trying to demand money from someone for sitting on rocks. I asked Pikachu to zap him and then packed the zapped up Flint with duct tape to make him into a duct tape mummy and put him on Arcanine like a sack of sorts. I then reached the Gym and challenged Brock, who came out to the Gym wearing an apron over his signature dress. I had been in the anime, and even now when facing him, quite impressed at his sense of responsibility. He was just 5 years older than me now, but he was fulfilling the roles of an elder brother, a father, and a mother and still managed to have studied the basics of being a Pokemon Breeder.

Brock-"Hi Ash! Sorry about the outfit. I'll change in a bit."

Ash-"You don't need to. Your family over the stands doesn't seem to mind one bit about your uniform. If anything, it makes me admire your character!"

Brock-"Ummm.. thanks I guess? Now with my family watching, I can't show a wimpy battle!"

Brock-"Now for the rules."

Ash-"How about a 3 on 3 all-out battle, with Pokemon exchange allowed. The rest of the rules as regular."

Brock-"Fair enough! I'll have my brother Forrest be the referee."

Ash-"Works for me"

(Battle time. A stands for Ash and B stands for Brock.)

B-"Golem! You're up!"

Golem huh

A-"Feebas! It's time to shine."

Feebas had grown strong throughout the week and had mastered quite a lot of moves, thanks to the strengthening from the time chamber and had also become a tad bit bigger."

B-"Rock Throw"

A-"Mud shot"

The rock throw and mud shot destroyed each other completely.

B-"Roll"

A-"Aqua jet"

Then began a series of clashes between Feebas and Golem. Both of them were like pinballs colliding with each other and the rocks around the battlefield.

B-"Mega Punch"

A-"Aqua tail"

The exchange continued like that and I started hearing cheers from the stands. His siblings were really close to him.

B-"Dig"

A-"Hydro Pump into the hole!"

Golem was blasted out of the ground and was visible quite injured. Feebas had also taken a toll on her body.

B-"Let's finish this! Hyperbeam"

A-"Oh yeah! Dragon Breath! full power"

An explosion occurred and after the smoke clearing, we saw both Feebas and Golem knocked out.

Forrest-"Feebas and Golem are unable to battle. A tie"

B/A-"You did good work"

B-"Now! Onix!"

I was surprised seeing Brock take Onix out, as for my knowledge, Onix was Brock's ace Pokemon which should have been saved for last. But who cares

A-"Steelix! You're up"

B-"Iron Tail!"

A-"Iron Tail!"

Both iron tails connected with each other to release a loud sound and Steelix was definitely stronger, but Onix was quick.

B-"Bind"

Damn

A-"Slam on the ground"

Steelix slammed his body hard on the ground and both him and Onix suffered damage. Onix finally let go but

B-"Sandstorm!"

A-"Dig"

B-"Now Earthquake"

Steelix was thrown out of the ground and suffered some injuries.

A-"Roar"

The angry roar created a shockwave that cleared the sand and now the battlefield was clear again.

B-"Dragon Breath!"

A-"Dragon breath and follow by ice fang!"

This time the dragon breath of Steelix had an advantage and hit Onix. Before Onix could get his act together, Steelix landed an ice fang onto Onix's neck, and finally, Onix roared before getting knocked out.

Forrest-"Onix is unable to Battle! Sniff....Steelix wins"

Brock's siblings were quite saddened by Onix's defeat as he probably was quite close to them.

B-"You got me surprised there! Now for the final Showdown! Steelix!"

Damn! My Steelix already had a battle and you had to show up a Steelix.

Now, Time for the real action!

Flip the cap backward.

B/A-"Iron Tail"

B/A-"Tackle"

B/A-"Smackdown"

B/A-"Rock Throw"

B/A-"Dragon Breath"

B/A-"Fire Fang"

B/A-"Thunder fang"

B/A-"Giga Impact"

B/A-"Hyper Beam"

B/A-"Ice Fang"

B/A-"Steel Roller"

B/A-"Dragon Tail"

.

.

.

.

The exchange between the powerful Steelixes continued. It was so fast that nothing else was visible or heard. The clashes were like two stong pythons having a war. Although Steelixes weren't themselves so fast, every second mattered during the battle. Their exchanges releasing shockwaves. I don't remember how long it was until we both observed the tired faces of the Steelixes.

Now for the final moment

Brock-"Ice Fang"

Ash-"Dragon Pulse"

Both of the Steelix clashed, landing their moves on the other. They stayed like that for a few moments until my Steelix fell down.

Forrest was about to announce the results when to everyone's amazement Brock's Steelix fell down as well.

Forrest was amazed and gave the result very mechanically, "Both Steelix are unable to battle! This battle is a tie. Due to one remaining Pokemon, the Challenger Ash Ketchum wins."

Phew! I didn't expect Brock to have such an ace up his sleeve.

Brock-"Congratulations Ash! Here's the Boulder Badge! Proof that you've defeated the Pewter City Gym. It was a wonderful battle."

Ash-"Thanks for the battle, Brock! It was fun. But I guess I angered your siblings."

I could see them looking at me like I stole their ice cream. I think defeating Onix in front of them wasn't such a great idea.

I first tried to look to Forrest who was the eldest, but his reaction surprised me.

Forrest-"How is your Steelix so strong? Our Steelix was raised by Dad and he's even older than Big bro!"

Ash-"I trained with him ever since he's hatched. He's got a teacher as well."

Forrest-"So cooool! No wonder Dad failed in becoming a Champion! I wonder when he'll return."

Ash-"About that....."

I threw out Flint who had his mummy uniform removed. All of the siblings gave a loud cry before the children clung onto him.

Brock looked at the exchange between his father and siblings and waited for the commotion to calm down.

Meanwhile, I had a short chat with him.

Ash-"Why did you bring out Onix early? And why did you bring out Steelix? I know that there's a rule about the strength of Pokemon to be used in Gym battles for beginners. But you brought in Steelix! Your Dad's Steelix at that! I know I told you to use your strongest Pokemon but Gym leaders face that dialogue all the time. So why?"

Brock-"Seriously! You don't know the answer?"

I shook my head to deny so.

Brock-"It's because I recognized you that day when you first met me. The youngest Pokemon Researcher in History, The founder of Breeder's theory of type-diet relation and the co-researcher of Eevee evolution theory. If I didn't recognize you, I won't deserve to be a Breeder aspirant!"

I was amazed now. Samurai was a trainer who may be impressed by exceptions, but Brock really admired my work.

Brock-"You see, that's why Forrest isn't angry. Any other trainer would have been drowned under his curses. He also knew who you are. Oh, here he comes."

Forrest-"Sir Ash! Can I please have your autograph? Sir!"

His way of speaking was quite funny, but he was an innocent and honest kid.

I ruffed up his hair and said with a smile, "I got a better idea! Want to be friends? You know your big bro is like an idol for me!"

Both Brock and Forrest and even the entire family was amazed at my declaration.

I took the opportunity to invite Brock.

Ash-"Hey Brock! I know that you want to be a breeder and want to go on your own journey. I took it upon myself to bring your Dad back to your family. So I would take the opportunity to invite you to come along with me on my journey."

Brock-"Are you sure about that? You don't need me on your journeys. You know a lot more than I do."

Ash-"Partners aren't just to provide services on a journey! They are a part of the journey itself. Though I do have a selfish motive. I may have the knowledge, but I'm still a 10-year-old who lacks experience. I could have your advice on occasions and also, I love enjoying my trips and trips are supposed to be enjoyed with mates."

I looked up to Brock who stared at me with hid slit-like eyes and finally nodded to me before putting the apron he had on himself onto Flint.

Brock-" Now that you're back Take this sewing kit and learn how to sew as Suzie always tears her dress. Timmy only eats cold spaghetti for breakfast, Tommy likes cornflakes for dinner, that Cindy sleepwalks so you should tie a bell to her and the twins, Tilly and Billy do not like to bath..............."

He gave a long enough lecture to his dad and was about to extend it when.

Robin-"You can explain to your Dad slowly. We aren't in a hurry to leave today. Have a good time with your siblings before you leave. Btw I'll be having your sisters for tonight. They're too cute!"

And the girls go make merry.

We spent the night at Brock's home and my God was it rowdy.

As I lay on the bed I had a thought.

"Did I blast the trio too far away this time?"

Next Time-

To Cerulean City

Author Note-

I apologize for not uploading a chapter yesterday.

Thank you everyone for understanding my condition. I can promise you one thing for sure. This novel will not be dropped under any condition. There may be periods with hiatus as I'm a college student and I have exams during certain times, but every time there will be an announcement for the period of the hiatus.

Secondly, I'll say that again, please don't compare games with this. All this is based on anime only, particularly the anime with Ash Ketchum (Satoshi) as the protagonist as Pokemon Origins is too much into the game element.